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 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 BY 
 
 M. ADO LP HE THIERS, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIE FRANCAISE, AND LATE MINISTER- OF- WAR IN FRANCE. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE TWELFTH PARIS EDITION, 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS W. REDHEAD, ESQ. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF FRANCE TO THE 
 
 ACCESSION OF LOUIS XVI 
 
 FROM THE FRENCH OF M. FELIX BODIN. 
 
 A. FULLARTON AND CO., 
 
 STEAD'S PLACE, LEITII WALK, EDINBURGH; 
 AND 73 NEWGATE STREET, LONDON. 
 
 1859.
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTICE 
 
 OF M. THIERS AND HIS WORK. 
 
 The great French Revolution is an event that 
 still absorbs the attention of mankind, and will 
 doubtless to a remote posterity continue to do so. 
 The extraordinary circumstances that marked 
 its origin and progress, the crimes and virtues 
 of which it was the occasion, the vicissitudes of 
 fortune, national and personal, attendant upon 
 it, and, above all, the influence it has exercised 
 upon civilization and the world at large, render 
 it an object of profound interest to every class 
 of readers. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
 since its commencement in 1789 up to the pre- 
 sent time, no subject has attracted the notice of 
 so many writers, both in France itself and in the 
 other countries of Europe. Of these, as is na- 
 tural from the proximity of the era, there is not 
 one with any pretensions to impartiality. Each 
 views the revolution as a whole, and in its mul- 
 tifarious incidents, through one prevailing me- 
 dium. He is a partisan of royalty, aristocracy, 
 or democracy, and, under the pressure of political 
 bias, misrepresents, if not distorts, facts, charac- 
 ters, and motives. Hence there is none entitled 
 to rank as a truthful historian of the epoch. 
 This is a subject of regret, but not of wonder, 
 for all contemporaneous annals must be more or 
 less imbued with the passions of the times. 
 
 Undoubtedly he who has treated the topic 
 freest from individual theories or prepossessions, 
 is the author of the following work. His is a 
 clear and sparkling narrative, where the event- 
 ful tale is told, without tedious dissertations to 
 distract and weary attention, or obtrusive reflec- 
 tions to influence judgment and uphold some 
 pertinacious dogma. On sweeps the story with 
 all its prominent features, shifting from scene to 
 scene with ease and rapidity, introducing char- 
 acter after character as they emerge upon the 
 stage ; detailing occurrences with remarkable 
 vivacity and precision, and unfolding with sin- 
 gular'ticumen the springs of action and the dis- 
 tinguishing peculiarities of individuals. But no 
 philosophy, properly so called ; and without any 
 intention of disparaging that school of historians 
 known as the philosophical in France at the pre- 
 sent day, of which it would be impossible to 
 
 speak too highly, it maybe aflSrmed that of such 
 an event as the French revolution, so recent in 
 date, and so disputed in its various phenomena, 
 the record is most commendable which nearest 
 assimilates to a chronicle : not a bare outline of 
 facts, but a circumstantial and animated narra- 
 tion, illustrated by those living portraits which 
 convey so lively a perception of the spirit of an 
 age, of its men and deeds. Such emphatically 
 is the history of M. Thiers, and to this recom- 
 mendation doubtless is owing its extraordinary 
 popularity. Not only in France, but throughout 
 the continent, it is regarded as the great stand- 
 ard work upon the subject. In France numer- 
 ous editions of it have been exhausted, and the 
 pirates of Brussels have reaped a rich harvest of 
 unrighteous gain from its republication. In this 
 country it is comparatively less known, although 
 a translation of it appeared some time ago, of 
 the merits or demerits whereof it would be in- 
 vidious to speak. The object of the present 
 translation is to diffuse the work more generally 
 through these islands, for the great moral and 
 pohtical lessons taught by an intimate know- 
 ledge of the French revolution are of inestimable 
 value to every order of a community such as the 
 British, And this knowledge will be more im- 
 pressively conveyed coming from a French source, 
 since that can be liable to none of those suspi- 
 cions as to unfairness or exaggeration which 
 have attached to compilations of home manu- 
 facture. 
 
 Before adverting further to the qualities and 
 advantages of the work, however, it will be ad- 
 visable to introduce the author himself, by a 
 short sketch of his life. M. Thiers, then, al- 
 though prime-minister of France in the 39th 
 year of his age, is of such obscure parentage that 
 it is yet a matter of dispute what occupation his 
 father followed. It is at least certain that he 
 was born in the city of I\Iarseilles on or about 
 the IGth April, 1797, and, according to the most 
 credible authorities, in the dwelling of an honest 
 locksmith there, whose offspring he was. His 
 mother was of better family, being of an old 
 commercial stock, which had fallen, nevertheless,
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTICE OF M. THIERS AND HIS WORK. 
 
 into extreme poverty. Through the influence 
 of her relatives, however, the boy, at a tender 
 age, obtained a bursary in the Imperial Lyceum 
 at Marseilles, and there received all his early 
 education. In the year 1815 he was removed to 
 Aix to enter upon the study of the law. Here 
 he met a fellow-student of the same lowly origin 
 as himself, with whom he formed a friendship 
 that has continued through life unbroken, to the 
 signal advantage of both parties. This was M. 
 Mignet, also celebrated as the author of an ad- 
 mirable analysis of the French revolution. After 
 undergoing the usual course of academic attend- 
 ance, the young Thiers was called to the bar and 
 began the practice of his profession at Aix. In 
 this provincial sphere, unaided by friends or for- 
 tune, he met with very slender encouragement ; 
 so strapping on a knapsack, he, in company with 
 his friend Mignet, set out one morning to court 
 fortune in Paris. The two wayfarers entered 
 that great metropolis full of aspiring hopes, but 
 for the present indifferently supplied with any 
 extrinsic means of realizing them. The first 
 months of their residence gave but little token 
 of a brilliant future, if we trust a writer who 
 thus describes their modest domicile : — " It is 
 now several years ago since I climbed, for the 
 first time, the innumerable steps of a gloomy 
 building, situated at the bottom of the obscure 
 and uncleanly alley de Montesquieu, in one of 
 the most densely populated and noisy quarters 
 of Paris. It was with a lively feeling of interest 
 that I opened, on the fourth floor, the begrimed 
 panels leading into a small chamber which is 
 worth the trouble of describing : — a low chest of 
 drawers, a deal bed, curtains of white calico, two 
 chairs, and a little black ricketty table, com- 
 posed the whole garniture." * 
 
 The manner in which M. Thiers raised himself 
 from this situation of obscurity and poverty ex- 
 hibits his energy and powers in a striking light. 
 It was at the commencement of the year 1823, 
 when the repressive administration of Villele 
 was in full vigour. Manuel, the great orator, 
 had just been violently expelled from the Chamber 
 of Deputies, and was, of course, the popular idol of 
 the moment. M. Thiers saw that to him, an 
 ambitious plebeian, the event might prove auspi- 
 cious. He went straightway to Manuel, himself 
 a native of the south, and a man of frankness 
 and feeling, who, appreciating the value of 
 the services offered him, forthwith presented 
 Thiers to M. Lafitte, and obtained his admission 
 amongst the contributors to the Constitittionnel, 
 then the predominant engine of the press. This 
 opening he lost no time in turning to account. 
 Eminently endowed with a capacity for literary 
 warfare, he soon became distinguished for the 
 vigour and hardihood of his articles ; and as in 
 France the occupation of a journalist is regard- 
 ed with an estimation proportioned to its in- 
 
 • M. Loeve-Veimar ; 
 England." 
 
 Statesmen of France and 
 
 fluence over society, the young contributor 
 speedily found himself the object of high con- 
 sideration. He passed into the most brilliant 
 circles of the opposition, into the crowded saloons 
 of Lafitte, Casimir-Perier, the Count de Flahault, 
 Baron Louis, the great financier of the era, and 
 even of M. de TaUyrand, who, albeit fastidious 
 in his company, is stated to have detected, 
 with his keen glance, the capabilities of the 
 briefless advocate. 
 
 This introduction to society was made avail- 
 able by M. Thiers to facilitate the undertaking 
 upon which he had already entered. He had 
 now opportunities of meeting many of the actors 
 in the great drama of the revolution, remnants 
 of the various Assemblies constituted during its 
 progi-ess, statesmen, generals, diplomatists, and 
 financiers, with whom he cultivated a sedulous 
 intercourse. Endowed with a happy talent of 
 rapid composition, he found time to supply the 
 exigencies of the daily press, and to be a constant 
 frequenter of drawing-rooms, where, storing up 
 the results of conversations with men who had 
 actually taken part in events he was preparing 
 to narrate, he applied them in study and con- 
 templation to improve and embellish the work 
 upon which he was engaged. At length his 
 " History of the French Revolution" made its 
 appearance, and at once placed its author in the 
 highest ranks of literary celebrity. 
 
 The rapid progress of this work in public 
 esteem, and the fortunate gift of a share in the 
 Constitutionnel, conferred upon him by an ad- 
 mirer, raised M. Thiers to comparative affluence. 
 Leaving his garret in the aUey de Montesquieu, 
 he emerged at once as one of the most prominent 
 men in France, in the two paramount fields of 
 literature and politics. Growing discontented 
 with the somewhat antiquated tone of the Con- 
 stitutionnel, he established in 1828 a new paper, 
 more libei-al in its principles, caUed the National. 
 In this journal an unrelenting war was waged 
 against the Polignac administration, which, often 
 suppressing particular numbers, and adopting 
 other partial remedies against the galling stings 
 of Thiers and his assistants — Armand Carrel, 
 and some of the most able men of the liberal 
 party — finally took the desperate expedient of 
 the Ordinances of July. The revolution of 1830, 
 the result of that measure, is matter of notoriety. 
 
 This occurrence, so fatal to the Jesuits and the 
 elder Bourbons, materially tended to the ad- 
 vancement of M. Thiers. Under the new govern- 
 ment he was nominated councillor of state, and 
 intrusted, without title, with the functions of 
 secretary-general to the ministry of finance under 
 Baron Louis. The first ministry appointed after 
 the elevation of Louis-Philippe, being composed 
 of heterogeneous materials, was speedily decom- 
 posed. Under the Lafitte administration, formed 
 in November 1830, Thiers received the official 
 title of under-secretary of state in the depart- 
 ment to which he was already attached. It 
 may be mentioned that he had previously pub-
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTICE OF M. THIERS AND HIS AVORK. 
 
 lished a pamphlet on Law's system, which, de- 
 veloping sound and compi'ehensive views of 
 finance, recommended him to that branch of the 
 public service. At the same time he was elected 
 deputy for the town of Aix, his alma mater, and 
 made his first appearance in the Chamber, where 
 he experienced a very unfavourable reception. 
 
 In person, M. Thiers is almost diminutive, 
 with a cast of features, though intellectual, re- 
 fiective and sarcastic, far from possessing the 
 traits of beauty. JMoreover, the face itself, small 
 in form, as befits the body, is encumbered with a 
 pair of spectacles so large that, when peering 
 over the marble edge of the long narrow pulpit, 
 styled the tribune, whence all speakers address 
 the Chamber, it is described as appearing rather 
 the appendage than the supporter of the two 
 glaring orbs of crystal. With such an exterior, 
 presenting something of the ludicrous, so fatal 
 to effect, especially in volatile France, M. Thiers, 
 full of recollections of Mirabeau, Vergniaud, and 
 other orators of the revolution, essayed at first 
 an ambitious style of oratory. The attempt 
 provoked derision, but only for a moment. In 
 his new sphere, as in the others he had passed 
 through, he soon arrived at distinction. Sub- 
 siding into the oratory natural to him, simple, 
 vigorous, and rapid, he approved himself one of 
 the most formidable of parliamentary debaters. 
 He became a leading man in the Chamber, and 
 head of the party known as the left-centre, occu- 
 pying an intermediate position between the 
 right-centre, or conservatives, and the extreme-left, 
 or radicals. 
 
 Parties are scarcely so strictly defined in 
 France as in England, or at least amalgamations 
 of them are more frequent. M. Thiers, though 
 identified at first with the more liberal section 
 of the Chamber, has nevertheless formed part of 
 administrations based upon principles of a rather 
 adverse tendency. In truth, political consistency 
 is not a very eminent virtue amongst the chief 
 statesmen on the other side of the channel. No 
 doubt a sense of duty impels these oscillations, 
 but they cause ruptures and alienations which 
 afFect the credit and character of public men. 
 M. Thiers has not escaped the charge of ter- 
 giversation, or failed to give great umbrage to 
 the party with which he was oi'iginally associated. 
 He became an object of suspicion to his former 
 allies by the support he gave Casimir-Pcrier's 
 ministry, founded on the juste-milieu, or middle- 
 course policy, which succeeded that of Lafitte, 
 and his subsequent career did not tend to restore 
 their confidence. He accepted the office of min- 
 ister of the interior under the Soult cabinet, 
 formed on the 11th October 1832, and from that 
 time until February 1836, continued to fill some 
 of the principal departments of state, as the 
 ministries of the interior, of commerce and pub- 
 lic works, and of foreign affairs, under various 
 chiefs, Marshals Soult, Gerard, Mortier, and 
 Broglie. At length, on the 22d February 1836, 
 he was himself elevated to the post of President 
 
 of the Council, or prime minister, the highest 
 dignity a subject can attain in France. His ad- 
 ministration was not of long duration, being 
 dissolved on the 25th August of the same year. 
 He then passed into opposition, but was again 
 called to the Presidency of the Council by the 
 king, in the beginning of the year 1840, which 
 he held until September of that year, when he 
 gave place to his great rival M. Guizot, under 
 the nominal premiership of Marshal Soult. 
 
 Up to September 1840, ]M. Thiers had always 
 professed himself a warm advocate of the English 
 alliance, but taking offence at the operations of 
 the British squadron against Mehemet All in 
 Syria, he then assumed a hostile attitude towards 
 this country, and doubtless but for the firm re- 
 sistance of the king, Louis Philippe, would have 
 provoked a war. This incident seems first to 
 have awakened the slumbering animosity of the 
 French against Great Britain, which has been 
 since expressed through their journals in no 
 measured terms. At aU events the cause of his 
 resignation has completely reinstated M. Thiers 
 in the good opinion of his early party, and it is 
 lamentable to admit that he may at the present 
 moment be ranked as one of the principal lead- 
 ers of the tear faction. For, strange as it may 
 appear, all other political differences are merged, 
 and the question of peace or war has become the 
 grand pivot of party polemics. "War without 
 object, without aim, save of vengeance for past 
 humiliations. 
 
 It is probable that M. Thiers has been driven 
 temporarily to side with this faction from posi- 
 tion rather than from real inclination. Personally 
 he must be averse to incur the hazards of a war 
 which would in all probability end in a fresh 
 revolution, especially if the French arms encoun- 
 tered reverses. If called again to power, as it 
 may happen within a brief interval, a heavy re- 
 sponsibility will weigh upon him, since upon the 
 policy he pursues the destinies of civilization 
 itself may depend. Thus there are few more 
 important personages at the present day than INI. 
 Thiers, and certainly he exhibits a remarkable 
 example of the social equality existing in France, 
 for in no other country could a man, so totally 
 destitute of every influential prestige, have risen 
 by the mere force of ability from an obscure sta- 
 tion to the very summit of social and political 
 eminence. There are instances in this country 
 of successful lawyers reaching dignity and rank 
 from hvimble origins, but in no other profession, 
 and least of all in literature or politics, the 
 epithet of " literary or political adventurer" 
 being deemed one of the most opprobious which 
 can be applied to an individual. The French, 
 on the contrary, are content to enlist talents in 
 their service wherever they may be manifested, 
 indifferent as to the family or fortune of their 
 possessor. 
 
 Having thus traced M. Thiers's past career, 
 and assigned his present position, it only remains 
 to add a few words on the subject of his great
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTICE OF M. THIERS AND HIS WORK. 
 
 work. One of its principal merits to an English 
 reader is, that it presents the revolution and all its 
 attendant circumstances in a peculiarly French 
 view. Every thing relative to France is more 
 fully developed, its internal condition, the various 
 parties that from time to time arose, obtained 
 supremacy, and eventually fell, the personages 
 who composed those parties and sviccessively 
 directed the storm, are all more strikingly and 
 circumstantially portrayed than could possibly 
 occur in the composition of a foreign writer. 
 Hence a more perfect insight is afforded into the 
 causes of the revolution, and a more distinct ap- 
 preciation of its numerous phases. The concerns 
 of other countries are rarely introduced, except 
 as they affect, for the moment, the interests of 
 France, and thus attention is exclusively direct- 
 ed to the one paramount object, the elucidation 
 of the event related. 
 
 The style of the work is in unison with its 
 design. Not formed upon the severe models of 
 Greece and Rome, it partakes more of conversa- 
 tional freedom, and is light and agreeable rather, 
 than stern and dignified. It is at times unequal; 
 occasionally mounting to pathos and eloquence, 
 and again descending below the standard of cor- 
 rectness. As in most modern French works, it 
 is not easy of translation, so as to preserve 
 its tone and spirit. In fact, with the country 
 itself, the language also has been revolutionized, 
 and every one acquainted with French literature 
 is conscious of the remarkable difference that 
 exists between the styles in vogue in the ISth 
 and 19th centuries. A certain brevity of ex- 
 pression and abruptness of transition has become 
 prevalent, rendering the meaning obscure and 
 difficult to render, with a due regard to fidelity, 
 into appropriate English. This singular manner 
 is carried to such excess by one historian, M. 
 IMichelet, that he may be said to write almost in 
 apostrophes. 
 
 As military events form so large a portion of 
 the history of the Revolution, it is gratifying 
 that M. Thiers treats them with unprecedented 
 clearness and precision. The plans of campaigns 
 and of battles are so lucidly unfolded that every 
 reader, however little conversant with martial 
 tactics, is enabled to sieze and comprehend 
 them. This is no ordinary recommendation, 
 since in general these accounts are given in such 
 
 confused and complicated verbiage, that few but 
 professional heads can form any distinct ideas 
 upon the matters detailed. The descriptions of 
 Hoche's operations in La Vendee and of Bona- 
 parte's first campaign in Italy, are more par- 
 ticularly distinguished for this clearness of ex- 
 position. In fact, for a civilian, M. Thiers dis- 
 plays an extraordinary knowledge of the art of 
 war. He appears, indeed, like all his country- 
 men, to entertain too decided a partiality for it, 
 esteeming military success as the highest of 
 human glories. After aU, this feeling is not 
 confined to the French, for in all countries the 
 most substantial rewards and honours seem 
 awarded to fortunate warriors. 
 
 One reproach has been urged against M. Thiers 
 in his history, which it may be necessary to no- 
 tice. It is the view of inevitability, or fatalism, 
 which he inclines to take of many of the atro- 
 cities committed during the revolution. This 
 charge is made against him at least, and prin- 
 cipally by those who are prone to exculpate the 
 enormities of kings or princes, regarding them 
 as beings incapable of wrong ; but with com- 
 paratively little justice. He is no apologist of 
 the reign of terror, but represents popular ex- 
 cesses in no more heinous light than they reaUy 
 merit. In a national outbreak, Thiers argues, 
 they were unavoidable, and in truth were fre- 
 quently provoked by impolitic opposition; and 
 when France was threatened with invasion by 
 combined Europe, revolutionary fury was driven, 
 by fears and motives of self-defence, to the com- 
 m'-'^ion of crimes that would not have occurred 
 if it had been left quietly to exhaust itself. This 
 is an opinion daily gaining ground, and it is now 
 pretty generally admitted that the coalition in 
 1793 chiefly occasioned all the mischief that 
 subsequently befel France and Europe at large. 
 Thiers's doctrine goes no farther than this, if 
 indeed quite so far. With regard to any dogma 
 about the revolution being predestined for the re- 
 generation of the world, such ideas are so purely 
 speculative as to admit neither of corroboration 
 nor of refutation. 
 
 In order to render the work more complete, a 
 sketch of the history of Prance, fi-om the founda- 
 tion of the monarchy to the commencement of 
 the revolution, has been prefixed. 
 
 IGth October, IStt
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF FRANCE TO 
 THE REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. 
 
 France before and during the dominion of the Romans, 5 
 
 Establishment of the Gothic and German nations in 
 
 France, ....... 5 
 
 Conquest of the Franks under Clovis. — Ci^dl State of the 
 
 Populations in France, ..... 6 
 
 Successors of Clovis. — Origrin of Feudalism, . . 7 
 
 Mayors of the Palace. — Kings irithout power. — Charles 
 
 Martel. — Fiefs, ...... 8 
 
 Pepin the Short, the First King of the Carlovingian race. 
 
 — The Clergy, a Political order, .... 8 
 
 Charlemagne.— The Western Roman empire restorea tor 
 
 a time, ....... 8 
 
 Louis the Good-natured. — Power of the Clergy. — Judicial 
 
 ordeals. — The Duel. — Language, ... 3 
 
 Decay of the Empire under Charles the Bald. — The 
 
 Feudal System, ..... 10 
 
 Decay of the Royal power and of the Carlovingian race. 
 
 — Establishment of the Normans, ... 10 
 
 Accession of the Race of the Capets. — Despotism of the 
 
 Monks, ....... 11 
 
 First Crusade. — Power of the Monks, . . .12 
 
 First Rise of the Boroughs under Louis the Fat, . 12 
 
 Suger. — Conquests of Philip Augustus. — The Albigenses, 13 
 Reign of Louis IX.— Justice begins to displace tihe feudal 
 
 ferocity, . . . . . . .13 
 
 Estabhshment of National Assemblies under Philip the 
 
 Handsome.— The Templars. — Parliament of Paris, 14 
 
 Enfranchisement of the Peasant-Serfs. — Reverses under 
 
 Philip of Valois, ..... x5 
 
 King John. — His Captivity. — The States exercised the 
 
 Sovereignty. — Jackerie, . .... 16 
 
 Charles T. — DuguescUn. — The Royal power regains the 
 
 supremacy. — The Fourteenth century, . . 17 
 
 Minority of Charles VI. — His Madness.-^Civil War, . 17 
 
 Continuation of the Civil War. — The English at Paris. — 
 
 Pennanent Parliament, . . . . .18 
 
 The Maidof Orleans..— Charles VII.— France reconquered, 18 
 Louis XI. — Oppression of the People, and humbling of the 
 
 Nobles, ....... 19 
 
 Charles VIII. — States-General. — Conquests and reverses 
 
 in Italy. — Fifteenth century, .... 19 
 
 Louis Xlf. — E.xternal Wars.— Paternal Administration, 20 
 
 Francis I.— Charles V. — Luther and Calvin. — Revival of 
 
 Letters, ....... 
 
 Henry II. — Continuation of the Wars of Francis I., . 
 Religious Factions under Francis II.. 
 Charles IX.— Civil War.- St. liartholomew, 
 The League.— The Sixteen. — Henry III., 
 End of the League. — Entry of Henry IV. into Paris.— Six- 
 teenth century, ...... 
 
 Reign of Henry'lV., ..... 
 
 Richelieu.— Lous XIII. — Despotism, 
 
 Mazarin. — Minority of Louis XIV.— The Fronde, 
 
 Prosperity of Louis XIV., ..... 
 
 Reverses of Louis XIV. — The Seventeenth century, . 
 The Regency.— Reign of Louis XV.— The Eigliteenth cen- 
 tury, ....... 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Preface of .M. Thiers, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The States-General, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Accession of Louis XVI.— Commencement of the Revolu- 
 tion, ....... 2G 
 
 Troubles in Paris —Lafayette. — Mirabcau.— Proceedings of 
 the Assembly in framing the Constitution, . . 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Intriguesof the Court.— Attack on the Palace of Versailles. 
 —The King and the Assembly remove to Paris.— For- 
 mation of Clubs, ...... 60 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 State of European Powers.— First issue of Assignats 
 
 Festival of the Federation.— Resignation of Necker.— 
 CivU Oath imposed upon the Clergy, ... 75 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Progress of the Emigration.— Death of Mirabeau.— Flight 
 of the King, and his capture.— Declaration of PUnitz. — 
 Termination of the Constituent Assembly, . . 87 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 The Legislative Assembly, .... 98 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Emigrant Princes impeached.— Formation of a Gir- 
 ondist ministry.— Declaration of War against Austria. — 
 Flights of Quieorain and Tournay, . . . 113 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 From April to the events of the 20th June, . . 122 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Consequences of the 20th June, and events subsequent to 
 August 1792, 135 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Insurrection of the 10th August, and suspension of the 
 King, 152 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Situation of Parties within and without the Assembly .nfter 
 the 10th August— Taking of Longwy by the Prussians.— 
 Massacres of September, and their principal circum- 
 stances, ....... 160 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 Campaign of the Argonne. — Victory of Valiiiy.— P.otrcat of 
 the Allies, . . . . . " . . 17G 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Massacres of Versailles.— Opening of the National Conven- 
 tion, 20th September, 1792. — Establishment of the Re- 
 public, ....... 182 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Military operations at the end of October 1792.— Second 
 Contest between the Girondists and the Jtoiiiitiiiii. — I'le- 
 liminary propositions for the Trial of Louis XVI., . 192 
 
 Military operations.- 
 Belgium, 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 -Victory of Jemappcs. — Conquest of 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Proceedings relative to the trial of Louis XVI. — His First 
 Examination before the Convention,
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Continuation of the Trial of Louis XTI.— His Defence.— 
 His Conclenination.— His last uiiuutos in the prison and ^ 
 on the scatl'old, ...... 226 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Position of Parties after the Death of Louis XVI.— Aspect 
 of Foreign Affairs.— Second ("nalitiun atrainst France.- 
 Struggles between the (Tirondists and .Mountaineers. — 
 Establishment of the Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal, 236 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Militarv reverses, and their consequences.— Beginning of 
 the troubles in La Vendee.— Revolutionary Decrees.— 
 Arrest of the Duke of Orleans and his F amily.— Treason 
 and Flight of Dumouriez, ..... 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 Establishment of the Committee of Public VCelfare.— Re- 
 newal of the Stniggle between the two Parties in the Con- 
 vention. — Impeachment of Marat. — His acquittal and 
 triumph. — State of Opinion in the Chief Towns. — Sketch 
 of Brittany and La A'endee, and the Causes of the Civil 
 War, 2GI 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 Levy of a Parisian army of 12,000 Men.— Increasing ferment 
 amongst the Revolutionists. — Contest between the Com- 
 nume^and the Convention. — Principal Events of the 2Sth, 
 2'Jth, and 30th Jlay, ITiCl- Last Struggle between the 
 Girondists and Mountaineers.— Twenty-nine Girondists 
 an-ested.— Glance at the Progress of the Revolution, . 270 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 Projects of the Jacobins after the 31st May.— The Girond- 
 ists excite the departments against the Convention. — 
 Military Events on the Rhine and in the North.— Siege 
 of Slayence by the Prussians. — Assassination of Marat 
 bf Charlotte Corday, 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Distribution of Parties since the 31st May.— Discredit of 
 Danton.— Reverses in La Vendee.— Capture of Mayence 
 and Valenciennes. — Imminent peril of the Republic in 
 August 1793, and measures of violence consequent thereon, 305 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Festival of the 10th August, and Inauguration of the Con- 
 stitution of 1793.— Ex'traordinai7 measures, military, ad- 
 ministrative, and financial, occasioned by the imminent 
 Dangers of tlie Country.— Decrees of vengeance, . 318 
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 
 Military operations in August and September 1793. — Toulon 
 deUvered to the English.— Defeat of the Duke of York.— 
 Reverses in La Vendee.— Establishment of the Revolu- 
 tionary Government.— Trial of Custine, and his execu- 
 tion, ........ 327 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Capture of Lvons, and terrible retribution on its inhabi- 
 tants—Victory of Watiguics.— Reduction of La Vendee. 
 — Reverses on the Rhine, ..... 342 
 
 ' CHAPTER XXVin. 
 
 Proscriptions at Lyons, Marseilles, and Rourdoaux.- Exe- 
 cution of Marie-Antoinette, tlie (arondists. tlie Duke of 
 Orleans, Bailly, and Madame Roland.— Institution of the 
 Republican Calendar and the Worship of Reason, . 350 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Return of Danton. — Divisions in the party of the Mountain. 
 Abohtion of the Worship of Reason. — Final Consolida- 
 tion of the Revolutionary Government. — Arrest of Ronsin, 
 Vincent, and Foreign emissaries, . . .364 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 Close of the Campaign of 1793.— Retreat of the Austrians 
 and Prussians. — Siege and cajiture of Toulon. — Irruption 
 of the Vendeans beyond the Loire. — Their defeat at 
 Mans, and destruction at Savenay.— General retrospect 
 as to tlie Campaign of 1793, . . . .371 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Contest between the Hebertists and Dantonists.— The Com- 
 mittee of Public Welfare places itself between the two 
 
 Page 
 parties.— Famine in Paris. — Efforts of the Hebertists. — 
 Arrest and death of llebert, Chaumette, <tc. — Arrest, 
 trial, and e.\ecution of Danton, CamiUe-Desmoulins, <fcc., 381 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 Consequencesof the last condemnations against the parties 
 opposed to the Government. — Effortsof the Cunniiittce of 
 Public Welfare to concentrate all jiuwer in it-sulf — The 
 Convention, upon a report of Robespierre, proclaims, in 
 the name of the French people, the recognition of the 
 Supreme Being, and the Immortality of the Soul, . 403 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIIL 
 
 State of Europe at the commencement of the year 1794. — 
 Policy and plans of the Allies and of France. — Opening 
 of the Campaign. — Victory of Turcoing. — ^ Close of the 
 War in La Vendee, and beginning of that of the Chouans. 
 — Events in the French Colonies. — Disaster of St. Do- 
 mingo. — Loss of Martinique. — Naval battle, . .409 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Domestic state of France at the beginning of 1794. — Poli- 
 tical persecutions. — Attempt to assassinate Robespierre 
 and Collot d'Herbois. — Domination of Robespierre. — Fes- 
 tival to the Supreme Being. — Executions at Paris and 
 elsewhere. — Drownings in the Loire. — Rupture in the 
 Committee of Public Welfare, and retb-ement of Robe- 
 spierre, ........ 417 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Operations of the army of the North towards the middle 
 of 1794.— Capture of Vpres. — Battle of Fleurus. — Occupa- 
 tion of Brussels. — Last days of the Reign of Terror. — 
 8th and 9th Thermidor ; arrest and execution of Robe- 
 spierre and his confederates. — Progress of the Revolu- 
 tion fi-om 1789 to the 9th Thermidor, . . .432 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Consequences of the 9th Thermidor. — Modifications of the 
 Revolutionary Government. — Suspension of the Revolu- 
 tionary Tribunal and liberation of the suspected.— The 
 Convention divided into two parties — the Mountaineers 
 and the Thei-midorians.- State of the Finances, of Trade, 
 and of Agriculture, after the Reign of Terror. — Numerous 
 decrees regulating the .administration. — The remains of 
 Marat trarisjiorted to the Pantheon and deposited in the 
 place occupied by Mirabeau's, .... 445 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Resumption of military operations. — Surrender of Conde, 
 Valenciennes, &c.— Dejection of the Alhes. — Passage of 
 the Meuse. — Occupation of the Rhine along its whole 
 course.— Situation of the armies on the Alps and Pyre- 
 nees. — The success of the French on all points. — La 
 Vendee and Brittany; War of the Chouans.— Royalist 
 intrigues in France, . . . . . .45 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Administrative reforms. — Alteration of manners.— Saloons 
 of Paris. — Conflicts between tlie two parties. — Jlodifica- 
 tinns in the maximum and the system of requisitions. — 
 Attack on tlie Hall of the Jacobin Club, and closing 
 tiureof— Return of the Seventy-three Deputies impris- 
 oned after the 31st M.ay. — Condemnation of CaiTier.— 
 Proceedings commenced against Billaud-Varreues, Col- 
 lot d'Herbois, and Barrere, ..... 463 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Continuation of the War on the Rhine.— Capture of Nime- 
 guen by the Frencai.- Conquest of Holland by Pichepru. 
 — Capture of Utrecht, Amsterdam, and the principal 
 towns.— New political organization of HoUand.- Victories 
 on the Pyrenees.— Close of the Campaign of 1794.— Nego- 
 tiations "for peace.— State of La Vendee and Brittany. — 
 Negotiations with the Vendean chiefs, . . .475 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Reopening of the Theatres and learned Societies.— Estab- 
 lishmiiit of Schools.— Decrees relative to Commerce, &,c. 
 ^Scarcity of Provisions. — Abolition of the maximum and 
 reqiiisitio'iLS.— Rcins-tatement of the Girondist deputies. 
 -Tumults occasioned liv the dearth. — Insm-rection of 
 tlie P-'tli Giriuinal. — isiinishment of Barrere, Collot- 
 d'llerbois, and liillaud- Varennes. — Arrest of several 
 mountaineer deputies.— Disarming of the Patriots, . 482 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 
 Continuation of the negotiations at Basle.— Treaty of Peace 
 with Holland; also with Prussia.— Pohcy of Austria and 
 the Emiiire.- Peace with Tuscany.— Submission of Cha- 
 rctte and other Vendean chiefs.— Feigned Peace of the
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Breton chiefs.— State of Austria and England.— Discus- 
 sions in the British Parliament.— Preparations of the 
 Coalition for a new Campaign, . . . • 498 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 New Conspiracy of the Patriots.— Massacre in the Prisons 
 of Lyons.— Administrative and Financial modifications. 
 —Insurrection of the 1st Prairial ; Events of tliat day 
 and the followinf:.— Arrest and execution of several re- 
 presentatives.— Disarming of the Patriots.— Measures for 
 the retirement of Assignats, ... . 507 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Situation of the armies in the Year III.— First indications 
 of Pichegru's treason. — Intrigues of the Royalists in La 
 Vendee and Brittany. — Renewal of Hostilities in those 
 countries. — E.xpedition of Quiberon.— Peace with Spain. 
 — Passage of the Rhine by the French armies, . . 521 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Machinations of the Royalist party.— Directorial Consti- 
 tution, and Decrees of'the 5th and 13th Fructidor. — Ac- 
 ceptance thereof by the Primarv Assemblies. — Insurrec- 
 tion of the 13th Vendemiare ; l)efeat of the Insurgent 
 Sections. — Dissolution of the National Convention, . 534 
 
 CHAPTER XLY. 
 
 Installation of the Legislative Body and Directory. — First 
 measures of the Directory. — Resumption of Hostilities in 
 Brittany and La Vendee. — Forced Loan by the Directory. 
 ^Armistice concluded on the Rhine. — Operations of the 
 Amiy of Italy. — Expedition of Isle-Dieu, and departure 
 of the English squadron. — Results of the Campaign of 
 1795, 547 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 Continuation of Administrative labours by the Directory. 
 — Parties in the Legislative Body. — Discontent of the 
 Jacobins. — Institution of the Ministry of Police. — Finan- 
 cial embarrassments ; Creation of Mandats.- — Conspiracy 
 of Baba?uf — Pacification of La Vendee ; Deaths of Stot- 
 flet and Charette, ...... 5G1 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIL 
 
 Campaign of 179G. — Conquest of Piedmont and Lombardy 
 by General Bonaparte. — Hattles of Montenotte and Mil- 
 lesimo. — Passage of the Bridge of Lodi.— Military Opera- 
 tions in the North. — Battles of Kastadt and Ettlingen. — 
 The Army of Italy on the Adige and the Danube, . 572 
 
 CHAPTER XLVin. 
 
 Internal state of France in the fniddle of 179C. — Financial 
 embarrassments. — Renewal of the Family-compact with 
 Spain, and project of Quadruple alliance. — Projected 
 Expedition into Ireland. — Battles of Lonato and Castig- 
 lioue in Italy. ^ Operations on the Danube; Battle of 
 Neresheim. — March of Bonaparte on the Brenta ; Battles 
 of Bovercdo, Bassano, and St. George. — Battle of Wvu'z- 
 bvu'g ; Retreat of Moreau and of Jourdan, . . 591 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Internal and external situation of France at the commence- 
 ment of the Year V. — Overtures by England towards a 
 negotiation \rith tlie Directory. — Arrival of Lord Malmes- 
 bury at Paris. — Peace with Naples and Genoa ; Fruitless 
 negotiations with the Pope ; Deposition of the l>uke of 
 Modcna ; Foundation of the Cispadan Republic. — New 
 efforts of the Austrians in Italy ; Perilous jiosition of the 
 French army ; Battle of Arcole, .... 608 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 Clarke at the Head-quarters of the Army of Italy. —Rup- 
 ture of the negotiations with the British Cabiiiet.--Expc- 
 dition to Ireland. — Administrative labours of the Direc- 
 tory during the winter of the Year V. — State of the 
 Finances. — Capitulation of Kehl. — Last attemi>t of Aus- 
 tria ujion Italy. — Victories of Ilivoli and La !• avorita. — 
 Fall of Mantua. — Close of the memorable Campaign of 
 1796, 617 
 
 CHAPTER LL 
 
 Situation of the Government in the winter of the Vear V. 
 (17'.)7.) — Characters and disputes of the Five Directf)rs. 
 — Club of Clichy ; Intrigues of the Royalist faction. — Plot 
 of Brottier and accomplices discovered. — Elections of the 
 Year V. — Glance at the situation of Foreign Powers at 
 the opening of tlie Campaign of 1797, . . . G27 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 State of the French armies at the opening of the Campaign 
 of 1797. — March of Bonaparte against the Roman States. 
 — Treaty of Tolentino with the Pope. — Fresh Campaign 
 against the Austrians.— Passage of the TagUamento, and 
 Battle of Tarms. — Passage of the Julian Alps, and march 
 on Vienna. — Preliminaries of Peace signed with Austria 
 at Leoben.— Passage of the Rhine. — Perfidy of the Vene- 
 tians. — Massacre of Verona. — Fall of the Republic of 
 Venice, ........ 635 
 
 CHAPTER Lin. 
 
 Bonaparte's position vsith regard to the Directory. — Em- 
 barrassing situation of England after the preliminaries 
 of Peace with Austria. — Renewed proposals for Peace 
 and Conferences at Lille. — Elections of the Year V. — 
 Contest between the Councils and Directory. — Statement 
 of the Finances of the Year V. — Return of the Priests 
 and Emigrants. — Intrigues of the Royalist party. — Po- 
 sition and strength of parties. — Disposition of the 
 armies, ........ 652 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 Preparations of the Opposition and Clichyans against the 
 Directory. — Hostility of the Councils. — Project of law as 
 to the National Guard and against Political Societies. — 
 Fete to the Army of Italy.— Negotiations for Peace with 
 the Emperor and England. — Complaint of the Councils 
 regarding the march of troops. — Divisions in the party 
 of the Opposition. — Definitive plan of the Directory 
 against the majority of the Councils. — Coup d'etat of the 
 18th Fructidor. — Invasion of the two Councils by an 
 armed force. — Banishment of Fifty-three Deputies, two 
 Directors, and other Citizens. — Consequences of this 
 Revolution, . . . . . . .666 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 Consequences of the 18th Fi-uctidor.— Disgrace of Moreau. 
 — Death of Iloche. — Law against the Old Nobility. — Rup- 
 ture of the Conferences at LiUe with England.— Negotia- 
 tions at Udine. — Proceedings of Bonaparte in Italy ; the 
 Foundation of the Cisalpine Republic ; the Ligurian Con- 
 stitution ; Establishments in the MediteiTanean. — Treaty 
 of Campo-Formio.— Return of Bonaparte to Paris; Tri- 
 umphal Festival, ...... 682 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 General Bonaparte at Paris ; his relations with the Direc- 
 tory. — Project of an Invasion of England. — Congress of 
 Rastadt. — Causes of Difficulty in the negotiations. — 
 Revolutions in Holland, Rome, and Smtzerland. — Do- 
 mestic situation of France ; Elections of the Year VI. ; 
 Nomination of Treilhard to the Directoi-y. — Expedition 
 to Egypt substituted for an Invasion of England ; Pre- 
 parations for that Expedition, .... 692 
 
 CHAPTER LVH. 
 
 Expedition to Egypt. — Departure from Toulon ; Arrival at 
 Malta; Reduction of that Island. — Disembarkation at 
 Alexandria; Capture of that City. — March u]ion Cairo. — 
 Battle of the Pyramids; Occupation of Cairo. — .\dniin- 
 istrative labours of Bonaparte in Egypt ; Organization ot 
 the New Colony. — Battle of Aboukir ; Destruction of the 
 French fleet by the English, ..... 706 
 
 CHAPTER LVin. 
 
 Effect of the Expedition of Eg\-pt in Europe.- Fatal Con- 
 sequences of tlie Battle of .\bonkir. — Declaration of War 
 by the Porto. — Eft'orts of England to fomi a New Coali- 
 tion. — Conferences «ith Austria. — Fresli commotions in 
 Holland. Switzerland, and the Italian IJepublics. — Change 
 in the Cisalpine Constitution. — Domestic situation of 
 France. A new opposition in the Councils. — General 
 disposition for War. Law of the Conscription. — Finances 
 of the Year VII.— Resumption of Hostilities. Invasion 
 of the Roman States by the Neapolitan army. — Conquest 
 of Nafiles by General Chanipiounet. — Abdication of the 
 King of Sardinia, ...... 717 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 State of the Administration of the Republic and of the 
 Armies at the coniiiii iiccnient of 1799. — Military prepara- 
 tions. — Levy of L'OO.dOO Conscripts. — Declaration of War 
 against Austria. — Opening of the Campaign. — Invasion 
 of the Orisons. — Battle of Stockach. — Retreat of Jour- 
 dan. — Military operations in Italv. — Battle of Magnano. 
 — Retreat of Scherer. — Assassination of the French Pleni- 
 potentiaries at Rastadt — Elections of the Year VII. — 
 Sicyos elected a Director in place of Rewbell, . . 729
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Page 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Continuation of the Campaign of 1799 ; Massena combines 
 tlie command of the Armies of Helvetia and the Danube 
 and occupies the hne of the Limmat.— An-ival of Suwar- 
 rov in Italy.— Scherer transfers the command to Moreau. 
 — Kattle of Cassano.— Retreat of Moreau.— Attempt to 
 join the Army of Naples ; Rattle of the Trebbia.— Coali- 
 ♦r^ntj'll Parties against the Dii-ectory.-Revolution of 
 the 30th Prau-ial, . . . . . -.jj 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Formation of the New Directory. —Moulins and Roger- 
 JJucos succeed Larevelliere and MerUn.- Le^-^- of all tho 
 Classes of Conscripts. - 1-orced Loan of One Hundred 
 Mdhons.-Fresh Militarj- I'lans.-Resumption of Opera, 
 hons in Italy. — Joubert General -in- Chief — Battle of 
 No\T and Death of Joubert.— Debarkation of the An-lo- 
 Russiansm Holland. -New Troubles in the Interfor- 
 Arrest of Eleven Journalists; Motion to declare the 
 Country in danger, ..... -'■o 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 Pag« 
 
 ^n'!I^.«t"ff''t" °^ Bonaparte's operations in Egvrt.-Con- 
 
 torv nf 7 "\'"\^ "^ Suwarrov into Switzerland -VC 
 tory of Zunch ; Retreat of Suwarrov.-Events in Ho^ 
 rut' ^^*«='' and Capitulation of the Angl,^Rus Lns -i' 
 Closeof the Campaign of 1799, . . ^vu^ians.- 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 Return of Bonaparte.-His debarkation at Freius -Fi 
 citement among aU Parties on his retum.-Hit''coalition 
 with Sieyes to overturn the Directorial Constiturion^ 
 Preparations for and Revolution of the 18th irumah-e 
 Uiis mstoV "^' ^^-'--al Consulate!!lconclu^on7f 
 
 •'' 767
 
 SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF FRANCE TO THE REIGN 
 
 OF LOUIS XVL 
 
 FRANCE BEFORE AND DURING THE DOMINION 
 OF THE ROMANS. 
 
 The nations whicli peopled France in tlie remote era 
 of its history, are known to us only from the accounts 
 of the Romans their conquerors. There is no doubt 
 those tribes were descended from previous conquerors, 
 mixed witli tlie vanquished people. Caesar represents 
 them as warlike, always armed, and prompt to termi- 
 nate their disputes by combat ; fickle, somewhat in- 
 clined to idleness, but hospitable, generous, confiding, 
 and sincere. They were so impressed with what is 
 called the right of the strongest (as if force were in fact 
 a right), that they claimed to be masters of the lives 
 of their \vives and children. The Druids, their priests, 
 and sole possessors of certain doctrines, w^ere assured 
 of their obedience from their credulity. Those priests 
 supported their authority by tlie terror of anathemas ; 
 they were exempt from the burdens of the commm\ity, 
 and engrossed much of its wealth. In common with 
 many other barbarians, they sacrificed human victuns. 
 It is, nevertlieless, alleged, that they upheld the 
 dogma of a future life, and the belief m a supreme 
 being ; but it seems more probable that they merelj- 
 practised the superstitions of a i^olytheism, or of a 
 barbarous fetichism. The poets, or bards, executed 
 martial songs tending to animate the combatants, and 
 perpetuate the renown of heroes. 
 
 These tribes, whom the Romans called Gauls, and 
 who gave themselves the name of Celts, were for the 
 most part governed aristocratically. The military 
 chiefs, and men of superior daring, formed what we 
 describe in modern language by the word nubility; 
 they held riches and power, whilst to the multitude 
 was left nothing but slavery and misery. Gaul was 
 a species of confederation ; each tribe was governed 
 by a richs^ or king, elected by the fighting men, or 
 nobles. These kings were far from possessing abso- 
 lute power. One of them said to Caesar, " The re- 
 public has as much authority over me, as I power 
 over it." 
 
 Roman discipline, under the genius and fortune of 
 Csesar, triumphed over Gallic valour in the course 
 of ten years. By the policy of the conqueror, di\isions 
 were sown amongst the confederated triljcs, and, by 
 a skilful use of allies and partisans, he vanquisliod 
 them by means of themselves. In proimrtion as the 
 Gauls were impetuous in attack, tlicy were discou- 
 raged by repulse and overthrow. JJesiilcs, colonies 
 had begim what conquest conqjleted; tlie Gauls became 
 Romans ; new arts and manners were imparted to 
 them, and civilisation finally bent them to the yoke. 
 The municipal sj'stem and improved agriculture of 
 the Romans soon rendered Gaul a flourishing pro- 
 Tince, and then dcsjiotism prev( d uiiou it. This con- 
 dition lasted for four centuries, at tne end of Mliicli 
 the Gauls were in the depth of misery, devastated by 
 proconsuls, torn by factions, and alternating between 
 insurrection and submission to ephemeral tyrants. 
 
 At this period, Christianity was established in the 
 Roman empire, in the midst of those frightful ravages 
 attendant upon the inroads of several barbarian tribes. 
 It was a religion for the oppressed and the wearied ; 
 the Gospel — a code of philanthropy, equality, and 
 consolation to the wretched — was spread abroad over 
 the Gallic provinces. In 325, the Emperor Constan- 
 tino decreed the public exercise of the Christian reli- 
 gion, which for a moment re-established order. The 
 bishops enjoyed popularity, and despotism caressed 
 them, to secure the obedience of the people. They 
 were not long in gradually enfranchising themselves 
 from all civil dominion, and the Bishop of Rome, who 
 has since been exalted to the rank of sovereign pontilT, 
 had thus early a spiritual supremacy and temporal 
 influence. The civilisation, arts, and literature of 
 the Romans, were in decay ; the empire, divided and 
 laid waste, was crumbling into ruins ; discipline was 
 relaxed ; tlie prestige of tlie Roman name was at an 
 end ; ignorance and barbarism were extending their 
 darkness over those fine provinces which had been 
 so prosperous under the administration of those phi- 
 losophic emperors„ Trajan, Antoninus, and Marcus 
 Aurelius. 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOTHIC AND GERMAN 
 NATIONS IN FRANCE. 
 
 The barbarian tribes of the north of Europe, at- 
 tracted by the mild climate and richness of the jiro 
 vinces of the empire, had made frequent incursions 
 into them ; but they had been repelled, either by force, 
 or by treaties and subsidies. This last expedient was 
 mischievous, but despotism, sunk in decrepitude, often 
 employed it ; and degenerate Rome even had recom-se 
 to the arms of its enemies to defend itself against foes 
 of similar character. Legions of barbarians were 
 subsidised to guard the frontiers. A tribe of Franks, 
 a nation of Germany, was long entrusted Avith the 
 defence of the banks of the Rhine. At length, these 
 barbarians, liaving learnt from the Romans tlie art of 
 fighting, were moved to turn the knowledge to their 
 own profit; they preferred invading the emjjire to 
 merely guarding it, and amidst the disorder reigning 
 within it, they conceived the project of forming dur- 
 able settlements. The Vesogotlis, or Visigoths, had 
 installed themselves in Sjiain iind the south of France ; 
 the Ihinjiiniiians had fixed themselves in the east ; and 
 the Franks in Belgium. These Franks had been iu 
 closer relation witli the Romans than the rest of 
 the liarbarians. They marched in several tribes, or 
 armies, and at the head of each was an elective chief, 
 'i'lie monks, who have written some wretched chro- 
 nicles upon those times, have preserved the names of 
 certain of these Frank leaders, of whom our zealous 
 monarchical historians liave made kings of Franco. 
 Fur-Ill iiikI, Chlod, Merveg, Ilihl-rik, were more or less 
 poweii'ul. 'J'he existence of the first is uncertain.
 
 HiSTOIlY OF FRANCE. 
 
 Aetius (a. d. 420), general of Valentinian III., gained 
 some advantage over the second, vanejuished several 
 barbarous tribes, and re-established, for a fleeting 
 period, the Roman authority in the Gauls, except in 
 Armorica (now Brittany), which had declared itself 
 independent. About that time (4.51), the cloud of 
 Tartars which Attila, styled the scvurge of God, was 
 leading to the pillage of the world, fell in his progress 
 on the Gauls. Aetius made peace with the other 
 enemies of the empire, joined his army to that of the 
 Visigoths, and conquered Attila in tlie plains of 
 Chalons in Champagne. Without the occurrence of 
 tliat great victory, it is possible the race of the Gauls 
 might have been at the present day mingled with that 
 of the Huns. 
 
 At that period (459), the son of Merveg or Mero- 
 va;us, whom Ave name Childeric, commanded the 
 Franks, established at Tournay. His subjects de- 
 posed him because he seduced their daughters. It 
 would api)ear that this right of the Franks was after- 
 wards held to have fallen into disuse ; but the fact 
 itself is worthy of notice, because it proves that the 
 Franks were accustomed to depose their kings. They 
 chose in his place the leader of the Roman militia, 
 ^gidius. But a Roman patrician, his enemy, having 
 excited against him the Visigoths, and even the tribe 
 of Ripuarian Franks, he formed an alliance witli 
 Childeric, and tliey conjointly overcame the Visigoths 
 at Orleans, in 463. Childeric being an excellent 
 warrior, recovered the favour of his Franks. He 
 resided at Tom-nay, and made few incursions into 
 Gaul. Wlien he died (480), he left liis son, a boy 
 of sixteen, at the head of his tribe, which was called 
 Salic. I have not touched upon all the events which the 
 history of the Gauls presents at this epoch ; even 
 were space abundant, they are uninteresting ; we have 
 relations of nmnerous battles and alliances by turns 
 between the Romans, the Franks, tlie Visigoths, and 
 other barbarians ; of ambitious generals, raised by 
 tlie intrigiies of the imperial court, speedily over- 
 throwing their imbecile masters, and occasionally 
 stimulating irriiptions of the barbarians, when such 
 a course was suitable to their designs. The empire 
 of the west had come to a close dmring that era ; the 
 Saxons occupied Anjou and Maine; the Burgmnlians 
 the coimtry of the Sequani ; the Visigoths tlie south 
 as far as the Loire ; the Allcmanni and the Franks 
 disputed the possession of tlie north ; the Romans or 
 Gauls preserved the rest ; and the Annorici were in- 
 dependent. 
 
 CONQUEST OF THE FRANKS TINDER CLOVIS.— CIVIL 
 STATE OF THE POPULATIONS IN FRANCE. 
 
 (a.d. 481.) The son of Hildrick was Hlodwech or 
 Chlodovech ; we call him Clovis, and this name ap- 
 pears to have a common origin with that of Hludvick 
 or Louis. His territory was confined, and lie had for 
 neighbours different tribes of Franks. He was ambi- 
 tious, and had all tlie talents of a conqueror. He 
 conceived the project of rendering himself master of 
 all Gaul. Having united under his standard another 
 Fraiikish tribe, his first conquest was over Sj-agrius 
 (486), tiie son of iEgidius, who governed the Gallo- 
 Romans of Soissons, wliom, having forced to surrender 
 himself, he decapitated. Clovis subsequently allied 
 himself with the Ripuarian Franks, and still more 
 increased his power and influence in the Gauls by 
 marrying Clotilda (493), the daughter of a king of 
 the Burgundians. This princess was a Christian, and 
 by espousing her, Clovis proclaimed himself the pro- 
 tector of all the Christians in Gaul, who composed 
 the greatest part of the population, and at the same 
 time secured their support in return. He soon had 
 occasion for recourse to it ; formidable competitors 
 for dominion presented themselves in the AUemanni, 
 whose army was composed of different hordes cf 
 
 German devastators. In conjunction with the Ripu- 
 arians, he gave them battle at Tolbiac (496), near 
 Cologne, and routed them. The chronicler Gregory, 
 in relating this victory, mentions a circumstance too 
 much resembling the Laharum of Constantine, to in- 
 duce me to consider it any thing but a fable. It is 
 possible, however, that in the luicertainty of the 
 battle, the Frank king publicly vowed to become a 
 Christian, as a means of animating the courage of the 
 numerous soldiers of that religion serving in his array. 
 The bishop Remigius, or Remi, baptised him, it is 
 stated, at Rheims, together with a part of his army ; 
 but the similarity of the name with that of the city 
 throws an air of suspicion over the relation. The 
 history of these times is thickly strewed with false- 
 hoods and miracles. 
 
 The Romans had frequently decorated the barbarian 
 princes with their titles of dignity, in order to gain 
 them by flattering their vanity. Clovis had the title 
 of master of the Roman militia; after the defeat of 
 iEgidius, he was so in substance. His conversion 
 drew all the orthodox Romans under his sway. The 
 kings of the Visigoths were also Christians, but Arians, 
 that is to say, they disbelieved the divinity of Jesus. 
 The confederated Armorici, agauist whom Clovis had 
 long waged war, and one of whose cities, Paris, he 
 had taken in 494, were reduced to peace. The Visi- 
 goths and Burgundians alone remained for him to 
 conquer, and he began with the latter. Clotilda her 
 self excited him to the attack, to gratify her revenge 
 against Gondeband, who had murdered her father. 
 Clovis, who seldom entered iipon an important enter- 
 prise without an ally, proposed to share the conquest 
 with the powerful Theodoric, then reigning over the 
 Goths, and endeavouring to restore the Roman civili- 
 sation in Ijaly ; but Clovis achieved their subjugation 
 without him (500), which did not prevent Theodoric 
 taking possession of his stipiilated portion. The 
 defeat of Gondeliand had been mainly owing to the 
 defection of the Christians, which convinced that chief 
 of tlie necessity of jielding to the predominant opi- 
 nion ; and having declared liimself a Christian, Clovis 
 replaced hun on the throne as his tributary. This 
 moderation was doubtless caused by the jealousy of 
 Theodbric at the aggrandisement of Clovis, which 
 likewise operated in delaying the subjugation of the 
 Visigoths. However, their king Alaric having in- 
 curred the hatred of his subjects, Clovis seized the 
 occasion, coalesced with Gondeband, and overcame the 
 anny of Alaric at Vouille, near Poitiers (a. d. 505). 
 The consequence of that victory was the conquest of 
 almost the whole of the south of Gaul, which received 
 at a later date the name of France from its conquerors. 
 Clovis returned in triumph to Tours (510), and made 
 offerings at the tomb of St Martin. He there ob- 
 tained from Anastasius, Emperor of Constantinople, 
 the dignities of Roman consul and of Augustus, which 
 were conferred by diploma. He assumed the consular 
 purple in the church of St Martin. The honom* could 
 add but little to his real powei\ 
 
 Clovis afterwards fixed his residence in Paris, which 
 was still called Lutetia, the principal abode in the city 
 of the Parisians, and which had been occupied by the 
 Caesar Julian, when he administered the Gauls. To 
 remove all fears of rivalry, Clovis caused the chiefs of 
 the different tribes of Franks to be destroyed, and 
 ]u'ocm-ed his oavu election in their stead. He died at 
 Paris in 511. It will be observed that he resembled 
 Constantine in more than one particular. Equally 
 cruel and ambitious, he likewise knew how to make 
 religion subservient to his designs. Charlemagne 
 was aware of the same secret, as well as divers other 
 spoliators. 
 
 The condition of the populations inhabiting France 
 at this epoch, is an interesting subject of inquiry. l"he 
 Franks were divided into the free and the servile ; 
 but the slavery of the latter was not so personal as 
 amongst the Romans. They were governed by the
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 Salic law, framed by CIotIs for his own tribe, or by 
 that of the Ripuarians. The free men assembled 
 every year in the Field of Mars, and there made laws. 
 Tliey elected their kings, but generally nominated the 
 eldest son of him Avhom they were to replace. The 
 Burgirmdians, ruled by the law of Gondeband, main- 
 tained themselves as a distinct nation even under the 
 second race ; their manners were more ferocious than 
 tliose of the others. The Visigoths had for the most 
 part passed into Spain. The Romans, or Gauls, pre- 
 served their civil rights, so far as was consistent with 
 a state of conquest. As the clerks or ecclesiastics 
 belonged to tliat nation, through them it retained a 
 portion of influence. Religion was the only check 
 that could be offered to brute force, and it is melan- 
 choly tliat it was so flagrantly abused at a sub- 
 sequent period. But Christianity then preserved 
 something of its primitive purity, and the simple faith 
 of the barbarians rendered it a salutary instrument of 
 peace and harmony. The bishops were respected 
 from their exemplary manners, and they beneficently 
 interposed between the conquerors and the subject 
 populations. When a Frank assumed the priesthood, 
 his long hair, which distinguished the free men of his 
 nation, was shorn, and he was held to have become a 
 Roman, or a man of letters. It is true that less was 
 paid for the murder of a Roman than of a Frank ; but 
 it could not be otherwise in a code of conquerors who 
 exacted pecuniary penalties for homicide proportioned 
 to the importance of the deceased. On the other hand, 
 the Romans were judged by their own tribunals, and 
 when a cause was at issue between a Roman and a 
 Frank, a tribunal was formed dra^vn equally from the 
 two nations. The Latin language, tliough infinitely 
 degenerated, had a marked predominance, and was 
 used in tlie public acts of the Franks ; furtliermore, 
 the Franks formed alliances witli the Romans. A 
 glance at the history of those times, in wliich not a 
 single insurrection of the Gaulo-Romans against the 
 Franks is noted, but in which, on the contrary, the 
 ascendancy of the bishops in maintaining a degree of 
 equality or union between the two races is distinctly to 
 be traced, is sufficient to disprove the opinion of those 
 wlio hold that the wliole Gallic nation was reduced to 
 slavery. We certainly cannot wholly adopt the de- 
 ductions which an ingenious critic has drawn from tlie 
 consulate of Clovis, when he perceives in that Frankisli 
 monarch a veritable inheritor of the Roman authority 
 and magistracy, but we must deplore tlie passion with 
 which a great man disputes that opinion, in order to 
 sustain his pretended rights of conquest. Montesquieu, 
 exalting the ])rerogatives of the Franks, and degrad- 
 ing the condition of the Gauls, becaiise he liad tlie 
 inexpressible weakness to consider himself descended 
 in a direct line from the former, shows us how aristo- 
 cratic vanity can lead genius astray. But wliat matters 
 it to the Frencli of the present day wlietlier they can 
 trace a Frank or Gallic ancestry ? Wiat conclusion 
 can be now drawn from tlie slavery of tlie whole Gallic 
 people, even were tlie fact undoubted? Is not the 
 eternal charter of the rights of man and the citizen in 
 fuU force ? 
 
 SUCCESSORS OF CLOVIS.-ORIGIN OF FEUDALISM. 
 
 Ilie conquerors scattered through the Gauls did not 
 assemble to name a successor to Clovis ; his four sons 
 divided his dominions amongst them. Similar par- 
 titions were frequently renewed, and honco great con- 
 fusion arises in the history of the era. Little advantage 
 can be derived from encumbering the memory with 
 the names of a crowd of obscure kings who resided at 
 Orleans, Metz, Soissons, or Paris, or with the wars 
 which they carried on for what is called their inheri- 
 tances. The annals of that age are but a tissue of 
 barbarities, assassinations, and inglorious battles ; no 
 
 reign occurs illustrated by important changes or great 
 political influences. The comitry was a scene of 
 desolation and disorder. After two wars, the Franks 
 completely subdued the Burgimdians, and they after- 
 wards drove the Goths from the Alpine provinces. In 
 the year 537, the Emperor Justinian granted to the 
 Frank kings the rights of the empire over the Gallic 
 provinces. Clotaire, who at first was only king of 
 Soissons, was master of the whole monarchy of Clovis 
 at the period of his death. His children niade a par- 
 tition, holding Paris in common. Their queens, 
 Fredegonde and l^runehiiut, excited perpetual wars 
 between the brothers. The first was a prodigy of 
 boldness, wickedness, and ability; she gained battles 
 in person : the latter suffered a dreadful death, if we 
 must believe chronicles full of falsehoods and contra- 
 dictions. Dagobert was a prodigal king (a. d. 613), 
 and overwhelmed France with imposts, in order to 
 found monasteries and reward mistresses. Although 
 a popular ballad styles him a good king, the massacre 
 of 1.5,000 Bulgarians who had sought an asylum in 
 his kingdom, and to whom he had given jiermission 
 to pass the winter within it, is not significant of his 
 humanity. But the monks made him a saint not- 
 withstanding. Eloi, his treasurer and jeweller, ad- 
 ministered the finances with the sole view of promoting 
 pious foimdations. 
 
 This period of history offers little interesting ; but 
 we must revert to it when we would learn the com- 
 mencement of the feudal system which weighed for 
 so long a time on France. It was then that hydra 
 of a hundred heads was born, which was to devour the 
 French people. 
 
 What was the tenure of the lands which fell to the 
 Franks after their conquest, or which were given to 
 them by the kings ? This is a difficulty upon which 
 critics have been unable to agree. What sort of lands 
 were those called salic, and which, being granted with 
 the burden of military service, could not pass by in- 
 heritance to females (whence came the salic law which 
 excludes women from the throne) 7 The fact is, that 
 the kings, after the example of the Romans, gave 
 lands, or military benefices, at first for a certain time, 
 subsequently for life. The great men, the leudes or 
 JideJes, who were most frequently with the kings, 
 fought at their sides, formed their councils, and took 
 oaths of fidelity to them, at length transmitted these 
 concessions to their heirs. Eacli of them constituted 
 wliat was called a seniority or lordship, names borrowed 
 from the municipal hierarchy of the Romans, and by 
 which the Franks designated the superiority of one 
 estate over the neighbouring lands. Then commenced 
 the system of feudalism, which was a sort of prepos- 
 terous sovereignty vested in land, and exercised by the 
 proprietor over the inhabitants. The senior es, or lords, 
 became of necessity so many petty t3Tants. They 
 thenceforth exercised the rights of civil and political 
 justice in their districts ; fines and confiscations were 
 the advantages they derived from this power. These 
 lordships were at first few in number, but ultimately 
 they covered Europe. Bishops and monks became 
 lords, and soldiers got themselves nominated to bishop- 
 rics ; kings, lords, and priests, united to pillage and 
 enslave the people, but at this epoch the priests were 
 the chief gainers. The most abject superstition pos- 
 sessed the minds of men, and the priests derived 
 therefrom immense wealth. 
 
 When a king committed a flagrant crime, lie was 
 absolved by founding a monastery. When it was 
 wished to gi't rid of a king, he was shut up in a cloister, 
 and converted into a monk. However, the kings often 
 usurped the nomination of bishops, who ought to have 
 been elected by the peojjle, the body of the faithfuL 
 If a layman on horseback met a priest, he was bound 
 to dismount for the jjurjiose of saluting him. These 
 circumstances sufficiently characterise the age. We 
 see that feudalism, barbarity, and clerical power, grew 
 in concert.
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCR 
 
 MAYORS OF THE PALACE.-KIXGS AVITHOUT 
 POAVER.— CHARLES MARTEL.— FIEFS. 
 
 The great domestic offices in the pahice of the em- 
 perors of Constantinople were imitated by the barba- 
 rian kings. The last monarchs of the Merovmgian 
 race had nothing but the sliadow of authority ; such 
 weak princes were sure to be governed by audacious 
 domestics or powerful nobles. The major domus, or 
 mayor of the palace, was the first of the household 
 dignitaries ; and the system of hereditary succession, 
 which began to pervade all emplopuents, having been 
 established in this the most important of all, a new 
 race of kmgs resulted from the fact. The titular 
 kings, secluded by the mayors of the palace, were con- 
 demned to inactivity and mdlity, which has caused 
 them to be called famdants (sluggards). We need not 
 speak of those obscure victims who were often immo- 
 lated, and endm-ed so mournful an existence with 
 their legitimacy. Tlie mayor Pippin, or Pepin, a 
 man of great ability, succeeded in \miting all France 
 under his sway in 690. He re-established the assem- 
 blies of the Field of Mars. His son Karl was one 
 of our greatest warriors, and on that account was 
 surnamed Martel, that is to say, the hammer. This 
 Charles Martel kept the nobility incessantly inider 
 arms, and was their idol. The Saracens, who had 
 conquered Spain under the standard of the Koran, 
 advanced into the heart of France. Charles van- 
 quished them at Poitiers in a memorable battle (732), 
 and drove them beyond the Pyrenees. This victory 
 perhaps delayed the return of civilisation ; the Sara- 
 cens possessed several arts and a degree of enlighten- 
 ment, which long rendered Spain a flourishing king- 
 dom. 
 
 Wliat chiefly illustrates the reign of Charles is, 
 that to recompense his officers, and defray the ex- 
 penses of perpetual wars, he seized upon the posses- 
 sions of the church, wliich held almost the whole 
 territory of France ; on which account the monkish 
 historians have doomed him to execration. It is be- 
 lieved that the origin of fiefs is to be traced to the 
 numerous benefices granted by him, under oath of 
 fidelity and homage, and burdened with military ser- 
 vice. It is remarkable that tlie gTcatest feudal lords 
 were usurpers on the patrimony of the church. 
 
 PEPIN THE SHORT, THE FIRST KING OF THE CAR- 
 LO VINGIAN RACE. — THE CLERGY, A POLITICAL 
 ORDER, 
 
 Charles Martel disdained the crown ; his son Pepin 
 judged it necessary to his political views. He gained 
 it with great address. He rendered himself popular 
 with the influential classes ; an able warrior, he gained 
 tlie army ; and he caressed tlie clergy, to whom he 
 restored a part of their possessions. He dispatched 
 an embassy to the pope for his opinion on a case of 
 conscience. " Ouglit the title of king to belong to an 
 individual incapable of reigning, when the royal power 
 is in the hands of a man wlio wields it advantageously ?" 
 Zacliariah answered, that he wlio liad the power ought 
 to take tlie title. The legitimate king was forthwith 
 made a monk, and no more spoken of. Pepin was 
 the first who conceived the idea of having royalty 
 sanctioned l)y the ceremonies of the chm'ch ; he had 
 himself anointed or consecrated by a prelate (755). 
 Thus, the coronation of kings was introduced into 
 France by an usurper. 
 
 The reign of Pepin was sufficiently glorious. He 
 drove the Saracens from tlie south, and rendered him- 
 self potent m Germany. He submitted all important 
 affairs and the making of laws to those national 
 assemblies, which were based on the principle that 
 Vie law is made l»j the consent of the people, and promul- 
 gated by the king. The usurper was an esjiecial favou- 
 rite ^vith the priests ; the pope called him a second 
 Moses, a second David. It was doubtless to reward 
 
 the clergy for their submission, that Pepin resolved to 
 introduce them as a separate pohtical order into the 
 national assemblies. The fiict is important in itself, 
 independently of its being peculiar to French history.* 
 
 CHARLEMAGNE.— THE WESTERN ROMAN E.AIPIRE 
 RESTORED FOR A TIME. 
 
 A man endowed with great energy of character, and 
 wielding powerful means of action, may found a new 
 political order, but he will efifect nothing durable, un 
 less the people are disposed to second his exertions, 
 and unless his projects are the expression of the gene- 
 ral desire. 
 
 Pepin divided the kingdom between his two sons 
 (768); one of them died prematurely, and the other, 
 whom we call Charlemagne, reigned alone. The 
 King of the Lombards, who possessed all the north of 
 Italy, was a potent monarch at this period ; having 
 ofiered his daughter to Charlemagne, that prince ac- 
 cepted her for his bride, previously repudiating the 
 wiJfe he already had, in spite of the pope. In a short 
 time he likewise dismissed his Lombard queen, and 
 taking part against her father in favour of the 
 peoi)le of Rome, his fcjrraer enemies, he dethroned hiin 
 (774), after having taken Pavia, his capital. Pope 
 Adrian then placed on the head of Charlemagne the 
 iron crown of the Lombards. Thus king of the Ro- 
 mans, Charles directed his power to subjugate a poor 
 and valiant nation, whose only crime was hatred of 
 dependence. It took him thirty-three 3' ears to over- 
 come the Saxons ; force of arms not succeeding so 
 effectually as he wished, he sent missionaries amongst 
 them, and forced them to embrace Christianity for the 
 purpose of oppressing them. He put thousands of 
 them to the sword, and transported entire populations 
 into different portions of his dominions. Vitikind, 
 their chief, was a man illustrious for his firmness and 
 courage. The decrees which Charlemagne directed 
 against the Saxons, are written in characters of blood. 
 During the same period, he attempted to push his 
 conquests into Spain, but his armies were less fortu- 
 nate against the Saracens who held that country. He 
 was, however, successful in a yet grander project. 
 In the beginning of the ninth century (800), he set 
 the imperial crown upon his head at Rome. Pope 
 Leo III. assisted him in the execution of that object, 
 and the people of decayed Rome exclaimed, " Long 
 live Charles, tlie august and benign emperor of the Romans, 
 crowned by the hand of God!" 
 
 The idea of re-establishing the empire of the Caesars, 
 is rather remarkable in a successor of those barbarian 
 kings who had \mited to overwhelm it. 
 
 Feeling that it behoved him first of all to revive 
 civilisation, he founded schools for the teaching of 
 grammar, that is to say, reading, arithmetic, and church 
 songs. These schools could only be held in cloisters 
 and episcopal palaces, since the priests alone were ac- 
 quainted with letters. An Enghsh monk was drawn 
 to his court, with the view of foimding a literary in- 
 stitute. Charles, continually sweepmg over Europe 
 with his troops, was nevertheless watchful of every 
 interest, and learnt grammar himself. He usually 
 passed the winter and spring at Aix-la-Chapelle, and 
 there he held his Fields of May, or plaids, in which the 
 nobles, the prelates, and certain free men admitted by 
 favour, discussed the capitularies which he promul- 
 gated as laws. His legislation was perhaps as con- 
 formable to the general interests as the times pennitted. 
 Montesquieu, who pronounces so brilliant and effective 
 an eidogy on Charlemagne, is of opinion that he pre- 
 vented the nobles from oppressing the clergy and the 
 
 * M. Bodin must meajQ early French history, as the clerical 
 order tcmk a distinct rank in the national assemblies of all Europo 
 at a later date, in a feudal capacity certainly at first. But in 
 Magna Charta, the prelates and abbots are named distioctly from 
 the maipiate.'i or nobles.
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 people liy keeping them constantly at war. The capi- 
 tularies were doubtless of great boiiefit at an era when 
 so many nations, gathered into one empire, had diffe- 
 rent laws. Charlemagne loved industry and the arts, 
 and possessed in an eminent degree tfiose ideas of 
 order asd uniformity, without which all attempts at 
 permanent establishments must fail. Indefatigable in 
 his objects, he was ever present where his helping 
 hand was needed. We can scarcely doulit he was of 
 all men the most capable to graj^iDle resolutely witli 
 barbarism, and yet he was mialjle to raise again either 
 the empire or the civihsation of ancient Rome, because 
 he was, in fact, the only Roman of his age, and because 
 the nations were utterly unfit for the new civilisation, 
 wliich was destined to spring up many centm'ies after 
 the tomb had closed on him. 
 
 During his long reign, Charlemagne was engaged 
 in negotiations with the court of Constantinople, re- 
 ceived an embassy of congratulation from Haroun the 
 Just, and presided over comicUs. In order to lessen 
 the influence of the bishops, he exempted them from 
 military service, and in return established tithes. He 
 ap]:)lied himself to the reformation of ecclesiastical 
 discipline, and imposed curbs on the grasping spirit 
 of the priests. He prevented the abuse of the right 
 of sanctuary in cloisters from degenerating into im- 
 pmiity for crime. He enacted several sumptuary laws 
 and regulations for currency and commerce. He 
 established administrative assemblies in the provinces, 
 to which certain officers resorted to superintend the 
 due execution of the laws entrusted to the counts in 
 conj miction with the bishops, and to collect the com- 
 plaints of the people. But the system of fiefs gradu;dly 
 gained ground even in his time. 
 
 Charles, conqueror of the Saxons, Bavarians, and 
 Hungarians, and master of the greatest part of known 
 Europe, divided the empire with his children (809). 
 He made Pepin king of Italy, and Ludwick, or Louis, 
 king of Aquitaine. The latter alone surviving, he 
 associated him in the government of the empire (813). 
 He afterwards crowned his grandson Bernard king of 
 Italy. However, the close of this great reign was 
 saddened by gloomy presages. The pirates of Den- 
 mark and Sweden, who were then called Nordmans, 
 or men of the north, began to devastate the French 
 coasts. Charles determined to put them in a state of 
 defence ; he visited the ports in person, and caused 
 vessels to be constructed (814). Death surprised him 
 at the time lie could already foresee the disasters that 
 those rapacious barbarians would inflict on France. 
 
 Charlemagne was of an astonishing stature and 
 strength. Historians are agreed upon his private 
 qualities ; he was sober, just, economical, and gene- 
 rous ; sim])le in his tastes, and attentive to the mhiutest 
 details. He administered his own domains in the 
 same spirit as his empire, and caused even the pro- 
 duce of his garden to be sold. We may well ask, how 
 could such a prince massacre thirty thousand Saxons? 
 
 LOUIS THE GOOn-NATURED. POWER OF TTIR CLERGY. 
 JUDICIAL ORDEALS.-TIIE DUEL.— LANGUAGE. 
 
 The bonds which had been kept tight by superior 
 force, were soon relaxed by weakness, and in a short 
 interval the mighty edifice of Charlemagne was shaken 
 to it« foundation. Louis tlie Pious, or the Good-na- 
 tured, had excellent private qualities and virtues ; ho 
 was brave, learned, and humane ; but much more was 
 required in the successor of Charlemagne. 1 le likewise 
 divided the empire willi his sons (a. d. 817), and asso- 
 ciated one of them with himself As he was uicapablc of 
 securing obedience, enemies quickly arose against him. 
 Four revolts against the feeble emperor rendered liis 
 reign one long warfare. Bernard, King of Italy, was 
 subdued and chastised (818) ; the emjjeror, dejiarting 
 for once from his usual moderation, caused liis eyes 
 to be put out (he had been condemned to death) ; but. 
 
 speedily yielding to scruples of conscience, he obeyed 
 all the acts of penitence and humihation which the 
 clergy thought fit to impose on so abject a devotee. 
 This conduct caused fresh rebellions. Judith of 
 Bavaria, his second wife, had obtained from him a 
 second dismemberment in favour of her son Charles 
 whereupon his other sons revolted. The emperor 
 yielded, confessed his error, and consented to the 
 imprisonment of the empress (830). He soon re- 
 called her, and attempted to resume authority over 
 his sons ; they again rose, drew the pope to their party, 
 seduced the emperor's troops from their allegiance 
 and deposed him (838). Lothaire placed himself on 
 the throne. Some infamous prelates condemned the 
 unfortmiate monarch to a public penitence for all the 
 acts of his life. He was clothed in sackcloth, gave 
 up his arms, threw ashes on his head, and retreated 
 into a cell. This revolting degradation moved the 
 people in his fxvoiu-. A party was formed, to which 
 the kings of Bavaria and Aquitaine, his two other 
 sons, overcome with remorse, united themselves. 
 Lothaire was vanquished, but obtained his pardon^ 
 and kept his kingdom of Italy. The bishops, who had 
 so outraged fallen greatness, were punished. However, 
 the ambition of Judith for the aggrandisement of her 
 son, provoked another war. The emperor subdued 
 the rebel Louis (840), and shortly after died, over- 
 whelmed with grief. 
 
 What tends to fix our attention upon this reign, is 
 the part played by the chm-ch during its continuance. 
 Charlemagne had made use of the clergy as a political 
 instrmnent ; Louis submitted to them as a superior 
 power. The first made a temporal prince of the pope, 
 m order to secure, through his gratitude and depen- 
 dence, the fidelity and obedience of the people. The 
 latter prostrated himself at the feet of those bishops 
 of Rome who had knelt at the feet of his father. From 
 this reign, we may date the insolent pretensions of 
 the tiara over crowns, and that theocratic despo- 
 tism which became so terrible under Innocent III. 
 The bishops alleged themselves possessed of the only 
 legitimate power; their riches were immense, and 
 their lives scandalous. They even assumed the arraoiu- 
 of men-at-war ; an abbot, named Alcuin, had an army 
 of 20,000 serfs. Louis desired to reform abuses so 
 opposed to the precepts of the Gospel, which roused 
 against him the rage and vengeance of the clergy. 
 To attempt reforms in a class whose supremacy he 
 almost fully acknowledged, was a project equally dan- 
 gerous and absurd. 
 
 In this same age, the most stupid barbarism per- 
 verted justice. It was behoved that God woidd per- 
 form a miracle rather than allow an innocent person 
 to suffer wrong ; so, as the criterion of criminalitj^ it 
 was necessary to plunge the arm into boiling water, 
 to grasp hot iron, or submit to other ordeals ; and if 
 no injury resulted, an acquittal Avas pronounced. At 
 other times, disputes, or crnnes, were judged by the 
 duel. The adverse parties pleaded as combatants, 
 and accusations were to be made good by a champion. 
 Each monastery had one to defend its interests ; the 
 lawyers of those days were gladiators. Charlemagne 
 substituted the chil) for the sword in these combats, 
 but afterwards the serfs were the only parties who 
 used the club. The witnesses, even the iudges tiiem- 
 selvcs, were often obliged to fight. Religious core- 
 monies preceded these trials, which were derived 'from 
 the Burgundians, a German nation. 
 
 The Romans had popularised the Latin language 
 in the Gallic provinces ; the Franks and" other bar 
 banans corrupted it. There resxdtcd a dialect named 
 liommicsquc, in which the Latin i>re(lominated, bu^ 
 largely mixed with Celtic, Teuto)nc, and Gothic 
 After eight centuries of i)ohshing, this language haa 
 become tlu; modern French.
 
 10 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 DKCAY OF THE EMPIRE UNDER CHARLES THE BALD. 
 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 
 
 Under Louis, the monarchy, though torn by intes- 
 tine divisions, maintained itself against foreign attacks ; 
 hut under his son, Charles the Bald, the whole fiibric 
 fell to pieces. He was weak and cowardly, and his 
 reign was one continued series of calamities. After 
 the death of their father, the tliree brothers still waged 
 war against each other. The one who bore the title 
 of emperor, was defeated by the others at the battle 
 of Fontenay, in Burgmidy, in which 100,000 men 
 perished. The bishops, who then disposed of the 
 crown, deposed him, and mado a ncv/ partition. At 
 this period, the Danes, or Nordmans, were a frightful 
 scourge to France. They pillaged half the kingdom, 
 burned Paris, and, like the emperors of degenerate 
 Rome, Charles was reduced to offer them money to 
 induce them to -w-ithdraw, which only served to stimu- 
 late them to fresh inroads. With every year new 
 fleets of brigands landed on the coasts, and the king 
 overwhehned the people with imposts to satisfy their 
 rapacity. In the midst of the disorder, the nobles 
 and the bishops were engaged in a contest for power. 
 (846.) The first prevailed, in an assemVtly to Avliich 
 the people were not admitted ; the latter revenged 
 themselves by deposing the king (858), and giving 
 his cro\vn to his brother, whom they afterwards ex- 
 commimicated. Thus, the priests and nobles were 
 solely occupied in disputing and dividing amongst 
 themselves the spoils of the people, whilst the pirates 
 were carrying fire and sword through the land. The 
 King of Lorraine narrowly escaped being despoiled of 
 his kingdom by excommmiication (860), because he 
 had divorced his -^vife. It was at this time that Bald- 
 win, a French lord, who was likewise excommunicated 
 for the abduction of Charles's daughter, received from 
 that king the county of Flanders, which he trans- 
 mitted to his descendants. It is neoessary to explain 
 here how a new kind of government was established, 
 which inflicted so much misery on the hiunan species. 
 
 At the era of the Frank conquest, the provinces 
 were governed by Roman oflicers named counts, or 
 companions of the emperor, and sometimes commands 
 were given to dukes, or genends. The kings con- 
 tinued to nommate the same civil and military fimc- 
 tionaries, who presided over the administration of 
 justice, and commanded the provinciid militia. Amidst 
 the chaos of Charles the Bald's reign, they rendered 
 themselves independent of the royal power, and even 
 ■wrung from his weakness an hereditary property in 
 their functions. By such means a new government 
 was established, or rather the government was divided 
 amongst so many members as it had employed agents, 
 into as many monarchies as there were provinces. 
 The king, however, was considered the supreme head ; 
 but his power was illusory — force was required to 
 confirm it ; and where force is ever necessary, it be- 
 comes a state of perpetual war. This political sj'stem 
 was based on the principle of fidelity. The inferior 
 was cidled a vassal, and the superior, suzerain or lord. 
 The king was the vassal of no one, unless of God, 
 as it was said, and his vassals had imder them other 
 vassals of whom they were the lords -, and these 
 subdivisions were infinite. The fief was a sort of 
 usufruct ; the lord granted it to the vassal under 
 burden of following him in war ; and in return he 
 guaranteed him security and protection. There could 
 be no order in such a system, except when the reci- 
 procal obligations were reUgiously guarded; it was, 
 in truth, an organi.sed insubordination. The villeins, 
 or rustics, were not vassals, but subjects of the lord ; 
 and when required by him, they were boiuid to march 
 under his banner. In this political ladder, each grade 
 had direct authority only over the grade imtnediately 
 below it. Such is the exposition, so far as it is pos- 
 «dble to conipross into a few words what is but 
 
 indifferently elucidated in huge volmues, of that 
 grotesque political system which is known by the 
 name of the feudal. 
 
 DECAY OF THE ROYAL POWER AND OF THE CARLO- 
 VINGIAN RACE. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NORMANS 
 
 The weakness of Charles was surpassed by lois 
 successors, who sank into almost complete nonentity. 
 Their names and periods of existence are all they 
 furnish to history. Louis the Stammerer was son to 
 Charles the Bald (877). Louis III. and Carloman 
 succeeded hun after his death. In their time a lord 
 erected a petty kingdom in Provence. The Stammerer 
 left another son, named Charles, five years old. The 
 crown was offered in 884 to Cliarles the Fat, who 
 reigned in Germany with the title of emperor. The 
 Normans, who had never ceased their depredations, 
 laid siege to Paris. Odon, or Eudes, who was Count 
 of Paris, made a valiant defence. After withstanding 
 a siege of two years, the emperor marched to his 
 relief with an army, but the Normans intimidated 
 him, and he was fain to purchase a peace. He died 
 amidst universal contempt, a superstitious terror oi 
 the devil having previously reduced him to madness. 
 The Count Eudes then accepted the ci'own (888), as 
 guardian of the yoimg Charles, when he might have 
 seized it for himself. Charles IV., called the Simple, 
 occupied the throne on the death of Eudes in 898, 
 after having shared it wilh him for a short interval. 
 It was at this epoch tluit the pirates of the north 
 estabUshed themselves in that part of France called 
 Neustria, and which took from them the name ol 
 Normandy. Thus the descendants of the Franks, 
 weakened by feudalism, had to submit, in their turn, 
 to the affront their ancestors had given the Romans. 
 The king sent to their chief, Rollo, his daughter, and 
 an invitation to become a Christian (911). Tiie 
 Norman willingly testified his acquiescence, but he 
 refused, when rendering feudal homage to the king, 
 to kiss his foot. One of his oflicers who undertook 
 that formahty, performed it in such a manner that 
 he nearly threw Charles upon his back. This scornful 
 demeanour only excited a smile — to such a point had 
 the feudal system reduced France. However, RolJo 
 rendered Normandy prosperous. Tliat foiTner robber 
 chief enacted tlie most severe laws against pillage, 
 and his people turned their attention to agriculture. 
 
 The minister of Charles the Simple having excited 
 the discontent of his lords, they charged the crime 
 upon the king and dethroned him (922). Rotbert, or 
 Robert, brother of tlie late King Eudes, took his place, 
 but in a battle which the king gave him, he was slain 
 by the royal hand. From this it appears that Charles 
 was, at all events, not deficient in mihtary courage. 
 Hugh, called the Wliite, son of Robert, gained the 
 victory in another battle ; and the king having fled 
 for refuge to the castle of a noble, was there kept 
 prisoner for the remainder of his days. Hugh, who 
 had the title of Duke of France, was indifferent to 
 that of king, and allowed it to be assumed by Raoul, 
 Duke of Burgundy (924), whose reign was a series of 
 intestine wars. A powerful lord had taken it into his 
 head to make his son, a child of five years old, an 
 archbishop, with the approbation of the pope. An 
 eighteen years' war was the consequence, in which 
 the bishops took a prominent part, either in le^'j'ing 
 soldiers or in fidminating excommunications. On 
 Raoul's death, Hugh put in his place the son of 
 Charles the Simple, Louis IV., surnamed Transmarine, 
 because he had been educated in England (9.36). This 
 young king attempted to emancipate himself from his 
 protector, but Hugh soon taught him that a king of 
 feudal France was a shadow. He made him prisoner, 
 but afterwards released him. 
 
 A (juestion of legitimate right was under discussion 
 in Germany about this time, namely, whether the re-
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 11 
 
 presentation should go in the direct line, and a grand- 
 son thus exclude his uncles from tlie throne. The 
 case was decided by a duel between two champions. 
 The champion of tlie direct representation prevailed, 
 since which time the grandson has always stood in the 
 place of his deceased father. 
 
 Louis having died in 954, Lothaire, his son, took 
 the crown. Hugh made no opposition, and died two 
 years after, transmitting his power to Ins son Hugh 
 Capet.* Lothaire, who had some strength of mind, 
 recovered a portion of authority over the feudal lords. 
 Under his reign, Lorraine, which for a hundred years 
 was a subject of contest between the Frencli and Ger- 
 man monarchs, was abandoned to tlie Emperor Otho, 
 who did homage for it to I>othaire, as his suzerain. 
 (a. d. 9S6.) Louis V. succeeded him after his death. 
 He reigned a year, and was the last of the Carlovin- 
 gian kings. The brother of I>othaire ought to have 
 succeeded his nephew, according to the principles of 
 legitimacy ; but Hugh Capet, being duke of France, 
 and sufficiently powerful, had himself proclaimed king 
 by his vassals and friends (987). The other dukes 
 and counts, who attached very little importance to the 
 royalt}' of that age, gave him no disturbance in his 
 assumption of the regal title. They did not consider 
 themselves the less his equals on that account. 
 
 ACCESSION OF THE RACE OF THE CAPETS.— 
 DESPOTISM OP TIli; MONKS. 
 
 Hugh Capet was, as has been stated, grand-nephew 
 of Count Eudes, who had been king. This Eudes was 
 the son of one Robert the Strong, a man of surpassing 
 bravery, who had been sent by Charles the Bald into 
 Anjou to defend it against the Normans, and there 
 met a glorious death in battle.f Hugh did not feil to 
 have himself consecrated and crowned at Rheims ; and 
 adopting the precaution usual with men founding a 
 new dynasty, he associated his son Robert with him, 
 in order to secure to him the succession to the throne. 
 The legitimate pretender endeavoured to make good 
 his right by force of arms, but he Avas made prisoner 
 at Laon, and died two years afterwards (996). Hugh 
 closed his career at Paris, much regretted by the 
 priests and soldiers, whom he had equally favoured ; 
 the people were held as unworthy of regard. The 
 elevation of the Cajiets was owing to feudal anarchy, 
 and with King Hugh feudalism mounted the throne. 
 He sent one day to ask a revolted noble, " Mlio made 
 thee a coimt ?" to wliich the other replied, " Who 
 made thee a king ?" 
 
 Robert was a very devout and a very imfortunate 
 prince. He was the relation of his wife in the fourth 
 degree, and had been her godfather. Although the 
 bishops had granted a dispensation, the i)ope judged 
 the union incestuous, annulled the marriage, and sus- 
 pended the prelates, who exconnnunicated the king, 
 notwithstanding his regularity in chanting tlie ser- 
 vices. He was thereupon abandoned hy aU his lords, 
 and shunned ])y his domestics, who were afraid to 
 touch him, and threw the remains of his food into the 
 fire. He was no longer a king, nor even a man, in 
 the eyes of his fanatical subjects. How could a regidar 
 government exist with such ideas ? Tiiis ,'same prince, 
 after imdergoing penance, allowed unfortunate people 
 
 * These ITiiclis, counts of Paris and dukes of Fnince, liad seized 
 upon several of the richest abbeys, and enjoyed tlioir revenues, as 
 the lay lords of that age had little scruple induing. They even 
 took the title of abbot. Tlie surname of Caj)et (Cappatus) came, 
 it is said, from the cope they wore as possessors of the Abbey of 
 St Martin of Tours. 
 
 t Genealogists have composed many vnlunies on the origin of 
 Ihis Robert; some have asserted him a Frank, others a (iuul, a 
 '^'^isigoth, and a Saxon. Louis XIV. was desirous that his descent 
 from the Franks should be established. His history ni:iy be read 
 in the " Historical Inquu-ies upon Anjou," by J. V. liodin, de- 
 puty of the Maine ana Loii'c. 
 
 who rejected the mysteries they were unable to com- 
 prehend, to be condemned and burnt. His second 
 wife. Constance, was a fury, who drove his two sons 
 to revolt (1026). He had caused one of them, 
 Henry, to be crowned. Under his disastrous reign, a 
 frightful famine desolated the laud, and the people ate 
 human flesh. 
 
 Henry L had to sustain a contest with the queen- 
 mother Constance (1031), who stirred up his brother 
 against him. He afterwards attempted to wrest Nor- 
 mandy from the young Duke "William, Avith whose 
 father he had formerly found an asylum, but he was 
 defeated. His reign is remarkable from the inii versa] 
 sovereignty of the popes being solemnly proclaimed 
 in it. Leo IX. held a council in France in spite of 
 Henry, in which the pope was declared supreme head 
 of the church, and France was afterwards often 
 governed by legates. In 1059, the king wishing to 
 have his son crowTied, assembled the bishops, monks, 
 and lords, to procure his previous election. The le- 
 gates granted him their sutfrage, and the permission of 
 the pope. It is thus evident that the crown of France 
 was almost purely elective at that period. 
 
 The state of France at this epoch claims a notice. 
 Pure feudalism was at its height — that detestable 
 system which weighed upon France for nearly three 
 centm-ies, and reduced the human species to the last 
 degree of misery. The whole population had become 
 serfs or slaves. Their condition was scarcely superior 
 to that of beasts. Every lord could strike, mutilate, 
 and even slay his serf, with impunity. Many free 
 men voluntarily renoimced their liberty, to shroud 
 themselves from the vexations of the lords in the 
 ignoble but defended state of serfage. The ancient 
 maxim, 7io land without a lord, proves that the nobles 
 disregarded all rights of property, and plundered 
 wherever they were able, for they were in fact robbers 
 \)y condition. Such was the dreadful consequence of 
 feudalism, that men were compelled to be either op- 
 pressors or oppressed. The clergy, generally at war 
 with the lords, pillaged the people equally -with the 
 latter. Brute force or rehgious fear was the sole 
 instrument of influence. Justice was out of the 
 question, in a society where disputes were judged and 
 injm-ies redressed by an appe;d to arms. The use of 
 horses for war, which had been almost unknown to 
 the Franks, was the exclusive privilege of the nobles, 
 as well as the bearing of arms. A lord on horseback, 
 and cased in iron, made a whole district tremble. The 
 serfs, who were driven by blows to war, fought on 
 foot. Overwhelmed -with compulsory labour, tolls, 
 fines, and taxes of all sorts, imposed by the nobility 
 or the chtrrch, degraded by seignorial rights revolting 
 to decency and nature, their existence Avas the most 
 deplorable that can be conceived, and they nuist have 
 fought only with the desperate hope of esi;aj)ing from 
 their galling fetters. The people of the comitry were 
 Cidled villeins, those of the towns bm\]hers. None in 
 either class could i)roduce for individual profit ; tdl 
 was the property of the lord, wlio often quartered 
 hunself upon them, and lived at discretion with his 
 vien, Serjeants, and rarlets. These latter were aspirants 
 to the profession of knighthood, or of a man-at-arms. 
 The lords likewise fought incessantly amongst them- 
 selves; their declarations of war included all relations 
 and idhes. A family quarrel often steeped a wliule 
 province in ])lo()d for thirty years. The state of war 
 was in trutli the habituid state of all; every castle, 
 every abbey, was a fortress and a den for plunder ; 
 100,000 rutfians roamed over the face of tl'.e country, 
 issuing from their strongholds and retreating to them 
 with their booty, and rendering all France one vast 
 field of l)attle. At last the carnage antl devastation 
 wearii'd even the ferocity of chivalry. Tlie expeiiient 
 of a council was adopted to impose on the belligerents 
 what was called the peace of God, as that of man was 
 not to be anticii)ated. Tlie bishojis ordained fasts 
 and penances, during which humanity had a respite
 
 12 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 But this peace, for wliich the truce of God was substi- 
 tuted, wliicli prohibited all fighting from Saturday- 
 evening to Monday morning, soon fell into disregard. 
 It was a miracle that the brigands paused eveu for a 
 time. 
 
 Such were the results of tluit monstrous feudal sys- 
 tem, a veritable anarchy of the sword, tempered occa- 
 sionally by priestly anathemas. 
 
 FIRST CRUSADE.— POWER OF THE MONKS. 
 (a. d. 1060.) The long reign of Pliihp I., son of 
 Henry, is an era of remarkable events. William the 
 Bastard, Duke of Normandy, passed the channel (1066) 
 and conquered England, where he established a harsh 
 tyranny combined with feudalism. He had the firm- 
 ness to refuse homage to the pope. A joke of the 
 French king upon the obesity of William, provoked 
 a war, whence the long enmities between France and 
 England are dated. Normandy and Beance were 
 the first fields of battle. The quarrels between the 
 emperors and the popes coricerning investitures, began 
 also at this period. The imperious and turbulent 
 Hildebrand, as Gregory VII., originated them. He 
 was the pontiff who issued a decree that eiiiperors 
 and kings were to fall at his feet, and who extended his 
 absolute power over the church itself. 
 
 King Philip being disgusted vdth Bertha, his wife, 
 got genealogists to prove that she was his relation in 
 some remote degree, and, according to the usage of 
 the age, dismissed her. He then abducted and 
 espoused Bertrade, Countess of Anjou, of whom he 
 was enamoured. Being excommunicated by Urban 
 II. (1095), he separated himself from Bertrade, but 
 subsequently took her back, and the greatest disorder 
 resulted from the papal anathema upon the act. 
 Another pope came to Poitiers to promulgate it afresh 
 in a council, at which the nobles and bishops pelted 
 each other with stones. The anathema declared re- 
 bellion to Philip acceptable to God. But the lords 
 who had changed their wives, like the king, took his 
 part. He himself, a brave and prudent prince, asso- 
 ciated his son Louis in the government, the better to 
 enable him to ride out the storm ; but Bertrade grew 
 jealous of his infiuence, and attempted to poison him. 
 At length the bishops thought it for their interest to 
 give the king absolution (1104), which he went to 
 receive, by the gracious permission of the pope, in 
 frost and with bare feet, in a council held at Paris. 
 
 In the state of brutal torpidity to which feudalism 
 had reduced the human race, a shock was needed to 
 arouse it, and the want was opportunely supplied by 
 religious enthusiasm. 
 
 A pope had already conceived the idea of conquer- 
 ing the Holy Land — that is to say, Palestine — and a 
 hermit was destined to realise it. Peter having re- 
 turned from the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, which was 
 then in great esteem, traversed all Europe, preaching 
 m courts, in towns, and in councils, and succeeded in 
 exciting a burning zeal for the holy sepulchre, and 
 against the Mahometans who taxed pilgrims. So dismal 
 was the condition of society, that a project so full of 
 hazard was embraced with avidity; — the serfs to 
 escajjc from slavery, the vassals to get rid of the 
 tyranny of the suzerains, debtors to wipe off obliga- 
 tions by indulgences — all to gain paradise. Old men, 
 women, children, princes, monks, lords, bishops, 
 began their march, crying, It is the will of God! On 
 their garments they wore a cross of red stuff, and 
 thus they were called Crusaders. This undiscii)lined 
 multitude, liaving Peter for their general, spread 
 devastation upon its line of march, slaughtered all 
 Jews, and found a grave in Hungary. A body of 
 30,000 men, the remnant of a rognxlar feudal army, 
 took Jerusalem in 1099, and made one of its leaders, 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, king thereof. This was what 
 is called the first crusado. These extravagances, 
 arising from a mixture of the devout and the warUke 
 
 spirit, were ultimately useful to Inrmanity, though 
 causing such a deluge of blood. The people were 
 delivered from the presence of a great many lords, 
 and these sold a part of their lands to the king, in 
 order to defray the expenses of their expedition. 
 Relieved from them, the royal power began to be 
 established somewhat more firmly. 
 
 The prowess of the Norman and French knights in 
 England and Judea possesses a tinge of the marvellous, 
 which romancers and poets have not failed to carry 
 to an exaggerated pitch. A handful of Norman knights 
 likewise conquered and founded the kingdoms of 
 Naples and Sicily. To the Crusades is attributed the 
 use of armorial bearings, which served to distinguish 
 the chiefs amongst themselves, and to secure their 
 recognition by their retainers. At the same time the 
 Arab numerals came into use, an invention somewhat 
 more useful than armoriiil bearings. 
 
 During this period the ecclesiastical power was 
 almost exclusively exercised by the Benedictine monks, 
 who, from the reformation of Cluny in 910, had de- 
 clared they owed obedience only to the pope. They 
 were the miUtia of Rome at that era. The secular 
 clergy were nearly all married. Owing to the weak- 
 ness of the royal powei', the election of bishops was 
 re-established. 
 
 It was about this time that the worship of images 
 was introduced, as likewise the usage of confession, 
 which had formerly been restricted to ecclesiastics. 
 
 FIRST RISE OF THE BOROUGHS UNDER LOUIS 
 THE FAT. 
 
 The domain of the kings of France did not then 
 extend beyond fifteen or twenty leagues round Paris. 
 Louis VI., called the Fat (1108), had, upon his acces- 
 sion, to fight in the district of Orleans, in Normandy, 
 and in the Isle of France, against the barons his neigh- 
 bours, formidable brigands, who robbed travellers. 
 The reduction of one of them required him thrice 
 to lay siege to a feudal castle. In a war against Eng- 
 land, the advantages were divided between the French 
 and Normans, in spite of the courage exhibited by 
 Louis. The emperor, who was son-in-law to the King 
 of England, took part Avith his relative, and marched 
 to the invasion of France (1124). Louis summoned 
 the great vassals of the crown, who were bound to 
 serve under the royal standard* against a foreign 
 enemy. They formed an army of 200,000 men. ar»^ 
 the Germans repassed the Rhine. The French might 
 have then overwhelmed the Anglo-Normans, but the 
 dukes and counts, afraid of rendering the king's power 
 too great, all betook themselves home, and left liim 
 without an army. Although Louis was very pious, 
 he coidd not escape excommunication, wliich was 
 pronoimced against him by the Bishop of Paris. He 
 died in 1137, after securing the coronation of his sou 
 
 The most important event of his reign, was the 
 melioration which began to take place in the lot of 
 the miserable people. Divers insurrections had oc- 
 curred in towns possessed by the clergy or the barons 
 within tlie royal domain. The king, imablc or unwill- 
 ing to repress the insurgents, judged it more advisable 
 to make them usef\d allies. Being himself perpetually 
 at war, and incapable of protecting them from the 
 invasions of his neighbom-s, he found it expedient to 
 give tliem liberty to defend themselves. They were 
 authorised to assemble and name their om'u magis- 
 trates, even whilst they were forbidden to change their 
 place of abode, or marrj' without the permission of the 
 lord. They fixed their taxes, composed their militiii, 
 and, shut up within their ramparts, could breathe 
 somewhat in peace. These little democracies, thus 
 
 * It w:is then the Orifl.ammc, the banner of the Abhey of Sr 
 Deni.s. IMiracuIoiis virtues were attribute'l to it, wjiich may be 
 deemed fabulous, as well as the hoi)' blister, and the power which 
 our ancestors believed possessed by the kings of France, from the 
 timo of Louis VI., of curing the evil.
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 13 
 
 independent of their lords, under certain restrictions, 
 were called boroughs (conununes). They had, however, 
 to pay for the charters by which the king granted 
 them these privileges, but it was a mighty tiling to 
 gain them at all, for they excited infinite choler amongst 
 the barons, bishops, and monks, who looked upon 
 themselves as deii-auded by the crown. Afterwards, 
 several feudal suzerains followed the king's example, 
 and, as a means of replenishing their coffers, sold 
 liberty to the serfs in the towns of their lordships. 
 In many places the Ijurghers rose in arms, and esta- 
 blished their freedom of themselves. The plebeians 
 were thus enabled to enjoy comparative repose, and 
 pm-sue industrial avocations. But hberty was re- 
 stricted to the walls of the enfranchised towns ; and 
 the better to maintain it, they placed themselves as 
 nmch as possible under the protection of the king, 
 who mcreased his own strength by forming a close 
 union with them. He attached them to him still 
 more, by establishing appeals from the seignorial 
 courts, in certain cases, to the royal judges, who de- 
 fended the people against feudal oppression. In the 
 previous century, the bishops had drawn the greater 
 proportion of causes before the ecclesiastical tribimals, 
 which, bad as they were, were better than those of 
 the lords. 
 
 SUGER.— CONQUESTS OF PHILIP AUGUSTUS.— THE 
 ALBIGEXSES. 
 
 (a.d. 11.37.) Louis VII., sm-named the Young, by 
 marrying Eleanor, heiress of Aquitaine and Poitou, 
 enlarged the domain of the crown for a period. In a 
 war against the Count of Champagne, he set fire to a 
 church, by which 1300 persons were burned to death. 
 A fanatic, called Saint Bernard, who was not without 
 genius, having iireached a second crusade, Louis was 
 suddenly struck with remorse, and, in a paroxysm of 
 pious zeal, he assumed the cross, together with his 
 queen, his court, and 200,000 men. This second crusade 
 had no better result than the devastation of the coun- 
 tries through wliich it journeyed. Still, it was useful 
 in another sense. A foundling, named Suger, who 
 had become abbot of St Denis, at a time when abbots 
 were the counsellors of kings, was regent of the king- 
 dom, and pursued the policy commenced hy Louis the 
 Fat, whose minister he had been. Suger was admi- 
 rably fitted for athninistration, since his attention was 
 mainly directed to the interests of the people ; he 
 rendered France as flourishing as was possible in that 
 age. But the king, on his return, committed, contrary 
 to his advice, the faidt of divorcing his wife. She 
 espoused Henry Plantagenet, who already possessed 
 Anjou and Normandy, and subsequently became King 
 of England. She carried him, as her portion, the thiru 
 of France ; thus, an antipathy between a man and his 
 wife changed the extent of two kingdoms. The sons 
 of the King of England having revolted against their 
 father, Louis assisted them, but without advantage. 
 After exhibiting himself simply as a devout and im- 
 prudent king, he died. 
 
 (1180.) His son, Philip II., surnamed Augustus, 
 began his reign by a proceeding which was too much 
 in accordance with those times of superstition and 
 robbery to be at all surprising. The Jews were 
 masters of the little commerce which was then carried 
 on, since their political position forced them to habits 
 of industry ; the king expelled them from his domi- 
 nions by an edict. He showed great firmness in a 
 dispute with the Count of Flanders. He exterminated 
 the banditti called Biahantcrs, and refused obedience 
 to a legate of tlie pope. He defeated the King ol' 
 England, who held the half of France, and took the 
 cross, in unison with his successor Richard the Lion- 
 hearted, to recover Jerusalem from the famous Saladin. 
 (1189.) These two kings, however, succeeded only in 
 taking St Jean d'Acre. On his return, Philip invaded 
 Normandy during the absence of Richard. Having 
 
 divorced his wife, he was excommunicated by the 
 pope, and his kingdom put imder interdict, that is to 
 saj% mass and the ofiices of religion were no longer 
 performed, meat was forljidden to be eaten, marriages 
 were put off, and commmiication by speech sternly 
 interdicted (1200). Philip had sense enough to de- 
 spise the interdict, and he seized upon the bishops' 
 temporalities. He performed another energetic action. 
 John Lacklands, King of England, had murdered his 
 competitor the young Arthur. Philip caused him to 
 be judged by his court of peers as a vassal of France, 
 and procured a declaration that Normandy, Anjou, 
 Touraine, &c., reverted the cro-\vn, Avhich judgment 
 he put in execution with an army. The French 
 royalty, dilapidated by the feudal system, thus began 
 to resume its strength. 
 
 A fourth crusade which took place at this period 
 (1204), residted in the temporary conquest of the 
 Greek empire instead of the Holy Land. The cru- 
 saders crowned their leader Baldwin at Constanti- 
 nople. A more deplorable crusade was du-ected against 
 the Christians of the south of France, wlio were named 
 Alhigenses (120S). They were exterminated by thou- 
 sands, and consumed at the stake, because they hesi- 
 tated to believe in certain mysteries. 
 
 Pope Innocent III. having offered the crown of 
 England to Philii), John, on his part, surrendered his 
 kingdom to the pope, who thereupon became his pro- 
 tector. A formidable league threatened Philip. John, 
 the Count of Flanders, and the emperor, collected 
 200,000 men. Philip, with 50,000, beat them in the 
 field of Bovines(1214). A French bishop distinguished 
 himself in that flmious battle, by knocking out enemies' 
 brains with an iron club. 
 
 In the twelfth century the human mind made va- 
 rious efforts to emerge from the darkness in which it 
 lay buried. Schools began to be established in the 
 seats of episcopacy. That of Paris soon became the 
 most celebrated in Europe, though the mstruction it 
 gave was very imperfect. Three thousand students 
 listened in the open air to the lectures of the logician 
 Abelard, the lover of Helo'ise, names immortalised by 
 a passion which seems too sublime for so gross an age. 
 Truth was then sought for, not in nature and reason, 
 but in the absurd precepts of Aristotle ; professors 
 were not reasoners, they were only casuists. During 
 this age chivalry was in most flom-ishing condition 
 in palaces and castles, and if the people were oppressed, 
 they had the satisfaction of suffering from the most 
 gallant men in the world. The Troubudours were ever 
 on the alert to sing the praises of beauty and love, 
 opening the career of poetry to Dante and Petrarch, 
 the fathers of modern Italian literature. Philip .\u- 
 gustus was the first of the French kings who kept 
 paid troops on foot, thereby giving another blow to 
 feudalism. The crusaders had brought a frightful 
 malady from Asia, which covered France with lepers. 
 As to contagious pestilences, tliey were in that age as 
 common as famines. The incessant wars, interrupt- 
 ing cultivation, produced scarcity and mortality, and 
 the unburied corpses tainted the air, and engendered 
 the plague. Thus one scourge brought on another. 
 
 KEIGNOF LOUIS IX.-JUSTICE BEGINS TO DISPLACE 
 THE FEUDAL FEUOCITV. 
 
 (a. d. 1223.) Louis VIII., called the Lion, overcame 
 the King of England, who attempted to re-establish 
 his power in France, and then made war on the Count 
 of Toulouse, with the intention of despoiling him oi 
 his dominions, under the pretext that he regarded 
 heretics with an indulgent eye. He was not success- 
 fid in his project, and, in 122S, died, leaving his son, 
 twelve years' old, on the throne, and his widow, 
 Blanche of Castille, regent of the kingdom. 
 
 Tlie young Louis, whom the church lias designated 
 Saint Louis, was in reidity as excellent a prince as bis
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCK 
 
 times permitted. Tosrether with personal bravery 
 and political courage, iie liad the constancy of a true 
 Christian. He twice overcame the English, who had 
 supported a rebellious vassal in Saintonge. The pope, 
 who had excommunicated the emperor, being driven 
 from Rome, came to seek an asylum in France. Louis 
 had the fimmess to refuse assistance to this disturber 
 of the pubUc peace, wlio thereupon betook himself to 
 Lyons, a town of which the archbishop was feud:il lord. 
 (1245.) However, this same king, being threatened 
 with death, took a vow to prosecute a crusade. Neither 
 the queen nor the bishops could alter his resolution, 
 and Louis departed upon his expedition, which was 
 in every sense disastrous. He was taken prisoner in 
 Egypt, and had to pay an enormous ransom. At the 
 death of his mother, "he returned to France, and de- 
 voted himself to the administration of liis kingdom. 
 He maintained peace amongst the great vassals of the 
 crown, as far as he was able, and often yielded to the 
 pretensions of the kings his neighbours, rather than 
 plunge the country into war. Never was a king with 
 a more scrupulous conscience, or more enamom-ed of 
 concord. The English barons wishing to depose their 
 king because he infringed the great charter, Louis was 
 chosen arbiter between them, and gave his decision 
 for the maintenance of all liberties compatible with 
 the royal authority. 
 
 The pope having placed the King of the Two Sicilies 
 under interdict, offered the crown to Louis IX.'s 
 brother, who held the county of Anjou as an appanage, 
 reserving to himself an annual tribute. The comat 
 accepted the gift (1266), and passed into Italy with a 
 host of volunteers, who assumed the cross because 
 they fought in the name of the pope, and believed 
 they were performing a work of piety in dethroning 
 an excommunicated prince. Najiles was speedily 
 conquered, and the usm-per cut off the head of the 
 legitimate king. 
 
 France enjoyed a certain prosperity for so miserable 
 an age, owing'to the wisdom of the king, who seques- 
 trated the temporahties of the bishops when they 
 op])ressed the people too grievously, but who, never- 
 theless, would have become a Franciscan monk but 
 for the remonstrances of the queen. He still kept the 
 cross on his garments, intending to proceed on a second 
 crusade, which he finally determined ujOTn in spite of 
 his advanced age and the entreaties of his counsellors. 
 Persuaded that he could easily convert the King of 
 Tunis, he disembarkeil in Africa (1270), and after 
 witnessing the destruction of his army under its burn- 
 ing sun, he himself died in miserable plight. 
 . The reign of Louis IX. was an era of great political 
 ameliorations. The capitularies of Charlemagne hav- 
 ing fallen into disuse, no written laws prevailed, and 
 the greatest confusion resulted from the various local 
 cuntoms which held the place of laws. Louis framed 
 a code of establishments for that part of France directly 
 under his sway, in which the judicial duel was abo- 
 lished, and numerous improvements in the admini- 
 stration of justice were instituted, by which the vicious 
 proceedhigs of the barons and tlieir courts were miti- 
 gated or annulled. The family feuds, which included 
 all the relations of the belligerents, were interdicted 
 under penalty of forfeiture. The right of coining 
 money, which a great number of lords had usurped, 
 was restricted. The code of Justinian, discovered at 
 that time, became known in France, but was proscribed 
 by the clergy. The priests, or clerks, being the only 
 instructed class, peribrmed the functions of advo- 
 cates, and even practised medicine. When a person 
 died intestate, and the church was thereliy baulked of 
 the legacy, which was almost indispensable in testa- 
 ments, it confiscated the vthole succession, and 
 beggared the family of the defunct. Louis's establish- 
 ments abrogated this infamous abuse. This king was 
 in truth the restorer of justice, but his religious zeal 
 ollen carried him to absurd lengths. He pronounced 
 inliuman pimishments upon those who ventured to 
 
 swear by the name of God, or of any of the saints. 
 He exhii)ited, however, an unbroken firmness In op- 
 posing the grasping despotism of the popes ; in liis 
 famous ordinance, called the Pragmatic Sanction, he 
 asserted the maxim that the kingdom depended on 
 God alone. 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES UNDER 
 PUILIP THE HANDSOME. — THE TEMPLARS. — PAR- 
 LIAMENT OF PARIS. 
 
 After the death of Louis, his son, Philip III., con- 
 thiued tlie war against the Tunisians, and granted 
 them peace upon their paying tribute. Such was the 
 conclusion of the last of those distant expeditions 
 which depopulated Europe. The young king returned 
 to France, and miited to the crown the vast possessions 
 of his uncle, the Count of Poitiers, who had died with- 
 out issue. He allowed himself at first to be governed 
 bj' his father's barber ; but that person having excited 
 unjust suspicions against the queen, he was convicted 
 of treason, and hanged. The most remarkable event 
 in this reign occurred out of France. The Sicilians, 
 determined to throw off the oppressive yoke of Charles 
 of Anjou, arose at the hour of vespers and massacred 
 all the French attached to the fortunes of the new 
 king (1282). This slaughter extended itself over the 
 whole of Sicily. The King of Arragon then endea- 
 voured to seize upon the island, which drew upon 
 him a i)apal excommimication ; a crusade was even 
 preached against him. Philip put himself at the head 
 of the crusaders against this Christian prince, and 
 after taking Gironne by a tedious siege, he returned 
 to Perpignan, and died (1285). Upon his death, two 
 monasteries disinited the possession of his heart; 
 rather a small matter, one woidd think. 
 
 Philip IV., surnamed the Handsome, his son, suc- 
 ceeded him. Edward I., King of England, rendered 
 him homage for Guienne, which he acknowledged to 
 possess as a vassal of the French crown. But dis- 
 putes occurring between the two nations, Philip cited 
 Edward to his court, and, upon contumacy, poured an 
 army into Guienne, and reduced it (1295). War after- 
 wards broke out with the Comit of Flanders, who had 
 made an alliance with Edward. The English were con- 
 quered, and Flanders subdued. Boniface VIII., a pope 
 whose arrogance was quite equal to that of any of his 
 predecessors, was the next antagonist whom Philip en- 
 countered. The cause of the quarrel was an attempt 
 of the king to lay a slight tax upon the clergy, as he 
 was in great distress for money, and the people were 
 utterly incapable of supplying the incessant demands 
 made upon them. The pope forbade the ecclesiastics 
 to contribute the smallest coin to the necessities of 
 the state, and Philip, in return, forbade his subjects to 
 pay any thing to the pope. Peace was at length re- 
 stored; the pope undertook to canonise Louis IX., 
 and a trilling impost was granted him for the glory of 
 St Peter. 
 
 However, it was not long before the insolent pre- 
 tensions of the j)ope were renewed ; a French bishop, 
 his legate, carried his impertinence to such a pitch that 
 tlie king drove him from his presence. The pope, 
 furious at the insult, fulminated fresh bulls, and sum- 
 moned the king, under the penalty of having his king- 
 dom ])laccd mider interdict, to acknowledge himself 
 king by the grace of the pontiff. Philip, far from being 
 intimidated, answered with boldness; and desirous of 
 finding supjiort in the nation, he convoked a national 
 assembly (1290). This is one of the most important 
 events in the French annals. The assemblies usual 
 in the earlier times of the monarchy liad fallen into 
 complete oblivion. Following the example of the 
 King of England, Philip caused the deputies of the 
 boroughs to form part of it ; they were then styled 
 the third estate. The three orders voted separately to 
 maintain the independence of the crown; the clergy 
 made an attempt to influence a conciliatorj' demeanour
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 15 
 
 towards the pope, but the nobles opposed it. As to 
 the third estate, it was overwhchned with astonish- 
 ment at its being honoured with consultation ; but 
 money being wanted, and the people the supplying 
 source, their presence was judged necessary. An old 
 historian of France has said on this subject something 
 new : — " Diets are excellent expedients to governments 
 for obtaining subsidies." 
 
 The pope repUed by calling a coiuicil, in which he 
 procured the assertion of the sovereign right as vested 
 in the tiara. The king retorted by an assembly of 
 nobles and bishops, in which the pope was accused of 
 impostiu-e and heresy. Thereupon, excommimication 
 was thmidered forth, and the crown of France offered 
 to a prince of Austria. The pope was carried otf by 
 the French partisans, then set at liberty, and finally 
 died in transports of rage. He had instituted the 
 jubilee, v/hich di-ew thousands of pilgrims to Rome, 
 and vast sums from the whole of Christendom. During 
 the course of these events, the Flemings had revolted 
 under a weaver, and massacred the French. The 
 Count d'Artois lost against the insurgents the battle 
 of Courtrai, in which 20,000 Frenchmen perished. 
 The king then marched in person, was unsuccessful, 
 and fo'and himself obhged to reinstate the Comit of 
 Flanders, with the reservation of cei-tain towns. The 
 excommunication was shortly afterwards taken off by 
 the last pope's successor. 
 
 The process against the Templars, a religious and 
 military order founded during the crusades, was a 
 famous event in this reign. Philip the Handsouie 
 pursued their destruction with an inveteracy for 
 which we cannot account, and which seemed equally 
 participated in by the pope. They were siiddenly ar- 
 rested throughout the whole of France (1307) ; they 
 were questioned mider torture, and the rack compelled 
 them to avow the crimes that were fixed upon them. 
 When its anguigh ceased, some of them retracted their 
 confessions, and were accordingly consumed before 
 slow fires (1312). The order was abolished, and the 
 possessions given to the hospitallers, since the order 
 of Malta. The grand-master and great officers, con- 
 demned by a papal commission, were burnt alive, all 
 protesting their innocence, amidst the flames, to the 
 last moment. "WTiat caused this frightful atrocity? 
 The Templars were accused of detestable crimes, but 
 all that we know of their offences is that they were 
 rich, haughty, and debauched. Were those who burnt 
 them one whit better ? 
 
 Philip had overtvhelmed the people with imposts, 
 ruined credit by debasing the coin, and expelled the 
 Jews to seize their wealth. The generiU discontent 
 grew to such a height as to threaten an insurrection. 
 Chagrin gnawed his heart, and killed him. To him 
 are owing the convocation of the states-general, the 
 union of Lyons to France, and the parliament being 
 rendered stationary at Paris. Formerly it was a 
 travelling tribunal, which followed the king, and was 
 composed of noblemen nominated by him. As these 
 men of the sword could neither read nor write, they 
 associated in their judicial labom-s men conversant in 
 the law, who attended them in the capacity of coun- 
 sellors. By degrees, the nobles withdrew and left the 
 lawyers to judge alone. The peers, the gi-eat territo- 
 rial lords, or high domestics of the court, who were 
 the Icudes of the first race, or the barons and great 
 vassals of pure feudalism, had right of entry to the 
 parliament. The assembly itself was, properly speak- 
 ing, the tribunal of the king. From the time of Louis 
 IX., the parliament had cognizance of all the appeals 
 of the kingdom. He recognised the excellent prin- 
 cijtles of justice laid down in the Roman code, created 
 forms of legal procedure, rendered the study of law 
 necessary, and drew to the men of letters and legal 
 knowledge a part of the authority usurped by ignorant 
 soldiers. It is not generally known tliat the Pandects 
 of Justinian inflicted the greatest blow on feudalism. 
 After havmg gone through the thirteenth century, 
 
 if we cast cm- eyes backwards we wiU find that the 
 human species made some progress towards civilisa- 
 tion during its course. Under Louis IX., a library 
 was collected. Roger Bacon, an English monk, a 
 prodigy for that age, divined a portion of the physical 
 sciences ; he invented the camera obscura. His brutal 
 contemporaries took him for a magician. Contemp- 
 tible parodies, exhibited on scaffolds under the name 
 of wijtAeries, were essays which had at least the merit 
 of preparing the way lor Racine and Moliere. Theo- 
 logical disputes and scholastic casuistry stiU continued, 
 and the Sorbonne was founded ; but the burglier youth 
 acquired ideas and habits of anti-feudal independence 
 even amidst the disorders of a university education, 
 and the brotherhoods, or guilds, advantageous at the 
 period of their institution, provided it with the means, 
 and conferred upon it the force, of political organisa- 
 tion. The provosts and magistrates were accustomed 
 to resistance against arbitrary power ; and the third 
 estate, erected into a political order, began to acquire 
 consistence, and the royal power foimd it useful to 
 cultivate its alliance. 
 
 ENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE PEASANT-SERFS.— 
 REVERSES UNDER PHILIP OF VALOiS. 
 
 The royal authority, which had made great strides 
 under Philip the Handsome, Avas successively exer- 
 cised by his three sons within a short period. Louis X., 
 surnamed Hiitin, condemned to death the superin- 
 tendant of the finances, EngueiTand de Marigny 
 (1314) ; the proof of his knavery was deficient, so he 
 was accused of sorcery. The king afterwards repented 
 of the iniquity of th^s execution. The most memor- 
 able event of this reign, was the enfranchisement of a 
 great part of the rural serfs (1315).* The king com- 
 menced in his own domains, and the lords gradually 
 followed his example. The preamble of the edict set 
 forth these words — " Inasmuch as, according to the law 
 of nature, every one ought to be born free." However, 
 liberty was sold to the peasants in the same manner 
 as it had been sold to the burghers. Many of them 
 accustomed to slavery were anxious to continue it, 
 finding that liberty in those times was not worth the 
 price charged for it. Tlie want of money has often 
 caused injustice both to be committed and redressed. 
 The Jews were recalled in 1316, in the hope of ex- 
 tracting enormous taxes from them. 
 
 Philip v., called the Long, who succeeded him in 
 1319, effected reforms in the administration. He 
 excluded the bishops from the parliament, in which 
 they preserved some influence. He is stated to have 
 projected useful regulations, such as a general system 
 of weights, measures, and cm-rencj-. He disarmed the 
 burghers, in order the riiore sm-ely to suppress the 
 right of private war. He named a captain to com- 
 mand the guard of the to\vns in the ro^'al name ; this 
 burgher militia was a species of national guard, which 
 is of^cn mentioned in the wars of that age. Under his 
 reign horrible cruelties were committed on Jews and 
 lepers, who were charged with most absurd accusa- 
 tions. They were burned by hundreds, as a speedy 
 means of securing their possessions. Foundations for 
 persons afflicted with loi)r()sy were very numerous, 
 and all richly endowed ; in consequence whereof they 
 excited cupidity, and had their goods confiscated. 
 When fanaticism and rapacity move in concert, no 
 limit can be assigned to atrociousuess. It was to 
 tliese spoliating persecutions exjjerienced by the Jews, 
 that the invention of bills trf excliange is' owing, by 
 means of which they could transfer their fortunes 
 from one country to anotiier 
 
 * There still remained, eren in the reign of Lo\iis X\^. , serfs 
 of mortmnin, at St Claude in Franche-Conite, wlio were enfran- 
 chised by tliat king. Tliey l)clon«ed to monks !
 
 IC 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 (1322.) Charles IV., called the Handsome, caused 
 several papacious financiers to be punished, as also 
 some noblemen, who, although no financiers, never- 
 theless ruined the people. He made war on the 
 English in Guienne. His sister was the wife of 
 Edward II., Avhom she succeeded in dethroning. The 
 famous Edward III. then assumed the English sceptre. 
 Charles IV. having died without issue, Edward III. 
 claimed the crown of France, as nephew, by his mother, 
 of the last king (1328). The SaUc law, which ex- 
 cluded females, was directly opposed to his preten- 
 sions. The peers decided that Philip of Valois, who 
 Avas descended from St Louis by a younger branch, 
 ought to be preferred. 
 
 The reign of Philip IV. was a continued chain of 
 calamities. He first of all attempted to reduce the 
 Flemings, who had revolted against their comit under 
 the conduct of a fishmonger. He afterwards suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining homage for Guienne from Edward 
 III., who was not yet prepared for war. But a wretch, 
 his brother-in-law, whom he had justly banished, 
 having taken refuge in England, sthnulated the king 
 to that warfare which became so terrible to France. 
 A fleet, stated to have been 120 vessels strong, and 
 carrying 40,000 men, was defeated by that of Eng- 
 land in the battle of Ecluse (1341), in which Edward 
 himself was present. He afterwards made a descent 
 on the coasts of Normandy, acting under the advice 
 of another traitor, Geoffrey of Harcourt ; and breaking 
 a truce which Philip observed with too much faith, 
 he advanced to the gates of Paris, whence he retired 
 into Picardy, pm-sued by the French, who, yielding to 
 their imprudent impetuosity, attacked him at Cressj\ 
 (1346.) The Genoese bowmen gave way, and threw 
 the French army into disorder, which was defeated, 
 and 30,000 men left dead on the-field of battle. The 
 success of the English was chiefiy owing to their 
 cross-bows, a weapon which the French woidd not 
 use, from an excess of chivakic honour or martial 
 pride, and therefore subsidised foreigners for that 
 service. It is also said that the English used caimon 
 in this combat, which was then a recent invention. 
 
 After his victory, Edward besieged Calais (1347), 
 which surrendered after suffering the last extremes 
 of famine. To all these reverses were added a famine 
 and a plague, which depopulated France. The latter 
 was general throughout Europe, and cai-ried off, as is 
 alleged, a fourth of the popidation. Discouragement 
 paralysed the exertions of the country. Fanatics, 
 named flayellators, scoured the fields, and scourged 
 their bodies to the gushing of blood, as a propitiation 
 of divine VTath. The king died (1350) a prey to 
 chagrin, and an object of hatred to his subjects. He 
 first established the guhelle, a tax on salt. Under his 
 reign, disastrous as it was, Dauphiny was annexed 
 to France, under condition that the heir-ai>pareut 
 should bear the name of Dauphin. During the same 
 period, Jane of Anjou sold Avignon to the pope. 
 
 KING JOHN.— niS CAPTIVITY.— THE STATES EXER- 
 CISED THE SOVEREIGNTY.— JACKERIE. 
 
 John, son of the preceding king, was equally impo- 
 litic, and still more unfortunate. His first act was to 
 cut off the head of the Count d'Eu, his constable, 
 without any one knowing why. He was afterwards 
 exposed to the enmity of a wicked and powerful prince, 
 Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, who inflicted much 
 injury on his dominions. Edward III. likewise carried 
 the war into France again, when John convoked the 
 states-general in order to raise subsidies (13.55). This 
 is one of the most remarkable eras iji French history, 
 and deserves to be specially noted. 
 
 Philip the Handsome had succeeded in rendering 
 tlie royjil power in some degree absolute ; he had 
 
 emancipated it from the thraldom of the pope, and 
 strengthened it by summoning the states-general, 
 which had then no idea of their rights. The rivalry 
 existing amongst the three orders coidd not fail to 
 secure the preponderance to the king, even had the 
 states imagined themselves invested with any more 
 formidable character than that of a council appointed 
 to register royal decrees. Now they prepared to take 
 a very different attitude. We Avill not speak here of 
 the states of Langucd'oc, convoked in the south of 
 France, as those of the north, or of Langued'oil, have 
 had the cl)ief influence on affairs. The states of 1355 
 acted upon the principle that the king had no right 
 to exact any tax without the consent of the nation as 
 represented by them. Thej' determined even to su- 
 perintend their collection and disposition, and sent 
 deputies into the different bailiwicks charged with the 
 perception. They named a permanent commission, 
 composed of three members from each order, to watch 
 over the king's administration during the recess of 
 the sessions. They took the greatest precautions to 
 ensure the advantageous employment of any surplus 
 funds, and to confine tlie king within a limited ex- 
 penditure. They finally decreed a large levy of troops, 
 and called the burgher militias iuto the field. 
 
 The Prince of Wales, generally called the Black 
 Prince, the son of Edward III., and the great hero of 
 his age, led a desolating horde into France. Being 
 intrenched in an advantageous position near Poitiers 
 with 8000 men, and attacked by John at the head of 
 60,000, he completely overthrew the French, and took 
 the king prisoner. Charles the Dauphin thereupon 
 convoked the states, which once more exliibited a 
 knowledge of their rights. The three orders were 
 unanimous in their discontent, and they ordered an 
 inquirj' to be made into the causes of popidar com- 
 plaint. A bishop named Lecocq, and jMarcel, the ])ro- 
 vost of the trades, presided over this commission of 
 inquiry. Subsidies were granted only upon condi- 
 tions ; the ministers and counsellors were to be dis- 
 lilaced for deputies taken from the three orders. The 
 court, indignant at this spirit, attempted to collect 
 taxes without the sanction of the states, but the people 
 refused to pay them. The states-general were there- 
 fore again convoked (1356), and it was found necessary 
 to submit to the prescribed conditions. 
 
 The dauphin put in force a means of gaining money 
 that had often been used by his jiredecessors, namely, 
 the adulteration of the coin, an expedient pregnant 
 with ruin. The people of Paris rose in insurrection, 
 under the conduct of Marcel. The King of Navjirre, 
 who had been imprisoned by the king, escaped, and 
 came to support the i-evolt. The people were alter- 
 nately harangued by liim, the dauphin, and Marcel. 
 The last enjoyed the greatest degi'ee of popularity; 
 he was a patriot, and born in the burgher rank. 
 Charles the Bad was actuated simply by a turbulent 
 ambition, and was used as a mere instrument against 
 the court. Paris was a perfect hotbed of democnicy. 
 The insurgents adopted as a rallying sigJi a red and 
 blue cap. Marcel began even thus earl^' to form a 
 federation between the other towns o^ France and the 
 capital, when tlie dauphin, wIk) liad taken the title of 
 regent, escaped to Compiegne, and convoked the 
 states-gencnd (1358). 
 
 France was in a state of the most deplorable ilis- 
 order. Taking advantage of the general disorganisa 
 tion, the nobility attempted to reduce tlie peasants 
 under their former yoke of iron, whilst they, on their 
 part, armins themselves with ])itchforks and clubs, 
 pillaged the castles and massacred the nobles, who, 
 collecting in armed bands, revenged themselves upon 
 the midisciphiied multitude. This war of extermina- 
 tion was called Jackerie, from the jacks or jackets 
 worn l)y the peasants. 
 
 From the height of anarchy, and the excesses of civil 
 war, there is genernlly but one step to absolute power, 
 for all gi-ow weary of evil, and readily concede any
 
 inSTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 17 
 
 thing for peace and order. Tlie states of Compiegne 
 proved the truth of the remark. It is true that they 
 granted imposts imder th.e titles oi aids and free gifts, 
 but tliey annulled all that the preceding states had 
 done, as the work of the seditious and traitorous. 
 Several of the deputies were condemned to death. 
 Paris was l)lockaded and taken by surrender. Marcel 
 fell by assassination, and the regent made his entry 
 into the capital. 
 
 A treaty with England restored liberty to John 
 (1.360), who agreed to cede the half of his kingdom, 
 and to pay four millions of gold crowns ; but the ran- 
 som was afterwards reduced to a third of France, and 
 three millions of crowns. Being tmabla to raise this 
 enormous sum, which would have completely drained 
 the country, John returned to London, where he died. 
 He was a man of scrupulous honour, and was accus- 
 tomed to say, that if good faith were banished from 
 other quarters, it should find a sanctuary in the hearts 
 of kings. This phrase is often repeated, and kings 
 woxild do well to be sincerely impressed with its ex- 
 cellence. Having acquired Burgimdy by inheritance, 
 John gave it as an appanage to one of his sons, and 
 thus commenced the famous house of Burgundy. 
 This evil system of appanages onlj'^ tended to divide 
 and weaken France, which was not so strong as to 
 render its further reduction at all necessary. 
 
 CHARLES V.-DUGUESCLIN. — THE ROYAL POWER 
 REGAINS THE SUPREMACY. — THE FOURTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 Wlien Charles V. mounted the throne (1364) the 
 government was almost wholly to reconstruct : he 
 was prudent and able, knowing how to select and 
 employ men of capacity, and succeeded in repairing 
 much of the general evil. Charles the Bad stiU con- 
 tinued his intrigues and injuries, and an excellent 
 warrior, Dug-uescUn, was sent against him and re- 
 pulsed him. The war in the meanwhile raged with 
 unabated fury in Bretagne. Montfort, supported by 
 the English, having gained a victory in which Dugu- 
 esclin was taken prisoner, terms of peace were agreed 
 upon. At th.is era, the class of men pursuing the 
 profession of arms was a complete scourge to the 
 country. Wlien troops were disbanded, it seemed as 
 if so many wild beasts had been unchained, and a new 
 war was necessary to reduce them ; so that peace it- 
 self became the cause of fresh bloodshed and confusion. 
 A campaign in Spain opportunely offering, Dugiiesclin 
 was sent there at the liead of troops, which were re- 
 engaged to rid France of their baneful presence. 
 However, he was again defeated and made prisoner 
 by the redoubtable Black Prince. 
 
 Charles V. was once more engaged in war with the 
 English, which, under the generalship of Dug-ucsclin, 
 became advantageous for him. 1400 enclosed towns 
 and .3000 fortresses were captured in Aquitaine alone. 
 Fresh treasons on the part of the King of Navarre, 
 and a long disastrous war undertaken against the Duke 
 of Brittany, who was al)ly sustained by his own sub- 
 jects and tlie English, occupied the close of Charles V.'s 
 reign. The schism of the West occurred in his time. 
 When the paptd see was transferred f^oni Avignon to 
 Rome, two and even three poj)es were elected at the 
 same time, and the kings sided with the one or the 
 other as they found it best for themselves. Nunilier- 
 less were the wranglings, the combats, and the scan- 
 dals, wherewith Christianity was overwhelmed. 
 
 Charles, remembering the sturdy si)irit of the states- 
 general, never convoked them when he became king. 
 He contented himsi'lfwith holding /jcj/s of justice in 
 the parliament, in whicli he caused his decrees to be 
 a])proved of, after a display of asking counsel. His 
 adiinnistration, however, as it is said, was paternal, 
 and historians have snrnamed him the Wise. He was 
 moie engaged in strengthening the royal authority 
 
 than securing to his people the enjoyment of liberty, 
 and therefore philosophers have passed upon hinc 
 many severe strictures. But, after all, the best of 
 kings are prone to aggrandise their power, the most 
 reasonable of aristocrats desire peculiar privileges, or 
 a siiperiority of influence in the state, and the most 
 moral of pojjulations are drawn into excesses, when 
 they endeavour to repair by force the hardships of 
 the social state, and the inequalities of fortune : good 
 laws alone are above corruption and the influence of 
 passions. 
 
 In this foiu-teenth century, the human mind made 
 an insensible progress. Whilst the capuchins were 
 disputing, and even fighting, with each other, as to 
 the comparative sanctity of round or pointed hoods, 
 a Neapolitan invented the compass. Charles V. was 
 a friend to learning ; he collected 900 volumes, treat- 
 ing, however, upon astrology in general. The number 
 of universities was increased, but theology and hjgic 
 were the only subjects in repute. Sidlust, Caesar, and 
 some other Latin works, preserved in the monasteries, 
 were translated into French ; the only service that 
 the monks have rendered the human race, is having 
 been its hbrarians and transcribers. 
 
 MINORITY OF CHARLES VI.— HIS MADNESS.-CIVIL 
 AVAR. 
 
 (a. d. 1380.) The reign of Charles VL was one of 
 tlie most disastrous in the French annals. On his 
 accession he was under age, and his uncles disputed 
 the regency. The Duke of Anjou, who obtained it, 
 took advantage of his position to enrich himself with 
 the spoils of the nation. He robbed the treasury of 
 its last coin the moment the king reached his majo- 
 rity. The Parisians refused to pay any taxes, and 
 the states-general were convoked as a last resource. 
 They once more proclaimed the principle that taxes 
 were illegal without the consent of the states. They 
 granted certain subsidies, and the court endeavoured 
 to establish others arbitrarily, but the people rose 
 and massacred the officers of revenue. Troojis were 
 marched to Paris, which escaped sacking by paying a 
 heavy contribution. The king, retm-ning from Flan- 
 ders, entered Paris at the head of his army (1385), 
 caused the richest burghers to be arrested, and some 
 of them executed, amongst whom is mentioned a 
 venerable magistrate upwards of seventy years old ; 
 he then declared that all deserved death, but he 
 would limit his vengeance to the exaction of an im- 
 mense ransom. He subsequently placed the Constable 
 Clisson at the head of affairs, to enable him the better 
 to shake off the yoke of his two uncles. The Duke 
 of Bourbon (a descendant of Louis IX. by a junior 
 line), returning, at this time, from an expedition more 
 brilliant than useful he had made in Africa against 
 the Mahometans, e.xcited the imagination of the king, 
 who took up the chimerical idea of a crusade, but got 
 no farther than Italy, where ho went to assist one of 
 the two po])es. 
 
 In 1392, the Baron of Craon, one of the most formi- 
 dable ruffians who then enjoyed impunity in F/ance, 
 assassinated (^lisson and fled into Brittany, where he 
 was received by the duke. The king, being unable 
 to i)rocure his surrender, marched at the head of an 
 army to take him by force. As he was jinssing throtigh 
 the forest of Mans, a man clothed in white, and of a 
 hideous aspect, suddenly sprang from a thicket, and 
 seizing his horse's head, exclaimed : " Advance no 
 farther; thou art betrayed, oh king I" Such an inci- 
 dent was scarcely needed to turn so weak a brain as 
 Charles VI. 's. He became raging mad. Having re- 
 covered some time after\fards, he relajjsed into de- 
 nuigenient at the end of a masked ball, in wliirli his 
 c'lotlies caught fire. It was in vain that :i pretended 
 magician came forth to cure him; he remained de- 
 mented, with lucid intervals. This malady of the
 
 18 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 king was the signal for disorders of the most frightful 
 description. A truce was fortunately concluded with 
 the English (1395), and Richard II. married the 
 daughter of Charles VI. 
 
 In tlie midst of recriminations and executions, tlic 
 Duke of Orleans was named lieutenant-general of 
 the kingdom, which excited the jealousy and anger 
 of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. Open war 
 was declared between tliese two princes (1404), and 
 two furious ])artics were formed. John advanced with 
 an army against Paris ; the regent and the queen fled, 
 and the conqueror got possession of the dauphin (1407). 
 However, the two foes made afterwards a sliow of 
 reconciliation. They took the connuunion together, 
 and slept in the same bed ; but the regent was sud- 
 denly fallen upon by assassins, and sacrificed. The 
 perfidious Jolin, wlio was unable to deny his crime, 
 departed from Paris, but soon returned to it with his 
 army, and seized upon tlie governme:it, which he exer- 
 cised despotically, holding the king and court in com- 
 plete subjection. 
 
 The young Duke of Orleans, aided by the Count 
 d'Armagnac, raised his standard to avenge his father's 
 nuirder. War raged in almost every quarter of France, 
 the two parties being called respectively Armagnacs 
 and Biirgundiftns {1411). Tlie king, in an interval of 
 reason, took part against John the Fearless, marched 
 against him witli an army, and put his name to seve- 
 I'al accommodations no sooner signed than broken. 
 Yet greater calamities were in store for France, the 
 recital of which will require a few words of introduc- 
 tion. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE CIVIL WAT?.— THE ENGLISH 
 AT PAKIS.— PERMANENT PAULIAIMENT. 
 
 It is evident that France, at the period mider review, 
 was solely a field for the ambition of the nobles ; that 
 is to say, for factions. Tliis oligarchical anarchy lasted 
 during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteentli centu- 
 ries, and certain characteristics of this new disorder 
 are worthy of observation. In the age of pure feuda- 
 lism, the nobles were independent sovereigns, who 
 despoiled each otlier of their possessions ; but since 
 tlie crown had regained pre-eminence, the great men, 
 for the most part princes of the blood, disputed with 
 eacli other for tlie exercise of tlie royal autliority, 
 and for the wealth of the whole nation. Nothing so 
 elFectually demoralises a people, as factions attached 
 to princes ; it speedily loses sight of its own interests 
 to serve passions which it stupidly participates ; the 
 ruffians alone are the gainers, the mass of the people 
 dupes and victims ; like an inert body, struck by the 
 hammer and repelled by the anvil, it is tossed to and 
 fro between tlie contending parties, and is the inva- 
 riable prey of the conquerors for the hour. Thus 
 exclusively occupied with a civil war without a defin- 
 able object, the French cast not a thought upon the 
 states-general, an institution that miglit have been 
 rendered so powerful a lever of regeneration. They 
 soon experienced one of the inevitable results of court 
 factions, the yoke of the foreigner. 
 
 The King of England, Henry V., perceived the cir- 
 cumstances auspicious for conquest (141.5). Disem- 
 barking with a small anny, he crossed the Somme ; 
 the French, greatly superior in number, gave him 
 battle at Agiucourt, in a disadvantageous position, and 
 were defeated; but the victory was a sterile honour 
 for the moment, and the English, too weak in force, 
 repassed the channel. The factions arose with in- 
 creased rancour. D'Armagnac treated with Henry V., 
 acknowledging him as King of France. The queen 
 turned to the party of John the Fearless, who delivered 
 her out of a jjrison in which the king had immured 
 her, on account of her debaucheries. John was intro- 
 duced into Paris, his enemies there were put to the 
 
 sword,* and the executioner became his familiar asso- 
 ciate. At the same time, Henry V. seized upon Nor- 
 mandy. 
 
 The dauphin had an interview with John on the 
 bridge of iSIontereau, and the latter was assassinated 
 in his turn (1419). The queen imited with John's 
 son in opposition to the dauphin ; Henry V. came to 
 meet them at Troyes, and was there proclaimed regent 
 of the kingdom. He made his entry into Paris with 
 great magnificence, married the daughter of Charles 
 ^'I., and sent a marslial of France to the Bastille for 
 looking him in the face. He died shortly after (1422), 
 and was followed to the grave by Charles VI. 
 
 The schism in the church stiO continued, there being 
 always two popes. The Council of Constance deposed 
 one of them, and terminated the quarrel. Before 
 separating, the fathers bm-nt John Huss and Jerome 
 of Prague, who had been audacious enough to inter- 
 pret the Gospel for themselves, and to preach refor- 
 mation. They were the precursors of Lutlier. 
 
 The parliament, which had been formerly named 
 for a year, became permanent, and the counsellors 
 enjoyed the right of presenting new members to the 
 king for appointment. Thence began the influence 
 of that body, which ensured respect by its manners 
 and integrity. We shall see that it subsequently 
 abused its power. 
 
 THE MAID OF ORLEANS.— CHARLES VII.— FRANCE 
 RECONQUERED. 
 
 The dauphin (Charles VII.), proscribed by the 
 queen and Henry V., had, in his quality of regent, 
 transferred the parliament of Paris to Poitiers. The 
 marshal de Lafayette had gained for him the battle 
 of Bauge over the EngHsh. Uiion the death of the 
 two kings, his party began to raise its head. The 
 Duke of Bedford, on his part, had himself proclaimed 
 regent of France at Paris for Henry VI., an infant in 
 the cradle. The English possessed more than half of 
 the kingdom, and ranked, as their allies, the powerful 
 Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Bretagne. Charles 
 VII. was brave, but weak and voluptuous ; he allowed 
 himself to be governed by his companions in debau- 
 chery, and by his mistresses. He at first took a few 
 towns, but lost the battle of Verneuil (1424). Dunois, 
 Lahire, and La TrcmouiUe, were valiant knights, but 
 sad generals. The cause was in its last throes ; Or- 
 leans was besieged, and on the point of sm-rendering, 
 when a young peasant girl, gifted with an exalted 
 imagination, came forward and announced herself as 
 destined by heaven to save France. Her pretensions 
 were laughed at in the first instance, but were subse- 
 quently admitted. She spoke as one inspired, and 
 succeeded in communicating her own enthusiasm. 
 Dressed in a coat of mail, and bearing a banner ia 
 her hand, she marched at the head of the army, and 
 raised the siege. Persuaded that her mission was to 
 crown the king at Rheims, she traversed with him 
 eighty leagues of hostile country, and accomplished 
 her astonishing enterprise. Upon this occasion, reli- 
 gious enthusiasm was productive of s^me good. But 
 fortune abandoned the heroine ; wounded and captured 
 by the English, who wreaked a disgraceful revenge 
 upon her, she was condemned as a sorceress by infa- 
 mous judges, and burnt at Rouen (14.'31). Thus pe- 
 rished Joan of Arc, whose only crime was having saved 
 her country.! 
 
 * Villaret reports that 3500 persons were massacred in three 
 days in tlie prisons ; the streets and the courts of the palace were 
 flooded with blood. 2000 nobles, following the profession of ai'ins, 
 superintended these septcmbri-erii in their labours, and their lead- 
 ers, the Luxenibourjts, the Ilarcourts, the Chevreuses, &c., en- 
 riched themselves with the spoils of their victims. 
 
 t The tribunal that condemned her was composed of nmedoctore 
 of the Sorbonne, and of thirty-five abbots and monks, under the 
 l)rt'sid;'ncy of j\I;irtin, Vicar of the Inquisition, and Cauchon, 
 Uishop of licauvaiii.
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 i9 
 
 In the mean time, Henry VI. was crowned at Paris, 
 and Cliarles VII. consmned his feeble resources in 
 festivals ; as Lahire said to him, " No one could lose 
 his kingdom with more gaiet3^" But events took a 
 new asi>ect, and his character rose to a level Avith 
 them. The Duke of Burgundy, weary of Bedford's 
 despotism, and ashamed of his alliance with a foreigner 
 against his own relation, entered into a treaty with 
 Charles \ll. (1435.) Paris opened a gate to him, the 
 English evacuated the capital, and the king made his 
 solemn entry therein. Agnes Sorel, his mistress, sti- 
 miilated his mind to activity ; he signalised himself 
 at Montereau, Normandy was conquered, and the 
 English ultimately driven out of France (1451). The 
 nation had recovered its energy and force in union. 
 The king devoted himself to the re-estabhshment of 
 a system of order m the government during the re- 
 mainder of his reign, which Avas only disturbed by the 
 revolt of the dauphin, a wicked prince, who was after- 
 wards known as Louis XI. The king died in 1461, 
 oppressed with disquiet and chagrin. His mother, 
 the infamous Isabel, had died in misery at Paris dur- 
 ing the occupation of the English. 
 
 In the course of this reign, a permanent body of 
 cavalry, or gendarmerie, was establislied, as also one of 
 foot archers, paid by a tax levied without consent of 
 the states, which were quite forgotten. The council cf 
 Basle had hmited the power of the popes in 1431, and 
 an assembly of the clergy, held at Bourges, framed in 
 the same spirit the famous Pragmatic Sanction, the 
 charter of the liberties of the GaUican church. It 
 abolished reserves and first fruits, re-estabhshed tlie 
 election of bishops, and prevented the abuse of appeals 
 to the pojje. It was registered by the parliament. 
 
 I.OTJIS XI.— OPPRESSION OP THE PEOPLE, AND 
 HUMBLING OF THE NOBLES. 
 
 Louis XL, the prince of dissemblers, began his reign 
 by falling into a snare of the pope, who obtained from 
 him the abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction. That 
 law^ however, so odious to the papal court, remained 
 in partial execution. The king early exliibited his 
 intention of humbling the power of the nobles, the 
 better, doubtless, to oppress the people when relieved 
 from their intervention. They formed against liim a 
 league wliich they called " The Jeagiie of the public 
 good," under a pretext common to all factions. Cliarles 
 the Bold, Duke of Burgundj', in conjunction with the 
 Dukes of Bretagne, Boiirbon, and Berry, fought the 
 bloody but mdecisive battle of Montlheri against the 
 king (1465). But Louis, the ablest politician of his 
 day, finished the war by negotiations, and ultimately 
 resumed possession of Normandy, which he had 
 granted as an appanage to his brother ; a seizure 
 sanctioned by an assembly of the states-general con- 
 voked by him at Tours. 
 
 England had been long a prey to intestine factions ; 
 but in an interval of repose, its king renewed the old 
 pretensions of his crown on France. Louis maintained 
 peace by engaging to pay a tribute, and indemnified 
 himself in other quarters. He got possession of Anjou, 
 the dominion of Rc'ne of Anjou, King of Sicily, anil 
 annexed it to the crown of France. Provence sliarcd 
 the same fate, at a later date, by the will of Rene's 
 heir. Louis's conquests were all made by the pen and 
 by trickery. However, his astuteness was foiled by 
 the marriage of the heiress of Burgimdy with Maxi- 
 milian of Austria, tlie emperor's son. This alliance 
 brought a potent enemy into the heart of France. 
 Burgund}^ according to the law of appanages, was 
 ultimately replaced under the French sceptre, but 
 Flanders refused to submit to Louis. He attacked it, 
 conquere'd Franche Conite, and gained Artois l)y treaty 
 for a time. Thus terminated the ducal appanage of 
 Burgundy, wliich had caused so many evils to France. 
 
 Flanders, one of its portions, was the subject of nume- 
 rous wars with the house of Austria. 
 
 The latter years of the cruel and cunning Louis XI. 
 were filled with terrors and crimes. Shutting himself 
 up in a fortress, he was suspicious of his domestics, 
 his son, and even his physician. Knavish and super- 
 stitious, he wore relics on his squalid garments, and 
 perjured himself without remorse. He died in 1483, 
 clinging with tenacity to life, although it was to liim 
 but a torment of perpetu:d apprehension. 
 
 Whatever may be said to the contrary, I cannot 
 regard Louis XI. as a popular king, merely because 
 he decapitated, or put in iron cages, the princes and 
 nobles of his time. Crimes only serve to demoralise 
 the people. He was cruel to the great, and a despot 
 to the weak. If he protected the burghers and encou- 
 raged industry, it was from avarice ; he desired pro- 
 sperity to gain increased means of taxation. If he 
 were the first to establish the post, it was to stretch 
 out Avith more rapidity his hand of iron. He was 
 anxious that civil justice should be well administered, 
 for an absolute king has nothing to fear from the 
 equality of his subjects. He caused 40,000 of his 
 subjects to be executed, and children to be sprinkled 
 with the blood of their parents ; yet he was the first 
 to assume the title of ^' most Christian king!" His 
 gi-eat maxim was, " He who knows not how to dissemble, 
 knotvs not how to reign." He deceived liimself ; frank- 
 ness is the best means of succeeding with the people 
 
 CHARLES Vin.— STATES-GENERAL.— CONQUESTS AND 
 REVERSES IN ITALY.— FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Charles VIII. was thirteen j-ears old at the death 
 of his father. His eldest sister was regent. The Duke 
 of Orleans, a descendant of Charles V., was ambitious 
 of that office, and strove by agitation to obtain it. 
 The states-general were convoked at Tours to decide 
 the question, and he lost his cause. They were like- 
 wise occupied with the misery of the peojile, which 
 the records describe in forcible characters. They were 
 accustomed to wander without subsistence in the 
 forests ; men, women, and children, yoked themselves 
 to the plough at night, for fear of being phmdered 
 during the day by the tax-gatherers and men of arms. 
 The reduction of two-thirds of the taxes, wherewith 
 Louis XL had overwhehned the nation, was decreed. 
 The ministers pretended that they n-ere clipping the 
 /ling's icings, but it was answered, that the interest of 
 the king was that of the people, and that to alleviate 
 the condition of the latter was to benefit the former. 
 The states afterwards evinced a more docile spirit. 
 In the mean time, the Duke of Orleans had retired 
 into Bretagne to form a I'arty, but was beaten at St 
 Aubin by the army of the court. At this period, 
 Anne, tlie lieiress of Brittany, was marriageable. 
 Maximilian of Austria, her suitor, was outwitted, and 
 she was married to Charles VIII. (1491.) Brittany 
 was united to France, and the Duke of Orleans taken 
 into favour. He was the same who afterwards became 
 Louis XII. 
 
 Tlie j'oung king took a fancy one day to become a 
 conqueror, and all his courtiers ajiplauded the idea, 
 and prognosticated its auspicious execution. He re- 
 collected that he had some rights on Naples, from the 
 succession of Anjou. He set olf with an army, design- 
 ing to subdue that kingdom, and afterwards Constan- 
 tinople. He successively entered Florence and Rome. 
 He was alternately assisted and betrayed by the exe- 
 cralile Borgia, Alexander VI., a pope, poisoner, and 
 assassin. Naples was conquered by a inarch, and 
 divers fetes and tournaineiits celebrated the event. 
 But a powerful league was formed in Loinbardy. The 
 French army repassed tlie Apennines, and 8000 men 
 defeated in less than an hour ;iO,000 Italians at Farnoue. 
 (1498.) However, the conquest of Na])lcs was .already 
 lost. The artful Ferdinand, King of Spain, who seemed
 
 20 
 
 HISTOBY OF FRANCE. 
 
 an ally, drove out the remnant of the army by means 
 of Gonzalvo of Cordova.* The only acqiiisition of the 
 French in this expedition was a horrible malady; 
 and Charles YIII. himsoU' died soon after, in a fit of 
 apoplexy. Coniines describes him as a prince of good 
 heart, lint of an indifiercnt head. 
 
 We have arrived at the end of the fifteenth centur3^ 
 Columbus had discovered America, and Gama had 
 sailed round the Cape of Good Hope. The compass 
 had opened the road to a new world, and commerce, 
 as well as ambition, was directed towards it. Specu- 
 lations, hitherto repressed witliin narrow limits, were 
 extended over both liemispheres. The wonders of 
 distant voyages and travels enlightened mankind, and 
 removed tlie barrier of ajicient prejudices. A German, 
 by inventing printing, rendered a still greater service 
 to the hiunan race. The light of the arts and sciences 
 was tlicncoforth to be shed over the universe with an 
 imperishable histre. By multiplying books, barbarism 
 and fanaticism will be ultimately driven from the face 
 of the earth. In the mean time, disputes go on, and 
 will continue to go on. From age to age, political, 
 religious, and purely spccidative questions, will be 
 changed with the era, for which men will be ever 
 ready to enter the lists. But with the progress of 
 tim(\ the nund)er of thinkers, as well as of lessons, 
 will increase ; doctrines will become less imperious, 
 creeds less exclusive ; and mankind will pay more and 
 more attention to their true destiny on earth. 
 
 LOUIS XII.— EXTERNAL WARS.— PATERNAL 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 We enter upon a reign which would have been the 
 happiest in French history but for its exterior poli- 
 tics. Louis XII. was pcrliaps the best of the kings 
 who have sat on the French tlirone. He was actuated 
 by a true love for his people, whose father he was 
 called ; he also repressed the nobles without maltreat- 
 ing them. Unfortunately, a mania for conquests had 
 seized upon the nation, and he yielded to the phrensy. 
 Political relations were then beginning to be extended 
 in Europe. Louis XI. had introduced therein the 
 cunning and perfidy of which Machiavelli reveals the 
 secrets. That ridiculous diplomacy of modern Euro.oe, 
 unkno^ra to the ancients, which treats a people as a 
 dowry, an iidieritance, or an indemnity, and risks the 
 lot of nations upon art and capacity in negotiation, 
 was then in full vigour. 
 
 Louis XII. repudiated his wife, in order to marry 
 the widow of Charles VIII., and preserve Brittany. 
 Then, having rights on the Milanese through his grand- 
 motlier, he departed with an army to enforce them. 
 (1.501.) In twenty days, the Milanese was conquered ; 
 Naples subsequently met the same fate : but Ferdi- 
 nand once more drove the French out of that kingdom. 
 Louis was about to give away the hand of his daughter, 
 and a third of France for her dowry, when the states, 
 which he assembled at Tours (150G), turned him from 
 the design. He was afterwards engaged in a contest 
 with Julius II., a pope who made war and mounted 
 the breach in ptirson. The league of Cambray, formed 
 by almost all Europe against Venice, was the next great 
 event. It involved France in war with Spain, and 
 the Milanese was eventually evacuated by the French. 
 La Tremouille, having returned into Italy, was defeated 
 by the Swiss at Novarre. At the same time, the 
 English, united with the imperialists, beat the French 
 in Picardy, and the Swiss penetrated as far as Dijon. 
 Louis XII. entered into a treaty witli Hem-y ^'iII., 
 King of England, and married his sister ; he finally 
 died, without doing France all the good he desired. 
 
 * Spain w.is then bccominR an impohing power. Tlie Christi.ins, 
 desccn<i.ints of the Iberiiins and ViBiRoths, had succeeded in ex- 
 pelling tlie Mimrs, who had occupied tlieir country for nearly 
 eight centuries; and the crowns of Arragon and Castille were 
 united by the nuirriage of I'erdin:md and Itjubclla. 
 
 (1515.) He was economical, and reduced the taxes, 
 could "listinguish merit in obscurity, protected labour- 
 ers and artisans, watched over the administration of 
 justice, and strove to render the law paramount. The 
 Cardinal d'Amboise was his worthy minister. 
 
 Unfortmiately, the states-general were only once 
 convoked in this reign. The only authority wliich 
 had the scndjlance of a national check was the parlia- 
 ment, which, according to its institution, was merely 
 to concern itself with the decision of lawsuits. How- 
 ever, the people, deprived of the states, saw with 
 pleasure a respected and permanent body stand forth 
 as their defender, although with the view of increasing 
 its own importance. The parliament sometimes re- 
 sisted the royal power, by refusing the formahty of 
 registering edicts, and thus participated in some degree 
 in a legislative veto. It at least subjected arbitrary 
 power to certain forms, and to a prescribed procedure, 
 which so far restrained its action. 
 
 FRANCIS I.— CHARLES V.— LUTHER AND CALVIN.— 
 REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 
 
 Louis XII. was called the phbeian kiiip; Francis I. 
 was the king of gentlemen. He was likewise descended 
 from Charles V. by ai-iother branch. He was a prince 
 of graceful mien, brave, profuse, gallant, of chivalric 
 honour, vastly brilliant as a knight, worthless as a 
 politician. To enable him to carry on the war in 
 Italy, Francis exposed the office of judge to sale, a d 
 proceeded to gain the battle of Marignan over the Swiss 
 in the emperor's pay. He afterwards concluded with 
 Leo X. a concordat, which annulled the Pragmatic 
 Sanction, and abolished the principle of election (1516): 
 the chancellor Duprat made this disgraceful treaty 
 because he was ambitious of being a cardinal. The 
 imperial throne V)ecoining vacant, the king declared 
 himself a candidate with the heir of Austria and Spain, 
 who defeated his pretensions, and became his most 
 unrelenting foe, under the title of Charles V. Francis 
 alhed himself with Henry VIII., but Charles succeeded 
 in dissolving their union. Another enemy, Leo X., 
 assisted the emperor in wresting the Milanese from 
 the French, who had made themselves detested in that 
 dutchy. Nearly the whole of Europe was in league 
 against France, and one of its greatest warriors, tlie 
 Constable Bom'bon, passed over in disgust to tlie side 
 of its enemies. But Francis was not intimidated ; he 
 entered Italy and fought the disastrous battle of Pavta, 
 was made prisoner, and carried to Madrid (1525). 
 Francis jiurchased his freedom by ceding Burgundy, 
 &c. ; but the treaty was not executed, as the states of 
 Burgundy refused to pass under a foreign sway. Hav- 
 ing entered into a lengue against Charles with a new 
 pope, Henry VIII., and the Venitians, the king again 
 passed the Alps, besieged Naples, got the jdague in 
 his army, and once more evacuated Italy. A j)ear(» 
 was signed at Cambray, and the ransom was liquidated 
 for 2,000,000 of gold crowns. Previous to this period, 
 the Duk(! of Bourlion, being in want of funds to ymy 
 his soldiers, had led them to the pillage of Rome. The 
 pope, who was taken prisoner, iiad likewise to pay a 
 heavy ransom to Charles V., who asked pardon for 
 the violence committed on the head of the church. 
 
 At this era a religious schism prepared a new burst 
 for the human mind, and new combinations of a poli- 
 tical order. We refer of course to the Beformation, 
 which great event, the subject of so many descriptions 
 and dis])utes, need not be enlarged x\\nm here. 
 
 The Duke of jNIilan, Sforz;', having jtrovided a 
 pretext, the king brought forward his old pretensions. 
 (1535.) The emperor undertook on his part an inva- 
 sion of France, but was not successful. Being ac- 
 cused of poisoning the dauphin, he was cited before 
 the j)arliament, which confiscated Artois and Flanders 
 by a decree j)ronounced in contumacy. Francis after- 
 wards contracted an aUiance with the Sultan Soly-
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 21 
 
 man, which was exclaimed against in Europe, tliough 
 a pope had once before allied himself with the Tm-ks. 
 The plan concerted failed ; the artful Charles obtained 
 a truce, and a passage through France to proceed to 
 Ghent, which had revolted against lum. Any other 
 than Francis would perhaps have seized the occasion 
 of exacting a ransom in his turn : the confidence of a 
 man of bad faith is an illustrious homage to the 
 scrupulous honour of his dupe. 
 
 The two monarchs having soon quarrelled again, a 
 new war broke out (1542), which was prosecuted on 
 all the frontiers. The galleys of France were united 
 with those of the Turk Barbarossa. The Count 
 d'Enghien gained the battle of Cerisoles in Italy, 
 without any advantage to France. Charles, in alliance 
 with Henry VIII., penetrated as far as Soissons, and 
 peace was once more signed at Cressy, but scarcely 
 procured a single moment of repose. In the mean 
 time, Francis I. expired from the consequences of a 
 loathsome disease (1.547). 
 
 Francis was one of the most absolute of the French 
 kings, and oppressed the people with unauthorised 
 taxes. For the states-general he substituted assem- 
 blies of notables, that is to say, of courtiers, who were 
 chosen for the purpose of being consulted, and who 
 were always sure to approve. He enslaved the Galil- 
 ean church, and corrupted the nation by the profligacy 
 of his manners. He is called the restorer of arts and 
 letters, because they were revived when he happened 
 to be on the throne : he protected them, doubtless, 
 but their age was come, and did not need him. The 
 republican genius had prepared the way in Italy ; 
 liberty had peopled Florence with great men, and the 
 Medicis, who rose from merchants to princes, seconded 
 them. The only praise due to Francis is that of 
 foimding the college of France, and establishing the 
 iise of French in i^ubhc acts. 
 
 HENRY n.— CONTINUATION OF THE WARS OP 
 FRANCIS I. 
 
 The character of Henry 11. bore a great resemblance 
 to that of his father Francis, and their reigns had 
 some parallel points. The war continued against 
 Charles V. The king vtrested from him Metz, Toul, 
 and Verdim (1553), and the emperor advanced to 
 Metz with 100,000 men. The Duke of Guise, the 
 first celebrated man of that Lorraine family which 
 became so potent in France, repidsed him. Charles 
 revenged himself by destroying two towns, and shortly 
 after astonislied Europe by surrendering the empire, 
 and retiring to die in a convent (1555). Ferdinand, 
 his brother, became emperor, and Philip II., his son, 
 king of Spain. The latter was the Louis XI. of his 
 age, and the most powerfid prince in Europe, which 
 lie moved by a mighty lever, the gold of Peru and 
 Mexico. AVhilst the French were carrying on an 
 unsuccessful warfare in Italy, his general, the Duke of 
 Savoy, gained a victoiy at St Quentin (1557), which 
 threatened the most disastrous consequences to France. 
 Terror sj^read into every quarter ; Paris was fortified, 
 and the Spaniards miglit easily have entered it, had 
 not Philip judged it expedient to retrograde. Tlu; 
 Duke of Guise, named lieutenant-general of the king- 
 dom, repaired the misfortune by taking Calais from 
 the Engiisli. A peace was signed at Chateau-Cam- 
 bresis. Tlic celeltrated Queen Elizabeth then reigned 
 in England. 1 lenry II. did not long survive the treaty, 
 being killed in a tournament (1559). 
 
 In tills reign, as well as in the preceding, women 
 exercised considerable influence at court. Their in- 
 trigues have been always fatal to France. Henry II. 
 allowed himself to be governed by his mistress, Diana 
 of Poitiers, who had previously governed his father. 
 The ingenious Rabelais has painted these two kings 
 and their courts, under the veil of a fantastic allegory ; 
 and Brantome has depicted the dissolute manners of 
 
 the age ■with a truth inconsistent with decency. In 
 1558, the states were assembled conjointly with the 
 parliament, which appeared therein as a fourth order • 
 this singular representation was not repeated. 
 
 RELIGIOUS FACTIONS UNDER FRANCIS II. 
 
 The nobles, humbled by Louis XL, had become 
 courtiers under his successors : the luxury of the court 
 drew them to the royal abode, and there they were 
 moulded to obedience. But when foreign wars ceased 
 to give them occupation, they fell into factions. Re- 
 ligion was the motive or the pretext. The Prince of 
 Conde, and the King of Navarre, his brother, of the 
 Bourbon branch, were the chiefs of the Protestant 
 party ; whilst Guise, the tmcle of Mary Stuart, the 
 king's -wife, directed the Catholic party. The Con- 
 stable Montmorenci had likewise his faction. The 
 queen-mother, Catherine de Medicis, a faithless and 
 imperious woman, protected and betrayed them in 
 their turns. She sought to hold the balance between 
 them, acting upon her favourite maxim of dividing in 
 order to ride ; an infamous maxim, since it fixes the 
 secm-ity of the throne on the misery of the nation. 
 
 A magistrate having been hanged as a Protestant, 
 his co-religionists formed a league at Amboise to re- 
 venge him (1560). Guise repressed it by force of 
 arms. The punishments on the Calvinists were re- 
 doubled ; they defended themselves, and made a vain 
 assertion of the right to liberty of conscience in the 
 assembly of Fontainbleau. It was resolved to convoke 
 the states at Orleans, in order to draw the Boiu-bons 
 to attend it. Conde was there arrested, condemned 
 to death, and about to be executed, when the king 
 died. Francis II. was an amiable young man, but is 
 a mere cypher in the history of his reign. His brother 
 succeeded him at the age of ten years, imder the title 
 of Charles IX. 
 
 CHARLES IX.-CIVIL WAR.— ST BARTHOLOMEW. 
 
 The states made no step towards pacification. A 
 virtuous citizen and philosophic magistrate, L'Hopital, 
 vainly strove to move the respective parties to mode- 
 ration and union. Catherine afterwards proposed a 
 conference to tei'minate the disputes with the Calvin- 
 ists (who were called Huguenots, from a German 
 word signifying con/wfera/es), which was held at Poissy 
 (1561), and ended in rendering them more bitter. It 
 was at this time that the Jesuits established them- 
 selves m France, and yet lil)crty of conscience was 
 proclaimed by the queen-mother. Certain outrages 
 committed by the retainers of the Duke of Guise, oc- 
 casioned a massacre of the Hu.guenots at Vassy in 
 Champagne. A civil war exploded (1563). The Pro- 
 testants were defeated by the royalists at Dreux ; the 
 generals of both armies were made prisoners in the 
 battle. The Duke of Guise besieged Orleans, and was 
 assassinated : he was an ambitious man, who made 
 use of religion to aggrandise himself. A short pt-ace 
 was then made. The vexations of the Catholics were 
 renewed, ami suffered with impunity ; the Hugiienot8 
 were again driven to exasjieration. Conde attenqited to 
 carry oil' the king, in order to be master of the gov(>ni- 
 m(>nt, but he failed in liis enter])rise. The battle of 
 St Denis (1567) took i)lace shortly after, in which the 
 victory was doubtful. Montmorenci perished in the 
 conflict. After a treaty, tlie war reconnnenced. Aided 
 by the Protestants of Germany and England, the 
 Huguenots gave battle at Jarnac, and were defeated 
 by the Duke of Anjou, the king's brother (1569). 
 Conde was assassinated on the field of battle when in 
 the act of surrendering. Coligny, a prudent general, 
 repaired this defeat, and rallied tiie Calvinist forces. 
 The young Henry of Navarre, whom he was training 
 to war, was i)lac(!d at the head of the party. Anjou 
 was again victorious at Montcontom*.
 
 22 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 Notwithstanding these two checks, the Protestants 
 concluded an advantageous peace. But it was a per- 
 fidious snare. After yielding them four toAras as 
 pledges, and civil and' reUgious liberty, Catherine 
 drew the chiefs to coiu-t, and hdled them into a blind 
 confidence. The young Henry went to espouse the 
 king's sister (1572). The rejoicings Avere scarcely 
 concluded, Avhen suddenly, in the dead of night, the 
 royalists broke into the houses of the Huguenots, and 
 massacred them without distinction of age or sex. 
 The detestable king fired from a balcony on his own 
 subjects. The same horrors were enacted simultane- 
 ously in several of the provinces. The aged and illus- 
 trious Coliguy was immolated, and Henry and the 
 young Conde were forced to abjure their errors. The 
 king openly avowed thiit the whole had been done by 
 his orders ; and the parliament decreed an annual pro- 
 cession to celebrate this massacre of 100,000 French- 
 men. It is sufficient at the present day to mention 
 St Bartholomew to excite horror ; and yet that day 
 has had its apologists. 
 
 The effect of persecution and cruelty is invariable : 
 martjTS engender i^roselytes. The Protestants in- 
 creased in number ; and war being renewed (1573), 
 the Duke of Anjou lost 24,000 men at the siege of 
 Rochelle. The f<3llowing year the party of malecontents 
 was organised, which tiie Huguenots joined, and fresh 
 conflicts occurred. During these events, the king 
 died (1574). We learn with surprise that this monster 
 had wit, made verses, and protected letters. 
 
 THE LEAGUE.— THE SIXTEEN.— HENRY HI. 
 
 The Duke of Anjou, Avho had gone to Poland, where 
 he had been elected king, returned to France imder 
 the name of Henry III. He had shown talents as a 
 general, but on the throne he was idle, sihy, empty, 
 superstitious, and addicted to infiimous debaucheries. 
 He was advised to conciliate the Calvinists, but he 
 declared against them. His brother, the Duke of 
 Anjou, and Henry of Navarre, imited against him. 
 The Protestants obtained some political advantages 
 by an edict of pacification issued in 1576. Then the 
 holy league was formed, a confederacy of those whom 
 we may call ultra-Catholics, who bound themselves to 
 defend religion and the kin*, whilst yielding a blind 
 submission to their leader Henry of Guise. The states 
 were convoked at Blois, the leaguers predominated in 
 them, and the king sanctioned the league. Each party 
 took up arms and stood on the watch. The leaguers, 
 contemning the king, considted the pope whether they 
 might disobey a monarch for the advantage of re- 
 ligion ; and he responded in the aflarmative. Guise put 
 forward the old Cardinal de Bourljon, who published 
 a manifesto in the name of all the Catholic monarchs 
 in Europe. Pope Sixtus V. exconmiunicated Henry 
 and Conde, who laughed at him. The war called that 
 of the three Henries broke out (1587) ; Henry of Na- 
 varre defeated the royalists, connnanded by Jojeuse 
 and other favourites, at Coutras ; whilst Henry of Guise 
 defeated the German Calvinists who were advancing 
 to his aid. 
 
 During this period, the insurrection, known by the 
 name of tlie sixteen, was organised at Paris. The 
 appellation was taken from the sixteen quarters of the 
 commmie, corresponding to tlie sections of 1792. The 
 Sorbonne, which was favourable to the insurgents, 
 decided that the government might be taken from an 
 incapable prince. The leaguers, assembled at Nanci, 
 dictated orders to the king ; he endeavoured to evince 
 resistance, and called some Swiss to Paris. The 
 burghers immediately ran to arms, barricaded the 
 streets to the Louvre, and encompassed the troops. 
 The king fled, and abandoned the capital to Guise 
 and the league. A new union against the heretics 
 was imposed on the king by the leaguers. 
 
 A meeting of the states-general was held at Blois 
 
 in 1588, in which the leaguers had again the majority. 
 The Guises had reached the summit of power, and 
 might easily have played the part of Pepin or Capet 
 The king was conscious of the truth, and being unable 
 to resist them openly, he had them assassinated. Tlie 
 rage of the leaguers knew no bounds ; they cursed 
 the king in the pxdpit ; and the parliament which o])- 
 posed them was sent to the Bastille, and replaced with 
 new members. The Dulce of Mayenne succeeded 
 Giuse, his brother, as head of tlie leaguers, whose 
 party was still predominant. Only a few towns re- 
 mained to the king, Avho at lenglh perceived th» 
 necessity of reconciling hunself with Henry ; they em- 
 braced, and forgot mutual wrongs (1589). Excom- 
 municated by the pope, the king, conducted by Henry, 
 marched on Paris. They were already at St Cloud, 
 when a young Dominican, incited by the leaguers, 
 slew the king with the tlirust of a knife. The Pari- 
 sians celebrated the murder, and Jacques Clement 
 was regarded as a saint. The Catholic theologians 
 of that era proved by the aid of scripture that it was 
 lawful to kiU kings. The intriguing Catherine died 
 in 1589, cordially detested by all parties. 
 
 END OP THE LEAGUE.— ENTRY OF HENRY lY. INTO 
 PARIS.— SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The branch of Valois was extinct. Henry of Bom-lion- 
 Navarre took the cro^vn as descendant from Louis IX., 
 and deserved it by his eminent qualities. Only re- 
 cognised by a few provinces, and iU provided for war, 
 he struggled against Mayeime, whose numerous army 
 included a portion of Spanish infantry, then the best 
 in Europe. He had almost decided upon retirmg into 
 England, when, meeting Mayenne at Arques, he de- 
 feated him witli 5000 men (1589). He immediately 
 marched upon Paris, and nearly succeeded in taking 
 it. The old Carchnal de Bom-bon, his cousin, had 
 been declared king, under the title of Charles X. 
 Henry again vanquished Mayeime at the battle of 
 Ivry (1590), and blockaded Paris. The leaguers de- 
 fended themselves ■with a species of phrensy, kept up 
 by fanaticism ; whole regiments of monks and priests 
 were formed to resist the heretic. A frightful famine 
 raged ; bread was made with dead men's bones ; but 
 Henry ijermitted provisions to pass into the besieged 
 city when in this exvreu.ity. The celebrated Farnese, 
 Philip II.'s general, advanced with an army to raise 
 the siege. 
 
 In the mean time, the flames of war were lighted 
 up in every corner of France, either bj'^ foreign or 
 domestic foes. In this disastrous state, a new party 
 sprmig up in Paris, the party o{ politicians, who joined 
 themselves to the malecontents. They were moderate 
 Catlu)lics, who aimed at a pacification by recognising 
 the king. Wearied with so long and bloody a strife, 
 all parties at length were disposed to reconcilement, 
 and met together in conference. The king resolved 
 upon an abjuration, saying, " Paris is well worth a 
 tmiss." Mayenne signed a treaty, and the league sunk 
 under the shafts of ridicule and contempt, giving forth 
 its last furious groan in an attempt to assassmate 
 Henry IV. That prince entered Paris on the 22d 
 March 1594. 
 
 Thus finished the sixteenth century, one of the 
 most glorious to the hiunan intellect, illustrated as it 
 is by so many great names. Copernicus, Galileo, 
 TorriceUi, Bacon, Montaigne, Grotius, Luther, Calvin, 
 Erasmus — every name involves a mighty revolution. 
 
 REIGN OF HENRY IV. 
 
 Henry's first measure was to re-establish the par- 
 liament ; and he then attempted a sort of amalgama- 
 tion between the Cahiiusts and leaguers. In the mean 
 time several endeavours were made to take away the
 
 UISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 23 
 
 king's life, for assuredly the Jesuits loved him not. 
 They were driven forth the realm (1595) by the ad- 
 vice of the parhameut, of the university, and of the 
 church. Mayenne, however, was not quite reduced 
 to submission, and Henry needed another victory over 
 him, which having gained at Fontaine-Fran<;aise, he 
 pardoned him. The Duke d'Epernon, having also 
 revolted, was subdued, and war declared against 
 Philip II., who had taken Calais. The king wanted 
 money to resist him, and therefore convoked an as- 
 sembly of notables to ask their advice, and told them 
 that his most glorious title was his qiiality of a gentle- 
 man. The Spaniards were repulsed. Mercoeur, go- 
 vernor of Bretagne, who stiU held for the leagnie, was 
 subdued, and a treaty signed with Philip (1598), who 
 died shortly after. The Calvinists assembled at 
 Saumur, and loudly exclaimed against the little favour 
 with which they were regarded. Henry gave them 
 the edict of Nantes, in which the exercise of their 
 religion was subjected to the restrictions of a galling 
 tolerati(m. The edict was far removed from reUgious 
 liberty, and yet the ultra-Cathohcs regarded it as a 
 most mijust concession. 
 
 The latter events of this reign were the recall of 
 the Jesuits, sohcited by the pope ; the conspiracy of 
 Henrietta d'Entragues, to whom Henry had given a 
 promise of marriage; and the mediation (1G09) be- 
 tween the pope, Venitians, Spain, and IloUand. Henry 
 was arming against Austria, and projected, as is said, 
 a plan for an European confederation and a perpetual 
 peace, long the object of philanthropic prayers, when 
 he was assassinated by a fanatic. It was Ilavaillac, 
 since we are bound to name him : history is too com- 
 plaisant in immortalising ruffians and assassins. 
 
 Assisted by Sully, his friend and minister, Henry IV. 
 introduced order and economy into the finances : for- 
 merly not more than the fifth of the taxes ever reached 
 the royal treasury. He had a good heart, and pos- 
 sessed the art of making himself beloved ; but he 
 reigned as an absolute monarch. He repressed every 
 symptom of resistance, even to the obstinacy of the 
 parliament, by the vain parade of beds of justice. We 
 may ask how a prince, who desired the good and com- 
 fort of the poor, could sign the atrocious ordinance 
 which condemned them to the galleys for killing a 
 rabbit ? We must acknowledge, although with reluc- 
 tance, that the despotism of RicheUeu and Louis XIV. 
 can be traced back to Henry IV. With that convic- 
 tion, it is unnecessary to reproach him for having been 
 too fond of play and of his subjects' wives. Never- 
 theless he was popular, and still lives in the recollec- 
 tions of the people ; a glory which, as far as we know, 
 is peculiar to him. 
 
 RICHELIEU.— LOUIS XIIL— DESPOTISM. 
 
 Lou's XIII. being on his accession (lOlO) only nine 
 years old, the parliament gave the regency to his 
 mother, Mary of Medicis, thus attributing to itself a 
 prerogative of the states-general. The benefits of 
 the preceding adimnistration were lost; Sully was 
 dismissed, and his savings dissipated. The Florentine 
 Concini (afterwards Marshal (VAncre), and his wife 
 Galigai, ruined France by their infiuence over the 
 regent. Factions began to rend the kingdom again. 
 The states-general were thereupon convoked (1()14), 
 the time of which was consumed with the affairs of 
 the clergy. It was their last assembly bcifore the 
 Revolution. The complaints of the parliament con- 
 cerning the administration of afliiirs were rejected, 
 and the Prince of Condc, who was at the head of tli(> 
 malecontents and Calvinists, was arrested. A ytmng 
 page attending the king, named Luynes, wlio ha(i 
 gained complete sway over the royal mind, perstiaded 
 his master to rid himself of the minister, in order to 
 throw oif the yoke of the regent. The king, cruel 
 from unbecility, caused Concini to be assassinated. His 
 
 wife was accused of witchcraft, and burnt. The new 
 favourite inherited the immense wealth which they 
 had hoarded by their malversations. Louis XIII. was 
 one of those weak creatures who derive their energy 
 from the suggestions of others, and revenge themselves 
 for tlieir habitual submission by bursts of brutal fero- 
 city. He exiled his mother, and treated her with great 
 harshness. She got up two revolts by the assistance 
 of certain lords. The Calvinists likewise rose several 
 times in insurrection, and obtained advantageous tenns 
 of peace. 
 
 Then appeared Richelieu (1624), a creature of Con- 
 cini, who had lived in retirement since his patron's 
 downfall. This man had a most stern and inflexible 
 win, with an um-emitting assiduity in imposing it upon 
 others ; a despot in every sense of the word, he anni- 
 hilated every instriunent of resistance. Throwing 
 suspicion upon the designs of the nobles, he imitated 
 the conduct of Louis XL, and had. several of tiiem 
 condemned to death by commissions. He suppressed 
 the great offices of admiral and constable, which for- 
 merly conferred so vast an influence, and which were 
 already degraded, since the latter had been given to 
 Luynes, a simple gentleman. Appearing at first dis- 
 posed to conciliate the Calvinists, he soon formed the 
 project of oppressing them, by seizing their places of 
 security, the feeble guarantees of their rehgious free- 
 dom. After a year spent in the siege of Rochelle, 
 conducted by himself in person, and which was de- 
 fended with heroic courage, displayed amid the horrors 
 of famine, he took that town, although supported by 
 an English fleet. He destroyed that bulwark of the 
 Protestant faith, and reduced Rohan, the leader of the 
 Huguenot army. It is stated that the plan of the 
 reformers was to found a federative republic, such as 
 they saw prospering m Holland. K they had suc- 
 ceeded, how different would the history of Europe 
 have been ! 
 
 It is not the reign of Louis XIIL, but of Richelieu, 
 that is to be related ; before him all bent the knee. 
 The king was accomited a cypher. Roussillon was 
 conqiieredin 1628. Thehouseof Austria washumbled. 
 Sevei'al wars were maintained against the Spaniai'ds, 
 with varying success ; Catalonia gave itself up to 
 France. The genius of Richelieu shone in a skilful 
 use of the arts of political intrigue, and mider him 
 France took a commanding station in Europe. Never- 
 theless, his reign has something mournful and mono- 
 tonous in its aspect, like every thing marked by the 
 hand of despotism. From time to time, feeble attempts 
 at resistance were provoked, which were always sup- 
 pressed by severe punishments : the Marshal de JNIa- 
 rillacwas executed in 1630; the Duke de Montmorenci, 
 taken with arms in his hands, was condemned by tlie 
 parliament of Toulouse and executed in 1632, in spite 
 of the king's pardon ; Cing-Mars and De Thou were 
 decapitated in 1642, for having conspired against tlie 
 cardinal, at the instance of the king himself, irritated 
 at the haughty thraldom of his minister. At length 
 this tyrannical priest died. Louis XIII. had scarcely 
 time to breathe freely, before he likewise paid nature's 
 debt (1643); as if Richelieu, unwilling that he should 
 reign an insfant, had ordered him to follow him to the 
 tomb. 
 
 The absolute power of Charles V. and Hcnrj' IV., 
 preserved at l(>ast the elasticity of the French cha- 
 racter. Richelieu, like Louis XI., broke and degraded 
 it. France was perfectly miserable imder him ; it 
 seemed as if despotism struck the minds of men with 
 stupor, and the soil with sterility. The pretensions 
 of the parliament, which formerly claimed to be a 
 j)ortion of the sovereign power, were out of season 
 under sucli a master. One day that the magistrates 
 luul refused to register a decree, Richelieu had them 
 sunnnonod before the king, and kept them on their 
 knees during the whole audience. To him, however, 
 was owing the institution of the Academy, which had 
 the patience to pronounce a periodical eulogmm upon
 
 24 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 him during a space of 150 years ; but The Cid, which 
 lie caused to be condemned, gave the true impetus to 
 French Uterary genius ; whilst Descartes, persecuted 
 by the zealots, was driven to pursue pliilosophy in 
 Sweden. 
 
 MAZARIN.— jnNORITY OF LOUIS XIV.— THE FRONDE. 
 
 Louis XIV. was five years old on his accession. 
 The paidiament again arrogated the right to confer 
 the regency. The queen- mother, Anne of Austria, 
 a vain and trivolous woman, obtained it. The Italian, 
 Mazarin, her favourite, a chsciple of Richeheu, go- 
 verU'Cd in her name. He was an adroit and supple 
 minister, who carried on despotism by cmining, and 
 seemed to regard the art of reigning as synonymous 
 with the art of making dupes. The war continued 
 with A-ustria without any object. The yoimg D'Eng- 
 hien, who became the great Condo, distinguished 
 himself in its course. He conquered at Kocroi and 
 Fribourg. Turenne was successful at Nordlingen 
 (1G44), and took Dunkirk; and Conde was again vic- 
 torious at Lens. This war, in which the Swedes were 
 useful allies, was terminated by the treaty of West- 
 phalia (1648). 
 
 After the peace, the nobles gave vent to their dis- 
 content against Mazarin ; they made common cause 
 with the parUament, and were sometimes aided by the 
 people, Avho, upon one occasion, erected barricades in 
 Paris, and compelled the court to set two magistrates 
 at liberty. However, the people had no real interest 
 in the quarrels of a few turbident and ambitious men ; 
 bowed beneath the iron yoke of despotism, they had 
 not even an idea of derivmg any popular advantage 
 from such contests. The factions at this time were 
 little more than coteries ; laughter and jokes were as 
 plentiful as blows. A sprightly prelate bethought 
 him of enacting the character of Catiline, and in the 
 recital of liis fantastic exploits, he has rendered civil 
 war a very amusing relation. Conde, disgusted with 
 the court, which he had previously served, abandoned 
 it. Mazarin caused him to be arrested, then released 
 him ; and, seeing the storm increasing, quitted the 
 kingdom, into which he returned with 7000 men. 
 Conde and the Frondists had formed an alliance with 
 the Spaniards. The armies came to close quarters in 
 the faubourg St Antoine. The royahsts were com- 
 manded by Turenne. The parliament named the 
 irresolute Gaston, Duke of Orleans, heutenant of the 
 kingdom. Mazarin again retired, and the Fronde, 
 having no further pretext to allege, was dissolved ; 
 whereupon the king and Mazarin entered Paris (165.3). 
 The natural result of this revolutionary display, so 
 ill supported, was to give additional strength to abso- 
 lute power. Conde had rejoined the Spaniards in the 
 Low Countries. The war between him and Turenne 
 continiied for a long time, and was terminated by the 
 treaty of the Pyrenees (1659): France kept Artois, 
 Roussillon, and Alsace ; and Louis XIV. married the 
 Infanta jNIaria Theresa. Mazarin died, leaving des- 
 potism in excellent hands. Louis now declared that 
 he would reign in his turn (1661). He had already 
 entered the parliament in his hmiting-dress, booted 
 and whip in hand, to enjoin it to abstain from any 
 interference in afiair? of state. 
 
 PROSPERITY OP LOUIS XIV. 
 
 Louis XIV. conceived the project of becoming the 
 most powerfid monarch in Europe, and he succeeded 
 therein by the assistance of superior men, whom he 
 had the sagacity to discover and draw out. Colbert 
 restored the finances, cherished commerce and in- 
 dustry, protected learning, and organised the whole 
 administration. A man of genius, Ri;iuet, consecrated 
 his life and fortune to the construction of the Lan- 
 
 guedoc canal. A marine was created, capable of 
 opposing the navies of Holland and England. The 
 king alleged pretended rights upon the death of Philip 
 IV., as a pretext for declaring war against Spain. 
 (1668.) Flanders was conquered in a short time, and 
 Franch -Comte was overrun in tliree weeks. Holland, 
 Englan 1, and Sweden, formed an alliance in favour of 
 Spain. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Comte 
 was restored; but France retained Flanders, which 
 the celebrated Vauban fortified. 
 
 Holland gave Louis XIV. divers causes of irritation 
 and anti])athy, presenting in its republican form of 
 government so striking a contrast to his own. He 
 collected against it 200,000 men, after having deprived 
 it of all its allies ; and he made with Conde, Turenne, 
 Luxumbourg, &c., that passage of the Rhine which 
 was celebrated as a military prodigy, at a time when 
 a king who made war in a carriage, surroimded by 
 his court, was compared to Cajsar. Holland was in- 
 vaded, and Louis proposed conditions of a most 
 humihating and oppressive character. Despair stirred 
 up the Dutch to the last pitch of exasperation. Ruyter, 
 who from a cabin-boy had become an admiral, fre- 
 quently beat the French and English fleets. The 
 Dutch flooded their country to preserve its freedom 
 (1673); and Louis XIV. was compelled to evacuate it. 
 A general league was formed to curb the freaks of 
 this imperious despot. But he was the strongest ; he 
 again overran Franche-Comte, and laid waste the 
 Palatinate by means of Tm-enne. Conde gave battle 
 to the Stadtholder of Holland at Senef (1678), which 
 was attended with no other result than the destruc- 
 tion of 25,000 men. Duquesne rendered the French 
 flag formidable in the Mediterranean, and the peace 
 of Niraeguen consolidated the conquests of France. 
 
 The stadtholder, however, attempted an invasion, 
 and was repulsed by Luxumbourg. In 1681, Strasburg 
 was taken. Louis sent a fleet to bombard Algiers, as 
 a hint to the pirates to respect French commerce in 
 future. He likewise bombarded Genoa, for having 
 assisted Algiers. He was at the summit of power ; 
 no king was ever regaled with such incense ; his very 
 person was idoUsed as the type of beauty and dignity. 
 The extravagant magnificence of his court, in which 
 the wealth of France was ingidfed, intoxicated his vain- 
 glorious mind. In his delirium he resolved to extirpate 
 heresy. The women, poets, and Jesuits, applauded his 
 design. Missionaries were sent into the Cevennes, 
 accompanied by di-agoons, who massacred the Cal- 
 vinists by way of converting them. The edict of 
 Nantes was revoked (1685) ; the churches were demo- 
 lished, and children torn from their parents to be made 
 Catholics. Eight hundred thousand peaceable citizens 
 migrated, and carried into foreign comi tries their 
 industry and resentment ; their possessions served to 
 reward sj'cophants. Indignant Eurox)e coalesced at 
 Augsburg (1687) against this intolerant despotism. 
 The Prince of Orange Avas the soul of this confede- 
 racy; he was called, under the title of William III., 
 to the throne of England, whose parliament once more 
 expelled the Stuarts; and Louis XIV. oflered his pro- 
 tection to the dethroned king, James II. A fierce 
 war was the result. The Palatinate was again de- 
 vastated, by the order of Louvois. LiLxumbourg con- 
 quered at Fleurus, Steinkerque, and Nerwinde, the 
 king, William, a brave warrior, and a man of great 
 ability, but unfortunate in battle. Catinat, a philo- 
 sophic and plebeian general, triumphed over the Duke 
 of Savoy at Staflarde and Marseilles. On the other 
 hand, Tourville lost fourteen ships of the line at La 
 Hoguc. In every quarter humanity suflered, and 
 groaned amidst useless carnage and desolation. Peace 
 was concluded at Ryswick (1697) from mutual ex- 
 haustion : Louis no longer reigned as master, and 
 Frimce was ruined. Any expedient was adopted to 
 get money ; nobility was sold for 2000 crowns, as it 
 had been bought before Henry III. by fiefs.
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE. 
 
 25 
 
 RE^TERSES OF LOUIS XIV.— THE SEVENTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 The Kjng of Spain, having no direct heir, made, 
 after long hesitating between the houses of France 
 and Austria, his will in favour of a grandson of Louis 
 XIV. (1700). That prince acceirted the inheritance, 
 knowing, however, that he exposed himself to a ter- 
 rible war. He again excited the anger of England, 
 by declaring for the son of James II. He sent Philip 
 V. into Spain, saying to him, " There are no longer any 
 Pyrenees." An abbe, whom the superb Louis had de- 
 spised, and who became the best general of the empe- 
 ror, Prince Eugene, obtained great advantages over 
 the old Villeroi in Savoy. The Duke of Savoy, Vic- 
 tor Amadeus, abandoned the French party, notwith- 
 standing the ties that attached him to the Bourbons. 
 Mai'lborough triumphed in the Low Countries ; but 
 Villars conquered the imperialists at Hochstet (1703), 
 where the French were in the following year van- 
 quished, in their tm-n, by Eugene and Zvlarlborough. 
 The Enghsh took Gibraltar and Barcelona. Ven- 
 dome repulsed Eugene in Italy (1706), when Marl- 
 borough gained the decisive battle of Ramillies over 
 Villeroi. Then fortune changed in the south ; the 
 French army was beaten at Tm'in ; Toulon was be- 
 sieged; the archduke was crowned at Madrid; and 
 Philip V. would have lost Spain, if Berwick had not 
 gained for him the battle of Almanza (1707). Eugene 
 fought both in the south and the north; in 1709, he 
 took Lille in concert Avith Marlborough. Louis 
 craved peace ; harsh conditions were offered him ; 
 and he preferred continuing the war, notwithstanding 
 the extreme misery of the people. After a brave re- 
 sistance, the French army, commanded by Villars, 
 was defeated at Malplaquet (1710). The king again 
 hmnbled himself, and his offers were rejected. Veu- 
 dome restored affairs in Spain ; Marlborough, dis- 
 graced by his court, retired, and a truce was concluded 
 with England. Villars, having surprised Eugene at 
 Denain, gained one of those striking victories which 
 save empires. The peace of Utrecht was the conse- 
 quence (1713). Villars passed the Rhine, repulsed 
 the Austrians, and signed with Eugene the peace of 
 Radstadt (1714). The issue of this ruinous war was 
 less disastrous to France than it had reason to ex- 
 pect. The most humiliating condition was the 
 destruction of the port of Dunkirk. The almost 
 simultaneous deaths of the dauphin and his son, the 
 duke of Burgundy, completed the misfortunes of 
 Louis XIV. He died in 1715, in his seventy-seventh 
 year, after a reign of seventy-two years. He left 
 France two thousand six hundred millions of debt ; 
 and in the course of his career he had destroyed more 
 than a million of men. 
 
 The seventeenth century is called the age of Louis 
 XIV., because he contributed to give it lustre by his 
 magnificence and his taste for a certain species of 
 grandeur. But what good did he ^wrform for the 
 human race ? He rendered France powerful in Eui'ope, 
 and enslaved it at home ; he was the cause that, dur- 
 ing a century, the French had no national spirit. By 
 constituting himself the dispenser of glory as well as 
 of fortune, he demoralised the nation ; it forgot itself 
 in thinking only of him ; and when he uttered the 
 phrase, " I am tlie state!" it believed him. His idle 
 splendour corrupted the ideas of a nation which has 
 always been too prone to concentrate upon tlio man of 
 j the moment its admiration, its idolatry, and its own 
 I destinies. Under Louis XIV., Racine, Boilean, and 
 I Moliere, purified taste, and produced masterpieces of 
 I genius. Without him, Corneille, Pascal, La Fontaine, 
 j Fi'nelon, and La Bruytro, would not the less have 
 adorned France ; reason would have had freer organs, 
 I and genius, emancipated from an aljsorhiiig contem- 
 I plation of the grand monarch, would have risen to 
 i more noble, that is to saj% more useful, conceptions. 
 I The spirit of independence, awakened by tlie struggles 
 
 of the Fronde, would not have been smothered; the 
 inquiry into the true interests of humanity would not 
 have been retarded; and the seventeenth century 
 might have been the age as well of reason as of genius. 
 The better to repress freedom of opinion, despotism 
 availed itself of the yoke of religious intolerance. Bos- 
 suet was the apostle of Louis XIV.'s monarchy, and 
 preached its infallibility. The Jansenists were per- 
 secuted, not on account of their doctrines, but because 
 they thought for themselves, and invaded the unity of 
 belief All France was boimd to think like the king. 
 Tlience came that hypocritical varnish which covered 
 the corruption of manners. The Tartiiffe, permitted 
 at court, was an extraordinary anomaly, and evinces 
 the triimiph of genius. In conclusion, this Louis XIV., 
 so absolute a king, and who had never suffered him- 
 self to be governed by his mistresses, finislied by 
 sharing his throne with his confessor and an old 
 woman whom he had married, the widow Scarron 
 (Madame de Maintenon). 
 
 THE REGENCY.— REIGN OF LOUIS XV.- 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 ■THE 
 
 The great-grandson of Louis XIV. was likewise 
 king at the age of five. The parhament annulled the 
 will of the deceased monarch, and nominated his 
 nephew, the Duke of Orleans, unlimited regent. He 
 was a refined debauchee, and indifferent as to affairs. 
 The dull grandeur of the last reign, joined to its mis- 
 fortunes, had at last disgusted the French : delivered 
 from the galling restraint of tiresome ceremony and 
 hateful intolerance, which had pervaded the verj- 
 manners of the people, they abandoned themselves to 
 the license of unrestrained foUy, like children let loose 
 from a stern taskmaster. During a war against Spain, 
 excited by an old Italian priest, Alberoni, who M-as 
 bent upon embroiling and throwing into confusion all 
 Em-ope, schemes were entertained for paying off the 
 debts of Louis XIV. The adventurer I>aw arrived 
 from Scotland, with a financial system, which was 
 seized upon with avidity. The whole was paid with 
 the money of dupes, who received in exchange paper 
 and mighty promises. The Mississippi scheme plunged 
 the nation into a vortex of madness, and turned the 
 period into a saturucdia of fallacious wealth. The 
 minister of the regent, the Abbe Dubois, was as vile 
 as his master was corrupt : he made himself the crea- 
 ture of the Jesuits. 
 
 The king entered upon his maioritv when the re- 
 gent died (1723). The Duke of" Bourbon, liis first 
 minister, signaUsed his administration by persecutions 
 against the Protestants. The Abbe de Fleuiy, who 
 succeeded him, was a very moderate and prudent man, 
 seventy-three years old : he had the talent of api>eas- 
 ing and concihating. He procm-ed France a long 
 peace, which was troubled by the expulsion of 
 Stanislaus, King of Poland, the king's father-in-law. 
 Alliances were formed, and war was declared against 
 the emperor, who on his part contracted an alliance 
 with Peter the Great, the first czar who made Russia's 
 influence felt in Europe. The campaign which 
 occurred in Italy (1734) was decisive. Peace was 
 signed at Vienna ; France gained Lorraine, of which 
 Stanislaus had tlie life-sovereignty secured to him. 
 
 Tlic war of 1740, for the succession of tlie emiieror. 
 which his illustrious daughter Muria-Tlieresa wisluM] 
 to preserve entin;, was less fortunate. Several French 
 armies were destroyed without fighting. Frederick, 
 the famous King of l^russia, exhibited great politie:il 
 and military talents : he conquered Silesia. In this 
 war, France was the ally of Prussia ami the Elector 
 of Bavaria, the pretender to the empire, and fouy^Iit 
 against England, Holland, and Piedmont, 'i'lie battle 
 of Fontenoy was gained by the Marslial de Saxe' 
 against the two first powers (174.5). Success was' 
 divided in Italy, and the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle'
 
 26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 rpwarded the covirageous perseverance of Maria- 
 Theresa (1748). 
 
 The war soon recommenced (1749). England 
 coveted Canada, and began liostiUties without a de- 
 chiration. Tlie French armies were Ut first successful 
 both in America and Europe. Tlie old political system 
 of Europe was overthrown in this war : France was 
 united with Austria against Prussia and England. 
 Soubise marched against the King of Prussia with 
 the powerful army of the coalesced powers, which 
 Frederick routed at Rosbach, as completely as, fifty 
 years later, the Prussians were scattered at Jena. The 
 war was continued imtil the peace of Paris (1763), 
 which despoiled France of her possessions in America, 
 with the exception of New Orleans. The alliance 
 contracted at that time with Sx)ain, under the title of 
 the Famili/ Compact, was disastrous to France. Chatham 
 governed Engltmd, whose i)ower he carried to an ex- 
 orbitant pitch. 
 
 To comj)lete the picture of this reign, we should 
 speak of the interminable religious quarrels and poli- 
 tical intrigues, resulting from a bull Uniyrnitus, pro- 
 claiming the infallibility of the pope. We slioidd 
 recall the persecution raised by the Jesuits and the 
 crown against the Jansenists and the parliament, as 
 well as the absurd miracles witli which they endea- 
 voured to defend themselves. We should relate the 
 excesses of the court, and the scandalous life of a king 
 who hated the people — of a king who, abandoning 
 himself to the most shameless women, gave the 
 government as a reward to debauchery, and passed in 
 
 disgraceful orgies the time in which his people were 
 crying for bread. We shoidd describe the infamous 
 despotism of Icttrcs dc cachet; and tell how, m the face 
 of the nation, a Chancellor Maupeoii had tlie audacity 
 to put his creatures in the place of judges who were 
 found too upright. But why hnger on the revolting 
 spectacle of such degradation ? It has produced the 
 greatest benefits, and that is enough. The reign of 
 Louis XV. is the one to which France is the most deeply 
 indebted ; it made people reflect with an earnestness 
 before unknown ; opened their eyes, by removing the 
 deceptive halo which surromided the despotic throne, 
 and hastened the advent of national hardihood. A 
 degraded despotism is as instructive to nations as a 
 despotism crowned with glory is mischievous to them. 
 
 We need only speak a word about the ministry of 
 De Choiseul, who restored some dignity to France in 
 the eyes of foreigners, and conquered Corsica. The 
 expidsion of the Jesuits is also worthy of commemo- 
 ration. Avignon, which had been seized, Avas restored 
 to the pope, as a recompense for aboUshing the Jesui- 
 tical order. 
 
 The eighteenth centiu-y, upon which the maledic- 
 tions of the partisans of ignorance have been so 
 profusely heaped, has so often been described in its 
 intellectual characteristics as to render any notice 
 here a superfluous task. It is sufficient to know that 
 the human mind advanced with rapid strides in every 
 branch of inquiry during its com-se, and that it has 
 been justly deemed to have prepared France for her 
 revolution. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 PREFACE OF M. THIERS. 
 
 I PROPOSE to write the history of a memoraljle revo- 
 lution, which has deeply agitated the minds of men, 
 and still divides their opinions. I do not ctmceal from 
 myself the diflSculties of the undertaking, for passions 
 which were thought to be stifled under the influence 
 of military despotism, have been again aroused. Men, 
 tottering with the weight of years and labours, have 
 suddenly felt revived within them resentments which 
 were apparently hushed, and have imparted them to 
 us, their descendants and successors. But if we have 
 to support the same cause, we are relieved from the 
 necessity of defending their conduct, and we are per- 
 mitted to separate liberty itself from those who have 
 served or injured it, whilst we possess the advantage 
 of having heard and observed these aged men, who, 
 still full of their recollections, still swayed by their 
 impressions, display to us in more vivid characters 
 the spirit and nature of l)ygone parties, and teach us 
 better to comprehend them. Perhaps the moment 
 in which the actors are about to vanish from f lie scene, 
 is the most fitting for the compilation of history ; we 
 may gatlier their testimony without participating their 
 passions. 
 
 Be that as it ma}'', I have endeavoured to divest 
 myself of every sentiment of animosity : I have, by 
 turns, imagined myself born beneath the thatch, and 
 animated with a just ambition, longing to obtain what 
 the disdain of the higher classes mijustly denied me ; 
 and again, reared in palaces and the inheritor of ancient 
 privileges, feeling the pain of renouncing a possession 
 which I viewed as a legitimate subject of ownership. 
 Thus, any emotions of anger could not fail to be 
 calmed : I have felt pity for the combatants, and so- 
 laced myself by an admiring cont€nii)lation of generoas 
 minds. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ACCESSION OF LOUIS XVI. COMMENCEMENT OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTION. 
 
 The revolutions of the French monarchy are recorded 
 iu the pages of history : it is known that the Greeks, 
 and afterwards the Romans, carried their arms and 
 their civilisation into the midst of the Gauls, then in 
 a state of semi-barbjirism ; that after them, the hordes 
 of northern Europe established tlieir military hierarchy 
 in those provinces, and that this hierarchy, transferred 
 from individuals to lands, was, as it were, implanted 
 in the soil, and thus formed the feudal system. In 
 tliat system, authority was divided between the chief, 
 called the king, and the secondary chiefs, called vas- 
 sals, who in their tm-n were kings of their own people. 
 In our times, when the eagerness of all parties for 
 nnitual accusation lias induced so close a search for 
 reciprocal wrongs, it is sufficiently estiibhshed that 
 authority Avas first disputed by the vassals, which 
 those, indeed, invariably do who are most nearly 
 affected by its exercise ; that this authority was after- 
 wards partitioned amongst them, during which period 
 feudal anarchy reigned })aramomit ; and that it finally 
 returned to the throne, where it Avas concentrated into 
 despotism imder Louis XL, Richelieu, and Louis XIV. 
 The French population gradually enfranchised itself 
 by labour, the first source of wealth and liberty. Agri- 
 cultural in the first ages, subsequently commercial 
 and manufacturing, it acquired so considerable an 
 importance, that it formed the nation in its collective 
 capacity. Introduced into the states-general in a 
 suppliant posture, it appeared there to be taxed accord- 
 ing to mercy and forheiirance ; but Louis XIV. at last 
 announced that he AvoiUd have no more of these abject 
 assemblies, and declared his resolution to the parli.a- 
 ment with a horse-whip in his hand. Theucelbrtli.
 
 ^J- 
 
 
 I 
 
 /'V/J //^ 
 
 /// 
 
 '^ //^ T'/r /vv/ Ay - X ' y'ler.^ft^f ft
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 27 
 
 we behold a king:, seated at the head of the state, 
 invested with a power ill defined in theory, but abso- 
 lute in practice ; nobles, who had abandoned their 
 feudal dignity for the favour of the monarch, and who 
 disputed amongst themselves, by ways of intrigue, 
 wliat was thrown to them from the substance of the 
 productive classes ; underneath, an immense popula- 
 tion, holding no farther relation with this courtier 
 aristocracy than a customary submission and the dis- 
 cliarge of imposts. Between the com-t and the people 
 inter})osed parliaments, possessing the power of admi- 
 nistering jiistice and registering the royal vohtion. 
 Authority is always disputed ; when it is not so in 
 the legitimate assemblies of the nation, it meets oppo- 
 sition in the very palace of the prince. By refusing 
 to register the roj-al decrees, the parhaments stayed 
 tlieir efficacy, wliich abeyance was ended by a bed of 
 justice, and some concession when the king was weak, 
 and by an mireserved submission when the king was 
 strong. Louis XIV. had no occasion even to concede 
 a favour, for in his reign no parliament durst utter a 
 remonstrance ; he drew the nation at his heels, and 
 it glorified him for the marvels which itself accom- 
 plished in war, in arts, and in sciences. The subjects 
 and the prince were in perfect concord, and moved 
 by an identical impulse. But Louis had scarcely 
 expired, before the regent offered to the parliaments 
 an opportunity for revenging their long degradation. 
 The pleasure of the monarch, so reverenced in his 
 lifetime, was contemned at his death, and his last will 
 abrogated. Authority was then once more made the 
 subject of contest ; and a leng-thened struggle ensued 
 between the parliaments, the clergy, and the court, 
 in sight of a nation exhausted by long wars and wearj' 
 of contributing to the prodigality of its masters, given 
 by turns to voluptuous excess and to a rage for war. 
 Previously, its genius was exclusively displayed in 
 ministering to the purposes and pleasure of the mo- 
 narch ; thenceforth, it directed its powers for its own 
 advantage, and to the consideration of its own inte- 
 rests. Th^ human mind moves incessantly from one 
 object to ar^other. From the theatre and the pulpit, 
 the French genius was borne towards the moral and 
 jwlitical sciences, and then all was changed. Let us 
 conceive, during an entire age, the usurpers of all 
 national rights tearing at each otlier for an emascu- 
 _Jated authority ; tlie parliaments fulminating against 
 the clergy, and the clergy against the parliaments ; 
 tliese, again, contesting the power of the court ; the 
 court, caieless and tranquil amidst the strife, calmly 
 devouring the substance of the peoj^le, encompassed 
 by the most alarming disorders ; the nation, enriched 
 and aroused, attentive to these divisions, arming itself 
 Avith the avowals springing from mutual recrimina- 
 tion, deprived of all political action, dogmatising with 
 boldness and ignorance, because it was limited to 
 theories ; eager, above all things, to recover its rank 
 in Europe ; and vainly offering its gold and its blood 
 to resume a position which the imbecility of its rulers 
 had lost it ; — siwh was the eightc^enth century. 
 
 The scandal had reached its height when Louis 
 XVI., an equitable prince, moderate in his tastes, 
 negligently educated, but impelled to good by a natu- 
 ral bias, moimted in the flower of life the throne of 
 his ancestors (1774). He called to his side an old 
 courtier* to take charge of his kingdom, and divided 
 
 * " The selection which Louis XVI. made at his accession to 
 the throne, of Maiirepas, especially contributed to impart an irre- 
 solute, vacillatiiis cliai'acter to liis reign. Tlie young monarcli, 
 alive to his duties and his own inexperience, had recourse to tlio 
 wisdom of an old man of seventy -three, who had been disgraced 
 under Louis XV. for his opposition to the mistresses. But, instead 
 of a sage, lie found only a courtier, whoso disastrous influence 
 brooded over his whole life. Ilcaccustomed him to half measures, 
 to changes of system, to fitful absurdities in the exercise of power, 
 and more than all, to the habit, amounting to a necessity, of doing 
 every thing through otliors, and nothing of liiinsolf."— ]l//i;«<-^'« 
 French Rcvoluthn. 
 
 his confidence between Maurepas and the queen, a 
 yoimg princess of the house of Austria, lively, amiable, 
 and exercising the greatest ascendancy over her con- 
 sort. Jlaurepas and the queen were in hostility ; the 
 king, yielding sometimes to his minister, at others to 
 his queen, early commenced his long career of vacil- 
 lation. Aware of the state of his empire, he agreed 
 with the philosophers on that point ; but, reared in 
 the strictest Christian princi})les, he entertained the 
 gxeatest repugnance towards them. The pubHc voice, 
 loudly expressed, pointed out Turgot to him, one of 
 the economists, a man of simplicity and virtue, en- 
 dowed with a firm character, slow in forming his 
 opinions biit obstinate in maintaining them, and of 
 profound reflection. Convinced of his probity, and 
 charmed with his projects of reform, Louis XVI. was 
 wont to repeat, " There are only myself and Turgot 
 who are friends of the people." The reforms of Turgot 
 miscarried through the resistance of the first orders 
 in the state, interested in preserving all those abuses 
 the austere minister designed to aljrogate. The king 
 dismissed him with regret. Throughout his life, 
 which was but a long martyrdom, he had always the 
 misfortune to be sensible of what was beneficial, sin- 
 cerely to desire it, and to lack the force necessary to 
 put it in execution. 
 
 The king, placed between the court, the parliaments, 
 and the public, beset by intrigues and suggestions of 
 every kind, changed his ministers with every gust. 
 Giving way once more to the public voice, and the 
 necessity for reforms, he called to the financial de- 
 partment Necker(1777), a Genevese, enriched by his 
 labours as a banker, a partisan and disciple of Coibert, 
 as Turgot was of Sully ; a thrifty and upright finan- 
 cier, but vain and conceited, laying claim to the office 
 of regidator in aU things — religion, i)hilosophy, and 
 liberty, and, led astray by the eulogies of his friends 
 and tlie public, flattering himself -with capacity to lead 
 and arrest the minds of others where his own stopped 
 short. 
 
 Necker infused order into the deranged finances, 
 and found means to meet the heavy expenditure of 
 tlie American war. Less comprehensive in his grasp 
 of intellect, but more flexible than Turgot, enjoying, 
 above aU, the confidence of capitalists, he procured for 
 the moment imexpected resources, and succeeded in 
 reviving credit. But something more than financial 
 manoeuvres was needed to terminate the embarrass- 
 ments of the treasiuy, and he fell upon the expedient 
 of reforms. Tlie higher orders were not more accom- 
 modating to him than they had been to Turgot ; the 
 parliaments, api)rised of his projects, miited to oppose 
 hiin, and drove him from the helm of aflliirs. 
 
 The conviction of abuses was universidly entertained 
 and proclaimed ; the king himself was aware of them, 
 and endured much anguish from the consideration. 
 Tlie courtiers, -who prospered upon these abuses, 
 M'ould have willingly seen the financial difficulties 
 removed, but not at the cost of a single sacrifice to 
 tliemselves. They descanted much at court, and gave 
 vent within its precincts to philosophical maxims ; 
 professed infinite sorrow for the vexations inflicted 
 on the agriculturists whilst pursuing their darling 
 chase ; liad been seen even to api)laud the indejien- 
 deiice of America, and to receive with distinguished 
 honour the young Frenchmen, when they returned 
 from that scene of popidar triumph. The iwrliamcnts 
 likewise called lustily ujion the public weal, set forth 
 in somuling phrases the miseries of the poor, and yet 
 opposed the equal distribution of the taxes, as well as 
 the abolition of the nunains of feudal barbarism. All 
 spoke of the general welfare, few really desired it ; 
 and the people, not yet distinguishing their true 
 friends, gave their voices to all who resisted power, 
 their most apparent enemy. 
 
 By removing Turgot and Necker, the state of affairs 
 had not been chiuigeil ; the exigences of the exchequer 
 were not tlie less urgent. Had not their very exist-
 
 28 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ence been threatened, had not the prodig^ality of tlie 
 court seemed doomed to curtailment, the corn-tiers 
 would have gladly submitted to a long prorogation of 
 an appeal to national interference. The difficulty, 
 got rid of for the moment by tlie displacement of a 
 minister, by a loan, or by the forced enactment of a 
 tax, soon re-appeared in an exaggerated form, like 
 every neglected evil. They hesitated, as it always 
 happens vrhen a distastefid but necessary course is 
 rendered incumbent. An intrigue carried M. de 
 Calonne to the ministry — a person in little favour 
 with the public on account of his share in the perse- 
 cution of I,a Chalotais. Of sprightly temperament, 
 and fertile in resources, Calonne relied upon his genius, 
 upon fortune, and upon the co-operation of men, and 
 contemplated the future with marvellous indifference. 
 His doctrine was that premature alarm was foolish, 
 and that it was time enough to discover an evil the 
 day before it was proposed to remedy it. He gained 
 the good graces of the court by his manners, moved 
 it by his readiness to grant all that was asked, pro- 
 cured for the king and all around him a few blissful 
 moments, and caused the gloomy presentiments that 
 darkened every broM' to be exchanged for smiles of 
 joy and confidence.* 
 
 This future, upon which such sanguine hopes were 
 founded, drew portentously nigh ; decisive measures 
 could at last be no longer delayed. It was impossible 
 to burden the people Avith additional taxes, and yet 
 the public coffers were empty. Only one mode 
 existed of remedying the miscluef, and that was to 
 reduce the expenditure by the suppression of all sine- 
 cm-es ; should this expedient not prove sufficient, then 
 to extend taxation over a larger contributing surface ; 
 or, in other words, to include the nobility and clergy 
 in the fiscal fold. These projects, successively at- 
 tempted by Turgot and Necker, and now resumed by 
 Calonne, seemed to him capable of succeeding only 
 by obtaining the consent of the privileged classes 
 themselves. Calonne, tlierefore, conceived the idea of 
 gathering them into one assembly, under the name of 
 Notables, to lay before them his plans, and extract 
 their consent by address or conviction. This assembly, 
 which opened on the 22d February 1781, was com- 
 posed of members taken from the nobility, the clergy, 
 and the magistracy ; of numerous masters of requests, 
 and certain provincial functionaries. By means of this 
 composite infusion, and more especially by the aid of 
 the popular and philosophic nobles whom he took care 
 to call, Calonne felt assured of carrying ah. before 
 him. 
 
 The too confident minister deceived himself. In 
 public oi^inion he was never forgiven for occupying 
 the post of Turgot and Necker. Pleased at seeing a 
 minister obliged to render accounts, the people sup- 
 ported the resistance of the notables. The most 
 stormy discussions ensued. Calonne had the indis- 
 cretion to throw upon his predecessors, and partly 
 upon Necker, the forlorn condition of the treasury. 
 Necker retorted, was exiled, and the opposition be- 
 came in consequence more vehement. Calonne met 
 the storm with presence of mind and great composure. 
 He caused M. de Miromenil, the keeper of the seals, 
 to be dismissed for abetting the parliaments in their 
 outcries. But his triumph lasted only for two days. 
 The king, wlio was attached to him, had promised 
 more than he could fulfil, when he engaged to sup- 
 port him. He was shaken by the representations of 
 
 * " Calonno wiis confident and sanguine, brilliant and skilful, 
 fertile in resources, calm, and indifferent. His system of admini- 
 stration, whether desifnicdly or otherwise, was diainetric:illy op- 
 posed to that of his predecessor. Neeker had been the advocate 
 of economy, Calonne pre;iehed up prodigality ; Necker had fallen 
 by the arts of courtiers, Calonne rested on them for support. His 
 sophisms were backed by largesses ; he won the queen by f^tes, 
 the great lords by pensions, and seduced even capitalists them- 
 selves, by displaying at first exemplary regiUai'ity in his liquida- 
 tions." — MiGNET. 
 
 the notables, who undertook to accede to the plans of 
 Calonne, but on condition that their execution should 
 be intrusted to a minister less unscrupulous, and 
 more worthy of confidence. The queen, by the ad- 
 vice of the Abbe de Vermont, proposed and induced 
 the king to nominate a new minister, M. de Brienne, 
 Archbishop of Toidoiise, one of the notables, who had 
 mainly contributed to the overtlnow of Calonne, in 
 the hope of succeeding him.* 
 
 The Archbishop of Toulouse, an obstinate and vain 
 old man, had all his life been dreaming of the mini- 
 stry, and pursued his darling object by every possible 
 expedient. He rested his hopes chiefly upon his 
 credit with the women, Avhom he assiduously courted, 
 and succeeded in pleasing. He was accustomed to 
 refer with exultation to his administration of Lan- 
 guedoc. If, on becoming minister, he did not obtain 
 such general favoiu- as would have been accorded to 
 Necker, he liad at least the merit of supplanting 
 Calonne. At first he was not made prime mmister, 
 but he soon became so. Seconded by M. de Lamoig- 
 non, keeper of the seals, a bitter enemy to the parlia- 
 ments, he opened his career mider somewhat happy 
 auspices. The notables, bound by their promises, 
 consented with alacrity to all they had previously 
 refused ; a land-tax, a stamp-duty, the suppression of 
 compulsive labour (corvecs), and provincial assemblies, 
 were granted Avith affected warmth. It was not to 
 these measures, but to their author, they pretended 
 to have been repugnant. Thus public opinion tri- 
 imiphed. Calonne was pursued with imprecations, 
 and the notables enjoyed the public esteem ; an 
 honour they nevertheless regretted, when acquired at 
 the expense of such great sacrifices. If M. de Brienne 
 had known how to profit by Ms position ; if he had 
 executed with activity the measures sanctioned by 
 the notables ; if he had presented them in the aggre- 
 gate, and on the instant, to the parliament when the 
 adhesion of the higher orders was beyond recall, all 
 had been accomplislied perhaps : the parliament, 
 pressed on all sides, would have agreed to every 
 thing ; and this concession, though partial and forced, 
 would have in all probability long retarded the im- 
 pending struggle. 
 
 No such course, however, was adopted. By im* 
 prudent delays, time was given for zeal to cool ; the 
 edicts were presented one after the other, and thus 
 the parhament had opportunity to discuss, take 
 courage, and recover from the sort of surprise in 
 which the notables had been caught. It registered, 
 after long debates, the edict for the abolition of com- 
 pulsory labour, and another for allownng the free 
 exportation of corn. Its antipathy was principally 
 directed to the land-tax; but it was apprehensive 
 that by its refusal the public woiUd too clearly per- 
 ceive the interested motives of its opposition. It was 
 hesitating, when the embarrassment was removed by 
 the edict for the stamp-duty being laid before it at 
 the same time as that for the land-tax, and by open- 
 ing the discussion with the former. It was thus 
 enabled to refuse the first, without pronoimcing upon 
 the second ; and by attacking the stanip-duty, which 
 affected the great majority of tax-payers, it seemed to 
 be the champion of public interests. During a sitting 
 in which the peers were present, it denoimced the 
 abuses, the profligacy, and the prodigality of the 
 court, and demanded states of f'xpenses. An advo- 
 cate, playing on the word, exclaimed, " It is not 
 stales, but states-general tliat we want." This unex- 
 pected cry struck every body with astonishment. 
 People had hitherto resisted because they suffered 
 acutely ; they had aided all kinds of opposition, 
 whether favourable or not to the popidar cause, pro- 
 vided they were directed agamst the court, to which 
 
 * Calonne was banished in 1788 to Lorraine, and joined the 
 emigrant princes at Coblentz in r/91, after a short sojoiu-n in 
 England. After nmning to and fro for several years, he diid at 
 I'aris in 180i. He was born at Douay.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 29 
 
 every evil was attributed. But tliey scarcely knew 
 what they should seek ; they had always iDeen so 
 devoid of influence over the government, and so 
 accustomed to conline tliemselves to complaints, that 
 they kept murmuring witliout entertaining any idea 
 of acting or provoking a revolution. A single word, 
 opportunely uttered, suggested an unthouglit-of object ; 
 every one repeated it, and the states-general were 
 vociferously demanded. 
 
 D'Espremenil, a young advocate, an impassioned 
 orator, an agitator without purpose, a demagogue in 
 the parliaments, an aristocrat in the states-general, 
 and who was declared in a state of madness by a de- 
 cree of the Constituent Assembly, exhibited liimself on 
 this occasion as one of tlie most violent of the parlia- 
 mentary declaimers. But the opposition was secretly 
 directed by Dupont, a young man gifted with a capa- 
 cious mind, and possessed of great firmness and per- 
 severance, who alone, perhaps, amidst the present 
 troubles, had a future in view, and designed to lead 
 his class, the com-t, and the nation, to an end very 
 different from a parliamentary aristocracy. 
 
 The parliament was divided into old and young 
 councillors. The first desired to form a counterpoise 
 to the royal authority, in order to give weight and 
 importance to their own body ; the last, more ardent 
 and disinterested, desired to introduce liberty into the 
 state, without, however, overturning the political 
 system imder which they were born. In the mean 
 time, a serious admission was made by the parliament ; 
 it acknowledged that it had no power to sanction 
 taxes, and that to the states-general alone belonged 
 the right to impose them. It hkewise demanded from 
 the king official statements of receipts and exjjenses. 
 
 This avowal of incompetence, and even of usurpa- 
 tion, might be justly considered extraordinary, since 
 the parliament had hitherto arrogated to itself the 
 right of warranting taxation. The ministry, irri- 
 tated at such an opposition, instantly summoned the 
 parhament to Versailles, and caused the two edicts to 
 be registered in a bed of justice (6th August 1787). 
 The i>arliament, on its return to Paris, entered solemn 
 protests, and ordered prosecutions on accomit of the 
 prodigalities of Calonne. An uumediate decree of the 
 coimcil annulled its resolutions, and exiled it to Troyes. 
 (15th Aug-ust.) 
 
 Such was the position of affairs on the 15th August 
 1787. The two brothers of the king, Monsieiu: and 
 the Comit d'Artois, Avere sent, the one to the court 
 of accounts and the other to the court of aids, to pro- 
 cure by them the registration of the edicts. The first 
 had become popular from the opinions he had mani- 
 fested in the assembly of the notables, and was hailed 
 by the acclamations of an immense concourse of people, 
 who escorted him back to the Luxemboiu-g amidst 
 universal applause. The Count d'Artois, being- 
 known to have supported Calonne, was assailed with 
 murmurs, his attendants were attacked, and an armed 
 force was found necessary for his protection. 
 
 The parliaments had a numerous dependancy aroimd 
 them, composed of lawyers, limctioiiaries of the courts 
 of justice, clerks, and students ; an active stirring popu- 
 lation, always ready to exert itself for their behoof. 
 To those natural allies of the parUamcnts were joined 
 the capitalists, who dreaded a national bankrujitcy ; 
 the enlightened classes, who took part with all op- 
 posers ; and finally, the multitude, which always fol- 
 lows at the lieels of agitators. The disturbances were 
 of a most serious description, and the executive had 
 great tlifficulty in repressmg them. 
 
 The parliament, sitting at Troyes, assembled daily, 
 and called causes. Neither advocates nor attorneys 
 appeared, and the course of justice was suspended, as 
 had often happened during the century. The magis- 
 trates, however, grew weary of their exile, and M. do 
 Brienne was without funds. He boldly asserted tliat 
 he wanted none, and calmed the court, anxious only 
 upon chat one point ; but he was in fact utterly desti- 
 
 tute, and, unable to terminate the diflScnlties of his 
 position by an energetic determination, he entered 
 into a negotiation with certain members of the parlia- 
 ment. His conditions were a loan of 440 millions (about 
 eighteen millions sterling), distributed over four 
 years, at the expiration of which period the states- 
 general should be convoked. On these terms, Brienne 
 abandoned the two imposts, the causes of so many 
 feuds. Assured of a few members, he thought him- 
 self equally certain of the whole body ; and the parlia- 
 ment was recalled on the 10th September. 
 
 A royal sitting was held on the 20th of that month. 
 The king came in person to present the edict con- 
 taining provisions for the successive loan, and for the 
 convocation of the states-general in five years. No 
 explanation had been vouchsafed as to the nature of 
 this sitting, and none knew whether it were intended 
 as a bed of justice or not. A deep gloom sat on every 
 countenance, and a profound stillness reigned ; when 
 the Duke of Orleans rose, his features agitated, and 
 evincing all the symptoms of strong emotion, and ad- 
 dressing himself to the king, he asked him if the sit- 
 ting were a bed of justice or a free assembly. " It is 
 a royal sitting," replied the king. The councillors, 
 Freteau, Sabatier, and D'Espremenil, spoke after the 
 Duke of Orleans, and declaimed with their accustomed 
 vehemence. The registration was forthwith enforced ; 
 Freteau and Sabatier were exiled to the Isle of Hyeres, 
 and the Duke of Orleans to ViUers-Cotterets. The 
 states-general were prorogued for five years. 
 
 Such were the prmcipal events of the year 1787. 
 The year 1788 was ushered in by fresh hostilities. 
 On the 4th January, the parliament passed a resolu- 
 tion against arbitrary imprisonments (lettres de 
 cachet), and for the recall of the persons exiled. The 
 king quashed this resolution, and the parliament con- 
 firmed it anew. 
 
 In the mean time the Duke of Orleans was impatient 
 under his exile at Villers-Cotterets. This prince, by 
 his quarrel with the court, had enlisted public opinion 
 in his behalf, though it had been at first unfavourable 
 to him. Deficient equally in the dignity of a prince 
 and the firmness of a tribime, he could not endure 
 even so slight a pmiishment ; and to procure his recall 
 he descended to sohcitations, even towards the queen, 
 his personal enemy. 
 
 Brienne was exasperated at obstacles which he 
 lacked the energy to overcome. Inefficient abroad 
 against Prussia, to which he sacrificed Holland, and 
 inefficient at home against the parliaments and nobles 
 of the kingdom, the queen was his only prop ; and, to 
 add to his griefs, his labours were often suspended by 
 bad health. He was incapable either of repressing 
 insurrectionary movements or putting the retrench- 
 ments in force Avhich had been ordered by the king ; 
 yet in spite of the imminent exhaustion of the ex- 
 chequer, he afiected an inconceivable serenity. How- 
 ever, in the midst of all his difficulties, he was not so 
 distracted as to forget heaping additional benefices on 
 himself, and new dignities on his family. 
 
 Lamoignon, the keeper of the seals, less feeble, but 
 also less influential than the Archl)ishop of Toidouse, 
 concerted with that prelate a new i)hin for striking at 
 the political power of tlie parliaments ; for that was 
 the main object of the executive at this period. It 
 was of the last importance to preserve secrecy. All 
 was prepared in sih^nce; private instructions were 
 forwarded to the commanders of i)rovinces, and the 
 office wliere the edicts were set in types was sur- 
 rounded with guards. It was intended that the pro- 
 ject sliould be made known only at the moment of its 
 connnunication to the parliaments. Tiie time drew 
 near, and rumours were rife that a great pohtical act 
 was in agitation. Tlie Councillor D'Espremenil suc- 
 ceeded in seducing by bribery a journeyman printer, 
 and obtaining a copy of the edicts. He immediately 
 proceeded to the Palace of Justice, called togeth('r 
 his colleagues, and boldly denounced the ministerial
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 scheme. According to this plan, six great haili wicks, 
 established in the jurisdiction of the parliament of 
 Paris, were destined to curtail its too extended autho- 
 rity ; whilst the riglit of judging in the last resort, and 
 of registering laws and edicts, was transferred to a 
 plenary court, to be composed of peers, prelates, ma- 
 gistrates, and military officers, aU selected by the 
 king. The captain of the guards, even, was intended 
 to have a dehberative voice in it. This project at- 
 tacked the judicial functions of the parliament, and 
 utterly annihilated its political power. The members, 
 struck with amazement, knew not what course to 
 adopt. They coiild not deliberate upon a project 
 wliich had not been submitted to them, and yet it 
 behoved them to take care they were not surprised. In 
 this state of embarrassment, they decided upon a hue 
 of action at once strenuous and dexterous ; this was 
 to sura up and consecrate in a resolution aU that they 
 called the organic laws of the monarchy, nvjt omitting 
 to comprise in their number the existence and the 
 rights of parliament. By this general declaration, 
 they completely avoided any seeming anticipation of 
 the government designs, and guaranteed all that they 
 desired. 
 
 Consequently, on the 5th May, it was resolved by 
 the parhament of Paris — 
 
 " That France was a monarch}' governed by the 
 king according to the laws ; and that of these laws, 
 several, which were fundamental, embraced and con- 
 secrated — 1, the right of the reigning family to the 
 throne, male after male, in the order of primogeni- 
 ture ; 2, the right of the nation freely to gi-ant subsi- 
 dies through the organ of the states-general, regidarly 
 convoked and composed ; 3, the customs and capitu- 
 lations of the provinces ; 4, tlie irremovability of the 
 magistrates ; 5, the right of the courts to verify in 
 each province the decrees of the king, and to ordain 
 their registration when conformable to the consti- 
 tuent laws of the province, as well as to the funda- 
 mental laws of the state ; 6, the right of every citizen 
 never to be can-ied on any pretence before other judges 
 than his natural judges, being those the law designed ; 
 and, 7, the right, without which aU the others would 
 be useless, of not being arrested, by any order what- 
 soever, miless to be handed over to the jurisdiction of 
 the competent tribmial. And that the said court 
 protested against every scheme which might he aimed 
 at the principles above expressed." 
 
 The mmister answered this energetic resolution by 
 the usual expedient, always a bad and fruitless one ; 
 he wreaked his vengeance on certain members of tiie 
 parliament. D'EspremenU and Goislart de Monsal- 
 bert, learning that they were personally menaced, 
 sought an asylum in the bosom of the assembled body. 
 An officer, Vmcent d'Agoult, appeared at the head of 
 a company, and not kno^ving the proscribed magis- 
 trates, called them by their names. At first a deep 
 silence reigned in the assembly ; but at length the 
 councillors cried out that they were all D'Espremenils. 
 The true D'Espremenil ultimately came forward, and 
 followed the officer sent to arrest him. The tmnult 
 was then at its height ; the people accompanied the 
 magistrates, showering upon them benedictions. Throe 
 days afterwards, the king commanded the registration 
 of the edicts in a bed of justice-; and the assembled 
 princes and nobles presented the image of that plenary 
 court which was intended to supersede the parliaments. 
 
 Tlie court of the Chatelet instantly passed a reso- 
 lution against the edicts. The parhament of Remies 
 declared all those infamous who shotdd enter the 
 plenary court. At Grenoble, the mhabitants defended 
 their magistrates against two regiments; the troops 
 themselves, stinudated to mutiny by the nobles in the 
 army, soon refused to act. ^Yllenthe commandant of 
 Dauphiny assembled his colonels, to inqiure if their 
 soldiers might be trusted, they all preserved silence. 
 The youngest, who was called upon to speak first, 
 replied that he could not answer for his men, from the 
 
 colonel downwards. The minister met all this resist- 
 ance by decrees of the privy-council, which annulled 
 thedecisionsofthesovereign courts; and he fulminated 
 a sentence of exile against eight of them. 
 
 The court, goaded b}' the higher orders, who at- 
 tacked it under cloak of the pubUc welfare, abetting 
 the intervention of the people, took coimsel of its 
 adversaries, and had recourse to the same expedient. 
 It resolved to call the third-estate to its assistance, as 
 the kings of France had formerly done to annihilate 
 feudalism. It thereupon promoted, by aU its influence, 
 the convocation of the states-general. It instituted 
 inquu'ies into the manner of assembling them ; it 
 invited authors and learned bodies to give their opi- 
 nions ; and, whdst the congregated clergy declared 
 that it was necessary to hasten the period of their 
 convocation, the court, entering the Usts wifh promp- 
 titude, suspended the. plenary court, and fixed the 
 opening of the states-general for the 1st of May 1789 
 Then occurred the retirement of the Archbishop of 
 Toulouse (24th August 1788), who, by his rash and 
 feebly executed projects, had provoked a resistance, 
 which he ought either never to have excited or to 
 have boldly overcome. At his retreat from the 
 administration, he left the exchequer in want, the 
 dividends of the Hotel de VUle in suspension, all the 
 authorities in antagonism, and all the provinces hi 
 arms. As to himself, invested with benefices yielding 
 an income of 800,000 francs, with the arclibishopric of 
 Sens, and Avith a cardinal's purple, if he did not make 
 the pubhc fortune, he at all events made his own. 
 As his last advice, he urged the king to recall Nec^er 
 to the finance department, in order to take advantage 
 of his popidarity in meeting an o^jposition of so for- 
 midable a character. 
 
 It was during the two years 1787 and 1788, that the 
 French people made the transition from vain theories 
 to practical views. The contests amongst the high 
 authorities had aroused the desire and presented the 
 opportmiity. In the course of the century, the par- 
 liament had assaulted the clergy, and exposed their 
 papal tendencies ; from the clergy it had proceeded 
 to tlie court, proclaimed its abuses of jiower, and 
 execrated its profligacy. Being- threatened with re- 
 prisals, and rendered uneasy as to its own existence, it 
 came at last to the determination of restorinj^ 
 nation those prerogatives the court would have torn 
 from it, with the intention of conferring them on a 
 new and extraordinary tribunal. After having thus 
 apprised the nation of its rights, it had exerted its 
 powers in stimulating and protecting insurrection. 
 And on their respective parts, the dignified clergy, by 
 issuing mandates, and the nobility, by fomenting the 
 spirit of disobedience amongst the troops, had joined 
 their efforts to those of the magistracy, and sum- 
 moned the people to arms for the defence of their own 
 peculiar privileges. 
 
 Pressed by so many enemies, the court had resisted 
 but feebly. Alive to the necessity of acting, and yet 
 always deferring the moment, it had occasionally re- 
 moved certain abuses, rather to profit the treasm-y 
 than the people, and had forthwith relapsed into 
 inertion. At last, when stormed in its stronghold 
 from every quarter, and when it perceived that the 
 higher orders called the people to the combat, it had 
 resolved to take the hiitiative in leading them to the 
 field bj' convoking the states-general. Opposed during 
 the whole course of the century to the philosophical 
 spirit, it now made an appeal to that gi-eat antagonist, 
 and gave up to its examination the constitutions of 
 the realm. Thus, the first aiithorities in the state 
 presented the singular spectacle of wrongous holders, 
 disputing a possession in presence of the legitimate 
 owner, and ending by appealing to him as their judge. 
 
 Aflairs were at this pass when Necker returned 
 to the ministry. Confidence attended him, credit was 
 instiuitaneouslj' restored, and the most pressing- diffi- 
 culties were got rid of He provided by temi)orary
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 31 
 
 expedients for indispensable expenses, whilst waiting 
 for the states-general, the miiversally anticipated 
 panacea. 
 
 Already important questions relative to their orga- 
 nisation, began to be agitated. The part to be borne 
 therein by the third-estate was the subject of lively 
 discussion, involving the points, whether it should 
 appear on a footing of equality or subordination ; 
 whether it should possess a representation numeri- 
 cally equal to that of the two first orders ; whether the 
 votes should be taken individually or by orders, and 
 whether the commons should have only one voice 
 against the two voices of the nobles and the clergy. 
 
 T\.e first question to be settled was the number of 
 the deputies. No ijhilosophical controversy of the 
 eighteenth century, however warm, had excited an 
 agitation of equal violence. The vast actual impor- 
 tance of the point gave a zest to its discussion, Avhieli 
 mflamed the whole nation. One concise, forcible, 
 caiistic writer, gained a rank in this contest which 
 the great minds of the century had procured in phi- 
 losophical warfare. The Abbe Sieyes, in a work 
 which gave an extraordinary impulse to the public 
 mind, inqmred, " What is the third estate?" And he 
 answered, " Nothing." " What ought it to be ? — 
 Everything." 
 
 The states of Dauphiny assembled in spite of the 
 court. The two first orders, more sagacious and of 
 more popular tendencies in that province than any 
 where else, decided that the representation of the 
 third-estate should be equal to that of the nobility 
 and clergy. The parliament of Paris, already dis- 
 cerning the consequences of its imprudent provoca- 
 tions, clearly perceived that the third-estate would 
 come, not as an auxiliary, but as a master ; and on 
 registering the edict of convocation, it enjoined by an 
 express clause the observance of the forms of 1614, 
 which utterly annihilated the influence of the third- 
 estate. Having previously endangered its popularity 
 by the difficulties it had opposed to the edict Avhich 
 restored civil immunities to the Protestants, it Avas 
 on this occasion completely unmasked, and the com-t 
 fully avenged. It was the first to experience the in- 
 stability of popular favour ; but if the nation, in after 
 times, might appear ungTateful to the leaders whom 
 it abandoned one after the other, it was now perfectly 
 justified towards the parliament, for it stop^jed short 
 before the nation had recovered any one of its rights. 
 
 The com-t, not ventmring of itself to decide these 
 important questions, or rather wishing to render the 
 first orders mipopular for its own advantage, deter- 
 mined to ask their opinions, intending at the same 
 time not to heed them should they be, as was pro- 
 bable, unfavourable to the third-estate. It therefore 
 convoked a new assembly of notables, in which all the 
 questions touching the constitution of the states-gene- 
 ral were brought forward for discussion.* The debates 
 were animated ; on one side old traditions were rehed 
 upon, on the other, natural rights and reason. Even 
 in appealing to traditions, the cause of the com- 
 mons had the vantage-ground ; for, to the forms of 
 1614, upon Avhich such stress was laid by the higher 
 orders, forms yet more ancient were opposed. Thus, 
 in certain meetings, and upon certain points, the votes 
 had been taken by tale ; sometimes the deliberations 
 had been by provinces instead of by orders; and fre- 
 quently the deputies of the third-estate had equalled 
 in number the deputies of the nobility and clergy. 
 How then were these ancient usages to be reconciled ? 
 In truth, the powers of the state had been in a con- 
 stant state of revolution. The royal authority itself, 
 first supreme, then hinnbled and stripped, rising 
 afresh by the aid of the people, and concentrating all 
 powers in itself, presented an aspect of perpetual 
 strife, and an ever-varying limit of possession. It 
 
 * Tliis assembly opened at Versailles on the (!th Novenibcr, and 
 closed its session on the 8th December foUowuig. 
 
 was justly said to the clergy, that if reference to the 
 olden time were decisive, they would be no longer an 
 order ; to the nobles, that the possessors of fiefs alone, 
 by the same test, were eligible to sit, and that thus the 
 majority of them would be excluded from the deputa- 
 tion ; to the parliaments themselves, that tliey were 
 but unfaithful officers of tlie crown ; — in a word, to the 
 whole of them, that the French constitution was but 
 a long revolution, in the course of which each power 
 had successivel}' predominated ; that aU had been a 
 series of imiovations, and that in the present mighty 
 conflict reason alone ought to decide. 
 
 The third-estate comprehended almost the entirety 
 of the nation — all the pi-oductive, useful, and enlight- 
 ened classes ;* if it held only a portion of the lands, it 
 at all events rendered the whole of them fruitful ; and, 
 according to reason, it was simply fair tluit it should 
 have a numerical equality in the representation with 
 the two other orders. 
 
 The assembly of notables pronounced against what 
 it called the doubhng of the third-estate. A single 
 committee, over which Monsieur, the king's brother, 
 presided, gave its suffrage for this doubling. There- 
 upon the court, taking into consideration, as it said, 
 " the opinion of the minority and of several princes of 
 the blood, the desire of the three orders of Dauphiny, 
 the prayer of the provincial asseml)lies, the example 
 of divers countries possessing similar institutions, the 
 opinion of various publicists, and the hope expressed in 
 a great n\imber of addresses," ordained that the total 
 number of the deputies should be at least one thou- 
 sand ; that they should be chosen upon a combined 
 basis of population and contribution in each bailiwick : 
 and that the nmnber of deputies from the third-estate 
 should be equal to that from the two higher orders 
 miited. (Decree in council, 27th December 1788.) 
 
 This declaration excited universal enthusiasm. 
 Being attributed to Necker, it greatly augmented his 
 favom- with the nation, and his odium with the mag- 
 nates. Still, nothing was decided in this document 
 as to the vote by members or by orders ; but it prac- 
 tically comprehended the solution of the question, for 
 it was useless to increase the voices if they were not 
 to be coimted ; and it left to the third-estate itself the 
 charge of carrying, by a forcible demonstration, what 
 was withheld for tlie moment. Thus it gave a strik- 
 ing idea of the Aveakness of the court and of Necker 
 himself. In fact, this court was swayed by such a mul- 
 tiplicity of wiUs, that any decisive resolution w as almost 
 impossible. The king was moderate, just, weU-dis- 
 posed, and only too doubtful of his own j udgment ; really 
 loving the people and forward to receive then- com- 
 plaints ; he was, nevertheless, at times beset by panics 
 and superstitious fears, and thought he saw anarchy 
 and impiety stalking alongside of liberty and tolera- 
 tion. The philosoijhical spii'it, at its first burst, Avas 
 sure to wander into extravagance, and a timid and 
 I'cligious prince was equally sure to take alarm. 
 Terrors, doubts, and imbecile emotions, perpetually 
 working on his mind, the unfortunate Louis XVI., 
 prepared for all sacrifices affecting himself, but incap- 
 able of imposing them on others, the victim of his 
 easy disposition towards the coixrt and his deference 
 towards the queen, had to expiate numberless faults 
 not of his own commission, but which became his 
 because he had allowed them to be committed. The 
 queen, fond of pleasure, and exerting around her the 
 magic influence of her charms, was wishful that her 
 husband should enjoy tranquillity, that the exchequer 
 should be well filled, and that she herself should reign 
 in all liearts. Sometimes she Avas in miison Avitli the 
 king upon the subject of reforms, Avhen their necessity 
 appeared urgent, and at other times, on the contrary 
 when she imagined authority menaced, or her court- 
 
 * " 'The third-estate is the French nation, less the nobilitj 
 anil clergy.' In this phrase consists the wholt! groundwork of M 
 Sieyes' pamphlet."— Guuo^'i- History <if CivUUatUm.
 
 32 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 parasites despoiled, she stopped the 'king, dismissed 
 the popuhvr ministers, and destroyed every means and 
 every hope of good. She was mainly swayed by the 
 counsels of a part of the nobility, who clung around 
 the throne and fattened on grants and abuses. This 
 court nobility was miqiiestionably desirous, like the 
 queen herself, that the king should not lack the means 
 of prodigality; and from this motive it was highly 
 indignant at the parliaments when they refused taxes, 
 but became their upholder when they defended its 
 own interests, by the rejection, under specious pre- 
 texts, of the land-tax. In the midst of these contrary 
 influences, the king, afraid to face his difficulties, to 
 condemn the abuses, or to abrogate them of his 
 own accord, yielded alternately to the court and to 
 opinion, and never satisfied either the one or the 
 other. 
 
 If, in the course of the eighteenth century, when 
 the philosophers, gathered in a passage of the Tui'e- 
 ries, were offering up vows for Frederick and the 
 Americans, for Turgot and for Necker ; if, when their 
 ambition was not directed to govern the state, but 
 simply to enlighten princes, and a glimpse of distant 
 revolutions, which the symptoms of discontent and 
 the absurdity of the institutions were sufficiently 
 unequivocal to deduce as probable, was all that floated 
 before them — if, at that period, the kuig had sponta- 
 neously established a certain equality in burdens, and 
 given a few guarantees, all had been hushed for a long 
 time, and Louis XVI. would have been adored as 
 another Marcus Am-elius. But when all the autho- 
 rities in the kingdom were degraded by a lengtliened 
 struggle amongst themselves, and all the abuses laid 
 bare by the assembly of notables ; when the nation, 
 called into the quarrel, had conceived the hope, and 
 formed the determination, of vindicating its own im- 
 portance ; the opportunity was suffered to pass away, 
 and the national wiU became imperious. Tiie states- 
 general were then promised, and the nation insisted 
 that the period of convocation should be hastened ; 
 the demand granted, it claimed to wield the prepon- 
 derance therein ; this was refused, but, by doubUng 
 its representation, the means of enforcing it were 
 seciu-ed. Thus, therefore, concessions were always 
 made ungraciouslj', and never but when they could be 
 sio longer withheld ; but now the national strength 
 was increased and felt, and it aspired to all it thought 
 within its reach. A constant resistance, irritating 
 its ambition, was sure in time to render it inexorable 
 and insatiable. But even then, if a great minister, 
 infusing some degree of vigour into the king, conci- 
 liating the queen, and awing the privileged classes, 
 had forestalled and prompt)}' satisfied the national 
 demands, by proffering a free constitution ; if he had 
 occupied that craving for action felt by the nation, 
 by calling it without delaj-, not to remodel the state, 
 but to discuss its yearly affairs in an assembly already 
 constituted, it is very probable the contest might have 
 been averted. To be beforehand with the crisis, in- 
 stead of having to succumb to it, was the essential 
 point, and above all, to have sacrificed various ob- 
 noxious pretensions. A man of strong conviction, 
 and of a determination equal to his conviction, would 
 have alone sufficed for the emergency ; and such a 
 man, certainly audacious, jjotential, overbearing per- 
 haps, would have scared the court out of its senses, 
 and been treated to a speedy dismissal. But, as it 
 was, in order to conciliate both opinion and old inte- 
 rests at once, half-measures were adopted by the 
 reigning influence, and, as we have seen., a minister, 
 something of a i)hilosopher, and partially bold and 
 energetic, was chosen, who undoubtedly enjoyed a 
 prodigious popularity, smce at that time modc'rately 
 jjopular tendencies in an agent of power surpassed 
 expectation, and excited enthusiasm amongst a people 
 whom the most violent demagogues were shortly scarce 
 able to satisfy. 
 
 The people were in an universal ferment. Assem- 
 
 blies were formed throughout France after the example 
 of England, and under the English appellation, that 
 of chi/>s. In them were canvassed the abuses to sup- 
 press, the reforms to effect, and the constitution to 
 establish. The effect of a severe examination into 
 the condition of the country was the more fiercely to 
 exasperate the mind, for in truth its political and 
 social state was perfectly intolerable. Every thing 
 was monopoly in individuals, classes, towns, provinces, 
 and even trades. Shackles were upon all that apper- 
 tained to the industry and the genius of man. Civil, 
 ecclesiastical, aud miUtary dignities were exclusively 
 reserved to certain classes, and in those classes to cer- 
 tain individuals. No profession could be embraced, 
 except upon certain qualifications and certain pecu- 
 niary conditions. The towns had their privileges for 
 the settlement, the collection, and the quota of taxa- 
 tion, and for the choice of magistrates. The very 
 sinecures were converted by reversions into family 
 properties, and the monarch had but little power to 
 indulge in preferences. Only a few pecuniary gifts 
 remained at his disposition ; and so trammelled was 
 he in this respect, that the Duke de Coigny main- 
 tained against him that he had no power to suppress 
 a useless office. Every thing, therefore, was stagnant 
 in a tew hands, and in every quarter the smaller 
 number was in hostile array against the plundered 
 mass. Burdens pressed upon a single class alone. 
 Tlie nobility and clergy possessed nearly two-thirds 
 of the lands : the other third, held by the commons, 
 paid taxes to the king, a mvdtitude of feudal dues to 
 the nobles, tithes to the clergy, and suffered, in addi- 
 tion, the devastations of noble sportsmen and of the 
 game. Articles of consumption being heavily taxed, 
 were enhanced in price, and injuriously affected the 
 largest body, namely, the people. The collection 
 likewise was vexatious : the noliles remained in arrear 
 with perfect impunity, but the people, on the con- 
 trary, were maltreated, immured, and condenmed to 
 expiate m their persons a deficiency in fortune. Thus 
 tliey sustained in affluence, by oppressive toil, and 
 defended, at the expense of their blood, those higher 
 classes of society which denied to them the very means 
 of existence. The burgher class, industrious, enlight- 
 ened, less unhappy, doubtless, than the people, but 
 enriching the kingdom l)y industrial labours, and 
 illustrating it by eminent talents, possessed none of 
 those imm\mities to which it had so undoubted3_ 
 right. Justice, administered in some of the provmces 
 hy t'jie nobles, and in the royal jurisdictions by magis- 
 trates elevated to the judicial bench by purchase, was 
 tardy, often partial, alwaj-s ruinous, and in criminal 
 prosecutions absolutely atrocious. Individual liberty 
 was violated by arbitrary warrants of arrest (Jettres 
 de cachet), and the liberty of the press by royal cen- 
 sors. Finally, France itself, ill supported abroad, 
 betrayed by Louis XV.'s courtezans, and compromised 
 by the imbecility of Louis XV'I.'s ministers, had been 
 recently dishonoured in the eyes of Europe by the 
 disgraceful sacrifice of Holland and Poland. 
 
 Already the popular masses began to be agitated : 
 even during the parliamentary contest frequent riots 
 had occurred, and at the retirement of the Archbishop 
 of Toulouse such troubles became more serious. His 
 effigy had been burnt, the armed force insulted and 
 even assaulted, and the agitators feebly prosecuted by 
 the magistracy. The minds of men, violently stimu- 
 lated, and impressed with a confused idea of an impend- 
 ing revolution, were in a continual buzz of excitement. 
 Tlie parliaments and higher orders even thus earlj- 
 experienced the thrusts of those weapons they had 
 given to the people. In Brittnny, the nobility had 
 declared against the doubling of the third-estate, and 
 refused to nominate deputies. The burgliers, who 
 had so strenuously aided it against the court, there- 
 upon rose against it, and bloody conflicts ensued. 
 The court, not yet sufficiently avenged upon the 
 Breton nobility, had not only denied it succour, but
 
 %^^^r///. 

 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLLTTION. 
 
 33 
 
 even incarcerated some of its members who had come 
 to Paris with complaints. 
 
 The elements themselves seemed mibridled. A 
 hail-storm on the 13th July had laid waste the crops, 
 and rendered the provisioning of Paris extremely 
 difficult, especially amidst the troubles in agitation. 
 All the activity of commerce scarcely sufficed to 
 concentrate the necessary quantity of food in tliat 
 immense metropohs, and just apprehensions were 
 entertained that it would be shortly impossible to 
 fm-nish subsistence to its population, when political 
 conflicts should shatter confidence and interrupt the 
 communications. Since the severe winter which fol- 
 lowed the dismal reverses of Louis XIV., and immor- 
 talised the charity of Fenelon, none so rigorous had 
 been witnessed as that of 1788-89. The benevolence, 
 which was displaj^ed in the most touching manner, 
 was inadequate to mitigate the sufferings of the people. 
 From all tlie corners of France a number of vagabonds, 
 without profession or resources, had flocked to Ver- 
 sailles and Paris, and paraded their wretcliedness and 
 nakedness on the streets and highways. At the least 
 disturbance they were seen to rush eagerly forward, 
 to profit by chances always favourable to those who 
 have all to gain, even to their daily bread. 
 
 Thus all things concurred to promote a revolution. 
 An entire century had contributed to unfold abuses, 
 and drive them to the pitch of aggravation. The last 
 two years had served to excite revolt, and to accustom 
 the popular masses to arms, by the appeal to their 
 intervention in the quarrels of the privileged orders. 
 Finally, the scourges of unpropitioiis nature, and a 
 fortuitous concourse of adverse circumstances, pro- 
 voked the catastrophe, the era of which might be 
 retarded, but was sooner or later inevitable. 
 
 In the midst of these portents, the elections occurred. 
 In some provinces they were tumultuous, in aU active ; 
 but in Paris calm, since great unanimity of sentiment 
 prevailed in that city. Lists were distributed, and en- 
 deavom's made to act in unison, and in a spirit of mutual 
 concession. Merchants, advocates, and men of letters, 
 surprised at beholding themselves gathered together 
 for the first time, gradually rose to the comprehension 
 of liberty. At Paris, they themselves re-nominated 
 the committees formed by the king, and, without 
 changing the persons, gave efficacy to their authority 
 by their own confirmation. The learned Bailly quitted 
 his retreat at Chaillot ; unused to intrigues, and pro- 
 foundly moved at his noble mission, he proceeded 
 alone and on foot to the assembly. As he went, he 
 tarried for a moment on the terrace of the Feuillants : 
 a yoimg man unknown to him saluted the phUosofjher 
 with respect. " You will be elected," said he. " I 
 know not," replied Bailly ; " the honour ought to be 
 neither solicited nor refused." The modest academi- 
 cian resumed his walk, appeared in the assembly, and 
 was successively named elector and deputy. 
 
 The election of the Count de Mirabeau was stormy : 
 repudiated by the nobility, and welcomed by the third- 
 estate, he convulsed Provence, the seat of his nativity, 
 and soon exhibited himself at Versailles. 
 
 The court took no measures to influence the elec- 
 tions : it was not sorry to see a great number of parish 
 l)riests chosen, as it made sure of their opposition to 
 the great ecclesiastical dignitaries, and at the same time 
 of their reverence for the throne. Besides, it was not 
 overburdened with prescience ; and the deputies of 
 the commons appeared to it the opponents of tlie no- 
 bility rather than of itself. The Duke of Orleans was 
 accused of streimous eflTorts to procure the election of 
 his partisan^, as well as of himself. Already marked 
 amongst the adversaries of the court, the ally of the 
 parliaments, invoked as a leader, by liis own con- 
 nivance or otherwise, by the popular part}-, various 
 intrigues were imputed to him. A deplorable scene 
 took place in the faubom-g Saint Antoine ; and as an 
 author must be fomid for every important event, he 
 was held responsible for tlie present. A manulacturer 
 
 of stained paper, by name Reveillon, who by his su- 
 perior skill maintained large workshops, improved 
 native art, and furnished subsistence to three Inmch-ed 
 labourers, was charged with a design to reduce wages 
 one-half. A mob threatened to burn down his house. 
 It was dispersed, but collected again the following 
 day (27th April), when the house was carried, set on 
 fire, and comi)letely gutted. Notwithstanding the 
 menaces held out by the assailants on the previous 
 day, and the open agreement to congregate on the 
 morrow, the authorities interfered with great tardi- 
 ness, and, when they did so, acted with excessive 
 rigour. They waited until the mob was in possession 
 of the house, then made a furious attack upon it, and 
 were compelled to kill several of those ferocious and 
 intrepid men, who afterwards showed themselves 
 upon all occasions, and who received the name of 
 brigands. 
 
 AU the parties that had.already taken form accxised 
 each other : the court was reproached with its early 
 slowness and subsequent butchery; it was alleged 
 that it had desired to ch-aw the people into violence, 
 in order to make an example, and give exercise to 
 the soldiers. Money being found on the rioters, and 
 certain words which fell from some of them, originated 
 the suspicion that they were stimvdated and led by a 
 secret hand ; and the enemies of the popidar party 
 charged the Duke of Orleans with having designed to 
 make a trial of these revolutionary bandits. 
 
 This prince was born with many excellent qualities, 
 and had inherited an immense patrimony ; but, aban- 
 doning hunself to evil habits, he had abused aU these 
 gifts of nature and fortmie. Without consistency of 
 character, alternately reckless of opinion and greedy 
 of popularity, he was bold and ambitious one day, 
 sulnnissive and indiflTerent the next. Having quar- 
 relled with the queen, he had declared enmity against 
 the court. Wlien parties began to be formed, he had 
 allowed his name, and, as it was said, his wealth, to 
 be made use of Indulging in some vague future, he 
 did enough to found accusations, not enough to suc- 
 ceed ; and if his partisans really entertained anj^ pro- 
 jects, he must have ruined them by his inconstancy 
 of purpose. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE STATES-GENERAL. 
 
 The moment for the assembling of the states-general 
 was at last arrived. With a sense of their conmion 
 danger, the higher orders, making their peace with 
 the court, rallied round the princes of the blood and 
 the queen. They endeavoured to gain the country 
 gentlemen by a show of courtesy, whilst they laughed 
 at their rusticity behind their backs. The clergy 
 strove to captivate the plebeians of their order, and 
 the mihtary nobility to win those belonging to the 
 army. The parliaments, -which had looked forward 
 to the post of chief influence in tlie states-general, 
 began to fear that their ambition had miscalculated. 
 The deputies of the third-estate, strong in the supe- 
 riority of talent, and in the energetic language of their 
 instructions, fortified by continuul intercourse, and 
 stimulated by the very doubts which were expressed 
 of tlie success of their efforts, were resolute in their 
 determination not to yield. 
 
 The king alone, who had not enjoyed an interviil 
 of repose since his accession to the throne, beheld in 
 tlie states-general the termination of embarrassments. 
 Although jealous of liis authorit,v, rather for his chil- 
 dren, to whom he thought liimsclf bound to leave an 
 unbroken jiatriinony, tlian for himself, he was by no 
 means loath to surrender a ixn-tioii to the nation, and 
 throw upon it some of the difficulties of government. 
 Thus he made preparations for this great as.sembly 
 witli alacrity and joy. A hall was made ready with 
 all haste. The costumes even were arranged, and
 
 .34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 humiliating etiquette imposed upon the third-estate. 
 Men are nut less jealous of their dignity than of their 
 rights ; and with j ustifiuhlc pride, the instructions for- 
 hade the deputies to demean themselves by any degrad- 
 ing; ceremonial. This new f;udt of the court sprang, 
 like all the others, from the wish to maintain the 
 sjnnbol at least, when the substance was already 
 gone. It was certain to cause deep irritation at a 
 moment when, before joining battle, the parties paused 
 in a mutual survey. 
 
 A solemn procession took place on the 4th May, 
 the eve of the opening. The king, the three orders, 
 and all the dignitaries of the state, marched to the 
 church of Notrc-Dame in Versailles. The court mani- 
 fested an extraordinary magnificence. The two first 
 orders were superbly apparelled. AU the princes, 
 dukes, peers, gentrj', and prelates, were clothed in 
 purple, and wore plumed hats on their heads. The 
 deputies of the commons, clad in simple black mantles, 
 followed in the rear, and, in spite of their unpretend- 
 ing exterior, appeared formidable by their number 
 and their anticipated might. It was remarked, that 
 Ihe Duke of Orleans, placed in the last rank of tlie 
 nobility, affected to remain behind and mingle with 
 the first deputies of the commons. 
 
 This national, military, and religious pomp, the 
 solemn chants, the warlike instruments, and above 
 all, the grandem- of the event, made a profoimd im- 
 pression on the hearts of all. The discourse of tlie 
 Bishop of Nanci, replete -^^-ith generous sentiments, 
 was ftpplaiided with enthusiasm, notwithstanding the 
 presence of the king and the sanctity of the place. 
 Such assemblies tend to elevate the soul, to wean men 
 from selfishness, and draw them into closer brother- 
 hood : a general rapture was diffused, and more than 
 one heart felt an irresistiljle impulse to dispel its lurk- 
 ing animosities, and melt into emotions of philan- 
 thropy and patriotism.* 
 
 * I would not have cited the following passage from the 
 Memoire of Ferriferes, if base detractors had not souglit to mis- 
 represent all the scenes of tlie French Revolution. The extract 
 I am about to present will give an idea of the effect whicli tlie 
 national solemnities of that great epoch produced on minds the 
 least plebeian. 
 
 " I yield to the pleasure of here recording the impression that 
 this august and touching ceremony made upon me ; I will copy 
 the account that I wrote down at the time, when still full of wh.Tt 
 I had felt. If this relation be not historiciil, it will possess with 
 some readers perhaps a more lively interest. 
 
 The nobles in black coats, vests and f:icings of cloth of gold, silk 
 mantles, lace cravats, plumed hats, turned up a la Henri IV. ,- 
 the clergj' in cassocks, large cloaks, square caps ; the bishops 
 with their purple robes and lawn sleeves; the commons dressed 
 in black, cloaks of silk, and cambric cravats. The king was 
 seated on a platfomi, richly decorated ; Monsieur, the Coimt 
 d'Artois, the princes, the ministers, and the great officers of the 
 crown, were scited below the king ; the quet-n sat oppo.->ite him ; 
 Madame, the Countess d'Artois, the princesses, and the ladies of 
 the coui't, all superbly dressed and covered with diamonds, com- 
 posed around her a magnificent eortcfgc. The streets were liung 
 with tapestries of the crown ; the regiments of French and Swiss 
 guards formed a line from Notre-Bame to St Louis ; an immense 
 foncourbC gazed at us passing in respectful silence ; the balconies 
 were ornamented with precious stuffs, the windows filled with spec- 
 tators of both sexes and of all ages, with beautiful women elegantly 
 attired. The variety of fashions and costumes, the amiable emo- 
 tions depicted on every countenance, the joy spiirkling in every eye, 
 the clapping of hands, the expressions of sj-mpathy, the eager looks 
 which met us and followed us even after we were out of sight— all 
 presented a ravLshing. an enchanting picture, which I would 
 vainly strive to embody in words. Bands of music, stationed at 
 intervals, made the air resound with melodious tones ; the mar- 
 tial tunes, the roar of drums, the clang of trumpets, the solemn 
 chant of tl;e priests, heard in tirni without discordance, without 
 confusion, animated the triumphant march to the temple of the 
 Eternal. 
 
 Shortly plunged into the sweetest ecstiicj-, fublinie but mel.in- 
 choly thoughts offered themselves to my mind. Fmnc-e, my coun- 
 try, I saw, leaning on religion, s;iying to us, ' Cease your puerile 
 iiuiirrele ; now is the decibive moment which is to give me a new 
 
 The opening of the states-general occurred on the 
 follo^ving day, the 5th May 1789. The king was 
 seated on an elevated throne, the queen near him, the 
 court in galleries, the two first orders on each side, the 
 third-estate in the background of the hall and upon 
 lower benches. A mtirmur arose at sight of the Count 
 do Mirabeau ; but his gaze and bearing aAved the dis- 
 turbers. The third-estate wore their hats as well as 
 tlie other orders, contrary to established precedent. 
 The king delivered a speech, in which he recom- 
 mended disinterestedness to some, wisdom to others, 
 and to all he spoke of his love for the people. The 
 keeper of the seals, Barentin, afterwards pronounced 
 a discourse, and was followed by Necker, who read a 
 memorial upon the state of the kingdom, in which he 
 descanted largely upon the finances, proclaimed a 
 deficit of fifty-six millions, and wearied with his ver- 
 bosity those who were not disgusted Avith his egotism. 
 
 It was prescribed that each order should, on the 
 morrow, repair to the locality ti.Kcd for it. Besides 
 the common hall, which was sufficiently capacious to 
 contain the three luiited orders, two other chambers 
 had been erected for the nobility and clergy. The 
 common hall was appropriated to the third-estate, 
 which had thus the advantage, whilst in its OAvn loca- 
 lity, of being also in that of the states-general. The 
 first operation to go through was tlie verification of the 
 powers, and it was of importance to decide whether it 
 shoidd take place in common, or separately by orders. 
 The deputies of the third-estate, alleging that it be- 
 hoved each division of the states-general to be assiu*ed 
 of the legitimacy of the other two, demanded the veri- 
 fication m common. The nobility and clergy, anxious 
 
 existence, cr extinguish me for ever !' Love for mj- country, how 
 thou spokest to my heart then ! "WHiat ! disturbers, ambitious 
 fools, vUe intriguers, seek in their crooked policy to disunite luy 
 country ! — they will found their destructive systems on insidious 
 pretences ; they wiU say to thee, thou hast two interests ; and all 
 thy glory and all thy power, so envied by thy neighbours, will 
 be scattered as a light vapour borne upon a southern breeze. No, 
 I pronounce before thee the oath — may my withered tongue cling 
 to my palate, if ever I forget thy grandeur and solemnities .' 
 
 How religious ceremonies enhanced the lustre of this mere 
 human pomp! AVithout thee, venerable rehgion, it had been 
 but a vain pai-ade of mortal pride ; but thou purifiest and sancti- 
 fiest, thou aggi'andisest grandeur itself .' The kings, the mighty 
 of the age, also render, if even with feigned reverence, their 
 homiige to the King of kings. Yes, to God alone belongs honour, 
 empire, glorj'. These holy ceremonies, these songs, these priest* 
 in garbs of sacrifice, these perfumed odours, this glittering canopy, 
 this sun streaming in golden and jewelled rays — I called to mind 
 the words of the prophet : ' Daughters of Jerusalem, j'our king 
 comes ; take your nuptial g.arments and nm to greet him.' Teiuu 
 of joy gushed from my eyes. My God, my country, my coimti-y- 
 men had become me — one. 
 
 Arrived at St Louis, tha three orders seated themselves on 
 benches placed in the nave. The king and queen took their 
 places under a canopy of azure velvet, sprinkled with golden 
 tleurs-dc-lis ; the princes, princesses, gi-eat officers of the crowTi, 
 and ladies of the palace, occupied the inclosurj reserved for their 
 majesties. The holy sacrament was borne upon the altar to the 
 Sound of the most impressive music. There was an Oh Salutaris 
 Hostia. This hymn, so natural and trutliful, melodious, freed 
 from the noise of instruments which smother the expression ; 
 this exquisite harmony of voices, swelling and rising to the 
 heavens, confirmed me that the simple is always beautiful, al- 
 ways grand, always sublime. Men are fools, in their vam wisdom, 
 to treat with ridicule the worship that is offered to the EteniaL 
 IIow c;m they behold with indifference that moral chain which 
 unites man to God — which renders the deity visible to the eye, 
 sensible to the touch? M. do la Fare, Bishop of Nanci, pro- 
 nounced the discourse. Religion constitutes the strength of 
 empires ; religion causes the happiness of nations. This truth, 
 which no wise man ever for a moment doubted, was not the im- 
 portant question to treat in this august assembly ; the place, the 
 circumstance, opened a yet vaster field : the Bishop of Nanci 
 either durst or could not traverse it. 
 
 The following day the deputies met in the hall of the Menuu. 
 The assembly was not less imposing, or the spectacle less magni- 
 ficent than the day before." — Memoirs nj'tlic Marquis (ie Fcrricris, 
 co!. i. i>. la
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 35 
 
 to maintain the division of the orders, argued that 
 each ought to constitute itself separately. This ques- 
 tion did not compreliend that of voting individually 
 or otherwise, for the powers might be verified in com- 
 mon, and the deliberations be subsequently pursued 
 apart; but still it bore considerable resemblance 
 thereto, and from the very first day it provoked a 
 dispute which it required little foresight to have anti- 
 cipated, and small ability to have prevented, by de- 
 ciding the question beforehand. But the court never 
 had the courage to refuse or to grant what was just, 
 and it fm-thermore flattered itself with the hope of 
 ruling by promoting divisions. 
 
 The deputies of the third-estate remained as- 
 sembled in the common hall, abstaining from aU ac- 
 tion, and waiting, as they said, for the junction of 
 their colleagues. The nobility and clerg}^ seated in 
 their respective chambers, proceeded to deliberate 
 upon the verification. The clergy voted the separate 
 verification by a majority of 133 to 114, and the nobi- 
 lity by one of 188 to 114. The commons, persisting 
 in their inaction, continued on the following day their 
 conduct of the preceding one. They adhered to the 
 plan of avoiding every measure which might be con- 
 strued into an acknowledgment of their constitution 
 as a distinct order. Accordingly, when deputing cer- 
 tain of their members to the two other chambers, they 
 took care not to give them any express commission. 
 They were sent to the nobility and clergy simply to 
 notify to them that they waited for them in the com- 
 mon hall. The nobility were not sitting at the 
 moment, but the clergy were assembled, and offered 
 to appoint comuussioners to reconcile the disputes 
 that had arisen. They consequently adopted that 
 course, and invited the nobility to follow their ex- 
 ample. In this preliminary contest, the clergy evinced 
 a very different spirit from the nobles. Amongst all 
 the privileged classes, they had suffered most from the 
 attacks of the eighteenth century ; their political 
 existence had been disputed, and they were disunited 
 from the mmierous body of simple priests included in 
 their delegation. Besides, their bounden part was to 
 invoke moderation and the spirit of peace, and, in 
 accordance therewith, they proffered, as we have seen, 
 a species of mediation. 
 
 The nobility, on the contrary, rejected aU nego- 
 tiation by refusing to name commissioners. Less pru- 
 dent than the clergy, less dubious of their rights, 
 and not holding themselves bound to moderation, but 
 rather to an overbearing demeanour, they fulminated 
 repudiations and menaces. Those very men who 
 pardoned no passion in others, gave unlimited play to 
 their own, and obej^ed the impidse, Uke most large 
 bodies, of the most violent spirits. Cazales and 
 D'Espremenil, recently ennobled, carried the adoption 
 of inflanmiatory motions, which they drew up before- 
 hand in private meetings. It was in vain that a 
 minority, composed of men either more sagacious or 
 more prudently ambitious, attempted to reason with 
 these fiery nobles ; they would listen to no remon- 
 strance, but spoke of fighting and dying, as they 
 asserted, for tlie laws and justice. The commons, 
 inmiovable in their purpose, received all these out- 
 rages with exemplary calmness ; they brooded in 
 silence upon their injuries, exhibiting the prudence 
 and firmness of all powers at their commencement, 
 and gaining the applause of those galleries, first of all 
 appropriated to the comrt, but soon usurped by the 
 pubhc. 
 
 Several days had already elapsed. The clergy had 
 attempted to ensnare the connnons, by proposing to 
 di-aw them into certain acts, which would have given 
 them the character of a constituted order. But they 
 had constantly rejected the overtures ; and, adopting 
 ■ only such measures as were indispensable to their 
 internal regidation, they had hniited their action to 
 the choice of a dean and assistants, in order to collect 
 the votes. They refused to open letters addressed to 
 
 them, and declared themselves to form, not an order, 
 but flw (tssembly of citizens met by virtue of a legitimate 
 authority in expectation of other citizens. 
 
 The nobility, after having declined to appoint nego- 
 tiators, consented at last to delegate members to 
 confer with the other orders ; but the commission 
 intrusted to them became inoperative, because they 
 were charged to declare at the same time that thp 
 decision of the Gth May, which enjoined the separate 
 verification, would be persisted in. The clergy, on 
 the contrary, faitliful to their function, had suspended 
 the verification already commenced in their own 
 chamber, and pronounced themselves unconstitutcd, 
 until the issue of the conferences to be held by the 
 commissioners. These conferences were opened ; the 
 clergy took no part in the discussion ; the deputies of 
 the commons exposed their reasons with calmness, 
 those of the no))ility with violence. They separated 
 more embittered by the dispute ; and the third-estate, 
 with its determination to yield nothing, was certainly 
 not displeased to learn that all arrangement was be- 
 come impossible. The nobility heard its commis- 
 sioners give daily assurance that they had been supe- 
 rior in argument, and its arrogance swelled at the 
 reports. By a fleeting gleam of prudence, the two 
 first orders passed a resolution that they renounced 
 their pecuniary privileges. The commons accepted 
 the concession, but swerved not from their inaction, 
 still always claiming the common verification. The 
 conferences were continued, and a proposition was at 
 lengtli made that, in order to accommodate the diffe- 
 rences, the powers should be verified by commissioners 
 chosen from the three orders. The delegates of the 
 nobility declared, in the name of their order, its re- 
 fusal to accede to this arrangement, and withdrew 
 without fijcing a day for any fresh conference. The 
 negotiation was thus at an end. The same day, the 
 nobility came to a resolution, by which it declared 
 once more that the verification should, for this session, 
 be made separately, leaving to the states the task of 
 determining upon any other mode for the future. 
 This resolution was communicated to the commons on 
 tlie 27th May. The states had met on the 5th, 
 tlierefore twenty-two days had elapsed withoxit any 
 thing being done. It was high time to determine this 
 state of things. Mirabeau, who gave the impulse to 
 the popular party, pressed \ipon attention that an 
 iimnediate decision was incumbent, and that it was 
 absolutely necessary to commence the public business, 
 which had been too long delayed. He proposcl, 
 therefore, in consequence of the known resolution of 
 the nobles, to siimmon the clergy to give an innne- 
 diate explanation, and declare at once whether tho^'^ 
 would or woidd not join the commons. The proposition 
 was instantly ado})ted. The Deputy Target set out 
 at the head of a numerous deputation, and i)roceeded 
 to the hall of the clergy. " Tiie commons invite the 
 clergy," said he, " in the name of the God of peace, and 
 in that of the national interest, to unite Mith them in 
 the hall of the asseml)ly, to d(>liberate on the means 
 of securing concord, so necessary at this moment to 
 the s.ifety of the connnonwealth." The clergy we!-e 
 struck by these solemn words ; many of them responded 
 with acclamations, and wished to accept the invita- 
 tion upon the instant ; but they were prevented, and 
 the members of the commons were answered that their 
 message woiUd be taken into consideration. On tlie 
 returnof thedejjutation, thetliinl-estate, inexorable in 
 its determination, resolved to prolong the sitting until 
 the answer of the clergy was received. Tliis answer 
 not arriving, a message was sent, intimating tliat it 
 was impatiently awaited. Tlie clergy complained of 
 being hurried, and demanded that the necessary time 
 should be granti'd them. Tliey were answered with 
 moderation, that they could consume as nmcli time 
 as they thought fit, and that their decision woidd be 
 waited for, if it were necessary, all day and all night 
 
 The position was critical. The clergy were awiire
 
 36 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 that after their decision was pronoimced, the coninions 
 would proceed to ^vork, and take a decisive part. Thej^ 
 wished to temporise, in order to concert measures with 
 the court, and therefore asked until the next day, 
 which delay was granted with reluctance. The fol- 
 lowing day, the king, now so desired hy the tw o tirst 
 orders, determined to interfere. At this period, all 
 the enmities of the court and the higher orders began 
 to be forgotten, at sight of that popular power which 
 was rising with such formidable rapidity. The king, 
 then, coming forward in the extremity, invited the 
 three orders to resume the conferences in presence of 
 his keeper of the seals. The third-estate, whatever 
 may be said of its projects, which have been judged 
 in reference to events, did not push its hopes beyond 
 a limited monarchy. Knowing the intentions of Louis 
 XVI., it was fidl of respect for him ; and besides, being 
 unwilling to injure its cause by anj' Avrong, it answered 
 that, from deference to the king, it consented to the 
 resiunption of the conferences, though, after the decla- 
 rations of the nobility, they must be considered hope- 
 less. To this reply it appended an address, which it 
 deputed its dean to deliver to the monarch. This 
 dean was Bailly, a man simple and virtuous, illustrious 
 for his merit, learning, and modesty, who had been 
 suddenly transported from the noiseless studies of his 
 cabinet to the tumidt of civil discord. Chosen to 
 preside over a large assembly, he had felt alarm at so 
 novel a task, believed himself mi worthy to perform 
 it, and submitted to it only from a sense of duty. But, 
 rising at once to the exigences of the crisis, he found in 
 himself an unexpected tirmness and presence of mind ; 
 amidst so many conflicts, he vindicated the majesty 
 of the assembly, and acted for it with all the dignity 
 of virtue and reason. 
 
 Bailly had the greatest ditRculty in reaching the 
 king. When he insisted upon being introduced, the 
 courtiers objected that he had not paid due respect 
 to the grief of the monarch, afflicted by the demise 
 of the dauphin. At last he was presented, avoided 
 aU humiliatmg ceremonial, and evinced equal firmness 
 and respect. The king received him with kindness, 
 but without explaining his intentions. 
 
 The government, having already decided upon sub- 
 mitting to some sacrifices to gain supplies, hoped, by 
 keeping the orders in opposition, to become their 
 arbiter, to wrest from the nol)ility its pecuniary privi- 
 leges with the aid of the third-estate, and to curb the 
 ambition of the latter by means of the nobility. As 
 to the nobles, being supremely indifferent to the em- 
 barrassments of the administration, and thinking only 
 of the sacrifices in store for themselves, they wished 
 to provoke the dissolution of the states-general, and 
 render tlieir convocation fruitless. Tlie commons, 
 whom the court and higher orders refused to recognise 
 under that title, and always styled the third-estate, 
 continuaOy acquired fresh strength, and, determined 
 as they were to brave aU dangers, were steadfast in 
 their resolution not to allow an occasion which might 
 never return to slip from their grasp. 
 
 The conferences requested by the king were held. 
 The envoj's of the nobility started difficulties upon 
 ^vcry point, such as the title of Cummons, which the 
 third-estate had assumed, and the form and signature 
 of the minutes. At last, they entered upon the dis- 
 cussion, and they were almost reduced to silence by 
 the reasons brought against them, when Necker pro- 
 posed, on the king's part, a new mode of reconciliation. 
 By this project, each order was to examine its powers 
 separately, and eonununicate them to the others ; and 
 in case difficulties arose, commissioners were to make 
 a report of them to each chamber, and if the decision 
 of the different orders were not uniform, the king was 
 to judge in the last resort. Thus the court would 
 have cut the knot very jirofitably for itself. The 
 conferences were forthwith suspended, to obtain the 
 adhesion of the orders. The clergy accepted the 
 project simply and imconditionally. The nobility 
 
 received it at first with favour; but, xu-ged by its 
 ordinary instigators, it contemned the coimsel of the 
 most prudent of its members, and idtimately modified 
 the scheme. From that day all its misfortimes may 
 be dated. 
 
 The commons, apprised of this resolution, waited 
 until it shoidd be formally comniimicated to them to 
 explain themselves in tlieir turn ; but the clergy, with 
 their ordinary astuteness, designing to throw them 
 into a false position with the nation, sent a deputation 
 to them, with a request that they Avoidd join with them 
 in deliberation upon the misery of the people, which 
 every day was aggravating, and devote tlieu* united 
 energies, without further delay, to the mitigation of 
 the scarcity and dearness of provisions. The com- 
 mons, who would have been exposed to popular odium 
 if they had appeared indifferent to such a proposition, 
 retorted the manoeuvre by another, and replied, that, 
 deeply sensible of the same duties, they awaited the 
 clergy in the great hall, for the purpose of entering 
 with them upon those important objects. The nobi- 
 lity afterwards arrived, and solemnly communicated 
 its resolution to the commons. It adopted, as it said, 
 the plan of conciliation, but persisted in the separate 
 verification, and deferred to the united orders and the 
 supreme jurisdiction of the king, only so far as re 
 spected any difficulties that might arise touching the 
 aggregate deputations of an entire i)rovince. 
 
 This resolution put an end to all the embarrass- 
 ments of the commons. If the plan of conciliation 
 had been adopted, they would have been compelled 
 either to yield or to declare themselves at war with the 
 upper orders and the throne ; but the acceptance ol 
 the plan being burdened with serious modifications, 
 they were relieved from explanation altogether. The 
 moment was decisive of events. To concede the sepa- 
 rate verification was not, it is ti'ue, to concede the 
 vote by orders ; but once to evince weakness was to 
 be always weak. It was necessary either to submit 
 to a part utterly insignificant, giving supplies to the 
 executive, and resting contented Avith the destruction 
 of a few abuses, when the regeneration of the state 
 itself was within grasp, or to take a strong position, 
 and seize with violence upon a portion of legislative 
 power. It was <o take the initiative in a revolution ; 
 but the assembly hesitated not. Accordingly, all the 
 minutes being signed, and the conferences closed, 
 Mirabeau rose. " Any project of conciUation being 
 rejected by one party," said he, " can no longer be 
 entertained by the other. A month has passed, and 
 some decisive course is imperative. A Parisian deputy 
 has an important motion to make ; let him be heard." 
 Mirabeau, having opened the debate with his accus- 
 tomed daring, introduced Sie3'es to the tribune, a man 
 of comprehensive intellect, s\-steniatic and rigorous in 
 his deductions. Sieyes shortly recapitidated, and 
 defended the conduct of the commons. They had 
 waited for and lent themselves to all the conciliations 
 prop(jsed ; their long deference had been of no avail ; 
 they could not longer delay without being wanting to 
 their mission ; consequently, they ought to direct a 
 final invitation to the two other orders to unite with 
 them for the purpose of commencing the verification. 
 This proposition, the expediency of which was logically 
 demonstrated,* was hailed with enthusiasm ; in fact, 
 
 ♦ I think it incumbent on me to record the motives upon which 
 tlie assembly of the commons gi'ounded the determination in 
 (liiestion. This first act, whicli began the revolution, being of 
 great importance, it is essenti:il to demonstrate its necessity, 
 and I believe that cannot better be done tlian by adliibitinfj the 
 considerations wliich preceded tlic resolution of tlie commons. 
 This preamble, as well as the resolution, was drawn up by th« 
 Abbe Sieyes. 
 
 " The assembly of the commons, delibcratinf; upon the over- 
 ture of couc'ihation made by the commissioners of the king, has 
 tliought it riglit to take into consideration .it the same time tho 
 resolution that the members of tlie nobility have hastened to pass 
 upon the overture in question.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 37 
 
 an inclination was manifested to allow tlie two orders 
 but a single hour to efFect the junction ; but the term 
 was prolonged. Tliis sitting occurred on the 10th Jime, 
 and the next day, Tliursday, being sacred to religious 
 solemnities, an adjoiu-nment imtil Friday was fixed. 
 On Friday the final invitation was comnimiicated : 
 the two orders rephed, they woidd proceed to delibe- 
 rate, and the king that he would make known his in- 
 tentions. The calling of the bailiwicks commenced: 
 tlie first day, tlu-ee priests appeared, and were over- 
 whelmed witli acclamations ; the second, six arrived ; 
 the third and fourth, ten, amongst whom was the 
 Abbe Gregoire. 
 
 During the call of the bailiwicks and the verifica- 
 tion of tlie powers, a weighty discussion arose upon 
 the title the assembly ouglit to assume. Mirabeau 
 proposed that of " Representatives of the French 
 People;" Mounier, that of " the Majority deliberating 
 in the absence of the Minority ;" the deputy Legrand, 
 that of " the National Assembly." The last was 
 adopted after a long debate, which continued until 
 the night of the 1 Gth June. It was one o'clock in the 
 
 It. has seen that the nobility, notwithstanding the acquiescence 
 originally announced, soon introduced a modification which al- 
 most entirely retracts the same, and that tiius tlioir resolution in 
 this respect can only be regaj-ded as a positive refusal. 
 
 With this impression, and seeing tliat the nobles have not 
 even desisted from their preceding deliberations, contrary to the 
 spirit of every project of union, tlie deputies of the commons 
 think that it is absolutely useless to concern themselves further 
 with a plan which can no longer be called conciliatory, since it 
 has been rejected by one of the parties to be conciliated. 
 
 In this state of things, which replaces the deputies of the com- 
 mons in their original position, the assembly is of opinion that it 
 can no longer idly await the privileged classes, without rendering 
 itself ciUpable towards the nation, which has an unquestionable 
 right to demand from it a better employment of its time. 
 
 It is of opinion that it is the bounden duty of the representa- 
 tives of the nation, to whatever class of citizens they may belong, 
 to form themselves, without any delay, into an active assembly, 
 capable of commencing and fulfilling the objects of their mission. 
 The assembly instructs the commissioners who have attended 
 the various conferences called conciliatory, to prepare a recital 
 of the long and fruitless efforts of the deputies of the commons to 
 lead the privileged classes to an appreciation of just principles ; 
 it takes upon itself the task of proclaiming the motives which 
 force it to pass from a state of expectation to one of action ; 
 Uistly, it resolves that this recital and these motives shall be 
 printed at the head of the present deliberative act. 
 
 But since it is not possible to constitute an active assembly, 
 without a preliminai-y recognition of those who have the right to 
 compose it — that is to say, those who possess the qualification to 
 vote as representatives of the nation — the same deputies of the 
 commons think it right to make a last experiment upon the 
 members of the nobility and clergy, who have, nevertheless, 
 hitherto refused to have themselves recognised. 
 
 Fm-thcrmore, the assembly being interested in placing on re- 
 cord the refusal of these two classes of deputies, in case they 
 should persist in their wish to remain imacknowledged, judges 
 it indispensable to make a finid invitation, which shall be carried 
 to them by deputies instructed to read it to them, and to leave 
 them copies, in the following terms : — 
 
 ' Gentlemen — Weare instructed by the deputies of the commons 
 of France to apprise yoii, that they cannot longer delay to satisfy 
 the obligation imposed upon all the representatives of the nation. 
 It is surely time that those who claim that character should be 
 known by a verification of their jwwers in common, and at length 
 begin to concern themselves with the national interest, which 
 alone, and to the exclusion of all particular interests, presents 
 itself as the object which all the deputies sliould promote with 
 a common effort. In consequence, and from the necessity im- 
 posed upon the representatives of tho nation to ])ut their func- 
 tions in activity, the dei)uties of the commons again ontrcat you, 
 gentlemen, and their duty compels them to make to you, as we'll 
 individually as collectively, a final sunnnons to repair to the Iwdl 
 of tho states, in order to attend, concur in, and submit, like 
 them, to the common verification of jjowers. We arc, at tho 
 same time, instructed to notify to you that tlie general call of all 
 t)ie bailiwicks will be made in one hour; that the verification 
 will be then proceeded with, and default pronounced against 
 abaentooB.' " 
 
 morning, when the question was mooted whether the 
 declaration of being constituted should be made in 
 that sitting, or delayed until the following day. A part 
 of the deputies maintained tliat not an instant should 
 be lost in taking a legal character calculated to have 
 an imposing etiect on the court. A small number, 
 desiring to interrupt the labours of tho assembly, fell 
 into a paroxysm of passion, and uttered furious cries. 
 The two parties, ranged along the o])posite sides of a 
 long table, hurled menaces at each other in words and 
 gestures. Baillj^, seated in the centre, was called upon 
 by some to break up the assembly, by others to put 
 the motion for constitution to the vote. Calm amidst 
 the shouts and tumult, he remained for upwards of an 
 hour immovable and silent. The weather was stormy, 
 the wind howled through the hall, and the violence of 
 the elements added to the uitroar. At length the 
 outrageous members retired ; whereupon Bailly. ad- 
 dressing the assembly, restored to tranquillity by the 
 retreat of those who had disturbed it, urged it to ad- 
 journ until day the important act under proposition. 
 It yielded to his counsel, and separated, applauding 
 his firmness and prudence. 
 
 The next day, the 17tli June, the motion was put 
 to the vote, and by a majority of 491 voices to 90, the 
 commons constituted themselves a National Assembly, 
 Sieyes, again intrusted with drawing uji the reasons 
 for this decision, perfonued the task with his accus« 
 tomed acumen. 
 
 " The assembly, on consideration, after concluding 
 the verification of the powers, finds that it is already 
 composed of representatives directly returned by at 
 least ninety-six in a hmidred of the nation. A depu» 
 tation of such magnitude ought not to remain inactive 
 on account of the absence of the deputies of some 
 bailiwicks, or of certain classes of citizens ; for the 
 absentees who have been summoned cannot prevent 
 those who have appeared from exercising their riglitis 
 in full plenitude, especially when the exercise of those 
 rights is an indispensable and imperative duty. 
 
 Moreover, as those representatives alone who have 
 verified can concur in constituting the national voice, 
 and as all the accredited representatives ought to bo 
 in this assembly, it likewise necessardy follows, that 
 it belongs to it, and to it alone, to interpret and give 
 expression to the general will of the nation. 
 
 There can exist between the assembly and the 
 throne no veto — no rejecting power. 
 
 Accordingly, the assembly declares that tlie common 
 labours for the national restoration may and ought to 
 be commenced without delay by the deputies present ; 
 and that they ought to proceed therewith without 
 intermission, as also without obstacle. 
 
 The title of ' National Assembly' is tho onl}-^ one 
 suital:)le to the assembly in the present state of things, 
 because the members who compose it are tlie only 
 representatives legitimately and xmblicly known and 
 accredited; because they are returned by almost the 
 entirety of the nation, and because, the representation 
 being one and indivisible, no deputy, in whatever 
 or(U;r or class chosen, has the riglit to exercise any 
 functions apart from this assembly. 
 
 The assembly will never relinquish the hope of 
 gatliering into its fold the deputies now absent, nor 
 will it cease to call upun them to discharge tlie olili- 
 gatidii tlioy are under of concurring in the session of 
 the states-general. It dei'laros, that at whatever iiui- 
 ment the absent dei)ntu's may iircsent themselvos 
 during the session about to he opened, it will receive 
 tlicm with the utmost cordiality, and share with them, 
 alter the verification of their powers, the continuation 
 of those weigiity labours whicii are destined to accoiu- 
 plisii the regeneration of France." 
 
 Immediately after this resolution, the assembly, 
 desirous of giving a proof both of its |)ower and of its 
 disinclination to impede the course ol administration, 
 legalised the collection of ta,xes, although imposed 
 without the national eon-scnt. Foreseeing the pi'ob.i-
 
 38 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bility of its dissolution, it subjoined that they should 
 cease to be exigrible from the day on Avliich it should 
 separate. Furthermore, as bankruptcy vras an expe- 
 dient possible to the executive for terminating the 
 financial embarrassments, and dispensing with a na- 
 tional appeal, it consulted both prudence and honour 
 by putting tlic creditors of the state under the safe- 
 guard of French honesty. In conclusion, it annomiced 
 that it -woidd take into immediate consideration the 
 causes of the scarcity and of the general distress. 
 
 These measures, whicli evinced equal courage and 
 sagacity, produced a profound impression. The court 
 and higher orders were astounded at their daring and 
 energy. In the mean time, the clergy, in a tumul- 
 tuous sitting, debated upon the expediency of joining 
 the commons. An immense crowd waited without 
 for the result of their delil>erations ; the inferior clergy 
 idtiniately prevailed, and it was announced that the 
 junction had boon carriod by a majority of 149 to 11.5. 
 Those who had voted in the atfirmative were hailed 
 with transports, the others were insulted and assailed 
 by the people. 
 
 This crisis was calculated to cement the reconcili- 
 ation of the court and the aristocracy. The danger 
 was equal for both. The last resolutions affected the 
 king as much as the first orders themselves, with 
 whom the connnons declared they could idtogether 
 dispense. The Duke of Luxembourg, the Cardinal 
 de Larochefoucauld, and the Archbishop of Paris, 
 threw themselves at the feet of the king, and entreated 
 him to ciu-b the audacity of the third-estate, and to 
 support their threatened rights. The parliament 
 offered to render the states unnecessary, by undertak- 
 ing to sanction all the taxes. The king was surrounded 
 by the princes and the queen ; the emergency was 
 too great for his weakness, and he was idtimately 
 drawn to Marly, in order that a vigorous measure 
 might be wrung from him. 
 
 The minister Xecker, attached to the popular cause, 
 made some representations, which tlie king thought 
 just enough when his judgment was unlettered; but 
 their effect was soon extirpated by tlie arts of the 
 court. "When Necker saw that the intervention of 
 the royal authority was necessary', he conceived a 
 project which seemed of marvellous boldness to his 
 order of courage : he proposed that the monarch 
 should hold a royal sitting, and ordain the junction of 
 the orders, but only for measures of general interest ; 
 that he shoidd assume to himself the sanction of all 
 the resolutions passed by the states-general ; that he 
 should disallow beforehand every establishmont con- 
 trary to a limited monarchy, such as that of a single 
 assein'bly ; and that he should promise the abolition 
 of privileges, the equal admission of all Frenchmen to 
 civil and military offices, &c. Necker, who had not 
 had influence sufficient to precipitate tlie period for 
 such a plan, had equally little now to enforce its exe- 
 cution. 
 
 The council had followed the king to Marly. There 
 tlie plan of Necker, at first approved of, was again 
 brouglit under discussion : whilst it was pending, a 
 letter was suddenly handed to the king ; the comicil 
 was suspended, resumed, and adjourned until the 
 morrow, notwithstanding the urgent necessity for 
 dispatch. The next day, new members were added to 
 the council, amongst whom were the king's brothers. 
 Tlie project of Necker was modified. The minister 
 resisted ; consented to certain concessions, but seeing 
 himself outnumbered, he returned to Versailles. Tlirice 
 a royal page brought him letters announcing fresh 
 modifications ; his plan was completely altered, and 
 the royal sitting was fixed for the 22d Juno. 
 
 It was only the 20th of the month, and the hall of 
 the states was already closed, under the pretence of 
 preparations being in progress for the presence of the 
 king. These preparations might have been easily 
 made in half a day ; liut the clergy had resolved the 
 dav before to join the commons, and it was determined 
 
 to prevent the junction. An order of the king ac- 
 cordingly suspended the sittings until the 22d. Bailly, 
 deeming himself obliged to obey the assembly, which 
 on Friday the 19th had adjourned to Satui-day the 20th, 
 proceeded to the door of the hall. Some of the French 
 gauirds were gathered around it, with orders not to 
 admit any entrance. The officer on duty received 
 Bailly with respect, and permitted him to advance 
 into a com-t to record a protestation. Some young 
 and ardent deputies attempted to force the guard; 
 Bailly ran to the spot, appeased their fiery spirit, and 
 led tliein away with him, in order that they might 
 not compromise the generous oflicer who executed his 
 orders Mith so much moderation. The members 
 rushed tumidtuously together, and persisted in holding 
 a meeting. Some spoke of assembling imder the very 
 windows of the king ; others proposed the hall of the 
 tennis-court. They innnediately proceeded thither, 
 and the proprietor joyfully granted the use of it. 
 
 This hall was spacious, but its walls were dark and 
 bare, and there were no seats. A chair was offered 
 to the president, who refused it, preferring to remain 
 on his legs Avitli the general body. A bench served 
 as a desk ; two deputies were placed at the door as a 
 guard, but were soon relieved b}' the attendants of the 
 place, who came to offer their services. The people 
 flocked in crowds, and the debates commenced. Ex- 
 clamations arose from all sides against the suspension 
 of the sittings, and various means were proposed for 
 preventing it in future. The excitement increased, 
 and extreme measures began to suggest themselves to 
 the heated imaginations. It was proposed to proceed 
 to Paris ; this opinion, hailed with warmth, was 
 eagerly discussed, and a motion was even made to 
 march there in a body, and on foot. BaiUy was fearful 
 of the outrages that the assemlily might experience 
 on the road, and apprehensive likewise of originating 
 a schism; therefore he opposed the project. There- 
 upon Mounier moved that the deputies bind them- 
 selves by oath not to separate before the establishment 
 of a constitution. This motion was received with 
 enthusiasm, and the form of the oath was instantly 
 drawn up. Bailly sohcitcd the honour of swearing 
 first, and read the formula, thus couched — " You take 
 a solemn oath never to separate, to assemble wherever 
 circumstances may require, mitil the constitution of 
 the kingdom siiuU be established and confirmed upon 
 solid foundations." This formula, pronounced in a 
 loud and distinct tone, was heard beyond the walls of 
 the building. Immediately all mouths uttered the 
 oath, all arms were stretched towards Bailly, who, 
 erect and stern, received this solemn engagement to 
 secure b^- laws the exercise of national rights. The 
 whole body afterwards raised cries of " Long live the 
 assembly! Long live the king!" as if to prove that it 
 claimed the recover}^ of what was due to the nation, 
 without anger or hatred, but from a sense of duty. 
 The deputies subsequently proceeded to sign the de- 
 claration which they had just made by Avord of mouth. 
 One alone, IMartin d'Aucli, added to his name the title 
 of " opposer." Considerable tumult ensued around 
 him. Bailly, in order to be heard, momited on a table, 
 addressed the deputy in a tone of moderation, and re- 
 presented to him that he had an undoubted right to 
 refuse his signatm'e, but none to record his o]iposition. 
 The deputy was obstinate, and tlie assembly, from 
 respect for freedom of opinion, allowed the phrase, and 
 let it remain on the minutes. 
 
 This new act of energy struck terror into the nobles, 
 who the next day carried their son-ows to the foot of 
 the throne, expressed their contrition in some degree 
 for the restrictions wherewith they had sliackled the 
 royid plan of conciliation, and craved the king's assist- 
 ance. The minority of the nobility protested against 
 this step, alleging most reasonably that it was the 
 height of folly to ask the roy;d intervention after 
 having so indiscreetly spurned it. This minority, too 
 little attended to by its colleagues, was composed of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 •69 
 
 forty-seven members, amongst whom were some mili- 
 tary men and enlightened magistrates. It mmibered 
 the Duke de Liancourt, the faithfid friend of his king 
 and of liberty ; the Duke de Larochefoucaidd, distin- 
 guished for unshaken virtue and an acconiplislicd 
 mind ; Lally-Tolendal, akeady celebrated from the 
 misfortunes of his father, and his eloquent protesta- 
 tions ; Clermont-Tonnerre, remarkable for his orato- 
 rical talent ; the brothers Lameth, young colonels, 
 known for their spirit and valom- ; Duport, already 
 mentioned for his comprehensive intellect and the 
 firmness of his character; and lastly, the Marquis 
 de Lafayette, the defender of American liberty, who 
 united to French vivacity the resolution and simx^li- 
 city of Washington. 
 
 Intrigue paral.vsed all the energies of the court. 
 The sitting, fixed originally for Monday the 22d, was 
 postponed tiU the 2.3d. A note, written at a late hour 
 to Bailly, and after the separation of the privy-council, 
 informed him of this adjournment, and gave sufficient 
 token of the agitation that prevailed. Nccker had re- 
 solved not to attend the sitting, in order that he might 
 not sanction by his presence projects he disapproved. 
 
 Petty expedients, the ordinary resource of weak 
 authority, were resorted to for the purpose of prevent- 
 ing the assembly meeting on the 22d. The princes 
 caused the tennis-court to be retained, in order to 
 play on that morning. The assendjly proceeded to 
 the church of Saint Louis, where it received the ma- 
 jority of the clergy, at whose head appeared the 
 Archbishop of Vienne. This junction, effected with 
 inii)osing dignity, excited the liveliest emotions of 
 joy. Tlie clergy announced that they came there to 
 submit to the common verification. 
 
 Tlie next day, the 23d, was fixed for the royal 
 sitting. The deputies of the commons were appointed 
 to enter the hall by a side door, apart from the en- 
 trance reserved for the nobility and clergy. With the 
 exception of violence, every species of indigiiity was 
 heaped upon them. Exposed to a heavy fall of rain, 
 they waited patiently for a long time ; the president, 
 compelled to knock at this door, which was kept 
 closed, had to repeat his knocks several times, and the 
 only reply he obtained was, that the time had not 
 arrived for opening it. The deputies were about to 
 retire in disgust, when Bailly gave another summons : 
 at length the door was opened, the deputies entered 
 and found the two orders in possession of their seats, 
 whicli they had secured by the precaution of fore- 
 stalling them. The sitting was not like that of the 
 .Oth May, at once majestic and afiecting by a certain 
 effusion of feelings and hopes. A numerous guard 
 and a mournful stillness distinguished it from tluit 
 first solemnity. Tiic deputies of the commons had 
 resolved to ol)serve a profoimd silence. The king 
 pronounced a harangue, and betrayed the influence 
 that had worked upon him, by using expressions much 
 too energetic for his character. He was made to deal 
 out reprt)aclies and impose injunctions. Hecommanded 
 the separation into orders, annulled the previous reso- 
 lutions of the tliird-estate, but promised to sanction 
 the abolition of pecuniary privileges, when tlicir pos- 
 sessors had declared it. He retained all the feudal 
 rights, both practical and honorary, as inviolal>le jios- 
 scssions ; and he ordained not the jimction njjon matters 
 of general interest, although he licld ont liopijs of its 
 ])robability from tlie moderation of the higher orders. 
 Thus lie enforced the obedience of the commons, whilst 
 he contented himself witli taking that of the aristo- 
 cracy for granted. He left the nobility and clergy sole 
 judges of what concerned them peculiarly, and con- 
 cluded hy saying, that if he encountered fresli olistacles, 
 he would take tlio welfare of the peojile into his own 
 hands, and consider himself as their only represc-n- 
 tative. This tone and language exasperated all minds, 
 not against the king, wlio had feebly vented passions 
 not his own, but against the aristocracy, whose instru- 
 ment he had consented to become. 
 
 The instant his discourse was finished, he ordered 
 the assem])ly forthwith to separate. The nobility 
 followed him, with a part of the clergy. The greater 
 nmnber of the ecclesiastical deputies remained, and 
 the commons :dso continued stationary, still observing 
 a profomid silence. Mir;ibeau, who was always the 
 fu-st to take the lead, arose. " Gentlemen," said he, 
 " I confess that what you have just heard might be 
 for the safety of the country, if the gifts of despotism 
 were not always susjjicious. A parade of arms, a viola- 
 tion of the national temple, to coiuraand you to be 
 happy! 'N^Hiere are the enemies of the nation? Is 
 Catiline at our gates ? I call upon 3'ou, b}- the inves- 
 titure of your dignity and of your legislative fmictions, 
 to respect the sacred obligation of your oath ; recollect 
 it does not permit j'-ou to separate until the constitu- 
 tion is established." 
 
 The Marquis de Brcze, grand-master of the cere- 
 monies, entered at this moment, and adtkessed himseli 
 to Bailly. " Have you heard," he asked, " the orders 
 of the king ?" and Bailly answered : " I am about to 
 take those of the assembly." Mirabeau advanced. 
 " Yes, sir," he exclaimed, " we have heard the views 
 wherewith the king has been prompted ; but you have 
 here no voice, or place, or riglit to speak. However, to 
 avoid delay, go to your master, and tell him that we 
 are here by the power of the people, and that we will 
 not be driven forth but by the power of bayonets." 
 M. de Breze withdrew. Sieyes then uttered these 
 words : " We are to-day what we M-ere yesterday : let 
 us deliberate." The assembly disposed itself to debate 
 upon the maintenance of its previous resolutions, 
 " The first of these resolutions," said Barnave, " de- 
 clares what you are ; tlie second refers to the taxes, 
 which you alone have the right to sanction ; the third 
 is the oath to do yom- duty. None of these mea- 
 sures needs the royal assent. The kmg cannot abro- 
 gate what his consent would not fortify." At this 
 instant, workmen came to remove tlie benches, armed 
 soldiers traversed the hall, others encompassed it 
 outside, and the body-guards advanced even to the 
 door. The assembly, without concerning itself with 
 the interruption, remained upon the seats and collected 
 the votes ; there was no dissentient voice against 
 adhering to aU the previous resolutions. Nor was 
 this all. In the he;a-t of a royal city, in the midst of 
 court retainers, and deprived of the aid of that people 
 afterwards so formidable, the assembly wiis exposed 
 to intimidation. Mirabeau repaired to the tribune, 
 and proposed to decree the inviolability of each deputj'. 
 The assembly, merely able to oppose a majestic ex- 
 pression to brute f()rce, instantly ilcclared each of its 
 members inviolable, and all who should do injmy to 
 their persons, traitors, infamous, and guilty of a ca 
 pital crime. 
 
 In the mean time, the nobility, who believed the 
 state saved by this lied of justice, offered their con- 
 gratidations to the prince who had suggested it, and 
 carried them from the ]irince to the queen. The 
 queen, holding her son in lier arms, and sliov.ing liim 
 to these enraptured servants, received their homage, 
 and gave way to a blind and fatal confidence. At 
 tliat very instant shouts were heard ; all hastened 
 towards the noise, and the intelligence was soon 
 s])read that the peo])le, gathered into a ci'owd, were 
 applauding Nccker for not ai>pcaring at the royal sit- 
 Hug. Alarm immediately succeeded to joy. The 
 king and queen caused Nccker to be calledj and those 
 august personages were compelled to entreat him to 
 retain liis portfolio. The minister consented, and re- 
 stored to the court some portion of the popidarity he 
 had preserved by absenting himself from that disas- 
 trous sitting. 
 
 Thus was the first revolution brought about. Tlie 
 third-estate h:ul obtained the legislative iio>ver, and 
 its adversaries had lost it by too great eagcrnoss to 
 grasj) it aU. In a few days this legislative revolution 
 was consummateiL Certain petty annoyances were
 
 40 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 again resorted to, sucli as impeding the internal com- 
 munications in the lialls of the states ; but tliey were 
 too contemptible to have any etfect. On the 24th, 
 the majority of the clergy repaired to the assembly, 
 and demanded the verification in common, with the 
 view of afterwards deliberating upon the propositions 
 advanced by the king in the sitting of the 23d June. 
 The minority of the clergy continued to occupy their 
 peculiar chamber. The Archbishop of Paris, Juigne, 
 a virtuous prelate, and charitaiile to the people, but 
 obstinate in the cause of privileges, was attacked, and 
 constrained to promise his junction. He proceeded 
 in fact to the national assembly, accompanied by the 
 Archbishop of Bordeaux, a prelate of popular ten- 
 dencies, who afterwards became minister. 
 
 The greatest confusion prevailed in the ranks of 
 the nobility. Its ordinary agitators inflamed its pas- 
 sions ; D'Espremenil proposed to impeach the third- 
 estate, and to order its prosecution by the attornc}'- 
 peneral. and the minority, on the contrary, proposed 
 the junctioii. This latter motion was rejected amidst 
 deplorable tumidt. The Duke of Orleans supported 
 the motion, after having the day before promised the 
 Polignacs to oppose it.* Forty-seven members, hav- 
 ing resolved to join the national assembly in spite of 
 this decision, repaired thither in a body, and were 
 greeted with lively marks of public satisfaction. 
 However, their countenances bore an expression of 
 sadness even amidst the joy caused by their presence. 
 "We yield to our sense of right," said Clermont- 
 Tonnerrc, " but we separate from our colleagues with 
 grief. We come to take part in the public regenera- 
 tion ; each of us will make known to you the extent 
 to which his mandate will pennit him to go." 
 
 Every day brought with it fresh junctions, and the 
 assembly saw the number of its members perjietually 
 on the increase. Addresses poured in from aU quar- 
 ters, conveying the s^mipathy and approbation of the 
 towns and provinces. Mounier stinndated those from 
 Daupliiny ; Paris originated its own ; and even the 
 Palais-Roj'al sent a deputation, which the assembly, 
 still enveloped by dangers, received, in order not to 
 alienate the populace. It did not then foresee its 
 future excesses ; it had need, on the contrary', to pre- 
 sume its energy and to hope for its support ; many of 
 the deputies were doubtful of both,' for the resolution 
 of the people was as yet but a pleasing anticipation. 
 Thus the plaudits of the galleries, though often annoy- 
 ing to the assembly, had nevertheless served to ani- 
 mate it in its course, and it ventured not to forbid 
 them. Bailly ^rishcd to pass a vote of censure, but 
 his voice and motion were stifled amidst shouts of 
 applause. 
 
 The majority of the nobility continued its sittings 
 amid tumult and the most violent exasperation. Ap- 
 prehensions spread amongst those who rided that 
 order, and the motion for a junction came from those 
 very members who had formerl}^ induced its resistance. 
 But its passions, already too excited, were not easily 
 controlled The king was obliged to write a letter, 
 the com-t and its higli functionaries were reduced to 
 entreat. " The junction will be but transitory," said 
 they to the most stubborn ; " troops are approaching : 
 yield to save the king." .\cquiescence was wrimg from 
 them in the midst of disorder, and the majority of the 
 nobles, accompanied by the minority of the clergy, 
 repaired, on the 27th June, to the general assembly. 
 The Duke of LiLxembourg, speaking in tiie name of 
 all, said that they came to give the king a proof of 
 respect, and to the nation an evidence of patriotism. 
 "Tlie family is now complete," answered Bailly. As- 
 suming that the union was consmnmated, and that 
 tlie question as to verification was disjwsed of, and 
 that it remained for them only to deliberate in com- 
 mon, he added, " We shall now be al)le to proceed, 
 without intermission and without distraction, with 
 
 * Sec Fcrritres. 
 
 the regeneration of the kingdom and the public wel- 
 fare." 
 
 More than one silly expedient was employed to 
 support an appearance of not having done what ne- 
 cessity had superinduced. Tlie new comers alwa3-s 
 entered after the opening of tlie sittings, all in a 
 body, and so as to uphold their character as an order. 
 They aftected to remain standing liehind the presi- 
 dent, and in a maimer to avoid the appearance of 
 sitting. Bailly, with infinite address and firmness, 
 succeeded in subduing their repugnance, and induciim 
 them to take their seats. Tiiey wished likewise to 
 dispute his riglit to the presidency, not by an open 
 demonstration, lint by secret intrigiie, or by despi- 
 caljle tricker}'. Bailly was resolute in his retention, 
 not from ambition, but from duty ; and men beheld a 
 simple citizen, known for no quahfications more im- 
 posmg than virtue and talent, presitling over all the 
 magnates of the kingdom and the church. 
 
 It ought to have been palpable to all imderstand- 
 ings, that the legislative revolution was achieved. Al- 
 though the preliminary dispute arose merely on the 
 mode of verification and not on that of voting, although 
 some had declared they joined only for the common 
 verification, and others in obedience to the royal 
 wishes as expressed on the 23d June— 'it was clear 
 that the vote by voice was an inevitable implication, 
 and that all opposition was consequenth' useless and 
 impolitic. And yet the Cardinal de Larochefoucanld 
 protested in the name of the clerical minority, and 
 asserted that it had eflected the junction simply to 
 deliberate upon general questions, with a reservation 
 of its right to form an order. The Archbishop of 
 Yienne repUed with vivacitj', that the minority had 
 no power to decide any thing in the absence of the 
 majority, and could have no right to speak in the 
 name of the entire order. Mirabeau expatiated with 
 his usual vigour upon the absurdity of this pretension, 
 saying it was strange that any should protest within 
 the assembly against the assembly, and that it be- 
 hoved all either to acknowledge its supremacy or to 
 retire. 
 
 The question as to imperative mandates was then 
 started. The greater number of the instructions ex- 
 pressed the views of the electors with regard to advis- 
 alile reforms, and rendered those views obligatory on 
 the deputies. Before acting, it was necessary to settle 
 how tar they could go ; and this question, therefore, 
 became the first. It was argued and re-argued several 
 times. Some maintained that tlicy should go hack to 
 their constituents, whilst others were of opinion that 
 they coidd receive from their constituents the com- 
 mission of voting for them only after the measures 
 had been discussed and illustrated by the delegates of 
 the whole nation, but that it was not competent for 
 tliem to receive beforehand a prescribed judgment. If 
 it were held, in fiict, that the law should be made only 
 in a general council, either because more enlightened 
 views prevailed in an elevated body, or because a cor- 
 rect opinion could be formed only when all parts of 
 the nation were mutually heard, it followed of couraa 
 that the deputies ought to be unfettered, and Avithout 
 obligatory mandates. Mirabeau, sharpening reason 
 with irony, exclaimed that those who considered the 
 mandates imperative were wTong to come there at all, 
 but should content themselves with laying their in- 
 structions on the benches, since those documents might 
 sit as well as themselves. Sieyes, with his accustomed 
 sagacity, foreseeing that, notwithstanding the most 
 rationid decision of the assembly, a gi-eat number of 
 members would cling to their oaths, and that by 
 intrenching themselves beMnd their consciences they 
 MH)uld become invidnerable, moved the order of the 
 day, on the ground that each was the judge of the 
 force of tlie oath he had taken. " Those who feel 
 tiiemselves shackled by their instructions," said he, 
 " can be regarded as absent, precisely as those who 
 refused to have their powers verified in common
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 41 
 
 assembly." If the assembly had constrained the 
 malecontents, it would have furnished pretexts for 
 facticn, whilst, by leaving them at hberty, it was sm-e 
 to induce their adhesion, for its victory was no longer 
 dubious. 
 
 The object of the new convocation was the reform 
 of the state, that is to say, the establishment of a con- 
 stitution, of which France was utterly devoid, in spite 
 of all that may be said to the contrary. If tliat name 
 be applied to every species of relation between the 
 governed and the governors, France unquestionably 
 possessed a constitution ; it had a king who com- 
 manded, and subjects who obeyed; ministers who im- 
 prisoned at pleasure ; farmers of the revenue who 
 wrung the last farthing from the people ; and parlia- 
 ments which condemned mifortunates to the wheel. 
 The most barbarous nations have such orders of con- 
 stitutions. There was in France an institution called 
 States-General, but without precise functions, without 
 fixed periods for assembling, and when convoked, in- 
 variably without result. There was a royal autho- 
 rity which had been alternately powerless and abso- 
 lute. There were tribunals or supreme courts, which 
 had often joined legislative to judicial })ower; but 
 there was no law which secured the responsibility of the 
 agents of power, the liberty of the press, the freedom 
 of person, or any of those guarantees, in fine, which, 
 in the social state, make amends for the fiction of 
 natural liberty.* 
 
 * I siirport by quotations and notes only what is susceptible 
 of contradiction. This question, as to wlietlier France had a con- 
 stitution, seems to nie one of the most important in the revolu- 
 tion, for it is the absence of a fund.imental law that justifies the 
 nation for desiring to obtain one. I imagine that it would be 
 scarcely possible to cite an authority more respectable and less 
 oi)en to suspicion than the testimony of M. Lally-Tolendal. That 
 excellent citizen delivered a sjieech on the 15th June 1789, in the 
 chamber of nobles, of which the following is the greater por- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Many reproaches, gentlemen, mingled with some bitterness, 
 have been directed against those members of this assembly, who, 
 with equal pain and reserve, have evinced certain doubts upon 
 what is called our constitution. This subject had not perhaps a 
 very direct connexion with that which is before us ; but since it 
 has been the ground of an accusation, it has become lilcewise one 
 of defence, and I am justified in addressing a few words to the 
 autliors of those reproaches. 
 
 You have certainly no law which establishes the states-general 
 as an intcgi-al portion of the sovereignty, for you are noVv demand- 
 ing one ; and hitherto, sometimes the decree of tlie council pro- 
 hibited them from deliberating, and sometimes the decree of a 
 parliament annulled their resolutions. 
 
 You have no Ixiw which compels the periodical convocation of 
 your states-general, for you demand one ; and 175 years have 
 elapsed since they were assembled. 
 
 You have no law which places your individual safety and 
 liberty imder shelter from arbitrary attacks, for you demand 
 one ; and under the reign of a king whose justice is known to all 
 Europe, and whose pi'obity is universally reverenced, ministers 
 have caused your magistrates to be driven from the sanctuary of 
 the laws by armed myrmidons. Under the preceding reign, all 
 the magistrates of the kingdom were also torn from their seats 
 and their hearths, and dispersed in exile, some to the peaks of 
 mountains, others to the mire of niarslicA, all into places more 
 frightful than the most horrible of prisons. By ascending liighcr, 
 you will discover Irtlrcs dc aichrt by the thousands, on account of 
 wretched theological quarrels. By goijig still farther back, you 
 perceive sanguinary connnissions and aibitrary imprisonments 
 in equal profusion, and you tind no specie for repose but in the 
 reign of your good Henry. 
 
 You have no law which estauiishes the liberty of the press, for 
 you demand one ; and hitherto your thoughts-, have been enslaved, 
 your ideas chained, and the ciy of your hearts in oppression has 
 been stifled, now by the despotism of individuals, anon by the 
 more tcn-ible despotism of public bodies. 
 
 You have no law, or have none any longer, wliiili renders your 
 consent necessary for taxation, for you demand one; iuul for two 
 centuries you have been charged witli upwards of three or four 
 hundred millions of taxes, without your having NUictioned a 
 single unit. 
 
 Vou have no law which imposes rcspi;niibility upon all the 
 
 The necessity for a constitution was confessed and 
 generally felt ; all the instructions had energetically 
 asserted it, and had even formally laid down the 
 fundamental principles upon which that constitution 
 should be based. They had mianimously prescribed 
 a monarchical government, hereditary descent from 
 male to male, the exclusive attribution of executive 
 power to the king, the responsibility of all his agents, 
 the concurrence of the nation and the king in the 
 enactment of laws, the voting of taxes, and individual 
 liberty. But they were divided as to the creation of 
 one or of two legislative chambers ; as to the duration, 
 the prorogations, and the dissolution of the legislative 
 body ; as to the political existence of the clergy and 
 the parhaments ; and as to the extent of the liberty 
 of the press. So many questions, either solved or 
 started by the instructions, show sufficiently how the 
 public mind was then awakened in all quarters of tlie 
 kingdom, and how general and emphatic was the 
 determination of France for liberty.* But to frame 
 
 ministers of executive power, for you demand one ; and the ori- 
 ginators of those sanguinary commissions, the issuers of those 
 arbitrary orders of arrest, the spoilers of the public treasury, the 
 violators of the s;mctuai'y of justice — those who have deceived the 
 virtues of one king, those who flattered the passions of another, 
 those who have caused the disasters of the nation, have rendered 
 no account, have undergone no punishment. 
 
 In fine, you have no general, positive, written law, at once a 
 national and royal compact— no great charter, on which a fixed 
 and invariable order may rest, in which each may learn what it 
 behoves him to sacrifice of his liberty and his property to pre- 
 serve the rest — which assures all rights, and defines aU powers. 
 On the contrary, the system of your government has varied from 
 reign to reign, often from ministry to ministry ; it has depended 
 on the age and the character of a single mortal. During mino- 
 rities, under a weak prince, the royal authoritj', which contri- 
 butes to the happiness and dignity of the nation, has been 
 indecently degraded, either by magnates, who with one hand 
 shook the throne and with the other groimd the people to the 
 dust, or by bodies which at one time attacked with temerity what 
 at another they had defended with courage. Under haughty 
 princes who were basely flattered, under virtuous princes who 
 were misled, this same authority has been pushed beyond all 
 bounds. Your secondary or intermediate powers, as you call 
 them, have been neither better defined nor more fixed. At times 
 the parliaments have maintained the principle that they could 
 not interfere in affairs of state, at others they have alleged that 
 their discussion belonged to them as representatives of the na- 
 tion. On one liand we have seen proclamations announcing the 
 pleasure of the king, on the other, decrees in w hich the ofliccrs of 
 the king prohibited, in the name of the king, the execution of the 
 orders of the king. The courts ha'.e not agreed better amongst 
 themselves ; they have disputed each other's origin and functions, 
 have mutually fulminated recriminatory decrees. 
 
 I limit these details, which I might extend to infinity ; but if 
 all these facts are certain— if you have none of those la«s which 
 you demand, and which I have now mentioi ed— or if, having 
 them (and I beg your attention to this) — or if, having them, you 
 have not that which compels their execution, that which guaran- 
 tees their observance, and whicli maintains their stability, pray 
 define to us, then, what you imderstand by the word constitution, 
 and allow at least that some indulgence is due to those wlio can- 
 not refrain from entertaining certain doubts upon the existence 
 of ours. We are perpetually told to rally round this constitution ; 
 ah ! ratlier let us lose siglitof that pluuitom in order to substitute 
 u reality. And as to tliat term of iniiofdiioiis, as to that epitliet 
 of innocalors, with which we are unceasingly attacked, let us also 
 grant that the first innovators ai-c in our instructions ; let us re- 
 sjx'ct .and bless that fortunate innovation which essiys to put 
 every thing in its place, to render all rights inviolable, all autho- 
 rities beneficent, and all people liappy. 
 
 It is for such a constitution, gentlemen, that I offer my prayers; 
 it is such a constitution that is the object of all our mandates, and 
 which <night to bo the goal of all our labours; and such a consti- 
 tution is repugnant to the very idea of thu address wliich is jiro- 
 posed to us— an address which woidd coniprimiihe tlie king as 
 much as the nation— an address, indeed, wliich appears to nie so 
 dangerous, that not only shall I oppose it to the utmost, hut if 
 it were possible it could be adopted, 1 sliould feel myself under 
 the painful necessity of solemnly protesting against it." 
 
 * r think it useful to give the suniuiary of the instructions pre- 
 sented to the National As.sembly by M. de (.'lermont-Touuerrtt
 
 42 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 a perfect constitution amidst the mouldering ruins of 
 an antiquated legislation, in spite of all resistance, 
 
 Tt is an admirable statistical record of the opinions entertained at 
 that epoch in the whole extent of Fi-ance. In this respect the 
 Biininiary is extremely important ; and altho\igh Paris might 
 have influenced the compilation of these Instructions, it is not the 
 less true that the provinces had the greatest share in them. 
 
 Report of the Constitution Committee, containing the Summary of 
 the Instructions relative to that ol'Ject, read to the National 
 Assembly l>y the Count de Ckrmont-Toniierre, in the sitliny of 
 the ^Ih July \l&-i- 
 
 " Gentlemen— You are called upon to regenerate the French 
 empire ; you carry to that great work both your own wisdom and 
 the wisdom of your constituents. 
 
 We have tliouc;ht it our duty, in the first place, to coUect and 
 present to you the opinions scattered in the ra;ijor part of your 
 instructions; we will afterwards present to you both the parti- 
 cular views of your committee, and those which it has been, or 
 nay hereafter be, enabled to gather from the various plans and 
 observations which have been, or may be, communicated or re- 
 mitted by the members of this august assembly. 
 
 It is the first portion of this task we are about to present to you. 
 
 Our constituents, gentlemen, are all agreed upon one point ; 
 they desire the regeneration of the state ; but some have under- 
 stood it as a simple reform of abuses, and the re-establishment of 
 a constitution existing for fourteen centiu-ies, which has seemed 
 to them capable of revival, if the injuries are repaired which 
 have been inflicted by time, and the numerous outrages of per- 
 sonal interest upon tlie public interest. 
 
 Others have considered tlie existing social sj'stem as so vicious, 
 tliat they have demanded a new constitution ; and with the 
 exception of monarchic;d government and forms, which are 
 cherished and reverenced in the heart of every Frenchman, and 
 which they have ordered you to maintain, they have given you 
 all the powers necessary to frame a constitution, and settle the 
 prosperity of the French empire upon ascertained principles, and 
 upon the regular distinction and constitution of all the powers. 
 These are of opinion that the first chapter of the constitution 
 ought to contain the declaration of the rights of man, of tiiose 
 imprescriptible rights, for the safeguard of which society was in- 
 stituted. 
 
 Tlie demand of this declaration of the rights of man, so inces- 
 santly contemned, is substantially the only difference which 
 e.\ists between the instructions which requiie a new constitu- 
 tion and those which seek merely for the re-establishment of 
 what they deem the existing constitution. 
 
 Both have equally founded their idciis upon the principles of 
 monarchical government, upon the stability of the power and 
 upon the organisation of the legislative body, upon the necessity 
 of the national consent to taxation, upon the organisation of the 
 administrative bodies, and upon the rights of all citizens. 
 
 We shall go over these different objects, and present to you 
 upon each of them, as decisive, the results, when uniform, and, 
 as questions, the different or contradictory results which those of 
 your instructions, an epitome of which it has been possible for us 
 to make or to procure, have brouglit before us. 
 
 1. The monarchical government, the inviolability of the sacred 
 person of the king, and the hereditary transmission of the crtiwn 
 from male to male, are e<iually acknowledged and consecrated by 
 the greatest number of the instructions, and are not questioned 
 in any. 
 
 2. The king is equally recognised as depositary of the full pleni- 
 tude of executive power. 
 
 3. The responsibility of all the agents of authority is generally 
 demanded. 
 
 4. Some instructions acknowledge in the king the legislative 
 power, limitol by the constitutional iind fundamental laws of the 
 kingdom ; otliers acknowledge that the king, in the interval 
 between one assembly of the statts-gener.il and anotlier, may of 
 himself make laws on matters of police and administration, which 
 sliall be only jirovisional, and for the validity of wliich they re- 
 <Hiire the free re„'istration in the sn[)reme courts ; one bailiwick 
 has even required that the registration may not take place unless 
 with the consent of two-thirds of the Intennediate commissions 
 of the district assemblies. The major part of the instructions 
 recognises the necessity for the royal sanction in the promulga- 
 tion of the laws. 
 
 As to the legislative power, the plurality of the instructions 
 recognises it as residing in the national representation, under 
 limitation of the royal sanction ; and it ajipears that tliis ancient 
 uiaxim of the eai)itularies. Lex fit consensu )wpuli el constitutlone 
 resjis (The law is made by the consent of the people and the fiat 
 
 and with the unruly theories abroad, was a laborious 
 and difSciilt task. Besides the dissensions inevitably 
 
 of the monarch), is almost universally consecrated by your con- 
 stituents. 
 
 As to the organisation of the national representation, the ques 
 tions upon which 3011 have to prcinomice have reference to tin. 
 convocation, to the duration, and to the composition of the na- 
 tional representation, and to the mode of deliberation which yom 
 constituents propose for it. 
 
 As to the convocation, some have declared that the states-gene- 
 ral ought to be dissolved only by themselves; others, that the 
 right of convoking, proroguing, and dissolving, appertains to the 
 king, under the sole condition, in case of a dissolution, of making 
 immediately a new convocation. 
 
 As to the duration, some have demanded the periodical as- 
 sembling of the states-general ; and they have desired that the 
 periodical returns should not depend on tlie will or the interest 
 of the depositiiries of power ; others, but in smaller number, have 
 demanded the permanency of the states-general, so that the sepa- 
 ration of the members may not lead to the dissolution of the 
 states. 
 
 The periodical system has given rise to a second question : 
 shall there be, or not, an intennediate commission during the 
 interval of the sessions ? The majority of your constituents has 
 regarded the establishment of an intermediate couxmission as 
 dimgerous. 
 
 As to the composition, some have adhered to the separation of 
 the three orders ; but on this point the extension of powers, which 
 several representatives have already obtained, leaves doubtless a 
 greater latitude in the solution of this question. 
 
 Some bailiwicks have demanded the jimction of the two first 
 orders in one chamber ; others tlie suppression of the clerg)', and 
 the division of its members into the two other orders; others 
 that the representation of the nobility should be double that of 
 the clergy, and that both united should be equal to that of the 
 commons. 
 
 One bailiwick, whilst demanding the union of the two first 
 orders, has demanded the establishment of a third, under the 
 title of tlie rural order. It has been also required that every per- 
 son holding office, emplojTnent, or place at court, may not be 
 eligible as a deputy to the states-general. Finally, the inviola- 
 bility of tlie deputies is recognised by the greatest number of the 
 bailiwicks, and contested by none. As to the mode of delibera- 
 tion, the question of voting individually or by orders is already 
 settled. Some bailiwicks demand two-thirds of the votes to 
 render a resolution valid. 
 
 The necessity for tlie national consent to taxation is imivergally 
 pronounced by your constituents, asserted in aU the instructions; 
 all limit the duration of taxes to the term you may fix — a term, 
 however, never to be extended beyond the interval from one con- 
 vocation to another ; imd this obligatorj' clause has appeared t<( 
 your constituents as the surest guarantee of the perpetuity of 
 your national assemblies. 
 
 Loans, being in fact but indirect taxation, seem to them un- 
 doubtedly subject to the s.-mie principles. 
 
 Some bailiwicks have excepted from the term taxes those 
 which may be set iiside for the liquidation of the national debt, 
 and have held that they ought to be exigible until its complete 
 extinction. 
 
 As to admin isfrative bodies or pro\incial states, all the instruc- 
 tions dem.and their establishment, and the majority rely upon 
 your wisdom for their organisiition. 
 
 Finally, the rights of aU citizens, liberty and property, are 
 energetically asserted by the whole French nation. It claims for 
 each of its members the inviolaliility of individual property, as it 
 claims for itself the inviolubilitj' of public property ; it demands 
 individiuil libertj' in all its extent, as it has established for ever 
 nation.al liberty ; it calls for the liberty of the press, or the free 
 communication of thought ; it inveighs in tonus of indignation 
 against lettres de cachet, which disposed arbitrarily of persons, an<l 
 against the violation of the secrecy of the post-oflice, :is one of the 
 most preposterous and infamous inventions of despotism. 
 
 Amidst this concourse of demands, we have remarked some 
 peeuliiU" modifications relative to lellres de cachet and the liberty 
 of the press. You will weigh them in your wisdom ; you will doubt- 
 less satisfy that sentiment of French honour, wliicli, from hor- 
 ror of infamy, has sometimes overstepped justice, and which will 
 doubtless be as e.ager to submit to the law when it afi'ects the 
 powerful, as it wius to counteract it when it weighed only upon the 
 weak. You will c^alm the apprehensions for religion, so frequently 
 outraged by litels in the time of tlie prohibitive system ; and the 
 clergy, remembering tliat licentiousness was for ages the hand- 
 maid of slaverj-, will themselves acknowledge tliat the first and
 
 HISTORY OF IHE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 43 
 
 arising from the diversity of interests, the natural 
 divergences of opinion were likewise to be appre- 
 hended. An entire legislation to frame for a great 
 people so poweifully excites all minds, inspires them 
 with projects so vast, hopes so chimerical, that mea- 
 sures either vague or exaggerated, and often antago- 
 nistic, were to be anticipated. To infuse order into 
 the labours, a committee was named, with instructions 
 to investigate their extent, and to apportion their 
 
 natural effect of liberty is the restoration of order, decency, and 
 respect for the objects of public veneration. 
 
 Such, gentlemen, is the account your committee has judged 
 itself bound to render to you of that portion of your instructions 
 which treats of the constitution. You will doubtless find therein 
 all the foundation-stones of the edifice which you are instructed 
 to raise to its height ; but you will perhaps have to desire that 
 order, that concentration of political combinations, without 
 which the social system will always present numerous defects : 
 the powers are indicated, biit not distinguished with the ncces- 
 sai-y precision ; the organisation of the national representation is 
 not sufficiently laid down ; the principles of eligibility are not 
 adduced ; it is from your labours that these results must spring. 
 The nation has determined to be free, and it is you whom it in- 
 trusts with its enfranchisement ; the genius of Franco has pre- 
 cipitated, so to sijeak, the march of the public mind. It has 
 accmnulated for you in a few hours the experience which could 
 have been scarcely anticipated from many ages. You have it in 
 your power, gentlemen, to give a constitution to France ; the 
 king and tlie people loudly demand it; both tlie one and the 
 other have weU deserved it. 
 
 RESILT OK THE ANALYSATION OF THE INSTRT'CTIONS. 
 
 Principles Decided. 
 Art. 1. The French government is a monarchic;)! government. 
 
 2. Tlie person of the king is sacred and inviolable. 
 
 3. His cro\vn is hereditary from male to male. 
 
 4. The king is the depositary of cx(!cutive power. 
 
 5. The agents of authority are responsible. 
 
 G. The royal sanction is necessarj' for the promulgation of laws. 
 
 7. The nation makes the law with the royal sanction. 
 
 8. The national consent is necessary for loans and taxes. 
 
 !). The taxes can be granted only from one holding of the states- 
 general to another. 
 
 10. Property is sacred. 
 
 11. Individual liberty is sacred 
 
 Questions upon which the ichoh of the Instructioiu have not (jivcn 
 explanations in an uniform manner. 
 
 Art. 1. Pas the king the legislative power, limited by the con 
 stitutional laws of the realm ? 
 
 2. Can the king alone make provisional laws on matters of 
 police and administration in the interval between the assemblies 
 of tlie states-general ? 
 
 3. Shall these laws be subjected to the free registration of the 
 supreme courts ? 
 
 4. Can the states-general be dissolved except by tliemselvcs ? 
 
 5. Can the king alone convoke, prorogue, and dissolve the 
 states-general ? 
 
 C. In case of a dissolution, is not the king obliged to make im- 
 mediately a new convocation ? 
 7- Shall the states-general be permanent or periodical ? 
 
 8. If they are periodical, shall tliere be or not mi intermediate 
 commission ? 
 
 9. Shall the two higher orders be united in a single cliambcr ? 
 
 10. Sliall the two chambers be formed witliout distinction of 
 orders ? 
 
 11. Shall the members of the ecclesiastical order be distributed 
 into the two other orders ? 
 
 12. Shall the representation of the clergy, the nobility, and the 
 commons, be in the proportion of one, two, and three ? 
 
 13. Shall a third order be established, under tlie title of the 
 rural order ? 
 
 14. Can persons lidding offices, employments, or jilaccs at 
 court, be deputies to the states-general ? 
 
 15. Shall two-thirds of the votes bo necessary to pass a resolu- 
 tion? 
 
 16. Shall the taxes appropriate<l to the liquidation of the 
 national debt he exigible until its entire extinction '.' 
 
 17. Shall Ictlres dc cachet be abolished or modificil? 
 
 18. Shall the liberty of the press be unrestricted or modified ? " 
 
 distribution. This committee was composed of the 
 most moderate members of the assemblj^. Mounier, 
 a sagacious though obstinate man, was its most 
 indefutigal'le and influential member ; he it was who 
 arranged the order of proceeding. 
 
 The difficulty of framing a constitution was not the 
 only one this assembly had to encomiter. Between a 
 government liostilely disposed and a people famishing, 
 who required prompt relief, it was almost impossible 
 to avoid interfering with administration. Distrustful 
 of authority, and pressed to succour the people, it was 
 impelled, ^vithout any impidse of ambition, gradu- 
 ally to encroach upon the executive power. The 
 clergy had already given an example of this tendency, 
 by its insidious proposition to the third-estate to enter 
 forthwith upon the affair of provisions. The assembly 
 was scarcely formed ere it named a committee on the 
 necessaries of life, demanded from the minister in- 
 formation upon that subject, proposed to facilitate the 
 circulation of produce from province to province, to 
 transport it at the jjublic charge to places where want 
 prevailed, to make grants, and to jjrovide for them by 
 loans. The minister communicated the efficacious 
 measures he liad adopted, and which the king, as a 
 soUcitous administrator, had promoted with all his 
 power. LaUy-Tolendal proposed to pass decrees as 
 to the free ckculation, to which Mounier objected that 
 such decrees would require the royal sanction ; and 
 that this sanction, not being yet regidated, woidd lead 
 to serious difHculties. Thus all obstacles conspired 
 to impede progress. An imperious necessity existed 
 for laws before the legislative forms were settled, for 
 controlling the administration without infringing upon 
 the executive authority, and for grappling with an 
 entire host of embarrassments, whilst fettered by the 
 repugnance of power, by the opposition of particular 
 interests, by the incongruity of opinions, and by the 
 exigencies of a people recently aroused, and in agita- 
 tion a few leagues from the assembly, in the heart of 
 an inmiense capital. 
 
 A very short space separates Paris from Versailles, 
 and it may be traversed several times in a day. All 
 tlie movements in Paris were consequently immedi- 
 ately felt at ^'ersaiUes, at court, and m the assembly. 
 Paris at that time presented a new and extraordinai-y 
 spectacle. The electors, collected into sixty districts, 
 had refused to separate after the elections, and had 
 remained assembled, either for the purpose of giving 
 instructions to their deputies, or from that craving for 
 union and agitation which is inherent in men, and 
 which breaks out with a violence x'roportioucd to the 
 length of its suppression. They had experienced the 
 same fate as the nationid assembly ; the place of their 
 sittings had been closed, and they were driven to seek 
 another. They had ultimately obtained access to the 
 town-hall (Jiotel-de-ville), and there they continued to 
 meet, and to correspond with tlieir deputies. No 
 public jom^^als yet e.visted which reported tlie debates 
 of the national assembly', and it was necessary to col- 
 lect together in order to discuss and he apprised of 
 events. Tlie garden of the Palais-Royal was the 
 scene of tiie most crowded congregations. That mag- 
 nificent garden, surrounded by the most gorgeous 
 shops in Europe, and forming an appurtenance to the 
 palace of the l)uke of Orleans, was the genend resort 
 for strangers, for the idle, and the dissipated, but, above 
 all, for the most furious demagogues. The most dar- 
 ing si)ceches were delivered in the coffee-liouses, or in 
 tlie garden itself. An orator was ever and antm seen 
 to mount on a tabic, and, gathering a crowd around 
 him, to inllanie witb words of the greatest violence — 
 words idway.s uttered with impunity, for tlie mob 
 reigned tliere with sovereign sway. Men who were 
 sujiposed devoted to tiie Duke of Orleans showed 
 themselves the most ardent. Tlie wealth of tliat 
 prince, his known profuscness. bis enormous loans, 
 liis vicinage, his ambition, though vague, all conspired 
 to ensure his accusation. History, without dcsignat-
 
 1I18TU11Y OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 iiii? individuals, ciui assert that gold was cortainly 
 distributed. If the sound part of the nation ardently 
 desired libert}', if the uneasy and sufi'ering populace 
 were disposed to agitation, and anxious to better its 
 condition, there were also instigators who sometimes 
 excited that populace, and possibly directed some of 
 its enterprises. But such an influence is not to be 
 reckoned amongst the causes of the revolution, for it 
 is not with a handful of gold and secret manoeuvres 
 that a nation of twenty-five millions of men is stunu- 
 lated to action. 
 
 An occasion for troubles soon presented itself. The 
 French guards, chosen troops destined to form the 
 king's guard, were at Paris. Four companies were 
 alternately detached, and proceeded to do duty at 
 Versailles. In addition to the extreme severity of the 
 new discipline, these troops had also reason to com- 
 plain of that of tlieir colonel. During the pillage of 
 Reveillon's house, tliey had indeed exhibited some 
 ferocity against the people, but had afterwards been 
 touched with remorse on that account, and, muigiing 
 every day ^vith the citizens, they had yielded to their 
 blandishments. Furthermore, soldiers and sub-oiflcers 
 felt that every chance of promotion was closed against 
 them; they were irritated at s(;eing their young 
 ofiicers perform scarcely any duty, appear only on 
 days of parade, and after the reviews not even accom- 
 pany them to barracks. There was in the army, as well 
 as in civil life, a third-estate, wliich bore all burdens 
 and participated in no benefit. A spirit of disobe- 
 dience was not long in being manifested, and some of 
 the guards were imprisoned in the Abbaye. 
 
 A general rush ensued to the Palais-Royal : " To 
 the Abbai/e!" was the universal shout; and the multi- 
 tude hastened thither. Its gates were forced, and the 
 soldiers being released, were borne away in triumph. 
 (30th June.) Whilst the people were guarding them 
 at the Palais-Royal, a letter was ^vritten to the as- 
 sembly, demanding their liberty. Placed between the 
 people on the one hand and the government on the 
 other, which was suspected, since it evinced a resolu- 
 tion to act in its own cause, the assembly coidd not 
 avoid interfering, and conmiitting an encroachment 
 by taking part in a matter of public police. Adopt- 
 ing a course at once adroit and prudent, it expressed 
 to the Parisians its wishes for the maintenance of 
 good order, recommending them not to disturb it ; and 
 ut the same time sent a deputation to the king, to 
 implore his clemency, as the infidiible means of re- 
 storing concord and tranquillity. The king, moved 
 by the moderation of the assembly, promised clemency 
 when order should be re-established. The French 
 guards were inmiediately conducted back to prison, 
 and a royal pardon set them forthwith at liberty. 
 
 All was going well up to this time ; but the nobility, 
 when coalescing with the two orders, had succuml>ed 
 with reluctance, and on the promise that the junction 
 siiould be of short duration. The order still met 
 every day, and entered into protests against the opera- 
 tions of the national assembly : its numbers, however, 
 progressively dwindled: on the 3d July it counted 
 138 members present, on the 10th oidy 93, and on 
 the nth 80. Nevertheless, the most obstinate had 
 persisted, and on the 11th had resolved on a protest, 
 which ulterior events prevented them from drawing 
 ujx The court, on its part, had not yielded without 
 regret, nor witbout designs in view. Emerging from 
 its consternation after the sitting of the i3d June, it 
 liad urged the general junction with the idea of shack- 
 ling the progrciss of the assembly by means of the 
 iioltles, and with the liope of soon dissolving the union 
 by main force. Necker hatl been retained merely to 
 cover by his presence the secret plots that were hatch- 
 ing. From a cert;un appearance of agitation, and 
 from the reserve evinced towards him, he suspected 
 some grand machination. The king himself was not 
 informed of all tliat w;is projected; and it wa.s doubt- 
 less intended to go farther than he was thought likely 
 
 to sanction. Necker, who imagined that the entire 
 action of a statesman should be limited to reasoning, 
 and whose vigour was precisely of that order which 
 expends itself in representations, proffered them to 
 the smallest possible purpose. In conjunction with 
 Mounier, Lally-Tolendal, and Clermont -Tonnerre, he 
 meditated the establishment of the English constitu- 
 tion. Meanwhile, the court pursued its secret pre- 
 parations ; and the noble deputies having expressed 
 a determination to withdraw, they were detained by 
 cheering intimations of an approaching event. 
 
 Troops were drawing near; the old Marshal de 
 Broglie had been named to the command in chief, and 
 the Baron de Besenval had received the particiUar 
 command of those which surrounded Paris. Fifteen 
 regiments, for the most part foreign, were in the vici- 
 nity of the capital. The boasting of the courtiers 
 revealed the danger, and those conspirators, somewhat 
 too prompt in tlieir menaces, compromised their own 
 schemes. The popular deputies, acquainted, not with 
 all the details of a plan which v/as not yet fidly mi- 
 masked, and which the king himself knew but par- 
 tially, still with enough to excite apprehensions of 
 intended violence, were higlily exasperated, and looked 
 around for means of resistance. It is unknown, and 
 will probably for ever remain unknown, what share 
 secret arrangements had in the insurrection of the 
 14th July ; but the matter is of trifling moment. The 
 aristocracy were plotting, and the popular party might 
 very naturally plot also. The means employed being 
 the same, the oidy question is as to the justice of the 
 cause ; and justice was assuredly not with those who 
 desired to subvert the union of the orders, to dissolve 
 the national representation, and wreak vengeance on 
 its most courageous deputies. 
 
 Mirabeau conceived that the surest means of inti- 
 midating the court was to compel it to a public dis- 
 cussion of the measures which it was palpably pro- 
 jecting. For this purpose it was necessary to make a 
 public denunciation. If it hesitated to answer, if it 
 evaded the subject, it was convicted, and the nation 
 was apprised and roused. 
 
 Mirabeau caused the labours upon the constitution 
 to be suspended, and moved that the king be requested 
 to witluh-aw the troops. lie mingled in his speech 
 sentiments of respect for the monarch, with the most 
 severe invectives against the government. He said 
 that every day fresh troops were advancing; that all 
 the conmmnicatioiis were intercepted, the bridges and 
 walks changed into military posts ; that both noto- 
 rious and secret facts, hurried orders and counter- 
 orders, struck all eyes, and announced war. Adding 
 bitter reproaches to these details, he exclaimed, 
 " Tliey bring more soldiers to intimidate the nation 
 than an enemy would probably encounter upon an 
 invasion, and a thousand times more, at least, than 
 they were able to collect in aid of friends, martyrs to 
 tlieir fidelity, and especially to maintain that alliance 
 with the Dutch, so valuable, so dearly acquired, and 
 so shamefidly lost." 
 
 His discourse was greeted with enthusiastic ap- 
 plause, and the address he proposed instantly iidopted, 
 modified only in one particular. When soliciting the 
 removal of the troops, Mirabeau had ju-oposed that 
 they should be replaced by burgher guards, which 
 paragraph was struck out. The address was then 
 voted, only four voices dissenting. In this still cele- 
 brated document, which it is said he did not himself 
 (■ompose, but had furnished all its ideas to one of his 
 friends, Mirahejui predicted almast all that was about 
 to luippeii ; the insurrection of the nudtitude, and the 
 defection of the troops from their friendly intercourse 
 with the citizens. As. bold as he was sagacious, he 
 dared to assure the king that his promises shoidd not 
 be vain. " You have called us," said he, "to regene- 
 rate the kingdom ; your intentions sludl be fulfilled in 
 spite of .snares, difiicidties, perils," &c. 
 
 The address was presented by a deputation of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 45 
 
 twenty-foiir members. The kinp, declining to explain 
 himself, replied that this assembling of troops had no 
 other olyect than the maintenance of public tranquil- 
 lity, and the protection due to the assembly ; and that, 
 moreover, if that body had still any apprehensions, he 
 •would transfer it to Soissons or Noyon, and go himself 
 to Compiegne. 
 
 The assembly could scarcely feel satisfaction at such 
 a reply, especially at the offer to remove it to a dis- 
 tance from the capital, and plant it between two camps. 
 The Count de CriUon argued that implicit faith shoidd 
 be placed on the word of a king and an honest man. 
 " The word of an honest king," retorted Mirabeau, 
 " is but a sad guarantee for the conduct of his mini- 
 stry' ; our blind confidence in our kings has been our 
 ruin : we asked the retreat of the troops, and not our 
 fliglit before them. We must still insist on that mea- 
 sure without a moment's relaxation," 
 
 This opinion was not supported. Mirabeau suffi- 
 ciently urged open operations to induce his secret 
 machinations to be pardoned, if it be true that any 
 such were employed. 
 
 Necker had repeatedly told the king that if his 
 services were disagreeable to him, he would cheerfully 
 resign. " I rely upon your word," the king had upon 
 such occasions replied. On the afternoon of the 11th 
 July, Necker received a note, in which the king called 
 upon him to keep his word ; urged him to depart ; 
 and added, that he had sufficient confidence in him to 
 hope that he would conceal his departure from all the 
 world. Necker, justifying the honourable confidence 
 of the monarch, set off without saying a word to his 
 friends, or even to his daughter, and in a few hours 
 was several leagues from Versailles. The next day, 
 12th July, was a Sunday. A rumour was spread at 
 Paris that Necker had been dismissed, as also Mont- 
 morin, La Luzerne, Puysegur, and St Priest. As their 
 successors, were announced De Breteuil, La Vauguyon, 
 De Broghe, Foidon, and Damccort, almost all notorious 
 for their opposition to the popular cause. Alarm became 
 predominant in Paris. The Palais-Royal was thronged. 
 A young man, afterwards known for his republican en- 
 thusiasm, naturally of a tender but excitable tempera- 
 ment, Camille-Desraoulins, sprang upon a table, drew 
 forth pistols, with an exhortation to ann, tore a leaf 
 from a tree, which he converted into a cockade, and 
 induced every one to follow his example. The trees were 
 instantaneously stripped, and the crowd repaired to a 
 museum containing busts in wax. They seized upon 
 those of Necker and the Duke of Orleans, who was 
 said to be menaced with exile, and then spread them- 
 selves over the quarters of Paris. This mob was pass- 
 ing along the street St Honore, when it met near the 
 sqiaare Vendonie a detachment of the royal German 
 regiment, which fell upon it, wounded several i>ersons, 
 and amongst otliers a soldier of the French giiards. 
 The latter, already disposed in favour of the people 
 and against the royal Germans, with which regiment 
 they had had a contest some days before, were 
 quartered near tlie square Louis XV., and now fired 
 upon their opponents. The Prince de Lambesc^ who 
 (•ommanded the royal German regiment, immediately 
 moved back upon the garden of the Tuileries, charged 
 tlio peaceable crov.d walking there, killed an old man 
 in the tunuilt, and cleared the garden. 
 
 In the mean time, the troops which surrounded 
 Paris concentrated on the field of IMars and the square 
 of Louis XV. The alarm then became unboiind(>d, 
 and changed to fury. The people ruslied througli tlie 
 town with cries of " To orvus!" Tlie town-hall was 
 beset with applications for weajions. Tlic eJectors 
 composing tlie gent'ral assembly were colitu'ted there. 
 1'hey yielded the arms they had no jiower to refns(>, 
 and which M-ere already seized, indeed, wlien they de- 
 cided upon delivering them. Th(!se electors formed 
 at that moment the only constituted authority. De- 
 prived of all active power, they assimied such func- 
 tions as circumstances required, and now sunnnoned 
 
 a convocation of the districts. All the citizens re- 
 paired thither to delil)erate upon the means of jjre- 
 serving themselves — on the one hand, from the fury 
 of the multitude, and on the other, from the attack 
 of the royal troops. During the night, the pojiulace, 
 always attracted to what chiefly interests it, forced 
 and burned the barriers,* put the keepers to flight, 
 and threw all the avenues open and free. The shops 
 of the gimsmiths were also broken into and rifled. 
 Those brigands, already signalised by their activity 
 at Reveillon's, and who were seen on all occasions 
 starting forth as if from the bowels of the earth, now 
 made their appearance, armed with pikes and clubs, 
 and carried terror into all quarters. These events 
 occurred in the course of Smiday the 12th July, and 
 during the night following. On Monday morning, the 
 electors, still sitting at the town-hall, deemed it expe- 
 dient to give a more legal aspect to their authority, 
 and consequently dispatched an invitation to the 
 provost of the trades,f the ordinary administrator of 
 the city. This functionary would not consent to join 
 them, except upon a formal requisition. This was 
 complied with, and a certain mmiber of electors was 
 united with him, thus composing a municix^ality in- 
 vested with all necessary powers. This municipality 
 smnmoned the lieutenant of police before it, and in a 
 few hours digested a plan of enrolment for a burgher 
 militia. 
 
 This militia was to be composed of 48,000 men, 
 furnished by the districts. The distinguishing symlx)l 
 selected was the Parisian cockade, red and blue, in- 
 stead of the green one of DesmouUns. Every person 
 found in arms and wearing this cockade, without 
 having been enrolled by his district in the burgher 
 guard, was ordered to be arrested, disanned, and 
 puni.ihed. Such was the origin of the national guards. 
 This plan was adopted by all the districts, and they 
 hastened to put it in execution. In the course of the 
 same morning, the popiilace had phmdered the con- 
 vent of Saint Lazarus in search of corn, and luul like- 
 wise broken into the garde-meubJe, or armoury, in pur- 
 suit of arms, the antique and curious weapons with 
 which it was stored being torn dovra and carried off. 
 A motley crew, bearing helmets and pikes of by-gone 
 times, issued forth and overspread the town. The 
 populace showed itself upon this occasion o2')posed to 
 robbery ; with its usual fickleness, it affected disin- 
 terestedness, leaving money untouched, taking nothing 
 but arms, and even assisting to ap^jrehend the brigands. 
 The French guards and soldiers of the watch had 
 offered their services, and they were accordingly en- 
 rolled in the burgher guard. 
 
 More arms were still demanded Avith loud shouts. 
 The provost, Flesselles, who had at first refused to 
 co-ox>erate with his fellow-citizens, now evinced great 
 zed, and promised 12,000 muskets that very day, and 
 an iulditional number for tlie succeeding days. He 
 asserted that he had made a contract with an unnamed 
 gun-manufacturer, 'i'lie thing ai)i)earetl iniiimbable, 
 considering the shortness of the time that h;ul elapsed. 
 However, towards evening, tlie chests of arms an- 
 nounced by Flesselles were conveyed to the town-hall ; 
 they were eagerly oj)ened, and found to be full of old 
 linen. At this unexpected disappointment, the mul- 
 titude growled indignantly at the provost, who stated, 
 in exculpation, that he had been deceived. To appease 
 
 * At those barriers duties were collected on ai'tieles entering 
 I'iiri.s. 
 
 t " The pn'rot.i i!cs marchniith, or provosts of the trades, wero 
 ofiiecrs of the hi>;hist :iiiti(iuity. In l.Ti7, they pureliiiHcd, in eon- 
 jiinetion with t\\v I'clieviitJi, or municipal magistrates, tlie house 
 whore, in ancient times, the dauphins resided, called Maison de 
 Urevc, which gave the name of Vliicc. ilc G/vir to the area on 
 which it stood ; and on the site of that imd some others round it 
 they afterwards built the liotd-di-vilk, or tt)wn-housc. Thi> 
 provost was .appointed by tlie king, sometimes for two years, or 
 renewed every year at his pleasure." — Ucrtn'nd rf< MokrilU't 
 /tiinah <i/llie Kevolitliun, vo!. i. p. 127.
 
 4(i 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 them further, he directed them to the Carthusian 
 monastery, with the assurance that they would tind 
 arms there. The astomided monks received the infu- 
 riated rabble, led tliem through their quiet domicile, 
 and convinced them that they possessed no such 
 articles as had been mentioned by tlie provost. 
 
 The people, more exasperated than ever, retiirned 
 with cries of treacher}-. To satisfy them, the fabri- 
 cation of 50,000 pikes was forthwith ordered. Some 
 bar>'els of powder destined for Versailles were descend- 
 ing the Seine in boats ; these were seized, and an elector 
 distributed the contents amidst the greatest danger. 
 
 Horrible confusion prevailed at this same town-hall, 
 the seat of the authorities, tlie head-quarters of tlie 
 militia, and the centre of all operations. Simultaneous 
 demands were made on aU in authority to provide for 
 external security menaced liy the court, for internal 
 security menaced by the brigands, for calmiug the 
 suspicions of the people, who thought themselves every 
 instant betrayed, and for saving from their fury those 
 who were the objects of their distrust. Around the 
 hall were accumulated arrested carriages, intercepted 
 convoys of waggons, and travellers waiting for per- 
 mission to resume their journey. During the night, 
 it was again tln-eatened by the brigands ; an elector, 
 the valorous ZMoreau de St 3Icry, intrusted with its 
 defence, caused barrels of powder to be brouglit, and 
 threatened to blow it up. The brigands were awed 
 and withdrew. At the same time, the citizens, retired 
 to their homes, held themselves in readiness for all 
 attacks ; they had unpaved the streets, dug trenches, 
 and taken aU possible measures for resisting a siege. 
 
 During these troubles in the capital, the assembly 
 was a prey to the most serious alarms. On the morn- 
 ing of the 13th, the members repaired to the hall, full 
 of apprehensions for impending events, and as yet 
 ignorant of what had occurred at Paris. The deputy 
 ^lomiier was the lirst to rise and exclaim against the 
 dismissal of the ministers. Lally-Tolendal succeeded 
 him in the tribune, pronounced a splendid eulogium 
 upon Necker, and seconded Mounier's motion for an 
 address in which the king should be soUcited to recaU 
 the disgraced muiisters. A deputy of the nobility, 
 M. de Virieu, proposed to confirm the resolutions of 
 the 17th June by a fresh oatli. Clermont-Tonnerre 
 opposed this j^roposition as unnecessary ; and, recapi- 
 tulating the engagements already taken by tlie as- 
 sembly, exclaimed : " The constitution shall be, or we 
 shall be no more !" The discussion was proceecUng 
 when infoi-mation was brought of the (Msturbances at 
 Paris on the morning of the 13th, and the evUs with 
 which the capital was threatened, between undisci- 
 pHned Frenchmen, who, according to the expression 
 of the Duke de Larochefoucauld, were in tlie hands of 
 no one, and disciplined foreigners who were in the 
 hands of despotism. It was instantly resolved to send 
 a deputation to tlie king, for the purpose of laying 
 before liim the desolation of his capital, and entreating 
 him to order the withdi-awal of the troops and the 
 enrolment of burgher guards. The king returned a 
 cold and trantjuil answer, little in accordance with 
 his real feelings, and repeated that it was not possible 
 for Paris to guard itself. Thereupon the assembly, 
 exalted by the noblest heroism, passed a memorable 
 resolution, in which it insisted upon the removal of 
 the troops and the establishment of burgher guards, 
 declared the ministers and all the agents of power 
 personally responsible, put upon the ccjmisellors of the 
 king, of ichatevcr rank they ml(jht he, the responsibility 
 of the misfortunes which imjjended ; consolidated the 
 public debt, denounced the utterance of the execral)le 
 word bankruptcy, re-asserted its preceding resolu- 
 tions, and ordained the president to convey its regret 
 to M. Necker, as also to tlie other ministers (hsplaced. 
 After these measures, so indicative of prudence and 
 energy, the assembly, in order to preserve its members 
 from all personal violence, declared itself permanent, 
 and named M. de Lafayette vice-president, for the 
 
 purpose of reUeving the estimable Archbishop of 
 Vienne, whom his age did not aUow to sit both day 
 and night. 
 
 The night between the 13th and 14th was thus 
 passed amidst excitement and alarm. Every instant 
 some dismal intelligence was announced and contra- 
 dicted. Though all the projects of the court were not 
 fathomed, it was nevertheless sufiiciently notorious 
 that several deputies were threatened ; that violence 
 was about to be employed against Paris and the most 
 distinguished members of the assemblj'. Suspended 
 for a fleeting interval, the sitting was resumed at five 
 in the morning of the 14th. With an imposing and 
 tridy dignified composure, the assembly returned to 
 its labom's on the constitution, and discussed with 
 infinite judgment the means of accelerating its exe- 
 cution, and preparing for it with prudence. A com- 
 mittee was named to frame the resolutions, composed 
 of the Bishop of Autiin, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, 
 Lallv, Clermont-Tonnerre, iMoimier, Sieyes.CliapeUer, 
 and Bergasse. The morning thus elapsed. Rumours 
 more and more sinister were brought to the assembly; 
 the king, it was said, would leave that niglit, and the 
 assembly remain at the mercy of foreign regiments. 
 The queen, the princes, and tlie Duchess of Polignac, 
 had just been seen walking in the Orangery, cajoling 
 the officers and soldiers, and ordering them refresh- 
 ments. It appears that a gi-and scheme was prepared 
 for the night of the 14th and IStli ; tliat Paris was to 
 be attacked at seven points, the Palais-Royal sur- 
 rounded, the assembly dissolved, and the declaration 
 of the 23d June carried to the parliament The 
 exigencies of the treasury were to be sm-moimted by 
 bankruptcy and state-notes. It is certain that the 
 commanders of the troops had received orders to 
 advance on the 14tli ; that the state-notes had been 
 fabricated ; that the barracks of the Swiss were fiUed 
 with munitions of war ; and that the governor of the 
 Bastille had removed a variety of articles, leaving in 
 the place only some indispensable pieces of furniture. 
 In the afternoon the terrors of tlie assembly were re- 
 doubled ; the Prince de Lambesc had been seen pass- 
 ing at full gallop ; the distant noise of a cannonade was 
 heard, and the members laid their ears to the ground 
 to catch the faintest soimds. Mirabeau moved that all 
 further debate be suspended, and a second deputation 
 be sent to the king. The deputation immediately set 
 out to make fresh representations. At this moment, 
 two members of the assembly, just arrived in all haste 
 from Paris, brought intelligence that slaughter was at 
 work in that city ; one of them asseverated that lie 
 had seen a corpse with its head off, and wrapped in 
 black. The night was beginning to fall, when the 
 arrival of two electors was announced. The deepest 
 stillness reigned in the hall ; the noise of their steps 
 was heard amid the darkness ; and from their mouths 
 was learnt that the Bastille had been attacked, cannon 
 fired, and blood shed, and that the most frightful 
 calamities threatened to ensue. A new deputation 
 was immediately named before the preceding one had 
 returned. Whilst preparing to depart, the first an-ived 
 and brought back an answer from the king. He had 
 ordered, he said, the removal of tlie troops encamped 
 in the field of Mars to a greater distance, and having 
 been infonned of the formation of burgher guards, he 
 had nominated officers to command them. 
 
 L'pon the ai-rival of the second deputation, the 
 king, in great agitation, had addressed it in these 
 words : " Gentlemen, you tear my heart more and 
 more by the account you give me of the calamities of 
 Paris. It is not possible that the orders given to the 
 troops can liave caused them." Onl\- the removal of 
 the army to a greater distance had been as yet ob- * 
 tained. It was two hours after midnight. The 
 answer given to the citj' of Paris imported " that two 
 dcjjutations had been sent, and that the remonstrances 
 would be renewed the next day until they met with 
 that success which was to be justly anticipated from
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 47 
 
 the heart of the king, when its impulses should be no 
 longer controlled by fatal counsels." The sitting Avas 
 suspended for a short period, and in the interim the 
 events of the 14th July were made fully known. 
 
 The people, so early as the night of the 13th, had 
 congregated about the Bastille ; some shots had been 
 fired, and it seems that instigators had repeatedly 
 shouted out, " To the Bastille ! " But the ■\sash for its 
 destruction was expressed in several of the deputies' 
 instructions, so that the pubhc mind had evidently 
 taken that direction at first, without any prompting. 
 There was still a continual demand for arms. A 
 report was spread that the Hotel des Invalides con- 
 tained a considerable depot. The people immediately 
 flocked to that building. The governor, M. de Som- 
 breuil, defended its entrance, saying that he must 
 send for orders to Versailles. The crowd would listen 
 to no such proposition, but at once rushed pell-mell 
 into the hospital, and bore away the cannons and a 
 great nmnber of muskets. A considerable concourse 
 was already in array against the BastiUe. The in- 
 surgents alleged that the gims of the castle were 
 pointed upon the town, and that they must be pre- 
 vented from firing upon it. The deputy of a dis- 
 trict stepped forward, and asked permission to inspect 
 the fortress, which the commandant accorded. When 
 admitted inside, he found thirty -two Swiss and eighty- 
 two invalids, and took the word of the garrison not to 
 fire unless attacked. Durmg this parley, the people 
 began to be uneasy and vociferous at not seeing their 
 deputy return, and he was obliged to show himself 
 from the ramparts to appease theiu. About eleven in 
 the morning he withdrew. Half an hour had scarceh^ 
 elapsed before a fresh crowd arrived in arms, rending 
 the air with shouts of '• We'll have the BastiUe ! " 
 The garrison summoned the assailants to retire, but 
 they paid no heed to the warning. Two men mounted 
 with great intrexiidity to the roof of the guard-house, 
 and severed with their axes the chains of the draw- 
 bridge, which accordingly fell. The crowd rushed 
 precipitately along it, and onwards to a second bridge. 
 At this moment a discharge of musketry arrested 
 their com-se ; in a few seconds they recoiled, but re- 
 tiu-ning the fire. The contest was thus maintained 
 for a short interval. Tlie electors, sitting at the town- 
 hall, were greatly alarmed when they heard the 
 rei)ort of the musketry, and sent forth two deputa- 
 tions, one after the other, to induce the governor to 
 allow a detachment of the Parisian militia to be in- 
 troduced into the fortress, on the ground that all the 
 military force in Paris should be mider the control of 
 the city. These two deputations successively made 
 their appearance on the scene of action. But it was 
 extremely difficidt to obtain a hearing amidst a siege 
 conducted by popular undisciphned bands. The beat- 
 ing of a drum and the hoisting of a flag succeeded in 
 suspending the fire for a time. The deputies advanced ; 
 the garrison listened to them ; but it was impossible 
 to make mutual explanations amidst the din. Shots 
 were fired, from what quarter is unknown. The people, 
 convinced that treachery was intended, ran forward 
 to set the castle on fire : the garrison thereupon fired 
 with grai)e-shot. The French guards came up with 
 cannon, and commenced an attack in form. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing, a letter addressed 
 by the Baron de Bcsenval to Delaunay, the governor 
 of the Bastille, was intercepted and read at the town- 
 hall. In this epistle Bescnval urged Delaunay to hold 
 out, assuring him that succours would be s])ee(li]y 
 sent to him. It was on the evening of that day, in 
 i'act, that the plans of the court were appointed for 
 execution. In tJie mean time, Delaunay, perceiving 
 no prospect of assistance, and oljserving the reckless 
 daring of the people, seized a lighted matcli, with the 
 intonticm of blowmg up the forti'ess. The garrison 
 opposed the desperate resolution, and compelled him 
 to surrender. The signals were given, and a bridge 
 U)wered. The besiegers approached, promising to 
 
 commit no mischief; but the crowd rushed tumul- 
 tuously forward, and filled the courts. The Swiss 
 succeeded in saving themselves. The invalids were 
 assailed, and only wrested from the fury of the mob 
 by the exertions of the French guards. At this 
 moment a yomig and beautifid girl, trembling Avith 
 terror, presented herself; she was imagined to be the 
 daughter of Delamiay ; the ruffians seized upon her, 
 and she Avas about to be burnt, when a heroic soldier 
 precipitated himself amongst the crew of wTctches, 
 tore her from their grasp, bore her to a place of safety, 
 and then returned to the scene of commotion. 
 
 It Avas now half-past five. The electors Avere in a 
 state of distressing anxiety, when they heard a didl 
 and prolonged murmur. An excited multitude ap- 
 proached Avith cries of A'ictory. The hall in Avhich 
 they Avere sitting Avas speedily thronged, and a French 
 guardsman, covered Avith Avoimds and croAvned Avith 
 laurel, Avas carried in triumph on the shoulders of the 
 croAvd. The ndes and ke^'s of the BastOle were borne 
 on the point of a bayonet ; a bloody hand raised above 
 the heads of the popidace exhibited to a^cav the tail 
 of a peruke ; it Avas that of Delamiay's, whose head 
 had been just struck off. Tavo of the guards, Elie 
 and Hullin, had defended him to the last extremity. 
 Other victims had fallen, tliough heroically protected 
 against the ferocity of the populace. A sort of 
 maddened fury began to explode agamst FlesseUes, the 
 provost of the trades, who was accused of treachery. 
 It was alleged that he had deceived the people, by re- 
 peatedly promising them arms, Avhich he nevertheless 
 withheld. The hall was full of men exasperated with 
 a long contest, and pressed by thousands of ethers 
 who, clustered around the building, stroA'e to enter in 
 their tiirn. The electors made an efibrt to justify 
 FlesseUes in the eyes of the multitude. He began 
 to lose his presence of nnnd, and, his countenance 
 pale with terror, exclaimed, " Since I am suspected, I 
 Avill withdraAv." " No," Avas shouted in reply ; " come 
 to the Palais-Royal to be tried." He then descended 
 to repair thither. The croAvd gave way, surromided 
 and closed upon him. When he had reached the 
 Pelletier quay, an unknoAvn hand laid him prostrate 
 Avith a pistol-bullet. It Avas asserted that a letter had 
 been fomid on Delaimay, in Avhich FlesseUes wrote 
 to him, " Hold out, AvhUst I amuse the Parisians with 
 cockades." 
 
 Such were the dismal occurrences of that day. An 
 emotion of terror soon succeeded the intoxication of 
 success. The conquerors of the Bastille, petrified at 
 their OAvn avidacit}', and anticipating the speedy ven- 
 geance of outraged authority, Avere afraid to confess 
 their participation in the exploit. Every instant 
 rimiom-s were rife that troops Avere advancing to sack 
 Paris. Moreau de St Merj-, the same Avho the day be- 
 fore had threatened the brigands to blow up the toAvn- 
 haU, remained unshaken amidst the panic, and issued 
 upAvards of three thousand orders in a fcAv hours. As 
 soon as the conquest of the Bastille was knoAvn at the 
 toum-haU, the electors had sent to inform the assembly 
 of the fact, and the intelligence reached Versailles in 
 the middle of the night. The assembly Avas not sitting 
 at the moment, but the ncAvs Avas quickly spread 
 abroad. Hitlierto the court, disbclicA'ing in the energy 
 of the ]ieoi)le, and contemning the efforts of an igno- 
 rant nndtitude directed against a fortress A'ainly be- 
 sieged by tlie great Conde in former times, had sat 
 perfectly tranquil, indulging in lightsome raillery. The 
 king, however, bad begun to feel some uneasiness; 
 his last answers had rcA'caled his anguish. He had 
 retired to bed when the final catastroi)he was pro- 
 claimed in Versailles. The Duke de I-iancourt, so 
 (listinguislied for his noble sentiments, Avas the inti- 
 mate iriend of Louis XVI., and from his office of 
 gr:md-master of the wardrolie, had always access to 
 his person. Wiien apprised of tlie events at Paris, 
 he repaired in all haste to the monarch, awakened 
 him in spite of his ministers, and informed hmi ol
 
 4o 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRE>X'n REVOLUTION. 
 
 what had passed. " Wliat, a revolt ! " exclaimed the 
 kmg. " Sire," replied the Duke de Liancourt, " rather 
 say, revolution." The king, moved hy his represen- 
 tations, consented to go in the morning to the assem- 
 bly. The court ;dso surrendered ; and this act of 
 confidence was resolved upon. In the interval, the 
 assembly had resumed its sitting. The new disposi- 
 tions wherewith the king had been inspired were un- 
 known, and it was determined to send a last deputation 
 to him, with the view of a]>peahng to his feelings, 
 and obtaining from him iill that still remained to be 
 granted. This was the fifth deputation smce the 
 commencement of these disastrous events. It was 
 comijosed of twenty-four members, and was abt)ut to 
 leave the hall, when Mirabeau, rising with greater 
 vehemence than ever, stojjped it. " Tell the king," 
 he exclaimed, " tell him without quailing, that tlie 
 foreigTi liordes with which we are encompassed were 
 yesterday visited by the prmces and the princesses, 
 and their parasites of both sexes, who lavished upon 
 them caresses, exhortations, and bribes. Tell him, 
 furthermore, that all night these foreign myrmidons, 
 gorged with gold and wine, have foretold in tlieir im- 
 pious carols the subjection of France, and that tlicir 
 brutal prayers were raised for the destruction of the 
 national assembly. And tell him that in his own 
 piilace his courtiers danced to the sounds of that fero- 
 cious music, and that sucli was the prelude to the St 
 Bartholomew ! Tell hira, in fine, that the Henry whose 
 memory the universe reveres, he of all liis forefathers 
 whose model he Avould take, allt)wed provisions to 
 pass into Paris in rebellion, when besieged by himself; 
 and that his ferocious comisellors drive back the sup- 
 jilies that commerce bears to Paris when faithful and 
 famislied." 
 
 The deputation was then proceeding to the palace, 
 when intelligence arrived that the king was on the 
 way, of his own will, without guards and without 
 escort. Shouts of applause rang through the ludl. 
 " Walt," resumed Mirabeau, with gravity, " until the 
 king has communicated to us his gracious intentions. 
 Let solemn reverence be tlie only welcome accorded 
 to the monarch in this moment of affliction. The 
 silence of nations is awful to kings." 
 
 Louis XVI. then i)resented himself, accompanied 
 by his two brothers. His benignant and aflecting 
 discourse roused the greatest enthusiasm. He calmed 
 tlie ajiprehensions of the assembly, which he called 
 for the first time the national assembly, and complained 
 witli mildness of the suspicions that had been enter- 
 tained. " You have been alarmed," he said ; " and now 
 it is I who put my trust in you." These words were 
 received with the most animated plaudits. The depu- 
 ties immediately arose, surromided the monarch, and 
 re-conducted him on foot to the ]ialace. The crowd 
 pressed around him, tears stood in all eyes, and he 
 could scarcely thread his way through his numerous 
 escort. The queen, seated on a balcony with the 
 court, contemplated at achstance this touching scene. 
 ller son was in her arms, and her daughter, standing 
 at her side, was carelessly playing with the locks of 
 her brother. Tlie queen, greatly luoved, beheld with 
 visible complacency these proofs of Frenchmen's affec- 
 tion. Alas! how often a reciprocal emotion reconciled 
 hearts during those frightful discords ! For an instant 
 aU seemed forgotten ; but on the morrow, on that very 
 day, the court was restored to its pride, tlie people to 
 their distrust, and implacable hatred resumed its sway. 
 
 Peace was thus concluded with the assembly, but 
 it remained to be niiide with Paris. Tlie asseml)ly 
 forthwith sent a deputation to the town-hall, to bear 
 the news of the happy reconciliation eflectcd with the 
 king. Bailly, Lafayette, and Lally-Tolcudal, were in 
 the number of the envoys. Their presence caused 
 the liveliest demonstrations of joy. The speech of 
 Lally-Tolendal aroused transports so ardent, that he 
 was carried in triumj)h to a window of tlie town-hall 
 to be shown tii the people. A garland of How crs was 
 
 placed upon his head, and he received this homage in 
 front of the very square in which Ids father had died 
 with a gag upon his lips. The death of the \mfortu- 
 nate Flesselles, head of the municipality, and the 
 refusal of the Duke d'Aumont to accept the command 
 of the burgher militia, left a provost and a commander- 
 in-chief for nomination. Bailly was proposed, and, 
 amidst the loudest and heartiest acclamations, was 
 named successor of Flesselles, under the title of 
 " Mayor of Paris." The garland which had been on 
 the head of Lally was placed on that of the new 
 mayor ; he attempted to remove it, but the Archbishop 
 of Paris kept it on in spite of him. The eyes of the 
 virtuous old man filled with tears, and he resigned liim- 
 self to his novel functions. The dignified representa- 
 tive of a great assembly, in presence of all the majesty 
 of the throne, he was less capable of ruling amid the 
 storms of a large city, where the multitude was in- 
 cessantly rising with timiultuary violence against 
 the magistrates. Setting aside, however, all personai 
 thoughts, he proceeded to devote himself to the diffi- 
 cult Libours of providing food, and subsisting a people 
 destined to repay him with so much ingratitude. A 
 commander of the militia remained to be named. In 
 the hall stood a bust which had been presented by 
 emancipated America to the city of Paris. Moreau 
 de Saint Mery stretched out his arm towards it, and 
 all eyes followed in the direction : it was the bust of 
 the Marquis de Lafayette. An universal shout pro- 
 claimed him commander. A Te Ueum was imme- 
 diately voted ; and all passed in a crowd from the 
 toAvn-hall to the cathedral of Notre-Dame. The new 
 magistrates, the Archbishop of Paris, the electors, 
 mingled with tlie French guafds and the soldiers of 
 the militia, marching arm in ann, proceeded to the 
 venerable edifice in a sort of intoxicated rapture. On 
 the road, some foundling children fell at the feet of 
 Bailly, wlio had signalised himself by exertions for 
 the hospitals ; tlie,y saluted him as their father, and 
 Bailly ]iressed them in his arms, calling them his chil- 
 dren. They reached the church ; the ceremony was 
 celebrated, and the congregation afterwards overspread 
 the city, in which a delirium of gladness had succeeded 
 the gloomy terrors of the eve. At that moment, the 
 people went to visit the cavern, so feared for ages, the 
 entrance to which was now thrown open. The Bastille 
 was traversed with eager curiosity and a feeling of 
 awe. Instruments of torture and deep dungeons were 
 gazed upon with shudders. The chief object of attrac- 
 tion was an enormous stone placed in the middle of a 
 dark and swampy cell, to the centre of which was fixed 
 a jionderous chain. 
 
 The court, as blind in its fears as it had been in its 
 presumption, Avas so dreadfully alarmed at tlie idea of 
 the people, that it imagined every moment a Parisian 
 army was marching on VersaiUes. The Count d'Artois 
 and the family of Polignac, so dear to the queen, now 
 quitted France, and were the first emigrants. Bail>y 
 waited on the king, to re-animate liis drooping courage, 
 and prevail on him to visit Paris, which joiu-ney was 
 resolved on in spite of the opposition of the queen and 
 the court. 
 
 The king prepared to depart. Two hundred deputies 
 were nominated to accompany him. The queen bade 
 him farewell in a strain of profound affliction. The 
 body-guards escorted him as far as Sevres, where they 
 awaited his return. Bailly, at the head of the muni- 
 cipality, receiv(>d him at the gates of Paris, and pre- 
 sented' to him the keys formerly brought to Henry 
 IV. " That good king," said Bailly to Louis XVI., 
 " had gained his people; to-day it is the people who 
 have regained their king." The nation, simply legis- 
 lative at \'ersailles, was armed at Paris. Upon his 
 entrance, Louis saw himself encompassed by a multi- 
 tude, preserving a solemn silence, and drawn up in 
 regimental order. He reached the town-hall, passing 
 under an archway of swords crossed above his head, 
 as a mark of honour. The speech he delivered was
 
 i 
 
 . 
 
 A ftillarton 8; d Lanioa fc Kdmbni^i
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 49 
 
 simple and affecting. The people, unable longer to 
 restrain themselves, broke out at last, and lavished 
 upon tlie king their usual acclamations. These in 
 some degree relieved the prince's anxiety, though he 
 could not conceal an emotion of joy when he again 
 beheld the body-guards stationed on the heights of 
 Sevres. On his return to Versailles, the queen, throw- 
 ing herself into his arms, embraced him as if she had 
 feared she should never see him more. 
 
 In order fully to satisfy the ])ul)lic wish, the king 
 ordered the recall of Necker, and the dismissal of the 
 new ministers. M. de Liancourt, the king's friend 
 arid trusty counsellor, was elected president of the 
 assembly. The noble deputies, M-ho, although appear- 
 ing at the debates, had hitherto refused to take part 
 in them, gave Avay at this juncture, and commenced 
 voting. Thus was the fusion of the orders accom- 
 plished. From that moment the revolution might be 
 considered as achieved. The nation, master of the 
 legislative power through the assembly, of the public 
 force through itself, was thenceforth able to realise aU 
 that was l^eneficial to its interests. The refusal to 
 render taxation equal had made the states-general 
 necessary ; tlie refusal to yield an equitalJe partition 
 of authority in these states had annihilated courtly 
 and aristocratic influence ; and finally, the attempt to 
 restore that influence had convulsed Paris, and pro- 
 voked the whole nation to seize upon the public force. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TROUBLES IN PARIS LAFAYETTE MIRABEAU PRO- 
 CEEDINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY IN FRAMING THE CON- 
 STITUTION. 
 
 All things were in commotion in the heart of the 
 capital, where a new order of authority had so lately 
 been established. The same spirit that had impelled 
 the electors into action was equally urgent with all 
 classes of men. The assembly had been followed by 
 the town-hall, the town-hall by the districts, and the 
 districts by all the incorporations ; tailors, shoemakers, 
 bakers, servants, assembling togetlier at the Louvre, 
 at the place Louis XV., or the Chami)s Elysees, 
 pursued their deliberations in form, in spite of the 
 repeated prohibitions of the municipality. Amid 
 these contrary movements, the to'wm-hall, opposed by 
 the districts, pestered by the Palais-Royal, was beset 
 with obstacles, and could witli difficiilty meet the 
 labours of its multitudinous functions. It joined within 
 itself alone the civil, judicial, and military adminis- 
 tration. The head-quarters of the militia were there 
 fixed. The judges, uncertain amidst the general con- 
 fusion as to their jurisdiction, handed over the accused 
 to it. It possessed even the legislative power, for it 
 was intrusted with the framing of its own constitution. 
 Railly had summoned two commissioners from each 
 district to effect that object, who, under the title of 
 representatives of the commune (or conmion-couucil), 
 might regulate the institution. To fulfil so many 
 duties, the electors had divided themselves into seve- 
 ral committees ; one, called the committee of inquiry, 
 took the department of the police; another, called the 
 committee of subsistence, took that of provisioning 
 Paris— a task the most diflicult and dangerous of all. 
 Bailly was oliliged to devote both day and night to 
 this latter subject. It was necessary to cffc>ct con- 
 tinual purchases of wheat; to have it ground, and 
 then to transport it to Paris througli the famished 
 rural districts. The convoys were fre<piently sto])ped ; 
 and numerous dctaclnnents were requisite to prevent 
 robberies on the road and in the markets. Although 
 the state sold the corn at a loss, in order that the 
 bakers might keep down the price of bread, the mul- 
 titude was not satisfied ; it was found necessary to 
 lower this price every day, and the scarcity at Paris 
 increased by means of this very diminution, for the 
 
 country people flocked thither to buy food. Appre- 
 hensions for the morrow induced every one to furnish 
 himself abundantly ; and tlie accuniulations in the 
 hands of some caused others to be absolutely devoid. 
 Confidence is the main impetus to commerce, brings 
 forward produce, and renders its distribution eqiial 
 and easy ; but when confidence is at an end, com- 
 mercial activity ceases ; the markets being no longer 
 supphed in anticipation of wants, those wants stimu- 
 late to exasperation, add confusion to scarcity, and 
 prevent the l)eneficial distribution of the little that is 
 exposed. Thus the care of providing subsistence was 
 the most arduous of all. The bitterest anxieties 
 preyed upon Bailly and the committee. A whole day 
 of unremitting labour scarcely suificed for tlie day's 
 necessities, and the morrow brought with it the same 
 distressing solicitude. 
 
 Lafayette, conmiander of the burgher militia,* had 
 almost as many difficulties to encounter. In this 
 militia he had incorporated the French "uards devoted 
 to the revolution, a certain number of Swiss, and a 
 great many soldiers, who deserted from the army in 
 the hope of better pay. Tlie king had himself autho- 
 rised such desertions. These miited troops composed 
 what was called the companies of the centre. The 
 militia took the name of " the national guard," assumed 
 an uniform, and added to the red and blue colours of 
 the Parisian cockade, white, which was the king's 
 colour. Thus was formed that tri-coloured cockade, 
 of which Lafayette foretold the destinies, when he 
 proclaimed that it would make the tour of the world. 
 
 It was at the head of this body that Lafayette strove 
 for two consecutive years to maintain public tranquil- 
 lity, and to secure the execution of those laws passed 
 daily by the assembly. Lafoyette, the descendant of 
 an ancient family, which had preserved its purity of 
 manners amidst the coi-ruption of the nobles, gifted 
 with an upright and firm heart, and a passion for true 
 glory, had been disgusted with tlie frivolities of the 
 court, and the pedantic discipline of the French armies. 
 His own country offering nothing to stinnilate an 
 ambition such as his, he turned to the most noble 
 enterprise of the age, and departed for America the 
 day after that on Avhich it was reported in Europe 
 that she had succumlied. He there fought by the side 
 of Washington, and decided tlie enfranchisement of 
 th.e New World hy the alliance of France. Returning 
 to his native land with an European renown, and 
 welcomed at court as a novelty, he there displaj-ed 
 the independence and simplicity of an American. 
 When philosoph,y, which had lieen but a play of wit 
 for the careless idle nobles, at Iciigtli demanded sac- 
 rifices from them, I>afayette almost alone persisted in 
 the opinions he had always professed, called for the 
 states-general, powerfully contributed to the junction 
 of the orders, and was nominated, as a recompense, 
 to the command in chief of the national guard. La- 
 fayette had neither the passions nor tlie genius which 
 frequently lead to tlie abuse of power; witli an even 
 temper, a winning address, and unswerving disinte- 
 restedness, he was especially suited for the part which 
 circumstances assigned him, namely, that of ensuring 
 the exeeution of tlie laws. Adored by his troops 
 without having cajitivated tliem by victories, calm 
 and full of resources amid tlie rngings of tiie multi- 
 tude, he maintained order with indefatigable vigilance. 
 Tlie parties which had fbuiid him incorruptible, as- 
 sailed his talents, since his character was beyond 
 attack. And yet his foresight was accurate with re- 
 gard both to events and to nieu ; he ai)])reciated, at 
 their just value, the court and tlie ]>arty-leaders ; pro- 
 tected them, at the peril of liis life, without esteeming 
 them ; and often struggled against factions almost 
 without hojie, but with the constancy of a man deter- 
 mined never to abandon the cominonwealtli, even 
 when he has lost all hoj)e for it. 
 
 * lie li.ad been iiumeil to tliis post on tlie l.^tli July, at tlu- 
 town-huU.
 
 50 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Ju spite of all his vis^ilance, Lafayette was not 
 always successful in allaying popular storms. For 
 however active force may be, it eannot be every where 
 at once against a people every where in insurrection, 
 who look upon every man in authority as an enemy. 
 Tlie most a])surd reports were spread and believed 
 each passing moment. Now it was alleged that the 
 soldiers of the French guards had been poisoned ; anon, 
 that the flour had been designedly damaged, or inter- 
 cepted on the road ; and the persons who gave them- 
 selves the greatest trouble to bring supplies to the 
 capitid were obliged to appear before an insensate 
 mob, which overwhelmed tliem with execrations or 
 applauses, according to tlie caprice of the moment. 
 At the same time, there is no doubt that the fury of 
 the popuhtce, who, generally speaking, are luiable, for 
 any length of time, to select and pursue victims, often 
 seemed directed either by wretches paid, as was said, 
 to render the troubles more serious by imbruing them 
 with blood, or simply by men of deep remorseless 
 midignity. Foulon and Berthier were pursued and 
 arrested far from Paris, under cu'cumstances which 
 left no doubt as to the intention with which they 
 were seized. There was nothing spontaneous in the 
 proceedings against tliem ; the rage of the multitude 
 which killed them alone possessed that character. 
 Foulon, a retired intendant, and a stern, avaricious man, 
 had been guilty of horrible exactions, and was also 
 one of the ministers appointed to succeed Necker and 
 his colleagues. He was taken at Viry, though he had 
 spread a report of his death. His captors conducted 
 him to Paris, reproaching him with liaving said that 
 the people ought to be made to eat hay. A wisji of 
 nettles was twisted round his neck, a bunch of thistles 
 put in his hand, and a truss of hay strapped to his 
 back, in which state he was convej'ed to the to^vn- 
 haU. At the same instant, his son-in-law, Berthier 
 de Sauvigny, was arrested at Oompiegne, upon pre- 
 tended orders from the commune (common-council) 
 of Paris, which had never Ijeen issued. The commune 
 immediately wrote, commanding his release, which 
 injunction was disregarded. He M'as dragged towards 
 Paris at the time Foidon was at the town-hall, ex- 
 posed to all the fury of the frenzied mob. They called 
 loudly for his death ; the representations of Lafayette 
 calmed them a Uttle, and they consented that Foidon 
 should be tried, but demanded that the trial shoidd 
 take place that very instant, in order to enjoy the spec- 
 tacle of an immediate execution. Some electors had 
 been named to serve as judges, but, under various 
 pretexts, had declined the terrible otBce. At length 
 BaiUy and Lafayette were designated, wJio foimd 
 themselves reduced to the distressing alternative 
 either of losing tlieir own lives from the rage of the 
 popidace, or of sacrificing a victim to appease it. 
 However, Lafayette still endeavoured, with infinite 
 address and courage, to temporise, and spoke to tlie 
 multitude several times with great effect. The 
 wretched Foulon, placed on a seat by his side, had 
 the imprudence to applaud his ccmcluding words, 
 whereupon a bystander exclaimed, " Look there, 
 they understand each other!" At this phrase tlie 
 crowd was exasperated, and rushed upon Foulon. 
 Lafayette made heroic exertions to rescue him fi-om 
 the assassins, but he was finally torn from his protec- 
 tion, and hanged to a lamp-post. His head was cut 
 off, stuck on the end of a pilce, and paraded througli 
 the streets of Paris. At this moment Berthier arrived, 
 under the conduct of guards, and surrounded by an 
 enraged multitude. He was shown tlie bleeding liead, 
 which he could not doubt was that of his father-in-law. 
 He was conducted to the town-hall, where he pro- 
 nounced a few words expressive of courage and indig- 
 nation. Seized again by the crowd, he escaped for a 
 moment from their grasp, got possession of a weapon, 
 defended himself witli desjjeration, but soon fell Uke 
 *]ie unfortunate Foulon. These murders, which were 
 perpetrated on the 22d July, were instigated by the 
 
 enemies of Foulon, or of the public welfare ; for if the 
 fury of the people were spontaneously aroused at their 
 appearance, like most of their movements, their arrest 
 had been the result of design. Lafayette, fiUed with 
 grief and indignation, resolved to give in his resigna- 
 tion. Bailly and the municipality, alarmed at this 
 design, hastened to dissuade him from its execution. 
 It was arranged that he should tender his rcsignatioa 
 as a proof of his discontent with the people, but that 
 he should allow himself to be overcome by the en- 
 treaties they would not fail to make him. In fact, tlie 
 people and the militia gathered around him, and pro- 
 mised him implicit obedience for tlie futm-e. He 
 resumed the command on those conditions ; and, 
 thenceforth, he had the satisfaction of preventing 
 numerous disorders, by means of his own energy and 
 the devoted zeal of his soldiers. 
 
 During these occurrences, Necker had received at 
 Basle the orders of the king and the assurances of the 
 assembly. The Polignacs, whom he had left trium- 
 phant at Versailles, and met as fugitives at Basle, 
 were the first froiii whom he learnt the disasters of 
 the throne, and the speedy return of faA'^our which 
 awaited him. He departed and traversed France, 
 drawn in triumph by the people, to whom he recom- 
 mended peace and good order, as was usual with him. 
 The king received him with embarrassment, the as- 
 sembly with enthusiasm ; and he detennined to proceed 
 to Paris, in order that he might there also have his 
 day of triumph. Necker was inflamed with a desire 
 to gain from the electors the jiardon and freedom of 
 the Baron de Besenval, although his enemy. It was 
 in vain that Bailly, to whom measures of severity 
 were not less abhorrent than to himself, but who 
 formed a more just appreciation of circumstances, 
 represented to him the danger of the project, and 
 assured him that such a favour, procured in a moment 
 of delirium, woidd be annulled the following day as 
 illegal, because an administrative body could neither 
 condemn nor pardon ; Neckerwasobstinatelj'lientupon 
 making a trial of his influence over the capital. He 
 repaired to the toMni-hall on the 30th July. His hopes 
 were more than accomplished, and he had some reason 
 to believe himself all-powerful, when beholding the 
 transports of the people. In great emotion, his ej'es 
 fiUed with tears, he asked for a genend amnesty, which 
 was instantlj' granted by acclamation. The two assem- 
 blies of electors and representatives exhibited equal 
 zeal ; the electors decreed the general amnesty, the 
 representatives of the commune ordered the liberation 
 of Besenval. Necker retired intoxicated with deliglit, 
 assuming to himself an enthusiasm which was simply 
 owing to his disgrace by the court. But from this 
 day forth the pleasing ckeam graduallj- vanished; 
 Mirabean was preparing to awaken him with a cruel 
 shake. In the assembly and in the districts, the cry 
 was general against the sensibility of the minister, 
 excusable, it was allowed, but sadly misplaced. The 
 district of L'Oratoire, instigated, as is confidently 
 asserted, by Mirabean, was the first to raise its voice. 
 It was maintained on all sides, tliat an administrative 
 body coidd neither condemn nor absolve. The illegal 
 measure of the town-hall was revoked, and the deten- 
 tion of the Baron de Besenval sustained. Thus the 
 prudent foresight of Bailly was proved, which Necker 
 lia<l been indiscreet enough to spurn. 
 
 Parties began, at this period, to be more distinctly 
 marked. TJie parliaments, nobles, clergy, and court, 
 all menaced with the same overthrow, had joined their 
 interests and acted in concert. Neitlier the Comit 
 d'Artois nor tlie Polignacs were any longer at court. 
 Amongst the whole body of the aristocracy, a species 
 of consternation mingled with despair reigned i)ara- 
 niount. Having vainl}' attempted to arrest what it 
 stigmatised as "the evil," it now desired that the 
 peojile might commit the greatest possible extent of 
 mischief, so that its very excess might result in good. 
 Tliis system, comj)Osed in about equal proportions of
 
 HISTORY JDF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 51 
 
 sullen malice and base perfidy, and known by the 
 appellation of political pessimism, takes its rise amongst 
 parties when they have suffered so many losses as to 
 induce them to renounce what they still retain, in the 
 Iiope of retrieving all. From tliis time, therefore, the 
 aristocracy began to employ it, and was frequently 
 seen voting with the most violent section ut the popular 
 party. 
 
 Events force men to the front ranks. The dangers 
 that beset the nobility raised up a defender for it. The 
 young Cazalt's, captain in the queen's regiment of 
 dragoons, had to his o^vn surprise discovered within 
 himself great strength of mind and facility of speech. 
 Precise and simple, he delivered with promptitude 
 and judgment what it behoved him to say; and it is 
 certainly to be deplored, that so excellent an under- 
 standing as his should have been consecrated to a 
 cause which had no reasons to allege in its behalf 
 until it was exposed to persecution. The clergy had 
 foimd an advocate in the Abbe Maury. This eccle- 
 siastic, an expert and inexhaustible sophist, possessed 
 infinite coolness and ready wit ; none better than he 
 could resist tumult with courage, evidence with auda- 
 city. Such were the organs and tendencies of the 
 aristocratic classes.* 
 
 The ministry was without views and without pro- 
 jects. Necker, detested by the court, which endured 
 him from compulsion, was the only minister who had, 
 not indeed a plan, but a ■wish. He had always desired 
 the English constitution, doubtless the best that coidd 
 have been adopted when viewed as an accommodation 
 between the throne, the aristocracy, and the people ; 
 but having been proposed by the Bishop of Langres 
 previous to the establishment of a single assembly, 
 and rejected by the first orders, it was become im- 
 I)racticable. The high nobihty was opposed to two 
 chambers, because tliat arrangement implied a con- 
 cession ; the petty nobles or gentry, because they 
 would not be members of the upjjer house ; the popu- 
 lar party, because, stiU suspicious of the aristocracy, 
 it was indisposed to confer upon it any influence. 
 Thus, only a few deputies, some from a spirit of 
 moderation, otliers from having started the idea, ad- 
 vocated the English institutions, and composed the 
 entire party of the minister ; a party necessarily weak, 
 since it presented conciliatory views only to heated 
 passions, and liad reasons al,one, without means of 
 action, to oppose to its adversaries. 
 
 The poi^ular party began to be divided, because it 
 began to conquer. Lallj'-Tolcndal, Mounier, Mal- 
 lonet, and the other partisans of Necker, approved of 
 aU that had been hitherto accomplished, inasnmcli as 
 the government had been thereby brought m harmony 
 with their ideas, that is to say, to an approximation 
 
 * " Slaury and Cazal^s in a certain degree represented, the first 
 the clergy, and the second the nobility. The first preserved at 
 the tribune the habits he had contracted as a preacher and aca- 
 demician ; lie discoursed upon matters of legislation without 
 understanding them, never seizing the real point of a question, 
 nor even the most advantageous one for liis party ; exhibiting 
 great boldness, erudition, tact, and a brilliant and unfailing 
 readiness in debate, but never a profound conviction, strong 
 judgment, or veritable eloquence. He spoke pretty nearly as 
 soldiers fight. None could return more frequently or stretuiously 
 to tlie charge tlian he, or better supply the want of substantial 
 arguments by quotations or sophisms, and of the emotions of the 
 soul by oratorical formulas. Tlierefore, although possessed of 
 considerable talent, he was deficient in that which imjiartstoit 
 vitality— the earnestness of truth. Cazales was the monil anti- 
 podes of Maury. His intellect was rapid and sound, his elocution 
 equally easy but more animated ; sincerity marked .ill Iiis motives, 
 and the reasons which he alleged were constantly the best that 
 could be adduced. No rhetorician, the straightforward line was 
 his in all questions of interest to his party, the declamatory lino 
 that of Mam-y. From the clearness of his views, the ardour of 
 his character, and the skilful adaptation of his talents, his only 
 failing arose from the falscneso of his position, whereas Maury 
 added his individual faults to those which were inseparable from 
 the cause he espoused."— Jtfi'^wrt, vol. i. p. 89-90. 
 
 with the English constitution. At present they judged 
 the progress sufficient ; reconciled with the executive, 
 they desired to stop. The popular party, on the con- 
 trary, was of oi)inion that the goal was far from being 
 gained. The Ereton Club* was the arena where tliis 
 party agitated with the greatest vehemence. A sincere 
 conviction was the moving impulse of the great ma- 
 jority of its members ; but personal designs began, 
 nevertheless, to be there deployed ; and even thus 
 early the pure and first emotions of patriotism were 
 giving way to the baser motives of individual interest. 
 Barnave, a yomig advocate of Grenoble, clear and 
 ready in comprehension, and possessing in a supreme 
 degree the talent of happily expressing his thouglits, 
 in conjmiction with the two Lameths, formed a tri- 
 umvirate, which attracted interest from the youth of 
 its members, and soon exercised influence by their 
 activity and talents. Duport, that young parliamen- 
 tary comicillor whom we have alreadj^ seen distin- 
 guishing himself, was likev/ise comprised in their 
 association. It was a saying of the time, that Duport 
 reflected upon what should be done, tliat Barnave 
 promtdgated it, and the Lameths executed it. These 
 young deputies were in the mean time mutual friends, 
 without being declared enemies of any one. 
 
 The boldest of the popular leaders, he who, ever in 
 the van, led the way to the most daring discussions, 
 was IVIirabeau. The absurd institutions of the old 
 monarchy had outraged men of sense, and irritated 
 all possessed of correct feeling ; and it was scarce!}' 
 possible but that some ardent mind should have felt 
 jjecidiarly aggrieved by them, and have had fierce 
 passions stimulated. Such a mind was that of Mira- 
 beau, who, encomitering from his birth aU orders of 
 despotism, parental, kingly, and judicial, consumed 
 his youth in combating and execrating them. He 
 was born beneath the sun of Provence, and sprmig 
 from a noble family. At an early age, he became 
 notorious for his disorders, his quarrels, and his im- 
 passioned eloquence. His travels, his spirit of obser- 
 vation, and liis vast reading, had taught him much ; 
 and his memory was one of the most retentive. But 
 reckless, eccentric, even sophistical when not roitsed 
 by passion, he became quite a different being when 
 under its influence. Prompt to excitement in the 
 tribune, and in the presence of his opponents, his 
 mind was si^eedily fired : at first his ideas were con- 
 fused, his words broken, his frame tremulous ; but the 
 light soon broke, and then his intellect achieved in an 
 instant the labom- of years ; all was discovered to him 
 at the very moment he spoke, and its expression 
 flowed from him with warmth and rapidity. Stimu- 
 lated by fresh contradiction, he became still more 
 energetic and lucid, and depicted the truth in start- 
 ling and terrible colours. In difiicidt emergencies, 
 when aU were fatigaied by a long debate, or intimi- 
 dated by danger, an exclamation, an emphatic phrase, 
 fell from his lips', his features grew terrific in hi- 
 deousness and the glare of genius, and the assembly, 
 enlightened or re-assiu'cd, enacted laws or passed reso- 
 lutions worthy of its dignity and greatness. 
 
 Proud of his great poAvers, hmnorous ujjon his own 
 vices, by turns hauglity and ingratiating, he gained 
 some by flattery, silenced others by sarcasms, and led 
 all in his train by an extraordinary facidty of excit- 
 ing entluisiasm. His party was every where — amongst 
 tlie people, in the assembly, in the court itself — with 
 all in fact to whom lie addressed himself for the mo- 
 ment, and he mingled familiarly with all classes. 
 Generous when necessary, he had applauded the rishig 
 talent of Barnave, though his young friends wore dis- 
 tasteful to liini ; lie appreciated the profound midcr- 
 standing of Sieyes, and soothed his truculent temper ; 
 lie disliked in liafayette too irreproachable a life ; and 
 in Necker he detested an excessive stiflhess, a pride 
 
 * This club had been formed In the la.st days of June. It was 
 afterwards calleil ' ' The Sockts/ <£/' IM Friends of (he Cunstitulioiu'
 
 52 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of reason, and a pretension of governing a revolution 
 which he knew to be his own work. He liad little 
 regard fur the Duke of Orleans and his wavering 
 ambition ; and, as will be shortly demonstrated, he 
 never had with him any common views. Thus, sup- 
 ported by his own genius alone, he attacked the des- 
 potism he had sworn to destroy. However, if he 
 rejected the vanities of a monarchy, he was still more 
 indisposed to the ostracism of a repubhc; but not 
 being yet sufficiently avenged upon the great and 
 upon royalty, he continued his course of annihilation. 
 In flne,"tormented by factitious wants, discontented 
 with the present, he advanced towards a future, 
 to himself dim and obscure, raising vague, imcertain 
 suppositions from his various talents, his ambition, 
 his vices, and his shattered fortmies ; and accrediting 
 by his contempt for opinion numberless suspicions 
 and calunmies. 
 
 Thus were France and parties divided. The first 
 dissensions amongst tlie popular deputies occurred on 
 the subject of tlie excesses conmiitted by the midti- 
 tude. - Mounier and Lally-Toicndal pnjposed a solemn 
 proclamation to the people in reprobation of sucli out- 
 rages. The assembly, sensible of the imitility of the 
 measure, and of the necessity of not indisposing the 
 populace who had supported it, at first refused its 
 concurrence ; but afterwards yielding to the exhorta- 
 tions of some of its members, it iiltimately issued a 
 proclamation, which, as it had foreseen, was utterly 
 disregarded, for words have but little eflect in calming 
 an excited people. 
 
 Universal agitation prevailed. A panic suddenly 
 pervaded every quarter of the kingdom. The cry of 
 those brigands who had been seen to start forth in 
 the various disturbances, was in every mouth, and 
 their aspect in every imagination. The court up- 
 braided the popidar party with their ravages, and the 
 popular party retorted the reproach on the court. AU 
 at once, couriers were disseminated, who, traversing 
 France in all directions, announced that the brigands 
 were coming and cutting down the harvest before the 
 crops were ripe. Meetings were held in every dis- 
 trict, and in a few days tlie whole of France was 
 under arras, in expectation of the brigands who never 
 appeared. This stratagem, which rendered the revo- 
 lution of tlie 14th Jidy universal, by stimulating the 
 nation to arms, was attributed at the time to all 
 parties, and since chiefly to the popular party, which 
 reaped its benefits. It is surprising that all should 
 have been so eager to throw oif the responsibility of 
 a stratagem certainly more ingenious than criminal. 
 It has been laid to the charge of Mirabeau, who was 
 a person to have plumed himself upon being its author, 
 but nevertheless always disavowed his participation 
 therein. Such a proceeding was suflaciently congenial 
 to the character of Sieyes's mind, and many have be- 
 lieved that he suggested it to the Duke of Orleans. 
 Others, again, have imputed the manoeu\Te to the 
 court, alleging that those couriers would have been 
 stopped at every stage without the connivance of the 
 government, and that the court, disbelieving the pre- 
 valence of the r(!V()lntionary spirit, and imagining it 
 a mere explosion of the Parisians, had dctermin(>d to 
 arm the provinces in opposition to the capital. How- 
 ever the case might be, the fact itself conduced to the 
 advantage of the nation, which it roused to arms, and 
 to a state of watchfulness over its safety and rights. 
 
 The inhabitants of tl)e towns had shaken off their 
 fetters, and tlie rural population were likewise eager 
 to be rid of theirs. Tlicy refused to pay tlie feudal 
 dues, attacked those lords who had been guilty of 
 oppression, set fire to their mansions, burned their 
 title-deeds, and in some districts committed atro- 
 cious acts of vengeance. A melancholy accident had 
 mainly contributed to incite this general exasperatioiu 
 A certain Sieur de Mosmay, Lord of Quince}', gave 
 an entertainment at his seat. All the people of the 
 burrounding country had assembled, and were in the 
 
 full enjoyment of careless gaiety, when a barrel of 
 gunpowder, suddenly igniting, exploded with mur- 
 derous consequences. This accident, afterwards as- 
 certained to have been the consequence of imprudence, 
 and not of treacherous design, was then charged upon 
 the Sieur de Mesmaj" as a heinous crime. The rumour 
 was soon spread abroad, and provoked peasants to the 
 commission of cruelties, who were already hardened 
 by a wretched existence, and rendered ferocious by 
 long-continued sufferings. The ministers proceeded 
 in a body to lay before the assembly a picture of the 
 deplorable state of France, and to ask from it powers 
 for re-establishing order. Ever since the 14th July, 
 these disorders had manifested themselves in every 
 shape. The month of August was now commencing, 
 and it became indispensable to restore action to the 
 government and the laws. But to attempt this task 
 with any chance of success, it was necessary to begin 
 the regeneration of the state by the reform of such 
 institutions as were more particularly abhorrent to 
 the people, and chiefly impeUed them to disturbances. 
 One part of the nation, in subjection to another part, 
 was oppressed by a multitude of rights called feudal. 
 Some of these, characterised as productive, imposed 
 upon the peasants ruinous dues, AvhUst others, quaUfied 
 as honorary, compelled them to humiliating obeisances 
 and services towards their lords. They were the rem- 
 nants of the feudal barbarism, the abolition whereof 
 was due to liumanity. These privileges, considered 
 in the light of property, and indeed so styled by the 
 king m his declaration of the 23d June, would perhaps 
 never have been abolished by a regular discussion. 
 It was necessary to excite their possessors, by a sud- 
 den and spontaneous movement, to propose their own 
 despoilment. 
 
 The assembly was at the moment discussing the 
 celebrated declaration of the rights of man. It had 
 been originally debated whether any should be made, 
 and it was not till the morning of the 4th August that it 
 had been finally decided such a declaration should be 
 framed and placed at the head of tlie constitution. In 
 the evening sitting of the same day, the committee 
 upon disturbances and the means of suppressing 
 them, presented its report. The Viscomit de NoaiUes 
 and the Duke d'Aiguillon, both members of the nobi- 
 lity, immediately mounted the tribune, and represented 
 that it was needless to employ force to bring the people 
 back to order ; that the causes of their misery should 
 be removed, and tlien the agitation residtmg there- 
 from would forthwith subside. Proceeding to fiu^her 
 and more explicit explanations, they proposed to abo- 
 lish all the vexatious rights, which, under the title of 
 feudal rights, crushed the agriculturists. M. Leguen 
 de Kerengal, a proprietor from Brittany, appeared in 
 the tribune, habited in the garb of a farmer, and pre- 
 sented a frightful picture of the feud;d system. Where- 
 upon, generosity being stimulated in some, pride 
 piqued in others, a certain paroxysm of disinterested- • 
 ness was suddenly provoked ; every one rushed to the 
 tribmie in order to lay down his privileges. The no- 
 bility gave the first example ; and the clergy, not less 
 fervid, hastened to follow it. A species of intoxica- 
 tion seized upon the assembly ; dispensing with a 
 superfluous discussion (which, indeed, under any cir- 
 cumstances, had been unnecessary to demonstrate the 
 propriety of such sacrifices), all the orders, all tlie 
 classes, all the possessors of any peculiar rights, flew 
 to pronounce their respective renunciations. After 
 the deputies of tlie first orders, tliose of tlie commons 
 went in their turn to present their oblations. Having 
 no personal privileges to sacrifice, they offered up 
 those of provinces and towns. Equality of rights, in- 
 stitutetl as respected individuals, was likewise esta- 
 blished over all the districts of the country. Some 
 members surrendered their pensions, and one, who 
 was a member of the parliament, having nothing to 
 give, proffered his devotion to the pubUc welfare. The 
 steps of the desk were thronged with deputies press-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 53 
 
 iug to deposit their renunciations ; all that could be 
 done at the moment was to enumerate the various 
 «acrifices, and the framing of the articles was adjom-ned 
 to the following day. The fervour was general ; but 
 in the midst of this enthusiasm it was easy to observe 
 that certain of the privileged classes were far from 
 sincere, and were bent on pushing matters to an un- 
 reasonable extremity. Serious apprehensions might 
 be justly entertained from the lateness of the hour, 
 and the delirium pervading the assembly ; and Lally- 
 Tolendal, perceiving the danger, handed a note to 
 the president, containing the words, " Every thing 
 may be feared from the rapture of the assembly; 
 break up the sitting." At the same instant a deputy 
 rushed up to him, and pressing his hand with emotion, 
 said, " Grant us the royal sanction, and we are friends." 
 Lally-Tolendal, aware of the vast importance of link- 
 ing the revolution to the king, moved that he shovdd 
 be proclaimed Restorer of French liberty. The pro- 
 position was hailed with rapture ; a Te Deum was 
 then decreed, and the members finally separated at an 
 early hour in the morning. 
 
 During this memorable night there had been de- 
 creed — 
 
 The abolition of the title of serf; 
 
 The power of redeeming seignorial rights ; 
 
 The abolition of seignorial jurisdictions ; 
 
 The suppression of exclusive rights of chase, war- 
 ren, dovecots, &c. ; 
 
 The commutation of tithes ; 
 
 The equality of taxation ; 
 
 The admission of all citizens to civil and military 
 employments ; 
 
 The abolition of the sale of offices ; 
 
 The destruction of all the privileges of towns and 
 provinces ; 
 
 The remodelling of guilds ; 
 
 And the suppression of pensions granted without 
 services. 
 
 These resolutions had been passed in a general 
 form, but it remained to reduce them into decrees ; 
 and it was then that, the first ardour of generous im- 
 pulse having subsided and each resmned his previous 
 prepossessions, some strove to extend, others to re- 
 strict, the concessions pronoimced. Stormy debates 
 ensued, and a studied, ill-advised resistance chased 
 away every sentiment of gratitude.* 
 
 * " I was not present at this sitting, but one of my friends who 
 Bttended, related tome the next morning what had passed. As he 
 spoke in a tone too serious for me to suppose lie was in jest, I 
 began to think he had lost his senses ; but I soon found in the 
 public papers a confirmation of the particulars he had mentioned. 
 I could not help thinking I was reading an account of one of those 
 frolics sometimes entered into by wild young fellows, who, after 
 pushing the bottle freely, begin to break their glasses, decanters, 
 and plates, then to contend who shall throw the most valuable 
 fm-niturc out of the window, and, before they have done, leave the 
 room empty ; but who next day, at sight of their bill, deplore 
 their folly wliilc they pay for the things destroyed. Unfortunately, 
 the patriotic frolic of the 4th August did not end so ; it ruined 
 multitudes of individuals who had no share in it, and enriched 
 nobody. The reducing all the articles then decreed, gave room 
 for long debates in the following sittings. Our sobered legislators 
 thought tliey had only dreamt what they had too surely decreed, 
 and several of them laboured to interpret and give a turn to tlio 
 decrees, so as to reduce the effect of tliom considerably ; but the 
 tenns of them were too positive to be open to any restriction 
 which the people would admit. The only article they found it 
 possible to modify was that which condemned tlie pigeons to 
 death or emigration. It was insisted the next day by the mem- 
 bers of the right side, and particularly by U'lOspremenil, tliat all 
 the decrees had bi-en j)reviou»ly drawn up, and the sitting pur- 
 posely opened so late to convert it into a nocturnal and scandalous 
 huddle, the more easily to alter the proceedings in accordance 
 with tlio plan of the authors of the mancruvre, as amidst tlie 
 tumult that prevailed it was enually impossible for the assembly 
 to have passed as the secrctai'ies to have written them. IJut tlio 
 president (Chapelier) and the secretaries boldly asserted that all 
 those decrees had been passed ; and the majority of the assembly. 
 
 The abolition of feudal rights had been agreed upon, 
 but the mode still remained a question — whether by 
 immediate suppression or redemption ; and important 
 distinctions were necessary to be drawn among the 
 rights themselves. On first overrunning the coimtry, 
 the conquerors, progenitors of the nobility, had imposed 
 services upon men and tributes upon lands. They 
 had themselves occupied certain portions of the soil, 
 which they had only restored by d^egrees to the cul- 
 tivators, under covenants of perpetual rents. A length- 
 ened holding, accompanied by nimierous transmissions, 
 constituting the essentials of property, all the burdens 
 imposed on both men and lands had acquired that 
 character. The Constituent Assembly was therefore in 
 the predicament of being compelled to make an attack 
 on subjects of property. In this position, it had to 
 weigh their validity, not on the groimd of their just 
 or unjust acquisition, but as they were more or less 
 onerous to society. It abolished personal services 
 accordingly, and since many of those services had been 
 commuted into acquittances, it aboUshed the acquit- 
 tances. Amongst the pajonents charged upon the 
 land, it suppressed those which were palpable reUcs 
 of servitude, as the fine imposed on transmissions ; 
 and it declared all those perpetual rents redeemable, 
 which had been the consideration on which the nobles 
 had formerly granted to the cultivators portions of 
 the soil. It was thus absiu-d to accuse the Constituent 
 Assembly of having violated the rights of property, 
 when every imaginable matter had been rendered so ; 
 but it was assiu-edly strange that the nobles, long 
 inured to such violations, both by exacting tributes 
 and refusing to pay taxes, should exhibit so sudden 
 and rigorous a respect for principles, when their own 
 prerogatives were the points at issue. The seignorial 
 jurisdictions were likewise styled " property," since 
 for many ages they had been handed dov/n as inhe- 
 ritances ; but the assembly was not weak enough to 
 be awed by the phrase, and decreed their abolition, 
 providing, nevertheless, that they should be retained 
 until proper substitutions were found. 
 
 The exclusive right of chase was also a subject of 
 warm disputes. Disregarding the idle objection that 
 the whole popvdation would be instantly in arms if the 
 license to kill game were extended, the right was con- 
 ferred on every cultivator within the limits of his own 
 estate. A struggle was likewise made in behalf of 
 the privileged dovecots. The assembly declared that 
 any person might maintain them, but that at harvest- 
 time the pigeons might be kih'ed like ordinary game 
 upon the lands they should scour. All the ranger- 
 ships were abolished, under the condition, neverthe- 
 less, that the personal pleasures of the monarch should 
 be secm-ed by means compatible with liberty and pro- 
 perty. 
 
 One article, above all, occasioned violent discussions, 
 on accomit of the yet more important questions of 
 which it was the prelude, and of the powerful inte- 
 rests it attacked^it was that referring to tithes. On 
 the night of the 4th August, the assembly had pro- 
 claimed tithes redeemable. AVhen tlie decree was 
 about to be drawn uj), it desired to abolish them with- 
 out consideration, subjoining a stipulation that the 
 support of the clergy should be adequately provided 
 i'ov hy the state. Such a course was unquestionably 
 contrary to form, because it was altering a resolution 
 already passed. But Carat replied to this objection, 
 that the modification was, in truth, an actual jiur- 
 chase. since it was the state instead of the individual 
 payer who redeemed the tithe, by taking upon itself 
 the burden of sustaining the clergy. The Abbe Sieves, 
 who astonished tlie comumnity by a])pearing as an 
 advocate of tithes, and was generally considered by 
 no means a disinterested defender of such an impost, 
 granted in reply that the state actually and truly 
 thinking themselves bound by their .attestation, confirmed tliis 
 work of darkness and delirium." — Bertrand's Menwirs, vol. i. pp. 
 
 :m, 4(10, 4')!. „
 
 54 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 redeemed the tithe, but perpetrated a robbery on the 
 mass of the nation, by bm-dening it with a debt which 
 ought to weigh only upon the landed proprietors. 
 This objection, presented in striking colours, was 
 illustrated by that severe and oft-repeated phrase : 
 " You desire to be free, and knov,' not how to be just !" 
 Altl/ough Sieyes imagined that it was not possible to 
 repel his objection, nothing was more easy. The 
 expense of pubUc worship is chargeable upon all ; 
 whether it was expedient to make the landed pro- 
 prietors alone, rather than the universal body of con- 
 tributors, bear the cluu-ge, was purely a question for 
 the state to determine. It robbed no person by making 
 such a distribution of tlie impost as it judged proper. 
 Tithes, by impoverishing the small proprietors, de- 
 stroyed agriculture ; the state was therefore bound to 
 remove the biu-den, which position IMirabeau demon- 
 strated by conclusive analogy. The clergy, who had 
 a decided preference for tithes, because they had a 
 clear presentiment that the stipends allowed by the 
 state would l)e proportioned to their legitimate occa- 
 sions, claimed to be proprietors of the tithes, by im- 
 memorial grants, and reproduced that stale argument 
 of long possession, which proves nothing ; for were it 
 valid, every al)oniination, despotism itself, would be 
 rendered legitimate by possession. They were an- 
 swered, that titlics were but an usufruct, which was 
 not transferable, and possessed none of the main 
 features of property ; that they evidently constituted 
 an impost established in their favom-, which impost 
 the state now took upon itself to convert into another. 
 The pride of the clergy took alarm at the idea of re- 
 ceiving salaries, and loud and vehement were their 
 complaints at the indignity. Mirabeau, who was pre- 
 eminent in hm-Ung barbed shafts of reason and sar- 
 casm, replied to the lamenters that he was acquainted 
 with but three modes of deriving existence in a state 
 of society, to wit — robbing, begging, or possessing a 
 salary. The clergy were convinced that it behoved 
 them to abandon with a good grace what it was im- 
 possible for them to defend. The parish priests espe- 
 cially, aware that they had every thing to gain from 
 the equitable spirit that actuated the assembly, and 
 that it was the overgrown wealth of the prelates 
 against which the attacks were really levelled, were 
 the tirst to recede from the conflict. The complete 
 abolition of tithes was thereupon decreed, under con- 
 dition that the state shoidd impose upon itself the 
 expenses of public worship, and that in the mean 
 time the tithes should continue to be gathered. This 
 last clause, which bespoke the considerate spirit of 
 the assembly, became however of no avail. The people 
 would pay no longer, but before the decree the same 
 determination had been doggedly evinced ; and when 
 the assembly abolished the feudal system, it was al- 
 ready overturned in fact. On the 13th August, all the 
 articles were presented to the king, who accepted the 
 title of Restorer of French liberty, and gave his pre- 
 sence at the solemnization of the Te Deum, having 
 the president on his right hand and all the deputies 
 in liis train. 
 
 Thus tlie most important rofonn during the revo- 
 lution was consummatcLL The assembly had evinced 
 equal resolution and prudence. Unfortunately, a people 
 can never resume with moderation the exercise of its 
 rights. Deplorable outrages were committed through- 
 out the wh.ole kingdom. The country-seats continued 
 to be burnt, and the fields were inundated witli sports- 
 men, eager to put in force tlieir newly-acquired rights. 
 Thoy spread themselves over the lands hitherto exclu- 
 sively reserved for the enjoyment of their oppressors, 
 and connnittod frightful clcvastations. Every usurpa- 
 tion meets with a severe return, and he who exercises it 
 would do well to reflect on the truth, if not for himself 
 at least for his children, who almost always endure the 
 punishment due to him. Numerous accidents occm-red, 
 as might be anticipated. On the 7th August, the 
 ministers had again appeared before the assembly, to 
 
 present a report upon the state of the country. The 
 keeper of the seals had exposed the alarming disorders 
 which had broken out, and Necker had displayed the 
 wretched state of the finances. The assembly heard 
 this double communication with sadness, but without 
 discouragement. On the 10th, it passed a decree 
 touching public tranquillity, in which the municipa- 
 lities were enjoined to ensure the maintenance of order 
 by dispersing all seditious assemblies. They were 
 instructed to deliver simple rioters to the ordinary 
 tribunals, but to imprison those who had disseminated 
 alarming reports, produced forged orders, or e.xcited 
 disturbances, and to send the examinations to the 
 National Assembly, to enable it to trace the troubles 
 to their origin. The national guards and the regidar 
 troops were placed at the disposal ot the municipalities, 
 and they were ordered to take an oath of fidelity to 
 the nation, the king, and the law. This Avas the oath 
 which was afterwards called the civic oath. 
 
 Necker's report upon the finances was alarming to 
 the last degree. The want of subsidies was the cir- 
 cumstance which had caused an appeal to a national 
 assembly, which assembly, from its first meeting, had 
 entered into a contest with power, and, providing 
 merely for the pressmg necessity of establishing 
 guarantees and reviving confidence, it had neglected 
 that of placing the revenues of the state upon a sure 
 basis. Necker alone had all the disquietudes attend- 
 ing the financial department. Whilst Bailly, labour- 
 ing to draw provisions to the capital, was a prey to 
 the bitterest anxieties, Necker, harassed by wants less 
 urgent indeed, but far more extended, immersed in 
 most painful calcidations, and devoured by a thousand 
 agonies, attempted to find palliatives for the national 
 distress ; and whilst his mind was solely occupied with 
 fiscal questions, he was incapable of reflecting that the 
 assembly was solely engaged with political questions. 
 Necker and the assembly, each preoccupied by a 
 peculiar object, had optics for none besides. However, 
 if the alarms of Necker were justified by the actual 
 distress, the confidence of the assembly was equally 
 so by the elevation to which its views soared. That 
 assembly, holding France and its destiny in embrace, 
 refused to believe that so fair a realm, although in- 
 debted for the uistant, could be for ever paralysed 
 with indigence. 
 
 Necker, on assuming the ministry in August 1788, 
 fomid only 400,000 francs (£16,700) in the treasury. 
 By great exertions, he had provided for the most 
 pressing calls, but since that tune, circumstances had 
 augmented the demands and diminished the resources. 
 It had been found necessary to pm'chase corn, to re-sell 
 it below the ciu'rent value, to distribute considerable 
 sums in charity, and to jjrosecute public works as ^ 
 means of giving employment to operatives. For this 
 last object alone 12,000 francs (£500) had been drawn 
 from the exchequer daily. At the same time that the 
 expenses M-ere thus increased, the receipts fell off. 
 The reduction in the price of salt, the delay in pay- 
 ments, and often the positive refusal to discharge the 
 taxes, smuggling by armed bands, the demolition of 
 the barriers, the destruction of the registers and the 
 assassination of the clerks, had annihilated a portion 
 of the revenue. In consequence, Necker demanded 
 a loan of 30,000,000 (£1,2.50,000). The first impulse 
 was so favourable, that a cry arose to vote tlie loan by 
 acclamation, but this warmth of feeling quickly sub- 
 sided. The members testified a repugnance for fresh 
 loans, and fell into some degree of inconsistency by 
 appealing to the instructions they had already dis- 
 carded, but Avhich i)rohibited them from sanctioning 
 taxation previous to the completion of the constitu- 
 tion ; they even proceeded to calculate the sums re- 
 ceived since the preceding j'car, as if they doubted 
 tlie hon(\'^ty of the minister. However, tlio necessity 
 of i)roviding for the exigencies of the state ensured 
 the adoption of the loan ; but the plan of tlie minister 
 was altered, and the interest reduced to 4^ per cert..
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bb 
 
 in groundless reliance upon a patriotism Avhicli cer- 
 tainly pervaded the nation, but was not to be expected 
 amongst money-lenders by profession, the only per- 
 sons who in ordinary cases embark in that description 
 of financial speculations. This preliminary error Avas 
 one of those which assemblies generally commit, when 
 they substitute for the precise views of the jjractical 
 minister the vague ideas of twelve hmidred specidative 
 minds. At the same time, it was easy to discern that 
 public opinion ah-eadj' began to grow discontented 
 with the timidity of the minister. 
 
 After these indispensable attentions bestowed on 
 the public tranquilhty and the finances, the asseml)ly 
 entered upon the declaration of rights. The first 
 idea thereof had been suggested by Lafayette, who 
 had himself borrowed it from the Americans. The 
 discussion upon that subject, Avhich had Ijeen inter- 
 rupted by the revolution of the 14th July, resumed 
 on the 1st August, again interrupted by the abolition 
 of the feudal system, was once more taken up and defi- 
 nitively closed on the 12th August. The idea of such 
 a declaration had something imposing in it, which 
 enraptm-ed the assembly. The prevailing bias of the 
 era led men to embrace everj' thing that savom^ed of 
 grandeur; this entliusiastic spirit drew forth their 
 sincerity, tlu'ir courage, their virtuous and their evil 
 tendencies. They seized, therefore, upon this idea, 
 and resolved to carry it into inmiediate execution. 
 If the task had been simjdy to promulgate certain 
 principles held in especial abhorrence by the power 
 whose yoke luid been so recently shaken oif, such as 
 the voting of taxes, religious freedom, the liberty of 
 the press, or niinisteriai responsibility, nothing had 
 been more easy. America and England had already 
 performed it. France might have couched in certain 
 clear and positive axioms the ncAv principles which 
 she imposed u])on her government ; but France, break- 
 ing with all the past, and reverting to the state of 
 nature, nmst necx'ssaril}- asi)ire to frame a complete 
 declaKation of all the rights of man and the citizen. 
 Much was said in the first debates upon the necessity 
 and the danger of such a declaration. Loug and use- 
 less discussions ensued upon these points ; useless, 
 because there was neitlier advantage nor hazard ia 
 publishing a declaration composed of propositions far 
 above the comprehension of the bulk of the people ; 
 a thing fitted only for a certain nnnd^er of philosophic 
 minds, about the last to take an important share in 
 popular seditions. It was at length decided, however, 
 that it should be framed, and jilaced at tlie head of 
 the constitutional act. But it was still to draw up, 
 and therein lay tlie great difficulty. What was a 
 right? — that which was due to mankind. Now, all 
 the good that could be done to men was due to tiiem ; 
 therefore, that every measure of government should 
 be wise was a right. Thus all the propounded 
 forms contained a definition of the laM% the mode in 
 which it ought to be declared, the principle of sove- 
 reignty, &c. It was objected, that these were not 
 rights but general maxims. Still it was essential to 
 embody these maxims. Mirabeau, losing all patience, 
 at last cried out, " Dispense with the Avord right, and 
 
 say, ' In the interest of all it has been declared' ." 
 
 Nevertheless, the more imposing title of a declaration 
 of rights was preferred, and thereunder were con- 
 founded maxims, j)rinciples, and definitions. Out of 
 the whole was composed the celebrated declaration 
 standing at the head of the constitution of 1791. In 
 truth, there was but one misfortune attending it, to 
 Avit, the loss of several sittings for a philosophical 
 commonplace. But who may tliroAv obloquy on those 
 minds for too nmch fervour on a faA'ourite ol)ject? 
 Who lias a right to despise a prepossession whicli was 
 inevitable during the first moments of excitement ? 
 
 It Avas felt that the labours of the constitution could 
 be no longer postponed. The tediousness of the pre- 
 liminary discussions caused a general sentiment of 
 fiitiguc, and Avithout tlie walls of the assembly tlie 
 
 fiin(!amental questions Avere first agitated. The Eng- 
 lish constitution was the model Avhich naturally pre- 
 sented itself to numerous minds, since it was an 
 arrangement concluded between the king, the aristo- 
 cracy, and the people, at the close of a struggle simi- 
 lar in its characteristics. The essential featm-es of 
 that constitution consisted in the establishment of tAvo 
 legislative chambers, and the royal prerogative of 
 assent. Tlie minds of men, in their fii-st impulse, 
 cling to the most simple theories; a nation pronounc- 
 ing its Avill and a king executing it, appeared to 
 them the only legitimate form of government. Con- 
 ferring on the aristocracy a power equal to that of the 
 Avhole nation, by means of an upper chamber, and 
 investing the king with the right to annul the national 
 determination, by means of a royal assent, seemed to 
 them the height of absurdity. " The nation wills, the 
 king executes:" men refused to leave these simple 
 elements, and they firmly believed they Avould have 
 a monarchy, Avlien they left a king as executor of the 
 national resolves. A real monarchy, such as exists 
 even in states accounted free, consists in the dominion 
 of a single individual, on which curbs are laid by 
 means of the national participation. The Avill of the 
 prince, in such cases, really efiects almost every thing, 
 and that of the nation is limited to prevent evil, either 
 by refusing taxes, or by its concurrent legislative 
 functions as a third body. But so soon as the nation 
 can ordam all it chooses, Avithout the king being able 
 to interpose a veto, the monarch dAvincUes into a mere 
 magistrate. Such a form of goA'ernment is a republic, 
 with a single consul instead of several. The govern- 
 ment of Poland, although it boasted a kmg, was never 
 called a monarchy, but a republic ; and there were 
 kings likewise at Sparta. 
 
 A weU-established monarchy, therefore, requires 
 great concessions on the part of individuals. But it 
 is not after a long political annihilation, and dmiug 
 their first enthusiasm, that they are disposed to make 
 them. Consequently, a republic lurked in the opinions 
 of most men without being pronounced, and they Avere 
 republicans Avithcut behig aAvare of the fact. 
 
 In debate the speakers did not explain themselves 
 with distinctness ; therefore, in spite of the genius 
 and learning redolent iu the assembly, the question 
 was lamely discussed, and greatly misapprehended. 
 The partisans of the English constitution, Necker, 
 Mounier, Lally, could not perceive iu Avhat a monarchy 
 must necessarily consist ; and even had they had a 
 distinct perception of it, they would not have ventured 
 to state explicitly to the assembly, that the national 
 Avill ought not to be all-pOAverful, and that it ought 
 to be restrictive rather than active. Their arguments 
 exhausted themselves in the summaiy, that it Avas 
 necessary the king should have the power to chock 
 the usurpations of one assembly ; that in order to 
 assure his proper and cheerful execution of the law, 
 he must concur in it ; and that relations must of neces- 
 sity exist bctAveeii the executive and legislative poAvers. 
 These reasons were illogical, or at all events Aveak. It 
 was ridiculous, iu fact, when recognising the national 
 sovereignty, to desire to coutrui it by the sole avuI of 
 a king.* 
 
 * In the seventh chapter of tliiswork, and at the openinffof 
 tliu iiistoryof tho Legislative A^senilily, the reailer will liiul an 
 oi)iniou upon the faults attributetl to the constitution of l/Ul, 
 Avhich seems to nie a very just one. I have only one word to say 
 here upon the project of est;iblishing in France at tliat epoch tlie 
 English fonn of government. Tlmt system is a coniproniiso 
 amongst tlie tliree interests which divide modern states, royalty, 
 aristocracy, and democracy. Now, such an arrangement is feasible 
 only after the exhaustion of their respective strength ; that is to 
 B;iy, after combat ; or, i/i otlier Avoids, after revolution. In Kng- 
 liuid, in fact, it was not efl'octed until after a long struggle— after 
 tlio triuivipii of democracy and usurpation. To atteni]it to com- 
 promise before tlie struggle, is to attempt to make peace before 
 war. It is a mournful but nevertheless an incnntestible truth, 
 that men negotiate only when they have exhausted their strength.
 
 56 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 They supported the two chambers with more effect, 
 because there are, even in a repubUc, higher classes 
 interested to oppose the too rapid pro<Tress of the 
 surging classes, and wliicli defend the old against the 
 new institutions. But this upper chamber, though 
 yet more indispensable than the royal prerogative, 
 since there is no example of a republic without a 
 senate, was repelled with greater vehemence tlian the 
 right of veto, as indignation was more fierce against 
 aristocracy than against royalty itself. An upper 
 chamber was therefore out of the question, for in 
 truth it was repudiated by all : the petty nobles op- 
 posed it, because they would find no seat therein ; the 
 magnates of the privileged orders, because they were 
 rendered desperate, and desired to drive all things to 
 the worst ; and the popular party, because it was un- 
 willing to place the aristocracy in a position whence it 
 could control the national will. Mounier, Lally, and 
 Necker, were almost the only advocates of this upper 
 chamber. Sieves, with the rashness of a positive 
 theorist, rejected both the two chambers and the royal 
 assent. He held society to be indivisible ; according 
 to him, the mass, without distinction of class, ought 
 to be intrusted with ordaining, and the king, as 
 sole magistrate, with executing. Thus he was per- 
 fectly sincere when he said, that a monarchy and a 
 repubhc were identical, since the difference in his 
 eyes consisted merely in the number of magistrates 
 endowed with the executive. The characteristic of 
 Sieyes's mind was concatenation, that is to say, a 
 rigorous connexion between his own ideas. He was 
 in perfect harmony with himself, but far from being 
 so either with the eternal nature of things or with 
 minds differently constituted from his own. He sub- 
 dued them by the sway of his indefeasible axioms, but 
 rarely persuaded them ; thus, being equally incapable 
 of severing his theories and of obtaining their adop- 
 tion in full, he was pretty sure to be finally disgusted. 
 Mirabeau, with his accurate, swift, and pliant genius, 
 was not more proficient in matters of political science 
 than the assembly itself He repudiated the two 
 chambers, not from conviction, but from foresight of 
 their actual impossibility, and from hatred of the aris- 
 tocracy. He defended the kingly assent from a monar- 
 chical bias, and he had pledged himself to its support 
 from the opening of the states, by his saying that 
 without that safeguard he would rather live at Con- 
 stantinople than at Paris. Barnave, Duport, and 
 Lameth, were of course differently disposed to Mira- 
 beau. They admitted neither the upper chamber nor 
 the royal assent ; but, without the obstinacy of Sieyes, 
 they consented to modify their opinion by according to 
 an upper chamber and the king a simple suspensive 
 veto, that is to say, a power of temporarily opi)osing 
 the national will as expressed in the lower chamber. 
 
 The first debates occurred on the 28th and 29th 
 August. Earnave's party was desirous of negotiating 
 with Mounier, whom his inflexibility renden^d leader 
 of the English constitution party. The most stubborn 
 is always the most important to win over, and accord- 
 ingly it was to him that overtures were made. Confer- 
 ences were in consequence held. When Baruave's party 
 saw that it was impossible to change an oi)inion be- 
 
 Thc English constitution was, therefore, impracticable in France 
 until after the revelation. No hann was done, certainly, by advo- 
 cating it, but an erroneous course of action was pursued in fur- 
 thenmce thereof; but had the most advisable course been adopted, 
 the same ill success would have attended the endeavour. For I 
 have no doubt that had the English constitution, in its full in- 
 tegrity, been engraven on the table of our law, such a treaty 
 would have failed to calm passions, tlie battle would have raged 
 all tlio same, and all the horrors of war ensued in spite of the 
 preliminary treaty. Such a reflection is in some sort consolatory, 
 as it lessens regi-ets that might be otherwise felt. 1 repeat, there- 
 fore, that war, that is to say, revolution, was necessary and 
 inevitable. It is only after long experience of the wrctcliedness 
 of strife that justice makes its voice be heard amongst the chUdren 
 of men. 
 
 come a settled predilection, it consented to adopt those 
 English forms which he cherished so dearly, but on 
 condition that, when raising an upper chamber and 
 the royal prerogative in opposition to the popular 
 chamber, to the two should be granted only a sus- 
 pensive veto, and that, furthermore, the king should 
 not be empowered to dissolve the assembly. Mounier 
 returned the answer of a man imraoveal)le in his con- 
 viction ; he said, that truth did not belong to him, 
 and that he could not sacrifice a portion of it to secure 
 the rest. He thus lost the two institutions, by refus- 
 ing to modify them. And if it were true, which, as 
 will be seen, it was not, that the constitution of 1 79 1, by 
 suppressing the upper chamber, destroyed the throne, 
 Moimier would have had severe reproaches to make 
 himself. Mounier was no zealot, but very stubborn ; 
 he was as positive in his system as Sieyes in his, and 
 preferred the loss of all to the concession of a part. 
 The negotiations were broken off with mutual feel- 
 ings of irritation. The opposite party had threatened 
 Mounier with the public opinion in Paris, and it de- 
 parted, as he said, to exercise the influence at wliich 
 he had been warned to tremble.* 
 
 * I am far from blaming the obstinacy of the deputy Mounier, 
 for nothing is more worthy of respect than conscientious opi- 
 nion ; but it is a fact sufficiently curious to place beyond doubt. On 
 this account, I subjoin a passage taken from his " Address to his 
 Constituents." 
 
 " Several deputies," says he, " undertook to obtain from me 
 the abandonment of that principle (the royal assent), or, by 
 jielding it themselves, to bind nie, from gratitude, to grant them 
 some compensation. They conducted me to the residence of a 
 zealous advocate of liberty, who was desirous of a coalition 
 between them and me, in order that liberty might encounter 
 fewer obstacles, and also of being present at our conferences 
 without interfering in the decision. Anxious to convince them, 
 or be enlightened myself, I accepted the offer of opening con- 
 ferences. Tliey declaimed vehemently against the alleged incon- 
 veniences of the unlimited right the king would have to prevent 
 a new law, and they assured me that if such a right were recog- 
 nised by the assembly, a civil war would be the consequence. 
 These conferences, twice resumed, had no result. They were 
 recommenced at the house of an American, well known for his 
 intelligence and virtues, who had tested both the theory and 
 practice of institutions proper to maintain liberty. His opinion 
 was favourable to my principles. When they were sufficiently 
 convinced that all their efforts to induce me to abandon my 
 opinions were useless, they at length dccUu-ed to me that they 
 attached very little importance to the question of the roi/al assent, 
 though they had represented it a few days before as a cause of 
 civil war ; they offered to vote for the unrestricted right of assent, 
 as also for two chambers, but under a pledge that I should not 
 support the royal prerogative of dissolving the assembly of repre- 
 sentatives ; that I should ask for the upper chamber only a sus- 
 I>ensive veto ; and that I should not oppose a fundamental law 
 which should establish national conventions for fixed periods, or 
 upon the requisition of the assembly of representatives, or on 
 tliat of the provinces, to revise the constitution, and make in it 
 all such alterations as might be judged necessary. They under- 
 stood, by national conventions, assemblies in which all the rights 
 of the nation should centre ; which sliould comprise all powers, 
 and consequently annihilate, by their mere convocation, tlie 
 authority of the monarch and of the ordinary legislature ; dispos- 
 ing arbitrarily of every description of constituted authority, up- 
 setting the constitution at will, and establisliing either despotism 
 or anarchy. In a word, they would have in a certain sense 
 abandoned to a single assembly, bearing the title of National Con- 
 vention, the supreme dictatorship, and exposed the kingdom to a 
 periodical return of factions and disorder. 
 
 I testified my surprise that they should wish to draw me into a 
 treaty ujwn the interests of the kingdom, as if wo were its abso- 
 lute masters. I observed that, by leaving only a suspensive veto 
 to the first chamber, although composed of eligible members, it 
 would be difficult to form it of persons worthy of public con- 
 fidence ; in such case, all the citizens would prefer beuig named 
 representatives ; and that the chamber, which would be a tri- 
 bunal for trying crimes against the state, ought to be invested 
 with the highest dignity, and consequently that its authority 
 ought not to be uiferior to that of the otiier chamber. In conclu- 
 sion, 1 added, that when I believed a principle true, I felt obliged 
 to maintain it, and that I could not sell it, since truth was the 
 inheritance of all the citizens."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 67 
 
 These questions divided the people as well as the 
 representatives, and, although incapable of compre- 
 hending them, they were not less strenuous in their 
 opinions. They had included them all under the 
 short and comprehensive term of veto. They were 
 partisans or opponents of the veto, and that meant 
 that they were supporters or denouncers of tyranny. 
 The populace, not even imderstanding it in that sense, 
 took the veto for an impost it was necessary to abo- 
 lish, or for an enemy it behoved them to hang ; and 
 they were tierce in their determination to i)ut the foe 
 to the lantern.* 
 
 The Palais-Royal, especially, was in the greatest 
 fermentation. There congregated men of heated 
 tempers, who, unable to comply even with the forms 
 imposed in the district-meetings, held forth from a 
 chair at their own good pleasure, and were hooted or 
 borne in triumph by vast mobs, which went forth to 
 execute what they had suggested. Camille-Desmou- 
 lins, already mentioned in this work, was distinguished 
 amongst these orators by the energy, the originality, 
 and the cynicism of his mind ; withoiit being cruel, 
 this man loudly demanded acts of cruelty. There 
 likewise was beheld Saint-Hurugue, an old marquis, 
 who had been long imprisoned in the Bastille on 
 account of family feuds, and was exasperated to mad- 
 ness against all authority. All these declaimers re- 
 peated day by day that it behoved the people to go 
 to Versailles, and make inquiry of the king and tlie 
 assembly why they delayed to eifect the public good. 
 Lafayette had the greatest difEculty in restraining 
 them by continual patrolling bands. The national 
 guard was already accused of aristocracy. " There 
 was no patrole at the Ceramicus," cried Caraille-Des- 
 moulins. The name of Cromwell, even, had been pro- 
 nounced in conjunction with Lafayette's. One day 
 (Sunday the 30th August), a motion was made at the 
 Pidais-Royal ; Mounier was denounced, Mirabeau was 
 represented as in danger, and it was proposed to march 
 to Versailles for the purpose of guarding the precious 
 life of the latter. And yet Mirabeau advocated the 
 royal sanction, but without intermitting his part of a 
 popular tribune, or withoiit appearing less so in the 
 eyes of the multitude. Saint-Hurugue, at the head 
 of a few fanatics, proceeded towards the road to Ver- 
 sailles. They desired, as they alleged, to induce the 
 assembly to cashier its faithless representatives, in 
 order that others might be named, and to sohcit the 
 king and the dauphin to visit Paris and place them- 
 selves in safety amidst the people. Lafayette hastened 
 to the spot, stopped them in their course, and compelled 
 them to retrace their steps. The next day, Monday 
 the 31st, they again gathered together. They pre- 
 sented an address to the commune, in whicli they 
 demanded the convocation of the districts to denounce 
 the veto and the deputies who supported it, to revoke 
 their appointment, and nominate others in tlieir place. 
 The commune repelled them twice with exemijlary 
 firmness. 
 
 During this interval, the assembly was the scene 
 of great agitation. The rioters had ^vritten letters to 
 the principal deputies, filled with threats and invec- 
 tives, one of wliich was signed with the name of 
 Saint-Ilurugue. As soon as tlie assembly met on 
 Monday the 31st, Lally denounced a deputation he 
 
 * Two inhabitants of the country were speaking of the veto. 
 "Dost thou know what this veto is?" asked one. "Not I." 
 " Then I'll tell tliee. Thou hast tliy porringer full of soup, the 
 king tells thc-c to spill it, and spill it tliou must — that's all." 
 
 [" Putting to the lantern," it may be observed, was a revolu- 
 tionary phrase, meaning " lianging at a laui])-post," a very usual 
 mode of disposing of victims in Paris at that time. M. Bortrand 
 remarks (vol. ii. p. 14), that having asked a peasant what lie 
 understood by the suspensive veto, against which ho was pouring 
 forth the most violent imprecations, he answered, that " if the 
 sipensive (mispronouncing the word) should pass, tlic king and 
 his ministers might hang whom they pleased." It was with diffi- 
 culty that Bertrand removed the man's impression.] 
 
 had received fi'om the Palais-Royal. This deputation 
 had urged him to separate from the wicked citizens 
 who supported the veto, and had added that an army 
 of 20,000 men was ready to march. Mounier likewise 
 read letters he had received on his part, and concluded 
 by proposing to prosecute the secret authors of these 
 machinations, and pressing the assembly to ofier a 
 reward of 500,000 francs to any who should give evi- 
 dence to lead to their discovery. A tumxdtuous debate 
 ensued. Duport maintained that it was beneath the 
 dignity of the assembly to occupy its time with such 
 absurdities. Mirabeau read letters addressed to him 
 also, in which the enemies of the poptdar cause treated 
 him with as much rancour as Mounier had been in 
 those he produced. The assembly passed to the order 
 of the day, and Saint-Hurugue, the signer of one of 
 the denounced letters, was imprisoned by order of the 
 commune.* 
 
 The three questions, embracing the permanence of 
 the representative assemblies, the two chambers, and 
 the veto, were discussed at the same time. The per- 
 manence was voted almost unanimously. The long 
 interruption to national assemblies had been too fatal 
 not to ensure their being rendered permanent. Then 
 came on the great question of the unity of the legis- 
 lative body. The galleries were occupied by a nume- 
 rous and noisy audience. A great many of the deputies 
 withdrew. The president, on that occasion the Bishop 
 of Langres, strove in vain to detain them : they left 
 in crowds. From all sides vehement shouts arose for 
 a division. Lally once more attempted to speak ; he 
 was refused to be heard, the president being taunted 
 with having sent him to the tribtme : one member 
 even went so far as to ask the president if he were not 
 weary of annoying the assembly. Offended at these 
 words, the president quitted the chair, and the dis- 
 cussion was again adjourned. The following day, an 
 address from the town of Rennes was read, in which 
 the veto was declared inadmissible, and all those 
 traitors to the country who should vote for it. Mounier 
 and his friends evinced great indignation, and proposed 
 that the municipality shotdd be severely reprimanded. 
 Mirabeau retorted that the assembly had other duties 
 to perform than giving lectures to mimicipal function- 
 aries, and moved the order of the day. The question 
 upon the two chambers was at length put to the vote, 
 and, amidst a roar of applause, the iinity of the as- 
 sembly was decreed : 499 votes were given for a single 
 chamber, 99 for two chambers, and 122 were lost, from 
 the apprehensions wherewith many of the deputies 
 were inspired. 
 
 Finally occurred the question of the veto. A middle 
 term had been invented, that of the suspensive veto, 
 which put the law in abeyance during one or more 
 legislatures. This mode was considered as an appesd 
 to the people, because the king, having recourse to 
 fresh assemblies, and yielding to them if they persisted, 
 seemed to appeal in reality to the national authority. 
 Mounier and his party opposed it. They were right 
 according to the system of the English monarchy, 
 where the king consults the national representation, 
 and never obeys it; but they were wrong according 
 to the position thoy l>ad themselves assumed. They 
 were desirous, as they were wont to allege, merely to 
 ])revent precijiitate resolutions. Now, tlie suspensive 
 veto was eeiually eflfectual in that respect as the ab- 
 solute veto. If the representative body persisted, the 
 
 * [One of tlie letters read on this occasion by tho president of 
 the assembly, which had been addressed to him personally, is, 
 from its curious strain, worthy of being transcribed. It will also 
 serve as a Bami)le of tlie rest. 
 
 " Tlie patriotic assembly of the Palais-Roynl have the honour 
 to make it known to you, that if the aristocratic faction, formed 
 by some of tlio nobility, clergy, and 120 ignorant and corrupt 
 members, continue to disturb the general harmony, and still 
 iasist uiKin the ahsoluU assent, !i5,(HtO men ;u'e reitdy to eiilhihtcn 
 their country seats and houses, and particularly your own." — Scrt. 
 vol. ii. p. 10.]
 
 58 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 national will became manifest; and, since they ad- 
 mitted its sovereignty, it was absurd to resist it inde- 
 finitelj'. 
 
 The ministry, in fact, was sensible that the suspen- 
 sive veto would in practice liave the effect of the 
 absolute veto, and Necker advised the king to take 
 the credit of a voluntary sacrifice, by addressing a 
 message to the assemJily in favour of the suspensive 
 veto. A rumour of tl'iis intention got abroad, and 
 the design and spirit of the message were known 
 beforehand, it was presented on the lltli September, 
 every member being thoroughly acquainted with its 
 purport. It might have been imagined that Jlouuier, 
 advocating the" cause of the throne, could not have 
 views distinct from the occupier of that throne ; but 
 parties soon acquire interests apart from those they 
 profess to serve. jNIounier repudiated this commu- 
 nication, saying that if the king renounced a pre- 
 rogative beneficial to tlie nation, it ought to be con- 
 ferred upon him in spite of himself, and for the public 
 weal. Tlie usual parts were reversed, and the adver- 
 saries of royalty now supported the king's interference ; 
 but their exertions were fruitless, and the memorial 
 was rudeh' rejected. Frcsli explanations were entered 
 into upon the meaning of the word " assent," and the 
 question was raised whether such a right was essential 
 to the constitution. After declaring that the consti- 
 tuent power was superior to the constituted powers, 
 it Avas established that the assent was only to be 
 exercised upon legislative acts, and to be entirely 
 dispensed A^ith upon constitutive acts, which latter 
 were to be simply promulgated. 673 votes were given 
 for the suspensive veto, and 325 for the absolute 
 veto. Thus were the fundamental articles of the new 
 constitution framed. Mounier and Lally-Tolendal 
 inmiediately resigned their fmictions as members of 
 the constitiition-committee. 
 
 A multitude of decrees had by this time been passed, 
 •\dtliout any having been as yet presented for the royal 
 acceptance. It was consequently resolved to lay the 
 measures of the 4th August before the king. It was 
 debated whether an assent or a simple pronudgation 
 should be asked, according as they might be deemed 
 legislative or constitutive acts. Maury, and even 
 Lally-Tolendal, had the folly to assert that they were 
 legislative, and to demand the assent, as if they had 
 anticipated some obstacle from the royal power. 
 Mirabeau, with infinite tact, maintained that certain 
 of tliem abolished the feudal system, and were emi- 
 HQutly constitutive, whilst others were purely acts of 
 munificence on the part of the nobility and clergy, 
 and that it was an insult to imagine that those orders 
 desired the king to recall their liberality. Chapelier 
 added, that the formal consent of the king coiM be 
 scarcely deemed necessary, since he had approved of 
 them already by accepting the title of restorer of 
 French liberty, and sanctioning the Te Deum by his 
 presence. In consequence, the king was solicited to 
 make a simple proclamation.* 
 
 A member suddenly moved resolxitions that the 
 croAvn was hereditary and the royal person inviolable. 
 The assembly, sincerely desirous of recognising the 
 king as the first hereditary magistrate, voted these 
 two articles by acclamation. Th.e inviolability of the 
 heir-apparont was then proposed, but the Duke de 
 Mortemart instantly objected that sons had sometimes 
 attempted to dethrone their fathers, and that it was 
 Expedient to leave a power of punishing them. For 
 this reason tlie proposition was rejected. With refe- 
 rence to tlie clause upon the hereditary transmission 
 from male to male, and branch to branch, the deputy 
 Arnoult moved that the renunciation of the Spanisli 
 branch, made in the treaty of Utrecht, should be con- 
 firmed. It was argued in reply, that there was no room 
 for deliberation, since it was highly imprudent to alien- 
 ate a faithful ally, ilirabeau declared himself of this 
 
 • Tlieae decrees wore presented to liiin on the 20th September. 
 
 opinion, and the assembly passed to the orderof tlieday. 
 In a few moments Mirabeau, desiring to make an expe- 
 riment which has been improperly estimated, resolved 
 upon re-opening the question which he had himself 
 contributed to settle. Tlie house of Orleans would 
 be in competition with the house of Spain, in the event 
 of the reigning branch becoming extinct. Mirabeau 
 had perceived a malevolent eagerness to pass to the 
 order of the day. Unconnected with the Duke of 
 Orleans, though intimate with him, as he knew how 
 to be with every body, he was anxious, nevertheless, 
 to know the state of parties, and to ascertain who 
 were the friends and who the enemies of the duke. 
 The question of the regency presented itself ; in a case 
 of minority, the brothers of the king could not be 
 guardians of their nephew, as they were the imme- 
 diate heirs of the royal ward, and consequently but 
 inditferently interested in his preservation. The 
 regency, therefore, woxdd fall to the nearest relation, 
 who was the queen, the Duke of Orleans, or the 
 Spanish branch. Jlirabeau moved that the regency 
 should be conferred only on a man born in France. 
 " The acquaintance," said he, " that I have with the 
 geography of this assemblj^ the regions from which 
 the shouts for the order of the day have rolled, con- 
 vince me that no less a question is at issue than one 
 of foreign domuiation ; and that the proposition not to 
 dehberate, apparently Spanish, is possibly none other 
 than Austrian!" At these words exclamations re- 
 sounded through the hall ; the debate was resumed 
 with extraordinary vehemence ; all the dissentients 
 again lustily vociferated for the order of the day. 
 Mirabeau fruitlessly repeated to them at every shout 
 that they could be actuated by only one motive, a 
 desire to introduce a foreign supremacy into France ; 
 they gave him no answer, for it was true enough that 
 tliey preferred a foreigner to the Duke of Orleans. 
 At last, after a debate of two days, it was again re- 
 solved that there was no room for deliberation. But 
 3Iirabeau had obtained his object, by forcing parties to 
 develope themselves. His conduct on this occasion 
 Avas certain to provoke accusations against him, and 
 he was tlienceforth stigmatised as an agent of the 
 Orleans faction.* 
 
 * The particulars of Mirabeau's proceedings in reg^ard to all 
 parties are not yet sufficiently ascertained, but are intended to bo 
 illustrated ere long. I liave obtained imdoubted iufonuation from 
 those cliarged with the publication ; I Ijave had in my possession 
 several important docum(!nts, and especially the paper WTitten in 
 tlie form of a profession of faith, which constituted his secret 
 treaty witli the court. I am not permitted to give any of those 
 documents to tlie public, nor even to specify their holders. I can 
 only state what tlie futm-e wUl sufficiently demonstrate, when all 
 the i>roofs shall have been published. I am, however, enabled to 
 afiirm with distinctness, that Jlu-abeau never was concerned in 
 the suspected plots of the Duke of Orleans. Mirabeau came from 
 Provence actuated by a single design, namely, to battle with the 
 arbitrary power from which he had suffered wi'ong, and which 
 his reason as well as his feelings taught him to rcg-ard as detest- 
 able. AA'hen at P;uis, he frequently visited a banker, then well 
 known, and a man of considerable merit. In his house the usual 
 topics of conversation were politics, finance, and political eco- 
 nomy. Mirabeau there derived much information upon these 
 matters, and formed a connexion with what was called the 
 exiled Genevese colony, of which Claviere, afterwards minister of 
 finance, was a member. However, Jlirabeau contracted no 
 strictly intimate ties. He had a gi-cat deal of familiarity in his 
 manners, winch he derived from a consciousness of power; a 
 feeling he often carried to imprudent lengths. Owing to this 
 familiar bearing, lie was on easy terms with every body, and ap- 
 peared closely united with all tliose whom he addressed. It was 
 tlius that he Wiis repeatedly imagined the friend and accomplice 
 of divers men witli whom he had no interest in common. I liavo 
 already said, and I now rejicat, that he was of no party. The 
 aristocracy could not endure his name ; the party of Necker and 
 Mounier was unable to come to an understanding with liim. The 
 Duke of Orleans alone was in a position to appear united with 
 him. And they were believed to be so, in fact, because Jlirabeau 
 was on familiar tjrnis with the duke, and because both being 
 suspected of soaring ambition, the one as a prince, the other as a
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 69 
 
 ^V^lilst still excited by this angry discussion, the 
 assembly received the king's answer to the resolutions 
 of the 4th August. The king signified his approval 
 of their spirit, but gave to some only a conditional 
 adherence, in the hope they would be modified when 
 finally framed for execution, and to the majority of 
 them he repeated the objections alleged in the debate, 
 and disregarded by the assembly. Mirabeau mounted 
 the tribune. " We have not thoroughly exanuned," 
 said he, " the superiority of the constituent power over 
 the executive power ; we have in some sort ctist a veil 
 over such questions (the assembly in reality had ex- 
 plained in its own favour the manner in which tliey 
 should be understood, without passing any regular 
 decree on the subject) ; but if our constitutive autho- 
 rity be disputed, we shall be obliged to assert it. Let 
 Bs act frankly and without prevarication. We confess 
 there are difficulties in tlie execution, but we do not 
 insist upon that execution. Thus we claim the aboli- 
 tion of offices, but at the same time assign reimburse- 
 ment for the future, and the scciu-ity for that reim- 
 bui'sement; we declare the im^iost, which serves to 
 subsidise the clergy, destructive to agriculture, but 
 until a substitute be found for it, we order the collec- 
 tion of tithes ; we abolish seignorial jurisdictions, but 
 leave them in existence until other tribunals are esta- 
 blished. The same may be observed of the other 
 articles ; they all embody principles which it is essen- 
 tial to render irrevocable by giving them promulgation. 
 But, indeed, were they false, the public mind is in 
 possession of these resolutions, and it is no longer jjos- 
 sible to refuse them. Let us repeat mgenuously to 
 the king what Philip ll.'s fool said to that despotic 
 prince : — ' Wiat wouldst thou do, Philip, if all the 
 world said yes, when thou saidst no ? ' " 
 
 The assembly directed its president to proceed again 
 to the king, to solicit his promulgation. The king 
 yielded to the demand. On its part, the assembly, 
 deliberating on the duration of the suspensive veto, 
 extended it to two legislatm-es ; but it was wrong to 
 let too strong an inference be drawn that it was in 
 some degree a recompense granted to Louis XVL for 
 the concessions he had just made to imblic opinion. 
 
 AMiilst the assembly jiursued its way amidst the 
 obstacles raised by the sullen animosity of the privi- 
 leged classes and the popular oiitbreaks, other diffi- 
 culties accmnulated around it, and gave its enemies 
 cause of exultation. These hoped it would be para- 
 lysed by the financial distress, as the com-t itself 
 had been. The first loan of .30,000,000 had not suc- 
 ceeded ; a second of 80,000,000, ordained on a fresh 
 
 tribune, they seemed marked out for allies. Tlie penury of Jlira- 
 bcau, and the affluence of Orleans, likewise appeared a probable 
 bond of union. Nevertlieless, Mirabeau remained poor until his 
 connexion with the court, lie then kept watch on all parties, 
 took every opportunity to drive them into explanations, and felt 
 his own ini))ortance too sensibly to bind himself without full con- 
 sideration. Once only he engaced in some distant relations with 
 one of the supposed agents of the Duke of Orleans. lie was in- 
 vited to dinner liy this alleged agent, and he, to whom risk was 
 never a subject of thought, accci)tod the invitation more from 
 i curiosity than any other motive. IJcforc proceeding to the enter- 
 tainment, lie communicated the matter to his confidential friend, 
 aJid testified much satisfaction at the coming conference, in wliich 
 he expected to elicit important revelations. The dinner passed 
 over, and Mirabeau came to report what had occurred : he had 
 been merely treated to vague expressions concerning the Duke of 
 Orleans, the estimation in wliich he held the talents of Mirabciiu, 
 and the fitnesi he conceived him to possess for governing a state. 
 This conference was, therefore, a very insignificant affair, and 
 could at the most but indicate that the party would willingly 
 make a minister of Mirabeau. Tlius he did not fail to remark to 
 his friend, witli his accustomed gaiety: " I can scarcely avoid bo- 
 coming a minister, for tlie Duke of Orleans and the king are 
 equally bent on nominating me." Such observations were mere 
 ebullitions of pleasantry, for Jlirabeau never believed in the im- 
 puted projects of the duke. I will give in a subsequent note some 
 fuTtbcr particulars. 
 
 proposition from Necker,* had not been attended with 
 a more fortunate residt. " Go on and discuss," cried 
 j\I. Degouy Darcy one day ; " let time quietly slip away, 
 and at the expiration of a certain period, we shall 
 be in the final agony ! — I am about to connmmicate 
 to you some awful truths." " Order ! order !" shouted 
 several members. " No, no, speak !" responded others. 
 A deputy arose : " Contmue," said he to M. Degouy ; 
 " spread alarm and terror! "Wliat matter? what w'ill 
 happen ? — we shall contribute a share of our fortunes, 
 and all will be hushed." M. Degouy proceeded : " The 
 loans that you have voted have yielded nothing ; there 
 are not 10,000,000f in the treasury." At thes"e words 
 he was again surrounded, remonstrated with, and 
 silenced. The Duke d'Aiguillon, chairman of the 
 finance committee, gave his statement a direct con- 
 trafliction, by proving that there were 22,000,000 in 
 the coflfers of the state. However, it was resolved 
 that Fridays and Saturdays should be especially de- 
 voted to financial matters. 
 
 Necker himself at length came forward. Oppressed 
 with his continual struggles, he renewed his incessant 
 complaint, reproaching the assembly with ha%ing done 
 nothing to relieve the financial embarrassinents, after 
 sitting five months. The two loans had been mipro- 
 ductive, because the disorders had destroyed credit. 
 Money was hidden, and foreigners had testified no 
 disposition to invest their capitals in the proposed 
 loans. Emigration and the departure of travellers 
 had likewise lessened the circulating medium, and 
 there scarcely remained sufficient currency for daily 
 use. The king and queen had been obliged to send 
 their plate to the mint. In consequence of this disas- 
 trous state of things, Necker asked for a contribution 
 of a fourth of incomes, affirming that such a supply 
 appeared to him sufficient for all purposes. A com- 
 mittee consumed three days in investigating this plan, 
 of which it reported most favourably. Mirabeau, the 
 known enemy of the minister, was the first to speak, 
 pressing the assembly to sanction the plan without 
 discussing it. " Not having time to weigh it," said 
 he, " you ought not to take upon yourselves the 
 responsibility of the event, by approving or cor.demn- 
 ing the proposed measm-e." On this ground he re- 
 commended the assembly to vote the project at once 
 and in confidence. The assembly, moved by his rea- 
 s(His, adopted the proposition, and directed ^Mirabeau 
 to retire and draw up the decree. During the inter- 
 val, the sensation partially evaporated, and the oppo- 
 nents of the minister asserted resources to exist which 
 had escaped the acumen of Necker. His friends, on 
 the contrary, attacked Mirabeau, and complained that 
 he designed to crush him by making him responsible 
 for events. Mirabeau returned and road his decree. 
 " You plant a dagger in the minister's plan," exclaimed 
 M. de Virion. Mirabeau, never recoiling without a 
 vigorous rejoinder, frankly avowed his motives ; he 
 granted he laid himself open when he stated that it 
 was his desire to tlirow upon M. Necker alone the 
 responsibility of events ; he said he had not the honour 
 to rank as his friend, but were he his tcndcrcst friend, 
 being a citizen before all ties, he would not hesitate 
 to compromise him rather than the assembl}'-; that 
 he was far from believing the kingdom would be in 
 danger should M. Necker be deceived, but that, on 
 the contrary, the public safety would be seriously 
 com])romised if tiie assembly staked its credit and 
 failed in a decisive operation. He sulisequcntly sug- 
 gested an address to stimtdate the national i)atriotism 
 and support the ministerial project. 
 
 Ciieers resoimdcd from all sides, but still the debate 
 was maintaineil. Multifarious amendments were pro- 
 posed, and the time was consiuned in frivolous subtle- 
 ties. Irritated at such pertinacious opposition, and 
 imi)ressed with the urgent nature of the emergency, 
 he scaled the tribune for the last time, worked himself 
 
 * Decree of tlio 27th August. 
 
 t About £420,000.
 
 60 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 into possession of it, exhibited the question in its 
 proper aspect with admirable perspicuity, and demon- 
 strated tlie impossibihty of lightly shaking: off the 
 dire necessities of the moment. Then, liis genius 
 warming to inspiration, he depicted all the horrors of 
 bankruptcy ; he presented it under the guise of a 
 pestilent impost, which, instead of i)ressing gently 
 upon all, falls on a portion only, whom it grinds to 
 the dust ; he likened it to a yawning chasm, into which 
 living victims are hurled, but which closes not even 
 after it has engulfed them, for not the less is owing 
 because a refusal is made to pay. Finally, wielding 
 the effective engine of terror — " The other day," said 
 he, " on occasion of a contemptible motion at the 
 Palais-Royal, a voice exclaimed, ' Catiline is at the 
 gates of Rome, and you deliberate!' and yet there 
 was no Catiline, no peril, no Rome ; but to-day hideous 
 bankruptcy lowers on you, threatening to devour 
 yourselves, your honour, your fortunes — and you deli- 
 berate!" 
 
 At these words the assembly, in a transport, rose, 
 uttering shouts of enthusiasm. A deputy desired to 
 reply ; he advanced, but, terrified at his owm temerity, 
 he stood motionless and speechless. The assembly 
 forthwith resolved that, having heard the report of 
 its committee, it adopted the plan of the minister of 
 finance in confidence. Such is the charm of eloquence ; 
 but only he could work similar marvels who possessed 
 at once the intellect and the passions of oMirabeau. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INTRIGUES OF THE COURT ATTACK ON THE PALACE 
 
 OF VERSAILLES — THE KING AND THE ASSEMBLY RE- 
 MOVE TO PARIS FORMATION OF CLUBS. 
 
 Whilst the assembly was thus extending its care to 
 all parts of the social edifice, great events were brood- 
 ing. By the junction of the orders, the nation had 
 regained legislative and constituent supremacy. As 
 a consequence of the 14th July, it had taken arms to 
 support its representatives. Thus the king and the 
 aristocracy stood isolated and disarmed, having nothing 
 more in their behalf than the feeling of their rights, 
 which none partook, and brought in front of a nation 
 prepared for combat and victory. Notwithstanding 
 this position, the court, secluded in a small town almost 
 solely peopled by its retainers, was in some sort beyond 
 the popular influence, and might even attempt a sudden 
 blow at the assembly. It was natural that Paris, 
 situated at the distance of afew leagues from Versailles, 
 the metropolis of the kingdom, and the abode of a 
 prodigious multitude, should be wishful to draw the 
 king within its walls, ■with a view to free him from 
 all aristocratic influence, and secure the advantages 
 which the residence of the court and government 
 always confer on a town. After having reduced the 
 autliority of the king, it remained only to make sure 
 of his person. Sucli was the inevitable tendency of 
 events, and from all quarters the cry was heard : " The 
 king to Paris !" The aristocracy no longer attempted 
 to shield itself from additional losses. It was too 
 disdainful of what still remained as its possession 
 to take any pains to preserve it ; hence it was quite 
 as eager for a violent change as the pojuilar party 
 itself A revolution is inevitable when two parties 
 are coincident in promoting it. Both contribute to 
 the catastrophe, and the strongest reajis the profit. 
 Whilst the patriots were bent on conducting the king 
 to Paris, the court meditated his transit to Metz. 
 There, in an impregnable fastness, he might have 
 ordered whatever his caprice promjjted, or, to sjjcak 
 more correctly, whatever tlie caprice of those around 
 him prompted. The courtiers were busy hatching 
 schemes, devising plans, seeking to enlist partisans, 
 and, beside themselves with empty hopes, betray- 
 ing their own machinations by imprudent threats. 
 
 D'Estaing, of recent renown, won in the van of French 
 squadrons, commanded the national guard of Ver- 
 sailles. He wished to be faithful to the nation and 
 the court — a difficult part, ever open to obloquy, and 
 which almost unexampled firmness can alone render 
 honourable. He became apprised of the intrigues of 
 the courtiers. The highest personages were amongst 
 the number of the plotters ; witnesses the most worthy 
 of credence had been cited to him, and he wrote that 
 well-known letter to the queen, in which he spoke to 
 her with respectful energy on the impropriety and 
 danger of such manceuvres. He disg-uised nothing, 
 aud specified every name.* The letter was without 
 
 * The letter of the Count d'Estaing to the queen is a curious 
 record, and ought always to be consulted with reference to the 
 events of the r>th and (jth October. Tliat lionest sailor, full of 
 loyalty and independence (two qualities seemingly contradictory, 
 but wliich are often found in conjunction in the breasts of sea- 
 men), had preserved the habit of speaking his mind to princes 
 whom he loved. His testimony is above all suspicion, when in a 
 confidential letter he lays before the queen the intritrues he has 
 discovered and been alarmed by. It will sliow whether the court 
 was in reality without a scheme at that period. | 
 
 " My duty and loyalty demand that I lay at the feet of the 
 queen an account of tlie journey I have made to Paris. I have 
 been praised for sleeping soundly on the eve of an assault or 5 
 naval combat. I may venture to assert that I am not prone to 
 timidity in any atfairs. Reared with the dauphin, who was pai-tial 
 to me, accustomed to speak the truth at Versailles from early 
 boyhood, a soldier and a sailor, conversant with forms, I reve- 
 rence them without allowing them to fetter my frankness or my 
 finnness. 
 
 Thus am I boimd to confess to your majesty that I have been 
 imable to close my eyes all night. I have been told in high circles, 
 in good society (what might be the consequence, gracious Heavens, 
 should it spread amongst the people !) — ay, repeatedly told, that 
 signatures are canvassed for amongst the clergy and the nobility. 
 Some persons allege that it is in concert with the king ; others 
 maintain that it is without his knowledge. It is confidently 
 asserted that there is a regular plan formed ; that it is by Cham- 
 pagne or Verdun that the king will withdraw or be removed ; that 
 he will go to Metz. Bouill6 is named, and by whom ?— by M. de 
 Lafayette, who mentioned it to me in a whisper at the table of 
 M. Jauge. I shuddered lest a single domestic might overhear him ; 
 I remarked to him that one word from his lips might prove a 
 signal of death. M. de Lafayette is a cold calculator ; he answered 
 me that at Metz, as elsewhere, the patriots were thestrongest, and 
 that it was better one man should die for the safety of all. 
 
 The Baron de Breteuil, who is so slow to depart, manages the 
 plan. Money is taken up, and promises held out to furnish a 
 million and a half per month. The Coxmt de Mercy is unfortu- 
 nately specified as acting in concert. Such are the reports ; if 
 they are disseminated amongst the people, the result is not to be 
 calculated ; as yet they are circulated in whispers. Good men 
 liave testified to me their terrors for the consequences ; the mere 
 suspicion of the fact may produce terrible ones. I visited the 
 Spanish ambassador, and I shall assuredly not conceal from the 
 queen that at his house my alarm was redoubled. 51. Femand 
 Nunfts talked witli me concerning these false rumours, concern- 
 ing the honor that was expressed at the bare Idea of so incon- 
 ceivable a plan, wliich would draw after it the most dis-istrous 
 and humiliating of civil wars ; which would occasion the partition 
 or the total loss of tlie monarchy, given up as a prey to domestic 
 rage and foreign ambition ; and which would expose the person- 
 ages the most dear to France to irreparable misfortunes. After 
 speaking of a wandering, persecuted court, betrayed by those 
 who have not supported it when they had it in their power, who 
 wish simply to involve it in their own downfall — the nation struck 
 by an universjU bankruptcy, from that moment inevitable, and 
 all things fearful to contemplate, I interrupted him by exclaim- 
 ing, thiit at all events there could be no other mischief than that 
 which this false intelligence might produce if it became preva- 
 lent, because it was an idea without imy foundation. The Spanish 
 ambassador cast his eyes to the gi'ound at this last phrase. I then 
 became urgent ; he at length confessed tliat some one of rank and 
 undoubted credibility had informed him he had been asked to 
 sign an association. He persisted in refusing to name liim ; but 
 either from inattention, or for the sake of good, he fortunately 
 did not exact my word of honour, which it would have been 
 imperative on rae to keep. 1 made no promise not to mention the 
 fact. It has impressed me with a greater degree of terror than I 
 have ever experienced. It is not for myself that I feel this alarnx
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 61 
 
 effect. When entering on such enterprises, the queen 
 possibly anticipated remonstrances, or, at all events, 
 could scarcely feel surprised at them. 
 
 At this period a crowd of strangers appeared in 
 Versailles, and even unknown uniforms were seen. 
 The company of the body-guards, whose period of 
 duty had expired, was detained ; some dragoons and 
 chasseurs of the regiment " Trois-Eveches" were 
 summoned. The French guards, who had quitted 
 the king's personal ser\T[ce, were mortitied that the 
 duty was intrusted to others, and resolved to repair 
 to Versailles, in order to resume it. They had cer- 
 tainly no reason to complain, since they had them- 
 selves abandoned that service ; but they were, as it is 
 said, excited by others to the project. It was charged 
 upon the court at the time, upon the allegation that 
 it designed to alarm the king by this expedient, and 
 draw him to Metz. One fiict sufficiently demonstrates 
 this intention. Since the riots of the Palais-Royal, 
 Lafayette, in order to intercejit the communication 
 between Paris and Versailles, had fixed a post at 
 Sevres. He was compelled to withdraw it, on the 
 demand of the deputies of the right side in the as- 
 sembly. Lafeyette succeeded in stopping the French 
 guards, and dissuading them from their design. He 
 wrote a confidentialletter to the minister, Saint-Priest, 
 informing him of what had occurred, and removing 
 all apprehensions of danger. Saint-Priest, making an 
 improper use of the letter, showed it to D'Estaing, 
 w ho in his turn commmiicated it to the officers of the 
 Versailles national guard, and to the municipality, for 
 the pm-pose of apprising them of the calamities which 
 had threatened the town, and of those which might 
 threaten it again. It was proposed to call in the 
 regiment of Flanders ; many battalions of the Ver- 
 sailles guard opposed the measure, but the mmiici- 
 pality persisted in sending its requisition, and the 
 regiment was summoned. One regiment was but a 
 feeble force against the assembly, but it was sufficient 
 to carry off the king, and cover his flight. D'Estaing 
 informed the national assembly of the measures that 
 had been taken, and obtained its approval. The regi- 
 ment arrived ; the military parade which accompanied 
 it, though not very formidable, did not fail to excite 
 murmurs. The body-guards and the courtiers crowded 
 round the ofiicers, overwhelmed them with congratu- 
 lations, and, as before the 14th July, they appeared 
 in close confederacy and mutual understanding, and 
 buoyed up by sanguine and lofty hopes. 
 
 The confidence of the court aggravated the distrust 
 of Paris, and banquets ere long insulted the misery of 
 the people. On the 2d October the body-guards were 
 moved to give a feast to the officers in garrison. This 
 festival was held in the saloon of the theatre. The 
 b )xes were filled with spectators from the court. The 
 officers of the national guard were amongst the aruests. 
 A sprightly gaiety reigned throughout the entertain- 
 ment, which wine soon fanned into fervour. The 
 s;)ldiers of the regiments were then introduced. The 
 company, with ch-awn swords, drank to the health of 
 the royal family ; the toast of the nation was spurned, 
 or at aU events omitted ; the trumpets sounded the 
 charge, the boxes were scaled with vociferous shouts ; 
 the significant and well-known song of " Oh lUchard! 
 oh my king! the universe afxnuhns thee!" was chanted 
 in chorus ; pledges were given to die for the king, as 
 
 I entreat the queen to reflect, in her wisdom, upon all that may 
 result from a fiilse step ; the first cost sufliciently dear. I have 
 seen the excellent heart of the queen melt into tears at the fate of 
 victims given up to execution ; in this case there would be 
 torrents of blood blied uselessly, for vain re(?ret. Mere indecision 
 may be without remedy. It is only by anticipating the design, 
 by appearing even to foster it, that it may be partially controlled. 
 Nothing isasyot lost. The queenmay re-conquer hiskingdom for 
 the king. Nature has lavislied upon her the means ; tlicy of 
 themselves are sufhcient. She may imitate her august niothor ; 
 if not, I am silent. I beseech your majesty to grant me an 
 audience some day in the course of this week." 
 
 if he had been in the greatest danger ; in a word, the 
 delirium passed all bounds. White or black cockades, 
 but all of a single colour, were distributed in profu- 
 sion. The young of both sexes, glowing with chivalric 
 recollections, animated each other with fervent phrases. 
 It was at this moment that the national cockade was, 
 as is alleged, trampled under foot. The fact was after- 
 wards denied ; but did not the intoxication render 
 every thing credible, and every thing excusable ? And 
 besides, why hold such meetings, which raised on one 
 side only transitory emotions of loyalty, and on the 
 other a settled and vindictive exasperation ? When 
 the scene had reached this height, the queen was dis- 
 turbed in her apartments, and she consented to grace 
 the festival with her presence. The king was sur- 
 rounded as he returned from the chase, and he too 
 was drawn to the scene. The company threw them- 
 selves at the feet of both, and escorted them, as if in 
 triumph, to their apartments. It is unquestionably 
 sweet, when a man believes himself despoiled and 
 menaced, to find friends ; yet that is but a poor reason 
 for self-deception, as regards duty, power, and means. 
 
 The report of this banquet was soon disseminated, 
 and doubtless the popular imagination, in circulating 
 the particulars, superadded its own exaggerations to 
 those the festivity itself had caused. The promises 
 given to the king were held as threats dealt out to 
 the nation ; the prodigality so ostentatiously displaj ed 
 was regarded as a deliberate mockery of the public 
 wretchedness, and the vociferations " To Versailles!'" 
 recommenced with greater violence than ever. Thus 
 smaller causes combined to aggravate the effect of 
 general causes. Some young men who appeared in 
 Paris with black cockades were assaulted ; one of them 
 was dragged along by the populace, and the commime 
 found itself compelled to prohibit cockades of a single 
 colour. 
 
 The day after the fatal festival, a fresh scene, almost 
 similar in its features, occurred on the occasion of a 
 breakfast given by the body-guards in the circus of the 
 riding-school. The company, as before, were presented 
 to the queen, who expressed to them her satisfaction 
 at the demonstration of Thursday. She was hstened 
 to with eagerness, because, being less reserved than 
 the king, from her lips the sentiments of the court 
 were gathered, and all her words were stored up and 
 repeated. Irritation pervaded the public mind to a 
 fearful extent, and the most deplorable consequences 
 might justly have been anticipated. A connnotion, 
 as it chanced, was agreeable both to the people and 
 the court ; to the people, as a means of securing the 
 person of the king, and to the court, as a means of 
 terrifying him into a retreat to Metz. Neither was 
 it repugnant to the Duke of Orleans, inasnmch as he 
 hoped to obtain the lieutenancy of the kingdom if the 
 king should withdraw himself; it has been even stated 
 that his expectations aspired to the crown itself, which 
 is scarcely credible, for he lacked boldness of mind 
 sufficient for such lofty views. The advantages which 
 he liad grounds for anticipating from this new insur- 
 rection, have caused him to be accused of having par- 
 ticipated in it; but the charge is groundless. He 
 could not liave imparted the impulse, for it resulted 
 from the force of circumstances ; he appears at the 
 most to have seconded it; and, even in tliis respect, 
 a multifarious investigation, and time, whicli unlocks 
 all secrets, have brought to liglit no trace of a con- 
 certed plan. There is little doubt that the Duke of 
 Orleans was then, as during tlie whole revolution, 
 merely in the train of the jiopular movement, distri- 
 l)uting perhaps a little gold, furnishing occasion to 
 certain mob i)hrascs, and indulging himself in vague 
 hopes.* 
 
 * [" The insurrection of the. 5th and fith October was a true popu- 
 lar movement. It is useless to searcli for secret motives to account 
 for it, or to attribute it to hidden intrigues of aml)ition ; it was 
 Iirovoked by the imprudence of the court. Tlie banquet of the 
 life-guards, rumours of flight, apprehensions of civil war, ana
 
 62 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The populace, already agitated by the discussions 
 on the veto, exasperated 1)}' the black cockades, an- 
 noyed by the constant patrols, and tortui'ed by the 
 pangs of hunger, was in open revolt. Eailly and 
 Necker had neglected no means to render food abun- 
 dant ; but from tiie difricnlties of transport, the spolia- 
 tions endured on tlie route, and, above all, from the 
 utter impossibility of acting with the same efhcicncy 
 as the spontaneous movements of commerce, the sup- 
 plies of flour fell short. On the 4th October the agi- 
 tation was greater than ever. Tiie departure of the 
 king for Metz was bruited abroad, and the necessity 
 of going to Versailles in search of him was openly 
 canvassed ; the black cockades were execrated ; Ijread 
 was vociferously demanded. Numerous bodies of 
 patrol succeeded in restraining the populace from 
 outrage, and the night passed over in comparative 
 tranquillit}'. But from dawn on the following day 
 mol)s began again to gather. The women flocked to 
 the bakers' sho]>s ; breail was wanting, and they rusb.cd 
 to the town-hall to poiu- forth their complaints to the 
 representatives of the commune. Those functionaries 
 had not yet assembled, and a battalion of the national 
 guard was drawn up in the square. Men now joined 
 the women, but tliey refused to receive them, crying 
 out that men were merely an incumbrance. They 
 then fell precipitately on the battalion, and drove it 
 back with showers of stones. At tliis instant, a door 
 having been forced, the town-hall was invaded ; bri- 
 gands with ])ikes forced their way in with the women, 
 and attempted to set the edifice on fire. Their atro- 
 cious design was prevented, but they got possession 
 of the door loading to the great tower, and soiuidod 
 the tocsin. The faubourgs fortliwith put themselves 
 in motion. A citizen named Maillard, one of those who 
 had sigiudised themselves at the capture of the Bas- 
 tille, considted the officer in command of the battalion 
 of the national guard as to the means by which the 
 town-hall might be dcliveredfrom these furious women. 
 The officer durst not sanction the expedient he pro- 
 posed, which was to draw them together again under 
 the pretext of going to Versailles, but without actually 
 leading them thither. However, Maillard decided for 
 himself, took a drum, and soon gathered them aromid 
 him. They were grotesquely armed with clubs, broom- 
 sticks, muskets, and cutlasses. AVith this extraordi- 
 nary armament, lie passed down the quay, traversed 
 the Louvre, was forced in spite of himself to lead it 
 through the Tuileries, and at last debouched on the 
 Champs-Elysces. There he exhorted them to lay 
 down their weapons, on the ground that they ought 
 to present themselves to the assem'oly as supx)liants, 
 and not as rioters in arms. The women consented to 
 follow his advice, and Maillard was then compelled to 
 lead them to Versailles, for it was utterly impossible 
 to dissuade them from the enterprise. To this point 
 an irresistible current of opinion had set in. Bands 
 of men departed, dragging cannon ; others surrounded 
 the national guard, which, again, surrounded its gene- 
 ral, to draw him to Versailles, the object of all hopes. 
 SVhilst the capital was thus convulsed, the court 
 was at perfect ease ; but the assembl}' was roused to 
 anger by a message it received from tlie king. It 
 had presented for his acceptance the constitutional 
 articles and the declaration of rights. His reply ought 
 to have been a pure and unconditional acceptation, 
 with a ])romise to promulgate tlicm. For the second 
 time, the king, witliout exjjlaining himself too lucidly, 
 addix'ssed a series of observations to the assembly; he 
 gave his accession to the constitutional articles, but 
 
 famine, alone propelled Paris on Versailles. If particular insti- 
 gators contributed to produce the movement, which the most 
 indefatij,';ible of prejudiced inquisitors have left in doul)t, they 
 changed neitlier its direction nor its object. Tlie consc(iuencc of 
 the event Wits the dchtruction of the ancient system of the cinirt ; 
 it took away its guard, transported it from the royal residence of 
 Versailles to the capital of the revolution, and seated it under tlio 
 eye of the pcvple."— jV/i/nrf, vol. i. p. 113.] 
 
 without expressing approval of them ; he allowed 
 divers good maxims to exist in the declaration of 
 rights, but they required explanations ; the whole, in 
 fine, could only be judged of, as he said, when the 
 entire body of the constitution was framed. This was 
 vmquestionably a defensible opinion, and indeed many 
 jurisconsults partook it ; but the prudence of express- 
 ing it at this period was more than doubtfid. Scarcely 
 had the answer been read ere murmiu's arose. Robes- 
 pierre said that the king mistook his fnnctions when 
 he wrote critiques to the assembly, and Duport, that 
 the message ought to have been countersigned by a 
 responsible minister. Pet ion took the opportunitj- to 
 introduce the banquet of the body-guards, and he de- 
 nounced, in energetic terms, the imprecations levelled 
 at the assembly. Gregoire spoke of the famine, and 
 asked the reason why a letter had been addressed to 
 a miller, promising him 200 livres (£8) a-week if he 
 would grind no corn. Such a letter proved nothing, 
 for it might have emanated from any party; but it 
 nevertheless excited considerable tumult, in the midst 
 of w'idch M. de Monspey called upon Potion to sign 
 his denunciation. Thereupon Mirabeau, who had dis- 
 approved, even in the tribune, the speeches of Petion 
 and Grcgoire, rose to answer M. de Jlonspey. " I 
 was the first to express disapprobation at those impo- 
 litic denunciations," said he; "but since 5'ou insist 
 upon driving matters to extremity, I will be myself 
 the denouncer, and I wiU affix my signature, when it 
 shall have been proclaimed that there is no inviola- 
 bility in France but for the king alone." At this 
 terrible menace immediate silence ensued, and the 
 king's answer was again taken up. It was eleven 
 o'clock in the morning, and intelligence of the com- 
 motions at Paris was at that moment brought. jNIira- 
 beau went up to the president, Mounier, who, having 
 been recently elected to the chair in spite of the cla- 
 mours of the Palais-Royal, and menaced with a glo- 
 I'ious f;dl, displayed an indomitable firnmess during 
 that mournful day. Mirabeau drew near him, and said 
 in a low tone — " Pai-is is marching on us : feign ill- 
 ness, hasten to the palace, and teU the king to accept 
 purely and unconditionally." "Paris marches!" replied 
 IMouuier ; " so much the better : let them kill us all— 
 all, however — and the state will be vastly benefited !" 
 " Your remark is truly profumid !" retorted iNIirabeau, 
 and returned to his place. The debate continued 
 until three o'clock, when it was decided that the pre- 
 sident should wait upon the king, to solicit from him 
 a pure and unconditional acceptation. As Mounier 
 was preparing to leave the hall, in order to proceed 
 to the palace, a deputation was announced. It was 
 Maillard, and the women who had followed him. Mail- 
 lard demanded permission to enter and address the 
 assembly ; he Avas accordingly introduced, the Avomen 
 rushing tumultuously at his heels and penetrating 
 into the body of the house. He commenced an expo- 
 sition of what had occurred at Paris, enlarging upon 
 the want of bread and the desperate condition of the 
 peojilc ; he spoke of the letter addressed to the miller, 
 and pretended that some one whom he had met on 
 the road had stated that a priest was prepared to 
 denounce it. This priest was Gregoire, and, as has 
 been already related, he had made his denunciation. 
 A voice hereupon accused Juigne, Bisliop of Paris, of 
 being the author of the letter. Indignant cries arose, 
 repelling the imputation upon so virtuous a prelate 
 Maillard and his deputation were called to order. They 
 were told that measures had been taken to provision 
 Paris, that the king had omitted no precaution, that 
 the assembly was aliout to entreat him to order addi- 
 tional exertions, that they must now withdraw, and 
 that disorders were not the means for removing famine. 
 Mounier then departed to visit the palace ; the women 
 crowded aVound him, and insisted upon accompanying 
 him : he at first refused to listen to the proposal, but 
 was ultimately obliged to admit six as his companions 
 to the royal audience. He had to make his way through
 
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 ^ „y U,,c</ /y ' /' A,: „>„ ,.■ ^u;r, „„ ^ u./,.,.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 63 
 
 the hordes arrived from Paris, who were armed with 
 pikes, hatchets, and iron-hoiind chibs. The rain poiired 
 in torrents. A detachment of the body-guards charged 
 the mob surrounding the president, and drove it back ; 
 but the women soon rejoined IMounier, and he at 
 length reached the palace, where he found the regi- 
 ment of Flanders, the dragoons, the Swiss, and the 
 national guard of Versailles, drawn up in battle array. 
 Instead of six women, he was conspelled to take twelve 
 with him : the king received them with kindness, and 
 commiserated their distress, which gracious deport- 
 ment sensibty afi'ected them. One of them, a yoimg 
 and pretty girl, was so overpowered at sight of the 
 monarch, that she covild scarcely ejaculate the word 
 " bread." The king, touched at her emotion, embraced 
 b.er, and the women retired from the presence deej^ly 
 moved by the interview.* Their companions awaited 
 Ihem at the gate of the palace : they refused to believe 
 llieir rejjort, saying, they had allowed themselves to 
 be seduced, and prepared to tear them in pieces. Tlie 
 tody-guards, commanded by the Count de Guiche, 
 ran forward to disengage them ; musket-shots rattled 
 from various quarters, two guardsmen fell, and several 
 women were wounded. Not far from this tumidt, one 
 of the mob, at the head of some women, pierced the 
 ranks of the battalions and advanced to the railing 
 of the ptdace. ?.I. de Savonnieres pursued this daring 
 man, but he received a shot which broke his arm. 
 These skirmishes engendered the worst feeUng on 
 both sides. Tlie kmg, informed of the dangerous 
 position of affairs, sent an order to his guards not to 
 fire, and to retire to their barracks. Whilst they were 
 withdrawing, some shots were exchanged between 
 them and the national guard of Versailles, but from 
 which side the first shots were fired has never been 
 ascertained.! 
 
 During these deplora.ble conflicts, the king was hold- 
 ing a council, and Mounier was impatiently awaiting 
 his determination. The latter sent repeated iutimations 
 to the king that his duties called him to the assemblj^ 
 that the declaration of his acceptance woidd tranquU- 
 lise the publico mind, and that unless an answer were 
 vouchsafed him, he must withdraw, as he could not 
 longer absent himself from his post. It was debated 
 in the council whether the king should leave Ver- 
 sailles ; it continued in consultation from six till ten 
 in the evening, and the king, as is said, was princi- 
 pally moved to remain, lest he should leave the place 
 vacant for the Duke of Orleans. It was resolved that 
 the queen and the children should be removed, but 
 the crowd stopped the carriages the instant they ap- 
 peared ; and, furthermore, the qiieen had courageously 
 determined not to separate from her husband. At 
 length, about ten o'clock, Mounier received the pure 
 and unconditional acceptation, and returned to the 
 assembly. The deputies had left, and the hall was 
 occupied by women. He annomiced to them the king's 
 
 * [" The women who liad pone into the palace with the depu- 
 tation from the assembly, were extremely atilcted at the sensi- 
 bility shown by the king on hearing the aeeount of the pretended 
 want of the metropolis. One of them, whose name was Loiiisi 
 Chabry, a young woman of seventeen year.s of age, who worked 
 at a Ciirvcr's, and wlio was commissioned to represent the griev- 
 ances of the Parisians to his m.ijesty, could not support tlie emo- 
 tion of tenderness or timidity she felt, and fainted. Every thing 
 was done to recover her: as she was going away, she wished to 
 kiss the king's hand ; but his majesty, saying kindly to her that 
 she deser\ ed better than that, did Iicr the honour to kiss her lips. 
 Tlicy all retired well satislicd, crying in the court, ' God bifsx lite 
 khii) oml his family ! To-morrow we shall have bread I ' "—licrlrand, 
 vol. ii. p. 83.] 
 
 t [M. Bertrand, of course, charges the offence on the national 
 guards, in the following uidigiiant passage: " It is almost neces- 
 sary to have been an eye-wilness to these scenes of horror, to be 
 able to believe that that base and unprovoked discharge was nuide 
 by the national guard of Versailles only. Vcs, by those very men 
 on whom, three days before, the body-guards had lavished, and 
 from whom tney liad received, the most affectionate marlts pi 
 iriendship and good-will.— Vol ii. p. tJl.] 
 
 concession, which information they received with great 
 composm-e, asking him, at the same time, whether 
 their condition v/ould be amended thereby, and espe- 
 cially whether they shoidd have svifiicient bread. 
 Mounier returned as cheering an answer as he could, 
 and caused to be distril)uted amongst them all the 
 bread that it was possible to procure. That night, 
 in which it is so ditRcult to fix the wrongs that were 
 committed, the numicipality assuredly was guilty of 
 one in not providing for the wants of tliat famished 
 crowd, wliich insutnciency of food hud driven forth 
 from Paris, and which could not have obtained any 
 on the road after its departure. 
 
 At this moment the arrival of Lafayette was an- 
 nounced. He had struggled for eight hours against 
 the national guard of Paris, which insisted upon 
 repairing to Versailles. One of his grenadiers had 
 addressed him in these words : — ■"■ General, j-ou do 
 not indeed deceive us, but you are yoiu'self deceived. 
 Instead of turning our arms against women, let us go 
 to Versailles in search of the king, and make sure of 
 his inclinations l)y jjlacing him in the midst of us." 
 Laiiiyette had resisted the entreaties of his armj' and 
 the boisterous clamours of the multitude. His soldiers 
 were attached to him by no illusion of victories won 
 at their head, but by opinion ; and if that opinion 
 were withdrawn from him, he could no longer control 
 them. And yet, in spite of that difficulty, he had 
 succeeded in staying them until the evening; but his 
 voice could be heard only at a short distance, and 
 l;oyond its compass the popular fuiy raged without a 
 check. His life had been several times threatened, 
 and still he continued to resist. However, he became 
 aware that bands were continually issuing out of 
 Paris, and as the insurrection was transporting itsolf 
 to Versailles, his duty was to follow it thither. The 
 commmie also ordered him to proceed to Versailles, 
 and he accordingly departed. On the route he halted 
 his army, and administered to it an oath of fidelity to 
 the king : he did not reach Versailles until near mid- 
 night. He informed Mounier, as president of tlie 
 assembly, that the Paris army had vowed to perform 
 its duty, and that nothing should be done contrary to 
 the law. He then hastened to the palace, testified to 
 its inmates every sentiment of respect and concern, 
 communicated to the king the precautions that had 
 been adopted, and gave him assm-ances of his own and 
 his army's fidelity to his person. The king seemed 
 relieved from his anxieties, and retired to rest. The 
 g)iard of the palace had been refused to Lafayetfe ; 
 only the outer posts were intrusted to him. The 
 other posts were destined for the Flanders regiment, 
 whose stanchness was not too sure, the Swiss, and 
 the body-guards. These latter had originally received 
 orders to retire, but had been afterwards recalled, and 
 not having been able to effect a general junction, they 
 nmstered but sparingly at their post. In the disorder 
 that reigned, all the accessible points were not de- 
 fended ; one of the iron gates even remained open. 
 Lafayette caused the outer jrasts confided to his care 
 to be occupied, and not one of them was forced, or 
 indeed attacked. 
 
 Notwithstanding the prevailing tumult, the as- 
 sembly h;<.d resumed its sitting, and it juirsued a dis- 
 cussion on tlie ]>('nal laws in an attitude of tranquil 
 dignity. From time to time the people interrupted 
 the del)ate Avith demands for bread. JMirabeau, irri- 
 tiitcd at such unseemly conduct, exchiimed, in his 
 steutorian voice, that the assembly would receive the 
 law from no one, and Avcmld, if i)rov(>ked, order the 
 galleries to Ik; cleared. The people responded to his 
 api)eal with loud applause; but it was useless for the 
 assembly to persist mucli longer. Lafayette, having 
 sent a message to Mounier that all ai)peared to hiin 
 ■in perfect tranquillity, and that he might safely dis- 
 miss the members, the assembly broke up at an earlv 
 hour in tiie morning, adjom-ni g until the following 
 day at elevcL*.
 
 64 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The populace were scattered here and there through- 
 out the town, and appeared sunk in slumber. Lafayette 
 was justified in feeling confidence from the devoted- 
 ness of his army, which in fact did not belie his ex- 
 pectations, and by the profound calm which seemed 
 to pervade the whole town. He had made the barrack 
 of the body-guards secure, and distributed numerous 
 patrols. He was still on horseback at five in the 
 morning. Convinced that all danger had subsided, 
 he swallowed a draught, and threw himself on a bed, 
 to enjoy a short repose, for he had not been refreshed 
 by sleep for four and twenty hours.* 
 
 In this interval, the populace began to rouse them- 
 selves, and already groups were wandering in the 
 vicinity of the palace. Some ribaldry was exchanged 
 with a body-guardsman, who discliarged his piece from 
 a window : the brigands instantly sprang forward, 
 
 * nistory can never be unduly amplified when justifying even 
 individuals, especially in a revulutiun where the parts, even the 
 most important, are extremely numerous. 51. dc Lafayette has 
 been so calumniated, and his character is so imsulhed and con- 
 sistent, that it is but sheer duty to consecrate a note to his vindi- 
 cation, llis conduct during the 5th and (jth October was one 
 unbroken act of self-devotion, and yet it has been represented as 
 a criminal dereliction by those who owed tlieir lives to his exer- 
 tions. In the first place, he has been upbraided with the violence 
 of the national guard, which drew him in spite of himself to Ver- 
 sailles. Nothing can be more unjust ; for if a leader, by undaunted 
 firmness, can awe troops at whose head he has often conquered, 
 citizens recently and voUmtarily enrolled, and whom a certain 
 enthusiasm of opinion alone binds to their general, are not to be 
 controlled when that very opinion stimulates them to resistance. 
 M. de Lafayette struggled against them an entire day, and cer- 
 tainly more could not be desired. Besides, his ultimate departiu'e 
 was (if essential benefit, for without the national guard the palace 
 had been taken by assault, and none can predicate what might 
 have been the fate of the royal family when exposed to the 
 unbridled license of the populace. As has been already stated, 
 the body-guards were forced before the national grenadiers arrivetl. 
 It is an inevitable deduction, that the presence of Lafayette and 
 his troops at Versailles was indispensable. 
 
 After heaping reproaches on him for going there at all, he has 
 been assiduously attacked for going to sleep ; and this slumber 
 has been the subject of the most malevolent and xmremitting 
 taunts. Lafayette remained up till five o'clock in the morning, 
 having employed the whole night in distributing patrols and 
 establishing order and tranquillity ; and sufficient proof exists 
 that his precautions were judiciously taken, in the conclusive fact, 
 that not one of the posts intrusted to his guardianship was 
 assailed. All appeared calm ; and he did what no one would have 
 failed to do in his place — he threw himself on a bed to recruit 
 the strength that was exhausted in an incessant contact with a 
 tvmxultuary mob for twenty-four hours. His repose did not con- 
 tinue above half an hour ; he was at the palace upon the first 
 alann, and early enough to rescue tlie body-guards from the 
 slaughter that threatened them. What, then, can be justly 
 charged upon him ?— that he was not present at the first moment ? 
 But that absence might have been equally caused by some other 
 contingency : an order to give, ora post to visit, might have with- 
 drawn him for lialf an hour from the point where the first attack 
 was made ; and his appe;ir;mce simultaneously with the onslaught 
 could by no possible chance be assured. But did he arrive in suf- 
 ficient time to deliver almost all the victims— to save the palace 
 and its august inmates? Did he generously encounter the greatest 
 dangers? These things none have tlie hardihood to deny, and 
 they procured him at the period itself universal benedictions. 
 There was then only one sentiment amongst those he had saved. 
 Madame de Stael, who cannot be suspected of partiality towards 
 M. de Lafayette, relates that she heard the body-guards cry — 
 " Long live Lafayette! " Slounier, whose testimony is likewise 
 above suspicion, from his known tendencies, lauds his zeal ; and 
 Lally-Tolendal regrets that a six;cies of dictatorship ha<l not been 
 conferred upon him at that ejioch, (see his Address to his Con- 
 stituenls.) These two deputies have inveighed with suftieicnt 
 vehemence against the 5th and Gth October, to ensure them the 
 character of faithful witnesses on such a point. In a word, not a 
 single individiuil at the time ventured to deny a ze;il and alacrity 
 universally recognised. At a later date, the spirit of party, 
 unwilling to allow virtues in a constitution;il, wiis unscrupulous 
 enough to deny the services of Lafayette ; and then that long 
 course of calunmy, of which he has never ceased to be the object, 
 had its beginning. 
 
 passed the gate which had been left open, ascended 
 a staircase which they fomid unguarded, and were at 
 length stopped by two guardsmen, wlio heroically 
 defended themselves, giving way only foot by foot as 
 they retreated from door to door. One of these gene- 
 rous servants was called Mioraandre. "Save the 
 queen!" he shouted. The cry was heard, and the 
 queen sought refuge, in terror, beside the king. \Miilst 
 she fled, the brigands rushed forward, found the royal 
 couch abandoned, and attemiJted to proceed farther ; 
 but they were again stopped by the body-guards, in- 
 trenched in force upon that point. At this moment, 
 the French guards belonging to Lafayette, and sta- 
 tioned near the palace, hearing the tumult, hastened to 
 the spot, and dispersed the brigands. They presented 
 themselves at the door behind which the body-guards 
 were intrenched, and cried out, " Open : the French 
 guards have not forgotten that at Fontenoi you saved 
 their regiment ! " The door was thrown apart, and 
 the soldiers met in mutual embrace. 
 
 Without the precincts of the palace, violence and 
 disorder raged uncontrolled. Lafa3-ette, who had 
 scarcely lain down for many minutes, and had not 
 even sunk to sleep, heard the noise, sprang on the 
 first horse he found, and galloped into the midst of the 
 tumiilt, where he perceived several guardsmen on the 
 point of being murdered. With the quickness of 
 thought he rescued them from their peril, ordered his 
 own soldiers to hasten to the pahice, and remained 
 almost alone in the midst of the brigands. One of 
 them levelled his musket at him : Lafa^-ette, without 
 displaying any emotion, commanded the people to 
 bring the man to him. The populace instantly seized 
 the wretch, and dashed out his brains against the 
 pavement, before the eyes of the general. Lafeyette, 
 after having thus saved the body-guards, jjroceeded 
 at a rapid pace with them to the palace, and there 
 met his grenadiers, who had already mustered on the 
 scene of action. They all surrounded him, and volun- 
 teered their pledges to die for the king. At this mo- 
 ment, the body-guards, who had been rescued from 
 the very jaws of death, rent the air with cries of 
 " Long live Lafoyette 1" The whole court of the 
 monarch, seeing itself saved by him and his troops, 
 acknowledged that to him its preservation was owing ; 
 the evidences of gratitude were spontaneous and uni- 
 versal. Madame Adelaide, the king's aunt, ran for- 
 ward, pressed him in her arms, and said to him, 
 " General, you have saved us !" 
 
 The populace, at this instant, demanded with loud 
 shouts that the king should proceed to Paris. A 
 consultation was held. Lafayette, when invited to 
 take part in the council, declined, from a feeling that 
 his presence might be a check to free discussion. It 
 was ultimately decided that the court should accede 
 to the unequivocal wishes of the people. Pieces of 
 paper, imparting this information, were thrown from 
 the windows. Louis XVI. then presented himself on 
 the balcony, accompanied by Lafayette, and was hailed 
 Avith shouts of " Long live the king!" But a different 
 feeling was manifested with regard to the queen ; 
 fierce anathemas were coupled with her name. La- 
 fayette accosted her : " Madame," said he, " what 
 are your intentions?" " To accompany the king," 
 answered the queen, with courage. " Come with me, 
 then," returned the general ; and he thereupon led her, 
 in amazement, to the balcony. Some menaces again 
 assailed her from the more furious of the mob. The 
 moment was critical : a sudden and fatal act might 
 be perpetrated ; it was impossible for words to be 
 heard ; through the eyes only could the populace be 
 moved. Therefore, bowing lowly, and taking the hand 
 of the queen, the general respectfully kissed it. That 
 popidace, so truly French, was transported at the 
 sight, and confirmed the reconciliation by shouts of 
 " Long live the queen! Long live Lafa^'ette ! " Peace 
 remained to be sealed with the body-guards. " Will 
 you do nothing for my guards?" said the king to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 65 
 
 Lafayette. The jjeneral took one of them by the 
 hand, conducted hmi to the balcony, embraced him, 
 and decorated him vith his shoulder-belt. The crowd 
 again proclaimed its approval, and ratified by its 
 applauses this fresh reconciliation. 
 
 The assembly had conceived it inconsistent with 
 its dignity to attend the monarch, though he had 
 requested its presence. It had contented itself with 
 dispatching to him a deputation of thirty-six members. 
 As soon as it was informed of his intended departure, 
 it passed a decree importing that the assembly was 
 inseparable from the person of the monarch, and nomi- 
 nated one hundred deputies to accompany him to 
 Paris. The king received the decree, and entered 
 his carriage. 
 
 The main body of the multitude had already de- 
 parted. Lafayette had sent after it a detachment of 
 the army to prevent it returning. He had given orders 
 to disarm the brigands who bore on the ends of their 
 pikes the heads of two guardsmen. Those horrible 
 trophies were WTCsted from them, and it is false that 
 they were can'ied before the king's carriage. 
 
 Louis XVI. arrived, encompassed by a considerable 
 concourse of people, and was received by Bailly at the 
 town-hall. " I return with confidence amongst my 
 people of Paris," said the king. Bailly repeated these 
 words to those who were miable to hear them, but he 
 forgot the phrase " with confidence." " Add with con- 
 fidence" said the queen. " The words come more au- 
 spiciously from you, than if / had pronounced them," 
 replied Bailly. 
 
 The royal family repaired to the palace of the 
 Tuileries, which for a whole century had been unin- 
 habited, and in which the necessary accommodations 
 for the reception of the royjd family were wholly 
 incomplete. The guard of the palace was intrusted 
 to the Parisian militia, and upon Lafayette was im- 
 posed the responsibility towards the nation of the 
 king's personal safety, an object of dispute to all 
 parties. The nobles would have conducted him to a 
 strong fortress, in order to exercise despotism in his 
 name ; the popular party, to which the idea of dis- 
 pensing with the royal station had not yet suggested 
 itself, desired to keep him, in order to complete the 
 constitution, and to take from civil war an important 
 chief Thus the malevolence of the privileged classes 
 upbraided Lafayette with being a jailor, whereas his 
 vigilance could bear only one interpretation, that he 
 was sincerely anxious to maintain a king. 
 
 From this period, the course of parties took a new 
 direction. The aristocracy, being repelled from the 
 monarch, and unable to hatch schemes at his side, 
 betook itself to the provinces and to foreigners. The 
 emigration began thenceforth to be considerable. A 
 great number of nobles Hedto Turin, where the Count 
 d'Artois had taken up his abode with his fathcr-in- 
 law. From that point, their policy consisted in ex- 
 citing the departments of the south, and asserting that 
 the king was not free. The queen, from her descent, 
 and likewise from antipathy to the new court formed 
 at Turin, turned her hopes towards Austria. The 
 king, in the midst of these intrigues, belield all that 
 was going on, offered no interference, and awaited his 
 deliverance from any quarter that might attempt it. 
 At intervals, he made such disavowals as the assembly 
 required, and in truth was not free, any more than he 
 would have been at Turin or at Coblcntz, any more 
 than he had been under Maurepas, for it is the fate 
 of weakness to be in all cases dependent. 
 
 Tlu! pojjular party, now in the ascendant, was itself 
 divided: the Duke of Orleans, Lafayette, Mirabeau, 
 Barnave, and the Lamcths, representeil different sec- 
 tions. The i)ublic voice accused the Duke of Orleans 
 and Mirabeau of being tlie authors of the last insur- 
 rection. Witnesses, not altogetlier unwortliy of credit, 
 maintained that they had seen tliediike and Mirabeau 
 upon the dei)lorable battle-field of tlie Otli October. 
 'Ihe facts alleged were subsequently disproved, but 
 
 at the moment they were generally believed. The 
 boldest of the calumniators asserted that the design 
 of the conspirators was to carry off the king, and even 
 to procure his death. The Duke of Orleans, thev 
 added, had indulged in hopes of his elevation to the 
 lieutenancy of the kingdom, and Mirabeau of his to 
 the ministry. As none of these projects had succeeded, 
 and as Laftiyette seemed to have counteracted them 
 by his presence, he passed as the preserver of the king 
 and the conqueror of Orleans and Mirabeau. The 
 court, not having yet had time to become ungrateful, 
 proclaimed Lafiiyette as its deliverer, and the power 
 of that general appeared at the moment almost 
 bomidless. The enthusiastic patriots began to take 
 alarm, and already the name of Cromwell was nuit- 
 tered in public places. Mirabeau, who, as we shall 
 shortly see, had nothing in connnon with the Duke 
 of Orleans, Avas envious of Lafayette, and called him 
 Cromwell-Grandison. The aristocracy abetted him 
 m his suspicions, and stimulated the odium by calum- 
 nies of its own fabrication. But Lafayette was deter- 
 mined, in opposition to all obstacles, to support the 
 king and the constitution. With this view, he at 
 once formed the resolution to remove the Duke of 
 Orleans, whose presence gave rise to so many rumours, 
 and might furnish, if not the means, at least the pre- 
 text, for disturbances. He sought an interview ^nth 
 the prince, intimidated him by his firmness, and wrung 
 from him a ])ledge to withdraw himself. The king 
 took part in this measm-e, but feigned, with his accus- 
 tomed weakness, to be constrained to its adoption ; 
 and in a letter to the Duke of Orleans, he told him 
 it was necessary that either he or Lafayette should 
 retire ; that in the state of public opinion the selection 
 could not be doubtful, and that in consequence he 
 gave hun a mission to England. It has since become 
 known that M. de Montmorin, the minister for 
 foreign afiairs, in his anxiety to get rid of the Duke 
 of Orleans and his ambitious views, had urged him 
 to repair to the Low Countries, tlien insurgent against 
 the house of Austria, and given him grounds for anti- 
 cipating the title of Duke of Brabant.* His friends, 
 on learning the resolution of the duke, were indignant 
 at his weakness. More ambitious than himselfj they 
 were averse to his yielding ; they waited on Mirabeau, 
 and pressed him to denounce in the tribune the vio- 
 lence used by Lafayette towards the prince. Mirabeau, 
 sufficiently jealous of the general's popidarity, com- 
 municated to the duke and to Lafayette that he would 
 denounce them both in the tribune, if the departure 
 to England were persisted in. The duke was stag- 
 gered ; a new ajipeal from Lafayette quickened his 
 decision ; and Mirabeau received in the assembly a 
 note announcing the prince's retreat, whereupon he 
 exclaimed with wrath — " He is unwortht/ the trouble 
 people take on his account !"-\ This exclamation, and 
 several others equally thoughtless, liave often given 
 rise to accusations that he was an agent of tlie Duke 
 of Orleans ; but it is certain he never was. His penurv, 
 the imprudence of his remarks, his familiarity with 
 
 * See the Memoirs of Dumouriez. 
 
 t I have previously explained how slender were the relations 
 between Mirabeiiu and the Duke of Orleans. 1 will now give the 
 
 true meaning of that celebrated phrase — " This is unwoi-thy 
 
 the trouble that people take on his aci-ount." The eonstraint im- 
 posed by Lafayette upon the IJuke of Orleans was distjisteful to the 
 popular party in general, but especially jumoying to the friends of 
 tlie e.xiled prince. These thought of uiiehainiug Jlirabeau against 
 Lafayette, by piquing the jealousy of the orator agiiinst the gene- 
 ral. A friend of Orleiuis, Lauzim, visited Slirabeau one evening, 
 luid besought him to siieak on the matter the ne.xt d;»y. j\Iirabeau, 
 who often gave way to entre;ities, was about to yield, when his 
 friends, more solicitous as to his conduct than himself, pressed 
 him to refrain. He had accordingly resolved to preserve silence. 
 The next day, as the sitting was opened, the deiiartiire of the 
 duke was announced ; ;uui .Mirabeau, who felt irritated at his 
 subniissiun to Lafayette, and reflected on the useless exertions of 
 his friends, gave vent to the cxciuuuition in question.
 
 65 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 that prince, which was only such as he evinced towards 
 all he came in contact ^rith, his proposition regarding 
 the Spanish succession, and, finally, his opposition to 
 the duke's withdrawal, were unquestionably strong 
 stimulants to such suspicions ; but in despite thereof, 
 it is not the less true that Mirabeau belonged to no 
 party, and was indeed actuated by but one object, 
 which was to uproot the aristocracy and destroy arbi- 
 trary power. 
 
 The propagators of these allegations against Mira- 
 beau, must have known that ho was at that time so 
 straitened as to solicit loans of tlie most trifling sums, 
 to which extremity he could not possibly have been 
 reduced had he been the agent of a prince of such 
 immense possessions — of one whom his partisans, as 
 was said, had lUmost ruined. Jlirabeau had always 
 foreseen the impcucUng dissolution of the state. A 
 conversation with an intimate friend, held in the park 
 of Versailles, and extending throughout the niuht, 
 brought him to determine upon an entirely new plan, 
 and lie was convinced that for his own renown, the 
 safety of the state, and even for his own fortune (for 
 Jlirabeau was a man to promote all these interests 
 at once), his part was to remain in a firm position 
 between the disorganisers and tlie throne, and to con- 
 solidate the monarchy whilst carving for himself a 
 place mider it. The court had attempted to gain him, 
 but its emissaries had made their advances awkwardly, 
 and without the delicacy suitable to a man of haughty 
 temperament, who desired to preserve his popularity 
 in default of a confidence not yet accorded him. INIa- 
 louet, the friend of Necker, and connected with Mira- 
 beau, was anxious to bring them into commmiication. 
 Mirabeau had frequently' declined the overture,* from a 
 persuasion that he never could agree with the minister. 
 At length, he consented. Malouet introduced him, 
 and the incompatibility of the two characters was more 
 full}' demonstrated after the interview, in the coiu'se 
 of which, b}- the admission of all who were present, 
 Mirabeau displayed that superiority which he pos- 
 sessed in private life as well as in the trilrane. It was 
 rumoured that his design had been to sell himself, and 
 that, Necker having made him no proposal, he had said 
 on leaving, " The minister shall hear of me." Tliis was 
 the interpretation of party spirit, and decidedly erro- 
 neous. 5lalouet had proposed to Mirabeau, who was 
 known to be satisfied with the freedom that had been 
 gained, to come to an understanding with the miuis- 
 ter, and nothing more. Besides, at this very period, 
 a direct negotiation was pending with the court. A 
 foreign prince, connected with men of all parties, 
 made the first advances. A friend, who oSiciated in 
 an intermediate capacity, incidcated upon the com-t 
 that no sacrifice of his principles would be obtained 
 from Mirabeau, but that, if an adherence to the con- 
 stitution was miequivocally manifested, he might be 
 relied upon as an unshaken ally ; that with regard to 
 conditions, they were dictated by his situation ; that 
 it was essential, for the advantage of those v.'ho would 
 employ him, to render that situation honourable and 
 independent — that is to say, to discharge his debts ; 
 and that, in a word, it was of the greatest moment to 
 attach him to the new social order, and without actu- 
 ally bestowing on him the ministry, to lead him to 
 expect it at a future time.f These negotiations were 
 
 * Malouet and Bertrand de Molloville have not scnipled to as- 
 sert the contrary, but the fact we advance is attested by witnesses 
 worthy of implicit belief. 
 
 t In Mirabeau, as in all superior men, there were m.my weak- 
 nesses in conjunction with (rrc;it elevation of mind. Ili" possessed 
 an ardent imagination, wliich required to be fed witli lofty iiopcs. 
 It was impossible to ^ve him the ministry without destrojing liis 
 influence, and consequently without annihilating himself and all 
 the aid that could be derived from him. On the other hand, tliis 
 allurement was indisi)cnsable to his im.iRination. Those, there- 
 fore, who had placed themselves between him .and the court, 
 advised that at least the hojx! of a portfolio sliould be Iield out to 
 hinv However, the personal interests of Mirabeau were never 
 
 not entirely terminated until two or tlu'ee months 
 afterwards — not till the beginning of 1790. Historians, 
 from not beingperfectly acquainted with these details, 
 and deceived by the persevering energy of Mirabeau 
 in conil)ating the executive, have assigned a later 
 date to this treaty. But it was almost fully concluded 
 at the commencement of 1790. The fact will be 
 demonstrated in tlie proper place. 
 
 Barnave and the Laraeths could only compete with 
 Mirabeau by a show of more austere patriotism. 
 Apprised of the negotiations on foot, they supported 
 the rumour already prevalent, that the ministry was 
 about to be conferred upon him, in order thereby to 
 take from him the power of accepting it. An oppor- 
 tunity of effectually debarring him from office soon 
 presented itself. The ministers had not the right of 
 speaking in the assembly. 3Iirabeau was naturally 
 averse to divest himself, by acceding to the ministry, 
 of a faculty' which was his grand means of influence, 
 and he was furthermore desirous of dra^ving Necker 
 to the tribime, in order to have him more at his mercy. 
 He consequently moved that participation in debate 
 should be granted to the ministers. The popular party 
 took alarm, and opposed the motion without any plau- 
 sible reason, other than a seeming apprehension of 
 ministerial seductions. But such fears were quite 
 chimerical, for it is not in their public communications 
 with the chambers that ministers can corrupt the 
 national representation. However, Mirabeau's motion 
 was rejected, and Lanjuinais, pushing the rigorous 
 principle yet farther, moved that the pi-esent members 
 of the assembly be interdicted from accepting office. 
 A violent debate ensued. Although the motive of this 
 proposition was well miderstood, it was not avowed, 
 and Mirabeau, to whom dissimulation was impossible, 
 at length cried out, that it was needless to pass a 
 measm-e disastrous to the state, on account of one 
 single individual, and that he supported the decree, 
 on condition that the ministry should be forbidden, 
 not to all the present deputies, but simply to M. de 
 3Iirabeau, deputy for the seneschalsea of Aix. Such 
 smgular frankness and audacity produced no effect, 
 and the decree was unanimously adopted. 
 
 Thus we have shown how the state was distracted 
 with the emigrants, the queen, the king, and the diffe- 
 rent popular chiefs, such as Lafayette, 31irabeau, 
 Barnave, and Lanieth. No decisive event, like that 
 of the 14th Jidy or of the 5th October, was possible 
 for some time to come. Fresh vexations were needed 
 to exasperate the court and the people, and to provoke 
 a portentous ruptm-e. 
 
 The assembly had transferred itself to Paris,* after 
 having received repeated assurances on the part of 
 the commune as to the tranquillity of the capital, and 
 the promise of an entire freedom of debate. Mounier 
 and Lally-Tolcndal, indignant at the events of the 
 5th and 6th October, had sent in their resignation jis 
 members, saying, that they would be neither spectators 
 nor accomplices of factious crimes. They must have 
 deeply regretted this desertion of public duty, espe- 
 cially when they saw Mamy and Cazales, who had 
 
 made the objects of particular stipulation in the various confer- 
 ences that were held ; nothing was mentioned, in fact, concern- 
 ing either money or offices, and great difficulty was felt in making 
 Jlirabeau understand what was intended he should at least sur- 
 mise. To obviate this difficulty, an adroit expedient was suggested 
 to the king. Mirabcim enjoyed so indifferent a reputation, that 
 few persons would have consented to serve as his colleagues. 
 The king, therefore, applied to M. de I.iancourt, for whom he 
 entertained a high esteem, and asked him whether, for the ad- 
 vancement of his service, he would accept a portfolio in company 
 with Mirabeau. M. de Liancourt, devoted to the monarch, re- 
 plied that ho was prepared to do all that the good of his service 
 niiyht require. This interrogation being reported to Mirabeau, 
 filled him with satisfaction, and he no longer had any doubt that. 
 Us soon as circumstances permitted, he would be nominated to 
 the ministry. 
 
 * Its first sittmg in Paris was held at the archiepiscopal p;a:'.c<J 
 on the 19th October.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FREMCH REVOEUTION. 
 
 67 
 
 absented themselves from the assembly, soon after 
 return to it and courageously advocate, even to the 
 end, the cause they had espousfd. IMounier, having 
 retired into Dauphiny, assembled the states of that 
 province, but a decree shortly caused them to dissolve 
 without any show of resistance. Thus Mounier and 
 Lally, who, at the era of the junction of the orders 
 and of the tennis-court oath, were the heroes of the 
 people, had now become of no consequence in their 
 ejes. The parliaments had been the first to sink in 
 the rear when the popular energy was aroused ; after 
 them Mounier, Lally, and Necker ; and many others 
 were speedily to share the same fate. 
 
 The scarcity, the exaggerated and still real cause of 
 the agitation, gave rise to a fresh crime. On the 20th 
 October, th.e baker Fran(^ois M^as massacred l)y some 
 brigands. Lafaj'ctte succeeded in apprehending the 
 criminals, and delivered them to the Chatelet, a tri- 
 bunal invested with an extraordinary jurisdiction over 
 all otFences relative to the revolution. Besenval, and 
 all those accused of having taken part in the aristo- 
 cratic conspiracy, coiinteracted on the 1-tth July, had 
 been remitted there for trial. It was f nmd necessary 
 to use new forms of process at the Chatelet. Until 
 the intervention of the jury, which institution was not 
 yet established, the assembly had ordered publicity, 
 examinations in defence, and all other guarantees of in- 
 nocence, to be observed. The assassins of Francois were 
 condemned, and tranquillity re-established. Lafayette 
 and Bailly proposed, on this occasion, that martial 
 law should be proclaimed. The motion was vehe- 
 mently opposed by Robespierre, who from this time 
 forward manifested a warm sympathy for the people 
 and the poor ; but it was, nevertheless, passed by the 
 majority [Decree of tlie 21st October]. By virtue of 
 this enactment, the municipalities were made respon- 
 sible for the public tranquillity ; when troubles broke 
 out, they were emj^owered to call in tlie troops or the 
 miUtia-guards ; and after three summonses to, disperse, 
 they were justified in ordering the employment of 
 force against seditious meetings. A committee of 
 inquiry was established in the commune of Paris, and 
 also in the National Assembly, for tlie purpose of more 
 vigilantly watching the numerous enemies, whose 
 intrigues were outspread into such countless ramifi- 
 cations. Nor were all these means too many to coun- 
 teract the projects of the various foes leagued against 
 the new revolution. 
 
 The constituent laboiirs went forward with activity. 
 Feudalism had been abolished, but there still remained 
 a final measure to adopt for the destruction of those 
 great bodies, which had been enemies within the state 
 against the state. Tlie church held immense posses- 
 sions. It liad received them from princes as feudal 
 grants, or from the pious as bequests. If the property 
 of individuals, the fruit and object of labour, ought to 
 be respected, that wliich had been given to corpora- 
 tions for a specific object, might receive from the law 
 another destination. It was for the good of religion 
 that these possessions had been given, or at least 
 imder that pretext; now, religion being a public ser- 
 vice, the law was entitled to regulate tlie mode of pro- 
 viding for it in any other manner. The Abbe Maury 
 displayed upon this sul)ject his inexhaustibh! fhicncy ; 
 he sounded the tocsin of alarm for proprietors, tiireat- 
 ened them with imminent spoliation, and assorted 
 that the provinces were to be sacrificed to the stock- 
 joVjbers of the capital. The sophistry of his argument 
 is sufficienth'^ extraordinary to merit notice. It was 
 to jiay tlie national debt tliat tlie ixissessions of the 
 clergy were to be sold ; the holders of that debt were 
 the great capitalists of Paris ; the possessions appor- 
 tioned to them were in the provinces : thence, the 
 intrepid logician deduced that the provinces were 
 sacrificed to the capital ; as if the jirovinces were not 
 gainers, on the contrarj^ by a new division of those 
 vast estates, hitherto exclusively appropriated to the 
 luxm-ious enjoyment of certain lazy ecclesiastics. All 
 
 his efforts were of no avail. The Bisliop of Autun, 
 the author of the project, and the dei>uty Thouret, 
 speedily annihilated such idle sophisms. The decree 
 was about to pass that the possessions of the clergy 
 belonged to the state, when its opponents once more 
 raised the question of property. In reply it was main- 
 tained, that, even granting the clergy to he proprietors, 
 their possessions might be otherwise applied, since 
 those possessions had frequently been used in cases 
 of emergency for the good of the state. This fact 
 tliey did npt attempt to deny. Availing himself of 
 the admission, Mirabeau moved an amendment, that 
 the word " beIo?iy" should be altered into " are at the 
 disposition of (he state." The debate was immediately 
 closed, and the decree passed by a great majority [Law 
 of the 2d November]. The assembly thus destroyed 
 the formidable power of the clergy, suppressed the 
 obnoxious luxury of the dignitaries of tlie order, and 
 took into its own keeping those innnense financial 
 resources, which so long served to prop the revolution. 
 At tlie same time it secured the subsistence of the 
 parish priests, by enacting that their stipends should 
 never beless than 1200 francs (£50 sterling),iu addition 
 to the enjoyment of a parsonage and garden. It de- 
 clared that religious vows were no longer to be recog- 
 nised, and restored liberty to all monastic personages, 
 giving leave, however, to those who wished it, to con- 
 tinue the cloistered life ; and as their possessions were 
 appropriated, it assigned payments in beu tliereof. 
 With an advisable discrimination, it observed a dis- 
 tinction between tl le wealthy and the mendicant orders, 
 and proportioned the allowance to their respective 
 members accoi'ding to their pristine statutes. It 
 adopted the same course with regard to pensions ; and 
 when the Jansenist, Camus, reverting to the bright 
 example of evangelical simplicity, proposed to reduce 
 all pensions to an identical and extremely meagre 
 standard, the assembly, upon the motion of Mirabeau, 
 reduced them in i)roportion to their actual amounts, 
 and with a due regard to the former station of the 
 pensioners. Considerate deference for usage and ac- 
 customed habits could not be more signally displayed, 
 and in that consists the true respect for property. In 
 the same manner, when the Protestants, exiled after 
 the revocation of the edict of Nantes, reclaimed their 
 estates, the assembly restored to them those only which 
 had not been sold. 
 
 Cautious and fuU of consideration in its treatment 
 of persons, it handled things with unscrupidous daring, 
 and manifested a very ditferent spirit in constitutive 
 matters. The prerogatives of the difi'erent branches 
 of power had been fixed; and now arose tlie (iu(>stion 
 as to the division of the kingdom. It had always 
 been divided into provinces, which had been succes- 
 sively united to the original France. These provinces, 
 differing from each other in laws, privileges, and man- 
 ners, formed a most heterogeneous compound. Sieyes 
 conceived the idea of amalgamating them bj' a new 
 suljdivision, which should annihilate the ancient de- 
 marcations, and link all the parts of the kingdom 
 imder one system of laws and public feeling. This 
 result was accomplished by tlie partition into depart- 
 ments. Tbe departments, again, were divided into 
 districts, and th.e districts into municipalities. In all 
 these territorial gradations, tlie jirinciple of represen- 
 tation in governinent was estal)iished. The admi- 
 nistration of the department, the district, and the 
 borough, was each intrusted to a deliberative and to 
 an executive council, both equally elective. These 
 separate authorities Avere in dependence upon each 
 other, and had analogous functions, proportioned to 
 the extent of their jurisdictions. The department 
 settled the contribution to the taxes for the districts, 
 the district for tiie boroughs, and the borough for 
 individuals.* 
 
 * [" The provinces, whicli had viewed with regret the loss of 
 their pi'lvileges, formed petty btatos, with too great an extent of
 
 68 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The assembly afterwards fixed the quahfication of 
 a citizen enjoying political rights. It settled the age 
 at twenty -five, and the contribution at a marc of silver. 
 Each individual combining these advantages had the 
 title of active citizen, and those who had them not 
 were named passive citizens. These denominations 
 were turned into ridicule, for names are eagerly 
 snatched at when a desire exists to depreciate things ; 
 but thev were simple, natural, and admirably expres- 
 sive, the active citizen took part in the elections 
 for the formation of the administrations and of the 
 assembly. Tlie electicm of deputies had two processes. 
 No condition of eligibility was required ; fur, as it 
 had been inculcated in the assembly, a man was an 
 elector by his existence in tlie society, and the only 
 test of eligibility was naturally the confidence of the 
 electors. 
 
 These labours, although interrupted by numerous 
 occasional discussious, were prosecuted with exemplary 
 zeaL The right side contributed only to impede them 
 by studied obstinacy, whenever an opportunity oc- 
 curred of contesting any portion of influence proposed 
 for the nation. The popular deputies, on the con- 
 trary, tliough forming diiferent parties, joined or sepa- 
 rated without repugnance, according to their individual 
 sentiments. It was clear that with them conviction 
 overruled compact. Thouret, Mirabeau, Duport, Sieyes, 
 Camus, Chapelier, were seen alternately imiting 
 and dividing, as their opinions tended on each ques- 
 tion. As to tlie members of the nobility and clergy, 
 they rarely appeared except on party debates. When 
 the parliaments had passed resolutions against the as- 
 sembly, when deputies or writers had insulted it, they 
 exhibited great alacrity in upholding them. They 
 supported the mUitary commanders in opposition to 
 the people, the slave-dealers against the Negroes, and 
 declared against the admission of Jews and Protes- 
 tants to the enjoyment of civil rights. Finally, when 
 
 territory, and too independent an administration. It was expe- 
 dient to lessen their dimensions, change their names, and subject 
 them to an identical government. On the 22d December, the 
 assembly adopted the project on this head conceived by Sieyes, 
 and presented by Thouret in the name of a committee, whicli bad 
 been unceasingly occupied on the subject for two months. 
 
 France was divided into eighty-three departments, nearly equal 
 in extent and population ; each department was subdivided into 
 districts, and each district into cantons. Tlicir administration 
 was regulated after an unifomi and graduated system. Each de- 
 partment had an administrative council composed of thirty-six 
 members, and an executive directory composed of five ; as the 
 titles indicate, the functions of the first were to decide and those 
 of the liist to act. Each district was organised in the same man- 
 ner, but upon a smaller basis ; it had a council and a directory, 
 which were less in number, and subordinate to the departmental 
 council and directory. Eacli canton, comprising five or six parishes, 
 was an electoral and not an administrative division ; the active 
 citizens (and to become one a contribution equivalent to three days' 
 labour was requisite) assembled in the canton to nominate their 
 deputies and magistrates. Every thing was subjected to the elec- 
 tive principle in this new plan, but upon a certain scale. It was 
 judged imprudent to intrust the multitude with tlie choice of 
 delegates, and unlawful to deprive it of all concurrence therein, 
 80 tlie difficulty was obviated by a system of double election. The 
 active citizens of the canton chose electors empowered to nomi- 
 nate the members of the National Assembly, tlie administrators 
 of the department, those of the district, and the judges of the 
 tribimals. A criminal court was established for the whole de- 
 partment, a civil court for each district, and a local peace-court 
 for each canton. 
 
 Such were the institutions of the department : the borough 
 organisiition also required to be settled. The civic administration 
 was intrusted to a council-general and a municipal body, com- 
 posed of a varying number of members according to the popula- 
 tion of the respective towns. The municipal officers were named 
 immediately by the people, and they iilone were qualified to call 
 Into action the arme<l force. The commune or borough formed 
 the first step in the grand association, the kingdom the final one; 
 and the department served as an intermediate stage between the 
 commune and the state, or, in other words, between pmely local 
 and general interests."— Af /(/«*•(, vol. i. p. I17-118-] 
 
 Genoa arose against France, on account of the en- 
 franchisement of Corsica and the union of that island 
 to the kingdom, they were for Genoa in opposition to 
 France. In a word, alien and indiiferent to all useful 
 discussions, heeding not, but talking amongst them- 
 selves, they were never roused but when rights or 
 liberty might be crippletl.* 
 
 It has been already stated, that an important con- 
 spiracy could no longer be hatched in the cabinet of 
 the king, since the aristocracy was scattered in flight, 
 and the court encompassed by the assembly, the people, 
 and the national guard. Partial movements were 
 therefore all that the malecon tents could attempt. They 
 fomented the dissatisfaction of the officers who were 
 enamoured of the ancient order of things, whilst the 
 soldiers, having every thing to gain, were eager for 
 the new. Violent recriminations took place between 
 tlie army and the populace ; the soldiers often delivered 
 tlieir officers to the multitude, who massacred them ; 
 and at other times, distrust was happily subdued and 
 tranquillity restored, when the commanders of towas 
 knew how to employ a little address, and took the 
 oath of fidelity to the new constitution. The clergy 
 had inundated Brittany with protests against the 
 alienation of their possessions. They strove to sti- 
 mulate a remnant of religious fanaticism in the pro- 
 vinces, where blind superstition was still predominant. 
 The parhaments likewise were used, and they essayed 
 a last trial of their authority. Their sessions had 
 been prorogued by the assembly, because, whUst iu- 
 
 * It is interesting to ascertain the opinion of Ferridresupon the 
 manner in which the deputies of his own party conducted them- 
 selves in the assembly. He says : — 
 
 "In the National Assembly there were nearly three himdred 
 members, truly upright men, free from party spirit, enrolled in 
 neither club, solicitous of good, desiring it for itself independently 
 of the interests of orders or bodies, and always ready to embrace 
 the most equitable and useful proposition, indift'erent from whom 
 it emanated or by whom supported. These were men worthy of the 
 honourable functions to which they had been called ; to them were 
 owing the few good laws proceeding from the Constituent Assem- 
 bly, and the prevention of all the evil that was not perpetrated. 
 Always adopting that which was beneficial, and repudiating that 
 which was mischievous, they often turned the scale in favour of 
 propositions which, without them, would have been rejected by 
 factious spirit ; and they often negatived motions which, without 
 them, would have been passed from motives of interest. 
 
 When on this subject, I cannot avoid remarking on the impo- 
 litic conduct of the nobles and bishops. As they desired merely 
 to provoke the dissolution of the assembly, and to throw dis- 
 credit on its measures, far from opposing improper decrees, they 
 manifested an indiS'erence concerning them quite inconceivable. 
 They left the hall when the president put the question, inviting 
 the deputies of their party to follow them ; or, if they remained, 
 they shouted to them not to vote. The cliibbists, by this secession, 
 became the majority of the assembly, and decreed whatever they 
 pleased. The bishops and nobles, firmly believing that the new 
 order of things would not be permanent, hastened, with a species 
 of impatience, the downfall of the monarchy and their own ruin, 
 in the ins;me hope of accelerating the desire<i overtlirow. To this 
 inconsiderate conduct they added a scornful indifference, both for 
 the assembly and the people present at its sittings. They paid no 
 attention to the proceedings, but laughed and talked loud, thus 
 confirming the people in the unfavourable opinion they had con- 
 ceived of them ; and, instead of laboui-ing to regain their confi- 
 dence and esteem, they app;uently laboured merely to secure their 
 detestation and contemjit. All these absurdities were owing to 
 the nobles and bishops being unable to persuade themselves that 
 the revolution had been long engendered in the opinions and the 
 hearts of all Frenchmen. They flattered themselves that, by 
 means of such defences, they could stem the torrent that wa3 
 swelling with every sun. They did but accumulate its waters, 
 and extend its ravages, by clinging with reckless tenacity to the 
 antiquated system, the fimdamental object of all their actions 
 and all their opposition, but which no one would endure. By this 
 stu|nd obstinacy they forced the revolutionists to extend their 
 revolutionary views beyond the goal at whicli they had proposed 
 to stop. Then the nobles imd the bishops exclaimed against in- 
 justice and t>Tanny. They spoke of the antiquity and legitimacy 
 of their rights to men who had sapped the foimdation of all 
 rights." — Fcrriercs, vol. ii. p. 122.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 t)9 
 
 tending to dissolve them, it was unwilling to have 
 discussions with them in the interim. The chambers 
 of vacation administered justice during their recess. 
 At Rouen, Nantes, and Rennes, these chambers passed 
 resolutions, in which they deplored the ruin of the old 
 monarchy, the violation of its laws, and, without 
 naming the assembly, significantly alluded to it as the 
 cause of all existing calamities. They were called to 
 the bar, and reprimanded. That of Rennes, as most 
 culpable, was declared incapable of performing its 
 functions. That of Metz had insinuated that the king 
 was not free, an allegation in conformity with the 
 general policy of the malecontents, as has been pre- 
 viously observed. Unable to use the king for their 
 own purposes, they sought to represent him as labour- 
 ing under an oppressive thraldom, desiring by such 
 means to n\illify all the laws he apparently sanctioned. 
 The king himself seemed to countenance this course 
 of policy. He refrained from recalling his body-guards 
 displaced on the 5tli and 6th October, and had himself 
 guarded by the national militia, in tlie midst of which 
 he knew himself in safety. His intention was to ap- 
 pear as if held in captivity. The commune of Paris 
 unmasked this petty device by a formal petition to 
 recall his guards, which he declined under frivolous 
 pretexts, by the mouth of tlie queen.* 
 
 The year 1790, which had just commenced, was 
 ushered in with a general agitation. Three months 
 of comparative tranquillity had elapsed since the 5th 
 and 6th October, but disquiet was again returning. 
 Periods of great agitation are followed by an inter- 
 val of repose, and then begin again trifling demon- 
 strations, which grow into mighty conflicts. The 
 troubles which now disturbed the kingdom were 
 charged upon the clergy, the nobility, the court, and 
 even England, which instructed its ambassador to 
 justify it from the accusation. The paid companies 
 of the national guard were themselves atfected by the 
 prevailing spirit of disorder. Some soldiers collected 
 in the Champs-Elysees, demanded an augmentation of 
 their pay. Lafayette, ever on the alert, hastened to 
 the mutineers, dispersed and punished them, and re- 
 stored order amongst his troops, still faithful m spite 
 of any slight interruptions of discipline. 
 
 Public attention was especially occupied with an 
 alleged plot against the assembly and the municipa- 
 lity, the supposed leader of which was the Marquis 
 de Fa-vTas. He was publicly apprehended, and lodged 
 in the Chatelet. It was immediately rumoured abroad 
 that Bailly and Lafayette were to have been assassi- 
 nated ; that 1200 horsemen were in readiness at Ver- 
 sailles to carry oti' the king ; and that an army of 
 Swiss and Piedmontese was organised to receive him 
 
 * This subject, of the body-guards being recalled, gave occasion 
 to an anosdote which deserves to be recorded. The queen was com- 
 plaining to M. de Lafayette that the king was not free, alleging as 
 a proof of the fact that t)ie duty at tlie palace was perfomied by 
 the national guard, and not by the king's body guards. Lafayette 
 tUereupon asked her if the reinstatement of the latter would 
 afl'ord her pleasure. The queen at first hesitated to reply, but 
 could not with any grace refuse the offer made her by the general 
 to procure the recall in question. He immediately repaired to the 
 municipality, which, at his instigation, made an official rctpiest 
 to the king for the recall of liis body-guards, ottering to share with 
 them the service at the palace. The king and queen perceived 
 nothing hurtful in this demand ; but they were soon made sen- 
 sible of its consequences ; and those whose iiolicy it was that 
 they should not seem free, persuaded them to refuse it. How- 
 ever, it was a SDUiewhat dithcult task to assign reasons for tliis 
 refusal, and the queen, to whom delicate commissions were often 
 intrusted, was appointed to inform M. de Lafayette that the pro- 
 position of the municipality would not bo accepted. The motive 
 she alleged for this determination was, that they were unwilling 
 to expose the guards to massacre. Itut Lafayette had a few 
 moments before met oneof those very guards promenading at the 
 Palais-Royal in full uniform. He communicated this striking 
 fivct to the queen, who was thrown into considerable embarrass- 
 ment, but nevertheless persisted in the resolution she «;is in- 
 structed to convey. 
 
 and march on Paris. Terror pervaded the metropolis, 
 it being universally reported that Favras was a secret 
 emissary of certain elevated personages. Suspicion 
 fell upon Monsieur, the king's eldest brother. Favras 
 had been in his guards, and had furthermore negoti- 
 ated a loan for his behoof. Monsieur, alarmed at the 
 general agitation, appeared at the town-hall, repelled 
 the insinuations directed against him, explained his 
 relations with Favras, reminded his hearers of his 
 popular tendencies, as formerly manifested in the 
 assembly of notables, and claimed to be judged, not 
 by idle rumours, but by his known and unbelied 
 patriotism.* Loud and general cheers followed his 
 speech, and he was escorted to his residence by the 
 assembled crowd. 
 
 The trial of Favras was commenced. This person 
 had travelled over all Europe, married a foreign prin- 
 cess, and been engaged in devising schemes for the 
 purpose of re-establishing his fortune. He had been 
 busied with machinations on the 14th July, the .5th 
 and 6th October, and in the last months of 1789. The 
 witnesses who appeared against him gave the details 
 of his last plan. The assassination of Bailly and 
 Lafayette, and the removal of the king, appeared to 
 form part of this plan ; but no proof was led tliat the 
 1200 horsemen were in readiness, nor that the Swiss 
 and Piedmontese army was in motion. Circumstances 
 were unpropitious for Favras. The Chatelet had just 
 acquitted Besenval and other uidividuals imijlicated 
 in the plot of the 14th July, whereat public opinion 
 was sullen and discontented. Nevertheless, Lafayette 
 encouraged the judges of the Chatelet, impressed upon 
 them the duty of being just, and undertook that their 
 judgment, whatever it might be, should be executed. 
 
 This trial caused fresh suspicions to be entertained 
 of the court. These new projects made it seem incor- 
 rigible ; for, in the very middle of Paris, it was seen 
 still conspiring. The king, in consequence, was advised 
 to adopt a striking expedient to remove the public 
 impression. 
 
 On the 4th February 1790, the assembly was sur- 
 prised to see some alterations in the arrangement of 
 the hall. A carpet, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis, 
 covered the steps of the platform. The seat of the 
 secretaries was removed, and the president standing 
 by the side of the chair in which he usually sat. " The 
 king !" suddenly shouted the ushers, and Louis XVI. 
 immediately entered the hall. The assembly arose on 
 his appearance, and greeted him with loud applaiise. 
 A crowd of spectators in eager haste filled the galleries, 
 pressed into all parts of the hall, and awaited in breath- 
 less anticipation the royal words. Louis XVI. deli- 
 vered his speech standing, whilst the assembly was 
 seated. He first cast a glance at the troubles to which 
 France was a prey, the exertions that he had made 
 to subdue them, and to facilitate the subsistence of 
 the people ; he recapitulated the labours of the repre- 
 sentatives, declaring that he had attempted the same 
 measures in the provincial assemblies ; he maintained, 
 in short, that he had always manifested the wishes 
 
 * The speech of Monsieur at the towii-hall contains a passage 
 too importjmt to be omitted: — 
 
 " As to my personal opinions," said that august personage, " I 
 will speak of them with confidence to my fellow-citizens. From 
 the day on which I declared my sentiments, in the second iisseinbly 
 of the notables, upon the fundamental question which divided 
 all minds, I have never ceased to believe that a great revolution 
 was inevitable; that the king, from his intentions, his virtues, 
 and his supreme rank, wxs its natural chief, since it could not bo 
 beneficial to the nation without being equally so to the monarch ; 
 In fact, that the royal authority must always bo the safeguard of 
 the national liberty, and national liberty the basis of royal autho 
 lity. Let any one of my actions, or even of my phrases, bo cited, 
 which belies these principles, or which shows that, in whatever 
 circumstances I may have been placed, the happiness of the king, 
 and that of the nation, have ever ceased to be the sole objects of 
 my solicitude; until then, I have a riifht to bo believed on my 
 word, that 1 have never changed my sentiments and principloo, 
 and that I never will change them." 
 V
 
 70 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 that had been recently realised. He added, that he 
 had thought himself speciiilly called upon to co;desce 
 in the most signal manner with the representatives 
 of the nation, at a moment when decrees were sub- 
 mitted to him intended to establish an entirely new 
 organisation in the kingdom. It was liis determina- 
 tion, he said, to promote with all liis power the success 
 of that vast organisation ; every contrary attempt 
 would be criminal, and crushed by all 7ncans at his 
 disposal. At those words, loud cheers resounded from 
 all sides. The king proceeded ; recalling to mind his 
 own sacrifices, he urged all those who had suffered 
 any loss to imitate his resignation, and solace them- 
 selves with the prospect of the benefits assured to 
 France by the new constitution. And when, after hav- 
 ing promised to defend that constitution, he added that 
 he would do still more, and tliat, in concert with the 
 queen, he would earh' train the heart and mind of his son 
 to the new order of things, and accnstom-him to rest 
 his happiness on that of all Frenchmen, cries of affec- 
 tion broke from all quarters of the hall, all hands were 
 stretched towards the monarch, all eyes sought the 
 mother and the son, all voices demanded them — the 
 transports of the audience were tunndtuous and un- 
 bounded. The king concluded his si)eech by recom- 
 mending concord and peace to " that goal people of 
 whose love he is always reminded tchcn consolation is 
 proffered him for his anxieties."* At these last words, 
 
 * Tlie speecli delivered by the king upon tliis occ.ision is too 
 renuirk.ible not to be quoted, with a few observations. That 
 excellent and too unfortunate prince was for ever in a state of 
 vacillation ; but at certain moments he discerned with great 
 judgment his own duties and the errors of tjie court. The time 
 which pervades his discourse of the 4th February sufiiciently 
 proves that the words were not dictated, but that he e.Tpressed 
 himself with a deep feeling of his actual position. 
 
 " Gentlemen— Impelled by a sense of the serious situation of 
 France at this moment, I am come amongst you. The gradual 
 relaxation of all the bonds of order and subordination ; the sus- 
 pension or inertness of the course of justice ; the discontents 
 arising from private losses ; the oppositions and unfortunate ani- 
 mosities, which are the imavoidable consequences of long dis- 
 sensions; the critical situation of the finances, and the doubts 
 respecting the national resources ; the general agitation— all con- 
 spire to keep alive the anxiety of all real friends to the prosperity 
 and happiness of the kingdom. 
 
 A grand object lies before you ; but it must be attained without 
 farther disturbances or new con\TiIsions. I may be allowed to say, 
 that it was my firm hope to have led you to that great end in a 
 milder and more tranquil manner, when I formed the design of 
 assembling you, and of collecting together for the public good tlie 
 talents and opinions of the representatives of the nation ; but my 
 happiness and glory are not the less closely united with the suc- 
 cess of jour Uibours. 
 
 I have protected them, with unremitting vigilance, against the 
 fat,al influence which the unhappy circumstances of tlie times 
 might have over them. The liorrors of famine, which spread 
 consternation over our countrj' last year, have been mitigated by 
 constant care and immense supplies. The disorder that might 
 have naturally ensued from the former state of the finances, the 
 absence of credit, theexcessivescarcity of bullion, and tlie gradual 
 decay of the revenue, has been, at least in all its nakedness and 
 hideousness, as yet averted. I have every where, and especially 
 in the capital, guarded against the dangerous consequences of t)ie 
 want of work, and notwithstanding the relaxed state of all 
 the springs of authority, I liave maintained the kingdom, not 
 Indeed in the tranquillity I could have wished, but in a condition 
 of reposi' sufficient to receive lasting benefits from a wise and 
 well-ordered liberty; and, furthennore, notwithstanding our 
 domestic situation, too generally known, and the pohtical storms 
 that agitate other nations, I have not only preserved peace abroad 
 but mamt;iined, witli all the powers of Kurope, those bonds of 
 respect and friendship, which are the best guarantees of its sta- 
 bility. 
 
 Having thus secured you from obstacles which might so easily 
 have obstructiHl your cares and your Labours, I think the moment 
 IS arrived when the interest of the stiUc requires that I should 
 join in a m.mner yet more decisive and m.anifest in the execution 
 and issue of all that you have panned for the good of France. 
 I cannot seize a more suitable occasion than when you present 
 for my acceptance decrees designed to establish a new svstem of 
 
 all present evinced the most lively sentiments of esteem 
 and gratitude. The president made a short reply, in 
 
 organisation in the kingdom, which must have so important and 
 propitious an influence on the welfare of my subjects, and the 
 prosperity of this great empire. 
 
 You are aware, gentlemen, that more than ten years ago, and 
 at a time when the wishes of tiie nation were not made known 
 raspecting the provincial assemblies, I had begun to substi- 
 tute this kind of aduiinistration for that which inmiemorial 
 usage had consecrated. Experience having convinced me that I 
 was not mistaken in the opinion I had formed of the utility of 
 such establishments, I sought to extend the benefit of them 
 through all the provinces of my kingdom ; and in order to ensure 
 general confidence in the new modes of administration, I intended 
 that the members of whom tliey were to be composed should be 
 freely nominated by all the citizens. You have improved upon 
 these views in several particulars, and the most essential is un- 
 questionably that equal and well-designed subdivision, which by 
 weakening the etl'ect of the ancient separations between province 
 ■ind province, and establishing a general and complete system of 
 equipoise, more perfectly imites all the parts of the kingdom in 
 an uniform spirit and interest. This grand idea, this salutary 
 contrivance, is entirely due to you ; but unanimity in the repre- 
 sentatives of the ruition, and their just ascendancy over public 
 opinion, are not the less necessary in order to undertake with 
 confidence an alteration of such vital importance, and to over- 
 come, by the power of reason, the resistance of habit and parti- 
 cular interests." 
 
 All that the king says here is perfectly just and well-considered. 
 It is true that he had attempted all these ameliorations of his 
 own motion, anil that he had given a rare example amongst 
 princes — that of imticipating the wants of subjects. The eulogy 
 he pronounces on the new territorial division also bears the cha- 
 racter of entire good faitli, for it was certainly advantageous to 
 the government, inasmuch as it destroyed the obstacles which 
 local interests had often opposed to it. Every thing, therefore, 
 induces us to believe that the king speaks on these subjects with 
 perfect sincerity. He continues : 
 
 ' • I will promote and accelerate, by all the means in my power, 
 the success of this vast organisation, on which depends the safety 
 of France ; and I think it necessary to declare, I am too much 
 occupied with the internal situation of the kingdom, I have my 
 eyes too open to the dangers of every kind that siu-round us, not 
 to be fully impressed with the conviction that, in the present dis- 
 position of the public mind, and on an attentive consideration of 
 the state of public affairs, it is indispensable that a new order of 
 things be established, calmly and deliberately, or the kingdom 
 will be exposed to all the calamities of anarchy. 
 
 Let true patriots reflect upon this matter as I have done, 
 directing their minds solely to the good of the state, and they will 
 perceive that, notwithstanding tlie different opinions that may 
 prevail, they are urged by a high and commanding interest to 
 cordially unite at this moment. Time will correct what may be 
 found defective in the collection of laws framed by this assembly "' 
 (this indirect <ind delicate censure proves that the king was not 
 disposed to flatter, but, on the contrary, to speak his real senti- 
 ments, observing the necessary circumspection) ; " but every 
 enterprise tending to shake the principles of the constitution 
 itself, everj' design fonned to overthrow them or to weaken their 
 happy influence, could only serve to introduce amongst us the 
 frightful evils of discord ; and even supposing the success of such 
 an attempt against my people and me, the result would deprive 
 us, without equivalent, of the many advantages held out to us in 
 perspective by the new order of things. 
 
 Let us, then, with all sincerity, freely give in to the hopes we are 
 justified in conceiving, and think only of realising them by unani- 
 mity and concord. Let it be every where known that the monarch 
 and the representatives of the nation are united in interest and in 
 purpose, so that the conviction, the firm assurance, may dissemi- 
 nate in the provinces a spirit of peace and good will ; and so that 
 all citizens distinguished for reputation, all those who are able to 
 do the state essential service by their zeal and abilities, may 
 evince due alacrity in afi'ording their assist.ince in the different 
 subdivisions of the gener.ol administration, the various links and 
 the entirety of which ought to act concurrently and energetically 
 in the restoration of order and prosperity to the kingdom. 
 
 We must not concciil from ourselves that much is required 
 before that object can be fully attained. An unflinching deter- 
 mination, a general and common eflbrt, are absolutely necessary 
 to obtain complete success. Continue, then, your labours, with- 
 out other passions than ardour for good ; keep your attention 
 invariably fixed upon the condition of the people and upon public 
 liberty ; but exert yourselves also to allay, to remove all distrust.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 71 
 
 whicli he depicted the rapturous emotions that quick- 
 ened all their hearts. The monarch was then escorted 
 back to the Tuileries by the multitude. The assembly 
 passed a vote of thanks both to him and the queen. 
 At the same time, a new idea presented itself: Louis 
 XVI. had just pledged himself to maintain the consti- 
 
 and put an end, as soon as possible, to the different causes of 
 anxiety which keep from France so many of its citizens, the 
 effect whereof forms so sad a contrast to tlie laws of safety and 
 liberty you design to establish : be assured, prosperity will only 
 retiu-n when general contentment is produced. We every where 
 perceive hopes ; let us be impatient to see happiness every where 
 also. 
 
 One daj', it is my solace to believe, oil Frenchmen, without 
 distinction, will be convinced of the advantage sure to result from 
 the entire suppression of aU order and state privileges, when the 
 only rivalry shall be in common exertions for the public good, and 
 for that prosperity of the country which interests all citizens in 
 an equal degi'ee ; and when every one shall perceive, without dis- 
 pleasure, that, for the future, a reputation for talents and virtues 
 will be a sufiScient qualification for appointment to the service of 
 the state. 
 
 At the same time, however, whatever recalls to a nation the 
 ancient and unbroken services of an honoured family, is a distinc- 
 tion which nothing can destroy, and as it is closely connected 
 with the sacred duties of gratitude, those of every class in society 
 who aspire to render their country essential service, and those 
 who enjoy the felicity of having already done so, are interested in 
 respecting that transmission of titles or meniorials, the fairest 
 inheritance that can be passed to descendants. 
 
 Neither can the respect due to the ministers of religion be obli- 
 terated ; for as that reverence is principiUy connected with tlie 
 holy truths which are the safeguards of order and morality, all 
 good and enlightened citizens have an equal interest in maintain- 
 ing and defending it. 
 
 Doubtless, they who have relinquished their pecuniary privileges, 
 they who no longer form, as hereto/ore, a political order in the state, 
 will find tliemselves subjected to sacrifices of which I know all the 
 weight; but I am persuaded their generosity will lead them to find 
 consolation in the public advantages to be anticipated from tlie esta- 
 blishment of national assemblies." 
 
 The king continues, as we see, to point out to all parties tlie 
 benefits of the new laws, and, at tlie same time, the necessity of 
 preserving something of the ancient system. The words he 
 addresses to the privileged classes prove his real opinion upon the 
 expediency and the justice of the sacrifices th.at had been imposed 
 upon them, and their resistance will be eternally branded by the 
 expressions contained in this discourse. It wiU be vainly siiid that 
 the king was not free : the care which he takes throughout in 
 balancing concessions, counsels, and even reproaches, proves that 
 he spoke sincerely. He expressed himself very differently wlien 
 he afterwards wished to display the state of constramt in which 
 he believed himself to be. His letter to the diplomatic body, 
 hereafter quoted, will sufficiently demonstrate the fact. The 
 popidai- exaggerated style which reigns in it shows the intention 
 to convey an idea that he was not free. But here the moderate 
 tone leaves no doubt ; and what follows is so touching, so exqui- 
 site, that it is impossible :uiy man could consent to write and 
 utter it without having felt it. 
 
 " I also should liave many losses to enumerate, if, in the midst 
 of the great interests of the state, I could linger on personal cal- 
 CTilations ; but I experience a cimsolation which rewards nie ; I 
 find a full and complete conipcnsatii)n in the increased happiness 
 of the nation ; and this sentiment 1 here express from the bottom 
 of my heart. 
 
 I will, then, defend and uphold the constitutional liberty, the 
 principles of which have been consecrated by the national desire, 
 manifesting itself in unison with mine, i will do more; and in 
 concert with th^: queen, who parlalces all my sentiments, I will early 
 train tlie mind and heart of my son to that new order of things which 
 circumstances have wrought. I will hahiluale him from his earliext 
 years to place his happiness on that of the French, and ever to be 
 awaro that, in spite of the language of fhittcry, a wise constitu- 
 tion will preserve him from the dangers of inexperience, and that 
 a rational liberty adds fresh value to those sentiments of love and 
 fidelity, of wliicli the nation, for so many ages, has given such 
 affecting proofs to their kings. 
 
 I do not permit myself to doubt that, in completing your work, 
 you will attend with wisdom and confidence to the strong sup- 
 port of the executive power, a condition indispensable to the 
 maintenance of durable order .at home, and respect abroad. Yoii 
 can have no reasonable distrust rem.iining ; it is therefore your 
 duty, as citizens and faithful representatives of the nation, to 
 
 tution, and it seemed fitting that the deputies should 
 bind themselves in Uke manner. The civic oath was 
 thereupon proposed, and each deputy ascended tlie 
 tribune and swore to be faithful to " the nation, the Jaw, 
 and the king ; and to maintain ivith all his poiver the con- 
 stitution decreed bij the National Assemhhj, and accepted 
 by the king." The attendants, and the "deputies of the 
 
 secure, for the advantage of tlie state and for public liberty, that 
 stability, which can result only from an authority at once active 
 and tutelary. You wiU assuredly keep present to your minds, 
 that without such an authority the various parts of your consti- 
 tutional system would be destitute at once of connexion and 
 harmony ; and while you are attending to the liberty you love, 
 and which I love also, you will not forget that disorder in admi- 
 nistration, by provoking confusion and contest amongst the dilfe- 
 rent powers, often degenerates, through blind violence, into the 
 most dangerous and most alarming of all tyrannies. 
 
 Thus, gentlemen, not for myself (for I tlirow aside personrd 
 considerations in speaking of laws and institutions that are to 
 regulate the destiny of the empire), but for the liappiness of our 
 common country, for its prosperity and for its power, I call upon 
 you to dismiss from your minds all those momentary impressions 
 which might possibly divert you from a careful and comprehen- 
 sive consideration of what a kingdom such as France requires, 
 as well from its great extent and immense population, as from its 
 indispensable relations beyond its limits. 
 
 Neither will you neglect to fix your attention upon what is also 
 required of legislators, by tlie manners, character, and customs of 
 a nation which has become too celebrated in Europe, from the 
 peculiarity of its spirit and genius, to make it a matter of indiffe- 
 rence whether the sentiments of mildness, loyalty, and honour, 
 which have rendered it BO renowned, should be upheld or weakened. 
 Give it, therefore, an example of that spirit of justice which is 
 the safeguiird of property, of that right respected by all nations, 
 which is not the work of cliance, nor indebted to opinion for pri- 
 vileges, but which is strictly connected with the essential reki- 
 tions of public order and the foundations of social harmony. 
 
 By what fatality is it that, when tranquillity was beginning to 
 return, new troubles have arisen in the provinces ? By what 
 fatality does it come to pass that fresh excesses have been perpe- 
 trated? Unite with me to suppress them; let us use all our 
 efforts to prevent criminal violences occurring to tarnish the era 
 in which tlie happiness of the nation is zealously endeavoured. 
 You, who can command by so many influences the public con- 
 fidence, enlighten tlie people who are misled as to their true intere.<ts; 
 those good people who are so dear to me, aid of whose love I am 
 reminded when consolation is tendered me to alleviate my anxieties. 
 Ah ! if they knew how unhappy it makes me to hear of attacks 
 upon property, or acts of violence against persons, they would 
 probably spiu'e me such heavy afflictions. 
 
 I cannot speak to you of the great interests of the state, with- 
 out pressing you to attend earnestly and decisively to all that 
 concerns the re-establishment of order in the finances, and the 
 comfort of the numerous body of citizens wiio are m various 
 degrees connected with the public funds. It is time to relieve all 
 uneasiness ; it is time to restore this kingdom to the stability of 
 credit it has a right to enjoy. You cannot imderUike every thing 
 at once ; consequently, I invite you to reserve for another period 
 some portion of those benefits, the idea of wliich the junction of 
 your varied talents has suggested to you. But when you have 
 added to what you have already aeeomplishod, a wise and well- 
 digested plan for the administration of justice; when you have 
 placed on the b;isis of a perfect equilibrium the revenue and the 
 expenditure of the state ; in a word, when you have completed 
 the work of the constitution, you will have acquired great and 
 substantial claims to the national gratitude ; and in tlie succes- 
 sion of national assemblies, a suoeossion henceforth founded on 
 the < onstitution itself, year after y«ir will only need additional 
 sources of prosperity to be developed. Ulay this day, on which 
 your monarch has united with you in tlio frankest and most 
 cordial manner, be a niemor.iblo date in the history of this 
 emiiire ! It will be so, I hope, if my ardent wishes and my 
 earnest exhortations suffice as a signal of peace and conc<ird 
 amongst you. Let those who are yet reluctant to join in that spirit 
 if union, now become so necessary, make for me the sacrifice of all 
 the reeolleclions tliat torttire them ; / will repay Utem by my grati- 
 tude anil affictiini. 
 
 From tliis day forth, let us all be actuated— and I give you the 
 example— lot us all bo actuated by but one opinion, oik; sense of 
 interest, one determination — attachment to the new constitution, 
 and an ardent desire for the peace, the happiness, and the pro- 
 sperity of France."
 
 72 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 commune, asked permission to take the oath in their 
 turn ; the side and front galleries followed their ex- 
 ample, and from all points nothing was lieard but the 
 words : " / swear ! " 
 
 The oath was repeated at the towm-hall, and from 
 borough to borough throughout France. Public re- 
 joicings were ordered ; every thing gave token of a 
 general and sincere joy. This unquestionably was 
 the time to enter upon a new line ol conduct, and to 
 avoid rendering this reconciliation imavailing, like all 
 the others ; but that very evening, whilst Paris glit- 
 tered with an illumination to celebrate the auspicious 
 event, the court had already relapsed into its infiitua- 
 tion, and the popular deputies were received at it in 
 a very different manner from the gracious reception 
 accorded to the noble deputies. In vain did Lafayette, 
 whose sensible and zealous counsels were disregarded, 
 inculcate upon the court that the king could no longer 
 waver ; that he ought to connect himself unreservedly 
 witli the popidar party, and attempt to gain its confi- 
 dence ; that to effect this important object, it was 
 necessai'y that his intentions shovUd not only be i)ro- 
 claijued in the assembly, but manifested in his most 
 trifling actions ; that he ought to repudiate the slight- 
 est equivocal expression used in his presence, and dis- 
 avow the least doubt that might be expressed as to 
 his real wishes ; that he ought to exhibit neither con- 
 straint nor displeasure, nor leave any lurking hopes 
 to the aristocrats ; and finally, that his ministers 
 ought to be imited, not permitting themselves any 
 unseemly rivalry with the assemblj^, and obliging it 
 to make such incessant appeals to public opiiiion. 
 Lafayette in vain reiterated these prudent counsels 
 with respectful earnestness ; the king perused his 
 letters, and thought him a very honest man ; the 
 queen repelled him with ill humour, and even seemed 
 indignant at the interest he evinced towards the royal 
 family. She received ]Mirabeau \nth much more be- 
 nignity — a man of greater capacity perhaps, but cer- 
 tainly of less irreproachable fame than Lafayette. 
 
 The communications between Mirabeau and the 
 court had been continued. He had even entered 
 into relations with ^Monsieur, whom his opinions ren- 
 dered more accessible to the popular party, and to 
 him Jlirabeau had repeated what he had always 
 impressed upon the queen and M. de Montmorin, 
 namely, that the monarchy could be saved only by 
 identifying itself with liberty. He at length luade a 
 compact with the court, through the channel of an 
 intermediate agent. He digested his principles in a 
 sort of profession of faith, from which he bomid liim- 
 self not to swerve, and to support the court so long 
 as it adhered to the same line of policy. A consider- 
 able allowance was granted to him in return. Strict 
 morahty unquestionably condemns such treaties, and 
 demands that duty be performed from a sense of duty 
 alone. But did he in fact sell himself? An inferior 
 man would, bej'ond doubt, have bargained away and 
 sacrificed his principles, but the puissant ilirabeau, 
 so far from abandoning his, brought power to embrace 
 them, and received in reward the assistance which 
 his great necessities and unbridled passions rendered 
 80 indispensable. Very different from those who pro- 
 stitute for high gain feeble talents and a loose con- 
 science, Mirabeau, unshaken in his principles, battled 
 alternately with his own party and the court, as if he 
 were independent of the former for his popularity, 
 and of the latter for his means of expenditure ; and 
 this to such a point, that historians, unable to believe 
 him in alliance with the court wliich he opposed, have 
 not recorded the treaty as made until 1791, Avhereas 
 in truth it was concluded in the early months of 1790. 
 Mirabeau had an interview with the queen, charmed 
 her by his superiority, and was greatly flattered by 
 the reception vouchsafed him. This extraordinary 
 man was prone to all seductions, to those of vanity as 
 well as to those of passion. He was to be taken with 
 his strengtii and his weaknesses, and, as he was, made 
 
 serviceable to the cause held in common with him. 
 Besides Lafayette and Mirabeau, the court had like- 
 wise Bouille, whom it is time to introduce on the scene. 
 
 Bouille, a man of courage, rectitude, and talent, had 
 all the feelings of aristocracy', and was distinguished 
 from its herd only hy a less perfect bhndness, and a 
 greater aptitude for afiliirs. Stationed at Metz, where 
 he commanded a vast extent of frontier, and a consi 
 derable body of troops, he laboured to promote discord 
 between his soldiers and the national guards, in order 
 to preserve the former in fidelity to the court.* As- 
 signed to the post he occupied as a resource in need, 
 he was the terror of the popular party, being esteemed 
 the general of the monarchy, as Lafayette of the con- 
 stitution. Nevertheless, the conduct of the aristocracy 
 dissatisfied him. and the weakness of the king dis- 
 gusted him, and he woidd have quitted the service if 
 lie had not been entreated by Louis himself to remain. 
 The honour of Bouille was bright and scrupulous. 
 His word pledged, the oath taken, no thought entered 
 his head save fidelity to the king and the constitution. 
 The natural policy of the court, therefore, was to unite 
 Lafayette, Mirabeau, and Bouille ; for through them 
 it would have had the national guards, the assembly, 
 and the army, that is to say, the three powers of the 
 day. Prejudices certainly existed, tending to divide 
 those three infiuential personages. Lafayette, strong 
 in his good intentions, was ready to coalesce with all 
 who would serve the king and the constitution ; but 
 Mirabeau was jealous of Lafayette's influence, scowled 
 at his much-vaunted purity, and affected to regard it 
 as dangerous. Bouille detested in Lafayette the en- 
 thusiastic tone of his opinions, and, perhaps, an irre- 
 proachable antagonist ; he preferred ^lirabeau, whom 
 he believed more easy of management, and less rigo- 
 rous in political faith. The court should have removed 
 these particular grounds of alienation, and drawn the 
 three men into an understanding. But only one means 
 existed of cementing such a coalition — a limited mo- 
 narchy. It ought, therefore, to have frankly resigned 
 itself to that consummation, and strained all its powers 
 to promote it. But for ever vacillating, without utterly 
 discarding Lai^iyette, the court eyed him with aversion ; 
 subsidised Mu-abeau, who attacked it at intervals ; 
 fomented the hatred of Bouille against the revolu- 
 tion, directed upon Austria eyes of hope, and left in 
 full activity the emigrants of Turin. Thus acts weak- 
 ness : it seeks to flatter itself with hopes rather than 
 to ensure itself of success, and in this manner pro- 
 ceeds to its OMTi destruction, by inspiring suspicions 
 which irritate opponents as much as reality itself; for 
 it is better, after aU, to strike than to threaten. 
 
 It was in v.iin that Lafayette, v?ho attempted what 
 the com't ought to have executed, wrote to Bouille, 
 who was his relative, inviting him to serve the throne 
 in conjunction, and by the only possible appliances, 
 frankness and libertj'. Bouille, evilly inspired by the 
 court, rephed coldly and evasively, and, without mov- 
 ing against the constitution, continued to maintain 
 an imposing attitude by his reserve, and the strength 
 of his army. 
 
 Tills reconciliation of the 4th Februar}', then, which 
 might have been attended with such beneficial results, 
 was qiiite abortive. The trial of Favras was concluded, 
 and either from intimidation or conviction, the Cha- 
 telet condemned him to be hanged. Favras displayed, 
 in the last moments of his life, the firmness becoming 
 a martyr rather than an intriguer. He protested his 
 innocence, and requested leave to make a declaration 
 before he suffered death. The scaffold was raised on 
 the Place de Greve. He was conveyed to the toAvn- 
 hall, Avhere he was kept until nightfall. The popu- 
 hice desired with exceeding ardour to see a marquis 
 hanged, and waited in the square with boundless 
 impatience for the moment when so striking a proof of 
 equality in punishments was to be exliibited. Favras 
 
 * It is himself who states this in liis Menifirs.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 73 
 
 avowed that he had held communications with a mag- 
 nate of the state, who had engaged liim to move the 
 minds of men in favour of the king. As a certain 
 expenditure was requisite in such a mission, this high 
 personage liad given him one hundred louis-d'ors 
 (£80), which he had accepted. He asseverated that 
 such were the limits of his crime, but named no con- 
 federate. He asked, however, whether the exposure 
 of names Avould save liim, and when the answer re- 
 turned seemed unsatisfactory to him, he exclaimed, 
 " In that case, I will die with my secret ! " He walked 
 to the place of execution with admirable serenity and 
 presence of mind. Darkness reigned over the dismal 
 Place dc Greve ; lamps glimmered here and there, 
 and lights were attached to the gibbet. The populace 
 were overjoyed at a spectacle in which their favourite 
 equality was vindicated even on the scaffold ; and they 
 enhanced their delight with atrocious and unrelenting 
 railleries, and with divers fanciful parodies on the 
 ignominious fate of their unfortmiate victim. The 
 body of Favras was surrendered to his family, and 
 new events soon obliterated the remembrance of his 
 death, as well from the minds of those who had tor- 
 tured as of those who had used him. 
 
 In the mean time the clergy, driven to desperation, 
 continued to excite brods over the whole surface of 
 France, which the nobility viewed with satisfaction, 
 conceiving great hopes from clerical influence over 
 the people. So long as the assembly had contented 
 itself with placing by a decree the ecclesiastical pos- 
 sessions at the disposition of the nation, the clergy 
 had indulged in hopes that the execution of the decree 
 might be averted ; and, to obviate its necessity, they 
 suggested various modes of supplying the exigencies 
 of the pu])lic treasury. The Abbe Maury had pro- 
 posed a tax on luxury, and the Abbe de Salsede had 
 retorted by proposing that no ecclesiastic shoidd be 
 allowed to possess above a thousand crowns of revenue. 
 The wealthy abbe was silenced by this proposition. 
 Upon another occasion, when debating upon the 
 national debt, Cazalcs had recommended that an exa- 
 mination shoidd be instituted, not into the validity of 
 the titles on which each loan rested, but into the loan 
 itself, its origin and its necessity — a mode of colouring 
 bankruptcy after the odious and repudiated fiishion 
 of the " chambres ardentes." The clergy, exasperated 
 at the creditors of the state, to whom they imagined 
 themselves sacrificed, had siipported the motion, not- 
 withstanding the rigoiu- of their principles on the 
 rights of property. Maury had worked himself into 
 a fury, and thrown aside all respect for the assembly, 
 by vociferating to a portion of its members that they 
 possessed only " the courage to face opprobrium." The 
 assembly liad taken offence at the expression, and 
 manifested a desire to expel him. But Mirabeau, who 
 liad reason to believe himself alluded to, represented 
 to his colleagues that each deputy belonged to liis 
 constituents, and that they had not the right to 
 exclude him. Such moderation befitted incontestible 
 superiority : it prevailed, and Maury was more 
 severely punished by a censure than he would have 
 been by expulsion. All these expedients, propounded 
 by the clergy for the purpose of transferring the 
 public creditors into their own predicament, were 
 utterly unavailing; and the assemltly directed the sak; 
 of four hundred millions of lands l)el(mging to the 
 royal domain and the church. Then, urged to des])e- 
 ration, the priests circulated writings amongst the 
 peojile, and spread far and wide that the design of the 
 revolutionists was to overthrow the Catholic religion. 
 The provinces of the south presented to them the 
 fairest prospect of agitating with success. We have 
 seen that the first emigration had fixed its quarters 
 at Turin, and its principal communications were 
 maintained with Languedoc and Provence. ( "alonne, 
 so celebrated at the era of the notal)les, was the mini- 
 ster of this fugitive court. Two parties divided it ; 
 the high uobilifey desired to maintain their exclusive 
 
 sway, and rejected the intervention of the provhicia' 
 gentry, and especially of the burghers. Hence they 
 advocated an appeal to foreign force alone as a means 
 of re-establishing the throne. Besides, to use religion 
 as an engine, as the emissaries of the provinces pro- 
 posed, seemed too ridiculous to men who had laughed 
 for years at the witticisms of Voltaire. The other 
 party, composed of petty nobles and expatriated 
 burghers, upheld the policy of combating the passion 
 of liberty with one still stronger, that of fanaticism, 
 and of conquering by their own strength alone, witli- 
 out placing themselves at the mercy of foreigners. 
 The former alleged the personal feuds engendered by 
 civil war in excidpation of foreign interference ; the 
 latter argued that, though civU war meant desolation 
 and bloodshed, it was not necessary tliey should sully 
 themselves by treason also. These last, more coura- 
 geous, more patriotic, lint more ferocious than the 
 others, were not likely to prevail in a court where 
 Calonne rided. However, as every aid was welcome, 
 the commmiications were kept up between Turin and 
 the southern provinces. It was finally decided that 
 the revolution shoidd be attacked both by foreign and 
 civU war, and as a first step, that zealous endeavours 
 should be made to arouse the old fanaticism of those 
 districts.* 
 
 * The Memoirs of IM. Fromont supply so just an idea of the emi- 
 grants, and of the opinions that divided them, tliat I cannot do 
 better tlian quote them. In a vclume entitled "A Collection of 
 various Documeiiti relative to the Revolution," JI. Froment thus 
 expresses himself in the 4th and following pages : — 
 
 "I repaired secretly to Turin in January 17.Q0, to solicit the 
 approbation and countenance of tliu French princes. In a council 
 held after my arrival, I explained to tliem that if they would arm 
 the partisans of the nitar and the throne, and join the interests of 
 religion with those of royalty, it would be easy to save both the one 
 and the other. Althougti tiniily attached to the faith of my fathers, 
 it was not against non- Catholics that I wished to wage war, but 
 against the declared cuemies of Catholicism and royalty; against 
 those who boldly asserted that the world had heard too much of 
 Jesus Christ and the Bourbons; against those who longed to 
 strangle the last of kiwgs with liie entrails of the last of priests. 
 The non-Catholics wh'.> have remained faithfid to the monarchy 
 have always found in me a mos'; afl'octionate fellow-citizen, but 
 rebellious Catholics a most implacable foe. 
 
 My plan tended merely to form a party, and to give it, as far as 
 in mo lay, extension and consist<^nce. The grand argument of 
 revolutionists being force, I felt that the grand rejoinder was 
 force: then, as at present, I was convinced of this great truth, 
 that a strong passion cannot be st{1led except by one still stronger, 
 and that religious zeal alone coittd choke republican frenzy. The 
 miracles which zeal for religion li.is worked since that period, in 
 La Vendee and Spain, prove that the philosophers and revolu- 
 tionists of all grades would never have succeeded in establishing 
 their anti-religious and anti-social system for so many years over 
 the greater part of Europe, if the ministers of Louis XVI. had 
 conceived such a project as mine, or if tlie councillors of the emi- 
 grant princes had sincere!}' adopted and honestly supported it. 
 
 But unhappily, the majority of the personages who directed 
 Louis XVI. and the princes of his family, reasoned and acted 
 only upon philosophical principles, though the philosojjhers and 
 their disciples were the stimulators of the revolutionary agents. 
 They thought they would have covered themselves with ridicule 
 and dishonour if they had pronounced the single word " religion," 
 if they had employed tlie powerful means it presents, and whieli 
 the most profoimd politicians have uscil with success in all ages. 
 Wliilst the National AssiMulily souglit to mislead the people, and 
 to conciliate tliem by the suppn's>ion of feudal rights, tithes, tho 
 salt tax, &c. &c., they thouglit to bring tlieni back to submission 
 and loyalty by an exposure of the deficiencies in the new laws ; 
 by a picture of the kingly griefs ; by iviitings above their compre- 
 hension. By such means they imagined they would revive In the 
 Iioarts of all Frenchmen a pure .and diMinteresfed love for their 
 sovereign ; they believed that the elaraoiirs of nialecontents would 
 impede the enteri)rises of the factious, and permit the king to 
 murch straight to the object he wished to attain. The value of my 
 counsels was estimated apparently by the weight of my station, 
 and the opinions of the court magnates judged according to their 
 titles and possessions." 
 
 Monsieur Froment continues his relation, and subsequently 
 characterises the parties which divided the fugitive court, after 
 the following fashion (p;u?o .33) :—
 
 74 
 
 HISTOHY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Tlie clergy warmly approved this plan, and neglected 
 no means of promoting it. The Protestants in those 
 parts were viewed with repugnance hy the Catholics. 
 The clergy took advantage of these prejudices, and 
 especially at the solemnisation of Easter. At Mont- 
 peUier, Nimes, Montauban, the slumbering fanaticism 
 was awakened by all possible provocations. 
 
 Charles Lameth complained in tlie tribune that the 
 Easter festiv;il had been perverted into an occasion 
 for misleading the people and exciting them against 
 the new laws. At these words, the ecclesiastical mem- 
 bers arose, apparently with the intention of quitting 
 the assembly. The Bishop of Clermont threatened 
 it ; and many of the clergy were on the point of leav- 
 ing, when Lameth was called to order, and the tumult 
 subsided. In the mean time the sale of the church pos- 
 sessions was carried into execution, whereat the clergy 
 were extremely wroth, and omitted no opportmiity of 
 openly testifying their resentment. Dom Gerle, a Car- 
 thusian, and sincere in his religious and patriotic sen- 
 timents, claimed one day the ear of the assembly, and 
 moved that the Catliolic religion he declared the sole 
 religion of the state.* Several deputies immediately 
 rose from their seats, and prepared to vote tlie pro- 
 position by acclamation, exclaiming tliat now was the 
 time for the assembly to justify itself from the re- 
 proach that had been made against it of attacking the 
 Catholic religion. But what was the meaning of such 
 a proposition? Either the decree was designed to 
 confer a monopoly on the Catholic religion, wliich 
 none in particular ought ever to possess ; or it was 
 
 " Such honourable testimonies, and the attention which was 
 penerallj' shown me at Turin, would have made me forget the 
 p;ist, and indulse in tlie most flattering anticipations of the 
 future, if I had discerned great resources in the counsellors of the 
 princes, and perfect concord amongst the most influential men 
 in oiu- affairs ; but I beheld with grief the emigration divided into 
 two parties, of which one wished to attempt tlie counter-revolu- 
 tion by the aid of foreign powers alone, and the other by the royalists 
 of the interior. 
 
 The first party argued that, by ceding certain provinces to the 
 powers, they would furnish the French princes witli armies suffi- 
 ciently numerous to reduce the factious ; that with time, it would 
 he easy to re conquer the dominions they should be forced to 
 cede ; and that the coxu't, by not coming under any obligation to 
 any of the bodies of the statf, would be free to dictate laws to all 
 Frenchmen indiscriminately. The courtiers trembled lest the 
 nobility of the provinces and the royalists of the third-estate 
 should have the honour of replacing on its pedestal the crumbling 
 monarchy. They felt they woul<l no longer be the dispensers of 
 patronage and favour, and that their sway would be at an end, if 
 the provincial nobility should re-establish, at the cost of their 
 blood, the royal authority, and thereby merit the favour :md the 
 confidence of their sovereign. The apprelicusion of such a new 
 order of things induced them to unite together, if not to divert 
 the princes from employing in any way whatever the royalists of 
 tlie interior, at all events to fix their attention principally on 
 tlie cabinets of Europe, and leiid them to pl.ace their greatest 
 hopes on foreign aid. As a consequence of this presentiment, they 
 secretly put in force the most efficacious means of ruining the 
 internal resources, and of causing projiosed plans to fail, several 
 of which might have led to the re-et>tablishment of order, if they 
 had been prudently directed and honestly supported. Such are 
 the facts of which I myself have been an eye-witness, the truth of 
 which I shall demonstrate one day by authentic statements and 
 vouchers ; but tlie moment is not yet come. In a conference 
 ■which was held at that period on the subject of tlie advantage to 
 be drawn from the favourable dispositions of the inhabitants of 
 Lyons and Franche-ComtiS, I stated explicitly the means that 
 ouu'lit to be employed, at the Siime time, in order to assure the 
 triumph of the roy.alists of Gevaudan, of tlie Cevcnnes, of Viva- 
 rais, of the Comtat-Venaissin, of Languedoe, and of Provence, 
 lluring the heat of debate, Field-marshal the Marquis d'Auti- 
 chnmp, a great partisan of the pourrs, said to me : ' But will not 
 the injiu-ed and the friends of victims scelc to rcTen^ge them- 
 Beives?' 'Well, what of it?' said I, 'provided we attain our 
 object !' ' See !' he exclaimed, ' how I have wrung from liim an 
 avowal that particular vengeances would be wreaked!' More 
 than astonislieil at suL'h an observation, I remarked to the M;ir- 
 
 ♦Sitting of the I2th April. 
 
 the promulgation of a fact, namely, that the majority 
 in France were Catholics ; and this fact needed no 
 express announcement. The motion, therefore, could 
 not be entertained, and in spite of the exertions of the 
 nobility and clergy, the debate was adjourned to the 
 following day. An immense concourse flocked to the 
 hall that morning, and Lafayette, apprised that the 
 malignants were exerting themselves to provoke dis- 
 turbance, doubled the guard. The debate commenced 
 one ecclesiastic tlireatened the assembly with a male- 
 diction ; Maury vociferated his accustomed denuncia- 
 tions. Menou repelled with calmness all the reproaches 
 levelled against the assembly, and demonstrated that 
 it could not be reasonably charged with seeking to 
 abolish the Catholic religion, at the very time it was 
 engaged in assigning the expenses of its service as 
 public burdens ; he therefore moved that the order 
 of tlie day be proceeded with. Dom Gerle, convinced 
 by his reasons, withdrew his motion, and apologised 
 for having originated such a contest. M. de La- 
 rochefoucauld brought forward a fresh motion, which 
 was substituted for that of Menou. Suddenly a 
 member on the riglit side complained they were not 
 free, singled out Lafa3'ette, and demanded of him 
 wherefore he had doubled the guard. The motive of 
 his precaution was al)ove suspicion, for it was not the 
 left side that had to fear the populace, nor was it his 
 own friends that Lafaj^ette was solicitous to protect. 
 This episode augmented the confusion ; however, the 
 discussion was resumed. In its progress Louis XIV. 
 was quoted as an authority, upon which Mirabeau 
 
 quis de La Rouzi^re, my neighbour — ' I did not know that a 
 civil war should be like a mission of monks!' It was thus by 
 inspiring the princes witli fear, lest they should render themselves 
 odious to their most inveterate enemies, that the courtiers 
 Induced them to use only half measures— sufficient, doubtless, 
 to stimulate the ze;il of the royalists in the interior, but very 
 insufficient, after haiing compromised them, to guarantee tliem 
 from tlie wrath of the factious. Since that time it has happened 
 that, during the st.iy of the army of the princes in Champagne, 
 M. de la Porte, aid-dc-camp to the Jlarquis d'Autichamp, having 
 made a republican prisoner, imagined, accordmg to his general's 
 hjijothesis, that ho should win him back to his duty by a 
 pathetic oxliortation, and by restoring to him his arms and his 
 liberty ; but scarcely had the republican walked a few paces 
 than he stretched his captor dead on the ground. The Marquis 
 d'Autichamp, then forgetting the moderation he had manifested 
 at Turin, set tire to several villages, by way of avenging the death 
 of his imprudent missionary. 
 
 The second party argued that, inasmuch as the powers had 
 several times taken up arms to humble the Bourbons, and espe- 
 cially to prevent Louis XIV. from securing the crown of Spain 
 to his gr.andson, so far from calling them to our assistance, it 
 behoved us, on the contrary, to reanimate the zeal of the clergy, 
 the loyalty of the nobility, and the love of the people for the king, 
 attd to use all possible speed in stifling a family quarrel, by which 
 foreigners might probably be tempted to profit. 
 
 It is to this fatal division amongst the leaders of the emigration, 
 and to the ignorance or perfidy of the ministers of Louis XVI., 
 that the revolutionists owed their first successes. I will go much 
 farther, and I assert tliat it was not the National Assembly which 
 made the revolution, but, in truth, those around the king and 
 the princes ; I assert that the ministers delivered up Louis XVI. 
 to tiie enemies of royalty, as certain intriguers delivered up tho 
 jirinces and Louis XVIII. to the enemies of Franco ; I assort that 
 the majority of the courtiers who surrounded the kings, Louis 
 XVI. and Louis XVIII., and the princes of their families, were 
 and are charlatans, true political eunuchs ; that it is to their imbe- 
 cility, cowardice, or treachery, that must be attributed all the 
 evils which li.ave desolated France, and those wliicli still threaten 
 the civilised world. If I bore an illustrious n;une, and I had been 
 of the council of tlic Bourbons, I should not survive the reflec- 
 tion tliat a horde of vile poltroons and brigands, not one of whom 
 has shown either genius or superior talent of any kind, had suc- 
 ceeded in overthrowing the throne, in establishing a sway over 
 the most powerful states of Europe, in making the whole imiverse 
 tromlilc ; and when this idea torments me, I bury myself in the 
 obscurity of my existence, in order to place myself beyond the 
 reach of censure, since it has rendered me powerless in arresting 
 tlic progress of the revolution."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 75 
 
 expressed himself in energetic terms. " I am not sur- 
 prised," said he, " that we are reminded of the reign 
 in which the edict of Nantes was revoked ; but know 
 that, from this tribune in wliich I stand, I can perceive 
 the fatal window whence a king, the assassin of his sub- 
 jects, connecting the interests of this earth with those 
 of religion, gave the signal of the St Bartholomew ! " 
 This terrible reminiscence failed to terminate the dis- 
 cussion, which accordingly proceeded. The motion 
 of the Duke de Larochefoucauld was finally adopted. 
 The assembly declared that its sentiments were well 
 known, but that, from respect for liberty of conscience, 
 it neither could nor ought to deliberate upon the pro- 
 position submitted to it. 
 
 A few days had scarcely elapsed before another 
 plan for alarming and even dissolving the assembly 
 was attempted. The new organisation of the kingdom 
 was completed, and the people were about to be con- 
 voked for the purpose of electing their magistrates, 
 which was deemed an excellent opportunity for getting 
 new deputies nominated at the same time, to replace 
 those who formed the existing assembly. This mea- 
 sure, once before proposed and discussed, had been 
 already rejected. It was again brought forward in 
 April 1790. Certain instructions limited the powers 
 of deputies to one year, and as the assembly had been 
 opened in May 1789, that period had very nearly ex- 
 pired. Although the instructions had been abrogated, 
 though a solenm engagement had been entered into 
 not to separate before the completion of the constitu- 
 tion, those men, in whose eyes no decree had been 
 passed, no oath taken, when it suited the objects they 
 aimed to accomplish, proposed to direct the election 
 of other deputies, and give up their places to them. 
 Maury, upon wliom tlic brimt of this debate was laid, 
 performed his part with as much confidence as ever, 
 and with more than usual address. He appealed to 
 the sovereignty of the people, and warned the assem- 
 bly that it could not long usurp the prerogatives cf 
 the nation, nor indefinitely protract powers wliich 
 were merely temporary. He asked by what title it 
 had assumed sovereign attributes ; he maintained that 
 the alleged distinction between the legislative and 
 constituent character was perfectly chimerical ; that 
 a sovereign convention can exist only in the absence 
 of all other government; and that, if the assembly 
 were such a convention, its only rational course was 
 to dethrone the king, and declare the monarchy in 
 suspension. Shouts of indignation interrupted him as 
 he thus spoke, manifesting the general repugnance to 
 such oi)inions. Mirabeau rose, with an air of dignified 
 composure, to reply. " We are asked," said he, " when 
 the deputies of the people became a national conven- 
 tion. To this I answer, upon that day wlien, finding 
 the portals of their hall barricaded by soldiers, they 
 proceeded to the first place in which they could as- 
 semble, to swear they would sooner perish than betray 
 and abandon the rights of tlie nation. Our powers, 
 whatever they might have been, were changed in 
 their nature by that day. And whatever tlie powers 
 may be that we have since exercised, our troubles, 
 our labours, have legitimatised them ; the adhesion 
 of the whole nation has sanctified them. You all 
 remember the words of that great man of antiquity, 
 who had neglected legal f(u-ms in saving his country. 
 Sunnnoiied by a factious tribune to aver whether he 
 had observed the laws, he exclaimed, ' I swear I have 
 saved the republic!' Gentlemen," cried Mirabeau, 
 turning to the deputies of the commons, " I swear you 
 have saved France I" 
 
 Upon this splendid adjuration, says Ferrieres, tlie 
 entire assembly, as if irresistibly moved by some spon- 
 taneous inspiration, declared the discussion at an end, 
 and immediately decreed tliat the electoral bodies 
 should not concern themselves with the choice of new 
 deputies. 
 
 Thus this new expedient was equally fruitless as 
 others that had preceded it, and the assembly wiis 
 
 enabled to continue its labours. But troubles were 
 not the less rife throughout France. The commandant, 
 De Voisin, was massacred by tlie people ; the forts of 
 Marseilles were seized by the national guard. Move- 
 ments of a contrary tendency took place at Nimes and 
 Montauban. Emissaries from Turin had successfully 
 appealed to bigotry ; they had distributed papers, in 
 which the monarchy was proclaimed in danger, and 
 the CathoUc religion claimed as the national creed. A 
 royal proclamation had been vainly issued to dissipate 
 illusions ; the emissaries had replied by fresh invo- 
 cations. The Protestants had been driven to arms 
 against the Cathohcs ; and the latter, disappointed in 
 the succours promised them from Turin, had been 
 ultimately subdued. Divers bodies of national guards 
 had put themselves in motion to assist the patriots 
 against the rebels. The battle was thus joined, and 
 the Viscoiint de Mirabeau, the declared opponent of 
 his Olustrious brother, annoimcing the commencement 
 of civil war from the tribune, seemed, by his warmth, 
 his gestures, and his words, as if he would have pro- 
 voked it in the assembly itself 
 
 It was in this manner that, whilst the most moderate 
 of the deputies laboured to appease the revolutionary 
 ardour, an indiscreet opposition irritated the fever, 
 which quietude alone could have cahiied, and furnished 
 topics for declamation to the most violent of the dema- 
 gogues. The dubs were driven by the same cause into 
 a more exaggerated tone. That of the Jacobins, the suc- 
 cessor of the original Breton club, established first at 
 Versailles and afterwards at Paris, rose above aU the 
 others, from the number of its members, as also from 
 the talent and the violence displayed in it.* Its sit- 
 tings were as regular as those of the assembly. It 
 anticipated all tlie questions which were to be dis- 
 cussed by that body, and pronounced decisions which 
 already operated as fetters upon the legislators them- 
 selves. The principal popular deputies resorted thither, 
 and the most phlegmatic found in its exciting atmo- 
 sphere enei'gy and stimulus. Lafayette, as a counter- 
 poise to this redoubtable intiuence, had concerted with 
 Bailly and other enlightened men the formation of 
 another club, called the Club of '89, and subsequently 
 The Feuillants.^ But the attempt was unavailing ; 
 a meeting of a hundred calm and well-informed men 
 could not attract the niidtitude like the Jacobin 
 Club, where all the fury of popular passions ran riot. 
 Closing the clubs would have been the effectual 
 course ; but the court was too deficient in frankness, 
 and inspired too many doubts, for the popidar party 
 to venture upon the adoption of such a plan. The 
 Lameths reigned predominant at the Jacobin Club ; 
 Mirabeau appeared indiflfercntly in both the one and 
 the other ; his position was evidently between the two 
 parties. An occasion soon presented itself in which 
 his part became more decided, and in which he gained 
 a memorable advantage for the monarchy, as we shall 
 shortly have occasion to relate. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STATE OF EUROPEAN POWERS — FIRST ISSUE OF ASSIG- 
 NATS — FESTIVAI.OF THE FEDERATION — RESIGNATION' 
 OF NECKER CIVIL OATH IMPOSED UPON THE CLERGY. 
 
 At the period wo have now reached, the French 
 revolution began to attract the serious attention of 
 ftjreign monarclis ; its tone was so elevated and firm, 
 and its predominant features of such luiiversal appli- 
 cability, that foreign lu'inces were naturally in great 
 alarm. Tliey had hitherto imagined it a mere pass- 
 ing agitation ; but tlie success of the assembly, its 
 
 * Tliiscliil), styled that of " The FrinKh qflhn Cimftitution," vraa 
 triinsforrcil to Paris in October l?'!".', and was then known under 
 (lie name of the Jacobin Huh, because it met in a hall of th« 
 .lacohin convent in the 8tr(>et St Honors. 
 
 t Instituted on tlic li'th Miij-.
 
 76 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 unexpected firmness and constancy, and, aliove all, the 
 future results that it proposed to itself, and indeed to 
 all nations, drew upon it of necessity a greater degree 
 of observation and abhorrence, and gained for it the 
 honour of setting every cabinet activelj"^ on the watch. 
 Europe was then divided into two great antagonistic 
 leagues; the Anglo- Prussian ou one side, and the 
 imperial courts on the other. 
 
 Frederick-William had succeeded the great Fre- 
 derick on the throne of Prussia. That fickle and 
 weak prince, renouncing the policy of his illustrious 
 predecessor, had abandt)ned the alliance of France for 
 that of England. In close union witli that power, he 
 had concluded the famous Anglo-Prussian league, 
 wluch attempted so many grand schemes and executed 
 none ; which roused Sweden, Poland, Turkey, against 
 Russia and Austria ; abandoned all those whom it had 
 excited to arms, and contributed even to despoil them, 
 as in the partition of Poland. 
 
 The project of England and Pniss'a united had 
 been to weaken Russia and Austria, by instigating 
 against them Sweden, over which the chiv^alric Gus- 
 tavus reigned — Poland, groaning mider its first par- 
 tition, and Turkey, exasperated at Russian encroach- 
 ments. England's principal view in this league was 
 to avenge herself for the aid fiirnislied her American 
 colonies by France, without a formal declaration of 
 war against the latter. It had found means to effect 
 this object by provoking war between the Turks and 
 the Russians.* France could not remain neuter be- 
 tween these two nations without a rupture with the 
 Turks, who relied upon its assistance, and without 
 likewise losing its commercial supremacy in the Le- 
 vant. On the other hand, by taking part in the war, 
 it lost the alliance of Russia, with which it had just 
 concluded a highly advantageous treaty, which secured 
 it timber and all the materials the north furnishes 
 so abundantly for naval purposes. Thus in both 
 alternatives France suffered loss. In the mean time, 
 England got ready its forces, and disposed them 
 for active participation when the occasion suited. 
 But, percei\ing the disordered state of the finances 
 under the notables, and the popular excesses under 
 the Constituent Assembly, it thought there was no 
 need for actual war, and, according to general belief, 
 it preferred prostrating France by fomenting internal 
 troubles rather than by an open appeal to arms. Thus 
 England was always accused of encouraging discord 
 in France. 
 
 This Anglo-Prussian league had succeeded in get- 
 ting battles fought, without producing any decisive 
 results. Gustavus had extricated himself like a gene- 
 ral from a predicament into which he had plunged 
 like a knight-errant. Holland, in rebellion, had been 
 subdued to the stadtholder by English intrigues and 
 Prussian arms. Wary England had thus deprived 
 France of a powerful maritime alliance ; and the 
 Prussian monarch, who merely sought the gratifica- 
 tion of vanity, had revenged an outrage perpetrated 
 by the states of Holland on the wife of the stadtholder, 
 who was his own sister. Poland had taken consis- 
 tence in its government, and was preparing for war. 
 Turkey had been beaten by Russia. However, the 
 death of Joseph II., the Emperor of Austria, in January 
 1790, changed the aspect of atlairs. Leopold, an en- 
 lightened and pacific prince, on whose mild dominion 
 Tuscany had heaped benedictions, succeeded him. 
 Leopold, equally skilful and sagacious, wishing to put 
 an end to the war, employed as the readiest means of 
 success, with an imagination so unsteady as Frederick- 
 William's, arguments of seduction. To that prince 
 were described in moving terms the sweets of peace, 
 the evils of war, so long pressing on his people, and 
 the dangers of the French revolution, which pro- 
 
 * [This is scarcely a credible statement. 51. Thiers has over- 
 lookc'l the fact, tliat Catherine II. 's ambition needed no prompt- 
 ing to have swallowed the whole Turkibh empire if she could 
 have got it-] 
 
 claimed such disastrous principles. Ideas of absolute 
 power were awakened in his breast, and the hope was 
 even suggested to him of chastising the French revo- 
 lutionists as he had already done those of Holland. 
 He allowed himself to be gained over by such specious 
 reasons, at the very time he was about to reap the 
 advantages of that league which his minister Hertz- 
 berg had so boldly conceived and formed. The peace 
 was signed at Reichenbacli in July 1790. In August, 
 Russia made peace with Gustavus, and got rid of all 
 her enemies but Poland, which excited little alarm, 
 and Turkey, which had been repulsed on all sides. 
 We will allude to these events more particularly here- 
 after. The attention of the powers, therefore, was 
 ultimately almost entirely concentrated upon France 
 and its revolution. Some time before the conclusion 
 of the peace between Prussia and Austria, whUst the 
 Anglo-Prussian league threatened the two imperial 
 courts, and secretly attacked France, and also Spain, 
 the constant and natural ally of France, certain Eng 
 lish ships had been seized in Nootka Somid by the 
 Spaniards. Energetic remonstrances were made, ac- 
 companied by a general arming in the English ports. 
 Spain immecliateiy demanded the assistance of France, 
 upon the strength of existing treaties, and Louis XVI. 
 ordered the equipment of fifteen ships of war. On 
 this occasion, England was accused of attempting to 
 augment the embarrassments under which France 
 laboured. It is true the clubs of London had several 
 times complimented the National Assembly ; but it was 
 said the cabinet might permit a few philantliropists 
 to express their amiable sympathies, and yet at the 
 same time subsidise those astounding agitators, who 
 appeared m every quarter, and gave such incessant 
 occupation to the national guards tliroughout the 
 kingdom. The internal troubles became still greatei 
 at the time of the general arming, and it was impos- 
 sible to avoid perceiving a connexion between the 
 threats of England and the renewal of disorder. 
 Lafayette even, who rarely spoke in the assembly 
 except upon occasions relative to the public tran- 
 quillity, denomiced at tlie tribune a secret sinister 
 influence. " I cannot help calUng the attention of the 
 assembly," said he, " to a fresh and simultaneous fer- 
 mentation, exhibited from Strasburg to Nimes, and 
 from Brest to Toulon, and which the enemies of the 
 people would vainly fasten on them, when it bears all 
 the characteristics of a secret influence. The question 
 aflecting the estabhshment of departments is mooted, 
 and the country is devastated ; neighbouring powers 
 arm themselves, and disorders instantly break out in 
 our arsenals." Several conunanders, in fact, had 
 been murdered, and by chance or design, the best 
 marine officers had been sacrificed. The English 
 ambassador was ordered by his court to repel these 
 imputations. But it is well known what degree of 
 credit such assurances deserve. Cidoime likewise 
 wrote to the king in justification of England; but 
 Calonne, vouching for foreigners, was himself sus- 
 pected. He vainly lu-ged that every item of expen- 
 diture is known in a representative government ; that 
 even secret expenses are stated as such ; and that in 
 the English budgets there was no appropriation of 
 that description. Experience has proved that fundfl 
 are never wanting even to responsible ministers. 
 What may be more satisfactorily alleged is, that time, 
 the tmfolder of all mysteries, has discovered notliing 
 upon this subject, and that Necker, who was in a 
 situation to form a correct opinion, never believed in 
 this secret influence.* 
 
 The king, according to the fact that has been nar- 
 rated, informed the assembly by message of the equip- 
 ment of fifteen sail of the line, not doubting, as he 
 said, that it would heartily ai)i)rove the measiu-e and 
 vote the necessary sui)plies. The assembly received 
 the notification most favourably, but it perceived a 
 * See what Madame dc Staei says in her Rr/lectiont upon Vu 
 French licvuludon.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 77 
 
 constitutional question involverl in the proceeding:, 
 which it judged expedient to solve before replying to 
 the king. " The preparations are completed," said 
 Alexander Lameth, " and our dehberations cannot 
 retard them. We ought, however, to decide at once 
 whether to the king or to the assembly tlie right of 
 making peace and war should be delegated." This 
 was in fact almost the last important attribute that 
 remained to be fixed, and precisely one calculated 
 to excite the most lively interest. The public mind 
 was too fully impressed with the faidts of courts, with 
 their alternations of ambition and weakness, and hence 
 greatly indisjiosed to leave the throne in possession 
 of power to involve the nation in dangerous wars, or 
 to dishonour it by shameful treaties. At the same 
 time, of all the fmictions of government, the superin- 
 tendence over war and peace is the one in which its 
 action is the most appropriate, and in which the exe- 
 cutive power ought to exercise the most influence; 
 that, in fact, in respect of which the greatest extent 
 of discretion shovdd be left it, in order that it may act 
 advantageously and with perfect good will. The opinion 
 of Mirabeau, Avho was said to be gained by the court, 
 was proclaimed previous to the discussion upon this 
 important question. The occasion was deemed favom*- 
 able for damaging the orator in that eminent popu- 
 larity he enjoyed, and which so chagrined his rivals. 
 The Lameths were not backward in seizing upon it, 
 and they arranged that Barnave should lead the attack 
 upon Mirabeau. The right side stood aloof, so to 
 speak, and left the field of battle free to those com- 
 batants. 
 
 The debate was impatiently expected : it was at 
 length begun.* After certaiji sjieeches had been deli- 
 vered which scarcely touched the question, I\Iirabeau 
 was heard, and argued it in a perfectly novel manner. 
 War, accortling to him, is almost always an miforesecn 
 catastrophe ; hostilities are commenced before threats 
 are given ; the king, as chai-ged with the public safety, 
 must repel them ; and thus war ensues before the 
 assembly could possibly interfere. It is the same with 
 treaties : the king alone can seize the critical moment 
 for negotiating either in a friendly or a hostile spirit 
 with foreign powers ; it was the province of the as- 
 sembly merely to ratify the conditions obtained. In 
 both instances, the king alone can act, and the assem- 
 bly approve or censure. Mirabeau, therefore, main- 
 tained that the executive power should be authorised 
 to carry on effectively hostilities when once commenced, 
 and that the legislative power, according to tlie cir- 
 cumstances of each case, should sanction the continu- 
 ance of the war, or insist upon peace. This opinion 
 was applauded, because the words of JVIirabeau always 
 were. Barnave afterwards entered the tril^une, and 
 passing aside the other speakers, applied himself to 
 answer Mirabeau alone. He allowed that collisions 
 often occurred before the nation could be consulted, 
 but he denied that hostilities necessarily involved war, 
 argxiing tliat the king ought to repel them and imme- 
 diately communicate with the assembly, which woidd 
 then declare, as the sovereign authority, its definitive 
 resolution. Thus the wliole difference was little more 
 than verbal ; for Mirabeau granted to the assembly the 
 right of disapproving a war an<l of insisting upon 
 peace, and Barnave claimed for it the right of actually 
 declaring the one or the other; but in both cases, tlie 
 will of the assembly would be obligatory, and Barnave 
 gave it no more than Mirabeau. Notwithstanding, 
 Barnave was vociferously cheered and carried in 
 trium])h by tlie populace, whilst his op]>onent w:us 
 upbraided with liaving sold himself. A pamphlet, 
 entitled. The (jrand Treason of the Count de Miraliean, 
 was hawked through all the streets by deep-mouthed 
 itinerants. A critical moment for Miralieau had ar- 
 rived, and every one anticipated a mighty effort on 
 the part of so unyielding a chami)ion. He demanded 
 
 * Sittings from tlic 14t)i to the 22<1 May. 
 
 leave to reply, obtained it, mounted the tribune in 
 presence of an immense multitude gathered to hear 
 him, and as he moimtcd declared he would descend 
 only dead or victorious. " I likewise," said he, in 
 commencement, " have been borne in triumph, and 
 yet this day the streets resound with shouts of the 
 ' grand treason of the Count de Mirabeau !' I did not 
 need this example to be aware, that there is but a 
 step from the Capitol to the Tarpaian Rock. But 
 such revulsions shall not arrest me in my career." 
 After this effective opening, he declared that it was 
 his intention to answer Barnave only, and from the 
 beginning to the end. " Explain yourself," said he, 
 addressing that deputy ; " you have in your speech 
 maintained that the king should be compelled to notify 
 the commencement of hostilities, and that to the 
 assembly alone belongs the right of expressing the 
 national wiU upon the point. To this I fix you, and 
 ask if you have forgotten those principles of ours, by 
 which the expression of the national will is left con- 
 jointly to the assembly and the king. In attributing 
 it to the assembly alone, you have outraged the con- 
 stitution. I call you, thei-efore, to order. You make 
 no answer. I go on then." 
 
 Barnave could in fact allege nothing in reply to such 
 a thrust. He remained during a long oration exposed 
 to similar overpowering bursts of eloqiience. Slira- 
 beau dissected and triumphantly refuted his argu- 
 ments point by point, and moreover demonstrated 
 that he gave nothing more to the assembly than he 
 himself had given ; but tliat, by reducing the king to 
 a simple notification, he had taken from him that 
 concurrence declared necessary to the expression of 
 the national will. He concluded by reproaching Bar- 
 nave for stimulating idle rivalries between men who 
 ought, as he said, to live hke faithfid companions in 
 arms. In the course of his speech, Barnave had enu- 
 merated the supporters of his opinion, and Mirabeau, 
 in his turn, mentioned those who thought with him. In 
 the list he pointed especially to those moderate men, the 
 first champions of the constitution, who sustained the 
 cause of liberty for France, when his vile calunmia- 
 tors were picking up the crumbs of courts (he alluded 
 to the Lameths, who had received favours from the 
 queen) ; " such men," he added, " as will be honom-ed, 
 even to the tomb, both by friends and foes." 
 
 Mirabeau descended from the tribune amid unani- 
 mous applause. The assembly contained a consider- 
 able number of deputies, belonging neither to the right 
 nor to the left, but who, not having formed predeter- 
 minate opinions, decided upon the impressions of the 
 moment. It was through them that genius and rea- 
 son prevailed, because they turned the scale by join- 
 ing either side. Barnave desired to answer, which 
 the assembly opposed ; and calls for a division became 
 general. The decree of Mirabeau, as abh^ amended 
 by Chapelier, had the priority, and was finally adopted 
 on the 22d May, to the jiublic satisfaction ; for, after 
 all, these rivalries scarcely extended beyond the circle 
 in which they were engendered, and the great popular 
 I)arty deemed itself as victorious with Mirabeau as 
 with the Lameths. 
 
 The decree conferred upon the king and the nation 
 the right of making peace and war. The king was 
 intrusted with the disposition of the force ; he was to 
 notify tlie commencement of liostilities, to convoke 
 the asspiiilily if not in session, and to ])ropose the 
 decree for wai ar i)eace ; the assembly was to delibe- 
 rate upon his express proposition, and the king to 
 afterwards exercise his sanction upon its tleeisioii. 
 It was (..'haiielier, who, by a most reasonal)le amend- 
 iiieiit, had required tlie express proposition, and the 
 definitive sanction. As it passed, this decree, so con- 
 formable to sound sense and the jjrincijiles already 
 estaijlished, excited sincere joy amongst the constitu- 
 tionalists, and absurd hopes amongst the counter- 
 n'volutionists, who imagined that the public mind 
 was «u th(> move to reaction, and that this victory of
 
 78 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENX'H REVOLUTION. 
 
 Mirabeau would result in theirs. Lafayette, who 
 upon this occasion was in imison with ^lirabeau, 
 wrote of it to BoiiilU'", gave him hopes of tranquillity 
 and moderation, and strove, as was his invariable 
 custom, to gain his cordial acquiescence in the new 
 order of things. 
 
 The assembly still continued its financial laboiirs. 
 These consisted in making the best possible disposi- 
 tion of the church estates, the sale of which, long ago 
 decreed, was not to be averted by protests, by episco- 
 pal charges, or by intrigues. To despoil a too potent 
 body of large tracts of land ; to distribute tliem to the 
 best advantage, so as to improve their fertility by the 
 division; by this process to constitute proprietors 
 numberless individuals who were not so ; and by the 
 same operation to extinguish the debts of the state, 
 and re-establish order in the finances — such were the 
 objects of the assembly, and it was too deeply im- 
 pressed with their utility to recoil before any opposing 
 obstiU'les. The assemi>ly liad already ordered the 
 sale of crown and church lands to the value of four 
 hundred millions, but it was highly expedient to find 
 means for selling those estates, without depreciating 
 them by ofl'ering them for simultaneous disposal. 
 Bailly proposed, in the name of tlie Paris municipa- 
 lity, a well-digested project, namely, to transfer those 
 possessions to the nnmicipalities, who should purchase 
 them in a mass, in order to sell them out again in 
 parcels, so that they should not be exposed to compe- 
 tition all at ouce. As the municipalities were without 
 funds to pay immediately, he proposed they should 
 form engagements for stipulated periods, and pay the 
 national creditors with notes ot the communes, which 
 they should be enjoined to retire by instidments. 
 Those notes, wliich were called in the discussion 
 municipal paper, suggested the first idea of a.ssigitats. 
 By following Bailly's plan, the ecclesiastical possessions 
 were definitively appropriated ; that is, their owmers 
 being displaced, they were liivided amongst the muni- 
 cipalities, and the creditors brought more nearly in 
 contact with their hypothec, by acquiring claims upon 
 the municipalities, instead of those they held upon 
 the state. The security Avas therefore increased, inas- 
 much as the payment Avas made more immediate ; 
 and the exaction of that payment, moreover, depended 
 upon the creditors themselves, since with these notes 
 or assignats they might purchase a proportionate 
 amount of the estates exposed to sale. Thus a vast 
 advantage was conferred upon them, nor was it the 
 only or last one. It seemed possil)le they might not 
 be disposed to convert their notes into lands, from 
 scrupulous or other motives ; and in that case, those 
 notes, which they would be obliged to keep, as they 
 were not allowed to circulate as currency, would 
 become in their h.ands nothing more than simple undis- 
 charged claims. But one farther step, therefore, 
 remained to be taken, which was to give those notes 
 or claims the facidty of circulation, which converted 
 them at once into an actu;d currency, and the state 
 creditors, being enabled to transfer them in acquit- 
 tances, would be in truth reimbursed. Another 
 material consideration j)ut the policy of the measure 
 beyond doubt. Specie was excessively scarce, and its 
 disappearance was attributed to the emigration, which 
 bore away with it large amounts of coin ; to pa\nnents 
 wliich were necessarily made to foreigners ; and finally 
 to malignancy. Tlu; true cause was want of confi- 
 dence, induced by the prevailing troubles. A profu- 
 sion of sjxjcie is rendered api)arent by circulation ; 
 for when confidence is unshaken, the activity of com- 
 mercial exchange is pushed to its extreme Uniits ; the 
 meihum of tiiat commerce, the precious metals, passes 
 with rapidity from hand to hand, is seen abundantly 
 every where, and is believed to be considerably greater 
 in amount than it actually is, because it is used to 
 more purpose ; but when political troubles fill the 
 land with alarm, trade languishes, capital lies dormant, 
 and money passes slowly and rarely, or is often per- 
 
 haps buried, and the most \mfoimded accusations are 
 made by popidar prejudice as to the causes of its 
 absence. 
 
 The desire of providing a substitute for the precious 
 metals, which the assembly deemed exhausted, and of 
 giving the creditors something more than a security 
 to lie dead on their hands, besides the necessity that 
 existed of meeting a vast variety of importunate Avants, 
 led to these notes or assignats being invested with a 
 species of forced circulation, with the character of a 
 legal tender. The pulilic creditor was thereby paid, 
 because he coidd insist upon the paper he had re- 
 ceived being taken in return, and thus provide for all 
 his engagements. If he had not thought fit to buy 
 lands, tiiose who had received the circulating paper 
 from him would be ultimately driven to become pur- 
 chasers. The assignats which came back in this way 
 were destined to be burnt, and by this operation the 
 church lands must necessarily soon be distributed and 
 the paper money suppressed. The assignats bore an 
 interest at so much jier day, and increased in value 
 by lying in the hands of capitalists. 
 
 The clergy, Avho were not slow to perceive that 
 this project furnished a means of accomplishing the 
 alienation of their possessions, opposed it with ail 
 their might. Their noble and other allies, ever ini- 
 mical to any measure that facilitated the progress of 
 the reA'olution, likewise opposed it, and expatiated on 
 the evils of paper money. The name of Law was of 
 course loudly resounded, and the recollection of his 
 famous bankruptcy brought prominently forward. But 
 the comparison was quite misplaced, because Law's 
 paper was based merely on acquisitions of the India 
 Company in expectancy, AvhUst the assignats rested 
 on a territorial capital, at once substantial and easily 
 available. Law had promulgated, in confederacy with 
 the court, infamous exaggerations, and had prodigi- 
 ously exceeded the actual capital of the company ; the 
 assembly, on the contrary, had no reason to surmise 
 that any such spoliation could ensue from the new 
 arrangements it had sanctioned. Besides, the amount 
 of paper issues represented only a small portion of the 
 capital which was pledged for them. But it was 
 nevertheless true that paper, however safe it may be, 
 is not, like bullion, a reahty, or, according to Bailly's 
 expression, a physical materiality. Specie carries with 
 it an intrinsic vidue ; paper, on the contrary, still 
 needs an operation, an investment, a realisation. It 
 must therefore bear a depreciation as compared with 
 specie, anil so soon as it is thus depreciated, the pre- 
 cious metals, which no one wdl exchange for paper, 
 are concealed, and finally disappear altogether. If, in 
 addition to this inhei'ent CA-il, disorders in the admi- 
 nistration of the estates, and immoderate emissions of 
 paper, destroy the proportion between the circulating 
 notes and the capitiil hypotliecated, confidence is 
 annihilated ; the nominal value is preserved, but the 
 real value exists no more ; and he who pays away 
 such a conventional currency robs him who receives 
 it, and a deplorable crisis inevitably occurs. AH this 
 Avas possible, and Avith somewhat more experience 
 Avould have appeared certain. As a financial measure, 
 therefore, the issue of assignats was very blameable, 
 but as a political measure it Avas indispensable, because 
 it provided for pressing emergencies, and divided the 
 property Avithout having recourse to an agrarian law. 
 \\'ith such inducements the assembly could not hesi- 
 tate ; and, in spite of Maury and his party, it decreed 
 four hmidred millions of forced assignats, with in- 
 terest (April). 
 
 Necker had long ago lost the confidence of Louis 
 XVI., the pristine deference of his colleagues, and the 
 affection of the nation. Wrapped up in his ciUcula- 
 tions, he sometimes maint;uned disputations with the 
 assembly. His reserve concerning extraordinary 
 expenses had provoked a demand for the Red Book, a 
 famous register, in which was recorded, as alleged, the 
 list of all secret expenses. The king consented reluc-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 79 
 
 tantly to its production, and sealed iip the leaves -which 
 contained the expenditure of his predecessor, Louis XV. 
 The assembly respected his delicacy, and coniined its 
 scrutiny to the expenses of the existing reign. No 
 items personal to the king were found in it ; the pro- 
 digality was all owing to courtiers. The Lameths 
 were mentioned for a largess of 60,000 francs, disbursed 
 by the queen for their education. They immediately 
 carried the sum to the public treasmy. The pensions 
 were reduced with a twofold reference to services and 
 former station. The assembly, in every instance, 
 evinced exemplary moderation ; it solicited the king 
 to fix his civil list himself, and then voted by accla- 
 mation the twenty-five millions he asked. 
 
 This National Assembly, strong and confident in its 
 numbers, its talents, its sway, and its determination, 
 had undertaken the task of regenerating all depart- 
 ments of the state, and in execution thereof, had 
 recently framed a new judicial organisation. It had 
 distributed the tribunals in the same manner as the 
 administrations, by districts and departments. The 
 judges were left for popular election. This last pro- 
 vision had been vehemently opposed. Political meta- 
 physics had been again employed to prove that the 
 judicial power emanated from the executive power, 
 and that the king ought to nominate the judges. 
 Good reasons had been alleged on both sides of the ques- 
 tion, but the material one for the assembly should have 
 been, since it was desirous of constituting a monarchy, 
 that royalty, thus successively denuded of all its attri- 
 butes, would sink into a simjile magistracy, and the 
 state resolve into a republic. But it was too liazardous 
 an experiment to define explicitly what functions were 
 inherent in monarchy ; it would have involved con- 
 cessions which a nation invariably refuses in the first 
 moments of its enthusiasm for liberty. The fate of 
 nations is ever to insist upon too nrach or upon nothing. 
 The assembly was sincerely attached to the king, 
 entertaining for him a profound deference, and mani- 
 festing that sjiirit in repeated instances ; but Avhilst 
 it was cherishing the person, it seemed unsuspicious 
 that it was destroying the thing. 
 
 After this uniformity had been introduced into the 
 civU and judicial administrations, the service of reli- 
 gion remained to be regulated and constituted in har- 
 mony with all others. Accordingly, when a siiperin- 
 tending administrative council and a tribunal of appeal 
 were established in each department, it was natural 
 to assign a bishopric for it likewise. How, in fact, 
 could it be sanctioned, that certain dioceses shoidd 
 embrace fifteen lumdred square leagues, Avhen others 
 stretched over scarcely twenty ? that certain parishes 
 should be ten leagues in circumference, and others 
 contain but a score of hearths? that numerous incum- 
 bents should possess at the most seven lumdred livres 
 a-year, whilst, not far froni them, were benefices yield- 
 ing from ten to fifteen tliousand livres ? The assembly, 
 whilst reforming abuses, did not encroach upon eccle- 
 siastical doctrines, nor upon the papal authority, 
 because territorial limitations had always belonged 
 to the temporal power. It contemplated, therefore, 
 a new division, and also to subject, as in early times, 
 the incumbents and the bisliojjs to popular election ; 
 nor in this last intention did it interfere with aught 
 but the temporal power, since the ecclesiastical digni- 
 taries were always chosen bj' the king, and confirmed 
 by the pope. This measure, which was called " The 
 civil constitution of the clcrgi/," and which brouglit upon 
 the assembly a greater load of calunmy than all it had 
 done besides, was nevertheless the ofi'spring of the 
 most religious mendiers. It was (.'ainus and otlier 
 Jansenists, who, wishing to strengthen religion in the 
 kingdom, endeavoured to bring it into harmony with 
 the new institutions. Certainly, when tlie sjnrit of 
 justice was infused every where, it would have been 
 very strange that the ecclesiastical administration 
 alone should remain witliout its influence. But for 
 < amus and some others, the members of the assembly, 
 
 reared in the school of the philosophers, would have 
 regarded Christianity as any other creed admitted in 
 tlie state, and paid no attention to it. They yielded 
 to sentiments, which, in modern society, it is custo- 
 mary not to combat, even when not participated in. 
 They therefore supjiorted the religious and sincerely 
 Christian project of Camus. The clergy denounced 
 it, alleging that it encroached upon the spiritual 
 authority of the pope, and a])pealed to Rome. Tiie 
 principal articles of the project, however, were finally 
 adopted,* and presented to the king, mIio demanded 
 time to refer them to the holy see. The king, whose 
 enlightened piety allowed him to acknowledge the 
 justice of this measure, wrote to the pope, in the ear- 
 nest hope of gaining his consent, and thus removing all 
 the objections of the clergy. We shall soon see to 
 what intrigues the failm-e of his beneficent views is 
 to be attributed. 
 
 The month of July drew near : shortly, a year woidd 
 have passed since the capture of the Bastille, since 
 the nation had seized upon power, pnmomiced its 
 fiats by the agency of the assembly, and of itself put 
 them into execution, or secured that execution under 
 its own superintendence. The 14th July was consi- 
 dered as the day which had commenced a new era, 
 and it was resolved to celebrate its anniversary by a 
 great festival. The provinces and the towns had 
 already ofiered an example of confederating, the better 
 to resist ly miion the enemies of the revolution. The 
 numicipality of Paris proposed for the 14th July a 
 general federation of all France, which should be cele- 
 brated in the midst of the capital, by deputations from 
 all the national guards and all the detachments of the 
 army. This proposal was hailed with enthusiasm, 
 and immense preparations were made to render the 
 festival worthy of its object. 
 
 Foreign nations, as we have already seen, had long 
 directed their eyes upon France ; the sovereigns hated 
 and feared the revolution, their people looked upon it 
 with favour. Some enthusiastic foreigners presented 
 themselves to the assembly, each in the costume of his 
 nation. Their orator, Anacharsis Clootz, a Prussian 
 by birth, a man of wild imagination, asked permission, 
 in the name of the human race, to take part in the 
 federation. Sucli occurrences, apparently so ridicu- 
 lous to those who have not witnessed them, are cal- 
 culated deeply to move those who are exposed to their 
 immediate impression. The assembly granted the 
 request, and the president informed these strangers 
 that they woidd be admitted, in order that they miglit 
 recount to their countrymen what they had seen, and 
 convey to them a just appreciation of the happiness 
 and the blessings attendant upon liberty. 
 
 The emotion caused by this scene led to another 
 An equestrian statue of Louis XIV. represented that 
 monarch trampling upon the figures of certain con- 
 quered provinces. " We ought not to suller such 
 monuments of slavery in da^'s of liberty," said one of 
 the Lameths. " It is not fitting that the deinities from 
 Franche-Comtc, Miien they arrive at Paris, should 
 behold an emblem of tlicir native i)rovince thus en- 
 chained." Maury opposed a measure which, although 
 of little importance, it was expedient to grant to the 
 pulilic enthusiasm. An instant afterwards, a voice 
 ])rop()sed the alx)lition of titles, such as count, mar- 
 (|uis, baron, &c. ; the prohil)ition of liveries; and 
 finally, the suppression of all hereditary titles. Yoimg 
 Montmorenci supported the motit)n. A noble deputy 
 inquired what was intended to be substituted for the 
 words, " Such an one was made a count for having 
 served the state." " We will sim])ly exi)ress," said 
 Lafayette, "that such an one on such a da}' saved 
 the state." The decree was adopted (19th June), 
 notwithstanding the extravagant irritation of the 
 nobles, who felt the loss of their titles more acutely 
 than all the more substantial sacrifices they had been 
 
 * Dcciw of tlio 12th JiJy.
 
 80 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 compelled to make durinjj the whole course of the j 
 revolution. The more moderate portiou of the assem- 
 hlj' would have been better pleased if, in abolishing 
 titles, Ubcrty had been left to those who might desire 
 it still to retain them. Laftiyette hastened to ap- 
 prise the court of this tendency before the decree was 
 sanctioned, and urged it to remit it to the assembly, 
 which would make no difficulty in amending it. But 
 the king somewhat eagerly affixed his sanction, and 
 it was thought that such precipitancy demonstrated 
 a malevolent intention to drive things to the worst.* 
 
 The object of the federation was to administer the 
 civic oath. It was canvassed whether the federalists 
 and the assembly should take it upon the hand of the 
 king, or whether the king, in his character of first 
 public functionary, should swear with all the others 
 upon the altar of the country. The last mode was 
 preferred. The assembly thus placed etiquette itself 
 in harmony with the spirit of its laws, and the king 
 ranked in the ceremony precisely as he stood in the 
 constitution. The court, to which Lafayette was an 
 object of perpetual suspicion, took alarm at a report 
 then prevalent, according to which he was to be 
 named commander of all the national guards of the 
 kingdom. This suspicion was but natural, perhaps, in 
 those who were not acquainted with Lafayette, and 
 his enemies of all grades did their utmost to foster it. 
 It was difficult, in fact, to he convinced that a man 
 enjoying such boundless popidarity, and at the head 
 of so considerable a force, would not abuse the means 
 at his disposal. And j^et he had no desire to do so ; 
 he was resolved to be nothing but a citizen ; and 
 whether his moderation was the result of virtue or 
 well-understood ambition, the merit is the same. The 
 pride inseparable from human weakness will always 
 have developement in some shape, and virtue consists 
 in bending it to good. Lafayette, anticipating the 
 apprehensions of the coiirt, brought forward a motion 
 that the same individual should not be competent to 
 command the guard of more than one department. 
 The resolution was passed with acclamations, and the 
 self-denial of the general rewarded with heartfelt ap- 
 probation. However, he was intrusted ^vith all the 
 arrangements for the festival, and named chief of the 
 federation, in his character of commander of the 
 Parisian guard. 
 
 The day approached, and the preparations were 
 made with the greatest activity. The festival was 
 appointed to lie held in the Field of Mars, a vast space 
 stretching between the Military Academy and the 
 course of the Seine. The plan decided upon was to 
 carry the earth from the midflle of the field to the 
 sides, so as to form an amphitheatre capable of hold- 
 ing the mass of spectators. Twelve thousand work- 
 men laboured thereat without intermission, but fears 
 began to be entertained that the work woidd not be 
 accomplished by the 14th. The inhabitants there- 
 upon determined to assist the workmen. In an instant 
 the whole population was transformed into a body of 
 labourers : priests, soldiers, men of all classes, assumed 
 the shovel and the spade ; even females in elegant 
 apparel contributed their aid. The impulse soon be- 
 came universal ; the people proceeded to the works in 
 sections, carrying banners of different colours, and 
 cheered by the sounds of music. When they reached 
 
 * [M. Bertranfl <3e Jloleville seems to avow some such inten- 
 tion. " The king," saj's he, "fearing to weaken the manifest 
 nullity of the sanction which he had been foreed to give to all the 
 decrees passed since the outniges of tlie 5th and 6th October, 
 sanctioned also, on the 2jjth June, the decrees of the Utth , notwith- 
 standing the entreaties of .M. Necker, whowLslicd the king not to 
 assent to the decree degrading the nubility till he had ofiercd his 
 observations to the National Assembly. The coimoil did not 
 approve of that step, and were of opinion that tlie sanction should 
 be pure aid unqualified. M. Necker did not the less persist in 
 his opinion, and made a displ.iy of his opposition to his colleagues 
 by a memorial which he published with the king's consent" — 
 Annals, vol. ii. p. 476.] 
 
 the field, they mingled promiscuoush', and laboured 
 in common. At nightfall, iipon a given signal, each 
 rejoined his section, and returned in procession to his 
 own quarter. This pleasing union continued tmtil 
 the work was finished. During its progress, the 
 federalists were continually arriving, and were re- 
 ceived with the liveliest enthusiasm and the most 
 engaging hospitality. A sincere joy, a general rapture 
 prevailed, despite the sinister rumours which that 
 small mmoritj', who were inaccessible to such emo- 
 tions, endeavoured to propagate. It was said that the 
 brigands woidd seize the opportunity of the federation 
 to pillage the town. The Duke of Orleans, also, who 
 had just returned from London, was alleged to have 
 some direful projects in contemplation. But the 
 national gaiety was not to be distui'bed, and all these 
 malignant forebodings were disregarded. 
 
 The 14th at length arrived. All the federalist 
 deputies from the provinces and the army, ranged 
 under their banners, started from the site of the 
 Bastille, and proceeded to the Tuileries. The depu- 
 ties from Beam, when passing along the street of the 
 Ferronncrie, in which Henry IV. was assassinated, 
 rendered a tribute of reverence for his memory, 
 expressed, on so affecting an occasion, by shedding 
 tears. When the federahsts reached the garden of 
 the Tuileries, they received into their ranks the muni- 
 cipality and the assembly. A body of youths, armed 
 like their fathers, preceded the assembly ; a group of 
 old men followed it ; thus recalling the ancient recol- 
 lections of Sparta. The procession advanced, amidst 
 the shcmts and cheers of the people. The quaj-s were 
 covered with spectators, and the houses filled to the 
 roofs. A bridge, constructed a few days before over 
 the Seine, led by a way strewed with flowers from one 
 bank to the other, and opened immediately upon the 
 field of the federation. The procession traversed it, 
 and each repaired to the place destined for him. A 
 magnificent amphitheatre erected in the background 
 was set apart for the national authorities. The king 
 and the president were seated side bj' side, upon similar 
 chairs, worked with fleurs-de-lis in gold. A balcony 
 reared behind the king, contained the queen and the 
 court. The ministers were at some distance from the 
 king, and the deputies were ranged on each side. 
 Four hundred thousand spectators filled the lateral 
 amphitheatres ; sixty thousand armed federalists per- 
 formed their evolutions in the intermediate space ; 
 and in the midst arose, upon a base of twenty-five 
 feet, the magnificent altar of the country. Tliree 
 hundred priests, clad in white surplices and tri- 
 coloured scarfs, covered its steps, in readiness to cele- 
 brate mass. 
 
 The arrival of the federalists occupied three hours. 
 During this period, the sky was obscured with dark 
 clouds, and the rain fell in torrents. That sky, whose 
 brightness harmonises so well witli the buo^'ancy of 
 human joy, refused at this eventful moment its sere- 
 nity and its lustre. One of the arrived battalions laid 
 down its arms and began to dance ; all immediately 
 followed the examjilc, and in one short moment the 
 whole intermediate field ivas pressed by si.xty thousand 
 men, soldiers and citizens, opposing vivacity and gaiety 
 to the relentless storm. At length the ceremony com- 
 menced ; the weather, b}' a happy chance, cleared up, 
 and the sun shone in all his splendour upon the solemn 
 spectacle. The Bishop of Autun began the mass; 
 choristers accompanied the voice of the pontiff; cannon 
 mingled its awful roar. The holy rite performed, 
 Lafayette dismounted from his horse, ascended the 
 steps of the throne, and awaited tiie orders of the 
 king, who handed to him the formula of the oath. 
 Lafayette carried it to the altar, and at that moment 
 all the banners were waved, and all swords glanced 
 in the air. The general, the army, the president, the 
 deputies, exclaimed, " I swear ! " The king, standing 
 up and stretching his hand towards the altar, said ; 
 " /, King of the French, swear to use the power delegated
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 81 
 
 to me bi) the constitutional act of the state, in maintaining 
 the constitution decreed by the National Assembly and 
 accepted by me." Whilst the king thus spoke, tlie 
 queen, impelled by tlie general impulse, took iii her 
 arms the august infant, the heir to the throne, and, 
 from the rails of the balcony in which she stood, 
 showed him to the asscniljled nation. At this sight, 
 rapturous shouts of satisfaction, love, and enthusiasm, 
 were directed towards the mother and the child, and 
 all hearts Avere theirs. It was at this very instant 
 that all France, collected in the chief towns of the 
 f ighty-three departments, took the same oath to love 
 the king who loved them. At such a time, hatred 
 itself was softened, the exclusiveness of pride laid 
 aside, and all were happy at the common bliss, and 
 felt dignified in the common dignitJ^ Alas ! where- 
 fore are the deep-seated pleasures of concord so soon 
 forgotten ? 
 
 This august ceremony being completed, the pro- 
 t'cssion re-formed and resumed its march, the people 
 .jiving way to unequivocal expressions of deUglit. The 
 rejoicings lasted several days. A general review of 
 tlie federalists afterwards took place ; sixty thousand 
 men under arms presented a most imposing spectacle, 
 at once military and national. In the evening, Paris 
 gave an appropriate entertainment. The chief places 
 of resort w-ere the Champs-Elysees and the Bastille. 
 Upon the site of that ancient prison, then converted 
 into a square, was to be read this phrase, " Dancing 
 here." Brilliant lustres, ranged in cii'clets, supplied 
 the light of day. The rich had been prohibited from 
 (listurbiug this i)eaceable fete by the use of carriages. 
 Every one was to render himself of the people, and 
 feel happy at being so. The Cliamps-Elysces pre- 
 sented a touching scene ; a vast concourse in motion, 
 without noise, or tumult, or rivalry, or discord. AU 
 classes, mixing freely together, promenaded under a 
 soft artificial light, all liilarity and cheerfulness at the 
 auspicious union. Thus, even in the heart of this 
 our worn-out and selfish civilisation, the times of 
 primitive fraternity seemed to have returned. 
 
 The federalists, after having witnessed the imposing 
 aspect of the National Assembly in debate, the cere- 
 monious j)omp of the court, the magnificent wonders 
 of Paris, and receiving ocular testimony of the virtues 
 of the king, to whom they were all presented, and 
 from whom they heard nothing but affecting expres- 
 sions of benevolence, returned to their own homes in 
 transports of rapture, and fuU of patriotic sentiments 
 and illusions. After so many deplorable scenes, and 
 Avhen entering on so many still more terril)le, the 
 historian pauses with pleasure on these too fugitive 
 hours, when all hearts beat with but one emotion, 
 ardour for the public welfare.* 
 
 * I have already quoted some passages from the Jlemoirs of 
 Ferricrcs, relative to the opening sitting of the states-general. As 
 nothing is more important than to verify the real sentiments 
 which the revolution evoked in men, I feel called upon to give 
 the description of the federation by tliat same Ferridres. By his 
 words it may be judged whether the enthusiasm were genuine, 
 >vliether it were communicative, and whether that revolution 
 were so hideous as it has been represented. 
 
 " In the mean time the federalists arrived from all parts of the 
 kmgdom. They were received at private houses, the owners of 
 which vied with each other in furnishing beds, linen, wood, and 
 all that might contribute to render agreeable and comfortable 
 tlieir residence in the metropolis. The municipality took mea- 
 hures proper to prevent so great an influx of strangers disturbing 
 public tranquillitj'. Twelve thousand laboui'crs worked without 
 ceasing on preparations in the Champ de Mars. However great 
 the activity displayed, the work advanced but slowly. Fears were 
 entertained tliat it could not be finislied for the 14th July, the 
 day irrevocably fixed for the ceremony, because it was the iinni- 
 versary of the insurrection of P;iris and the capture of the 
 Hastille. In this predicament, the districts invited good citizens, 
 in the name of the country, to assist the labourers. This civic 
 invitation electrified the imaginations of all ; women partook and 
 propagated the enthusiasm ; seminarists, scliolars, nuns, monks, 
 grown old in solitude, were seen to quit their cloisters and speed 
 
 The festival of the federation, however imposing, left 
 nevertheless but a transient emotion. The next day 
 
 to the Champ de Marf , wdth sj)ades on their shoulders, and bear- 
 ing banners ornamented with patriotic emblems. Tliere. all the 
 citizens, promiscuously amalgamated, formed a vast and moving 
 workshop, every point of which presented a varied group ; the 
 dishevelled courtesan strove by the side of the fastidious prude, 
 the capuchin carried a bucket with the chevalier of St Louis, tbe 
 porter with the exquisite of the Palais Royal, the bra\\-ny fish- 
 woman wheeled a barrow filled by the elegant and perfumed 
 damsel ; the rich, the indigent, the well-attired, the tattered, the 
 old, the adolescent, players, Swiss-guards, clerks, at labour or at 
 rest, actors or spectators, offered to the astonished eye a scene re- 
 plete with life and animation ; taverns moved on wheels, portable 
 shoi)s, increased the charm and gaiety of the vast and ravishing 
 picture ; songs, shouts of joy, the beating of drums, the chmg 
 of martial music, the noise of pickaxes and of wheelbarrows, the 
 voices of the labourers calling to and encouraging each other— the 
 soul felt oppressed bene«ith the weight of a delicious intoxication, 
 at sight of a people actuated by the gentle emotions of a primitive 
 fraternity. When nine o'clock struck, the groups separated. 
 Each citizen repaired to the place where his section was stationed, 
 and rejoined his family and his acquaintances. The bands began 
 their march to the sound of drums, returned to Paris, preceded 
 by torches, spouting from time to time sarcasms against the 
 the aristocrats, and singing the famous Ca ira. 
 
 At length the 14th Jul}-, the day of the federation, arrived, 
 amid the hopes of some, the alarms and terrors of others. If that 
 great ceremony had not the serious and august character of a 
 festival at once national and religious, a character almost irre- 
 concileable with French feeling, it presented those agreeable and 
 lively features of joy and enthusiasm which are a thousand times 
 more touching. The federalists, drawn up by departments, 
 under eighty-three banners, started from the site of tbe Bastille ; 
 the deputies from the army and the marines, the Parisian national 
 guard, drums, bands of music, the flags of the sections, led and 
 closed the march. 
 
 The federalists traversed the streets St Martin, St Denis, St 
 Ilonore, and proceeded by the Coursla-Reineto a bridge of boat* 
 laid across the river. They were greeted on the way b;-' the accla- 
 mations of an immense multitude, thronging the streets, the 
 windows, and the quays. The rain, which fell in torrents, neither 
 deranged nor stayed the procession. The federalists, steeped in 
 rain and perspiration, danced farandolas, and shouted, ' Long 
 live our brethren of Paris !' The spectators handed them from 
 the windows wine, hams, fruit, sweetmeats, and loaded them with 
 benedictions. The National Assembly joined the procession at the 
 Place Louis XV., and took their station between the battalion of 
 veterans and that of the young pupils of the country — an expres- 
 sive idea, which seemed to unite with it all ages and all interests. 
 
 The road which conducted to the Champ de Mars was covered 
 with people, who clapped their hands, and chanted the Ca ira. 
 The quay de Chaillot and the heights of Passy presented a long 
 amphitheatre, in which the elegance of form and apparel, the 
 charms and the graces of the women, enchanted and bewildered 
 the eye, allowing it no resting-place or excuse for preference. 
 The rain continued to fall, but no one seemed to perceive it : 
 French gaiety triumphed over the bad weather, the bad road«, 
 and the fatiguing length of the march. 
 
 M. de Lafayette, mounted on a superb charger, and surrounded 
 by his aides-de-camp, gave orders, and received the homage of the 
 people ;md the federalists. Perspiration rolled down his visage. 
 A man, whom none knew, pierced the crowd, and came forward, 
 holding a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other: 'My 
 general,' said he, ' you are warm — drink !' The man raised hia 
 bottle, filled a Iiu-ge glass, and presented it to JI. de Lafayette. 
 The general received the glass, looked at the unknown for a 
 moment, and swallowed the wine at a draught. The people 
 applauded. Lafayette cast a smile of com])laccnce and confidence 
 upon the nmltitude, seeming to exi)ress : ' 1 will never conceive 
 any suspicion, I will never have any disquieting apprehensions, 
 so long as I am in the midst of you." 
 
 Meanwhile, more than tliree hundred thoiis.'ind people, male 
 .and female, from Paris and the environs, congregated since six 
 in the morning on the Champ de Mars, seated on steps of turf 
 fonuing an immense circle, drenched, bespattered, opposing 
 parasols to the watery torrent descending upon fhem, drying 
 their drijiping countenances on the least glimpse of sunshine, and 
 adjusting their head-dresses, awaited with huigliter and small- 
 talk the federidists and the National Assembly. A vast .amphi- 
 theatre had been erected for the king, the royal family, the 
 amba-ssjulors, and the deputies. The federalists who arrived first 
 begim to dance farandolas ; Oiose who followed joined in Uic
 
 82 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 passions were as xiro;ent as the day before, and the war 
 began again. Trifling disputes with the ministry re- 
 curred to keep the spirit of strife idive. Complaints 
 were made that a passage had been allowed to the 
 Austrian troops in their march to the district of Liege. 
 Saint-Priest was accused of having connived at the 
 flight of several persons accused of counter-revolu- 
 tionary plots. The court, in return, had caused to be 
 inscribed on the order of the day the proceedings com- 
 menced at the Chatclet against the authors of the 5th 
 and 6tli October. The Duke of Orleans and Mirabcau 
 found themselves implicated therein. That singular 
 inquisition, several times abandoned and resumed, 
 gave palpable token of the various influences by which 
 it had been instigated. It exliil)ited a huge contradic- 
 tory mass of evidence, and Avarranted no charge of 
 any weight against the two accused principals. The 
 court, after concluding a reconciliation with Mirabeau, 
 had not pursued any fixed plan regarding him. It 
 evinced, by alternate starts, a disposition to approxi- 
 mate with or withdraw from him, and at the most, 
 sought to silence him rather than to follow his coun- 
 sels. In renewing the process concerning the 5th and 
 
 amusement, and formed a rinR which soon embraced a large 
 portion of the Champ de JIars. Here was a spectacle worthy the 
 philosophic observer— a prodigious crowd of men, from the most 
 distant parts of France, moved by the impulse of the national 
 character, banishing all remembrance of the past, all idea of the 
 Vresent, all fear of the future, giving way to a buoyant careless- 
 ness; and three hundred thousand spectators, of every age and 
 sex, following their movements, beating time with their fingers, 
 oblivious of the rain, of hunger, of the tedium of long expecta- 
 tion. At length, the entire procession having passed into the field, 
 the dance ceased, and each federalist rejoined his standard. The 
 Bishop of Autun prepared to celebrate mass at an altar of antique 
 form, erected in the middle of the field. Three hundred priests, in 
 white surplices, relieved by wide tri coloured sashes, ranged them- 
 selves on the foiu- sides of the altar. The Bishop of Autun pro- 
 nounced a benediction on the Oriflamme and the eiglity-three 
 banners ; then he chanted the Te Dcum. Twelve hmidred musi- 
 cians executed this anthem. J^afayette, at the head of tlie staff 
 of the Parisian militia and of the deputies from the army and 
 03%^' ascended the altar and swore, on behalf of the troops and 
 the federalists, to be faithful to the nation, tlie law, and the kmg. 
 A discharge of four pieces of ordnance announced this solemn 
 oath to France. The twelve hundred musicians rent the air with 
 martial tunes ; the flags and banners waved ; the drawn swords 
 glittered in the sun. The president of the National Assembly 
 repeated the same oath. Tlie people and the deputies responded 
 in shouts of ' I steenr.'' Then the king arose, and pronounced 
 in a loud voice these words : ' I, King of the French, swear to use 
 the power deUgated to me by the conslitutioiMl act of the stafj;, in 
 mainUnning the constitution decreed by the National Assembly and 
 accepted by me.' The queen took the dauphin in her arms, pre- 
 sented him to the people, and said, ' Beliold my son !— lie joins, 
 as well as myself, in those sentiments.' This unexpected pro- 
 ceeding was tlie signal for a tliousand shouts of ' Long live tlie 
 king! Long live the queen ! Long live the dauphin !' Tlie guns 
 continued to mingle their majestic roar with the warlike strains 
 of the military instruments and the acclamations of the people. 
 The weather had cleared up ; the sun shone in all his splendour ; 
 it seemed as if the Eternal hmiseU desired to witness this mutual 
 engagement, and ratify it by his sanction. Ves : lie saw it ! He 
 heard it !— and the frightfid evils which, since that day, have not 
 ceased to desolate France, oh Providence, onmiscient and just ! 
 are the merited punishments of perjury. Thou hast stricken both 
 the monarch and the subjects who have violated their oaths ! 
 
 The enthusiasm and rejoicings were not limited to the day of 
 the federation. There was a continued series of feasts, balls, and 
 amusements, during thestay of the federalists in Paris. The Champ 
 de Mars was again visited by crowds, who there drank, and sang, 
 and d.anccd. RL de Lafayette reviewed a part of the n.ational 
 guard from the departments, and of the army of the lino. The 
 king, the queen, and the dauphin, were present at this review, 
 and were hailed with acclamations. The queen, with a graceful 
 air, presented her hand to be kissed by the federalists, and 
 showed the dauphin to them. Before quitting the capit;J, the 
 federalists went to pay their resiiccts to the king ; all testified 
 towards him the profouiidest reverence, the most perfect de- 
 votion. The leader of the Bretons kneeled and presented his 
 »word to Louis XVI., saying to him—' Hire, I deliver to you the 
 
 6th October, it was not he whom the court attacked, 
 but the Duke of Orleans, who had been greatly 
 applauded since his return from London, and whom 
 it had harshlj' repulsed when he expressed a wish to 
 regain the favour of the king.* Chabroud was ap- 
 pointed to cbaw up the report to the assembly, whereby 
 it might judge whether or not there were gTounds for 
 an impeachment. The court desired that Mirabeau 
 should preserve silence, and alxmdon the Duke of 
 Orleans, against whom alone its rancour was excited. 
 Nevertheless, he mounted the tribune, and showed 
 how ridiculous were the imputations against him. 
 He was accused of having apprised Mounier that 
 Paris was marching on Versailles, and adding these 
 words : " We must have a king, but it is of little 
 moment whether he be Louis XVI. or Louis XVII !" 
 likewise of having gone through the regiment of 
 Flanders, sword in hand, and of exclaiming, on the 
 
 sudden departure of the Duke of Orleans: " This 
 
 is not worth the trouble that is taken about him." 
 Nothing could be more childish than such complaints. 
 Mirabeau did not fail to exhibit all their weakness 
 and absurdity with his accustomed force ; he said but 
 a few words on the matter as it atfected the Duke of 
 
 sword of your faithful Bretons, pure and unsullied'; it will bo 
 stained only with the blood of your enemies.' ' This sword can- 
 not be in better hands than in tliose of my beloved Bretons," 
 answered the king, raising the leader of the Bretons and return- 
 ing him his sword ; ' I have neverdoubted their love and fidelity ; 
 assure them that I am the father, the brother, the friend of all 
 Frenchmen.' The king, greatly alfected, pressed the hand of the 
 Breton leader, and embraced him. A mutual emotion prolonged 
 for some seconds this touching scene. The Breton first found 
 words. ' Sue,' said he, ' all Frenchmen, if I judge them by our 
 hearts, cherish you, and ever will cherish you, because you are a 
 citizen king.' 
 
 The municipality of Paris likewise determined to give a fete to 
 the federalists. There were aquatic contests on the river, fire- 
 works, an illumination, a ball and supper in the coni-market, 
 and a ball on the site of the BastUle. At the entrance to the 
 enclosure were inscribed in large characters, ' Dancing here ;' a 
 happy motto, contrasting in a striking manner with the old ideas 
 of horror and despair which the recollection of that odious prison 
 suggested. The people moved to and fro from one scene of enter- 
 tainment to the other, without annoj'ance or interruption. The 
 police, by prohibiting the driving of caiTiages, prevented the 
 accidents so common in public rejoicings, and also the timiul- 
 tuous clatter of horses, wheels, and cries of ' Take care ;' a noise 
 which fatigues and stupifies the citizens, makes them feaj every 
 instant to be crushed, and gives the most brilliant and best- 
 ordered festival the appearance of a flight. Public festivals are 
 essentially for the people. It is they alone who ought to be attended 
 to. If the rich wish to partake then- pleasures, let them become 
 part of the people on that day ; they will imbibe unknown sensa- 
 tions, and not disturb the joy of their fellow-citizens. 
 
 It was at the Champs-EIysees that sentimental men enjoyed 
 with the greatest satisfaction this delightful popular festival. 
 Strings of lights hung on all the trees, garlands of small lamps 
 connected tliem together, pyramids of flame, placed at regular 
 distances, shed a clear brilliancy, which the towering mass of the 
 surrounding gloom rendered more dazzling from contrast. The 
 people tilled the avenues and the lawns. The citizen, seated with 
 his wife, and encomp;issed by his children, ate, talked, laughed, 
 took a promenade, and exquisitely felt the charms of existence 
 Here were young girls and boys dancing to the music of several 
 orchestras stationed on the slopes, which had been railed off for 
 the purpose. A little farther, some sailors, in close jackets and 
 drawers, surrounded by numerous gi-oups, regarding them with 
 curious interest, were endeavouring to climb up high poles rubbed 
 with soap, to gain a prize awarded to him who should succcctl in 
 bringing away a tri-coloured flag affixed to the summit. It was 
 worth hearing the shouts of laughter provoked by those who were 
 compelled to abandon the enterprise, and the words of encourage- 
 ment given to those who, with more skill or fortune, seemed 
 likely to attain the object. A mild and c<mteniplative cheerful- 
 ness, spre;id over all countenances, sparkling in all eyes, pour- 
 tniycd, as it were, the quiet bliss of happy shades in the Elysian 
 fields of the ancients. The white garments of numberless females, 
 meandering under the foliage of the avenues, served to strengthen 
 the illusion." — Fcrrtires, vol. ii. p. 8a. 
 * See iht3 Jlemoirs of Bouille.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 «3 
 
 Orleans, and exclaimed, as he concluded — •" Yes ! the 
 secret of this infernal inquisition is at lengtli disco- 
 vered : it is altogether there (pointing to the right 
 side) ; it is for behoof of those whose testimonies and 
 calumnies have formed its groundA^^ork ; it is in the 
 resoiirces it has furnished to the enemies of the revo- 
 lution ; it is in the malevolence of judges, such as will 
 be ere long marked in history by a just and implacable 
 vengeance !" 
 
 Acclamations accompanied Mirabeau to his seat; 
 the two inculpated persons were declared free from 
 accusation by the assembly, and the court incurred 
 tlio disgrace of an abortive enterprise.* 
 
 The principles of the revolution were destined to 
 be universally developed, as well in the army as 
 amongst the people. That army, the last prop of 
 absolutism, was also the last object of alarm to the 
 popular party. All the military officers were enemies 
 of the revolution, because, liaving an exclusive right 
 to rank and promotion, they perceived with disgust 
 merit admitted to competition with them. By an oppo- 
 site tendency, the soldiers were favourable to the new 
 order of things, although, doubtless, hatred of disci- 
 pline and expectation of increased pay, operated as 
 powerfully upon them as the spirit of liberty. A 
 dangerous insubordination was manifested throughout 
 almost the entire army. The infantry especially, 
 probalily from its mingling more with the people, and 
 having less military pride tlian the cavalry, was in a 
 state of complete insurrection. Bouille, seeing with 
 grief his army slipping from his control, employed all 
 possible means to stop this revolutionary contagion. 
 He had received from Latour-du-Pin, minister of war, 
 the most extensive powers, of which he took advan- 
 tage to keep his troops perpetuall}' shifting quarters, so 
 as to prevent their forming familiar associations with 
 the people, by long residence in the same place. He 
 expressly prohibited them from attending clubs, and, 
 in short, neglected no precaution to maintain military 
 obedience. He himself, after a lengthened resistance, 
 had ultimately taken the oath to the constitution ; 
 and as his honour was of the purest order, he appeared 
 from that moment to have deliberately resolved to be 
 faithful to the knig and the constitution. His repug- 
 nance towards Lafayette, to whose disinterestedness 
 he could not be insensible, was overcome, and he 
 evinced greater readiness to unite with him. The 
 national guards, in the vast district he commanded, 
 had wished to nominate him their general ; he had 
 refused the offer in his earlier captiousness, and had 
 afterwards cause for regret when he reflected upon 
 the good he might have been enabled, by such a posi- 
 tion, to have effected. In the mean time, in si)ite of 
 certain denunciations at the clubs, Bouille still held a 
 high place in popular estimation. 
 
 The spirit of revolt displayed itself openly first at 
 Metz. The soldiers imprisoned their otlicors, seized 
 
 * [It is amiismgto read Bertrand's version of ?.Iirabcaii'.s speech 
 on tliis occasion. lie says : " Mirabeau tlien spoke and pleaded 
 his own cause with the most arrogant confidence. According to 
 him, tlie Cliatelet and tlie witnesses were the only persons guilty in 
 tliis affair, and lie swore to pursue the authors of it to tlie finivc. 
 This bhisterinR, as ridiculous as it was indecent, obtained tlie 
 most lively applause. To overturn the depositions wliich accused 
 him of having, at five in the afternoon of the 5th October, ran 
 through the ranks of the regiment of I'^lamlers, sword in hjuid, 
 he referred to a deposition of a witness e.xaniined in the proceed- 
 ings (I)e la Jlotte, 48th witness), who had said that the man seen 
 in the ranks was M. de Gamachcs, and that his i)crsnn very much 
 resembled Mirabeau's. He also adduced tlic tcstiiiinny of IM. de 
 la M.arck, a member of the assembly, at whose house he liad 
 passed the whole afternoon. ' Thus,' said ho, ' all things being 
 duly weighed and considered, the proceedings have in reality 
 nothing impleasant upon this head, but as they attaclc IM. do 
 Gam.aches, who finds himself judicially and vehemently sus- 
 pected of being very ugly, from his resemblance to me.' This 
 expression, and that which I mentioned before, suffice to give ii 
 just idea of the stylo of ftlirabeau's deivuc(i."—Anmls, vol. iii. 
 p. U«.] 
 
 the flags and military chest, and even attempted to 
 levy a contribution on the municipality. Bouille 
 exposed himself to the most imminent danger, and 
 succeeded in repressing the sedition. Shortly after- 
 wards, a similar revolt broke out at Nanci. Some 
 Swiss regiments took part in it, and there were sub- 
 stantial grounds for fearing, if this example were fol- 
 lowed, that the whole kingdom would soon be at the 
 mercy, and delivered up a prey to the combined ex- 
 cesses, of the soldiery aud the populace. The assembly 
 itself trembled at the prospect. An officer was ordered 
 to put in force the decree passed against the rebels. 
 He was unable to procure its execution, and BouiUe 
 received orders to march upon Nanci, in order that 
 the power of the law might be vindicated. He had 
 but a small body of soldiers upon whom he could 
 implicitly rely. Fortunately, the troops formerly in 
 revolt at Jletz, feeling deeply humiliated that he did 
 not venture to trust them, demanded to be led against 
 the insurgents. The national guards likewise oflered 
 their services ; and Bouille advanced upon Nanci 
 with these united forces, and a moderately numerous 
 cavalry. His position was one of considerable embar- 
 rassment, because he could not bring his cavalry into 
 effective action, and his infantry was not sufficient to 
 attack the rebels aided by the populace. However, 
 he addressed these infatuated men with great firm- 
 ness, and succeeded in awing them into submission. 
 They were on the point of laying down their arms, 
 and leaving the town in conformity with his orders, 
 when some shots were fired, from which side is im- 
 known ; and thereupon an engagement was inevitable. 
 The troops under Bouille, believing themselves exposed 
 to treachery, fought with the greatest ardour ; but 
 an obstinate resistance was maintained, and they had 
 to force their way step by step under a murderous fire. 
 (31st Augiist.) Master at last of the principal de- 
 fences, Bouille obtained the surrender of the regiments, 
 and made them quit tlie town. He delivered from 
 their incarceration the officers and magistrates, caused 
 the ringleaders to be picked out, and handed them 
 over to the National Assembly. 
 
 This success diffused a general joy, and lulled the 
 fears that had been entertained for the tranquillity 
 of the kingdom. Bouille received from the king and 
 the assembly congratidations and eulogies. At a sub- 
 sequent period he was calumniated, and his conduct 
 accused of cruelty. It was, nevertheless, quite irre- 
 proachable, and was universally applauded as such at 
 the time. The king enlarged the limits of his com- 
 mand, which then became very considerable, for it 
 reached from Switzerland to the Sambre, and compre- 
 hended the greatest portion of the frontier. Bouille, 
 placing greater reliance on cavalry than on infantry, 
 chose for his cantonment the banks of the Seille, which 
 falls into the Moselle ; he had there wide plains to 
 exercise his cavalry, forage to support it, places of 
 siifficient strength to intrench behind, and above all, 
 a scanty population to fear. He was determined not 
 to .attempt any thing against the constitution ; but 
 he was doubtful of the patriots, and took his measures 
 for aflbrding succour to the king if circumstances 
 should render it necessary. 
 
 And now the assembly, having abolished the par- 
 liaments, instituted juries, aud suppressed guilds, was 
 preparing to make a new emission of assignats. The 
 possessions of the clergy composing au enormous ca- 
 pital, and the assignats being the means by which that 
 cajiital was made disposable, it was natural it should 
 employ them. All the old objections were started 
 with yet greater vehemence ; the Bishop of Autun 
 himself declared against this new issue, and foretold, 
 with sagacious prescience, all the financial resiUts of 
 sucli a measure.* Mirabeau, looking principally at 
 
 * BI. de TallejTand (the Hisliop of Autun) predicted in a very 
 striking manner the financial eonsetinences of the paper-money. 
 In his speech on that question, he lirst enters into the nature
 
 84 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 its political results, argued strenuously for its adop- 
 tion, and succeeded. Eight hundred millions of assig- 
 nats were decreed, and upon this occasion it was 
 decided that they should not bear interest. It was 
 preposterous, in fact, to allow interest upon an actual 
 currency. It may be granted upon obligations which 
 cannot circulate, hut remain idle in the hands of the 
 possessor, for nothing can be more proper ; but to 
 attach it to issues which become veritable acquittances 
 by their forced ciurency, was an error the assembly 
 was not disposed to commit a second time. Necker 
 opposed this new emission, and sent a memorial which 
 was not Ustened to. Times were sadl}- changed for 
 him ; he was no longer the minister upon whose resto- 
 ration to office the people rested their hopes of happi- 
 ness but a year before. Wanting the confidence of 
 the king, at war with all his colleagues, except Mont- 
 morin, he was disregarded by the assembly, and treated 
 with less consideration than he certainly had a right 
 to receive. The misfortune of Necker was his behef 
 in the sufficiency of reason in all cases, and that its 
 demonstration, with an admixture of sentiment and 
 logic, must of necessity triimiph over the mulish stub- 
 bornness of aristocrats and the heated passions of 
 
 of that money, characterises it with admirable precision, and 
 unfolds the reasons of its early depreciation. 
 
 "Will the assembly order," said he, "an emission of two 
 thousand millions of assignats ? You judge of this second emis- 
 sion by the success of the first ; but you close your eyes to the 
 fact that the wants of commerce, slackened by the revolution, 
 were calciUated to have quickly absorbed our first conventional 
 currency ; and those wants were such, that, in my opinion, com- 
 merce would have adopted that medium of circulation even had 
 it not been forced. To adduce this first success, which, after all, 
 has not been complete, since the assignats are losing value, in 
 favour of a second and much larger emission, is a coiu'se full of 
 delusion and danger ; for the empire of the law has its limits, and 
 those limits are expressed by the interest which men have to 
 respect or infringe it. 
 
 The assignats wiU imquestionably possess characteristics of 
 safety which no paper-money ever previously possessed ; none 
 has ever been founded upon a pledge equally valuable, invested 
 with an h>'pothecation of equal solidity ; all this I am far from 
 denying. The assignat, considered as an obligation of debt, has a 
 positive and material value ; that value being precisely the same 
 as that of the domain it represents; but at the same time it must 
 be borne in mind that no national paper ever circulated on a par 
 with specie ; the secondarj' emblem of the original representative 
 emblem of wealth can never have the precise value of its model ; 
 the verj' obligation confesses the exigency, and exigency bears 
 alarm and distrust as inherent concomitants. 
 
 "Why will the paper-money always be below the precious metals 
 in value ? In the first place, because doubts will always exist as 
 to the exact relation between the mass of assignats and that of 
 the national domains ; because there will be a protracted uncer- 
 tainty as to the consummation of sales ; because it is not to be 
 predicated when two thousand millions of assignats, representing 
 nearly the value of the domains, will be cancelled ; because, specie 
 being brought into competition with paper, both the one and the 
 other become merchandise, and the more abundantly an article 
 of merchandise is supplied, the more it sinks in price; because 
 with specie it will be alwaj-s possible to dispense with assignats, 
 whilst it will be impossible with assignats to do without specie; 
 and fortunately the absolute occasion for specie will preserve some 
 jmrtion in circulation, for the most dreadful of all evils would be 
 its complete disappearance." 
 The orator subsequently added : 
 
 " The creation of an assign.at currency is assuredly not to sup- 
 ply an equivalent for an intrinsically valuable commodity, but 
 simply a substitute for a metallic currency. Now, a substance 
 invested with the character of money cannot, whatever ideas may 
 be attached to it, represent that which is at once money aiid com- 
 modity. An assignat currency, therefore, however safe, however 
 solid it may be, is an abstraction of the metallic currency ; it is 
 but the free or enforc-ed emblem, not of wealth, but simply of 
 credit. It follows, as a necess;iry deduction, that to give paper 
 the functions of money, by rendering it, like other convertible 
 mediums, an agent for all operations of exchange, is to alter the 
 quantity recognised as unity, or, as it is called in this matter, the 
 ttandard of value; it is to effect in a moment what ages scarcelv 
 effect in a state gathering wealth ; and if, to borrow the expres- 
 
 patriots. Necker possessed that intellect which, with 
 a certain haughtiness, sits in judgment upon, and 
 censures the delusions of, passion ; but lie was deficient 
 in that more lofty and less vain intellect, which stops 
 not short at censuring, but knows how to mould them 
 to its own suggestions. Thus, thrown into the midst 
 of violent parties, he fretted all, but never curbed. 
 Left without friends by the secession of Mounier and 
 LaHy, he had preserved only the useless Malouet 
 He had irritated the assembly, by perpetually and 
 reproachfully reminding it of the most embarrassing 
 of all its cares, that of the finances ; and he had fur- 
 thermore incurred much ridicule by the manner in 
 which he spoke of himself. His resignation was hailed 
 with pleasure by all parties.* His carriage was ar- 
 rested on the frontiers by that same people who had 
 fonnerly drawn it in triumph, and an order of the 
 assembly was required to procure him hberty to pro- 
 ceed into S^vitzerland. It was immediately granted ; 
 and he retired to Coppet, to contemplate at a distance 
 a revolution which he was more fitted to observe than 
 lead-t 
 
 The ministry was reduced to a nullity as complete 
 as the king himself, and devoted itself, as the extent 
 
 sion of a learned foreigner, money performs the same functions 
 with regard to the value of commodities as degi-ees, minutes, and 
 seconds, with regard to angles, or scales with regiird to geogi-.iphi- 
 cal charts or plans of any sort, I ask. what must be the result of 
 this alteration in the common standard?" 
 
 After having shown the nature of this new currency, M. de 
 TallejTand foretells, Avith singular precision, the confusion that 
 must ensue from it in private transactions : — 
 
 ' ' But let us follow the assignats in their progress, and see what 
 course they are destined to describe. The creditor thus paid will 
 have to' purchase domains with his assignats, or he will keep 
 them, or he will employ them in other objects of acquisition. If 
 he buys domains, then your views will be accomplished ; and I 
 will join you in applauding the creation of assignats, because they 
 will not be forced into circulation— because, in fact, they will 
 have merely efl'ected what I propose you should give the public 
 obligations, the faciUty of being exchanged for the public domains. 
 But if this creditor, in his distrust, prefers to lose interest by 
 retaining an unproductive obligation ; if he converts assignats 
 into specie to hoard, or into foreign bills to transport ; if instances 
 of the latter operations should be more numerous than of the 
 first ; if, in a word, the assignats linger long in the circulation 
 before falling into the exchequer to be cancelled ; if they come 
 forcibly and remain in the hands of men obliged to receive them 
 at par, and who, owing nothing, can only make use of them at 
 a sacrifice ; if they are the cause of a great injustice perpetrated 
 by all debtors towards former creditors, in paying assignats at the 
 exchangeable value of specie, whilst they belie the amount they 
 express, as it will be impossible to compel venders to take them 
 at the metallic par, or, in other words, without raising the price 
 of their articles on account of the depreciation of assignats — how 
 much in such cases will this ingenious operation deceive the 
 p.atriotism of those whose sagacity has conceived it, and whose 
 sincere conviction upholds it ; and to what inconsolable regrets 
 shall we not be condemned ?" 
 
 It cannot, therefore, be said that the Constituent Assembly was 
 completely in the dark as to the possible consequences of its 
 measm-es ; but to these warnings one of those answers might 
 have been opposed which are never hazarded at the moment, but 
 which would be decisive, and which become so in the end ; this 
 answer was necessity — the necessity of providing for financial 
 exigencies, and of dividing the national domains. 
 * [Necker resigned on the 4th September.] 
 t [" Necker, whom the recollection of his old ascendancy per- 
 petually haunted, addressed memorials to the assembly, in which 
 he combated its decrees, and complacently offered his advice. 
 That minister coidd not accommodate himself to a secondary 
 part ; he refused to follow the expeditious plans of the assembly, 
 which were so diametrically opposed to his ideas of successive 
 reforms. At length, convinced or weary of the inutility of hia 
 exhortations, Necker departed from Paris, after giving in hia 
 i-esignation on the 4th September 17W, and he passed in obscurity 
 through those provinces which a year before he had travereed as 
 a triumphant hero. In revolutions men are easily forgotten, 
 because the people have many before their eyes, and numberless 
 events are crowded into little time — people live quick at such 
 eras."— .l/«7>»e<, voL i. p. 140.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of its action, to intrigues either useless or culpable. 
 Saint-Priest corresijonded with the emigrants -, Latour- 
 du-Pin gave way to all the desires of the military 
 leaders ; and Montmorin, enjoying the esteem of the 
 court, had none of its confidence, and was employed 
 .n intrigues with the chief popular deputies, with 
 whom his moderation brought him in relation. The 
 ministers were all denounced on the occasion of fresh 
 outbreaks. " I likewise," exclaimed Oazales, " woiild 
 denounce them, if it were generous to attack men so 
 thoroughly weak ; I would accuse the minister of 
 finances for not having explained to the assembly the 
 veritable resources of the kingdom, and for not taking 
 measures to direct a revolution which he had incited ; 
 I would accuse the minister at war for having suffered 
 the army to fall into disorganisation, and the minister 
 of the interior for not having made the king's orders 
 be obeyed — all of them, in short, for their utter incom- 
 petence, and their treacherous counsels to the king." 
 Inertness is a high crime in the ej'es of parties eager 
 to attain their object ; and accordingly the right side 
 condemned the ministers, not for what they had done, 
 but for what they had left undone. And yet Cazales 
 and his party, though overwhelming them with re- 
 proaches, opposed an address to the king for their 
 removal, for they regarded it as an invasion of the 
 royal prerogative. This dismissal was not demanded, 
 but they successively gave in their resignations, except 
 Montmorin, who alone maintained his office. Duport- 
 du-Tertre, a simple advocate, was appointed keeper 
 of the seals. Duportail, recommended to the king by 
 Lafayette, replaced Latour-du-Pin in the war depart- 
 ment, and exhibited a more fiivourable bias towards 
 the popular party. One of the measures he took was 
 to deprive Bouille of the uncontrolled hcense he per- 
 mitted himself in his command, and particularly of 
 the power to displace the troops at his own will — a 
 power much exercised by Bouille, as we have already 
 observed, to prevent the soldiers from fraternising 
 with the people. 
 
 The king had pondered deeply on the history of 
 the English Revolution. The fate of Charles I. had 
 always particidarly affected him, and he could not 
 divest himself of certain gloomy presentiments. He had 
 especially reflected that the motive for the condemna- 
 tion of Charles was his having excited civil war. He 
 had thus contracted an invincible repugnance for all 
 measures calculated to provoke the effusion of blood ; 
 and had constantly opposed all the projects for flight 
 suggested by the queen and the court. 
 
 During the summer of 1790, passed at St Cloud, he 
 might have fled, but he was ahvays disinclined to hear 
 the proposal mooted. The friends of the constitution 
 were as apprehensive as he of a measure which seemed 
 certain to result in civil war. The aristocrats alone 
 were strenuoiis for its adoption, because they flattered 
 themselves that, rendered masters of the king by his 
 removal from the assembly, they would govern in his 
 name, and return Avith him at the head of a foreigni 
 army, little reflecting that they would but follow in 
 its train. The aristocrats were possibly accompanied 
 m their wishes by certain minds more rapid in con- 
 clusions, which already began to consider the feasi- 
 bility of a republic, a thing as yet mithought of; the 
 name of which had never been mentioned, unless by 
 the queen in her passionate gusts against Lafayette 
 and the assembly, whom she was wont to accuse of 
 aiming at that object with all their might. Lafayette, 
 as leader of the constitutional force, and of all the 
 sincere friends of rational liberty, watched with unre- 
 mitting zeal over the person of the monarch. The 
 two ideas, the withdrawal of the king and civil war, 
 had been so intimately associated in all minds from 
 the commencement of the revolution, that the first 
 event was universally regarded as the harbinger of 
 the greatest calamity that can befaU a nation. 
 
 However, the dismissal of the ministry, which, if it 
 had not possessed the confidence of Louis XVI., was 
 
 at least his own choice, irritated him against the as- 
 sembly, and raised fears in his mind of the complete 
 prostration of the executive power. The fresh debates 
 on religion, which the hypocrisy of the clergy origi- 
 nated on the subject of their civil constitution,"alarmed 
 his timorous conscience, and serious thoughts of flight 
 began to occupy his imagination. Towards the end of 
 1790, he wrote respecting it to Bouille, who at first 
 opposed the measure, but afterwards yielded, lest his 
 zeal might seem suspicious to the unfortunate monarch. 
 Mirabeau, on his part, had formed a plan for sustain- 
 ing the cause of the monarchy. Although in constant 
 conmiunication with Montmorin, he had hitherto at- 
 tempted nothing of serious moment, because the court, 
 vacillating between foreign aid and the emigration on 
 one hand, and the national party on the other, was 
 really not disposed to be precipitate ; and, perhaps, of 
 all measures, feared that most which should submit it 
 to a master so sincerely constitutional as Mirabeau. 
 Nevertheless, it was upon a perfectly good miderstand- 
 ing with him at this period. Every thing was pro- 
 mised him if he were successful, and all available 
 resources were placed at his disposition. Talon, civil- 
 lieutenant at the Chiitelet, and Laporte, recently in- 
 stalled near the king's person as administrator of the 
 civil list, had orders to commimicate with him and aid 
 in the execution of his plans. Mirabeau condemned 
 the new constitution. For a monarchy it was, in his 
 opinion, too democratical ; and for a republic, there 
 was one thing too much — a king. The popular agi- 
 tation especially, which was always on the increase, 
 operated on his mind, and he determined to arrest it. 
 At Paris, against the sway of the multitude, and of 
 an all-powerful assembly, no enterprise was feasible. 
 He saw but one resource, which was to remove the 
 king from Paris and fix him at Lyons. There the 
 king would explain his views ; he would energetically 
 proclaim the reasons which induced him to condemn 
 the new constitution, and would publish another, which 
 was already framed. At the same moment, a first 
 legislature would be convoked. Mirabeau, in corres- 
 ponding by letter with the most popular members, 
 had artfully succeeded in drawing from them all a 
 disapproval of some particular provision in the actual 
 constitution. By putting together these different 
 avowals, the entire constitution was found to be con- 
 demned by its very authors.* He purposed append- 
 ing them to the king's manifesto, in order to give it 
 greater weight, and to demonstrate more fully the 
 necessity for a new constitution. We are ignorant 
 of all his means of execution ; we are only aware that, 
 through the police of Talon, the civil lieutenant, he 
 had gained pamphleteers, and clul) and street orators ; 
 and that, tln-ough his extensive correspondence, he 
 had reason to feel sure of thirty-six departments in 
 the south. He unquestionably intended to avail him- 
 self of Bouille's assistance, but he would not place 
 
 * It was not possible that, in a work collectively composed by 
 a gi'eat number of individuals, there should be perfect uniformity 
 of opinion. As unanimity prevailed only upon very few points, 
 it follows that each article must have been disapproved by those 
 who voted against it. Thus every clause in the constitution of 
 1701 must have had disapprovers amongst the very authors of that 
 constitution ; but, nevertheless, the whole was their real and 
 incontestible work. AVhat happened in this instance is inevitable 
 as regai-ds every deliberative body, and Jlirabcau's mancpuvre 
 was but a trick. It may be even said that there Wiis little honour 
 Ln such a proceeding ; but great allowances nuist be made for a 
 powerful and reckless being, whom the morality of tlie end 
 rendered very indifferent as to that of the means ; 1 say designedly 
 the morality of the end, for Mirabeau sincerely believed in the 
 necessity of a modified constitution ; and although his ambition, 
 and his petty personal rivalries, greatly contributed to alienate 
 him from the popular party, he was sincere in his detestation of 
 anarchy. Others besides him feared the court and the aristocracy 
 more than the people. Thus on all sides there were, according to 
 positions, different apprehensions; and as genuine conviction 
 changes with points of view, moralitj'j that is to say, sincerity, 
 is found equally in the most opposite parties. 
 U
 
 B6 
 
 IIISTOIIY OF THE FRENCH IlEYOLUTION. 
 
 himself at the mercy of tliat {general. Whilst Bouille 
 was encamped at Montnieily, he desifjned that the 
 king should remain at I^yons ; and he himself, accord- 
 ing to circumstances, would station himself at Paris 
 or Lyons. A foreign prince, the friend of I\Iirabeau, 
 saw Bouille on the king's part, and commmiicated to 
 him this project, but without the knowledge of Mira- 
 beau,* who never thought of a retreat to Montni(>dy, 
 whither the king subsequently proceeded. Boudic, 
 struck with the genius evinced by Mirabeau, declared 
 that nothing shoidd be omitted to make sure of such 
 a man, and that, so far as he was concerned, he was 
 ready to second him with all his power. 
 
 M. de Lafayette was unacquainted with this project. 
 Although he was sincerely devoted to the person of 
 the king, he enjoyed liot tlie confidence of the court, 
 and besides, he was viewed with envy by Mirabeau, 
 who had no intentit)n of giving himself such a comrade. 
 Furtliermore. M. de Lafayette was known to be fa- 
 vourable onlv to a straight course, and this plan was 
 too unscrupulous, too apart from legal ways, to suit 
 him. However, whether this were so or not, Mirabeau 
 was determined to be the sole executor of his own 
 jilan, and, in fact, he conducted it quite alone during 
 the winter of 1790-91. It is impossible to decide 
 whether he would have succeeded ; but it is certain 
 that, altliough incapable of turning back tlie revolu- 
 tionary torrent, he woidd at least have intluenced its 
 direction, and assuredly, without changing the inevi- 
 table result of a revolution such as the French, he 
 would have modified its events by his powerful oppo- 
 sition. "We may still be allowed to doubt whether, if 
 he had succeeded in controlling the popular party, he 
 wotild have been enabled to render himself master of 
 the aristocracy and the court. One of his friends 
 suggested to him tliis latter objection. " They have 
 jiromised me all," said Mirabeau. " And if they should 
 not keep their word ?" " If they break their word, I 
 will blow them into a republic." 
 
 The principal articles of the civil constitution of 
 the clergy, such as the new limitations of dioceses, and 
 the election of all the ecclesiastical functionaries, had 
 been decreed. The king had referred them to the 
 pope, who, after returning an answer in a mixed tone 
 of severity and paternal mildness, had remitted the 
 determination to the clergy of France. The clergy 
 took advantage of this appeal, and raised a cry that 
 the spiritual authority was coitipromised by the mea- 
 sures of the assembly. At the same time, they disse- 
 minated mandates, and declared that tlie deposed 
 bishops woidd not retire from their sees unless by 
 constraint and force ; that they would hire houses and 
 continue their ecclesiastical functions ; and that those 
 wlio remained true to their faith should attend onh^ to 
 them. The clergy prosecuted their intrigues especially 
 in La Vendee, and in certain departments of the south, 
 where they acted in concert with the emigrants. A 
 federative ca.mp was formed at Jallez,t where, under 
 the alleged pretext of federations, the pretended fede- 
 ralists designed to establish a centre of opposition to 
 the measures of the assembly. The po[)ular party 
 was greatly exasperated at these plots ; and, resolute 
 in its power, weary of its moderation, it determined 
 to adopt a decisive step. We have already seen what 
 motives inlluenced it in the enactment of the civil con- 
 stitution. The authors of that constitution were the 
 most sincere Christians in the assembly ; and these, 
 provoked at so unjust an opposition, resolved to van- 
 quish it. 
 
 It lias been already stated that an express decree 
 obliged all public functionaries to take an oath to the 
 new constitution. When the question concerning this 
 
 * noiiillt, in hiH Slfinoir.s, sconis of opinion that it was on the 
 pnrt ly)th of Mirabcin ami the king that overtures were made to 
 him. Hut it ih a ini->tal<e. Mirahetiii w;i8 ifjnorant of this doiiWe 
 plot, and never thoiif^ht of putting himself into the hands of 
 {ioaitti. 
 
 \ Tills camp was formed in the e-irly days of September. 
 
 civic oath was discussed, the clergy had strenuously 
 laboured to establish a distinction bet-ween the poli- 
 tical and the ecclesiastical constitution ; nor had they 
 stopped at that point. In the present case, the assem- 
 bly resolved to exact a rigorous oath from the eccle- 
 siastics, which should place them under the necessity 
 either of retiring if they declined to take it, or of 
 faitlifidly perlbrming their pastoral functions if they 
 took it. Tlie assembly was careful to declare that it 
 compassed no violence to consciences; that it would 
 pay all respect to those who, believing that religion 
 was injured by the new laws, were indisposed to take 
 the oath ; but that it was anxious to ascertain who 
 were imbued with such ideas, in order that it might 
 avoid intrusting to them the new bishoprics. In this 
 respect, its declarations were just and candid. It sub- 
 joined to the decree, that those who refused to swear 
 should be deprived of their functions and stipends; 
 and furthermore, as an example to others, that al. 
 ecclesiastics who were deputies should take the oath 
 in the assembly itself, within eight days after the 
 sanction of the act. 
 
 The right side opposed the measure : Maury gave 
 way to frantic violence, and laboured diligently to 
 stimulate interruptions to his harangue, so that he 
 might have grounds for publishing complaints. Alex- 
 ander Lametii, who occupied the chair, preserved order 
 whilst he spoke, and deprived him of the pleasure of 
 being driven from the tribune. Mirabeau defended 
 the assembly with greater eloquence than ever. " You," 
 he exclaimed, " persecutors of religion ! You who have 
 ]iaid it so noble and affecting an homage in the most 
 illustrious of your decrees ! you who consecrate to its 
 service a public grant, when your justice and pru- 
 dence rendered you so watchful of economy ! you 
 who have brought religion to interfere in the division 
 of the kingdom, and who have planted the sign of the 
 cross on the boundaries of all the departments ! you, 
 in fine, who acknowledge that God is as necessary to 
 men as liberty ! " 
 
 The assembly decreed the oath.* The king imme- 
 diately referred it to the pope. The Archbishop of 
 Aix, who had originally opposed the civil constitution, 
 feeling now the urgent necessity for a pacification, 
 joined the king and some of his more moderate col- 
 leagues in earnestly soliciting the pope to grant his 
 consent. The emigrants at Tm-in, and the recusant 
 bishops of France, wTOte to Rome in an entirely op- 
 posite straui ; and his holiness, under divers pretexts, 
 withheld his determination. The asseml)ly, irritated 
 at these studied delays, insisted upon having the 
 king's sanction ; and he, though prepared to yield, put 
 in use the ordinary devices of imbecility. He wished 
 to have himself constrained, so as to appear acting 
 without freedom. Consequentlj', he awaited a riot, 
 and then hastened to give his sanction. The decree 
 thus made law, the assembly resolved to put it into 
 execution, and accordingly called upon its ecclesias- 
 tical members to take the oath within its walls. Then 
 men and women, whose previous lives had manifested 
 but a small regard for religion, suddenly commenced a 
 movement to provoke the refusal of the ecclesiastics.l 
 
 ' * Decree of tlie 27 th November. 
 
 t Ferrieres, an eye-witness of the intrigues of this period, 
 rcLites those wliich were employed to prevent the oath of the 
 priests. This account appears to me too characteristic not to be 
 quoted. 
 
 •• The bishops and the revolutimists agitated and intrigued, 
 some to promote the taking of the oath, others to prevent its 
 being taken. The two jiarties were sensible of the influence whicli 
 the conduct pursued by the ecclesiiistics in the assembly would 
 have in the provinces. The bishops became on intimate terms with 
 their clergy ; devotees of both sexes were in active motion. Con- 
 versation in all societies tumcd only on the oath of the priests. 
 It might have been thought that the destiny of France and the 
 fate of all its inhabitants depended on the priestly adjuration or 
 non -ail jurat inn. Men of the gi-eatest latitude in their leligioua 
 ojiinions, women the most notorious for their dissolute mannerii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Certain bishops and incumbents took the oath. The 
 greater numlier resisted, witli an affected resignation 
 and an alleged attacliment to principles. Tlie assem- 
 bly not the less persisted in the nomination of new 
 bishops and incumbents, and was energetically aided 
 by the departmental administrations. Tlie old eccle- 
 siastical fnnctionaries liad full liberty to celebrate 
 worship where they chose, but those who were recog- 
 nised by the state took possession of the churches. 
 The dissenters hii-ed the church of tlie Tlu'atins at 
 Paris to pursue their exercises. The assembly did 
 not interfere, and the national guards protected them 
 as much as possilile against the fury of the populace, 
 who were not always disposed to allow them the 
 tranquil exercise of their isolated ministrations. 
 
 The assembly has been condemned for having oc- 
 casioned this scliism, and for having added a new cause 
 of division to tliose which existed before. Now, first, 
 with regard to its functions, it must appear evident 
 to everj' impartial mind that tlie assembly did not 
 exceed them when it legislated upon the temporalities 
 of the churcli. Next, witli regard to considerations 
 !)f prudence, it assuredlj- added but partially to the 
 difficulties of its position. And in fact, the court, the 
 nobility, and the clergy, had lost, and the people 
 gained, enough to become irreconcileable enemies, and 
 for the revolution to take its inevitable course, even 
 without tlie consequences of the new schism. Besides, 
 when all abuses were destroyed, could the assembly 
 sutler those of the old ecclesiastical organisation ? 
 Could it sanction lazy prelates living in abundance, 
 whilst the really useful pastors had scarcely common 
 necessaries ? * 
 
 suddenly became austere theologians and ardent vindicators of 
 tlie purity and .integrity of the Roman faith. The Juunuil dc 
 Foittcnay, the Ami du Roi, .^nd the Gazette de Dnrosoir, em- 
 ployed tlieir ordinary weapons, exaggeration, falsehood, calimmy. 
 A legion of pamplilets was disseminated, in which the civil con- 
 stitution of the clergy was treated as schismatical, heretical, and 
 destructive to religion. Tlie devotees hawked these writings from 
 house to house ; they prayed, entreated, threatened, according to 
 different feelings and cliaracters. They showed to some the clergy 
 triumphant, the assembly routed, the perjured ecclesiastics de- 
 spoiled of their benefices, and shut up in houses of correction ; 
 and, on the other hand, the faithful ecclesiastics covered witli 
 Slory, loaded with riches. The pope, said they, was about to 
 hurl his thunders upon a sacrilegious assembly and upon apostate 
 priests. The people, deprived of the sacraments, would rise, 
 foreign powers would enter France, and this edifice of iniquity 
 and abominations would crumble on its own foundations." — 
 Ferriere.'!, vol. ii. p. 108. 
 
 * [" In its desire to dissolve this clerical league, the assembly 
 unwittingly strengthened it. If it had left the maleoontent pi-icsts 
 to themselves, regardless of their fumes, tliej' would have f.iiled 
 in their machinations to rake up the elements of a religious war. 
 Hut the assembly decreed tliat all ecclesiastics should swear 
 fidelity ■ to tite nation, tlie law, and the king,' and to maintain the 
 civil constitution of the clergy. The refusal to take the oath was 
 to be followed by the dismissal of the incumbents from their sees 
 or benefices. The assembly expected that the dignified clergy, 
 from self-interest, and tlie inferior clergy, from ambition, would 
 yield to this measure. The bishops, on the other hand, anticipated 
 that the whole ecclesiastical body would follow their example, 
 and that if they refused to swear, tlicy would leave the state 
 without religions worship, and the people without ghostly com- 
 fort. The result was in accordance with the ideas of neither 
 party. The majority of the bishops .^nd priests in tlie assembly 
 refused the oath, but some bishops and many priests took it. The 
 dissenting incimibcnts were deprived, and tlie electors named 
 successors to them, who received c.uionical institution from the 
 Bishops of Autun and Lida. liut the deprived ecclesiastics 
 refused to surrender their functions, and proclaimed tlieir suc- 
 cessors intruders, the siicraments administered by thein of no 
 avail, and such Christians as ventured to recognise them under 
 excommunication. Thoy remained steadfast in their dioceses, 
 issued mandates, and excited disoboilience to the laws within 
 them ; and thus a mere afTair of tcmjioral interest became first of 
 all an afTiiir of religion, and afterwards one of party. Tlicre were 
 thenceforth two orders of clergy, the constitutional and the refrac- 
 tory ; and they had each tlieir sectaries, and stigmatised each 
 ather as rebels and heretics. Keiigion became, according to the 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE EMIGRATION — DEATH OF KIRABEAU 
 — FLIGHT OF THE KING, AND HIS CAPTUIIE — DECLA- 
 RATION OF PILNITZ — TERMINATION OF THE CONSTI- 
 TUENT ASSEMBLY. 
 
 The long and final struggle between the national 
 party and the privileged order of the clergy, the prin- 
 cipal circumstances of which we have just related, 
 resulted in an universal discord. Whilst the clergy 
 stirred up the provinces of the west and the south, 
 the refugees at Turin made various demonstrations, 
 which their weakness and divisions rendered futile. 
 A conspiracy was attempted at Lyons. The arrival 
 of the princes was announced, and a profuse distri- 
 bution of largesses ; promises were even made that 
 Lyons shoukl become the capital of the kingdom, 
 instead of Paris, which had deserved so ill of the 
 court. The king was informed of these intrigues, and 
 not very sanguine of their success, perhaps not too 
 anxious for it ; since he might rationally despair of 
 controlling the victorious aristocracy, he did all he 
 could to defeat them. This conspiracy was unmasked 
 at the end of 1790, and its principal agents delivered 
 over to the tribunals. This last reverse decided the 
 emigrants to remove from Turin to Coblentz, where 
 they established themselves in the territory of the 
 Elector of Treves, to the no small diminution of his 
 authority, which they entirely usurped. We have 
 already seen that the members of the nobility in emi- 
 gration were divided into two parties ; the one (com- 
 prising old servants, feeding on bounty, and composing 
 wliat was called the court, who were not at all inclined 
 to grant a participation of infiuence to the provincial 
 nobility, even whilst they accepted their aid) regarded 
 the appeal to foreigners as the only feasible resource ; 
 the other, formed of men who relied more upon their 
 own swords, looked to a rising in the southern pro- 
 vinces, by stimulating fanaticism, as the advisable 
 course to be pursued. The first party prevailed, and 
 a move to Coblentz ensued, where, upon the northern 
 frontier, tlie march of the powers was awaited. It 
 was in vain that those who desired to combat in the 
 south had insisted upon the expediency of calling to 
 their aid Piedmont, Switzerland, and Spain, faithful 
 and disinterested allies, and of leaving in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of those powers some distin- 
 guished leader. The aristocracy which Calonne ruled 
 would not listen to them. That aristocracy had not 
 changed on quitting France ; frivolous, haughty, in- 
 capable, and prodigal, at Coblentz as at Versailles, it 
 made its vices only the more prominent amid the 
 difiiculties of exile and civil war. " You need buiglier 
 in yom- commissions," it answered to those intrei)id 
 men who ofU'red to fight in the south, and who asked 
 under what title they M-ere to serve.* Only some 
 
 passions and interests of parties, an instrument or an incum- 
 brance; and if the priests made fanatics, the revolutionists made 
 iiifi<lels. The people, whom that evil of the upper classes had not 
 previously infected, abandoned, especially in the towns, the 
 faith of tlieir fathers, on account of the imprudence of those who 
 forced them to choose between tlie revolution and their creed. 
 ' The bisho])s,' says the IMarquis do Ferritics, whose censure 
 cannot be suspected, 'refused to listen to :my arrangements; 
 and by their culpable intrigues blocked up every avenue to con- 
 cili.ation. sacrificing the Catholic religion to im insane obstinacy 
 and a disgraceful love of riches." "—Miipict, vol. i. pp. 14."(, 144.] 
 
 * M. l''roment relates the following fact in his worlc already 
 quoted : — 
 
 " Under these circumstances, the princes projected the forma- 
 tion in t)ie interior of the kingdom, a-s early as they could effect 
 it, of legions composed of all tlie faithful subjects of the king, to 
 be used until the troops of tlie line wcto entirely re-organised. 
 Desirous of being .at the head of the royalists whom I had directed 
 and commantled in 17lll» and 17!«l, I wrote to the Count d'Artois, 
 to entreat his royal highness to grant me a commission of lieu- 
 tenant-colonel, framed in such terms that every royalist who, 
 likeinc, should collect under hib orders a sufficient number of
 
 88 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 subaltern apeiits were left at Turin, who, a prey to 
 nnitual jealousies, passed their time in recriminations, 
 and thwarting every chance of success. The Pruicc 
 of Conde, who seemed to have inherited all the energy 
 of his race, was not in fevour with a certain portion 
 of the nobility ; he stationed himself near the Rhine, 
 with idl those who, like himself, were more disposed 
 to fight than intrigue. 
 
 The emigration became every day more consider- 
 able, and the roads were covered ^vith nobles, who 
 seemed to tliink thev fulfilled a sacred duty in flying 
 to take arms against their country. Women even 
 thought it necessary to testify their abhorrence of the 
 revolutitm by abandoning the soil of France. In a 
 nation where every thing is done by impulse, emigration 
 became the rage ; farewells were scarcely taken, so 
 prevalent was the idea that the journey would be 
 short, and the return speedy. The revolutionists of 
 Holland, betraved by their general and abandoned by 
 their allies, liad succumlied in a few days ; those of 
 Brabant had not held out much longer ; consequently, 
 according to the deductions of these short-sighted 
 emigrants, tlie French revolution was sure to be sub- 
 dued in one short campaign, and absolute power flou- 
 rish once more over enslaved France. 
 
 The assembly, more irritated than alarmed at their 
 presumption, liad projected measures, but they had 
 always been postponed. The king's aunts, finding 
 tlieir consciences troubled at Paris, deemed it essen- 
 tial to seek salvation under the wing of the pope. 
 They departed for Rome (19th February 1791), and 
 were stopped on the route by the municipality of 
 Arnay-le-Duc. The people immediately flocked to 
 the residence of Monsiem-, who was said to be on the 
 eve of flight. Monsieur came forward, and promised 
 not to abandon the king. The people were satisfied, 
 and the assembly entered into deliberation upon the 
 departure of the king's aunts. A long debate ensued, 
 which Menou terminated by a witty remark : " Eu- 
 rope," said he, " will be much astonished, when it 
 learns that an august assembly has consumed several 
 days in deciding whether two old women should hear 
 mass at Rome or at Paris." The committee on the 
 constitution, however, was instructed to present a 
 law as to the residence of public functionaries and as 
 to emigration. This decree, adopted after violent 
 discussions, obliged public functionaries to reside in 
 the seat of their fmictions. The king, as the highest 
 of all, was bound not to remove from the legislative 
 body during each session, and at all other times not 
 to go beyond the limits of the kingdom. In case of 
 this law being violated, the penalty upon all function- 
 aries was deprivation. A separate decree upon emi- 
 gration was left to the committee. 
 
 loyal citizens to compose a legion, might flatter himself with 
 obtaining the same rank. The Count d'Artois approved of my 
 suggestion, and listened favourably to my request; but the mem- 
 bers of the council were not of his opinion ; they thought it so 
 strange that a burgher should pretend to a military commission, 
 that one of them said to me with disdain, ' Whi/ don't you ask 
 far a hishopric ?' 1 replied to the speaker by a burst of laughter, 
 which somewhat disconcerted his gravity. However, the ques- 
 tion was again debated at .M. de Flaschlanden's ; the deliberators 
 were of opinion that these legions should be c;illed burgher legions. 
 I observed to them, 'that under this denomination they would 
 simply organise national guards; that the princes would be 
 unable to make them march wherever necessity called, because 
 they would .illege they were only bound to defend their own 
 hearths ; that it Wiis ti> be apprehended the factious might suc- 
 ceed in sowing discord between them and the troops of the line ; 
 that with empty phra.sc8 they had roused the people against the 
 depositaries of public authority ; that it would be, therefore, 
 more politic to follow their example, and to give those new regi • 
 
 inents the denomination of rui/al mililin ; that' 
 
 The Bishop of Arras, roughly interrupting me, said, ' No, no, 
 sir, it is fitting you should have bunjher in your commission ;' 
 and the Biiron de Plaschlanden, who drew it out, inserted the 
 word hurghcr."—Collfction of varioxu Documents relative to the 
 f reach Revalution, p. 62. 
 
 In the mean time, the king, unable any longer to 
 endure the constraint that was imposed upon Mm, 
 and the reductions of power that the assembly forced 
 from him, above all, having terrors upon his conscience 
 since the last decrees touching the priests, had deter- 
 mined to fly. The whole winter had been devoted 
 to preparations ; the zeal of Mirabeau was stimulated 
 — he was loaded with promises if he succeeded in plac- 
 ing the royal family at liberty, and on his own part 
 he prosecuted his plan with the greatest activity. 
 
 Lafiiyette had recently quarrelled with the Lanieths. 
 They found him too steady in his attention to the 
 court ; and as his integrity was not to be suspected, 
 like that of Miraljeau, they reproached him with want 
 of intellect, and with allowing himself to be grossly 
 played upon. The enemies of the Lamoths, on the other 
 hand, accused them of envying Lafayette's military 
 power, as they had envied Mirabeau's oratorical power. 
 The brothers coalesced, or appeared to coalesce, with 
 the friends of the Duke of Orleans ; and it was alleged 
 that they desired to obtain for one of them the com- 
 mand of the national guard. It was Charles Lameth 
 who had the ambition to aspire to it, as was said ; and 
 to this cause were attributed the perpetually recurring 
 difficulties henceforth raised in the path of Lafayette. 
 
 On the 28th February, the populace, stimulated by 
 the emissaries of the Duke of Orleans, as was alleged, 
 proceeded to the castle of Vincennes, which the muni- 
 cipality had prepared for the reception of prisoners, 
 who were growing somewhat too numerous for the 
 jails of Paris. This castle was attacked as a new 
 Bastille. Lafayette reached the scene in good time, 
 and afterwards dispersed the faubourg Saint- Antoine, 
 headed by Santerre, flocking to tliat expedition. 
 Whilst he re-established order in that part of Paris, 
 difficidties of another kind were preparing for him at 
 the Tuilcries. Upon the report of a riot, many of the 
 frequenters of the palace had resorted thither, to the 
 number of some hmidreds. They bore concealed arms, 
 such as hunting-knives and poniards. The national 
 guard, at a loss to account for this sudden concourse, 
 deemed it suspicious, and accordingly disarmed and 
 maltreated some of those men. Lafayette arrived, 
 cleared the palace, and took possession of the weapons 
 seized. Rumours of the occurrence soon spread ; it 
 was said that men bearing daggers had been found, 
 whence they were afterwards called " Knights of the 
 Dagger." They asserted, on their part, that they had 
 attended at the palace merely to defend the king's 
 person, which was threatened. They were reproached 
 with a design to carry him off; and, as usual, the 
 event Avas terminated by mutual calumnies. This 
 day disi)layed the actual position of Lafayette. It 
 was made more palpable than ever, that, placed be- 
 tween extreme parties, his fmictions were to protect 
 both the king's person and the constitution. His 
 twofold victory augmented at once his popularity, 
 his influence, and the hatred of his enemies. Mira- 
 beau, who is open to censure for instigating the sus- 
 picions of the court respecting him, represented this 
 conduct as profoundly hypocritical. Under the mask 
 of moderation and of resistance to all parties, it tended, 
 according to his version, to usurpation. In his ill 
 humour, he stigmatised the Lanieths also as traitors 
 and fools, in league with Orleans, and commanding 
 scarcely thirty partisans in the assembly. As to the 
 right side, he declared it was impossible to make any 
 thing of it, and that he relied altogetlier upon the 
 three or four hundred members who were free from 
 party ties, and ahvays prepared to decide upon the 
 impressions wliich he conveyed at the moment by his 
 reason and eloquence. 
 
 The only true points in these representations were 
 his estimate of the respective strength of parties, and 
 his opinion upon the means of directing the assembly. 
 He exercised control over it, in faot, by swaying all 
 who had no positive engagements. That very day, 
 the 28th February, he evinced, almost for the last
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 8i, 
 
 time, his empire, signalised his hatred against the 
 Lameths, and broug-ht all his formidable powers to 
 bear upon them. 
 
 The law respecting emigration was appointed for 
 discussion. Chapelier presented it, as the r>_porter of 
 the committee. That committee partook, he said, 
 the genera] indignation against those Frenchmen who 
 abandoned their country ; but after several days' con- 
 sideration, it had come to the conclusion that it was 
 impossible to frame a law upon emigration. There is 
 no doubt that many difficulties opposed the passing of 
 such a law. It was necessary to settle, first of all, whe- 
 ther any right existed for pinning men, as it were, to 
 the soil. If the safety of the country demanded such 
 a measure, it was unquestionably just and expedient ; 
 but then the motives of travellers would require to be 
 ascertained, a process involving a species of inquisi- 
 tion ; it would be also necessary to determine their 
 quality, whether of Frenchmen or foreigners, of emi- 
 grants or simple commercial wayfarers. A law upon 
 the subject was therefore very difiicult, if not alto- 
 gether impossible. Chapelier added, that the com- 
 mittee, in obedience to the assembly, had nevertheless 
 framed one, which, if it were wished, he would tlien 
 read, but he declared beforehand that it violated every 
 fundamental principle. " Read" — " Don't read" — 
 resounded from all quarters. A number of deputies 
 attempted to speak. Mirabeau demanded to be heard 
 in his turn, obtained the right, and, what was of more 
 consequence, imposed silence. He read a very elo- 
 quent letter, formerly addressed to Frederick- William, 
 in which he asserted the liberty to emigrate as one of 
 the most sacred rights of men, who, not being rooted 
 to the earth, were held in attachment to it by happi- 
 ness alone. To gratify the court, perhaps, but more 
 especially from conviction, he rejected as tyrannical 
 every measure against the freedom of locomotion. 
 Doubtless, this freedom was abused at that moment ; 
 but the assembly, relying upon its strength, had dis- 
 regarded so many outrages of the press perpetrated 
 on itself, had stood the shock of so many futile con- 
 spiracies, and had so victoriously repelled them all by 
 mere contempt, that a continuance in the same course 
 was eminently advisable. Mirabeau's opinion was 
 apx)lauded, but it did not succeed in suppressing the 
 desire to have the project of law read. ChapeUer at 
 length read it : it proposed, in case of disturbances, to 
 institute a dictatorial commission, composed of three 
 members, with power to designate by name, and at 
 their own pleasure, those who should have liberty to 
 travel without the limits of the kingdom. Upon hear- 
 ing this extravagant proposition, which bespoke at 
 once the impossibility of legislation, violent murmurs 
 arose. " Your munnurs re-assure me," exclaimed 
 Mirabeau ; " your hearts beat in unison with mine, 
 and repudiate this absurd tyranny. As for me, I hold 
 myself freed from all oath towards those who shall be 
 infamous enough to sanction a dictatorial commission." 
 — Shouts arose from the left side — " Yes," he resumed, 
 " I swear" — he was again interrupted — " That popu- 
 larity," he cried, in a voice of thunder, " for which I 
 have longed, and which I liave enjoyed as well as 
 others, is not a feeble reed : I will dig it deeply into 
 the earth; I will make it flourish on the soil of justice 
 and reason." Cheers broke forth from all sides. " I 
 swear," added the orator — " if an emigration law be 
 passed — I swear to disobey you ! " 
 
 He descended from the tribune, after electrifying 
 the assembly and awing his enemies. However, the 
 debate was still proceeded with ; one party wished an 
 adjournment, to afford time for digesting a better law, 
 whilst others demanded that a resolution of the in- 
 tention to enact none should be at once passed, in 
 order to calm the people and put an end to agitation. 
 Murmurs, shouts, ai)plauses, were mingled in strange 
 ct)nfusion. Mirabeau again claimed to be heard, and 
 seemed to insist upon it as a right. " By what name 
 is the dictatorship exercised here by M. de Mirabeau 
 
 known?" exclaimed M. Goupil. Mirabeau, without 
 listening to him, sprang up tlie tribmie. " I have not 
 granted liberty to speak," said the president : " let 
 the assembly decide." But the assembly disposed 
 itself to hear him without any formal decision upon 
 the point. " I beg the interruptors to remember," 
 said Mirabeau, " that I have combated tyranny all 
 my life, and tliat I will combat it wherever it may be 
 seated ;" and as he pronounced these words, he cast 
 his eye from right to left. Loud cheers greeted the 
 expression. He resumed : " I beg M. Goupil to re- 
 collect, that he once before egregiously erred as to a 
 certain Catiline, whose dictatorship he this day de- 
 nomices ; * I beg the assembly to reflect, that the ques- 
 tion of adjournment, apparently so simple, involves 
 others, and that, for example, it supposes a law to 
 make." Fresh murmurs interrupted him from the 
 left. " Silence to those thirty voices ! " exclaimed the 
 orator, fixing his eyes on the benches of Barnave and 
 the Lameths. " In a word," added he, " if you desire 
 it, I will also vote for tlie adjournment, but on con- 
 dition that it be decreed that from this moment to 
 the expiration of the adjournment there shall be no 
 seditious movement." Unanimous applause followed 
 these words. However, the adjournment was carried, 
 but by so small a majority that the result was con- 
 tested and a second division demanded. 
 
 In this debate, Mirabeau drew more than ever upon 
 the audaciousness of his character ; never, perhaps, 
 had he so imperiously overawed the assembly. But 
 his end was approaching, and these were his final 
 triumphs. Presentiments of death mingled with his 
 vast projects, and occasionally prevented their deve- 
 lopement. But his conscience was satisfied ; the public 
 esteem was united with his own, and assured him that 
 if he had not yet done enough for the good of the state, 
 he had at all events done enough for his own glory. 
 With his countenance deadly pale, and his eyes deeply 
 sunk, his appearance in the tribune was greatly altered, 
 and he was often seized with sudden fainting-fits. 
 Pleasure and labour, both pushed to excess, and the 
 exhausting emotions of the tribune, had prematurely 
 worn out his powerfid frame. Baths, containing subli- 
 mate of mercury in solution, had produced that greenish 
 tint which was attributed to poison. The court was 
 in consternation, all parties in amazement, and, some 
 time before his death, its cause was a subject of general 
 conversation. Upon a last occasion, he spoke at five 
 different intervals, left the hall exhausted, and never 
 re-appeared. The deathbed received him, and gave 
 him up only for the Pantheon. He had insisted with 
 Cabanis, his friend, that no physicians should be called; 
 but his injunction was disobeyed, and when they came 
 they found death upon him ; it had already seized his 
 feet. The head was affected last, as if nature were 
 desirous to leave his genius brUliant to the final mo- 
 ment. An immense crowd flocked around his dwelling, 
 and blocked up all the avenues, awaiting the issue in 
 profound silence. The court sent messenger after 
 messenger ; the bulletins of his condition were passed 
 from mouth to mouth, and disseminated the grief, at 
 eacli advance of the malady, into every quarter of the 
 city. He himself, surrounded by his friends, expressed 
 regret for his unaccomplished labours, and some feel- 
 ing of pride for those he had achieved. " Sustain this 
 head," said he to his servant, " the strongest in France !" 
 The proofs of popular concern greatly moved him ; 
 and the visit of Barnave, his enemy, who presented 
 himself at his bedside in the name of the Jacobins, 
 caused in him an agreeable emotion. He still bestowed 
 some thoughts on public affiiirs. The assembly was 
 shortly to discuss the subject of testamentary dispo- 
 sitions : ho beckoned to M. Talleyrand, and put in his 
 hands a speech he had prepared. " It will be amus- 
 ing," said he to him, " to hear a man s]ieak against 
 * M. Goupil, on a previous occasion attacking Mirabeau, had 
 exclaimed with the members of the riglit biile, " Catiline is at 
 our gates !"
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 testaments wlio is no more, and who has ah-eady made 
 liis own." The court had desired tluit he should make 
 a will, promising to discharge all the legacies. Recur- 
 ring to till' state of Europe, and divining the projects 
 of England : " That Pitt," said he, " is the minister 
 for preparations : he governs by tlireats ; I would give 
 him some trouble if I lived !" The priest of his parish 
 coming *'orward to offer his services, he thanked liim 
 with cordiality, and told him, with a smile, that he 
 would have willingly accepted them if his superior 
 ecclesiastic, the Bishop of Autun, were not in the 
 house. He ordered iiis windows to be opened : " My 
 friend," said he to Cabauis, " I will die to-day ; there 
 remains nothing more bnt to be wrapped in perfumes, 
 crowned witii flowers, and surrounded with music, in 
 order to glide peaceably into the etcnial sleep." Acute 
 pains interrupted fronl time to time his resigned and 
 touching phrases. " You promised," said he to his 
 friends, " to spare me from useless anguish." With 
 these words, he asked earnestly for opium. As they 
 refused it him, he demanded it with liis accustomed 
 violence. To satisfy him, they practised deception, 
 and presente<l him a cup, with the assurance tliat it 
 contained opium. He calmly grasped it, swallowed 
 tlie draught iie deemed mortal, and seemed satisfied. 
 An instant afterwards he expired. His death occurred 
 on the 2d April 1791. The news was immediately 
 convej'ed to tlie court, the assembly, the whole city. 
 All parties had jilaced hopes upon him, and everyone, 
 except the envious, was overwhelmed with sorrow. 
 The assembly intermitted its labours ; a general mourn- 
 ing was ordered, and a magnificent funeral was pre- 
 pared. Those charged with the ceremonial begged 
 the presence of some dejiutics : " We will aU go!" they 
 exclaimed. The church of St Genevieve was con- 
 stitutpd a Pantheon, with this inscription, whlck is 
 effaced at the moiuent I record these facts : 
 
 TO GREAT MEN, A GRATEFUL COUNTRY.* 
 
 Mirabcau was the first de])osited there by the side 
 of Descartes. On the 4th April, the funeral obsequies 
 were celebrated. All the authorities, the department, 
 the municipalities, the popular clubs, the assembly, 
 and the armj', accompanied the procession. To this 
 simple orator were accorded more honours than the 
 pompons burials at St Denis were ever wont to re- 
 ceive. Thus the scene closed upon this extraordinary 
 man, who, after having daringly attacked and subdued 
 the men of an effete system, had the surprising bold- 
 ness to turn liis efforts against the new men who had 
 assisted him to conquer, to arrest their course by his 
 voice, and make them respect it even when employed 
 against themselves; upon a man, in short, who per- 
 formed his duty under the impidses of reason and 
 genius, but not for a handful of gold cast to his pas- 
 sions, and who enjoyed the singular felicity, when all 
 popularities finish by popular disgust, to see his yield 
 only to death. But would he have infused resignatiim 
 into the mind of the court, moderation into the hearts 
 of the and)iti()us? Would he have said to the popular 
 tribunes, struggling for supremacy in their turn: 
 " Remain in your ohsritre rillei/s f Wimld he have 
 said to Dauton, tliat other Mirabeau of the populace : 
 " Conjinc yourself tn your spction, ami tispire no higher?" 
 We camiot tell : but at the moment of his death, all 
 uncertain interests were centred in his bauds, and 
 d.'pendent ujxin him. His departure was long re- 
 gretted. In the confusion of discord, all eyes were 
 turned to the place he was wont to occupy, anil seemed 
 to invoke liim who used to end it with a victorious 
 phrase. " Mirabeau is no longer here," cried Maury 
 one day. a,s he ascended the tribune ; " there is none 
 to prevent me frnui speaking." 
 
 The death of Mirabeau ])aralys"d the energies of the 
 court. New events occurred to stinmlate its resolu- 
 
 • The revolution of IRTil Ii.ts re-established this inscription, nnd 
 resiorcd tlie mduimient to the destination decreed by the National 
 As.'.-nibly. 
 
 tion to fly. On the 18th April, the king desired to 
 pay SainNCloud a visit. A rumour was spread that, 
 not wishing to employ a constitutional priest for the 
 Easter devotions, he had determined to remove from 
 Paris during passion week ; another report asserted 
 that it was his intention to fly. The people forthwith 
 assemliled in crowds, and seized the horses' heads. 
 Lafayette hastened forward, and entreated the king to 
 remain in his carriage, assmung him he would open a 
 passage. The king, however, inuuediately alighted, 
 and refused to allow any attempt to proceed ; it was 
 in accordance with his old poUcy of appearing under 
 constraint. Pursuant to the advice of his ministers, 
 he repaired to the assembly, in order to complain of 
 the outrage he had just encountered. The assembly 
 received him with its accustomed marks of respect, 
 and promised to take all such measures as depended 
 upon it to assure his perfect freedom. Louis XVL 
 left the haU amidst cheers from aU sides except from 
 the right. On the 23d April, upon advice tendered 
 him, he wrote, by means of 31. de Montmoriu, a letter 
 to the foreign ambassadors, in which he denied the 
 intentions attributed to him out of France, declared to 
 the powers of Europe that he had sworn fidelity to 
 the constitution, which oath he was determined to 
 keep, and denounced as his enemies aU who should 
 insinuate to the contrary. The terms of this letter 
 were designedly exaggerated, in order that it might 
 appear extorted by violence, which in fact the king 
 himself avowed to the envoy of Leopold. This mo- 
 narch was then travelling in Italy, and at that iden- 
 tical moment was staying in Mantua. Calonne was 
 engaged in negotiations with him. An envoy, M. 
 Alexandre de Durfort, came fi'om Mantua, accredited 
 to the king and queen, to ascertain their dispositions. 
 He first interrogated them upon the letter written to 
 the ambassadors, and they replied, that from the lan- 
 guage none could doubt it had been extorted ; he after- 
 wards questioned them upon their hopes, and they 
 answered that tlicy no longer entertained any since 
 the death of Mirabeau ; he finally inquired as to their 
 dispositions towards the Count d'Artois, and they 
 assiu'ed him they were most friendly. 
 
 To understand the reason of these questions, it 
 ought to be mentioned that the Baron de Breteuil 
 was the declared enemy of Calonne, which enmity 
 had not subsided ih emigration ; and that he, being 
 accredited to the court of Vienna, with full powers 
 from Ivouis XVI.,* counteracted all the operations of 
 tlie princes. He assured Leopold that the king was 
 not anxious to be saved by the emigrants, because he 
 feared their future demands, and that tlie queen had 
 personally quarrelled with the Count d'Artois. He 
 always proposed, as a means of saving the throne, the 
 direct contrary to what Calonne projected, and omitted 
 no expedient to destroy the effect of the latter's more 
 recent negotiation. The Count de Durfort returned 
 to Blantua; and, on the 20th May 1791, I>eopold pro- 
 mised to march 35,000 men into Flanders, and 15,000 
 into Alsace. He declared that an equal number of 
 Swiss would proceed towards Lyons, as many Pied- 
 montese into Dauphiny, and that Spain would assemble 
 20,000 men. The emperor undertook for the co-ope- 
 ration of Prussia and the neutrality of England. A 
 protestation, drawn up in the name of the house of 
 Bourbon, was to be signed by the King of Naples, the 
 King of Spain, the Infant of Parma, and the expa- 
 triated princes. Until the promulgation of that docu- 
 ment, the most profound secrecy was imposed. It 
 was also recommended to Louis XVI. not to think of 
 removing, although he had testified a strong desire to 
 do so ; whilst Breteuil, on the contrary, advised the 
 king to depart from Paris. It is quite possible that 
 on both sides the counsel was given in good faith ; 
 but it must be at the same time observed, that each 
 gave such advice as suited best his own interests. 
 
 * .Sec on this subject r.crtr.ind de Mclcville.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fll 
 
 Breteuil, who wished to nullify Calonne's negotiation 
 at Mantua, urged the departiu'e ; and Calonne, whose 
 reign would have ceased if Louis XVI. had stationed 
 himself on the fi-ontier, conveyed suggestions induc- 
 ing him to remain. However the case may be, the 
 king resolved upon leaving ; and he often said with 
 some som-ness of temper, " It was Breteuil who would 
 have it."* He therefore wrote to Bouille that he was 
 determined to defer his flight no longer. 
 
 * See Beitrand de Moleville. [Bertrand's Annals are, in all 
 matters aft'eoting the king and queen personally, very admirable 
 authority. He himself w.is much trusted by the king, was one of 
 liis ministers, was intimate at this time with all who formed the 
 court, and afterwards in exile with M. de Calonne and others, 
 who were prominently concerned in these important negotiations. 
 Bertrand's details as to the mission of Durfort are extremely 
 curious, and are faithfully embodied in M. Thiers's text. Their 
 length, however, forbids us to insert them fully here; but the 
 questions propounded by M. de Durfort, and the answers given 
 to them, present so singular a record, as to render them eminently 
 worthy of being transcribed. M. Bertrand says—" The following 
 is an exact copy of those questions and answers ; the ajiswers ai'e 
 supposed to be adch-essed to the Comit d'Artois : — 
 
 1st Questwt. Do your majesties confide in the intentions and 
 tn the zeal of the Count d'Artois ? Is there any ground for tlie 
 anxiety he has been made to suffer as to your sentiments in 
 respect to him, and as to your intentions to put yourselves into 
 the hands of the factious in the assembly, rather than owe yoiu- 
 safety, and the re-establishment of your authority, to the efforts 
 and success of the princes, in conjunction with the nobility of 
 the kingdom ? 
 
 Answer {dictated by the queen). Vou are deceived. Your situa- 
 tion is that which occupies their majesties most. How can it be 
 believed, that with the exalted spirit you know they possess, they 
 prefer remaining under the yoke of infamous villains, to being 
 succoured by their near relations and faithful servants ? 
 
 2d Question. What do your majesties t'.iink of M. de Lafayette ? 
 
 Answer. We consider him as a fanatical, weak, factious man, 
 ID whom we c:m never have the least confidence. 
 
 3d Question. What do you think of JI. de Montniorin ? 
 
 Answer. His will is good, but he has no power. 
 
 ith Question. Has the Archbishop of Sens any influence on the 
 determinations of your majesties ? 
 
 Answer. None. He is generally abhorred and despised by all 
 parties. We concur in this public opinion. He has, besides, 
 deceived us. 
 
 5th Question. Why did the king go to the assembly, after being 
 prevented from going to St Cloud ? 
 
 Answer. He was forced by his mmisters, on whom he could not 
 rely. 
 
 6th Question. In what state is the mind of the people ? Have 
 your majesties any persons in the assembly on whom you can 
 rely? 
 
 Answer. The mind of the people is detestable ; they are for no 
 king. We have no per!>on in the assembly. The only deputy 
 who made overtures to us is dead. 
 
 7th Question. How is the letter addressed to all the ambassadors 
 to be justified? 
 
 Answer. The date proves the necessity of it. The king did not 
 sign it ; and he made no alteration in it, that it might appear 
 as monstrous as it really was ; it was drawn up by the members 
 of the assembly, who thought this step indispensably necessiu.)-, 
 and who expected great success from it. 
 
 Wi Question. Have j'om' majesties a desire or intention of leaving 
 Paris ? 
 
 Answer. The greatest desire ; but the means of effecting it 
 appear to us ahuost impossible. In case the opportunity shoiUd 
 offer, we wish to know beforehand in what place we should be 
 most secure — by Valenciennes or JVIetz. We are very anxious on 
 this head." 
 
 The Coimt de Durfort subsequently brought a plan, dictated 
 and corrected by the Emperor Leopold, in which, after specif\'ing 
 the assistance to be afforded by hiiuself and the other foreign 
 powers, it is stated : 
 
 " Though hitherto it had been wished that tlieir majesties 
 might themselves procure tlieir liberty, the present situation of 
 affairs makes it necessary to entreat them earnestly to drop the 
 idea. This is the emperor's opinion. He depends solely on this 
 plan of conduct for the success of tJie measures which he has 
 adopted, and particularly requests that every other may bo given 
 uj). What might happen to their majesties, if in tlieir flinht they 
 BboiUd not be able to escape a barbarous vigiUmce, makes him 
 
 His intention was not to leave the kingdom, but to 
 retire to Montmedy, where he could, in" case of ne- 
 cessity, Ml back on Luxumbourg, and receive foreign 
 aid. The Chalons route, by Clermont and Varennes, 
 was preferred, in spite of Bouillc's counsels. All the 
 preparations were in readiness for departure on the 
 20th June. The general assembled those troops upon 
 which he placed the firmest rehance ; formed a camp 
 at Montmedy, amassed stores of forage, and accounted 
 for all these dispositions by movements which he 
 alleged to be making on the frontier. The queen had 
 taken upon herself the charge of the progress from 
 Paris to Chalons ; and from thf.t town to Montmedy 
 was under the care of Bouille. Small detachments of 
 cavalry were to be stationed upon various points, under 
 pretext of escorting a treasure, but in reality to re- 
 ceive the king on his passage. Bouille himself pro- 
 posed to advance some distance from Montmedy. The 
 queen had secured a secret door for the purpose of 
 escaping out of tlie palace. The royal family was 
 to travel under an assumed name, and with a false 
 passport. Every thing was ready for tlie 20th ; but 
 some apprehension caused the journey to be delayed 
 till the following day, a delay which was fatal to the 
 unfortunate family. M. de Lafayette was in com- 
 plete ignorance of the journey, and M. de Mont- 
 morin himself, notwithstanding the confidence the 
 court reposed in him, was left in absolute ignorance 
 likewise ; no one was intrusted with the secret of the 
 project but the persons indispensable to its execution. 
 Some rumours of flight were nevertheless current in 
 Paris, either from the plan having transpired to some 
 partial extent, or from their originating in one of 
 those alarms so common at the time. Howsoever it 
 may have been, the committee of inquiry had been 
 apprised of it, and the vigilance of the national guard 
 was stimulated in consequence. 
 
 On the 20th June, at midnight, the king, the queen, 
 Madame Elizabeth, and Madame de Tourzel, gover- 
 ness of the childi-en of France, disguised themselves, 
 and successively issued from the palace. Madame de 
 Tourzel, with the children, proceeded to the Petit 
 Carrousel, and got into a carriage driven by M. de 
 Fersen, a young foreign nobleman, disguised as a 
 coachman. The king soon joined them; but the 
 queen, who had left the palace with a life-guardsman, 
 caused them the most lively sohcitude. Neither she 
 nor her guide was acquainted with the streets of Paris ; 
 she mistook the way, and did not find the Petit Car- 
 rousel for a whole hour ; on the road, she encountered 
 the carriage of M. de Lafayette, whose servants were 
 walking with torches. She concealed herself under 
 the gateway of the Louvre, and, saved from that 
 danger, she re;iched the carriage, where she was so 
 impatiently expected. After being thus united, the 
 whole family proceeded forward, and arrived, after a 
 long circuit, and a second mistake in the rotite, at the 
 gate St Martin, where a coach drawn by six horses 
 awaited them, into which they all transferred theni- 
 
 shudder with horror. His imperial majesty thinks tliat their 
 majesties' surest course is the movement of tlie armies of the allied 
 powers, preceded by tlireatening manifestos."—" Tlie plan being 
 read," proceeds Bertraud, "their majesties, without entering 
 upon a minute discussion of the different articles of it, only 
 obsei-ved, that with respect to the parliaments, after the declara- 
 tions contiiined in their last resolutions, they coidd not, and 
 ought not, to be more th.in judges. The king did not deliver his 
 sentiments conctniing the last article of the plan ; but the queen 
 apjieared very much dissatisfied with it, and said with warmth, 
 ' We ought to attempt every thing in order to leave Paris ; but to 
 go only to the frontiers, for a king ought never to leave his king- 
 dom. Confess,' added she, addressing herself to Count de Dur- 
 fort, 'that my brother was hurt that we employed the Baron 
 de Breteuil. We did it because he was the only person acquainted 
 with the com't of Vienna, where he resided ; and because he « as 
 known to the Prince de Kaimitz, who has so long held the reins 
 there.' Several other questions relative to the Count d'Artois ter- 
 minated this conversation. "—Iifrtra)id'«/l)i««?i, vol. iv. pp. 58-7?.]
 
 9-2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 selres. Madame de Tourzel, under the name of Ma- 
 dame de Korff, was to pass for a mother travelling 
 with her chihlren ; the king was to be supposed her 
 valet-de-chambre ; three body-guardsmen in disguise 
 were to precede the carriage as couriers, or to follow 
 it as domestics. They at length departed, accom- 
 panied bv the earnest hopes of M. de Fersen, who re- 
 entered Paris to take the road to Brussels. At the 
 same time, Monsieur directed his course towards 
 Flanders, with his wife, pursuing a different route, in 
 order to avoid exciting suspicions, and causing a 
 failure of horses for relays. 
 
 The king and his fiimily travelled all night without 
 anv alarm being given at Paris. M de Fersen repaired 
 to "the nmnicipality, to observe if any thing were 
 known ; but at eight in the morning all were still in 
 profound ignorance. However, the news soon tran- 
 spired, and circulated with rapidity. Lafayette sum- 
 moned his aides-de-camp around him, saying to them 
 that he feared there was no hope of tlieir overtaking 
 the fugitives, but that some effort must be made in the 
 emergency ; he took upon himself the responsibility of 
 tlie orders he issued, and in drawing up those orders, 
 acted upon the idea that tlie royal family had been 
 carried off by the enemies of the public welfiii'e. This 
 respectful supposition was admitted by the assembly, 
 and adopted throughout by all tlie authorities. At 
 the moment, the "tumultuous populace reproached 
 Lafayette with having favoured the flight of the king, 
 and at a later date the aristocratic party accused him 
 of having allowed the king to fly, Ln order afterwards 
 to arrest him, and by so futile an attempt to ruin him. 
 But if Lafayette had been disposed to wink at Louis 
 XVL's flight, would he have dispatched, without any 
 orders from the assembly, two aides-de-camp in pur- 
 suit ? And if, as the aristocrats alleged, he only per- 
 mitted him to escape in order to re-capture him, would 
 he have given a whole night's start to the carriage ? 
 The people were speedily undeceived, and Lafayette 
 was again established in their previous good opmion. 
 
 The assembly met at nine in the morning. Its 
 appearance on that momentous occasion was as im- 
 posing as during the first days of the revolution. The 
 received idea was that Louis X\T. had been carried 
 off. The greatest calmness, the most perfect union, 
 reigned during the whole sitting. The measm-es 
 spontaneously adopted by Lafayette were approved. 
 The populace had stopped his two aides-de-camp at 
 t)ie barriers; the assembly, every wliere obeyed, 
 caused the gates to be opened for them. One of them, 
 young Romeuf, took with him the decree confirming 
 the orders already given by the general, and enjoining 
 all public functionaries " to arrest, by all possible 
 means, the persons implicated in the said abduction, 
 and to prevent the journey being continued." Fol- 
 lowing tlie wish and indications of the people around 
 him, Romeuf took the route of Chalons, which was 
 tlie true one, and which the marks of a carriage with 
 six horses pointed out as such. The assembly called 
 the ministers to its bar, and decreed tliat tliey should 
 receive orders from none but itself. On departing, 
 Louis XVI. had left orders for the minister of justice 
 to send him the state seal. The assembly decided that 
 the seal should be retained, and appended to its own 
 decrees. At the same time, it passed a resolution that 
 the frontiers should be put in a state of defence, and 
 directed the minister for foreign affairs to assure the 
 powers that the dispositions of the French nation with 
 regard to them were in no wise altered. 
 
 M. de Laporte, intondant of the civil list, was then 
 heard. He liad received various communications from 
 the king, amongst which were a note, which he be- 
 oought the assembly not to open, and a memorial 
 containing the motives of his departure. Tlie assem- 
 bly, anxious to respect all rights, restored, without 
 ojx-ning, the note which M. de Laporte was indisposed 
 to render public, and ordered the memorial to be read. 
 It was listened to witli tlie greatest tranquillity, and 
 
 produced a very slight impression. The king com- 
 plained therein of his curtailments of power with a 
 marked want of dignity, and seemed to feel as acutely 
 the reduction of his civil list to thirty millions, as the 
 loss of aU his prerogatives. The grievances of the 
 monarch were heard in silence, his weakness was 
 pitied, and the assembly passed to the affairs before 
 it. 
 
 Few persons in the National Assembly were desirous 
 of the king's arrest. The aristocrats saw in his flight 
 the oldest of their hopes realised, and flattered them- 
 selves with an immediate civil war. The extreme 
 members of the popular party, already beginning to 
 grow weary of a king, perceived in his absence an 
 opportunity for dispensing with him, and formed the 
 idea, as weU as the hope, of a republic. AU the 
 moderate party, at tliis moment the governing party 
 in tlie assembly, wished that the king might reach 
 Montmedy in safety ; and, reh^ing upon his equity, it 
 entertained little doubt that an accommodation would 
 from thence become more easy between the tlirone and 
 the nation. Less apprehension prevailed now than 
 formerly at the prospect of the monarch tlireatening 
 tlie constitution from the midst of an army. The 
 people alone, upon whom terror at this event had been 
 sedulously inculcated, were still affected by it when 
 the assembly had shaken off its influence, and they 
 put up many ardent vows for the arrest of the royal 
 family. Such was the state of opinion and of things 
 at Paris. 
 
 The roj-al carriage, departing in the night of the 
 20th and 21st, li;id happily traversed a considerable 
 part of the route, and had reached Chalons with- 
 out impcdiniciit alioiit five in the afternoon of the 
 21st. At that town, the king, who was indiscreet 
 enough to put his head several times out of the win- 
 dow, was recognised ; the person who made this dis- 
 covery was eager to give it immediate proclamation, 
 but he was prevented by the mayor, who was a steady 
 royalist. When the roj-al familj'^ arrived at Pont-de- 
 Sommeville, the detachments which ought to have 
 received it there were not visible : those detachments 
 had been in waiting for several hours, but tlie ferment 
 of the people, who were alarmed at this military dis- 
 play, had obliged them to retire. However, the king 
 proceeded to Saiute-Menehould. There, still persist- 
 ing m thrusting his head out of the carriage, he was 
 perceived by Drouet, the postmaster's son, and a 
 zealous revolutionist. This yoiuig man, not ha\ing 
 time to procure the arrest of the carriage at Sainte- 
 Menehould, instantly started for Varennes. A loyal 
 quartermaster, who had observed his eagerness, and 
 suspected his design, liastened in pursuit to stop him, 
 but was unable to overtake him. Drouet used such 
 diligence, that he reached Varennes before the unfor- 
 tunate family. He immediately aroused the munici- 
 pality, and caused the necessary measures for the 
 arrest to be taken without delay. Varennes is built 
 on the banks of a narrow but deep stream. A detach- 
 ment of hussars was placed there on guard; but its 
 officer, seeing no prospect of the money arriving for 
 which he had been sent to watch, had permitted the 
 soldiers to retire into quarters. The carriage at length 
 arrived, and passed the bridge. So soon as it came 
 under an arch beneath wliich it could move but slowly, 
 Drouet, seconded by another individual, seized the 
 horses' heads : " Your passport !" he exclaimed, and 
 presenting a musket, he threatened to fire if the tra- 
 vellers persisted in advancing. They obeyed tlie call, 
 and tlie passport was delivered. Drouet took posses- 
 sion of it, and saying that the attorney of the commune 
 was the proper person to examine it, the royal family 
 was conducted to the house of that personage, whose 
 name was Sausse. This official, after inspecting the 
 passport, pretended to find it regular, and, with many 
 polite expressions, begged the king to wait. He had 
 to wait in trutli a pretty long time. When Sausse 
 was at length assured that a sufficient number ol
 
 V//
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 93 
 
 national guards had been collected, he threw off all 
 dissimulation, and declared to the king that he was 
 known and under arrest. A dispute ensued : Louis 
 alleged he was not the person they supposed ; and the 
 contest growing somewhat too warm — " Since you 
 acknowledge him for your king," exclaimed the queen, 
 losing all patience, " speak to him with the respect 
 you owe him." 
 
 The king, finding all denial useless, ceased to dis- 
 semble any longer. The little room was full of people ; 
 he spoke to them, and expressed himself with more 
 energy than was usual with him. He made protesta- 
 tion of his good intentions, assuring tliem tliat his only 
 object in going to Montmedy was to learn with more 
 freedom the wishes of the people, by removing from 
 the thraldom of Paris ; in conclusion, he urged them to 
 allow him to continue his progress, and even to con- 
 duct him to tlie end of his journey. The unfortu- 
 nate prince, in the deepest emotion, embraced Sausse, 
 and asked at his hands the safety of his consort and 
 his chilth-en : the queen joined her entreaties to the 
 king's, and taking the dauphin in her arms, conjured 
 Sausse to save them. The attorney was touched, but 
 he resisted the impulse, and begged them to return to 
 Paris in order to prevent a civil war. The king, on 
 the contrary, dismayed at the iilea of returning, was 
 urgent in his desire to proceed towards Montmedy. 
 In the mean time, Messieurs de Damas and de Goque- 
 las had arrived with the detachments stationed at 
 various points. The royal family looked upon itself 
 as delivered; but the hussars proved that the con- 
 fidence reposed in them was misplaced. The ofiicers 
 drew them up, and annomiced to them that the king 
 and his family were arrested, and that it was tlieir duty 
 to rescue them ; but they answered that they were 
 for the nation. At this jiuicture, tlie national guards, 
 summoned from all the surrounding districts, pom-ed 
 in and filled Varennes. The whole night was passed 
 in this state. At six in the morning, young Romeuf 
 arrived, bearing the decree of tlie assembly : he found 
 the carriage harnessed with six horses, and turned 
 towards Paris. He ascended to tlie room occupied by 
 the captives, and delivered the decree. Exclamations 
 from the whole family arose against M. Lafayette, 
 that he should thus provoke their arrest. The queen 
 seemed even astonished, perhaps sorry, that he had not 
 perished at the hands of the people. Romeuf observed 
 that his general and he had c.nly done their duty in 
 pursuing tliem, but they had hoped not to overtake 
 them. The queen snatched hold of tlie decree, tln-ew it 
 upon her children's bed, and then cauglit it off again, 
 saying it would defile them. " Madam," said Romeuf, 
 who was nmch devoted to her, " would you ratlier 
 prefer that some other than I should witness these 
 passionate emotions ?" The queen immediately re- 
 sumed all her self-possession and dignity. At tlie same 
 moment, the arrival of various detachments, placed in 
 the vicinity by Bouille, was annomiced. But the muni- 
 cipality ordered the instant departure; and the royal 
 family was obliged to seat itself in the carriage, and 
 retake the route to Paris — that fatal and so dreaded 
 route. 
 
 Bouille, having learnt what had occurred at Va- 
 rennes in the middle of the night, had immediately 
 called a regiment to horse, and set off with sliouts of 
 " Long live the king!" This brave and faithful gene- 
 ral jiroceeded in great disquietude, at a rajjid pace, 
 and covered nine leagues in four hours. Ho reached 
 Varennes, where he found several detaclmients as- 
 sembled; but the king had left an hour and a half 
 before. The town itself was barricaded, and like- 
 wise defended by certain excellent precautions, for the 
 bridge had been broken down, and the river was not 
 fordable. TUus, to effect the king's rescue, liouillc 
 must first of all have made a vigorous assault to carry 
 the barricades, then have crossed the river, and after 
 so great a loss of time have succeeded in overtaking 
 the carriage, which was already an hour and a half 
 
 in advance. These obstacles rendered any effort im- 
 possible ; and nothing less was needed than such an 
 impossibility to stop a man so devoted and so enter- 
 prising as Bouille. He consequently retreated to his 
 quarters, with a heart torn by deep regret and sor- 
 row. 
 
 Wlien the arrest of the kmg was known at Paris, 
 he was imagined to have been beyond the reach of 
 pursuit. The people experienced an indescribable 
 joy at the intelligence. The assembly deputed three 
 commissioners, taken from the tliree sections of the 
 left side, to accompany the monarch, and reconduct 
 him to Paris. Those commissioners were Barnave, 
 Latour-Maubourg, and Petion. Tliey repaired to 
 Chalons ; and from the moment of their junction with 
 the royal family, all orders emanated from them alone. 
 Madame de Tourzel removed into another carriage, 
 and followed, in company with Latour-Maubourg. 
 Barnave and Petion got into the royal carriage. 
 Latour-Maubourg, a man of distinguished merit, was 
 a friend of Lafayette, and, like him, equally attaclied 
 to the king and the constitution. In yielding to his 
 two colleagues the honour of sitting with the royal 
 family, he v.'as actuated by a wish to interest them 
 in behalf of fallen greatness. Barnave seated himself 
 iii the back of the carriage, between the king and the 
 queen; Petion in the front, between the Princess 
 Elizabeth and the princess-royal. The young dauphin 
 rested alternately upon the knees of his relatives. 
 How striking an evidence of the rapidity with which 
 events had flowed ! A young advocate, twenty and 
 some years old, remarkaljle only for his talents ; 
 another, distinguished by his acquirements, but espe- 
 cially by the rigorous sternness of his principles, were 
 sitting alongside a prince, shortly ago the most abso- 
 lute in Europe, and commanding aU his motions ! 
 
 The journey was performed very slowly, because 
 the carriage followed the march of the national giiards. 
 Eight daj's were consumed between Varennes and 
 Paris. The weather was extremely sultry, and a 
 scorching dust, raised by the crowd, suffocated the 
 wretched travellers. A t first a dead silence prevailed 
 as the coach moved tediously along, and the queen 
 took little pains to disguise her annoyance. The king 
 at length began a conversation with Barnave. Their 
 discourse referred to various topics, and ultimately to 
 the flight of the monarch. Both were astonished at 
 the discovery of each other's qualities. The queen 
 ■was greatly surprised at the superior intellect and 
 delicate politeness of the young Barnave ; she shortly 
 threw back her veil, and took part in the conversa- 
 tion. Barnave, on his part, was touched with the 
 goodness of the king, and the gracefid dignity of the 
 queen. Petion displayed infinite surliness ; he evinced 
 and obtained much less consideration. On concluding 
 tlieir journey, Barnave had become attached to this 
 unfortunate family ; and the queen, charmed with the 
 merit and good sense of the young tribune, had formed 
 for him a high esteem."' Consequently, in the rela- 
 
 * The particulars of the return from Varennes, as related to 
 Mudaiuc Canipaji by the queen herself, are interestiiiij enough to 
 ho recorded. 
 
 " On the very day of my arrival, the queen c;illcd nie into hei 
 cahir.et to tell me she woiilil require my assistance in the com- 
 munications she had .established with Barnave, Duport, and 
 
 Ali'xander Lameth. She informed me that M. J was her 
 
 aKctit with these renmants of the constitutional party, whose 
 [{i)')d intentions wore luifortunatoly so taniily evinced ; and s;iid 
 that Barnave w:us u man calculated to command esteem. 1 was 
 astonished at lieju'inp; the name of Barnave pronounced with so 
 much pood feeling. At the time I loft Paris, many persons spoke 
 of him only «itli hoi-ror. I made this remark to the queen ; she 
 was not surprised at it, but told me he was much changed ; 
 that this ynuiig man, of high accomplishments and noble scnti- 
 nu'iits, was of that class of men distinguished for education, and 
 only misled by an ambition which springs from real merit. ' A 
 feeling of i)ride, which I c;m scarcely blame in a young man of 
 the i)lcbcian order,' .saiii the queen, with reference to Barnave, 
 ' has led him to applaud .ill that might smooth the road to honourb
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tions she afterwards had with the constitutional de- 
 puties, she always placed the most confidence ui Bar- 
 nave. Parties would often forgive each other, if they 
 could come to mutuid and frank explanations. 
 
 and glon,- for the class in which he was born: if power should 
 ever retuVn to us, the pardon of Uamave is WTitten beforeliand in 
 our hearts.' Slie added tliat it was far diiTercnt with regard to 
 tlie nobl'js wlio ha<l t;ikon part in tlie revohition-nien who 
 obtained aU favours, and often to the detriment of those in 
 r,n inferior prude, amongst whom were found talents of the 
 liiKhest order ; in sliort, tluit the nobles, bom to be tlie rampart 
 of the monarehy, were too culpable in betraying its cause to 
 deser\-e forgiveness. The queen astonished me more and more by 
 the warmth with which slie justified the favourable opinion she 
 had conceived of Bamave. She then told me that his conduct on 
 the journey had been singularly meritorious, whilst the republi- 
 can harshness of Petion had been disgusting ; that he ate and 
 drank in the coach with excessive vulgarity, tluowing cliicken- 
 bones out of the window with such unconcern as to risk hitting 
 the king's face ; raising his glass, without sayirg a word, when 
 the Princess T-lizabeth p lured him out wine, to indicate that he 
 had sufficient : that this offensive behaviour was designed, inas- 
 much as the man had received a liberal education ; and that 
 Burnave had been greatly shocked at it. M'hcn pressed by the 
 queen to take some refreshment : ' Madame,' answered Bamave, 
 ' the deputies of the National Assembly, in so solemn a conjunc- 
 ture, ought to fatigue your majesties with their mission only, and 
 not with their wants.' In fine, his respectful demeanour, his 
 delicate attentions, and his whole discourse, had gained him not 
 only the queen's regard, but that of the Princess Elizabeth. 
 
 The king had begun to speak with Petion on the situation of 
 France, and on the motives of his conduct, which were founded 
 on the necessity of securing to the executive power a strength 
 indispensable to its action for the advantage even of the con- 
 stitutional act, since France could not be a republic. ' Not yet, 
 I own,' answered Petion ; ' because the French are not ripe enough 
 for it." This audacious and unfeeling reply imposed silence on 
 the king, which he never broke untU he arrived at Paris. Petion 
 upon one occasion held the dauphin on his knees, and amused 
 liimself by passing his fingers through the beautiful fair hair of 
 the interesting child: speaking with energy, he pulled his locks 
 wiih such force as to make the boy cry out. ' Give me my son,' 
 eaid the (piecn ; ' he is accustomed to treatment— to respect— tiiat 
 little inclines him to such familiarity.' 
 
 The Chevalier de Dampierre liad been killed near the king's car- 
 riage on leaving Varenncs. A poor village priest, some leagues from 
 the spot where the murder had been committed, had the impru- 
 dence to approach with the view of speaking to the king. Tlie 
 cannibals who siirroimded tlie carriage flew upon him : ' Tigers !' 
 cried Bamave to them, ' have you then ceased to be French- 
 men ? From a nation of brave men have you become a nation of 
 assassins?' Tliese words alone saved the curate, already on the 
 groimd, from immediate death. Bamave, in uttering them, had 
 thrown himself almost out of the window, and the Princess 
 Elizabeth, moved by his noble transport, held him by the coat. 
 The queen s.iid, in speaking of this circumstance, that in moments 
 of the greatest crises, odd contrasts always peculiarly attracted 
 her mind ; and that, upon this occasion, the pious Elizabeth sup- 
 porting Bamave by the coat-tails, had struck hei' as an occur- 
 rence in the highest degree surprising. 
 
 This deputy had cxijcricnced anotlier species of astonishment. 
 The discourses of Bladame Ehzabeth upon the situation of France, 
 her mild and persuasive eloquence, the noble simplicity with 
 which slie addressed Barnave, witliout departing in the least from 
 her dignity, all appeared to hiin divine in that amiable princess ; 
 and his heart, disposed to noble sentunents, if it liad not been led 
 astray by error, Wiis subdued into a most heart-felt admiration. 
 The conduct of the two deputies taught the queen how total was 
 the separation between the republican and the constitutional 
 parties. In tlie inns at wliich they alighted, she had some con- 
 fidential conversjitions with Barnave. Ho spoke much of the 
 faults of the royalists in the revolution, and said that he had often 
 seen the interests of the court so feebly and so ill defended, that 
 he had several times been tempted to offer her a courageous 
 champion, who knew the spirit of the age and tliat of tlie nation. 
 The queen asked him what means he would have advised her to 
 employ. ' Popularity, madam.' ' And liow could I liave any ?' 
 retorted the queen ; ' it wsus wrested from me.' ' All ! madam,' 
 replied Barnave, ' it was much more easy for you to regain it 
 tliiui for me to win it.' This observation might furnish matter 
 for commentary; but I restrict myself to relating this curious 
 conversation."— .Vi.*Hi««rf(//".UiirfaHi« Vampan, vol. ii. p. l.Mi, elscq. 
 
 The reception intended for the royal family at Paris 
 liad been expressly arranged. A notice was circulated 
 and affixed every where to this effect: — " Whoever 
 applauds the king ivill be beaten; ivhoever insults him will 
 be hanged." The order thus intimated was punctually 
 obej'ed ; and neither cheers nor hootings were heard. 
 The carriage took a circuit in order to avoid travers- 
 ing Paris. It was made to enter by the Champs- 
 Elysces, which lead directly to the palace. A prodi- 
 gious crowd received it in silence, and with covered 
 heads. Lafayette, attended by a numerous guard, 
 took all possible precautions to prevent disturbance. 
 The three guardsmen, who had assisted the flight, were 
 on the box-seat of the carriage, exposed to the view 
 and the rage of the multitude ; but they sustained no 
 injury. The instant the carriage reached the palace, it 
 was surrounded by national guards. The royal family 
 precipitately descended, and walked between a double 
 row of national guards, drawn up as a protection. 
 The queen, who was the last to alight, was almost 
 carried in the arms of Messieurs de NoaiUes and 
 d' Aiguillon, enemies of the court, but generous friends 
 of misfortune. When she saw them approach, she 
 was at first doubtfid of tlieir intentions ; but she gave 
 herself up to them, and gained the palace portals in 
 full security. 
 
 Such was that famous journey, the fatal termina- 
 tion of which can be justly attributed to none of those 
 who had arranged it. An accident caused it to mis- 
 carry; an accident might have equally caused it to 
 succeed. If, for instance, Drouet had been overtaken, 
 and stopped by the man who pursued him, the car- 
 riage had experienced no obstacle. The king, per- 
 haps, was deficient in energy when he was recognised. 
 However that may be, the journey itself is a subject 
 of reproach to no person — neither to those who strenu- 
 ously advised it, nor to those who attempted its 
 execution ; it was an expedient residting from that 
 fatality which pursues weakness in the midst of revo- 
 lutionary crises. 
 
 The effect of the flight to Varennes was to destroy 
 aU respect for the king, to accustom the minds of men 
 to his absence, and to stimulate the idea of a republic. 
 Previous to the morning of his arrival, the assembly 
 had provided for the emergency of the case by a de- 
 cree.* Louis XVI. was suspended from his functions, 
 and a guard assigned for his person, for that of the 
 queen, and for tliat of the daupliin. This guard was 
 made responsible for their safety. Three deputies, 
 D' Andre, Troncliet, and Duport, were deputed to re- 
 ceive the declarations of the king and queen. The 
 greatest iricety was observed in the expressions, for 
 never did that asseml)ly betray a Avant of attention 
 to delicacy: but the fact itself was not to be disgmsed 
 — the king was provisionally dethroned. 
 
 The responsibility imposed upon the national guards 
 rendered them severe and sometimes harassing in their 
 duty at the palace. Sentinels were constantly sta- 
 tioned at the doors of the royal apartments, and they 
 kept the objects of their solicitude always in view. 
 The king, wishing one day to ascertain whether he 
 were really a prisoner, i)resented himself at a door ; 
 the sentinel opposed his progress : " Do you know 
 who I am?" said Louis XVI. to him. "Yes, sire," 
 answered the sentinel. There only remained to the 
 king the privilege of walking in the Tuileries, early, 
 before the garden was thrown open to the public. 
 
 Barnave and the Lameths now did what they had 
 so bitterly upbraided IMirabeau with doing — they lent 
 their aid to the throne, and came to an understanding 
 with tlie court. It is true they received no money ; 
 but it was much less the price of the alliance than 
 the alliance itself with which they had reproached 
 Mirabeau ; and after having been formerly so severe, 
 they now came under tlie law common to all popular 
 leaders, which drives them to successively ally thom- 
 
 * Decree of Saturday the 25th .7 une.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FREXCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 y5 
 
 selves with power, in proportion as they touch upon 
 it. Nevertheless, nothing was more praiseworthy, in 
 the state of aflairs, than the service atlbrded the king 
 by Baruave and the Lai:u>ths ; and never did they 
 evince more address, courage, and talent. Barnave 
 dictated the king's answer to the commissioners named 
 by the assembly. In that document, Louis XVI. 
 grounded his flight upon the desire to learn more 
 accurately the state of public opinion, which he alleged 
 to have closely studied during his journey ; and he 
 demonstrated by a series of facts that it was never his 
 intention to leave France. As to the protests contained 
 in his memorial delivered to the assembly, he said, 
 with much reason, that they bore, not upon the fun- 
 damental principles of the constitution, but upon 
 the means of execution wliich were permitted him. 
 "Now," he added, " that the general desire was made 
 manifest to him, he did not hesitate to submit to it, 
 and to make all the sacriiices necessary for the gene- 
 ral welfare."* 
 
 * The following is the answer itself, the production of B;u-nave, 
 and a fine model of argument, tact, and dignity : — 
 
 " I find, gentlemen," said Louis XVI. to the commissioners, 
 " an examination is not involved in the objects of the mission 
 confided to you ; but I am anxious to meet the wishes of the 
 assembly. I shall never be afraid of declaring publicly the motives 
 of ray conduct. 
 
 The outrages and threats, then, which were heaped on my 
 family and myself, on the 18th April, were the causes of my 
 departure from Paris. In various publications attempts were made 
 to excite violence against my person and my f;miily. I thought 
 that neither safety nor decency could be expected by me if I 
 remained any longer in this citj'. It was never my intention to 
 quit the kingdom. For such an object I had no phui concerted, 
 either with foreign powers, or with my relatives, or with any of 
 the emigrant Frenchmen. I can allege, as a proof of my inten- 
 tions, that apartments were prepared for my reception at Mout- 
 medy. I had selected that town, because, being fortified, my 
 family would be there in greater security, and because, being 
 near the frontier, I would have been in a better position to 
 oppose every species of invasion, if any had been attempted, of 
 France. 
 
 One of my principal motives in quitting Paris was to destroy 
 the argument foimded on my not being free, which might furnish 
 an occasion for troubles. If I had designed to leave the kingdom, 
 I would not have published my memorial the very day of my 
 departure ; I would have waited until I was beyond the frontiers : 
 but I always retained the desire of returning to Paris. It is in 
 this sense that the last phrase of my memorial is to be under- 
 stood, in which it is said : ' French-jicn, and you Parisians espe- 
 cially, what pleasure shall I not experience in being again amongst 
 you !' 
 
 I had in my can-iage only three thousand livres in gold, and 
 fifty-six thousand livres in assignats. I apprised Monsieur of my 
 intended departure but a very short time previously. Monsieur 
 has proceeded into a foreign country only because it was agreed 
 between us that we should not pursue the same route— he was to 
 return into France and join me. 
 
 The passport was necessary to facilitate my journey. It was 
 made out for a foreign country only because passports are not 
 given at the foreign office for the interior of the kingdom. The 
 road to Frankfort was, in fact, not followed. 
 
 I have not made any protest except in the memorial which I 
 left before my departure. That protest does not refer, as the con- 
 text proves, to the fundamental princijiles of the constitution, 
 but to the fomi of the sanctions; that is to say, to the little 
 liberty I seemed to enjoy, and to the fact that, forasmuch as the 
 decrees had not been presented altogether, I could not judge of 
 the entire constitution. The principal objection adduced in the 
 memorial refers to tlie difficulties of administration aixl execu- 
 tion. I have ascertained, in the course of my journey, that i)ul)lie 
 opinion has decided in favour of tlic constitution ; I think I could 
 not have fully learned this public opinion in Paris; but, from the 
 ideas that I h.ave personally gathered during my journey, I am 
 convinced how necessary it is to the maintenance of the consti- 
 tution to give strength to the powers established for the preserva- 
 tion of public order. The moment I ascertained the general will, 
 I did not hesitate, nor have I ever hesitated, to m.ake the sacrifice 
 of all tliat personally concerned me. The happiness of the people 
 luis over been the object of my wishes. I will willingly bury in 
 oblivion all the annoyances I have suffered, if I can secure peace 
 and prosperity to the nation." 
 
 Bouille, with the view of drawing on his head the 
 whole rage of the assembly, addressed to it a letter, 
 which might be called insane, if the generous motive 
 which prompted it were not considered. He avowed 
 himself the sole instigator of the king's journey, v.diilst 
 he had in fact opposed it ; and he declared, in the 
 name of the allied sovereigns, that Paris should answer 
 for the safety of the royal family, and that the least 
 injury perpetrated on it should be avenged m a signal 
 manner. He added, what he knew to be inconsistent 
 with met, that the military resources of France were 
 utterly exhaiisted ; furthermore, that he was ac- 
 quainted with the waj's of invasion, and woidd him- 
 self conduct the foreign armies into the bosom of his 
 country. The assembly lent itself to this generous 
 bravado, and threw the whole odium upon Bouille, 
 who had nothing to fear, as he had already passed to 
 the enemy. 
 
 The court of Spain, apprehensive that the slightest 
 hostile demonstration might exasperate the French, 
 and expose the royal family to greater dangers, stop- 
 ped an enterprise prepared on the southern frontier, 
 and which the Knights of Malta were to assist with 
 two frigates. It subsequently declared to the French 
 government that its friendly dispositions Avere un- 
 changed. The northern powers conducted themselves 
 with less reserve : excited by the emigrants, they 
 assiuned a threatening tone. Envoys were dispatched 
 by the king to Brussels and Co))lentz, whose mission 
 was to attempt an understanding with the emigrants, 
 to communicate to them the friendly spirit of the 
 assembly, and the hope that had been generally con- 
 ceived of the possibility of an advantageous arrange- 
 ment. But no soon.or had they arrived, than they 
 were outrageously insulted, and they immediately re- 
 turned to Paris. The emigrants levied troops in the 
 king's name, and thus compelled him to give a formal 
 disavowal. They pretended that Monsieur, then with 
 them, was regent of the kingdom ; and that the king, 
 being a prisoner, had no longer a will of his own ; and 
 that what he stated was merely the forced expression 
 of his oppressors' suggestions. The peace Ijetween 
 Catherine and the Turks, which was concluded in tlte 
 month of August, tended to raise their joy to stiU 
 more absurd heights ; and they concluded that all the 
 powers of Europe were at their disposition. When 
 they reflected on the dismantling of the fortified 
 places, and the disorganisation of the armj-, abandoned 
 by all its officers, they could not doubt that an inva- 
 sion must be speedily made, and nmst succeed. And 
 yet, nearly two years were gone since they liad qiiitted 
 France ; and in spite of their daily sanguine hopes 
 they had not yet returned as conquerors, according 
 to their flattering anticipations. The powers seemed 
 to promise much : but Pitt was waiting events ; Leo- 
 pold, exhausted by war, and discontented with the 
 emigrants, was disposed to peace ; the King of Prussia, 
 certainly, held out hopes, but he had little interest in 
 gratifying them ; Gustavns was eager to lead an ex- 
 pedition against Franco, but was at an inconvenient 
 distance ; and Catherine, who might have assisted 
 him, though delivered from the Turks, had Poland 
 to keep in sul)jection. ]?csides, in ord>er to effect sudi 
 a coalition, so many interests required to be brouglit 
 into harmonj^ that it needed a sanguine temperament 
 to anticipate success in such a scheme. 
 
 The declaration of Pilnitz ought especially to have 
 opened the eyes of the emigrants as to the zeal of flic 
 sovereigns.* That declaration, jiublislied conjointly 
 by the King of Prussia and the Emperor Leopold, 
 iiiqjorted tliat the situation of the King of France 
 was a matter of conunon interest to all monarchs, and 
 that they Avere imperiously called upon to exert their 
 united powers to assure Louis XVL the means of es- 
 tablishing a government conformable to the interests 
 of the throne and the people. Upon that principle, 
 the King of Prussia and the emperor expressed their 
 * The declaration of Pilnitz is dated the 27th August 17»1.
 
 96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 readiness to co-operate with other princes to effect 
 that desirable object. In tlie mean time, their forces 
 were to be prepared for offensive operations when the 
 emergency arrived. It was afterwards known that 
 this declaration contained certain secret articles, to 
 the effect that Austria should oppose no obstacle to 
 the pretensions of Prussia to a part of Poland. Such 
 an inducement was needed to draw Prussia into an 
 abandonment of her ancient pruiciples, and into a 
 lea',nie with Austria against France. ^Vhat could be 
 expected from a zcid which it was necessary to sti- 
 nmlate by such bribes ? And if it were so reserved 
 and cautious in the expressions, was it not sure to 
 be eciually so in the acts whereby it should manifest 
 itself? France, it is true, was disarmed, but a whole 
 nation on the alert is soon in arms ; and, as the cele- 
 brated Carnot said somewhat later, " What is there 
 impossible to twenty-five millions of men ?" True it 
 was, the oflScers were retiring ; but they for the most 
 part were beardless youths, promoted by favour, utterly 
 without experience, and objects of hatred and con- 
 tempt to the soldiers. Besides, the spirit imparted to 
 all minds was soon to produce officers and generals. 
 But, at the same time, it must be confessed that, with- 
 out possessing the presumption so rife at Coblentz, it 
 was not unreasonable to doubt that the resistance to 
 be made by France to invasion would be so powerful 
 as it subsequently proved. 
 
 The assembly, in the interim, sent commissioners 
 to the frontiers,' and ordered great preparations. All 
 the national guards demanded to be led against the 
 enemy; several generals offered their services, and, 
 amongst others, Dumouriez, who subsequently saved 
 France in the defiles of the Argonne. 
 
 Whilst directing its serious consideration to the 
 externid safety of the state, the assembly did not in- 
 termit its labours in perfecting the constitutional act, 
 nor the less hasten to restore to the king his func- 
 tions, and, if it might be possible, some of his prero- 
 gatives. 
 
 All the subdivisions of the left side, except the men 
 who had recently taken the new name of Republicans, 
 ha 1 merged into one party of moderation. Barnave 
 and Malouet walked hand in hand, and worked in 
 companionship. Petion, Robespierre, Buzot, and some 
 others, had adopted the republic as their motto ; but 
 they were few in number. The right side continued 
 its impru<lcnt course, and, instead of joining the mode- 
 rate majority, exacerbated by iirotests. That majo- 
 rity, however, was the predominant power in the 
 assembly. Its enemies, who would have so fiercely 
 accused it if it had dethroned the king, have never- 
 theless reproached it for having brought him back to 
 Paris and replaced him on a tottering throne. But 
 what could it do? To displace the king for a republic 
 was an exi>erinient too full of hazard. To change the 
 dynasty was worse than useless, for if a king were to 
 Ik.', the one they had was as good as any other : the 
 Duke of Orleans was certainly unworthy to be pre- 
 ferred to Louis XVI. In either case, to dispossess the 
 actual monarch, was to contemn recognised rights, 
 and disjjatch to the emigration a chief most precious 
 for its purposes, since he would have borne it sanctions 
 wliich it had not On the other hand, to restore his 
 authority to Louis XVI., to confer on him as great an 
 extent of prerogative as was expedient, was to fulfil 
 the constitutional intent, and remove all pretext for 
 civil war; in a word, it was to i):Tform its duty, for 
 the duty of the iissembly, according to the engage- 
 ments by which it had become Ixjund, was to establish 
 a free, but monarchical, government. 
 
 The assemlily did not hesitate, but it had great 
 obstacles to overcome. The new word Republic, had 
 quickened the minds of men, already somewhat 
 sickened of the old phrases. Monarchy and Constitu- 
 tion. The absence and suspension of the king had, 
 as wo have previously stated, shown that he was not 
 indispensable. The newspapers and the clubs soon 
 
 laid aside the respect with which his person had been 
 hitherto treated. His departure, which, according to 
 tlie terms of the decree upon the residence of func- 
 tionaries, rendered forfeiture exigible, supplied the 
 argument that he was actually dethroned. Still, ac- 
 cording to that decree, withdrawal beyond the kmg- 
 dom and contumacy to the summons of the legislative 
 bodj' were necessary for absolute forfeiture ; but such 
 distinctions were little heeded by enthusiastic minds ; 
 and they unhesitatingly asserted that the king was 
 an offender against the law, and had incurred its 
 penalty. The Jacobins and Cordeliers agitated the 
 question with extreme violence, and refused to under- 
 stand how, after getting rid of the king, the nation 
 should again and volmitarily impose him on itself. 
 If the Duke of Orleans had formed expectations, now 
 was the time for their realisation. But he coxild not 
 avoid perceiving what little influence his name pos- 
 sessed, and how little in accordance -vvith the state of 
 opinion was a new sovereign at all, howsoever popu- 
 lar he might be. Some pamplileteers in his interest, 
 probably without his sanction, endeavoured, like An- 
 tony towards Caesar, to put the crown upon his head : 
 they proposed to give him the regency ; but he felt 
 himself obliged to repudiate the proposition by a 
 declaration which was as little regarded as his per- 
 son. " No more kings ! " was the general cry at the 
 Jacobins', at the Cordeliers', in public places, and in 
 the journals. 
 
 Numerous addresses were published. Amongst the 
 rest was one affixed to all the walls of Paris, and even 
 to those of the assembly. It bore the signature of 
 Achille Duchatelet, a young colonel. It was addressed 
 to the French ; it reminded them of the tranquillity 
 they had enjoyed during the absence of the monarch, 
 whence it drew the inference that it was more advan- 
 tageous than his presence; adding that his desertion 
 was an abdication, and that the nation and Louis 
 XVI. were reUeved from all obligation towards each 
 other; finallj', that history was full of the crimes of 
 kings, and that it behoved them to avoid giving 
 themselves one again. 
 
 This address, attributed to young Achille Duch.nte- 
 let, was the production of Thomas Paine, an English- 
 man, and a principal actor in the American revolution. 
 It was denounced to the assembly, which, after warm 
 debates, deemed it expedient to pass to the order of 
 the day, and treat with indifference seditious appeals 
 and attacks, as it had always done. 
 
 The commissioners charged to report upon the 
 affair of "\^arennes, at length presented the result of 
 their deliberations, on the 16th July. The journey, 
 they said, involved nothing of a criminal nature, and, 
 had it done so, the king was inviolable. Nor could 
 forfeiture be judged to have resulted, since the king 
 had not remained absent for a sufficient length of 
 time, and had not resisted the summons of the legis- 
 lative body. 
 
 Robespierre, Petion, and Buzot, reiterated all the 
 usual arguments against inviolability ; Dui)ort, Bar- 
 nave, and Salles, replied to them; and it was ulti- 
 mately decreed that the king could not be brought 
 mider Jiccusation for the offence of flight. Two articles 
 were merely added to the decree of inviolability. So 
 soon as this decision was pronounced, Robespierre 
 arose, and entered his solemn protest in the name of 
 humanity 
 
 On the evening which preceded this decision, there 
 was a great tumult at the Jacobins. A petition was 
 drawn up, addressed to the assembly, calling upon it 
 to declare the king deposed, as a traitor faithless to 
 his oaths, and to provide for his substitution by all 
 constitutional means. It was resolved that this peti- 
 tion should be carried the next day to the Champ de 
 Mars, and laid on the altar of the country for signatures. 
 Accordingly, it was borne in the morning to the place 
 agreed upon; and the crowd of the seditious was 
 swelled by that of the curious, who desired to witness
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the ceremony. By this time the decree was already 
 passed, aiid therefore no occasion existed for any peti- 
 tion. Lafayette arrived, broke do^vn the barricades 
 already raised, had execrations and threats hm-led 
 abundantly at his head, and, finally, a shot fired at 
 him, which, although discharged with deliberate aim, 
 passed harmlesslj' by. The municipal ofiicers having 
 come to his aid, ultimately prevailed on the populace 
 to disperse. The national guards were placed so as 
 to observe their retreat, and for a moment hopes were 
 entertained they would quietly separate ; but the 
 tumult shortly recommenced. Two invalids standing, 
 it is unknown for what pm-pose, under the altar of 
 the country, were massacred, and thereupon the dis- 
 order became universal and boundless. The assembly 
 summoned the municipality, and charged it to watch 
 over public order. Bailly repaired to the Champ de 
 Mars, and iinfolded the red flag, in token of martial 
 law. The employment of force, whatever may have 
 been alleged, was just and indispensable. New laws 
 were desired, or tliey were not : if they were desired, 
 it was necessary they should be executed ; that some 
 fixed and settled order should prevail; that insurrec- 
 tion should not be perpetual, and that the determina- 
 tions of the assembly sliould not be open to modifica- 
 tion by the ple()is-sci*a* of the multitude. Bailly was, 
 therefore, justified in adoptingall means to secure the 
 execution of the laws. He advanced with that calm 
 courage which he had always evinced, received with- 
 out injury some shots, and attempted in vain, amidst 
 the din and uproar, to make the necessary summonses. 
 Lafayette at first ordered the national guards to fire 
 in the air ; at this menace the crowd abandoned the 
 altar, but soon rallied again. Thus reduced to extre- 
 mity, he issued his orders to fire on the multitude. 
 The first discharge laid low certain of the most sedi- 
 tious. Their number was exaggerated. Some have 
 reduced it to thirty, others have raised it to four 
 hundred, and the furious to some thousands. The 
 latter were believed at the time, and a general terror 
 was infused. So severe an example silenced the agi- 
 tators for a period, t 
 
 As usual, all parties were accused of having excited 
 this movement ; and it is probable that several had 
 co-operated in provoking it, f«jr it was convenient for 
 several. The king, the majority of the assembly, the 
 national guard, the municipal and departmental autho- 
 rities, were aU in concert to establish the constitutional 
 order of things ; and they had to comljat democracy 
 within and aristocracy without. The assembly and the 
 national guards composed that middle class, wealthy, 
 enlightened, and prudent, who desired order and the 
 supremacy of law ; and under existing circumstances, 
 they were naturally disposed to ally closely with tlie 
 king, who, on his part, appeared cordially resigned to 
 a limited authority. But if it suited them to stop at 
 the point already reached, it was far otherwise with 
 the aristocracy, which rested its hopes on discord and 
 confusion ; and with the populace, which was eager to 
 gain more and rise higher. Barnave, as formerly 
 Mirabeau, was the orator of that well-informed and 
 moderate burgher class, and Lafayette its military 
 chief. Danton and Camille-Desmoulins were the 
 orators, and Santerre the general, of that multitude, 
 anxious for suprenuicy in its turn. A few ardent or 
 fanatical spirits were its representatives, as well in 
 the assembly as in the new administrative bodies, 
 and accelerated the era of its reign by tiieir declama- 
 tions. 
 
 The massacre of the Champ de Mars was the occa- 
 sion of nmch obloquy to Lafayette and Bailly. But 
 both, placing their duty on the ol)servati()n of the law, 
 and ready to sacrifice their popularity and lives in its 
 enforcement, felt neither remorse nor fear for what the}- 
 had done. The energy which they manifested awed 
 
 * [Laws Tiifide by the people alone, without tlie senate, in tlio 
 Roman rcpulilic, were tlius callcil.] 
 t This event occurred on the evening of Simday the 17th July. 
 
 the factious. The most prominent sought to shelter 
 themselves from the punishment they deemed in store 
 for them. Robespierre, who had hitherto supported 
 the most violent propositions, trembled in his obscure 
 dwelling ; and, notwithstanding his inviola])ility as a 
 deputy, besought an asylum from all his friends. Thus 
 the example was not without eifect ; and, for a time, 
 all the turbulent spirits were kept in check by their 
 fears. 
 
 The assembly adopted at this period a determination 
 which has been since greatly censured, but which was 
 not so disastrous in its consequences as has been 
 thought. It decreed that none of its members should 
 be re-elected. Robespierre was the author of the pro- 
 position ; and it was accomited for in him by the envy 
 he felt towards colleagues amongst whom he had never 
 distinguished himself. It was at least natural that 
 he shoidd bear them no good will, since he had been 
 always embroiled with them ; and in his feelings on the 
 question, there might lie at once conviction, envy, and 
 malice. The assembly, accused as it was of a desire 
 to perpetuate its power, and, furthermore, out of 
 favour with the multitude for its moderation, hastened 
 to repel all attacks by a disinterestedness perhaps too 
 exaggerated, by deciding that its members should be 
 excluded from the succeeding legislatnre. The new 
 assembly was thus deprived of men whose enthusiasm 
 was somewhat sobered, and whose legislative science 
 had ripened in an experience of three years. But, 
 when we treat of the causes of the subsequent revolu- 
 tions, we shall be better enabled to judge what weight 
 should be attached to that measure so often reprobated. 
 
 The time was at length arrived for concluding the 
 constitutional labours, and closing in tranquillity so 
 stormy a career. Certain members of the left side 
 entertained the project of agreeing to a compromise, 
 in order to remodel certain parts of the constitution. 
 It had been resolved that the whole should be read over, 
 so that it might be judged of in the aggregate, and its 
 various articles made to harmonise ; this was called 
 the revision, and afterwards, in the days of republican 
 fervour, was regarded as a culpable proceeding. Bar- 
 nave and the Lameths had agreed with Malouet to 
 modify certain articles framed in a hostile spirit to the 
 royal prerogative, and to what was stj-led the stability 
 of the throne. It was even alleged that they designed 
 to re-establish the two chambers. It was arranged 
 that, immediately after the perusal was finished, Ma- 
 louet sliould make his attack, and that Barnave should 
 afterwards reply to him with vehemence, the better 
 to mask his real views ; but that, whilst defending 
 the major part of the articles, he should give up some 
 as palpably dangerous, and condemned bj-^ the test of 
 experience. Sucli were the stipulated conditions of 
 this compact, when the ridicndous and irritating pro- 
 tests of the right side were made, in which it resolved 
 to abstain from giving any future votes. Thenceforth 
 all accommodation -was out of the question : the left 
 side woiild listen to no further overtures ; and when 
 the attempt was made, according to agreement, the 
 shouts which rose from all parts prevented Malouet 
 and his friends from proceeding.* The constitution 
 
 * rSouilld had an intimate friend in the Count do Gouvernet ; 
 and although tlieir opinions were far from comiilctcly coinciding, 
 tliey had a great esteem for cacli other. IJouilkS who pays littk; 
 respect to the constitutionalists, expresses himself in the most 
 Iionourable terms when he speaks of M. do Gouvernet, and seems 
 to place entire confidence in him. To give an idea of what was 
 passing in the assembly at this period, he cites the following 
 letter in his memoirs, \vTitten to himself by the Count de Gou- 
 vernet, on the 26th August 1701 : — 
 
 "I had given you hopes which I have now lost. That fatal 
 constitution, which was intended to be revised, ameliorated, will 
 not be so. It will remain as it is, a code of anarchy, a source of 
 caUamity; and onr unfortunate destiny wills it that at the 
 moment the democrats themselves become sensible of a portion 
 of their errors, it is the aristocrats who, by refusing their aid, 
 oppose the reparation. To enable you to understand the matter, 
 and to justify myself in your eyes for having' possibly given you
 
 98 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 was therefore concluded with some haste, and pre- 
 sented to the kinu' for liis acceptance. From that 
 moment liis hherty was restored, or, if the pliraso be 
 more suitable, the strict guard on the palace was re- 
 laxed, and he hadjwwer to go where he chose to study 
 the constitutional act, and accept it with free will. 
 But what course was open to Louis X VL ? To refuse 
 the constitution was to abdicate in favour of a republic. 
 The most sure, even ui)on his own system, was to 
 accept, and trust to time for those restitutions of power 
 which he conceived due to him. Accordingly, after 
 the lapse of some days, he declared that the constitu- 
 tion was accepted by him (IStli September). An ex- 
 traordinary joy was evinced wlien this intelligence 
 was pronmlgated, as if any red obstacle had been 
 feared on the part of the king, or as if his sanction 
 had been some unhoped-for concession. He repaired 
 
 false hopes, I must recur to things somewhat st,ale, and tell j-ou 
 all that has passeil, since I have to-iliiy a safe opi)ortunity for 
 writing to you. 
 
 On tlie day and the uinrrow of the king's departure, the two 
 sides of tlie assonibly remained in observation upon their respec- 
 tive movements. The i)opuhir p:u-ty was in gi'cat consternation ; 
 the royalist piirty in gieut uneasiness. The least indiscretion niiglit 
 arouse the fury of the people. AU the members of the right side 
 kept silence, and tliose of the left side intrusted to their leaders 
 the projmsition of measures which they called 'of sufdy,' and 
 which were opposed by no one. Tlie second day after the depar- 
 ture, the .Tacobins became threatening, and the constitutionalists 
 modenite. They were tlien, and stUl are, much more numerous 
 than the Jacobins. They spoke of acconnnodation, and of a 
 deputation to the king. Two of them proposed a conference to 
 >I. .Malouet, which was to have been opened the nextday; but in 
 the mean time the king's arrest became known, and the idea was 
 dropped. However, their sentiments liavingbcen thus manifested, 
 they saw themselves more than ever separated from the furious. 
 The return of IJarnave ; the respect he had evinced towards 
 the king and queen, whilst the ferocious Petion insulted their 
 misfortunes; the gratitude their majesties testified to Barnave, 
 cluuiged in some sort the heart of that yoimg man, hitherto steeled 
 to pity. He is, as you laiow, tlie most culpable,* and one of the 
 most influential in his party. He had, therefore, rallied around 
 Iiini four-tifths of the 1 -ft side, not only to save the king from the 
 fury of the Jacobins, but to restore him a portion of his authority, 
 and likewise to give him means for defending himself in future, 
 whilst adhering to the constitutional line of conduct. Of this 
 latter piirt of Bamavc's plan, only Lameth and Duport were 
 apprised, for tlie constitutional mass still inspired sufficient dis- 
 trust to render them uncertain of the majority of the a-ssembly, 
 except they could reckon on the right side ; and they thouglit 
 they might reasonably rely on it, when, in the revision of their 
 constitution, they should grunt more latitude to the royal autho- 
 rity. 
 
 Such was the state of things when I vTote to you. But fully 
 convinced as I was of the infatuation and continual blunders of 
 the aristocrats, I confess I did not foresee to what lengths tiiey 
 could push their absurdity. 
 
 When it was known that the king had been stopped at Varennes, 
 the right side, in secret coimcil, resolved to vote no more, nor to 
 take any further part in the deliberations or debates of the 
 assembly. JIalouet was opposed to th.at determination. lie 
 represented to them that so long as the session lasted, and they 
 assisted in its labours, they were imder an obligation to give 
 active opposition to measures dangerous to public order, and 
 inimical to the fundamental principles of the monarchy. All his 
 arginnents were thrown away: they persisted in their resolution, 
 and secretly drew up a protest against all that ha<l been done. 
 M.ilouct stated that he would continue to protest in the tribune, 
 and ostensibly to use all his efforts to prevent the mischief. He 
 told me that he was un.iblc to bring over to his opinion more than 
 thirty-five or forty members of the right side, and tliat he w:is 
 very apprehensive this injudicious measure of the more zealous 
 royalists wnnld be productive of the most fatal consequences. 
 
 The general fit-litig of the assembly was at that time so favour- 
 able to the king, that, whilst he was on the roiul to Paris, Thouret 
 having nscemled the tribune to propose the manner in wliich the 
 king should be giuirdcd (I wius at the sittingi, a profound silence 
 reigned in the liall imd in the galleries. Ahuost lUl the n\embers. 
 
 • [llic text h.ns been followed, but it is probable the word 
 ihould be f<i/xiWc.] 
 
 to the assembly, where he was hailed with the enthu- 
 siasm of better days. Lafayette, who never omitted 
 an opportunity of healing the inevitable maladies of 
 political troubles, proposed a general anmesty for all 
 oliences relative to the revolution. That amnesty 
 was voted amidst shouts of joy, and the prisons were 
 instantly thrown open. Finally, on the 30th Septem- 
 lier, Thouret, the last president, declared that the 
 Constituent Assembly had terminated its sittings. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 The Constituent Assembly had closed its long and 
 hiborious career; and, notwithstanding its heroic 
 
 even of the left side, bore an expression of dismay on hearing 
 that infamous decree read ; but not an individual spoko a word. 
 The president was about to put it to the vote, when Malouet 
 suddenly rose, and with an air of dignity, exclaimed, ' AVhat are 
 you about to do, gentlemen ? After having arrested the king, it 
 is proiiosed that you constitute him a prisoner by decree ! Where 
 does such a step lead you ? Have you well considered it ? You 
 would order the imprisonment of the king!' 'No, no!" ex- 
 claimed several members of the left side, rising tumultuously. 
 ' We do not mean that the king shonld he a prifoncr ;' and the 
 decree would have been rejected almost unanunously, had not 
 Thouret hastened to add — 
 
 ' The member has misconceived the terms and the object of the 
 deeisc. We have no more than himself an intention to imprison 
 the king ; it is for his safety and for that of the royal family that 
 we propose these moasuren. ' And it was only after this explanation 
 that the decree passed ; althoii.'jh the imprisonment has become 
 real, and is shamelessly continued to this very day. 
 
 To the end of July the constitutionalists, who suspected tlie 
 intended protest of the right side, without being quite certain of 
 it, slowly prosecuted their plan of revision. They were more dis- 
 trustful tlian ever both of Jacobins and aristocrats. Blahiuet 
 appeared in their committee of revision. He spoke at first as to 
 men who were perfectly aware of tlie dangers and faults of their 
 constitution ; but he found them little disposed to great refoniia- 
 tions. They were afraid of losing their popularity. Target and 
 Duport argued against him in defence of their work. The next 
 day he met Chapelier and Barnave, who disdainfully refused to 
 answer his animadversions, but ultimately acceded to a plan of 
 attack, all the risk of which was to be incurred by him. lie 
 proposed to discuss, in the sitting of tlie 8th, all the principal 
 articles of the constitutional act, and to demonstrate their vices. 
 ' You, gentlemen,' said he, ' answer me ; discharge upon me the 
 full force of your indignation ; defend your work successfully on 
 tlie least dangerous articles, even on the majority of the points 
 against which my censure shall be directed ; and as to tliose 
 which I designate as anti-monarchical, as impeding the action of 
 government, say that neither the assembly nor the committee 
 needed my observations in tliat respect ; that j'ou meant, in fact, 
 to propose their amendment, and immediately move accordingly. 
 Believe me, that such a course is possibly our only chance of 
 maintaining the monarchy, and of making time available to give 
 it all the props which are indispensable to it.' It was thus agreed ; 
 but the jirotest of the right siile having transpired, and its doggwl 
 detennination to vote no longer, depriving the constitutionalists 
 of all hope of succeeding in their project of revision, which the 
 Jacobins thwarted with all their power, they renounced it. 
 Malouet, who had not regular comminiications with them, never- 
 theless made his attack. He solemnly repudiated the constitu- 
 tional act as anti-monarchical, and in several particulars imprac- 
 ticable in execution. The developement of his reasons wa« 
 beginning to make considerable impression, when Chapelier, 
 who had given up all idea of the agreement being observed, at 
 once broke through it with cries of blasplieniy, interrupting the 
 sjieaker, and demanding that he be made to descend frr)m the 
 tribune ; wliich was ordered. Tlie following day, lie confessed 
 he had been wrong ; but he said that he and his friends had given 
 up all hope, the moment they were assured that no assistance 
 was to be anticipated from the right side. 
 
 It was necessary that I should give you this long history, to 
 prevent you losing all confidence in my prognostics. They are at 
 the present moment most mournful ; the evil is extreme ; and to 
 remedy it, I see but one resource, cither at home or abroad, anrt 
 that is the alliance of force with reason." — Mifimiires de UouiUe, 
 p. 1'82, ft scq.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 99 
 
 courage, its scrupulous equity, its vast labours, it was 
 execrated as revolutionary at Coblentz, and as aristo- 
 cratical at Paris. To form a correct judgment upon 
 that memorable assembly, in winch the aggregate of 
 talents was so rich and varied, the determination so 
 bold and inflexible, and in which, for the first time 
 ])erhaps, all the enlightened men of a nation were as- 
 sembled together, with the will and the power to give 
 reality to the theories of philosophy, it is necessary to 
 consider the state in which it had found France and 
 that in which it left her. 
 
 In 1789, the French nation was sensible and cogni- 
 eant of all the evils that oppressed it, but the possibi- 
 lity of removing them was scarcely witliin the range 
 of thought. Then, upon the unexpected demand of 
 the parliaments, the states-general are convoked, the 
 Constituent Assembly is formed, and marches into 
 presence of the throne, majestic from its ancient su- 
 premacy, and disposed in its utmost condescension to 
 sacrifice a few prized grievances. But that body is 
 impressed with a sense of its own rights, jiroclaims 
 itself the nation, and dares tlnmder it in the ear of an 
 astounded government. Menaced by a powerful aris- 
 tocracy, a court, and an army, and not yet foreseeing 
 popular demonstrations, it declares itself inviolable, 
 and warns power to resjiect that sanction ; convinced 
 of its undoubted rights, it has to address enemies who 
 are not so assured of theirs ; and it prevails, by the 
 simple expression of its will, over a sway of several 
 centuries, and over an army of thirty thousand men. 
 Therein is the whole revolution ; it is its first and 
 most glorious act ; it is just, it is heroic; for never did 
 a nation stand forth more legitimately or more perd- 
 ouslJ^ 
 
 Power vanquished, it became necessary to recon- 
 struct it on an equitable and expedient basis. But 
 beholding that social ladder, at the top of which all 
 good things are in such i)lentiful store — power, honours, 
 riches ; whilst at the foot, all is wanting, even the 
 bread indispensable to life — the Constituent Assembly 
 experienced a violent reaction in its sentiments, and 
 was moved to level grades. Consequently, it decided 
 tliat the mass of the citizens, i^erfectly equalised, 
 should express its will, whereof the king should stand 
 intrusted simply Avith the execution. 
 
 The error that it committed here did not consist in 
 reducing ro3'alty to a simple magistracy, for the king 
 was still left with sufficient authority to maintain the 
 laws, and with more than is wielded by the magis- 
 trates in republics, but in believing that a king, with 
 the recollections of what he had been, could resign 
 liimself to the change, and that a people but just 
 aroused from a long letharg}', and in so recent pos- 
 session of a portion of public power, would not insist 
 upon its exclusive monopoly. All history proves, in 
 fact, that an infinite subdivision of magistracies is 
 indispensable ; or, if a single chief be instituted, he 
 should be so liberally endowed as to remove all desire 
 for usurpation. 
 
 When nations, almost exclusively occupied with 
 their private interests, feel a necessity for throwing 
 the cares of governniont upon a chief, they do well to 
 give themselves one ; but in sucli case it is expedient 
 that this chief, like the English sovereign, being em- 
 powered to convoke and dissolve national assemblies, 
 not compelled to receive the law, but consenting to it 
 only as it suits him, and impeded solely in ])erpetrat- 
 iiig evil, should practically possess the greatest por- 
 tion of the sovereignty. Tlie dignity of man can 
 easily comport with such a government, wIutc the 
 hiw is rigorously observed, wliere each citizen has a 
 full sense of his own value, and knows that the higli 
 prerogatives invested in the monarcli have been left 
 to him only as an avowal of luiman weakness. 
 
 But it is not at the moment a nation suddenly 
 springs to an appreciation of its dormant rights that 
 it can consent to assume a secondary part, and volun- 
 tarily remit supremacy to a chief, in order that he 
 
 may have no temptation to usurp it. The Constituent 
 Assemlily was no more capable of such an abdication 
 than the nation itself. It consequently reduced royalty 
 to a simple hereditary magistracy, hoping that the 
 king would content himself with that position, still 
 resplendant witli honours, riches, and authority, and 
 that tlie people would willingly leave it in that pos- 
 session. 
 
 But whether the assembly formed that hope or not, 
 could it, in the emergency, escape the difficulty? 
 Could it suppress the king? or, on the other hand, 
 could it give him all the power that England yields to 
 its monarclis ? 
 
 In the first place, it could not depose Louis XVI. ; 
 for, if it be always essential to observe justice in a 
 government, it was not consulted in changing its form, 
 when justice prevailed therein, and abruptly convert- 
 ing a monarchy into a republic. Besides, possession 
 is entitled to respect ; and if the assembly had 
 despoiled the dynasty, what epithets would not its 
 enemies have indulged in, when they accused it of 
 violating proiierty because it attacked the feudal abo- 
 minations ? 
 
 On the other hand, it could not grant the king an 
 absolute veto, the nomination of judges, and otlier 
 similar prerogatives, because public opinion was in- 
 mical to such concessions ; and tliat opinion consti- 
 tuting its only strength, it was obliged to submit to 
 its dictates. 
 
 With regard to the establishment of a single chamber, 
 its error was more undoubted, perhaps, but equally in- 
 evitable. If it were dangerous to leave but the sem- 
 blance of power to a king who had enjoyed its unli- 
 mited substance, and in front of a people eager to tear 
 from him its last shred, it M'as much more false in 
 principle to disregard social inequalities and grada- 
 tions, when even republics admit them — when we find 
 in aU democracies a senate, either hereditary or elec- 
 tive. But it is vain to exact from men and from in- 
 telligence all they ought to have done at every epoch. 
 How, in the midst of a revolt against the injustice of 
 orders, was their necessity to be recognised ? How 
 constitute an aristocracy at the very instant of a cru- 
 sade against aristocracy ? To establish royalty would 
 have been more easy, because, placed far from the 
 people, its oppressions had been less galling, and be- 
 cause, in addition, it fulfilled functions which seemed 
 more necessary. 
 
 But, I repeat, if these errors had not prevailed in 
 the assembly, they were predominant in the nation ; 
 and the detail of subsequent events will demonstrate, 
 that if the king and the aristocracy had been left all 
 the prerogatives which were taken from them, the 
 revolution would not the less have run its course, 
 even to its last excesses. 
 
 To be convinced of the truth of this deduction, we 
 ought to draw a line of distinction between revolu- 
 tions which break out amongst populations long held 
 in thraldom, and those wliich occur amongst free popu- 
 lations, that is to say, in possession of a certain poli- 
 tical activity. At Home, Athens, and elsewhere, we 
 perceive nations and their riders disputing for greater 
 or less degrees of authority. Witli modern nations, 
 long defrauded of their rights, the progress is quite 
 difierent. Comi)letely enslaved, they slund)er long. 
 The lethargy is shaken otrby the eidightened classes, 
 who arise and recover a portion of power. The pro- 
 cess is successive; ambition is contngious, and finally 
 sjireads to the lowest classes; and the entire mass is 
 stinndated into movement. Then, satisfied witli wliat 
 they have obtained, the enlightened classes desire to 
 stop ; but their efibrts to stem the current are futile, 
 and they are tri)dden under foot by those who press 
 behind them. Such aswould stop, be they but a remove 
 from the lowest, are for the last an aristocracy ; and in 
 tills contest of classes, surging tinnultuouslj' against 
 each other, the simple burgher is ultimately called an 
 aristocrat by the artisan, and assailed as such.
 
 iOO 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Tlic Constituent Assembly presents to us that nice 
 of men who, urged by intelligence, first enters the 
 lists against the yet overbearing power ; sufficiently 
 moderate to appreciate what is due to those who held 
 all, and to those who possessed notliing, it desires to 
 leave to the first a portion of what they possess, be- 
 cause they have always jwssessed it, and above all, to 
 procure for the last knowledge, and the rights which 
 are its conscijuence. But regrets torment the old 
 possessors, ambition stimulates tlie rising classes: on 
 the one liiuid, the object is to recover all, and on the 
 other, to conquer all ; and thus a war of extermination 
 results. The members of this assembly, then, were 
 those early jiatriots, who, shaking otf slavery, attempt 
 to institute an equitable order of government, prose- 
 cute the attempt unmoved by the difficulties that sur- 
 round them, even achieve their mighty task, but fail 
 at last by seeking to induce the one party to yield a 
 portion, aud the other to abstain from insisting upon 
 uU. 
 
 The Constituent Assembly, in its equitable adjust- 
 ment, had manifested fitting respect for the old pos- 
 .sessors. Louis XXl., with the title of King of the 
 French, thirty millions a-year, the command of the 
 armies, and the prerogative of suspending the national 
 decrees, still enjoyed fair and enviable possessions. 
 The remembrance of his absolute power can alone 
 excuse him for not being satisfied with so brilliant a 
 rcnmant of supremacy. 
 
 The clergy, deprived of immense estates which 
 they had formerly received on condition of cherishing 
 the poor whom they did not cherish, and of adminis- 
 tering the gospel, the care of which they abandoned 
 to indigent curates, no longer formed a political order; 
 but their ecclesiastical dignities were preserved, their 
 creed venerated, their scandalous affluence converted 
 into a sufficient, and, indeed, it may be said, an abun- 
 dant allowance, since it permitted a considerable parade 
 of episcopal luxury. The nobles no longer formed an 
 order, nor did the.y now enjoy the exclusive right of 
 sporting, and other privileges of a like nature ; they 
 were likewise no longer exempt from taxes : but could 
 they adduce such matters as objects of rational regret? 
 Their immense possessions were left them, and instead 
 of being dependent on court favour, they had the more 
 certain and manly foundation of merit to rely upon 
 for distinction. They were eligible to be elected by 
 the people, and to represent it in the state, on the easy 
 terms of evincing good feeling and resignation. The 
 bar and the army were open to their talents : where- 
 fore were they not actuated by a generous emulation? 
 And why make so degrading a confession of incapa- 
 city, by lamenting the times of favouritism ? 
 
 The Constituent Assembly had paid due considera- 
 tion to old pensioners, had re-endowed the ecclesias • 
 tics, and, in a word, had treated every one with a re- 
 gard a.s tender as the circumstances warranted ; and 
 we may ask, wliether the lot it had accorded was, 
 after all, so vastly insupportable ? 
 
 The constitution being consummated, no hope re- 
 mained to the king of recovering by deliberative means 
 the prerogatives he so much regretted. Only one 
 course was open to him, namely, to rest satisfied and 
 observe the constitution, unless he relied upon foreign 
 powers ; but anticipating little from their zeal, and 
 being distrustful of the emigrants, he at once decided 
 for resignation ; and what proves liis sincerity is, that 
 he wished frankly to express his opinion to the as- 
 sembly upon the defects he perceive<l in the constitu- 
 tion. But from that desire he was dissuaded, and he 
 resolveil to expect from time the restitutions of power 
 which he deented due to him. The queen was not 
 less resigned. " Courage !" said she to the minister 
 Bertrand, as he entered her presence ; " all is not yet 
 lost. The king is determined to adhere to the con- 
 stitution ; that system is certainly the best." And 
 we may be i)crmitted to believe, that if she had really 
 entertained any other sentiments, she would not have 
 
 hesitated to express them in the presence of Bertrand 
 de MoUeville.* 
 
 The old assembly, then, had finally separated ; its 
 members had returned to the bosom of their families, 
 or had spread themselves over the city of Paris. Some 
 of the most eminent, such as Lameth, Duport, Bar- 
 nave, kept up a communication with the court, and 
 gave it the benefit of their counsels. But the king, 
 all decided as he was to observe the constitution, could 
 not bring himself to follow the advice tendered to him, 
 for he was recommended not only not to violate that 
 constitution, but also to make it clear to all minds, by 
 
 * The minister Bertrand de Molleville has exhibited the dis- 
 positions of the king and queen at the commencement of the 
 Legislative Assembly, in terms which leave little doubt of their 
 sincerity. He relates his lirst interview with those august per 
 sonages in the following mamier : — 
 
 " After having replied to some general observations which I 
 liad made upon tlie difficulties of the times, and on the numberless 
 faults I must needs commit in a department with which I wiis 
 unacquainted, the king said to me, ' Well— have you stiU any 
 objection ?' ' No, sire ; the wisli to obej' and gratify your ma- 
 jesty is tlie only sentiment I feel ; but, in order that I may know 
 whether I can serve you usefully, it is necessary your majesty 
 should have the goodness to communicate to me what plan you 
 have determined upon relative to tlie constitution, and what 
 conduct you desire your minister should pursue." ' That is but 
 proper,' replied the king. * I do not regard this constitution as a 
 masterpiece — far from it : I think it has Acry considerable faults, 
 and that if I had enjoyed the liberty of addressing some obser- 
 vations to the assembly, very advantageous amendments might 
 have resulted ; but now the opportunity is past, and I have ac- 
 cepted it, such as it is. I have sworn to cause it to be executed, 
 and I am bomid to be strictly faithful to my oath, the more 
 especially as I believe the most scrupulous execution of the 
 constitution is the most certain means of making it understood 
 by the nation, and of bringing it to perceive the alterations that 
 ought to be made in it. I have not, nor can have, any other plan 
 tlian that : I shaU certainly not depart from it, and I desire that 
 my ministers conform to it.' 
 
 ' This plan appears to me extremely prudent, sire : I feel cor- 
 diallj' disposed to follow it, and I incur the obligation. I have not 
 sufficiently studied the new constitution, eitlier in the aggregate 
 or in the details, to have formed a settled opinion, and I shall ab- 
 stain from adopting one, whatever it may be, until its execution 
 has enabled the nation to appreciate it by its effects. But may I 
 be permitted to ask your majesty, whether the opinion of the 
 queen, on this point, be conformable to the king's?* ' Yes, per- 
 fectly—she will tell you so herself.' 
 
 I proceeded to the queen's apartment, and she, after expressing 
 to me with great benignity her sense of the obligation she, as well 
 as the king, had incurred towards me for liaving accepted the 
 ministrj' under circumstances so criticid, added these words, 
 ' The king has informed you of his intentions relative to the 
 constitution ; do you not think that the only plan he ought to 
 follow is to be faithful to his oath ?' ' Yes, undoubtedly, madam.' 
 ' Very well ; be assured we shall not be made to swerve from our 
 resolution. Come, M. Bertrand, let us take courage ; I hope that 
 with patience, firmness, and consistency, all is not yet lost." " — 
 Bertrand de Molleville, vol. vi. p. 22 ; in the English edition, vol. i. 
 p. 214, of his Private Memoirs. 
 
 With the testimony of Bertrand de Molleville coincides that of 
 Madame Campan, who, although sometimes a suspicious a itho- 
 rity, has upon this occa.sion a great appearance of truth : — 
 
 " Tlie constitution was, as T have said, presented to the king 
 on the .3d September. I return to this presentation, because it 
 afl'orded a subject for very grave deliberation. All the ministers, 
 except M. de Montmorin, insisted upon the necessitj" of accepting 
 the constitutional act in its entirety. This was also the advice of 
 Prince Ifaunitz. Malouet wished that the king should explain 
 his views with sincerity upon the vices and dangers he remarked 
 in the constitution. Hut Duport and Bainave, alarmed at the 
 spirit that reigned in tlic .lacobin Club, and even in the assembly, 
 wlicre Uobespien'e had already denounced them as traitors to the 
 country, and fearing great disasters, joined their voices to those 
 of the majority of the ministers and of Prince Kaunitz. Those 
 who were cordially desirous to maintain the constitution, advised 
 that it should not be accepted jmrcly and simply ; of this number 
 were, as I have said. Messieurs Montmorin and Malouet. The 
 king seemed to prefer their opinion, and this is one of thegreatest 
 proofs of the unfortunate monarch's sincerity." — Memmrs (tf Ma- 
 dame Catnpau, vol. ii. p. 1(J1.
 
 r 
 
 ^^ ,y,„,.,/ /y ./ . />„ 
 
 x Jt Hthuliur^
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 101 
 
 his simplest actions, that he was sincerely attached 
 to it. These three members of the late assembly, in 
 coalition with Lafoyette since the revision, were the 
 leaders of that revolutionary generation which had 
 given the first rules to liberty, and now desired that 
 they might not be departed from. They were sup- 
 ported by the national guard, which long service un- 
 der Lafayette had completely attached to that general 
 and his principles. The members of the Constituent 
 Assembly conunitted the indiscretion of holding in 
 disdain the new assembly, and of irritating it by fre- 
 quent sarcasms. A species of aristocratic vanity had 
 already seized upon these first legislators, and they 
 seemed to imagine that all legislative science had dis- 
 appeared with them. 
 
 The new assembly was composed of different classes 
 of men. It included many enlightened partisans of 
 the first revolution, Ramond, Girardin, Vaublanc, 
 Dumas, and othei"s, who denominated themselves 
 constitutionalists, and occupied the right side, where 
 not one of the old privileged classes was foimd. 
 Thus, in the natural and progressive march of the 
 revolution, the left side of the first assembly became 
 the right side of the second. Next to the consti- 
 tutionalists was a numerous body of distinguished 
 men, whose imaginations the revoh'.tion had heated, 
 and enlarged the scope of their desires. Witnesses 
 of the constituent labours, and tormented by the im- 
 liatience common to those who contemplate ethers 
 in action, they were of opinion that not sufficient 
 bad been accomplished ; they dared not avow them- 
 selves republicans, because from all parts came recom- 
 mendations to be faithful to the constitution ; but the 
 republican essay made during the flight of Louis XVI., 
 and the suspected intentions of the court, perpetually 
 brought the idea to their minds ; and the state of 
 constant hostility in which they found themselves 
 with respect to the court, was calculated to attach 
 them more strongly to it every day. 
 
 In this new generation of talents, those who princi- 
 pally attracted observation were the deputies from 
 the department of the Gironde, v/lience the whole 
 party, though formed by men from all the depart- 
 ments, was called the Girondist. Condorcet, an author 
 distinguished for great comprehensiA'eness of ideas, 
 and for the extremely rigorous cast of his mind and 
 character, was its journalist ; and Vergniaud, a ready, 
 elegant, and sediictive speaker, was its orator. This 
 party, continually augmented by all who gave up the 
 court in despair, was far from looking forward to such 
 a republic as fell to it in 1793 ; it dreamt of a republic 
 with all its alluring concomitants, its virtues, and aus- 
 tere manners. Enthusiasm and vehemence may be 
 said to have been its chief characteristics. 
 
 This party hkewise was destined to have its ex- 
 treme members. These were, Bazire, Chabot, Merlin 
 de Thionville, and others; inferior in talent, tliej' sur- 
 passed the otlier Girondists in audacity. They became 
 the party of the Mountain, when, after the overthrow 
 of the throne, tiiey seceded from the Gironde. Finally, 
 this second assembly had, lilce the first, an intermedi- 
 ate mass, which, without any fixed engagement, vot«d 
 first with one and then with the other. Under the 
 (Constituent Assembly, in whioh liberty really reigncid, 
 a shnilar body had remained independent; but since 
 it had done so not through energy but from a spirit 
 of indifference, in the subsequent assemblies, where 
 violence raged uncontrolled, it became cowardly and 
 despicable, and received the contemptuous and dis- 
 graceful epithet of " the Bclh/." 
 
 The clubs acquired at tliis period still greater im- 
 portance. Agitators under the Constituent, they be- 
 came dominators under the Legislative Assembly. The 
 National Assembly not being numerous enough to 
 embody all the ambitious spirits in tlic community, 
 they had flocked to the clubs, where they found a tri- 
 bune and scenes of excitement. To those resorts 
 thronged all who were eager to speak, to agitate, 
 
 to stimulate — that is to say, almost the entire nation. 
 The people ran to so novel a spectacle ; they occupied 
 the galleries of all the meetings, and began about this 
 time to find it a lucrative occupation, since the system 
 of paying for applauses was now introduced. The 
 minister Bertrand confesses that he liimself had paid 
 for them. 
 
 The oldest of the clubs, that of the Jacobins, already 
 exercised an extraordinary infiuence. A whole church 
 scarcely sufficed to contain the crowd of members and 
 auditors. An immense amphitheatre was reared in 
 form of a circus, and occupied all the great nave of 
 the Jacobin church. A desk was placed in the centre, 
 at which a president and secretaries were seated. A 
 regular sj^stem of voting was pursued, and the deci- 
 sions were recorded in a register. An active corres- 
 pondence kept up the zeal of the societies spread over 
 the whole surface of France, which were styled afli- 
 liated societies. This club, from its longer existence 
 and its persevering violence, had invariably succeeded 
 over aU those who had attempted to inculcate more 
 moderate, or even more vehement, counsels. The 
 Lameths, together with all the distinguished men it 
 contained, had al>andoned it after the return from 
 Varennes, and joined the Feuillants. In this latter 
 were amalgamated all the essayists at moderate clubs, 
 the attempts to form which had always been unsuc- 
 cessful, inasm.uch as they proceeded in direct contra- 
 diction to the spirit which prompts recourse to clubs, 
 that of agitation. To the Feuillants were at that time 
 joined the constitutionalists, or partisans of the first 
 revolution. Hence the name of Feuillant became a 
 passport to proscription, when that of moderate was 
 one.* 
 
 Another club, that of the Cordeliers, had endea- 
 voured to rival the Jacobins in violence. Camille- 
 Desmoulins was its journalist, and Danton its leader. 
 This latter, who had failed at the bar, had neverthe- 
 less known how to win the favour of the multitude, 
 whom he strongly interested by Ids athletic frame, his 
 sonorous voice, and his passions, so essentially popular. 
 The Cordeliers had not been able, even by the aid of 
 superior exaggeration, to prevail over theh' rivals, 
 to whom custom secm-ed a gi'eat concourse ; but they 
 were at the same time almost all members of the Jaco- 
 bin chib, and when any important point rendered it 
 necessary, they repaired thither at the heels of Dan- 
 ton, to determine the majority in his favour. 
 
 Robespierre, whom we have seen during the Con- 
 stituent Assembly distingTiished for the rigorous 
 violence of his i)rinciples, was excluded froni the 
 Legislative Assembly by the decree of non re-elec- 
 tion, which he had himself contributed to have passed. 
 He thenceforth confined liimself to the Jacobins, 
 where he ruled without a rival, fron.i the dogmatism 
 of his opinions, and from a reputation for integrity, 
 which had procured him the name of " the incorrup- 
 tible." Paralysed with terror, as Ave have seen, at 
 the time of the revision, he had since plucked up fresh 
 corn-age, and now prosecuted with unremitting atten- 
 tion the work of popularity. He had encountered 
 two competitors whom he began to hate with great 
 cordiality, namely, Brissot and Lou vet. Brissot, who 
 had mingled with all the most distinguished members 
 
 * [Bertrand Rives tlie following nccount of the Feuillant Club : 
 — " It w:'.3 chiefly couiposeil of the remains of the constitutional 
 party of the first assembly, of the members of tlie Legislative 
 Assembly, wlio had adopted similar opinions, and of a sm.all 
 number of moderate royalists, who, although they did not in this 
 association find principles as pure as their own, considered it 
 nevertheless as favourable to royalty, front the mere circumstance 
 of its being opposed to Jacobinism, hoping that it might one day 
 become a rallying point to the royalists who had not emigrated, 
 and who, having no means of uniting, could offer to the king only 
 a barren zeal and unavailing wishes. The motto of theelub was, 
 The cniisiiluUon, the irhole conftilution, and nothhici hut the cnn.iti- 
 tulion." — Vol. v. p. 2fH). Such a rallying cry has been known in the 
 history of Oither countries besides that of France.] 
 II
 
 102 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of the first assembly, being the friend of Mirabeau and 
 Lafayette, known as a republican, and one of the most 
 eminent members of the Lef,'islative, was fickle in 
 character, but remarkable for certain intellectual 
 qualities. Louvet. possessing great warmth of tem- 
 perament, high mentid powers, and unflinching bold- 
 ness, formed one of those, who, overstepping the 
 constitution, looked forward to a republic ; he, there- 
 fore, naturally found himself drawn towards the 
 Girondists. His contests with Robespierre soon at- 
 tached him more closely to them. This party of the 
 Gironde, graxlually foriiicd, as it were unintentionally, 
 by men who had t(J0 much loftiness of mind to propi- 
 tiate the populace, but were sufBciently distinguislied 
 to raise its envy and that of its leaders, and who were 
 rather united "by similarity of position than from 
 actual concert, was, from its comi)osition, sure to be 
 brilliant but likewise weak, and incapable of standing 
 before the more real factions which sprung up around 
 it when the day of battle came. 
 
 Such, then, was tlie state of France. The old pri- 
 vileged classes had retired beyond the Rhine ; the 
 partisans of the constitution filled the riyht of the 
 assembly, the national guard, and the Feuillant club ; 
 the Girondists had the majority in the assembly, 
 but not in tlie clubs, wliere vulgar violence reigned 
 supreme; finally, the hotheads of this new epoch, 
 seated on the highest benches in the assembly, and 
 on that account called the Mountain, were all-power- 
 ful in the clubs and over the populace. 
 
 Lafayette, having resigned all military rank, had 
 been accompanied to his estate by the esteem and 
 regret of his companions in arms. The command 
 hfS not been delegated to a new general, but six 
 heads of legions commanded in turns the whole na- 
 tional guard. Bailly, the faithful friend of Lafayette 
 during these three painful years, likewise abdicated 
 the mayoralty. The votes of the electors were divided 
 between Lafayette and Pction ; but the court, de- 
 termined to support Lafayette upon no consideration, 
 although his sentiments were favourable to it, pre- 
 ferred Pction, although an avowed republican. It an- 
 ticipated much good from a sort of coldness wliich it 
 took for stupidity, but was something very ditferent; 
 and it lavished large sums to secure him a majority.* 
 He obtained it in consequence, and M'as nominated 
 mayor of Paris (17th November). Pction, with a cul- 
 tivated mind, cold but deliberate in conviction, and 
 possessed of much address, invariably aided the re- 
 publicans in opposition to the court, and became 
 linked to the Gironde from conformity of views, and 
 the envy his new dignity excited amongst the Jaco- 
 bins. 
 
 However, notwithstanding these dispositions of 
 parties, if the king could have been relied upon, it is 
 possible that the distrust of the Girondists might 
 have been subdued, and the pretext of troubles being 
 removed, that the agitators would have thenceforth 
 been deprived of topics to exasperate the populace 
 into acts of violence. 
 
 The intentions of the king were certainly formed, 
 but owing to his feebleness of character, they were 
 never irrev(K;able. It behoved him to demonstrate 
 them in some signal manner before they could be 
 
 * [The court, acting upon that spirit of infatuation which 
 aeenis common to all aKCs, factions, and ranks, prompting poli- 
 tical parties to prefer a man of extronie opinions to one more 
 nearly approximating to their own principles, opposed Lafayette 
 upon tliiBOCca-sion, according to the avowal of Uprtrand de Molle- 
 ville himself. " The court," says he, " detesting M. de Lafayette, 
 and fearing above all his ambition and intriffucs, openly favoured 
 r(!-tion. ' M. de Laf.ayette,' said thcqueen tome on thisoccasion, 
 ' only desires to he Mayor of Paris, with the view of being soon 
 after .Mayor of the palace. Pt^t ion is a republican and a Jacobin, 
 but he Is a foul, incapable of ever being the leader of a party ; he 
 will be a nullity of a m.iyor !' "—BcrlraiuVs Amuils, vol. v. p. lOfi. 
 Pdtion was elected mayor on the 17th November, by a majority 
 over Lafayette of 67^ lo 3126] 
 
 trusted ; and, whilst that proof was withheld, he was 
 exposed to more than one outrage. Although the dis- 
 position of Louis XVI. was amiable, it was not with- 
 out a certain dash of irritability ; thus his resolutions 
 might very easily be shaken by the first operations of 
 the assemialy. That body was formed, and with much 
 ceremony took the oath upon the book of the consti- 
 tution. Its first decree, relative to etiquette, abolished 
 the titles of "sire" and "majesty," generally used 
 to^vards the king. It furthermore ordered that, when 
 he appeared in the assembly, he should be seated on 
 a cliair exactly similar to that occupied by the presi- 
 dent.* Tiiese were the first bursts of the republican 
 spirit, and the pride of Louis XVI. was acutely 
 wounded. To escape from what he regarded as a 
 humiliation, he resolved not to enter the assembly, 
 and to send his ministers to open the legislative ses- 
 sion. The assembly, repenting of its first hostility, 
 revoked the decree the following day, tliereby giving 
 a rare example of contrition. The king accordingly 
 proceeded thither, and was extremely well received. 
 Unfortunately, it had been decreed that the deputies 
 should remain seated if the king did so ; this they 
 carried into practice, and Louis XVI. esteemed it a 
 fresh insult. The applauses wherewith he was covered 
 were insufficient to heal the wound. He returned to 
 the palace, pale, and with Ms countenance agitated. 
 WHien alone with the queen, he threw himself on a 
 sofa, sighing deeply. " Ah ! madam," he exclaimed, 
 " you have been a witness to this degradation ! What ! 
 to come into France to see " The queen endea- 
 voured to soothe him, but his heart was profoundly 
 aSlicted, and his good intentions were grievously 
 shaken. t 
 
 But if he thenceforward turned his eyes to foreign 
 succour alone, the dispositions of the powers were not 
 calculated to afiford him much hope. The declaration 
 of Pilnitz had remained without efiect, as well from 
 deficiency of zeal in the sovereigns, as also from re- 
 gard to tlie danger to which Louis XVI. was exposed, 
 he being, since the return from Varennes, a prisoner 
 of the Constituent Assembly. The acceptance of the 
 constitution was an additional reason for waiting the 
 course of events before proceeding to action. Such 
 was the opinion of Leopold and his minister Kaunitz. 
 Accordingly, when Louis XVI. had notified to the 
 European courts that he accepted the constitution, 
 and that liis intention was to faithfully observe it, 
 Austria returned a very pacific answer ; Prussia and 
 England did the same, and conveyed assurances of 
 their amicable views. It is observable that neighbour- 
 ing powers acted with more reserve than those at a 
 distance, such as Sweden and Russia, because they 
 were more immediately compromised by war. Gus- 
 tavus, who contemplated a brilliant expedition against 
 France, replied to the notification that he did not con- 
 sider the king free. Russia delayed to explain hersel£ 
 Holland, the i)rincipal Italian states, and especially 
 Switzerland, gave satisfactory rejoinders. The Elec- 
 tors of Treves and Maj-ence, in whose territories the 
 emigrants were located, used evasive expressions. 
 Spain, besieged by emissaries from Coblentz, was 
 equally cautious in her statements, alleging that she 
 desired time to be convinced of the king's liberty; 
 but she gave assurances, nevertheless, that she did 
 not purpose to disturb the tranquillity of the king- 
 dom. 
 
 Such replies, of which not one was decidedly hostile, 
 the assured neutrality of England, the micertainty of 
 Frederick-William, the pacific and well-known dis- 
 positions of Leopold, all conduced to the supposition 
 of jieace. It is difficult to surmise what might be 
 passing in the vacillating mind of Louis XVI., but 
 his evident interest, and the fears with which war at 
 a later date inspired him, must lead to the conclusion 
 
 * Decree of the .5th October. 
 
 \ See Madame Campan, vol. ii. p. 129.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 103 
 
 that he was likewise anxious for the preservation of 
 peace. Amidst tliis general concert, the emigrants 
 alone persisted in wishing for war, and in making 
 preparations for it. 
 
 They still resorted in crowds to Coblentz. There 
 they armed with activity, collected magazines, outbid 
 competition fur munitions, formed regiments (wliich 
 were certainly not filled up, since none were disposed 
 to become private soldiers), established grades which 
 were exposed to sale, and, if they attempted nothing 
 really dangerous, they nevertheless made great pre- 
 parations, wliich they themselves deemed formidable, 
 and which tended very naturally to alarm the popular 
 imagination. 
 
 The important point was to ascertain whether Louis 
 XVI. was countenancmg them or not ; and it was difH- 
 cult to believe that he was not well disposed towards 
 relatives and servants who were taking arms to restore 
 him his ancient powers. There needed the most perfect 
 sincerity, and its continual demonstration, to corro- 
 borate a contrary opinion. Tlie king's letters to tlie 
 emigrants conveyed an invitation, and even an order, 
 to return ; but he had, it was rumoured, a secret cor- 
 respondence which belied his public correspondence, 
 and counteracted its effects. It is doubtless impossible 
 to deny a secret intercourse with Coblentz, but I am 
 far from believing that Louis XVI. used it for the 
 purpose of contradicting the injunctions which he had 
 publicly addressed to the emigrant princes.* It was 
 liis clear and incontestible interest that they should 
 return. Their presence at Coblentz could only be use- 
 ful in as far as they designed to invade ; now, Louis 
 XVI. shuddered above all tilings at the idea of a civil 
 Avar. Not desiring, therefore, to employ their swords 
 upon the Rhine, it was better that he should have 
 tliem near him, in order that they might assist hiin 
 in emergency, and join their efforts to those of the 
 constitutionalists in protecting liis person and throne. 
 Besides, their continuance at Coblentz provoked 
 severe laws, which he was unwilling to sanction ; his 
 refusal would compromise him with the assembly, 
 and we shall in fact see that it was the use he made 
 of the veto which completely turned the popular feel- 
 ing against him, by rendering him suspected as an 
 accomplice of the emigrants. It would be strange if 
 he had not perceived the force of these reasons, with 
 which all his ministers were impressed. They were 
 unanimously of opinion that the emigrants ought to 
 return, in order to defend the person of the king, to 
 put an end to alarm, and to remove all pretext for 
 agitation. Such was even the opinion of Bertrand de 
 Molleville, whose principles were not peculiarly con- 
 
 * It is Madame Campan who has favoured us with the infor- 
 mation that the king kept up a secret correspondence with Co- 
 blentz : — 
 
 " Whilst the couriers were on the road with the confidential 
 letters of the king to tlie princes his brothers, and to the foreign 
 princes, the assembly invited the king to address the princes, 
 urging them to return into France. The king directed the Abbd 
 de Montesquiou to draw up the letter which he ouglit to send. 
 This letter, admirably wTitten, expressed in a simple and touch- 
 ing style, so analogous to the character of Louis XVI., and replete 
 with strong arguments upon the advantage of rallying to the 
 principles of the constitution, was intrusted to nie by the king, 
 with orders to make him a copy. 
 
 At this period, M. Mor , One of the intendants of Monsieur's 
 
 household, obtained a passport from the assembly, enabling him 
 to visit the prince, on account of some matter of essential interest 
 to his affaire. The queen selected him to bear this letter; she 
 determined upon giving it him herself, and cx])laining to him its 
 purport. The choice of such a courier surprised me : the queen 
 assured me it Wiis the best in the world, that she reckoned upon 
 liis indiscretion, and that it wa-s merely essential the public 
 should be made acquainted with the king's letter to his brothers. 
 The princes were, doubtless, /orewtirneti in (hr privnte cnrrespon- 
 tlence. Monsieur, however, showed some surjirise ; and the mes- 
 senger returned more afflicted than satisfied with such a mark jf 
 confidence, which nearly cost him his life during the reign of 
 terror."— M(i(/(/Hie C'uHij/a/i, vol. ii. p. 17- 
 
 stitutional. " It was necessary," says he, " to use all 
 possible means for increasing the popularity of the 
 king. The most efficacious and certain of all, at this 
 moment, was to recall the emigrants. Their return, 
 so generally desired, would have revived in France 
 the royalist part}', which the emigration had com- 
 pletely disorganised. This party, strengthened by 
 the odium into which the assembly had fallen, by the 
 numerous deserters from the constitutional party, and 
 by all the discontented, would have speedily become 
 sufficiently powerful to render decisive the explosion 
 which might, sooner or later, be certainly antici- 
 pated."* 
 
 Louis XVI., conforming to this counsel of his mini- 
 sters, addressed exhortations to the principal oflBcers 
 of the army and navy, recalling them to a sense of 
 their duty, and to the retention of their commands. 
 But such exhortations were utterly disregarded, and 
 the desertion continued uninterruptedly. The mini- 
 ster of war came forward to announce the desertion 
 of nineteen hundred officers. The assembly could not 
 moderate its wrath, and resolved to take most vigorous 
 measures to stop the evil. The Constituent had 
 restricted itself to pronouncing deprivation against 
 all public functionaries leaving the kingdom, and levy- 
 ing on the possessions of emigrants a triple contribu- 
 tion, to indemnify the state for the services of which 
 their absence deprived it. The new assembly pro- 
 posed more severe penalties. 
 
 Various motions were submitted. Brissot distin- 
 guished three classes of emigrants — the leaders of the 
 desertion, the public fimctionaries who forsook their 
 duties, and, lastly, those whom fear had impelled to 
 fly their native country. The full measure of punish- 
 ment should be meted to the first classes, said he, 
 but the last might be contemned and pitied. 
 
 It is quite certain that the liberty of man does not 
 consist with his being chained to a particular soil ; 
 but when positive knowledge is acquired from a num- 
 ber of concurrent circumstances, that citizens are 
 abandoning their country in order to collect together 
 without its limits and stir up war against it, in such 
 cases it is clearly allowable to adopt precautious against 
 projects so fraught with danger. 
 
 A long and obstinate debate ensued upon the ques- 
 tion. The constitutionalists opjiosed all the proposed 
 measures, and maintained that futile schemes ought 
 to be held in contempt, according to the plan alwa3-s 
 pursued by their predecessors. However, the oppos- 
 ing party prevailed, and a preliminary decree was 
 passed, enjoining Monsieur, the king's brother, to 
 return within two months, or in default thereof, con- 
 demning him to forfeit his eventual right to the re- 
 gency. Anotlier more severe decree was passed against 
 the emigrants in general ; it declared that the French 
 assembled beyond the frontiers of the kingdom were 
 suspected of a consjjiracy against France ; that if, ou 
 the first day of the ensuing January, they should still 
 continue assembled, they should be deemed guilty of 
 conspiracy, prosecuted as such, and punished with 
 death ; and that the incomes of those in contumacy 
 should be during their lives received for the national 
 benefit, without prejudice to the rights of wives, chil- 
 dren, and legitimate creditors.f 
 
 The act of emigrating not being in itself reprehen- 
 sible, it is difficult to assign the point distinctly at 
 which it becomes so. What the law could equitably 
 do, was to publish beforehand who would be held cul- 
 pable in certain cases; and all tliose who were desirous 
 of not being so held, had only to yield obedience. 
 Those who, after notice of the period at which ab- 
 sence from the kingdom would become a crime, did 
 not return, thereby voluntarily consented to pass for 
 criminals. Those who, without warlike or political 
 motives, were beyond the kingdom, were bound to 
 hasten their return ; it was but a slight sjicrificc to 
 
 * Vol. vi. p. 42. t Decrees of the 28th October and !)th November.
 
 104 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tlie safety of a state, that a traveller for pleasure or 
 business 'should curtail the extent of his joiiruey. 
 
 The kin-,', with tlie view of gratifying the assembly 
 and public opinion, sanctioned the decree which or- 
 dered Monsieur to return, under penalty of losnig las 
 right to the regency ; but he affixed his veto to the 
 law against the emigrants. The ministers were 
 ordered to repair in a body to the assembly, with the 
 announcement of the king's resolves.* Tliey first read 
 over various decrees to whicii tlie sanction was given. 
 When that upon the emigrants came in its turn, a 
 marked silence pervaded the assembly ; and upon the 
 keeper of tlie seals jiroiiouncing the official formula, 
 " the king will examine" great discontent was mani- 
 fested on all sides. He desired to detail the reasons ol 
 the rejection, but several voices rose against this 
 course, exclaiming to the imnister, that the consti- 
 tution granted the king the right of opposing, but 
 not that of assigning motives. The minister was 
 aecordingly obliged to desist, leaving behind him a 
 rankling feeling^ of irritation. This first resistance 
 on the king's part to the measures of the assembly 
 was a definitive rupture ; for, although he had sanc- 
 tioned the decree which deprived his brother of the 
 regency, his refusal of the second was deemed an 
 incontestible proof of his partiality towards the in- 
 surgents of Coblentz. None forgot at such a moment 
 that he was their relative, their friend, and, in some 
 sort, their copartner in interest; and it was held 
 impossible for him to abstain from making common 
 cause with them against the nation. 
 
 On the following day, Louis XVI. gave publication 
 to a proclamation against the emigrants, and two indi- 
 vidual letters to his brothers. The reasons which he 
 urged upon both the one and the other of these parties 
 were excellent, and apparently advanced in good faith. 
 He solicited them to put an end, by their return, to the 
 suspicions which the malevolent took such pains to 
 disseminate ; he entreated them not to reduce liim to 
 the necessity of employing harsh measures against 
 them ; and as to his want of liberty, upon which such 
 stress was laid to disregard his injunctions, he adduced 
 as a proof of the contrary, the veto he had just exer- 
 cised in their favoiu-.f However cogent these reasons 
 
 * Sitting of the 12th November. 
 
 t LKTTER OP THE KING TO LOUIS-STANISLAUS-XA VIER, 
 FRENCH PRINCE, BROTHER OF THE KINS. 
 
 " Paris, \Wi November 1791. 
 I ATote to you, my brother, on the 16th of October last, and you 
 could have no reason to doubt my real sentiments. I am astonished 
 tliat my letter has not produced the eil'ect I was justified in anti- 
 cipating. To recall you to your duties, I have urged all the motives 
 which must most nearly touch you. Your absence is a pretext for 
 all the malevolent, a sort of excuse for all the misguided French, 
 who think they are serving me by keeping all France in a disquiet 
 and agitation which form the torments of my life. The revolution 
 is finished, the constitution consummated, France eager for it, 
 and I determined to maintain it ; the safety of the monarchy de- 
 pends at this moment upon its stability. The constitution has 
 given you rights ; it has imposed a condition upon their enjoyment 
 wliich you ought to hasten to fulfil. Uelievc me, my brother, and 
 discard the doubts that are sought to be impressed upon you 
 regarding my liberty. I am about to prove, by a very solemn 
 act, and in a matter aftectiiig you, that I may act freely. Prove 
 you to me that you are my brotlier and a Frenchman, by j'ielding 
 to my wishes. Your proper place is by my side ; your interest, 
 your feelings, equally move you to return and resume it. I invite 
 you to do oi), and, if necessary, I order you. 
 
 (Signed) Loiis." 
 
 monsieur's BCPLY TO THE KIMO. 
 
 " Cobkiitz, 3d December 17.')1. 
 SiBK, IMV BROTHER ANn i.ORj)— Thc Count de Vcrgemies lia.s 
 delivered to me, on the part of your majesty, a letter, thc super- 
 scription on which, notwithstanding it contained my baptismal 
 names, w.xs so ditfercnt from my address, that I thoiiglit ot re- 
 turning it to him unopened. However, upon his positive assur- 
 ance that it was for me, I opened it, and tlie name of brother, 
 which I there found, having removed from my mind iUl doubt, I 
 read it with thc rcsijcct I owe to the writing and signature of your 
 
 might be, they produced neither at Coblentz nor at 
 Paris the effect they were calculated, or appeared cal- 
 culated, to have wrought. The emigrants did not 
 return ; and in the assembly the tone of the procla- 
 mation was judged too mild, and even the power of 
 the executive to issue one at all was contested. It, in 
 fact, was too deeply irritated to be contented with a 
 proclamation, and especially to suffijr a useless mea- 
 sure to be substituted by the king for the energetic 
 measures it had resolved to adopt. 
 
 Another trial of a similar description was imposed 
 on Louis XVI. at the same i)eriod, and led to an equally 
 unfortunate residt. The first religious troubles had 
 broken loose in the west, and the Constituent Assem- 
 bly had sent thither two commissioners, one of whom 
 was Gensonne, subsequently so celebrated in the 
 Girondist party. Their report had been made to the 
 I^egislative Assembly, and, though drawn up with great 
 moderation, had filled it with indignation. It will be 
 remembered that the Constituent Assembly, when 
 suspending from their functions the priests who re- 
 fused to take the oath, had nevertheless left them a 
 pension, and liberty to celebrate divine worship apart. 
 Since then they had never ceased to excite the people 
 against their conforming brethren, and to uphold them 
 as impious persons, whose ministry was null and dan- 
 gerous. They dragged the peasants after them for long 
 distances to hear the ritual of mass. These latter were 
 
 majesty. The order which it contains for me to repair to your 
 majesty's side is not the free expression of your will, and my 
 honour, my duty, my affection even, equally debar me from 
 obeying it. If your majesty seeks to know all my motives more 
 in detail, I entreat you to refer to my letter of the 10th of last 
 September. I likewise entreat your majesty to graciously receive 
 the expression of those sentiments, as att'ectionate as respectful, 
 with which I am," &e. &c. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE KING TO CHARLES-PHILIP, FRENCH 
 PIUNCB, BROTHER OK THE KINO. 
 
 " Paris, \Uh 'November 1791. 
 You are undoubtedly aware of the decree which the National 
 Assembly has jiassed relative to Frenchmen out of the country ; I 
 do not think it incmnbont on me to give my consent thereto, 
 fondly persuading myself that gentle means will more efFectually 
 attain thc object that is proposed, and whieli the interest of tlio 
 state demands. The various overtures I have made to you, must 
 remove all doubt from )Our mind as to my intentions and desires 
 Public tranquillity and my personal comfort are dependent on 
 your return. You cannot continue a line of conduct which dis- 
 tracts France and afflicts me, without disregarding your most 
 essential duties. Sp;ire me the pain of sanctioning severe mea- 
 sures against you ; consult your true interests ; allow yourself to 
 be guided by the attachment you owe to your country ; in a word, 
 yield to the wish of the French nation and to tliat of your king. 
 Such a resolve on your part will be a proof of your sentiments 
 towards me, and will assure you the continuance of those I have 
 always entertained towards you. (Signed) Louis." 
 
 ANSWER OF THE COUNT d'ARTOIS TO THE KINO. 
 
 " Coblentz, 3d December 1791. 
 
 Sire, my brother and lord— The Count de Vergennes de- 
 livered me yesterday a letter which he assured me had been 
 addressed to me by your majesty. The superscription giving me 
 a title which I cannot admit, led me to believe that this letter was 
 not intended for me ; but, having recognised your majesty's seal, 
 I opened it, and I respected tlie writing and the signature of my 
 king ; but thc total omission of the name of brother, and more 
 th.anall, the decisions referred to in that letter, have given me 
 an additional proof of the moral and physical captivity in which 
 our enemies dare to retain your majesty. After tliis avowal, your 
 majesty will expect that, faithful to my duty and the laws of 
 honour, I should pay no obedience to orders evidently wrested by 
 violence. 
 
 Furthermore, the letter which I had the honour of transmitting 
 to your majesty, in conjunction with Monsieur, on the lOth of 
 hist September, contains tlie sentiments, principles, and deter- 
 minations from which I sliall never swerve ; to it, therefore, T 
 unreservedly refer ; it will be tlie basis of my conduct, and I hero 
 repeat the oath it sets forth. I humbly entreat your majesty to 
 receive the homage of those feelings, as tender as rcspoutf iil, with 
 wliich 1 am, sire, &c. &c"
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 105 
 
 exasperated at seeing their churcli occupied by a wor- 
 ship which they believed evil, and at being obliged to 
 seek, so far from their homes, the one they believed 
 good. They frequently even attacked the conforming 
 priests and their followers. Civil war thus became 
 imminent.* Additional information was gathered by 
 
 * The report of Messrs Gallois and Gensonn^ is, without con- 
 tradiction, the best historical evidence of tlie beginning of the 
 troubles in La Vendee. The origin of those troubles is its most 
 interesting part, because it demonstrates their causes. I have, 
 .therefore, deemed it necessary to give tliat report. It appears to 
 me to illustrate one of the most curious portions in that disastrous 
 history. 
 
 Report of Messrs Gallois and GcnsonnS, Civil Commission- 
 ers, dispatched into the departments of La Vendee and of 
 the Deux-Sevrcs, by virtue of decrees of the Constituent 
 Assembly, rendered to the Legislative Assembly on the 9th 
 October 1/91. 
 Gentlemen— Tlie National Assembly decreed on the 16th of last 
 July, on the Report of its Committee of Inquiry, that civil com- 
 missioners should be dispatched into tlie departmentof La Vendee, 
 to obtain all tlie Lniormation they coidd procure as to the causes 
 of the late troubles in that quarter ; and to assist the administra- 
 tive bodies in the re-estabUshment of public tranquillity. 
 
 On the 23d July we were intrusted with this mission, and we 
 departed two days afterwards for Foutenoy-le-Comte, the chief 
 town of that department. 
 
 After a few days spent in conferences with the administrators 
 of the Directory upon the situation of affairs and the state of pub- 
 lie feeling, and after agreeing with the three administrative bodies 
 upon certain preliminary measures for the maintenance of public 
 order, we determined to proceed into the different districts which 
 composed tliat department, in order to examine how much of 
 truth or falsehood, how much of reality or exaggeration, there 
 existed in the complaints which had already reached us ; in short, 
 to enable us to ascertain, with the greatest possible precision, the 
 situation of that department. 
 
 We have traversed it in almost its whole extent, sometimes for 
 the purpose of gaining infoiination which was necessary to us, at 
 other times for the purpose of maintaining peace, suppressing 
 public disturbances, or preventing violences to which certam 
 citizens believed themselves exposed. 
 
 We have heard in several district-directories all the municipa- 
 lities of whicli each of them is composed ; we have paid tlie 
 greatest attention to all the citizens who had either facts to com- 
 municate or views to suggest ; we have carefully collected and 
 compared all the details which have come to oiu: knowledge ; but 
 as our information !ias been more bulky than varied — as through- 
 out, the facts, complaints, and observations have been similar — 
 we shall present to you, under a general point of view, and in an 
 abridged but exact form, the result of this mass of particular 
 facts. 
 
 We consider it unnecessary to Lay before you the details wliicli 
 we gleaned concerning anterior troubles ; they do not, in our 
 judgment, appear to have any very direct influence upon the 
 actual condition of that department ; besides, the law of amnesty 
 having stayed the different proceedings to wliicli those troubles 
 liad given rise, we could only present you with vague conjectures 
 and uncertain deductions upon those matters. 
 
 The period for administering tlie ecclesiastical oath was in 
 the department of La Vendue the first era of its troubles ; pre- 
 viously, the people had enjoyed profound tranquUlity. At a dis- 
 tance from the great centre of action and strife, disposed by their 
 natural character to a love of peace, to a disposition for order, and 
 to respect for the law, they reaped the benefits of the revolution 
 without undergoing any of its storms. 
 
 In rural districts, the diflficiUty of intercourse, the simplicity of 
 a life purely agricultural, the lessons of infancy, and the inculca- 
 tion of religious emblems calculated to keep regard alive, have 
 disposed their minds to a multitude of superstitious impressions, 
 which, in the present state of things, no species of instruction can 
 either destroy or modify. 
 
 Their religion, that is to say, such as they conceive religion, is 
 become the most powerful, and, so to spejik, the only moral observ- 
 ance of their lives. The most essential object it presents to them 
 is the worship of images; and the minister of that worship, lie 
 whom the inhabitants of the country regard as the dispenser of 
 celestial favours, as able, by the power of his prayers, to mitigate 
 the severity of seasons, and as disposing of happiness in a future 
 state of existence, has centred upon his own person all the most 
 tender as well as the most energetic affections of their souls. 
 
 The constancy of the people of this department in the established 
 
 I 
 
 the assembly, which exhibited the danger in a yet 
 more alarming light. It thereupon resolved to adopt, 
 against these fresh enemies of the constitution, mea- 
 
 order of their religious actions, and the unlimited confidence 
 enjoyed by the priests to whom they are accustomed, form one 
 of the principal elements of the troubles which have agitated, and 
 may still continue to agitate, it. 
 
 It is easy to conceive with what activity mistaken or factious 
 priests have brought these dispositions of the people into play for 
 their o\vn advantage ; they have neglected nothing to stimulate 
 zeal, alarm consciences, strengtlien irresolute characters, and 
 sustain those of a more decided cast ; in to some have been instilled 
 feelings of disquietude and remorse, into others hopes of happi- 
 ness and salvation ; upon almost all has been tried successfull}- 
 the influence of seduction or fear. 
 
 Several amongst these ecclesiastics are tliemselves sincere ; they 
 seem deeply imbued both with the ideas they disseminate and the 
 sentiments they inspire ; others are accused of covering with zeal 
 for religion interests much more dear to their hearts. These last 
 iissume a political activity which increases or moderates accord- 
 ing to circumstances. 
 
 A formidable coalition has been formed between the late Bishop 
 of Lufon and a part of the old clergy of his diocese ; a plan of 
 opposition has been arranged to tlie execution of decrees intended to 
 be put in force in any of their parishes ; charges and inflammatory 
 writings sent from Paris, have been addressed to all the priests to 
 strengthen them in their resolutions, or to urge then^ into a con- 
 federation which is represented as general. A circular letter from 
 M. Bauregard, grand-vicar to M. de Merci, late Bishop of Luyon, 
 deposited at the register of the tribunal of Fontenay, and wiiich 
 that ecclesiastic has since acknowledged in his interrogatory, will 
 enable you to form an exact opinion, both upon the secret of that 
 coalition and upon the skilfully combined movements of those 
 composing it. We consequently include it : — 
 
 Letter dated from Lufon, the 31st May 1791, tinder cover to the 
 address of the Incumbent of La Rci/rthe. 
 
 " A decree of the National Assembly, sir, under date of the 7th 
 JWay, grants to the ecclesiastics whom it has pretended to super- 
 sede for refusing the oath, the use of the parish churches merely 
 to say mass within. The same decree authorises Roman Catho- 
 lics, as weU as all dissenters, to assemble together for the exercise 
 of their religious services in any place they may select for such 
 purpose, upon condition that in public discourses nothing shall be 
 said against the civil constitution of the clergy. 
 
 The privilege granted to the legitimate pastors by the first 
 article of this decree, must be regarded as a snare, the more dan- 
 gerous, inasmuch as the faithful will not meet in the churches 
 upon which the intruders have seized, with other instructions 
 than those of their false pastors ; inasmuch as they will not be 
 able to receive the sacraments from any but tlieir hands, and 
 thus they must have with these schismatic pastors a communi- 
 cation which the laws of the church forbid. In order to obviate 
 so great an evil, the incumbents will perceive the necessity of 
 securing, with all possible haste, a place in which they may, 
 by virtue of the second article in this decree, exercise their func- 
 tions and gather into one fold their faithful parishioners, after 
 their pretended successors have seized upon their churches ; with- 
 out this precaution, the Catholics will be drawn, by the fear of 
 'losing the celebration of mass and the divine offices, and by listen- 
 ing to the voice of false pastors, into communication with them, 
 and exposed to the almost inevitable perils of seduction. 
 
 In parishes where there are few wealthy proprietors, it will be, 
 doubtless, diflicult to find a suitable locality, and to procure 
 sacred vases and ornaments ; but a simple granary, a portable 
 altar, a vesture of calico, or some other common stuff, and pewter 
 vases, will suffice, in such cases of necessity, to celebrate tlie holy 
 mysteries and the divine offices. 
 
 Such simplicity and poverty, by recalling to us the first apes of 
 the church, and the dawn of our holy religion, may be a powerful 
 means of exciting zeal in ministers, and fervour in the faithful. 
 The first Christians had no other temples than their houses ; there 
 were gathered together the shepherds and the flock to celebrate 
 the holy mysteries, to hear the word of God, and to sing the 
 praises of the Lord. During tnc persecutions wlierewith the 
 church was afllicted, forced to abandon their teiniilcs, they were 
 seen retiring into caverns, and even into tombs ; and these times 
 of trial were the eras of greatest fervour to the true faithful. 
 There must be vcrj' few parishes in which the incumbents will 
 be unable to procure a place and ornaments such as I have just 
 described ; and, imtil they are provided with the necessiiry arti- 
 cles, those of their neighbours, who shall not bo superseded, will 
 bo able to a.'isist them with what they have at disposal in their
 
 106 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH. REVOLUTION. 
 
 surcs similar in character to those it had taken against 
 the armed enemies beyond the llliine, and idso to make 
 a lurtlier trial of the king's real dispositions. 
 
 own chiirche* We shall be pro\-ided with a continual supply of 
 sacred stones for all who may need them, and, from the present 
 time, we are enabled to autliorise the cups or vases to be con- 
 seer- ite<l which may be used in lieu of them. 
 
 The Bishop of Lufon, in a separate communication which he 
 lias tr.msmitted to us as supplcment.iry to tlie charge of the 
 Bishop of Langres, mul which will be distributed in like manner 
 through the dift'erent dioceses, proposes to the incumbents :— 
 
 1st, To keep a two-fold register, in which shall be inscribed the 
 Iwptisms, marriages, and burials of the Catholics in the parish ; 
 one of these registers will remain with tliemselves, the other will 
 be deposited every year in the hands of a trustworthy person. 
 
 2d, Independently of this register, the incumbents will keep 
 another, likewise two-fold, in which shall be recorded the acts of 
 dispensation concerning marriages, which they may have granted 
 by virtue of the powers which are given them by the 18th article 
 of the charge ; those acts shall be signed by two sure and faithful 
 witnesses ; and to give them greater authenticity, the registers 
 intended to record them shall be approved, indorsed, and signed 
 by the bishop, or, in his absence, by one of his vicars-general. A 
 counterpart of this register shall be placed, as is said above, in 
 the hands of a trustworthy person. 
 
 Jd, The incumbents will delay, if it be possible, retiring from 
 their churches and manses, until their pretended successors have 
 notified to them the certificate of their nomination and institu- 
 tion, iind let them protest against all that may be done in conse- 
 quence. 
 
 4th, They will draw up in secret a report of the installation of 
 the pretended incumbent, and of tlie invasion by him effected of 
 the parochial church and manse. In this report, of which I sub- 
 join a model, they will formally protest against all acts performed 
 unilcr the jurisdiction which he claims to exercise as incumbent 
 of the parish ; and to give this document all possible authenticity, 
 it shall be signed by the incumbent, his curate, if he have one, 
 and a neighbouring priest, and even by two or three pious and 
 discreet laymen, using all precautions, nevertheless, not to betray 
 the secret. 
 
 5tli, Those of the incumbents, whose parislies may be declared 
 suppressed without tlie intervention of the legitimate bishop, 
 will put in use the same means ; they will always consider them- 
 selves as the only legitimate pastors of their parishes; and if it 
 were absolutely imiiossible to remain therein, they shall endea- 
 vour to procure a residence in the vicinity, and within reach of 
 aihninistering to the spiritual wants of their parishioners ; and 
 they will take great care to forewarn and impress upon the faithful 
 their duties in that respect. 
 
 6th, If the civil power opposes the faithful Catholics having a 
 common cemetery, or if the relatives of deceased persons evince 
 too great a repugnance to their being buried in a separate place, 
 though specially blessed, as is mentioned in the 19th article of the 
 charge, after the legitimate pastor, or one of his representatives, 
 shall have repeated at the house the prayers prescribed by the 
 rituid, and shall have drawn up the mortuary certificate, which 
 is to be signed by the relatives, tlie body of the deceased shall be 
 borne to the door of the church, and the relatives may aecom- 
 I).iny it so far, but they shall be warned to retire the moment the 
 intrusive incumbent or his curates come to lift the body, so that 
 llicy may not participate in the ceremonies and prayers of those 
 schismatic priests. 
 
 7th, In all documents, when their title of incumbent shall be 
 <Ienied, the suixirseded incumbents will sign with their christian 
 i.nd surnames, without adding any quality. 
 
 I beg jou, sir, and those of your brethren to wliom you may 
 deem it fitting to communicate my letter, to have the goodness 
 to inform us the instant of your disjilacement, if it take place, of 
 the installation of your protended successor, and of the most 
 rcni:u-kuble circumstances, of the dispositions of your parishioners 
 uiKin the event, of the measures you think it proper to take for 
 the service of your parish, and of your residence, if you are abso- 
 lutely forced to quit it. You can have no doubt that all these 
 dutiiils will greatly interest us; your troubles arc ours; and our 
 most ardent wish is to be able, by participating them, to alleviate 
 their weight. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with rcspe<!tful and inviolable attach- 
 ment, your very humble and very obedient si^rvant." 
 
 These mancruvrcs have been powerfully assisted by certain 
 missionaries established in the to«'n of Saint-Laurent, district of 
 Mnntaigu; it is, indeed, to the activity of their zeal, to their 
 furlivo intrigues, to their indefatigable and secret exhortations, 
 that wo are led principally to attribute the dispositions of a consi- 
 
 The Constituent Assemblj' had enjoined all priests 
 to take the civic oath. Those who refused to take it, 
 although deprived of their character as ministers of 
 
 derable portion of the people throughout the department of La 
 Vend<5e, and in the district of Chatillon, department of the Deux- 
 Sevres. It is of essential importance to fix the attention of the 
 National Assembly upon the conduct of these missionaries, and 
 the spirit of their institution. 
 
 This establishment wiis foimded about sixty years ago, for a 
 society of secular priests living on alms, ami intended, in the 
 capacity of missionaries, to preach. These missionaries, who 
 have gained the confidence of the people by artfiUly distributing 
 chaplets, medals, and indulgences, and by planting on the roiuls 
 of all this part of France Calvaries of all forms, have since become 
 sufficiently numerous to form new establishments in other parts 
 of the kingdom. They are found in the late provinces of Poitou, 
 Aiijou, Bretagne, and Aunis, devoted with tlie same energy to 
 the success, and to the in some sort perpetual duration, of this 
 species of religious practices, rendered by their assiduous labours 
 the only religion of the people. The town of Saint- Laurent is 
 their chief seat ; they have recently built there a large and hand- 
 some convent, and have acquired, it is said, other territorial pro- 
 perty. 
 
 This congregation is connected, by the nature and spirit of the 
 institution, with an establishment of grey sisters, founded in the 
 same town, and known under the name of " Daughters of Wis- 
 dom." Devoted in this department, and in several otiiers, to the 
 service of the poor, and particularly of hospitals, tliey foiiii a 
 highly active medium of correspondence for these missionaries 
 with almost the whole kingdom. The house at Saint-Laurent has 
 become the place of their retreat, where the intolerant fury of 
 their zeal, or other circumstances, have compelled the adminis- 
 trators of hospitals which they attended, to dispense with tlieir 
 aid. 
 
 To enable you to form an opinion upon the conduct of these 
 hot-headed missionaries, and upon the moral tendency of tlie 
 religion they profess, it wiU be sufiicient to lay before you an 
 abridged summarj' of tlie maxims contained in different manu- 
 scripts, seized upon them by the national guards of Angers and 
 ClioUet. 
 
 These manuscripts, drawn up in the form of a catechism for the 
 country people, establish as axioms that constitutional priests, 
 stigmatised as intnulci-s, cannot be applied to for the administra- 
 tion of the sacraments ; that all those who participate in such 
 celebration, even by presence alone, are guilty of a mortal crime, 
 and that only ignorance or weakness of intellect can be pleaded in 
 forgiveness ; that those who shall have the audacity to get mar- 
 ried by the intruders, will not be married, but will draw Aovm 
 upon themselves and their children the divine curse ; that matters 
 ^vill be so arranged as to ensure the validity of marriages performed 
 by the old incumbents, but that, in the mean time, they must 
 submit to all extreiuitics; that if the children are not deemed 
 legitimate, they shall be so nevertheless ; that, on the contrary, 
 the children of those who shall have been married before the 
 intruders, will be truly bastards, because God will not have ratified 
 their union, and that it is better a marriage should be held null 
 before men than before God ; that they must not apply to the new 
 incumbents for burials ; and that if tlie former incumbent cannot 
 perform them without endiingering his life and liberty, the rela- 
 tives or friends of tlie deceased must themselves inter them 
 secretly. 
 
 It is furthermore observed that the old incumbent will take 
 care to keep an exact register for recording these different cere- 
 monies ; that it is certainly possible the civil tribmials will pay 
 no regard to them , but such an evil is one which must be endured ; 
 that the civil registration is a precious advantage which must 
 nevertheless be dispensed with, because it is better to be deprived 
 of it than to apostatise by applying to an intruder. 
 
 Finally, sill tlic faithful are exhorted to hold no communication 
 with the intruder, or take any part in his intrusion. It is de- 
 clared that the municipal officers who shall instal him will be 
 apostates like himself, and that, at the same moment, tlie sacris- 
 tans, choristers, and beU-ringers, arc bound to throw up theii 
 emiiloyments. 
 
 Such, gentlemen, is the absurd and seditious doctrine which 
 these manuscripts embody, and of which the public voice accuses 
 the missionaries of Saint-Laurent of having rendered themselves 
 the most zealous propagators. 
 
 They were denounced at the time to the Committee of Inquiry 
 of the National Assembly; and the silence which w;us observed 
 regarding them has but added to the activity of their efforts and 
 augmented their fatal influence. 
 
 We have deemed it indispensable thus to bring under your con-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 10/ 
 
 the national religion, and of their stipends as paid by 
 the state, preserved their pensions as simple ecclesi- 
 astics, and the liberty of privately exercising their 
 
 sideration the abridged analysis of the principles contained in 
 these writings, such as is promulgated in a resolution of the de- 
 partment of Maine-imdLoii'e, of the 5th Jime 1791, because it is 
 sufficient to compare tUem with the circular letter of the grand 
 vicar of the late Bishop of Lu9on, to be convinced that they belong 
 to a general system of opposition to the decrees respecting the 
 civil organisation of the clergy ; and the actual state of a majority 
 of the parishes in that department, is simply the result of the de- 
 velopement of that system, and the principles of that doctrine 
 put almost imiversally into action. 
 
 The too tardy displacement of the incumbents has greatly con- 
 tributed to the success of this coalition. This delay was at first 
 rendered unavoidable by the refusal of M. Servant, who, after 
 being named to the bishopric of tlie department, and accepting 
 the office, declared, on the 10th April, that he witlnlrew his ac- 
 ceptance. M. Rodrigue, the present bishop of the department, 
 whose moderation and firmness are almost his sole supports in a 
 position surrounded by turmoil and alarm, could not be nomi- 
 njited earlier than the first days in May. By tliat time, mea- 
 sures of resistance had been calculated and determined according 
 to an imiform plan ; the opposition was avowed, and in full acti- 
 vity ; the grand-vicars and incumbents had come togetlier and 
 were firmly united by a common tie ; the jealousies, rivalries, 
 and quarrels of the old eeclesiiistical hierarchy had had time 
 to disappear, and all interests were merged in one common 
 interest. 
 
 The displacement could only be effected in part ; the great 
 majority of the old ecclesiastical functionaries still continue in the 
 parishes, invested with their ancient functitms ; the later nomi- 
 nations have scarcely any where been successful ; and the newly- 
 elected persons, alarmed at the prospect of the numberless dis- 
 putes and annoyances which their nomination holds out to them, 
 answer only by refusals. 
 
 This division into juring and non-juring priests lias established 
 a veritable schism amongst the people of their parishes ; families 
 arc divided, women have been seen, and in fact are seen daily, 
 separating from their husbands, and children abandoning their 
 fathers. The state of the citizens is only transmitted, generally 
 speaking, upon loose sheets, and the person who receives them, 
 not being invested with any public character, is unable to give 
 to such a description of proof a legal authenticity. 
 
 The municipalities have fallen into disorganisation, and the 
 greatest number of them purposely avoid taking part in the 
 displacement of the non-juring incumbents. 
 
 A considerable portion of tlie citizens have renounced the ser- 
 vice of the national guard, and that which remains could not be 
 employed without risk, in any movements which should have for 
 principle or object acts concerning religion, because the people 
 would then look upon the national guards, not as the impassible 
 instruments of the law, but as the agents of a p:irty opposed to 
 their own. 
 
 In several districts of the department, an administrator, a 
 judge, a member of the electoral body, are viewed with aversion 
 by the people, because they concur in the execution of the law 
 relative to ecclesiastical fimctionaries 
 
 This disposition of the popular mind is the more to be deplored, 
 since the means of enlightenment become every day more difficult. 
 The people, confounding the general laws of the state >vith the 
 particular laws for the civil organisation of the clergy, render 
 both the reading and the publication useless. 
 
 The malcontents, those who are disinclined to the new order of 
 things, and those who, in the new order, are indisposed to the 
 laws rcLative to the clergy, studiously encourage this aversion on 
 the part of the people; strengthen, by all the means in their 
 power, the credit of the non-juring priests, and weaken the credit 
 of the others ; the indigent obtains no relief, the artisiin can hope 
 for no emplojTucnt of his talents and industry, but as he engages 
 not to attend tlie mass of the constitutional i)ricst ; and it is by 
 this general confidence in the old incumbents on the one hand, 
 and the threats and seduction at work on the other, that tlie 
 churches served by the conforming priests are deserteil, and 
 crowds resort to those where, from want of substitutes, the dis- 
 placements have not as yet been effected. 
 
 Nothing is more common than to see in iiarishes of five to six 
 hundred persons, ten or twelve only going to the mass of the con- 
 forming priest ; the proportion is the same in all tlie districts of 
 the department; on .Sundiiys and holidays the inliabitants of 
 whole villages and hamlets are seen deserting their hearths, to go 
 one, and sometimes two, leagues to hcai- the mass of a non-juring 
 priest. These habitual peregrinations have appeared to us the 
 
 ministry. Nothing could be more mild and moderate 
 than such a system of repression. The Legislative 
 Assembly now again required tlie oath, and deprived 
 
 most powerful cause of the fennentation, sometimes secret, some- 
 times palpable, which exists in nearly the whole of the parishes 
 ministered to by conforming priests. It is easily to be imagined, 
 that a miUtitude of individuals, believing themselves obliged for 
 conscience' sake to travel a great distance in quest of the spiritual 
 consolation desired by them, will regaid with aversion, when 
 they return home exhausted with fatigue, the five or six persons 
 who find at their threshold the priest of their choice ; they look 
 with envy, and treat with sullenness, often with violence, men 
 who seem in their eyes to have an exclusive privilege in the aft'air 
 of religion. The comparisons which they make between the faci- 
 lity which they formerly enjoyed of seeking at home priests who 
 possessed their confidence, and the difficulty, the fatigue, and the 
 loss of time, consequent upon these rejicated expeditions, greatly 
 diminish their attachment to the constitution, upon which they 
 charge all the annoyances of their new position. 
 
 To this general cause, more influential at this moment, per- 
 haps, than the secret provocations of the non-juring priests, we 
 are inclined to believe may be mainly attributed the state of 
 internal discord, in which we have found the majority of the 
 parishes where conforming priests are installed. 
 
 Several parishes have presented to us, as also to the administra- 
 tive bodies, petitions praying for authority to hire particular edi- 
 fices for the celebration of their religious service ; but as these 
 petitions, which we knew to be stimulated with great activity by 
 persons who did not sign them, appeared to us as part of a more 
 generalised and secret system, we thought ourselves not warranted 
 in sanctioning a religious separation, which, according to our 
 opinion at that period, and under the circumstances of the depart- 
 ment, was fraught with all the characteristics of a civil schism 
 amongst the citizens. We thought, and openly stated, that it 
 was for you, gentlemen, to determine, in a distinct manner, how, 
 and under what union of moral influences, laws, imd modes of 
 execution, the exercise of liberty in religious opinions might in 
 this case, under actual circumstances, be made consistent with 
 the maintenance of public tranquillity. 
 
 It is, doubtless, matter of surprise that the non-juring priests 
 who remain in their old parishes, do not take advantage (if the 
 privilege the law gives them of saying mass in the church served 
 by the new incumbent, and do not exhibit alacrity in the use of 
 this liberty so as to spare their old parishioners, all who remain 
 attached to them, the loss of time and annoyances of so many and 
 such tedious journeys. To explain this conduct, appai-ently so 
 extraordinary, it behoves us to remark, that one of the things 
 which has been most strongly recommended to the non-juring 
 priests, by the able men who are in the direction of this great 
 religious movement, is to abstain from all comniimication with 
 the priests, whom they call inti-uders and usurpers, for fear the 
 people, who are affected only by sensible signs, should become 
 ultimately impressed with the idea that there is in reality no 
 difference between priests performing in the same church the 
 ceremonies of the same worship. 
 
 Unfortmiately, this religious division has produced a political 
 di\ision amongst the citizens, and this separation is rendered 
 more marked by the denomination bestowed on each of the two 
 parties ; the small number of persons who go into the church of 
 the conforming priests, call themselves, and ai-c called, patriots i 
 those wlio go into tlie church of the non-juring priests, arc called, 
 and call themselves, aristocrats. Thus, to these poor country 
 peojile, love or hatred of their country consists at the present 
 day, not in obeying the laws, or resiiccting the legitimate autho- 
 rities, but in going or not going to the mass of the conforming 
 priest; design, ignorance, and prejudice, have thrown out such 
 deep-seated misconceptions on this subject, tliat we had the 
 greatest difficulty in making them understand that the political 
 constitution of the state was not the civil constitution of the 
 clergy ; that the law did not tyrannise over consciences ; th.-it 
 each was at liberty to attend the mass which was most agreeable 
 to himself, and the priest who enjoyed his eontidcncc ; that they 
 were all equal in the eye of the law, and that it imposed upon 
 them no other obligation, in a religious point of view, than to 
 live in peace, and mutually tolerate the differences of their opi- 
 nions. We neglected no moans of eftacing fniiu the minds, and 
 banishing from the discourses, of tlie country people, those absurd 
 denominations ; and we directed our attention thereto with the 
 more energy, since it was no difficult matter to estimate the 
 deplorable consequences of such distinctions, in a department 
 where those pretended aristocrats form more than two-thirds of 
 the entire population. 
 Such, gentlemen, is the summary of the facts which haveoouie
 
 108 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 those who refused it of :dl iillowances. As they abused 
 the liberty allowed them by exciting civil war, it 
 ordered that, according to particular circumstances, 
 
 to our knowledge, as existing in the department of La Vendue, and 
 of the reflections to which those facts have given rise. 
 
 We have pursued iii this matter such measures as we found 
 practicable, both for the purpose of maintaining the public tran- 
 quillity, and obviating or repressing attempts against public 
 order; as organs of tlio law, we have made its language every 
 where licard. At the same time that we instituted safeguards for 
 order and tranquiUity, we directed our attention to the explaining 
 or illustrating before the administrative bodies, the tribunals, 
 and individuals, the dilKcuUies springing from the misunder- 
 standing of the decrees, and from the mode of their execution ; 
 we exhorted tlie administrative bodies :md tribunals to redouble 
 i tlieir vigilance and zeal in the exeiutian of the laws which pro- 
 i tott personal safety and the rights of property ; in a word, to j)ut 
 I in force, with the firmness which is one of their duties, tlie 
 authority tlie law has conferred upon them. We distributed a 
 p;irt of tlie public force at our disposal, into localities where 
 I sorious and imminent dangei-s were announced to us ; we pro- 
 ceede<l in person into all such localities, upon the first rumour 
 ! of disturbances ; we ascertained the state of affairs v/ith calm- 
 i ness and deliberation ; and after liaving, cither by words of peace 
 and conciliation, or by the firm and just vindication of the law, 
 subdued this momentary disorder of individual passions, we 
 considered that the mere presence of the public force would 
 tlienceforth suffice. It is for you, gentlemen, since you are alone 
 competent, to take really efficacious measures in a matter which, 
 from tlie relations it holds with the constitution of the state, 
 exercises upon that constitution at this moment an influence 
 incomparably greater than might be surmised from th.e simple 
 assumptions of reason apart from the experience cf fasts. 
 
 In all our operations relative to the distribution of the public 
 force, we liave been signally and most actively aided by a general 
 orticer well known for his patriotism and talents. No sooner was 
 he apprised of our arrival in the departmr^nt, than M. Dumouriez 
 came to share our labours, and take part witli us in the mainte- 
 nance of public peace; we were on the point of being totally 
 deprived of troops of the line, at a moment when v,-e had good 
 grounds for believing tliey were more than ever necessary ; in 
 such conjuncture, it was to the zeal and activity of M. Dumouriez 
 that we were indebted for an immediate succour, which , from 
 the backward organisation of tlie national guards, was in some 
 sort the only safeguard for the tranquillity of the country. 
 
 We had concluded our mission in the department of La Vendue, 
 when the decree of the National Assembly of 8th August, which 
 empowerod us, upon the requisition of tlie administrators of the 
 department of the Deux-Sevres, to proceed into the district of 
 .Chatillon, w,is transmitted to us, as also to the directory of that 
 department. 
 
 It had been announced to us, on our arrival at Fontenay-le- 
 Comte, that this district was in the same state of religious dis- 
 turbance :is the department of La Vendue. A few days before oiu- 
 receipt of the decree last mentioned, several citizens, electors, and 
 I)ublic functionaries of that district, had lodged with tlie directory 
 of the department of the Deux-Sevres a written denunciation 
 upon the troubles which tliey stated to exist in various parishes ; 
 they asserted tliat an insurrection v>-as on the eve of breaking out ; 
 tlie mode of prevention whicli seemed to them the most certain 
 and prompt, and which t'.iey supported v.'ith great force, was to 
 cxi>el from the diotrict, within three days, all the non-juring and 
 displaced incumbents, and :dl the non-jming curates. The direc- 
 tory, after long hesitating to adopt a measure which appeared to 
 it contniry to the prineii)les of strict justice, at last concluded 
 that the public character of the denouncers was sufficient to 
 authenticate both the reality of the evil, and the pressing neces- 
 sity for a remedy. An order wus resolved upon in consequence, 
 on the .'>th September, and the directory, commanding all the 
 ecclesiistic-s to leave the district in three days, invited them to 
 repair within that period to Ninrt, the chief town of the depart- 
 ment, rumirintj tlu'm that Uiey would Oicrefind everi/ protection and 
 mfetiffitr their perions. 
 
 Theonk-r wasal ready printed, and about to be putintoexecution, 
 wlicn the directory received a copy of the decree of commission 
 which it had solicited ; it immediately passed a resolution wlioreby 
 it suspended the execution of the first, .-ind left to our prudence 
 the tabk of confirming, modifying, or suppressing it. 
 
 Two administrators of the directory were, by the same resolu- 
 tion, named commissioners to make us acquainted with all that 
 li.ui passed, to proceed to Chatillon, and there take, in concert 
 vitU us, all the mciisures that might be deemed necessary. 
 Uj>on our arrival at Chatillon, we assembled the fifty -six munl- 
 
 they sliuuld be transported from one place to another, 
 and even subjected to a detention if they refused to 
 obey. Finally, it prohibited them from the free exer- 
 
 cipalities of which that district is composed, and called them Suc- 
 cessively into the hall of the directory. We consulted each of 
 them upon the state of its parisli ; all the municipalities expressed 
 an uniform desire : those in which the incumbents had been re- 
 placed, demanded the restoration of those priests ; those in wliich 
 tlie non-juring incumbents were still in possession, demanded 
 their conservation. There was also another point on wliich all 
 this rural population insisted unanimously, namely, liberty of 
 religious opinions, which, it alleged, had been granted to it, and 
 which it was anxious to enjoy. The same and the following day, 
 the neighbouring parishes sent us numerous deputations of their 
 inhabitants reiterating the same prayer. " We ask no other 
 favour," said they to us with one accord, " than to have priests in 
 whom we put our trust." Several of them, indeed, attached so 
 great a value to this concession, that they assured us they would 
 willingly pay, in order to obtain it, a double contribution. 
 
 A very gre.at majority of the ecclesiastical functionaries in that 
 district have not taken the oath ; and whilst their churches scarcely 
 suffice to contain the throng of citizens, the churches of the con- 
 forming priests are almost deserted. In tliis respect, the state of 
 the district appeared to us the same as that of the depai-tment of 
 La Vendue ; there, as in other parts, we found tlie designations 
 of patriot and aristocrat completely established amongst the 
 people, with the same meanings, and, if possible, in a yet more 
 general manner. The public feeling in favour of the non-juring 
 priests, appeared to us even more decided than in the department 
 of La Vendue ; the attachment evinced towards them, the confi- 
 dence reposed in them, have all the characteristics of the most 
 energetic and profound sentiment ; in some of these parishes, the 
 conforming priests, and citizens friendly to them, have been 
 exposed to threats and insults; and although there, as elsewhere, 
 these violent manifestations appeared occasionally exaggerated, 
 we are convinced (and the simple statement of the public feeling 
 is sufficient to found the conviction) that the greater part of the 
 complaints were based on substantial grounds. 
 
 At the same time that we recommended to the judges and ad- 
 ministrators the greatest vigilance upon this subject, we omitted 
 no expedient calculated to inspire the people with ideas and sen- 
 timents more conformable to respect for the law and to the rights 
 of individual liberty. 
 
 We are bound to state, gentlemen, that these same men, who 
 had been represented to us as such furious characters — as deaf to 
 every appeal of reason — left us with minds full of peace and satis- 
 faction, when we made them imderstand that it was the essence 
 of the principles of the new constitution to respect liberty of con- 
 science : they were moved with gi'ief and remorse for the faults 
 that some amongst them had been induced to commit ; they pro- 
 mised us, with mueli emotion, to follow the counsels we gave 
 them, to live in peace, notwithstanding the difference of their 
 reUgious opinions , and to respect the public functionary established 
 by the law. They were heai-d, as they went out, congratulating 
 each other upon having seen us, repeating, amongst themselves, 
 all that we had said to them, and fortifying each other in their 
 resolutions of peace and good -will. 
 
 On the sjmie day it was annoimeed to us that several of these 
 country people, on returning home, had affixed placards, in which 
 they declared, that each of them bound himself to denounce and 
 to apprehend t'le first person wlio should do injury to another, 
 and especially to the constitutional priests. 
 
 AVe ouglit to draw attention to the fact, that in this same dis- 
 trict, so long distracterl with religious differences, the taxes in 
 arrear for l/fW and 1790, amounting to 700,0(H) livres, have been 
 almost entirely discharged. We have proved it by reference to 
 the directory of the district. 
 
 After having carefully studied the tone of public feeling, and the 
 situation of affairs, we were of opinion that the order of the 
 directory ought not to be put in execution, and the conimisHion- 
 ers of the department, as well as the administrators of the direc- 
 tory of Chatillon, were of the same opinion. 
 
 Setting aside all the determuiing motives to be drawn from 
 things and persons, we deliberated whether tlie measiu-e adopted 
 by the directory was just in its nature, and whether it would be 
 efficacious in execution. 
 
 We judged that those priests who have been displaced cannot 
 be considered in a state of revolt against the law, because they 
 continue to reside in the place of their abrogated functions, the 
 more especially as amongst these priests there are some who 
 notoriously confine themselves to a life such as befits charitable 
 and jicaceable men, far removed from all public and private dis- 
 cussions; we judged that, in the eye of the law, none could be
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 109 
 
 cise of their separate worship, and directed that the 
 administratiTe bodies sliould cause to be transmitted 
 to it a list, with notes upon the conduct of each of 
 tliem.* 
 
 This measure, as well as that which had recently 
 been adopted against the emigrants, was evidence 
 of the fear whicli possesses governments violently 
 menaced, and whicli induces them to resort to mea- 
 sm'es of extreme precaution. It is no longer the 
 realised attempt they pmiish, it is tlie apprehended 
 attack tliey would repel ; and their proceedings often 
 become as arbitrary and cruel as suspicion itself. 
 
 The bishops and priests wlio had remained at Paris 
 and preserved relations with the king, immediately 
 addressed a memorial to him against the decree. He, 
 already somewhat conscience-striken for liaving sanc- 
 tioned the earlier decree of the Constituent Assembly, 
 did not need encouragement to withhold his consent. 
 " As to this one," said he, speaking of the new law, 
 " they shall rather take my life than oblige me to 
 sanction it." The ministers coincided to a great ex- 
 tent in this opinion. Barnave and Lameth, whom the 
 king consulted occasionally, advised him to refuse his 
 sanction; but to this counsel they added another, 
 which the king could not bring himself to foUow, 
 namely, that whilst opposing the decree, he should 
 obviate all doubt as to his own dispositions, and for 
 that purpose remove from his person all jjriests who 
 had not taken the oath, and compose his chapel of 
 constitutional ecclesiastics alone. But of all the coun- 
 sels that were given him, tlie king adopted merely 
 that part which comported Avith his own weakness or 
 devout tendency. Duport-Dutertre, the keeper of the 
 seals, and the organ of the constitutionalists in the 
 ministry, successfully upheld the course they recom- 
 mended with his colleagues ; and when the council 
 had decided, to the great satisfaction of Louis XVI., 
 that the veto should be affixed, he added as a sugges- 
 tion, that it would be a,dvisable to surround the person 
 of the king with jmests who were not suspected. 
 Against this proposition, Louis XVI., generally so 
 yielding, manifested an invincible repugnance, and 
 said, that religiovis liberty being decreed for all, it 
 sliould be extended to liun as well as his subjects, and 
 that he ought to be allowed to call such priests around 
 him as were agreeable to his own feelings. The 
 matter was not pressed ; and without giving the as- 
 semljly any intimation of the intention, the veto was 
 decided upon. 
 
 The constitutional party, to which the king seemed 
 
 deemed in a state of revolt, unless opposing it by precise, ascer- 
 tained, and verified facts ; iinally, wo judged that acts of resist- 
 ance to the laws relative to the clergy, and to all the laws of the 
 kingdom, ought, like all other oft'ences, to be punished by legal 
 forms. 
 
 Upon the second question as to the efficacy of such a measure, 
 wo held, that if the faithful have no confidence in the conforming 
 priests, it is not the mode for inspiring them with more to remove 
 in this manner tliose of their choice ; we held, that in the districts 
 wliere the great majority of the non-juring priests continue the 
 exorcise of their functions, according to the sanction of tlio law, 
 until they are replaced, it woukl certainly not, in sucli a system 
 of repression, diminisli the evil to remove so small a number of 
 individuals, when it is necessary to leave in the same localities a 
 greater number imbued with identical opinions. 
 
 Such, gentlemen, are some of the reasons Avliich influenced our 
 conduct upon this occasion, independently of all tliose derived 
 from local circimistances, which would alone have induced vis to 
 pursue a similar course; such, in fact, was the general feeling 
 that the execution of that order in those parts would infallibly 
 have become the signal of civil war. 
 
 The directory of the department of the Deux-Pevrcs, informed 
 first by its own coniniishioncrs, and subsequently by >is, of all 
 that we had done upon this subject, did us the honour to offer us 
 an expression of its gratitude, by a resolution of the l!)th of last 
 month. 
 
 We will add, with respect to tliat measure for the removal of 
 
 • Decree of the 29th November. 
 
 at this moment to surrender himself, brought him an 
 additional support — it was that of the directory of the 
 department. This directory was composed of some of 
 the most distingrdshed members of the late asseml)ly, 
 such as the Duke of Larochefoucault, the Bishop of 
 Autun, Baumetz, Desmeuniers, Ansons, &c. It sent 
 a petition to the king, not as an administrative body, 
 but as a meeting of petitioners, and prayed for the 
 affixing of the veto to the decree against the priests. 
 " The National Assembly," said the petition, " has 
 unquestionably acted with the best intentions ; M-e 
 desire here to vindicate it from its base detractors ; 
 but its laudable designs have urged it to the adoption 
 of measures which the constitution, justice, and pru- 
 dence, alike disclaim. It makes the payment of the 
 pensions to all superseded ecclesiastics dependent on 
 their taking the civic oath, whereas the constitution 
 has expressly and literally placed those pensions in 
 the list of national obligations. Now, can the refusal 
 to take any oath whatsoever destroy the vaUdity of 
 an acknowledged debt? The Constituent Assembly 
 enacted aU that was expedient with regard to the 
 non-juring priests : they refused the prescribed oath, 
 and it deprived them of their functions ; upon dis- 
 possessing them, it assigned to them a pension. The 
 Legislative Assembly desires that the ecclesiastics 
 who have not taken the oath, or have retracted it, 
 should be liable, in the event of religious troubles, to 
 be provisionally removed, and then imprisoned, if they 
 refuse obedience to the orders that may be intimated 
 to them. Is this not to renew the system of arbitrary 
 orders, inasmuch as it would allow to be pmiished 
 with exile, and shortly after with imprisonment, in- 
 dividuals who are not convicted of ])eing refractory 
 to any law ? The National Assembly refuses to all 
 those who shall not take the civic oath the free pro- 
 fession of their faith. Now, this liberty can be taken 
 away from no one ; it is consecrated for ever in the 
 declaration of rights." 
 
 These were, doubtless, very excellent reasons ; but 
 it is not with arguments that the irritation or appre- 
 hensions of parties are appeased. By what logic could 
 the assembly be persuaded that it ought to leave un- 
 molested a body of stubborn priests, actually exciting 
 discord and civil war ? The directory was assailed 
 with reproaches, and its petition to the king met by 
 a multitude of counter-addresses to the legislative 
 body. Camille-Desmoulins presented one of singular 
 hardihood in its expressions, at the head of a sec- 
 tion. An increasing violence of language, and a repu- 
 
 the non-juring priests who have been displaced, that it was con- 
 stantly recommended to us by almost all of the citizens in the 
 department of La Vendee who are attached to the constitutional 
 priests, and who form, as we have already stated, hut a small 
 fraction of the inhabitants. In laying this wish before you, we do 
 but acquit ourselves of a commission Ihat lias been intrusted 
 to us. 
 
 ]Vor will we on the other band conceal from you that some of 
 the conforming priests whom we have seen were of a contrary 
 opinion ; one of them, in a letter which he addressed to us on the 
 Idth September, after pointing out the causes of the troubles, and 
 mentioning the annoyances to which he was everj* daj' exposed, 
 observes, that tlie only means of remedying all these evils is (we 
 quote his expressions) " to conciliate the opinion of the people, 
 whose prejudices should be removed with patience and i)ru(lence ; 
 for we must avoid all war on accountof religion, the wounds from 
 which are still bleeding. It is to be feared that rigorous measures, 
 needful under the circumstances against the disturbed of the 
 public repose, might appear more as a persecution than a punish- 
 ment inflicted by tlie law. Wliat prudence will it not be neces- 
 sary to observe ! Mildness, exhortiition, arc the weapons of 
 truth." 
 
 Such, gentlemen, is the genenU result of the details we have 
 gathered, and of the observations we have made, in the course of 
 the mission whicli has been conlided to us. The sweetest recom- 
 pense of our labours would be to have facilitated the me;ms ot 
 establishing upon solid foundations the tranquillity of those de- 
 liartmcnts, and to have proved worthy, by the activity of our zeal, 
 of the confidence with which we have been honoured.
 
 110 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 diation of all the accustomed terms of respect towards 
 the authorities and the king, were already distinctly 
 visible. Desmoulins said to the assembly that a j^^reat 
 example was required; that the directory ought to be 
 put under impeachment; that the leaders were those 
 whom it was necessary to attack ; that it was at the 
 head tlie blow should be struck, and the thunderbolt 
 hurled at all conspirators ; that the power of the royal 
 veto had its limits ; and that the capture of the Bas- 
 tille had not been prevented by a veto. 
 
 Louis XYI., although determined to refuse his 
 sanction, delayed, nevertheless, his announcement to 
 the assembly. He wished in the mean time to con- 
 ciliate opinion by some popular acts. He selected 
 his ministers from the constitutional party. Mont- 
 morin, wearied by his laborious career under the con- 
 stituent body, and by his irksome negotiations with 
 all i)arties, had resolved not to brave the storms of a 
 new legislature, and had consequently reth-ed, in spite 
 of the king's entreaties. The ministry for foreign 
 affairs, refused by divers persons, was ultimately ac- 
 cepted by Delessart, who quitted that of the honje 
 departme'nt. Delessart, a man of integrity and ability, 
 was under the influence of the constitutionalists or 
 Feuillants; but he was too feeble to fix the mind of 
 the king, to have weight with foreign powers, or awe 
 internal factions. Cahier de Gerville, a decided 
 patriot, somewhat more rough than engaging in his 
 eloquence, was placed in the home-office, as an addi- 
 tional bait for public confidence. Narbonne, a young 
 man of great activity and ardour, a zealous constitu- 
 tionalist, and skilfid in gaining popularity, was in- 
 trusted with tlie ministry at war by the party then 
 predominant in the cabinet. He might have exer- 
 cised a beneficial influence upon its determinations, 
 and reconciled tlie assembly with the king, if he had 
 not had as an adversary Bertrand de Molleville, a 
 counter-revolutionary minister, and possessing the 
 ear of the court in preference to all his colleag\ies. 
 Bertrand de Molleville detesting the constitution, and 
 artfully clinging to its text for the purpose of marring 
 its spirit, was really desirous, nevertheless, that the 
 king should attempt to execute it — " but in order," as 
 he said, " that its impracticability might be demon- 
 strated." The king could not resolve to dismiss him ; 
 and it was with this mixed ministry he once more set 
 forward on his course. After thus striving to win opi- 
 nion by his ministerial selections, he essayed other 
 means to gain it still more decidedly ; appearing at 
 this time cordially disposed to second all the diplo- 
 matic and military measures proposed against the 
 armed assemblages on the Rhine. 
 
 The last repressive laws had been defeated by the 
 veto, and yet every day fresh denimciations apprised 
 the assembly of the preparations and threats of the 
 emigrants. The records of the numicipalities and 
 departments bordering on the frontier, and the ac- 
 counts of commercial travellers coming from beyond 
 the Rhine, bore testimony that the Viscount de Mira- 
 beau, brother of the celebrated Constituent, was at the 
 head of six hundred men in the bishopric of Stras- 
 burg ; that in the territory of the Elector of 3Iayence, 
 and close to Worms, were numerous corps of deserters, 
 under the orders of the Prince of Condc ; that the 
 same state of things existed at Coblentz and in the 
 whole electorate of Treves; that excesses and injuries 
 had been perpetrated on French subjects ; and, finally, 
 that a proposition had been made to General Wimpfen 
 for delivering up Neuf-Brisach. These reports, com- 
 ing in confirmation of all that was known from pub- 
 lic rumour, drove the assembly to the highest pitch 
 of exasperation. A project for a decree was instantly 
 proposed, embodying a demand upon the electors to 
 ilisband the emigrants. The question was prorogued 
 for two days, in order that the assembly might not 
 appear too precipitate. That term expired, and the 
 debate was opened. 
 
 Tlie deputy Isnard ushered in the discussion. He 
 
 expatiated on the necessity of securing the tranquil- 
 lity of the kingdom, not in a loose and fleeting man- 
 ner, but upon durable fomidations, and of commanding 
 it by prompt and vigorous measures, which should 
 attest to all Europe the patriotic resolutions of Franca. 
 " Fear not," said he, " to provoke the great powers 
 to declare war against you ; interest has already de- 
 cided their intentions ; your measures will not alter 
 them, but they will oblige them to explain themselves. 
 The conduct of France nmst respond to its new des- 
 tiny. Enslaved under Louis XIV., it was neverthe- 
 less valorous and great; to-day free, shall it be timid 
 and weak ? It is a mistake, says Montesquieu, when 
 it is imagined that a nation in a revolution is prone 
 to be conquered ; it is readj-, on the contrary, to con- 
 quer others." Loud applause follo^ved these words. 
 He continued : 
 
 " Capitulations are proposed to you ! You are asked 
 to augment the royal prerogative, to augment the 
 power of the king— of a man whose fiat can paralyse 
 the energies of a whole nation — of a man with a reve- 
 nue of thirty millions, whilst tens of thousands of our 
 citizens perish in distress ! You are asked to restore 
 the nobilitj^ ! Let aU the nobles of the earth assail us, 
 and M'e, the French, dispensing our gold with one 
 hand and grasping our steel with the other, will meet 
 this haughty caste face to face, and compel it to 
 undergo the torture of equality ! 
 
 Speak to the ministers, to the king, and to Europe, 
 the language which befits the representatives of 
 France ! Tell the ministers that hitherto you have 
 been dissatisfied with their conduct, and that by re- 
 sponsibility you mean death !" Loud and long-con- 
 tinued applause interrupted the speaker. " Tell Europe 
 that 3'ou will respect the institutions of all kingdoms, 
 but that if her cabinets stir up a war of kings against 
 France, we will stir up a war of nations against kings!" 
 Here the cheers of the auditors were renewed. " In- 
 terrupt not my enthusiasm," exclaimed Isnard, " for it 
 is that of liberty ! Tell Europe, then, that the battles 
 fought by nations on the mandate of despots resemble 
 the blows which two friends may deal each other in 
 the dark, wlien stimidated by some perfidious villain ! 
 Let the light but appear, they instantly embrace, and 
 take vengeance on him who has deceived them. So 
 also, if at the moment the armies of enemies contend 
 with ours, the light of philosophy should strike their 
 eyes, the nations would embrace in the face of de- 
 throned tyrants, of a comforted world, and of an ap- 
 plauding Heaven ! " * 
 
 The enthusiasm excited by these words was such, 
 that all thronged around the orator to press him in 
 their arms. The decree which he supported was 
 adopted upon the moment. M. de ^"aublanc was 
 charged to carry it to the king, at the head of a de- 
 putation of twenty-four members. By this decree, 
 the assembly declared that it was imperative upon 
 the executive to require the electors of Maj'ence and 
 Treves, and other pi'inces of the empire, to disperse 
 the assemblages formed on the frontier. It besought 
 the king, at the same time, to expedite the negotia- 
 tions set on foot for settling the indemnities exigible 
 by the princes holding possessions in Alsace, 
 
 M. de Vaublanc presented this decree in a firm and 
 respectful address, much applauded by the assembly. 
 " Sire," said he, " if the French, expelled from their 
 country by the edict of Nantes, had assembled in arms 
 on the frontiers — if they had been protected by the 
 princes of Gennan3% we ask you, sire, what would 
 have been the conduct of Louis XIV. ? Would he 
 have permitted such assemblages ? What he would 
 have doubtless done for his authority, may your ma- 
 jesty do for the maintenance of the constitution ! " 
 
 Louis XVI. having resolved, as we have previously 
 stated, to correct the ill effects of the veto by acts 
 soothing to public opinion, determined to proceed in 
 
 * Sitting of the 29th November.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 person to the assembly, and reply to its message by a 
 speecli calculated to give it satisfaction. 
 
 On the evening of the 14th December, the king re- 
 paired to the hall, in accordance with a notification he 
 had transmitted tliat morning by a simple note. He 
 was received with profound silence. He said that the 
 message of the assembly' demanded high considera- 
 tion ; and that upon an occasion in wliich the honour 
 of France was at stake, he deemed it expedient to 
 come amongst them in person ; that participating the 
 sentiments of the assembly, but wishful to avoid the 
 scourge of war, he had endeavtmred to lure back the 
 .leluded emigrants ; that friendly solicitations having 
 been unavailing, he had anticipated the message of the 
 representatives, and already notified to the electors, 
 that if before the loth January all warlike preparations 
 liad not ceased, they would be considered enemies of 
 France ; that he had written to the emperor claiming 
 ids intervention as head of tlie empire ; and that, in 
 case satisfaction should not be obtained, lie would 
 propose a declaration of war. He concluded by ob- 
 serving, that all attempts to render the exercise of his 
 authority displeasing to his mind would be fruitless ; 
 tliat he would faitlifully guard the integrity of the 
 constitution ; and that lie was deeply sensible how 
 glorious it was to be the king of a free people. 
 
 Applauses succeeded the silence, and indemnified 
 the king for the sombre reception that had marked 
 his entrance. The assembly, having resolved in the 
 morning sitting that he slionld be answered by mes- 
 sage, could not immediately express its satisfaction, 
 but it decided that his discourse should be sent to the 
 eighty-three departments. Narbonne shortly after- 
 wards entered, to conununicate the measm-es that had 
 been taken to ensuj-e the effect of the notifications 
 addressed to the empire. One Inmdred and fifty thou- 
 sand men were intended to be assembled on the Rhine, 
 which, he added, was by no means impossible. Three 
 generals were named to command them — Luckner, 
 Rocharabeau, and Lafayette. Great applause greeted 
 the last name. Narbonne furthermore stated, that he 
 purposed leaving Paris to visit the frontiers, to inquire 
 into the state of the fortified places, and to impart 
 activity to the preparations for defence; that the as- 
 sembly would doubtless grant the necessary supplies, 
 and that it would not be niggardly in defence of 
 liberty. " No ! no ! " responded from all sides. In 
 conclusion, he asked if the assembly, although the 
 legal number of marshals was complete, woiild not 
 permit the king to confer that distinction on the two 
 genends, Luckner and Rochambeau, thus intrusted 
 with the preservation of liberty. Acclamations testi- 
 fied the consent of the assembly, and the high satis- 
 faction the energy of the young minister gave it. 
 It was by such conduct Louis XVI. might have gained 
 popularity, and conciUated the republicans, who de- 
 sired a republic only because they believed a monarch 
 incapable of loving and defending freedom. 
 
 Advantage was taken of the satisfaction produced 
 by these measures to notify the veto affixed to the 
 decree against the priests. In the morning, care had 
 been taken to publish in the journals the dismissal of 
 the former diplomatic agents accused of aristocracy, 
 and the nomination of successors. Owing to these 
 l)recautions, the communication was heard without 
 a murmur. The assembly had already exjjccted it, 
 and the effect was not so unfavourable as might have 
 been apprehended. We see how many manunivres 
 the king was obliged to adopt in making use of his 
 prerogative, and what dangers he incurred in employ- 
 ing it. Had, then, the Constituent Assembly, which 
 was accused of having annihilated him by its limita- 
 tion, granted him the absolute veto, would it have 
 been more efficient on that account? Did not the 
 suspensive veto produce all the effect of the absolute 
 veto ? What was it that failed the king? — legal power, 
 or the power of opinion ? We perceive which by the 
 result ; it was not a deficiency in efU'ctual preroga- 
 
 tives that ruined Louis XVI., but the indiscreet use of 
 those which he still wielded. 
 
 The activity promised to the assembly was mani- 
 fested in acts. The propositions for the expenses of 
 war, and for the nomination of the two marshals, 
 Luckner and Rochambeau, were l)rought forward 
 without delay. Lafayette, called from the privacy 
 into which he had retired, after his three years of 
 turmoil, ijresented himself at the bar of the assembly, 
 and was most favourably received. Battalions of the 
 national guard accompanied him on his exit from 
 Paris ; and all proved to him that the name of La- 
 fayette h;id not fallen into oblivion, and that he was 
 still regarded as one of the founders of liberty. 
 
 However, Leopold, naturally of a pacific tempera- 
 ment, Avas not anxi(ms for war, as he was well aware 
 it would be detrimental to his interests ; but he desired 
 a congress, backed by an imposing force, as a means of 
 leading to an accommodation, and enforcing some mo- 
 difications in the constitution. The emigrants, indeed, 
 were eager, not for its modification, but fiir its destruc- 
 tion ; the emperor, more sagacious and enhghtened, 
 felt that great concessions were needful to the new 
 opinions ; and that the utmost that could be desired 
 was the restoration to the king of certain prerogatives, 
 and an amendment in the composition of the legisla- 
 tive body, by its being established in two chambers 
 instead of one.* This last project was the one most 
 
 * I have already had occasion to refer, upon several occasions, 
 to the intentions of Leopold, Louis XVL, and the emigrants. I 
 shall here present several extracts, which will show them in the 
 dearest manner. Boiiilld, who had gone abroad, and whose re- 
 putation and talents caused him to be much sought after by the 
 sovereigns, had better opportunities than any one else of ascer- 
 taining the sentiments of the various courts, and his testimony 
 carmot be at all suspected. The following are the terms in which 
 he expresses himself in dififerent parts of his Memoirs :— 
 
 " It may be judged from this letter that the King of Sweden 
 was in great uncertainty touching the real designs of the emperor 
 and his allies, who then seemed indisposed to interfere any further 
 in the atfairs of France. The Empress (Catherine) , no doubt, was 
 aware of them, but she had not communicated them to him. I 
 knew that, at this moment, she was employing all her influence 
 with the emperor and the King of Prussia, to induce them to 
 declare war against France. She had even ^vTitten a very strong 
 letter to the first of those sovereigns, in which she represented to 
 him that the King of Prussia, on account of a simple breach of 
 politeness towards his sister, had caused an army to enter Hol- 
 li'jid, whilst he calmly suffered the insults and affronts that were 
 heaped on the Queen of France, the degradation of her rank and 
 dignity, and the annihilation of the throne of a king, his brotlier- 
 in-law and ally. The empress spoke with the same energy to 
 Spain, which had adopted pacific sentiments. However, the em- 
 peror, after the king's acceptance of the constitution, had again 
 received the French ambassador, whom he had previously for- 
 bidden to appear at his court. He was even the first to admit the 
 national flag into his ports. The courts of Madrid, Petersburg, 
 and Stockholm, were the only ones which, at tliis period, with- 
 drew theu- ambassadors from Paris. All these circumstances 
 tend to prove, therefore, that the views of Leopold were inclined 
 to peace, and that they resulted from the influence of Louis XVI. 
 and the queen." — Memoirs ofBouUW, p. 314. 
 
 Again, Bouill(5 says : — 
 
 " Several months elapsed, in the mean time, without my per- 
 ceiving any issue to the projects entertained by the emperor of 
 assembling armies on the frontier, of lioUling a congi-oss, and of 
 entering upon a negotiation with tlie French go\'ernment. 1 
 presumed, that the king had fonned hopes tliat liis aceoptjince of 
 the constitution would restore to him his personal freedom, wliich 
 an armed negotiation might have endangered, and tliat lie liad 
 consotiuently urged the emperor, and the other sovereigns his 
 iillies, to take no step which might provoke those liostilities he 
 liad constantly laboured to avoid. I was confirmed in this opinion 
 by tlie reserve of the court of Spain, as to the proposition for 
 fiu-nishing the King of Sweden with fifteen millions of livres 
 tournoi.i, which it had engaged to pay him in aid of the expenses 
 of his e.\i>edition. That prince had instructed me to writo on his 
 behalf to the Spanish ministry, from whom 1 received only vague 
 answers. I then advised the King of Sweden to open a loan in 
 Holland, under tlic guarantee of Spain, the dispositions of wliich
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ileprecated, and that witli which the Feuillant or con- 
 s^titutional party was most frequently reproached. It 
 is certain, that "if this party hail, in the early times of 
 the Constituent Assembly, repudiated an upper cham- 
 ber, from its rational apprehensions that the nobility 
 would take up an offensive attitude in it, its fears were 
 now no longer the same ; on the contrary, it had well- 
 grounded hopes of itself almost solely composing such 
 a chamber. Numbers of the old Constituents, at pre- 
 sent fidlen into complete nullity, would have found it 
 an opportimity for re-entering on the political stage. 
 If, therefore, this upper chamber was not precisely in 
 their plans, it was perfectly consistent with theu- in- 
 
 power appeared to me nevertheless greatly changed with respect 
 to France. 
 
 I learnt that anarchy was increasing every day in France, which 
 was but too well proved by the crowds of emigr.ints from all parts, 
 who were taking refucje on the foreign frontiers. Arms were given 
 them, they were formed into regiments on the banks of the 
 Rhine, and a small army was thus composed, which threatened 
 the provinces of Alsiee and Lorraine. These proceedings aroused 
 the fury of the pejple. and promoted the destructive projects of 
 the J;icobins and an.irchists. The emigrants had even determined 
 to make an attempt on Stra-sburg, in which they relied on having 
 sure intelligence, and partisans who were prepared to open them 
 the gates. The king, who was apprised of this scheme, employed 
 commands, and even entreaties, to stop them ; and to prevent 
 them from performing smy act of hostility, he dispatched for 
 this purpose, to the princes his brothers, the Buron de Viom^nil 
 and the Chevalier de Cngny, who testified to them, in his name, 
 his disapprobation of the arming of the Frencli nobility, to wliich 
 the emperor opposed all possible obstacles, but which continued 
 nevertheless."— I6/V/. p. 309. 
 
 Fin.ally, BouilU- relates, after Leopold himself, his pLm of a 
 congress : — 
 
 " On the 12th September, at length, the Emperor Leopold de- 
 sired me to wait upon him and to bring him the plan of military 
 dispositions he had previously requested from me. lie made me 
 enter his cabinet, and told me he had not been able to speak with 
 me sooner upon the subject for which he had summoned me, be- 
 cause he Wins waiting for the answers of Russia, Spain, England, 
 and the Italian principalities ; that he had now received them ; 
 that they were conformable to his plans and wishes ; that he was 
 assured of their assistance in the execution, and of their conjunc- 
 tion, with tie exception of the cabinet of St James's, which had 
 declare<l a determination to observe the most scrupulous neutra- 
 lity. He had taken the resolution of assembling a congress to 
 treat with the French government, not only touching the redress 
 of grievances on the part of the Germanic body, whose rights in 
 Alsace, and in other parts of the frontier provinces, had been 
 viokUed, but also touching the means of re establishing order in 
 the kingdom of France, whose anarchy disturbed the tranquillity 
 ofallEurope. Headded, that this negotiation would be supported 
 by formidable armies with which France would be encompa.-sed ; 
 that he hoped tliis expedient would be successful and prevent a 
 blijpdy war, the last resource to which he would apply. I took 
 the liberty of asking the emperor whetlier he were informed of 
 the veritable desires of the king. He was acquainted with them ; 
 he knew that prince's repugnance to the adoption of violent mea- 
 sures. He told me he was likewise informed tliat the charter of 
 the new constitution was to be presented to him within a few 
 days, and that he supposed the king could not avoid accepting it 
 without reser\'ation, from the danger he ran of losing his own life 
 and tlie lives of his family, if he evinced the least hesitation, or 
 permitted himself the smallest observation ; but that his sanction , 
 fcn-cl upon the occ.Tsion, was of no consequence— it being possible 
 to rescind all that might be done, and to bestow on France a 
 good government, whicli would at once satisfy the nation, and 
 leave to the royal authority an extent of power sufficient to main- 
 tain tranquillity within, and ensure peace without. He then 
 aakcl me for the pl.on of disposition for the anuies, assuring me 
 that he would ex:miine it at leisure. He added that I might re- 
 turn ti> M.iyencc, where thcCount de Brown, who was to command 
 his triKips, and who was then in the Low Countries, would send 
 to apprise me, as al.w the Prince de Hohenlohc, who was proceed- 
 ing to Friinconia, so that we might confer together when the pro- 
 per time sliould arrive. 
 
 I concluded that the emperor had only resolved upon this pacific 
 and extremely moderate pbui, since the conferences at Pilnitz, 
 iifter consulting Louis XVI., «liose voice was constantly for an 
 
 arrangement, and for employing the medium of negotiations rather 
 thiui the violent e-xpedicnt of arms."— ////</. p. 2X). 
 
 terests. It is certain, also, that the journals frequently 
 spoke of it, and that it was an miiversal topic of dis- 
 course. How rapid had been the march of the revo- 
 lution ! The right side of this era was composed of 
 adherents of the old left side ; and the feared and stig- 
 matised views of the day tended no longer to a return 
 to the old system, but merely to the establishment of 
 an upper chamber. What a difference from 17891 and 
 how an insane resistance had precipitated events! 
 
 Leopold saw, then, but this measure of mitigation 
 possible for Louis XVI. In the interim, his object was 
 to spin out the negotiations, and without coming to 
 a rupture with France, to awe her by a show of firm- 
 ness. But he defeated his purpose by the reply he 
 made. This reply consisted in notifying the resolu- 
 tions of the diet of Ratisbon, refusing to accept any 
 indemnity for the princes holding possessions in Al- 
 sace. Nothing could be more preposterous than such a 
 decision, for surely all the territory comprised under 
 one domination ought to be subject to the same laws : 
 if princes of the empire had estates in France, they 
 were bound to submit to the abolition of feudal cus- 
 toms, and the Constituent Assembly had fully met 
 the justice of the case by granting them indemnities. 
 Several of them haviag already entered into treaties 
 on the subject, the diet annulled their agreements, 
 and prohibited them from accepting any compromise. 
 The empire thus disclaimed a recognition of the 
 revolution so far as its iliembers were concerned. 
 With regard to the assemblages of emigrants, Leopold, 
 without vouchsafing any explanation touching their 
 dispersion, intimated to Louis XVI. that the Elector 
 of Treves being exposed, according to the menaces of 
 the French government, to immediate hostilities, 
 General Bender had been ordered to afford him 
 prompt succour. 
 
 It was impossible for this reply to have been more 
 imprudent. It compelled Louis XVL, to avoid com- 
 promising himself, to take vigorous measures, and to 
 propose a declaration of war. Delessart was forth- 
 \vith dispatched to the assembly for the purpose of 
 communicating this answer, and of expressing the 
 amazement wherewith the conduct of Leopold had 
 stnack the king. The minister suggested that the 
 emperor had probably been deceived, and that he had 
 been most erroneously persuaded the elector had ac- 
 quitted himself of the imperative duties of good neigh- 
 bourhood. He furthermore laid before the assembly 
 the rejoinder addressed to Leopold. He was therein 
 given to understand that, notwithstanding his reply 
 and the orders given to Marshal Bender, if the elec- 
 tors had not, by the prescribed term, that is to say, 
 by the 1.5th January, satisfied the demands of France, 
 force of arms would be used against them. " If this 
 declaration," said Louis XVL, in his message of the 
 .31st Deceml)er, to the assembly, "does not produce 
 the effect I am justified in hoping — if it be the des- 
 tiny of France to ])e driven into combat with her 
 sons and allies, I will make known to Europe the jus- 
 tice of our cause ; the French people will sustain it 
 by their heroism, and the nation will perceive that I 
 have no other interest than such as it participates, 
 and that I will always regard the maintenance of its 
 dignity and security as the most essential of my 
 duties." 
 
 These expressions, in which the king seemed to 
 unite with the nation in their common danger, were 
 vehemently applauded. The documents were referred 
 to the diplomatic committee, with instructions to ren- 
 der a speedy report thereon to the assembly. 
 
 The queen was once again applauded at the opera 
 as in the days of her splendour and power, and she 
 returned all joyous to her husband, to tell him she had 
 been hailed with the transports of more happy times. 
 But it was the last testimony of regard she received 
 from a people formerly so enraptured with her royal 
 charms. The sentiment of equality which remains 
 so long dormant in mankind, and rises so fierce when
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 113 
 
 once awakened, now became the predominant mani- | 
 festation. The year 1791 was on the point of expiring; 
 tlie assembly abolished the ancient ceremonial ob- 
 served on the first day of the new year, and decided 
 that the compliments paid the king on that solemn 
 era should not be repeated for the future. About this 
 time, also, a deputation lodged a complaint that the 
 door of the council-chamber had not been thrown 
 widely open to it. A disgraceful discussion ensued, 
 and the assembly, in addressing Louis XVL, suppressed 
 the titles of sire and majesty. On another occasion, a 
 deputy entered the presence of the king with his hat 
 on, and otherwise in very unsuitable apparel. Such 
 conduct was, however, frequently provoked by the 
 repulsive demeanour of the coiirt officials towards the 
 deputies, and the pride of both jiarties was piqued into 
 retaliation. 
 
 Narbonne, meanwhile, pursued his tour of inspec- 
 tion with rare activity. Three armies were esta- 
 blished on the menaced frontier. Rochambeau, a 
 veteran general, who had in former times often con- 
 ducted a war with skill, but was now diseased, morose, 
 and captious, commanded the army located in Flan- 
 ders, and called the army of the north. Lafayette 
 had the army of the centre, and was encamped to- 
 wards Metz. Luckner, an old warrior, an indifferent 
 general, a brave soldier, and very popular in camps 
 from his truly military manners, commanded the 
 corps which occupied Alsace. These were all the 
 generals a long peace and a general desertion had left 
 to France. 
 
 Rochambeau, discontented with the new order of 
 things, and irritated at the want of discipline preva- 
 lent in the army, was incessant in his complaints and 
 forebodings to the minister. I^afayette, young, buoy- 
 ant, and eager to disting-uish himself in defending his 
 comitry, estabhshed discipline amongst his troops, 
 and overcame all the difficulties thrown in his way 
 by the refractory dispositions of the officers, who 
 were the aristocrats of the army. He called them 
 together, and speaking to them in the language of 
 honour, told them they ought to quit the camp if 
 they were not inclined to serve M'ith loyalty ; that if 
 there were any who wished to retire, he pledged him- 
 self to procure for all such either retirements in France, 
 or passports for abroad ; but that if they determined 
 to remain, he expected from them zeal and fidelity. 
 He had by such means succeeded in infusing a higher 
 degree of order into his army than was manifest in 
 the others. As to Luckner, without political bias, 
 and consequently indifferent to systems of govern- 
 ment, he held out gi-eat expectations to the assembly, 
 and had certainly succeeded in securing the attach- 
 ment of the soldiers. 
 
 Narbonne travelled with the greatest celerity, and 
 came on the 11th of January to give an account to 
 the assembly of his rapid expedition. He announced 
 that the repairs of all the fortifications were already 
 in a very advanced state; that the arrny, from Dun- 
 kirk to Besan^on, presented a mass of two hundred 
 and forty battalions and one hundred and sixty scjuad- 
 rons, witli artillery necessary for two hundred thou- 
 sand men, and supplies for six months. He bestowed 
 the highest eulogiums on the volunteer national 
 guards, and gave assurances that in a short period 
 their equipment would be complete. The yoimg 
 minister yielded, doubtless, to the illusions of a zealous 
 mind ; but his views were so nol)le, his labours so 
 prompt and indefatigable, that the assembly loaded 
 him with api)lause, reconnnended his report to tlie 
 public gratitude, and sent it to all the departments, 
 the ordinary mode of testifying its approbation of all 
 who gave it satisfaction. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE EMIGRANT PRINCES IMPEACHED. — FORMATION OF 
 
 A GIRONDIST MINISTRY. DECLARATION OF WAE 
 
 AGAINST AUSTRIA. FLIGHTS OF QUIEORAIN AND 
 
 TOURNAY. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1792, the question 
 of war had become that of greatest moment; upon it, 
 indeed, the very existence of the revolution depended. 
 Its enemies having transferred themselves into foreign 
 countries, it was there they were to be sought and 
 conquered. But M-ould the king act with sincerity 
 against his own relatives and former courtiers ? Such 
 was the doubt upon which the national fears needed 
 assurance. This subject of war was debated at the 
 Jacobin Club, which allowed no topic to pass without 
 pronouncing a sovereign judgment. It will be deemed 
 singular that the ultra Jacobins, Avith Robespierre at 
 their head, were disposed towards peace; and the 
 moderate Jacobins or Girondists, with Brissot and 
 Louvet as their leaders, were inclined for war. Bris- 
 sot supported the cause of war with all his talents and 
 influence. He thought, with Louvet and the whole 
 of the Girondists, that war was essential to the na- 
 tion, because it would terminate a dangerous uncer- 
 tainty, and test the real intentions of the king. 
 Judging of the result from the dictates of their own 
 enthusiasm, they deemed it out of the question that 
 the nation could be vanquished, and held it certain 
 that, if by the king's connivance it should suffer any 
 partial check, it would inmiediately appreciate the 
 cause, and depose a faithless chief. How was it that 
 Robespierre and the other Jacobins were unfavour- 
 able to a course Mdiicli promised so prompt and deci- 
 sive an issue ? We can clear up this point only by 
 conjecture. The timid Robespierre mignt be afraid 
 of war, or he might oppose it simply because Brissot, 
 his rival at the Jacobins', advocated it, and because 
 the young Louvet had argued for it with great 
 applause. Whatever might be the reason, it is 
 undoubted he strove for peace with extreme obsti- 
 nacy. Those members of the Cordelier Club who 
 belonged also to the Jacobin, attended the debate, and 
 supported Robespierre. Their principal apprehension 
 seemed to be that war would confer too many advan- 
 tages on Lafayette, and speedily elevate him to a 
 military dictatorship : this was the constant dread of 
 Camille-Desmoulins, who was perpetually haunted 
 with the idea of that general, at the head of a vic- 
 torious army, overwhelming, as on the Champ de Mars, 
 all Jacobins and Cordeliers. Louvet and the Giron- 
 dists attributed a different motive to the Cordeliers, 
 thinking that they were actuated against Lafayette 
 only as the enemy of the Duke of Orleans, with whom 
 it was understood they were closely allied. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans, whom we perceive once more 
 appearing rather in the suspicions of his enemies than 
 in the revolution, was almost entirely eclipsed at this 
 period. In the beginning, his name may have been 
 used with advantage, and he himself may have ])laced 
 expectations on those to Avhom ho lent it; but all was 
 now nmch changed. Becoming himself sensilile how 
 incongruous his position was in the jMipuhn' party, he 
 had attempted to obtain pardon from the court during 
 the latter days of the Constituent Assemblj', but had 
 been repulsed. Under the Legislative Assembly, he 
 was retained in the list of admirals, and he renewed 
 his overtures to tlie king. TIpon this occasion, he waft 
 admitted to the king's presence, had an interview of 
 some duration, and met, upon the whole, a somewhat 
 favoural)le reception. It was agreed that he should 
 revisit the palace, and he conseciuently, upon a par- 
 ticular day, repaired thither. The queen's tiible was 
 laid out, and the courtiers were assembled in great 
 number. Scarcely was tlie duke perceived, than the 
 Tuost insulting exi>i-essions were repeated. " Look to 
 the dishes!" they cried from all sides, as if the}' feared
 
 114 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 he would throw poison upon them. They hustled 
 him, trod upon his toes, and compelled him to retire. 
 Whilst descending tlie staircase, he was exposed to 
 fresh injuries, and he left tlie palace highly exaspe- 
 rated, concluding that the king and queen had pur- 
 posely arranged this humiliating scene for him. But 
 they were, on the contrary, deeply concerned at the 
 imprudence of their courtiers, of which they had not 
 the slightest previous cognisance.* The duke was 
 natundly more irritated than ever, although he cer- 
 taiidy became neither a more active nor a more able 
 party-leader than ft)rmerly. Such of his friends as 
 belonged to tlie Jacobin Club and the assembly un- 
 questiona])ly made a little more stir, whence liis fac- 
 tion was tliought to be again rearing its head, and 
 many concluded that his i)retensions and hopes were 
 reviving with the perils of the throne. 
 
 The Girondists considered that the Cordeliers and 
 ultra Jacobins advocated peace merely to deprive 
 Lafayette, the rival of tlie Duke of Orleans, of the 
 renown it might procure him. AVhether their con- 
 jecture were right or not, the war party was sure to 
 prevail in the assembly, where they had the predomi- 
 nance. That body commenced by placing mider im- 
 peachment, on the 1st of January, Monsieur, the 
 king's eldest brother, the Count d'Artois, the Prince 
 of Conde, Calonne, :Mirabeau the younger, and La- 
 queuille, as guilty of hostility against France. A 
 decree of impeaclmient not being dependent on the 
 royal sanction, the veto was not to be apprehended 
 upon this occasion. The sequestration of tlie posses- 
 sions of emigrants, and the collection of their revenues 
 for the good of the state, already enacted by the un- 
 sanctioned decree, were prescribed anew by a fresh 
 decree, to which the king offered no opposition. The 
 assembly confiscated the revenues as indemnities for the 
 charges of war. Monsieur was deprived of the regency 
 by virtue of the decision previously pronounced. 
 
 The report upon the last official note of the emperor 
 was presented to the assembly, on the 14th January, 
 by Gensonnc. In it he insisted that France had con- 
 stantly lavished her treasm-es and her blood in behalf 
 of Austria, without ever receiving any return ; that 
 the treaty of alliance, concluded in 1756, had been 
 violated by tlie declaration of Pilnitz and those that 
 followed it, the object of which had been to compass 
 an armed coalition of sovereigns ; that it had been 
 
 * Bertrand do MoUeville relates this circumstance in the fol- 
 lowing manner :— 
 
 " I gave an account at the council the same day of the visit 
 which the Uuke of Orleans had paid nie, and of our conversation. 
 The king detcnnined to receive him, and had an interview with 
 him on the following day, which lasted more than half an hour, 
 with which his majesty appeared to have heen well satisfied. ' I 
 think with you,' Siiid lie, addressing me, ' that he sincerely re- 
 pents, and will do all he cim to repair the mischief he has effected, 
 in which it is possible he has not had so gi-eat a share as we be- 
 lievc<l.' 
 
 The succeeding Sunday he came to the king's levee, where he 
 met with the most insulting reception from the courtiers, who 
 were ignorant of what had passed, and from the royalists, who 
 were accustomed to attend in crowds at the pahice that day, to 
 pay their court to the royal family. They pressed aroimd him, 
 affecting to tre.id upon his feet, and to drive him towards the 
 door, with the view of preventing him from entering. He pro- 
 ccwled to the queen's apartment, where the tiiblc was already 
 tpread : as soon as he was perceived, cries arose from all sides, 
 ' fienllemcn, take care of the dishes !' as if all present had been 
 firmly persuaded he had his pockets full of poison. 
 
 The abusive nuinnurs his presence excited forced him to retire 
 without seeing the royal family. He was followed to the queen's 
 Btaircase, and as he descended, he received a discharge of spittle 
 on his hcJid, and scvcnd on his coat. Kage and vexation wore 
 depicted on his countenance. lie left the palace, with the con- 
 viction that the instigators of tlie outrages he h.-ul received were 
 the king and queen, who had no knowledge of them, and were 
 inderd much annoyed at them. He swore an impl.-icable hatred 
 to them, and he showed himself only Um faithful to that horrible 
 oath. 1 was at the pal.ac-e tliat day, and witnessed all the facts 1 
 have just mcationcd."—Iicflraiid dc Mullcville, vol. vi. p. 2(l!>. 
 
 again broken by the arming of the emigrants, allowed, 
 and even aided, by the princes of the empire. Gen- 
 sonnc furthermore alleged, that although orders had 
 been recently given for the dispersion of the emigrant 
 assemblages, those apparent orders had not been exe- 
 cuted ; that the white cockade had not ceased to be 
 worn lieyond tlie Rhine, the national cockade to be 
 outraged, and French travellers to be ill-treated ; and 
 that, in consequence, it was necessary to demand from 
 the emperor a final explanation with reference to tlie 
 treaty of 1756. The printing of tliis report, and the 
 postponement of its consideration, were ordered. 
 
 On the same day, Guadet mounted the tribune. 
 " Of all the circimistances," said li(;, " wliich have 
 been communicated to the assembly, that wliich has 
 caused tlie greatest sensation is the plan of a congress, 
 with the design of obtaining a modification in the 
 French constitution — a plan long suspected to be in 
 agitation, and finally denounced as probable by the 
 committees and ministers. If it be true that this in- 
 trigue is conducted by men who see in it a means of 
 escaping from the political nullity into which they 
 have recently sunk ; if it be true that certain agents 
 of the executive power are abetting, with all the in- 
 fluence of their stations, this abominable plot ; if it be 
 true that hopes are entertained we shall be drawn by 
 procrastination and discouragement to accept this 
 disgraceful mediation, ought the nationid assembly 
 to close its eyes to such dangers ? Let us all swear 
 
 to die here, rather" He was not allowed to finish 
 
 the sentence ; the whole assembly rose, with the una- 
 nimous cry, " Yes, yes — we swear! " And it enthusias- 
 tically declared every Frenchman infamous, and a 
 traitor to his country, who should concur in a congress 
 assembled with the design of modifying the constitu- 
 tion. This decree was principally levelled against 
 the old constitutionidists and the minister Delessart. 
 The latter was especiaUy obnoxious, being accused of 
 purposely lengthening out the negotiations. On the 
 17th, the debate upon Gensomic's report was resumed; 
 and it was decreed that the king shoidd no longer 
 treat but in the name of the French nation, and that 
 he should require the emperor to give a definitive ex- 
 planation before the 1st of March ensuing. The king 
 replied that he had already, a fortnight before, de 
 maiided positive explications from Leopold. 
 
 In the mean time, it was commmiicated that the 
 Elector of Treves, alarmed at the resolute tone of the 
 French cabinet, had given fresh orders for the dis- 
 banding of the armed bodies, for the sale of the maga- 
 zines collected in his territory, and for the prohibition 
 of recruiting and disciplining ; and that these orders 
 were actually enforced. In the prevailing disposition 
 of men's minds, such intelligence was cokUy received. 
 It was held to convey mere vain and abortive demon- 
 strations ; and the definitive reply of Leopold was not 
 the less strenuously called for. 
 
 Divisions existed in the ministry between Bertrand 
 de MoUeville and Narlionne. Bertrand was envious 
 of the popularity enjoyed by the minister at war, and 
 censured Ins ingratiating demeanour towards the as- 
 sembly. Narbonne complained of the conduct and 
 unconstitutional tendencues of Bertrand de MoUeville, 
 and demanded that the king should dismiss him from 
 the administration. Caluer de Gerville held the 
 balance between them, but miavailingly. It was 
 alleged that the constitutional party desired to raise 
 Narbonne to the post of prime minister ; and it seems 
 certain that the king was misled, tliat the popularity 
 and ambition of Narbonne were represented to him 
 in alarming colours, and that he was brought to con- 
 sider him as a presumptuous young man, scheming 
 to govern the cabinet. Tliese divisions were soon 
 known to the journalists : Brissot and the Gironde 
 zealously defended the minister threatened with dis- 
 grace, and fiercely attacked liis colleagues and the 
 king. A letter, written by the three generals of the 
 northern armies to Narbonne, in which they expressed
 
 (/ 
 
 i/^/.mM^u^i/ 
 
 A,y>,„..,//^ ^:.y^./z..
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 115 
 
 to him the appreliension they felt respecting his dis- 
 missal, -which they understood to be imminent, was 
 published. The king immediately superseded him ; 
 but, as a coimterpoise to the effect of this step, he 
 announced the dismissal of Bertrand de MoUeville also. 
 Nevertheless, the sensation excited by Narbonne's dis- 
 placement was not thereby lessened ; an extraordinary 
 agitation forthwith broke out, and the assembly was 
 moved to declare, according to the formula previously 
 employed towards Necker, that Narbonne possessed 
 the confidence of the nation, and that the whole mini- 
 stry had lost it. It was intended, however, to except 
 from this sweeping condemnation Cahier de GerviUe, 
 a steady opponent of Bertrand de MoUeville, and 
 who had very recently had with him a violent dispute. 
 After much confusion, Brissot undertook to prove 
 that Delessart had betrayed tlie confidence of the 
 nation. That minister had communicated to the 
 diplomatic committee his correspondence with Kau- 
 nitz. It was undignified ; it even gave Kaunitz an 
 unfavourable idea of the state of France, and seemed 
 to have authorised the conduct and language of Leo- 
 pold. We must bear in mind that Delessart, and his 
 colleague Duport-Dutertre, were the two ministers 
 who belonged to the Feuillants, and wlio had become 
 the more obnoxious from the beUef that they favoured 
 the project of a congress. 
 
 During one of the most stormy sittings of the as- 
 sembly, the unfortunate Delessart was formally ac- 
 cused by Brissot of liaving compromised the dignity 
 of the nation ; of not having apprised the assembly of 
 the concert amongst tlie powers, or notified the decla- 
 ration of Pilnitz ; of having professed in his dispatches 
 unconstitutional doctrines ; of having given to Kau- 
 nitz a false idea of the state of France ; of having 
 protracted the negotiations, and conducted them in a 
 manner opposed to the interests of the country. Verg- 
 niaud supported Brissot, and added fresli complaints 
 to those already cliarged against Delessart. He re- 
 proached him for having, when minister of the interior, 
 kept too long in his portfolio the decree which united 
 the Comtat to France, and being thus the cause of 
 the massacres at Avignon. He then subjoined : " From 
 this tribune in which I speak, I perceive the palace 
 where perverse counsellors mislead and deceive the 
 king whom the constitution has given us ; I see the 
 windows of the palace where the counter-revolution 
 is plotting — where the means are canvassing to re- 
 plunge us into slavery. Terror has often stalked from 
 that famous palace in times of old, and in tlie name 
 of despotism ; now let it enter in the name of tlie law, 
 let it penetrate all hearts within its walls — let all who 
 dwell there know tliat our constitution grants inviola- 
 bility to the king alone." 
 
 The motion for impeachment Avas immediately put 
 to tlie vote, and adopted.* Delessart was sent to the 
 high national court established at Orleans, and em- 
 powered, in terms of the constitution, to judge state- 
 criminals. Tlie king experienced profound sorrow at 
 his departure. He had possessed his entire confi- 
 dence, and gained his esteem by the moderate and 
 pacific views he advocated. Duport-Dutertre, the 
 minister of the constitutional party, was likewise 
 threatened with impoachmont ; but he anticijiated it ; 
 demanded to be hoard in justification ; was absolved 
 by passing to the order of the day, and immediately 
 afterwards tendered his resignation. Caliicr de Ger- 
 ville also gave in liis ; and in this manner the king 
 found himself deprived of the only one of liis mini- 
 sters who had any reputation for patriotism with the 
 assembly. 
 
 Severed from the ministers whom the Feuillants 
 had given him, and at a loss wliere to seek support 
 amidst the storm, Louis XVI., who liad dismissed 
 Narbonne because he was too popular, resolved to 
 unite himself with tlie Gironde, which was republican. 
 
 * Sit(iii(r of tlic lOtli Miirch. 
 
 It is true, it was only so from distrust of the king, 
 who might, by placing himself in its hands, have suc- 
 ceeded in attacliing it to his person ; but it was neces. 
 sary that his surrender should be cordial and sincere, 
 and the eternal question of his good faith arose in this 
 instance as upon aU previous occasions. Doubtless, 
 Louis XVI. Avas honest when he yielded himself to a 
 party, but he did so with chagrin and reluctance. 
 Consequently, so soon as the party proposed some 
 unpalatable but indispensable condition, he rejected 
 it ; distrust was immediately generated, alienation 
 ensued, and a speedy rupture was the issue of tliose 
 misplaced alliances between minds too exclusively 
 occupied by opposing interests. It was thus that 
 Louis XVI., after admitting to his council the Feuil- 
 laut party, had splenetically repudiated Narbonne, 
 who Avas its most decided leader, and found himself 
 compelled, as tlie only means of composing the storm, 
 to give himself up to the mercy of the Gironde. Tlie ex- 
 ample of England, Avhere the sovereign often selects his 
 ministers from the opposition, weighed with the king 
 in inducing his present course. The court thereupon 
 conceived a hope, for human ingenuity always dis- 
 covers one even in the most dismal conjunctures. It 
 flattered itself, then, that Louis XVI., by taking in- 
 capable and ridiculous demagogues into the cabinet, 
 Avould destroy the reputation of the party from Avhich 
 he had chosen them. However, the result was far 
 different, and the new ministry belied the malevolent 
 prophecies of the courtiers. 
 
 Upwards of a montli previously, Delessart and Nar- 
 bonne had called to them a man Avhose talents they 
 judged most precious, and placed him near them, to 
 be rendered serviceable as emergencies miglit arise. 
 This man was Dumouriez, who, alternately command- 
 ing in Normandy and in La Vendee, had every Avhere 
 distinguished himself for firmness and ability. He 
 had offered himself first to tlie court, then to the Con- 
 stituent Assembly ; for every party was to him the 
 same, so long as he was allowed to exercise his active 
 spirit and his extraordinary powers. Dumouriez, 
 repressed as it were by the age, had passed his 
 early years in diplomatic intrigues. With all his en- 
 terprise, his military and political genius, and his halt 
 century of years, at the commencement of the revolu- 
 tion he was still nothing but a brilliant adA-enturer. 
 He liad preserved, hoAvever, the fire and vigour of 
 youth. So soon as a war or a revolution broke out, 
 he formed his plans, laid them before all parties, ready 
 to act for all, provided only action Avas accorded him. 
 He had thus accustomed himself to make liglit of the 
 nature of a cause ; but although too deficient in con- 
 viction, he Avas generous, feeling, and capable of at- 
 tacliment, if not to principles, at least to persons. But 
 Avith a mind thus dazzling, prompt, and capacious, 
 with a courage by turns calm and impetuous, he was 
 admirable as an instrument, but incapable of swaj-ing. 
 He possessed neitlier the dignity of a profound con- 
 viction, nor tlie stubborn pride of an arbitrary dis- 
 position, and he Avas capable of commanding none but 
 soldiers. If to his genius had been joined the passions 
 of Mirabeau, the determination of a Cromwell, or even 
 the dogmatism of a Robespierre, ho would have domi- 
 neered over the revolution and France. 
 
 Dumouriez, on taking his place by the side of Nar- 
 bonne, forthwith formed a vast military plan. He 
 embraced at once an offensive and defensive war. 
 Where Frtmcc stretched to her natural limits, the 
 Rhine, the Alps, the PjTenees, and the ocean, he ad- 
 vised she should stand on the defensive. Ihit on the 
 side of the Low (\nintries, where the French territory 
 did not reacli the Rhine, and on that of Savoy, Avherc 
 it fell short of the AIjis, he maintained that sudden 
 attacks should be made until the natural boundaries 
 were attained, when the defensive should lie resumed. 
 This plan consulted both interest and princijiles, 
 framed as it was to take advantage of a war Avliich 
 France had not provoked, to return, with respect to
 
 116 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 boundaries, to the sinii)le landmarks of nature. He 
 furthermore proposed the formation of a fourtli army, 
 destined to occupy the south, and craved the command 
 of it, which was promised him. 
 
 Duniouriez had in.t,'ratiated liiinsolf with Gensonne, 
 one of the civil connnissioners sent into La \'endce 
 by the Constituent Assembly, since a deputy in the 
 Legislative, and one of the most influential members 
 of the Gironde. Having remarked, also, that the 
 Jacobins were the ])red()iiiinant faction, be had ap- 
 peared in their club, read divers memorials amidst 
 great ajiplause, and not the less continued his ancient 
 friendship with Delaj>orte, intendant of the civil list, 
 and a devoted adherent of Louis XVL Thus con- 
 nected with the dirtercnt parties upon the point of 
 coalescing, Dumouriez could not fail to rise, and to be 
 called to tlie tninistry. Louis XVI. ollered him the 
 portfolio of lor"ign affairs, left on his hands by the 
 decree of iin])eachment agamst Dclessart; but still 
 attached to the impeacb.ed minister, the king ten- 
 dered it to him only (id interim. Duniouriez, feeling 
 himself powerfully sujjportcd, and unwilbngto appear 
 as if keeping the ofiice for a Feuillant minister, re- 
 fuse<l the i)ortfolio upon those terms, and obtained it 
 unconditionally. He found in the administration only 
 Cahier do Gerville and Degraves. Cabier de Ger- 
 ville, although he had given in his resignation, had 
 not yet relinipiished office. Degraves had replaced 
 Narbonne ; he was 3'ouug, flexible, and inexperienced ; 
 Duniouriez understood lunv to win him over, and he 
 thus held in bis own hands the tbreign relations and 
 the military administration — that is to say, the pro- 
 vocatives and the organisation of war. Less would 
 have scarcely satisfied his enterprising genius. No 
 sooner was he installed in the ministry, than Dumou- 
 riez assumed the red cap in the Jacobin Club, a new 
 head-dress borrowed from the Phr3'gians, and now 
 become the emblem of liberty. He promised its mem- 
 bers that he would govern for and by them. When 
 presented to the king, he contrived to satisfy him as 
 to his conduct at the Jacobins' ; he removed the ill 
 impressions that conduct had naturally inspired ; he 
 had the art to excite his feelings by protestations of 
 devotedness, and to dissipate his sombre sadness by 
 dint of humour. He persuaded him that he sought 
 popularity only for the good of tlie monarchy, and to 
 ensure its stability. In spite of all his deference, how- 
 ever, he took care to impress upon the monarch that 
 the constitution was not to be avoided, endeavouring 
 to console him at the same time by demonstrating 
 that a king might still be very powerful even with its 
 restrictions. His first dispatches to the powers, dis- 
 tinguished for their strength of argiunent and their 
 firmness of tone, changed the nature of the negotia- 
 tions, and placed France in a perfectly new attitude, 
 but rendered war imminent. It was natural that 
 Dumouriez should desire war, since he had all its 
 genius, and had meditated upon that great art for 
 thirty-six years; but it must be allowed, likewise, 
 that the conduct of the cabinet of Vienna and the 
 irritation of the assembly had already rendered it 
 inevitable. 
 
 Dumouriez, by his behaviour at the Jacobins, and 
 by his known alliance with the Gironde, was sure, 
 even without any peculiar animosity against the 
 Feuillaiits, to become embroiled with them ; but he 
 hatl, in addition, displaced tliem. He was, conse- 
 quently, in constant opposition with the leaders of 
 that party. Braving, however, the sarcastic and 
 scornful epigrams they launched against the Jacobins 
 and the assembly, he determined to pursue his own 
 course with the assurance that was usual to him. 
 
 It was necessary to fill up the vacancies in the 
 cabinet. Pction, Gensonne, and Brissot, were con- 
 sulted upon the selections to be made. According to 
 the existing law, the ministers could not be taken 
 from the present or preceding assembly, therefore 
 the range of choice was extremely limited. For the j 
 
 marine, Dumouriez proposed Lacoste, an old official 
 in that department, experienced, industrious, and an 
 ardent patriot, but nevertheless attached to the king, 
 esteemed by him, and remaining longer in his coun- 
 cils than all the others. The ministry of justice was 
 designed for that j'oung Louvet who had recently 
 distinguished himself at the Jacobins, and obtained 
 the good opinion of the Girondists since he had so 
 ably supported tlie opinion of Brissot in favour of 
 war; but the bilious Robespierre caused him to be 
 immediately denounced. Louvet justified himself 
 with perfect success ; but it was judged inexpedient 
 to select a mau whose popularity was doubtful, and 
 Duranthon was chosen. He was an advocate from 
 Bordeaux, an enlightened and upright man, but too 
 feeble in character. The finance and home depart- 
 ments remained open to candidates. The Gironde 
 proposed Clavicre, known by some highly esteemed 
 works on subjects of finance. Clavicre had abundance 
 of ideas, all the obstinacy of a meditative theorist, and 
 great alacrity in business. The minister intrusted witli 
 the home department was Roland, fijrmerly inspector 
 of manufactures, and known by excellent publications 
 on the industrial and mechanical arts. This num, 
 with austere manners, inflexible principles, and a cold, 
 harsh exterior, yielded, without being aware of it, to 
 the superior ascendancj^ of his wife. Madame Roland 
 was young and handsome. Educated in deep seclu- 
 sion, in pliilosophical and republican ideas, she had 
 become imbued with sentiments superior to her sex, 
 and, from the jirinciples then paramount, had formed 
 for herself a stern political creed. Living in the 
 closest confidence with her husband, she lent him her 
 pen, imparted to him some of her own vivacity, and 
 communicated her enthusiasm not alone to her hus- 
 band, but to all the Girondists, who, passionately 
 attached to liberty and philosophy, admired her for 
 her beaut}', her wit, and for her principles, which 
 were identical with their own.* 
 
 The new ministry comprised men of qualifications 
 sufficiently eminent to succeed ; but it needed to be 
 guarded, lest it should too far displease Louis XVL, 
 and to take care that it maintained its alliance with 
 the Gironde. It was therefore quite capable of ful- 
 filling its task ; but it might reasonably be appre- 
 hended that all woidd be at an end whenever, to the 
 
 * As INIadame Roland fills an important part in the revohition, 
 it may he interesting to give an accoimt of her from the pen of one 
 of the most striking writers on that event. 
 
 " Roland was a man of ordinary capacity, but he obtained the 
 reputation of genius by means of his v.ife, who thought, wrote, 
 and spoke for him. She was a woman of most superior mmd ; 
 with as much virtue as pride, as much ambition as domestic 
 virtue. Daughter of an engraver, she commenced her career by 
 wisliing to contend with a queen ; and no sooner had Marie An- 
 toinette fallen, than she seemed resolute to maintain the combat, 
 no longer against a person of her o\vn sex, but with the men who 
 pretended to rival the reputation of her husband. 
 
 Madame Roland had great talent, but she wiuited tact and 
 moderation. She baionged to tliat class in the middling ranks 
 that scarcely knows what good breeding is ; her manners were 
 too hru.sqw ; she trusted implicitly to her good intentions, and 
 was quite indifferent in regard to external appearances, which, 
 after all, are almost every tiling in this world. Like Marie An- 
 toinette, she was master in her own family ; the former was 
 king, the latter was minister ; her husband, whom she constantly 
 put forward, as often disappeared in her presence, which gave 
 rise to the hot) mut of Condorcet— ' When I wish to see the minister 
 of the interior, I never ain see any thing but the petticoat of his 
 wife.' This w;is strictly true : persons on business imifomily 
 applied to Madame Roland instead of the muiister ; iind whatever 
 she may have s.iid in her Memoirs, it is certain that uncon- 
 sciously she opened the portfolio with her o^vn hand. She was to 
 the last degi-ce impatient under the attacks of the tribune, to 
 which she had no means of reply, and took her revenge by means of 
 pamphlets and articles in the public journals. In these she kept 
 upan incessant warfare, which Roland sanctioned with his name, 
 but in which it w.as easy to discover the warm .and brilliant style 
 of his wife."— Gra/jA/c Hhtory of Naiiottal Convention, by M. L. 
 Vol. i. p. 38 ; French edition.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 117 
 
 inherent incompatibility of distinct parties, the faults 
 of individuals should be superadded ; and this could 
 scarcely fail to happen very speedily. Louis XVI., 
 struck witli the activity of his ministers, with their 
 honest zeal, and with their aptitude for affairs, was 
 charmed for the instant ; their economical reforms 
 especially delighted him, for he had always been at- 
 tached to that species of improvement which required 
 no sacrifice of power or principle. If he could have 
 heen always satisfied as he was at first, and have 
 separated himself from tlie parasites of the court, he 
 would have easily brought himself to endure the con- 
 stitution. He reiterated his resolution in that resjjcct 
 with pure sinceritj' to the ministers, and succeeded in 
 convincing the most incredulous, Roland and Clavicre. 
 A perfect persuasion prevailed on both sides. The 
 Gironde, which was republican only from distrust of 
 the king, ceased at that time to be so, and Vergniaud, 
 Gensonne, and Guadet, entered into communication 
 with Louis XVI., which afterwards formed a head of 
 accusation against them. The inflexible spouse of 
 Roland was alone in doubt, and restrained her too 
 easy friends, as she thought them, from committing 
 themselves too far. The cause of her distrust is ob- 
 vious ; she was not accustomed to see the king. The 
 ministers, on the contrary, conversed with him every 
 day, and honest men often meeting together soon feel 
 at ease as to each other's intentions ; but this confi- 
 dence could not last long, because unavoidable ques- 
 tions were coming on, certain to evoke all the discre- 
 pancies in their sentiments. 
 
 The courtiers sought to cast ridicule upon the 
 somewhat republican simplicity of the new admini- 
 stration, and upon the uncouth rudeness of Roland, 
 who presented himself at the palace without buckles 
 in his shoes.* Dumouriez retorted their sarcasms ; 
 and mingling gaiety of humour with assiduous de- 
 votion to business, he pleased the king, won upon him 
 by his superior mind, and perhaps, also, was more 
 agreeable tlian the others from tlie flexibility of his 
 opinions. The queen, finding that of all the ministers 
 he had the most influence over the mind of her con- 
 sort, desired to see him. He has presented us in his 
 Memoirs with an account of that singular interview, 
 which painfully depicts tlie agitated state of that un- 
 fortunate princess, worthy of a more auspicious reign, 
 of better friends, and of a less dismal fate. 
 
 Introduced, says he, into the queen's apartment, 
 he found her alone, greatly flushed, walking ra- 
 pidly to and fro, with an agitation that presaged a 
 somewhat warm explanation. He leaned upon the 
 corner of the manteli)iece, sorrowfully affected at the 
 destiny of the princess, and at the fearful sensations 
 under which she seemed labouring. She advanced to 
 him with an air of majesty and anger, and said to 
 him — " Sir, you are omnipotent at this moment, but 
 you are so by the favour of the people, who soon break 
 their idols. Your life depends u;)on your conduct. 
 They say you have great talent. You ought to know 
 that neitlier the king nor I can endure all these en- 
 croacluuents — nor the constitution. I tell you so 
 frankly ; take; your own part." 
 
 He answered her, " Madam, I am much grieved at 
 the painful avowal which your majesty has just made 
 to me. I will not betray your confidence ; but I stand 
 between the king and the nation, and I bck)ng to my 
 (•ountry. Permit me to assure ymi that tlie safety of 
 the king, your t)\vn, that of your aiu;ust offspring, are 
 linked with the constitution, as well as the re-esta- I 
 
 * [" The court called this ministry, which was formed in the 
 month of March, ' the sans- culntle (brcechlcssi ministry.' Tlic first 
 time Uoland appeared at tlio palace with strings in his shoes and 
 a round hat, contrary to tlie rules of etiquette, the master of the 
 ceremonies refused to admit him. But obliged to give hin\ en- 
 trance, he said to Dumouriez, pointing at Uoland, ' Ah ! sir, no 
 buckles on his shoes !' ' Ah ! sir, all is lost !' replied Dumouriez, 
 with tlie greatest gravity. Such were still the objects of court 
 solicitude !" — Mignel, vol. i. p. 196.] 
 
 blishment of the king's authority. I should fail in 
 my duty to you and to him likewise, if I held a dif- 
 ferent language. Y"ou are botli encompassed by ene- 
 mies, who sacrifice jou to their own interest. Were 
 the constitution once in full activity, so far from ren- 
 dering the king miserable, it would form his felicity 
 and glory. It behoves him to concur unreservedly 
 in its prompt and solid establishment." The unfor- 
 tunate queen, offended that Dumouriez thus frankly 
 combated her ideas, said to him, raising her voice into 
 an acrimonious tone, " It wiU not last — take care of 
 yourself." 
 
 Dumouriez replied Avith an unassuming firmness — ■ 
 " Madam, I am more than fifty years old ; my life has 
 been beset by many perils ; and on taking the ministry, 
 I was Avell aware that responsibility was not the 
 greatest of my dangers." " There wanted nothing 
 more," she cried, with anguish, " but to calumniate 
 me ! Y^ou seem to tliink, then, I am capable of hav- 
 ing you assassinated ! " And tears flowed from her 
 eyes. 
 
 Equally agitated with herself, he said, " God pre- 
 serve me fi'om doing you so criiel an injustice! The 
 character of your majesty is great and nob)?; you 
 have given lieroic proofs of it, which I have admired, 
 and which have attached me to you." She became 
 calm at these words, and drew near him. He con- 
 tinued — " Believe me, madam, I have no interest in 
 deceiving you : I ablior as much as you anarchy and 
 crimes. I am fortified by experience. I am better 
 able than your majesty to judge of events. This is 
 not a transitory popular movement, as you seem to 
 imagine. It is an almost universal insurrection of a 
 great nation against inveterate abuses. Factions 
 heighten the conflagration : in all of them there are 
 wretches and madmen. I consider in the revolution 
 only the king and the entire nation ; all that tends to 
 separate them leads to their mutual ruin ; I am striv- 
 ing with aU my power to unite them — it is for you to 
 assist me. If I be an obstacle to your designs, if you 
 persist in adhering to them, tell me so ; I wiU instantly 
 bear my resignation to the king, and retire to some 
 corner to lament over my country's and your fate." 
 
 The conclusion of these remarks completely esta- 
 blished the queen's confidence. They passed in review 
 together the different factions ; he pointed out faults 
 and crimes on all parts ; he proved to her that she 
 was betrayed in her privacy ; he quoted to her cer- 
 tain words uttered in the most intimate confidence. 
 The princess appeared to him in the end to be per- 
 fectly convinced, and she dismissed him with a serene 
 and affable air. She was quite sincere ; but those 
 around her, and the horrible excesses of INIarat's jour- 
 nal, and of the Jacobins, soon drove her back into her 
 fatal resolutions. 
 
 Another day she said to him before the king, " Y''ou 
 
 see me in deep afflictioii : I dare not look out of a 
 
 window fronting the garden. Last evening, wishing 
 
 to breatlie the air, I went to a window of the court : 
 
 an artilleryman on guard apostrophised me with a 
 
 gross expression, .adding, 'IIow I should like to have 
 
 your head on the point of my bayonet!' In that 
 
 frightful garden, on one side we see a man mounted 
 
 on a ciiair, reading in a loud voice horrible calumnies 
 
 j against us; on another side is an abbe whom they 
 
 are dragging in a pond, bestowing on him blows and 
 
 : execrations. At the same time, others are playing 
 
 at foot-ball, or promenading in perfect tranquillit}-. 
 
 I \Vhat a residence ! What a nation !'"* 
 
 * Dumouriez's Jlemoirs, book iii. chap. G. Madame Campan 
 gives a dillcrcnt account of this interview :— 
 
 " All parties were on the alert," she says, " to ruin the king or 
 to save him. One day I found the (pieen extremely uneasy ; she 
 told me she no longer knew whore she was; that the .Jacobin 
 leaders offered themselves to her through the medium of Dumou- 
 riez, or that Dumouriez, abandoning tlie Jacobin party, had 
 oil'ered himself to her ; that she had granted him an audience; 
 that when alone with her, lie had thrown himself at lier feet, 
 I
 
 118 
 
 mSTOBY OF THE FHENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 Thus, by a sort of fixtality, the presumed intentions 
 of the p;ilace aroused the suspicion and fury of the 
 people, and the vociferations of the multitude aug- 
 mented the sorrows and the imprudence of the palace. 
 Despair consequently reiirned within and without. 
 But why, it may be" asked, did not a frank explana- 
 tion put au end to so many evils ? Why did not the 
 palace comprehend the real apjirehensions of the 
 people ? Why were not the people made to imder- 
 stand the actual misery of tlie palace?— But why are 
 men but mortals ? At this last query we must stop, 
 bowing with a sigh to human natiu-e, and proceed 
 with our mournful tale. 
 
 Leopold II. was dead. The pacific dispositions of 
 that prince rendered the event a sul-ject of regret 
 with regard to the peace of Europe, for the same mo- 
 deration could not be anticipated from his nephew 
 and successor, Francis, King of Bohemia and Hun- 
 gary. Gustavus, King of Sweden, had been recently 
 assassinated at a hall. The enemies of the Jacobins 
 charged them with the nuirder ; but it was sufficiently 
 j)roved to be the crime of the nobility, humbled by 
 Gustavus in the last Swedish revolution. Thus nobi- 
 lity, which denounced the revolutionarj' fmy of tlie 
 people in France, gave in the north an example of 
 what it had formerly been itself, and of what it still 
 was in countries where civilisation was less advanced. 
 What an example, what a lesson, for Louis XVI., if he 
 could have dispassionately surveyed it ! The death of 
 Gustavus frustrated the enterprise he had projected 
 against France, for which Catherine was to have fur- 
 nished soldiers, and Spain subsidies. It is, however, 
 very doubtful whether the faithless Catherine would 
 have fulfilled what she had undertaken ; and the death 
 of Gustavus, so exaggerated as to its consequences, 
 was in reality an occurrence of but slight importance.f 
 
 Delessart had been impeached for the imbecility of 
 his dispatclies : it was consistent neither with the 
 taste nor the interests of Dumouriez to negotiate 
 feebly with foreign powers. His latter dispatches 
 had appeared to satisfy Louis X\I., from their appro- 
 
 nssuring her that though lie had drawn the red cap over his ears, 
 lie neither was nor could be a .Tacobin ; that the revolution had 
 been allowed to progress until the mob of disorganisers, wlio were 
 C'lger only for pillage, were capable of any extremity, i;nd eoiJd 
 give the assembly a formidable army prepared to undermine the 
 remnants of a throne already too shattered Speaking with great 
 warmth, he had seized the queen's hand, and, kissing it with 
 transport, exclaimed, ' AUow yourself to be saved !' The queen 
 told me that no reliance could be placed on the protestations of a 
 traitor; that his whole conduct was so well knowTi, that the 
 wisest course, unquestionably, was to put no trust in him ; be- 
 sides, that the princes emphatically recommended no confidence 
 to be put in any proposition emanating at home — ct cetera."— 
 Vol. ii. p. 20J. 
 
 The account of tliis interview is here, as we see, different in 
 many particulars ; but the gi-ouudwork is the same ; only, passing 
 through the mouth of the queen and that of Madame Campan, it 
 nf course assumed a tone unfavourable to Dimiouriez. That of 
 Dumouriez depicts in a very natural n!anner the agitation of the 
 jmfortunate Marie Antoinette ; and as he relates nothing dei-oga- 
 tory to that princess, and nothing incompatible with her cha- 
 racter, I have prefeiTcd it. It is possible, nevertheless, that the 
 vanity of Dumouriez has kd him to select w ith partiality such 
 details as were most flattering to himself. 
 
 t Bouillfe, whose Memoirs 1 have pi-eviously cited, and wh.o was 
 Jn a position to form a correct opinion upon the real intentions 
 of the powers, put no trust wlvitever in the zeal and sincerity of 
 Catherine. Upon this subject he thus expresses himself:— 
 
 " We see that this prince (Ciustavus) reckoned gi-eatly upon 
 the dispDsitions nf t!.c Km press of IJussia, and upon the active 
 part she wa-s prcpare<l to take in the confederation, she having 
 hitherto restricted herself to demonstrations. The Kingof Sweden 
 was in error, and I doubt that Catherine would have ever in- 
 trusted him with the 18,(»fJ<) Kvissians she had promised. I am 
 persuaded, besides, that the emperor and King of Pnissia had 
 not communicated to him either their projects or views. Per- 
 sonally, both entertained more than repugnance towards him ; 
 and they desired that he should not assume any active part in the 
 aftuirs of Vr.incc."~IiouUU, p. 3lfll 
 
 priate and firm tenor. M. de Noailles, French ambas- 
 sador at Vienna, and an agent of doubtful sincerity, 
 forwarded his resignation to DuraoTiriez, alleging that 
 he despaired of inducing the head of the house of 
 Austria to listen to the language he had been in- 
 structed to emplo^^ Dtimouriez hastened to lay the 
 communication before the assembly, which, moved to 
 exasi)eratiou at the circumstance, instantly voted an 
 imjjeachment against M. de Noailles. Another am- 
 bassador was dispatched with fresh instructions. Two 
 days subsequently, Noailles recalled his resignation, 
 and SLMit the categorical answer he had demanded 
 from the cabinet of "Vienna. The note of M. de Co- 
 bentzel. containing this answer, is, amid all the signal 
 faults of the powers, one of the most impolitic they 
 ever committed. Cobentzel required, in the name 
 of his court, the re-establishment of the French 
 monarchy ui)on the foundations laid down in the 
 royal declaration of the 23d June 1789. This went to 
 impose the re-institution of the three orders, the res- 
 titution of the church lands, and the restoration of 
 the Comtat-Venaissin to the pope. This Austrian 
 minister likewise demanded the restoration of their 
 lands in Alsace to the ])rinces of the empire, witli 
 all their feudal rights. France must have been judged 
 through the passions of Coblentz, to induce the pro- 
 position of such conditions. It Avas requiring at once 
 tlie annihilation of a constitution sworn to l)y the 
 king and the nation, the revocation of a solemn reso- 
 lution touching Avignon, and national bankruptcy, 
 by restoring the cliurch possessions already alienated. 
 And besides, by what authority was so abject a sub- 
 mission asked? By what right was any interference 
 hazarded in the internal affairs of France ? What 
 just complaint could be proffered on behalf of the 
 princes in Alsace, since their estates were compre- 
 hended within the circuit of French sovereignty, and 
 were necessarily subject to its laws? 
 
 The first impulse of the king and of Dumouriez 
 was to repair to the assembly and apprise it of this 
 note. That bodj' received it with a burst of indigna- 
 tion, and deservedly so ; a general crj' for war rung 
 through the hall. There was a circumstance, how- 
 ever, which Dumouriez did not impart to the assem- 
 bly, namely, that Austria, which he had threatened 
 with a fresh insurrection at Liege, had dispatched an 
 agent to treat with him upon that subject; that the 
 langtiage of this agent was completely at variance 
 with that of the Austrian minister, and that the last 
 note was very evidently the result of some sudden 
 and suggested resolution. The assembly revoked the 
 decree of impeachment passed against Noailles, and 
 gave instructions for a prompt report. The king was 
 now unable to recede ; the fatal war was at last about 
 to be declared ; and in no possible case could it be 
 fiivourable to his interests. If victors, the French 
 would become yet more urgent and inexorable as to 
 the observation of the new law ; if vanquished, they 
 would be incensed against the government, and ac- 
 cuse it of having inadequately supported the war. 
 Louis XVI. was perfectly sensible of tliis alternative 
 peril ; and the determination for war was one of those 
 which cost him the severest pangs.* 
 
 * Madame Campan informs us, in one and the same passafirc> 
 of the construction of the iron-chest and of the existence of a 
 secret protest framed by the king against the declaration of wai'. 
 The terror of the king for war partook of the extraordinary, and 
 lie strove by all means to throw its odium upon the popular p^rty. 
 
 " The king had a prodigious quantity of p.apers, and, unfortu- 
 nately, conceived the idea of having secretly constructed, by a 
 locksmith whom he had employed for more than ten years, a safe 
 in an interior corridor of his apartment. This safe, but for the 
 denunciation of that man, would have been long unknown. At 
 the spot where it was placed, the wall was painted to resemble 
 large stones, and the aperture was perfectly conce;Ued in the dark 
 grooves which formed the shaded part of those painted stones. 
 But before the locksmith had denounced to the assembly what has 
 since l)een called the i roii-chest , the queen was aware that he hiul
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 11!/ 
 
 Dumouriez drew up the report -with his accustomed 
 celerity, and carried it to the king, who kept it for 
 three days. It was a question whether the king, upon 
 Avhom was tlirown the initiative with regard to the 
 assembly, should urge it to declare war, or whether 
 he should content himself with consulting it upon the 
 subject, by the announcement that France, in accord- 
 ance with the prescribed emergencies, was in a state 
 of u-ar. The ministers, Roland and Claviere, declared 
 for the first course. The orators of the Gironde like- 
 wise supported tliat opinion, and desired to dictate the 
 speech from the tlirone. It Avas a sad task for Louis 
 XVI. to declare war, and he desired rather to declare 
 a state of war. The distinction was of little impor- 
 tance ; but it was more consonant to his feelings. So 
 slight a deference to his peculiar position coidd do no 
 injury. Dumouriez, more easily moved, paid no at- 
 tention to tlie two ministers, and, supported by De- 
 graves, Lacoste, and DmMuthon, secured the adoption 
 of the king's opinion. This was his first difference 
 with the Gironde. The king himself composed his 
 speech, and repaired in person to the assembly, ac- 
 companied by all his ministers. A vast concourse of 
 spectators added to the effect of that day's sitting, 
 which.was to decide the fate of France and of Europe. 
 The countenance of the monarch was agitated, and 
 bespoke profound solicitude. Dumouriez read a de- 
 tailed report of the negotiations of France with the 
 empire; lie demonstrated that the treaty of 1756 was 
 de facto broken, and that, according to the last ulti- 
 matum, France was in a state of war. He added, that 
 the king having no oth.er legal mode of consulting the 
 assembly than by a formal proposition of war, he was 
 content to consult it in that form. 
 
 Louis XVI. then spoke with mucli dignity, but in 
 a nervous voice: — "Gentlemen," said he, "you have 
 hoard the result of the negotiations which I iiave pur- 
 s led witli the court of "N'ienna. The conclusions of 
 tlie report express the unanimous opinion of my 
 cjuncil, and I have myself adopted them. They are 
 c )nformable to tlie wishes often manifested by the 
 National Assembly, and to the sentiments conveyed 
 to me by numerous citizens in diilerent parts of the 
 kingdoiu. All prefer war to longer beholding the 
 dignity of the French people outraged, and- the na- 
 tional safety menaced. I have felt it incumbent on 
 me previously to use all possible means to preserve 
 jieace. I now come, according to the constitution, to 
 propose to tlie National Assembly war against the 
 King of Hungary and Bohemia." 
 
 The most favourable reception was given to this 
 
 spoken of it to somu of his companions, and that this man, in 
 whom the king from habit placed too much confidence, was a 
 Jacobin, irflie apprised the king of wliat liad thus come to her 
 knowledge, and induced him to fill a very large portfolio with all 
 the documents he was most interested hi preserving, and to in- 
 trust it to my care. She urged him, in my presence, to leave 
 iiothmg in that safe, and the king, to tranquillise her, assured 
 her that he had left nothing in it. I wished to take the portfolio, 
 and carry it into my apartment ; but it was too heavy for me to 
 lift. Tlie king told me he would carry it himself ; I went before 
 him to open the doors. When he had deposited the portfolio in 
 my inner cabinet, he merely said to me, ' The queen will tell you 
 what this contahis.' Ujion returning to the queen, I questioned 
 her respecting it, judging from tlie king's words that it was 
 e.xpedient 1 should be let into the secret. ' They arc,' the queen 
 replied, ' documents which would be most fatal to the king, if 
 they should proceed to the extremity of putting him on his triiil. 
 But what he desires especially that I should tell you is, that tln^ 
 portfolio contains the minutes of a jirivycouncil, in which tlie 
 king pronounced an opinion against the war. He caused thcni to 
 bo signed by all the ministers, and, in the event of such a process, 
 he is confident that this document w ill be very useful.' I askeil 
 to whom she tliouglit I ought to intrust the jiortfolio. ' To whom 
 you please,' luiswered the queen ; ' you are aloxe responsible for it. 
 Do not remove from the palace, even in your relief months ; there 
 are circumstances in which it may be of groat consequence to have 
 it forthcoming upon the instant.' "—Madame Campan, vol. ii. 
 p. 22i 
 
 proposition, and cries of " Long live the king !" re- 
 sounded from all sides. The assembly answered tlie 
 king that it would forthwith enter upon deliberation, 
 and would connnunicate the result to him by message. 
 A very stormy debate then commenced, and was con- 
 tinued into the dead of night. The reasons already 
 stated were repeated for and against; but at last the 
 decree was passed, and war resolved on by a great 
 majority. 
 
 " Considering," ran the assembly's decree, " that 
 the court of Vienna, in contempt of treaties, has not 
 ceased to grant avowed protection to French rel)cls ; 
 that it has urged and formed an alliance with several 
 European powers against the independence and safety 
 of the French nation : 
 
 That Francis the First, King of Hungary and Bo- 
 hemia,* has, by his notes of the 18th March and 7th 
 A]iril last, refused to renounce this alliance : 
 
 That, notwithstanding the proposal made to him 
 by the note of the lltli March last, to reduce on 
 cither side the troops upon the frontiers to the peace 
 establishment, he has persisted in and increased his 
 hostile preparations : 
 
 That he has formally outraged the sovereignty of 
 the French nation, by declaring his determination to 
 support the pretensions of the German princes hold- 
 ing possessions in France, to whom the French nation 
 has constantly offered indemnities : 
 
 That he has endeavoured to sow discord amongst 
 French citizens, and to arm them against each other, 
 by offering to malecontents a support in the union of 
 the powers : 
 
 Considering, lastly, that the refusal to answer the 
 last dispatches of the King of the French destroys all 
 hope of obtaining, by the course of an amicable nego- 
 tiation, any redress for these multifarious grievances, 
 and is equivalent to a declaration of war, — 
 
 The assembly declares there is the requisite ur- 
 gency."! 
 
 It must be granted that this cruel war, which so 
 long desolated Europe, was not provoked hy France, 
 but by the foreign powers. France, in declaring it, 
 did but record by a decree the state in which they 
 had placed her. Condorcet was selected to compose 
 an exposition of the motives of the French nation. 
 History ought to cherish this document, so exquisite 
 a model is it of clear and temperate reasoning. J 
 
 * Francis 1. jvas not yet elected emperor. 
 
 t [M. Thiers has omitted the concluding and main terms of this 
 
 momentous decree. It proceeds: " The National Assembly 
 
 deliberating on the king's formal proposition, and having declared 
 that there is urgency, decrees war agamst the King of Hungary 
 and Bohemia."] 
 
 t Exposition of the motives which liave determined the Natioml 
 Assanbly to declare, ujmn tlie formal proposition of the 
 Kinrj, that there are grounds for declaring war against the 
 King of Hungary and Bohemia; by M. Condorcet. — {Sittiig 
 of the 2i)th April 170-2.) 
 
 " Impelled to consent to war by the most imperious necessity, 
 the National Assembly is aware that it will be accused of having 
 hastened or provoked it. 
 
 It feels that the insidious course of the court of Vienna ban 
 been framed solely with a view to give a shadow of foundation 
 to this iiii])utation, which is precious to the foreign powers as a 
 blind to their people upon the real motives of their unjust attack 
 against France ; it knows that this reproach will be repeated by 
 the internal enemies of oiir constitution and our laws, in the 
 criminal hope of wresting from the representatives of the nation 
 the public confidence. 
 
 A simple exposition of their policy is their sole vindication, and 
 they address it with cqiuil composure to aliens and Frenchmen, 
 since nature has planted the same sentiments of justice in the 
 hearts of all men. 
 
 Kvery nation has the sole power to frame laws for itself, and 
 the inalien.ible right to alter tbein. This right belongs to none, 
 or it belongs to all in perfect equality ; to attack it in one, is to 
 declare that it is recognised in none other ; a design to ravish it 
 by force from a foreign nation, is an announcement that the 
 intervener docs not respect it in that of which lie is a citi.ien or 
 the chief; it is to beti-ay his own country, to proclaim him:%lf
 
 120 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The prociamation of war caused general joy. The 
 patriots saw in it an cnfl to the fears which the emi- 
 gration and the uncertain conduct of the king caused 
 
 the enemy of the human race ! Tlie French nation might justly 
 conchide, that trutlis so simple would prevail with all princes, 
 und that, in theeighteonth century, none would venture to oppose 
 them w ith the antiquated maxims of tyranny ; but its hopes have 
 been falsified ; a league lias been formed against its independence, 
 and there is left to ii but the alternative of convincing its enemies 
 of the justice of its cause, or of opposing them by force of arms. 
 
 Apprised of this tlire.itening league, but anxious to preserve 
 peace, the National Assembly first inquired what object was 
 embraced in thii. union of powers so long rivals, and an answer 
 was given tliat its motives were the maintenance of general tran- 
 quillity, the security and honour of crowns, the fear of witness- 
 ing a renewal of events which certain epochs of the French 
 revolution have brouglit fortli. 
 
 Rut how did France menace the general tranquillity, when it 
 had Uiken a solemn resolution to attempt no conquest, to attack 
 the liberty of no people— wlien, during the long und sangiiinary 
 strife which raged in the Low Countries and in tlie states of Liege 
 between governments and citizens, it observed the most rigorous 
 neutrality ? 
 
 Doubtless, the French nation has openly proclaimed that 
 sovereignty belongs only to the people, who, restricted in the 
 exercise of their will by the rights of posterity, cannot delegate 
 irrevocable power ; doubtless, it hits distinctly asserted that no 
 usjige, no express law, no consent, no convention, is of efficacy to 
 subject a society of men to any authority which they have not 
 the right to recall ; but what idea do these princes entertain of 
 tlie legitimacy of their own power, or of the justice with whicli 
 they exercise it, if they regard the enunciation of these maxims 
 as an enterprise against the tranquillity of their states ? 
 
 Will they allege that tliis tranquillity must be surely troubled 
 by the works and discourses of certain Frenchmen ? This would 
 be tantamount, ag-.iin, to a demand under threat of arms for a 
 law against the liberty of the press, a declaration of war against 
 the progress of reason ; and when it is notorious that the French 
 nation has been every where scandalised with impunity, that the 
 presses of neighbouring countries have never ceased from pouring 
 into our depiu-tments works designed to stimulate treason, to 
 counsel revolt ; and when the evidences of protection and favour 
 to their authors are remembered— will it be believed that a sincere 
 love of peace, and not a hatred of liberty, has inspired tliese 
 h} pocritical reproaches ? 
 
 Objections have been made to endeavours, on the part of the 
 French, to excite neighbouring nations to bro;ik their fetters, to 
 reclaim their i,'hts. Hut the ministers who have dilated on these 
 imputations, without daring to cite a -ingle fact in support of 
 them, knew well how gromuUess they were ; and had they ev.n 
 been real, powers which have permitted the assemblages of jur 
 emigrants, have afforded them succours, have received their 
 envoys, have publicly admitted them to their conferences, and 
 have not blushed to exhort the French to civil war, would have 
 no right to complain ; otherwise, it has become an axiom, tliat 
 to extend servitude is allowable, to propagate libTty is criminal ; 
 that all expedients are legitimate against nations ; and that kings 
 alone have actual rights. Never, surely, did the pride of mo- 
 narchs so audaciously insult the majesty of nations ! 
 
 The French people, free to settle the form of their own consti- 
 tution, could not endanger, by using that prerogative, either the 
 securit}' or the honour of foreign crowns. Do the chiefs of other 
 ountries rank amonvst their attributes the power to compel the 
 French nation to confer on the chief of its government an autho- 
 rity equal to what theniselves exercise in their states? Would 
 they, because they have subjects, interdict free men from else- 
 where existing? And do they not perceive, that, by permitting 
 all means for ensuring what they denominate the security of 
 crowns, they decUired legitimate all that a nation may undertake 
 in favour of universal liberty ? 
 
 If violences, if crimes, have tarnished certain epochs of the 
 French revolution, to tlie depositaries of the national will alone 
 lKlonpe<l the power to punish them or bury them in oblivion; 
 every citizen, every magistrate, whatever may be his title, ought 
 to claim justice only from the Laws of his country, and can expect 
 it from them alone. Foreign powers, inasmuch as their subjects 
 have been uninjured by such events, can have no just ground 
 either for remonstrating, or for taking hostile measures to prevent 
 their recnrrence. The relationship or personal alliance between 
 kings is nothing in f lie sight of nations ; enslaved or free, common 
 in 'xTcsts unite them ; nature has pl:iced their happiness in peace, 
 in the mutual succours of an amiable fraternity ; she would be 
 outlasted should any prcsiune to weigh in the same baUmce the 
 
 them. The moderates, chiefly ahtmied at the danger 
 of intestine divisions, hoped that the common peril 
 would stifle them, and that the camps would absorb 
 
 destiny of twenty millions of men, and the aft'eetions or pride of 
 a few individuals. Are we, then, again doomed to %vitness the 
 voluntary serfage of populations— heap witli human victims the 
 altars of the earth's false deities ? 
 
 Thus, all these alleged motives for a league against France, 
 were but fresh assaults on her inde]>endeiice. She was justified 
 in demanding a renunciation of injmious projects, and in regard- 
 ing the refusal as an act of hostility; such are the principles 
 which have actuated the proceeding: of the National Assembly. 
 It has continued to desire peace, but it must prefer war to a 
 patience perilous to liberty ; it could not conceal from itself, that 
 changes in the constitution, subversive of the equality upon which 
 it is based, were the sole design of the enemies of France — that 
 they purposed to chastise her for having recognised, in their full 
 extent, the rights common to all mankind ; and it was then that 
 it took the oath, reverberated throughout France, to perish rather 
 I than suUer the least infringement upon the liberty of citizens, 
 . upon the sovereignty of the nation, and, above all, upon that 
 equality withiut which there is neither justice nor happiness for 
 societies. 
 
 Are the French reproached for not sufficiently respecting the 
 rights of others, by offering only pecuniary indemnities to the 
 German princes, proprietors in Als.ace, and to the pope ? 
 
 Treaties had recognised the sovereignty of France over Als.ace, 
 and, for more than a century, it has been peaceably exercised. 
 The riglits which those treaties had reserved, were simply privi- 
 leges; the meaning of that reservation, therefore, w;is, that the 
 holders of fiefs in Alsace should retain them with the ancient 
 prerogatives, so long as the general laws of France should permit 
 the various forms of feudalism ; that reservation also signified, 
 that if the feudal rights were included in one common abrogation , 
 the nation would owe a satisfaction to the possessors, for the 
 substanti.\I advantages resulting therefrom ; for such is all that 
 the right of property can demand, when it is in opposition to the 
 law, in 'jontradiction to the public weal. The citizens of Alsace 
 are Frenchmen, and the nation could not, without disgrace and 
 injustice, allow tliem to be deprived of the smallest jiortion of 
 rights common to all whom that appellation ought equally to 
 shelter. Will it be said, tliat, in order to indemnify the princes, 
 a part of the territory should be abandoned to them ? No ; a free 
 and generous nation traffics not with men ; it condemns not to 
 slavery, nor delivers up to masters those whom it has once ad- 
 mitted to a participation of its liberty. 
 
 The citizens of the Comtats were in a position to give themselves 
 a constitution ; they might have declared themselves indepen- 
 dent—they preferred being Frenchmen ; and France will not 
 abandon them after having adopted them. Had she refused to 
 grant their request, their district is enclosed by bcr territory, and 
 she could not have permitted their oppressors to traverse a land 
 of liberty when bent upon punishing men for daring to render 
 themselves independent, and to resume their rights. AU the 
 pope possessed in tliat country was a revenue for gubernatorial 
 functions ; the people, when they relieved him from those func- 
 tions, made use of a privilege which long servitude had suspended 
 but could not take away ; and the indemnity proposed by France 
 was not even exigible in justice. 
 
 Thus, what is arrogantly demanded in the name of the pope and 
 the princes holding possessions in Alsace, involves further viola- 
 tions of natural right. It is still for the pretensions of a few men 
 that the blood of nations is to flow .' And if the ministers of the 
 house of Austria had resolved to declare war against reason in the 
 name of prejudices, against populations in the name of kings, 
 they could have held no other language ! 
 
 It has been asserted that the voice of the French people for the 
 maintenance of its equality and its independence, is that of a fac- 
 tion. But tlie French nation has a constitution ; that constitu- 
 tion has been acknowledged and adopted by the general body of 
 the citizens ; it ainnot be altered but by the will of the people, 
 and according to forms which itself has prescribed ; so long as it 
 subsists, the powers established under it have alone the right to 
 [)romulgate the national determination, and it is through them 
 that such detennination has been made known to foreign states. 
 It is the king, who, at the request of the National Assembly, and 
 in fulfilment of the functions conferred on him by the constitu- 
 tion, has complained of the protection aflbrded to the emigrants, 
 and hiis fruitlessly demanded that it should be withheld ; it is he 
 who has asked for explanations concerning the league formed 
 against France ; it is he who has insisted tliat this league should 
 be dissolved ; and it is a just m.itter of astonishment to hear the 
 solemn resolve of a nation, publicly expressed by its legitimate
 
 HISTORY OF THE FREMCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 l-Jl 
 
 all those turbulent spirits hatched by the revolution. 
 A few Feuillants alone, ■vvell-inclined to impute faults 
 to the assembly, reproached it with haA'ing violated 
 the constitution, according to vhich France was de- 
 barred from ever being in a state of aggression. But 
 it was too palpable that, in the present instance, 
 France did not attack. Consequently, putting aside 
 the king and certain nialecontents, war was the gene- 
 ral desire. 
 
 Lafayette prepared courageously to serve his coun- 
 try in this new career. It was he who Avas principally 
 charged with the execution of the plan laid down l)y 
 Dumouriez and apparently ordered by Degraves. Du- 
 mouriez had reasonably flattered himself, and had led 
 the patriots confidently to anticipate, that the invasion 
 of Belgium would be an easy operation. That country, 
 recently agitated bj' a rev(jlution which Austria had 
 suppressed, was naturally judged disposed to rise at 
 the first appearance of the French ; and then would be 
 realised that warning of the assembly to sovereigns, 
 " If you send vs war, we will return you liberty." Further- 
 more, such an expedition was in execution of Duraou- 
 ricz's great plan, which consisted in extending France 
 to her natural boundaries. Rochamlieau commanded 
 the army nearest the intended scene of action, but it 
 was impossible to intrust him with the enterprise, on 
 account of his peevish and sickly temperament, and 
 above all, because he was less suitable tlian Lafa3-ette 
 for an invasion half-military and half-popular. It was 
 desired that Lafayette shoidd have the command-in- 
 chief, but Dumouriez refused to consent, doubtless 
 from envy. He alleged in excuse that the supreme 
 command in this expedition could not be conferred 
 upon a simple general in presence of a field-marshal. 
 He likewise asserted, and this motive was better 
 founded, that Lafayette was distrusted by the Jaco- 
 bins and the assembly. It is quite certain that he, 
 young, active, and the only one of the generals who 
 was beloved by his army, alarmed the heated imagi- 
 nations of the time, and gave, by his great influence, 
 an air of probability to the calunmies of the malignant. 
 However, he frankly and freely offered to execute the 
 
 representatives, stigmatised as the cry of a petty faction. AVhat 
 title equally worthy of respect can those kings invoice who coerce 
 deluded nations to combat against the interests of their own free- 
 dom, and to take up arms against rights which are their's also — 
 to choke, under the ruins of the French constitution, the germs of 
 their own felicity and the common hopes of the human race ? 
 
 And, again, is it but a faction they would accuse of conspiring 
 for the universal liberty of mankind ? It is, then, all humanity 
 these cringing ministers presume to brand with that odious 
 term ! 
 
 But, say they, the king of the French is not free. A\Tiat ! is it 
 inconsistent with freedcmi to respect the laws of a country ? 
 Libert)' to coimteract or evade them, to oppose to them an alien 
 force, is not a right, but a criminiil usurpation. 
 
 Hence, in repudiating all these insidious propositions, in con- 
 temning these flagrant declamations, the National Assembly has 
 manifested, with reference to externnl relations, equal love of 
 peace and care of popular liberty ; hence, the continuance of a. 
 hostile toleration towards the emigrants, the open violation of 
 promises to disperse their gatherings, the refusal to renounce a 
 league palpably offensive, the insulting motives of such refusal, 
 indicating a desire to annihilate the French constitution, are 
 sufficient to authorise hostilities wliieli would have always been 
 but acts of legitimate defence ; for it is not so much to .attack, as 
 to deprive our enemies of leisure to exhaust our resources by 
 continuous preparations, to plant all their snares, to assemble all 
 their forces, to tighten tlieir present alliances, to contract others, 
 to form further relations in the very midst of us, and to multiply 
 conspiracies and intrigues in our provinces. Does he deserve the 
 name of aggressor, who, threatened, outraged, by an unjust and 
 perfidious foe, forest.als him in the advantage of striking the first 
 blow! So far from provoking war, the National Assembly has 
 done every thing to avert it. By seeking fresh explanations upon 
 intentions which could not be dubious, it has shown that it 
 reluctantly departed from the liope of a return to a sense of justice, 
 and that if kings in their pride are reckless of their subjects' 
 blood, the representatives of a free nationi in their humanity, are 
 careful even of enemies' blood. Indiflerent to all provocations, to 
 
 joint dijilomatic and military plan of the minister; he 
 demanded fifty thousand men, with whom he proposed 
 to proceed by Namur and tlie INIeuse to Liege, where 
 he would become master of the Low Countries. This 
 Avell-conceived project was approved by Dumouriez ; 
 war in fact not having been declared' beyond a few- 
 days, Austria had not had time to cover her possessions 
 in Belgium, and success seemed inevitable. Accord- 
 ingly, Lafayette had orders to march at once with ten 
 thousand men from Givet to Nanmr, and fnnn Namur 
 upon Liege or Brussels ; he was to be immediately 
 followed by all his army. Wliilst he executed this 
 movement, Lieutenant-General Biron was to set off 
 from Valenciennes with ten thousand men, and proceed 
 in the direction of Mons. Another officer was ordered 
 to march upon Tournay, and occupy it by surprise. 
 These movements, to be eflfected by officers of Roch- 
 arabeau, were merely intended to support and mask 
 the real attack intrusted to Lafayette. 
 
 The period fixed for the execution of the plan was 
 between the 20th April and the 2d May. Biron com- 
 tnenced his march, passed through Valenciennes, 
 seized upon Quievrain, and fell in with some hostile 
 detachments near Mons. All at once, two dragoon 
 regiments, witliout even having the enemy in sight, 
 cried out, " We are betrayed 1" took to flight, and carried 
 the wliole army in their train. The officers attempted 
 in vain to stop them ; they threatened to shoot them, 
 and continued to fly. The camp was abandoned, an(i 
 all the military stores became the prey of the Impe- 
 rialists. 
 
 Whilst this event was passing at Mons, Theobald 
 Dillon, in pursuance of the arrangement, left Lille 
 Avith two tliousand infantry and one thousand horse. 
 In the very hour of Biron's disaster, this cavalry, at; 
 sight of some Austrian troops, retreated, shouting 
 that it was betrayed ; it drew the infantry after it, 
 and all tlie baggage was again abandoned to the enemy. 
 Theobald Dillon, and an officer of engineers, named 
 Berthois, were massacred by the soldiers and tlie 
 people of Lille, who accused them of treachery. In 
 the mean time, Lafayette, apprised too late, had passed 
 
 all slanders, to the disregard of long-standing engagements, to the 
 violations of recent pledges, to the dastardly duplicity concerning 
 plots hatching against France, to the perfidious complaisance 
 designed to shroud the succours and encouragement lavished on 
 Frenchmen who have betrayed their country, it would still have 
 accepted peace, had that which was offered been compatible with 
 the maintenance of tlie constitution, tlie independence of the 
 national sovereignty, and the safety of the commonwealtli. 
 
 But the veil which concealed the intentions of our enemy is at 
 length torn .' Citizens ! which of you would s ibscribe to these 
 disgraceful propositions ? Feudal servitude and a humiliating 
 inequality, bankruptcy and imposts payable by you alone, tithes 
 and the inquisition, properties, purchased upon the public faith, 
 wrested from you and given to their old usurpers, wild beasts 
 restored to the right of ravaging your fields, your blood wasted for 
 the .ambitious views of a hostile dj'n:isty — such are the conditions 
 of the treaty between the King of Hungary and faithless French- 
 men ! 
 
 Such is the i)eace that is ofFi^red to you ! No ; you will never 
 accept it! The cowards are at Coblentz, and France no longer 
 contains in her bosom any but men worthy of liberty ! 
 
 He announces in his own name, in the name of his allies, the 
 purpose of exacting from the French nation an abandonment of 
 its rights; he gives notice tliat he will wring from it sjicrifices, 
 which the fear of its extermination could alone obtain from it. 
 So be it !— it will never succumb ! This insulting pride, far from 
 intimidating it, will but stimulate its courage. Time is needed 
 to discipline the slaves of despotism ; but every man is a s<ildicr 
 when ho combats tyranny ; gold will leave its dark retreats at 
 mention of the country in danger ; those vile and ambitious men, 
 thosevetcrans in corruption and intrigue, those base eahunniators 
 of tlie people, from whtim our enemies scruple not to promise 
 themselves a despicable aid, will lose the support of those short- 
 sighted or pusillanimous citizens whom they may have deceived 
 by tlieir hypocritical declamations ; jind the I-Ycnch empire, in 
 its vast extent, will present to our enemies but one single deter- 
 mination—to conquer or to perish together witli the constitution 
 and the laws !"
 
 122 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 from Metz to Givct, after incredible toil, and by roads 
 almost impassable. He was solely iiidelited to the ar- 
 dour of his troops for clearing in so short a time the 
 considerable distance he had to traverse. There learn- 
 ing the misfortunes of Rochambeau's otHcers, he 
 judged it prudent to halt. These fatal events oc- 
 curred in the latter part of the month of April 1792. 
 
 CMI.VPTER IX. 
 
 KKOM AI'HIL TO THK EVE.NTS OF THK 20TU JUM:. 
 
 'I'he intelligence of the unfortunate issue that had 
 marked the skirmislies of Quievrain and Tournay, 
 and of the nuirder of General Dillon, created an uni- 
 versal sensation. It was but natural to surmise that 
 the two events had been concerted, when their simul- 
 taneousncss and identity of character were considered. 
 Recriminations passed t)n all sides. The Jacobins and 
 ardent patriots asserted that a design had been forme(^ 
 to betray liberty. Dumouriez, not accusing Lafayette, 
 but suspecting the Feuillants, conceived that his plan 
 had been made to miscarry with the view of injuring 
 his popularity. Lafayette complained, but !< ss acri- 
 moniously than his party, that he had been apprised 
 too tardily to get under march, and that he had not 
 been furnished with the means necessary to convey 
 his array. The Feuillants exclaimed, furthermore, 
 that Dumouriez had pur^wsed ruining Rochainbeau 
 and Lafayette in public opinion, by imposing uj)on 
 them a plan witliout giving them the means to exe- 
 cute it. Such an intention was out of tlie question, 
 for Dumouriez, thus drawing up plans of campaign, 
 and to this extent exceeding his functions as minister 
 for foreign affairs, was gravely compromised in case 
 of ill success. Besides, the project of securing Belgium 
 for France and liberty, formed part of a plan he had 
 long meditated, and it was not to be supposed that he 
 should desire it to fail in execution. It was evident 
 tliat neither the generals nor the ministers could ]>os- 
 sibly have been actuated by bad i'liith, because they 
 were all interested in success. But jmrties always 
 judge men instead of circumstances, so that they may 
 fasten upon some one sudi disasters as occur. 
 
 Degraves, dismayed at the outcry raised on account 
 of these military events, determined to resign a charge 
 which had long been burdensome to him; and Du- 
 mouriez had the weakness to slum it. Lotiis XVI., 
 still under the sway of the Giroude, gave the depart- 
 ment to Servan, an old soldier, distinguished for his 
 patriotic sentiments. This appointment gave addi- 
 tional strength to the Gironde, which had now almost 
 a majority in the council, having Servan, Claviere, 
 and Roland in its interest. From this period, dis- 
 union began to crec]) into the ministry. The Gironde 
 became daily more distrustful, andconseiiuently more 
 importunate for evidences of sincerity on the part of 
 I-ouis XVI. Dumouriez, whom opinions little swayed, 
 and wlioni the confidence of Louis XVI. had moved, 
 always supported his views; and Lacoste, who was 
 strongly attached to the monarch, did the same. I)u- 
 ranthon remained neutral, and evinced no marked 
 preference except for the weakest counsels. Servan, 
 Claviere, and Roland, were inflexible ; fully impressed 
 with the ai)prehensions of their friends, they becrane 
 day by day more stubborn and inexorable iu the 
 cabinet. 
 
 An additional circumstance tended to embroil Du- 
 mouriez with tlip ])rineipal members of the Gironde. 
 Wlien taking olHce as minister for foreign affairs, he 
 had deinande<l six milHons of francsfor seiTet expenses, 
 for which ho should not be held liable to account. The 
 Feuillants had opposed tiie request; but the Gironde 
 had exerle<l their weight in its sujiport, and the six 
 millions were voted. Pi'tion having solicited funds 
 for the Parisian ]iolice, Dumouriez had assigned him 
 30,000 francs a-iiiontii ; but, ceasing to be a Girondist, 
 
 he refused to pay tliem more than once. On the other 
 hand, it was learnt or suspected that he had appro- 
 priated 100,000 francs to his own pleasures. Roland, 
 at wliose residence tlie Girondists were wont to as- 
 semble, joined his friends in their indignation at this 
 conduct. The ministers were accustomed to dine by 
 turns with each other, to converse upon pu!)lic affairs. 
 When they met at Roland's, it was in presence of his 
 wife and of all his friends ; and it migiit be truly said, 
 that upon those occasions the council was held liy the 
 Gironde alone. At one of these meetings remonstrances 
 were made to Dumouriez upon the nature of his secret 
 disbursements. At first he replied in a sprightly and 
 careless mood, then became soured and irritated, and 
 ultimately had a decided altercation Avith Roland and 
 the Girondists. He discontinued attending the usual 
 meetings, giving as his motive that he Avas unwilling 
 to treat of public affairs either before a woman or 
 before the friends of Roland. However, he occasion- 
 ally returned to the hitter's house, but without enter- 
 ing upon matters of business, or at least very partially. 
 Another discussion completed his alienation from the 
 Girondists. Guadet, the most petulant of all his party, 
 read a letter which he desired the ministers to adopt, 
 urging the king to take a constitutional priest as his 
 spiritual director. Dumouriez mamtained that the 
 ministers were not justified in interfering with tlie 
 religious services of the king. He was supported, it 
 is true, by Vergniaud and Gensonne ; Imt the dispute 
 was not the less warm, and the rupture became defi- 
 nitive. 
 
 The journals forthwith commenced attacks upon 
 Dumouriez. The Feuillants, wlio were already in- 
 censed against him, now found tliemselves aided by 
 the Jacobins and Girondists. Dumouriez, assailed on 
 all sides, opposed an imdaunted front to the storm, 
 and took vengeance on some of the journalists. 
 
 A decree of impeachment had been previously 
 directed against Marat, editor of " The Friend of the 
 People" — a detestable production, in which he openly 
 demanded slaughter, and heaped the most villanous 
 accusations on the royal family, and on all men who, 
 to his delirious imagination, seemed open to suspi- 
 cion. As a counterpoise to this step, Royou, editor 
 of " The Friend of the King," who inveighed against 
 the republicans with the same violence that Marat 
 exhibited against the ro^yalists, was also impeached. 
 
 For some time the existence of a certain " Austrian 
 committee" had been universally mooted. The pa- 
 triots spoke of it in the city, as the Orleans faction 
 formed the staple conversation at court. To this 
 committee was attributed a secret aud blighting in- 
 fluence, which was exercised through the agency of 
 the queen. If something resembling an Austrian 
 committee had existed during the Constituent As- 
 sembly, certainly nothing of the sort prevailed luider 
 the Legislative. At that time a high personage, 
 stationed in the Low Countries, communicated to the 
 queen, in the name of her family, very iirudent coun- 
 sels, to the effect of which the French intermediary 
 added by discreet commentaries. But under the legis- 
 lative body these private communications had ceased; 
 the faniih'^ of the queen still continued to correspond 
 with her ; but she was always exhorted to patience 
 and resignation. However, Bertrand de Molleville 
 and Montmorin often visited the palace after their 
 dismissal from the ministry. Upon them all suspicions 
 were centred ; and there is no doubt they were the 
 agents of all secret commissions. They were publicly 
 denounced by the journalist Carra. Having resolved 
 to prosecute him for calumny, they summoned hira to 
 ])roduce the docmneiits upon which he founded his de- 
 mmciation. The journalist appealed to three deputies, 
 naming Chabot, Merlin, and Bazire, as authors of the 
 information he had published. Tlie jiistice-of- peace 
 Lariviere, who, being zealously attached to the cause of 
 the king, prosecuted tlii^ affair with extraordinary 
 couriige, had the boldness to issue a warrant against
 
 HlbTOliY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 I'iS 
 
 the three desis^nated deputies. The assembly, exas- 
 perated at this daring attempt to infringe the invio- 
 labiUty of its members, answered the judge by a decree 
 of impeachment, and sent the unfortunate Lariviere 
 to Orleans. 
 
 This aljortive endeavour was only instrumental in 
 augmenting the general agitiiti<m, as well as the de- 
 testation with which the court was viewed. The 
 Girondists no longer looked upon themselves as 
 directors of Louis XVI., since Dumouriez had so 
 completely gained his confidence, and they returned 
 to their part as violent oppositionists. 
 
 The new constitutional guard of the king had been 
 recently formed. According to the law, the civil 
 household ought likewise to have been composed : but 
 the nobihty refused to enter it, in order to avoid re- 
 cognising the constitution, by accepting employments 
 created under it. On the other hand, a repugnance 
 was felt to constitute it of plebeians ; and it was given 
 up altogether. " Why do you desire, madam," wrote 
 Barnave to t'ne queen, " to give the least doubt to 
 these people as to your sentiments ? When they decree 
 you a military and a civil household, like Achilles 
 amongst the daughters of Lycomedes. you eagerly 
 grasp the sword to repel simple ornaments."* The 
 ministers, and even Bertrand, urged the same course 
 as Barnave ; but their endeavours were in vahi ; and 
 the composition of the civil household was abandoned. 
 
 The military household, arranged according to a 
 plan originating M-ith Delessart, had been formed in. 
 the proportion of a third by troops of the line, and 
 the remaining two-thirds by yomig citizens chosen 
 from the ranks of the national guard. This composi- 
 tion was calculated to ensure satisfaction. But the 
 officers and soldiers of the line had been selected in a 
 manner tending to alarm the patriots. Coalescing 
 against tlie young men taken from the national guard, 
 they heaped infinite insults upon them, and compelled 
 most of them to retire. Tlie vacancies thus created 
 were instantly filled up with men more surely to be 
 relied upon. Besides, the number of these guards had 
 been singularly augmented, for instead of eighteen 
 hundred, as fixed by the law, it rose, as was stated, to 
 nearly six thousan(l. Dumouriez had acquainted the 
 king with these circumstances ; but he alwaj-s replied 
 that the old Duke de Brissac, the commander of this 
 corps, could not be looked upon in the light of a con- 
 spirator. However, the conduct of this uew guard at 
 the palace and elsewhere was such, that suspicions 
 were universally engendered, and the clubs at length 
 took up tlie subject. At the same period, twelve 
 Swiss mounted the Avhite cockade at Neuilly ; divers 
 heaps of paper were burnt at Sevres,f and gave rise 
 
 * Memoirs of Madame Campan, vol. ii. p. 154. 
 
 t Madame Campan gives t!ie following explanation upon the 
 Becrct of the papers burnt at Sevres : — 
 
 " At the commencement of 1792, a highly esteemed clergyman 
 solicited a pi-ivate interview with me. He knew in whose hands 
 was the manuscript of a new libel of Madame Lamotte. lie told 
 me that the people who had come from London to get it printed 
 .it Paris were perfectly venal, and ready to surrender him the 
 iii:miiscript for a thousand louis, if he could find any friend of the 
 queen disposed to make such a sacrifice for her tranquillity; that 
 ho had thought of me, and that if her maj<;bty would give him 
 the 24,0(X» francs, he would deliver me the manuscript upon re- 
 ceiving them. 
 
 I imparted this communication to the queen, who refused to 
 entertain it, and ordered me to reply that, even at the time when 
 it was possible to punish the hawkers of these libels, she had 
 deemed them so atrocious and despicable as to disdain the use of 
 measures to stop their circulation ; that, if she were imprudent 
 and weak enough to buy up one of them, the active cspionnage of 
 the Jacobins might discover it; that the pincha.'-cd libel would 
 not be the less printed, and would become more dangerous when 
 the public wiis informed of the expedient that had been adopted 
 to suppress it. 
 
 The Baron d'Aubicr, gentleman in onlinary to the king, and 
 niy particular fj-iend, liad a capacious memory, and an accurate 
 and condenst>il manner of imparting to me the tenor of the deli- 
 berations, debates, and decrees of tlie National Assembly. I 
 
 to weighty suspicions. The alarm then became gene- 
 ral; tlie assembly declared itself permanent, as if 
 the days had returned when thirty thousand men 
 threatened Paris. But in truth, midtifarious grounds 
 of apprehension existed : the non-juring priests were 
 exciting the people in the southern provinces, and 
 abusing the secrecy of the confessional to stimulate 
 fanaticism ; the union of the powers was made mani- 
 fest ; Prussia was on the point of joining Austria, the 
 hastile armies were swelling into most formidable 
 hosts, and the inscrutable disasters of Lille and Mons 
 haunted all minds. And, furthermore, the efficacy of 
 popular force is little trusted, and is never indeed be- 
 lieved in until actually tested ; for an irregidar multi- 
 tude, howsoever numerous it may be, is but a weak 
 counterpoise to six thousand men armed and disci- 
 pUned. The assem])ly consequently declared itself 
 permanent (sitting of the 28th May), and called for 
 an exact report upon the composition of the king's 
 military household, upon the number, character, and 
 conduct of those who constituted it. After having 
 incontestibly demonstrated that the constitution had 
 been violated, it passed a decree of disembodiment 
 against the gtiard, another of impeachment against 
 the Duke de Brissac, and sent both for the royal 
 sanction. The king was at first disposed to affix the 
 veto, but Dumouriez reminded him of the dismissal of 
 his body-g-uards, who were much older in his service 
 than his new military household, and entreated him 
 to repeat a sacrifice much less painful. lie likewise 
 convinced him of the infractions involved in the com- 
 position of his guard ; and finally prevailed upon him 
 to sanction the decree. Dumouriez, however, insisted 
 upon its immediate re-formation ; but the king, whe- 
 ther he had relapsed into his former poliej' of appearing 
 under oppression, or placed rehance upon this dis- 
 banded guard, to which he secretlj^ continued its pay, 
 refused to have it replaced, and thus left himself with- 
 out protection against popular outrage. 
 
 The Gironde, meanwhile, giving up all hope of his 
 good faith, jiursued its attacks with perseverance. 
 Already it had carried a decree against the priests, in 
 lieu of that M'hich the king had refused to sanction. 
 Reports upon their factious conduct being inccss.'intly 
 forwarded to the assembly, it had fulminated against 
 them a decree of exile. The exact description of the 
 culpable being difficult, and the measure, like all those 
 of safety, being based on suspicion, it was in some 
 sort upon notoriety that the priests were to be ar- 
 raigned and driven forth. Upon the denunciation of 
 twenty active citizens, backed by the approval of 
 the district directory, the departmental directory was 
 to pronounce banishment ; the condemned priest was 
 to leave the canton in twenty-four hours, the depart- 
 
 entered the queen's apartment every day, to give an account of 
 them to the king, who used to say on seeing me, ' Ah ! here is 
 the Calais courier ! ' 
 
 One day, M. d'Aubier said to me, ' The assembly has been, 
 much engaged with a denunciation made by the workmen in the 
 manufactory at Sevres. They have carried to the president's desk 
 a bundle of pamphlets which they describe as the life of JIiu"ie- 
 Antoinette. The director of the manufactory was sununoncd to 
 the bar, and he has declared that orders were given him to burn 
 these printed sheets in the stoves used for hardening the moulds 
 of his porcelain.' 
 
 Whilst I was giving this account to the queen, the king reddened 
 and drooped his head over his plate. The (pieen s;iid to him, 
 ' I lave you any knowledge of this, sir ? ' The king gave no reply. 
 Madame Elizabeth requested him to expbiin what this might 
 mean; he kept the same silence. 1 innuediately retired. A few 
 moments afterwards, the queen came into my room, and informed 
 meth.ittheking, from regard to her. had caused the whole edition 
 printed from the manuscript I had ottered her, to be bought uji ; 
 and that ^I. de I.aportr had thought of no more mysterious modo 
 of destroying the entire work tluui getting it consumed at .Sevres 
 amongst two hundred workmen, nine-tenths of whom were 
 known to be Jacobins. She told me she bad dissembled her dis- 
 tress wliilst with the king, for he was greatly alarmed ; and she 
 could say nothing when his tenderness and concern for her werp 
 the causes of the accident."— it/aiM me Coiiijinn, vol. ii. p. liXi.
 
 124 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 meut in three days, ami tlie kiiigtloni in a month. If 
 he -were ]ioor, three livres (half-a-crown) a-day were 
 granted him until he readied tlie frontiers. This 
 severe law wave token of the increasing exasperation 
 of the assenihlv.* Anotlier decree speedily followed 
 it. Tlie minister Servan, without being ordered by 
 tlie king, and without consulting Ids colleagues, pro- 
 posed to form, on occasion of tlie approaching ledera- 
 tion of the 14th July, a camp of 20,000 federalists, for 
 the purpose of protec-ting tlie assembly and the capi- 
 tal. It is easy to conceive witli what joy tliis project 
 was received by the majority of tlie assembly, com- 
 posed as it was of Girondists. At this moment their 
 power was at its height. They completely governed 
 the assembly, where the constitutionaUsts and repub- 
 licans were "in a minority, and where the pretended 
 " inipartials" were, as in all times, simply waverers, 
 submissive in proportion as tlie majority Avaxed in 
 strength. Besides, they ruled in Paris through Petioii, 
 the nTayor. who was entirely devoted to them. Their 
 design,"with reference to the proposed camp, was, (not 
 fron" any personal ambition, but as a means of secur- 
 ing preponderance to their party and opinions,) to 
 render themselves masters of the king, and provide 
 against his suspected intentions. 
 
 So soon as Servan's proposition was known, Du- 
 niouriez questioned him in full council, with much 
 acrimony, under what character he liad brought for- 
 ward sucli a proposal. He answered, " Under that of 
 an individual." " In that case," exclaimed Dumouriez, 
 "the title of minister of war should not be attached 
 to the name of Servan." So Avarm a dispute ensued, 
 that, but for the kings presence, blood might have 
 stained the council-board. Servan offered to with- 
 draw his proposition ; but that would have been of no 
 avail, since the assembly had eagerly adopted it ; and 
 the only gain to tlie king would have been the belief 
 that he had violently coerced his minister. Dumouriez 
 consequently opposed that course ; the motion stood, 
 and was deprecated in a petition signed by eight 
 thousand national guards, who expressed indignation 
 that their services were held insufficient to protect 
 the assembly. It was nevertheless carried, and the 
 decree embodying it dispatclied to the king. There 
 were thus two important decrees awaiting the sanc- 
 tion, and already doubts were entertained that the 
 king would refuse it. If so, a decisive resolution was 
 intended to be passed against him. 
 
 Dumouriez maintained at the council-board that 
 the encampment would be fatal to the throne, and 
 even to the Girondists, because the new army would 
 be formed under the influence of the most violent 
 Jacobins. He argued, nevertheless, that it must be 
 adopted by the king ; because, if he refused to con- 
 voke 20,000 men regularly chosen, 40,000 would rise 
 spontaneously, and overrun the capital. He further- 
 more gave it to be understood, that he knew of an 
 expedient for rendering the measure abortive, which 
 he would bring forward at a suitable time. With 
 regard to the decree for the banishment of the priests, 
 he was likewise of ojjinion it should be sanctioned, 
 inasmuch as they were culpable, and as their exile 
 would shelter them from the outrages of their enemies. 
 Louis XVI. still hesitated, alleging that he needed 
 further reflection. At the same council, Roland in- 
 sisted uy)on reading, in the king's presence, a letter 
 he liad already forwarded to him, which was certainly 
 a work of supererogation, since the king was ac- 
 quainted with its conttnits. This letter had been 
 resolved upon at the instigation of Madame Roland, 
 and composed by her. It had been previously mooted 
 whether one should not be written to the king in the 
 name of all the ministers. They having refused, 
 Madame Roland had exercised her influence over 
 her husband, and induced him to adopt the step in 
 his own name. Dur.anthon, who was a weak, but 
 
 * This decree beiirt date the 27tli May ; the gtibscquent one, 
 rdative to the camp of 2<i,(lO(t men. the 8Ui .luiic. 
 
 nevertheless a sagacious man, vainly and rationally 
 objected that the tone of his letter, far from winning 
 over the king, would embitter him against ministers 
 who enjoyed the public confidence, and that it would 
 produce a fatal rupture between tlie throne and the 
 popular party. Roland obstinately persi-sted, in obe- 
 dience to the counsels of his wife and his friends. The 
 Gironde, in fact, was desirous of coming to an expla- 
 nation, and preferred a quarrel to longer uncertainty. 
 
 Accordingly, Roland read his letter to the king, 
 and inflicted upon him, in full council, a category of 
 the most severe remonstrances. 
 
 Tins famous letter ran as follows : — 
 
 " Sire — The present state of France cannot long 
 continue ; it is a state of crisis, the violence whereof 
 is at its height ; it must terminate in a con\nilsion 
 calculated to interest your majesty as deeply as it 
 concerns the whole empire. 
 
 Honoured by your confidence, and invested with 
 duties which impose truth on me as an obligation to 
 you, I will venture to give it unrestricted utterance, 
 for you yourself have laid the injunction on me. 
 
 The Frencli have given themselves a constitution, 
 which has generated nialecontents and rebels ; but 
 the majority of the nation is resolute for its mainte- 
 nance ; it has sworn to defend it at the cost of its 
 blood ; and it has joyfully hailed war, for it presented 
 an efficacious means of securing it. The minority, 
 however; sustained by hopes, has left no expedient 
 untried to regain the ascendancy. Hence, this intes- 
 tine struggle against the laws, this anarchy whereat 
 good citizens lament, and which the mahgnant fail 
 not to use in calumnious deprecation of the new sys- 
 tem ; hence this disunion every where prevailing and 
 every where excited, for in no quarter is there indif- 
 ference or neutrality ; the triumph or the revocation 
 of the constitution is imperiously desired, and all ac- 
 tion is for its support or its overthrow. I will abstain 
 from an examination of its tenor and spirit, in order 
 to consider solely what circumstances require ; and, 
 divesting myself of partiality as much as possible, 1 
 will inquire what it is rational to anticipate, and what 
 it is expedient to encourage. 
 
 Your majesty enjoyed high prerogatives, which you 
 believed appurtenant to royalty : reared in the idea 
 of preserving them, you could not behold them torn 
 from 3'ou with complacency ; the desire of recovering 
 them was as natural as the regret at their loss. These 
 feelings, which are natural to the human lie.art, have 
 been estimated by the enemies of the revolution, and 
 they have consequently relied upon a secret approval, 
 until circumstances should permit an avowed protec- 
 tion. Nor could these tendencies be unappreciated 
 by the nation itself; and they have necessarily tended 
 to keep it in a state of distrust. 
 
 Your majesty has, therefore, been continually ex- 
 posed to the alternative of yielding to first impres- 
 sions, to private feelings, or of making sacrifices dic- 
 tated by philosophy, and urged by necessity ; hence, 
 either to embolden rebels whilst keeping up alarm in 
 the nation, or to calm the latter hy cordially uniting 
 with it. All things have their term, and that of uncer- 
 tainty is at length arrived. 
 
 Is your majesty disposed at the present moment to 
 form an open alliance with those who aim at remodel- 
 ling the constitution, or will you nobly and unreser- 
 vedly devote yourself to ensure its final triumph? 
 Such is the veritable question which the present state 
 of things irresistibly drives to a solution. As to the 
 meta])hysical inquiry whether the French are ripe for 
 lilierty, its discussion may be deferred, for we are not 
 called upon to determine what we shall be a century 
 hence, but of what the actual generation is capable. 
 
 What has come to pass amidst all the agitations m 
 which we have had our being for the last four years? 
 Privileges onerous to the people have been abolished; 
 ideas of justice and equality have been universally dis- 
 seminated, have penetrated every bosom ; the t'heorv
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 125 
 
 of the rif]fhts of the people has justified the conscious- 
 ness of those rights, and their recognition, solemnly 
 pronounced, has become a sacred doctrine ; h;itred of 
 the nobility, long ago inspired by feudalism, has been 
 rendered more inveterate l\v the iindisguised opposi- 
 tion of the majority of the nobles to the constitution 
 which levels their order. 
 
 During the first year of the revolution, the people 
 beheld in these nobles men odious from the oppres- 
 sive privileges they enjoyed, but whom they would 
 have ceased to abhor after the destruction of those 
 privileges, if the conduct of the order of nobility since 
 that period had not quickened all the reasons for 
 dreading and combating it as an irreconcilable enemy. 
 
 In like progression has attachment to the constitu- 
 tion grown : not only do the people owe to it many 
 evident benefits, but they deem it has many greater 
 in store for them, since those who were wont to throw 
 all burdens upon them strive so vehemently to destroy 
 or modify it. 
 
 The declaration of rights is consecrated as a politi- 
 cal gospel, and the French constitution as a religious 
 code, for which the people are prepared to die. 
 
 Thus zeal has already sometimes aided the execu- 
 tion of the law ; and when its restraints were insuffi- 
 cient to curb the refractory, the citizens have been 
 impelled to inflict chastisement of themselves. 
 
 Thus have the estates of emigrants been exposed 
 to ravages in the sjjirit of vengeance, and thus have 
 so many departments been compelled to treat priests 
 with rigour whom public opinion had proscribed, and 
 to which they would have fallen victims. 
 
 In this clash of interests, idl sentiments have taken 
 the accent of passion. The country is not a word 
 upon which the imagination has simply delighted 
 to dwell ; it is a thing for which all have made 
 sacrifices, to which all are daily more closely bound 
 by the very solicitude it causes, which has been 
 created by prodigious efforts, which has arisen amidst 
 mortal disquietudes, and which is beloved as much 
 for the sufferings it costs as for the hopes it gives. 
 All attacks made upon it but tend to inflame enthu- 
 siasm in its behalf To what a height must this 
 feeling rise at a moment when confederated foes with- 
 out are conspiring with internal traitors to inflict the 
 most fatal injuries ! In all parts of the empire, the 
 agitation is extreme ; it will assuredly burst forth in 
 some terrible shape, unless a reasonable confidence in 
 the intentions of your majesty should definitively 
 calm it. But the confidence needed in the emergency 
 will not be established by promises ; it must have its 
 basis on facts. 
 
 It is evident to the French nation that its consti- 
 tution can progress, that tlie government will possess 
 all the strength that is needful for it, so soon as your 
 majesty, truly disposed to give efficacy to that con- 
 stitution, shall support the legislative body with all 
 the influence of the executive, and shall remove all 
 grounds for imeasiness to the people and for hope to 
 the disaffected. 
 
 For example, two important decrees have been 
 passed : both essentially interest tlie public tranquil- 
 lity and the safety of the state ; the delay in sanc- 
 tioning them creates distrust ; if it be prolonged, it 
 will provoke irritation ; and I am bound to state, that, 
 in the pres(;nt ferment of the nation, irritation may 
 lead to all extremities. 
 
 The time for receding is past ; even the means of 
 temporising are at an end. Tlie revolution is accom- 
 plished in the public mind ; it will be worked out in 
 blood, and cemented by it, if prudence docs not pre- 
 vent misfortinies which it is still possible to oI)viate. 
 
 1 am aware it may be suggested that extreme mea- 
 sures will suflice to effect all purposes, to repress all 
 dangers ; but should force be disi)layed to overawe tlu; 
 assembly, terror be spread through Paris, discord and 
 disinay through its environs, all France would rise 
 M-ith indignation, and plunging into the horrors of 
 
 civil war, develope that gloomy energj^ the parent of 
 virtues and of crimes, which is always fatal to those 
 who provoke it. 
 
 The safety of the state and the happiness of your 
 majesty are intimately connected ; no power can 
 separate them ; pangs and calamities will assuredly 
 beset your throne, if it be not made to rest by your 
 own determination upon the foundations of the "con- 
 stitution, and consolidated by the tranquilUty which 
 its maintenance Avill ultimately ensure us. 
 
 Thus the state of public ojjinion, the course of 
 events, the reasons of good policy, the very interests 
 of your majestj', all render it obligatory upon you to 
 unite with the legislative body, and comply with the 
 wish of the nation ; they convert into a necessity 
 what principle enjoins as a duty. But the sensibilitv 
 natural to this affectionate people is disposed to find 
 in this obligation a cause of gratitude. You were 
 cruelly deceived, sire, when your mind was alienated 
 from and inspired with distrust of a people so easily 
 affected ; it was, doubtless, by perpetual instigations 
 that you were betrayed into a conduct calculated to 
 excite its alarm. Let it see that you are resolved to 
 give efficacy to that constitution upon which it builds 
 its happiness, and you will speedily become the object 
 of its benedictions ! 
 
 The conduct of the priests in various parts, and the 
 pretexts which fanaticism furnishes to the disaflfected, 
 have led to the enactment of a wise law against the 
 disturbers 9f the public peace; let your majesty give 
 it the necessarj' sanction ; the public tranquillity de- 
 mands it, and the welfare of the priests themselves 
 urges it. If this law be not put in force, the depart- 
 ments will be compelled to substitute violent expe- 
 dients, as indeed they are universally doing, and the 
 exasperated people will supply its want by unbridled 
 excesses. 
 
 The schemes of our enemies, the disturbances that 
 have been manifested in the capital, the deadly dis- 
 quietude occasioned by the conduct of your guard, and 
 still kept up by the testimonies of satisfaction con- 
 ferred upon it by your majesty in a proclamation 
 singularly impolitic under the circumstances, and the 
 position of Paris in its proximity to the frontiers — all 
 have demonstrated the necessfty of a camp in the 
 vicinity. This measure, the wisdom and exigency of 
 whicli have struck all discerning minds, simply awaits 
 your majesty's sanction. Why should delay give an 
 aspect of regret to yom- determination, when dispatch 
 would make aU hearts your own ? 
 
 Already have the attempts of the staff of the Pari- 
 sian national guard evoked snsjjicions that it was 
 impelled by a superior influence ; already the decla- 
 mations of certain extravagant demagogues are arous- 
 ing a belief in their connexion with parties interested 
 in the overthrow of the constitution ; already the in- 
 tentions of your majesty are called in question by 
 public opinion. A little more delay, and the reluctant 
 nation will deem its king the friend and accomplice 
 of the consjjirators ! 
 
 Just Heaven! have you then struck the great ones 
 of the earth with blindness, and are they never to 
 have other counsel than such as drags them to ruin ? 
 
 I know that the austere language of truth is rarely 
 welcome near a throne ; I know, also, that it is be- 
 cause it scarcely ever is heard there, that revolutions 
 become necessary ; I know, furthermore, that I am 
 bound to speak it to your majesty, not only as a citi- 
 zen submissive to tlie laws, but as'a minister honoured 
 with your confidence, or invested with functions which 
 inijily it; and I am not aware of any thing whicli for- 
 bids me to fulfil a duty my conscience dictates. 
 
 In tlie same spirit I will reiterate my representa- 
 tions to your majesty on the duty and exiicdiency of 
 executing the law which enjoins the apiHiiiitnient of 
 a secretary to the council. The mere existence of the 
 law s]ieaks so authoritatively, that the execution 
 ought apparently to follow wltliout delay ; but it is.
 
 1-26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH KEVOLUTiON. 
 
 moreover, of importance to adopt all means for en- 
 suring the requisite gravity, knowledge, and pre- 
 paration, to the deliberations; and for responsible 
 ministers, especially, there ought to be a mode of 
 authenticating tlie'ir counsds. If any such had 
 existed, I should not now be addressing your majesty 
 in writing. 
 
 Life is of no moment to a man who holds his duty 
 as superior to iill concerns ; but. next to the happiness 
 of fullilling it, is the gratification of feeling that he, 
 has acted with fidelity, and that also is an obligation 
 upon j)ublic characters. 
 
 Paris, lOth June 1792, Ute Ath year of liberty. 
 
 (Signed) Roland." 
 
 The king listened to this lecture with wonderful 
 e(iuanimity, and left the council saying he would make 
 known his intentions. 
 
 Dumouricz was summoned to the palace. The 
 king and queen were together. " Ought we," said 
 thev, " to endure the insolence of these three mini- 
 sters' anv longer?" " No," replied Dumoiiriez. " Will 
 you take it upon yourself to get us rid of them ?" 
 asked the king. " Yes, sire," resimnded the midaunted 
 minister; " but in order to succeed, your majesty must 
 yield to one tHMidition. I am unpopular, and will \v- 
 come more so by dismissing three colleagues, leaders 
 of a powerful party. There is only one mode of per- 
 suading the i)ublic that tlioy are not displaced on 
 account of their patriotism." " What is that ?" in- 
 quired the king. " To sanction the two decrees," 
 replied Dumouriez. And he reiterated tlie arguments 
 that he had already advanced at the council-board. 
 The queen exclaimed that the condition was too 
 severe ; but Dumouriez proceeded to show her that 
 the twenty thousand men were not to be feared ; that 
 the decree did not designate the place where tliey 
 were to encamp; that they might be sent, for example, 
 to Soissons, where they would be occupied with mili- 
 tary exercises, and gradually drafted off to the armies 
 as the necessity for reinforcements became manifest. 
 " But in that case," said the king " you must be 
 minister at war." " Notwithstanding the responsi- 
 bility, I consent," replied Dumouriez ; " but it is 
 indispensable that your majesty sanction the decree 
 against the priests ;' I can fill it only on those terms. 
 That decree, fiir from injuring the ecclesiastics, will 
 save them from popular fury ; besides, your majesty 
 should have opposed the first decree of the Consti- 
 tuent Assembly ordaining the oath ; now you cannot 
 recede." " I was wrong then," exclaimed Louis XVI. ; 
 " I must take care not to do wrong a second time." 
 The queen, who did not participate in the religious 
 scruples of her consort, joined with Dumouriez, and 
 for the moment the king sgemed to give his consent. 
 
 Dumouriez suggested to the king the new ministers 
 to be nominated in lieu of Servan, Claviere, and Ro- 
 land. Mourgues had the home, Beaulieu the finance 
 department. That of war was confided to Dumouriez, 
 who temporarily held two ministries, until that of 
 foreign affairs was filled. Tlie ordinance was forth- 
 with published; and on the 13th June, Roland, Cla- 
 viere, and Servan, received their official dismissal. 
 Roland, who had all the self-possession requisite for 
 executing what the bold spirit of his wife might plan, 
 immediately repaired to the assembly, and read the 
 letter he had written to the king, and on account of 
 which he was displaced. This proceeding was cer- 
 tainly allowable, now that hostilities were declared; 
 but after the promise given to the king to keep the 
 letter secret, it displayed a sad want of generosity to 
 give it a public reading. 
 
 The assembly showered enthusiastic plaudits upon 
 Roland's letter, and ordered that it should be printed 
 and sent to the eighty-three departments. It declared, 
 moreover, that tiie three disgraced ministers carried 
 with them the esteem of tlie nation. It was at this 
 very moment that Dumouriez dauntlessly appeared 
 ill the tribune, under his new character of minister- 
 
 at-war. He had expeditiously prepared a circum- 
 stantial report upon the state of the army, and upon 
 the errors of the administration and of the assembly. 
 In this document he was not sparing in severity' upon 
 those whom he well knew were disposed to give him 
 the most unfavourable reception. As soon as he was 
 descried, the Jacobins discharged upon him a voUej' of 
 hisses ; the Feuil'unts observed a profound silence. 
 He gave an account, in the first place, of a slight ad- 
 vantage gained by Lafayette, and of the death of 
 Gouvion, an ofBcer, a deputy, and an estimable per- 
 sonage, whom the calamitous condition of his country 
 had driven to despair, and voluntarily to incur the 
 most imminent j)erils. The assenjbly testified its 
 regret at the loss of this generous citizen, but listened 
 coldly to that evinced by Dumouriez, and especially 
 to the desh'e he expressed of escaping the same sor- 
 rows by a like fate. But when lie commenced his 
 report as miiiister-at-war, a refusal to hear him was 
 manifested on all sides. He calmly insisted on his 
 right of speech, and ultimately obtained silence. His 
 remonstrances irritated some of the deputies. " Do 
 you hear him?" exclaimed Guadet; "he is giving us 
 a lecture." " And why not ? " retorted the intrepid 
 minister, with perfect coolness. Tranquillity was re- 
 established ; he proceeded Avith his rejiort, and was 
 alternately hooted and applauded. When he had 
 concluded, he folded up his memorial to take away 
 with him. "He is flying!" was loudly vociferated. 
 "No!" he lustily retorted ; and he forthwith placed 
 his memorial on the table, confidently affixed his sig- 
 nature, and passed through the assembly with imper- 
 turbable composure. As they pressed upon his way, 
 some deputies said to hini — ^" You will he sent to 
 Orleans." " So much the better," answered he ; " I 
 will there take baths, and whey, which I much need, 
 and I will get some repose." 
 
 His firmness gave assurance to the king, who testi- 
 fied to him his satisfaction; but the unfortunate mo- 
 narch was already shaken in his resolution, and tor- 
 mented with scruples. Besieged by false friends, lie 
 had reconsidered his determination, and finally re- 
 solved not to sanction the decrees. 
 
 The four ministers assembled at the council-board 
 entreated the king to give the sanction, as he was under- 
 stood to have promised. The king answered sharply, 
 that he could only consent to the decree as to the 
 20,000 men ; but -^vith reference to that concerning 
 the priests, he was determined to give it his opposi- 
 tion ; that his part was taken, and uo threats could 
 scare him from it. He then read the letter in which 
 he purposed to announce his intention to the presi- 
 dent of the assembly. " One of you," said he to his 
 ministers, " will countersig-n it ;" and he uttered those 
 words in an accent which he had never been known 
 to use. 
 
 Dumouriez hastened to write to the king soliciting 
 leave to resign. " This man," exclaimed the king, 
 " has induced me to dismiss three ministers for insist- 
 ing upon my adopting the decrees, and he now main- 
 tains that I should sanction them!'' This reproach 
 was unjust; for it was only on condition of the double 
 sanction that Dumouriez had consented to survive his 
 colleagues. Louis XVI. admitted him to an interview, 
 and inquireil whether he persisted. Dumouriez was 
 inflexible. " In that case," said the king, " I accept 
 your resignation." All the ministers had likewise 
 sent in their resignations. However, the king retained 
 Lacoste and Duranthon, whom he constrained to re- 
 main. Lajard, Chambonas, and Terrier de Montciel, 
 selected from the FeuUlants, filled the vacant mini- 
 stries. 
 
 " Tlie king," says Madame Campan, " fell at this 
 period into a depression of spirits which amounted to 
 a ])hysical torpor. He was for ten days together 
 without articulating a syllable, even in the bosom of 
 his family, unless it were at a game of backgammon, 
 which he played with the Princess Elizabeth after
 
 HIiSTOKY OF THE FRENCH IIEVOLUTION. 
 
 1.:. 
 
 dinner, when he was obliged to utter the words ne- 
 cessary in the game. The queen drew him from this 
 state, so perilous in a critical period, when each mi- 
 nute brought witli it a necessity for action, by throw- 
 ing herself at his feet, and sometimes making use of 
 representations calculated to alarm him, at other times 
 of expressions of her own tenderness for him. Slie 
 thus recalled him to the duty he owed his fixmily, 
 and went so far as to teU him that, if he must perish, 
 it shovdd be with honour, and without waiting until 
 they came to strangle botli himself and her on the 
 floor of their chamber."* 
 
 It is easy to siirmise what must have been the feel- 
 ings of Louis XVI. when he threw off this dejection 
 of mind, and resumed attention to affairs. After 
 having once abandoned the Feuillant party to give 
 himself up to the Girondists, it is imjx)ssible he could 
 return to the first with much satisfaction or hope. He 
 hud tested by a double experience his own incompati- 
 bility witli both, and, what was more deplorable, he 
 had made them conscious of it. Thenceforth, it was 
 natural he should turn more than ever to foreigners, 
 and put all his hopes in them. This tendency became 
 evident to all, and alarmed those -who saw in the in- 
 vasion of France the fall of libertj', the chastisement 
 of its defenders, and possibly the jiartition or dismem- 
 berment of the kingdom. Louis XVI. saw nothing of 
 this in foreign intervention, for we are always ready 
 to gloss over the ill consequences of what we desire. 
 When under the panic of the commotion excited by 
 the flights of Mons and Tournay, he had dispatched 
 Mallet-du-Pan into Germany, witli instructions under 
 his own hand. In them he recommended the sove- 
 reigns to advance with caution, to observe the utmost 
 forbearance towards the inhabitants of the provinces 
 they might traverse, and to precede their progress by 
 a manifesto avouching their iiacific and conciliatory 
 intentions.f 
 
 * See Madame Campan, vol. ii. p. 20.5. 
 
 t The mission given by the king to Jlallet-du-Pan is a fact of 
 the utmost importance to verify, and it cannot be subjected to 
 doubt, after the Jlemoirs of Bcrtrand de MoUeville. Minister at 
 this period, Bertrand de IMoIleville must have been perfectly cog- 
 nisant of the fact, and, as a counter-revolutionary minister, his 
 bias would have led him ratlier to conceal than avow it.* The 
 mission itself attests the moderation of Louis XVI., but also his 
 communications with the enemy. 
 
 " The king, far from yielding to this patriotic security, saw, 
 with tlie deepest sorrow, France engaged in an unjust and san- 
 guinary war, whicli the disorganisation of her armies seemed to 
 render it impossible to carry on, and which more than ever ex- 
 posed our frontier provinces to invasion. His majesty dreaded 
 above all a civil war, which he doubted not would break out on 
 the news of the first advantage gained over the French troops by 
 the emigrant corps which formed part of the Austrian army. It 
 was, indeed, but too much to be feared that tlie Jacobins and 
 popidace in their fury would make bloody reprisals on the priests 
 and nobles remaining in France. These apprehensions, which 
 tlie king expressed in his daily correspondence with me, were tlie 
 occasion of my proposing to liim to send a person of confidence to 
 the emperor and the King of Prussia, to endeavour to prevail on 
 them not to allow their armies to act oilensively against France 
 but in the last extremity ; and in that ease to let the entrance of 
 their armies into Franco be preceded by a carefully-worded 
 manifesto, in wliich it should be declared, ' tliat the emperor 
 and the King of Prussia, forced to take arms by an imjust aggivs- 
 sion upon them, did not impute eitlier to the king or to the French 
 nation, but to a criminal faction which oppressed both, the de- 
 claration of war wliich had been notified to tliem ; that, conse- 
 quently, adhering to the scntinients of amity which united tliem 
 to the king and to France, their only intention, on the contrary, 
 was to deliver tliem from the yoke of tlie most atrocious tyranny 
 on record, and to aid thoin in re-establishing legitimate authority 
 violently suppressed, order, and tranquillity ; that in all this tliey 
 had no design to interfere with t)ie form of government, l)ut 
 merely to secure the nation liberty to adopt that which sliould be 
 most suitable for it ; that all idea of conquest was foreign to their 
 
 * [BI. Thiers has here slightly erred. Bertrand had ce;ised to 
 bo an ostensible minister, but, as he himself relates, wa.s in daily 
 communication with the king.] 
 
 However moderate the views manifested in this 
 project, it was nevertheless an invitation to advance 
 into the country ; and although such might be the 
 spirit actuating the king, wliat guarantee "was there 
 that the designs of foreign monarchs, rivals of France, 
 or those of the infuriated emigrants, were equally 
 temperate ? Was Louis XVI. assured he would not 
 be drawn far beyond his intentions ? The ministers 
 of Austria and Prussia themselves expressed to Mallet- 
 du-Pan the fears with which the violent tone of the 
 emigrants inspired them ; and it would seem he had 
 some difliculty in tranquiUising them on that point.* 
 
 thoughts ; that private property should not be less respected tlian 
 national property ; that their majesties took all peaceable and 
 faithful subjects under their especial protection ; tiiat their only 
 enemies were those of France, namely, the factious and their 
 adherents, and these only their majesties desired to combat,' etc. 
 Mallet-d j-Pan, wliose talents and integrity were favourably 
 known to the king, was intrusted with this mission. He was the 
 more fitted for it from never having been seen at the palace, and 
 from having no intimacy with persons attached to the court ; and 
 by taking the route to Geneva, whither he was accustomed to 
 make frequent journeys, his departure would give rise to no sus- 
 picion." 
 
 Tlie king gave JIallet-du Pan instructions dra\vn up in his own 
 handwriting, and published by Bertrand de MolleviUe. 
 
 " 1st, The king not only exhorts but beseeches the princes and 
 French emigrants to abstain from giving to tlio present war, by 
 hostile and offensive demonstrations on their part, any other cha- 
 racter than that of a foreign war waged between different jiowers. 
 
 2d, He expressly recommends them to leave to him and tlie 
 intervening courts the consideration and care of tlieir interests, 
 when the time for entering upon them shall arrive. 
 
 3d, It is expedient that they should simply appear as parties, 
 and not as arbiters in the dispute, the award resting of right with 
 his majesty, when restored to liberty, and with the powers who 
 shall insist upon its fulfilment. 
 
 4th, Any other conduct would produce a civil war in the inte- 
 rior, endanger the lives of the king and his family, overturn the 
 throne, cause a massacre of the royalists, rally around tlie Jaco- 
 bins all the revolutionists who had abandoned, and who are daily 
 abandoning them, rekindle a flame that is dying away, and give 
 greater obstinacy to a resistance which will succumb under tlio 
 first reverses, when the fate of the revolution shall not appciir 
 exclusively at the mercy of those against whom it was directed, 
 and wlio have been its victims. 
 
 5th, To represent to the courts of Vienna and Berlin the utility 
 of a manifesto, issued jointly by them and the other states who 
 have entered into the confederation ; the importance of drawing 
 up this manifesto in such a manner as to distinguish the Jacobins 
 from tlie rest of the nation, to encourage all tliose who may re- 
 turn from their error, or who, without wishing for the present 
 constitution, desire the suppression of abuses and the establish- 
 ment of a rational liberty, imder a monarch with an authority 
 limited by law. 
 
 (jth. To give emphatic utterance in the manifesto to the funda- 
 mental truth that the war is directed against an anti-social fac- 
 tion, and not against the French nation ; that it is undertaken in 
 defence of legitimate governments and of nations against a fren- 
 zied anarchy which destroys amongst men all ties of social inter- 
 course, and all the compacts on which depend liberty, peace, and 
 public safety at home and abroad ; to give assurances against all 
 fear of dismenibornicnt and the imposition of laws, but energeti- 
 cally to impress upon the assembly, the administrative bodies, 
 the municipalities, and tlie ministers, that they will be held per- 
 sonally and individually rcs]ioiisibk', in life and property, for all 
 outrages committed upon tlie s:icivd jicrson of the king, upon that 
 of the queen and her family, and upon the persons and property 
 of all citizens whatsoever. 
 
 7th, To express the king's wish, thaton entering the kingdom, 
 the powers should declare that they are ready to give peace, but 
 that they neither can nor will treat with any but the king ; that, 
 consequently, they require his restoration to the fullest liberty, 
 and, afterwards, the convocation of a congress in which the ditt'iT- 
 eiit interests shall be discussed on the princiidos already laid 
 down, to which the emigrants shall bo admitted as complaining 
 parties, and the general suttlement of affairs be negotiated under 
 the auspices an<l the guarantee of the \)0\\cvs."—U(rlra>i(l (k 
 MdUi'villc, vol. viii. ji. .')!). 
 
 * Bcrti-and de MoUeville, from whom I have borrowed the facts 
 relative to Mallet-du-Pan, gives the following aeooimt of the re- 
 ception he met with, and of the disimsitions he encountered :—
 
 l-2i 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The queen was equally suspicious of thcin ; she was 
 especiiilly apprehensive of Calonne, whom she viewed 
 as the most danjjerous of her enemies;* but she did 
 not the less conjure her family to act with the greatest 
 promptitude for lier deliverance. From this moment 
 tlie popular party came to regard the court as an 
 enemy the more to be feared from its directing all the 
 forces of the state ; and the struggle which ensued 
 became one of life or death. In composing his new 
 ministry, the king selected no man of note. Antici- 
 pating a speedy deliverance, he thought only how to 
 get over a few days more, and for that purpose a 
 ministry of the most insignificant character was judged 
 sufficient. 
 
 Tlie Feuillants sougiit to profit by the opportunity 
 to form a coidition with the court, less, it must be 
 granted, from party or personal ambition, than from 
 sympathy for tlie king. They placed no reliance on 
 tiie benefits of inva>^ion; on the contrary, they for the 
 most part viewed it as a criminal outrage, and, further- 
 more, as a measure equally hazardous for the court as 
 for tlie nation. They wisely foresaw the king would 
 fall before the succours could arrive ; and after the 
 invasion was perpetrated, they feared a course of un-^ 
 relenting vengeance, perhaps the dismemberment of 
 France, and ccrtaiidy the al)olition of all liberty. 
 
 Lally-Toleudal, whom we have seen quit France 
 
 " The different letters which Mallet-du-Pan wrote to me at 
 this period (July 17921, were in substance as follows :— Ou the 1.5th 
 and Itith July, he had had long ouiifercnces with Count Cobentzel, 
 Count Haugwitz, and M. lluyman, ministers of the Emperor and 
 the King of Prussia. After examining the proofs of hismission, and 
 listening with profound attention to the reading of his instructions 
 and his memori;il, they found that the vicnvs he recommended 
 were in perfect accordance with those formerly manifested by the 
 king to the courts of Vienna and Berlin, who had respectively 
 adopted them. They had, in consequence, expressed entire 
 oontidence in him, and approved, in every point, the draft of the 
 manifesto he had proposed to them. Tliey had declared to him, 
 in the most positive terms, that there was no view of ambition, 
 of person;U interest, or of dismembering the kingdom, in the plan 
 of the war ; and that the powers had no other purpose or interest 
 tlian to restore order in France, because there could be no peace 
 between that country and its neighbours, until it was delivered 
 from the anarchy prevailing in it, and wliich obliged them to keep 
 up lines of troops on all the frontiers, and to take extraordinary 
 precautions, which were very expensive ; but that, far from 
 pretending to impose any form of government whatever on the 
 French, the king would be left at perfect freedom to act on that 
 point in concert with the nation. They had asked from him the 
 most circumstantial information respecting the dispositions preva- 
 lent in the interior, respecting public opinion upon the old system, 
 the parliaments, the nobility, <S:c. They had confided to him that 
 it was intended to form the emigrants into an army, to be given 
 to the king when he was set at liberty. They had spoken to him 
 with displeasure and condemnation of the French princes, whom 
 they supposed to have intentions quite the reverse of the king's, 
 and particularly those of acting independently, and of appointing 
 a regent. (Mallet-du-Pan strongly combated this supposition, 
 and observed, that the intentions of the princes ought not to be 
 gathered from the light or eager language of some of those around 
 them.) In short, after thoroughly discussing the dillerent requests 
 and propositions which Mallet du Pan was cliarged to urge, the 
 three ministers had unanimously acknowledged their prudence 
 and propriety, had each solicited a copy or summary of them, and 
 had given the most positive iussurances that the king's views, 
 being perfectly in accordance with tliose of the jwwers, should be 
 strictly followed." — Berlrand de MolUvHle, vol. viii. p. 32(1. 
 
 * " The princes' party," says M;idame Campan, '• having been 
 informed of the good understanding between tlie queen and the 
 remnants of the constitutional party, was greatly ahu-nied at it. 
 On her part, the queen always stood in appreliension of the 
 princes' party, and of the pretensions heM by the Frenchmen who 
 formed it. She rendered justice to the Count d'Artois, and 
 frequently said that his party would act in a spirit opposed to his 
 own feelings towiu-ds the king his brother and herself, but that 
 he woulil be over-pcrsua«led by persons over whom Calonne exer- 
 cised the most fatal ascendancy. She upbrjiided the Coimt Ester- 
 hiizj- , upon whom she hsid heaped favours, with having joined 
 Calunne's party, to such an extent iut to regard him even in the 
 light of an enemy."— .Htf»j«i>xo/Afa</<iHi<; Campan, vol. ii. p. VO. 
 
 when the establishment of two chambers had become 
 impossible, IMalouet, who had made a further attempt 
 to gain that olyect at the revision, Duport, Lameth, 
 Lafayette, and others, who were anxious to preserve 
 what still remained, coalesced for the purpose of mak- 
 ing a last effort. This party, like all others, was not 
 in perfect harmony with itself, but it was held together 
 by a single jjurpose, that of saving the king from his 
 errors, and with him the constitution. Every party 
 obliged to act in the shade is reduced to adopt steps 
 which are called intrigues when they are not success- 
 ful. In this meaning the Feuillants intrigued. When 
 tliey perceived Servan, Claviere, and Roland displaced 
 by means of Dumouriez, they made advances towards 
 him, and offered him their alliance, on condition that 
 he signed the veto to the decree against the priests. 
 Dumouriez, perhaps from pique, perhaps from want 
 of confidence in their means, and certainly likewise 
 from the obligation he had contracted to procure the 
 sanction to that decree, repudiated their alliance, and 
 departed for the army, witli the hope, as lie wrote to 
 the assembly, that a cannon-ball might unite all opi- 
 nions concerning him. 
 
 Lafayette remained to the Feuillants. He, without 
 taking part in their secret overtures, had shared in 
 tlieir former repugnance to Dumouriez, and was chiefly 
 actuated by anxiety to save the king without infring- 
 ing the constitution. But their means of action were 
 very trifling. In the first place, the court, which they 
 were striving to rescue, refused to be rescued by them. 
 The queen, who cheerfully trusted Barnave, had 
 alwaj^s used the greatest precautions in seeing him, 
 and never received him but in secret. The emigrants 
 and the court would not have pardoned her for hold- 
 ing intercourse with the constitutionalists. She was 
 urged, in fact, not to ti'eat with them, but rather to 
 prefer the Jacobins ; because, said tliey, it would be 
 necessary to settle terms with tlie first, wliilst nothing 
 would be binding with the latter.* Let us add to 
 these counsels, perpetually inculcated, the personal 
 hatred of the queen for Lafayette ; and we shall be at 
 no loss to understand wherefore the court was little 
 disposed to accept services from the constitutionalists 
 or Feuillants. Besides this court repugnance towards 
 them, we must furthermore consider the feebleness of 
 the means they could bring to bear against the popu- 
 lar party. Lafayette, it is true, was adored by his 
 soldiers, and might reasonably count on his army ; but 
 he had the enemy in front, and he coidd not uncover 
 the frontier to march into the interior. The aged 
 Luckner, upon whom he depended, was irresolute, 
 fickle, and easily intimidated, though of infinite valour 
 on the field of battle. But even allowing them ample 
 military means, the constitutionalists possessed no 
 civil means. The majority of the assembly was 
 swayed by the Gironde. The national guard was 
 partly disposed in their favour, but it was disunited 
 and almost disorganised. The constitutionalists would 
 be conse((ueutly compelled, in order to turn their mili- 
 tary resources to account, to march from the frontier 
 on Paris, that is to say, attempt an insurrection against 
 the assembh^ ; and insurrections, though advantageous 
 for a violent party assuming the offensive, are but 
 deplorable expedients for a moderate party on the 
 defensive, under invocation of the law. 
 
 However, they crowded round Lafayette, and con- 
 certed with him the project of a letter to the assembly. 
 This letter, to be written in his name, Avas intended 
 to convey his sentiments towards the king and the 
 constitution, and his disapprobation of all that tended 
 
 * " In the mean time, the emigrants evinced great solicitude as 
 to what might be done in the interior by the coalition with the 
 constitutionalists, whom they described as no longer existing but 
 in idea, and utterly devoid of means to repair their faults. The 
 Jacobins were preferable to them, because, said they, there would 
 be no necessity for treating with any one, when the king and his 
 family shall be extricated from the abyss into which they Itad 
 been plunged." — Memoirs o/ Madame Campan, vol. ii. p. 19^
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 129 
 
 to attack either the one or the other. His friends 
 were divided in opinion; some stimidated, others 
 repressed his zeal. But, looking only to what might 
 benefit the king, to whom he had sworn fidelity, he 
 wrote the letter, and braved all the dangers he might 
 incur. The king and queen, although resolved not to 
 be served by him, allowed him to write it, because 
 they saw in such a proceeding notliing but an ex- 
 change of reproaches between the partisans of liberty. 
 The letter reached the assembly on the 18th June. 
 After having, at the commencement, censured the 
 conduct of the last ministry, which he intended, as 
 
 jugation and ruin are not grounds for atrocious joy, 
 and objects of infamous speculation!" 
 
 This was saying to boiling jiassion, Be calm; to 
 parties, Volantarihj destroy yoiir selves ; to a torrent, in 
 short, Cease to flow ! But although the counsel was 
 fruitless, it was not on that account the less a duty to 
 give it. The letter was greatly applauded by the 
 right side. The left was silent. Scarcely was its 
 perusal finished, than a motion was made for its being 
 printed and sent to the departments. 
 
 Vergniaud claimed attention and obtained it. Ac- 
 cording to him, it was of consequence to the liberty 
 
 he said, to have denounced at the moment he had wliich M. de Lafayette had hitherto so ably defended, 
 learnt its dismissal, Lafayette continued in these [ that a distinction should be drawn between the peti- 
 
 terms :— 
 
 " It is not enough that this branch of the govern- 
 ment be delivered from a disastrous influence ; the 
 common weal is in danger. The fiite of France depends 
 almost exclusively on lier representatives ; from them 
 the nation expects its safety ; but by bestowing on 
 itself a constitution, it has prescribed to them the 
 only course by which they are entitled to save it." 
 
 Then protesting his inviolable attachment to the 
 law consecrated by oath, he proceeded to descant on 
 the state of France, which lie held placed between 
 two orders of enemies, those abroad and those at home. 
 " Both the one and the other nmst be repressed, but 
 you will possess the power to do so only as you shall 
 be constitutional and just. Look around you: can you 
 dissemble from yourselves that a faction, and, to avoid 
 all vague denominations, that the Jacobin faction has 
 caused all the disorders ? It is that faction wliich I 
 openly accuse of them ! Organised as a distinct em- 
 pire, in its centre and its afrUiations, blindly directed 
 by a few ambitious leaders, tliis sect forms a separate 
 corporation in the midst of the French people, whose 
 powers it usurps by overawing its representatives and 
 mandatories. 
 
 There, in public sittings, is respect for the laws 
 stigmatised as aristocracy, and their infraction lauded 
 as patriotism ; there the assassins of Desilles are 
 honoured with triumi^hs, and the crimes of Jourdan 
 find panegyrists ; there the recital of the murder that 
 polluted the town of Metz has recently excited fiendish 
 acclamations ! 
 
 Will these reproaches be averted by pointing to an 
 Austrian manifesto, in which these factionists are 
 named? Are they become sacred because Leopold 
 has mentioned them? And because we are called 
 upon to combat aliens who intrude themselves into 
 our disputes, are we to be prevented from delivering 
 our country from a domestic tyranny ? " 
 
 Subsequently reminding the assembly of his former 
 services in the cause of liberty, and enumerating tlie 
 guarantees he had given the country, the general an- 
 swered for himself and his army, and declared that 
 the French nation, if it were not the vilest in the 
 universe, could and must resist the conspiracy tliat 
 kings had formed against it. " But," he added, " to 
 enable us, the soldiers of liberty, to combat for her 
 witii success, it is necessary tliat the number of the 
 country's defenders be forthwitli jn-oj)ortioned to that 
 of its assailants ; tliat the supplies of all kinds be aug- 
 mented, and our movements thereby facilitated ; tliat 
 the comfort of the troops, their accoutrements, tlieir 
 pay, the care of tlieir health, be no longer sulijerted 
 to ruinous delays." Other exhortations followed, of 
 wliich the following is the principal and concluding 
 one : — 
 
 " Let the reign of the chilis, anmhilated by you, 
 give place to the reign of tlie law -, tlu-ir usurpations 
 to the firm and independent action of th(^ consti- 
 tuted authorities; their disorganising maxims to the 
 true principles of liberty; their wild fury to the calm 
 and constant courage of a nation that knows its rights 
 and defends them ; in fine, their factious projects to 
 the real interests of the country, which, at tliis 
 moment of peril, ought to unite all to whom its sub- 
 
 tions of mere citizens volunteering an opinion or 
 invoking a measure of justice, and the castigations of 
 an armed general. The latter ought to express his 
 sentiments only tlirough the medium of the ministry, 
 otherwise liberty was at an end. He maintained, in 
 consequence, that it was expedient for the assembly 
 to pass to the order of the day. Thevenot replied 
 that the assembly ought to welcome trutlis from the 
 pen of Lafayette which it had not dared to say of 
 itself. This last observation caused considerable agi- 
 tation. Some memljers denied the authenticity of the 
 letter. " Even were it not signed," exclaimed M. 
 Coubc, " none but M. de Lafayette is capable of hav- 
 ing written it." Guadet demanded leave to speak on 
 a question of fact. He alleged that the letter could 
 not be from M. de Lafayette, because it spoke of 
 Dumouriez's resignation, which was not given in till 
 the 16th, and it bore the date of that very 16th. " It 
 is, therefore, impossible," he added, " that the signer 
 of that letter should speak of a fact which could not 
 be known to him. Either the signature is not his, 
 or it was sent here on a blank sheet, at the disposal 
 of a faction which might use it as it tiiouglit projier." 
 Loud mnrmurs followed these words. Guadet, con- 
 tinuing, furthermore asserted that Lafayette was in- 
 capable, from his known sentiments, of having penned 
 such a letter. " He must be aware," said he, " that 
 
 when Cromwell" The deputy Dumas, unable 
 
 longer to restrain his feelings at this last word, claimed 
 to be heard. A prolonged agitation ensued in the 
 assembly. However, Guadet kept possession of the 
 
 tribune, and resumed : " I was saying " He was 
 
 again interrupted. " You were at Cromwell," shouted 
 some of the members. " I -will return to him," he 
 observed. " I was saying that M. de Lafayette ought 
 to know that when Cromwell held similar language, 
 liberty was prostrated in England. It is incuiiibcnt 
 on you either to satisfy yourselves that some coward 
 has sheltered himself under the name of Lafayette, or 
 to prove to the French nation, by a signal example, 
 tliat you have not taken an idle oath, in swearing to 
 maintain tlie constitution." 
 
 A number of the members proved that they recog- 
 nised the signature of Lafayette ; but his letter, not- 
 withstanding their testimony, Avas remitted to the 
 committee of twelve to inquire into its authenticity. 
 It was thus prevented from being printed and sent to 
 the departments. 
 
 Tliis generous proceeding was therefore utterly 
 fruitless, and was sure to be so in the actual state of 
 men's minds. From this moment, the general was al- 
 most as uiiiM)i)ular as the court ; and if the leaders of 
 the (^.iroiide, more enlightened than the peojile, did 
 not believe Lafayette cajiable of betraying his country 
 liecause he had attacked tlie Jacobins, the mass im- 
 ])licitly believed it, from having tb(> denunciation per- 
 ]M>tually liarjied uiion in the clubs, the newspapers, 
 and the ]iiililic thorouglifares. 
 
 Thus, to the alarms with which the court had in- 
 spired the popular i)arty, were now added those to 
 whicii Lafayette gave rise by his pecidiar acts. Hence 
 that party gave way to all the violence of despair, and 
 resolved to assail the court before it could put in exe- 
 cution the plots with whicli it was charged.
 
 130 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 We liiive already seen liow the popular pai'ty was 
 coiujiosed. As it toi)k a more decided development, 
 its characteristies <:;rew more violent, and new per- 
 sonages rendered themselves remarkable in it. Robes- 
 pierre had already made himself renowned at the 
 Jacobins', and Danton at the Cordeliers'. The clubs, 
 the municipality, and the sections, contained many 
 men who, fripr.i tiie ardour of their tempers and opi- 
 nions, were ready for any enterprise. Of this numlJer 
 were Serj^ent and Panis, who somewhat later con- 
 nected their names with a fearful event. In the fau- 
 bourj^s resided several heads of battalions who had 
 rendered themselves formidal)le, amongst whom the 
 principal was a brewer named Sanrorre. From his 
 stature, his voice, and a certain readiness of sjieech, 
 he gained the popular favo'.ir, and had acquired a 
 species of supremacy in the Faubourg St Antoine, the 
 battalion of whicli he coimnanded. Santerrc had 
 already distinguished himself at the assault on Vin- 
 cennes, repelled by Lafayette in February 1791 ; and, 
 lik(! idl reckless characters, he was capable of becoming 
 dangerous according to the instigations of the moment. 
 He took part in all the meetings held in the distant 
 suburbs. In them were united with him the journalist 
 Carra, prosecuted for having attacked Bertrand de 
 Molleville and Montmorin ; a certain Alexandre, com- 
 mandant of the Faubourg St Marceau ; an individual 
 well known under the name of Fournier the Ameri- 
 can ; the butcher Legendre, who was afterwards a 
 deputy in the convention ; a journeyman jeweller 
 called Rossignol ; and several others, who, by tlieir 
 connexion with the populace, swayed all the faubourgs. 
 Through the more distinguished amongst them, they 
 connnunic;ited witli the leaders of the popular party, 
 and were thus enaliled to direct their movements ac- 
 cording to a superior impulse. 
 
 It is impossible to designate very precisely those 
 ■deputies who contributed to give that imi)ulse. The 
 most conspicuous amongst them were strangers in 
 Paris, and possessed no other influence than that 
 gained by their eloquence. Guadet, Isnard, and Verg- 
 niaud, all provincials, kept up a closer communica- 
 tion with their departments than with Paris itself. 
 Besides, although very energetic in the triljune, they 
 displayed little activity out of the assembly, and were 
 not fitted for moving a populace. Condorcet and Bris- 
 sot, representatives of Paris, were not more active than 
 the preceding ; and from tlieir conformity of opinion 
 with the deputies of the west and south, they had 
 become Girondists. Roland, since the dismissal of tlio 
 patriot ministry, had returned to private life, dwell- 
 ing iu a modest and obscure residence in the Rue St 
 Jacques. Convinced that the court had a design to de- 
 liver up France and liberty to foreigners, he deplored 
 the calamities of his country with some of his friends, 
 members of the assembly ; but it does not appear 
 that an attack upon tlie court was discussed in his 
 society. He merely assisted the publication of a pla- 
 carded journal, called The Senthid, which Louvet, 
 well known at the Jacobins' by his controversy witli 
 liobespierre, edited in a truly patriotic spirit. Roland, 
 during his ministry, had allotted funds to enlighten 
 public opinion through the jiress, and it was with a 
 remnant of these funds that the Sentinel was printed. 
 At this period tliere was a young Marseillese at 
 Paris, full of ardour, courage, and repu'nlican illu- 
 sions, who was called the Antinoiis, from his singular 
 comeliness. He had been disjiatchcd by his commune 
 to the Legislative Assembly for the purpose of com- 
 plaining of the directory of his department; for such 
 divisions between inferior and superior authorities, 
 between municipalities and departmental directories, 
 were general tliroughout France. The name of this 
 3'oung Marseillese was Barbaroux. Possessed of in- 
 telligence and great activity, he was well fitted to 
 become useful to the popular cause. He saw Roland, 
 and lamented with him the catastrophes wlierewith 
 tlie patriots were menaced. They agreed that as the 
 
 danger was becomiiig every day more imminent in 
 the north of France, it would be expedient, when 
 reduced to the last extremity, to retire into the south, 
 and there found a republic; which might be one day 
 extended, as Charles VII. had formerly extended his 
 kingdom from the walls of Bourges. They surveyed 
 the map of the ex-nunister Servan, and said to each 
 other that, when beaten on the Rhine, liberty could 
 retreat behind the Vosges and the Loire; that, charged 
 in those entrencluuents, it would still have in the easf. 
 the Doubs, the Ain, and the Rhone; in the west, 
 Vienne and Dordogne ; and in the centre, the rocks 
 and streams of the Limousin. " Farther still," adds 
 Barbaroux himself, " we had Auvergne, its rugged 
 precipices, its ravines, and its aged forests, and the 
 mountains of Velay, formerly scorched by fire, now 
 covered with firs — wild localities, where men till iu 
 snow, but where they live independent. The Cevennes 
 also of!ered us an asylum too renowned not to be for- 
 midable to tyranny ; and at the extremity of the 
 south, we found as barriers the Isere, the Durance, 
 the Rhone from Lyons to the sea, the Alps, and the 
 ramjnirts of Toulon. Finally, if all these points had 
 been forced, there remained to us Corsica — that Corsica 
 in whicli neither the Genoese nor the French have 
 been alile to naturalise tyranny ; which only needs 
 arms to render it fertile, and philosophers to become 
 enlightened."* 
 
 It was natural that the inhabitants of the south 
 should resolve upon taking refuge in their provinces 
 if the north were overrun. They did not, however, 
 neglect the north, for they agreed to write to their 
 departments, urging the spontaneous formation of the 
 camp of twenty thousand men, although the decree 
 relative to that camp had not been sanctioned. They 
 relied greatly on Marseilles, a flourishing, populous, 
 and singularly democratic city. It had sent Mirabeau 
 to the states-general, and since then it had dissemi- 
 nated through all the south tlie spirit with which 
 itself was animated. The mayor of this city was a 
 friend of Barbaroux, and partook all his opinions. 
 Barbaroux M^rote to him to collect magazines of corn, 
 to send trusty emissaries into the neighbouring de- 
 partments, as Avell as to the armies of the Alps, of 
 Italy, and of the Pyrenees, in order to give opinion 
 its tone in all of them ; to sound Montesquiou, general 
 of the army of the Alps, and to render his ambition 
 profitable to the cause of liberty ; finally, to concert 
 with Paoli and the Corsicans, so as to secure a last aid 
 and a last asylum. It was, moreover, recommended 
 to this same mayor to retain the produce of the taxes, 
 in order to deprive the executive power of the corre- 
 sponding benefit, and, in case of need, to use the funds 
 against it. What Barbaroux did with respect to Mar- 
 seilles, others did with their departments, and took 
 measures to prepare them as places of refuge. Thus 
 distrust, converted into despair, was preparing a gene- 
 ral insurrection, and in these insurrectionary prepa- 
 rations, a difference was already perceptible between 
 Paris and the departments. 
 
 The mayor Potion, intimate with all the Girondists, 
 and at a later date ranked and proscribed with them, 
 was, from the nature of his functions, more in con- 
 nexion with the agitators of Paris. He was a man of 
 infinite coolness, with an appearance of indifference 
 which his enemies mistook for stupidity, and of an 
 honesty wliich was lauded in exaggerated terms by 
 his partisans, but which his detractors have never 
 called in qiu^stion. The populace, who give by-names 
 to all who strongly excite their interest, usually called 
 him Virtue Fetion. We have already spoken of liim 
 on the occasion of the flight to Varennes, and of the 
 preference which tlie court gave him over Lafayette 
 for the mayoralty of Paris. The court purposed to 
 bribe him, and certain knaves undertook to eflfect its 
 design. They demanded a sum of money, and kept 
 
 * Memoirs of Bai-barou.\, pp. 38, 39.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH RE^'0LUT10N. 
 
 131 
 
 it for themselves, without even making any over- 
 tures to Petion, which, indeed, his known character 
 rendered needless. The joy of the coiu-t at securing 
 a defender, and its glee at corrupting a pojiular mini- 
 ster, were of short continuance ; it speedily learnt the 
 trick that had been played upon it, and also that the 
 virtues of its adversaries were not so marketable as it 
 had surmised. 
 
 Petion had been amongst the first to hold that the 
 tendencies of a king, born to an absolute throne, can 
 never be modified. He was a reimbliean before a 
 republic was even dreamt of by any ; and in the Con- 
 stituent Assembly, he was, from sincere conviction, 
 what Robespierre was from acerbity of temper. Un- 
 (liT the Legislative, he became more convinced th.an 
 ever of the incorrigible faitlilessness of the court ; he 
 felt assured it would call in foreigners ; and having 
 been originally a republican from principle, he was 
 fortified in Ids tendency by motives of safety. From 
 tliat period, consequently, he began to think, as he 
 said, of favouring a new revolution. He arrested 
 movements badly planned, aided those, on the con- 
 trary, which were well directed, and strove above all 
 things to keep them in conformity to the laws, of 
 which he was a rigid observer, and which he was 
 determined not to violate but in the last extremity. 
 
 AA'ithout affirming the participation of Petion in the 
 movements which were preparing, without knowing 
 whether he consulted his friends of the Gironde as to 
 countenancmg them, we are justified in stating, from 
 his conduct, that he did notliing in the way of oppos- 
 ing obstacles to their execution. It is alleged, that 
 towards the middle of June, he visited Santerre at his 
 house, together with Robespierre ; Manuel, the official 
 solicitor of the commune ; Sillery, an ex-deputy ; and 
 Chabot, a deputy and ex-capucliin ; — that the latter 
 harangued the section of the Quinze-Vingts, and told 
 it that the assembly expected its assistance. Whatever 
 may be the truth of these particular allegations, it is 
 certain that secret conclaves were held ; and it is not 
 probable, from their known opinions and subsequent 
 conduct, that the persons whom we liave just named 
 should scruple to attend them.* At this period tiie 
 
 * Among the depositions given in the process instituted against 
 tlie conspirators of the 20th June, is one extremely curious from 
 its details, namely, that of the witness Larcynie. It alone con- 
 tains almost all what the others repeat, on which account it is 
 here quoted. The process itself has been published in quarto. 
 
 " Before us appeared Sieur Jean-Baptiste-Marie-Louis 
 
 Lareynie, a volunteer private in the hattalion of the Isle St Louis, 
 decorated with the military cross, and residing at Paris, on the 
 Quay Bourbon, No. 1. — 
 
 Who, profoundly grieved at the disorders which have recently 
 occurred in the capital, and believing that it is the duty of a good 
 citizen to give to justice the information which it may require 
 under the circumstances, for the purpose of punishing tlie 
 schemers and instigators of all manoeuvres against the public 
 tranquillity and the integrity of the French constitution, declares 
 that, about eight days ago, lie was aware, by the relations he has 
 j with the Faubourg St Antoine, that the citizens of that faubourg 
 I were agitated by the Sieur Santerre, commanding the battalion of 
 I the Enfants-Trouv^s lFoundlint;s),and by other persons, amongst 
 whom were the Sieur Fournier, styling himself an American, and 
 an elector of 1791 in the department of Paris ; the Sieur llotondo, 
 styling himself an Italian ; the Sieur Legendre, butcher, residing 
 in the Rue des Boucheries (Slaughterhouse Street), in the Fau- 
 bourg 8t Germaine; and the Sieur Cuirette Verri6rcs, residing 
 above the Cafe du Rendezvous, Hue du Thcatre-Franfuis— who 
 nightly held meetings at tlie Sieur Santcrre's, and sometimes in 
 the committee-room of the section of the Knfants-Trouves ; that 
 there they deliberated, in presence of a select body of the trusty in 
 the faubourg, such as the Sieur Itossignol, lately a journeyman 
 jeweller ; the Sieur Nicolas, a sapper in the aforesaid battalion of 
 the Enfants-Trouves ; the Sieur Bricrre, wine merchant ; the 
 Sieur Gonor, calling himself a conqueror of the Bastille ; and 
 others whom ho might name ; — that they settled in such meetings 
 the questions intended to be agitated in the mobs of the Tuiltries. 
 the Palais-Koyal, the Place de Gri:ve, and especially of the Gate 
 St Antoine, Place de la Bastille ; that they wrote out the incen- 
 diai'y placards affixed at intervals in the faubourgSt and the peti- 
 
 faubourgs were rife with the idea of a festival for the j 
 •20th June, the anniversary of the tennis-court oath. | 
 It was intended, as was bruited abroad, to plant a tree ■ 
 
 tions intended to be canied by deputations to the patriotic socie» ] 
 ties of Paris ; and, finally, that it was there the famous petition 
 was fabricated, and the plot of the 20th June hatched. That, on I 
 the eve of that day, a se ret committee meeting was held at the 
 Sieur Santcrre's, which began at midnight, at which witnesses, 
 whom he wUl be able to adduce when they return from the mis- 
 sion given to them by the Sieur Santerre for the neighbouring 
 districts, asseverate they saw present Messieurs Potion, Mayor of 
 Paris; Robespierre; Manuel, solicitor of the commune ; Alexan- 
 dre, commander of the battalion of Saint-Micliel ; and Sillery, 
 ex-deputy of the National Assembly. That, on the day of the 
 20th, the Sieur Santerre, seeing that several of his people, and 
 especially the leaders of his partj', from alarm at the decree of the 
 directory of the department, refused to come forth armed, under 
 pretext they would be fired upon, assured them they had nothing 
 to fear— that the national guard tcould have no orders, and that M. 
 Petion woidd be there. That at eleven in the forenoon of the said 
 day, the crowd did not exceed fifteen hundred persons, including 
 the curious, and that it was only when the Sieur Santerre had 
 put himself at the head of a detachment of invalids, which came 
 out of his house, and with which he marched to the square, and 
 had excited on the way the spectators to join him, that the mul- 
 titude swelleil considerably upon his progress to the passage of the 
 Feuillants; that when there, not daring to attack the post, he 
 retired into the court of the Capuchins, where he caused the May- 
 pole to be planted which he had destined for the palace of the 
 Tuileries ; that thereupon he, the witness, asked several people 
 in the train of the said Sieur Santerre, why the Maj-pole was not 
 erected on the terrace of the palace, as had been fixed ; and that 
 those people replied to him, that they would take care hoic they did 
 so, that such was the snare into which the Feuillantins wished them 
 to fall, because there were cannon pointed in the garden — but that 
 they uvre not to be trapped. The witness observed that at this 
 moment the crowd was almost entirely scattered, and that it was 
 only when the drums and music were heard in the enclosure of 
 the national assembly, that the rioters, then sprinkled here and 
 there, rallied, joined the other spectators, and quietly defiled 
 three abreast before the legislative body ; that he, the witness, 
 remarked that those people, when passing into the Tuileries, 
 gave way to nothing offensive, and did not attempt to enter the 
 palace; that, when even assembled on the Place du Carrousel, 
 which they had reached by making a circuit along the quay of the 
 Lou\Te, they manifested no intention of penetrating into the 
 courts, until the arrival of the Sieur Santerre, who was at the 
 National Assembly, and did not leave it until the sitting broke 
 up. That then the Sieur Santerre, accompanied by several per- 
 sons, amongst whom he, the witness, remarked the Sienr de 
 Saint-Hurugues, addressed his troop, hitherto quite tranquil, and 
 dem-inded of them why they had not entered llie iiaJace; that they 
 must go there, and had come out only for that purpose. That he 
 immediately commanded the artillerymen of his battalion to fol- 
 low him with a piece of ordnance, and said, that if the gate were 
 closed against him, he would break it in with balls ; that he sub- 
 sequently presented himself with this array at the gate of the 
 palace, where he experienced a feeble resistance on the part of 
 the horse gendarmerie, but a firm opposition on the part of the 
 national guard ; that this occasioned considerable uproar and 
 confusion, and they were apparently on the point of coming to 
 blows, when two men, wearing scarfs of thenational colours, one 
 of whom he, the witness, recognised as the Sieur Boucher-R^nd, 
 and the other, who was named by the spectators as the Sieur 
 Sergent, came up through the courts, aiul ordered them, he must 
 say, in a very imperious if not insolent tone, prostituting the 
 sacred name of the law, to open the gales, adding, that no one had 
 a right to close thcni, and that every cilij:en had that of entering, ■ 
 that the gates were in fact opened by the national guard, and that 
 then SiUitene and his troop rushed pell-mell into the courts ; that 
 the Sieur Santerre, who caused the cannon to be draggeil to force 
 the doors of the king's apartments if he found them closed, and 
 to fire upon any of the national guard who should oppose his in- 
 road, was stopped in his progress in an inner court on the left, at 
 the foot of the pavilion staircase, by a group of citizens, who spoke 
 to him in the most reasonable terms, to moderate his fury, and 
 threatened to hold him responsible for every miscliicf that might 
 hai)pen on that disastrous day, because, they said to him, ' You 
 alone are the author of this unconstitutional assemblage, you alone 
 have misled these honest people, and ymi are the only malefactor 
 amongst them.' That the tone in which these respectable citizens 
 spoke to the Sieur Santerre made him turn pale, but that, encou- 
 raged by a look from the Sieur Legendre, butcher as before men
 
 132 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of liberty on the terrace of the Feuillants, and to ad- 
 dress a petition to the assembly, as also to the kln^'. 
 This petition was desijciied to be presented under 
 arms. Hence it is sutBciently clear that the real 
 object of this plan was to scare the palace by an 
 array of forty tliousand jiikes. 
 
 On the IGth Jnne, a formal demand was laid before 
 the council-j,'eneral of tlie commune, soliciting autho- 
 rity for the citizens of the Faubourg Saint Antoiue to 
 assemble on the 20th in arms, and present a petition 
 to the assembly and the king. The council-general 
 of the commune passed to the order of the day, and 
 directed that its resolution in that respect should be 
 communicated to the directory and the municipal 
 body. The petitioners did not deem themselves in- 
 terdicted by tliis course, and openly stated they would 
 assemble notwithstanding. The mayor Petion only 
 imparted on the 18th the communications ordered on 
 the 16th, and then merely to the department, and not 
 to the municipal body. 
 
 On the 19th, the directory of the department, which 
 had upon all occasions signalised itself in opposition 
 to agitators, passed a resolution prohibiting armed 
 assemblages, and charging the coTumander- in-chief 
 and the mayor to take the necessary steps for dis- 
 persing them. This resolution was signified to the 
 assembly by the minister of the interior, and an im- 
 mediate" question arose whether it should be allowed 
 a reading. 
 
 Vergniaud opposed its being heard; but he was 
 overruled. Tlie reading was voted, but all idterior 
 proceedings were thereon stopped by the order of the 
 day. 
 
 Two important events had just occurred at the 
 assembly. The king had sent to signify his opposi- 
 tion to the two decrees, the one relative to the non- 
 juring priests, and the other to tlie establishment of 
 a camp of twenty thousand men. This communica- 
 tion had been heard in the deepest silence. At the 
 same time some Marseillese had appeared at the bar, 
 to read a petition. "We have seen what relations 
 Barbaroux maintained with them. Stimulated by his 
 counsels, they had written to Petion, offering him all 
 their forces, 'and adding to this offer a petition in- 
 tended for the assembly. In it they said amongst 
 other things — 
 
 " French liberty is in danger, but the patriotism of 
 
 the south wiU save France. The day of popular 
 
 wrath is come. Legislators! the strength of the 
 
 people is in your hands : make use of it : French 
 jiatriotism asks of you permission to march with more 
 imposing force towards the capital and tlie frontiers. 
 — You will not refuse a legal sanction to those who 
 are prepared to perish in defence of the law." 
 
 The reading of this petition gave rise to long de- 
 bates in the assembly. Tlie members of the right 
 side argued, that to send a copy of it to each of the 
 departments was to invite insurrection. But the 
 transmission was ordered, in spite of these remarks, 
 doubtless very just, but unavailing umler the present 
 firm persuasion that a new revolution alone could save 
 France and liberty. 
 
 Such were the events that passed on the 19th. The 
 agitation meanwhile continued in the faubourgs, and 
 Santerre, a.s is alleged, said to his associates, some- 
 what intimidated by the decree of the directory, 
 " Wliat do i/nii fear ? The national guard will not have 
 orders to fire, and M. Petion trill he there." 
 
 At midnight, the maj'or, either because he believed 
 the movement irresistible, or because he deemed it 
 
 tioned, he had recourse to a hypocritical subterfuRe, tumini? to 
 his troop, and saying to it, ' Geiillemrn, drnw up an account of the 
 ri-fiisal I maki- to march iit jimtr Iwatl into the kinti's apartments;' 
 that, for answer, tlie crowd, accustomed to understand the Sieur 
 Santerre, pushed aside tlie ffroup of honest citizens, entered with 
 their cannon and their commander, Santerre, and penetrated into 
 the apartment by all the inlets, after having broken in the doors 
 I nd windows." 1 
 
 fitting to foster it, as he did afterwards on the 10th 
 August, wrote to the directory, and requested it to 
 throw a legal sanction over the rising, by permitting 
 the national guard to receive the citizens of the fau- 
 bourgs into its ranks. This measure would have per- 
 fectly fulfilled the views of those who desired, without 
 resorting to a commotion, to overawe the king ; and 
 every thing proves that such were actually the views 
 of Pttion and the popular leaders. The directory 
 answered at five in the morning (20th June), that it 
 persisted in its previous resolutions. Petion thereupon 
 ordered the general officer on duty to keep the posts 
 at their complement, and to double the guard at the 
 Tuileries ; but he did nothing more; and imwilling 
 either to have the scene of the Champ de Mars re- 
 peated, or to suppress the gathering, he waited until 
 nine in the morning for the meeting of the municipal 
 body. At this meeting he allowed a decision to be 
 taken contrary to that of the director}^, and it was 
 enjoined upon the national guard to open its ranks to 
 the armed petitioners. Petion, in not opposing a 
 resolution subversive of the legal administrative sub- 
 ordination, laid himself open to a charge of contra- 
 vention, which did not fail to be subsequently made 
 agahist him. But whatever might be the character 
 of this resolution, its provisions were useless, for the 
 national guard had not time to form ; and the assem- 
 blage speedily became so considerable, that it was no 
 longer possible to vary its form or direction. 
 
 The hour was eleven in the forenoon. The assembly 
 had just met, in anticipation of some great event. The 
 members of the departmental director}' appeared at 
 the bar to inform it of the inutility of their efforts. 
 The attorney-syndic Roederer obtained leave to speak. 
 He stated that an extraordinary gathering of citizens 
 had taken place, in contravention of the law and of 
 various injunctions issued by the authorities ; that 
 this po])ular concourse seemed to have for object the 
 celebration of the anniversary of the 20th June, and 
 the tender of a fresh tribute of respect to the assem- 
 bly ; but that if such were the purpose of the majority, 
 it was to be apprehended that evil-disposed persons 
 woidd endeavour to use this multitude in support of 
 an address to the king, who ought not to have any 
 presented to him except under the peaceable form ol 
 a petition. Then recapitulating the orders of the 
 directory and the council-general of the commune, the 
 laws decreed against armed gatherings, and those fix- 
 ing at twenty the number of citizens competent to 
 present a petition, he exhorted the assembly to enforce 
 their execution ; " for," he added, " armed petitioners 
 resort hither to-day from a civic impulse, but to- 
 morrow a crowd of malignants may assemble, and I 
 ask you, gentlemen, what you could say to them ?" 
 
 Amid the applauses of the right, and the murmurs 
 of the left, which, from its disapproval of tlie alarm 
 and foresight of the department, evidently looked with 
 favour on the insurrection, Vergniaud mounted the 
 tribune, and called to recollection that the abuse at 
 which the attorney-syndic was so alarmed as a future 
 precedent, was an already established custom ; that on 
 several occasions armed petitioners had been received, 
 and permitted to defile through the hall ; that it was 
 possibly very wrong; but that the petitioners of to- 
 day would have good reason to complain if they were 
 treated differently from others ; that if, as was said, 
 they wished to present an address to the king, they 
 would doubtless delegate to him unarmed petitioners; 
 and that, in sooth, if the assembly were apprehensive 
 of danger to the king, it had but to form a bidwark 
 around him, by sending a deputation of sixty mem- 
 bers to the palace. 
 
 Dumolard admitted all that "S'ergni.aud had ad- 
 vanced, and acknowledged that the abuse was esta- 
 blished; but maintained that it ought to be abolished, 
 especially upon this occasion, imless it were desired 
 that the assembly and the kins: should appear, in the 
 eyes of Europe, the slaves of a destructive faction.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 laa 
 
 He recommended, like Vergniaud, that a deputation 
 sliould be sent, but required, in addition, tliat the 
 municipality and the department should be held re- 
 sponsible for the measures taken to ensure the main- 
 tenance of the laws. The uproar meanwhile increased 
 with every moment. A letter from Santerre was 
 announced ; it was read amidst tlie acclamations of 
 the galleries. The inhabitants of the Faubourg St 
 Antoine, according to the purport of this letter, were 
 celebrating the 20th June ; they had been calum- 
 niated, and thej' requested to be admitted to the bar 
 of the assembly to confound their detractors, and to 
 prove that they were still the men of the 14th of 
 July. 
 
 Yer^iaud replied to Dumolard, that if the law had 
 been violated, the case was not unprecedented ; that 
 an attempt to jiut the present movement down would 
 assuredly renew tlie sanguinary scene of the Cliamp 
 de Mars ; and that, after all, the sentiments of the 
 petitioners were not reprehensible. " Justly uneasy 
 as to the future," he added, "they wish to demonstrate 
 that, in spite of all the intrigues hatching against 
 liberty, they are ever ready to defend it." In these 
 words, arising from the natural course of a debate, it 
 may be obsei'ved, the real motive of the occiuTence 
 was proclaimed. The tumult still continued. Kaniond 
 claimed to speak, and an express resolution was 
 needed to secure him the privilege. At the same 
 moment, it was announced that the petitioners were 
 eight thousand in number. " They are eight thou- 
 sand," said Calvet, " and we are but seven huinlred 
 and forty-five : let us retire." " Order ! order ! " was 
 shouted from all sides. Calvet was formally called 
 to order, and Ramond urged to speak, as eight tliou- 
 sand citizens were in waiting. " If eight thousand 
 citizens are waiting," said he, " twenty-four millions 
 of Frenchmen are not less so." He then proceeded 
 to repeat the arguments adduced by his friends of the 
 right side. Suddenly the petitioners rushed into the 
 hall. The assembly rose indignantly, the president 
 put on his hat, and the petitioners retired with re- 
 spectful submission. The assembly, satisfied at this 
 proof of docilit}', consented to receive tliem. 
 
 Their petition, conceived in the most audacious 
 spirit, expressed the opinions of all the petitions of 
 that period. " The people are ready ; they wait only 
 for you; they are determined to use strong means to 
 give execution to the second article in the declara- 
 tion of rights — resistance to oppression ; let the minority 
 amongst you, at variance with your sentiments and 
 ours, purge the land of liberty, and begone to Cob- 
 lentz. Investigate the cause of the evils that threaten 
 us : if it originate with the executive power, let it be 
 annihilated!" 
 
 The president, after pronouncing a reply in which 
 he promised the petitioners unremitting vigilance on 
 the part of the representatives of the jieople, and ex- 
 horted them to give obedience to the laws, granted 
 them, in the name of the assembly, jiermission to 
 defile before it. The doors were tlicn thrown open, 
 ana the crowd, which at this moment amounted to at 
 least thirty thousand, passed in procession througli 
 the hall. What the wild imagination of a populace 
 all abandoned to itself, is likely to exhibit, may be 
 easily imagined. , Enormous tables bearing tlie decla- 
 ration of rights preceded tlie march; women and 
 children danced around these tables, brandisliing 
 branches of olive and pikes, intended to intimate 
 peace or war at the ojjtion (jf the enemy ; and all re- 
 peated in chorus the famous air, Ca ira. Tlieu came 
 the porters of the markets and workmen of all deno- 
 minations, with rusty muskets, swords, and bludgeons, 
 with sharp steel points. Santerre, and the Marquis de 
 Saint-HurugU(!s, already mentioned as a distinguished 
 actor on the 5th and 6th October, marched, sword in 
 hand, at their head. Some battalions of the national 
 guard followed in good order, to restrain tlu; tumult by 
 their presence. After them came more women, fol- 
 
 lowed by other armed men. Floating streamers bore 
 the words : "'The constitution or death." A pair of tat- 
 tered breeches was raised aloft, amidst cries of " The 
 s(ins-culottes (the breechless) for ever 1" Finally, an 
 atrocious symbol added ferocity to the grotesqueness of 
 the scene. At the point of a pike was borne a calf's 
 heart, with this inscription: "Heart of an aristocrat." 
 Abhorrence and indignation broke loose at this exhi- 
 bition ; instantly the dismal emblem disappeared, but 
 only to be again reared at the gates of the Tuileries. 
 The acclamation of the galleries, the shouts of tha 
 populace traversing the hall, the civic songs, the coe- 
 fiised uproar, the silence mixed with anxiety of the 
 assembly, composed a scene of the strangest character, 
 and one afflictive even to those members who viewed 
 the multitude as an auxiliar3^ Alas ! that reason is so 
 powerless in times of discord ! Alas ! that those who 
 invoked the disciplined barbarians of the north obliged 
 their adversaries to call upon those undisciplined bar- 
 barians, of alternate gaiety and ferocity, who multi- 
 ply in the heart of cities, and stagnate beneath the 
 most progressive civilisation! 
 
 This scene lasted three hours. In conclusion, San- 
 terre, reappearing to return thanks to the assembly 
 on behalf of the people, presented it with a flag as a 
 token of gratitude and devotion. 
 
 The multitude then attempted to enter the garden 
 of the Tuileries, the gates of which were barred. 
 Numerous detachments of the national guard sur- 
 rounded the palace, and stretching in line from the 
 terrace of the Feuillants to the river, presented an 
 imposing front. An order from the king caused the 
 garden gates to be opened. The ]X)pulace immediately 
 rushed in, marched under the windows of the palace, 
 and before the ranks of the national guard, Avithout 
 any hostile demonstration, save repeatedly shouting, 
 "Down with the veto! — the sans-culottes for ever!" 
 A few individuals, however, alluding to the king, 
 exclaimed, "Why does he not show himself? We 
 don't intend him any harm." The old phrase, " He is 
 deceived," was still heard, but very rarely. The 
 people, prompt to imbibe the impressions of their 
 leaders, had likewise given up the idea in despair. 
 
 The multitude issued from the garden by the gate 
 opening on the Pont-Royal, passed up the quaj', and, 
 traversing tlie avenues of the Louvre, proceeded to 
 the Place du Carrousel. This square, now so open 
 and sjiacious, was then filled with numberless streets, 
 which formed, as it were, covered ways through it. 
 Instead of that immense court which at present ex- 
 tends between the palace and the railing, and from 
 one wing to the other, were several small courts, sepa- 
 rated by Avails and houses, old-fashioned posterns 
 giving them access to the Carrousel. The jxqjulace 
 occupied all the surrounding sjiace, and advanced to 
 the royal gateway. An entrance through it was 
 denied: some municipal officers here addressed them, 
 and seemed to have prevailed on them to retire. It 
 is alleged that, at this moment, Santerre, coming out 
 of the assembl}', where he had remained to the last 
 for the purjiose of presenting his flag, reanimated the 
 already flagging dis])ositioiis of the crowd, and brought 
 cannon to bear on the gate. It was now almost four 
 o'clock ; suddenly two municipal ollicers raised the 
 bars,* whereupon the troo{)s, wiio were gathered at 
 this ])(>int in considerable numbers, consisting of bat- 
 talions of the national guard and detachments of 
 gendarmerie, were coinpletcly paralysed. 'J'lie people 
 rushed precipitately into tlic court, and tliencc into 
 the vestiliule of the palace. Santerre, threatened, it 
 is said, by two witnesses with impcacliment for tliis 
 violation of the royal abode, exclaimed, turning to the 
 assailants, " Be witnesses that 1 refuse to proceed into 
 the king's aiiartments!" Tlie i)oi)ulace had received 
 too powerful an impulse to be stoiiped by such an 
 
 * All the witnesses examined were aftreed upon this fact, and 
 were at variance only as to the names of the municipal ollicers. 
 ]
 
 134 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 appeal ; they spread intv) iiU parts of the palace, 
 pressed up all the staircases, and transported in their 
 arms a i)iece of ordnance even to the first floor. 
 In the mean time the assailants bejran to hack, with 
 swords and axes, the doors which were closed against 
 them. 
 
 Louis XVI., at this moment, had dismissed many 
 of his dangerous friends, who, without ability to save 
 liim, had so often tended to comjjromise him. They 
 had flocked around him on this ilay, but he ordered 
 them to leave the Tuileriis, where their presence 
 would only e.xasjterate without awiiij,' the people. He 
 had remaining with old Marshal de Mouchy, Acloque, 
 commander of a l)attalion,* some servants of his house- 
 hold, and several devoted officers of the national 
 guard. At length the shouts of the populace, and 
 the blows of the hatchets, were heard. The officers 
 of the national guard immediately surrounded the 
 king, and entreated liim to show himself, promising 
 to die by his side. He did not hesitate, and ordered 
 the doors to be opened. At tliat very instant, the 
 panel of the one before him fell beneath his feet, 
 under some vehement blow. At length all impedi- 
 ments to the crowd were removed, and a forest of 
 pikes and bayonets bristled to the view. " Here I 
 am I" said Louis XVI., showing himself to the un- 
 bridled mob. His attendants pressed around him, and 
 j formed a rampart for him with their persons. " Re- 
 I spect your king!" they exclaimed; and the multitude, 
 ' who had assuredly no settled object, the design of a 
 j threatening inroad being all that had been marked 
 out for them, slackened in their irruption. Several 
 ! voices announced there was a petition, and demanded 
 ! it might be heard. Those who surrounded the king 
 urged him to pass into a larger saloon, in order that 
 I this petition might be conveniently read. The popu- 
 lace, gratified at seeing its wishes attended to, fol- 
 lowed the monarcdi, whom his attendants had the 
 wisdom to place in the recess of a window. They 
 induced liini also to mount a bench, wliilst some of 
 them drew up others in front of him; a talile, like- 
 wise, was added, and all who accompanied him stood 
 around. Some grenadiers of the guard and officers 
 of his household came to increase tlie number of his 
 defenders, and composed a rampart behind which he 
 could listen with less of innninent danger to the popu- 
 lar demands. In the midst of the tunmlt and the 
 shouts, these words were often heard repeated : " No 
 veto! — no priests! — no aristocrats! — the camp near 
 Paris!" Legendre, the butcher, drew near, and de- 
 manded, in popular phraseology, the sanction of the 
 decrees. " This is neither the place nor the time to 
 ask it," said the king, with firiuness ; " I will do all that 
 the constitution requires." This resistance produced 
 its etfoct. "The nation for ever! — the nation for 
 ever!" shouted the assailants. " Yes," resumed Louis 
 XVI., " the nation for ever! I am its fastest friend." 
 " Indeed! — let us see!" said one of these men, holding 
 out to him a red cap at the end of a pike. Rejection 
 was pregnant wilh danger; and surely the dignity of 
 the king did not require him to inmiolate hinisolf 
 from repugnance for a vain syml)ol ; but, on the con- 
 trary, as he in sooth did, to repel with composure 
 the assault of the multitude. He put the cap on his 
 head, and general ai)])robation was expressed. Pant- 
 ing from the heat of the season and the crowd, one 
 of the men, in a half-intoxicated condition, holding in 
 his hands a glass and a bottle, asked him to drink. 
 The king had for some time been apprehensive of 
 poison ; however, he drank without hesitation, and 
 was vociferously applauded. 
 
 During this interval, the Princess Elizabeth, who 
 was attacheil to iier bnitlicr by the tenderest allec- 
 tion, and who alone, of all his family, had been able 
 ♦ [" A brewer of the Faubourg Saint-Marceau. Tlie virtues and 
 misfortunes of tlie king had nuide such an impression on tliis 
 worthy man, that liis majesty liad not a more zealous partisiin." 
 — Bertraiid'-- Annals, vol. vi. p. 337-] 
 
 to reach him, followed him from M'indow to window, 
 in order to share his dangers. When the people 
 saw her, they took her for the queen. Yells of 
 " There's the Austrian ! " resounded in a fearful man- 
 ner. The national guards who had sxirrounded the 
 ]irincess wished to undeceive the people. " Leave 
 tiiem," said that generous relative, " in their error, 
 and save the queen !" 
 
 The queen, accompanied by her children, had been 
 unable to join her royal consort. She had fled from 
 tlie lower apartments, and gained the council-chamber, 
 but could not i)enetrate to the king, on account of the 
 crowd which obstructed every room in the palace. 
 She was extremely anxious to join him, and earnestly 
 entreated to be conducted to the room in which he 
 was. With great difficulty she was dissuaded from 
 attempting it ; and standing behind the council-table, 
 with some grenadiers, she surveyed the mob as it 
 moved idong, her heart palpitating with terror, and 
 her eyes moist with suppressed tears. At her side, 
 her daughter was weeping bitterl}'; and her j'oimg 
 boy, at first greatly terrified, had soon regained con- 
 fidence, and was smiling with the happy unconscious- 
 ness of tender age. Some c^f the populace had thrust 
 a red cap into his hand, which the queen put upon his 
 head. Santerre, who was stationed in this quarter, 
 enjoined respect upon the people, and attempted to 
 comfort the princess. He repeated to her the usual 
 but unfortunately disregarded phrase — " Madam, you 
 are misled — you are deceived ;" and seeing the young 
 prince oppressed by the red cap, " This child is smo- 
 thered," said he, and freed hira from the burlesque 
 head- dress. 
 
 Upon learning the dangers of the palace, some de- 
 puties had hastened to the king, and addressed the 
 peoi)le, urging them to respect. Others had repaired 
 to the assembly to communicate what was passing; 
 and the excitement within the hall had risen to the 
 highest pitch, from the indignation of the right side, 
 and the endeavours of the left to excuse this irruption 
 into the palace of the monarch. A deputation had 
 been decreed without dissent, and twenty -four mem- 
 bers departed to surround the king. The deputation 
 was ordered to be renewed every half hour, in order 
 that the assembly might be alwaj's kept apprised of 
 events. The deputed members harangued by turns, 
 having themselves supported on the shoulders of 
 grenadiers. Pction afterwards appeared, and was 
 accused of being too tardy in his arrival. He asserted 
 he had not been informed until half-past four of the 
 inroad effected at four ; thab he had taken half an 
 hour to reach the palace, and had afterwards encoun- 
 tered so many obstacles as to be \ina])le to penetrate 
 to the king before half-past five. He approached the 
 monarch ; " Fear nothing," said he to him, " you are in 
 the midst of the people." Louis XVI, upon these 
 words, took the hand of a grenadier, and placed it on 
 his heart, saying, " Feel if it beats faster than usual." 
 This noble observation was greatly applauded. Potion 
 mounted on a chair, and addressing the crowd, told it, 
 that having made its representations to the king, the 
 t)nly duty left for it to perform was to retire without 
 disturbance, and in such a manner as not to sully the 
 day. Some of the witnesses allege that Pttion said, 
 " its just representations." These words would only 
 prove at the most an anxiety not to irritate the mul- 
 titude. Santerre united his influence with Potion's, 
 and the palace was speedily evacuated. The crowd 
 retired peaceabh' and orderly. The palace was cleared 
 about seven in the evening. 
 
 The king, the queen, his sister, and his children, im- 
 mediately assembled together, mingling their tears. 
 The king, stupified bj^ the scene, still had the red cap 
 on his head ; he was now made sensible of the ill- 
 omened ornament he had worn for several hours, and 
 hurled it from him witli indignant wrath. At this 
 moment, fresh deputies arrived to take cognisance 
 of the state of the palace. The queen, accompanying
 
 I 
 
 
 A I'uUarlon & C° Loiuloii it i;diiibiii);li
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 IS.-i 
 
 them through it, pointed out to them the shattered 
 doors and the broken furniture, expressing herself with 
 anguish upon tlie enormity of tlie outrages. Merlin de 
 Thionville, one of the most ardent republicans in the 
 assembly, was amongst the deputies ]n'ese)?t; and the 
 queen perceived tears in his eyes. " You weep," said 
 she to him, " at seeing the king and his family so 
 cruelly treated by a people whom he has always de- 
 sired to render hapjjy." " It is true, madam," replied 
 Merlin, " I weep at the misfortunes of a beautiful and 
 sensitive lady, the mother of a family ; but do not 
 misconstrue them, for not one of my tears is slied for 
 the Icing or the queen. I detest kings and queens." * 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE 20TH JUNE, AND EVENTS 
 SUBSEQUENT TO AUGUST 1792. 
 
 On the morning following this insurrectional day of 
 the 20th, tlie principal events of which we have just 
 recounted, Paris still Avore a threatening aspect ; and 
 the different parties were moved with more than 
 wonted violence. Indignation, of coiirse, was general 
 amongst the partisans of the court — tliey i-egarding it 
 as atrociously outraged; and among tlie constitution- 
 alists, who considered the invasion of llie palace as an 
 attack upon the laws and the public ti'anquillity. The 
 disorder had been doubtless great, but it was now 
 unduly exaggerated : it was alleged there had been 
 a project to assassinate the king, and that the plot 
 had only failed by a fortunate chance. Thus, by a 
 very natural reaction, the feeling of tlie moment was 
 entirely in favour of the royal family, exposed the 
 day before to so many dangers and insidts ; and great 
 disapprobation was expressed against the presumed 
 instigators of the insurrection. 
 
 In the assembly, mournftd countenances occupied 
 the benches. Several deputies inveighed with force 
 against the events of the previous day. 31. Bigot 
 proposed a law against armed petitions, and the usage 
 of allowing bands to march through the hall. Al- 
 though laws already existed upon these points, they 
 were renewed by a decree. M. Davcirhoult main- 
 tained that informations should be taken against the 
 perturbators. " Informations!" said some of the mem- 
 bers, " against forty thousand men ! " " Well," he 
 retoi-ted, " if it be impossible to distinguish the guilty 
 amongst forty thousand, punish the guard for making 
 no defence ; but at all events act in some manner." 
 The minister subsequently came to make a report on 
 what had passed ; and a discussion arose upon the 
 nature of the facts. A member of the right side 
 urged, on tlie ground that Vergniaud could not be 
 suspected, and had been an eyewitness of the scene, 
 that he should speak to what he had personally wit- 
 nessed. 15iit Vergniaud did not rise to this appeal, 
 and preserved strict silence. However, the more un- 
 daunted of the left side shook off this constraint, and 
 resumed courage towards the end of the sitting. They 
 even ventured to move that an inquii-y should be 
 made, wliether to decrees of urgency the sanction was 
 necessary. But this motion was rejected by a large 
 majority. 
 
 Towards evening, a renewal of the scenes of the 
 preceding day was feared. Tlie populace on retirhig 
 had stated that they would return, and it was gene- 
 rally imagined they woidd keep their promise. But, 
 whether it were merely a remnant of the yesterday's 
 excitement, or any fresh attempt were judged inex- 
 pedient at the moment by the leaders of the pojiular 
 party, all tendency to riot was eiisily suppressed ; and 
 Petion ran incontinently to tlie palace t(j assure tlie 
 king that order was re-established, and that the 
 l)cople, after having made their representations to 
 
 ♦ SfC Miidainc Campan, vol. ii. p. 21i). 
 
 him, were calm and satisfied. " That is not true," 
 
 said the king tohini. " Sire" " Be sUent." "The 
 
 magistrate of the people is not called upon to be silent 
 when he does his duty and tells the trutli." " The 
 tranquillity of Paris rests upon your liead." " I know 
 my duties : I will observe them." " Enough : go and 
 perform them. Retire." 
 
 Notwithstanding his extreme amiability, the king 
 was susceptible of splenetic emotions, -which the cour- 
 tiers used to call "fits of snorting." The sight of 
 Petion, who was accused of having stimulated the scenes 
 of the 20th, irritated him, and provoked the conver- 
 sation wo have just related. AU Paris was speedilv 
 acquainted with its terms. Two proclamations were 
 forthwith publislied, one emanating from the kmg 
 and the other from the municipality, demonstrating, 
 significantly, that those two authorities were coming 
 into conflict. 
 
 The municipality told the citizens to remain quiet, 
 to respect the king, to respect and make respected the 
 national assembly ; and not to congregate in arms, 
 because the laws prohibited it ; and, above all, to dis- 
 trust those evil-clisposed persons who strove to put 
 them again in motion. 
 
 It was rumoured at the moment, that the court was 
 seeking to arouse the people a second time, to have an 
 opportunity of shooting them down. Thus, the palace 
 was haunted with tlie idea of an assassination, and 
 the faubourgs with that of a massacre. 
 
 In his proclamation the king said, " The French 
 will not have learnt without indignation that a nud- 
 titude, deluded by certain factious individuals, has 
 invaded, by force of arms, the habitation of the king. 
 The king opposed to the menaces and insults of the 
 factious nothing but the rectitude of his conscience 
 and his love for the public v.-eal. 
 
 He is ignorant to what extremity it is their purpose 
 to restrict themselves ; but, whatever excesses they 
 may perpetrate, they will never wring from him a 
 consent to what he believes opposed "to the public 
 interest, et cetera. 
 
 If those who labour to overthro%v the monarchy 
 have occasion for one more crime, they may commit 
 it. 
 
 The king commands aU the administrative bodies 
 and municipalities to watch over the safety of persons 
 and property." 
 
 Such opposite language was in accordance with the 
 tM'o opinions then prevalent. All whom the conduct 
 of the court had driven to despair, were only the more 
 exasperated against it, and more determined to con- 
 travene its schemes by all possible means. The popu- 
 lar societies, the municipalities, the men of pikes,* a 
 portion of the national guard, and the left side of the 
 assembly, applauded the proclamation of the Mayor 
 of Paris, and vowed to use forbearance only so fixr as 
 might be necessary to avoid being mowed" down liy 
 artillery without effecting any decisive result. Still 
 uncertain as to the means they should employ, they 
 awaited events, full of their former distrust and aver- 
 sion. Their first proceeding was to oblige the mini- 
 sters to appear before the assembly, to give an account 
 of the precautions they had adopted upon two essential 
 points : — 
 
 1st, Upon the religious troubles excited liy the 
 priests ; 
 
 2d, Upon the safety of the metropolis, which the 
 camp of twenty thousand men, refused by the king, 
 was intended to cover. 
 
 Those who were called ai-istocrats, the sincere con- 
 
 * [AVith retrnnl to pikes, tliero is a curioiis passnge quoted by 
 Rcrtraiicl in liis Annals, and attributed to IJrissot in his joumiii. 
 It is as follows:— " Where will tliese pikes go?" asks an aristo- 
 crat. " Wherever ye shall be. ye enemies of the people," is the 
 reply. " Will they dare go to the palace of the Tiiilcries ?" " Yes. 
 certainly, if ye bu there." " Who shall command these pikes ?" 
 "Necessity." " Who shall distribute them?" "Patriotism. 
 Pikes bcKan the revolution ; pikes shall end it."]
 
 136 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ?titutioui\lists, a part of the national guards, several 
 of tlie provini-os, and especially the dejjartmeutal di- 
 rectories, declared their opinions upon this occasion 
 in a very energetic manner. The laws having been 
 violated, they had all the advantage in argument, and 
 used it to good purpose. A multitude of addresses 
 came to the king. At Rouen and at Paris, a petition 
 was prepared, to which twenty thousand signatures 
 were attached, and which was associated in the detes- 
 tation of tlio i>eople with that formerly signed by eight 
 thousand Parisians against the camp l:)elow Paris. 
 Fiually, an inquiry was ordered by the department 
 against tiie mayor Pttion, and the attorney of the 
 comnmne, Manuel, who were both accused of having 
 encouraged, by their inertness, the insurrection of the 
 20th June. At this period, the conduct of the king 
 on that fatal day was spoken of with admiration ; 
 there was a general relapse from the opinion respect- 
 ing his character, which it was thought had been too 
 liarshly judged when suspected of weakness. But it 
 was soon seen that the passive courage which can re- 
 sist is far removed from that active, enterprising cou- 
 rage MJiich anticipates dangers instead of awaiting 
 them with composure. 
 
 The constitutional party likewise bestirred itself 
 with extreme activity. All those who had flocked 
 around Lafayette to concert Avith him tlie letter of 
 the IGth June, again assembled, in order to arrange 
 a grand demonstration. Lafayette had been roused 
 to indignation on learning the events that had occurred 
 in the palace, and they found him perfectly disposed 
 to coincide with their views. Several regiments were 
 induced to send addresses to him, testifying the same 
 feelings of abhorrence. Whether these addresses were 
 prompted or were spontaneous, he interdicted them 
 by an order of the day, promising to convey, himself 
 and in person, the sentiments of the whole army. He 
 resolved accordingly to visit Paris, and repeat to the 
 legislative body what he had written to it on the 16th 
 June. He came to an understanding with Luckner, 
 who was easily led, as an old warrior who had never 
 been out of a camp. lie prevailed on him to write a 
 letter addressed to the king, e.xpressive of the same 
 sentiments he was about to proclaim viva voce at the 
 bar of the Legislative Asseml)ly. He then made all 
 the necessary dispositions to prevent his absence being 
 injurious to the military operations, and tearing him- 
 self from the atfectionate solicitude of his soldiers, he 
 repaired to Paris at the risk of imminent personal 
 danger. 
 
 Lafayette relied upon his faithful national guards, 
 and upon new energy on their part. He likewise relied 
 upon the court, whose enmity he could scarcely anti- 
 cipate when he was exposing himself to serve it. After 
 having proved his chivalric love for libertj% he was 
 anxious to prove his sincere attachment to the king; 
 and in liis heroic mood, it is probaljle he Avas not 
 insensible to the glory of this double devotion. He 
 arrived on the morning of the 28th June. The intelli- 
 gence was rapidly difiUsed, and it was every where 
 repeated with amazement and curiosity that General 
 Lafayette was at Paris. 
 
 Before his arrival, the assembly had been agitated 
 by the presentation of numerous contrary petitions. 
 Those from Rouen, Havre, the Ain, the Seine and 
 Oise, the Pas de Calais, and the Aisne, inveighed 
 against the excesses of the 20th June; whilst those 
 from Arras and Herault seemed almost to approve 
 of them. On the one hand, Luckner's letter to the 
 king ha^l been read, and on the other, vindictive pla- 
 cards against him. The reading of these different 
 documents had caused great excitement for sevend 
 day.s. 
 
 On the 2Sth, a considerable crowd repaired to the 
 assembly, in tiie liojje tiiat Lafayette, whose jjurpose 
 was as yet unknown, would appear there. In fact, 
 about half-past one it was announced tliat he re- 
 quested to be admitted to the bar. Upon his entrance, 
 
 he was received with the clveers of the right side, 
 and the silence of the galleries and the left side. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, " I ought in the first place 
 to assure you that, consequent upon dispositions con- 
 certed between JIarshal Luckner and myself, my pre- 
 sence here in no respect compromises either the suc- 
 cess of our arms, or the safety of the army I have the 
 honour to command." 
 
 He then proct)eded to unfold the reasons which 
 brought him to Paris. It had been asserted that his 
 letter was not from him ; he came to avow it, and for 
 that purpose had left the intrenchments of his camp, 
 where the attachment of his soldiers was his greatest 
 security. A more powerful motive had impelled him 
 to this step ; the 20th June had excited tlie indigna- 
 tion of his armj', which had presented to him a mul- 
 titude of addresses. He had interdicted them, and 
 undertaken to become the organ of his troops with 
 tlie National Assembly. " Already," said he, " the sol- 
 diers ask themselves whether it is really the cause of 
 liberty and the constitution that they are defending." 
 
 He entreated the National Assembly : 
 
 1st, To prosecute the instigators of the 20th June; 
 
 2d, To annihilate a faction which usurps the na- 
 tional sovereignty, and whose public debates leave 
 no doubt as to the atrocity of its projects ; 
 
 3d, To ensure respect to the authorities, and to give 
 the armies assurance that the constitution will re- 
 ceive no injury at home, whilst they are shedding 
 their blood to defend it abroad. 
 
 The president answered him that the assembly 
 would be faithful to the sworn law, and woidd con- 
 sider his petition. He was invited to the honours of 
 the sitting. 
 
 The general took his seat on the benches of the 
 right. The deputy Kersaint remarked that he ought 
 to take his place on the bench for petitioners. " Yes!" 
 " No ! " was shouted from all parts. The general 
 modestly arose, and proceeded to the petitioners' 
 bench. Long-continued cheers accompanied him to 
 this new seat. Guadet was tlie first to sjieak, and, 
 with infinite tact, asked if their enemies were sub- 
 dued, if their country were delivered, since M. La- 
 fayette was at Paris. " No," said he, " the country is 
 not delivered — our situation has not changed, and yet 
 the general of one of our armies is at Paris ! I will 
 not stop to inquire whether M. de Lafayette, who sees 
 in the French people only creatures of faction, sur- 
 rounding and threatening the authorities, be not him- 
 self surrounded bj' a stati' which circumvents him ; 
 but I will observe to M. de Lafayette, that he in- 
 fringes the constitution by becoming the organ of an 
 army, legally incapable of deliberating, and that in all 
 probability, likewise, he has infringed upon military 
 subordination, by coming to Paris without authority 
 from the minister at war." 
 
 In consequence, Guadet moved that the minister 
 be called upon to state whether he gave leave of 
 absence to M. de Lafayette, and also that the extra- 
 ordinary commission should make a report on the 
 question whether a general was competent to address 
 the assemblj' upon matters purely political. 
 
 Ramond came forward to answer Guadet. He com- 
 menced by a very natural and often an apposite 
 observation, that "the interpretation of laws varies 
 according to circumstances. " Never," said he, " have 
 you been so scrupulous upon the existence of the 
 right of petitioning. When very recently an armed 
 midtitude appeared, you did not ask what its mission 
 was, nor reproach it with invading, by the display of 
 arms, the independence of the assembly; and yet 
 when M. de Lafavette, who, from the whole course of 
 his life, is the very standard of liberty both for Ame- 
 rica and for Europe, presents himself, suspicions are 
 awakened ! If there be two weights and measures, if 
 there be two modes of considering things, let the re- 
 spect to persons be observed in favour of the first- 
 born of liberty !"
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 137 
 
 Ramond then moved the reference of the petition 
 ^o the extraordinary comniission, for the purpose of 
 examining, not the conduct of Lafayette, but the peti- 
 tion itself. After considerable tumult, and a double 
 vote, the motion of Kaniond was adopted. Lafayette 
 left the assembly encomjiassed by a mmierous con- 
 course of deputies and soldiers of the national guard, 
 all of them his partisans and old companions in arms. 
 
 This was the critical moment for all — for himself, 
 for the court, and for the popular party. He repaired 
 to the palace. The most insulting expressions were 
 circulated in his hearing by the crowd of courtiers. 
 The king and queen also accorded a cold reception to 
 the man who had just taken so perilous a step in their 
 behalf. He quitted the palace, afHicted, not on his 
 own account, but on that of the roj'al faujily itself, at 
 the dispositions evinced towards him. As he issued 
 from the Tuileries, a considerable assemblage was 
 waiting for him, which followed him with cries of 
 "Lafa^'ette for ever!" to the door of his residence, 
 and even fixed a Maj-pole before the house. These 
 testimonies of continued attachment affected the 
 general, and intimidated the Jacobins. But it was 
 necessary to turn these remnants of affection promptly 
 to account, and to give them increased stimiilus, if it 
 were wished to render them efficacious. Certain 
 officers of the national guard, particularly devoted to 
 the ro)'al family, addressed themselves to the court 
 for an intimation of what ought to be done. The 
 king and queen were both of opinion that it was not 
 expedient to second M. de Lafayette.* 
 
 He therefore found himself abandoned by the only 
 portion of the national guard upon which any hope of 
 support could still be placed. Nevertheless, deter- 
 mined to serve the king in spite of himself, he held 
 consultations with his friends. But their sentiments 
 were far from harmonising together. Some, and 
 especially Lally-Tolendal, desired that he should act 
 with promptitude against the Jacobins, and attack 
 them by main force in their club. Others, all mem- 
 bers of the department and the assembly, taking their 
 position on the law, upon which alone their influence 
 rested, refused to sanction its violation, and strenu- 
 ously opposed any open attack. Lafayette, however, 
 gave the preference to the boldest of the counsels, and 
 fixed a rendezvous with his pani^ans, with the view 
 of expelling the Jacobins from their hall, and walling 
 up the doors. But although the place of meeting was 
 duly appointed, few made their appearance, and La- 
 fayette found it impossible to strike the blow. In the 
 mean time, whilst he was in despair at seeing himself 
 so ill supported, the Jacobins, ignorant of the defec- 
 tion of his friends, were seized with a ])anic, and 
 abandoned their hall. They hastened to Dinnouriez, 
 who had not yet departed for the army, and urged 
 him to put himself at their head and march against 
 Lafayette ; but their proposal was not accepted. La- 
 fayette remained another day at Paris, amidst denun- 
 ciations, menaces, and plans of assassination, and 
 finally departed in disgust at his own fruitless solici- 
 tude and the deplorable infatuation of the court. And 
 yet this is the man, so completely abandoned, when 
 he came to confront the most innninent dangers to 
 save the king, who is accused of having betrayed 
 Louis XVL! The writers of the court pretend that 
 his measures were ill combined: doubtless it was 
 more easy and more sure, at least iu appearance, to 
 be served by eighty thous:ind Prussians ; but in Paris 
 itself, and with a determination of not appealing to 
 foreigners, what more could be done than to place 
 himself at the head of the national guard, and over- 
 awe the Jacobins by dispersing them ? 
 
 Lafayette returned to his army with the intention 
 of still serving the king, and arranging for him, if it 
 were possible, the means of quitting Paris. He wrote 
 
 * See ^^adamc Campan, vol. ii. p. 224 ; a letter from M. dc I.ally 
 to the King of Prussia ; and all the autlioritics. 
 
 to the assembly a letter in which he reiterated with 
 j'et greater energy all that he had said in person 
 against those he called the factious. 
 
 ir^carccly was the popular part\' freed from the 
 alarms which the presence and purpose of the general 
 had caused it, than it resumed its attacks upon the 
 court, and persisted in demanding a rigorous account 
 of the measures it was taking to defend the country. 
 It was already known, although the executive jiowcr 
 had sent no notification to the assembly, that the Prus- 
 sians had broken their neutrality, and were advanc- 
 ing by Coblentz to the number of eighty thousand 
 men, all veterans of the great Frederick, and com- 
 manded by the Duke of Brunswick, a general of cele- 
 brity. Luckner. having too few troops, and relying 
 little upon the Belgians, had been obliged to retreat 
 upon Lille and Valenciennes. On evacuating Cour- 
 tray, an officer had burnt the suburbs of that town, 
 with the intention, as it was believed, of alienating 
 the Belgians by so remorseless a proceeding. The 
 government was taking no steps to augment the force 
 of the armies, which amounted at the most, upon the 
 three frontiers, to scarcely two hundred and thirty 
 thousand men. It was adopting none of those ener- 
 getic steps which arouse the zeal and enthusiasm of 
 a nation. In short, the enemy might easily reach 
 Paris in six weeks. 
 
 The queen reckoned upon it, and imparted her 
 confidence to one of her ladies. She had the itinerary- 
 of the emigrants and the King of Prussia. She knew 
 that upon such a day thej' would be at Verdun, on 
 such another at Lille, and that they designed to lay 
 siege to that latter fortress. The unfortunate prin- 
 cess hoped, as she said, to be delivered in a month.* 
 Alas! that she did not rather credit those sincere 
 friends who represented to her the evil consequences 
 of foreign aid, and its inutility, inasmuch as it would 
 arrive too soon to compromise, too late to save her I 
 — that she did not credit her own fears iu this re- 
 spect, and the gloomy presentiments which sometimes 
 assailed her ! 
 
 We have seen that the measure upon which the 
 national party laid greatest stress was a reserve of 
 twenty thousand federalists under the walls of Paris. 
 The king, as has been already stated, had opposed 
 this project. He was summoned, in the persons of his 
 ministers, to give explanations on the precautions he 
 had taken in substitution of those ordained by the 
 unsanctioned decree. He answered by proposing a 
 new plan, which consisted in directing upon Soissons 
 a reserve of forty-two battalions of national volun- 
 teers, to replace the old reserve, which was exhausted 
 by draughts to the two main armies. This was in some 
 sort the first decree, with one difference, which the 
 patriots regarded as highly important, namely, that 
 the reserved camp was to be formed between Paris 
 and the frontier, and not near Paris itself. This plan 
 was received with nmrmurs, and remitted to the mili- 
 tary committee. 
 
 Several dei)artments and municipalities, excited 
 thereto by their corresj)ondents at Paris, had previ- 
 ously resolved to carry intt) execution the decree for 
 the camp of twenty thousand men, although it re- 
 mained unsanctioned. The departments of the Bou- 
 clies-du-Rhone, the Gironde, and L'lleraidt, set tiie 
 first example, and were speedih' imitated by others. 
 Such was the commencement of the insurrection. 
 
 So soon as these spontaneous levies were known, 
 the assembly, modifying the project relative to forty- 
 two new battalions, as proposed by the king, decreed 
 that the battalions which, in the ardour of their zeal, 
 had begiui their march before being legally summoned, 
 should pass through Paris, in order to be mscribed at 
 the municipality of that city ; that they should he 
 afterwards directed upon Soissons for the purpose of 
 encamping there; and, finally, that such of them as 
 
 * Sec ^ladainc Campan, vol. ii. p. 231).
 
 138 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 should reacli Paris before the 14th July, the anniver- 
 sary of tlie federation, should assist at that national 
 solemnity. This festival liad not been observed in 
 1791, onaccount of the flight to Varennes, and it was 
 determined to celebrate it this year with great splen- 
 dour. The assembly subjoined to their decree that, 
 immediately after the celebration, the federalists 
 should take the road to the place of their destination. 
 
 These provisions tended at once to authorise the 
 insurrection, and to re-enact, almost in terms, the un- 
 sanctioned decree. The only ditference was that the 
 federalists were merely to pass through Paris. But 
 the important point was to bring them there, for, once 
 arrived, a thousand circumstances might retain them. 
 The decree as thus amended was immediately sent to 
 the king, and was sanctioned on the morrow. 
 
 To this important measure was added another. A 
 feeling of repugnance existed against a portion of 
 the national guards, and especially against the staffs, 
 which, after the example of the directories of depart- 
 ments, had a considerable leaning in favour of high 
 authority, from being drawn into relation with it by 
 their superior rank. The staff of the Parisian national 
 guard chiefly excited the popular ire ; but the assem- 
 bly, considering it unsafe to make a direct attack 
 upon it, decreed that all staffs, in towns of more than 
 fifty thousand soids, should be dissolved and re-elected.* 
 The state of agitation which prevailed in France 
 securing to the most ardent an ever-increasing in- 
 fluence, this re-election was certain to bring forward 
 characters devoted to the popular and republican 
 party. 
 
 These were great measures, carried by pure energy 
 against the right side and the court. But nothing 
 seemed sufficiently effective to the patriots against the 
 imminent dangers wherewith they believed them- 
 selves threatened. Forty thousand Prussians, as 
 many Austrians and Sardinians, advancing on the 
 frontiers ; a court apparently in unison with the 
 enemy, employing no means to augment the armies 
 and stimulate the nation, but, on the contrary, ap- 
 plying the veto to thwart the measures of the legis- 
 lative body, and the civil list to procure itself parti- 
 sans in the interior ; a general, who was certainly not 
 deemed capable of uniting with the emigrants to 
 deliver up France, but was, nevertheless, evidently 
 disposed to support the court against the people ; — all 
 these circumstances struck the public mind with 
 affright and profound emotion. " The country is in 
 danger!" Avas the universal cry. But how prevent 
 this danger? — there was the difficulty. Its causes 
 even were matters of di.spute. The constitutionalists 
 and the partisans of the court, equally terrified with 
 the patriots themselves, imputed the dangers solely 
 to the factious, trembled only for royalty, and per- 
 ceived peril in disunion alone. The patriots, on the 
 contraiy, held the peril to lie in the invasion, and 
 charged it solely upon the court, its refusals, its 
 delays, and its secret plots. Cross petitions were 
 presented ; some attributing ever}^ mischief to the 
 Jacobins, others to the court, which was alternatelj' 
 designated under the api)ellations of " the palace," 
 " the executive poM-er," *' the veto." The assembly 
 heard, and remitted them all to the extraordinary 
 commission of twelve, some time previously appointed 
 to reflect upon and propose measures of safety. Its 
 plan was impatiently desired. In the interim, threat- 
 ening placards every where covered the walls ; and the 
 public journals, as daring as the yilacards, spoke openly 
 of a forced abdication and dethronement. This was 
 the subject of all conversations ; and it was only in the 
 assembly that any measures seemed to be preserved. 
 There the attacks against royalty were as yet but 
 indirect. It had been proposed, for example, to sup- 
 press the veto on decrees of urgency, and several times 
 questions had been raised on the civil list and its cri- 
 
 ♦ Decree of the 2d July. 
 
 minal appropriation, with the view of either reducing 
 it, or subjecting its outlay to pubUc scrutiny. 
 
 The court had never refused to act ujtou the de- 
 mands addressed to it by the assembl^^ and to materi- 
 ally augment the means of defence. It could not have 
 done so, indeed, without compromising itself too 
 openly ; and, furthermore, it nmst have been indifle- 
 rent to the numerical reinforcement of armies which 
 it deemed completely disorganised. The popular 
 party, on the other hand, desired those extraordinary 
 measures, which evince a grand determination, and 
 frequently render the most desperate cause trium- 
 phant. Such were the measui-es conceived by the 
 commission of twelve, after a long inquiry, and pro- 
 posed by it to the assembly. They were contained 
 in the following project : — 
 
 AMien the danger became extreme, the legislative 
 body was to promulgate the fact, by this solemn de- 
 claration — The countri/ ii in danger. 
 
 Upon this proclamation, all local authorities, the 
 communal, district, and departmental councils, and the 
 assembl}^ itself, as the first of the authorities, were to 
 be permanent, and to sit without interruption. All 
 the citizens were bound, under the severest penalties, 
 to surrender to the authorities the arms they possessed, 
 in order that a suitable distribution might be made 
 of them. All the men, young and old, capable of 
 service, were to be enrolled in the national guards 
 Some were to be kept disposable, and transferred to 
 the scats of the district and departmental bodies ; 
 whilst others were to be dispatched into all quarters 
 where the danger of the country should require, either 
 at home or abroad. A uniform was not to be made 
 imperative on those too poor to afford the expense of 
 one. All the national guards, when removed from 
 their places of abode, Mere to receive the pay of volun- 
 teers. The authorities were to be chargeable with 
 the providing of munitions. A rebellious sjTnbol, 
 hoisted intentionally, was to be punished with death. 
 All cockades and banners were reputed seditious ex- 
 cept those of the tricolour. 
 
 According to this project, the nation was to be on 
 the alert and in arms ; it w;)uld possess the means of 
 deliberating, and of fighting on all sides and at all 
 moments ; and could disregard the government by 
 amply compensating for its inertness. The agitation 
 of the masses, hitherto without a specific object, would 
 be regulated and directed. If, in fine, after the appeal 
 was made, the French did not respond to it, nothing 
 more would be due to a nation which did nothing for 
 itself. A debate of the most stirring character did 
 not fail, as may be well imagined, to ensue upon such 
 a project. 
 
 The deputy Pastoret made the preliminary report 
 on the 30th June. 
 
 He gave satisfaction to no one, laying blame on all 
 parties, then flattering them at each other's expense, 
 and failing to illustrate in a decisive manner the mea- 
 sures for meeting the public dangers. After him, the 
 deputy Jean de Bry gave a clear and calm exposition 
 of the reasons on which the plan of the commission 
 was founded. The discussion, once commenced, soon 
 became a mere interchange of reproaches. It gave 
 play to those hot and hasty imaginations which fly 
 incontinently to extreme measures. The great law 
 of public safety, that is to say, a dictatorship, or, in 
 other words, tlie power of doing any thing, with the 
 chance of using it cruelly but efnciently — a law, in 
 fact, which was suitable only for the convention, was 
 proposed, nevertheless, in the Legislative Assembh-. 
 
 M. Delaunay d' Angers moved that the assembly 
 declare that, until after the cessation of danger, it 
 irould consult only the imperious and supreme law of pub- 
 lic safety. 
 
 This was, under an abstract and vague formula, evi- 
 dently intended to suppress royalty, and declare the 
 assembly absolute sovereign. M. Delaunay said that 
 the revolution was not accomplished, that they de-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 13!) 
 
 reived themselves if they thought otherwise, and that 
 fixed laws were for a revolution saved, not for a revo- 
 lution to save ; in short, he said all that is usually 
 said in favour of a dictatorsliip, the idea of which 
 invariably presents itself in moments of imminent 
 danger. The reply of the deputies on the riglit side 
 was, naturally, that tlie oaths taken to the constitu- 
 tion would be violated by instituting an authority to 
 absorb the legal and established powers. Their op- 
 l^onents retorted by asserting, that the example of the 
 violation liad been given, and that it behoved thcTu 
 to take care they were not surprised in a defenceless 
 state. " But prove," responded the partisans of the 
 court, " tliat this example has been given, and that 
 the constitution has been betrayed." This defiance 
 Avas met by renewed accusations against the court, 
 and these accusations, again, were opposed by invec- 
 tives against agitators. "' You are factious i " " You 
 are traitors!" — such was the mutual and incessant 
 reproach, and it involved the question to be solved. 
 
 M. de Jaiicourt moved that Delaunay's proposition 
 be dismissed to the club of Jacobins, so extravagant 
 did he deem it. M. Isnard, to whose impetuous tem- 
 perament it was accei)table, demanded that it be taken 
 into consideration, and that the speech of M. Delaunay 
 be sent to the departments, as an antidote to that of 
 M. Pastoret, which was only " a dose of opium admi- 
 nistered to one in agony." 
 
 M. de A'aublanc succeeded in obtaining a hearing, 
 and said that the constitution might be saved by the 
 constitution ; that the project of M. Jean de Bry was 
 a proof of it; that the speech of M. Delaunay might 
 be printed, if it were desired, but certainly not sent 
 to the departments ; and that the assembly ought to 
 revert to the proposition of the commission. The 
 debate was finally adjourned to the 3d Jidy. 
 
 One deputy had not yet spoken, and that was Verg- 
 niaud. A member of the Gironde, and its greatest 
 orator, he was nevertheless independent of it. Either 
 from coolness or true elevation of mind, he seemed 
 superior to the passions of his friends ; and, whilst 
 participating their ardent patriotism, he did not 
 always yield to their prejudices and violence. When 
 he spoke upon a question, he carried with him, by 
 his eloquence and a certain acknowledged impar- 
 tiality, that undecided portion of the assembly which 
 Mirabeau was formerly wont to sway by his vehe- 
 ment and logical outbursts. Wavering masses every 
 where obey the impulse of talent and the force of 
 reason.* 
 
 It had been announced that he would speak on the 
 3d July, and an immense crowd attended to hear the 
 great orator, on a question which was regarded as 
 decisive. 
 
 He rose accordingh',f and cast a preliminary glance 
 at the state of France. " If we did not trust," said 
 he, " in the imperishable love of the people for liberty, 
 we might doubt whether tlie revolution was retro- 
 grading, or had reached its limit. Our armies in the 
 north were advancing into Belgium, and suddenly 
 they gave way ; the theatre of tlie war is carried to 
 our own territory, and tlie unfortunate Belgians pre- 
 serve of us only the remembrance of the conflagra- 
 tions which illumined our retreat! At the same time 
 a formidable army of Prussians menaces the Rhine, 
 although we liad been led to expect that their march 
 would not be so immediate. 
 
 How comes it that this was the moment chosen to 
 dismiss the popular ministers, to break the chain of 
 their labours, to deliver up the empire to inexperienced 
 hands, and to reimdiatc the measures we had found 
 
 * This justice was allowed to Vcrgniaiid by tlic Journal de 
 Piiris, then so well known for itsoi)position to the majority of the 
 assembly, imd for the IiiRli talents which presided over its editorial 
 department, especially in the unfortnnate and immortal Andr<5 
 C'henicr. (See the number of the 4th July i?!'-.) 
 
 t It is scarcely necessary to state that I analyse, and do not 
 HJve the speech of Vergniaud in its precise words. 
 
 it our duty to propose? Can it be true that our 
 triumphs are viewed with fear ? Is it the blood of 
 Coblentz, or yours, for which consideration is felt ? 
 Is it wished to reign over depopulated towns, over 
 devastated fields? Where, in a word, are we ? And 
 you, deputies, what are you doing for the public 
 safety ? 
 
 You, whom they flatter themselves with having in- 
 timidated ; you, whose consciences they think to alarm 
 by stigmatismg your patriotism as the spirit of fac- 
 tion, as if they had not called those factious who took 
 the oath in the tennis-court ; you, whom they have 
 so calumniated because you are not of a haughty 
 caste, which the constitution has humbled to the 
 dust ; you, upon whom they charge criminal designs, 
 as if you, invested with a power alien to that of the 
 law, had a civil list at disposal ; you, wliom, in their 
 hypocritical moderation, they would have relax in 
 attention to tlie dangers of the people ; you, whom 
 they have succeeded in dividing, but who, in this 
 moment of peril, will lay aside your animosities, 
 your miserable dissensions, and will not feel mutual 
 hatred so sweet as to prefer the fiendish gratification 
 to the safety of the country ; — you, I say, listen to me : 
 what are your resources? — what does necessity enjoin 
 upon yoii ? — what does the constitution permit you ?" 
 
 During this exordium, vociferous cheers frequently 
 drowned the voice of the speaker. He continued, and 
 unfolded two orders of dangers, the one internal, the 
 other external. 
 
 " To obviate internal dangers, the assembly pro- 
 posed a decree against the priests ; and whether that 
 the genius of a Medicis still lingers under the arches 
 of tile Tuileries, or that a La Chaise or a Letellier 
 still troubles the mind of the monarch, the decree was 
 refused bj' the throne. It is not permitted us to 
 believe, without doing wrong to the king, that he 
 desires religious commotions. Therefore he deenjs 
 himself sufficiently powerful — he finds sufficient in the 
 old laws to secure public tranquillity. Let his mini- 
 sters, then, answer for it with their heads, since they 
 have the means of preserving it I 
 
 To obviate external dangers, the assembly had de- 
 vised a reserve camp: the king rejected it. It would 
 be an outrage on him to believe that he desired to 
 deliver up France : he must, therefore, have armies 
 sufficient to protect her : his ministers must answer 
 to us with their heads for the safety of the country." 
 Hitherto the orator restricts himself, as we see, to 
 ministerial responsibility, and to investing it with a 
 more threatening character. " But," he added, " it is 
 not enough to hurl the ministers into the abyss their 
 malignancy or their impotence may have prepared. 
 I pray you listen to me with calmness ; be not too 
 hasty in interpreting my meaning." 
 
 At these words, attention was excited to tlie highest 
 pitch ; the deepest silence reigned in the assembly. 
 
 " It is in the name of the king" said he, " that the 
 French princes have striven to rouse Europe ; it is 
 to vindicate the dignitj/ of the king that the treaty of 
 Pilnitz was concluded ; it is to bring succour to the 
 king that the sovereign of Bohemia and Hungary 
 makes war upon us — that Prussia inarches to our 
 frontiers. Now, I read in the constitution : ' If the 
 king ])uts himself at the head of an army, and directs 
 its strength against the nation, or if he does not 
 oppose, by a formal act, any such enterprise that may 
 be undertaken in his name, he shall be adjudged to 
 have abdicated the throne.' 
 
 What is a formal act of opposition? If a hundred 
 thousand Anstrians march upon Flanders, a hundred 
 thousand Prussians upon Alsace, and the kingoj)poses 
 to them ten or twenty thousand men, woidd he per- 
 form (I formal act of opposition ? 
 
 If the king, lieing bound to notify impending hos- 
 tilities, and well aware of the movements of the IVus- 
 sian army, gave no knowledge thereof to the national 
 assembly ; if a camp of reserve, necessary to arrest
 
 140 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the progress of the enemy into the interior, were pro- 
 posed, and the king substituted for it a -plan ill- 
 defined and tedious to execute ; if the king left the 
 command of an army to an intriguing general, sus- 
 pected by the nation ; if another general, reared far 
 from the corruption of courts, and familiar with vic- 
 tory, demanded a reinforcement, and liy a refusal of 
 the king, the king virtually said to him, I enjoin f/we 
 not to conquer; can it be alleged that the king has 
 given a formal act of opposition? 
 
 I have purposely exaggerated several points, to re- 
 move all i)retext for applications purely liypothotical. 
 But if, whilst France were swinnning in blood, the 
 king said to you. It is true tliat enemies jjretend to 
 act for me — for my dignity, for my rights ; but I have 
 proved that I was not their accomjjlice : I have brought 
 armies into the field ; these armies arc too weak, but 
 the constitution does not fix the amount of their 
 strength ; I have assembled them too tardily, but the 
 constitution does not fix the period for their junction ; 
 I have stoi)ped a general who was going to conquer, 
 but the constitution does not enjoin victories ; I have 
 employed ministers who deceived tlie assembly and 
 disorganised the government, but their nomination 
 belonged to me ; the assembly has passed useful de- 
 crees which I have not sanctioned, but I had a right 
 so to do ; I have done all that tlie constitution pre- 
 scribes to nivi ; it is not possible, therefore, to doubt 
 my fidelity to it." 
 
 Vehement cheers hurst from all sides. " If, then," he 
 resumed, " the king held this language to you, would 
 you not be justified in replying to him. 'Oh, king! 
 who, like the t3'rant Lysander, have held that truth 
 was not more estimable than falsehood — who have 
 feigned to love tiie laws only that you might pre- 
 serve the poM-er enabling you to brave tliem — was it 
 defending us to oppose foreign soldiers with forces 
 whose inferiority left not even a doubt as to their in- 
 evitable defeat ? Was it defending us to discard the 
 plans calculated to fortify the interior? Was it de- 
 fending us to abstain from repressing a general who 
 violated the constitution, and to chain down the cou- 
 rage of those who were serving it? Does the con- 
 stitution leave you the choice of ministers for our 
 prosperity or our ruin ? Does it make you chief of the 
 armies for our glory or our shame ? Does it give you, 
 in a word, the riglit of veto, a civil list, and so many 
 high prerogatives, in order constitutionally to ruin the 
 constitution and the empire ? No ! no ! as a man 
 whom the generosity of the French people has failed 
 to touch with sensibility, whom the love of despotism 
 alone can actuate, you are no longer fit for that con- 
 stitution you have so unworthily violated — for that 
 people whom you have so basely betrayed !' 
 
 But, no," continued the orator ; " if our armies be 
 not complete, the king is doul)tless not culpable ; he 
 will doubtless take the necessary measures to save us ; 
 doubtless the march of the Prussians wiU not be so 
 triumphant as they anticipate ; but, at the same time, 
 it was essential to conceal nothing in apprehension or 
 in speech, for frankness can alone save us." 
 
 Vergniand concluded by proposing a m ssage to 
 Louis XVI., in firm but respectful langiiage, which 
 should compel him to choose between France and 
 foreigners, and impress upon him that the French 
 were resolved to perish or to triumph with the con- 
 ■stitution. He reconnncnded, furthermore, that the 
 country should I)e pronoiniccd in danger, in order to 
 awaken in all hearts those lofty emotions which have 
 often animated great nations, and which would be 
 unquestionably f(mnd in the French people; "for it 
 will not be," said he, " in the n'generated French of 
 ]89 that nature will show herself debased." He urged, 
 in fine, that an end sliould be put to dissensions, the 
 character of which was pregnant with gloomy fore- 
 bodings, "and that those should be joined together 
 who were in Rome and on Mount Aventine." 
 
 In pron(juncing these last words, the voice of the 
 
 orator faltered, and a general emotion prevailed. The 
 galleries, the left side, the right side, the whole audi- 
 ence ajjplauded. He quitted the tribune, and was 
 surroumled by a crowd eager to congratulate him. 
 He alone had hitherto ventured to speak in the as- 
 sembly of the dethronement, which was talked of by 
 every one in puljlic, but he had only presented it in a 
 hypothetical manner, and under forms still respectful, 
 when conij)ared with the language instigated by the 
 passions of the time. 
 
 Dumas essayed to reply. He laboured under the 
 disadvantage of speaking on the spur of tlie moment, 
 after Vergniaud, and Ijcfore auditors with minds still 
 affected with all the sensations he had aroused. He 
 repeatedly claimed silence and attention, which were 
 as repeatedly refused to him. He lingered on the 
 reproaches dealt put against the executive power. 
 " The retreat of Luckner was owing," said he, " to 
 the fortune of war, which cannot be regulated in the 
 depths of cabinets. You certainly have confidence in 
 Luckner?" " Yes I yes!" exclaimed all; and Ker- 
 saint forthwith proposed a resolution declaring that 
 Luckner had preserved the national confidence. The 
 resolution was passed, and Dumas continued. He al- 
 leged with reason, that if they had confidence in that 
 general, they could not consider the motive of his 
 retreat as criminal or suspicious ; that as to the de- 
 ficiency of force inveighed against, the marshal him- 
 self allowed tliat all the troops then disposable were 
 collected for the enterprise in question ; that besides, 
 all the preparations must have been made by the late 
 Girondist ministry, the authors of the offensive war, 
 and that if the means were insufficient, the fault rested 
 with that administration solely ; that the new mini- 
 sters could not repair all defects by a few couriers ; 
 and, finall}', that they had given unlimited discretion 
 to Luckner, and left him power to act according to 
 circumstances and the nature of the country. 
 
 " The decree for the camp of twenty thousand men," 
 added Dumas, " has been refused ; but, in the first 
 place, the ministers are not responsible for the veto ; 
 and, secondly, the plan which they have substituted 
 is better than that proposed by the assembly, inas- 
 much as it does not ])aralyse the means of recruiting. 
 The decree against the priests has been refused, but 
 there is no need of new laws to secure the public tran- 
 quillity ; nothing is required but peace, security, and 
 respect for individual and religious liberty. Wherever 
 those franchises have been held inviolable, the priests 
 have not been seditious." Dumas concluded by justi- 
 fying the king, under the allegation that he had not 
 desired war, and Lafayette, by reminding his hearers 
 that he had always been the friend of libert5^ 
 
 The decree proposed by the commission of twelve, 
 for regulating the measures consequent upon the 
 country being declared in danger, was passed amidst 
 vehement clieering. But the declaration itself was 
 adjourned, because the asseml)ly did not deem itself 
 yet called upon to take that decisive step. The king, 
 stimulated doubtless by all tluxt had been said, notified 
 to the assembly innninent hostilities on the part of 
 Prussia, the proofs of which he grounded on the de- 
 claration of Pilnitz, on the welcome given to rebels, 
 on the violences committed towards French mer- 
 chants, on the dismissal of the French minister, and 
 on the dei)arturc of the Prussian ambassador from 
 Paris ; in short, on the march of Prussian troops to 
 the numl)er of .'52,000 men. " Every thing proves to 
 me," added the king's message, " an alliance between 
 Vienna and Berlin." (Much laughter was elicited by 
 these words.) " In terms of the constitution, I give 
 advice thereof to the legislative body." " Yes," re- 
 plied several voices, " when the Prussians are at 
 Coblentz !" The message was remitted to the com- 
 mission of twelve. 
 
 The discussion upon the articles of the declaration 
 of the country being in danger was resumed. The 
 assembly decreed that this declaration should be con-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 141 
 
 sidered as a simple proclamation, and consequently 
 not siilycct to the royal sanction ; a decision not par- 
 ticularly just, since the declaration was to involve 
 legislative i)rovisions. But, Avithout venturing to pro- 
 claim it, the assembly already followed the law of 
 public safety. 
 
 The controversies in the chamber became every 
 day more envenomed. The hojie of Vergniaud, as to 
 uniting those in Rome and on JMount Aventine, was 
 not realised ; the fears reciprocally inspired were con- 
 verted into irreconcilable hatred. 
 
 In the asscmhlj' was a deputy named Lamourette, 
 constitutional Bishop of Lyons, who had ever viewed 
 liberty but as a return to primitive fraternity, and 
 who was equally afflicted and astonished at the divi- 
 sions amongst his colleagues. He had no idea of a 
 real hatred existing between them, but surmised that 
 they were all laljouring under groxuidlcss suspicions. 
 On the 7th July, at the moment the debate on the 
 danger of the country was about to be resumed, he 
 claimed to be heard upon a motion of order ; and ad- 
 dressing his colleagues in the most persuasive tone, 
 and with the most benignant aspect, he said to them 
 that every day propositions were submitted to them 
 for the severest measures, intended to obviate the 
 dangers of the country; but that, for his part, he jiut 
 faith in milder and more efficacious means. It was 
 the division amongst the representatives that caused 
 all the evils ; and to this dissension it was needful to 
 applj' a remedy. " Oh ! " exclaimed the worthy pastor, 
 " he who should succeed in miiting you, would be the 
 veritable conqueror of Austria and Coblentz. It is 
 daily said that yoiu* union is impossible in the present 
 posture of atfairs. Alas! I shudder to hear it I — but 
 it is a calumny. Nothing is irreconcilable but vice 
 and virtue. Honest men dispute with warmth, be- 
 cause they are sincerely convinced of the rectitude 
 of their opinions ; but they cannot hate each other. 
 Gentlemen, the public safety is in your hands ; what 
 retards you from accomplishing it? 
 
 What do the two parties in the assembly charge 
 upon each other ? One accuses the other of design- 
 ing to modify the constitution by means of foreigners, 
 and the latter accuses the first of designing to over- 
 throw the monarchy to establish a republic. Well, 
 my friends, hurl one and tlie same anathema at the 
 republic and the two chambers — devote them both to 
 common execration by a last and irrevocable oath! 
 Let us swear to have Imt one spirit, one sentiment ; 
 let us swear an eternal fraternity ! Let the enemy 
 know that what we determine is the determination of 
 all, and the country is saved ! " 
 
 The speaker had scarcely concluded these words, 
 than the two sides of the assembly were on their feet, 
 applauding his generous sentiments, and eager to 
 throw off the weight of their respective animosities. 
 Amidst universal acclamation, they devoted to public 
 execration every project for altering the constitution, 
 either by two chambers or by a rejjublic, and then 
 flew from the opposing benches to embrace each other. 
 Those who had attacked and those who had defended 
 Lafayette, the veto, and the civil list — the factious and 
 the traitors — were clasped in each other's arms ; all 
 differences were merged ; and Pastoret and C'ondorcet 
 were scon in a close embrace, althougli they had but 
 the day before indulged in r('cij)rocal at)use in the 
 public prints. There was no longer a right side or a 
 left side ; and all the deputies took their seats without 
 distinction of place or l)arty : Dumas was by the side 
 of Bazire, Jaucourt close to Merlin, and Raniond to 
 Chabot. 
 
 It was immediately rcsf)lved that the provinces, the 
 army, and the king, should be informed of this hajijiy 
 event. A deputation, headed b}' Lamourette, repaired 
 to the palace. Lamourette shortly returned to an- 
 nounce the king's approach, who was coming, as on 
 the 4th February 1790, to testify his gratification to 
 the assembly, and tell it that he coidd not brook the 
 
 delay of a deputation, since it retarded his being in 
 the midst of the representatives. 
 
 The enthusiasm was carried to the highest pitch by 
 these words ; and, if the unanimous acclamation were 
 to be credited, the country was saved. Were there 
 then a king and eiglit hundred deputies forming on 
 the instant a scheme for nuitual deception, and hypo- 
 critically feigning an oblivion of wrongs for the pur- 
 pose of afterwards betraying each other with more 
 certainty? No, unquestionably not; such a scheme is 
 not formed by so large a body of men, suddenly, and 
 without premeditation. But hatred is oppressive to 
 the mind, and it is sweet to cast oif the encumbrance. 
 Besides, with reference to the most threatening emer- 
 gencies, which was the party that, in the uncertainty 
 of victory, would not have willingly consented to 
 maintain the present, such as it was, provided it were 
 well assured? This scene proves, as well as many 
 others, that distrust and apprehension produced all 
 the animosities, that a moment of confidence dispelled 
 them, and that the party which was called republican 
 did not look towards a republic from principle but 
 from despair. Why, when he had returned to the 
 palace, did not the king write without a moment's 
 delay to Austria and Prussia? Why did he not join 
 to that secret proceeding some public and decisive 
 measure? Why did he not say, like his ancestor 
 Louis XIV., at the approach of the enemy, " We will 
 all go!" 
 
 But the same evening, the result of the proceedings 
 instituted by the department against Pttion and 
 Manuel was comnmnicated to the assemblj-, and this 
 residt was the suspension of those two magistrates. 
 From what has been since ascertained, and from the 
 mouth of Pction himself, it is probable he miglit have 
 prevented the movement of the 20th June, more espe- 
 cially as he prevented others at a later date. Still 
 his connivance with the agitators was not then au- 
 thenticated, but it was strongly suspected ; in addi- 
 tion to which, he M'as open to the charge of certain 
 infractions of the law, as, for e.xami^le, of having pur- 
 posely studied delay in his communications to the 
 different authorities, and of having permitted the 
 council of the commime to pass a resolution in oppo- 
 sition to that of the department, by deciding that the 
 Ijetitioners should be received into the ranks of the 
 national guard. The suspension pronounced by the 
 department was consequently legal and energetic, but 
 impolitic. After the reconciliation of that morning, 
 was there not in reality great imprudence in signifying, 
 the same evening, the suspension of two magistrates 
 enjoying such boundless popularity? True, the king 
 referred the matter to the assembly, but that body 
 did not conceal its dissatisfaction, and siu'lily remitted 
 the decision to his own judgment. The galleries re- 
 commenced their accustomed cries ; numerous peti- 
 tions were presented with the burden of " Petion or 
 death;" and the deputj' Crangeneuve, whose person 
 had been insulted, demanded a report against the 
 author of the outrage. Thus the reconciliation was 
 already forgotten. Brissot, whose turn had come to 
 sjieak on the question of the jjublic danger, asked for 
 time to modify the terms of his speech, on account of 
 the reconciliation that had taken i)lace since lie had 
 pn'])ared it. Nevertheless, lie was miable to restrain 
 himself from reca])itulating all the crimes of negligence 
 and tardiness laid to the charge of the court; and, 
 desj)ite the chimerical harmony, he concluded by 
 demanding that the question of forfeiture should be 
 sol( innly discussed ; the ministers impeached for hav- 
 ing so reluctantly notified the hostilities of Prussia ; a 
 secret connnittee apjujinted, composed of seven mem- 
 bers, and charged to watch over the public safety ; 
 the possessions of emigrants exjiosed to sale ; the 
 organisation of the luitional guards accelerated ; and. 
 finally, the declaration made without delay of The 
 cotivtrt/ in danger. 
 
 Intelligence was at the same perio<l brought of the
 
 142 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 conspiracy of Dussaillant, a member of the old nobi- 
 lity, who, at the head of some insiiri^ents, had seized 
 upon the fortress of Bannes. in tlie department of 
 I/Ardeche, and kept all the surronndinij; country in 
 alarm. The dispositions of the powers were likewise 
 di'tailed to the assembly In' the ministry. The house 
 of Austria, drawim; Prussia into its snares, had de- 
 termined that power to march a<;ainst France, althonjfh 
 the disciples of Frederick the Great murnuired aijainst 
 the impolitic alliance. The electorates were all open 
 or secret enemies. R\issia had been tlie first to de- 
 clare ajiainst tlie revolution ; slie had acceded to the 
 treaty of Pilnitz, had stimulated the projects of Gus- 
 tavus, and assisted the eniij,'rants ; all which was de- 
 sifrned to mislead Austria and Prnssia, and to impel 
 them both upon France, whilst she pursued her schemes 
 against Poland. At present, she was negotiating with 
 the Counts de Nassau and d'Esterhazy, emigrant 
 leaders ; bnt, notwithstanding her ostentatious pro- 
 mises, she had simi)ly granted them a frigate, to get 
 rid of their presence at St Petersburg. Sweden was 
 quiet since the death of Gustavus, and received French 
 vessels. Denmark promised a strict neutrality. France 
 might consider herself at war witli the court of Turin. 
 The pope was preparing his thunderbolts. Venice was 
 neutral, but seemed disposed to cover Trieste with its 
 fleets. Spain, without openly joining in the coalition, 
 gave no symptom of an intention to fulfil the family 
 compact, and to render to France the aid she had often 
 received. England was bound to neutrality, and gave 
 fresh assurances of it. The United States would 
 gladly assist France with all their might, but- were 
 unable to afford the most trifling aid, from their dis- 
 tance and the paucity of their population. 
 
 Upon this picture being laid before it, the assembly 
 was anxious instantly to declare the country in danger ; 
 but on reflecticm, the declaration was delayed for a 
 new report from all the committees united. On the 
 1 1th July, after hearing such reports, in the midst of 
 an awful silence, the president pronounced the solemn 
 declaration : — " Citize.vs ! Tue Country is in dan- 
 
 GEU!" 
 
 From this moment the sittings were declared per- 
 manent ; minute guns announced the momentous 
 crisis ; all the municipalities, all the district and de- 
 partmental councils, sat without intermission ; all the 
 national guards put themselves in motion. Amphi- 
 theatres were erected in the middle of the public 
 squares, and municipal officers received there on a 
 table, supported by drums, the names of those who 
 came to enrol themselves as volunteers. The enrol- 
 ments amounted to fifteen thousand in one day. 
 
 The reconciliation of the 7th July, and the oath 
 which accompanied it, had failed, as we have seen, to 
 dissipate any one suspicion. The necessity of guard- 
 ing against the schemes of the palace was still the 
 prevailing sentiment ; and the idea of declaring the 
 king dethroned, or of forcing him to abdicate, was 
 present to all minds as the only possible remedy for 
 the calamities which impended over France. Verg- 
 niaud had but alluded to that course, and in a hypo- 
 thetical form ; others, and especially the deputy 
 Torne, insisted that the supposition of Vergniaud 
 should be held as a positive proposition. Petitions 
 from all parts of France arrived to give the aid of 
 public opinion to that desperate resource of the pa- 
 triotic deputies. 
 
 The city of Marseilles had already sent a threaten- 
 ing petition, read in the assembly on the 19th June, 
 and reported above. At the period the country was 
 declared in danger, several others were presented. 
 One asked for the impeachment of Lafayette, the sup- 
 pression of the veto in certain cases, the reduction of 
 the civil list, and the reinstatement of Manuel and 
 PiHion in their nmnicipal functions. Another de- 
 manded, with the sui)pr('ssion of the veto, the publi- 
 city of council meetings. But the town of Marseilles, 
 \\hich had given the first e.xample of these daring 
 
 remonstrances, soon proceeded to still greater auda- 
 city. It transmitted an address in which it urged 
 the assembly to abolish royalty in the reigning branch, 
 and to substitute for it a roj-alty elective and without 
 a veto — that is to say, a mere executive magistracy, 
 as in republics. Amazement stunned the assembly 
 for a moment as these sentiments were read aloud ; 
 but it was speedily aroused by the bravoes of the 
 galleries, and a motion for printing made by one of the 
 members. But the address was referred to the com- 
 mission of twelve, to receive the application of the 
 law which declared infamous every project for alter- 
 ing tiie constitution. 
 
 Consternation, meanwhile, pervaded the palace; nor 
 was it unfelt by the patriot party, which spirited 
 petitions were far from altogether encouraging. The 
 king believed that designs were formed agaiust his 
 person ; he considered that the 20th June was a foiled 
 l)roject of assassination, which was assuredly a griev- 
 ous error, for nothing would have been more easy 
 than the perpetration of such a crime, if it had been 
 projected. Fearing poison, he and his family took 
 their meals with a lady on confidential terms with 
 the queen, where they partook of other food than tliat 
 prepared in the kitchens of the palace.* As the day 
 of the federation drew nigh, the queen got prepared 
 for the king a cuirass, composed of quiltings of stufl' 
 capable of resisting the sudden stab of a' dagger 
 However, as time passed away, and the poj)ular auda- 
 city increased, without any attempt at assassination 
 being detected, the king began more fully to compre- 
 hend the nature of his danger ; he already discerned 
 that it was no longer the point of a dat^ger, but a 
 judicial condemnation he had to fear; and the fate of 
 
 * Madame Campan gives an interesting statement respecting 
 the fears of the royal family, which is as follows : — 
 
 "Tlie spies of M. (leLaporte, intendant of the civil list, apprised 
 him , about the end of 1791 , that a man belonging to the king's offices, 
 who had established himself as a confectioner in the Palais-Koyal, 
 wiis about to enter upon the duties of his post, which the death of 
 a former holder had secured to him by reversion ; that he Wiis so 
 desperate a .Jacobin as to have daringly stated, that a great benefit 
 would be conferred on France if the king's days were shortened. 
 Ilis functions were confined simply to the details of confectionery ; 
 he was narrowly watched by the culinary superintendants, per- 
 sons perfectly devoted to his majesty ; but a subtle poison may 
 be so easily introduced into dishes, that it was decided the king 
 and queen should no longer eat of any thing but roasts ; that their 
 bread should be brought by SI. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, inten- 
 dant of the private apartments, who should likewise take upon 
 himself to provide wine. The king was fond of pastry, and I had 
 directions to order supplies, as if for myself, first from one con- 
 fectioner, and then from another. The soft sugar Wiis, likewise, 
 kept in my room. Tlie king, the queen, and the Princess Eliza- 
 beth, took their meals together, and no one remained in waiting. 
 They had each a dumb-waiter of mahogany, and a little bell to 
 summon attendance wlicn they desired it. M. Thierry came 
 himself to deliver to me their majesties' bread and wine, and J 
 locked those articles in a private closet in the king's cabinet, on 
 the ground floor. As soon as the king was seated at table, I car- 
 ried to him the pastry and the bread. Every thing was concealed 
 under the table, lest there should be any need for calling in the ser- 
 vants. The king thought that it was as dangerous as distressing, 
 to evince this fejir of attempts against his life, and this distrust 
 of the cookery department. As he never drank a whole bottle of 
 wine at his repasts (tlie princesses drank nothing but water), he 
 filled that from which he had drunk ncirly half up from the 
 bottle furnished by the officers of his butlery. I carried it away 
 after dinner. Although they partook of no pastry hut that which 
 I liad brought, they took care, in the s;niie manner, to make it 
 a]>pear as if they had eaten of that served at table. The lady who 
 succeeded me, found this secret service organised, and executed 
 it in like manner : these details were never known in public, nor 
 the apprehensio'is which had given rise to them. At the end of 
 three or four months, the advices brought by the same spies, were 
 to the cff'ect that this sort of plot against the king's life was no 
 longer to be feared ; that the plan wiis entirely changed ; and that 
 the blows intended would be as much directed against the throne 
 as the person of the monarch." — Memoirs of Madame Campan, 
 vol. ii. p. 188.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTIO.X. 
 
 Ud 
 
 Charles I. continually haunted his agonised imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 Although repulsed by the court, Lafayette had not 
 the less resolved to save the king, and he caused a 
 project of flight to be submitted to him, very boldly 
 conceived. He had, in the first place, made sure of 
 Luckner, and even wrung from the simple-minded 
 old marshal a promise to march upon Paris. In con- 
 sequence, Lafayette recommended that the king sliould 
 procure an order for liim and Luckner to visit Paris, 
 under the pretext of having their presence at the 
 federation. The appearance of two generals seemed 
 to him calculated to overawe the people, and prevent 
 all the dangers apprehended upon tliat day. On the 
 morrow of the ceremony, he urged that Louis XVI. 
 should publicly leave Paris, under pretext of going to 
 Compicgne, in order to give a proof of his liberty to 
 all Europe. In case of resistance, he asked for but 
 five* devoted cavaliers to carry him out of Paris. 
 From Compicgne, squadrons duly stationed would 
 convey him to the midst of the French armies, wliere 
 Lafayette would trust to his probity for the preser- 
 vation of the new institutions. Finally, in case none 
 of these plans succeeded, the general was determined 
 to march upon Paris with all his forces.f 
 
 * [It is probable that this is a misprint in tlie French edition 
 for " fifty."] 
 
 t Wlien M. de Lafayette was imprisoned at OlniUtz, M. de 
 Lally-Tolendal wrote a very eloquent letter in his behalf to the 
 King of Prussia. He there enumerated all that tlie general had 
 done to save Louis XVI., and gave proofs in support. Amongst 
 the documents he adduced are the following letters, which make 
 known tlie plans and the efforts of the constitutionalists at this 
 period : — 
 
 COPY OF A LKTTEn FROM M. DE LALL Y-TOLE.VDA L TO TUB 
 KING. 
 
 " Paris, 9th July 1792, Monday. 
 
 I am authorised by M. de Lafayette, to propose directly to his 
 majesty, for the 1.5th of this month, the same project he had 
 proposed for the 12th , and which cannot be executed at that period 
 since the engagement contracted by his majesty to be present at 
 the ceremony of the 14th. 
 
 His majesty must have seen the project as sent by M. de La- 
 fayette, for M. Duport was to c.irry it to M. Montciel, in order 
 that he might show it to his majesty. 
 
 M. de Lafayette purposes being here on the 1.5th, together witli 
 old General Luckner. They have recently seen each other, have 
 exchanged pledges, and have but one sentiment and one plan. 
 
 They propose that his majesty publicly leaves the city between 
 them, previously \vriting to the National Assembly, assuring it 
 that he Avill not overstep the constitutional line, and stating that 
 he was proceeding to Compicgne. 
 
 His majesty and all the royal family will be in a single carriage. 
 A hundred trusty horsemen to escort it will be easily found. The 
 Swiss, in emergency, and a part of the national guard, will pro- 
 tect the departure. The two generals will remain near his majesty. 
 Wlien arrived at Compicgne, he will have as a guard a detach- 
 ment from that town, which is excellent in spirit, one fi'om the 
 capital, which will be picked, and one from the army. 
 
 SI. de Lafayette, all his fortresses being garrisoned as well as 
 his reserve-camp, has disposable for this purpose in his army ten 
 squadrons and the horse-artillery. Two forced marches can bring 
 all this division to Compidgne. 
 
 If, contrary to all probability, his majesty be prevented leaving 
 the city, the laws being then evidently violated, the two generals 
 will marcli upon the capital with im army. 
 
 The consequences of this project arc manifest : — 
 
 Peace with all Rurope through the mediation of the king ; 
 
 Tlie king re-established in all liis legitimate power ; 
 
 A large and necessary extension of his sacred prerogatives ; 
 
 A real monarchy, a real monarcli, a real state of liberty ; 
 
 A real national representation, of which the king will be tlie 
 head and an integral part ; 
 
 A real executive power ; 
 
 A real national representation, chosen from those holding pro- 
 perty ; 
 
 The constitution revised, abolished in part, and in part 
 amended, and establislied on a better basis ; 
 
 The new legislative body holding its sittings only tlirccnionlhs 
 iu the year ; 
 
 Either because this project required too great a 
 stretcli of boldness on the part of the king, or because 
 the repugnance of the queen for Lafayette prevented 
 
 The old nobility reinstated in its former privileges, not political 
 but civil, dependent on opinion, such as titles, aims, liveries, 
 &e. 
 
 In fulfilling my commission. I dare not allow myself to proffei 
 eitlier counsel or reflection. My imagination is too keenly alivi- 
 to the rage which will seize upon all those bewildered heads al 
 the tirst town which shall be taken from us, not to doubt even o; 
 myself; so much so, indeed, that the scene of Saturday, wliich 
 seems so tranquillising to many persons, has doubled my solici- 
 tude. All these kisses have reminded me of .ludas. 
 
 I merely ask to be one of the eighty or a hundred horsemen who 
 shall escort his majesty, if he sanction the project ; and I flatter 
 myself, I do not need to assure him that he will not be reached, 
 nor any member of liis royal family, except over my coqise. 
 
 I will add one word : I was the friend of M. de Lafayette before 
 the revolution. I broke off all intercourse with him after thei^'d 
 March of the second year ; at that epoch I wished him to be wliat 
 he is now ; I wrote to him, that his duty, honour, and interest, 
 all prescribed to him that course ; I detailed to him, at length, 
 the plan such as my conscience suggested to me. He proiiiisod 
 me ; I saw no result from his promise. I will not speculate 
 whether it were owing to incapacity or evil purpose ; I became a 
 stranger to him ; I declared to him my sentiments, and from none 
 could he have ever heard more severe trutlis than from me and 
 my friends, who were also his. At present, tlv>se same friends 
 have reopened my correspondence with him. His majesty knows 
 what has been the object and the nature of that correspondence. 
 I have seen his letters ; I have had a two-hours' conference with 
 him the night before he left Paris. He acknowledges his errors ; 
 he is ready to devote his energies for liberty, but, at the same time, 
 for the monarchy ; he will immolate himself, if it be necessary, 
 for his country and liis king, two objects he no longer separates ; 
 he is imbued, in short, with the principles I have laid dovni in 
 this note; he gives himself wholly to them, with candour, con- 
 viction, feeling, fidelity to the king, oblivion of self ; I answer for 
 it on my faith. 
 
 I forgot to say he requests that nothing of this shall be discussed 
 with those officers who may be in the capital at this moment. 
 All may suspect that there are certain projects in agitation ; but 
 not one is acquainted wi^h the actual design. It will be enough 
 that they know it on the morning of execution ; he fears indis- 
 cretion, if it be mentioned to them beforehand, and none of them 
 is excepted from the scope of this observation. 
 
 P-S.— I venture to remark, that tliis project appears to me 
 proper to be meditated upon by him alone, who, on a day for ever 
 memorable, vanquished by his heroic courage an entire army 
 of assassins ; by him who, on the morrow of that unexampled 
 triumph, dictated a proclamation as sublime as liis actions had 
 been the day before ; and not under tlie influence of the counsels 
 which suggested the letter written in his name to the legislative 
 body, announcing that he woidd be present at the ceremony of 
 the 14th ; not under the influence of counsels which induced him 
 to sanction the decree upon feudal rights— a decree equivalent in 
 criminality to a theft on the pocket or on the highw.ay. 
 
 M. de Lafayette does not admit the' idea that tlie king, onco 
 emerged from the capital, will be under any other direction than 
 that of his conscience and free judgment. He conceives that the 
 first operation of his majesty ought to be the creation of a guard 
 for his person ; he conceives, likewise, that liis project may bo 
 modified in twenty different ways. He gives the preference to a 
 retreat towards the north over one to the south, as being more in 
 a Capacity to afford Ruccoiir on tliat side, and feeling appreliciiiive 
 of the southern faction. In a word, the liherly of tlif kiiit), and llie 
 de-iMiction oj'llw./actions—iinuh his objects in all the sincerity of his 
 heart. What ought to follow, will follow." 
 
 COPY OF A LKTTKR FROM M. DE LAFAYKTTK. 
 
 " i)«j Ju/y 171)2. 
 
 I had disposed my army in such a manner, that my best 
 squadrons of grenadiers, and the horse artillery, were under the 
 
 orders of M ; in the fourth division ; and if my proposition 
 
 had been accejifed, I would have marched fifteen squadrons, and 
 eight pieces of ordnance, to Compidgne in two days, the rest of 
 the aniiy being placed in progressive stations at a march's inter- 
 val ; and every regiment, howsoever backward at first, would have 
 come to my aid, if my coniradeH and I had been engaged. 
 
 I had overcome Luckner so far, as to make him promise to 
 marcli on the capital with me, if the saftety of the king required 
 it, and ho had given the necessary orders; and I have five 
 squadrons of his army, of which I disjiose absolutely, Languedoc
 
 144 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FREiNCH REVOLUTlOxX. 
 
 him from accepting his aid, the king again refused it, 
 and returned him a chilling answer, unbefitting the 
 zeal evinced by the general. " Tlie best advice," this 
 
 and ; the command of the horse artillerj- is also exclusively 
 
 mine ; I relied upon these also marcliins to Compiegne. 
 
 Tlie king has come under an engagement to be present at the 
 federal festival. I regret that my plan has not been adopted ; but 
 we must do tlie best with the one that lnus been preferred. 
 
 The steps wliich I liavc taken, the adhesion of several depart- 
 ments and communes, t'liat i>f -M. Luckiier, my influence over my 
 army, and even over tlic other troops, my popularity in the king- 
 dom, which is rather augmented than diminished, altliough 
 much contracted in the capital ; all these circumstances, com- 
 bined with several others, have given cause of anxiety to tlie fac- 
 tious, by putting honest men on the alert, and I hope that the 
 physical dangers of the 14tii July are much reduced. I think, 
 indeed, that they will he nullified altogetlier if the king be accom- 
 panied by Luckner and myself, and surrounded by picked batta- 
 lions, which I can get ready for him. 
 
 But if the king and his family remain in the capital, are they 
 not still in the liands of the factious ? We will lose the first battle ; 
 it is impossible to doubt it. The disaster wiU produce a great 
 .-ensation in the capital. I say, moreover, that the bare supposi- 
 tion of a correspondence between the queen and the enemy, wiU 
 suffice to provoke the last e.xcesses. -At the very least, the king 
 will be carried to the south ; for this idea, wliich is repudiated at 
 present, will appear natural when the allied kings are approach- 
 ing. I see plainly, therefore, that immediately after the 14th, a 
 train of dangers will begin. 
 
 I once more repeat, the king must leave Paris. I am aware that 
 if his good faith were not undoubted, such a course might have 
 unpleasant consequences ; but wlien we are asked to confide in the 
 king, who is a man of honour, can we hesitate ? I am tormented 
 rtith a desire to see the king at Compiegne. 
 
 The two points, therefore, upon which my present project 
 hangs, are as follow :— 
 
 1st, If the king has not yet summoned Luckner and me, it 
 must be done forthwith. We have Luckner,- and he must be 
 committed more and more. He will say, we are identified toge- 
 ther ; I will say all the rest. Luckner can take me on his way, 
 so that we may be in Paris on the evening of the 12th. The 13th 
 and 14th may supply offensive chances ; at all events, the defen- 
 sive will be made sure by your presence, and who knows what 
 effect mine may have on the national guard ? 
 
 We will accompany the king to tlie altar of the oountrj'. The 
 two generals, representing two armies known to be much attached 
 to them, wiU hinder the outrages that might otherwise be at- 
 tempted on the dignity of the king. As to myself, I may give 
 fresh force to the habit which some have long had of obeying my 
 voice ; the terror I have always inspired in others since they be- 
 came factious, and possibly some personal resources for taking 
 advantage of a crisis, may render me useful, at least to waid off 
 dangers. My request will be deemed the more disinterested, when 
 the unpleasantness of my situation is viewed in comparison with 
 the position I occupied on tlie grand federation ; but I consider it 
 as a sacred obligation to be with the king upon that occasion, and 
 my mind is so decided in this respect, that I im peralivcli/ require 
 the minister at war to summon me, and that this first part of my 
 proposition be adopted, and I beg you to let it be known by com- 
 mon friends to the king, his family, and his council. 
 
 2dly, As to my second proposition, I believe it equally indispen- 
 sable, and it is thus I explain it : the oath of the king, and ours, 
 will have tranquillised all but the evil-minded, and the knaves 
 will be for s'lnie days deprived of that pretext. I would suggest 
 that the king write privately to M. Luckner and myself a letter 
 common to both, and which would meet us on the way by the 
 evening of the 11th or the morning of the 12th. Thekingwill say 
 in it, " That, after having taken our oath, means should be 
 adopted to prove his sincerity to foreigners ; that the best plan 
 would be for him to pass a few days at Compiegne, w here he 
 charges us to have in readiness some squadrons to join the natiinal 
 guard of the place and a detachment from the capital ; that we 
 are to acc-ompany him to Compiegne, wiience we will rejoin our 
 armies ; that he desires us to select squadrons whose officers are 
 known for their attachment to the constitution, and a general- 
 officer, who is likewise above all doubt on that head." 
 
 In compliance with this letter, Luckner and I will intrust 
 
 M with this expedition ; he will take with him four pieces of 
 
 artillery— eight, if desired ; but it is necessary the king should not 
 speak of this, because the odium of the cannon must bo borne by 
 U.I. On the 15th, at ten in the forenoon, the king should go to the 
 assembly, accompanied by Luckner and me ; and whether we : 
 may have a battalion, or only fifty horsemen, persons devoted to ' 
 
 answer bore, " to give M. de Lafayette, is to continue 
 a terror to the factious, by ably performing his duty 
 as a general."* 
 
 Tlie day of the federation was approaching. The 
 people and the assembly were clamorous that, Petion 
 sliould not lie wanting to the solemnity of the 14th. 
 The king Inid already endeavoured to throw upon 
 tlie assembly the task of approving or disapproving 
 the sentence of the department, but the assembly, as 
 we have seen, had constrained him to take the matter 
 on himself, and it urged him day by day to make 
 known his decision, in order that the question might 
 be disposed of before the 14th. On the 1:2th the king 
 confirmed the suspension. The intelligence of this 
 event greatly increased the discontent. The assembly 
 hastened to adopt a step in its turn, and it is not 
 difiicidt to surmise its nature. The next day, that is 
 to say, on the 13th, it reinstated Petion. But, from 
 a remnant of respect, it adjourned its decision rela- 
 tive to Manuel, who had been seen moving in the 
 midst of the tumult on the 20th June, wrapped in his 
 scarf, but making no use of his authority. 
 
 At length the 14th July 1792 arrived. How times 
 were changed since the 14th July 1790! No longer 
 that magnificent altar tended by three hundred priests ; 
 nor that vast plain covered by sixty thousand national 
 guards, richly clad and regularly organised ; nor those 
 lateral tiers thronged by a countless multitude, exu- 
 
 the king or friends, we shall see if the king, the royal familj', 
 Luckner, and me, will be stopped. 
 
 1 will suppose that we are stopped. Luckner and I would re- 
 tiuTi to the assembly to exclaim against the proceeding, and 
 menace it with our armies. And if the king has to turn back, his 
 position will not be a whit the worse, for he will not have departed 
 from the constitution ; he will have against him only the enemies 
 of that constitution, and Luckner and I might easily draw detach- 
 ments from Compiegne. Observe, that this does not endanger the 
 king nearly so much as he must necessarily be by the events in 
 preparation. 
 
 The funds of which the king can dispose have been so wasted in 
 aristocratic imbecilities, that doubtless little remains in store. 
 But there is no question he might borrow enough, if it be neces- 
 sary, to take advantage of the tliree days of the federation. 
 
 There is also another thing to anticipate, namely, a decree of 
 the assembly, that the generals are not to enter the capital. This 
 ditiiculty can be obviated by the king promptly refusing his sanc- 
 tion. 
 
 If, by an inconceivable fatality, the king has already given his 
 sanction, and, appointing us to meet him at Compiegne, he should 
 be stopped on setting off, we would open for him the means of 
 coming thither .Are and triumphant. It is needless to observe, that, 
 under all circumstances, once arrived at Compiegne, he will there 
 establish his personal guard such as the constitution gives him. 
 
 I assure you that w hen I see myself surrounded by inhabitants 
 of the country, who come ten leagues and more to see me, and 
 to swear that they have no confidence but in me, that my friends 
 and foes are theirs ; when I see myself beloved by my army, over 
 which the efforts of the Jacobins have no influence ; when I see 
 proofs of adhesion to my opinions arrive from all parts of the 
 kingdom, I cimnot deem all to be lost, or that I have no means of 
 rendering myself useful." 
 
 * The following answer is taken from the collection of docu- 
 ments mentioned in the preceding note : — 
 
 ANSWER HOLOGRAPH OF THE KINO. 
 
 " lie must be answered that I am infinitely sensible of the at- 
 tachment for me which would urge him to take so prominent a 
 part, but that tlie mode appears to me impracticable. It is not 
 from personal fear, but all would be at stake at once, and, what, 
 ever he may say, this project failing, would renderall things worse 
 than ever, and more and more under the rod of the factious. 
 Fontainebleau is but a blocked alley, it would be a bad retreat ; 
 and to tlie south, to the north, would seem as if going to meet the 
 Austrians. As to the summons to Paiis, he will have an answer ; 
 consequently, I have nothing to say here. The presence of the 
 generals at the federation might be advantageous : it might, be- 
 sides, have for motive the seeing the new minister, and arranging 
 with him for the wants cf the army. ' The best advice to give M. 
 de Lafayette is to continue a terror to the factious, by ably per- 
 forming his duty .as a general. He will thereby secure more and 
 more the confidence of his army, and will be enabled to make use 
 of it as he may desire in emergency."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 145 
 
 berant with joy and pleasure ; nor that balcony where 
 the ministers, the royal family, and the assembly, 
 appeared at the first federation ! All was changed. 
 Hatred usurped all hearts as after a faithless recon- 
 ciliation ; and all the emblems proclaimed inveterate 
 hostility. Eighty-three tents represented the eighty- 
 three departments. By the side of each was a pop- 
 lar, from the smnmit of which floated tricoloured 
 streamers. A large pavilion was appropriated to the 
 assembly and the king, and another to the administra- 
 tive bodies of Paris." Thus all France seemed as if 
 encamped in the presence of the enemy. The altar 
 of the country Avas nothing but a stunted column, 
 placed on the top of those steps which still remained 
 in the Champ de Mars since the period of the first 
 ceremony. On one side was seen a monvnnent to 
 those who were dead, or going to die on the frontiers; 
 on the other, an immense tree called the tree of 
 feudalism. It arose from the midst of a vast pile, and 
 bore on its boughs coronets, blue ribbons, tiaras, car- 
 dinals' hats, the keys of St Peter, ermine mantles, 
 doctors' caps, lawyers' bags, patents of nobility, es- 
 cutcheons, coats-of-arms, et cetera. The king was to 
 be invited to apply the torch. 
 
 The oath was appointed to be taken at mid-day. 
 The king had repaired to the rooms of the Mditary 
 School, and there awaited the national procession, 
 which had gone to lay the foundation-stone of a 
 column intended to be reared on tlie site of the Bas- 
 tille. The king ])reserved a calm dignity, and the 
 queen strove to su])press emotions only too visible. 
 The king's sister and his children accompanied them. 
 Those present in the rooms were moved by some 
 afiecting expressions, and tears moistened the eyes of 
 more than one of them. At last the procession made 
 its appearance. Hitherto the Champ de Mars had 
 been almost empty, when the crowd suddenly poured 
 into it. Beneath the balcony on which the king was 
 placed, women, children, and drunken men, rushed 
 pell-mell past, vocilerating " Potion ! Petion or death !" 
 and bearing on their hats the words they had on their 
 lips. Then came federalists arm-in-arm, carrying a 
 model of the Bastille, and a press, with which they 
 stopped from time to time to throw oif and distribute 
 patriotic ballads. After them appeared the legions of 
 the national guard and regiments of the line, main- 
 taining with difficulty the order of their ranks amidst 
 this rolling populace ; lastly, the authorities and the 
 assembly. The king then descended, and, stationed 
 in the centre of a square of troops, he walked with 
 the procession to the altar of the country. The crowd 
 was prodigious in the middle of the Champ de Mars, 
 and permitted but a very slow advance. After great 
 exertions on the part of the regiments, the king 
 reached the steps of the altar. The queen, still stand- 
 ing on the balcony the king had left, viewed the whole 
 scene with an eye-glass. The tumult seemed to 
 increase an instant about the altar, and the king to 
 fall down a step : at this sight the queen littered a 
 piercing cry, and terrified all around her. However, 
 the ceremony was concluded without any accident. 
 Scarcely had the oath been taken, than a general rush 
 was made towards the tree of feudalism. The people 
 desired to draw the king there, in order that he might 
 set fire to it ; but he rid himself of their clamours by 
 objecting very appositely that there Avas no longer 
 any feudalism. He thereupon resumed his march 
 towards the Military School. The troops, overjoyed 
 at having saved him, uttered reiterated cries of " Long 
 live the king!" The nmltitude, always irresistibly 
 acted upon by the s])irit of sympathy, also took up 
 those cries, and was thus as jjrompt to cheer the 
 monarch as it had been a few moments before to in- 
 sult him. The unfortunate Louis XVI. appeared 
 beloved a few hours more ; the people and himself 
 believed it for a moment ; but even illusions were 
 become faint and evanescent, and it Avas already no 
 longer possible to gloss over the mutual distrust. The 
 
 king returned to the palace, gratified at having escaped 
 from perils he deemed great, but in deep sadness at 
 those he descried in the distance. 
 
 The news which came every day from the frontiers 
 redoubled alarm and agitation. The declaration of 
 T/ie countn/ in danger had put all France in conmio- 
 tion, and accelerated the departure of numerous fede- 
 ralists. There Avere only two thousand of them at Paris 
 on the day of the federation ; but they were inces- 
 santly arriving, and their manner of conducting them- 
 seh'es justified at once the fears and the hopes that 
 their anticipated presence in the capital had excited. 
 All volunteers, they AA^ere composed of the most hot- 
 brained spirits in the clubs of France. The assembly 
 ordered them an allowance of thirty sous a-day, and 
 reserved the galleries for them exclusively. They soon 
 imposed laAv upon the legislative body itself by their 
 shouts and cheers. Associated with the Jacobins, and 
 gathered into a club, which in a fcAv days surpassed 
 all the rest in violence, they were ready to rise in 
 insurrection at the first signal. They even stated so 
 in an address presented to the assembly. They Avould 
 not depart, they said, until the internal enemies were 
 silenced. Thus the plan for collecting at Paris an 
 insurrectional force Avas, despite the opposition of the 
 court, completely realised. 
 
 To this resource Avere added others. The soldiers 
 of the former French guards were distributed amongst 
 the regiments ; the assembly ordained that they should 
 be united into a corps of gendarmerie. Their tenden- 
 ' cies were of course well appreciated, for they had 
 commenced the revolution. It was vainly objected 
 that those soldiers, being almost aU non-commissioned 
 officers in the army, composed its main strength. The 
 assembly listened to no remonstrances, fearing the 
 enemy at home infinitely more than the one outside. 
 After having formed its oAvn forces, it was expedient 
 to decompose those of the court, for which purpose 
 the assembly ordered the removal of all regiments. 
 So far it Avas Avithin the terms of the constitution ; 
 but not contented with expelling them, it enjoined 
 them to betake themselves to the frontiers, and in this 
 it usurped the disposing power of the king over the 
 public force. 
 
 The object of this measure Avas more particularly 
 to remove the Swiss, Avhose fidelity could not be 
 doubted. To M'ard this blow, the minister put in 
 motion M. d'Affry, their commanding officer. He ap- 
 pealed to the terms of his engagement as a warrant 
 for refusing to quit Paris. The assemlily made a 
 shoAV of taking the reasons he adduced into serious 
 consideration, but ordered in the meaiiAvhile the de- 
 parture of two Swiss battalions. 
 
 It is true the king had his veto as an opposition to 
 these measures, but all his influence was prostrated, 
 and he Avas no longer in a capacity to exert his pre- 
 rogative. The asseml)ly itself could not ahvays resist 
 the motions brought forward by certain of its members, 
 and vigorously sui)ported by the applauding shouts of 
 the galleries. It never failed to declare for modera- 
 tion when possilde ; and if it yielded to measures of 
 a highly insurrectional character on the one hand, it 
 was found approving and Avelcoming petitions of a 
 moderate tendency on the other. 
 
 But the measures adopted, the petitions presented, 
 and the tenor of all conversations, gaA'e token of an 
 ajiproaching rcA-olution. The Girondists lx)th foresaAV 
 and desired it, Avithout, hoAvever, clearly discerning 
 the means or being easy as to the issue. Those below 
 them complained of their inertness, and accused them 
 of eflTcniinacy and incapacity. Tiie leaders of the 
 clubs and sections, weary of an unproductive eloquence, 
 called in violent terms for an active and precise direc- 
 tion to the popular efforts, in order that they might 
 not jtrove for ever fruitless. At the Jacobin Club was 
 a room set apart for the management of correspond- 
 ence, and a central committee of feileralists Avas there 
 installed to deliberate and arrange in concert. To
 
 146 
 
 HISTORY OF TliE FKENCU REVOLUTION. 
 
 secure greater secrecy and energy to its resolutions, 
 this coinniittee was limited to five members, and 
 received the name uf tlie Insurrecliunal Cominitlee. 
 These five members were Vaugeois, a grand vicar ; 
 Debesse, from La Drome ; Guillaume, a professor at 
 Caen; Simon, a journalist at Strasburg; and Ga- 
 lissot, from Laiigrcs. To these were shortly added 
 Carra, Gorsas, Fournier the Amerie;in, Westermann, 
 KienlinofStrasburg, Santerre; Alexunch-c, commander 
 of tlie Faubourg St Marccau; a Polo named Lazouski, 
 captain of artillery in the battalion of the same St 
 Marceau; Antoine of Metz, an ex-member of the 
 Constituent Assembly, and two electors, Lagrey and 
 Garin. Manuel, Cainille-Desmoulins, and Danton, 
 were subsequently united with them, and exercised a 
 paramount influence over their colleagues.* The 
 
 * DETAIL OF THE KVENTS OF THK IOtH AUGUST. 
 
 This is taken from a document signed " Carra," and entitled, 
 " An Historical and exact Commentary upon the Origin and tl)e 
 reiil Authors of the celebrated Insurrection of the loth August, 
 which saved the Republic." The author affirms that the mayor 
 had not the smallest share in its success, but that he was wliere 
 ho should be \ipon tlie occasion, showing himself an undoubted 
 guardian to the patriots. Tlie piece itself is found in the " Poli- 
 tical Ann.-Us" for the .'iiith of November. 
 
 " ' The men,' said Jerome Petion, in his excellent speech upon 
 the impeachment moved against M.oximilian Robespierre, ' who 
 have taken to themselves the glory of that day, are those to whom 
 it least belongs. It is due to those who prepared it ; it is due to 
 the inevitable nature of things ; it is due to the brave federalistS| 
 and their secret directory, trho long before cnnccrtM the plan of the 
 insitrrcclioii ; it is due, in short, to the tutelary genius which has 
 constantly presided over the destinies of France since the first 
 meeting of her representatives." 
 
 It is concerning this secret directory, of which Jerome P(5tion 
 speaks, that I am about to speak in my turn, both as a member 
 of that directory and as an actor in all its proceedings. This 
 secret directory was formed by the central committee of federalists, 
 which met in the correspondence-room at the Jacobins, Rue 
 Saint-llonore. It was from the forty-three members who had 
 daily assembled in that room from the beginning of July, that five 
 were selected for the directory of insurrection. Those five mem- 
 bers were Vaugeois, grand-vicar of the Bishop of Blois ; Debessd, 
 from the department of La Drome ; Guillaume, professor at 
 Caen; Simon, a journalist from Strasburg ; and Galissot, from 
 Langres. I was added to these five members, at the very period 
 of the formation of the directory ; and a few days afterwards tliey 
 invited to it Fournier, the American; Westermann; Kicnlin, 
 from Strasburg ; Santerre; Alexandre, commander of the Fau- 
 bourg Saint-Marceau ; L:izouski, captain of the artillery of Saint- 
 Jlareeau ; Antoine, from Metz, an ex-constituent ; Lagrey; and 
 Garin, an elector of 1789. 
 
 The first meeting of this directory was held in a small tavern, 
 the Golden Sun, in the street Saint- Antoine, near the B.istille, 
 during the night between Thursday and Friday, 26th July, after 
 the civic festival given to the federalists on the site of the B;istille. 
 The patriot Gorsjis also appeared in the tavern, which we left at 
 two in the morning to proceed to the column of liberty on the site 
 of the Bastille, and there to die, if necessary, for the country. It 
 was in this tavern of the Golden Sun that Fournier, the Ameri- 
 can, brought us the red fla':;, the adoption of which I had pro- 
 posed, and on which I had caused these words to be inscribed, 
 ' Martini laic proclaimed by the sovereign people against the rebellion 
 of the txecidive powrr.' It was likewise to this tavern that I car- 
 ried five copies of a placard, whereon were these words, ' Those 
 who fire on the columns of the people shall be instantly put to death.' 
 This pliiciird, which was printed at Buisson the i)ublisher'8, had 
 been taken to Santerre's hou.se, whence I went to fetch it at mid- 
 night. Our i)lan failed this time through the prudence of the 
 mayor, who felt doiilitless that we were not sufficiently prepared 
 at this moment ; and the second active sitting of the directory 
 was adjourned to the 4th August. 
 
 Nearly the same persons attended th.at sitting, and, in addition, 
 Camille-Desmoulins ; it was held at the Cadran-Bleu, on the Bou- 
 levards ; anil at eight in the evening, it was transferred to the 
 room of Antoine, the ex-constituent, Rue Saint-Honor^, opposite 
 the Assumption, in the very house where Robespierre resides. 
 Robespierre's landlady w.is so alarmed at this conclave, that slie 
 came, about eleven o'clock at night, to ask Antoine if it were his 
 (ilyi-ct to get Itobespierre nmrdered. ' If anyone is to be murdered," 
 said Antoine, ' we will be the victims, doubtless ; Robespierre h.is 
 
 committee thus constituted was in confederacy with 
 Barbaroux, who promised the co-operation of his Mar- 
 seillese, whose arrival at Paris was impatiently ex- 
 pected. It was in commimication. also, with Petion 
 the mayor, and obtained from him a pledge not to 
 interfere with tlie insurrection. It promised him in 
 return that his house should be guarded, and himself 
 detained in it, so tliat his inaction might be justified 
 by an appearance of constraint if the enterprise were 
 not successful. The {ilan definitively fixed upon was 
 to resort in arms to the palace, and depose the king. 
 For its execution, the populace must be stimulated to 
 movement, and some extraordinary circumstance was 
 indispensable to effect this essential point. Exertions 
 were made with this view, and the subject was auxiously 
 discussed at the Jacobins'. 
 
 There the deputy Chabot expatiated, with all tlie 
 ardour of his teni{)erament, on the necessity of a grand 
 resolution ; and said, it was greatly to be desired that 
 tlie court should attempt the life of a deputy. Grange- 
 neuve, himself a deputy, heard this oration : he was 
 a man of mediocre intellect, but of an enthusiasti<; 
 character. He took Chabot aside. " You are right," 
 said he ; " it is necessary that a deputy should be 
 sacrificed, but the court is too sly to afford us so ex- 
 cellent a pretext. It must be done for it, and I killed 
 as soon as possilde in the vicinity of the pal.ace. Pre- 
 serve secrecy, an<l prepare the means of execution." 
 Chabot, roused to enthusiasm, otlered to share his 
 fate. Grangeneuve agreed, saying that two deaths 
 would make a greater sensation than one. Tiiey settled 
 the day, the hour, and the means for getting killed 
 and not maimed, as they said, and separated, resolved 
 to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the common 
 cause. Grangeneuve, who was fully bent on keeping 
 his word, put his private affliirs in order, and at half- 
 past ten in the evening walkerl to the jilace of meeting. 
 Chabot was not there. He waited. Still Chabot came 
 not, and he concluded that he had changed his deter- 
 mination, but trusted that the nuirder would be at 
 least jierpetrated on himself. He promenaded to and 
 fro for some time, awaiting the mortal blow; but was 
 ultimately obliged to return home safe and sound, 
 much chagrined tliat he had been disappointed in lay- 
 ing down his life to feed a calumny.* 
 
 The occasion, then, so anxiously desired Avas not 
 forthcoming, and mutual accusations passed of lack 
 of courage, capacity, and unity of purpose. The Gi- 
 rondist deputies, the mayor Petion, and, in fact, all 
 the more eminent personages who, either in the tri- 
 
 nothing to do with the matter — he lias only to keep himself in 
 concealment.' 
 
 It was in this second active sitting that I wrote out, with my 
 own hand, the entire plan of the insurrection, the march of the 
 columns, and the attack on the palace. Simon made a copy of 
 this plan, and we sent it to Santerre and Alexandre about mid- 
 night ; but our project miscarried a second time, because Santerre 
 and Alexandre were not yet sufficiently prepared, and several 
 wished to wait for the debate fixed for the luth Augrust on the 
 suspension of the king. 
 
 Lastly, the third active sitting of this directory was held during 
 the nisht of the !)th and 10th August last, precisely as the tocsin 
 was rung, and in three difterent pl.ices at once, namely, Fournier 
 the American, with some others, at the Faubourg Saint Marceau ; 
 AX'estermann, Santerre, and two others, at the Faubourg Saint- 
 Antoine ; Garin, the Stra.sburg journalist, and I, in the Marseil- 
 Icse Barrack, and in the very chamber of the commander, where 
 we were seen by the whole battalion. 
 
 From this account, which is strictly accurate, and which I defy 
 any one wliomsoever to impugn in the smallest particular, it is 
 seen that notliing was heard of Marat, or of Robespierre, or of 
 many others, who want to pass as actors in that enterprise; jind 
 that those who alone are justified in directly assuming the glory of 
 the famous Kith August, are such as I have named, and who 
 formed the secret directory of the federalists." 
 
 * [This extraordinary anecdote is related somewhat differently, 
 and with more spirit, by Madame Roland in lier Memoirs, called 
 " An Appeal to impartial Posterity," under the head of Grange- 
 neuve.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH KEVOLUTIUN. 
 
 147 
 
 bune or in tlieir official stations, felt it incumbent to 
 speak the language of tlie law, shrunk more aside, 
 and condemned these contmual agitations, which com- 
 promised them without leading to any result. They 
 reproached the subordinate agitators with exhausting 
 their strength in partial and useless movements, which 
 exposed the people without producing a decisive con- 
 sequence. Tliese latter, on tlie contrary, who were 
 doing in their respective spheres all they could, re- 
 torted upon the deputies and the mayor on account of 
 their public discourses, and accused them of restrain- 
 ing the energy of the people. Thus the deputies 
 blamed the mass for not being organised, and it thi'ew 
 back the allegation upon themselves. The want of a 
 leader was the grreat necessity of the moment. " A 
 man is needed!" was the universal cry: but who? 
 None was eligible amongst the deputies. They were 
 all orators rather than conspirators ; and, besides, their 
 rank and course of life removed tliem too far from the 
 multitude which it was necessary to influence. The 
 same objection applied to Roland, Servan, and all 
 those men whose courage was indisputable, l;ut whom 
 their stations elevated too much above tlie people. 
 Potion might, from the nature of his fmictions, have 
 more easily communicated with the populace ; but 
 Petion was cold, stiff, and more fitted to endure than 
 to act. His system consisted in discountenancing 
 petty movements for the advantage of a decisive in- 
 surrection ; but by pursuing it too rigorously, he threw 
 obstacles in the way of every manifestation, and lost 
 all favour with the agitators, whom he paralysed with- 
 out overawing. They required a leader who, not hav- 
 ing yet emerged from the ranks of the populace, had 
 not lost all influence over it, and had received from 
 nature the rare faculty of swaying others. 
 
 A A'ast field for activity had opened in the clubs, 
 the sections, and the revolutionary press. Numbers 
 had gained notoriety, but none hud acquired a marked 
 superio^it^^ Camille-Desmoulins was distinguished 
 for his veliemence, his cynicism, his audacity, and his 
 promptitude in assailing aU those who seemed to grow 
 lukewarm in the revolutionary career. He was well 
 known to the lowest classes ; but he had neither the 
 lungs necessary for a popular speaker, nor the acti- 
 vity and stimulating power indispensable for a party 
 leader. 
 
 Another journalist had obtained a fearful celebrity. 
 This was Marat, known under the name of " The 
 Friend of the People,'' and, from his exhortations to 
 murder, an object of horror to all who still preserved 
 any respect for moderation. Born at Neufcliatel, an<l 
 devoted to tlie study of the phj'sical and medical 
 sciences, he had daringly attacked the best-established 
 systems, and evinced an activity of mind partaking of 
 the convulsive, so to speak. He was veterinary sur- 
 geon in the stables of the Count d'Artois when the 
 revolution cwiimenced.* He rushed unhesitatingly 
 into the new career it presented, and soon made him- 
 self remarkable in his section. His height was below 
 the middle standard, his head of great bulk, his fea- 
 tures strongly marked, his complexion sallow, his eyes 
 fiery, his person slovenly. He would have been looked 
 upon as something merely ludicrous or liidcous ; but 
 
 * [Marat (.1. P.), bom in IT-J-l, of Calvinist parents, w.is not five 
 feet high; liis face was liidcous, his character of countciianco 
 liorrible, .and his head monstrous for liis size. From nature lie 
 derived a daring mind, an ungovemed imagination, a vindictive 
 temper, and a ferocious heart ; and the mode of life lie pursued 
 till the revolution, added yet more to his natural wildness and 
 cruelty. It has been said that he studied medicine before he 
 settled in Paris, where he was long in indigence, devoting his at- 
 tention to anatomy, acting as an empiric, and vending simjiles 
 .jid a specific which healed all diseases ; nay, many assert that he 
 was for a time reduced to absolute beggary. At last he obtained 
 the title of veterinary surgeon to the Count d'Artois; but at the 
 period of the revolution, his enthusiasm rose to delirium, he set 
 up a journal, and became as great a charlatan in politics as he had 
 t>een in medicine. — Biiu/rnphic M oileriti:~\ 
 
 from that strange form were suddenly heard issuing 
 fantastic and atrocious doctrines, urged in a harsh 
 accent, and with a vulgar familiarity. It was neces- 
 sary to strike off several thousands of heads, he was 
 wont to say, and to exterminate all the aristocrats 
 who rendered liberty impossiljle. Marks of abhor- 
 rence and contempt cumulated around him. He was 
 hooted, his feet trod upon, his miserable appearance 
 derided ; but, accustomed to scientific contests, and to 
 uphold the most singxdar paradoxes, he had learned 
 to despise those who despised him, and scorned them 
 as incapable to comprehend him. He tlienceforth 
 made his journal the organ of the frightful dogmas 
 with which his brain was stocked. The skulking life 
 to which he was condemned, in order to escape the 
 penalties of the law, had infuriated his moody spirit, 
 and the evidences of public horror only tended to in- 
 flame him the more. The polished manners of the 
 times were in his eyes vices inconsistent with repub- 
 lican equality; and in his delirious exasperation at 
 obstacles, he saw but one medium of safety — wholesale 
 slaughter. His studies and experiments upon the 
 physical man had naturally liabituated him to view 
 pain with indifltrence ; and his ardent mind, un- 
 fettered by anj' instinct of sensibility, went directly 
 to its purpose by the ways of blood. This idea of act- 
 ing by extermination had gradually become system- 
 atised in his head. He advocated a dictatorship, not 
 to obtain for its possessor the delights of supreme 
 power, but to lay upon him the terrible burden of 
 purifying society. His dictator was to have a cannon- 
 ball attached to his feet, in order that he might always 
 be under the control of the people ; and only one fa- 
 culty he judged essential to be vested in him, that of 
 indicating victims, and ordering the undeviating 
 penalty of death. Marat knew only this punishment, 
 for he had no idea of simply chastising — he would 
 obliterate his obstacle. 
 
 Perceiving all around him aristocrats conspiring 
 against liberty, he collected all the facts which ac- 
 corded with his passion, denouncing with fury, and 
 with a recklessness which resulted from that very 
 fury, all the names suggested to him, and frequently 
 such as had no existence. He denounced them with- 
 out personal hatred or fear, and even without danger 
 to himself, for he was beyond the pale of human re- 
 lations, and those of the wronged towards the wrong- 
 doer had ceased to prevail between him and his fel- 
 low-creatures. 
 
 A decree had been recently pronounced against 
 him and Royou, " the friend of the king ;" and lie had 
 concealed himself with an o])scure and indigent law- 
 yer, who had given him shelter. Barbaroux was in- 
 vited to visit him. Barbaroux had pursued the study 
 of physical science, and had formerly known Marat. 
 He could scarcely refuse to attend him upon his re- 
 (juest, and concluded, as he listened to him, that his 
 mind was deranged The French, according to this 
 appalling man, were but dastardly revolutionists. 
 " Give me," said he, " two hundred Neapolitans, 
 armed with poignards, and bearing muffs on their 
 left arms by way of bucklers, and with them 1 will 
 traverse France and consummate the revolution." In 
 order to distinguish tlie aristocrats, he desired that 
 the assembly sliould enjoin tliem to wear a wliite 
 ril)hon round the arm, and authorise tlieir slaughter 
 wlien found together to the numl)er of three. Under 
 the name of aristocrats he included royalists, Feuil- 
 lants, and Girondists ; and when, at times, the diffi- 
 culty of recognising them was objected to him; 
 " There is no chance of being deceived," he was ac- 
 customed to rei)ly ; " we may fall on those who have 
 carriages, servants, clothes of silk, and who come out 
 of theatres; they are aristocrats beyond doubt." 
 
 Barbaroux left hitn, terror-stricken. Marat, exclu- 
 sively jjossessed with his atrocious .system, cared little 
 about means of insurrection, and was in fact incom- 
 petent to lay them in tniin. Diu-ing his bloody reve-
 
 148 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ries, he liunjc witlv complacency on the idea of retiring 
 to Marseilles. The repuhlican enthusiasm of that 
 city led him to hope that he would be better under- 
 stood and more prized there than he found himself 
 <at Paris. He thought, therefore, of taking refuge in 
 Marseilles, and was anxious that Barbaroux should 
 send him thitlier under his aus]>iL'es ; but that per- 
 sonage had no desire to make such a present to his 
 native city, and he left in his concealment the mad- 
 man whose apotheosis he assuredly hud not the fore- 
 sight to discern. 
 
 The systematic and sanguinary Marat, consequently, 
 was not the active chiefcapal)le of concentrating masses 
 widely scattered and confusedly lieaving. Robespierre 
 seemed more suited to the task, inasmuch as he had 
 secured for himself at the Jacobin Club the partisan- 
 ship of many hearers, generally more energetic than 
 readers in their ])repossessions ; but he likewise had 
 not all the indispensable (lualities. Robespierre, an 
 inditferent advocate at Arras, had been deputed by 
 that town to the states-genend. He had there con- 
 nected himself with Pction and Buzot, and supported 
 with churlish violence tlie opinions they upheld witli 
 a deep and calm conviction. He was ridiculed at 
 first for the heaviness of his style and the povertj' of 
 his ideas; but his obstinacy drew some attention to- 
 wards him, es'pecially at the period of the revision. 
 When, after tlie tragical scene of the Champ do ]\Iars, 
 it was rumoured that a prosecution would be insti- 
 tuted against the signers of the Jacobin petition, his 
 terror and his j-outh* inspired Buzot and Roland 
 with a degree of interest in his behalf, and they ten- 
 dered him an asylum. But he speedily recovered 
 courage, and the assembl}^ being dissolved, he in- 
 trenchcil bimsi'lf amongst tlie Jacobins, upon whom 
 he persevorin<.dy inflicted his dogmatical and inflated 
 harangues. Having been elected public accuser, he 
 refused that office, and laboured exclusively to gain 
 for himself the twofold reputation of an incorruptible 
 patriot and an eloquent speaker. 
 
 His early friends, Petion, Buzot, Brissot, and Ro- 
 land, received him in their families, and viewed with 
 pain the morbid egotism which pourtayed itself in all 
 his looks and movements. Those, indeed, who took 
 any interest in him regretted that he, a man so mucli 
 occupied with the public weal, should also think so 
 much of himself, llowever, he was of too little im- 
 portance to excite any serious animosity on account 
 of his repulsive pride, and it was overlooked in con- 
 sideration of his mediocrity and zeal. It was fre- 
 quently remarked, that although silent in society, and 
 rarely expressing an opinion, he took the lead tlie fol- 
 lowing day in proj>ouiuling from the tribune the ideas 
 he had heard drop from others. This usage was ob- 
 served upon in his presence, but not at all in a reproach- 
 ful strain ; nevertheless, he speedily took disgust at a 
 society in which he met men superior to himself, as 
 he had formerly held in sullen detestation that of the 
 constituent members. He then betook himself alto- 
 gether to tb(! Jacobins, where, as we have seen, he 
 differed in opinion with Brissot and Louvet upon the 
 question of war, and called them, possibly believed 
 them, bad citizens, because they thought differentl\' 
 from himself, and supported their sentiments with 
 eloquence. Whetlier he were sincere in his prompt 
 suspicions of those who opposed him, or maliciously 
 calumniated them, is one of those mysteries bid from 
 human iiitelligiMice. There is no doubt tliat, with a 
 narrow and vulgar mind, and an extreme susceptibi- 
 lity, lie was greatly prone to irritation, and vastly 
 difficult to enlighten ; and it is not impossiljle that 
 the soreness of pride may have turned into an ablior- 
 
 * [Robespierre (Maximilian Isidorei was bom at Arr-is in 17.i9. 
 His father, a barrister in tlie Superior Council of .\rtois, having 
 ruined himself by his prmliKality, left France long before the re- 
 volution, established a school at ColoRne, went into England, and 
 thence to America, wliere he suffered his friends to be ignorant of 
 his existcDue.—Jiiiiffriiphic Modernc.'] 
 
 rence upon principle, and that he really believed those 
 wicked who had roused his wrath. 
 
 Be that as it may, in the inferior circle in which he 
 was placed he succeeded in exciting enthusiasm b}- 
 his unrelenting dogmatism, and by his reputation for 
 disinterestedness. His popularity tlius rested mate- 
 rially on irreflective passions and weak understand- 
 ings. Self-denying austerity and stern tenacity cap- 
 tivate warm imaginations, and sometimes even superior 
 minds. There Mere, in fact, many men disposed to 
 invest Robespierre with an energy more real, and with 
 talents greater, than he in truth possessed. Camille- 
 Desnioulins styled him his Aristides, and found him 
 eloquent. 
 
 Others again, without discrimination, but subju- 
 gated by his audacious egotism, went about repeating 
 that he was the man to jilace at the head of the re- 
 volution, and that, without tliis dictator, it could not 
 progress. As for himself, permitting his partisans to 
 disseminate such opinions, he never showed himself 
 in the conclaves of the conspirators. He even com- 
 plained of being compromised, because one of them, 
 an inmate in the same house with liim, had occasion- 
 ally assembled in his room the insurrectional com- 
 mittee. He held back, therefore, and left the field of 
 action open to his trumpeters, Panis, Sergent, Osselin, 
 and others, members of the sections and municipal 
 councils. 
 
 Marat, who was in search of a dictator, resolved to 
 satisfy himself whether Robespierre was fitted for the 
 office. The slovenly and regardless attire of Marat 
 contrasted strongly with that of Robespierre, who was 
 full of attention and study for his appearance. Se- 
 creted in an elegant cabinet, wliere his portrait was 
 multiplied in all fashions, painted, engraved, and 
 sculptured, he there devoted Tiiinself to unremitting 
 labour, pondering diligently upon the writings of 
 Rousseau, and assiduously preparing his harangues. 
 Marat saw him, found in him only petty personal 
 liatreds, no great system, none of that sanguinary 
 daring which worked in his own distorted fancj^ no 
 genius in short ; he left him full of contempt for the 
 little man, pronounced him incapable of saving the 
 state, and more than ever persuaded that he alone 
 possessed the great social sj'stem.* 
 
 The admirers of Robespierre beset Barbaroux, and 
 besought him to accompain' them to their idol, saying 
 tliat a man was needed, and that Robespierre alone 
 could fill the vacuum. This language displeased 
 Barbaroux, whose proud spirit little brooked the idea 
 of a dictatorship, and whose exalted imagination was 
 already captivated by the virtue of Roland and the 
 talents of his friends. He went, nevertheless, to the 
 house of Rol)espierre. In their interview, the conver- 
 sation turned on Petion, whose popularity hung hea- 
 vily on Robesjiierre, and who, it was alleged, was 
 incapable of serving the revolution. Barbaroux re- 
 plied with warmtli to the reproaches levelled at Petion, 
 and strenuously defended a character which had won 
 his admiration, llobesiiierre spoke of the revolution, 
 
 * [Itobespiene and JIarat— cneni ios in secret, to external appear- 
 ance friends — were early distinguished in the convention; both 
 dear to the nuib, but with diflercnt shades of character. T.ie 
 latter paid his court to the lowest of the low— to the men of strav 
 or in rags, who were then of so much weight in the political sys- 
 tem. The needy, the thieves, the cut-throats— in a word, the 
 dregs of the people, the caput uwrtuum of the liuman race, to a 
 man supported Marat. 
 
 Itubespierrc, albeit dependent on the same class to which his 
 rival was assimilated by his ugliness, his filth, his vulgar manners, 
 and disgusting habits, was nevertheless allied to a more elenued 
 division of it — to the shopkeepers and scribes, small traders, and 
 the inferior rank of lawyers. These admired in him the polile-t>x 
 hnurrii'ohe ; his well-combed and powdered lie;id, the richness of 
 his waistcoats, the whiteness of his linen, the elegant cut of his 
 coats, his breeches, silk stockings carefully drawn on, bright 
 knee and shoe buckles ; every thing, in short, bespoke the peritte- 
 null)!!/ pretensions of Robespierre, in opiiosition to the mns-culot- 
 tismoi yiaxaX.— Graphic History of French Nutio'Ml ConveTition.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 149 
 
 and repeated, according to his wont, that he had ac- 
 celerated its march. He conchided bj- declaring, in the 
 usual language of the time, that a man was needed. 
 Barbaroux retorted that he wanted neither a dictator 
 nor a king. Freron recriminated by saying tliat 
 Brissot was labouring to become one. Thus they fell 
 into mutual upbraitUngs, and arrived at no under- 
 standing. When the interview was ended, Panis, 
 wishing to correct the bad feeling engendered in it, 
 observed to Barbaroux that he had misconceived the 
 purpose ; that a mere momentary authority was all 
 that they designed ; and that Robespierre appeared to 
 them the onlj' man to whom it could possibly be given. 
 These vague expressions, and these proofs of petty 
 rivalry, were wliat erroneously induced the Girondists 
 to believe that Robespierre was bent upon usurping 
 power. A moody jealousy was taken for ambition ; 
 but it was one of those mistakes which the clouded ej^e 
 of party invariably commits. Robespierre, capable at 
 the utmost of detesting merit, had neither the energy 
 nor the genius of ambition, and his partisans formed 
 for him pretensions which he himself shrunk from 
 imagining. 
 
 Danton was more competent than anj* other to be 
 that leader whom all imaginations invoked for the 
 purpose of infusing iinity into the revolutionary move- 
 ments. He had formerly appeared at the bar, but 
 had not succeeded. Indigent and teased with passions, 
 he had thrown himself into the political troubles of 
 his era with ardour, and probably with liopes. He 
 was uninformed, but endowed witli a superior under- 
 standing and great powers of imagination. His athletic 
 form, his sunken and somewhat negro features, his 
 stentorian voice, his strange yet lofty images, took 
 captive the auditories of the Cordelier Club and of the 
 sections. His countenance would express by turns 
 passion in all its brutality, a jo^'ial recklessness, and 
 even simple benevolence. Danton neither hated nor 
 envied mortal, but his daring in attack had ho limits ; 
 and, in certain moments of enthusiasm, he was capa1)le 
 of executing all that the atrocious mind of Marat was 
 capable of conceiving. 
 
 A revolution, the unforeseen but inevitable conse- 
 quence of which had been to rouse tiie lower classes 
 of society against the higher, was sure to stimulate 
 jealousies, to bring forth systems, and unchain the 
 brutal passions. Robespierre was the man of envy, 
 Marat the man of system, and Danton the man of 
 passion — violent, fickle, and by fits cruel or generous. 
 If the two first, occupied, the one bj- a gnawing hate, 
 the other by demoniac reveries, were calculated to 
 have but few of those wants which render men acces- 
 sible to corruption, Danton, on tlie contrary, full of 
 unbrifUed impulses and greedy for enjoyment, was 
 but badly fitted to resist its snares. Under pretext 
 of recompensing him for a former po.st of advocate to 
 the council, the court gave him some rather consider- 
 able sums ; but whilst it succeeded in bribing, it failed 
 to gain him. He did not the less continue, on that 
 accoxmt, to harangue and excite the nudtitude of the 
 clubs against it. When he was reproached for not 
 fulfilling his contract, he replied, that in order to pre- 
 serve the means of serving the court, he must in 
 appearance treat it as an enemy. 
 
 Danton, therefore, was the most redoubtable leader 
 of those bands which are gained and moved by rough 
 oratory. l?iit, audacious and stimulating at the cri- 
 tical moment, he was not fitted for those assiduous 
 labours wliich the desire of dominion needs for reali- 
 sation ; and althougli wielding great inlhience over 
 the conspirators, he did not govern them. He was 
 capable simply, in a moment of hesitation, to re-ani- 
 mate them and drive them to their oliject by imparting 
 a decisive impulse. 
 
 The members of the insurrectional committee, mean- 
 while, had not yet arrived at a final determination 
 amongst themselves. The court, advertised of their 
 sliglitest movements, adopted on its own side certain 
 
 measures calculated to shelter it from any sudden 
 attack, and to secure it time and safety until the ar- 
 rival i){ the coalesced powers. It had originated and 
 established a club in the vicinity of the palace, called 
 " The French < 'lub," which was composed of artisans 
 and soldiers of the national guard. They all had arms 
 concealed in their place of meeting, and were in a 
 position to fly on a pressing emergency to *he succour 
 of the royal family. This single establishment was a 
 charge on the civil list to the extent of 10,000 francs 
 a-day. A native of Marseilles, named Lieutaud. had 
 besides a body of men under his orders, who alter- 
 nately filled tlie galleries, the public places, the cafes, 
 and the taverns, to support a diversion in favour of 
 the king, and to resist the riotous proceedings of the 
 patriots.* Disputes consequently ensued in all quar- 
 ters, and from words the parties generally proceeded 
 to blows. But, despite all the efforts of the court, its 
 partisans were few and weak, and that portion of the 
 national guard which was devoted to it sunk into the 
 greatest discouragement. 
 
 A great number of faithful retainers, who had 
 hitherto kept apart from the court, now came forward 
 to defend the king and make a rampart round him 
 with their bodies. Their meetings at the palace were 
 numerous and frequent, and they augmented the 
 public distrust. Thej' had been called " knights of 
 the dagger" ever since the scenes of February 1791. 
 Orders had likewise been issued to secretly assemble 
 the constitiitional guard, which, although disembodied, 
 had continued to receive its pay. 
 
 In the mean time, confusion and disagreement pre- 
 vailed in the counsels of the king, and produced in 
 his feeble and naturally indecisive mind the most ago- 
 nising perplexity. Some prudent friends, and, amongst 
 others, Malesherbes.f advised him to abdicate ; others, 
 and they were the more numerous, supported a pro- 
 ject of flight, but they were in harmony neither as to 
 the means, the place, nor the residt of the flight. To 
 infuse some uniformitj^ into their diflTerent plans, the 
 king desired that Bertrand de Molleville should con- 
 sult with Duport, the ex-constitiient. Loms XVI. had 
 great confidence in the latter, and he was obliged to 
 lay positive injunctions on Bertrand upon the subject, 
 as that personage pretended to have scruples against 
 maintaining any relation with a constitutionalist such 
 as Duport. With them were also associated in coun- 
 cil Lally-Tolendal, Malouet, Clermont-Tonnerre, Gou- 
 vernet, and others, all devoted to Louis XVI., but, 
 beyond that point, differing widely in opinion upon 
 the part to be adopted by the king, if royalty itself 
 should be saved. In this committee the monarch's 
 flight was fixed upon, and the Castle of Gaillon in Nor- 
 mandy as the place of his retreat. The Duke de Lian- 
 court, a friend of Louis XVI., and enjoying liis full 
 confidence, commanded that province. He answered 
 for his troops and the inhabitants of Rouen, who had 
 declared Iw a forcible address against the events of 
 the 20th June. He offered to receive the royal family, 
 and conduct it to Gaillon, or to transfer it to Lafayette, 
 wlio would carry it into the midst of his army. He 
 furthermore tendered his whole fortune to facilitate 
 the execution of the scheme, asking only a reservation 
 of one hundred loius a-yc.ir for bclioof of his children. 
 'J'his i)lan was agreeable to the constitutional members 
 (^f the committee, beca\ise, in lieu of jilaeiiig the king 
 in the hands of the eiuiu^rants, it consigned liim to tlie 
 c;ire of Liancourt and Lafayette. But from a similar 
 motive, it was repugnant to the others, and was also 
 likely to prove distastefid to tlie king and queen. The 
 Castle of (jaillon had the great advantage of not being 
 above thirty-six leagues from the sen, and of present- 
 ing an easy retreat into England through Normandy, 
 a jirovince fav(Uirably inclined to the royal cause. It 
 likewise possessed another, in being scarcely twenty 
 
 * See nertrand tie Moll'jvillc, vols. viii. nml ix. 
 1 Ibid L
 
 ISO 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 leajjues from Paris, on wliich account the king could 
 proceed to it without infringing the constitutional law; 
 aud that was an important consideration with him, 
 for he clung with singular tenacity to the desire of not 
 assmning a position of open contravention. 
 
 M. de Narbonne and Madame de Staiil, the daughter 
 of Nscker, also engenderetl a project of flight. On 
 their side, the emigrants propounded their plan, which 
 proposed the transport of the king to Compiegne, and 
 hence to the banks of the Rhine t)y the forest of Ar- 
 dennes. All are eager to pour advice i!:to the cur of 
 I a feeble monarch, Itccauso all aspire to impress upon 
 him a will which he has not of himself. So many 
 contrary exhortatiiHis added materially to the natural 
 vacillation of Louis XVI. ; and that unfortunate prince, 
 worried by opposing counsels, convinced by the argu- 
 ments of some, carried away by the passions of others, 
 tortured with fears for the fate of his family, and 
 wrung with the scruples of conscience, hesitated amidst 
 the multitude of projects, and beheld the popular storm 
 rolling towards him without daring either to brave or 
 to fly" it. 
 
 The Girondist deputies, who had so boldly raised 
 the question of forfeiture, remained nevertheless in- 
 decisive on the eve of an insiu-rection. Although the 
 court was almost disarmed, and positive supremacy 
 on the side of the peoi)le, still the approach of the 
 Prussians, and the dread which ancient authority al- 
 ways inspires, even after it has been stripped of its 
 strength, induced them to believe that it might yet 
 be better to negotiate with the court than risk the 
 chances of an attack. On the supposition even that 
 the attack were successful, they feared that the speedy 
 arrival of a foreign army might destroy all the conse- 
 quences of a victory over the i)alace, and visit a 
 terrible vengeance for the momentary success. How- 
 ever, notwithstanding this disposition to treat, they 
 opened no negotiations upon the subject, nor ventured 
 to take the initiative ; but they hearkened to one Boze, 
 the king's painter, who was on intimate terms with 
 Thierry, valet-de-chambre to Louis XVI. This painter 
 Boze, filled with alarm at the dangers hovering over 
 the state, besought them to transcribe what they 
 deemed essential in the conjunctiire to save the king 
 and liberty. They did, in consequence, indite a letter, 
 signed by Guadet, Gensonne, and Vergniaud, and 
 commencing with these words, " You ask from us, sir, 
 our opinion upon the present situation of France." 
 This exordium proves sufficiently that the explana- 
 tion had been requested. " The time was past," said 
 the three deputies in substance to Boze, " for thfe king 
 to deceive himself upon any point ; and he would be 
 strangely blinded if he did not perceive that his own 
 conduct was the occasion of the general excitement, 
 and of that violence in the langiiage of the clubs of 
 which he so incessantly complained. New protesta- 
 tions on his part would be fruitless, and seem derisory ; 
 in the extremity to wliich things had come, nothing 
 less woul<l be avaibiblc than measures incontestibly 
 calculated to calm the public apprehension. Every one, 
 for example, firmly believed that it was in tlie power 
 of the king to remove the foreign armies, hence it 
 was advisable he should begin by ordering such with- 
 drawal ; then he ought to select a patriotic ministry; 
 dismiss Lafayette, who, in the present state of atiiiirs, 
 coidd no long:.-r serve beneficially ; propose a law for 
 the constitutional education of the young dauphin; 
 submit the civil list to a public superintendence; and 
 declare in solemn form that he would not acccjjt for 
 himself any augmentation of power but with the free 
 concurrence of the nation. By such steps," added the 
 Girondists, " it was reasonable to hope that the feel- 
 mg of exasperation would subside, aiul that with time 
 and perseverance in this system, the king would re- 
 deem the confidence he had now utterly lost." 
 
 Let us pause for an instant. 
 
 The Giroiidists were at this time \cry near the 
 attainment of their object — if tliey had really been 
 
 conspiring so long, and up to this moment, for tlie 
 realisation of a repuljlic — and yet we are told that 
 they might have been suddenly stopped, when on the 
 very point of success, by having the ministry given 
 to three of tlieir friends ! Sucii cannot be the correct 
 version. It has been rendered manifest that a republic 
 was desired only from despair of the monarchy ; that 
 it was never a positive object ; and that even when it 
 was to be had for grasping, those who are accused of 
 having long laboured for it refused to sacrifice the 
 public welfare to the triumph of their system, but con- 
 sented to preserve the constitutional monarchy, jn-o- 
 vided it were defended by sufficient guarantees. The 
 (jrirondists, by demanding the retirement of the troops, 
 gave sufficient proof that the impending danger 
 mainly occupied their thoughts ; and the care they 
 evinced for the education of the dauphin likewise 
 demonstrates that a future monarchy was not to them 
 an insupjwrtable contemplation. 
 
 It is alleged that Brissot, on his part, had submitted 
 propositions with a view to avert the forfeiture of the 
 crown, and that in them he had inserted a condition 
 of a large pecuniary pa^nnent. Tiiis assertion rests 
 upon the authority of Bertrand de Molleville, who has 
 always dealt in calumny for two reasons — malevolence 
 of heart, and obliquity of mind. Besides, he produces 
 no proof of the fact ; and the known poverty of Bris- 
 sot, and his powerful conviction, ought to answer for 
 his purity. It is not impossible, doubtless, that the 
 court may have told out money on the accoimt of 
 Brissot, but such disbursement woidd not prove that 
 the monej' had been either asked or received by him. 
 The circumstance already recorded in these pages 
 concerning the corruj^tion of Petion, so confidently 
 promised to the court by certain knaves, in conjimc- 
 tion with other facts of the like nature, shows evi- 
 dently that no confidence ought to be placed in tliese 
 imputations of venality, so frequently and so easily 
 hazarded. And, fui-thermore, howsoever the case 
 might stand with Brissot, the three deputies, Gen- 
 sonne, Guadet, and Vergniaud, have not even been 
 accused, and they alone undersigned the letter trans- 
 mitted to Boze. 
 
 The lacerated mind of the king was less capable 
 than ever of appreciating their sagacious counsels. 
 Thierry presented the letter to him, but he cast it 
 angrily from hiin, making his two accustomed re- 
 sponses, that it was not he but the patriotic ministry 
 who liad provoked the war, and that, as to the con- 
 stitution, he was scrupulously observing it, »vhilst 
 others were labouring with all their might to destroy 
 it.* These allegations were not strictly to the pur- 
 
 * COPY OF THE LETTER WRITTEN TO CITIZEN BOZB BY 
 OL'ADET, VERGNIAUD, AND GENSONNE. 
 
 " Yon !isk from us, sir, our opinion upon the present situation 
 of Franco, and tlie suggestion of such measures as miglU extricate 
 tlio state from tlie imminent dangers wlierewith it is menaced : 
 such, inilecd, are tlie causes of disquiet to all good citizens, and 
 the objects of their deepest meditations. 
 
 AA'lien you question us concerning interests of such magnitude, 
 we will not hesitate to explain our>elve> with fr.iiikiiess. 
 
 It ought not to be dissembled, that the conduct of the executive 
 power is the immediate cause of all the calamities which afflict 
 Fnance, and of the perils which beset the throne. They deceive 
 the king who seek to persuade him that exaggerated doctrines, 
 the eli'ervescence in clubs, the manceuvres of certain agitiitors 
 and powerfid factions, have engendered and sustain these dis- 
 organising movements, of which every day may increase the 
 violence, and of which it may soon be impossible to calculate 
 the consequences : it is to place the cause of the nwlady in its 
 syniiitonis. 
 
 If the people were assured of the stability of a revolution so 
 dearly inirchased, if public liberty were no longer in danger, if 
 the conduct of the king aroused no distrust, opinions would find 
 tlieir level of themselves ; the great mass of the citizens would 
 think only of enjoying the benefits which the constitution pro- 
 mises to them ; and if, in such a state of tilings, factions still 
 existed, they would cease to be dangerous, for they woidd have 
 neither pretext nor object.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 151 
 
 pose, because, although he had not provoked the war, 
 it was a duty not the less incumbent on him strenu- 
 ously to support it ; and so far as his scrupulous 
 adlierence to the letter of the law was concerned, a 
 text observance was of little moment, tlie important 
 I>oint consisting in not endangering tiie whole sub- 
 stance by an appeal to foreign aid. 
 
 But so long as public liberty is in peril — so long as the alarms of 
 the citizens are stimulated by the conduct of the executive power, 
 and the conspiracies hatched in the interior and the exterior of 
 the kingdom appear more or less openly favoured by the king, 
 the condition of affairs necessarily evokes commotions, disorder, 
 and factions. In states the best constituted, and constituted for 
 ages, revolutions have no other principle ; and their effect must 
 be for us so much the more prompt, as there has been no interval 
 between the movements wliich induced the first, and those 
 which seem now to announce a second, revolution. 
 
 It is therefore only too evident that the existing state of things 
 must inevitably lead to a crisis, in which nearly all the chances 
 will be against royalty. In fact, oiiinion now separates the inte- 
 rests of the king from those of the nation ; it views the first public 
 functionai-y of a free nation as a party leader, and, as the conse- 
 quence of so disastrous a policy, it heajis on him the odium of all 
 the evils which desolate France. 
 
 Alas ! what will be the success of the foi-eign powers, should 
 they even enable the king, by their intervention, to augment his 
 authority, and give a new form to the govemmeijt ? Is it not evi- 
 dent, that those men who foi-med the idea of that ccmgress, have 
 sacrificed to their prejudices and their personal interest tlie in- 
 terest of the king himself; that the success of those attempts 
 would give a character of usurpation to powers which the nation 
 alone delegates, and which its confidence alone can support? 
 How is it not seen that the force which produces this change will 
 long be necessary for its maintenance, and that thus will be sown 
 in the bosom of the country the germ of divisions and discord, 
 which the lapse of many ages may scarcely suffice to eradicate? 
 
 As sincerely as invariably attached to the interests of tlie 
 nation, from which we will never sever those of the kinu, except 
 so far as he himself dissevers them, we thmk that the means of 
 averting the calamities wherewith the empire is threatened, and 
 of re-establishing tranquillity, will be for the king to remove, by 
 his conduct, all grounds of susiiicion, to declare his purpose in a 
 manner at once frank and miequivocal, and, in short, mtrench 
 himself in the confidence of the people, which alone can consti- 
 tute his strength and assure his happiness. 
 
 And it is not now by fresh protestations that he can gain this 
 object ; they would be derisory, and, in the present state of cir- 
 cumstances, would seem so truly ironical, as, instead of dissipating 
 alami , to cause an increase of danger. 
 
 There is only one from which any good result might be antici- 
 pated ; and that would be a declaration under the most soleum 
 sanctions, that in no case will the king accept an augmentation 
 of power, unless voluntarily conceded to him by the French people, 
 without the concurrence or interference of any foreign power, and 
 freely deliberated upon in the constitutional forms. 
 
 Upon this subject it is observable, that several members of the 
 national assembly are aware that such a declaration was proposed 
 to the king when he made the proposition for war against the 
 King of Hungary, and that he declined to promulgate it. 
 
 Hut wliat would probably suffice to rwivcr him the national 
 confidence, would be for the king successfully to impress u]ion 
 the allied powers a sense of the independence of tlie French 
 nation, to obtain a cessation of all hostilities, and the witlidrawal 
 of tlie cordons of troops which menace our frontiers. 
 
 It is impossible but a very considerable portion of tlio nation 
 should be convinced tliat the king has it fully in his power to 
 procure an iibandonment of the coalition ; and so long as it puts 
 public liberty in peril, the king's friends need not flatter tlicm. 
 selves that confidence will revive. 
 
 Should any exertions of the king to effect this object be fruitless, 
 lie ought at least to aid the nation, by all the means wliicli are 
 in his power, to repel the external attack ; and should omit no- 
 thing to free himself from the suspicion of favouring it. 
 
 In this supposition, little judgment is required to perceive that 
 the suspicionsand distrust spring from unfortunate circumstances, 
 wliich it is inl|Hls^ible to change. 
 
 To consider them as criminal, when the danger is real and can- 
 not be gainsaid, is the surest mode of redoubling tliein ; to com- 
 plain of exaggeration, inveigh against clubs, and attribute all to 
 agitators, when the effervescence and the agitation are the niitural 
 effects of circumstances, is to give tlicm a new force— to incroasn 
 the tumult of tdie people by the very moans adopted to calm it. 
 
 To the hope the Girondists entertained of finding 
 their counsels heeded, we must unquestionably attri- 
 bute the moderation they observed when an attempt 
 was made to raise the question of forfeiture, daily 
 agitated in the clubs, in tbe public groups, and in 
 petitions. Every time they came in the name of the 
 committee of twelve to speak of the dangers of the 
 country, and the means of meeting them, " Go back 
 to the cause oi the danger ! " was shouted to them ; " To 
 the cause ! " loudly responded the galleries. Vergniaud, 
 
 So long as there shall be a subsisting and ascertained action 
 against liberty, a reaction is inevitable ; and the dcvelojiment of 
 both the one and the other will have .an identical progress. 
 
 In so deplorable a situation, tranquillity can be established only 
 by the cessation of all dangers ; and, until that auspicious moment 
 arrives, the point of chief interest to the nation and the king is, 
 that those melanclioly circumstances be not continuidly rendered 
 more exasperating by a conduct on the part of the agents of the 
 executive, to be characterised in the mildest term as equivocal. 
 
 1st, Wherefore does the king not select his ministers amongst 
 men the most emphatic in favour of the revolution ? Wherefore, 
 in moments the most critical, is he surromided only by men un- 
 known or suspected ? If it were the policy of the king to increase 
 distrust, and excite the peojile to commotions, could a more cer- 
 tain plan be pursued to foment them ? 
 
 The choice of a ministry has been at all times one of the most 
 important functions of the authority vested in the king ; it is the 
 thermometer by which public opinion has alwiiys judged the 
 dispositions of the court ; and it cannot be a matter of conjecture 
 what effect the present selections must now have, when they, 
 even at any other time, would have excited the most violent 
 imirmurs. 
 
 A ministry essentially patriotic, would, therefore, be one of the 
 great means the kuig may use to recover confidence. But it would 
 be an inconceivable blindness to imagme, that, by a single step 
 of this nature, it could be promptly regained. It is only by time, 
 and by constant efforts, that an expectation may be indulged of 
 effacing impressions too profoundly stamped to be dissipated on 
 the moment to the last vestige. 
 
 2d, At a time when all means of defence should be forthcoming 
 —when France cannot arm all her defenders— wherefore has the 
 king not offered the muskets and the horses of his guard ? 
 
 3d, Wherefore does not the king himself solicit a law to subject 
 the civil list toa form of scrutiny, calculated to satisfy the nation 
 that it is not perverted from its legitimate purposes and applied 
 to other uses ? 
 
 4th, One decisive mode of tranquillising tlie people as to the 
 personal dispositions of the king, would be for him to request a 
 law regulating the education of the prince-royal, and thus acce- 
 lerate the period at which the care of that young prince should be 
 transferred to a governor possessing the confidence of the nation. 
 
 5th, It is still a subject of complaint, that the decree on the 
 disembodiment of the staff of the national guard is not sanctioned. 
 These multiplied refusals of the sanction to legislative provisions, 
 which public opinion strenuously calls for, and the urgency of 
 which cannot be denied, provoke inquiry into the constitutional 
 question as liearingupon the application of the cclo to laws of emer- 
 gency, and are assuredly not calculated to dissipate alarms ami 
 discontent. 
 
 fith. It would be advisable that the king withdraw the command 
 of the army from the hands of M. de Lafayette. It is at all 
 events evident he cannot in that capacity beneficially serve the 
 public good. 
 
 Wo will eoncludo this simple sketch by a general remark", 
 namely, that everything which may obliterate suspicions, and 
 reanimate confidence, neither imii nor ought to be neglected. 
 The constitution is saved if the king adopt this resolution with 
 courage, and act iijiun it with firmness. We are," &c. 
 
 COI'V OF THK I.KTTKR WRITTEN TO n07,E nv THIKRRY. 
 
 "I have just been scolded a second time fur having received 
 the letter which my zeal determined me to present. 
 
 However, the king hiis permitted mo to answer : — 
 
 1st, That he was always careful in the choice of his ministers ; 
 
 2d, That the declaration of war was owing solely to the mini- 
 sters, self styled patriots ; 
 
 3d, That lie had used every exertion at the time to prevent 
 the coalition of the powers, and that now, to remove the armies 
 from the frontiers, there are none but general means ; 
 
 4th, That, since his acceptance, he has most scrupulously ob- 
 served the laws of tlie constitution, but that many cither personH 
 arc at present labouring in a contrary spirit."
 
 152 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Brissot, and the Girondists, replied that the committee 
 had its eyes on the cause, and thai when the time 
 should arrive they would unmask it ; but tliat fur the 
 present it was not expedient to introduce a new topic 
 of discord- 
 But it was irrevocably fixed that all the means and 
 projects of ne^'otiation should tall to the ground ; and 
 the catastrophe, long foreseen and dreaded, came 
 hastily on, as we shall shortly see. 
 
 niAPTER XI. 
 
 INSLUKKCTION OF THK lOXH AUGUST, AND SUSPENSION 
 OF TITE KING. 
 
 In continuation <>f a festival given to the federalists, 
 the insurrectional committee decided tliat the people 
 should move, early on tlie morning of the 26th July, 
 in tliree columns upon the palace, and march with 
 the red flag bearing this inscription : " Those who fire 
 on the columns of the people shall he instantly put to 
 death .'" The object was to constitute the king a pri- 
 soner, and to incarcerate him in Vincennes. Tlie 
 national guards of Versailles were canvassed to assist 
 the movement ; but they liad been apprised so late, 
 and the Parisians were so little in concert with them, 
 that their oflicers came to the town-haU of Paris, on 
 the verj' morning appointed, to inquire what tliey 
 were expected to do. The secret, besides, was so ill 
 guarded, that the court was fuUy aware, the whole 
 royal family arisen, and tiie p:dace full of people. 
 Petion, percei-ving that the measures had been badly 
 taken, apprehending some treachery, and, above all, 
 reflecting that the ilarseillese had not yet arriveil, 
 repaired in all haste to the faubourgs, in order to 
 arrest a movement which nmst ruin the popular party 
 if it were not successful. 
 
 A friglitful tumidt prevailed in the faubourgs : tlie 
 tocsin had been sounded the whole night. The more 
 to infuriate the people, a report was spread that a 
 pile of arms was hoarded in the palace, which must be 
 thence reclaimed Petion succeeded, with infinite 
 difficulty, in restoring order. The keeper of the seals. 
 Champion de Cice, who had accompanied him, re- 
 ceived some sabre-cuts ; but tlic populace idtimately 
 consented to disperse, and the insurrection was ad- 
 journed. 
 
 The petty acerbities and disputes, which are the 
 ordinary preludes to a definitive rupture, kept the 
 excitement from subsiding. Tlie king had ordered 
 the garden of the Tuileries to be closed since the 20tli 
 June. The terrace of the Feuillants, contiguous to the 
 hall of assembly, was tlie only part left open, and sen- 
 tinels were placed to prevent any one passing from 
 that terrace mto tlie garden. D'Espremenil was there 
 encountered, conversing energetically with a deputy. 
 He was liooted, pursued into the garden, and carried 
 to the Palais-Royal, where he re(-eived several woxmds. 
 The lines which prevented access to the garden hav- 
 ing thus been -violated, it was proposed that a decree 
 shoidd supply a more efficient safeguard. The decree, 
 however, was not passed, but in lieu thereof it was 
 moved tliat a paper sliould be exhibited bearing these 
 words : " Frohi/iition rtrjuiiist i/ilrrinfi a foreign territory." 
 The i)lacard was planted, and sufficed to 'prevent the 
 people from overstepping the limits, although the 
 sentinels had Iwen removed by orders from the king.* 
 Thus the last vestiges of outward regard were cast 
 away. To exemplify the feeling more, a letter from 
 Nanci, detailing several civic manifestations which 
 
 * [" A line traced on the ground at the two extremities of the 
 terrace, and tricoloured ribbons tied across all the passages, with 
 the device of Ne plus ultra suspended to them, sufficed to keep on 
 the terrace the immense populace that crowded it. while the rest 
 of the garden was deserted."— JSfr/raji//'/ Aiiwils, vol. vii. p. 71.] 
 
 had taken place in tliat town, was immediately copied 
 out and transmitted to the king. 
 
 At length, on the 30th, the Marseillese arrived 
 They were five hundred in number, and counted in 
 their ranks all the most enthusiastic spirits of the 
 south, and all of the most turbulent character whom an 
 active trade di-ew to the port of Marseilles. Barbaroux 
 went as far as Charenton to meet them. On this 
 occasion a new project was concerted with Santerre. 
 Under pretext of going to welcome the Marseillese, it 
 was resolved to collect the faubourgs, march in rank 
 to the Carrousel, and there encamp without tumult, 
 j cahnly to await the suspension of the king by the 
 assembly, or his voluntary abdication. This plan was 
 ; agreeable to the philanthropists of the party, who 
 I woidd have wished the revolution terminated without 
 I effusion of blood. It failed nevertheless, because San- 
 terre did not succeed in assembling the faubourgs, and 
 I could only muster a smaU nmnber of men to meet 
 I the Marseillese. Santerre thereupon offered them a 
 repast, which was served in tlie Champs-Elysees. It 
 happened that, on the same day, and at the same 
 hour, a companj- composed of national guards of the 
 battalion Filles Samt-Thomas, and other individuals, 
 civihans or military, aU partisans of the court, Avere 
 dining near the place where the Marseillese were re- 
 galed. This entertainment could certainly not have 
 been arranged with a design to disturb that of the 
 INIarseillese, inasmuch as the invitation given to the 
 latter had been quite sudden, for instead of a banquet 
 an insurrection had been in contemplation. It was, 
 however, scarcely possible that persons of such oppo- 
 site principles should peaceably conclude their carou- 
 sals in the immediate vicinity of each other. The 
 populace uisulted the royalists, who came out to de- 
 fend themselves ; the patriots, called to assist the 
 popidace, rushed to the scene with ardour, and battle 
 was forthwith joined. The contest was not of long 
 duration ; the Marseillese, faUing on their adversaries, 
 put them to flight, slew one, and wounded severaL 
 In a moment Paris was in universal uproar. The 
 federalists traversed the streets, and tore away all 
 cockades of ribbon, exclaiming that they ought to be 
 of woollen. 
 
 Some of the fugitives arrived, aU bleeding, at the 
 Tuileries, where they were received with open arms, 
 and treated with an attention quite natural under the 
 circumstances, smce they were viewed as friends who 
 had tallen victims to their loyalty. The national 
 guards on duty at the palace reported these details, 
 exaggerated them perhaps ; and thus were propagated 
 fresh rumours and fresh animosities against the royal 
 family and the ladies of the court, who had, it was said, 
 wiped away the perspiration and the blood of the 
 wounded with their kerchiefs. It was even C(jncluded 
 from these facts that the scene had been jirepared ; and 
 the ground of a new accusation against the palace was 
 hence supplied. 
 
 The national guard of Paris immediately demanded 
 the removal of tlie Marseillese ; but it was hooted by 
 the galleries, and its petition met with no attention. 
 
 It was m the midst of these events that a document 
 was disseminated, professing to emanate from the Duke 
 of Brunswick, and shortly ascertained to be authentic. 
 We have already spoken of the mission of Mallet-du- 
 Pan. He had presented in the king's name the form 
 of a manifesto, but its spirit was speedily scouted. 
 Another manifesto, dictated by the passions of Co- 
 blentz, and sanctioned by the name of Brunswick, was 
 published in advance of the Prussian array. This 
 document was conceived in the following terms : — 
 
 " Their majesties the emperor and the King of 
 Prussia having confided to me the command of the 
 combined armies which tlie.v have assemi^led on the 
 frontiers of France, I deem it fitting to apprise the 
 inhabitants of-that kingdom of the motives which have 
 influenced the measures of the two sovereigns, and the 
 views wliich guide them.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 153 
 
 After having arbitrarily confiscated the rights and 
 possessions of the German princes in Alsace and Lor- 
 raine, disturbed and oTerthrown the established order 
 and legitimate government in the interior of the king- 
 dom, directed against the sacred person of the king 
 and liis august family attacks and outrages which are 
 still continued and renewed from day to day, those 
 who have usurped the reins of government have at 
 last filled the measure of iniquity by declaring an im- 
 just war against his majesty the emperor, and uivad- 
 ing liis provinces sitiiated in the Low Countries. Some 
 of the possessions of the German empire have been 
 comprised witliin the scope of tliis oppression, and 
 several others have escaped the hke danger only by 
 yielding to the imperious menaces of the dominant 
 party and its emissaries. 
 
 His majesty the King of Prussia, united with his 
 imperial majesty in a close and defensive alliance, and 
 himself a preponderant member of the Germanic body, 
 has consequeuth' felt himself imperatively called upon 
 to march to the succour of his ally and Ins co-estates ; 
 and it is in tliis double relation that he assumes the 
 defence of that monarch and of Germany. 
 
 To these paraniomit mterests is joined an object 
 equally momentous and dear to the hearts of the two 
 sovereigns, namely, to put an end to the anarchy pre- 
 vailing in the interior of France, to suppress the at- 
 tacks levelled at the throne and the altar, to re-esta- 
 blish the legal power, to restore the king to the security 
 and liberty of which he is deprived, and to place him 
 in a condition to exercise the legitimate authority 
 rightfully his. 
 
 Assured that the soimd part of the French nation 
 abhors the excesses of a faction which holds it in 
 thraldom, and that the majority of the inliabitants 
 impatiently await the moment of assistance to declare 
 openly against the odious enterprises of their oppres- 
 sors, his majesty the emperor and his majesty the 
 King of Prussia siunmon and exhort them to return 
 without delay to the paths of reason and justice, of 
 order and peace. With such views it is tliat I, the 
 undersigned, the general commanding in chief the two 
 armies, declare, 
 
 1st, Tliat drawn into the present war by irresistible 
 circumstances, the two aUied courts propose to them- 
 selves no other object than the happiness of France, 
 without any pretension of aggrandisement by con- 
 quests. 
 
 2d, That they have no intention of interfering in 
 the internal government of France ; but that they 
 desire simply to deliver the kuig, the queen, and the 
 royal family, from their captivitj', and to procure for 
 his most christian majesty the security necessary to 
 enable him to make, without danger and without 
 hindrance, such convocations as he shall judge expe- 
 dient, and to devote himself to the welfare of his sub- 
 jects accorduig to his promises and to the utmost of 
 his power. 
 
 3d, That the combined armies will protect the towns, 
 hamlets, and villages, and the persons and property 
 of all those who submit to the king, and will assist m 
 tlie immediate re-establislmient of order and police 
 throughout France. 
 
 4th, That the national guards are summoned to 
 watch pro\'isionally over the tranquillity of towns and 
 rur;d districts, and the security of tlie persons and 
 property of all the French, until the arrival of the 
 troops of their imperial and royal majesties, or until 
 it be otherwise ordered, under pain of being held per- 
 sonally responsible ; that, on the other liand, those 
 national guards wlio shall fight against the troops of 
 the two alhed courts, and shidl be taken with arms in 
 their hands, will Ix' treated as enemies, and chastised 
 as relxils to their king and disturbers of the public 
 peace. 
 
 5th, That the generals, officers, non-commissioned 
 officers, and soldiers of the French tnxjps of the line 
 are, in like manner, summoned to return to their for- 
 
 mer allegiance, and immediately to submit to the king, 
 their legitimate sovereign. 
 
 6th, That the memlxirs of departments, districts, 
 and mmiicipalities, shall be in like manner responsible, 
 in hfe and estate, for all breaches of the peace, burn- 
 ings, assassinations, robberies, and acts of violence, 
 which they shall allow to be committed, or shall not 
 have notoriously attempted to prevent in their juris- 
 dictions ; and that they, furthermore, shall be bound 
 to continue the provisional exercise of their functions 
 mitn his most clu-istian majesty, when restored to full 
 hberty, have otherwise provided, or it have been other- 
 wise orilered in the interval. 
 
 7th, That the inhabitants of towns, hamlets, and 
 villages, who shall dare defend themselves against the 
 troops of their imperial and royal majesties, and fire 
 upon them, whether in the open country or from the 
 windows, doors, and apertures of their dwellings, shall 
 be instantly pimished according to the rigom- of martial 
 law, and their dwellings demolished or burnt. On 
 the contrary, all the inhabitants of the said towns, 
 hamlets, or villages, who shall evince alacrity in sub- 
 mitting to their king, by opening their gates to the 
 troops of their majesties, will be from that moment 
 under their immediate protection ; their persons, 
 estates, and effects will be under the aegis of the laws ; 
 and means will be taken to assure the general safety 
 of all and each of them. 
 
 8th, The city of Paris and all its inliabitants, with- 
 out distinction, are held bound to submit instantly, 
 and without any delay, to the king, to restore that 
 prince to full and entire liberty, and to ensure him, as 
 well as all the royal personages, the inviolabihty and 
 reverence which the laws of nature and society imixjse 
 upon subjects towards their sovereigns ; their imperial 
 and royal majesties rendering personidly responsible 
 for all events, at the risk of their heads, according to 
 martial trial, without hope of pardon, all members of 
 the national assembly, the department, the district, 
 the municipality, and tlie national guard of Paris, 
 justices of peace, and all others whom it may concern ; 
 their said majesties fmihermore declaring, on their 
 imperial and royal faith and word, that if the palace 
 of the Tuileries be forced or insulted, if the least 
 violence or outrage be perixjtrated towards their ma- 
 jesties the king and queen, and the royid family, if 
 their safety, preservation, and liberty be not immedi- 
 ately provided for, they will exact an exemplarv* and 
 ever-memorable vengeance, by delivering up the city 
 of Paris to mditary execution and total destruction, 
 and the rebels guilty of resistance to the dire chastise- 
 ment they vrill have merited. Their imperial and 
 royal majesties promise the hihabitants of the city of 
 Paris, on the other h;md, to employ their good offices 
 with his most christian majesty to obtain pardon for 
 their v\Tongs and errors, and to take the most vigorous 
 measures to seciu-e their persons and property, if they 
 promptly and strictly conform to the injunctions here- 
 tofore proclaimed 
 
 Finally, their majesties, refusing to recognise as laws 
 in France any but such as sludl emanate from the 
 king, in the enjoyment of undoubted freedom, protest 
 in advance against the authenticity of all the decLora- 
 tions which may be made in the name of his most 
 christian majesty, so long as his sacred person, and 
 tlie persons of the queen and all the royal family, shall 
 not be in security ; in pursuance of which, their im- 
 perial and royal majesties invite and entreat his most 
 christian majesty to lumie a town in his kingdom con- 
 tiguous to the frontiers, most eligible in his opinion 
 for his retiring to with the queen and his family, under 
 a strong and sure escort, which shall be sent to him 
 for that purjiose, in order that his most christian ma- 
 jesty may call around him, in full security, the mini- 
 sters and counseUors whom it shall please him to de- 
 signate, make sucli convocations as sliall appear to 
 him suitable, provide fdr the re-establishment of order 
 and regulate the administration of liis kingdom.
 
 154 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 In fine, I declare and promise, iii nw o^vii name, and 
 in my above-mentioned quality, to cause a faithful and 
 strict discipline to be obserAed by the troops uitrusted 
 to my command, niulertakinfj: to treat with mildness 
 and "moderation those well-disposed people who shall 
 ednce a peaceable and submissive spirit, and to employ 
 force only against those who shall be guilty of resist- 
 ance and of evil intentions. 
 
 For these sufficient reasons, I require and exhort 
 all the inhabitants of the kingdom, in the strongest 
 and most earnest terms, not to oppose the march and 
 operations of the troops I connnand, but rather to 
 grant them every wliere free access, and all the coun- 
 tenance, succoui-, and assistance which circumstances 
 may need. 
 
 Given at Head-quarters at CMentz, the 25th July 
 1792. (Signed) Charlks William Ferdinand, 
 
 Duke of Bnmswick-Lunebm'g." 
 
 With regard to this declaration, it is somewhat sur- 
 prising that, altliough dated on the 2.5th at Coblentz, 
 it was in Paris ou tlie 2Sth, and published in all the 
 royalist journals. It produced an extraorduiary sen- 
 sation, causing all the eflects of higlily wrought pas- 
 sions coming to inflame other excited passions. On 
 all sides pledges were exchanged to resist to the last 
 an enemy whose language was so liaughty and threats 
 so vindictive. In the existing state of feeling, it was 
 natural tiuit the king and the court should be accused 
 of this new fault. Louis XVI. hastened to disavow 
 the manifesto by a message; and he could do so, 
 doubtless, with perfect sincerity, since it was so diffe- 
 rent from the model he had proposed ; but he might 
 have seen by this example how his intentions would 
 be exceeded by his party, if that party ever became 
 the dispenser of fate. Neither his disavowal, nor the 
 expressions with wliich lie accompanied it, were avail- 
 able to satisfy the assembly. In speaking of the wel- 
 fare of that people, whose happiness had been ever 
 dear to his heart, he added, " How manj^ sorrows 
 woidd be effaced by the slightest mark of its i-eturnl " 
 These affecting terms no longer elicited tlie enthu- 
 siasm they were once wont to evoke ; they were viewed 
 only as words of perfidy, and many deputies supported 
 the motion for printing the king's message, on the ex- 
 ])ress ground of cUsplajing to the public the contrast 
 they iield to exist between the language and the con- 
 duct of the king. From tliis moment the agitation 
 rai)idly increased, and circumstances assumed a more 
 portentous character. Intelligence was bi-ought of a 
 resolution by which the department of the Mouths of 
 the Rlione determined to retain the taxes, in order to 
 pay the troops it had sent against the Savoyards, and 
 accused of insuthciency the measures adopted 1)y the 
 assembly. This daring act was owing to the instiga- 
 tions of Barbaroux. The resolution was annulled by 
 the assembly, but without being effective to prevent 
 its execution. It was reported, at the same time, that 
 tlie Sardinians, who were advancing, numbered fifty 
 thousand. Tlie minister for foreign affairs found it 
 necessary to come in person, and assure the assembly 
 that the armament did not exceed at the utmost ten 
 or twelve thousand men. To this rumour succeeded 
 anotlier. It was asserted that tlie small body of fede- 
 ralists actually at Soissons had been poisoned by glass 
 l)eing mixed with their bread. Assurance was even 
 positive that one hundred and sixty had already cx- 
 j)ired, and that eight hundred were stretched in sick- 
 ness. Infonnations were taken, and it was ascertained 
 that the flour being deposited in a church, some of the 
 panes had been broken, and pieces of the glass found 
 in the bread ; but there were none either dead or ill. 
 
 On the 25th July, a decree had constituted all the 
 sections of Paris in permanence. They had assembled 
 and charged Fetion to propose in their name the de- 
 thronement of Ix)uis XVI. On the morning of the 
 .Id of August, the Mayor of Paris, emboldened hy this 
 eiiv'.vgetic expression of opinion, presented himself at 
 
 the bar of the assembly to urge a petition iu the name 
 of the forty-eight sections of Paris. He inveighed 
 against the conduct of Louis XVI. since the com- 
 mencement of the revolution, and recapitidated, accord- 
 ing to the language of the era, the benefits conferred 
 by the nation upon the king, and the proofs of his 
 ingratitude. He descanted upon the dangers with 
 which all minds v/ere oppressed — the approach of the 
 foreigner, the ineflBciency of the means of defence, the 
 revolt of a general against the assembly, the opposi- 
 tion of many departmental directories, and the terrible 
 and monstrous threats uttered m the name of Bruns- 
 wick ; in consequence whereof, he concluded for the 
 deposition of the king, and requested the assembly to 
 put that important question in the order of the day. 
 
 Tliis demand, which had been hitherto made only 
 by clubs, federalists, and commmies, assumed a very 
 different character when presented in the name of 
 Paris, a,nd by its mayor. It was heard with a feeling 
 of astonishment rather than of favour in the morning 
 sitting. But in the evening, the debate was opened, 
 and one part of the assembly gave way to the fuU 
 current of passion. Some called eagerlj^ for an instant 
 discussion of the question, and others urged its adjourn- 
 ment. The assembly finally delayed it till Thursday 
 the 9th August, and continued to receive and read 
 the various petitions expressing, -with EtUl more energy 
 than the mayor, the like desires and sentiments. 
 
 The section of Mauconseil, surpassmg all the others, 
 was not contented with demanduig the deposition, but 
 pronoimced it of its ovm plenary authority. It de- 
 clared that it no longer recognised Louis XVI. as 
 King of the French, and that it mtended shortly to 
 come and ask of the assembly whether it reaUy de- 
 signed to save France. Furthermore, it invited all 
 the sections of the empire (no longer using the word 
 khigdom) to follow its example. 
 
 From what lias been alreadj"^ stated, it is manifest 
 that the assembly did not yield to the insurrectional 
 movement so swiftly as the uiferior authorities; and 
 for tliis reason — it was obliged, from its position as 
 guardian of the laws, to pay them more respect. It 
 consequently foimd itself frequently outstripped by 
 the popular bodies, and its power violently shaken. 
 It therefore annulled the resolution of the section of 
 !MauconseU. Vergniaud and Cambon made use of the 
 most severe expressions against that pi'oceeding, which 
 they stigmatised as an usm'pation of the sovereignty 
 of the people. It would seem, however, that they did 
 not so much condemn in this act the violation of prin- 
 ciples as the precipitation of the resolutionists, and 
 especially the impropriety of their language with re- 
 ference to the national assembly. 
 
 But now the term of all uncertainties was drawing 
 rapidly nigh. The same hovu- saAV meetings of the 
 insm-rectional committee of the federalists, and of the 
 king's friends discussing his flight. The committee 
 defei'red the insurrection to the day appointed for the 
 debate on the deposition, that is to say, to the even- 
 ing of tlie 9th August, in readiness for the morning of 
 the lOtli. On their part, the king's friends deliberated 
 on his flight in the gardens of IM. de ]\[ontmoriu. 
 Liancourt and Lafayette renewed their propositions. 
 Every thing was arranged for the departure ; money 
 alone was deficient. Bertrand de MoUeville had fruit- 
 lessly exhausted the civil list in subsidising i-oyalist 
 clubs, orators of assemblies, orators of mobs, and i)re- 
 tended corrupters, who corrupted nobody, but appro- 
 priated to themselves the largesses of the com't. The 
 want of funds was met by loans, which generous sub- 
 jects were eager to ofler theu* king. The proposals 
 made by JI. de Liancourt have been already men- 
 tioned ; he gave all tlic money he had l)cen able to 
 raise. Other persons supplied what was in their power. 
 Devoted adlierents volunteered to accompany the car- 
 riage which was to convey the royal family, and if 
 necessity arose, to die at its side. All being arranged, 
 the nuetuig at ^Montmorm's finalh' settled the dcpar-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 155 
 
 ture, after a consultation which lasted for some hours. 
 The king, who was immediately afterwards waited 
 upon, gave his consent to this determination, and 
 directed that a considtation should be held with 
 Messiem-s de Moutciel and de Sainte-Croix. However 
 much the opinions of the men who had joined to etFect 
 this enterprise might differ, it was to them all a mo- 
 ment of happiness, when they beUeved the monarch's 
 deliverance so near at hand.* 
 
 But the folIoAving day all was changed. The king 
 caused an intimation to be given that he woidd not 
 depart, because he was not disposed to commence a 
 civil war. All those who, in sp'te of their dissimilar 
 principles, took an equal interest in his welfare, were 
 thrown into consternation. They were aware that his 
 real motive was not the one he had assigned. The 
 veritable reasons tliat weighed with him were, in the 
 first j.'lace, the approach of Brunswick, which was 
 announced as immediate ; and ui the next, the adjourn- 
 ment of the insurrection ; but, above all, the refusal of 
 the queen to trast herself with the constitutionalists. 
 She had manifested her repugnance m the most em- 
 I)hatic terms, saying that it was better to perisli than 
 be beholden to men who had done the king so much 
 mischief.f 
 
 Thus all the efforts of the constitutionalists, and 
 all the dangers thej' incurred, were completely thro'wn 
 away. Lafayette had seriously compromised himself. 
 It was known that he had prevailed on Luckner to 
 march, in case of emergency, against the capital. Tliat 
 general, being called before the assembly, had coii- 
 fessed all to the extraordinary committee of twelve. 
 The old man was weak and fickle. Vilien he jiassed 
 from the hands of one party into those of another, he 
 was easily brought to avow all he had heard or said 
 on the previous occasion, afterwards excusing hunself 
 for his breach of confidence by alleging his ignorance 
 of the French language, and weeping, and complaining 
 that he v.-as sm-rouuded by none but factious men. 
 
 * The following document is amongst those quoted by 51. de 
 Litliv-Tolendal in his letter to the King of Pniasia: — 
 
 " COPY OF THE MINUTES OF A .IIEETING HELD Oy THE 4tH 
 Al.GUST 1792, WRITTEN IN THE HAND OF LALLY-TOLENDAL. 
 
 ith Auguxt. 
 
 W. de Moiitmorin, ex-minister of foreign affairs; M. Bertrand, 
 ex-minister of t\<M marine ; M. de Clerninnt-TunneiTe ; M. Lally- 
 Tolendal ; JI. Maiouet ; M. de Gouvemet ; M. de Gilliers. 
 
 Three hours' deliberation in a secluded part of 31. Montmorin's 
 garden. Each gave an account of what he had leamt. I had 
 received an anonymous letter, in wliich I was apprised of a con- 
 versation licld at the house of Santene, settling a project for 
 murchmg upon the Tuileries, killing the Icing in the fraj', and 
 seizing upon the prince-royal, to make of him what circum- 
 stances might suggest; or if tlie king were not killed, for making 
 all the royal family prisoners. We ail resolved tliat the king 
 should le;ive P.iris, at whatsoever cost, escorted by the Swiss, by 
 ourselves, and by our friends, who were iu good number. We 
 relied upon M. de Liancourt, who had offered to come from Rouen 
 to meet the king, and afterwards upon M. de Lafayette. As we 
 ended our consultation, M. de Malcsherbes arrived, who came to 
 urge Bladame de Slontmorin, and Madame de Beaumont, her 
 daughter, to withdraw, stating tliat the crisis was approaching, 
 and that Paris was no longer a j)lace for women. From what 
 M. de Maleshcrbes told us in addition, we determined that M. de 
 Montmorin should go imme<liat(dy to the palace, to inform the 
 king what we had leamt and resolved. The king apjieared to con- 
 sent that evening, and told M. de Montmorin to consult witli 51. 
 de Sainte-Croix, who, in conjunction with M. de Montciel, was 
 likewise occupied with a scheme for the flight of the king. We 
 went the next day to the palace : I had a long conversation with 
 the Duke de Choiseuil, who was -entirely of our opinion, and 
 greatly desired that the king should depart, whatever might be 
 the (tonsequenco, but that he preferred rxposintj himself to thg 
 extremes nf dan(!<r rather tiiai) he tlie Jirst to Ojien a cicil tear. It 
 was ;mno\mced that the deposition would be pronotmced (lie fol- 
 lowing Thmsday. I could think of no other resource than the 
 army of Lafayette. I dispatched to him on the 8th the dr.aft of a 
 letter I advised him to write to the Duke of Brunswick, as soon 
 as lie had tidings of the dethronenK-nt," el eelera. 
 
 * See the Memoirs of Madnnic Campan, vol. ii. p. 12;i. 
 
 Guadet had the address to make hun confess the pro- 
 positions of Lafayette, and Bureau de Puzy, accused 
 of having been the mtermediate agent, was ordered to 
 the bar. He was one of the friends and officers of 
 Laftiyette. He denied aU witli resolute boldness, and 
 with an air of sincerity which was conclusive of his 
 innocence as to the negotiations of liis general. The 
 motion for deciding whether Lafayette should be put 
 under impeachment was again adjourned. 
 
 Tlie day fixed for the debate on the king's dethrone- 
 ment was drawing nigh, and the plan of the insurrec- 
 tion was definitively settled and kno^vn. The ilar- 
 seillcse, quitting their more distant barrack, had moved 
 to the section of the Cordehers, where the club of that 
 name was held. They were thus placed in the centre 
 of Pa; is, and in the immediate vicinity of the scene of 
 action. Two municipal cflicers had been sufficiently 
 daring to distribute cartridges amongst the consph-a- 
 tors. In short, all was ready for the 10th. 
 
 The 8th was devoted to deliberation on the fate c>f 
 Lafayette. A great majority declared against his im- 
 peachment. Some deputies, exasperated at the acquit- 
 tal, demanded a call of votes ; and upon this second 
 trial, 446 members had the courage to pronounce in 
 favour of the general against 224. The populace rose 
 in fury at the intelligence, flocked to the door of the 
 hall, msidted the deputies as they came out, and 
 grossly maltreated tliose, more especially, who were 
 known to belong to the right side of tlie assembly, 
 sucli as Vaublanc, Girardin, Dumas, &c. Indignation 
 was loudly expressed in all quarters against the na- 
 tional representation, and Paris rang with the clamoiu" 
 that all hope of safety was at an end with an assembly 
 capable of absolving the traitor Lafayette. 
 
 The following day, the 9th August, an extraordinary 
 agitation prevailed amongst the deputies. Those wh.o 
 had been insulted the evening before, complained in 
 person or by letter. When it was stated that JI. 
 Beaucaron had been nearly hanged, a barbarous laugh 
 ran through the galleries. When it was added that 
 M. de Girardin had been struck, those who were 
 well aware of the indignity offered to hhn, asked him, 
 sneeringly, where and how. " Ah ! do you not know," 
 retorted il. de Girardin, with digiiified asperity, " that 
 cowards never strike but from behind?" At "lengtli a 
 member called for the order of the day. But the 
 assembly decided that the procurator-syndic of the 
 commime, Rcederer, should attend at the bar, to be 
 specifically charged, upon his individual res]>onsibility, 
 to vindicate the freedom and inviolability of the mem- 
 bers of the assembly. 
 
 A motion was made to summon the Mayor of Paris, 
 and insist upon his declaring, yea or nay, whether he 
 could preserve the public tranquillity. Guadet replied 
 to this proposition by one for summoning the king 
 also, and obliging him in his turn to declare, yea or 
 nay, whetlier he coidd answer for the safety and in- 
 violability of the French soil. However, amid these 
 conflicting propo>itions, it was very evident that the 
 assembly ch'eaded the decisive moment, and that the 
 Girondists themselves would have preferred obtaining 
 the deposition by a debate to having recourse to a 
 doulitful and sanguinary attack. 
 
 Borderer arrived in this state of affairs, and an- 
 nounced that a section had detennincd to sound the 
 tocsin, and march upon the assembly and the Tuileries, 
 if the deposition were not adjudged. I'efion entered 
 in his tm-n : his exijlanations were far from being 
 positive, but he confessed that sinister projects were 
 in agitation ; he enumerated the precautions talcen to 
 prevent the movements Avhich were tlireatcncd, and 
 undcrtuuk to co-operate with the department in giving 
 effect to its measures, if tliey ai)i)eared to him more 
 advisable than those of the nuniicijiality. 
 
 Petion, like all his Girondist friends, would have 
 rather iiad the dejiosition pronomiccd by the assembly 
 than incur the risks of an uncertain assault upon 
 the palace. A majority in favour of deposition bcin;:
 
 156 
 
 HISTORY OF TUE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 almost secure, he would have willingly foiled the pro- 
 jects of the insurrectional committee. He accordingly 
 appeared before the committee of superintendence at 
 the Jacobins', and urged Chabot to suspend the insur- 
 rottion, assuring him that the Girondists luid deter- 
 mined upon the dethronement, and the inmiediate 
 convocation of a national convention ; that they were 
 certain of a majority, and that it was useless to hazard 
 an attack with a very doubtfiJ result. Chubot replied 
 that there was nothing to hope from an assemldy 
 which had alisolved the irretch Lafaijette; that he, 
 Tetion, allowed himself to be played upon by his 
 friends ; that the people had at last taken the resolu- 
 tion to save themselves, and that the tocsin would ring 
 that very evening in all tlie faubourgs. 
 
 " You will always be fuadstruiig, then," said Petion, 
 in answer. " Evil betide us, if tliey rise in insurrec- 
 tion ! I know your iiithience, but I have also some, 
 and I will employ it agahist you." " You will be ar- 
 rested," observed Chabot, " and prevented from doing 
 any hirm." 
 
 The passions were in truth too higlily excited for 
 the fears of Petion to be participated, or his influ- 
 ence of any avail. An univers;d uproar prevailed 
 throughout Paris ; drums beat to arms in all the quar- 
 ters -, the battalions of the national guard assembled 
 and repaired to their posts, with various dispositions. 
 The sections were filled, not by the majority, but by 
 the most furious of the citizens. The insmTcctional 
 committee had formed at three points. Fournier and 
 some others were in the Faubourg St Marceau ; San- 
 teiTc and Westermaun occujMed tlie Faubourg St An- 
 tolne ; finally, Danton, Camille-Desmouhns, and Carra, 
 sat at the Cordeliers', with the battalion of JSIarseilles. 
 ISarbaroux, after stationing informants at the assem- 
 bly and the palace, had prepared couriers in readiness 
 to take the route to the south. He had, as an additional 
 precaution, provided himself with a dose of poison, so 
 dubious was the hope of success ; and he awaited at 
 the CordeUers' the result of the insurrection. It is not 
 known where Robespierre lurked : Danton had con- 
 cealed Marat in a cellar of the section, and then taken 
 possession of the tribune at the Cordeher Club. Every 
 one felt oppressed, as always on the eve of a momen- 
 tous crisis ; but Danton, i-ising m boldness with the 
 greatness of the enterprise, exalted his sonorous voice 
 to its highest pitch ; he enumerated what he styled 
 the crimes of the court ; he recalled its hatred for the 
 constitution, its deceitful words, its hjTiocritical pro- 
 mises, always belied by its conduct, and its palpable 
 machinations to introduce foreigners. " The people," 
 said he, " can no longer rely upon any but themselves, 
 for the constitution is insiifficicnt, and the assem])ly 
 has absolved Lafayette ; therefore, there remain for 
 you only yourselves to save you. Iklake haste, then, 
 for this very night satellites concealed in the palace 
 are appouited to make a sally on the people, and com- 
 plete a massacre before quitting Paris to join Coblentz. 
 Save yourselves, therefore. To arms! to arms!" 
 
 At this moment a musket-shot was fired in the 
 Court of the Commerce. The cry " to arms ! " mstantly 
 became general, and the uisurrection was proclaimed. 
 The time was half-past eleven. The Marseillese 
 f()rmed at the doorof theCordiliers', appropriated some 
 pieces of cannon, and swelled their numbers by a vast 
 concourse falling in at their sides. Camille-Desmouliiis 
 and others rushed away to have the tocsin sounded ; 
 but they did not meet with the same ardour in all tlie 
 sections. They strove without loss of time to arouse 
 their zeal; si)eedily succeeded in assembling them to- 
 gether, and getting commissioners named to take 
 p<>ssession of the town-hall, disi)lace the existing nm- 
 nicipality, and concentrate in themselves all authority. 
 Then they Hew to the bells, seized u])on them by main 
 forco, ancl commenced ringing the t<x-sin. Its mourn- 
 ful knell resounded through the immense city, rever- 
 l>e) iting from street to street, and from edifice to edi- 
 fice, summoning deputies, magistrates, and citizens to 
 
 their posts, and reaching at length tlie palace, there to 
 announce that the fatal night was come — a night of 
 terror, of agitation, and of blood, the last appointed 
 for the monarch to pass in the palace of his fathers. 
 
 Its emissaries hastened to apprise the court that the 
 critical moment was at hand, bearing with them the 
 plirase of the president of the Cordeliers, who had 
 said to his followers that a simple civic promenade 
 was not now in contemplation, as on the 20th Jmie ; 
 or, in other words, that if the 20th June had been 
 the warning demonstration, the lOtli August was in- 
 tended to be the decisive catastrophe. No doubt, 
 indeed, was entertained upon the subject. The king, 
 the queen, their two children, and their sister the 
 princess IClizabeth, instead of retiring to rest after 
 supper, had passed into the council-room, where all 
 tlic ministers and a gi'eat many superior officers were 
 asseml)leil. There they deliberated with troubled 
 minds upon the means of savmg the royal family. 
 The means of resistance were but small, having been 
 almost annihilated, either by the decrees of the as- 
 scnd)ly, or by the ill-judged measures of the coiu-t 
 itself. 
 
 Thus, the constitutional guard, dissolved by a de- 
 cree of the assembly, had not been replaced by the 
 king, who had preferred continuing its pay to forming 
 a new one. By this loss the palace was deprived of 
 eigliteen hmidred men at least. 
 
 Tlie regiments which had evinced favourable dispo- 
 sitions towards the king during the last federation, 
 had been removed from Paris by the accustomed me- 
 thod of a decree. 
 
 The Swiss could not be sent to a distance, by virtue 
 of tlieir capitulations ; but they had been denuded of 
 their artillery ; and the court, when it had decided for 
 a moment upon fleeing into Normandy, had dispatched 
 thither one of those faithful battahons, under pretext 
 of watching over the landing of corn. This battalion 
 had not been yet recalled. ]\Ierely a few Swiss, can- 
 toned at Courbevoie, had retm-ncd, under the sanction 
 of Petion, and altogether they chd not amount to more 
 than eight or nine hundred men. 
 
 The gendarmerie had been recently composed of the 
 old soldiers of the French guards, the authors of the 
 14th July. 
 
 Lastly, the national guard had neither the same 
 leaders, nor the same organisation, nor the same at- 
 tachment, as on the 6tli October 1789. Its statT, as 
 we have ah-eady remarked, had been reconstructed. 
 A midtitude of citizens had grown disgusted with the 
 ser^'ice ; and those avIio had not actually deserted their 
 colours, were intimidated by the fmy of the populace. 
 The national guard was therefore composed, like all 
 the bodies in the kingdom, of a new revolutionary 
 generation. It was divided, as all France was divided, 
 into constitutionalists and republicans. The entire 
 battalion of the FUles Saint-Thomas, and part of that 
 of the Petits-Peres, were devoted to the king, whilst 
 the others were indifferent or hostile. The artillery, 
 whic'i constituted their prmcipal strength, were all 
 decided republicans. The fatigues attendant upon 
 that branch of the service had scared from it the 
 rich bourgeoisie ; thus locksmiths and farriers became 
 masters of the camion, and they participated ii all the 
 feelings of the populace, inasmuch as they formed 
 part thereof. 
 
 Consequently there remained to the king but eight 
 or nine hundred Swiss, and somethiDg more than one 
 battalion of the national guard. 
 
 Since the retirement of Lafayette, the command of 
 the national guard had passed alternately to the six 
 legionary leaders. On this day it devolved on the 
 commander Mandat, an old soldier, iu bad odour with 
 the court on accomit of his constitutional opinions, 
 but ins])iring it with entire confidence from his firm- 
 ness, talents, and attachment to his duties. IMandat, 
 general-in-chief during that fatal night, had hastily j 
 made the only possible disjKjsitions. j
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 157 
 
 The floor of the grand gallery which joined the 
 Louvre to the Tnileries had been sawn asimder to a 
 certain extent, by way of debarring the assailants 
 from that ajiproach. ISIandat therefore gave no furtlier 
 heed to the protection of tliat wing, but devoted all 
 Ids attention to tlie courts and the garden. Notwith- 
 standing the call to muster, but few of the national 
 guards had congregated. Tlie battalions had not been 
 completed, and the most zealous of the body repaired 
 individually to the jjalace, where IMandat embodied and 
 distributed them conjointly with the Swiss, in the 
 courts, tlie garden, and the apartments. He fixed a 
 piece of ordnance in the court of the Swiss, and tliree 
 in that of the pruices. 
 
 These pieces were unfortimatcly intrusted to the 
 gimners of the national guard, and the enemy was 
 thus already ^vitlim the walls. But tlie Swiss, fidl of 
 ardom- and fidelity, kept an eye upon tliem, read}^ at 
 tlie first hostile movement to seize upon the cannon 
 and expel tlie artillerymen from the enclosure of the 
 palace. 
 
 i'landat had furthermore planted some advanced 
 posts of gendarmerie at the colonnade of the Louvre, 
 and at the town-liall ; but this gendarmerie, as we 
 have just remarked, was composed of the former 
 French guards. 
 
 To these defenders of the palace must be added a 
 crowd of old retainers, whom their age or their modera- 
 tion had prevented from emigrating, and who, in the 
 moment of danger, liad hastened thither, some with 
 a view to gain absolution for not having gone to Co- 
 blentz, and others with the generous intention of dying 
 at the feet of their king. They had hastily snatched 
 up all the weapons they coidd find at the palace, some 
 appearing with antique sabres, others with pistols 
 attached to their belts by kerchiefs, and some even 
 with the tongs and shovels of the fire-places. Witti- 
 cisms were not wanting in this dismal moment, when 
 the court had siu'ely enough to make it serious for 
 once. This concoiu'se of useless persons, far from 
 being capable of any service, mcommoded the national 
 guard, which regarded them Mdth suspicion, and only 
 tended to increase a confusion already too great. 
 
 All the members of the departmental directory had 
 repaired to the palace. The virtuous Duke of La- 
 rochefoucauld was there, as likewise Eoederer, the 
 procurator-syndic. Petion had been summoned also, 
 and lie arrived, accompanied by two municipal officers. 
 Petion was lu'gcd to sign an order to repel force by 
 force ; and he signed it, to avoid appearing an accom- 
 plice of the insurgents. The court congratidated it- 
 self on having him witliin the palace walls, and hold- 
 ing in his person a hostage dear to the jieople. The 
 assembly, advertised of this purpose, ordered him to 
 the bar by a decree. The king, who was strongly 
 advised to detain him, refused to do so ; and he ac- 
 cordingly left the Tuileries without molestation. 
 
 The order to repel force by force once obtainc-d, 
 various opinions were volunteered on the manner of 
 using it. In such a state of excitement, it was but 
 natural that extravagant notions should lie suggested. 
 There was one of great bohhiess, and winch probably 
 miglit have been attended with success, namely, to 
 anticipate the assault liy disi)ersing the insurgents, 
 who had not yet assembled in great force, forming, 
 I even with the Marseillese, at tlie utmost a mob of 
 a few tlitnisand men. At this moment, in fact, the 
 Faubourg Saint-Marceau liad not congregated ; San- 
 terre was hesitating in the Fauboupg Saint-Antoine ; 
 Danton and the MarseiUcse alone had been daring 
 enough to meet at the Cordeliers', and they were wail- 
 ing impatiently on the Saint-IMichael bridge for the 
 junction of the other assailants. A vigorous sally 
 might have dislodged and scattered them; and in this 
 moment of hesitation, a sudden panic wovdd have 
 infallibly prevented the insurrection. 
 
 Mandat acted upon a more certain and legal plan, 
 T.'hich consisted in awaiting the march of the fau- 
 
 bourgs, but attacking them on two decisive points as 
 soon as they were in movement. lie purposed that 
 when one body debouched on the square in front of 
 the town-hall, by the arcade of Saint-Jean, it should 
 lie suddenly charged, and the same tactics adopted at 
 the Louvre agauist those who should advance by the 
 I'ont-Neuf (the New Bridge), along the quay of the 
 Tuileries. With this view, he had ordered the gen- 
 darmerie stationed at the colonnade to allow the 
 insurgents to defile past, and afterwards to charge 
 tliem in the rear, whilst the gendarmerie placed in 
 the Carixjusel should fall upon them through the 
 wicliets of the Louvre, and make the attack in front. 
 The success of sucli measures was almost certain. 
 The commanders of the diffijrent posts, and especiallj 
 the one at the town-hall, had already received from 
 jMandat the necessary or(lers. 
 
 It has been previously stated that a new munici- 
 pality had been formed at the town-hall. Danton and 
 Manuel were the only members of the old body re- 
 tained. The orders given by Mandat were shown to 
 this insurrectional committee. It instantly summoned 
 that commander to give attendance at the town-hall. 
 The summons was taken to the palace, where the for- 
 mation of a now commune was unknown. Mandat 
 hesitated to obey; but those aroimd him, and the 
 members of the department themselves, being pro- 
 foundly ignorant of what had passed, and of opinion 
 that it was not yet time to infringe the law by a re- 
 fusal to appear, lu'ged him to go. He yielded to their 
 arguments, and dehvering to his son, who \^•as with 
 him at the palace, Petion's order to repel force by 
 force, he dejiarted, in accordance witli the summons 
 of the municipality. It was about foiu- o'clock in the 
 morning when he left the palace. The moment he 
 entered the town-haU, he was struck with amazement 
 at finding a new authority installed there. He was 
 mimediately surromided, interrogated respecting the 
 orders he had given, and then dismissed ; but in dis- 
 missing him, the president made a sinister gesture, 
 indicative of a judgment of death. The mifortunate 
 commander, accordingly, had scarcely reached the 
 street, when he was seized, and laid prostrate by a 
 pistol-ball. His clothes were torn oft; but the assassins 
 were disappointed in finding J'etion's order, which he 
 had taken the precaution to leave with his son ; and 
 his body was thrown into the river, whither so many 
 corpses were destined speedily to foUow. 
 
 This bloody deed paralysed all the measures of 
 defence taken at the palace, destroyed all unity of 
 operation, and completely prevented the execution of 
 Mandat's plan. However, allhirs were nut even yet 
 quite desperate, and the msurrection was far from 
 being entirely organised. The Marseillese, after long 
 and impatiently awaiting the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 
 without its appearing, had concluded, for a time, that 
 the enterprise had proved abortive. But W'esternumn, 
 placing his sword on Santerre's breast, had com- 
 pelled liim to march. 'I'he faubourgs had then sue- ! 
 cessively come forward, some arriving by the Street 
 Saint-liouore, others by the New Bridge, the Koyal 
 Bridge, and the passages of the Louvre. The Mar- 
 seillese marched at the head of the cohnnns, with the 
 Breton federalists, keeping tlieir cannon iKiintetl on the 
 palace. To the numerous inxly of insurgents, swelling 
 with every instant, was added a nndtitude of curious} 
 and thus the enemy aiqjeared, from the Tuileries, in 
 greater force than it really was. Whilst they were 
 bearing towards the palace, Santerre repaired to the 
 town-hall to receive his nomination as commander- 
 in-chief of the national guards, and Westerniann re- 
 mained on the field of battle to direi ' the assaihuits. 
 Thus an extnu)rdinary confusion prevailwi in all 
 quarters, and to such an extent, indeed, that Petion. 
 who, aeconling to the jilau fixed upon, was to have 
 been ]iut under the guard of an insurrectional force, 
 was still waiting for the troop intended to shield bird 
 fi-om responsibility by an appearance of construiiit
 
 15i< 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 He was obliged to send a communication to the town- 
 hall, when at length a few hundred men were dis- 
 patched to his door, in order to support the pretence 
 K-i his being under arrest. 
 
 The palace was by this time effectually blockaded. 
 The assailants were on the square, and risible in the 
 dawning light through the antique gates of the courts, 
 and from the windows of the edifice. Their artiUery 
 was descried pointing directly on the palace, and 
 within the walk their corifused shouts and relentless 
 yells struck its inmates' ears with consternation. Tlie 
 project of anticii>ating tlieir attack had been again 
 suggested ; but when the murder of ilandat was 
 known, the ministers and the directory of the depart- 
 ment were of opinion that the assault should be waited 
 for, so that in using force they might be within the 
 strict limits of the law. 
 
 Roederer went through the ranks of the garrison, 
 and issued to the Swiss and the national guards the 
 legal order, enjoining them to refrain ftx)m attacking, 
 but to repel force by force. The king was urged to 
 review in person the brave men who were drawn up 
 to defend him. The tmfortunate monarch had passed 
 the night in listening to the multifarious and conflict- 
 mg counsels poured into his ear; and in the rare 
 intervals of quietude, he had offered up prayers to 
 Heaven for his royal consort, his children, and his 
 sister, the objects of all his fears. 
 
 " Sire," said the queen to him. with energy, " this 
 is the moment to show yourself"' We are even as- 
 sured that, snatching a pistol from the belt of the aged 
 D'Afl&y, she somewhat roughly presented it to the 
 king. The eyes of the princess were inflamed with 
 weeping, but her brow seemed loftier than ever, and 
 her nostiils dilated with wrath and haughty pride. As 
 for the king, he dreaded nothing on his own account, 
 and even evinced a perfect coolness in this extreme 
 peril ; but he was in the greatest alarm for his family, 
 and the anguish he felt at seeing it thus exposed, had 
 thrown a dismal sadness over his coimtenance. He 
 nevertheless presented himself with much firmness. 
 He wore a violet dress, and a sword by his side ; his 
 hair, which had not been dressed since the day before, 
 was somewhat disordered. On appearing at the bal- 
 cony, he perceived, without visible emotion, a formid- 
 able park of artillery pointed against the edifice. His 
 presence excited a remnant of enthusiasm ; the caps 
 of the grenadiers were suddenly hoisted on the points 
 of swords and bayonets, and the ancient cry of " Long 
 live the king I" echoed for the last time under the 
 arches of his paternal palace. A last spark of courage 
 was infused, dejected countenances brightened for a 
 moment, and again there was a fleeting interval of 
 confidence and hope. It was at this instant that some 
 new battalions of the national guard arrived, which 
 had formed later than the others, and now came up, 
 according to the orders previously given by JIandat. 
 They entered whilst the cries of " Ixsng live the king ! " 
 were resoimding in the court. Som.e joined in these 
 salutations to the monarch, whilst others, being of 
 very opposite sentiments, believed themselves in dan- 
 ger, and recalling all the popular fables they had heard, 
 imagined they were about to be delivered up to the 
 knighu of the dagger. They inmiediately shouted out 
 that the wretch 5landat had betrayed them, and thus 
 excited a species of tumult. The artillerymen, insti- 
 gated by the example, turned their pieces against the 
 front of the palace. A contest forthwith ensued with 
 the loyal battahons : the artillerymen were disarmed, 
 and transferrtl to a detachment, and the new comers 
 were conducted to the gardens. 
 
 After havirg shown himself on the balcony, the 
 king descended the staircase to hold a review in the 
 courts. His approach was proclaimed, and all fell 
 into their ranks. He passed along them with a tran- 
 quil cotmtenance, throwing upon each an expressive 
 look, which penetrated every heart. Addrc*ssiiig him- 
 self to tlie soliliers, he told them, in a firm voice, that 
 
 he was deeply sensible of their attachment, that he 
 would remain at their side, and that, whilst defending 
 him they defended also their wives and children. He 
 afterwards traversed the vestibule to proceed into the 
 garden, but at that very moment he heard the cry of 
 " Down with the veto '. " shouted by one of the bat- 
 talions which had just entered. Two oflBcers who 
 were attending him wished him to abstain from hold- 
 ing the review in the garden, whilst others entreated 
 him to visit the post of the Turning-Bridge. He at 
 once consented to the latter proposal, although he was 
 obliged to pass along the terrace of the Feuillant?. 
 crowded with people. In crossing tliis space, he was 
 crJy separated from the infuriated mob by a tri- 
 coloured string ; and as he advanced, all sorts of in- 
 sulting and outrageous expressions were heaped upon 
 him. He had even the mortification to behold the 
 battalions move off, march down the garden, and issue 
 out of it before his eyes, with the intention of swelling 
 the ranks of the assailants on the square of the Car- 
 rouseL 
 
 This desertion, that of the artillerymen, and the 
 shouts of " Down with the veto," extinguished all hope 
 in the breast of the king. At the same time, the 
 gendarmes stationed at the coloimade of the Louvre 
 and elsewhere, had either dispersed or joined the 
 people. The national guanis, likewise, who occupied 
 the apartments, and on whose fidelity it was thought 
 implicit reliance might be placed, were discontented 
 at being associated with gentlemen, and openly mani- 
 fested distrust of them. The queen endeavoured to 
 remove these impressions. "Grenadiers," she ex- 
 claimed, pointing to those gentlemen, " they are your 
 comrades ; they have come to die by your side." But, 
 in spite of this apparent courage, her soul was filled 
 with despair. The review had ruined alL and she com- 
 plained bitterly that the king had shown no energy. 
 We are bound to repeat, however, that the king had 
 no apprehensions for himself; he had, in fact, refused 
 to wear a coat of mail as on the 14th Jidy, saying, 
 that on a day of battle he must be tmcovered like the 
 meanest of his servants. Courage, therefore, was not 
 deficient in him, as he afterwards evinced in a truly 
 ncble spirit ; but boldness in the offensive failed him, 
 { and he lacked consistency also, in trembling at the 
 ] idea of bloodshed, when he had consented to an inva- 
 • sion of France by foreigners. It is certain, mean- 
 while, as has been often asserted, that if he had 
 , mounted on horseback, and made a charge at the 
 I head of his soldiers, the insturection would have been 
 ! quelled- 
 
 I The members of the department, perceiving the uni- 
 
 j vers-al disorder prevailing in the palace, and despair- 
 
 i ingof a successful resistance, now presented themselves 
 
 i to the king, and advised him to retire into the hall of 
 
 I the assembly. This advice, so often and so harshly 
 
 I censured — the common fate, indeed, of all counsels 
 
 I given to kings which turn out inauspiciously — was the 
 
 only feasible one at the moment. By this retreat, all 
 
 effusion of blood would be preventc-d, and the royal 
 
 , family escape an almost certain death should the 
 
 palace be taken by assaidt. And in the actual position 
 
 of affairs, the success of that assault was not doubtful ; 
 
 but had it even been so, the doubt itself was sufficient 
 
 ' to warrant a timely withdrawal fixjm its hazard. 
 
 The queen vehemently opposed the proj ect, however. 
 
 " Madam," said Roederer to her, " you would expose 
 
 I the Uves of your consort and of your children ; reflect 
 
 I on the responsibility you take upon yourself" An 
 
 I altercation of some warmth ensued. At last the king 
 
 I decide*! upon retiring into the assembly ; and, turning 
 
 j to his family and those aroimd him. he said, with an 
 
 1 air of resignation, " Let us go." *' You answer, sir, 
 
 for the lives of the king and my children," said the 
 
 queen, addressing Roederer. " iladam," replied the 
 
 procurator-syndic, " I answer for my dying at their 
 
 side, but I promise nothing more." 
 
 The whole party then prei>ared to move uif towards
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 159 
 
 the assembly, by tlie grarrlen, the terrace of the Feiiil- 
 lants, and the court of the ilanege. All the gentle- 
 men and the servants of the p;ilace rnshed forward to 
 follow tlie kmg, aUhough thej^ were Hkely to enilanper 
 his safetj', by irritating the people, and raising the 
 bile of tlie assembly by their presence. Eoedercr used 
 fruitless endeavours to stop them, repeating to them, 
 with all his strength, that they would cause the mas- 
 sacre of the roj-al family. He succeeded at length in 
 detaching a considerable number, and the party com- 
 menced its march. A detachment of Swiss and of 
 national guards accompanied the king. A deputation 
 from the assembly came to receive him, and conduct 
 him within its precincts. At this moment the crowd 
 was so great that aU progix'ss was stopped. A grena- 
 dier of lofty stature took up the dauphin, and raising 
 him in liis arms, penetrated through the multitude, 
 bearing him above his head The queen, at this sight, 
 imagined he was carrying off her son, and uttered a 
 shriek, but her fears were speedily calmed. The grena- 
 dier entered the hall, and deposited the royal cliild on 
 the table of the assembly. 
 
 The king and his family shortly followed, accom- 
 panied by two ministers. " I come," said Louis XVI., 
 " for the purpose of preventing a great crime, and I 
 believe, gentlemen, tliat I cannot be in greater safety 
 than in the midst of you." 
 
 Vergniaud presided. He replied to the monarch, 
 that he might rely on the fii-mness of tlie national 
 assembly, and that its members had sworn to die in 
 defence of the constituted authorities. 
 
 The king seated himself by the side of the presi- 
 dent ; but on the observation of Chabot, that his pre- 
 sence might interfere with the freedom of debate, he 
 was placed in the box of the reporter empldyed to take 
 down the proceeduigs.* The iron rail in front was 
 directed to be broken doA\'n, in order that if the box 
 were attacked, he and his family might fly without 
 impediment mto the midst of the assembly. The 
 king assisted with his own hands in the work of de- 
 molition ; the raiUng was overturned, and the insuJts 
 and menaces thus rolled more freely into the last 
 asylum of the dethroned monarch. 
 
 Roederer then gave a recital of what had passed ; he 
 depicted in strong colomrs the fury of the multitude, 
 and the dangers to which the palace was exposed, the 
 courts of which were alread}- forcibly occupied. The 
 assembly thereujion ordered that twenty commission- 
 ers should proceed to tranquillise the people. They 
 being named, forthwith departed. All at once a dis- 
 charge of cannon was heard. Consternation pervaded 
 the whole assembly. " I have to apprise you," said 
 the king, " that I have just prohibited the Swiss from 
 firing." Eut the roar of cannon was again heard, 
 mingled Avith the report of fire-arms. Dismay was 
 at its height. The next moment it was announced 
 that the commissioners dejjuted by the assembly had 
 been put to flight. Then the door of the hall was 
 assailed, and loud and rejK'ated blows resounded on its 
 pannels, whilst at one of the side entrances armed 
 citizens actually appeared. " We are stormed !" ex- 
 claimed a municipal officer. The president put on 
 his hat; a number of deinities sprang from their seats 
 to expel the intruders ; by degrees the tumult sub- 
 sided, and amidst the uninterrupted rolling of cannon 
 and musketry, the deputies raised their voices and 
 shouted — " The nation, libertj', equality, lor ever!" 
 
 A most sanguinary conflict meanwhile had been 
 proceeding at the palace. When the king quitted it, 
 it was naturally concluded that the people would cease 
 from seeking vengeance on ;i forsaken residence; and, 
 furthermore, the confusion in which all things and 
 minds were involved had prevented due attention 
 being paid to it, and no order had been given for its 
 evacuation. Simply, the troops which occupied the 
 
 * [" This box was the one occupied by the apcnts of the editor 
 of u newspaper called The Lopn(;ra]ihe, and was but ten feet square 
 ••md six feet high."— nnii-and, vol. vii. p. 15!).] 
 
 courts -were drawn into the interior of the palace, and 
 confusedly scattered through the apartments, com- 
 mingled with domestics, gentlemen, and officers. A 
 l)rodigious crowd thronged the palace, and, notwith- 
 standing its vast extent, it was scarcely possible to 
 mo^-e a step. 
 
 The populace, who were perhaps ignorant of tlie 
 king's retreat, after waiting for some time before the 
 principal barrier, at length attacked the gate, broke 
 it ojien with axes, and rushed into the royal comt. 
 They then fonned in column, and turned against the 
 palace the pieces of ordnance imprudently left in the 
 court after the withdrawal of the troops. However, 
 they refrained as yet from commencing an assault. 
 On the contrar}^, they made amicable demonstrations 
 to the soldiers at the Avindows : " Yield us the palace," 
 they cried, " and we are friends 1" The S^viss mani- 
 fested pacific intentions, and threw their cartridges 
 out of the windows. Some of the assailants, more 
 audacious than their comrades, broke out of column, 
 and advanced to the vestibide of the palace. At the 
 foot of the grand staircase, some timber had been 
 thrown up m the form of a barricade, behind which 
 SavIss soldiers and national guards had stationed them- 
 selves A^ithout any attempt at order. Those avIio came 
 up from the mob outside endeavoured to penetrate 
 farther and to clear the barricade. After a contest 
 of some diu'ation, Avhich did not lead, hoAvever, to 
 actual combat, the barrier Avas throAvn doAvn. Then 
 the assailants crowded up the staircase, with repeated 
 exclamations that the palace must be delivered up 
 to them. It is asserted that at this moment some 
 of the pikemen, who had remained in the court, 
 grappled certain Saviss sentinels on duty outside Avith 
 iiooks, and massacred them ; and it is likewise stated 
 that a musket-ball Avas fired against the Avindows, 
 Avhich the Swiss, in a moment of indignation, returned 
 by a general discharge. At this very instant, in fact, 
 the p;dace resomided Avith a terrific volley, and those 
 of the people avIio had entered fled Avitli cries that 
 they were betrayed. It is diliicidt to ascertain A\-ith 
 precision, amidst so gi'eat a confusion, from which 
 side the first shots were fired. The assailants have 
 asserted tlitit they advanced amicably, and when 
 entangled in the palace, to have been treacherously 
 attacked and moAved doAA-n ; which aflegation is void 
 of probability, for the SAviss Avere not in a position to 
 provoke a combat. Having no k)nger any obligation 
 to fight after the departure of the king, their great 
 object would necessarily be to save themselves, and 
 assuredly a useless piece of treachery Avas not the Avay 
 to gain their purpose. Resides, even could an act of 
 aggression, distinctly proved, in the smallest degree 
 alter the moral character of these events, it must 
 ahvays be confessed that the first and real aggression, 
 that is to say, the attack on the palace itself, came 
 from the insurgent mob. What ensued Avas nothing 
 but an inevitable accident, and attributable to chance 
 alone. Rut, hoAvsoever the case may be, those Avho 
 had advanced into the vcstibtile and up the staircase, 
 were startled by a sudden discharge, and Avhilst they 
 were flying in i>recipitation, received on the very stairs 
 a shower of biillets. After this, the Swiss came down 
 in good order, and Avhen they reached the foot of the 
 staircase, debouched by the vestibule into the royal 
 court. There they seize<l upon one of tlie cannon 
 planted in the court, and, in spite of a galling fire, 
 Avheeled it round, and discharged it upon the ^lar- 
 seillese, a considerable mmiber of Avhoni fell in conse- 
 quence. The ]SIarseillese recoiled, and the fire con- 
 tinuing, they abandoned the court. A panic immedi- 
 ately spread amongst the jieojile, Avho fled on all sides, 
 and sought shelter in the faubourgs. If at this mo- 
 ment the Saviss had pursued their advantage, if the 
 gendarmes stationed at the Louvre, instead of having 
 deserted their posts, had charged the routed insur- 
 gents, the aftiiir had lieen concluded, and victory left 
 with the jialace.
 
 160 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 But the order of the king, convejiug a prohibition 
 to fire, wliich he liad uitrusted to M. d'Her-silly, was 
 produced at this critical instant. M. d'Hervilly suc- 
 ceeded in reacliing the vestibule precisely as the Swiss 
 had repulsed the assailants. He stoiiped their further 
 proceedings, and commanded them, on the part of the 
 king, to accompany him to the assembly. Accord- 
 ingly they followed him, in considerable munbers, to 
 the Feuillants', exposed to a most murderous discharge. 
 The palace was thus deprived of the major part of its 
 defenders. There still remained, however, both upon 
 the staircase and in tlie apartments, a large body of 
 S^^•iss, to whom the order was not communicated, and 
 who were soon exposed, without means of resistance, to 
 the unbritUed fury of popular vengeance. 
 
 The insurgents had speedily rallied. The M:ir- 
 seillese and Bretons, indignant at having yieliled, 
 encouraged each other, and returned to the" charge 
 with whetted rage. Westermann, who aftenvarJs 
 displayed striking qualities, directed their efltbrts with 
 ability. They pressed recklessly forward, fell in great 
 numbers, but at length gained the vestibide, carried 
 the staircase, and became masters of the palace. The 
 rabble, with pikes, closeh^ followed in their train, and 
 the rest of the scene soon became nothing but a 
 massacre. The wretched Swiss vamly implored pity, 
 throwing down their arms; they were mercilessly 
 hewn do\vn. The palace was set on fire ; the servants 
 who filled it were attacked ; some escaped by flight, 
 others were immolated. Amongst the mob were some 
 generous victors. " IMercy to women !" exclaimed one 
 of them; "you would dishonom- the nation!" — and 
 he rescued some ladies in waiting on the queen, who 
 were on their knees beneath uplifted swords. Many 
 of the victims sold their lives dearly, and others had 
 the ingenuity to save themselves, when defence was a 
 useless heroism. Even amongst these furious assail- 
 ants, feelings of honesty prevailed ; all the valuables 
 fomid in the palace, either from popular bravado, or 
 from the disinterestedness attendant on enthusiasm, 
 were borne to the assembly. 
 
 The assembly had remained in deep anxiety, await- 
 ing the issue of the struggle. At last, about eleven 
 o'clock, the cries of victory, a thousand times repeated, 
 put an ei^d to suspense. The doors gave way to tlie 
 pressure of a nmltitude dnmk with rapture and the 
 fury of strife. The hall was strewed witli the trophies 
 they bore, and crowded with the Swiss wlioni tliey 
 had made prisoners, and to whom life had been spared, 
 with the view of presenting to the assembly an accept- 
 able oftering of i)opuIar moderation. Th'e kuig and 
 his family, enclosed in the narrow box of a rejiorter, 
 were present all this while, the melancholy witnesses 
 of the ruin of the throne and the savage joy of their 
 conquerors. Vergniaud had quitted the presidency 
 for an interval, to draw up the decree of deposition ; 
 he now returned, and the assembly passed that cele- 
 brated decree, according to which ' 
 
 Louis XVI. was provisionally suspended from the 
 royalty : 
 
 A plan of education was ordered for the prince- 
 royal : 
 
 A national convention was convoked. 
 
 ■\\'here now are the proofs of a i)roject long formed 
 to overturn the monarchy, when the king was only 
 suspended, and the education of the voung prince 
 specifically designed? Witli what apprehension, on 
 the contrary, was that ancient institution touched! 
 With what hesitation, so to speak, was that growth 
 of ages assailed, under w!)ich so many generations of 
 Frenchmen had been alternately happy and unliappy, 
 but under which tliey liad at least lived ! 
 
 Pul)lic imagination, however, is swift in its flights. 
 But little time was needed to extinguish the la.st 
 renmants of former reverence, and the suspended 
 monarchy soon became the destroyed monarchy. It 
 was to peri.sh, not in the person of a Louis XI., of a 
 Charles IX., or of a Louis XIV., but m that of Louis 
 
 XVI., one of th6 most honest kings who ever sat on a 
 throne. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 SITUATION OF PARTIES WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE 
 
 ASSEMBLY AFTER THE IOtH AUGUST. TAKING OF 
 
 LONGWY BY THE PRUSSIANS. MASSACRES OF SEP- 
 TEMBER, AND THEIR PRINCIPAL CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 The Swiss had courageously defended the Tuileries, 
 but their resistance was fruitless ; the grand staircase 
 had been stormed, and the palace taken. The people, 
 now victorious, penetrated from all sides into that 
 abode of royalty, in Avhich they had alwa3-s supposed 
 countless treasirres to be amassed, a feUcity more than 
 mortal, a power mysterious and mighty, and designs 
 ever hatching fruitful with national wo. What ven- 
 geance there was to wreak all at once on wealth, 
 grandeur, and power ! 
 
 Eighty Swiss grenadiers, who had not had time to 
 retreat, maintained a desperate struggle for life, but 
 were remorselessly cut down. The multitude pressed 
 into the apartments, and fell with savage wrath on 
 those useless friends, who had gathered to defend the 
 king, and had long been objects of popidar execration, 
 under the title of kniykts of the dagger. Their clumsy 
 weapons served only to exasperate the conquerors, and 
 to give an air of greater probability to the designs 
 charged upon the court. Every door that was closed 
 fell beneath the blows of hatchets. Two ushers, op- 
 posing access to the great council-chamber, willing 
 to sacrifice themselves to etiquette, were massacred in 
 an instant. The numerous servants of the royal 
 family fled tumultuously along the vast galleries, 
 threw themselves from the windows, or sought, in 
 the immensity of the edifice, some obscure nook to 
 protect their lives. The queen's women took refuge 
 in one of her apartments, fearing every moment to be 
 attacked in their asyhun. The Pruacess de Tarente 
 caused the doors to be thrown open, hoping to pro- 
 pitiate the assailants by oftering no impediment. They 
 soon appeared, and seized upon one of the females. 
 The sword was already raised above her head. "Spare 
 the women ! " exclaimed a voice ; " avoid dishonouring 
 the nation ! " At these words the sword dropped ; the 
 ladies of the queen were saved and conducted out of 
 the palace by the very men who had been on the 
 point of assassinating them, and who, with true popu- 
 lar instability, now acted as their escort, and displayed 
 ingenious devotion in screening tlieni from the fury of 
 their confederates. After the slaughter, the work of 
 devastation commenced; the magnificent fumitiu-e 
 was broken, and the wrecks cast far and wide. The 
 mob overran the private apartments of the queen, and 
 indidged in the most indecent mirth ; it penetrated 
 into the most secluded spots, dived into all the cabi- 
 nets, shattered to pieces all the pannels, and glutted 
 the double passion of curiosity and destructiveness. 
 To the horrors of murder and pillage was added that 
 of fire. The flames, having already consmned the 
 sheds erected in the outer courts, began to reach the 
 edifice, and threatened witli complete destruction that 
 imposing sojourn ot royalty. The desolation was not 
 limited to these ample but now dismal confines; it 
 extended beyond. The streets were strewed with 
 \^Tecks and corpses. Whoever fled, or was supposed 
 to fly, suggested the idea of an enemy, and was 
 pursued with musket-shots. An incessant noise of 
 nnisketry had succeeded to tlie roar of cannon, and 
 marked fresh murders witli every volley. How many 
 are the horrors of a victory, whosoever may be the 
 vanquished or the victors, and whatsoever the cause 
 for which the battle has raged ! 
 
 The executive power being dissolved by the suspen- 
 sion of Louis XVI., there remained in Paris but two 
 authorities, the commune and the assembly. It has
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 161 
 
 been already stated, in describing the preparations for 
 the 10th of Auii'ust, that certain deputies of the sec- 
 tions, having assembled at the town-hall, had seized 
 upon the municipal power to the exclusion of the 
 former magistrates, and directed the insurrection during 
 that night and diiy. They jiossessed the real ph^-sical 
 force, they wielded all the dominion of victory, and 
 were the representatives of that new and ardent revo- 
 lutionary class, which had been striiggling the whole 
 session against the inertness of that other class of 
 men, more enlightened but less active, of which the 
 Legislative Assembly was composed. The first care of 
 tlie deputies of the sections was to depose all the 
 superior bodies, which, being nearer the supreme power, 
 were in consequence more attached to it. They had 
 suspended the staff of the national guard, disorganised 
 the defence of the Tuileries by drawing IMandat from 
 his post, and given to Santerre the command of the 
 national guard. They had not been less hasty in sus- 
 pending the administration of the department, Avhich, 
 from the higher position it occupied, had always 
 thwarted the popular j)assions, since it in no degree 
 participated in them. As to the nmnicipality, they 
 had suppressed the council-general, and taken to them- 
 selves its authority, retaining only the mayor Petion, 
 the prociu^ator-sjaidic Manuel, and the sixteen mvmi- 
 cipal administrators. AH these operations had been 
 effected during the siege of the palace. Danton had 
 daringly directed their stormy sitting; and when the 
 fire of the Swiss sent the multitude flying along the 
 quays, even to the towii-hall, he had rushed out, say- 
 ing, " Our brethren are seeking aid ; let us supply 
 them with it." His presence had contributed to lead 
 Dack the people to the scene of action, and to decide 
 the victory. When the contest was over, it was pro- 
 j)osed to deliver Petion from his constraint, and restore 
 liini to his functions of mayor. Eut, either from a 
 genuine interest in his safety, or from an apprehension 
 of giving themselves a chief too scrupulous for the first 
 moments of an insurrection, they decided he should 
 be guarded for a day or two longer, vmder pretext of 
 seciuring his life from all danger. They likewise re- 
 moved from the hall of the councU-general the busts 
 of Louis XVI., BaiUy, and Lafayette. The new class 
 on the rise thus discarded the first revolutionary me- 
 mentos, m order to substitute others of its own. 
 
 The insurgents of the commune naturally sought to 
 bring themselves into relation with the assembly. It 
 is true they reproached it with vacillation, and even 
 with royalism; but thej' perceived in it the only sove- 
 reign authority actually existing, and were not at all 
 disposed to depreciate it. Very early on the 10th, 
 indeed, a deputation appeared at its bar, to announce 
 the fonnation of the insurrectional commune, and give 
 a detail of wiiat had been done. Danton was one of 
 that deputation. " The people who send us to you," 
 said he, " have charged us to inform 3'ou, that they still 
 believe you worthy of their confidence; but that they 
 refuse to recognise any other judge of tlie extraordinary 
 measures necessity lias compelled them to adopt than 
 the French peoj)le, oiu- sovereign and yours, when met 
 in the primary assemblie' " 
 
 The assembly replied to this deputation, through 
 its president, to the effect that it approved of all tliat 
 had been done, and that it recommended the connnune 
 to promote peace and order. It furthennore commu- 
 nicated the decrees jtassed during the day, with a re- 
 quest to disseminate them. It afterwards drew up a 
 l)roclamation, inculcating the res])ect due to life and 
 property, and commissioned some of its members to 
 carry it amongst the peojjle. 
 
 The ])rincipal object of the assend)ly at this moment 
 was necessarily to ])rovide a substitute for dethroned 
 royalty. The ministers, comprehended under the title 
 of Executive Council, M-ere provisionally charged by 
 it with the labours of administration and the executit)n 
 of the laws. The minister of justice, holder of the 
 Heal of state, was appointed to affix it to decrees, and 
 
 promulgate them in the name of the legislative autho- 
 rity. It tlien became necessary to select the individuals 
 who shoidd compose the ministry. The names of 
 Roland, Servan, and Claviere, instantly suggested 
 themselves, for they had been dismissed on account of 
 their attachment to the popidar cause, and the ten- 
 dency of the new revolution was inevitably to promote 
 all that royalty had degraded. These three ministers 
 were consequently imanimously appointed — Roland to 
 the interior, Servan to the war, and Claviere to the 
 financial department. INIinisters of justice, of foreign 
 affairs, and of the marine, were stiU to be named. 
 Here the choice was free, and any prepossessions in 
 favour of obscure merit, or of ardent patriotism which 
 had incurred the disjjleasure of the court, might be 
 gratified without impediment. Hanton. so puissant 
 over the multitude, and so important a character dur- 
 ing the last eventfid hours, was judged necessary ; and, 
 although distasteful to the Girondists as an idol of the 
 populace, he was nominated minister of justice by a 
 majority of 222 votes out of 284 actually present. 
 After having given this satisfaction to the nuiltitude, 
 and rewarded energy Avith so high an office, they pro- 
 ceeded to place a man of knowledge at the board of 
 admiralty. This was the mathematician ISIonge, a 
 learned personage, well knoAvn to and appreciated by 
 Condorcet, and appointed on his motion. Lastly, 
 Le Brun was named to the portfolio of foreign affairs; 
 and in his person was recompensed one of tnose labo- 
 rious men who did all the work of wliich former mini- 
 sters had monopolised the credit. 
 
 After having thus, in a form, reintegrated the exe- 
 cutive power, the assembly adopted a resolution that 
 all the decrees to which Louis XVI. had affixed his 
 veto should be held to possess the force of laws. The 
 formation of a camp below Paris, the object of one of 
 those decrees, and the occasion of such warm discus- 
 sions, was ordained at once ; and the cannoneers re- 
 ceived authority, at the same time, to plant esi)lanades 
 on the heights of IMontmartre. So soon as the revolu- 
 tion was perfected at Paris, the next indispensable 
 step was to assure its success in the departments, and 
 above all in the armies, where susptrted generals held 
 conmiands. Commissioners selected from the assem- 
 bly were appointed to repair to the provinces and the 
 armies, in order to explain to them the events of the 
 10th August; and powers were vested in thos» depu- 
 ties to supersede any civil or military officers they 
 might deem necessary. 
 
 A few hours sufficed for all these decrees ; and whilst 
 the assembly was btisied in framing and passing them, 
 other objects incessantly arose to distract its attention. 
 The valuable effects taken from the Tuileries M-ere 
 transported into its hall ; the Swiss, the retainers of 
 the i)alace, all the individuals arrested in their flight, 
 or rescued from the fmy of the people, were conducted 
 I0 its bar as to a place of sanctuary. Bands of ])eti- 
 tioners came, one after the other, to rqiort wliat they 
 had done or seen, and to recount their discoveries on 
 the supposed plots of the court. Accusations and in- 
 vectives of all kinds were vociferated against the royal 
 family, who heard the whole from the cramj)cd corner 
 into which it had Iteen tln-ust. Louis XVL listened 
 with jilacitiity to all the speeches, and conversed at 
 intervals witli Vergniaud and other de])uties who sat 
 in his immediate ]in)ximity. Shut u)) in that narrow 
 box for fifteen hours, he had retpiested some refresh- 
 ments, of whicli he partook with his wife and children, 
 tliercby provoking disgraceful observations on tlie zest 
 witii wliich lie was rejiorted to inchdge in the jileasin-es 
 of the faille. Wlien do victorious jiarties spare inis- 
 forlune its bitterest humiliation ? Tlie J'oung daujihin, 
 stretched on the bosom of his mother, slept soundly, 
 overcome with the suflocating heat. The young prin- 
 cess-royal and IMadame Elizabetli, tlieir eyes swoln 
 with ti'ars, were by the side of tlie (|ueen. In the back 
 of the box were certain devoted nobles, whom reverse 
 of fortune had not suired away. Fifty men, taken
 
 162 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 from the detachment which had escorted the royal 
 family from the palace to the assembly, served as a 
 guard around the party. It mus from the midst of 
 this, group that the deposed monarch contemplated 
 the spoils torn from his i)alace, and beheld tlie dis- 
 memberment of his ancient power, and the distribution 
 of its fragments amongst the diilerent popular autho- 
 rities. 
 
 The tumult still continued with unabated violence ; 
 for, in the opinion of the i>opulace, it was not enough 
 to have suspended royalty, it was necessary to destroy 
 it. I'etitions quickly succeeded each other on this sub- 
 ject ; and whilst waiting for a reply, the nmltitude raged 
 outside the hall, blocked up the passages, besieged the 
 doors, and twice or thrice attacked them so violently as 
 to induce a belief they were forced, and to excite ap- 
 prehensions for tlie unfortunate family which had been 
 consigned to the guardianship of the asseml)ly. Henry 
 Lariviere, being dispatched with other commissioners 
 to tranquillise the people, returned at this instant. 
 and exclaimed with a loud voice, " Yes, gentlemen, I 
 know it, I have seen it — I assure you, the peo[)le are 
 deterniined to perish a tliousand times ratlier than 
 dishonour liberty by any act of inhumanity ; and most 
 assuretlly, there is not one person licre present — and 
 my worils will be imderstood — that may not impUcitly 
 rely on French honour." This bold and encouraging 
 speech was loudly applauded. Vcrgniaud spoke in 
 his turn, and replied to the petitioners, who demanded 
 tliat tlie suspension should be rendered a deposition. 
 " I am delighted," said he, " that an occasion is af- 
 forded me to explain the views of the assembl}' in the 
 presence of the citizens. It has decreed the suspen- 
 sion of the executive power, and convoked a convention 
 to decide irrevocably on the gi-eat question of dethrone- 
 ment. In this it has kept within its powers, which 
 do not permit it to sit in judgment on royalty ; and it 
 has pn)vided for the sivfety of the state, by removing 
 from the executive power the j^ossibihty of doing harm. 
 It has thus satisfied all wants, without overstepping 
 the limits of its functions." These words produced a 
 favourable impression, and the petitioners themselves, 
 struck by their force, undertook to instruct and ap- 
 pease tiie people. 
 
 It was at last felt indispensable to bi-ing this pro- 
 longed sitting to a close. The assembly consequently 
 ordered that the effects brought front the palace sliould 
 1)6 deposited with the commune ; that the Swiss, and 
 all other detained persons, should either be guarded 
 at the Feuillants', or transferred to different i)l;ices of 
 confinement; and, lastly, that the royal family should 
 be kept at the Luxumbourg until the meeting of the 
 national convention, Ijut tliat, whilst the necessary 
 preparations were making for its reception, it should 
 be lodged in the immediate locality of the assembly. 
 At one o'clock in tlie morning of Saturday the 11th, 
 the royal family was removed into the lodging des- 
 tined for it, and wliich consisted of four cells belonging 
 to the old Feuillants. The nobles who had kept by 
 the king occupied the first ; the king the second ; the 
 queen, his sister, and his children, the two others. 
 The wife of tlie keeper attended upon the princesses, 
 and officiated in lieu of that numerous train of ladies, 
 who, the evening before, had emulated each other in 
 zeal for their service. 
 
 At three in the morning the sitting was suspended. 
 Uproar stdl prevailed throngliout Paris. To avert 
 riots, the environs of the palice were illuminated, and 
 most of the citizens remained undi-r arms. 
 
 Such was that celebrated day, and such its imme- 
 diate results. The king and his family were prisoners 
 at tlie Feuillants', and tlie three disgraced ministers 
 rei)Iaced in office ; Danton, burrowing the day before 
 in an obscure club, was minister of justice; rctioii 
 was consigned to his own liousc, but his name, pro- 
 claimed with entlmsiasm, was gilded with the appel- 
 lation of " Father of the people." ]\Iarat, arisen from 
 the secret liolc in whieli Danton had ensconced him 
 
 dirring the attiick, and armed v.^ith a sabre, paraded 
 through Paris at the head of the ilarseillese battalion. 
 KobespieiTc, whom we have been unable to trace dur- 
 ing those terrible scenes, harangued at the Jacobins', 
 and discoursed to some members around him on the 
 uses to be made of the victory, on the necessity of 
 superseding the actual assembly, and of putting La- 
 fayette under impeachment. 
 
 The following day, it was still found necessary to 
 take mciisures for cahning the excited populace, who 
 continued to massacre all whom it took for fugitive 
 aristocrats.* The assembly resumed its sitting at 
 seven in the morning of the 1 1th. Tlie royal family 
 was replaced in the box of the Loyogruphe, to witness 
 the decrees that were about to lie passed, and the 
 scenes to be enacted in the legislative hall. Petion, 
 freed and escorted by a numerous mob, came to give 
 a;i accomit of the state of Paris, which he had traversed, 
 and where he had laboured to infuse the spirit of peace 
 and order. Certain citizens had constituted them- 
 selves his guards, to protect a life deemed so precions. 
 Petion was warmly congratulated by the assembly, 
 and took his departure to continue his pacific exhor- 
 tations. Tlie Swiss, remitted the evening before to the 
 Feuillants', were threatened with imminent danger. 
 The populace demanded their death with loud cries, 
 caUing them accomplices of the palace and assassms 
 of the people. The assembly succeeded in quieting 
 the ])o])ular wi'ath by an announcement that the Swiss 
 would he tried, and that a court-martial was about to 
 be ibrmed for the punishment of those who were stig- 
 matised as "the conspirators of the lorh August." 
 *' I demand," shouted the fm-ious Chabot, " that they 
 be conducted to the Abbey in order to be tried. In 
 the land of equality, the law strikes at all persons, even 
 those seated on a throne." The officers had been 
 already transferred to the Abbey, and the soldiers were 
 sent thither in their turn. This was accomplished 
 with infinite difficulty, and the popiJace required re- 
 peated promises that they Avould be promptly judged. 
 
 Thus we see the idea of taking vengeance on all the 
 defenders of royalty, and of visiting on them the 
 dangers the insurgents had incurred, was ah'eady 
 aroused in the piibUc mind, and was shortly to origi- 
 nate rancorous divisions. In following the progress 
 of the revolution, we have previously discerned the 
 seeds of those differences which had begmi to arise 
 amongst the popular party. We have seen the as- 
 sembly, composed of eidightened and sedate men, 
 placed in a position of resistance to the clubs and 
 nnmicipalities, in which were congrcgrated men in- 
 ferior in education and in talents, but who, from their 
 very station, their less refined manners, and their in- 
 ordinate ambition, were led to agitate and precipitate 
 events. We have seen, that on the eve of the 10th 
 August, Chabot difiered in o]nnion with Petion, who, 
 in unison with the majority of the assembly, was de- 
 sirous that a decree of deposition shoidd be preferred 
 to an attack by open force. Those men, therefore, 
 who had recommended extreme measures of energy, 
 were the following day in an attitude almost antago- 
 nistic to the assemlily, elated with a victory gained 
 in spite of it, as it were, and reminding it, in terms of 
 equivocal respect, that it had absolved Lafayette, and 
 must take Ciire not again to compromise the safety of 
 the people by any fresh weakness. They filled the 
 commune, where they had as their colleagues ambi- 
 tious citizens, sul>ordinate agitators, and clubbists; 
 tbey ruled at the Jacobins' and Cordeliers', and some 
 amongst them sat on the extreme benches of the legis- 
 lative I)ody. The Capuchin Chabot, the most furious 
 of all, passed alternately from the tribune of the as- 
 
 * [" In the long list of the victims of this horrid day was M. de 
 Clermont Tonnerre, one of the members of the first asseniBly, 
 most distininiished for his talents, his errors, and his endeavours 
 to atone for them. M. Carle, colonel of the eendarmeric, also lost 
 his life for the proofs of attachment lie had given to the king. 
 Bertrand, vol. vii. p. IIW.J
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 163 
 
 scnibly to tluit of the Jacobins, and talked incessantly 
 of pikes and the tocsin. 
 
 The assembly had pronounced the suspension, and 
 these more relentless eliaracters claimed the deiDosi- 
 tion ; by naming a governor for the dauphin, it had 
 contemplated rojalty, and they were eager for a re- 
 public ; it held in its majority that an active defence 
 should be made against foreigners, but that mercy 
 should be shown to the vanquished ; they maintained, 
 on the contrary, tliat not only must the foreigner be 
 resisted, but also vengeance wreaked on those, who, 
 intrenched in the palace, had designed to massacre 
 the people, and bring the Prussians to Paris. Rising 
 in their artlom- to the most extreme ideas, they argued 
 that the electoral bodies were not necessary to form 
 the new assembly, but that all the citizens ought to 
 be deemed competent to vote. One Jacobin even pro- 
 posed that poUtical rights should be given to women. 
 They proclaimed aloud, in short, that the people nuist 
 appear in arms to manifest their wishes to the legis- 
 lative body. Marat strove to stimidate this raging 
 effervescence and the ciy for vengeance, because he 
 judged, accorthng to his hateful system, that it was 
 expedient to pm-ge France. Robespierre, less from 
 any system fomided on the idea of purification, or 
 from any iimate thu'st for blood, than from en\y to- 
 wards the assembly, heaped upon it reproaches of 
 weakness and royalism. Extolled by the Jacobins, 
 and proposed before the 10th August as the indispen- 
 sable dictator, he was now proclaimed as the most 
 eloquent and incorruptible defender of the rights of 
 the people. Danton, concerning him self neither about 
 being praised nor listened to, and without having ever 
 aspired to the dictatorship, had nevertheless decided 
 the day on the 10th August by his indomitable daring. 
 And now, again, despising all parade, he thought only 
 of swaying the executive comicil, of which he was a 
 member, by overawing or leading his colleagues. In- 
 capable of hatred or envy, he entertained no bad feeling 
 against those dex)uties Avhose fame mortified Robes- 
 pierre ; but he contemned them as inert, and preferred 
 those energetic men of the inferior classes, upon whom 
 he placed greater reliance for maintaining and con- 
 summating the revolution. 
 
 These divisions were not suspected out of Paris. 
 AU that the public of France could discern was the 
 resistance of the assembly to demands of too extreme 
 a character, and the absolution of Lafayette, pronounced 
 in spite of the eommmie and the Jacobins. But all was 
 attributed to the royalist and Femllant majority ; the 
 Girondists were still admh-ed, Brissot and Robespierre 
 equally esteemed, and Petion especially adored as the 
 mayor so maltreated by the court. It was not can- 
 vassed, for it was not knowm, that Petion ap'peared 
 too moderate to Chabot, that he womided the pride 
 of Robespierre, that he was viewed as a useless an'.; 
 honest man by Danton, and as a consjurator, amenable 
 to purification, l)y Marat. Petion was, indeed, still 
 encompassed by the ajiplausesof the people ; but, like 
 Bailly after the 14th July, he was soon to be consi- 
 dered vexatious and odious, by condemnmg excesses 
 lie was impotent to prevent. 
 
 The principal coalition of the new revolutionists 
 was formed at the Jacobin Club and at the conmnme. 
 All projects were proposed and discussed at tlie Jaco- 
 bins' ; and the same men afterwards came to execute 
 at the town-hall, by means of their nnmicipal func- 
 tions, what they coxdd simply propound in their club. 
 The council-general of the connnune comjwsed of it- 
 self a species of assembly, equally nuinerous with the 
 legislative body, having also its triliunes, its ofticers, its 
 yet more vociferous ajiplauders, and an actual power 
 much more consick-rable. The mayor was its presi- 
 dent, and the proeurator-sj'ndic its official spokesman, 
 chinged to submit all necessary re(iuvdtionK. I'ction 
 had already withdrawn his attendance, and confined 
 himself to the superintendence of tlie subsistence de- 
 pannient. The procurator Manuel, yielding more to 
 
 the revolutionary flood, took a conspicuous part iu its 
 proccecUngs every day. But the person who exercised 
 the greatest sway in this assemblage was Robespierre, 
 standing apart during the three first days succeed- 
 ing the 10th August, he had repaired thither orJy 
 after the insurrection was consummated; and, present- 
 ing himself at the table to have his powers verified, 
 he seemed as if come to take possession of a rightful 
 dominion, rather than to submit his qualification. His 
 reserve, far trom displeasing, only augmented the re- 
 spect manifested towards him. His reputation for 
 talents, integiity, and perseverance, invested hun with 
 a grave and respectable character, such as the as- 
 sembled citizens Avere proud of possessing amongst 
 them. Uiuing the interval to elapse before the meet- 
 ing of the convention, of which he felt sure of being 
 elected a member, he proceeded to exercise a power 
 in the commime more substantial than the influence 
 of opinion he already enjoyed at the Jacobin Club. 
 
 One of the first cares of the commmie was to take 
 the police department into its own hands ; for in 
 periods of civil strife, the power of arresting and cri- 
 minating enemies is the most important and valued 
 of privileges. The justices of peace, who had hitherto 
 in part possessed it, had incurred odium by their 
 proceedings against popidar agitators, and thus stood, 
 whether vohmtardy or not, in hostilitj' to the patriots. 
 He especially was called to mind who, in the affair 
 between Bertrand de IMolleville and the journahsfc 
 Carra, had dared to cite two deputies. The justices 
 of peace, therefore, Avere dismissed, and all their func- 
 tions relative to the pohce transferred to the mmiicipal 
 authorities. In agi-eement on this point Avith the 
 comnnme of Paris, the assembly passed a decree, or- 
 daming that the police, intitided " of general safely" 
 should be vested in the departments, districts, and 
 nnmicipalities. This police was to consist in inves- 
 tigating all delinquencies endangering tlie hiaiutl and 
 external safety of the state, in drawing up a list of citi- 
 zens suspected on account of their opinions or their 
 conduct, in an-esting them provisionally, and in dis- 
 persing and disarming them, if any necessity for so 
 doing should arise. The councils of the municipalities 
 were the parties destined to exercise this ministry, 
 and the entire mass of the citizens Avas thus called 
 upon to observe, to denounce, and to persecute the 
 liostile party. It may be conceived that this demo- 
 cratic police Avould necessarily be singularly active, 
 but likcAvise rigorous and arbitrary. The Avholc coiui- 
 eil Avas to recciA'e the denunciations, and a committee 
 of surveUla7ice to examine them, and order the arrests. 
 The national guards Avere put in permanent re(iuisition, 
 and the municipalities of all toAvns containing uinvards 
 of 20,000 inhabitants Avere empowered to add peculiar 
 regidations to this laAv ofijerieral safety. Tlie Legisla- 
 tive Assembly, unquestionably, had no idea of prepar- 
 ing the way by this measure for the massacres Avhich 
 subsequently took place ; but. surrounded by enemies 
 Avithin and without, it summoned all tlie citizens to 
 keep Avatch upon them, in like manner as it had called 
 them all to combat and pjirticipate in the adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 The commune of Paris hastened to exercise these 
 ncAv jioAvcrs, and made numerous arrests. Its members 
 appc iired in the light of concpicrors still exas]ierated 
 at the (hiiigers just overcome, and at tliose yet greater 
 they had to encounter, who seized upon their enemies, 
 beaten doAvn for the moment, but probably soon to 
 rise again by the aid of foreigners. The surveillance 
 committee of the commune of Paris Avas composed of 
 the most violent persons. Marat, Avjio, during the 
 course of the revolution, had so recklessly thundiTed 
 his anatliemas, was the chairman of thaf conmiittee. 
 and of all men he Avas the most formidable Avhen in- 
 vested Avith such functions. 
 
 Besides this princi]ial committee, the commune of 
 Paris instituted a particular one in each section. It 
 decreed that passports shoidd be granted only upon
 
 164 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the investigation of the sectional assemblies ; that 
 travellers should he accompanied, either to the muni- 
 cipsility, or to the gates of Paris, by two witnesses, who 
 should attest the identity of the person who had de- 
 manded the passport, with tliat of him who used it 
 for departure. It thus endeavoured, by tlie most strin- 
 gent means, to prevent the escape of tlie suspected 
 under fictitious names. It subsequently ordered tliat 
 a catalogue should be drawn up of tlie enemies of the 
 revolution, and invited tlie citizens, by proclamation, 
 to denounce the criminals of tlie lOtli August. It 
 caused the editors who had supported the royal cause 
 to be arrested, and gave their printing-presses to the 
 patriot editors. Marat got fom' presses restored to 
 him in triumph, which he alleged had been taken 
 from him by the orders of the traitor Lafaf/ette. Com- 
 missioners visited the prisons to set at liberty those 
 who were incarcerated for exclamations and harangues 
 against the court. Lastly, always on the alert to 
 extend its influence, the commune, after the example 
 of the assembly, dispatched deputies to gain uverthe 
 army of Laf lyette, concerning wliich much uneasiness 
 was felt. 
 
 The commune was intrusted with a further charge, 
 not less important, namely, that of guarding the royal 
 family. The assembly had at first ordered its trans- 
 ference to the Luxumbourg, and on an objection being 
 urgeil that that palace was difficult to guard, it decided 
 for the mansion of the minister of justice. But the 
 commune, holding now the police of the capital, and 
 deeming itself, therefore, peculiarly charged with the 
 s;ife keeping of the king, proposed the Temple, declar- 
 ing it coidd not answer for his security unless enclosed 
 within the tower of that ancient abbey. The assembly 
 consented, and handed over the august prisoners to the 
 mayor and the commander-in-chief Santerre, taking 
 the guarantee of their personal responsibility.* Twelve 
 commissioners from the council-general were appointed 
 to keep watch ^vitllout intermission at the Temple. 
 Certain outer works had rendered this edifice a sort 
 of fortress. Numerous detachments of tlie national 
 guard formed its garrison by rotation, and no access 
 was permitted, except by authority from the munici- 
 pality. The assembly decreed that 500,000 francs should 
 be taken from the treasury to provide for the main- 
 tenance of the royal family until the meeting of the 
 National Convention. 
 
 The functions of the commune were, as may be 
 gathered from the preceding relation, very extensive. 
 Situated in the centre of the state, where sovereign 
 powers were exercised, and urged by its ardour and 
 energy to execute of itself whatever seemed to it too 
 feebly attempted by the other authorities, it was led 
 to make incessant encroachments. The assembly, 
 discerning the necessity of restraining it within cer- 
 tain limits, decreed the election of a new departmental 
 council, in lieu of that which had been dissolved on 
 the day of the insurrection. The commune, perceiving 
 itself threatened with the yoke of a superior authority, 
 which would probably obstruct its course, as the old 
 department had done, was furious at this decree, and 
 ordered the sections to discontinue the election which 
 had already commenced. The procurator -syndic 
 Manuel was dispatched from the town-hall to the 
 Feuillants', to present the remonstrances of the muni- 
 cipality. " The delegates of the citizens of Paris," 
 said he, " require pow^jrs without limits : an authority 
 jilaced between them and j^ou will only sow the seeds 
 of discord. It will compel the people, in order to 
 deliver themselves from a power destructive of their 
 sovereignty, once more to arm themselves for ven- 
 geance." 
 
 Such was the menacing language wliicli the assembly 
 had already to brook. It granted what was demanded ; 
 ;.nd, either because it deemed resistance impossible or 
 
 * The kins ^nd his family were conducted to the Temple on 
 /he evening of the 13th August. 
 
 imprudent, or because it considered it Dangerous at 
 the moment to shackle the energy of the conimiuie, 
 it decided that the new comicil shoidd have no 
 authority over the municipality, but simply constitute 
 a committee of finance, intrusted with the superin- 
 tendence of the public contributions in the department 
 of the Seine. 
 
 Another much graver question occupied attention ; 
 one which was destined to elicit still more forcibly 
 the different feelings which actuated the commune 
 and the assembly. Loud clamours were raised for 
 the punishment of those who had fired on the people, 
 and who were alleged to be prepared for a fresh attack 
 as soon as the enemy should draw neai'er. These were 
 alternatively styled the conspirators of the 10th August, 
 and the traitors. The military commission, appointed 
 on the 11th to try the Swiss, was deemed msufficient, 
 because its powers were restricted to the prosecution 
 of those military offenders. The criminal tribunal of 
 the Seine seemed fettered by too tedious formalities; 
 and besides, all authorities anterior to the 10th of 
 August were looked upon with suspicion. The com- 
 mune, therefore, demanded, on the 13th, the erection 
 of a special tribunal to try the crimes of the lOth August, 
 which should have sufficient powers to grasp aU who 
 were styled the traitors. The assembly referred the 
 petition to its committee of twelve, appointed since 
 the month of July for the jim-pose of devising and 
 submitting measures of safety. 
 
 On the 14th, a fresh deputation from the commune 
 appeared before the legislative body, in order to de- 
 mand the decree relative to the extraordinary tribunal, 
 declaring that, if it were not already passed, it was 
 instructed to wait imtil that form was gone through. 
 The deputy Gaston addressed some severe observa- 
 tions to the deputation, and it withdrew. The assem- 
 bly persisted in refusing the creation of an extraordi- 
 nary tribunal, and contented itself with authorising 
 the established tribunals to take cognisance of the 
 crimes of the lOth August. 
 
 A violent uproar broke out through Paris when 
 intelligence of this resolution was disseminated. The 
 section of the Quinze-Vingts appeared before the 
 council-general of the commune, and annomiced that 
 the tocsin would be rung in the Faubourg Saint- 
 Antoine, imless the decree as solicited were imme- 
 diately passed. Tlie council-general thereupon dis- 
 patched a fresh deputation, at the head of which was 
 Robespierre. He spoke in the name of the munici- 
 pality, and made the most insolent remonstrances to 
 the deputies. " The tranquillity of the people," said 
 he to them, " depends on the punishment of the cri- 
 minals, and yet you have done nothing to smite them. 
 Your decree is insufficient. It fails to explain the 
 nature and extent of the crimes to be punished, for it 
 speaks only of the crimes of the lOth August, whereas 
 the crimes of the enemies of the revolution extend far 
 beyond the 10th August and the walls of Paris. 
 Under such a phrase, the traitor Lafayette woidd 
 escape the vengeance of the law ! As to the form of 
 the trii)unal, tlie people can no longer tolerate that 
 which you have continued to it. The double degree 
 of jurisdiction causes interminable delays, and besides, 
 all the old authorities are suspected ; we must have 
 new ones ; it is essential that the tribunal asked for 
 should be formed by deputies chosen in the sections, 
 anil shoidd have the power of judging the culpable, 
 supremely, and without appeal." 
 
 This imperious remonstrance was aggravated by 
 the supercilious tone of Robespierre. The assembly 
 replied to the people of Paris by an address, in which 
 it repudiated the idea of an extraordinary commission 
 or star-chamber (chamhre ar-dnitc), as unworthy of 
 liberty, and fit only for despotism. 
 
 These reasonable observations produced no effect ; 
 the irritation only became the greater. Throughout 
 all Paris nothing was spoken of but somiding the 
 tocsin ; and the following day, a representative of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 166 
 
 commune, presenting himself at the bar, said to the 
 assembly, " As a citizen, as a magistrate of the people, 
 I come to aimomice to you that this very night the 
 tocsin will ring, and the drums call to arms, at mid- 
 niglit. The people are weary of not being avenged. 
 Tremble lest they take justice into their own hands. — 
 1 demand," cried the audacious petitioner, in conclu- 
 sion, " that, without stirring, you decree that a citizen 
 shall be named by each section to form a criminal 
 tribunal." 
 
 This midisguised mandate aroused the assembly, 
 and particularly the deputies Choudieu and Thuriot, 
 who vehemently reprimanded the envoy of the com- 
 mmie. However, a debate commenced on the propo- 
 sition of the commune, and being powerfully supported 
 by the more violent members of the assembl}^ it was 
 fintdly adopted and converted into a decree. An elec- 
 toral body was thereby appointed to meet, in order to 
 elect the members of an extraordinary tribmial, to be 
 charged with the trial of tlie crimes coimnitted during 
 the era of the 10th August, and other crimes thereunto 
 relative and appurtenant. This tribunal, divided mto 
 two sections, was to judge in tlie last resort, and with- 
 out appeal. Such was the first formation of the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal, and the first great impetus given 
 by the spirit of vengeance to the forms of justice. It 
 was called the tribunal of the 17th August. 
 
 The effect produced on the armies by the last revo- 
 lution, and the manner in wliich they had received 
 the decrees of the 10th, were still subjects of doubt at 
 Paris. These were points of the utmost importance, 
 on wliich, indeed, the fate of the last revolution 
 mainly depended. The frontier continued distributed 
 amongst tliree armies, called respectively, of the north, 
 of the centre, and of the south. Luckner commanded 
 the first, Lafayette the second, and Montesquiou the 
 third. Since the unfortunate affairs of ]\Ions and 
 Tournay, Luckner, stimulated by Dmnouriez, had 
 again essayed the offensive towards the Low Countries ; 
 but he had been obliged to retreat, and on evacuatmg 
 Courtray he had biu-nt the faubourgs, which act was 
 made a serious ground of accusation against the mini- 
 stry inunediately previous to the king's suspension. 
 Since then, the armies had remained in the most com- 
 plete inaction, l.ying in intrenched camps, and confining 
 themselves to sUght sku'mishes. Dumom'iez, on quit- 
 ting the ministry, had gone as lieutenant-general to 
 Luckner, and had met with an unfavouraljle reception 
 from the army, in which the spirit of the Lafayette 
 party predominated. Luckner, wholly subject at that 
 period to the same influence, dismissed Uumouriez to 
 one of the intrenched camps, that of Alaulde, and left 
 him there ■vvitli a small body of troops, to look after 
 the defences and employ himself in forays. 
 
 Lafayette wishing, on account of the dangers which 
 threatened tlie king, to be nearer Paris, was anxious 
 to have the command of the north. He was unwill- 
 ing, however, to qiiit his troops, by -nhom he was 
 greatly beloved, and he arranged Avith Luckner to 
 change positions, each with his own division ; tliat is 
 to say, both of them were to decamp, the one marcli- 
 ing to the north and the other to the centre. This 
 displacement of the armies in presence of an enemy 
 might have been attended with danger, if the war liad 
 not fortmiately been completely inactive. Luckner 
 liad consequently repaired to ]\Ietz, and Lafayette to 
 Sedan. During tliis cross movement, Limiouriez, 
 being ordered to follow tlie army of Luckner, to 
 which he belonged, with liis small corps, suddenly 
 stopped in front of the enemy, wlio liad made a feint 
 to attack liiin, and he was compelled to remain in his 
 camp, under fear of opening Flaiulers to the Luke of 
 Saxe-Teschen. He called togetlier the other generals 
 who occupied separate camps near him, communicated 
 with DiUon, m'Iio had arrived wi(h a portion of La- 
 fayette's army, and demanded a council of war at Va- 
 lenciennes, to justify, on the groimd of necessity, his 
 disobedience to the orders of Luckner. In the mean 
 
 time, Luckner had reached Metz, and Lafi^yette Sedan; 
 and if the events of the 10th August had not oppor- 
 tunely happened, Dumonriez, in all probability, would 
 have undergone arrest and military judgment for his 
 refusal to march for^vard. 
 
 Such was the position of the armies, when intell"- 
 gence of the overthrow of the throne was brought. 
 (Jne of the first cares of the Legislative Assembly had 
 been, as we have seen, to depute three commissioners 
 to the armies, bearing its deci'ees, and invested with 
 authority to administer the new oath to the troops. 
 The three commissioners, upon their arrival at Sedan, 
 were received by the municii)ality, Avhich held an order 
 from Lafayette for their arrest. The mayor interro- 
 gated them upon the scenes of the 10th August, ex- 
 acted a minute recital of all the events, and declared, 
 accordmg to secret instructions from Lafayette, that 
 the Legislative Assembly was evidently no longer free, 
 since it had pronounced the suspension of the king; 
 that its commissioners were merely the emissaries of 
 a factious band ; and that they must be detained in 
 the name of the constitution. They were, in fact, 
 imprisoned ; and Lafayette, in order to shield those 
 who had simply executed his orders, took the act on 
 his OAvn head. Immediately subsequent to this pro- 
 ceeding, he administered to his army a renewed oath of 
 fidelity to the law and the king, and issued a command 
 that it should be repeated by aU the divisions subject 
 to his authority. He reckoned upon seventy-five de- 
 partments, wliich had adhered to his letter of the 16th 
 Jmie ; and he purposed to attempt a movement in op- 
 position to that of the 10th August. Dillon, who was 
 at Valenciennes under the orders of Lafayette, and 
 held a superior command to Diunouriez, obeyed his 
 general-in-chief, administered the oath of fidelity to 
 the law and the king, and enjoined Dumom'iez to do 
 the same in his camp at IMaulde. Dumonriez, judg- 
 ing more sagaciously of the future, and, furthermore, 
 irritated against the Feuillants, under whose sway he 
 now found himself, seized the opportimity to oppose 
 them, and at the same time gain the favour of the new 
 government, by repudiating the oath both for himself 
 and liis ti"oops. 
 
 On the 17th, the very day on which the extraor- 
 dinary criminal tribunal was so tumultuously esta- 
 blished, a letter arrived at Paris, commmiicating the 
 intelligence that the commissioners sent to the army 
 of Lafayette had been arrested by his orders, and 
 that the legislative authority was set at defiance. 
 This information excited irritation rather than alarm, 
 and the exclamations against Lafayette arose louder 
 than ever. His impeachment was insisted upon, and 
 the assembly reproaciied in no gentle terms for not 
 having decreed it earlier. A condemnatory resolution 
 was instantly passed against the department of the 
 Ardemies ; fresh commissioners were dispatched, with 
 the same powers as their predecessors, and addition- 
 ally commissioned to enlarge the prisoners. Other 
 deputies were likewise sent to the army of Dillon. 
 Lastly, on the morning of the 19th, the assembly de- 
 claied Lafayette a traitor to the country, and pro- 
 nounced against him a decree of impeachment. 
 
 The crisis was monientoiis, for if this resistance 
 were not overcome, the new revolution would be 
 utterly abortive. France, distracted between the re- 
 publicans in the interior and the constitutionalists in 
 the army, would be divided in front of the enemy, and 
 lie exposed both to invasion and a fearful reai'tioiu 
 I^afayette natiu-ally looked with disgust upon the re- 
 volution of the loth August, involving as it did the 
 abolition of the constitution of 1791, the accomiilihh- 
 ment of all the aristocratic prophecies, and the justi- 
 fication of all the reproaches which the court had been 
 wont to fulminate against liberty. It was im])ossiMe 
 for him to see in this victory of democracy any thing 
 but a liloody anarchy and an endless confusion.' To us, 
 this confusion has had its term, and the soil at least 
 been defended against the enemy ; but to Lalayette the 
 il
 
 i(J6 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fiiture was unknown and portentous, the defence of 
 the territory seemed scarcely practicable amidst poli- 
 tical convulsions, and he nmst have felt an irresistible 
 desire to oppose the threatened chaos, by taking a 
 hostile position as well aizainst mternal as extcrnid 
 foes. But his situation was one of g^reat ditficulty, 
 and such as no mortal talents could probaltly have 
 surmounteil. Ilis army was devoted to him — true; 
 but armies have no individual will, and can have none 
 but such as is conununicated to them by superior 
 authority. When a revolution explodes with the 
 violence" of 1789, then, blindly hiuried away, they 
 desert from the ancient authority, lx.'causc the uew 
 impidse is irresistible : but at present circumstances 
 were different. Proscribed and degraded by a decree, 
 Lafayette was quite iiicapalile of rousing his troops 
 against the authority of the interior by his mere mili- 
 tary popularity, and, upon an irapidse derived from 
 liimself alone, of successfully combating the revolu- 
 tionary stimulus of the metropolis. Placed likewise 
 between two enemies, and uncertain as to his course 
 of duty, he could not but hesitate. The assembly, on 
 the contrary, hesitated not an instant, but sent forth 
 decree upon decree, and, supporting them bv energetic 
 commissioners, was sure to gain the ascendant over the 
 irresolution of the general, and to decide the army. 
 In fact, the troops of Lafayette successively swerved, 
 and manifested an intention of abandoning him. The 
 civil authorities, also, j'ieided to intimidation, and sur- 
 rendered to the new commissioners. The example of 
 Uumouriez, who declared for the revolution of the 10th 
 August, was oid3- required to give the concluding blow ; 
 and the malecontent general remained alone with his 
 staff, which was composed of Feuillants or constitu- 
 tional officers. 
 
 BouJUe, whose energy is above all question, and 
 Dumouriez, whose great talents none can contest, 
 were unable to act otherwise at different periods, and 
 found themselves compelled to take flight. Lafayette 
 was not destined to be more happy. "Writing to the 
 various civil authorities which had seconded him in 
 his resistance, he took upon himself the responsibility 
 of the orders given against the commissioners of the 
 assembly, and quitted his camp on the 20th August, 
 witli a few officers, his friends and companions in 
 arms and sentiments. Bureau de Puzy, Latoiu--iIau- 
 bourg, and Lameth, accompanied him. They aban- 
 doned the camp, carrying with them but one mouth's 
 pay, and followed by a few domestics. Lafayette left 
 every thing in order in liis army, and took care to 
 make the necessary dispositions for resisting the 
 enemy, in case of an attack. He sent back some 
 troopers who escorted him, determined not to rob 
 France of a single arm which might be raised in her 
 defence ; and on the 2 1 st, he took with his friends the 
 route to the Low Countries. Having reached the 
 Austrian advanced posts, after a ride which had ex- 
 hausted their horses, these first emigrants of liberty 
 were arrested, contrary to the laws of nations, and 
 treated as prisoners of war. Great was the joy when 
 the name of Lafayette echoed in the camp of the coa- 
 lition, and it became known that he was a captive in 
 the hands of the aristocratic league. The opportunity 
 of exiUting over one of the earliest friends of tlie revo- 
 lution, and of charging upon the revolution itself the 
 persecution of its first authors — to see verified all the 
 excesses that malice had predicted — were gratifications 
 indeed ; and less would have sufficed to spread uni- 
 versal satisfaction amongst the European aristocracy. 
 
 Lafayette claimed for himself and liis friends the 
 liberty which was their undoubted right; but his ap- 
 peals were in vain. It was offered him on condition 
 of a recantation, not of all his opinions, but of one 
 only — that relative to the abolition of nobilit}'. He 
 refused it on such terms, and threatened, if his words 
 were falsely reported, to give the contradiction before 
 a public officer. He received irons, therefore, as the 
 reward of his oonstaucy ; and even when he was led to 
 
 believe liberty stifled in Eiu"ope and in France, his 
 mind was calm and sedate, and he never ceased to 
 regard it as the most precious of blessmgs. He still 
 asserted its sacred cause, both with the oppressors who 
 immured him in a dungeon, and with his old associates 
 who had remained m France. " Still love liberty," 
 he wrote to the latter, " in spite of its storms, and serve 
 your country." If we compare his defection with that 
 of BouiUo, abandoning his country to re-enter it with 
 liostile sovereigns, or with that of Dumouriez, quar- 
 relling with the convention, mider which he had served, 
 not from any honest conviction, but from personal 
 pique, we shall render justice to the man who forsook 
 France only when the truth in which he put his faith 
 was proscribed within it, and who submitted neitlier 
 to execrate nor abjiu-e it in foreign armies, but, on the 
 contrary, professed and maintained it even amidst the 
 horrors of a prison. 
 
 Let us not Ijlanie Dimiouriez, however, too harshly 
 for we shall soon have reason to estimate liis memo- 
 rable services. This able and flexible man had per- 
 fectly comprehended the rising power. After ha\nng 
 rendered himself almost independent by his refusal to 
 obey Luckner, and to qiut t'le camp at ]\huUde, after 
 having rejected the oath enjoined by Dillon, he was 
 now recompensed for his discernment by the command- 
 in-chief of the armies of the north and centre. Dillon, 
 brave, impetuous, but shortsighted, was at first de- 
 prived of his command for having obeyed Lafayette ; 
 but he was reinstated through the credit of Dumoiu-iez, 
 who, keeping a steadfast eye on his idtimate object, 
 and anxious to alienate in his progress as few men as 
 possible, warmly defended him to the commissioners 
 of the assembly. Dumoiu"iez then found himself 
 general-in-chief along the whole frontier from Metz 
 to Dunkirk. Luckner was at ]\Ietz with his army, 
 formerly that cf the north. Influenced at first b}' 
 Lafayette, he had given tokens of a resistance to tlie 
 10th August ; but, speedily yielduig to his army and 
 the commissioners of the assembly, he succumbed to 
 the decrees, and, after a fresh shower of tears, gave 
 in to the new impulse imparted to him. 
 
 The 10th August and the advanced season were 
 motives for deciding the coalition at length to push 
 the war with activity. The dispositions of the Em-o- 
 pean powers were not changed with regard to France. 
 England, HoUand, Denmark, and Switzerland, still 
 promised a strict neutralitj'. Sweden, since the death 
 of Gusta-inis, had sincerely returned to a like policy. 
 The Italian states were inimical enough, but fortu- 
 nately pretty powerless. Spain did not yet declare 
 herself, and continued distracted by conflicting in- 
 trigues. There remained as decided enemies, Ilussia 
 and the two principal courts of Germany. But Russia 
 stiU adliered to mere demonstrations of her high dis- 
 ]ileasure, and contented herself with dismissing the 
 French ambassador. Prussia and Austria alone 
 marched armies to the frontiers of France. Amongst 
 the other German states, only the three ecclesiastical 
 electors and the landgraves of tlie two Hesses had 
 taken an active part in the coalition ; the remainder 
 were waiting to be constrained to that course. 
 
 In this state of things, 138,000 men, perfectly orga- 
 nised and disciplined, menaced France, which coidd 
 oppose to them at the utmost but 120,000, scattered 
 along an immense frontier, forming at no point a suf- 
 ficient mass, deprived of their officers, without confi- 
 dence cither in themselves or their generals, and 
 hitherto invariably worsted in the war of posts they 
 had kept up. The plan of the coalition was to over- 
 power France at once, by penetrating through the 
 Ardennes and marching by Chalons upon Paris. The 
 two sovereigns of Prussia and Austria had repaired 
 in person to ISIaj^ence. SLxty thousand Pnssians, full of 
 the traditions and the glory of Frederick, advanced 
 in a single column upon the French centre, marching 
 by Luxumbourg upon Longwy. Twenty thousand 
 Austrians, commanded by General Clairfayt, supported
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 167 
 
 them on the right by the occupation of iStenay. Six- 
 teen thousand Austrians, imder the orders of the 
 Prince of Hohenlohe-Kirchberg, and ten thousand 
 Hessians, flanked the left of the I'russians. Tlie Duke 
 of Saxe-Teschen occupied the Low Countries, and 
 threatened their fortresses. Tlie Prince of Conde, 
 with six thousand French emigrants, had proceeded 
 towards Philips))oiu-g. Several other corps of emi- 
 grants were distributed in the various Prussian and 
 Austrian armies. The foreign courts, imwilling to 
 allow the emigrants, by a general union, to acquire too 
 considei'able an influence, had designed at flrst to in- 
 corporate them in the German regiments, and after- 
 wards consented to let them exist as distinct corps, 
 but with the precaution of dividing them amongst the 
 armies of the coalition. These corps were chiefly com- 
 posed of officers M'ho had submitted to serve as private 
 soldiers ; they constituted a brilliant cavalry, but better 
 suited to display a chivalric valour on a day of peril 
 than to sustain the fatigues of a long campaign. 
 
 The French armies were disposed in the Avorst 
 possible manner for resisting such a concentration of 
 strength. Three generals, Beurnonville, Moreton, and 
 Duval, commanded thirty thousand men in three sepa- 
 rate camps, at ]Maidde, INIaubeuge, and Lille. These 
 comprised the whole resources of France on the fron- 
 tier towards the north and the Low Coimtries. The 
 army of Lafayette, disorganised by the departure of 
 its general, and distracted by the gi'eatest variety of 
 sentiments, Avas encamped at Sedan, to the amount of 
 twenty-three thousand men. Dumouriez was on the 
 point of assmning the command of it. The army of 
 Luckner, composed of twenty thousand men, occupied 
 Metz, and had, like all the others, just received a new 
 general, in the person of Kellermann. The assembly, 
 though discontented with Luckner, had abstamed 
 nevertheless from dismissing hini altogether. In trans- 
 ferring his command to Kellermann, it had j^reserved 
 to him, under the title of generalissimo, the care of 
 organisuig the new army of reserve, and the pm'ely 
 honorary charge of advising the generals. Lastly, 
 there were Custine, who, with fifteen thousand men, 
 occupied Landau ; and Biron, who, stationed in Alsace 
 with thirty thousand men, was too far removed from 
 the principal theatre of the war to influence the flxte 
 of the campaign. 
 
 The only two collections of troops posted on the line 
 of march of the grand army of the coalition, were the 
 twenty-three thousand men f(3rsaken by Lafayette, 
 and the twenty thousand of Kellermann, ranged around 
 Metz. If the grand army of invasion, adapting its 
 movements to its main design, had marched rapicUy 
 on Sedan, whilst the troops of Lafayette, deprived of 
 a general, a prey to disorder, and, not being yet joined 
 by Dumouriez, without unity or direction, the princi- 
 pal defensive army had been forced, the Ardennes laid 
 open, and the other generals obliged to retrograde 
 with precipitation to effl'ct a junction behind the 
 Marne. It is possible they might not have liad time 
 to come from Lille and Metz to Chalons and Pheinis ; 
 then Paris lj"ins uncovered, there would have remained 
 to the new government only the forlorn jiroject of a 
 camp under Paris or flight beyond tlie Loire. 
 
 But if France defended herself with all the disorder 
 of a revolutionary convulsion, the foreign powers 
 attacked witli all t!ie want of concert and divergent 
 views of a coalition. Tlie King of Prussia, intoxicati'd 
 with the idea of an easy conquest, flattered and de- 
 ceived by the emigrants, who depicted tlie invasion 
 to him as a sinijile mililun/ jiroiiiciKidfi, was eager for 
 the most daring eiiterjirise. ]hit be had too prudent 
 a counsellor by his side in the Duke of T5rmiswick, for 
 his presumption to have even the liai>])y coiise<|uences 
 of audacity and i)roni])titude. The J)uke of Bruns- 
 wick, perceiving the season far advanced, tlie country 
 very differently attected from what the emigrants had 
 represented, and furthermore somewliat correctly ap- 
 preciatmg the revolutionary energy by the insurrectii)n 
 
 of the 10th August, concluded that the most expedient 
 course was to make sure of a solid base of oneratious 
 on the Moselle, by laying siege to Metz and Thionville, 
 and to defer until the following season the renewal of 
 hostilities, with all the advantages of preceding con- 
 quests. This contest between the precipitation of the 
 sovereign and the prudence of the general, joiued to 
 the tardiness of the Austrians, who appeared under 
 the command of the Prince of Holicnlohe to the number 
 of l)ut eighteen thousand men instead of fifty thou- 
 sand, prevented any decisive movement. However, 
 the Prussian army continued to advance towards the 
 centre, and came on tlie 20th before Longvvy, one of 
 the fortresses nearest the Ime of frontier. 
 
 Dumouriez, who had alwa3-s believed that an inva- 
 sion of the Low Comitries would cause a revolution to 
 break out, and that such a diversion would preserve 
 France from the inroads of Germany, had made every 
 preparation to push forward, the very day he received 
 his commission of general-in-chief of the two armies. 
 He was on the point of acting on the oflensive against 
 the Prmce of Saxe-Teschen, when Westermann, who 
 had e\micedsuch energy on the 10th August, and was 
 now one of the comuussioners to the army of Lafay- 
 ette, reached him with information of what was pass- 
 ing on the theatre of the grand invasion. On the 
 22d, Longwy had opened its gates to the Prussians, 
 after a bombardment of a few hours. The disordered 
 state of the garrison and the imbecility of the com- 
 mandant, were the causes of its speedy surrender. 
 Elated with this conquest, and the capti\ity of Lafay- 
 ette, the Prussians were more than ever disposed to 
 the plan of a prompt invasion. The army of Lafay- 
 ette was lost, imless tlie new general came to encoiu-age 
 it by his presence, and to direct its movements in a 
 beneficial manner. Such was the substance of Wester- 
 manu's communication. 
 
 Dumouriez forthwith abandoned his favourite pro- 
 ject, and on the 25th or the 2Gth repaired to Sedan, 
 where his first appearance provoked amongst the troops 
 nnu-murs and reproaches. He was the enemy of 
 Lafayette, whom they still regarded with aflection. 
 On him, likewise, was laid the odium of this unfortu- 
 nate war, since it was under his ministry it had been 
 declared ; and furthermore, he was considered as a man 
 of the pen rather than of the sword. Such objections 
 were industriously circulated in the cam]), and fre- 
 quently reached the ears of the general. Dumouriez 
 was not at all disconcerted. He began by cheeruig 
 the courage of his troops, affecting himself a firm and 
 tranquil demeanom'; and he was not long in making 
 them feel the influence of a more vigorous conunand. 
 But the position of twenty-three thousand men, iu 
 deplorable disorganisation, was nearly (Usjierate thus 
 in presence of eighty thousand, jierfectly disciiiliued. 
 The Prussians, after taking Longwy, had blockaded 
 Thionville, and were advancing on Verdun, whicliwas 
 nmch less capable of resistance than the fortress of 
 Longwy. 
 
 The generals, called together by Dumouriez, were 
 all of o])iiiiou that the I'russians should not he waited 
 for at Sedan, but that a ra])id retreat should be made 
 behind tlie Marne, and intrenclunents there thrown 
 up as well as eircuinstaucis would ])ermit, in order to 
 await tlie junction of the other armies, and tlius cover 
 the caiiital, which only forty leagues seiiarated from 
 the enemy. They all lield that if a deftat were sus- 
 tained iu attempting to opjuise the invasion, tlie rout 
 would be complete; the army, utterly disorganised, 
 would not rally between Sedan and I'aris itself; an(i 
 the Prussinns niarcli tliitlier directly, and at a con- 
 queror's jiace. Such was tlie military situation of 
 France, and the-opiuion entertained of it by her gene- 
 rals. 
 
 The idea fonned in Paris njion the sifl)ject was not 
 more cheerful, and the sense of danger aggravated tho 
 exasperation of the juiblic mind. And yet that im- 
 mense nietropohs, which had never seen an enemy
 
 168 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 witliin its precincts, and estimated its power in pro- 
 portion to its extent and population, was led with 
 uiiBculty to imagine the possibility of its forcible oc- 
 cupation : thus it tkeadcd the military danj^ers wliich 
 were not perceived, and were still at a distance from 
 it, infinitely less than the danger of a reaction on the 
 part of the royalists, for the moment suppressed 
 Whilst on the frontier the generals saw only the Prus- 
 sians, in the interior the people beheld only aristocrats 
 silently conspiring for the destruction of liberty. 
 
 The people said amongst themselves that the king 
 indeed Wiis a prisoner, but that his party did not the 
 less exist tmd conspire, as Ix-'fore the 10th August, to 
 open I'aris to the stranger. They pictured to them- 
 selves all the large mansions in the capital filled with 
 armed bands, ready to issue forth on the first signal, 
 to release Louis XVI., to seize upon all authority, and 
 to deliver France a defenceless prey to the vengeance 
 of emigrants and foreigners. This understanding be- 
 tween the internal and the external enemy was per- 
 petually present to the minds of all. " iVe 7nust," 
 said they, "be delivered from traitors ;" and the fright- 
 ful idea was already generated of slaughtering the 
 vanquished — an idea with the great majority a mere 
 impulse of the imagination, but which, A\ith certain 
 men, more bloodthirst}', more entliusiastic, or moi'e 
 eager for action, might resolve itself into a real and 
 deliberate plan. 
 
 We have already learnt that the question of aveng- 
 ing the people for the injm'ies received during the 
 course of the lOtli August had heen canvassed, and 
 that a warm altercation had ai'isen between the as- 
 sembly and the commime on the subject of the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal. This trilnmal, which had ah-eady 
 consigned to death Dangi-emont and the mifortunate 
 Laporte, the iutendant of the civil list, was not suffi- 
 ciently speedy in its action to satisfy a furious and 
 frantic populace, which beheld enemies in every quar- 
 ter. It needed prompter forms to pmiish the traitors, 
 and it especially clamoured for judgment on the pri- 
 soners transferred to the high coiirt of Orleans. Those, 
 for the most pai't, were ministers and distinguished 
 functionaries, impeached for high crimes and misde- 
 meanors. Delessart, the former minister of foreign 
 affairs, was of the number. Cries were raised on all 
 sides against the slo\vness of the processes ; the trans- 
 ference of the prisoners to Paris was insisted upon, 
 and their mstant condemnation bj^ the tribunal of the 
 17th August. The assembly, being petitioned on this 
 subject, or rather summoned to yield to the general 
 wish and pass at once a decree of transference, had 
 made a com-ageous resistance. Tlie high national 
 court, it said, was a constitutional establishment, Avhich 
 it had no power to alter, inasmuch as it did not possess 
 constituent functions, and because it was the right of 
 every accused to be tried only according to existing 
 laws. This question had once more stimulated crowds 
 of petitioners; and the assembly had to resist the 
 united clamours of a fm-ious minority, of the commune, 
 and of the outrageous sections. It contented itself, 
 however, witla rendering certain forms of process more 
 expeditious, decreeing, at the same time, that the 
 prisoners before the high court should remain at Or- 
 leans, and not be withdra^vn from the jurisdiction 
 secured to them by the constitution. 
 
 Thus two opinions were fonned — the one in favour 
 of sparing the vanquished, without, however, display- 
 ing less energy against the foreign enemy ; and the 
 other in fiivour of a preliminary extermination of 
 secret foes before advancing against the armed enemies 
 moving towards Paris. This latter was less an opi- 
 nion than a blind and ferocious sentiment, compounded 
 of terror and rage, and calculated to grow more in- 
 tense with the increase of danger. 
 
 The Parisians were excited to greater fnrv from the 
 consciousness of their cit}', the focus of all'the insur- 
 rections, and the ultimate object of the foreign aggres- 
 sion, being exposed to the wluile brunt of danger. They 
 
 accused the assembly, composed as it was of deputies 
 from the departments, of a desire to retreat into the 
 provinces. The Girondists especially, who belonged 
 for the most part to the southern districts of the king- 
 dom, and formed that moderate majority so odious to 
 the commune, were accused of a design to sacrifice 
 Paris from hatred for the capital. Tliey thus attri- 
 buted to them sentiments sufficiently natural, and 
 such as the Parisians might weU imagine they had 
 provoked; but the deputies in qtiestion loved their 
 comitry and their cause too sincerely to dream of 
 abandoning Paris. It is true, tlicy had always held 
 that if the nortli were lost they sliould faU back on 
 the south ; and it is also true, that at this very mo- 
 ment, some amongst them considered it prudent to 
 transport the seat of govermuent beyond the Loire ; 
 but an mtention to sacrifice a hateful city, and trans 
 fer the govermnent to a locality Avhere they would be 
 masters, never entered their minds. They had too 
 much elevation of sentiment, were as yet too power- 
 ful, and relied too much on the approaching meeting 
 of the convention, to think thus early of detaching 
 themselves from Paris. 
 
 Accusations, therefore, were made at once against 
 their indulgence towards traitors, and their indiffe- 
 rence towards the interests of the capital. Exposed 
 to a constant struggle with the most violent men, they 
 could scarcely bear up against the activity and energy 
 of their adversaries, even though they possessed the 
 advantages of reason and numbers, lii the executive 
 coimcil they were five to one ; for besides the three 
 ministers, Claviere, Servan, and Roland, selected from 
 their very bosom, two others, !Monge and Lebrun, were 
 likewise men of their choosmg. But the one Danton, 
 who, without being their personal enemy, shared 
 neither in their moderation nor in their opinions — the 
 single Danton, we repeat, ruled the council, and de- 
 stroyed aU their influence. Whilst Claviere was la- 
 bouring to scrape together some financial resources, 
 Servan bustling to procure reinforcements for the 
 generals, and Roland distributing sagacious missives, 
 with a view to instruct the provincial public, to direct 
 the local authorities, to prevent their abuses of power, 
 and check violence of every description, Danton was 
 engaged in filling the offices of administration with 
 his creatures. He dispatched on all missions his faith- 
 fid Cordeliers, prociu-ing by such means nmnerous 
 supporters for himself, and enabluig his friends to par- 
 take of the profits of the revolution. Con^^ncing or 
 intimidating his colleagues, he experienced no obstacle 
 but in the rigid inflexibiUty of Roland, who frequently 
 repudiated the measures or the men he proposed. 
 Danton was irritated at this opposition, without, how- 
 ever, coming to any open rupture with Roland ; and 
 he strove with the gi'eater pertinacity to carry as 
 many nominations and decisions as possible. 
 
 Danton, whose domination was centred in Paris, 
 naturally desired its preservation, and was resolute in 
 opposing any scheme for transferring the government 
 beyond the Loire. Endowed with a wonderfid auda- 
 city of mind, the man to proclaim the insurrection on 
 the eve of the 10th August, when all besides drooped 
 and hesitated, was not likely to recoil, or uphold any 
 doctrine but the necessity of perisliing in the ruins of 
 the capital. Master of the coimcil, closely allied with 
 JIarat and the surveillance committee of the commune, 
 listened to in all the clubs, and living in the midst of 
 the multitude as in an element he agitated at pleasure, 
 Danton was the most powerful man in Paris ; and this 
 power, based on a natural violence of disposition, 
 which brought him in imison with the passions of the 
 people, boded little forbearance to the vanquished. In 
 his revolutionary ardour, Danton inclined to all the 
 ideas of vengeance whicli were so hateful to the Gir- 
 ondists. He was the chief of that Parisian party 
 whose motto was, "We will not retreat; we will 
 perish in the capital and beneath its ruins ; but our 
 enemies shall perish before us'" Tims the minds of
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 169 
 
 men were trained to the contemplation of atrocious 
 projects, and horrible scenes were destined to be the 
 dismal consequence. 
 
 On the 2Gth, a rumour of the f;dl of Longwy 
 spread with rapidity, and caused a general agitation 
 in Paris. During the whole day its probabihty was 
 disputed ; but at lengtli it was placed beyond aU doubt, 
 and it became known that the i>lace had opened its 
 gates after a bombardment of a few hours. So great 
 a ferment ensued, that the assembly decreed the 
 penalty of death against whomsoever siioidd propose 
 to surrender in a besieged fortress. On the demand 
 of the commune, it was ordered that Paris and the 
 contiguous departments should furnish, Avitlmi a few 
 days, thirty thousand men armed and eipiipped. The 
 enthusiasm which reigned rendered such a umster 
 easy; and the numbers who enrolled themselves 
 lessened the apprehensions of danger. It was not to 
 be imagined at the moment, that a hmadred thousand 
 Prussians woidd be able to prevail over several mil- 
 lions of men determined todefend themselves. Renewed 
 activity was manifested in forming the camiJ under 
 Paris ; and all the women assembled m the churches 
 to participate m prejparing the materials of encamp- 
 ment. 
 
 Dauton appeared at the conunune, and on a propo- 
 sition submitted by him, the adoption of certain ex- 
 treme measures was voted. It was resolved to make 
 in all the sections a list of the indigent, and to give 
 them a pecuniary allowance and arms. By a second 
 resolution, the disarming and arrest of all suspected 
 persons were ordered ; and mider that designation were 
 included the entire list of those who had signed the 
 petitions against the events of the 20th June and the 
 decree for the camp below Paris. To effect this 
 sweeping measm-e of disarming and arresting, the 
 expedient of domiciliary visits was suggested, and 
 forthwith organised after a mode truly frightful. The 
 barriers were appointed to be shut during forty-eight 
 hours, commencing on the 29th August at simset; 
 and no permission to i>ass coidd be granted on any 
 pretence. Guard-boats were stationed on the river, 
 to prevent flight by that outlet. The surrounding 
 conmiunes were charged to apprehend whomsoever 
 should he detected in the fields or on the roads. The 
 roll of drums was to announce the coming visits, and 
 at that signal eveiy citizen was bound to repair to 
 his own residence, under pain of being deemed sus- 
 pected of assembling, if he were found at the house of 
 another. For this reason, all the sectional assemblies, 
 and the extraordinary tribunal itself, were to be sus- 
 pended during those two days. Commissioners selected 
 from the commune, accompanied by an armed force, 
 were empowered to make the visits, to confiscate 
 arms, and to apprehend the suspected ; that is to say, 
 the signers of the petitions already mentioned, the 
 non-juring priests, the citizens who should prevari- 
 cate in their declarations, those against whom denun- 
 ciations had been lodged, et cetera. At ten at night 
 vehicles were to cease running, and the city was to be 
 illuminated during all the hours of darkness. 
 
 Such were the measures resolved ujion to secure the 
 arrest of (as they were called) the bad citizens secreted 
 since the lOth Angmt. The visits were commenced on 
 the evening of tiie 29th, and one party, abandoned to 
 the mercy of another, was exjjosed to be cast whole- 
 sale into ])rison. All who had belonged to the court, 
 either by holding offices, or by rank, or I)y attendance 
 at the palace; all who had declared for it on occa- 
 sion of the various royalist movements; all who had 
 dastardly enemies capable of seeking vengeance by 
 denunciation, were thrown into jmson, to the numl)cr 
 of twelve or fifteen thousand persons. It was the siu'- 
 veillance committee of tlie comnnine that presided 
 over these arrests, and witnessed their execution. 
 Those whom it designated for a])])rehension were first 
 conducted from tlieir residences to the connnittce of 
 their section, and thence to the committee of the com- 
 
 mune. There they were briefly questioned as to tlieir 
 opinions, and the acts which demonstrated their 
 greater or less degree of energj\ Frequently a single 
 member of the committee interrogated them, whilst 
 the other members, exhausted by a vigil of several 
 days, were asleep on the chairs and tables. The mch- 
 viduals arrested were detained at the town-hall in the 
 first instance, and subsequently distributed into the 
 prisons where any room was yet to be found. In them 
 were now incarcerated representatives of all the opi- 
 nions that had successively reigned up till the loth 
 August, inheritors of distinctions levelled to the dust, 
 and simple tradesmen, already deemed equally aristo- 
 cratic with dukes and jDrinces. 
 
 Consternation prevailed throughout Paris. The 
 repubhcans felt themselves menaced by the Prussian 
 armies ; and the roj'alists were menaced by the repub- 
 hcans. The coumhttee of general defence, appointed by 
 the assembly to advise on measures for resisting the 
 enemas met on the 30th, and called to its aid the 
 executive council, in order to hold a solemn delibera- 
 tion on the means of pubUc safety. The meeting was 
 numerous ; for to the actual members of the com- 
 mittee were added a great many deputies, who had 
 desired to attend that sitting. Various opinions were 
 expressed. The mmister Servan stated he had no 
 confidence in the armies, and that he held it impossible 
 for Dumouriez, A\'ith the twenty-three thousand men 
 Lafayette had left him, to stop the Prussians. He saw 
 no position between them and Paris sufficiently strong 
 to take up and check their march. Every one agreed 
 with him on this point ; and after having resolved to 
 concentrate the whole population mider the Avails of 
 Paris, there to sustain the combat of despair, the 
 retreat to Saumur in the last extremity was spoken of, 
 as a plan for interposing between the enemy and the 
 authorities invested with the national sovereignty a 
 fresh interval and fresh obstacles. Vergniaud and 
 Guadet opposed the idea of quitting Paris. After 
 them, Danton spoke : — 
 
 " It is proposed to you," said lie, " to quit Paris. 
 You are not ignorant that, in the opinion of oiu" ene- 
 mies, Paris represents France, and that to yield them 
 this position is to abandon the revolution. To retreat 
 is to ruin ourselves. We nmst, therefore, mauitain 
 ourselves here at all hazards, and save ourselves by 
 audacity. Amongst the measures proposed, none has 
 seemed to me effective. We ought not to dissemble 
 the situation in Avhicli the 10th August has placed us. 
 It has divided us into republicans and royahsts; the 
 first scanty, the latter abundant, in numbers. In 
 this state of weakness, we republicans are exposed to 
 two fires — that of the enemy situated without, and 
 that of the royalists situated within. There is a roy;il 
 directory which sits secretly at Paris, and corresponds 
 with the Prussian army. To tell you where it meets, 
 who are its members, is out of the jiower of the mini- 
 sters. But in order to disconcert it, and to prevent 
 its disastrous correspondence with the enemy, it is 
 7iecessury, it is indispensable, to strike terror into tlie 
 royalists !" 
 
 At these words, accompanied by a gesture signifi- 
 cant of extermination, hcn-ror was depicted on every 
 countenance. "It is indispensable, I tell you," re- 
 sinned Danton, " to strike terror into the royalists. 
 It is in Paris, above all things, it behoves you to main- 
 tain yourselves; and it is not by exiiausting your 
 strcngtli in uncertain combats that you will succeed." 
 A sudden stupor spread over the council. Not a word 
 of rejoinder was given to Danton ; and all moved away 
 Avithout any precise comprehension — without ventiu-- 
 ing, indee<l, to form any surmise of what projects were 
 devising by the minister. 
 
 He innnediately i)roceeded to the committee of sur- 
 veillance at the conunune, wliich arl)itrarily disposed 
 of tlie persons of all citizens, and in which Marat 
 reigned .supreme. Tlie colleagues of Marat, his igno- 
 rant ;md bUnd uistruments, were I'anis and Sergent,
 
 170 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 already signalised on the 20th June and the 10th Au- 
 gust, and certain persons respectively named Jourdeuil, 
 Duplain, Lefort, and Lenfimt. There, during the night 
 between Thursday tlie 3utli and Friday the 31st 
 August, horrible schemes were metlitated against the 
 unfortmiate persons detamed in the jirisons of Paris. 
 A deplorable and terrible example of political passion! 
 Danton, whom we have always represented as with- 
 out hatred against his personal enemies, and frequently 
 accessible to emotions of pity, lent his daring spirit to 
 the infernal reveries of i\Iarat. They arranged in con- 
 junction a project, such as several earlier ages have 
 witnessed, but which, at the end of the eighteenth 
 centurjs cannot be exi)lained by the ignorance of the 
 times or the ferocity of manners. We have seen, three 
 years previously, a certain Maillard figuring at the 
 head of some uifuriated women, during the famous 
 days of the 5th and 6ih October. Tliis IMaiUard, for- 
 merly a tipstatf, a clever but bloodthirsty personage, 
 had drawn together a band of brutal men, fit for any 
 desperate deed, and such as are foimd in those classes 
 amongst wliich education has not corrected the im- 
 pulses by improving the understanding. He then was 
 known to be the leader of such a hand ; and if we 
 may credit a recent publication, he was instructed 
 " to hold himself in readiness to act on the first signid, 
 to plant himself in an efiective and sure manner, to 
 prepare instruments, to arrange precautions for pre- 
 venting the shrieks of victims, to provide vinegar, 
 birch-brooms, quick-lime, covered carts, et cetera." 
 
 In the mean time, a rmnour of some terrible exe- 
 cution was silently disseminated. The relatives of 
 tlie prisoners were in mortal agony, and the plot, like 
 those of the 10th August, the 20"th June, and other 
 eras, transpired beforehand through sinister portents. 
 On all sides were men repeating that it was necessary, 
 by a terrible example, to paralyse the conspirators, 
 wlio, from the depths of prisons, Avere in correspon- 
 dence with the foreigner. They tomplained of the 
 dilatoriness of the tribunal erected to punish the cri- 
 minals of the 10th August, and demanded, with cries 
 of fuiy, prompt justice. On the 31st, the ex-minister 
 Montmorin was acquitted by the tribunal of the 17th 
 Augaist ; and it was forthwith proclaimed to the outer- 
 most suburb that treason was rampant every where, 
 and that impunity to the guilty was assured. The 
 same day it was confidently asserted that a condemned 
 prisoner had made revelations. These revelations im- 
 ported that, during the night, the prisoners wei'e to 
 escape from the jails, seize upon arms, spread them- 
 selves through the city, wreak a fidl measure of ven- 
 geance, then release the king, and open Paris to the 
 Prussians. Meanwhile, the captives thus accused were 
 trembling for their lives ; their relatives were in the 
 utmost consternation, and the royal family itself ex- 
 pected nothing but death in the recesses of the Temple 
 donjon. 
 
 At the Jacobin Club, in the sections, in the council 
 of the commune, and in the majority of the assembly, 
 were many men who imi)licitly believed in these plots 
 imputed to the captives, and scrupled not to assert their 
 extermination to be lawful and right. Surely nature 
 does not produce so many monsters for one moment 
 of time, and it is the spirit of party alone which can 
 warp tbe intellect of so many men at oncel How 
 mournful a lesson for nations ! A belief in dangers is 
 prevalent, a strong conviction of the necessity of re- 
 pelling them is felt; this cry is uicessantly repeated ; 
 frenzy is engendered; and wliilst certain men hghtly 
 say that some blow ought really to be struck, others 
 strike the blow with sanguinary daring. 
 
 On Saturday the 1st Septend)er, the forty-eight 
 hours fixed for tlie closing of the barriers and the 
 execution of the domicihary visits liad elapsed, and 
 the communications were re-established. But a sudden 
 report was spread during the day of the capture of 
 Verdun. That fortress was only invested, but it was 
 currently believed that it had fidlen, and that a fresh 
 
 treason had delivered it, like Long>vy. Danton caused 
 it to be immediately decreed by the commune that on 
 the following day, the 2d of September, the muster- 
 drinns should be beat, the tocsin sounded, the alarm- 
 gnus fired ; and tluit all the disposaljle citizens should 
 assemble in arms on the Champ de iSIars, there bivouac 
 during the rest of the day, and depart the next morn- 
 ing to plant themselves under the walls of Verdun. 
 From such portentous stimulants it was evident that 
 something more than a general levy was contemplated. 
 Relatives ran in haste, and used every effort to obtain 
 the enlargement of prisoners dear to them. Manuel, 
 the jirocurator-syndic, being entreated by a generous 
 female, set at liberty, it is said, two captives of the 
 family of Latremouille. Another woman, JSIadame 
 Fausse-Lendry, obstinately desiring to folloAv her uncle, 
 the Abbe de Rastignac, into captivity, was answered 
 by Sergent in these words, " You are very imprudent ; 
 the prisons are riot safe." 
 
 The following day, the 2d September, was a Sunday, 
 and the prevailing idleness augmented the popular 
 fei'ment. Nmnerous groups were gathered at all points, 
 and it was loudly proclaimed that the enemy might 
 be at Paris in three days. The commune informed 
 the assembly of the measures it had taken to raise a 
 general levy of the citizens. Vergniaud, giving way 
 to a patriotic enthusiasm, instantly mounted the tri- 
 bune, congratulated the Parisians on their courage, 
 and applauded them for converting the barren zeal of 
 speech into the more active and beneficial zeal of 
 martial heroism. "It appears," said he, "that the 
 plan of the enemy is to march straight upon the capi- 
 tal, leaving the fortifications behind him. So be it ! — 
 such a project Avill be oiu- salvation and his ruin. Our 
 armies, too weak to resist him, will be at least strong 
 enough to harass him in the rear ; and when he arrives, 
 followed by our battalions, he will find himself in pre- 
 sence of the Parisian army, drawn up in battle array 
 under the walls of the capital ; and then, enveloped on 
 all sides, he will be exterminated by the land he has 
 profaned. But amidst these flattering hopes, there is 
 one danger which must not be chssembled, and it is 
 that of panics. Our enemies count upon them, lavish 
 gold to produce them ; and you are aware there are 
 men kneaded of so slimy a mud, that they decompose 
 at the slightest shock of danger. I wish this race 
 without soids, but with the hmnan form, covdd be dis- 
 tinguished, all its members gathered into one town — 
 Longwy, for example — to be called the to^ii of pol- 
 troons; and there, the objects of contumely, they could 
 no longer diflFuse alann amongst their fellow-citizens, 
 no longer lead them to take dwarfs for giants, or the 
 dust flying before a company of Hulans for embattled 
 battalions ! 
 
 Parisians ! it is now you are called upon to display 
 a grand energy. Why are the intrenchments of the 
 camp not more advanced ? Where are the spades and 
 mattocks which reared the altar of the federation and 
 levelled the Champ de Mars ? You have manifested 
 an exemplary ardour for festivals; you Avill doubtless 
 not evince less for battles. You have celebrated and 
 sung the songs of liberty ; now you must defend it I 
 We have no longer mere kings of brass to cast down, 
 but kings living, and armed with all their power. I 
 therefore move that the national assembly gives the 
 first example, and sends twelve commissioners, not to 
 make exliortations, but to labour and hew with their 
 own hands, in the face of all the citizens." 
 
 This proposition was adopted with the greatest 
 enthusiasm. Danton followed Vergniaud; he expa- 
 tiated upon the measures already adopted, and pro- 
 posed additional ones. " One part of the people," said 
 he, " is about to depart for the frontiers, another to 
 dig intrenchments, and a third with pikes will defend 
 the interior of our toviis. But this is not enough; we 
 nnist dispatch into all quarters commissioners and 
 couriers to bring the whole of France into an imitation 
 of Paris- we must jiass a decree by which every citizen
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 171 
 
 shall be obliged, under penalty of death, to serve in 
 person or to furnish his arms." He added, in conclu- 
 sion : " The giuis you will shortly hear are not the 
 giins of alarm — they are to sound the charge ujion the 
 enemies of the country. To vanquish them, to over- 
 whelm them, what is needed? Boldness! still boldness, 
 for ever boldness!'" 
 
 The words and gestures of the minister produced a 
 profomid sensation amongst all present. His sugges- 
 tion was acceded to, and a decree passed in accordance ; 
 he then left and repaired to the committee of surveil- 
 lance. All the authorities, all the bodies — the assembly, 
 the commune, the sections, the clubs — were sittuig. 
 The ministers, assembled at the office of the admiralty, 
 were waiting for Danton to hold a comicil. The entire 
 city was agitated. Profoimd terror pervaded the pri- 
 sons. At the Temple, the royal family, which every 
 connnotion was calculated to alarm more than any 
 other prisoners, uaquired with great anxiety the cause 
 of so niiich agitation. In the various prisons, the 
 jailors were themselves dismayed. The governor of 
 the Abbey had early in the morning sent away his 
 wife and children. Dinner had been served to tlie 
 prisoners two hours before the accustomed time, and 
 aU the knives removed from their napkins. Struck 
 with these cuTiimstances, they m-gently questioned 
 their keepers, but coiild elicit no reply. At length, as 
 the clocks tolled two, the drums began to beat, the 
 tocsm was rmig, and the alarm -gvms resounded through 
 the capital. Groups of citizens repaired to the Champ 
 de Mars ; others surrounded the commune and the 
 assembly, and blocked up the pubUc places. 
 
 At the to^vn-haU were twenty-four priests, arrested 
 for their refusal to take the oath, who were intended 
 to be transferred from the room of provisional deten- 
 tion to the dungeons of the Abbey. Either intcntion- 
 j ally or otherwise, this moment was cliosen for tlieir 
 j removal. They were placed in six hackney-coaches, 
 I escorted by Breton and Marseillese federalists, and 
 conducted at a slow pace towards the Faubourg Saint- 
 Germain, along the quays, the Pont Neuf, and the Rue 
 Danphine. A mob surrounded and overwhelmed them 
 with execrations. " These are the conspirators," said 
 the federalists, " who are to murder our wives and 
 children whilst we are absent on the frontiers !" These 
 words tended still more to increase the timmlt. The 
 doors of the vehicles were opened; the mifortunate 
 ecclesiastics attempted to shut them, so as to shelter 
 themselves from injurious treatment, but they were 
 prevented, and compelled to suffer with patience the 
 blows and curses showered upon them. At length 
 they reached the court of tlie Abbey, where an immense 
 crowd was already congregated. This com't led to 
 the cells, and communicated with the room in which 
 the committee of the section Quatre-Nations held its 
 sittings. The first coach stopped before the door of 
 the committee-room, and was immediately smTounded 
 by a horde of infuriated men. MaiUard was present. 
 The carriage-door was thrown open; the nearest of 
 the prisoners advanced to alight and enter the com- 
 mittee, but he was instantly pierced with a thousand 
 daggers. The second threw himself back in the coach, 
 but he was pulled out by main force, and slaughtered 
 like the first. The two others met with the same fate 
 in their turn; and tlie assassins abandoned that vehicle 
 to attack those which followed. They arrived one 
 after the other in the fatal court; and the last of the 
 twenty -four priests was murdered amidst the yells of 
 the furious populace.* 
 
 At this moment hastily arrived Rillaud-Varenncs, 
 a member of tlie communal council, and the only one 
 amongst the organisers of these massacres who con- 
 stantly defended them, and witnessed their perpetra- 
 tion with intrepid cruelty. He a])peared wearing his 
 official scarf, made his way through the blood and over 
 
 * Excepting one onlj-, the Abb^ Siciird, who vraa 8;ive<l by a 
 miracle. 
 
 the corpses, and addressed the mob of murderers in 
 terms of approbation. "Peoi]le," said he, "you ex- 
 terminate yoiu* enemies ; you do your duty." A voice 
 was raised after Billaud had ceased ; it was the voice 
 of Maillard. " There's nothing more to be done here," 
 he cried ; " let us go to the Carmelites'." His band 
 followed him ; and all rushed tumultuously towards 
 the church of the Carmelites, in which two hundred 
 priests had been imprisoned. They broke mto the 
 church, and killed those unfortunate ecclesiastics as 
 they prayed to Heaven, and embraced each other 
 under mipending death. They then raised loud shouts 
 for the Archbishop of Aries, sought for, discovered, 
 and dispatched him liy cleaAnng his skidl with a sabre. 
 After wielding their swords in the slaughter, they 
 levelled their fire-arms, and poured general volleys 
 into the chambers and the garden, upon the walls and 
 the trees, where many of the victims had fled to save 
 themselves. 
 
 Whilst this massacre was proceeding at the Carme- 
 lite Church, Maillard returned to the Abbey with a part 
 of his gang. Covered with blood and sweat, he entered 
 the committee of the section of the Quatre-Nations, 
 and demanded wine for the brave labourers who were de- 
 livering the nation from its enemies. The affrighted 
 committee granted them twenty -four quarts. 
 
 The wine was served in the court, upon tables sur- 
 romided by the A'ictims of the afternoon's massacre. 
 After drinking, Maillard suddenly exclaimed, pointing 
 to the prison, " To the Abbey! " At these words a new 
 impulse was imparted to the assassins, and they com- 
 menced an attack upon the gate. The trembling pri- 
 soners heard the howls, and knew them to be the sig- 
 nals of death. The jailor and his wife fainted away. 
 The doors were forced open ; the first captives that 
 offered were seized, dragged by the feet, and thro'wn 
 all bleeding into the court. Whilst tliese were being 
 slaughtered without distinction, ]\Iaillard and his as- 
 sociates demanded the prison register and the keys of 
 the different wards. One of them, advancing towards 
 the wicket, mounted on a stool, and commenced an 
 harangue. " My friends," said he, " you are anxious 
 to destroy the aristocrats who are the enemies of the 
 people, and who designed to cut the throats of your 
 wives and children whilst you were on the frontiers. 
 You have good reason, doubtless ; but you are good 
 citizens, who love justice, and would be torn by re- 
 morse if you steeped yom* hands in imaocent blood." 
 "Yes! yes!" shouted the assassins. •' Ver^^ well; 
 then, I ask you, when you are thus rushing hke in- 
 fm-iated tigers, without inquiry or discrimination, upon 
 men who are unknown to you, do you not run the 
 risk of confounding the innocent with the guilty?" 
 The speaker was intemipted by one of his hearers, 
 who, holding a sword in his hand, exclaimed in his 
 turn, " Do you also Avish to set us asleep ? If the 
 Prussians and Aiistrians were at Paris, would they 
 seek to distmguish the giiilty ? I have a Avife and 
 children whom I Avill not leave in danger. If you 
 please, you can give arms to these rascals, and we will 
 fight them with equal numbers ; but before we depart, 
 Paris nuist be purged." " He is right — we must enter ! " 
 said the others, and they pushed forward. They M'erc 
 stopped, however, and compelled to consent to a species 
 of trial. It was agreed that the prison register should 
 be consulted, and that one of tlie assailants should 
 perform the functions of a president, read aloud the 
 names, the causes of detention, and pronounce upon 
 the spot the fate of each prisoner. " Maillard ! Mail- 
 lard for president!" cried several voices, and tliat ])er- 
 son immediately assumed the office. This terrible 
 president seateil himself at a table, sjjread before him . 
 the prison records, called around liim some men selected 
 at hazard to assist witli their counsel, appointed others 
 to bring forth the prisoners from the cells, and dis- 
 posed the rest at the door to finish the murders. In 
 order to avoid scenes of agony and despair, it was ar- 
 ranged that he should pronounce these words, " The
 
 17-J 
 
 HISTUKY Ob' THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 aentleman to La Force,'" when the prisoner, being pushed 
 through the wicket, would be delivered over, without 
 suspecting it, to the swords awaiting lain. 
 
 The first brought forward were tlie Swiss detained 
 at the Abbey, their officers having been conducted to 
 the Conciergerie. " It was you," said MaiJlard to 
 them, "who assassinated the x)eoplc on the 10th Au- 
 gust." " We were attacked," replied the wretclied 
 captives, " and we olieyed our leaders." " Well," 
 coolly observed jMaillartl, " we only intend to conduct 
 you to La Force." But the unfortunate Swiss had got 
 a glimpse of the threatening swords ou the other side 
 of the wicket, and could not be deceived. They were 
 in-ged to advance, but they recoiled ana fell back. One 
 of them, with a firmer spirit, asked where it was in- 
 tended tliey slioidd pass. The door was openetl before 
 him, and, "lowering his head, he precipitated himself 
 into the midst of the swords and pikes. The others 
 rushed after him, and all suflered a like fate. 
 
 The executioners returned to the cells, collected the 
 women into one cliamber, and brought out fresh jiri- 
 soners. Some amongst them, accused of forging assig- 
 nats, were the first to fall. After them came the cele- 
 brated ;\Iontmorin, whose acquittal had caused so great 
 a tunudt, but had not procured him liis freedom. Con- 
 ducted before the blood-stained president, he declared, 
 that having pleaded before a regular tribunal, he could 
 not recognise any other. " In that case," replied Mail- 
 lard, " you nmst go to La Force to await a new trial." 
 The ex-minister, effectually deceived, craved a coach. 
 He was informed he would find one at the gate. He 
 made a fresh request for some effects, proceeded to the 
 door, and received immediate death. 
 
 Thierry, the king's valet-de-chambre, was after- 
 wards led out. "Like master, like servant," said 
 JIaillard ; and the wretched man was dispatched. Sub- 
 sequently came the justices of peace Buob and Boc- 
 quillon, accused of having formed part of the secret 
 committee at the Tuileries, upon which ground they 
 were killed. The night tluis advanced, and each pri- 
 soner, as he heard the yells of the assassins, deemed 
 his last hour at hand. 
 
 And what were the constituted authorities, the 
 assembled bodies, the citizens of Paris, doing at tliis 
 moment ? In so immense a capital, silence and tumult, 
 security and terror, may prevail at the same time, so 
 distant is one part from another. It was late before 
 tlie assembly heard of the outrages at tlie prisons, and,' 
 struc;k with dismay, it had fortliwith sent a deputa- 
 tion to appease the people and save the victims. Tlie 
 conmiune had commissioned some of its members to 
 deliver prisoners for debt, and distinguish between 
 those who were called the innocent and the guilty. The 
 Jacobins, although assembled, and well aware of all 
 tliat was passing, observed a silence apparently studied. 
 The ministers, sitting at the ofljce of the marine m 
 order to forni a council, were as yet ignorant of the 
 scenes enacting, and awaited the arrival of Danton, 
 who was busy at the committee of surveillance. Tiie 
 commander-in-chief Santerre had, as he stated to the 
 commune, issued orders, hut tliey were not obeyed; 
 and, besides, almost all liis grenadiers were occupied 
 witli the guard of the barriers. It is certain there 
 were furtive and contradictory commands, and all tlie 
 evidences of some secret authority in opposition to the 
 public authority were manifested. A iiiquet of natiomd 
 guards was stationed at the court of the Abbey, hold- 
 ing orders to give entrance but allow no exit. At 
 other posts tlie men stood waiting for instructions, 
 but received none. Santerre had either lost his pre- 
 sence of mind, as on the 10th August, or was in the 
 plot. Whilst commissioners, publicly dispatched by 
 the commune, came to preach tranquillity and stay 
 the populace, otlicr members of tlie same commune 
 appeared l)efore the committee of tlie Quatre-Nations, 
 wbicli was sitting close beside tlie scene of massacre, 
 and said, "/.v all (joing well here as at the Carmelites' ? 
 The commune sends us to offer you assistance i^ you re- 
 tjnire ati^. 
 
 Tlie commissioners sent by tlie assembly and the 
 commune to put a stoji to tlie murders, Avere quite 
 powerless. They had fomid an immense crowd be- 
 sieging the environs of the prison, and witnessing the 
 frightful spectacle, with cries of " The nation for ever!" 
 The aged 13usaulx, momited on a chair, endeavoured 
 to utter a few words of clemency, but was unable to 
 obtain a hearing. Bazire, with greater tact, feigned to 
 partake the resentment of the nndtitudc, but was no 
 longer listened to when he strove to awaken senti- 
 ments of comjiassion. Manuel, the procurator of the 
 commune, stimulated by pity, ran the greatest risks 
 without succeeding m saving a single victim. When 
 tliese tidmgs were communicated, the commune, some- 
 wliat more roused in feeling, dispatched a second de- 
 putation " for the purpose of calming the excitement, 
 and instructing the people as to their real interests." 
 This deputation, equally impotent with the first, was 
 merely able to release a few women and debtors. 
 
 The massacre continued during the whole night. 
 The assassins at times changed characters, those at 
 the wicket taking the place of those on the judgment- 
 seat, and thus becoming alternately judges and exe- 
 cutioners. Meanwhile they drank abundantly, setting 
 their glasses, stained with blood, on the table. In the 
 midst of this terrible carnage, however, they spared 
 some victims, and experienced an inconceivable joy in 
 granting them life. A young man, claimed by a sec 
 tion, and declared free from aristocracy^ was acquitted 
 to tlie shouts of " The nation for ever !" and borne in 
 triumph on the bloody arms of the executioners. The 
 venerable SombreuO, governor of the Invalids, was 
 brought forth in his turn, and condemned to be trans- 
 ferred to La Force. His daughter had perceived liini 
 from the depths of the prison ; she sjirang through 
 swords and pikes, pressed her father in her arms, clung 
 to him with such force, and supplicated the murderers 
 with so many tears and in so heart-rending an accent, 
 that their fury was arrested by amazement. Then, as 
 if to test by further proof a sensibility which began to 
 affect them, " Urink," they cried to the generous gu-1 
 — "drink of the blood of aristocrats!" and they pre- 
 sented to her a goblet fidl of blood. She drank, and 
 her father was saved. The daughter of Cazotte like- 
 wise succeeded in clasping her father in her arms ; 
 she entreated like the young and noble Sombreuil, was 
 irresistible hke her, and more happy, since she obtamed 
 the safety of her parent without any revolting test 
 being imposed on her affection. Tears flowed from the 
 eyes of these ferocious men, and tlien they returned 
 to demand more victims ! One of them, going back 
 into the prison to bring out prisoners for slaughter, 
 learnt that the unfortunate persons whose throats he 
 came to cut had been without water during twenty- 
 two hours, and he wished to put the jailor to death 
 for his neglect Another felt hiterested in a prisoner 
 whom he was conducting to the wicket, because he 
 heard him speak the dialect of his department. "Why 
 art thou here?" said he to M. Journiac de Saint- 
 Meard. " If thou art not a traitor, the president, who 
 is not a fool, will render thee justice. Be firm, and 
 answer without trembling." M. de Journiac was pre- 
 sented to Maillard, who inspected the register. "All!" 
 said MaiUard, " it is you, M. Journiac, who wrote in 
 the Journal of the Court and the City ?" " No," re- 
 plied the prisoner, " it is a calumny ; I never wrote in 
 it." " Take care how you deceive us," observed Mail- 
 lard, " for every falsehood is here punislied with death. 
 Have you not recently absented yourself for tlie pur- 
 pose of joining the army of emigrants ? " "That is 
 also a calumny ; I have a certificate attesting that I 
 have not quitted Paris during twenty-three months." 
 " From whom is the certificate.' Is the signature 
 authentic ?" Luckily for M. de Journiac, there was a 
 man in tlie sanguinary auditory to whom the signer 
 of the certificate was personally known. The signa- 
 ture was accordingly verified, and declared genuine. 
 " You see now," quoth M. de Journiac, " I have been
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 173 
 
 calumniated." " If the calumniator were here," re- 
 plied ^Slaillard, " a terrible retribution would be in- 
 tlicted on him. Eut say, was there no motive for 
 unprisoning you ? " " Yes," responded M. de Journiac, 
 " I was known for an aristocrat." " An aristocrat ! " 
 " Yes, an aristocrat ; but you are not here to try 
 opinions, you can only judge conduct. Mine is with- 
 out reproach : I lia^e never conspired : my soldiers, 
 in the regiment I commanded, adored me, and they 
 besought me at Nanci to go and seize upon Malseigne." 
 Struck with so undaimted a firmness, the judges 
 looked at each other, and ]\Iaillard gave the signal of 
 pardon. Instantly shouts of " The nation for ever ! " 
 resounded from ail sides. The prisoner was embraced. 
 Two individuals took hold of him, and, shielding him 
 with their arms, carried him in safety thi-ough the 
 fearful forest of pikes and sabres. M. de Journiac 
 wished to give them monejs but they refused it, and 
 asked only to embrace him. Another prisoner, like- 
 wise saved, was conducted to his own house with 
 equal fervour. The executioners, aU steeped in blood, 
 requested to be witnesses of the joy of his family, and 
 immediately afterwards they retm-ned to the carnage. 
 In so convulsive a state, aU the emotions successively 
 beat in the human heart. Alternately a mild and 
 savage animal, the man weeps or slays. Plunged in 
 blood, he is suddenly touched by some noble instance 
 of devotion or firmness ; he is sensible of the honour 
 of apjiearing just, alive to the vanity of seeming honest 
 and disinterested. If, during these deplorable days of 
 September, some of the savages acted both as mur- 
 derers and robbers, others were seen coming to deposit 
 on the desk of the committee at the Abbey the bloody 
 jewels found on the slain. 
 
 But durmg this fi-ightful night, the gang had de- 
 vided, and can-ied carnage uito the other prisons of 
 Paris. At the Chatelet, La Force, La Couciergerie, 
 the Bernardins, Saint-Firmin, La Salpetriere, and the 
 Bicetre, the like slaughter had been perpetrated, and 
 torrents of blood had flowed as at the Abbey. The 
 following day, Monday the 3d September, the sun 
 made manifest the atrocious deeds of darkness, and 
 Paris looked on in stupor. Billaud-Varennes appeared 
 again at the A bbey, where the evening before he had 
 encouraged those he caUed the labourcTs. Pie again 
 addressed them :— " ISIy friends," said he, " by slaying 
 the traitors, j-ou have saved the coimtry. France 
 owes you an eternal gratitude, and the mimicipaUtj^ 
 is sensible of the obhgation it has contracted towards 
 you. It offers twenty-four Uatcs to each of you, and 
 that sum will be immediately paid." These words 
 were received with mianimous applause ; and those to 
 whom they were spoken followed BUlaud-Varennes 
 into the committee, in order to obtain the payment 
 that was promised them. " Where do you intend us 
 to find fmids for tliis outlay?" said the president to 
 Billaud. He thereupon, pronoimcing a fresh eulogy 
 upon the massacres, replied to the x)resident that the 
 minister of the interior ought to provide them for 
 such a pm-pose. The murderers hastened to Roland, 
 who had learnt with the daylight the crimes of the 
 night, and who rejected the demand ■w'ith indignation. 
 Returning to the conmiittee, the assassins claimed, 
 under ])ain of death, the Avages of their i:ifani()us 
 labours, and each member was obliged to empty his 
 pockets to pay them. Ultimately the commmie dis- 
 charged the debt; and in the register of its expenses 
 maj'' be found several items of sums paid to the exe- 
 cutioners of September. Under date of the 4tli Sej)- 
 tember especially, is marked a sum of one thousand 
 four luuidred and sixty-three livres as applied in that 
 channel. 
 
 The tale of so many horrors had traversed all Paris, 
 and diffused the utmost consternation. The Jacobins 
 continued in their pristine silence. At the commune, 
 men began to be moved with grief; but they did not 
 fail to add that the people were justified, that they 
 nad struck none but criminals, and that in their ven- 
 
 geance they had only erred in anticipating the sword 
 of the laws. The comicil-general had sent new com- 
 missioners " to calm (he effervescence, and bring back to 
 principles those who had been misled." Such were the 
 expressions of tlie public authorities. Every where 
 men were abroad, who, albeit lamenting the sufferings 
 of the slaughtered, added : " K tliey had been left alive, 
 they would have cut our throats in a few days." 
 Others said : " If we be conquered and massacred by 
 the Prussians, they at least will have fallen before us." 
 Such are the dismal fruits of the fear mutually in- 
 spired by parties, and of the hatred engendered by that 
 fear. 
 
 The assembly, in the midst of these frightfid dis- 
 orders, was grievously afflicted. Decree upon decree 
 it passed, calling upon the commime to give an ac- 
 count of the state of Paris, to which the commune 
 answered that it was applymg all its energies to re- 
 establish order and law. However, the assembly, 
 composed of those Girondists who so intrepidly de- 
 nomiced the assassins of September, and died so nobly 
 for having attacked them, was not inspired with the 
 idea of proceeding in a body to the prisons, and inter- 
 posing between the murderers and the victims. If 
 that generous idea came not to tear the members from 
 their benclies, and impel them to the scene of carnage, 
 it must be attributed to surprise, to the feeling of 
 their utter powerlessness, perhaps also to that slender 
 emotion evoked by the perils of enemies, and to that 
 fatid conviction, partaken by several deputies, that the 
 victims were only so many conspirators, from whom 
 death would have been received if it had not been 
 given. 
 
 One man displayed that day great magnanimity of 
 character, and arose with noble energ_y agauist the 
 assassins. In their reign of three days he entered his 
 protest on tlie second. On the morning of Monday 
 the instant he was apprised of the crimes of the night, 
 he wrote to the mayor I'etion, who was as yet igno- 
 rant of them, and to Santerre, who remamed inactive, 
 addressing to them both the most urgent remon- 
 strances. At the same moment he sent a letter to the 
 assembly, which elicited great applause. This man 
 of honesty and courage, so unworthily traduced by 
 party-spii-it, was the minister Roland. In his letter he 
 denounced aU kinds of disorders, the usuqiations of the 
 commune, and the outrages of the populace, saymg 
 nobly that he knew how to die at the post the law 
 had assigned him. But we may form an idea of the 
 disposition of the pubhc mind, of the fuiy M-liich raged 
 against those who were called traitors, and of the cau- 
 tion it was needful to observe m speaking to the out- 
 rageous passions of the moment, by reflectmg upon 
 the following passage. Assuredly the courage of the 
 man who, singly and publicly, threw the responsi- 
 bility of the massacres upon tdl the authorities, cannot 
 be questioned; and yet such is the manner in which 
 he was obliged to express himself in that respect. 
 
 " Yesterday was a day over whose occiu-rences we 
 ought perhaps to cast a veil I Icnow that the people, 
 terrible in their vengeance, stiU observe in its exac- 
 tion a species of justice; they do not render victims 
 all who come in the Avay of their fury ; they direct it 
 upon those Avhom they believe to have been too long 
 spared by the sword of the law, and whom the threat- 
 ening aspect of afl'airs persuades them ought to be 
 sacrificed witliout delay. But I know that it is easy 
 for ruffians and traitors to take advantage of this fer- 
 ment, and tliat it nuist be allayed ; I aver that we 
 owe to all France the declaration that the executive 
 power could neitlier foresee nor prevent these ex- 
 cesses; I aver that it is <hc bounden duty of the con- 
 stituted authorities to put a period to them, or to 
 consider themselves as amiihUated. I am well aware 
 that this decliiration wUl expose me to the rage of 
 certain agitators. So be it ! Let them take my life: 
 1 desire to preserve it only for liberty and equality. 
 If they be violated, destroyed, either by the sway of
 
 174 
 
 HlttTOUY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 foreign despots or the aberrations of a delutled people, 
 I have lived long enough ; Tnit to my last sigh I shall 
 have done my duty. That consciousness is tlie only 
 possession I covet, and no power on earth shall take 
 it from me." 
 
 The assembly greeted this letter Tvith infinite ap- 
 plause; and, on the motion of Lamourette, ordained 
 that the commune should render an account of the 
 state of Paris. The commune rejoined tliat tranquil- 
 lity was re-established. On learning the bold exhor- 
 tations of the minister of the interior, ]\Iarat and his 
 conwnittee were moved with wrath, and audaciously 
 directed against him a warrant of arrest. Such was 
 their blind fury, that tliey dared to attack a minister, 
 and a man who at tlie moment was still in the enjoy- 
 ment of all his jiopularity. Danton, when he heard of 
 their proceedings, exclaimed with vehemence agauist 
 those members of the committee whom he calle<l mad- 
 men. iMthougli thwarted daily by the inflexibility of 
 Roland, he was far from hating him ; besides, he dis- 
 countenanced, in his terrible policy, all that he deemed 
 useless; and he looked upon it as a pure extravagance 
 to seize the first minister of the state in the midst of 
 his fimctions. He repaired to the nmnieipality, burst 
 into the committee-room, and inveighed with warmtli 
 against !Marat. However, the others succeeded in 
 appeasing him, and inducing a reconciliation between 
 him and I»Iarat. The warrant of arrest was put into 
 his hands, and he proceeded forthwith to show it to 
 Pction, relating at the same time what he had done. 
 " See," said he to the mayor, "of what these nutdmen are 
 capable ! But 1 know how to bring them to reason." 
 " You have done wrong," coldly observed Pction ; 
 '' that act would have simply ruined its authors." 
 
 Petion, likewise, though cooler in temperament than 
 Roland, had evmced equal courage. He had written 
 to Santerre, who, from impotence or collusion, merely 
 replied that his heart was torn, but that he could not 
 enforce the execution of his orders. He had subse- 
 quently repaired in person to the different scenes of 
 the carnage. At La Force, he had dragged from their 
 blood-stained seat two municipal officers, who, in their 
 official scarfs, were perfonning the functions that 
 Maillard exercised at the Abbey. But he had scarcely 
 departed to visit the other prisons, than those muni- 
 cipal officers returned and resimicd their executions. 
 Petion, every where powerless, ultimately repaired to 
 the house of Roland, wJiom grief had thro^vn into a 
 fit of illness. The Temple alone, against which the 
 popular rage was strongly excited, on account of the 
 important inmates it shielded, was secured from out- 
 rage. At that s])ot the armed force had been more 
 respected; and a tricoloured ri])bon, stretched between 
 the walls and the populace, had sufficed to keep it 
 back, and to save the royal family. 
 
 The monstrous beings who, since Sunday, had l)ccn 
 shedding blood, had grown enamoured of their hor- 
 rible task, and contracted a habit for it which they 
 were unable to shake off". They had even established 
 a certain regularity in their massacres : they sus- 
 pended them, to remove the dead bodies and to take 
 refreshments. Women, carrying food, went to the 
 prisons and furnished dinner to their husbands, who, 
 as they said, " were, cmjihi/i'd at tlie Abbeij." 
 
 At La Force, Bicctre, and the Abbey, the slaughter 
 continued longer than elsewhere. It was at La Force 
 that the unfortunate Princess de Lamballe was im- 
 prisoned — she who had been so idolised at court for 
 her beauty and influence with the queen. Slie was 
 led in a dying state to the fatal wicket. "'Who are 
 you?" asked the executioners in scarfs, addressing 
 her. " Louisa of Savoy, Princess de Lamballe." 
 " What part did you play at court ? Are you ac- 
 quainted with tlie i)lots of the palace?" "I never 
 knew of any i)lot." " Take an oath to love liberty — 
 take an oath tf) hate the king, the queen, and royalty." 
 " I will take tlie first oatli ; I cannot take the second, 
 it is not in my heart." " Swear, then " said one of 
 
 the assistants, who desired to save her. But the un- 
 fortunate captive was no longer able to see or to hear. 
 " Let the lady be released," said the foreman of the 
 gang. Here, as at the Abbey, a phrase had been 
 fixed upon to serve as the signal of death. They led 
 away this forlorn female, whom they did not intend, 
 some writers allege, to put to death, but actually to 
 release. However, she was received at the door by 
 some ruffians thirsting for carnage. A sabre-cut upon 
 the back of her head made the blood spout forth. She 
 still advanced, nevertheless, supported by two men, 
 who possibly wished to save her ; but she fell, a few 
 paces farther, under a second blow. Her beautiful 
 form was lacerated and hacked. The assassins out- 
 raged and nnitilated her body, ^nd cUvided its por 
 tions. Her head, her heart, and other parts of the 
 corpse, stuck on the points of pikes, were paraded 
 through the streets of Paris. It was but proper, said 
 these persons, in their atrocious language, to carry 
 them to the foot of the throne. They ran to the Temple, 
 and startled with frightfid howls the wretched cap- 
 tives, Avho inqxiired with terror what was their cause. 
 The municipal officers strove to prevent their seeing 
 the liorrible procession pass beneath their window, 
 and the bleeding head elevated on the end of the pike. 
 A national guard at length said to the queen, " It is 
 the head of Lamballe they wish to prevent you see- 
 ing." At these words the queen fainted. The Princess 
 Elizabeth, the king, and the valet -de-chambre Clery, 
 removed in their arms the unfortunate queen ; but the ' 
 yells of the ferocious crowd continued for a length of 
 tune to echo around the walls of the Temple. 
 
 The day of the 3d, and the night between the 3d 
 and 4th, were stained with a contmuance of these 
 murders. At Bicetre especially the carnage was longer 
 and greater than at the other prisons. There, several 
 thousand prisoners were confined for every variety of 
 offence. They Avere attacked, and endeavoured to 
 defend themselves. Cannon was brought up to reduce 
 them. A member of the commimal comicil-general 
 scrupled not to come and ask assistance to overpower 
 the prisoners who were guilty of defending themselves. 
 He was not listened to. Petion again repaired to 
 Bicetre, but could effect nothing. An insatiate thirst 
 for blood infuriated the midtitude; a frenzy for combat 
 and slaughter had succeeded with the populace to poli- 
 tical fanaticism, and thej' slew for the pleasure of slay- 
 ing. The massacre lasted at Bicetre until Wednesday 
 the 5th of September. 
 
 At last, almost all the destined victims had perished; 
 the prisons were empty ; the fiu-ions demanded more 
 blood, but the sombre instigators of so many mtu"ders 
 seemed to evince some return to pity. The expres- 
 sions used by the commune began to breathe gentler 
 sentiments. Deeply afflicted, it said, at the rigours 
 exercised against the prisoners, it issued fresh orders 
 to suppress them, and was now better obeyed. At 
 the same time there remained but few individuals to 
 whom its mercy coidd be available. The estimate of 
 the nmnber of victims differs in all the accounts of the 
 time, ranging from six to twelve thousand as the 
 amount of those who were massacred in the prisons of 
 Paris. * 
 
 * Tlie followint; extracts give snme curious details respecting 
 the flays of September, and poiirtray those frightful scenes in 
 their true aspect. It was at the Jacobin Club the most impor- 
 tant revelations were made, in consequence of the disputes which 
 :irose in the convention. 
 
 (SITTING OF MONDAY 2!)tH OCTOBER 1793.) 
 
 ChahoU — " This morning Louvet h;>s asserted a fact which it is 
 essential to review. He said it ■was not the men of the 10th 
 August who acted on the day of the 2d September ; and I, as an 
 eyewitness, tell you it was the same men. He said there were not 
 two hundred acting persons, and I tell you that I passed under an 
 arch of steel formed by ten thousand sabres : I appeal to Bazire, 
 Colon, and other deputies who were with me : between the Court of 
 the Monks and the prison of the Abbey they were obliged to press 
 close in order to allow us room to pass. I recognised, for my own
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 175 
 
 But if the executions spread consternation, the 
 audacity rcqinsite to avow and recommend an imita- 
 tion of them is a phenomenon not less surprising than 
 the executions themselves. The committee of surveil- 
 lance did not shrink from distributing a circular 
 through all the conmiunes of France, which history is 
 bound to preserve, with the seven signatures attached 
 to it. This astounding record is as follows : — 
 
 " Paris, 2d September 1792. 
 
 Brothers and Friends — A detestable plot, hatched 
 by the court, for murdering all the jwitriots of the 
 French empire — a plot in which a great number of 
 members of assembly are compromised, having reduced 
 the commime of I'aris, on the 9th of last month, to 
 the cruel necessity of using the force of the jjeople to 
 save the nation, it neglected nothing to deserve well 
 of the coimtrj'. After the testimonies borne to its 
 vigilance by the national assembly itself, could it have 
 been imagined that fresh plots were brewing in silence 
 at the very time, and that they should burst forth 
 precisely as the national assembly, forgetting it had 
 just declared the commune of Paris to have saved the 
 country, determined upon superseding it as the reward 
 of its intense civicism ? At this intelligence, the pub- 
 lic clamour, which arose on every side, convinced the 
 national assembh^ of the lu^gent necessity of uniting 
 with the people, and of restoring to the commune, by 
 the repeal of the decree of deprivation, the power with 
 which it had invested it. 
 
 Proud of enjoying in full plenitude the national 
 confidence, which it will endcavoiu- to merit more and 
 more — placed in the centre of all conspiracies, and 
 determined to perish for the public safety, it will plume 
 
 part, one hundred and fifty federalists. It is impossible but that 
 Louvet and his adherents were present at those popular execu- 
 tions. At the same time, any one who could coolly pronounce 
 ^uch a discourse as that of Louvet, cannot have much humanity ; 
 1 know that, since his speech, I would not like to sleep by his 
 side for fear of being assassinated. I call upon Potion to declare 
 if it be true that there were not more than two hundred men at 
 those executions : but it is natural that intriguers should fasten 
 on that day, respecting which France has yet much to learn. 
 They wish to cut oft' the patriots in detail ; they are about to 
 decree imjjeachment against Robespierre, Marat, Panton, San- 
 terre. They will soon add to the number, Bazire, Merlin, Chabot, 
 Montaut, even Grangeneuve, if he had not become reconciled 
 with them. Then they will propose a decree against the whole 
 Faubourg Saint-Antoine, against the forty-eight sections; and 
 we shall be eight hundred thousand men decreed for impeach- 
 ment ! They ought, however, to be pretty sure of their power, 
 since they demand an ostracism." 
 
 (SITTING OF MONDAV 5tH NOVEMBEB.) 
 
 " Fabre d'Eglantine offers remarks on the day of the 2d Sep- 
 tember. He affirms that it was the men of the Kith Augu.st who 
 broke open the prisons of tlie Abbey, those of Orleans, and those 
 of Versailles. He says, that, in those critical moments, he saw 
 the same men come to the house of Danton, and evince their 
 gratification by rubbing theu- hands ; tliat one amongst them 
 expressed a keen desire that Jlorande should be immolated. He 
 adds, that hesaw, in thegarden of the minister for foreign aff"airs, 
 the minister Roland, pale, dejected, his head leaning against a 
 tree, and demamiiLig the removal of the convention to Tours or 
 Blois. The speaker says, further, that Danton alone showed 
 great cnergj' of character (hiring tiiat day ; that he never despaired 
 of the safety of the country ; that, by striking the earth with Iiis 
 foot, he made thousands of defenders start up ; and that lie liad 
 sufficient moderation not to abuse the s|)ccies of dictatorship with 
 which tlie national assembly had invested him, by its decree 
 that those wlio sliould imi)cde the ministerial ojterations should 
 be punishcil with deatli. Fabre afterwards declares that he has 
 received a letter from Madame Roland, in which she, the wife r)f 
 the minister of the interior, begs him to give his aid to a parti- 
 cular line of tactics, in order to carry some decrees in tlie con- 
 vention. The speaker demands tliat the society order the framing 
 of an address, which shall contain all the historical details of the 
 events wliich ha\e occurred since the period of Lafayette's ac- 
 quittal up till this d;iy." 
 
 Itself on having done its duty only when it shall liave 
 obtained your approbation, which is the object of all 
 its hopes, and of which it will be assured only when 
 all the departments have sanctioned its measures for 
 the public safety. Professing the principles cf the 
 most perfect equahty, and desiring no other privilege 
 than that of being the first to moimt the breach, it 
 will joyfully lower itself to the level of the smaDest 
 connmme in the empire, so soon as there shall be 
 nothing more to dread. 
 
 Aware that barbarian hordes are advancing against 
 it, the comnrane of Paris hastens to inform itsbrethren 
 in all the departments that a part of the ferocious 
 conspirators detained in the prisons has been put to 
 death by the peoi)le: an act of justice which appeared 
 to them indispensable for restraining by force of terror 
 the legions of traitors contained M'ithin their walls, at 
 the moment they were about to march against the 
 enemy; and doubtless the nation, after the long scries 
 of treasons wliich has conducted it to the edge of the 
 abyss, will freely adopt a measure so useful and neces- 
 sary; and all the French will say like the Parisians — 
 ' We march to meet the enemy, b"ut we leave not behind 
 us brigands to cut the throats of our wives and 
 children ! ' 
 
 (Signed) Duplain, Panis, Sergent, Le.vfant, 
 
 Marat, Lefort, Jourdeuil, Administrators oj 
 
 the Committee of Surveillance constituted at t/ie 
 
 Municipality." 
 
 A perusal of this document will serve to demonstrate 
 
 to what a height of fanaticism tlie approach of danger 
 
 had driven a vast proportion of the i)eople. But it is 
 
 time to revert to the theatre of the war, where more 
 
 glorious recollections are to be found. 
 
 Chabot.—" Here are the facts it is important to know. On the 
 10th August, the people in insurrection determined to sacrifice 
 the Swiss; at that epoch, the Krissotins did not deem them- 
 selves the men of the 10th, for they came to implore us to have 
 pity on them ; such x^ere the expressions of Lasource. I was a 
 god upon that day : I saved one huntired and fifty Swiss ; I stopped 
 by myself alone, at the door of the Feuillants, the people who 
 wished to penetrate into the hall, to sacrifice to their vengeance 
 those unfortunate Swiss : the Brissotins were afraid lest the 
 massacre should extend to them. From what I had done on the 
 10th August, I expected on the 2d September that I should be 
 deputed to the people ; no ! the extraordiniiry commission, with 
 the supreme Brissot for its president, did not choose me ! Whom 
 did it select? Dusaulx, to whom, it is true, Bazire was joined. 
 It was not ignorant, however, what men were alone capable of 
 influencing the people, and stopping the effusion of blood. I 
 encountered the deputation on the way ; Bazire urged me to ac- 
 company Iiim ; he induced me to accede. Had Dusaiilx any 
 particular instructions ? I laiow not ; but this I know, that 
 Dusaulx would not allow any one to speak. Amidst an assem- 
 blage of 10,000 men, amongst whom were 150 Jlarseillese, Du- 
 saulx mounted on a chair ; he was much confused ; he had to 
 speak to men armed with daggers. M'hen he at length gained 
 silence, I addressed him rapidly in these words, " If you have 
 self-possession, you will sfo]) the effusion of blood ; tell the 
 Parisiims it is their interest the massacre should cease, in order 
 that the departments may not conceive appi-ehensions relative to 
 the safety of the national convention about to assemble at Paris." 
 Dusaulx iieard me ; but, from insincerity or the vanity of old age, 
 he did nothing as I told him ; and yet if is AL Dusjuilx who is 
 proclaimed as tlie only honest man in the deputation of Paris! 
 A second fact, not less essential, is, that the massacre of the 
 prisoners at Orleans was not perpetrated by Parisians. That 
 massacre ought to bo esteemed the more odious, since it was 
 liuiger after the lOHi August, and was committed by a less number 
 of men. But the intiigucrs never si)c;ik of it ; they say not a 
 word about it, because an enemy of Biissot perished on that 
 occasion— the minister of foreign aflTairs, who had dismissed his 
 proteg(5 Narbonne. If I, of myself, at the door of the Feuillants, 
 stopped the people who wished toshiy the Swiss, how much more 
 ought the Legislative Assembly to have prevented the effusion of 
 blood ! If, then, any crime were committed, it must he charged 
 ui)on the Legislative Assembly, or lather upon Brissot, who then 
 managed it."
 
 170 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 CUAl'TER XIII. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF THE ARGONNE. ■\^CTORY OF VAI.MY. 
 
 RETREAT OF THE ALLIES. 
 
 ^E have already seen that Duinouriez had held a 
 couiieil of war at Sudan. Dillon had there delivered 
 an ophiion iu favour of a retreat to Chalons, in order 
 to place the Marue ia front of the French army, the 
 passajre of whitli river he proposed to defend. The 
 disorjianised condition of the 23,000 men left to l)u- 
 niouriez ; tlie impossibility of tlieir resisting 80,000 
 Prussians, exactly disciplined and inured to war; the 
 plan attributed to the enemy of making a rapid inva- 
 sion without stopping before fortresses — were the rea- 
 sons which led Dillon to believe that the French could 
 not retard the Prussians, and that they ought to retire 
 in all haste before them in quest of stronger positions, 
 and thereby make amends for the weakness and inef- 
 ficient state of tlieir forces. The council was so struck 
 with these reasons, that it unanimously adhered to 
 Dillon's opinion, and Dumouriez, with whom the de- 
 cision lay as general-iu-chief, replied that he would 
 take time to consider. 
 
 It was on the evening of the 28th August that a 
 resolution was taken wluch saved France. Several 
 have laid claim to the honour of it, but it is quite clear 
 that it belongs to Dumouriez. At all events, the 
 execution renders it exclusively his, and ought to 
 secure him all the glory. France, as tlie reader is 
 aware, is defended to the east by the Rliine and the 
 Vosges, and to the north by a series of fortresses, mo- 
 numents of the genius of Vauban, and by the Meuse, 
 the Moselle, and various streams of water, which, in 
 conjunction with the fortresses, present a combination 
 of obstacles sufficient to jjrotect that frontier. The 
 enemy had penetrated into France by the north, and 
 directed his march between Sedan and iletz, leaving 
 the siege of the strong places in the Low Comitries to 
 the Duke of Saxe-Teschen, and masking INIetz and 
 Lorraine by a body of troops. To follow up this plan, 
 he ought to have advanced rapidly, to profit by the 
 disorganisation of the French, strike them ^vith terror 
 by decisive attacks, and overwhelm, in fact, tlie 23,000 
 men of Lafayette, before a new general had imparted 
 to them unity and confidence. But the contest be- 
 tween the presumption of the King of I'russia and the 
 circumspe(;tion of Brunswick, retarded every resolu- 
 tion, and prevented the allies from being seriously 
 either daring or prudent. The capture of Verdun 
 tended to excite the vanity of Frederick William and 
 the ardour of the emigrants, but gave no stimidiis to 
 the activity of Bruns^vick, wlio strongly disapproved 
 of the invasion with tlie means intrusted to him, and 
 with the dispositions of the invaded country. After 
 the fall of Verdun, on the 2d September, the allied 
 army lay extended for several da3's over tlie ])lains 
 bordering on tlie ileuse, contenting itself with tlie 
 occupation of Stcnay, and not making a step in ad- 
 vance. Dumouriez was at Sedan, and liis army en- 
 camjied in the environs. 
 
 From Sedan to Passavant stretches a forest, whose 
 name ouglit to be for ever famous in French annals. 
 It is the forest of the Argonne, wliich covers a space 
 of from thirteen to fifteen leagues, and which, from 
 tlie inequalities of surface, and the mixture of wood 
 and water, is completely impassable to an army, except 
 at certain princii)al avenues. By this forest it was 
 necessary for the enemy to penetrate in order to reach 
 Chalons, and afterwards pursue the route to Paris. 
 Holding such a scheme, it is surprising he had not yet 
 thought of occupying its princii)al passes, and therein 
 anticipating Dumouriez, wlio in his jwsition at Sedan 
 was distant from them liy the wliole length of the 
 forest. In the evening after the sitting of the council 
 of war, tiie Frencli general examined the map with 
 an officer in wliose talents lie jjlaced tlie firmest con- 
 fidence — Thouvenot. Pointing out to liim with his 
 
 finger the Argonne, and the openings by wliich it is 
 traversed, he said to him, " There is the Thermopylas 
 of France : if I can get there before the Prussians, all 
 is saved !" 
 
 These words warmed the genius of Thouvenot, and 
 the two generals set seriously about the details of this 
 admirable project. The advantages it held out were 
 very considerable. Xot only did it obviate the neces- 
 sity of a retreat, and of making the ISIarne a last fine 
 of defence, but it caused the enemy to lose some very 
 precious time; it would oblige him to remain in the 
 Champagne-Pouilleiise, the wasted, swampy, and bar- 
 ren soil of which was incapable of supporting an army ; 
 it Avoidd save abandoning to him, as in the ease of a 
 retreat to Chalons, the three bishoprics, rich and fertile 
 districts, wliere he might winter in excellent quarters, 
 supposing even that he should fail in forcing the jMarnc. 
 If the enemy, after having lost some time before the 
 forest, should determine upon tiunimg it, and proceed- 
 ing towards Sedan, he would find in front of him th 
 fortresses of the Low Countries ; and it was beyond 
 supposition that they would aU fall before him. If he 
 ascended towards the other extremity of the forest, he 
 would encounter iletz and the army of the centre ; 
 in which case Dumouriez would put himself in pur- 
 suit, and, eflecting a jmiction with Kcllermann, might 
 form a mass of 50,000 men, resting on Metz and va- 
 rious fortified places. In every case, it would cause 
 the purpose of the enemy's march to fad, and ensure 
 the loss of the campaign ; for it was already September, 
 and it was still usual at that season to put armies into 
 winter quarters. The project, therefore, was excel- 
 lent ; but obstacles stood m the way of its execution. 
 The Prussians, extending along the Argonne, whilst 
 Diunouriez was at one of its extremities, could easily 
 have occupied its passes; consequently the fate of 
 this grand scheme, and of France, depended upon a 
 chance and an oversight of the enemy. 
 
 Five defiles, called the Chene-Populeux, the Croix- 
 aux-Bois, Grand-Pre, La Chalade, and I^es Islettes, 
 intersected the Argonne. The most important were 
 Grand-Pre and Les Islettes ; and, mifortimately, they 
 were the farthest from Sedan, and the nearest to the 
 enemy. Dumouriez resolved to proceed thither him- 
 self with all his army. < At the same time he ordered 
 General Dubouquet to quit the department of tlue 
 north, and occupy the avenue of the Chene-Populeux, 
 which was of yjcat importance, but very near Sedan, 
 and consequently its occupation was less urgent. Two 
 routes offered themselves to Dumouriez to reach 
 Grand-Pre and Les Islettes ; the one beliind the forest, 
 the other before it and in face of the enemy. The 
 first, passing in the rear of the forest, was the safest 
 but also the longest ; it woidd expose the plan to the 
 enemy, and give him time to counteract it. The se- 
 cond was shorter ; but it likewise betrayed the object, 
 and exposed the march to the attacks of a formidable 
 army. It would be necessarj', in fact, to skirt the 
 length of the forest, and pass before Stenay, where 
 Clairfayt and Ms Austrians were stationed. Dumou- 
 riez, however, preferred the latter route, and adopted 
 the boldest course. He concluded, that, with the usual 
 Austrian prudence, the general would not fail, when 
 he saw the French, to uitrench himself in the excel- 
 lent camp of Brouenne ; and that, whilst he was so 
 doing, they would slip past him, and push forward to 
 Grand-Pre and Les Islettes. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 30th, Dillon was set in motion, 
 and departed vrith 8000 men for Stenay, marching 
 between the ^leuse and the Argonne. lie encountered 
 Clairfayt, who occupied the two banks of the river 
 with 25,000 Austrians. General Miaczinsky attacked 
 with 1500 men the advanced posts of Clairfiiyt, whilst 
 Dillon, stationed in the rear, marched to his support 
 with his whole division. A smart firing ensued, and 
 Clairfayt, unniediately repassing the Meuse, proceeded 
 to fix "himself at Brouenne, as Dumouriez had very 
 exactly forethought. In the mean time, DiUon boldly
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 177 
 
 continued his route between the Mouse and the Ar- 
 gonne. Dumouriez closely followed him witli the 
 15,000 men who formed his main army, and they botli 
 advanced towards the positions prescribed for tliem. 
 On the 2d September Uuraouriez was at Beflu, and 
 had only one march to make to reach Grand-Prc. 
 Dillon was the same day at PiciTemont, and still draw- 
 ing neai'er tlie Islettes with exemplary intrepidity. 
 Fortiinatel}' for him, Generid Galbaud, wlio had been 
 sent to reinforce the garrison of Verdun, had arrived 
 too late, and fallen b;ick on the Islettes, Mhich he 
 consequent!}' held in advance. Dillon arrived there 
 on the 4th with his 10,000 men, forthwith established 
 liimseh', and fiu'tliermore sent a detachment to seize 
 La Chalade, another secondary pass which was con- 
 fided to him. At the same time, Duraouriez reached 
 Grand- Pre, foimd the post vacant, and took possession 
 of it on the 3d. Thus on the 3d and 4th, the passes 
 were occupied by the French, and the safety of the 
 comitry was materially secured. 
 
 It was by this daring march, at least as meritorious 
 as the idea of occupying the Argonne, that Dumouriez 
 put himself in a state to resist the invasion. But 
 nmch more was reqviii'ed ; it was necessary to render 
 these passes impregnable, and for that end to make 
 a variety of dispositions, the success of which depended 
 on a nndtitude of chances. 
 
 Dillon intrenched himself at the Islettes : he felled 
 trees, raised excellent intrenchments, and, skilfidly 
 disposing his artillery, which was niunerous and effi- 
 cient, planted batteries in such a manner as to render 
 the pass inaccessible. He occupied, likewise, La Cha- 
 lade ; and was thus master of the two routes which 
 conducted to Sainte-Menehoidd, and from Sainte- 
 Menehoidd to Chalons. Dumouriez established liim- 
 self at Grand Pre, in a camp whicli natm-e and art 
 liad combined to render formidable. The army was 
 stationed on heights, extending in the form of an 
 amphitheatre. At the base of these heights stretched 
 vast pastm-e-lands, in front of which ran the Aire, 
 forixdng the tete-du-camp. Two bridges were thrown 
 over the Aire ; two strong advanced guards were 
 posted on them, with orders to retreat in case of 
 attack, and burn the bridges. The enemy, after dis- 
 lodging these advanced troops, woidd have to eflect a 
 passage across the Aire without the aid of bridges, 
 and exposed to the fire of the Avhole French artillery. 
 After clearing the river, he would have to traverse 
 a basin of meadows with a thousand cross-fires, and 
 finally carry steep and almost inaccessible intrench- 
 ments. Siipposing all these obstacles shoidd be over- 
 come, Dumouriez, retiring by the heights he occupied, 
 coidd descend on their opposite flanks, take at their 
 base the Aisne, another water-course sltirting them 
 in the rear, cross two other bridges he would take care 
 to destroy, and thus again place a river between him 
 and the Prussians. This camp might mdeed be deemed 
 impregnable, and there the French general was in 
 sufficient security to enable him to attend in tranquil- 
 lity to the whole theatre of the war. 
 
 On the 7th, General Dubouquet occupied with COOO 
 men the pass of the Chene-Populeux. The only 
 avenue that remained free was the comparatively 
 unimportant one of the Croix-aux-Bois, situated be- 
 tween the Chene-Populeux and the (irand-Prc. Du- 
 mouriez, after breaking up the road and felling trees, 
 had posted there a colonel with two battalions and 
 two squadrons. Thus, ))laced in the centre of the 
 forest, and in an impregnable camp, he defended the 
 principal defile with 15,000 men, having on his right, 
 at a distance of four leagues, Dillon, who guanleil the 
 Islettes and La Chalade with 8000 men, on his left 
 Dubouqiiet, defending the Chene-l'opulenx with GOOO, 
 and in the interval ])etween the Chene-Populeux and 
 Grand-Prc, a colonel watching with a few companies 
 over the route of the Croix-aux-Bois, which h;ul been 
 considered of very secondary importance. 
 
 His entire defence being thus constituted, he was 
 
 in a condition to wait for reinforcements, and he has- 
 tened to give orders with reference to that object. 
 He directed Beurnonville to quit the frontiers of the 
 Low Coimtries, where the Duke of iSaxe-Tesclien was ~ 
 attempting nothing of moment, and to be at Kethel 
 on the 13th Septendjcr with 10,000 men. He assigned 
 Chalons as the depot for jirovisions and munitions, 
 and the rendezvous for reciniits and reinforcements 
 dispatcliing to liiTu. He thus concentrated behind hun 
 all the means available for an eft'ectual resistance. 
 At the same time, he apprised tlie executive power 
 that he liad occupied the Argonne. " Grand-Pre and 
 Les Islettes," he wrote, " are our straits of Thermo- 
 pyl^ ; but I will be more fortunate than Leonidas." 
 lie required that some regiments should be detached 
 from the army of the Rhine, Avhicli was not menaced, 
 and added to the army of the centre, previously in- 
 trusted to Kellermann. As the plan of the Prussians 
 evidently was to march on Paris, from their masking 
 Montmedy and Thionville, without stopping before 
 them, he desired that Kellermann shoidd be ordered 
 to skirt their left by Ligny and Bar-le-Duc, and thus 
 take them in flank and in rear during their ofiensive 
 march. According to aU these dispositions, if the 
 Prussians, renomicmg the idea of forcing the Argonne, 
 shoidd proceed higher up, Dumouriez might reach 
 Eevigny before them, and there meet KeUermann com- 
 mg from Metz with the army of the centre. If they 
 went doAvn towards Sedan, Dumouriez would still 
 follow them, join the 10,000 men under Beurnonville, 
 and await Kellermann upon the banks of the Aisne. 
 In both cases, the jmiction would concentrate a mass 
 of 60,000 men, capable of appearing in the open field. 
 
 The executive power omitted nothing to second 
 Dumouriez in his skilfid dispositions. Servan, the 
 minister at war, though suffering from illness, gave 
 unremitting attention to the provisioning of the armies, 
 to the transport of stores and ammmiitiun, and to the 
 assembling of the new levies. He dispatched every 
 day from Paris from 1500 to 2000 volunteers. A 
 general feeling towards the army had set ui, and 
 pdople flocked to it in multitudes. The patriotic 
 societies, the commmial councils, and the national 
 assembly, were continually interrupted by companies 
 spontaneously levied parading through' their halls 
 before they departed for Ch;dons, the general rendez- 
 vous for volunteers. Nothing was wanting to these 
 young soldiers but discipline and the habit of war, 
 wliich, although at present not possessing, they might 
 soon acquire under an able general. 
 
 The Girondists were personal enemies of Dumou- 
 riez, and placed but a snudl share t)f confidence in him 
 ever since he had driven them from the ministr}' ; 
 they had even pm-posed superseding him in the gene- 
 ral command in fiivour of an officer named Grimoard. 
 But they cordiaUy united with him so soon as the 
 destinies of the coimtry seemed greatly to dei)end upon 
 hun. Roland, the purest and most magnanimous 
 amongst them, wrote to him a touching letter, in which 
 he assured him that all was forgotten, and that all his 
 friends Avished only to have his victories to celcl)rate. 
 
 Dumouriez, then, had energetically seized upon the 
 threatened frontier, and made liimself the focus of 
 great movements, hitherto too slow and disunited. 
 He had ha])pily occui)ied the defik's of the Argonne, 
 and taken up a position M'hich aflbrded the armies 
 time to unite and organise themselves in his rear. 
 He brought up in succession all the various corps, in 
 order to form one imposing nuiss, and i)laced Keller- 
 mann under the necessity of receiving his orders from 
 him. His conunand was distinguished for vigovn- and 
 celerity ; and he imi)arted courage to his soldiers by 
 appearing in the midst of them, testifyhig unlimited 
 coniidence in them, and inspiriting them with ardour 
 for sjieedy combat with the enemy. 
 
 Such was the state of afliiirs on tlie 10th September. 
 The I'russians attempted all the French posts, skir- 
 mished in front of all their intrenchments, and wei-e
 
 17» 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 I every vhere repiilsed. Duniouriez had cut secret 
 communications in tliu interior of the forest, and was 
 thus enabled to bring unexpected forces upon menaced 
 points, whicli, in the opinion of the enemy, doubled 
 the actual strength of the French army. . On the 11 th, 
 tliere was a general attack against Grand-Pro, but 
 General Miranda, stationed at Mortamnc, and General 
 Stengel at Saint-Jouvin, repelled all the attempts. 
 The soldiers, encouraged by their position, and the 
 firm attitude of their leaders, leapt over tlie intrench- 
 ments at .several points, and advanced with bayonets 
 fixed to meet the assailants in their ajiproach. These 
 combats served to keep the army occupied : at the 
 same time it often wanted provisions, on account of 
 the inevitable disorder attendant upon a volunteer 
 enrolment. But the gaiety of the general, who fared 
 DO better than his soldiers, induced all to bear priva- 
 tions with resignation ; and, in spite of a dysentery 
 which began to prevail, a gratifying contentment 
 reigned in the camp of Grand-Prc. The superior 
 oflBcers alone, who doubted the possibility of a long 
 resistance, and the ministry, whose faith was not more 
 confirmed, spoke of a retreat behind the Marne, and 
 pestered Dumouricz with their forebodings. He, on 
 his part, wrote stimidating letters to tlie ministers, 
 and unposed sUence upon liis officers, telling them that 
 when he desired to hear their opinions he would con- 
 voke a council of war. 
 
 The most brilliant qiialities of a man are unavoid- 
 ably accompanied by certain drawbacks. The very 
 promptitude of Uumouriez's genius often Minded him 
 to reflection. His ardour in conception had already 
 sometimes led him to overlook material obstacles to 
 his projects, a signal instance of which occurred when 
 he ordered Lafiiyette to proceed from IVIetz to Givet. 
 He here again coimnitted a capital blunder, which, if 
 he had been endowed Avith less strength of character 
 and cool determination, would have caused the loss of 
 the campaign. Between the Chenc-Populeux and 
 Grand-Pre was, as we have stated, a secondarj^ avenue, 
 tlie importance of Avhich had been deemed inconsi- 
 derable, and it was consequently defended by but two 
 batt;dions and two squadrons. Overpowered with 
 urgent demands upon his attention, Dumouriez had 
 not gone in person to estimate the value of this defile. 
 Besides, having but few men at disposal to station 
 there, he had too readily adopted the idea that a few 
 hundred men would suffice to guard it. To increase 
 the mischief, the colonel who commanded at that post 
 persuaded him tliat a part even of the troops already 
 there might be withdrawn, and that, by breaking up 
 the roads, a few volunteers would be able to maintain 
 the defensive. Dumouriez allowed himself to be de- 
 ceived by this colonel, who was an old soldier, and held 
 worthy of confidence. 
 
 In the mean time, Brunswick had examined the 
 different French positions, and for a moment enter- 
 tained the project of skirting the forest as far as Sedan, 
 with the view of turning it at that extremity. Whilst 
 preparing for this movement, it would seem that his 
 scouts acquainted him with the negligence of the 
 French general. Tlie Croix-aux-Bois was attacked 
 by some Austrians and emigrants commanded by the 
 Prince de Ligne. The intrenchments of felled 'trees 
 liad scarcely been commenced, the roads were not 
 broken, and the pass was occupied without resistance 
 on the morning of the 1.3th. The instant Dumouriez 
 learnt this disastrous intelligence, he sent General 
 Chasot, a man of distinguished bravcrv, M-ith two bri- 
 gades, six squ.adrons, and four eight-pounders, to dis- 
 lodge the Austrians and again occupy the pass. He 
 directed they should be attacked with the utmost 
 promptitude at the point of the bayonet, before they 
 should have time to intrench themselves. The 13th 
 and 14th September both elapsed ere General Chasot 
 could execute liis orders. At length, on the 15th, he 
 attacked with vigour, and drove back the enemy, who 
 lost both the post and its commander, the Prince de 
 
 Ligne. But, attacked two hours later by a very su- 
 perior force, and before he could intrench himself, he 
 was repidsed in his turn, and entirely dispossessed of 
 the Croix-aux-Bois. He was furthermore cut off from 
 Grand-Pre, and unable to retire towards the main 
 army, which was thus weakened to the extent of his 
 force. He accordingly fell back on Vouziers. General 
 Dubouquet, commanding at the Chene-Populeux, and 
 hitherto successful in his resistance, seeing himself 
 separated from Grand Pre, conceived that he ought 
 not to expose himself to the risk of being enveloped 
 by the enemy, who, having pierced the line at the 
 Croix-aux-Bois, was about to debouch in mass. He 
 resolved, therefore, to decamp, and retreat by Attigny 
 and Somme-Puis upon Chalons. Thus the fruit of so 
 many bold combinations and auspicious accidents was 
 lost ; the only obstacle in the way of the invasion, the 
 Argonne, was overcome, and the route to Paris laid 
 open. 
 
 Dumouriez, severed from Chasot and Dubouquet, 
 had no more than fifteen thousand men ; and if the 
 enemy, debouching rapidly by the Croix-aux-Bois, 
 turned the position of Grand-Pre and occupied the pas- 
 sages of the Aisne, which, as we have stated, served for 
 outlet at the rear of the camp, the French general was 
 undone. "With forty thousand Prussians in front and 
 twenty-five thousand Austrians in rear, thus hemmed 
 in with fifteen thousand men by sixty-five thousand, 
 by two streams of water and the forest, he could have 
 done notliing more than lay down his arms or perisli 
 uselessly to the last man. The only army upon which 
 France relied was in that case annihilated, and the 
 allies were at fidl liberty to march upon Paris. 
 
 In this desperate situation, the general's courage 
 was dauntless as ever, and he preserved an admirable 
 coolness. His first care was that verj' day to take 
 measures for securing a retreat, since the most press- 
 ing matter on his hands was to free himself with all 
 disi)atcli from the Caudine forks. He reflected that 
 by his right he touched Dillon, still master of the 
 Islettes and of the route to Sainte-jMenehould ; that 
 by falling back upon his rear, and resting his army 
 buck to back with him, they would both face the 
 enemy, the one at the Islettes and the other at Sainte- 
 Menehould, and thus present a double intrenched 
 front. There they might await the junction of the two 
 generals, Chasot and DuVwuquet, now detached from 
 the main body ; that of Beurnonviile, ordered from 
 Flanders to be at Kethelon the 13th; and, lastly, that 
 of Kellermann, who, having been already upwards of 
 ten days on the march, could not be long in arriving. 
 This plan was the best and the most consistent with 
 the system adopted by Dumouriez, which was not to 
 retreat into the interior towards an open country, but 
 to keep in a difficidt country, in which to temporise 
 and jiut himself in a position to effect his junction 
 with the army of the centre. If, on the contrary, he 
 had fallen back on Chidons, he would have been pur- 
 sued as a fugitive, executing, under every disadvan- 
 tage, a retreat he miglit have made more advanta- 
 geously at first, and debarring himself, above all, 
 from the possibility of an union witli Kellermann. 
 It evinced great hardihood, after a mischance such as 
 that of the Croix-aux-Bois, to persist in his system ; 
 and it needed at the moment equal genius and energy 
 to avoid yielding to the counsel, so oft repeated, to 
 retire behind the INIarne. But, after all, how many 
 fortunate chances were requisite to effect successfully 
 a retreat so difficult, so harassed, and to be made with 
 so small a body of troojjs in the face of so powerfid an 
 enemy ! 
 
 Without a moment's delay, he sent orders to Beur- 
 nonviile, previously directed upon Bethel, to Chasot, 
 from whom he had just received some cheering news, 
 and to Dubouquet, retiring upon Attignv, enjoining 
 all of them to muster at Sainte-Meneliould. At the 
 same time, he again sent a message to Kellermann to 
 continue his march, for he was reasonably apprehen-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 179 
 
 sive Jest Kellermann, when he learnt tlie loss of the 
 defiles, should return to Metz. After havmg made all 
 these dispositions, and receiving a Priissian officer 
 who requested a parlej', to whom he showed the camp 
 in the highest order, he struck his tents at midnight, 
 and marched in silence towards the two bridges which 
 served for communication to the camp of Grand- Pro. 
 Luckily for him, the enemy had not yet thought of 
 penetrating by the Croix-aux-Bois and tiu-ning the 
 French positions. The sky was stormy, and covered 
 with its shadows the retreat of the French. They 
 marched all night over deplorable roads ; and the army, 
 which had not been allowed time to take alarm, retired 
 without knowing the reason that induced its com- 
 mander to change his position. The next day, the 
 16th, at eight in the morning, aU the troops had 
 crossed the Aisne ; Dumom'iez had escaped, and he 
 lialted in battle-array upon the heights of Autry, four 
 leagues from Grand-Pre. He was not pursued ; con- 
 clucUng himself safe, he advanced to Dammartin-sur- 
 Hans, in order to select an encampment for the day, 
 but was suddenly startled by fugitives crymg out that 
 all was lost, and that the enemy, havuig fallen on the 
 rear, had put the army to rout. Dumouriez hastened 
 to his rearguard, and foimd the Peruvian Miranda 
 and old General Duval stopping the fugitives, and re- 
 forming, with exemplary fortitude, the ranks of the 
 amiy, which the Prussian hussars had for a time sur- 
 prised and broken. The inexperience of these yoimg 
 troops, and the fears of treachery which then fiUed 
 all minds, rendered panics easy and frequent. How- 
 ever, all was remedied by the exertions of the three 
 generals, jMiranda, Duval, and Stengel, who were 
 stationed in the reargaiard. The army bivouacked 
 at Dammartin, with hopes of soon reaching the back 
 of the Islettes, and happily terminatmg its perilous 
 retreat. 
 
 Dumouriez had been on horseback twenty hours. 
 At six in the evening he was dismounting, when he 
 again suddenly heard cries of terror and clismay, im- 
 precations against generals who were traitors, and 
 especially against the commander-in-chief, Avho had 
 gone over, it was said, to the enemy. The artillery 
 was horsed, and about to be driven off to a height for 
 safety. All the troops were thrown together and con- 
 founded. He caused large bonfires to be hghted, and 
 gave orders that the army should remain on the spot 
 all night. Ten hours were thus passed in mud and 
 darkness. Upwards of fifteen hmidred fugitives, es- 
 caping across the fields, spread the intelligence at 
 Paris, and through all France, that the army of the 
 north, the last hope of the country, was lost, and de- 
 livered into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 The next day all was repaired. Dmnouriez wrote 
 to tlie national assembly with his accustomed confi- 
 dence. " I have been obliged to abandon the camp 
 of Grand-Pre," said he. " The retreat was effected, 
 when a ])anic seized upon the army, and 10,000 men 
 fled before 1.500 Prussian hussars. The loss does not 
 exceed fifty men and some baggage. Ai,l is remk- 
 DIED, AND I ANSWER FOR ALL." Nothing less than 
 such assurances M'ould have sufficed to calm the ter- 
 ror.s of Paris and the executive council, which was 
 again moved to enjoin upon the general the i)assage 
 behind the Marne. 
 
 Sainte-jMenehoiUd, whither Dumouriez was march- 
 ing, is situated on the Aisne, one of the two rivers 
 which enclosed the encampment iit Grand-Pre. I)u- 
 mom'iez, therefore, had to ascend its course, and ])efore 
 reaching it, had to pass three tolerably deep streams 
 wliich fall into it, nainely, the Tourbc, the Bionne, 
 and the Auve. BeyoTid these three streams was the 
 camp he intended to occupy. In front of Sainte-IVh-ne- 
 hould rise in circidar form some heights for three- 
 quarters of a league. At their base stretches a sunken 
 plain, in which the Auve forms marshes before dis- 
 cliarging its waters into the Aisne. This hollow is 
 bounded on the right by the heights of L'llyron, in 
 
 front by those of La Lune, and on the left by those of 
 Gisancourt. In the centre of tlie basin are different 
 elevations, lower, however, than those of Sainte-]Mene- 
 hould. The hill of Valmy is one of them, and im- 
 mediately fi'onts the eminence of La Lune. The high 
 road from Chalons to Sainte-j\Ienehould passes across 
 this basin, ahnost parallel to the course of the Auve. 
 It was at Sainte-Menehould, and above this basin, that 
 Dimiouriez jdanted himself He took possession of all 
 the most important positions aroimd him, and rested 
 his rear against Dillon, whom he urged to hold firm 
 against the enemy. He thus occupied the high road 
 to Paris upon three points — Les Islettes, Sainte-lNlene- 
 hould, and CJialons. 
 
 It was ])ossible, however, for the Prvissians, if they 
 penetrated by Grand-Pre, to leave him at Sainte- 
 ]\Ienehould, and make a rapid advance to Chalons. 
 Consequently Dumouriez ordered Dubouquet, whose 
 ha];)py arrival at Chalons he had learnt, to occupy 
 with his division the camp of L'Epine, and collect 
 there all the volmiteers recently arrived, in order to 
 cover Chalons from a sudden attack. He was subse- 
 quently joined by Chasot, and idtimately by Beurnon- 
 ville. The latter had come in sight of Sainte-IMene- 
 hould on the 1 5th. Perceiving an army in excellent 
 position, he had supposed it to be the enemy, for he 
 could not imagine that Dumouriez, who was reported 
 vanquished, had so speedily and successfully extri- 
 cated himself from the embarrassments by which he 
 was miderstood to have been paralysed. Under this 
 impression, he had fallen back on Chalons, when, being 
 informed of the real state of the case, he had returned 
 and taken up a position on the 19th at ]Maffrecourt, 
 on the right of the camp. He brought with him those 
 10,000 men whom Dumouriez had abl}' trained, dm:- 
 ing a month in the camp at Maulde, by a constant war 
 of posts. When strengthened by Chasot and Beur- 
 nonville, Dumouriez could muster 35,000 men. Thus, 
 owing to his firmness and presence of mind, he again 
 fomid himself in a very strong position, and in a capa- 
 city to temporise nearly at pleasm-e. But if the enemy, 
 acting promptly, shoiild leave him behind, and push 
 rapidly forward to Chalons, what became of his cam]» 
 at Sainte-Menehould? The same fear was always 
 present ; and his precautions, liy the camp at L'Epine, 
 were quite inefficient to obviate such a danger. 
 
 Two movements ivere progressing leisurely in liis 
 vicinity — that of the Duke of Brunswick, who hesitated 
 m his march, and that of Kellermann, mIio, having 
 left INIetz on the 4th, had not yet arrived at the stipu- 
 lated point, after being fifteen days on the road. But 
 if tlie slowness of Brunswick availed Dumom'iez, tiiat 
 of Kellermann seriously compromised him. This 
 general, prudent and irresolute, though of imdoubted 
 gallantr}', had alternately advanced and receded, ac- 
 cording to the marches of the Prussian army ; and so 
 lately as the 17th, on learning the loss of the defiles, 
 he had made a retrograde movement. At length, on 
 the evening of the 19th, he apprised Dumouriez that 
 he was Avithin two leagues of Sainte-^Ieiiehonld. Du- 
 mouriez had reserved for him the iK'iglits of Gisau- 
 court, situated on his left, and connnanding the road 
 to Chalons, and the rivulet of the Auve. He had 
 commimicated to him, that in case of a battle, he 
 might deploy on the secondary heights, and plant him- 
 self on Vahny, on the ojjposite side of the Auve. He 
 could not si)are time to go in person and post his col- 
 league. Kellermann, ^lassing the Auve during the 
 night of the 19th, fixed himself on ^'a]nly, in lliet'entre 
 of the l)asin, and neglected the heiglits of Gisancourt, 
 which formed the left of the camp of Sainte-Menehould, 
 and connnanded those of La Lmie, upon wliich the 
 Prussians were arriving. 
 
 At this moment, in fact, the Prussians, delioucliing 
 by Grand-Pre, ha<l arrived in sight of the French 
 arm}', and scaling tlie heights of La Lune, obtained a 
 view for the first time of the ground whose summit 
 was occupied by Dumouriez. Kenomiciiig the idea of
 
 18U 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 a forced march on CliAlons, they were rejoiced, it is 
 said, to find the two French jjenerals together, and 
 thus to have an opportunity of overwlielnimj; them 
 both at one blow. Their desijrn was to render them- 
 selves masters of the route to Clu'dons, i)ccupy Vitry, 
 force Dillon at the Islettes, thus surromid S;dnte- 
 Menehould on all sides, and oblige the two armies to 
 lay down their arms. 
 
 At daylight on the 20th, Kellernianu, who, instead 
 of occupying the heights of Gisaucourt, had fixed him- 
 self in the centre of the basin on the hill of \'almy, 
 saw himself connnanded in front by the heights of 
 La Lune, occupied by the enemy. On one side, he 
 had L'Hyron, which the French held in possession, 
 but migli't easily be dislodged, and on the other, Gisau- 
 couTt, which he had omitted to seize, and where the 
 Prussians were proceeding to establish themselves. 
 In case of a defeat, he would be forced into the marshes 
 of the Auve, stretching Ijchind the eminence of Valmy, 
 and might l)e overpowered before he could join Du- 
 mouriez in the hollow of that amphitheatre. He ac- 
 cordingly sent to his colleague, desiring him to join 
 him. Eut the Khig of Prussia, perceiving a great stir 
 in the French arni3% and concluding that the design 
 of the generals was to retire upon Chalons, instantly 
 resolved to l)lock up the way, and ordered an attack. 
 The Prussian advanced guard encountered Keller- 
 maiin's advanced guard on the Chalons road, the gene- 
 ral himself being with his main body on the height of 
 Valmy. A warm engagement took place, and the 
 French, at first repidsed, were rallied, and afterwards 
 supported by the carbineers of General Valence. From 
 the heights of La Lmie a cannonade opened on the 
 hill of Valmy, and the French artillery briskly re- 
 sponded to the Prussian. 
 
 The position of Kellermann, liowever, was highly 
 dangerous. His troops were all heaped confusedly on 
 the eminence of Valmy, and too much exposed to com- 
 bat with effect. From the heights of La Lmie a can- 
 nonade played upon him ; from those of Gisaucourt a 
 fire establislied by the Prussians incommoded his left; 
 L'Hyron, Avhich flanked his right, was certainly occu- 
 pied by the French, but Clairfayt might readily attack 
 that post witii his 25,000 Austrians, and mevitably 
 gain possession of it; and then Kellermann, battered 
 from all quarters, might be driven from Valmy into 
 the Auve, without Dunioiu'iez being able to assist him. 
 The latter hastened to dispatch General Stengel witli 
 a strong division to support the French on L'Hyron, 
 and secure the right of Valmy ; he ordered Beurnonville 
 to aid Stengel with sixteen battalions; and he sent 
 Chasot, with nine battalioas and eiglit squadrons, by 
 the Chalons road, to occupy Gisaucourt and flank 
 Kellermann's left. But Chasot, when he came near 
 Valmy, sought orders from Kellermann instead of ad- 
 vancing upon Gisaucourt, and thus gave the Prussians 
 time to occupy it, and establish a murderous fire from 
 its elevation. However, sup])orted on the right and 
 left, Kellermann was able to maintain himself on the 
 hill of Valmy. Unfortunately, a howitzer falling on 
 an amimmition-waggon, blew it up, and put the in- 
 fantry into disorder ; the firing from La Lune increased 
 it, and the first line alreatly began to give way. Kel- 
 lermami, ])erceiving this recoil, flew into the ranks, 
 rallied them, and restored order. At this moment, 
 Brunswick conceived tlie time arrived for scaling the 
 eminence, and driving off the French at the point of 
 the bayonet. 
 
 It was now noon. A thick mist, which, up to this 
 moment, had covered tlie two armies, cleared away, 
 and they had a distinct view of each other — the young 
 French soliliers beholding the Prussians advancing 
 upon them in three cohunns, with the firm assurance 
 of veteran and discipUned troops. This was the first 
 time they had been on a field of battle with a hundred 
 thoiLsand combatants, or on the point of crossing 
 bayonets. As yet they knew neither themselves nor 
 the enemy, and they looked round upon each other 
 
 with anxiety and doubt. Kellermann jumped upon 
 the intrenchments, disposed his troops in colimins, 
 with a battalion to face, and ordered them, when the 
 Prussians were within a certain distance, not to Avait 
 for them, but meet and charge them Avitli tlie bayonet. 
 Then he raised his voice and cried : " Tlie nation for 
 ever !" The moment was decisive either for bravery 
 or cowardice. The cry of " The nation for ever !" in- 
 s])irits valoiu" alone ; and the young soldiers of France, 
 with their enthusiasm quickened, marched forward, 
 repeating the cry of " The nation for ever !" At this 
 si)ectacle, Brunswick, who instituted the attack with 
 reluctance, and with considerable doubts as to the 
 result, hesitated, stopped his columns, and finally 
 ordered them into the camp. 
 
 This trial was decisive. Thenceforth a higher 
 estimate was formed of those cobblers and tailors who 
 composed the French army, according to the scornfid 
 emigrants. Tliese had beheld men equipped, arrayed, 
 and valorous ; tliey had seen officers wearing older 
 decorations and full of experience — General Duval, 
 whose upright form and blanched hairs conmianded 
 respect ; in a word, Kellermann and Dumouriez, dis- 
 plaj'uig admirable constancy and talent in presence of 
 an enemy much superior in number. At this instant, 
 tlie French revolution was ai)preciated, and its chaos, 
 hitherto the subject of derision, henceforth appeared 
 more tridy as a terrible outburst of national energy. 
 
 At four o'clock, Brunswick attempted a fresh attack. 
 The confident aspect of the French again disconcerted 
 him, and he drew back his columns a second time. 
 Having encoimtered on his march a series of disap- 
 pointments, ever finthng things most falsely repre- 
 sented to him, the Prussian general made his advances 
 with the greatest cu'cumspection ; and although he has 
 been censm-ed for not having pushed the attack with 
 more spirit, and cUslodged Kellermann, very excellent 
 judges consider that he acted riglitly. Kellermann, 
 supported on the right and left by the whole F"rcnch 
 army, was not a powerless antagonist ; and if Bruns- 
 wick, entangled in a gorge and a detestable ground, 
 had been once repulsed, the chances were in favom* of 
 his utter destruction. Besides, he had occupied, as 
 tlie result of the day, the route to Chalons ; and the 
 Frencli being consequently ciit ofl" from then- depot, 
 he anticipated compelling them to quit their position 
 withm a few days. He did not consider that, being 
 masters of Vitry, they had oidy to make a longer 
 circuit and sutler a little extra delay in obtaining their ■ 
 convoys. 
 
 Such was the celebrated day of the 20th September 
 1792, on which more than twenty thousand cannon- 
 balls were fired, and smce called the cannonade of 
 VALMY. The loss was equal on both sides, amount- 
 ing in each army to eight or nine hundred men. But 
 cheerfulness and confidence reigned in the F'rench 
 camp, discontent and recrimination in the Prussian. 
 It is stated, on good authority, that the King of 
 Prussia directed some severe remonstrances to tho 
 emigrants that very evening, and henceforth the in- 
 fluence of Calonne was judged on the wane — he who 
 of all the emigrant ministers was the most presump- 
 tuous, the most profuse in exaggerated promises, and 
 the most ready with tidings belied by the result. 
 
 During the same night, Kellennann silently repassed 
 the Auve, and proceeded to encamp on the heights of 
 Gisaucourt, which he ought to have occupied at first, 
 and fnmi which omission the Prussians had profited 
 materially in the battle. The latter remained on the 
 heights of La Lune. In the op]>ositc background 
 was Dumouriez, and on Ids left Kellenniinn, on the 
 heights he had just seized. In this singidar position, 
 the French, looking towards France, seemed the in- 
 vading force, and the Priissians, leaning iipon her, 
 seemed drawn up to defend her from aggression. At 
 this period, DuuKJuriez connnenced a fresh series o{ 
 firm and energetic measures, both against the enemy 
 and against Ids own officers and the executive autho-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 181 
 
 rity. With nearly 70,000 troops, intrenched in a good 
 encani])ment, and with no, or a very rare, deficiency 
 of provisions, he could temporise with eminent com- 
 posure. The Prussians, on the contrary, were at a 
 loss for subsistence ; diseases began to prevail ui their 
 army, and in such a situation inactivity was disastrous 
 to them. An inclement season, besides, acting on a 
 swampy and Inuuid soil, rendered it impossible for 
 them to icmain any length cif time. And then, should 
 they tlms late resume the promptitude and vigour 
 befitting an invasion, and march upon Paris, Dmnou- 
 riez was in force to follow, and close upon tliem when 
 engaged in front. 
 
 Such deductions were consistent with reason and 
 prudence. But in the camp, where the officers were 
 growing weaiy of privations, and where Kellermaun 
 was dissatisfied with subjection to a superior autho- 
 rity ; at Paris, where they felt themselves separated 
 from the principal army, and coidd perceive no ob- 
 stacle between them and the Prussians — where, in fact, 
 they saw the liulans aijproach within fifteen leagaies, 
 since the forest of Argonne was laid open — tlie views 
 of Dumoiu'iez excited disapprobation. The assembly 
 and the council inveighed against his obstinacy, and 
 wrote him the most imperative letters to abandon his 
 position and repass the IMarne. The camp at Mont- 
 niartre, and an army betM^een Chalons and Paris, were 
 the double ramparts essential in the estimation of 
 atfriglited citizens. " The hulans pester you," wrote 
 IJiunouriez : " well ! kiU them ; the affiiir does not 
 concern me. I wUl not change my plan for skirmish- 
 ers." Entreaties and commands, however, did not the 
 less continue to pour in upon him. In the caniiJ, the 
 officers were free and pertinacious m their remarks. 
 Tlie soldiers alone, cheered by the gaiety of the gene- 
 ral, who was um-emitting m going through their ranks, 
 in encouraging them, and in explamuag to them the 
 critical position of the Prussians, patiently endured 
 the rain and the privations to which they were ex- 
 posed. On one occasion, Kellermami resolved to leave, 
 and I)umom"iez was compelled, like Columbus stipu- 
 lating for a few days more from his crew, to promise 
 he would decamp, if within a certain nmnber of days 
 the Prussians did not beat a retreat. 
 
 The fine army of the allies was truly in a very de- 
 plorable condition; it was perishing by famine, and 
 still more by the afflicting consequences of dysentery. 
 I'lie dispositions of Uumouriez had powerfully contri- 
 buted to i)roduce this dismal emergency. The sharp- 
 sliooting in front of the camp being deemed useless, 
 because it conduced to no result, it was agreed between 
 the two armies to suspend it ; but Dumoiiriez stipu- 
 hited that the intermission shoiild be confined to the 
 front alone. Accordingly, he detached all his cavalry, 
 especially that of the new levy, into the surrounding 
 country, in order to intercept the convoys of the enenn-, 
 who, having arrived by the defile of Grand-Pre, and 
 ascended the course of the Aisne in pursuit of the 
 French retreat, was obliged to bring his stores by the 
 same tedious circuit. The French trooj)ers grew 
 enamoured of so lucrative a warfare, and prosecuted 
 it witli signal success. In this position of affairs, 
 September drew to a close; the evil became intolcral)le 
 in the Prussian army, and officers were sent to the 
 French camp to hold a parley. At first an exchange 
 of prisoners was tlie only (juestion mooted: the Prus- 
 sians demanded the l)eiK'fit of the exchange for tlie 
 emigrants, but it was refused tliein. A refined polite- 
 ness marked the intercourse on both sides. From the 
 topic of exchanging prisoners, conversation proceeded 
 to the motives of the war; and, on the ])art of tlu; 
 Prussians, it was almost avowed that the war had 
 been impolitic. The character of Dumouriez hen; 
 appeared in full relief. Pelieved from the cares of 
 fighting, he comjiosed memorials for the King of 
 I'mssia, and demonstrated to him how little he couM 
 gain by iniiting with the house of Austria against 
 France. At the same time he sent him twelve pounds 
 
 of cofiee, the last that remained in both camps. His 
 memorials, wliich could not fail to be appreciated, 
 were nevertheless ungraciously received, and could 
 scarcely be otherwise. Brunswick replied, in the name 
 of the King of Prussia, by a declaration as arrogant as 
 his first manifesto, and all negotiation was broken off. 
 The assembly, when consulted by Dumom-iez, returned 
 the answer of the Eom.an senate, that it woidd not 
 treat with the enemy luitU he had removed fi'om the 
 soil of France. 
 
 These negotiations were attended with no other 
 effect than affording ground of cahminy against tlie 
 general, who was thenceforth suspected of holding 
 secret relations with the enemy; and draAvmg upon 
 him the atlected disdain of a haughty monarch, soured 
 by the result of the war. But such was Dimiouriez; 
 possessing all the attributes of courage and mind in 
 their highest developments, he was deficient in that 
 reserve and dignity which awes men, whilst genius 
 does but excite their admiration. Be that as it may, 
 it came to pass as the French general had foreseen; 
 for, on the 1st October, the Prussians, imable to bear 
 up any longer against the combined evils of hunger 
 and disease, began to decamp. It was a grand subject 
 of amazement, conjecture, and fabidous narration for 
 all Europe, to behold so puissant and much-vaunted 
 an army retreating in hmnihation before those patri- 
 otic artisans and shopkeepers, who were to have been 
 driven back into their towns by beat of drum, and 
 chastised for having left them. The feebleness with 
 which the Prussians were pursued, and the impunity 
 seemingly accorded them as they repassed the defiles 
 of the Argonne, gave rise to the supjiosition of secret 
 stipidations, and even of a bargain with the King of 
 Prussia. The military considerations wiU accoimt, 
 better than all such vague allegations, for the retreat 
 of the allies. 
 
 To remain in so disastrous a position was no longer 
 possible. To invade had become altogether inoppor- 
 tune in a season so far advanced and so inclement. The 
 only resource, therefore, was to retire into Luxunibourg 
 and Lorraine, and there form a strong basis of opera- 
 tions, with a view to recommence the campaign the 
 following year. Besides, there are grounds for behev- 
 ing that at this moment Frederick ^Yilliam was re- 
 volving in his mind the assumjition of his part of 
 Poland; for, after having stimidated the Poles against 
 Eussia and Austria, that prince now evinced a readi- 
 ness to share in their spoliation. Thus the state of 
 the season and of the localities ; disgust at an abortive 
 enterprise; regi'et at having allied himself against 
 France with the house of Austria; and, lastly, new in- 
 terests in the north, were with his majesty of Prussia 
 motives amply sufiicient to determine his retreat. It 
 was effected in perfect order, for the enemy, who con- 
 sented to depart, was not a whit the less formidable 
 on that account. To attempt blocking up his retreat 
 and compelling him to open a passage by a victory, 
 was animiirudence Dumouriez would not conmiit. It 
 was incmiibi'iit on him to he contented with harassing 
 it; and this he did with too little activity; in wliicli 
 negligence both he and Kelk'rmann were to blame. 
 
 The danger being past, and the camitaign finished, 
 each reverted to himself and his own jn-ojects. Du- 
 mouriez thought of his enterprise into the Low 
 Countries, Kelk'rmami of his command at I\Ietz; and 
 the pursuit of tlii' Prussians failed to olitaiii from the 
 two generals tiie attiution it re(]uired. Dumom'iez 
 dispatched General d'llarville to the Chene-Popu- 
 leux to fiill uiHin the emigrants, and ordered Genenil 
 Miaczinski to wait for them at Stenay, at the outlet 
 of the pass, to conqilcte their destruction; he sent 
 Chasot in the same direction, to occujiv the road to 
 Longwy; stationeil the generals Biurnoiiville, Stengel, 
 and ValeiK'C, with upwards of twenty-five thousand 
 men, on the rear of the grand army,' with orders to 
 pursue it with vigour; and at the sainc time forwarded 
 an injunction to Dillon, who had throughout maiu- 
 N
 
 182 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tained liiiuself at the Islettes with perfect success, *o 
 advance upon Clermont and Varennes, in order to cut 
 off the route to Verdun. These dispositions were 
 doubtless good, but they ought to have l)een executed 
 by the general himself; he ought, according to the 
 very just and intelhgent opinion of JI. .loniini, to have 
 pushed directly upon the Rhine, and afterwards de- 
 scended it with all his army. In that moment of suc- 
 cess, overthrowing all before him, he would have con- 
 quered Belgium in a single march. But he resolved 
 upon going to Paris, with the view of arranging an 
 invasion by Lille. On their part, t(X), the three gene- 
 rals, Ik'urnonville, Stengel, and Valence, did not act in 
 concert sufficiently, and but feebly pursued the I'rus- 
 siiuis. Valence, who served under Kellerniann, sud- 
 denly received an order to join his general at Chalons, 
 in order to resume the route to Metz. It must be 
 allowed that this movement was sti-angely imagined, 
 since it conducted Kellerniann into the interior, to 
 turn afterwards into the route to the Lorraine fron- 
 tier. The rational course was in front, by Vitry or 
 Clermont, and that coincided with the ])ursuit of tlie 
 Prussians in the manner directed by Dumouriez. The 
 instant tlie latter heard of the order given to Valence, 
 he laid fresh injimctions upon that officer to pursue 
 his march, stating that so long as the junction of the 
 armies of the north and centre continued, the supreme 
 command belonged to him alone. He remonstrated 
 ver}- warmly with Kellerraann, who ultimately recalled 
 his previous determination, and consented to take his 
 course by Sainte-iSIenehoidd and Clermont. However, 
 the pursuit was conducted with the same faiutness as 
 before. Dillon alone harassed the Prussians with im- 
 petuous ardour, and narrowly escaped severe treat- 
 ment, by darting too rashly on their track. 
 
 The want of concord amongst the generals, and 
 their personal estrangements after the danger, were 
 e\videntl}' the sfjle causes of so easy a retreat being 
 granted to the Prussians. It has been asserted that 
 their departure was purchased, and the price defrajx'd 
 by the produce of a theft, to which we shall subse- 
 quently refer ; that it was arranged with Uumouriez, 
 one of the stipulations in the bargain being the free 
 passage of the Prussians ; ajid, lastly, that Louis 
 XVI. had solicited it from the recesses of his prison. 
 We have just seen that this retreat may be suffi- 
 ciently accounted for by natural causes ; but several 
 other reasons demonstrate the absurdity of such sup- 
 positions. Thus, It is not crodil>Ie that a monarch, 
 whose failing was not that of a vile cupidity, should 
 allow himself to be bought ; we cannot see whj-, if 
 there were a convention, Dumouriez should not have 
 justified himself in the eyes of military men for not 
 having ])ursued the enemy, by avowing a treaty which 
 had nothing discreditable in it, so far as he was con- 
 cerned ; lastly, the king's valet-de-chambre, Ck'ry, 
 assures us that nothing similar to the pretended letter 
 addressed by Louis XVI. to Frederick William, and 
 transmitted by the attorney of the commune, ^Manuel, 
 was ever written, or given to that personage. The 
 whole relation, therefore, is but a tissue of falsehood; 
 and the retreat of the allies was simply the natural 
 consequence of the eampaif^n. Dumouriez, in sj)ite of 
 his faults, of his oversight at Grand-Prc, and of his 
 negligence with regard to the retreat, was neverthe- 
 less the preserver of France, and of a revolution which 
 has probably advanced Europe by several centuries. 
 It was he who, taking the eonnnand of an army dis- 
 organised, distrustful, and discontented ; restoring to it 
 unity and confidence; establishing along the whole of 
 that frontier a concentrated and vigorous action ; never 
 yielding to despair ami<lst tlie most disastrous circmn- 
 stances; displaying, after the loss of tlie defiles, an 
 almost unexampled instance of undaunted coolness; 
 persisting in his original system of temporising, in 
 spite of all perils — in si)ite of his army and of his 
 government — with a firnmcss which proves the vigour 
 of his judgment and his character;— it was he, we as- 
 
 sert, who saved France from the stranger and counter- 
 revolutionary wrath, and offered the imposing spectacle 
 of a man saving his fellow-citizens in spite of them- 
 selves. No conquest, howsoever vast it might be, 
 coiUd be more glorious, or produce, in its moral results, 
 a more decisive inlluence. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 M.iSSACRES AT VERSAILLES. OPENING OF THE NA- 
 TIONAL CONVENTION, 20TH SEPTEMBER 1792. — 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 Whilst the French armies Avere engaged in repelling 
 the march of the allies, Paris was in a continual state 
 of disorder and confusion. We have already wit- 
 nessed the encroachments of the commime, the pro- 
 longed abominations of September, the impotency of 
 the authorities, and the inertness of the public forcedm-- 
 ing those disastrous days ; we have also seen with what 
 cool audacity the committee of siu-veillance avowed 
 the massacres, and reconmiended an imitation of them 
 to the other communes of France. However, the com- 
 missioners accredited by the comnume had been every 
 where repudiated, for France did not' ])artake the 
 furious spirit which a sense of danger had aroused in 
 the capital. But in the vicinity of Paris, even all the 
 murders of which we have read do not close the list. 
 There had been formed in that city a troop of assas- 
 sins, whom the massacres of September had fami- 
 liarised with blood, and who longed to shed more. 
 Some hundreds of persons had previously departed 
 from Paris, bent ujion the project of dragging from 
 the prisons of Orleans those under impeachment for 
 high-treason. Those unfortunate captives, by a final 
 decree of the assembly, were appointed to be conveyed 
 to Saimiur. Nevertheless, their destination was altered 
 on the route, and they were escorted in the direction 
 of Paris. On the 9th September, it was reported that, 
 they were to arrive at Versailles on the 10th. Con- 
 sequent upon those tidings, either from fresh orders 
 being issued to the gang of mxirderers, or trom the 
 mere mention of such an arrival sufficing to awaken 
 their bloodthirstj' mania, they flocked to Versailles 
 from the 9th to the 10th. A duU rumour immediately 
 pervaded that town that fresh massacres were about 
 to be committed. The mayor of Versailles took every 
 precaution to prevent additional disasters. The pre- 
 sident of the crimiuiU tril)mial hastened to Paris, in 
 order to apprise the minister Danton of the dangers 
 that threatened the prisoners ; but he obtained one 
 invariable answer to all his applications : " Those mai 
 are highly criminal!" " Possibly," retorted the pre- 
 sident Alquier; "but the law alone ought to inflict 
 pimishment upon them." " What ! do j'ou not see," 
 cried Danton, in a terrible voice, " that I woiUd have 
 answered you in another manner if I coidd ? ^Vhat 
 have you to do with those prisoners ? Go back to 
 your business, and take no larther heed concerning 
 them!" Alquier obeyed, in trepidation. 
 
 The next day the prisoners arrived at Ver';;iilles. 
 A horde of unknown ruffians ruslied upon the vehicles, 
 surrounded and separated them from the escort, 
 knocked the commander Fournier from horseback, 
 carried off the ma.yor, wlio announced a generous re 
 solution to die at his post, and massacred the unfor- 
 tunate prisoners, to the numljer of fifty-two. Amongst 
 them perished Delessart and D'Abancourt, placed 
 under impeachment as ministers, and Brissac, as com- 
 mander of the constitutional guard, disbanded under 
 the Legislative Assembly. Immediately after this 
 execution, the assassins flew to the prisons of the town, 
 and renewed the scenes of the first days of September, 
 emi)loving the same means, and parodj'ing, as at Paris, 
 the judicial forms. This event, occurring after an 
 interval of five days from the former, carried the uni-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 183 
 
 versal terror to its height. At Paris, tlie conimitteo 
 of surveillance, however, halted not an instant in its 
 action ; when the prisons were emptied by death, it 
 began again to fiU them by issuing fresh warrants of 
 arrest. These warrants were so numerous, that the 
 minister of the interior, RoUuid, denovmcing to the 
 assembly these new acts of arbitrary injustice, was 
 enabled to lay between five and six himdred of them 
 on tlie table, some signed by a single person, others 
 by two or tliree at most, the major part void of mo- 
 tive, and a great proportion fomided on the mere sus- 
 picion of incivism. 
 
 Whilst the commune was making its power felt at 
 Paris, it sent commissioners into the departments to 
 justify its conduct, exhort them to follow its example, 
 recommend to the electors deputies of its nomination, 
 and depreciate those wlio opjjosed it in the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly. It subsequently secured mmiense 
 funds by seizing the money fomid with tlie treasurer 
 of the civU list, Septeuil ; by appropriating the plate in 
 the cliurches, and the ricli movealiles of tlie emigrants ; 
 and, lastlj', by obtaining from the exchequer several 
 considerable sxmis, mider the pretext of supportuig the 
 assistance-fund, and completing the works of the camp. 
 All the effects of the unliappy persons massacred in 
 the prisons of Paris and on the route to Versailles, 
 had been sequestered, and deposited in the spacious 
 halls of the committee of sm'veillance. The commune 
 constantly refused to produce either the objects them- 
 selves or tlicir vidue, and even to give any answer 
 upon tlie subject to the nunister of the interior or to 
 tlie tUrectory of the department, which, as has been 
 pi'eviously mentioned, had been converted into a mere 
 commission of finance. It went yet farther, and pro- 
 ceeded to sell, by its own authority, the fm-niture in 
 large mansions, upon which seals had been affixed 
 since tlie departure of the proprietors. It ivas in v;;in 
 that the superior administration issued prohibitions ; 
 the entire body of subordinates, upon whom the execu- 
 tion of those orders was imposed, either belonged to 
 the municipality, or had no means of vindicating their 
 authority. The orders consequently met with no at- 
 tention. 
 
 The national guard, reconstructed imder the influ- 
 ence of the armed sections, and filled Mitli men of all 
 grades, was in complete disorganisation. Sometimes 
 it was accessory to mischief, sometunes it simply al- 
 lowed its perpetration from carelessness. Many of the 
 posts were altogether abandoned, because the men on 
 guard, not being relieved even after forty-eight hours' 
 watcli, retired exhausted with fatigue and wrath. All 
 the peaceable citizens had quitted the corps, formerly 
 so regular and usefid ; and iSanterre, who now com- 
 manded it, was of too feeble and uncultivated a cha- 
 racter to re-organise it. 
 
 The traiiquilUty of Paris was therefore abandoned 
 to hazard ; and on one hand tlie commune, on the 
 other the populace, had the field open for any enter- 
 prise. Amongst the spoils of royalty, the most pre- 
 cious, and consequently the most coveted, were tliosc 
 contained in the Garde-j\Ieuble, the rich deposit of all 
 the effects which formerly lent a s])lenil(nir to the 
 throne. Since the lOth August, this collection had 
 aroused the cupidity of the multitude, and more than 
 one significant synqitom had excited the vigilance of 
 the inspector of the establishment. lie had made 
 requisition U])()n re(|iiisition to obtain a snflicient guard; 
 but from the i)revakiit confusioii, or from the ditliculty 
 of filling all the jiosts, or, in short, from studiid indif- 
 ference, he was not furnished with the force lie de- 
 manded. During the night of the 16th September, 
 the Garde-Meuble was roiibed, and the greatest part 
 of its contents passed into unknown hands, which flu- 
 authorities sulisequently made fruitless efforts to dis- 
 cover. This fresh outrage was attrii)nted to the men 
 who had secretly directed the massacres, jhit in this 
 instance they could be instigated by neither fanaticism 
 nor a sanguinary policy ; and, supjwsiiig them actuated 
 
 by rapacity, they had in the vaults of the commune 
 wherewithal to satisfy such a passion to the fullest 
 extent. It has been said, indeed, that this spohation 
 was efiected in order to buy the retreat of the King of 
 Prussia, which is absurd, and to suiijjIv the expenses 
 of the party, which is more probable, but rests upon 
 no proof. At the Siime time, the robbery of the Garde- 
 Meuble ought to have but httle mfluence on the judg- 
 ment to be formed of the comnimie and its leaders. It 
 is unquestionably true, however, that the commune, 
 as the depositary of vast Avealth, never rendered any 
 account of it ; that the seals upon the cliests were 
 broken, without the locks being forced, which indicates 
 an abstraction and not a popular j iUage ; and that so 
 large a collection of precious moveables disappeared for 
 ever. A portion was audaciously stolen by certain 
 subordinates, such as Sergent, suriiamed the Agate, on 
 account of a rich jewel with which he decked himself; 
 and another portion served to defiay the charges of 
 the extraordinary government instituted by the com- 
 mune. It was a war waged against the old society ; 
 and every war is sullied by murder and pillage. 
 
 Such was the situation of Paris wliilst the elections 
 were proceeding for the National Convention. It was 
 from that new assembly honest citizens anticipated 
 the force and energy necessary to restore order ; they 
 hoped the forty days of confusion and crime, elapsed 
 since the 10th August, woidd be but an accident of 
 the revolution — a deplorable accident assuredly, but 
 transitory. The deputies themselves, sitting Avith such 
 impotence in the Legislative Assembly, prorogued 
 their energy to the meeting of that convention, wliich 
 was the common hope of aU parties. 
 
 AU France was the scene of agitation directed to 
 influence the elections. The clubs exercised gi-eat 
 sway in that respect. The Jacobins of Paris had 
 printed and distributed a list of all the votes recorded 
 dm-ing the legislative session, to serve as references 
 for the electors. The deputies who had voted against 
 the laws proposed by the popular party, and especially 
 those who had absolved Lafayette, had particular at- 
 tention draAvn to them. Nevertheless, in the provinces, 
 where the chssensions of the capital had not yet pene- 
 trated, the Girondists, even the most odious to the 
 agitators of Paris, were chosen on accomit of their 
 acknowledged talents. Almost aU the members of the 
 late assembly were re-elected. A great many ex-con- 
 stitiients, whom the self-denying ordinance liad ex- 
 cluded from the legislative body, were nominated to 
 form part of the convention. In the number were 
 Buzot and Petion. Amongst the new members natu- 
 rally appeared the men who had distinguished them- 
 selves in their departments by their energy and ardour; 
 or authors, who, like Louvet, liad gained renown by 
 their talents both in the capital and the ])rovinces. 
 
 At Paris, the violent faction which had domineered 
 since the lOtli August completely coutiolled the elec- 
 tions, and carried all the men of its party. Robes- 
 pierre and Danton were the first named. The Jacobins 
 and the council of the connimne haikd this result 
 with acclamations. After them were clmsen Camille- 
 Dcsniouliiis, famous l)y his writings; J)avid, by his 
 yiicturcs; Pabre-d'Kglantine, by liis dramatic jiro- 
 ductioiis and hearty jiarticipation in file revolutionary 
 troubles ; Legendre, Panis, Sergent, and ]{illaud-^'a- 
 rennes, by their services at the conninnie. To them 
 were added the procurator-syndic iNIaniKl; I'obi'spierre 
 the younger, brother of the celebrated ]\Iaxiniilian ; 
 Collot-d'lierbois, an ex-comedian; an<l the Duke of 
 ( (rleaiis, who had abdicated his titles, and called himself 
 Philip-Egalite. After all these names, great astonish- 
 ment was manifestid at the election of the aged Du- 
 saulx, one of the electors of 1789, who had so often 
 oityiosed the furious outbursts of the ])o])nlace, and so 
 (ifteu shed tiars over its excesses, and wlio was named 
 as a last nieinento of '89, and as an honest inoflensive 
 man, distasteful to no party. To this strange collection 
 was only wanting the cynical and sanyuinarv Marat.
 
 184 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 That singular man had, from the surpassing audacity 
 of his writings, sometliiiig of the astounding, even in 
 the eyes of those wlio had witnessed tlie days of Sep- 
 teniher. The capucliin Chabot, who exercised great in- 
 fluence at the Jacobins' by his vehemence, and there 
 obtained the triumphs which were denied liim in the 
 Legislative Assembly, was obhged to pronounce an 
 apologetic harangue for Marat ; and, as it was amongst 
 the Jacobins that every thing was arranged before- 
 hand, his election, being sanctioned by them, was soon 
 completed in the electoral assembly. INIarat, Freron, 
 hkewise a journalist, and some obscure individuals, 
 completed that famous deputation, which, including a 
 few traders, a butcher, a comedian, an engraver, a 
 painter, an advocate, three or four writers, and a de- 
 spoiled prince, adequately represented the confusion 
 and the variety of existences in conflict within the 
 immense capitiil of France. 
 
 The deputies arrived successively at Paris, and in 
 proportion as their munber swelled, and the events 
 which had protluced so universal a terror grew distant, 
 they began to take courage and deprecate the disorders 
 of the capital. The fear of the enemy was diminished 
 by the fu"m position of Dumouriez in the Argomie ; 
 the hatred for aristocrats Avas changed into pity, since 
 the horrible slaughter that had been made of them in 
 Paris and Versailles. Those ciimes, which had found 
 so many deUrious applauders or timid censors, had 
 become more hideous by the robbery recently added 
 to murder, and excited general reprobation. The 
 Girondists, indignant at such atrocities, and exaspe- 
 rated at the personal oppression they had endured 
 during a whole month, l^ecame more firm and ener- 
 getic. Resplendent for talent and courage in the ej-es 
 of France, invoking justice and humanity, public 
 opmion could scarcely fail to be with them ; and already 
 they openly threatened their adversaries with its visi- 
 tation. 
 
 At the same time, if the Girondists were all equally 
 decisive against the excesses of Paris, they did not all 
 experience and excite those personal resentments wliich 
 envenom party strife. Brissot, for example, by per- 
 tinaciously contesting the palm of eloquence at the 
 Jacobin Club with Robespierre, had inspired him-with 
 profound hatred. Possessed of great information and 
 talent, Brissot produced considerable effect; but he 
 liad neither the personal consideration nor sufficient 
 tact to be the leader of a party ; and the hatred cf 
 Robespierre unduly exalted him, by imputing tlxat cha- 
 racter to him. When, on the eve of the insm-rection, 
 the Girondists wrote a letter to Bose, the king's painter, 
 rumours of a treaty with the court were spread abroad, 
 and Brissot was cliarged with a design to esca]ie to 
 London, with a vast booty. Tliere was no truth in 
 sucli allegations ; but Marat, to whom the most insig- 
 nificant reports, and even those, indeed, distinctly 
 disproved, were sufficient for grounding accusations, 
 did not tlie less issue a warrant of arrest against 
 Brissot, during the general incarceration of the pre- 
 tended conspirators of the 10th August. A great 
 sensation had followed this step, and the warrant of 
 arrest was not executed. But the Jacobins adhered 
 to the assertion that Brissot was sold to Brunswick ; 
 Robespierre repeated it and believed it, so readily did 
 his distorted mind conclude those guilty whom he 
 hated. Louvet had inspired liim with equal abhor- 
 rence, by seconding Brissot at the Jacobins' and in the 
 journal La Sentinelle. Louvet, replete with talent and 
 boldness, made direct attacks on men. His virulent 
 personahties, continued from day to day in the pages 
 of Ids journal, had made liim the most feared and the 
 most detested enemy of the Robespierre faction. 
 
 The minister Ruland had displeased the Avhole 
 Jacobin and numicipal party by his courageous letter 
 of tlie 3d September, and by liis steadfast resistance 
 to the encroiu;hments of the commune ; but having 
 no rivalry with any individual, he excited only a cer- 
 tain anger of opinion. He had personally offended 
 
 Danton alone, by o])posing him in the coimcil, which 
 was not attended with much danger, for of all men 
 there was none whose resentment was less to be feareil 
 than Danton's. But in the person of Roland it was 
 principally his wife who Avas detested ; a woman proud, 
 severe, courageous, and intellectual, gatliering aroxmd 
 her those enlightened and brilliant Girondists, ani- 
 mating them by her looks, rewarding them with her 
 esteem, and preserving in her circle, amidst a repub- 
 Ucan simplicity, a politeness odious to obscure and 
 micidtivated men. These already endeavoured to 
 circulate vulgar ridicide against Roland. His wife, 
 tliey said, governed for him, directed his friends, and 
 recompensed them even by her favom's. In his ignoble 
 language, Marat called her the Circe of the party. 
 
 Guadet, Vergniaud, and Gensonne, though they had 
 gained great lustre in the Legislative Assembly, and 
 had set themselves in opposition to the Jacobins, had 
 not yet aroused all that venom they excited at a later 
 date. Guadet had even gratified tlie energetic repub- 
 licans by his attacks against Lafayette and tlie court. 
 Prompt to show himself in the van, Guadet could pass 
 at pleasure from the highest excitement to the most 
 perfect coolness ; and thus master of himself in the 
 tribune, he shone there by tlie pertinence and vigour 
 of his remarks. Thus, he natm-ally liked an exercise 
 in which he excelled, used it perhaps too freely, and 
 took more pleasure than was prudent in triumphing 
 by words over a party which was speedily to retort 
 upon him by deatli. 
 
 Vergniaud had not succeeded so weU as Gaudet 
 with the violent spirits of the time, because he never 
 showed so much ardour against the court ; but he had 
 been less exposed, hkewise, to wound them, because, 
 in his carelessness and supiueness, he oflended persons 
 less than his friend Guadet. Passions had little effect 
 in rousing this speaker ; permitting him to slumber 
 amidst the storms of party, and not driving him in 
 the face of men, their hatred was greatly blmited 
 against him. Still he was not indiflTerent. He pos- 
 sessed a noble heart, a fine and lucid intellect ; and the 
 dormant fire of liis soul, bLazmg up at intervals, warmed 
 and roused liim to subUme energy. He had not the 
 vivacity in repartee of Guadet, but he gi'ew animated 
 in the tribune, discoursed with a copious eloquence, 
 and, such was his extraordinary ductibility of organ, 
 that he poured out his thoughts with a facility and 
 fecimdity of expression sucli as no mau hath ever sur- 
 passed. The elocution of Mirabeau was, like his 
 character, unequal and powerful ; tliat of Vergniaud, 
 always elegant and dignified, became at times grand 
 and energetic. But all the exhortations of Roland's 
 consort did not always succeed in rousing this eliam- 
 pion, often disgusted with mankuid, often opposed to 
 tlie indiscreet courses of his friends, and, above all, 
 not very confident in the efficacy of words against 
 force. 
 
 Gensonne, a man of sense and probity, but gifted 
 with only a moderate fluency of speech, and mainly 
 adapted for drawing up reports, had not yet made a 
 figure in the tribune. However, strong passions and 
 an obstinate temper sufficed to procure for him consi- 
 derable influence with his friends, and amongst his 
 enemies the hatred which attaches to character much 
 more than talent. 
 
 Condorcet, formerly a marquis, and always a philo- 
 soplier, lofty and unbiassed in his specidations, dis- 
 cerning clearly the faults of his party, and Httle fitted 
 for the terrible agitations of democracy, rarely put 
 himself in the foreground, and had as yet no imme- 
 diate enemy on his own account, reserving himself 
 principally for those various labours which required 
 deep meclitation. Buzot, endowed with intelligence, 
 and elevation of mind and courage, uniting with the 
 graces of person a firm and simple eloquence, bespoke 
 attention by all the dignity of address, and exercised 
 a high moral ascendancy around him. 
 
 Barbaroux, elected by his fellow-citizens, had jiLst
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 185 
 
 arrived from the south with one of his friends, a de- 
 puty Hlie hunself to the Nationid Convention. This 
 frieud was called Eebecqui. He was a man of indiffe- 
 rent culture, but bold, enterprising, and wholly devoted 
 to Barbaroux. It will be remembei'ed that the latter 
 idolised Roland and retiou ; that he regarded IVIarat 
 as an atrocious madman, and Robespierre as actuated 
 by ambition, especially since Panis had designated him 
 as the indispensable dictator. Loathing the crimes 
 committed during his absence, he readily imputed 
 them to men whom he already detested ; and he ex- 
 pressed himself on his arrival with an energy that 
 precluded the possibility of reconciUation. Inferior 
 to his friends in mental accomplishments, but possess- 
 ing a fair proportion of intelligence and readiness, 
 handsome and chivalric withal, he freely scattered 
 menaces, and in a few days earned for himself a hatred 
 equal to that which attended many, who, dm'ing the 
 Avhole legislative session, had never ceased their as- 
 saults on opinions and persons. 
 
 The individual around whom the entire party rallied, 
 and who enjoyed miiversal consideration, was Petion. 
 Mayor diu-ing the Legislative Assembly, he had, by 
 his contest with the court, acquired a boundless popii- 
 larity. True, he had on the 9th August recommended 
 a debate in preference to a combat ; since then he had 
 declared against the September deeds, and withdrawn 
 from the commune, as 13ailly in 1790 ; but his opposi- 
 tion had been quiet and sUent, and, without yet ac- 
 tually embroiling him with the fiiction, had rendered 
 him formidable to it. With a well-stored mind, cidni 
 in temper, rarely speaking, never attempting a rivalry 
 of display with any one, he exercised over aU, and 
 over Robespierre himself, the ascendancy of a cool, 
 dispassionate, and imiversaUy revered sense. Al- 
 though reputed a Girondist, all parties sought his 
 suifrage, all stood in awe of bun, and, in the new 
 assembly, he had with him not only the right side, 
 but the whole intermediate body, and several even of 
 the left side. 
 
 Here then was the situation of the Girondists in 
 front of the Parisian faction : they had for them the 
 general opinion, which reprobated the excesses ; they 
 had won to themselves a great number of the deputies 
 who were daily entering Paris ; they had all the mi- 
 nisters, except Danton, Avho often ruled the council, 
 but never made use of his power against them ; finally, 
 they exhibited at their head the Mayor of Paris, the 
 most respected man of the moment. But at Paris 
 they were not amongst friends, but found themselves in 
 the very centre of their foes ; and they had to dread 
 the violence of the inferior classes which surged be- 
 neath them, and, moreover, the violence portended by 
 the future, fanned by revolutionary passions. 
 
 The first accusation levelled against them was a 
 design to sacrifice Paris. They had formerly been 
 charged with intending to take refuge in the depart- 
 ments, and beyond the Loire. The wrongs of Paris, 
 as regarded tliem, being aggravated since the 2d and 
 3d September, the imputation of a wish to abandon 
 I that city was fixed with the greater pertinacity, and 
 it was confidently asserted that they had attempted 
 to assemble the convention elsewhere. By degrees, 
 these suspicions settling down, took a more regidar 
 form. They were reproached with desiring to break 
 1 the national imity, and compose of the eighty-three 
 j departments so many separate states, all eipial amongst 
 themselves, and connected by a simple federative bond. 
 By this scheme, it was added, they contemplated the 
 I destruction of the Parisian predominance, and the pos- 
 j session of a personal sway in their respective depart- 
 I ments. It was thus the calumny of federalism origi- 
 ; nated. It is true, that when France was threatened 
 I by the invasion of the Prussians, they had thought of 
 intrenching themselves, at the last extremity, in the 
 southern departments ; it is also true, that, beliolding 
 I the excesses and the tyranny of Taris, they had some- 
 times rested tbeu- hopes on the departments ; but 
 
 between such speculations and a scheme for a federal 
 system there was a considerable interval. And yet, 
 all the diflerence between a federal govei-nment and a 
 single central government consistmg in the greater 
 or less degree of influence in the local institutions, the 
 criminality of such an idea, if it existed at all, was 
 singularly vague. The Girondists, in fact, perceiving 
 nothing very culpable in it, took no pains to repudiate 
 it ; and many amongst them, iiTitated at the absiir- 
 dity manifested in decrymg such a system, asked if 
 North America, Holland, and Switzerland, were not, 
 after all, free and happy imder a federal government ; 
 and if it woidd be any signal error or high crime to 
 confer a similar boon on France. Buzot, especially, 
 often upheld such opinions, and Brissot, who was an 
 ardent admirer of the Americans, likewise defended 
 them, rather as the result of a philosophic deduction, 
 than as embracing a project applicable to France. 
 Such conversations being dividged, gave greater weight 
 to the calumnj^ of fedcraUsm. At the Jacobin Club, 
 the question of federalism was gravely discussed, and a 
 thousand outrageous mvectives were launched against 
 the Girondists. The clamom' arose that they designed 
 to crush the nucleus of the revolutionary power ; to 
 wrest from it that unity which constituted its strength; 
 and that this fell scheme was hatched to render them- 
 selves kings in their provinces. 
 
 The Girondists retorted on their side by invectives 
 somewhat more substantial, but which imfortunately 
 were likewise exaggerated, and consequently lost m 
 force what they lacked in truth. They reproached 
 the commune with having rendered itself supreme; 
 with having by its usurpations encroached on the 
 national sovereignty, and arrogated to itself an autho- 
 rity which belonged only to France in the aggregate. 
 They charged upon it a design to domineer over the 
 convention as it had befoi'e oj)pressed the Legislative 
 Assembly; they said that in sitting beside it, the 
 national delegates were not in security, since they 
 would sit amongst the assassins of September. They 
 accused it of having dishonom-ed the revolution during 
 the forty days which followed the 10th August, and 
 of havmg stocked the deputation of Paris with men 
 notorious for their participation in those infernal 
 scenes. Thus far they were within the bounds of 
 truth. But they added reproaches as vague as those 
 of federalism directed against themselves. They 
 loiuUy accused jMarat, Danton, and Robespierre of 
 aspiring to supreme power — Marat, because he daily 
 published that a dictator was needed to purge society 
 of the impure members who corrupted it; Robespierre, 
 because he had dogmatised at the commune and spoken 
 with insolence to the assembly, and because, on the 
 eve of the 10th August, Panis had proposed him to 
 Barbaroux for dictator ; lastly, Danton, because he 
 wielded over the ministry, over the people, wheresoever 
 he appeared, indeed, the influence of a mighty being. 
 They called them triimivirs; and yet there M'as no 
 union amongst them. Marat was but a systematic 
 maniac; Robespierre as yet merely a jealous struggler, 
 wlio had not sufficient elevation of mind to be ambi- 
 tious; Danton a man of active nund, ardent.and zea- 
 lous for the goal of the Revolution, and extending his 
 interference to all things, more from restless energy 
 than from ambition. But amongst these three men 
 there was as j'ct no usurper, nor did any two of them 
 conspire in concert; and it was imprudent in the 
 Girondists to give their adversaries, alreadj' more 
 powerful than they, the advantage of being inijustly 
 accused. At the same time, they were less acrimonious 
 against Danton, because there was no personal smi- 
 mosity between him and them, and they held Miirat 
 in too great contempt to accuse him dii-ectly ; but they 
 railed unmercifully against Robespierre, because the 
 renown of what was called his virtue and his eloquence 
 irritated them to a greater extent; tliey bore towards 
 liim tlie resentment felt liy genuine superiority against 
 a viiiii and iiif1:ited mediocritj'.
 
 18b 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Attempts, nevertheless, were made to arrive at an 
 imderstanding before the opening of the National Con- 
 vention, and divers meetings held, in which frank 
 explanations on both sides were proposed and recom- 
 mended as a means for terminating baneful disputes. 
 Danton was cordi;dly disposed to sucli a course,* be- 
 cause he was not restrained by a morbid pride, and 
 had the success of the revolution, above all tilings, at 
 heart, rction evinced infinite coolness and sound 
 sense ; but Kobespierre was sidlcy, like one personally 
 wronged; the Girondists were haughty and stern, as 
 men innocent and indignant, who deemed certain ven- 
 geance m their jiower. Barbaroux said there was no 
 alliance possible between crime and virtue; and on both 
 sides they retired more distant from a reconciliation 
 than before they met. All the Jacobins raUied aroimd 
 Kobespierre; the Girondists, and the prudent and 
 moderate mass, around Petion. Tlie opinion of the 
 latter, and of all sensible men, was in ftivour of drop- 
 ping accusations, since it was impossible to appreliend 
 the authors of tlie September massacres and the rob- 
 bery of the Garde-Meuble; of ceasing to speak of tri- 
 umvirs, since their ambition was neitlier sufficiently 
 proved nor sufficiently manifest to support a prosecu- 
 tion ; of despising a score of worthless characters intro- 
 duced into the assembly by the elections of Paris ; and, 
 in sliort, of proceeding with all dispatch to fulfil the 
 objects of the convention, by foi'ming a constitution 
 and deciding the fate of Louis XVI. Such Avas the 
 comisel of dispassionate men; but others, less calm, 
 indulged as usual in projects which, being as yet inca- 
 pable of execution, had the demerit of warning and 
 exasperating their adversaries. They proposed to 
 cashier the municipality, remove tlie convention in 
 emergency, transfer its sittings from Paris, constitute 
 it as a court of jQstice for the trial without appeal of 
 all conspirators, and finally raise for its protection a 
 peculiar guard, selected from the eighty-three depart- 
 ments. These projects had no result, and served oidy 
 to irritate the passions. The Girondists relied upon 
 tlie public feeling, which, as they imagined, would 
 kindle into indignation at tlie accents of their elo- 
 quence and the recital of the crimes they -were prepared 
 to denounce. They would meet, therefore, at the 
 tribune of the convention, said they, and crusli their 
 foes. 
 
 At length, on the 20th September, the deputies to 
 the convention met togetlier at tlie Tuileries, to con- 
 stitute tlie new assembly. Their number being sulli- 
 cient, they resolved themselves into legal constitution, 
 verified their powers, and immediately proceeded to 
 the nomination of officers. Petion was almost unani- 
 mously proclaimed president. Brissot, Condorcet, 
 Rabaud Saint -Etienne, Lasource, Vergniaud, and 
 Camus, were elected secretaries. These sek'ctions 
 prove the influence then possessed by the Girondist 
 party in the assembly. 
 
 The Legislative Assembly, which since the 10th 
 August had been sitting permanently, was informed 
 on tlie 2uth, by a deputation, that the National Con- 
 vention was formed, and the legislature terminatecL 
 Tlie two assemblies had merely to resolve the one 
 into the other, and the convention proceeded to occupy 
 the liall of the legislative. 
 
 Manuel, procurator-syndic of the commune, who 
 had been su.si)ended after the 20th June with Petion, 
 and become extremelj' popular on account of that sus- 
 pension; wlio had subsequently taken ofliee with tlie 
 furious usurpers of the commune, but retreated from 
 them, and drawn towards the Girondists at sight of 
 the massacres in the Al)l)ey — Manuel, so early as the 
 21st, made a proposition which excited murmurs 
 amongst the enemies of the Gironde. "Citizen-repre- 
 sentatives," said he, " it is fitting tliat every tiling here 
 bear a clnuacter of dignity and grandeur calculated 
 
 * See DuraiKlMaJUunne, Dumouriez, Meilhnn, and all the con- 
 teiiii)' riiii( .s. 
 
 to awe the universe. I move that the president of 
 France be lodged in the national palace oi the Tuile- 
 ries; that he be preceded by the public force and the 
 symbols of the law; and that the citizens rise at Ids 
 approach." At these words, the Jacobin Chabot, and 
 Tallien, the secretary of the comnume, protested with 
 vehemence against a ceremonial imitated from royalty. 
 Chabot said that the representatives of the people 
 ought to assimilate themselves to the citizens from 
 whose ranks they came — to the sans-culottes, who 
 formed the majority of the nation. Tallien added, that 
 the president of the convention should be sought for 
 in a garret, since it was in such abodes that genius 
 and virtue dwelt. The proposition of Manuel was 
 rejected, and the enemies of tlie Gironde asserted that 
 it had intended to decree sovereign honom's to its 
 chief, Petion. 
 
 After this motion had been disposed of, a mul- 
 titude of others succeeded, without pause or order. 
 On all sides the wish was expressed to record by 
 authentic declarations the sentiments which animated 
 the assembly and France. Various demands were 
 made, to the effect that the new constitution should 
 be based on absolute equality, the sovereignty of the 
 people decreed, hatred sworn to royalty, to a dictator- 
 ship, to a trimuvirate, to every individuid authority; 
 and the penalty of death pronounced against whom- 
 soever should propose any project with that tendency. 
 Danton put an end to all these motions, by procuring 
 a decree that the new constitution shoiild be valid 
 only after being sanctioned by the people. It was sub- 
 joined that the existing laws should provisionally 
 continue to have effect ; the authorities, not displaced, 
 be provisionally maintained ; and the taxes levied as 
 before, until the new systems of contribution were 
 organised. After these motions and decrees, Manuel, 
 CoUot-d'Herbois, and Grcgoire, entered upon the ques- 
 tion of royalty, and demanded that its abolition should 
 be forthwith pronounced. The people, said they, had 
 just been declared sovereign, but they could not really 
 be so until they were delivered from a rival authority 
 — that of kings. The assembly, all the galleries, rose 
 with one accord to express an unanimous reprobation 
 of royalty. But Bazire wished a solemn discussion 
 upon so momentous a question. " What occasion is 
 there to discuss," exclaimed Gregoire, "when every 
 one is of the same opinion ? Courts are the work- 
 shops of crime, the furnace of corruption. The history 
 of kings is the martyrology of nations. Since we are 
 all equally impressed with these truths, what need of 
 discussion?" 
 
 The debate was in fact closed. A prof(jund silence 
 prevailed, and, according to the unanimous declaration 
 of the assembly, the jiresident pronounced royalty 
 abolished in France. This decree "was hailed Avith 
 universal acclamation ; its publication was instantly 
 voted, as likewise its transmission to the armies and 
 all the mmiicipalities. 
 
 When the institution of a republic was thus pro- 
 claimed, the Prussians still menaced the country. 
 Dumouriez, as we have related, had fixed himself at 
 Saintc-JMenehould, and the cannonade of the 21st, so 
 auspicious for the French arms, was not 3' et known at 
 Paris. The next day, the 22d, Billaud-Varennes pro- 
 posed to date, no longer from the year 4 of liberty, 
 but from the year 1 of the republic. This proposition 
 was adopted. The year 1780 was no longer considered 
 as the commencement of liberty, and the new rcpub- 
 Ucan era opened that very day, the 22d September. 
 
 In the evening the cannonade of Valmy was re- 
 ported, and joy l)eamed on every countenance, f^n 
 the petition of the citizens of Orleans, who complained 
 of their magistrates, it was decreed that all the mem- 
 bers of administrative bodies and tribunals should be 
 re-elected, and that the conditions of eligibility, as 
 fixed by the constitution of 1791, should be deemed 
 null. It was declared no longer necessary to select 
 tlu; j udges from lawyers, nor the administrators from
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 187 
 
 a certain class of proimetors. The Legislative Assem- 
 bly had already abolished the mark of silver, and 
 conferred upon aU citizens at tlie age of majority tlie 
 electoral franchise. The convention effaced the last 
 traces of distinction, by calling all the citizens to all, 
 the most diverse, functions. Thus was commenced 
 the system of absolute equality. 
 
 On the 23d, all the ministers were heard. The 
 deputy Canibon made a report upon the state of the 
 finances. The preceding assemblies had decreed the 
 fabrication of two thousand seven hundred millions of 
 assignats ; two thousand five hundred millions had 
 been expended ; there remained two hundred millions, 
 of which one hundred and seventy-six ^vere still to 
 manufacture, and the remaining twenty-fom- were m 
 the exchequer. The taxes were detained by the de- 
 l>artnients for purchases of grain ordered by the last 
 assembly; and the public exigencies required some 
 new extraordinary resources. The mass of national 
 property augmenting every day by emigration, no 
 fears were entertained from the issue of paper repre- 
 senting it, nor hesitation felt at making the experi- 
 ment : a fresh creation of assignats was accorduigly 
 ordered. 
 
 Roland was heard upon the state of France and the 
 capital. Equally severe, but bolder than on the .3d 
 September, he set forth in energetic terms the dis- 
 orders of Paris, their causes, and the means of pre- 
 ^ enting them. He recommended the prompt institu- 
 tion of a strong and vigorous government, as the only 
 guarantee of order in free states. His report was 
 favourably heard, and crowned with applause, failing 
 to excite any explosion on the part of those who con- 
 sidered themselves as accused when the troubles of 
 Paris were alluded to. 
 
 But scarcely had this first glance been cast over the 
 situation of France, than news arrived of the spread 
 of disorder in certain departments. Roland wrote a 
 letter to the convention, denouncing these new ex- 
 cesses, and demanding their refjression. The instant 
 the letter was read, the deputies Kersaint and Buzot 
 sprang to the tribune, to inveigh against the violences 
 ol all descriptions in progress ef commission. " The 
 assassinations," said they, " are indtated in the dc- 
 jiartments. It is not anarchy we can charge with 
 them, but tyrants of a new order, who are arising in 
 scarcely emancipated France. It is from Paris that 
 these fatal mstigations to crime are daily sent. On 
 all the walls of the capital Ave read placards stimulat- 
 ing to murder, burning, pillage ; and lists of proscrip- 
 tion, in which fresh victims are daily pointed out. 
 How are the x>eople to be preserved from wretchedness, 
 if so many citizens are condemned to shroud their 
 existence ? How can France hope for a constitution, 
 if the convention which is appointed to frame it de- 
 liberates beneath the points of daggers? It is neces- 
 I sary, for the honour of the revolution, to suppress all 
 I these excesses, and draw the distinction between the 
 I civic gallantry Avhich braved despotism on the 10th 
 August, and the savage cruelty Avhich ministered to a 
 I still and hidden tjTanny on the 2d and 3d September." 
 In consequence, the orators demanded the appoint- 
 ment of a committee, charged — 
 I 1st, To render an account of the state of the repub- 
 I lie, and of Paris in particidar. 
 
 2d, To present a project of law agauist instigators 
 I to murder and assassination. 
 
 j 3d, To draw up a statement of the means adapted 
 j for raising a public force, to be placed at the disj)osi- 
 tion of the Nationtd Convention, and taken from the 
 I eighty-three departments. 
 
 t At this proposition, all the members of the left side, 
 i on which were ranged the most violent sjiirits of the 
 i new assembly, uttered tumidtuous cries. The evils 
 j of France were exaggerated, they said. The hypocri- 
 tical wailings they had just heard, came from the 
 I depths of the dimgeons, into which those had Ikcii 
 (;ast who, for the last three j'ears, had been invoking 
 
 the horrors of civil war upon their countr\\ The dis- 
 orders complained against were inevitable"; the people 
 Avere in a state of revolution, and they must of neces- 
 sity adopt energetic measures for their security. At 
 present those critical moments were past, and the 
 declarations already made hy the convention would 
 suffice to idlay all commotions. Besides, why an ex- 
 traordinary jurisdiction? The ancient laAvs existed, 
 and met the case of instigations to murder. Was a 
 new martial law sought to be established? 
 
 By a very usual contradiction amongst parties, 
 those who had demanded the extraordinary jurisdic- 
 tion of tlie 17th August, those Avho were soon to de- 
 mand the revolutionary tri'ounal, rose indignantly 
 against a hiAv which they denoimced as a law of blood! 
 " A law of blood ! " exclaimed Kersaint in reply : " Avhy, 
 I desire, on the contrary', to prevent its being shed ! " 
 An adjournment Avas strenuously insisted upon. " To 
 adjourn the suppression of murders," cried Vergniaud, 
 " is to legalise them ! The enemies of France are in 
 arms on our frontiers, and you desire that the citizens 
 of France, instead of meeting them in combat, should 
 slay each other like the soldiers of Cadmus ! " 
 
 At length, the motion of Kersaint and Buzot was 
 adopted Avithout modification. It Avas resoh'ed that 
 laAvs should be framed for the punishment of instiga- 
 tors to murder, and for the organisation of a depart- 
 mental guard. 
 
 Tills debate of the 24th had caused great excitement 
 amongst the members ; still, no name had been men- 
 tioned, and the accusations remained general. The 
 next day they met Avith all the resentments evoked 
 by the previous sitting still rankling; on one side 
 they murmured against the decrees that had been 
 passed, and on the other felt regret at not having been 
 sufficiently scA-ere upon the faction they stigmatised 
 as disorganising. WhUst one party Avas attacking 
 the decrees, and the other defending them. Merlin, 
 formerly a tipstaff and mimicipal officer at Thionville, 
 and lately a deputy to the legislative body, Avhere he 
 signalised himself amongst the most uncompromising 
 patriots — ]Merlm, renowTied for his ardour and teme- 
 rity, demanded to be heard. 
 
 " The order of the da3%" said he, " is to elucidate, 
 Avhether, as Lasource assured me yesterday, there 
 exists in the heart of the National Convention a fac- 
 tion labouruig to establish a dictatorsliip or a trium- 
 virate : either these suspicions should cease, or Lasoiu-ce 
 be called upon to mark the guilty ; and I swear to jx)- 
 niard them in face of the assembly." LasoiuTC, thus 
 emi)hatically summoned to exj)lain himself, related his 
 conversation with Merlin, and again described, Avith- 
 out naming them, those ambitious characters who 
 were striving to raise themselves upon the ruins of 
 prostrated royalty. " They are those Avho have sti- 
 mulated murder and robbery ; Avho have issued Avar- 
 rants of arrest against members of the legislature ; who 
 point out for daggers the courageous members of the 
 convention ; and Avho impute to the people the excesses 
 Avhich they themselves order. AVhen the time comes, 
 I Avill tear the veil which I now merely raise, should 
 I perish beneath their l)lows." 
 
 Still the triumvirs were not expressly named. Os- 
 selin scaled the trihime, and spoke Avith reference to 
 the Parisian dei)utation, of Avhich he Avas one. He 
 said it Avas against the nu'tropolitan deputies distrust 
 Avas intended to be excited, but that they were neither 
 so i)rofomidly ignorant, nor so atrociously Avickcd, as 
 to have formed i)rojects for a triumvirate or a dicta- 
 torship; that he was read}- to take an oath to the 
 fact, and demanded anathema and death against the 
 first who should be found meditating such schemes. 
 " Let each," he added, " follow me to the tribune, and 
 there make the same declaration." " Yes I" exclaimed 
 Rebecqui, the courageous friend of Barbaroux; "yes! 
 that ])arty accused of t_\Tannical projects exists, and I 
 proclaim it : it is the Robespierre party ! Marseilles 
 knows it, and has scut us here to combat it."
 
 188 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 This bt'ld apostrophe caused a great sensation iu tlie 
 assembly. iMl ej'cs were turned on Robespierre. Dan- 
 ton hastened to the tribune in order to appease these 
 divisions, and dispel accusations wliicli he knew to be 
 partly directed aj^ainst himself. " That will be," said 
 he, " a glorious day for the republic, on which a frank 
 and amicable explanation shall allay all these suspi- 
 cions. You speak of dictators, of triumvirs ; but such 
 an accusation is vague, and ought to be signed." " I 
 wiU sign it !" exclauued Rebecqui, darting to the table. 
 " Good," replied Danton ; " if there be traitors, let 
 them be inunolated, were they the dearest of my 
 friends. For myself, my life is laio\ra. In the patri- 
 otic societies, on the 10 th August, and in the executive 
 coiuicil, I have served the cause of liberty without any 
 personal views, and with the energy of my temperament. 
 I do not fear accusations for myself, therefore ; but I 
 wish to avert them from all. There is, I gi-ant, a man 
 in the deputation of Paris, who may be called the 
 Jioyou of republicans : I mean ]\Iarat. I have been 
 often charged as the instigator of his placards ; but I 
 appeal to the testimony of ihe president, and I caU 
 upon him to declare, whether, m the commune and in 
 the committees, he has not often seen me m alterca- 
 tion with iMarat. At the same tune, this -wi-iter, so 
 denomiced, has passed a portion of his life in cellars 
 and dungeons ; sufferings have soiu-ed his temper, and 
 his resentment may be excused. But let us leave these 
 discussions, purely individual, and endeavom- to pro- 
 mote the public good. Decree the pain of death against 
 any who shall propose a dictatorship or triumvirate." 
 This recommendation was warmly applauded. " That 
 is not all," resumed Danton ; " there is another appre- 
 liension rife in the pu1)lic mind, and it is expedient to 
 dissipate it. It is alleged that a number of the de- 
 puties contemplate the federal system, and the divi- 
 sion of France mto a multitude of sections. It behoves 
 us to form but one aggregate. Declare, therefore, by 
 another decree, tlie unity of France and its govern- 
 ment. These points determined, let us cast aside our 
 suspicions ; let us be united, and advance to oiu- com- 
 mon aim." 
 
 Buzot replied to Danton that a dictatorship is seized, 
 but not solicited, and that to pass laws against such a 
 request was mere delusion ; that, as to the federal 
 system, no person had ever dreamt of it ; that the pro- 
 position of a departmental guard was a means of miity, 
 since all the departments would be called to guard the 
 national representation in conmion ; but that, at the 
 same time, it might be advisable to pass a law upon 
 the subject, which, however, ought to be matmrely 
 weighed ; and that, m consequence, the propositions of 
 Danton should be referred to the committee of six, 
 appointed the previous day. 
 
 Robespierre, being personally accused, demanded to 
 be heard in his turn. In commencing, he asserted it 
 was not himself he was about to defend, but tlie public 
 weal, attacked in his person. Turning to Rebecqui, 
 " Citizen," said he to that deputy — " you who have not 
 feared to accuse me — I thank you. I recognise in your 
 courage tlie renowned city that has deputed you. The 
 ,country, you, and I, will all gain by this accusation. 
 
 A party is mentioned," he continued, "which is 
 alleged to be meditating a new tyranny, and I am 
 named as its head. The accusation is vague; but 
 thanks to all I have done for liberty, it will be easy 
 for me to refute it. It was I who, in the Consti- 
 tuent Assemlily, combated for three years all the fac- 
 tions, whatsoever names they assumed ; it was I who 
 fought against the court, and rlisdained its presents ; 
 
 it was I" " That is not the question," exclaimed 
 
 several deputies. " He must be allowed to justify him- 
 self," cried Tallien, in reply. " Shice I am accused," 
 resumed Robespierre, " of i)etr:iying the cmmtry, have 
 I not a riglit to set my whole life in opposition to the 
 charge?" He thereupon recommenced tlie enumera- 
 tion of his double services against aristocracy and 
 Bigainst the false patriots wim took tlie nuisk of liberty. 
 
 In saj'ing these words, he pointed to the right side of 
 the convention. Osselin himself, fatigued with this 
 egotistical review, interrupted Robespierre, and en- 
 joined him to give a frank expLmation. " The ques- 
 tion is not vvhat thou hast done," added Lecointe-Ruy- 
 ravaux, " but what thou art accused of doing at this 
 present time." Robespierre then tauntingly expati- 
 ated on the freedom of opinion, on the sacred right of 
 defence, on the public safety, equally compromised 
 with himself in this accusation. He was agam re- 
 quested to be more precise ; but he continued m the 
 same ihscm'sive strain. RecaUing the famous decrees 
 he was instrumental in passing agamst the re-election 
 of constituent members, and against the nomination 
 of deputies to otHces in the gift of the government, he 
 asked if those were proofs of ambition. Then, recri- 
 minating upon his adversaries, he reiterated the impu- 
 tation of federaUsm ; and concluded by demanding the 
 adoption of the decrees proposed by Danton, and a 
 rigorous examuiation into the charges brought against 
 hmi. 
 
 Barbaroux, out of all patience, rushed to the bar. 
 "Barbaroux of Marseilles," he exclaimed, "presents 
 himself to sign the denunciation made by Rebecqui 
 against Robespierre." He then recounted a very in- 
 significant and often-repeated tale, to wit, that pre- 
 vious to the 10th August, Pauls conducted him to the 
 house of Robespierre, and that, on the termination of 
 their interview, Panis represented Robespierre to him 
 as the only man, the only dictator, capable of saving 
 the commonwealth; to which communication he, Bar- 
 baroux, had replied, that tlie ilarseillese would never 
 bow the knee before either kmg or dictator. 
 
 We have ah'cady recorded this circumstance, and 
 our readers may judge whether those vague and trivial 
 expressions of RobespieiTe's friends were sirflicient to 
 support such an accusation. 
 
 Barbaroux proceeded, and took up, one by one, the 
 charges brought against the Gironchsts. He moved 
 that federalism should be proscribed by a decree, and 
 that all the members of the National Convention shoidd 
 swear to endure a blockade in the capital, and to die 
 within its walls rather than forsake it. After the 
 cheering provoked by this proposition had subsided, 
 Barbaroux resumed his discourse, and said that it was 
 impossible to deny the existence of projects for a dic- 
 tatorship ; that the usurpations of the comnnme, the 
 warrants directed against members of the national 
 representation, the commissioners sent mto the depart- 
 ments, all proved a scheme for domination ; but that 
 the city of Marseilles kept a Avatchful eye upon the 
 safety of its deputies, and, alwaj^s prompt to anticipate 
 patriotic decrees, it had disx^atched a battaUon of fede- 
 ralists, in spite of the royal veto, and was now sending 
 forth eight hmidred of its citizens, to whom their 
 parents had given a brace of pistols, a sabre, a musket, 
 and an assignat for five hundred livres ; that to them 
 were added two hundred cavahy, perfectly equipped ; 
 and that this force would give a commencement to the 
 departmental guard proposed for the security of the 
 convention. "As to Robespierre," concluded Bar- 
 baroux, " I feel much regret at having accused him, 
 for I formerly loved and esteemed him. Yes ! we all 
 loved and esteemed him, and yet we have accused 
 him ! But let him acknowledge his errors and we will 
 desist. Let him cease to complain ; for if he has saved 
 liberty by his writings, we have vindicated it by our 
 persons. Citizens, when the day of peril shall arrive, 
 you will duly estimate us ; and we shall then see whe- 
 ther the fabricators of placards will have the courage 
 to die with us!" Loud acclamations accompanied 
 Barbaroux even to his scat. 
 
 At the mention of i)lacards, Marat claimed the right 
 of speaking. Cambon likewise sought it, and obtained 
 the preference. He denounced certain placards in 
 which the dictatorship was recommended as indispen- 
 salile, and which were signed with the name of Marat. 
 At this specific charge, every one moved away from
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 189 
 
 that personage, who retorted tlie scorn evinced towards 
 liira by a derisive scowl. Otlier accusers of Marat 
 and the commune succeeded Cambon. Marat made 
 strenuous efforts to obtain a hearing ; but Panis once 
 more procured a preference, to enable him to repel the 
 allegations of Barbaroux. Panis, with great lack of 
 discretion, denied actual but irrelevant facts, which it 
 would have been more advantageous to avow, relying 
 upon then" want of purpose. He was interrupted by 
 Brissot, who asked hmi the occasion of the warrant of 
 arrest issued agamst his person. Panis recurred in 
 vmdicatiou to cu'cumstances wliich, he said, had been 
 too readily overlooked; to the disorder and teri-or 
 which prevailed at that time in all minds ; to the mul- 
 titude of denunciations against the conspirators of 
 the 10th August; to the strength of the rumours cur- 
 rent against Brissot, and to the necessity of investi- 
 gating them. 
 
 After these tedious explanations, every moment 
 interrupted and resumed, ilarat, still insisting upon 
 being heard, at length obtamed the right when it was 
 no longer possible to refuse it to him. It was the fu-st 
 time he had appeared at the tribune. His appearance 
 jjrovoked a biu-st of indignation, and a terrible shout 
 arose against him. "Down! down!" was the general cry. 
 Indifferently clad, wearing a cap, which he laid upon 
 the tribime, and passing over his auditory a convulsive 
 and defying grin, he said : " I have a great nmnber of 
 
 personal enemies in this assembly" " All ! all !" 
 
 exclaimed the majority of the deputies. " I have in 
 this assembly," resmned j\Iarat, with impertm'ljable 
 assurance, " a great number of ]3ersonal enemies, whom 
 I invite to the observation of decency. Let them spare 
 their infui'iated clamours agamst a man who has served 
 liberty and themselves more than they imagine. 
 
 You speak of a triimivirate, of a dictatorship, and 
 attribute the design to the Parisian deputation ; but 
 I owe it to my colleagTies, and especially Robespierre 
 and Danton, to declare that they have always opposed 
 it, and that I have always had to combat them on 
 that point. I first and singly, amongst all the poli- 
 tical writers in France, advocated such a measure, as 
 the only means of crushing traitors and conspirators. 
 It is I alone who am amenable to pimishment ; but 
 before striking, deign to hear me." Here some api>lause 
 was faintly manifested. He resumed. " Amidst the 
 eternal machinations of a perfidious king, of a detest- 
 able court, and of false patriots, who, in both assem- 
 blies, sold the public liberty, can you impute it to me 
 as a crime tliat I conceived the only means of safety, 
 and invoked vengeance upon the heads of the guilty ? 
 No! for if you did so, the nation would disavow you. 
 It felt that this means Avas the only one reserved to 
 it ; and it was by constituting itself dictator that it has 
 delivered itself from traitors. 
 
 I have shuddered more than any other at the idea 
 of those terrible movements, and it was because I 
 desired they might not be perpetually fruitless that I 
 maintained they sliould be directed by a firm and 
 equitable hand. If the necessity of this step had been 
 perceived at the talcing of the Bastille, five hundred 
 reprobate heads would have fallen at my voice, and 
 peace have been established at that epoch. But in 
 consequence of not having displayed an energy equidly 
 sagacious and necessary, one hundred thousand patriots 
 have been murdered, and one himdred thousand are 
 menaced witli tlie like fate. At tlie same time, as a 
 proof that I did not wish to render this species of 
 dictator, tribune, triumvir (the name is of little mo- 
 ment), a tyrant such as stupidity has imagined, but 
 a victim offered up to the country, whose lot no am})i- 
 tious man would have envied, I intended that his 
 authority should continue only a few days ; tliat it 
 should be restricted to the power of condenming trai- 
 tors; and even that a oannon-l)all sboiild be fastened 
 to his ankle, so that he might be always under the 
 control of the people. My ideas, however revolting 
 they may have ajjpeai-cd to you. were directed to the 
 
 public good alone. If you were not sufficiently ele- 
 vated to comprehend me, so much the worse for your- 
 selves ! " 
 
 The profound silence which had hitherto reigned 
 was here broken by laughter, which in no way discon- 
 certed the speaker, uifinitely more terrible than ridi- 
 culous. He continued : " Such was my opinion, An-itten, 
 signed, pubhcly asserted. If it were wrong, you ought 
 to have combated it, shown me that I erred, and not 
 have denounced me to despotism. I am accused of 
 ambition! — but hear and judge me. If I had been 
 AtiUing to put a price on my sUence, I might have been 
 gorged with gold, and I am poor ! Persecuted without 
 intermission, I have wandered from cellar to cellar, 
 and preached truth with my head upon the block ! 
 Open, then, your eyes ; instead of consuming your 
 time in scandalous discussions, consummate the decla- 
 ration of riglits, establish the constitution, and settle 
 the basis of a just and free government, which is the 
 true object of your labours." 
 
 Universal attention had been conceded to this sin- 
 gular person, and the assembly, astounded at a system 
 so frightful and so studied, had observed a deep silence. 
 Some partisans of IMarat, emboldened by this silence, 
 had applauded ; but they Mere not imitated, and jMarat 
 resumed his seat without receiving either cheers or 
 marks of anger. 
 
 Vergniaud, the purest and most discreet of the 
 Girondists, deemed himself called upon to kindle the 
 indignation of the assembly. Mounting the tribune, he 
 deplored the misfortime of having to answer a man 
 convicted of crimes. Chabot and TaUien remonstrated 
 against the use of such words, and asked whether they 
 referred to the sentence passed by the Chatelet for 
 havmg immasked Lafayette. Vergniaud persisted, and 
 re-asserted his deep regret at having to answer a man 
 who had not cleared himself from the judgments re- 
 corded against him — a man all steeped in calumny, 
 malice, and blood. The minnuirs were renewed, but 
 he continued with firmness ; and after excepting from 
 tlie general Parisian deputation David, Dusaulx, and 
 some other members, he took in his hands the famous 
 circular of the coimnune, which we have already 
 quoted, and read it word for word. As it was already 
 known, however, it did not produce so matei'ial an 
 effect as another paper, whicli tlie deputy Boileau read 
 in the course of his speech. It was an article published 
 by Marat that very day, in which he said : " A single 
 reflection oppresses me, namely, that all my efforts to 
 save the people wiU result in nothing witliout a fresh 
 insurrection. From the sort of men who compose 
 the majority of the National Convention, I despair of 
 the public safety. If, in the first eight sittings, the 
 foundations of the constitution are not laid, expect no 
 good from that assembly. Fifty years of anarchy 
 await you, and you wUl avert them only In' a dictator 
 — a genuine patriot and statesman. O/i ye ycncrativn of 
 prattlers! did ye but know how to act!" 
 
 The reading of this article was repeatedly inter- 
 rupted by cries of indignation. Scarcely was it con- 
 cluded, than a large body of the members rose in 
 fury agahist Marat. Some openly threatened him, 
 and shouted, "To the Abbey! To the guillotine!" — 
 others overwhelmed him with ci)itliets of scorn, lie 
 re])lied to all the attacks levelled against him siinjily 
 by his old gTiinacc. Boileau moved a decree of im- 
 peachment, and the majority of the assembly called 
 eagerly for the votes. IMarat insisted, with great self- 
 possession, ujion being heard. It was projwsed that 
 he be heard only at the bar, but he ultimately secured 
 tlie tribune. According to his usual expression, he 
 recalled his enemies to decency. As to the judgments 
 they had not blushed to upbraid him M'ith, lie gloried 
 in tlicni, as the rewartls of his courage. Besides, the 
 peojjle, by sending him into tiie national assembly, 
 had wiped away those decrees, and decided between 
 his accusers and him. As to the article that had just 
 licen read, he was far from disavowing it, inasnuich
 
 190 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 as falsehood never polluted* his lips, and fear was a 
 str;inger to his heart. " To ask from me a retractation," 
 he added, " is to require me not to see what I have 
 before my eyes— not to feel what I am deeply sensible 
 of; and there is no power under the sun capable of 
 thus subverting my ideas. I can answer for the 
 I)urity of my heart, but I cannot change ray thoughts ; 
 they are such as the nature of things suggests to me." 
 Jklarat proceeded to inform the assembly that the 
 article in question, published ten days ago as a pla- 
 caril, had been repultlishcd against his wish by his 
 bookseller, but that he had just given a new exposi- 
 tion of his principles in the first number of the Jour- 
 nal of the Ifcpu/jlic, with wliich the assembly would 
 be assuretUy well satislied, if it would vouchsafe to 
 hear it read. 
 
 The assembly agreed to allow its perusal, and, ap- 
 peased bv the 'moderate expressions of ]Marat in the 
 article entitled " Its new progress," treated him with 
 less bitterness ; he even obtained some marks of satis- 
 faction. But he remounted the tribmie with his usual 
 ert'rontery, and ventured to administer a severe rebuke 
 to his colleagues upon the dangers of passion and pre- 
 judice. He told them that if his joiu'nal had not ap- 
 peared that very day, opportmiely to exculpate him, 
 they would have bliuLlly consigned him to irons. " But," 
 said he, drawing forth a pistol, Avhicli he always 
 carried in his pocket, and now pointed to his fore- 
 head, " I had the means of securing freedom ; and if 
 you had decreed me under impeachment, I would 
 have blown my brains to atoms in this very tribune. 
 Behold the reward of my labours, of my perils, of my 
 suffermgs ! But now I will remain amongst you to 
 brave your fury !" At this last expression of Marat, 
 his colleagues, moved with all their former indigna- 
 tion, shouted out that he was a fool and a villain, and 
 gave way to a prolonged tumult. 
 
 The debate had lasted several hours, and what, after 
 all, had been elicited ? Nothing iipon the alleged pro- 
 ject of a dictatorsliip for the dominion of a trimnvirate, 
 but much upon the character of parties, and on their 
 respective strength. Danton had sho^vn himself mo- 
 derate, and full of kindness for his colleagues, pro- 
 vided his conduct were not too severely handled; 
 Robespierre vindictive and sullen ; Marat astounding 
 by his cynicism and cool audacity, repudiated even by 
 his own party, but striving to inculcate his atrocious 
 system, and habituate the mind to its contemj^lation ; 
 — all three prospering in the revolution by different 
 faculties and vices; not acting in concert, on the con- 
 trary disavowing each other, and evidently impelled 
 simply by that desire for influence which is natural to 
 all men, but which has not yet ripened into a project 
 of tyranny. Public opinion went with the Girondists 
 in execrating September and its horrors ; it granted 
 them the estimation due to tlieir talents and probit}-; 
 but it deemed their accusations exaggerated and im- 
 prudent, and held it as but too palpable that certain 
 personal feelings mingled in their indignation. 
 
 From this day, the assembly Avas divided into a 
 right side and left side, as at the opening of the first 
 Constituent Assembly. On the right side were ranged 
 all the Girondists, and those who, without being per- 
 sonally linked to their destinies, partook, neverthe- 
 less, their generous indignation. In the centre were 
 gathered in considerable number all those honest but 
 peaceable deputies, wlio, moved neither by character 
 nor talents to take part in the contest of factions 
 otherwise than by silent votes, sought obscurity and 
 safety by merging in the multitude. Their numerical 
 force in the assembly, the great respect still enter- 
 tained for that body itself, and the pains taken by the 
 Jacobin and nnmicipal party to justify itself in their 
 eyes, all tended to give them confidence. They loved 
 to beUeve that the authority of the convention would 
 suffice in time to subdue the agitators; nor were they 
 sorry to have a jjlea for deferring the display of energy, 
 and charging the Girondists witli hazarding rash ac- 
 
 cusations. As yet they were principally distinguished 
 for a laudable spirit of justice and impartiality, at 
 times betraying a certain jealousy of the too frequent 
 and too brilliant eloquence of the right side ; but they 
 wei'e sjieedily to become feeble and cowardly in pre- 
 sence of tyranny. They were called the Plain, and hi 
 opposition, the left side was denominated the Moun- 
 tain, on which all the Jacobins were heaped one above 
 the otlier. Upon the tiers of this Moimtain were per- 
 ceived the deputies of Paris, and such provincial repre- 
 sentatives as owed their election to the correspondence 
 of the clubs, or had been gained since their arrival by 
 the opinion that no quarter ought to be granted to 
 the enemies of the revolution. On them might be 
 likewise discerned certain distinguished characters, 
 men of the exact, rigorous, and positive order of 
 minds, by whom the theories and philanthropy of the 
 Girondists were contemned as idle abstractions. How- 
 ever, the ]\rountaineers were few in number at this 
 time. The Plain, united with the right side, composed 
 an immense majority, wliich had given the presidency 
 to Petion, and approved of the attacks made by the 
 Girondists against September, save the personal de- 
 j nunciations, which seemed too prematm-e, and too 
 insufficiently grounded.* 
 I * The following is the picture which the minister Garat, who 
 [ studied the characters of the revolution with the most observant 
 I eye, has drawn of the two sides of the convention : — 
 [ " In the right side of the convention were included almost all 
 j the men of whom I have just spoken : I could not discern any 
 other spirit anionifst them than such as I had always recORnised 
 in them. There, then, I perceived both that republicanism of 
 sentiment wliich only consents to obey a man when that man 
 speaks in the name of the nation and as the law, and that still 
 more rare republicanism of the mind which has taken to pieces 
 and put together again all the springs of organisation in a society 
 of men alike in rights as in nature ; which has discovered by what 
 happy and profound artifice there may be associated in a gi-eat re- 
 public those things that appear incapable of association— equality, 
 and submission to the mairistrates ; a beneficial agitation inopinion 
 and discussion, and a constant, immoveable order ; a government 
 whose power may always be absolute over individuals and the 
 multitude, and still amenable to the nation ; an executive power 
 whose outward forms and pomp, of an useful splendour, may 
 always support the idea of tlie majesty of the republic, but never 
 that of the greatness of an individual. 
 
 On the same side I saw seated the men most fully versant in 
 those doctrines of political economy which teach the policy of 
 opening and enlarging the channels of private and of national 
 wealth ; of composing the public treasury of such contributions as 
 the fortune of each individual owes to it ; of creating new sources 
 and new channels of productiveness to private capital by a skilful 
 use of what it has poured into the coffers of the state ; of protect- 
 : ing and leaving without restrictions all kinds of industry, without 
 favouring any in particidar ; of viewing large jxissessions not as 
 unfruitful lakes, which absorb and hold all the tributary streams 
 that pour from the mountains, but as reservoirs necessary for the 
 I purjioses of multiplying and improving the germs of universal 
 fecundity, and of distributing them by degrees over localities 
 which would have otherwise remained in unproductiveness and 
 sterility— admirable doctrines, which introduced liberty into arts 
 and commerce before it liad penetrated into governments, but 
 pccidiarly fitted by their essence to the spirit of repviblics, they 
 b. ing alone capable of giving a solid foundation to equality, not 
 in a general /rwialiti/ always violated, and which fetters the 
 desires uifinitcly less than industry, but in an universal compe- 
 tence, in those labours, the ingenious variety and continual re- 
 vival of which can alone occupy, auspiciously for liberty, that 
 turbulent activity of democracies which, after having long tor- 
 mented, finally caused the downfall of the ancient republics, 
 amidst the storms and tempests in which their atmosphere was 
 always enveloped. 
 
 On the right side were five or six men whose genius was com- 
 petent to originate these great theories of the social and econo- 
 mical orders, and a considerable number of men capable of 
 imdcrstanding and diffusing them. It was there, likewise, that 
 certiiin spirits were ranged, fonnerly distinguished for impetuo- 
 sity and violence, but who, after describing and exhausting the 
 entire circle of demagogical passions, now a.spired simply to dis- 
 credit and combat the follies they themselves had propagated. 
 There, finally, were seated, like devotees kneeling at the foot of 
 the altar, those men, whom subdued p:issions, a moderate lor-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 191 
 
 The assembly had passed to the order of tlie day 
 upon the respective accusations of the two parties, but 
 had maintained tlie decree of the previous day. Thus 
 three points i-eniained tixed: 1st, To retiuire from the 
 minister of the interior a faithful and exact account of 
 tlie state of Taris ; 2d, To frame a project of law 
 against instigators to murder and pillage ; and, 3d, To 
 devise the means of assembling a departmental guard 
 around the National Convention. The energy and 
 spirit with which the report upon the state of Paris 
 woidd be characterised was well known, since it was 
 intrusted to Roland ; and the committee chargeil with 
 the two projects agauist written instigations, and for 
 the establishment of a guard, mspired equal confiden.ce, 
 inasmuch as it was entirely composed of Girondists. 
 Buzot, Lasource, and Kersaint, were members of it. 
 
 It was against the two latter objects that the Moun- 
 taineers were especially inveterate. They asked whe- 
 ther it were intended to repeat the proclamation of 
 martial law and the massacre of the Champ-de-lMars, 
 and whether the convention designed to give itself 
 satellites and body-guards like the last king. They 
 thus revived, as the Girondists upbraided them, all 
 the reasons alleged by the court against the camp 
 below Paris. 
 
 Many members of the left side, even the most ardent, 
 were, in their capacity of deputies of the convention, 
 decisively inimical to the usurpations of the commune ; 
 and, with the exception of the deputies of Paris, no 
 one defended it when attacked, which occurred almost 
 d£tily. Thus decrees were passed m rapid succession. 
 
 As the commune delayed to adopt steps for its own 
 renewal, in execution of the decree prescribing the re- 
 election of all the iwlministrative bodies, the executive 
 councd was ordered to sujierintend its reconstruction, 
 and render an account of the same to the assembly 
 within three days. A commission of six members was 
 named to receive declarations from all those who had 
 deposited etiects at the town-hall, and to ascertain the 
 existence of those effects, or the purposes to which the 
 municipality had appUed them. The directory of the 
 department, -which the insurrectional commime had 
 reduced to the title and the functions of a simple admi- 
 nistrative commission, was restored to all its preroga- 
 tives, and resumed its title of directory. The communal 
 elections for appointing a mayor, and the members of 
 the mmiicipality and the council-general, which the 
 Jacobins had recently determined to make viva voce, 
 as a means of intimidating the faint-hearted, were 
 rendered secret by a fresh confirmation of the existing 
 law. The elections already made according to that 
 illegal mode were anmdled, and the sections submitted 
 to re-commence them in the prescribed form. It was 
 finally decreed that all the prisoners confined without 
 a warrant of arrest should be forthwith discharged. 
 This was a heavy blow levelled at the committee of sur- 
 veillance, whose rage was principally directed against 
 persons. 
 
 All these decrees were passed during the first days 
 of October, and the commune, thus vigorously assailed, 
 found itself compelled to bend beneath the ascendancy 
 of the convention. However, the committee of sur- 
 
 tune, and an education which had not been neglected, prepared 
 to illustrate, by all the private virtues, a republic wliit-h per- 
 mitted them to enjoy their tranquillity, then- easy and kindly 
 life, and their possessions. 
 
 Turning ray eyes from this right side to the left, fixing them 
 upon the Jlountain, what a contrast struclc mo ! Tliere I beheld 
 a man working with the utmost turbulence, to whom a visage 
 tinged with a copper dye gave the appearance of one sprung from 
 the bloody caverns of the anthropophagi or the burning threshold 
 of hell ; in whom, by his convulsive, aljrupt, and broken step, 
 you recognised one of those assassins who have escaped the exe- 
 cutioner but not the Furies, and who seem willing to anniliilate 
 the human race for the sake of escaping the terror witli which 
 the sight of every man inspires them. Under the despotism, 
 wliich he had not covered with blood as he had done liberty, this 
 man had been possessed with the ambition of making a revolution 
 in the sciences ; and he had attacked, in audacious and contemp- 
 tible systems, the greatest discoveries of modern times and of 
 human intelligence. His eyes, wandering over the history of the 
 world, had paused upon the lives of four or five grand extermi- 
 nators, who converted cities into deserts, in order afterwards to 
 repeople the deserts with a race formed after their own likeness, 
 or after that of tigers— such was all he had retained of the annals 
 of nations, all that he knew or wished to imitate of them. By 
 an instinct similar to that of wild beasts, rather than from a 
 perception of human perversity, he had discerned to how many 
 follies and crimes it was possible to hurry an immense nation 
 whose religious and political chains had just been snapped 
 asimder ; it was that idea which dictated all his writings, all 
 his words, all his actions. And his full was reserved to the 
 poniai'd of a woman ! and more than fifty thousand statues of 
 him were erected in the republic ! 
 
 Ky his side were drawn men who would not of themselves have 
 conceived such atrocities, but who, cast with him, by an act of 
 extreme temerity, into events the critical import of which un- 
 nerved them, and wliose dangers made them tremble, even 
 whilst disavowing the maxims of the monster, h:id probably 
 already followed them, and were not indisposed to allow the fear 
 to ])revail that they might follow them again. They held Marat 
 in horror, but they felt no repugnance in making uso of him. 
 Tliey placed him in the midst of them, they put him in tlie fore- 
 ground, they carried him, as it were, upon their breasts, like a 
 head of Medusa. As the terror such a man inspired was every 
 where, so ho himself was thought every where visible ; he was in 
 some sort believed to be the whole Mountain, or the whole 
 Mountain to be like him. Amongst the leaders, in fact, there 
 were several who reproved the crimes of Marat only as they were 
 Bomewhat too glaring and avowed. 
 
 Hut amongst those very leaders (and hero truth compels mo to 
 disbent from the opinions of many honest men), amongst the 
 
 leaders themselve? were many men who, connected with the 
 others greatly more by events than by sentiment, cast many a 
 look and a regret towards justice and himianity ; who would have 
 displayed numerous virtues, and rendered numerous services, if 
 at any instant they had been deemed capable of such manifesta- 
 tions or actions. To the Mountain repaired, as to military posts, 
 those who abundantly possessed the passion, but scantily the 
 theory, of liberty ; those who believed equality menaced, or even 
 broken, by dignity of sentiment and elegance of language ; those 
 who, reared in hovels or workshops, refused to recognise a repub- 
 lican except in the costume they themselves wore ; those who, 
 entering for the first time into the career of the revolution, found 
 it incumbent on them to signalise that impetuosity and violence 
 which had originated the glory of almost all the great revolu- 
 tionists ; those who, still young, and formed rather to serve the 
 I'epublic in the armies than m the sanctuary of the laws, having 
 seen the republic take birth amidst the roar of tlumder, believed 
 that it was always amidst the roar of thunder it behoved them to 
 preserve it and promulgate its decrees. To this left side also 
 resorted, seeking an asylum rather than a position, several of 
 those deputies who, having been reared in the proscribed castes 
 of nobility and priesthood, although always unsullied, were per- 
 petuallj' exposed to suspicions, and fled to the top of the Moun- 
 tain to avert the accusation of not having attained the requisite 
 elevation of principles. Thither proceeded, too, to feed upon 
 their suspicions and live in the midst of chimeras, those solemn 
 and melancholy characters who, having observed falsehood too 
 often united with politeness, believed in virtuconly when gloomy, 
 and in liberty only when savage. There sat, also, certain spirits 
 who had contracted in the exact sciences surliness as well as 
 prcciscness, and who, proud of possessing knowledge immediately 
 applicable to the mechanical arts, were well pleased to bo sepa- 
 rated by position, as by disdain, from those men of letters and 
 philosophers whose accomplishments are not so promptly service- 
 able to weavers and forgers, and reach individuals only after 
 having enlightened the entire society. There, finally, were in- 
 evitably moved to vote, whatsoever might be in otlier respects 
 their avocations and talents, all those who, by the overstrained 
 workings of their character, were disposed to go beyond, rather 
 than remain within, the limit whiih niiglit have been assigned to 
 the revolutionary enei'gy and mania. 
 
 Such was the idea 1 formed to myself of the elements composing 
 the two sides of the coiwention. 
 
 Judging each side by the majority of its elements, both, in 
 (liflcrent kinds and degrees, infallibly appeared to me capable of 
 rendering great services to the republic : the right side in orga- 
 nising the interior with wisdom and dignity ; the left side in im- 
 parting from their own souls into those of all the French, those 
 republican and popular passions so necessary to a nation assailed 
 on all sides by the herd of kings and the soldiery of Europe."
 
 192 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 veillance had resolved not to be discomfited without a 
 show of resistance. Its members had accordingly 
 presented themselves at the bar of the assenil)ly, say- 
 ing that they came to confound their adversaries. 
 Possessing the papers found at the house of Laporte, 
 intendant of the civil list, and condemned, as the reader 
 will recollect, by the tribunal of tlie 17th August, they 
 had discovered, they alleged, a letter iu wliich was 
 mentioned how niucli certaui decrees had cost, passed 
 in the preceding assemblies. They were prepared to 
 unmask the deputies sold to the cf)urt, and demon- 
 strate the hoUowness of tlieir patriotism. "Name 
 them ! " the assembly exclaimed, indignantly. " We 
 cannot yet do so," replied tlie members of the commit- 
 tee. A commission of twenty-four deputies was inune- 
 diatelv nominated, all unconnected with the Consti- 
 tuent and Legislative Assemblies, charged, as a means 
 of rebutting the calunni}', to investigate those papers 
 and give in a report of their contents. Marat, the 
 inventor of tliis exi)edient, published in his journal 
 that he had " paid the liolaridists," the accusers of the 
 connnune, " in their own coin" and he announced tlie 
 pretende<l discovery of a Girondist treason. In the 
 mean time the papers were examined, none of the pre- 
 sent deputies were found compromised, and the com- 
 nuttee of surveillance was accordingly declared guilty 
 of cal iimny. The papers being too voluminous for the 
 twenty-four deputies to continue their examination at 
 the town-hall, they were removed to one of the com- 
 mittee-rooms of the assembly. IMarat, seeing himself 
 thus deprived of rich materials for his daily accusa- 
 tions, was ^^olently exasperated, and pretended in his 
 journal that it was a scheme to destroy the record of 
 numberless treasons. 
 
 After having thus repressed the encroachments of 
 the commune, the assembly turned its attention to the 
 executive power, and decided that the ministry could 
 not be held by any of its members. Danton, obliged 
 to choose between the functions of minister of justice 
 and of member of the convention, preferred, hkc Mira- 
 beau, those which opened to him the tribune ; and he 
 quitted the ministry without rendering an account of 
 his secret disbursements, which he asserted he had 
 already laid before the council. This allegation was 
 not quite accurate ; but too close a scrutiny was not 
 judged expedient, and the matter was passed over. 
 On the refusal of Francois de Neufchateau, Garat, a 
 distinguished author, and highly intellectual ideologist, 
 who had become famous by his adjnirable conduct of 
 the Journal de Paris, occui)ied the post of minister of 
 justice. Servan, wearied by a laborious office, above, 
 not his capacity, but his strength, preferred the com- 
 mand of the army of observation statior.ed at the foot 
 of the Pyrenees. Tlie minister Lebnui was provision- 
 ally intrusted with the portfolio of war, in addition to 
 that of foreign afi;iirs. Roland likewise tendered his 
 resignation, "disgusted with an anarchy so repulsive to 
 his integrity and inflexible love of order. The Giron- 
 dists moved the assembly to invite him to retain the 
 portfolio. The Mountaineers, and particularly Danton, 
 whom he had greatly thwarted, opposed this proposi- 
 tion as derogatory to the assembly. Danton com- 
 plained that he was feeble, and under the control of 
 his wife ; which reproach was answered by an appeal 
 to his letter of the 3d September, and might have been 
 more signally reju'lled by adducing the opposition that 
 he, Danton liinisilf, had experienced from him in the 
 council. However, tlie order of the day was carried, 
 and the motion passed aside. But, urged by the Gi- 
 rondists and all the men of character, Roland continued 
 in the ministry. " I remain," he nobly wrote to the 
 assembly, " because I am assailed by calumny, because 
 dangers press upon me, and because the convention 
 has appeared desirous that I shoidd still exercise the 
 ministry. — It is too glorious," he added, in finishing 
 liis letter, "thy.t iny union with courage and virtue is 
 the solitary reproach made against me." 
 
 The assembly subseciucntly divided itself into diffe- 
 
 rent committees. It instituted a committee of sur- 
 veillance composed of thirty members ; a second, of 
 war, of twenty-four ; a third, of accoimts, of fifteen ; a 
 fourtii, of civil and criminal legislation, of forty-eight ; 
 a fifth, of assignats, currency, and finance, of forty- 
 two. A sixth committee, more important than all the 
 others, was intrusted with the principal object for 
 which the convention itseU" was convoked, that is to 
 say, tlie preparation of a constitution. It was com- 
 posed of nine members, enjoying celeljrity on various 
 grounds, and almost aU cliosen in the interest of the 
 right side. Philosophy had its representatives in the 
 persons of Sicyes, Condorcet, and the American,Thomas 
 Paine, recently elected a French citizen and a member 
 of the National Convention ; the Gu-onde was pecu- 
 liarl}' represented by Gensonne, Vergniaud, I'ction, 
 and Brissot ; the centre by Barrere, and the Moun- 
 tain by Danton. It was certainly matter of astonish- 
 ment that this latter tribune, so fitted for action but 
 so essentially unspcculative, shoidd be placed in this 
 purely phOosojiliical committee, especially when the 
 character of Robespierre, if not his talents, distinctly 
 pointed him out for such a part. It is certain that 
 Robespierre was much more desirous of the distinction, 
 and that he was deeply incensed at ncjt obtaining it. 
 It was conferred in preference on Danton, whom his 
 'natural capacity rendered suita])le for all tasks, and 
 whom no bitter animosity yet separated from his col- 
 leagues. This composition of the committee, how- 
 ever, was the occasion of the constitution bemg so long 
 dehu'ed. 
 
 After having thus provided for the re-establishment 
 of order in the capital, for the organisation of the exe- 
 cutive power, for the distribution of business amongst 
 committees, and for the preparation of the constitu- 
 tion, there remained a finid subject to regulate, one of 
 tlie gravest that could occupy the assembly — the fate 
 of Louis XVI. and of his family. A profomid silence 
 had been observed iipon this topic in the assembly ; 
 and whilst it was every where discussed — at the Jaco- 
 bin Club, at the commune, and in all public or private 
 meetings, in the convention alone it was never men- 
 tioned. Some emigrants having been seized with arms 
 in their hands, they had been conducted towards Paris 
 to receive the application of the criminal laws. On 
 this point, a voice (it was the first) asked whether, 
 i;i stead of heeding these subordinate culprits, it was 
 not expedient to adopt measm-es regarding those lofty 
 criminals confined in the Temple. At these words, 
 the assembly was hushed into the deepest silence. 
 Barbaroux was the first to break it, and he moved 
 that, before resolving whether the convention should 
 try Louis XVI., it shoidd be settled whether th-e con- 
 vention were a judicial body, for it had other cruuinals 
 to judge besides those in the Temjile. In starting this 
 question, Barbaroux had reference to the project for 
 constituting the convention an extraordinary tribunal 
 for trying the agitators, the triumvirs. See. After some 
 discussion, the motion was remitted to the committee 
 of legislation, with instructions to examme the ques- 
 tions involved in it. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS AT THE END OF OCTOBER 1792. 
 
 SECOND CONTEST BETWEEN THE GIRONDISTS AND 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN. PRELIMINARY PROPOSITIONS FOR 
 
 TUE TRIAL OF LOUIS XVL 
 
 At this period the military situation of France was 
 greatly changed. It was nearly the middle of October, 
 and the enemy was already driven from Champagne 
 and Flanders, and alien territory invaded on three 
 points, the Palatinate, Savoy, and the county of Nice. 
 
 AVe have seen the Prussians retreating from the 
 camp of La Lime, retracing the route of ilie Argonne, 
 strewing its defiles with dead and sick, and only
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 193 
 
 escaping total destruction by the negligence of the 
 Frencli generals, who each pursued a difierent object. 
 The Duke of Saxe-Teschen had not been more suc- 
 cessful in the Low Countries. Wliilst the Prussians 
 were marching on the Argonnc, that prince, unwilling 
 to remain inactive, had thought hhuself called upon to 
 undertake a brilliant enterprise. However, although 
 the frontier to the north was midefended, his means 
 were not much more considerable than tliose of his 
 opponents, and he had some (Ufficultj' in collecting 
 fifteen thousand men, with an indifferent train of ar- 
 tillery. Directing a series of false attacks along the 
 whole line of forti'esses, lie succeeded in lireaking up 
 one of the small camps, and suddenly advanced upon 
 Lille, to attempt a siege m which the greatest gene- 
 rals had been foiled, with powerful armies and a tbr- 
 midable artillery. Destructive enterprises are only 
 justified in war by the possibility of success. The 
 duke could only approach one point of the place, and 
 he there establislied batteries of howitzers, witli which 
 he bombarded it dm-ing six consecutive days, and 
 burnt upwards of two hundi-ed houses. It is said tliat 
 the Archduchess Christina resolved to be present at 
 this horrible spectacle. K it were so, she would merely 
 witness the heroism of the besieged and the inutihty 
 of Austrian l)arbarity. The people of LiUe, resisting 
 with noble fortitude, determined never to sm'render ; 
 and on the 8tli October, wliilst the Prussians were 
 making the best of their way through the Argoime, 
 the Duke Albert fomid it necessary to abandon LiUe. 
 General Labourdonnaye, arriving from Soissons, and 
 Bem-nonviUe, returning from Champagne, forced him 
 to retire precipitately from the Frencli frontiers ; and 
 the resistance of the Lillois, published throughout aU 
 France, tended to augment the general enthusiasm. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with these events, Custine 
 attempted some bold operations in the Palatinate, but 
 with a result more brilliant than solid. Attached to 
 the army of Biron, who was encamped along the banks 
 of the Khine, he was stationed with 17,000 men, at 
 some distance from iS^pires. The gi'and invading army 
 liad but weakly protected its rear when advancing into 
 the interior of France. Feeble detachments, there- 
 fore, covered Spires, Worms, and Mayence. Custme 
 perceived the neglect, marched on Spires, and entered 
 it without resistance on the 30th September. Em- 
 boldened by this first success, he penetrated on the 
 5th October into AVorms, witliout encomitering greater 
 diificidties, and obliged a garrison of 2700 men to lay 
 dovnTi their arms. He afterwards took Frankenthal, 
 and immediately formed a design on the important 
 fortress of Maj-ence, which was tlie main point of re- 
 treat to the Prussians, and m Avhich they had been 
 imprudent enough to leave but a moderate garrison. 
 Custine, with only 17,000 men, and without artillery, 
 could not mstitute a siege, but heyletermined upon 
 a sudden assaidt. The opinions •wniicli had roused 
 France agitated all Germany, and especially the mii- 
 versity towns. Mayence was one of these, and Cus- 
 tine opened a correspondence within its walls. He 
 then drew near it, withdrew upon false intelligence of 
 the arrival of an Austrian corps, again returned, and, 
 making certain considerable demonstrations, deceived 
 the enemy as to the strength of his army. An anxions 
 deliberation meanwhile was proceeding in the fortress. 
 A eapitnlation was strenuously reconnnciuled by the 
 partisans of the French, aiul on the 21st Octohtr the 
 gates were opened to Custine. The garrison laid down 
 their arms, excei)ting 800 Austrians, who rejoined the 
 grand army. The news of these successes spread with 
 rapidity, and caused an extraordinary sensation. They 
 had, doubtless, cost little in the acquisition ; they were 
 infinitely less meritorioiis than the resolution of the 
 Lillois, and the magnanimous determination displayed 
 at Sainte-Menehould ; but there was a mighty charm 
 in passing from mere resistance to conquest. So far 
 Custine had conducted himself with ability ; and if he 
 had properly appreciated his position, he would have 
 
 concluded the campaign by a movement at once feas- 
 ible and decisive. 
 
 At tills instant, the tliree armies of Dumouriez, 
 KeUermann, and Custine were, by tlie happiest con- 
 junction, so situated as to be able to destroy' the Prus- 
 sians, and concpier by a single marcli the Avhole line 
 of the Rhine as far as the ocean. It Dumotiriez, less 
 prepossessed by another idea, had retained KeUer- 
 mann under his orders, ;fnd pursued the Prussians 
 with liis 80,000 men ; if, at the same time, Custine, 
 descending tlie Khine from ]Maycnce to Coblcntz, had 
 thrown himself on their rear, they must infallibly have 
 been overwhelmed. Then following the course of the 
 Rhine to Holland, the French would have taken Duke 
 Albert in the rear, obliged him to lay down his arms, 
 or cut his way through their army, and all the Low 
 Comitries must have submitted. Treves and Luxum- 
 bourg, comprised within the line described, would have 
 necessarily fallen ; France had been extended to the 
 banks of the Rhine, and the campaign termuiated in 
 a month. Genius was abundant in Dumouriez, but 
 his ideas had taken another course. Impatient to 
 return mto Belgium, he was intent only upon march- 
 ing there in a direct line, in order to succoiu* Lille 
 and drive Duke Albert before him. He consequently 
 left Kellermann to carry on tlie ])ursuit of the Prus- 
 sians alone. The latter might still have advanced on 
 Coblentz, passing between Luxumbourg and Treves, 
 whilst Custme descended from Maj^ence. But Kel- 
 lennann, backward in enterprise, presumed too little 
 on his troops, which appeared harassed, and he can- 
 toned aromid Metz. Custine, on his part, desiring 
 to act independently, and to make brilliant incur- 
 sions, had no M'ish to join Kellermann, and confine 
 himself to the limits of the Rhine. He never once 
 thouglit, therefore, of proceeding to Coblentz. Thus 
 was this admirable plan neglected, so ably seized and 
 developed by the greatest of the French militaiy his- 
 torians.* 
 
 Custine, possessing considerable talents, was never- 
 theless presumptuous, hasty, and inconsiderate. He 
 was mainly bent on rendering himself independent of 
 Biron and eveiy other general, and filled with the idea 
 of conquering all aromid him. An attack on Man- 
 heim would be a violation of the neutrality of the 
 elector-palatine, which was expressly prohibited by 
 the executive council, and he therefore resolved to 
 quit the Rhine and advance into Germany. Frank- 
 fort, situated on the Maine, seemed to liim a prey 
 worthy of acquisition, and he determined to proceed 
 thither. That free and commercial town, liowever, 
 always neutral in the various wars, and well inclined 
 towards France, was far from meriting so disastrous 
 a preference. Being unfortified, it was easy to cap- 
 ture, but difficult to defend, and consequently useless 
 to occupy. Such an enterprise coidd have but one 
 object, that of le\ying contributions ; and it was the 
 height of injustice to impose them upon a population 
 invariably neutral, reposing, furthermore, upon its 
 friendly dispositions, and by those very dis]iositions 
 deserving the favour of France, of which it a])])roved 
 the principles and wished the success. Custine com- 
 mitted the fault of entering it, nevertlieless. His oc- 
 cupation was eftected on the 27th October. He exacted 
 contributions, and irritated the inhabitants, whom lie 
 rendered liostile to France, lie likewise exposed liim- 
 self, by thus advancing on the Elaine, to be cut oil' from 
 the Rhine, either by the Prussians, should they ascend 
 as far as Bingen, or by the elector-palatine, should he 
 break his neutrality, and march from Manheim. 
 
 Tlie intelligence of these incursions on the enemj-'s 
 territory contiinietl to excite great joy in France, 
 which was sulliciently amazed at hearing of conquests 
 a few days after trembling at the idea of being itself 
 subdued. The I'russians, in alarm, threw a fi,^sjng 
 bridge over the Rhine, in order to ascend the right
 
 194 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bank, and drive back the French. Luckily fur Cus- 
 tine, they took twelve days to pass the river. Deser- 
 tions, disease, and the separation of the Austrians, had 
 reduced their ami}' to fifty thousand men. Clairfayt, 
 with his eighteen thousand Austrians, had followed 
 the general movement of the French troo])s towards 
 Flanders, and was marching to tlie relief of Duke 
 Albert. The corps of emigrants had been disbanded, 
 and that glittering soldiery had been incorporated in 
 the troops imder Conde, or had passed uito foreign 
 service. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing on the frontiers 
 of the north and the Rhine, the Freuch gained lulvan- 
 tages also on the Alpine frontier. Montesquiou, com- 
 manding the army of the south, overran Savoy, and 
 occupied the county of N'ice by one of his lieutenants. 
 This general, wlio had evinced in the Constituent 
 Asseml)ly all the talents of an enlightened statesman, 
 and only wanted time to display the qualities of an 
 able soldier, with whieli we are assured he was plenti- 
 fully endowed, had been ordered to the bar of the 
 legislative body to give an account of his conduct, 
 denounced as too dilatory. He hud succeeded in con- 
 vincing his accusers that his tardiness was owing to 
 the deficiency of means, and not to a lack of zeal, and 
 he had returned to the Alps. He belonged, liowever, 
 to tlie first revolutionary generation, and consequently 
 hannonised but indifferently with the second. Sum- 
 moned once more to Paris, he was on the point of 
 bemg superseded, when tidings of his entrance into 
 Savoy were received. His dismissal was then sus- 
 pended, and he was allowed to continue his eonipiest. 
 According to the plan conceived by Dumouriez, 
 when, as nnnister of foreign affairs, he regulated at 
 once diplomacy and war, France was to push her 
 annies to her natural frontiers, the Rhine and the 
 high chain of the Alps. With this view, it became 
 necessary to conquer Belgium, Savoy, and Nice. 
 Whilst thus returning to the invariable principles of 
 her policy, France had the advantage of desi)oiling 
 none but the two enemies who made war ui)on her, 
 namely, the house of Austria and the court of Turin. 
 Of this plan, foQed in April as to Belgium, and 
 hitherto deferred as to Savoy, Montesquiou was now 
 proceeding to execute the part assigned to him. He 
 gave a division to General Ansehne, with orders to 
 pass the Var, and march on Nice at a given signal ; 
 he himself advanced, with the greater part of his 
 army, from Grenoble towards Chambery, threatened 
 the Sardinian troops by a detachment in the direc- 
 tion of Saint-Genies, and proceeding in person from 
 Fort Barraux upon Montmelian, he succeeded in 
 dividing them and di'iving them into the vallevs. 
 Whilst his lieutenants pursued them, he marched to 
 Chambery, and on the 28th September made his 
 triumphal entry into that town, to the great delight 
 of file inlialntants, who loved liberty as true sons of 
 the mountains, and France, as men speaking the same 
 language, having the same manners, and belonging to 
 the same territorial enclosure. He inmiediately con- 
 vened an assembly of Savoyards, fcjr the purpose of 
 deliberating on a question attended with little diffi- 
 culty in solution, to wit, union with France. 
 
 In tlie s;nne period, Ansehne, reinforced by sLx 
 thousand M:a-seillese, wliom he had demanded as 
 auxiliaries, had reached the Yar, an miequal torrent, 
 like all lofty mountain streams, alternately flooded 
 and dry, and incapable of having a fixed bridge thrown 
 over it. Ansehne l)oldly ))assed the Var, and oceujiied 
 Nice, whicli the Comit Saint- Andre had just a1)an- 
 doned, and which the magistrates urged him to enter, 
 for the j)urpose of checking the disorders of the ])opu- 
 lace, who were pursuing a frightful course of pillage. 
 The Sardinian troops fell back towards the high 
 valleys; Anselme followed after tliem; but he stopped 
 before a strong fort, that of Saorgio, from which he 
 could never dislodge the Piedmontese garrison. In the 
 nieau time; the scjuivdron of Admiral Truguet, regu- 
 
 lating its motions by those of General Anselme, had 
 obtained the surrender of Villafranca, and subse- 
 quently anchored before the petty principality of 
 Oneglia. Tins port was a usual asylmn for corsairs, 
 and on that account its reduction was advisable. 
 But, whilst a Freneh boat was i)idling to shore for 
 the purpose of holding a parley, several of its crew 
 were, in violation of the rights of nations, killed by 
 a general discharge. Thereupon the admiral, mooring 
 his vessels in front of the town, opened on it a destruc- 
 tive fire, and disembarked some troops, who sacked 
 the place, and made a great carnage of monks, who 
 were found there in considerable nvmiber, and had 
 been, it was alleged, the instigators of so gross a breach 
 of faith. Such is the inexorable rigour of military 
 law ; and upon the wretched town of Oneglia it was 
 wreaked without mercy. After this expedition, the 
 French squadron returned before Nice, where Anselme, 
 separated by the floods of the Var from the rest of his 
 army, was in a position of extreme hazard. However, 
 by taking due precautions against the post of Saorgio, 
 and conciliating the inhabitants more than he had 
 thought fit to do at first, he was enabled to make good 
 his station and preserve his concpicst. 
 
 Diu-ing these occurrences, Montesquiou had ad- 
 vanced from Chambery in the direction of Geneva, 
 and now nearly ajiproached the frontier of Switzer- 
 land, a country variously inclined towards the French, 
 and pretending to view the uivasion of Savoy as 
 dangerous to its neutrality. 
 
 The feelings of the cantons were greatly divided 
 touching the French nation. All the aristocratic 
 republics condemned the French revolution. Berne 
 especially, and its avoj'er Stinger, heartily detested it, 
 and the more so, perhaps, because the Pays de Vaud, so 
 cruelly oppressed, regarded it with rapture. The Hel- 
 vetian aristocracy, stimulated by the avoyer Stinger 
 and the English ambassador, called for war against 
 the French ; and assigned as its motives the massacre 
 of the Swiss guards on the 10th August; the disarm- 
 ing of a regiment at ALx; and, lastly, the occupation 
 of the gorges of Porentruy, which depended on the 
 bishopric of Basle, and which Biron had seized, in 
 order to close the passage of the Jura. The moderate 
 party, however, gained tlie ascendanej^ and an armed 
 neutrality was resolved upon. The canton of Berne, 
 more exasperated and distrustful than the rest, marched 
 a detachment to Nyon, and, under pretext of a request 
 by the magistrates of Geneva, placed a garrison in 
 that town. According to ancient treaties, Geneva, 
 in the event of a war between France and Savoy, was 
 bound to receive a garrison from neither power. The 
 French envoy immediately departed, and the execu- 
 tive councU, urged by Claviere, who had been formerly 
 exiled from Geneva, and was anxious to introduce the 
 revolution amongst its inhabitants, ordered IMontes- 
 quiou to insist upon the execution of the treaties. 
 Furthermore, he was enjoined to place a garrison in 
 the town himself; that is ft) say, to imitate the infrac- 
 tion exclaimed against on the part of the Bernese. 
 Montesquiou was sensible, in the first place, that he 
 wanted means to take (Jeneva, and in the next, that 
 by breaking the neutrality, and commencing war with 
 Switzerland, France would be laid open on the cast, 
 and the right flank of her defensive uncovered. He 
 resolved, therefore, to intimidate (jeneva on the one 
 hand, M-hilst on the other he attempted to impress 
 these prudential views on the executive council. He 
 accordingly imperatively demanded the dismissal of 
 the Bernese garrison, and endeavoured to persuade 
 the French ministry that it was inexpedient to exact 
 more. 
 
 His purpose was, in case of extremity, to bombard 
 Geneva, and advance by a bold "march into the canton 
 of Vaud, with the view of revolutionising it. Geneva 
 consented to dismiss the Bernese troops on condition 
 that Montesquiou withdrew to a distance of ten 
 lea^ies, to wliieh he instantly acceded. 1 ais con-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 las 
 
 session, however, was blamed at Paris; and Montes- 
 quiou, in position at Carousje, -where the Genevese 
 exiles, eager to retiu-n into their native countrj', pressed 
 around hun, was placed between the fear of embroil- 
 ing France with Switzerland, and that of disobeying 
 the executive council, which disdained the most saga- 
 cious military and political considerations. This ne- 
 gotiation, delayed by the distance between the jjlaces, 
 was not tinished by the end of October. 
 
 Therefore, in October 1792, the state of the French 
 forces, from Dunkirk to Basle, and from Basle to Nice, 
 may be thus described. The frontier of Champagne 
 was delivered from the grand invasion ; the troops 
 were proceeding from that province towards Flanders, 
 to relieve Lille and invade Belgium. Kellermann had 
 his quarters in Lorraine. Custine, emancipated from 
 the command of Biron, master of Mayence, and push- 
 ing imprudently into the Palatinate and even to the 
 Maine, gladdened France by his conquests, alarmed 
 Germany, and exix)sed himself inconsiderately to the 
 risk of being cut oft' by the Prussians, who were as- 
 cending the right bank of the Rhine, with sicldy and 
 vanquished troops, but still muuerous, and quite capable 
 of overwhelming the small French army. Biron was 
 still encamped along the Rhine. IMontesquiou, master 
 of Savoy by the retreat of the Pieda.ontese be3'ond 
 the Alps, and guarded from fresh attacks by the snow, 
 had to decide the question of Swiss neutrality either 
 by arms or by negotiations. Lastly, Anselme, master 
 of Nice, and supported by a squailron, was enabled to 
 retain his position, in spite of the floods of the Var, 
 and of the Piedmontese clustered above him in the 
 post of Saorgio. 
 
 Whilst the war was being transferred from Cham- 
 pagne to Belgium, Dumouriez had asked permission 
 to visit Paris for two or three days, in order to con- 
 cert with the ministers the invasion of the Low Comi- 
 tries, and a general plan for all the military operations. 
 His enemies reported that his real object w^as to reap 
 applause, and that he disregarded the duties of his 
 command for the gratification of a silly vanity. This 
 reproach was unduly exaggerated, for Dmnouriez's 
 command was not injured by his absence, and the 
 mere marches of troops could be executed without his 
 superintendence. His presence at Paris, on the other 
 hand, must necessarily be advantageous to the comicil 
 in determining upon a general plan of operations ; and 
 furthennore, he might be ])ardoned for a certain impa- 
 tience to enjoy his triumph, so general amongst man- 
 kind, and so excusable wlien it may be gratified with- 
 out detriment to duty. 
 
 He arrived on the 11th October at Paris. His posi- 
 tion was somewhat embarrassing, for he was in com- 
 plete harmony with neither of the two parties. Tl«3 
 violence of the Jaco])ins was repugnant to him, and 
 he had quarrelled Avith the Girondists, by expelling 
 them a few months before from the ministry. How- 
 ever, well received throughcnit Champagne, he was 
 still more so in Paris, especially by the muiisters and 
 by Roland himself, who extinguished his personal 
 resentment M'hen the jjublic good was interested. He 
 presented himself on the 12tli to the convention. 
 Scarcely was his name announced than acclamations, 
 mingled with the clapping of hands, burst from all 
 quarters. He pronounced a simple energetic discom'se, 
 in which he briefly retraced the wliole campaign of 
 the Argonne, and eulogised, in emphatic terms, his 
 troops, and Kellermann bimself. His staff then pre- 
 sented a flag captured from the emigrants, which they 
 offered to tlie assembly as a menicnto of tlie futility 
 of their ])rojects. IniiiK-diatcly afterwards the dei)u- 
 ties crowded around him, and the sitting was suspended, 
 that free scope might be afforded to congratulations. 
 The numerous dei)uties of the I'lain, the impartiah, as 
 they were called, having to u])braid liim ncitlier with 
 abandonment nor with revolutionary hikcwavnmcss, 
 were those who testified towai-ds him the most lively 
 and heartfelt joy. The Girondists, indeed, were not 
 
 backward in their manifestations ; but, either through 
 the fault of Dumouriez, or through their own, the 
 reconciliation was not perfect, and a renmant of es- 
 trangement might still be perceived between them. 
 The jVIomitaineers, who had once reproached him 
 with attachment for Louis XVL, and now found him, 
 in manners, merit, and elevation, too similar to the 
 Girondists, looked with an evil eye on the testimonies 
 of regard he obtained from them, and imagined such 
 testimonies to be more significant than they in truth • 
 were. 
 
 After leaving the convention, the Jacobin Club re- 
 mained to be visited ; and so overweening was the in- 
 fluence possessed by that association, that the victorious 
 general could not dispense with paying it his homage. 
 It was there that the clamour of the moment grew 
 into projects and imposed laws. Whether it had 
 reference to an important decree, a high political ques- 
 tion, or a great revolutionary measure, the Jacobins, 
 always the promptest, immediately opened the discus- 
 sion and gave their opinion. Then they spread them- 
 selves into the commune and the sections, and wrote 
 to all the affiliated clubs ; and the opinion they had 
 pronoimced, the intentions they had formed, returned 
 in the shape of addresses from all the corners of France, 
 and in that of armed petitions from all tlie quarters 
 of Paris. When, in the nmnicipal councils, the sec- 
 tions, and all assemblies invested Avith any authority 
 whatsoever, the members still hesitated upon a ques- 
 tion from a lingering respect for legality, the Jacobins, 
 who deemed themselves as unfettered as thought, 
 boldly solved it ; and every insurrection was debated 
 amongst them long before it broke out. They had 
 deliberated on that of the lOtli August during an 
 entire month. Besides this initiatory course on each 
 question, they usurped an inexorable inquisition over 
 all the details of government. Were a minister, the 
 head of a dejiartment, or a contractor, accused, com- 
 missioners proceeded from the Jacobin Club, ordered 
 the desks to be opened, and exacted rigorous accounts, 
 which were rendered to them without any marks of 
 disdain or impatience. Every citizen who considered 
 he had reason to complain of any act whatever, had 
 only to appear before the society, and he there found 
 officious defenders ready to procm-e him justice. One 
 day were soldiers complaining of their officers, artisans 
 of thek employers; another, an actress exclaiming 
 against her manager; and once a Jacobin appeared to 
 demand reparation for adidtery committed with his 
 wife by one of his comrades. 
 
 Every one hastened to have his name inscribed on 
 the registers of the society, as a proof of patriotic zeal. 
 Almost all the deputies newly arrived at l*aris had 
 taken care to present themselves; one hundred and 
 thirteen were reckoned in oiie week ; and even those 
 who had no intention of frequenting their meetings 
 did not the less solicit admission. Tlie affiliated soci- 
 eties wrote from the obscurest corners of the ]>rovinces 
 to know if the deputies of their departments had 
 sought to be enrolled and were assiduous in their 
 attendance. The wealthy of tlie capital strove to have 
 their opulence pardoned by going to the Jacobins' and 
 covering tlieir heads with the red cap; and their equi- 
 pages ])locked the duors of that chosen abode of etina- 
 lity. Whilst the hall was filleil with the imdtitude of 
 its members, whilst the galleries were overflowing with 
 peojile, an immense crowd, mingling with the eipii- 
 ]>ages, waited at the door, and demanded admission 
 with loud cries. Sometimes this crowd grew irritated, 
 esiiecialiy when rain, so fre(|iient in Ww climate of 
 Paris, increased tlie annoyance of waiting ; and tlien 
 some member moved tlie admission of l/ic good people 
 suffering .at the doors of the hall. Marat was fre- 
 quently accustomed to make such propositions ; and 
 when admission was granted, sometimes before, a 
 jirodigious concourse of men and women inundated the 
 iiall and mixed promiscuously with the members. It 
 was towards the close of day that the club met. The
 
 166 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 angry feelings, aroused and kept down in the conven- 
 tion, were brought there to find free vent. The late 
 hour, the multitude of persons present, all contributed 
 to excite the niind; often tlie sitting, being prolonged, 
 degenerated hito a frightful tumult ; and at such times 
 the agitators derived for the morrow the courage 
 necessary for the most audacious enterprises. Yet 
 this society, so far advanc'cd in the demagogical career, 
 was not wliat it afterwards l)ei'ame. The equipages 
 ; ' of tliose wlio came to abjure the incqualitj' of condi- 
 ] tions were still allowed at the door. Some members 
 ■ had made fruitless elforts to speak with their hats on, 
 '•■ but they had been obliged to uncover. Brissot, it is 
 i ; true, had l)een recently excluded by a solemn decision, 
 I ' but Petion continued to preside there amidst acclama- 
 tions. Chabot, CoUot-d'IIerbois, Fabre-d'Eglantine, 
 were the favourite orators. IMarat was still viewed 
 as something strange; and Chabot said, in the language 
 of the place, that Alarat was a porcupine tlmt could not 
 be grasped at any point. 
 
 i)umouriez was received by Danton, who presided 
 at the sitting: vehement applause greeted him, and 
 his presence amongst them procured his pardon for 
 the supposed friendship of the Oirondists. He uttered 
 a few words suitable to the occasion, and promised, 
 " before the end of the month, to march at the head of sixlij 
 thousand men, for the purpose of attacking kings and 
 rescuing nations from tyranny." 
 
 Danton, answering in analogous style, said to him 
 that, rallying the French in the camp of Sainte-IMenc- 
 hould, he had deserved well of the country; but tliat a 
 new career was opening for him; that hcAvas destined 
 to make crowns fall before the red cap ^vith whicli 
 the society had honoured him, and that his name woidd 
 in that case shine amongst the most renowned in the 
 history of France. CoUot-d'lIerbois afterwards ad- 
 dressed hhn, and treated him to a discourse which 
 exliibits at once the jtrevalent language of the era, and 
 the sentiments entertained towards the general at that 
 particular nn)ment.* 
 
 * I deem it incumbent on me to subjoin such notes as appear 
 to me valuable, both as elucidating facts little known and wrongly 
 appreciated, and as records of a style and language at present 
 utterly forgotten, but nevertheless extremely characteristic. They 
 are, for the most part, taken from sources wholly overlooked, 
 and chiefly from the debates of the Jacobin Club, a political 
 monument equally rare and curious. 
 
 SPEECH OP COLLOT-d'hERBOIS TO DU.VOI'RIEZ, AFTER THE 
 CAJIPAIGN OF THE ARGON'.VE. 
 
 {.Extracteii from Ike Journal of the Jacobins.) 
 
 (SrTTI.VO OF SUNDAY 14TH OCTOnER, YEAR FIRST OF THE 
 REPUBLIC.) 
 
 " I wished to speak of our armies, and I con.gratulate myself on 
 spe.-iking of them in presence of tlic soldier you have just heard. 
 I might blame the answer of the president : I have alraidy re- 
 peatedly affirmed that the president ought never to answer 
 members of the society ; but he h;is replied to all the soldiers of 
 the army. That reply convoys to all an empliatic testimony of 
 your satisfaction ; Dumouriez will share it with all his brethren 
 in arms, for he knows tlwt without tliem his glory would be as a 
 thing that was not. We must accustom ourselves to this lan- 
 guage. Dumouriez has done his duty : in that is his best recom- 
 pense. It is not because he is a general that I praise him, but 
 because he is a French soldier. 
 
 Is it not true, general, that it is glorious to command a repub- 
 lican army ? — tliat thou hast found a material difference between 
 such an army and those of despotism ? They have not only 
 br.ivery, our French— they are not contented with spurning death 
 merely— for who is there that fears death ? But tliose inliabi- 
 tjints of Lille and Thionville, who await heated balls with calm 
 indifference, who remain unmoved amidst the bursting of shells 
 and the confl.agration of their homes— is there not in this the de- 
 velopment of all the virtues? Ah, yes ! those virtues are superior 
 to all triumphs! A new mode of waging war is now invented, 
 and our enemies will not discover it : tyrants will be powerless 
 for evil so long as there are free men determined upon defence. 
 
 A great niunber of brotliers are dead combating for liberty ; 
 they are dejid, but their memory is dear to us ; tliey have left 
 examples which live in our he:irts : but do those live who attacked 
 
 " It is not a king who has nominated thee, oh Du- 
 mouriez, but thy fellow-citizens. Remember that a 
 general of the republic ought never to serve any but 
 it alone. Tliou hast heard of Themistocles : he liad 
 just saved Greece at Salamis ; but, calumniated by 
 his enemies, he was driven to seek an asylum with 
 tyrants. They made him offers to serve against liis 
 comitry; for answer, he plunged liis sword into liis 
 heart. Dumoiu-iez, thou hast enennes — thou wilt be 
 calumniated : remember Themistocles ! 
 
 Enslaved nations await thee to aid them: thou wilt 
 speedily deliver them. How glorious a mission ! I 
 nmst warn tliee, however, against any excess of gene- 
 rosity towards thy enemies. Thou hast e.icorted back 
 the King of Prussia a little too much after the French 
 fashion. But we will hope that Austria wUl have a 
 double measure dealt out to her. 
 
 Thou wUt go to Brussels, Dumouriez 1 have no- 
 thing to say to thee. But, if thou sliouldst find there 
 an execral)le woman, wlio, under tlie walls of LiUe, 
 came to feast her ferocity with the spectacle of red- 
 hot balls ! But that woman will not stay for thee. 
 
 At Brussels, liberty is about to revive under thy 
 steps. Citizens, maidens, matrons, children, wiU press 
 us ? No : they have bit the dust, and their coliorts are hut heaps 
 of lifeless bodies, putrefying where they battled ; they arc but a 
 putrid stench tlie air of liberty will scarcely purify. Tliat host 
 of strolling skeletons resembles the skeleton of t>Tanny ; and, like 
 it, they will speedily succumb. AVliere are tliose veteran generals 
 of liigli renown ? Tlieir sliadows vanish before the all-puissant 
 geuius of liberty : they fly, and find only dungeons as a retreat ; 
 for dungeons will soon be the only palaces of despots : they fly, 
 because nations are arisen. 
 I It is not a king who has named thee, Dumouriez, but thy 
 fellow - citizens. Remember, that a general of the republic 
 must never treat with tyrants ; remember, that generals like 
 thee must never serve aught but liberty. Thou hast heard of 
 Tliemistoeles : he had just saved the Greeks by the battle of 
 Salamis ; he was calumniated (thou hast enemies, Dumouriez ; 
 tliou wilt be calumniated ; it is tlierefore I speak to tlice) : 
 Themistocles was calumniated ; he was unjustly condemned by 
 his countrjinen ; he found an asylum in the abode of tyrant? ; 
 but he was still Themistocles. He Avas asked to hear arms against 
 his native land. ' My sword shall never serve tyrants,' he replied, 
 and plunged it in his heart. I remind thee, also, of Scipio. 
 Antiochus strove to seduce that great man by offering to restore 
 him a precious hostage, his otati son. Scipio answered, ' Thoii 
 hast not wealth enough to buy my conscience, and nature has 
 nothing superior to the love of country.' 
 
 Nations are groaning in slavery : thou wilt speedily set them 
 free. How glorious a mission ! Success is not doubtful : the 
 citizens who await thee are eager to hail thee ; and those who are 
 here urge thee onward. Tliou art open to reproach, however, for 
 certain excesses of generositj' towards thy foes ; thou hast escorted 
 back the King of Prussia a little too much after the French 
 fashion— I mean the old French fashion (applause). But, we will 
 hope, Austria will pay a double penalty : she is opulent ; do not 
 spare her ; thou canst not make her pay too highly for tlie outrages 
 her race has inflicted on the human species. 
 
 Thou gocst to Brussels, Dumouriez (applause) ; thou wilt pass 
 Courtray. Tliere the French name has been profaned ; a gener.al 
 abused the confidence of a nation ; the traitor Jarry buiTied hou*s. 
 Hitherto I have sjiokeii only to thy courage, now I sjic-ik to thy 
 heart. Bear in mind those unfortunate inhabitants of Courtray ; 
 belie not their hopes this time ; promise them the justice of the 
 nation ; the nation will not disavow thee. 
 
 When thou art at Brussels — I have nothing to say to thee upon 
 the conduct thou hast to pursue ; if thou shouldst find there an 
 execrable woman, who, under thfl walls of LUle, came to gloat 
 
 her ferocity with the spectacle of heated halls but that woman 
 
 will not wait for tliee. If thou slionMst find her, she will be thy 
 ]>risonor ; we have others, also, who are of her stock ; tliou wilt 
 send her here; let her be so shaved, at least, that a peruke will 
 not again fit her. 
 
 At Brussels, liberty is about to revive under thy auspices. An 
 entire people will give way to rapture ; thou wilt restore children 
 to tlieir parents, wives to their husbimds; the spectacle of their 
 bliss will repay all thy labours. Children, citizens, maidens, 
 matrons, all will press around tliee— all will embrace thee as their 
 father ! What felicity is in store for thee, Dumouriez ! BIy wife 
 — she is from Brussels ; she also wiU embrace thee." 
 
 This diiicoiu'se was repeatedly intennipted by loud clieers.
 
 niSTOUY OF TnE FrtENCII REVOLUTION. 
 
 197 
 
 around thee. What felicity there is in store for thee, 
 Dumonriez ! My wife — she is fi-om Brussels; she also 
 wiU embrace thee ! " 
 
 Danton then left with Dumouriez, whom he had 
 appropriated as it were, and to whom he rendered the 
 honours of the republic. Danton having manifested 
 at Paris a firmness analogous to that of Dxmiouriez at 
 Sainte-Menehoidd, they were l(joked iipon as tlie two 
 saviours of the revolution, and were jointly applauded 
 at all the public places they visited. A certain in- 
 stinct drew these men together, notwithstanLling the 
 discrepancy of their pursuits. They were libertines 
 of the two systems of thuigs, associating from an iden- 
 tical bent and taste for pleasure, but distinct in the 
 order of their corruption. Danton's was that of the 
 people, Dumom-iez's that of courts ; but more happy 
 than his coUcague, the latter had alwaj's served in a 
 noble s]ihere and with arms in his hands, whilst Dan- 
 ton had the misfortune to have sidlied a great cha- 
 racter by the atrocities of September. 
 
 Those brilliant saloons, where celebrated men for- 
 merly enjoyed their glory — wliere, during the last cen- 
 tury, Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, Kousseau, were 
 listened to and applauded — such saloons were no longer 
 in existence. There remamed the simple and select 
 society of Madame Roland, where all the Girondists 
 assembled — the handsome Barbaroux, the wittyLouvet, 
 the grave Buzot, the brilliant Guadct, the captivating 
 Vergniaud •, and where still reigned polite language, 
 instructive conversation, and elegant and polished 
 manners. The nunisters met there t^i'ice in the week, 
 and partook of a repast composed of a single course. 
 Such was the new republican society, which united 
 with the graces of the olden France the seriousness of 
 the modern, and which, alas ! was speedily in its tm-n 
 to disappear before demagogical grossness. Dumouriez 
 was present at one of these simple banquets : at first 
 he felt some constraint at sight of those old friends 
 whom he had chased from the ministry, and of that 
 woman who, in his eyes, was too severe, whilst to her 
 he appeared too licentious ; but he sustained the ordeal 
 with his accustomed spirit, and was greatly moved at 
 the unaffected cordiality of lloland. After the society 
 of the Girondists, that of the artists was the only one 
 which liad survived the dispersion of the ancient aris- 
 tocracy. Almost all the artists had warmly embraced 
 a revolution which avenged them for high-born dis- 
 dain, and which pronased distinction to merit and 
 genius alone. They in turn entertained Dumouriez, 
 and gave a feast in his honour, at which were assem- 
 bled all the talents the metropolis could boast. But 
 in the midst of that same festivtd, a strange occiUTence 
 happened to interrupt its harmony, and excite equtd 
 < astonishment and disgust. 
 
 I ]Marat, always ready to take the initiative in revo- 
 1 lutionary doubts, was not satisfied M'ith the general. 
 j The furious denouncer of all men enjoying public 
 ! favour, he had invariably provoked, by his outrageous 
 i invectives, the odium incurred by the popular leaders. 
 I Mirabeau, Bailly, Ijafayette, Betion, the Girondists, 
 j had all been exjmsed to his abuse even when standing 
 I I'ighest in popularity. Since the 10th August more 
 especially, he had given full scoi)e to the monstrous 
 conceptions of liis brain ; and, altliough a loathsome 
 I olyect in the eyes of rational and worthy men, and 
 I strange at the least in those of heated revolutionists 
 themselves, he luid been encouraged by certain evi- 
 den('es of success. Consecpientiy, he soon l)egan to 
 look upon iiimsclf as a public man, essential to the 
 new order of things, lie passed a great portion of his 
 time in collecting rumours, in diffusing them in his 
 newspaper, and in scouring tiie ofticcs on his self-im- 
 posed mission of redressing the wrongs of administra- 
 tors towards the people. IMaking the pul)lic the con- 
 fidant of his mode of life, he said one day, in one of his 
 sheets,* that his occupations were overwhelming ; that 
 
 * Journal of tlie I'^iench Republic, No. 03. Wednesday, Otli 
 January 17U3. 
 
 I : 
 
 out of the twenty-four nours in the day, he gave but 
 two to sleep, and only one to the taljle and domestic 
 concerns ; that besides the hom-s consecrated to his 
 duties as a deputy, he regidarly employed six in gather- 
 ing and enforcing the complaints of a multitude of the 
 wretched and oppressed ; that he devoted the remain- 
 ing hours to perusing and answering numerous letters, 
 Avriting his observations upon events, receiving denun- 
 ciations, satisfying himself of the veracity of his infer- ! 
 mants ; finallj^, in composing his journal and super- 
 intending the publication of a great ■\\ork. For three 
 years, he said, he had not taken a quarter of an hour's 
 recreation ; and we tremble as we think of what so 
 disturbed an intellect, acting with so inordinate an 
 activity, might produce in a revolution. 
 
 INIarat pretended to see in Dumouriez only an aris- 
 tocrat of depraved mamiers, against whom it was pru- 
 dent to be on guard. To increase his venom, he learnt 
 that Dmnom-iez had recently proceeded Avith tlie ut- 
 most rigour against two battalions of volunteers who 
 had massacred some emigrant deserters. He instantly 
 repaired to the Jacobins', denounced the general from 
 their tribune, and moved that two commissioners be 
 sent to interrogate liim on h.is conduct. To hiinselt 
 were added two persons, named Montaut and Benta- 
 bolle ; and upon the instant he proceeded on his mission, 
 accompanied by them. Dmnouriez was not at his own 
 residence. ]\Iarat hastened to various places of amuse- 
 ment, and ultimately learnt that Dumouriez was pre- 
 sent at an entertainment given to him by the artists, 
 at the house of Madame CandeUle, a celebrated woman 
 of those days. INIarat scrupled not to proceed thither, 
 in spite of his filthy dress. The equipages, the detach- 
 ments of the national guard which he met at the dqoj 
 of the house where the feast was celebrated, the pre- 
 sence of the commander Santerre, and of a great many 
 deputies, and all tlie manifestations of a festive meet- 
 ing, aggravated his wrath. He boldly advanced, and 
 requested to see Dmnom'iez. A sort of rmnour arose 
 at his apiiroach. His name being announced, caused 
 a multitude of visages suddenly to disappear, flying, 
 as he said, his accusing glance, ^^'alking dnectiy up 
 to Duniom-iez, he lovidly called him by name, and de- 
 manded an account of the punishment inflicted on tlie 
 two battalions. The general surveyed him, and said 
 to him witli a contemptuous sneer, " Ah ! you are he 
 whom they call Marat ! " He again examined him 
 from head to foot, and turned his back upon him, 
 without saying another Avord. However, the Jacobins 
 who accompanied Slarat appearing more modest and 
 discreet, Dumouriez vouchsafed certain explanations 
 to them, and dismissed them satisfied, ilarat, who 
 was not so, uttered loud cries in the antechambers ; 
 upbraided Santerre, who performed, he said, the func- 
 tions of a lackey to the general ; declaimed finiously 
 against the national guards, who contributed to the 
 pomp of the feast ; and finally withdrew, threatening 
 with his wrath all the aristocrats present at the en- 
 tertainment. He ran Avith all speed to describe in his 
 journal this ri<liculous scene, Avhich so admirably de- 
 picts the position of Dumouriez, the frenzy of Marat, 
 and the manners of that epoch.* 
 
 * ArrorNT ok thk visit which .iiarat paid to dimoiriez 
 
 AT THK HOi:SK OK MADAiMK CANDKILLE. 
 
 (/■;.i tfdcliuifrom Ihf Juiirnnl of the h'linch Uiinihlir, and milten hy 
 M.irat liimscl/iit his niitubcr ufWaliuvday, l',tlt October l7'.)-2.) 
 
 " DKCLARATIOV OF THE KKIEND OK THK PKOI'I.E. 
 
 Less astonished tlian indignant at Hecing old valet« of the 
 court— placed, hy the result of eireunistance.s, at tlie head of our 
 armies, and maintained in office since the lOtli August hy tliu 
 combined effect of inlliu-ncc, intrigue, and stupidity— carry auda- 
 city to the hciulit of degrading and treating as culprits two 
 jiatriotic battjiliiins, under tlie ridiculous, and most probably 
 mendacious, pretext that certain individuals had maosacred four 
 Prussian deserters, I presented myself at the tribune of the 
 Jacobhis to unmiisk this odious plot, and to request that two 
 couiiuiBsioners, distingiiislicd for tlieir civisin, might be named 
 to atciinipuny nie to Uuiuouiiez'ti, mid 'je witnesses of his answers
 
 198 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Duiuouriez had passed four days at Paris, and dur- 
 ing that period had failed to come to an uaderstandhig 
 with the Girondists, though he had an intimate friend 
 amongst them in the person of Gensonne. He had 
 simply rcconnnended the latter to reconcQe himself 
 with Danton, as the most redoubtable man of the 
 times, and as one who, despite his vices, was fitted to 
 become the most useful to men of probity. Dimiouriez 
 had not been more successful with the Jacobins, to 
 whom he had conceived an unalterable repugnance, 
 and by wliom he Avas himself suspected, on accomit of 
 his siipposed friendship with the Girondists. His 
 visit to Taris, therefore, had been of little service to 
 
 to my interrogatories. I repaired to his house with the citizens 
 Bentabole and Montaiit, two of my colleagues in the convention, 
 wlierc we were informed lie was at the theatre, and intended to 
 sup from home. 
 
 We learnt he had left the Variet^s ; we went to seek him at 
 the club of Cypher D, where we were told he was wont to resort ; 
 lost labour. At last we learnt that he was to sup in the IJue 
 Chantereine, in the small house of Talma. A string of carriages 
 and brilliant illuminations pointed out to us the temple where 
 tlie son of Tlialia was regaling the child of JIars. AVe were sur- 
 prised to find Parisian national guards within and withou^ After 
 traversing an antechamber full of domestics, mingled with 
 heiducs, we reached a saloon thronged with a numerous company. 
 
 At the door was Santerre, general of the Parisian army, per- 
 forming the functions of a lackey or usher. He announced me in 
 a loud tone as soon as he perceived me— an indiscretion which 
 greatly displeased me. Inasmuch as it might cause certain masks 
 to vanish interesting to recognise. However, I saw enough to 
 thread tlie kibyrinth of intrigue. I will not spe.ik of a dozen 
 fairies destined to grace the festival. Probably, polities were not 
 the objects of their congregating. Nor will I Siiy any thing of the 
 national officers who were paying court to tlie great general, nor 
 of the old valets of the court wlio formed liis retinue, under the 
 appearance of aides-de-camp. Lastly, I will say nothing of the 
 master of the house, who was in the midst of them habited as a 
 player. But I cannot dispense with declaring, as an elucidation 
 of the operations of the Convention, and as rightly pourtraying 
 the fabricators of decrees, that in the august company were Ker- 
 saint, the great operator Lebrun, and Iloland, Lasource, Chenier, 
 all organs of the faction of a federal republic ; Dulaure and Gorsas, 
 their libellous scouts. As there was a crowd, I only distinguished 
 these conspirators ; perhaps they were in greater force ; and, as 
 it was still early, it is probable they were not all assembled ; for 
 the Vergniauds, the Buzots, the Camuses, the IJabauts, the La- 
 croixes, the Guadets, theBarbarouxes, and other schemers, were 
 doubtless invited, since tliej' are of the conclave. 
 
 Before giving an account of our interview with Dumouriez, I 
 pause for an instant to make, with the judicious reader, some 
 observations which arc not out of place. How are we to luider- 
 stand that this generalissimo of the republic, who allowed the 
 King of Prussia to escape at Verdun, and capitulated with the 
 enomy whom he was able to force in his camp and compel to lay 
 down his arms, instead of favouring his retreat, should choose so 
 critical a moment to abandon the armies imder his command, to 
 visit theatres, get himself applauded at them, and indulge in 
 orgies at an actor's house with njTnphs of the opera ? 
 
 Dumouriez lias concealed the secret motives which called him 
 to Paris, under the pretext of concerting witli the ministers a 
 plan for the operations of the campaign. What! with a Koland, 
 a mere scullion and petty intriguer, who is competent only for the 
 crawling subterfuges of falsehool and trickery ! with a Lejiage, 
 the worthy attendant of Roland, his protector ijvith a Claviere, 
 who knows nothing but the rubrics of stock -jobbing .' with a 
 Ganit, wlio is only versant in choice phrases and the tricks of an 
 academic snaik ! I will say nothing of Jlonge ; he is believed a 
 patriot ; but he is as ignorant of military operations as his col- 
 leagues, who imderstand nothing of them. Dumouric^z is come to 
 consult with tlic schemers of the clique which cabals for the 
 establishment of a federal republic. Such is the object of his 
 notiible prank ! 
 
 On entering the saloon where the feast was held, I very clearly 
 perceived that my presence disturbed its giiiety ; which will not 
 be wondered at when it is considered that I am the terror of the 
 enemies of the country. Dumouriez, in particular, appeared 
 disconcerted ; I begged liim to retire into another room with us, 
 for tlie purpose of conversing a few moments in private. I acted 
 as spokesman ; and I subjoin our conversiition, word for word. 
 ' We are members of the National Convention, and are come, 
 ur, to beg you to giv« us an cxplauution as to the nature of the 
 
 him with regard to the two parties, but of considerable 
 utility in a military point of ■\'iew. 
 
 According to his wonted custom, he had formed a 
 general plan, which was adopted by the executive 
 council. In accordance with this plan, J.Iontesquiou 
 was to maintain himself along the Alps, and make sure 
 of the great chain as a Ijarrier, b}^ completing the con- 
 quest of Nice and striving to ])reserve the Swiss neu- 
 trality. Biron was to Ix; reiitforced, so that he might 
 guard the Khme from Basle to Landau. A corps of 
 12,000 men, under the orders of General Meusnier, 
 was to take up a position in the rear of Custine, in 
 order to cover liis communications. Kellermann was 
 
 affiiir of the two battalions, Mauconseil and Republican, accused 
 by you of having assassinated in cold blood four Prussian de- 
 serters. AVe have searched the records of tlie military committee, 
 and those of the department of war ; in them we have not found 
 the slightest proof of the crime ; and no person can better inform 
 us concerning all these circumstances than you.' ' Gentlemen, I 
 have sent all the documents to the minister.' ' We assure you, 
 sir, that we have in our hands a memorial drawn up in his ofHce 
 and in his name, purporting that he was entirely without facts to 
 enable him to decide upon tliis pretended crime, and that we must 
 apply to you to obtain them.' ' But, gentlemen, I have informed 
 tiie convention, and 1 refer to it.' ' I'ei-aiit us, sir, to observe, 
 tliat the informations given are not sufficient, since the commit- 
 tees of the convention, to which tliis affair has been remitted, 
 have declared in their report that they were incapable of pro- 
 nouncing an opinion, from the want of information and proof of 
 the alleged crime. We beg ^oii to tell us whether you are ac- 
 quainted with the gi'oundwork of the affair." ' Certainly, of 
 myself.' ' And was it not, then, from a confidential denuncia- 
 tion made to you on the word of 51. Duchasseau ?' • But, gentle- 
 men, when I affirm any thing, I think I ought to be believed.' 
 ' Sir, if we thought on that point like you, we should not jirose- 
 cute the matter that brings us here. We have good reasons for 
 doubting ; several membei-s of the military committee inform us 
 that those pretended Pi-ussians were four French emigrants.' 
 
 ' Well, gentlemen, were it so' ' Sir, that would effectually 
 
 change the features of the case ; and, without approving prema- 
 turely the conduct of the battalions, they aie perhaps completely 
 innocent. The circumstances which provoked the massacre are 
 what it is essential to know : now, letters pjTived from the army 
 assert that those emigrimts were recognised as spies sent by 
 t!ie enemy, and that they had mutinied against the national 
 guards.' ' How, sir ! do you approve then of the insubordination 
 of soldiers ? ' ' No, sir, I do not approve of the insubordination 
 of soldiers, but I detest the tyranny of officers : I have too good 
 gi-ounds for believing that tliis w-as a machination of Duehasseau 
 against the patriot battalions ; and the manner iu which you have 
 treated them is revolting.' ' Jlonsieur JIarat, you are too vehe- 
 ment ; I cannot enter into an explanation witli you.' Here 
 Dumouriez, finding himself too closely pressed, got rid of his 
 embarrassment by leaving us; my two colleagues followed him, 
 and in the conversiition they had with liini, he contented him.self 
 with saying that lie had sent the documents to the minister. 
 During their interview, I saw myself encompassed by all the 
 aides-du-camp of Dumouriez and the officei-s of the Parisian 
 guard. Santerre endeavoured to appease me ; he spoke to me of 
 the neccsbitj' of subordination amongst troops. ' I know that as 
 well as you," 1 answered ; ' but I feel abhorrence at tlie manner 
 in which the soldiers of the country are treated. 1 still bear in 
 my heart the ma.ssaeres of N:mci and of the Champ de Mars.' 
 Here some aides-du-camp of Dumouiiez began to declaim against 
 agitators. ' Cease those ridiculous tiiades,' I exclaimed : ' there 
 are no agitators in our armies but the infamous officers, their 
 spies and perfidious parasites, whom wc have had the folly to 
 leave at the head of our troops.' 1 addressed myself to Jloreton 
 Chabrilkmt and Bourdoin , the one an old valet of the court, and 
 the other a spy of Lafayette. 
 
 I was indignant at all I had heard, at the conviction on my 
 mind of the atrocities in the odious conduct of our generals. Un- 
 able any longer to contain myself, I quitted the pwty, and I 
 beheld with astonishment in the adjoming room, the doors of 
 which were open, several of Dumouriez's heiduks with naked 
 swords at their shoulders. I know not what might be the object 
 of this ridiculous parade : if it were intended to intimidate me, 
 it must be allowed the Videts of Dumouriez have sublime ide;is of 
 liberty. Have patience, gentlemen, we will teach you to under- 
 stand it. In the me:m time, be sure that your master has a more 
 wliolcsome dread of the tip of my pen than I have fear for the 
 sabres of liis ruffians."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 199 
 
 ordered to qiiit his quarters, pass rapidly between 
 Luxunibourg and Treves to Coblentz, and thus exe- 
 cute ■what liad been already urged upon him, and 
 Avhat he and Custine ought to have performed long- 
 before. Lastly, assuming the offensive himself with 
 80,000 men, Dumouriez was to round the French ter- 
 ritory by the long-projected acquisition of Belgium. 
 Thus, observing tlic defensive on all the frontiers pro- 
 tected by the natm-e of the ground, attack was to be 
 risked only on the open frontier, that of the Low 
 Countries, wliere, as Dumonriez said, France could only 
 defend herself hij gaining battles. 
 
 Through the credit of Santerre he succeeded in 
 obtaining an al)andonment of the absurd scheme of a 
 camp below Paris ; furthermore, that all the collections 
 made in men, artillerj-, munitions, and camp equip- 
 ments, should be transported into Flanders for the 
 advantage of his army, which was in the greatest 
 want; and that tliere should be added shoes, cloaks, 
 and six millions in specie, to fm-nisli the soldiers with 
 money until their arrival in the Low Countries, after 
 •which he hoped to provide for himself. He departed 
 on tlie 1 6th October, somewliat mideceived as to wb.at 
 is called public gratitude, rather less in liarmony than 
 before with the two parties, and simply indemnified 
 for his joiu^ney by certain military arrangements con- 
 cluded with tlie executive council. 
 
 During this interval, the convention liad contmued 
 to act against the commmie, by hisisting upon its 
 re-election, and by keeping a strict watch over all its 
 proceedings. Petion had been chosen maj^or by a 
 majority of 13,899 votes; whilst Eobespierre had only 
 obtained 23, EiUaud-Vai'ennes 14, Panis 80, and Dan- 
 ton IL We nmst not, howevei', estimate the com])a- 
 rative popularity of Robespierre and Petion by this 
 difference in the number of votes ; because the people 
 were accustomed to see in the one a maj'or, in the 
 other a deputy, and had no idea of altering their re- 
 spective positions: at the same tune, this immense 
 majority demonstrates the popularitj^ stiU enjoyed by 
 the principal leader of the Girondist party. A'\'e ought 
 not to omit the fact that Bailly obtained two votes, a 
 singular memento accorded to that virtuous magistrate 
 of 1789. Petion refused the mayoralty, Vv-earied with 
 the commotions in the commune, and preferring the 
 functions of a deputy in the National Convention. 
 
 The three principal measures projected in the famous 
 sittuig of the 24th September were — a law against 
 provocations to murder ; a decree upon the formation 
 of a departmental guard ; and, lastly, an exact account 
 of the state of Paris. The two first, intrusted for 
 Iireparation to the conunittee of nine, excited a conti- 
 nual outcry at tlie Jacobins', at the commune, and in 
 the sections. Tlie committee of nine, however, pro- 
 ceeded in their labours, regardless of tliese clamours ; 
 and from various departments, especially from ]\Iar- 
 seiUes and Calvados, battaUons arrived spontaneously, 
 thus anticipating the decree on the departmental guard, 
 as had occurred on another occasion previous to the 
 1 0th August. Roland, charged with tlie tliird measure, 
 that is to say, tlie reyiort upon the state of the capital, 
 executed his task without shrinking, and with rigorous 
 accuracy. lie described and excused the inevitable 
 confusion of the first insurrection ; but lie jiourtrayed 
 with energy and held up to execration the crimes added 
 by the 2d September to the revolution of the 10th Au- 
 gust; he exhibited all the excesses of tlie connnune, its 
 abuses of jiower, its arbitrary imprisDuments, and its 
 viist spoliations. He conclutled with these words: — 
 
 " A department sagacious but almost powerless ; 
 a commune active and despotic ; a people excellent, 
 but of whom the sound jnirt is intimidated or con- 
 strained, whilst the other is stimulated. by flatterers, 
 and exasperated by calumnious charges ; a confusion 
 of powers ; an abuse and contempt of authority' ; a 
 public force weak or miU from an iuefiicient com- 
 mand — such is Paris!"* 
 
 * Sitting of the 29th October. 
 
 Ills report was appiaudeu hy the usual majority, 
 allliough, during its perusal, certain murmurs broke 
 from the quarter of the Mountain. However, a letter 
 written by a private individual to a magistrate, com- 
 municated by that mtigistnate to the executive coun- 
 cil, and mifolding the iiroject of a new 2d of Septembe. 
 against a part of the convention, excited an extraordi- 
 nary agitation. A.n expression in this letter, relativ* 
 to tlie consph'ators, was tlius couched : " TItey will hca? 
 ojily of liohespicrre." At this phrase, all eyes were 
 turned upon that deputy; some glowed with indigna- 
 tion, others encouraged liim to s])e;;k. lie addressed 
 tlie convention, in fact, on the question of printing 
 Roland's report, which he stigmatised as a defamatory 
 romance; and lie maintained that it ought not to be 
 made public until those Avho were therein accused, 
 and himself particularly, had been heard in refutation. 
 Then diverging to wliat was personal to himself, lie 
 begau a justification, widen was ahiiost whoUy in- 
 audible, on account of the noise prevailing in the hall. 
 " Go on," said Diinton to him—" speak ; there are good 
 citizens here listening to thee." Robespierre, suc- 
 ceeding at length in obtaining silence, recommenced 
 his cxculjtation, and defied his adversaries to accuse 
 him openly, or to produce a single positive proof 
 against him. At tliis defiance, Louvet si'jang for- 
 ward: "I," said he to him — " I accuse thee!" And 
 as he uttered these words he was already at the foot 
 of the tribune, and Barbaroux and Rebecqui Avere Avith 
 him to support the accusation. When he saAv them, 
 Robesijierre was moved, and his countenance imder- 
 Avent a visible alteration ; he requested that his accuser 
 miglit be heard, and then himself in reply. But Dan- 
 ton, taking his place in the tribmie, protested against 
 the system of calumny organised against the com- 
 mune and the Parisian deiiutation ; and reiterated 
 concerning Ivlarat, who Avas the chief cause of aU ac- 
 cusations, Avliat lie had already declared, to the effect 
 that he had no esteem for him ; that he had made 
 sufficient trial of his volcanic and unsociable tempera- 
 ment ; and tliat all idea of a triumviral coalition Avas 
 absurd. He concluded by moving that a day be fixed 
 for the discussion of the report. The assembly, mean- 
 Avhde, decreed its publication, but deferred its trans- 
 mission to the departments luitil Louvet and Robes- 
 pierre had been heard. 
 
 Louvet was impetuous and full of courage; liis 
 patriotism Avas sincere; but into his liatred against 
 Robespierre entered the resentfid feehngs engendered 
 by a long coinrse of personal hostility, commencing at 
 the Jacobins', continued in the Sentinel, iirolonged in 
 the electoral assembly, and increased in virulence, 
 since he found liimself face to face Avitli his jealous 
 rival in the National ConA-ention. To an extreme 
 petulance of character, Louvet joined a romantic and 
 credulous fancy, Avliich perpetu;dly misled him, and 
 induced him to belicA'c in designs and plots Avlien the 
 causes Avere but the involuntary etil'Cts of passion. 
 He gave unlimited faith to his OAvn suppositions, and 
 Avas urgent Avith Ins friends to accord tliem the same 
 implicit credit. But lie encountered, in the dispas- 
 sionate and excellent sense of Petion and Roland, in 
 the indolent impartiality of "N'ergniaud, an opj)ositiou 
 which afflicted him to despiur. Buzot, Barbaroux, 
 Guadet, without equal creduhty, Avitliout equal belief 
 in such complicated schemes, deemed the Avickedness 
 of their adversaries undoubted, and seconded the 
 attaclcs of Louvet from the imjnilses of indignation 
 and courage. Salles, dejiuty of La IMeurthe, a deter- 
 mined foe to anarchists in the Constituent Assembly 
 and in the convention, a man possessed of a sombre 
 and violent cast of niuid, was alone open to all the 
 suggestions of Louvet, and put faith, like him, in A-ast 
 plots, originating in the commune, and extending to 
 otlier countries. For, impassioned lovers of liberty, 
 Louvet and Salles could not consent to charge such 
 multifarious evils on its sacred name, but fondly 
 believed that the Mountaineers, Slarat aboAX- all, AA'cre
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRExNTH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bribed by tlie emigrants and England to drive the 
 revolution to crime, dishonour, and general confusion. 
 Not so certain of Robespierre's venalty, they saw in 
 him, at all events, a tyrant engrossed by pride and 
 ambition, and proceeding with rapid strides to su- 
 preme power. 
 
 Lou vet, having previously formed the resolution to 
 make a vigorous assaidt on Robespierre, and to atibrd 
 him no interval of rest, held his speech ready written, 
 and was armed with it the very day on which Roland 
 ■WAS to make his report ; consequently, he was all pre- 
 j)ared to su]iport his accusation when leave was given 
 him to speak. He innnediately availed hunself of the 
 permission, when Roland had concluded. 
 
 Tlie Gu'ondists had been long ago sulHciently prone 
 to misconceive the nature of circumstances, and to 
 presume criminal projects in the outbreaks of way- 
 ward passion ; but to the sanguine Louvet the con- 
 spiracy was indpable, its parts most closely knitted. 
 In the increasing exaggeration of the Jacobins, in the 
 success with which the morose reserve of Robespierre 
 had been crowned daring the course of 1792, he per- 
 ceived a plot distinctly developed, emanating from that 
 ambitious tribune. He exhibited him as sm-rounded 
 by satellites, to whose violence he abandoned his 
 antagonists; as rendering himself the object of an 
 idolatrous regard — spreading, through his emissaries, 
 before the 10th August, the persuasion that he alone 
 was competent to save liberty and France ; and when 
 the 10th August came, hiding himself from the light ; 
 re-appearing two da^-s after the danger Avas past; 
 proceeding straightway to the commune, notwith- 
 standing his pledge never to accei^t oifice, and, of 
 his i)lenary authority, seating himself at the tabla of 
 the council-general ; there, usurping sway over an 
 inconsiderate assemblage of petty tradesmen, impel- 
 ling them at his will to excesses of the most hateful 
 character ; appearing in their name before the Legis- 
 lative xVssembly, with insolent effrontery, and exacting 
 decrees from that national body under threats of tlie 
 tocsin ; ordaining, without being seen, the massacres 
 and thefts of September, with the view of supporting 
 tiie mimicipal authority by terror ; and, finally, send- 
 ing emissaries throughout all France to instigate tjie 
 like crimes, and induce the provinces to acknowledge 
 the superior authority of Paris. Robespierre, added 
 Louvet, was solicitous to destro}' the national repre- 
 sentation for the purpose of putting in its place the 
 commune, which hung upon his nod, and imposing 
 upon France the government of Rome, where, under 
 the appellation of municipia, the provinces were sub- 
 ject to the sovereigntj' of the metropolis. Thus master 
 of Paris, and it the mistress of France, he would have 
 stepped upon the vacant throne. Seeing, however, 
 the moment drawing nigh for the meeting of a new 
 assembly, he had passed from the council-general to 
 the electoral assembly, and controlled its nominations 
 by the force of terror, in order to become master of 
 the convention through the deputation of Paris. 
 
 It was he, Robespierre, who had pointed out to the 
 electors that man of blood Avhose incendiary placards 
 filled France with amazement and consternation. That 
 libellist, with whose name liOuvet said he would not 
 sully his lips, was Init the scapegoat of assassination, 
 IKissessing, for the avocations of preaching crime and 
 traducing the purest characters, a courage which was 
 wanting to the wily Robespierre. As to Danton, 
 Louvet separated him from the accusation, and even 
 expressed his astonishment that he should have 
 hastened to the tribune to repel an attack not directed 
 against him. He did not, however, exculpate him 
 from Septemlier, because, during those mournful days, 
 wlien all the authorities — the asseml)ly, the ministers, 
 the mayor — spoke in vain to stop the slaughter, the 
 minister of justice alone spoke not; because, in short, 
 ho only was excepted from the caluinnies sprea(l 
 against the most virtuous citizens in the famous pla- 
 cards. "And may thou be able, oh Dantonl" ex- 
 
 claimed Louvet, " to clear thyself from that disgrace- 
 ful exception in the judgment of jjosterity ! " Much 
 applause greeted these words, equally spirited and 
 imprudent. 
 
 Louvct's charge, constantly applauded at particular 
 passages, had not been heard, however, without many 
 counter nun-nnu's ; but an expression frequently re- 
 peated during the sitting had checked them. " Secure 
 me silence," said Louvet to the president, ^\for I am 
 about to probe the wound, and may draw shrieks !" " Pro- 
 ceed," said Danton; "probe the wound." And every 
 time murmurs arose, "Silence!" was shouted — "silence 
 to the wounded!" 
 
 Louvet at length resumed his charge. " Robes- 
 pierre!" he exclaimed, "I accuse thee of having tra- 
 duced the purest citizens, and of having done so at 
 the moment when calumnies were proscriptions ; I 
 accuse thee of having paraded thyself as an object of 
 idolatry, and disseminated the impression that tliou 
 wert the only man capable of saving France ; I accuse 
 thee of having degraded, insulted, and persecuted the 
 national representation, of having tyraimised over the 
 electoral assembly of Paris, and of having advanced 
 to supreme power by the ways of calunmy, violence, 
 and terror ; and I demand a committee to examine thy 
 conduct." Louvet then proposed a law condemning 
 to exile whomsoever shoidd liave made his name a 
 sixbject of discord amongst the citizens. He urged 
 that, to the measures in preparation by the commis- 
 sion of nine, an additional reference shoidd be made, 
 namely, to devise a plan for placing the armed force 
 at the disposition of the minister of the interior. " In 
 conclusion," said he, " I crave upim the instant a de- 
 cree of impeachment against Jlarat ! Ye gods ! ye 
 gods ! I have named him ! " 
 
 Robespierre, dismayed at the acclamations lavished 
 on his adversary, essa^yed to speak. A jnidst the uproar 
 and murmm's excited by his appearance, he faltered, 
 his features and his voice became agitated ; however, 
 he obtained a hearing, and asked for time to prepare 
 his defence. Tlie delay Avas granted him, and the ques- 
 tion adjourned to the 5th November. This resolution 
 was favourable to the accused, for, excited by the elo- 
 quence of Louvet, the assembly felt at tliat moment 
 an indignation it Avould have been ditiicidt to allay. 
 
 In the evening, great was the commotion at the 
 Jacobin Club, Avhere the sittings of the convention 
 were freely criticised. A crowd of members rushed 
 incontinently to descant upon the horrible conduct of 
 Louvet, and to demand his expidsion. He had calum- 
 niated the society, and incidpated Danton, Santerre, 
 Robespierre, and Marat; he had demanded an im- 
 peachment against the tAvo last ; proposed sanguinary 
 laAvs — shackles on the liberty of the press ; and, in 
 short, the ostracism of Athens. Legendre said it Avas 
 a studied plot, since Louvet had his discourse all 
 ready, and Roland's report had very obviously been 
 framed Avith no other object than to furnish an occa- 
 sion f(U' that diatribe. 
 
 Fabre-d'Eglantine complained that the system of 
 scandal was daily augmenting, and that every effort 
 Avas made to calumniate Paris and the patriots. " Petty 
 conjectures," said he, " are linked to trivial supposi- 
 tions ; thence is conjured up a vast conspiracy, and we 
 are told neither Avliere it is, who are its agents, nor 
 what its means. If there were a man Avho had seen 
 all, appreciated all in both the one and the other party, 
 you cannot doubt that such a man, the friend of truth, 
 Avould be the fittest to make it known. Such a man, 
 tlien, is Petion. Force his virtue to reveal aU that he 
 has seen, and to pronounce upon the crimes imputed 
 to the patriots. Whatever consideration he may have 
 for his friends, I venture to say that the intriguers 
 have not corrupted him. Petion is idways disinterested 
 and sincere ; he would have spoken to-day ; force him, 
 then, to declare himself."* 
 
 * P(5tion must be classed amonpst the coolest and most di«- 
 pasbionatc characterB of tlie revolution. None judged with a
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 '201 
 
 Merliu opposed the suggestion that Pction should 
 be constituted judge between Robespierre and Louvet, 
 on the ground that it Avas a violation of equality thus 
 
 more sagacious eye the two parties wlio divided tlie convention. 
 His equity was so well known, tliat both sides consented to 
 appeal to his decision. Tlie accusations which were made from 
 tiie opening of the assembly provokejl warm discussions at the 
 Jacobins'. Fabre-d'Eglantine proposed to refer all disputes to 
 Petion, and abide his judgment. The following is the manner 
 in which he expressed himself : — 
 
 SITTING OF THE 2!)TH OCTOBER 17.02. 
 
 " There is another mode which I deem advisable, and which 
 will produce a gi-eat effect. Almost invariably, wlien a vast in- 
 trigue is in agitation, it stands in need of influence, and is di'iven 
 to tlie greatest exertions to procure a personal credit. If there 
 existed a man who had seen all, appreciated all in both parties, 
 you cannot doubt that such a man, tlie friend of truth, Avould be 
 the fittest to make it known. Now, I propose tliat you invite 
 this man, a member of your society, to pronoimce respecting tlie 
 crimes imputed to tlie patriots— force liis virtue to reveal all tliat 
 he has seen : this man is Petion. AVhatever consideration he 
 may have for his friends, I venture to say tliat the intriguers have 
 not corrupted Potion ; he is still pure, always sincere. I here 
 state that I often speak to liim, in the convention, during mo- 
 ments of excitement ; and if he does not always tell one that he 
 groans, I see that he groans inwardly ; this morning even he 
 would have mounted the tribune. He cannot decline your re- 
 quest to write what he thinks, and we shall see whether, although 
 it is I who urge recourse to him, the intriguers can sway him. 
 Observe, citizens, this single step will prove that you only desire 
 truth; it is a tribute that you render to the virtue of a good 
 patriot, and with the greater cause, since the liars have wrapped 
 themselves in his virtue to attain eminence. I demand that the 
 motion be put to the vote." (Applause.) 
 
 Lecicndre. — " The stroke was meditated, that Is clear. The 
 distribution of Brissot's speech, the report of the minister of the 
 interior, the oration of Louvet in his pocket— all prove that the 
 attack was studied. The speech of Brissot upon the expulsion 
 contains all that Louvet said ; the rejiort of Roland was to furnish 
 Louvet with an opportunity of speaking. I approve of Fabre's 
 motion, but the convention will shortly decide : Robespierre has 
 the tribune for Monday. I move that the society suspend its 
 decision : it is impossible that in a free country virtue should 
 succumb to vice." 
 
 After these quotations, I deem it proper to transcribe the docu- 
 iiieut written by Potion relative to the dispute at issue between 
 Louvet and Robespierre. After the extracts taken from Garat, it 
 contains the most invaluable information upon the conduct and 
 I character of the men of that day, and such as history ought to 
 preserve as the fittest to convey just ideas upon the epoch under 
 review : — 
 
 " Citizens— I promised myself to observe the strictest silence 
 upon the events which have occurred since the lOth August : 
 motives of delicacy and of public good determined me to use that 
 I reserve. 
 
 I But it impossible to be longer silent. On both sides my testi- 
 I mony is invoked ; each presses me to deliver my opinion : I will 
 I therefore speak with frankness what I know concerning men, 
 1 what I think concerning things. 
 
 : I have bolield the scenes of the revolution near at hand ; I have 
 t witnessed tlie cabals, the intrigues, the stonny contentions be- 
 I tween tyranny and liberty, between vice and virtue. 
 
 M'lien the play of human passions is laid bare ; when a man 
 perceives the secret springs which have regulated the most ini 
 pnrtant operations ; when he traces events to their causes ; when 
 he knows all the perils that liberty lias incurred ; when he has 
 jienetrated into the dejiths of that corruption which threatened 
 every moment to engulf us, he asks himself with amazement by 
 what series of prodigies we have reached the point at which we 
 now find ourselves. 
 
 Revolutions should be seen from a distance ; that illusion is 
 necessary to them: ages efface the blemishes that darken them ; 
 posterity considers only the results. Our grandsons will deem us 
 great ; let us render them better than ourselves. 
 
 I pass over the facts anterior to that day for ever memorable, 
 which elevated liberty upon the ruins of tyranny, and changed a 
 monarchy into a rejiublic. 
 
 The men who have assumed to themselves the glory of that 
 day are the men to wiiom it least belongs : it is due to those who 
 concerted it ; it is due to the inevitable nature of things ; it is due 
 to the brave federalists and their secret directory, who long before 
 arranged the plan of the insiincction ; it is due to the people ; it 
 
 to render a citizen the supreme arbiter of others. He 
 alleged, furthermore, that altliough Petion was un- 
 doubtedly worthy of respect, lie might possibly de- 
 is due, in fine, to the tutelary genius which has constantly pre- 
 sided over the destmies of France since the fii-st assembly of its 
 representatives ! 
 
 It must be granted, success was for a moment doubtful ; and 
 those who are truly informed of the details of that day, know who 
 were the intrepid defenders of the country that prevented the 
 Swiss and the other satellites of despotism from remaining mas- 
 ters of the field of battle— who those were tliat rallied om- citizen 
 phalanxes when for an instant broken. 
 
 That day likewise occurred without the aid of the commis- 
 sioners of several sections assembled at the common hall : the 
 members of the old niunicip;ility, who had not moved during the 
 night, were still sitting at half-past nine in the morning. 
 
 Those commissioners nevertheless conceived a grand idea, and 
 adopted a bold meiisure, when they seized upon ail the municipal 
 powers, and took the place of a council-general whose wealaiess 
 and corruption they feared ; they courageously exposed their lives 
 in case success had not sanctified the enterprise. 
 
 If those commissioners had had the wisdom to lay dow-n their 
 authority at the proper time, and return to the grade of simple 
 citizens after the admirable action they had performed, they 
 would have covered themselves with glory ; but they could not 
 resist the attractions of power, and the thirst of dominion seized 
 upon them. 
 
 During the first moments of rapture after the conquest of 
 liberty, and after a commotion so violent, it was impossible that 
 all things should resolve again at once into the accustomed calm- 
 ness and order ; it would have been unjust to insist upon it. At 
 that time the reproaches addressed to the new council of the 
 commune were not well foimded : in them neither its position nor 
 the circumstances of the time were appreciated ; but those com- 
 missioners began to merit them when they themselves prolonged 
 the revolutionary movement beyond its term. 
 
 The national assembly had shown itself equ.al to the crisis : it 
 had taken a decisive part ; had passed decrees which saved the 
 empii-e, had suspended the king, had blotted out the line of 
 demarcation which severed the citizens into two classes, and had 
 convoked the convention. The royalist party was annihilated. 
 Thenceforth the assembly ought to have been supported, strength- 
 ened in public opinion, regarded with generous confidence : this 
 duty and sound policy alike counselled. 
 
 The commune deemed it more becoming to enter into rivalry 
 with the assembly. It provoked a contest which was only calcu- 
 lated to throw discredit upon all that had passed, and to inculcate 
 the belief that the assembly was under the irresistible pressure of 
 circumstances : it obeyed or resisted the decrees, precisely as they 
 promoted or thwarted its own views ; it employed in it^ represen- 
 tations to the legislative body imperious and irritating expressions ; 
 it affected supremacy, and knew not either how to enjoy its 
 triumphs or how to make others pardon them. 
 
 The majority had succeeded in persuading some of its mem- 
 bers that so long as the revolutionary state of things continued, 
 power had reverted to its source ; that the national assembly was 
 in abeyance, that its existence was precarious, and that the 
 assemblies of the commune were the sole legitimate and efficient 
 authorities. 
 
 It had poisoned others with the belief that the leaders of opi- 
 nion in the national assembly had jicrfidious projects, and were 
 plotting to overthrow liberty and deliver the republic to foreigners. 
 Insomuch that many members of the council conceived they 
 were acting upon a legitimate right when they usurped authority ; 
 that they were resisting oppression when they opjiused the law ; 
 tliat they were performing an act of civisni when they failed in 
 their duties as citizens. Nevertheless, in the midst of this 
 anarchy, the commune adopted from time to time salutary reso- 
 lutions. 
 
 I had been retained in my oftic-c ; but it had become an empty 
 title : I essayed its functions in vain ; they were scattered amongst 
 .ill, and every one exercised them. 
 
 I repaired to the council during the first few days: I was 
 amazed at the disorder which prevailed in that assembly, and 
 especially at the sjiirit predominant in it. It was no longer an 
 administrative body, deliberating upon municipal atl'airs ; it was 
 a political assembly, deeming itself invested with plenary powers, 
 discussing the gi'cat interests of the state, oxamiiiing existing 
 laws, and promulgating new ones : its members desciuited upon 
 plots against juiblic liberty ; tlicy denounced citizens, summoned 
 them to the bar, interrogated them publicly, passed judgment 
 uiion them, discharging them as absolved or ordering them into 
 custody. The ordinary rules had disappeared; the ferment of
 
 20-2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 viaie : tliat he was a man, the friend of Brissot and 
 Roland, and received at his house Lasoui'ce, Verpc- 
 iiiaud, Barbaroux, and ail the intriguers who compro- 
 mised liberty. 
 
 minds was such iliat it was impossible to stem the torrent : all 
 the deliberations were c:irricd on with the impetuosity of entiiu- 
 siasm, and succeeded each other with startling rapidity : day and 
 night, without intermission, the council held its sittings. 
 
 I was unwilling that my name should be attached to a multi- 
 tude of measures so irregular— so contrary to all principles. 
 
 I was likewise sensible that prudence and duty equally coun- 
 selled me not to sanction or strenjcthen by my presence wh.at was 
 passing. Those of the council w'lo feircd to see me there, tliose 
 whom my presence troubled, strongly desired that the people, 
 whose conKdonce I preserved, should believe that I presided over 
 its operations, and that nothing was done but in concert with me : 
 my reserve in that respect increased their enmity, but they dared 
 not manifest it too openly, from a dread of displeasing the people, 
 whose favoiu" they courted. 
 
 I rarely appeared ; and the conduct I observed in this highly 
 delicate position, between the old municipality, which exclaimed 
 against its deprivation, and the new, which proclaimed itself 
 legally constituted, was not without utility to the public tran- 
 quillity ; for, if I had then decidedly pronounced for or against, 
 I should have occasioned an exasperation that might have been 
 attended with disastrous consequences. In all things there is a 
 point of maturity which it devolves on men to seize with judg- 
 ment. 
 
 The administration was neglected ; the mayor was no longer a 
 centre of union ; all the threads were snapped in my hands ; 
 power was scattered ; the function of superintendence was ex- 
 tinct, and so also was that of repression. 
 
 Robespierre then took the ascendant in the coimcil ; and it 
 eoidd scarcely be otherwise under the circumstances then exist- 
 ing, and from the character of his mind. I heard him pronounce 
 a discourse which afflicted my heart ; it was on the subject of tlie 
 decree opening the harriers, and on this topic he gave way to de- 
 clamations extremely animated— to the delusions of a gloomy ima- 
 gination ; he perceived precipices beneath his feet, plots against 
 liberty ; he poiu'trayed the pretended conspirators ; he addressed 
 himself to the people, inflamed their minds, and caused, amongst 
 all who heard him, the gi'eatest excitement. 
 
 I replied to that discourse with the view of restoring calmness, 
 dissipating those sombre illusions, and bringing back tlie discus- 
 sion to the only point competent for the assembly to entertain. 
 
 Robespierre and his partisans thus drew the conimime into 
 inconsiderate measivres— into extreme positions. 
 
 I did not suspect on that account the intentions of Robespierre ; 
 I accused his head moi-e than his heart ; but the consequences of 
 those gloomy visions did not cause me the less alarm. 
 
 Kvery day the tribunes of the council rung with violent dia- 
 tribes ; tlie members were unable to understand they were magis- 
 trates charged to watch over the execution of the laws and the 
 maintenance of order ; they alwiiys viewed themselves as forming 
 a revolutionary association. 
 
 The a • embled sections imbibed that doctrine, and communi- 
 cated it in turn ; so that all Paris was simultaneously in fermen- 
 tation. 
 
 The surveillance committee of the commune stocked the pri- 
 sons : it cannot be denied that, if several of those arrests were just 
 and necessary, others infringed legality But the leaders were 
 less to blame than tlic agents : the police w;is badly organised : 
 one man amongst others, whose very name is become a repro;ich, 
 tlie b;'.re mention of which strikes terror to the hearts of all 
 peaceable citizens, seemed to have seized upon its direction and 
 its movements: constant at all conferences, he intermeddled in 
 a!l atfi'.irs; he spoke, he commanded in the tone of a master : 1 
 loudly complained of him to the commune, and I summed up my 
 opinion in these words, ' I\Tarat is either the most insensate or the 
 Jrtov/ iriclied of mortals.' I have never spoken of him since. 
 
 Justice was dcliber.ate in pronouncing upon the fate of the pri- 
 soners, and they aceimiulated more and more in the jails. A 
 I section came as ii deputation to the council of the commune on 
 the ZiA of August, and formally declared that the citizens, weary 
 and indignant at the delays in rendi-ring judgment, would force 
 the gates of those asylums, and s;icriiice to their vengeance the 
 culprits they contained. This iietition, couched in the most 
 furious terms, met with no censure — it even received api)lause ! 
 
 On the 25th, from lOfK) to 120(1 anned citizens departed from 
 Paris to can-y off the state-prisoners detained at Orleans, and 
 transfer them elsewhere. 
 
 Unfortunate tidings arrived to add still more to the agitation : 
 
 The motion of Fabre-d'Eglantine was not pressed ; 
 and Robespierre the younger, assuming a lamentable 
 tone, as the relatives of those on trial were wont to do 
 at Rome, gave vent to his grief, and sorely complained 
 
 the treason of Longwy was announced, and a few days afterwards 
 the siege of Verdun. 
 
 On the 27th, the National Assembly invited the department of 
 Pjiris and tliose in the vicinity to furnish 30,0iR! armed men to fly 
 to the frontiers : this decree imparted an additional impulse, 
 which combined with those already existing. 
 
 On the 31st, the acquittal of Montmorin exasperated the people ; 
 a rumour spread that he had been saved by the perfidy of an 
 emissary of the king, who had led the jury astray. 
 
 At the same moment, publicity was given to the statement of 
 acondenmed captive, revealmg a plot for the escape of all tho 
 prisoners, who were afterwards to spread themselves through the 
 city, commit every variety of excess, and carry off the king. 
 
 The ferment was at its height. The commune, in order to 
 stimulate the enthusiasm of the citizens, and urge them to thg 
 civic oiuMlments, had decreed they should assemble with cere- 
 mony on the Champ de Mars to the tiring of cannon. 
 
 Tho 2d of September arrives ; the alarm gun is fired ; the tocsin 
 is rung. Oh ! day of sorrow ! — At that mournful and alanning 
 soimd, they assemble, rush to the prisons— murder, massacre .' 
 Manuel, and several deputies of tho national assembly, repair 
 to those scenes of camage ; but their efforts are in vain — the vic- 
 tims are slain even in theu" arms ! Alas ! I was in a false secu- 
 rity ; I knew not of these cruelties, since for some time previously 
 nothing was ever mentioned to me. I am apprised of tliem at 
 length , and how ? — in a vague, indirect, distorted manner ; and at 
 the same time it is told to me tliat all was finished. The most 
 heart-rending details subsequently reach me, and I had the most 
 positive conviction that the sun which had lighted these dismal 
 scenes would never rise again. In tlie mean time they continue : 
 I write to the commander-in-chief — I require him to march forces 
 to the prisons : he at first gives me no answer ; I write again. He 
 tells me lie has given orders ; nothing shows that those orders are 
 in course of execution. They still continue : I go to the council 
 of tlie commune ; thence I proceed to the prison of La Force, 
 with several of my colleagues. Citizens comparatively peaceable 
 crowd the street leading to that prison ; a very small guard was 
 at the gate. I enter. Never will the spectacle that met my eyes 
 be effaced from my mind ! I perceive two municipal officers 
 wearing their scarfs ; I see three men tranquilly sitting before a 
 table, the prison registers lying open before them, calling over 
 the roll of captives; other men interrogating them, and others 
 again performing the functions of judges and jurymen; a dozen 
 of executioners, with naked arms, covered with blood, some with 
 clubs, others with swords and cutlasses, all dripping with gore, 
 executing the judgments on the instant ; citizens outside await- 
 ing those judgments with anxious impatience, observing a mourn- 
 ful silence at the decrees of death, uttering cries of joy at those of 
 pardon. 
 
 And tlie men who were sitting in judgment, and those execut- 
 ing their fiats, had the same feeling of security as if the law had 
 called upon them to perform such fimctions. They boasted to 
 mo of their justice, of their care in discriminating between the 
 innocent and the guilty, and of the services they had rendered. 
 They asked— can it be believed ?— tliey asked to be remimerated 
 for tho time they had thus passed ! I was absolutely confounded 
 when I heard them ! 
 
 I spoke to them in the austere language of the law— I spoke to 
 them with the feeling of deep indignation which stirred within 
 me : I ma<le them go out before me. I had scarcely left ere they 
 returned : I was again upon the spot to drive them forth ; but in 
 the night they accomplished their horrible butchery ! 
 
 Were these assassinations commanded- were they directed by 
 certain persons ? I have had lists before me, I have received re- 
 ports, I have collected several facts ; but if I had to pronounce as 
 a judge, I could not say. Behold the guilty ! 
 
 I am of opinion that those crimes would not have nm so free a 
 course if endeavours li.ad been made to check thoiu— if all those 
 exercising authority and force had viewed them with horror ; but 
 I am bound to state what is time : several of those public men, of 
 those defenders of the country, deemed those disastrous and dis- 
 graceful days necessary ; holding that they piu-ged the empire of 
 dangerous men, stniek terror mto the souls of conspir.ators, 
 and, in short, were crimes, odious in moralitj', but useful in 
 policy. 
 
 Yes, such were the ideas that slackened the zeal of those to 
 whom the law had confided the maintenance of order, and to 
 whom it had intrusted tho defence of persons and property.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 203 
 
 that he was not calumniated like his brother. " This 
 n^omcnt," said he, " is one pregnant with danger ; all 
 the iK'ople are not for us. The citizens of Paris a,lone 
 are suiSciently enhgiitencd ; the others are so but im- 
 perfectly. It is possiljle, therefore, that imiocence may 
 succmnb on Monday ! — for the convention has heard at 
 fuU length the amplified lies of Louvet. Citizens, I 
 have had a terrible vision : it seemed to me that as- 
 sassins were on the point of stabbing my brother. I 
 have heard men say that he should perish by their 
 hands only ; another told me he hoped to be his exe- 
 cutioner." At these words, several members rose and 
 declared that they also had been menaced, particiilarly 
 by Barbaroiix, llebecqui, and several citizens in the 
 galleries; that those who threatened them said, "Eobes- 
 pierre and Jlarat must be got rid of." They then 
 crowded round the younger Robespierre, promised 
 him to watch over the safety of liis brother, and 
 unanimously agreed that those who had friends or 
 relatives in the departments shoidd Avrite to them, in 
 order to give opinion its fitting bias. The younger 
 Robespien'e, before quitting the tribune, took the op- 
 portunity of uttering a calumny. Anarcharsis Clootz, 
 he said, had assured him he daUy broke lances against 
 federalism at the house of Roland. 
 
 The fiery Chabot came in his turn. What chiefly 
 irritated him in Louvet's speech was, that he attributed 
 the 10th August to himself and his friends, and the 
 2d September to two hundred assassins. " I remem- 
 ber," said Chabot, " that I addressed the gentlemen of 
 the right side on the evening of the 9th August, pro- 
 posing to them the insurrection, and that they replied 
 t) me by a smile fi"om the corner of their mouths. I 
 do not see, therefore, Avith what right they take to 
 themselves the 10th August. As to the 2d September, 
 
 How these days of the 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th of September may 
 be connected with the immortal ]Oth of August — how t)iey may 
 be held a continuation of the revolutionary movement imparted 
 upon that day, the first in the annals of the republic — is suffi- 
 ciently palpable. For my part, however, I cannot consent to 
 confound glory with infamy, and to defile the 10th August with 
 the excesses of the 2d September. 
 
 The committee of sur\'eillance issued a warrant of arrest against 
 the minister Roland : it was the 4tli, and the massacre stOl went 
 on. Danton heard of the warrant ; he came to the to^\'n-hall ; 
 he saw Robespierre, remonstrated with warmth against so arbi- 
 trary and insane an act, which would have injirred, not Roland, 
 but those who had decreed it. Danton procured its revocation, 
 and it was buried in oblivion. 
 
 I had an explanation with Robespierre ; it was very serious : I 
 have always made reproaches to his face, which friendship has 
 tempered in his absence. I said to him, ' Robespierre, you do 
 much mischief ! Your denunciations, your alarms, your hatreds, 
 your suspicions, keep the people for ever in agitation. But at 
 length explain yourself: have you any facts, have you any proofs? 
 I am fighting along with you ; I desire truth alone ; I want only 
 liberty." 
 
 ' You allow yourself to be ensnared— to be preiKissessed,' he 
 answered me : ' they prejudice you against me ; you see my 
 enemies every day— you see Brissot and his party.' 
 
 ' You are deceived, Robespierre ; no person is more on his guard 
 against prepossessions, or judges men and things more dispas- 
 sionately. It is true I see Brissot ; rarely, however : but you do 
 not know him, and I have known him from boyhood ; I have 
 seen him in those moments when the mind fully displays itself— 
 wlicn it abandons itself without reserve to friendship and conli- 
 dence : I know his disinterestedness ; I know his principles— I 
 protest to you they are pure. Those who represent him as tl-.e 
 leader of a party have not the slightest knowledge of his character. 
 He has talents and accoinplislinients ; but he has neitlicr the re- 
 serve, nor the dissimulation, nor those winning manners, nor 
 that spirit of pertin;'.city, which arc essential to the leader of a 
 p;irty ; and what will nrore surprise you is, that so far from 
 leading others he is very easily misled himself." 
 
 Robespierre persisted, but intrenching himself in generalities. 
 'For pity"s sake," said I to him, 'explain yourself; tell me 
 frankly what you have on your mind— what you know.' 
 
 ' Well, then," he answeied me, ' I believe that Brissot is sold to 
 Brunswick.' 
 
 ' How great is y^iur mistake !' I exclaimed ; ' it i-. al)s<iluto 
 
 its authors were the same people who accomplished 
 the 10th August in spite of them, and who, alter the 
 victory, determined on avenging tliemselves. Louvet 
 said there were not two hundred assassins; and I 
 assert that I passed with tlie commissioners of the 
 legislative body under an arch of ten thousand sabres. 
 I recognised upwards of one lumch-ed and fifty fede- 
 ralists. There are no crimes in revolutions. Marat, 
 so incessantly accused, is attacked for revolutionary 
 deeds alone. To-day Marat, Danton, Robespierre, are 
 accused; to-morrow it will be Santerre, Chabot, Sler- 
 lin," &c. 
 
 Excited by these audacious words, a federalist pre- 
 sent at the sitting did what no man had yet dared 
 pulilicly do — he declared that he acted Avith a great 
 nmaiber of his comrades at tlie prisons, and under the 
 persuasion that he Avas only slaying conspirators, 
 fabricators of false assignats, and rescuing Paris from 
 fire and slaughter. He added, that he Avas grateful 
 to the society for the kindness it had manifested to 
 all the federalists; that they departed the next day 
 for the army, and carried with them but one regret, 
 namely, that of leavhig the patriots in such imminent 
 perils. 
 
 This abominable declaration closed the sitting. 
 Robespierre had not appeared, nor did he appear dur- 
 ing the Avhole week, being engaged in preparing his 
 defence, and leaving to his partisans the task of dis- 
 posing the public mind. In the mean time, the com- 
 mune of Paris persisted in its conduct and system. It 
 Avas stated that it had seized ten millions in the chest 
 of Septeuil, the treasurer of the cIatI hst ; and at this 
 very period it Avas urging a petition upon the forty- 
 eight sections or municipalities against the plan for 
 giving a guard to the convention. Barbaroux inune- 
 
 foUy ; how j'our imagination blinds you ! Would not BnmsAvick 
 he the first to cut oft" his head ? Brissot is not such a fool as to 
 doubt it. AMiich of us can seriously think of capitulating? — 
 which of us risk his life ? Let us banish unjust suspicions !' 
 
 I return to the events of which I have given you a feeble out- 
 line. Those events, and some that preceded the celebrated day 
 of the 10th August, the connexion of facts and of numberless 
 portents, induced the belief that certain intriguers had designed 
 to possess the people, in order, with the people, to possess them- 
 selves of authority. Robespierre was distinctly alluded to ; his 
 connexions were reviewed, his conduct was analysed ; the words 
 which it is said escaped one of his friends were adduced; and 
 from the whole it was concluded that Robespierre had the insane 
 ambition to become the dictator of his country. 
 
 The chai-acter of Robespierre explains what he has done. Ro- 
 bespierre is extremely reserved and distrustful ; he every where 
 descries plots, treasons, precipices ; his jaundiced temperament, 
 his morbid imagination, present all objects to him under the 
 gloomiest colours : overbearing in his opinion, listening only to 
 himself, impatient of contradiction, incapable of pardoning him 
 Avho wounds his self-love, or of ever acknowledging his errors ; 
 denouncing with recklessness, wrathful upon the slightest sus- 
 picion, always imagining that others are occupied with him, and 
 for tlie purpose of persecuting him ; boasting of his servii es, and 
 speaking of himself with little delicacy ; disregiu-ding the rules of 
 dcconmi, and thereby injuring the very causes he advocates; 
 striving above all things to gain the favour of the people ; paying 
 court to them imce;usingly, and seeking their applause with 
 afl'ected preference — this last weakness it is, more especially, 
 which, ingrafted on all the acts of liis ])ubliclife, has strengthened 
 the supposition that Robespierre aspires to liigh destinies, and 
 aims at usurping the dictatorial power. 
 
 For myself, I cannot persuade myself that this chimera has 
 seriously occupied his tlioughts, or h;is been the object of his 
 desires— the goal of his ambition. 
 
 There is a m.an, however, who has grown delirious Avith this 
 phanta.sy— who has incessantly invoked a dictatorship over Prance 
 as a mercy— as the only dispensation v.-!iich can save us from the 
 anarchy he preaches, and conduct us to liberty and happiness ! 
 He solicits this tyrannical i)Owcr— and for wlxim ? You will never 
 divine ; you know not sufticicntly all the fren/.y of his vanity : 
 he solicits it for himself ! yes, for liinisclf— .Alarat ! If his mad- 
 ness were not ferocious, there would be nothing so ridiculous as 
 this being, upon wlii>m nature seems to have wittingly set the 
 mai'k of her reprobation.""
 
 204 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 diately proposed foiu energetic and ably devised de- 
 crees. 
 
 By the first, the capital w.os to lose the right of 
 having the nation;d representation lield witliin its 
 walls, when it should be unable to protect it from 
 insidts or vioh'uce. 
 
 By the second, the federalists and tlie national gen- 
 darmes were, concurrently "itli the armed sections of 
 Paris, to guard the natiomd representation and tiie 
 public establishments. 
 
 By the tliird, the convention was to resolve itself 
 into a court of justice to try c()asi)irators. 
 
 By the fourth, the convention dissolved the munici- 
 pality of Paris. 
 
 These four decrees were perfectly adapted to the 
 circumstances, and appropriately fitted to meet the 
 actual dangers of the moment ; hut all the power was 
 needed to pass them which woidd have resulted from 
 the decrees themselves. To create the means of energy, 
 energy itself is requisite^ and every moderate party 
 attempting to keep a violent party in check, is in a 
 baneful eutanglement from which it never can get free. 
 Doubtless, the majority, leaning towards tlie Giron- 
 dists, might have passed the decrees; but it was its 
 moderation which induced its bias in their favour, and 
 that moderation counseHed it to wait, to temporise, to 
 rest upon the future, and to shun every measure too 
 prematurely decisive. The assembly even rejected a 
 decree infinitely less offensive, namely, the first of those 
 which had been remitted for preparation to the com- 
 mittee of nine. It referred to instigators of murder 
 and pillage; and Buzot introduced it. By the enact- 
 ment as proposed, all direct instigation was punished 
 with death, and indirect provocation with ten years in 
 irons. The assembly found the punishment too severe 
 on direct instigation, and indirect too vaguely defined 
 and too difficult to reach. Buzot vainly argued that 
 revolutionary, and consequently arbitrary, measures 
 were indispensable agauist the adversaries the republic 
 had to combat; he was not heeded, and could scarcely 
 be so when addressmg a majority which condemned 
 in the violent party those very revolutionary measures, 
 and wliieli was consequently, to a certain extent, de- 
 barred from employing them against it. The decree 
 was accordingly deferred; and the committee of nine, 
 appointed to advise on the means of maintamiug 
 wholesome order, became to all efficient pui'^wses null 
 and void. 
 
 The assembly, however, exhibited a somewhat 
 greater degree of energy in reference to the question 
 of repressing the encroachments of the commune. It 
 then seemed to defend its authority with a species of 
 jealousy and vigour. The council-general of the com- 
 mune, ordered to the bar on account of tlie petition 
 against the project of a departmental guard, appeared 
 to justify itself It was no longer, it said, the eomnmne 
 of the 10th August. Certain prevaricators had crept 
 in amongst its members, whom good reasons had 
 existed for denouncing; but sucli men were no longer 
 to be foimd at its board. " Do not confound the inno- 
 cent with the guilty," it added. " Vouchsafe us the 
 confidence which we so much need. AVe are anxious 
 to restore the tranquillity necessary to the convention 
 for tlie enactment of good laws. With regard to the 
 presentation of this petition, it was the sections which 
 insisted ni)on it, and we are nierel\' their mandatories ; 
 but we will urge them to forego it." 
 
 This submission disarmed the Girondists themselves; 
 and, on the motion of Gensonne, the honours of the 
 sitting were granted to the council-general. Tlie 
 dignity of the convention might he vindicated by such 
 docility on the part of tlie municipal administrators, 
 but it gave no assurance as to the real disjiositions of 
 the capital. The excitement increased into tumult 
 as the 5th November drew nigh, the day fixed for 
 hearing I\i)lH'S[)it'rre. Tlie day before there were com- 
 motions in diflerent interests. Bands traversed the 
 Streets of Paris, some sliouting, " To the guillotine 
 
 with Robespierre, Danton, Marat ! " others crjnng, 
 "Death to Roland, Lasoiu-ce, Guadet!" Complaints 
 of these cries were made at the Jacobins', but only of 
 those directed against Robespierre, Danton, and Marat. 
 The soldiers and federalists, who were as j'et devoted 
 to the convention, were charged with these vocifera- 
 tions. The younger Robespierre again presented him- 
 self in the trilmne, breaking fortli into lamentations 
 on the perils of innocence, and repudiating a sugges- 
 tion of conciliation hazarded by a member of the so- 
 ciety, saying that the opposite party was decidedly 
 counter-revolutionary, and that neither peace nor 
 truce ought to be observed with it. He allowed that 
 innocence was sure to perish in the contest, but that 
 tlie sacrifice was fitting; that IMaximilian Robespierre 
 should be permitted to succun)b, because the loss of a 
 single man would not involve that of liberty. All the 
 Jacobins applauded these fine sentiments, but at the 
 same time consoled the younger Robespierre Avith the 
 assurance that such things could not be, and that his 
 brother would not perish. 
 
 Very diflerent were the grievances alleged in the 
 assembly, where the shouts against Roland, Lasource, 
 Guadet, &c., were denounced. Roland complained of 
 the inutility of his requisitions to the department and 
 the commune for an armed force. Long and desidtory 
 discussions, bitter and acrimonious recriminations, 
 ensued ; and the day ela])sed without any measure 
 being adopted. On the morrow, the ,5th November, 
 Robespierre at length appeared, and took liis station 
 in the tribune. 
 
 Intense anxiety was manifested as to the issue of this 
 solemn discussion, and the assembly's hall was early 
 filled. The speecli of Robespierre was voluminous and 
 carefully digested. His rejoinders to the accusations of 
 Louvet were such as have never failed to be made on 
 similar occasions. " You accuse me," said he, " of 
 aspiring to the tyranny ; but, to gain that height, 
 means are essential, and where are my treasures and 
 my armies ? You allege that I have reai'cd the edifice 
 of my power in the Jacobin Club. But what does that 
 circumstance prove ? jMerely that I have been there 
 more heeded, have addressed myself possibly better 
 than you to the reason of that society, and that you 
 seek to avenge here the pangs of womided seK-love. 
 You pretend that this celebrated society has degene- 
 rated ; but demand a decree of impeachment against 
 it, and I will assume the task of justifjing it, and we 
 shall see whether j^ou will be more fortunate or more 
 l)ersuasive than Leopold and Lafayette. You assert 
 that I did not appear at the commune until two days 
 after the 10th August, and that I tlien installed my- 
 self of my own authority on its bench. But I was not 
 summoned thither earher ; and when I presented my- 
 self at the table, it was not to install mj-self, but to 
 have my powers verified. You add tliat I insulted 
 the IjCgislative Assembly, that I menaced it with the 
 tocsin ; the charge is false. 8ome one sittuig near me 
 accused me of sounding the tocsin : I replied to the 
 internieddler, tliat the ringers of the tocsin were those 
 who embittered the public mind by injustice; andthere- 
 njion one of my colleagues, less reserved, observed that 
 it woidd be sounded. Such is the solitaiy fact upon 
 whicji my accuser has erected this faille. In the elec- 
 toral assembly I certainly spoke, but it was agreed that 
 citizens might be heard ; I offered a few observations, 
 and several exercised tlie same privilege. I neither 
 accused nor recommended any individual. The man 
 whom you charge me with using as my instrument, 
 iSlarat, was never either my friend or my caiuUdatc. 
 If I judged him by those who assail hiin, he wouhl 
 stand accjuitted; but I give no opinion. I will merely 
 state that he was always unknown to me ; that he 
 once came to my liouse, when I addressed to him some 
 remarks on his writings — on their exaggerated tone, 
 and on the pain with wliicli jiatriots saw him compro- 
 mise our cause bj' the violence t)f Ids opinions ; but he 
 deemed me a politltian of confined views, and pub-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FEENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 2{<5 
 
 lished that estimate the following day. It is there- 
 fore a calumny to allege me the instigator and the 
 idly of that man." 
 
 Passmg from these personal charges to the general 
 accusations levelled against the conniiune, Robespierre 
 repeated, with all its advocates, that the 2d September 
 was the continuation of the 10th August: that the 
 precise limit to which the waves of a popidar insur- 
 rection may siu'gc can never be assigned; that the 
 executions were doubtless illegal, but that withoiit 
 illegal measures despotism could not have been shaken 
 otf ; that the same reproach might be made against the 
 whole revolution, for all its acts were illegal — the pro- 
 stration of the throne, the captm-e of the Bastille. 
 He subsequently depicted the dangers of Paris, the 
 indignation of its citizens, their llocking round the 
 prisons, and their inordinate fury at the reflection that 
 they were leaving cons])irators behind them to exter- 
 minate their families. " We are assured that one in- 
 nocent person perished," exclaimed tlie sjjeaker with 
 emphasis — " one only ; it was doubtless a great deal 
 too many. Citizens ! deplore that cruel error ! We 
 have long deplored the man ; he was a good citizen — 
 one of oiu' friends! Weep even for the victims who 
 ought to have been reserved for the vengeance of the 
 laws, but who fell under the sword of popular justice ! 
 But let your grief have a term, like all human con- 
 cerns. Let lis spare a few tears for calamities more 
 attecting — weep for a hundred thousand patriots im- 
 molated by tyranny — weep for our citizens expiring 
 under their burning roofs, and the infants of citizens 
 massacred in the cradle or in the arms of their 
 mothers — weep, in short, for humanity crushed be- 
 neath the yoke of tyrants ! But be consoled, Avhen, 
 silencing all the brutal passions, you aspire to assert 
 the happiness of yoiu' country, and to prepare the 
 way for that of the world. 
 
 The sensibility which grieves almost exchisively for 
 the enemies of liberty, is to me suspicious. • Cease to 
 flutter before my eyes the bloody robe of the tyrant, 
 or I shall believe you intend to replunge Rome into 
 slavery!" 
 
 It was by this mixture of cunning logic and revo- 
 lutionary declamation, that Robespierre succeeded in 
 captivating his audience, and obtaining miiversal 
 plaudits. All that he had said respecting himself was 
 correct ; for there was great imprudence on the part 
 of the Girondists in stigmatising as a project of usur- 
 pation a mere desire of influence, rendered odious, cer- 
 tainly, by an envious character ; and there was the 
 like imprudence in pretending to discover, in the acts 
 of the commune, proofs of a vast conspiracy', \\hen 
 they were but the natural consequences of i^opular 
 passions in high excitement. The Girondists thus 
 afforded the assemlily an occasion for charging them 
 with wrong as against their adversaries. Flattered, so 
 to speak, at seeing the alleged leader of the consj)ira- 
 tors reduced to justify himself; delighted at finding 
 all the crimes exijlained away by being charged on an 
 insurrection whicli coidd not again recur; and charmed 
 with the vision of a better futm-e, the convention 
 deemed it consistent M-ith dignity and prudence to 
 consign all these y)ersonal demmciations to oblivion; 
 and accordingly tlic order of tlie day was fortlnvitii 
 moved. Louvet instantly sprang forward to o])pose 
 the motion, and to claim his right of reply. A num- 
 ber of members simultaneously rose, all eager to speak 
 for, upon, or against, the order of the day. Barbaroux, 
 despairing to make himself heard, rushed to the bar, 
 that he might be listened to in tlie character of a 
 jietitioucr at least. Lanjuinais projiosed that the 
 debate shoidd proceed u])on the imjiortant questions 
 involved in Boland's report. At leiigtii Barrcre siic- 
 ceeded in ol)taining silence and leave to speak. '* Citi- 
 zens," said he, " if there existed in the republic a man 
 endowed with the genius of Caesar, or the audiu?ity of 
 Cromwell — a man who, with the talents of Sylla, pos- 
 sessed also his fonnidable means — if there were, 
 
 indeed, here some legislator of commanding genius, of 
 inordinate ambition, of profound sagacity ; a general, 
 for example, his l)row bound with laurels, and retm-n- 
 ing amongst you to impose laws upon you or trample 
 on the riglits of the people, I shoidd be ready to move 
 a decree of impeachment against such a personage. 
 But that you shoidd confer that honour on creatures 
 of the hour, on petty schemers of riots, on persons 
 Avhose civic cro^vns are strewed with cypress leaves, 
 is what I am unable to conceive !" 
 
 This singular mediator proposed thus to preamble 
 the order of the day : Considering that the National 
 Convention ovght to attend only to the interests of the re- 
 public. " 1 abjure your order of the day ! " exclaimed 
 Robespierre, " if it contain a recital injurious to me !" 
 The assembly idtimately adopted the order of the day 
 simjily and unconditionally. 
 
 The hall of the Jacobins was thronged that night 
 to celebrate this victory, and Rol)espierre was received 
 as a trimnphant hero. The instant he made his ap- 
 pearance, the building shock with acclamations. A 
 member moved that the tribune be given up to him, 
 that he might gladden the club by the recital of so 
 glorious a day. Another affirmed, as upon authority, 
 that his modesty restrained him, and that he deeUned 
 to speak. Robespierre, enjoying this enthusiasm in 
 silence, left to a partisan the task of pronoimcing a 
 sycophantic relation. He was called Aristides. His 
 simple and manly elccjutnce was lauded with an affected 
 rapture, which proved hoAv well his thirst of literary 
 homage was miderstood. The convention was rein- 
 stated in public opinion ; it had regained the esteem 
 of the society ; and all proclaimed that the reign of 
 truth was dawning, and that the clouds which had 
 hovered over the safety of the republic were dispelled. 
 
 Barrcre was called upon to explain the terms in 
 which he had exjiressed himself with reference to petty 
 schemers of riots ; and he completelj^ belied himself by 
 affirming that he intended by those words to describe, 
 not the true patriots accused with Robespierre, but 
 their opponents. 
 
 Thus finished this celel)rated accusation. It was an 
 act of unquestionable imprudence. The entire con- 
 duct of the Girondists is sunmied up in this proceed- 
 ing. They were actuated by a generous indignation, 
 I'nd expressed it with talent ; but therewith was 
 mingled enough of personal resentment, of false con- 
 jecture, of chimerical supposition, to supply those wlio 
 loved to delude themselves with a pretext for not 
 heeding them ; those wlio recoiled from an act of 
 energy, with a motive for deferring it ; those, in fine, 
 wlio atlected impartiality, Mith a phiusible reason for 
 not adopting their cone lusions ; and these three classes 
 composed the Plain. One amongst the Girondist 
 deputies, however, the discerning I'etion, kept aloof 
 from their exaggerations ; he published a speech he 
 had prepared on the occasion, in which the whole 
 sul)ject was most discreetly handled. "W-rgniaud, 
 whom his fine intellect and scornful iudiflerence re- 
 moved from the s])here of i)assion, was likewise exemjjt 
 from their indiscretions, and he observed a profound 
 silence. At the moment, the accusation of the Giron- 
 dists had no other consequence than definitively 
 rendering all reconciliation impossible, exhausting in 
 a useless contest the most jiotent of their means, 
 oratiirj' and indignant invective, and aggravating the 
 hatrecl and i'nry of their enemies without obtaining 
 for themselves a single additional resource. 
 
 Wo to the vancpushed when the victors disagree! 
 These afford a diversion to their own disputes, and 
 they strive to outstriji each other in zeal for crushing 
 their fillen foes. In the Temple were i)risoncrs u])on 
 wlioni was destined to fall the tempest of revolutionary 
 ])assion.s. The monarchy, the aristocrac,\, the avIkjJc 
 past, in short, against wliich the revolution battled 
 witli ferocity, were personified, as it were, in the un- 
 fortunate Louis XVI. ; and the nuunier in which they 
 slioidd treat the dethroned prini'e, became for each
 
 206 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the standard whereby hatred of counter-revolutionary 
 tendencies was to be estimated. The Legislative As- 
 sembly, too dependent on the constitution which de- 
 clared the king inviolable, had not ventured to decide 
 his fate ; it hud suspended his functions, and incarcer- 
 ated him in tlie Temple; it had not even abolislicd 
 royalty, but had bequeathed to a convention the task of 
 dealing with the substance and the personality of the 
 anticjuated monarcliy. Royalty abolislicd, a republic 
 decreed, and the framing of a constitution intrusted 
 to the meditations of the most distinguished minds 
 in the assembly, the fate of Louis XVI. remained 
 for discussion. Six weeks had elapsed, and multitu- 
 dinous cares — the forwarding of su])plies, the consider- 
 ation of military affairs, the subject of provisions, 
 which were deficient at tliat time as in aU periods of 
 commotion ; the police, and aU tlie details of govern- 
 ment, wliich had been transferred, after the fall of roy- 
 alty, to the executive council, with excessive chariness; 
 and, histly, tlie violent quarrels — had still prevented 
 the convention from attending to the prisoners in the 
 Temple. Once the question had been started, and, as 
 we have seen, the proposition was referred to the com- 
 mittee of legislation. In the mean time, the subject 
 itself was the theme of aU disco'arse. At the Jacobins' 
 voices were daily raised, invoking judgment on the 
 head of Louis XVI., and charging the Girondists with 
 delaying it by quarrels, in which, however, each of 
 that especiid auditor^' took quite as great a share and 
 interest. On the 1st of November, dm'ing the inter- 
 vid between the accusation of Kobespierre and his 
 defence, a section liaving ajipearcd before the conven- 
 tion to complain of fresh placards stimulating to mm'- 
 der and msm-rection, the trial of Marat Avas demanded, 
 as on that topic invariably happened. The Girondists 
 insisted that he and some of his colleagues were the 
 causes of all the disorders, and availed themselves of 
 every new fact corrotiorating tiiat opinion to propose 
 their prosecution. Their enemies, on the contrary, 
 alleged that the cause of all the troubles was at the 
 Temple ; that the new republic wotdd be consolidated, 
 and tranquilhty and secm-ity reign, only when the late 
 king should be sacrificed, and bj' that decisive lilow 
 all hope taken away from the conspirators. Jean de 
 Bry, the same deputy who had mamtained in the 
 Legislative Assembly tliat tlie laic of public safety 
 should be followed as the only rule of conduct, rose to 
 sjwak upon this question, and recommended that ]Marat 
 and Louis XVI. shoidd be both put upon their trial 
 " ilarat," said he, " has earned tlie title of man-eater, 
 and would have made an excellent king. He is the 
 true cause of all the troubles of which Louis XVI. is 
 made the pretext : let us try them both, and ensm^e 
 the public repose by tliis double example." In conse- 
 quence, the convention ordained that the report upon 
 the denunciations against Marat slundd be presented 
 before the sitting broke up, and that, within eight 
 days at latest, the committee of legislation should 
 render its opuiion upon t!ie forms to be observed in 
 the trial of Louis XVI. ; declari^ig, furthermore, that 
 if, after the eight days, the committee had not brought 
 up its report, every member should be at liberty to 
 occupy tlie tribune, and deliver his sentiments upon 
 that important topic. New quarrels and new chstrac- 
 tions delayed the report upon Marat, which indeed 
 was not presented till long afterwards ; but the com- 
 mittee of legislation gut ready its project touching 
 the august and imfortunate family immured in the 
 Temple. 
 
 Europe had its eyes fixed at this moment on France. 
 It contemplated with amazement those subjects, deemed 
 at first so weak, now become victorious and trium- 
 phant, and sufficiently hanly to hurl defiance at all 
 tlirones. It awaited witli anxiety their coming deeds, 
 and hoped their audacity would soon have an end. 
 However, military events were progressing, which 
 conduced to exidt their delirium, and greatly to aug- 
 ment the surprise and terror of tlie world. 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS. VICTORY OF JEMAPPES. 
 
 CONQUEST OF BELGIUM. 
 
 DuMOURiEZ had departed for Belgium at the end of 
 October, and reached Valenciennes on the 2.5th. His 
 general ])lan was framed upon the idea which engrossed 
 his mind, and consisted in pushing tlie enemy in 
 front, and taking advantage of the great numerical 
 superiority possessed over him. Dumouriez had it in 
 his i)ower, by followuig the course of the Mouse with 
 tiie greater part of his forces, to prevent the junction 
 of Claii-fiiyt, wlio was proceeding from Champagne, 
 take Duke Albert in the rear, and thus execute what he 
 liad grossly erred in not doing at first, when lie ought 
 to have pushed forward to the Rhine, and followed 
 that river to Cleves ; but his plan was ditFerently or- 
 ganised, and he preferred to a sagacious march a bril- 
 liant action, which would raise the courage of his sol- 
 diers, already greatly animated by the cannonade of 
 Valmy, and correct the opinion entertained in Europe 
 for the last fifty years, that the Frencli, liowever ex- 
 cellent in impetuous attack, were incapable of achiev- 
 ing a pitched battle. His superiority of numl>er sanc- 
 tioned such an enterprise, and the idea had its pro- 
 foundness, too, as well as the manoeuvres he has been 
 censured for not employing. However, he did not 
 overlook the important points of turning the enemy, 
 and separating him from Clairfayt. Valence, posted 
 for that purpose along the ileuse, was appointed to 
 march from Givet upon Namm- and Liege, with the 
 army of the Ardennes, 18,000 men strong. D'llar- 
 vUle, with 12,000, had orders to manoeuvre between 
 tlie grand army and Valence, in order to turn the 
 enemy at a nearer point. Such were the thspositions 
 of Dnmouriez on his right. On his lell, Laljourdonnaye 
 was intended, takmg his departiue from Lille, to scour 
 the coast of Flanders, and occupy all the maritime 
 strongholds. On his arrival at Antwerp, he had direc- 
 tions to skirt the Dutch frontier, and meet the Meuse 
 at Riuemonde. Belgium being thus encompassed, 
 Dumouriez occupied the centre of the circle witli a 
 mass of 40,000 men, and m a position to overwhelm 
 the enemy on the first point he shoidd attempt to cope 
 with the French. 
 
 Im2>atient to enter the field and open the glorious 
 career for which his ardent imagination panted, Du- 
 mouriez urged the arrival of the supplies prosnised 
 him at Paris, and which ought to have reached Valen- 
 ciennes on the 25th. Servan had quitted the war 
 ministry, jireferring the less troubled functions of a 
 military command to the chaos in which all admini- 
 stration was involved. He re-estabhslied the vigour 
 of his mind and his health in the camp of the Pyrenees. 
 Koland had proposed and carried as liis successor, 
 I'aclie, an unassuming, talented, and laborious man, 
 wlio, having formerly quitted France to reside in Swit- 
 zerland, had returned at the epoch of the revolution, 
 sm'reiidered the warrant of a pension he drew from 
 the Marshal de Castries, and distinguished himself in 
 the office of the home department by a rare ability 
 and application. Carrying in his pocket a piece of 
 bread, and quitting his labours not even for the pur- 
 poses of refreshment, he attended during entire days, 
 and won the friendship of Poland alike by his manners 
 and his ze;xl. Servan had solicited his translation 
 during the arduous administration of August and 
 September, and Roland had yielded to his wishes with 
 regret, aiul only in consideration of the great import- 
 ance of the labours of the war depai'tment at that 
 jieriod. Pache rendered in his new post services 
 e(i nail}' efficient as in the former; and when the place 
 of minister-at-war became vacant, he was immediately 
 proposed to fill it. as one of tliose obscure Imt invalu- 
 able workmen, wlioin justice and the public interest 
 shoidd, if consulted, have raised rapidly to distinction.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 207 
 
 Pache, affable and modest, Avas an universal favourite, 
 and could not fail to be acceptable : tlie Girondists 
 naturally relied upon the political moderation of a 
 man so calm, so prudent, and moreover so indebted 
 to them for fortune. The Jacobins, who found him 
 bland and deferential towards them, extolled his mo- 
 destj, and contrasted it with what they called the 
 pride and harshness of Roland. Dumouriez, on his 
 part, was charmed with a minister who promised to 
 be more manaj^eable than the Girondists, and more 
 disposed to aid his views. He had at this time fresh 
 grievances against Roland. The latter had written a 
 letter to him in the name of the council, in which he 
 took him to task for assuming too imiierative a tone 
 in urging his plans ujwn the ministry, and exhibited 
 towards him a distrust, enhanced by the conviction 
 of his superior talents. Roland, full of lo_yalty to the 
 public service, combated in public what he had ad- 
 vanced iu the secrecy of correspondence. Dumouriez, 
 disregarding the honesty of Roland's intentions, made 
 his complaints to Pache, who received them, and indem- 
 nified him by his flatteries for the jealousies of his 
 colleagues. Such, then, was the new minister of war : 
 stantling between the Jacobms, the Girondists, and 
 Dumouriez, listening to their res]^)ective grievances, 
 be gained them all by his assurances and deference, 
 and led them all to esteem him an ally and a friend. 
 
 Dumouriez attributed the delay in forwarding sup- 
 plies to his array to the change in the offices consequent 
 upon a new ministry. Only the moiety of the pro- 
 mised stores had arrived ; and he commenced his march 
 without waiting for the remainder, writing to Pache, 
 at the same time, that he must infallibly have sent to 
 liini 30,000 pairs of shoes, 25,000 greatcoats, camp- 
 materials for 40,000 men, and, above all, two miUious 
 in specie, to furnish the soldiers with cash, because, 
 entering a country where assignats were not current, 
 they must necessarily pay in hard coin for all they 
 should piu'chase. Every thing was jiromised; and 
 Dumouriez, stirring t'ae ardour of his troops, encou- 
 raging them with the prospect of a speedy and certain 
 conquest, led them onward, although deficient m ne- 
 cessaries for a winter campaign in a severe climate. 
 
 Valence, retarded in his march by a diversion on 
 Longwy, and by the total want of all military stores, 
 which did not reach him tiU November, permitted 
 Clairfiiyt to pass without obstacle from Luxumbourg 
 into Belgium, and join Duke iVlbert with 12,000 men. 
 Dumouriez, foregoing his intention of availing himself 
 of Valence's aid, drew towards him the division of 
 General d'Harville, and marching his troops between 
 Quarouble and Quievrain, hastened to come up with 
 the hostile army. Duke Albert, true to the Austrian 
 system, had formed a cordon from Tournay to Mons ; 
 and although he had 30,000 men, he assend)led 
 scarcely 20,0(J0 before the town of Mons. Dumouriez, 
 pressing on him closely, arrived on the 3d Noveml)er 
 before the eminence of Boussu, and ordered his ad- 
 vanced guard, commanded by the gallant Beurnon- 
 ville, to dislodge the enemy posted on the heiglits. 
 The attack was at first successful, but the Austrians 
 rallying, the French were obliged to retire. Dumou- 
 riez, aware how important success was at the com- 
 mencement, sent Beurnonville back to the attack, 
 carried, all tlu; enemy's i)osts, and, on tlie evening of 
 the 3d, found bims.lf in presence of the Austrians, 
 intrenched on the heights which skirt tlie town of 
 Mons. 
 
 On these heights, stretching semicircularly in front 
 of tlic ])lace, were planted three villages, Jemaiipes, 
 Cuesmes, and Uerthaimont. The ^Vustrians, in ex- 
 pectation of being attacked, had formed the impruilcnt 
 resolutiou of maintaining tliat position, and had for 
 some time devoted the greatest pains to render it im- 
 pregnable. Clairfayt occupied Jeniappcs and Cues- 
 mes ; a little beyond, Beaulieu encamjied above Ber- 
 thaimont. Rapid declivities, woods, felled trees, four- 
 teen redoubts, a formidable artillery ranging in tiers, 
 
 and 20,000 men, defended these positions, and rendered 
 approach almost impra(ticat)le. Tyrolian riflemen 
 lined t!ie woods which stretched below the heiglits. 
 Tiie cavalry, stationed in the intervals between the 
 hills, and principally in the hollow .sejjarating Je- 
 niappcs from Cuesmes, was in readiness to debouch 
 and fall on the French columns, when thrown into 
 confusion by the fire of the batteries. 
 
 It was in front of this camp, so strongly barricaded, 
 that Dumouriez planted himself He drew up his 
 army in a semicircle, parallel to tlie positions of the 
 enemy. General D'Harville, who had eflected his 
 junction with the main array on the evening of the 5th, 
 was appointed to nianceuvi'e on the extreme right of 
 the French line. By dawn on the 6th he was to skirt 
 the positions of Beaulieu, essay to turn tlicm, and then 
 occupy the heights behind Mons, the sole retreat of 
 the Austrians. Beurnonville, forming the right itself 
 of the French line, had orders to march on the village 
 of Cuesmes. Tlie Dnke de Chartres,* who served in 
 the army with the rank of general, and commanded 
 in the centre that day, was to advance on Jemappes 
 iu front, and endeavour at the same time to penetrate 
 by the hollow which divided Jemappes from Cuesmes. 
 Lastly, General Ferrand, intrusted with the command 
 of the left, was directed to go through a little village 
 called Quaregnon, and bear upon the flank of Je- 
 mappes. All these attacks were intended to be exe- 
 cuted in columns by battalions ; the cavalry stood 
 ready to support them from behind and on the flanks. 
 The artillery was posted so as to play on each redoubt 
 in flank, and silence its fire if possible. A reserve of 
 infantry and cavalry awaited the event beliuul the 
 rivrdet of Wasme. 
 
 During the night between the 5th and Cth, General 
 Beaulieu recommended a sortie from the intrench- 
 ments and a sudden attack upon the French, in order 
 to disconcert them by an imexpected and nocturnal 
 onslaught. This energetic counsel was not heeded; 
 and on tlie 6th, at eight in the morning, the French 
 were ui order of battle, full of courage and ardour, 
 although exposed to a murderous fire and in sight of 
 almost invidnerable intrenchraents. Sixty thousand 
 men covered the field of oat tie, and one hundred jiieces 
 of ordnance thundered in front of tlie two armies. 
 
 The cannonade had commenced with the dawn. 
 Dumouriez ordered Generals Ferrand and Beiu-non- 
 viUe to begin the attack, the one on the left, the other 
 on the right, whilst he himself awaited in the centre 
 the moment for acting, and D'Harville, skirting the 
 positions of Beaulieu, deployed to cut ofl' the retreat. 
 Ferrand attacked faintly, and Beurnonville failed to 
 silence the ^Vustrian fire. It was now eleven o'clock; 
 and the enemy was not sufiicieiitly distressed on the 
 flanks to risk an assaidt in front. Dmuouriez there- 
 upon dispatched his faithfid Thouvenot to the left wing 
 to decide the success. Tiiouvcnot, causing the use- 
 less cannonade to cease, traversed (Quaregnon, turned 
 Jemapjies, and at a brisk pace, witli l)ayoiiets fixed, 
 scaled tlie height and arrived on thefiank of the Aus- 
 trians. Dumouriez, ap])rised of this movement, re- 
 solved to commence the attack in front, and moved the 
 centre directly against .Icmaiipes. He made his in- 
 fantry advance in colunms, and disposed his hussars 
 and dragoons so as to cover the Iioilow lietweiMi Je- 
 niapiies and Cuesmes, whence the enemy's cavalry 
 was preparing to ciuirge. The French troops moved 
 forward, and cleared with alacrity the ifiitervening 
 space. A brigade, however, jierceiving the Austrian 
 cavalry debouching i)y the hollow, wavered, recoiled, 
 and cxjiosimI the flank oi' the columns. At this instant, 
 the young Bajitiste Reiiard, a mere domestic of Du- 
 mouriez, yielding to the inspiration of courage and 
 intelligence, flew to tlie general of that brigatle, up- 
 braided him with his weakness, demonstrated the cri- 
 tical nature of the danger, and led him back to the 
 
 ♦ [The present Kiiig of tho Fivncli.l
 
 208 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 hollow. A certain hesitation was manifested in the 
 ■fl-y.ole centre, and the battalions began to grow imeasy 
 under tlie trailing fire from the batteries. The Duke 
 de Chartres tlirew himsell' into the midst of the ranks, 
 rallied them, formed around him a battalion wliich 
 he called the battalion of Jemappes, and led it boldly 
 against the enemy. Tlie battle was thus restored; and 
 Clairfayt, although taken in flank and menaced in 
 front, resisted nevertheless with heroic finnness. 
 
 Dumouriez, witnessing all these movements, but 
 doubtful of success, hastened to the right, where the 
 contest was stiU undecided, in spite of Beurnonville's 
 most strenuous efforts. His intention was to bring 
 the attack to a speedy termination, or, failing, to fall 
 back with the right wing, and use it to protect the 
 retreat of the centre, should a retrograde movement 
 become necessary. 
 
 EeurnonviUe "had been making fruitless attempts 
 against the village of Cuesmes, and was about to give 
 up in despair, wlien Dampierre, Avho connnandtd a 
 point of the assaiUt, took with him some companies 
 and charged audaciously into tlie midst of a redoubt. 
 Dumouriez came up at the very moment Dampierre 
 was cxecTiting this gallant action ; he found tlie rest 
 of the battalions without a leader, exposed to a de- 
 structive fire, and wavering in presence of tlie imperiid 
 hussars, on the point of charging them. These were 
 the same battalions which, in the camp of Maulde, had 
 formed so strong an attachment towards Duniouriez. 
 He restored their confidence, and prepared them to 
 hold firm against the hostile cavalry. A discharge 
 within range checked that cavalry, and the hussars of 
 Berchini, faUing opportunel3' on it, completed its dis- 
 rx)nifitnre. Then Dumom-iez, putting himself at the 
 head of his battalions, and chanting. with them the 
 l^Iarseillese h}T.in, led them onwards, hiu-ried them to 
 the intrenchnients, overthrew all before him, and cai'- 
 ricd the village of Cuesmes. 
 
 This exjjloit was scarcely achieved before Dimiou- 
 riez, stiU anxioxis for the centre, galloped back in 
 that direction, followed by a few squadrons. But 
 whilst on the way, the young Duke de ilontpensier 
 met him with tidings of the victory of the centre, 
 owing principally to his brother the Duke de Chartres. 
 Thus, Jemappes assailed in flank and front, and 
 Cuesmes carried, Clairfayt could no longer ofier re- 
 sistance, and was necessitated to retire. He conse- 
 quently yielded the ground after a brave defence, and 
 abandoned a dearly bought victory to Duniuuricz. 
 His retreat took place at two o'clock ; the French 
 troops, drooping with fatigue, craved a moment's 
 repose ; Dumom-iez granted their request, and halted 
 on the heights of .Jemappes and Cuesmes. He re- 
 lied upon D'Harville for the inirsuit of the enemy; 
 that general being charged to turn Berthaimont, and 
 cut off the retreat of the Austrians. But his orders 
 not being suflTiciently explicit, and being, furthermore, 
 misunderstood, D'Harvilk; had remained in front of 
 Berthaimont, and uselessly cannonaded its heights. 
 Clairfayt accordingly fell back mider tlie wing of 
 Beavilieu, who had not been engaged ; and both took 
 the road to Brussels, Avhich D'Harville had left open 
 1 for them. 
 
 \ The battle cost the Austrians 1500 prisoners, and 
 
 4500 dead or wounded. The loss of the French was 
 
 nearly as great. Dumonriez disguised its extent, and 
 
 confessed to only a few hundred men. He has been 
 
 : censured for not having turned the enemy by march- 
 
 I ing on his right, and thus taking him in the rear. 
 
 ' instead of obstinately persisting in the attacks on the 
 
 left and centre. The idea had occurred to him when 
 
 he ordered D'Harville to skirt Berthaimont, but he 
 
 had not acted upon it with sntficient vigoiu". His 
 
 jiromjjtitude, frequently superseding reflection, and the 
 
 ambition of brilliant enterprises, made him prefer at 
 
 Jemappes, as throughout the campaign, an attack 
 
 in front. At the same time, full of ardour and prc- 
 
 Btncc of mind in the midst of action, he had admir- 
 
 ably sustained his troops, and communicated to them 
 an heroic courage. A vast renown attended this sig- 
 nal victory. The battle of Jemappes fUled France 
 with inilescrib-able joy, and Europe with fresh amaze- 
 ment. Every where, so formidable an artillery braved 
 witli such exemplary coolness, redoubts breasted with 
 such distinguished gallantry, formed the theme of 
 vt-onder; the peril and the victory were even exag- 
 gerated ; and through all Europe the fiicidty of gaining 
 pitched battles was again conceded to the French. 
 
 At I'aris, all the sincere republicans experienced 
 imalloyed gr;itification at the auspicious tidings, and 
 celebrated them by rejoicings. Duinouriez's servant, 
 the youthful Baptjste Ronard, was presented to the 
 convention, and rewarded by it with a civic crown 
 and an officer's epaidette. The Girondists, from pa- 
 triotism, from a sense of justice, apjilauded the talents 
 of the general. The Jacobins, although distrusting 
 him, Hkewise applauded him, from the pm-e necessity 
 of exulting at the triumphs of tlie revolution. Marat 
 alone, reproaching the French for their infiituation, 
 exclaimed tliat Dumonriez must have falsified the 
 nimiber of his dt-ad ; that a moimtain coidd not be 
 assailed at so little cost ; that he had taken neither 
 baggage nor artillery ; that the Austrians had moved 
 tranquilly away ; that it was a retreat rather than a 
 defeat; and that Dumom-iez might have attacked the 
 enemy more discreetly : and mingling with this actual 
 sagacity a demoniac frenzy for calumny, he added 
 that this attack in front was designed for no other 
 purpose than that of sacrificing the brave battalions 
 of Paris; that his colleag-ues in the convention and 
 Jacobin Club, all the French, m short, so prompt to 
 admire, wei-e but dolts ; and that for liiraself, he would 
 allow Dmuouriez to be a good general when all Bel- 
 gimn was subdued, without a single Austrian escap- 
 ing, and a good patriot when Belgium was thoroughly 
 revolutionised and rendered iUimitalily free. " You 
 French," said he, " with this disposition to admire 
 without reflection, are exposed to equally swift re- 
 vulsion. One day you proscribe IMontesquiou ; you are 
 told that he has conquered Savoy, and you applaud 
 him ; j^ou again proscribe him, and become a general 
 laughing-stock by these silly vacillations. For myself, 
 I distrust, I accuse always ; and so far as the incon- 
 veniences of this disposition are concerned, they are 
 incomparably less than those residting from a con- 
 trary tendency, inasmuch as they never compromise 
 the public safety. They may doiibtless expose me to 
 mistakes as to certain individuals ; but, seeing the 
 corruption of the age, and the multitude of enemies to 
 libert}' from education, princijile, and interest, it is a 
 thousand to one that I am right, when I take them at 
 once as intriguers and pul)lic knaves, aU ready for 
 plots. I am, therefore, a thousand times less likely to 
 be deceived regarding public functionaries ; and whilst 
 the fatal confidence rejKised in them enables them to 
 scheme against the country with equal ett'rontery and 
 security, the eternal distrust with wliich the public 
 should regard them, according to my jirinciples. woula 
 not allow them to move a step without trembling at 
 the dread of being mnuasked and punished." * 
 
 The battle of Jemappes opened Belgium to the 
 French : but now strange difficulties beset Dumon- 
 riez, and two striking spectacles presented themselves 
 — on the conquered territory, the French revolution 
 acting upon adjacent revolutions, both by way of pre- 
 cii)itation and assimilation ; and with regard to the 
 French army, the demagogical spirit infusing itself 
 into the administrations, and disorganising them 
 under i)retence of purification. 
 
 I'liere were several parties in Belgium : the first, 
 that attached to Austrian domination, existed only in 
 the imperial armies put to fiiglit by Dumonriez ; the 
 second, composing the whole nation, nobleS; priests, 
 
 * " Journal of the French Republic, by Marat, the Friend of 
 the People," No. 43. Monday, 12th November 17;'-'.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 209 
 
 I 
 
 magistrates, people, unanimously repudiated the foreign 
 yoke, and desired the inde]>endence of the Belgian 
 nation. But this latter was subdivided into two others : 
 the priests and the privileged orders were hi favour of 
 preserving the ancient states, the ancient institutions, 
 the distinctions of classes and provinces — every thing, 
 in short, except only the Austrian sway, and they had 
 on their side a portion of the pt)pidation, still very 
 superstitious, and greatly attached to the clergy ; on the 
 other hand, the Belgian demagogues or Jacobins were 
 anxious for a complete revolution and the sovereignty 
 of the people, demanding the French level and absolute 
 equality. Tims, each adopted of the revolution what 
 suited its own ^iews ; the party of the x'rivileged orders 
 sought only the ancient system ; the party of plebeians 
 sought democracy and the reign of the nmltitude. 
 Amongst the different parties, it will be easily divined 
 that Dumouriez's predilections would lead him to steer 
 a middle course. Repelling Austria with his troops, 
 condemning the exclusive pretensions of the privileged 
 orders, he had no desire at the same time to transport 
 the Jacobins of Paris to Brussels, and there give being 
 to new Chabots and Marat.s. His design in truth was, 
 ■whilst respecting the ancient organisation of the coim- 
 try, to reform what it held too piu-ely feudal. The 
 enlightened part of the population was also actuated 
 by such views ; but it was ditiicult to form it into an 
 aggregate, on account of the lack of union amongst 
 the towns and provinces ; and, furthermore, by con- 
 voking it in an assembly, it would be exposed to the 
 domination of the violent party. In case he covild 
 realise his M'ishes, Dunaoiuiez thought, either by means 
 !){ an alliance or of a miion, to connect Belgium with 
 the Freurch empire, and thus complete its territory. 
 He was, above all things, desirous of preventing spoli- 
 ations, of ensuring the immense resources of the coiin- 
 tiy for war, and of indisposing :io class of the pojiuia- 
 tion, so that his army might not perish by an insur- 
 rection. He looked forward, likewise, to conciliating 
 the clergy, who exercised a prodigious influence over 
 the minds of the people. He desired, in fine, such 
 tilings as the experience of revolutions shows to be 
 impossible, and which all administrative and political 
 genius, however vast, may at once renounce with i^er- 
 fect resignation. We shall see his plans and projects 
 take development in their proper place. 
 
 On entering Belgimu, he promised, in a proclama- 
 tion, to respect property, persons, and the national 
 independence. He ordered that all things should be 
 maintained as they were ; that the authorities should 
 continue their functions, the imjiosts be collected, and 
 primary assemblies be ijiimediately convoked to form 
 a national convention to decide on the fate of Bel- 
 gium. 
 
 Hiificulties of a different and graver cast were, how- 
 ever, in store for bini. IMotives of policy, of public 
 good, of humanity, might make him desire a prudent 
 and moderate revolution in Belgimii ; but his army 
 meanwhile must live, and therein lay his entangle- 
 ment. ]Ie was the general, and, al)ove all things 
 besides, was obliged to be victorious. For that end, 
 discii)line and resources were essential to him. Upon 
 his first entry into Mons on the morning of the 7tli 
 November, amidst the acclamations of the Brabanters, 
 who decreed him a crown, as well as the brave Hain- 
 pierre, he found himself in the greatest embarrassment 
 His commissiu'iat was at Valenciennes, and no part of 
 what had been promised him was forthcoming. He 
 wanted clothing for his soldiers, more than ludf-naked, 
 provisions, horses for his artillerj', and light carriages 
 to assist the progress of the invasion, especially in a 
 country where transi)ort was extremely difiicidt ; lastly, 
 specie to pay the troops, because the Belgians were 
 not willing to accept assignats. The emigrants had 
 circulated a large quantity of forged assignats, and 
 thus thrown discredit on them ; besides, no nation is 
 over prone to share the burdens of another, by receiv- 
 ing paper which rei)resents its debts. 
 
 The impetuosity of Dumouriez's character, amoimt- 
 ing almost to imprudence, would scarcely permit us t() 
 believe that he remained from the 7th to the 11th at 
 Mons, and left the Duke of Saxe-Teschen to pursue 
 his retreat in tranquillity, if administrative details 
 had not imperiously detained him, and absorbed that 
 attention which should have been exclusively fixed on 
 military affairs. The plan he formed was wisely con- 
 ceived; it consisted in forming contracts for provi- 
 sions, forage, and stores, with the Belgians themselves. 
 Hence numerous advantages would result ; in the first 
 place, the articles of consumption were on the spot, 
 and no delay was to be feared ; the contracts would 
 give the Belgians an interest in the presence of the 
 FreiK'h army ; and by paying the venders in assignats, 
 they would be compelled to promote their circulation 
 of themselves, thus avoiding a forced currency, an 
 object of great importance, since every one iqjon whom 
 a forced eurrencj' is imposed considers himself de- 
 frauded by the authority coercing, and nothing tends 
 more universally to exasperate a poimlation. Dumou- 
 riez had furthermore reflected upon the feasibility of 
 making loans from the clergy under the guarantee of 
 France. Such loans woidd supply him with specie, 
 and replenish his exhausted chest ; whilst the clergy, 
 although smote for the instant, would feel more at 
 ease as to their stability and possessions, when thus 
 directly connected with him. And on the other hand, 
 France having a right to claim indemnities from the 
 Belgians for the expenses of a liberating war, those 
 indemnities woidd be set apart for the payment of the 
 loans ; and thus, by means of a slight additional con- 
 tribution, the whole war would be defrayed, and Hu- 
 mouriez woidd fidfil his boast of living at the cost cf 
 Belgium without harassing or disorganising it. But 
 these were plans inspired by genius simply; and in the 
 stormy eras of revolution, it behoves genius to adopt 
 one of two decided courses — either, foreseeing the dis- 
 orders and the outrages about to follow, to retire be- 
 times ; or, still foreseeing them, to yield thereto, and 
 submit to pursue a career of violence for the purpose 
 of continuing useful, whether at the head of an amiy 
 or the state. No man has been sufficiently superior 
 to worldly influences to essay the first ; one has been 
 great, and shown that he could preserve his purity ol 
 character whilst following the second. I refer to him 
 who, holding a seat in the committee of public safety, 
 took no part in its political acts, but devoted himself 
 to the deiiartnient of war, and o?-ganised victorj/, a thing 
 fair, permitted, and always patriotic under all govern- 
 ments.* 
 
 In effecting his contracts and financial operations, 
 Dumouriez employed Jlalns, his war conmiissarj', 
 Avhoni he highly esteemed cm account of his talents 
 and activity, without inquiring too narrowly whether 
 or not he were moderate in his gains. He likewise 
 made use of one D'Esjiagnac, an ex-abbe of libertine 
 morals, and one of those intellectual and sprightly 
 roues of the lapsed era, who ])iu'siied all trades with 
 infinite skill and grace, and left an ecpiivocal reputa- 
 tion in all. Ilim Dumouriez dispatched to the mini- 
 stry in order to unfold his ];lans, and procure a ratifi- 
 cation of all the engagements he had contracted. He 
 had already inciU'red sufiicient odium by the species 
 of administrative dictatorship he had arrogated to 
 himself, and by the revolutionary moderation he 
 evinced with resjicct to the Belgians, without further 
 com])romising himself by an ass(.ciation with nun, 
 either the present objects of suspicion, or, if not now 
 so, soon to Ijecome such. In tact, at this very period, 
 a general nun-nnir arose against the old administra- 
 tions, which were alleged to be full of knaves and 
 aristocr.ats. 
 
 After l>estowing so much care on the comfort of nis 
 soldiers, Dumouriez turned his attention to the march 
 of Labourdonnaye, which he was desirous of accelerat- 
 
 * [Carnot is alhukil to in tbis description.]
 
 210 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ing. That general, wlio liad displaj-cd remarkable 
 obstinacy in lingering behind, reached Toiu-nay very 
 tardily ; and, when arrived there, illustrated liis coin- 
 ing iiy scenes wortliy of the Jacobins, and levied licavy 
 contributions. Dumouriez directed him to march 
 rapidly on Ghent and the hfcheldt, in order to occupy 
 Antwerp, and then accomplish tlie circuit of tlie 
 country as far as tlie l\leuse. A^'alence, who had at 
 lengtli arrived in line, after unavoidable delays, was 
 ordered to be at Nivelles on the 13th or 14th. Du- 
 mouriez, conchuling tluit the Duke of Saxe-Tesclicn 
 would retire behind tlie canal of ^■ilvorden, intended 
 that Valence, turning tlie ibrest of Soignies, should 
 proceed beyond tliat canal, and there be ready to re- 
 ceive tlie duke at the passage of the Dyle. 
 
 He left rdoiis on the 11th, and came slowly up with 
 the enemy, wlio was retreating in good order, but 
 Avith singular sluggishness. Impeded by crazy con- 
 veyances, he was unable to ])roceed with suifieieiit 
 promptitude to make amends for the delays he had 
 been coini)elled to undergo. On the 13th, preceding 
 his army with a mere advanced guard, lie fell into 
 the midst of the enemy at Anderlecht, and narrowly 
 escaped being surrounded; but, with his usual address 
 and firmness, he manoeuvred his little band, brought 
 forward with much show some ])ieccs of artillery he 
 had with him, and induced the Austrians to conclude 
 that he was on the field of battle with his entire army. 
 lie thus succeeded in keeping them in check until he 
 M'as succoured by his own soldiers, who, learning his 
 critical position, tiew with all speed to disengage him. 
 
 He entered Brussels on the 14th, and was again 
 stopped there by administrative embarrassments, hav- 
 ing neither money nor resources necessary for the 
 support of his troops. He was likewise apprised that 
 the ministry refused to sanction his last contracts, 
 with one exception ; and that all the old military ad- 
 ministrations were cashiered, and replaced by a com- 
 mittee called tJic Committee of Pnrchaaes. This com- 
 mittee alone was for the future to be authorised to 
 imrchase for the use of the armies ; and no general was 
 allowed to intermeddle with that department in any 
 respect. This was the beginning of a revolution in 
 the offices of administration, wliich was not long in 
 throwing them all into complete disorganisation for a 
 time. 
 
 The administrative departments, which require for 
 their service a long practice or speciid study, are gene- 
 rally those into which a revolution is the last to pene- 
 trate, inasmuch as they less excite ambition, and the 
 necessity of retaining capable oificers saves them from 
 the rage for innovation. Consetpiently, scarcely any 
 change had been made in the staffs, in the scientific 
 corps of the army, in the offices of the various mini- 
 stries, in the old commissariat deiiartmcrits, and above 
 all, in the marine, which, of all the divisions of mili- 
 tary art, most especially demands peculiar knowledge. 
 Outcries were therefore speedily raised against the 
 aristocrats wherewith these departments were filled, 
 and reproaches levelled at the executive council for 
 not remodelling them. The branch of administration 
 which provoked the greatest exasperation was the 
 commissariat. Just indignation was expressed against 
 the contractors, who, from something mherent in go- 
 vernment transactions, and, moreover, under favour 
 of the prevalent disorders of the moment, asked exor- 
 bitant prices in all their bargains, supplied the worst 
 articles to the troops, and roblied the state with glar- 
 ing effrontery. Their exactions formed the subject 
 of complaint from all quarters; and an inexorable ad- 
 versary arose against them in the person of Cambon 
 of Montpellier, a deputy of the convention. Devoting 
 himself with untiring zeal to matters of finance and 
 public economy, this deputy had gained a great ascend- 
 ancy in discussions ujwn those points, and enjoyed 
 the full confidence of the assembly. Altlumgh a de- 
 cided democrat, he had never ceased to exclaim against 
 the spoliations of the commmie, and in so doing sur- 
 
 prised those who were nnable to comprehend that he 
 condemned as a financier disorders he would liaA'e 
 possibly excused as a Jacobin. He inveighed with 
 still greater vehemence against the contractors, and 
 attacked them ^vitll aU the violence of his character. 
 Every day he denounced new frauds, and insisted 
 upon their punishment ; wliich exhortations wei-e 
 heard with universal satisfaction. Honest men de- 
 sired the chastisement of knaves, the Jacobins the 
 persecution of aristocrats, and intriguers the multi- 
 plicatiou of vacant situations. 
 
 Thus an idea gradually arose in favour of form- 
 ing a committee composed of certain individuals em- 
 powered to make all purchases for behoof of the 
 republic. It was thought that this committee, sole 
 and responsible, Avould rescue the state from those 
 frauds perpetrated by a nudtitude of isolated contrac- 
 tors; and that, becoming the onh' purchaser for all the 
 administrations, it would avoid enhancing prices by 
 competition, as always happened when eacli ministry 
 and each army treated separately for tiieir resjJtctive 
 wants. This bodj^ Avas established with the sanction 
 of all the ministers; and Cambon was its most stre- 
 nuous advocate, since so new and simjile a form suited 
 his dogmatic spirit. Dumouriez was thereupon adver- 
 tised that he should conclude no more contracts, and 
 ordered, fiu'thermore, to amud those he had alrea<ly 
 signed. The regimental chests were at the same time 
 abolished ; and tlie rigour of the new principle was 
 pushed to such extremity in execution, that serious 
 ditficidties were started against retiring at the national 
 treasury a draft of Diunouriez, granted for an advance 
 made to the army by a Belgian merchant. 
 
 This revolution in the commissariat department, 
 laudable as it was in motive, residted, concurrently 
 with other cu-cumstances, in producing disastrous con- 
 sequences. During the administration of Servan, that 
 minister had been called upon to satisfy the first wants 
 of troojis hastily assembled in Ciiampagne, and it re- 
 quired great exertions to meet those early embarrass- 
 ments. But after the campaign of the Argonne was 
 over, the stores collected with such difficulty were 
 utterly exhausted ; the volunteers, ha-vnng left their 
 homes with a single suit, were almost naked ; inso- 
 much, that to each of the armies a comjilete equipment 
 was indisj)eiisable, to be provided too in the depth of 
 winter, and amidst the rapid invasion of Belgium. 
 l*ache, Servan's successor, had consequently a prodi- 
 gious task to perform, and unfortunately he joined to 
 great tidents and appheatinn a weak and supple cha- 
 racter, which, Lading him to study pleasing every 
 bod}^ especially the .lacobhis, incapacitated him for 
 coinmaiid, and disabled him from imparting the ne- 
 cessary energy to an administration so vast as that 
 intrusted to him. When, therefore, we reflect that, 
 in addition to tlie pressing urgency and enormity of 
 the wants to be supplied, the difticidtios of the season, 
 and the necessity of decisive promptitude, we have to 
 place the weakness of a new minister, the general dis- 
 order of the state, and, above all, a complete revolu- 
 tion iu the administrative system, we may readily 
 conceive the confusion inevitably to arise during the 
 first moments — the destitution of the armies, their 
 angiy complaints, and the violent remonstrances passed 
 between tlie generals and the ministers. 
 
 Upon learning these administrative changes, Du- 
 mouriez was much incensed. Until the organisation 
 of the new system was eflected, he perceived that his 
 army must be exposed to the greatest misery, unless 
 his contracts were maintiiiued and executed. He, 
 therefore, took it upon himself to uphold them, and 
 ordered his agents. Mains, l)'Ks])agnac, and a third 
 named Petit-Jean, to continue their operations upon 
 his personal resjionsibility. At the same time, he 
 wrote to the minister in an imperious stjde, calcidated 
 to render him additionally suspected by distrustful, 
 sour, and gloomy demagogues, already discontented at 
 his revolutionary lukewarmness and administrative
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 211 
 
 dictiitorship. He told kiin that, in order to ensure a 
 continuation of his services, he must be left at hberty 
 to provide for the wants of his arniv ; tliat tlie com- 
 mittee of purchases v.-as an absurdity, since it would 
 have to transport stores laboriously and from afar, 
 when they were easily obtainable upon the spot ; that 
 the mere conveyance would lead to vast expense and 
 delays, during which the armies might perish from 
 hunger, cold, and wretchedness: that the Belgi:ins 
 Avould lose all interest in the presence of the French, 
 and cease to aid the circulation of the assignats : that 
 the extortions of contractors M'oidd proceed as usual, 
 since the facility of plmulering the state hi supjilies 
 had always made, and woidd alwaj's continue to make, 
 robbers; and that the members of the committee of 
 purchases would themselves become contractors and 
 dealers, notwithstanding the ]n-ovision of the law for- 
 bidding them; and that the whole was but an idle 
 ellbrt at economy, which, even were it not chimerical, 
 was sure to produce a fatal paralysis in the service for 
 at least a time. The committee of purchases irritated 
 Dumouriez the more, because its members were known 
 to him as the creatures of the minister Claviere; and 
 lie deemed the innovation itself to spring from the 
 jealousy with which he was regarded by the Giron- 
 dists. But, on the contrary, its institution originated 
 in the sinccrest motives, and met the warm approval 
 of all parties, without any factious view or purpose. 
 
 Pache, if he had been a firm and patriotic minister, 
 woidd have eiideavom'ed to satisfy the general, in 
 order to secure his aid to the republic. With this view, 
 it was his duty to have examined his demands, con- 
 sidered how many of them were just, conceded all 
 such, repudiated the rest, and conducted the busi- 
 ness in an authoritative and vigorous spirit — after a 
 manner, in short, to obviate reproaclies, disputes, and 
 confusion. Instead, however, of so doing, Pache, 
 already accused by the Girondists of weakness, and 
 doubtless ill-disposed towards them, left to their 
 mutual upbraidings the general, the Girondists, and 
 the convention. He laid before the council some hasty 
 letters of Dumouriez, in Avhieh he pointedly com- 
 plained of the bad feeling entertained towards him by 
 the Girondist ministers; and he made known to the 
 convention the demands Dumouriez imperiously in- 
 sisted upon having yielded to him, under threat of 
 tendering his resignation. Avoiding either to censure 
 or to explain, and affecting in his reports a scrupidous 
 fidelity, he allowed every sinister circumstance to 
 Avork out its worst consequences. The Girondists, the 
 convention, the Jacobins, Avere all, upon distinct 
 grounds, irritated at the haughty bearing of Dumou- 
 riez. Cambon inveighed against Mains, D'Plspagnac, 
 and Petit-Jean, qu(jting the terms of their contracts, 
 which were exorljitant, and depicting tlie unbridled 
 luxury of D'Espagnac and the former malversations 
 of Petit- Jean; and idtimately induced the assembly to 
 impeach all three. He alleged that Dumouriez was 
 encompassed by intriguers, from whom it was neces- 
 sary to free him, and strenuously maintained the ex- 
 cellence of the eonimittee of i)urchases, arguing that 
 buying articles of consumption on tlie theatre of war 
 was thscouraging the industry of native artisans, and 
 disposing them to seditions from idleness ; that, as to 
 assignats, there was no occasion for any address to 
 induce their circulation, as the general Avas wrong in 
 not enforcing their acceptance, and introducing into 
 Belgium the whole revolution, with its spirit, its 
 systems, and its currency, since the Belgians, reajting 
 the inestimalile gift of liberty, must take its incon- 
 veniences as well as blessings. In the tribune of the 
 convention, Dumouriez was considered nu'rcly as the 
 dupe of his agents; but at the Jacobin Club, and in 
 the journal of JNIarat, he Avas invariabh' denounced as 
 in concert Avith them and ])artaking their s])oiis, al- 
 though no proof existed I'or the allegation, save the too 
 frequent example of commanders yielding to similar 
 temptations. 
 
 Dumouriez was thus compelled to abandon the three 
 commissaries ; nor did he escape the affront of seeing 
 them arrested, in despite of the guarantee he had him- 
 self giA^en them. I^aclie Avrote to him, Avitli his ac- 
 customed blandness, that his demands were under ex- 
 amination ; that his Avants would be speedily sui)p.]icd ; 
 aud that for such purpose the committee of purchases 
 liad made consideralile contracts. In the mean time, 
 he iuinounced to him certain large arriA'als, Avhich 
 never appe.ired. Dumouriez, out of patience at this 
 disappointment, rencAved his complaints ; and from the 
 correspondence betAveeu them, if the letters of tlie 
 minister Avere heeded, all seemed in ])rofusion and 
 abundance — if those of the general were believed, all 
 A\as in positive destitution. Dumouriez had recourse 
 to temporary expedients, and to loans from the cathe- 
 dral chapters ; one contract of Mains, which, from the 
 emergency of the case, he had been alloAved to main- 
 tain, kept him in food ; and he was in this state 
 detained at Brussels from the 14th to the 19 th. 
 
 In this interval, Stengel, having been detached Avith 
 the advanced guard, had taken Malines, an important 
 capture, on account of the stores of poAvder and arms of 
 all kinds accunndated in a fortress Avhieh Avas deemed 
 the arsenal of Belgium. Labourdomiaye had entered 
 AntAvei-p on the 18th, in Avliich city he organised clubs, 
 and greatly disgusted the Belgians by the special fa- 
 vour he extended to popular agitators, instead of push- 
 ing Avith the requisite A'igour the siege of the citadel. 
 Dumouriez, finding it impossible to agree Avitli a lieu- 
 tenant so much interested in clubs and so little with 
 Avar, displaced him for iliranda, a l*eruvian of distin- 
 guished gallantly, Avho had settled in France at tlie 
 period of the revolution, and attained an eminent posi- 
 tion through the friendship of Petion. Labourdomiaye, 
 depriA^ed of his army, and sent back to the department 
 of the north, used CA'ery endeavour to kindle the zeal 
 of the Jacobins against Camr-Dumouriez^ the name 
 by Avhicli tiie general Avas already stigmatised amongst 
 that fraternity. 
 
 The enemy had at first intended to take position 
 behind the canal of VilAorden, and to maintain a com- 
 munication Avitli AntAverp. He thus committed the 
 same fault as Dumouriez, attcmiiting to keep near the 
 Scheldt instead of hastening upon the IMeuse, as they 
 both ought to haA^e done, the one to secure, the other 
 to cut off, a retreat. At length Clairfayt, avIio had 
 assumed the command, perceived the necessity of re- 
 passing the IMeuse with all dispatch, and abandoning 
 Antwerp to its fate. Dumouriez then called Valence 
 from Nivelles to undertake the siege of Namur, com- 
 mitting the gricA^ous fiiidt of not throAving him along 
 the Meuse so as to block the Austrian retreat. The 
 defeat of the defensive army Avould have unquestion- 
 ably ensured the surrender of the fastness. But the 
 example of grand strategic maiKJcuvres had not then 
 been given ; and, furthermore, Dumouriez lacked on 
 this occasion, as on many others, the necessary reflec- 
 tion. He left Brussels on the I9th ; jiassed Louvain 
 on the 20th, and came uj) Avilh the enemy at Tirle- 
 mont on the 22(1, killing two or tinxe hundred of his 
 men. Again detained by absolute destitution, he did 
 not start from that place till the 2Gth. On the 27th 
 he arriAX'd before Liege, and had to sustain a sharp 
 engagement at Varoux against the Austrian rearguard. 
 General Starai, Avho commanded it, made a glorious 
 defence, and received his death-wound. Finally, on 
 the morning of the 2Stli, Dumouriez entered Liege 
 amidst the acclamations of the ])eople, Avliose minds 
 Avere ])eculiarly ripe for revolutionary excitement. 
 Miranda took the citadel of Antwerp on the 29th, 
 and Avas in a jiosition to complete the circuit of Bel- 
 gium by marching to Bnremond. On the 2d of De- 
 cember \'alence occnjiied Namur. Clairfayt i)roceeded 
 toAvards the Koi't, and Beaulieu towards Luxumliourg. 
 
 At this moment all Belgium Avas occupied as far as 
 the Meuse ; but the country intervening to the Bliine 
 remained for conquest, and serious dillictidties stood in
 
 21-2 
 
 IlISTOKY OF THE FllEKCII REVOLUTION. 
 
 the way of Duniouricz. Either from the obstacles 
 impeding' transport, or the neghgence of functionaries, 
 notliing readied his army ; and altho-ugli ample maga- 
 zines were formed at \':dencienues, total want pre- 
 vailed on the ^ifeuse. I'ache, to curry favour with 
 the Jacobins, had thrown his offices open to them, 
 and the greatest disorder ensued as a necessary conse- 
 quence. Duties were interrupted or neglected; and 
 from inattention the most contradictory orders were 
 issued. Thus every branch of the service was thrown 
 into inextricable confusion ; and whilst tlie minister 
 concluded tlie convoys safoly arrived, they had not 
 even started. The institution of the committee of 
 purchiuses tended materially to augment the disorder, 
 lionsin, the new commissary, who had succeeded 
 ilalus and D'Esjiagnac after denouncing them, was in 
 the greatest embarrassment. His reception by the 
 arm.y had been far from cordial ; and growing alarmed 
 at his critical position, he obeyed tlie orders of Hu- 
 mouriez, and pursued the ])lan of purchases on the 
 spot, reganlless of the recent decisions. By these 
 means the army got supplies of bread and flesli ; but 
 clothes, carriages, specie, and forage, were entirely 
 wanting, and all the horses were starved to death. 
 Another calamity afflicted this unfortunate army, 
 namely, desertion. The volunteers, who, during tlie 
 first enthusiasm, had poured into Champagne, were 
 greatly cooled after the moment of danger was past ; 
 and, furthermore, contracting disgust at the nume- 
 rous privations to which they were subjected, they 
 deserted in crowds. The single corps of Dumouriez 
 had lost at least ten thousand, and vras daily losing 
 more. The Belgian levies were not completed, since 
 it was almost impossible to organise a coimtry in 
 which the diflerent classes of the population, and the 
 different provinces of the state, were so indisposed to 
 concert. Liege was rife with the revolutionary spirit ; 
 but Brabant and Flanders saw with ill-disguised re- 
 pugnance the Jacobin faction raise its head in clubs, 
 attempted to be established in Ghent, Antwerp, Brus- 
 sels, Sec. Kor were the Belgian people on too good 
 an understanding with the French soldiers, who desired 
 to pay in assignats ; every where that jiaper currency 
 was rejected, and Dumouriez I'efused to give it a forced 
 circulation. Thus, although victorious and master of 
 the country, the French army found itself in a deplor- 
 able condition from the combined effects of destitution, 
 desertiim, and the uncertain, if not hostile, dispositions 
 of the inhabitants. The convention, harassed by the 
 contradictory reports of the general, who uttered his 
 complaints with indignant warmth, and of the minister, 
 who certified with modesty, but with assurance, that 
 the most abundant supplies had been forwarded, dis- 
 patched four connnissioners selected from its own 
 members, to satisfy themselves of the true state of the 
 case. These four commissioners were Danton, Camus, 
 Lacroix, and Cossuin. 
 
 Whilst the month of November had been consumed 
 by Dumouriez in tlie occupation of Belgium to the 
 Meuse, Custine, still hovering in the neiglibourliood 
 of Frankfort and the river iMaine, was menaced by 
 the Prussians, who advanced nji the Lahn. This gene- 
 ral would have willingly seen the whole current of the 
 war directed to his quarter, in order that his rear 
 might be covered, and his silly incursions into Ger- 
 many stxpported. He was therefore incessantly ex- 
 claiming against ])umouriez for not ajipearing at 
 Cologne, and against Kellermaim for not bearing 
 on Coblentz. We have seen the difliculties Dumou- 
 riez had to encounter eflectually impeding his more 
 speedy advance ; and such a movement on the part of 
 Kellermaim could only have lieen rendered possible by 
 Custine abandoning incursiwns wliicli merely served 
 to fill the hall of tlie Jacobins and the newspapers 
 with exulting acclamations, restricting himself to the 
 limit of the Bliine, and, first fortifying Mayence, 
 himself descending to Coblentz. But lie was desirous 
 that all should operate in his reiu-, so that lie might 
 
 have the honour of continuing the offensive in Ger- 
 many. Overborne by his solicitations and comi)Iaints, 
 the executive council recalled Kelleniiann, an<l nomi- 
 nated Bevu'nonville in Ids place, giving him the tardy 
 commission to take Treves, in so advanced a season, 
 and amidst a coimtry poor and difficidt to occujjy 
 Only one advisable mode of executing this enterprise 
 had ever existed, and that was to have marched at 
 the commencement between Luxmnbourg and Treves, 
 and tlius reached Coblentz, wliilst Custine came to the 
 same point down the Bliine. The French would then 
 have overpowered the Prussians, still disheartened by 
 their repuJse in Champagne, and been enabled to ex- 
 tend a helping hand to Dunnmriez in his progress to 
 Cologne, in case he had not already reached it. In 
 this manner, Luxumbom-g and Treves, which it was 
 impossible to take by main force, would have fallen 
 by famine and from want of succour ; but Custine 
 having persisted in his W^eteravian expedition, and 
 the army of tlie Moselle having remained quiescent 
 in its cantonments, the time had lapsed at the end of 
 November for marching on those fortresses, to effect 
 a diversion in favour of Custine against the Prussians, 
 now invigorated with fresh courage, and ascending 
 the Rhine. Beurnonville alleged such reasons, but 
 they were overrided, for a strong inclination to con- 
 quer and to chastise the Elector of Treves for his con- 
 duct towards France pervaded the public mind ; and 
 he was ordered to make the attack, which he conducted 
 with as much spirit as if it had met his warmest ap- 
 probation. After certain brilliant and hotly contested 
 actions, he was obliged to renounce the expedition and 
 faU back towards Lorraine. In this position of affairs, 
 Custine was of course seriously compromised on the 
 banks of the Maine ; but he was lotli, by retreatuig, to 
 confess his temerity and the evanescent nature of his 
 conquest, and he persisted in clinging to it without 
 any reasonable prospect of success. He had placed 
 in Frankfort a garrison of 2400 men ; and altlunigh 
 such a force was absurdly inadequate to defend an 
 open tov.m, with a population exasperated by iniquitous 
 contributions, he enjoined the commander to hold 
 steadfast, whilst he himself, taking post at Ober3'ssel 
 and Hombourg, a little below Frankfort, affected a 
 determination and defiance bordering on the burlesque. 
 Such was the situation of the army on that particular 
 point, at the end of November and beginning of De- 
 cember, ^vhereby it is manifest that along the course 
 of the Rhine the campaign had been barren of results. 
 
 On the Alpine frontier, Montesquiou, whom we left 
 negotiating ■\\dth the Swiss, and endeavouring to im- 
 press the dictates of reason on both Geneva and the 
 French ministry, had been compelled to emigrate. An 
 impeachment had been launched against him for hav- 
 ing, as aliegTL'd, compromised the dignity of France by 
 allowing the insertion of an article in the convention, 
 by whicii its troops were bound to withdraw a certain 
 distance ; and especially for having the good faith to 
 execute the stipulation in question. A decree was 
 fulminated against him, and he took refuge within the 
 walls of Geneva. But his moderation had ensured the 
 success of his labours ; and even whilst he was put 
 under the ban of accusation, the ministry negotiated 
 with the Genevese on the very bases he had fixed. The 
 troops of Berne retired, the French troops cantoned 
 within the prescribed limits, the invaluable neutnility 
 of S^^•itzerlaud was secured to France, and one at least 
 of its frontiers guaranteed from invasion for several 
 years. This important advantage had been despised, 
 owing to the counsels of Clavicre, and to a too finical 
 suscey)til)ility, fostered doubtless by the recent unanti- 
 cipated triumphs. 
 
 In file county of Nice, the French had gloriously 
 retaken the post of Sospclla, which the Piedmontese 
 liad wrested from tlicni for a moment, only to lose 
 again after a considerable repulse. This success was 
 owing to the ability of General Brunet. Their fleets, 
 also, Avhich rode predominant in the waters of tliP
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 213 
 
 ^fediterrancaii, appeared before Genoa and before 
 Naples, wlicve branches of the Boiirbons reigned, in 
 order to obtain from them, as mdeed from all the 
 Italian prineipalities, a formal recognition of the new 
 French republic. After Najiles had been exposed to a 
 cannonade, the reluctant acknowledgment was given, 
 and the French squadron retiu-ned to harbour exulting 
 in this signal avowal of its might. 
 
 In the Pyrenees, a dead inertness marked the sea- 
 son. Servan, from deficiency of means, experienced 
 almost insurmountable difKcidty in recomposing the 
 army of observation. Notwithstanding the enonnous 
 expenditure of from one hunch-ed and eighty to two 
 himdred millions [seven and a half to eight millions 
 sterling] j»er nwnth, all the armies, in the Pyrenees, in 
 the Alps, and on the Moselle, were in the like forlorn 
 condition, from the disorganisation prevailing through- 
 out all the details of the service, and from the deplor- 
 able confusion paramount in the mmistry of war. Yet 
 in the midst even of such untoward circumstances, 
 the intoxication and pride of victory Avcre diffused 
 tliroughout France. At this instant, in truth, the most 
 exalted ideas, stimulated by the Wctory of Jemappes, 
 the taking of Frankfort, the occupation of Savoy and 
 Nice, and the t\ivourable reaction of opinion in Europe, 
 filled all minds, and led to the confident anticipation 
 that the doom of monarchies was at hand, that the 
 nations wei'e on the eve of annihilating thrones and 
 resolving themselves into republics. " Ah ! if it were 
 true," exclaimed a member of the Jacobin Club, when 
 discussing the junction of Savoy with France — " if it 
 were true that the awakening of nations has come, 
 that the overthrow of all thrones must ensue as a 
 speedy consequence of the success of our armies, and 
 of the revolutionary volcano ; if it were true that re- 
 publican virtue was at last about to avenge the world 
 for crowned villany — that each country, restored to 
 liberty, should form a government conformable to the 
 extent, more or less considerable, assigned to it by 
 nature — and that from all tlTese national conventions a 
 certain number of extraordinary deputies should com- 
 pose an universal convention m the centre of the uni- 
 verse, vigilantly guarding over the integrity of the 
 rights of man, the general freedom of commerce, and 
 tlie peace of the human race!"* 
 
 The convention, at this same period, learning the 
 severities inflicted by the Duke of Deux-Ponts upon 
 certain subjects in his dependence, voted, in a burst of 
 enthusiasm, the foUowmg decree : — 
 
 "The National Convention declares tliat it will grant 
 succour and fraternity to all populations disposed to 
 recover liberty; and it charges the executive power to 
 give orders to the generals of the French armies, en- 
 joining them to aid all citizens who have been or may 
 be oppressed in the cause of freedom. 
 
 The National Convention commands the generals of 
 the French armies to print and affix the present decree 
 in all places to which they shall carry the arms of the 
 republic. 
 
 I aris, the \9th of November 1792." 
 
 CHAPTI'^R XV 11. 
 
 PROCEEDTNGS RELATIVE TO THE TRIAL OF LOUIS XVI. 
 HIS FIRST EXAMINATION BEFORE THE CONVENTION. 
 
 The trial of Louis XVI. was at length to be com- 
 menced, and the different parties awaited it to mea- 
 sure their strength, to ascertain their intentions, and 
 to form ofeach other a definitive judgment. The Giron- 
 dists especially were observed with curious scrutiny, 
 to surprise in them the slightest bias towards com- 
 miseration, and to accuse them of ro3-alism, shoidd 
 fallen greatness move their sympathies. 
 
 * Speech of IMilhaud, deputy of t)ie Ciuital, delivered at tlio 
 Jacobin Club in November )7!>i. 
 
 The Jacobin party, which assailed the entire cause 
 of monarchy in the person of the unfortunate Louis 
 XVI., had undoubtedly waxed in po^^er of late, but 
 it still encountered a vigorous opposition in Paris, 
 and still more in the rest of France. It domineered in 
 the capital by means of its club,* the commune, and 
 the sections ; but the middle class was resuming cou- 
 rage, and offering a resistance far from despicable. 
 Pction having declined the mayoralty, the physician 
 Chambon had obtained a large majority of votes, and 
 accepted with reluctance functions which were little 
 suited to his moderate and unambitious character. 
 This election proves the power still possessed by the 
 burgher class even in Paris itself; and it was unques- 
 tionably nmch greater in the rest of France. The 
 landowners, the traders, all the middle commmuty in 
 short, retained their places in the municipal comicils, 
 the departmental comicils, and the popular societies, 
 and sent addresses to the majority of the convention 
 in favour of the laws and moderation. Several of the 
 societies affiliated to the Jacobins disavowed the 
 parent society, and strenuously demanded the expul- 
 sion of INIarat — some even that of Robespierre. Finally, 
 from the departments of the INIouths of the Rhone, 
 Calvados, Finisterre, and the Gironde, new bands of 
 federalists issued, who, anticipating the decrees for 
 their enrolment as upon the occurrence of the 10th 
 August, came to protect the convention and ensure its 
 independence. 
 
 The Jacobins had not yet gained the armies ; the 
 staffs and the military organisation opposed continual 
 obstacles. They had, ho^vever, completely carried one 
 ministry — that of war. Paclie had opened it to them 
 from want of firmness, and displaced all its old fimction- 
 aries for members of the club. In its offices the clerks 
 spoke in the second person sing-ular, wore shabby and 
 squalid garments, and expatiated on motions ; many 
 
 * The Jacobin Club has, perhaps, though often pourtraj'ed, 
 never been more grapliically depicted than by tlie pen of the 
 author already quoted, in the History of Vie National Convention 
 and its Principal Members. 
 
 ' ' The club of the Jacobins," says he, " was veritably a co-ordi- 
 nate part of the sovereign power, and the moot energetic part 
 too ; it could not be sufficiently dreaded, so extreme was its jealous 
 susceptibility, and so terrible its vengeance. It was for ever rest- 
 less, apprehensive, suspicious, implacable, and ferocious ; its 
 conception of liberty was formed with the indispensable adjuncts 
 of dungeons, irons, and streams of blood. All the evils, all the 
 crimes, all the execrable resolutions, which rendered France a 
 theatre of desolation during three years, originated in tliis infer 
 nal cavern. Tlie Jacobins riUed with a crushing, gigantic, hideous 
 tyranny, which sat upon us all like an enduring nightmare. An 
 inquisition, terrible, furious, and yet wily, it upheld itself by a 
 concerted system of terror, violence, and dcmmciation, :md by 
 the universal consternation it diffused. Tlie most influential 
 amongst the revolutionists derived from it all their strength, and 
 at the same time ceased not to adulate and cajole the club, w itli 
 equal baseness and perseverance ; fur the mass of the elub, in fact, 
 held the power, and so much as individu:Us gained must revert to 
 it, as to its sole legitimate origin. 
 
 No man of honour, no virtue arrayed in its inestimable attri- 
 butes, could ever be endured in this society ; it was in antithesis 
 to all that was not in some respects impure and tainted. A robber, 
 an assassin, found in it more affinity than the despoiled or tho 
 victim. The celebrated phrase, ' What hast Uioii done, to be 
 InuKji'd, if the old si/stem be restored ?' w:us equally applicable in a 
 tnoral as in a politiial sense. Wlioever presented himself with a 
 repntation free from reproaeli was of necessiiy suspected ; but the 
 branded inspired interest, and felt himself in liarmony, in fra- 
 ternal association with the habitual inmates of the sewer. The 
 club nut in the old convent of tho Jacobins, in tlie Hue St 
 lloncire ; tlie hall had fcunierly been the library, and was of vast 
 diineuKions, in tlie fiotliic style of arcliiteeture. It was orna 
 mente<l with tricoloured banners, anarchicjil devices, and por- 
 traits and busts of the most famous revolutionists. I myself saw, 
 siiinc time before the murder of Louis XVI., two jiortraits, those 
 cif .laequcs Clement and Kavaillae, hung with garlands of oak, in 
 the form of civic crowns; imdorncath were their names, with 
 the dates of their regicides, and above appealed those words : 
 ' Tlicj/ were, happy— they slew a king.' " — Vol. i. p. 1 10, 1 1 2. 
 1*
 
 214 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of them were married priests, introduced by Audouin, 
 Pache's son-in-law, and himself a married priest. One 
 of the heads of this ministry was Hassenfratz, formerly 
 an inhabitant of ^letz, driven from home on account 
 of bankruptcy, and, like many others, elevated to high 
 functions from manifesting great demagogical ze;d. 
 Thus the military administration was in the course of 
 modification, and tlie armies were, as much as pos- 
 sible, filled with a new class, and impressed with new 
 opinions. Thus also, wjiilst Roland was exposed to 
 the implacable hatred of the Jacobins, Pache was 
 cherished and extolled by them. His mildness, his 
 modesty, his great cajiacity, were all highly praised, 
 and bitterly contrasted with the severity of Roland, 
 which was' stigmatised as pride. Roland had scru- 
 pulously avoided allowing the Jacobins admission to 
 his ministry of the interior. Examining the reports 
 of the constituted authorities, curbing those who 
 transgressed the prescribed limits, maintaining tlie 
 public tramiuillity, keeping a watchful eye on the 
 popular societies, providing plentiful supplies of pro- 
 visions, protecting trade and property ; in a word, 
 vigilantly attending to all the internal administration 
 of the state, formed his multitudinous duties, and he 
 performed them with distinguished energy and dili- 
 gence. Scarcely a day passed but he denounced the 
 commune, and exclaimed against its abuses of power, 
 its peculations, and its missions of envoys ; he inter- 
 cepted its correspondence, as likewise that of tlie 
 Jacobins, and substituted for their violent communi- 
 cations others replete with moderation, which every 
 where produced a most auspicious effect. All the 
 estates of emigrants which had lapsed to the state, 
 likewise fell under his superintending care ; the sup- 
 plies of food, and the suppression of disorders spring- 
 ing from that source, engrossed a considerable portion 
 of his attention ; and he had in some sort to multiply 
 liimself, in order efii^ctually to oppose the revolution- 
 ary passions, and to vindicate the authoritj^ of the 
 law, whensoever efficient means were at his disposal. 
 Hence the diflTerent aspects under which Pache and 
 Roland appeared to the eyes of Jacobins, may be 
 readily conceivcfL The families of the two ministers 
 ilso contributed to render the discrepancy more strik- 
 ing. The wife and daughters of Pache attended the 
 clubs and sections, even visited the barracks of the 
 federalists, whom zealous efforts were made to gain over 
 to the cause ; and, by a grovelling Jacobinism, stood 
 in strong relief from the polished and haughty consort 
 of Roland, encompassed by brilliant but odious orators, 
 the choicest ornaments of the national representa- 
 tion. 
 
 Pache and Roland, therefore, were the tvvo men 
 around whom their colleagues rallied in the councLl. 
 Claviere, minister of fi'nance, although often embroiled 
 with the rest, from the extreme irascibility of his 
 temper, always sided with Roland when he was ap- 
 peased. Le Brun, weak in character, but attached 
 to the Girondists from the sympathy of an accoin- 
 plished mind, transacted much of his official business 
 Ir. concert with Brissot ; and the .lacobins, decrying 
 the latter as an intriguer, asserted that he was master 
 of tlie whole government, because he assisted Le 
 Brun in the toils of diplomacy. Garat, contemplating 
 the parties from a metaphysical elevation, contented 
 himself with judging them, feeling himself relieved 
 from any necessity to combat the one or the other. 
 He seemed to consider that he was justified in with- 
 holding active support from the Girondists, because 
 he discerned them not free from faults, and deemed 
 his inertness the wisdom of a superior mind. The 
 Jacobins, meanwhile, were well contented with the 
 neutrality of so distinguished a man, viewing it as an 
 inestimable gain, and rewarded Garat with lavish 
 eulogies. Lastly, !Monge, of mathematical precision 
 and zealous patriotism, was but little disposed to 
 adopt the somewhat vague theories of the Girondists; 
 and, following the example of Pache, he allowed his 
 
 offices to be overrun by the Jacobins. Thus, without 
 altogether repudiating the Girondists, to whom he 
 owed his advancement, he received the praises of their 
 adversaries, and partook the popularity of the minister- 
 at-war. 
 
 The Jacobin party, consequently, with two complai- 
 sant instruments in Pache and iMonge, and an ideolo- 
 gist in Garat keeping himself aloof, but an inexorable 
 opponent in Roland, who drew to his standard Le 
 Brun and Claviere, and often carried even the others 
 with him, was yet tar from wielding the government 
 of the state, and perpetually exclaimed that the only 
 novelty in tlie new order of things was a king the less, 
 but with that exception, there still existed the same 
 despotism, the same intrigues, the same treasons. It 
 contended, in the like strain, that the revolution would 
 never be complete and irrevocable until destruction 
 had fallen on the secret author of all machinations and 
 all resistances, immui-ed in the Temple. 
 
 Thus we have endeavoured to pourtray the resx)ec- 
 tive strength of the parties, and the state of the revo- 
 lution, at the moment the trial of Louis XVI. was 
 entered upon. That prince with his family occupied 
 the great tower of the Temple. The commune, hav- 
 ing the disposition of the armed force, and the charge 
 of the police in the capital, was intnisted with the 
 guard of the Temple, and to its distrustful, gloomy, 
 and ungenerous superintendence, the royal family was 
 wholly subject. Guarded by a class of men greatly 
 inferior to that of which the convention was princi- 
 pally composed, that unfortunate family foimd it need 
 not expect either the moderation or the attentions 
 whicli a lilK-ral education and polite manners always 
 command for misfortune. It had been placed at first 
 in the little tower, but was subsequently transferred 
 to the larger tower, because it was deemed of more 
 easy and secure Avardenship. The king occupied one 
 floor, and the princesses with the children the other. 
 During tlie day they were brought together, and suf- 
 fered to pass the disinal* hours of captivity in each 
 other's society. A single domestic had obtained per- 
 mission to follow them to prison : this was the faith- 
 ful Clery, Avho, having escaped the massacre of the 
 10th of August, had ventured into the midst of Paris 
 in order to serve in their downrfall those whom he had 
 tended in the zenith of their power. He was accus- 
 tomed to rise at dawn, and midtiply himself, so to 
 speak, to compensate the loss of those numerous ser- 
 vitors who were wont to attend his august patrons. 
 At nine o'clock, breakfast was served in the king's 
 chamber, and at ten the whole famUy repaired to the 
 queen's apartment. Louis XVI. then devoted himself 
 to the instruction of his son. He made him learn a 
 few verses of Racine or Corneille, and aftei'wards im- 
 parted to him the elements of geography, a science he 
 had himself cidtivated with considei'able ardour and 
 success. The queen, on her part, took charge of her 
 daugliter's education, and subsequently joined her 
 sister-in-law in weaving tapestry. At one o'clock, 
 M'lien the weather was tine, the whole fimidy was con- 
 ducted into the garden, to inhale the fresh air, and 
 indulge in a short promenade. Several officers of the 
 municipality and guard accompanied the royal cap- 
 tives, and, varying with the persons, they sometimes 
 encountered humane and s\-mi)athetic countenances, 
 at others, harsh and insulting. Uncultivated men are 
 rarel}' generous, and in their eyes grandeur is not 
 atoned for even when stricken to tlie dust. If we 
 imagine uncouth artisans, almost wholly uneducated, 
 masters of that family, for having so long endured 
 whose power and ministered to whose luxury they 
 continually upbraided themselves, we may form an 
 idea of thc' brutal outrages sometimes perpetrated on 
 it. 'i'he king and queen were often compelled to listen 
 to ferocious epithets, and perceived on the walls of the 
 courts and (■orridoi's inscriptions expressing a hatred 
 wliich the old government had frequentl)' merited, but 
 which neither Louis XVI. nor liis consort had done
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 215 
 
 any thing to provoke. They occasionally experienced 
 some consolation, however, in detecting stealthy ex- 
 pressions of interest ; and they continued those cheer- 
 less promenades on accomit of their cliildren, to -vvliom 
 air and exercise were so essential. Whilst they thus 
 mournfully paced the court of the Temple, they re- 
 cognised at the windows of the adjoining houses many 
 old retainers still attached to their fortunes, who came 
 to contemplate tlie narrow space in Avhich tlie de- 
 throned monarch was confined. At two o'clock the 
 promenade terminated, and dinner was served. After 
 that repast, tlie king took some repose; whilst he 
 slumbered, his wife, sister, and daugliter, wrought in 
 silence, and Clery exercised in another room the young 
 dauphin in the games of boyhood. They afterwards 
 heard a work read aloud, supped, and finally retired 
 to their respective apartments after a painful ferewell, 
 for they never parted without sorrow. The king con- 
 tinued to read for several hours alone : IMontesquieu, 
 Buffon, the historian Hume, the Imitation of Jesus 
 Christ, and certain Latin and Italian classics, formed 
 his habitual study. He had finished about two hmi- 
 dred and fifty volumes when he left the Temple. 
 
 Such was the life of tliis monarch during his sad 
 captivity. Reduced to private life, all his virtues 
 shone to advantage, and he evinced himself wortliy 
 the esteem of every dispassionate and honourable 
 mind. His bitterest enemies, beholding him so meek, 
 tranquil, and pure, could scarcely have avoided an in- 
 voluntary emotion of respect, and woxild have surely 
 pardoned the eiTors of the prmce in deference to the 
 virtues of the man. 
 
 The comnmne, to the last degree suspicious, used 
 the most vexatious precaiitions. Municipal officers 
 had their eyes incessantly on tlie persons of the royal 
 family, and only when in bed did tliey consent to be 
 separated from them by a closed door. During those 
 liours they placed a bed before the doorway of each 
 apartment, so as to block all egress, and there passed 
 the night. Santerre, accompanied by his staff, made 
 a daily visit of inspection throughout the tower, of 
 which he rendered a regular account. The municipal 
 officers on duty formed a sort of permanent council, 
 which, sitting in a room of the tower, was appointed 
 to issue orders and adjudicate ujion all the requests 
 of the prisoners. At first they had allowed pens, 
 ink, and paper, in the jail, but those articles were 
 shortly witlidrawn, as also all sharp instruments, table 
 and pen knives, razors, and scissors, and the most 
 minute and offensive searches were instituted to dis- 
 cover whether any of such objects might not have been 
 concealed. This procedure involved a serious affliction 
 to the princesses, since they were thenceforth deprived 
 of the resources of the needle, and were disabled from 
 repairing their garments, already in a sufficiently di- 
 lapidated condition, not having been changed since 
 their incarceration in the Temple. Almost every thing 
 appertaining to the personal use of the royal family 
 had been destroyed in the sack of the palace. The 
 consort of the British ambassador* sent linen to the 
 queen, and the commune, upon the king's apj)lication, 
 caused the whole family to be supplied. The king and 
 queen never thought it worth while to ask for new 
 clothes or habiliments, although there is no doubt 
 they would have been amply furnislied had they ex- 
 pressed the requisite wisli. In tlie concerns of the 
 purse, a sum of 2000 francs [£80] was given them in 
 the month of September for their personal expenses ; 
 but it had been determined to grant them no more 
 money, as fears were entertained of the purjxjscs to 
 which they might apply it. A sum was deposited in 
 the hands of the governor of the Temple, and on the 
 petition of tlie captives, the different articles they 
 needed were purchased for their use. 
 
 * [The Tlritish ambassador at that porinil wns the Earl of fiower, 
 the late Duke of Sutherland, and the lady referred to was the 
 Coiintess of Sutherland.] 
 
 There is no need to exaggerate the sins of human 
 frailty, and thus conclude that the keepers of the royal 
 family, uniting an execrable vileness with the rage of 
 fanaticism, subjected it at caprice to shameful priva- 
 tions, exulting at the idea of rendering the pangs of 
 reminiscence more acute. Caution was the only motive 
 for certain denials. Consequently, whilst the dread of 
 Idiots and communications prevented more than one 
 servant being allowed in the interior of the prison, a 
 numerous establishment was employed in preparing 
 the food of the prisoners. Thirteen caterers to the 
 palate were planted in a range of kitchens not far from 
 the tower. In the accounts of expenditure in the Temple, 
 in which an exemplary propriety is observed, the 
 prisoners are mentioned in terms of respect, their 
 frugality is lauded, and Louis XVI. absolved from the 
 vulgar opprobrium of indidging too freely in wine ; 
 these unimpeachable accounts carry the charges of the 
 table to 28,745 francs [£1197] in two months. "Wliilst 
 thirteen domestics crowded the kitclien, one only was 
 permitted to enter the prison and assist Clery in wait- 
 ing at table. Yet, such is the ingenuity of captivity, 
 it was by this solitary attendant, whose sensibility 
 Clery had succeeded in arousing, that intelligence from 
 without sometimes reached the recesses of the Temple. 
 Its wretched inmates had been constantly left in igno- 
 rance of the course of events. The representatives of 
 the commune had contented themselves with commu- 
 nicating the journals which recorded the victories of 
 the republic, accounts which extinguished any hopes 
 that might still linger in their breasts. 
 
 Clery had imagined an adroit expedient to gain 
 tidings of the current events, which succeeded toler- 
 ably well. By means of an intercourse he contrived 
 to maintain outside, he procured a public crier to be 
 selected, bribed, and instructed to stand beneath the 
 windows of the Temple, and under iiretext of vending 
 newspapers, to recapitulate tlie principal details with 
 all the strength of his lungs. Clery, who was apprised 
 of the hour, placed himself near the adjacent embra- 
 sure, stored up all he heard, and in the evening, lean- 
 ing over the king's bed, when engaged in drawing the 
 curtains, related to him what he had learned. Such is 
 a sketch of the situation in which the royal family of 
 France, fallen from the pinnacle of greatness into the 
 gloom of a dungeon, was i)laced, and of the manner in 
 which the inventive zeal of a faithful servant contended 
 with the harsh suspicions of its keepers. 
 
 The committees had at length adjusted their con- 
 clusions respecting the trial of Louis XVI. Dufriche- 
 Valaze had presented a preliminary report upon the 
 delinquencies imputed to the monarch, and on the 
 documents relied upon as proofs. This report, too 
 voluminous for perusal in the convention, had been 
 printed by its orders, and distributed to each of its 
 members. On the 7th November, the deputy Maille 
 brought up, in the name of the committee of legisla- 
 tion, the report upon the important questions which 
 the intended process started : — 
 
 Can Louis XVI. be tried? 
 
 "\^liat tribunal is competent to iironounce judg- 
 ment ? 
 
 Such were the two essential questions opened to 
 discussion — questions well calculatt'd to deeply agitate 
 the minds of all men. The ]irinting of the report was 
 ordered forthwith. Translated into all languages and 
 profusely disseminated, it soon penetrated into every 
 corner of France and JCm-oiK'. The debate thereon 
 was adjourned to tlie l.'Uh, contrary to the wish of 
 Hillaml-Varennes, who maintained that tlie affirmative 
 of the first (piestion should be voted by acclamation. 
 
 Now was to lie waged the final contest between the 
 ideas of the Constituent Assembly and of the conven- 
 tion, and this struggle was necessarily the more violent, 
 since the life or death of a king hung upon its issue. 
 The Constituent Assemlily had been (lemocratic in its 
 tendencies, but monarchical in its feelings. Thus, 
 whilst it constituted the whole state upon a repubUcan
 
 216 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 model, from a remnant of attachment and respect for 
 Louis XVI. it retained royalty with tlie attributes 
 deemed befittinji it in a system of limited feudal mo- 
 narchy. Hereditary succession, the executive power, 
 participation in tlie enactment of laws, and above all, 
 in\'iolability — such are the i)rerofcatives recognised in 
 the throne under modern monarchies, and such the 
 first national assembly had left to the reignintj house. 
 The partici])ation in legislative authority and the 
 executive power are functions liable to variations in 
 their extent, and do not constitute modern royalty 
 so essentially as hereditary descent and inviolability. 
 Of these two last attributes, the one secures the per- 
 petuid and natural transmission of royalty, the other 
 fences it from all attack in the person of each heir ; 
 and both together render it something eternal, never 
 in abeyance, aiul sonietliing invulnerable, amenable to 
 no penalty. 01>liged to act only by ministers, who 
 are responsible for its deeds, royalty is accessil)le only 
 through its agents, and thus a point is open by wliich 
 it may be huiid)led witliout endangering its stability-. 
 Such 1 hold to be the feudal monarchy, as successively 
 modified by time, and halmonised with the degree of 
 libert}^ enjoyed by modern nations. 
 
 The Constituent Assembly, however, had been in- 
 duced to place a restriction upon the royal inviolabi- 
 lity. The tliglit to Varennes and the enterprises of 
 the emigrants had convinced it that ministerial re- 
 sponsibility was not an aldequate guarantee to the 
 nation against all the possible faults of royalty. It 
 had in consequence provided for an emergency, in 
 which the monarch should put himself at the head of 
 a hostile army to assail the constitution of the state, 
 or should even not ojiposc, by a formal act, an enter- 
 prise of that nature undertaken in his name. Upon 
 such a contingency it had declared the monarch, not 
 indictable mider the ordinary laws against felony, but 
 dethroned ; in fact, judged to have abdicated ronalty. 
 Such was the precise language of the law it had passed. 
 The prayer to accept the constitution, adckessed by 
 it to the king, and the acceptance on his part, had 
 rendered the contract irrevocable ; and the assembly 
 had accordingly incurred the solemn obligation to keep 
 sacred the jjcrson of the monarch. 
 
 It was with this express engagement entangling 
 them that the members of the convention fomid them- 
 selves, when called upon to decide the fate of Louis 
 XVI. Eut these new representatives, assembled under 
 the name of conventionalists, alleged themselves not 
 more bound by the institutions of their predecessors 
 than the latter had considered themselves shackled by 
 the antiquated histitutions of feudalism. So rapid an 
 impulse had been given to opinion, that the laws of 
 1791 appeared as absurd to the generation of 1792, as 
 those of the 1.3th century had seemed to that of 1789. 
 The conventionalists, therefore, repudiated tlie sanc- 
 tion of a law they decried as absurd, in the same spirit 
 as the states-general had dec}ared against the existence 
 of the three orders. 
 
 Consequently, upon the opening of the debate, on 
 the 13th November, two opposite opinions M-ero of 
 course expressed ; some maintained the inviolability, 
 others absolutely rejected it. Ideas had undergone so 
 remarkable a change, that no member of the conven- 
 tion ventured to vindicate the inviolability on its own 
 merits; its advocates, on the contrary, defended it 
 pimply as a ])rior enactment, the benefit of which ac- 
 crued to tlie monarch, and wliicli could nt)t l)e denied 
 him without violating a national engagement. But 
 even very few deputies supported it on the groimd of 
 an obligation incurred, and the Girondists condemned 
 it in that light. They remained aloof from the debate, 
 however, and sat as calm observers of the discussion 
 between the scanty partisans of tlie inviolabihty and 
 its numerous opponents. 
 
 " In the first place," contended the adversaries of 
 the inviolability, " to render an engagement valid, it 
 is necessary that he who incurs it shoidd have the 
 
 right so to do. Now, the national sovereignty is in- 
 alienable, and cannot be fettered by anticipation. The 
 nation may, certainly, M'hen covenanting the in\iola 
 bility, have rendered the executive power inaccessible 
 to the assaidts of the legislative power, for such was 
 a political precaution expedient in the system of the 
 Constituent Assembly ; but if it rendered the king in- 
 violable with regard to all the constituted bodies, it 
 could not render him inviolalile with regard to itself, 
 for it can never renounce tlie facult}'- of doing and 
 wilhng all things at all times ; this faculty constitutes 
 its omnipotence, which is inalienable ; therefore the 
 nation was not competent to bind itself to Louis XVI., 
 and it cannot be estojiped by an engagement it had no 
 power to contract. 
 
 Secondly, even supposing the engagement possilile, 
 it must be taken to bo reciprocal. Now, it never was 
 so on the part of Louis XVI. That constitution, upon 
 which he is so anxious at present to lay stress, he 
 never desired, but alwaj's protested agahist it, and 
 never ceased to attempt its destruction, not only by 
 internal conspiracies but by the swords of enemies. 
 What right, then, has he to plead its guarantee? 
 
 But admitting for the instant that the engagement 
 was possible and reciprocal, it must furthermore be con- 
 sistent with reason in order to be valid. Thus, there is 
 nothing repugnant to comyirehension in an inviolability 
 bearing on all the ostensible acts for wliich a minister 
 answers in lieu of the king. For all acts of this nature 
 a guarantee subsists in the ministerial responsibility, 
 and the inviolability, not being impunity, ceases to be 
 inconsistent with reason, in other words, ceases to be 
 absurd. But for all the secret acts, such as hidden 
 plots, conmiunications with the enemy, treasons in 
 short, what minister can there be to countersign or 
 incur the responsibility? And yet such acts are to 
 remain unpunished, although the gravest and most 
 criminal of aU! That corollary is inadmissihile ; it 
 must be acknowledged that the king, inviolable for 
 the acts of his administration, ceases to be so for 
 secret and criminal acts oidangering the public safety. 
 So a deputy, inviolable in his legislative character, 
 an ambassador in his diplomatic chai-acter, are not so 
 as regards aU the actions of their private lives. In- 
 violability, therefore, has limits; and there are points 
 upon which the king ceases to be shielded from attack. 
 WiU it be alleged that dethronement is the penalty 
 prescribed against perfidies for which a minister is not 
 answerable ? That is to say, the mere privation of his 
 power is to be the sole chastisement inflicted on a 
 monarch for having so outrageously abused it ! The 
 people whom he has betrayed and delivered over to 
 the sword of the foreigner and to every conceivable 
 calamity, are to content themselves \vith saying. With- 
 draw ! Such justice is purely illusory ; and no nation 
 can be so wanting to itself as to leave unpunished 
 crimes committed against its existence and its liberty. 
 A known penalty, it is true, one assigned in a 
 prior law, is requisite to enable its application to a 
 delinquency. But are there not the ordinary penal- 
 ties against treason ? Are not those penalties the 
 same in all codes ? Was not the monarch cogni- 
 sfuit, from the morality of all times and all regions, 
 that treason is a crime, and that by the laws of all 
 nations such a crime is punished with the last seve- 
 rity ? But besides a penal law, a tribunal is needed. 
 Behold, then, the sovereign nation, uniting in itself 
 all powers — the right to judge as Avell as the right to 
 make laws, to declare peace or war ; it is before you 
 with its omnipotence, its miiversality, and there is no 
 function above its capacity to perform. This nation 
 is the convention which represents it, with a mandate 
 to do all for its behoof — to avenge, to constitute, to 
 save. The convention, then, is competent to try Louis 
 XVI. ; it has sufficient powers ; it is the most inde- 
 pendent, the most elevated tribunid an accused could 
 select ; and unless he desiderates partisans or paid 
 emissaries of the enemy to obtain justice, the monarch
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 217 
 
 cannot desire other judges. True, he will have the 
 same men for accusers and judges. But if, in the 
 ordinary tribmials, exposed in an inferior sphere to 
 mdividual and particular provocatives to erroi", the 
 functions are separated and care is taken that an 
 accusation should not be adjudicated by those who 
 have instituted it, in the general comicil of the nation, 
 which is placed paramount to all interests, all indi- 
 vidual motives, the same precautions are no longer 
 necessary. The nation cannot err, and the deputies 
 who represent it partake its infallibility as well as its 
 powers. 
 
 Thus, to sum up, the engagement contracted in 
 1791 being impotent to bind the national sovereignty, 
 being without reciprocity, and, fm'thermore, mvolving 
 an absurd conclusion, that treason may be committed 
 with impunity, is altogether null, and Louis XVI. 
 may be brought to trial. With regard to the pmiish- 
 ment, it has been known from all time, has been pre- 
 scribed in all laws. As to the tribmial, it rests m the 
 convention, invested with all legislative, executive, 
 and judicial powers." 
 
 These orators, therefore, demanded, in conformity 
 with the report of the committee, " that Louis XVI. 
 shoidd be tried ; that the trial should take place before 
 the National Convention ; that the articles of impeach- 
 ment shoidd be framed by a select committee ; that he 
 should appear m person to plead thereto ; that coim- 
 sel should be allowed him in his defence ; and that 
 immediately after being heard, the convention shoidd 
 pronounce its judgment, each member viva voce." 
 
 The advocates of the inviolabihty left none of these 
 reasons mianswered, and refuted the whole system of 
 their opponents. 
 
 " It is argued," said they, " that the nation cannot 
 alienate its sovereignty, or abrogate its right to punish 
 a delinquency perpetrated against itself; that the 
 inviolability proclaimed in 1791 bound merely the 
 legislative body, biit not the nation in its collective 
 capacity. In the first place, if it be correct that the 
 national sovereignty cannot be alienated or restricted 
 in the right to make new laws, it is equally correct 
 that the past at least is beyond its control ; for instance, 
 it is inca])able of obliterating what has been — it can- 
 not take from the laws it had previously promulgated 
 the operation they have akeady had, or anmd indem- 
 nities they have pronounced. It is perfectly com- 
 petent to declare that, for the futm-e, monarchs shall 
 cease to be inviolable ; but it cannot prevent them 
 being so retrosjiectively, inasmuch as it has so declared 
 them ; it is, in short, disabled from violatmg engage- 
 iiients contracted with third parties, in resjject to 
 whom it became a simple party when covenanting 
 with them. Tlnis, therefore, a case is established in 
 which tlie national sovereignty coidd bind itself for a 
 period ; it intended to do so in the amplest manner, 
 not only for the legislative body, which it interdicted 
 from all judicial action against tlie king, but for itself, 
 because tlie political object of the inviolability would 
 have been frustrated, had royalty not been phwed 
 paramount to all attack whatsoever, as well on the 
 part of the nation as of the constituted authorities. 
 
 With regard to the want of reciprocity in the ope- 
 ration of the engagement, the diflSculty has been fore- 
 stalled. The possibility of a faihu-e in fidelity to the 
 engagement, was foreseen by the engagement itself. 
 All the modes in which such failure could occur are 
 comprehended in one, the most grave conceival)Ie, war 
 against the nation, and are with it i)unislied by de- 
 thronement, that is to say, by the dissolution of tlie 
 contract existing between tlie nation and the kuig. 
 The want of recijirocity, therefore, is not a reas(jn 
 sufiicient to relieve the nation from its pledge of in- 
 violal)ility. 
 
 The engagement, then, was substantial and absolute, 
 equally oljligatory on the nation as on the legislative 
 body; the lack of reciprocity was foreknown, and 
 cannot be adduced in allegation of a nudum pactum; and 
 
 we finally proceed to show that, under the monarchical 
 system, such a contract was not inconsistent with 
 reason, and cannot be assaUed on the ground of ab- 
 siu-dity. This inviolability, in fact, left no crime 
 unpunished, whatever may be alleged to the contrary. 
 The ministerial responsibility extended to every act, 
 because a king can no more conspire than govern 
 without agents; and thus public justice had always its 
 resource. And those secret crimes, distinct from the 
 ostensible delinquencies of administration, were fore- 
 seen and punished with forfeiture ; for every fault on 
 the part of the king was atoned for, according to that 
 legislation, liy the cessation of his functions. To this 
 it is opposed, that forfeitm-e is not a penalty, as it 
 amomits simply to the ])rivation of a means abused by 
 the monarch. But, mider a system in which the royal 
 person was intended to be unassailable, the severity 
 of the pmiishment was not the important considera- 
 tion ; the essential point was its political residt ; and 
 this result was effectually obtained by the deprivation 
 of power. Besides, is the loss of the first tlu-one in 
 the imiverse really no punishment ? Can a man, with- 
 out deep affliction, forfeit a diadem which from infancy 
 has encircled his brow, with wliich the years of his 
 life have been passed, and a homage of twenty j-ears 
 commanded ? To minds nurtured in sui)reme rank, is 
 not such a punishment equivalent to death? But, 
 even were the penalty too mild, it is based upon an 
 express stipulation ; and an insufiicieucy of pmiishment 
 cannot be a cause of nullity in a law. It is a maxim 
 in criminal legislation, that all mistakes in the law 
 should redound to the advantage of the accused, upon 
 the equitable principle that the errors of the strong 
 should not be visited upon the Aveak and powerless. 
 Thus, therefore, the engagement, already demonstrated 
 to be valid and absolute, involves no absurdity ; it sti- 
 pidates no impunity, nor is treason left nnpunished- 
 Consequently, there is no need to recur either to natu- 
 ral right or to the nation, inasmuch as deposition is 
 already prescribed by an existing law. This penalty 
 the king has midergone, without any tribunal pro- 
 novmcing it, and after the only possible procedure, that 
 of a national insurrection. Dethroned at this moment, 
 in an utter impossibility of acting, France may do 
 nothmg more agamst him than pursue precautionary 
 measures for his safe keeping. Let her banish liim 
 from her territory for her ovm security ; let her detain 
 him, if she please, until the peace; or let her leave him 
 to become a private citizen m the heart of the land: 
 this is all she is justified in domg, all slie can do. It 
 is therefore quite unnecessary to constitute a tribunal, 
 or to discuss the competency of the convention: on 
 the 10th August all was finished for Loins XVI.; on 
 the 10th August he ceased to be a king; on the 10th 
 August he was put upon his tri;d, jutlged, deposed, 
 and all was consummated between him and the 
 nation." 
 
 Such Avas the answer of the jiartisans of the inviola- 
 bility to their adversaries. The national sovereignty 
 being taken as it Avas then interpreted, their rejoin- 
 ders must be deemed victorious, and all the reasonings 
 of the committee of legislation mere laboured sophisms, 
 false and vapid. 
 
 Our immediate task has been to condense the argu- 
 ments used on the two sides of the <iuestion in regular 
 del)ate. But another system, a distinct opinion, sprung 
 from the exaltation of minds and passions. At the 
 Jac(jbin Clul), and in tlic ranks of the ^lountain, it had 
 been alreaily asked whether any discussion, any triid, 
 any forms ui short, were necessary to get rid of the 
 man known as a tyrant, taken with arms in liis luinds, 
 and shedding the blood of the nation. This opinion 
 had a formidable organ in the young Saint-.hist, an 
 austere and passionless fanatic, who, at the age of 
 twenty, meditated a perfectly ideal society, in wliich 
 shotdd reign absolute equahtj', sinii)licity, austerity, 
 and indomitable energy. Long before the'lOth August 
 he dwelt, in the depths of his gloomy mhid, n^ion
 
 218 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 this hypernatural society, and had arrived through 
 fanaticism at that extreme point of human ideas 
 ^^•hich Robespierre liad reached througli intensity of 
 hate alone. New amidst tlie revolution, into -wliicli 
 he had scarcely entered, as yet a stranger to all the 
 discords, -wrongs, and crimes of parties, Siding with 
 the faction of the IMountain from the violence of his 
 opinions, delighting the Jacobins by his boldness of 
 spirit, surprising the convention by his talents, he had 
 not yet, however, gained any popidar fame. His 
 ideas, though always favouralily heard, but not always 
 distinctly comi)reliendcd, 'did not produce all their 
 eifect mitil tliuy had become, by tlie plagiarisms of 
 Robespierre, more common, clear, and declamatory. 
 
 He spoke after IMorisson, the most zealous amongst 
 the defenders of the inviolability, and, indulging in 
 no personalities against his opponents, for he was not 
 old enough on the scene to have contracted personal 
 enmities, the whole force of his indignation was at 
 first directed against tlie petty ideas of the assemblv, 
 and the casuistry of the debate. " What ! " said he, 
 " j'ou, the committee and its adversaries, laboriously 
 seek for forms whereby to try the late king — torment- 
 ing yoiu'selves to make of him a citizen, to raise hhn to 
 that quality, so that you may find laws applicable to 
 him ! And I, on the contrarj^, say that the king is 
 not a citizen ; that he ought to be judged as an enemy ; 
 that we have not so much to try as to combat him ; 
 and that, standing for nothing in the contract which 
 unites the French, the forms of the procedure are not 
 to be sought in the civil law, but in the law of Jiatious." 
 
 Thus, therefore, Saint-Just repudiated the process 
 as involving a question of justice, but saw in it simply 
 a question of martial law. 
 
 " To try a king as a citizen ! " he proceeded. " Such 
 a phrase will astonish posterity ! To try, is to apply 
 the law ; law is an emanation of justice : what rela- 
 tion of justice, I ask, can exist between humanity and 
 kings ? 
 
 Simply to reign is an offence — an usurpation which 
 nothing can justify, which a nation is culpable to en- 
 dure, and against which every man has an indi^ndual 
 right. It is impossible to reign innocently ; the ab- 
 surdity of the thing is too gi'eat. The usurpation 
 ought to be treated as kings themselves treat that of 
 their pretended authority. Is not the memory of 
 Cromwell arraigned for having usurped the authority 
 of Charles I. ? And yet, the one was no more an 
 usurper than the other ; for, when a nation is base 
 enough to let t3-rants domineer over it, the domina- 
 tion is the right of him wlio can seize it, and is not 
 one whit more sacred or legitimate in the hands of 
 one than in those of another." 
 
 Passing to the topic of forms, Saint-Just perceived 
 in the consideration only fresh errors and inconsist- 
 encies. Forms of process were, he alleged, but so 
 much hypocrisy ; it was not the manner of arraign- 
 ment winch had justified all the recorded acts of ven- 
 geance M'reaked by nations on kings, it was the right 
 of force against force. 
 
 " It will be one day a matter of astonishment," he 
 exclaimed, " that in the eighteenth centiu^y ideas were 
 n)()re backward than in the time of C:esar : then, the 
 tyrant was innnolated in fidl senate, without other 
 formality tlian the points of twenty-three daggers, and 
 without other law than the liberty of Rome. And 
 now, you enter with respect on the indictment of a man, 
 the assassin of a peojili', caught in flagrant crime !" 
 
 Viewing the question under another aspect, witliout 
 reference to l>ouis XVI., Saint-Just animadverted 
 upon the tendency to refinement and subtlety, so de- 
 trimental, as he contended, in affairs of great moment. 
 The life of Louis XVI. was of no consequence ; the 
 spirit to be evinced by his judges was what disquieted 
 him; the estimate they should present of themselves 
 was what mainly concerned him. " Tlie men who 
 are about to judge Louis XVI. have a republic to 
 fomid, and those wiio attach any importance to the 
 
 just chastisement of a king, will never found a re]uib- 
 lic. Since the report, a certain doubt has manifested 
 itself. Each considers the trial of the king mider his 
 own peculiar views : some seem to fear the future 
 conse(|uences of their courage ; others have not re- 
 nounced hopes of monarchy ; these dread an example 
 of virtue which woidd tighten the bonds of union. 
 
 We aU judge each other with severity, I will even 
 say with fury ; we think only of modifying the energy 
 of the people and of liberty, whilst the common enemy 
 is scarcely noticed, and Avhilst all, either paralysed by 
 weakness or immersed in crime, stand in mutual 
 survey before striking the first blow ! 
 
 Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years 
 of virtue and of hatred to kings, if Great Britain, after 
 the death of Cromwell, saw kings restored in spite of 
 their energy, what fears may not oppress good citizens 
 amongst lis, the true friends of Uberty, when they 
 behold the axe tremble in our hands, and a nation, 
 even in the first moment of its freedom, respect the 
 memory of its fetters ? ^Yha.t republic will you esta- 
 blish amidst our individual contests and our common 
 failings ? I will always uphold the doctrine, that the 
 spirit in which you judge the king will be the same 
 as that in which you will establish the republic. The 
 measure of your philosophy in that judgment will be 
 likewise the measure of freedom in the constitutioTi 1 " 
 
 There were men, however, who, less fanaticised 
 than Saint-Just, endeavoured to place the question 
 upon juster grounds, and lead the assembly to consider 
 it under a more favourable and equitable point of view. 
 " Reflect," said Rouzet,* " upon the veritable situation 
 of the king in the constitution of 1 79L He was placed 
 before the national representation in a position of con- 
 strained rivalry. Was it not natm'al he should seek 
 to recover as much as possible of the power he had 
 lost ? Was it not yourselves who had opened the lists, 
 and called him to the combat with the legislative 
 power ? AVeO, in these lists he has been conquered ; 
 he is now a captive, disarmed, prostrate at the feet of 
 twenty-five millions of men, and these twenty-five 
 millions would have the useless baseness to immolate 
 the vanquished! But, furthermore," added Rouzet, 
 " that perpetual craving for dominion, a lust which 
 actuates all hearts, Louis XVI. has stifled in his 
 bosom more tlian any sovereign in the Avorld. Did 
 he not make in 1789 a voluntary sacrifice of part of 
 his authority? Did he not renounce many of the 
 prerogatives his predecessors scnipled not to exercise? 
 Did he not abolish servitude, in his domains? Did he 
 not call to his coimcil philosophic ministers, and even 
 empirics whom the public voice pointed out? Did 
 he not convoke the states-general, and restore to the 
 third-estate a portion of its rights?" 
 
 Faure, a deputy from the Lower-Seine, evinced even 
 greater boldness. Reverting to the conduct of Louis 
 XVI., he ventured to vindicate the reminiscence. 
 " The wrath of the people," said he, " might have been 
 stimulated against Titus as well as against Nero, for 
 crimes might have been found against him, were they 
 those only connnitted before Jerusalem. But where 
 are those you impute to Louis XVI. ? I have listened 
 with the greatest attention to the documents read 
 against him ; I have detected in them simply the 
 weakness of a man who yields to all the hopes sug- 
 gested to him of recovering his former authority ; and 
 I maintain tliat all the monarcl« who have died peace- 
 ably in their beds were more culpable than he. The 
 good Louis XII., even, by sacrificing 50,000 Frenchmen 
 in Italj^ in his private quarrel, was infinitely more 
 criminal ! A civil list, a veto, the choice of his mini- 
 sters, women, kinsmen, courtiers, sucli the seductions 
 of Capet ! — and what seductions ! I invoke Aristides 
 and Epictetus ; let them say whether their firnmess 
 could have witlistood such assaults. It is upon the 
 Iieart of frail mortals I rest my estimate of principles 
 
 ♦ Sitting of tlie lotU November.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 219 
 
 1 1 or errors. Arise, then, to the full grandeur of the 
 I national sovereignty ; reflect -with -wiiat magnanimity 
 such a power should bear itself. Call Louis XVI. not 
 as a cruninal, hut as a Frenchman, before you, and 
 ; say to him. Those who once raised thee on their buck- 
 lers and saluted thee as king, now depose thee ; thou 
 I promised to be their father, and tliou wert not. Ex- 
 ] piate, by thy virtues as a citizen, the conduct thou 
 hast pursued as a king ! " 
 
 In the extraordinary excitement of the epoch, each 
 was led to view the question under different phases. 
 Fauchet, the constitutional priest who had gained 
 celebrity in 1789 by using in tlie pulpit the language 
 of the revolution, demanded whether society had a 
 right to inflict the penalty of death. " Has society 
 the right," said he, " to take from a man the hfe it 
 has not given ? Doulitless it ought to screen itself 
 from danger, but is it true it can only do so by the 
 death of the offender ? And if it can by other means, 
 is it not bound to employ them ? In this case, more 
 tlian in any other, the maxim is applicable. You 
 allege it is for the piiblic interest, for the consolidation 
 of the new-born republic, tliat you are to immolate 
 Louis XVI. ! But will all his family perish by the 
 same blow that annihilates liim? Accoi'ding to the 
 system of hereditary succession, does not one king 
 immediately succeed another ? Are you freed, by the 
 death of Louis XVI., from the rights an entire family 
 deems itself to hold from a possession of several cen- 
 tm'ies ? The destruction of one alone is manifestly 
 fruitless. On the contrary, let the actual head who 
 j closes all access to the others remain ; suffer him to 
 , exist with the hatred wherewith he is regarded by all 
 aristocrats for his vacillations and his concessions ; 
 suffer hmi to languish with his reputation for imbe- 
 cility, with the ignominy of his defeat, and you will 
 have less to apprehend from him than from any other. 
 Allow this deposed monarch to wander within the 
 vast circuit of your republic, shorn of that splendour 
 wont to encompass him ; show how small a thing is a 
 king when reduced to himself; testify a profound dis- 
 dain for the remembrance of what he was, and that 
 remembrance will cease to have any vigour ; you will 
 thereby give a great example to mankind, and secure 
 stability and integrity to the republic much more 
 efiectuaUy than by sliedding blood which does not 
 belong to you. As to the son of Louis XVI., if he can 
 wax into a man, we will make a citizen of him, like 
 young Egalite. He wUl fight for the republic, and we 
 need never fear that a single soldier of liberty will at 
 any time aid him in becoming a traitor to the country. 
 Let us thus demonstrate to all nations that we dread 
 nothing ; let us induce them to imitate us, so that aU 
 in concert may form an European congress, depose 
 their sovereigns, send those emasculated beings to 
 drag out their obscure hves amidst the flourisliing 
 republics ; and even grant them small pensions, for 
 such creatures are so devoid of faculties, that want 
 itself would not teach them to earn their bread. Pre- 
 sent, then, this bright example of the abolition of a 
 barbarous punishment. Suppress the iniquitous usage 
 of shedding bl(;od ; and above all, cure the people of 
 that unwholesome longing they have to spill it. Strive 
 to assuage in them that thirst which ])erverse men 
 would whet, to use it hereafter in overthrowing the 
 republic. Recollect tliat certain barl)arians still ask 
 from you one hundred and fifty thousand heads, and 
 that after conceding the king's, you will be unable to 
 refuse them any. Prevent crhnes which Avill long 
 agitate the heart of the republic, dishonour lilierty, 
 slacken its progress, and delay the era of the world's 
 happiness." 
 
 This debate continued from the 13th till the 30th 
 November, and excited an universal agitation. Those 
 whom the new order of things had not swejrt into its 
 vortex, and who preserved some recollection of 1789, 
 of the goodness of the monarch, and of the love that 
 was borne him, coidd not comprehend that this same 
 
 king, suddenly transformed into a tyrant, should be 
 consigned to a scaffold. Whilst they admitted his cor- 
 respondence with foreigners, they imputed that fault 
 to his weakness, to those around him, or to the invin- 
 cible love of hereditary power ; and the supposition 
 of an ignommious punishment shocked their feelings. 
 They dared not, however, openly undertake the de- 
 fence of Louis XVI. The recent peril to which the 
 country had been exposed by the Prussian invasion, 
 and the opinion generally entertained that the court 
 was the secret instigator of that inroad on the French 
 territory, had aroused an exasperation which fell 
 heavily on the unfortunate monarch, and the force of 
 which the boldest shrunk from encountering. They 
 contented themselves with resisting in a general man- 
 ner those who clamoured for acts of vengeance ; they 
 represented them as the fomentors of disturbances, 
 as Septemb?-isers, who wished to cover France with 
 blood and devastation. Without defending Louis XVI. 
 by name, they advocated moderation towards fallen 
 enemies. They exhorted all to beware of a hypocri- 
 tical energy, Avhich, pretending to defend the republic 
 by judicial murders, sought only to enslave it by ter- 
 ror, or compromise it with all Europe. 
 
 The Girondists had not yet taken part in the dis- 
 cussion. It was surmised, ere their opinion was known, 
 and the IVIountain, in order to have grounds for accus- 
 ing them, confidently asserted, that they desired to 
 save Louis XVI. They were not decided, however, on 
 the subject. On the one hand, rejecting the inviola- 
 liility, and regarding Louis XVI. as an accomplice of 
 the foreign mvasion, and on the other, moved at the 
 contemplation of a dismal reverse, and inclined on idl 
 occasions to oppose the violence of their adversaries, 
 they knew not what course to follow, and preserved a 
 doubtful and threatening silence. 
 
 Another subject agitated the public mind at this 
 moment, and occasioned as nnich ferment as the other. 
 We refer to the supplies of food, which had been a 
 plentiful somxe of discord at all periods of the revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 We have already seen how many anxious and ardu- 
 ous moments this cause had occasioned Bailly and 
 Nccker during the troubled era of 1789. The same 
 difficidties presented themselves in a still more aggra- 
 vated shape at the end of 1792, accompanied by move- 
 ments of the most formidable character. The suspen- 
 sion of trade in aU commodities not of the first ne- 
 cessity, may seriously affect industry and ultimately 
 press upon the labouring classes ; but when grain, the 
 indispensable aliment, fails, commotions and disorders 
 immediately ensue. Thus, the old police had ranked 
 the care of supplies in the number of its duties, as one 
 of the matters most affecting the public tranquillity. 
 
 The crops were not deficient in 1792, but the har- 
 vest had been retarded by ungenial weather, and the 
 thrashing of the corn impeded by a lack of hands. 
 But the chief cause of the scarcity existed elsewhere. 
 In 1792, as in 1789, the want of security, the dread of 
 l)illage on the highways, and vexations in the markets, 
 prevented the farmers from bringing forward their 
 stocks. A clainotir was forthwith raised against fore- 
 stalling. Indignation was chiefly expressed against 
 the rich farmers, who were styled aristocrats, and 
 whose extensive farms, it was contended, ought to be 
 divided. The greater the exasjieration aroused against 
 them, the less they were disposed to appear in the 
 markets, and the more the scarcity increased. The 
 assignats had likewise contributed to prcxlucc this 
 result. ]\Iany farmers, who sold merely to accnnmlatc, 
 were careless about hoarding a variable pajx^r currency, 
 and preferred keeping their corn, l^irthermore, as 
 wlieat became daily more scarce and assignats more 
 ■plentiful, the disproportion Ix'tween the symbol and 
 the reality kept a corresponding pace, and the en- 
 hancement of price grew more and more sensible. By 
 an accident usual in all famines, foresight bem'g- 
 awakened by alarm, every one was eager to get into
 
 220 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 stock ; private families, the municipalities, the govern- 
 ment, ma<le extensive purchases, and consequently 
 rendered produce more scarce and dear. At Paris 
 especially, the municip;dity conmiitted a very grave 
 and antiquated blunder ; it bought corn in the neigh- 
 bouring departments and sold it under value, witli the 
 twofold view of relieving the people and augmenting 
 its popularity. It thence resiUted that the merchants, 
 overborne by this rivalry, withdrew from the market, 
 and the rural population, attracted by the low price, 
 came to Paris and absorbed a part of the supplies col- 
 lected at heavy cost by the police. These hnprudent 
 measures, suggested by erroneous ideas of economy 
 and an excessive lust of popularit}^ destroyed com- 
 merce, so essentially necessary to Paris, where a greater 
 quantity of grain ought always to be amassed than at 
 any other point. The causes of tlie scarcity were, 
 therefore, midtifarious ; the alarm of the fanners keep- 
 ing them aloof from the markets, the enhancement of 
 price occasioned by tlie assignats, the eagerness to 
 lay in stores, and, finally, the intervention of the 
 I'arisian nmnicipality disarrangmg trade by its over- 
 powering competition. 
 
 Under circumstances of such difficulty, the part 
 which the two orders of men who then divided the 
 sovereignty of France would take is easy of divination. 
 Tlie violent spirits who had hitherto known but one 
 means of repelling opposition, the destruction of their 
 opponents — who, to stifle conspiracies, had massacred 
 all those they suspected to be against them — to such 
 minds only one expedient, force, still force, presented 
 itself to terminate the scarcity. They maintained that 
 the farmers must be goaded from tlieir sluggishness, 
 and compelled to appear in the markets ; that when 
 there they shoidd be constrained to sell their produce 
 at a price fixed by the communes ; that the corn should 
 not be permitted to be removed from the place of sale 
 or be accumulated in the granaries of those they stig- 
 matised as engrossers. They therefore demanded the 
 forced presence of the dealers in the markets, the 
 limitation of price or the maximum, the prohibition of 
 all transit — in a word, the obedience of trade to their 
 desires, not from the ordinary attraction of profit, but 
 from the fear of penalties and death. 
 
 The men of moderate iirinci})les, on the contrary, 
 were desirous that trade should be left to resume its 
 accustomed channels, by dissipating the alarm of the 
 farmers, leaving them free to fix their prices, holding 
 out to them the inducement of a voluntary, safe, and 
 advantageous exchange, and permitting transit from 
 one department into another, so that the non-produc- 
 ing districts might be likewise furnished with sup- 
 plies. They consequently repudiated a maxinnim 
 price, as well as prohibitions of every description, and 
 joined the economists in advocating an entirely free 
 trade in corn throughout the wlioie extent of France. 
 Adopting tlie opinion of Barbaroux, who was well 
 acquainted with the subject, they demanded that 
 foreign exportation shoidd be sul)jected to a duty, not 
 fixed, but rising in proportion to the enhancement of 
 tlie article, whicli expedient would counteract absorp- 
 tion by other countries wlien the home demand was 
 urgent They were j^repared to admit administrative 
 interference only t(j the extent of establishmg certain 
 markets m extraordinary cases. Severity they upheld 
 simply against the riotous wlio assaulted the farmers 
 on the roads or in the market-places ; and they utterly 
 rejected the use of imnishments as a stinmlant to 
 trade, alleging with trutii that terror may be a means 
 of repression, but can never be a means of action: it 
 jiaralyses and n(jt animates men. 
 
 When a party gains supremacy in a state, forth- 
 with kissumingthe govenmient, it quickly imbites 
 the ideas an<l contr;icts the prejudices common to 
 all governments ; tlie machine nuist at every sacrifice 
 be kept in motion, and force emi)loyed as the univer- 
 sal medium. It wiis in conformity with this invariable 
 rule that the ardent friends of lil)erty had the predi- 
 
 lection of all governments for prohibitive systems, 
 whilst they encountered as adversaries those who, 
 with greater moderation, desired liberty not only in 
 the end but also in the means, and contended" for 
 clemency to enemies, deliberation in the forms of 
 justice, and absolute freedom of trade. 
 
 The Girondists, therefore, uijheld all the theories 
 started by speculative minds, in reprobation of ad- 
 ministrative tyranny ; but these new economists, in- 
 stead of having to battle as formerly with a govern- 
 ment ashamed to enter the lists and always condemned 
 bj^ puldic opinion, clashed with exuberant minds fana- 
 ticiscd by the idea of the public safety, and who con- 
 scientiously believed that force emj)loyed in so sacred 
 an end was but the energy of superior virtue. 
 
 This discussion brought in its train an additiona 
 topic of recrimination. Roland continually exclaimed 
 against the commune for perverting fmids in pur- 
 chases of grain, and making it scarce in Paris, by 
 lowering prices through a vain ambition of popu- 
 larity. Tiie ]\Iountaineers retorted upon Roland by 
 accusing him of misappropriating considerable sums, 
 apportioned to his ministry, in the acquisition of corn, 
 so as to render himself, in truth, the chief of engrossers, 
 and the dictato • of France, by buying up its food. 
 
 Whilst the assembly was engaged in acrimonious 
 disputes upon this subject, insurrections broke out in 
 certain departments, and particiUarly in that of Eure- 
 and-Loir. The rural popidation, maddened by the want 
 of bread and the instigations of the priests, charged 
 the convention with being the sole cause of all their 
 calamities ; and whilst they complained that it hesi- 
 tated to fix a maxunum price on corn, they likewise 
 accused it of contemplating the destruction of reli- 
 gion. Cambon Avas the cause of this last reproach. 
 Zealous for retrenchments not afiecting the operations 
 of war, he had announced that the expenses of pul)lic 
 worship ought to be suppressed, and that those who 
 iranted inass should (kfray its cost. Consequently the 
 insurgents failed not to allege that religion was ruined, 
 and, by a singular contracliction, they upbraided the 
 convention on the one hand for moderation in matters 
 of internal commerce, and on the otlier for violence 
 with regard to religious worship. Two mendjcrs, com- 
 missioned by the assembl\', found in the environs of 
 Com'ville an assemblage of several thousand peasants, 
 armed with pitchforks and fowling-pieces; and they 
 were compelled, under the threat of assassination, to 
 sign the maximum upon corn. The convention dis- 
 avowed them, declaring they ought rather to have 
 died, and abolished the limitati(m they had signed. 
 An armed force was immediately dispatched to dis- 
 perse the insurrectionists. Thus commenced the 
 troubles of the west, originating in distress and at- 
 tachment to rites. 
 
 In order to allay discontent amongst the western 
 population, the assembly, on the motion of Dan ton, 
 passed a declaration that it had no intention of abro- 
 gating religion ; but it persisted in refusing the maxi- 
 mum. Thus, still firm amidst the tempest, and adhering 
 to liberality of sentiment, the conventional majority 
 declared for freedom of trade, in opposition to the 
 prohibitive system. If we now cast a retrospective 
 glance upon the various matters occurring in the 
 armies, in the administrations, in the trial of Louis 
 XVI., we shall assuredly beliold a singular and ter- 
 rible spectacle. Men of ardent temperaments have 
 worked themselves into frenzy, and insist upon an 
 entire recomposition of the armies and the adminis- 
 trations, in order to expel tlierefrom the lukewarm 
 and the suspected ; they demand the employment of 
 force agamst trade, in order to prevent it stagnating; 
 and they advocate a system of sanguinary vengeance 
 in order to scare every foe. Men of moderate dispo- 
 sitions, on tlie contrary, are apprehensive of disorgan- 
 ising the armies by remodelling them, of annihilating 
 commerce by using constraint, and of infuriating to 
 revolt liy diliusing alarm ; but their opponents wax
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 221 
 
 yet more \rroth at this very timidity, and more vehe- 
 ment m their determination to remodel, to coerce, to 
 avenge. Such was the spectacle presented at this 
 moment by the left against the right side of tlie con- 
 vention. 
 
 The sitting of the 30th had been rendered extremely 
 violent by the complaints of Roland against the muni- 
 cipality ibr its conduct respecting corn, and by the 
 report of the commissioners sent into the department 
 of Eure-and-Loir. All is recalled at once when we 
 begin to comit up our woes. So, on the one hand, the 
 massacres and the incendiary placards Avere held 
 up to execration ; on the other, the vacillations, the 
 remains of royalism, and the delays ojiposed to the 
 national vengeance, were vehemently^ retorted. Marat 
 had spoken, and excited a general mm-mur. Robes- 
 pierre ascended the tribune amidst the noise, and 
 came forward to propose, as he said, a more effectual 
 means than any that had been propounded to re-esta- 
 blish the public tranquillity, a means which would 
 restore a spkit of impartiality and concord to the 
 assembly', confoimd the enemies of the National Con- 
 vention, impose silence on aU libellists, on all the 
 authors of placards, and belie their calmunies. " What 
 is it?" was asked; "what is this means?" Robes- 
 pierre resumed : " It consists in condemning to-mor- 
 row the tyrant of the French to the exjiiation of his 
 crimes, and thus destroying the rallying point for all 
 conspirators. The following day you will take mea- 
 sures resiKJCtiug i)rovisions, and the day after you 
 will fix the bases of a tree constitution." 
 
 This empliatic and astute mode of assigning the 
 means of safety, and making them consist in a measui'e 
 combated by the right side, aroused the Girondists, 
 and obhged them to enter on the important question of 
 the trial. " You speak of the king," said Buzot : " the 
 e\ il of the disorders is chargeable upon those who are 
 labouring to fill his place. When the proper tune 
 arrives for decidmg on his fate, I shall be prejaared to 
 do so with the severity he has merited ; but we have 
 not that question before us at the jjresent moment ; 
 the subject of inquiry is concerning the troubles, and 
 I declare they spring from anarchy, and anarchy in 
 its turn results from the non-execution of the laws. 
 This non-execution will continue so long as the con- 
 vention shall delay adopting steps to ensure order." 
 Legendre immediately followed Buzot, and besought 
 las colleagues to eschew personal feuds, and give at- 
 tention solely to the public weal and to the seditions, 
 ■which, having no object but that of saving the king, 
 would cease with his life. lie therefore moved tliat 
 the assembly order the ojunions digested on the trial 
 to be laid on the table, printed, and distributed to all 
 the members; and that the decision whether Louis 
 XVI. ought to be tried be subsequently pronomiced, 
 witliout wasting time in listening to long harangues. 
 Jean Bon-Saint-Andi'e contended that no necessity 
 existed for entering upon these jireliminary points, 
 and that the only (iuestions for instant solution were 
 the condemnation and the form of the execution. Tlie 
 convention eventually passed tlie motion of Legendre, 
 and decreed that all the speeches should be j)rinted. 
 The debate was then adjourned to tlie ."Jd December. 
 
 On tlie 3d, opinions were almost universally ex- 
 pressed in favour of the arraignment, the immciliate 
 framing of tlie articles of impeacliment, and tlie settle- 
 ment of the forms according to wliich the trial should 
 ])roceed. Robespierre (•lainie<l to be heard; and al- 
 though it had been decided that all discourses should 
 be printed and not read, he obtained permission to 
 address the assembly, liccause he desired to speak, 
 not upon the trial, but against the trial, and for acon- 
 denmation witliout forms of ijrocess. 
 
 lie argued that to institute a trial was to commence 
 a deliberation; that to permit dclilieration was to 
 sanction doubts, and even a solution favourable to the 
 accused. But to view the criminality of Louis XVI. 
 as problematical, was to condemn the I'lirisians, tlie 
 
 federiUists, all the patriots, in short, who achieved the 
 revolution of the 10th August ; to absolve Louis XVI., 
 tlie aristocrats, the foreign powers and tlieir manifestos 
 — in a word, to declare royalty innocent and the re- 
 public guilty. 
 
 " See," continued Robespierre, " what audacity the 
 enemies of liberty have in consequence acquired since 
 you have started these doubts! In the month of 
 August last, the partisans of the king conceided them- 
 selves. A^'hoever had dared imdertake his vindica- 
 tion would have been punished as a traitor. Now, at 
 the present moment, they raise an audacious front 
 with impunity; insolent publications inundate Paris 
 and the departments ; armed men, introduced within 
 these walls, unknown to you and against the laws, 
 have made this city resound ^vith seditious cries and 
 demands for the impimity of Louis XVI.! It only 
 remains for you to throw open this building to those 
 who are already emulous of the honour of defending 
 him. But what ? — why, even now, Louis divides the 
 mandatories of the people ! They speak for and 
 agamst him ! W^ho could have suspected, two months 
 ago, that the question would have here arisen, whether 
 he be inviolable ? But, since citizen Pc'tion has pre- 
 sented, as a matter of serious debate, and as a subject 
 entitled to mature and separate consideration, the 
 question whetlier the king can be tried, the doctrines 
 of the Constituent Assembly have re-appeared here. 
 How cruninal ! how shamefid ! The tribune of the 
 French people has rung with panegyrics on Louis 
 XVI. ! We have heard the virtues and the benefits 
 of the tyrant vaunted! Whilst we have had the 
 greatest difiiculty in saving the purest citizens from 
 the injustice of a precipitate decision, the cause of the 
 tyrant alone is so sacred that it cannot be too tediously 
 and too dehbcrately discussed ! If we believe his apo- 
 logists, the trial wiU last several months — will stretch 
 into the succeeding sj)ring, when the despots are to 
 make upon us a general attack. What a career opened 
 to conspirators ! What encom'agement given to in- 
 trigue and aristocracy ! 
 
 Just Heaven ! the ferocious hordes of despotism are 
 making ready once more to tear the heart of our 
 country in the name of Loius XVI. ! Louis still fights 
 against us from the recesses of his prison, and j'ou 
 doubt whether he be guilty — whether it be allowable 
 to treat him as an enemy ! You ask what laws con- 
 demn him ! You adduce the constitution in his be- 
 half! Why, the constitution prohibited you from 
 doing what you have done : if he could be jjunished 
 only by dethronement, you were incompetent to pro- 
 nounce it without putting him on his trial ; you had 
 no right to detain him in prison ; he, on the contrary, 
 has a right to claim damages and costs, and his en- 
 largement: the constitution condemns you; hasten 
 to the feet of Louis and invoke his clemency !" 
 
 These declamatory and taunting apostroi>lies, al- 
 though involving no material point not already urged 
 by Saint-Just, produced, nevertheless, a considerable 
 sensation in the assembly, and it determined to pass 
 a definitive resolution before adjourning. Robespierre 
 had insisted that Louis XVI. should be forthwitii 
 judged ; but several members, with Tetion in tlic 
 number, persisted in recommending that, before de- 
 ciding on the forms to be oiiserved, the convention 
 sliould, at all events, ])ronoun(e the arraignment; for 
 that, said they, was an iiuUspensahle iireliminary, witli 
 whatever (lisi)atch it might be wishetl to carry on the 
 process. Robespierre rose to sjieak again, and seemed 
 as it were to insist ujion being heard ; but his pre- 
 sum])tiious demeanour irritated the majority, and the 
 tribune was interdicted him. 
 
 The assembly at length passed the following reso- 
 lution:— "The National ("onvention declares that 
 Louis XVI. shall be tried by it."* 
 
 The next day the forms of the trial were brought 
 
 * .1(1 DcccinbtT.
 
 222 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 under discussion. Buzot, in consequence of the re- 
 peated taunts tlirown out coiioerniiig n\valism, claimed 
 to be heard upon a question of order ; and, us lie allejred, 
 with the view of reiiiovinij all suspicions, he proposed 
 the penalty of death a^'ainst any who should advocate 
 the re-establishment of royalty in France. This was 
 one of the modes which ])arties often adopted to prove 
 that they were incapable of the designs imputed to 
 them. Considerable apj)lause greeted the useless mo- 
 tion ; but the Mountaineers, who, according to their 
 system, ought to have ojiposed no obstacle to its adop- 
 tion, assailed it fruni spleen, and Bazire rose to urge 
 its rejection. He was met with shouts of "Divide! 
 divide!" I'hilipeaux, sujjporting Bazire, moved that 
 the convention attend only to the matters touching 
 Louis XVI., and hold a pernument sitting until his 
 trial should be concluded. The opposers of Buzot's 
 proposition were then asked what motives induced 
 them to repudiate it, since none coiild possibly regret 
 royalty. Lejeune replied that it was recalling to de- 
 bate what had been decided by the abolition of roj'alty. 
 " But," said Bewbel, " the question mooted is the ad- 
 dition of a penal enactment to that abolition ; it is 
 therefore far from bringing under debate any thing 
 already decreed." j\Ierlin, with less tact than bis 
 associates, introduced an amendment, to except the 
 case of a proposition to re-establish royalty, emanat- 
 ing in the primary assemblies, from the application of 
 the penalty of death. Murnmrs arose from all sides 
 against this reservation. " Now the secret's out ! " 
 exclaimed several members. " They wish a king, but 
 one taken from the primary assemblies — from those 
 bodies whence IMarat, Robespierre, and Danton have 
 si)rung." Merlin sought to justify himself by assert- 
 Lig that he intended to pay due homage to the sove- 
 reignty of the people. Ills voice was drowned in in- 
 dignant reproaches of royalism, and a motion was 
 made that he shoul<l be called to order. Thereupon 
 Guadet, with a want of candour sometimes exhibited 
 by highly honourable men in the wrath and passion 
 of discussion, maintained that freedom of opinion ought 
 to be respected, to which, in the present case, the dis- 
 covery of an important secret was owing, that fur- 
 nished the clue to a desperate machination. " The 
 assembl}-," said he, "can have no reason to regret 
 having heard this amendment, which demonstrates to 
 it that a new despotism is intended to succeed the one 
 destroyed ; and it ought to thank Merlin rather than 
 Ciill him to order." A burst of vociferations interrupted 
 Guadet's progress. Bazire, IMerlin, and Kobespierre, 
 denounced the calnnmious implication ; and there is 
 no doubt the charge of purposing to substitute a ple- 
 beian king for the dethroned monarch was equally 
 absurd with that of federalism urged against the 
 Girondists. The assembly eventually decreed the 
 penalty of death against whomsoever should attempt 
 the re-establishment of royalty in France, under any 
 denomination whatever. 
 
 The debate reverted to the forms of the trial and 
 the proposition of a pennanent sitting. Bobespierre 
 again insisted that the judgment should be instantly 
 pronounced. Petion, still supported by the majority, 
 procured a resolution that the sitting .should not be 
 permanent, nor the judgment immediate, but that the 
 assembly wotild devote its attention to the subject, 
 excluding all others, daily, from eleven in the forenoon 
 till s X in the evening. 
 
 Tiie following days were consumed in reading the 
 docununts found in tiie house of Laporte, and others 
 more recently discovered at the palace, in a secret 
 recess, constructed by the king's directions in the 
 thickness of .a wall. The door of this closet was of 
 iron, whence it became known under the name of tlie 
 iron chest. The workman enii)loyed in its formation 
 denounced it to Boland, who, in his eagerness to as- 
 certain the fact, had the imprudence to jiroceed thither 
 upon the spur of the moment, \rithout summoning 
 wuncsses from the ranks of the assembly to accom- 
 
 pany him, which gave occasion to his enemies to allege 
 that he had withheld a portion of the papers. Roland 
 found in it all the documents relative to the communi- 
 cations of the court with the emigrants and divers 
 members of the assemblies. The negotiations of !Mira- 
 beau thereby came to light, and the memory of the 
 great orator was on the point of being proscribed, when 
 Manuel, his ardent admirer, prevailed on the conven- 
 tion to remit the documents to the committee of public 
 instruction, that they might undergo a more ample 
 examination.* It afterwards nominated a committee 
 to frame the articles of impeachment against Louis 
 XVI. with reference to this documentary evidence. 
 When those articles were digested, they were to be 
 submitted to the assembly for approval. Louis XVI. 
 was thereafter to appear in person at the bar of the 
 convention, and be interrogated by the president upon 
 each article of the arraignment. After his examina- 
 tion, two days were to be granted him for the prepa- 
 ration of his defence, and the day succeeding its <a*l- 
 ducement, judgment was to be pronounced by each 
 member individually. The executive power was di- 
 rected to take all necessary measures for ensuring 
 public tranquillity dm'ing the removtd of the king to 
 the assembly. These arrangements were decreed on 
 the 9th December. 
 
 The articles of impeachment were laid before the 
 assembly on the 10th, and the appearance of Louis 
 XVI. was ordered for the day subsequent. 
 
 The unhappy monarch was therefore shortly to 
 apjiear in presence of the National Convention, and 
 undergo an interrogatory upon all the acts of his reign. 
 Information of the mteuded trial, and of the order for 
 appearance, had reached Clcry by the secret means of 
 correspondence he had arranged outside the Temjile, 
 and he communicated it to the afflicted family with 
 palpitating anguish. Not daring to impart it to the 
 king himself, he conveyed his dismal tidings to the ear 
 of the Princess Ehzabeth, and apprised her, further- 
 more, that the commime had determined to separate 
 Louis XVI. from his family during the trial. He 
 settled with the princess a method of corresponding 
 during this separation, which consisted in the trans- 
 mission of a kerchief by Clery, who was to remain 
 with the king, whereby the princesses would be in- 
 formed that their august relative was ill. Such was all 
 the intelhgence these unfortunate prisoners pretended 
 to comnuinicate to each other ! The king was adver- 
 tised by his sister of his approaching interrogatory, 
 and of the separation they were doomed to suffer diu-- 
 ing his trial. He received the tidings with perfect 
 resignation, and prepared to endure the trying scene 
 with firmness. 
 
 The commune had ordered that, on the 11th at 
 dawn, all the administrative bodies should be as- 
 sembled, all the sections under arms, the guard at all 
 the pul)lic places, finance-offices, storehouses, &c., 
 augmented by two hundred men at each post, nume- 
 rous reserves stationed on various points, with a strong 
 artillery, and a chosen escort prepared to accompany 
 the king's carriage. 
 
 On the morning of the 11th, the beating of drums 
 through Paris announced tlie sad and novel event. 
 Comj)anies of troops surrounded the Temple, and the 
 clang of arms and horses penetrated even to the pr 
 soners, wlio feigned ignorance of the cause of such 
 agitation. At nine o'clock, the famil}', according to 
 usage, repaired to the king's apartment for the pur- 
 pose of breakfasting. The mimicipal officers, more 
 watchful than ever, prevented, by their presence, any 
 interchange of feeling. They shortly separated the 
 cajitives. The king in vain solicited that his son 
 miglit be left with him for a few seconds longer. Re- 
 gardless of his entreaties, the boy was torn from him, 
 * These rnpers were revealed in the sitting of the 5tli llecember 
 The convention was moved to immediately break the bust of 
 Mirabean, and order the removal of hisashes from the Pantheon, 
 but it contented itself that day with veiling his bust.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 223 
 
 and he remained alone about two liours. The Mayor 
 of Paris and the procrn-ator of the conimnne then 
 arrived, and cf)mmunicated to him the dceree of the 
 convention, wliieh summoned liim to its bar under tlie 
 name of Louis Capet. " Capet," observed the prince, 
 ^'was the name of one of my ancestors, but is not 
 mine." He thereupon arose, and proceeded to the 
 mayor's carriage -whicli awaited him. Six hundred 
 chosen men surrounded tlie coach. It was preceded 
 by three pieces of cannon, and followed by as many 
 more. A numerous body of cavalry formed the ad- 
 vanced and the rear guard. An immense crowd con- 
 temj)lated the mournfid procession in silence, and with 
 the same apathy it had so often displaj'ed when view- 
 ing the rigorous examples of the old government. A 
 few cries were raised, but very partially. The king 
 heard them without emotion, and conversed placitUy 
 upon the objects that met his eye on the way. When 
 the carriage reached the Feuillants', he was conducted 
 to a room, until the pleasui-e of the assembly Avas de- 
 clared. 
 
 In the mean time, various motions were made rela- 
 tive to the manner of receiving Louis XVI. It Avas 
 proposed that no petition should be presented, no 
 deputy allowed to s])eak, and no sign of sympathy or 
 antipathy manifested towards the king. " We ought 
 to scare hmi Avith the silence of the tomb," said Le- 
 gendre. A general iniirnuir condemned the unfeeling 
 phrase. Defermont moved that a seat be placed for 
 the accused. The proposition Avas deemed too essen- 
 tial to be put to the vote, and a seat was placed at the 
 bar. Through a ridiculous vanity, Manuel suggested 
 that the question standing on tlie order of the day 
 should be discussed, so as to avoid appearing sinsijly 
 occupied Avith the king ; " even," he added, " should 
 we make him wait at the door." The assembly ac- 
 cordingly proceeded to discuss a law upon the emi- 
 grants. 
 
 Santerre at length annoimced the arrival of Louis 
 XVI. Rarrere was president. " Citizens," said he, 
 " P^urope has its eyes upon you. Posterity Avill judge 
 you Avith inflexible severity ; preserve, therefore, the 
 dignity and calmness which betit judges. Remember 
 the aAvful silence Avhicli met Louis on his return from 
 Varennes." 
 
 Louis appeared at the bar about half-past tAvo. The 
 mayor and the Generals Santerre and WittengoiF Avere 
 at his side. A profound stillness pervaded the hall. 
 The dignity of Louis, and his tranquil countenance, 
 in so extraordinary a reverse, affected CA'ery specta- 
 tor. The deputies of the centre were visibly moA'ed. 
 The Girondists evinced deep commiseration. Even 
 Saint-Just, Robespierre, and Marat, felt their fanati- 
 cism giving way, and were surprised to find a man in 
 the king they pursued so remorselessly. 
 
 •' Be seated," said Barrere to Louis, " and answer the 
 questions that may be addressed to you." Louis seated 
 himself, and listened whilst the articles of impeach- 
 nient Avere read over, section by section. In them, all 
 the faults of the court were recapitulated, and charged 
 personally on Louis XVI. He Avas upbraided with 
 the interruption of the sittings on the 'ioth June 178!t ; 
 Avith the bed of justice held on the 2.'5d of the same 
 month ; Avith the aristocratic consj)iracy foiled by the 
 insurrection of tlie 14th July; Avith tlie l)an(]iiet to 
 tlie body-guards; Avitli the insults heaped on tlie na- 
 tional cockade; Avith the refusal to sanction the decla- 
 ration of rights, as also various constitutional articles; 
 Avith all the facts which made manifest a ncAV con- 
 spiracy in October, and which Avere folloAved by the 
 scenes of the .0th and Gth ; with the conciliatory 
 speeches which had succeeded those scenes, jiromising 
 a change never intended ; Avitli the false oath taken at 
 the federation of the 14th .Jidy; Avith tlie secret in- 
 trigues of Talon and Mirabeau to effect a counter- 
 revolution ; with the money ajipi'opriated to corrupt 
 a number of deputies ; with the gatliering of " the 
 knights of the dagger" on tlie 28th February 1791 ; 
 
 with the flight to Varennes ; with the slaugliter on 
 the Champ de Mars ; Avith the silence obserA-ed re- 
 specting the convention of Pilnitz; with the delay in 
 the promulgation of the decree reuniting AA'ignon to 
 France ; Avith the commotions at Ximes, Montauljan, 
 Mende, and Jalles ; Avith the continuance of their pay 
 to emigrant body-guards and to the disbanded consti- 
 tutional guard ; Avith the secret correspondence Avith 
 the emigrant princes ; with the insufficiency of the 
 armies assembled on the frontiers ; with the refusal to 
 sanction the decree for the camp of 20,000 men ; Avith 
 the dismantling of all the fortresses ; Avith the tardy 
 announcement of the march of the Prussians ; Avith 
 the organisation of secret companies in the interior of 
 Paris ; Avith the revicAv of the Swiss and other troops 
 which formed the garrison of the palace on the morn- 
 ing of the 10th August; Avith the doubling of that 
 guard ; A^ith the summons of the mayor to the 
 Tuileries ; lastly, Avith the effusion of blood, which 
 had been the consequence of those military disposi- 
 tions. 
 
 If regi'et for his former power were not allowed as 
 excusable and natural, every thing in the conduct of 
 the king might be tortured into crime ; for his con- 
 duct was but one long regret, interspersed Avith occa- 
 sional timid efforts to recoA'er what he had lost. After 
 each article, the president paused, saying, " What 
 have you to answer ?" The king, alAvays speaking in 
 a firm voice, denied part of the facts, threw the re- 
 mainder on his ministers, and constantly appealed to 
 the constitution, Avhich he asscA'erated he had ncA-er 
 infringed. His ansAvers were throughout calm and de- 
 liberate. But at the accusation — " You caused the hloud 
 of tlie people tofloH) on the IQth August!" he exclaimed, 
 in a loud tone, " No, sir, no — it was not I." 
 
 All the docmuents were afterwards exhibited to 
 him, and, using an unquestionable privilege, he re- 
 fused to acknoAvledge some of them, and contested the 
 existence of the iron chest. This denial produced an 
 unfaA-ourable impression; and it was certainly ill- 
 judged, for the fact was placed beyond all doubt' He 
 finally demanded copies of the articles of impeachment 
 and of the documents adduced, and counsel to aid him 
 in his defence. 
 
 The president notified to him that he might retire. 
 Refreshments were presented to him in the adjoin- 
 ing apartment ; and being conducted back to" the 
 carriage, he was once more removed to the Temple. 
 He arriA'cd there at half-past six, and his first anxiety 
 was to see his family : the re(iuest was refused, on the 
 allegation that the eoimiume had ordered the separa- 
 tion during the continuance of the trial. At half-past 
 eight, Avhen supper Avas announced to him, lie again 
 solicited leave to embrace his cliiidren. The gloomy 
 suspicions of the commune rendered all the keepers 
 inexoralile; and that consolation Avas once more harshly 
 denied him. 
 
 During this interval, tlie assend)ly Avas a scene of 
 tumult, owing to the re(|uest made by Louis XVI. to 
 be allowed counsel. Treilliard and IVtion argued Avith 
 vehemence that the demimd should lie conceded ; Tal- 
 lieii, H'.llaud-Vareniies, Chabot, and .Merlin, ojiposed 
 it Avith equal force, asserting that it Avas a mere ]>re- 
 tence to retard the proceedings by chicanery. The 
 assembly, in I'onclusion, granted counsel. Adeputa- 
 tion was appointed to Avait on Louis XVI., conmiuni-» 
 cate to liim this restiliition, and ascertain from him 
 U])()n Avjioni liis choice fell. 'J'lie king named Target, 
 or, failing him, Troncliet, and both if it Avere iiossible. 
 He also requested tliat he might be supjiiied Avith 
 pens, ink, and jiaper, to jirejiare materials for his 
 defence, and be ]HTmitted to see his family. The 
 convention imnu'diately ordained that every thing 
 necessary for writing slioidd he furnished to him; that 
 the two advocates Avliom lie had selected should be 
 ajqirisedof the preference shoAvn them; that he should 
 be idloAved the freest intercourse with them; and tiiat 
 he might see his family.
 
 224 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Target declined the commission which Louis XVI. 
 intrusted to him, alleging as a reason that he had 
 been unable, ever since 1785, to pursue the labours of 
 the bar. Tronclict instantly wrote that lie was ready 
 to accei)t the I'unctiijns confided to bun ; and whilst 
 the aijpoiutnient of a second counsel was under de- 
 liberation, a letter was received from a citizen, a 
 septuagenarian, the venerable Maleslierbes, the friend 
 and associate of Turgot. and the most respected 
 magistrate in France. The noble veteran wrote to the 
 ])resident: " I have been twice called to the council of 
 liim who was my master, at a time wlien that service 
 was an object of univers;d ambition; I owe him the 
 sanje obedience when it is a service deemed dangerous 
 by nuuiy." He besought the president to inform 
 Louis XVI. that he was prepared to devote all his 
 energies in liis defence. 
 
 Several other citizens made the same offer, with 
 which the king was duly ac(iuainted. He thanked 
 them all, but accepted Tronchetand ilalesherbes only. 
 The conunune directed that the two advocates should 
 be subjected to the most minute search before they 
 were ushered into tlie presence of their client. The 
 convention, wliich liad ordered unrestricted communica- 
 tlun, re-asserted its resolution, and they were allowed 
 to enter the Temple without obstruction. On seeing 
 Maleslierbes, the king advanced to meet him ; the 
 venerable oil man fell at his feet, and burst into tears. 
 The king raised him, and they remained in a long 
 embrace. The business of the defence, however, de- 
 manded and obtained their speedy attention. Com- 
 missioners from the assembly brought the documents 
 to the Temjile daily, with orders to communicate their 
 contents, but not to part from their possession. The 
 king examined them with great attention, and with a 
 traiKiuillity likewise which infinitely astonished tlie 
 commissioners. 
 
 The only consolation he had solicited, permission to 
 see liis family, had not yet been granted to him, not- 
 withstanding the decree of the convention. The com- 
 mune, already disposed to throw every olistacle in the 
 way of the indulgence, had petitioned for the repeal of 
 the decree. " You will vainly enjoin it," said Tallien 
 to the convention ; " if the commune be unwilling, it 
 will not be cai'ried into effect." These insolent words 
 excited considerable tumult. However, the assembly, 
 modifying its decree, ordained that the king might 
 have his two children with him, but on condition that 
 the children shoidd not return to their mother during 
 the entire process. The king, sensible that they were 
 most necessary to their mother, refused to deprive her 
 of them, and submitted to this new ;iffliction with a 
 resignation no intlignity could shake. 
 
 In jiroportion as the trial advanced, tlie vast im- 
 portance of the question at issue became more jierfectly 
 understood. On the one hand were those who felt 
 assnreil that proceeding by regicide against the old 
 royalty was embarking in an inexorable system of 
 vengeance and atrocity, and declaring war to the death 
 against the former order of things: they were willing, 
 indeed, to abrogate that order of things, but not 
 to destroy it in so violent a manner. On the other 
 liand were those who desired that very war to the 
 death, as admitting no more vacillation or return, and 
 iis i)lanting an iinpassal)le barrier between the mo- 
 narchy and the revolution. The person of the king 
 was scarcely considered in the greatness of the ques- 
 tion; all attention was engrossed on the one point, 
 vhetlier it were expedient or nt)t to break entirely 
 with tlie past by one decisive and irrevocable act. The 
 result alone was weighed, and the victim destined for 
 the sacrifice was in the interim overlooked. 
 
 The Girondists, steadfast in their detestation of the 
 Jacobins, unceasingly upbraided them with the mas- 
 sacres of September, and represented them as anar- 
 chists, scheming to overawe the assembly i)y terror, 
 and to immolate the king for the purpose of replacing 
 him by the triumvirs. Guadet almost succeeded in 
 
 exjielliug them from the convention, by procuring a 
 decree that tlie electoral assemblies of the whole 
 country should be convoked in order to confirm or 
 recall their deputies. This proposition, adopted and 
 rescinded in the course of one sitting, had struck con- 
 siderable alarm into the Jacobins. Other circum- 
 stances likewise tended to augment their uneasiness. 
 The federalists continued to arrive from all quarters. 
 The municipalities forwarded a midtitude of addresses, 
 in which, whilst approving of the re])ublic, and ap- 
 plauding the convention for ha\ing instituted it, they 
 rejirohateil the crimes and excesses of anarchy. The 
 affiliated soeieties also continually reproached the 
 l)arent society with having in its bosom men of blood, 
 who contaminated pul)lic morality and advocated 
 attemiits on the security of the convention. Some 
 even repudiated their jiarent, declaring they cast away 
 all further affiliation, and announcing that at the first 
 signal they would fly to Paris to support the assembly. 
 All especially called for the expulsion of Marat, some 
 for that of Kobespierre himself 
 
 The dispirited Jacobins allowed that opinion was 
 growing corrupt in France ; Init they exhorted each 
 other to hold together, and to use all diligence in 
 writing to the tUfierent provinces, and enlightening 
 their tleceived brethren. They accused " the traitor" 
 Roland of intercei)ting their correspondence, and sub- 
 stituting f(jr their wholesome lessons hypocritical 
 writings calculated to pervert the miderstanding. They 
 proposed a volmitary subscription for the purpose of 
 disseminating sound pnbhcations, particularly the 
 "admirable" discourses of Kobespierre; and sought 
 means for securing their safe delivery in spite of Ro- 
 land, who violated, as they alleged, the freedom of the 
 post-office. At the same time, they agreed that Marat 
 compromised them by the violence of liis writings, and 
 that it was essential the i^arent society shoidd make 
 known to France how marked a distinction it held to 
 exist between Marat, whose lieated temperament car- 
 ried him beyond bounds, and the prudent, virtuous 
 Robespierre, who, always within proper limits, upheld 
 without weakness, as also without exaggeration, the 
 just and possible course. Previously, however, a 
 vehement dispute had occurred in the club res]iecting 
 those two men. It had been generally acknowledged 
 that Marat was a man of bold and powerful intellect, 
 but too excitable. He had been usefid to the cause of 
 the iK'ople, it was allowed, but he knew not where to 
 stop. The partisans of Marat had replied that he did 
 not deem it necessary to execute all that he had re- 
 commended, and that none was so good a judge as he 
 of the limit at wliich things ought to bt; stayed. They 
 adduced several of his passages. jMarat had said: — 
 " There needs but one Marat in the republic. I demand 
 the yreater to obtain the lesft. My hand shouhl wither 
 rather than wj-ite, if I thou(/ht the people would execute to 
 the letter all that I advise. I overtask tlie people because I 
 know they will banjain with me." The galleries had ap- 
 ])lauded and su])|)orted this justification of Marat, But 
 the society had finally resolved to frame an address, in 
 whicii, pourt raying the characters of Marat and Robes- 
 pierre, it should show how striking a ditt'erence it 
 placed between the discretion of the one and the vehe- 
 mence of the other.* ,i\fter deciding upon this mea- 
 
 * Aniong3t the many curious judgments pixsscd upon Muivit 
 and Robespierre, that pronounced in the Jacobin Club in the sit- 
 ting of Sunday, 2:id December 17!'-', ought not to be omitted. I 
 know nothing more accurately descriptive of the spirit .and temper 
 of the moment than the discussion upon the characters of those 
 two men. The following is an extract : — 
 
 " Destieux road <)\er the coiTcspondcnce. A letter from a 
 society, whose name Iuls escaixjd us, gave rise to consiilemblc dis- 
 cussion, calculated to evoke important reflections. This society 
 announced to the parent society that it was invariably attached 
 to the principles of the Jacobins, that it had not allowed itself to 
 be blinded by the calumnies so profusely scattered against Mm-U 
 .and Robespierre, and that it continued all its esteem and venera- 
 tion for those two incorruptible friends of the penjife. 
 
 Tills letter was warmly applauded, but was followed by a dl>
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 225 
 
 sure, several others were adopted, and especially a 
 determination not to relax for an instant in urging tlie 
 departure of the federalists for the frontiers. Accord- 
 ingly, wlienever intelligence reached Paris that the 
 army under Dumouriez Avas weakened by desertion, 
 the Jacobins exclaimed tliat the reinforcement of the 
 federalists was indispensable. Marat pul)lished tliat 
 the volunteers who had first gone oflT had been kept 
 for upwards of a year, and that it was time to rephice 
 them by those loitering in Paris. It was known, too, 
 about this time, that Custine had been obliged to 
 abandon Frankfort, that EeurnonA-ille's attack on the 
 electorate of Treves had been fruitless ; and tlie Jaco- 
 bins failed not to maintain tliat if those two generals 
 had been strengthened by the federalists who uselessly 
 crowded the capital, they would have been spared the 
 disgrace of those checks. 
 
 The various tidings of the fruitless attempt of Beur- 
 nonville and the repulse of Custine had powerfully 
 agitated the public mind. It had needed little fore- 
 sight to predict both ; for Beurnonville, attacking un- 
 assailable positions, ui a bad season, and with insnfti- 
 cient means, could not succeed ; and Custine, pertina- 
 ciously refusing to recoU upon the Khine of his own 
 accord, shunning so signal an avowal of his tcmeritj', 
 must infallibly be reduced to a retreat upon Mayence. 
 Public misfortunes always furnish parties with aliment 
 for invective. The Jacobins, who were sufficiently 
 
 cussion which Brissot and Gorsas, who are assuredJy prophets, 
 foretold the evening before. 
 
 Robert. — ' It is very surprising that people will perpetually con- 
 found the names of Marat and Robespierre. How the public 
 mind must bo corrupted in the departments, when no difference 
 is observed between those two defenders of the peo])!e ! They 
 have both virtues, it is true ; Marat is a patriot, and has truly 
 estimable qualities, I admit ; but how different is he from Robes- 
 pierre ! Hf is prudent, ninderate in his means, whilst Jlarat is 
 prone to ex.iggeration, and has not that wisdona which charac- 
 terises Robespierre. It is not sufficient to be a patriot ; in order to 
 serve the people usefully, a man must be reserved in his means 
 of execution ; and Robespierre incomparably excels Marat in the 
 means of execution. 
 
 It is time, citizens, to tear away the veil which conceals the 
 truth from the eyes of the departments ; it is time they should 
 know that we draw a marked distinction between Marat and 
 Robespierre. Let us write to the afhliated societies what we 
 think of those two citizens ; for, I confess to you, I am no gi-eat 
 admirer of Marat.' (Murmurs in thegallories, and partially from 
 the haU.) 
 
 Bourdon. — ' We ought to have made known our sentiments 
 toucliing Marat long ago to the affiliated societies. How is it 
 possible they could ever confound Marat and Robespierre ? 
 Robespicn-e is a man essentially virtuous, against whom, during 
 the whole revolution, we have no reproach to make ; Robespierre 
 is moderate in his means, whilst Marat, on the contrary, is an 
 unbridled WTiter, who greatly injures the .Jacobins (murmurs) ; 
 and, besides, it is proper to observe, that Marat does us infinite 
 mischief in the National Convention. 
 
 The deputies conceive that we are partisans of Marat ; they 
 call us Maralists ; if we show that we rightly estimate Jlarat, 
 you will soon see the deputies draw near tlie Mountain on which 
 we sit ; you will sec them come into the bosom of this society ; 
 j'ou will see the affiliated societies recover from their aberration, 
 and rally anew aroimd the cradle of liberty. If Marat boa patriot, 
 he must accede to t!ic motion I am about to submit. Marat will be 
 ready to sacrifice himself to the cause of liberty. I move that his 
 name be erased from the list of members of tliis society." 
 
 This motion excited a few plaudits, violent nuinuurs in a part 
 of the hall, and tumultuous agitation in the galleries. 
 
 It was remembered that eii,'ht dnys before this novel scene, 
 Marat had been loaded with applause in tlie society ; the people 
 in the galleries, who have good memories, recollected the circum- 
 stance very distinctly ; they could not imagine how so prompt u 
 change liad come over the sjiirits of men ; and, ivs the moral in- 
 stinct of the people is always just, they were higlily indignimt at 
 the proposition of Bourdon : they defended their virtuous friend ; 
 they refused to believe that, in the short space of a week, he 
 could have forfeited the esteem of the society, for although it had 
 been said that ingratitude was a virtue of republics, it would re- 
 quire some difficulty to famili;irisc the French people with such 
 vii-tues. 
 
 inimical to generals suspected of an aristocratic bias, 
 seized upon the occasion, declaimed with fury agahist 
 tliem, and denounced them as FeuiUants and Giron- 
 dists. Marat failed not to inveigli more emphatically 
 than ever against the rage for conquest, which he had 
 always blamed, he said, and which, moreover, was but 
 a disguised ambition of the generals to attain a posi- 
 tion of formidalile greatness. Robespierre, pointing 
 the odium according to tlie instigations of his malice, 
 contended that it was not tlie generals who were to 
 blame, but the infamous faction which ruled the 
 assembly and the executive power. The perfidious 
 Roland, the intriguing Brissot, the ■wi-etches Louvet, 
 Guadet, Vergniaud, were the authors of all the dis- 
 asters that afflicted France. He craved to lie the first 
 assassinated by them, but he hoped ere that occurred 
 to have the pleasure of denouncing them. IJuniouriez 
 and Custine, he added, knew them, and took good care 
 to hold aloof from them ; but all feared them, tecause 
 they disposed of gold, places, and all the resources of 
 the republic. Their intention was to enslave it, and 
 for that purpose they fettered all the true patriots, 
 prevented the development of their energy, and thus 
 exposed France to be vanquished by its enemies. Their 
 more immediate design was to annihilate the society 
 of Jacobins, and to massacre all who shoidd have cou- 
 rage to resist. " For myself," he exclaimed, " I ask to 
 be assassmated by Roland ! " * 
 
 The union of the names of Jlarat and Robespierre was not at 
 all revolting to tlie people ; their ears had been long accustomed 
 to hear tliem named in conjunction in the corresixmdence ; and, 
 after lia\ing repeatedly seen the society moved with indignation 
 when the clubs of other departments denuvnded the expulsion of 
 Marat, they were far from deeming tliemselvcs bound to support 
 the present motion of Bourdon. 
 
 A citizen from an affiliated society pressed upon the attention 
 of the society how really dangerous it was to join together the 
 names of Marat and Robespierre. ' In the departments,' said he, 
 ' we draw a gi-eat distinction between Marat and Robespierre ; 
 but we are surprised to see the society silent upon tlio dift'erences 
 between these two patriots. I propose to the society, after it has 
 decided upon the fate of Jlarat, to speak no more of affiliation, as 
 that word ought not to be pronounced in a reiiublic, but to ase 
 the term/riitcr»isa'ion instead.' , 
 
 nii/oiiriii/. — ' I oppose the motion for striking Jlarat off the list 
 of the society. (Great applause.) I will not deny the difference 
 that exists between Jlarat and Robespieri'e. Those two writers, 
 who may be likened to each other in patriotism, have very re- 
 markable points of difference ; they have both .served the cause of 
 thepeople, but by different modes. Robespierre has defended the 
 true principles with method, firmness, and all befitting discretion ; 
 Jlarat, on the contrary, has often overstepped the bounds of sound 
 reason and prudence. Still, although granting the distinction 
 existing between JLarat and Robespierre, I am not in favour of 
 tlie expulsion ; we may be just without being ungrateful to Jlarat. 
 Jlarat has been serviceable to us, he has aided the revolution with 
 courage. (Repeated cheers from the society and the galleries.) It 
 would be ungrateful to erase him. (Yes! yes! from all sides.) 
 Marat is an indispensable person ; in revolutions there is a call 
 for those strong minds capable of uniting states, and Jlarat is one 
 of the rare characters necessiiry to overthrow despotism. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 I conclude with moving that the motion of Bourdon be rejected, 
 and thiit the society contents itself with writing to the uthliatcd 
 clubs, signifying to them the distinction we mark between Jlarat 
 and Robespierre.' (Applause.) 
 
 The society resolved that it would no longer use the term affi- 
 liation, regarding it as repulhive to republican equality ; it substi- 
 tuted for it the word fraternisation. Tlie society afterwards 
 resolved that Jlarat should not be erased from the list of mem- 
 bers, but that it would address a circular to all the societies hold- 
 ing the right of fiatcrnis;ition, in wliich should be detailed tho 
 relations, rcsembhmces, dissemblances, affinities, an<l estrange- 
 ments which were traceable between Jlarat and Robespierre, in 
 or<ler that all those who fraternised with the Jacobins might bo 
 enabled to judge in full cognisance of those two defeiulers of the 
 jioople, and finally learn to separate two names which they erro- 
 neously deemed were linked in an eternal imion." 
 
 ♦ Sitting of the .Tacobins, 12th December.
 
 226 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 This frantic hatred, communicating itself to the 
 •whole society, stirred it like a tempestuous sea. The 
 members pledged themselves to an implacable war 
 with tlie faction ; tliey reiK-Ued in advance aU idea 
 of reconciliation ; and as a new proposal of neirotia- 
 tion had been recently canvassed, they bound them- 
 selves to reject for ever the Lamourette kins. 
 
 Similar scenes occurred in the assembly during the 
 delay which had been granted to Louis XVI. for the 
 preparation of his defence. Complaints were inces- 
 santly repeated that tlie royalists every where menaced 
 the patriots and distributed pamphlets in favour of 
 the king. Thuriot proposed a measure to meet the 
 crisis ; it consisted in punisliing witli death whomso- 
 ever should meditate disru])turing the unit}' of the re- 
 l)ublic or dismembering any jwrtion. This was a decree 
 against the fable of federalism, that is to say, against 
 the Girondists. Buzot liastened to retort by another 
 project, and moved a decree of exile against the family 
 of Orleans. Parties are thus prone to the excliange 
 of falsehoods, and take vengeance for calumnies by 
 Imrling back others. Whilst the Jacobins, therefore, 
 accused the Girondists of federalism, these reproached 
 the former witli intending the Dulce of Orleans for 
 the tlirone, and thirsting for the blood of Louis XVI. 
 merely to render the place vacant. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans lingered in existence at Paris, 
 vainly striving to be forgotten in the midst of the con- 
 vention. He could scarcely find that position, en- 
 compassed by furious demagogues, a.sreeable to his 
 feelings ; but wliither could lie fly ? In Europe, the 
 emigration sat in waiting for liim, and outrages, pos- 
 sibly even extreme punishments, tlireatened the kins- 
 man of royalty, who had repudiated his birth and liis 
 rank. In France, he souglit to Imry his origin in obli- 
 vion by assuming the most humble designations, and 
 he styled himself £(/a/(7e'(Fqiiality). But the remem- 
 brance of liis former dignity was ineffaceable, and the 
 evidence of his vast weidtli always present. L'nlcss 
 he clotlied himself in rags, and rendered himself despi- 
 cable by affected cynicism, how was lie to escape sus- 
 picions? In the Girondist ranks lie had been ruined 
 at once ; and all the reproaches of royalism directed 
 iigainst them would have been held justified. In 
 those of tlie Jacobins, he had the mob of Paris as a 
 suj)port ; but he was pretty certain to provoke the 
 accusations of the Girondists, as in truth was demon- 
 strated. Tliey, abhorring him for ranking with their 
 enemies, concluded that, in order to render himself 
 supportable, he lavished his treasures upon the anar- 
 cliists, and supplied their party with the powerful aid 
 of his fortune. 
 
 The suspicious Louvet was more credulous, and 
 sincerely believed he still liarlioured hopes of royalty. 
 It was without participating in that opinion, but to 
 meet the assault of Thuriot by anotlier, that Buzot 
 ascended the tribune. " If the decree proposed by 
 Tliuriut be calculated to restore confidence," said he, 
 " I am about to submit one equally well calculated to 
 l)roduce tliat desirable end. The monarchy is laid 
 l)rostrate, but it still lives in tlie habits and m the 
 remembrances of its fonncr creatures. Let us imi- 
 tate tlie Romans ; they chase<l away Tarquin and his 
 family ; in like manner let us expel the family of the 
 Bourbons. A part of tliat family is in irons, but there 
 is another yet more dangerous, bec:iuse it was more 
 popular— I mean that of Orleans. The bust of Orleans 
 was paraded through I'aris; his sons, warmed by 
 courage, have distinguished themselves in our armies"; 
 but the very merits of the family render it hazardous 
 to liberty. Let it make a final sacrifice to the coimtry 
 by voluntarily Avithdrawing from its soil ; let it betake 
 elsewhere the calamity of liaving stood near the throne, 
 and the still greater calamity of bearing a name which 
 is odious to us, and which cannot fail to soimd harshly 
 in the ear of every freeman." 
 
 Louvet, succeeding Buzot, and addressing Orleans 
 liimself, urged upon him the spontaneous exile of Col- 
 
 latinus, and besought him to imitate it. Lanjuinais 
 reverted to the elections of Paris, whereby Egalite was. 
 deputed, and which were conducted under the poniards 
 of the anarchist faction ; he recalled the efforts that 
 were made to obtain the nomination of a chancellor of 
 the house of Orleans to tlie ministry of war, and the 
 influence its sons had acquired in the armies ; for all 
 which reasons, he moved the banishment of the Bour- 
 bons. Bazire, Saint-Just, and Chabot, rose to oppose 
 the motion, rather from enmity to the Girondists than 
 interest for Orleans. They contended that this was 
 not the moment to crush the only member of the Bour- 
 bon race who had evinced loyalty towards the nation ; 
 that the duty of the convention was first to punish 
 the cai)tive Bourbon, and then to frame the constitu- 
 tion, after which it might direct its attention to citi- 
 zens who had become dangerous ; that, furthermore, 
 sending Orleans out of France was consigning him to 
 death, and that so cruel a measure ought at least to 
 be delayed. Nevertheless, the banislimeut was decreed 
 by acclamation. The oidy additional point to settle, 
 in drawing up the decree, was the period at which the 
 banishment should commence. " Since you use the 
 ostracism against Egalite," said I\Ierlin, " employ it 
 against all dangerous men ; and, first of all, I ask it 
 against the executive power." "Against Roland!" 
 exclaimed Albitte. "Against Roland and Pache!" 
 added Barrcre, " since they have become the cause of 
 disunion amongst us. Let them both be banished 
 from the ministry, as a propitiation to peace and 
 union." Kersaint, however, expressed an apprehen- 
 sion lest England might take advantage of the mini- 
 sterial disorganisation to declare war, as she had done 
 in 1757, when D'Argenson and IMachau were dis- 
 graced ; and Rewbel inquired whether a representa- 
 tive of the people could be banished, and whether 
 Philip Egalite, under that character, did not belong 
 to the nation which had nominated him. 
 
 These various observations arrested the current of 
 passion. The subject was dropped, then resumed, and, 
 without revoking the decree of banishment against 
 the Bourbons, the convention adjourned the debate 
 for three days, to afford an mterval for resentments 
 to subside, and for more maturely considering the 
 questions, whether it was competent to banish Ega- 
 lite, and whether it could without hazard disijlace the 
 two ministers of the ulterior and of war. 
 
 This debate was eminentlj' qualified to arouse the 
 fiercest tumult in the sections, at the commune, and 
 at the Jacol)in Club. Ostracism became the absorbing 
 clamour of the moment, and petitions were prepared 
 in all quarters to be presented at the resumption of 
 the deb;*te. The three days elapsed, and the discus- 
 sion recommenced. The mayor came at the head of 
 the sections to solicit the repeal of the decree. The 
 assembly passed to the order of the day after hearing 
 the address ; but Petion, seeing how great a ferment 
 the question excited, moved its adjournment imtil 
 after the trial of Louis XVI. This species of com- 
 promise was adojited, and the fuU fury of the storm 
 returned on the defenceless victim, against whom all 
 passions found vent. The celebrated trial was there- 
 fore immediately resumed. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 COXTINUATION OF THE TRIAL OF LOtHS XVT. HIS 
 
 I>KFKN'CE. — HIS CONDEJIXATION. — HIS LAST MINUTES 
 IN THE PRISON AND ON THE SCAFFOLD. 
 
 The interval granted to Louis XVI. for preparing 
 his defence, was scarcely sufficient to thoroughly in- 
 vestigate the multifarious records upon which it 
 was to be founded. His two advocates solicited tlie 
 assistance of a third, younger and more active than 
 themselves, who miglit frame and deliver the defence, 
 whilst they souglit out and arranged its materiaii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 227 
 
 This young adjunct was the advocate Dest-ze, who 
 had defended Besenval after the 14th Jidy. The con- 
 vention, having already conceded the defence, made 
 no objection to an additional counsel, and M. Deseze 
 obtained, like Malesherbes and Tronchet, the privi- 
 lege of entering the Teni])le. A committee carried 
 the documents thither daily, and exlnl)ited them to 
 Louis XVI., who inspected them witli the greatest 
 coolness, and as if the process had concerned another, 
 as a report of the conimmie expressed it. He evinced 
 the most marked politeness towards the conmiissioners, 
 and ordered them refreshments when the considta- 
 tions stretched to an unusual length. Whilst he was 
 occupied with his trial, he had discovered a mode of 
 commimicating with his family. He wrote by means 
 of the pens and paper allowed him for composing his 
 defence, and the princesses pricked their reply upon 
 the paper with needles. They sometimes folded the 
 notes ill balls of thread, which an attendant from the 
 kitchen, whilst serving dinner, threw under the table ; 
 and at other times they let them down by a string of 
 packthread from one floor to the other. The unhappy 
 captives were thus enabled to give each other tidings 
 of their health, and experienced much consolation 
 from the assurance that sickness was not also one of 
 their afflictions. 
 
 At length M. Deseze had finished the defence by 
 devoting day and night to its compilation. The king 
 made him suppress all that was too oratorical, desir- 
 ing to restrict himself to the simple discussion of the 
 points upon which he rested his case. On the 26th, 
 at half-past nine in the morning, all the armed force 
 was in motion to conduct him from the Temple to the 
 Feuillants, with the same jirecautions and in the same 
 order as upon the former occasion. Seated in the 
 carriage of the mayor, he conversed with him on the 
 way with his invariable tranquillity ; they talked of 
 Seneca, of Titus-Livius, of tlie hosjjitals ; he even 
 addressed a sprightly witticism to one of the muni- 
 cipal officers who kept his hat on in the carriage. 
 Arrived at the Feuillants, he asked with soUcitude for 
 his advocates, sat by their side in the assembly, sur- 
 veyed with infinite calmness the benches on which 
 his accusers and his judges were seated, appeared to 
 scan their countenances as if seeking to observe the 
 effect of M. Heseze's address, and more than once 
 interchanged a few words with Tronchet and Male- 
 sherbes, with a snnle upon his countenance. The 
 assembly heard his defence in gloomy silence, and 
 without testifying any disapprobation. 
 
 The advocate divided his address into two parts — 
 the prineijjles of right, and the facts charged upon 
 Louis XVI. 
 
 Although the assemlily, by deciding that the king 
 should be tried by it, had explicitly declared that the 
 inviolability coidd not be invoked, Deseze argued suc- 
 cessfully that nothing could limit the defence, and 
 that its scope remained unfettered even after the 
 decree ; consei|iKiitly, if Louis XVI. deemed the 
 inviolability etUraciuus, he had a right to urge it. He 
 was obliged preliminarily to acknowledge the sove- 
 reignty of the peoi)le ; and, with all the defenders of 
 the constitution of 1791, he contended tliat the sove- 
 reignty, albeit absolute and uncontrolled, could be 
 bound; that it had so inten(k'd with reference to 
 Louis XVI., when covenanting tlie invi()lal)ility ; that 
 it had not designed an al)sur(lity in the system of the 
 monarchy ; tiiat in consequence the obligation was 
 valid, and ought to be executed ; and that all conceiv- 
 able crimes, had the king committtMl siK'li, could be 
 punished oidy by <leposition. He said tiiat, unless it 
 were so, the constitution of 17'J1 was a barbarous 
 snare laid for Louis XVI., since a pledge had been 
 given him with tlie secret intention of not observing 
 it; but that if Louis were to l)e denied his rights as a 
 king, he should surely be allowed tbose of a citizen, 
 and he asked where Avere the preservative forms which 
 every citizen had a riglit to claim, such as tlie distinc- 
 
 tion between the accusing and the judging jury, the 
 privilege of challenge, the majority of two^thirds, the 
 secret vote, and the silenceof the judges whilst form- 
 ing their opinion. He added, with a boldness which 
 failed to disturb the absolute stillness, that he looked 
 every where for judges, but that his eye lighted only 
 upon accusers. 
 
 He then passed to the division of facts, which he 
 ranged under two heads — those which had preceded, 
 and those whicli had followed the acceptance of the 
 constitutional act. The first were covered by the 
 acceptance of that act, the otliers by the inviolability. 
 He did not abstain from discussing them notwith- 
 standing, and entered upon an eJFective refutation, 
 because the managers of the impeachment had ad- 
 duced a midtitude of insignificant facts in default of 
 precise proof of intercourse with foreigners — a crime 
 which they deemed quite undoubted, but whereof 
 positive evidence was still wanting. He triumphantly 
 repelled the accusation of having shed French blood 
 on the 10th August. Louis XVL, in fact, was not 
 the aggressor on that day, l)ut the people. It was but 
 just that Louis XVI., attacked and besieged, should 
 endeavour to defend himself, and adopt the necessary 
 precautions. The magistrates themselves had sanc- 
 tioned his doing so, and had given the troops a formal 
 order to repel force by force. Notwithstanding that, 
 said M. Deseze, the king was unwilling to make use 
 of that authority, which he held both from nature and 
 the law, and he retired into the sanctuary of the legis- 
 lative body to prevent the effusion of blood. The con- 
 test which ensued did not imjihcate him, but ought 
 to be regarded favourably rather than revengefully, so 
 fiir as he was concerned, inasmuch as it was upon au 
 order under his hand that the Swiss abandoned the 
 defence of the palace and of tlieir own lives. It was, 
 tlien, a flagrant injustice to ujibraid Louis XVI. with 
 liaving shed French blood, li.r on that point he was 
 irreproacliable ; he had shown himself, on the con- 
 trary, fidl of forbearance and magnanimity. 
 
 The advocate concluded in these brief and impres- 
 sive terms, the only occasion in which he dwelt upon 
 the virtues of Louis XVI. : — 
 
 " Louis ascended the throne in the twentieth year 
 of his age, and at that jieriod of life gave an example 
 of morality from the thron-e ; he carried to it no cri- 
 minal failing or depraved passion ; he was economical, 
 just, temperate, and he showed himself in every in- 
 stance the friend of the ])eople. The people desired 
 the destruction of a baneful impost which pressed upon 
 them, and he abrogated it ; the people demanded the 
 abolition of servitude, and he began by abolishing it 
 in his own domains ; the ]>eople solicited reforms iu 
 the criminal legislation, for the purpose of alleviating 
 the treatment of persons under accusation, and he in- 
 stituted those reforms ; the people wished that many 
 thousands of Frenchmen, whom the rigour of our laws 
 had hitherto deprived of rights which l)elong to citi- 
 zens, should ac(|nire or recoviT those riglits, and he 
 caUed them to tlieir enjoyment by his laws ; the people 
 craved liiiert}', and he gave it tiiein ! lie even anti- 
 cipated them in liis sacrifices ; and yet it is in the name 
 
 of these same i)eo])le that you are asked this day 
 
 Citizens, I will not finish — I pause before history. 
 Hetlect that it will judge your judgment, and that its 
 decision will be the decision of ages!" 
 
 Louis XVI., speaking inunediately after his advo- 
 cate, uttered a few words he had previously transcribed. 
 " You have just heard my grounds of defence," said 
 he, "and I will not reiterate tliem. Addressing you 
 l)erliai)s for the last time, I declare to yon that "my 
 conscience ri'])roaches me with nothing, and tliat my 
 advocates liavi- told you the truth. 
 
 I never feared a ])ublic examination of my conduct, 
 but my heart is torn to find iu the articles of impeach- 
 ment the charge of having wilfully shed the blood of 
 the peoi)lc, and es])ecially that the calamities of th«) 
 loth August are attributable to me.
 
 ■2-2ii 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 I confess I deemed the multiplied proofs I had at 
 all times given of my love for the peoi)le, and the con- 
 duct which I had always pursued, oimlit to have suf- 
 ficiently demonstrated "that I never sliruiik from ex- 
 posing myself to spare tlieir blood, and to have for 
 ever averted from nie such an iinputntioTi." 
 
 The president then inquired of Louis XVI. -whether 
 he had anv thing further to allege in liis defence. Louis 
 liaving declared that he had urged all he intended, 
 the president informed liim he might withdraw. Be- 
 ing conducted into an adjacent room with his advo- 
 cates, his solicitude was aroused for the young Descze, 
 who gave tolcens of exhaustion from his lengthened 
 l)leadang. Again seated in tlie carriage, he discoursed 
 with hfs accustomed serenity to those avIio escorted 
 him, and reached the Temple at five o'clock. 
 
 He had scarcelv ([uitted the convention ere a violent 
 storm hurst forth within it. One party maintained 
 that a discussion sliould be opened, whilst the other, 
 exclaiming against the eternal delays interposed to the 
 conclusion of the trial, demanded an innnediate vote, 
 alleging that every tribunal, after liaving lieard the 
 accused, proceeded to gatlier the opinions. Lanjuinais 
 liad been moved, since tlie commencement of the pro- 
 ceedings, with an indignation wliich the impetuosit\' 
 of his character no longer i^ermittcd liim to restrain. 
 He sprang to the tribune, and amidst tlie shouts his 
 presence excited, moved, not an adjournment for dis- 
 cussion, but the abrogation of tlie whole process. 
 Kaising his voice, lie asserted that the sway of tlie 
 ferocious was over, and that the assembly must not 
 be dishonoured by constituting itself tlie judge of 
 Louis XVI. ; that none in France possessed such a 
 right, and that the assembly in pai'ticular had not the 
 vestige of a title ; that if it pretended to act as a poli- 
 tical body, it could only take measures of secm-ity 
 against the deposed king, but that if it acted as a 
 tribunal, it outraged all principles, for it thereby sub- 
 mitted the vanqiuslied to the judgment of tlie con- 
 (pieror himself, inasnnich as the majority of the 
 members present had proclaimed themselves the con- 
 spirators of the 10th August. At the word " conspi- 
 rators" a frightful tumult ensued in every part of the 
 hall. Deafening sliouts arose : — " Order !" " To the 
 AbViey ! " " Down from the tribune ! " It was in vain 
 that Lanjuinais would liave justified the obnoxious 
 word by suggesting that it ought to be understood in 
 its favourable sense, for the lOth August was a glo- 
 rious conspiracy. The clamour still continued, and 
 lie finished by declaring that he would rather perish 
 a thousand times than condemn, contrary to all law, 
 even the most execrable tyrant. 
 
 A crowd of speakers pressed to succeed him, and 
 the ferment grew more boisterous. The deputies 
 M-ould hear no more ; they rose from their seats, inter- 
 mingled, gathered into groups, ujibraided and menaced 
 each other : the president was obliged to put on his 
 hat.* After an hour of agitation, tranquillity was at 
 length restored; and the assembly, adopting the opi- 
 nion of those who advocated a general discussion on 
 tiie trial of Louis XVI., resolved that the discussion 
 was ojiened, and that it should l)e continued, to the 
 exclusion of all other business, until the decision should 
 be pronounced. 
 
 The debate was therefore resumed on the 27th. 
 Tlie speakers already heard re-appeared at the tri- 
 bune. Saint-Just M'as of tlie number. Tlie presence 
 of Louis XVI., lunni)led, prostrated, and serene in his 
 disaster, had originated certain qualms in his mind. 
 But he silenced them by representing Louis XVI. as 
 a modest and wily tyrant, who ojijiressed with mo- 
 desty, who defended himself with modesty, and against 
 whose insinuating blandness it was necessary to be 
 most strongly guardetL He had convoked the states- 
 * [Tliis is the last expedient adopted by the president in the 
 French national assemblies to rec:ill the members to order, after 
 he has vainlj exhaiihtcU tlie more usual appeal, the ringing of his 
 bell.1 
 
 general, certainly, but it was to humble the nobility 
 and reign by dividing; consequently, when he saw 
 the power of the states swell so rapidly, he attempted 
 to annihilate it. On the 14th July, on the 5th and 
 6th October, he was known to have secretly accumu- 
 lated means for overwhelming the people ; but each 
 time his conspiracies were foiled by the national 
 energy, he feigned a voluntary return from his evil 
 courses, and exhibited a h^-pocritical and unnatural 
 joy at his own discomfitui'e and the people's triumph. 
 Subsequently, being unable to make use of force, he 
 corrupted the defenders of liberty, jdotted witli the 
 foreign foe, and drove his ministers to despair, one of 
 whom felt compelled to address him by letter in these 
 words — " Your secret relations prevent me from exe- 
 cuting the laws, and I resign." In tine, he had put in 
 vogue all the expedients of the deepest perfid}' up to 
 the 10th August ; and now he still afi'ected a delusive 
 mildness to stagger his judges and snatch an escape. 
 
 It was thus that the vacillations of Louis XVI., 
 so natund under his circumstances, were judged in a 
 violent mind, which saw a marked and studied perfidy 
 where merely weakness and regret for the past pre- 
 vailed. Other speakers succeeded Saint-Just, and 
 great impatience began to be manifested for the appear- 
 ance of the Girondists in the debate. They had not 
 yet committed themselves, but the time for explanation 
 had now come. We have already alluded to the doubts 
 that weighed with them, to the emotions wherewith 
 they were affected, and to their tendency to extenuate 
 in Louis XVI. a resistance they were so much more 
 capable of comprehending than their opponents. 
 Vergniaud avowed before some friends the deep com- 
 miseration he felt. Without being equally moved, 
 perhaps, the others were all disposed to svnnpathise 
 with the victim; and, in this position, they devised an 
 expedient which strikingly betrays all their feelings 
 and all their embarrassment; this was an appeal to 
 the people. To get rid of a dangerous responsibility, 
 and throw upon the nation the o<lium of barbarity if 
 the king were condemned, or that of royalism if he 
 were absolved, were the objects of the Girondists ; and 
 therein they displayed a deploralilc weakness. Foras- 
 much as they were touched at the contemplation of 
 the profound calamity of Louis XVI., they slioidd 
 miquestionablj'have had tlie courage to\indicate him 
 themselves, and not have risked a civil war by remit- 
 ting to the forty -four thousand sections into which 
 France was subdivided, a question infallibly destined 
 to stinndate the most ■violent passions and force all 
 parties into hostile array. They ought to have ener- 
 getically seized upon authority, an(l themselves cou- 
 rageously employed it, without shifting to the nndti- 
 tude a duty for which it was manifestly unfitted, and 
 exposing the country to fatal confusion. By the ad- 
 vocacy of such a course, the Girondists gave their 
 adversaries a signal advantage, since they justified the 
 aspersion that they designed to foment civil war, and 
 likewise brought into grievous suspicion their courage 
 and sincerity. The Jacobins, consequently, were not 
 backward in seizing the occasion, and asserted that 
 those who contended for the acquittal of Louis XVI. 
 were more candid and estinial)le than those who sup- 
 ported an a])peal to the peojile. But such is the onli- 
 nary conduct of moderate parties. Pursuing the like 
 conduct now as on the 2d and .3d September, the Gir- 
 ondists hesitated to compromise tliemselves for a king 
 whom they regarded as an enemy — as one who, accord- 
 ing to their sincere persuasion, had laboured to destroy 
 them by foreign bayonets ; nevertheless, moved at 
 sight of this enemy vanquished and in captivity, they 
 endeavoiu-ed to protect him, talked indignantly of the 
 violence committed in his case, and, in short, did 
 enough to nun themselves without doing enough to 
 save him. 
 
 Salles, who more than any other yielded to the 
 phantasies of Louvet, and even excelled him in the art 
 of detecting imaginary plots, was the first who broached
 
 H18TOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 22 J» 
 
 and vindicated llie expedient of an appeal to tiie 
 peoi)le, in the sitting of the 27th. Givinf>: \ip tlie con- 
 duct of Loviis XVI. to all the bitterest animadversions 
 of the republicans, and allowing that he richly merited 
 the utmost severity with which it was possible to treat 
 him, he insisted nevertheless that the assembly was 
 called, upon to perform a gi'eat political act, and not a 
 mere act of vengeance; wherefore the question ought 
 to be strictly judged with reference to the i)nblic inte- 
 rest. Now, in either case of acquittal or condenmation, 
 he perceived striking inconveniences. An acquittal 
 ■would be a perpetual source of discord, and the king 
 would become the rallying cry for all parties. The 
 remembrance of his delinquencies woidd be constantly 
 recalled to the assembly as a standard reproach upon 
 its weakness ; such impunity Avould be a public scandal, 
 likely to provoke popular revolts, and certain to be 
 seized as a pretext by all agitators. The infamous 
 men who had already j^aralysed the state by their 
 Climes, would not fail to fomid upon this act of cle- 
 mency reasons of justification for fresh excesses, pre- 
 cisely as they proclaimed themselves authorised by 
 the slowness of the tribimals to perpetrate the massa- 
 cres of September. From all quarters, in short, the 
 assembly would be accused of having lacked the cou- 
 rage to terminate the universal excitement, and to 
 consolidate the republic by an energetic and terrible 
 example. 
 
 Condemned, the king would bequeath to his family 
 all the pretensions of his race, and leave them to 
 brothers more dangerous than himself, because they 
 were less despised for weakness. The people, havmg 
 no longer the crimes but the atonement before their 
 eyes, would probablj^ be induced to commiserate tiie 
 fate of the king, antl the factious would again find in 
 that disposition a means of exasperating them against 
 the National Convention. The sovereigns of Europe 
 at present preserved an ominous silence, in expectation 
 of an event which they looked forward to as the 
 crowTiing iniquity, as the signal for an outbiu'st of 
 general detestation; but so soon as the head of the 
 king had fallen, all, taking advantage of that pretext, 
 would simultaneously pour on France to devastate and 
 rend her. Then, perhaps, France herself, goaded by 
 sufferings, would execrate the convention for an act 
 thus provocative of a cruel and disastrous war. 
 
 iSuch were, argued Salles, the painful alternatives of- 
 fered to the National Convention. In such a position, 
 it was for the nation itself to decide, and to determine 
 its own fate by determining that of Louis XVI. The 
 danger of civil war was cliimerical, for no such evil 
 had resulted from the convocation of the primary as- 
 semblies to elect a convention to be intrusted with the 
 destinies of France, nor did any apprehensions of such 
 a consequence appear to be entertained upon an occa- 
 sion eciually momentous and exciting, since the sanc- 
 tion of the constitution was intended for submission 
 to these same primary assemblies. The delays and 
 the difficulties of a fresh delilK'ration in forty-four 
 thousand assemblies were but vain objections, for the 
 reference would be, not to deliberate, but to decide 
 without di.scussion between the two propositions pre- 
 sented by tlie convention. The question would l)e 
 thus stated to the primary assemblies — " Shall I^ouis 
 XVI. be punished with death or detained till the 
 ]icacc?" and they would reply by the words, "de- 
 tained," or " put to death," as tlie case might l)e. 
 With the aid of extraordinary couriers, the answers 
 might be brought in fifteen days from the farthest 
 extremities of France. 
 
 These sentiments had been heard with various feel- 
 ings. Serres, deputy from the Upjier Alps, retracted 
 his first opinion, which was for the ju(lgment, and 
 supported an appeal to the people. liarbaroux repelled 
 the justification of Louis XVI., without concluding 
 with any specific motion, for lie did not venture to 
 absolve ag.'iinst the wishes of his constituents, or con- 
 demn against those of his friends. Buzot declared 
 
 himself in favor.r of the appeal to the people ; but he 
 modified the measure of Salles, and reconnneuded that 
 the convention should itself take the initiative by vot- 
 ing the death, and merely demanding from the primary 
 assemblies a simple sanction of that judgment. Ra- 
 baut Samt-Etienoe, that jirotestant minister who had 
 already distinguished himself by his talents in the 
 Constituent Assembly, exclaimed with indignation 
 against the accunnilated powers exercised by the as- 
 sembly. " As to myself," said he, " I am Avearj- of my 
 portion of despotism ; I am disgnisted, tormented, re- 
 morseful, at the tyranny that f.dls to my share, and I 
 sigh for the moment when you shall create a tribunal 
 which may take from me the form and aspect of a 
 tyrant. You seek political reasons ; you will find 
 them in history. The people of London, who had 
 pressed so urgently for the execution of the king, were 
 the first to curse his judges, and prostrate themselves 
 before his successors. When Charles II. returned to 
 the throne, the cit}' gave him a superb feast, the people 
 gave way to the most extravagant joy, and flocked to 
 witness the deaths of those very judges whom Charles 
 afterwards sacrificed to the manes of his father. People 
 of Paris, parliament of France, have you miderstood 
 me ? " 
 
 Faure boldly and energetically urged the revocation 
 of all the decrees bearing upon the arraigmnent. The 
 sr)mbre Robespierre at length appeared, surcharged 
 with gaU and malice. Hi said that he also had been 
 affected, and had felt the republican virtue shaken in 
 his heart, at sight of the criminal humbled before the 
 sovereigTi power. But the last proof of devotion due 
 to the i:ountry was to stifle every emotion of sensibi- 
 lity. He then reiterated what had been already ad- 
 vanced upon the competence of the convention, upon 
 the encUess delays frustrating the national vengeance, 
 and upon the consideration observed for the tyrant, 
 whilst the M-armest friends of liberty were attacked 
 ■^"ithout the slightest regard. He asserted that this 
 appeal to the people was a mere scheme similar to 
 thiit devised by Guadet, when advocating the pm-ging 
 scrutinj^ and that its perfidious object Avas to biing 
 every thing into question again — the existing repre- 
 sentation, the 1 0th August, and the republic itself. 
 Identifying the question, as usual, M'ith himself and 
 his enemies, he drew a comparison between the present 
 situation and that of Jiily 1791, when it was dc])ated 
 whether Louis XVI. shoidd be tried for the flight to 
 Varennes. Robespierre had played an important part 
 upon that occasion. He recalled his own dangers, the 
 successful efforts of his adversaries to re]ilace Louis 
 XVI. upon the throne, the slaughter of the Champ de 
 Mars which had ensued, and the perils to which Louis 
 XVI., when replaced on the throne, had exposed the 
 commonwealth. With malicious perfidy, he depicted 
 his opponents of tlie present day as the same as his 
 opponents of former times, and represented himself as 
 ex])oscd, and France with him, to the same dangers as 
 then, and still by the intrigue s of those miscreants 
 who called themselves exclusively the honest. "At 
 this moment," added Robes])ierre, "they are silent 
 ui)on the great interests of the country ; they abstain 
 from declaring their o])inion ui)on the last king; but 
 their secret and pernicious activity produces all the 
 trouliles which agitate tlie country ; and to mislead 
 tlie sound but often deceived majority, they assail the 
 jiuri'st ])atriots, muler the title of a factions minority. 
 iMinorities often resolve into majorities when the eyes 
 of hoodwinked assemblies are opened. Virtue was 
 always in a minority upon earth ! Unless it were so, 
 would the earth be peoi)led b}' tyrants and slaves? 
 Hampden* and Sylney were in the minority, for they 
 exjiired on a si'aliold. Critias, Anitus, Ca-sar, Clodius, 
 were in tlic majority; but Socrates was in a minority, 
 for he swallowed hemlock— Cato was in the minority, 
 for he tore open his bowels." Robespierre subseiiuently 
 
 * [ProbiiMy Hussell is iiio.iiu . IFaiiUHlcn dk'<l of a wound re- 
 ceived in b;iltle.]
 
 .'30 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 recommended (luk-tness to the galleries, in order to 
 deprive his adversaries of all pretext for accusation, 
 since they represented the simple applauses bestowed 
 on the faithful deputies as proofs of rebellion. " Reo- 
 ple," he exclaimed, " reserve your aiijilauses, shun the 
 spectacle of our debates ! AVe shall not combat tlie less 
 resolutely apart from your presence." He at length 
 brought his speecli to a conclusion, by demanding tliat 
 Louis XVI. should be forthwith pronounced guilty, 
 and condenmed to death. 
 
 The debate continued, and speakers succeeded each 
 other in the tribune during the 28th, the 29th, and 
 till the .'51 St. Vergniaud ultimately rose for the first 
 time, and extraordinary eagerness was manifested to 
 hear the Girondists expressing their opinions by tlie 
 tongue of their greatest orator, and breaking a silence 
 witli which Robespierre was not the only one to up- 
 braid them. 
 
 Vergniaud began by developing the principle of the 
 sovereignty of the people, and distinguishing the cases 
 in which tlie representatives ought to make a reference 
 to it. It woidil be attended with too much delay and 
 too many difficulties to appeal on all legislative acts 
 to a great nation ; but on certain acts of high impor- 
 tance it was quite otherwise. The constitution, for 
 example, had been destined in advance to the national 
 sanction. Rut that was not the only object which 
 claimed an extraordinary sanction. The trial of Louis 
 XVI. was invested with such grave considerations, 
 from the accumulation of powers arrogated by the 
 assembly, from the inviolability which had been con- 
 stitutionally secured to tlie monarch, and from the 
 political effects which were certain to result from a 
 condemnation, that its high importance coidd scarcely 
 be contested, nor that the final adjudication ought to 
 be submitted to the people themselves. After having 
 substantiated these positions, Vergniaud, who directed 
 himself peculiarly to the refutation of Robespierre, 
 proceeded to investigate the political dangers of an 
 appeal to tlie people, and to handle all the great ques- 
 tions which divided the two parties. 
 
 He adverted, in the first place, to the contenticms 
 which were apprehended from remitting to tiie people 
 the judgment on the king for sanction. He repro- 
 duced the arguments adduced by the other Giron- 
 dists, and maintained that if no civil war were feared 
 from convoking the primary assemblies to sanction 
 the constitution, no good ground for alarm could exist 
 in their meeting to ratify the sentence on the king. 
 This oft-repeated argument was, after all, of little 
 value, for tlie constitution was not the grand question 
 of the revolution ; it could never be more than a col- 
 lection of details, under an institution already decreed 
 and accepted — a republic. But the death of the king 
 was a more formidable question, since it involved the 
 momentous point whether the revolution, proceeding 
 by way of death against royalty, slioidd irrevocably 
 break with the past, and march to its proposed goal 
 with inex(jrable vengeance and energy for its watcli- 
 words. Now, if so fearful a question already divided 
 the convention and Raris with such bitterness of dis- 
 cord, there was the greatest danger in introducing it 
 amongst the forty-four thousand sections of the French 
 territory. In all the theatres, in all the popular soci- 
 eties, tumultuous dissensions occurred; and tlie con- 
 vention was imperatively called upon boldly to grapi>le 
 with tile difficulty, and deeiile the question at once 
 and for ever, precisely to prevent it resting with tlie 
 whole French people, who woidd have in all jirobabi- 
 lity solved it in multitudinous battle-fields. 
 
 Vergniaud, however, partaking ujion this point the 
 opinion of liis friends, contended that civil war was 
 not to he ai)preliended. He said that in the depart- 
 ments the agitators had not gained the i)rei)oii(lerance 
 which a dastardly weakness had allowed them to 
 usurp in Raris ; tliat they liad certainly traversed the 
 surface of the republic, but liad nowhere met with 
 aught but scorn; and that tlie people had given the 
 
 strongest proof of obedience to the law by respecting 
 the impure blood that flowed in their veins. He sub- 
 sequently ritliculed the fears that had been expressed 
 respecting the actual majority, which w:ls alleged to 
 be composed of intrigTiers, royalists, and aristocrats, 
 and lield up to merited reproof the presumptuous as- 
 sertion that virtue was in a minority on earth. '"Citi- 
 zens ! " he exclaimed, " Catiline was of the minority 
 in the Roman senate; and if that minority had pre- 
 vailed, there was an end of Rome, the senate, and 
 liberty. In the Constituent Assemlily, Maury and 
 Cazales were in the minority; and if they had pre- 
 vailed, there was an end of you. The kings also are 
 in a minority upon earth, and to enchain the people, 
 they assert likewise that virtue is in a minority ! 
 They also say that the majority of populations is 
 composed of intriguers, who must be awed to silence 
 by terror, if empires are to be preserved from a gene- 
 ral convulsion." 
 
 He then tauntingly asked whetlier, in order to con- 
 stitute a majority conformable to the desires of certain 
 men, it was deemed expedient to employ banishment 
 and death, to convert France into a desert, and thus 
 abandon it to the conceptions of frantic miscreants. 
 
 After having avenged the majority of France, he 
 ^^ndicated himself and his friends, whom he exhibited 
 constantly resisting, and with equal courage, all des- 
 potisms — that of the court and that of the brigands of 
 September. He pourtrayed them, during the day of 
 the lOtli August, sitting calmly amidst the roar of 
 cannon from the palace, and pronouncing the deposi- 
 tion before the victory of the people, wliilst those 
 Rrutuses, so eager now to throttle prostrate tjTants, 
 hid their terrors in the bowels of the earth, and there 
 ignominiously awaited the issue of the uncertain com- 
 bat waging by liberty against despotism. 
 
 He then retorted upon his adversaries the reproach 
 of stirring up civil Avar. " Yes," said he, " those are 
 the genuine instigators of civil war, who, preaching 
 assassination against the partisans of tyranny, apply 
 that epithet to all the victims their hatred prompts 
 them to destroy ; those who invoke poniards against 
 the representatives of the people, and clamour for the 
 dissolution of the government and of the convention ; 
 those who conspire that tlie minority may become the 
 arbiter of the majority, that it may enforce its decrees 
 by insurrections, and that the Catilines may be called 
 to dominion in the senate. They desire civU war 
 who inculcate these maxims in all public places, and 
 mystify the people by stigmatising reason as Feuil- 
 hntism, justice as pusillanimity, and sacred humanity 
 as conspiracy." 
 
 " Civil war ! " exclaimed the orator, rebuking Robes- 
 pierre, "by invoking the sovereignty of the people' 
 But in July 1791 \'ou were more modest — you were 
 not then so solicitous to depreciate it and usurp its 
 functions. You busied yourself in circulating a peti- 
 tion praying the assembly to consult the people on the 
 judgment to be passed on I>ouis XVI. after the return 
 from Vareimes ! At that time you upheld the sove- 
 reignty of the peoj)le, and were far from surmising 
 that its invocation was equivalent to civil war ! W;us 
 it because it then favoured your secret views, and it 
 now thwarts them ? " 
 
 Vergniaud subsequently turned to other considera- 
 tions. It had been said that the assembly ought to 
 evince sufficient greatness and courage to execute its 
 judgment without seeking to support itself by the 
 opinion of the peojile. " Courage was needed," said 
 he, " to attack Louis XVI. in the plenitude of his 
 power — is much required to send Louis, vanquished 
 and disarmed, to the scaffold ? A Cimbrian soldier 
 entered the cell of Marius to kill him ; terrified at the 
 aspect of his victim, he fled without daring to strike. 
 Do you doubt if that soldier had been a member of 
 the senate, he would have hesitated to vote the death 
 of the tyrant ? What courage do you discover in an 
 act of which any poltroon is capable ? "
 
 IIISTOIIY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 231 
 
 Adverting to anotlior order of courage, that wliich 
 must be displayed against foreign powers, he said, 
 " Since you talk continually of a great political act, 
 it is not inexpedient to consider the question iu that 
 light. We are well aware that the powers merely 
 wait for this concluding pretext to pour all together 
 upon France. She will van(iuish them, doubtless ; 
 the heroism of the French soldiers is a sure guarantee; 
 but war will comijel an increased expenditure, addi- 
 tional efforts of all kinds. If, then, hostilities induce 
 fresh emissions of assignats, thereby enhancing ui a 
 fearful propoition the price of the first necessaries of 
 life — if they give new and mortal stabs to commerce — 
 if they cause torrents of blood to flow on land and sea — 
 what great benefits will you have conferred on huma- 
 nity ? What gi-atitude will your country owe you for 
 having perpetrated in its name, and in despite of its 
 contemned sovereigntj% an act of vengeance, become 
 the cause, or even the pretext, of events so calami- 
 tous ? I discard," emphatically exclaimed the speaker, 
 " every idea of discomfiture ; but will you dare vaunt 
 your services ? There will not be a family without a 
 father or a son to mourn ; agriculture will soon lan- 
 guish for want of hands to till ; the workshops will 
 be forsaken ; your exhausted exchequer will demand 
 fresh taxes ; the social body, worn out by the assaults 
 made upon it from without by armed enemies, from 
 within by contending factions, will fall into a mortal 
 languor. Tremble lest amidst those triumphs France 
 may not resemble those famous monuments which in 
 Egypt have vanquished time : the stranger as he 
 passes wonders at their greatness : should he jiene- 
 trate, what meets his eye ? — inanimate ashes and the 
 silence of the tomb." 
 
 Besides these fears, there were others which pre- 
 sented themselves to the mind of Vergniaud ; they 
 were suggested to him bj' the history of England, and 
 by the conduct of Cromwell, the principal but hidden 
 author of the death of Charles I. That man, always 
 stimulating the people, first against the king, then 
 against the parliament itself, eventually broke his 
 feeble mstrmnent and seated hhnself in supreme power. 
 " Have you not heard," added Vergniaud, on this 
 topic, " within these walls and elsewhere, men crying, 
 * If bread be dear, the cause is at the Temple; if specie 
 be scarce, if our armies be badly provided, the cause is at 
 the Temple ; if we have to suffer the daily spectacle of 
 indigence, the cause is at the Temple!'" 
 
 Those who hold this language, nevertheless, are not 
 ignorant that the high price of bread, the deficient 
 supplies of food, the defective administration in the 
 war departments, and the indigence which so acutely 
 afflicts om- sensibilitj% are owing to other causes than 
 any at the Temple. What, then, are their designs ? 
 Who M'ill assure me that those same men who strive 
 so pertinaciously to degrade the convention, and would 
 have jierhaps succeeded in that object if the majesty 
 of the people, which resides in it, cmdd by any possi- 
 bility have been affected by their falsehoods — those 
 same men who everj' where ])roclaim that a new revo- 
 lution is necessary, who induce such and such sections 
 to declare themselves in a state of permanent insur- 
 rection, who say at the commune that when the con- 
 vention succeeded Louis they did but cliange their 
 tyrant, and tiiat another Idtli August is indispeiisal)le ; 
 those men who speak only of ]>lots, deatli, traitors, 
 proscriptions, who inculcate in tlie sectional assem- 
 blies, and i)i their pnl>lications, tliat a defender nuist 
 be named for the rei)ul)lic, that its lioi)e of safety rests 
 in a single chief — who will assure me, I ask, that those 
 same men will not exclaim, after tiie death of Loviis, 
 with exaggerated violence, '' If bread be dear, the cause 
 is in the convention ; if specie be scarce, if our armies be 
 hadhf provided, the cause is in the convention ; if the 
 machine of government be moved with dificulti/, the cause 
 is in the convention intrusted with its direction ; if the 
 calamities of war have been aggravated bi/ the declarations 
 of England a7id Spain, the cause is the convention, which 
 
 provoked those declarations by the precipitate condemna- 
 tion of Louis?' 
 
 Who will assure me that aroimd those seditious 
 cries of turbulent anarchy there will not rally an 
 aristocracy thirsting for vengeance, misery eager for 
 change, and even the pity inveterate prejudices will 
 have excited for the fate of Louis ? Who will assure 
 me that in this tempest, during whose fury the assas- 
 sins of September wiU be seen starting from their 
 dens, there will not be presented to you, steeped iu 
 gore and saluted as a liberator, that defender, that 
 chief who is said to be so indispensable? A chief ! 
 ah ! if such were their audacity, his ajjpearance would 
 be the signal for a thousand daggers to be planted in 
 his body I Rut to what horrors would not Paris in 
 the interim be abandoned — Paris, Avhose heroic cou- 
 rage against kings posterity will admire, and never 
 conceive its ignondnious subjection to a handfid of 
 brigands, the refuse of the human species, agitating 
 in its very heart, and tearing it in every direction in 
 the convulsive throes of their madness and ambition! 
 Who would Ije able to inhabit a city where terror and 
 di-ath held sway? And you, industrious citizens, 
 wliose industry produces all wealth, and for whom the 
 means of industry Mould be destroyed — you who have 
 made such gi'eat sacrifices for the revolution, and from 
 whom the last remnant would be wrested — you whose 
 virtues, ardent patriotism, and pure sincerity, have too 
 easily rendered you open to seduction — what would 
 become of you? what resources woidd you have? 
 what hands woidd stanch your wounds and administer 
 succour to your wailing families ? 
 
 Would you seek those false friends, those pei'fidious 
 flatterers, who had precii^itated you into the abyss" 
 Alas ! ratlier fly them ! Dread their reply ! I will 
 foretell it to you. You would ask of them bread, and 
 they would say to you, ' Go into the quarries, and dis- 
 pute with the earth for some bleeding fragments of the 
 victims you have slaugldered !' or, ' U ill you have blood? 
 Here take, this is blood and human flesh, we have no other 
 sustenance to offer you !' You shudder, citizens ! Oh, 
 my country ! I invoke thee to attest the efforts which 
 I make to save thee from this terrible crisis." 
 
 Vergniaud's extemporary oratory produced a pro- 
 found impression upon his auditors, and excited gene- 
 ral admiration. Robespierre had slunk abashed beneath 
 tlie fire of his frank and vigoroiis eloquence. Rut 
 although it had shaken, it failed to persuade the as- 
 sembly, which still hesitated between the two parties. 
 Several speakers were successively heard for and 
 against the appeal to the ])cople. Rrissot, Gensonne, 
 and Petion, all sii])p()rted it in tlieir turns. Eventually 
 a deputy rose, who o];eratcd a decisive influence upon 
 the question : this was Rarrere. From his pliability, 
 his cold and evasive reasoning, he was at once the 
 type and the oracle of the centre or Plain. He dis- 
 coursed largely upon the trial, viewed it in all its 
 phases as regarded facts, laws, and policy, and su])- 
 I)lied motives for cor.deminng to all tliose feeble minds 
 who only required specious grounds for yielding. His 
 mediocre arguments served as cflicient pretexts to all 
 who hung in trembling susjjense ; and from that mo- 
 ment the unhapjw monarch's doom was sealed. The 
 debate was i)rolonged till the 7th January 1793, by 
 which time every one was thorougldy weary of the 
 monotonous repetition of the same facts and argu- 
 ments. It was declared dosi'd witliout o])i)osition ; 
 but a m(>tion for a fresh adjournment excited a tumult 
 of the nost violent description, but was finally disposed 
 of hy a decree definitively fixing (lie 14th January for 
 framing the questions and calling the roll of mendiers. 
 
 Wlien that fatiil day arrivi'd. an extraordinary con- 
 course of sjiectators sin'roun(k'(l tlie assembly and 
 filled ihe galleries. Several mend)ers i)ressed to tlic 
 tribune, propounding various forms of sid)nntting the 
 (|uestions. At length, after a long debate, the con- 
 vention resolved all the questions into the three ibl- 
 lowing: —
 
 232 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Is Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against the liberty 
 of the nation, and of crimes against the general safety of 
 the state 9 
 
 Shalt the judgment, ivhatever it may be, be referred to 
 the sanction of the people / 
 
 ^\ltat penalty shall be inflicted on him ? 
 
 The wliole day was consumed in settling the ques- 
 tions. The loth was devoted to the call of members. 
 The assembly passed a preliminary resolution that 
 rach member should pronounce his vote in the tribune; 
 that the vote misht be accompanied with reasons, and 
 should be written and signed ; that the absent without 
 cause should be censured, but that those who subse- 
 quently appeared might record their votes, even after 
 the call was finished. At last this dreaded call com- 
 menced upon the first question. Eight members were 
 absent on account of illness, and twenty on commis- 
 sions of the assembly. Thirty-seven, alleging diflTerent 
 reasons for their conclusion, acknowledged Louis XVI. 
 guilty, but declared themselves incompetent to pro- 
 nounce a sentence, and demanded mere general mea- 
 sures of precaution against him. Six hmidred and 
 eighty-three members declared Louis XVI. guilty, 
 ^v^thout explanation. The assembly was composed of 
 749 members. 
 
 The president, in the name of the National Con- 
 vention, declared Louis Capet "guilty of conspiracy 
 against the liberty of the nation, and of crimes against 
 the general safety of tlie state." 
 
 The call recommenced on the second question, that 
 of the appeal to the people. Twenty-niue members 
 were absent. Four, namely, Lafon, Waudelaincourt, 
 Morisson, and Lacroix, declined to vote. The deputy 
 Noel protested. Eleven gave their opinions coupled 
 with different conditions. Two hundred and eighty- 
 one voted for the appeal to the people ; foiu- lumcked 
 and twenty-three rejected it. The president declared, 
 in the name of the National Convention, that " the 
 sentence on Louis XVI. shall not be referred to the 
 ratification of the people." 
 
 The whole of the 13th was taken up in the indivi- 
 dual vote upon the two fu-st questions ; the thuxl was 
 adjourned to the sitting of the following day. 
 
 The excitement in Paris grew more intense as the 
 decisive moment approached. At the theatres, cries 
 in favom* of Louis XVI. had been uttered during the 
 representation of a piece called " The Friend of the 
 Laws." The commune had ordered the suspension of 
 all theatrical exhibitions ; but the executive coimcil 
 had revoked the measure as an attack on the liberty 
 of the press, under which category the liberty of the 
 stage was comprehended. In the prisons the inmates 
 were in the deepest consternation. Rumours had gone 
 abroad that the frightful days of September were to 
 be renewed, and the prisoners and their relatives be- 
 sieged the deputies with supplications to save them 
 from death. The Jacobins, on their side, asserted that 
 conspiracies were hatching in all quarters to screen 
 Louis XVI. from punishment and to re-establish 
 royalty. Tlieir rage, stimulated by the delays and 
 obstacles opposed to its gratificatif)n, broke out into 
 more furious menaces ; and the two parties were thus 
 additionally incensed against each other by their mu- 
 tual suspicions of sinister designs. 
 
 The multitude congregated around the hall of the 
 assembly on the morning of the 16th, far exceeded the 
 numbers of the previous days. The proceedings of 
 that day were to be decisive, for the verdict of guilty 
 became in reality of no value if Louis XVI. were 
 simply condenmcd to banishment, and the object of 
 those desirous to save him wtmld be fuUy gained, since 
 all they could possil)ly hope for at the moment was to 
 snatch him from the scafibM. The galleries had been 
 early usurped by the Jacobins, and their eyes were 
 intently fixed on the tribune, where each deputy was 
 to appear Avlien recording his vote. Several hours 
 were consumed by the convention in attending to 
 measures of public order, in summoning and hearing 
 
 the ministers, and in eliciting explanations from the 
 mayor respecting the closing of the barriers, which 
 were alleged to have been kept shut during the day. 
 It was ordered that they should remain open, and 
 that the federalists then in Paris should share with 
 tlie Parisians in doing duty throiigh the city and at 
 all the public establishments. As the day was already 
 far advanced, it was resolved that the sitting should 
 be pennanent until the conclusion of the voting. At 
 the instant the call was about to commence, a doubt 
 was started upon the proportion' of voices necessary 
 to pass a particular sentence. Lehardy proposed two- 
 thirds, as in tlie criminal courts. Danton, who had 
 just arrived from Belgium, strongly opposed that sug- 
 gestion, and advocated the simple majorit}^ that is to 
 say, the moiety plus one. Lanjuinais braved a fresh 
 storm by strenuously uisistiug that, after so flagrantly 
 violating all the other forms of justice, the convention 
 should at least observe that which rendered two-thirds 
 of the suffrages indispensable. " We are to vote," he 
 exclaimed, " under the daggers and the cannons of 
 the factious." At these words, multitudinous voci- 
 ferations assailed the speaker, and the assembly stop- 
 ped the debate by resolving that the formalities ob- 
 served in its decrees were peculiar, and that, according 
 to those formalities, they wer& all passed by a simple 
 majority. 
 
 It was now half-past seven in the evening, and the 
 calling to vote began with the prospect of continuing 
 through the night. Some pronounced death uncondi- 
 tionally ; others declared for detention and banishment 
 after peace ; a certain number voted death with a re- 
 striction, in the form of an invitation to examine 
 whether it might not be advisable to respite the exe- 
 cution. INIailhe was the deviser of this restriction, 
 which was capable of saving Louis XVI., for time was 
 every thmg in the case, and delay equivalent to 
 acquittal. The expedient was adopted by several 
 members. 
 
 The voting proceeded in the midst of tumult. At 
 this moment, the interest inspired by Louis XVI. had 
 reached its height, and many members had entered 
 with the intention of declaring in his fixvour ; but on 
 the opposite side, the malevolence of his enemies had 
 likewise waxed in fierceness, and the people had been 
 finally led to identify the cause of the republic with 
 the death of the last king, and to deem the republic 
 condemned and roj-alty re-established if Louis XVI. 
 were saved. Alarmed at the ferment this popular 
 conviction excited, several members began to dread 
 civil war ; and, although greatly moved at the fate of 
 Loxus, they shuddered at the consequences of an ac- 
 quittal. This apprehension became greater at sight 
 of tlie convention and the scene passing Avithiu its 
 walls. As each deputy ascended the steps of the 
 tribune, all noise was hushed to hear him ; but the 
 mstant he had voted, marks of approbation or dis- 
 pleasure were boisterously manifested, and followed 
 him as he returned to his seat. The galleries received 
 with murmiu-s every vote not for death ; their occu- 
 pants often directed threatening gcstiu^es to the as- 
 sembly itself. The deputies retorted from the interior 
 of the hall, and thence resulted a tiimultuous inter- 
 change (>f hot defiance and opprobrious phrases. This 
 mournful and terrible scene caused many a heart to 
 quake, and changed various resolutions. Lecointre 
 of Versailles, whose courage was undoubted, and who 
 had been one of the most vehement gesticulators 
 against the galleries, came into the tribune, paused 
 in evident tremor, and dropped from his lips the un- 
 expected and irrevocable word — " Death." Vergniaud, 
 v.lio liad felt so deep a sympathy for Louis XVI., and 
 hiid even declared to his friends that he never could 
 bring himself to condemn that unfortunate prince — 
 Vergniaud, when he Ijeheld so lamentable a scene of 
 uproar, believed it indicative of qxvW. war in France, 
 and gave his vote for death, couphng it, nevertheless, 
 with the amendment of JNIailhe. I3eing interrogated
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 233 
 
 upon his change of opinion, he replied that he felt 
 assured civil war was ready to explode, and that lie 
 dared not put the life of a single individual in the 
 balance against the safety of all France. 
 
 A great many of the G irondists adopted the amend- 
 ment of jMaillie. One deputy whose vote excited an 
 extraordinary sensation was the Duke of Orleans. 
 Obliged to render himself acceptable to the Jacobins 
 or perish, he pronounced the death of his kinsman, 
 and returned to his seat amidst the imiversal and in- 
 describable agitation caused by his A'ote.* This me- 
 lancholy scene continued throughout the night of the 
 16th and the day of the 17th, till seven in the evening. 
 The examination of the votes was awaited with breath- 
 less anxiety. The avenues were thronged with an 
 immense crowd, and eager uicpiiries ran from mouth 
 to mouth as to the result of the scrvitiny. In the 
 assembly itself great uncertainty isrevailed, for the 
 words " detention" and " banishment" were thought 
 to have been heard as often as the more emphatic one 
 of " death." According to some, the condemnation had 
 failed by one vote, whilst others alleged that the cast- 
 ing voice rested on the other side. It was universally 
 allowed, however, that a single suffrage might decide 
 the question, and gi'eat solicitude Avas felt Avhether a 
 new voter might not arrive. At that identical mo- 
 ment a man was descried at the foot of the tribmie, 
 moving painfidly forwards, and whose bandaged head 
 proclaimed liim an invalid. It was Duchastel, deputy 
 of the Deux-Sevres, avIio had risen from his bed of 
 sickness to record his vote. His appearance was the 
 signal for astounding vociferations. Their purport 
 was that the conspirators had forced him out to save 
 Louis XYI., and that he ought to be subjected to an 
 interrogation. This the assembly refused, and sus- 
 tained his privilege of voting in virtue of the resolu- 
 tion Avhich admitted suffrages iifter the general call. 
 Duchastel ascended the tribune with an air of firm- 
 ness, and amidst the profoundest attention gave his 
 voice for banishment. 
 
 Other incidents succeeded. The minister for foreign 
 affairs solicited liberty to speak, in order to communi- 
 cate a note of the Chevalier d'Ocariz, the Spanish 
 ambassador. He offered the neutrality of Spain and 
 its good offices with the other poM'ers, if the life of 
 Louis XVI. were spared. The impatient Mountain- 
 eers exclaimed that this was a preconcerted diversion 
 to originate fresh obstacles, and demanded the order 
 of the day. Danton urged that war should be in- 
 stantly declared against Spain. The assembly adojited 
 in preference the order of the day. Another request 
 was then submitted ; it was from the advocates of 
 Louis XVI., who desired to appear before the assem- 
 bly for the purpose of making a communication, lie- 
 doubled cries issued from the Mountain. Robespierre 
 insisted that all defence was terminated, that comisel 
 could have nothing more to impart to the convention, 
 
 * [The reader will probably pardon another quotation from the 
 author of The Graphic History oftlic National Concention. It con- 
 veys one of his best pictures. 
 
 " Egalit^"', walking with a faltering step and a countenance 
 paler tli:in the corpse already stretched in the tomb, advanced to 
 the place where he was to put the seal to his eternal infamy ; and 
 there, unable to utter a word in public imless it were written 
 down, ho read, in these terais, his fearful vote : — 
 
 ' Exclusively governed by my duty, an<l convinced that all 
 those who have resisted the sovereignty of the people deserve 
 death, my vote is for dkath ! ' 
 
 ' Oh, the monster!' broke forth from all sides; ' how in- 
 famous!' and general hisses and imprecations attended Kgalite 
 as he returned to his se;it. His amduct appeared so atrocious, 
 that of all the assassins of September, of all the wretches of every 
 description who were there assembled, and truly the number was 
 not small, not oiie ventured to applaud him ; all, on the contrary, 
 viewed him with distrust or detestation ; and after the declara- 
 tion of his vote, t!ie agitation of the assembly was extreme. 
 From the effect it produced, it seemed as if JCgalitd, by that 
 single vote, had irrevocably condenmed Louis to death, and that 
 all that followed was but a vain formality."— Vol. ii. p. 48.] 
 
 that the judgment Avas ah-eady passed, and that it 
 ought to be fortliAvith pronounced. It Avas resolved 
 tlmt the advocates shoidd not be introduced mitil 
 after the promulgation of the sentence. 
 
 Vergniaud occupied the presidential chair. " Citi- 
 zens," said he, " I am about to announce the result of 
 the scrutiny. You will preserve, I hope, a profound 
 silence. When justice has spoken, humanity resumes 
 its sAvay." 
 
 The assembly was composed of 749 members ; fif- 
 teen Avere absent on commissions, eight from iUness, 
 and five had declmed voting, wliich reduced the num- 
 ber of deputies present to 721, and the absolute majo- 
 rity to 3C1. The scrutiny shoAved that 286 had voted 
 for detention or banishment under diflerent conditions. 
 Tavo had voted for irons ; forty-six for death Avith a 
 respite, either tiU the peace or till the ratification of 
 the constitution. TAventy-sLx had declared for death, 
 Init like Maillie, they had recommended the question 
 for consideration whether it might not be advanta- 
 geous to respite the execution. Their vote, however, 
 Avas independent of this restrictive clause. Three 
 hundred and sixty-one had voted for death without 
 condition. 
 
 The president, in an accent of grief, declared, in the 
 name of the convention, that " the penalty pronounced 
 against Louis Capet is death."* 
 
 The adA^ocates of Louis XVI. were immediately 
 after this announcement ushered to the bar. Descz'e 
 Avas the first to speak. He said he had been sent by 
 his ehent to interpose an appeal to the people from tlie 
 judgment passed by the convention. He rested his 
 procedure upon the small majority Avhicli had decided 
 the condemnation, and argued that, since such con- 
 scientious doubts had been entertamed by so many 
 enlightened minds, it was but reasonable to refer it to 
 the nation itself Trouchet subjoined that the penal 
 code havmg been followed with regard to the severity 
 of the punishment, it shoidd surely have been respected 
 in the hmnanity of its forms; consequently, the pro- 
 vision requiring two-thirds of the voices ought not to 
 have been disregarded. The venerable Malesherbes 
 rose also in his tm-n, and, in a voice broken Avith sobs, 
 essayed to speak. " Citizens," said he, " I am imused 
 to oratory — I observe Avith pain that you refuse me 
 tune to collect my ideas upon the mode of reckoning 
 the votes — I have many observations to impress upon 
 you — but— citizens — pardon my confusion — grant me 
 until to-morroAv to lay my ideas before you." 
 
 The assembly Avas moved at sight of the tears and 
 the grey hairs of the estimable old man. "' Citizens," 
 said Vergniaud to the three advocates, " the conven- 
 tion has heard your reclamations ; they Avere made by 
 you in execution of a sacred duty." Then addressing 
 the assembly, he added : " Is it j^our pleasure to decern 
 the honours of the sitting to the defenders of Louis?" 
 "Yes, yes," Avas the unanimous ri joinder. 
 
 Robespierre immediately took possession of the 
 tribune, and quoting the decree already passed against 
 the appeal to the people, reimdiated the tlemand of 
 the advocates. Giiadet reconnnended that, Avitliout 
 admitting the appeal to the people, twenty-four hours 
 shoidd be allowed to Mtdesherbes. Merlin of Douai 
 maintained that the manner of accounting the votes 
 Avas as a topic absolutely foreclosed, inasnuich as, if 
 the iienal code, so constantly invoked, re(nured two- 
 
 * [" AVhen the fatal words were pronounced, an explosion of 
 eatanif joy was expected from the tribunes ; nothing of tlie kind 
 occurred. An universal stupor took possession of the whole 
 assembly, damping alike the atrocious hiu-ras and the infernal 
 applause. The victory which had been obtained filled the victors 
 with asTiuich awe us it inspired the vanquislied with consterna- 
 tion ; hardly was a hollow murmur lieard ; the members gazed 
 at each other in deathlike silence ; every one seemed to dreiui 
 even the sound of his own voice. There is something so over- 
 powering in great events, that those even whose passions they 
 most completely siitisfy are restrained from gi\ ing vent to their 
 fecliugs."— (.((/yi/i/t: Hiftor;/ of tin- Conrrhtion. vol. ii. p. (il.]
 
 234 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 thirds of the voices for a decision on the fact, it re- 
 quired but a simple majority for the adjudication of 
 the punislmient. As, in the case under discussion, 
 th'i criminality had been declared almost vmanimously, 
 it was of very little moment that a bare majority had 
 been obtained for the sentence. 
 
 In consequence of these observations, the convention 
 passed to the order of the day upon the reclamations 
 of the advocates, declared the apjxnd of Louis null, 
 and deferred till the morrow the question of respite. 
 When that morrow came (the 18th), a complaint was 
 lodged that the enumeration of the votes had not been 
 taken with exactness, and a fresh examination was 
 accordingly demanded. The whole day was engrossed 
 by contentions: the calculation was eventually found 
 to be accurate, Vnit tlie assem))ly was compelled to 
 adjourn till the following morning the question of i"e- 
 spite. 
 
 On the 19th, therefore, this final question was agi- 
 tated. It brought the whole process into dilemma again, 
 for delay was to Louis X\'I. life itself. But, after 
 having exhausted their whole artiller}' of reason in the 
 previous discussions upon tlie punishment and the 
 appeal, the Girondists and those who wished to save 
 Louis XVI. were completely at a loss for further argu- 
 ments. They indeed once more brought forward the 
 allegation of political reasons ; but they were quickly 
 answered that if Louis XVI. were dead, the powers 
 would doubtless arm to avenge him, and that if he 
 ■were ahve and incarcerated, they ^vould just as doubt- 
 less arm to deliver him, and that the consequences 
 . woidd be precisely similar. Barrcre represented that 
 it was cUsgracefid thus to parade a head in the Eiu'o- 
 pean courts, and stipulate for the life or death of a 
 condemned person as an article of treaty. He added, 
 that it woidd be an act of cruelty to Louis himself, 
 who woidd be exposed to death at every movement of 
 the armies. The assembly, hastily closing the discus- 
 sion, resolved that each member should vote yea or 
 nay without quitting his place. At three o'clock in 
 the morning of the 20th January the call was finished, 
 and the president declared, upon a majoritj^ of 380 to 
 310 voices, that there should be no respite to the exe- 
 cution of Louis Capet. 
 
 At this instant a letter was brought from Kersaint. 
 That deputy resigned his seat, stating to the assembly 
 that he couJd no longer endure the ignominy of sitting 
 in its ranks amongst men of blood, when their counsels, 
 aided by the force of terror, gained the ascendancy 
 over those of virtuous men — Avhen Marat prevailed over 
 Petion. This letter caused prodigitms excitement. 
 Gensonne took the initiative, and availed himself of the 
 occasion to avenge ujjon the Septembrisers the sen- 
 tence of death that had been so recently passed. " It 
 was of little consequence," he said, " to have merely 
 punished tlie outrages of tyranny, if others mucli more 
 formidable were suffered to enjoy impunity. The 
 convention had but peiformed the moiety of its task, 
 unless it subjected to dire expiation the crimes of 
 September, and enjoined a prosecution against their 
 instigators." The greater part of the assembly rose 
 and responded to this sentiment with acclannition. 
 Marat and Tallien attempted to stem the movement. 
 " If you punish," they exclaimed, " the instigators of 
 September, punish likewise the conspirators who were 
 intrenched hi the palace on the day of the 10th 
 August." The assembly, acting upon all these sug- 
 gestions, forthwith ordered the minister of justice to 
 institute proceedings against the i)romoters of the 
 offences committed during the early days of September, 
 the individuals found bearing arms in the pidace on 
 the night of the 9th and loth August, and the func- 
 tionaries who quitted their posts to repair to Paris for 
 the piu-pose of conspiring with the court. 
 
 LouisXVT. was definitively condemned. No reprieve 
 could defer the execution of the sentence, and all con- 
 ceivable means for postponing the fatal hour had been 
 tried in vain. The members of the right side, secret 
 
 royalists as well as republicans, were equally dis- 
 maj-ed, both at the cruelty of the sentence and the 
 ascendancy manifestly actpiired by the Mountaineers. 
 In Paris a dead stupor reigned ; the audacity of the 
 new governing power had produced the ordinary 
 effect of force on the masses ; it had paralysed and 
 reduced to silence the great majority, and excited 
 indignation simply in a few more unbending minds. 
 There were still some old retainers of Louis XVI., 
 some young nobles, and some guardsmen, who pur- 
 jiosed, as it was rumoured, to rush to the rescue of 
 their king and snatch him from the scaffold. But to 
 meet, to exchange ideas, to concert, in short, amidst 
 the proftmnd terror on the one hand and the active 
 vigilance on the other, was impracticable, and all that 
 could possibly occur must amount only to certain iso- 
 lated acts of despair. The Jacobins, in raptiu-es at their 
 triumph, were nevertheless themselves amazed at it; 
 and they exhorted each other to keep in close array 
 during the last and critical twenty-four hours, to send 
 trusty messengers to all the authorities — the commune, 
 the staff of the national guard, the department, and the 
 executive council — to keep alive their zeal and ensure 
 the execution of the sentence. They boasted that this 
 execution would take place, that it must infallibly 
 take place ; but from the very eagerness wlicrewith 
 they repeated that opinion, it was clear tliat they 
 were not so sure of the catastrophe as they pretended. 
 The death of a king on a public scaffold, in the heart 
 of a country which in its manners, usages, and laws, 
 was but three years previously an absolute monarchy, 
 seemed still en\'ironed with doubt, and to be ren- 
 dered credil)le only by the event itself. 
 
 LTpon the executive council was thrown the pain- 
 ful duty of putting the sentence in execution. All 
 the ministers had assembled m the councU-chamber, 
 depressed and horror-struck ; of their body, Garat, as 
 minister of justice, was charged with the most melan- 
 ciioly of all commissions — that of waiting upon Louis 
 X^T., and imparting to him the decrees of the con- 
 vention. He accordingly repaired to the Temple, 
 accompanied ]\y Santerre, by a deputation from the 
 commune and the criminal tribunal, and by the secre- 
 tary of the executive council. Louis XVI. had 
 anxiously expected a -visit from his defenders for the 
 last four days, and had often vainly requested to see 
 tliem. Two hours after raid-day of the 20th January 
 he was still looking every instant for their arrival, 
 when he suddenly heard the welcome sounds of steps 
 approaching ; he hastened forward and perceived the 
 messengers of the executive council. He paused with 
 dignity upon the threshold of the door, and allowed 
 nc) outward symptom of emotion to escape him. Garat 
 addressed him with an air of sadness, and conmmni- 
 cated to him the object of his mission. Grouvelle, the 
 secretary of the executive council, upon the intima- 
 tion of his superior, read aloud the decrees of the con- 
 vention. The first declared Louis XVI. guilty of 
 crimes affecting the general secm-ity of the state; the 
 second condemned him to death; the third rejected all 
 appeal to the people; and the fourth enjoined the exe- 
 cution within twenty-four hours. Louis, surveying 
 those who surrounded him with a tranquil gaze, took 
 the pajK'r containing the decrees from the hands of 
 Grouvelle, placed it in his pocket, and read to Garat 
 a letter in which he requested three days to prepare 
 for death, a confessor to assist him in his last mo- 
 ments, file privilege of seeing his family, and per- 
 mission for it to leave Fi'ance. Garat received the 
 letter, with a promise to lay it without loss of time 
 before tlie convention. The king at the same time 
 gave him the address of the ecclesiastic whose last 
 oflices he desired to secure. 
 
 Louis XVI. re-entered his apartment with imdis- 
 turbed serenity, directed dinner to be served, and 
 partook of the meats as usual. Knives had been 
 purjjosely withheld, and were refused him wlien lie 
 desired they might be brought. "Do they think me
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 •23b 
 
 sucli a coward," said he, with dipiity, " as to attempt 
 uiv own Hfe? I am innocent, and will die without 
 iL-ar." He was obliged, however to dispense with a 
 knife. After finishing his repast, he retiu'ned to his 
 chamhcr, and awaited the rejomder to his letter with 
 perfect calmness. 
 
 The convention refused the respite, hut granted all 
 the other demands. Garat dispatched a messenger to 
 M. Edgeworth de Firmont, the ecclesiastic selected by 
 Lotus XVI. ; ho offered him a seat in his own carriage, 
 and conducted liim in jierson to the Temple. He 
 reached that prison at six o'clock, and immediately 
 proceeded to the great tower, accompanied by Santerre. 
 He apprised the king that tlie convention permitted 
 him the solace of a minister of religion, and to see his 
 family without witnesses, but that it repelled the ap- 
 plication for a respite. 
 
 Garat added that IM. Edgeworth had arrived, that 
 he was in an adjacent room, and would be immcdi- 
 ateh' introduced. He then retired, with increased 
 amazement and admiration at the placid magnanimity 
 of the prince. 
 
 When ushered into the presence of the king, iSI. 
 Edgeworth would have thrown himself at his feet, ])ut 
 the king jireveuted him, and both together melted into 
 tears of tenderness. He then inquired with lively 
 curiosity after the state of the clergy of France, after 
 several bishops, and especially after the Archbishop 
 of Paris, whom he begged JL Edgeworth to assure 
 that he died sincerely attached to his communion. 
 Eight o'clock having struck, he arose, requested M. 
 Edgeworth to wait, and left him in great emotion, 
 saying he was going to see his familj-. The municipal 
 officers, unwilling to lose sight of the king's person 
 even whilst he was with his family, had determined 
 that the interview should take place in the eating- 
 room, which was provided with a glass door, and in 
 which all his motions could be observed without his 
 words being overheard. The king, consequently, pro- 
 ceeded to that apartment, and caused water to be 
 placed on the table, lest the princesses might have 
 need of such relief He walked uneasily to and fro. 
 anxiously awaiting the painful moment in which beings 
 so dear to him should appear. At half-past eight the 
 door opened ; the queen, hokling the dauphin by the 
 hand, the Princess Elizabeth, and the princess-royal, 
 flew into the arms of Louis XVI., sobbing bitterly. 
 The door was dosed, and the municipal officers, Clery, 
 and il. Edgeworth, planted themselves before the 
 glazed frames, to witness the heart-rending interview. 
 During the first moments, the scene was one of dis- 
 traction and despairing wo. Shrieks, lamentations, 
 convulsive sobs, dimly expressed its intense desola- 
 tion. At length the tears were cMed, conversation 
 became more tranquil, and the princesses, still holding 
 the king in their arms, spoke to him for some time in 
 subdueil tones. After a conference of considerable 
 duration, broken by intervals of speechless dejection, 
 he moved to depart, fearful of being altogether over- 
 powered by so afflicting a situation, and promised to 
 see them again the following morning at eiglit o'clock. 
 " You i)romise us?" urged the princesses, with solici- 
 tude. "Yes, yes!" rej)lied the king, sighing deeply. 
 At this moment, the queen had grasped him by one 
 arm, the I'rincess Eliza])eth by the other; the prin- 
 cess-royal held her arms tightly clasped roimd her 
 father's waist, and the young prince, in front of him, 
 stretched his hands to his mother and his aunt. At 
 the instant of sejjaration, the j'oung princess-royal fell 
 in a swoon ; slie was quickly revived, and the king 
 returned to ^L Edgeworth, grievously depressed at 
 the agonising scene. In a few minutes, however, he 
 succeeded in retrieving himself, and resumed all his 
 serenity. 
 
 M. Edgeworth then proposed to celebrate mass, 
 which tlie king had not lieard for a long period. After 
 some demur, the connuune consented to allow the 
 ceremony, and a requisition was made to the neigh- 
 
 bouring church for the necessary ornaments to be fur- 
 nished on the following morning. The king retired 
 to rest about midnight, desiring Clery to awaken him 
 before five o'clock. M. Edgeworth threw himself on 
 a bed ; Clery remained standing by the piUow of his 
 master, contemplating the peaceful slumber he enjoyed 
 on the eve of an ignominious execution. 
 
 Whilst these things were passing at the Temple, a 
 deplorable event had occurred in the city. A few 
 mdignant spirits, scattered here and there, it is certain 
 were hotly brooding over the coming catastrophe, 
 although the mass, either terror-struck or supine, 
 remained quiescent. A body-guardsman, named Paris, 
 had resolved to avenge the death of Louis XVI. upon 
 one of liis judges. Lepelletier Saint-Fargeau had, like 
 many others of his rank, voted for death, with the 
 view of screening from odium his birth and fortune. 
 He had thereby excited greater indignation amongst 
 the royalists, on accoimt of the class to which he be- 
 longed. On the evening of the 20th, he was pointed 
 out to the guardsman Paris, as he seated himself at 
 table in a coffee-room of the Palais-Royal. The young 
 man, enveloped in a large cloak, approached him, say- 
 ing, " Thou art the miscreant LepeUetier, who voted 
 the death of the king ? " " Yes," repHed the other ; 
 " but I am not a miscreant ; I voted according to my 
 conscience." " So ! " retorted Paris ; " here is thy re- 
 ward !" and he dug his sword into his side. LepeUe- 
 tier fell, and Paris disappeared before any one had 
 time to seize his person. 
 
 Tidings of this event spread rapidly into all quarters. 
 It was proclaimed in the convention, the Jacobin Club, 
 and the commune ; and the occurrence gave additional 
 credit to the rumours of a royalist conspiracy, intended 
 to massacre the left side and deliver the king at the 
 foot of the scaffold. The Jacobins declared their sit- 
 ting permanent, and dispatched fresh commissioners 
 to all the authorities and all the sections, to stimiilate 
 zeal and place the whole population under arms. 
 
 The following morning, the 21st January, five 
 o'clock had toUed at the Temple. The king awoke, 
 called Clery, inquired the hour, and, rising, dressed 
 with great deliberation. He congratulated himself on 
 having recruited his strength by sleep. Clery lighted 
 a fire, and brought a chest of drawers, whicli he con- 
 verted into an altar. M. Edgeworth assumed the 
 pontifical garments, and commenced the celebration 
 of mass. Clery officiated as assistant; and the king 
 heard it, kneeling with deep devotion. He afterwards 
 received the sacrament from the hands of M. Edge- 
 worth, and, the ceremony concluded, he rose with fresh 
 resolution, and waited in tranquillity for the moment 
 of proceeding to the scaffold. He a"sked for scissors, 
 witli the view of cutting his hair himself, and avoid- 
 ing that humiliating operation at the hands of the 
 executioners; but the conimmie refused him a pair, 
 distrusting his pm-pose. 
 
 At this period the drums were beating through the 
 capital. All who formed part of the armed sections 
 repaired to their companies in pert'ect submission ; and 
 those whom no obligation called to co-operate in the 
 service of that portentous day, remained sluit up in 
 tiieir houses. The doors and windows were closed 
 and eacli awaited in his own abode the final accom- 
 l)lishment of the catastroplie. It was reported that 
 fi)ur or five hundred devoted men were to rush upon 
 the carriage and rescue the king. The convention, 
 the comnume, the executive council, the Jacobin Club' 
 were all sitting. ' 
 
 At eight o'clock, Santerre, with a deputation from 
 the connuune, the department, and the criminal tri- 
 bunal, arrived at the Temple. Louis X\T., hearing 
 tlic noise, arose and prepared to depart. He had 
 declined seeing his family again, to avoid a renewal of 
 the minerving scene of tiie previous evening. He 
 charged Clery to carry his farewell to his wife, sister, 
 and ciiildren; and he gave him a signet, some hair, 
 and trinkets, with a commission to deliver them into
 
 236 
 
 niSTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 their possession. He then pressed his hand, thanking 
 him for his services. Subsequently, turning to one of 
 the munieipal offieers, he l^egged hi:n to transmit his 
 testament to the coninuine. Tliis otRcial was an ex- 
 priest, cidled Jacques- Kt)U\-, -who brutally replied that 
 his duty was to conduct him to execution, and not 
 to perform commissions. One of liis colleagues took 
 the charge on himself; and Louis, advancing towards 
 the attendant group, gave the signal for departure 
 with unshaken firnmess. 
 
 Two officers of gendarmerie were seated in the front 
 part of the coach; the king and IM. Edgeworth occu- 
 pied the back seat. During the route, which was long 
 and tedious, the king read the prayers of the dying 
 from his confessor's breviary, and the two gendarmes 
 were struck with his exemplary piety and resignation. 
 They were instructed, it is said, to kill him if the 
 coach were attacked. However, no hostile demonstra- 
 tion was manifested from the Temple to the Place de 
 la Revolution. An armed muUitude lined tlie way; 
 the vehicle advanced slowly, and amidst an luiiversal 
 silence. On the square of the Revolution, a large 
 space had been left vacant aroimd the scaffold. Camion 
 encompassed this space; the most zealous federalists 
 were planted nearest the scallold, and a vile mob, ever 
 ready to insult genius, virtue, or misfortune, when 
 instigated by worthless leaders, pressed behind the 
 ranks of the federalists, and alone gave any external 
 signs of gratification, whilst all others sought to bury 
 in the innermost recesses of the heart the pahiful feel- 
 ings they experienced. 
 
 At ten minutes past ten the carriage stopped. 
 Louis XVI., rising unperturbed, alighted on the 
 square. Three executioners came forward; he re- 
 pulsed them, and disarranged his own dress. But, 
 seeing that they wished to bind his hands, he gave 
 way to a feeling of indignation, and seemed prepared 
 to defend himself. INI. Edgeworth, all whose words 
 on the occasion were sublime, turned upon him a last 
 look, and said, " Suffer this outrage as a tinal resem- 
 blance to the God about to become your recom- 
 pense." At these words, the victim, resigned and 
 docile, allowed himself to be bound and led to the 
 scaffold. Suddenly, Louis stepped apart, shook off t!ie 
 executioners, and advanced to address the people. 
 " Frenchmen," said he, in a firm voice, " I die innocent 
 of the crimes laid to my charge : I pardon the authors 
 qf my death ; and i)ray that my blood may not be 
 visited on France." He would have continued, but 
 an order to beat the drums was instantly given ; their 
 rolling drowned the voice of the monarch : the execu- 
 tioners rudely seized upon him, and ]\I. Edgeworth 
 solemnly pronounced the words : " Son of Saint Louis, 
 ascend to fieaven!"* 
 
 Scarcely had his blood spouted forth, than monsters 
 dipped their pikes and handkerchiefs in it, and spread 
 through Paris, vociferating " Long live the republic! 
 The nation for ever !" and even thronged to the g;'.tes 
 of the Temple, exhilriting the insensate and spurious 
 
 * [" Tlius perisliod, at the age of tliirty-nine, after a rcijjn of 
 16J ycjirs, passed in seeking g<x>l, tlie best but the weakest of 
 monarclis. Uin iinuestors bequejithed liim a revolution. He was 
 more fitted than any of them to prevent or terminate it, for lie 
 was capable of being a reforming king before it broke out, or of 
 being, after its explosion, a constitutional king. He is tlie only 
 prince, perhaps, wlio, without passions, had not even that of 
 power; and wlio combined the two qualities whieh make good 
 kings, the fear of God and love for the people. He perished the 
 victim of passions he did not partake— those of tlie persons sur- 
 rounding him, which were alien to him, and those of the multi- 
 tude, which he had not excited. Tliere are few kingly memories 
 equally worthy of praise. History will say of him that, with a 
 little more strength of mind, he had stood alone in the list of 
 kings." — MUjmi, vol. i. p. i:l»). 
 
 " The siglit of the royal corpse produced divers sensations in 
 the minds of the spectators. Sime cut off p;uts of his dress; 
 others sought to gJithcr a few fr.igmentsof his hair ; a few dipp<9d 
 their sabres in his blood ; and many hiu'ried from the scene, 
 
 joy the multitude ahvays manifests at the birth, the 
 accession, or the fall of priuces. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 P0.SIT10N OF PARTIES AFTER THE DEATH OF LOUIS XVI. 
 
 ASPECT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. SECOND COALITION 
 
 AGATN.ST FRANCE. STRUGGLES BETWEEN THE GIRON- 
 DISTS AND MOUNTAINEERS. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL. 
 
 The death of the unfortunate Louis XVI. had pro- 
 duced profound consternation in France, and mingled 
 astonishment and indignation in Europe. As the more 
 discerning revolutionists had foreseen, the nation was 
 irretrievably committed to the most rancorous hosti- 
 lities, and every avenue to conciliation was irrevocably 
 closed. The necessity was thenceforth imposed on 
 the revolution of waging battle against the coalesced 
 thrones and vanquishing them, or itself shiking be- 
 neath tlieir assaults. Nor was any attempt made to 
 conceal tlie danger ; in the assembly, in the Jacobin 
 Clul), every where, in fact, it was proclaimed that 
 external defence ouglit to be the material object of 
 attention ; and from this moment the topics of w:ir 
 and finance were constantly inscribed on the order of 
 the day. 
 
 AVe have seen with w'nat apprclicnsicms the two 
 domestic parties regarded each other. The Jacoliins 
 thought they beheld a dangerous lurking of royalism 
 in the resistance offered to the condemnation of Louis 
 XVI., and in the horror manifested by several of the 
 departments at the excesses committed since the 10th 
 August. To the last moment, therefore, they had 
 doubted their victory ; but the easy execution of the 
 21st January finally dispelled all their forebodings. 
 Thenceforward they deemed it possible that the cause 
 of the revolution should flourish ; and they drew up 
 addresses with the view of enlightening the depart- 
 ments and effecting their conversion. The Girondists, 
 on the contrary, already struck with commiseration 
 for the fate of Louis XVI., and now alarmed besides 
 at the triumph of their adversaries, began to discover 
 in the catastrophe of the 21st January the prelude to 
 long and sanguinary outrages, and the first stc]) to- 
 wards that inexorable system they so sti'enuously re- 
 sisted. Their o])i)onents, indeed, had conceded them 
 the prosecution of the authors of September ; but it 
 was a nominal and sterile advantage. In abandoning 
 Louis XVI., their main desire had been to demon- 
 strate that they were not royalists ; in abandoning 
 the Septembrisers, the others had been anxious to 
 escape the charge that they protected crime; but 
 neither instance tended, save in a very remote degree, 
 to convince or to mitigate distrust on the one side or 
 the other. The Jacobins stiU looked upon them as 
 lukewarm republicans, if not as royalists, and they in 
 
 evincing in their countenances the most jioignant grief. An 
 Englislinian, bolder than the resi, threw Iiimself at the foot of 
 the scaffold, dipped his handkerchief in the blood which covered 
 the ground, and disappeared. 
 
 In tlie capital, the great body of the citizens appeared to lie 
 overwhelmed by a general stupor ; they hardly ventured to look 
 each other in the face on the streets ; sadnejis was depicteii on 
 every countenance ; a licavj' disquietude seemed to have taken 
 possession of evei-y mind. The day following the execution they 
 had not got the better of their consternation, which appeared 
 then to have readied the members of the convention, who were 
 iistonished and terrified at .so bold a stroke, and the possible con- 
 sequences with whicli it might be followed. 
 
 Immediately after the execution, the body of Louis XVI. wiw 
 transiioited into the ancient cemetery of the Madolcina ; it was 
 placed in a ditch sLx feet square, witli its back against the wall of 
 the Rue d'Anjou, and covered with quicklime, wliicli was the 
 cause of its being so diliieiilt afterwards, in IHl.j, to discover the 
 smallest traces of his remainB."'— ///>/. n/Cun. vol. ii. p. 13.]
 
 fW- 
 
 ''"'^A' 
 
 ::'^W//.'ylm. fMm//^-^- 
 
 ://: 
 
 ^rlf'Ut^l'ejJu^ J i^^^'^*^^^ 
 
 /A^>mrr^ 64.^..^- S^^n/Tn^ /^S.uu.Jr.cay/'
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 237 
 
 return continm;d to view tlnjir eneiiiies as men defiled 
 with blood and carnage. 
 
 Roland, comiiletely disconragcd, not at the danger 
 he incurred, hut at the evident impossibility of being 
 serviceable, sent in liis resignation on the 23d Janu- 
 ary. The Jacobins congratulated themselves on the 
 event, but siJcedilj^ raised the cry that tlie ministry 
 still contained the traitors Claviere and Lebrun, a\ honi 
 Brissot du'ected as his tools ; that the evil was far 
 from being eradicated ; and that they nuist not relax 
 in their exertions, but, on the contrary, redouble their 
 activity, mitil they had finaUj^ purged tlie government 
 of intriguers, Girondists, Holandists, Urissotins, &c. On 
 the other hand, the Girondists demanded the re-orga- 
 nisation of tlie war ministry, which Pache, by his 
 imbecile submission to the Jacobhis, had brought into 
 a most deplorable condition. After violent debates, 
 Pache was dismissed as incompetent. Thus the two 
 leaders who divided the ministry, and whose names 
 had become the rallymg cries of party, were excluded 
 from the government. The majority of the conven- 
 tion believed that this expedient was an advance to- 
 wards peace, as if by suppressing the names used b}' 
 opposmg passions, the passions themselves were not 
 siu-e to survive, seek out fresh mottoes, and continue 
 their contest. Bem-nonville, the friend of Dumom-iez, 
 and surnamed the French Ajax, was called to the 
 achninistration of the war department. He was as 
 yet known to the parties only by his gallantry ; but 
 his attacliment to discipline was speedily to ];lace 
 him in opposition to the disorganising genius of the 
 Jacobins. 
 
 After tlicse proceedings, the assembly ordered finan- 
 cial questions to take precedence as orders of the day, 
 since, at this critical moment, wlien the revolution 
 had to withstand the shock of all Europe, they were 
 confessedly the most important. At the same time, 
 it directed tliat the constitution committee should pre- 
 sent its report in fifteen days at the latest; and re- 
 solved tliat it would immediately afterwards devote 
 itself to tlie public consolidation. Numerous indivi- 
 duals, not correctly appreciating the causes of revo- 
 lutionary troubles, imagined that it was the want of 
 laws which provoked all the disasters of the country, 
 and tliat tiie constitution ■would allay all dissensions. 
 Under this persuasion, many of the Gii'ondists, and 
 aU the members of the Plain, continually demanded 
 the constitution, and complained bitterly of the delay 
 observed in completing it, alleging with energy that 
 their mission was to constitute. And this they main- 
 tained in perfect sincerit}' ; all of them were impressed 
 with the idea that they had been convoked for this 
 purpose alone, and that their assigned task could be 
 accomplished in a few months. They had not yet been 
 made aware that they were assembled, not to institute 
 but to combat ; that their fearful mission was to de- 
 fend the revolution against Europe and La Vendi'C ; 
 that they woidd soon he converted from the delibera- 
 tive body they then formed mto a sanguinary dicta- 
 torship, at once proscribing domestic foes, fighting 
 liatlles against Europe and revolted provinces, and 
 defending themselves on all sides Avith the resources 
 of violence ; that Iheir laws, transitory as the crisis, 
 would be viewed merely as the eniiuiations of angry 
 excitement ; and that of their varied labours, all Ihat 
 would endure was tlie glory of their defence, the un- 
 exampled and terrible mission imposed upon Iheni by 
 destiny, but which they themselves were as yet far 
 from deeming the only one in store for them. 
 
 Meanwliile, eitlier from the exhaustion of a pro- 
 longed struggle, or from tlie unanimity of sentiment 
 on the subject of Avar, all being in harmony on the 
 necessity of making a vigorous defence, and even of 
 provoking the enemy, an interval of (juietude suc- 
 ceeded tiie fierce agitation which had marked tlie 
 course of the king's trial, and even Brissot was imi- 
 vcrsally applauded for his diplomatic ivports upon the 
 relations with foreign x'oAvers. 
 
 Such, then, was the domestic situation of France, 
 and the state of the parties Avhicli divided it. Her 
 position with respect to Europe Avas most alarming. 
 It was, in trutli, a general rupture Avith all the poAvers. 
 Hitherto France had only had three declared enemies, 
 Piedmont, Austria, and Prussia. The revolution, 
 every Avhere approved by the people according to the 
 degree of their enlightenment, eA'ery Avliere abhorred 
 by the govermnents in the ratio of their fears, had 
 recently excited very difierent sensations throughout 
 the Avorld, by the terrible events of the 10th August, 
 the 2d and 3d September, and the 21st Januaiy. Less 
 contemned since it had so energetically defended itself, 
 but also less esteemed since it had sidlied itself with 
 crimes, it had ceased to interest nations so Avarnily as 
 before, but taught governments to regard it with a 
 considerable abatement of disdain. 
 
 The Avar, then, Avas henceforth to become general. 
 Our previous pages have shoAvn Austria giving way 
 to family considerations, and embarking in hostilities 
 little conducive to her interests ; Prussia, whose natu- 
 ral policy pointed to an alliance Avith France against 
 the head of the empire, throAving her annies across 
 the Rhine, upon most frivolous pretences, and retreat- 
 ing from the inglorious campaign of the Argoune ; 
 Catherine of Russia, once so addicted to philosophy, 
 deserting, like all the other flutterers in courts, the 
 cause she had formerly espoused from vanity, assail- 
 ing the revolution in accordance Avith the dictates as 
 well of policy as of feeling, craftily stimulating Gus- 
 tavus, the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Prus- 
 sia, in order to distract their attention from Poland, 
 and drive them towards the west ; Piedmont, attack- 
 mg France against its interests, but from motives of 
 kinsmanship and of hatred for the re\'olution; the 
 petty com-ts of Italy, detesting the new republic, but 
 not daring to attack it — nay, even acknoAvledging it 
 at sight of the tricolom'ed flag ; Switzerland observ- 
 ing a strict neutrality ; Holland and the Germanic 
 diet avoiding any decisive manifestation, bvit allowing 
 their profomid abhorrence to be perceptible ; Spain 
 preserving a prudent neutrality, vmder the counsels of 
 the sagacious Count d'Aranda ; and, lastly, England, 
 leaving France to tear herself to pieces, the continent 
 to exhaust itself, and the French colonies to convert 
 themselA'cs into Avastes — in short, abandoning the jiur- 
 suit of lier vengeance to the inevitable disorders of a 
 revolution. 
 
 The new revolutionary impetuosity Avas destined to 
 disturb all these studied neutralities. Hitherto, Pitt 
 had regulated his conduct upon fair and indisputable 
 principles. In England, a partial revolution, Avhich 
 had but half regenerated the social state, had left in 
 subsistence a multitude of feudid mstitutions, Avliich 
 of course were objects of warm attachment to the 
 aristocracy and the court, and of severe invective to 
 the opposition. Pitt had two ol)jects in view : the first, 
 domestic, consisted in moderating aristocratic repug- 
 nance on the one hand, and checking the spirit of re- 
 form on the otlu!r, and thus preserving his ministry 
 1)3' controlling the two parties ; the second, foreign, 
 contemjilated the jirostration of France under tlie 
 weight of her own disasters, and the hatred of all the 
 Eur()])ean governments ; in a word, he Avished to ren- 
 der iiis country mistress of the Avorhl, and to be master 
 of that country; such Avas the twofold design he jiur- 
 sued, Avith the selfishness and strength of purpose 
 characteristic of a great statesman. Neutrality suited 
 his designs most admirably. By abstaining from Avar, 
 he curbed Ihe blind hatred of his court for liberty ; by 
 allowing all the excesses of the French revolution to 
 take free and unrestricted development, he Avas daily 
 su])i>lieil Avith sanguinary ansAvers in refutation of the 
 aiiologists of that revolution— answers Avhich in truth 
 proved nolliing, but ])rodu<'ed, nevertheless, a materiid 
 cfVeet. lie invariably retorted ujion the celebrated 
 Fox, the most eloquent man in the ranks of opposi- 
 tion, and indeed in all England, by citing the crimes
 
 238 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of reformed France. Upon Burke, an impassioned 
 declaimer, devolved the duty of recapitidatinfj these 
 crimes, a task of which he acquitted himself with ab- 
 surd violence ; he proceeded on one occasion to such a 
 pitch of extravairance as to throw a dagger on tlie 
 floor of the House of Commons, proclaimin"? it the 
 manufacture of proselytising Jacobins. "Whilst at 
 Paris Pitt was accused of fomenting troubles by lar- 
 gesses, at London he accused the French revolution- 
 ists of distributing money to excite rebellion, and the 
 French emigrants gave additional weight to such 
 rumours bv diligently repeating and accretUting them. 
 Thus, whilst by this astute policy, worthy a discijjle 
 of Machiavel, he rendered French liberty distasteful 
 to the English, lie stirred u]i all Europe against France 
 herself, and, by his envoys, disposed its numerous 
 governments to take up arms. In Switzerland he had 
 not succeeded, but at the Hague, the docile stadtliolder, 
 to whom one revohition had been matter of personal 
 experience, who was still distrustful of his people, and 
 had no other support than the English squadrons, had 
 given him unlimited satisfaction, and demonstrated 
 his animosity to France by various unequivocal and 
 hostile proceedings. It Avas, however, more especially 
 in Spain that Pitt employed a persevering course of 
 intrigue to induce that power to adopt the most in- 
 considerate step it ever took, that of uniting with 
 England against France, its only maritime ally. The 
 Spanish people had been but slightly moved at the 
 French revolution, and the reasons tending to indis- 
 pose tlie cabinet of Madrid against it Avere less those 
 of security and policy than those resulting from family 
 sympathy, and from the antipathy felt in common by 
 all governments. The prudent Count d'Aranda, resist- 
 ing the intrigues of the emigrants, the impatient spirit 
 of the Spanish aristocracy, and the instigations of Pitt, 
 had carefidly conciliated the jealous susceptibility of 
 the French government. Eventualh" overthrown, how- 
 ever, and displaced ft)r Don ilanuel Godoj^ afterwards 
 Prince of Peace, he left his unfortimate country a prey 
 to the most fatal counsels. The cabinet of ]\Iadi-id had 
 throughout avoided any explicit avowals with respect 
 to France ; at the period of the definitive sentence on 
 Louis XVI., it had oifered its political recognition, 
 and its mediation with the other powers, if the de- 
 throned monarch were permitted to enjoy life in safety. 
 In reply to this proposition, Danton had moved a de- 
 claration of war, but the assembly simply adopted the 
 order of the day. Since that moment, the inclination 
 for war was no longer a subject of doubt. Catalonia 
 was filled with trooj)*! ; in all the ports, armaments 
 were fitted out, and an immediate attack was resolved 
 upon. Pitt's success, therefore, was secured, whilst he 
 himself, without yet openly declaring his intentions, 
 without compromising England too precipitately, took 
 all needful time to place her navv on a formidabie foot- 
 ing, kept her aristocracy in good liumour by his vast 
 preparations, and fostered public indignation against 
 France and her revolution by declamatoiy publica- 
 tions, for which he largely disliursed tlie national 
 funds. Thus silently augmenting his resources, he 
 at the same time inspirited a preponderating league 
 against France, which, comjik-tely engrossing all her 
 strength, effectually i)revented her eitlier from suc- 
 couring her colonies or arresting the progress of the 
 English arms in the Indian peninsula. 
 
 At no period is Europe recorded to have been 
 stricken with so perfect a blindness, and to have com- 
 mitted against herself so many astounding follies, as 
 at the one now under review. Thus, turning our eyes 
 to the west, wc behold Spain, Holland, and all the 
 maritime powers, under tlie misguiding influence of 
 aristocratic passions, arming in conjunction with their 
 enemy England against I'rance, their natural ally. 
 Prussia likewise we see, yielding to an inconceivable 
 vanity, uniting itself with the head of the empire 
 against that very France whose firm alliance the great 
 Frederick had always recommended. The insignificant 
 
 King of Sardinia fell into the same eufor, from mo- 
 tives which it must be allowed were more intelligible 
 — the sympathies of kinsmanship. In the east and iu 
 the north, we perceive Catherine left at liberty to 
 perpetrate a crime against Poland, and to compromise 
 the security of Germany, for the petty advantage of 
 acquiring a few provinces, and of being enabled to 
 desolate France without interference. Hence all the 
 ancient and mutually advantageous connexions werj 
 cast aside, and the perfitlious suggestions of the two 
 most formidable powers weakly listened to by the 
 various European cabinets, thus stimulated to arms 
 against one unfortimate country, and that country the 
 old protectress or ally of those now attacking her. 
 All conspired to hasten that consummation, all fielded 
 implicitly to the views of Pitt and Catherine ; incon- 
 siderate Frenchmen overspread Europe to promote 
 this baneful departure from all true policy and pru- 
 dence, and to dj'aw upon their native land the most 
 deplorable of scourges. And what were the motives 
 of such infatuated conduct ? Poland was abandoned to 
 Catherine, because it had presumed to regulate its old 
 and pristine liberty ; France was abandoned to Pitt, be- 
 cause it had presumed to give itself the liberty it never 
 enjoyed before. Doubtless France had committed ex- 
 cesses ; but those very excesses were sure to be aggra- 
 vated by the Anolence of the approaching struggle; 
 and, without succeetUng in blotting out that so much 
 abhorred liberty, Europe was now preparing to enter 
 upon a coiu'se which led to a thirty years' war, the 
 most destructive in the annals of the human race, 
 provoking interminable invasions, arousing an miiver- 
 sal conqueror, producing endless vicissitudes and deso- 
 lations, and finishing by the consolidation of the two 
 colossal empires, which at the present day domineer 
 over Europe upon the two elements — England and 
 Kussia. 
 
 Amidst this general confederacy, Denmark, ruled 
 by a discreet minister, and Sweden, freed from the 
 presumptuous projects of Gustavus, alone observed a 
 prudent caution, which Holland and Spain would 
 have done well to imitate, by joinmg the system of 
 the armed neutrality. The French government had 
 formed a perfectly correct judgment upon these gene- 
 ral dispositions, and the impatience which characte- 
 rised it at this moment did not achnit of its tarrying 
 for formal declarations of war, but urged it, on the 
 contrary, to precipitate them. Since the 10th August, 
 it had continually demanded its recognition ; but 
 with regard to England, whose neutrality was pre- 
 ci(5us on account of the enemies already dra^vn up in 
 array against it, it had still preserved a certain mode- 
 ration in its tone. But after the 21st January, it had 
 thrown all such considerations aside, and at once 
 determined upon an universal war. Convinced that 
 secret attacks were not less dangerous than open and 
 avowed hostilities, it hastened to make its enemies 
 declare themselves ; and so early as tlie 22d January, 
 tlie National Convention passed all the cabinets in 
 review, directed rej^orts upon the conduct of each 
 with respect to France, and stood prepared to pro- 
 claim war against them, should they procrastinate in 
 furnishing explicit and categorical exi)lanations. 
 
 Since the lOth August, England had witlidrawn 
 her ambassador from Paris, and only permitted as 
 French ambassador in London, M. Ciiauvelin, in the 
 capacity of envoy from the extinct royalty. These 
 diplomatic refinements were simply intended to keep 
 up appearances as regarded the imprisoned king, and 
 at the same time to defer hostilities, for which the 
 time was not yet ripe. Accordingly, Pitt pretended 
 to require a secret agent to unfold his complaints 
 against the French government. The citizen Maret 
 was charged with this mission in the month of De- 
 cember. He had a confidential interview with Pitt 
 After mutual protests, to the purport that the inter- 
 view possessed no official character, that it was strictly 
 amicable, and had no other object save the beneficent
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 239 
 
 hope of tendina: to satisfy the two nations as to their 
 rec'iprociil crrievances, Pitt complained that France 
 threatened tlie alUes of Enf^land, even assailed their 
 interests, and, in corroboration of his assertion, pointed 
 to Holland. The injnry here alleged was the oiiening 
 of the Scheldt, a measure imprudent, perhaps, but 
 just and beneficial, which the French had adopted on 
 their entrance into the Low Countries. In truth, there 
 was something; inexpressibly absurd in tlie old obser- 
 vance, that to secure the Dutch a monopoly of its 
 navigation, the Low Countries, through which the 
 Scheldt passes, should be debarred from making an_y 
 use of that river. Austria had not ventured to abolish 
 this servitude, but Dimioiiriez did so by orders from 
 his government ; and the inhabitants of Antwerp be- 
 held Avith joyful emotions vessels again ascending the 
 Scheldt as fur as tlieir city. The reply was not diffi- 
 cult ; for France, wjien respecting the rights of neu- 
 tral neighbours, had not undertaken to uphold politi- 
 cal iniquities, because neutrals were interested in their 
 preservation. Besides, the Dutch government had 
 evinced sufficient malevolence to abrogate the neces- 
 sity of consulting its wishes at anj^ great sacrifice. 
 The second grievance adduced was the decree of the 
 1.5th November, by which the National Convention 
 promised aid to all nations who should throw off the 
 yoke of tyranny. This decree, an imprudent bravado, 
 doubtless, and adopted in a moment of enthusiasm, 
 did not mean, as Pitt feigned to believe, that the con- 
 vention invited all nations to revolt, but that it would 
 afford succour to the people against tlieir governments 
 in all countries at war with the revolution. Pitt lastly 
 complained of the constant menaces and declamations 
 which issued from the Jacobins against all govern- 
 ments ; but in this particular the governments were 
 assuredly not one whit more blameless than the Jaco- 
 bins ; and if a balance had been struck, little would 
 have been found due to either side on the score of foul 
 language. 
 
 Tliis interview produced no resiilt, and served merely 
 to show that England's object at the moment was to 
 gain time ; that she had every wish for war, but judged 
 a certain delay in its declaration expedient. However, 
 the great trial of the month of Janiuiry accelerated 
 events. The English parliament was suddenly con- 
 voked before the usiud period. An inqviisitorial law 
 was passed against all Frenchmen travelling in Eng- 
 land ; the Tower of London was put in a state of defence, 
 and militia-levies -were ordered : preparations and pro- 
 clamations alike announced war to be determined upon. 
 The po])ulace of London was purposely excited ; and 
 throughout the island that insensate passion was stu- 
 diously aroused, which renders a war with France ac- 
 ceptable as if it were a signal national benefit. At 
 length, vessels loaded with grain bound for Frencli 
 I)orts were stopped ; and on tidings of the 2 1 st January, 
 the French ambassador, whom the English government 
 had hitherto refused in some sort to recognise, received 
 orders to quit tlie kingdom williin eight days. The 
 National Convention forthwitli directed a report to be 
 framed upon the conduct of England with respect to 
 France, and upon its close relations with the stadt- 
 holder of the United Provinces; and on the first of 
 February, after hearing Ih-issot, who, for tViat fieeting 
 moment, o})tained the ajiplauses of botli ])arties, 
 solenndy declared war against Holland and England. 
 Hostilities with tlie Sjianish government, also, were 
 innninent; and althougli war was not formally declared, 
 that ceremony seemed tacitly waived on both sides. 
 Thus France had almost the whole of Europe arrayed 
 in open enmity against her; and the act whereby she 
 had broken witli all crowned lieads, and conunitte<l 
 herself past recall to tlie torrt-nt of the revolution, was 
 UiKjuestionably that which so fatally illusti-ated tlie 
 2 1 St of J anuary. 
 
 The dread assault of so many confederated powers 
 had accordingly to be withstood, and however jxiweifid 
 in population and resources, France could hardly ex- 
 
 pect to resist with success so universal and inveterate 
 an attack. But her leaders were not dismayed, nor 
 were their confidence and audacity in tlie least abated. 
 The unexpected trium]i]is of tlie republic in the Ar- 
 gonne and in Belgium had convinced them that every 
 man, above all, a Frenchman, could become a soldier 
 in six months. The excitement pervading France 
 induced them to believe, also, that the entire population 
 might be transported to fields of battle ; and that it wa? 
 thus quite possible to assemble even three or four mil- 
 lions of men, Avho would soon be soldiers ; and in this 
 manner far outstrip all that the luiited sovereigns of 
 Europe could bring together in the shape of armies. 
 " Observe well," said they, " the result as regards all 
 kingdoms : we see a small quantitj^ of men, recruited 
 with difficulty, filling out the forms of armies; the 
 bulk of the peojile stands aloof and regardless, and a 
 handful of disciplined creatures decides the fate of 
 the most extensive empires. But, on the other hand, 
 imagine an entire natitin starting from private life and 
 taking arms for its defence, must it not set all ordinary 
 calculations at nought? What is there impossible to 
 twent3"-five millions of men, not inert, but roused and 
 acting?" Upon the point of expenditure they were 
 equally sanguine. The amount of national property 
 was daily increasing by emigration, and already greatly 
 exceeded that of the national debt. At the moment, 
 this capital lay dormant from the want of purchasers ; 
 but assignats would take its place, and their con- 
 ventional value realise the prospective value of the 
 estates they represented. In circulation they were 
 certainly depreciated a third of their nominal value, 
 but they had merely to add a third to the amount on 
 this gi'ound, as the pledge was so enormous that it 
 could safely bear any requisite excess of issue. Be- 
 sides, as the men to be moved to the field of battle 
 lived well at present, many indeed in luxury, why 
 should they not live in a camp as easily as by their 
 firesides ? Coidd the elements and food be ever want- 
 ing to men, wheresoever they might congregate? 
 Again, society, as it then existed, possessed more 
 wealth than was needed to supply the wants of all ; it 
 only required a better distribution ; with which view 
 they proposed to tax the rich, and make them hear the 
 charges of the war. Lastly, the countries into wliich 
 the French armies would penetrate, having likewise 
 old social SA'stenis to overthrow and abuses to root out, 
 in them immense sums might be realised from the 
 spoils of priests, nobles, and kings, for such states must 
 in pure justice repay France for the aid she should 
 afford them. 
 
 It was thus the ardent imagination of Camhon rea- 
 soned, and his ideas speedily took possession of the 
 public mind. In the antiquated system of cabinets, 
 from one to two hundred thousand soldiers, su])ported 
 by certain imjiosts or croMn-reveiiues, were all that 
 politicians calcnlated upon; in the present instance, it 
 was one mass of human beings who arose of themselves 
 and said, " We will conqiose tlie armies;" who glanced 
 at the total aggregate of wealth, and again communed 
 with themselves — " This sum is sulticient, and, divided 
 amongst all, will sujijily the wants of all." Doubtless 
 it was not the entire nation which held such language; 
 but these n])inioiis were embraced by the most enthu- 
 siastic jiortion of tliat nation, and it was jire])ari'<l to 
 enforce them liv all i^xjiedit'iits ujioii the general body, 
 
 liefbre proceeding to the distribution of the resources 
 thus acutely discerned by the zealous revolutionists, 
 it will be necessary to revisit tlie frontiers, and consi- 
 der how the last campaign had terminated. Its com- 
 mencement had been sulticiently brilliant; hut a first 
 success, ill inqiroved, had merely served to extend the 
 line of operations, and jmivoke on the jiart of the 
 enemy a more formidal)le and decisive efiin't. Thus, 
 defence had become more difiicult in pro])ortion as it 
 spread over more ground, and the defi'ated foe was 
 incited to act with redou])led energy ; at the same time 
 his invigorated assault came in conjunction with the
 
 •240 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 almost general disorganisation of the French armies. 
 In addition to these untoward circumstances, the 
 nmnbur of the hostile confederates was m;)re tlian 
 doubled ; for the English upon the coasts, the Spaniards 
 on the Pyrenees, and the Dutch to the north of the 
 Low Countries, threatened new attacks. 
 
 Dumouriez had stopped short on the hanks of the 
 Meuse, behig j)revented from pushing on to the Khine 
 by reasons which have been imperfecth^ apiireciated, 
 because the delays which succeeded the rapidity of his 
 early operations "seemed inexplicable. When he reached 
 Liege, the disorganisation of his army was complete. 
 The soldiers were almost naked ; for want of shoes 
 they had wrapped their feet in hay ; all that they had 
 in any thing like sufficiency was meat :ind bread, 
 owing to a contract which Dumouriez liad maintained 
 by his own authority. ISnt no money was obtainable 
 to pay them even partially in specie, and they either 
 plundered the peasants, or used violence to compel them 
 to receive assignats. The horses were daily perishing 
 for want of provender ; those of the artillery were 
 almost all dead. Trivations, and the slackened pro- 
 gress of the war, conspired to disgust the troops ; and 
 the volunteers deserted in whole companies, addui'ing 
 a decree which declared that the coimtry had ceased 
 to be in danger. The convention was obliged to pass 
 another decree in order to prevent this extensive eva- 
 sion, and, however severe its provisions, the gendar- 
 merie stationed on the highways scarcely sufficed to 
 stop the fugitives. The army was diminished a third. 
 These united causes effectually debarred Dumouriez 
 from pur.iuing the Austrians with the necessary viva- 
 city. Clairfayt had found time to intrench hin)self on 
 the banks of "the Erft, and Beaidieu in the direction 
 of Luxumbourg ; and it was impossible for Dumouriez, 
 with an army reduced to 30,000 or 40,000 men, to drive 
 before him an enemy defended by strong hilly and 
 woody positions, and resting upon Luxumbourg, one of 
 the most impregnable fortresses in the world. If, as 
 was incessantly repeated, Custine, instead of making 
 excursicms in Germany, had turned back on Coblentz, 
 effected a junction witli BeurnonviUe for the capture of 
 Treves, and botli had afterwards descended the Khine, 
 Dumouriez on his part would have advanced to that 
 barrier by Cologne. Uy this means, all three might 
 have united together; Luxumbourg Avoidd have been 
 invested, and in all probability fallen, from its com- 
 munications being completely intercejited. But all this 
 had remained simply hypothetical: Custine, stubborn 
 in his desire to draw the war towards his own quarter, 
 was sviccessfid only in provoking a declaration from 
 the Germanic diet, in irritating the vanity of the King 
 of Prussia, and fixing him more firndy in the coalition ; 
 BeurnonviUe, reduced to his own troops, had failed in 
 effecting the fall of Treves ; and the enemy had main- 
 tamed his ])ositions both in the electorate of Treves 
 and the duchy of Luxumbourg. In this state of things, 
 if Dumouriez had advanced towards the Rhine, he 
 would have uncovered liisrigjit flank and his rear, and 
 even then have been unable, considering the dolefid 
 situation of his army, to overrun that extensive ivgion 
 which stretches between the IVIcuse and the Rhine, 
 and as far as the frontiers of Holland — a difficult coun- 
 try, with no facilities for transport, intersected with 
 woods and high hills, and occupied by an enemy still 
 far from contemptiltle. We may be quite sure that 
 Dumouriez would have preferred gaining laurels on 
 the Rhine, if he had possessed the means of conquest, 
 to visiting Paris as a mediator for Louis XVI. The 
 zeal for royalty, which he so largely attributed to 
 himself in London to increase his consequence, and 
 with which tiie .Jacobins upbraided him in Paris to 
 destroy his intlnence, was by no means so ardent as to 
 lead hiin from a brilliant course of victory to place 
 himself in jeopardy amidst the factions of the capital. 
 He quitteil the scene of warfare only because he could 
 effect nothing more, and because be lioped, by personal 
 intercourse with the government, to remove the diffi- 
 
 culties that had been thrown in his path during the 
 invasion of Belgium. 
 
 We have in an earlier part of this work described 
 the embarrassments his conquest was preparing for 
 liim. Belgium desired a revolution, but not so sweep- 
 ing and radical a revolution as that of France. Du- 
 mouriez, from principle, policj% and considerations of 
 military prudence, was naturally disposed to declare 
 in favour of the moderate tendencies of the country 
 he occupied. We have already seen him struggling 
 to save the Belgians from the disasters of war, to give 
 them a share in the profit of commissariat contracts, 
 and to insinuate rather than force the assignats into 
 circulation. For all such cares his exclusive recom- 
 pense was the fiercest of Jacobin invectives. Cambon 
 had materially aggravated his difficulties by procuring 
 the decree of the 15th December. 
 
 When urging its adoption, that deputy had, amidst 
 the most vehement cheering, thus spoken : — " In the 
 countries we enter, we nuist at once proclaim a revo- 
 lutiorian/ government. It is useless to practise conceal- 
 ment : the despots know well what we aim at ; and 
 since they interpret our meaning so sagaciously, we 
 ouglit to declare it boldly and openly, the more espe- 
 cially when its justice can be so triumjjhautly avowed. 
 ^Vheresoever our generals shall come, there must they 
 be enjoined to proclaim the sovereignty of the people, 
 the abolition of feudalism, of tithes, of all abuses ; 
 there nmst all former authorities be dissolved, and 
 new local administrations be provisionally formecl, 
 under the direction of our generals. Those adniini- 
 sti'ations will govern the country, and advise on the 
 means of composing a national convention to decide 
 upon its destiny. The ijroperty of our enemies, that 
 is to say, of nobles, priests, lay or ecclesiastical cor- 
 porations, churches, &c., nmst be instantly seques- 
 trated, and i>laced under the safeguard of the French 
 nation, so that strict accomits may be rendered through 
 the local adnnnistrations, and the possessions them- 
 selves serve as security for the costs of the war, whereof 
 the delivered countries wiU of course defray a portion, 
 since the war is midertaken f(jr their enfranchisement. 
 ^Vfter the campaign, a balance will be struck ; shoidd 
 the re]nil>lie be found to have received in stox'es more 
 than the expenses due to her justly warrant, she will 
 discharge the surplus ; if there be a deficiency, it will 
 be made good to her. It is also indispensable that our 
 assignats, based on the new distribution of property, 
 should be received in the conquered countries, and 
 that theu" field should expand with the principles 
 which have produced them ; and, lastly, that the exe- 
 cutive power should dispatch envoys to concert with 
 those provisional administrations, fraternise with them, 
 keep the accounts of the republic, and execute the 
 ordained confiscation." He added, " No half revolu- 
 tions ! Every nation which refuses what we now pro- 
 pose shall be our enemy, and will richly deserve to be 
 treated as such. Peace and fraternity to all the 
 friends of liberty, war to the abject partisans of des- 
 potism ! War to pa/aces, peace to cottayes!" 
 
 These ideas had been forthwith endwdied in a de- 
 cree, and carried into practical operation throughout 
 the conquered provinces. A nndtitude of agents, 
 selected by the executive power from the Jacobin 
 ranks, had been inunediately disseminated througli 
 Belgium, the provisional adnnnistrations formed umler 
 their guidance, and those bodies urged to an exceed- 
 ing pitch of deniagogical fury. The lowest classes, in- 
 stigated by the Jacobin emissaries against the middle 
 ranks, committed the most revolting disorders. They 
 introduced, in trutli. all at once, ami without any state 
 of transition between the old and the new order of 
 things, the anarchy of 1793, which had been progrcs- 
 si\'ely brought on in Franc!e by four years of troidtle 
 and excitement. The-se proconsids, invested with al- 
 most absolute powers, imprisoned persons and confis- 
 cated property at pleasure; and desi)oiling the churches 
 of all their plate, highly exasperated the unhappy
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH KE VOLUTION. 
 
 241 
 
 Bulijiiins, wlio v.'cre ardently attached to the rites of 
 their faith, and gave occasion, moreover, for extensive 
 malversations. They assembled -wliat v/ere called con- 
 ventions, to decide on the destiny of eacli province ; and, 
 under their despotic influence, a union with France 
 vras voted at Liege, Brussels, ]Mons, &c. These were 
 I evils inevitable from the policy adopted, and were in- 
 I finitely aggravated by the military brutality vi'liere- 
 • with revolutionary violence was aided in producing 
 I them. Nor were these tlie only calamities which l)ciVl 
 ; this unfortunate country : divisions of a diflei'ent na- 
 i ture broke out to comi)lete its misery. The agents of 
 i the executive power pretended to hold subject to their 
 orders the generals connnanding within the limits of 
 their commissariat jurisdiction; and if tliose generals 
 were not Jacobins, as often happened to be the case, 
 this assumption became a fresh and prolific source of 
 quarrels and struggles, which succeeded in perfecting 
 the universal confusion. Dumouriez, indignant at see- 
 ing liis conquests compromised, both by the disorgani- 
 sation of his army and the liatred infused into the 
 Belgians, had already treated with harshness some of 
 these proconsuls, and repaired to Paris to make known 
 his complaints, with the warmth characteristic of his 
 temper, and the haughtiness of a victorious general 
 who deemed himself necessary to the republic. 
 
 Such Avas the situation of atfairs on the principal 
 theatre of the Avar. On the other points, Custine, 
 dilveu back into JMayence, passed his time in decla- 
 mations against the manner in which Beurnonville 
 had executed his attempt on Treves. Kellermann 
 supported himself in the Alps, at Chambery, and at 
 Nice. Servan was fruitlessly expending his efforts to 
 form an army at the foot of the Pj'renees ; and Monge, 
 equally docile towards the Jacobins as Pache, had 
 allowed the administration of the navy department to 
 be throAvn into a state of utter decomposition. Hence 
 it became absolutely necessary for the convention to 
 devote immediate and undivided attention to the de- 
 fence of the frontiers. Dumom'iez had passed the 
 latter part of December and the month of January at 
 Paris, Avliere he completely wrecked his favour with 
 the mob and its leaders, bj' letting fall certain expres- 
 sions in behalf of Louis XVI., by absenting himself 
 from the Jacobin Club, Avherc he was repeatedly an- 
 nounced as about to appear, but never gratified its 
 members by an actual entrance, and by his close inti- 
 macy Avith his friend Gensonne. He had draAvn up 
 four memorials, one on the decree of the 15th Decem- 
 ber, another on the organisation of the armj', a third 
 on the subject of supplies, and the last on the plan of 
 the campaign for the opening year. At the foot of 
 eacli of his memorials Avas appended his resignation, 
 if his propositions Avere rejected. 
 
 In addition to the diplomatic and military commit- 
 tees, the assembly had appointed a tliird extraordinary 
 connnittec, called that of general defeiwe, Avith instruc- 
 tions to devote exclusive attention to all tliat concerned 
 the defence of France. It Avas very numereus, and all 
 the members of the assembly were allowed, if the}' 
 pleased, to be jjresent at its sittings. ( )nc of the main 
 objects <jf its formation was to reconcile the members 
 of the two parties, and satisfy them as to their several 
 intentions, by bringing them to labour in common for 
 the general safety. Kobespierre, annoyed at seeing 
 the Girondists, whoAvere assiduous in their attendance 
 on the connnittec, seldom appeared at its meetings. 
 Dumouriez came before it Avitli his ))lans, was mifor- 
 tunate enougli not to be alwaj's comprehended, on 
 several occasions gave ofienceby his haughty bearing, 
 and idtimately abandoned his memorials to their fate. 
 He then retired to some distance from Paris, not nmcli 
 in the mood to divest himself of bis commandersliip, 
 notwitlistanding his Avarnings on that head to the con- 
 A'ention, and awaiting in gloomy reserve the season for 
 opening a new campaign. 
 
 His popularity at the Jacobin Club Avas for ever 
 gone, and IMarat assailed him daily hi his joui'nal for 
 
 having abetted a demi-revolution in Belgium, and hav- 
 ing shoAvn a spirit of enmity against the demagogues. 
 He Avas accused, :dso, of having voluntarily allowed the 
 Austrians to escape from Belgium ; and, going still 
 farther back, it was publicly asserted that he had 
 opened the passes of the Argoime for Frederick 
 William, whom he might have readily exterminated. 
 The members of tlie council and committees, hoAvcA^er, 
 gave way less blindly to poj^ular passions, and, deeply 
 sens;ible of his importance, endeavoured to soothe his 
 rutfled feelings. Kobespierre cA'en spoke in his vindi- 
 cation, attributing all his backslidings to his pretended 
 friends the Girondists. Thus a general disposition 
 l>revailed, in the convention at least, to give him all 
 possible satisfaction, Avithout departing, however, from 
 tl:e decrees already passed, or the inexorable principles 
 of the revolution. His Iavo commissariat agents, IVlalus 
 and Petit-Jean, Avere restored to him, numerous rein- 
 forcements granted, promises of abundant supplies held 
 out, and his ideas on the general plan of the ensuing 
 campaign adopted ; but no relaxation Avas inade in the 
 decree of the 15th December, or in the new s3-stem of 
 administration for the army. The nomination of Beur- 
 nonville, his friend, to the ministry of Avar, Avas an 
 additional advantage to him ; and he might reasonably 
 anticipate the greatest zeal on the part of gOA'crmnent 
 in providing all that he shoidd subsequently need. 
 
 He entertained the idea for a moment that England 
 would accept him as a mediator betAveen her and 
 France, and he departed for AntAverp full of that flat- 
 tering hallucination. But the convention, having had 
 its patience exhausted by the perfidies of Pitt, declared 
 war against England and Holland, as Ave have previ- 
 ously observed. That declaration foimd him at Ant- 
 Averp, accompanied bj'^ an intimation of the measures 
 that had been resolved ujion, partly framed in accord- 
 ance Avith his OAvn plans for the defence of the territory. 
 It Avas determined to raise the armies to 502,000 men, 
 Avhich Avill appear but a moderate force Avhen the ideas 
 prevalent respecting the capabilities of France are 
 considered, and Avhen compared with the standard to 
 which they Avere afterAvards elevated. The defensive 
 was to be maintained on the east and south, observa- 
 tion simply kept up along the Pyrenees and the coasts, 
 and all the vigour of the offensive displayed in the 
 north, Avhere, as Dumouriez had said on a former 
 occasion, " a general could defend himself by battles 
 alone." To secure the execution of this plan, 150,000 
 men Avere to occupy Belgium, and cover the frontier 
 from Dmikirk to the ^leuse ; 50,000 Avcre to guard 
 the interval betAveen the I\leuse andtheSarre; and 
 150,000 to extend along the Pliine and the Vosges, 
 from Mayence to Besanc^on and Gex ; lastly, a reserve 
 Avas to be stationed at Chalons, provided Avith every 
 essential to proceed upon an}' jioint Avhere its aid might 
 be required. It A^■as agreed to defend Savoy and Kice 
 with tAvo armies of 70,000 men each, the Pyrenees 
 Avith one of 40,000, and the coasts of the ocean and 
 Brittany Avith 4(;,(K)0 men, jiart of Avhom might he 
 transferred on board of ship if it Avere judged neces- 
 sary. ( )i" these 502,000 men, 50,000 Avere intended for 
 caA-alry, and 20,000 as artillery.* Such Avere tlie de- 
 monstrations detailed on a sheet of paper; but the 
 actual force fell far short of wjiat Avas ])rojected, sink- 
 ing to 270,000 men, of whom 100,000 Avere in various 
 quarters of Belgimn, 25.000 on the IMoscllc, 45,000 at 
 i\Iayencc, under (lie orders of Custine, .'>0,00(i on the 
 Upi)er-Khiiic, 40,000 in Savoy and Nice, and ."0,000, 
 at llie utmost, in the interior. But to fill up the 
 destined comiilement, the assembly decreed that the 
 armies should lie recruited from tlie national guard; 
 that every member thereof, unmarried, or married 
 and cliildicss, or a Avidower Avitlioiit ott's])riug, was at 
 the disposition of the executive power, from the age 
 
 * [A numorit'iU error occurs in the text here, as the .iniount of 
 all tlie forct'S enumerated, exelusivc of the reserve at Clifilons, is 
 exactly .'■)7(;,iHiO men, so that the r.rtillcry and cavoh-y must have 
 been inttnded as iii addition to the flU:i,(XH).J
 
 242 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of eighteen to that of forty -five. This enactment was 
 based on the allegation that 300,000 men were neces- 
 sary to resist the coalition ; and it directed that tlie 
 enrolments should be proceeded with until that num- 
 ber was obtained.* At the same time, the convention 
 ordered the emission of eiglit hundred millions of assip- 
 uats, and the demolition of the woods of Corsica for the 
 construction of shijis of war. 
 
 In the interim, until the accomplishment of these 
 projects, the campaign was opened with 270,000 men. 
 Of these, Dumourie'z IkuI 30,000 on the Scheldt and 
 about 70,000 on the IMeuse. The rapid invasion of 
 Holland was a bold thought, wlvch stirred all minds 
 at the moment ; and Dumouriez Avas compulsorily 
 driven to its adoption by the general feeling. Several 
 plans for etfecting the object were propounded. One, 
 invented by the Batavian refugees exiled from their 
 country after the revolution of 1787, consisted in in- 
 vading' Zealand with a few thousand men, and seizing 
 upon the government, which would retreat to that 
 pro^-ince. Dumouriez had feigned acquiescence in 
 that project, but in truth he found it barren and piti- 
 ful, inasmuch as it confined him to the occupation of 
 an inconsiderable, and, furthermore, an unimi)ortant 
 part of Holland. A second plan took its parentage 
 from himself; it proposed to descend the Meuse by 
 Venloo to Graves, turn from the latter place to Ni- 
 meguen, and subsequently fall on Amsterdam. This 
 •woiild have been the surest scheme, if the future could 
 have been foreseen. But, stationed as he was at Ant- 
 werp, Dumouriez formed a third project, surpassing 
 the others in boldness and promptitude, in admirable 
 harmony with revolutionary impatience, and more pro- 
 lific in decisive results, if success should attend it. 
 Whilst his lieutenants, Miranda, Valence, Dampierre, 
 and others, were to descend the IMeuse and occupy 
 Maestriclit, upon which the French had refrained from 
 seizing the year before, and Venloo, which coidd not 
 offer a long resistance, Dumouriez conceived the idea 
 of proceeding secretly with 25,000 men between Ber- 
 gen-op-Zoom and Breda, thus attaining INIoerdyk. then 
 passing the small sea of Bielbos, and advancing rapidly 
 by the mouths of the rivers to Leyden and Amster- 
 dam. This daring plan was as defensible in reason as 
 many others Avhich have been sanctified by success ; 
 and if it were hazardous, it made amends by offering 
 nmch greater advantages than that of attacking di- 
 rectly by Venloo and Nimeguen. By pursuing the 
 latter course, Dumouriez assailed the Dutch in front, 
 they having already made all their preparations be- 
 tween Graves and Gorkum, and he even allowed them 
 time to draw reinforcements from England or Prussia. 
 On the contrary, by passing over the mouths of the 
 rivers, he penetrated into the interior of Holland, which 
 was not defended ; and if he surmounted the impedi- 
 ment of the waters, Holland fell at once into his pos- 
 session. Returning from Amsterdam, he woidd take 
 the fortresses in the rear, and reduce all between him 
 and his lieutenants, wlio would be prepared to join 
 him by Nimeguen and Utreclit. 
 
 It was natural that he should assume the command 
 of the army destined for the expedition, since in its 
 conduct more essentially than elsewhei'e were needed 
 promptitude, bold determination, and ability. The 
 project itself involved the danger conmion to all offen- 
 sive operations, to wit, exposing his own territory to 
 invasion by imcovering it. Tiuis the Meuse remained 
 open to the Austrians. At the same time, in all cases 
 of reciprocal inroads, the advantage accrues to the 
 party which most strenuously resists the peril, and is 
 least wrought upon by tlie tcirrors of invasion. 
 
 Dumouriez dispatclied Thinivenot, in wlioni he had 
 full confidence, to the i\Iense ; he imparted to his 
 lieutenants. Valence and Miranda, tlie plans he had 
 hitherto concealed from them, and enjoined them to 
 hasten the siege of Maestriclit and Venloo, and in case 
 of unexpected delays, to relieve each other before those 
 * Decree of the 24tli February. 
 
 places, so that the progress towards Nimeguen might 
 always proceed. He also directed them to appoint 
 Liege and Aix-la-Chapclle as the localities for all dis- 
 persed detachments to rally around, in order to be in 
 a position to resist the eneni}', should he appear in 
 force to incommode the sieges about to be midertaken 
 on the Meuse. 
 
 Dumouriez lost no time in starting from Antwerp 
 with 18,000 troops hastily collected. He divided his 
 little army into several detachments, which had orders 
 to sunnnon the various strong places to smTcnder, 
 without tarrying, however, to besiege them. His ad- 
 vanced guard was to push on with all dispatch to seize 
 boats and means of transport, whilst he himself, with 
 the main bod}', woidd keep in readiness to carry suc- 
 cour to such of his lieutenants as might require it. 
 On the 17th February 1793, he entered tlie Dutch 
 territorj', and published a proclamation, in whicli he 
 held out the promise of amity to the Batavians, and 
 the threat of hostility merely to the stadtholder and 
 the Enghsh influence. His divisions, meanwhile, ad- 
 vanced, leaving General Leclerc before Bergen-op- 
 Zooni, i)lanting General Berneron before Klundert and 
 Willemstadt, and consigning to the excellent engineer, 
 D'Ar^on, the feint of an attack on the important for- 
 tress of Breda. Dmnouriez halted Avith the rearguard 
 at Sevenberghen. On the 25th, General Berneron 
 carried the fort of Klundert, and directed all his efforts 
 against Willemstadt. General d'Arcon threw a few 
 shells on Breda. That fastness enjoyed a high repu- 
 tation for strength, and the garrison was sufficient for 
 its defence, but was badly officered ; it surrendered 
 after a few hours' cannonade to a body of assailants 
 scarcely exceeding its defenders in number. The 
 French entered Breda on the 27th, and gained con- 
 siderable spoil in munitions of war, consisting of 250 
 pieces of ordnance, 300,000 pomids of powder, and 
 5000 muskets. After leaving a garrison in Breda. 
 General d'Arcon appeared on the 1st March before 
 Gertruydenberg, hkewise a very strong fortification, 
 and carried the same day all the advanced works. 
 Dumouriez had proceeded to jNIoerdyk, and was en- 
 gaged in repairing the evUs that had arisen from the 
 delays of his advanced guard. So auspicious a series 
 of surprises, iipon fortresses capable of maintaining a 
 stout and obstinate resistance, threw infinite lustre 
 upon the commencement of this expedition ; but un- 
 foreseen obstacles impelled the passage of the arm of 
 the sea, the most difficidt operation in the whole 
 enterprise. Dumouriez had anticipated that his ad- 
 vanced guard, acting Mith greater energy and promp- 
 titude than it displayed, would have appropriated a 
 quantity of boats, boldly crossed the Bielbos, occupied 
 the island of Dort, Avhich was guarded by afew hundred 
 men at the utmost, and seizing upon a numerous flotilla, 
 conveyed it to the opposite shore, for the purpose (.f 
 transporting the army over the frith. Unavoidal)le 
 delays prevnted the execution of this part of the jdan. 
 Dumouriez strove to compensate for the failure l)y 
 possessing himself of all the boats or skiff's he could 
 discover, and gathering carpenters to construct float- 
 ing rafts. Meanwhile time was becoming hourly more 
 precious, as the Dutch army was assembling at Gor 
 kum, at Stiy, and in the Isle of Dort, whilst some 
 gunboats and an English frigate threatened his em- 
 barkation, and even cannonaded liis camp, designated 
 by his ever s])rightly soldiery " the camp of beavei's." 
 The troops had in fact erected huts of straw, whence 
 tlie idea was taken ; and animated by the presence of 
 their general, braved with admirable fortitude the 
 intense cold, the privations and dangers affecting them, 
 looked forward intrepidly to the coming hazards of so 
 daring an undertaking, and impatiently awaited tlie 
 moment for passing to the opposite strand. On tlie 
 3d of March, General Deflers arrived with a fresh 
 division ; on the 4th, Gertruydenberg opened its gates ; 
 and all was in readiness for attempting the passage of 
 the Bielbos.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 243 
 
 Wliilst these events were illustrating the military 
 annals of France, the contest between the two parties 
 of tlie interior continued in all its virulence. The 
 murder of Lepelletier had atlbrded the Mountaineers 
 an opportunity for proclaiming their lives in danger, 
 and the assembly had found it impossible to deny them 
 the renewal of the committee of surveillance. This 
 committee was comjiosed of jMountaineers, whose first 
 act was to order the arrest of Gorsas, a deputy' raid 
 journalist, attached to the party of the Gironde. The 
 Jacobins had like'.vise gained another advantage, in 
 procm'ing the suspension of the prosecutions decreed 
 on the 20th January against the authors of the Sep- 
 tember massacres. Those proceedings had scarcely 
 commenced before it was discovered that overwhelm- 
 ing evidence implicating the principal revolutionists, 
 and Danton himself, could be adduced. Thereupon the 
 Jacobins stirred up the elements of fury, and vocife- 
 rated that all were equally criminal on those days, 
 because all had either deemed their occurrences neces- 
 sary or quietly sulfered them. They even ventured 
 to maintain that the only evil to be deplored on those 
 days was the incompleteness of tlie sacrifice ; and they 
 vehemently demanded the suspension of proceedings 
 which were tortured into attacks on the purest revo- 
 lutionists. In pursuance of these clamorous instances, 
 the prosecutions were suspended, that is to say, abro- 
 gated ; and a deputation from the Jacobin Club imme- 
 diately appeared before the minister of justice, to 
 ensure the transmission of a dispatch by extraordinary 
 couriers, staying the indictments already opened against 
 their brothers of Meaux. 
 
 We have already seen that Pache had been obliged 
 to quit the ministry, and that Roland had voluntarily 
 submitted his resignation. This mutual concession 
 failed to mitigate the mveteracies of hatred. The 
 Jacobins were so far from being appeased, that they 
 called for a prosecution against Roland, alleging, as 
 crimes against him, that he had defrauded the state 
 of immense sums, and remitted to London upwards of 
 twelve millions ; that he had employed this ill-gotten 
 wealth in perverting the jniblic mind by means of 
 hireling writers, and in promoting sedition by fore- 
 stalling supplies of grain. They asserted that pro- 
 ceedings ought to be mstituted in like manner against 
 Claviere, Lebrim, and Beurnonville, who, according to 
 their views, were all traitors and accomplices in the 
 intrigues of the Girondists. At the same time, they 
 prepared for their complaisant ex-placeman a flattering 
 and beneficial compensation. Chambon, the successor 
 of Petion in the mayoralty of Paris, had abdicated 
 functions too arduous for his weakness of character. 
 The Jacobins immediately turned their eyes on Paclie, 
 in whom they found concentred all the requisite 
 •wisdom and inflexibility of a magistrate. The idea 
 was warmly responded to amongst themselves, and 
 quickly imparted to the commune, the sections, and 
 the clubs ; and the Parisians, impelled by these over- 
 weening influences, avenged Pache for his disgrace by 
 nominating him their mayor. Assuming that Pache 
 showed himself as docile in the mayoralty as in the 
 ministry of war, the Jacobins thus assured their domi- 
 nation in Paris ; and the choice became equally condu- 
 cive to their interests and to the gratification of their 
 passions. 
 
 The scarcity of provisions, and the depression of 
 trade were still continual sources of disturl)ance and 
 complaint ; and so far from abating, tlie evil had been 
 considerably aggravated from J3ecember to February. 
 The fear of violence and pillage, the repugnance of the 
 agriculturists to accept paper, and the enhancement of 
 value arising from the surplusage of fictitious money, 
 were, as we have previously stated, the causes which 
 prevented the free course of trade in corn, and produced 
 the scarcity. Nevertheless, tlie administrative ettbrts 
 of the several communes comjiensated, to a certain 
 extent, the inertness of trade ; and sujiplies never nh- 
 solutely failed in the markets, but they were held at 
 
 exorbitant prices. The value of assignats falling every 
 day in the ratio of their increase, a greater amount of 
 them was ahvays becoming necessary to purchase the 
 same quantity of produce, and it was thus that prices 
 were driven to such an excessive pitch. The labouring 
 classes, receiving the same nominal value for their 
 industry, were unable to obtain articles of necessity, 
 and naturally broke into impatient murmurs and 
 threats. Bread was not the only substance wliicli 
 increased progressively in cost ; sugar, coflec, candles, 
 and soap, likewise had doubled in value. The laun- 
 dresses appeared at the bar of the convention to re- 
 monstrate against the charge of thirty sous for soap, 
 which had formeil}^ been purchasable at fourteen. 
 It was in vain that the people were told to raise the 
 j^rice of their labour so as to restoi'e the proportion 
 between their wages and their consumption ; they were 
 incapable of effecting the requisite combination for 
 that object, and only the more vehemently exclaimed 
 against the rich, against monopolisers, and against the 
 trading aristocracy, concluding with a demand for 
 the simple expedient of a fixed price or maximum. The 
 Jacobins and the members of the commune, wlio be- 
 longed to a lower grade in the social order than the 
 National Convention, but were nevertheless almost 
 enlightened assemblies when compared with the bulk 
 of the populace, were sensible of the inconveniences 
 attending forced contracts. Although more inclined 
 to supjjort the popular clamour than the convention, 
 they offered a steady resistance ; and at the Jacobin 
 Club, Dubois de Crancc, the two Robespierres, Thu- 
 riot, and other IMountaincers, were daily heard in- 
 veighing against the proposal of a maximum. Chau- 
 mette and Hebert pursued the same course at the 
 commune ; but tlie galleries murmured impatiently, 
 and often retorted upon them with groans and howls. 
 Deputations from the sections frequently presented 
 themselves before the commune, to upbraid it with 
 moderation and connivance in tlie jiractices of fore- 
 staUers. It was in these assemblies of sections that 
 were gathered together the lowest classes of agitators, 
 and within them reigned a revolutionary fanaticism 
 far surpassing in blind ignorance and fury that predo- 
 minant at tlie commune and the Jacobin Club. In 
 strict coalition Avith tlie Cordeliers, where all the men 
 of physical action congregated, the sections provoked 
 all tlie troubles of the capital. Their inferiority and 
 obscurity, exposing them more readily to agitation, 
 likewise left them open to instigations of opposite ten- 
 dencies ; and accordingly we find that it was in them 
 the remnants of aristocracy ventm-ed to emerge and 
 attemitt movements of resistance. The old dependants 
 of the nobility, the servants of the emigrants, and all 
 those turbulent idlers who, between tlie two antagonist 
 causes, had preferred the aristocratic, frequented the 
 sections, in which an honest trading class persevered 
 in favour of the Girondists, and cloaked themselves 
 behind that rational and prudent opposition, to combat 
 the JMountaineers and labour in liehaif of tlie foreigner 
 and the ancient sj'stem. hi these contests, the honest 
 middle-men for the most part retired, and the two 
 extreme orders of agitators remained face to face, and 
 contended on this inferior stage witli desperate vio- 
 lence. Almost every day terrific scenes occurred on 
 petiti<ins to tlie comninue, tlie eJacobin Club, or tlie 
 assembly. According to the issue of the combat, from 
 these tempestuous regions issued forth atldresses 
 against Seiitemberand the maximum, or against appel- 
 lants,* aristocrats, and forestaOers. 
 
 The coinmime rejected the intlanimatory petitions 
 of the sections, and exliorted them to beware of the 
 furtive agitators who were striving to introduce dis- 
 cord and confusion amongst them. In this instance 
 it ]ierfonned the liart, witli reference to tlie sections, 
 wliicii the convention assumed in dealing with itself. 
 
 * [Alluding to tliosc who advocated the appeal to the people or 
 the king's beiitcnee.l
 
 244 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The Jacobin Club, not having detenninate functions 
 to exercise like the commime, but in heu thereof dis- 
 cussing and argTiing all detinable subjects, boasted 
 great plidosophicid acquirements, and pretended to a 
 mucli more profound insight into social economy than 
 the sections and tlie Cordelier Club. They accordmgly 
 affected upon various points to contemn the vulgar 
 passions of these subaltern assemblies, and in particu- 
 lar condemned the fixed price as dangerous to freedom 
 of commerce. But, as a substitute ft.r the measure they 
 thus repudiated, they proposed to make asiigiiats be 
 taken at par, and to punish with death wliomsoever 
 should refuse to accept them according to tlie value 
 they expressed to bear, as if this were not merely a 
 different mode of infringing the freedom of trade. 
 They also recommended a general pledge to abstain 
 from using sugar or cofloe, in order to drive down the 
 price of those articles ; and, finally, they upheld the 
 expediency of stopping the issue of assignats, and sup- 
 plying their place by loans from the rich, in the natiu-e 
 of forced loans, assessed upon the basis of establish- 
 ments in servants, horses, &c. AU these proj^ositions, 
 however, tended not to alleviate the evil or to avert 
 an inevitable crisis. ]Meanwhile, until it should actu- 
 .'lUy explode, the public misfortunes afforded grounds 
 for mutual recriminations to the two parties. Tlie 
 Girondists were accused of conspiring with the rich 
 and the monopolisers to starve the people, to drive 
 them into distiu-bances, and to avail themselves of 
 that pretence to enact fresh martial laws ; they were 
 even charged witli designing to favour the approach 
 of foreign armies, by multiplying disorder — an absurd 
 reproach, but one which proved mortal. The Giron- 
 dists retorted by similar accusations. They upbraided 
 their adversaries with causing the scarcity and the 
 troubles by the alarms they excited amongst the 
 trading community, and of scheming to promote 
 anarchy by the national disasters, to grasp power by 
 the spread of anarchy, and perhaps eventually to bring 
 about foreign subjection. 
 
 Towards the end of February, the difBculty of pro- 
 cui'ing subsistence had carried the exasperation of the 
 people to the highest pitch. The women, apparently 
 more moved than men by this species of sulleruig, 
 were roused to an extraordinary ferment. They pre- 
 sented themselves at the Jacobin Club on the 22d, to 
 request that it would lend them the hall, as they 
 wished to deliberate on the dearness of provisions, and 
 to prepare a petition to the National Convention. It 
 was known that the purport of tliis petition woidd Ije 
 the imposition of the maximum, and the demand was 
 refused. The galleries thereupon assailed the Jaco- 
 bins with the disapprobation they were occasionally 
 wont to manifest towards the assembly : " 13own with 
 the forestallers ! " " Down with the rich ! " were the 
 general cries. The president Avas obliged to put on 
 his hat to calm the tumult ; and it was subsequently 
 explained that so flagrant a want of respect Avas 
 owing to disguised aristocrats in the hall. Robes- 
 pien-e and Dubois de Crance took the opportunity of 
 again denouncing the proposal of a fixed price, and 
 exhorted the people to remain quiet, in order to de- 
 prive their adversaries of tdl pretext for calumniating 
 them, and avoid furnishing them with an occasion to 
 l)ass sanguinary laws. 
 
 ^larat, wlio arrogated the faculty of ahvaj's devising 
 the most simple, prompt, and efHcacious remedies, 
 published in his journal, on the morning of the 25th, 
 that forestalling would never cease unless mucli surer 
 means were employed than any that had been as yet 
 proposed. Inveighing against moriopolis-ers, dealers in 
 luxiin/, fath'ticrs on chicinifii/, petti /'(ii/(/i'rs, ex-nobles, 
 whom the faithless mandatories of the jjcople en- 
 couraged to crime by impunity, lie added, " In every 
 country where the rights of the people are not vain 
 titles, pompously set forth in an idle declaration, the 
 ])illage of a few ma^-azines, with the engrossers hanged 
 at tlieir doors, would soon put an end to these mal- i 
 
 versations, which reduce five millions of men to de- 
 spair, and cause thousands to perish from want. Will 
 the deputies of the people, then, never learn more 
 than merely to prate about their grievances instead 
 of redressing them ? " * 
 
 It was on the morning of the 23th that this inflated 
 madman wrote these words. Whether they had really 
 operated on the populace, or the triitation, having 
 reached its height, coidd be no longer kept within 
 bounds, it is certain a crowd of women assembled tu- 
 multuously around the shoj)S of the grocers. At first 
 they confined themselves to complaints concerning 
 the dearness of all articles, and to a somewhat voci- 
 ferous demand for a reduction of price. The commmie 
 had had no previous warning ; the commander San- 
 terre had gone to Versailles with the view of organis- 
 ing a body of cavalry ; and no order was given to put 
 tlie public force in motion. Thus the rioters met with 
 no obstacle, and speedily passed from complaints and 
 menaces to violence and pillage. The principal gather- 
 ings took place in the streets called Vieille-Monnaie, 
 Cinq-Diamants, and Lombard. The tenns insisted 
 upon were, that all articles shoidd be lowered to half 
 price : soap to sixteen sous, sugar to tAi'enty-five, 
 molasses to fifteen, and candles to thirteen per pound. 
 A considerable quantity of goods M'ere forcibly carried 
 away at these rates, and the value was faithfully paid 
 by the abductors to the shopkeepers. But in a short 
 time the multitude conceived it tiseless to pay any 
 more, and the stores were appropriated without a 
 particle of consideration being tendered in return. An 
 armed detachment hastening to the thickest of the 
 fray was repidsed, and tremendous shouts of "Down 
 with the bayonets!" arose from all quarters. The 
 assembly, the commune, and the Jacobin Club, were 
 sitting in their respective haUs. The assemblj'^ gave 
 ear to a report upon the subject, in which the minister 
 o{ the interior demonstrated that articles of consump- 
 tion vrere plentiful in Paris, but that the distress arose 
 from the disproportion between the value of the cur- 
 rent money and that of all produce. Tliereupon the 
 assembly, anxious to parry the diificidties for the 
 moment, assigned adcUtional funds to the commune, 
 in order that it might procure a distribution of pro- 
 visions at a lower rate. At the same moment, the 
 commune, actuated by similar sentiments and zeal, 
 dispatched persons to collect reports of the circum- 
 stances, and issued orders for measures of police. At 
 every new outrage denounced before it, the galleries 
 cried, " Bravo ! so much the better!" At evel-y pro- 
 position of preventive means, they cried, " Bah ! away 
 witli it ! " Chaumette and Hebert were hooted for hav- 
 ing suggested the expediency of beating the alarum 
 and ordering out the armed force. However, it was 
 resolved that two strong patrols, preceded by two 
 municipal officers, shoidd be sent to restore order ; and 
 that twenty-seven other mimicipal officers should 
 proceed to read proclamations in the sections. 
 
 The riot gradually extended its locality : the mob 
 plundered in different streets, and even manifested an 
 intention of transferrmg its ravages from the grocers 
 to other dealers. J.Ieanwhile, men of all parties seized 
 the occasion to charge the disturbance, and the evils 
 which occasioned it, upon each other. "When you 
 had a king," said the partisans of downcast royalty in 
 the public thoroughfares, " yon were not compelled to 
 paj' so dearly for things, nor were exposed to pil- 
 lage." "Behold," said the partisans of the Girondists, 
 " Avhither the system of violence and impunity to re- 
 volutionary excesses is conducting us!" 
 
 The Mountaineers were thrown into the greatest 
 distress by this outbreak, and were reduced to main- 
 tain that it was disguised aristocrats, Lafayettists, 
 Rolandists, Brissotins, who, mingled in the groups, 
 instigated the people to plunder. They asserted 
 having descried m the crowd women of high rank, 
 
 Joiunal of the Republic, 25th Febniarj- 1703.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 245 
 
 powdered gentry, and great mens' lacqueys, distribut- 
 ing assignats, in order to induce the people to enter 
 the shops. At length, after the tumult had continued 
 for several hours, the armed force was collected in 
 sufficient number ; Santerre returned from Versailles, 
 and the necessary orders were given ; the battalion 
 from Brest, then at Paris, displayed infinite zeal and 
 perseverance, and the plunderers were finally dis- 
 persed. 
 
 In the evening, the Jacobin Club was the scene of 
 an animated debate. The disorders just suppressed 
 were descanted upon and generally deplored, in spite 
 of the ho^^'ls and denials of the galleries. CoUot- 
 d'Herbois, Thuriot, and Eobes]Dierre, all agreed in 
 recommending tranquillitj', and attributing the ex- 
 cesses to the aristocrats and Girondists. Kobcspierrc 
 delivered a long oration upon the matter, in which lie 
 maintained that the people were impeccabJe ; that they 
 could never do wrong ; and that, miless when artfully 
 misled, they never coumiitted any error. He insisted 
 that amidst those groups of pillagers voices wei'e 
 raised bewailing the deceased king, and lauding the 
 right side of the assembly ; that he himself had heard 
 them, and consequently' there could not remain any 
 doubt as to the real instigators who had prompted aU 
 the mischief. Even Marat came forward to advocate 
 peace and order, to condemn the pillage he liad in- 
 voked that very morning in his journal, and to tlirow 
 the odium upon the Girondists and royalists. 
 
 On the morrow, the usual bootless complaints rang 
 in the assembly. Barrere inveighed witli energy 
 against the crimes of the preceding day. He animad- 
 verted especially upon the tardmess wherewith the 
 authorities had acted in rejiressing the riot. The mob 
 had bcgtm to pillage about ten in the forenoon, and at 
 five in the afternoon the armed force was not collected. 
 He accortlingly moved that the mayor and the com- 
 mander-in-chief should be called to the bar, to explain 
 tlie causes of such delay. A deputation from the sec- 
 tion of Bon-Conseil appeared in support of this motion. 
 Salles then ascended the tribmie : he proposed a decree 
 of impeachment against the instigator of robberies — 
 against jMarat, and read the article inserted in his 
 journal of yesterday. Often had impeachment been 
 urged against the provokers to crime, and in particular 
 against Marat ; no occasion coidd be more favourable 
 for this design than the present, for never had outrage 
 followed so quickly upon the accents of incitement. 
 Marat, Avithout being in the least disconcerted, upheld 
 in the tribune that it was quite natural for the people 
 to do themselves justice on the forestaUers, since the 
 laAVS were insufficient, and that " tfiose who proposed to 
 impeach him oiKjht to be sent to bedlam." Buzot moved 
 the order of the day on the proposition to impeach 
 Monsieur Marat. " The law is emphatic," said he ; " but 
 Monsieur Marat will quibble on his expressions, the 
 jury will be confused, and it will be better not to pre- 
 pare a triumph for Monsieur Marat, in the very pre- 
 sence of justice herself." A member suggested that 
 the convention should proclaim to the republic that in 
 the morning Marat liad counselled pillage, and in the 
 afternoon Paris was a prey to pillage. Several motions 
 were successively submitted; the convention finally 
 pansed on that which proposed to remit all the authors 
 of distiirbances, Avitliout distinction, to the ordinary 
 tribimals. Marat thereupon ex<'laimed, "Nay, ratlier 
 pass a decree of impeachment against me alone, that 
 you may show how utterly you are lost to all sense of 
 shame." At these words a tmnult arose, and the con- 
 vention forthwith committed to tlie tribunals JMarat 
 and all the authors of the crimes perpetrated in tlie 
 course of the 2.'5tli February. The motion of Barrere 
 was likewise adopted, and Santerre and I'aclie were 
 ordered to the bar. Additional precautions were taken 
 against the supposed agents of foreign powers and tiie 
 emigrants. At the moment, tlie l)elief in a foreign 
 influence was universally entertained. The day betore, 
 fresh domiciliary visits had been ordered throughout 
 
 the whole of France, with the view of apprehending 
 emigrants and suspicious travellers ; tliis day the 
 convention revived the necessity for passports, and 
 strictly enjoined all hotel and lodging-house keepers 
 to specify the strangers sojourning in their establish- 
 ments, ordering, moreover, a new registration of all 
 the citizens by sections. 
 
 Marat, then, was to be prosecuted at last ; and the 
 next morning he published the following passages in 
 his paper : — 
 
 " Indignant at beholding the enemies of the public 
 welfiire eternally manoiuvring against the people ; 
 shocked at viewing the monopohsers of aU kinds 
 coalescing to reduce them to despair by misery and 
 famine ; distressed at perceiving that the measures 
 taken by the convention to prevent these conspiracies 
 failed to effect their object ; stung by the groans of 
 the unfortunate coming every morning to ask bread 
 from me, whilst accusing the convention of leaving 
 them to perish from want, I took up my pen to can- 
 vass the best means of finally terminating the conspi- 
 racies of the public enemies and the sufferings of the 
 people. The simplest ideas are those which first pre- 
 sent themselves to a weU-constituted mind, M'hich 
 desires only the general happiness without any selfish 
 considerations ; accordingly, I asked myself why we 
 should not turn against public brigands the expedients 
 they pursue to ruin the people and destroy liberty. In 
 accordance with this idea, I observed that in a country 
 where the rights of the people were not vain titles, 
 pompously set forth in an idle declaration, the pillage 
 of a few magazines, with the engrossers hanged at their 
 doors, would soon put an end to their malversations. 
 "What do the drivers of the faction of statesmen do? 
 They seize with avidity upon this phrase, hasten to 
 send emissaries amongst the women assembled before 
 the bakers' shops, inciting them to bear aw.a}', at rea- 
 sonable prices, soap, candles, and sugar, from the shops 
 of retail grocers, whilst those emissaries themselves 
 jjlunder the stores of poor patriot grocers. Then those 
 miscreants keep silence aU the day, concert together 
 at night in a secret conclave, held in the Eue de Rohan, 
 at the house of the caitiff counter-revolutionist Valaze, 
 and come the next day to denoimce me from the tri- 
 bune as the instigator of excesses which are exclusively 
 owing to themselves ! " 
 
 The breach became every day wider and more in- 
 curable. Already threats were openly exchanged ; 
 several deputies never appeared without arms, and 
 again the cry was raised, with the same energy as 
 had marked it in tlie months of Jidj' and August of 
 the preceding j'ear, that it behoved the patriots to 
 save themselves by insurrection, and to cut off the 
 gangrened part of the national representation. Tlie 
 Gu-ondists met in the evenings at the house of a member 
 of their party, Valaze, where great imcertainty pro 
 vailed amongst them as to the coiu'se expedient to bo 
 pursued. Some believed, others denied, the danger 
 to be imminent. Certain of their number, sucli a.s 
 Salles and Louvet, conceived imaginary consjiiracies, 
 and by directing attention to chimeras, turned it from 
 veritable perils. Tossed thus uneasily from project 
 to project, fixed in the midst of Paris without any 
 force at their disposition, and resting for support 
 merely on opinion in tlie (k^iiartments — a vast resource, 
 doiil)tless, but perfectly inert — some sudden onslaiigbt 
 might, upon any given day, delivt^r them into the 
 ]>ower of their adversaries and accoin])lish tlu'ir ai ni- 
 hilation. They hail been misuccessfid in their attenq>ts 
 to form a departmental guard ; the bands of federalists, 
 congregated in the metropolis since the meeting of 
 the convention, were partly gained over and partly 
 drauglited into the armies, so tliat their only reliance 
 was somewhat doubtingly placed on 4()U men of Jh'cst, 
 the same whose resolute conduct had stopped the 
 recent jiillage. Failing the departmental guard, they 
 had vainly essajx'd to transfer the direction of the 
 public force from the commune to the minister of the 
 H
 
 246 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 interior. The Mountain, by furioiis clamours, inti- 
 midated the majority, and prevented the adoption of 
 such a measure. Tlie number of members upon wliom 
 the Girondists could count as unintlueneetl by fear, 
 and tirm in critical discussions, scarcely amounted to 
 eighty. In tliis precarious state of matters, there 
 remained to the Girondists but one expedient, as im- 
 practicable in execution as all the others — that of dis- 
 solvino; the convention. Upon this point, also, the out- 
 rageous vehemence of the Mountaineers extinguished 
 all hope of obtaining a majorit}'. Amidst these tor- 
 menting uncertainties, proceeding not from weakness 
 but from sheer want of power, they were fain to turn 
 their desponding hopes towards the constitution, flat- 
 tering themselves that the yoke of laws would prove a 
 restraint on passions and put an end to all convulsions. 
 The more speculative minds, in particular, fondly clung 
 to this idea. Condorcet had presented a report in the 
 name of the committee on the constitution, which 
 had excited a general clamour. Condorcet, Petion, 
 and Sieyes, were held up to the public execration at 
 the Jacobin Club. Their republic was deemed to be 
 but an aristocracy ingeniously framed for certain over- 
 bearing and despotic men of talent. Consequently, 
 the iloimtaineers deprecated its further consideration ; 
 and several members of convention, by this time sen- 
 sible that their business was not to constitute, but to 
 defend the revolution, spoke out boldly, and said, that 
 it was necessary to postpone the constitution imtil the 
 following year, and in the interim devote exclusive 
 attention to the cares of governmg and fighting. 
 Thus the long sway of that stormy assembly began 
 to be distinctly intimated ; it had ceased to believe in 
 the brevity of its legislative mission ; and the Giron- 
 dists saw their last hope vanish — the expectation of 
 speedily curl)ing the violence of faction by laws. 
 
 At the same time, their adversaries were not less 
 embarrassed. Doubtless, they had in their favour 
 exalted passions : Ihey had the Jacobin Club, tlie 
 commime, and the majority of the sections ; but they 
 did not command the ministers, and they dreaded the 
 departments, where the two opinions were struggling 
 in most rancorous contest, in which tlieirs had evi- 
 dently the disadvantage ; furtliermore, they looked 
 with alarm t<3 the efforts of foreign powers ; and al- 
 though the ordinary rules of revolutions assure vic- 
 tory to the most violent, those laws, being to them 
 unknown, could afford no encouragement. Their 
 projects were as vague as tliose of their adversaries. 
 To attack the national representation was au act of 
 desperate audacit}', from which they as yet recoiled 
 in idea. There were assuredly agitators in the sec- 
 tions, who were ready to brave and to x)ropose any mea- 
 sures ; but their schemes were discountenanced by the 
 Jacobin Club, the commune, and the Momitain, for 
 they, who were daily accused of consjiiring and daily 
 justifying themselves, felt that proposals of this nature 
 would compromise them in the eyes of their adversaries 
 and of the departments. Danton, who had taken but 
 a moderate share in the party quarrels, was regardful 
 only of two things — to guarantee himself from all pro- 
 secution on account of his revolutionary acts, and to 
 prevent the revolution from retrograiling and suc- 
 cumbing beneatli the assaults of tlie puljlic enemy. 
 Marat himself, so reckless and atrocious when it con- 
 cerned means, even Marat hesitated ; and Robespierre, 
 notwithstanding his inveteracy against the Girondists, 
 against Brissot, Roland, Guadet, and Vergniaud, dared 
 not tliink of an attack upon the national representa- 
 tion ; he knew not upon what expedient to determine, 
 but sunk into dejection, doubted of the stability of the 
 revolution, and told Garat he feared plots of destruc- 
 tion were laid for all the defenders of the republic* 
 
 * I subjoin an extract from the Blemoirs of Garat, not less 
 cirrlous than tlie one already quoted, and which contains bj' far 
 the most adequate representation that has been given of Robes- 
 pierre, and of the suspicions which haunted his mind. It is in 
 the form of a conversation :— 
 
 During the heated controversies between the two 
 parties at Marseilles, Lyons, and Bordeaux, a propo- 
 sition for getting rid of the appellants, and excluding 
 
 " Scarcely had Robespierre understood that I intended speak- 
 ins; to him concerning the quarrels in the convention, than he 
 said, ' AU those deputies of the Gironde, that Brissot, Louvet, 
 Barbaroux, are counter-revoUitionists, conspirators." Icouldnot 
 avoid laughing, ;uid my merriment very speedily soured his 
 visage. ' You were always that waij. In the Constituent Assem- 
 bly, you were disposed to believe that the aristocrats were attached 
 to the revolution.' ' I was very far from being always tlial way. 
 I might have believed at the most that certain nobles were not 
 aristocrats. I judged so indeed of several, and you yourself think 
 so still of some. I may have likewise been of opinion tliat we 
 would have made some conversions even amongst the aristocrats, 
 if of the two means which were at our disposition, resison and 
 force, we had more frequently employed reason, which was alto- 
 getlier on our side, and less frequently force, which might have 
 been on the side of the tyrants. Trust me, we should forget the 
 dangers we have p.issed through, which have nothing in common 
 with those that now threaten us. War then raged between the 
 friends and the enemies of liberty ; it r.uges at present between 
 the friends and the enemies of the republic. If an opportunity 
 shoiUd offer, I will tell Louvet he errs too egregiously when he 
 deems you a roj'alist ; but to you, I consider myself bound to de- 
 clare that Louvet is no more a royalist than yourself. In your 
 quarrels you resemble the Molinists and the Jansenists, the 
 entire dispute between whom turned on the manner in which 
 divine grace operates within our souls, and who furiously charged 
 each other with disbelieving in God.' ' If they be not royalists, 
 why, pray, did they labour so strenuously to save the life of a 
 king? I'll wager, now, that you also were for pardon, for cle- 
 mency • "NMiy, what signifies the principle which rendered the 
 
 death of the tj-rant just and necessary ? Your Brissot and your 
 appellants to the people were against it. Would they then have 
 left to tjTanny the me:ins of rearing its head again ?' ' I am not 
 aware whether the intention of the appellants to the people was to 
 spare the life of Capet ; the appeal to the people always appeared 
 to me imprudent and dangerous ; but I can easily conceive how 
 those who voted for it may have believed the life of Capet in 
 captivity might be more useful, in the course of events, than liis 
 death ; I can imagine how they may have thought the appeal to 
 the petjple a signal mode of honouring a republican nation in the 
 eyes of the whole world, by giving it the opportunity of exercising 
 a great act of sovereigntj' generously and magnanimously.' ' You 
 certainly attribute fine motives for measures of which you dis- 
 approve, and to men who are conspiring in all quarters.' ' And : 
 where, then, are they conspiring ? ' ' Every where — in Paris, in 
 all France, in all Europe. At Paris, Gensonn^ conspires in the 
 Fauboiu-g Saint-Antoine, by going from shop to shop persuading 
 the dealers that we patriots wish to pillage their stores ; tlie 
 Gironde has long since formed the design of separating from 
 France to unite with England ; and the leaders of its deputation 
 are themselves the authors of that plan, which they are deter- 
 mined upon executing at all hazards. Gensonn^ makes no secret I 
 of it ; he tells all who are disposed to listen to him, that they :u'e 
 not here as representatives of the nation, but as plenipotentiju'ies I 
 of the Gironde. Brissot conspires in his journal, which is a toe- | 
 sin of civil war; it is well known that he has gone to England, I 
 and also the motives of his going there ; wc are not ignorant of ! 
 his intimate connexion with the minister of foreign aflfairs, with j 
 that Lebnm, who is a native of Liege, and a crciture of the 
 hoiLse of Austria. The best friend of Brissot is Clavifere, and 
 Clavidre has conspired wherever he h-is breathed. Rabaut, a 
 traitor, philosopher and Protestimt as he is, has not been deep 
 enough to conceal from us his correspondence with the courtier 
 and traitor Jlontesquiou ; for the hist six months they have been 
 working in concert to open Savoy and France to the Piedmon- 
 tese. Servan has been named gencr.al of the army of the Pyrenees 
 only to deliver the keys of France to the Spaniards. In fine, look 
 at Dumouriez, who no longer threatens Holland but Paris ; and 
 when that charlatan of a hero came here, where I ti-islied to have 
 him arrested, it w.'js not with the Mountain he dined every day, 
 but with the ministers and the Girondists.' ' Three or four times 
 with me, for example.' ' I am siek of the rei-olulion—l am ill ; 
 never was the country in greiiter danger, and I doubt whether it 
 can extricate itself. And now, are you still disposed to laugh, 
 and to believe that they ai-e honest men— good republicans?' 
 ' No, I am not tempted to Laugh, but I can scarcely retain the 
 tears I ought to shed for my country, when I see its legislators a 
 prey to suspicions so dreadful upon grounds so insignificant. I 
 am convinced that nothing of what you suspect is real ; but I am 
 still more convinced that your suspicions involve a very real and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 247 
 
 them from the convention, originated with the Jaco- 
 bins of Marseilles, in the rage of contention with the 
 partisans of the Girondists. This proposition, being 
 
 flagrant danger. Almost all those men are your enemies, but not 
 one, except Dumourlez, is the enemy of the republic ; and if you 
 could stifle your hatreds on all sides, the republic would be beyond 
 all peril.' ' Are you not goinj; to asJc me to revive the motion of 
 Bishop Lamourette ? ' ' No ; I have at least so far profited by the 
 lessons you have given me, and tlie three national assemblies 
 have taken the pains to teach me, that the best patriots hate their 
 enemies much more cordially than they love their countrj*. But 
 I have one question to ask you, and I beg you to reflect before 
 answering it. Have you no doubts concerning what you have just 
 told me?' ' None." 
 
 I quitted him. and fell into a long reverie of astonishment and 
 terror at what I had heard. 
 
 A few days afterwards, as I was leaving the executive council, 
 I met Salles, who was coming out of the National Convention. 
 Affairs were hourly wearing a more menacing aspect. All who 
 entertained mutual sentiments of esteem could not see each other 
 'without feeling impelled by a necessity to converse upon the state 
 of the commonwealth. 
 
 ' Well,' said I to Salles, asl accosted him, ' are there no means 
 of terminating these horrible quarrels ? ' ' Oh I yes, I hope so ; 
 I expect I shall shortly tear away the veil that still covers those 
 detestable miscreants and their frightful conspiracies. But as to 
 you, I know that you always indulge in blind confidence ; I know 
 that your mania is to believe nothing.' ' You are quite mistaken ; 
 I believe as well as others, but upon deductions, not upon bare 
 suspicions — on accredited facts, not on imaginary creations. 
 Why do you suppose me so incredulous ? Is it because, in 1789, I 
 would not believe you, when you assured me that Necker was 
 plundering the treasury, and that people had seen mules loaded 
 with gold and silver bearing his millions to Geneva. This in- 
 credulity, I confess, remains quite incorrigible ; for even at this 
 day I am persuaded Necker left here more millions of his o>vn 
 than he took millions of ours to Geneva.' ' Necker was a knave, 
 but nothing compared to the wretches by whom we are now en- 
 compassed ; and it is of those I wish to speak with you if you 
 will listen to me. I will tell you all, for I know all ; I have 
 fathomed all their plots. The schemes and crimes of t!ie Jloun- 
 tain commenced with the revolution ; Orleans is the chief of this 
 band of brigands, and it was the author of the infernal rom.ance 
 of " liaitfferotis Connexions" who drew out the plan of all the 
 abominations they have committed for the last five years. The 
 traitor Lafayette was their accomplice ; and it was he who, 
 • pretending to crush the conspiracy in the bud, sent Orleans into 
 England to arrange matters with Pitt, the Prince of Wales, and 
 the cabinet of St James's. Mirabeau was likewise implicated ; he 
 received money from the king to conceal his connexion with 
 Orleans, but he received still more from Orleans in expectation 
 of his services. Tiie great point for the Orleans party was to 
 draw the Jacobins into its designs. They dared not attempt it 
 directly ; therefoie to the Cordeliers they first addressed them- 
 ! selves. In the Cordeliers, all was immediately sold to them and 
 ■ placed at their disposal. Observe, now, that the Cordeliers have 
 • always been less numerous than the Jacobins, have always made 
 j less noise ; and this because they are willing enough that every 
 I body should be their instrument, but not so that every body 
 should be in their secrets. The Cordeliers have always been the 
 nursery of conspirators ; there the most formidable of all, Danton, 
 { moulds and incites them to audacity and falsehood, whilst JIarat 
 I fashions them for murder and massacre ; it is there they rehearse 
 the part they are afterwards to enact in the Jacobins ; and the 
 Jacobins, who appear to lead Finance, are themselves led, with- 
 out suspecting it, by the Cordeliers. The Cordeliers, who seem 
 to be ensconced in a hole in I'aris, negotiate with the whole of 
 Kurope, and have envoys in all the courts who have sworn the 
 ruin of our liberty : the fact is certain ; I have proofs of it. 
 Finally, who but the Cordeliers have engulfed a throne in a 
 sea of blood to draw forth a new throne instead ? They are well 
 aware that the right side, which contains all the virtue, likewise 
 counts in its ranks all the true republicans in the convention ; 
 and if they accuse us of royalism, it is because that charge is ne- 
 cessary to pour upon us the fury of the multitude— becaiise, in 
 short, daggers are more easily found against us than argimients. 
 In a single conspiracy, three or four others are involved. When 
 the right side shall be entirely extirpated, the Duku of York will 
 arrive to occupy the throne, and Orleans, who has promised it to 
 him, will assassinate him ; Orleans, in his turn, will be .as»;isKi- 
 nated by Marat, Danton, and Hobes])irrre, who have made him 
 t)»e like promise, and the triumvirs will divide France, covered 
 with ashes and blood, until the ablest of them, and that will be 
 
 laid before the Jacobins of Pai'is, was discussed in 
 tlieir club. Desfieux argued, that the demand in ques- 
 tion was advanced by a sufficient number of affiliated 
 
 Danton, assassinates the two others and reigns aione, at first 
 under the title of dictator, afterwards, without disguise, under 
 that of king. Such is their plan, you may be assured. By dint 
 of constant reflection I have discovered it ; everj' thing proves and 
 renders it evident. See how circumstances hang and hold toge- 
 ther ; there is not a fact in the revolution which is not a part and 
 a proof of these horrible plots. You are astonished, I see ; will 
 you still be incredulous ? ' 'I am indeed astonished ; but tell 
 me, are there many amongst you, that is, on your side, who think 
 like you on all these things?' ' All, or almost all. Condorcet 
 made a few objections once ; Si6yes holds little intercourse with 
 us ; Rabaut has another plan, which sometimes tallies, sometimes 
 clashes with mine ; but all the others entertain no moie doubts 
 than I myself upon what I have just related to you : all feel the 
 necessity of acting promptly, of pulling the irons to the fire without 
 ddat/, to prevent the occurrence of so many crimes and misfor- 
 tunes, and to avoid losing the fruit of a revolution which has cost 
 us so dearly. In the right side are numbers who have not suffi- 
 cient confidence in you; but I, who have been your colleague, 
 who know you to be an honest man , and a staunch friend to liberty 
 — I assure them that you will be for us, that you will aid us with 
 all the means your office puts in your power. Can the slightest 
 doubt still linger in your mind as to the truth of what I have told 
 you respecting those wretches ? ' '1 should be too unworthy of 
 the esteem you express for me, were I to leave you imder the 
 persuasion that I believe in the fact of the plan you judge that of 
 your enemies. The moi'e you adduce men and things, the more 
 probable it seems to you and the less so to me. The greater part 
 of the facts wherewith you weave the web of your plot have had 
 a definite object, which it needed no ingenuity to carve for them, 
 since it spoke for itself ; but you assign them an object which is 
 very far from naturally presenting itself, and which must there- 
 fore be laboriously attributed to them. Now, in the first place, 
 you will allow it requires proofs to justify the casting aside a 
 simple and natural explanation ; and, in the next, additional 
 proofs to induce the adoption of an explanation which does not 
 occur to the mind thus simply and naturally. For example, all 
 the world believes that Lafayette and Orleans were enemies, and 
 that it was to deliver the National Assembly, Paris, and France, 
 from a multitude of anxieties, that Orleans was persuaded or 
 compelled by Lafayette to withdraw for a time from France ; 
 therefore, it must be established, not by assertion but by proof— 
 1st, that they were not enemies ; 2d, that they were accomplices ; 
 3d, that the object of Orleans's journey to England was the execu- 
 tion of their schemes. I am aware that by so rigorous a mode ol 
 reasoning, a risk is incurred of affording play to crimes and 
 disasters by relaxing foresight to meet and suppress them ; but I 
 am also aware that by yielding blindly to the im.aginatlon, sys- 
 tems are conjured up on events past and on events to come ; 
 the faculty of justly discerning and appreciating contemporary 
 events is lost ; and whilst dreaming of thousands of delinquencies 
 which never entered the head of mortal, an utter incapacity en- 
 sues to perceive those which .actually imjiond and menace; whilst, 
 moreover, enemies, who are not over-scrupulous, are driven to 
 the temptation of committing crimes they never woiild have 
 otherwise thought of. I do not do\ibt that there are annuid us a 
 multitude of miscreants ; the unbridled state of pjissions arouses 
 them abundantly, and the gold of the stranger supports them. 
 But, be assured, if their projects be desperate, they are neitlier 
 so vast nor so complicated, nor formed and directed so remotely. 
 In all you state there is much more to bespeak robbers and as- 
 sassins than profoimd conspirators. The veritable conspirators 
 against the republic are the sovereigns of I'urope and the piLssions 
 of the rei)ublicans. To repel the kings of Europe and their regi- 
 ments, our armies are sullicient and to boot ; to prevent our be- 
 ing devoured by our own passions, there is a mode, but it is 
 imiquc— hasten to organise a government which shall have 
 strength, and will merit confidence. In the state to which our 
 quarrels reduce the governnu'nt, a democracy of even twenty-five 
 millions of angels woidd speedily become a prey to all the dissen- 
 sions of ambitious pride ; as Jean-Jac(iues says, twenty-five 
 millions of gods would be needed, and into no inuigination hiis so 
 Inige a conception entered. .'My dear Salles, men and large assem- 
 blies are not so constituted as tliat on one side shall be fovmd only 
 gods, and on the other only devils. Every where are men in a 
 conflict of interests and opinions, wherein even the best have evil 
 p.issions, and even the worst, if we studiously and dispassionately 
 seek to learn their inward thoughts, are susceptible of upright 
 and virtuous impressions. 1 find in the recesses of my own mind 
 a clear and unanswerable voucher for the half at least of thl<i
 
 248 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 societies to be converted into a petition and presented 
 to tlie National Convention. Robespierre, Avho was 
 apprehensive that sucli a project miglit lead to the 
 total reconstruction of the assembly, and that in the 
 electional struggle the jMountain miglit be discomfited, 
 strongly opposed the suggestion, and succeeded in 
 getting rid of it by the arguments usually adduced in 
 deprecation of premature dissolutions. 
 
 Military reverses added their influence to precipi- 
 tate events. We left Dumouriez encamped on the 
 shores of tlie Bielbos, and preparing a hazardous but 
 feasible embarkmcnt in Holland. Whilst he was en- 
 gaged in maldug the dispositions for his enterprise, 
 260,000 soldiers were marching against France, ranging 
 from the Upper Rhine to Holland. Fifty-six thousand 
 Pnissians, 24,000 Austrians, and 25,000 Hessians, 
 Saxons and Bavarians, threatened the Rhine from 
 Basle as far as Mayence and Coblentz. From that 
 point to the Meuse, 30,000 men occupied Luxum- 
 bourg. Sixty thousand Austrians and 10,000 Prus- 
 sians marched upon the French quarters on the INIeuse, 
 to interrupt the sieges of Maestricht and Venloo. 
 Lastly, 40,000 English, Hanoverians, and Dutch, as 
 yet remaining in the background, were emerging 
 from the extremity of Holland upon the French line 
 of operations. The project of the enemy was to drive 
 the French out of Holland upon the Scheldt, to make 
 them repass the Meuse, and then halt upon that 
 river mitil tlie fortress of IMayence should be recap- 
 tured. Thus his plan was to march gradually for- 
 ward, and upon all points at once, not penetrating too 
 eagerly upon any, lest he should expose his flanks. 
 This timid and methodical plan would have permitted 
 the French to push much farther and more actively 
 the oflensive expedition against Holland, if Ijhmders 
 or unlucky accidents, or too much hurry in taking 
 alarm, had not obliged them to renounce it. The 
 Prince of Coboiu'g, who had distinguished himself 
 against the Turks in the last campaign, commanded 
 the Austrians, who were proceeding towards the 
 Meuse. The French quarters, dispersed between 
 Maestricht, Aix-la-Chapelle, Liege, and Ton^r.s, 
 were thrown into tlie greatest disorder. Dinging the 
 first days of jNIarch, the Prince of Cobourg passed the 
 Roer, and advanced by Duren and Aldenhoven upon 
 Aix-la-Chapelle. The Frencli troops being suddenly 
 attacked, retired in confusion into Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 and even abandoned its gates to tlie enemy. Miac- 
 zinski stood liis ground for some time ; but after a 
 sanguinary conflict in tlie streets of tiie city, he was 
 obliged to yield and retreat towards Liege. At the 
 same time, Stengel and Neuilly, separated by this 
 movement, were driven back into Limbourg. IMi- 
 randa, who was besieging Maestriclit, and might be 
 isolated from the main body in retreat upon Liege, 
 also abandoned the left bank and retired upon Tongres. 
 The imperialists immediately entered Maestricht, and 
 the Archduke Charles, boldly pushing his advantage 
 beyond the Meuse, proceeded even to Tongres, and 
 
 axiom : I am fair and open, assuredly quite as much so as any of 
 you ; but when, instead of refutinc; my opinions logically and 
 temperately, they are repudiated with distrust and contumely, I 
 am ready to throw aside argument, and to look if my pistols be 
 well loaded. You have twice made mo a minister, and twice have 
 rendered me a signal disservice ; the dangers which encompass 
 us, and which encompass me, are the considerations that alone 
 induce me to remain at the post I occupy. A brave man docs not 
 ask leave of absence on the eve of battle. The battle, I see, is not 
 fur distant ; and, foreseeing that from both sides you will assail 
 me, I am determined to remain. I will be ever ready to declare 
 what I believe true according to my reason and conscience ; but 
 I now warn you that I will take for my guides my own conscienco 
 and reason, and not those of any man on the face of the earth. I 
 have not laboured thirty years of my life to make a lantern for 
 myself, in order afterwards to light my path by the lantern of 
 others. 
 
 Salles and I separated, cordially pressing each other's hand and 
 embracing, as if we had still been colleagues in the Constituent 
 Assembly." 
 
 gained a brilliant action. Thereupon Valence, Ham- 
 pierre, and ]\Iiaczinski, united at Liege, judged that 
 aU speed slioidd be used in rejoining Miranda, and 
 with tliat view marched upon Saint-Trond, whither 
 Miranda proceeded on his part. The retreat was so 
 precipitate, that a part of the munitions was lost. 
 However, after great dangers, they succeeded in effect- 
 ing a junction at Saint-Trond. Lamarlicre and 
 Champmorin, stationed at Rm'emonde, had time to 
 reach the same point by Diest. Stengel and Neuilly, 
 completely separated from the army and thrown back 
 into Limbourg, were sheltered at Namur by the divi- 
 sion of General d'HarviUe. Ultimately, the Frencli, 
 rallying at Tirlemont, resumed a degree of calmness 
 and assurance, and awaited the arrival of Dumouriez, 
 whose presence the whole army invoked in general 
 and impatient cries. 
 
 When that commander had been apprised of the 
 first repulse, he had ordered INIiranda to rally all the 
 divisions at Maestricht, and tranquilly to continue the 
 siege with 70,000 men. He was convinced that the 
 Austrians would not venture to force a battle, and 
 that the invasion of Holland woidd speedily induce 
 them to retrograde. This was a sound conclusion, and 
 founded upon the imfiiiliug principle, that, in case of 
 a reciprocal oflensive warfare, the advantage will re- 
 main with the party which can liold out the longest. 
 The timorous plan of tlie imperialists, restraining 
 tliem from penetrating upon any point, fuUy justified 
 this deduction ; but the negligence of the generals, 
 who failed to concentrate their respective divisions 
 with sufficient i^romptitude, their confusion after the 
 attack, the impossibility in which they found them- 
 selves of rallying in presence of the enemy, and, above 
 aU, the absence of a man of superior influence and 
 autliority, rendered the execution of the order trans- 
 mitted by Dumouriez impracticable. Consequently, 
 letter upon letter was dispatched to him, urging his 
 return from Holland. A general panic was rapidly 
 spreading ; upwards of ten thousand deserters had al- 
 ready aliandoned the army, and scattered themselves 
 towards the interior. The commissioners of the con- 
 vention hastened to Paris, and procured an order for 
 Dumouriez to leave in the hands of another the expe- 
 dition undertaken against Holland, and to return with 
 all speed to put himself at the head of the grand army 
 of the Meuse. He received tliis order on the 8 th 
 March, and departed on the 9th, with the vexatious 
 reflection that all his projects were counteracted. He 
 came back more disposed than ever to condemn the 
 proceedings in the revolutionary system introduced 
 into Belgium, and to charge upon the Jacobins the 
 bad success of his plans for the campaign. He found, 
 in fact, ample matter for complaint and censure. The 
 agents of the executive power exercised a despotic 
 authority in Belgium, after a most outrageous fiishion. 
 They liad every where stirred up the populace, and 
 invariably used violence in the assemblies where a 
 union with France was decided upon. They had 
 seized upon the plate in the churches, sequestrated 
 the revenues of the clergy, confiscated tlie possessions 
 of the nobles, and provoked the liveliest indignation 
 amongst all classes of the Belgic nation. An insur- 
 rection against the French was already beginmng to 
 explode on the side of Grammont. 
 
 Delinquencies of so grave a character were scarcely 
 needed to incline the mind of Dumouriez to view the 
 commissioners of the government with horror and re- 
 ])iignance. He began by arresting two of them, and 
 dismissing them imder escort to Paris. He addressed 
 the others in a tone of high command, and restricted 
 them thenceforth to their functions, prohibiting them 
 from interposing in the military dispositions of the 
 generals, or giving orders to the troops stationed 
 within the limits of tlieir commissariat divisions. He 
 deprived Generd Moreton of his command, on account 
 of his having made common cause with these disor- 
 ganisers. He shut up the clubs, restored to the Bel-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 249 
 
 gians a part of the property taken from tlie churches, 
 and joined with these measm'cs a proclamation dis- 
 avowing, in the name of France, the enormities that 
 had been recently committed. He stigmatised Avith the 
 name of brigands those Avho Avere their authors ; and 
 in his whole conduct assumed a dictatorial supremacy, 
 which, although grateful in its exercise to the Bel- 
 gians, and securing to the French troops a safer so- 
 journ in the country, excited the rage of the Jacobins 
 to a frantic pitch. He had on the subject a very angry 
 discussion with Camus, the deputy, in which he ex- 
 pressed great contempt for the government of the day ; 
 and, forgetting the fate of Lafayette, relying too 
 readily on mihtary power, he comported himself as a 
 general certain of his ability, if he chose, to make the 
 revolution retrograde, and quite prepared to choose it 
 if he were provoked. The same spirit had crept into 
 liis staff; the ofiicers composing it spoke with scorn 
 of that populace which governed Paris, and of the 
 imbecile conventionalists who allowed themselves to 
 be oppressed by it ; they insulted and drove away all 
 who were suspected of Jacobinism ; and the sokliers, 
 also, overjoyed at beholding their general again in the 
 midst of them, aflected, in the presence of the com- 
 missioners of the convention, to stop his horse and 
 kiss his boots, salutmg him as their father. 
 
 These tidings tlirew Paris into tumultuous agitation, 
 and stimulated renewed vociferations against traitors 
 and coimter-revolutionists. The deputy Choudieu 
 promptly seized the occasion to demand, as had been 
 often done before, the dismissal of tlie federalists 
 loitermg in Paris. It was usual to raise tliis clamour 
 at every disastrous intelligence from the armies. Bar- 
 baroux essaA'ed to speak upon the question, but his 
 presence occasioned an uproar of surpassing violence. 
 Buzot laboured in vain to extol the firmness of the 
 men of Brest during the last riot ; Boyer-Fonfrede 
 merely obtained, by a species of compromise, that the 
 federaUsts of the maritime departments should be 
 draughted into the army, still deficient in force, des- 
 tined for the coasts of the ocean. The others retained 
 the privilege of remaming at Paris. 
 
 The next day, being the 8th March, the convention 
 ordered all officers to rejoin their regiments without 
 delay. Danton proposed to afford the Parisians a 
 fresh opportunity of saving France. " Ask them for 
 thirty thousand men," said he ; " send them to Du- 
 mouriez, and Belgimn is assm-ed to us, Holland con- 
 quered." There was, doubtless, little difficulty in find- 
 ing thirty thousand men in Paris, whilst sucli a rein- 
 forcement would be of hifinite service to tlie army 
 of the north, and the capital would, by so seasonable 
 an aid, acquh'e even additional importance. IMore- 
 over, Danton proposed to depute commissioners from 
 the convention to the departments and the sections, 
 with the view of acceleratmg the levies by aU possible 
 means. All his suggestions were adopted. The sec- 
 tions had injunctions to assemble in the evening ; 
 commissioners were named to attend their meetings ; 
 the theatres were closed to remove all distraction ; 
 and the black flag was displayed at the town-hall as 
 a signal of distress. 
 
 In accordance with the will of the convention, tlie 
 sections met in the evening, and extended the wannest 
 reception to the commissioners. The imaginations of 
 men were vividly elated, and the proposition to resort 
 in a mass and on the moment to the armies was every 
 where enthusiastically hailed. But there happened 
 in tliis instance what had previously occiu'red on the 
 2d and 3d of yepteniber : before departing, it w:is in- 
 sisted that the traitors shoidd be punished, bince 
 *hat dismal epoch, in fact, the ready-made phrase had 
 passed into constant use — "AVe will not leave behind 
 us conspirators prepared to massacre the families of 
 the absent." Hence it became necessary, if it were 
 wished to avoid fresh popular executions, to organise 
 legal and inexorable executions, which swiftly and 
 without appeal should embrace the counter-revolu- 
 
 tionists — the concealed conspirators, who menaced the 
 revolution witliin, already so grievously jeopardised 
 from without. It was held indispensable to suspend 
 the sword over the heads of generals, ministers, and 
 faithless deputies, who compromised the pubhc safety. 
 Fm-thermore, it was deemed inconsistent with justice 
 that tlie selfish wealthy, who abhorred the system of 
 equality, stood indifferent to the national struggles, 
 and consequently reframed from commg forward to 
 fill the ranks of the army, shoidd remain unaffected 
 by the public exigencies, and do notliing for their 
 alleviation. Accordingly, all those Avho had above 
 1500 livres (£65) a-year, ought to pay a tax propor- 
 tioned to their means, and sufficient to compensate 
 those who took upon themselves all the costs and risks 
 of service. Such were the sentiments almost univer- 
 sally upheld in the sections, resolving into the two- 
 fold desire of a new tribunal erected against the hostile 
 party, and of a contribution wnmg from the rich in 
 favoiu- of the poor departing to combat. Several 
 amongst them appeared to impress their wishes upon 
 the commune ; the Jacobins promulgated the like 
 doctrines on their part ; and the followmg day the con- 
 vention foimd itself breasted by a general and irresis- 
 tible opinion. 
 
 On that morning (the 9th March), all the Moim- 
 taineer deputies were early in their places. The gal- 
 leries were filled Avith Jacobins. They had turned 
 out all the females, because, as they said, an expedition 
 was tu be undertaken. Several of tliom exhibited pistols. 
 The deputy Gamon rose to remonstrate against the 
 outrage, but he was unheeded. The Momitain and 
 the galleries, firmly bent on their purpose, intimi- 
 dated the majority, and gave palpable token of a de- 
 termination to suffer no resistance. The mayor ap- 
 peared with the council of the commune, confirmed 
 the report of the commissioners of the convention upoii 
 the zeal of the sections, and siibmitted their prayer 
 for an extraordinary tribunal, and a tax upon the rich. 
 Divers sections followed the commune, and repeated 
 the demand for the tribunal and the tax. Some in- 
 sisted, moreover, upon a law against forestallers, upon 
 a maximiun in the price of commodities, an^ upon the 
 abrogation of a decree which declared metallic moneys 
 merchandise, and permitted their circidation at a cUffe- 
 rent standard than paper. After the presentation of 
 aU these petitions, it was proposed to put the mea- 
 sures recommended to the vote. In the first place, 
 the immediate adoption of the principle of an extra- 
 orchnary tribunal was insisted upon. Certaui de- 
 puties, however, opposed this precipitancy. Lanjui- 
 nais rose, and begged that, if it were absolutely de- 
 termined to sanction the iniquity of a tribunal with- 
 out appeal, the calamity miglit "be at least restricted 
 to the single department of Paris. Guadet and Valaze 
 made fi'uitless attempts to support Lanjuinais; they 
 were assailed with brutal interruptions 1)}^ the Moim- 
 tain. Some deputies even demanded that the tribmial 
 shoidd bear the title of Hcvolutionary. But the con- 
 vention, putting an end to all further discus on, de- 
 creed " the establishment of an Kxtraordinary Criminal 
 Tribunal, to judge without aj^iJcal, and without re- 
 course to tlie tribunal of Cassation, conspirators and 
 counter-revolutionists," and cliarged its committee of 
 legislation to present to-morrow a project of orgimi- 
 sation. 
 
 Immediately following this decree, it passed a second, 
 which imposed upon the rich an extraordinary war 
 tax ; and a tiiird, instituting forty-one commissions, 
 of two deputies each, to be sent into the departments 
 to accelerate tlie levies by all possible means, to dis- 
 arm those who lingered beiihid, to arrest the suspected, 
 to seize ujjon horses kept for pleasure and convenience, 
 in short, to exercise an uncontrolled despotism. To 
 these measures were added others. The bursaries in 
 colleges were for the future to be restri<'ted to the sons 
 of those who joined the armies ; all bachelors employed 
 in the public offices were to be replaced by fathers of
 
 250 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 families ; imprisonment for debt was abolished. The 
 right of testamentary disposition had met that fate a 
 few days previously. All these resolutions were 
 adopted on the motion of Danton, who perfectly un- 
 derstood the art of attaching interests to the cause of 
 the revolution. 
 
 The Jacobins, well contented with this day, rushed 
 eagerly to their club to indulge in self- congratulations 
 upon the zeal they had manifested, the foresight where- 
 with they had usurped the galleries, and the imposing 
 front presented by the serried ranks of the jSIountain. 
 They exhorted each other to persevere, and to be all 
 present at the next day's sitting, when the extraordi- 
 nary tribunal was to be organised. " Robespierre," 
 said they, " has strongly recommended it." Still they 
 were not fully satisfied vnth what they had obtained : 
 one of the club proposed the framing of a petition, in 
 which they should demand the reconstruction of the 
 committees and of the ministry, the arrest of all func- 
 tionaries at the moment of their dismissal, as also that 
 of all postmasters and comiter-revolutionary journal- 
 ists. A general desire was evinced in favour of the 
 instant adojition of such a petition, but the president 
 objected that the society could not perform any act in 
 its collective capacity, and the members consequently 
 agreed to go in quest of another locality wherein they 
 might assemble simply as petitioners. They subse- 
 quently dispersed into the different quarters of Paris. 
 The din of tumult pervaded its atmosphere. Some 
 Inmdred or more of rioters, the ordinary promoters of 
 all distui'bances, led on by Lasouski, had stormed the 
 premises of the journahst Gorsas, armed with pistols 
 and swords, and broken his presses. Gorsas had taken 
 to flight, and only succeeded in saving his life by an 
 admirable display of courage and presence of mind. 
 They had afterwards visited the editor of the Clironi- 
 cle, and likewise destroyed his printing machmery. 
 
 The succeeding day (the 10th) threatened to be stiU 
 more stormy. It was Sunday, and an entertainment 
 was prepared in the section of the Halle-aux-Bles, in 
 honoiu" of the recruits al)out to depart for the army ; 
 so that the idleness of the people, united with tlie 
 excitement of a public feast, might be readily adapted 
 to criminal projects. The hall of the convention was 
 as crowded as on the preceding day. Li the galleries 
 and on the Momitain the muster was equally strong 
 and menacing. Tlie debate opened upon several 
 matters of detail. A letter of Dumom-iez was taken 
 into consideration. Robespierre supported the j^ropo- 
 sitions of the general, and moved a decree of impeach- 
 ment against Lanoue and Stengel, both commanding 
 the advanced guard during the last repulse. The 
 impeachment was immediately voted. Then the de- 
 parture of the commissioners for hastening the levies 
 was broached ; but their votes being necessary to 
 ensure the establishment of the extraordinary tribunal, 
 it was decided that the institution should be organised 
 before the sitting ended, and the deputies dispatched 
 the next day. Cambaceres tliereupon lu'ged not only 
 the organisation of the extraordinary tribunal, but also 
 that of the ministry. Buzot sprang up the tribune, 
 and encountered a storm of murmurs. " These mur- 
 murs," he exclaimed, " teach me what I alreadj' knew, 
 that there is courage in opposing the despotism pre- 
 paring for us." The uproar augmented. He conti- 
 nued : " I give you up my life ; but I will save my 
 memory from dishonour by opposing the despotism 
 of the National Convention. You are incited to arro- 
 gate all powers into your own hands." " We miist act 
 iiud not prate," cried a voice. " You are right," re- 
 torted Buzot ; " the publicists of monarchy hkewise 
 say tliat action is necessary, and that, consequently, 
 
 the despotic government of one will is the best" 
 
 A fresh clamour interrupted the speaker, and general 
 confusion prevailed in the assembly. It was eventually 
 agreed to adjourn the re-organisation of the ministry, 
 and attend at present simply to the extraordinary tri- 
 l)uual. Tile report of the connnittee was called for. 
 
 The report was not digested, but in lieu thereof the 
 project on which the committee had agreed was de- 
 manded. Robert Lindet rose to lay it before the con- 
 vention, deeply deploring its severity. The following 
 was tlie proposition he submitted, in an accent of pro- 
 found emotion : The tribunal to be composed of nine 
 judges, nominated by the convention, superior to all 
 forms, acquiring information by any modes ; divided 
 into two sections, always permanent ; arraigning at the 
 instance of the convention, or directly, those who, by 
 their conduct or the manifestation of their opinions, 
 should have endeavoured to mislead the people, and 
 those who, by the stations they filled under the old 
 system, recalled to memory prerogatives usurped by 
 despots. 
 
 On hearing this frightful scheme propomided, loud 
 cheers broke from the left, and violent agitation was 
 evinced on the right. " Rather die ! " exclaimed Verg- 
 niaud, " than consent to the establishment of this 
 Venitian uiquisition I " " The people must have either 
 this measiu"e or an instirrection," rephed Amar. " My 
 feeling for revolutionary power is well known," said 
 Cambon ; " but if the people have been deceived in 
 the elections, we also may be misled in the choice of 
 these nine judges ; and they may be insupportable 
 tjTants, whom we are thus voluntarily imposing upon 
 ourselves." " Tliis tribunal," cried Duhem, " is far 
 too good for villains and coimter-revolutionists ! " The 
 tumidt grew every moment greater ; the time was 
 consumed m menaces, abusive epithets, shouts and 
 yells of all descriptions. " We will have it!" exclaimed 
 the one side ; " We will not have it ! " retorted the 
 other. Barrcre moved the addition of juries, and for- 
 cibly urged their necessity. Tiu-reau insisted that 
 they should be struck in Paris, Boyer Fonfrede in the 
 whole republic, because the new tribunal would have 
 to judge crimes committed in the departments, the 
 armies, and every where. Thus tlie day waned, and 
 the shades of evenmg began to fall. The president 
 Gensonne summed up the A^arious propositions, and 
 prepared to put them to the vote. The assembly, 
 overpowered with exhaustion, seemed ready to yield 
 to the determined violence. The members of the Plain 
 began to retke, and the iMountain, in order to com- 
 plete their terror, demanded that the votes should be 
 given aloud. " Yes ! " exclaimed Farand, with indig- 
 nation — " yes, let us vote aloud, so that the world 
 may know the men who wish to assassinate innocence 
 under shelter of the law ! " This vehement apostrophe 
 reanimated the right side and the centre, and, con- 
 trary to all expectation, the majority declared: 1st, 
 that there should be juries ; 2d, that those juries 
 should be taken in equal numbers from the depart- 
 ments ; 3d, that they should be nominated by the 
 convention. 
 
 After the adoption of these three propositions, 
 Gensonne deemed it expedient to give an hour's re- 
 spite to the assembly, which was fatigTied and worn 
 to lassitude. Tlie deputies rose to retire. "I call 
 upon good citizens to remain in their places!" shouted 
 Danton. Every one resumed his seat at the vibrations 
 of that terrific voice. " What ! " he resumed, " is it 
 at the moment that IMiranda may be vanquished, and 
 Uumouriez, taken in the rear, obliged to lay down his 
 arms,* that you think of forsaking your posts? It 
 behoves you to conclude the enactment of these extra- 
 ordinary laws, destined to strike terror into j^our 
 domestic foes ! They require to be ai'bitrary, because 
 it is impossible to render them precise ; because, ter- 
 rible though they be, they are surely preferable to 
 popular executions, which, now as in September, 
 would be the consequence of delays in justice. After 
 settling this tribunal, it will be incumbent on you to 
 organise an energetic executive power, to be in imme- 
 diate relation with yourselves, and capable of putting 
 
 * At this moment it was not known in Paris tliat Diimnm'icz 
 had left Holland to return upon the Jleiise.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 251 
 
 in motion all your resources of men and money. To- 
 day, then, the extraordinary tribunal ; to-morrow, the 
 executive power ; and after to-morrow, the departure 
 if your commissioners for the departments. Let 
 calunmies be heaped upon my head, let my very 
 memory perish, but let the republic be saved ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding this impetuous exhortation, the 
 suspension of an hour was carried, and the deputies 
 Ijroceeded to snatch a few moments of indispensable 
 repose. It was about seven in the evenintf. The idle- 
 ness of the Sunday, the entertainments given in the 
 course of the day, and the questions agitated in the 
 assembly, all contributed to stimiilate popular excita- 
 tion. Without any plot being formed beforehand, as 
 the Girondists Wlieved, but simply by concurrent 
 causes of incitement acting upon previous disposi- 
 tions, the people were led to a deplorable scene of 
 commotion. The Jacobin Club was sitting ; Bental)ole 
 had hastened thither to report what had passed in the 
 convention, and to complain that the patriots had not 
 been so energetic as on the day preceding. The coun- 
 cil-general of the connnune was likewise assembled. 
 The sections, forsaken by the peaceable citizens, were 
 abandoned to a few furious men, who passed the most 
 inflammatory resolutions. In that of the Quatre- 
 Nations, eighteen frantic ba'wlers had decided tliat the 
 department of the Seine ought at the moment to be 
 invested with the sovereignty, and that the electoral 
 body of Paris ought immediately to assemble for the 
 pm-pose of lopping off the unfaithful members of the 
 National Convention, who were in confederacy with 
 the enemies of the revolution. The same resolution 
 had been adojDted by the Cordelier Club ; and a joint 
 deputation from the section and the club was at this 
 particular instant haranguing the commune in com- 
 mimication of these resolves. According to the usual 
 custom in all disturbances, certain of the more fro- 
 ward ran to make fast the barriers. 
 
 At this very time, the shouts of an infuriated mob 
 resounded in the streets ; the recruits who had dined 
 at the Halle-aux-Bles, foaming with rage and de- 
 bauchery, brandishing swords and pistols, advanced 
 towards the hall of the Jacobin Club, filling the air 
 with excruciating yells. They arrived there precisely 
 as Bentabole finished his report upon the day's pro- 
 ceedings in the convention. Congregated at the door- 
 way, they demanded leave to defile through the hall. 
 They crossed it amidst deafening cheers. One of them 
 essayed to speak, and articulated : " Citizene, in the 
 danger of the country, the conquerors of tlie 10th 
 August are arisen to exterminate the enemies at home 
 and abroad." " Yes !" responded the president Collot- 
 DTIerbois, " in spite of uitriguers, we will save liberty 
 with you." Desfieux then spoke, saying that Miranda 
 was the creature of Petion, and a traitor ; that Brissot 
 had provoked the declaration of war against England 
 in order to ruin Fra,nce. " There is only one mode," 
 added he, " of saving ourselves, and that is by getting 
 rid of all these traitors, by placing all the appellants 
 under arrest at their own houses, and havuig other 
 deputies nominated by the people." A man attired 
 in military garb, issuing from the crowd which had 
 just defiled through the hall, vociferated that arrest 
 was far from being sufficient, that vengeance was 
 needed. "Wliat is inviolability?" said he: "I trample 
 it under my feet ! " At this moment, Dubois de Crance 
 arrived, and attempted to repudiate tliese instigations, 
 llis resistance provoked a tempestuous scene. It was 
 finally proposed to divide into two colunms, one to 
 go in quest of their brethren the CordeHers, and the 
 other to visit the convention, with the view of defiling 
 through its hall, and making known to it all that was 
 demanded at its hands. The leaders hesitated to sanc- 
 tion the departure ; but the galleries pressed into the 
 hall, the lights were extinguislied, the agitators gained 
 their pomt, and the multitude divided into two bodies 
 to proceed to the convention and the Cordeliers. 
 
 It so happened that the wife of Louvet, who re- 
 
 sided with him in the Eue Saint-Honore, near the 
 Jacobin Club, had heard the tumidtuous din proceed- 
 ing from that locality, and had repaired tliither to 
 learn what migh't be its cause. She was present at 
 the scene we have just related ; she hastened to ap- 
 prize Louvet, who, with several other members of the 
 right side, had quitted the sitting of the convention, 
 where it was rumoured they were marked out for 
 assassination. Louvet, armed as Avas then univer- 
 sally the custom, profited by the obscurity of the 
 night, ran from door to door advertising his friends of 
 their danger, and appointing for them a rendezvous 
 in a secluded spot, where they might shelter them- 
 selves from the blows of the assassins. He found 
 several of them at the house of Petion, calmly delibe- 
 rating upon decrees to be passed. He endeavoured to 
 inspire them with his own alarms, but failed to dis- 
 turb the impassible Petion, who, looking up at the 
 sky, and seeing the rain pouring down, said cooll}', 
 " There will be nothing to-night." However, a ren- 
 dezvous was fixed, and one of them, Kervelcgan by 
 name, repaired in all haste to the barrack of the Brest 
 battalion, in order to put it mider arms. In the mean 
 time, the ministers assembled at the house of Lebrun, 
 and, being uttei'ly powerless from the want of an 
 armed force, knew not what means to take in defence 
 of the convention and of themselves, for they also 
 were threatened. The assembly itself, struck with 
 consternation, sat in anticipation of some terrible 
 catastrophe, deeming at every noise, at cverj^ rever- 
 berating shout, that the next moment would bring the 
 assassins into its i)recincts. Only forty members re- 
 mained on the benches of the right side, in fuU expec- 
 tation of an attack upon their lives ; they all had 
 arms, and held their pistols ready for service. They 
 had agreed amongst themselves to rush upon the 
 Mountain at the first commotion, and cut down as 
 many of its members as they could. The galleries and 
 the Mountam Tnaintained a similar attitude of prepa- 
 ration, and on both sides a sanguinary and desperate 
 encounter was thus defyingly awaited. 
 
 But audacity had not reached the pitch necessary 
 for the perpetration of a 10th of August against the 
 convention ; this was but a preliminary scene — a 20th 
 of June. The conmiime shrunk frcjm encouraging 
 a movement for which opinion was not yet j)re- 
 pared — nay, reprobated it with all sincerity. Tlio 
 mayor, when the deputations from the Cordeliers and 
 the Quatre-Nations presented themselves, rebuked 
 them without allowing them to conclude. A fawner 
 upon the Jacobins, Pache was doubtless inimical to 
 the Girondists ; it is probable he even desired their 
 fall; but he might judge a demonstration premature 
 and dangerous ; moreover, like Petion on the 20th 
 Jmie and the 10th August, he was restrained by a 
 sense of illegality, and waited for a show of coercion 
 to yield. Consequently, he repelled the joint deputa- 
 tion. Hebert and Chaumette, procurators of the com- 
 mune, supported him. Orders were sent to throw 
 open the barriers, and addresses were framed to the 
 sections and the Jacobins, recalling them to the obser- 
 vance of order. Santerre delivered a highly energetic 
 discourse before the commune, in denunciation of those 
 who clamoured for a fresh msurrection. He said that 
 the tyrant being cast down, a second insurrection could 
 only bc^ directed against the people, who actually 
 reigned alone ; that if there were evil deputies, they 
 nuist be endured, as Maury and Cazales had been en- 
 dm-ed ; that Paris was not all France, and was bound 
 to accept the deputies of the departments ; and that 
 as to the complaints against the minister of war, if he 
 had disjilaced several persons in his department, he 
 was perfectly justified, since he was responsible for 
 his agents. He added, that certaui misguided and 
 empty-headed persons in Paris had an idea they wei'o 
 fit to govern, whilst they did Imt disorganise; but 
 that in a twinkling he would call out the armed force 
 and reduce the malignants to order.
 
 252 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 In the interim, Eeurnonville, minister at war, whose 
 m^insion was beset, cleared the walls of his y;arc1en, 
 collected all the adherents he could muster, put liiin- 
 self at the head of tlie battalion of Brest, and kept tlie 
 agitators in awe. Tlie section Quatre-Xations, the 
 CordelitTs, and the Jacobins, retreated to their respec- 
 tive localities. Thus tHe resistance of the commune, 
 the conduct of Santerre, the courajre of Beurnonville 
 and the Brest battalion, perhaps also the rain, which 
 fell abundantly, arrested the progress of the insurrec- 
 tion. Furthermore, passion was not yet sufficiently 
 inordinate against all that was most noble and gene- 
 rous in the new-born republic. Pttion, Condorcet, 
 and Vergniaud, were still destined to manifest for 
 some time longer their fortitude, tlieir talents, and 
 their commanding eloquence, in the convention. All 
 gradually subsided into calnmess. The mayor, sum- 
 moned to the bar of the convention, gave the most 
 satisfactory assurances; and that very night it tran- 
 quilly concluded the decree organismg the revolution- 
 ary tribunal. Tliis tribunal, as thus finally constituted, 
 was composed of a jury, five judges, a public accuser, 
 and two associates, all named by the convention. The 
 jurymen were to be chosen before the month of May, 
 and provisionally they might be taken from the de- 
 partment of Paris and the four adjoining departments. 
 Each juryman was to pronounce his opinion m open 
 court. 
 
 The immediate consequence of the 10th JIarch was 
 to rekindle the indignation of the members of the right 
 side, and somewhat to perplex those of the left side, 
 who were compromised by these precipitate demon- 
 strations. On all sides, however, the movement was 
 deprecated as illegal, and as an outrage on the national 
 representation. Those even who were not hostile to 
 the idea of a fresh insurrection, condemned the recent 
 attempt as ill couducted, and warned the people to 
 beware of disorganisers, subsidised by the emigrants 
 and England to provoke disturbances. The two sides 
 of the assembly seemed to emulate each other in 
 strengthening this latter opinion ; both in fact pre- 
 sumed a secret influence at work, and upbraided each 
 other with being in confederacy therewith. An extra- 
 ordinary scene that occurred in the assembly still fur- 
 ther confirmed this general conviction. The section 
 Poissonniere, in ])resenting some volunteers, demanded 
 an a(;t of impeachment against Duniouriez, the general 
 upon whom the entire hopes of the French army at 
 that time reposed. This petition, read at the bar by 
 the president of the section, excited a general burst of 
 indignation. " He is an aristocrat," exclaimed several 
 voices, "in the pay of England!" At this instant, 
 curious eyes were directed towards the banner borne 
 by the section, and the astounding fiict was discerned 
 that its streamer was white, and that fleurs-de-lis de- 
 corated its summit. Sliouts of wrath broke forth at this 
 discovery ; the fleiu-s-de-lis and the streamer were torn 
 to shreds, and replaced by a tricoloured ribbon thrown 
 down by a female in the galleries. Isnard immedi- 
 ately rose to move a decree of impeachment against 
 the president of the section. jNIore than a hundred 
 voices seconded the motion, and in the number, that 
 which attracted most attention was the voice of 
 Marat. 
 
 " This i)etition," said he, " is a foul plot, and ought 
 to be read to the end ; it will be seen that it contains 
 a demand for tlie heads of Vergniaud, Guadet, Gen- 
 soime, and otlicrs. You feel what a triunipii such a 
 jnassiicre wouM V-c for our enemies ! it would prove 
 
 the desolation of the convention" Here imiversal 
 
 cheers interrupted Marat. He resumed; himself de- 
 nounced one of the chief agitators, named Fournier, 
 and moved his arrest. It was instantly ordered ; the 
 whole affair was remitted to the committee of general 
 safety; and a copy of the minutes was directed to be 
 transmitteil to Dumouricz, in order tliat he miffht 
 perceive how the assembly spurned the insinuations 
 of his calumniators. 
 
 \'arlet, the young friend and companion of Fournier, 
 flew to the Jacobin Club, clainimg vengeance fir his 
 arrest, and aid for his rescue. " Foiu-nier," said he, 
 "is not the only one menaced: Lasouski, Dcsfieux, 
 myself, iii fine, are so likewise. The revolutionary 
 tribunal, just established, is to be turned against the 
 patriots like that of the 10th August, and the bre- 
 thren who hear me are not true .Jacobins unless they 
 follow me." He then proceeded to inveigh against 
 Dnmouriez, and urge his impeachment; uponwhicli a 
 terrible tnmidt ensued in the society ; the president 
 put on his hat, and declared that a design clearly 
 existed for ruining the Jacobins. Billaud-Varennes 
 himself appeared in the tribune to denounce these 
 inflammatory diatribes and justify Dnmouriez, to 
 whom he was not partial, he said, but wlio was then 
 discharging his duty, and had proved that he was pre- 
 pared to combat vigorously. He complained, also, of 
 a project formed to disorganise the convention by 
 violent attacks on its members ; he pronounced Varlet, 
 Fournier, andDesfieux, ojien to grave suspicions; and 
 recommended the plan of a pnrift-ing scrutiny, to re- 
 lieve the society from all .secret enemies plotting to 
 compromise it. The opinions of Billaud-Varennes 
 were listened to with attention ; and satisfactory tid- 
 ings arriving at the moment, to wit, the raUjnng of 
 the army by Dnmouriez, and the recognition of tire 
 republic by the Ottoman Porte, tranquillity was in the 
 end fully restored. 
 
 Thus Marat, Billaud-Varennes, and Robespierre 
 (the latter having also spoken in the same spirit), all 
 declared against the agitators, and affected to believe 
 that they were subsidised by the enemy. Hence, an 
 incontestible proof is afforded that no secretly concerted 
 plot existed, as the Girondists were prone to surmise. 
 If any such confederacy had been planned, Billaud- 
 Varennes, ]\Iarat, and Robespierre, would unquestion- 
 abh" have been more or less implicated ; they would 
 have felt it incumbent on them to observe silence, as 
 did tlie left side of the Legislative Assembly after the 
 analogous outrage of the 20th June ; and assuredly 
 could not have ventured to demand the arrest of one 
 of their own accompUces. But in this instance the 
 movement was simply the effect of sudden popular 
 ferment, and could be safely disavowed if it proved 
 too premature, or were ill-arranged. IVIoreover, Marat, 
 Robespierre, and Billaud-Varennes, albeit desiderating 
 the f;dl of the Girondists, were sincere in their dread 
 of foreign intrigues, and of disorganisation in presence 
 of a victorious enemy ; especially apprehensive of opi- 
 nion in the departments, seriously embarrassed by the 
 accusations to which such movements exposed them, 
 and probably as yet looking forward merely to mono- 
 polise all the ministries and all the committees, and 
 so effecting tlie exclusion of the Girondists from any 
 influential jtarticipation in the government, but not 
 violently expelling them from the legislature. 
 
 One man only, Danton, might be justly viewed with 
 suspicion, althcmgh he was the least inveterate amongst 
 the enemies of tlie Girondists. He possessed unlimited 
 influence over the Cordeliers, the authors of the move- 
 ment ; he was not hostile to the members of the right 
 side, but to their system of moderation, which in his 
 judgment relaxed the action of government ; he in- 
 sisted at all hazards upon an extraordinary tribun.al 
 and a supreme coimnittee, invested with an irresistible 
 dictatorsliip, Ix'cause his ]!araniount object, superior to 
 all other coiisideratious, was the success of the revolu- 
 tion ; and it is possil)le that he had secretly instigated 
 the agitators of the loth IVIarch, with the view of inti- 
 midating the Girondists and subduing their resistance. 
 It is at all events certain that he evinced no eagerness 
 to disavow the authors of the commotion, but on the 
 contrary reiterated his exhortations ft)r the organisa- 
 tion of the government upon more energetic and inex- 
 orable principles. 
 
 Be the conjecture correct or erroneous, it was de- 
 cided that the aristocrats were the hidden movers of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 253 
 
 these (listurkmces ; every one believed or affected to 
 believe so. ^'er^i■niaud, in a speech of captivating 
 eloquence, devoted to an exposure of the Avliole con- 
 spiracj', u])lield this supposition ; he was Ijlamed, it is 
 true, by Louvet, who was desirous that tlie Jacobins 
 should be more directly attacked; but he gained the 
 point, that the first task of the extraordinary tribunal 
 should be to pursue the authors of the luth March. 
 The minister of justice, who had been instructed to 
 present a report upon the events of that day, declared 
 that in his researches he had not found the least trace 
 of the revolutionary committee, to whom they were 
 sometimes attributed, but had simply discovered hasty 
 ebullitions in clubs, and impetuous suggestions offered 
 under the influence of excitement. All that he had 
 ascertained of a more precise nature was the fact of 
 meetings being held at the Cafe Corrazza by certain 
 members of the Cordelier Club. These persons were 
 Lasouski, Fournier, Gusman, Desfieux, and Varlet, 
 the usual agitators of the sections. Tliey were accus- 
 tomed to meet after the sittings to discuss political 
 subjects. No importance was attached to this reve- 
 lation : and, as much deejier scliemes had been pre- 
 sumed, the conclave of a few individuals, so sidjordi- 
 nate in station, at the Cafe Corrazza, was treated with 
 derision. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MILITARY REVERSKS, AND THEIR CONSEQITENCES.— BE- 
 GINNING OF THE TROUBLES IN LA VENDEE. — REVO- 
 LUTIONARY DECREES. ARREST OF THE DUKE OF 
 
 ORLEANS AND HIS FAMILY. TREASON AND FLIGHT 
 
 OF DUMOURIEZ. 
 
 In the preceding chapter we have seen to what a pitch 
 of exasperation the feuds of parties had mounted in 
 France, and the extraordinary measures taken by the 
 revolutionary government to -withstand the foreign 
 coalition and domestic factions. It was in this state 
 of things, with all its lowering portents, that Dumou- 
 riez returned from Holland and joined the army at 
 Louvain. We have already described him employing 
 liis authority against the commissioners of the execu- 
 tive power, and repelling with all his might the Jaco- 
 binism attempted to be ingrafted on Belgium. To 
 these steps he added one still more daring, calculated 
 to involve him in a fate similar to that of Lafaj-ette. 
 On the 12th March he addressed a letter to the con- 
 vention, in which, reverting to the disorganisation of 
 the armies effectuated by Pache and the Jacobins, to 
 the decree of the 15tla December, and to tne vexations 
 inflicted upon the Belgians, he unputed all the exist- 
 ing evils to the disorganising spirit commmiicated 
 from Paris to France, and from France to the countries 
 enfranchised by her armie§. This letter, full of rash 
 expressions, and even of remonstrances, sucli as it 
 became no general to make, readied the connnittee of 
 general safet}^ at the very moment so many accusing 
 voices were raised against Dumouriez, and when con- 
 stant efforts were making to prop him in po]ndar esti- 
 mation, as well as to attach liim jtersonally to the 
 republic. This letter was kept secret, and Dantou 
 was forthwith dispatched to induce liim to recall it. 
 
 Dumouriez rallied liis army in advance of Louvain, 
 collected his scattered colunms, and pushed a corps 
 towards the right, both to defend the Coin])ine and 
 connect his operations with tlic rear of the arniy en- 
 tangled in Holland. Innnediately afterwards lie de- 
 termined upon resuming the ofll'iisive, in order to 
 restore confidence to his soldiers. The Prince of 
 Cobourg, after seizing upon the ccnirse of the Meuse 
 from Liege to Maestricht, and advancing beyond it as 
 far as Saint-Trond, liad caused 'J'irleniont to lie occu- 
 pied by an advanced corps. Dumouriez retook that 
 town ; and perceiving tliat his enemy had neglected 
 to guard tlie important post of (loidseiihovi'ii, which 
 commands the wliole country between the twoCettcs, 
 
 he ordered a few battalions to the spot, wliich csta- 
 blisiied themselves without ditliculty. The next day, 
 the IGth jNIarcli, the enemy attempted to recover this 
 lost position, and assaulted it with great vigour. Du- 
 mouriez, who was prepared for tliis attack, took care 
 to have it well sustained, trusting to encourage his 
 troops by the result of this contest. The imperialists 
 were repidsed, with tlie loss of fi-om 700 to 800 men; 
 and repassing the little Gette, proceeded to station 
 themselves in and amongst the villages of Neerwinden, 
 Landen, Xeerlanden, Overwinden, and Eacom-. The 
 French, exhilarated by their recent advantage, planted 
 themselves in front of Tirlemont, and in several vil- 
 lages situated on the left of the little Gette, which 
 had become the line of separation between the two 
 armies. 
 
 In this position, Dumouriez resolved to risk a gene- 
 ral engagement ; and this determination was e(iually 
 bold and prudent. A methodical war of tactics was 
 unsuited to his troops, still but partially disciplined. 
 He felt the necessit}' of restoring the lustre of French 
 prowess, calming the apprehensions of the convention, 
 securing the fidelity of the Belgians, driving the enemy 
 beyond the Meuse, there fixing hhn for a time, then 
 darting off once more to Holland, marching with fly- 
 ing colom's into a capital of the coalesced powers, and 
 establishing the revolution in that central point. To 
 these projects Dumouriez further added, according to 
 his own statement, the re-establishment of the consti- 
 tution of 1791 and the overthrow of demagogues, to 
 be accomplished by the aid of the Dutch and of his 
 own army. But this addition was as absiu-d at this 
 moment as when he was upon the Moerdyk ; wherein 
 all that was sagacious, practicable, and essential in his 
 plan, consisted in the purpose of regaining his influence, 
 recovering the reputation of the French arms, and 
 being enabled to resume his militaiy projects by a 
 decisive victory. The reviving ardour of his trocjps, 
 and the position he occupied, gave him well-grounded 
 hopes of success ; moreover, he was in a situation that 
 imperiously called upon him to inciu" great hazards, 
 and banish hesitation from his mind. 
 
 The French army extended along a front of two 
 leagues, skirting the little Gette from Neer-IIeylissem 
 to Leaw. Dumouriez resoHed upon a converting 
 movement, intended to drive the enemy between 
 Leaw and Saint-Trond. His left being planted at 
 Leaw as on a pivot, liis right would tiu-n by Neer- 
 Heylissem, Racour, and Landen, and oblige the Aus- 
 trians to recede before it as far as Saint-Trond. For 
 that purpose, it was necessary to pass the little 
 Gette, scale its precipitate banks, carry Leaw, Ors- 
 mael, Neerwinden, Overwinden, and Kacour. These 
 three last-named villages, fronting the right flank, 
 which would have to traverse them in its converting 
 movement, formed tlie principal objects of attack. 
 Dumouriez, dividing his right into three colunms, 
 under the orders of Valence, commanded them to pass 
 the Gette at the bridge of Neer-Heylissem ; the first 
 was directed to distract the attention of the enemy; 
 the second, to seize briskly n])on tlie elevated cemetery 
 of iNIiddelwiuden, thimdir upon the village of Over- 
 winden from tliat hciglit, and ca])ture it ; the third, 
 to attack the village of Neerwinden from tlie right. 
 The centre, intrusted to the Duke of (.'hartres, and 
 composed of two columns, had orders to pass by tlie 
 bridge of Fsemael, move through I>aer, and attack 
 Neerwinden in front, already menaced on its first 
 flank l)y tlic Ihird ciilunin. Lastly, tlie k'ft, under 
 the command of Miranda, was to be divided into two 
 and tiirce cohmms, occnjiy Leaw and Orsmacl, and 
 there maintain itself; whilst the centre and the right, 
 niarcliing forward after the victory, would accomplish 
 tlie coiiverting movement which was the aim of the 
 l)attic. 
 
 Tliese dispositions were fixed on the 17th March, at 
 night. Tlie next day, tlie IStli, by nine in the morn- 
 ing, the whole armv was in motion, all alacritv and
 
 254 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 order. The Gette was passed at all points. ISIiranda 
 occupied Leaw by his lieutenant Champinorin, carried 
 Orsiiiiiul in pcrst)n, and opened a cannonade ii]ion the 
 enemy, who had retired to tlie liei^ht.s of Ilalle, and 
 there strcngly intrenched himself. Tlie object was 
 attained in this quarter. 
 
 Li the centre and on the right, the movements took 
 place at the same hour ; th(jse two divisions of the 
 army traversed I^hssem, Esemael, and Neer-Hey- 
 lissem, and, in spite of a nmrderous fire, cleared in 
 gallant style the steep heights bordering on the Gette. 
 The column on the extreme riglit passed through 
 Racour, poured into tlie iilahi, and instead of expand- 
 ing itself, as it was ordered, connnitted the error of 
 contracting upon Overwinden in quest of the enemy. 
 The second cohunn of the right, after being retarded 
 in its march, cliarged with heroic impetuosity the 
 elevated cemetery of Middelwinden, and drove out tlie 
 imperialists ; but instead of establishing itself firmly 
 in that position, it merely traversed it, and took pos- 
 session of Overwinden. The third column entered 
 Neerwinden, and also committed a blunder in conse- 
 quence of a nusconception, by spreading too early out 
 of the village, and thereby exposing itself to be dis- 
 lodged by a return of the imperialists. The French 
 army, however, had almost attained its object ; but 
 the i'rince of Cobourg, having originally erred in not 
 attacking the French forces when engaged in j^assing 
 the Gette, and climbing its steep banks, now repaired 
 his faidt by giving a general order to retake the aban- 
 doned ])ositions. A superior force was brought against 
 the riglit flank under Miranda. Clairfixyt, profiting 
 by the first column not having persisted in turning 
 liim, by the second not having established itself on 
 the cemetery of Middelwinden, and by the third and 
 the two composing the centre, having gathered con- 
 fusedly in Neerwinden, crossed the plain of Landen, 
 retook Racour, the cemetery of jSIiddelwinden, Over- 
 winden, and Neerwinden. At this instant, the French 
 were in a precarious predicament. Driven from all 
 the points they had occupied, forced back on the de- 
 clivities of the heights, turned on their right, cannon- 
 aded on their front by a superior artillery, menaced 
 by two corps of cavalry, and having a river at their 
 back, they miglit be utterly cut otf, and would as- 
 suredly have been so, if the enemy, instead of tlirect- 
 ing his main force against their left, had pushed with 
 more vigo\ir their centre and right. Dumoiu'iez, Hy- 
 ing to the threatened point, rallied his columns, re- 
 captured by a detachment the cemetery of Jliddel- 
 wnden, and marched in i)erson iipon Neerwinden, 
 already twice taken by the French, and as many times 
 retaken by the imperialists. Dumouriez re-entered it 
 for the third time, after a frightful carnage. This 
 unliK'ky village was choked with the bodies of men 
 and horses ; and, in the confusion of the attack, the 
 French troops were both imduly heaped and scatteretL 
 Duinouriez, perceiving the danger, abandoned a posi- 
 tion so encuml)ered with human fragments, and re- 
 formed his columns at some distance from the village. 
 There he surrounded hbnself with artiOery, and pre- 
 pared to maintain himself on the field of battle. At 
 this moment, two squadrons of cavalry plunged np;)n 
 him, the one from Neerwinden, the other from Over- 
 winden. Valence anticipated the first, at the head of 
 the French cavalry, made an impetuous charge upon 
 it, repidsed it, and, covered with wounds, reluctantly- 
 j'ielded Ids command to the Duke of Chartres. Gene- 
 ral Thouvcnot received the second with calm intrepi- 
 dity, permitted it to get entangled in the midst of his 
 infantry, wliose ranks he had ordered to open, then 
 suddenly gave the word for a double discharge of grape 
 and musketry, which being made at close aim, over- 
 whelmed the imperial cavalry, and almost entirely 
 destroyed it. Duinouriez thus remained master of 
 the field of battle, and established himself thereon with 
 tlie view of completing the next day his convertuig 
 movement. 
 
 The day had been sanguinary, but the most diSicult 
 task seemed accomplished. The left, planted since 
 the morning at Leaw and Orsmael, was deemed to 
 have l)een unmolested, since the fire had ceased at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Dumouriez, therefore, con- 
 cluded that it had retained its acquisition. He looked 
 111)011 himself as victor, inasmuch as he occupied the 
 field of battle. In the mean time, night approached, 
 the right and the centre had lighted their fires, but 
 no officer had arrived to a))prise Dumouriez, on the 
 part of iMiranda, of what had occurred on his left flank, 
 lie began to entertain doubts, which soon increased to 
 anxiety. He set off" on horseback with two officers and 
 two servants, and found the village of Laer abandoned 
 by Dampierre, who commanded one of the two centre 
 columns imder the Duke of Chartres. Duinouriez 
 tliere learnt that the left, entirely broken, had repassed 
 tlie Gette and fled to Tirlemont ; and that Dampierre, 
 finding himself, from that cause, uncovered, had moved 
 backAvard to the post he occupied in the morning 
 before the battle. He instantly departed at full gallop, 
 followed by his two officers and two servants, narrowly 
 escaped capture by the Austrian hulans, reached Tir- 
 lemont at midnight, and came up with IMiranda, who 
 had retrograded two leagues from the field of battle, 
 and whom Valence, transported to the rear on account 
 of his wounds, was vaiidy urging to retrace his ground. 
 JNIiranda, fixed at Orsmael from the morning, had been 
 attacked at the moment the imperialists retook all 
 their positions. The greater part of the opposing 
 forces had boi-ne on his wing, which, being partly 
 composed of national volunteers, had forthwith broken 
 rank, and fled to Tirlemont. Miranda, hurried along 
 with the fugitives, had not had either time or vigour 
 sufficient to rally his soldiers, although ]\Iiaczinski 
 had come to his succour with a corps of fresh troops ; 
 he even forgot to let the general-in -chief be informed 
 of his disaster. On the other hand, Champmorin, who 
 had occupied Leaw with the last column, had main- 
 tamed himself there imtil evening, without thinking 
 of retreating to Bingen, his point of departm'e in the 
 morning, untd the close of day, 
 
 TIk' French army was thus di\'ided, part being be- 
 hind and part in front of the Gette; and if the enemy 
 had been less intimidated liy so obstinate an action, 
 and pushed his advantages to their practicable extent, 
 he might have sHced the French fine, annihilated the 
 right, encamped at Neerwinden, and put to flight the 
 left, which had already so precipitately recoiled. Du- 
 mouriez, cool and collected, forth^vitli decided upon a 
 retreat, and the following morning prepared to execute 
 it. He took the command of iliranda's division, en- 
 deavoured to impart fresh courage to the soldiers, and 
 ordered a movement in advance, so as to stop tlie 
 enemy on the left of the line, whilst the centre and 
 right, prosecuting their retreat, should be engaged in 
 repassing the Gette. Rut this portion of the army, 
 disheartened by its defeat of tlie preceding day, ad- 
 vanced reluctantly. Fortunately Dampierre, who had 
 recrosscd the Gette the same day with a column of 
 the centre, sujiported tlie movement of Dumom-iez, 
 and displayed equal intelligence and courage. Duinou- 
 riez, constantly in the midst of his battahons, cheered 
 their drooping spirits, and prepared to lead them up 
 the heights of Woninicrsem, which they had occupied 
 tlie day before tlie battle. The Austrians had already 
 planted batteries on this eminence, from wliich they 
 kejit up a murderous fire. Dumom-iez came in front 
 of his dejected troops, and jiointed out to them that it 
 was better to risk the assault than receive an unintcr- 
 mitting fire, and that they woidd escape it for a single 
 charge, infinitely less destructive to them than a dead 
 inertness before a sweeping artillery. Twice he stirred 
 tlicin into motion, and twice, as if paralysed by the 
 remembrance of yesterda}% they came to a stand-still ; 
 and whilst they supported, with heroic constancy, the 
 cannonade from the heights of Wominersem, they 
 cmld not muster the easier courage to chai-ge with
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 255 
 
 fixed bayonets. During this critical pause, a ball 
 struck the horse rode by Dumouriez ; he was thrown 
 to tlie earth, and covered witli mud. His panic-struck 
 soldiers were on tlie point of fliglit at tliis spectacle ; 
 but the general sprang on his feet witli youthful agi- 
 lity, remounted on horseback, and continued to uphold 
 them on the field of battle. 
 
 I)iu-ingthis interval, the Duke of Chartres conducted 
 the retreat of the right and half of the centre. Direct- 
 ing his four colmnns witli infinite judgment and intre- 
 pidity, he tranquilly retired in presence of a formid- 
 able array, and crossed the three bridges of the Gette 
 without being incommoded. Dumouriez thereupon 
 witlidrew his left wing, as well as tlie column under 
 Dampierre, and re-assiuned his positions lield previous 
 to the battle, in presence of an enemy struck with ad- 
 miration at his dexterous retreat. On the lOtli, the 
 army fomid itself, as on the 17th, between Ilacken- 
 doven and Goidsenhoven, but weakened by a loss of 
 4000 dead, by a desertion of more than 10,000 fugi- 
 tives, who were scampering in all directions towards 
 the interior, and by tlie depression of a lost battle. 
 
 Duraom'iez, deeply chagrined, and agitated by con- 
 tending emotions, was sometimes moved to rush des- 
 perately upon the Austrians and fight them to the 
 last extremity, and at other times to exterminate the 
 faction of Jacobins, to whom he attributed the disor- 
 ganisation and the discomfiture of his troops. In his 
 fits of wrath, he lou<lly execrated the tyranny of Paris, 
 and his words, repeated by his staff, were circidated 
 throughout the army. Nevertheless, although a prey 
 to singular exasperation of mind, lie l<jst not the cool- 
 ness necessary in a retreat, but ma<:le the best disposi- 
 tions for securing a long occupancy of Belgimu by 
 means of the fortresses, if he shoiild be obliged to 
 evacuate it with his armies. Thus he ordered General 
 d'HarviUe to throw a strong garrison into the castle 
 of Namur, and make a stand there with a division. 
 He dispatclied General lluault to Antwerp, in order 
 to collect the 20,000 men engaged in the expedition 
 to Holhuid, and goiard the Scheldt^ whilst sufficient 
 garrisons occupied Breda and Gertruydenberg. His 
 object was to form a semicircle of fortresses, de- 
 scribed by Namur, Mons, Tournay, Courtray, Ant- 
 werp, Breda, and Gertruydenberg, and to fix himself 
 in the centre of this semicircle, and await the rein- 
 forcements necessary to act with renewed energy. On 
 the 22d, he sustained an action of position with the 
 imperialists before Louvain, an engagement almost 
 equal in importance with tliat of Goidsenhoven, and 
 costing as many men. The same evening he had an 
 interview with Colonel Mack, an officer who exercised 
 great hifluence over the operations of the aUies, on 
 account of the reputation he enjoyed in Germany. 
 They agreed to abstain from provoking pitched battles, 
 to ])rocced consecutively, with leisure and in good 
 order, so as to spare the blood of the soldiers and 
 the countries which formed the theatre of war. This 
 species of armistice, signallj' favourable to the French, 
 who woidd liave disbanded if tliey had been warndy 
 attacked, likewise perfectly suited the timid system of 
 tlie coalition, Avhich, after having recovered the Meuse, 
 was iniwilling to attempt any further decisive opera- 
 tions until the capture of Mayence. 
 
 This was the first negotiation of Dumouriez witli 
 the enemy. The politeness of Colonel Mack, and his 
 engaging manners, were calculated to suggest to the 
 agitated mind of the general the idea of appealing to 
 foreign aid. He began to lose sight of any brilliant 
 future in the career ft) wincli he was now bound : if a 
 few months previously he contemplated gaining sulv 
 cess, glory, influence, by connuanding the French 
 armies, and if this anticipation had rendered him 
 more indulgent towards revolntionary violence, at 
 present vanqnislied, odious in jiopular estimation, and 
 attributing the disorganisation of his army to that 
 very violence, he looked with unmitigated disgust 
 U])on disorders he had hitherto viewed with apatliy 
 
 and indifference. Reared in courts, and from personal 
 observation well convinced how strongly frameil a ma- 
 chine was needed to secure dm-ability to a state, it was 
 to him inconceivable tliat insurgent burgliers should 
 be equal to an operation so complicated as that of 
 government. Under such circumstances, if a general, 
 at once a warrior and administrator, holds force in his 
 hands, he is easily tempted to indulge the idea of 
 employing it to terminate disorders which afflict his 
 mind and even menace his life. Diunouriez was sufii- 
 cieiitly daring to form such an idea ; and no longer 
 perceiving any signal inducement to serve tlie revo- 
 lution Ijy victories, he determmcd to carve out a fresh 
 prospect for himself, by making that revolution retro- 
 grade to the constitution of 1791, and reconcihng it at 
 that cost to all Europe. In tliis plan he required a 
 king, and men mattered so little to Dimiouriez, that 
 the choice was not likely to incommode him greatly. 
 He was charged at the time with a design to place the 
 house of Orleans on the throne. What induced tliis 
 belief was his affection for the Duke of Chartres, for 
 whom he had reserved the most brilliant services in 
 the arnlJ^ But this Avas a very insignificant proof, 
 for the young duke had merited all the distinction he 
 had obtained, and moreover, fliere was nothing in his 
 conduct to show any concert witli Diunouriez. But 
 another consideration efiectually persuaded aU minds, 
 namely, that at the moment there was no other selec- 
 tion possible, if a new dynasty were intended to be 
 created. The son of the deceased king was too young, 
 and, besides, regicide does not admit so prompt a re- 
 conciliation with the dynasty smitten. The uncles 
 were in a state of hostility ; and there only remained 
 the Orleans branch, as much compromised in the re- 
 volution as the Jacobins themselves, and alone cap- 
 able of obviating the fears of revolutionists. If the 
 excited mind of Diunouriez ever seriously pondered 
 ujion a preference, he could not then assign it else- 
 where ; and it was upon this necessity the accusation 
 was grounded, that he designed to place the house of 
 Orleans upon the throne. He denied the imputation 
 when an emigrant ; but that interested repudiation 
 proves nothing ; and he is entitled to no greater cre- 
 dence upon that point than upon the anterior date to 
 which he pretcntled to carry back his counter-revolu- 
 tionary projects. He has laboured to enforce the 
 impression that his plan of resistance against the 
 Jacobins was of older digestion ; but the fact was not 
 so. It was only when the career of success was closed 
 for him, that he dreamt of opening for himself another. 
 His project largel}^ partook of jicrsonal resentment, 
 chagrin at defeat, and a sincere though tardy abhor- 
 rence for endless disorders, to which he became acutely 
 sensible Avhen the film of illusion had been finally 
 dispelled. 
 
 On the 22d, he found at Louvain Danton and La- 
 croix, who liad arrived to remonstrate witli liim touch- 
 ing the letter written on the 12tli to the convention, 
 and kept s; crct liy tlie committee of jniblic safety. 
 Danton, with whom he iuid many symiiathies in com- 
 mon, hoped to wui him back to cidmer sentiments and 
 to file general cause. But Dumouriez treated the 
 commissioners, and Danton himself, with infinite 
 moroseness, and took little iiains to conceal from thcni 
 the most untoward inclinations. He bn)ke out into 
 fresh comi>laints against the convention and tlie Jaco- 
 bins, and refused to retract liis letter. He merely con- 
 sented to write a couple of lines, saying that he would 
 explain his meaning at a future date. Danton and 
 Lacroix de]iarted w ithout olilaining any satisfaction, 
 and leaving him in a stale of must irritable agitation. 
 
 On the 2.'Ul, after maintaining a stout resistance 
 during the day, several corjis abandoned their posts, 
 and he was obliged to quit Louvain in confusion. For- 
 tunately, the enemy was ))lind to this movement, and 
 took no advantage of it to throw the whole army into 
 irremediable confusion by a close pursuit. Dumouriez, 
 after this last event, separated the troops of the line
 
 2Afi 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 from the volmiteers, uniied tliem with the artillery, 
 and composed by the junction a chosen hody of 15,000 
 men, with wliich he placed himself in the rearguard. 
 There, ever visible amongst his soldiers, and daily 
 skirmishing at their head, he succeeded in imparting to 
 las retreat a firmer aspect. lie caused Brussels to be 
 evacuated with great order, passed through that city 
 on the 2.5th, and pitched his tents at Atli on the 27th. 
 Here he had renewed conferences with Colonel ]\Iack, 
 wiio treated him with distinguished regard and deli- 
 cacy ; and an interview, intended simply to regulate 
 the details of the armistice, speedily changed into an 
 important negotiation. Dumouriez confided all his 
 wrongs to the foreign colonel, and avowed to him his 
 projects for overthrowing the National Convention. 
 And here, blinded by resentment, incensed to fury at 
 the idea of a general disorganisation, the saviour of 
 France in the Argonne obscured his glory by treating 
 with an enemy whose ambition ought to have rendered 
 all his intentions suspected, and whose power was then 
 directly endangering the integrity of the country. As 
 we have upon a former occasion been called upon to 
 remark, there is oidy one alternative for a man of 
 genius in such situations— either to retire and abdicate 
 all influence, so as to avoid being the accomplice of a 
 system whicli he disapproves, or to keep aloof from 
 tiie evil he cannot obviate, and pursue one course, 
 perform one part, always virtuous, always glorious — 
 to labour zealously in defence of his country. 
 
 Dumouriez agreed with Colonel ]Mack that there 
 should be a suspension of hostilities between the two 
 armies ; that the imperialists should not advance upon 
 Paris, whilst he should march thither himself; and 
 that the evacuation of Belgium shordd be the reward 
 of tliis concession. It was likewise stipulated that the 
 fastness of Conde slioidd be provisionally surrendered 
 as a guarantee, and that in case Dumouriez shoidd 
 stand in need of the Austrians, they were to be at his 
 disposal. The fortresses were to receive mixed garri- 
 sons of imperialists and French in equal proportions, 
 liut to be under the command of French governors ; 
 and at the peace all places were to be restored. Such 
 was the criminal convention concluded by Dumouriez 
 with the Prince of Cobourg, through the medium of 
 Colonel ]\Iack. 
 
 The defeat of Neerwinden, and the progressive eva- 
 cuation of Belgium, formed the extent of the disaster 
 as yet known in Paris. But the loss of a great battle 
 and a precipitate retreat, occurring simultaneously 
 with gloomy tidings from tlie west, sufficed to occasion 
 an alarming agitation. A plot had been discovered at 
 Kennes, hatched according to ah appearances by Eng- 
 land, the Breton gentry, and the nonjuring priests. 
 Commotions had previously broken out in the west, 
 on account of the dearness of provisions and the threat 
 to withhold pecimiary support from the state religion ; 
 but now the flag of insurrection was unfurled, with the 
 avowed design of defending the cause of a1)solute mo- 
 narchy. Gatherings of peasants, demanding the re- 
 establishment of the clergy and the Bourbons, had 
 appeared in the vicinity of Kennes and Nantes. Orleans 
 was in open insurgency, and tlie representative Bour- 
 don had narrowly escaped assassination. The rebels 
 already amounted to several thousands — in suflicient 
 force to require armies and generals to reduce them. 
 The large towns Avere dispatching their national 
 giuirds, General Labourdonnaye was advancing with 
 [ his corps, and all things announced a civil war of the 
 most implacable character. Tluis, on the one hand, 
 were the armies retreating before the coalition, and, 
 on tlie otlier. La Vendee was uj) in arms : never had 
 ! tlie ferment usually produced by inii)ending danger 
 I had fiercer stinnilants at any period of the revolution. 
 I A short wliile previousl}', immediately after the 
 ' 10th ]\(arch, an attenii>t had been made to bring the 
 ! leaders of the two parties together in tlie committee 
 ! of general safety, with tlie view of enabling them to 
 c;omc to an understanding upon the causes of their 
 
 diflTerences. Danton was mainly instrumental in pro- 
 moting this congress. The daily conflicts satisfied no 
 hatreds of his, exposed him to discussions which he 
 dreaded, and stayed the action of the revolution, an 
 objcGt so dear to his heart. He was therefore ex- 
 tremely solicitous to have them terminated. In the 
 different interviews that were held, he evinced great 
 candour and tolerance ; and if he took the initiative, 
 if he accused the Girondists, it was chiefly to ward otf 
 the rei»roaches that niiglit have been so easily pre- 
 ferred against himself. The Girondists, Buzot, Gua- 
 det, Vergniaud, and Gensonne, with their accustomed 
 sensitiveness, justified themselves as if the accusation 
 luid been serious, and their arguments found Danton 
 1)V no means steeled against conviction. It was far 
 otherwise with Kobespierre ; they irritated him whilst 
 striving to convince him, and then endeavoured to 
 show him how wrong he was to lose his temper, as if 
 such a demonstration were likely to sweeten it. As 
 for Marat, who had deemed himself essential to these 
 conferences, none deigned to offer him the least ex- 
 planation; and even his friends, fearful lest the alUance 
 should be hereafter urged upbraidinglj' against them, 
 refrained from exchanging a single word with him. 
 Such meetings were calculated rather to aggravate 
 than mitigate existing enmities : even had the leaders 
 succeeded in demonstrating to each other their mutual 
 wrongs, it is more than doubtfid whether the persua- 
 sion would have cemented a reconciliation. 
 
 Affairs were in this state when the events in Bel 
 gium were made known at Paris. The tidings became 
 the signal for immediate recriminations : on one side it 
 Mas maintained that the public disasters were solely 
 owing to the disorganisation introduced into the 
 government, and on the other to the slackened action 
 impeding it. Explanations were demanded touching 
 the conduct of Dumouriez. His letter of the 12th 
 ]March was read, which had been hitherto suppressed, 
 and on its perusal exclamations arose that Dmuouriez 
 was tending to traitorous practices, that he was clearly 
 ]iursuing the same course as Lafayette, and, following 
 ins example, commencing his treachery by insolent 
 letters to the assembly. A second letter, dated the 
 27tli ]\Iarcli, which was even more bold in its expres- 
 sions tiian that of the 12th, excited such suspicions 
 still more strongly. On all sides Danton was pressed 
 to disclose what he knew of Dumouriez. Every one 
 was well aware that these two personages were united 
 by a certain sympathy, that Danton had insisted upon 
 the letter of the 12tli March being suppressed, and 
 tliat he had visited him to ja-ocure its recall. It was 
 even bruited that they had jobbed in copartnery in 
 affluent Belgium. Alike in the Jacobin Club, the 
 committee of general defence, and the assembly, Dan- 
 ton was importuned for explanations. He, embar- 
 rassed by the suspicions of the Girondists, and the 
 doubts of tiie Mountaineers themselves, for the first 
 time in his life felt some difficultly in replying. He 
 said that the great talents of Dumouriez had seemed 
 worthy of the highest consideration ; that it had been 
 accordingly judged essential to see him before de- 
 nouncing him, in order to impress upon him the errors 
 he had been led into, and win him back, if it were 
 possiljle, to better sentiments; that hitlierto the com- 
 missioners had discerned in liis conduct merely the 
 effect of evil suggestions, and especially chagrin at his 
 late reverses ; but that they had deemed, and stiU 
 adhered to tlie opinion, that his talents might be 
 advantageously preserved to the republic. 
 
 Robespierre said tliat if sucli were the state of the 
 case, it was quite unnecessary to humour his caprices, 
 and in fact preposterous to oljserve such excessive 
 delicacy towards liim. 1 le then proceeded to renew the 
 motion formerly made by Louvet against the Bour- 
 bons remnimng in France, that is to saj^ against the 
 members of tlie Orleans family ; thus greatly surpris- 
 ing all men that he, Robesj)ierre, who in January had 
 so energetically defended them when assailed by the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 257 
 
 Girondists, should now attack them with such fury. 
 But his distrustful mind had been suddenly charged 
 with sinister forebodings. Thus had he reasoned with 
 himself: " A former prince of the blood cannot resigii 
 himself to his new condition, and altliough he may 
 call himself Egalite, it is impossible that his sacrifice 
 can be sincere ; therefore he is conspiring, and in fact 
 all our generals belong to him. Biron, who commands 
 in the Alps, is his intimate friend ; Valence, general 
 of the army of the Ardennes, is son-in-law to his con- 
 fidant Sillery ; his two sons occupj' distinguished sta- 
 tions in the army of Belgimn, Dumouriez is opeidy 
 devoted to them, and watches over their advancement 
 with marked solicitvide. The Girondists certainly 
 attacked the family of Orleans in January last, but it 
 was a feint on their part, simply designed to stifle sus- 
 picions of confederacy. Brissot, the friend of Sillery, 
 is the intermediate agent of the conspiracy ; the plot 
 is palpable ; the throne is reared again in France, and 
 the country consigned to perdition, imless unwonted 
 diligence be used in proscribing the implicated." 
 
 Such were the conclusions of Robespierre ; and what 
 rendered his peculiar logic the more formidable, was 
 the fact that he, absorbed in hatred, implicitly believed 
 in his own aspersions. The Mountain, in the greatest 
 amazement, repudiated his proposition. " Adduce 
 some proofs at least," said those who were seated near 
 him. " Proofs ! " retorted he ; " of proofs I have none, 
 but I have a moral conviction !" 
 
 The first impulse of opinion was, as usual in aU 
 moments of danger, to accelerate the action of the 
 executive power and of the tribunids, at once to guard 
 against what were called the external and internal 
 enemies. 
 
 The commissioners named for the several depart- 
 ments were immediately dispatched, and the question 
 was seriously canvassed whether the convention ought 
 not to take a greater share in the execution of the laws. 
 The manner in which the executive power was orga- 
 nised appeared inefficient. Mmisterial officers, planted 
 beyond the walls of the assembly, acting apart from 
 their superior, and under his too slender and distant 
 supervision, and committees enjoined to make reports 
 upon all matters atfccting the general safety — these 
 various authorities clashing with each other, perpe- 
 tually deliberating without acting, seemed decisively 
 incompetent to the prodigious task mtrusted to them. 
 Besides, this ministry and tliese committees were com- 
 posed of members suspected because they were mode- 
 rate ; and at that period, when promptitude and vigour 
 were indispensable conditions of success, all tardiness, 
 all moderation, was viewed as conspiracy. It was 
 resolved, therefore, to establish a committee Avhich 
 shoidd unite the functions of the diplomatic committee, 
 the mihtary committee, and the committee of general 
 safety, with powers to order and act on emergency 
 indejjendently of its institutor, and arrest or supply 
 ministerial action. Various projects of organisation 
 were submitted to effect this purpose, and were even- 
 tually referred to a commission charged with their 
 examination. Immediately subsequent to the disposal 
 of this subject, the attention of the convention was 
 claimed to the nK;ans available for reaching the inter- 
 nal enemy, that is to say, aristocrats and traitors, by 
 whom it wcis said to be encompassed. France, ex- 
 claimed many voices, was fuU of refractory priests, of 
 nobles, of their former dependants and of their former 
 domestics ; and this collection, still considerable, sur- 
 rounded them, betrayi'd tliem, and mcn:iced them as 
 formidably as the foreign bayonets. These persons, 
 therefore, it was necessary to ferret out, mark, and 
 expose to the light, so that they might be prevented 
 from pursuing their machinations. The Jacobins had 
 consequently iiroposcd, and the convention decreed, 
 that, adopting a custom borrowed from China, the 
 names of all the persons inliabiting a house should be 
 inscribed on the doors.* It thereafter enjoined the 
 * Decree of the 29tli Miireh. 
 
 disiu'imng of aM suspected citizens, and des'gnated such 
 to be nonjuring priests, no1)les, seigneurs under the 
 old feudal system, superseded functionaries, &c. &c. 
 The disarming was to be eflected by the mode of 
 domiciliary visits, and the only alleviation uitroduced 
 into the measure consisted in forbidding the visits to 
 be made at night. After having thus ensured the 
 means of pursuing and grasping all those who gave 
 the least umbrage, it finally added a mode of smiting 
 them with the utmost dispatch, by installing the re- 
 volutionary tribunal. It was on the proposition of 
 Danton that this terrible instrument of revolutionary 
 tlistnist and jealousy was brought into play. That 
 redoubtable person had fully comprehended its pos- 
 sible abuse, but he sacrificed all considerations to the 
 one great object. He was quite aware that to smite 
 swiftly meant to mvestigate imperfectly; that to in- 
 vestigate imperfectly involved the chance of error, 
 especially hi times of l>arty rage ; and that to commit 
 error was to commit atrocious injustice. But, in his 
 eyes, the revolution was society accelerating its move- 
 ment in all things, in matters of justice, administra- 
 tion, and war. " In periods of tranquillity," said he, 
 " society prefers allowing the escape of the guilty to 
 punishing the innocent, because tlie guilty is scarcely 
 dangerous ; but in proportion as he becomes so, it 
 increases its vigilance to seize him ; and when he be- 
 comes so dangerous as to place its very existence in 
 jeopardy, or at least when it thus imagines, it smites 
 aU that excite its suspicions, and then prefers injm-- 
 ing an innocent person to allowing the escape of one 
 guilty. Such is a dictatorship — that is to say, violent 
 action in threatened societies — it is swift, arbitrary, 
 faulty, but irresistible." 
 
 Thus the concentration of powers in the conven- 
 tion, the installation of the revolutionary tribmial, tlie 
 commencement of the inquisition against the suspected, 
 and a duphcation of hatred agamst the deputies who 
 resisted these extraordinary measures, were the con- 
 sequences of the battle of Neerwinden, the retreat 
 from Belgium, the threats of Dumouriez, and the com- 
 motions in La Vendee. 
 
 The splenetic humour of Dumouriez was further 
 ruffled by additional disappointments. He speedily 
 learnt that the army of Holland was retiring in dis- 
 order, abandoning Antwerp and the Scheldt, and 
 leaving merely the two French garrisons in Breda and 
 Gertruydenberg ; that D'Harville had been unable to 
 li(,>ld the castle of Naniur, and was falling back on 
 Givet and Maubeuge ; and, lastly, that NeuiUy, far 
 from being in a capacity to maintain himself at Mons, 
 had felt himself obliged to retire upon Conde and 
 Valenciennes, because his division, instead of taking 
 position on the heights of Nimy, had pillaged the 
 magazines and taken to flight. Thus, m consequence 
 of the vicious condition of this army, he saw his pro- 
 ject vanish for fonning a semicircle of fortresses in 
 Belgium, which Avould have passed from Namur into 
 Flanders and Holland, and in the centre whereof he 
 would himself have taken post, as the most advanta- 
 geous for action. He had soon nothing to ofler in 
 exchange to the imjierialists ; and in i)roj)ortion as he 
 became weaker, he fell more and more in dependence 
 upon them. His irritation augmented as he drew nigh 
 to France, having then an opportunltj-^ of seeing more 
 nearly the prevailing disorders, and hearing tlie cries 
 raised against himself. He began to throw off all dis- 
 guise in conversation, and liis words, gatliered by his 
 staft' and repeated in the army, proclainu'd tlie pro- 
 jects fermenting in his Imiin. The sister of the Duke 
 of Orleans and Madame de Sillery, flying from the 
 proscriptions with which they were menaced, had 
 repaired to Belgium in quest of protecti(m from their 
 kinsmen. They were at Ath, and the fact gave a 
 fresh stimulus to suspicion. 
 
 Three Jacobin envoys, named respectively Dubius- 
 son, a refugee from Hrussi'ls, Broly, a natural son of 
 Kaunitz, and I'ereyra, a I'ortuguese Jew, nuide their
 
 258 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 appearance at Ath, under tlie real or false pretenee 
 of having a mission from Lebrun. They visited the 
 quarters of the general as emissaries of the go^-ern- 
 ment, and experienced no difficulty in ascertaining 
 projects which Dumouriez no longer concealed. They 
 found him accompanied by Valence and the two sons 
 of Orleans, encountered a very unfavourable recep- 
 tion, and licard expressions by no means flattering to 
 the Jacobins and the convention. However, they re- 
 turned the next day, and obtained a secret interview. 
 Upon this occasion Dumouriez was perfectly explicit 
 and frank. lie began by informing them that he was 
 sufficiently strong to combat both in front and in 
 rear; that the convention was composed of two hun- 
 dred brigands and six Innidred imbeciles, and tliat 
 he despised its decrees, wliich would speedily lose aU 
 efficacy except in the jtrecincts of Paris itself. " As 
 to the revolutionary tribunal," he added, with increas- 
 ing indignation, " I sliall know how to suppress it ; 
 and so long as I have three inches of steel in my belt, 
 that abomination shall never subsist." He subse- 
 quently inveighed against the volunteers, whom he 
 stigmatised as cowards, saying, that for the future he 
 would only have troops of the line, and that with them 
 he would put an end to all the disorders in Paris. 
 
 " You do not wish a constitution, then?" observed 
 the three dialogists. " The new constitution iiuagined 
 by Condorcet is too preposterous." " And what will 
 you substitute ? " "The old one of 1791, bad as it 
 is." " But you win need a king ; and the name of 
 Louis excites horror." " It matters little whether his 
 name be Louis or Jacques." " Or P.hilip ? " suggested 
 one of the envoys : " but how will you replace the 
 existing assembly ? " 
 
 Dumouriez reflected for a moment, and then replied : 
 — " There are local admmistrations, all nominated by 
 the confidence of the nation ; and the five hundred 
 presidents of districts -will be the five hundred repre- 
 sentatives." " But before they can be assembled, who 
 will take the initiative in this revolution?" " The 
 Mamelukes, or, in other words, my army. It will 
 express the wish, the presidents of districts will con- 
 firm that expression, and I will make peace with the 
 coalition, which, if I offer no opposition, is at Paris in 
 a fortnight." 
 
 The three dialogists, either because they had come 
 to sound him in tlie interest of the Jacobins, as Du- 
 mouriez himself thought, or because they were anxious 
 to lead him into still more precise revelations, here- 
 upon threw in a suggestion. " Why," they asked, 
 " would he not put the Jacobin Club, a ready-formed 
 deliberative body, into the place of the convention?" 
 A flush of indignation, mingled with scorn, spread 
 over the countenance of tlie general at these words, 
 and they withdrew tlieir ])roposition. They then 
 reminded him of the danger to which his scheme 
 would expose the Bourbons detained in the Temple, 
 and in whose fate he had betokened great interest. 
 He replied quickly, that should they perish to the 
 last scion, at I'aris and at Coblentz, France would 
 stUl find a chief and be saved ; that for the rest, if 
 Paris connnitted fresh ])arbarities on the unfortunate 
 prisoners in the Temple, he woidd be speedily on the 
 spot, and with 12,0()U men obtain the mastery. He 
 would not imitate the imbecility of Broglie, he said, 
 who, with .30,000 men, had permitted the capture (,f 
 the Bastille ; but with two posts, Nogent and Pont- 
 Saint-Maxence, he would starve the Parisians to death. 
 " At the same time, " he subjoined, " your Jacobins 
 may expiate all tlieir crimes ; k't them save the un- 
 fortunate prisoners, and expel the seven hundred and 
 fifty-five tyrants of the convention, and their sins are 
 forgiven." 
 
 His interlocutors finally spoke to him of his own 
 dangers. " There will be always time for a gallop to 
 the Austrians," said he. " Do j-ou desire, then, to 
 partake the fate of Lafayette ?" they asked- " I will 
 go to the enemy somewhat difierently from him," he 
 
 replied; "besides, the powers have anotlier opinion 
 of my talents, and do not reproach me with the 5th 
 and Gth October." 
 
 Dumouriez had good reason for not fearing the fate 
 of Lafayette. The coalition esteemed liis talents too 
 highly, the firnmess of his principles too lightly, to 
 incarcerate liim at Olmiitz. The three envoj^s quitted 
 liis presence, saying the}' woidd sound Paris and the 
 Jacobins on the hints he had thrown out. 
 
 Altliough firmly assured that his visiters were pure 
 Jacobins, Dmnouriez had expressed himself with un- 
 reserved boldness. At this instant, in fact, his pro- 
 jects were notorious ; the troops of the line and the 
 volunteers observed each other with distrust, and all 
 annoimced that the flag of revolt was about to be mi- 
 furled. 
 
 The executive power had received alarming reports, 
 and tlie committee of general safety had proposed and 
 procured a decree by which Dumouriez was ordered 
 to the bar. Four commissioners, accompanied by the 
 minister of war, were thrected to proceed to the army, 
 signify the decree, and bring the general to Paris. 
 These four commissioners were Bancal, Quinette, 
 Camus, and Lamarque. Beurnonville's nomination to 
 this mission imposed upon him a difficult part, on 
 account of the friendship which existed between him 
 and Dmnouriez. 
 
 This commission departed on the .30th March. On 
 the same day, Dumouriez moved to the camp of 
 BruiUe, whence he threatened equally the three im- 
 portant strongholds of Lille, Conde, and Valenciennes, 
 He was verj^ uncertain as to the part he ought to take, 
 for his army was divided in sentiment. The artillery, 
 the troops of the line, the cavalry, all the organised 
 corps, seemed devoted to him ; but the national volun- 
 teers began to murmur and to separate from the others. 
 In this sittiation, only one expedient Avas left him, 
 namely, to disarm the vohmteers. But he thereby 
 ran the risk of provoking a combat, and the experi- 
 ment was fuU of danger, inasmuch as the troops of the 
 line might probably feel repugnance at slaughtering 
 their comrades. ]\Ioreover, amongst those volunteers 
 themselves were some who had fought admirably, and 
 who manifested an attachment to his person. Hesi- 
 tating, therefore, on so rigorous a measure, he turned 
 his attention to the seizm'e of the three fortified towns 
 into whose vicinity he had moved. By occupying 
 tliem, he ensured supplies of proA'isions, and a sup- 
 jjorting basis against the enemy, of whom he was still 
 distrustfid. But opinions were divided in those towns. 
 The popular societies, aided by the volunteers, had 
 openly declared against him, and mdulged in threats 
 against the troops of the line. At Valenciennes and 
 Lille, the commissioners of the convention inflamed 
 the zeal of the republicans, and in Conde his partisans 
 had tlie advantage solely through the influence of the 
 Neuilly division. Amongst the generals of division, 
 Dampierre pursued a line of conduct towards him 
 such as he himself had observed with respect to La- 
 fayette after the 10th August; and several others, 
 without distinctly annomicmg their intentions, Avere 
 prepared to abandon him. 
 
 ()n the 31st, six volunteers, bearing on their caps 
 the words written with chalk, " The republic or death," 
 advanced up to him in his camp, and seemed disposed 
 to seize u])on his person. Assisted by his faithful 
 Bapliste, he drove them off", and consigned them to 
 liis hussars. This occurrence gave rise to a consider- 
 able excitement in the army, and the various corps 
 presented addresses to him during the day, which 
 greatly cheered his hopes. He fortliwith raised his 
 stiuidard, and detached jMiaczinski with a few thou- 
 sand men to occupy Lille. Miacziiiski, advancing to 
 execute his orders, intrusted Saint-Ceorges, the mu- 
 latto, who commanded one of the regiments in garri- 
 son, with the secret of his enterprise. The latter 
 deceitfully urged Miaczinski to enter the place with a 
 slight escort. The unsuspecting general allowed him*
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 259 
 
 self to be persuaded, and once within the walls, lie 
 was surrounded and delivered iip to the authorities. 
 The gates were closed, and th.e diATsion wandered 
 without a commander on the glacis of the fortification. 
 Dumouriez instantly dispatched an aid-de-camp to 
 rally it ; but the aid-de-camp was likewise taken, and 
 the division, being finalty dispersed, was lost to liim. 
 After this unlucky attempt, he tried a sunilar one on 
 Valenciennes, where General Ferrand connuanded, 
 whom he deemed perfectly disposed in his favour. But 
 the officer charged to sm-prise the place betrayed his 
 projects, joined Ferrand and the commissioners of the 
 convention, and thus counteracted his designs on Va- 
 lenciennes likewise. Conde, therefore, alone remained 
 to him. Placed as he was between France and the 
 enemy, he had but this solitary possession as a basis. 
 K that were lost to him, he had no alternative but to 
 submit to tlie imperialists, sm-render himself entirely 
 into their hands, and in all probability arouse the 
 wrath of his army by forcing it to march in concert 
 with them. 
 
 He transferred his head-quarters, on the 1st of April, 
 to the flats of Saint- Amand, in order to be nearer 
 Conde. He caused the son of Lecointre, member for 
 Versailles, to be arrested, and sent him as a hostage 
 to Toiu'nay, requesting the xVustrian Clairfayt to keep 
 him shut up in the citadel. On the evening of the 
 2d, the four deputies of the convention, preceded by 
 Beurnonville, arrived at Dumouriez's quarters. The 
 hussars of Berchiny were drawn up before his door, 
 and the whole of his staff was around him. Dumou- 
 riez in the first place cordially greeted his friend Beiir- 
 nonviUe, and then asked the deputies the object of 
 their mission. They refused to enter into explana- 
 tions before the crowd of officers, whose dispositions 
 appeared to them unfriendly, and desired to retire into 
 an adjoining apartment. l)umouriez acceded to their 
 wish, but the officers insisted that the door should 
 remain open. Camus thereupon read him the decree, 
 and called upon him to submit to its terms. The 
 general replied that the state of his army required his 
 presence ; but that when it should be re-organised, he 
 would see how it behoved him to act. Camus pressed 
 him still more emphatically ; l)ut Dmnouriez observed 
 in answer, that he was not quite fool enough to trust 
 himself in Paris, or within the fangs of tlie revolu- 
 tionary tribunal ; that tigers were howling for his 
 head, but it was not his intention to gratify their 
 craving. Tlie four commissioners vainly assured him 
 that no sinister jiurpose was formed against his per- 
 sonal safety, that they themselves were ready to 
 answer for him, that his acquiescence would satisfy 
 the convention, and that he would be speedily restored 
 to his army. He refused to listen to their assurances, 
 entreated them not to drive him to extremity, and 
 told them their more advisable com-se was to adopt 
 the moderate expedient of declaring by a resolution, 
 that Dumouriez had appeared to them too indisi^en- 
 sable to the army to warrant their sep.arating him at 
 so critical a moment. As he concluded this intima- 
 tion he left them, enjoining them at the same time to 
 hasten their decision. He retm-ned with Beurnonville 
 into the roohi wliere his staff was assembled, and 
 awaited the determination of the commissioners amidst 
 his officers. The de])uties followed him in a few se- 
 conds, and witli undaunted firnmess reiterated their 
 summons. "Will jou ol)ey the convention?" said 
 Camus to him. " No," replied the general. " In tliat 
 case," resumed Camus, " you are suspended from your 
 functions; j'our papers will be seized, and your person 
 arrested." " This is too nmch," exclaimed I)uniouriez ; 
 " here, hussars !" The hussars flew to tlie call. " Ar- 
 rest these persons," said he to tliem ui (icrman ; " but 
 do them no injur3^" Beurnonville entreated him to 
 let him share their fate. " Y^jry well," rei'lied he ; 
 " I dare say I shall render j'ou a real service, for I 
 doubtless save you from the revolutionary tribunal." 
 Dumouriez ordered them refreslunents, and then 
 
 dismissed them to Tom-nay, in order to be kept as 
 hostages by the Austrians. Early the following morn- 
 ing he momited his horse, publislied a proclamation 
 to the army and to France, and found in his soldiers, 
 especially those of the line, dispositions to aU appear- 
 ance such as he could desire. 
 
 Intelligence of these various circumstances had been 
 successively conveyed to Paris. Tlie interview of 
 Dumoiu-iez with Proly, Dubuisson, and Pereyra, his 
 attempts on Lille and Valenciennes, and lastly, the 
 arrest of the four commissioners, were made known 
 in that city in the order of their occurrence. The 
 convention, the niimicipal assemblies, and the popular 
 societies, had forthwith declared themselves perma- 
 nent, a price had been set on the head of Dumouriez, 
 and all the relatives of the officers in his arm}- put 
 under arrest in the charjicter of hostages. A levy of 
 40,000 men was ordered in Paris and the neighbour- 
 ing towns to cover the capital, and Dampierre received 
 the command-in-chief of the army of Belgium. These 
 measures of emergency were, as usual, accompanied 
 by calumnious invectives. On all sides, Dumouriez, 
 Orleans, and the Girondists, were ranked together and 
 denomaced as accomplices. Dumouriez, as tlie clamour 
 rung, was one of those military aristocrats, a member 
 of those old stafl^s, whose evil principles had been per- 
 petually unmasking ; Orleans was the first of those 
 inagnates who had assumed a false attachment to 
 liberty, and whose deceit was unfolded after an hypo- 
 crisy of many years ; finally, the GirontUsts were de- 
 puties becom.e mifaithful hke the members of all the 
 right sides, and who abused their powers to destroy 
 liberty. Dumouriez was only doing a little later what 
 Bouille and Lafayette had done somewhat earlier; 
 Orleans was pursuing the same conduct as the other 
 members of the house of Bourbon, and had merely 
 adhered to the revolution a little longer than the 
 Count de Provence ; and the Girondists, like Mamy 
 and Cazales in the Constituent, like Vaublanc and 
 Pastoret in the Legislative Assembly, were betraying 
 their country quite as palpablj^ but simply at a diffe- 
 rent period. Consequently, Dumouriez, Orleans, Bris- 
 sot, Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonne, &c., aU accom- 
 plices, were the traitors of this year. 
 
 The Girondists retorted by asserting that they had 
 always been opposed to Orleans, whilst the llountain- 
 eers were the very parties Avho had defended him ; 
 that they had quarrelled with Dumouriez, and held no 
 relation with him ; but that, on the other hand, those 
 who had been sent to him in Belgium, those who had 
 foUowed him in all his expecUtions, tliose who had 
 always shown themselves his friends, and even palli- 
 ated his conduct, were IMountaineers. Lasource, car- 
 rying the recrimination still farther, had the impru- 
 dence to single out Lacroix and Danton, and accuse 
 them of having neutralised the zeal of the convention 
 by disguising the misdeeds of Dumouriez. Tiiis re- 
 proach of Lasource revived, suspicions previously en- 
 tertained as to the behaviour of Lacroix and I )anton 
 in Belgium. It was alleged, in fact, tliat they had 
 reciprocated favours with Dumouriez; or, in otiier 
 words, he had aided tlieir rapine, tliey liad winked at 
 his defection. Danton, a\ ho only askeil silence from 
 tlie Girondists, was filled with rage, and darting to 
 the tribune, proclaimed war to the death against them. 
 " No more peace or truce," he exclaimed, " between 
 you and us!" Contorting his terrific countenance, 
 menacing the right side as lie ])oiiitc(t liis finger upon 
 it, he cried — "1 liave intivnclicd myself in the citadel 
 of reason, whence I will ctmie forth with the cannon 
 of truth, and i)ulverise the miscreants who have dared 
 to accuse me." 
 
 The result of these mutuid charges was — 
 
 1st, The nomination of a committee empowered to 
 investigate the conduct of the eoinmissioners sent into 
 Belgium. 
 
 2d, The adoption of a decree destined to have fatal 
 consequences, purjiorting that, without regard to the
 
 •260 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 inviolahility of the representatives, the}- should be put 
 under impeaclmient the instant tliey were strongly 
 presumed to be iii confederacy with the enemies of the 
 state. 
 
 3d, The arrest and translation to the prisons of 
 Marseilles of riiilii) of Orleans and all his fatnilj-.* 
 
 Thus, the fate of this prince, the sport of all parties, 
 alternately suspected by tlie Jacobins and the Giron- 
 dists, and accused of conspiring witli all, because, in 
 truth, he conspired with none, attbrded a proof that 
 no past grandeur could be endured in the present state 
 of the revolution, and that the deepest self-abasement 
 could neither allay distrust nor slip the scatibld. 
 
 Dumouriez, in" the interim, judged that he had no 
 time to lose. Seeing Dampierre and several generals 
 of division abandon him, others merely awaiting the 
 favourable moment, and a multitude of emissaries be- 
 sieging his troops, lie concluded it was essential to put 
 them in motion, so as to impart the wished-for im- 
 petus to both officers and soldiers, and withdraw them 
 from any other influence than his own. Consequently, 
 he fixed" a meeting with the Prince of Cobourg for the 
 4th April, in order to arrange definitively with him 
 and Colonel ]\[ack the operations he had in view. The 
 meeting was appointed to take place near Conde. His 
 design was to enter the place afterwards, purge the 
 garrison of its doubtful members, and moving with all 
 his army on Orchies, menace Lille, and attempt to awe 
 it into surrender by deploying his entire strength. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th, he prepared to keep his 
 appointment, and thence to proceed to Conde. He 
 had merely ordered an escort of fifty troopers, and as 
 their arrival was delayed, he rode on, directing they 
 should be sent after him. Thouvenot, the sons of 
 Orleans, a few officers, and some attendants, accom- 
 panied him. As soon as he reached the highway to 
 Cond(', he encountered two battalions of volunteers, 
 wliose appearance at that point greatly surprised him. 
 Not having issued any commands for tlieir removal, 
 he was intending to dismount near a house to ^vrite 
 out an order for their return, when he heard shouts 
 and the firing of muskets. Tlie battalions had in fact 
 divided; and whilst one portion pursued him with 
 cries to stop, the other endeavoured to cut olf his 
 escape towards a moat. He thereupon sprang forward 
 with those that accompanied him, and anticipated the 
 volunteers running to intercept his retreat, lleacliing 
 the edge of the moat, and Jiis horse refusing the leap, 
 he threw himself into it, climbed up the opposite bank 
 amidst a sliower of bullets, and, taking the horse of a 
 servant, fied at full gallop towards Bury. After rid- 
 ing the whole daj% he arrived there in the evening, 
 and was joined by Colonel JNlack, who had been ap- 
 prised of what had i)assed. He sat up all night, writ- 
 ing and settling with Colonel ]\[ack and the I'rince of 
 Cobourg all the conditions of tlieir alliance, and some- 
 what amazed them by intimating his purpose to 
 return amidst his army after the occm-rences of the 
 morning. 
 
 He mounted his horse, in fact, at dawn, and, fol- 
 lowed by some imperial horse, returned by Manlde 
 into the midst of his army. A few troops of tlie line 
 surrounded him, and testified a continued attachment 
 towards him, but the majority of countenances wore 
 a gloomy frown. Tlie news of his flight to Bury, in 
 the centre of the hostile army, and the sight of the 
 imperial dragoons, produced an impression at once 
 fatal to Duinoiiriez, honourable to the French soldiers, 
 and auspicious to the fortune of France. He soon 
 learnt that the artillery, on the rumour of Ids having 
 passed over to the Austrians, had quitted the camp, 
 and that the retreat of so iiitluential a portion of the 
 army had discouraged the rest. Whole divisions were 
 in the act of withdrawing to Valenciennes, to place 
 themselves under Dampierre. He then saw that an 
 absolute necessity had arisen for his definitively' quit- 
 
 ♦ Decree of tlic 0th April. 
 
 ting the army and repassing to the iinijerialists. He 
 was accompanied by a numerous staff, in which ■were 
 included the two sons of Orleans and Thouvenot, and 
 by the hussars of Berchiny, the whole of which regi- 
 ment was eager to follow his fortunes. 
 
 The Prince of Cobourg and Colonel ]\Iack, whose 
 friend he had become, treated him with distinguished 
 regard, and desired to renew witli him the projects of 
 the jirevious night, by constituting him the leader of 
 a new emigration, distinct in its features from that of 
 Colilentz. But after a lapse of two days, he told the 
 German prince that he had always intended to exe- 
 cute his designs against Paris with French soldiers, 
 accepting imperialists simply as auxiliaries ; and that 
 his character of a Frenchman debarred him from 
 marching at the head of foreigners. He accordingly 
 demanded passports for Switzerland, which were in- 
 stantly granted him. The high value put upon his 
 talents, and the slight estimation in which his politi- 
 cal principles were held, procured him a consideration 
 denied to Lafayette, who, at that very moment, was 
 cxjiiating his heroic constancy in the dungeons of 
 Olmiitz. 
 
 Thus finished the career of this superior man, who 
 had displayed talents of every order — those of the 
 diplomatist, the administrator, and the captain ; and 
 aU grades of courage — that of the civilian, who with- 
 stands the storms of the tribune ; that of the soldier, 
 imperturbable amidst fiying balls ; and that of tlie 
 general, who grapples Avith desperate positions, and 
 faces the hazards of the most daring enterprises ; but 
 who, without principles, without the moral ascen- 
 dancy Uiey confer, -without other influence than that 
 of genius, speedily attenuated in a rapid succession of 
 events and persons, vigorously essayed to struggle 
 witli the revolution, and demonstrated by a signal 
 example that an individual can prevail against a na- 
 tional imssion only when it is emasculated. In desert- 
 ing to the enemy, Dumouriez had not the excuse of 
 the aristocratic prejudices of Bouille or the delicacy 
 of principle of Lafayette, for he had tolerated all dis- 
 orders until they happened to thwart his views. By 
 his defection lie might charge himself Avith having 
 accelerated the fall of the Girondists and the great 
 revolutionary crisis. Still it must not be forgotten 
 that this man, imattached to any cause, had a pre- 
 ference for lilierty grounded on reason ; nor must it 
 be forgotten that he loved his country ; that Avheii 
 none believed in the possibility of resisting foreign 
 aggression, he attempted it, and relied upon French 
 men more than they upon themselves ; that at Sainte- 
 Menchould he taught them to view the enemy with 
 comjiosure ; that at Jemappes he infused into thein 
 the heroic spirit, and restored France to the rank of 
 a first-rate power : it must never be forgotten, in 
 short, tliat if he abandoned France, lie had likewise 
 saved her. IMoreover, old age crept upon him far 
 from his native soil ; and it is impossible to avoid a 
 sigh of deep regret at the contemplation of a man, fifty 
 years of whose life were consumed in the intrigues of 
 a court, tliirtj' in exile, and only three employed on a 
 theatre worthj- of his genius. 
 
 Dampierre recciAcd the command-in-chicf of the 
 army of the north, and intrenched his troops in the 
 camp of Famars, in a situation to succour such of the 
 fortresses as might be attacked. The strength of this 
 position, and the plan of campaign laid down by the 
 allies, according to Avhich tliey were not to penetrate 
 farther until Mayence was retaken, necessarily re- 
 tarded the events of the war in that quarter. Custinc, 
 who, in order to excuse his own faidts, had never 
 ceased censuring his colleagues and the ministers, was 
 favourably heard Avlien inveighing against Beurnon- 
 ville, Avho was regarded as an accomplice of Dumou- 
 riez, although delivered by him to the Austrians; and 
 he accordingly obtained the entire command of the 
 Ixliinc, from the Vosges and the Moselle to Huninguen. 
 A s the defection of Dmnouriez had commenced AA-ith
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 261 
 
 negotiations, the penalty of death was decreed against 
 any general who should entertain propositions from 
 the enemy, unless the sovereignty of the people and 
 the republic were preliminarily recognised. Bouchotte 
 was subsequently named minister of war, and Monge, 
 though agreeable to the Jacobins from his complais- 
 ance, was superseded as unequal to all the details of 
 his immense department. It was furthermore de- 
 termined tliat three commissioners of the convention 
 shoidd constantly remain witli the armies, one of 
 whom should be renewed every month. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC WEL- 
 FARE. RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE 
 
 TWO PARTIES IN THE CONVENTION. IMPEACHMENT 
 
 OF MARAT — HIS ACQUITTAL AND TRIUMPH. STATE 
 
 OF OPINION IN THE CHIEF TOWNS. SKETCH OF 
 
 BRITTANY AND LA VENDEE, AND THE CAUSES OF 
 THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 The defection of Dumouriez, the disastrous condition 
 of the armies, and the imminent dangers to whicli 
 both the revolution and the territory were exposed, 
 had provoked all the violent measures of \A'hich we 
 have immediately spoken, and finalJy drove the con- 
 vention to devote serious attention to the often-sug- 
 gested project of imparting greater energy to tlie 
 government by concentrating its action within itself 
 After various propositions, it adopted the plan of a 
 committee designated that of public wcJfare, and com- 
 posed of nine members. This committee was to carry 
 on its deliberations in secret. Its functions consisted 
 in superintending and accelerating the action of the 
 executive power, with authority even to suspend its 
 resolutions when it deemed them injurious to the 
 general welfare, on condition merely of notifying such 
 interference to the convention. It was empowered to 
 take, in urgent circumstances, measures of internal 
 and external defence ; and orders signed by the majo- 
 rity of its members were to be immediately executed 
 by tlie executive power. It was instituted only for a 
 montli, and could not issue its warrants against any 
 but the agents of administration.* 
 
 Tlie members nominated to compose this committee 
 were Barrere, Delmas, Brcard, Cambon, Jean Debry, 
 Danton, Guitlion-]\Iorveaux, TreUhard, and Lacroix 
 d'Eure-et-Loir. f Although not yet invested with an 
 imlimited range of authority, it nevertheless acquired 
 a prodigious influence ; it corresponded with the com- 
 missioners of the convention, gave them their instruc- 
 tions, and exercised the license of substituting for the 
 measures of the ministers such as seemed fitting to its 
 own pleasure. Through Cambon it controlled the 
 finances, and with Danton for a component part, it 
 could scarcely fail to gain all the sway and daring of 
 that redou])table party leader. Thus, by the accumu- 
 lation of perils, the country was pi'ogressing towards 
 a dictators) lip. 
 
 Recovering from tlie consternation occasioned by 
 Dumouriez's desertion, party-sjtirit sought to turn it 
 to account by imputations of confederacy, in which 
 emulous recrimination tiie stronger faction was sure 
 to . overwhelm the weaker. Tlie sections and tlie 
 jrapular societies, through whom all agitation had its 
 usual commencement, took the initiative, and de- 
 nounced the Girondists in petitions and addresses. 
 
 A new congregation, still more violent than any of 
 the others, had been recently formed, in accordance 
 with a doctrine of Marat. That person had stated that 
 the sovereignty of the people had been hitherto a mere 
 
 * TIi(> committee of public safety was tlccreed in tJie sitting of 
 tlu-«;tli April. 
 
 + 'I'o tlitse mcmliers were added three Bubstitutos, Robert 
 Liiulet, Isiiaid, and Cumbac<;r6s. 
 
 subject of " babble ;" that according to the true inter- 
 pretation of the principle, each section was supreme 
 in its own limits, and was entitled at any moment to 
 revoke the powers it had delegated. The most despe- 
 rate agitators, availing themselves of tliis hypothesis, 
 had actually pretended to be deputed by the sections 
 to ascertain the use made of their authority, and to 
 consult on the safety of tlie commonwealth. They 
 had assembled at the Eveclie, and asserted their right 
 to correspond with all the municipalities of the republic 
 Consequently, they styled themselves the Central Com 
 mittee of Public Safety. From this hotbed of passion 
 the most inflammatory propositions henceforth sprimg. 
 A resolution was there passed to proceed in a body tu 
 the convention, and demand from it whether or not it 
 possessed the means of saving the state. This congre- 
 gation, which had akeady attracted the notice of the 
 assembly, speedily drew the attention of the commune 
 and the Jacobin Club likewise. liobespien-e, who 
 unquestionably desired the result of an insurrection, 
 but dreaded the employment of such a means, and 
 always shook with fear on the eve of every movement, 
 raised his voice against the violent motions discussed 
 in those inferior meetings, adhering to Ms favourite 
 policy of reviling the deputies stigmatised as imfaitliful, 
 and ruiuing them in public estimation before adopting 
 any ulterior steps against them. Relishing the mode 
 of invective and accusation, he slirunk from the exlii- 
 bition of pure force, and preferred to insurrections the 
 contests of the tribune, which were unattended with 
 danger, and whereof he exclusively reaped all the 
 honour. Marat, who had at intervals the vanity of 
 moderation, like his fellows, denounced the congrega- 
 tion of the Evcclie, although he had supphed the dog- 
 mas on which it was founded. Envoys were sent to 
 ascertain whether the persons composing it were in 
 reality patriots of an extreme character, or, as was 
 suspected, hireling agitators. After duly verifymg the 
 fact that they were simply men of too burning a zeal, 
 the society of Jacobins, loath to expel them from its 
 fold, as hjid been proposed, directed a list of their 
 names to be made out, in order that a watch might be 
 set upon them ; and it passed a public censure on their 
 conduct, because, as it alleged, there could be no other 
 centre of public safety than itself. After the like 
 fashion had been prepared and preliminarilj'^ con- 
 demned the insurrection of the 10th August. All who 
 lack the fortitude to act, aU who are mortified at 
 seeing themselves outstripped, disapjirove of first at- 
 tempts, though passionately longing for the result they 
 promise. Danton alone kept profound silence as to 
 these movements, neither disavowing nor blaming the 
 suborduiate agitators. Tedious accusations in tlie 
 tribmie were not such trimiiphs as satisfied him ; the 
 ways of action were his, and mighty did they become 
 in his hands, for he had at his beck all that Paris con- 
 tained of the idle, immoral, and turbulent. Neverl lie- 
 less, it cannot be truly averred that he was secretly 
 manoeuvring ; only he preserved a menacing silence. 
 
 Several of the sections repudiated the congregation 
 of the PiVeche, and that of ]\Iail even presented an 
 energetic petition on the subject to the convention. 
 That of Bonne-Nouvelle, on the contrary, read an 
 address at the bar, in whicli it denounced Brissot, 
 Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonne, &e., as friends and ac- 
 complices of Dumouriez, and prayed they might be 
 struck with the sword of justice. After an uproarious 
 contest, these pi titioiiers received the honours of the 
 sitting; but it was at the same time (leclared that for 
 the future the assenil)]y would not entertain acensa- 
 tions against its members, and that all such denunci- 
 ations must be lodged with the committee of public 
 safety. 
 
 The section of the Halle-aux-BU's, one of the most 
 outrageous in Paris, drew up a fresh petition under 
 the jiresidency of Marat, and sent it to the Jacobins, 
 the sections, and the commune, for their approbation, 
 in order that, being thus sanctioned by all theauthori-
 
 262 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ties of the capital, it might be solemnly presented by 
 the mayor Fache to the National Convention. In 
 this petition, hawked about from place to place, and 
 notorious as the day, it was proclaimed that a portion 
 of the convention was corrupted, in confederacy with 
 forestallers and with Dumouriez, and ought to be re- 
 placed by substitutes. On the 10th April, whilst this 
 petition was circulating from section to section, Pction 
 rose indignantl}-, and demanded attention on a point of 
 order. He inveighed, with an energy most unusual 
 with him, against tlie calunmies directed towards a 
 part of the convention, and urged immediate measures 
 of repression. Danton, on tlie other hand, claimed 
 honourable mention for the petition in the course of 
 signature. Petion, thoroughly incensed, maintained 
 that its authors should be sent before the revolutionary 
 tribunal. Danton retorted, with a sneer, that honest 
 representatives, strong in their purity of conscience, 
 could have nothing to fear from calumny, which was 
 inseparable from republican freedom ; and that, as the 
 convention had neither repulsed the Austrians nor 
 framed a constitution, its title to eidogy was rather 
 dubious. He concluded by insisting that the national 
 assembly shoidd not be made the arena for private 
 contentions, but that those who deemed themselves 
 traduced should apply for redress to the tribunals. 
 The question was thus evaded ; but Fonfrede revived 
 it, and again it met the same fate. Robespierre, huxu- 
 riating in such a scene of personal discord, once more 
 renewed the topic, and asked leave to tear aside the 
 veil of iniquity. The tribune was accorded him, and 
 he forthwith commenced the most venomous, the most 
 atrocious of all the defamatory harangues that had 
 been hitherto permitted. It behoves us to pause on 
 this speech, poiu-traying as it does how the conduct of 
 his enemies was interpreted in that gloomy imagina- 
 tion.* 
 
 The articles of his belief were, concisely, that be- 
 neath the high aristocracy dislodged in 1789, there 
 existed a burgher aristocrac}-, as presumptuous and 
 overbearing as the preceding, whose treasons had suc- 
 ceeded those of the nobility. A genuine revolution 
 was distasteful to this class ; and it wanted a king, with 
 the constitution of 1791, in order to ensure its supre- ] 
 macy. The Girondists were its leaders. Under the 
 Legislative Assembly, they had usurped the ministries 
 in the persons of Roland, Claviere, and Servan ; after 
 dismissal from oflSce, they had sought revenge by the 
 20th June ; and on the eve of the 10th August, they 
 treated with the court, and offered peace on condition 
 of their restoration to power. Un the 10th August itself, 
 they contented themselves with suspending the king, 
 instead of abohshing royalty, and nominated a gover- 
 nor for the prince-royal. After the 10th August, they 
 again appropriated the ministries, and calumniated the 
 commmie, with the view of undermining its influence 
 and securing an exclusive domination. The convention 
 being constituted, they engrossed the committees, con- 
 tinued to slander Paris, to represent that city as the 
 nursery of all crimes ; and perverted public opinion by 
 the agency of their journals, and of the enormous sums 
 devoted by Roland to aid the distribution of perfidious 
 writings. Finally, in Januarj-, they opposed the death 
 of the tyrant, not from sympathy for his person, but 
 from sympathy for royalty. 
 
 " This faction," proceeded Robespierre, " is the sole 
 cause of the disastrous war we are now waging. It 
 resolved upon it in order to expose us to the invasion 
 of Austria, who promised a congress, with the burgher 
 constitution of I7i)l. It has directed this war with 
 treachery; and after using thj traitor Lafaj-ette, it 
 afterwards employed the traitor iJumouriez, to attain 
 the object it had so long pursued. At first, it pre- 
 tended to quarrel with Dumouriez, but the rupture 
 was never serious, for, a short whde before, it Iwid ele- 
 
 * The reader is referred to the note, patre 246, to whicli we have 
 ah-eady adverted, and which admirably depicts the character of 
 Robespierre. 
 
 vated him to the ministry through his friend Gen- 
 sonne, and granted him an allowance of six millions 
 for secret expenses. Dimiouriez, in confederacy with 
 the faction, saved the Prussians in the Argonne, when 
 he might have annihilated them. In Belgium, it is 
 true, he gained a great victory ; but some signal ex- 
 ploit was necess;iry to gain the pul)lic confidence, and 
 so soon as he had seemed that confidence, he abused 
 it in all possible forms. He did not invade Holland, 
 which he had it in his power to occupy during the 
 first campaign ; he prevented the union of the con- 
 quered countries with France ; and the diplomatic 
 committee, in concert with him, neglected no expe- 
 dient to delude the Belgian deputies who sought the 
 junction. Those envoys of the executive power, whom 
 Dumouriez maltreated because they vexed the Bel- 
 gians, were all selected by the Girondists, who had 
 agreed to send disorganisers, against whom public 
 vengeance might be roused, so as to bring discredit on 
 the republican cause. Dumouriez, after tardily in- 
 vading Holland, returned to Belgium, lost the battle oi 
 Neerwinden ; and it was Miranda, the friend and crea- 
 ture of Petion, who, by his retreat, decided the fate of 
 the battle. Dumouriez then fell back, and raised the 
 standard of revolt, at the very moment the faction 
 was exciting royalist outbreaks in the west. All, 
 therefore, was prepared for this critical moment. A 
 perfidious mmister had been placed in the war depart- 
 ment for so important a juncture ; the committee of 
 general safety, composed of Girondists, except seven or 
 eight faithful deputies Avho never attended, that com- 
 mittee did nothing to avert the public dangers. Thus 
 nothing had been omitted to ensure the success of the 
 conspiracy. A king was required, and the generals 
 all adhered to Egalite. The family of Egalite was 
 clustered around Dumouriez ; his sons, his daughter, 
 even to the intriguer Sillery, were with him. Dumou- 
 riez began by manifestos ; and what does he say ? 
 Every thing tliat the orators and writers of the fac- 
 tion say from the tribune and in the newspapers — 
 that the convention is composed of miscreants, setting 
 aside a trifling sound portion ; that Paris is the hot- 
 bed of crimes ; that the Jacobins are disorganisers, 
 who instigate troubles and civil war, &c." 
 
 Such was the manner in which Robespierre ex- 
 plained both the defection of Dmnouriez and the oppo- 
 sition of the Girondists. After minutely developing 
 his fantastic series of calumnies, he proposed to send 
 before the revolutionary tribunal the accomplices of 
 Dumouriez, all upholders of Orleans and their friends. 
 "As to the deputies Guadet, Gensonne, Vergniaud, 
 &c.," said he, with vicious ironj% " it wotild be ])ure 
 sacrilege to accuse such honest personages ; and feeling 
 mj' incapacity in that respect, I leave them to the 
 wisdom of the assembly." 
 
 The galleries and the Mountain loudly applauded 
 their virtuous orator. The Girondists were filled with 
 indignation at so atrocious a category, in which subtle 
 malice played a jiart quite as perceptible as a natural 
 distrustfulness of character; for in the discourse was 
 exhibited singidar cunning in combining circumstances 
 and forestalhng objections ; in truth, Robespierre had 
 shown in this villainous accusation much more talent 
 than usually marked his declamations. Vergniaud 
 mounted the trilmne, his breast struggling with emo- 
 tions, and claimed to speak with so much earnestness, 
 vivacity, and determination, that he obtained the 
 leave he sought, and the Mountain and galleries even- 
 tual 'y refrained from interrupting him. He opposed 
 to the studied harangue of Rcbespierre an extempore 
 speech, delivered with all the noble warmth of genuine 
 eloquence and integrity. 
 
 " He woidd venture," he said, " to answer Monsieur 
 Robespierre, and at no great cost of either tfaiie or 
 art, for he merely needed to lay bare his soul. lie 
 would not speak for himself, for he knew that uiti.ncs 
 of revolution the dregs of nations fermented and rose 
 for a moment above the sound and honest, but for the
 
 HISTOIIY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 263 
 
 purpose of enlightening France. His voice, which 
 more than once had carried terror into that palace, 
 vhence it had concurred in expelhng tyranny, would 
 likewise carry it into the hearts of wretches who were 
 labouring to substitute their own tyranny for that of 
 royalty." 
 
 He proceeded to refute each incidpation of Robes- 
 pierre by arguments such as any might liave used who 
 had but a simple knowledge of the facts. He had 
 provoked the dethronement by his speech in July. 
 A little before the 10th August, when doubtful of the 
 success of the insurrection, ignorant even Avhether it 
 would take place, he had pointed out to an agent of 
 the court what it ought to do, in order to reconcile 
 itself with the nation and to save tlie country. On 
 the 10th August, he had occupied his seat amidst the 
 roar of cannon, whilst " INIonsieur" Robespierre was 
 skulking in a cellar. He had not supported an imme- 
 diate declaration of forfeiture, because the issue was 
 doubtful ; and he had proposed to nominate a governor 
 for the dauphin, because, in case royalty were retained, 
 a good education secured to the young prince was a 
 guarantee for the future welfare of France. He and 
 his friends had supported the proclamation of war, 
 because it already existed in fact ; and it was more 
 advisable to declare it openly, and repel force by force, 
 than suffer its evils without striking in return. He 
 and his friends had been borne to the ministries and 
 the committees by the public voice. In the commit- 
 tee of twenty-one, in the Legislative Assembly, they 
 had opposed aU projects for quitting Paris, and had 
 prepared the resources which France deploj-ed in the 
 Argonne. In the committee of general safety, in the 
 convention, they had assiduously exerted themselves, 
 and in presence of their colleagues, Avho were always 
 entitled to witness their labours. He (Robespierre) 
 had deserted the committee, and never gave his atten- 
 dance at its sittings. They had not calumniated 
 Paris, but opposed assassins who usurped the title of 
 Parisians, and disgraced both Paris and the republic. 
 They had not perrerted public opinion, for, so f;ir as 
 he was concerned, he had not written a single word, 
 and what Roland had circulated was known to the 
 whole of France. He and his friends had demanded 
 an appeal to the people on the judgment of Louis XVI., 
 because they held that upon so important a question 
 the national sanction could not be dispensed with. 
 For liimself personally, he was scarcely acquainted 
 with Dumouriez, having only met him twice, the first 
 time on his return from the Argonne, the second and 
 last time on his return from Belgium ; but Danton 
 and Santerre saw him, congratulated him, loaded him 
 with blandishments, and made him feast with them 
 every day. As to Egalitc, he knew equally little of 
 him. The Mountaineers alone were intimate with 
 him, and frequenters of his house ; and when the 
 Girondists attacked him, the jNIountaineers had been 
 his most resolute advocates. With what, therefore, 
 could he and his friends be reproached ? With being 
 manoeuvrers, intriguers ? But they did not scour the 
 sections to agitate ; they did not fill the galleries in 
 order to wrest decrees by terror ; they had never de- 
 sired that the ministers should be taken from assem- 
 blies in which they held seats as deputies. AVith being 
 moderates 'i But they were not so on the 10th August, 
 when Marat and Robespierre hid themselves ; they 
 were so in September, when prisoners were assassi- 
 nated and the Garde-]\Ieuble was plundered. 
 
 Versjniaud wound up his masterly vindication in 
 the following words : — " You can testify whether I 
 have allowed the wrongs so plentifully visited on me 
 during the last six months to corrode in secret ; whether 
 I have sacrificed to the good of my country the justest 
 resentments ; you can testify whether, under taunts 
 of cowardice, under imputations of avowing guilt, un- 
 der the risk of foregoing the little good still peraiitted 
 to my exertions, I have abstained from exposing in 
 all their hideousness the impostui'es and wickedxiess 
 
 of Robespierre. May this day be the last we shall 
 waste in scandalous debates ! " 
 
 He concluded by moving that the section of the 
 Halle-aux-Bles be called to the bar, and ordered to pro- 
 duce its registers. 
 
 The talent displayed by Vergniaud had captivated 
 even his enemies. His evident sincerity and touching 
 eloquence had moved and won over the great majority 
 of the assembly, and unequivocal testimonies of the 
 warmest regard were showered upon him from all 
 sides. Guadet next ascended the tribune ; but upon 
 his appearance, the dumb-struck ISIountain began to 
 heave, and speedily emitted appalling sounds. The 
 sitting was suspended ; and it was not mitil the 12th 
 that Guadet obtained in his tirrn the right to answer 
 Robespierre, and he did so in a manner calculated to 
 arouse passions much more fiercely than Vergniaud. 
 None had conspired, according to his views ; but ap- 
 pearances, such as did exist, were rather against the 
 jMountaineers and Jacobins, who had maintained re- 
 lations with Dumouriez and Egalite, than against the 
 Girondists, who had quarrelled with both. " Who," 
 exclaimed he, " was with Dumoiu-iez at the Jacobin 
 Club, at the theatres ? Your own Danton !' ' " All ' 
 thou accusest me," roared Danton ; " thou knowest not 
 my strength ! " 
 
 The conclusion of Guadet's speech was deferred to 
 the morrow. Resuming, he continued to throw all 
 conspiracy, if any there were, upon the Mountaineers. 
 As he finished, he read an address, which, like that of 
 the Halle-aux-Bles, was signed by Alarat. It proceeded 
 from the Jacobins, and Marat had affixed his name as 
 president of the society. It contained these words, 
 which Guadet read to the assembly : — " Citizens, let 
 us arm ! The counter-revolution is in the government, 
 in the heart of the convention. Citizens, let us march 
 thither — ay, let us march ! " 
 
 " Ay ! " exclaimed Marat from his seat — " ay, let 
 lis march!" At these words, the assembly rose with 
 one imjiulse, and demanded a decree of impeachment 
 against Marat. Danton started up to oppose, alleging 
 that on both sides of the assembly the same wish pre- 
 vailed for impeaching the family of Orleans, which 
 ought consequently to be sent before the tribunals ; 
 but that it M'as preposterous to impeach jNIarat for a 
 shout uttered in the excitement of a stormy debate. 
 Danton was answered that the family of (Jrleans was 
 not to be tried at Paris biit at Marseilles. He at- 
 tempted to rejoin ; but, without hearing him, prece- 
 dence was given to the decree of impeaclmient against 
 ilarat ; and Lacroix moved in addition that he should 
 be immediately put under arrest. " Since my enemies," 
 cried Marat, " have lost all shame, I only ask one 
 thing : tlie decree is calculated to excite a commotion ; 
 therefore let me go to the Jacobin Club, accompanied 
 by two gendarmes, in order that I may reconmiend 
 tranquillity." Without heeding such ridiculous ina- 
 nities, he was placed under arrest ; and the articles of 
 impeachment were directed to be framed by noou the 
 following day. 
 
 Robespierre flew to the club of Jacobins to vent his 
 ire, to celebrate the energy of Danton, to extol the 
 moderation of Marat, and to exhort them to be calm, 
 so that no reproach might go forth that Piu'is had 
 risen in insiuTection to deliver a. Jacobin. 
 
 On the morrow, tlie articles of arraignment were 
 read and approved by the assembly ; and the impeach- 
 ment, so repeatedly proposed against IMarat, was at 
 length seriously prosecuted before the revolutionary 
 tribunal. 
 
 The project of a petition against the Girondists had 
 been the original provocative to these violent discus- 
 sions between tlie two sides of the convention ; but 
 notjung had l»een decided upon that subject, and, in 
 fact, nothing could be decided, since the assembl^v luid 
 no physical means of arresting the movements which 
 stimulated the petitions Accordingly, the plan of 
 combining a general addi-ess from all the sections was
 
 2()4 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 pursued with activity, and an imiform document was 
 agreed upon ; out of forty-three sections, thirty -five 
 adopted it ; the coiuicil-general of the commune sanc- 
 tioned it ; and on the 15th April the deputies from the 
 thirty-five sections, Avith the mayor Paclie at tlieir 
 head, presented themselves at the bar. To a certain 
 extent the address might he deemed the manifesto by 
 whicli the conmumc of Paris announced its intentions, 
 and threatened insurrection in case of refusal. It was 
 thus it had acted before the lOtli August, and tlius it 
 was acting on the eve of the 31 st ]\Iay. Tlie orator 
 of tlie deputation, Kousselin, performed the part of 
 reading the petition aloud. iVfter adverting to the 
 criminid conduct of certain members, the docmnent 
 demanded their expulsion from the convention, and 
 enumerated them one after the other. They were 
 twenty-two in number : Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, 
 Gensonne, Grangeneuve, Buzot, Barbaroux, Salles, 
 Biroteau, I'outecoidant, Petion, Lanjuinais, Vsdaze, 
 Hardy, Louvet, Leliardy, Gorsas, Fauchet, Lanthe- 
 nais. Lasource, Valady, and Cliambon. 
 
 The galleries loudly applauded as the names were 
 read. The president informed the petitioners that 
 the law obliged them to sign their petition. They all 
 pressed forward to do so, except Pache, who, desirous 
 of preserving his neutrality yet awhile, kept in the 
 background. His signatm^e, however, was claimed ; 
 he objected that he was not of the number of the 
 petitioners, and had been merely instructed by the 
 council-general to accompany them. But finding that 
 all evasion was useless, he advanced and signed the 
 petition. The galleries rewarded him with vociferous 
 cheers. 
 
 Boyer-Fonfrede presently appeared in the tribune, 
 and said, that if modesty were not a duty, he would 
 ask to be added to the glorious list of twenty-two. 
 The majority of the assembly, impelled by a generous 
 emotion, responded in applauding exclamations. " Let 
 all our names be inscribed — all !" they cried. Then 
 they crowded round the twenty-two deputies, and 
 lavislied on them the most expressive marks of attach- 
 ment and interest: the debate, interrupted by this 
 scene, was adjourned to the succeeduig day. 
 
 The sittings were resumed at the appointed period. 
 Charges and counter-charges recommenced between 
 the two sides of the assembly. Certain deputies of 
 the centre, taking advantage of letters received on the 
 state of the armies, besought attention to the general 
 interests of the repubUc, and oblivion to individual 
 quarrels. They were heeded for the moment, but on 
 the 18th, a fresh petition against the right side revived 
 the exasperation caused by tliat of the thirty -five sec- 
 tions. The occasion seemed favourable to denounce 
 various acts of the commune, by one of whicli it had 
 declared itself m a continued state of revolution, and 
 by another had established out of its own members a 
 committee of correspondence witli all the mmiicipahties 
 in the kingdom. Long ago, it had sought to give its 
 purely local authority a cliaracter of generality, which 
 would permit it to speak in the name of France, and 
 support a rivalry for power with the convention. Tlie 
 committee of the P^veche, dissolved by tlie advice of 
 the Jacobins, had likewise been designed to place Paris 
 in communication with the other towns ; and at i)re- 
 sent the commune had resolved to supply its deficiency 
 
 dent ; and it had again the majority, or in other words, 
 right and law — but a feeble guarantee against force, 
 and only serving to infuriate it the more. 
 
 The municipal officers, thus ordered to the bar, 
 came with the coolest eff'rontery to submit the records 
 of their deliberations, and stood in apparent confidence 
 that their resolutions would meet the warmest ap- 
 proval. The registers were found to commemorate 
 the following facts : 1st, That the council-general de- 
 clared itself in a state of revolution, so long as the 
 scarcity of provisions was not obviated ; 2d, That the 
 committee of correspondence with the 44,000 mmii- 
 cipalities should be composed of nine members, and 
 kept in constant activity; 3d, That 12,000 copies of 
 the petition against the twenty-two should be jirinted 
 and distributed by the committee of correspondence ; 
 and,'4th, That the council-general would consider itself 
 attacked when one of its members, or even a president 
 or secretary of a section or club, should be molested 
 on account of their opinions. This latter resolution 
 had been taken to meet the case of Marat, accused of 
 having signed, in the character of president of a sec- 
 tion, a seditious address. 
 
 Thus the commune, as we see, resisted the assembly 
 at every step, and took a decision of liostile tendency 
 upon every important point of discussion. Upon the 
 question of food, it constituted itself revolutionally, if 
 violent measures were refused. With regard to Marat, 
 it threw over liira the shield of its protection. Touch- 
 ing the twenty-two deputies, it made an appeal to the 
 44,000 municipalities, and put itself in correspondence 
 with them for the purpose of deriving, to a certain 
 extent, general or national powers against the conven- 
 tion. Opposition was completely organised on all points, 
 and, moreover, attended by the still more formidable 
 preparatives of insurrection. 
 
 When the perusal of the registers Avas concluded, 
 Robespierre the yoimger claimed the honours of the 
 sitting for the municipal officers. The right side 
 opposed the demand ; the Plam hesitated, alleging 
 that it might perhaps be dangerous to discredit the 
 magistrates in the eyes of the people, by refusing them 
 a barren honour not withheld even from mere peti- 
 tioners. i\jnidst tumultuous contention, the sitting 
 was prolonged till eleven at night ; the right side and 
 the Plain at length retired, and a hundred and forty- 
 three members alone remained on the INIomitain to 
 admit the Parisian mmiicipality to the honours of the 
 assembly. On that day, jironounced slanderous, repu- 
 diated by the majority, and ushered to the honours 
 of the sitting by the jNIountain and the galleries alone, 
 it could not fail to be deeply mortified, and henceforth 
 more decisively to become the rallying point for all 
 who wished to brealc the authority of the convention. 
 ]\Iarat had been at last consigned to the revolution- 
 ary tribunal. His impeachment had been exclusively 
 owing to the energy of the right side, acting oppor- 
 timely on the wavering tendencies of the Plain. Every 
 act of energy honours a party struggling against a 
 superior movement, but hastens its fidl. The Girond- 
 ists, in their courageous prosecution of IMarat, had 
 merely paved the way for his egregious triumph. The 
 articles bore in substance, that ISIarat, having in his 
 journal instigated murder, carnage, the degradation 
 and dissolution of the convention, and the establish 
 
 by organising such a correspondence within its own I nient of a power destructive to liberty, he had been 
 
 body. Vergniaud was selecteil to speak upon the 
 occasion ; and assaUing at once the petition of the 
 thirty-five sections, the acts imputed to the commune, 
 and the schemes its proceedings betrayed, moved that 
 the petition be declared calumnious, and the munici- 
 pality enjoined to bring its registers to the assembly, 
 in order that the resolutions it had taken might be 
 ascertained. Tlicse motions were carried, in spite of 
 the galleries and the left side. At this moment, the 
 right side, supported by the Plain, began to sway all 
 the decisions. It had procured the nomination of 
 Ijasource. one of its most zealous members, as presi- 
 
 decreed amenable to impeachment, and consigned to 
 the revolutionary tribunal. The Jacobins, the Corde- 
 liers, all the agitators of Paris, in short, were in active 
 motion for behoof of " that austere philosopher, formed 
 and cliasteued," as they said, " by adversity and mefh- 
 tation ; combining, with a soul of fire, high sagacity 
 and profound knowledge of the human heart; detecting 
 traitors on their triumphant chariots at the moment 
 the stupid vulgar still ofter incense ! The traitors," 
 they exclaimed with fury — " the traitors will pass 
 away, but the rei)utation of Marat only now blos- 
 soms !"'
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 265 
 
 Although tlie revolutionary tribunal was not then 
 composed as at a subsequent period, Marat never- 
 theless was in no danger of condemnation. Tlie deli- 
 beration scarcely lasted beyond a few seconds. The 
 accused was absolved unaniniousl}^ amidst the x>laudits 
 of a niunerous crowd assembled to Avitness his tritil. 
 The event occurred on the 24th April. He was im- 
 mediately surrounded by a prodigious concourse of 
 women, sans-culottes with pikes, and armed detach- 
 ments from the sections. These seized upon him, and 
 proceeded to the convention, in order to replace him 
 on his seat as a deputy. Two municipal officers opened 
 the march, heading the procession. JMarat, elevated 
 on the arms of some sapjjers, liis brow encircled witli 
 a garland of oak, was borne in triumph to the door 
 of the haU. A sapper, stepping out of the crowd, 
 presented himself at the bar, and said : " Citizen pre- 
 sident, we bring you the brave Marat. Marat has 
 always been the friend of the people, and the people 
 will always be tlie friends of Marat ! If the head of 
 Marat must fall, the head of the sapper will faU before 
 his !" Whilst uttering these words, this uncouth peti- 
 tioner kept brandishing his axe, and the galleries 
 applauded with fearful tumult. He then asked leave 
 for the procession to deiile through the hall. " I will 
 consult the assembly," replied the president Lasource, 
 in consternation at the horrible scene. But the crowd 
 would not wait until he had considted tlie assembly, 
 and the people rushed into the hall on all sides. ]\Ien 
 and women tlironged its circuit, penetrating into everj- 
 part, and occupying the seats vacated by tlie retire- 
 ment of the members, thoroughly disgusted at such a 
 spectacle. Marat at last appeared, passed from arm 
 t« arm, and hailed with a frenzy of applause. From 
 the arms of the petitioners he was transferred into 
 those of his colleagues on the IMoimtain, Avho embraced 
 him with tlie most ardent demonstrations of joy. He 
 tore himself, after an interval, from the caresses of his 
 colleagues, ran to the tribune, and declared to the 
 assembled legislators that he came to offer them a 
 pure heart and a vindicated name, and that he was 
 ready to die in defending liberty and the rights of the 
 people. 
 
 Additional honours au'aited him at the Jacobin Club. 
 The women had prepared a great quantity of garlands. 
 The president offered him one. A child of four years 
 of age, lifted on the table, placed another on his head. 
 Marat threw aside the wreaths with insulting disdain. 
 " Citizens," lie exclaimed, " mdignant at seeing a de- 
 linquent faction betray the republic, I determined to 
 unmask it, and put the rope round its neck. It resisted 
 me by launching a decree of impeachment against me. 
 I have come forth victorious. The faction is humbled, 
 but not crushed. Waste not your time in decerning 
 triumphs ; keep yom'selves free from enthusiasm. I 
 lay upon the table the two crowns just offered to me, 
 and I beg my fellow-citizens to wait the conclusion of 
 my career before they decide upon it." 
 
 Vociferous cheers greeted this ari'ogaiit modesty. 
 
 Robespierre was present at this triumph, and doubt- 
 less contemned it, as of too despicable and vulgar a cha- 
 racter. Nevertheless, he was himself destined in his 
 turn to imdergo all the vanity of such empty ovations. 
 Tlu; rejoicings concluded, the club relapsed into its 
 ordinary topics, to wit, the means of purging the go- 
 vernment, iind eradicating traitors, Rolandists, Brisso- 
 tins, &c. For these purposes it was projjosed to frame 
 a list of persons employed in all the administrations, 
 and to mark such as had merited dismissal. " Assign 
 me that list," said i\Iarat ; " I will make choice of those 
 who ought to be superseded or retained, and 1 will 
 notify the results to the ministers." IvolK'sjiierre j^rof- 
 fered a suggestion : he said that the ministers were 
 almost all accomplices of the guilty, and would give 
 no heed to the society ; consequently, it would be more 
 advisable to address the committee of public welfare, 
 which was placed by its functions above the executive 
 council ; and that, moreover, the society could not, 
 
 without compromising itself, hold communication with 
 collusive ministers. " These arguments are frivolous," 
 re]i]ied ]\Iarat, disdainfully ; " so pure apatriot as I may 
 hold comiiiunication with the devil. I will address the 
 ministers, and summon them to satisfy us in the name 
 of the society." 
 
 A respectful consideration always accompanied " the 
 virtuous, the eloquent" Robespierre ; but the match- 
 less effrontery, the cynical flippancy of Marat, amazed 
 and captivated aU the more extravagant and liot- 
 headed of the revolutionists. His disgusting familia- 
 rity attached to him certain attendants of the markets, 
 who were flattered by such intimacy with " the friend 
 of the people," and Avere ever ready to lend his insig- 
 nificant person the aid of their brawny arms and of 
 their influence in ])ublic places. 
 
 The extreme irritation of tlie jSIountain at this period 
 proceeded from the obstacles it encountered ; but those 
 obstacles were infinitely greater m the ^irovinces than 
 at Paris, and the rebuffs and disappointments experi- 
 enced on their route by the commissioners dispatched 
 to accelerate the recruitment of the armies, shortly 
 afterwards drove them to the last pitch of exaspera- 
 tion. AU the provinces had been perfectly inclined 
 towards the revolution, but all had not embraced it 
 with the same ardour, nor signahsed themselves by 
 such excesses, as the city of I'aris. The first to em- 
 bark in revolutions are the ambitious idle, the enthu- 
 siastic, and the higlily talented ; of such, a metropolis 
 always contains a more plentiful store than provinces, 
 because it is the resort of all, who, from the spirit of 
 independence or ambition, abandon the locality, the 
 calling, and the traditions of their forefathers. Paris, 
 therefore, was sure to produce the greatest revolu- 
 tionists. ISIoi'eover, situated at a trifling distance from 
 the frontiers, and the aim of all the enemy's attacks, 
 that city had incurred more danger than any other in 
 France ; whilst, as the seat of the national authorities, 
 it had witnessed all the grand topics of discussion 
 agitated and settled within its bosom. Thus physical 
 danger and mental conflict had conspired to evoke 
 within it high excitement and turbulence. The pro- 
 vinces, which were not influenced by the like causes 
 of agitation, had beheld the excesses of Paris with 
 consternation, and largely participated in the senti- 
 ments of the right side and the Plain. Discontented 
 more especiaUy with the treatment to which their de- 
 puties were exposed, they thought they discerned in 
 the capital, besides its revolutionary exaggeration, a 
 design to govern France, as Rome governed its con- 
 quered provinces. Such were the dispositions of the 
 tranquil, industrious, and moderate mass with regard 
 to the revolutionists of Paris. These dispositions, 
 however, were more or less emphatic according to 
 local circumstances. Each province, each tovm, had 
 likewise its impassioned revolutionists, as adventurous 
 minds and ardent characters are found in every locality 
 under the suii. Almost all the men of this cast had 
 possessed themselves of the municipalities, having 
 profited for that i)urpose by the general renew;il of 
 the authorities, ordered by the Legislative Assembly 
 after the loth August. The easy and quiescent mass 
 idways yields to the more enterprising and eager; and 
 it was only natural that the most violent should ap- 
 projiriate the numicipid functions, being of all others 
 the most diHicult, and requiring an untiring zeal and 
 activity. The i)eaceable, moderate citizens, forming 
 the great majority, had withdrawn into the sections, 
 which they occasionally visited to record their votes 
 and exercise otiier civic rights. The departmental 
 functions had been conferred on the most wealthy and 
 considerable personages in each district, and as a ne- 
 cessary consequence, on the least active and energetic 
 of mankind. Thus all the extreme rivohilionists were 
 intrenched in the municipalities, whilst the middle and 
 affluent classes filled the sections and the departmental 
 functions. The commune, sensible of this position of 
 affairs, had long entertained the project of establishing
 
 266 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 a correspondence with ail the municipahties, hut had 
 heen prevented, as we have seen, hv the convention. 
 The parent society of the Jacobins had snpi)licd the 
 want by its peciiliar inten .lurse with its branches; 
 and the ramifications which could not yet be organised 
 between municipahty and niu.!icip:dity existed between 
 club and club, winch pretty nearly amounted to the 
 same thing, for the men who cai ricd on the delibera- 
 tions in the Jacobin Clubs were tlie identical parties 
 who afterwards sat in the councils of the communes. 
 Thus the whole Jacobin jiarty of France, gathered 
 together in the municipalities and clubs,, and corre- 
 sponding from one extremity of the land to the oihcT. 
 found itself in array against the middle mass, an im- 
 mense body, but divided into a multitude of sec; ions, 
 performing no active functions, maintaining no corre- 
 spondence between town and town, forming here and 
 there a few moderate clubs, and occasionally assem- 
 bling in the sections or the departmental councils to 
 exercise a timorous and hesitating suffrage. 
 
 This striking difference of position afibrded the re- 
 volutionists their strongest hope of successfully rivet- 
 ting their domination upon the bidk of the population. 
 That bulk, be it remembered, admitted the republic, 
 but desired it free from excesses ; and at the period 
 ill question it had again asserted its importance in all 
 the provinces. From the passing of the decree em- 
 powering the nnmiciiuditics, armed with a terrible 
 police, to make domiciliary visits, search out strangers. 
 and disarm the suspected, whereby the comfort and 
 privacy of peaceable citizens were subjected to irre- 
 sponsible outrage, the sections had hegmi a system 
 of reaction, and resolved into aggi'egate associations 
 to keep the municipalities in awe. In almost aU the 
 to\vns of France, they had thus resumed courage, and 
 were in arms, resisting the communes, mveighing 
 against their inquisitorial police, encouraging the right 
 side, and advocating with it order, peace, and respect 
 for persons and property. The municipalities and 
 Jacobin Clubs, on the contrary, clamoured for addi- 
 tional measures of police, and the extension of revolu- 
 tionary tribunals into the departments. In particular 
 towns the inhabitants were on the point of coming to 
 actual warfare upon these questions. In the mean time, 
 the sections were so influential in number, that they 
 effectually curbed the violence of the communes. The 
 Mountaineer deputies, commissioned to hasten the 
 levies and stimulate revolutionary zeal, were thunder- 
 struck at so unexpected a resistance, and filled Paris 
 with their lamentations and alarms. 
 
 Such was the situation of nearly all France, and 
 the manner in which it was divided. Contention was 
 more or less strenuous, and parties more or less viru- 
 lent, according to the position and dangers f)f each 
 towTi. Wherever the revolution seemed greatly en- 
 dangered, there the Jacobins were impelled to the 
 use of violent measures, and consequently the mode- 
 rate mass was most disposed to resist them. But, 
 after all, what chiefly exasperated the revolutionary 
 passions was not so much the perils of foreign war 
 as those of domestic treason. Thus, on tlie northern 
 frontier, which was peculiarly menaced by the hos- 
 tile armies and but slightly molested by intrigue, an 
 exemplary concord reigned ; all joined in the one 
 engrossing object of general defence, and the com- 
 missioners apportioned to the districts stretching 
 from Lille to Lyons, had matle satisfactory reports 
 to the convention. But at Lyons, where secret ma- 
 noeuvres conspired with the geographical and mili- 
 tary position of the town to augment ilistrust and 
 aggravate the sense of danger, civil broils as terrible 
 as those of Paris had prevailed. From its situation 
 to tlie east, and its vicinity to Piedmont, Lyons had 
 always attracted the attention of the counter- re volu- 
 . tionists. 'llic first emigration (jf Turin had laboured 
 to etlect a movement there in 1790, and even deter- 
 mined to send a French prince to the locality, ftlira- 
 beau, also, had designed that town as the scene of his 
 
 intended operations. After the main emigration was 
 transferred to Coblcntz, an assent had heen left in 
 Switzerland to corresjiond witb Lyons, and through it 
 with the camp of Jalles and the fanatics of the south. 
 These intrigues provoked a reaction of Jacobinism, 
 and the royalists at Lyons called up Mountaineers. 
 Tliese latter possesst'd a (;lab culled the Central Club 
 coin])osed of delegates from all the clubs in the district. 
 At their head was a Piedmontese, whom an unsettled 
 disposition liad driven through various lands, and 
 finally fixed at Lyons, where his revolutionary ardour 
 hail procured Imn the successive nominations of mu- 
 rdcipal otfacer and president of the civil tribunal. His 
 name was Cludier, and in this same Central Club he 
 held a language, which, if used amongst the Jacobins 
 of Paris, would have induced even Marat to accuse him 
 of aiming at a general chaos, and of being subsidised 
 by foreigners. In addition to this club, the Lj-onnese 
 Mountaineers had the whole municipality, except the 
 mayor Niviere, the friend and disciple of Roland, and 
 head of the Girondist party at I^'ons. Weary of the 
 incessant commotion, Niviere had, like Petion, re- 
 signed his office, and again, like that Parisian mayor, 
 had been re-elected by the sections, which were more 
 influential and energetic at Lyons than in all the rest 
 of France. Out of eleven thousand voters, nine thou- 
 sand had imposed on Niviere the obligation of resum- 
 ing the mayoralty; but he had abdicated his functions 
 once more, and then the Mountaineer municipality 
 had succeeded in perfecting itself by carrying the elec- 
 tion of a mayor favourable to its views. On that 
 occasion an actual conflict had taken place: the youth 
 of the sections had chased Chalier from the Central 
 Club, and laid waste the hall in which he emitted his 
 fanatical diatribes. The department, in great alarm, 
 had called for commissioners from the convention, 
 who, first pronouncing against the sections, and then 
 against the excesses of the commune, displeased all 
 parties, provoked a denunciation from the Jacobin 
 Chill, and were recalled by the convention. Their 
 exertions had been limited to the reconstruction of 
 the Central Club, its affiliation with the Jacobins, and 
 its deliverance, with a due regard to its continued 
 vigour, from certain impure nnjmbers. By the month 
 of Maj% irritation had reached its utmost bounds. On 
 one side, the comnnme, entirely composed of Jacobins, 
 and the Central Club, presided over by Chalier, de- 
 manded for Lyons a revolutionary tribunal, and parad- 
 ed through the principal streets a guillotine sent from 
 Paris, exj)osed to public observation, as they stated, 
 in order to scare traitors, artxtacrat.s, &c. ; on the other 
 side, the sections in arms were prepared to snjipress 
 the municipality, and prevent the establishment of 
 that sanguinar}' tribunal the Girondists had been 
 unable to avert from the capital. In this critical state 
 of affairs, the secret agents of royalism, lurking in 
 Lyons, awaited the favourable moment for turning 
 to account the anticipated outburst of indignation 
 amongst the inhabitants. 
 
 Throughout the rest of the south as far as ^lar- 
 seilk's, the moderate republican spirit prevailed in a 
 more uniform manner, and the Girondists possessed 
 the general attachment of the country. Marseilles 
 looked with jealousy on the supremacy of Paris, 
 breathed vengeance for the outrages inflicted on its 
 beloved deputy Barbaronx, and stood ready to rise 
 against the convention, if the national representation 
 were attacked. Although a wealthy town, it was not 
 situated very favourably for the counter-revuhitionists 
 beyond the frontiers, inasmuch as it lay near Italy 
 alone, where no plots were hatched, and its port was 
 not so much an object of interest to the English as 
 that of Toulon. Secret intrigues, therefore, had not 
 stirred up rancour to such a pitch at ^larseilles as at 
 Lyons and Paris ; and the municipality, feeble and 
 overawed, was on the point of being superseded by 
 the all-poweri"ul sections. The deputy, Moses Bayle, 
 to whom but an indifferent reception had been ex-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 267 
 
 tended, found there an invincible ardonr for recruiting 
 the armies, but an absolute devotion to the Gironde. 
 
 Ranging from east to Avest, from the Rhone to the 
 ocean, fifty or sixty departments manifested the same 
 dispositions. At Bordeaux, indeed, the unanimity 
 M-as perfect. The sections, the municipality, the prin- 
 cipal club, all were in harmony to resist the Moun- 
 taineer violence, and support that glorious deputation 
 of the Gironde, which was felt to reflect so much 
 honour on its originators. The opposite party had 
 found shelter in one section only, but every where else 
 it was utterly powerless and reduced to silence. Bor- 
 deaux demanded neither maximvun, nor supplies, nor 
 revolutionary tribunal; and prepared at once petitions 
 against the commune of Paris, and battalions for the 
 service of the repul^lic. 
 
 But along the shores of the ocean, stretching from 
 the Gironde to the Loire, and from the Loire to the 
 mouth of the Seme, very tUtlerent opinions and much 
 greater dangers presented themselves. In that dis- 
 trict, the implacable IMountain encountered as for- 
 midable impediments not only the mild and generous 
 republicanism of the Girondists, but also the consti- 
 tutional royalism of 1789, which repudiated the re- 
 public as illegal, and the fanatical spirit of the feudal 
 times, equally hostile to the revolution of '89 as to that 
 of '93, and exclusively recognising in temporal matters 
 the authority of their petty lords, and in spmtual 
 affairs that of their priests. 
 
 In Normandy, and particularly at Rouen, its chief 
 town, the inhabitants had formed a strong attach- 
 ment to Louis XVI., and the constitution of 1790 had 
 satisfied all the feelings entertained both in behalf of 
 liberty and the throne. Since the abolition of royalty 
 and the constitution of 1790, that is to say, since the 
 10th August, a sullen and threatening silence had 
 pervaded Normandy. Brittany offered tendencies still 
 more hostile, the people in that province being greatly 
 under the influence of the priests and gentry. Nearer 
 the banks of the Loire, that bias was ripening into 
 insurrection ; and, finallj\ on the left bank of that 
 river, in the Bocage, the Loroux, and La Vendee, the 
 insurrection was complete, and large armies of ten 
 and twenty thousand men were in the field. 
 
 This is the proper tune to describe that singular 
 district, occupied by a poprdation so obstinate, so 
 heroic, so unfortimatc, and so disastrous to France, 
 which it nearly ruined by a lamentable diversion, and 
 whose misfortunes it aggravated by infui'iating to 
 more desperate extremes the revolutionary dictator- 
 ship. 
 
 On both banks of the Loire, the people had retained 
 a great attachment for their old form of existence, and 
 especially for their priests and religious rites. 'When, 
 by the eft'ect of the civU constitution, the members of 
 the clergy were divided, an actual schism ensued. The 
 inciimbents who refused to submit to tlie new distri- 
 bution of benefices, and to take the oath, were pre- 
 ferred by the people ; and when, dispossessed of their 
 parishes, they were ol)liged to withdraw, the peasants 
 followed them into the woods, and considered both 
 themselves and their faith as grievously persecuted. 
 They formed into small bands, attacked the constitu- 
 tional incumbents as intruders, and connnitted de- 
 plorable excesses on their persons. In Brittany, 
 around the town of IJennes, there were more general 
 and imi)osing revolts, occasioned by the dearness of 
 provisions, and the threat to destroy pulilic worshij), 
 contained in tliose oft-repeated wttrds of Camhon ; 
 " Those who may want mass can \y.\y for it." How- 
 ever, the government had succeeded in repressing 
 these conmiotions on the right bank of the Loire, and 
 had merely to ajjprehend their revival from com- 
 munication with the left bank, where the great insui'- 
 rection was organised. 
 
 It was, in fa(;t, on this left bank, in Anjou and tlie 
 Lower and ITpper Foitou, that the famous war of La 
 Vendee had broken out. This was the part of France 
 
 in which time had exerted the least influence, and the 
 least altered ancient manners. The feudal system had 
 there assumed a truly patriarclial character, and the 
 revolution, far from promoting useful reforms in the 
 country, had only distm-bcd its mild and primitive 
 habits, an<l was universally regarded as a curse. The 
 Bocage and the Marais formed a singular district, 
 wliicii will rc<iuire description to render intelligible 
 the state of manners and society within its compass. 
 Departing from Nantes and Saimmr, and advancing 
 from tlie Loire to Sables d'Olonne, Lu^on, Fonte- 
 nay, and Niort, you find a country unequal, undulat- 
 ing, broken with ravines, and crossed by a multitude 
 of hedges, serving as enclosures to the countless fields, 
 and which have given the name of Bocage (thicket) to 
 the whole region. As you approach the sea, the land 
 sinks, terminates in salt marshes, and is every Avhere 
 intersected by a multitude of small canals, which ren- 
 der it almost inaccessible. Tliis is the portion called 
 the Marais (marsh). The oidy abundant production 
 of the country is pasturage, and consequently cattle 
 are plentiful. The peasants were accustomed merely 
 to cultivate the quantity of corn necessary for their 
 own consumption, and to use the produce of their 
 flocks as the medium of exchange. It is well known 
 that populations subsisting by this species of industry 
 are remarkable for simplicity. No large cities had 
 been formed in such a district ; market-towns, with 
 from wo to thi'ee thousand inhabitants, onlj^ were met 
 wi h. Between the two high roads, conducting, the 
 one from Tours to Poitiers, and the other from Nantes 
 to Rochelle, stretches a space of thirty leagues in 
 breadth, throughout which, at that time, none but 
 cross-roads existed, leading to villages and handets. 
 The lands were divided into a midtitude of small 
 farms, of from five to six hundred francs' rental (£20 
 to £25), each apportioned to a single famih', who di- 
 vided witli the owner of the soil the produce of the 
 flocks. By this process of allotment, the landlords had 
 to treat with each family, and thus maintained with 
 all around them constant and familiar relations. The 
 most simple course of life prevailed also in the man- 
 sions of the gentry ; the chase was eagerly pursued, 
 because game aboimded ; lords and vassals joined to- 
 gether in the sport, and gained celebrity by their ad- 
 dress and energy in its prosecution. The priests, dis- 
 tinguished for singular purity of manners, exercised a 
 genuine pastoral ministry. Wealth had neither cor- 
 rupted their characters nor provoked remarks to their 
 disparagement. The popidation submitted to the au- 
 thority of the lord, and believed in the words of the 
 priest, because in neither was there oppression or 
 scandal. Before humanity adventm'cs upon the course 
 of civilisation, there exists an era of smi])licity, igno- 
 rance, and repose, at which it would willingly pause, 
 if its fate were not to struggle through difficulties to 
 attain perfection in all things — " to be made perfect 
 through suffering." 
 
 When the revolution, so beneficial in other quarters, 
 reached this country with its levelling pressure, it 
 caused great regret. To render it palatai)le it must 
 have been motlified, but tliat was imiiossilile. Tliose 
 who have accused it of not adajjting itself to localities, 
 and not varying witli them, have not considered the 
 impracticability of sucli exceptions, and the necessity 
 of an uniform and inexoralile rule in great social refor- 
 mations. Scarcely any thing was known of the revo- 
 lution in this secluded and rural region — only so much, 
 indeed, as transpired througli tlie iialf-sui)]>ressed nuir- 
 iiiurs and reviUugs of tlie landlords and parsons. Al- 
 though the feudal rights were abolished, the peasants 
 ceased not to jiay them. It was incund)ent upon thenii 
 to assemble and nominate mayors; tliey entreated 
 their lords to mulertake the oflice. But when the 
 dismissal of tlie nonjuring priests deprived them of 
 the jjastors who possessed their confidence, tluy were 
 highly exasperated, and, like their brctliren in Brit- 
 auy, retreated to the woods, and traverped great dis-
 
 •268 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tances, to witness, in their estimation, the ceremonies 
 of the only true relii;ion. From thiit moment :i 
 violent hatred settled in their hearts, which the priests 
 neglected no expedient to foster and inflame. 
 
 The 10th August drove some Poitevin nobles to 
 their estates ; the 21st Januar}- transported them v.ith 
 rage, and they communicated their feelings to all 
 around them. Still they did not actually conspire, as 
 has been related ; but the known dispositions of the 
 country suggested ])rojects of conspiracy to men who 
 were not connected with it. A conspiracy had been 
 formed in Brittany, but none in the Bocage ; no plan 
 had been there decided upon ; they waited, apparently, 
 until driven to the last extremity. At length the levy 
 of 300,000 men, ordered in the month of j\Iarch, ex- 
 cited a general insurrection. Generally speaking, the 
 peasants of Poitou were perfectly indifferent to what 
 was passing in France ; but the dispersion of their 
 clerg}-, and, above all, the obligation to serve in the 
 armies, drove them to complete desperation. Under 
 the former sj'stem, the contingent of the province was 
 supplied by those whom a natural restlessness impelled 
 to quit their native soil ; but at present the law coerced 
 all indiscriminately, wliatever might be their ])ersonal 
 predilections. Compelled to take up arms, they pre- 
 ferred fighting against rather than for the republic. 
 The drawing for recruits was the occasion of revolts 
 in the upper Bocage and the Marais almost simulta- 
 neously, that is to say, about the begmning of IMarch. 
 On the 10th of that month, a drawing was appointed 
 to take place at Saint-Florent, near Anceuis in Anjou, 
 at which the yomig men refused to assist. The guard 
 endeavoured to compel them, and the military com- 
 mander caused a piece of ordnance to be pointed on 
 the mutmeers; on which they forthwith made a spon- 
 taneous assault with their clubs, seized upon the gun, 
 disarmed the guard, and then surveyed each other 
 with amazement at their temerity. A carrier named 
 Cathehneau, a man much esteemed througii tlie coun- 
 try, brave, and persuasive in speech, quitted his farm 
 upon learning these tidings, hastened to join the male- 
 contents, animated their courage, and gave some con- 
 sistencj' to the insurrection by understanding the art 
 of keeping it alive. That very da.y he formed the 
 design of attacking a republican post defended by 
 eighty men. The peasants foUuwed him with their 
 clubs and rifles. After a general discharge, every 
 shot of which told, as they were excellent marksmen, 
 they rushed upon the position, disarmed its defenders, 
 and established themselves as its possessors. The 
 following day, Cathelineau proceeded to Chemille, and 
 carried it Hkewise, in spite of 200 republicans and three 
 . pieces of cannon. A gamekeejKir on the domain of 
 Maule'VTier, named Stofflet, and a young peasant be- 
 longing to the village of Clianzeau, had also gathered 
 a troop of insurgents. They shortly coalesced with 
 Cathelineau, who conceived the daring project of 
 attacking Chollet, the most considerable town in the 
 country, the district-capital, and guarded by 500 re- 
 publicans. Their mode of fighting was the same as 
 before. Taking advantage of hedges and inequalities 
 of ground, they surrounded the hostile battalion, and 
 commenced firing under slielter and at dead aim. 
 After staggering tlie republicans by this terrible dis- 
 charge, they seized the first moment of hesitation that 
 appeared amongst them, darted forward with loud 
 shouts, overthrew their ranks, wrested away their 
 arms, and broke their heads with bludgeons. Such 
 was, in fcnv words, their whole military strategy, then 
 and thereafter, and it was the best adapted to the scene 
 of warfare. The troops they assailed, drawn up in 
 line and uncovered, received a fire they were miable 
 to answer, because they could neither make use of 
 their artillery nor advance witli baj-onets against ene- 
 mies hovering in dispersed Ixjdies. In this predica- 
 ment, unless they were veterans in discipline, they 
 could scarcely fail to be thrown into confusion by a 
 fire .so incessant, and so accurate too, that the regular 
 
 discharges of troops of the line never could equal its 
 precision. And especially when they beheld these 
 furious men, uttering appalling howls, come rushing 
 upon them, it was very difficidt to avoid intimidation 
 and to keep their ranks firm and unbroken. K they 
 swerved, they were utterly lost, for flight, so easy to 
 the people of the coiintry, was impracticable for troops 
 of the line. It would consequently have required the 
 most intrepid soldiers to contend against so many 
 difficulties, and tliose who were at first opposed to the 
 rel)els were national guards of the new levy, taken from 
 tlie towns, almost all of them ardent republicans it is 
 true, but qualified for combat exclusively by their zeal. 
 
 The victorious troop of Cathelineau therefore entered 
 Chollet, appropriated all the arms found within it, and 
 converted the oi'dnance primings into cartridges. It 
 was in this manner the Vendeans invariably procured 
 their munitions of war. Their defeats gave nothing 
 to the enemy, because they had nothing but a musket 
 or a club, which they easily carried across the fields, 
 whilst each victory assured them a considerable booty 
 in military stores. The triumphant insurgents cele- 
 brated their success with the money they obtained, and 
 afterwards burnt aU the papers of the administrations, 
 which in their eyes Avere mere instnmaents of tyranny. 
 They then returned to their villages and farms, which 
 they always refused to quit again until after a long 
 interval. 
 
 A nnich more general revolt had burst forth at the 
 same time in the Marais and the department of La 
 Vendee. At Maehecoul and Challans, the conscrip- 
 tion was the cause of an universal rising. A certain 
 Gaston, a hairdresser, killed an oflScer, borrowed his 
 uniform, put himself at the head of the malecontents, 
 and seized upon Challans and afterwards upon Maehe- 
 coul, wliere his troop consigned to the flames all the 
 papers of the administrations, and indulged in mas- 
 sacres from which their brethren in the Bocage had 
 abstained. Three hmidred republicans were shot in 
 bands of tAventy and thirty. The insurgents made 
 them first of all confess, and then conducted them to 
 the edge of a trench, where they picked them off in 
 succession, so as to avoid the trouble of burying them. 
 Nantes immediately dispatched several hundred men 
 to Saiut-Philibert ; but ascertaining there Avas a move- 
 ment at Savenay, it recalled its troops, and the rebels 
 of Machecoid remained in possession of their conquests. 
 
 In the department of La Vendee, that is to say, to 
 the south of this theatre of Avar, the insurrection took 
 still greater consistence. 
 
 The national guards of Fontenay having left that 
 place for Chantonnay, Avere opposed and defeated. 
 Chantonnay Avas pillaged. General Verteuil, avIio 
 commanded the eleventh military division, being ap- 
 prised of this repidse, sent forAvard General Marce 
 Avitli 1200 men, partly troops of the line, and partly 
 national guards. This officer encoimtered the rebels 
 at Saint-Vincent, and routed them. Augmenting his 
 little army Avith an additional force of 1200 men and 
 nine pieces of cannon, he marched upon Saint-Fulgent, 
 and on the way again fell in Avith the Vendeans in a 
 holloAv, and halted to repair a bridge they had almost 
 destroyed. About four in the afternoon of the 18th 
 March, tlie Vendeans, taking the initiative, advanced 
 to attack him. Profiting by the advantages of the 
 ground, they began to shoot Avitli their accustomed 
 eflect, and gradually closed in upon tlie republicans, 
 Avho were startled at so well-directed and destnictive 
 a fire, and utterly unable to retort upon an enemy 
 concealed and dispersed in all tlie surrounding recesses. 
 At length they ch;u-ged the repul)lican army, spread 
 disorder in its ranks, and gained possession of the 
 artillery, the ammunition, and the arms, Avhich the 
 soldiers tlirew aAvay in retreating, to be less incom- 
 moded in their fiight. 
 
 These successes, Avhich were more decided in the 
 department of La Vendee, properly so called, obtaineil 
 for the insurgents the title of VendAins, vrh'idx thoy
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 2G9 
 
 subsequently retained, although the w'ar was much 
 more active out of La Vendee. The I'obberies com- 
 mitted in the Marais procured for them also the appel- 
 lation of Briyands, but that stigma justlj' belonged to 
 the minority only. The insurrection extended in the 
 Marais from the environs of Nantes to Sables, and 
 in Anjou and Poitou to the neighbourhood of Vihiers • 
 and Parthenay. The secret of the Vendeans' victories 
 was in the country, in its configuration, in the courage 
 and address with which they availed themselves of 
 those natiu'al advantages, and lastly, in the inexperi- 
 ence and imprudent ardour of the republican soldiers, 
 who, le\acd in haste, came to the scene of action rashly 
 and unprepared, thus assuring to their opponents easy 
 triumphs, and all the benefits that follow m their train 
 — ample stores, confidence, and increased coiirage. 
 
 The Easter festival drew all the insurgents to their 
 homes, whence they never consented to move until 
 after a long leisure. War to them was a sort of himt- 
 ing expedition for a few days ; they carried with them 
 sufficient bread for the time, and afterwards returned 
 to inflame the minds of their neighbours with a recital 
 of the deeds they had achieved. Appointments were 
 fixed for the month of April, at which time the insur- 
 rection became general, and extended over the whole 
 surface of the country. The theatre of war might be 
 comprehended in a line drawn from Nantes, passing 
 through Pornic, the Isle of Noirmoutiers, Sables, 
 Lu^on, Fontenay, Niort, Parthenay, and returning by 
 Airvault, Thouars, Done, and Saint-Florent, to the 
 Loire. The revolt, commenced by men superior to 
 tlie peasants they commanded only by their natiu-al 
 qiialities, was soon continued by men of higher rank. 
 The peasants beset the mansions of the nobles, and 
 forced them to put themselves at their head. The 
 whole IMarais insisted upon being commanded by 
 Charette. This individual belonged to a family at 
 Nantes, engaged in privateering ; he had served in 
 the navy, and reached the rank of lieutenant, biit at 
 the peace had retired to a country-house, the property 
 of his micle, where he passed his time in the chase. 
 Of a weak and delicate frame, he seemed but little 
 adapted to the fatigues of war; but, living in the 
 woods, where he consumed whole months, and sleep- 
 ing on the ground with his comrades, he had invigo- 
 rated his constitution, acquired a perfect knowledge 
 of the country, and made liimself known to all the 
 peasants by his fortitude and address. At first, he 
 hesitated to accept the command thus urged upon 
 him, and forcibly represented to the insm-gents the 
 dangers of tlieir enteri)rise. Ultimately, however, he 
 acceded to their entreaties ; and, allowing them to 
 commit all sorts of excesses, he etfectually compro- 
 mised them, and thus bound them irrevocably to his 
 service. Talented, subtle, harsh in character, and of 
 unconquerable perseverance, he became the most for- 
 midable of the Vendean chiefs. The whole Marais 
 obej'ed him ; and with fifteen and sometimes twenty 
 thousand men, he menaced the Sables and Nantes. 
 Innnediately after collecting all his forces, he seized 
 upon the isle of Noirmoutiers, an imjmrtant acqiiisi- 
 tion, which he might render his stronghold and pomt 
 of communication with England. 
 
 In the Eocage, the i)easants applied to Messieiirs 
 de Eonchamiis, d'Klbie, and de Larochej:u'(|uelein, 
 whom they tore from tlieir homes to place at their 
 head. ]M. de lionchanips had formerly served under 
 M. de Suffren, enjoyed the reputation of a skilful 
 officer, and miited a nol>le and elevated character to 
 great intrejjidity. lie connnanded all the rebels of 
 Anjou and the banks of the Loire. M. d'Elbee had 
 likewise served in tlie army, and was distinguished 
 for excessive devotion, great obstinacy, and an excel- 
 lent capacit}' for this kind of warfare. At the pre- 
 sent time he wa.s the most influential leadi'r in tliat 
 part of the Eoeage. lie connnanded the parishes 
 around Chollet and T?eaupr('au. C'athelineau and 
 Btofflet retained their conunand also, owing to the 
 
 confidence they had inspired, and formed a junction 
 with Bonchamps and D'Elbee, for the purjjose of 
 marching on Bressuire, where General Quetineau was 
 stationed. That officer had carried ofl'from the man- 
 sion of Clisson the family of Lescure, which he sus- 
 pected of conspiring, and detained it at Bressuire. 
 Henri de Larochejacquelein, a young noble, formerly 
 enrolled in the king's guard, and now residing in the 
 Bocage, was on a visit at the time to his cousin Les- 
 cure at Clisson. He effected liis escape, and stirred up 
 the Aul)iers, where he was born, and all the parishes 
 around Chatillon. He then joined the other leaders, 
 and with them forced General Quetineau to withdraw 
 from Bressuire. Consequently, M. de Lescure was 
 delivered, together with his fiimily. He was a young 
 man, about the age of Henri de Larochejacquelein. In 
 character he was calm, prudent, of cold but unshaken 
 courage, and endowed with a scrupulous regard for 
 justice. Henri, his cousin, possessed an heroic and 
 sometimes reckless gallantry ; in disposition he was 
 hasty and generous. M. de Lescure immediately put 
 himself at the head of his peasants, Avho flocked aroimd 
 him ; and the whole body congregated at Bressuire, 
 with the design of advancing on Thouars. The wives 
 of the chiefs distributed cockades and flags among the 
 warriors, wlio sustained their enthusiasm with songs, 
 and marched as if to a crusade. The army dragged 
 no baggage-waggons Avith it ; the peasants, who never 
 woidd remain long absent, carried with them a supply 
 of bread sufficient for the duration of each expediti(jn ; 
 and in extraordinary cases, the parishes were called 
 upon to provide food for those who wanted it. This 
 army was composed of nearly 30,000 men, and was 
 designated the grand royal and catholic army. It 
 faced towards Angers, Saumur, Done, Thouars, and 
 Parthenay. Between it and the army in the IMarais, 
 commanded by Charette, were various intermediate 
 assemblages, of which the principal, under the orders 
 of M. de Eoyrand, might amomit to ten or twelve 
 thousand men. 
 
 The grand army, commanded by Messieurs de Bon- 
 champs, d'EUxe, de Lescure, de Larochejacquelein, 
 Cathelineau, and Stofflet, arrived before Thouars on 
 the 3d May, and prepared to attack it the following 
 morning. It was necessary to cross the Thoue, which 
 nearly surrounds the town of Thouars on all sides. 
 General Quetineau took the iirecaution of defending 
 its passage. The Vendeans cannonaded for some 
 time with the artiflery they had taken from the re- 
 publicans, and discharged their rifles from the banks 
 with their accustomed precision. M. de Lescure, im- 
 patient to efllct the j)assage, advanced amidst a shower 
 of bullets, with Miiich his clothes were riddled, but 
 failed to draw above a single peasant after him. La- 
 rochejacquelein, however, hastened to the spot, fol- 
 lowed by his men ; they passed the bridge, and the 
 republicans were beaten back into the town. But the 
 walls exhibited no breach, and the assailants had no 
 means of milking one. Henri de Laroclu'jacciuelein 
 raised himself on the shoulders of his followers and 
 scaled the ramparts. lil. d'Elbee puslied the attack 
 vigorously on his side ; and Quetineau, unable to ofler 
 an ctt'eetual resistance, consented to surrender in order 
 to avert calamities from the town. Through the efiorts 
 of their leaders, the Vendeans conducted themsi'lves 
 with moderation ; no outrage was conunitted on the 
 inhabitants, and they contented themselves with l)urn- 
 ing the tree of liberty and the papers of the admini- 
 strations. The generous Lescure re[)aid Quetineau the 
 attentions he had received from him during his deten- 
 tion at Hressuire, and pressingly besought him to re- 
 main with the Vendean army, so as to escape the 
 seventies of his own government, whieli, refusing him 
 credit for tlie impracticability of resistance, might 
 ])Ossil)]y inniish him for having surrendered. (Queti- 
 neau nol)ly repudiated the suggestion, and intimated 
 his determination to return amongst the republicans, 
 and demand inquiry into his conduct.
 
 270 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LEVY OF A PARISIAN ARMY OF 12,000 MEN. INCREAS- 
 ING FERMENT AMONGST THE REVOLUTIONISTS. CON- 
 TEST BETWEEN THE CO.MML'NE AND THE CONVEN- 
 TION. PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE 28TH, 29TH, AND 
 
 SUTH may 1793. LAST STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE 
 
 GIRONDISTS AND MOUNTAINEERS. TWENTY-NINE 
 
 GIRONDISTS ARRESTED. GLANCE AT THE PROGRESS 
 
 OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Intelligence of the disasters in La Vendee, arriving 
 concurrently witli evil tidings from the north, an- 
 nouncing discomfitures on the part of Danipierre — • 
 from the south, importing that the Spaniards were 
 assuming a threatening aspect on tlie Pyrenees — and 
 from several provinces where the least favourable dis- 
 positions prevailed, diffused an extraordinary agitation. 
 Some of the departments adjoining La Vendee, on 
 being acquainted with the successes of the insurgents, 
 deemed themselves authorised to send troops to oppose 
 them. The department of L'Herault, in particular, 
 raised six millions of francs and 6000 men, and for- 
 warded an address to the people of Paris urging them 
 to do the like. The convention, too happy to foster 
 tills enthusiasm, approved the conduct of the depart- 
 ment of L'Herault, and thereby indirectly empowered 
 all the communes in France to perform acts of sove- 
 reignty by levying men and money. 
 
 The commune of Paris allowed not the oversight to 
 escape it. The Parisians, it pretended, held the mis- 
 sion to save France, and it eagerly seized the occasion 
 to prove its zeal and displav its authority by orga- 
 nising an army. It resolved that, in accordance ivith 
 the soleimi approbation expressed hy the convention on the 
 conduct of the department of L'Herault, there should be 
 levied within the circuit of P;iris an army of 12,000 
 men to march against La Vendee. After the example 
 of the convention, the commune selected from the coun- 
 cil-general commissioners to accompany this army. 
 The 12,000 men in question were to be taken from 
 the companies of the armed sections, and out of each 
 company of 126, 14 were to depart for the scene of 
 warfare. Following the revolutionary usage, a species 
 of dictatorial power was left to the revolutionary com- 
 mittee of each section to mark out the men whose 
 absencfe would occasion least inconvenience. 
 
 " In consequence," proceeded the ordinance of the 
 commune, " all the unmarried clerks in all the public 
 offices established in Paris, except the principals and 
 sub-principals, the clerks of attorneys and barristers, 
 the clerks of merchants and bankers, the api)rentices 
 to trades, to shopkeepers, &c., shall be exigible after 
 the following proportions : — out of two, one shall 
 march ; out of three, two ; out of four, two ; out of 
 five, three ; out of six, three ; out of seven, four ; out 
 of eight, four ; and so on. Such of the clerks in the 
 puljlic offices as depart shall retain their places and 
 the third_ of their salaries. No refusal will be held 
 valid or e'ntertained. The citizens under requisition 
 will make known to tlie committee of their section 
 what they need for equipment, and their wants will 
 be innneiljately supplied. They will then assemble to 
 nominate their officers, and forthwith place themselves 
 xmder their orders." 
 
 But to ordain an army and levy it tlius violently 
 were insufficient, unless funds for its maintenance also 
 could be exacted; and on that material point it was 
 resolved to assail the rich. The rich, said the com- 
 mune, would do positively nothing for the defence of 
 the country and the revolution; they liveil in a care- 
 less, happy idleness, and left to the people the burden 
 of fighting for their native land ; hence it became ne- 
 cessary to make them, at all events, contribute a part 
 of their wealth to the common cause. Fur that pur- 
 pose, the idea of a f^rced.loau suggested itself, to be 
 furnished by tlie citizens of Paris according to the 
 •mount of their incomes. From the revenue of a 
 
 thousand francs to that of fifty thousand, their reci- 
 pients were to pay a proportional sum, ranging from 
 thirty francs to twenty thousand. All those whose 
 income exceeded fifty thousand were to retain thirty 
 thousand and give up the rest. The real and per- 
 sonal property of any recusants to this patriotic con- 
 tribution was to be seized, and sold on the demand of 
 the revoluticjnary committees, and their persons re- 
 garded as suspected. 
 
 Such measures, which affected so nearly all classes', 
 either in their persons, by compelling them to take 
 arms, or in their fortimes, by making them furnish 
 contributions, were pretty sure to experience a stout 
 resistance in the sections. We have already observed 
 that divisions existed amongst those assemblies, and 
 that they were more or less violent according to the 
 proportion they respectively contained of the lower 
 orders. In some, and especially those of the Quinze- 
 Vingts, the Gravilliers, and the H;dle-aux-Bles, resolu- 
 tions were passed not to depart so long as federalists 
 and paid troops remained at Paris, they serving, in 
 the language of the malecontents, as body-guards to the 
 convention. These sections resisted from a spirit of 
 Jacobinism ; but severiil others did so on different 
 grounds. The whole community of clerks, apprentices, 
 assistants in shops, &c., mustered in the sections, and 
 offi>red a strenuous opposition to the two ordinances 
 of the commune. The old servants of the scattered 
 aristocracy, who performed no mean part in agitating 
 Paris, hastened to unite with these parties ; they 
 gathered together in the streets and public places, 
 and uttered cries of " Down with the Jacobins ! down 
 with the Mountain!" Thus the revolutionary sys- 
 tem upon this occasion encountered obstacles in Paris 
 itself, similar in nature to those which were impeding 
 it in the provinces. 
 
 Then arose a general clamour against the aristo- 
 cracy of the sections. IMarat said that the " gentle- 
 men" grocers, agents, and clerks, were conspiring 
 with "gentlemen" on the right side, and with "gen- 
 tlemen" who were rich, in order to overcome the 
 revolution ; that they ought all to be arrested as sus- 
 pected, and reduced to the class of sans- culottes. 
 '• without leaving them a rag to cover their nakedness." 
 
 Chaumette, the procurator of the connnune, de- 
 livered a long oration, in which he deplored the cala- 
 mities of the country, accruing, as he alleged, from 
 the perfidy of the government, the selfishness of the 
 rich, the ignorance of the people, and the weariness 
 and disgust of numerous citizens in their unavailing 
 struggles for the common good. He therefore i)roposed 
 and carried resolutions, that the convention shoidd 
 be addressed for measures of public enlightenment, of 
 energy against the lazy egotism of the affluent, and 
 of relief to the necessities of the poor ; that an assem- 
 bly should be formed, comprising the presidents of the 
 sectional revolutionary committees and the members 
 of all the administrative bodies, to meet every Sim- 
 day and Thursday at the commune to deliberate on 
 the dangers of the commonwealth ; and, lastly, that 
 all good citizens should be solicited to attend the 
 meetings of the sections, in order to ensure the pre- 
 ponderance to patriotism.- 
 
 Danton, always prompt to devise exjMjdients in 
 moments of difficulty, propounded a scheme for com- 
 posing two armies of sans-culottes, the one to march 
 on La Vendee, and the other to remain in Paris as a 
 check upon the aristocrats, and for furnishing pay to 
 both from the resources of the rich. IMoreover, he 
 proposed, in order to secure a majority in the sections, 
 to pay the citizens who should lose their time in at- 
 tending the sittings. Robespierre, borrowing the ideas 
 of IJanton, developed them at the Jacobin Club, and 
 improved them by additions of his own. He insisted 
 upon the assignment of new classes of suspected, not 
 limited as heretofore to nobles, priests, and financiers, 
 but extended to all citizens who had in any respect 
 given tokens of incivism — upon their incarceration
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 271 
 
 until the peace — upon imparting increased stimulus 
 to the action of the revolutionary tribunal, and coun- 
 teracting by fresh modes of communication the eflect 
 of wicked journals. Bj' tlie aid of all sucli guarantees, 
 he said, the patriots would he able, without any ille- 
 gal proceeding, witliout any infraction of the laws, to 
 resist the riglit side and its machinations. 
 
 All ideas tlius centred in one great design, which 
 involved an armed levy of the people, one part to be 
 detained at home, and the other to be sent abroad ; 
 its equipment at the expense of the rich, and addi- 
 tional contributions from the latter to enable tlie 
 populace to attend and outvote them at the delibera- 
 tive assemblies ; the incarceration of all the enemies 
 of the revolution under the name of svspectcd, a term 
 much more widely defined tlian it had previously 
 been ; and the establislmient of a closer intercourse 
 between tlie commime and the sections, by the crea- 
 tion of a new revolutionar}- assembly caleidated for 
 extraordinary measures — that is to say, insurrection. 
 The congregation of tlie Eveclie, which had been 
 formerly dissolved, was now revived on the motion of 
 Chaumette, under much more imposing auspices, 
 evidently for the purpose of elfecting this latter ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Tidings of an alarming nature came thickly pour- 
 ing on each other between the 8tli and 10th of May. 
 Dampierre had been killed in command of the army 
 of the north. In the interior, the provinces continued 
 and extended their career of revolt. Normandy gave 
 evidence of being about to declare common cause with 
 Brittany. The insurgents of La Vendee had advanced 
 from Thouars upon Loudun and Montreuil, captured 
 those two towns, and thus nearly reached tlie banks 
 of the Loire. The English were stated to be on the 
 point of disembarking in Brittany, effecting a junc- 
 tion with the successful rebels, and attacking the 
 reimblic in its centre. The citizens of Bordeaux, in- 
 dignant at the accusations levelled against their depu- 
 ties, were assmniug a most tlireatening attitude, and 
 had disarmed a section into which the Jacobins had 
 retreated. At INlarseilles the sections were in com- 
 plete insurrection. Incensed at tlie excesses com- 
 mitted under pretext of disarming the suspected, 
 they had gathered together, superseded tlie com- 
 mune, transferred its powers to a committee, called 
 the central committee of the sections, and instituted 
 a popular jourt for discovering the authors of the 
 various murders and rolsberies. After these precau- 
 tions in their ov,i\ city, tliey had sent deputies to the 
 sections of the town of Aix, and otlierwise taken steps 
 to propagate their example in the whole department. 
 Disregarding, also, the sacred character of the con- 
 ventional commissioners, tliey liad seized their papers 
 and ordered them to retire. ,At Lyons tlie aspect of 
 affairs was equally serious. Tlie administrative bodies 
 in unison with tlie Jaeoliins having ordained, in imi- 
 tation of Paris, a levy of six millions and six thousand 
 men, and furtliermore attempted to execute tlie plan 
 of disarming all they deemed suspected, and to insti- 
 tute a revolutionary tribunal, the sections had flown 
 to arms, and stood ready to measure strength with 
 the commune. Thus, whilst the enemy Avas advancing 
 on the north, the insurrection, starting from Brittany 
 and Tax Vendee, fostered and supported by the Eng- 
 lish, threatened to make the tour of France, through 
 Bordeaux, Rouen, Nantes, JIarseilles, and Lyons. 
 
 These various circumstances being in quick suc- 
 cession communicated to Paris Avitliin the space of 
 two or tliree days, gave rise to the most gloomy fore- 
 bodings on the jiart of the IMountaiiU'crs and .Jaco- 
 bins. The propositions already made were renewed 
 with an additional degree of fury ; and others were 
 suggested, as, for instance, that all the waiters at hotels 
 and cafes, and all domestic servants, ought to be sent 
 ofT without a moment's delay ; that the popular soci- 
 eties should march in a compact body ; that commis- 
 eioners of the assembly should forthwiih visit the sec- 
 
 tions, and induce them to hasten their contingents; 
 that 30,000 men slionld be posted to the scenes of action 
 in the vehicles of luxury ; that the rich should furnif-h 
 an immediate contribution, and give up the tentli of 
 their possessions ; that the suspected should be im- 
 prisoned and guarded as hostages ; that tlie conduct 
 of the ministers should be investigated ; that the 
 committee of public welfare should be directed to 
 frame an exposition for the benefit of the citizens 
 whose judgments had been misled ; and that all civil 
 affairs slioidd be intermitted, the proceedings of the 
 civil tribunals suspended, the theatres closed, the 
 tocsin sounded, and the alarm-guns fired. 
 
 Danton, with the view of restoring some confidence 
 amidst this general consternation, offered two obser- 
 vations ; firstly, that the apprehension of stripping 
 Paris of honest citizens necessary to its security, 
 need not prevent tlie levies, forasmuch as there would 
 always remain 1.50,000 men ready to rise and exter- 
 minate any aristocrats who should dare show them- 
 selves ; secondly, that the agitation of civil war, in- 
 stead of being a subject of joyful anticipation, ought, 
 on the contrary, to be a subject of alarm to the 
 foreign enemy. " IVIontesquieu," said he, " has already 
 remarked that fiict in speaking of the Romans : a 
 nation which has all its citizens armed and exercised, 
 their minds inured to war, their souls fired with 
 ardour, all their passions centred in a rage for battle 
 — such a nation has nothing to fear from the cold and 
 mercenary courage of foreign soldiers. The weakest 
 of the two parties which civil war embroils, will al- 
 ways be sufficiently strong to destroy automata to 
 whom discipline cannot impart tlie genuine glow of 
 life and enthusiasm." 
 
 Resolutions were immediately passed that ninety- 
 six commissioners shoidd repair to the sections and 
 accelerate their contingents, and that the committee 
 of public welfare should continue its functions during 
 a month longer. Custine was nominated general of 
 tlie army of the north, and Houchard of that of the 
 Riiine. A fresh distribution of the armies was made 
 around the frontiers. Canibon presented a project for 
 a forced loan of a thousand millions to be filled up by 
 the rich, and hypothet:ated on tlie estates of the emi- 
 grants. " It is a mode of obliging the rich," said he, 
 " to take part in the revolution, by reducing them to 
 the necessity of assuming a portion of the national 
 domains, if they wish to recover their advances by 
 foreclosing their security." 
 
 The commune, likewise, ordained that a second 
 army of sans-culottes should be formed in Paris to 
 repress the aristocrats, whilst the first was marching 
 against the rebels; that a general incarceration shoidd 
 be made of all the suspected ; and tliat the central 
 assembly, composed of the administrative authorities, 
 the presidents of sections, and the members of revo- 
 lutionary committees, should meet with all disi)atch 
 to assess the forced loan, to draw up the list of sus- 
 pected, and perform otlier similar urgent functions. 
 
 Eissension and tunnilt had readied their climax. 
 On the one side it was asserted, that the aristocrats 
 without and those within the realm were in con- 
 federacy ; that file consi)irators of Marseilles, La 
 A'eudi'e, and Normandy, were all in one common 
 league ; that the deputies of the right side directed 
 this vast conspiracy, and that tlie ferment amongst 
 the sections was merely a seqiU'l of their intrigues 
 in Paris. On the other side, all the excesses com- 
 mitted in the various quarters were attril)uted to the 
 Mountain, wiiic^h was o]H'nly cliarged with a delibe- 
 rate intention to tlirow France into the horrors of 
 chaos, and to assassinate its op|)oncnts in the national 
 representation. On both sides, anxious discussions 
 were held ujion the means of averting the threatened 
 perils, and the measures necessary for saving the re- 
 public. The members of the right side exhorted each 
 other to take courage, and were unanimous in recom- 
 mending some act of decisive energy. Certain sec-
 
 272 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tions, such as those of Mail, La Butte-des-i\Ioulins, 
 and several others, strenuously supported them, and 
 refused to send delegates to the central assemhly con- 
 voked at the town-hall. They also refused to sub- 
 scribe to the forced loan, sajnng they would provide 
 for the maintenance of their own volmiteers ; and 
 utterly repudiated fresh lists of the suspected, forcibly 
 alleging that their revolutionary committees were 
 sufficient to perform the duties of police within their 
 jurisdictions. The Mountaineers, on the contrar}^ 
 proclaimed treason, and insisted at all points that the 
 time was arrived for bringing things to a termination; 
 that it was now indispensable for patriots to combine, 
 labour in common, and rescue the republic from the 
 atrocious snares of the twenty-two denounced Giron- 
 dists. At the Cordelier Club, it was openly maintained 
 that those deputies ouglit to be seized and massacred. 
 At a meeting where several outrageous females were 
 assembled, a serious proposal was entertained for tak- 
 ing advantage of the first commotion in the conven- 
 tion to dispatch them with daggers. These harpies, 
 in fiict, provided themselves with poniards, daily filled 
 the galleries with uproar, and boasted that they were 
 the predestined saviours of the republic. This sudden 
 appearance of daggers excited remarks upon their 
 number, and it was ascertained that a single gim- 
 smith in the Faubourg Saint- Antoine had manufac- 
 tured several hundreds. On neither side did any one 
 appear henceforth Avithout arms, or withoiit all the 
 means of attack and defence. No plan had been as 
 yet definitively arranged, but the passions had reached 
 that point of combustion when the sUghtest spark 
 sutfices to kindle an explosion. 
 
 At the Jacobin Club, every variety of wild sugges- 
 tion was made. On the ground that the articles of 
 impeachment exhibited against the twenty-two Giron- 
 dists did not prevent them from sitting ui the conven- 
 tion, an act of popular energy was asserted to have 
 become essential ; the citizens destined for La Vendee 
 must not be allowed to depart until the country v>'as 
 saved ; the people were quite competent to save it, 
 hut they needed instruction as to the means, on which 
 account it was expedient to name a committee of five 
 members, with the privilege of observing secrecy even 
 towai-ds the society itself. To this last proposal it was 
 objected that every thing might be openly stated in 
 the club, that the idea of concealment was preposte- 
 rous, and that the moment for acting without disguise 
 was the present, if ever there were one. Robespierre, 
 who deemed such declarations imprudent, appeared to 
 condemn all illegal measures, asking whether those 
 advantageous and more certain expedients he himself 
 had recommended were in reality exhausted. " Have 
 you organised," said he to his fellow Jacobins, " your 
 revolutionary army? Have you accompUshed all that 
 is necessary to remunerate the sans-culottes called to 
 arms or sitting in the sections? Have you covered 
 your public places with forges and workshops? Have 
 you arrested the suspected ? No ; you have employed 
 none of tliose sagacious and natural appliances by 
 which patriots would avoid being compromised, and 
 you allow men who understand nothing about the 
 public welfare to suggest to }'ou measures which oc- 
 casion all tlie calunmies disseminated against you. 
 It is only after exhausting all legal means that recourse 
 should be had to violent expedients, and then they 
 ought not to be proposed in a society claiming to be 
 enlightened and prudent. I am aware," added Robes- 
 pierre, " that I shall be accused of moderatlsm, but I 
 am sufficiently known to disregard such imputations." 
 
 Thus, as before the lOtli August, the revolutionists 
 felt the want of a fixed plan, and roamed from pro- 
 ject to project, calling ever and anon for some place 
 of general association, where tliey might enter into 
 common arrangements. The assembly at the town- 
 hall had been formed to satisfy tliis latter craving ; 
 but the department was not present in it ; one only 
 of its members, the Jacobin Dufourny, appeared ; 
 
 several sections absented themselves ; the maj'or also 
 had declined to give the sanction of his presence, and 
 it was adjourned over to Sunday the 19th ISIay, to be 
 then held for the discussion of the objects for which 
 the meeting itself was convoked. Although the ordi- 
 nance of the commime fixing this assembly had pre- 
 scribed duties of an apparently circumscribed cha- 
 racter, the same indefinite language had been held 
 during its sitting as was prevalent every where else, 
 and the necessity for another 10th of August was the 
 predominant topic of declamation. But nothing beyond 
 rabid denunciations and the usual club exaggerations 
 had resulted ; several females were intermingled with 
 tlie men, and the heterogeneous assemblage presented 
 the ordinary tunudt and confusion, both in purpose 
 and language, of all popular gatherings. 
 
 The 15th, 16th, and 17th passed in continued agi- 
 tation, and every thing became an occasion for broils 
 and disturbance in the convention. The people of 
 Bordeaux sent an address, in which they announced 
 their intention to rise m vindication of their deputies ; 
 declaring that part of them would march on La Vendee 
 to fight the rebels, whilst the remainder advanced on 
 Paris to exterminate the anarchists who dared assail 
 the national representation. A letter from Marseilles 
 confirmed the intelligence that the sections of that 
 city were resolute in their resistance. A petition 
 from Lyons solicited relief for fifteen hundred prison- 
 ers, confined under tlie designation of " suspected," 
 and menaced with the revolutionary tribunal by Cha- 
 lier and the Jacobins. These commimications excited 
 a deplorable commotion. In the haU of the assembly, 
 and in the galleries, decided symptoms of a resolution 
 to end the sitting in a general battle were manifested. 
 The right side, liowever, animated by the danger, in- 
 fused its own courage into the Plain ; and the conven- 
 tion resolved, by a considerable majority, that the 
 petition from Bordeaux was a model of patriotism, 
 quashed all revolutionary tribmials erected by lociil 
 authorities, and empowered citizens about to be 
 dragged before them to repel force by force. These 
 decisions at once inflamed the indignation of the 
 Mountain and the courage of the Girondists. On the 
 18th, exasperation seemed to have attained its utmost 
 bounds. The INIountain, weakened by the absence of 
 several of its members as commissioners in the de- 
 partments and the armies, exclaimed against oppres- 
 sion. Guadet thereupon claimed a hearing for an 
 historical application to actual circimistances, and 
 proceeded to prophesy the future destiny of parties 
 in an astounding manner. 
 
 " "Wlien in England," said he, " a generous majority 
 resisted the clamours of a factious minority, that mi- 
 nority exclaimed against oppression, and succeeded 
 with that cry in bringing the majority itself under 
 oppression. It called to its aid the patriots par excel- 
 lence. It was thus a deluded multitude was designated, 
 to which iiillage and a partition of lands were promised. 
 That incessant appeal by the minority to the patriots 
 par excellence, against the oppression of the majority, 
 provoked the outrage known under the name of the 
 purging of parUamenU an outrage of which Pride, who 
 from a butclier had become a colonel, was the author 
 and chief perpetrator. One hundred and fifty members 
 were driven from i)arliament, and the minority, com- 
 jjosed of fifty or sixty persons, remained master of the 
 state. What was the result? These patriots pa/- ^.r- 
 cellence, the lucre instruments of Cromwell, who made 
 them conunit folly after foUy, were expelled in their 
 turn. Their own crimes served as the pretext for 
 usurpation." 
 
 Tlicn (iuadet, pointing to the butcher Legendre, 
 Danton, Lacroix, and the other deputies accused of 
 profligacy and peculation, added — " Cromwell entered 
 the parliament one day, and addressing those same 
 members, who alone, according to their own state- 
 ments, wer(! competent to save the country, he drove 
 them forth, saying to one, thou art a thief; to another .
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 273 
 
 thou art a drunkard ; to a third, thou art gorged with 
 the public moneys ; to a fourth, thou art a frequenter 
 of harlots and evil places. Begone, therefore, said he 
 to them all, and give place to lionest men. They gave 
 place, and Crom-weU assumed it ! " 
 
 This striking and terrible allusion produced a pro- 
 found sensation in the assembly, which remained 
 Iniried m silence. Guadet continued ; and, in order 
 to avert this " Pride's purgQ," proposed various mea- 
 sures of police, which the convention adopted amidst 
 murmurs. But, whilst he was returning to his seat, 
 a scandalous scene occurred in the galleries. A woman 
 attempted to remove a man with the view of turning 
 him out of the hall ; she was seconded in her etforts 
 by those around lier, and the mifortunate person who 
 resisted the violence seemed about to be overwhelmed 
 by the whole population of the galleries. Tlie soldiers 
 on guard endeavoured in vain to restore order. j\Iarat 
 cried out at the pitch of his voice that the obnoxious 
 individual was an aristocrat. The deputies could not 
 restrain their indignation against ilarat for tliis wanton 
 attempt to increase the danger that already threatened 
 the man. He coolly responded that the people never 
 woidd be tranquil until they were delivered of aristo- 
 crats, of Dumouriez's accomplices, of statesmen, by 
 which latter title he usually designated the Girondists, 
 on accomit of their reputation for talent. 
 
 At this moment, tlie president Isnard uncovered, and 
 claimed attention to an important declaration. He 
 was heard with the greatest silence, and, in a tone of 
 deep emotion, he said, " I have had revealed to me a 
 project of England, which I deem it my duty to make 
 known. The design of Pitt is to amr one part of the 
 people against the other, by instigating insurrection. 
 This insiuTection is to commence Avith the women ; 
 the insurgents will mark out several deputies, will 
 massacre them, then dissolve the National Convention, 
 and that moment wiU be chosen to make a descent 
 upon our coasts. 
 
 Such is the declaration I owe to my country." 
 The majority applauded Isnard, ordered his decla- 
 ration to be printed, and moreover passed a resolution 
 tliat the members should not separate, but share all 
 their dangers in common. Explanations were then 
 demanded as to the tmnidt m the galleries. A state- 
 ment was made that the women who caused the dis- 
 turbances belonged to a society called " The Frater- 
 nity," that they were accustomed to occupy the hall, 
 exclude strangers and federalists from the departments, 
 and interrupt the debates by howls and hootings. This 
 accomit provoked allusions to popular societies in 
 general, which excited instant murmurs. Marat, who 
 iiad been continually moving up and down the corri- 
 dors and from one bench in tlie hall to another, with 
 the word " statesmen " incessantly on his tongue, here 
 drew towards one of the members of the right side, 
 and exclaimed, " Thou art one of them, but the people 
 will do justice on thee and the others." Guadet again 
 sprang to the tribime, to animate his colleagues to 
 fortitude and determination amidst this storm. He 
 adverted to all the troubles of wliich Paris Avas the 
 scene, the expressions used in the popular assemblies, 
 the frightful language held in the Jacobin Club, and 
 the designs indicated in the association convoked at 
 the toAvn-hall ; and he stated that the recent tumult 
 was merely intended to produce a pcene of confusion, 
 to afford an opportmiity for the premeditated assassi- 
 nations to be perpetrated. In spite of the interruptions 
 assailing him every instant, he succeeded in pitching 
 his voice above the din, and proposed two measm'cs of 
 heroic energv', but quite impracticable. 
 
 " The evil," said he, " is in the anarchical authorities 
 of Paris ; I therefore move you to cashier them, and 
 replace tlieni by the presidents of sections. 
 
 The convention being no longer free, it is expedient 
 to convoke another assembly elsewhere, and ordain 
 that the substitutes shall congregate at I3ourges, and 
 there hold themselves in readiness to constitute a con- 
 
 vention, on the first signal they shall receive from you, 
 or on the first intelligence of the dissolution of' the 
 existing convention." 
 
 A prodigious uproar followed the submission of 
 these two propositions. All the members of the right 
 side arose, exclaiming that they embraced the only 
 means of safety, and seemed to reverence the vigorous 
 genius of Guadet evmced in their discovery. The left 
 side likewise started on its feet, hurling menaces at its 
 adversaries, and exclaiming in its turn that the conspi- 
 racy was at length immasked, that the intriguers had 
 thrown otf all disguise, and that their schemes against 
 the imity of the republic were avowed. Dantoii at- 
 tempted to rush up the steps of the tribune, but he 
 was stopped, and its possession given to Barrere, who 
 appeared m the name of the committee of public wel 
 fare. 
 
 Barrere, with his insinuating address and concili- 
 atory tone, said that if he had been allowed to speak, 
 he would some da^'s earlier have revealed divers facts 
 concerning the state of France. He then reported that 
 a project was universally spoken of for dissolving the 
 convention ; that the president of his section had 
 gathered from the lips of the procurator Chaumette 
 Avords announcing the intention ; tliat at the Eveche, 
 and in an assembly at the town-hall, the same sub- 
 ject had been repeatedly discussed ; and that to focili- 
 tate the attainment of the object, it was jsroposed to 
 excite a timiult, chiefly through the instrumentality 
 of the women, and to carry off twenty-two heads under 
 fiivour of the confusion. He added, that the minister 
 for foreign affairs and the minister of the interior must 
 have obtained information upon this topic, which they 
 ought to be called upon to disclose. Then passing to 
 the proposed measures, Barrere stated he agreed in 
 opinion Avith Guadet as to the authorities of Paris ; 
 there, in fact, he found a feeble department, sections 
 acting as sovereign bodies, and a commune instigated 
 to monstrous abuses by its procurator Chaumette, a 
 renegade monk, and suspected like all the former 
 nobles and priests ; but at the same time he believed 
 the abrogation of these authorities Avould cause a state 
 of perfect anarchy. With regard to the meetmg of 
 substitutes at Bourges, it Avoidd not saA^e the conven- 
 tion, and could not supply its place. But there Avas, 
 according to his ideas, a mode of parrying aU the 
 dangers AvhercAvith they Avere encompassed, without 
 involving themselves in extreme inconveniences ; and 
 tiiis consisted in nommatmg a commission of tAveh'-e 
 members, empowered to examine and report the acts 
 of the commmie for the preceding month ; to investi- 
 gate the plots concocted m the interior of the republic, 
 and the designs formed against the national represen- 
 tation ; to take informations, AvhensoeA^er needful, from 
 aU the committees, ministers, and authorities ; and, 
 lasth% to adopt all necessary steps to secure the per- 
 sons of the conspirators. 
 
 The first gloAv of enthusiasm and courage having 
 cooled, the majority were too liappy to adopt the tem- 
 porising project of Barrere. Nothing Avas more usual 
 than to name commissions ; at every occurrence, at 
 every peril, at every Avant, a committee Avas created 
 to meet the contingency, and so soon as individuals 
 Avere nominated to perform a certain duty, the as- 
 sembly seemed to consider that the duty Avas executed, 
 and tliat committees Avould abundantly jiossess, Avhat 
 it ofttimes lacked, fortitude, knoAvledge, capacitA', and 
 vigour. The one appointed on the jiresent occasion 
 Avas not likely to be deficient in energy, since almost 
 all its members belonged to the right side. Amongst 
 others, it included Boj'er - Fonfrcdc, Kabaut Saint- 
 Etienne, Kervelcgan, and Henri Lariviere, all depu- 
 ties of the Gironde. But the very energy of this 
 committee Avas fated to be disastrous. Instituted Avith 
 the vicAv of shielding the convention from the designs 
 of the Jacobins, it only stimulated them the more, and 
 augmented the very danger it Avas intended to avert. 
 The Jacobins had menaced the Girondists with their
 
 274 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 clamours ; the Girondists retorted the threats by esta- 
 blishing a committee, and to this the Jacobins prepared 
 a rejoinder in the fatal catastrophe of the 31st May 
 and 2d June. 
 
 Scarcely was the commission voted before the po- 
 pular societies and tlic sections cried out, as usual, 
 against inquisitions and martial law. The association 
 of the town-hall, wliich stood adjourned to the 19th, 
 met pursuant to that adjournment, and nuistered 
 more numerously than before. The mayor, however, 
 did not appear, and a conmiissioner of police presided. 
 Several sections also refrained from participatinrr, the 
 number which sent delejiates not exceeding thirty- 
 five. The meeting assumed the title of the Central 
 Revolutionary Committee. The primary resolutions 
 passed were, to commit nothing to pajier, to keep no 
 registers, and to prevent all egress until the conclu- 
 sion of the sitting. It was then proposed to settle the 
 form of proceeding, in otiier words, to fix the objects 
 upon which attention should be directed. The real 
 and ostensible objects were the forced loan and the 
 lists of the suspected ; but from the commencement, 
 declamation turned upon the inability of the patriots 
 in the convention to save the commonwealtli, and 
 upon the necessity of invigorating tlieir power ; to 
 effect which desirable end it became an iinperative 
 duty to prosecute a diligent search for suspected cha- 
 racters, whether in the administrations, in the sec- 
 tions, or in the convention itself, and make a forcible 
 seizure of their persons, in order to put them beyond 
 the possibility of devising mischief. One member, 
 with a singularly cold and precise delivery, said that 
 he knew of no suspected persons save in the conven- 
 tion, and tliat it was in that quarter tlie blow must 
 be struck. With this preamble, he proposed a very 
 simple expedient, to wit, the abduction of the twenty- 
 two deputies, tlieir conveyance to a liouse in the 
 suburbs, their prompt and quiet massacre, and the 
 fabrication of letters to support the belief that they 
 had emigrated. " We will not do the thing ourselves," 
 subjoined this personage, " but by paj'ing, we sliaU 
 easily find performers." Another member immedi- 
 ately objected tliat this suggestion was impracticable, 
 and that thej' ought to wait until Marat and llobes- 
 pierre had developed tlieir measures of msurrection 
 at tlie Jacobin Club, as those, doubtless, would be 
 infinitely preferable. " Silence !" exclaimed several 
 voices; "mention no names!" A third member, a 
 delegate of the Section 92, ventured a remonstrance 
 against assassination, and reminded the meeting that 
 there were tribunals for judging the enemies of the 
 revolution. The greatest indignation was expressed 
 against these doctrines ; the meeting was thrown into 
 the utmost disorder, and vociferations arose that no 
 man should be endured who was not on a level with 
 the crisis, and that it was the bounden duty of every 
 patriot to denounce his neighbour if he distrusted his 
 energy. Without further ceremony, he who had thus 
 indiscreetly alluded to laws and courts of justice was 
 expelled the association. A moment afterwards, it 
 ■was discovered that a member of the section Prater- 
 nite, a section but ill disposed towards the Jacobins, 
 was taking notes, whereupon he was also thrust to 
 the door. The meeting then resumed its debate on 
 the proscription of the deputies, on the place suitable 
 for this " Septemfjrisatiun," and on the seizure and incar- 
 ceration of otlier suspected parties, both in the com- 
 mune and in tlie sections. A member strongly urged 
 that the execution should take jilace tliat night, and 
 to the objection tliat it was not possible, he replied, 
 that men were all ready ; adding, significantly, that 
 at twelve o'clock Coligny was at court, but at one was 
 a corpse. 
 
 Time, however, was elapsing, and the further dis- 
 cussion on these various topics was deferred till the 
 following day, when it was agreed to consider the 
 following matters : 1st, The abduction of the deputies ; 
 2d, The lists of suspected j and, 3d, The purification 
 
 of the pnbllc offices and committees. At six in the 
 evening, an adjournment to the morrow was moved 
 and carried. 
 
 On IMonday the 20th the association accordingly 
 met again. Pache was present on this occasion, and 
 several lists, containing names of all sorts, Avere pre- 
 sented to him. lie observed that they ought not to 
 be otherwise designated than as " lists of suspected," 
 which was legal, inasmuch as such lists were ordered. 
 Some delegates remarked that the handwriting of the 
 members ought not to be traceable, wherefore they 
 suggested the lists should be re-copied. Others de- 
 clared that republicans ought to fear nothing. Pache 
 intimated that it was of little importance whether he 
 were known to be intrusted with the lists in question, 
 since they concerned the police of Paris, with which 
 he was charged. The subtle and cautious charactei 
 of Pache was not behed in this instance ; he wished 
 to include all that was exacted from him Avithin the 
 limits of the law and his own functions. 
 
 A member, observing this precaution, remarked 
 that he seemed to be ignorant of what had passed at 
 the previous sitting, and of the questions set down 
 for discussion, which it behoved him to learn forth- 
 with ; and he therefore had to inform him that the 
 first on the list was the abduction of twenty-twe 
 deputies. Pache thereupon suggested that the persons 
 of all the deputies were confided to the city of Paris, 
 and that any attempt affecting their security might 
 compromise the capital Avith the departments and 
 provoke a civil war. He Avas then pertinently interro- 
 gated how it came to pass that he, the identical Pache. 
 had signed the petition presented on the 15th April, in 
 the name of the forty-eight sections of Paris, against 
 the twenty-two. Whereto he replied that he but per- 
 formed his duty in signing a petition intrusted to him 
 for presentation ; but at present the question was be- 
 yond the powers of the association, convened for the 
 specific matters of the loan and the suspected, and 
 that he Avould be obliged to break up the meeting if 
 the proposed discussion Avere persisted in. These 
 observations gaA'e rise to noisy symptoms of displea- 
 sure ; but as nothing could be done in the presence of 
 I'ache, and no one had any great taste for the compa- 
 riitively insipid occupation of Avriting out lists of sus- 
 pected, the members dispersed Avithout any &xed 
 adjournment. 
 
 On Tuesday the 21st the delegates who appeared 
 at the association scarcely exceeded a dozen. Some 
 Avere unwilling to attend so stormy and outrageous a 
 meeting .any longer, and others found that it did not 
 possess the expected facilities for energetic delibera- 
 tion. 
 
 The Cordelier Club Avas selected on the following 
 day as a fitter theatre for mibridled fury. Men and 
 Avomen mingled indiscriminately and uttered horrible 
 hoAvls. An instant insurrection AA'as demanded; and 
 Avhereas the sacrifice of tAventy-tAvo deputies noAv 
 seemed but a t.ame conclusion to tliese monsters, a 
 hecatomb of three hundred Avas Avildly insisted upon. 
 A Avoman, screaming with the impetuosity of her sex, 
 proposed to assemble all the citizens on tlie Place de 
 la Reunion, to proceed in a body Avith a petition to 
 tlie convention, and not quit the hall until they had 
 Avrnng from it aU the decrees indispensable to the 
 public Avelfare. Young Varlet, avIio for so long an 
 after period took a prominent part in every disturb- 
 ance, next submitted a scheme of insurrection digested 
 into several articles. It jiropounded a plan for march- 
 ing to the convention, bearing the Rights of Man 
 shrouded Avith a crape veil, seizing and carrying off 
 all the deputies Avho had belonged to the Constituent 
 and Legislative Assemblies, suppressing all the minis- 
 tries, destroying all that yet remained of the house of 
 Bourbon, &c. &c. Legendre eagerly superseded him 
 at the tribune to combat these propositions. All the 
 strength of his poAverful voice could scarcely rise above 
 the yells and shrieks Avhich assailed him, and he sue-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 275 
 
 ceeded with the g^reatest diiRculty in repelling the 
 inflannnatory motions of Yarlet. A fixed term for tlie 
 insurrection, however, was impatiently desired, or the 
 appointment of a day for repairing to the convention 
 and exacting from it all that was required ; but the 
 iiight being already far advanced, the crowd gradually 
 retired without any decision being taken. 
 
 All Paris was acqiminted with the language held, 
 both in the two meetings at the town-hall of the 19th 
 and 20th, and in the sitting of the Cordeliers of the 
 22d. Several members of the central revolutionarj' 
 committee had themselves denounced the expressions 
 used and the propositions submitted, and the rumour 
 of a plot against a numerous body of citizens and 
 deputies was universally diffused. The commission 
 of twelve was apprised of all the details, and prepared 
 to take measures against the authors of the most vio- 
 lent propositions. 
 
 The section of La Fraternite formally denounced 
 them on the 24th, in an address to the convention, 
 wherein it related all that had been said and done in 
 the meeting at the town-hall, and distinctly accused 
 the mayor of being present thereat. The right side 
 hailed witli applause this courageous denunciation, and 
 demanded that Pache shoidd be ordered to the bar. 
 Marat retorted that the members of the right side 
 were themselves the only conspirators ; that Valaze, 
 under whose roof they assembled every day, had ad- 
 vised them to take arms ; and that they had actually 
 attended the convention with pistols. " Yes," said 
 Valaze, " I gave that advice, because it had become 
 necessary to defend our lives, and we would assuredly 
 have defended them." All the members of the right 
 side energetically testified their acquiescence in the 
 sentiment. Lasource added a fact of the gravest im- 
 port, namely, that the conspirators, apparently under 
 the idea that the execution of the plot had been fixed 
 for the previous night, had visited his house to carry 
 him off. 
 
 At this moment it was intimated that the commis- 
 sion of twelve had obtained all the information neces- 
 sary to unmask tho plot and prosecute its contrivers, 
 and that a report would be presented from it on the 
 following day. In the mean time the convention re- 
 solved that the section of La Fraternite had deserved 
 well of the country. 
 
 On the evening of the same day, great abhorrence 
 was expressed in the municipality against the section. 
 of La Fraternite, for having, as was alleged, foully- 
 calumniated the maj'or and the patriots, by the sur- 
 mise that they designed to massacre the national re- 
 presentation. Forasmuch as the project had never 
 mounted beyond a proposition, repudiated too by the 
 mayor, Chaumette and the conunune deduced that it 
 was a mere calunmy to charge a real conspiracy. 
 Doubtless there was none in the strict sense of the 
 word ; it was not one of those plots deeply and secretly 
 liatched, as in the recesses of a palace, but nevertheless 
 it was such a conspiracy as the multitude of a large 
 city can form ; it was the first manifestation of those 
 popular moA'cments, tumultuously projected and tu- 
 multuouslj' executed by an infatuated mob, such as 
 the famous eras of tlie 14th July and lOth August had 
 ; witnessed. In this sense, it was unciucstionably an 
 i actual and veritable conspiracj'. But all attempts to 
 counteract such plots are unavailing, for they do not 
 surprise autliority slumbering in careless ignorance, 
 but" openly and in the face of day assail it Avhen ap- 
 prised and wakeful. 
 
 The following day, two other sections, those of the 
 Tuileries and the Butte-des-^Moulins, joined that of La 
 Fraternite in its denunciations. " If reason cannot 
 prevail," said the section Butte-des-Moulins, "make an 
 appeal to the good citizens of I'aris, and we take upon 
 ourselves to affirm in advance tliat our section will 
 powerfully co-operate in trampling to dust those dis- 
 guised royalists who insolently assume the title of sans- 
 culottes" At the same time, the mayor wrote to the 
 
 assembh', with an explanation of what had passed at 
 tlie town-hall. " There was no plot discussed," he 
 said, " but simply a deliberation held on the composi- 
 tion of the lists of suspected. Some wrong-heads had 
 indeed interrupted the deliberation by certain unrea- 
 sonable propositions, but he, Pache, had recalled the 
 disturbers to order, and these vagaries of the imagi- 
 nation had been attended with no result." This letter 
 from Pache was treated with contempt, and imdivided 
 attention given to the commission of twelve, which 
 came forward to submit a decree for general security. 
 This decree pi'oposed to place the national rejiresen- 
 tation and tlie establishments connected with the 
 pul)lic finances under the safeguard of the honest citi- 
 zens, and make it incumbent on all to repair, at the 
 signal of the drinn, to the place of meeting in use by 
 the company of each quarter, and thence march on 
 the first orders that should be given them. None might 
 fail at this rendezvous, and until the nomination of a 
 commander-in-chief in lieu of Santerre, destined for 
 La Vendee, the oldest legionary chief was to hold the 
 supreme command. The sectional assemblies were to 
 be closed at ten in the evening ; for the execution of 
 which regulation tlie presidents were made responsible. 
 This project of law was adopted without curtailment, 
 in spite of a strenuous opposition, and in particular of 
 Danton, who said that by thus putting the assembly 
 and the public establishments under the safeguard of 
 the citizens of I'aris, terror was proclaimed under 
 legislative sanction. 
 
 Immediately after procuring this decree, the com- 
 mission of twelve ordered the arrest of two admini- 
 strators of police, ilarino and Michel by name, accused 
 of having made tlie propositions in the meeting at the 
 town-hall which had caused so much alarm. More- 
 over, it directed the ai:)prebension of the substitute of 
 the procurator of the conmiune, Ilebert, who edited, 
 under the name of Pere Duc/ime, a paper even more 
 atrocious than that of Marat, and brought to the 
 level of the lowest rabble by the use of coarse and re- 
 volting language. In this journal Hebert openly pub- 
 lished Avliat IMarino and Michel were accused of having 
 verbally propounded at the town-hall. The commis- 
 sion thus deemed it necessary to proceed both against 
 those who proposed, and those who more directlj' insti- 
 gated, a fresh insurrection. Scarcely was the order of 
 arrest issued against Hebert, than he hastened to the 
 commune to proclaim his disaster, and to exhibit be- 
 fore the assembled council the warrant by which his 
 liberty was invaded. " It tore him," he said, " from 
 his functions, but he would yield obedience. The com 
 mune ought not to forget the oath it had taken to con- 
 sider itself assailed in the person of any of its members 
 He invoked not that oath for himself, as he was ready 
 to lay his head upon the block, but for his fellow-citi- 
 zens, menaced by a new slavery." Loud a]iplauses 
 greeted the speech of Hebert. Chaumette, the jirocu- 
 rator-general, embraced hiiU with transport, and the 
 president gave him tlie hug of fraternity on behalf of 
 the whole council. The sitting was declared perma- 
 nent until tidings were received from Ilebert. The 
 members were exliorted to carry consolation and suc- 
 cour to the wives and children of those who were or 
 miglit 1)0 detained under arrest. 
 
 The sitting being thus permanent, messengers were 
 dispatched every hour to the committee of twelve, to 
 gain intelligence of him, who was aflectedly described 
 as "tlie magistrate torn from his functions." At half- 
 past two in the morning, it transpired that he was 
 imdergoing an examination, and tliat \'arlet had been 
 likewise apprelicnded. At four, information arrived 
 that Ilebert had Ih-cii committed to tlie Abbey. An 
 hour afterwards, Chaumette appeared at tlie gates of 
 the prison, but failed to gain access to the captive. 
 The council-general forthwith drew up a petition to 
 the convention, and dispersed it by horsemen through 
 the different sections, in order to obtam their co-ope- 
 ration. Contention raged in almost all of those bodies
 
 276 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 motions and counter-motions were made every instant, 
 having for object to retain or change the committees 
 and presidents, to make or prevent ari-ests, to second 
 or oppose tlie system of tlie eonnnune, to sign or re- 
 ject tlie petition it proposed. At length, adoi)ted by 
 a great number of tlie sections, this petition was pre- 
 sented to the convention in the coiu-se of the 25t!i. 
 The deputation from the commune complained of the 
 calumnies propagated against the magistrates of the 
 people, and demanded tliat the petition of the section 
 La Fraternitc should be referred to the public accuser, 
 in order that the guilty, if any such there were, or the 
 slanderers, sliould receive condign punishment. It 
 furthermore prayed for justice upon the committee of 
 twelve, which had perpetrated a deplorable outrage 
 upon the person of a magistrate of the people, by 
 dragging him from the exercise of his functions and 
 shutting him up in the Abbey. Isuard presided upon 
 this occasion, and u])on liim devolved the duty of re- 
 plying to the deputation. 
 
 " Magistrates of the people," said he, in a solemn 
 and stern accent, " it is essential th;it j'ou learn cer- 
 tain important truths. France has confided her repre- 
 sentatives to the city of Paris, and it expects that they 
 are there in safety. K the national representation be 
 violated by one of those conspiracies wherewith we 
 liave been encompassed since the 10th March, and 
 whereof the magistrates have been the last to warn us, 
 I declare, iu the name of the republic, that Paris would 
 experience the vengeance of all France, and be erased 
 from the list of cities." 
 
 This solemn and emphatic rebuke created a pro- 
 found sensation in the assembly. Numerous voices 
 •lemanded its pubUcation. Danton objected that it 
 was calculated to aggravate the dissensions already 
 existing between Paris and the departments, and that 
 care should be taken how such a misfortune was pro- 
 moted. The convention, deeming that sufficient was 
 accomplislied by the commanding energy of the reply 
 and of the commission of twelve, passed to the order 
 of the day without ordaming the publication. 
 
 The deputies of the commune were accordingly dis- 
 missed from the bar without obtaining the smallest 
 satisfaction. The remainder of the 25th, and the whole 
 of the following day, Avere passed iu scenes of tumult 
 throughout all the sections. In every quarter desjie- 
 rate encounters prevailed, and the two opinions alter- 
 natively gained predoimnance, according to the hour 
 of the daj' and the varying number of the advocates 
 belonging to each faction. The commune continued 
 to send delegates to inquire into tlie condition of He- 
 bert. At one time he was found gently reposing, and 
 at another he had begged the eonnnune to dismiss all 
 inquietude on his accomit. A clamom-, nevertheless, 
 was raised that he slept on a miserable pallet. Some 
 of the sections took him under tlieir especial protec- 
 tion; others prepared to renew the demand for his 
 release, with a greater display of vigour than had becu 
 manifested by the municipality ; and, lastly, the 
 women, scouring the lanes and alleys with a banner, 
 endeavoured to stir up the people to assaU the Abbey 
 and deliver their beloved magistrate. 
 
 On the 27 th, the tumult was materially aggravated. 
 ]\Ien proceeded from one section to the other to over- 
 come opposition by actuid vitjlence. But in spite of 
 idl exertions, towards evening only twenty-eight sec- 
 tions had agreed to insist upon the enlargement of 
 Ilebert, and to draw up an imperative address to the 
 convention. The committee of twelve, perceiving the 
 disturbances in preparation, had notified to the com- 
 mander on duty a requisition for the armed force of 
 three sections, taking the precaution to designate 
 the sections Butte-des-Moulins, Lepelletier, and ]\Iail, 
 which were the most devoted to the right side, and 
 even ready to fight for it. These three sections 
 jjromptly responded to the summons, and about six 
 o'clock in the evening planted themselves in the courts 
 of the national palace, on the side of the Carrousel, 
 
 with arms and cannon, and holding matches ready 
 lighted. In this position they presented an imposing 
 aspect, sufiicieat to protect from outrage the national 
 representation. But the crowd pressing on their ranks 
 and about the different avenues of the palace, the 
 uproar and confusion every where prevailing, the 
 struggles of the deputies and others to reach the hall, 
 gave to the scene something of the ap^x^arance of a 
 siege. Severid deputies encountered not only great 
 obstacles, but even insults, amidst the populace in 
 their ])rogress to the doors, and filled the assembly 
 with dismay by assurances that it was completely 
 besieged. This was not exactly the case, however; 
 for if the doors were obstructed by a mob, they were 
 not closed against access or egress. But appearances 
 were sufficient to alarm excited imaginations, and the 
 assembly was thrown into the greatest confusion. 
 Isnard occupied the chair. The section of La Cite 
 appeared at the bar, and demanded the liberty of its 
 president, Dobsen, arrested by order of the commis- 
 sion of twelve for having refused to produce the 
 registers of his section. It furthermore solicited the 
 liljeration of the other prisoners, the suppression of 
 the committee of twelve, and the impeachment of the 
 members composing it. " The convention," replied 
 Isnard, "pardons your inexperience; hut it will never 
 permit itself to be overawed by any portion of the 
 people." The convention applauded the president's 
 answer. Robespierre, on the other hand, moved a 
 vote of censure. The right side strenuously opx)osed 
 it, and a violent contest ensued between the two 
 parties ; the noise within the hall, combined with that 
 outside, caused an astomiding tumult. 
 
 At this moment, the mayor and the minister of the 
 interior presented themselves at the bar, under the 
 beUef that the convention was besieged, according to 
 the rumour prevalent in Paris. At sight of the 
 minister of the interior, a general cry broke from the 
 assembly, demanding from him an account of the 
 state of Paris and of the environs of the hall. The 
 situation of Garat was embarrassing, in being thus 
 suddenly called upon to decide between the two 
 parties, a task for which he was not more imsuited by 
 the mildness of his character than by his political 
 scepticism. But tliis scepticism proceeding from 
 genuine dispassionateness, it had been fortunate for 
 aU at the moment if they coidd have calmly heard 
 and appreciated his words. In his speech he reverted 
 to the first causes of the existing disturbances. In his 
 opinion, the original mischief sprung from the report 
 disseminated concerning an association formed at the 
 town-luiU for the purpose of conspiring against the 
 national representation. He stated, in accordance with 
 the account of Pache, tluit the association in question 
 was not a meeting of conspirators, but a legal assem- 
 bly, convoked for a known and definite object; that 
 if, in the absence of the mayor, certain ardent cha- 
 racters had made culpable propositions, those propo- 
 sitions, indignantly repudiated when tlie mayor was 
 present, had been attended with no evil consequences, 
 and could by no possibility be tortured into evidences 
 of a regidar veritable plot ; and that the constitution 
 of the connnission of twelve for the prosecution of this 
 pretended plot, and the arrests it had ordered, had 
 become tlie causes of the present conmiotion. He said, 
 moreover, that he was unacquainted with Hebert; 
 that he had never received uny unfavourable com- 
 munications respecting him ; that he merely knew hhn 
 to be the author of a certain pnl)lication, despicable in 
 every sense, but most erroneously considered as dan- 
 gerous ; that the Constituent and Legislative Assem- 
 blies had always contenmed the detestable writings 
 circulated against them, and consequently the rigour 
 exercised against Ilebert doubtless appeared unusual 
 and probably vindictive; and, in fine, that the commis- 
 sion of twelve, although conijiosed of lioncst men and 
 excellent patriots, laboured under singular prejudice?, 
 and seemed too eager to gain a reputation for energy.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 These sentiments were loudly cheered by the left side 
 and the Mountain. Garat, subsequently adverting to 
 the existing state of things, maintained that the con- 
 vention was in no danger, and that the citizens sur- 
 rounding it were actuated by feelings of respect. At 
 these words, a deputy interrupted him, saying that he 
 
 . liad been insulted. '* That is possible," replied Garat ; 
 " I do not answer for what may liappen to a single 
 individual amidst a crowd containing men of aU 
 grades ; but let the Avhole convention appear at the 
 door, and I venture to pledge my responsibility that 
 the people will give way respectfully before it, acknow- 
 ledge its presence by marks of reverence, and listen 
 obediently to its voice." 
 
 Garat concluded by enforcing certain conciliatory 
 views, intimating at the same time, with all possible 
 delicacy, that by endeavom'ing to repress the violence 
 of the Jacobins, the risk or certainty of stUl further 
 exasperating them was incurred. Unquestionably 
 he was right ; by putting ourselves on the defensive 
 against a faction we irritate it the more, and pre- 
 cipitate the catastrophe ; but when a struggle is in- 
 evitable, must we submit without resistance ? The 
 Girondists were precisely in that predicament ; their 
 instituting the commission of twelve was an act of 
 imprudence, bi;t an vmavoidable and generous im- 
 prudence. 
 
 After finishing his speech, Garat courageously seated 
 himself on the right side, where tlie danger was re- 
 puted to lie, and the convention directed his report 
 to be printed and distributed. Paclie was heard after 
 Garat. He represented circumstances under pretty 
 nearly the same aspect, reporting tliat the assembly 
 was guarded by three devoted sections, summoned by 
 the committee of twelve itself, Avherein he intimated 
 that committee had transgressed its powers, inasmuch 
 as it had no authority to issue a requisition for the 
 armed force ; that a strong detachment had secured 
 the prison of the Abbey from any infraction of the 
 laws ; that all danger was dissipated, and that tlie as- 
 sembly might feel assured it was in perfect security. 
 In concluding, he begged that the convention would 
 graciously Usten to the citizens who solicited the libe- 
 ration of the prisoners. 
 
 At these words sounds of dissent escaped from the 
 ranks of the assembly. " It is ten o'clock," cried voices 
 on the right ; " president, break up the sitting." " No, 
 no." retorted voices on the left ; " hear the petitioners." 
 Henri Lariviere meanwhile scaled the tribune, and 
 insisted upon occupying it. " If you desire to hear 
 any one," said he, " you ought to hear your commis- 
 sion of twelve, whom you accuse of tyranny, and to 
 whom an opportunity for explaining its acts should 
 be allowed, so that you may justly appreciate them." 
 I^oud murmurs drowned his voice. Isnard, unable 
 longer to contend with disorder, vacated the chair, 
 and was replaced by Ilerault-Stchelles, whose assumj)- 
 tion drew vociferous cheers from tlie galleries. lie 
 proceeded to consult the assembly, winch, stupified ))y 
 noise and menaces, voted, amidst indescribable confu- 
 sion, that the sitting should be continued. 
 
 The demagogues were then introduced to the bar, 
 
 followed by a concourse of petitioners. They arrogantly 
 
 landed the suppression of an odious and tyrannical 
 
 nmission, the release of the arrested persons, and 
 
 lriiiiii/)h of virtue. "Citizens," replied ilerault- 
 
 jlles, " the force of reason and the force of the people 
 
 (ircxdentical." Extravagant joy was expressed at tlie 
 
 Bulgation of this preposterous dogma. " You claim 
 
 jnstie," he added; "justice is our first duty, and it 
 
 will |e gi-anted to you." 
 
 Otlier petitioners succeeded, and divers orators ad- 
 
 dres^d tlie convention. JCventually a decree Mas 
 
 whereby the citizens incarcerated by the 
 
 Itwelve were declared free, tlie connnis- 
 
 Bsolved, and its conduct referred to 
 
 lination of the committee of general safety. 
 
 time the/night was far advanced; tlie peti- 
 
 tioners had crowded forward and blocked up the hall. 
 The gloom, the shouts, the tumult, all combined to 
 render the scene one of inextricable confusion. The 
 decree was put to the vote, and declared to be passed, 
 without any possibility of knowing whether it were 
 really adopted or not. Some alleged that the presi- 
 dent had not been heard, others that the voters were 
 not in sufiicient number, and others, again, that the 
 petitioners had taken the places of absent deputies ; 
 in sliort, that the decree was null and void. It was, 
 nevertheless, proclaimed, and tlie galleries and the 
 petitioners forthwith dispersed, to carry to the com- 
 mune, the sections, the Jacobins, and the Cordeliers, 
 the joyful tidings that the prisoners were released, 
 and that the commission was superseded. 
 
 This intelligence diffused great joy amongst the 
 populace, and procured a momentary tranquillity in 
 Paris. Even the countenance of the mayor seemed 
 to beam with sincere delight at this cessation of the 
 troubles. The Girondists, however, determined to 
 contest the victory with their adversaries to the last 
 extremity, mustered on the following day with irre- 
 pressible indignation. Lanjuinais especially, who had 
 not shared the more egotistical rancour dividing the 
 two sides of the convention, and whose firm adlierence 
 to his party gave the less mnbrage, as no personal 
 animosity seemed to animate him, even he, Lanjuinais, 
 arrived burning Avith ardour and resolution to put ths 
 assembly to shame for its pusillanimity on the preced- 
 ing evening. The deputy Usselin had no sooner moved 
 that the decree be read over and definitively settled, 
 in order that the prisoners might be immediately 
 liberated, than Lanjuinais mounted the tribune, and 
 asked to be heard on an argument that the decree was 
 null and had not been passed. Violent exclamations 
 interrupted him from the left. " Grant me silence," said 
 he, " for I am determined to remain here until you 
 have listened to me." An objection was made to his 
 bemg heard upon any point save the wording of the 
 decree ; but after a doubtful appeal, it was decided he 
 should have the benefit of the doubt, and be allowed 
 to speak as he listed. He then entered into an expla- 
 nation of the question he purposed to discuss, admo- 
 nishing his hearers that it was one of the deepest im- 
 portance to the general welfare. 
 
 " More than fifty thousand citizens," said he, " have 
 been imjjrisoned in the whole of France by your dele- 
 gates ; they have made more arbitrary arrests in one 
 month than the old government in a century ; and you 
 complain of the apprehension of two or three men who 
 preach murder and anarchy at two sous the sheet! 
 Yoiu- delegates and proconsuls, who act i'ar from j'our 
 sight, you leave to act in this manner, whilst j'our com- 
 mittee, stationed by your side and under your imme- 
 diate superintendence, are distrusted and suppressed! 
 Last Sunday, a proposition was made at tlie Jacobin 
 Club to execute a massacre in I'aris, tiie same topic is 
 revived this evening at the Evechc ; j>roofs are sup- 
 plied to you, thrust before you, and you repel them ! — 
 you protect the men of blood ! " 
 
 Great commotion followed these words, and stifled 
 the voice of the speaker. " It is impossilile to delibe- 
 rate," exclaimed Chambon ; " we have no course left 
 but to retire into our deiiartments." " Your doors 
 are beset," remarked Lanjuinais. " It is false," 
 sliduted tiie left. "Yesterday," added Lanjuinais, 
 with all his force, "you were not free; you were 
 mastered by the apostles of murder." Ix'gendre, rais- 
 ing his voice from his seat, here said — " The object is 
 to make us lose the sitting. I declare that if Lanjui- 
 nais continue to tell lies, I will throw him from the 
 tribune." 
 
 At this .scandalous menace the assembly rose tumul- 
 tuoiisly, whilst the galleries jtcaled with boisterous 
 applause. Guadet instantly moved that the words of 
 Legendre should be taken down and inserted in the 
 votes, so that all France might be made acquainted 
 with them, and thus learn the treatment to which its 
 T
 
 278 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 deputies were exposed. Lanjuinais continuing, main- 
 tained that the decree of hist night had not been passed, 
 <is the petitioners had voted witli the deputies, or, if 
 it had been passed, that it ousht to be repealed, be- 
 cause tlie assembly was not free. " When you arc 
 free," said Lanjuinais, emphatically, " you do not vote 
 impunity to crnne." On the left it was affirmed that 
 Lanjuinais distorted the facts, that the petitioners had 
 not voted, but withdrawn into the corridors. On the 
 right this statement was met by a distinct negative ; 
 and, without coming to any agreement on the subject, 
 the repeal of the decree was put to the vote. By a 
 majority of fifty-one voices the decree was rescinded. 
 Whereupon Danton spoke : — " You have performed a 
 great act of justice, and I hope it will be repeated 
 before the close of the sitting ; but if the commission 
 you have just rc-installed preserve its tyranniciU 
 powers, if the magistrates of the people be not restored 
 to liberty and their functions, then I declare to you, 
 that having provcel how far we sm^iass our enemies 
 in prudence and moderation, we will prove that we sur- 
 pass them also in doUness and revolutionary vigour." The 
 provisional enlargement of the prisoners was subse- 
 quently propounded from the chair and carried unani- 
 mously. Kabaut Saint-Etienne desired to be heard 
 in the name of the commission of twelve, and even in- 
 voked attention in belialf of the public welfare ; but 
 all his endeavom-s were fruitless, and he concluded by 
 pronouncing his resignation. 
 
 The decree had been thus revoked ; and the majo- 
 rity, by returning to the right side, seemed to prove 
 that the left side prevailed in snatching decrees only 
 imder pressure and during moments of weakness. 
 Although the magistrates had been hberated, although 
 Hebert was restored to the commune, wliere lie was 
 cro^vned with civic wreaths, the repeal of the decree 
 nevertheless had aroused the fiercest passions, and the 
 storm, which for an instant appeared to be dispelled, 
 speedily gathered and burst more terriblj' than before. 
 
 That same da}', the association which had been held 
 at the to^vn-hall, but had refrained from assembling 
 there since the mayor had interdicted the so-styled 
 propositions of public welfare, was renewed at the 
 Eveche, in the electonU club, wliere certain electors 
 were in the occasional habit of resorting. It was com- 
 posed of delegates from the sections, chosen from the 
 committees of surveillance, and delegates from the 
 commune, the department, and the different clubs. 
 The women even were represented in it — out of five 
 hundred persons, one hundred bebig of the fair sex, 
 at the head of whom was a female famous for her 
 political zeal and her popular eloquence. On the first 
 day, envoys from only tlurty-six sections appeared at 
 this union -, twelve consequently had not deputed com- 
 missioners, and to tliese a new summons of convoca- 
 tion was addressed. A committee of six members was 
 subsequ,ently name<l, with instructions to consider and 
 report the next day upon measures of public welfare. 
 The delegates sejiarated after that preliminary pro- 
 ceeding, and adjourned the association till the morro^^', 
 the 29 th May. 
 
 In the evening the sections were all in commotion. 
 Notwithstanding the decree of llie convention ordain- 
 ing them to be closed at ten o'clock, they evaded the 
 regulation by constituting tliemselves at that hour 
 into patriotic societies, under which title they continued 
 their sitthigs until the early hour.s of the morning. In 
 some, new addresses were debated against the commis- 
 sion of twelve ; in others, i)etitions were voted to tlie 
 convention, requiring from it an explanation of those 
 words of Isnard — " Paris will be erased from the list 
 of cities." 
 
 At the commune, the principal events were a long 
 discourse by Chaumette on the obvious conspiracy 
 hatching against liberty, on tlie ministers, on the right 
 tide, and various similar toi)ics ; and the arrival of 
 Hebert, who related the particulars of his detention, 
 received a crown, wliich he placed on tlie bust of Jean- | 
 
 Jacques Rousseau, and then proceeded to his section, 
 accompanied by envoys from the commune, who car- 
 ried back in triumph the magistrate " wrested from 
 persecution." 
 
 The following day, the 29th, the convention re- 
 ceived afflicting intelligence from the two most impor- 
 tant military points, the North and La Vendee. The 
 army of the North had been repulsed between Bouchain 
 and Cambraj' ; Valenciennes and Cambray were cut ofl 
 from all communication. At Fontenaj- the repubhcan 
 troops had been completely beaten by M. de Lescure, 
 who had gained possession of Fontenay itself. These 
 untoward tidings spread the greatest consternation, 
 and rendered the situation of the moderate party stiU 
 more dangerous. The sections appeared successively 
 at the bar, bearing flags inscribed with these words — 
 " liesistance to oppression." Some demanded, as they 
 had resolved the night before, an explanation of 
 Isnard's words, whilst others declared that all other 
 inviolability save that of the people had ceased, where- 
 fore the deputies who had laboured to arm the depart- 
 ments against Paris ought to be forthwith put under 
 impeachment, the commission of twelve abrogated, a 
 revolutionary arin_v organised, &c. &.c. 
 
 The sitting held tliat day at the Jacobin Club was 
 not less ominous. That the moment had at length 
 arrived when the people must be saved, was tlie uni- 
 versal cry re-echoed through the hall ; and wheii a 
 member came forward to detail the measures to be 
 pursued, he was at once dismissed to the commission 
 of six, appointed at the central association. That, it 
 was remarked, was tlie body charged to provide for 
 all contingencies, and to consider of the means of pub- 
 lic safety. Legendre, essa3'ing to speak on the dangers 
 of the crisis, and on the necessity of exhausting legal 
 means before recurring to extreme expedients, was 
 hooted as a sleep-walker. Robespierre, avoiding any 
 explicit declarations, said that it was for the commune 
 to form an intimate union with the people; that, with 
 regard to himself, he was incapiUile of prescribing 
 measures of safety ; that such capacity indeed was not 
 given to a single individual, and much less to him 
 than to any other, exhausted as he was by four years 
 of revolutionary struggles, and consumed by a slow 
 and mortal fever. 
 
 These words of the tribune produced aU the effect 
 he desired, and were responded to with loud acclama- 
 tions. They sufficiently indicated that he resigned him- 
 self, like all besides, to what might be proposed by the 
 municipal authorities associated at the Eveche. That 
 assembly had again met, and, as on the previous occa- 
 sion, munerous females were present. The first sub- 
 ject attended to was to calm the fears of proprietors, 
 by swearing to respect property. It was respected on 
 the 14th July and the 10th August, said the advocates 
 of the oath ; and forthwith the pledge to respect it on 
 the .3 1st May was taken. After this proceeding had 
 been gone through, Dufoumy, a member of the com- 
 mittee of six, observed, that without a commander-in- 
 chief of the Parisian guard it was impossible to answer 
 for any resiUt, wherefore the commune must be re- 
 quested to nominate one immediately. A woman, the 
 celebrated Lacombe, catching up his words, strenu- 
 ously enforced the proposition, and declared that unless 
 prompt and vigorous measures were adopted, the sal- 
 vation of the people was in the greatest jeopardy. A 
 deputation was at once dispatched to the conunune, 
 which replied, after the maimer of Pache, that the 
 mode of nominating a commander-in-chief being fi.xed 
 by the decrees of the convention, and this mode pro- 
 hibiting it from taking the nomination upon itself, it 
 coidd, under the circumstances, merely indulge hopes 
 upon the subject. This rejoinder was an indirect 
 instigation to rank the appointment in question 
 amongst the number of those extraordinary measures 
 in behalf of public safety which it behoved the asso- 
 ciation to take. The meeting subsequently resolved 
 to invite all the cantons of the department to unit.-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 279 
 
 with it, and to send deputies to Versailles. A blind 
 confidence was demanded in the name of the six, and 
 a promise exacted to perform without examination all 
 they should propose. Strict silence was enjohied as 
 to every thing concerning the grand question of mea- 
 sures; and eventually an adjournment was carried to 
 nine the following morning, then to open a permanent 
 sitting intended to be decisive. 
 
 The commission of twelve had been apprised of all 
 that passed during the evening. The committee of 
 public welfare was equally well informed, and it more- 
 over suspected, according to a placard pubhshed that 
 day, that secret meetings were held at Chareuton, and 
 attended by Danton, Marat, and Robespierre. The 
 committee of public welfare, profiting by an interval 
 of absence on the part of Danton, ordered the minister 
 of the interior to prosecute the most diligent inquiries 
 into the existence of any such conclaves. Nothing 
 was discovered, and it soon became obvious that the 
 report was false. It would appear that all arrange- 
 ments were left to the central association at the town- 
 hall. Robespierre ardently desired a revolution so 
 manifestlj'^ directed against his enemies the Girondists, 
 but he had no need to compromise himself in provok- 
 ing it ; it was sufficient for him to withdraw the oppo- 
 sition which he had offered upon several occasions 
 during the month of May. And in this respect, his 
 speech at the Jacobins', in which he had said that the 
 commime ought to coalesce intimately with the people, 
 and devise expedients which he could never hope to 
 discover, was a veritable acquiescence in the insm'rec- 
 tion.* This indirect approval was quite enough, there 
 
 * The real dispositions of Robespierre, with regard to the 31st 
 Jlay, are manifest in the speeches he delivered at the Jacobin 
 Club, where much gi'eater freedom was allowed to the tongue than 
 in the convention, and where it was deemed quite imnecessary to 
 throw a veil over any plot in agitation. A few extracts from 
 what he said at different important periods, will exhibit the 
 march of his ideas touching the grand catastrophe of the 31st 
 Blay and 2d June. His speech on the pillage committed in the 
 month of February conveys the first indication. 
 
 SITTING OF THE 25TH FEBRUARY 1793. 
 
 Robespierre. — " As I have always loved humanity, but have 
 never stooped to flatter an individual, so shall I now speak the 
 truth. This is a cunning device imagined against tlie patriots 
 themselves. Intriguers are b^it upon ruining tlie patriots ; in the 
 lieart of the people burns a just feeling of indignation. I have 
 asserted, unsupported and amidst persecutions, that the people 
 iu-e never WTong ; I ventured to proclaim that axiom at a time 
 when it was not acknowledged ; the course of the revolution has 
 developed it. 
 
 The people have so repeatedly heard the law invoked by those 
 who wished to crush them beneath its yoke, that they naturally 
 distrust such language. 
 
 The people are distressed ; they have not yet gathered the fruit 
 of their labours ; they are still jiersecuted by the ricli, and the 
 rich are now what they always were, harsh and pitiless. (Ap- 
 plause.) The people behold the insolence of those who liave be- 
 trayed them ; they see wealth accumulated in their hands ; they 
 become insensible to the necessity of taking deliberate measures 
 to obtain their objects ; and when any spe.ak to them the language 
 of reason, they listen only to tiieir indignation against the riL-h, 
 and are tlnis easily led into false proceedings by those who win 
 their confidence in ordor to betray tliem. 
 
 There are two causes: the first, a natural disposition in the 
 people to seek the means of alleviating their miscrj' — a legitimate 
 disposition in itself ; the pco]iIc believe that, in default of protec- 
 tive laws, they have a riglit to guard their own interests. 
 
 The second cause : this originates in the designs of the enemies 
 of liberty, the enemies of the people, who are well convinced that 
 the only sure mode of subjecting us to foreign powers is to ahu'iii 
 the people upon the subject of food, and reiuler them the vietinis 
 of the excesses resulting from the panic. I liave been myself an 
 eyewitness of these man(cu\res. Uy the side of honest citizens 
 we have seen strangers and men of opulence dressed in the re- 
 spectable attire of WHi-fi/W^w. We liave heard tliem siiy, ' We 
 were promised plenty after flio deatli of the king, aud we are 
 more wretched since that unfortunate prince was taken from us.' 
 We have heard them declaim, not against tlie intriguing and 
 counter-revolutionary portion of the convention, whic'a sits 
 
 being sufficient zeal in the central club to dispense 
 with his active personal interference. As for Marat, 
 he favoured the movement by his journal, and by his 
 daily exhibitions in tlie convention ; but he was not a 
 member of the committee of six, upon whicli the real 
 bm-den of the insm-rection lay. The only one of the 
 three who mav be deemed a concealed mover of the 
 sedition is Danton, and even he is uncertain. There 
 is no doubt he wished for the abolition of the commis- 
 sion of twelve, but at the same time he was not dis- 
 posed to assail — as yet, at all events — the national re- 
 presentation. ]\Ieilhan, meeting hiiu, during the da}-, 
 at the committee of public welfare, accosted him, and 
 entered upon a friendly conversation with him for some 
 time, in the course of which he impressed upon him 
 the great distinction drawn by the Girondists between 
 him and Robespierre, and the high estiiuation in which 
 they held his powers, concluding Avith an assurance 
 that he might perform a distinguished part, by direct- 
 ing his influence to the promotion of the public good 
 and the support of honest men. Danton, whom these 
 words affected, hastily raised his head and said to 
 Meilhan, "Your Girondists have no confidence in 
 mc." Meilhan strove to remove the impression: " They 
 have no confidence," repeated Danton ; and he moved 
 away without permitting the conversation to be re- 
 sumed. This short expression distinctly reveals the 
 true ijropensities of the man. He despised tliat mu- 
 nicipal mob ; he had no inclination fur Robespierre or 
 ]\Iarat ; and he would have preferred putting himself 
 at the head of the Girondists, but " they had no con- 
 fidence in Mm." In truth, their principles and policy 
 
 where sat the aristocrats of the ConBtituent Assembly, but against 
 the deputation of Paris, against the Mountain, and against the 
 Jacobins, whom they represent as forestallers. 
 
 I do not tell you that the people are culpable ; I do not say that 
 their movements involve an outrage ; but when the people rise, 
 ought they not to have an object worthy of them ? And ought 
 paltry wares to occupy their attention? They have not even 
 profited by them, for the loaves of sugar were grasped by the 
 menials of aristocracy ; but, supposing they had reaped all the 
 profit, what inconveniences may not ensue in return for so miser- 
 able an advantage ? Our adversaries, be assured, are anxious tn 
 terrify all who have any property ; they are eager to persuade 
 that our system of equality and liberty is subversive of all order 
 and sejurity. 
 
 The people ought to rise, not for the purpose of obtaining sugar, 
 but in order to exterminate brigands. (Applause.) Is it neees- 
 s,iry to retrace your past perils ? You feared to become the prey 
 of Prussians and Austriaus ; tliere Wiis a negoti.ition, and those 
 who then made a traffic of your liberty are tlie same who have 
 excited the present troubles. I assert, in the presence of the 
 friends of libertj- and equality, and in the faceof tlie nation, that 
 during the month of Seiitember, after the affair of the 10th 
 August, it was decided at PiU-is that the Prussians should pene- 
 trate to Paris without obstacle." 
 
 SITTING OP WEDNESDAY 8tH MAY 1793. 
 
 Robgsplcrn: — " We have to struggle against foreign and domes- 
 tic war. The civil war is abetted by the enemies at home. The 
 army of L:i Vendee, the army of Hrittany, and th.' army of Co- 
 blentz, arc directed agaiiLst Paris, tliat citadel of freedom. People 
 of I'aris, tyrants take arms against you, because you are the most 
 estimable portion of humanity ; the great potentates of Huropo 
 are moveil against you, and all that Prance contains of corrup- 
 tionists second their etibrts. 
 
 After having discerned this vast plan of your enemies, it is but 
 an easy task to devise the means of defending yourselves. I have 
 not told you my secret ; 1 liave intimated it in the convention. 
 
 I will reveid this secret to you, and if it be possible that this 
 duty of a representative of a free iieoplo can be considered as a 
 crime, I am prepared to brave all dangers in order to confound 
 tyrants and save liberty. 
 
 I said this morning at the convention, tli.at the partisans of 
 Paris sliould marcli to oucoimter the niisercanta of La Vend<5e; 
 tliat they sliould take up on tlieir route tlieir brethren in the de- 
 partments ; and should exterminate all— ay, all the rebels at 
 or.co. 
 
 I s.iid that all the patriots ought to rise, and reduce to impotency 
 for miscliief botli the aristocrats of La Vendue and tlie ariiStocrafs 
 disguised under tlie visor of patriotism
 
 280 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 were distinct, and a coalition was scarcely possible. 
 Furthermore, Danton found, neither in their opinions 
 nor in their characters, the energy necessary to save 
 
 I said that tlie rebels of La Vendte had an army in Paris ; I 
 said that the generous and sublime people, who for five years have 
 supported the burden of the revolution, ought to take the neces- 
 sary precautions that our wives and children are not abandoned 
 to the counter-revolutionary knives of the enemies Paris contains 
 within its walls. No one has ventured to contest this principle. 
 Such measures are of pressing, imperative necessity. Patriots ! 
 hasten to the rencounter with the brigands of La Vendee ! They 
 are formidable only because the plan of disarming the people had 
 been adopted. Paris must send forth republican legions ; but 
 whilst we are making our internal enemies tremble, wo must take 
 care that our wives and children are not exposed to the fury of 
 the aristocracy. 
 
 I proposed two measures ; the first, that Paris should dispatch 
 two legions sutJicient to exterminate all the miscreants who have 
 presumed to raise the standard of revolt. I demanded that all 
 the aristocrats, all the Feuillants, all the moderates, should be 
 expelled from the sections tliey have infected with their foul 
 breath. I demanded that all suspected citizens should be placed 
 I under arrest ; and that the description of suspected citizen should 
 not be determined simply by that of noble, lawyer, financier, or 
 merchant. I demanded that all citizens who have given proofs 
 of incivism should be incarcerated until the war be terminated, 
 and until we assume an imposing attitude before our enemies. I 
 said that it was necessary to grant the people the means of fre- 
 quenting the sections without curtailing their means of existence, 
 and that, for this purpose, the convention should decree that 
 every artisan, living on his own labour, shall be paid during the 
 whole time he may be called upon to hold himself under arms to 
 protect the tranquillity of Paris. I demimded an appropriation of 
 the millions necessary for the manufacture of arms and pikes, so 
 that all the sans-culottes of Paris may be provided with weapons. 
 I demanded that foundries and forges should be erected in the 
 public thoroughfares, so that all the citizens might be witnesses 
 to the fidelity and activity of the workmen. I demanded that all 
 the public fimctionaries should be dismissed by the people. 
 
 I demanded that the municipality and the department of Paris, 
 which possess the confidence of the people, should cease to be 
 shackled. I demanded that the factious who are in the conven- 
 tion should cease to calumniate the people of Paris, and that the 
 journalists who pervert public opinion should be reduced to 
 silence. All these measures are necessary ; and, taking the whole 
 together, such is my acquittance of the debt I have contracted 
 towards the ])eoi)le. 
 
 I demanded that the people should make an effort to crush the 
 aristocrats, who are multiplied in every quarter. (Applause.) 
 
 I demanded that there should subsist in the heart of Paris an 
 army, not such an army as that of Pumouriez, but a popular 
 army, continually under arms, to overawe Feuillants and mode- 
 rates. This army ought to be composed of sans-culottes receiving 
 pay. I insisted upon millions being assigned to arm the artisans 
 — all the good patriots ; I insisted uixin their occupying all tlie 
 posts, so that before their imjiosing majesty all aristocrats may 
 sicken and turn pale. 
 
 1 move that from to-morrow forges shall be erected on the pub- 
 lie places, where arms m.ay be fabricated for the people. I move 
 that the executive council shall be charged to execute these mea- 
 sures upon its own responsibility. If there be any who resist, if 
 there be any who favour the enemies of liberty, to-morrow must 
 they be scattered before the wind. 
 
 I move that the constituted authorities be charged to superin- 
 tend the execution of these measures ; and let them not forget 
 they are the mandatories of a city wliich is the bulwark of liberty, 
 and whose existence renders a counter-revolution impossible. 
 
 In this moment of crisis, duty calls upon all patriots to save ; 
 the country by the most inexorable measures ; if j'ou sufl'er the j 
 patriots to be slauglitered in detail, all that the earth holds vir- I 
 tuous will be destroyed : it is for you to say whether you will save 
 the human race. 
 
 (All the members rose by a simultaneous movement, and ' 
 shouted, waving their hats in the air, ' Yes, yes ! we will, we i 
 will!') 
 
 All the miscreants in the world have formed their plans, and ' 
 all the defenders of liberty are marked out for victims. i 
 
 Vour glory and your happiness are brought into jeopardy, but j 
 it is not on that account alone I conjiu'e you to watcli over the 
 welfare of the country. You imagine, perhaps, tliat ynu ouglit 
 to revolt, ouglit to assume tlie appearance of insurrection ; not 
 at all : it is with the law in your hands that all our enemies must 
 be crushed. 
 
 the reA'olution, the gra'id object he looked to in all his 
 actions. Indifferent as to persons, he sought to pro- 
 mote that party, of the two dividing the convention, 
 
 It is with arrant impudence that the faithless mandatories 
 have laboured to separate tlie people of I'aris from the depart- 
 ments, and the people of the galleries from the people of Paris, a.s 
 if it were our especial fault, who have made all possible sacrifices 
 to extend our galleries for the whole people of Paris. I say tliat 
 I speak to all the people of Paris ; and if they were actually as- 
 sembled imder this roof, if they he;ird me plead their cause against 
 Buzot and Barbaioux, there is no question tliey would range 
 themselves on my side. 
 
 Citizens, the dangers are exaggerated ; we are scared with 
 foreign armies joined to the rebels of the interior : but what can 
 tlieir efforts avail against millions of intrepid sans-culottes ? And , 
 if you pursue the inquiry, as one free man is equal to a hundred 
 slaves, you ought to estimate your strength as superior to all the 
 allied powers. 
 
 You possess in the laws all that is necessary to enable you 
 legally to put down your enemies. You have aristocrats in the 
 sections : expel them. You have liberty to save : proclaim the 
 rights of liberty, and put forth all your energy. You have an 
 immense population of sans-culottes, most pure and vigorous, 
 but they cannot quit tlicir labours : let them be supported by tlie 
 ricli. You have a National Convention ; it is very possible that 
 all the members of that convention are not equally friends of 
 liberty and equality, but the greater number are determined to 
 uphold the rights of the people and save tlie republic. The gan 
 grened portion of the convention will not prevent tlie people from 
 combating the aristocrats. Do you imagine, in fact, that the 
 Mountain of the convention will lack sufficient force to curb all 
 the partisans of Dumouriez, Orleans, and Cobourg ? In sooih, 
 you cannot believe it. 
 
 If liberty succumb, it will be less the fault of the delegates than 
 of the sovereign. People, forget not that your destiny is in your 
 own hands ; your duty is to save Paris and humanity ; if you fail 
 in doing so, you are culpable. 
 
 The Mountain has need of the people ; the people are upheld by 
 the Mountain. All possible expedients are resorted to for alarm- 
 ing you ; constant endeavours are made to impress you with the 
 belief that the southern departments are the enemies of the Jaco- 
 bins. I declare to you that Marseilles is the eternal friend of tlie 
 Blountain, and at Lyons the patriots have gained a complete vic- 
 tory. 
 
 I now sum up and move — 1st, That the sections raise an army 
 sufficient to form the nucleus of a revolutionary army to gather 
 in its course all the sans-culottes of the departments, in order to 
 exterminate the rebels ; 2d, That an army of sans-culottes be 
 raised at Paris to keep the aristocrats in check ; .Id, That d;mger- 
 ous intriguers, all ai'istoorats, shall be put under arrest ; that tlie 
 sans-culottes shall be paid at the charge of the public exchequer, 
 which shall be sustained by the rich, and that this measure be 
 extended over the whole republic. 
 I move that forges be established on all the public places. 
 I demand that the commune of Paris foster with all its power 
 the revolutionary zeal of the people of Paris. 
 
 I demand that the revolutionary tribunal do its duty, and 
 punish tliose who, during these latter days, have blasphemed 
 agiiinst the republic. 
 
 I dem.and that this tribunal delay not to inflict exemplary chas- 
 tisement upon certain genends taken in flagnint crime, and who 
 ouglit to be brought to trial. 
 
 I demand that the sections of Paris unite with the commune 
 of Paris, and counteract by their joint influence the perfidious 
 WTitings of journalists subsidised by foreign potentates. 
 
 Hy pursuing aU these measures, without furnishing any pretext 
 for tlie ch;irge that you have violated the laws, you will give ;m 
 impulse to the departments, which wiU coalesce with you to save 
 liberty." 
 
 SITTIN'G OF SUNDAY ]2tH MAY 170.3. 
 
 Rohespierre. — " 1 have never been able to comprehend how it 
 happens that, in critical moments, so many men are found to 
 make propositions which compromise the friends of liberty, whilst 
 no one supports those which tend to save the republic. TTntil it 
 has been proved to me that it is not necessary to arm the sans- 
 culottes, that it is not advisable to pay them for mounting guard 
 and a.ssuring the tranquillity of Paris ; until it has been proved to 
 me that it is not advisable to convert our thoroughfares into 
 workshops for the fabrication of anns, I will uphold and assert 
 that those who, thrusting those measures aside, propose to you 
 mere partial measures, howsoex'er violent they may be, under- 
 stand nothing of the means of saving the country ; for it is only
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 281 
 
 which promised to impart to the revolution tlie most 
 sure and rapid progress. Master of the Cordehers and 
 the committee of six, it may be fau'ly presumed he 
 took an influential jjart in the movement mider pre- 
 paration ; and it would seem his main and primary 
 design was to annul the commission of twelve, reserv- 
 ing for after consideration the course to be pursued 
 with regard to the Girondists. 
 
 At length the scheme of insurrection was settled in 
 the minds of the plotters at the central revolutionary 
 club. According to their own expressions, they de- 
 signed to make, not a physical, but an entirely moral 
 insurrection ; to respect persons and property ; in short, 
 to violate the laws and the liberty of the convention 
 with the greatest order. Theh" plan was to constitute 
 the commmie in a state of insurrection ; to summon 
 in its name all the armed force which it had the 
 privilege of calling out ; to surround the convention, 
 and then present to it an address, which m appear- 
 ance would be simply a petition, but in reality an 
 imperious command. In fact, they proposed to beg 
 s^\ord in hand. 
 
 On Thursday the 30th the delegates of the sections 
 assembled at the Evechc, and formed what they called 
 the Republican Union. Invested with full powers from 
 all the sections, they declared themselves in insur- 
 rection for the safety of the commonwealth, menaced 
 by an aristocratic and liberty-oppressing faction. The 
 mayor, adliering to his usual policy, ventm'ed certain 
 expostulations upon the tendency of the resolution, 
 oflered to its adoption a faint opposition, and even- 
 tually succumbed to the insurgents, who ordered liim 
 to repair to the commmie and announce the decision 
 they had just taken. It was afterwards determined 
 tliat the forty -eight sections should be assembled in 
 the course of the day, to express their sentiments on 
 the insurrection, and that immediately thereafter the 
 
 after exhausting all the measures which do not compromise the 
 society, that recourse ought to be had to extreme measures, 
 which measures, again, ought not to be proposed within a society 
 claiming to be wise and enlightened. It is not a moment of tran- 
 sitory efl'ervesoence that can save tlie country. We have for ene- 
 mies the most dexterous and subtle of men, who have at their 
 disposal all the treasures of the state. 
 
 The measures that have been proposed have had and can have 
 no result ; they have served only to foster calumny, to furnish 
 pretexts for journalists to represent us under tlie most odious 
 colours. 
 
 AATien men neglect the first means that reason points out, and 
 without which the public welfare cannot be accomplished, it is 
 evident they are not in the right path. I will say no more ; but 
 I declare that I protest against aU means which tend only to com- 
 promise the club without advancing the public welfare. Such is 
 my profession of faith : the people will always be in a condition 
 to eradicate aristocracy ; it is merely requisite that the club 
 should avoid gross blunders. 
 
 When I see men uselessly striving to make enemies to the 
 society, and encouraging the miscreants who desire its destruc- 
 tion, I am tempted to believe they are either blind or ill-inten- 
 tioned. 
 
 I propose that the society adhere to the measures I suggested, 
 and 1 look upon all as in the highest degree culpable who do not 
 aid their execution. How can such measures be objected to? 
 How can their necessity be unappreciated ? And if it be appre- 
 ciated, how hesitate to support them and ensure their adoption ? 
 I propose to the society to hear a discussion upon the principles of 
 the constitution preparing for France ; for it behoves us to em- 
 brace all the plans of our enemies. If the society can unmask 
 the macliiavclism of its foes, it will not have lost time. 1 there- 
 fore move that, discarding the unsuitable propositions, the club 
 permits me to read to it my thoughts on the constitution." 
 
 SITTING OK srNDAv 26th mav 17!*.3. 
 Robespierre. — " I told you that the people ought to rest upon 
 their might; but when the people are oppressed, when no re- 
 source 1» left them but tliemselvcs, he would be a poltroon who 
 did not advise them to rise. It is when iUl the laws are vioUited, 
 when despotism is at its climax, when good faith and decency 
 axe trodden under foot, that the people are called into insurrec- 
 Uon. That ir-^nient is arrived; our enemios oi)enly oppress the 
 
 tocsin should be rung, the barriers closed, and the 
 tattoo beaten in all the streets. The sections were 
 accordingly collected, and the day passed in gathering 
 their stormy sanction of the insurrection. The com- 
 mittee of public ■welfare, and the commission of twelve, 
 called the authorities before them to obtain informa- 
 tion. The ma3'or communicated, with apparent regret, 
 the plan fixed at the Evechc. L'Huillier, procuriitor- 
 syndic of the department, avowed openly and with 
 calm assurance the scheme of an insurrection purely 
 moral, and then placidly withdrew to his colleagues. " 
 Thus the hours of daylight were consimied, and as 
 soon as darkness began to overshadow the city, the 
 tattoo reverberated tlirough all the streets, the barriers 
 were shut, the tocsin rang with its ominous knell, and 
 the terrified citizens asked themselves wliether fresh 
 massacres were about to drench the capital in blood. 
 AH the deputies of the Gironde, and the threatened 
 ministers, passed the night out of their own dwellings, 
 lloland concealed himself in the house of a friend ; 
 Buzot, Loiivet, Barbaroux, Guadet, Bergoing, and 
 llabaut Saint-Etienne, barricaded themselves Avithin 
 a secluded apartment, well provided with arms, and 
 readj^, in case of an attack, to defend their lives to 
 the last gasp. At five in the morning they left their 
 retreat for the convention, where, under favour of the 
 breaking day, several members, summoned by the 
 tocsin, had earlier assembled. Their arras, hangmg 
 visibly to the eye, secm'ed them from molestation on 
 the part of the various groups they traversed, and 
 they reached the convention in safety, finding several 
 Moimtaiueers already in their places, and Danton 
 engaged in conversation with Garat. " See," said 
 Louvet to Guadet, " what a horrible hope sparkles 
 on those countenances !" " Yes," replied Guadet, " it 
 is to-day that Clodius exiles Cicero." And Garat. 
 apparently surprised to meet Danton so early at the 
 
 patriots ; they are labouring, in the name of the law, to replunge 
 the people into misery and slavery. I will never be the friend of 
 those corrupt men, whatever treasures they may offer me. I 
 prefer to die with republicans rather than triumph with mis- 
 creants. (Applause.) 
 
 I am acquainted with but two modes of existence for a nation ; 
 either it governs itself or confides that care to its mandatories. 
 We, the republican deputies, wish to establish the government 
 of the people through their delegates, with responsibility ; it is 
 upon these principles that our opinions are based, but most fre- 
 quently we claim in vain to be heai'd. A rapid signal, given by 
 the president, deprives us of the right of sufirage. I hold that the 
 sovereignty of the people is violated, when then- mandiitories give 
 to their own creatures the oflices belonging to the people. Ac- 
 cording to these principles, I am grievously concerned" 
 
 (The speaker is interrupted by the i^nnouncement of a deputa- 
 tion—tumult.) " I continue my speech," exclaimed Robespierre, 
 " not for those who interrupt me, but for the republicans. 
 
 I exhort every citizen to be steadfast in the feeling of his 
 right ; I admonish him to rely on his owai strength and on that 
 of the whole nation ; I invite the people to put themselves in 
 insurrection, in the National Convention, against all the corrupt 
 deputies, (.\pplausc.) I declare, that having received from the 
 people the privilege of defending their rights, I regard as my op- 
 pressor him who interrupts nio or refuses me a liearing ; and I 
 declare, that I myself, alone, will put mjself in insurrection 
 against the i)residont, and against all the niombers who sit in the 
 convention, (.\pplausc.) When a criminal scorn is affected for 
 the sans-culottcs, I declare that I put myself in insurrection 
 against the corrupt deputies. I invite all the Jlountaineer depu- 
 ties to rally and oppose the aiMstoeraey ; luid I say there is for theni 
 hot one alteniative, either to resist with all tlieir strength, with 
 all their power, the cflbrts of intrigue, or to give in their resigna- 
 tions. 
 
 It is necessary, at the same time, that the French people un- 
 derstand their rights ; for the faithful deputies can efl'ect nothing 
 without liberty of speech. 
 
 If treachery call the foreign enemies into the heart of France ; 
 if, when our artillerj'nien hold in their hands the thimder which 
 ought to scatter the tyrants and their satellites, we see the enemy 
 approach our walls, then I declare I will myself chastise the 
 traitoi-s ; .and I give w;iming I shall consider every conspirator ii3 
 my persnniil enemy, and treat him as such." (Loud cheers.)
 
 282 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 assemWy, stood observ'injif him with attention. " Why 
 all this noise ?" he asked ; " what do they want ?" 
 " It will be nothing," answered Danton, coolly ; " they 
 must he allowed to break a few presses, and then si-nt 
 home." Twenty-eight deputies were present. Fer- 
 mont occupied the chair for the moment, and Guadet 
 boldly seated himself as secretary. The number of 
 deputies gradually increased, and the opening of the 
 sitting was impatiently awaited. 
 
 During this interval, the insurrection was consum- 
 mated at the connnune. Tlie members of the central 
 revolutionary connnittee, having at their head the 
 president Dobsen, presented themselves at the town- 
 hall, furnished with full revolutionary powers. Dobsen 
 advanced, and made known to the council-general that 
 the people of Paris, assailed in tlieir rights, ai>peared 
 there to abrogate all the constituted authorities. Tlie 
 vice-president of the council requested to know tlie 
 ])owers of the committee. He examined tlieni, and 
 rindingthem to contain resolutions adopted b}- thirty- 
 three sections, he declared that the majority of the 
 sections annulled the constituted authorities. In con- 
 sequence, the council-general and its officers retired. 
 1 )obsen and the delegates took the vacant places, amidst 
 shouts of "Long live the republic!" He forthwith 
 addressed the new assembly, and proposed to reinstate 
 the municipality and council-general in their func- 
 tions, inasmuch as both tlie one and the otlicr had 
 nlways discharged their duties towards the people. 
 'I"he motion met with a favourable reception, and the 
 firmer municipality, together with the former coun- 
 cil-general, was speedily reinstalled amid boisterous 
 applause. These pretended formalities were simply 
 designed to renovate the nnuncipal powers, or in other 
 words, to render them illimitable, and sufficient for the 
 exigencies of insurrection. Tlie next step was to no- 
 minate a. new provisional commander-in-chief; and the 
 clioice fell upon Ilenriot, a brutal personage, but de- 
 voted to the commune, and already commander of the 
 battalion of saus-culottes. In order to ensure the aid 
 of the populace, and keep them vmder arms during the 
 period of conmioticm, a resolution was passed that forty 
 sous a-day should be allowed to all poor citizens on 
 service, which forty sous shoidd be immediately taken 
 from the i)roduce of the forced loan, in eflect, from tlie 
 rich. This was a certain mode of calling to the aid of 
 the commune, and rousing against the bourgeoisie of 
 the sections, all the workmen who preferred gaming 
 forty sous by participating in revolutionary move- 
 ments, to earning thirty by attending to their accus- 
 tomed labours. 
 
 Whilst these proceedings passed at the commune, 
 the citizens of the capital poured forth at the sound of 
 the tocsin, and gathered in arms around the banner 
 planted at the door of each captain of a section. Many 
 were uncertain as to the liglit in which they ought to 
 view the intended movement, and several were even 
 ignorant of the measures taken ui the sections and the 
 connnune during tlie previous evening, and asked with 
 surprise the reason tliey were called out. But in tliis 
 state of mind they were unfit to act of tliemselves or 
 oppose what might be done contrary to their feelings ; 
 and thus they were made, although disapproving of 
 the insurrection, to aid it by their presence. Upwards 
 of 80,000 men tmder arms traversed Paris in the 
 greatest quietness, and permitted themselves to be led 
 with perfect docility by the audacious autliority which 
 had usurped the command. The sections Butte-des- 
 Moulins, Mail, and Champs-Elyseos, alone, having 
 long before declared against the commune and the 
 Jlountain, and being somewhat encom-aged by the 
 energy of the Girondists, in wliose dangers they shared, 
 were prepared to resist. The.y liad assembled in arms, 
 and awaited events in the attitude of men threatened, 
 and ready to defend themselves. The Jacobins, the 
 sans-culottes, alarmed at these dispositions, and exag- 
 gerating them in tlieir terror, rusliud through the Fau- 
 bourg iJaint-Antoine, vociferating that these malecon- 
 
 tent sections were about to mount the white cockade, 
 and that the patriots were required in the centre of 
 Paris to crush an outbreak of the royalists. The better 
 to stimulate a general agitation, it had been determined 
 to fire the alarin-gun. That piece was planted on the 
 Pont-Neuf, and the penalty of death was adjudged 
 against him who should rashly discharge it without a 
 decree of the convention. Henriot had issued orders 
 to fire it, but the captain of the post had refused obe- 
 dience, and insisted upon a decree. But the messen- 
 gers from Ilenriot had returned in force, overcome the 
 oppositi(m of the post, and at this moment the roar of 
 the alarm-gun was added to the din of the tocsin and 
 tattoo. 
 
 The convention, partially assembled since the dawn, 
 as we have seen, had immediately upon its fonnation 
 summoned all the authorities before it to report on the 
 situation of Paris. Garat, present in tlie hall, and 
 absorl)ed in scanning Danton, first appeared at the 
 tribune, and related what every one knew, to wit, 
 that an assembly had been held at the Eveche, which 
 demanded reparation for the injuries heaped upon 
 Paris, and the abolition of the commission of twelve. 
 Garat had scarcely ceased speaking when the members 
 of the new institution, describing themselves as " The 
 administration of the department of the Seine," ap- 
 peared at the bar, and declared that the affair in pro- 
 gress vras simply an insurrection piireh/ moral, liaA'ing 
 for its object to vindicate tlie city of Paris from the 
 calumnies propagated against it. They added, that 
 the most exemplary order was observed ; that each 
 citizen had sworn to respect persons and property; 
 that the armed sections traversed the town in peace 
 and quietness ; and that all the united authorities 
 would come during the day to announce their profes- 
 sion of faith and their demands to the convention. 
 
 The president Mallarme then communicated a letter 
 from the captain of the post on the Pont-Neuf, detail- 
 ing the contest that had occurred on the seizure of the 
 alarm-gun. Dufriche-Valaze thereupon moved that 
 an inquiry be instituted as to the original movers of 
 the eoniraotion, that the persons guilty of sounding 
 the tocsin be sought out, and that an order of arrest 
 be issued against tlie eomniander-in-chief,,for his au- 
 dacity in firing the alarm-gun without a decree of tlie 
 convention. At this motion, the galleries and the left 
 side raised the boisterous shouts it was but natural to 
 expect. Valaze was not discouraged : he said they 
 would not lead him to forfeit his character ; that he 
 was tlie representative of twenty-five millions of men, 
 and that he would fearlessly discharge his duty to the 
 end. lie concluded by proposing tliat the assembly 
 shoidd forthwith grant a hearing to the so much re- 
 viled commission of twelve, and give heed to its report, 
 for the occurrences then passing were a sufficient proof 
 of the plots it had incessantly denounced. Thuriot 
 rose to answer Valaze, whereupon the bitter feelings 
 hitherto suiipressed burst forth, and the storm began 
 to rage. ]\iathieu and Cambon attempted to interfere 
 as mediators ; they exhorted the galleries to sOence, 
 the orators of the right side to moderation, and aU 
 parties to the reflection that at this critical moment a 
 contest in the capital would be fatal to the cause of 
 the revolution ; and they moreover admonished the 
 convention that tranquillity was the only mode of 
 niaintaiiiing its dignity, ;ind that dignity again was 
 its only instrument to enforce respect from the ill- 
 disposed. Vergniaud, inclined hke Mathieu and Cam- 
 bon to employ conciliatory means, said that he likewise 
 viewed as fatal to liberty and the revolution the im- 
 pending contest ; he consequently refrained from re- 
 l)roaching Thuriot, save gently, for having augmented 
 the danger of tlie commission of twelve, by describing 
 it as the pest of France, at a period when all the popu- 
 lar passions were roused against it. lie held it ought 
 to be dissolved if it had committed arbitrary acts, but 
 allowed a hearing in tlie first place ; and as its report 
 would inevitably be of a nature to excite animosities
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 28J 
 
 lie proposed tliat both its perusal and the discussion 
 consequent thereupon should be postponed to a less 
 irritable moment. That was, as he insisted, the only 
 ■way to maintain the dignity of the assemblj^, and de- 
 monstrate its freedom. Its imnjcdiate object ought 
 to be, above all things, to ascertain who had given 
 orders to ring the tocsin and fire the alarm-gun, which 
 necessarily implied the obligation to call the provi- 
 sional commander-in-chief to the bar. " I repeat to 
 you," exclaimed Vergniaud, in conclusion, " that what- 
 ever may be the issue of the combat which threatens 
 this day to be fought, it will lead to the loss of liberty; 
 let us therefore swear to remain steadfast to our duty, 
 and all die at om^ post rather than abandon the com- 
 monwealth." 
 
 The members instantly rose with acclamations, and 
 took the oath proposed by Vergniaud. The debate 
 then turned upon the motion to summon the com- 
 mander-in-chief to the bar. Danton, upon whom all 
 eyes were fixed at this moment, both Girondists and 
 Momitaineers seeming to ask him whether he Avere 
 indeed the author of the day's events, appeared in the 
 tribune, and immediately obtained profound attention. 
 " The act of primary importance," said he, " is to 
 suppress the commission of twelve. This is of infi- 
 nitely greater consequence than ordering the com- 
 mander-in-chief to the bar. I speak to men gifted 
 with certain political endowments. To summon Hen- 
 riot will have no efi^ect on the state of things ; for it 
 is not the instrument but the cause of the troubles it 
 behoves you to deal with. Now, the cause is this 
 commission of twelve. I do not pretend to judge its 
 conduct or its acts : it is not as having ordered arbi- 
 trary arrests that I attack it ; I ask you to suppress 
 it as vnpolilical." 
 
 " Unpolitical !" cried the right side ; " we do not 
 understand that." 
 
 "You do not miderstand the expression?" resumed 
 Danton ; " it must be explained to you, then. This 
 commission was instituted merely to repress the po- 
 pidar energy ; it was conceived oidy in that spirit of 
 moderatism which will ruin the revolution and France. 
 It has ajjplied itself to assailing energetic magistrates, 
 whose only faidt was stinmlating the ardour of the 
 people. I also refrain from considering whether it 
 has yielded to personal antipathies in its attacks ; but 
 this is certain, it has exhibited dispositions Mhieh it 
 is incumbent on us to condemn. You yourselves, 
 upon the report of your minister of the interior, whose 
 character is so mild, his judgment so impartial and 
 enlightened, have liberated men whom the connnission 
 of twelve had confined. What, then, is your opinion 
 of the commission itself, since you abrogate its acts ? 
 The cannon has sounded, the i)eople have arisen ; but 
 ■we ought to thank the people for their energy, in the 
 name of that very cause we defend ; and, if you be 
 political leyislalorx, you will yourselves applaud their 
 ardoiu", reform yom* own errors, and aljolish your 
 commission. I address myself, I repeat, only to those 
 men who have some comprehension of our situation, 
 and not to those stupid beings who, in such great 
 movements, listen only to the dictates of their passions. 
 
 Hesitate not, therefore, to satisfy this ])eople" 
 
 " AVliat people?" asked voices on the right. "That 
 peojtlc," answered Danton — "that immense population, 
 which is our advanced sentinel, which abhors tyranny 
 and the base moderatism which would recall it. Hasten 
 to satisfy it, rescue it from tlie aristocrats, save it 
 from its own wrath ; and if, when it sliall l)e satisfied, 
 perverse men, no matter to what party they belong, 
 attempt to prolong a niovemcnt become umiecessary, 
 Paris itself will bray them into nonentity." 
 
 ]\abaut Saint-Ktienue ai)])eared to justify the com- 
 mission of twelve in its political charac^ter, and i)ro- 
 ceeded to argue that it was strictly with political 
 views a connnission was organised to discover tlie 
 plots of Pitt and Austria, wlio instigated with gold 
 idl the disorders in France. "Down!", shonled mnii- 
 
 berless voices ; " take the word from Rabaut !" " No,'' 
 exclaimed Bazire, " leave it him, for he is a liar ; I will 
 prove that his commission has organised the civil war 
 in Paris." Kabaut strove to resume. IMarat moved 
 that a deputation from the commune be introduced. 
 " Let me finish first," urged Kabaut. " The conmiune ' 
 the commmie! the commune!" vociferated the pos 
 seseors of the galleries and the Mountain. " I aver," 
 said Rabaut, in the intervals of the din, " tliat when 
 I wished to declare the truth, you interrupted me." 
 " Well, conclude then !" Rabaut accordingly brought 
 his speech to a conclusion, by moving that the com- 
 mission be suppressed, if it were so determined, but 
 that the committee of public welfare be unmediately 
 charged to prosecute all the inquiries it had initiated. 
 
 A deputation from the insurrectional committee 
 was then introduced. " A grand conspiracy has been 
 formed," it said, " but it is discovered. The people 
 wlio arose on the 14th July and 10th August to over- 
 throv/ tyranny, have arisen again to arrest the coun- 
 ter-revolution. The council-general sends us to make 
 known to you the measures it has taken. The first 
 was to place property under the safeguard of the re- 
 publicans ; the second to give forty sous a-day to the 
 rei)ublicans who remain mider arms ; the third to 
 form a committee for correspondence with the con- 
 vention during this period of agitation. The council- 
 general begs you to assign a room near your hall to 
 this committee, where it may sit and concert with 
 you." 
 
 Scarcely had the deputation ceased to speak, ere 
 Guadet appeared in the tribune to answer it. He was 
 not the fittest of the Girondists to calm the passions 
 of their adversaries. " The commvme," said he, " when 
 pretending that it has discovered a conspirac3% has 
 erred simply in a word, meaning that it has executed 
 one." The shouts of the galleries internipted him. 
 Vergniaud rose with indignation, and moved that they 
 be cleared. The tumult that ensued is not to be de- 
 signated ; for a length of time nothing but a confused 
 roar of sounds vv-as heard. The president Mallarme 
 repeated, but in vain, that if the convention were not 
 respected, he would put in force the authority vested 
 in him by the law. Guadet continued to occupy the 
 tribune, and occasionally succeeded in pitching a 
 phrase above the uproar in its intervals of reflux. He 
 moved, in sidistance, that the convention should inter- 
 mit its deliberations imtil its liberty were assured; and 
 that the commission of twelve should be instructed 
 to proceed without delay against those who had rung 
 the tocsin and fired the alarm-gmi. Such a proposi- 
 tion was not calculated to allay the tumult. Verg- 
 niaud was about to reappear in the triljune to restore 
 some degree of tranquillit}', when a fresh deputation 
 from the mimicipalitj' came to reiterate the demands 
 already urged. The convention, tlius inexorabl}- 
 pressed, could hold out no longer, and decreed that 
 the working men required to watch over the mainte- 
 nance of public order and the safet3'' of jjroperty should 
 receive forty sous a-day, and tliat a room should be 
 assigned to the commissioners of the Paris authorities 
 to deliberate in concert with the committee of pubUe 
 ■welfare. 
 
 After this decree was passed, Couthon undertook to 
 answer Guadet, and the day, now jiretty far advanced, 
 was wasted in discussions without result. The entire 
 population of Paris, assembled together in arms, con- 
 tinued to march through the city without the slightest 
 infringen\ent of order, and in the same uncertainty as 
 to purpose. 'J'he conununc ()ecu])ied itself in drawing 
 up renewed addresses relative to the connnission of 
 twelve, and that unfortimate connnission was still the 
 unceasing object of contention in the national assem- 
 bly. Vergniaud, who had quitted the hall for a mo- 
 ment, ancl witnessed the singidar spectacle of an im- 
 mense population undecidid what i)art to take, and 
 blindly obeying the first autliority assvuned over it, 
 deemed that advantage might be drawn from these
 
 284 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 dispositions, and accordingly submitted a motion de- 
 signed to establish a distinction between the agitators 
 and the Parisian people, and to conciliate the latter 
 by a testimony of confidence. " I am far from accus- 
 ing the majority or the minority of the inhabitants of 
 Paris," said he to the assembly ; " this day will show 
 how Paris loA'es liberty. It is sufficient to walk the 
 streets, to witness the order observed in them, and the 
 numerous patrols moving m all directions ; it is sutfi- 
 cient. I repeat, to behold this glorious spectacle, to 
 induce a decree that Paris has deserved well of the 
 country !" 
 
 At these words, the whole convention arose, and 
 voted by acclamation that Paris had deserved well of 
 the country. The INIountain and the galleries vehe- 
 mently applauded, greatly surprised to hear such a 
 proposition fall from the lips of Vergniaud. The ma- 
 noeuvre itself was doubtless very dexterous, but it was 
 not by a flattering testimonial that the Girondists 
 could expect to arouse the zeal of the sections, rally 
 those that were inimical to the commune, and impart 
 to them tlie courage and the miion necessary to op- 
 pose the insurrection successfully. 
 
 During this interval, the section of the Faubourg 
 Saint- Antoine, instigated by the emissaries who had 
 traversed it with the cry that tlie section Butte-des- 
 Moulins had mounted the Avhite cockade, had pene- 
 trated to the centre of Paris with cannon, and halted 
 a few paces from the Palais-Royal, Avliere the Butte- 
 des-^Ioulins had intrenched itself. The latter had 
 drawn up in battle array in the garden, closed all 
 the wickets, and, guarded by its cannon, stood ready 
 to maintain a siege in case of an assaiilt. Outside the 
 enclosure the report was stiU industriously circulated 
 tliat it had assmned the white cockade and banner, 
 and every art was used to excite the section Saint- 
 Antoine to attack it. But certain officers of the latter 
 represented that, before i)roceeding to extremities, it 
 was but proper to be assured of the facts, and to at- 
 tempt a parley. Thej' accordingly presented them- 
 selves at the wickets, and requested to speak with the 
 officers of the Butte-des-Moulins. These wiUingly 
 admitted them, and throughout the garden they per- 
 ceived none but the national coloiu-s. Then mutual 
 explanations were given, speedily followed by a gene- 
 ral embrace. The officers returned to their battalions, 
 and in a short time the two sections were intermingled 
 and parading together the streets of Paris. 
 
 Thus submission became more and more general, 
 and the new commune was left at leisure to piu"sue its 
 strife with the convention. Li the mean time, Bar- 
 rere, ever prone to suggest niethmn projects, sub- 
 mitted a motion, in the name of the committee of 
 public welfare, to abolish the commission of twelve, 
 but, at the same time, to place the armed force at the 
 disposition of the convention. Whilst he was develop- 
 ing his scheme, a fresh dexjutation arrived, the third 
 dm-ing the day, to express its final resolves to the 
 national assembly, speaking as the organ of the de- 
 partment, the commune, and the delegates of the sec- 
 tions, congregated in an extraordinary meeting at the 
 Evcchc. 
 
 The procurator-syndic of the department, L'Huillier, 
 took the lead. "Legislators," said he, "for a length 
 of time the city and department of Paris have been 
 calumniated liefore the whole universe. The same 
 men who have laboured to destroy Paris in piiblic 
 estimation instigate the massacres of La Vendee ; it 
 is they who flatter and uphold the hopes of our ene- 
 mies ; it is they who degrade the constituted autho- 
 rities, and strive to mislead the people in order to gain 
 a pretext for complaining of them ; it is they who de- 
 nounce to j^ou imaginarj^ plots in order to promote real 
 ones ; it is thc;y who have sought from you the com- 
 mittee of twelve in order to crush the liberty of the 
 pe(!ple ; it is they, in fine, who, by a criminal agita- 
 tion, by surreptitious addresses, by active correspon. 
 dence, inflame animosities and divisions in yom' as. 
 
 sembly, and rob the country of the greatest of all bless- 
 ings, a good constitution, which it has merited by such 
 inordinate sacrifices." 
 
 After this vehement apostrophe, L'Huillier pro- 
 ceeded to denounce schemes of federalism, declaring 
 that Paris was prepared to perish in behalf of the re- 
 publican \mity, and claiming expiation for the cele- 
 brated phrase of Isnard — " Paris shall be erased from 
 the list of cities." 
 
 "Legislators!" he exclaimed, "the project of de- 
 stroying Paris is actually formed! Will you then 
 allow this sacred repository of the arts and of human 
 intelligence to be swept away ? " These affected la- 
 mentations over, he demanded vengeance upon Isnard, 
 the ill-fated twelve, and several other criminals, such as 
 Brissot, Guadet, Vergniaud, Gensonne, Buzot, Bar- 
 baroux, Roland, Lebrun, Claviere, &c. 
 
 The right side preserved a mournful stillness. The 
 left side and the tribunes applauded with fury. The 
 president Grcgoire replied to L'Huillier by emphatic 
 eulogies on the city of Paris, and invited the deputa- 
 tion to the honours of tlie sitting. The persons com- 
 posing it were blended Avlth a multitude of other iA- 
 dividuals, the more froward of the rabble. Too many 
 to find space at the bar, they pressed onwards in the 
 direction of the Mountain, which eagerly welcomed 
 them to its ranks. Then was a strange incongruous 
 host scattered through the hall, and undistinguishalily 
 commingled with the deputies. The galleries rent the 
 air with J03-ful acclamations at this spectacle of fra- 
 terniti/ between the representatives and the people. 
 Osselin forthwith m'xvcid that the petition be printed, 
 and its conclusions, 'ligested into the form of an edict 
 by Barrere, be now decided upon. 
 
 " President," exclaimed Vergniaud, " put the ques- 
 tion to the assembly whether it will legislate in its 
 present state." " The project of Barrere to the vote ! " 
 shouted the left. " We protest against all determina- 
 tion," retorted the right. " The convention is not free," 
 said Doulcet. " If so," repHed Levasseur, " let the 
 members of the left side pass over to the right, and 
 then the convention will be distinct from the peti- 
 tioners, and can pronounce its decision." Upon this 
 suggestion the Mountain hastily crossed the floor, and 
 for a time the two antagonist sides were mingled 
 togetlier, and the benches of the Moimtain exclusively 
 occupied by the ])etitioners. The question upon the 
 printing of the address was thereupon put to the vote 
 and declared to be carried. " The project of Barrere 
 to the vote ! " again cried the rejoicmg ^Mountain. 
 " We are not free," responded scverid voices in the as- 
 sembly. " I move," said Vergniaud, with iinpassioned 
 action, " that the convention join the armed force wliich 
 surrounds it, to seek protection from the A'iolence assail- 
 ing it." Upon delivermg these words, he moved to 
 the door, followed by a great number of his friends. 
 The INIountain and the galleries greeted the secession 
 of the right side Avith ironical cheers ; the I'lain sat 
 undecided and terror-struck. " I move," said Chahot, 
 " that the assembly be called OA'er, in order that the 
 names of those who desert their post may be marked." 
 At this moment, Vergniaud and those Avho had ac- 
 companied him returned with an air of dejection, and 
 as if utterly overAvhelmed ; for, in fact, the step they 
 had taken, which might have been noble and impres- 
 sive if generally adopted, became pitiful and ridiculous 
 in the reverse alternative. Vergniaud claimed to 
 speak, but Robespierre refused to yield him the tri- 
 bune, of Avhich he was in possession. Retaining his 
 advantage, he (Robespierre) vehemently urged prompt 
 and energetic measirres to satisfy the people ; and de- 
 manded that not only sliould the commission of tAvelve 
 be suppressed, but severe measures taken against its 
 members. He subsequently expatiated at great lengtli 
 upon tlie terms of Barrere's project, and opposed the 
 clause which assigned the disposal of the armed force 
 to the convention. " Conclude," said Vergniaud, impa- 
 tiently. " Yes'," retorted Kobespicrre, " I am about
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 285 
 
 to conclude, and against you ! — against yovi, wlio, 
 after the revolution of the 10th August, would have 
 consigned to the scaffold those who had accomplished 
 it ! — against you, who have never ceased to provoke 
 the destruction of Paris! — against you, wlio would 
 have saved the tyrant ! — against you, who conspired 
 with Dumoitriez ! My conclusion is a decree of im- 
 peachment against all the accomplices of Dumouriez, 
 and also against those designated by the petitioners." 
 
 After long and boisterovis cheering, a decree was 
 drawn up, put to the vote, and adopted amidst a tu- 
 mult sitfficiently hewildering to remove the possibility 
 of judging whether or not the adequate number of 
 deputies were present. It imported that the com- 
 mission of twelve was suppressed ; that its papers 
 should be seized and made the subject of a report 
 within three days ; that the armed force was in per- 
 manent requisition ; that the constituted authorities 
 should render an account to the convention of the 
 measures taken to ensure public tranquillity ; that the 
 denounced conspiracies should be diligently pursued, 
 and a proclamation issued to give France a correct 
 idea of this day, which the malignant would doubtless 
 seek to misrepresent. 
 
 It was now ten o'clock, and the Jacobins and the 
 commmie had begun to complain that the day was 
 elapsing without any beneficial result. But this de- 
 cree, although it decided nothing as to the persons of 
 the Girondists, was a first success which elicited infi- 
 nite gladness, and for which the oppressed convention 
 itself was forced to evince a reluctant thanlcfulness. 
 The commune ordered the whole city to be illumi- 
 nated ; a civic procession was formed to the glare of 
 flambeaux ; the sections walked in confused harmony, 
 the Faubourg Saint- Antoine blended with the Butte- 
 des-]\Ioulins and the Mail. Several deputies of the 
 Momitain and the president were compelled to take 
 part in the procession ; the conquerors coerced the 
 vanquished themselves to celebrate their victory. 
 
 The character of the day was sufficiently obvious. 
 The insurgents had pretended to adhere to formalities 
 in all their proceedings. They hesitated to break up 
 the convention, but wrung from it all they required, 
 whilst they preserved towards it an appearance of 
 respect. The pusillanimous members of the Plain 
 willingly lent themselves to a deception which allowed 
 them to assume they were yet free even when abjectly 
 obeying. Thus they had abolished the commission of 
 twelve, and deferred the examination of its conduct 
 for three days, so as to avoid the imputation of an 
 absolute surrender. They had not assigned to the 
 convention the disposal of the armed force, but or- 
 dained an account of all measures adopted to be duly 
 rendered, in order again to keep up the pretence of 
 supremacy. Lastly, they commanded a proclamation, 
 to promulgate ofiicially that the convention was not 
 influenced by fear, but had acted with perfect freedom. 
 
 The foUowmg day, Barrere was charged to frame 
 this proclamation, and he travestied the events of the 
 31st May with that rare dexterity, which always re- 
 commended him when it was needful to provide the 
 weak with a specious pretext for yielding to the strong. 
 Certain measures of too rigorous a tendency, he said, 
 had excited discontent ; the people had arisen with 
 energy, but with calmness, had appeared throughout 
 the day apparelled in arms, had proclaimed the sanc- 
 tity of property, had respected the liberty of the con- 
 vention and the personal safety of each of its members, 
 and had demanded a redress which the national repre- 
 sentation was eager and happy to grant. It was thus 
 Barrere expressed himself on the abolition of that 
 connnittee of twelve whereof he was himself the 
 author. 
 
 Tranquillity was far from being re-established on 
 tlie 1st of Jime. The association at the Eveche 
 continued its deliberations ; the department and the 
 coninume, still extraordinarily constituted, were in 
 l>ermanence ; the commotion had not subsided in the 
 
 sections ; and on all sides it was clamoured that but 
 the half of the essential good had been obtained, since 
 the twenty-two proscribed deputies yet sat in the con- 
 vention. Paris, therefore, still remained the theatre 
 of violent agitation, and a fresh outbreak was too 
 siu-ely anticipated for Sunday the 2d of June. 
 
 All positive and physical power was centred in the 
 insurrectional association of the Eveche, and the legal 
 power in the committee of public welfare, to which 
 had been delegated all the paramomit authority of the 
 convention. A room had been appropriated during 
 the storm of the 31st, to which the constituted autho- 
 rities might resort to hold communication with that 
 committee. The whole of the 1st of June was de- 
 voted by the committee to examining members of the 
 insurrectional association, in order to ascertam defi- 
 nitely what was still desired by the insurgent com- 
 mune. Its real wish was but too manifest, pointing 
 undisguisedly to the arrest or expulsion of the depu- 
 ties who had so courageously resisted its violent en- 
 croachments. This design occasioned deep inquietude 
 to aU the members of the committee, though affecting 
 them variously. Delmas, Treilhard, and Breard, were 
 sincerely grieved at such a project. Cambon, a great 
 partisan, as he himself always boasted, of revolutionary 
 power, but scrupulously attached to the cause of lega- 
 lity, was indignant at the elfrontery of the commune, 
 and said to Bouchotte, the successor of Beurnonville, 
 who, treading in the footsteps of Pache, bowed submis- 
 sively to the Jacobins — " Minister of war, we are not 
 blind ; I see very plainlj' that persons holding office 
 in your department are amongst the leaders and insti- 
 gators of all this." Barrere also, despite his accus- 
 tomed caution, began to express the dissatisfaction he 
 could not avoid feeling. " We must see," he often 
 repeated during that mournful day, " whether it be 
 the commune of Paris that represents the French 
 republic, or the convention." The Jacobin Lacroix, 
 the friend and instrument of Danton, appeared em- 
 barrassed in presence of his colleagues at the outrage 
 in perspective against the laws and the national repre- 
 sentation. I^anton himself, who had not exceeded an 
 approval of, grounded on a strong desire for, the abo- 
 lition of the commission of twelve, originating in his 
 abhorrence, all-powerful with him, of every thing 
 which fettered popular energy, would have Avished that 
 the national representation should be respected ; but 
 he foresaw on the part of the Girondists fresh assaults 
 and a renewed opposition to the progress of the revo- 
 lution, and he would have willingly devised some 
 expedient for removing without proscribuig tliem. 
 Garat offered him a suggestion, which he seized upon 
 with avidity. 
 
 All the ministers were in attendance upon the com- 
 mittee, and Garat, of course, with his colleagues. 
 Pensively brooding over the positit)n in which the 
 chiefs of the revolution stood M'ith regard to each 
 other, his mind was struck with a noble conception, 
 fitted to restore harmony. 
 
 " Recall to your recollection," said he to the mem- 
 bers of the connnittee, and addressing himself parti- 
 cularly to Danton, " the quarrels of Tliemistocles and 
 Aristides ; the obstinacy of the one in repudiating 
 whatever the other proposed, and the dangers they 
 thereby caused their connnon country to incur. ]^e- 
 member the generosity of Aristides, who, painfully 
 convinced of the evils they both occasioned to their 
 country, had the magnanimity to exclaim — ' Athe- 
 nians, you never can be tranquil and happy until you 
 have thrown Tliemistocles and me into the Bara- 
 thrum ! '* I>et the leaders on both sides of the as- 
 sembly repeat the words of Aristides, and vohmtarily 
 exile themselves in equal numbers from its sanctuary. 
 From that moment discord will cease ; sufficient abi- 
 lity will remain in the assembly to save the common- 
 wealth, and in their sublime ostracism, the country 
 
 * [The Harathrum was a deep pit in Athens, into which in;ile- 
 factors were cast.]
 
 2«6 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 will bless the men who have descended into obscurity 
 to ensure its pacification." 
 
 All the members of the committee were moved at 
 this generous idea. Delnias, Barrore, the ardent Cam- 
 bon, were enchanted witli the project. Danton, who 
 would be of course the first sacrifice, rose, with tears 
 in his eyes, and said to Garat, " You are right : I will 
 go to the convention, and propose this plan. I wiU 
 ofler myself as tlie first hostage to Bordeaux." They 
 separated, full of this brilliant conception, for the pur- 
 pose of communicating it to the leaders of the two par- 
 ties. They addressed themselves jjarticidarly to Robes- 
 pierre, in whose eyes such a self-denial could scarcely 
 find favour, and who in fact replied that it was a mere 
 snare to induce the 3Iountain to discard its most cou- 
 rageous defenders. Consequently, but one portion of 
 the project remained feasible, namely, the voluntary 
 retirement of the Girondists, since the IMountaineers 
 refused their concurrence. Barrere was selected as 
 the organ through whom the committee of public 
 welfare thought fit to propose a sacrifice to the one 
 party, which the other had not the generosity to accept. 
 He accordingly composed a formal scheme for sub- 
 mission to the twenty-two deputies and the members 
 of the commission of twelve, to voluntarily divest 
 themselves of their functions. 
 
 In the mean time, the plan of the second insurrec- 
 tion was definitively settled at the association of the 
 Eveche. It was a subject of complaint there, as at the 
 Jacobin Club, that the energy of Danton had relaxed 
 since the abolition of the connnittee of twelve. JIarat 
 urged a demand upon the convention for the impeach- 
 ment of the twenty-two, and its exaction by force, if 
 necessary. A petition, brief and pithy in its teimis, was 
 accordingly drawn up for that object. The scheme of 
 the insurrection was planned, not in the association at 
 large, but in the committee of execution, charged with 
 what was called the means of public welfare, and com- 
 posed of Varlet, Dobsen, Gusman, and all those wlio 
 liad been engaged in a constant course of agitation 
 since the 21st January. This committee determined 
 to surround the convention with the armed force, and 
 confine tlie deputies in the hall imtU they passed 
 the required decree. For this purpose, it was judged 
 expedient to order back the battalions destined for 
 La Vendee, which had been designedly retained, under 
 difierent pretexts, in the barracks of Courbevoie. 
 Thesebattalions,and some etliLisof undoubted pliancy, 
 were expected to be less scrupulous than the guards 
 of the sections might possibly prove. By encompass- 
 ing the national palace with tliese devoted naen, and 
 maintainmg, as on the 31st I\Iay, the remainder of 
 the armed force in docility and ignorance, the resist- 
 ance of the convention would, it was considered, be 
 easily overcome. Ilenriot was again selected to com- 
 mand the troops around the national palace. 
 
 Such was the exploit these insurgents promised 
 themselves for the next day, Sunday the 2d June ; 
 but in the evening of Saturday, a sudden thought 
 came upon tiiem to try whether a last appeal would 
 not suffice; to make, in short, a repetition of their 
 demands. Forthwith, orders were issued to beat the 
 tattoo and ring the tocsin, and the committee of public 
 welfare hastily summoned the convention to assemble 
 amidst this new tempest. 
 
 At this moment, the Girondists were dining toge- 
 ther, for the i)urpose of holding a consultation upon 
 the line of conduct still open to them. It was obvious 
 to their ej^es that the impending insurrection could 
 not be designed merely to break presses, as Danton 
 had said, or to suppress a hateful commission, but that 
 their persons were its sole and definite aim. Certain 
 of them gave their counsel fur remaining steadfast at 
 their posts, and dying on the curule chair, vindicating 
 to the last the character with which their countrj'men 
 had invested them. I'etion, Buzot, and Gensonne, 
 inclined towards this grave and magnanimous resolu- 
 tion. Barbaroux, regardless of consequences, yielding 
 
 only to the inspirations of his heroic mind, declared 
 for braving the enemy with a valiant defiance. Others, 
 again, and Louvet was the warmest in supporting this 
 latter opinion, proposed at once to abandon the con- 
 vention, where they could effect nothing more of an 
 advantageous nature, where the Plain had not suffi- 
 cient courage to give them their suffrages, and where 
 the Mountain and the galleries were determined to 
 drown their voices by ol)streperous howls. These 
 desired to withdraw into tlieir departments, foment 
 the insurrection almost on the point of explosion, and 
 return in force to Paris, to avenge the insulted laws 
 and national representation. Each enforced his o^^ii 
 opinion, with the usual effect of promoting general 
 irresolution. At length, the sound of the tocsin and 
 the tattoo obliged the unfortunate guests to rise from 
 talile, and seek an asylum before arriving at a de- 
 termination. They repaired to the house of a col- 
 league, less compromised than the other Girondists, 
 and not inscribed on the famous list of the twenty- 
 two, Meilhan, who had already sheltered them, and 
 who occupied a spacious residence in the Street des 
 Moulins, in whicli they could assemble under arms. 
 Thither, then, they proceeded in all haste, excepting 
 some who had other means of concealing themselves. 
 
 The convention liad met under the knell of the 
 tocsin. Very few members were present ; the benches 
 on the right side were vacant. Lanjuinais alone, re- 
 solute to brave all dangers, had come to denounce a 
 plot, the revelation whereof was information to none. 
 After a stormy and brief debate, the convention an- 
 swered the petitioners of the Eveche, that, considering 
 the decree which enjoined the committee of public 
 welfare to present a report upon the twenty-two, it 
 was debarred from deciding on the new demand of the 
 commune. The assemble broke up in disorder, and 
 the insurgents deferred tdl the following morning the 
 definitive execution of their scheme. 
 
 The tattoo and the tocsin reverberated throughout 
 the night, from Saturday to Sunday morning the 2d 
 June 171)3. The alarm-gun emitted its starthng roar, 
 and the whole population of Paris rushed to arms at 
 the break of day. Nearly eighty thousand men were 
 drawn up around the convention, but at least sixty- 
 five thousand took no part in tlie evi'ut, contenting 
 themselves as spectators, and holding their weapons 
 loosely on their arms. Devoted battali(jns of artillery- 
 men were stationed around the nationtd palace, mider 
 the immediate command of Henriot. They had one 
 hundred and sixtj'-three pieces of ordnance, ammu- 
 nition-waggons, apparatus for heating balls, lighted 
 matches, and all the militar}" displa}' fitted to hnpose 
 on the imagination. Before dawn, the battalions 
 whose departure for La Vendee had been purposely 
 retarded, were brought back into Paris, exasperated 
 by the assurance, diligently inculcated upon them, 
 that plots had just been discovered, the leaders of 
 winch were in the convention, and whose expulsion 
 was indispensable to the national welfare. It is alleged 
 that these assertions were fortified by assignats of a 
 lumdred sous. These battalions, thus gained over, 
 marched from the Champs-Elysees to the iladeleine, 
 from the ^Madeleine to the Boidevards, and thence to 
 the Carrousel, prepai'ed to execute whatever the con- 
 spirators might please to order them. 
 
 Thus the convention, actually hennned in by but a 
 few thousands of hairbrained ruffians, seemed besieged 
 by eighty thousand men. But, although it were not 
 really besieged, the danger it incurred was not the 
 less, for the few thousands which i)ressed more closely 
 upon it, were disposed to proceed to the last extre- 
 mities against it. 
 
 The deputies of all parties were present at the sit- 
 ting. The Mountain, the Plain, the right side, occu- 
 pied their places. The proscribed deputies, of whom 
 the majority remained at Meilhan's, where all had 
 passed the niglit, were likewise anxious to appear at 
 their posts. Buzot struggled violently to disengiige
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 287 
 
 himself from those who detained him, resolved to ex- 
 pire in the sanctuary of the convention ; but they suc- 
 ceeded in restraininu' him. Barbaroux alone, success- 
 fully baffling all vigilance, repaired to the convention, 
 to manifest a sublime heroism on that fatal day. The 
 others were persuaded to remain in their asj'lum, and 
 await the issue of these dismal portents. 
 
 The sitting of the convention opened, and Lan- 
 juinais, determined iipon a last effort to vindicate the 
 resjiect due to the national representation — he whom 
 neither galleries, nor Mountain, nor imminent peril 
 could intimidate, was tlie first to claim a hearing. 
 The most furious shouts followed his request. " I am 
 here," said he, " to address you upon the means of 
 checking the fresh connnotions now threatening us ! " 
 " Down ! down ! " cried the Jacobins ; " he wants to 
 provoke a civil war!" "As long as it is permitted 
 me," resumed Lanjuinais, " to raise my voice, I will 
 not suffer the character of a representative of the 
 people to be degraded in my person. Hitherto you 
 have done nothing, but endured every outrage ; you 
 have sanctioned all that has been demanded from you. 
 An insiirrectional association is formed, it names a 
 committee charged to prepare rebellion, and a provi- 
 sional commander to connnand the rebels ; and this 
 association, this committee, this commander, you 
 leave unquestioned ! " Fearful yells interrupted every 
 moment the words of Lanjuinais, and at length the 
 rage he inspired became such that several deputies 
 of the Mountain, Drouet, the younger Robespierre, 
 Julien, Legendre, rose from their seats, rushed to the 
 tribune, and endeavoured to drag him down. Lan- 
 juinais resisted, and clung to its sides with all his 
 might. Indescribable confusion prevailed in all parts 
 of the hall, and the deafening vociferations of the 
 galleries contributed to render the scene by far the 
 most horrible that had yet been witnessed. The pre- 
 sident put on his hat, and succeeded in making his 
 voice be heard. " Tlie scene that has occurred," said 
 he, " is truly afflicting. Liberty will perish if you 
 continue to conduct yourselves in such a manner. I 
 call you to order, you who have thus assaulted the 
 tribune." 
 
 Tranquillity was partially restored, and Lanjuinais, 
 who disregarded the imputation of making chimeri- 
 cal propositions, when they involved fortitude and 
 courage, moved that the revolutionary authorities of 
 Paris be annulled, or, in other words, that those who 
 were disarmed should inflict condign chastisement on 
 those who held arms in their hands. He had scarcely 
 propounded this motion, ere the petitioners on behalf 
 of the commune presented themselves afresh. Their 
 language was more terse and short than ever. 
 
 " The citizens of Paris have not laid doiim their arms 
 for four days. For four daj/s they have sought from 
 their mandatories their rights, flagrantliii-ioktted, and for 
 four days their imtndatories have laughed at their calm- 
 ness and inaction. It is indisiioisahle that the conspira- 
 tors be put under provisional arrest, that the peojAe be 
 immediately saved, or tliey will save themselves !" 
 
 When the petitioners had concluded, Billaud-Va- 
 rennes and Tallien demanded a report upon this peti- 
 tion, forthwitli and before separating. Other deputies, 
 in great number, insisted upon the order of the day. 
 Eventually, amidst the roar of tumult, the assembly, 
 inspirited by the sense of danger, rose and voted the 
 order of the day, on the ground that a report had 
 been ordered from the connnittee of ])ublic welfare 
 within three days. Upon this decision being i)ro- 
 nounccd, the petitioners issued forth, uttering shouts 
 of indignation, gesticidatiug furious menaces, and 
 half-dis])laying tlieir concealed weaixnis. All the 
 men in the galleries retired as if to execute some ])ro- 
 ject, and tlie women alone remained in their seats. 
 Soon a noise ensued outside, and cries of " To arms ! 
 to arms !" were heard. At this moment, several dei)u- 
 ties laboured to impress upon the convention tliat 
 the resolution it had just adopted was imprudent, 
 
 and that it ought to terminate a dangerous crisis by 
 granting what was demanded, and placing under pro- 
 visional arrest the twenty-two accused deputies. "AVe 
 wiU all go!" exclaimed LareveiUiere-Lepeaux — "all tjo 
 to prison !" Cambon here announced that the commit- 
 tee of public welfare would make its report in half an 
 hour. The report was enjoined within tliree days, but 
 the danger, becoming more imminent with every mo- 
 ment that elapsed, had induced the committee to 
 hasten its labours. 
 
 Barrere accordingly appeared in the tribune, and 
 submitted the idea of Garat, which had so greatly 
 struck the members of the committee yesterday ; 
 which Danton had embraced with ardour, but Robes- 
 pierre repudiated ; and which, as the reader is aware, 
 consisted in a voluntary and mutual exile on the part 
 of the leaders on both sides. Barrere, prevented from 
 proposing it to the IMountaineers, now recommended 
 it to the twenty-two. " The committee," said he, " has 
 not had time to elucidate any fact or to hear a single 
 witness ; but, considering the political and moral state 
 of the convention, it is of opinion that the voluntary 
 suspension of the depiities particularised would pro- 
 duce the happiest efiect, and save the republic from a 
 fiital crisis, the issue of which is fearful to contem- 
 plate." 
 
 "When Barrere ceased, Isnard presented himself in 
 the tribune, and said that, so soon as an individual 
 and the country were put in the balance, he could not 
 hesitate, and that he not only renounced his functions, 
 but his life, if it were needful. Lanthenas followed 
 the example of Isnard, and gave uji his scat. Fauciiet 
 tendered his resignation and his life to the republic. 
 Lanjuinais, who held that no surrender should be made, 
 ascended the tribune, and said, " I believe that, up to 
 this moment, I have shown sufficient energy for you 
 not to expect any suspension or resignation from me." 
 At these words, angry exclamations broke from the 
 assembly. He surveyed with an undaunted ej'e those 
 that interrupted him. " The sacrificer of old," said he, 
 " as he drew his victim to the altar, decorated it with 
 flowers and garlands, and assuredly goaded it not. You 
 ask the sacrifice of our powers, but sacrifices ought to 
 be free, and we are not free. We cannot leave this hall 
 b}^ the usual avenues, or even throw ourselves from the 
 windows ; the guns are pointed iipon us, all expression 
 of our sentiments is interdicted, and I am silent." 
 
 Barbaroux succeeded Lanjuinais, and refused, with 
 equal courage, the resignation demanded from him. 
 '■ if the convention," said he, " ordain my expulsion, 
 I will submit ; but how can I divest myself of my 
 powers, when several departments write to me witli 
 an assurance that I have employed them beneficially 
 and with urgent entreaties to continue so to employ 
 them ? I have sworn to die at my jiost, and I will 
 keep my word." Dusaidx appeared, and offered his 
 resignation. " What ! " exclaimed Marat, " are crimi- 
 nals to be allowed the honour of jiatriotic devotion ? 
 A man must be ])ure to offer sacrifices to the country; 
 it is for me, a true martyr, to devote myself Thus I 
 offer my suspension from the moment you have ordered 
 the arrest of the accused deputies. Ihit," he added, 
 " the list is badly framed ; instead of the old dotard 
 Dusaulx, of file weak-headi'd Lantlienas, and of Dui-os, 
 guilty only of some erroneous opinions, there ought 
 to be sulistitiited Fermont and \'alazc, who well de- 
 serve to be upon it, and are not." 
 
 At this moment a loud noise was heard at the door 
 of the hall. Jjacroix entered in visible agitation, voci- 
 ferating with vehi'inence. Advancing, he stated it was 
 too true tlie convention was no longer free ; he had 
 wished to leave tlie hall, and egress had been denied 
 liiiii. Altliotigli a ^lountaineer and an advocate for 
 the arrest of the twenty- two deputies, l^acroix was 
 indignant at tlie assiunption of tiie commune in thus 
 confining the representatives of the people. 
 
 Since the refusal to proceed upon the petition of the 
 commune, the word had been passed at all the doors
 
 288 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 not to allow a single deputy to emerge. Several had 
 fruitlessly attempted to escape ; Gorsas alone had suc- 
 ceeded in outwitting the guards, and hastened to the 
 residence of Jleilhan, to entreat the Girondists there 
 assembled to conceal tliemselves wherever they could, 
 and on no account to approach the convention. All 
 the members who struggled to get out were driven 
 back with violence. Boissy-d'Anglas, presenting him- 
 self at a door, received most injurious treatment, and 
 was chased into tlie assembly, where he held up to 
 view his coat with an unseemly rent. The spectacle 
 threw the whole assenil)ly into a paroxysm of wrath, 
 and the Mountain itself looked on with amazement. 
 Yielding to the impulse, an immediate order was issued 
 against the authors of the watchword, and even an 
 illusory decree was passed, summoning the commander 
 of the armed force to the bar. 
 
 Earrere now rose to speak, and expressed himself 
 with an energy the more effective as it was most un- 
 usual. He said that the assembly was not free ; that 
 it sat under the yoke of concealed tyrants; that in the 
 insurrectional committee were men for whom none 
 could answer — suspicious foreigners, such as the 
 Spaniard Gusman, and others ; tliat at the door of the 
 hall assignats for five livTes were distributed to the 
 battalions destined for La Vendee ; and that it was 
 necessary to ascertain decisively whether the conven- 
 tion was still respected or had lost all hold upon public 
 opinion. In consequence, he proposed that the assem- 
 bly sliould proceed in a body into the midst of the 
 armed force, m order to be assured that it had nothing 
 to apprehend, and that its authority was implicitly 
 recognised. This proposition, previously submitted 
 by Garat on the 25th May, and renewed by Verg- 
 niaud on the 31 st, was immediately adopted. Herault- 
 Sechelles, whose services were always in request upon 
 difficult emergencies, was stationed at the head of the 
 assembly as president, and the whole of the right side 
 and the Plain rose to follow him. The ^Mountain, 
 however, gave no indication of a design to move, 
 whereupon the ultimate deputies of the right returned, 
 and upl)raided it with evading the common danger. 
 The people in the galleries, on the other hand, urged 
 the Mountaineers by signs to remain in their places, 
 as if some great peril awaited them outside. But a 
 feeling of shame prevailed over these friendly warn- 
 ings, and the Mountaineers joined their colleagues. 
 Then the whole convention, with Hera^dt-Sechelles in 
 the van, appeared in the courts of the national palace, 
 on the side of the Carrousel. The sentinels stepped 
 aside and allowed the assembly to pass. It came in 
 j)resence of the artillery-men, at whose head stood 
 Henriot. The president directed him to open a pas- 
 sage for the assembly. " You will not get out," said 
 Henriot, "vmtil you have surrendered the twenty-two." 
 " Seize this rebel," said the president to tlie soldiers. 
 Thereupon Henriot, reining up his horse, and address- 
 ing his artillerymen, cried, "Engineers, to your 
 pieces!" Some one rudely seized Heraidt-Sechelles 
 by the arm, and drew him in another direction. The 
 deputies then ])roceeded into the garden, to renew the 
 experiment. Some of the groups vociferated, " The 
 nation for ever ! " others, " The convention for ever ! " 
 " Marat for ever ! " " Down with the right side ! " Be- 
 yond the garden, certain battalions, otherwise disposed 
 than those surrounding the Carrousel, made signs to 
 the dei)uties to come and join them. The convention, 
 with tlie view of doing so, advanced to the Turning- 
 Bridge, but was there met by a battalion wliich sternly 
 refused it egress from the garden. At this moment, 
 Marat, followed by a group of children shouting " Marat 
 for ever!" approached the president, and exclaimed, 
 " I sunmion tlie deputies who have abandoned their 
 duty to return to it." 
 
 And the assembly, which by these repeated trials 
 did but prolong its humiliation, re-entered in fact the 
 hall of its sessions, and each member dejectedly re- 
 sumed his seat. Couthon mounted the tribune. " You 
 
 have had demonstration," said he, with an effrontery 
 which confounded tlie assembly, " that 3'ou are re- 
 spected and obeyed by the people ; you have seen that 
 you are free, and can vote upon the question submitted 
 to you. Hasten, then, to satisfy the hopes of the 
 people." Legendre proposed to expunge the names 
 of those who had offered their resignation from the 
 list of the twenty-two, and likewise to except from 
 the list of the twelve Boyer-Fonfrede and Saint-Mar- 
 tin, who had opposed the arbitrary arrests. He pro- 
 posed to replace them by Lebrun and Claviere. Marat 
 again insisted upon Lanthenas, Ducos, and Dusaulx 
 being erased from the proscription, and Fermont and 
 Valaze added to it. These amendments were adopted, 
 and the whole decree was ready for the final vote. 
 The mtimidated Plain began to mutter that, after all, 
 the deputies placed under arrest at their own houses 
 would have not so much to complain of ; and that it 
 was absolutely necessary to bring the present fright- 
 ful scene to a conclusion. The right side demanded 
 that the convention be called over, in order to make 
 the members of the BeJhj feel the ignominy of their 
 pusillanimity ; but one of them supiihed his colleagues 
 with a specious mode of escaping so painful an expo- 
 sure. He refused to vote, on the allegation that he 
 was not free. The others followed his example, and 
 adhered to the like declaration. Whereupon the 
 Mountain and a few other members decreed the arrest 
 of the deputies denounced by the commune. 
 
 Such was the celebrated catastrophe of the 2d June, 
 better known under the name of the 31st May. It 
 was an actual 10th of August against the national 
 representation ; for the deputies being once under 
 arrest at their own residences, one step more led them 
 to the scaffold, and that was of easy accomplishment. 
 It finished a principal era of the revolution, which 
 served as a state of transition to the most terrible and 
 astounding of all, and whereof we must needs retrace 
 the principal features fidly to appreciate its character. 
 
 On the 10th August, the revolution, goaded by ir- 
 resistible distrust, assailed the palace of the monarch, 
 to free itself from fears become insupportable. The 
 first idea entertained was to suspend Louis XVI., and 
 postpone his ultimate fate until the meeting of a na- 
 tional convention. Tlie monarch being suspended, 
 and power vested in the hands of different popular 
 authorities, there arose the material question how this 
 power was to be employed. Then the divisions, which 
 had already manifested themselves between the parti- 
 sans of moderation and those of inexorable energy, 
 broke forth without reserve ; the commune, composed 
 of uncompromising zealots, attacked the legislature, 
 and insulted it with threats of the tocsin. At this 
 moment, the European coalition, stimulated by the 
 10th August, hastened to advance ; the danger in- 
 creasing, provoked more and more to violence, exposed 
 moderation to obloquy, and stirred the passions to the 
 height of frenzy. Longwy and Verdun fell into the 
 possession of the enemy. The approach of Brunswick 
 precipitated the atrocities he himself announced in 
 his manifestos ; and his concealed partisans were 
 struck with terror by the horrible days of September. 
 Thereafter, saved by the incomparable fortitude of 
 Dumouriez, France had again leisure to agitate that 
 momentous question of the moderate or merciless 
 exercise of power. September became the exulting 
 topic of invective to tlie indignant moderates ; the 
 violent desired that a veil should be drojiped over evils 
 which they held inevitable and irreparable. Bittei 
 personalities soon added individual animosities to dif- 
 ferences of opinion, and discord attained its highest 
 pitch. Then arrived the moment for decichng on the 
 fate of Louis XVI. On his person the two systems 
 came into direct collision ; that of moderation was 
 vanquished, that of violence gained supremacy ; and, 
 in the king's immolation, the revolution broke defini- 
 tively with royalty and with all thrones. 
 
 The coalition, exasperated by the 21st of January,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 289 
 
 as it had already been by the 10th August, again took 
 the oifensive and gained several advantages. IJuniou- 
 riez, impeded in his progress by adverse circumstances, 
 and by the disorder in all the war departments, was 
 moved with anger against the Jacobins, to whom he 
 imputed his reverses, threw aside his political indiffe- 
 rence, declared all at once for moderation, compro- 
 mised its cause by employing his sword and foreigners 
 for its advancement, and finally simk in his efforts 
 against the revolution, after placing the republic in 
 the greatest peril. At this identical moment, La 
 Vendee rose ; the departments, all moderate, assumed 
 a threatening postm-e ; never had the danger seemed 
 greater for the revolution. Reverses and treason fur- 
 nished the Jacobins with jiretexts for calumniating 
 the moderate republicans, and demanding a judicial 
 and executive dictato';ship. They proposed the expe- 
 dients of a revolutionary tribunal and a committee of 
 public welfare. Vehement disputes ensued on these 
 topics. The two parties fought with desperation on 
 these questions, and it became impossible for them 
 longer to subsist in common. On the 10th IVIarch, 
 the Jacobins essayed to smite the heads of the Giron- 
 dists, but their attempt, ill-contrived and premature, 
 miscarried. Then they prepared their plans better ; 
 they instigated petitions, stirred up the sections, and 
 organised insurrection under legal sanctions. The 
 Girondists resisted by instituting a commission em- 
 powered to take measures against the plots of their 
 adversaries. This commission proceeded against the 
 Jacobins, excited them to fury, and was swept away 
 in a storm. Re-instaUed the following day, it was 
 finally engiilfed in the horrible turmoil of the 31st 
 May. Lastly, on the 2d June, its members and the 
 deputies it was appointed to defend were torn from 
 the sanctuary of the national representation ; and, as 
 in the instance of Louis XVI., the decision upon their 
 fate was postponed to an era M'hen the violence should 
 be sufficient to conduct them to the scaffold.* 
 
 Such was the interval between the 10th August and 
 the 31st May. It was a long struggle between two sys- 
 tems on the employment of means. The ever-increas- 
 ing danger rendered the contest more fierce, more 
 envenomed; and the ingenuous deputation of the 
 Gironde, exhausted in its indefatigable exertions to 
 avenge the enormities of September, to prevent the 
 catastrophe of the 21st Januarj', and the institution 
 of the revolutionary tribunal and the committee of 
 public welfare, sunk when that danger had reached a 
 point which rendered violence more iu"gent and mode- 
 ration less admissible. Henceforth, all legaUty being 
 trodden down, all reclamation stifled, in the suspen- 
 sion of the Girondists ; and the peril becoming more 
 terrible than ever by the insurrection to avenge the 
 fate of the Gironde, violence pursued its coiu-se with- 
 out control as without measure, and the fearful dicta- 
 torship of the revolutionary tribunal and the com- 
 
 * [" Thus fell the party of the Gironde— a party illustrious for 
 great talent and lofty courage — a party which shed lustre on the 
 new-bom republic by abliorrenceof cx'ueltj', detestation of crime, 
 disgust of anarchy, love of order, justice, and liberty— a party 
 unhappily placed between the middle class, whose revolution it 
 had opposed, and the multitude, whose government it repudiated. 
 Condemned to the defensive, its inevitable lot was simply to 
 illustrate a certain defeat by a courageous struggle and an heroic 
 death. Its fate could be foretold with certainty ; it lind been 
 driven from post to post— from the Jacobin Club by tlie cohorts 
 of the Moimtain ; from tlie commmie by the retirement of I'etion ; 
 from the ministry by the retreat of ]{oland and his colleagues ; 
 from the army by the defection of Dumouricz. Nothing remained 
 to it but tlie convention ; it was there it intrenched itself, there 
 it fought, and there it succumbed. Its enemies attempted against 
 it alternately plots and insurrections. The plots gave rise to the 
 commission of twelve, which appeared to give a momentary ad- 
 vantage to the Gironde, but which only irritated its adversaries 
 more violently. These put the people in movement, and despoiled 
 the Girondists, first of their authority by suppressing the com- 
 mission, and then of their political existence by proscribing their 
 leaders."— Af?(;7i«<, vol. i. p. .SSG.] 
 
 j mittee of public welfare took its full development. 
 
 I Now began scenes a lumdred times more startling and 
 horrible than all those that moved the indignation of 
 the Girondists. For them history is closed ; it has 
 merely to add the recital of their heroic death. Their 
 opposition was hazardous, their anger impolitic ; they 
 endangered the revolution, liberty, and France ; they 
 compromised moderation itself by advocating it with 
 bitterness ; and in their fall they involved all that 
 France contained most generous and most enlightened. 
 And yet, who would not have acted their part? — who 
 would not have committed their faults ? Is it possible, 
 in fact, to witness the shedding of blood without an 
 attempt at resistance — without a feeling of indigna- 
 tion ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 PROJECTS OF THE JACOBINS AFTER THE 31 ST MAY. — 
 THE GIRONDISTS EXCITE THE DEPARTMENTS AGAINST 
 
 THE CONVENTION. MILITARY EVENTS ON THE RHINE 
 
 AND IN THE NORTH. — SIEGE OF MAYENCE BY THE 
 PRUSSIANS. ASSASSINATION OF BIARAT BY CHAR- 
 LOTTE CORDAY. 
 
 The decree passed on the 2d Jmic against the twenty- 
 two deputies of the right side, and against the mem- 
 bers of the commission of twelve, enacted that they 
 should be detained at their own residences, and watched 
 by gendarmes. Some voluntarily submitted to the 
 decree, and constituted themselves in a state of arrest, 
 as a proof of obedience to the law, and with the view 
 of accelerating a trial which should demonstrate their 
 innocence. Gensonne and Valazc could have easily 
 escaped the vigilance of their guards, but they con- 
 stantly refused to seek safety in flight. They remained 
 prisoners with their colleagues, Guadet, Petion, Yerg- 
 niaud, Biroteau, Gardien, Boileau, Bertrand, Molle- 
 vaut, and Gommaire. Others, holding themselves 
 relieved from submission to a law extorted by force, 
 and despairing of justice, either withdrew from Paris, 
 or sought concealment within it until oj)portunities oc- 
 curred for effecting a safe retreat. Their design was to 
 repair to the departments, with the view of exciting 
 a movement against the capital. Those who adopted 
 this resolution were Brissot, Gorsas, Salles, Louvet, 
 Chambon, Buzot, Lydon, Rabaut Saint-Etienne, La- 
 source, Grangeneuve, Lesage, Vigce, Lariviere, and 
 Bergoing. The two ministers, Lebrun and Claviere, 
 superseded inmiediately subsequent to the 2d June, 
 were included in a warrant of arrest issued by the 
 commime. Lebrun succeeded in evading the contem- 
 plated seizure. The same proceeding was taken 
 against Roland, who, displaced since the 21st Janu- 
 ary, had in vain demanded an investigation of his 
 accounts. lie eluded the researches of the commune, 
 and sought shelter at Rouen. IMadame Poland, like- 
 wise an object of persecution, thought only of secur- 
 ing the escape of her Imsband; which effected, in- 
 trusting her daughter to the care of a foitliful friend, 
 she surrendered herself with noble intrepidity to the 
 conmiittce of her section, and was forthwith cast into 
 prison with a multitude of other victims of the 31st 
 May. 
 
 Exuberant joy sparkled in every eye at the club of 
 Jacobins. Boisterous were the congratidations on the 
 energy of the people, on their glorious (conduct during 
 the latter days, and on the overthrow of all the ob- 
 stacles the right side had so pertinaciously opposed to 
 the march of the revolution. At the same time it was 
 not forgotten to imitate the usage after idl great 
 events, by assigning the character under which the 
 insurrection slioukl be presented. " The people," said 
 Robespierre, " have confounded all tlieir calunniiators 
 by tlieir conduct. Eighty thousand men have been in 
 motion for a whole wec;k, without a single violation of 
 the rights of property, M'ithout a drop of blood being 
 shed ; and they have thereby shown whether, as their
 
 2»0 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 foes alleged, their aim was in reality to profit by the 
 disorder for a general abandonment to pillage and 
 murder. Their insurrection was spontaneous, because 
 it resulted from a general conviction ; and the Moun- 
 tain itself, vacillating, amazed at the movement, 
 proved sufficiently that it had not concurred in pro- 
 ducing it. Thus has this insurrection been purely 
 moral and wholly popular." 
 
 This mode of representing the event served at once 
 to give a favourable aspect to the insurrection, cast 
 an indirect censure upon the Mountain, which had 
 undoubtedly exhibited licsitation on the 2d June, 
 repel the imputation of conspiracy fastened on the 
 leaders of the left side, and agreeably flatter the po- 
 pular party, which had accomplished all, and so excel- 
 lentljs of itself After this interpretation, received 
 with acclamations by the Jacobins, and afterwards 
 re-echoed by all the organs of the victorious party, 
 Marat was called to account for an expression which 
 had caused considerable excitement. As ]\Iarat rarely 
 discerned any means of terminating revolutionary 
 hesitations, save one, dictatorship, when he perceived 
 symptoms of tergiversation on the 2d June, he had 
 then, as on all other occasions, repeatedly exclaimed, 
 " We must have a chief" Required to explain tliis 
 phrase, he justified it in his own peculiar manner, and 
 the Jacobins were speedily satisfied, content with hav- 
 ing manifested their scruples and the severity of their 
 republican principles. Some observations were like- 
 wise hazarded on the lukewarmness of Danton, who 
 appeared somewhat enervated since the suppression 
 of the committee of twelve, and whose energy, so ar- 
 dent up to the 31st IMay, had strangely cooled by the 
 2(1 June. Danton was not present ; Camille-Desmou- 
 lins, his friend, warmly defended him ; and the discus- 
 sion was abruptly terminated, from respect for so im- 
 portant a personage, and to avoid topics of too delicate 
 a texture ; for, in sooth, albeit the insurrection was 
 consummated, it was far from being universally ap- 
 proved even in the victorious party. It had suffi- 
 ciently transpired tliat the committee of public wel- 
 fare, and several Mountaineers, viewed with alarm this 
 popular act of interference. The exploit achieved, to 
 profit by it became the essential consideration, with- 
 out reviving unnecessary debates. Consequently, how 
 to use tlieir victory promptly and usefully was the 
 paramount object of the conquerors. 
 
 Divers measures were necessary for the requisite 
 consummation. To remodel the committees, all of 
 which were filled with partisans of the right side ; to 
 monopolise througli the committees the direction of 
 affairs ; to change the ministers ; to set a watch upon 
 correspondence ; to stop at the post-office dangerous 
 publications, and prevent any but well- accredited 
 journals circulating in the provinces (for, quoth Robes- 
 pierre, the liberty of the press ought to be unre- 
 stricted, doubtless, but not when endeavouring to de- 
 stroy freedom) ; to form without further delay the re- 
 volutionary army, the enrolment whereof had been 
 already decreed, since its intervention would be indis- 
 pensable to enforce the execution of the decrees of the 
 convention tliroughout the country ; and to realise the 
 forced loan of a thousand milUons from the rich — such 
 were the measures proposed and unanimously adopted 
 by the Jacobins. But an additional measure was 
 deemed more essential than all the others, namely, 
 the digestion, within a week, of the republican coiisfi- 
 tution. It was important to show that the opposition 
 of the Girondists had alone prevented the acconii)lish- 
 ment of this great task, had been the sole impediment 
 to France rejoicing in good laws and enjoying a char- 
 ter of union around which all her sons could rally. 
 This was the simultaneous idea of Jacobins, Cordehers, 
 sections, and commune. 
 
 The convention, pliant before an irresistible opinion 
 reiterated in various forms, remodelled its committees 
 of general safety, finance, war, legislation, &c. The 
 committee of public welfare, wliicth was greatly over- 
 
 burdened with affairs, not being yet sufficiently ob- 
 noxious to suspicion to justify an abrupt dismissal of 
 all its members, was alone preserved intact. Lebnm 
 was replaced in the foreign office by Deforgues, and 
 Claviere in the ministry of finance by Destournelles. 
 The plan of a constitution presented by Condorcet, in 
 accordance with the views of the Girondists, was re- 
 garded as inchoate or as if not rendered, and the com- 
 mittee of public welfare was enjoined to submit another 
 within eight days. Five members were added to it 
 for this extraordinary duty. ^loreover, it received 
 an order to prepare a plan of execution for the forced 
 loan, and a scheme of organisation for the revolution- 
 ary arm}'. 
 
 The sittings of the convention bore a perfectly novel 
 aspect subsequent to the 31st May. They were held 
 in silence, and almost all the decrees ^^•ere adopted 
 without discussion. The right side, and a portion of 
 the centre, no longer voted; they seemed, by their 
 non-participation, to i)rotest against all the proceed- 
 ings adopted since the 2d June, and to be awaitmg 
 intelligence from the departments. Marat had con- 
 ceived himself bound, in justice, to declare his own 
 suspension, until his adversaries, the Girondists, were 
 tried. Until then he renounced his functions, he said, 
 and contejited himself with illuminating the conven- 
 tion in the colmnns of his journal. The two deputies, 
 Doulcet and Fonfrede of Bordeaux, alone disturbed 
 the stillness of the assembly. The first denounced the 
 committee of insurrection, which stiU continued to 
 meet at the Eveche, and, seizing letters at the post- 
 office, broke open their seals, and returned them thus 
 loose to tlieir writers, with the words stamped thereon : 
 ^^ Revolution of the 31s< May." The convention passed 
 to the order of the day. The other, Fonfrede, a mem- 
 ber of the commission of twelve, but excepted from 
 the decree of arrest, because he had opposed the mea- 
 sures of that commission, appeared in the tribune, and 
 demanded the execution of the decree which ordained 
 a report upon those imprisoned within three da3's. 
 This reclamation excited some tumidt. " The inno- 
 cence of our colleagues ought to be proved as soon as 
 possible," said Fonfrede. " I have remained here only 
 to vindicate it ; and I warn you that an armed force 
 is advancing from Bordeaux to avenge the outrages 
 committed upon them." Vociferations followed the 
 utterance of these words, the order of the day con- 
 signed Fonfrede's proposition to oblivion, and all again 
 relapsed into profound silence. They were " the last 
 croakings of the toads in the quagmire," said the Jacobins. 
 
 The menace held out by Fonfrede from the tribune 
 was not an oratorical flourish, for not only the inha- 
 bitants of Bordeaux but of almost all the departments 
 were ready to take up arms against the convention. 
 Their discontent dated from a period long anterior to 
 the 2d June ; it had commenced, in fact, with the 
 quarrels between the Girondists and the Mountaineers. 
 It will be recollected that throughout the whole of 
 France tlie municipalities and the sections were op- 
 posed. The partisans of the ^Mountaineer system oc- 
 cupied the municipalities and clubs ; the moderate re- 
 pubHcans, Avho desired to preserve the ordinary" iules 
 of justice even in the convulsions of the revolution, 
 had all retreated, on the contrary, mto the sections. 
 In several towns the parties had come to an open rup- 
 ture. At Marseilles the sections had despoUed the 
 nmnicipality of its powers, and transferred them to a 
 central committee. Moreover, they had instituted a 
 popular tribunal of their leaders, to try the patriots 
 accused of revolutionary excesses. The commissioners 
 Bayle and Boisset in vain annulled this committee and 
 this tribimal ; their authority was contemned, and 
 the sections had remained in permanent insurrection 
 against the revolution. At Lyons, the struggle had 
 ended in the effusion of blood. Opinion was divided 
 whether a municipal ordinance, directing the levy of 
 a revolutionary army and a war-tax upon the rich, 
 should be executed. The sections which refused tc
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 291 
 
 acknowledge it had declared themselves in perma- 
 nence ; the municipality had endeavoured to dissolve 
 them ; hut, aided by the departmental directory, they 
 had resisted. On the 29th May, a general engage- 
 ment was fought, notwithstanding the presence of the 
 two commissioners of the convention, who made fruit- 
 less efforts to prevent the combat. The victorious 
 sections, after having taken by assaidt the arsenal and 
 the town-hall, had deposed tlie municipality, closed 
 the Jacobin Club, where Chalier excited violent com- 
 motions, and usurped the sovereignty of Lyons. Some 
 hundreds of the combatants fell during the conflict. 
 The representatives, Nioche and Gauthier, remained 
 prisoners a whole day ; subsequently released, they 
 withdrew to their colleagues Albite and Dubois- 
 Crance, who, like themselves, had a mission fur the 
 army of the Alps. 
 
 Such was the situation of Lyons and the south dur- 
 ing the last days of May. Bordeaux presented a not 
 more cheering aspect. That town, with all those of 
 the west, Brittany and Normandy, was merely wait- 
 ing, before entering upon action, until the threats, so 
 long repeated against the provincial deputies, should 
 be realised. It was under these feelings that the de- 
 partments learnt the events at the close of JVIay. The 
 occiirrence of the 27tli, when the commission of twelve 
 was suppressed for the first time, had caused consider- 
 able irritation, and on all sides it was proposed to pass 
 condemnatory resolutions upon the excesses of Paris. 
 But the 31st May and the 2d Jmie carried indignation 
 to the highest pitch. Rumour, which magnifies at all 
 times, exaggerated the facts. It was reported that 
 thirty-two deputies had been put to death by the 
 commune, that the pubUc treasury had been given up 
 to piUage, and that the brigands of Paris had seized 
 upon all authority, which they purposed to hand over 
 to the foreigner, to Mai-at, or to Orleans. Assemblies 
 were immediately held to draw up petitions and make 
 arrangements for assuming arms against the capital. 
 
 At this moment the fugitive deputies arrived, to 
 relate in person what had passed, and to give addi- 
 tional consistence to the movements preparing on all 
 sides. Besides those who had already escaped, several 
 eluded the vigilance of the gendarmes ; others even 
 quitted the assembly to foment the insurrection. Gen- 
 sonne, Valaze, and Vergniaud, persisted in remaining, 
 saying, that if it were advisable a part of them should 
 hasten to arouse the zeal of the departments, it was 
 likewise essential that others should remain as hos- 
 tages in the hands of their enemies, in order to de- 
 monstrate by a trial and at the hazard of their lives 
 the innocence of all. Buzot, Avho had from the first 
 refused submission to the decree of the 2d June, pro- 
 ceeded to his own department of the Eure, to stimu- 
 late a rising amongst the Normans, and thitlier Gorsas 
 followed him with the like intention. Brissot betook 
 himself to Moulins. Meilhan, who was not included 
 in the decree of arrest, but wlio had given an asylum 
 to his colleagues from the night of the 31st May to the 
 2d June, and Duchatel, whom the Mountaineers called 
 the ghost of the 21st January, becaiise he had risen 
 from his bed to vote in favour of Louis XVI., left the 
 convention to stir up Brittany. Biroteau escaped 
 from the gendarmes, and went with Chasset to direct 
 the proceedings of the Lyonnese. Rebecqui, preced- 
 ing Barbaroux, who was still detained, repaired to tlie 
 Bouches-du-Rhone. Rabaut Saint-Etienne speeded 
 to Nimes, to bring Languedoc into co-operation with 
 the general movement against the oppressors of the 
 convention. 
 
 On the 13th Jxme, the department of the Eure as- 
 sembled and gave the first signal of insurrection. The 
 convention, it said, not being free, and it being the 
 duty of all citizens to restore it to freedom, it resolved 
 that a force of 4000 men should be raised to marcli 
 upon Paris, and commissioners be sent into all the 
 teighbouring departments, to urge them to imitate tlie 
 example and organise their operations in concert. The 
 
 department of the Calvados, convoked at Caen, arrested 
 the two deputies Rome and Prieur, of the Cote-d'Or, 
 conmiissioned by the convention to expedite the for- 
 mation of an army on the coasts of Cherbourg. It 
 was agreed that the departments of Normandy should 
 congregate in an extraordinary association at Caen, to 
 form a confederation. All the departments of Brittany, 
 as those of the Cotes-du-Nord, Finisterre, Morbihan, 
 nie-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, and Loire-Inferieure, passed 
 a similar resolution, and deputed commissioners to 
 meet at Rennes to establish a central authority for 
 Brittany. The departments of the Basin of the Loire, 
 excepting those which were occupied by the Vendcans, 
 followed the general example, and even proposed to 
 send delegates to Bourges, to form in that toy.n a con- 
 vention composed of two deputies from each depart- 
 ment, and to march upon Paris and destroy the usurp- 
 mg or coerced convention there sitting. 
 
 At Bordeaux the excitement was very great. All 
 the constituted authorities met in general assembly, 
 designated as tlie Popular Commission of Public Wel- 
 fare, and, premising that the convention was no longer 
 free and ought to be restored to liberty, tliey resolved 
 that an armed force should be forthwith levied, and 
 in the interim a petition be addressed to the National 
 Convention, praying it to afford explanations, and 
 make known the truth with respect to the days of 
 IMay and June. They silbsequently dispatched com- 
 missioners into all the departments, to invite them to 
 a general coalition. Toulouse, an old parliamentary 
 city, in which numerous partisans of the old govern- 
 mentwere concealed behind the Girondists, had already 
 instituted a departmental force of a thousand men. 
 Its administrations declared, in presence of the com- 
 missioners deputed to the army of the Pyrenees, that 
 they no longer acknowledged the convention. They 
 moreover liberated several persons who had been 
 placed in confinement, incarcerated others accused of 
 being Mountaineers, and openly proclaimed that they 
 were ready to form a confederation witli the depart- 
 ments of the South. The higher departments of the 
 Tarn, Pii3'-de-D6me, Lot-et-Garonne, Aveyron, Can- 
 tal, and Heraiilt, followed the example of Toidouse and 
 Bordeaux. Nimes declared itself ui a state of resist- 
 ance ; Marseilles prepared a petition couched in terms 
 of vengeance, put in activity its popular tribimal, 
 began a process against tlie stayers, and organised a 
 force of 6000 men. At Grenoble, the sections were 
 convoked, and their presidents, in conjmiction with 
 the constituted authorities, arrogated the possession 
 of all powers, disi)atched delegates to Lyons, and mani- 
 fested an intention to arrest Dubois-Crance and Gau- 
 thier, the commissioners of llie convention to the army 
 of the Alps. The department of the Aiu adopted 
 similar resolutions. That of Jura, which had pre- 
 viously levied a body of cavalry and a departmental 
 force of 800 men, protested with animation against the 
 authority of the convention. Lastly, at Lyons, where 
 the sections reigned jiaramount since the battle of the 
 29th May, they both received and deputed envoys, 
 with the view of acting in concert with Marseilles, 
 Bordeaux, and Caen. They likewise instituted pro- 
 ceedings against Chalier, president of the Jacobin 
 Club, and against several otlier Mountaineers. Tims 
 there remained under the authority of the convention 
 only the departments of the Nortli and those comprised 
 in the basin of the Seine. The insurgent departments 
 amounted to sixty or seventy, and Paris, with fifteen 
 or twenty, had to resist this imposing mass, and con- 
 tinue the war witli all Europe. 
 
 At Paris, opinions were divided on the measures to 
 be pursued in this crisis. The members of the com- 
 mittee of public welfare, Cambon, Barrcrc, Breard, 
 TreUliard, and ]\latliieu, well - accredited patriots, 
 though they had disapproved of the 2d Jime, were 
 desirous that tiie ways of conciliation should be tried. 
 It was necessary, according to their views, to demon- 
 strate tlie freedom of the convention by energetic steps
 
 292 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 against agitators, and, instead of exasperating the 
 departments by severe decrees, to win them back b}' 
 expostulations on the fearful danger of civU war in the 
 presence of foreign armies. Barrere submitted, in tlie 
 name of tlie committee of public welfare, a decree 
 altogether conceived in this spirit. 
 
 By the proposed enactment, the revolutionary com- 
 mittees, wluch liad rendered themselves so formidable 
 by their numerous arrests, were to be suppressed 
 throughout France, or restricted to the object of their 
 institution, the surveillance of suspected strangers; 
 the ])rimary assinnlilies were to be convoked at Paris 
 to nominate a connnander of the armed force, in lieu 
 of Henriot, who owed his appointment merely to the 
 insurgents ; lastly, thirty deputies were to be sent into 
 the departments as hostages. These measures ap- 
 I)eared calculated to pacify and tranquillise the pro- 
 vinces. The abolition of the revolutionary committees 
 would put an end to the inquisition in force against 
 the suspcctetl ; the selection of a good commanding 
 officer would ensure order in Paris ; and the thirty 
 dejiuties would serve at once as hostages and peace- 
 makers. But the jMountain was in no humour to 
 negotiate. Proudly boasting of what it called the 
 national authority, it rejected all schemes of concilia- 
 tion. Robespierre caused the project of the committee 
 to be adjourned. Danton, again raising liis voice in 
 this perilous conjimcture, recalled the famous crises of 
 the revolution ; the dangers of September at the period 
 of the invasion of Champagne and the capture of 
 Verdun ; the dangers of January, before the condem- 
 nation of the last king was decided ; finally, the still 
 greater dangers of April, when Dumouriez was about 
 to march on Paris, and La Vendee raised the standard 
 of revolt. The revolution, he said, had surmounted 
 all these perUs ; it had come forth victorious from all 
 these crises, and it would again emerge triumphantly 
 from this the last one. " It is m the throes of their 
 mightiest efforts," he exclaimed, " tliat pohtical, like 
 ph^-sical bodies, always seem threatened with immi- 
 nent dissolution, llark ! the thunder roars, and amidst 
 its crashes the gi'cat labour, in which the happiness 
 of twenty-four millions of men is involved, shidl be 
 accomplished." 
 
 Danton recommended that, by a decree common to 
 all the departments, they should be enjoined to suc- 
 cumb within twenty-four hours after its receipt, under 
 pain of the ban of outlawrj'. The commanding voice 
 of Danton, whose inspiriting tones were never heard in 
 seasons of peril without ai-ming all minds with courage, 
 produced its accustomed effect. The convention, al- 
 though it scrupled to adopt exactly the proposed mea- 
 sure, nevertheless jiassed most energetic resolutions. 
 With respect to the 31st May and the 2d June, it 
 declared* that the people of Paris, in its insurrection, 
 had deserved well of the coimtry. It decreed that the 
 deputies who had been original!}^ ordered into arrest 
 at their own houses, and of whom some had taken to 
 flight, shoidd be transferred to prison, and there de- 
 tained like ordinary prisoners ; that a call of the whole 
 convention should be made, and the aljsent without 
 leave or orders imseatcd and replaced by substitutes ; 
 that the departmental and municipal authorities could 
 be neither superseded nor removed from one place to 
 another ; that it was not competent for them to cor- 
 respond together, and that all delegates sent from one 
 department into another, with the design of concocting 
 coalitions, were to be instantly seized l)y all good citi- 
 zens, and forwarded under escort to Paris. After 
 adopting these general measures, the convention an- 
 nulled the ordinance of the department of the Eiu-e ; 
 put under impeachment the members of the depart- 
 ment of Calvados, who had arrested two of its connuis- 
 sioners ; fulminated the like sentence against Buzot, 
 the instigator of tlie revolt of Normandy ; and intrusted 
 two deputies, Mathieu and Treilhard, with a mission 
 
 * Decree of the I3tli June. 
 
 to the departments of the Gironde, Dordogne, and 
 Lot-et-Garonne, which requested explanations before 
 rising in insurrection. It summoned before it the 
 authorities of Toidonse, dissolved tlie tribunal and 
 central committee of Marseilles, denounced Barbaroux 
 by especial stigma, and proclaimed the incarcerated 
 patriots under the safeguard of the law. Lastly, it 
 dispatched Robert Lindet to Lyons, in order to talve 
 cognisance of facts and draw up a report upon the 
 state of that city. 
 
 These decrees, passed in (juick succession before 
 the close of June, materially damped the ardour of 
 several departments, unsuited by habit to contend 
 with the central authority. Intimidated and irresolute, 
 they deemed it best to await the example which might 
 be furnished them by dep:irtments more powerful, or 
 more committed in the quarrel. 
 
 The administrative bodies of Nonnandy, animated 
 by the presence of the deputies who had joined Buzot, 
 to wit, Barbaroux, Guadet, Louvet, Salles, Petion, 
 Bergoing, Lesage, Cussj', and Kervt-legan, followed 
 up their first resolutions, and fixed upon Caen as the 
 seat of a central committee for tlie departments. TIk )se 
 of the Eure, Calvados, and Orne, sent delegates. The 
 departments of Brittany, which had previously con- 
 gregated at Rennes, determined to eflect a jmiction 
 with the central association of Caen, and to appoint 
 delegates to represent them therein. Accordingly, 
 on the 30th June, the envoys of jMorbihan, Finisterre, 
 C6tes-du-Nord, Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, and Loire- 
 Inferieure, being united with those of Calvados, L'Eure, 
 and L'Orne, constituted themselves A Central Assemfili/ 
 of Resistance to Oppression, promising to maintain equa- 
 hty and the unity and mdivisibUity of the republic, 
 but swearing hatred to anarchists, and pledging them- 
 selves to use their power solely for the purpose of en- 
 suring respect to persons and property, and uphold- 
 ing the sovereignty of the people. After having thus 
 taken formal constitution, they resolved that contin- 
 gents sliould be furnished by each department, to form 
 a sufhcient force to march upon Paris and re-esta- 
 blish the national representation in its integrity. Felix 
 Wimpffen, general of the army directed to be organised 
 along the coasts of Cherbourg, was named commander 
 of the departmental array. He accepted the post, and 
 forthwith assmned tlie new title conferred upon him. 
 Ordered to Paris by the minister of war, lie replied 
 that but one mode of promoting peace could be effec- 
 tual, namely, the revocation of all the decrees i^assed 
 subsequent to the 31st May; that upon this condition 
 the departments woidd fraternise with the capital ; 
 but, in the reverse idtcrnative, he would visit Paris 
 only at the head of sixty thousand Normans and 
 Bretons. 
 
 At tlie same time that he called Wimpffen to Paris, 
 the minister directed the dragoon regiment of La 
 jManclie, stationed in Normandy, to proceed without 
 delay to Versailles. Upon this order transpiring, tlie 
 federalists alread}' assembled at Evreux drew up in 
 Ijattle array ; the national guards joined them, and 
 the road to Versailles was blocked against the dra- 
 goons. The latter, not disposed to engage in combat, 
 midertook not to depart, and feigned to fraternise with 
 the federahsts. The officers wrote secretly to Paris 
 that they coidd not obey the minister without com- 
 mencing a civil war. They were consequently suffered 
 to remain. 
 
 The assembly of Caen decided that the Breton bat- 
 talions, already arrived, should be marched from Caen 
 to Evreux, as the general rendezvous of all the forces. 
 To this point were likewise forwarded provisions, arm.s, 
 munitions, and funds taken from the public reposi- 
 tories. Thither, too, were dispatched officers recently 
 gained to the cause of federalism, and numbers of 
 concealed royalists, who eagerly particnpated in all 
 commotions, and assumed the mask of reimblicanism 
 to oppose the revolution. Amongst the coimter-revo- 
 lutionists of this class, was the well-known Puisaye,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 293 
 
 who affected a prodigious zeal for the cause of the 
 Girondists, and ■vvliom Wimpfien, himself a disguised 
 roj-alist, named general of brigade, and intrusted witli 
 the command of tlie advanced guard collected at 
 Evreux. This advanced guard might amount to five 
 or six thousand men, and was daily inei'eased by fresh 
 contingents. The brave Bretons hastened from all 
 parts, and announced that other battalions were fol- 
 lowing them in greater force. They w^ere prevented 
 from mustering more rapidlj' by the necessity of giiard- 
 ing the coasts of the sea from the English fleets, and 
 of detaching battalions against the Vendeans, who 
 already touched upon the Loire, and seemed i)reparing 
 to cross it. Althougli the Bretons of the rural districts 
 were blindly devoted to the clergy, those of the towns 
 were sincere republicans, and, even when combating 
 Paris, they were not the less disposed to continue an 
 obstinate war against La Vendee. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs in Brittany and 
 Normandy at the commencement of July. In the 
 neighbouring departments of the Loire, zeal had 
 greatly slackened. Certain commissioners of the con- 
 vention, who were opportunely in the district for the 
 purpose of directing the new levies on La Vendee, 
 had induced the administrative bodies to await further 
 events before finally compromising themselves. Con- 
 sequently, all idea in tliose quarters of sending dele- 
 gates to Bourges was given up for the moment, and a 
 studied reserve succeeded the fii'st evanescent impe- 
 tuosity. 
 
 At Bordeaux the insurrection was steady and ener- 
 getic. The deputies TreUhard and Mathieu were 
 closely watched upon their arrival, and it was even 
 debated to arrest them as hostages ; however, withoiit 
 proceeding to that extremity, they were ordered to 
 appear before the popular commission, where the citi- 
 zens, who viewed them as Maratist envoys, extended 
 to them but an untoward reception. They were in- 
 terrogated as to the events that had occurred at Paris ; 
 and after hearing them, the commission resolved that, 
 even according to their own statement, the convention 
 had not been free on the 2d June, nor ever had been 
 so since that period ; that they were themselves but 
 the envoys of an assemljly witliout a legal character, 
 wherefore they had simply, with all expedient dis- 
 patch, to betake themselves forth the department. 
 They were thereupon formally I'econducted to tlie 
 limits of the province, and the Bordelese were left at 
 liberty to mature plans similar to those that had been 
 already acted upon at Caen. Tliey prepared stores of 
 provisions and arms, appropriated the public funds, 
 and sent forward an advanced guard to Langon, to 
 await the main body, which was appointed to start 
 within a few days. These occurrences passed also 
 during tlie latter days of June and the first of July. 
 
 The deputies Mathieu and Treilhard, experiencing 
 less resistance and a somewhat more favourable ap- 
 preciation in the departments of the Dordogne, Vienne, 
 andLot-et-Garonne, succeeded in allaying the ferment 
 to a certain extent, and by their conciliatory manners 
 prevented an immediate resort to hostilities, thereby 
 gaining time, which was of infinite service to the con- 
 vention. But in the higher departments, in tlie moun- 
 tains of the Upper Loire and on tlieir further fianks, 
 in L'llerault and Le Gard, all along the liaiiks of the 
 Rhone, tlie insurrection was general. Le Gard and 
 L'llerault put their battalions in inotioii, and sent 
 them to the Bont-Saint-Esprit, to occupy tlie pas- 
 sage of the Rhone, and eftect a junction with tlie 
 Marseillese, who were to ascend that river. The latter, 
 refusing all obedience to the decrees of tiie convention, 
 had persisted in maintaining their tribunal, continued 
 under confinement the arrested patriots, and even 
 commenced a series of executions. They formed an 
 army of 6000 men, whicli, advancing from Aix to 
 Avignon, and then uniting with the Languedocians 
 collected at tlie I'ont-Saint-Esprit, was intended to 
 stir up on its march the districts along the Rhone, 
 
 the Isere, and the Drome, and finally coalesce witli the 
 ]\Iountaineers of the Ain and Jm-a. At Grenoble, the 
 federalised administrations contended against Dubois- 
 Crance, and even held out threats of arrest. Not yet 
 venturing to levy troops, they had simply dispatched 
 envoys to fraternise witli Lyons. Dubois-Crance, -with 
 the disorganised army of the Alps, found liiniself iu 
 the midst of a half-revolted city, wliicli intimated to 
 him daily the significant hint that the south could 
 very easily dispense with the nortli. He had, more- 
 over, to guard Savoy, where tlie illusions originally in- 
 spired by liberf}'^ and French dominion were dissipated, 
 wliere constant murmurs were raised against the levies 
 of men and the issue of assignats, and where nothing 
 was understood of tliat revolution, so convulsive and 
 so different from wliat had been at first imagined. On 
 his flanks he had Switzerland, in which the emigrants 
 kept' up a busy agitation, and where Berne was again 
 contemplating the occupation of Geneva by a garrison, 
 and in his rear he had Lyons, which intercepted his 
 correspondence with the committee of public welfare. 
 At Lyons, Robert Lindet had been indeed received, 
 but in his very presence the federalist oath had been 
 solemnly administered : — '• The unity and indivisi- 
 bility OF THE REPUBLIC, HATRED TO ANARCHISTS, AND 
 THE NATIONAL REPRESENTATION ENTIRE." So far from 
 
 sending the apprehended patriots to Paris, the pro- 
 ceedings instituted against them Avere the more dili- 
 gently prosecuted. A new autliority, composed of 
 deputies of tlie communes and members of the consti- 
 tuted bodies, had been formed imder the title of the 
 Popular and liepuhJican Commission of Public Welfare 
 for the Phone and Loire. This assembly had decreed 
 tlie organisation of a departmental force, to operate in 
 concert with the fedei-a lists of the Jura, Isere, Bouches- 
 du-Rlione, Gironde, and Calvados. This force was 
 already enrolled. It had likewise been determined 
 to levy a subsidy ; and there, as in the other depart- 
 ments, tlie signal alone was awaited to commence the 
 movement. In the Jura, when intelligence arrived 
 that the two deputies Bassal and Garnier of Troyes, 
 commissioned to re-establish obedience towards the 
 assembly, had collected at Dole 1500 troops of the 
 line, upwards of 14,000 mountaineers had taken arms 
 and made dispositions to enveloii them. 
 
 If, then, Ave consider the state of France at the com- 
 mencement of Jidy 1793, we shall perceive that a 
 column issuing from Brittany and Normandy, and 
 propelled as far as Evreux, was only a few leagues 
 from Paris ; that anotlier was advancing from Bor- 
 deaux, wliicl) threatened to draw in its train all the 
 departments in the basin of tlie Loire, still irresolute; 
 that CUOO JNIarseillese, posted at Avignon, awaiting 
 the Languedocians at the Pont-Saint-i;siirit, already 
 occupied by 800 Niniois, were in a position to unite at 
 Lyons with all tlie federalists of Grenoble, the Ain, 
 and the Jura, and i)our through Burgundy upon Paris. 
 Ill the interim, until this general junction were ef- 
 fected, the federalists aiijiropriated all the moneys in 
 the imiilic coffers, intercepted the sujiiilies and muni- 
 tions forwarded to the arniit'S, and returned into cir- 
 culation the assignats redeemed by the sale of the 
 national domains.* 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, highly character- 
 istic of the sjiirit of ]>arty, that both factions addressed 
 the saiiK' rejiroaches and attributed the same designs 
 to each other. The Jiarty of Paris and the Mountain 
 upbraided the federalists with purposing to ruin the 
 republic by dividing it, and with liarlumriiig a scheme, 
 in concert with the English, to estalilish a king, who 
 was to be either the Duke of Orleans, I^ouis XVIL, 
 or the Duke of York. On the other hand, the party 
 of the (U'liartnieiits and lederalists charged ujion the 
 IMouiuain ;in intention to efli^'Ctuate a counter-revolu- 
 tion by anarchy, and said that Marat, Robespierre, 
 
 * Keport of Canibon on the labours of tlie committee of public 
 welfare, from the lOth of April to the IDlh July. 
 U
 
 294 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Dauton, were all sold to England or to Orleans. Thus 
 on both sides, it was the republic^ they pretended to 
 save, and the monarchy they professed to abhor, and 
 its return chiefiy to oppose. Such is the deplorable 
 and ordinary infatuation of parties ! 
 
 But all that we have recently sketched affords a 
 picture of only one portion of the dangers that hung 
 over France. The enemy within was to be dreaded 
 solely on account of the enemy without, who had at 
 this time become more formidable than ever. Whilst 
 armies of Frenchmen were advancing from the extre- 
 mities towards the centre, armies of foreigners were 
 again encompassing Frauce, and menacing it with an 
 almost inevitable invasion. Since tlie battle of Neer- 
 winden and the defection of Dumouriez, a constant 
 series of reverses had driven the French from all their 
 conquests and laid open the northern frontier. It will 
 be remembered that Dampierre, being appointed gene- 
 ral-in-chief, had rallied the army under the walls of 
 Bouchain, and had succeeded in restoring to it a degree 
 of organisation and courage. Luckily for the revolu- 
 tion, the allies, true to the methodical plan settled at 
 the opening of the campaign, refrained from penetrat- 
 ing on any point, and resolved to enter France only 
 when the King of Prussia, after taking Mayence, 
 should be prepared to advance into the heart of the 
 country. If amongst the generals of the coalition had 
 sparkled a ray of genius, or if a spirit of union had 
 cemented the'm, the cause of tlie revolution had been 
 lost. After Neerwinden and the defection of Dumou- 
 riez, they ought to have marched forward, and given 
 no rest to their beaten, divided, and betrayed foes ; 
 and, whether they had made the French prisoners, or 
 driven them into their strongliolds, the country would 
 have remained open to their victorious hosts. But the 
 allies thought tit to hold a congress at Antwerp, in order 
 with due deliberation to regidate the idterior operations 
 of the war. To the Duke of York, the Prince of Co- 
 bourg, the Prince of Orange, and divers generals, was 
 left fhe important decision upon the course it behoved 
 the allies to take. And they resolved to beleaguer Conde 
 and Valenciennes, in order to give the house of Austria 
 additional fortresses in the Low Countries, and to seii'.e 
 upon Dunkirk, to gratify Eughmd with so desirable a 
 port upon the continent. These stipidations entered 
 uito, operations were resumed. The English and 
 Dutch arrived in line. The Duke of York conunanded 
 20,000 Austrians and Hanoverians, the Prince of 
 Orange 15,000 Dutchmen, and the Prince of Cobourg 
 45,000 Austrians and 8000 Hessians. The Prince of 
 Ilohenlohe occupied Namitr and Luxumbourg with 
 30,000 Austrians, and connected the allied army in the 
 Low Countries with the Prussian army employed in 
 the siege of JVIayence. Thus from 80,000 to 90,000 
 men menaced the north. 
 
 The allies lost no time in forming the blockade of 
 Conde, and to raise that lilockade became an object of 
 the greatest ambition to the French government. 
 Dampierre, distrustful of his soldiers, scrupled to at- 
 tack the formidable masses of the enemy. But, goaded 
 by the commissioners of the convention, he drew his 
 army to the camp of Famars under Valenciennes, and 
 on the 1st of ]May attacked in several columns the 
 Austrians, intrenched in the woods of Vicogne and 
 Saint-Ainant. MUitary combinations were still con- 
 ceived in a timid spirit at that time ; to compose a 
 mass, seize the weak point of the eneni}^ and vigor- 
 jusly assault it, Avere tactics unknown to both sides. 
 Dampierre threw himself with signal v:dour, but in 
 small bodies, upon an enemy who was himself divided, 
 and whom it would have been easy to overwhelm on 
 any given point. Chastised for his blunder, he was 
 repulsed after an obstinate engagement. On the 9th 
 May he renewed the attack, on which occasion his 
 forces were less scattered than before ; but his wary 
 antagonists were likewise more compact, and whilst 
 he was making heroic efforts to ensure the capture of 
 a redoubt, which stood an obstacle to the junction of 
 
 two of his columns, he was struck by a cannon-ball 
 and mortally wounded. General Lamarche, succeed- 
 ing provisionally to the command, ordered a retreat, 
 and led back the army into the camp of Famars. 
 
 This caTup of Famars, being situated beneath the 
 walls of Valenciennes and connected with that fortress, 
 prevented its being besieged. The allies determined 
 to attack it on the 23d ]\Iay. They subdivided their 
 troops according to their wonted method, uselessly 
 diverting corps upon a multitude of points which 
 Austrian prudence deemed it expedient to guard, and 
 assaidting the camp with a less force than a more 
 skilful adversary would have deployed. Kept in check 
 a whole day by the artillery, the pride of the French 
 army, the}^ did not effect the passage of the Konelle, 
 which defended the front of the camp, until the even- 
 ing. Lamarche decamped during the night in good 
 order, and proceeded to plant himself in the camp of 
 C;esar, which was connected with the fastness of Bou- 
 chain, as that of Famars with Valenciennes. Here 
 again the allies ought to have pursued and dispersed 
 the French ; but narrow-sighted seliislmess and me- 
 thodical precision fixed the imperialists around Valen- 
 ciennes. A part of their army, disposed as a corps of 
 observation, was posted between Valenciennes and 
 Bouchain, and fronted Ca?sai-'s camp. Another divi- 
 sion undertook the siege of Valenciennes, and the 
 remnant continued the blockade of Conde, which was 
 greatly straitened for food, and the reduction whereof 
 was confidently anticipated within a few days. The 
 siege of Valencieimes Avas connneuced in regular form. 
 One hundred and eighty pieces of ordnance were sent 
 from Vienna, and one hundred others from Holland ; 
 ninety -three mortars were alread}' on the spot. Thus, 
 during June and Jul\-, Conde was exposed to starva- 
 tion, Valenciennes was laid in ashes, and the Fi'ench 
 generals occupied Cajsar's camp with a defeated, di- 
 spirited, and disorganised amiy. The most gloomy 
 prognostications were coupled with the fall of those 
 two frontier bulwarks, Conde and Valenciennes. 
 
 The army of the Moselle, forming tlie connecting 
 link between the army of the north and that of the 
 Rhine, had passed under the orders of Ligneville, upon 
 the nomination of Beurnonville to the ministry of war. 
 That general found himself in presence of the Prince 
 of Hohenlohe, from whom he had little to dread, inas- 
 much as that personage, occupying at once Namur, 
 Luxumbourg, and Treves, Avith 30,000 men at the 
 utmost, and having before him the fastnesses of Metz 
 and Thionvillc, was effectuaUj' debarred from attempt- 
 ing any dangerous enterprise. He had been recently 
 still further crippled by a detachment of from 7000 to 
 SOOO men sent to join the Prussian army. Thence- 
 forth, it became both more practicable and more expe- 
 dient than ever to unite the active force on the Moselle 
 with that on the upper Rhine, to prosecute important 
 operations. 
 
 On the Rhine, the preceding campaign had termi- 
 nated at ilayence. Custinc, after his absurd demon- 
 strations around Frankfort, had been constrained to 
 fall back and shut himself up in INlayence, where he 
 had collected a considerable artillery, abstracted from 
 other French fortresses, and particularly from Sti'as- 
 bourg. There he formed a thousand projects ; some- 
 times he woidd resume the offensive, at others defend 
 Mayence to the last, and again abandon the place 
 altogether. He had finally resolved to maintain his 
 possession ; and his representations induced the exe- 
 cutive council to sanction that determination. The 
 King of Prussia thus found himself compelled to invest 
 the town in form ; and it was the resistance he en- 
 coimtered at this point that delayed the advance of 
 the allies on the north. 
 
 The Prussian monarch passed the Rhine at Bacha- 
 rach, a little below Maj-ence ; Wurmser, with 15,000 
 Austrians and a few thousands of the corps of Conde, 
 crossed it a little above; and the Hessian corps of 
 Schoenfeld remained on the right bank before the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 295 
 
 suburb of Cassel. The Prussian army v/as not, how- 
 ever, so strong as it ouglit to have been, according to 
 the obUgations contracted by Frederick WilHam. 
 Having detached a considerable corps into Poland, 
 there remained with him only 55,000 men, including 
 the different contingents, Hessians, Saxons, and Bava- 
 rians. Thus, reckoning the corps of imperialists under 
 Wurmser, the 5000 or 60t)0 emigrants of the Prince 
 of Conde, and the 55,000 men under the King of 
 Prussia, the army whicli at this moment hovered so 
 threateningly on the eastern frontier could certainly 
 not muster beyond 80,000 men. The fortresses on the 
 Rliine contained of garrison troops nearly 38,000 ; the 
 active army was from 40,000 to 45,000 strong ; that 
 of the Moselle 30,000 ; and if these two latter had been 
 combuied under one command, and with a basis {point 
 d'appui) such as that of Mayence, tliey might have 
 feasibly gone in quest of the Brandenburgher, and 
 given him adequate occupation on his own side of the 
 Rhine. 
 
 At all events, the two French generals on the Mo- 
 selle and Rhine might have acted in concert; they 
 assuredly might have disputed, if not prevented, the 
 passage of the river ; but they in reality did nothing. 
 In the course of the month of March, tlie King of 
 Prussia crossed the Rhine without hindrance, and 
 only encountered in his progress some advanced posts, 
 wliich he easily drove back. At that particular mo- 
 ment, Custine was at AYorms. He had not cast a 
 thought upon defending either the banks of the Rhine 
 or the ridges of the Vosges, which, forming a circle 
 round Mayence, might have checked the march of tlie 
 Prussians. He repaired to the scene with prompti- 
 tude, but speedily took fright at the reverses expe- 
 rienced by his advanced guards ; he concluded he had 
 at least 1 50,000 men on his hands ; above all, he was 
 haunted with the idea that Wurmser, who had been 
 directed to debouch by the Palatinate and above 
 JNIayence, was in his rear, and preparing to separate 
 him from Alsace. He hastily demanded succours from 
 Ligneville, who, trembling for himself, refused to de- 
 tai;h a single regiment. Thereupon, he hesitated no 
 longer, but moved back with the utmost precipitancy 
 upon Landau, thence upon Weissembourg, and even 
 thought of seeking protection under the cannon of 
 Strasbourg. This inconceivable retreat threw open 
 all the inlets to the Prussians, who proceeded with 
 composure to group themselves around Mayence, and 
 invest it on both banks. 
 
 Twenty thousand men were immured in the place ; 
 and if such a force were ample for defence, it was 
 much too considerable for consumption, since the 
 stores of provisions were quite inadequate to main- 
 tain so numerous a garrison. The uncertainty whicli 
 attended all the military plans at that period, had pre- 
 vented any measures being taken to provision the 
 town. Fortunately, it contained two representatives 
 of the people, Rewbel and the undaunted Merlin de 
 Thionville, the generals Kleber, Aubert-Debayet, and 
 Meunier (of the engineers) ; and, lastly, a garrison 
 signally endowed with aU martial virtues — valour, so- 
 briety, and fortitude. The investment was completed 
 in April. General Kalkreuth conducted the siege Avith 
 a Prussian corps. The King of Prussia and Wurmser 
 rested in observation at the foot of the Vosges, and 
 presented a front to Custine. The garrison made re- 
 peated sallies, and extended to a great distance its 
 scope of defence. The French government, sensible 
 too late of the fault it had committed in separating 
 the two armies of the Moselle and Rliine, now united 
 them under Custine. That general, having from 00,000 
 to 70,000 men at his disposal, with the Aiistrians and 
 Prussians lying dispersed before him, and beyond 
 them Mayence, defended by 20,000 intrepid French- 
 men, never dreamt, it would seem, of bearing down in 
 a concentrated mass upon the corps of observation, 
 scattering it before him, and bearing succom' to the 
 brave garrison stretching out its arms to him in vain. 
 
 About the middle of May, it is true, becoming aware 
 of the perilous consequences of his inaction, he made 
 an abortive, ill-combined, ill-sustained attempt, which 
 idtimately degenerated into a complete rout. Ac- 
 cordmg to his ajiproved method, L.e threw the blame 
 upon his subordinates, and was transferred to the 
 army of the north, to restore organisation and cour- 
 age to the troops intrenched in Cfesar's camp. Thus 
 the coalition, left to prosecute the sieges of Valen- 
 ciennes and Mayence, might, after the capture of those 
 two fortresses, advance towards the centre of France, 
 and accomplish Avithout serious impediment the long- 
 projected invasion. 
 
 From the Rhine to the Alps and the Pyrenees a series 
 of revolts threatened the rear of the French armies, and 
 interrupted their communications. The Vosges, Jura, 
 Auvergne, and Lozere, form from the Rhine to tlu- 
 Pj'renees an almost continuous chain of mountains, of 
 different height and compass. Mountainous districts 
 are invariably, touching their institutions, manners, 
 and customs, regions of conservatism. In almost nil 
 those we have just mentioned, the population retained 
 a lingering attachment for its former mode of life, and, 
 without being so fanatical as in La Vendee, it was 
 sufficiently disposed to take iip arms against the pre- 
 sent rulers of France. The Vosges, nearly half Gei-- 
 man, were agitated by nobles and priests, and mani- 
 fested intentions the moi-e hostile as the army of tlie 
 Rhine swerved from its positions. The Jura was 
 wholly insurgent in the cavise of the Girondists ; a!id 
 if in its revolt it evinced a decided zeal for liberty, it 
 was not on that account the less dangerous, seeing 
 that from fifteen to tAventy thousand of its moun- 
 taineers were collected around Lons-le-Saulnier, in 
 connexion with the insurrectionists of the Ain and 
 Rhone. We have already sketched the state of Lyons. 
 The mountains of Lozere, which separate the Upper 
 Loire from the Rhone, were fiUed Avith insurgents of 
 similar character to the Vendeans. Commanded by 
 a member of the first Constituent Assembly, named 
 Charrier, they amounted to nearly 30,000 fighting 
 men, and might by the Loire effect a jimction Avith 
 La Vendee. After them were the federalist insur- 
 gents of the south. Thus, extensive revolts, differing 
 in aim and principles, but all equally formidable, 
 threatened the rears of the armies of the Rhine, the 
 Alps, and the Pyrenees. 
 
 Upon the line of the Alps, the Piedmontese were 
 in arms, coveting the resumption of Savoy and the 
 county of Nice. The snoAV delayed the commence- 
 ment of hostilities along the Saint-Bernard, and each 
 army kept its posts in the three valleys of SaUenche, 
 La Tarentaise, and La Maurieime. In the Maritime 
 Alps, and to tlie army designated " of Italy," it chanced 
 otherAvise. Hostilities in that direction had been early 
 resumed, and during the month of May the contest 
 for the important post of Saorgio, on Avhich depended 
 the tranquil possession of Nice, had been rencAved. 
 The occupancy of this post, in fact, Avould have ren- 
 dered the French masters of the Col-de-Tende, and 
 given them the command of the great chain. Con- 
 sequently, the Piedmontese had displayed as much 
 energy in defending it as the latter in attacking it. 
 lliey had, as v/ell in Savoy as in the direction of 
 Nice, 40,000 men reinforced by 8000 Austrian auxi- 
 liaries. Their troops, dispersed in several diA'isions 
 of equal force, from the Col-dc-Tende to the Great 
 Saint-Bernard, had pursued, like all the forces of the 
 allies, the system of cordons, and scrupulously guarded 
 all the valleys. The French army of Italy Avas in the 
 most deplorable condition. Composed of 15,000 men 
 at the utmost, destitute of every necessary, and un- 
 skilfully commanded, any great efforts on its part 
 were quite impossible. General Biron, Avho had ap- 
 peared at its head for a brief interval, strengthened it 
 with 5000 recruits, but failed in providing it Avith the 
 still more essential matter of supplies. Had some 
 grand conception been started in the south, such as
 
 296 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 had lacked so signally in the north, the ruin of France 
 would have been with equal certaint}- accomplished 
 on that side. The Piedmontese might with ease, 
 under fovour of the snows which paralysed all action 
 on the High Aljis, have transported all their forces to 
 the southern Alps, and, debouching on Nice with a 
 mass of 30,000 men, have fallen irresistibly on the 
 dilapidated army of Italy, driven it back on the in- 
 surgent departments, completely scattered it, stimu- 
 lated the movements on both banks of the Rhone, 
 advanced possibly even to Grenoble and Lj'ons, taken 
 in the rear the army entangled in the valleys of Sa- 
 .•oy, and thus overran the whole of that portion of 
 France. But, in truth, they coidd no more boast a 
 Victor- Amadeus amongst them, than the Austrians a 
 Eugene or the English a JMarlborough. So they con- 
 tented themselves with defending Saorgio. 
 
 Brunet, who succeeded Ansclme, had, with regard 
 to this post of Saorgio, made efforts similar to those 
 which liad illustrated the close of Dampierre's career 
 before Condc. After several fruitless and sanguin- 
 ary conflicts, a decisive action was fought on the 
 12th June, which ended in a total overthrow. Then 
 again, if the enemy had derived a portion of bold- 
 ness from his success, he had a fair opportunit_y of 
 dispersing the French, and forcing them to evacuate 
 Nice and repass the Var. Kellermann hastened on 
 the intelligence from his head-quarters in the Alps, 
 rallied the army in the camp of Donjon, fixed its de- 
 fensive positions, and ordered absolute inaction imtil 
 a reinforcement shoidd arrive. The situation of this 
 army was rendered additionally critical at this mo- 
 ment by the appearance in the Mediterranean of the 
 English Admiral Hood, Avho had put out from Gib- 
 raltar with thirty-seven sail, and of Admiral Langara, 
 who had ventured from the Spanish ports with a 
 flotilla of nearly equal strength. Troops disembarked 
 from these squadrons might readily occupy the line of 
 the Var, and take the French on their rear quarters. 
 The cruising of the fleets, moreover, prevented sup- 
 plies being forwarded hy sea, encouraged the rebels in 
 the south, and stimulated Corsica to throw itself into 
 the arms of the English. The French fleets were in 
 Toulon, repairing the damage sustained in the iU-fated 
 expedition to Sardinia, and scarcely ventured to pro- 
 tect the coasters bringing corn from Italy. Tlie 
 Mediterranean ceased to recognise French predomi- 
 nance, and the valuable commerce of the Levant 
 passed from ^Marseilles to the Greeks and English. 
 Thus, then, the army of Italj^ had in front the Pied- 
 montese, victorious in several conflicts, and in rear 
 the revolted south and two hostile squadrons. 
 
 In the P}Tenees, the war with Spain, declared on 
 the 7th IMarch as a sequel to the death of Louis XVI., 
 had scarcely as yet commenced. The pi'eparations 
 had been tardy on lx)th sides, for Spain, slow, lethargic, 
 and miserably administered, was unfitted to act M'ith 
 promptitude, and France had almost as many enemies 
 on her hands as she could well attend to. Servan, 
 nominated to the command in the I'yrenees, had occu- 
 pied several months in organising his army, mveigh- 
 ing the while against Pache Avith such bitterness as 
 Dumouriez had not exceeded. Circumstances had not 
 improved, it woidd seem, under the auspices of Bou- 
 chotte ; for, when the campaign was al)out to open, 
 the general was still loud in his complaints against the 
 minister, mIio, he alleged, left him in total destitution. 
 France and Spain comnmnicate at tAvo points, I'er- 
 pignan and Bayoime. To throw an invading corps 
 upon Bayonne and Bordeaux, and so touch La Vendee, 
 was too bold a scheme for that period ; besides, the 
 Spanish generals gave the French credit for more 
 powerful means of resistance in that quarter than they 
 actually possessed. In fact, they must have crossed 
 the Landes, Garonne, and Dordogne, obstacles suffi- 
 ciently formidable to scare them from the project, 
 even had it entered their comprehension. The court 
 of 2Jadi-id preferred an attack by Perpignan for several 
 
 reasons. On tliat side it had a more solid basis in 
 fortified towns ; it relied on the ro,yidists of the south, 
 according to the flattering assurances of the emigrants , 
 and, lastly, it had not entirely forgotten its old pre- 
 tensions on KoussiUon. Accordingly, 4000 or 5000 
 men being left to guard Arragon, and 15,000 or 18,000, 
 half regiilars and half militia, being planted in the 
 Western Pyrenees under General Caro, General Ri- 
 cardos was dispatched, with 24,000 men, to make a 
 serious attack on Roussill(jn. 
 
 Two principal valleys, that of the Tech and that of 
 the Tet, protrude from the chain of the Pyrenees, and, 
 expandmg towards Perpignan, form the first defensive 
 lines on the French side. On the second of these 
 lines, that of the Tet, Perpignan is situated. Ricardos, 
 apprised of the weakness of the French, began by a 
 bold idea. He masked the forts BeUegarde and Les 
 Bains, situated on the first line, and rapidly advanced, 
 with the design of reducing all the detachments scat- 
 tered in the valleys to lay down their arms, by passing 
 beyond them. The attempt almost answered his ex- 
 pectations. He debouched on the loth April, repiilsed 
 the detachments sent to stop him mider General ViUot, 
 and spread consternation along the whole frontier. By 
 pushing forward with 10,000 men, he had rendered 
 himself master of Perjiignan, but he lacked the requi- 
 site daring; besides, all his preparations were not 
 made, and he left the French time to recover from 
 their first surprise. 
 
 The command on the French frontier, appearing too 
 extensive for one person, was divided. Servan had 
 the Western Pyrenees assigned to him, and General 
 Deflers, Avho has been favourably mentioned in the 
 expedition to Holland, the Eastern PjTenees. The 
 latter rallied the army in front of Perpignan, in a posi- 
 tion called the Mas d'Eu. On the 19th May, Ricardos, 
 havin.g then under his command 18,000 men, assaulted 
 the French camp. An obstinate and bloody combat 
 ensued. The brave General Dagobert, retauiiug in 
 advanced age all the fire of youth, and uniting soimd 
 judgment Mith his courage, succeeded in maintainmg 
 himself on the field of battle. Deflers came up with 
 1800 men of the reserve, and the groimd was preserved. 
 The close of day was at hand, and appearances were 
 in favour of an auspicious termination of the strife, 
 when the French soldiers, exhausted with fatigiie, 
 suddenly abandoned their positions, and retreated in 
 disorder under Perpignan. The garrison, in alarm, 
 shut the gates and fii-ed upon the troops, whom it 
 mistook for Spaniards. Here another opportmiity was 
 presented for falling boldly upon Perpignan and gain- 
 ing possession of thitt fortress, which would have 
 offered but a feeble resistance ; but Ricardos, who had 
 merely masked BeUegarde and Les Bains, deemed he 
 had carried his daring to its legitimate hmits, and 
 returned to invest in tbrm those two petty forts. He 
 captured them towards the end of Jmie, and then 
 again advanced upon the French troops, which occu- 
 pied very nearly the same positions as before. Thus, 
 on the side of the PjTenees, at the beginning of July, 
 the fate of Roussillon hung on the issue of a battle. 
 
 Emerging upon another theatre of war, more sangui- 
 nary and terrible than any we have hitherto described, 
 we shall find an augmentation of its horrors and cala- 
 mities. La Vendee, vomiting fire and blood, was 
 about to jjroject a formidable column beyond the Loire. 
 When we last traced that scene of hostility, we left 
 the Vendcans flushed with unexpected successes, 
 masters of the town of Thenars, Avhich they had 
 A\Tested from Quetmeau, and contemplating more im- 
 portant enterprises. Instead of marchmg on Done 
 and Saumur, tliey had swept to the south of the theatre 
 of war, designing to dislodge their enemies from the 
 country in the direction of Fontenay and Niort. 
 Lescure and Larochejacquelein, charged with this 
 expedition, marched upon Fontenay towards the 
 middle of ]\Iay. At first, repulsed by General Sandos, 
 they fell back some distance ; but, speedily profiting
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 297 
 
 by the blind confidence witli which his first success 
 liad inspired the republican officer, they reappeared in 
 a swarm of from 15,000 to 20,000 fighting men, carried 
 Fontenay, despite the efforts of the young and valiant 
 Marceau in the defence, and obliged Chalbos and 
 Sandos to retire in the greatest disorder to Niort. The 
 Vendeans found in Fontenay arms and munitions in 
 gi'eat abundance, and they fortified themselves with 
 additional resources, wliich, joined to those thej' had 
 gathered at Thoiiars, enabled them to jmsh the war 
 with increased hopes of success. Lescure published a 
 proclamation to the inhabitants, in which he held out 
 terrible denunciations against those who shoiild ex- 
 tend aid to the republicans. After which, the Ven- 
 deans separated, according to their usual custom, in 
 order to superintend the labours of harvest; and a 
 rendezvous was fixed for the 1st of June in the vici- 
 nity of Doue. 
 
 In the Lower Vendee, where Charette held the sole 
 command, and had not yet connected his movements 
 with those of the other chiefs, the successes had been 
 balanced. Canclaux, commanding at Nantes, had 
 maintained his position at j\Iachecoid, but with diffi- 
 culty. General Boidard, who was at the head of 
 the troops in Sables, owing to his excellent disposi- 
 tions and the discipline of liis army, had occupied the 
 Lower Vendee for two months, and even i)ushed his 
 advanced posts to the very environs of Palluau. On 
 the 17 th May, however, he was obliged to retreat to 
 La Mottc-Achart, in the immediate vicinity of Sables, 
 and he there found himself in the greatest embar- 
 rassment, because his two best battalions, entirely 
 composed of citizens of Bordeaux, determined to with- 
 draw, either from a wish to look after their own affiiirs, 
 M'hich they had relinquished on a sudden impulse, or 
 from discontentment with the 31st INIay. 
 
 The labours of the field had induced some repose in 
 the Lower as in the Higher Vendee, and for a few 
 days the war was intermitted, and its more active 
 scourge deferred till the beginning of June. 
 
 General Berroyer, whose command extended origi- 
 nally over the whole theatre of M'ar, had been displaced, 
 and his province divided amongst several generals. 
 Saumur, Niort, and Sables, were assigned to the army 
 known as that of the coasts of Rochelle, which was 
 intrusted to Biron ; Angers, Nantes, and the Lower 
 Loire, were comjirehended in the ]5ortion of the army 
 known as that of the coasts of Brest, wliich was con- 
 fided to Canclaux, general at Nantes ; and, lastly, the 
 coasts of Cherbourg had been given to Wimpffen, who 
 had since become, as we have seen, the leader of the 
 insurgents of Calvados. 
 
 Biron, transferred from the frontier of the Rhine to 
 that of Italj^ and thence to Vendee, repaired with re- 
 pugnance to that scene of devastation, Avhere in truth 
 his aversion to participate in the excesses of civil war 
 eventually compromised his reputation for patriotism. 
 He arrived on the 27th May at Niort, and found the 
 army in frightful disorder. 11? was composed of re- 
 cruits enrolled 1)y compulsion, or through their own 
 zeal, in the neighbouring districts, and confusedly cast 
 upon La Vendee, M'ithout instruction or training, and 
 without any supplies in store. Chiefly peasants and 
 industrious citizens, who had left their occupations 
 with regret, they were ready to disperse at the first 
 untoward accident. Indeed, advantage w(;uld have 
 accrued by sending the greater part of them back at 
 once, for they did nothing but mischief both in towns 
 and in the country. They were a useless incum- 
 brance in tlie insurgent districts, eating up the i)rovi- 
 sions, propagating disorder, giving way to causeless 
 panics, and often drawing into their fiiglit organised 
 battalions, which, if left to themselves, would have 
 fought to better purpose. These bands all ai)peared 
 with their leaders ready named in the respective loca- 
 lities, who styled themselves generals, boasted of their 
 armies, refused to c)bey, and even opposed the dis- 
 positions of the superior officers. About the city of 
 
 Orleans battalions were formed, well knoAm in this 
 war as " the battalions of Orleans." They were com- 
 posed of clerks, shop-boys, lacqueys, and of aU the 
 youths gathered from tlie sections of Paris and sent at 
 the heels of Santerre. They were amalgamated with 
 troops drafted from the army of the north, fiftj- men 
 having been detached from each battalion. But it was 
 a difficidt task to assimilate such heterogeneous mate» 
 rials, and equally so to find them arms and clothing. 
 ICvery thing was deficient ; even the pay coidd not be 
 furnished, and as it was unequal between the troops 
 of the line and the volunteers, it occasioned frequent 
 turmoils and mutinies. 
 
 The convention dispatched commissioner upon com- 
 missioner to organise this multitude. These function- 
 aries were to be found at Tours, Saimiur, Niort, Ro- 
 chelle, and Nantes. They disputed with and thwarted 
 each other, and cflTectually puzzled the generals. The 
 executive comicil likewise maintained agents on the 
 spot, and the minister Bouchotte had immdated the 
 country -with Jiis emissaries, all chosen from amongst 
 the Jacobins and Cordeliers. These latter exercised 
 conflicting powers as against the representatives, 
 deemed it an exhibition of zeal to exhaust a district 
 with requisitions, and accused of despotism and trea- 
 son the generals who endeavoured to check the insub- 
 ordination of the troops, or prevent useless vexations. 
 From this conflict of authorities there resulted multi- 
 tudinous accusations and recriminations, and an inex- 
 tricable confusion in the issuing of orders. Bii'on 
 fomid it hopeless to expect obedience, and he dared 
 not put his army in motion lest it should disband at 
 the first shock, or pillage right and left on its march. 
 Such is a faithful picture of the forces which the re- 
 public had at that jJeriod in La Vendee. 
 
 Biron repaired to Tours, and arranged an eventual 
 plan with the representatives, which consisted in 
 marching four columns of 10,000 men each from the 
 circumference to the centre, so soon as this confused 
 multitude shoidd be brought into some degree of or- 
 ganisation. The four points of departure were to be 
 the Bridges of Co, Savimur, Chinon, and Niort. In the 
 mean time, he ])roceeded to visit the Lower Vendee, 
 wliere he considered the danger greater than else- 
 where. He was with reason apprehensive that com- 
 munications would be established between the Ven- 
 deans and the English. Supplies and troops disem- 
 barked in the Marais might greatly aggravate the evil, 
 and render the war interminable. A fleet of ten sail 
 had been telegraphed, and it was known tliat the Bre- 
 ton emigrants had received orders to assendile in the 
 islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Thus appearances 
 fully justified the fears of Biron and his visit to the 
 Lower Vendee. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Vendeans had gatliereil, true to 
 their appointment, on the 1st of June. 'J'luy had, 
 since last in the field, introduced a greater degree of 
 regularity amongst themselves, and named a council 
 to govern the country occupied by their armies. An 
 adventurer, who represented himself as Bishop of 
 Agra and nuncio 'from tlic pope, presided over this 
 council, and by his activitj' in blessing standards and 
 celebrating solemn masses, he wound u]i the enthu- 
 siasm of the Vendeans to an extraordinary height, and 
 thus rendered his imposture highly beneficial. They 
 had not yet chosen a generalissimo, but each chief 
 commanded tlic peasants of his own qtiarter, an agree- 
 ment subsisting amongst them that they should act in 
 concert in all their ojjerations. These cliiefs had issued 
 a jiroclamation in the name of Louis XVII., and of 
 tlie ( 'ouiit de Provence, as regent of the kingdom dur- 
 ing tlie minority of the yotmg prince ; and they called 
 themselves " Commanders of the royal and cathohc 
 armies." Their project at tlie present moment was to 
 occujjy the line of the lioire, and adviincc upon Doue 
 and Saumur. The enterprise was boldly conceived, 
 and easy of execution in the actual state of affairs. On 
 the 7th they entered Done, and arrived on the 9*lJ
 
 298 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 before Saiimur. As soon as their object transpired, 
 General Salomon, Avho was in Thouars with 3000 
 good soldiers, received orders to march upon their 
 track. He obeyed, but foimd them too strong ; he 
 could not have molested tliem without ensuring liis 
 own destruction, so he returned to Thouars, and from 
 Tliouars to Niort. The troops at Sauniur had taken 
 post in the vicinity of the to^m, on the road to Fon- 
 tevrault, in the intrenchments of Nantilly, and on the 
 heights of Bournau. The A'endeans appeared, attacked 
 the column imder Berthicr, were repulsed by a well- 
 directed fire, but returned in force and di'ove back 
 Berthier, who was wounded. The dismomited gen- 
 darmes, two battalions of Orleans, and the cuirassiers, 
 still resisted. Thej^ unfortunately lost their colonel, 
 whereupon the flight commenced, and all rushed pell- 
 mell into the town, with the Vendeans at their heels. 
 General Coustard, commanding the battalions planted 
 on tlie heights of Bom-nan, still remained outside. He 
 perceived himself separated from the republican troops, 
 who had been driven into Saumur, and formed tlie 
 daring resolution of re-entering it also, taking the 
 Vendeans in the rear. It was necessary to cross a 
 bridge on which the conquerors had just placed a 
 battery. The brave Coustard ordered a corps of 
 cuirassiers he had under his orders to charge the 
 battery. " Where are you sending us ? " said they. 
 " To death ! " replied the general ; " the welfare of the 
 republic requires it." The cuirassiers sprang forward, 
 but the battalions of Orleans broke up and abandoned 
 their general and the cuirassiers as they were charg- 
 ing the battery. Tlie cowardice of this rabble rendered 
 fruitless the heroism of the warriors, and Coustard, 
 finding it impossible to penetrate into Saumiir, retired 
 to Angers. 
 
 Saiunur was occupied on the 9 th Jime, and the 
 citadel sm-rendered the day after. The Vendeans, 
 thus masters of the course of the Loire, had the option 
 of marching on Xantes or on La Fli'che, Le ilans, 
 and Paris. Terror woidd have gone before them, and 
 all had inevitably succumbed to their power. During 
 this period, Biron was m the Lower Vendee, where, 
 by an inspection of tlie coasts, lie considered he was 
 obviating dangers still more serious and substantial. 
 
 France was menaced by all these various perils 
 simultaneously. The allies, i>ressmg the sieges of 
 Valenciennes, Conde, and !Mayence, were on tlie eve 
 of reducing those fortresses, the bulwarks of her fron- 
 tiers. The A^'osges in agitation, and the Jura in open 
 revolt, afforded an easy access to invasion on the side 
 of the Rhme. The army of Italy, sliattered by the 
 Piedmontese, liad at its back tlie revolt of tlie south 
 and the English squadrons. The Spaniards, in front 
 of the French camp under Perpignan, threatened to 
 cany it by an assault, and to render themselves mas- 
 ters of RoussiUon. The insurgents of Lozere were 
 ready to join the Vendeans along the Loire, and such 
 was the project of the author of tliat revolt. The 
 Vendeans. masters of Saumur and the course of tlie 
 Loire, had only to choose their theatre, since thej' 
 possessed all the means of executing the boldest in- 
 cursions into the interior. Lastly, the federalists, 
 marching from Caen, Bordeaux, and ilarseiUes, were 
 preparing to stir up all the districts on their routes. 
 
 The situation of France, m the month of Jidy 1793, 
 was the more desperate, since on each individual point 
 a mortal blow could be struck at her independence. 
 The allies of the north, by neglecting the fortresses, 
 had only to marcli upon Paris, and they must liave 
 driven the convention on the Loire, where it would 
 liave been received by the Vend('aii rifles. The Aus- 
 trians and Piedmontese were able to have executed 
 an invasion by the :Maritime Alps, extinguished the 
 French army, and swept along the whole south as 
 conquerors. The Spani.ards might have readily ad- 
 vanced by Bayonne, and effectecl a junction with the 
 Vendeans ; or, if they preferred RoussiUon, have tlirown 
 their colimins boldly on the Lozere, but a short dis- 
 
 tance from tlie frontier, and set the south in a flame 
 on that sitle. Lastly, the English, instead of cruising 
 in the Jlediterrauean, had ever}' inducement to have 
 disembarked troops in La Vendee, and propelled them 
 from Saumur on Paris. 
 
 But the foreign and domestic foes of the convention 
 lacked that which assm^es victory in a war of revolu- 
 tion. The allies acted witliout union, and, under the 
 boastful pretence of a hohj war, concealed the most 
 selfish views. The Austrians coveted Valenciennes ; 
 the King of Prussia, Ma3'ence ; the English, Dunkirk ; 
 the Piedmontese, the recover}' of Chambery and Nice ; 
 the Spaniards, the most disinterested of all, never- 
 theless indulged a lurking inclination for RoussiUon ; 
 in fine, the English, again, ^\■ere more eager to sweep 
 the Mediterranean witli their fleets, and secure a con- 
 venient port within it, than carry opportune succoiu"s 
 to La Vendee. Besides this universal emulation for 
 individual aggrandisement, which prevented the allies 
 from extending their vicAvs bej'ond objects of imme- 
 diate profit, they were aU didl method and timidity 
 in war, and defended with the antiquated military 
 routine the antiquated political routine in behalf of 
 which they had taken up arms. 
 
 As to the "S'endeans, insurgents against the genius 
 of the revolution, from which their simple and con- 
 tracted minds revolted, they fought as vidiant rifle- 
 men, but without comprehensive views. The fede- 
 ralists, distributed over the extensive surface of the 
 country, liaAing to communicate at great distances in 
 order to concert their operations, rising with hesita- 
 tion and secret dread against the central authority, 
 and animated by but lukewarm passions, could scarcely 
 act otiierwise than with tarcliness and vacillation. 
 ^Moreover, they inwardly reproached themselves with 
 endangering their country by a culpable diversion. 
 They began to feel that it was criminal to discuss 
 whether a man sliould be a revolutionist after Petion 
 and Vergniaud, or after Robespierre and Danton, at 
 a moment when all Europe was assailing their native 
 land ; and tliey perceived that, in sucli an emergency, 
 there was only one expedient course of action, namely, 
 the most energetic. Already, in fact, tlie various 
 factions starting up around them wiu-ned them of 
 their folly. It was not alone the old Constituents, 
 but the agents of the extinguished court, the sectaries 
 of the church, all the partisans, in short, of absolute 
 power, who arose at once ; and it became obvious to 
 their understandings, tliat all further opposition to the 
 revolution would inevitably tend to the advantage of 
 the enemies of all liberty and nationality. 
 
 Such were the causes that rendered the allies so 
 shortsighted and tunid, the Vendeans so confined and 
 stunted, the federahsts so uncertain, and the ultimate 
 triumph of the convention over the internal rebels and 
 over Europe so sure. The Mountaineers alone, ani- 
 mated by an absorbing passion, one sole idea, the 
 safety of tlie revolution, and invigorated by that ex- 
 altation of mind which discovers resources in the 
 moments of peril, detecting means novel and daring, 
 never deeming them too hazardous, unscrupulous, or 
 costly. If they be salutary, were appointed to disconcert, 
 by an unexpected and sublime defence, enemies slow, 
 formal, and loosely cemented, and crush factions which 
 were labouring for behoof of the old order of things 
 in various degrees, for the revolution in like variety, 
 and bound together by no common tie or distinct 
 determinate aim.* 
 
 * [" For all the advantages they gained, the convention were in- 
 debted to the energj- of their measures, the ability of their coun- 
 sels, and the entlmsiasm of their subjects. If history has nothing 
 to show comparable to the crimes they committed, it has few 
 similar instances of undaunted resolution to commemorate. Im- 
 partial justice requires that this praise should be bestowed on the 
 committee of public safety ; if the cruelty of their internal admi- 
 nistration exceeded the worst despotism of the emperors, the 
 dignity of their extemal conduct rivalled the noblest instances o<' 
 Roman heroism." — AUton'i Histori> of Europe.'}
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 299 
 
 The convention, amidst the extraordinary circum- 
 stances in which it Avas placed, gave way to no emo- 
 tion of despondency. AVhilst the fortiiied places or 
 intrenched camps checked for a tnne the enemies 
 upon the different frontiers, the committee of jJublic 
 welfare devoted every hoiu* of the day to the duties 
 of re-organising the armies, completing thera by means 
 of the levy of 300,000 men decreed in JMarch, forward- 
 ing instructions to the generals, and expediting funds 
 and supplies. It negotiated with all the local admi- 
 nistrations which evinced an intention of retaining, 
 for behoof of the federalist cause, the stores destined 
 for the armies, and succeeded in persuading them to 
 desist, upon the all-sufhcient motive of piiblic safety. 
 
 Whilst such expedients were employed with regard 
 to the external enemy, the convention pursued mea- 
 sures not less efficacious against its internal adver- 
 saries. The best resom'ce against an antagonist Avho 
 is doubtful of his rights and power, is to assume a 
 full self-consciousness of legitimacy and might. It 
 was thus the convention acted. We have already 
 mentioned the energetic decrees it had passed on the 
 first intelligence of disaffection. Several towns hav- 
 ing failed m immediate submission, not for an instant 
 was the idea entertained of treating, in a spirit of con- 
 cession, with tliose whose proceedings took the decided 
 character of rebellion. Tiie Lyonnese having firmly 
 refused to obey, and to send the apprehended patriots to 
 Paris, it ordered its commissioners attendant upon the 
 army of the Alps to employ force, without heeding 
 the difficulties or the dangers those commissioners 
 were incurring at Grenoble, where they had the Pied- 
 montese in front, and all the insurgents of the Isere 
 and Rhone in their rear. It also enjoined them to 
 make Marseilles return to its duty. It allowed only 
 three days for all the administrations to retract their 
 equivocal resolutions ; and, lastly, it sent to Vernon 
 certain gendarmes and a few thousands of the Pari- 
 sian citizens, in order promptly to iiut down the insur- 
 gents of the Calvados, who were nearest in position 
 to the capital. 
 
 The great instrument of the constitution was not 
 neglected ; and eight days sufficed to accomplish that 
 work, which was intended rather as a centre of union 
 and attraction than a substantial plan of legislation. 
 It had been chiefly composed by Herault Sechelles. Ac- 
 cording to the scheme propovmded, every Frenchman, 
 twenty-one years of age, was a citizen, and capable of 
 exercismg political rights, without any qualification 
 of fortune or property. Tlie citizens being assembled 
 together, were to nominate a deputy for every fifty 
 thousand souls. The deputies, composing a single 
 chamber, could only sit one year. They were to frame 
 decrees for all that might concern the pressing exi- 
 gencies of the state, and such decrees were to be of 
 jnimediate efficacy. They were also to make laws for 
 aU that concerned matters of general interest and of 
 minor urgency ; but such laws became obligatory only 
 if within a given period the primary assemblies lodged 
 no reclamation. On the 1st of May in each year, the 
 primary assemblies were to meet, of right and without 
 convocation, to renew the deputation. The in'imary 
 assemblies might demand conventions to modify the 
 constitutional act. The executive power was to be 
 intrusted to twenty -four members named by electors, 
 and this was the only inchrect election. The i)rimary 
 assemblies were to name electors, which electors no- 
 minated candidates, and the legislative body reduced 
 by elimination these candidates to twenty-four. These 
 twenty-four memliers of council were to choose the 
 generals, ministers, and agents of all kinds, selecting 
 them fortli their own body. They were to direct 
 ;md superintend them, and alwaj's to remain respon- 
 sible. The executive council was to be renewed as to 
 half its members every year. Lastly, tliis very brief 
 and democratic constitution, in which tlie government 
 was reduced to a mere temporary delegation, respected 
 a solitary vestige of the former system, the communes, 
 
 altering neither their functions nor the extent of their 
 jurisdiction. The energy they had so often displayed 
 ensured their retention on this planed tablet, this 
 tabula rasa, where not a trace of the ])ast was to be 
 foimd. Almost without discussion, and in the course 
 of a few days, this constitution was adopted ;* and at 
 the moment the whole measure was finally voted, a 
 salvo of cannon reverberated tln-ough Paris, and ex- 
 clamations of joy and rapture broke forth in all quar- 
 ters. Thousands of copies were printed and distri- 
 buted throughout the whole of France. The only op- 
 position it encountered was on the part of certain of 
 the agitators who had been instrumental in preparing 
 the 31st of May. 
 
 The reader will probably remember one Varlet, 
 vociferating in public thoroughfares ; one Leclerc, a 
 Lvonnese, so violent in his harangues at the Jacobin 
 Club as to be even suspected by Marat for his frantic 
 ebullitions ; and one Jacques Roux, so morose to the 
 unfortunate Lmiis XVI., when he would have con- 
 fided his last testament to his keeping : well, all these 
 men had signalised themselves in the last insurrection, 
 and now exercised great influence in the committee of 
 the Eveche and in the club of Cordeliers. They were 
 dissatisfied that the constitution contained no stringent 
 provision against forestallers ; wherefore they drew up 
 a petition, got it signed in the streets, and then flew 
 to arouse the Cordehers, exclaiming that the consti- 
 tution was incomplete, since it pronounced no pai)is 
 or penalties upon the worst enemies of the people. 
 Legendre vahily strove to resist this movement ; he 
 was stigmatised as a moderate ; and the petition, being 
 adopted by the society, was presented in its name to 
 the convention. The Mountain nuirram'cd indignantly 
 upon its being brought to the bar ; and Robespierre 
 and CoUot d'llerbois inveighed with warmth against 
 its terms, and eventually procured its rejection. They 
 then rejiaired to the Jacobin Clul), to descant upon the 
 danger of these perfidious exaggerations, which merely 
 tended, they said, to bewilder the people, and could 
 only originate with men subsidised by the implacable 
 foes of the republic. " The most popular constitution 
 that ever existed," said Robespierre, " has just ema- 
 
 * Tt was decreed on the 24tli June, and the scheme had been 
 submitted on the 10th. 
 
 [" Herault de Sechelles was the legislator of the JMountain, as 
 Condorcet was to have been of the Gironde. In a few days tliis 
 new constitution was adopted in t)ie convention, and submitted 
 to tlie approval of the primary assemblies. It may be easily ima 
 gincd in what spirit it was framed, witii the ideas then predomi- 
 nant on democratic government. The Constituents passed for 
 aristocrats : the law they liad established was viewed as an infrac- 
 tion on the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions 
 upon the exercise of political franchises; because it did not con- 
 secrate the most absolute equality ; because it appointed deputies 
 and niiigistrates to be nominated by electors, and those electors 
 by the people ; because it limited, in certain cases, the national 
 sovereignty, excluding a portion of the active citizens from high 
 political functions, and the purely indigent from the functions of 
 active citizens ; in fine, because, instead of fixing population as 
 the sole basis of rights, it combined that essential in all its arrange- 
 ments with a pecuniary test. The constitutional law of I7S3 
 established the pure government of the multitude : not only did 
 it recognise the people as the source of all power, but it likewise 
 conferred upon them its exercise. A sovereignty witliout restric- 
 tions ; magistracies exposed to constantly- occurring changes ; 
 immediate elections, in which cveiy individual had a concurrent 
 voice ; primary assemblies, which met without convocation, at a 
 fixed period, to nominate rejiresentatives and control their acts ; 
 a national assembly, annually renewed, which was, properly 
 speaking, but a coniniitttc of the primary assemblies — such was 
 that constitution. As it called the multitude to govern, as it 
 entirely disorganised authority, it was impracticable at any era; 
 but it was pre-eminentlj, so at a moment of general war. The 
 mountaineer party, instead of the extreniest democracy, had need 
 of the most concentrated dictatorship. The constitution was 
 suspended as soon as made, and the revolutionary government, 
 additionally strengthened, was maintaiued until the peace.'— 
 Mignet, vol. ii. pp. 1.3, 14.]
 
 300 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 natefl from an assemltly formerly counter-revolution- 
 arv, but no'w jiurged of men who imjieiled its progress 
 and threw obstacles before all its endeavours. At the 
 present moment, all briglitness and i)urity, tliat as- 
 sembly has perfected the most estimable, the most 
 popular work tiiat was ever given to man ; and an 
 individual, cloaked with the pretence of patriotism, 
 who boasts of loving the people better than Ave, stirs 
 up the citizens of all grades, to show, forsooth, that a 
 constitution, fitted to unite all France in tlie closest 
 union, is unsuitable to them ! Beware of such ma- 
 noeuvres, distrust tiiose unfrocked priests,* the emis- 
 saries of Austria ! Beware of the new mask assumed 
 by the aristocrats ! I discern fresli guilt in the future, 
 whicli is perha])s not far from bursting into light ; but 
 we will at once exjiose it, and crush the enemies of tlie 
 people under whatever form tliey may present them- 
 selves." Collot d'llerbois spoke with equal vehemence. 
 He mamtained that the enemies of the republic were 
 above all things anxious to be justified in saying to the 
 departments — " Behold, Paris approves the language 
 of Jacques Roux I " 
 
 Unanimous acclamations greeted the two orators. 
 The Jacobins, who jiiqued tliemselves on uniting 
 political talent with revolutionary passion, prudence 
 mth energy, sent a deputation to the Cordeliers. 
 Collot-d'Herbois was appointed its leader. He was 
 received by the Cordeliers with the consideration due 
 to one of the most renowned members of the Jacobin 
 Club and the ^Mountain. For the society whicli had 
 deputed him, also, profound respect was professed. 
 The petition was retracted, Jacques Koux and Le- 
 clerc were expelled. A-^arlet obtained pardon solely on 
 account of his youth, and Legendre received an apo- 
 logy for the somewhat unpalatable expressions where- 
 with he had been assailed during the previous sitting. 
 The constitution, thus promptly vindicated, was forth- 
 Avith distributed through France, to be sanctioned by 
 the primary as«enil:lies. 
 
 Thus the convention held out to the departments, 
 on the one hand a constitution, and on the other a 
 decree Avhich left them but three days to form their 
 decision. The constitution justified the JMountain 
 from any sclfisii sclieme of usurpation, and furnished 
 a pretext for rallying round a legalised authority; tlie 
 decree specifying three days allowed no time for hesi- 
 tation, but imposed obedience as a matter of involun- 
 tary choice. 
 
 Several departments in fact succumbed, and others 
 persisted in their first resolutions. But these latter, 
 wasting time in exchanging addresses and deputations, 
 seemed eacli to throw ujjon the otlier tlie initiative in 
 action. Besides, the intervening distances Avere sad 
 obstacles to rapid correspondence and concentration. 
 But, above all, the lack of revolutionary fire caused 
 that strenuous exertion and exalted capacity of draAv- 
 ing forth resources necessarj' for success, Avhich are 
 its attendant qualities, to lie dormant. IIoAvcA-er Avell 
 inclined the masses may be, they ai-e always repug- 
 nant to sacrifices, unless superinduced by some com- 
 manding, impassioned spirits. It Av-o\dd have needed 
 violent measures, in truth, to stimulate eflectually the 
 moderate tradesmen of tlie boroughs, to induce them 
 to strap on the knapsack and march, to contribute 
 funds, and to quicken their determinations. But the 
 Girondists, who condennied all such measures in the 
 ^lountaineers, Avere debarred from themselves employ- 
 ing them. The Bordeaux merchants thought tliey 
 had performed a feat when they spoke Avith imusual 
 vivacity in the sections, and they had ncA er issued 
 lieyond their own Avails. The Marseillese, somewhat 
 more prompt, had sent GOOO men to Avignon ; but 
 they did not compose even tliat small army of their 
 own citizens — they had substituted paid soldiers. The 
 Lyonnese AA-ere awaiting the junction of the men of 
 Provence and Langucdoc ; the Normans appeared a 
 
 ♦ [J.icqucs Roux h.-id Iwcn a priest.] 
 
 little cooled in their zeal ; the Bretons alone were true 
 to their purpose, and had of themselves filled up the 
 ranks of their battalions. 
 
 At Caen, the main centre of the insurrection, con- 
 siderable agitation prevailed. The columns which had 
 moA'ed from that point Avere the earliest destined to 
 encounter the troops of tlie couA'ention, and a first 
 engagement was naturally anticipated Avith great 
 anxiety. The proscribed deputies, congregated around 
 Wimpffen, complained of his tardiness, and thought 
 they detected tlie royalist in him. Wimpffen at 
 length, urged on all sides, ordered Puisaye, on the 13th 
 July, to push his advanced guard to Vernon, and inti- 
 mated at the same time that he Avas himself on the 
 point of marching with all his forces. Accordingly, on 
 the l.')th, Puisaye advanced towards Pacy, and fell in 
 Avith the levies from Paris, accompanied by a feAv hun- 
 dreds of gendarmes, A\'hen some shots Avere exchanged 
 betAveen the two parties in the Avoods. The next day, 
 the federalists occupied Pacy, and ai>])eared to have 
 slightly the advantage. But the day after, the troops 
 of the couA-ention came up Avitli artillery. At the first 
 discharge, terror spread through the ranks of the 
 federalists ; tliey dispersed and fled in confusion to 
 Evrcux. The Bretons, displaying greater firmness, 
 retired in comparative order, but they were enveloped 
 in the ])recipitate flight of tlie others. Intelligence of 
 this defeat caused great consternation in Cah'ados, 
 and the various administrations began heartUy to re- 
 pent of their imprudence. Uiion its being knoAvn at 
 Caen, Wimpffen assembled the deputies, and proposed 
 thvy should intrench themseh-es in the town and de- 
 fend it to the last extremity. Then, opening his mind 
 more freely, he told them there was oifly one mode 
 of sustaining the contest, Avhicli Avas to interest a 
 poAverful ally in tlieir behalf, and, if they were agree- 
 able, he could procure them one ; intimating, in suffi- 
 ciently intelligible terms, that he alluded to the Eng- 
 lish cabinet. He concluded by expressing liis belief 
 that a republic Avas impracticable, and that a return 
 to monarchy Avould be no great calamity. The Giron- 
 dists repudiated Avith disdain all offers of this descrip- 
 tion, and testified the most sincere indignation. Some 
 amongst them were then made sensible of the rash- 
 ness of their enterprise, and the danger of unfurling 
 any standard AvliatsocA'er, since aU the discomfited 
 Mictions Avould assuredly rally under it, to vent their 
 malice against the republic. ThcA- lost not all hope, 
 hoAvever, but determined to AvithdraAv to BordeaiLX, 
 Avliere certain of the more sanguine deemed it possible 
 to operate a movement thoroughly republican, and 
 more auspicious in its residt than that of Calvados 
 and Brittany. They accordingly departed Avith tlie 
 Breton battalions, Avho Avended their Avay homewards, 
 designing to embark at Brest. They assumed the 
 garb of conniKm soldiers, and sought concealment in 
 the ranks of the battalion of Finisterre. It Avas ne- 
 cessary to adopt this precaution since the defeat of 
 Vernon, as all the administrations, eager to submit 
 and to giA'c the couA-ention proofs of zeal, would have 
 undoubtedly apprehended them. They tlius traversed 
 a great part of Normandy and Brittany, amid con- 
 tinual perils and deplorable sufferings, and idtimately 
 ri'ached Brest, in the environs Avhereof they lurked un- 
 til an ojiportunity offered for proceeding to Bordeaux, 
 liarbaroux, IV'tion, Salles, LouAX't, IVIeilhan, Guadet, 
 Kervelc'gan, Gorsas, Girey-Dupiv, a co-editor Avith 
 Brissot, Marcheima, a young Spaniard Avho had visited 
 France in quest of freedom, and Kioiiffe, a young man 
 attaclied by enthusiasm to the Girondists, composed 
 that l)and of illustrious fugitives, hunted as traitors to 
 their country, although all Avere ready to lay down 
 their Ua'cs for it, and still conceiAcd they Avere serving 
 it even Avhen compromising it by a most hazardous 
 diversion. 
 
 Ill Brittany, and in the departments of the west 
 and the upper basin of the Loire, the administrations 
 hastened to record their contrition, in order to avoid
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 301 
 
 the ban of outlawry. The constitution, disseminated 
 in all quarters, was the pretext for universal submis- 
 sion. The convention, it was said, intended neither 
 to perpetuate itself nor to usurp power, inasmucli as 
 it presented a constitution, and such a constitution, 
 also, as promised a speedy termination to the reign of 
 faction, and established the simplest government that 
 had ever been devised. At the same time, the Moun- 
 taineer municipalities and Jacobin Clubs redoubled 
 their energy, and the quiet, well-meaning partisans of 
 the Gironde shrunk before a revolution which they 
 lacked strength to combat, and wliich they would have 
 equally failed in vigour to defend. From this moment 
 Toulouse sought to justify itself in the ej-es of Paris. 
 The people of Bordeaux did not formally submit, but 
 they recalled their advanced guard, and ceased to 
 boast of a march upon Paris. Two other im.portant 
 events concurred to terminate the dangers of the con- 
 vention in the west and south, namely, the defence of 
 Nantes and the dispersion of the rebels of theLozere. 
 
 We left the Vendeans at Saumur, masters of the 
 course of the Loire, and able, if they had appreciated 
 their position, to make an attempt on Paris, whicli 
 would have proliably succeeded, as La Fleche and Le 
 Mans Avere without any means of resistance. Young 
 Bonchamps, who alone carried his views beyond La 
 Vendee, upheld the expediency of an incursion into 
 Brittany, with the design of gaining a port on the 
 ocean, and afterwards marching upon Paris. But his 
 companions in arms were incapable of estimating such 
 suggestions, and he had the mortification of exhorting 
 in vain. The true capital upon which, in their eyes, 
 it behoved them to march, was Nantes ; neither their 
 comprehension nor their hopes went beyond that 
 point. It must be allowed, 'however, there were several 
 good reasons for so concluding : Nantes opened com- 
 munications with the sea, assured the possession of the 
 whole country, and after its capture bolder projects 
 might be attempted ; moreover, the soldiers were not 
 torn from their homes, an important consideration 
 with peasants, who never willingly lost sight of their 
 village steeple. Charette, also, master of the Lower 
 Vendee, after having made a false demonstration on 
 Sables, had seized upon 3Iachecoul, and was now at 
 the gates of Nantes. He had never acted in concert 
 with the chiefs of the Upper Vendee, but he offered 
 to combine with them upon this occasion. He under- 
 took to assault Nantes on the left flank, whilst the 
 main army should attack it on the right ; and with 
 such a combination of means it was scarcely possible 
 to anticipate failure. 
 
 The Vendeans accordingly evacuated Saumur, de- 
 scended towards Angers, and prepared to march from 
 Angers to Nantes by defiling along the right bank of 
 the Loire. Their army was much diminished, because 
 many of the peasants refused to engage in so distant 
 an expedition; nevertheless, it was still composed of 
 nearly 30,000 men. They appointed a generalissimo, 
 making choice of Cathelineau, in order to flatter the 
 peasants and win their attachment the more strongly. 
 Lescure, having been wounded, was left in the interior 
 of the country to beat up for additional recruits, to 
 keep the troops in Niort in check, and to prevent the 
 siege of Nantes being troubled. 
 
 In the interim, the ct)mmission of representatives 
 sitting at Tours applied for succours in all quarters, 
 and pressed Biron, who was upon the coast, to proceed 
 with all dispatch ujjon the track of the Vendeans. 
 Not contented with recalling liiron, it ordered move- 
 ments in his absence, and directed upon Nantes all the 
 troops that could be nnistered from Saunnir. Biron 
 lost no time in replying to the exhortations of tlie 
 commission. He sanctioned, he said, the movement 
 executed witliout his orders, but for liimself lie was 
 obliged to guard Sables and liochelle, towns of greater 
 importance, in his estimation, than Nantes ; tlie bat- 
 talions from the Gironde, the best in his army, were 
 about to leave him, an<l he had to replace them as best 
 
 he could ; it was mipossible for him to move bis army 
 without seeing it disband and give way to pillage be- 
 fore his eyes, so loose was its discipline : at the utmost, 
 therefore, he could detach from it 3000 organised troops, 
 with which inconsiderable force, he added, it would be 
 mere folly to march on Saumur and adventure into 
 the heart of a hostile country. Biron wrote at the 
 same time to the committee of public welfare, tendering 
 his resignation, on account of the representatives thus 
 arrogating the command. The committee rejoined, 
 that he was justified in his remonstrance, inasmuch 
 as the representatives might advise or propose opera- 
 tions, but ought not to order them, and that it was 
 his province alone to take the measures he judged 
 fitting for the safety of Nantes, Rochelle, and Niort. 
 Biron, notwithstanding, used all possible exertions to 
 form a small moveable army, wherewith he might 
 hasten to the relief of the besieged town. 
 
 During this interval, the Vendeans had quitted 
 Angers, and on the 28th came in sight of Nantes. 
 They smnmoned the garrison in threatening terms, 
 but being scornfully disregarded, they got ready for an 
 attack. It was appointed to be made on both sides, at 
 two in the morning of the 29th. Canclaux had under 
 his orders merely 5000 regular troops, and nearly as 
 many national guards, to defend an extensive circuit, 
 intersected by several streams from the Loire. He 
 made the best dispositions, and imparted the highest 
 courage to the garrison. At the prescribed hour, 
 Chai-ette attacked on the side of the bridges; but 
 Cathelineau, who operated on the right bank, and had 
 the most difficult part of the enterprise committed to 
 him, was stopped at the post of Niort, where a few 
 himdred men made a most heroic resistance. The 
 attack, thus retarded on that side, became more diffi- 
 cult of execution. The Vendeans, however, spread out 
 behind the hedges and garden-walls, gained ground 
 and pressed closely on the town. Canclaux, general- 
 in-chief, and Beysser, commandant of the place, kept 
 the republican troops firm in all quarters. Cathelineau, 
 on his part, redoubled his efforts, and already he had 
 fijught his way far into a suburb, when a ball struck 
 him in a vital part. His soldiers retired with preci 
 pitation, bearing him away on their shoulders. From 
 that moment the attack slackened. After a conflict 
 of eighteen hours' duration, the Vendeans disjicrsed, 
 and the town was saved. 
 
 There was no part of the defensive force but did it> 
 duty efficiently on that day. The national guard ha I 
 emidated the fortitude of the troops of the line, an 1 
 even the mayor of the place had received a wound. 
 The next day the Vendeans threw themselves into 
 boats, and returned to the interior of the country. 
 Henceforth, the oitportunity for great undertakings 
 was lost to them ; the_y could no longer aspire to exe- 
 cute any important movement, or extend their hopes 
 beyond, at the utmost, the occupation of their own 
 districts. At this period, J}iron, hastening to succour 
 Nantes, arrived at Angers with such efficient troops 
 as he had been enabled to collect, and Westermaun 
 appeared in La Vendee with his Germanic legion. 
 
 Nantes was no sooner delivered from tliis imminent 
 peril, tlian the authorities, entirely disposed in favour 
 of the Ciirondists, determined to unite with the insur- 
 gents of Calvados. They actually i)assed a resolution 
 liostile to the convention; but Canclaux denounced it 
 with siu'h veliemence, that the Nantese were speedily 
 reduced to order. 
 
 Tims dangers of the most serious character were 
 hai)))ily obviated on that side. An event not less im- 
 ])ortant occurred in Lozcre, namely, the siilimission of 
 ;U),0()0 insurgents, wlio might have readily opened a 
 comnnmication with tlie Vendeans, or with tlie Spa- 
 niards through Uoussillon. 
 
 By a truly fortunate chance, the deputy Fabre. 
 commissioned to tlie arinj^ of the Eastern Pyrenees, 
 was on the spot at the moment of tlie revolt, and dis- 
 I>layed that manly promptitude in the conjimcturc
 
 302 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 which subsequently carried him into the arms of death 
 on the Pyrenees. He made sure of the administra- 
 tions, put the whole population under arms, summoned 
 to his aid all the forces in the vicinity, Ixith g-endarmes 
 and regular troops, and stirred up the Cantal, tlie 
 Upper Loire, and the Puy- de-Dome. The insurgents, 
 thus stricken by superior vigour at the fii-st onset, 
 and assailed on all sides, were scattered ^vith rapidity, 
 driven for refuge into the woods, and their leader, the 
 ex-Constituent Charrier, himself cajjtured by the vigi- 
 lance of the conquerors. In his papers evidence tran- 
 spired that his project was a ramitication of the grand 
 plot discovered six months previously m Brittany, the 
 chief whereof, La Rouarie, had died without being 
 able to realise his schemes. Tranquillity was couse- 
 quentlj' assured in the mountains of the centre and 
 the south, the connnunications of the arnn^ of the 
 Pyrenees Avere guaranteed, and the valley of the 
 Rhone had no longer one of its flanks infested by re- 
 volted momitaiueers. 
 
 An imexpected victory over the Spaniards iu Rous- 
 sillon fully re-established tlie submission of the south. 
 When last on that scene of action, we saw the Spa- 
 niards, after their first march into the valleys of the 
 Tech and the Tet, retrograde to capture Bellegarde 
 and Les Bains, and subsequently return to plant them- 
 selves in front of the French camp. After indulging 
 in a long survey, they at length attacked it on the 
 17th July. The French scarcely mustered 12,000 raw 
 recruits ; the Spaniards, on the other hand, boasted 
 15,000 or 16,000 M-ell-disciplined troojjs. Ricardos, 
 too much bent on enveloping the French positions, 
 distributed his assault over too wide a space. The 
 young volunteers of France, encouraged by Barban- 
 tane and the valiant Dagobert, held firm in their in- 
 trenchments, and, after the most desperate efforts, the 
 Spaniards gave token of a disposition to retire. Da- 
 gobert, who had been awaiting that critical moment, 
 rushed fiirioush' upon tliem ; but one of his battalions 
 suddenly disbanded and retreated m disorder. On 
 witnessing this untoward accident, Deflers and Bar- 
 bantane moved opportunely to the aid of Dagobert, 
 and their combined forces fell with such violence upon 
 the Spaniards, that they were driven to a considerable 
 distance. This engagement, fought on the 17 th July, 
 raised the courage of the French soldiers, and, in the 
 opinion of one historian, produced all the effect on the 
 Pyrenean frontier of Valaiy on that of Champagne 
 the year preceding. 
 
 In the direction of the Alps, Dubois-Crance, placed 
 between malecontcnt Savoy, unfriendly Switzerland, 
 and insurgent Grenoble and Lyons, conducted liimself 
 in so ardu(3us a position with equal vigom* and judg- 
 ment. Whilst the sectional authorities took in his 
 presence the federalist oath, he administered the op- 
 posite oath to the club and his army, and stood pi'e- 
 pared to avail himself of the first favourable opportu- 
 nitj' for acthig. Thus, having seized the correspon- 
 dence of the authorities, he fomid distinct proof of 
 their scheme to coalesce with the Lyonnese, where- 
 upon he denounced them to the people of Grenoble as 
 striving to provoke the dissolution of the republic by 
 ;i civil war ; and, profiting by tlie momentary exas- 
 peration he aroused, he obtained their deprivation of 
 office, and the restoration of all authority to the old 
 municipahty. Tlienceforth at ease regarding Gre- 
 noble, he devoted himself to re-organise the army of 
 the Alps, with the view of ensuring possession of Savoy 
 and executing the decrees of the convention agamst 
 Lyons and Marseilles. He changed all the staffs, re- 
 established order in the battahons, and incorporated 
 therein the recruits from the levy of 300,000 men. 
 Seeing the departments of La Lozere and La Haute 
 Loire had employed their contingents in stifling the 
 revolt of their mountainous districts, he endeavoured 
 to supply their deficiency by requisitions. After these 
 first cares Avere attended to, he disjjatched General 
 Ciirtcaux with a strong body of infantry, and the 
 
 legion levied in Savoy, under the name of " the legion 
 of the AUobroges," to jilant himself at Valence, in 
 order to occupy the course of the Rhone, and prevent 
 the junction of the jMarseiUese with the Lyonnese. 
 Carteaux, taking his departure in the early part of 
 July, proceeded by forced marches on Vidence, and 
 from Valence on Saint-Esprit, where he enveloped the 
 corps of Nimois, dispersing a part and ingrafting the 
 remainder on h.is own ranks, and thus secured both 
 banks of the Rlione. Without a moment's delay, he 
 threw himself on Avignon, where the ISIarseiUese had 
 established themselves some time previously. 
 
 A^'hilst these events were passing in and around 
 Grenoble, Lyons, always affecting the stanchest fide- 
 lity to the republic, and vowing to maintain its unttr/ 
 and its indivisibiliti/, refused obedience to the decree of 
 tlie convention, ■which removed to the revolutionary 
 tribunal of Paris tlie proceedings instituted against 
 divers patriots. Its committee and its statt' were filled 
 with concealed royalists. Rambaud, president of the 
 committee, and Prec}', commander of the departmental 
 force, were secretly devoted to the cause of the emi- 
 gration. Misled by designing and dangerous instiga- 
 tors, the mifortunate Lyoimese Avere bent on compro- 
 mising themselves past recall with the convention, 
 Avhich, from this time forth miiversally obej'ed and 
 victorious, Avas sure to visit on the last city in rcA^olt 
 the full measure of vengeance reserved for vanquished 
 federalism. IMeanAvhile, they assembled in arms at 
 Saint-Etienne, and harboured deserters of aU kinds ; 
 but stiU labouring to avoid the appearance of open 
 revolt, they gave free passage to the convoj's proceed- 
 ing to the frontiers, and ordered the liberation of the 
 deputies Nocl-Pointe, Santeyra, and Lesterpt-Beau- 
 vais, Avho had been arrested by the neighboturing com- 
 munes. 
 
 The Jura Avas partially trauquillised. The repre- 
 sentatives Bassal and Garnier, Avhora Ave left with 
 1500 men nearly encompassed by 15,000, had Avith- 
 draAvn their inadequate force, and attempted the ways 
 of negotiation. In them they Avere more successful, 
 the insurgent administrations liaving undertaken to 
 terminate tlie movement by the acceptance of the 
 constitution. 
 
 Nearly two months had now elapsed since the 2d 
 of June (for the close of July was at hand) ; Valen- 
 ciennes and Mayence Arere still threatened, but Nor- 
 mandy, Brittany, and almost all the departments of 
 the Avest, had returned to obedience. Nantes had just 
 been delivered from the ~\"endeans, the malecontents 
 of Bordeaux dared not venture beyond their own Avails, 
 La Lozere was reduced, the Pyrenees Avere rendered 
 secure for a time, Grenoble Avas quieted, ^Marseilles 
 was isolated from Lyons bj^ the successes of Carteaux, 
 and Lyons, albeit refusing to ol»ey decrees, still shrunk 
 from declaring Avar. The authority of the convention, 
 therefore, Avas almost folly re-established in the inte- 
 rior. On the one hand, the tardiness of the federal- 
 ists, their Avant of union and concert, and their half- 
 measures — on the other, the prompt energy of the 
 couA'ention, the unity of its power, its central position, 
 its habit of command, and its alternate policy of con- 
 ciliation and peremptory enforcement — had decided 
 the triumph of tlie ^lountain OA^er this the last effort 
 of the Girondists. We, as Frenchmen, must rejoice 
 at the result, for at a moment Avhen France was as- 
 sailed on every side, the most Avorthy to Avield supre- 
 macy Avas the strongest. Out of then- OAvn mouths 
 the federalists Avere condemned : " Honest men," said 
 they, " have never known hoAV to emjiloy energy." 
 
 But, Avhilst they, the federalists, Avere falling in 
 every quarter before the ascendancy of the convention, 
 a tragical accident occm'red to stir up relentless Avrath 
 against them. 
 
 At this period lived in Calvados a young female, 
 in her tAventy -fifth year, uniting to great beauty a firm 
 and independent character. Her name Avas Charlotte 
 Corday d'Armans. Her manners Avere pure and fault
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 so;} 
 
 less, but her mind was active and unquiet. She had 
 quitted the paternal roof, to live witli greater freedom 
 in the house of a friend at Caen. Her fatlier had for- 
 merly vindicated, in certain publications, the privileges 
 of his province, at a time when France was reduced to 
 ui)hold burghal and provincial privileges as precious 
 immunities. His daughter Charlotte had, like many 
 females of the time, embraced tlie cause of the revo- 
 lution with ardour, and, after the manner of Madame 
 Roland, was intoxicated with the idea of a republic 
 based on the authority of laws and teeming with 
 virtues. The Girondists appeared to her striving to 
 realise her dreams ; the Mountaineers seemed the only 
 obstacles to that happy issue ; and, upon learning the 
 events of the 31st May, she resolved to avenge her 
 cherished orators. The war of Calvados commenced ; 
 she conceived that the death of the chief of the anar- 
 chists, concurring with the insurrection of the depart- 
 ments, would ensure the victory of the latter ; slie 
 consequently resolved to perform a signal act of de- 
 votedness, and consecrate to her country a life whereof 
 no partner, children, or family, formed the absorbing- 
 care or charm. Deceiving her father, she wrote to 
 him that the troubles of France becoming every day 
 more terrible, she was on the point of seeking security 
 and quietude in England. When so writing, she Avas 
 already directing her steps to Paris. Before her de- 
 parture from Caen, she was solicitous to see the depu- 
 ties who were the objects of her enthusiasm. With tliis 
 view, she feigned a pretext, and requested from Bar- 
 baroux a letter of recommendation to the minister of 
 the interior, having, she said, papers to claim on behalf 
 of a friend, a late canoness. Barbaroux gave her one 
 for the deputy Huperret, tlie friend of Garat. His 
 companions, who were present at the interview, and 
 heard her express her hatred against tlie ilountaineers, 
 and her zeal for a pure and regular republic, were 
 struck with her beauty and affected by her ingenuous 
 sentiments. Not the remotest allusion to her project 
 started siispicion in their minds. 
 
 Arrived at Paris, Charlotte Corday reflected for a 
 time on the choice of her victim. Danton and Robes- 
 pierre were sufhciently renowned in the ranks of the 
 Mountain to merit her preference, but Marat was the 
 man whom the provinces regarded as the most detest- 
 able of all, and as the chief of the anarchists. Her 
 first wish was to smite INIarat on the siunmit of the 
 Mountain and in the midst of his friends ; but this 
 design was no longer practicable, for Marat was in a 
 condition which prevented him from attending the 
 convention. The reader can have scarcely forgotten 
 that he had voluntarily svispended his functions for a 
 certain interval ; but, perceiving tliat the trial of the 
 Girondists could not be speedily determined, he put 
 an end to the farce and re-appeared in his place. Soon 
 after, one of those inflammatory attacks, which, in 
 revolutions, terminate such tempestuous existences 
 as are not cut short liy the scaflbld, obliged him to 
 retii-e into the tranquillity of his own abode. But even 
 there, nothing could restrain his insatiable activity ; 
 he passed great part of the day in his batii, abundantly 
 supplied with pens and paper, writing without inter- 
 mission, editmg his journal, addressing letters to the 
 convention, and complaining that sufficient attention 
 was not given to them. He indited his last commu- 
 nication, saying, that if it were not read, he would 
 have himself transported in his sickness to the tribune, 
 and read it in person. In this letter, he denounced 
 two generals, Custine and Biron. " Custine," said 
 he, " now transferred from the Rhine to the north, 
 was proceeding in the same manner as Humouricz, 
 railmg against anarchists, forming his staffs according 
 to his own caprice, arming certain battalions, disarm- 
 ing others, and distributing them conformably to his 
 1 lans, which were doubtless those of a conspirator." 
 I, It will be recollected that Custine was profiting by 
 the siege of Valenciennes to re-organise the army of 
 the north in Caesar's camp.) " As to Biron, he was 
 
 an old valet of the court. He affected a mighty dread 
 of the English, in order to keep himself in Lower 
 Vendee and leave the enemy in possession of Upper 
 Vendee. He was CAidently only waiting for a descent 
 to imite with the English, and deliver up our army 
 to them. The war of La Vendee ought to have been 
 already finished. A man of judgment, after witness- 
 ing the discomfiture of the Vendeans once, ought to 
 understand the means of destroying them. For his 
 own part, likewise possessing as he did military science, 
 he had devised an infallible manoeu\Te, and if his 
 health wei'e not so precarious, he would have had 
 himself removed to the banks of the Loire, in order 
 to put his plan in execution by personal superintend- 
 ence. Custine and Biron were the two Dumouriez's 
 of the moment; and, after having seciu-ed them, it 
 was essential to adopt a final measure, which would 
 stifle all calumnies, and commit all the deputies past 
 recall to the revolution. Tliis was to put to death the 
 imprisoned Bourbons, and set a price on the heads of 
 the fugitive Bourbons. By this expedient, the accu- 
 sations against some of destining Orleans to the throne 
 would be no more heard of, and the intrigues of others 
 to make their peace with the family of Capet would 
 be prevented." 
 
 Thus, to the last, he exhibited the inordinate vanity, 
 the wild fury, and the prompt talent of anticipatiiig 
 popular hatred, which had always marked his career. 
 In fact, Custine and Biron were shortly to become tlie 
 objects of general execration, and it was IMarat, sick 
 and on the eve of death, who, as upon many former 
 occasions, enjoyed the honour of the initiative. 
 
 Charlotte Corday vi-as thus obUged to seek him at 
 his own house to attain her aim. In the first place, 
 she delivered the letter she held for Duperret, executed 
 her commission with the minister of the interior, and 
 then made ready to accomplish her purpose. She 
 inquired of a coachman the residence of Marat, pro- 
 ceeded straightway thither, and was refused adinit- 
 tance. She then wrote to him, saying that, having 
 just arrived from Calvados, she had important news 
 to communicate to him. This was sufficient to ensm-e 
 her an interview. On the 13th July, accordmgly, she 
 presented herself about eight m the evening. Marat's 
 housekeeper, a young woman of twenty-seven, -with 
 whom he lived maritally, demurred to lier entrance ; 
 but IMarat, who was in his bath, heard Cliarlotte Cor- 
 day, and ordered her to be admitted. Remaining alone 
 with him, she related what she had seen at Caen ; then 
 pausing, she listened to him and surveyed him ere she 
 struck the blow. Marat eagerly demanded the names 
 of the deputies present at Caen. She repeated them, 
 and he, seizing a pencil, prepared to write them down, 
 exclaiming — "Very good, they shall all go to the 
 guillotine." " To the guillotine!" echoed the young 
 girl, m an indignant tone : and drawing a knife from 
 her bosom, she struck Marat under the left breast, and 
 plunged the steel to his heart. 
 
 " Help ! " he cried ; " help, my love ! " His house- 
 keeper flew at the call ; a messenger employed in 
 arranging journals also hastened to the spot. They 
 found Marat weltering in his blood, and the young 
 girl calm, serene, motionless. The messenger knocked 
 her down with a chair, and tiie liousekeeper spurned 
 i her with her feet. The noise attracted visiters, and 
 the whole quarter was speedily in commotion. Char- 
 lotte Corday rose from the floor, and encountered Avith 
 dignified placidity the threats and outrages of those 
 who surrounded h-er. Certain members of the section, 
 drawn to the scene by the pervading tumult, struck 
 by her beauty, her courage, and the calnmess where- 
 with she avowed her action, interfered to save her 
 from lirutal immolation, and conducted her to prison, 
 where she continued to confess all Avitli the same 
 tranquil assurance. 
 
 This assassination, like that of Lepelletier, caused 
 an extraordinary sensation. It was immediately pro- 
 pagated that the Girondists had armed and instigated
 
 304 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Charlotte Corday. An analogous report had attended 
 the death of Lepelletier, and on all similar occasions 
 such will be tlie case. A proscribed opinion is very 
 generally illustrated by some signal act of revenge ; 
 simply one mind, more higlily exasperated than others, 
 conceives and executes the deed ; but it is neverthe- 
 less imputed to all the partisans of the same opinion, 
 and thus authority is derived for ^\Teaking additional 
 vengeance upon them, and for deciding the victim 
 with the crown of martyrdom. Some difficulty had 
 l)een felt in charging crimes on the imprisoned depu- 
 ties. The departmental revolt had furnished one spe- 
 cious pretext for talking their lives, by declaring them 
 accomplices of the fugitive deputies ; the death of 
 Marat served to eke out their supposititious crimes, 
 and the reasons in request for consigning them to the 
 scafibld. 
 
 The ]\Iountain, the Jacobins, and especially the 
 Cordeliers, who gloried in having first possessed Marat, 
 in having remained more intimately connected with 
 him, and in having never disavowed him, testified 
 great and iinfeigned sorrow. It was agreed that he 
 should be interred in the garden of the Cordeliers, 
 beneath the same trees under wliicli he was accustomed 
 to read his journal to the people in the evenings. The 
 convention resolved to attend his obsequies in a body. 
 At the Jacobin Club it was proposed to assign him 
 extraordinary honom-s ; several even demanded the 
 Pantheon as his sepulchre, though the law prohibited 
 any one being deposited within it until twenty years 
 after deatli. It was moved that the whole society 
 should walk in the funeral procession; that the presses 
 of the " Friend of the People" should be purchased by 
 the society, in order to prevent them falling into un- 
 worthy hands; and that his journal should be conti- 
 nued by successors capable, if not of rivalling him, 
 at least of recalling his enersjy and supplying his 
 watchfulness. Robespierre, whose aim at all times 
 was to render the Jacobins more imposing by stifling 
 all their inconsiderate ebullitions, and who moreover 
 %vas desirous of fixing upon himself tlie attention too 
 exclusively bestowed upon the niartj'r, came forward 
 to address the club upon this occasion. 
 
 " If I speak to-da\'," said he, " it is because I have 
 a right to do so. Tlie question is concerning poniards ; 
 they are pointed at me, I have deserved them, and it 
 is merely the result of chance tliat JNIarat has been 
 struck before me. I have therefore a right to inter- 
 fere in the discussion, and I do so to express my asto- 
 nishment that your energy shoidd exhaust itself in 
 vain declamations, and your thoughts be directed 
 solely ujran idle pomp and ceremonies. The best 
 manner of avenging ]Marat is to i)ursue remorselessly 
 his enemies. The vengeance which seeks satisfaction 
 in vain funereal honours is soon appeased, and speedily 
 foregoes the determination of exhibiting itself in a 
 more real and beneficial form. Cease, then, your use- 
 less discussions, and revenge iVIarat m a manner more 
 worthy of himself." All further debate was cut short 
 by this peremptory' inhibition, and no more lieed was 
 given to the propositions that liad been so eagerl}' 
 submitted. 
 
 Nevertheless, the convention, the Jacobins, the 
 Cordeliers, all the popular societies, and all the sec- 
 tions, concurred in decreeing him great honours. His 
 body lay in state for several days ; it was uncovered, 
 and the wound he had received left open to view. Tlie 
 popular societies and the sections defiled in procession 
 past his bier, strewing it with flowers. Each president 
 pronounced an oration. The section of La Republiquc 
 was the first to approach. " He is dead ! " exclaimed 
 its president, lugubriously — " the friend of the people 
 is dead, and by assassination ! Let us waive all eulogy 
 over his inanimate remains. His eulogium is in his 
 career, his writings, his gory wound, his death ! 
 Scatter flowers over the pallid corjise of INIarat, my 
 coimtrywomen ! Marat was our friend, he was the 
 friend of the people : it was for tlie people he lived, it 
 
 is for the people he died." At these words, youn^ 
 maidens made the circuit of the bier, and threw fra^ 
 grant flowers on the body of JNIarat. The orator re- 
 sumed : " But sufficient are the lamentations ; hear 
 the mighty soul of Marat, shaking off' its bonds, and 
 saying, Republicans, abstain from further weeping. 
 To republicans is permitted but one tear, after which 
 tlieir country claims all their sympathies. It Avas not 
 I who was marked for assassination, hut the republic ; 
 it is not I Avlio call for vengeance, but the republic, 
 the people, yom-selves!" 
 
 All the societies and aU the sections came one after 
 the other around the cotfin in which the body of Marat 
 lay extended ; and if history record such scenes with 
 some minuteness, it may teach men to reflect on the 
 influence of prepossessions, and lead them to ponder 
 serioush% when they mourn the mighty of this earth, 
 or revile the unfortunate of their era. 
 
 IMeanwhile, the trial of the young murderess was 
 expedited with that rapidity for which republican 
 forms of process were remarkable. Two deputies were 
 implicated in the arraignment ; the one, Duperret, 
 with Avhom she had had intercourse, and who had 
 accompanied her to the minister of the interior ; the 
 other Fauchet, late a bishop, previously suspected on 
 account of his connexion with the right side, and 
 whom a •woman, insane or malignant, falsely asserted 
 to have seen in the galleries with the prisoner. 
 
 Charlotte Corday, when conducted before the tri- 
 bunal, preserved her wonted calmness. The indict- 
 ment was read over to her, after which the court pro- 
 ceeded to call the witnesses. The first who appeared 
 was stopped by the prisoner, without allowing him 
 time to commence his deposition. " It ivas I," she 
 said, " who killed IMarat." " Who incited you to com- 
 mit this murder ? " demanded the president. " His 
 crimes." " What do you mean by his crimes?" "The 
 calamities he has caused since tlie revolution." "Who 
 are they who have instigated you to this action?" 
 " ]Myself alone," proudly answered the yoimg girl. " I 
 had long revolved it in my mind ; nor would I ever 
 have taken coimsel of others for such a deed. I wished 
 to restore peace to my country." "But do you imagine 
 you have sacrificed all the ^larats ? " " No," responded 
 the prisoner, with a sigh ; " alas ! no." 
 
 She then permitted the Avitnesses to conclude, and, 
 after each testimony, repeated, "That is true; the de- 
 ponent is right." She defended herself from one cliarge 
 alone, namely, her pretended concert with the Giron- 
 dists ; and she confronted onl)' one Avitness, the wo- 
 man Avho implicated Duperret and Fauchet in the 
 case ; after Avliich she seated herself, and listened to 
 the remainder of the process Avith perfect serenity. 
 " You perceive," said her advocate, Chaveau-Lagarde, 
 briefly compressing her defence, "that the accused 
 confesses all with imperturbable firmness. Such 
 composure and self-oblivion, subhme 'in one respect, 
 can only be explained by the most exalted poUtical 
 fanaticism. It is for j-ou to judge what Aveight 
 is due to this moral consideration in the scales of 
 justice." 
 
 Charlotte Corday Avas condemned to undergo the 
 l)enalty of death. Her beautiful countenance evinced 
 no emotion as the sentence Avas delivered, and she re- 
 turned to prison with a smile on her lips. She Avrote 
 to her father, craAnng his pardon for having dis- 
 posed of her life. She Avrote also to Barbaroux, to 
 whom she related her journey and achievement in a 
 letter full of feminine grace, spirit, and elevation of 
 mind ; she told liim her friends ought not to regret 
 her, for a lively imagination and a susceptible heart 
 tlireaten stormy liA'es to those Avho may possess them. 
 She added, that she was now fuUy avenged on Petion, 
 wlio had, Avhen at Caen, suspected for a moment her 
 ]>olitical sentiments. Slie begged him also to tell 
 \\'im2)fFen that she had assisted him to gain more 
 than one battle. She concludes in these words : 
 " What a deplorable community to form a republic :
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 305 
 
 Peace ought, at all events, to be made ; some govern- 
 ment will follow in its track." 
 
 On the 15th, Charlotte Corday underwent her sen- 
 tence with the calm assurance that had never quitted 
 her. She opposed to the outrages of the vile popu- 
 lace a modest and becoming firnuiess. AU, however, 
 did not insult her ; many pitied a female so young, so 
 beautiful, and so disinterested in her crime, and fol- 
 lowed her to the scaffold with eyes of sympathy and 
 admiration. 
 
 Marat's body was transported in great pomp to the 
 garden of the Cordeliers. " This pomp," said the re- 
 port of the commune, " had nothing in it but wliat 
 was simple and patriotic. The x)eople, gathered under 
 the banners of tlie sections, followed quietly. A dis- 
 order in some sort imposing, a reverential silence, a 
 general consternation, presented a most affecting spec- 
 tacle. The procession continued in motion from six 
 in the evening until midnight ; it was composed of 
 citizens from all the sections, members of the conven- 
 tion, of the commune, and of the department, electors, 
 and popular societies. Upon reaching the garden of 
 the Cordeliers, the body of Marat was deposited be- 
 neath the trees, the leaves whereof, slightly agitated, 
 reflected and multiplied the soft and subdued light. 
 The people pressed around tlie coSin in silence. Tlie 
 president of the convention delivered an ehjquent dis- 
 course, in which he stated that the time would soon 
 come when Marat should be avenged, but tliat no 
 hasty or inconsiderate measures should be allowed to 
 justify the reproaclies of the country's enemies. He 
 added that liberty coidd not perish, and that the death 
 of Marat would only consolidate it. After several 
 other speeches, which were all warml}' applauded, 
 the body of Marat was laid in tlie grave. Tears flowed 
 plenteously, and all slowly retired, with hearts op- 
 pressed by grief." 
 
 The heart of Marat, whereof the possession was 
 contested by several societies, was idtimately ad- 
 judged to the Cordeliers. His bust, universally trea- 
 sured as a fitting adjunct to those of Brutus and Le- 
 pelletier, was uistalled in all the assemblies and public 
 places. The seal put upon his papers was removed ; 
 an assignat for five francs was all tlie wealth found in 
 his possession, and his poverty became a fresh subject 
 of admiration. His housekeeper, whom, according to 
 the words of Chaumette, he had " 07ie fine day, in the 
 face of the sun," taken as his wife, was dignified with 
 the name of Marat's widow, and supported at the cost 
 of the state. 
 
 Such was the end of this man, the most singular of 
 an epoch so abundant in diversified character. Enter- 
 ing the career of science, he attempted to overturn all 
 the systems in vogue ; then cast into political troubles, 
 he forthwith imagined a frightful conception — still 
 such a conception as revolutions realise every day of 
 their progress, in proportion as their dangers increase, 
 but which they never openly avow, namely, the de- 
 struction of all their adversaries. Marat, perceiving 
 that, in spite of all repudiations, the revolution in truth 
 obeyed his comisels, that the men whom he had de- 
 nounced were execrated and sacrificed as he had pre- 
 dicted, came to look upon himself as the greatest poli- 
 tician of modern times, and gave M^ay to an overween- 
 ing vanity and effrontery, appearing to his enemies as 
 the most horrible of the human species, and to his 
 friends themselves as, at the least, wayward and 
 strange. He quitted the scene by an accident as singu- 
 lar as his whole life, disappearing at the very momt'nt 
 the leaders of the republic, concentrating all their 
 powers to establish an inexorable and sombre govern- 
 ment, must have inevitably broken with a frantic, sys- 
 tematic, and presumptuous colleague, who would h;ive 
 deranged all their plans by his inordinate pretensions. 
 Incapable, in fact, of being an iictive and coniniaiKhng 
 leader, he was simply the apostle of the revolution ; 
 and when that ofiice was no longer needed, but insteaci 
 thereof, practical energy and continuity, the knife of 
 
 a young enthusiastic maiden came opportunely to 
 convert him into a martyr, and give a saint to the 
 people, who, weary of their ancient idols, were long- 
 ing for new ones. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF PARTIES SINCE THE 31 ST BIAT. DIS- 
 CREDIT OF DANTON. REVERSES IN LA VENDEE. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MAYENCE AND VALENCIENNES. — IMMI- 
 NENT PERIL OF THE REPUBLIC IN AUGUST 1793, AND 
 MEASURES OF VIOLENCE CONSEQUENT THEREON. 
 
 Of the fiimous triumvirs, there now remained but 
 Robespierre and Danton. To form a correct idea of 
 their influence, it behoves us to inquire how power 
 had been distributed, and in what direction opinion 
 had flowed, since the suppression of the right side. 
 
 From the very day of its convocation, the conven- 
 tion had been in reality possessed of all power. It was 
 unwilling, however, to keep it openly in itself, in order 
 to avoid the imputation of despotism, and consequently 
 permitted to subsist out of its own pale a phantom of 
 executive power, imder the title of ministers. Discon- 
 tented with their administration, whereof the vigour 
 was wholly unequal to the circumstances, it esta- 
 blished, immediately after the defection of Dumouriez, 
 a committee of public welfare, which entered on its 
 functions on the 10th April, being invested with a fa- 
 culty of superior inspection over the government. It 
 was empowered to suspend the execution of measures 
 ordered by the ministers, to supply deficiencies when 
 it judged them inadequate, and totally to revoke them 
 when it deemed them prejudicial. To its care, also, 
 were committed the instructions given to representa- 
 tives dispatched on missions, and with it alone were 
 the latter entitled to correspond. Thus placed above 
 the ministers and representatives, who were them- 
 selves placed above other functionaries of all grades, 
 it had under its control the whole faliric of govern- 
 ment. Although this authority, as may be judged 
 from its appellation, was only contemplated as a simple 
 inspection, it in reality became action itself; for the 
 head of a state rarely executes any thing immediately, 
 but is contented to set and witness the machine in 
 motion, to select his agents, and direct the operations. 
 Consequently, through its function of superintendence, 
 the committee was enabled to effect all this, and it was 
 not slow to act upon the capacity. It regidated the 
 military operations, apportioned the supplies, ordered 
 measures of security, nominated the generals and 
 agents of all kinds; and the trembling ministers were 
 too happy to be freed from all responsibility by re- 
 ducing themselves to the scale of mere clerks. The 
 members who composed the committee of public wel- 
 fiire were Barrere, Delmas, Brc'ard, Cambon, Robert 
 Lindet, Danton, Guyton-Morveau, Mathieu, and Ra- 
 mel. They were known as able and laborious men, 
 and though somewhat suspected of a leaning to mode- 
 ration, they were not deemed capable, like the Giron- 
 dists, of being accomjilices of the stranger. In a short 
 time the}' united in their hands all the affairs of the 
 state ; and although they had been appointed but for 
 one month, it was held impolitic to interrupt them in 
 tlieir labours, and tlu'y were protracted from month 
 to month, from the lOtli Ajiril to the lOth :\Iav, from 
 the 10th May to the lOtli June, and from the 10th 
 June to the 10th July. Beneath this committee, the 
 coimiiittee of general safety exercised the high police, 
 so iinjiortant a department in times of distrust; but 
 even in its functions it dejiended on the committee ot 
 public welfare, which, lieing charged in general terms 
 with what concerned the welfare of the state, neces- 
 sarily included m its powers a right of inquiry into 
 plots against the republic. 
 
 Thus, by nuaiis of its decrees, the convention had 
 the suiireme fiat ; by means of its commissioners and
 
 306 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 its committoo, it held the executive power ; so that 
 albeit unwilling to concentrate all ]iower in itself, it 
 had been invincibly led to do so by circumstances, and 
 by the necessity imposed upon it of confiding the exe- 
 cution of what it considered imperfectly jjerformed 
 by strange agents to its own members, under its own 
 immediate vigilance. 
 
 Nevertheless, whilst all authority was thus exercised 
 within its pale, it i)articipated no further in tlie ope- 
 rations of government than by its approbation, ceasing 
 even to deliberate thereon. This is easily accounted 
 for. The great questions of social organisation were 
 settled by the constitution, which established a pure 
 democracy. Tiie question whether, in promotion of 
 public safety, the most revolutionary means should 
 be adopted— whether, in truth, there slioidd be an un- 
 reserved abandonment to all that i)assion might dic- 
 tate — was answered by the 31st ^lay. Accordingly, 
 the constitution of the state and its moral policy were 
 fixed. Nothing remained to discuss, therefore, but 
 measures of administration, finance, and war. Now, 
 subjects of this nature can rarely be understood by a 
 numerous assembly, and are invariably left to the dis- 
 cretion of men who devote their attention more speci- 
 fically to such matters. The convention, upon this 
 princi])le, willingly threw the burden of them on the 
 committees it had charged with affairs. It had im- 
 plicit reliance on their probity, talents, and zeal. 
 Hence it sunk into silence ; and the last revinution, 
 whilst stifling the freedom of debate, had likewise 
 removed all occasion for it. It resolved into a mere 
 comicil of state, to which the conmiittees, as the heads 
 of administrations, repaired to present accounts always 
 applauded, and to propose decrees always adojited. 
 The sittings, taciturn, sombre, and brief, were no 
 longer protracted as formerly during whole days and 
 nights. 
 
 Next to the convention, which, in the manner ex- 
 plained, attended to the general concerns of govern- 
 ment, came the commune, regulating the municipal 
 system, and effecting therein a conqilete revolution. 
 Giving up, since tlie 31st May, all intentions of con- 
 spiring, or using the local force of Paris against the 
 convention, it devoted its attention to matters of police, 
 supplies of food, the markets, the churches, theatres, 
 and even courtesans, iiublishing, \ipon all these sub- 
 jects of internal and private concern, ordinances which 
 soon became models throughout France. Chaumette, 
 procurator-general of the commune, was by his re- 
 ports, always attentively heard and applauded by the 
 people, the chief mover of this municipal legislature. 
 Incessantly on the alert in quest of fresh matter to re- 
 gulate, and continuall}' encroacliing on private liberty, 
 this legislator of the halls and markets became every 
 day more importunate and intolerable. Pache, as 
 impassible as ever, looked calmly on, gave his appro- 
 bation to whatever was proposed, and freely abandoned 
 the honoxu's of the municipal tribune to his subordinate 
 Chaumette. 
 
 The convention leaving its committees to act at 
 discretion, and the conunune restricting its interfer- 
 ence exclusively to its own province, all discussion 
 ujjon matters of government had devolved upon tlie 
 Jacobins. They alone canvassed, with their accus- 
 tomed audacity, the operations of the executive and 
 the conduct of each of its agents. It has been already 
 shown, that, long ago, they liad acquired a prodigious 
 importance by their numbers, by the reputation and 
 the influential position of several of tlieir members, by 
 the vast ramifications of their affiliated societies, in fine, 
 by their seniority and tlieir long influence over the re- 
 volution. But smce the 31st Jlay, having reduced to 
 silence the right side of the convention, and secured 
 predominance to the system of inordinate energy, they 
 iiad obtained a sway over opinion almost boundless, 
 and usurped the faculty of speech, in some sort abdi- 
 cated by the convention. They assaik-d the commit- 
 tees with an unremitting interposition, and scnitinised 
 
 their conduct, as also that of the representatives, the 
 ministers, and the generals, with that rage for person 
 alities for which thc}' were so remarkable ; thus exer 
 cising over all the agents of government an inexorable 
 censorship, often luijust, but alwa3^s useful, by the 
 terror it inspired, and the devotedness it imposed upon 
 all. The other popular societies also enjoyed their 
 license and their influence, but succumbed, notwith- 
 standing, to the authority of the Jacobins. The Cor- 
 deliers, for example, more turbulent and prompt to 
 act, nevertheless acknowledged the mental superiority 
 of their seniors, and always yielded to the restraint 
 of their counsels, when they chanced to outi'un the 
 fitting moment for a project, through a superfluity of 
 revolutionary ardour. The petition of Jacques lioux 
 against the constitution, retracted by the Cordeliers 
 on the summons of the Jacobins, aflbrded an instance 
 of this deference. 
 
 Such, since the 31st May, was the distribution of 
 power and of influence. We perceive in concurrent 
 activity a governing committee, a commune occupied 
 with mvmicipal regulations, and the Jacobin Club 
 exercising over all the details of government a con 
 stant and rigorous supervision. 
 
 Two months had not passed away without opinion 
 expressing itself strongly against the existing admini- 
 stration. The minds of men could not stop short, 
 with the 31st May; their urgency was sure to go far 
 beyond ; nor can it be a matter of surprise that thcj' 
 should incessantly demand additional vigom% greater 
 celerity, and, above all, more results. In the general 
 remodelling of the committees, as demanded on the 
 2d June, the committee of public welfare had been 
 excepted, being composed, as was universally acknow- 
 ledged, of men indefatigable in toil, alien to all fac- 
 tions, and charged with labours which it was dan- 
 gerous to interrupt ; but it was not forgotten that 
 it had hesitated on the 31st j\Iay and the 2d June, 
 that it had proposed to negotiate with the departments 
 and send them hostages, and it was thus speedily as- 
 sailed with invectives of incompetencj- to tlie crisis. 
 Instituted at one of the most difficult periods, on it 
 was unscrupulously thrown the blame of reverses oc- 
 casioned by the calamitous situation of affairs, and 
 scarcely avoidable by human wisdom. As the centre 
 of all operations, it was overwhelmed Avith business, 
 and it was reproached with burrowing in papers, be- 
 guiling time with details, in a word, Avith being emas- 
 culated and incapable. And yet, established at the 
 time of Dumouriez's defection, when all the armies 
 were disorganised, when La Vendee was nsing in re- 
 bellion and iSpain commencing hostilities, it had re- 
 organised the arinv of the north and that of the 
 Rhine, it had created the armies of the Pyrenees and 
 La Vendee, which were not in existence, and provi- 
 sioned one liundred and tweiitA'-six towns and forts ; 
 and although much remained to be done to jilace the 
 forces on the necessary footing, it bespoke extraordi- 
 nary industry to have accomplished such labours in 
 so short an interval, and amidst the obstacles of the 
 departmental insurrection. But public discontent 
 always required more than was actually performed — 
 more, indeed, than could be performed ; and bj' that 
 very insatiable ness it provoked the amazing energy 
 which was alone commensurate with the danger. In 
 order to increase the strength of the committee and 
 invigorate its revolutionary ardour, to its former 
 members had been added Saint-Just, Jean-Bon-f?aint- 
 Andre, and Couthon. Notwitlistandiiig this popular 
 infusion, dissatisfaction was not appeased, the remark 
 passing into vogue that the adjiuicts were unquestion- 
 ably most excellent, but that theii' influence was neu- 
 tralised by the others. 
 
 Against the ministers, also, opinion was not less 
 ruthlessly directed. The minister of the interior, 
 Garat, at first rather favourably viewed on account 
 of his neutrality between the Girondists and the Jaco- 
 bins, fell under the category of a moderate after the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 307 
 
 2d June. Being instructed to compose a document 
 calculated to enlighten the departments touching the 
 late events, he had digested a long dissertation, in 
 which he explained and weighed all wrongs with an 
 impartiality creditable to his philosophy, doubtless, 
 but rather inappropriate to the dispositions of the 
 moment. Kobespierre, to whom he imparted this 
 over-wrought production, spurned it mdevolently. 
 The Jacobins were soon apprised of its tone, and they 
 reproached Garat with culpable indifference to the 
 duty of counteractuig the poison disseminated by 
 Roland. In the Kke position was D'Albarade, the 
 mmister of :narine, who was accused of leaving all 
 the old aristocrats as superior officers in the squadrons. 
 There is no doubt, in fact, that he had retained a 
 great number, and the events at Toulon but too speedily 
 demonstrated the truth ; but it was more ditficult to 
 purge the navy of objectionable sulyects than the 
 army, because the peculiar acquirements requisite in 
 naval service prevented the possibility of replacing 
 the old officers with new, or of converting in six 
 months a peasant into a sailor, a midshipman, or an 
 admiral. Bouchotte, the minister of war, had alone 
 preserved his popidarity, because, after tlie example 
 of Pache, his predecessor, he had thrown open his 
 offices to the Jacobins and Cordeliers, and allayed 
 their mistrust by calling themselves into his depart- 
 ment. Almost all the generals were assailed, especially 
 those who were nobles ; but above all, two had become 
 the clamour of the hour — Custine in the north, and 
 Biron in the west. j\Iarat, as we have related, had 
 denounced them a few days before his death; and 
 since that denunciation, it is a fact that men perpe- 
 tually inquired why Custine was loitering in Caesar's 
 camp without relieving Valenciennes, and why Biron, 
 inactive in the Lower Vendee, had allowed Saumur to 
 be taken and Nantes to be besieged. 
 
 Similar distrust prevailed every where ; calumny 
 smote all heads, and brooded over even the firmest 
 patriots. As there was no longer a right side upon 
 which all crimes might be heaped, as there was no 
 longer a Roland, a Brissot, or a Guadet, to whom, at 
 every alarm, treacliery could be imputed, invective 
 turned upon the most decided republicans. An in- 
 credible rage for suspicions and accusations possessed 
 the public mind. The longest and most persevering 
 of revolutionary careers was no longer a guarantee ; 
 and in a single day, in a single hour, any man might 
 be assimilated Avith the fiercest enemies of the repub- 
 lic. Imagination could be hardly made to forego its 
 illusions touching tliat Danton, Mdiose midaunted 
 boldness and inspiriting eloquence had so often stimu- 
 lated courage in critical emergencies ; but Danton car- 
 ried into the revolution a passion of extreme violence 
 for ultimate ol)jects, but no animosity towards indivi- 
 duals, and that was not sufficient. The spirit of a 
 revolution is composed of passion for objects and 
 hatred for those who oppose obstacles ; Danton had 
 but one of these two feelings. Li promoting revolu- 
 tionary measures tending to smite the ricli, to goad 
 the indifferent into action, and to develop the re- 
 sources of the nation, be had scrupled at nothing, Init 
 devised and employed the most reckless and violent 
 means ; nevertheless, tolerant and placa])le towards 
 individuals, he looked not upon all as his enemies, but 
 viewed tliem as men differing in character and in 
 mind, whom it was expedient to gain or accept with 
 their respective powers and degrees of energy. He 
 had not considered Dumouriez as a traitor, but rather 
 as a malecontent driven to extremities. He had not 
 deemed the Girondists accoini>lices of Pitt, but honest 
 imbeciles, and his wish was to have removed witliout 
 injuring them. It was even said that lie liad ex])ressed 
 himself indignantly u])on tiie orders given by Ilenriot 
 on the 2d June. He gave his han<l to noble generals, 
 dined with contractors, lived on familiar terms witli 
 men of all parties, and indulged in pleasures whereof 
 he had not been chary in the course of the revolution. 
 
 All these things were notorious ; and sinister rumours 
 crept abroad, imi)hcating alike his energy and his pro- 
 bity. One day it was said that Danton no longer ap- 
 peared at the Jacobin Club; and insinuations were 
 levelled at liis idleness, at his continual distractions, 
 and at the fact of the revolution not liaving been with- 
 out its enjoj-ments to him. Another day, some malig- 
 nant Jacobin said in the tribune — "Danton left me to 
 go and shake hands with a general." Sometimes com- 
 plaints were directed against the individuals he had 
 recommended to the ministers. Again, not venturing 
 too often to attack him personally, his detractors as- 
 sailed his friends. Thus, the butcher Legendre, his 
 colleague in the Parisian deputation, his lieutenant 
 in the faubourgs and pulilic places, and the imitator 
 of his wild and boisterous eloquence, was treated as 
 a moderate by Hebert and the other unruly spirits 
 at the Cordelier Club. " I a moderate ! " exclaimed 
 Legendre to the Jacobins ; " I, who often reproach 
 myself with exaggeration — who am accused from Bor- 
 deaux of having dispatched Guadet — who am charged 
 in all the journals with having seized Lanjuinais by 
 the collar, and dragged him on the pavement !" 
 
 Another friend of Danton was stigmatised as a 
 moderate, an equally known and tried patriot, Ca- 
 mille-Desnioidins, at once the most lively, satirical, 
 and eloquent writer distinguished in the revolution. 
 Camille was intimately acquainted with General Dil- 
 lon, who, when stationed by Dumouriez at the post of 
 the Islettes in the Argonne, had displayed exemplary 
 firmness and gallantry. Camille was aware, from 
 per«(mal intercourse, that Dillon was simply a brave 
 soldier, without political opinions, endowed witli the 
 true martial mstinct, and sincerely desirous of serving 
 the republic. Suddenly, from the effect of that incre- 
 dible distrust pervading the very air, it was reported 
 that DiUon was preparing to place himself at the head 
 of a conspiracy to establish Louis XVII. upon the 
 throne. The committee of public welfare caused him 
 to be instantly- arrested. Camille, who had convinced 
 himself by inquiry that the rumour was a mere fable, 
 rose to defend Dillon in the convention. Cries from 
 all sides interrupted him : " You dine with the aris- 
 tocrats!" Billaud-Varennes, interfering to stop him, 
 exclaimed — " We must not allow Camille to disgrace 
 himself I" " I am prevented speaking," retorted Ca- 
 mille ; " no matter, I have my pen !" And he speedily 
 published a pamphlet, entitled " A Letter to Dillon," 
 replete with intellect and fancy, wherein he dealt his 
 blows on all sides and at all heads. To the committee 
 of public welfare he said — " You have usurped all 
 powers, engrossed all affairs, and you terminate none. 
 There were three of you ciiarged with the war depart- 
 ment ; the one is absent, the other ill, and the third 
 understands nothing of sucli concerns. You leave at 
 the head of our .armies the Custines, Birons, ^lenous, 
 Berthiers, all aristocrats, or Lafayettists, or imbeciles." 
 To Cambon he said^" I compreliend nothing of thy 
 system of finance, but tliy paper greatly resembles 
 that of Law, and flies as rajiidly from liand to hand." 
 To Billaud-Varennes he said — " Thou art wrotli with 
 Dillon, because, being a commissioner to liis army, he 
 exposed thee to tiie enemy's fire." To Saint- Just — 
 " Tliou reverest tby.self', and bearest tiiy head like a 
 priest elevating tlieliost:" to Brcard, Delmas, Bar 
 rere, and otliers — " You wished to give in your resig- 
 nations on the 2d June, because you were unal)le to 
 contemj)late tliat revolution with composure, so fright- 
 ful did it seem to your imaginations." 
 
 He added, that Dillon was neitlier a republican, nor 
 a federalist, nor an aristocrat, but a soldier, asking 
 oidy to sirve as sucli ; tliat he equalled in patriotism 
 the wliolc conimittee of pulilic welfare, and all the 
 stall's retained at the head of the armies ; that he was 
 at all events a distinguished oflicer, such as it was 
 fortunate to have an opportunitj' of employing, and 
 that it must not be imagined every corporal was com- 
 petent to become a general. " Since," he concluded,
 
 308 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 " an obscure officer, Dumouriez, conquered in spite of 
 himself at Jemappes, and took possession of all Bel- 
 gium and of Breda, like a quartermaster loith his pencil, 
 the successes of the republic have inspired us witli the 
 same infatuation which the successes of his reign com- 
 municated to Louis XIV. lie selected his generals 
 in his antechamber, and we conceive we may take 
 ours from the streets ; certain sanguine temperaments 
 liave indeed proclaimed that we possess three miUions 
 of generids !" 
 
 We learn from such language, such cross-firing, that 
 the ^Mountain was in an unsettled state. This situa- 
 tion ordinarily ensues to every party emerging from 
 victory, vibrating Mitli inci])ient discord before the 
 separate fractions have taken distinct development. 
 No fresh party had as yet sprung or seceded from the 
 conquering ranks. The imputation of moderatism or 
 exaggeration hung over all heads, without resting 
 positively on an.y. Amidst this confusion of opinion, 
 one reputation always remained inaccessible to attacks, 
 tliat of Kobespierre. He certamly had never evinced 
 indulgence towards individuals ; "he had cherished no 
 outlaw, nor consorted with any general, financier, or 
 deputy. None could accuse him of having sacrificed 
 to pleasure during the revolution, for he Uved obscurely 
 with a carpenter, and, it is said, prosecuted an unsus- 
 pected intercourse with one of his daughters. Austere, 
 reserved, upriglit, he enjoyed the reputation of being, 
 and was in reality, incorruptible. He could be re- 
 proached only with pride — a species of vice which de- 
 files not like corruption, but which causes great cala- 
 mities in civil broils, and becomes most fearful in men 
 of severity and sternness, in religious or political vota- 
 ries, because, being their sole passion, they gi'atify it 
 without distraction and without remorse. 
 
 Kobespierre Avas the only individual who could re- 
 press certain movements of revolutionary impatience, 
 without his moderation being imputed to the influ- 
 ences of pleasure or interest. His resistance, wlicn- 
 ever he offered it, was always attributed to reason alone. 
 He felt this position, and now commenced for the 
 first time to construct a system. Hitherto, totally ab- 
 sorbed in hatred, he had laboured merely to drive the 
 revolution over the Girondists ; but at present, dis- 
 cerning in a new outbreak of violent opinions danger 
 to the patriots, he deemed it essential to enforce re- 
 spect for the convention and the committee of public 
 welfare, because all authority was vested in them, and 
 could not be transferred to other hands without inter- 
 minable confusion. JMoreover, he was liimself in that 
 convention ; he must speedily be in the committee of 
 public welfivre ; and, therefore, in defending them, he 
 it once sustained an authority altogether indispens- 
 able, and an autliority which lie was about to share. 
 As eveiy opinion first took consistence in the Jaco- 
 t)in Club, lie was assiduous in his endeavours to 
 strengthen his sway over it, and attach it to the con- 
 vention and the committees, reserving the faculty of 
 future alienation, if he sliould judge it necessary. 
 Constantly attentive to the Jacobins alone, he flat- 
 tered tlieni by his presence; and whilst he rarely 
 spoke in the convention, wliere, as we have observed, 
 silence was but seldom broken, his voice was re- 
 peatedly heard in their tribune — for he never aUowed 
 an important proposition to pass without discussing 
 it, either to modify or repudiate it. In this, his con- 
 duct was more discreetly calculated than Danton's. 
 Nothing is more ofil-nsive to men, or more favours 
 sinister rumours, than neglect and absence. Danton, 
 careless as a being of ardent and impassioned spirit, 
 was too negligent in his attendance at the Jacobin 
 Club. Wlien lie did appear, he was compelled to jus- 
 tify himself, to give assurances that he would alwa3-s 
 be a good patriot, to say tliat, " if sometimes lie used 
 certain conciliatory means to recover weak but excel- 
 lent persons, his energy was not on tliat account di- 
 minished ; that he always watched with the same 
 ardour over the interests of the repubUc, and that it 
 
 would assuredly be victorious." Vain and dangerous 
 excuses ! Wlienever a man is reduced to explain, to 
 enter into a justification of himself, he is more or less 
 subdued liy those to whom he addresses his exculpa- 
 tion. Ilobespierre, on the contrary, always present, 
 always prepared to rebut insinuations, was never 
 obliged to humble himself by apologetic appeals ; so 
 far was it the reverse, indeed, that he assumed an ac- 
 cusing tone, and rated at times his feithful Jacobins. 
 He had adroitly seized that point, when the feelings 
 inspired by a favourite leader having become unequi- 
 vocal and decided, he does but stimulate them by re- 
 bukes. 
 
 AVe have already related the manner in which he 
 treated Jacques Eoux, mIio had proposed a petition 
 against the constitutional act ; and he jiursued the 
 same course upon all occasions when tlie conduct of 
 tlie convention was brouglit into question. That as- 
 sembly, he said, was purified ; it merited all respect , 
 wlioever accused it was a bad citizen. The committee 
 of public welfare had doubtless not done all it ought 
 to have done (for even when vindicating any, Ilobes- 
 pierre never failed to plant a censure) ; but it was 
 now in a better course ; to attack it was to destroy 
 the necessary centre of aU autliority, to weaken the 
 energy of the government, and to compromise the re- 
 pu1)lic. "When endeavours were made to annoy the 
 convention or the committee by reiterated petitions, 
 he opposed them, saying, that the influence of the 
 Jacobins was trifled with, and that the time of the de- 
 positaries of power should not be lightly wasted or in- 
 vaded. One daj', a clamour arose that the sittings of 
 the committee shoidd be public. He inveighed bitterly 
 against such a proposal, asserting there Avere con- 
 cealed enemies, who, under the mask of jiatriotism, 
 broached the most incendiary suggestions, and pro- 
 ceeding to show that the foreigner subsithsed two 
 orders of conspirators in France — "the exaggerators, 
 wlio jiushed things to the verge of chaos, and the 
 moderates, who would fain paralyse the world by a 
 mission of meekness." 
 
 The committee of public welfiire had been pro- 
 longed three separate times ; on the lOtli July it fell 
 to be continued a fourth time, or remodelled. On the 
 8th a great muster took place at the Jacobin Club. 
 From all parts came voices, crying " that the mem- 
 bers of the committee ought to be changed, and not 
 continued again, as had happened thrice previously." 
 
 " There is no doubt," said Bourdon, " the commit- 
 tee has good intentions ; I am not disposed to crimi- 
 nate it ; but a misfortune inherent in human nature 
 is to possess energy only for a few days. The pre- 
 sent members of the committee have already passed 
 that period ; they are emasculated ; let us supersede 
 them. At this moment we need revolutionary men- 
 men to whom we can intrust the fate of the republic, 
 and who will answer to us for its safety, body and 
 soul." 
 
 The ardent Chabot succeeded Bourdon. " The com- 
 mittee," said he, " must be remodelled undoubtedly, 
 and no fresli jirolongation endured. To add some 
 additional members, ascertained good patriots, is not 
 sufficient, as lias been proved by previous trial. Cou- 
 thon. Saint- Just, and Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre, recently 
 adjoined, are nullified by their colleagTies. Neither 
 ought the committee to be renewed by ballot, for the 
 now one may be no better than the old, which is 
 wortli exactly nothing. I have heard ]\Iathieu," pur- 
 sued Chal)ot, " hold the most incivic language at the 
 club of revolutionary females. Kamel has written to 
 Toulouse that the possessors of property can alone 
 save tlie commonwealth, and that care must be taken 
 to withhold arms from the sans-culottes. Camboii is an 
 imbecile, who sees all objects through a magnifying- 
 glass, and stares in terror a hundred yards off. Guy- 
 ton-]Morveau is an honest man, a quaker, who is per- 
 petually trembling. Delnias, who had the province of 
 appointments, has made abominable selections, imd
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 309 
 
 filled the army with counter-revolutionists. In short, 
 this committee was the friend of Lebrun, and is the 
 enemy of Bouchotte." 
 
 Robespierre hastened to answer Chabot. " In each 
 sentence, in each word," said he, " of Chabot's speech, 
 I perceive the purest patriotism to glow ; but I dis- 
 cern also that too exalted patriotism, which is indig- 
 nant that all things are not ordered according to the 
 bent of its own desires, which frets because the com- 
 mittee of public welfare has not attained in its opera- 
 tions an impossible perfection, which Chabot will seek 
 for in vain. 
 
 I am of opinion with him that this conunittee is 
 not composed of men equally enlightened, equally vir- 
 tuous ; but what body will he find composed in such 
 a manner? Can he preveirt men from being liable to 
 error?- Has he not seen the convention, since it 
 vomited from its bosom the traitors who dishonoured 
 it, derive a fresh energy — a grandeur which was un- 
 knoAvn to it previous to that auspicious day — a cha- 
 racter altogether more august as the national repre- 
 sentation? Is not this example sufBcient to demon- 
 strate that it is not always necessary to destroy, but 
 that it is sometimes more prudent simply to refonn ? 
 
 Yes, certainly, there are in the committee of i^ublic 
 welfare men capable of wielding the machine, and 
 giving additional impetus to its powers. These men 
 require encouragement alone. Who can forget Jhe 
 services this committee has rendered to the common- 
 wealth, the numerous plots it has discovered, the 
 beneficial observations we owe to it, the sapient and 
 profomid views it has developed to us ? 
 
 The assembly did not institute a committee of pub- 
 lic welfare to influence itself or direct its decrees ; but 
 this committee has been useful in severing what was 
 good, in measures propounded, from what, presented 
 under a seductive form, might have led to dangerous 
 consequences ; it has given the first impulse to several 
 essential enactments which have probably saved the 
 country ; it has obviated the inconveniences of pro- 
 tracted deliberation, so often fruitless, by presenting 
 the results, hapjuly elicited and combined, of investi- 
 gations to which the assembly itself could scarcely 
 bring the requisite stock of knowledge, from want of 
 familiarity with their topics. 
 
 All this suffices to prove that the committee of 
 public welfare has not been of such inconsiderable 
 assistance as many profess to believe. It has com- 
 mitted faxdts, doubtless ; am I likely to palliate them ? 
 Would I incline towards indulgence, who uphold that 
 sufl[icient has not been done for the coimtry when all 
 has not been accomplished? Yes, it has committed 
 faidts, and I am willing with you to upbraid it on 
 account of them ; but it would be impolitic at this 
 moment to excite the discontent of the people towards 
 a committee which has need of unrestricted confidence, 
 which is charged with great interests, and from which 
 the country anxiously anticipates important aid ; and 
 although it may labour under the displeasure of the 
 revolutionary republican female citizens, I do not the 
 less esteem it adequate to its momentous duties." 
 
 AH ■ discussion was closed after the reflections of 
 Robespierre had been propounded. Two days after- 
 wards, the committee Avas remodelled, and reduced to 
 nine members, as at its first formation. The future 
 members were Barrere, Jean-Ron-Saint-Andrc, Gas- 
 parin, Couthon, Hcrault-Sechelles, »Saint-Just, Thuriot, 
 Robert Lindet, and Prieur de la Marne. All the mem- 
 bers accused of weakness were superseded except Bar- 
 rere, whose great facility in digesting reports and 
 bending to circumstaiices procured him pardon for 
 the past. Robespierre was not yet ujion the list ; but 
 a few days more, a slight increase of danger on the 
 frontiers and of terror in the convention, were alone 
 needed to carry him within its fold. 
 
 Robespierre had soon sever.al other occasions of em- 
 ploying liis new policy. The navy beginning to excite 
 uneasiness, incessant complaints were urged against 
 
 the minister D'Albarade, his predecessor Monge, and 
 the deplorable ineflSciency of the fleet, which on its 
 return from Sardinia had been brought into the docks 
 of Toulon ; but the repairs were not proceeded with, 
 and the ships were*commanded by old officers, almost 
 all aristocrats. Certain individuals recently added to 
 tlie navy-office were also excepted against on various 
 grounds. One individual, named Teyron, who had 
 been sent on a mission to reorganise the force at Tou- 
 lon, was more especially assailed. This man had failed 
 to do, as was alleged, what he ought to have done, and 
 the minister was held responsible for his omissions ; 
 but the minister threw the responsibility iipon a dis- 
 tinguished patriot, who had recommended Peyron to 
 his confidence. This "distinguished patriot" was re- 
 ferred to with affected wonder, without venturing to 
 designate him. "His name?" cried several voices. 
 " "Well, then, this celebrated patriot," replied the de- 
 nouncer, " is Danton ! " At these words, deep mur- 
 murs broke forth. Robespierre darted to the tribune : 
 " I demand," said lie, " that this farce be terminated 
 and the sitting opened. Some accuse D'j^Ubarade ; I 
 know him only by public fame, which avouches him a 
 patriot minister ; but with what is he now reproached ? 
 An error ! What man is incapable of error? A selec- 
 tion he has made has not answered general expecta- 
 tion ! Bouchotte and Pache have also made unfortu- 
 nate appointments, and yet they are both true repub- 
 licans — both sincere friends of the country. A man 
 is hi office ; that is enough, he is calumniated. Alas 1 
 when shall we cease to put faith in tlie ridiculous or 
 perfidious tales with which we are deluged from all 
 quarters ? 
 
 I perceived that to this sufficiently general denun- 
 ciation of the minister was added a particular denun- 
 ciation levelled at Danton. Is it, then, he whom they 
 would fain cover with ojiprobrium ? But if, instead 
 of discouraging patriots py assiduously searching for 
 crimes against them, when scarcely the most venial 
 error can be traced, these persons would devote a por- 
 tion of their time to facilitate the operations of those 
 same patriots, to render their labours more lightsome 
 and less harassing, it would be somewhat more honest, 
 and the country would be greatly profited. They have 
 denounced Bouchotte, they have denounced Pache, for 
 it was predestined that the best patriots should be 
 denounced. It is truly time to put an end to these 
 absurd and afflicting scenes ; would that the society 
 of Jacobins confined itself to that range of matters 
 which it can treat with advantage — that it interdicted 
 many of those wliich are agitated within its pale, and 
 which, for the most part, are equally futile and danger- 
 ous ! " 
 
 Thus Robespierre, discerning aU the peril of a new 
 convulsion, which might have swept away every trace 
 of a government, laboured to fix the attachment of the 
 Jacobins upon the convention, the committees, and the 
 old patriots. This laudable and beneficial policy re- 
 dounded likewise to his own immediate advantage. 
 By strengthening the power of the committees, he 
 prepared the way for his own ; by defending the pa- 
 triots of the same date and energy as himself, he for- 
 tified his own position, and prevented victims from 
 falling at his side ; he placed far beneath himself those 
 of Mhom he became the jtrotector ; finally, he rendered 
 himself, even by his severity, adored by the Jacobins, 
 and secured a high rej)utation for sagacity. In this 
 Robespierre was actuated by no other ambition than 
 such as had moved all tlic revolutionary leaders, who 
 had hitherto attempted to arrest tlie revohiticm at the 
 j)oint whereat tliey tliemselves stopped short ; and 
 tins policy, wliich had consigned them to such odium, 
 failed to subject him to tlie like vicissitude, because 
 the revolution was approaching the term of its dangers 
 and excesses. 
 
 The incarcerated deputies had been voted under 
 impeaclnnent immediately after the death of IVIarat, 
 and their trial was in preparation. Frequent and
 
 310 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 sharp clamours began to lie raised at this time that 
 the heads of tlie remaining Bourbons should be made 
 to fall, though those heads belonged to two females, 
 the one the widow, the oilier the sister, of the lute 
 monarch, and to the Duke of Orleans, so remarkable 
 for fidelity to the revolution, and at present a prisoner 
 in the jail of jMarseilles as the reward of his services. 
 
 A festival in celebration of tlie acceptance of the 
 constitution had been ordered. All the primary as- 
 semblies were to send deputies einiuiwered to express 
 their sentiments, and to nuet toi^etlier on the field of 
 tlie federation in a solemn gathering. Tlie period was 
 no longer fixed for the 14th July, but for the 10th 
 August, since the capture of tlie Tuileries had pro- 
 duced the republic, whilst that of the Bastille, leavmg 
 the monarchy in subsistence, had merely abolished 
 feudalism. Thus the republicans and constitutional 
 royalists were distinguished in the fact tliat the first 
 celebrated the 10th August, aud the latter the 14tli 
 July. 
 
 The cause of federalism was ra])idly on the wane, 
 and the acceptance of the constitution general. Bor- 
 deaux still preserved an attitude of reserve, ]>erform- 
 irig no decisive act of submission or hostility, but 
 accepting the constitution. Lyons continued the pro- 
 ceedings appealed to the revolutionary tribimal ; but, 
 rebellious on that point alone, it succumbed as to 
 others, and likewise adhered fo the constitution. ISIar- 
 .seilles alone refused its concurrence. But its petty 
 army, previously separated from that of Languedoc, 
 was driven at the end of July from Avignon, and 
 compelled to re-cross the Durance. Thus federalism 
 was vanquished, and the constitution triumphant. 
 But the danger was growing greater on the frontiers ; 
 alike in ^"endoe, on the Rhine, and in the north, it 
 was becoming more than ever imminent. New vic- 
 tories indemnified the Vendeans for their check before 
 Xantes, and ]\Iayence and .Valenciennes vrere most 
 closely pressed by the enemy. 
 
 \Ve intermitted our recital of military events, as 
 the Vendeans, repulsed from Xantes, were returning 
 to their own districts, and we took leave of Biron as 
 he was entering xVngers, after the deliverance of Xantes, 
 and purposing to form a coiubiiied plan of operations 
 with General Canclaux. During that interval, Wes- 
 termann had reached Xiort with the Germanic legion, 
 and obtained permission from Biron to advance into 
 the interior of the country. This was the same Wes- 
 termaim, the Alsatian, who had distinguished himself 
 on the 10th August, and decided the success of that 
 day ; who had afterwards served with reputation under 
 l^umom'iez, joining in the ties wliich subsisted between 
 tliat general and Danton ; and was finally denounced 
 by Marat, whom he had caned, it was said, for divers 
 abusive expressions. lie was of the number of those 
 patriots whose great services were acknowledged, 
 but against whom reproaches began to be urged, on 
 account of dissipated habits in the course of the revo- 
 lution, and a feeling of antipathy to bo engendered, 
 because they exacted discipline in the armies and 
 acquirements in the officers, and hesitated to exclude 
 every officer who happened to be noble, or stigmatise 
 as a traitor every general unfortunate enough to be 
 defeated. Westermann had collected a legion called 
 Germanic, consisting of 4000 or 5000 men, including 
 infantry, cavalry, and artillery. At the head of this 
 small army, of which he had rendered himself tho- 
 roughly master, and wherein he maintained an exact 
 discijiline, he had displayed a most notal)le prowess, 
 and executed many brilliant exploits. When trans- 
 ferred into La A'endile, he had subjected it to a fresh 
 organisation, and expelled the poltroons, who had fur- 
 nished matter of denunciation against him. He tes- 
 tified an undisguised contempt for those chsorderly 
 battalions wliicli "pillaged and ravaged the country ; 
 and recorded the same sentiments as Biron, for Avhich 
 he was ranked with him amongst the military aris- 
 tocrats. The minister of war, Bouchotte, had, as we 
 
 have before remarked, distributed his Jacobin and 
 Cordelier agents throughout La Vendee. These men 
 professed open rivalry with the representatives and 
 the generals, upholding all excesses and spohations 
 under the title of military requisitions, and insubor- 
 dination, under pretext of defending the soldier against 
 the tj'ranny of his officers. The chief clerk in the war 
 department under Bouchotte was Vincent, a yoiuig 
 frantic Cordelier, one of the most dangerous and tur- 
 bulent spirits of the era. This person had gained 
 complete sway over the mind of Bouchotte, disposed 
 of all appointments, and assailed the generals with 
 an effrontery and rigour truly surprising. Ronsin, 
 the same comptroller who had been commissioned to 
 Dumouriez when his contracts in Belgium were can- 
 celled, lieing in great esteem with Bouchotte and his 
 minion Vincent, was the chief of their agents in La 
 Vendee, under the appellation of assistant-minister. 
 Beneath him were i\Iomoro, a printer, Grammont, a 
 comedian, and several others, who acted in the same 
 spirit and Avith the like violence. 
 
 Westermann, previously on indifferent terms with 
 these parties, came to an open rupture with them by 
 an act of promptitude and vigour. One Rossignol, 
 formerly a journeyman jeweller, who had gained no- 
 toriety on the 20th June and the 10th August, and 
 who commanded one of the battalions of the Orleans 
 muster, was in the list of those new officers favoured 
 by the Cordelier minister. Carousing one day with 
 some of Westermann's troops, he told them that sol- 
 diers ought not to be the slaves of officers, that Biron 
 was ac/-(/«?i'a?i<* and a traitor, and that the inhabitants 
 ought to be turned out of their houses to accom- 
 modate the troops. Westermann caused him to be 
 arrested and delivered over to the military triliunals : 
 Ronsin forthwith demanded his release, and forwarded 
 to I'aris a denunciation against Westermann. 
 
 Westermann, disregarding the maledictions of the 
 Cordelier emissaries, marched forward with his legion, 
 designing to penetrate into tlie very heart of the 
 country. Starting from the side opposite the Loire, 
 that is to say, from the south of the theatre of the 
 war, he first of all seized upon Parthenay, and next 
 entered AmaiUou, setting fire to this latter town in re- 
 prisal of enormities on the part of il. de Leseure. That 
 Vendean chief, on entering Parthenay, had treated 
 with great severity the inhabitants, who were suspected 
 of revolutionary tendencies. Westermann drove out 
 all the inhabitants of Amaillou, and sent them to Par- 
 thenay ]iy way of indemnity ; he then burnt the man- 
 sion of Ciisson, belonging to Leseure, and every where 
 spread terror by the rapidity of his march and the 
 exaggerated reports of his military executions. Wes- 
 termann was not of a cruel disposition, yet he com- 
 menced those disastrous reprisals which desc^ated 
 neutral districts, always accused by each jiarty of 
 having favoured its adversaries. All fled before him 
 to Chatillon, where the families of the Vendean chiefs 
 and the remnants of their armies were assembled. 
 Wesferiiiann, not fearing to risk himself in the centre 
 of the insurgent country, penetrated to Chatillon on 
 the 3d July, driving precipitately from its protection 
 the supreme council and the staff, which were there 
 located as in their capitrJ. The fame of this daring 
 exploit was propagated far and wide ; but the position 
 of ^^'esternlann was full of hazard. The ^'endean 
 chiefs liad faUen back, rung the tocsin throughout the 
 land, assembled a considerable army, and made dispo- 
 sitions to surprise him on the side he least expected an 
 attack. He had planted a post upon an eminence out 
 of Chatillon, which commanded all the environs. The 
 \'en(lcans, creeping stealthily forward, according to 
 their usual tactics, suddenly surrounded this post, and 
 coinineiiced an assault on all sides. AVestermann, 
 apprised of the attack somewhat tarddy, hastened to 
 
 * [Meaning a. hilc member of the extinguished privilcgeO 
 cLisses.!
 
 HISTORY OF THE FliENCH HE VOLUTION. 
 
 311 
 
 support the position, but the detachments lie sent out 
 were repulsed and thi'own back upon Chatillon. A 
 jianic then seized upon the republican troops, and they 
 abandoned the ])lace in disorder. Westermann him- 
 self, after perforniiiii? prodigies of valour, was borne 
 away in the flight, and obliged to save himself in all 
 haste, leaving behind him a great niuiiber of men dead 
 and prisoners. This clieck caused as much despon- 
 dency in the public mind, as the early temerity and 
 success of the expedition had given rise to presimip- 
 tion and sangviine ex])ectations. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing at Cliatillon, 
 Biron had agreed upon a plan of operations wilii 
 Candaux. They Avere both to descend as far as 
 Nantes, sweep the left bank of the Loire, diverge t(j- 
 Avards Machecoul, efiect a junction with Boulard, who 
 was to advance from Sables ; and, after liaving thus 
 separated the Vendeans from the sea, inarch into 
 Upper Vendee to subdue the whole country. The re- 
 presentatives protested against this plan ; they alleged 
 that in order to penetrate into the country, the generals 
 ought to start from the points they then occupied, 
 push forward to the bridges of Cc, with the troops as- 
 sembled at Angers, and support their movement by a 
 parallel column to advance from Niort. Biron, find- 
 ing his views thus thwarted, gave in his resignation. 
 But, at that precise moment, the discomfiture of Cha- 
 tillon was learnt, and tiie entire disaster charged upon 
 Biron. He v/as upbraided with hitving left Nantes 
 to incur the hazard of a siege, and with not having 
 seconded Westermann. Upon the denmiciation of 
 Bonsin and his comrades, he was ordered to the bar 
 of the convention. W^estermann was put under accu- 
 sation also, and liossiguol immediately liberated. Such 
 vras the fate of the generals in La Vendee amongst 
 the Jacobin emissaries. 
 
 General Labaroliere succeeded to the command of 
 the troops left at Angers by Biron, and prepared to 
 advance into the com^try by the bridges of Co, accord- 
 ing to the views of the representatives. After fixing 
 1-400 men at Saumur and 1500 at the bridges of Ce, 
 he pushed on to Brissac, where he stationed a post to 
 secui-e his comnmnications. His undisciplined array 
 committed the most frightful ravages in a country 
 devoted to the republic. On the loth July, it was 
 attacked in the camp of lline by 20,000 Vendeans. 
 The advanced guard, comx:)osed of regular ti'oops, re- 
 sisted with fortitude. The main body, however, was 
 on the verge of flight, when the Vendeans, forestall- 
 ing it in tliat purpose, themselves retreated in great 
 disorder. The new battalions thereupon exhibited 
 some degree of ardour ; and, in order to encourage 
 them, they were rewarded with praises which the 
 advanced guard alone had merited. On the 17 th, 
 the army jiroceeded to the vicinity of Vihiers ; and a 
 fresh attack, received and sustained witli the same 
 vigour by the advanced guard, was again repelled. 
 In the course of the day Vihiers itself was occupied. 
 Several of the general officers entertaining the opuiion 
 that the battalions of Orleans were too indifferently 
 organised to keep the field, and that with such an 
 army it was inipossil)le to remain amidst a hostile 
 country, strongly counselled a retreat. JjabaroUere 
 decided that it was expedient to remain at Vihiers, 
 and act on the defensive if attacked. On the 18th, 
 an hour after mid-day, the Vendeans made their aj;- 
 jjearance ; the republican advanced guard displayed 
 its usual gallantry, but the rest of the army shrunk 
 at sight of the enemy, and re(ft)iled in spite of all the 
 efforts of the generals. The Parisian battalions, more 
 disposed to shout " treachery" than to fight, retreat^'d 
 in the utmost disorder. The confusion became gene- 
 ral. Santerre, who had dashed into the fray with 
 the greatest intrejiidity, narrowly escaped being taken 
 prisoner. The representative Bourbotte was expc/sed 
 to similar danger ; and the army fled so swiftly that 
 in a few hours it had gained Saumur. The division 
 of Niort, which was pr';paring to move forward, stopped 
 
 short, and on the 20th it was decided tliat it should 
 await the re-brganisation of the colunm of Saumur. 
 As some one was to be made answerable for tlie de- 
 feat, llonsin and his agents denounced the head of the 
 staff, Berth ier, and General Menou, who both passed 
 for aristocrats, because they reconunended the enforce- 
 ment of discipline. Berthier and Alenou were forth- 
 •wUh ordered to Paris, as had previously been Birou 
 and AVestermann. 
 
 The fortime of this war, up to the present period, 
 therefore, had thus ruled. The Vendeans, suddenly 
 rising in April and May, had talien Thouars, Loudui'i, 
 Done, and Saunuir, favoured by the wretched quality 
 of the troops oj)posed to them, ■who were nearly all 
 raw recruits. Pouring down as far as Nantes in June, 
 they had been repulsed from that town by Canclaux, 
 and from Sables by Boulard, two generals who pos- 
 sessed the art of establishing order and discipline 
 amongst their soldiers. Westermami, impetuous and 
 valiant, and having some good troo]is under his com- 
 mand, had penetrated even to Chatillon towards the 
 close of June ; but, betrayed Ijy the inhabitants and 
 siu-prised by the insiu-gents, he liad sustahied a signal 
 defeat. Lastly, the eolunni of Tours, designing to 
 advance into the comitryin conjunction v/ith the bat- 
 talions of Orleans, had experiericed the fate usual to 
 disorganised armies. At the end of July, therefore, 
 the Vendeans were victorious throughout the wliole 
 extent of their territory. As to the brave and unfor- 
 tunate Biron, accused of not being at Nantes when he 
 was visiting Lower Vendee, and of not being witli 
 Westermann whilst he was settling a plan of campaign 
 with Canclaux, thwarted and interrupted in all his 
 operations, he liad been removed from the army with- 
 out enjoying any opportunity of signalising himself, 
 his whole sojourn with it having been cue continued 
 persecution. Canclaux still remained at Nantes, hut 
 the brave Boulard A\'as no longer in command at Sables, 
 and the two battalions of the Gironde had recently 
 withdi-awn. The description of La Vendee in July 
 may consequently be thus smnmed up : — total dis- 
 comfiture of all tlje columns in the upper coimtiy ; 
 complaints and denunciations of the ministerial agents 
 against the generals as alleged aristocrats, and recri- 
 minations of the generals against the disoi-ganisers 
 commissioned by the minister and the Jacobins. 
 
 Towards the east and the north, the sieges of Sfaj-- 
 enee and Valenciennes were making alarming progress. 
 
 Mayence, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, on 
 the French side, and opiwsite the mouth of the Maine, 
 forms a large semicircle, whereof the Rhine may be 
 deemed the cord. A considerable suburb, that of 
 Cassel, birilt on the other bank, comumnicates with 
 the place by a bridge of boats. The islet of Petersau, 
 situated below Mayence, elonp:ates upwards, its ex- 
 treme point projecting sufficiently far to be within gim- 
 shot of the bridge of boats, and to take the defences of 
 the fortress in fiank. On the side of the riv6r, Ma}-- 
 ence is ])rotected only by a wall of brick, but on the 
 land side it is fortified most elaborately. Starting 
 from tlie shore, opposite the point of Petersau, it is 
 defendeil by an enclosiu'e and a moat, into which liows 
 the rivulet of Zahlbach on its course to the Rhine. At 
 the extremity of this moat, the fort of Hauptstein 
 sweeps its length, coml)ining the inoteclion of its fire 
 to that of the -water. Pryeeeding from this jxiint, the 
 wall continues and rejoins the upper course of the 
 Rhine, but tiie moat intermits, anil is rej)laced by a 
 second enclosure ])arallel to tlie first. Thus, on this 
 side, two rows of avails require a double siege. The 
 citadel, connected with the d(iul)le enclosure, serves 
 materially to augment its strength. 
 
 Such was Mayence in 1793, even before all its for- 
 tifications had been completed. The garrison amounted 
 to 20,000 men, because General Schaal, wlio was 
 directed to retire with a division, had been thrown 
 back into the tovi'n, after unsuccessfidly attempting 
 to join Custine's army. Tiie magazines of victual
 
 312 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 were sadly disproportioned to so large a garrison. In 
 the unoertaintj' that had prevailed whether ^Mayence 
 was to be retained or not, little alacrity had been ma- 
 nifested in provisioning it. Custine had eventually 
 issued his orders to that efFect. The Jews had conie 
 forward, but proposed terms of characteristic astute- 
 ness ; they demanded that all the convoys intercejited 
 on the route by the enemy should be paid for. Kew- 
 bel and ^lerlin refused this ofter, apprehensive that 
 the Israelites would themselves contrive to rob the 
 convoys. The granaries, notwithstanding, were well 
 filled with com ; but it was foreseen tliat if the mills 
 planted on the river were destroyed, it would be im- 
 possible to grind it. Animal food was in scanty store, 
 and the forage especially was quite insufficient for the 
 3000 horses of the garrison. The artillery was com- 
 posed of one hundred and thirty pieces of Ijronze, and 
 sixty of iron, which had been found in the place, and 
 were extremely defective ; the French had brouglit 
 eighty in an efficient state. Tliere was consequently 
 an ample supply of guns to mount the ramparts, but 
 powder was in detioient quantity. The scientific and 
 iutrepid Meunier, who had executed the works at Cher- 
 bourg, was charged with the defence of Cassel and the 
 posts on the right bank ; Doyre directed the operations 
 in the body of the place ; Autert-Dubayet and Klel)er 
 commanded the troops ; the representatives Rewbel 
 and Merlin encouraged the garrison by their presence. 
 The troops were encamped in the interval between the 
 two enclosures, and occupied at a distance advanced 
 posts. They were animated with the best spirit, re- 
 posing great confidence in the strength of the place, 
 in the ability of their leaders, and in their own powers. 
 Moreover, they were deeply sensible that to them was 
 intrusted the defence of a most important point for 
 the safety of France. 
 
 General Schoenfeld, encamped on the right bank, 
 encompassed Cassel with 10,000 Hessians. The Aus- 
 trians and Prussians conjoined formed the grand at- 
 tack on Maj'ence. The Austrians occupied the right 
 of the besieging force. In front of tlie double enclosure, 
 the Prussians comjwsed the centrp at Marienbourg, 
 where the head-quarters of the King of Prussia were 
 fixed. The left, likewise composed of Prussians, en- 
 camped in front of the fort Ilauptstein and the moat 
 iniuidated by the waters from the rivulet of Zahlbacii. 
 The besieging arm}^ scarcely amounted to 50,000 men. 
 The aged Kalkreuth held the chief direction. Bruns- 
 wick commanded a corps of observation on the side of 
 the Vosges, where he acted in concert with Wurmser 
 to protect the main operations. Proving deficient in 
 heavy besieging artillery, a negotiation was opened 
 with the states of Holland, who again denuded their 
 arsenals to aid the progress of their most formidable 
 neighbours. 
 
 The investment began in April. Whilst awaiting 
 the convoys of artillery, the ofit'usive fell to the garri- 
 son, which omitted no opportunity of making most 
 vigorous sallies. On the llth April, a few days after 
 the investment, the French generals resolved to at- 
 tempt a surprise upon Schoenfeld and his Hessians, 
 who were too widely extended on the right bank. Ac- 
 cortlingly, during the night, they left Cassel in three 
 columns. Meunier marched straight forward on 
 Ilocheim ; the two others descended the river towards 
 Biberich ; but a musket suddenly discharged in the 
 column of General Schaal threw the ranks into con- 
 fusion. The troops, still new in war, had not yet ac- 
 quired that firmness they soon after attained under 
 their able leaders. It was found necessary to retire. 
 Kleber protected the retreat with his column in a 
 manner sufficient to impose respect. This sally 
 availed the besieged forty oxen and cows, which were 
 salted. 
 
 On the 16th, the enemy attempted to carry the post 
 of Weissenan. which, placed near the Rhine and to 
 the right of his attack, greatly incommoded him. The 
 French, despite the conflagration of the village, in- 
 
 trenched themselves in a cemetery ; the representative 
 i\Ierlin vaulted into the midst of them, and by an 
 admirable display of cool intrepidity they preserved 
 the post. 
 
 On the 26th the Prussians dispatched a pretended 
 envoy, who stated he had been sent by the general of 
 the army of the Rhine to advise the garrison to sur- 
 render. Generals, representatives, soldiers, already 
 attached to the place, and convinced they were render- 
 ing signal service by detaining the army of the Rhine 
 on the frontier, all indignantly rejected the suggestion. 
 On tlie 3d May the King of Prussia determined to 
 take a post on the riglit bank, near Cassel, that of 
 Kosteim. Meunier superintended the defence in per- 
 son. The assault, attempted on the 3d May with for- 
 midable obstinacy, and renewed on the 8th, was finally 
 repelled with considerable loss to the besiegers. Meu- 
 nier, on his part, essayed an attack on the islets situ 
 ated at the mouth of the Elaine. He took them, then 
 lost them, and in each instance displayed an exemplary 
 valour. 
 
 On the 30th May, the French executed a general 
 sally on ^Marienbourg, which King Frederick William 
 had selected as his station. Favoured by the darkness, 
 6000 men passed through tlie hostile lines, seized upon 
 the intrenclnnents, and penetrated even to tlie royal 
 quarters. However, the alarm being given, they had 
 shortly the whole Prussian army upon their hands, 
 and they retreated, leaving a considerable number of 
 their comrades in the dust. The following day, the 
 King of Prussia, full of wratli at the insult, opened a 
 tremendous fire on the town. That same day, ^Meunier 
 made a fresh attempt on one of the isles of the Maine. 
 Wounded in the knee, he breathed his last, less as a 
 consequence of his wound tlian of the irritation he 
 suffered in being obliged to quit the operations of the 
 defence. The whole garrison assisted at his obsequies ; 
 the King of Prussia caused the fire to be suspended 
 whilst the last honours were rendering to tliis hero, 
 and saluted his interment by a salvo of artillery. The 
 body was deposited at the angle of the bastion of Cas- 
 sel, which he had himself erected. 
 
 In the mean time, the heavy convoys arrived from 
 Holland, and the serious business of the siege com- 
 menced. A Prussian officer tendered counsel to the 
 effect, that the islet of Petersau, the extremity of 
 which projected between Cassel and Mayence, should 
 be taken possession of, batteries thereon erected, the 
 bridge of boats and the mills destroyed, and Cassel 
 assaulted, so soon as it was isolated and deprived of 
 aid from the fortress. Thereafter he proposed to ad- 
 vance to the moat through which the Zahlbach flowed, 
 cross it under protection of the batteries of Petersau, 
 which would enfilade the moat, and attempt an assault 
 upon that side, which was defended by only one en- 
 closure. This project was daring and hazardous, since 
 it involved the necessity of disembarking at Petersau, 
 and subsequently crossini; a moat filled with water 
 and swept by the fire of Hauptstein ; but the results 
 it promised would be of speedy realisation if success- 
 ful. It was deemed expedient, however, to go more 
 cautiously to work ; to open a trench on the side of 
 the double enclosure, and in front of the citadel, even 
 under the penalty of making a double siege. 
 
 On the 16th June, a first parallel was traced, eight 
 hundred ])aces from the first wall. Tlie besieged 
 tlirew.the works into disorder, and it was found neces- 
 sary to abandon them. On the 18th, a fresh parallel 
 was traced at a much greater distance, that is to say, 
 at fifteen hundred paces, which cautious interval pro- 
 voked sundry sneers on the part of those who had 
 supported the bolder scheme by the isle of Petersau. 
 Between the 24th and the 25th, a further approach 
 was made ; the besiegers established themselves a( 
 eight hundred paces, and erected batteries. The be 
 sieged again molested the works and spiked the guns 
 but they were ultimately repulsed, and overwhelmed 
 by an exterminating fire. On the 28th and 29th, two
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 313 
 
 hundred pieces were brought to bear upon the place, 
 and covered it Avitli projectiles of all sorts. Floating 
 batteries, constructed upon the Rhine, bombarded the 
 interior of the town on its most unprotected quarter, 
 and caused considerable damage. 
 
 Nevertheless, the last parallel was not yet opened, 
 the outer enclosure was not yet scaled, and the gar- 
 rison, full of undiminished ardour, gave not a thought 
 towards surrender. To get rid of the floating batteries, 
 some hardy Frenchmen swam into the stream, and 
 cut the cables of the enemy's boats. In presence of 
 both armies, these men were seen hauling as they 
 swam a large boat, filled with eighty soldiers, who were 
 all made prisoners. 
 
 But deplorable distress began to prevail. The mills 
 had been burnt, and in order to grind the corn it was 
 necessary to employ hand-mills. The workmen soon re- 
 fused to labour at them, because the enemy, advertised 
 of the fact, took care to pour a constant shower of shells 
 on the spot where they were placed. Moreover, the 
 corn was almost entirely exhausted ; for some time, the 
 only animal food to be obtained had been the flesh of 
 horses. The common soldiers devoured rats, and went 
 on the banks of the Rhine to hook up any dead horses 
 the river might bear past. Such food proved fatal to 
 many amongst them ; it became indispensable to issue 
 a prohibition against its use, and even to plant guards 
 on the shore of the river to prevent them searching 
 for it. A cat was worth six francs ; the flesh of a dead 
 horse forty-five sous the pound. The officers fared 
 no better than the soldiers, and Aubert-Dubayet, re- 
 galing his staff" at dinner, set before its members, as 
 the complement of viands, a cat flanked by twelve 
 mice. 
 
 What was still more afflictive to this unfortunate 
 garrison, was the total deprivation of intelligence. 
 The communications were so efl^ectually intercepted, 
 that for three montlis it was kept in absolute ignorance 
 of what was passing in France. It had endeavoured 
 to make known its distress, first by a lady who was 
 about to travel in Switzerland, next by a priest who 
 had taken the road to the Low Countries, and lastlj', 
 by a spy who was to traverse the liostile camp. But 
 all of these dispatches had miscarried. Conceiving 
 that the plan of transmitting intelligence from the 
 Upper Rhine by means of bottles tlirown into the river 
 might probably be adopted, the besieged extended nets 
 across the stream. They assiduously drew them every 
 day, but never found any thing to relieve their anxiety. 
 The Prussians, who had practised every variety of 
 stratagem, caused false IMoniteurs to be prhited at 
 Frankfort, importing that Dumouriez had overturned 
 the convention, and that Louis XVU. was on the 
 throne with a regency. Tlie Gemian soldiers on tiie 
 advanced posts handed these false Moniteurs to the 
 soldiers of the garrison, and their perusal occasioned 
 the greatest disquietude, adding to the sufferings 
 already in endurance the dreadful apprehension of 
 their possibly defending a ruined cause. Neverthe- 
 less, they were content to wait, saying to each other, 
 " The army of the Rhine will soon arrive." Some- 
 times their liopes were more eager, and they said, 
 " At last, it is here." One njght they heard a brisk 
 cannonade at a consideral)le distance. Tliey started 
 joyfully to their feet, grasped their arms, and prepared 
 to march towards the Fi'ench cannon, and place the 
 enemy between two fires. Delusive expectation ! The 
 sound died away, and no liberating army appeared. 
 At length, tlie misery had reached so insupportable 
 an extremity, that 2000 inhabitants demanded leave 
 to quit the town. Aubert-JJubayct granted their re- 
 quest; but they were not received by the besiegers, 
 and, remaining between two fires, many cruelly pe- 
 rished beneath the walls. In the morning, tlie soldiers 
 were seen carrying wounded children in their cloaks. 
 
 During all this period, the amiy of the Rhine and 
 Aloselle moved not a step in advance. Custine liad 
 commanded it until tlie month of June. Still in the 
 
 deep dejection of his retreat, he had continued in a state 
 of iiTesolution during the entire months of April and 
 May. He alleged that he was not sufficiently strong ; 
 that he needed a powerful body of cavalry to cope 
 with that of the enemy in the plains of the Palatinate ; 
 that he had no provender to feed his horses ; that he 
 must wait \mtil the rye was sufficiently advanced to 
 convert it into fi)rage, and that he would then march 
 to the relief of Mayence.* Beauharnais, his successor, 
 hesitating with tlie like infirmity of purpose, allowed 
 the opportunity of saving the place to escape. The 
 line of the Vosges, as we know, skirts the Rhine, and 
 terminates not far from Mayence. By occupying the 
 two flanks of the chain and its principal passes, an 
 army possesses a great advantage, because it can be 
 concehtrated either wholly on one side or wholly on 
 the other, and tlius enabled to overwhehn an enemy 
 by its united masses. Such was the position of the 
 French. The army of the Rhine occupied the eastern 
 flank, and that of the Moselle the western. Brunswick 
 and Wurmser were scattered, at the termination of 
 the chain, along a very extensive cordon. In posses- 
 sion of the passes, the two French armies might have 
 united upon one or other of the two flanks, overpowered 
 either Brunswick or Wurmser, taken the besiegers in 
 the rear, and saved Mayence. Beauharnais, brave but 
 mienterprising, merely executed some imcertain move- 
 ments, and afforded no relief to the garrison. 
 
 The representatives and generals immured in May- 
 ence, reflecting upon the situation of affairs, considered 
 that they were by no means called upon to drive things 
 to the very last extremity ; that if they waited eight 
 days longer, they would be in complete destitution, and 
 must surrender as prisoners of war ; but that, on the 
 other hand, by capitulating, they would obtain fi-ee 
 egress with the honours of war, and preserve 20,000 
 men, become under Kleber and Dubayet the best 
 soldiers of the republic ; for wliich sufficient reasons 
 they came to the conclusion that the town ought to 
 be surrendered. Doubtless Beauharnais might in a 
 few days advance to its relief, but after liaving waited 
 so long in vain, they were justified in abandoning all 
 hope of such aid, and the motives inducing them to 
 surrender were potential. The Kmg of Prussia was 
 compliant as to conditions ; he allowed the garrison to 
 march out with arms and baggage, and imposed but 
 one stipulation, namely, that it should not serve for 
 one year against the allies. But there were sufficient 
 enemies in tlie interior to beneficially occupy those 
 admirable soldiers, subsequentlj' known as the Maij- 
 encers. They were so attached to their post, that they 
 hesitated to obey their generals when it became neces- 
 sary to move out of the town — a singular instance of 
 military spirit fixing doggedly on a particular point, 
 and of attachment formed for a jilace solely recom- 
 mended by a liazardous defence of some months ! 
 However, the garrison yielded upon remonstrance ; 
 and whilst it defiled past, the King of I'russia, seized 
 with admiration for its valour, called by their names 
 those officers wlio had distinguished tliemselves during 
 the siege, and comjilinientecl them with cliivalric cour- 
 tesy. Tlie evacuation took place on tlie 25th July. 
 
 We left the Austrians blockading the fortress of 
 Conde and prosecuting tlie regular siege of Valenci- 
 ennes. These operations, carried on simultaneously 
 with those on the Rhine, were also ajiproaching their 
 termination. The Prince of Coboiu"g, at the head of 
 the corps of observation, took up a position in front 
 of Ca\sar's camp, whilst the Duke of York commanded 
 the besieging force. The attack,. first projected on 
 the citadel, was ultimately directed between the suburb 
 of Marly and the jMons gate. An ample range of 
 defences was developed on this surface, but it was less 
 guarded by the garrison, and was jireferred as being 
 more easy of apiiroacli. It w.'is determined to can- 
 nonade the works during the day, and to bombard the 
 
 * 'J'he reader may consult the report of Custine 's tviol.
 
 314 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 town during the night, the more effocrually to sjjrcad 
 desolation amongst the inhabitants, and the sooner 
 terrify them into suhmission. The phice was sum- 
 moned on the 14th June. (lener<d Ferrand and the 
 representatives Coclion and Briest retonied an answer 
 couched in terms of befitting dignity. They liad mus- 
 tered a garrison of 7000 men, and inspired the inha- 
 bitants with most favourable sentiments, a part of 
 whom they organised into artillery companies, wliich 
 rendered essential service. 
 
 Two parallels were successively opened during the 
 nights of the 14th and 19th June, and endowed with 
 formidable batteries. These caused frightful ravages 
 in the town. The inhabitants and the garrison briskly 
 responded to tlie vigour of the attack, and several 
 times destroyed t!ie works of the besiegers. The 25th 
 June, in particular, was tt^rrilic beyond example. The 
 enemy bombarded the jilace until mid-day, without any 
 rejoinder on its part ; but at that hour an awfid lire, 
 bursting from all the ramparts, swept into the trendies, 
 retorting t!ie confusion, dismay, and death, which had 
 prevailed in the town. On the 28th June, a third 
 parallel was traced, and the courage of the inhalntants 
 began to give way. A considerable part of that flou- 
 rishing to vni was already laid in ashes. The children, 
 old men, and women, had been deposited in the cellars 
 as places of security. The reduction of Conde, wiiich 
 had just been taken, by famine, still further augmented 
 the dejection of the besieged. Emissaries also had 
 been sent to agitate amongst them. Crowds began to 
 collect, demanding a capitulation. The nnmicipality 
 partook the feelings of the inhabitants, and secretly 
 acted in concert with them. Tiie reiwesentatives and 
 General Ferrand repudiated with emphatic determi- 
 nation the demands addressed to them, and with the 
 aid of tlie garrison, whose courage had warmed into 
 high exaltation, they dispersed the riotous assem- 
 blages. 
 
 Ou the 2.')th July the besiegers prepared their 
 mines and made dispositions to assault the covered 
 way. Fortunately for them, three globes of compres- 
 sion exploded at the very moment the mines of the 
 besieged were about to start and destroy their works. 
 They thereupon sprang forward in three columns, 
 cleared the palisades, and penetrated into the covered 
 way. The garrison, struck with terror, recoiled, and 
 abandoned its batteries, but General Ferrand led it 
 back to the ramparts. The artillery, which had worked 
 marvels during the whole siege, again <;au3ed tremen- 
 dous havoc amongst the besiegers, and stt)pped them 
 almost on the threshold of the fortress. On the mor- 
 row, being the 2f)th July, the Duke of York summoned 
 General Ferrand to surrender, announcing that, after 
 the lapse of that day, he would listen to no proposition, 
 but that both the inhabitants and the garrison would 
 be put to the edge of the sword. At this terrible 
 menace, the people flocked together in considerable 
 crowds : one vast multitude, in which were inter- 
 spersed men armed with pistols and daggers, sur- 
 rounded the municipality. Twelve individuals emerged 
 as representatives of all, and presented a formal re- 
 quisition to surrender. A council of war was sitting 
 amidst the tumult; none of its members could gain 
 egress, all of thein being confined until they had de- 
 cided upon the surrender. Two practicable breaches, 
 hostile inhabitants, and a vigorous assailant, rendered 
 further resistance fruitless. The town was yielded up 
 on the 28th Jidy. Tlia garrison issued forth with the 
 honours of war, was constrained to lay down its arms, 
 but had permission to re-enter France, under the sole 
 condition of not serving for a year against the allies. 
 Thus otlier 7000 Ijrave soldiers were provided to do 
 eSicient service against tlie enemies of the interior. 
 Valenciennes liad sustained a bombardment of forty- 
 one days, and 84,000 balls, 20,000 shells, and 48,000 
 bombs had been thrown into the town. The general 
 and the garrison had performed all that duty de- 
 manded, and the artillery had reaped a vast renown. 
 
 At this instant, the war of federalism was reduced 
 to its two grand calamities — the revolt of Lyons on 
 the one hand, and that of Idarseilles and Toulon on 
 the other. 
 
 Lyons, indeed, consented to acknowledge the con- 
 vention, but refused to obey two decrees, the one re- 
 moving to Paris the proceedings commenced against 
 the ]iatriots, the other superseding the authorities, 
 and enjoiiung the formation of a new provisional mu- 
 nici]iality. The secret royalists in Lyons affrighted 
 imaginations by depicturing the return of the old 
 Mountaineer municipality, and, by instilling alarm at 
 doubtful and uncertain dangers, drew the city into all 
 the real and inevitable hazards of an open insurrec- 
 tion. On the 15th Jidy, the Lyonnese put the two 
 ])atriots Chalier and Kiard to death, and from that 
 moment they were proclaimed in a state of rebellion. 
 The tAvo Girondists, Chasset and Biroteau, perceiving 
 royalism rearing its head, withdrew from the scene. 
 The president of the popular commission, who was- 
 devoted to the emigrants, having, however, been dis- 
 placed, the manifestations abated somewhat of their 
 hostility. The constitution was recognised, and offers 
 of submission tendered, but always ou condition of not 
 executing the two obnoxious decrees. In the interim, 
 the leaders were indefatigable in founding cannon and 
 forming magazines of all warlike stores ; and it seemed 
 but too certain that the difScidties could be termi- 
 nated only by an appeal to arms. 
 
 Marseilles was infinitely less fonnidable. Its bat- 
 talions, driven beyond the Durance by Cartaux, were 
 incapable of sustaining a long resistance ; but it had 
 communicated its spirit of rev(dt to the city of Tou- 
 lon, hitherto so emphatically republican. This port, 
 one of the first in the world, and incomparably the 
 first in the IMediterranean, excited the cupidity of the 
 English, who were cruising before its docks. Emis- 
 saries of England were furtively at intrigue within it, 
 and laying the train for an infamous perfidy. The sec- 
 'tions had assembled on the 13th July, and, proceeding 
 like all those of the south, had superseded the muni- 
 cipality and closed the Jacobin Club. Authority, now 
 transferred to the hands of the federalists, might 
 readily pass, as it moved successively from faction to 
 fiction, into those of the emigrants and the English. 
 The army of Nice, in its existing state of weakness, 
 was utterly unable to jirevent so direfid a calamity. 
 The worst antieipati(Mis, therefore, became feasible : 
 that murky tempest, long piled upon the whole hori- 
 zon of the south, had eventually settled over two pro- 
 minent points, Lyons and Toulon. 
 
 During the last two months, the situation of France 
 had been more clearly displayed, and the danger, less 
 general and astounding, was more distinctly ascer- 
 tained, more decisivcl.v*critical. In the west was tlie 
 corroding sore of La Vendee; at Marseilles an obsti- 
 nate sedition ; at Toidon an impending treason ; at 
 Lyons an open resistance and a siege. On the Rhine 
 and in the north was the loss of two bulwarks, which 
 had so long stopped the coalition, and prevented the 
 enemy from marching on the capital. In September 
 1792,\vhen the Trussians were advancing on Paris, 
 and had taken Longwy and Verdun; in April 1793, 
 after the retreat from Belgium, the defeat of Neer- 
 winden, the defection of Dumouriez, and the first 
 rising of La Vendee; on the 31st May 1793, after the 
 general insuri-ection of the departments, the invasion 
 of Roussillon by the Spaniards, and the loss of the 
 camp of Famars — at these three periods the dangers 
 had been truly alarming, doubtless, but never perhaps 
 so real as at this fourth and last crisis of the revolu- 
 tion. France was less raw and untutored in war than 
 in Sejjtembcr 1792, less bewildered with the dread of 
 treaeliery than in Aprd 1793, and less embarrassed 
 with insurrections than on the 31st ?day and the 2d 
 June 1793 ; but if it were more inured to war and 
 better obeyed, it was invaded at once on all points — 
 on the north, the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 315 
 
 Ent ^y(i should have an imperfect conception of the 
 evils which attlicted the republic at this era, if ^vc 
 restricted our contemplation to the five or six battle- 
 fields on which human blood ^\•us so freely shed. The 
 interior offered a spectacle ef|ually deplorable. Corn 
 was still scarce and dear, 'i'he people contended at 
 the doors of the bakers to obtain a trifliuj; quantity 
 of bread. Tliey vainly disputed with the dealers to 
 induce them to accept assiiiiuits in exchansie for ob- 
 jects of the first necessity. The wretchedness of want 
 was exhibited in all its most startling colours. The 
 people complained of forcstallers, who engrossed the 
 articles of consumption, and of jobbers, who enhanced 
 their price, and threw discredit on the assignats by 
 their traffic. The government, in the same predica- 
 ment as the people, possessed as its means of existence 
 assignats alone, which it was compelled to disburse 
 in triple or fourfold amount, in purchase of supplies 
 or services, and which it dared not increase in quan- 
 tity, lest it should still further depreciate their value. 
 It was therefore a matter of equal doubt how either 
 government or people were to subsist. 
 
 The general produce, nevertheless, had not dinn- 
 nished. Although the famous night of the 4tli August* 
 had not yet pntduced all its boundless consequences, 
 France was deficient neither in corn nor in raw or 
 manufactured commodities ; but their equal and peace- 
 able distribution had become impossible from the in- 
 herent evils (jf the pajier money. The revolution 
 having, when abolishing monarch}', determined not- 
 withstanding to pay its debts ; when annulling the 
 future sale of offices, become bound to make good their 
 value ; when, in short, defenduig the new order of 
 tilings against confederated Europe, been obliged to 
 incur the charges of an universal war — it, that same 
 revolution, possessed, to sujiport all these various bur- 
 dens, the national domains taken from the clergy and 
 the emigrants. In order to bring into circulation the 
 value of those domains, it had imagined tlie assignats, 
 which formed its representation, and which, by means 
 of progi'essive sales, were intended to revert to the 
 public exchequer, and be there committed to the flames. 
 But as men began to doubt the idtmsate success of the 
 revolution and the validity of its dispositions, they 
 abstained from purchasing its domains. The assignats, 
 therefore, remained in circidation, somewhat like an 
 unaccepted bill of exchange, and fell in credit from 
 the conjoined influence of doubt and suiJcrabuudant 
 issue. 
 
 Specie always remained the sole standard of value ; 
 and it is scarcely necessar}' to say, that a suspicious 
 and unrecognised currency suffers irrejiarably in com- 
 petition witli an undoubted and incontestible medium. 
 The latter is kept close, and refused to be parted with, 
 whilst the fonner is offered in profusion, and acqiures 
 discredit by the alacrity shown in getting rid of it. 
 Such was the fate of the assignats with reference to 
 the precious metals. But the revolution, long con- 
 demned to violent expedients, could not now he checked. 
 It had put into forced cinndation the anticipated value 
 of the national domains ; it had next to attempt the 
 maintenance of that circulation hy forced means. On 
 the 11th April, des])ite the efforts of the Girondists, 
 who generously though impnuiently contended against 
 the force of this revolutionary position, the convention 
 decTeed the penalty of six years' imprisonment against 
 any person selling specie, that is to say, exchanging 
 a certain (piantity of gold or silver for a greater no- 
 minal amount of assignats. It enacted the same 
 penalty against any person stipulating different prices 
 for goods, according as the payment was to be made 
 in coin or paper. 
 
 Tliese measures were unavailing to prevent the 
 difference from becoming daily more glaring. In June, 
 a metallic franc was wortli three paper francs ; and 
 
 ♦ [TIic night in the Constitiiont A^soiiihly, wl;i'n the fciuhil 
 Bei-vices were abolished. See Cliaptor III. j). 52.] 
 
 in August, only two months afterwards, it conmianded 
 six fran(.'s in assignats. The depreciation, which w;is 
 at the rate of three to one, had therefors advanced to 
 six to one. 
 
 Under such circumstances, the dealers refiiscd to 
 vend their commodities at the same price as formerly, 
 f\)r the substantial reason, that the money offered tluni 
 in exchange was but the fifth or sixth fraction of what 
 it professed to he worth. They accordingly retained 
 witli vigilance their various stores, and resolutclj' 
 withlield them from anxious purchasers. This depre- 
 ciatio!! of value in- the assignats would have been of 
 no moment whatever, imdoubtedly, if the whole com- 
 munit}', accepting them for precisely what they were 
 worth, had taken and given them at the same stan- 
 dard. In such case, they might have performed the 
 symboUc functions in exchanges, and availed as a cir- 
 culating medium, equally well with any other descrip- 
 tion of currency ; but the fact was differently ordered. 
 Capitalists who lived on their incomes, and creditors 
 of the state who received either an annual dividend 
 or compensation for an office, were obliged to accept 
 the ])aper according to its nominal value. All debtors 
 eagerly acquitted their liabilities, and creditors, con- 
 strained to allow the factitious value, realised but the 
 fourth, the fifth, or the sixth of their outstanding ac- 
 counts. Lastly, the labouring population, from its 
 redundancy compelled to sue for employment, to toil 
 for Avhomsoever would give it, and incompetent to 
 combine in order to enforce a triple or quadruple in- 
 crease of wages in proportion to the depreciation of 
 assignats, earned but a scanty portion of what was 
 necessary to provide it with essential articles of con- 
 sumption. The capitahst, despoiled of his legitimate 
 property, was discontented and silent ; hut the people, 
 wrathful and infuriated, stigmatised as engrossers the 
 dealers who refused to sell them commodities at the 
 ordinary price, and insisted that all engrossers should 
 be sent to the guillotine. 
 
 This deplorable situation was the necessary result 
 of the creation of assignats, as the assignats themselves 
 were i^rovoked by the necessity of satisfying obliga- 
 tions imposed by old debts, the abolition of offices, and 
 the prosecution of a ruinous war ; and, from tlie same 
 inevitable tendency, it was obvious the maximum must 
 speedily result from assignats. Trifling indeed was 
 the benefit in rendering that currency /o/rer/, if the 
 trader, by enhancing his prices, might elude the obli- 
 gation to accept it. Hence it became clear, that an 
 assize of commodities must lie made imperative equally 
 with that of money. So soon as tlie law had taken 
 upon itself to declare, "this slip of jiaper is worth six 
 francs," it ought to have added, " so much merchan- 
 dise shall be sold for six francs ;" for otherwise, the 
 merchant, by upholding it at twelve, adroitly evaded 
 the compulsory exchange. 
 
 It had therefore been found indispensable, regardless 
 of the Girondists, who advanced admirable arguments 
 based upon the ordinary economy of things, to establisli 
 the maximum on corn. The severest jirivation to tlie 
 people is the want of l)rcad. The crops were not defi- 
 cient, but the farmers, unwilling either to face the 
 tumult of the markets, or to part M'ith their grain at 
 the coercive rate of assignats, kept lioth themselves 
 and tlieir stocks in seclusion. The small (|uantity of 
 ]iroduce tliat api)eared was quickly snatched up by 
 the communes, and by such of the affluent as appre- 
 hensions moved to lay in stores. The scarcit}' was 
 more sensibly felt at I'aris than in any other town of 
 France, because the providing of sn])i)lies for so im- 
 mense a city required more muhifarious labours, the 
 markets were more tmmdtuous, and the terror of file 
 farmers ]iro])oitionably greater. On the .'?d and 4tli 
 May, the convention had found it inqiossible to avoiii 
 passing a decree, whereby all farmers and corn-factors 
 were enjoined to declare the (luantities of grain in their 
 possession, to thrash out such as might he in sheaf, 
 to convey the same to the markets, and exclusively
 
 316 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 to the markets, and there dispose of it at an average 
 price, to he fixed by each connnune, regulated accord- 
 ing to the prices ranging from tlie 1st of January to 
 the 1st of ^lay. ]\Ioreover, by tliis enactment, no 
 I>erson was allowed to purchase, in satisfaction of his 
 wants, more than a month's consumption ; any who 
 shoidd buy or sell at a price exceeding the maximum, 
 or prevaricate in their declarations, were punished 
 by confiscation and a fine of from 300 to 1000 francs. 
 Domiciliary visits were ordered to ascertain the trutli, 
 and a statement of all the declarations was to be sent 
 by the numicipalities to the minister for the home 
 department, in order therefrom to construct a general 
 statistical table of the resources of France in pulse. 
 
 The commune of Paris, superadding its ordinances 
 of police to the decrees of the convention, had regu- 
 lated the mode of distribution by the bakers of their 
 bread. No individual was competent to ])resent him- 
 self for a loaf, unless provided with a certificate of good 
 conduct. Upon this certificate, which was issued bj' 
 the revolutionary committees, was prescribed the 
 . quantity of bread demandable, which allowance was 
 duly proportioned to the number of mouths in each 
 family. These regulations extended even to the man- 
 ner in which applicants were to stand at the doors of 
 the bakers' shops. A rope Avas to be attached to eacli 
 door, which every person Avas enjoined to hold in his 
 hand, so as not to lose his turn, and to avoid confusion. 
 Malevolent women, however, often cut these ropes, 
 whereupon fearful tumults ensued, rendering the in- 
 terposition of the armed force necessary to restore 
 order. • Thus do we see to what multifarious cares a 
 government is condemned, and to what vexatious 
 measures it finds itself constrained, when circum- 
 stances impose upon it the ditficidt task of providing 
 for every possible contingency, even to the minutest 
 details. But m the course of events, one measure had 
 hung in close connexion with another. Forcing the 
 circulation of assignats had led to forcing ej^changes, 
 to forcing prices, to forcing even the quantity, the 
 hour, the mode of purchases; the last fact resulted 
 from the first, and the first had been as inevitable as 
 the revolution itself. 
 
 At the same time, the high prices which had pro- 
 voked the maximum were uot confined to grain, but 
 extended to all commodities of primary importance. 
 Animal and vegetable food as well, groceries, candles, 
 fuel, liquors, articles of clothing, leather for shoes, all 
 had risen in proportion as assignats had fallen, and 
 the people grew daily more stubborn in the conviction 
 that the dealers, in refusing to accept a valueless cur- 
 rency, were detestable engrossers. It will be recol- 
 lected that in February they had pillaged the stores 
 of the grocers, according to the advice of Marat. In 
 July, they plmidered some boat-loads of soap, which 
 arrived by the Seine at Paris. The commune, indig- 
 nant at the outrage, passed severe ordinances on the 
 occasion, and Pache published the following simj)le 
 and laconic warning : — 
 
 "pache, the mayor, to his fellow -citizens. 
 
 Paris contains seven hundred thousand inhabitants. 
 The siu-face of Paris produces nothing towards feed- 
 ing, clothing, nourishing tlieni ; hence it follows that 
 Paris must derive all from the other departments and 
 from foreign countries. 
 
 If, upon the arrival of provisions and articles of 
 merchandise at Paris, the inhabitants pillage them, 
 they will cease to be sent. 
 
 Paris will then possess nothing to feed, clothe, or 
 nourish its mimerous inhabitants. 
 
 And seven hundred thousand men, destitute of every 
 thing, will turn upon and dev(jm' each other." 
 
 The ])eo])le plundered no more, but they fiercely 
 clamoured for some terrible retribution on the dealers ; 
 and we have already witnessed, in fact, how readily 
 the priest Jacques Roux stirred up the Cordeliers to 
 insist upon an article being inserted in the constitu- 
 tion against engrossers and forestallers. They in- 
 
 veighed with equal fury agamst stockjobbers, who, 
 they said, contributed to enhance prices by speculat- 
 ing in assignats, gold, silver, and foreign paper. 
 
 The popular imagination ran wild in its chimeras, 
 shadowing the obnoxious parties as horrible monsters 
 and relentless enemies, whereas in truth they were 
 but cunning trafl^ickers, profiting by a public calamity, 
 but not pi'oducing it, and assuredly without the power 
 to have produced it. The depreciation of assignats 
 hung upon a concatenation of causes : their profuse 
 issue — the insecurity of their hypothec, which would 
 utterly disappear if the revolution succumbed — their 
 compari|on with specie, which never lost its intrinsic 
 worth, and with commodities, which, always continu- 
 ing valuable, could not be obtained in exchange for a 
 debased currency. In this condition of matters, capi- 
 talists avoided keeping their funds in assignats, be- 
 cause in such a form they underwent a constant pro- 
 cess of atro])hy. Their first soUcitude had been to 
 procure bullion, but years of sad constraint had effec- 
 tually sca,red both buyers and sellers of specie. Their 
 next idea was to purchase merchandise ; but it afforded 
 a transitory investment, since it could not be kept for 
 any considerable period, and also a dangerous posses- 
 siun, inasmuch as the wrath against engrossers Avas 
 undiscriminating and furious. Consequently, their 
 eyes wandered into foreign lands in quest of securities. 
 All who held assignats eagerly sought to procure bills 
 of exchange on London, Amsterdam, IIambiu"g, Ge- 
 neva, on all the towns of Europe, in short; and to 
 obtain these foreign remittances they lavished their 
 own domestic securities, and thus greatlj'^ contributed 
 to degrade assignats by tliTowmg them superabmi- 
 dantly on the market. Some of these drafts were 
 realised out of France, and their amounts absorbed by 
 emigrants. Slagnificent furniture, the wreck of for- 
 mer liLxury, consisting of rich cabinets, mirrors, curious 
 clock-work, gilded bronzes, porcelain, pictures, rare 
 editions, &e., paid for these letters of credit, which 
 were transmuted into guineas or ducats.. But the 
 greater part of them were not attempted to be realised. 
 In anxious request amongst alarmed capitalists, who 
 had no intention of emigrating, but desired simply to 
 ensure a solid guarantee for their wealth, they almost 
 all remained in the country, and passed currently from 
 <jne shuddering money-owner to another. They thus 
 formed a peculiar floating capital, guaranteed by 
 foreigners, and became formidable competitors with 
 the liome assignats. There is reason to believe that 
 Pitt had engaged the English bankers to accept a 
 great quantity of this paper, and had even opened for 
 the purpose a considerable credit, in order to augment 
 the mass in circulation, and by such means, to acce- 
 lerate the utter discredit of the assignats. 
 
 Considerable eagerness was likewise evinced to ob- 
 tain shares in bankmg associations, which seemed 
 beyond the influence of either revolution or counter- 
 revolution, and which offered, moreover, an advanta- 
 geous investment. Those of the discount company 
 were in great demand ; but the stock of the India 
 company was sought after with especial avidity, be- 
 cause it rested, as it were, on an imseizable basis, the 
 capital being invested in ships and factories esta- 
 blished in various quarters of the globe. It was in 
 vain that a heavy duty had been imposed on trans- 
 fers ; the directors evaded the law by abohshing bonds, 
 and substituting for them a simple inscription on the 
 registers of the company, whicli was effected without 
 any formality. They thus defrauded the state of a 
 considerable revenue, for several thousands of bar- 
 gams were made every day, and all the precautions 
 taken to suppress stockjobbing were rendered futile. 
 It was hkewise in vain that, in order to lessen the 
 attraction of this stock, the profits had been subjected 
 to a tax of five per cent. ; the dividends were distri- 
 buted to the shareholders as repayment of capital, by 
 which ingenious device the directors again evaded th. 
 law. Consequently, from six hundred francs, these
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 317 
 
 shares rose to one tliousand twelve hundred, and even 
 two thousand francs. They also formed so much float- 
 ing medium opposed to the revolutionary curi'ency, 
 which contrihuted to discredit it. 
 
 Furthermore, the assignats had not only to contend 
 with all these varieties of credits, hut with certain 
 parts of the public debt, and even witli other peculiar 
 assignats. Lo;ins were stiU in subsistence that had 
 been contracted at different periods and in various 
 forms. Some went as far back as the reign of Loxiis 
 Xni. Amongst the last contracted under Louis XIV., 
 several were of separate creation. The moneyed inte- 
 rest generally preferred those which were anterior to 
 the constitutional monarchy before such as had been 
 opened for tlie wants of the revolution. All were in 
 rivalry with the assignats hypothecated on the pos- 
 sessions of the clergy and the emigrants. In fine, 
 between the assignats themselves certain distinctions 
 were drawn. Out of five thousand millions issued since 
 the first fabrication, one thousand had been redeemed 
 by sales of national domainSj leaving scarcely four 
 thousand millions in circulation, out of which there 
 might be five hundred milhons created under Louis 
 XVI., and impressed with tlie royal effigy. These last- 
 named would be more favourably considered, it was 
 imagined, in the event of a coiniter-revolution, and 
 admitted for at least a portion of their value. Accord- 
 ingly, they bore a premium of ten or fifteen per cent, 
 above the others. The republican assignats, the sole 
 resource of the government, the only currency of the 
 people, were thus infinitely depressed, competing at 
 such heavy disadvantage against bullion, merchandise, 
 foreign drafts, commercial and banking shares, various 
 state obligations, and, lastly, royal assignats. 
 
 Tlie compensation for offices, the iiayment for the 
 extensive supplies furnished to tlie state in its Avar 
 contracts, and the promptitude of debtors in redeem- 
 ing tlieir liabilities, had occasioned great accumula- 
 tions of funds in a few hands. Tlie war and the 
 brooding dread of fresh convulsions had deplorably 
 interrupted commercial operations, led to divers con- 
 siderable windings-up and liquidations, and thus fur- 
 ther augmented the mass of stagnant capital seeking 
 for safe investment. The funds thus amassed were 
 recklessly abandoned to constant stockjobbing on the 
 Parisian Exchange, being altermitely converted into 
 gold, silver, commodities, bills,- stocks, old state debts, 
 &c. Upon that busy scene, as usual, appeared those 
 adventurous spirits who cast tliemselves headlong 
 into aU schemes of hazard, speculating on the acci- 
 dents of trade, on army and other government con- 
 tracts, on the stability and good faitli of states, &c. 
 Close observers of all avenues to gain, they derived 
 profit on every successive enhancement, caused by the 
 constant depression of assignats. The debasement of 
 the assignat, in fact, first of all commenced on the 
 exchange, by quotations of its relative value to specie 
 and all the other floating securities. It afterwards 
 extended with reference to commodities, which were 
 held at advanced rates in the shops and markets. At 
 the same time, the augmentation was not so rapidly 
 developed on commodities as on the precious metals 
 or more favoured investments, because tlie markets 
 were distant from tlie exchange, and were less sensi- 
 tive ; moreover, because \he dealers could not enter 
 into concert with the promptitude of jobbers gathered 
 into a single hall. The difference, therefore, first de- 
 termined on 'Change, was not acted upon elsewhere 
 until after an interval of longer or sliorter duration ; 
 and the assignat of five francs, which had been ruled 
 on the stock-market as worth but two francs, being 
 still current outside for three francs, the speculators 
 had ample opportunity of operating to advantage. 
 Holding their funds disposable, they caught at bullicm 
 before the rise ; when it advanced in relation to assig- 
 nats, they exchanged it for the latter ; thus obtaining 
 an increased amount, before merchandise had time to 
 be affected by the enhancement, they therewith pur- 
 
 chased a larger quantity of goods, which they re-sold 
 when the proportion was re-established. Consequently 
 their trade consisted in monopolising specie and mer- 
 chandise, whilst both were rising in value with re- 
 ference to assignats. Their gain was simjily the con- 
 stant profit deducible from the enhancement of all 
 articles as to the assignat ; and it was natural that an 
 advantage so peculiarly owing to a public calamity 
 sliould be viewed with disgust. Their speculations 
 extended to variations in all sorts of securities, such 
 as foreign paper, shares in companies, &c. &c. They 
 availed themselves of all accidents capable of provok- 
 ing differences or fluctuations, such as a defeat, an im- 
 portant motion, or false intelligence. 
 
 The persons engaged in this species of traffic formed 
 a considerable class. Amongst them were foreign 
 bankers, contractors, usurers, former priests and 
 no]>les, recent revolutionary upstarts, and deputies, 
 who, for the honour of the convention, did not exceed 
 five or six, and who enjoyed the disgraceful advantage 
 of contributing to fluctuations by adroitly designed 
 motions. They lived in a course of dissipation with 
 actresses, or former nuns and countesses, who some- 
 times forsook their character of mistresses to interfere 
 in more serious affairs. The two principal deputies 
 immersed in these intrigues were Julien of Toulouse 
 and Delaunay of Angers, who cohabited, the first with 
 the Countess of Beaufort, the second with the actress 
 Descoings. It is alleged that Chabot, of dissolute 
 manners as an ex-capuchin, and often occupied on 
 financial subjects, was devoted to tliis aborhinable 
 jobbing, in concert with two brothers named Frey, 
 expelled from Moravia for their revolutionary opinions, 
 and settled at Paris in the calling of bankers. Fabre 
 d'Eglantine was likewise implicated, and even Danton 
 Avas accused, though without any overt act being as- 
 signed, of not being altogether free from the foul re- 
 proach. 
 
 The most shameless scheme of aU was that devised 
 by the Baron de Batz, a banker and astute financier, 
 in conjunction with Julien of Toulouse and Delaunay 
 01 Angers, the two deputies most decidedly bent on 
 making money. These persons formed tlie project of 
 denouncing the malversations of the India Company, 
 thereby depressing its stock, buying-in at the reduc- 
 tion, restoring the value b)' means of milder motions, 
 and thus reaping the profit of the rise. D'Espagnac, 
 that reprobate abbe Avliom we remember as Dumou- 
 riez's contractor in Belgium, who had since that period 
 obtained the general contract for waggons, and whose 
 bargain's Julien protected in the convention, was from 
 gratitude to furnish the funds for this operation. 
 Julien purposed to draw into this scheme likewise 
 Fabre, Chabot, and others, who might become useful 
 as members of different committees. 
 
 The majority of these men were attached to the 
 revolution, and were actuated certainly by no wish to 
 injure it ; but at the same time, and at all hazards, 
 they were resolute to secure money and the means of 
 connnanding enjoyments. The public was unac- 
 quainted with tlie full extent of their secret manoeu- 
 vres, but, as they were known to speculate on the dis- 
 credit of assignats, the evil by which they profited 
 was laid to their charge. Inasmuch as there were 
 several foreign bankers associated with them in the 
 same pursuits, they were styled agents of I'itt and the 
 coalition ; and here again the mysterious and dreaded 
 influence of the English minister was imagined to be 
 at work. In short, indignation was equally aroused 
 against stockjobbers and engrossers, and the condign 
 punishment of both orders of delinquents was invoked 
 with uniform vehemence and pertinacity. 
 
 Thus, whilst towards the north, the Rhine, the 
 south, and La Vendee, the enemies of France were 
 predominant, its financial resources depended on a 
 repudiated currency, whereof the security was uncer- 
 tain as the revolution itself, and which, at every acci- 
 dent, fell in value according to the extent of the danger.
 
 318 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Hence resulted this singular position : in-proportion 
 as the peril augmented, and tlie means ought to have 
 heeome greater, they on the contrary contracted ; mu- 
 nitions of war were imatteinablc by the government 
 and provisions by tlie people. It was theret'ure neces- 
 sary to create at once soldiers, armies, and aa etleetive 
 currency for the government and for the i)eople; and 
 arter all these marvels, to perform the still greater 
 miracle of ensuring victories. 
 
 CHASTER XXV. 
 
 FESTIVAL OF THK IOTH AUGUST, AND INAUGURATION 
 
 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1793. EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 MEASURES, 3IILITARY, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND FINAN- 
 CIAL, OCCASIONED BY THE IMMINENT DANGERS OF 
 THE COUNTRY. — DECREES OF VENGEANCE. 
 
 The delegates commissioned by the primary assem- 
 blies to attend the celebration of the anniversary of 
 the 10th August, and to accept the constitution in 
 behalf of all France, h.ad in the interim arrived at 
 Paris. It was determined to seize this occasion to 
 excite a movement of enthusiasm, to reconcile the 
 provinces with the cajiital, and to elicit heroic resolu- 
 tions. A brilliant reception was prepared for them. 
 The dealers were summoned into the city from all the 
 environs, with their commodities. Vast quantities of 
 provisions were accumulated, in order that no dearth 
 might mar the festivities, and the delegates enjoy the 
 spectacle of combined peace, order, and abundance. 
 Attention was (!arried to so scru]Hilous a point, tliat 
 the directors of public conveyances were ordered to 
 give them, seats, even those whicli might have been 
 iUready secured by travellers. The administration of 
 the department, which emulated that of the comnume 
 in the harsh austerity of its language and proclama- 
 tions, published an address to "the brethren" of the 
 primary assemblies, couched in these terms : — 
 
 " Here, men, assuming the mask of patriotism, will 
 si)eak to you with enthusiasm of liberty, of equality, 
 of the republic one t'uid indivisible, whilst in the re- 
 cesses of tlieir hearts they crave and pray only for the 
 re-establishment of royalty and the dismemberment 
 of their country. Such men are the rich : the rich in 
 all eras have abhorred virtue and contaminated man- 
 ners. There, you will meet depraved women, too 
 seductive in their charms, who will conspire with 
 them to beguile you into vice. Eeware — beware, above 
 all, of the former Palais-Roj'al; it is in that garden 
 you will encounter such snares. That famous garden, 
 tlie cradle of the revolution, of old the asylum of the 
 friends of liberty and equality, is at this day, in spite 
 of our active precautions, the mere common sewer of 
 society, the hauut of miscreants, the den of all consj)!- 
 rators. Shun that infected spot ; prefer, to the dan- 
 gerous spectacle of luxury and debauchery, the inspir- 
 ing scenes of industrious virtue ; visit tlie faubourgs, 
 the founders of our liberty ; enter the workshops, 
 where men, active, simple, and virtuous as yourselves, 
 and like you ready to defend tlie country, have long 
 expected you, to tighten the bands of fraternity. Come, 
 especially, into our popular societies. Let us unite, 
 let us animate our coiirage before these fresh dangers 
 of tlie country, and let us swear for the last time the 
 death and destruction of all tyrants !" 
 
 Tlie tirst care was to enti(« them to the Jacoliin 
 Club, which greeted them Avith a most cordial wel- 
 come, and offered them its hall to assemble in during 
 their stay. Tiie delegates accepte<l tlie offer; and it 
 was agreeil they should deliberate in the society itself, 
 and be inc(iri)orate<l with it whilst at Paris, lleiice it 
 occurred that the capital was merely favoured for a 
 time with four hundred Jacobins the more. The club, 
 which was accustomed to sit everj* alternate day, re- 
 solved to meet daily for the important pin-jiose of dis- 
 cussing measures of public welfare with tlie delegates 
 
 of the departments. A report was circulated that 
 some amongst these delegates were inclined towards 
 indulgence, and held instructions to demand a general 
 amnesty on the day set apart for the acceptance of the 
 constitution. In fact, certain individuals had suggested 
 this expedient as a means of saving the Girondists 
 and all others detained for political causes. But the 
 Jacobins were adverse to any composition, energy and 
 vengeance beiug to them indispensable concomitants. 
 " The delegates of the primary assembhes had been 
 calumniated," said Hassenfratz, " by a rumour busily 
 propagated that they purposed proposing an amnesty ; 
 tliey were incapable of such conduct, and would unite 
 with the Jacobins in demanding, conjointly with ur- 
 gent measures for public safety, the punishiuent of all 
 traitors." The delegates deemed this a significant in- 
 timation ; and if any, few at all events, ever entertained 
 the project of an amnesty, none ventured to give it 
 utterance. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th August, they were con- 
 ducted to the commune, and from the commune to 
 the Eveche, where th.e club of electors was held, and 
 wherein had been concocted the .31st May. Tlierein 
 it was determined should he ettl'cted the reconciliation 
 of the departments with Paris, since the attack upon 
 tlie national rej)resentation had thence originated. 
 The jMaj'or Paclie, the procurator Chaumette, and the 
 whole municipality, marching at their head, ushered 
 the delegates into the association of the Eveche. On 
 both sides satisfactory harangues were pronounced ; 
 the Parisians declared they had never dreamt of con- 
 temning or usurping the righ.ts of the departments ; 
 the delegates in return acknowledged that Paris had 
 been calumniated ; whereupon they mingled in a gene- 
 ral embrace, and gave way to the spontaneous feelings 
 of enthusiasm. The idea suddenly started in their 
 minds to repair to the convention, in order that it 
 might rejoice in the knowledge of this happy reconci- 
 liation. Accordingly, they forthwith proceeded thither, 
 and were introduced the moment of their arrival. The 
 debate was suspended, and one of the delegates stepped 
 forward to address the assembly. 
 
 " Citizen representatives," said he, " we have come 
 to let j'ou know h<jw jov-ful and affecting a scene has 
 just occurred in the hall of the electors, whither we 
 had gone to give the kiss of peace to our brethren of 
 Paris. Si)eedily, we trust, the heads of all calumnia- 
 tors of this republican city will fall under the sword 
 of the law. We are all JMountaineers. Long live the 
 Mountain ! " 
 
 Another suggested that the representatives should 
 give the delegates the kiss fraternal. Instantly the 
 members of the assembly left their seats and rushed 
 into the arms of tlie departmental delegates. After 
 some moments passed in the tender emotions natural 
 to such a scene, the delegates defiled through the hall, 
 uttering cries of " Long live the Mountain ! The 
 repubhc for ever!" and chanting in full chorus — 
 
 " La Montasnc nous a sauvd 
 Kn congediant Gensonn(5,; 
 La Montagne nous a saxi\i 
 Kn congediant Gcnsonn^. 
 Au diable les Buzot, 
 Los Vergniaud, les Hrissot ! 
 Dansons la cannagnolu," &c. * 
 
 They idtimately returned to the Jacobin Club, where 
 tliey drew up, in the name of all the delegates of the 
 primary assemblies, an address intended to assure 
 the departments that Paris had been calumniated. 
 " Friends and brethren," they wrote, " calm, calm 
 your disquietude. We are all here of one feeling. 
 All our souls are blended ; and triumphant liberty sm*- 
 
 * [Tliis " Carmagnole" was a celebrated dance in the revolu- 
 tion, whicli wiis accompanied by such doggrcl verses as those 
 given in the t€xt, which merely contain stiii>id anatUeiuas against 
 the chief fiirondists.J
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 3iy 
 
 vej-s none but Jacobins, brothers, and friends. The 
 I>i)ff (Marais) is no more. We form but one enormous 
 lid terrible Mountain, whicli is pre]>aring to vomit 
 its fires on all royalists and partisans of tyranny. 
 Perish the infamous slanderers who have calumniated 
 Paris ! We all keep watch here nisjht and day ; and 
 we labour, in concert with our brethren of the capital, 
 for the common safety, ^\"e will not return to our 
 hearths until we can announce to you that France is 
 free and that the country is saved." This address, 
 having been read aloud and enthusiastically applauded, 
 was immediately dispatched to the convention, in order 
 that it might be inserted in the bulletin of its sitting. 
 A general rapture pervaded tlie meeting ; all desired 
 to speak, the tribune was besieged by an eager throng 
 of excited orators, and a bewildering intoxication was 
 rapidly affecting all heads. Observing the brewing 
 trouble, Robespierre asked to be heard. Every one 
 hastened to jield him the tribune. Jacobins and de- 
 legates, all combined in apjilauding the celebrated 
 orator, whom many of the latter had not yet seen or 
 heard. 
 
 He congratulated the departments on having re- 
 cently saved France. " They saved it," he said, " for 
 the first time in 1789, by spontaneously flying to arms ; 
 for the second time, by repairing to Paris to execute 
 the 10th August ; the third time, by giving,' in the 
 heart of the capital, a spectacle of union and general 
 reconciliation. At this moment, untoward events 
 have afflicted the republic and put its existence in 
 danger; but republicans are not allowed to fear ; they 
 have to discard emotions which may incite them to 
 disorders. ]Many are on the watch to produce a fac- 
 titious scarcity and instigate a tumult — men who would 
 lead the people to the arsenal to plunder its stores and 
 set it on fire, as has happened in several towns, and 
 who do not despair of again provoking a catastrophe 
 in the prisons, in order to calumniate Paris and dis- 
 solve the union which has so recently been sworn. 
 Beware all such snares ; be calm and firm ; look the 
 calamities of the country fearlessly in the face, and 
 let us all strenuously labour to save it." 
 
 These words tended to allay the ferment ; and the 
 meeting separated, after bestowing on the sagacious 
 orator reiterated plaudits. 
 
 No disturbance occurred to embroil Paris during 
 the succeeding days ; but nothing was omitted to move 
 th.e imaginations of men and stimulate them to a gene- 
 rous ardom'. No danger was concealed, no sinister 
 intelligence wilhheld from the people. Official an- 
 nouncements made known successi\'ely the defeats in 
 La Vendee ; the alarming accounts from Toulon ; the 
 retrograde movement of the army of the Eliine, which 
 was receding before the conquerors of Maycnce ; and, 
 lastly, the extreme peril of the army of the north, 
 which was intrenched in Caesar's camp, and which 
 the imperialists, the English, and the Dutch, masters 
 of Conde and Valenciennes, and forming a twofold 
 mass, might at any hour carry by a sudden assault. 
 Between Caesar's camp and I'aris there were scarcely 
 forty leagues, and not a regiment, not a single o])stacIe 
 capable of arresting an enemy. If any signal disaster 
 befel the army of the north, all Avas lost ; and accord- 
 ingly the slightest rununn-s coming from that quarter 
 were gathered with intense anxiety. 
 
 The alarm was well founded, for at this moment 
 Ca-sar's camp was exposed to innninent liazard. On 
 the evening of the 7th August, the allies had api)eare<l 
 in force before it, and threatened it on all sides. Be- 
 tween Cambray and Bouchain stretches a cliain of 
 heights, protected by the course of the Scheldt. Here 
 was placed the so-called Ca-sar's camp, resting on 
 two fortresses and skirted b}' a river. The Duke of 
 York, commissioned to turn the French, debouched in 
 view of Cambray, whicli formed the right of ( 'a-sar's 
 camp, on tlie afternoon of the 7tli. He sunnnoned the 
 J'lace, to which tlie coinnumdnnt replied l)y closing his 
 gates and burning the suburbs. ( 'ohourg, on t he same 
 
 evening, arrived with a mass of 40,000 men, in two 
 columns, on the banks of the Scheldt, and bivouacked 
 in front of the Frencli cam]). A scorching heat 
 paralysed the strength of both men and horses; seve- 
 ral soldiers, struck by the rays of the sun, had expired 
 during the day. Kilmaine, who had been nominated 
 to rei)lace Custine, but had merely consented to hold 
 the connnand provisionally, deemed it impossible to 
 retain so hazardous a position. Menaced with having 
 his right flank turned by the Duke of York, and pos- 
 sessing scarcely .35,000 discouraged troops to opjjose to 
 70,000 men flushed Mitli victory, he judged it more 
 prudent to retreat, and gain time by seeking another 
 post. The line of the vScarpe, running behind that of 
 the Scheldt, seemed to him an advisable position to 
 occupy. Between Arras and Douay, heights skirted 
 by the Scari)e form a camp similar to Ca?sar's, being 
 like it supported by two fortresses and defended by a 
 river. Kilmaine made preparations for his retreat 
 the following morning, the 8th August. His main 
 body was to cross the Cense, a small river meander- 
 ing in the rear of the gi'oiind he occupied, and he him- 
 self was to move with a strong rearguard towards the 
 right, where the Duke of York stood in full readiness 
 to debouch. 
 
 On the morrow, accordingly, at daybreak, the heavy 
 artillery, the baggage, and the infantry, got in motion, 
 passed the Cense, and destroj^ed the bridges. An hour 
 afterwards, Kilmaine, with some batteries of light ar- 
 tillery and a strong division of cavalry, moved to the 
 right, in order to protect the retreat against the Eng- 
 lish. He could not have arrived more opportunely. 
 Two battalions, having Avandered in their route, found 
 themselves entangled in the little village of jMarquion, 
 and were then engaged stoutly resisting the English. 
 Despite their efforts, however, they were on the point 
 of being overwhelmed. Kilmaine, arriving at the 
 critical moment, planted his light artillery on the 
 enemy's flank, sent upon him a charge of cavalry, and 
 compelled him to retire. The battalions were then 
 disengaged and enabled to re.ioin the rest of the army. 
 
 In the mean time, the Euglish and imperialists, de- 
 bouching at once on the right and front of the camp 
 of Cajsar, found it completely evacuated. Finally, 
 towards the close of day, the French Avere united in 
 the camp of Gavarelle, resting on Arras and Douay, 
 and having the Scarpe before them. 
 
 Thus, on the 8th August, Caesar's camp was evacu- 
 ated as that of Famars had been, and Cambraj'^ and 
 Bouchain were left to their own resoiu'ces like Conde 
 and Valenciennes. The line of the Scarpe, running 
 beh.ind that of the Sclieldt, is not, as' a glance at the 
 map will show, between Paris and the Scheldt, but 
 between the Scheldt and the sea. Kilmaine therefore 
 had diverged to one side instead of marching back- 
 wards, and a part of the frontier Avas consequently 
 exposed. The allies had it in tlieir poAver to bm-st 
 over the Avhole department of the nortli. What course 
 the}' should adopt Avas a question fraught Avith deep 
 solicitude. Were they to devote a day's marcli to 
 attack the new-formed cam]) iif (Javanlk', and dissi- 
 ])ate the ent'my Avho had just escajied them? Were 
 they to marcli on Paris, or return to their old project 
 u])on 1 )iuikirk ? In tliis sfate of sus^iense, they pushed 
 tlieir stragglers as far as Peronne and Saint-Cjnentin, 
 and terror spread to I'aris, Avhere it Avas rejieated Avith 
 dismay that Caesar's camp Avas lost, like tiiat of Fa- 
 mars, and that Camliray Avas aliandoned like Vali'U- 
 ciennes. On all sides execrations arose against Kil- 
 maine, the essential service he had rendered by liis 
 dexterous retreat being utterly overlooked. 
 
 'The i)re])arati()ns for the solemn festival of the KHh 
 August, destine<l to electrify the national mind, ])ro- 
 ceeded amidst these sinister forebodings. On tlie !(th, 
 a re])ort on the analysis of votes Avas ])resented to the 
 coiiventron, l)y which it a]q)eared tlie forty-four thou- 
 sand niunici])alities had accejited tlu' constitution. 
 Only in tlie complement of votes there lacked those
 
 3-20 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of jfarseilles, Corsica, and La Venck'e. A solitar}- com- 
 mune, that of Saint-Tonnant, iii the department of the 
 C6tes-du-Nord, was dariiiji enoujjh to demand the re- 
 establishment of the Bourbons on the throne. 
 
 On the 10th the festival connnenced with the day. 
 To the celebrated painter David had been left the chief 
 direction and arrantrement. At four in the morning 
 the procession assembled on the s(iuare of the Bastille. 
 The convention, the delegates of the primary assem- 
 blies (out of whom the eighty-six seniors had been 
 selected to represent the eighty-six departments), the 
 popidar societies, and all tlie sections under arms, were 
 drawn up around a vast fountain, styled " of Regene- 
 ration." Tliis fountain was formed by a colossal 
 statue of Nature, pouring water from its breasts into 
 an immense basin. When the beams of the rising sun 
 were seen on the sunmiits of the edifices, the great 
 luminary was saluted with stanzas sung after the air 
 of the Marseillaise. The president of the convention 
 took a cup, sprinkled on the earth the water of rege- 
 neration, then put it to his lips, and passed the vessel 
 to the seniors of the departments, who all drank from 
 it in turn. After that ceremony, the procession ad- 
 vanced along the Boulevards. TJie popular societies, 
 displaj-ing a banner on which was painted the eye of 
 Vigilance, marched in the van. Then came the entire 
 convention. Each of its members held a bouquet of 
 ears of wheat ; and eight of tliem, occupying the centre, 
 bore on an ark the Constitutional Act and the Rights of 
 Man. Encompassing the convention, the seniors formed 
 a chain, holding together by a tricoloured cord. These 
 carried in their hand branches of olive, the symbol of 
 reconciliation between the jirovinces and Paris, and 
 pikes, intended to form part of the national fasces, illus- 
 trative of the concord amongst the eighty-six depart- 
 ments. Following this portion of the procession, came 
 groups of artisans with the implements of different 
 trades. In the midst of them appeared a cart con- 
 taining an old man and his aged spouse, and drawn 
 by their youthful sons. This cart was foUowed by a 
 chariot of war, on whicli rested an urn in honour of the 
 soldiers who had died for their country. Finally, the 
 march was closed by hurdles loaded with sceptres, 
 crowns, armorial bearings, and stuffs interwoven with 
 Jieurs de lis. 
 
 The procession traversed the Boulevards and pro- 
 ceeded to the Place de la Revolution. When passing 
 the Boulevard Poissonnicre, the president of the con- 
 vention presented a branch of laurel to the heroines of 
 the 5th and 6th October, wlio were seated on their 
 cannon. On the I'lace de la Revolution he again 
 paused, and set'fire to all the emblems of royalty and 
 nobility dragged in the hurdles. He afterwards re- 
 moved a veil thrown over a statue, which, emerging 
 to public view, displayed the august features of Liberty. 
 Salvos of artillery announced the moment of its in- 
 auguration ; and, at the same instant, thousands of 
 birds, bearing diminutive streamers, were launched 
 into the air, seeming, as they regained their native 
 liberty, to be typical of the earth's enfranchisement. 
 
 The procession then moved on towards the Champ- 
 de-Mars by the Place des Invalides, and defiled before 
 a colossal figure representing the French people in the 
 act of overthrowing federalism, and stifling it in the 
 slime of a quagmire. At length it reached the Field 
 of the Federation. There it divided into two columns, 
 whicli drew up around the altar of the country. The 
 president of the convention and the eighty-six seniors 
 occupied the snnnnit of the altar ; the members of the 
 convention and the mass of dei)artmental delegates 
 occupied the steps. Each grou]) of artisans approached 
 in succession to deposit around the altar the produce 
 of its trade, manufacitures, fruits, and commodities of 
 all kinds. The president of tlie convention, uniting 
 together the records uixm which the ])rimary assem- 
 blies had registered their votes, laid them upon the 
 altar of the country. A general discharge of artillery 
 instantly rent the air, the vast concourse of people 
 
 joined tlieir voices to the roar of the cannon, and all 
 swore, with the same enthusiasm as on the 14th July 
 1790 and 1792, to defend the constitution — a vain 
 solemnity, if we regard the letter of the constitution, 
 but a heroic and well-sustauied pledge, if we consider 
 merely the territory and the revolution. Constitutions 
 passed away, indeed, but the soil and the revolution 
 were defended with undeviating fortitude and con- 
 stancy. 
 
 After this ceremony, the eighty-six seniors delivered 
 their pikes to the president, who, uniting them into 
 one fascis or bundle, confided it, together with the 
 constitutional act, to the delegates of the primary 
 assemblies, exhorting them to combine all their powers 
 around the ark of the new covenant. A separation 
 then took place : one portion of the procession accom- 
 panied the urn, sacred to the ashes of the French killed 
 in fighting for their country', to the temple destined 
 for its reception ; the remainder proceeded to deposit 
 the ark of the constitution in a sanctuary fitted as a 
 temporary resting-place, its ultimate destination being 
 the liuU of the convention, whither it was to be re- 
 moved the following day. A grand representation, 
 pourtraying the siege and bombardment of Lille, and 
 the heroic resistance of its inhabitants, occupied the 
 residue of the day, and disposed the mmds of the 
 people to warlike scenes. 
 
 Such was the federation of France as a republic. 
 We no longer perceive, as in 1790, all the classes of a 
 great nation, rich and poor, patricians and plebeians, 
 blended for an instant in a common rapture, and, 
 weary of corroding animosities, pardoning for a few 
 hours their differences of rank and opinion ; but we 
 perceive an immense popidation, speaking no more of 
 pardon, but of danger, devotedness, and resolutions 
 based on despair, and enjoying with a species of de- 
 lirium those imposing ceremonies on the eve of rushing 
 into the field of battle. One circumstance tended to 
 heighten the character of this scene, and obviate the 
 ridicide which scornful or hostile minds might seek to 
 throw u])on it, namel}', the undoubted peril and the 
 entlmsiasm with which it was braved. On the first 
 federation of tlie 14th July 1790, the revolution was as 
 yet innocent and benignant, but it -was quite possible 
 it might not prove earnest, might be put an end to, in 
 fact, as an absurd farce, by foreign bayonets ; in Au- 
 gust 179.3 it was stained with tragedies, but ^reat, 
 signalised by victories and defeats, and earnest as 
 could be an irrevocable and heroic resolution. 
 
 Tlic crisis was such as led irresistibly to extreme 
 measures. Ideas, which at any other time would have 
 been denounced as at once extraordinary and mon- 
 strous, were every where in fermentation. It was pro- 
 posed to exclude all nobles from employments ; to de- 
 cree the general incarceration of the suspected, against 
 whom no law sufH(nently precise existed; to ordain a 
 levy of the ])opulation in a mass; to seize upon all the 
 stocks of food, and transport them into magazines be- 
 longing to the republic, which should take upon itself 
 the distribution to each individual ; in short, all were 
 bent upon devising, but unavailingly, some project by 
 wliich sufficient resources might be histantaneously 
 forthcoming. It Avas especially demanded that the 
 convention should continue its functions, and not resign 
 its powers to the new legislature which ought to suc- 
 ceed it, but that the constitution should be veiled as 
 the statue of the law, until the general defeat of the 
 enemies of the republic. 
 
 It was at the Jacobin Club these ideas were succes- 
 sively proi)ounded. Robespierre, no longer striving to 
 moderate the exaggerated tone of opinion, but on the 
 contrary fostering it, insisted with particular force on 
 the necessity of maintaining the National Convention 
 in its functions ; and he therein gave soiuid advice. 
 Tlie dissolution at this moment of an assembly which 
 had taken upon itself the entire government, and in 
 which divisions had ceased, in order to replace it by a 
 new and inexperienced assembly, whicli would be again
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 321 
 
 torn by factions, was much too hazardous an experi- 
 ment. The provincial delegates, surrounding liobes- 
 pierre, exclaimed that they liad sworn to remain to- 
 gether until the convention had adopted measures of 
 public welfare, and that they would constrain it to 
 continue in power. Audoin, the son-in-law of Pache, 
 afterwards spoke, and proposed to demand tlie levy 
 en masse, and tlie general arrest of the suspecteil. 
 Thereupon the delegates of the primary assemblies 
 digested a petition, and the following day, the 12th, 
 proceeded to present it at the bar of tlie convention. 
 In this document they prayed that the convention 
 might itself undertake to save the republic ; that no 
 amnesty should be granted; and that the suspected 
 should be apprehended, sent in the van against tlie 
 enemy, and the people levied en mu.s.se marcli behind 
 them. Part of these propositions were adopted. The 
 arrest of the suspected was decreed in principle ; but 
 the project of a national levy, •appearing too violent a 
 measure, was remitted for consideration to the com- 
 mittee of pubUc welfare. The Jacobins were dissatis- 
 fied with this slight concession, and continued stre- 
 nuously to uphold in their club that the exigency 
 required not a partial but a universal movement. 
 
 On the following day the committee made its re- 
 port, and recommended a decree much too vague, and 
 a proclamation infinitely spiritless and insipid. 
 
 " The committee," said Danton, " has not declared 
 all ; it has not declared that if France be vanquished, 
 if she be desolated, the rich will be the first victims 
 to the rapacity of the tyrants ; it lias not declared 
 that the vanquished patriots will rend and consume 
 with fire this republic rather than see it fall into the. 
 hands of their insolent conquerors! Such are tlie 
 truths these selfish rich must lie taught. What 
 are your hopes," added Danton — " you who will do 
 nothing to save the republic ? Do you reflect upon 
 what will be your lot should liberty succumb? A 
 regency directed by an imbecile, an infant king whose 
 minority will be long ; in short, the dismembeniient 
 of our provinces, and a frightfid convulsion ! Yes, ye 
 wealthy, you will be taxed, you will be squeezed, 
 more, a thousand tunes more, than you are asked to 
 contribute in order to save your country and perpe- 
 tuate liberty ! The convention has in its hands tlie 
 populiir thunder ; let it make use of it, and hurl it at 
 the head 9f tyrants. It h.as the delegates of tlie pri- 
 mary assemblies, it has its own members ; let it send 
 both of them to operate a general arming." 
 
 The proposed enactment was again remitted to the 
 committee. The next da}', the Jacobins once more 
 dispatched the delegates of the primary assemblies to 
 the convention. These reiterated their demands, re- 
 pudiating any partial recruiting, but insisting upon 
 the national levy, " because," they urged, " h;df mea- 
 sures are fatal, and the whole nation is more easily 
 electrified than a portion of its citizens." — " If you re- 
 quire," they added, " one hundred thousand soldiers, 
 they will not be found ; but millions of men will re- 
 spond to a general invocation. Let tliere be no dis- 
 pensation for any citizen physically competent to bear 
 arms, whatever may be his calling; let agriculture 
 alone preserve the labourers necessary to draw from the 
 earth its alimentary products. Let the course of trade 
 be temporarily stayed, let all business stagnate, let 
 the great, the absorbing and universal object of tlie 
 French be — to save tlie republic !" 
 
 Tlie convention could no longer resist so energetic 
 an appeal. Itself partaking the enthusiasm of the peti- 
 tioners, it directed its committee to retire and draw 
 up, on the very instant, the resolution for the levy en 
 masse. The committee reappeared in a few minutes, 
 and submitted the following foniuda, which was 
 adopted amidst universal transjiort : — 
 
 " Art. 1. The French people declare, by the medium 
 of their representatives, that they are prepared to rise in 
 one aggregate mass for the defence of their liberty and 
 constitution, and to deliver the soil from their enemies. I 
 
 Art. 2. The committee of public welfare will present 
 to-morrow the mode of organisation for this great 
 national movement." 
 
 By other articles, eighteen representatives were 
 named, to proceed over the whole of France, and di- 
 rect the delegates of the prhnary assemblies in their 
 requisitions of men, horses, munitions, and victuals. 
 This vast impulse given, all became possible. When 
 once it was resolved that entire France, men and 
 things, belonged to the government, that government 
 was placed in a position enal)ling it to accomplish all 
 that it might deem useful or indispensable with re- 
 ference to existing danger, and as impelled by its own 
 increasing capacity and vigour. Of course, it was not 
 necessary to levy the population en masse, and inter- 
 rupt production, even the labours essential to human 
 subsistence ; but it was necessary that the govern- 
 ment should have the power to insist upon every sac- 
 rifice, so that it did aot exact more than might be 
 sutficient for the exigencies of the moment. 
 
 The month of August, then, was the epoch of those 
 renowned decrees which put all France in motion, all 
 its resources in activity, and terminated to the ad- 
 vantage of the revolution its last and most terrible 
 crisis. 
 
 The stupendous task imposed was to draw the 
 population into the field, to provide it with arms, and 
 hquidate, by some new financial measure, the expense 
 of this vast displacement ; to bring the paper money 
 into relation Avith the price of food and commodities ; 
 to distribute armies and generals in the manner best 
 adapted to each theatre of war; and, finally, to satisfy 
 revolutionary anger by signal and terrible" executions. 
 We are about to show what the government did to 
 meet at once both these urgent wants and these evil 
 passions, which it could not avoid appeasing, since 
 they were inseparable from the energy which rescues 
 a nation in the climax of danger. 
 
 To demand from each locality a determinate con- 
 tingent in men Avas unsuitable to the circumstances; 
 it would have involved a doubt of the enthusiasm of 
 the French, and that enthusiasm Mas to be presumed 
 for the very purpose of exciting it. That German 
 mode of imposing so many men, like so much dross, 
 on each district,'was, moreover, in contradiction with 
 the principle of a national levy. A general enrolment 
 by the system of drawing lots was equally inappro- 
 priate. In such a plan, all not being called out, each 
 would seek to gain exemption, and deplore the chance 
 which compelled him to serve. On the other hand, an 
 actual levy en masse exposed France to miiversal dis- 
 order, and was laughed to scorn by the moderates and 
 counter-revolutionists. In this difficulty, the commit- 
 tee of public welfare devised a scheme the best adapted 
 to the circumstances of the moment, which consisted 
 in placing the whole population in a state of disposi- 
 tion, dividing it by generations, and draughting these 
 generations according to age and the exigencic»s aris- 
 ing. "From this moment," bore the decree,* " until 
 that in which all enemies shall have been driven from 
 the territory of the rejiublic, all Freiichnieii shall be in 
 jiermaiient re(iuisiti()ii for the siTvice of the armies. 
 The young men will go to battle ; tlie married will 
 manufacture arms and transport sujiplies; the women 
 will make tents, elotlies, and tend the hosjiitals ; the 
 children will jjrepare lint from old linen ; the old men 
 will congregate in imblic places to stimulate the cour- 
 age of the warriors, and uphold hatred to kings and 
 loVe to the repulilic." 
 
 All young men, unmarried or widowers without 
 children, from the age of eighteen to twenty-five, were 
 to compose tlie first levy, called tfic first ritjiiisition. 
 They were directed to assemi)le forthwith, not in the 
 cliief towns of the departments, but in those of the 
 districts, fur, since the date of federalism, alarm wiis 
 felt at any large muster in departments, which might 
 
 * 23d August 17M.
 
 322 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 suggest a feeling of strength and ideas of revolt. 
 Anotlier motive like\vise existed for the regulation, 
 derived from the diffienlty of amassing, in the cliief 
 towns, food and other supiilies adequate to satisfy such 
 large bodies. The battahuns formed in tlie district- 
 towns were innnediately to commence military exer- 
 cises, and hold themselves ready to depart at a mo- 
 ment's notice. The generation from twenty-five to 
 thirty was enjoined to prepare for active service, and 
 in the interim to iieiforni Die duty of a home force. 
 The residue, from tiiirty to sixty, was disposable at 
 the pleasure of tlie representatives connuissioned to 
 operate this gradual levy. But notwitiistanding tiiese 
 general arrangements, the aggregate and instantaneous 
 levy of the entire population was ordained in certain 
 of the more threatened localities, such as La Vendee, 
 Lyons, Toulon, along the Rhine, et cetera. 
 
 The means cm])loyed to arm, lodge, and subsist the 
 levies, were in accordance with the circumstances. 
 All horses and beasts of burden with wliich agricul- 
 tund and manufacturing industry could dispense, were 
 declared under reqiiisition, and placed at the disposal 
 of the army purveyors. Tlie best weapons were to 
 be given to the generation destined for innnediate 
 service ; fowling-pieces and jjikes were api)ropriated 
 to the duty of the interior. In the departments where 
 manufactories of arms could \^Q established, the public 
 places and promenades, and the large buikUngs included 
 m the national domains, were to be used in construc't- 
 ing workshops. The ])riucipal estabUshment of this 
 description was at Paris. Forges were planted in the 
 gardens of the Luxembom-g, and machines for boring 
 cannon on the banks of tlie Seine. AU gmismith 
 artisans were put under requisition, as well as clock 
 and watchmakers, who had but indifferent employ- 
 ment at the moment, and could be made useful in 
 certain parts of gun fabrication. Thirty milHons were 
 placed at the disposition of the minister at war for 
 this manufactory alone. Tliese extraordinary mea- 
 sures were to be pursued until a supply of one tliou- 
 sand muskets daily were produced. This immense 
 establisliment was fixed at Paris, because, under tlie 
 immediate ^^gilance of the government and the Jaco- 
 bins, indolence became impossible, and all the marvels 
 of dispatch and energy were ensured. And, in truth, 
 the interval was not long before this manufactory 
 fulfilled its stipulated duties. 
 
 Saltpetre proving deficient, it was thought possilile 
 to extract it from the mould of cellars. A resolution 
 was accordingly adopted to have them all inspected, 
 in order to judge whether the soil m which they were 
 dug contained any such particles. Each inchvidual, 
 therefore, was called upon to allow his cellars to be 
 visited and dug up, so tiiat the soil might be separated 
 when it contained saltpetre. 
 
 The houses wliich liad become national property 
 were set apart as barracks and magazines. 
 
 Th» dirterent measures taken to provide food for 
 these gi-eat armed masses were equally extraordinary 
 in their character. The Jacobins held tlie creed, that 
 tlie republic, obtaining a general statement of tlie 
 quantities of corn in the country, should purchase the 
 whole, and constitute itself the distributor thereof, 
 both giving to the soldiers who had taken up arms 
 for it, and selling to other citizens at a moderate price. 
 This tendency to undertake all operations, to super- 
 sede nature herself, Avheii her dispositions were not 
 according to their desires, was not so blindly followed 
 as the jacobins would have wished. Nevei-theless, 
 injunctions were forwarded that the statements re- 
 specting the quantities of food, already ordered from 
 the municipalities, should lie promptly concluded and 
 sent to the minister of the interior, in order that a 
 general statistical taiile of deficiencies aud resources 
 might be prepared. It was furthermore ordained that 
 tlie thrashing of the grain should be completed where 
 any still remained in sheaf; and that if obstinate indi- 
 viuiiids refused to expedite this process, the munici- 
 
 palities should themselves cause it to be performed ; 
 that the farmers and holders of corn shoidd pay their 
 overdue contributions, and two-thirds of those for the 
 year 1793, in kind; and, lastly, that the farmers and 
 tenants of property become national should likewise 
 furnish tlieir rents in kind. 
 
 The execution of these measures was necessarily to 
 he as extraordinary as themselves. Limited powers, 
 wielded by local autliorities which woidd have been 
 incessantly thwarted by resistances, and which, more- 
 over, coidd not, in the nature of things, have mani- 
 fested miiforin energy and alacrity, were utterly in- 
 apjiropriate, both as regarded the measures themselves 
 and their indispensable m-gency. The dictatorial 
 authority of the commissioners of the convention, was 
 again the only medium which coidd be etBciently 
 employed. They had been previously engaged in ac- 
 celerating the fiVst levy of 300,000 men decreed in 
 March, and that mission tliey had promptly and suc- 
 cessfully accomplished. When sent to the armies, 
 they kept watch upon the generals and their opera- 
 tions, sometimes contradicted trained oflScers, but on 
 all occasions stimulated zeal, and commmiicated a 
 resolute determination. When immured in fortified 
 towns, they had sustained sieges with heroic fortitude, 
 as at Valenciennes and ^layence ; when distributed 
 through the interior, they had powerfully contributed 
 to stitle federalism. Thej were cousequentlj^ again 
 employed in this emergency, and invested with unli- 
 niited powers to execute the decreed requisitions of 
 men and things. Having under tlieir orders the depu- 
 ties of the primary assemblies, with authority to direct 
 .them according to pleasure, and delegate to them a 
 part of their powers, they held as their instiiinients 
 men zealously devoted, accurately informed of the 
 state of each locality, and possessing no sway but such 
 as they theniselvps might permit for the advantage of 
 this extraordinaiy service. 
 
 There were already various representatives in the 
 interior, as in La Vendee, at Lyons, and at Grenoble, 
 commissioned to eradicate the reniams of federalism, 
 and now eighteen more were named, with instructions 
 to divide France amongst them, and take measures, 
 in concert with those already executing missions, to 
 get into marching train the youths of the first requi- 
 sition, to arm them, to lay in stores for their subsist- 
 ence, and to direct them upon the expedient points, 
 according to the advice and demands of the generals. 
 They were furthermore emjiowered to complete the 
 unqualified sulimission of the lederalist administra- 
 tions. 
 
 These military arrangements were only a portion 
 of the difficidties to be encountered and overcome. 
 The expenses occasioned by the w;ir, imd all the pre- 
 parations to meet it, required some financial opera- 
 tions, extraordinary of course, like all the rest. We 
 are acquainted with the situation of France under its 
 financial aspect. A national debt in a loose and dis- 
 orderly state, comprising loans of every variety in 
 form and date, in direct hostility with the debts con- 
 tracted under the republic ; de])reciated assignats, 
 labouring under a most unequal competition with 
 specie, foreign paper, commercial and banking stock, 
 and quite incompetent to avail the government in 
 defraying the public expenditure, or the ])Cople in 
 acquiring the commodities essential to existence ; — 
 such is the sunmiary of the fiscal condition. What 
 course should be adopted in so dismal a conjuncture? 
 Ought money to be borrowed, or assignats issued .' To 
 borrow was out of tlie question, amid the confusion 
 already prevailing in the public debt, and the want of 
 confidence in the engagements of the republic. To 
 issue assignats was easy ; the national press only 
 needed to be set in motii.n. But the smallest outlay 
 would require an enormous emission of paper, or at 
 all events five or si.x times more than its nominal 
 value, whereby the great calamity of its dejircssion 
 would be necessarily augmented, and a farther en-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 323 
 
 haiicement in the price of commodities provoked. We 
 shall proceed to expound the policy wherewith genius 
 inspired the men now charged with the safety of 
 France. 
 
 The first and most indispensable step was to infuse 
 oi'der into the debt, and terminate that division into 
 contracts of all forms and epochs, which, from their 
 differences in origin and nature, gave occasion to an 
 obnoxious and counter-revolutionary system of stoi'k- 
 jobbing. _ A knoM'ledge in these old obligations, their 
 verification and their classification, required a parti- 
 cular study, and were attended with abominable com- 
 plication in the accounts. It was only at Paris that 
 a stockholder could receive his dividends, and sonie- 
 times the division of his capital amongst the various 
 portions of the debt obliged him to present himself 
 before twenty ditferent cashiers. The state ol)ligati(>ns 
 were composed of the fmided debt, the debt exigible 
 at a fixed term, and the debt exigible at current periods 
 as compensation ; consequently, the exchequer was 
 daily subjected to expiries, and obliged to i>rocure funds 
 to meet the engagements falling due. '* We nuist 
 'miiformise and republicanise the debt," said Cambon ; 
 and he proposed to convert all the bonds iield by the 
 state creditors into an enrolment on the pages of a 
 register, which should be styled the Great Book of the 
 Public Debt. This inscription, and the certificate 
 thereof delivered to the creditors, were to be hence- 
 forth their only titles. In order to allay apprehension 
 respecting the safety of this book, a duplicate was to 
 be dejjosited in the archives of the treasiu-j^ ; and, at 
 all events, it would not be more exposed to tire or 
 other accidents than the deeds of notaries. The cre- 
 ditors were, therefore, within a stipulated interval, to 
 present their securities, m order that they might be 
 inscribed and subsequently burnt. The notaries were 
 enjoined to produce all the titles wherewith they had 
 been intrusted, and an imprisonment of ten years was 
 imposed on any who, before the sivrrender, should take 
 or deliver co])ies. K the fundholder allowed six months 
 to elapse without causing his name to be enrolled, he 
 lost his dividends ; if he permitted a year to expire, 
 he was denuded and lost his capital. 
 
 " In this manner," said Cambon, " tlie debt con- 
 tracted by despotism will he no longer distinguishable 
 from that which has been contracted since the revolu- 
 tion ; and I defy his higliness Despotism, if he should 
 ever be resuscitated, to recognise his old debt when it 
 shall be confounded witli the new. This operation 
 once accomplished, you will see the capitalist, who 
 desires a king because he has a king for his debtor, 
 and who is afraid of losing his security if his debtor 
 be not re-established, become fond of the. republic when 
 it ranks as liis debtor, because he wiU be afraid of 
 losing his capital by its destruction." 
 
 This was, however, far from l)eing the only advan- 
 tage of the arrangement ; it held out others equally 
 gi'cat, and first gave a foundation to the system of 
 public credit. The capital stock of each fundliolder 
 was converted into a perpetual annuity at the rate of 
 five per cent. Thus, the creditor for a sum of one 
 thousand livres was inscribed in the great book for an 
 annuity t)f fifty francs. By this means, the old debts, 
 whereof some bore an usurious interest and others 
 wei'e subjected to unjust deductions or grievous im- 
 posts, were all placed on sm miiform and equitable scale ; 
 the state, changing its debt into a perpetual rent- 
 charge, was no longer exposed to inconvenient demands, 
 and could never be obliged to reimburse capital so long 
 as it punctually discharged the interest. Furtlier- 
 nioxe, an easy and adv;intagcous mode. of satisfying 
 its obligations was jjresented to the state, by tiie re- 
 (lemjition of the ainuiity altogether, whensoever it 
 should fall below its value : for example, wlien an 
 annuity of fifty livres, rei)resenting a caj)ital of one 
 thousand francs, was Avortli but eight hundred or 
 nine liundred livres, the state would gain, as C-ambon 
 propounded, a tenth or a fifth, as the case might lie, of 
 
 the capital stock, liy re-p\irchasing out and out. This 
 kind of extinguishment was not yet • organised by 
 means of a fixed redemption, but the process itself 
 was contemplated, and the science of public credit 
 began to be more accurately miderstood. 
 
 Thus the inscription in the great book simplified 
 the forms of title, linked the stability of the state debt 
 to tliat of tlie republic, and converted the stocks into 
 perpetual annuities, whereof the capital was not exi- 
 gible, and tlie mterest identical for all portions. This 
 idea was simple, and borrowed in part from the Eng- 
 lish ; but it required high courage in confronting diffi- 
 culties to apply it to France, and there was the further 
 merit of its introduction at the most fitting moment. 
 Unquestionably, an appearance of force may be ob- 
 jected to an operation destined thus abruptly to change 
 the nature of titles and funds, to reduce interest to an 
 miiform rate, and smite with forfeiture the creditors 
 who should repudiate the conversion ; but, for a state, 
 justice consists in the best order possible ; and this 
 great and energetic simplification of the debt was in 
 perfect harmony with a hardy and sweeping revolu- 
 tion, of A\hich the main design was to subject all thmgs 
 to one common standard of natural law. 
 
 The project of Cambon imited with this boldness of 
 spirit a scrupulous res]5ect for engagements contracted 
 M'ith foreigners, to whom pledges of reimbursement 
 at stipulated periods hud been given. It provided 
 that, in conseqxience of assignats not having cm-rency 
 out of France, foreign creditors should be paid in 
 specie and at stated dates. Moreover, the communes 
 having incurred particular liabihties, and their credi- 
 tors being greatly incommoded by their breach of 
 punctuahty in liquidating them, the state took their 
 debts upon itself, sequestrating their property only to 
 the extent of the stuns appropriated to the redemp- 
 tion. The project was adopted in aU its partictilars,* 
 and executed with the same abilit}' that marked its 
 .conception. The capital of the debt, Avhen thus re- 
 duced to tmiformity, was converted into a mass of 
 iuinuities amounting to two hundred millions yearly. 
 In order to replace the old imposts of diflerent kinds 
 with which it had been charged, it was deemed expe- 
 dient to Inirden it with an indefeasible tax of one-fifth, 
 which reduced the aggregate of interest to one lumdred 
 and sixty millions. In this manner all was lucidly 
 and simply organised ; a prolific source of stockjob- 
 bing was destroyed, and confidence revived, because a 
 partial bankrujitcy, with regard to such or such pecu- 
 liar descriptions of stock, could no longer possibly 
 occur, and a general bankruptcy for the whole debt 
 was not to be presumed. 
 
 From this time it became more easy to have recourse 
 to a loan. We shall see in what manner such a mea- 
 sure was called in aid of the assignats. 
 
 The national domains always formed the only fmid 
 upon which tlic revolution C(Xild rely for its extraor- 
 dinary expenses. This fund, as represented hy the 
 assignats, was floating in the circnhition. The essen- 
 tial object was to fcu'ce sales, in order to draw in assig- 
 nats, and thus enhance their value by rendering tliem 
 more scarce. Victories were the surest, but certainly 
 not the easiest, way to hasten sales. As a substitute, 
 (livers expedients had been suggested. For instance, 
 purchasers had been permitted to scattc r their pay- 
 ments over several years. But tliis indulgence, intro- 
 duced to encourage the peasants in bei'oming pro])rie- 
 tors, was found practically to stimulate sales, doubtless, 
 but no returns of assignats. In order the more cer- 
 tainly to diminish the quantity in circulation, it had 
 l)een dcterniiiied to j>ay the comiiensation for offices, 
 partly in assignats, and partly in rrrtijiralcs of licpii- 
 (Idtioii. The coin])ensation sums amounting to less 
 than tliree tliousand liancs were to be discharged in 
 assignats ; the others, in certificates of liquidation, 
 which had not the currency of money, could not be 
 
 * 24tli August \~'.a.
 
 324 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 divided into amounts of less than ten thousand francs, 
 nor otherwise transferred than as checks payable to 
 bearer, and were receivable in payment of national 
 domains. By this device was greatly lessened the 
 proportion of national property transmuted into a 
 forced currency ; all that might be converted into cer- 
 tificates of Hquidation consisted of indivisible sums, not 
 easily transferable, fixed exclusively in the hands of 
 the rich, and completely withdi-awn from circulation 
 and the arts of jobbers. 
 
 To expedite still more the sale of the national estates, 
 on the creation of the great book it was resolved that 
 inscriptions of annuity should be received to the ex- 
 tent of a moiety in all payments for such possessions. 
 This boon was eminently calculated to facilitate sales 
 and resumptions of assignats. 
 
 But all these measures were insufficient, and the mass 
 of paper money was still nuich too considerable. The 
 Constituent Assembly, the Legislative Assembly, and 
 the convention, had successively decreed the emis- 
 sion of 5,100,000,000 of assignats; 484,000,000 had 
 not been yet issued, and remained in store, conse- 
 quently there had been put into circulation merely 
 4.616,000,000. A portion had returned by sales ; pur- 
 chasers being allowed to pay in instalments, there 
 were due for dispositions effected from twelve to fifteen 
 millions. Li all, 840,000,000 had been repaid into the 
 exchequer, which had been burnt, leaving in actual 
 circulation, in the month of August 1793, 3,776,000,000 
 of assignats. 
 
 A preliminary expedient was to sweep the assignats 
 bearing the royal effigy from the currency, they being 
 in greater request, and enjoying higher credit than 
 the republican assignats, which they proportionally 
 injured and deteriorated. Although denuded of cur- 
 rent value, their validity was still recognised; they 
 were, in fact, metamorphosed into drafts to bearer, 
 and might be received either in payment of contribu- 
 tions, or in payment of national domains, until the 1st 
 of January next ensuing. After the lapse of that date, 
 thej^ were to be without any value whatsoever. These 
 assignats comprised an amount of 5. 'J 8, 000,000. This 
 proceeding would necessarily cause them to disappear 
 from the circulation within four months ; and as it 
 was well known tliat they were all in the hands of 
 counter-revolutionary speculators, a sense of justice 
 was evinced in not anmilling them, but simply insist- 
 ing upon their prompt liquidation. 
 
 It will be recollected that during the month of May, 
 •when it was declared in principle that there should 
 be armies distinguished as revolutionary, a decree was 
 at the same time adopted establishing a forced loan 
 of 1,000,000,000 upon the rich, to defray the expenses 
 of a war whereof they, as aristocrats, were deemed 
 the authors, and to which they refused to devote either 
 their persons or fortunes. This loan, assessed as we 
 shall hereafter explain, was intended, according to 
 Cambon's project, to withdraw 1,000,000,000 of assig- 
 nats from circulation. In order to allow an o])tion 
 to citizens of patriotic sentiments, and ensure them 
 certain advantages, a voluntary loan was opened ; 
 those who came forward to fill it receiving an inscrip- 
 tion of aiumity at the rate already fixed of five per 
 cent., thus obtaining interest for their contributions. 
 "With this inscrijjtion, they were entitled to claim 
 exemption from the forced loan, or, at all events, to 
 the extent of the sum subscribed in the voluntary list. 
 The rich of malecontent dispositions, who awaited the 
 compulsion of the forced loan, received a certificate 
 which bore no interest, and which, of course, only 
 fonned, like the amniity inscription, a republican obli- 
 gation, wanting the five per cent. Again, as, accord- 
 ing to the new law, inscriptions were available in the 
 proportion of a moiety in paying for national property, 
 voluntary lenders, receiving an annuity inscn])tion, 
 enjoyed the faculty of speedily reimbursing themselves 
 by purchasing national domains ; whereas, on the 
 contrary, the certificates of the forced loan coidd not 
 
 be taken in payment for property purchased of the 
 state, until two j-ears after the peace. It was neces- 
 sary, said the project of Cambon, to interest the rich 
 in the prompt termhiation of the war, and in the paci- 
 fication of Europe. 
 
 The forced or voluntary loan was calculated to bring 
 in 1,000,000,000 of assignats, which were to be burnt. 
 By the contributions in arrear, there would furthermore 
 be recalled 700,000,000, of which 558,000,000 in royal 
 assignats were already struck from the currency, and 
 only received in satisfaction of taxes. It was therefore 
 certain, that in two or three months there must be 
 withdrawn from the circulation, first the 1,000,000,000 
 of the loan, and secondly, the 700,000,000 of imposts 
 in arrear. The floating sum of 3.776,000,000 would 
 consequently be reduced to 2,076,000,000. Supposing, 
 as was probable, that tlie f;iculty of converting inscrip- 
 tions of debt into national domains would lead to ad- 
 ditional purchases, by that method, perhaps, five or 
 six hundred millions might be further redeemed. The 
 total mass would then, in all probability, be reduced 
 to fifteen or sixteen hundred millions. Thus, by re-, 
 ducing for the moment the floating mass more than 
 a half, the assignats would be restored to their legi- 
 timate value, and the 484,000,000 remaining in store 
 would become disposable. The 700,000,000 paid in 
 for taxes, whereof 558,000,000 were to receive the re- 
 publican impression and be re-issued, would likewise 
 recover their value, and might lie used during the 
 following year. For the time, at least, the deprecia- 
 tion of assignats Avoidd be removed, and that was the 
 essential consideration. If the reiiublic shoidd be even- 
 tually saved, vict<jry would at once enhance their value, 
 permit fresh emissions from the treasury, and expe- 
 dite the realisation of the residue of the national do- 
 mains, a residue which was very considerable, and 
 daily augmenting b}' emigration. 
 
 The mode of executing the forced loan was, from 
 its nature, necessarily prompt and arbitrary. How 
 estimate fortunes without error, without injustice, 
 even in times of tranquillity, when ample opportunity' 
 is afforded for proper deliberation, and for comparing 
 proofs and probabilities ? ^\liat is scarcely possible 
 under the most favourable circumstances, was of course 
 utterly impracticable in a time of violence and preci- 
 pitation. But at a period when it was found indis- 
 pensable to conxiilse an entire population, and to 
 smite so many heads, coidd much disquietude be ex- 
 cited lest a mistake might occur in the calcidation 
 of wealth, or any inaccuracy in the assessment? For 
 the forced loan, therefore, as for the requisitions, a 
 species of dictatorship was instituted, and conferred 
 on the communes. Every individual was obliged to 
 declare the amount of liis income. In each commune, 
 the council-general named authenticators, who decided, 
 upon their knowledge of local aftiiirs, whether the de- 
 clarations were probable ; and if they suspected them 
 to he false, they had the power to double them. In 
 the income of each family were set apart one thousand 
 francs for each individual — husband, wife, and children ; 
 the excess was judged to constitute superfluous reve- 
 nue, and as such taxable. The imposition amounted 
 to a tenth on taxable incomes, ranging from one thou 
 sand to ten thousand francs. Thus, a superfluity of 
 one thousand francs paid one hundred francs ; a super- 
 fluity of two tlunisand francs paid two hundred francs, 
 and so in proportion. All superfuous revenue exceed- 
 ing ten thousand francs, was absorbed by an imposi- 
 tion of equal amount ; whereby every family, which, 
 beyond the one thousand francs allowed to each indi- 
 vidual, and the ten thousand francs of superfluity 
 suVjjected to a tenth, enjoyed a still larger income, was 
 bound to contribute the whole excess to the loan. 
 Thus, for example, taking the case of a family com- 
 prising five individuals, and possessing a revenue of 
 fifty thousand livres, five thousand were deemed ne- 
 cessary', and ten thousand stricken with a tax of one- 
 tenth, which, reducing the latter to nine thousand,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 325 
 
 frave fourteen thousand as the -wliole allowance ; and 
 it was called upon to abandon, for this year, the re- 
 maining- thirty-six thousand to the forced or voluntary 
 loan. To take a year's superfluity from the opulent 
 classes of society was assuredly not so overwhelmmg 
 a hardship, Avhen so many thousands were torn from 
 their homes, and sent to bleed in fields of battle, and 
 especially when the actual contribution, which might 
 have been extorted unconditionally as an indispensable 
 war-tax, was acknowledged l>y a republican certificate, 
 convertible cither into state annuities or into portions 
 of national domains.* 
 
 This great operation, therefore, consisted in extract- 
 ing from the circulation one thousand milljons of as- 
 signats, by taking them from the rich, or, in other 
 ■R'ords, in depriving these one thousand millions of the 
 property of money and of all current value, and mak- 
 ing them a simple charge on the national possessions, 
 which the rich might exchange or not as they fancied, 
 into a corresponding portion of these possessions. In 
 this manner they were constrained either to become 
 purchasers or to firrnish the same amount in assignats 
 as if they had actuidly become so. It was, in short, 
 a forced investment of one thousand millions of as- 
 signats. 
 
 To these measm-es, intended more especially to sus- 
 tain the credit of the national paper-money, others 
 were superadded. After destroying the rivalry of the 
 old state obligations and the assignats bearing the 
 royal effigy, it was held expedient to stifle the com- 
 petition of the stocks of financial and commercial com- 
 panies. A decree was consequently passed abolishing 
 the Company of Life Assurances, the Company of 
 Discoimts {Caisse (TEscompte), and all others, in fact, 
 whose capital was distributed into bonds to bearer, 
 negotiable secm-ities, and inscriptions in a book trans- 
 ferable at pleasure. It was ordained that their aflairs 
 shoxdd be wound up within a short given period, and 
 that for the future none but the government coidd 
 create similar establishments. An immediate report 
 on the India Company was ordered, that institution 
 requiring, from its importance, a more particular exa- 
 mination. It was impossible to prevent the existence 
 of bills of exchange on foreign coimtries, but aU 
 Frenclunen were declared traitors to their country 
 who should place their funds in the banks or establish- 
 ments of comitries with which the republic was at war. 
 Fm'thermore, fresh severities were denounced against 
 the evasions practised with regard to bullion, and 
 generally against the traffic carried on in the precious 
 metals. A penalty of six years' imprisonment had 
 been already decreed against whomsoever shoidd buy 
 or sell specie, that is to say, receive or give it for a 
 larger sum in assignats ; and in the same manner a 
 fine had been imposed on every buyer or seller of com- 
 modities, who sliould stipulate for a different price 
 according as the payment was to be made in specie or 
 in assignats. But these delinquencies being of diffi- 
 cult detection, revenge was sought by augmenting the 
 pimishment. Every uidividual convicted of refusing 
 assignats in payment, or of giving or receiving them 
 at any depreciation howsoever slight, was condemned 
 in an amercement of three thousand livrcs and an im- 
 prisonment of six montlis for the first oflfencc, and, in 
 the event of a repetition, to a double penalty and 
 twenty years' incarceration. Lastly, as copper money 
 was indispensable in the markets, and could not be 
 easily supplied, it was ordered that the bells should be 
 used for coining decimes, demi-decimes, &c., worth 
 two sous, one sou, &c. 
 
 But whatsoever means might be employed to rescue 
 the assignats from depression, and annihilate the com- 
 petitors who were so injurious to them, it was a hope- 
 less expectation to elevate them to the level of general 
 prices ; wherefore it became necessary to force down 
 
 * The rlccroc rcg-ulatinc; tlie forced loiin boars date the .^a Sep- 
 Icmbcr. 
 
 tlie value of commodities. This was the more im])e- 
 rative, masmuch as the people implicitly believed that 
 the high prices were owing to the malipiity of the 
 dealers ; tlieir fiiith in the prevalence of forestalling 
 ^^•as sincere, and whatever might be the ojiinion of the 
 legislators, they coidd not moderate, in this particular 
 matter, the passions of a population which they were 
 instigating to the utmost in all others. Hence there 
 was no doubt but that the regidations already issued 
 respecting corn must be extended to every variety of 
 produce. A decree was passed classing engrossment 
 in the numljer of capital crimes, and punishing it with 
 death. The definition of an engrosser was " one who 
 withdrew from circulation commodities of the first 
 necessity, and failed to expose them publicly to sale." 
 The articles declared "of the first necessity" wenj 
 bread, wine, animal food, corn, meal, vegetables, fruits, 
 coal and charcoal, wood, butter, candles, hemp, flax, 
 salt, leather, liquors, salted and preserved provisions, 
 cloths, wooUens, and all haberdasheries except silks. 
 The forms to be observed in putting such a decree 
 into execution were imavoidably vexatious and in- 
 quisitorial. Every dealer was enjoined to make pre- 
 liminary declarations of what he possessed in his stores. 
 The con'ectness of these declarations was to be tested 
 by means of domiciliary visits. Any fraud or pre- 
 varication was punished, like the chief crime itself, 
 with death. Commissioners, nominated by the com- 
 nnmes, were empowered to enforce the production of 
 invoices, and according to those voiichers to fix a price, 
 which, leavmg a moderate profit to the trader, should 
 not exceed the resources of the people. If, however, 
 added the decree, the exorbitancy of the invoice cost 
 should preclude any 'profit to the merchant, the sale 
 must notwithstanding proceed at a price within reach 
 of the purchaser. Thus, in this enactment, as in that 
 enjoinmg the declarations touching corn and its max- 
 imum, to the communes was mrreservedly delegated 
 the power of assigning prices according to the state 
 of affairs in each locality. After a brief interval, the 
 rulers of the epoch were led to further generalise these 
 measures, and in theu- extension to render them yet 
 more violent, as we shall have occasion to record. 
 
 The military, administrative, and financial opera- 
 tions adopted at this eventfid period were, then, as 
 ably conceived as the situation of the country per- 
 mitted, and as energetic as the danger which called 
 them forth was imminent. The whole population, di- 
 vided into generations, was at the disposition of the 
 representatives, even the feeblest being exigible, either 
 to manufacture arms or tend the wounded. All the 
 old state debts, amalgamated into one republican debt, 
 were doomed to xmdergo an identical fate, and to bear 
 no greater value tlian the assignats. The intermin- 
 able rivalries of the ancient obligations, the roj'al 
 assignats, and the stocks of companies, were swept 
 away ; capitals were jirevented fi-om centering on those 
 favoured securities by assimilating the whole ; and 
 assignats not flowing back into the coffers of the state 
 with the desired rapidity, one thousand millions were 
 abstracted from the rich, which were struck from the 
 condition of money into a simple charge on the na- 
 tional domains. Lastly, for the purpose of establish- 
 ing a forced relvtion between the current money and 
 articles of the first necessity, the conmnmcs were in- 
 vested with authority to drag forth all stores of grain 
 and commodities, and compel their sale at a suitable 
 price in cacli localitj'. Never did anj' government 
 take at one time measures equally comprehensive and 
 daring in conception ; and they only will accuse their 
 authors of violence wlio choose to overlook tlie danger 
 of an universal invasion, and the necessity of support- 
 ing the country on national possessicms which found 
 uf) purchasers. The entire sj'stem of forced measures 
 was derived from tliose two causes. At the present 
 day, a superficial and giddj' generation snarls at these 
 oiJcrations, finding some undidy violent, others op- 
 posed to the approved maxims of political economy.
 
 326 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FIIENCH KEVOLUTION. 
 
 and in all its animadversions cro^raing profound igno- 
 riince of tlic era and of the situation witli black ingra- 
 titude. Let us revert to facts, and at lengtli do justice 
 to tliose men who made such gigantic etforts and un- 
 derwent such inordinate perils to save France. 
 
 Al^er these genend nicasiu-cs upon matters of 
 finance and athninistration, came others more specifi- 
 cally adapted to eacli theatre of war. The extraordi- 
 nary measures long since resolved upon with regard 
 to La Vendee, were at length decreed. The character 
 of that war was by tliis time well miderstood. The 
 strength of the rebellion did not he in organised troops, 
 ■whom victories could dissipate, but in a population 
 whieli, apparently peaceable and occupied in agricul- 
 tuTid laboiu-s, flew su-ldenly to arms upon a given sig- 
 nal, and overwhelmed particular points in a concen- 
 trated ma-'ss, surprising by mipetuous and unforeseen 
 attacks the republican forces, or, in case of defeat, 
 retreating into the woods and fields, and resuming the 
 pursuits of rural life with such outward placidity, as 
 to batlle the eye of discerimient in detecting the recent 
 soldiers from the other peasants. An obstinate con- 
 test of six months, distinguished b^' repeated risings, 
 sometimes amomiting to nearly one hmidred thousand 
 men, and by exi)loits of sm-passing temerity, the for- 
 midable renown acquu-ed by the msurgents, and the 
 confirmed opinion that the greatest danger threaten- 
 ing the revolution was in this cankering civil war, 
 were motives sufficiently powerfid to fix the most 
 anxious attention of the government on La Vendee, 
 and provoke resolutions eminently energetic and vin- 
 dictive. The remark had long been current that the 
 only mode of subjecting tliat mifortunate district was, 
 not to fight it, but to destroy it, since its armies were 
 at once no wliere and every where. Such were the 
 doctrines embodied in a terrible decree,* whereby La 
 Vendee, the remauaing Bourbons, and foreigners, were 
 simultaneously doomed to tlie direst chastisement. In 
 fulfilment of this decree, the mmister of war was 
 ordered to send into the revolted departments com- 
 bustible materials to consume the forests, copses, and 
 brushwood. " The forests shall be levelled," said these 
 orders, " the haunts of tlie rebels destroyed, the crops 
 cut down b3' bands of labom-ers, the cattle seized, and 
 the whole transported out of the district. The old 
 men, women, and children, shall be also conducted out 
 of the country, and their maintenance provided for 
 with the regards due to humanity." The generals and 
 representatives on missions were fiU"thermore enjoined 
 to collect around La Vendee supplies sufficient to sub- 
 sist large masses, and immediately there:ifter to evoke 
 in the surrounding departments, not a gradual levy as 
 in otlier parts of France, but a prompt and universal 
 levy, and thus pour one entire population upon an- 
 other. The selection of men was in accordance with 
 the character of these measures. We have seen Eiron, 
 Berthier, Menou, and Westermann, compromised and 
 superseded for having upheld a system of discii)line, 
 and Kossignol, the disturber of that discipline, libe- 
 rated from custody by the agents of the minister. The 
 triumph of the Jacobin system was complete. Ros- 
 signol, from the simple colonel of a regiment, was 
 suddenly exalted into the comniand-in-chief of the 
 army on the. coasts of Rochelle. Ronsin, the chief of 
 those emissaries of the minister who carried into La 
 Vendee all the passions of the Jsicobms, and main- 
 tained the creed tliat there was no occasion for expe- 
 rienced generals, but for generals thoroughly republi- 
 can ; that the war required was not a regular but an 
 exterminating system of warfare; and that every num 
 of the new levy was a soldier, and every soldier cap- 
 able of being a general — Ronsin, the chief of tliese 
 agents, was in four days made a captain, a colonel, 
 and a general of brigade, and joined in commission 
 with Rossigiiol, wielding all the powers of the mini- 
 ster himself, in order to preside over the execution of 
 
 * This decree bears date the 1st of August 1793 
 
 this new order of tactics. At the same time directions 
 were given that tlie garrison of Mayence should be 
 forwarded with all speed from the Rhine to La Ven- 
 dee. Distnist was so prevalent and undiscriminating, 
 that the generals of that intrepid garrison had been 
 put luiuer arrest for having capitulated. Merlin, 
 \vhose heroic character always coimnanded the highest 
 consideration, was fortmiatcly present to testify to 
 their zeal and courage. Kleber and Aubert-Dubayet 
 were restored to their sohUers, who were disposed to 
 liberate them by main force, and they proceeded to 
 La Vendee, where they were destined by their ability 
 to repair the disasters occasioned by the agents of the 
 minister. 
 
 It is a truth mdispensable to be borne in mind, that 
 passion is never either sage or enlightened, but that 
 passion alone can save nations in great extremities. 
 The appointment of Rossignol betraj-ed a strange 
 audacity, but it bespoke at the same time a fixed de- 
 termination ; it sliowed that half measures were no 
 longer to be permitted in this corroding war of La 
 Vendee, and obliged all the local administrations which 
 were still wavering to declare themselves. Those 
 furious Jacobms, scattered through the armies, often 
 threw them into disorder; but they, nevertheless, 
 conmmnicated that energy of resolution, without 
 which there would have been no armament, no sup- 
 l-Iies, no means of any sort. They exliibited great 
 injustice towards many generals, but tliey suffered 
 none to relax or hesitate. We shall shortly see their 
 blind ardour, when combined with the prudence of 
 cooler men, produce striking and happj' results. 
 
 Kilmaine, who had executed the brilliant retreat 
 which saved the army of the north, was forthmth 
 superseded for Houehard, formerly general of the 
 army of the Moselle, and recommended by a high re- 
 putation for valour and zeal. In the committee of 
 public welfare some changes occurred. Thuriot and 
 Gasparin resigned in consequence of indisposition. 
 The one was succeeded by Robespierre, w^ho at length 
 forced achnission into tlie government, his vast influ- 
 ence being eventually recognised and submitted to by 
 the convention, whicli liad hitherto refrauied from 
 nominatmg him on any committee. The other made 
 way for the celebrated Carnot, wlio, when formerly 
 commissioned to tlie army of the north, had given 
 proofs of eminent mOitarj' talents. 
 
 These various admmistrative and military measures 
 were accompanied by measures of vengeance, acc(3rd- 
 ing to tlie established practice of illustrating acts of 
 energy by acts of cruelty. We have already men- 
 tioned that, upon the demand of the delegates of the 
 primary assemblies, a resolution had been passed 
 against the suspected. It remained to frame a law 
 embodj'ing this resolution. Daily clamours were 
 raised for its production, because, it was vociferated, 
 the decree of the 27th !March, which put aristocrats 
 out of the pale of the law, was not sidficient for the 
 emergency. That decree, in fact, required a trial, and 
 another was desired authorising the imprisonment, 
 without trial, and merel.y to secure their persons, of 
 all citizens suspected for their opinions. Whilst 
 awaiting this decree, it was determined that the pos- 
 sessions of all those who were j)laced without the 
 pale of the law should belong to the republic. More 
 stringent enactments respecting aliens were likewise 
 demanded. They had already been declared uuder 
 the surveillance of committees .st3ding themselves re- 
 volutionary ; but regulations of much greater severity 
 were contemplated. 
 
 At this time the idea of a foreign conspiracy, 
 whereof I'itt was supposed the mover, more than ever 
 occupied the pulilic mind. A pocket-book, found 
 under the walls of one of the frontier towns, contained 
 letters written in English, which had piussed between 
 English agents residing in France. Reference was 
 made in these letters to considerable sums remitted 
 to secret agents disseminated through the camps, for-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 327 
 
 tresses, and principal cities. Some were instructed to 
 form connexions with the generals for the purpose of 
 corrupting them, and to gather exact accounts of the 
 state of the troops, the fortifications, and the maga- 
 zines ; others were commissioned to gain admittance 
 into the arsenals and public stores Avith phosphoric 
 matches, and to watch opportmiities for setting them 
 on fire. " Contrive to raise the rate of exchange," 
 said these letters, moreover, " to two himdred livres 
 the poimd sterling. Assignats must be discredited as 
 much as possible, and all those refused which want 
 the royal etSgy. Enhance the price of commodities. 
 Give orders to yoiir merchants to engross all articles 
 of primary necessity. K you can persuade Cott — ti 
 to pm'chase tallow and candles at any price, see that 
 the public be made to pay five francs a-pound. My 
 lord is well pleased at the manner in which B — t — z 
 has acted. We hope the assassinations will be con- 
 ducted with prudence. Disguised priests and women 
 are the fittest for such an operation." 
 
 These letters merely proved that England had some 
 military spies in the French armies, ;ind some emis- 
 saries in the commercial towns, with the view of 
 aggravating the calamities of scarcity, and that cer- 
 tain of them, perhaps, obtained money by pretending 
 to contemplate oi^portune assassinations.* But such 
 designs were scarcely to be dreaded, and tlieir pro- 
 bable effects M-ere unquestionably exaggerated by 
 the usual boasting of agents employed in similar ma- 
 noeuvres. It is true conflagrations had happened at 
 Douay in Valenciennes, in the sail-j' ards of Lorient 
 at Bayonne, and in the parks of artillery near Che- 
 mille and Saumiu-. It is possible that these agents 
 were the authors of such disasters, but they assuredly 
 had not directed either the poniard of tlie guardsman 
 Paris against LepeUetier, or the knife of Charlotte Cor- 
 day agauist Marat; and if they operated in foreign 
 paper and assignats, if they purchased goods by means 
 of the credits opened m London by Pitt, they exer- 
 cised but a trifling mflucnce on the commercial and 
 financial situation of France, which depended on 
 causes much more general and important than any 
 svich vile intrigues could be. Nevertheless, these 
 letters, taken in conjimction with several fires, two 
 assassinations, and the stockjobbing in foreign paper, 
 excited miiversal horror. The convention denounced 
 the English government in a formal decree to all na- 
 tions, and i>roclaimed Pitt the enemy of the human 
 race. At the same time it ordained that all aliens 
 domiciled in France, subsequent to the 14th July 
 1789, should be put imder arrest without further 
 delay.f 
 
 The convention, jielding to the full impetuosity of 
 wrath, likewise enjoined the prompt conclusion of the 
 proceedings against Custine, and consigned Biron and 
 Lamarche to immediate trial. The impeachment of 
 the Girondists was urged with renewed fierceness, and 
 tlie revolutionary tribunal directed to take up their 
 case in the In-iefest interval. Finally, indignation fell 
 on the surviving Boiu-bons, and on the miforlunate 
 family wliich deplored in the tower of tlie Ti'nijile the 
 fate of the late king. It was decreed that all the 
 Bourbons remaining in France should be banished, 
 except those wlio were mider the ban of the law ; and 
 that the Duke of Orleans, who had been transferred 
 to Marseilles in the month of !May, and whom the 
 federalists had abstained from calling to judgment, 
 should l)e re-coiuhicted to Paris in order to a])])ear 
 before the rurolutionary tribunal. f His deatli was 
 calcidated to silence those who accused tiie Mountain 
 of designing to create a king. The miserable Jlarie- 
 
 * [This assumption, anrl tlje nonscnsicnl letters uiioii wliich it 
 in osteiiHibly fmiiuied, will be treiiteil with (h rision. It is a pity 
 fhut M. Thiers should so far forget the tlignity of the historian as 
 to stoop to such preposterous calumniCB.] 
 
 t Decree of the 1st August. 
 
 t These measures were also adopted on tlie let of August. 
 
 Antoinette, notwithstanding her sex, was like her con- 
 sort doomed to the scaffold. She was generally re- 
 garded as the instigator of all tlie plots hatclicd in the 
 old court, and as infinitely more culpaltle than Louis 
 XVI. She had the misfortune, above all, to be a 
 daugliter of Austria, which at this moment was deemed 
 the most formidable of all tlie hostile powers. Ac- 
 cording to the custom of bearding witli chief ettrontery 
 tlie most dangerous enemy, it was judged desirable to 
 select this moment, when the imperial armies were 
 already marching on the French soil, to smite the 
 head ( if INIarie- Antoinette. She was accordingly trans- 
 ferred to the jail of the Conciergerie to await her trial, 
 hke an ordinary criminal, before the revolutionary 
 tribumd. The Princess Elizabeth, destined to banish- 
 ment, was retained to give evidence against her sister- 
 in-law. The two children were to be kept and reared 
 by the republic, which would decide, on the conclusion 
 of peace, what was fitting to be done for their behoof. 
 Hitherto, the expenditure at the Temi)le had been 
 ordered with a certain x^rofuseiiess which recalled the 
 rank of the captive family ; it was dkected to be 
 henceforth limited to bare necessity. Lastly, as a 
 consmnmatiou to all these acts of revolutionary ven- 
 geance, a decree consigned the royal sepulchi-es at 
 Saint-Denis to destruction. 
 
 Such were the measures that the imminent dangers 
 in the month of August 1793 provoked for the defence 
 and vengeance of the revolution. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIOXS IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 
 1793. TOULON DELIVERED TO THE ENGLISH. DE- 
 FEAT OF THE DUKE OF YORK. — REVERSES IN LA 
 
 VENDEE. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY 
 
 GOVERNMENT. TRLVL OF CUSTINE, AND HIS EXECU- 
 TION. 
 
 After the retreat of the French from Caesars camp 
 to the camp of Gavarelle, the allies had another op- 
 portunity of pursuing their discouraged army, which 
 had been unfortunate from the opening of the cam- 
 paign. Smce the month of INIarch, in fact, beaten at 
 Aix-la- Chapelle and Neer\\anden, it had lost Dutch 
 Flanders, Belgium, the camps of Caesar and Famar3, 
 and the fortresses of Conde and Valenciennes. One 
 of its generals had passed over to the enemy, and the 
 other had been slain. Thus, from the battle of Je- 
 mappes, it had been distinguished only for retreats, 
 meritorious ui themselves, doubtless, but by no means 
 exhilarating. Witliout forming the bold enterprise of 
 a direct march on Paris, the allies might have anni- 
 hilated this nucleus of an army, and left themselves 
 at liberty to take all such places as their cujiidity 
 prompted. But shortly after tlie capture of \'alen- 
 ciennes, the English, appealing to the convention con- 
 cluded at Antwer]), insisted upon the siege of Dunkirk. 
 Accordingly, whilst llie I'rince of Cobourg, remaining 
 in the vicinity of liis camp at Herin, between the 
 Scarpe and tlie Scheldt, undertoolc to occupy the 
 French, and contemplated tlie additional possession of 
 Quesnoy, tlie Duke of York, marcliing witli the Eng- 
 lisli and Hanoverian arniy by Orchies, Mcnin, Dix- 
 miide, and Furnes, proceede<l to estalilisii himself 
 l)ofore Dunkirk, between Langinoor and the sea. 
 Two sieges to be i)rosecnti'd by tlie allies, therefore, 
 afforded a wek'ome resjiite to tlie French ami}'. 
 I louchard, having assumed tlie command at(iavarelle, 
 hastily mustered all the disposable forces to fly to the 
 relief of Dunkirk. To debar the English from gain- 
 ing a i)ort on llie continent, to contend individuMlly 
 with tlie great antagonists of France, to deprive them 
 of all advantage from tlie war, and to fiirnisli fivsii 
 weaiMins to tlie opjiosition in England against Pitt — 
 such were the reasons that made Dunkirk be con- 
 sidered as the most important point in the wholu
 
 328 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 theatre of wur. " The safety of the republic lii-s 
 there," wrote tlie cor.iniittee of public welfare to 
 Houchard; and Carnot, perceiving that the troops 
 assembled between the frontier of the north and tliat 
 of the Khine, tliat is to say, on the ^loselle, were of 
 littli' use in their ])resent position, obtained an ordi- 
 nance that a reinforcement should be drafted from 
 that army and sent into Flanders. Twenty or twenty- 
 five days thus elapsed in j)reparations, a very natural 
 delay on the part of tlie Frencli, who had to concen- 
 trate troops, lyinjr dispersed at great distances, but 
 somewhat inconceivable on the part of the English, 
 who had oidy four or five marches to accomplish in 
 order to reach the walls of Dunkirk. 
 
 We left the two armies of the Moselle and the 
 Rhine essayuig to advance, when a little too late, 
 towards Mayence, and failmg to prevent the capture 
 of that town. Thereafter, thc}-^ had fallen back on 
 Saarbruck, Ilornbach, and Weissembourg. To enable 
 the reader to understand these different movements, 
 it will be essential to give an idea of the theatre of 
 war. The French frontier is somewhat oddly fashioned 
 on the north and east. The Scheldt, the Jleuse, the 
 ISIosellc, the chain of the Vosgcs, and the Rhine, run 
 towafds the north, forming almost parallel lines. The 
 Rhine, when it reaches the extremity of the Vosges, 
 takes a sudden turn, ceases to How in a parallel direc- 
 tion with those lines, and terminates them by turning 
 the foot of the Vosges and receiving m its course the 
 Moselle and the Meuse. The allies, on the northern 
 frontier, had advanced between the Scheldt and the 
 Meuse ; between the Meuse and the Moselle they had 
 made no progress, because the feeble corps left by 
 them between Luxumbourg and Treves had been un- 
 able to attempt any thing, but they were in a position 
 of greater capacity between the MoseUe, the Vosges, 
 and the Rhine. We have stated that they had planted 
 themselves on the lieights of the Vosges as a man 
 bestrides a horse, part on the eastern flank and part 
 on the western. The plan open to both parties was, 
 as we have previously explained, perfectly simple. 
 Considering the ridge of the Vosges as a river whose 
 passages it had been deemed necessary to occupy, an 
 army could transfer all its masses to one bank, over- 
 whelm tlie enemy on tliat side, and then return to 
 annihilate him on the otlier. However, neither to the 
 French nor to tlie allies did any such idea present 
 itself; and since the fall of Mayence, the Prussians, 
 stretching along the western flank, fronted the army 
 of the Rhine. The French had retired into the famous 
 lines of Weissembourg. The army of the Moselle, to 
 the number of 20,000 men, was posted at Saarbruck, 
 on the Saar ; the corps of the Vosges, amomiting to 
 12,000, was stationed at Ilornhiich and Kettrick, and 
 connected along the mountain range with the extreme 
 left of the army of tlie Rhine. The army of the Rhine, 
 20,000 strong, guarded the Ivauter, from Weissembourg 
 to Lauterhourg. Such are the lines of Weissembourg : 
 the Saar flows from the Vosges into the MoseUe, the 
 Lauter from the Vosges into the Rhine, and both form 
 a single line which cuts almost diagonally the MoseUe, 
 the Vosges, and the Rhine. An army became master 
 of it by occupying Saarbruck, IlornhiU'li, Kettrick, 
 Weissembourg, and Lauterliourg. Tliis was what the 
 French had done. They had scarcely 60,000 men on 
 aU that frontier, since it had been found necessary to 
 detach succours to Houchard. The Prussians had 
 contrived to waste two months in approaching them, 
 but had eventually advanced to Pirmasens. Eeing 
 reinforced by 40,000 men relieved from the siege of 
 Mayence, and having effected a junction with the 
 Austrians, they might have readily crushed the French 
 on one or other of the flanks ; but a coolness had 
 ari.sen between Austria and Prussia on the iniquitous 
 topic of the partition nf I'oland. Frederick William, 
 wiio was still in the camj) on the Vosges, declined to 
 second the impatient anlour of old ^Vurnlser. This 
 veteran, despite liis years, full of imiietuosity, made 
 
 every day fresh attacks on the lines of Weissembourg ; 
 but his partial onslaughts were productive of no deci- 
 sive effect, and ended in nothing but the useless sacri- 
 fice of human life. Such then, once more, was the 
 state of affairs on the Rhine, during the early days of 
 September. 
 
 In the south, events had taken more fidl develop- 
 ment. Tlie long micertainty of the Lyonnese had 
 finally terminated hi open resistance, and the siege of 
 their city was rendered inevitable. We remember 
 that they offered to submit and recognise the consti- 
 tution, but refused to explain themselves respecting 
 the decrees which enjoined them to send the impri- 
 soned patriots to Paris, and to dissolve the new sec- 
 tional authoritj-. Speedily, indeed, thej' set those 
 decrees at nought in the most signal manner possible, 
 by sending Chalier and Riard to the scaffold, by mak- 
 ing incessant preparations for war, abstracting money 
 from tlie public coffers, and intercepting the convoys 
 destined for the armies. Numerous partisans of the 
 emigrants had insinuated themselves amongst them, 
 who terrified their imaginations by depicting in hor- 
 rible colours the re-establishment of the old Moun- 
 taineer municipality. They flattered tliera, moreover, 
 with the speedy arrival of the MarseUlese, wlio, they 
 represented, were ascending the Rhine, and with the 
 advance of the Piedmontese, who were descril)ed as 
 on the point of debouching from the Alps with 60,000 
 men. Although the Lyonnese, as sincere federalists, 
 bore equal hatred to the alien and the emigrant, the 
 ^Mountain and the old municipality inspired them with 
 such mortal dread, that they were ready to expose 
 tliemselves to the danger and ignominy of a foreign 
 aUiance rather than confront the ire of the convention. 
 
 The Saone, flowing between the Jura and the Cote- 
 d'Or, and the Rhone, issuing from the Valais between 
 the Jm-a and the Alps, imite at Lyons. Tliat opulent 
 city is situated at their confluence. Ascending the 
 Saone from the town of Ma9on, the country was entirely 
 repubUcan, and the deputies Laporte and Revcrchond, 
 having mustered a few thousands of the requisitipnary 
 force, cut off tlie coniniunication with the Jura. Du- 
 bois-Crance, with the reserve of the army of Savoy, 
 appeared on the side of the Alps, and guarded the 
 upper course of the Rhone. But the Lyonnese were 
 entirely masters of the lower course of the river, and 
 of its right bank to the momitains of Auvergne. Thej' 
 prevailed in the whole Forez, made frequent incursions 
 into it, and pillaged Saint-Etienne of arms. A skilful 
 engineer had erected excellent fortifications aromid 
 their town, and a foreigner had cast for them pieces 
 to line the ramparts. The popidation was distributed 
 into two portions : the yoimg men followed General 
 Precy in his excursions, and the married men, the 
 fathers of families, guarded the town and its intreiich- 
 ments. 
 
 At length, in the beginning of August, Dubois- 
 Crance, who had suppressed the federalist revolt at 
 Grenoble, prepared to march on Lyons, conformably 
 to the decree which enjoined him to reduce that re- 
 bellious city to obetUence. The army of the Alps was 
 composed at tlie utmost of 25,000 men, and it was soon 
 to have on its quarters the Piedmontese, who, idti- 
 mately jirofiting by the advanced season of August, 
 were inaking ready to debouch by the great chain. 
 This army liad been recently weakened, as we have 
 seen, by two detachments, one drafted to reinforce the 
 army of Italy and another sent to reduce the Mar- 
 seUlese. The Puy-de-Dome, which was to have fur- 
 nished recruits, had kept them back to stifle the revolt 
 of the Lozere, whereunto previous reference has been 
 made. Houchard had retained the legion of the Rhine, 
 which was originally destined for the Alps ; and the 
 minister perpetuaUy promised a reinforcement of a 
 thousand horse which never ajjpcarcd. Nevertheless, 
 Dubois-Craiicc detached .5000 men of the regidar 
 troops, and joined to them 7000 or 8000 of the yomig 
 conscripts. He advanced with these forces to take
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 329 
 
 up a position between the Saone and the Khoiie, so 
 as to occupy their upper courses, to intercept the sup- 
 plies wliich the Lyonnese received by water, to pre- 
 serve his communications witli the army of the Alps, 
 and to cut ofT those of the besieged with Switzerland 
 and Savoy. By these dispositions, he still left the 
 Forcz to the Lyonnese, and, moreover, the important 
 heights of Fourvieres ; but in his situation it Avas 
 impossible to do otherwise. The most essential point 
 was to occupy the two streams of water, and intercept 
 Lyons from Switzerland and Piedmont. In order to 
 complete the blockade, Dubois-Crance awaited the 
 arrival of the fresh troops which had been promised 
 him, and of the siege artillery, which he was obliged 
 to draw from the Alpine fortresses. The transport of 
 that artillery required the aid of 5000 horses. 
 
 On the 8th Augixst he smmnoned the city, imposing 
 as conditions the complete disarmmg of all the citizens, 
 their retirement to their own houses, the surrender 
 of tlie arsenal, and the formation of a provisional 
 municipality. But the secret royalists in the commis- 
 sion and the staff continued even at tliis moment to de- 
 ceive the Lyonnese, aliurraing them with the prospective 
 incubus of a Mountaineer numicipality, and assuring 
 them that 60,000 Piedmontese were on the point of de- 
 boucliing on their town. An engagement which took 
 place between two advanced posts, and terminated to 
 the advantage of the Lyonnese, exalted them to an 
 insane pitch, and decided their resistance and their 
 calamities. Dubois-Crance commenced the fire on 
 the side of the Croix-Kousse, between the two rivers 
 where he had taken his position ; and from the first 
 day his artillery made terrible devastation. Thus, 
 one of the most important manufacturmg towns in 
 France was exposed to the horrors of a bombardment, 
 which bombardment had to be prosecuted ahnost be- 
 fore the very eyes of the Piedmontese, movuig down 
 the Alps. 
 
 In the mean time, Carteaux had marched on Mar- 
 seilles, and succeeded in clearing the Durance by the 
 middle of August. The Marseillese had fallen back 
 from Aix upon their own city, having formed the de- 
 sign of defending the gorges of Septemes, through 
 which winds the road from Aix to Marseilles. On 
 the 24th General Doppet attacked them with Car- 
 teaux's advanced guard. A warm action ensued ; but 
 a section, which had always been in opposition to the 
 others, passed over to the side of the republicans, and 
 decided the engagement in their favour. The gorges 
 were carried ; and on the 25th, Carteaux entered Mar- 
 seilles with his little army. 
 
 This event led to another, the most disastrous that 
 had yet befallen the republic. The city of Toulon, 
 which had always manifested a tendency to the most 
 violent republicanism so long as its mmiicipality had 
 been maintained, had midergone a marked change 
 since the estal)Hshment of the new authority of the 
 sections, which was speedily to effect a signal revul- 
 sion in the state of matters. Tlic Jacobins, rallying 
 round the nniuicipality, were clamorous against the 
 aristocratic officers of the navy, incessantly complain- 
 ing of the delay in repairing the fleet, of its long use- 
 lessness in harbour, and loudly demanding the punish- 
 ment of the officers, to whom they attributed the ill 
 success of tlie expedition against Sardinia. The mo- 
 derate republicans maintained, on the other hand, that 
 the old officers were alone capable of connnandiiig the 
 vessels ; that the ships could not be repaired witli 
 greater dispatch ; that to send them out against the 
 Spanish and English fleets would be highly unjjrudent ; 
 and, lastly, that the officers whose punishment was so 
 fiercely insisted upon were not traitors, but simply 
 infortmiate in the chances of war. The moderates 
 gained the ascendancy in the sections. Speeilily a 
 multitude of secret agents, intriguing for behoof of 
 the emigrants and the English, crept into Toulon, and 
 lu-ged the inhabitants much farther than they ever 
 tbought of iiroceeding. Tlusc agents were in coni- 
 
 mmiication with Admiral Hood, and had obtained 
 assurances that the allied stjuadrons Avould cruize in 
 the offing, and be ready to appear at tlie first signal. 
 
 In the first place, following the example of the Lyon- 
 nese, they brought to trial and executed the president 
 of the Jacobin Club, a person called Sevestre. There- 
 after they restored the service of the refractor}- priests, 
 and caused to be disinterred and borne in trimnph 
 the bones of some victims who had jjcrished during 
 the disturbances for the royalist cause. The committee 
 of public welfare having ordered the fleet to stop all 
 vessels bomid for Mars'^Ules, in order to famish that 
 city, the navy prevented the execution of such orders, 
 and claimed the gratitude of the sections of iMarseilles 
 for the contravention. Eventually they began to speak 
 of the dangers to which the to\\Ti was exposed in re- 
 sisting the convention, and of the necessity of securing 
 aid against its fury ; and to hmt the possibility of ob- 
 tainmg the assistance of the English by proclaiming 
 Louis XVII. The purveyor of tlie navy was, it ap- 
 pears, the chief instrument of the conspiracy ; he appro- 
 priated the money in the public coffers, st-nt to gather 
 contributions along the coasts, even to the depart- 
 nient of L'Hei-ault, and wrote to Genoa with mstruc- 
 tions to keep back cargoes of gi-ain, m order to render 
 the situation of Toulon more critical. The staffs wefL- 
 all remodelled; an officer of marines, compromised in 
 the Sardinian expedition, was taken out of prison and 
 invested with the command of the place; an old body- 
 guardsman was placed at the head of the national 
 guard, and the forts were intrusted to returned emi- 
 grants; lastly, means were taken to secure the co-ope- 
 ration of Adnural Trogoff, an alien whom France had 
 loaded with favours. A negotiation was opened with 
 Admiral Hood, under pretext of treating for an ex- 
 change of prisoners; and just after Carteaux had en- 
 tered ]\Iarseiiles, when terror was at its height in 
 Toulon, and when eight or ten thousand Proven(;als, 
 the most counter-revolutionary of the whole comitr^', 
 had taken refuge within its walls, the ignominious 
 proposal was submitted to the sections to receive the 
 English, who would take possession of the place for 
 behoof and in the name of Louis XVII. The navy 
 incensed at the infamy ui agitation, sent a deputation 
 to the sections to remonstrate against so villanous an 
 expedient. But the coimter-revolutionists of Toidon 
 and Marseilles, moved to extraordinary arrogance, 
 scornfiilly repudiated the reclamations of the navy, and 
 jjrocm-ed the acceptance of the proposition on the 29th 
 August. Immediately afterwards the signal was given 
 to the English. Admiral Trogoff", putting himself at 
 the head of the partisans for delivering the port, lioisted 
 the white flag, and issued orders for tlie fleet to join 
 him. The brave Hear- Admiral Saint-Julien, pro 
 claiming Trogoff a traitor, displayed at his mastliead 
 the flag of connnander, and attempted to rally all who 
 remained faithfid. But at this moment the traitors, 
 already in possession of the forts, threatened to blow 
 Saint-Jidien and his vessels out of the water, where- 
 uiion he felt it incimibent to seek safety in flight, 
 accompanied by a few officers and sailors. The re- 
 mainder were persuaded to submit, without very well 
 knowing what designs wqtl' in cogitation. At length. 
 Admiral lloixl, who had manifested consideral)le liesi- 
 tation, made his ajipearance; and, under ju-etenco of 
 accepting tlie port of Toulon in trust for Louis XVII., 
 entered it for the ulterior purpose of burning and de- 
 stroying it. 
 
 During this interval, no movement had occurred in 
 the I'yrenees ; in the west, preparations were in i)ro- 
 gress for executing the measm-es decreed by the con- 
 vention. 
 
 We left all the columns in ITjiper Vendee re-orga- 
 nising at Angers, Saumur, and Niort. The Vendt'ans 
 had meanwhile seized upon the l)ridges of Ce, and, in 
 the terror they inspired, Saumur was put in a state fit 
 to stand a siege. 'J'he column of Lu(,"on and Sables 
 was sdone capable of acting oflensively. It was com-
 
 33U 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 manded by a certain Tuncq, one of the generals re- 
 jjuted to belong to the military aristocracy', and whose 
 dismissal was strenuously demanded from the minister 
 by Konsin. In association Avith him were the two 
 representatives Bourdon de L'Oise and Goupilleau 
 of Fontenay, animated with the like sentiments, and 
 strongly opposed to Konsin and liossignol. Goupilleau, 
 especially, being born in tiie district, was disposed, 
 from family and friendly relations, to conciliate the 
 inhabitants, and spare them the rigours contemplated 
 by Honsin and his adjuncts. 
 
 The Vendcans, wliom the column of Lncon dis- 
 quieted, resolved to direct their victorious troops 
 against it. Besides, they were anxious to carry suc- 
 cour to the division of il. de Roirand, which, at that 
 time stationed before Lu(;on, and isolated l)etween tlie 
 two main armies of Upjier and Lower Vendee, was 
 dependent on its own resources alone, and stood gi'catly 
 in need of prompt support. Accordingh-, in the be- 
 guining of August, they pushed severid detacliments 
 towards Liicon, which were utterly discomfited by 
 General Tuncq. They determined to make a more 
 decisive elfort. All their leaders, D'Elbee, Lescure, 
 Larochejacquelcin, and Charette, mustered their forces 
 to the number of 40,000 lighting men, and on the 14th 
 August again presented themselves in the neighbour- 
 hood of Lu^on. Txmcq had only 6000 soldiers under 
 his orders. Lescure, trusting to the great superiority 
 of strength, gave the fatal advice to attack the repub- 
 lican army in the open field. Lescure and Charette 
 took the command of the left wing, D'Elbee that of 
 the centre, and Larochejacquelein that of the right. 
 Lescure aud Charette charged with admirable vigour 
 on the republican right, but in the centre, the soldiers, 
 unaccustomed to contend on even terms with regular 
 troops, showed hesitation. Larochejacquelem, having 
 mistaken his waj', failed to reach the repubUcan left 
 in proper time. General Tuncq, sending liis light 
 artillery, at tlie opportunia moment, upon the stagger- 
 ing centre, threw it into complete disorder, and, in a 
 few minutes, the M-hole of the Vendeans, 40,000 in 
 number, were put to flight. Never had the}' experi- 
 enced so disastrous an overthrow. They lost all their 
 artillery, aud retired precipitately to their homes, 
 overwhelmed with consternation. 
 
 At this identical moment arrived the order for 
 cashiering General Tuncq, in accordance with Eon- 
 sin's demands. Bourdon and Goupilleau, highly in- 
 dignant at sucli imworthy treatment, maintained him 
 in his command, wi-iting to the convention, at the same 
 time, urging it to revoke the decision of the minister, 
 and lodging fresh complaints against the disorganising 
 l)arty at Saumur, which, they alleged, propagated 
 nothing but confusion, and was bent on superseding 
 all the competent generals in favour of ignorant dema- 
 gogues. After the dispatch of this document, Ros- 
 signol himself, piu-suing an inspection of tlie diSerent 
 columns under his command, arrived at Lu^on. His 
 interview witli Tuncq, Bourdon, and Goupilleau, was 
 a mere exchange of reproaches ; notwithstanding two 
 victories, he was dissatisfied that any engagement 
 should have been fought without his sanction, for he 
 held, with some show of reason doubtless, that all 
 serious encounters were to be avoided imtil the general 
 re-organisation of the different armies. The parties 
 separated ; but shortly afterwards. Bourdon and Gou- 
 pilleau, being informed of certain acts of rigour com- 
 mitted by Rossignol in his progress, had the hardi- 
 hood to issue an ordinance degi-ading him from his 
 command Tliereupon, the representatives sitting at 
 Saunmr, Merlin, Bourbotte, Chondieu, and Kewl)ell, 
 annulled the ordinance of Goupilleau and Bourdon, and 
 reinstated Rossignol. The dispute was carried before 
 the convention : Rossignol once more triumphed over 
 his adversaries, and was confirmed in his authority ; 
 Bourdon and Goui)illeau were recalled, and Tuncq 
 suspended. 
 
 buch was the situation of affairs when the garrison 
 
 of Mayence arrived in La Vendee. A difference of opi- 
 nion prevailed as to the plan of operations it was ex- 
 pedient to adopt, and as to the direction in which that 
 valiant garrison should act. Ought it to be attached 
 to the army of Rochelle, and placed under the orders 
 of Itossignol ; or to the army of Brest, and confided 
 to Canclaux.' Such was the question. Both com- 
 manders longed to possess it, because it was sure to 
 prove predominant wheresoever it might appear. All 
 parties were agreed on the necessity of enveloping the 
 countrj' by simidtaneous attacks, which, directed from 
 all the points of the circumference, should meet in the 
 centre. But as the cohnmi possessing the Mayencers 
 woidd have to take a more decisive offensive, and drive 
 the Vendeans back upon the other columns, it was of 
 great importance to determine from what quarter it 
 was most advisable to assail them with the chosen 
 troop. Rossignol and his friends maintained, that the 
 most advantageous course vras to lead the ilayencers 
 from Saunmr, in order to sweep the Vendeans back 
 upon the sea and the Lower Loire, where they might 
 l)e entirely destroyed ; tliat the columns of Angers and 
 Saumur, being extremely weak, required the assist- 
 ance of the Mayencers to enable them to act at all, 
 since, if left to themselves, it would be impracticable for 
 them to advance into the country and attempt a junc- 
 tion with the other columns of Niort and Lu(,'on ; tliat 
 they could not even stop the Vendeans when they 
 were beaten back, or prevent them from spreading 
 over the interior ; and, lastly, that by allowing the 
 ilayencers to advance by Saumur, no valuable time 
 would be lost, whereas, by preferring Nantes, they 
 woidd be obliged to make a considerable circuit, and 
 waste miprofitably ten or fifteen days. Canclaux, on 
 the other hand, was deeplj' imj)ressed with the danger 
 of lea^ang the sea open to the Vendeans. An English 
 squadron had been recently descried off the shores of 
 the west, and it was natural to imagine that the Eng- 
 lish intended to effect a descent in the ^larais. Sucli 
 was, at the time, the genend persuasion, and although 
 it proved to be erroneous, it filled all minds with ap- 
 prehension. As the case stood, tlie English had only 
 then sent an emissary into La Vendee. He had ar- 
 rived mider disguise, and inquired the names of the 
 leaders, their intentions, and their precise aim; so 
 profound was the ignorance in Europe touching the 
 mternal circmnstances of France! The Vendeans 
 had replied by a demand for money and warlike stores, 
 and by a promise to appear with 50,000 men on any 
 point where it might be proposed to attempt a dis- 
 embarkation. All schemes of this sort were therefore 
 as yet remote, but it was tlie universal belief they 
 were on the very verge of execution. Hence the argu- 
 ment of Canclaux, who urged the expediency of em- 
 ploying the Mayencers on the side of Nantes, in order 
 thus to cut the Vendeans off from the sea, and throw 
 them back on the upper country. Should they spread 
 themselves in the interior, added Canclaux, they would 
 be very soon destroyed ; and as to any loss of time, 
 the consideration was without weight, inasmuch as 
 tlie army of Saumur was in such a condition as to be 
 incapable of acting in less than ten or twelve daj^s, 
 even with the aid of the ^Ia\'encers. One reason not 
 adduced was, that the garrison of ^layence, already 
 trained in the art of war, preferred serving with men 
 of its own profession, and inclined to Canclaux, an 
 experienced general, rather than to Rossignol, an ig- 
 norant intruder, and to the army of Brest, distinguished 
 for glorious feats, rather than to that of Samnur, kno^vn 
 only for its reverses. Tl:e representatives, being f:i- 
 vourable to the cause of discipline, also leaned to the 
 same opuiion, fearing to compromise the army of 
 Mayence by mingling it with the Jacobin and disor- 
 ganised soldiers of Saumur. 
 
 Philippeaux, the most detenuined antagonist of the 
 Honsin psirty amongst the representatives, repaired to 
 I'aris and obtained an ordinance from the committee 
 of public welfare in favour of Canclaux's i)lan. Ronsin
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 331 
 
 caused the order to be revoked ; and it was eventuall}' 
 settled that a council of war shovdd be held at Saumur 
 to decide on the employment of the forces. The coun- 
 cil assembled on the 2d September. It included several 
 representatives and generals. Sentiments were, as 
 might be expected, much divided. Rossiguol, who 
 had \inbovmded faith in his own opinions, ofiered Can- 
 claux to resign the comi.iand to him if he would allov.' 
 the Mayencers to march from Saumur. The advice 
 of Canclaux, however, prevailed in the coimcil ; the 
 IMayeneers were attached to the army of Brest, and it 
 was determined tluit the princii)al attack shoidd be 
 directed from the Lower upon the Upper Vendee. The 
 plan of tlie campaign Avas signed, and pledges were 
 exclianged to start, on a given day, from Saumm-, 
 Nantes, Sables, and Niort. 
 
 The greatest discontent prevailed in the party of 
 Samnxir. llossignol possessed energy and sincerity, but 
 was deficient both in mental acquirements and bodily 
 robustness, and in spite of his devoted zeal, he was 
 quite mcapable of acting beneficiallJ^ He evinced less 
 resentment at t'le decision adopted by the council than 
 his partisans, Ilonsin, ]\Iomoro, and all the ministerial 
 agents. These lost no tim.e in writing to Paris M'ith 
 complaints against the plan just resolved upon, lament- 
 ing, moreover, the calunmies in circulation against the 
 sans-culotte generals, and the pi-ejudices instilled into 
 the army of jMayence ; thus evincing dispositions 
 which foreboded badly for their zeal in seconcUng the 
 project decided upon at Saunrar. Ronsin carried his 
 spleen to such an extent as to stop the distribution of 
 provisions to the Mayencers, imder pretext that, hav- 
 ing passed from the anny of Rochelle to that of Bi'est, 
 they ought to be supported by the purveyors of the 
 latter. The Mayencers forthwith took their departure 
 for Nantes, and Canclaux made the necessary dispo- 
 sitions to ensm-e the execution of the plan adopted by 
 the council in the early part of Sejitember. 
 
 Such is the general summary of events on the 
 various theatres of war, in the coiu'se of August and 
 begiiming of September. It now behoves us to trace 
 the gi'eat operations resulting from these different 
 preparations. 
 
 The Duke of York had arrived before Dunkirk with 
 21,000 English and Hanoverians and 12,000 Austrians. 
 Marshal Trey tag was at O-st-Capelle with 16,000 men ; 
 the Prince of Orange at Menin with 15,000 Dutch. 
 These two latter corps were planted as an army of 
 observation. The remainder of the allies, scattered 
 around Quesnoy, and even to the IMoselle, amounted 
 to about 100,000 men. Thus 100,000 or 170,000 men 
 were distributed along that immense line, occupied in 
 making sieges and guarding all the passages, Carnot, 
 who now began to direct the operations of the French, 
 had already formed a dim perception that the approved 
 method of battling on all pouits was injudicious, and 
 that the better course was to concentrate a mass upon 
 a decisive point at the fitting moment. lie had there- 
 fore advised the removal of 35,000 men from the 
 Moselle and the lihme to the north. His counsel had 
 been followed, but only 12,000 could be spared foi- 
 Flanders. Nevertheless, with this reinforcement, and 
 the different parties encami)ed at Gavarelle, I.ille, and 
 Cassel, the French might have formed a mass of 
 60,000 men, and, in the scattered condition of the 
 enemy, liave struck some signal blows. 
 
 To be convinced of this truth, we need only to cast 
 our eyes upon the scene of warfare. Following the 
 coast of Flanders to enter France, we first stumble 
 on Furnes and tlicn on Dunkirk. Tliese two towns, 
 washed on one side by tlie ocean, and bounded on the 
 .ither by the vast marsli of the Grande-Moer, can only 
 communicate by means of a narrow tongue of land. 
 The Duke of York, arriving by Funics, wliich first 
 presents itself coming from the frontier, had planted 
 himself on this tongue of land, l)et\veen the sea and 
 the Grande-Moiir, with the view of liesieging Dunkirk. 
 Freytag's corps of observation bad not been i)osted at 
 
 Fumes so as to protect the rear of the besieging army; 
 it was, on tlie contrarj', a considerable distance fi-om 
 that position, in advance of the marsh and Dunkirk, 
 so disposed as to intercept any succom-s which might 
 come from the interior of France. The Dutch, under 
 the Prince of Orange, being stationed at Menin, three 
 da^-s' march from that point, became utterly useless. 
 A mass of 60,000 men, marching rapidly between the 
 Dutch and Freytag, miglit reach Furnes in tlie rear 
 of the Duke of York, and then manceuvring between 
 the hostile corps, successively overwhelm Freytag, the 
 Duke of York, and the Prmce of Orange. For such 
 a purpose, one compact mass and expeditious move- 
 ments were alone necessary. But in tliose dnjs cap- 
 tains thought only of pushing straight forward, oppos- 
 ing one detachment with another of. similar force. Tlie 
 committee of public welfare had, however, almost con- 
 ceived the plan of which we speak. It had given di- 
 rections to form a single corps and march on Fm-nes. 
 Houchard appreciated the idea for a brief moment, 
 but receded from it, and resolved smiply to advance 
 against Freytag, drive him back on the rear of the 
 Duke of York, and subsequently endeavour to inter- 
 rupt the siege. 
 
 Whilst Houchard was hastening his preparations, 
 Dimkirk opposed a vigorous resistance. General Sou- 
 ham, seconded by young Hoche, who behaved in this 
 siege with great intrepidity, had already repulsed 
 several attacks. The besiegers could not very easily 
 open trenches in a sandy soil, wlierein the sappers 
 fovmd water at a depth of three feet. The flotilla 
 which was to have left the Thames to bombard the 
 place did not appear, but on the contrary a Fi-ench 
 flotilla, issuing out of Dunkirk harbour and mooring 
 along the shore, did great execution upon the besiegers, 
 pent up upon their narrow neck of land, in want of 
 water fit to drink, and exposed to every variet}' c>f 
 danger. The opportunity was tempting for a prompt 
 and decisive blow. The month of August was nearly' 
 at an end. Followuig the antiquated system of tactics, 
 Houcjiard commenced by a demonstration on Menin, 
 which resulted merely in a liloody and useless comljat. 
 After considerately giving this preliminaiy alarm, he 
 advanced by several routes tow^irds the line of the 
 Yser, a small stream of water which sejiarated him 
 from Freytag's corps of observation. Instead of jjro- 
 ceeding to plant himself between the obserying and 
 the besieging armies, he intrusted to Hcdouville the 
 task of marching on Ilousbrugglie, with the view 
 simply of disturbing the retreat of Freytag upon 
 Furnes, and he in person pushed m front of Freytag, 
 advancing with aU his forces by lloutkerche, Plei'seele, 
 and Bambeke. Freytag had dis]H)sed his corps over 
 an extensive line, and had with him only a portion of 
 his force when he received Ilouchard's first shock. He 
 gave battle at Ilerseele ; but, after a warm engage- 
 ment, he was obliged to repass the Yser and fall back 
 on Bambeke, and subse(iuently from Bambeke on 
 Rexpanle and Killem. By thus recoiling beyond the 
 Yser, he left his wings compromised in advance. The 
 division of AVahnoden was thrown to a considerable 
 distance from him on his right, and his own retreat 
 was menaced by llcdduville towards Kousbrugghc. 
 
 Freytag then resolved, the same day, to move again 
 in advance and retake Rexpopde, in order to keep 
 open his communication with Walmoden. He reached 
 Itexpocde as the Frenili were entering it. A fiercely 
 contested combat ensued, in the course of which 
 Freytag was wounded and taken jirisoner. The day 
 beginning to wane, however, and bting ajijirebensive 
 of a night attack, Houchard retired out of the village, 
 and left in it only three battalions. Walmoden, who 
 was falling biu'k with his conijiromised division, ar- 
 rived at this moment, and determined to make a brisk 
 attack on Rexpode, in order to force a passage. A 
 sanguinary contlict was tlie result, fought in the dead 
 of niglit ; the jiassage was forced, Freytag delivered, 
 and the enemy retreated in a mass on the village <pf
 
 332 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Hondtschoote. This villaa:e, situated over auainst tlie 
 Graiide-Moer, and on tlie road to Fumes, was one of 
 the jwints by wliich it was necessary to pass on re- 
 tiring upon Fumes. Houchard having abandoned 
 the essential project of nianceuvTing towards Furnes, 
 between the besieging and the observing corps, he 
 had no otlier course left than to keep continually 
 pusliing forward on Marshid Frcytag, and to storm 
 the village of Hondtschoote. Tlie 7th was passed in 
 reconnoitring the ])ositions of the enemy, defended liy 
 a formidable artillery, and on tlie 8th the decisive 
 attack was resolved' upon. At dawn, the French 
 army moved forward upon the whole line to attack in 
 front. The right, under the orders of Hedouville, 
 stretched between Killem and Beveren ; the centre, 
 commanded by Jourdan, marched directly from Kil- 
 lem upon Hondtschoote ; the left attacked between 
 Killem and the canal of Furnes. The action began 
 in the copses which covered the centre. On both 
 sides, the greatest force was cidminated on the same 
 point. The French repeatedly returned to tlie attack 
 of the positions, and finally succeeded in becoming 
 masters of them. Whilst they triimiphed in the 
 centre, the intrenchraents were carried to the right, 
 and the enemy adopted the resolution of retiring on 
 Furnes by the route of Houthem and Hoghestade. 
 
 \Vhilst these events were passing at Hondtschoote, 
 the garrison of Dunkirk made a vigorous sortie under 
 the conduct of Iloche, and placed the besiegers in a 
 predicament of great peril. The day after the action, 
 they held a coimcil of war, wherein, taking into con- 
 sideration that they were threatened in the rear, and 
 that the naval armament which was intended to have 
 bombarded the to^vn had never made its appearance, 
 they determined to raise the siege and retire on Fur- 
 nes, where Freytag had just arrived. They conse- 
 quently effected a jmiction with that general on the 
 evening of the 9 th September. 
 
 Such v,ere those three days, which had for object 
 and for residt the repelling of the observing corps 
 upon the rear of the besieging corps, by following a 
 direct line of march. Tlie final struggle gave its name 
 to this operation, and the battle of Hondtschoote was 
 considered as the salvation of Dunkirk. The opera- 
 tion, in fact, broke the long chain of French reverses 
 on the northern frontier, sidijected the English to an 
 inglorious check, defeated the most cherished of their 
 liopes, rescued the republic from a calamity than 
 which none could have been felt more sensibly, and 
 imparted fresh courage to the people of France. 
 
 The victory of Hondtschoote was hailed with in- 
 finite joy at Paris, where it inspired the youth with 
 additional ardour, and gave groimd of liope that the 
 national energy was not destined to bo fruitless. Ee- 
 verses are of little moment if they be blended with 
 successes, so that the vanquished may not be entirely 
 deprived of hope and courage. The alternation tends, 
 indeed, to augment energy, and heighten the enthu- 
 siasm of resistance. 
 
 When the Duke of York betook himself to Dun- 
 kirk, the I'rince of Cobourg had resolved an attack 
 upon Quesnoy. That place was destitute of all the 
 means necessary to defence, and Cobourg pressed it 
 with unrelenting vigour. The committee of public 
 welfare, equally attentive to that portion of the fron- 
 tier as to the others, liad immediately ordered the 
 reserve ct)lumns to move from Landrccies, Cambray, 
 and iSIaubenge. Unhappily, these columns were un- 
 able to act simultaneously ; one was immured in 
 I.andrecies ; and another, being surrounded on the 
 plain of Avesnes, although thrown into the form of a 
 square, was broken, after a highly creditable resist- 
 ance. Accordingly, Quesnoy was obliged to capitu- 
 late on the nth of September. This loss was but a 
 trifling drawback from the gain in the delivery of 
 Dunkirk, j-et it threw a dash of sadness upon the joy 
 elicited by that event. 
 
 Houchard, after having driven the Duke of York 
 
 to concentrate his forces with those of Fre.ytag at 
 Fumes, had nothing to induce him to attempt any 
 further enterprise in that direction. He coidd merely 
 have charged with an equal force soldiers better dis- 
 ciplined than his own, without any of those favour- 
 able or pressing circmnstances which justify a general 
 in hazarding a doubtful battle. In this situation, he 
 had nothing more engaging to occupy him than to 
 f;dl foul of the Dutchmen, who lay scattered in seve- 
 ral detachments aroimd Menin, Halluin, Eoncq, Wer- 
 wike, and Ypres. Houchard, proceeding with caution, 
 sent orders for the camp at Lille to make a sally on 
 Menin, whilst he himself should operate by Ypres. 
 During two entire days the advanced posts of Wer- 
 wike, Koncq, and Halluin, were warmly contested. 
 On both sides exemplary valour, but mediocre judg- 
 ment, was evinced. The l*rince of Orange, althougli 
 pressed on aU sides, and having lost his advanced 
 posts, resisted with gi'eat obstinacy, fortified by the 
 intelligence he had received of the surrender of Ques- 
 noy and the approach of Beaulieu, who was bringing 
 him succours. Eventuulh-, on the 13th September, 
 he was constrained to evacuate Menin, after losing, 
 during these encomiters, from two to three thousand 
 men and forty pieces of cannon. Although the French 
 army had certainly not secured all the advantages 
 possible in its position, and, disregarding the instruc- 
 tions of the committee of ])ul)lic wclfiire, had acted in 
 bodies too sididivided, it had nevertheless succeeded 
 in accomplishing the occupation of Menin. 
 
 On the 15th it left ]\Ienin, aud marched on Cour 
 tr.ay. At Bisseghem it encountered Beaidieu. An 
 engagement ensued, which pronused to result in the 
 advantage of the French ; but the sudden appearance 
 of a squadron of cavalry on one of the wings, spread 
 an alarm which was fomided on no real danger. The 
 whole army swerved, and finally fled in the utmost 
 disorder to Menin. Nor did this inconceivable rout 
 end there ; the panic was communicated to all the 
 camps, to all the posts, and the entire French army 
 flew for refuge under tlie gmis of Lille. Tliis panic- 
 terror, whereof many previous examples had occurred, 
 and wliich proceeded from the youth and inexperience 
 of the troops, perhaps from perfidious cries of " Sainv 
 quipeut" (Every man for himself), caused the loss of 
 many substantial advantages, and the recoil even to 
 Lille. The tidmgs of tliis disaster, when borne to 
 Paris, produced a very dismal mipressiou, stripping 
 Houchard of all the credit of his late victory, and 
 arousing against him feelings of the utmost wrath, 
 whereof he averted a portion on the committee of 
 public welfare itself. A new series of checks speedily 
 followed, and threw France back into the perilous 
 predicament whence she had for an instant emerged 
 by tlie victory of Hondtschoote. 
 
 The Prussians and the Austrians, planted on the 
 two slopes of the Vosges, in front of the two French 
 armies of the Khine and the IMoselle, had at length 
 made some serious demonstrations. The veteran 
 W^unnser, more ardent than the Prussian commanders, 
 and discerning all the advantages of possessmg the 
 passes of the Vosges, determined upon occupying the 
 imxiortant post of Bodenthal, towards the Upper Lau- 
 ter. Accordingly, he detached a corjjs of 4000 men, 
 which, eflccting a passage across frightful mountains, 
 succeeded in surprising Bodenthal. On their i)art, 
 the representatives commissioned to the army of the 
 Kliine, yielding to the universal impulse which every 
 where provoked a spirit of redoubled energy, resolved 
 upon a generid sortie from the lines of VVeissembourg 
 on the 12th September. The three generals, Desaix, 
 Dubois, and Michaud, siniidtaneously charging the 
 Austrians, made fruitless eftbrts, and were driven back 
 into the lines. Moreover, all the attempts directed 
 against the Austrian corps thrown on Bodenthal were 
 comi)letely parried. However, a plan for a fresh at- 
 tack was digested for the Hth. Whilst General Fcr- 
 rette should march on Bodenthal, the army of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 333 
 
 Moselle, acting on the other flank, ^vas to attack Pir- 
 mascns, occupying a position corresponding with that 
 of Bodentlial, and in wliich Brunswick was stationed 
 with a part of the Prussian army 
 
 General Ferrette perfectl}"^ succeeded in the object 
 of his enterprise ; his soldiers assaulted the positions 
 of the Austrians with heroic temerity, carried them 
 ui spite of all resistance, and recovered the imjiortant 
 defile of Bodentlial. But the result was somewhat 
 different on the opposite flank. Brmiswick was keenly 
 alive to the importance of Pirmasens, which closed 
 the defiles ; he held under his command a considerable 
 force, and occupied excellent positions. "VVliilst the 
 army of the Moselle forced the rest of the Prussian 
 army on the Saar, 12,000 men were thrown from 
 Ilornbach on Pirmasens. The only hope of the French 
 was to carry Pirmasens by surprise ; but descried, and 
 played upon by a galling fire from their first advance, 
 nothing remained for them but to retire. Such, at 
 least, was the wish of their commander ; biit the re- 
 presentatives repudiated the suggestion, and ordered 
 the attack in three columns and by three ravmes which 
 met at the height whereon Pinnasens is situated. 
 Already the French soldiers, animated with the truest 
 gallantry, had pushed forward a considerable interval ; 
 the colmnn on the right was even on the point of clear- 
 ing the ravine in which it marched, and turning Pir- 
 masens, when a double fire, opened on both flanks, 
 suddenly arrested its progress. The French resisted 
 for some time, but the fire poured upon them with 
 redoubled fury, and they were finally driven back 
 along the ravine wherein they had entangled tliem- 
 selves. The other columns were repelled in like man- 
 ner, and all fled along the narrow valleys in the 
 utmost disorder. The army was obhged to retire to 
 the post whence it had originally moved. ]\Iost for- 
 tmiately, the Pi'ussians never thought of pursuing it, 
 and failed even to occupy its camp of Hornbach, which 
 it had quitted to march on Pinnasens. The French 
 lost in tills affair twenty-two pieces of cannon, and 
 4000 men, killed, wounded, and prisoners. This check 
 of the 14th September might lead to consequences of 
 the greatest moment. The allies, fluslied with suc- 
 cess, contemplated operating with all their forces, and 
 made dispositions to march on the Saar and the Lauter, 
 in order thus to force the lines of Weissembourg. 
 With which designs we must leave them for a tune. 
 
 The siege of Lyons was tardiJy i^rosecuted. The 
 Piedmontese, debouching by the Upper Alps into the 
 valkysof Savoy, had eflected a diversion, and ol)liged 
 Dubois-Crance and Kellermann to divide their forces. 
 The latter had advanced into Savoy, whilst the former, 
 remaining before Lyons with insufficient forces, kept 
 up an incessant but fruitless discharge of artillery and 
 shells on that unfortimate city, which, resolved to un- 
 dergo every extremity, bade defiance to all the horrors 
 of a bloc'kade and bombardment, and was to be reduced 
 only by an attack of overpowering force. 
 
 On the Pyrenean frontier, tiie French had in the 
 mean time sustained a severe check. Since tlie last 
 recorded events, they had remained in the environs of 
 Perpigiian, whilst the Spaniards occupied their camp 
 of Mas-d'Eu. These, confident in their muubers, their 
 discii)line, and the talents of their general, were full 
 of ardour and h()])e. "We have already descrilied the 
 theatre of war. Tlie two nearly parallel vallej's of the 
 Tech and the Tet fall from the great mountain chain 
 and expand towards the sea. Perpigium is in the 
 latter of these vallej's. Ricardos liad crossed the first 
 line of the Tech, as his position at Mas-d'Eu inij)lies, 
 and had resolved to pass tliat of the Tet considcral)ly 
 above Per])ignan, so as to turn tliat fortress and con- 
 strain the French army to abandon it. With this view 
 he deemed it essential, in the first i)Iace, to secure 
 Villefranche. Tliat little fastness, situated in the 
 upper part of the Tet, would serve to protect liis left 
 wing against fieneral Dagobert, wlio, at the head of 
 30UU men, was pursuing a successful career in Cer- 
 
 dagne. Accordingly, in the early part of ^Vugnst, he 
 detached General Crespo with a few battalions in that 
 direction, who no sooner presented himself before 
 Villefranche than its commandant basely threw open 
 the gates to him. Crespo placed a garrison m his 
 conquest, and rejoined Ricardos. 
 
 During this interval, Dagobert with his inconsider- 
 able force overran Cerdague, repelled the Spaniards to 
 Seu-d'Urgel, and even contemiilated driving tliem as 
 far as Campredon. However, tiie weakness of Dago- 
 bert's detachment, and the irassession of Villefranche, 
 rendered Ricardos indifferent to tlie successes of the 
 French on liis left wing, and he persisted in his scheme 
 of taking the oflensive. On the 3 1st August he made 
 a threatening demonstration towards the camp under 
 Perpignan, and passed the valley of the Tet alcove 
 Soler, driving before him tlie French right wing, which 
 fell back to Salces, some leagues in the rear of Per- 
 pignan, and quite close to the sea. Thus the French 
 were thrown into a position of the utmost danger, one 
 portion of them being detained at Perpignan and the 
 other forced to the edge of the sea at Salces. Dago- 
 bert, it is true, liad gained fresh advantages in Cer- 
 dagne, but too unimportant to alarm ]iicardos. The 
 representatives Fabre and Cassaigne, who had retired 
 with the army to Salces, resolved to caU Dagobert in 
 substitution of Barbantane, with the hope of restoring 
 fortune to the French flag. Whilst awaiting the ar- 
 rival of the new general, they projected a combined 
 movement between Salces and Perpignan, in order 
 with all sj^ed to extricate the army from its perilous 
 position. They accordingly ordered a column to ad- 
 vance from Perpignan and take the Spaniards in the 
 rear, whilst they, quitting their present stations, should 
 attack them in front. On the 15th September, there- 
 fore. General Davoust left Perpignan with 0000 or 
 7000 men, at the same time that Perignon moved from 
 Salces upon the Sjianish force. At a given signal, the 
 French commanders charged the hostile camp on both 
 sides, and the Sjianiards, unable to resist the niulti- 
 fiirious assaidt, were obliged to fly beyond the Tet, 
 leaving behind them twenty-six pieces of cannon. 
 They forthwith resmned tlieir old quarters at Mas-d'Eu, 
 occupying the same camp whence they had marched 
 to execute their bold but uni)roductive enterprise. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs when Dagobert 
 reached the French camp and assumed the command. 
 That experienced warrior, now in the seventy-fifth 
 year of his age, and uniting all the fire of youth with 
 tlie exemplary discretion characteristic of age, hastened 
 to signalise his arrival by an attempt upon tlie camp 
 of ]\Ias-d'Eu. He divided his attacking force into 
 three columns ; the first, diverging from his right and 
 marching by Thuir upon Sainte-Colombe. was intended 
 to tm-n the Spaniards ; the second, acting in the centre, 
 was appointed to charge in front, and bear them down 
 before it ; lastly, the third, operating on tlie left, was 
 to plant itself in a wood and iiitercei)t the retreat. 
 This latter division, commanded by Davoust, made a 
 faint attack and fled in ilisorder. Tlie Sjianiards were 
 thus enabled to direct their whole stn^ngtli uj)on the 
 two otlicr columns of the centre and right. Ricardos, 
 judguig tlie ])rinci])al danger lay to the right, movetj 
 his greatest force in that direction, and succeeded in 
 reinilsing the Freiicli. In the centre, Dagoliert, ani- 
 mating tlie troops by his presence, carried tlie intrench- 
 ments in front of him, and was on the point of decid- 
 ing the victory, when Ricardos, returning with the 
 victorious coi'ps from the right and lef\, overwhelmed 
 his adversary with all liis combined forces. Still the 
 intrejiid Dagobert resisted, hmvever, until a battalion 
 threw down its arms, and cried, " liong live the king!" 
 Dagobert, greatly incensed, jKiinted two iiieces of ord- 
 nance on the traitors, and fired desjierately u])on them, 
 whilst he rallied around his person a band of faithful 
 warriors; with these few hundred soldiers he eventu- 
 ally retired, the enemy, intimidated by his undaunted 
 front, not venturing to puisue him.
 
 S34 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Assiiredlv that brave commander had merited high 
 eidojiiuiu for his iirmness amidst such difficidties, and 
 if liis colmnu on tlio left had acted -vvitli better spirit, 
 if his battidions in the centre had not shamefully dis- 
 banded, his dispositions would liave been followed with 
 complete success. Notwithstandint^ this obvious trutli, 
 the gloomy suspicions of the representatives attributed 
 the whole disaster to liim. Disgusted at sucli out- 
 rageous mjustice, he immediately returned to his sub- 
 altern command in Cerdagne. The French army was 
 in this manner once more driven back upon Perpignan, 
 and exposed to the uuminent risk of losing the impor- 
 tant line of the Tet. 
 
 In La Vendee, the plan of campaign settled on the 
 2d September had been put into execution. Tlie divi- 
 sion of ilayence was destined, as we have related, to 
 act by Nantes. The committee of public welfare, 
 which had received alarming intelligence touching 
 the designs of the English upon the west, fully ap- 
 proved tlie idea of directing the main strength to;vards 
 the coasts. Rossignol and his party were extremely 
 chagrined at this sanction, and addressed letters to 
 the ministry, indicating a spirit prophetic of but a 
 reluctant co-operation in the plans agreed upon. The 
 division of I\Iayence forthwith marched to N;intes, 
 where it was received with public rejoicings, and other 
 lively demonstrations of joy. A sumptuous banquet 
 was prepared, for which the guests sharpened tlieir 
 appetites by a preliminary skirmish with the hostile 
 parties hovering upon tlie banks of tlie Loire. If the 
 column of Nantes felt delight at being united witli the 
 celebrated garrison of Mayence, the latter was not less 
 gratified at serving under Canclaux, and in concert 
 with his detachment, already renowned for tlie defence 
 of Nantes, and for a variety of honourable achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 The essence of the phi.n laid do^vn consisted in 
 columns starting from all the x>oints of the theatre of 
 war, meeting in the centre, and there crushing the 
 enemy. Canclaux, general of the army of Brest, tak- 
 ing his departure from Nantes, was to descend the 
 left bank of the Loire, wind round the large lake of 
 Grand- Lien, sweep Lower Vendee, then re-ascend 
 towards ^Machecoid, and reach Lcger on the 11th or 
 13tli. His arrival at tliis last point would be the 
 signnl for marching to tlic columns of the army of 
 Kochelle, which were appointed to overrun the country 
 from the southern and eastern extremities. It will 
 be recollected tliat the array of Kochelle, mider the 
 supreme command of Rossignol as gcneral-m-chief, 
 was composed of several divisions — that of Sables, 
 commanded by jMieszkouskj', that of Luyon by Beffroy, 
 that of Niort by Chalbos, that of Saumur by SanteiTe, 
 and that of Angers by Duhoux. The instant Can- 
 claux slioidd arrive at Leger, the colmun of Sables 
 was enjoined to get under movement, attain Saint- 
 Fulgent on tlie 13t)i, Ilerbiers on the 14tli, and finally, 
 Mortagne on the 16th, there to join Canclaux. The 
 colmuns of Lu(;on and Niort were, in conjunction, to 
 advance upon Bressuire and Argenton, reaching that 
 height by the 14th ; lastly, the colmnns of Saumur 
 and Angers, moving from the Loire, were likewise 
 to arrive on the 14tli in the vicinitj' of "S^ihiers and 
 Chemille. Thus, according to this scheme, tlie whole 
 country would be traversed by the 14th and IGth, and 
 the rebels hemmed in by the republican troops between 
 Mortagne, Bressuire, Argenton, Vihiers, and Che- 
 mille. Their destruction might be then deemed in- 
 evitable. 
 
 Twice repulsed from Lu(;on with considerable loss, 
 the Vendeans had it greatly at heart to retrieve the 
 disgrace. They assembled in force before the repub- 
 licans liad executed their project, and whilst Charette 
 assailed the camp of Naudieres on the side of Nantes, 
 tliey att;icked the division of Lu<,'on, which had pushed 
 forward as far as Chantonay. These two enterprises 
 took place on the 5th September. The attempt of 
 Charette on Naudieres was repelled, but the assault 
 
 on Chantonay, imexpected and well-combined, threw 
 the republicans into deplorable confusion. Tlie young 
 and valorous ilarceau effected prodigies to obviate a 
 disaster, but his divisicm, after losing its baggage and 
 artillery, retreated pell-meU to Lu9on. This check 
 was capable of deranging the concerted plan, inasmuch 
 as the disorganisation of one of the columns left a void 
 between the division of Sables and that of Niort ; but 
 tlie representatives made all possible eSlirts to repair 
 tlie mischief bj' infusing order into the discomfited 
 battalions, and couriers were dispatched to Rossignol 
 with swift inthnation of the occurrence. 
 
 All the Vendeans were at this moment gathered at 
 Ilerbiers, around their generalissimo D'Elbee. The 
 s])irit of discord was at work amongst them, as amongst 
 tlieir adversaries, for the human heart is every where 
 tlie same, and nature certainly does not reserve disin- 
 terestedness and manifold virtues for one party, leaving 
 to the other exclusively pride, selfishness, and all vice. 
 The Vendt'an chiefs, equally with the republican, were 
 envious and jealous of each other. The generals en- 
 tertained little regard for the superior council, which 
 affected a species of sovereignty. I'ossessing the actual 
 force, they were not at all disposed to yield the supre- 
 macy to a power which owed its ephemeral existence 
 to themselves alone. Moreover, they viewed D'Elbee 
 with feelings of repugnance, and alleged that Eon- 
 champs was much better calculated to form a general- 
 issimo than he. Charette, on his part, was anxious 
 to remain tlie sole master of Lower Vendee. Thus 
 they Avcre ill prepared to act in common, and to con- 
 cert a plan in opposition to that of the republicans. 
 An intercepted dispatch had recently apprised them 
 of the project conceived by their enemies. Bonchamps 
 was the only leader amongst them who proposed a 
 bold system of operations, and manifested profound 
 ideas. He held that it would be impossible to resist, 
 for any considerable period, the forces of the republic 
 wlicn concentrated in La Vendee ; that it behoved 
 them to emerge from those woods and hollows, wherein 
 they might be interminably buried, without ever know- 
 ing, or being known, of the allies ; and, consequently, 
 tiiat instead of waiting to be exterminated, thej' ought 
 to leave Vendee in a close column and advance into 
 Brittany, where t'neir presence would be hailed with 
 glathiess, and Avhere the republic hiid no expectation 
 of being assailed. According to his vicAvs, the Ven- 
 deans woidd have marched to the shores of the ocean, 
 seized upon a port, ojiened a coinmunication with tlie 
 Englisli, received an emigrant prince amongst them, 
 moved upon Paris, and thus prosecuted at once olfen- 
 sive and decisive hostilities. Tliis counsel, which is 
 attributed to Bonchamps, was not followed by the 
 Vendeans, whose ideas were still as confbied, and their 
 repugnance to quit their native district as strong as 
 ever. The principal leaders thought only of dividing 
 the country into portions, in order to exercise indivi- 
 dual sway in each. Thus Charette had Lower Vendee, 
 M. de Bonchamps the banks of the Loire on the side 
 of Angers, jM. de Larochejacquelein the remamder of 
 Upper Anjou, and M. de Lescure all the insurgent 
 part of Poitou. M. d'Elbee retained his nominal title 
 of generalissimo, and the superior council its disre- 
 garded authority. 
 
 On the i)th, Canclaux commenced his movement; 
 he left a strong reserve in the camp of Naudieres, 
 mader the orders of Grouchy and Haxo, to protect 
 Nantes, and pushe<l the column of ^layence towards 
 Leger. In the mean time, the old army of Brest, under 
 tlie orders of Beysser, making the circuit of Lower 
 Vendee by Pornic, Bourneuf, and Jlachecoul, was ap- 
 pointed to rejoin the coliort of Majencers at Angers. 
 
 These movements, directed by Canclaux, were exe- 
 cuted without encountering any serious obstacles. 
 The cohort of jMaj'ence, whereof Kleber commanded 
 the advanced guard and Aubert-Dubayet the main 
 body, drove all enemies liefore it. Kleber, as merciful 
 as intrepid, caused his troops to encamp without the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 336 
 
 villages to prevent spoliations. " In winding," says 
 he, " along the beaiitiful lake of Grand-Lieu, we en- 
 joyed a charming landscape, and views equally delight- 
 fill and diversified. Numerous flocks, abandoned to 
 themselves, were roaming at hazard over an immense 
 plain. I could not avoid sighing at the fate of those 
 unfortunate inhabitants, who, misled and fanaticised 
 by their priests, rejected the benefits of a new order 
 of tilings to incur certain destruction." Kleber used 
 imremitting exertions to protect the coimtry from the 
 excesses of the soldier}^, a!id usually succeeded. A 
 civil commission had been joined with the staff to put 
 into execution the decree of the 1st of August, v.'hich 
 ordained the devastation of the country and the re- 
 moval of the population. The soldiers, meanwhile, 
 ^^•ere forbidden to apply the torch, as the means of 
 destruction were only to be employed according to the 
 express injunctions of the generals and the members 
 of the civil commission. 
 
 Leger Avas reached by both divisions on the 14th, 
 and the column of Mayence united with that of Brest, 
 commanded by Beysser. In the interim, the cokmm 
 of Sables, under the orders of Mieszkouski, had ad- 
 vanced to Saint-Fulgent, m accordance with the settled 
 plan, and already extended its posts to those of Can- 
 claux's army. The division of Lu9on, retarded for an 
 interval by its defeat at Chantonay, had hung back ; 
 but, owing to the indefatigable efforts of the represen- 
 tatives, who had given it a new general, Beflroy, it 
 had finally moved forward. That of Kiort was at 
 Chataigneraie. Thus, although the general movement 
 had been delayed for a day or two on all the points, 
 and Canclaux had not arrived at Leger until the 14th, 
 whereas he ought to have been there on the 12th, the 
 delay being common to aU the divisions, the combi- 
 nation was not affected, and the plan of the campaign 
 was in the course of successful execution. But, whilst 
 these operations Avere in progress, the news of the de- 
 feat sustained by the division of Lu^on had readied 
 Samuur ; Eossignol, Eonsin, and the whole staff, had 
 taken the alarm, and fearing that similar misfortunes 
 might happen to the two other columns of Niort and 
 Sables, the strength of which they judged inadequate, 
 they determined to recall them immediately to their 
 former posts. This order was in the higliest degree 
 imprudent, but it was not given in bad faith or with 
 the intention of imcovering Canclaux and exposing 
 his wings ; the fact was, they had no confidence in his 
 j)lan, and were well inclined, at the first impediment, 
 to proclaim it impossible and to abandon it. This was 
 doubtless what induced the staff of Saumur to order 
 the retrograde movement of the columns of Niort, 
 Lucon, and Sables. 
 
 Canclaux, pursuing his march, gained fresh ground. 
 He attacked Montaigii on three points : Kk'ber by 
 the road to Nantes, Aubert-Dubayet by that to Roche- 
 Serviere, and Beysser by that to Saint-Fulgent, charged 
 simultaneously, and speedily dislodged the enemy. On 
 the 17th Canclaux took Clisson, and perceiving no 
 symptoms of Rossignol's co-opei'ation, he resolved to 
 halt and confine himself to reconnoitring mitU he ac- 
 quired further information. 
 
 Canclaux, therefore, on the 18th September, had 
 established himself in the environs of Clisson, having 
 left Beysser at IMontaigu, and dispatched Klcber with 
 the adA'^anced guard to Torfou. The counter orders 
 issued from Saumur liad readied the division of Niort, 
 and been communicated to the tAVO other divisions of 
 Lucon and Sables, whereupon they forthwith retired, 
 throAving by their retrograde movement the Vendeans 
 into amazement and Canclaux into great perplexity. 
 The Vendcans mustered nearly 100,000 men under 
 arms. A very large body was assembled to^vards 
 Vihiers and Chemilk', in front of tlie columns of 
 Saumur and Angers ; a still more considerable number 
 towards Clisson and Montaigu, observing Canclaux. 
 Tl'.e columns of Angers and Savunur, seeing their 
 enemies so numerous, exclaimed that it was the army 
 
 of IMaAcnce Avhich thus drove them back upon them, 
 and denounced a plan Avliich exposed them to such 
 formidable hazards. Tlieir clamours, hoAvever, Avere 
 groundless; for the Vendcans Avere eA'ery Avhere in 
 sufficient force to occupy the republicans on all points. 
 At that very moment, so fiir from charging the co- 
 lumns of Rossignol's army, they were marching on 
 Canclaux; D'Elbce and Lescure Avere in the act of 
 quitting Upper Vendee to confront the Mayencers. 
 
 By a singular complication of circumstances, Eos- 
 signol, upon learning Canclaux's successes and his 
 advance into the very centre of La Vendee, counter- 
 manded his .first orders to retreat, and enjoined his 
 columns to resume their movement in advance. The 
 divisions of Samuur and Angers, being stationed Avi thin 
 a short distance, Avere the first to act in obedience to 
 these orders, and engaged in skirmishes Avith the 
 enemy, the one at Done, the other at the bridges of 
 Ce. No decisive advantage resulted to either party. 
 On the 18th, the Saumur column, commanded by San- 
 terre, attempted to advance from Vihiers to a little 
 viUage called Coron. Inconsequence of most wretched 
 dispositions, artillery, cavalry, and mfantry Avere con- 
 fusedly croAvded in the streets of this village^! which was, 
 moreover, within range of commanding heights. San- 
 terre, perceiving the fatal error, Avas eager to repair it, 
 and ordered the troops to fall back, Avitli the vieAv of 
 drawing them up in form of battle on an eminence ; but 
 Ronsin, avIio, in the absence of Rossignol, arrogated a 
 superior authority, upbraided Santerre Avith beating a 
 retreat, and opposed his manoeuATe. At this moment, 
 the Vendcans made a furious cliarge upon the repub- 
 licans, and a frightful disorder Avas communicated to 
 the Avhole division. It contained a large jiroportion 
 of recruits enlisted under the impulse of the tocsin, 
 who broke from their ranks, and imparting their terror 
 to tlie rest, aU fled precipitately from Coron to Vihiers, 
 to Done, and to Saumur. The following day, the Ven- 
 dcans marched against the Angers division, commanded 
 by Dulioux. Equally fortmiate as before, they repelled 
 the republicans beyond Erigne, and once more obtained 
 possession of the bridges of Cc. 
 
 The same activity Avas manifested in attacking Can- 
 claux. Twenty thousand Vendcans, occupying posi- 
 tions near Torfou, fell on Klcber's advanced guard, 
 Avhich counted at the utmost 2000 men. Klcber placed 
 himself amidst his soldiers, and encouraged them to 
 resist this multitude of assailants. The ground on 
 Avhich he fought was a road commanded by heights ; 
 but, despite the disadvantage of his position, he retired 
 Avith order and firmness. LTnluckily, a piece of artil- 
 lery having been dismounted, some confusion spread 
 through the ranks, and those braA-e battalions gave 
 way for the first time. At this sight, Klcber, as the 
 only means of stopping the enemy, planted an officer 
 Avith some soldiers at the end of a bridge, saying to 
 them, " My friends, you must sell your lives." They 
 obeyed the injunction Avith admirable heroism. In 
 the mean time, tlie main body arrived and restored 
 the combat ; the Vendcans Avere driven back a con- 
 siderable distance, and retribution taken for then- early 
 
 SUCCC!SS. 
 
 All these events had occurred on the 1 9th. The order 
 to resume the moA'cment in advance, Avliich had suc- 
 ceeded SO ill Avith file Saumur and Angers divisions, 
 had not yet reached, on account of tlie greater dis- 
 tance, the Lticou and Niort columns. Beysser Avas 
 still at Montaigu, forming Canclaux's right wing, and 
 completely unmasked. Canclaux, desirous to cover 
 Beysser, ordered him to leave Montaigu and druAv 
 nearer the main body, directing Klcber^ at the same 
 time, to move toAvarils Beysser for tlie jiurpose of pro- 
 tecting his mananivre. Beysser, lacking foresight, 
 had not taken sulHcicnt precautions to guard his de- 
 tachment in I\Iontaigu. Messieurs de Lescure and 
 Cliarettc surprised it, and Avould liaA-e certainly annihi- 
 lated it, but for the intrepidity of two battalions, Avho, 
 by indomitable stubbornness, succeeded in arresting
 
 336 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 the rapidity of the pursuit. The artillery and the 
 baggage were lost ; and the remnant of this shattered 
 cohort fled to Nantes, where the reserve left in pro- 
 tection of the town was prompt in extenchng succour. 
 Canclaux now came to the determination of likewise 
 retrograding, to avoid remaining so far advanced in a 
 hostile country, exposed to the whole force of the Ven- 
 deans. lie accordingly fell hack on Nantes with his 
 valiant INIayencers, who were not molested, owing as 
 well to their own imposing attitude as to the conduct 
 of Charette, who refused to join D'Elboe and Bon- 
 champs in the pursuit of the retiring republicans. 
 
 The causes which had ])rcvented the success of this 
 expedition are obvious. The staff at Saumur was dis- 
 satisfied with a plan which adjudged the cohort of 
 Mayence to Canclaux, and the check of the 5th Sep- 
 tember was a sufficient pretext for feigning discourage- 
 ment and abandoning the plan altogether. A counter- 
 order was innnediately given to the columns of Sables, 
 Lucon, and liochelle. Canclaux, who had advanced 
 witliout impediment, thus found himself uncovered, 
 and the afl'air of Torfou rendered his position still 
 more difficult. Upon learning his progress, however, 
 the army of Saumiu: marched from that town, and 
 Angers to Yihiers and Chcmille ; and if it had not 
 been so speedily put to flight, it is prol)able that the 
 retreat of the M-ings would not have marred the ulti- 
 mate success of the enterprise. Thus, too much eager- 
 ness to throw up the concerted plan of operations, the 
 bad organisation of the new levies, and the might of 
 the Vendcans, who gathered to the amount of 100,000 
 fighting men, were the causes of these fresh reverses. 
 But there was neither treachery on the part of the Sau- 
 mur staff, nor any radical defect in Canclaux's plan. 
 The effect of the disaster was most calamitous ; fur the 
 continued resistance of La Vendee aroused sanguine 
 hopes in the counter-revolutionists, and singularly ag- 
 gravated the perils of the republic. For the rest, if the 
 legions of Brest and ^layence were not uitiniidated, 
 the army of lioehelle was again completely disorga- 
 nised, and all the conscripts brought forward by the 
 levy en ma.sse returned to their homes, propagatmg 
 their own dejection far and wide. 
 
 The two parties in the army lost no time in accusing 
 each other. Philippeaux, ever the most eager, in- 
 stantly wrote to the committee of public welfare, in a 
 strain of passionate invective, attributing the coimter- 
 order given to the columns of the army of lioehelle to 
 treachery. Choudieu and Richard, commissioners at 
 Saumur, retorted in the most injurious language, and 
 Ronsin hastened in person to unfold the inherent vices 
 in the plan of campaign before the minister and the 
 eonnuittee of pubhc welfare. Canclaux, he urged, by 
 acting with too strong a force in Lower Vendee, had 
 thrown upon Upper Vendee the whole insurgent popu- 
 lation, and had provoked the defeat of the Saumur 
 and Angers columns. Moreover, returning calunmy 
 for calunni}-, Ronsin answered the reproach of trea- 
 chery l)y tlie charge of aristocracy, and denounced at 
 once the two armies of Brest and Mayence as filled 
 with suspected and ill-intentioned men. Thus conti- 
 nually grew in virulence the (piarrel between the 
 Jacobin party and the party which upheld the iiolicy 
 of discipline and a regidar system of warfaix'. 
 
 The inexplicable rout of Mcnin, the abortive and 
 costly attempt upon I'irmasens, the reverses at the 
 foot of the Pyrenees, and the disastrous issue of the 
 last expedition in I^a Vendee, were known in Paris 
 almost at the same time, and caused in that city a 
 most dismal impression. Tlie particulars of these 
 untoward events were communicated in quick succes- 
 sion between the ISth and 25th September, and, as 
 usuid, excessive alarm stirred up violent passions. 
 We have already stated that the most ardent agitators 
 were accustomed to meet at the Cordelier Club, where 
 less restraint was imposed on language than even at 
 the Jacobin Club, and that they raled over the war 
 depirtment, under the nominal sway of the imbecile 
 
 Bouchotte. Vincent was their leader at Paris as 
 Ronsin in La Vendee, and they seized this calamitous 
 occasion to renew their wonted clamours. Placed 
 beneath the convention, they woidd have wilhngly 
 shaken off its inconvenient authority, which they en- 
 countered in the armies in the persons of the represen- 
 tatives, and at Paris in the committee of public wel- 
 fare. The representatives on missions restrained them 
 from executing the revolutionary measiu'es with all 
 the violence they were eager to develop ; the com- 
 mittee of public Avelfare, regulating paramountly all 
 operations accoriling to views comjiaratively elevated 
 and impartial, perpetually thwarted them, being, 
 therefore, of all obstacles, that which chiefly moved 
 tlieir ire : thus it chanced that the idea often occurred 
 to them, that they ought to demand the establishment 
 of the new executive power after the form prescribed 
 by the constitution. 
 
 To put the constitution in force, as frequently and 
 malevolently insisted upon by the aristocrats, would 
 be attended with incalcidable danger. It involved a 
 fresh general election, replacing the convention by 
 another assembl}', necessarily inexperienced, unknown 
 to the comitrj', and composed of heterogeneous 
 draughts from all the factions. The enthusiastic revo- 
 lutionists, aware of this peril, shrunk from proposing 
 the renewal of the national representation, but re- 
 stricted their demands to the enforcement of the con- 
 stitution so far only as consorted with their own views. 
 Nearly all of them occupying places in the public 
 offices, they simply desired the formation of the con- 
 stitutional miinstry, which would be independent of 
 the legislative power, and consequently of the com- 
 mittee of pubhc wehiire. Vmcent, therefore, had the 
 assm-ance to submit a petition to the Cordeliers, claim- 
 ing the organisation of the constitutional mmistry, 
 and the recall of the deputies out on missions. The 
 motion occasioned the greatest excitement. Legendre, 
 the friend of Danton, and already classed amongst 
 those whose energy seemed on the wane, vainly strove 
 in opposition ; the petition was adopted, save the 
 article demanding the recall of the deputies on missions. 
 The utility of those representatives was so manifest, 
 and something so personal against the members of the 
 convention aj^peared in the clause, that it was felt 
 prudent to drop it. This petition excited an extraor- 
 chnary tumult in I'aris, and seriously affected the inei- 
 I)ient authority of the committee of imblic welfare. 
 
 Besides these violent adversaries, the eonnuittee had 
 others in the new moderates, who were accused of 
 reviving the system of the Girondists, and trannuelling 
 revolutionary energy. These, emi)hatically i)ronounc- 
 ing against the Cordeliers, .Jacobins, and miUtary dis- 
 organisers, besieged the committee with incessant 
 complaints, and even railed at it for not denouncing 
 the anarchists with sufficient vigour. 
 
 Thus, the committee had the two new parties which 
 were beginning to be formed arrayed against it. Ac- 
 cording to inveterate usage, these parties took advan- 
 tage of every calamity to found accusations; and both 
 being cordial in condenming its operations, censured 
 it, each after its pecidiar fashion. 
 
 Tlie flight of Menin on the 15th was already fully 
 known ; tlie final discomfiture in La Vendee began to 
 be darkly hinted at. Uncertain rumours were propa- 
 gated of defeats at Coron, Torfou, and jVIontaigu. * 
 Thuriot, who had refused to serve as a member on tiie 
 committee of public welfare, and who was upbraided 
 with being one of the new moderates, mounted the 
 tribune one morning in the convention to protest 
 against mtriguers and disorganisers, from whom pro- 
 positions of extreme violence regarding provisions liad 
 just emanated. "()>u' committees and the executive 
 council," said he, " are harassed and worried by a pack 
 of intriguers, who pretend patriotism ojdy because it i'' 
 
 * [There is a slight inconsistency in this passapc with one im- 
 mediately jucceding, but it is cliargeaUc on tlie aiithor.J
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 337 
 
 profitable to them. Yes, the time is come wlien we 
 must repudiate these men of rapine and the torch, wlio 
 think the revohition has been made for tlicm, whilst 
 the honest and pure support it only for the happiness 
 of the human race." The propositions controverted 
 by Thuriot were rejected. Briez, one of the conmiis- 
 sioners sent to Valenciennes, then read a critical essay- 
 on the military ojierations. He held that at no time 
 had the warfare been brisk and conformable to the 
 French genius ; that the fighting had always been in 
 detail, and in petty masses ; and that the causes of the 
 reverses were to be found in this defective system. 
 Proceeding, Avithout openh^ attackmg the committee 
 of public welfare, he seemed to insinuate that it had 
 failed to apprise the convention of all circumstances ; 
 that, for example, a corps of 6000 Austrians had been 
 near Uouay, which might have been enveloped but 
 had not been so. The convention, after having atten- 
 tively listened to Briez, added him to the conmiittee 
 of public welfare. At this moment, detailed inteUi- 
 gence from La Vendee, contained in a letter from 
 Montaigu, arrived. The alarming tidings excited a 
 general emotion. " Instead of giving way to dejec- 
 tion," exclaimed one of the members, " let us swear to 
 save the republic I" At these words the whole assem- 
 bly rose, and once again swore to save the republic, 
 whatsoever perils might threaten it. 
 
 The members of the committee of public welfare, 
 who had not yet appeared at the sitting, entered the 
 hall immediately afterwards. Bari'ere, the usual re- 
 porter, claimed to be heard. " Every suspicion," said 
 he, " directed against the committee of public welfare 
 is a victory gained by Pitt. We must avoid giving 
 our enemies the too signal advantage of ourselves, 
 discrediting the power appointed to save us." He 
 subsequently made known the measm-es taken by the 
 committee. " For several days," he continued, •" the 
 committee has had grounds for suspecting that serious 
 faults were committed at Dunkirk, where the Eng- 
 lish might have been exterminated to the last man, 
 and at Menin, where no exertion was made to obviate 
 the strange eflTects of the jianic. The committee has 
 superseded Houchard, as well as the general of divi- 
 sion Hcdouville, who failed to do at ]\Ienin what he 
 ought to have done ; and the condiict of those two 
 generals will be forthwith investigated. The com- 
 mittee next intends to purify all the staffs and de- 
 partments in the armies ; it has placed the fleets on 
 a footing which AviU permit them to measure strength 
 with the enemy; it has just raised 18,000 men; and 
 it has ordered a new system of attack in masses. 
 Finally, it is in Rome itself that it designs to attack 
 Rome; and 100,000 men, disembarking in England, 
 will extinguisli Pitt's system in London. The com- 
 mittee of pultlic safety, therefore, has been wrongly 
 accused ; it has never ceased to merit the confidence 
 j'ou have hitherto reposed in it." 
 
 Robespierre then appeared in the tribune. " For 
 some time," said he, " eirorts have been made to de- 
 fame the convention, and the committee to which its 
 authority is delegated. Briez, who ought to have 
 died in the breach at Valenciennes, comes unblush- 
 ingly to Paris, from the scene of his cowardice, to 
 serve Pitt and the coalition, by bringing the govern- 
 ment into odium. It is not enough," he added, " that 
 tlie convention contimies to us its confidence ; it must 
 proclaim tlie fact in sulenm form, and rescind its vote 
 regardhig Briez, whom it has added to our number." 
 Applause hailed this demand ; the assembly decided 
 that Briez sliould not be joined to the connnittee of 
 public welfare, and resolved by acclamation that that 
 committee retained the full confidence of the national 
 convention. 
 
 The moderate party was in the convention alone, 
 and there the debate we have just recorded had endcil 
 in its repulse ; but the most formidable adversaries of 
 the committee, that is to say, the ardent revolutionists, 
 were to be found in the Jacobin and Cordelier Clubs. 
 
 From them it was deemed expedient to seek prompt 
 deliverance. Robespierre accordingly Aisited the Jaco- 
 bins, and exerted all his ascendancy over them. He 
 explained the conduct of the committee, vindicated it 
 from the twofold attacks of the moderates and the 
 exaggerators, and inculcated the peril of petitions de- 
 manding the formation of the constitutional ministry. 
 " It is necessary," said he, " that some government 
 sliould succeed the one we have destroyed. The plan 
 of organising at this moment the constitutional mini- 
 stry', means nothing else than a scheme for dissolving 
 the convention itself, and decomposing the government 
 in presence of the hostile armies. Pitt alone can have 
 originated such an idea. His agents have propagated 
 it, and seduced patriots of pure faith ; whilst the cre- 
 dulous and sufiering people, always prone to com- 
 plain of the government, which is unable to remedy 
 all their griefs, have become the ready echo of their 
 calumnies and insidious suggestions. You, Jacobins!" 
 exclaimed Robespierre, " too sincere to be gained, too 
 enlightened to be seduced, will defend the Mountain 
 which they assail ; you will support the comnuttce of 
 public welfare which they calunmiate the better to 
 compass your niin ; and thus with you it wiU triumph 
 over all the de-vdces of the enemies of the people." 
 
 Robespierre was loutUy cheered, and in his person 
 the whole committee. The Cordeliers were rebuked, 
 and their petition consigned to oblivion. Vincent's 
 rash attack, therefore, being thus victoriously re- 
 pelled, recoiled upon his own head, and left the com- 
 mittee unscathed. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was felt incumbent to adopt some 
 resolution touching the new constitution. To give 
 place to new revolutionists, equivocal, unknown, and 
 in aU probability divided, since they would be drawn 
 from all the factions agitating beneath the convention, 
 was fraught with danger. Hence it became necessary 
 to declare boldly to aU the parties that the supreme 
 l)ower would be usurped, and that before abandoning 
 the republic to itself and to the action of the laws 
 that had been framed for it, it must be governed re- 
 volutionarily until it was finally rescued. Numerous 
 petitions had already besouglit tlie convention to re- 
 main at its post. On the ioth October, Saint- Just, 
 speaking in tlie name of the committee of public wel- 
 fare, proposed new measures of government. He drew 
 a most dismal picture of France, darkening it with 
 the saddest colours of his own sombre imagination ; 
 and with the aid of those eminent talents he possessed, 
 and of facts unfortunately too real, he produced a 
 species of terror in the minds of his liearers. He then 
 presented, and induced the convention to adopt, a de- 
 cree containing the following ])rovisions : — 
 
 By the first article, the government of France was 
 declared revolutionary mitil the peace ; Avhieh signi- 
 fied that the constitution was provisionally suspended, 
 and an extraordinary dictatorship instituted until the 
 expiration of all dangers. This dictatorship was con- 
 ferred on tlie convention and the connnittee of public 
 welfare. "Tlie executive council," ran tlie decree, " the 
 ministers, generals, and constituted boihes, are placed 
 under tlie su])erinteiidence of the committee of public 
 welfare, which Avill render accounts every week to the 
 convention." We liave already explained how sui>er- 
 intendence was converted into sujireme authority, 
 from the ministers, generals, and functionaries, who 
 were obliged to sulmiit tlieir operations to the com- 
 mittee, having finislied liy no h)nger venturing to :ict 
 upon their own judgment, and waiting for orders from 
 the committee itself. The decree proceeded to de- 
 clare — "Tlie revolutionary laws must be executed 
 rapidly. The inertness of government being the cause 
 of tlie revi'rses, the periods for the execution of tliose 
 laws will be fixed. The non-ol)scrvance of those 
 periods will be jmnished as a crime against liberty." 
 Regulations on tiie subject of food were added to tiicse 
 measures of government, " for breiul is the ritrht of 
 the people," said Saint-Just Tha general table of
 
 338 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 existing resoiirces, now definitively completed, was to 
 
 be sent to all the authorities. The exigency of cacli 
 department was to be approxiniatively estimated and 
 pfuaranteed, Avldlst the superfluity was subjected to 
 requisitions, cither for the amiies or for districts wliicli 
 lacked the exij^ency. Tiiese requisitions were to be 
 controlled by a subsisteiK'c conmiission. Paris was to 
 be, like a fortified town, provisioned for a year, dating 
 from the 1st of March cnsiung. Lastly, it was de- 
 creed that a tribunal sliould be instituted to inquire 
 into the conduct and fortunes of those who had dis- 
 bursed the public money. 
 
 By this great and important declaration, the go- 
 vernment, consisting of the committee of public wel- 
 fare, the committee of general safety, and tiie extra- 
 ordinary tribunal, was consolidated and rendered per- 
 manent during tlie continuance of danger. Tlie etlect 
 was tantamount to declaring the revolution in a state 
 of siege, and applying to it tlie extraoi'dinary laws of 
 that condition, wliilst it should endure. The establish- 
 ment of this revolutionary government was accom- 
 panied by various measures long demanded, and now 
 become unavoidable. A revolutionary army, that is 
 to say, a force specifically devoted to enforcing the 
 execution of the government mandates in the interior, 
 had been a subject of frequent reclamation. It had 
 been decreed some time previously, but it was finally 
 organised by a new decree passed on the 3d of Sep- 
 tember. It was composed of 6000 soldiers and 1200 
 artillerymen. It was intended to be moveable, and to 
 rnarcli from Paris into towns where its presence miglit 
 be necessary, there to remain in garrison at the ex- 
 l)ense of tlie wealthiest inhabitants. The Cordeliers 
 desired one for each department; but their ideas were 
 controverted by the argument, that to give an indivi- 
 dnal force to each dei)artment wotdd savour of a re- 
 turn to federalism. The same Cordeliers, moreover, 
 insisted that tlie detachments of the revolutionary 
 army shoidd he followed by a guillotine on wheels. 
 No limit can be assigned to the extravagant concep- 
 tions of tlie people when once fairly left to themselves. 
 The convention, however, repudiated these demands, 
 and adhered to its decree. Eouchotte, being charged 
 with the composition of tliis army, levied it from all 
 those characters abounding in Paris who followed no 
 occupation, and were readA' to become the janissaries 
 of the prevailing power. lie filled the staff with Jaco- 
 bins, but especi;dly with Cordeliers, and deprived La 
 Vendee and Kossignol of Ilousin, to place him at the 
 head of this revolutionary army. He submitted the 
 list of the staff" to the Jacobins, and made each officer 
 undergo the ordeal of a sci'utiny. Not one of them, in 
 fact, was confirmed by the minister without being 
 sanctioned by that society. 
 
 The formation of a revolutionary army was coupled 
 with a law against the suspected, so repeatedly be- 
 spoken, and ordained in principle the same day as the 
 national levy. Tlie extraordinary tribunal, although 
 organised so as to smite on simple probabilities, did 
 not sufficiently satisfy the revolutionary imagination. 
 Povi'cr was craved to incarcerate those whom it might 
 be difiicult to send to the scaffold ; hence the cry for 
 enactments authorising their persons to be secured. 
 The decree placing aristocrats beyond the pale of the 
 law was too vague, and re(iuired the formality of a 
 trial. Tlie object desired was, tliat, on the mere de- 
 nunciation of the revolutionary committees, an indi- 
 vidual declared to be suspected might be immediately 
 thrown into prison. Accordhigly, the convention de- 
 creed tiie provisional arrest, until tlie peace, of aU 
 suspected individuals.* Considered as sucli were — 
 
 1st, Tliose who, either hy their conduct, by their 
 intercourse, by tlieir words, or by tlieir writings, had 
 shown tiiemselves partisans of tyranny or federalisiu, 
 and enemies of liberty. 
 
 * This famous decree was passed on the 17th Soptcnibcr. It is 
 known under tlie title of the Law o/lhe Suspcckd. 
 
 2d, Those who could not give a satisfactory ac- 
 count, in the manner prescribed by the law of the 
 2()th ]\Iarch last, of their means of existence, and of 
 the perfonnance of their civic duties. 
 
 3d, Those to whom certificates of civism had been 
 refused. 
 
 4th, Public functionaries suspended or degraded 
 from their functions by the nation;d convention or its 
 commissioners. 
 
 5th, Late nobles, and the husbands, wives, fathers, 
 mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and agents 
 of emigrants, who had not constantly manifested their 
 attachment to the revolution. 
 
 Gth, Those who had emigrated in the interval be- 
 tween the 1st July 1789 and the publication of the law 
 of the 8th April 1792, although they had returned to 
 France within the stipidated periods. 
 
 The prisoners were to be confined in the national 
 buildings, and detained at their own expense. They were 
 allowed the privilege of removing into these houses 
 such furnitare as they might require. The commit- 
 tees empowered to order arrests, could only do so by 
 a majority of their members, and under restriction of 
 transmitting to the committee of general safety a list 
 of the suspected, and the reasons for each arrest. 
 Their duties becoming thenceforth very arduous, and 
 almost continuous, constituted a species of profession, 
 which it was held just to remunerate. They conse- 
 quently received, from that time forth, a salary under 
 the title of an indemnity. 
 
 At the urgent entreaties of the commune of Paris, 
 these regulations were completed by an additional 
 measure, which rendered this law of the suspected 
 still more formidable : this was the revocation of the 
 decree prohibiting domiciliary visits during the night. 
 From that moment, every proscribed citizen was threat- 
 ened -at all hours, and no longer enjoyed an interval 
 of repose. By immuring themselves during the day 
 in tlie ingenious and confined hidmg-places wliich 
 necessity had suggested, the suspected had hitherto 
 possessed the facidty of breathing freely dm'ing tlie 
 hours of darkness ; now, even that boon was denied 
 them, and the arrests, midtiplied day and night, 
 spcedil}'' filled all the prisons of France. 
 
 The sectional meetings were accustomed to be held 
 daily ; but the working part of the community had 
 not time to attend them, and in its absence revolu- 
 tionary motions were indifferently supported. The 
 convention enjoined, on the express proposition of the 
 Jacol)in Club and the commune, that those meetings 
 should take place for the futm-e only twice a-week, 
 and that each citizen giving his attendance thereat, 
 should receive fort}' sous ])er sitting. No expedient 
 could he better adapted for securing the populace, 
 tlian assembling them at intervals, not too quickly 
 recurring, and liberally rewarding their presence. The 
 ardent revolutionists were incensed at a regulation 
 which fettered their zeal, and limited its manifestations 
 to two days out of seven. They accordingly drew up 
 an energetic petition, expostidating against what they 
 decried as an invasion upon the rights of the sove- 
 reign, he being debarred from sitting in council as often 
 as it pleased his f incy. Young Varlet was tlie author 
 of this petition ; but it was unlieeded, sharing in that 
 respect the same fate as divers other demands inspired 
 by tlie revolutionary mania. 
 
 Thus the machine was complete in the two most 
 important ramifications with reference to a country 
 at liazard, war and police. In the convention, a com- 
 mittee directed the military ojierations, selected the 
 generals and agents of every kind, and wielded, by 
 means of the decree of permanent requisition, a dis- 
 l)osing power over lioth men and things. It exercised 
 these functions, either by itself, or hy the represen- 
 tatives dispatched on missions. Under this committee, 
 the committee styled that of genertd safety had the 
 control of the superior police, and employed, as its 
 superintending agents, revohitionnry committees in-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCII REVOLUTION. 
 
 339 
 
 stituted iu each muiiicipulity. Individuals slightly 
 suspected of hostUitj^ or even of indifierence, were 
 incarcerated ; others, more seriously compromised, 
 were struck by the I'evolutionary tribunal, but fortu- 
 nately in smail number, for that coui't had not j^et 
 pronoimced many condemnations. A special anuj', 
 the veritable moving guard or gendarmerie of the 
 dominant system, enforced the orders of the govern- 
 ment, whilst tlie people, paid for frequenting the sec- 
 tions, were always ready to support it. Tims war 
 and police ixll centred in the committee of public wel- 
 fare. Absolute master, holding at discretion the for- 
 tunes of all citizens, and empowered to consign their 
 persons to military service, to the dmigeon, or to the 
 scaffold, it was invested, in defence of the revolution, 
 with an imlimited and terrible despotism. True, it 
 was enjoined to render a weekly account of its trans- 
 actions to the convention ; but that accomit was inva- 
 riably approved, for all criticism was confined to the 
 Jacobins, whom it swayed smce Robespierre had be- 
 com.e a component member. Li opposition to this 
 exoi'bitant power, there were simply the moderates, 
 shrinking backward, and the new exaggerators, hark- 
 ing onward, but neither the one nor the other calcu- 
 lated to excite much apjjrehension. 
 
 We have seen that Robespierre "and Carnot had 
 been named on the committee of public welfare, in 
 lieu of Gasparin and Thuriot, who retired from ill 
 liealth. Robespierre had carried with Mm his power- 
 ful influence, and Carnot his mihtar}' science. The 
 convention wished to have coupled Robespierre with 
 Danton, his colleague and rival m renown ; but the 
 latter, fatigued with exertion, averse to the tedious 
 details of administration, and moreover disgusted with 
 the ciJumny of faction, declined serving on any com- 
 mittee. He had already done enough for the revolu- 
 tion : he had sustained drooping courage in the hours 
 of danger ; he had furnished the first idea of the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal, the revolutionaiy army, the per- 
 manent requisition, the tax upon the rich, and the 
 subsidy of forty sous per sitting to the members of 
 sections ; he was the authoi", in short, of all the mea- 
 sures which, rendeiX'd howsoever cruel in the execu- 
 tion, nevertheless imparted that energy to the revo- 
 lution which eventually saved it. At this period, 
 Danton began to be no longer so necessary, for as to 
 mere x^lij'sical danger, since the first invasion of the 
 Prussians, it had beccjmc, as it were, one of the ele- 
 ments of revolutionary existence. The inexorable ven- 
 geance to be wreaked on the Girondists was abhor- 
 rent to him ; he had recently espoused a young wife, 
 of whom he was deeply enamoured, and whom he had 
 endowed with the gold of Belgium, as his detractors 
 averred, and with the compensation awarded him for 
 his old office of advocate to the council, according to the 
 ' more favourable version of his friends ; he was, like 
 jNIirabeau and Marat, lalioming under an inflanmiatory 
 malady ; finally, he was desirous of repose : Avherefore 
 he demanded leave to visit iVrcis-sur-Aube, his birth- 
 jilace, to enjoy the charms of nature, for his spii'it 
 could luxuriate in such recreation, lie had l)een ad- 
 vised to seek tliis temporary retreat, iu order that 
 calumny might in the interim waste its force. The 
 triumph of the revolution could be now consimmiated 
 without him ; two months of war and eiiergy would 
 suffice ; and he proposed to return after the victory, 
 and make his potential voice be heard in favour of 
 the van<iuished and of a better order of things. Such 
 the vain illusion of indolence and discouragement ! 
 To abandon for two months, for even one, a revolu- 
 tion so s\ipremel3' rajiid, was to become, with regard 
 to it, a stranger devoid of influence. 
 
 Thus Danton refused to enter the committee of 
 public welfare, and ol)tained leave of absence. Billaud- 
 Varennes and Collot-d'llerbois were nominated as 
 members, and bore to its deliberations, the first his 
 cold and implacable disposition, and the other his 
 impetuosity of character, and liis sway over tlie tur- 
 
 bulent Cordeliers. The committee of general safety 
 was remodelled. Of its eighteen members, ume were 
 lopped off, those whose severity of temper was suffi- 
 ciently accredited being retained. 
 
 WliUst the government was thus taking organisa- 
 tion in the strongest possible manner, all its resolu- 
 tions manifested redoubled energy. The vigorou."- 
 measures adopted m the month of August had no' 
 yet produced their anticipated results. La Vendee^ 
 although attacked in pursuance of a regular plan, had 
 successfully resisted ; the defeat of Jleuin had almost 
 wholly lost the advantages of the victory at Hondts- 
 choote ; fresh efforts, then, were indispensable. Revo- 
 lutionary enthusiasm inspired the idea that the will 
 must have, in Avar as in ;dl other matters, a decisive 
 influence ; and, for the first time, injunctions were laid 
 ujjon an army to conquer M'ithin a given period. 
 
 The full extent of danger to the republic in the war 
 of La Vendee was appreciated. " Destroy La Vendee," 
 said Barrere, in a report, "and Valenciennes and 
 Conde will be no longer in the power of the Austrian. 
 Destroy La Vendee, and England will no longer tm-n 
 its eyes on Dunkirk. Destroy La Vendee, and the 
 Rhine will be delivered from the Prussians. Destroy 
 La Vendee, and Spain will find itself pressed and con- 
 quered by the southerns, joined to the victorious co- 
 horts of Mortagne and Cholet. Destroy La Vendee, 
 and a part of the army of the interior will reinforce 
 that intrepid army of the north, so often betrayed, so 
 often disorganised. Destroy La Vendee, and Lyons 
 wiU no longer resist, Toulon wiU rise against the 
 Spaniards and the English, and the spirit of Marseilles 
 will rebound to the height of the republican revolution. 
 In a word, every blow you strike at La Vendee will 
 reverberate in the rebellious cities, iu the federalist 
 departments, on the invaded frontiers ! La Vendee — 
 the watchword is still La Vendee ! It is there you 
 must strike, between this and the 20th October, before 
 the winter, before the roads become impracticable — 
 before the brigands find impunity in the climate and 
 the season ! 
 
 The committee, casting a rapid and comprehensive 
 glance, discovers all the vices at Avork in La Vendee 
 iu this short summary : — 
 
 Too many representatives 
 
 Too much moral division ; 
 
 Too many military divisions ; 
 
 Too much want of discipline in success ; 
 
 Too many false reports in the relation of events ; 
 
 Too much avidity and love of mouey in a portion of 
 the leaders and administrators." 
 
 After hearing this exposition, the convention re- 
 duced the number of representatives on missitjus, united 
 tlie two armies of Brest and Roehelle into one, to be 
 cjJled the army of the west, and gave the conmiand of 
 it, not to Rossignol or to Canciaux, but to Lechelle, 
 general of bi'igade in the divisit)n of Lu(;on. Lastly, 
 it assigned the da}' upon wliith tlie war of La Vendee 
 Avas to be ended, and that day Avas the 20th October. 
 The following proclamation accompanied the de- 
 cree : — * 
 
 " THE NATIONAL CONVF.NTION' TO THE AUMV OF 
 THE AVEST. 
 
 Soldiers of liberty ! — The brigands of La Vendee 
 must be extenuiiiated before the end of October ! The 
 safety of the country demands it ; the impatience of the 
 French nation commands it; its corn-age shall accom- 
 plish it. Tlie national gratitude attends at this epoch 
 all whose valour and patriotism consolidate inipcrish- 
 ably libert}' and the republic." 
 
 Pleasures not less j>rompt and vigorous Avere taken 
 Avith regard to the army of the ifortli, Avitli the vieAV 
 of retrieving the disgrace at Menin, and conducing to 
 a ncAv career of victory. Houchard, already super- 
 seded, Avas placed under arrest. General Jourdan. 
 Avlio had commanded the centre at Ilondtschoote, av:is 
 
 * I)( ere ' of the 1st of October
 
 340 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 appointed general-in-chief of the armies of the north 
 and of Ardennes. He had orders to assemble at G uise 
 large masses, to make an onslaught upon the enemy. 
 Attacks in detail were condenmed to universal odium. 
 Without investigating the plan or operations of llou- 
 chard around Dunkirk, it was sufficient that he had 
 not fought in masses, for that mode of combat was 
 exclusively demanded, being better adapted, it was 
 alleged, to" the impetuosity of the French character. 
 Carnot had left I'aris for Guise to be near Jourdan, 
 and to put in execution a new system of war alto- 
 gether revolutionary. Three additional commissioners 
 were joined to Dubois-Crance, charged to raise levies 
 m masse and precipitate them upon Lyons. They 
 were enjoined to renounce the system of methodical 
 attacks, and at once to assault the refractory city. 
 Thus, on all sides, redoubled etibrts were made to con- 
 clude the campaign victoriously. 
 
 But rigour was the invariable accompaniment of 
 energy. The trial of Custine, too long delayed, ac- 
 cording to the Jacobins, was at length commenced, 
 and conducted witli all the violence and barbarity of 
 the new judicial forms. No general-in-chief had as 
 yet appeared on the scaffold ; a certain impatience 
 was felt to smite a lofty personage, and make the 
 leaders of armies quail before popular supremacy ; 
 above all, a desire had long lurked to visit upon some 
 gener:d the defection of Dumouriez, and Custine was 
 recommended for the atonement, by the circumstance 
 of his opinions and tendencies constituting him in 
 popular estimation another Dmnouriez. Advantage 
 had been taken of the moment when, holding the com- 
 mand of the army of the nortli, Custine had visited 
 I'aris to concert his future operations with the mini- 
 ster, to accomplish his arrest. He was at first thrown 
 into prison, but after a short interval a decree was 
 craved and obtained for his arraignment at the bar of 
 the revolutionary tribunal. 
 
 Let us recall the campaign of Custine on the Eliine. 
 Intrusted with a division of the army, he had found 
 Worms and Spire indifferently guarded, because the 
 allies, in their eagerness to march on Champagne, had 
 given no heed to any thing on their wings and m their 
 rear. German patriots, flocking from all directions, 
 offered him their towns ; he advanced, took Spire and 
 Worms, which were delivered into liis hands, and ne- 
 glected Manheim, which lay on his route, from respect 
 for tlie neutrality of the elector-palatine, and from a 
 presentiment, likewise, that its possession would not 
 be easily compassed. He at length reached Mayence, 
 seized upon it, gladdened all France with his unex- 
 pected conquests, and procured a command which 
 rendered him indei)endent of Biron. At tliis moment, 
 Dumouriez had repulsed the I'russians, and driven 
 them back on tlie Iihine. Kellerniann was at Treves. 
 Custine ought then to have descended the Khine to 
 Coblentz, effected a junction with Kellermaim, and 
 thus rendered himself master of the course of the river. 
 A eond)ination of reasons pointed out this plan. The 
 inhabitants of Coblentz invoked the jiresence of Cus- 
 tine, tliose of Saint-G(«ir(l and Klieinfels stretched out 
 their hands to him ; in short, no limit can be assigned 
 to his probable career had he frankly resigned iiim- 
 self to the course of the Rliine. It was quite possible 
 for him to have descended even into Holland. But, 
 from the interior of Germany, other patriotic voices 
 came to beguile his car ; for the belief was prevalent, 
 from his bold advance, that he had at least 1U0,()()0 
 men under his eonmiand. To penetrate the hostile 
 hmd and carry his standards beyond the Rliine, was 
 too tempting an exjjloit to the ftmcy and vanity of 
 General Custine. He ruslied onward to Frankfort, 
 where he paused to levy contributions and exercise 
 other impolitic severities. Fresh solicitations there 
 assailed him. Tliere were madmen who urged him 
 to advance to Cassel, in the midst of electoral Hesse, 
 for the idJuring purjiose of grasping the treasures of the 
 elector. Tiie wiser counsels of the French government 
 
 exhorted him to return upon the Rhine and march 
 towards Coblentz. But he heeded not, completely ab- 
 sorbed in the idea of revolutionising Germany. 
 
 Nevertheless, Custine was not insensible to the peril 
 of his position. Reflecting that, if the elector-pala- 
 tine should break his neutrality, his rear would he 
 endangered from RLanheim, he would have willingly 
 taken that fortress, which was offered to him, but he 
 durst not venture upon the step. As to being attacked 
 in Frankfort, which he could not hope to lujld, h ■ 
 was loath to abandon that city and retum upon the 
 line of the Rhine, as that step led of course to an in- 
 glorious surrender of his pretended conquests, and 
 exposed him to the obligation of sharing in the opera- 
 tions of the other generals by descending to Coblentz. 
 In this situation he was surprised by the Prussians ; 
 lost Frankfort ; fell back on Mayence ; halted uncer- 
 tain whether he should retain that place or not ; threw 
 into it some artillery drawn from Strasburg; gave 
 tardy orders for provisioning it ; was once more sur- 
 prised by the Prussians amidst these uncertainties; 
 retreated from Mayence, and, seized with terror, con- 
 ceiving himself pursued by 150,000 men, retired into 
 Upper Alsace, almost under the guns of Strasburg. 
 Stationed on the Upper Rhine with a considerable 
 army, he had it in his power to march on Mayence 
 and place the besiegers between two fires, but he could 
 never muster sufficient hardihood for the enterprise ; 
 at length, shocked at his own inactivity, he hazarded 
 a disastrous attack on the 1.5th May, was discomfited, 
 and sulkily betook himself to the army of the north, 
 where he consummated his ruin by talking in a strain 
 of moderation, and inculcating a policy of undoubted 
 prudence, to wit, retaining the army in Caesar's camp 
 for the purpose of re-organising it, instead of leading 
 it forth to unavaiUng bloodshed under the idea of re- 
 lieving Valenciennes. 
 
 Such was the career of Custine. Li it were as- 
 suredly numerous faidts, but no treason. His trial 
 was opened, and as deponents against him were sum- 
 moned representatives acting on missions, agents of 
 the executive power, inveterate foes to generals, dis- 
 contented officers, members of clubs in Strasburg, 
 Mayence, and Cambray, and, lastly, the terrible Vin- 
 cent, the tyrant of the war-ofllces imder Bouchotte. 
 Here was an array of accusers, heaping unjust and 
 contradictory cliarges— charges altogether foreign to a 
 military inquiry-, but founded on accidental misfor- 
 tunes, for which the general was not blameable, and 
 which could with no regard to fairness be imputed te 
 him. Custine replied with a pecidiar soldierly vehe- 
 mence to all these acciisations, but he was overborne. 
 Jacobins from Strasbm-g upbraided him A\itli not en- 
 deavouring to take the gorges of Porentruy, when 
 Luckner ordered him to do so ; and he proved fruit- 
 lessly that it was impossible. A German reproached 
 him with not having occupied IManheim, which he had 
 offered him. Custine sought exoneration by alleging 
 the neutrtdity of the elector and the difficulties of the 
 project. The iidiabitants of Coblentz, Rheinfels, 
 Darmstadt, Kanau, and all the to-\vns which had been 
 anxious to open their gates to him, and which he had 
 declined to occupy, inveighed against him Avith one 
 accord. 
 
 When accused of refusing to march on Coblentz. he 
 offered but a lame defence, and calumniated Keller- 
 niann, who, he asserted, had objected to second him. 
 To the charge of refusing to occupy other towns, he 
 answered with reason that he was invoked by number- 
 less persons in Germany, and that if he had met every 
 demand upon him, he nuist have occu])ied upwards of 
 a hmidred leagues of ground. By a singidar contra- 
 diction, whilst he was blamed for not having taken 
 one to■^\^l, or drawn contributions from another, he was 
 specifically criminated for having taken Frankfort, 
 plundered the inliabitants, failed to make the necessary 
 dispositions for resisting the Prussians, and exposed 
 the French garrison to the risk of being massiicred.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ',41 
 
 The chivalric Merlin de Thionville, one of those who 
 deposed against him, justitied him on that point witli 
 equal candour and good sense. Had ho even left 
 20,000 men in Frankfort, asseverated ISlerlin, he could 
 not have retained its possession ; he was bound to 
 retire on Mayence, and his only default consisted in 
 not doing so earlier. But at INIayence, exclaimed a 
 crowd of other witnesses, he had made no essential 
 preparations ; he had collected neither victuals nor 
 munitions ; he had thrown in the artillery whereof he 
 despoiled Strasburg, merely to ensure its capture by 
 the Prussians, together with a garrison of 20,000 men 
 and two deputies. Custine proved that he had given 
 orders for supplies ; that the artillery was scarcely 
 sufficient ; and that it had not been uselessly acciunu- 
 lated for the purpose of being captured by the Prus- 
 sians. ]\Ierlin supported all the assertions of Custine, 
 but coiild not be brought to pardon liis jjusillanimous 
 retreat, or his inaction on the Upper Phine, whilst the 
 garrison of IMaj'ence was effecting prodigies. Here 
 Custine had nothing to offer in extenuation. He was 
 next reproached with having liurnt the magazines in 
 Spire when retiring ; an absurd reproach, for a retreat 
 once unavoidable, it was better to consume the maga- 
 zines than leave them for the enemy. He was like- 
 wise accused of shooting volunteers at Spii'c, on ac- 
 comit of pillaging ; to Avliich he answered, that tlie 
 convention had approved his conduct. Then he Mas 
 impugned for liaviug deliberately spared the Prussians ; 
 for having voluntarily exposed his army to be defeated 
 on the l.'jth May; for having tardily repaired to his 
 connnand in the north ; for having attempted to strip 
 Lille of its artillery to convey it to Caesar's camp ; for 
 having prevented the relief of Valenciennes ; for not 
 having opposed obstacles to the disembarkation of the 
 English — accusations excelling one another in absur- 
 dity. Lastly, it was objected to him — " You pitied 
 Louis XVI. ; you Avere melancholy on tlie 31st JNIay ; 
 you would have fain hanged Dr Hoffmann, president 
 of the Jacobins at Mayence ; j'ou have prevented the 
 distribution of Pere Duchene's journal and of the 
 Mountain journal in your army ; you have stated that 
 Marat and Robespierre were public disturbers ; you 
 have been surrovinded by aristocratic officers ; you have 
 never had at your table good republicans." These 
 reproaches were fatal, and comprehended tlie real 
 crimes for which he was persecuted. 
 
 The trial, meanwhile, proceeded tediously ; the 
 various imputations were so vague that the tribunal 
 hesitated. Custine's daughter, and several persons 
 who were interested in his behalf, had made exer- 
 tions to save him ; for at this period, although the 
 terror was already great, friends still ventm-ed to 
 evince some mterest in victims. The revolutionary 
 tribunal itself was speedily denounced at the Jacobin 
 Club. " It is painful to me," said Hebert to tlie Jaco- 
 bins, " to have to denounce an authority which was 
 the hope of the patriots, which at first merited all their 
 confidence, and which will soon become their abomi- 
 nation. 'I'he revolutionary tribunal is on the point of 
 absolving a miscreant, in whose favour, it is true, tlie 
 prettiest women in Paris are soliciting all tlie world. 
 Custine's daughter, as cunning a comedian in tliis city 
 as her father was at the head of armies, sees every 
 body, and promises everything to obtain his pardon." 
 Robespierre also, on his part, inveighed against the 
 spirit of chicanery and the passion for formalities whieli 
 had suddenly seized upon the tribunal ; and averred 
 that simply for having purposed to unfurnish Lille, 
 Custine richly deserved to die. 
 
 Vincent, summoned as a witness, had ransacked the 
 repositories of the war-office, and produced the letters 
 and orders wherewith Custine was rejiroached, but 
 which were certainly far from constituting crimes. 
 Fouquier-Tinville summed up the case with a paral- 
 lel between Custine and Humouriez, which was deci- 
 sive against the unfortunate general. IJuniom-iez, he 
 alleged, had advanced rapidly into Belgium, to abandon 
 
 it witli equal rajjidity, and deliver to the enemy 
 soldiers, magazines, and representatives. Even so 
 had Custine advanced rapidly into Germany, aban- 
 doned soldiers at Frankfort and at Maj'ence, and laid 
 his plans for delivering to the enemy, Avitli the latter 
 town, 20,000 men, two representatives, and the whole 
 park of artillery which he had wickedly taken from 
 Strasburg. Like Uumouriez, also, he reviled the con- 
 vention and the Jacobins, and sentenced brave volun- 
 teers to be sliot, under pretext of maintaining disci- 
 pline. At this parallel the scruples of the tribunal 
 vanished. Custine spoke for two hours in justification 
 of his militaiy operations. Tron^on-Ducoudray de- 
 fended his administrative and civil conduct, but una- 
 vailingly. The tribunal pronounced the general guilty, 
 to the great joy of the Jacobins and Cordehers, who 
 filled the court, and gave loud demonstrations of their 
 satisfaction. lie had not been condemned mianimously, 
 however. Upon the three qitestions, there had been 
 against him successively ten, nine, aud eight voices out 
 of eleven. The president having asked him whether 
 he had any thing further to say, he looked around him, 
 and not perceiving"; his defenders, he replied, " My 
 defenders are gone — I die resigned and innocent." 
 
 He was executed the following morning. A Avarrior, 
 and distinguislied for high personal courage, he was 
 startled at sight of the guillotine. HoAvevcr, falling 
 on his knees at the foot of the ladder, and repeating 
 a short prayer, his presence of mind revived, and he 
 met death with fortitude. Such was the end of this 
 unfortunate commander, who lacked neither ability 
 nor boldness of cliaracter, but combined therewith a 
 remai'kable degree of instability and presumption, and 
 doubtless committed three capital faults — the first, by 
 overstepping his veritable line of operation to move 
 upon Frankfort ; the second, by not returning to it 
 when strongly urged ; and the third, by remaining in 
 cowardlj' inaction during the siege of Maj^ence. Still, 
 none of these delinquencies merited death ; but he 
 underwent the fate which could not he inflicted on 
 Dumouriez, and which he had not provoked like that 
 general by formidable and criminal i^rojects. His ex- 
 ecution was a terrible example to all the generals, and 
 a warning for them to render an absolute obedience to 
 the injunctions of the revolutionary government. 
 
 After this act of implacability, all attempts were 
 vain to check other immolations. The order for 
 hastening the trial of Marie-Antoinette was forthAvith 
 renewed. The articles of impeachment against the 
 Girondists, so long demanded and never hitherto di- 
 gested, were now presented to the convention. They 
 were drawn up by Saint-Just. Petitions from the 
 Jacobins poured in to constrain their adoption by the 
 convention. They were directed not only against the 
 twentj'-two and the members of the commission of 
 twelve, but also against seventy-three members of the 
 right side, who had observed an unbroken silence 
 since the victory of the Mountain, but were known to 
 have framed a protest against the events of the 31st 
 May and the 2(1 June. Certain frantic ]\fomitaineers 
 advocated an impeachment, that is to say, a consign- 
 ment to death, against the twenty-two, the twelve, 
 and the s(!venty-thrce ; but Robespierre controverted 
 such wholesale slaughter, and proposed a middle 
 course, namely, to send before the revolutionary tri- 
 bunal tlie twenty-two and the twelve, and to phice 
 the seventy-three under arrest. According as he ad- 
 vised, so it was ordered ; the doors of the hall were 
 instantly closed, the seventy-three arrested, and in- 
 junctions laid upon Fouquier-Tinville to give his 
 attention to the unfortunate Girondists. Thus the 
 convention, becoming daily more docile, allowed an 
 ordinance to be wrung from it devoting a large por- 
 tion of its members to certain death. In truth, it 
 could no longer delay the ungrateful task, for the 
 .lacol)iiis had presented five petitions, the one more 
 imperious tlian the other, to extort these last decrees 
 of impeachment.
 
 34-2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CAPTURE OF LYONS, AND TERRIBLE RETULBUTION ON ITS 
 INHABITANTS. VICTOKY OF WATIGNIES. REDUC- 
 TION OF LA VENDEE. — REVERSES ON THE RHINE. 
 
 Every reverse aroused revolutionary enerjry, and th.at 
 eneriry generated success. Tliis had been constantly 
 the case during this ever-memorable campaign. From 
 the defeat of Xeerwindcn to the moutli of August, an 
 unbroken series of disasters had eventually provoked 
 desperate exertions. The annihilation of federalism, 
 the defence of Xantes, the victory of Hondtschoote, 
 and tlie relief of Dunkirk, had been the consequences 
 of those exertions. Fresh reverses at Menin, Pirma- 
 sons, the Pyrenees, and Torfou and Coron in La Ven- 
 dee, had again excited energy to the highest pitch, 
 and decisive successes on aU the theatres of war were 
 speedily to follow. 
 
 The siege of Lyons was, of all the operations, that 
 whereof the termination was demanded with the 
 chiefest impatience. "We left Dubois-Crance en- 
 camped before that city, with 5000 men of the regu- 
 lar army, and from 7000 to 8000 conscripts. He was 
 threatened with ha^^ng quickly on his rear the Sardi- 
 nians, whom the feeble army of the Great Alps could no 
 longer keep in check. As we have already explained, 
 lie iiad planted himself on the north, between the Saone 
 and tlie Rhone, in front of the i-cdoubts of the Croix- 
 Rousse, and not on the heights of Sainte-Foy and 
 Fourvieres, situated to the west, by which the princi- 
 pal attack might have been best directed. But there 
 were substantial reasons for tliis preference. It was 
 of primary importance to remam in communication 
 with the ^Upine frontier, where the bulk of the re- 
 publican army was stationed, and whence the Pied- 
 raontese might approach to the succour of the Lyon- 
 nese. He had, moreover, the advantage in this position 
 of occupying the upper course of the two rivers, and 
 intercepting the supplies which came down the Rhone 
 and the Saone. It is true the western side thus re- 
 mained open to the Lyonnese, and the}' were enabled 
 to make continual excursions towards Saint-Etienne 
 and Montbrison ; but the arrivid of the contingents 
 from the Puy-de-D6me was daily announced, and 
 whenever those new levies were mustered, Dubois- 
 Crance would be able to perfect the blockade on the 
 western side, and select the true point of attack. In 
 the mean time, he was content to press the eneni}^ 
 unremittingly, cannonade the Croix-Rousse on the 
 north, and commence his lines to the east before the 
 bridge of La Guilloticre. The transport of munitions 
 was elifficult and tedious ; they had to be brought from 
 (xrenoble, Fort Barreaux, Brianc^on, and Embmn, and 
 thus made to traverse sixty leagues of mountainous 
 roads. Such an extraordinary wainage could only 
 have been accomplished by the mode of forced requi- 
 sitions, and by devoting .5000 extra horses to tlie ser- 
 vice ; for the conveyance to Lyons was required of 
 14,000 bombs, 34,000 balls, 300,000 pounds of powder, 
 SOO.Oflo cartridges, and 130 pieces of ordnance. 
 
 At the first commencement of the siege, the Pied- 
 montese were advertised to be on the move, and de- 
 bouching from the Little Saint-Bernard and Jlount 
 Cenis. Kellermann immediately departed, on the 
 pressing entreaties of the department of the Isere, 
 and left General Dumay as his substitute before 
 Lyons. But, in fact, Dumaj- only succeeded him in 
 n.ame, for Uubois-Crance, at once a representative 
 and a skilful engineer, alone directed all the opera- 
 tions of the siege. To accelerate the levy of the con- 
 scripts in the Puy-de-D6me, Dubois-Crance detached 
 General Nicolas with a small body of cavalry; but 
 that officer was enveloped in the Forez, and fell a 
 prey to the Ij)'onnese. Dubois-Crance then dispatched 
 1000 of his l)est troops with the representative Ja- 
 vognes. His mission was more fortunate; he repressed 
 the aristocrats of Montbrison and Saint-Etienne, and 
 
 levied 7000 or 8000 peasants, whom lie conducted 
 before Lyons. Dubois-Crance stationed them at the 
 bridge of OuUins, situated to the north-west of Lyons, 
 so as to harass the communications of the besieged 
 with the Forez. He next summoned the deputy Re- 
 verciion, who had assembled a few thousand con- 
 scripts at ^Liyon, and jjlanted him high up the Saone 
 directly to the nortli. In this manner, the blockade 
 began to be somewhat more rigorous ; but the opera- 
 tions were slow, and attacks actively offensive im- 
 practicable. The fortifications of the Croix-llousse, 
 between the Rhone and Saone, before which the prin- 
 cipal corps was extended, could not be carried by 
 assault. Towards the east, and on the left bank of the 
 Rhine, the ^'.lorand bridge was defended b\- a horse- 
 shoe redoubt most skilfully constructed. To the west, 
 the all-important heights of Sainte-Foy and Four- 
 vieres could only be surmounted by a powerful army ; 
 and for the moment nothing more could be attempted 
 than intercepting supplies, and beleaguering and bom- 
 barding the town. From the beginning of August to 
 the middle of September, Dubois-Crance had been 
 incapable of effecting more, and at Paris his tardiness 
 was reviled without its miperative causes being much 
 regarded. Nevertheless, he had worked infinite mis- 
 chief on the devoted city. His bombs had destroyed 
 the magnificent square of Belle-Coiu*, the arsenal, the 
 quarter of Saint-Clair, and the gate of the Temple, 
 and seriously damaged the fine building of the Hos- 
 pital, Avhich rises so majestically on the banks of the 
 Rhone. The Lyonnese did not the less resist with 
 unabated obstinacy. A report had been propagated 
 amongst them that 50,000 Piedmontese were on the 
 point of deboucliing on their town ; the emigrants 
 were profuse in their promises, without venturing, 
 however, to share tlieu- dangers; and those honest 
 burghers, albeit sincere republicans, were, by their 
 false position, reduced to the A\Tetched extremity of 
 desiring the dangerous and disgracefiil aid of emi- 
 grants and aliens. Their real feelings transpired more 
 tlian once in a manner not to be mistaken. Precy 
 having proposed to mount the white cockade, had 
 soon been convinced that the design was premature. 
 A paper currency havuig been manufactured for the 
 exigencies of the siege, and Jlcurs-de-lis being inter- 
 woven on the notes, it was found necessary to destroy 
 them and adopt a different pattern. Thus the Lyon- 
 nese were republicans ; but the dread of vengeance by 
 the convention, and the fl^lse promises of Marseilles, 
 Bordeaux, Caen, and, above all, the emigrants, had 
 allured them into an abyss of error and calamity. 
 
 TVliilst they thus cherished the hope of shortly de- 
 scr\dng 50,000 Sardinians from their ramparts, the 
 convention had ordered the representatives Coutlion, 
 IMaigiiet, and Chateauneuf-Randon, to proceed into 
 Auvergne and the neighbouring departments, for the 
 purpose of stimulating a general levy, and Kellermaim 
 was scom-ing the valleys of the Alps, confronting the 
 Piedmontese. 
 
 An admirable opportunity here again presented itself 
 to the Piedmontese of accomplishing a bold and grand 
 manoeuvre, wliieh could not have failed to be success- 
 ful—namely, to concentrate their principal forces on 
 the Little Saint-Bernard, and debouch on Lyons with 
 50,000 men. The map acquaints us that the three v;d- 
 leys of Sallenche, La Tarentaise, and La ]\Iaurienne, 
 adjacent one to the othei-, wind almost spir:dly, and 
 that, starting from the Little Saint-Bernard, they 
 open upon Geneva, Chambery, Lyons, and Grenoble. 
 I^Ieagre French corps were scattered in these valleys. 
 To descend rapidly by one of them, and occupy their 
 apertures, was a certain mode, according to all the 
 principles of strategy, to intercept the detachments 
 engaged in the mountains and make them lay down 
 their arms. Any attachment on the part of the Sa- 
 voyards towards the French was little to be dreaded, 
 for assignats and requisitions had as j-et acquainted 
 them Avlth liberty only through its dilapidations and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 343 
 
 severities. The Uuke of I^Iontferrat, intrusted ■with 
 the expedition, toolc witli hi)n but 20,000 or 25,000 men, 
 threw a corps to liis right into tlic valley of Sallenche, 
 descended Avith his main hody into La Tarentaise, 
 and left General Gordon to traverse La INIaui-ienne 
 with the left wing. His movement, commenced on the 
 14th August, endured until September, so considerate 
 was he in his progress. The French, idtliough greatly 
 inferior in nmnl)er, opposed a vigorous resistance, and 
 contrived to sphi out a retreat of eighteen days. Ar- 
 rived at INloustier, t!;e Duke of Montferrat j)aused to 
 connect hiaij^elf with Gordon, on the chain of the 
 Grand-Lou]), which separates the two valleys of I^a 
 Tarentaise and La Maiu-ienne, and never bethought 
 himself of striding onward to Conflans, the point of 
 junction to the valleys. Such dilatoriness, and his in- 
 adequate force, prove rather significantly that he had 
 no serious intention of risking himself in an excursion 
 to Lyons. 
 
 In the mean time, Kellermann, hastening from 
 Grenoble, had levied the national guards of the Isere 
 and the neighbouring departments. He had reani- 
 mated the Savoyards, who began to fear the vengeance 
 of the Piedmontese government, and succeeded in 
 mustering an army of nearly 12,000 strong. Then, 
 detaching a reinforcement to the corps in the valley 
 of Sallenchc, he moved upon Confians, at the issue of 
 the two valleys of La Tarentaise and La Mam'ienne. 
 AU this he had accomplished by the 10th September. 
 At this moment, the Duke of ilontferrat received an 
 express order to march forward. IJut Kellermann 
 anticipated his excellency, and ventured to attack 
 him in the position of Espierre, which he had taken 
 up on the chain of the Grand-Loup, in order to pre- 
 serve a conmiunication between the two valleys. 
 Unable to reach this position in front, he caused it to 
 be turned by a detached corps. This corps, formed 
 of soldiers half naked, made, nevertheless, heroic 
 efforts, and by mere muscular strength raised cannon 
 up heights almost inaccessible. To their amazement 
 and consternation, the French artillery suddenly thun- 
 dered upon the heads of the Piedmontese ; Gordon 
 immediately withdrew into the valley of La Maurieune 
 upon Saint-Michel, and the Duke of Montferrat 
 wheeled back into tlie heart of the valley of La Ta- 
 rentaise. Kellermann, continuing to goad tlie Duke 
 on his flanks, quickly induced him to re-scale the 
 ridge to Saint-]Maurice and Saint-Germain, and finally 
 drove him, by the 4tli October, beyond the Alps. 
 Thus, ■ the rapid and successful campaign which the 
 Piedmontese might have compassed by debouching 
 with twice the mass, and descending by a sinj^le val- 
 ley on Chambery and Lyons, proved a mere alxirtion, 
 from the same reasons which had caused the failure 
 of all the enterprises projected by the allies, and 
 which conduced so providentially to the salvation of 
 Franc'C. 
 
 Whilst the Sardinians were thus repulsed beyond 
 the Alps, the three deputies dispatched into the Puy- 
 de-D6me to stimulate a gencTal levy, stirred up the 
 country liy preacliing a sort of crusade, and inculcat- 
 ing the fact that Lyons, far from defending tiie re- 
 publican cause, was the head-quarters of the emigrant 
 and foreign factions. The paralytic Coutlioii, ])ossess- 
 ing an activity of mind which his bodily infirmities 
 could not repress, excited a general ferment, lie was 
 enabk'd to (k'ta(-'h Maignet and Chateaimeuf with a 
 first colunm of 12, OOP men, remaining himself behind 
 to bring up another of 2.'), 000, and tt) make the neces- 
 sary requisitions of supi)lies. Dubois-Crance jilaced 
 the new levies on the western side towards Saint- Fi)y, 
 and thus completed the blockade. He received at the 
 same time a detachment from the garrison of Valeii- 
 uiennes, which, according to the terms of surrender, 
 could only, like that of IMayence, serve in the interior. 
 He took care to station companies of regidar troops 
 in front of the requisitionary soldiers, so as to form 
 efficient heads of columns. His armv misht at this 
 
 time amount to 25,000 conscripts and 8000 or 10,000 
 discipUned troops. 
 
 At midnight of the 24th, he succeeded in carrying 
 the redoubt commanding the bridge of OuUins, which 
 led to the foot of the Saint-Foy heights. On the fol- 
 lowing day. General Doppet, a SavoA'ard, who had 
 distmguished himself under Carteaux in tlie expedi- 
 tion against tlie MarseiUese, arrived to replace Keller- 
 mann. That officer had been previously superseded 
 on suspicion of lukewarmness, the short interval of 
 command requisite to complete his discomfiture of the 
 Piedmontese being simply continued to him. General 
 Doppet lost no time in making arrangements with 
 Dubois-Crance for an assault on the heights of Sahit- 
 Foy. All the preparations were completed for the night 
 between the 28th and 29th September. Simultaneou ; 
 attacks were to be directed on the north at. the CroLx- 
 Eousse, on the east in front of the Morand bridge, 
 and on the south by the ]\Iidatiere bridge, which 
 stands below the city at the confluence of the Saone 
 and Rhone. The main enterprise was to take place 
 by the Oullins bridge on Saint-Foy. It was not com- 
 menced till five in the morning of the 29th, an hour 
 or two after the other three. Doppet, animating his 
 soldiers, led them precipitately on the first redoubt, 
 and then carried them into the second, with such 
 vivacity as to allow no time for their courage to eva- 
 porate. The Great and the Little Saint-Foy were 
 alike carried. Meanwhile, the column ordered to at- 
 tack the ]\Iidatiere bridge succeeded in storming it, 
 and advanced into the isthmus at the point whereof 
 the two rivers unite. It was on the verge of pene- 
 trating into Lyons, when Preey, hastening to the spot 
 with his cavalry, encountered and repidsed it, and 
 saved the city. On Ids side, Vaubois, general of ar- 
 tillery, who had directed a most vigorous attack on 
 the Morand bridge, penetrated into the horse-shoe 
 redoubt, but was eventually compelled to abandon it. 
 
 Of all these attacks, one only had completely suc- 
 ceeded, but the most important, that on Saint-Foy. 
 It now remained to pass from the heights of Saint 
 Foy to those of Fourvieres, which were much more 
 regvdarlj' intrenched and difficult to be stormed. The 
 opinion of Dubois-Crance, who acted sj'^stematically 
 and on scientific principles, was against risking the 
 chances of a fresh assaidt, and for the following I'easons. 
 It was ascertained that the Lj^onnese, redxiced to sub- 
 sist on ground peas, had food for a few days only, and 
 must speedily siu-render at discretion. They had shown 
 distinguished bravery in the defence of the Mulatiere 
 and Morand bridges ; and he concluded, that should an 
 attack on the heights of Fom-vieres prove xuisuccess- 
 fid, such a check might disorganise the army, and 
 render it incumbent to raise the siege. " Tlie greatest 
 favour," said he, " we can confer on brave men driven 
 to despair, is to affijrd them an opportunity of saving 
 themselves by a conflict. Let us leave them to fall 
 by the effect of a few days' famine." 
 
 Couthon arrived at this moment, the 2d October, 
 with a further levy of 25,000 peasants, drawn from 
 Auvergne. " I am coming," lie wrote, " with my rocks 
 of Auvergne, and I will hurl them into tlie Faubourg 
 of Vaise." lie found Dubois-Crance amidst an army 
 imder his absolute chieftainship, wherein he had esta- 
 blislied the rules of military subordination, and more 
 frecpiently appeared in his uiiiforin of a superior officer 
 than in tlie garb of a rei)resentative of the people. 
 Couthon was dissatisfied tliat a representative shoidd 
 cast asi<le e(|iiaiity for military rank, hut, above all, 
 he utterly discountenanced regular warfare. " I un- 
 derstand nothing of tactics," said he ; " I come with 
 the people ; their holy wrath will overcome all ob- 
 stacles. Lyons must be inundated with our masses, 
 and carried l)y jture force. Besides, I have promi.sed 
 my peasants to let them free on Monday, as they must 
 go hoiiu' and attend to their vineyards." It was now 
 Tuesday. Dubois-Crance, full of professional prepos- 
 sessions in favour of regular troops, manifested some
 
 iU 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 contempt for these ill-armed and incongruous peasants : 
 lie proposed to select the youngest amongst them, to 
 incorporate in the battalions already organised, and to 
 dismiss the rest. Couthon would listen to no such 
 prudential counsels, hut extorted an immediate deci- 
 sion that Lyons should be attacked by assault on all 
 quarters, by the 60,000 men encamped beneath its 
 oralis ; for such was now the strength of the army 
 with the last levy. He wrote at the same time to the 
 committee of public welfare, urging the recall of Du- 
 bois-Crancc. In the comicil of war the assault was 
 fixed for the 8th October. 
 
 The recall of Dubois-Crance and of Gauthier, his 
 colleague, arrived in the interval. The Lyonnese en- 
 tertained the utmost horror for Dubois-Crance, whom 
 they had beheld for two entire months desolating their 
 beloved city, and had stated they never would sur- 
 render to him. ()u the 7th, Couthon addressed to 
 them a final summons, apprising them that it was he, 
 Couthon, and the representatives Maignet and La- 
 porte, wliom the convention had intrusted with the 
 prosecution of the siege. The fire was suspended 
 until four in the afternoon, when it was resumed with 
 extreme vigour. The preparations were proceeding 
 for the assault, when a deputation came to negotiate 
 in the name of the Lyonnese. It appeared that the 
 object of this negotiation was to afibrd Prccy, and two 
 thousand of the inhabitants chiefly compromised, time 
 to save themselves in a serried column. They accord- 
 ingly profited by the opportunity, and issued forth 
 tlirough the suburb of Vaise, with the intention of 
 retiring into Switzerland. 
 
 The conferences were scarcely opened ere a republi- 
 can column penetrated into the suburb of Saint-Just. 
 There was no further occasion to grant conditions, 
 and, moreover, the convention would allow none. On 
 the 9th the army entered the town, the representatives 
 marching in the van. The inhabitants had concealed 
 themselves, but all the persecuted Mountaineers poured 
 out to greet the victorious troops, and composed for 
 them a species of popular triumph. General Doppet 
 enforced upon his soldiers the strictest discipline, and 
 left to the representatives the task of wreaking revo- 
 lutionary vengeance on the unfortunate city. 
 
 Meanwhile, Precy, with his 2000 fugitives, was ad- 
 A-ancing towards Switzerland. But Dubois-Crance, 
 having foreseen the probability of his seeking that 
 asylum, had long ago caused all the routes to be 
 blocked. The disconsolate Lyonnese were pursued, 
 dispersed, and cut down by the peasants. Of the whole 
 number, only eight\% with their leader Precy, succeeded 
 in reaching the Helvetian territory. 
 
 The first act of Couthon after his entry was to re- 
 install the old ]Mountaineer municipality, and charge 
 it to seek out and denote the rebels, lie constituted 
 a popular commission to try them by martial law. He 
 then wrote to Paris that tliere were tliree classes of 
 inhabitants — 1st, the guilty rich ; 2d, the selfish rich; 
 .3d, the ignorant operatives, attached to no cause wliat- 
 ever, and incapable equally of good and evil, it ^\'as 
 necessar}' to guillotine the first and raise their dwell- 
 ings, to amerce the second in all their wealth, and to 
 transport the last, and replace them by a republican 
 colony. 
 
 The reduction of Lyons produced extravagant joy 
 at Paris, and in some degree made amends for the dis- 
 astrous tidings so constant in September. However, 
 notwithstanding the ultimate success, complaints were 
 urged against Dubois-Crance for his delays, and he 
 was held responsible for the flight of the Lyonnese by 
 the suburb of Vaise— a flight which, after all, had only 
 saved eighty persons. Couthon accused him, especi- 
 ally, witli having assumed an absolute command over 
 the army ; with having appeared oftener in tlie costume 
 of a superior officer than in that of a re])resentative of 
 the people ; with having manifested the pride of a 
 tactician ; and, in short, with having done all in his 
 power to sux^port the system of regular warfare in 
 
 preference to that of attacks en masse. An inquiry 
 was immediately commenced by the Jacobins against 
 Dubois-Crance, the man whose activity and vigour 
 had rendered such essential services at Grenoble, in 
 the south, and before Lyons itself. At the same time, 
 the committee of public welfare digested most rigorous 
 decrees, designed to render the authority of the con- 
 vention more formidable and more implicitly obeyed. 
 The following enactment was reported by Barrere, and 
 j)assed on the instant : — 
 
 "Art. \. There shall be nominated by the national 
 convention, on tlie presentation of the committee of 
 public welfare, a commission consisting of five repre- 
 sentatives of the people, who shall proceed to Lyons 
 without delay, to ensure the seiziire and military trial 
 of all the counter-revolutionists who took up arms in 
 that city. 
 
 2. All the Lyonnese shall be disarmed ; their arms 
 shall be given to those who are ascertained to have 
 held aloof from the revolt, and to the defenders of the 
 country. 
 
 3. The city of Lyons shall be destroyed. 
 
 4. There shall be excepted only the houses of the 
 poor, the factories, the workshops of art, the hospitals, 
 the puljlic buildings, and those of education. 
 
 ,5. This city shall cease to be called Lyons. It shall 
 be called the Enfranchised Borough. 
 
 6. On the ruins of Lyons shall be reared a monu- 
 ment whereon these words shall be read : — Lyons made 
 war against liberti/ — Lyons is no more 1" * 
 
 Intelligence of the capture of Lyons was imme- 
 diately communicated to the two armies of the north 
 and of La Vendee, from which decisive operations were 
 sanguinely anticipated ; and a proclamation exhorted 
 them to imitate the army of Lyons. The army of the 
 north was told — " The standard of liberty waves over 
 the walls of Lyons, and purifies them. It is the pre- 
 sage of victory — victory is the reward of courage. It 
 is prepared for ytm : strike, exterminate the satel- 
 lites of tyrants ! The country fixes its eyes upon you, 
 the convention aids your generous zeal : yet a few 
 days, and the tyrants will be no more — the republic 
 will owe to you its happiness and its glory !" To the 
 soldiers of La Vendee it was said — " And you also, 
 brave soldiers, will gain a victory. Too long has La 
 Vendee distressed tlie republic : march, strike, ter- 
 minate! All our enemies must succumb at once; each 
 army is on the way to conquer. Will you be the last 
 to reap the laurel — to merit the glory of having extir- 
 pated the rebels and saved the country ? " 
 
 Thus we see the committee omitted no expedient 
 to turn the fall of Lyons to the best advantage. That 
 event, in fact, was of the utmost importance. It de- 
 livered the east of France from the last traces of 
 insurrection, and extinguished the hopes of the emi- 
 grants intriguing in Switzerland, and of the Pied- 
 montese, who could not thenceforth reckon upon any 
 favourable diversion. It repressed the Jura, assured 
 the rear of the army of the Rhine, and permitted the 
 transport to Toulon and the Pyrenees of succours in 
 men and munitions, which had become quite indis- 
 pensable. Finall}-, it intimidated all the towns in any 
 degree disposed to rebel, and ensured their definitive 
 submission. 
 
 It was on the northern frontier that the committee 
 had resolved to display the greatest vigour, and tliat it 
 imposed on the generals and troops the duty of evincing 
 the most determined energy. Whilst Custine was con- 
 signed to the scaflbld, llouchard, for not having accom- 
 plished all that was possible at Dunkirk, had been sent 
 before the revolutionary tribunal. The late reproaches 
 addressed to the connnittee, in the month of Septem- 
 ber, had constrained it to remodel all the staffs. It 
 had in consequence completely recomposed them, and 
 raised to the highest grades officers of subaltern rank. 
 
 * Decree of the 18Ui da\' of the first month of the second yeal 
 of the republic.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 S45 
 
 Houchard, a colonel at the commencement of the cam- 
 paign, and before it was finished a commander-in- 
 cliief, and now accused before the revolutionary tri- 
 bunal ; Iloche, a simple officer at the sieg^e of Dun- 
 kirk, and now promoted to tlie command of the army 
 of the Moselle ; Jourdan, leader of a battalion, then 
 commanding? the centre in the battle of Ilondtschoote, 
 and finally nominated general-in-chief of the army of 
 the north — were striking examples of the vicissitudes 
 of fortune in the republican armies. Tliese sudden 
 promotions prevented soldiers, officers, and generals, 
 from having time to know eacli other and reciprocate 
 confidence ; but they presented a terrible idea of that 
 wrath which swept over all grades, not only in the 
 case of proved treason, but simply on suspicion, for 
 insufficiency of zeal, for a half- victory ; and hence 
 there resulted an absolute devotion on tlie part of the 
 armies, and boundless hopes for genius sufficiently 
 bold to encounter the perilous hazards of command. 
 
 It is to this period we must refer the first advance- 
 ment in the art of war. Undoubtedly, the principles 
 of that science had been known and practised at all 
 eras by captains who joined boldness of enterprise to 
 Jiardihood of mind. Very recently, indeed, Frederick 
 the Great had given an example of most admirable 
 combinations in strategy. But so soon as the man 
 of genius disappears, and gives place to ordinary men, 
 the art of war relapses into circumspection and rou- 
 tine. They contend eternally in defence or attack 
 of some line, and become skilful in calculating the 
 advantages of ground, and adapting thereto the diife- 
 rent varieties of force ; but, with all these attainments, 
 they dispute for whole years the possession of a pro- 
 vince which an energetic commander might gain in 
 one manoeuvre ; and tliis prudence of mediocrity wastes 
 more blood than the temerity of genius, for it unmo- 
 lates men without results. Thus had acted the scien- 
 tific tacticians of the coalition. Each battalion they 
 confronted with anotlier ; all tlie routes menaced by 
 their enemy they scrupulously guarded ; but, when 
 by one bold march they might have suppressed the 
 revolution, they dared not advance a step lest they 
 should uncover their flanks. The art of war was, like 
 otlier things, to be regenerated. To form a compact 
 mass, inspire it with confidence and determination, 
 carry it promptly beyond a river or a chain of moun- 
 tains, and smite an enemy in unsuspecting security, 
 dividing his forces, isolating him from his resources, 
 and occupying his capital, was a grand and difficult 
 system, whicli required genius of the highest order, 
 and could only be developed amidst a revolutionary 
 ferment. 
 
 The revolution, by calling into activity all the hu- 
 man energies, produced the era of vast military com- 
 binations. In the first place, it stimulated in its cause 
 enormous masses of men, far more considerable than 
 were ever raised in the cause of kings. Next, it 
 aroused an hnpatience for extraordinary acliievements, 
 excited disgust for slow and metliodical warfare, and 
 suggested the idea of sudden and powerful irruptions 
 upon one point. " We must fight in masses !" was the 
 universal shout — the cry ec^ually of the soldiers on the 
 frontiers and of the Jacobins in the clubs. Couthon, 
 upon his arrival at Lj'ons, had replied to all the argu- 
 ments of Dubois-Crance by the one ajjliorisni : " The 
 assault €71 VLds.se is indispensabk'." Finally, Barrere 
 had presented an able and comprehensive report, in 
 which lie demonstrated that the cause of the reverses 
 lay in the system of fighting by detail. It was thus 
 by fonning masses, infusing into them the sjjirit of 
 audacity, freeing them from all antiquated routine, 
 and inspiring them with thezt'id and courage of inno- 
 vation, that the revolution provoked tlie revival of 
 grand warfare. Such a change could not be operated 
 without disorder. Peasants and artisans, transported 
 to the field of battle, carried with them ignorance, 
 want of discipline, and an aptitude for i)anics, the 
 necessary consequences of imperfect organisation. The 
 
 representatives who went to stir up revolutionary ex- 
 citement in the camps, often required impossibilities, 
 and committed iniquities with regard to many brave 
 commanders. Dumouriez, Custine, Houchard, Brunet, 
 Canclaux, Jourdan, perished or retired liefore the tor- 
 rent ; but in a month, those handicraftsmen became, 
 from Jacobin declaimers, docile and valiant soldiers ; 
 those rejjresentatives communicated extraordinary 
 hardihood and determination to the armies ; and, by 
 means of changes, by the force of exigency, they suc- 
 ceeded in finding men of commanding genius equal to 
 the cu'cumstances. 
 
 Eventually a man arose to regulate tliis great 
 movement — Carnot. Formerly an officer of engineers, 
 latterly a member of the convention and of the com- 
 mittee of public welfare, and partaking in some sort its 
 inviolability, he was able to introduce order into ope- 
 rations heretofore too unconnected, without incurring 
 the risk of the guillotine, and, above all, to impart to 
 them a combination such as no minister before him 
 had been sufficiently obeyed to impose. One of the 
 chief causes of all previous discomfitxu-es was the con- 
 fusion inseparable from a state of ferment. The com- 
 mittee being firmly established and rendered irresis- 
 tible, and Carnot being invested with all the power 
 of that committee, obedience was yielded to the deduc- 
 tions of a reflective mind, which, surveying the aggre- 
 gate of circumstances, enjoined movements perfectly 
 co-ordinate M'ith i-espect to one another, and all tend- 
 ing to one identical object. Generals could no longer, 
 as Dumouriez and Custine had done formerly, act 
 each on his own quarter, drawing to himself the whole 
 war and monopolising all the resources. Representa- 
 tives could no longer order or check manoeuvres, or 
 modify superior orders. AU were henceforth con- 
 strained to bow before the supreme fiat of the com- 
 mittee, and conform to the comprehensive plan it pre- 
 scrilied. Thus planted in the centre, soaring over all 
 the frontiers, the mind of Carnot naturally expanded 
 in proportion to its elevation : he conceived extensive 
 plans, wherein prudence was equally conspicuous with 
 boldness of enterprise. The instructions sent to Hou- 
 chard furnish a signal evidence of the fact. Unques- 
 tionably, his plans sometimes laboured under the de- 
 fect common to all plans digested in cabinets : when 
 his orders arrived, they were not always adapted to 
 the locality, or practicable at the moment ; but they 
 amply redeemed by unity of purpose any deficiency 
 in details, and secured the French, during tlie follow- 
 ing year, imiversal trimnphs. 
 
 Carnot had proceeded to the northern frontier for 
 the purpose of conferring with Jourdan. The resolu- 
 tion was taken to act with hardihood, and attack the 
 enem3% despite his formidable aspect. Carnot de- 
 manded a plan from the general, to ascertain his views 
 and reconcile them with those of the committee, or in 
 other words witli his own. The allies, having returned 
 from Dunkirk towards the middle of their line, had 
 mustered between the Scheldt and the Meuse, forming 
 at that point a redoubtable mass, capable of eflecting 
 great tlimgs. We have already explained the theatre 
 of war. Several lines intersect the space between the 
 JNleuse and the ocean, namely, the Lys, the Scarpe, 
 the Scheldt, and tlie Samlnv. The allies, by the cap- 
 ture of Coiide and Valenciennes, had secured two 
 important jiosts on the Scheldt. Ciuesnoy, where- 
 on they had recently seized, gave them a "basis be- 
 tween the Scheldt and the Sambre, but they had 
 none as yet upon the Sambre itself. 'I'hey had their 
 eyes on i\Iaul)euge, which, from its position on that 
 river, would render them, to a considerable extent, 
 masters of tiie space between it and the Meuse. Thus, 
 at the opening of the next campaign, Valenciennes 
 and Maubeuge would have formed an excellent basis 
 of operations, and their campaign of 1793 would not 
 have been (juite so fruitless as the French were fain to 
 deem it. Their final project for the season, therefore. 
 consisted in occupying Maubeuge
 
 346 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 On the part of the French, amongst wliom the spirit 
 of combLiiation vras beginning to manifest itself, it A\as 
 hekl advisable to act by Lille and ilaubenge, on the 
 two Adngs of the enemj% tlie demonstration on his two 
 flanks being expected to lead to the recoil of his centre. 
 By this plan, it is true, the French were exposed to 
 the risk of having his whole force directed agamst one 
 or other of their wings, since they left him all the 
 advantage of his mass ; but there was certainly less of 
 servile routine in the conception tlian in those that 
 had been previously started. IMeanwhile, the exi- 
 gency of the moment was to succour Maubeuge. 
 Jourdan, leaving scarcely 50,000 men m the camps of 
 Gavarelle, Lille, and Cassel, to form his .left Aving, 
 mustered at Guise the utmost possible strength. He 
 had composed a mass of about 45,000 men, already 
 organised and the new levies accruing frcjm the per- 
 manent requisition he threw into regimental form with 
 all practicable speed. But those levies Avere in such 
 hopeless disorder, that he fomid it necessary to leave 
 detachments of regidar troops to guard them. Fixuig, 
 therefore, the general rendezvous for the recruits at 
 Guise, Jourdan advanced in five columns to the relief 
 of iSIaubeuge. 
 
 The enemy had already invested that place. Like 
 tlie fortresses of Valenciennes and Lille, it was sup- 
 ported by an intrenched camp, situated on the right 
 bank of the Sambre, in the same direction as that by 
 which the French were advancing. Two divisions, 
 those of Generals Desjardins and Mayer, guarded the 
 course of the Sambre, tlie one above, the other below 
 Maubeuge. The enemy, in Ueu of advancing in two 
 grand masses, sweeping Desjardins back on Maubeuge 
 and repelling i\Iayer on Charleroi, where he must have 
 been destroyed, passed the Sambre in meagi-e masses, 
 and allowed the two divisions of Desjardins and INIayer 
 to rally in the intrenched camp of Maubeuge. It was 
 highly expedient to have separated Desjardins from 
 Jourdan, and have thus prevented him from swellmg 
 the active army of tlie French -, but by leaving Mayer 
 to unite with Desjardins, both generals were permitted 
 to form under Maubeuge with a corps of 20,000 men, 
 well capaljle of foregoing the part of a mere garrison, 
 especially on the approach of Jourdan with the main 
 army. At the same time, the difficulty of victualling 
 so nmnerous a body was a serious drawback on ilau- 
 beuge, and might, to a certain extent, excuse the allied 
 generals for suffering the jimction. 
 
 The Prince of Cobourg planted the Dutch, number- 
 ing 12,000, on the left bank of the IMeuse, and applied 
 himself to burn the magazines of Maubeuge with the 
 view of augmenting the scarcity. He pushed General 
 Colloredo to the right bank, and ordered him to in- 
 vest the intrenched camp. In advance of Colloredo, 
 Clairfayt, with three divisions, formed the corps of 
 observation intended to oppose the march of Jourdan. 
 The allies counted nearly 65,000 men. 
 
 With a moderate share of hardihood and genius, the 
 Prince of Cobourg woidd have left at the utmost 1 5,000 
 or 20,000 men to overawe IMaubeuge, and marched 
 with 45,000 or 50,000 upon General Jourdan, whom 
 he must have infaUibly defeated ; for, with the advan- 
 tage of the offensive and of equal numbers, his troops 
 could not fail to prevnil over the French in tlieir defi- 
 cient organisation. Instead of adopting this plan, 
 however, the Prince of Cobourg left about 35,000 men 
 around the fortress, and remained in observation with 
 about 30,000 in the positions of Dourlers and Watig- 
 nies. 
 
 In this state of things, it was not impossible for 
 General Jourdan to have pierced on one pomt the 
 line occupied by the corps of observation, marched on 
 Colloredo, who was prosecuting the investment of the 
 intrenched camp, placed him between two fires, and, 
 after overwhelming him, incorporated the entire army 
 of Maubeuge, formed with it a mass of 60,000 men, 
 and rc])ulsed the whole alhed force on the right bank 
 of the Sambre. For this purpose, it was inciuubeut 
 
 on him to make an undivided attack on Watignies as 
 the weakest point ; but by advancing exclusively in 
 tliat direction, the French left open the Avesnes road 
 leading to Guise, which was their base and the point 
 of jmiction for aU their depots. Jourdan preferred a 
 more prudential but less conclusive plan, and resolved 
 to attack the corps of observation on four points, so as 
 still to guard the road to Avesnes and Guise. On his 
 left, he detached the division under Fromentin iipon 
 Saint-Waast, with orders to march between the Sam- 
 bre and the right of tlie enemy. General Balland, 
 with several batteries, was to plant himself in the 
 centre, facing Dourlers, to keep Clairfayt in check by 
 a vigorous cannonade. To the right. General Du- 
 quesnoy advanced upon Watignies, which formed the 
 left of tlie enemy, a little in the rear of the central 
 position of Dourlers. That pomt was held by but a 
 feeble corps. A fourth division, that of General Beau- 
 regard, stationed still farther to the right, was ap- 
 pointed to second Duquesnoy in his attack on Watig- 
 nies. These different movements were but slenderly 
 combined, and did not bear upon decisive points. They 
 were put in execution on the morning of the 15th 
 October. General Fromentin occupied Saint-Waast; 
 but not having taken the precaution to near the woods 
 so as to shelter himself from a charge of cavalry, he 
 was assailed and driven back into the ravine of Saint- 
 Keniy. In the centre, where Fromentin was deemed 
 to be master of Saint-Waast, and where it was known 
 that the right had succeeded in approaching Watig- 
 nies, a resolution was taken to move forward, and, 
 instead of merely cannonading Domders, to carry it by 
 storm. It apjiears tliat this was the counsel of Camot, 
 who decided the attack m spite of General Jourdan. 
 The French infantry rushed into the ravine which 
 separated it from Dourlers, clambered up the reverse 
 bank under a galling fire, and arrived on a level where 
 it had in front formidable batteries and in fiank a 
 numerous cavahy ready to charge. At tlie same 
 moment, a fresh corps, which had just contributed to 
 put Fromentin to rout, threatened to envelop it on the 
 left. General Jourdan incurred the gi'eatest hazards 
 to maintain the division, but it swerved, fell back with 
 disorder into the ravine, and by great good fortune was 
 allowed to resume its positions Avithout being pursued. 
 In this enterprise tlie French lost nearly 1000 men, 
 and on the left Fromentin lost his artillery. General 
 Duquesnoy on the right had alone succeeded, by con- 
 triving to approach Watignies. 
 
 After this attempt, the position became better un- 
 derstood by the French. They were convinced that 
 Dourlers was too strongly defended to direct the prin- 
 cipal attack on that point ; but that Watignies, inade- 
 quately guarded by General Tercy, and situated to 
 the rear of Dourlers, was easily to be carried ; and 
 that this village once occupied by the main strength 
 of the arnn% the position of Dourlers would necessarily 
 fall. Jourdan therefore detached 6000 or 7000 men 
 to his right, in order to reinforce General Duquesnoy ; 
 he ordered General Beauregard, who was too far off 
 with his fourth column, to wheel about from Eule upon 
 Obrechies, so as to effect a concentric operation upon 
 AVatignies, in conjunction with General Duquesnoy ; 
 but he persisted in continuing his demonstration upon 
 the centre, and in enjoining Fromentin to resume the 
 movement on the left, for the purpose of embracing 
 the whole of the enemy's front. 
 
 The next day, the 16th, the attack commenced. 
 The French infantry, debouching hy the three villages 
 of Dinant, Dcmichaux, and Choisj', advanced on Wa- 
 tignies. The Austrian grenadiers, who connected 
 Watignies with Dourlers, were forced back into the 
 woods. Tlie hostile cavalry Avas kept in check by 
 light artillery appositely disposed, and Watignies was 
 carried. General Beauregard, less fortunate, was sur- 
 prised by a brigade which the Austrians had detached 
 against him. His troops, exaggerating the strength 
 of the enemy, broke rank and ceded a portion of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 347 
 
 ground. At Dourlers and Saint-Waast, each party 
 ifiad held the other at bay ; hut Watignies was occu- 
 pied, and the essential nianccuvre accomplished. To 
 ensure its possession, Jourdan again reinforced his 
 right with 5000 or 6000 men. Cobourg, too readily 
 startled at danger, retreated, notwithstanding the 
 success obtained over Beauregard and the arrival of 
 the Duke of York, who came by forced marches from 
 the opposite side of the Sambre. It is probable that 
 the apprehension of seeing the French army effect a 
 junction with the 20,000 men in the intrenched camp, 
 scared him from persisting in his occupation of the 
 right bank of the Sambre. There is little doubt that 
 if the army of ]\Iaubcuge, on the signal of the firing 
 at Watignies, had attacked the investing corps, and 
 sallied forth towards Jourdan, the allies might have 
 been overwhelmed. The soldiers demanded to be led 
 on vv ith loud cries ; but General Ferrand opposed the 
 attempt, and General Chancel, who was erroneously 
 deemed guilty of this refusal, was sent before the 
 revolutionary tribunal. The successful attack on 
 Watignies caused tlic siege of INIaubeuge to be 
 raised: it was called the victory of Watignies, and 
 produced a very powerful impression on the public 
 mind. 
 
 The allies were thus, after these operations, concen- 
 trated betAveen the Scheldt and the Sambre. The 
 committee of public welfare was eager to take instant 
 advantage of the victory of Watignies v/liilst tlie dis- 
 couragement it had throivn upon the enemy and tlae 
 energy it had aroused m its own army were still rife ; 
 and it resolved to hazard a final effort, calculated, 
 before the winter set in, to hurl the allies beyond the 
 French soil, and leave them with the disheartening 
 conviction of having made a completely abortive cam- 
 paign. The oijinions of Jourdan and Carnot were 
 not in harmony with the iJeas of the committee. 
 They held that the rains, already abundant, the 
 broken state of the roads, and t^ie fatigue of the 
 troops, were sufficient reasons for entering into wmter- 
 quarters ; and they recommended that the bad season 
 should be devoted to disciplining and organising the 
 army. However, the committee insisted upon having 
 the territory cleared, declaring that at this period of 
 the year even a defeat could be attended with no im- 
 portant consequences. In accordance Avith the newly 
 conceived idea of acting upon the wings, the committee 
 ordained the troops to march by Maubeuge and Char- 
 leroi on one side, by Cj'saing, Maulde, and Tournay 
 on the other, and thus envelop the enemj' on the land 
 he had overrun. The ordinance was signed on the 
 22d October. Orders were issued in conformity ; the 
 army of Ardennes was to join Jourdan, and the gar- 
 risons in the strongholds were to be drawn out, and 
 replaced by the new requisitions. We revert, mean- 
 while, to another quarter. 
 
 The war of La Vendee had been resumed with un- 
 abated ardoui'. We have seen that Canclaux had re- 
 coiled upon Nantes, and that tlie columns of the LTpper 
 Vendee had returned to Angers and Saumvu-. Before 
 the new decrees which amalgamated the two armies 
 of Rochelle and Brest, and conferred the supreme 
 command on Lcchelle, were known, Canclaux had 
 arranged a fresh otTensive movement. The soldiers 
 known as the Mayencers were already reduced, by 
 war and sickness, to 9000 or 10,000. The division of 
 Brest, repulsed under the ausj^ices of Beysser, was 
 almost disorganised. Canclaux determined, never- 
 theless, upon a bold advance' into the heart of La 
 Vendee, and lie conjured Rossignol to support him with 
 his army, liossignol forthwith assembled a council 
 of war at Saumur on the 2d October, and prociu'cd a 
 /lecision that the colunms of Saumur, Thouars, and 
 La Chataigneraye, should unite on tlu! 7th at Bres- 
 suire, and thence march to Chatillon, so that their 
 inroad might be co-ordinate with that of Canclaux. 
 At the same time, he ordered tlie two colunms of 
 Lu(^on and Sables to keep on the defensive, both on 
 
 account of theu- recent discomfitures, and of the dangers 
 threatening them from Lower Vendee. 
 
 In the interim, Canclaux had advanced on the 1st 
 October to Montaigu, pushing reconnoitring parties as 
 far as Saint-Fulgent, with the design of connnunicat- 
 ing on his right with the column of Lucon, in case it 
 should compass the resumption of the offensive. Em- 
 boldened by the success of his march, he ordered the 
 advanced guard, still under the command of Klcber, 
 to push on to Tift'auges. Four thousand Mayencers 
 encountered the army of D'Elbte and Bonchamps at 
 Saint-Simphorien, put it to flight after a sanguinary 
 conflict, and pursued it a considerable distance. Dur- 
 ing the same evening arrived the decree supersechng 
 Canclaux, Aubert-l>ubayet, and Grouchy. The ut- 
 most discontent was manifested by the cohort of 
 Maj'ence, and Philippeaux, GUlet, Merlin, and Kew- 
 bel, seeing the army deprived of an excellent general 
 when exposed to imminent hazards in the centre of 
 La Vendee, were highly incensed at so ino^'portime 
 an ordinance. The measure itself, concentrating the 
 entire command of the west in one person, was un- 
 questionably beneficial"; but some mdividual more 
 competent to sustain the charge ought to have been 
 selected. Lcchelle was both ignorant and pusillani- 
 mous Kltber avers in his memoirs, and never once 
 confronted a ball. A subaltern in the army of Ro- 
 chelle, he underwent a rapid advancement, like Ros- 
 signol, on the credit of a high reputation for patriotism ; 
 but it was unknown that, devoid equallj' of Kossig- 
 nol's natural talents and of his personal courage, his 
 incapacity as a general was rivalled by his cowardice 
 as a soldier. "Whilst awaiting his arrival, Kleber held 
 tlie command. The army remained in cantonments 
 between Montaigu and Tifiliuges. 
 
 Lcchelle arrived on the 8th October, and a council 
 of Avar was immediately held in his presence. Intel- 
 ligence had just been brought of the march of the 
 Saumur, Thouars, and La Chataigneraye columns on 
 Bressuire, whereupon it was resolved to persist in ad- 
 vancing u]5on Chollet, v/here a junction might be ope- 
 rated with the three columns assembled at Bressuire ; 
 and at the same time orders were signed to the re- 
 mainder of the Lu^ou division to move towards the 
 general rendezvous. Lcchelle was incompetent to ap- 
 preciate the reasonings of the generals, and signified 
 his approval of their recommendations by saying — 
 " We nmst march with majesty and in mass." Kltber 
 folded up. his map with ill-dissembled scorn. Merlin 
 declared that ingenuity liad been taxed to pick out 
 the most ignorant of Uving mortals to take charge of 
 the most endangered arniy. From this momerit, 
 Kleber was empowered by the representatives to 
 direct the operations, contenting himself with the 
 formahty of rendering accovmts to Lcchelle from time 
 to time. That prudential personage profited by the 
 arrangement to keep between himself and tlie field of 
 battle a considerate interval. Shrinking from expo- 
 sure to danger, he cordially hated the valiant men who 
 fought in his bcludf, but at aU events left them to fight 
 when and where they pleased. 
 
 At this period, Charette, perceiving the dangers 
 Avhich threatened the chiefs of Upper Vendee, sepa- 
 rated from them, alleging feigned grounds of discon- 
 tent, and retired to the coast with the design of seiz- 
 ing upon the isle of ^7t)innontiers. He became master 
 of it, in fact, on the 12th October, by sui-prise, and by 
 treachery on the part of the oflicer in connnand. He 
 thus made sure of saving his own division, and of 
 maintaining a comnnnucation with the English ; but 
 he left the l)arty in Upper Vendee exposed to almost 
 inevitable destruction. For behoof of tl;e common 
 cause, a more benefici;d course was o]K'1i to him : lie 
 might have attacked the cohort of JIayence in the 
 rear, and possibly destroyed it. The leaders of the 
 main army sent letter ui)on letter, urging him to the 
 attcinjit, l)ut they never received any answer. 
 
 Those mifortunate chiefs of Upper A'eadc'e were
 
 348 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 closely pressed on all sides. The republican columns 
 ajjpointed to assemble at Brcssuire had apjieared on 
 the prescrilxd day, and marched on the 9th from 
 Brcssuire upon Chatillon. On the road they encoun- 
 tered the army of M. de Lescure, and threw it into 
 disorder. Westermann, reinstated in liis command, 
 was always at theliead of the advanced guard with a 
 few hundred resolute men. He entered Cliatillon on 
 the evening of the 9th. Tlie Avliole amiy reached it 
 the following day. Durin;^- this movement, Lescure 
 and Larochejacquelcin liad called to their aid the main 
 Vendean armj% which was at no great distance from 
 them ; for, already mucli cooped up in the centre of 
 the country, they fought at comparatively short inter- 
 vening spaces. All the leaders, in solcnm conclave, 
 resolved to bear down upon Chatillon. They were in 
 motion on tlie 11th. Westermann was already ad- 
 vancing from Chatillon on Mortagne. witli 500 men 
 of the advanced guard. At first he had no suspicion 
 an entire army was on his hands, and asked from his 
 superior hi command but slight aid. But suddenly 
 perceiving himself on tlie point of being enveloped, he 
 was fain to beat a rapid retreat, and scampered into 
 Cliiitillon witli his whole troop. The greatest disorder 
 instantly prevailed through the town, and the republi- 
 can army abandoned it with precijntation. Wester- 
 mann, joining the general-in-chicf Chalbos, and call- 
 ing around him a few intrepid soldiers, checked the 
 fliglit, and even moved back to the mimediate vicinity 
 of Chatillon. At nightfall he said to some of his com- 
 ^lanions wlio liad fled — " You have lost your lionour 
 to-day ; it must be recovered." Thereupon he took 
 a hundred troopers, seated a hundred grenadiers behind 
 them, and in the dead of night, when the Vendeans, 
 heaped confusedly in Chatillon, were stupified by sleep 
 or wine, liad the hardihood to enter the town and rush 
 into the midst of an immense army m its cantonments. 
 The confusion that ensued baffles description, and the 
 carnage was terrific. The Vendeans, unable to recog- 
 nise their comrades, fell foul of one another ; and amidst 
 the horrible disorder, women, children, and old men, 
 were slaughtered indiscriminately. ^Vestermann re- 
 tired at the dawn of day with the thirty or forty 
 soldiers who survived, and rejoined the bulk of the 
 ;irmy a league from the town. Vv^ith daylight a most 
 dismal spectacle met tlie eyes of the Vendeans ; hor- 
 ror-struck, they forthwith evacuated Chatillon, swim- 
 ming with blood and enveloped in flames, and shrunk 
 away in the direction of ChoUet, precisely where the 
 ]\Iayencers were prowling. Chalbos, after re-establish- 
 ing order in his division, re-occupied Chatillon on the 
 14tli, and prepared again to move forward, with the 
 view of accomphshing the desired junction with the 
 army of Nantes. 
 
 The Vendean leaders, therefore, D'Elbee, Bonchamps, 
 Lescure, and Larochejacquelein, were now assembled 
 with all their forces in the environs of ChoUet. The 
 Mayencers, who had begun to move on the 14th, were 
 approaching that point ; the column of Chatillon was 
 only at a short distance; and the division of Lu<;on, 
 which had been summoned, was likewise advancing, 
 with orders to plant itself between the columns of 
 Mayence and Chatillon. Thus, the moment of gene- 
 ral junction was at hand. On the 15th the cohort of 
 ^layence marched in two bodies to Mortagne, which 
 had just been evacuated. Klcber, with the main army, 
 formed the left, and Beaupuy the right. At the same 
 moment the column of Luyon neared Mortagne, ex- 
 pecting to find a direction-battalion which Lcchelle 
 ha<l been intrusted to station on its route. But that 
 general, who was a mere incundirance, had failed to 
 acquit himself even of this trifling duty. The column 
 was sjieedily sur])rised by Lescure, and found itself be- 
 set on all sides. Fortunately, Beaupuy, who was within 
 a short distance by his position towards Mortagne, 
 hastened to its reUef, and succeeded in disengaging it. 
 The Vendeans were finally repulsed. The ifi-fated 
 l.«scure received a ball above tlie ejebrow, and fell 
 
 into the arms of his soldiers, who bore him off the 
 field and took to flight. The column of Lu^on then 
 joined that of Beaupuy. The youtliful Jlarceau had 
 just assumed the command of it. At the same time, 
 Kleber sustained a contest on the left towards Saint- 
 Christophe. and repulsed the enemy. On the evening 
 of the loth, all the republican troops bivouacked in 
 the fields before Chollet, whither the Vendeans had 
 retreated. The division of Luf;on was about 3000 
 strong, making, with the cohort of ilayenee, between 
 12,000 and 13,000 veteran troops. 
 
 The following morning, the 16th, the Vendeans, 
 after a few rounds of artillery, evacuated ChoUet, and 
 fell back on Beaujircau. Kleber forthwith effected an 
 entrance, and, prohibiting pillage under pain of death, 
 enforced the observance of strict order. The colunm 
 of Luyon manifested the same forbearance at Mor- 
 tagne. Consequently, all the historians who have 
 stated that ChoUet and Mortagne were burnt, have 
 laboured under error or propagated a Msehood. 
 
 Kleber lost no time in making his dispositions, for 
 as to Lechelle, he was two leagues behind. The river 
 Moine passes before Chollet; beyond is a liiUy, un- 
 equal surface, forming a semicircle of heights. To 
 the left of this semicircle stretches the wood of ChoUet; 
 in the centre of ChoUet itself, and to the right, stands 
 a lofty castle. Kleber placed Beaupuy, with the ad- 
 vanced guard, in front of the wood ; Haxo, with the 
 reserve of the Mayencers, beliind the advanced guard, 
 and in a manner to support it ; and he stationed the 
 coluuni of Lucon, conimanded by Marceau, in the 
 centre, and Vimeux, with the remainder of the May- 
 encers, to the right, upon the heights. The colunm 
 of Chatillon arrived in the night between the 16tli 
 and 17tli. It amounted to between 9000 and 10,000 
 men, which rendered the total strength of the repub- 
 licans about 22,000. On the morning of the 17th a 
 comicil of war was held. Kk'ber disUked his position 
 in front of Chollet, because it possessed but one point 
 of retreat, the bridge over the Moine leadhig to the 
 town. lie advocated a march forward, with the view 
 of turning Beaiipreau and intercepting the Vendeans 
 from the Loire. The representatives controverted his 
 counsel, because the column just arrived from ChatU- 
 lon required a day's repose. 
 
 In the mean time the Vendean chiefs deUberated at 
 Beaupreau, amidst a scene of distressing confusion. 
 The peasants had collected around them their wives, 
 children, and flocks, and composed an emigrant popu- 
 lation of more than one hundred thousand souls. La- 
 rochejacquelein and D'Elbee upheld the plan of seUing 
 their lives on their own side the river ; but Tidmont 
 and D'Autichamp, who had great influence in Brittany, 
 impatiently urged the passage to the opposite shore. 
 Bonchamps, who beheld a great enterprise in prospec- 
 tive by making an excursion on the northern coasts, 
 and who had, it is understood, a project in concert 
 with England, gave his voice for crossing the Loire. 
 Nevertheless, he was sufliciently inclined to attempt 
 a last effort, and wage one desperate struggle before 
 ChoUet. He sent a detachment of 4000 men to Va- 
 rades, before moving to battle, in order to ensure a pas- 
 sage over the Loire in the event of discomfiture. 
 
 A battle was accordingly resolved upon. The Ven- 
 deans advanced, to the number of 40,000 men, upon 
 ChoUet, an hour after mid-day of the 18th October. 
 The republican generals had no expectation of being 
 attacked, and had just proclaimed a day of rest. The 
 Vendeans were gathered into three columns — the first 
 confronting the left of the republicans, where Beaupuy 
 and Haxo exercised command ; the second directed on 
 the centre, held by ISIarceau ; and the third on the 
 right, confided to Vimeux. The Vendeans marched 
 in line and rank like regular troops. All the wounded 
 chiefs who could support the motion of a horse ap- 
 peared in the midst of their peasants, and encouraged 
 them on a day which was to decide their future fate 
 and the possession of their homes. Between Beau-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Ui) 
 
 prcau and the Loire, in every hamlet still remaining' 
 to them, mass was solenuiised, and Heaven earnestly 
 supplicated in behalf of their tottering cause. 
 
 Tlie Vendeans moved forward and engaged the 
 advanced guard of Beaupuy, planted, as already men- 
 tioned, in a jilain before the wood of Chollet. Tart of 
 them advanced in close column, and charged in the 
 manner of regular troops ; others spread out as sharp- 
 shooters to turn the advanced giuird, and even the 
 left wing, by penetrating into the wood of ChoUet. 
 The republicans, overwhelmed by superior numbers, 
 were forced to recoil ; Beaupuy had two horses killed 
 under him ; he fell entangled in his stirru]), and was 
 on tlie point of being taken, when he threw himself 
 behind an ammunition-waggon, caught a third horse, 
 and gidloped ofi' to his colunui. At this moment, 
 Kleber hastened to the threatened wing. He ordered 
 the centre and right not to weaken themselves, and 
 directed Chalbos to bring one of his columns out of 
 Chollet and speed to the aid of the left. He himself 
 took up his station near Haxo, re-established confidence 
 in his battalions, and led again into the tliickest of the 
 fire those who had fallen back upon the first onslaught. 
 The Vendeans were repulsed in their turn, recovered, 
 and repeated their desjierate charge, and were again 
 repulsed. IMeauAvhile the battle raged with equal 
 fury in the centre and on the right. Vimeux, how- 
 ever, was so admirably stationed on the riglit that aU 
 th.e efibrts of the enemy were fruitless in that direc- 
 tion. 
 
 But in the centre the Vendeans made greater pro- 
 gress than on the two wings, and penetrated into the 
 hollow where Marceau was planted. Kleber flew 
 thither to support the colunm of Lu^on, and, at that 
 very instant, one of Chalbos's divisions, which he had 
 earlier summoned, issued out of Chollet to the number 
 of 4000 men. This reinforcement was of essential im- 
 portance at so critical a conjuncture ; but, at sight of 
 the plain enveloped in smoke and flame, that division, 
 wretchedly organised like all those in the array of 
 Iiochelle, disbanded and ran back in disorder into 
 Chollet. Kleber and Marceau remained in the centre 
 with the single column of Lucon. Young Marceau, 
 who commanded it, was not intimidated ; he allowed 
 the enemy to come within musket-shot, then suddenly 
 unmasked his artillery, and, by so unexpected a fire, 
 checked and swept down the Vendeans. They stood 
 their ground for some time, rallying and closing rank 
 midcr a dreadful shower of grape ; but shortly they 
 recoiled, and finally fled in flisorder. At tliis moment 
 their rout was general in the centre, on the left, and 
 on the right. Beaupuj', with his reanimated advanced 
 guard, jjursiied them with remorseless vigom*. 
 
 The columns which had taken part in the battle 
 were those of Mayence and Lucon alone. Thus 13,000 
 men had defeated 40,000. On both sides the greatest 
 valour had been displayed ; but regularity and disci- 
 pline decided the advantage in favour of the republi- 
 cans. Marceau, Beaupuj', and IMerlin, who pointed 
 the guns in person, had shown the utmost heroism, and 
 Kleber had exhibited his usual judgment and promji- 
 titude on the field of ])attle. On the part of the Ven- 
 deans, D'Elbee and Bonchamps, after many feats of 
 intrepidity, had been mortally wounded ; Laroehejac- 
 quelein then remained alone of all the chiefs, and he 
 had omitted nothing to win partici2)atioii in their 
 glorious fate. The battle lasted from two until six 
 o'clock. 
 
 Darkness had already fallen on the scene of cam.ige. 
 The Vendeans fled witli all speed, throwing away on 
 the roads their heavy clogs. Beaupuy followeil closely 
 at their heels. To him was added Westcrmann, who, 
 burning to escape tlie inaction of Chalbos's troops, had 
 taken a regiment of cavalry, and hastened at fidl gal- 
 lop after the fugitives. After keeping up the pursuit 
 for a considerable distance, Beaupuy and Westermaim 
 halted and took counsel how they shoidd refresh tlieir 
 soldiers " We shall find more bread at Beaupreau 
 
 than at Chollet," said some ; and they were actuallj' 
 rash enough to march on Beaupreau, where it was 
 concluded by all that the Vendeans had retired in a 
 mass. But the flight had been so rapid that one por- 
 tion of them Avas already at Saint-Florent, on the edge 
 of the Loire. The remainder, on the approach of the 
 republicans, evacuated Beaupreau in disorder, and sur- 
 rendered without a struggle a post they might have 
 easily defended. 
 
 The following morning the whole army marched 
 from Chollet to Beaupreau. Beaupuy "s advanced 
 guard, stationed on the road to Saint-Florent, suddenly 
 ]ierceived a multitude of individuals drawing near, 
 uttering shouts of" The republic for ever ! Bonchamps 
 for ever ! " Being interrogated, they replied by pro- 
 claiming Bonchamps their liberator. In fact, that 
 young hero, stretched on a mattrass and about to ex- 
 pire from a shot in the abdomen, liad demanded and 
 obtained the lives of four thousand prisoners, whom 
 the Vendeans dragged along with them, and whom 
 they had destined to be shot. These prisoners now 
 rejoined the republican army. 
 
 At this moment eighty thousand persons, compris- 
 ing Avomen, children, old men, and warriors, were con- 
 gregated on the edge of the Loire, with the sad relics 
 of their possessions, and struggling amongst them- 
 selves for the occupancy of some twenty boats to cross 
 to the opposite side. The superior coimcil, composed 
 of the leaders still capable of expressing an opinion, 
 deliberated whether they ought to separate or carry 
 the Avar into Brittany. Some Avere desirous that they 
 should disperse and seek concealment in La Vendee 
 to aAvait happier times: Larochejacquelein Avas of the 
 number, and he held, moreover, they ought to die on 
 the left hank of the Loire rather than pass to the right 
 shore. However, the contrary opinion prevailed, and 
 it was decided to keep together and move across the 
 river. But Bonchamps had just breathed his last, and 
 no one survived capable of accomplishing the projects 
 he had formed with regard to Brittany. D'Elbee, in 
 a d}ing state, had been sent to Noirmoutiers ; Lescure, 
 mortally woimded, was transported in a Utter. Eighty 
 thousand people, then, quitted their homes, to carry 
 devastation into neighbouring lands, and there to 
 perish — for what object? Just Heaven ! for an absurd 
 cause, forsaken on all sides, or at the most hjijoeri- 
 tically defended ! And at the very time this unfor- 
 tmiate population Avas thus generously exposing itself 
 to so many evils, the allies scarcely bestowed a thought 
 upon it ; the emigrants were busy intrigiung in the 
 different courts, only a fcAv amongst them fighting 
 courageously on the Rhine, but in the ranks of tlie 
 foreigner ; and none had cared to send a soldier or a 
 coin to that ill-fated La Vendee, renoAvned for nume- 
 rous heroic achievements, and iioav vanquished, fugi- 
 tive, and desolated. 
 
 The republican generals held a coiuicil at Beau- 
 preau, wherein it was resolved to cUvide, one party 
 proceeding to Nantes and the other to Angers, in 
 order to shield those tAvo toAvns from the danger of a 
 sudden assault. According to this opinion of the re- 
 presentatives, not shared however by Kleber, La 
 Vendee Avas utterly prostrated. " La Vendee has 
 ceased to be," they Avrote to the convention. That 
 assend)ly had given the army till tlie 20th October to 
 conclude the Avar, and itAvas terminated on the 18th. 
 'J'he army of tlie nortli had on the same day gained 
 the battle of Watignies, and finished tlie campaign liy 
 raising the blockade of IMaubeiigc. Thus, on all sides, 
 the convention apparently had but to decree victory 
 to ensure it. ICnthusiasiii Avas at its height in Paris 
 and throughout France, and the belief began to pre- 
 vail tliat before the end of the season the republic! 
 Avould be victorious over all the thrones leagued 
 against it. 
 
 One event only was calculated to mar this general 
 joy, namely, the loss of the lines of Weissembourg on 
 the Rhine, which had been forced on the 13th and
 
 350 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 1-1 th of October. After the check of Pirmasens, we 
 left the Prussians and Austrians confronting the lines 
 of the Surre and the Lanter, and threatcnuig every 
 instant to stonn them. Tlie Prussians, havin;^ assailed 
 the French on the hanks of tlie Sarre, obliged them to 
 fall back. The corps of tlie Vosges, repulsed beyond 
 Hombacii, recoiled as far as Bitche, in tlie centre of 
 the mountains ; the army of the Moselle, thrown back 
 on Sarreguemines, was sejiarated from the corps of 
 the Vosges and the armj' of the Kliine. In this state 
 of affairs, it became easy for the Prussians, who had 
 on the western ridge passed the common line of the 
 Sarre and the Lauter, to turn the lines of Weissera- 
 bourg on their extreme left. Thereupon those lines 
 were necessarily doomed to fall. Tlie event accord- 
 ingly came to pass on the 13th October. 
 
 We have previously remarked that a coolness had 
 arisen between Prussia and Austria; this had now 
 given way to perfect cordiality. The King of Prussia 
 had repaired to Poland, and left the command to tlie 
 Duke of Brunswick, with orders to act in concert with 
 Wurmser. On the 13th and 14th October, whilst the 
 Prussians were marching along the line of the Vosges 
 to Bitche, far beyond the eminence of Weissembourg, 
 Wurmser moved to attack the lines of the Lauter in 
 seven columns. The first, under the Prince of Wal- 
 deck, being ordered to cross the Rhine at Seltz and 
 turn Lauterbourg, encountered invincible obstacles, 
 as well in the nature of the ground as in the courage 
 of a demi-battalion from the Pyrenees ; the second, 
 although it liad cleared the lines below Lauterbourg, 
 was repidscd ; the others, after obta,ining above and 
 around Weissembourg advantages long counterpoised 
 by a determined resistance on the part of the French, 
 finally succeeded in occupjnng Weissembourg. Tlie 
 French retired to the post of Geisberg, situated a little 
 in the rear of Weissembourg, and much more difficult 
 to storm. Thus, the Imes of Weissembourg could not 
 yet be regarded as completely lost ; but the tidings ol 
 the march of the Prussians on the western ridge ob- 
 liged tlie French general to fall back on Haguenau and 
 tlie lines of the Lauter, and consequently to jield a 
 fragment of the Gallic soil to the allies. On this point, 
 therefore, the frontier was invaded ; but the successes 
 in the north and La Vendee relieved the impression 
 caused by so untoward a catastrophe. Saint-Just and 
 Lebas were forthwith dispatched into Alsace to repress 
 the movements which the Alsacian nobility and the 
 emigrants were exciting in Strasbui-g. Numerous 
 levies were likewise directed upon the same quarter ; 
 and the firm resolution to conquer, on that point as on 
 all others, sufficed to calm public apprehension. 
 
 The dismal alarm that had prevailed during the 
 month of August, before the victories of Hondtschoote 
 and Watignies, before the reduction of Lyons and the 
 retreat of the Piethnontese beyond the Alps, and be- 
 fore the successes in La Vendee, was greatly dis- 
 sipated. At this moment, the frontier of the north, 
 the most important and the most endangered, was 
 delivered from the enemy, Lyons restored to the re- 
 public, La Vendee subjected, and all rebellion quelled 
 in the interior, even to the frontier of Italy, where the 
 seaport of Toulon still resisted, it is true, but resisted 
 alone. One more advantage at the foot of the P^-re- 
 nees, at Toulon, and on the Rhine, and the republic 
 Wivs completely victorious ; nor did this threefold suc- 
 cess seem more difhcult of accomplishment than those 
 already secured. Undoubtedly, the mighty task was 
 not fully perfected, but it might soon become so by a 
 continuation of the same exertions, by a further de- 
 velopment of the same resources; and t'nough com- 
 plete confidence was not j^et re-estabUshed in tiie 
 public apprehension, the dread of almost inevitable 
 destruction had gradually subsided. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 PROSCRIPTIO.VS AT LTOXS, MARSEILLES, AND BORDEAUX. 
 EXECUTION OF MARIE-ANTOINETTE, THE GIRON- 
 DISTS, THE DUKE OF ORLEANS, BAILLY, AND MADAME 
 ROLAND. INSTITUTION OF THE REPUDLICAN CALEN- 
 DAR AND THE WORSHIP OF REASON. 
 
 The revolutionary measures adopted for the safety 
 of France were executed throughout its confines with 
 inexorable rigour. Imagined by men of most ardent 
 temperaments, tliej' were in principle suificiently vio- 
 lent ; but enforced at a distance froirf the leaders who 
 had originated them, and b^' inferior instruments, 
 whose blinder passions were so much the more brutal, 
 in application they became additionally violent. A 
 large portion of the citizens was compelled to quit home 
 and pursuits ; another portion was immured under 
 the title of " suspected ;" stores of food and merchan- 
 dise were fi)rcibly abstracted for the necessities of tlie 
 armies ; compxdsory labour was imposed to accelerate 
 transit; and in remuneration of articles confiscated 
 or services extorted were given assignats only, or a 
 credit upon tlie commonwealth, which was regarded 
 as valueless. The assessment of the forced loan was 
 despoticallj^ prosecuted; the surveyors of the communes 
 said to one — " You have an income of ten thousand 
 livres ;" to another — " You have twenty thousand ;" 
 and all, without the privilege of remonstrance, were 
 obhged to furnisli the sum demanded. Pitiable vexa- 
 tions resulted from a system so purely arbitrary ; but 
 the armies at the same tune were supplied with men, 
 abundant stores were transported to the depots, and 
 the thousand million of assignats appointed to be witli- 
 drawn from the circulation were gradually falling into 
 the exchequer. Operations so rapidly completed, the 
 salvation of a state iu such imii.inent hazard, neces- 
 sarily involved a large amount of hidividual calamity. 
 
 In all the localities where pressing danger had re- 
 quired the presence of the conventional commissioners, 
 the revolutionary measures had taken the most inexo- 
 rable character. Near the froiitiers and in the depart- 
 ments suspected of ro3'alism or federalism, those com- 
 missioners had levied the population in a general ma.ss ; 
 they had placed all things under requisition, and 
 smitten the rich with revolutionary taxes beyond the 
 general imposition resulting from the forced loan ; 
 they had accelerated the incarceration of the suspected, 
 and sometimes, indeed, had consigned those forlorn 
 individuals to revolutionary tribunals instituted upon 
 their own fiat. Laplanche, envoy in the department 
 of Le Cher, addi-essed the Jacobin Club in the follow- 
 ing strain : — 
 
 " I have every where inscribed terror as the order 
 of the day ; I have every where imposed contributions 
 on the rich and the aristocrats. Orleans has furnished 
 me fifty thousand li\Tcs ; and two days sufficed me at 
 Bourges for a levy of two millions. Unable to be at 
 all points, my delegates have made amends ; an in- 
 dividual, named ^lamin, worth seven millions, and 
 assessed by one of tliem at forty thousand livres, com- 
 plained to the convention, which approved my conduct ; 
 and if he had been taxed by me hi person, he shoidd 
 luive paid two millions. At Orleans I made mj' agents 
 render a public account ; it was in the bosom of the 
 popidar society they acquitted themselves of the task, 
 and their account was sanctioned by the people. I 
 have every where caused tlie bells to be melted, and 
 have joined several parishes together. I have cashiered 
 all federalists, immured all suspected, and put the sans- 
 culottes in force. Priests had all their conveniences 
 in tlie houses of seclusion ; tlie sans-cvdottes slept on 
 straw in the jails : the first have furnished me with 
 mattrasses for the latter. Li all directions I have 
 made the priests marry. I have every where electri- 
 fied hearts and minds. I have organised manuf.ic- 
 tures of arms, and inspected the workshops, the hos- 
 pitals, and the prisons. I have dispatched several
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 351 
 
 battalions of the general levy. I liave reviewed many 
 of the national o-uards, in order to republicani.se them, 
 and I have guillotined divers royalists. In short, I 
 have carried out my imperative mandate. I have 
 throughout acted as a zealous Mountaineer, as a revo- 
 lutionary representative." 
 
 It was more especially in the three principal fede- 
 ralist cities, Lyons, Marseilles, and Bordeaux, that 
 the commissioners had impressed the deepest terror. 
 The avenging decree fidminated against Lyons or- 
 dained that the rebels and their accomphces slioiild 
 be tried by a commission according to martial law, 
 that the sans-culottes should be maintained at tlie 
 cost of the aristocrats, that the dwellings of the rich 
 should be destroyed, and that the name of the town 
 should be changed. Tlie execution of that decree was 
 intrusted to Collot d'Herbois, INIai'ibon-Montaut, and 
 Fouche of Nantes.* These men had proceeded to the 
 "Enfranchised Borough," taking with them forty Jaco- 
 bins, for the purpose of organising a new club and pro- 
 perly inculcating the principles of the parent society. 
 Eonsin had followed them with 2000 men of the re- 
 volutionary army, and they had immediately after- 
 wards entered upon their revolting functions. The 
 representatives gave the first blow with a hammer on 
 the houses doomed to demolishment, and 800 work- 
 men forthwith commenced to puU down some of the 
 finest streets in the town. The proscriptions began at 
 the same time. The Lyonnese suspected of having 
 borne arms were giiillotined or shot, to the number of 
 fifty and sixty daily. The wretched inhabitants were 
 plunged in terror ; but the commissioners sent to punish 
 them, rendered savage and frantic by miiltitudinous 
 slaughter, believing at every shriek they heard that 
 rebellion Avas again reviving, wrote to the convention 
 that the aristocrats were not yet reduced ; that they 
 were merely awaiting an opportunity for resuming 
 their plans ; and that it was necessary, to avoid all 
 further ground of apprehension, to transplant one part 
 of the population and exterminate the other. As the 
 means put iu vogue were not held to be sufficiently 
 rapid, CoUot-d'Herbois conceived the idea of employ- 
 ing mines to destroy the buildings and grape-shot to 
 dispatch the proscribed ; and he wrote to the conven- 
 tion that he was preparing to make speedy use of 
 means more prompt and more eflBlcacious to chastise 
 the refractory city. 
 
 xVt ^larseilles, several victims had already fallen. 
 But the wrath of the representatives was chiefly 
 directed against Toulon, the siege whereof they were 
 at this period prosecuting. 
 
 In the Gironde, vengeance was wreaked with un- 
 bridled fury. Isabeau and Tallien had planted them- 
 selves at lieole, where they Avere occupied in forming 
 the nucleus of a revolutionary army wherewith to 
 enter Bordeaux, and, in the interim, they attempted 
 to disorganise the sections of that town. For that 
 purpose, they made use of a section of pure Moun- 
 taineer principles, which, eventually contriving to 
 frighten all the others, had successively broken up 
 the federalist club and superseded the departmental 
 authorities. Tiiereupon the deputies had made a 
 triumphal entry into Bordeaux, and forthwith re-esta- 
 blished tlie Mountaineer nnuiicipality and autliorities. 
 As a corollary to tliat ju-occeding, they issni'd an or- 
 dinance importing tliat the government of Bordeaux 
 should be military, all the inhabitants disarmed, a 
 special connnission named to try federalists and aris- 
 tocrats, and an extraordinary tax innnediately levied 
 upon the rich to defray the expenses of the revolu- 
 tionary army. This ordinance was put in execution 
 witiiout a moment's delay ; the citizens were disarmed, 
 and a nudtitude of heads struck off. 
 
 It was at this very moment that the fugitive de- 
 puties, who had embarked in Brittany for the depart- 
 
 * [This was the same Foiiclid nftcrwards so well Iniown as 
 tlie I-'rcnch minister of iKiIicc.] 
 
 ment of the Gironde, arrived at Bordeaux. Tliey nil 
 proceeded to seek an asylum in the residence of a 
 female relative of Guadet, in the grotto of Saint-Emi- 
 lion. An indistinct rumour was circulated that they 
 were concealed in that quarter, and Tallien made in- 
 defatigable efforts to discover them. In this design 
 he had been hitherto unsuccessful, but he unfortu- 
 nately contrived to seize Biroteau, who had fled from 
 Lyons with the view of emliarking at Bordeaux. That 
 deputy had been already declared out of tlie pale of 
 tlie law. Tallien therefore contented himself with 
 proving his identitj^ and then consigned him to the 
 guillotine. Ducliatel was likewise discovered ; but as 
 he had not been outlawed, he was transferred to Paris 
 to be tried by the revolationary tribunal. He was 
 accompanied by the three friends, Kiouffe, Girej'-Du- 
 pre, and Marchenna, who had, as we have previously 
 recorded, zealously attached themselves to the fortune 
 of the Girondists. 
 
 Thus all the chief cities of France were visited with 
 the implacable vengeance of the Moiuitain. But Paris, 
 crowded with the most illustrious victims, was soon 
 to become the scene of yet more appalling cruelties. 
 
 Whilst preparations were in progress for the trial 
 of Marie- Antoinette, late Queen of France, of the Gi- 
 rondists, the Duke of Orleans, Bailly, and a long list 
 of generals and ministers, the prisons were filled with 
 the suspected. The commune of Paris had arrogated, 
 as we have already stated, a speciis of legislative 
 authority over the various matters of police, food, com- 
 merce, religion ; and to each decree of the convention 
 it appended an explanatory ordinance, extending or 
 limiting its objects. At the instance of Chaumette, 
 for example, it had given the defuiition of the term 
 " suspected," as laid down in the law of the 17th Sep- 
 tember, a singularly free interpretation. In a muni- 
 cipal instruction, Chaumette enumerated the charac- 
 ters to whom it ought to be applied. This instruction, 
 addressed to the sections of Paris, and soon afterwards 
 to all the sections in the republic, was conceived in 
 these terms : — 
 
 " To be considered as suspected are — 1st, Those who, 
 in the assemblies of the people, check energy by la- 
 boured discourses, or turbident cries and menaces : 
 2d, Those who, more cmming, speak mysteriously of 
 the calamities of the republic, deplore tlie fate of the 
 people, and are always ready to communicate unfortu- 
 nate tidings with affected grief: 3d, Those who have 
 shajied their conduct and language according to events; 
 who, mute as to tlie crimes of royalists and federalists, 
 declaim with warmth against the trifling faults of 
 patriots, and aflect, in order to seem republicans, an 
 austerity of manners, a studied severity, and move 
 quickly away wlien any thing is said of a moderate or 
 an aristocrat : 4th, Tliose who jiity farmers and rapa- 
 cious traders, against whom the law is ol)liged to en- 
 force certain measm-es : ,5th. Those wlio, iiaving tlie 
 words lihriti/, republic, and coiintri/ perpetually on tlieir 
 lips, visit the late nobles, priests, counter-revolution- 
 ists, aristocrats, Feuillauts, moderates, and interest 
 tlieinselves in tlieir fate : Oth, Those who liave taken 
 no active part in all that cliiefly concerns the revolu- 
 tion, and who, to exculi)ate themselves, boast of the 
 payment of their contributions, of tlieir jiatriotic gifts, 
 and of tlieir services in thi' national guard, as a set-otf 
 or otherwise : 7th, Those who received tlie re])ublican 
 constitution witli indifrerenee, and have participated 
 in fraudulent fears toucliiiig its establishment and 
 durability: 8th, Tliose who, having done notiiing 
 against liberty, have at the same time done nothing 
 for it : 9th, Tliose who do not fre(iuent their sections, 
 and allege as an excuse that tluy are unaccustomed to 
 public speaking, or that their afliiirs prevent them : 
 1 Otli, Tliose who talk conteniptuously of the constituted 
 authorities, of the manifestations of the law, of the 
 Iiojiular societies, and of the defenders of lilierty : 11th. 
 Tliose whohave signed coniiter-i'evojutionar}' jietitions, 
 or attended anti-civic clubs and societies; 12th, Those
 
 i52 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 who are known to have been msincere, and partisans 
 of Lafayette ; and those who marched to the charge on 
 the Champ de Jilars." 
 
 Under such a swooping definition, the number of 
 the suspected mi,nht bo swelled to an unhniited extent ; 
 and accordin'^ly we find that, ia the prisons of Paris 
 alone, it speedily rose from a few hundreds to three 
 thousand. At first tlioy wore thrust into La ]\Lairie, 
 La Force, La Conciergerie, the Abbey, Sainte-relagie, 
 the Madelonnettes, and all the t)rdinary state prisons ; 
 but those spacious receptacles beconuii;;- inado(iuate to 
 the demand, it was determined to estalilish additional 
 phxces of arrest, specifically appropriated to pohtical 
 ofl'enders. The exi)ensos of detention being borne by 
 the prisoners, houses were liired on their account. One 
 was selected in the street D'Enfer, which was known 
 under the name of the Huti.se of Port-Lilire, and another 
 in the street De Sevres, called the House of Lttz,ants. 
 The Duplessis College was also transformed into a 
 place of confinement. Lastly, the Luxemboiu-g palace, 
 originally appointed to receive the twenty-two Giron- 
 dists, was filled with a midtitude of prisoners, and 
 enclosed, strangely commingled, all that yet remained 
 of the brilliant circle of tlie Faubourg Saint-Germain. 
 These sudden arrests having completely choked the 
 prisons, the captives wore at first but indifferently 
 acconmiodated. Confounded with felons and thrown 
 upon straw, the early moments of their detention were 
 full of bitterness. Shortly, however, after the first 
 confusion, order was introduced, and certain alle-\ia- 
 tions were permitted. Communication with the outer 
 world being freely allowed, tlioy enjoyed the consola- 
 tion of embracing their kindred, and the privilege of 
 obtaining fmids. Thereupon they hired beds, or had 
 them brought from their own domiciles ; after which 
 they no longer slept on straw, or associated with male- 
 factors. In fact, all the conveniences which could 
 render their situation more supportable were granted 
 them ; for the decree sanctioned the removal into 
 houses of arrest of all such objects as the detained 
 might require. Those who occupied the buildings 
 newly established wore still bettor treated. At Port- 
 Libre, the House of Lazarus, the Luxembourg, where 
 affluent prisoners were congregated, comfort and abun- 
 dance prevailed. The tables were delicately served, 
 owing to the fees of entry allowed to the jailors. How- 
 ever, the resort of visiters having become too consider- 
 able, and intercourse witli the exterior appearing too 
 great a boon, that mitigation was su1)sequontly denied, 
 and the captives were for the future allowed to com- 
 municate by writing alone, and then simply for articles 
 whereof the}' stood in need. From that moment the 
 association seemed to become more intimate amongst 
 those mifortmiate persons, condonmed to pass their 
 time exclusively together. Each drew closer the bands 
 of sympathy according to his tastes, and petty socie- 
 ties were formed within the narrow confines. Regu- 
 lations also were established ; the domestic cares were 
 equitably distributed, and each sustained their burden 
 in rotation. A subscription was opened to defray the 
 expenditure incurred for rent and sustenance, whereby 
 the rich were made to contribute for the poor. 
 
 After providing for their household cares, the in- 
 mates of the different rooms assembled in a common 
 apartment. Parties gathered around a table, a stove, 
 or a fireplace. Some apj)liod thomsolvos to labour, 
 others to reading — the majority to conversation. I'oets 
 — for they too were cast into confinement with all wlio 
 excited jealousy by any species of superiority — re- 
 cited verses; nnisicians gave concerts — and from those 
 places of proscription most excellent music was daily 
 heard to issue. After a short interval, luxury lent its 
 aid to the pleasures of society. The females appeared in 
 elegant attire, intimacies of love and friendship were 
 established, and, till the very moment for mounting 
 the scaffold, all the ordinary scenes of life were in 
 adive repetition. A singidar evidence of the I-'rench 
 character — of its versatility, of its careless gaietj-, of its 
 
 aptitude for recreation m the most dismal conjunctures 
 of fate. 
 
 The charms of poetry, tales of romrmtic adventure, 
 acts of kindliness and sympathy, the singular diversity 
 ;uul confusion of rank, fortune, and opinion, beguiled 
 the first throe months of detention. A sort of volun- 
 tary equality realised that chimerical etpiality which 
 morose sectaries endeavoured to enforce throughout the 
 whole social fabric, but truthfidlj' succeeded in esta- 
 blishing in prisons alone. The pride of some prisoners, 
 however, rejected the level of misfortune. Whilst 
 many were soon, otherwise very unequal in fortune 
 and in education, to Uve happily together, and witli 
 exemj)lary disinterestedness rejoice in concert at the 
 victories of that republic which persecuted them, cer- 
 tain nobles and. their wives, found by chance in the 
 mansions of the deserted Faubourg Saint-Gennain, 
 held aloof, still assumed the proscribed titles of count 
 and marquis, and made no secret of their vexation 
 when tidings came that the Austrians had fled at 
 AVatignics, or that the Prussians had been unable to 
 clear the Vosges. Nevertheless, affliction eventually 
 brings back all hearts to nature and the impulses of 
 humanity. In a little while, when Fouquier-Tinville, 
 knocking every day at the door of those desolate 
 abodes, incessantly demanded fresh heads — when 
 friends and relatives were hourly separated by death 
 — the chastened sur^avors mourned together, seeking 
 and offering consolation ; and thenceforth all differences 
 were merged in the sentiment of a common misery. 
 
 ^Vll the prisons, however, did not present the like 
 scenes. The Conciergerie, adjoining the Palace of 
 Justice, and on accoimt of that proximity containing 
 the prisoners destined to the revolutionary tribunal, 
 offered the melancholy spectacle of some hundreds of 
 peoide having but three or four days to hve. They 
 were transferred to that building immediately before 
 tlieir triid, and only passed there the short interval 
 lietween their sentence and their execution. In it 
 wore now confined the Girondists, Avho had been taken 
 from their first prison, the Luxembourg; Jladame 
 Roland, who, after assisting in the escape of her hus- 
 band, had given herself up to incarceration witlumt 
 attempting to fiy ; the young friends Riouffe, Girey- 
 Dupre, and Bois-Guion, attached to the cause of tlie 
 proscribed deputies, and brought from Bordeaux to 
 Paris to be tried conjointly with them ; Bailly, who 
 had been apprehended at jMelun ; the ex-minister of 
 finance, Claviere, who had not succeeded in evading 
 pursuit like Lebrun ; the Duke of Orleans, transported 
 from the jail of ]\IarseUles to the dungeons of Paris ; 
 and Generals Houchard and Brimot — all reserved for 
 the same fate; and, lastly, the unfortunate Marie- 
 Antoinette, who was doomed to precede those illus- 
 trious victims on the scaffold. In this last resting- 
 place, the captives never even thought of procuring 
 such comforts as alleviated the lot of those detained 
 in the other prisons. They occupied bare and gloomy 
 cells, to which noitlier the rays of the sun, the voice 
 of consolation, nor the sounds of pleasure, ever pene- 
 trated. They were scarcely allowed the privilege of 
 sleeping on beds, instead of being stretched on straw. 
 Unable to shake off the idea of death like the mere 
 suspected, who looked forward to be detained only till 
 the peace, they strove to convert it into a source of 
 distraction, and made of the revolutionary tribunal 
 and the guillotine the most whimsical parodies. The 
 Girondists, in their apartment, improvised and enacted 
 strange and terrible dramas, whereof their own des- 
 tiny and the revolution were the subjects. It was 
 at midnight, when all the jailors had retired, that they 
 oommenced those lugubrious diversions. We will give 
 one of tlie entertainments they had conceived. Seated 
 each upon a bed, they represented both the judges 
 and the jurymen of the revolutionary tribunal, and 
 Fouquier-Tinville himself Two of them, confronting 
 the others, appeared as the accused with his advo- 
 cate. In conformity to the custom of that sanguinary
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 353 
 
 court, the accused was always condemned. Forthwitli, 
 stretched on a bedstead, reversed for the purpose, he 
 underwent the foiTn of execution even to its most 
 trifling details. After divers executions, the accuser 
 became the accused, and suffered in his turn. Tlien 
 returning, enveloped in a sheet, he depicted the tor- 
 tures he was enduring in the shades, foretold their 
 destiny to all those iniquitous judges, and, seizing 
 upon them with lamentable cries, dragged them into 
 the regions below. " It was thus," says Eioufle, " we 
 sported in the jaws of death, and described the truth 
 in our prophetic jests, amidst spies and hangmen." 
 
 Since the death of Custine, men had begun to grow 
 habituated to those pohtical trials, in which simple 
 errors of opinion were transformed into crimes worthy 
 of the last punishment. They accustomed themselves, 
 by the practice of shedding blood, to drive away all 
 scruples, and to look upon it as quite natural to send 
 every member of an antagonist faction to the scaffold. 
 The Cordehers and Jacobins had constrained the con- 
 vention to decree the impeaclmient of the queen, the 
 Girondists, the Duke of Orleans, and several generals. 
 They now imperiously demanded that faith should l)e 
 kept •with them ; and it was with the queen they were 
 chiefly desirous of commencmg the long series of im- 
 molations. It may seem that a woman ought to have 
 disarmed political fury ; but more hatred Avas borne to 
 JIarie- Antoinette than to Louis XVI. Upon her prin- 
 cipall}' were charged the several treasons of the court, 
 the disorder in the finances, and, above all, the re- 
 lentless hostilities of Austria. Louis XVI., it was 
 repeated, had suffered all to be done ; but Marie- 
 Antoinette had done all, and upon her aU must be 
 visited. 
 
 We have already alluded to the restrictions that had 
 been introduced into the Temple. ]\Iarie-Antoinette 
 had been separated from her sister-in-law, her daugh- 
 ter, and her son, in virtue of the decree which ordained 
 the trial or exile of the surviving members of the Bour- 
 bon family. She was transferred to the Conciergerie, 
 where, alone and in a narrow room, she was reduced 
 to the same strict regimen as all the other prisoners. 
 The imprudence of a devoted friend rendered her 
 situation still more painful. A member of the mmii- 
 cipality, IMichonnis, in whose breast she had awakened 
 a lively interest, undertook to introduce into her ap- 
 partment an individual who desired, as he said, merely 
 to gratify his curiosity. This person was acoiu^ageous 
 but imprudent emigrant, who threw her a carnation 
 containing a slip of very fine paper, with the words, 
 " Your frietids arc ready!" — a deceptive hope, and as 
 dangerous for her who received it as for him who 
 gave it. IMichonnis and the emigrant were discovered 
 in the act, and inmiediately apprehended ; and from 
 that time the watch kept over the ill-fated queen w;is 
 more rigorous than ever. Gendarmes were appointed 
 to stand contimudly on guard at her door, and they 
 M'ere expressly forbidden to give any heed to her re- 
 marks or (luerics. 
 
 The despicable Hcbert, Chaumctte's deputy, and 
 editor of the disgusting journal called Pire-Duc/icne, 
 the writer of the party wliereof Vincent, Konsin, Var- 
 let, and Leclerc, were the leaders, had particularly 
 devoted himself to torment the remaining meml)ers of 
 the dethroned family. He maintained that the faiiuly 
 of the tyrant ought not to be better treated than a 
 sans-culottes family; and he had caused a resolution 
 to be passed al)olishing the renmant of luxury wliiTc- 
 witii the prisoners in the Temple had been hitherto 
 regaled. Tlicy were interdicted the delicacies of poul- 
 try and confectionery ; for breakfast they were io be 
 allowed hut one sort of food ; for dinner, soup, boiled 
 meat, and some otlier dish ; and for supper, two 
 disjies and liulf a liottle of wine each. Wax candles 
 were replaced b}' tallow, silver l)y pewter, and jiorce- 
 lain by clay. The l)earers of wood or water were 
 alone permitted to enter their apartments, accom- 
 panied by two commissiouers. All articles of food 
 
 Avere conveyed to them by means of a turning-box. 
 The numerous domestics were cut down to one cook, 
 an assistant, two servitors, and a sempstress for the 
 linen. 
 
 Immediately subsequent to that ordinance, Hebert 
 had repaired to the Temple, and inhimianly deprived 
 the two helpless ladies of every convenience, down to 
 trifling pieces of furniture for which they i)leaded in 
 vain. Eighty louis-d'ors which the I'rincess Elizabeth 
 had in reserve, and which she had received from the 
 Princess de Lamballe, were taken from her. There is 
 no cliaracter so dangerous or cruel as the imenlight- 
 ened and uneducated man invested with recent autho- 
 rity. But if, moreover, he hath a vile soul — if, like 
 Hebert, who distributed checks at the door of a theatre, 
 and made fraudulent returns of the receipts, he is 
 without natural morality — and if he suddenly springs 
 from the mire of degradation to power — he will inevi- 
 tably prove as basely malignant as atrocious. Such 
 was Hcbert in his conduct at the Temple. Nor did 
 he content himself with the vexati(jns we have just 
 specified ; he and some others conceived the idea of 
 separating the young prince from his aunt and sister. 
 A shoemaker, named Simon, and his wife, were the 
 instructors to wliom they deemed it fitting to confide 
 him, in order that he might receive the education of 
 a young sans-culottes. Simon and his wife were shut 
 up in the Temple, and becoming prisoners with the 
 unfortunate boy, were commissioned to tend him after 
 their own fashion. Their accommodation was supe- 
 rior to that of th.e two princesses, and thej' shared the 
 table of the municipal commissioners on guard. Simon 
 had the privilege, when accompanied by two commis- 
 sioners, to descend into the courtyard of the Temple 
 with the young prince, iu order to aflbrd him a little 
 air and exercise. 
 
 Hebert next imagined the infernal project of ex- 
 torting from this child revelations against his wretched 
 mother. Whether the miscreant attributed false state- 
 ments to the boy, or took advantage of his age and 
 forlorn condition to wring from him all he suggested, 
 he obtained a revolting deposition ; and as the yomig 
 prince was too tender in years to be conducted before 
 the tribunal, Hubert appeared in his behalf to relate 
 the abominations he himself had dictated or fabricated. 
 
 It Avas on the 14th October that JIarie-Antoinette 
 was led before her judges. Dragged to the sangui- 
 nary tribmial bj^ inexorable revolutionary vengeance, 
 she appeared there with no chance of an acquittal, 
 for it was assuredly not to have her absolved tliat the 
 Jacobins had called her from her dungeon. Nevcr- 
 tlu'lcss it Avas expedient to assign crimes. Fouquier 
 collected the various rumours current amongst the 
 people since the arrival of tlie princess in France ; and 
 iu his articles of iinjjeaclnncnt he charged her Avith 
 having dilapidated tlie public treasury', first to gratify 
 her oAvn love of pleasure, and afterwards to transmit 
 funds to her brother the emperor. He laid great 
 stress on the scenes of tlie 5tli and 6th October, and 
 on the l)anquet of the body-guards, alleging that she 
 had hatched a i)lot at that j)eri()d, Avhicli obliged the 
 people to proceed in a bod\' to Versailles for the pur- 
 pose of counteracting its fell designs. He subse- 
 quently accused her of having swayed her husband, 
 interfered in the choice of ministers, conducted in 
 person the intrigues Avith tlic deputies gained over to 
 the court, instigate<l tlie journey to Varennes, pro- 
 voked the Avar, and revealed to the hostile generals 
 the (liderent jilans of campaign. He upbraided lier 
 Avith liaving arrangeil a fresli consjiiracy on tiie 10th 
 August, caused the people to be fired upon during 
 that day, and urged her consort to defend himsi'lf, by 
 taxing him witli cowardice; in fine, Avith having iu- 
 cessantly continued to jilot and correspond Avith tlie 
 exterior since lier captivity in the Temple, and with 
 having treated her yovmg son as king. We see hoAV 
 every thing is tortured and converted into crime on 
 those terrible occasions Avlien the vengeajice of nations,
 
 354 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 long repres~>cd, eventually breaks forth and assails 
 such of their princes as have least merited it. We 
 see how profusencss and the love of jjleasure, so natu- 
 ral to a young princess, how her attacliment to her 
 kindred, her influence over lier husband, her regrets — 
 alwa\-s more indiscreet in a woman than in a man — 
 even her loftier courage, were blackened by exaspe- 
 rated or malevolent imaginations. 
 
 Witnesses were required : tlie public accuser called 
 I/ecointre, deputy for Versailles, who liad witnessed 
 the 5th and Gth October; Ik'bert, wlio had often 
 visited the Temple ; divers functionaries in tlie minis- 
 tries, and several domestics of the court. To confront 
 the arraigned queen were dra\m from their cells — 
 Admiral d'Estaing, former connnander of the national 
 guard of Versailles ; Latour-du-Kn, minister of war 
 in 1789 ; the venerable Bailly, v\-ho, it was asserted, 
 had been an accessary, togotlier with Lafayette, in the 
 criminal journey to Varennes ; and lastly, Valaze, 
 one of the Girondists doomed to the guillotine. 
 
 No precise fact was proved. Some had seen the 
 queen delightetl when the body-guards testified tlieir 
 attachment to her ; others had seen her sad and irri- 
 table when she was conducted to Paris or brought 
 back from Varennes ; some, again, had been present at 
 splendid fetes, which must have cost l.'u-gc sums ; and 
 others had heard rumours in the ministerial offices 
 tliat the queen was accustomed to oppose tlie sanction 
 being given to decrees. One of the late waiting- 
 women at court averred that, in 1788, she had heard 
 the Duke de Coigny say that the emperor had al- 
 readj' received 200,0ii0.obo from France to carry on 
 the war against the Tm'ks. 
 
 The malignant HLbert, being then called to confront 
 the queen, scrupled not to repeat the accusations ex- 
 torted from the young prince. He said that Charles 
 Capet had related to Simon the particulars of the 
 journey to Varennes, and had mentioned Lafaj^ette 
 and Bailly as accessaries to tlie flight. He deposed, 
 moreover, that the boj' indulged in deplorable vices, 
 premature for his age ; that Simon, having surprised 
 and questioned him, had learned that he derived from 
 his mother the Alices to which he was addicted. 
 Hebert intimated that Marie-Antoinette doubtless 
 designed, Iw early weakening the physical constitu- 
 tion of her son, to ensure the means of governmg him 
 should he mount the throne. 
 
 The scandal escaping from the atmosphere of an 
 envious court from time to time, in the course of 
 twenty years, had given the people a most unfavour- 
 able idea of the queen's morals. Still, the auditory, 
 all Jacobin as it was, gave token of abhorrence at 
 the accusations of llebert. He, however, did not the 
 less persist in asseverating them. The imfortunate 
 motlier had made no rejily ; urged again to afford ex- 
 planations, she said with extraordinary emotion, " I 
 thought that the feelings of humanity would have 
 spared me the necessity of repelling sncli an imputa- 
 tion ; but I refer it to the hearts of all the mothers 
 here present." This answer, so expressive in its noble 
 simplicity, deeply alfected the whole court. 
 
 The depositions of some of the witnesses, at the same 
 time, were characterised by circumstances which must 
 have been consolatory to the ari'aigned princess. The 
 brave H'Estaing, of whom she had been the enemy, 
 refused to depone any thing to her prejudice, and 
 could recollect only the courage she had evinced on 
 the 5th and Ctli October, and the noble resolution she 
 had expressed to die by the side of her husband rather 
 than fly. Manuel, notwithstanding his bitter hostili- 
 ties witii the com-t diu'ing the IjCgislative Assembly, 
 declared that lie had nothing to allege against the 
 accused. When the venerable Bailly "was led in, he 
 who had so often forewarned the court of tlie calami- 
 ties its imprudences would provoke, he ajipeared most 
 painfully moved ; and when he was asked if he knew 
 " the woman Capet :" " Yes," said he, inclining his 
 boily witli respect, " I have known Madame." He 
 
 testified that he could speak to nothing criminal, and 
 strenuously insisted that the declarations wrung from 
 the 3'oung prince, relative to the journey to Varennes. 
 were fabrications. In reward of his candour he re- 
 ceived outrageous abuse, and had a foretaste of the 
 doom in store for himself 
 
 In the whole proceedings there were but two serious 
 facts, attested by Latour-du-Pin and Valaze, who 
 gave evidence only because they were constrained. 
 Latour-du-Pin confessed that JMarie-Antoinette had 
 demanded from him an exact account of the armies 
 wliilst he filled the post of minister of war. Valaze, 
 ever cold and stern, but respectful towards misfortune, 
 would state nothing against the accused ; but pressed, 
 he could not avoid divulging that, when a member of 
 the committee of twenty-four, and charged with his 
 colleagues to inspect tlie papers found in the house of 
 Septenil, treasurer of the civil list, lie had seen cheeks 
 for various sums signed " Antoinette" — which was very 
 natural ; but he added that he had seen a letter 
 wherein tlie minister prayed the king to transmit the 
 copy of the plan of campaign then in his possession to 
 the queen. These two facts — the demand for the ac- 
 count of the armies and the communication of the 
 plan of campaign — were at once interpreted in the 
 most unfavourable light; and the conclusion was held 
 indisputable, that she wished them in order to send to 
 the enemy, since it was not to be supposed that a 
 young princess woidd devote attention, merely from 
 taste, to details of administration and inilitar}' plans. 
 After these depositions, several others were heard on 
 the expenses of the court, on the influence of the 
 queen over affairs, on the scenes of the 10th August, 
 on all that had passed at the Temple ; and the vaguest 
 rumours, the most insignificant circumstances, were 
 held admissible as proofs. 
 
 IMarie-Antoinette frequently repeated, with great 
 presence of mind and energy, that there was no dis- 
 tinct fact adduced against her, and that furthermore, 
 as the wife of Louis XVI., she was not responsible for 
 any acts of his reign. Fouciuier, however, declared 
 lier sufficiently con\icted. Chaveau-Lagarde exerted 
 himself in fruitless efforts as her advocate ; and the 
 unfortunate queen was condemned to undergo the same 
 fate as her husband. 
 
 lleconducted to the Conciergerie, she passed the 
 niglit preceding her execution with great composure ; 
 and early on the following day, the 16th October, slie 
 was conveyed, amidst an immense concourse, towards 
 the filial square, on which, ten months previously, 
 Louis XVI. had perished. She listened with calmness 
 to the exhortations of the ecclesiastic who attended 
 her, and cast a look of indifference over thatmidtitude 
 wliich had so often applauded her beauty and grace, 
 and now Avith equal ardour hailed her progress to 
 execution. On her arrival at the foot of the scaffold, 
 she perceived the Tuileries, and seemed affected ; but 
 slie hastened to momit the fatal ladder, and gave her- 
 self with courageous resignation into the hands of the 
 executioner. That infamous functionary held up the 
 head to the pcoi)le, as he was wont to do when he had 
 sacrificed an illustrious victim. 
 
 The Jacobins were beside themselves Avith joy. 
 "Let them bear this news to Austria!" they cried. 
 " The Piomans sold the ground occupied by Hannibal ; 
 wc strike off the heads dearest to the princes wiio have 
 invaded our territory." 
 
 This execution was but the prelude to others. 
 Immediately after the trial of Marie- Antoinette, tho 
 cry for vengeance arose the louder against the Girou- 
 dists,»and with their tviid it was next found neces- 
 sary to proceed. 
 
 Before the revolt of the south, it was possible only 
 to reproach them with opinions. It was said, indeed, 
 that tliey were accomplices of Dumouriez, of La Ven- 
 dee, of Orleans ; but such connivance, easy to impute 
 at the tribune, coidd not be proved, even before a re- 
 volutionary tribunal. But when, on the contrary, they
 
 IS'llIlK 
 
 ^•^/^ CS^/e/^:r^,^y 
 
 A.I"ullartOTi tc C' London fc Ediiitui^i.
 
 i
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 raised the standard of civil vrav, and supplied against 
 themselves positive overt acts, it became an easy task 
 to secure their condemnation. True, the detained 
 deputies were not the men wlio had provoked the in- 
 surrection of Calvados and the south, but they were 
 members of the same party, advocates of the same 
 cause ; a mor;d conviction i)Tevailed that the}' had 
 been in concert witli each other; and althoagli tlie 
 intercepted letters failed in estabhshinfj a complete 
 case of guilty concuiTence, tliey were sufficient for a 
 tribunal which, by its verj- institution, was bound to 
 admit probabilities. The long moderation of the Gi- 
 rondists was converted into a continued conspiracy, 
 Asdiereof the civil war had been the natural catastrophe. 
 Their reluctance, under the Legislative Assemble', to 
 rise in insurrection against the throne, their opposition 
 to the project of the lOtli August, their contest with 
 the commime from that time till the 20th September, 
 their vehement protestations agiunst the massacres 
 of September, their commiseration for Louis XVL, 
 their resistance to the inquisitorial system which was 
 so repugnant to generals, their opposition to the ex- 
 traordinary tribunal, to tlie maximum, to the forced 
 loan, to all the revolutionary resources, in fact ; finally, 
 their efforts to establish a repressive authority by 
 instituting the committee of twelve, and their despair 
 after their discomfiture at Paris, a despair which 
 drove them to apply for succour to the provinces — all 
 these tilings were adduced as inseparable and depen- 
 dent facts in one and the same conspu-acy. In such 
 a system of accusation, oi)inions propounded from the 
 tribune were deemed symptoms and preparatives of 
 the civU war which soon after broke out ; and who- 
 ever had spoken in the Legislative and the Conven- 
 tion in the spirit of the. deputies assembled at Caen, 
 Bordeaux, Lyons, and Marseilles, was held equally 
 criminal. Although no du'ect proof of co-operation 
 was available, it was found in their conmnmity of 
 sentiment, in the friendship which united most of them, 
 and in their habitual meetmgs at the residences of 
 Roland and Valaze. 
 
 The Girondists, on the other hand, were firmly of 
 opinion that it was impossible to condemn them if 
 they were allowed the advantage of discussion. Their 
 principles, they argued, might lead them to form dif- 
 ferent conclusions from the Mountaineers on thepoUcy 
 of certam revolutionary measures, witliout being ne- 
 cessarily criminal ; their doctrines evinced neither 
 personal ambition nor a premeditated scheme. On 
 the contrary, it was on record that they had disagreed 
 amongst themselves on a variety of important points. 
 For the rest, their connexion with the revolted depu- 
 ties was a mere assumption, and their letters, their 
 friendship, or their habit of sitting on the same benclies, 
 did not suffice to prove so conclusive a fact. " If we 
 arc permitted to plead," said tiie Girondists, " we are 
 surely saved." A vain idea, which, witliout promot- 
 ing their safety, caused them to forfeit a part of that 
 dignity wherein lies the only solace of an unjust death. 
 
 If parties were to display greater candour, they 
 would be at all times more worthy of respect. The 
 victorious party might have said to the vanquished — 
 " You have carried your attachment to the system of 
 moderation so far as to make war on us — so far as to 
 bring the republic to the verge of ruin by a hazardous 
 diversion : you have been overcome, and must die." 
 The Girondists, on tlieir side, had liinguageof a noble 
 tenor to hold to their o])pi)nents. Tliey could retort — 
 " We regard j-ou as miscreants wlio are destroying 
 and dishonouring the rei)ublic whilst pretending to 
 defend it, and we have done our utmost to comliat and 
 defeat 3'ou. Yes, we avow ourselves e(iually guilty ; we 
 are all accomplices of Buzot, Barbaroux, I'etion, and 
 Guadet; they are great and virtuous citizens, wliose 
 worth we proclaim to your teetli. When they de- 
 parted to avenge the republic, we remained to glorify 
 if in despite of executioners. You are tlie conquerors 
 — take our lives " 
 
 But the human mind is not so constituted as thus 
 to simplify all things by an ingenuous frankness. The 
 victors are anxious to convict by a parade of reason, 
 and they transgress truth ; a renmant of hope induces 
 the vanquished to defend themselves, and they speak 
 falsely : hence we see in civil broils those disgraceful 
 trials, where the strongest listens with closed ears, 
 and the Aveakest pleads in cheerless desperation, vainly 
 demanding the life not to be accorded. It is only after 
 the judgment is pronomiced, after all hope is extin- 
 guished, that the mind resumes its native dignity, and 
 generally shows itself in fullest possession when on 
 the very verge of eternity. 
 
 The Girondists, then, determined to attempt a de- 
 fence, and in the purpose they must of necessity employ 
 modes of concession and duplicity. Their adversaries, 
 on the other hand, desired to prove their deUnquency, 
 and they sent to confront them, at the bar of the re- 
 volutionary tribunal, some of their most inveterate 
 foes — Pache, Hebert, Chaumette, Chabot, and others 
 equally vile or equally forsworn. The attendant 
 crowd was great, for as j-et the spectacle of so manj' 
 repubhcans arraigned for belioof of the republic was 
 recommended l)}^ novelty. The accused were twenty- 
 one in number, all in the vigom- of manhood and 
 mental power, some even in the blossom of youth and 
 (beauty. The mere announcement of their names and 
 ages was sufficient to excite emotion. 
 
 Brissot, Gardien, and Lasource, were thirty -nine 
 j'ears of age; Vergniaud, Geusonne, and Lehardy, 
 thirty -five; MainvieUe and Ducos, twenty - eiglit ; 
 Boyer-Fonfrede and Duchastel, twenty-seven ; Du- 
 perret, forty-six ; Carra, fifty ; Valaze and Lacase, 
 forty-two ; Duprat, tlm-ty-three ; Sillery, fifty-seven ; 
 Fauchet, forty-nine ; Lesterpt-Beauvais, forty-three ; 
 BoUeau, forty -one; Antiboul, forty ; and Vaigee, 
 thirty-six. 
 
 Gensonne was calm and collected ; Valaze mdignant 
 and scornful ; Vergniaud betrayed greater emotion than 
 was usual with him ; yomig Ducos was gay ; and Fon- 
 frede too, he who had been spared on the 2d Jmie because 
 he had not voted for tlie arrests ordered by the com- 
 mittee of twelve, but from his reiterated outbreaks in 
 favour of his friends, had since proved himself worthy 
 to partake their doom, seemed, in so glorious a cause, 
 ready to abandon without a pang his splendid fortune, 
 his young wife, and all the charms of existence. 
 
 Aniai" had drawn up the articles of impeachment 
 on behalf of the committee of general safety. Pache 
 was the first witness heard in corroboration. AVily 
 and prudent, as he had always sliown himself, he 
 stated that he had long ago perceived a fiiction opjiosed 
 to the revolution ; but he particularised no foct prov- 
 ing a premeditated plot. He averred simply that when 
 the convention was menaced by Dumouriez, he re- 
 paired to the conunittee of finance to i)rocure funds 
 and means to provision Paris, and that tlie conunittee 
 refused them ; he added, moreover, that he had l)een 
 severely handled in the conunittee of general safety, 
 and that Guadet had tln-eatened hiui to move the 
 arrest of all the municipal aut]u>rities. Chaumette, 
 next examined, recounted all the contests of the com- 
 mune with the right siile, such as tiiey had been de- 
 scribed in the journals, winding up his evidence with 
 one S()lit;uy statement of a specific nature, to wit, that 
 Brissot had procured the nomination of Santonax as 
 commissioner to the colonies, and was consequently 
 the author of all the calamities in the New World. 
 The des])ical)le I h'l)ert related his ajipreliension by the 
 commission of twelve, and asserted that Holand cor- 
 rupted all tlie public writers, for IMadame Roland had 
 endeavoured to buy his paper of "Pore Duclione." 
 Destonrnclles, minister of justice, and formerly em- 
 jiloyed at the coniinune, spoke in a manner e([ually 
 vague, and repeated what was matter of notoriety, 
 tliat tlie accused had assailed the commune, inveighed 
 against the massacres, and laboured to establish a 
 departmental guard, &c. &c.
 
 aoG 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The most inveterate and prolix of the witnesses, 
 however, was the ex-oapucliin Chabot, a hot-headed, 
 weak, and worthless character, whose deposition lasted 
 for several hours. Chabot had always been treated 
 by the Girondists as an extravapcant fool, and their 
 disdain wrankled deeply in his heart. He prided 
 himself on having advocated the outbreak of the 10th 
 August in opposition to their opinion ; and always 
 maintained, that if they had consented to send him to 
 the prisons, he woidd have rescued their inmates as 
 he had before saved tlie Swiss soldiers. He was well 
 disposed, therefore, to take vengeance on the Ciron- 
 dists, and more especially when, by calumniating 
 them, he might regain the popularity he was in danger 
 of losing at the .Jacobin Club, on account of certain 
 suspicions that he was connected with stockjobbing. 
 He fabricated a long and malignant charge, in which 
 he represented the Girondists scheming to gain over 
 the minister Narbonne ; then, after having chased 
 away Narbonne, seizing upon three ministries at once ; 
 perpetrating the 20th .June in order to reanimate their 
 creatures; opposing the 10th August because tliey 
 were inimical to a republic ; in short, always pursuing 
 a calculated plan of ambition ; and, what was more 
 atrocious than all the rest, allowing the massacres of 
 September, and the robbery of the Gai"de-]\Ieuble, with 
 the view of ruining the reputation of the patriots. 
 " If they had been so disposed," said Chabot, " I would 
 have saved the prisoners. Petion caused the mur- 
 derers to be supplied with intoxicating liquors, and 
 Hrissot had no wish to have them checked, because 
 in the prisons there was one of his own enemies, Mo- 
 rande ! " 
 
 When power gives the signal, plentiful are the base- 
 minded ready to press forward to criminate even the 
 worthiest of the human race. No sooner have the 
 leaders cast the first stone, than all who grovel in the 
 dirt start up and overwhelm the victim. Fabre-d'Eg- 
 lantine, against whom suspicions were directed, as 
 against Chabot, on account of stockjobbing, had like- 
 wise occasion to redeem his popularity ; and he gave 
 evidence in a more cautious but equally perfidious 
 spirit, insiiuiating that the policy of the Girondists 
 might undoubtedly consist in permitting the massacres 
 and the rol)bery of the Garde-^Ieuble. Vergniaud, 
 unable longer to restrain his feelings, exclaimed with 
 indignation, " I sliall not attempt U> clear myself from 
 a charge of fellowship with robbers and assassins ! " 
 
 No precise fact, however, was alleged against the 
 accused ; they were charged merely with opinions 
 publicly avowed, and they urged in reply that such 
 opinions miglit have been erroneous, but that it was 
 no crime to be mistaken. It was objected to them that 
 their doctrines were not the result of an involuntary 
 and therefore excusable error, but of a conspiracy 
 hatched in tlie houses of Roland and Valaze. They 
 averred in rejoinder that those very doctrines were so 
 little the result of any express agreement amongst 
 themselves, tliat great diversity existed upon several 
 points. One said, "I did not vote for the appeal to 
 the people ;" another, " I did not vote for tlie (lepart- 
 mental guard ;" a third, " I did not partake the opi- 
 nions of the committee of twelve — I was not in favour 
 of the arrest of Ilebert and Chaumctte." All this was 
 true, but the adducement destroyed the unifonn cha- 
 racter of the defence ; the accused seemed almost to 
 abandon one another, and each to condenm the mea- 
 sure in which he had not particiiiated. Boileau carried 
 the care of self-justification to extreme weakness, and 
 even covered liimself with disgrace. He confessed 
 that a conspiracy had existed against the unity and 
 indivisibility of the republic; that he was now con- 
 vinced of it, and accordingly made declaration thereof 
 to the insulted laws; stating, moreover, tliat he could 
 not designate the guilty, but that he desired their 
 punishment as a true Mountaineer, wliich he avowed 
 liimself to Ik?. Girdien, too, iiad the baseness to 
 utterly disavow the conmiissiou of twelve. However, 
 
 Gensonne, Brissot, Vergniaud, and especially Valazc, 
 corrected the bad effect of their two colleagues' weak- 
 ness. They alleged, indeed, that they had not always 
 thought alike, and that consequently they had taken no 
 concert in their opinions, but they denied neither their 
 friendship nor their principles. Valaze frankly avowed 
 the meetings held under his roof, maintaining that 
 they had an undoubted right to meet and intercliange 
 ideas in the same manner as all other citizens. AVhen, 
 finally, their connivance with the fugitives was charged 
 upon them, they repudiated it. Thereupon IlelK-rt 
 exclaimed, "The accused deny the conspiracy! When 
 the Roman senate had to pronounce on the conspiracj' 
 of Catiline, if it had interrogated each confederate, 
 and rested satisfied with a denial, they would have all 
 escaped the punishment awaiting them ; but the meet- 
 ings at the house of Catiline, his flight, the arms found 
 in the liouse of Lecca, were held material proofs, and 
 sufficed to detcnnine the judgment of the senate." 
 " Well," replied Brissot, " I accept the comparison 
 drawn betAveen us and Catiline. Cicero said to him, 
 ' We have found arms in thy house ; the ambassadors 
 of the AJlobroges accuse thee ; the signatures of Len- 
 txdus, Cethegus, and Statilius, thy accomplices, prove 
 thy infamous projects.' Here we are accused by the 
 senate, it is true ; but have arms been found in our 
 houses? — <ian signatures be objected against us?" 
 
 Unfortunately, complaints written by Vergniaud to 
 Bordeaux, expressing the liveliest indignation, had 
 been discovered, as also a letter from the cousin of 
 iJuperret detailing the preparations for the insurrec- 
 tion. Furthermore, a letter from Duperret to Madame 
 Roland had been intercepted, in which he stated that 
 he had I'cceived intelhgence from Buzot and Barbaroux, 
 and that they were getting ready to punish the crimes 
 perpetrated at Paris. Vergniaud, being called upon 
 to exjjlain, answered, " If I were to lay before you the 
 motives which urged me to write, I should perhaps 
 appear to you more worthy of pity than of blame. J 
 coidd not avoid believing, after the attempt of the 
 10th March, that tlie design of assassinating us was 
 united with the project of dissolving the national re- 
 presentation. ]\Iarat thus expressed himself on the 
 11th jNIarch. The petitions subsequently presented 
 against us with such virulence confirmed me in that 
 opinion. It was under this persuasion that mj' mind 
 ■was oppressed with grief, and I wrote to my fellow- 
 citizens that I stood beneath the knife. I exclaimed 
 against the tyranny of Marat. It was he alone that 
 I named. I respect the opinion of the people I'cgard- 
 ing Marat, but assuredly JMarat was to me a tyrant." 
 At these words, a juryman arose and said, " Vergniaud 
 complains of liaving been persecuted by INIarat. I 
 have to observe, that Tklarat has been assassinated, and 
 that Vergniaud is still here." This stupid remark 
 A\-as applauded by a part of the audience ; and all the 
 candour and reason of Vergniaud remained without 
 impression on the insensate multitude. 
 
 Vergniaud, however, succeeded in gaining a hear- 
 ing, and recovered, when speaking of the conduct of 
 his friends, of tlieir zeal and sacrifices for the republic, 
 all his pristine eloquence. The whole assemblage was 
 moved; insomuch that the condemnation, although 
 enjoined, seemed no longer so pei-fectly inevitable. 
 The pleadings had continued several days. The Jaco- 
 bins, indignant at the tardiness of the tribunal, ad- 
 dressed a final petition to the convention, praying it to 
 accelerate tlie process. Bobespierre thereupon caused 
 a decree to be passed, whereby, after a tliree days' 
 hearing, the jury was authorised to declare itself suffi- 
 ciently enlightened, and to proceed to judgment with- 
 out further delaj'. Moreover, to render the title more 
 coiif jrniable to the fact, he oljtained an ordinance that 
 the name of extraordinary' tribunal shoidd be changed 
 
 to that of KEVOLUTIOXARY TRinUNAL. 
 
 The jurymen scrupled to put this new decree in 
 force upon the first day, and declared themselves not 
 yet sultieieutly informed. But on tlie morrow, they
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 357 
 
 used their privilege to shorten the case, and demanded 
 its termination. The accused had already given up 
 all hope, and prepared themselves to die with dignity. 
 They repaired to the last sitting of the court with 
 serene countenances. Whilst the guards were search- 
 ing them at the gate of the Conciergerie, with the view 
 of removing from them any murderous weapon where- 
 with they might attempt self-destruction, Valaze, 
 giving his friend Rioutie a pair of scissors, said to him 
 in presence of the gendarmes, " See, my friend, here 
 is a prohibited weapon; we must not attempt our 
 lives ! " 
 
 At midnight, on the 30th October, the jurjnuen 
 entered to pronounce their verdict. Antonelle, the 
 foreman, bore a mournful expression on his face. Ca- 
 mille-Desmoulins, on hearing the fatal sentence, ex- 
 claimed, " Alas ! it is I who kill them — it is my Brissot 
 Unmasked.'* Let me begone ! " and he rushed wiklly 
 from the court. When the doom of death was irre- 
 vocably pronounced, Brissot let fall his arms, and his 
 head suddenly dropped on his breast ; Gensonne en- 
 deavoured to say a few words on the application of 
 the law, but his etforts to command attention were 
 fruitless. Sillery, throwing aM-ay his crutches, ex- 
 claimed, " This is the happiest day of my life !" Hopes 
 had been entertained for the young brothers Ducos 
 aud Fonfrede, who had appeared to be less compro- 
 mised, and who had become attached to the Giron- 
 dists more from admiration of their character and 
 talents than from similarity of opinion. They were 
 condemned, however, like the rest. Fonfrede em- 
 braced Ducos, saying, " Brother, I am to be blamed 
 for thy death." " Be of good cheer," replied Ducos, 
 " we will die together." The Abbe Fauchet, with his 
 eyes cast down, seemed absorbed in prayer; Carra 
 preserved his austere aspect; Vergniaud had in all 
 his bearing an air of haughty scorn ; Lasource de- 
 livered the celebrated saying of the ancient — " I die on 
 the day the people have lost their reason ; you will die 
 on the day they recover it." Not even Boileai: and 
 Gardien, who had displayed such weakness, were 
 spared. Boileau, hurling his hat into the air, cried 
 out, " I am innocent ! " " We are innocent," repeated 
 all the prisoners ; " people, you are deceived ! " Some 
 of them had the indiscretion to throw assignats amongst 
 the crowd, as if to enlist it for their rescue, but it re- 
 mained inert. The gendarmes immediately surrounded 
 them to reconduct them to their cells. Suddenly one 
 of the condemned fell at their feet ; they raised him 
 bathed in blood : it was Valaze, who, when giving the 
 scissors to Riouffe, had retained a dagger, wherewith 
 he had now dealt himself a mortal stab. The tribunal 
 forthwith directed that his corpse should be dragged 
 upon a cart in the train of the condemned. When 
 leaving the court, they all, by a spontaneous impulse, 
 struck up the Marseillese hymn : — 
 
 Contre nous de la tyrannie 
 LVtendard sanglant est levi. 
 
 Their last night on earth was sublime. Verg- 
 niaud had poison, but he cast it aside to die with his 
 friends. They partook of a final repast together, in 
 the course of which they were alternately gay, serious, 
 and eloquent. Brissot and Gensonne were grave and 
 contemplative; Vergniaud discoursed upon expiring 
 liberty with the noblest sorrow, and upon the destiny 
 of mankind with glowing fervour ; Ducos repeated 
 some verses he had made whilst in prison, and all in 
 chorus clianted anthems to France and liberty. 
 
 Tlie following day, the 31st October, an innnense 
 crowd congregated to witness their jiassage to tlie 
 scaffold. As they went they repeatt-d that same I\Iar- 
 seillese hynm which the Fi-ench soldiers were accus- 
 tomed to sing when marching upon the enemy. Arrived 
 on the Place de la Revolution, and alighted from their 
 carts, they took a last embrace, with cries of " The 
 
 * The title of a pamphlet he had WTitten against the Girondists. 
 
 republic for ever ! " Sillery was the first to mount 
 the ladder, and after directing a grave salutation to 
 the assembled multitude, in which he still testified 
 respect for weak and deceived humanity, he received 
 the fatal stroke. All imitated Sillery, and died -with 
 the like dignity. In thirty-one minutes the execu- 
 tioner had struck off the M'hole of those illustrious 
 heads, and tlius in a few rapid seconds ruthlessly ex- 
 terminated so many beings redolent in youth, beauty, 
 talents, and virtues. Such was the end of those noble 
 and courageous citizens, the victims of generous but 
 Utopian theories. Comprehending neither humanity 
 nor its vices, nor the moans of conducting it in a re- 
 volution, they became indignant at its obstinacy in 
 refusing to be better, and eventually provoked it to 
 destroy them by persisting in thwarting it. Honour 
 to their memory ! never did so much virtue and talent 
 illustrate civil contests ; and it must be allowed to 
 their glory, that if they did not discern the necessity 
 of violent means to save the cause of France, the ma- 
 jority of their adversaries, who preferred such means, 
 were influenced by passion rather than genius. Above 
 them only he amongst the Mountaineers can be ranked, 
 who was moved to advocate revolutionary measures 
 by political sagacity alone, and not by the instigations 
 of hatred. 
 
 Scarcely had the Girondists sighed their last, ere 
 fresh victims were called out for immolation. The 
 tribunal reposed not for an instant. On the 2d No- 
 vember, it consigned to death the unfortunate Olympe 
 de Gouges, for pretended counter-revolutionary ^vrit- 
 ings, and Adam Luxe, deputy of Mayence, accused of 
 the same crime. On the 6th November, the wretched 
 Duke of Orleans, transferred from IVIarseilles to Paris, 
 was conducted before the revolutionary tribunal, and 
 condemned for the suspicions wherewith he had in- 
 spired all parties. Odious to the emigrants, and dis- 
 trusted by the Girondists and Jacobins ahke, he 
 aroused none of those regrets which in some degree 
 compensate for an unjust death. IMore the enemy of 
 the court than an enthusiast for liberty and a republic, 
 he lacked that inward conviction which sustains at the 
 extremest moment, and of all the victims of the time 
 he was the least indemnified and the most to be pitied, 
 A general repugnance, an absolute cynicism, seized 
 upon him at the last, and he proceeded to the scaffiild 
 with a calmness and indifference truly extraordinary. 
 Dragged along the Rue Saint-Honore, he surveyed his 
 palace with a cold and passionless eye, and winced not 
 in the sUghtest from his settled disgust with men and 
 life. His aid-de-canip Coustard, a deputy like himself, 
 was the associate of his fate. Two days afterwards. 
 Roland's interesting and noble-hearted wife followed 
 them to the scaffold. She, combining the graces of a 
 French with the heroism of a Roman matron, bore all 
 her griefs in her bosom. She loved and reverenced 
 her husband as a father ; she felt for one of tlie pro- 
 scribed Girondists an ardent jjassion, wliicli she had 
 always repressed; she left aj-oung and orplian daughter 
 to tlie care and hazard of friends ; and whilst trem- 
 bling for these cherished beings, she was doomed to the 
 belief that the cause of lilierty, to which she was so 
 enthusiastically attached, and for which she had made 
 such heavy sacrifices, was irremediably lost. Thus 
 at once, in idl the affections of licr soul, she suffered 
 acutely. Condemned on the charge of confederacy 
 with the Girondists, she heard her sentence with a 
 species of rapture, and seemed, from the moment of 
 her condemnation to that of her execution, as it were 
 inspired, exciting in tlie breasts of all who saw her a 
 degree of admiration j)artaking of religious awe. She 
 went to the scatl'old clad in white; during the route 
 she cheered the spirits of a companion in misfortune 
 who was to perish with her, whose courage drooped, 
 and even succeeded in twice moving him to a smile. 
 When arrived at the place of execution, she bowed her 
 head to the statue of Liberty, and exclaimed, " Oh, 
 Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy
 
 358 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 name !" She then underwent the hxst penalty with 
 unshaken fortitude. So perished that charming and 
 courageous woman, who was worthy to jjartake the 
 destiny of lier friends, but wlio, if k'ss aspiring and 
 more subdued to the passive duties of her sex, would 
 have, not indeed escaped death, a homage due to her 
 talents and accomplishments, but averted from her- 
 self and her husband nuuiy sarcasms and calumnies. 
 
 Her husband had tied in the direction of Kouen. On 
 learning her tragical end, he dctirmined not to sur- 
 vive her. He (piittcd the hosi)itable abode in which 
 he had found an asyhnn, and, with tlie view of not 
 compronusing any friend, he went to seek death on 
 the highway. lie was Ibund pierced to the heart with 
 a sword, and lying at the foot of a tree against which 
 he had propped the deadly weapon. In his pocket was 
 concealed a manuscript on his life and his conduct in 
 the ministry. 
 
 Thus, amidst the frightful delirium which rendered 
 every thing bearing the attributes of genius, virtue, 
 and courage suspected, all that France contained most 
 noble and generous perished either by suicide or the 
 hands of the executioner. 
 
 Amongst so many illustrious and heroic deaths, 
 there was one especially more lamentable and sublime 
 than all the others — it was that of Bailly. We have 
 already been enabled to surmise, from the manner in 
 which he was treated on the trial of the queen, what 
 his reception would be when at the bar of the revolu- 
 tionary tribunal. The scene on the Champ de ]\Iars, 
 the proclamation of martial law, and the discharges of 
 musketry winch followed it, were events the most fre- 
 quently and the most virulently charged upon the 
 constituent party. And upon 13ailly, the friend of 
 Lafayette, and the magistrate who had caused the red 
 flag to be displayed, it was determined to visit all the 
 pretended delinquencies of the old constituents. He 
 was condemned, and appointed to be executed on the 
 Champ de ^Mars, the theatre of what was designated 
 his crime. The day fixed was the 1 1 th November; 
 and the weather chanced to be chilly, rainy, and cheer- 
 less, Conducted on foot, and amidst the outrages of 
 a ba fbarous populace, whom he had preserved from 
 famine whilst he was mayor, he retained a meek and 
 imperturbable serenity. During the long track from 
 the Conciergerie to the Champ de Mars, the people 
 kept shaking in his face the red flag, which had re- 
 cently been discovered at the town-hall deposited in a 
 mahogany case. At length he reached the foot of the 
 scaffold, and seemed on the point of escaping his tor- 
 mentors ; but one of the ruffians collected to persecute 
 him cried out that the field of the federation ought 
 not to be polluted with his blood : and the crowd 
 rushed upon the guillotine, bore it away with such 
 zealous eagerness as it had once before exhibited in 
 digging up that same field of the federation, and pro- 
 ceeded fijially to rear it on the edge of the Seine, on 
 a heap of ordure, and opposite the quarter of Chaillot, 
 where Bailly had passed his life and composed his 
 works. This operation occupied several hours, and 
 in the interim he was matle to traverse the Champ 
 de Mars numerous times. His head bare and his 
 hands bound behind, he walked with difficulty. Some 
 cast mud upon him, otliers struck him with their feet 
 or with clubs. Overpowered, lie fell to the ground; 
 he was speedily forced up. The wet and cold had 
 connnunicated to his frame an involuntary tremor. 
 "Thou tremblesti" said a soldier, addressing him. 
 " My friend," replied the old man, " it is with cold." 
 After imdergoing this horrible torture for many hours, 
 the task was consmnmated ; the red flag was burnt 
 under his nose, the executioner seized him as his prey, 
 and the world hjst a distinguished .scholar, and his 
 country one of the most virtuous men who have re- 
 flected honour upon its name. 
 
 Since the era when Tacitus beheld it applaud the 
 atrocities of lloman emperors, tlie popul;ice lias not 
 changed. Ever abrupt and irreflective in its impulses, 
 
 now it rears an altar to the country, now with equal 
 ardour it prepares scaffolds ; and is good and noble in 
 the sight only when, embodied in armies, it falls cou- 
 rageously on hostile hosts. Let not despotism impute 
 its crimes to liberty, for, under despotism itself, it was 
 always as revolting as under the republic ; but let us 
 never cease to invoke the blessings of education and 
 instruction for those barbarians, swarming in the heart 
 of societies, and always ready to sully them with all 
 enormities, at the beck of any influence and to the 
 disgrace of any cause. 
 
 On tlie 2.5th November occurred also the death of 
 the unfortunate IManuel, who had become, from pro- 
 curator of the commune, a deputy in the convention, 
 and who had announced his resignation after the trial 
 of Louis XVI., because he was accused of having 
 evaded the scrutiny. Before the tribmial he was 
 charged with having instigated the massacres of Sep- 
 tember with the view of stimulating the departments 
 against I'aris. Upon Fouquier-Tinville devolved the 
 task of conceiving such insidious calumnies, which 
 were even more atrocious in character than the con- 
 demnation. On the same day was condemned the 
 luckless General Brunet, for not having sent a part of 
 his army of Nice before Toulon ; and on the morrow, 
 tlie 2GtIi, death was pronounced against the victorious 
 Iloucliard, for having failed to comprehend the plan 
 traced out for him, and not having proceeded with 
 sufficient rapidity upon the road to Furnes, so as to 
 intercept the wliole English army. His fault was 
 egregious, but did not merit death. 
 
 These executions began to spread a general terror, 
 and to render tlie reigning authority formidable. Con- 
 sternation i^revailed not only in the prisons, in the 
 hall of the revolutionary tribunal, on the Place de la 
 Revolution, but was every where predominant — in the 
 markets and in the shops, where the maximum and 
 the laws against forestalling had been recently brought 
 into efltctive operation. We have already explained 
 how tlie depreciation of assignats and the enhance- 
 ment of commodities had led to the enactment of the 
 maximum, with the design of restoring the proportion 
 between produce and the circidating metlium. The 
 first consequences of this maximum were most disas- 
 trous, and caused a vast number of stores to be alto- 
 gether closed. The tariff"fixed for articles of necessity 
 had only affi;ctcd the stock lying with the retailer, and 
 ready to pass from his hands into those of the consumer. 
 But the retailer who had purchased from the wholesale 
 merchant or the manufacturer before the institution 
 of the maximum, and at a price higher than the new 
 compidsory scale, suffered enormous loss, and raised 
 bitter complaints. Nor was his loss much less even 
 when he bought after the niaxinium, since in the rates 
 assigned for articles styled of the first necessity, such 
 only were designated as lay exposed for sale to the 
 general community, and a price was fixed only upon 
 those brought to this last stage of traffic. But nothing 
 was said of the value tlicy were to bear mider the 
 form of raw material, nor what was to be paid to the 
 labourer who fabricated them, or to the carrier and 
 navigator who transported tlieni ; consequently the 
 retailer, who was compelled to furnish the consumer 
 according to the tariff, Init was unable to treat with 
 the artisan, the manufacturer, or the wholesale trader, 
 upon corresponding terms, fell into the impossibility 
 of continuing so ruinous a traffic. The majority of 
 the dealers closed their shops, or evaded the law by 
 covin, vending at the maximum only the vilest wares, 
 imd reserving the good for those who repaired fur- 
 tively to purchase at a fair and remunerating price. 
 
 The people, discerning this fraudulent manoeuvre, 
 and perceiving numerous shops shut up, broke into 
 furious cries, and thronged to assail the commune with 
 remonstrances, urging that all the dealers should be 
 obliged to keep ojien their stores, and continue their 
 trade wliether willing or not. Disposed to complain 
 of all, tiiey denounced the butchers and pork-mer-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 359 
 
 chants, for buying animals diseased or accidentally 
 killed, and not sufficiently bleeding the carcasses, with 
 the intention of rendering the flesh heavier ; the 
 bakers, Avho, for the purpose of supplying fine flour to 
 the rich, were charged with reserving the foul for the 
 poor, and with not baking the bread sufficiently, in 
 order to increase its weight; the wine merchants, for 
 mixing villanous drugs with their liquors ; the salt- 
 sellers, for adulterating the quality of their commodity 
 so as greatly to augment the weight ; the gi'ocers, 
 and, in short, all the retailers, for deleteriously com- 
 poimding their articles by a multitude of devices. 
 
 Of such abuses, some were of all times and inherent, 
 others sprang from the peculiar crisis ; but when im- 
 patience under calamity seizes upon the minds of men, 
 their complaints are indiscriminating, and they are 
 moved to reform and pmiish with sweeping violence. 
 The procurator-general Chaumette delivered on this 
 topic a virulent oration against tlie dealers. 
 
 "We remember," said he, "that in 1789 and the 
 following years all thc-se men drove a flourishing 
 trade ; but Avith whom ? — with the alien. We are 
 aware they are the parties who caused assignats to 
 fall, and that they have enriched themselves by means 
 of stockjobbing upon the x^aper-money. What was 
 their conduct after they had completed their fortmies ? 
 They retired from trade, they threatened the people 
 with a dearth of commodities ; but if they have gold 
 and assignats, the repubhc has something more pre- 
 cious — it has amis. Hands and not gold are wanted 
 to keep machines and manufactories in activity. ]f 
 these men abandon their factories, the republic will 
 seize upon them, and put in requisition all raw mate- 
 rials. Let them know that it depends on the republic 
 to reduce, when it so wills, the gold and assignats in 
 their coffers to dust and ashes. It may behove the 
 giant of the people to crush these mercantile specu- 
 lators. 
 
 We feel the calamities of the people, because we are 
 of the people ourselves. The entire council is com- 
 posed of sans-culottes — it is a popular legislature. 
 Little does it concern us if our heads fall, provided 
 posterity deigns to collect our skulls. It is not the 
 gospel I shall invoke, but Plato. He who strikes with 
 the sword, says that philosopher, shall perish by the 
 sword ; he who smites with poison, shall perish by 
 poison ; starvation shall waste him who would famish 
 the people. If food and commodities be deficient, uj)on 
 whom ought the people to fasten ? Upon the consti- 
 tuted authorities ? No. They will fall foul of con- 
 tractors and purveyors. Rousseau, also, was of the 
 people, and he said, When the people fiave nothing more 
 to eat, they will eat the rich."* 
 
 Coercive measures lead to further stringent expe- 
 dients, as we have previously had occasion to observe. 
 In the first ordinances manufactured articles only were 
 affected, but it was found essential to extend them to 
 the raw material ; even the idea of appropriating raw 
 produce and manufacturing it for accoimt of the re- 
 public, floated in tlie public mind. It is a redoubtable 
 task to force nature and regulate all its movements. 
 The obligation soon arises to supply the want of spon- 
 taneous action in all instances, and to re])lace the 
 vital principle itself by commandments of the law. 
 The commune and the convention were compelled to 
 take additional measures, each according to its powers. 
 The commune of Paris obliged every dealer to de- 
 clare the quantity of goods he possessed, the orders he 
 had given for further supplies, and the exjiectation he 
 indulged of tlieir execution. Every dealer, carrying 
 on business for a year past, who forsook or allowed it 
 to languish, was declared suspected, and incarcerated 
 as such. To obviate all confusion and obstruction, 
 arismg from eagerness to acquire stocks, the commune 
 likewise directed that the consumer should apply to 
 the retailer only, the retailer to the wholesale mer- 
 
 * Commune, 14th October. 
 
 chant, and it fixed the quantities each was competent 
 to demand. Thus, for example, the grocer could 
 exact from the wholesale dealer not more than twenty- 
 five pounds of sugar at one time, and the lemonade- 
 vender not more than twelve. The revolutionary 
 connnittees exercised the duty of dispensing certificates 
 of purchase, and apportioning the quantities. The 
 regulations of the commune were riot limited to these 
 points. As the concourse at the doors of the bakers 
 continued considerable, occasioning tumultuous scenes, 
 and as many persons actually passed a part of the 
 night waiting in the streets, Chaumette obtained an 
 order that the distribution should connnence with the 
 last comers, which diminished neither the tumult nor' 
 the eagerness of tlie pu])lic. IMoreover, as the people 
 complained that the worst flour was reserved for them, 
 it was ordained tliat in the whole city of Paris there 
 shoidd be but one sort of bread baked, composed of 
 three parts wheat and one part rye. Finally, a com- 
 mission of inspection was appointed, to ascertain the 
 quality and condition of articles of consumption, to 
 investigate frauds and punish them. These measures, 
 being imitated by the other communes, often indeed 
 embodied in decrees, speedily became general laws ; 
 and it was thus, as we have already intimated, that 
 the commune of Paris exercised a prodigious mfluence 
 over all that appertained to internal government and 
 to the functions of police. 
 
 The convention, pressed to reform the law of the 
 maximum, framed a new one, which no longer stopped 
 at articles in the warerooms of shopkeepers, but struck 
 them in their first condition. It directed that an 
 account should be taken of the prices of produce in 
 1790 at the place of production. To such value were 
 added — first, a tliird, an account of contingencies ; 
 secondly, a fixed price for the carriage from the place 
 of production to that of consumption ; and, thirdly, a 
 sum of five per cent, for the profit of the wholesale 
 merchant, and of ten per cent, for that of the retailer ; 
 from all which elements was to be henceforth deter- 
 mined the price of commodities of the first necessity. 
 The local administrations were charged to undertake 
 this labour, each for what was produced and consumed 
 within its own jurisdiction. An indenmity was granted 
 to every retail dealer who, having a capital of less than 
 10,000 francs, could prove that he had lost his capital 
 by the operation of the maximum. The communes 
 were to judge each case by inquisition, as all things 
 were judged at that tune, and at every other era of 
 dictatorship. Tlius the law, without yet descending 
 to actual production, to the raw material, or to the 
 manutacture, took commodities when ready for nuirket, 
 fixed their price, the cost of transport, tlie jjrofit of the 
 merchant and the retailer, and substituted, through- 
 out the half at least of social operations, absolute ndes 
 for the variations of the natural course. Ihit these 
 ulterior steps, we repeat, resulted inevitably from the 
 first maximum, the first maximum from the assignats, 
 and the assignats from the imperative necessities of 
 the revolution. 
 
 To enforce this system of government introduced 
 into trade, the convintion nominated a conunittee for 
 food and sui)i)lies, whose autliority was to extend over 
 tlie wiiole reiiublic, and which consisted of tliree mem- 
 bers, enjoying almost e(}«ial importance with the mini- 
 sters themselves, and possessing a voici' at tiie council 
 board. 'J'liis committee was empowered to compel the 
 oliservance of tlie tariffs, ;uul to superintend the con- 
 (hict of tlie conimuiH's in tliat resjiect ; to cause jierpe- 
 tiial statements to be furnislied of the quantities of 
 food and wares tliroughout France ; to direct their 
 transmission from one department to another ; and to 
 assign tlie requisitions for the armies, conformably to 
 the celebrated decree which constituted the revolu- 
 tionary government. 
 
 Tile tiiiaiu'ial situation was not less extraordinary 
 than the rest of matters. The two loans, the one 
 forced, the other voluntary, had been rapidly filled up.
 
 360 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Great eagerness especially was manifested in contri- 
 buting to the second, because the advantages it pre- 
 sented rendered it decidedly preferable ; and thus the 
 period was approaching when a thousand millions of 
 assignats would be withdrawn from circulation. There 
 Avere in the state coffers, for current charges, nearly 
 four hundred millions, remaining from the old crea- 
 tions, and five hundred millions of royal assignats, 
 returned in accordance with the decree whicli pro- 
 scribed them, and converted into an equal amount of 
 republican assignats. About nine lumdred millions, 
 therefore, were available to tlic pulilic service. 
 
 It will appear surprising that the assignat, which 
 was depreciated tlirec-fourths, and even four-fifths, 
 liad risen to par with bidlion. In that rebound, how- 
 ever, there was something factitious as well as real. 
 The gradual suppression of a floating thousand mil- 
 lions, the success of the first levy, winch had produced 
 six hundred thousand men in the s])ace of one month, 
 and the last victories of the republic, which almost 
 assured its existence, had stinndated the sale of 
 national domains and restored some confidence in as- 
 signats, but not sufficient to place them on a level with 
 the precious metals. The following are the causes 
 which brought them, in appearance, to a par with 
 specie. It wiU be remembered that a law prohibited, 
 mider severe penalties, all traffic in bulhon, that is to 
 say. the exchange at a loss of assignats for coin ; and 
 that another law also punished with heavy amerce- 
 ments him who should bargain for different prices in 
 contracts, according as payment was intended in 
 paper or specie. In consequence, gold or silver, when 
 exchanged cither for assignats or for merchandise, 
 could not command its real value, and the only course 
 left was to hoard it. But an additional enactment 
 declared that all concealed money or jewels shoidd 
 belong, part to the state, part to the informer. Thence- 
 forth," specie could be neither used in commerce nor 
 privily retained ; it became a burden, exposing the 
 owner to the denunciation of " suspected," insomuch 
 that men began to shun it, and to prefer assignats for 
 current expenditure. Such were the circumstances 
 that temporarily re-estabUshed the equilibrium, whicli 
 had never really existed for the paper, even at the 
 first moment of its emission. Many of the communes, 
 subjoining their own regulations to the laws of the 
 convention, had even prohibited the circulation of 
 specie, and directed that it should be brought to the 
 public coffers in order to be changed into assignats. 
 The convention had certainly annulled all such pecu- 
 liar ordinances on the part of comnumes, but never- 
 theless the general statutes promulgated by itself 
 continued to render coin useless and dangerous. Nu- 
 merous individuals carried it to the loan and the tax- 
 gatherer, or paid it away to foreigners, who prose- 
 cuted a considerable traffic therein, frequenting the 
 frontier towns to receive it in barter for merclKindisc. 
 The Italians, and especially the Genoese, who imported 
 large quantities of grain into France, scoured the ports 
 of the Mediterranean, and i)urchased gold and silver 
 articles at singularly low prices. Specie, therefore, 
 had re-appeared in consequence of these terrible laws, 
 and the party of revolutionary zealots, apprehensive 
 lest its interference might again prove prejudicial to 
 the paper-money, held that bullion, which had not 
 hitherto been excluded from the circulation, ought to 
 be entirely interdicted; they demanded that its trans- 
 mission should be forbidden, and tliat it should be 
 obligatory on all who possessed any to appear at the 
 public offices for the purpose of exchanging their store 
 for assignats. 
 
 Terror had almost banished stockjobbing. Specu- 
 lations in specie were, as we have already sliown, 
 effectually suppressed. Foreign paper, anathematised 
 on all sides, no longer circulated as two months pre- 
 viously ; and the bankers, accused by every mouth of 
 being the agents of the emigrants and of being addicted 
 to stockjobbing, were in the utmost consternation. 
 
 F'or an interval, a seal had been set upon their esta- 
 blishments ; but the fact soon becoming evident how 
 dangerous it might be to interrupt aU banking opera- 
 tions, and thereby check the circiilation of capitals, the 
 seals were taken off. Nevertheless, the terror was 
 sufficiently gi'eat to stifle all tendency to any species 
 of sjieculation. 
 
 The India Company had been at length abolished. 
 We have seen that certain intrigues had prevailed 
 amongst divers deputies with the view of realising 
 profit on the shares of that company. The Baron de 
 Batz, in concert with Julien of Toulouse, Delaunay 
 of Angers, and Cliabot, fonned a scheme to depreciate 
 the shares by threatening motions, and then to buy 
 in ; afterwards, by milder motions, to induce a reac- 
 tion, then to sell out, and by the operation secure all 
 the gain of this fraudulent enhancement. The Abbe 
 d'Espagnac, whose interests Julien advocated in the 
 committee of contracts, was to lend the funds for these 
 speculations. These wretches succeeded, in fact, in 
 driving the shares down from 4500 to 650 livres, and 
 reaped considerable j)rofits. However, it was impossible 
 to avert the abrogation of the company, wherefore 
 they applied themselves to negotiate with it so as to 
 mitigate the terms of suppression. Delaimay and 
 Julien of Toidouse discussed the subject with its direc- 
 tors, and said to them, " If you give us such a sum, 
 we will present such a decree ; if not, we will present 
 another very diiferent." They agreed upon a sum of 
 500,000 francs, in consideration whereof they were, 
 when proposing the dissolution of the company, which 
 was unavoidable, to obtain for it the boon of winding 
 up its own affixirs, a process whereby its duration 
 might be indefinitely prolonged. The bribe was to 
 be divided amongst I)elaunaj', Julien of Toulouse, 
 Chabot, and Bazire, to whom his friend Chabot had 
 imparted the secret of the scheme, but who refused 
 to participate in its spoils. Delaunay presented the 
 decree of suppression on the 17th Vendemiaire. He 
 therein proposed to dissolve the company, oblige it to 
 refund the sums it owed to the state, and especially 
 to pay the duty on transfers, which it had contrived 
 to evade by transforming its shares into inscriptions 
 in books. He finally proposed to leave to itself the 
 care of liquidating its affairs. Fabre-d'Eglantine, to 
 whom the intrigue had not yet been commimicated, 
 and who, as it would seem, was specidating in the 
 opposite direction, immediately raised his voice against 
 the latter clause, alleging, that to permit the company 
 to liquidate its affairs, was to perpetiiate it, ' since, 
 under such a pretext, it might remain indefinitely in 
 activity. He therefore advised that the government 
 should be invested with the charge of that liquidation. 
 Cambon moved, as a sub-amendment, that the state 
 shoidd not, by imdertaking the liquidation, be held 
 responsible for debts, if the assets of the companj' were 
 unequal to its liabilities. The decree and the two 
 amendments were adopted, and then remitted to the 
 committee to be definitively framed. Thereupon the 
 members in the plot cf)nceived it would be expedient 
 to gain Fabre, in order to obtain, by means of the 
 remit, some modifications in the decree. Chabot was 
 deputed to Fabre with 100,000 francs, and succeeded 
 in wmning him over. The following manoeuvre was 
 then perpetrated : The decree was drawn up such as 
 it had been passed by the convention, and given for 
 signature to Cambon and the members of the commit- 
 tee who were not confederates in the scheme. To this 
 authentic copy were afterwards added certain words 
 which completely altered the sense. To the clause 
 upon transfers which had escaped tlie duty, whereby 
 they were intended to be made subject to it, these 
 words were subjoined — " except those fraudulently 
 made ;" whicli proviso revived all the pretensions of 
 the company touching exemption from the duty. Into 
 the paragraph affecting the liquidation, an interpola- 
 tion was introduced — " according to the statutes and re- 
 gulations of the company ;" which brought the company
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 361 
 
 forward in the management thereof. These msertions 
 inaterially varied the purport of the decree. Chabot, 
 Fabre, Delaunay, and Julien of Toulouse, subsequently 
 affixed their names, and transmitted the falsified cojiy 
 to the commission for publishing the laws, which 
 caused it to be printed and promulgated as an authen- 
 tic enactment. The confederates expected that the 
 members who liad signed before the alterations were 
 introduced, would either forget or OA'erlook the diffe- 
 rence, and they complacently divided the sum of .500,000 
 francs. Bazire alone refused Ms share, stating that 
 he would not partake the wages of turpitude. 
 
 Chabot, however, whose luxury began to attract 
 censure, trembled at the consciousness of his giult. He 
 had hung the 100,000 francs, received for his partici- 
 pation, in a pri'vy ; and as his accomplices saw him 
 ready to betray them, they threatened to be before- 
 hand with him, and to reveal all if he abandoned them. 
 Such was the issue of the shameful intrigue hatched 
 between the Baron de Batz and three or four deputies. 
 The universal terror pervading France, affecting the 
 innocent as well as the culpable, extended to them, and 
 they lived in constant dread of being discovered and 
 punished. 
 
 Thus, for the moment at least, all speculative spirit 
 was damped, and none were rash enough to think of 
 entangling themselves in stockjobbing. 
 
 It was at this period, when no repugnance was felt 
 at outraging all received ideas, all established habits, 
 that the project of remodelling the system of weights 
 andmeasures, and changing the calendar, was executed. 
 The passion for regidarity and contempt for obstacles 
 were destined to signalise a revolution which partook 
 so essentially both of the philosophical and political 
 character. It had divided the territory into eighty- 
 three equal portions ; it had reduced to uniformity 
 the civil, religious, and military administrations ; it 
 had annihilated all distinctions in the public debt ; 
 and it could not stop short in its career without regu- 
 lating weights, measures, and the divisions of time. 
 Doubtless that desire of uniformity, inflamed into the 
 spirit of system, into fury even, too often provoked 
 disregard for the necessary and pleasing varieties of 
 natiire : but it is only in such eras of zeal that the 
 human mind grapples Avith and operates great and 
 difficult reformations. The new SA-stem of weights 
 and measures, one of the most admirable productions 
 of the age, was the friut of this bold spirit of innova- 
 tion. The idea was acted upon of takuig for unity in 
 weight and for unity in measure natural and invari- 
 able quantities in all countries. Thus, distilled water 
 was assumed as the unity of weight, and a part of the 
 meridian as the unity of measure. These unities, 
 multiphed or divided by ten, ad infinitum, formed that 
 perfect system, known imder the name of the decimal 
 calculus. 
 
 Similar regularity was to be applied to the divisions 
 of time ; and the difficulty of subverting the habits of 
 a nation on that point wherein they are most invete- 
 rate, failed to scare men so resolute as those who then 
 presided over the destinies of France. They had 
 already changed the Gregorian into the republican era, 
 and fixed its date from the first year of liberty. They 
 made the year and the new era conmience on the 22d 
 September 1792, a day which, by a fortunate conjunc- 
 ture, was that of the institution of the republic and 
 of the autumnal equinox. The year ought to have 
 been divided into ten parts, in conformity with the 
 decimal system ; but taking as foundation for the 
 division of months the twelve revolutions of tlie moon 
 round the earth, it was necessary to admit twelve. In 
 this instance nature rendered the infraction of the 
 decimal system imperative. The month was of thirty 
 days, divided into three portions of ten days, called 
 decades, and equivalent to the four weeks. The tenth 
 day of each decade Avas devoted to rest, supplying the 
 place of the old Sunday. There was consequently a 
 day of rest the less in the month. The Catholic reli- 
 
 gion had multiplied holidays to an inconvenient ex- 
 tent ; the revolution, fostering labour, deemed it fit- 
 ting to reduce them as much as possible. The months 
 were called after the seasons to which they respec- 
 tively belonged. The year commencing in autumn, 
 the three first months belonged to that season : they 
 were named — the first, Vendcmiaire, the second, Bru- 
 maire, the third, Frimaire; the three next, occurring in 
 winter, were designated A7?-ose, Pluviose, a.nd Ventose; 
 the three following, answering to spring, Germinal, Flo- 
 real, and Pruirial; and the three last, comprehending 
 summer, Messidor, Thennidor, and Fructidor. These 
 twelve months, of thirty days each, only made three 
 hundred and sixty days in all. There remained five 
 days to complete the j'ear ; these were called comple- 
 mentari/, and the egregious idea was entertained of 
 setting them apart for national festivals, \mder the 
 title of sans-culottides, an appellation judged essential 
 in deference to the times, and one not at all more ab- 
 surd than many others adopted by communities. The 
 first was to be consecrated to genius; the second, to 
 labour; the third, to glorious actions ; the fourth, to re- 
 wai-ds ; and the fifth, to opinion. This last festival, per- 
 fectly original and excellently adapted to the French 
 character, Mas intended as a species of poUtical car- 
 nival for twenty-four hours, during which it shovdd 
 be allowable to say and wTite with impunity, con- 
 cerning every pubHc man, whatever imagination might 
 suggest to the people or to Avriters. It was, as it 
 were, opinion doing justice upon opinion itself, and 
 imposing upon magistrates the necessity of shielding 
 themselves by virtuous lives from the shafts both of 
 truth and calumny on that day. Nothing could be 
 grander, or in a moral sense more effective, than such 
 an idea. We nmst not, because an overpowering 
 destiny has swept away the opinions and institutions 
 of that era, visit with ridicule its bold and vast concep- 
 tions. The Romans are not amenable to ridicule, be- 
 cause on days of triumph the soldier, placed behind 
 the chariot of the triumphant general, had fuU license 
 given to all his hatred or rude wit prompted. Every 
 four years, the bissextile year giving six complemen- 
 tary days in lieu of five, that sixth sans-culottide was 
 appointed to be held as the festival of the revolution, 
 and to be set apart for a grand solemnity, in which 
 the French shoidd gather to celebrate the epoch of 
 their enfifanchiseraent and the institution of the re- 
 public. 
 
 The day was divided, according to the decimal sys- 
 tem, into ten portions or hours, these into ten other 
 subdivisions, and so further. New dials were ordered 
 to bring tliis novel mode of calculating time into prac- 
 tical operation ; nevertheless, in order to avoid forcing 
 every thing at once, this latter reform was postponed 
 for a year. 
 
 The last innovation, the most hazardous of all, and 
 the most denounced as tyrannical, was that attempted 
 with regard to public worship. The revolutionary 
 laws relative to religion had remained almost exactly 
 as the Constituent Assembly had made them. It will 
 be recollected that that first assembly, with the view 
 of reducing the ecclesiastical to the uniformity of the 
 civil administration, determined that the boundaries 
 of dioceses shoidd be the same as tIio.se of the depart- 
 ments ; that the bishop should be elected like all other 
 functionaries ; and, in short, witliout interfering with 
 dogmas, that church discipline should be regulated, in 
 like manner as had been every part of the political 
 organisation. Sucli was the civil constitution of the 
 clergy, to which ecclesiastics were obliged to swear 
 obedience. From that moment, as the reader will re- 
 member, a .schi.sm arose; the ])riests who conformed 
 to the new institution were called constitutional or 
 juring, and they who rejected it, refractory priests. 
 These latter were merely deprived of their functions 
 and endowed with a pension. The Legislative Assem- 
 b!v, perceiving that they laboured diligently to poison 
 opinion and array it against the new system, subjected
 
 362 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 them to the supervision of the departmental authori- 
 ties, and even issued a decree tliat upon a sentence 
 from such authorities tliey might be banished from 
 the territory of France. The convention, eventually 
 more severe in proportion as their conduct became 
 more seditious, -condemned all refractory priests to 
 exile. The excitement in the public mind augmenting 
 every day, men began to ask why, when all the old 
 monarchical superstitions were abolished, they shoidd 
 still retain a phantom of religion, in which scarcely 
 any one even professed to believe, and which formed 
 an unseemly contrast to the new institutions and the 
 new manners of republican France. Previously, de- 
 mands liad been niade for laws in fjivour of married 
 priests, and for protecting them against certahi local 
 atlministrations, which attempted to degrade them 
 from the ecclesiasticid office. The convention, ex- 
 hibiting a marked reserve on the subject, had ab- 
 stained from passmg any enactment regarding them, 
 but by its mere silence it had authorised them to pre- 
 serve their functions and revenues. IMoreovcr, ui cer- 
 tain petitions the convention was entreated to witli- 
 draw all further support from any sect, to leave each 
 to remunerate its own ministers, to prohibit external 
 ceremonies, and to oblige all religions to confine them- 
 selves witliin their temples. It contented itself Avith 
 cm-tailing the income of bishops to the maximum of 
 6000 francs, seeing that the revenues of some amounted 
 to 70,000. As to all the rest required from it, the 
 convention would adopt no steps, observing a discreet 
 silence, and leaving France itself to take the initiative 
 in the abohtion of religious observances. It was ap- 
 prehensive, sliould it, the supreme power, mterfere 
 with creeds, that a portion of the population, still at- 
 tached to the Catholic religion, might be rendered dis- 
 contented. The commmie of Paris, less scrupidous, 
 seized the favourable opportunity for a signal over- 
 throw of old ideas, and hastened to present the first 
 public example of the abjuration of Catholicism. 
 
 Whilst the patriots of the convention and the Jaco- 
 bin Club, Robespierre, Saint-Just, and the other re- 
 volutionary leaders, stopped short at deism, Chau- 
 mette, Hehert, and all the notaljles of the commune 
 and the Cordelier Club, standing in a lower capacity 
 both as to functions and to enlightenment, were sm'e, 
 according to the ordinary law in all such cases, to 
 overleap the boundary and rush into the darkness of 
 atheism. They did not, indeed, openly profess sixch a 
 doctrine, but it might be readily surmised in them : 
 never in their discourses or their writings did they 
 pronounce the name of God, and they perpetually re- 
 peated that a nation ought to be governed by reason 
 alone, and admit no other worship than that of reason. 
 Chaumettc was not the villanous or ambitious cha- 
 racter that Hebert might be justly described; he 
 souglit not, by inflaming to extrav!hi:ance the predo- 
 minant feelings, to supplant the actual chiefs of the 
 revolution ; but, devoid of politic;d views, possessed 
 by a vulgar philosophy, urged hy an extraordinary 
 craving for declamation, he preached, with the ardoiu" 
 and spiritual pride of a missionary, morals, labour, 
 patriotic virtues, and reason, in tine, invariably ab- 
 staining from all mention of the Supreme Being. He 
 had inveighed with vehemence against the popular 
 pillages ; he had sternly reprimanded the women who 
 neglected the care of their households to take part in 
 political contentions, and been courngcous enough to 
 shut up their club; he had i)r()motcd tlie abolition of 
 mendicity, and the establishment of public workshops 
 to provide the poor with adequate employment ; he 
 had raised his voice against female prostitution, and 
 procured an ordinance of the commune disallowing 
 the profession of common women, every where tole- 
 rated as an inevitable evil. Tliose wretched creatures 
 were forbidden to show themselves in public, and even 
 to exercise in the privacy of houses their deplorable 
 calling. Chaumettc maintained that they were inci- 
 dental only to monarcliieal and Catholic countries, 
 
 where lazy aristocrats and unmarried priests abounded, 
 and that industry and marriage would ensure their 
 disappearance from republics. 
 
 Chaumettc, therefore, leading the way in advocacy 
 of the system of reason, inveighed at the comnmne 
 against the iniblicity of the Catholic worship. He 
 maintained that it involved a privilege which no sect 
 was entitled to enjoy more than another, and that if 
 all religious persuasions possessed such a facult}-, the 
 streets and public places woidd shortly become the 
 scenes of ridiculous exhibitions. The commune hold- 
 ing the local police, he moved it to enjoin, on the 23d 
 Vendemiaire (14th October), that the ministers of no 
 religion whatsoever should be allowed to celel)rate 
 rites without tlie walls of temples. He enforced also 
 the institution of new ceremonies for rendering the 
 last duties to the dead. The friends and relatives of 
 the deceased were alone to follow the corpse. All re- 
 ligious symbols were obliterated in the cemeteries, and 
 replaced by a statue of Sleep, according to the example 
 furnislied by Fouche in the department of the Allier. 
 Instead of cypresses and other lugubrious vegetables, 
 the cemeteries were planted with cheerful and odori- 
 ferous shrubs. " The beauty and perfume of flowers," 
 said Chaumettc, " ought to awaken agreeable recollec- 
 tions : I would, were it possible, that I could inhale 
 the spirit of my father." All the external marks of 
 worship were entirely abolished. It was moreover 
 decided, in the same ordinance, and still on the requi- 
 sition of Chaumettc, that for the fut^ire no sales should 
 be permitted on the streets of any kinds of jugglery, 
 such as consecrated winding-sheets, handkerchiefs of 
 Saint A^'eronica, Ecce-homos, crosses, Agnus-Dei's, vir- 
 gins, corns and rings of Saint-Hubert, nor in like 
 maimer, of powders, medicinal waters, and other quack 
 drugs. The image of the Virgin was every where 
 thrown down, and all the ^Madonnas found in niches 
 or at the corners of streets were replaced by busts of 
 Marat and Lepelletier. 
 
 Anacharsis Clootz, that Prussian baron who, with 
 an income of 100,000 livres, had abandoned his country 
 for the capital of France, as the representative, so he 
 said, of the human race ; who had figrired in the fede- 
 ration of 1790 at the head of the pretended envoj's 
 from all the nations of the earth ; and who had been 
 subsequently nominated a deputy to the National Con- 
 vention — he, this Anacharsis Clootz, was incessantly 
 heard extolling universal republicanism and the wor- 
 ship of reason. Full of these two ideas, he dilated upon 
 them without intermission in his writings, and, some- 
 times m manifestos, sometimes in addresses, he re- 
 commended them to all jiopidations. Deism appeared 
 in his understanding equally culpable with Catholicism 
 itself; he never ceased to propose the destruction of 
 tyrants and of every species of divinit}' ; and asserted 
 that there ought to remain with enfranchised and en- 
 lightened humanity nought but pure reason, and its 
 beneficent and immortal creed. He said to the con- 
 vention : 
 
 " I have only been able to escape all sacred and 
 profane tyrants by continual waj-faring : I was at 
 Rome when they souglit to incarcerate me at I'aris, 
 and I was at London when they were seeking to burn 
 me at Lisbon. It was thus, by being tossed from one 
 end of Europe to the other, that I escaped alguazUs 
 and spies, masters and slaA'es. My emigrations ceased 
 when the emigration of miscreants commenced. In 
 the capital of the globe, at Paris, was the post of the 
 orator of the human race. I have not quitted it since 
 1789 ; it was then that I redoubled my zeal against 
 the pretended sovereigns of heaven and earth. I oiwnly 
 preached that there was no other god but nature, no 
 other monarch but the human race^the people-gocL 
 The people are eA'cry thing to themselves, they will 
 never stoop. Nature bends not the knee before her- 
 self. Judge of the majesty of the free human race by 
 that of the French people, who fcjrm of it but a frac- 
 tion. Judge of the infallibility of all by the wisdom
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 363 
 
 of a portion, which, of itself alone, makes the enslaved 
 world tremble. The surveillance committee of the 
 universal republic will have less trouble than the com- 
 mittee of the smallest section in Paris. A general 
 confidence will succeed imiversal distrust. In my 
 republic there will be few officials, few imposts, and 
 no executioner. Reason will unite all men in a single 
 representative cluster, without other tie than episto- 
 lary correspondence. Citizens, religion is the only 
 obstacle to this Utopia ; the time is an'ived for eradi- 
 cating it. The human race has burnt its leading- 
 strings. Nations only evince vigour, says one of the 
 ancients, on the day succeeding a bad reign. Let us 
 profit by this first day, which we will prolong until 
 the morrow of the world's deliverance." 
 
 The motions of Chaumette reanimated all the hopes 
 of Clootz : he hastened in quest of Gobel, a restless 
 intriguer from Porentruy, who had become constitu- 
 tional bishop of the department of Paris by that same 
 rapid movement which had raised Chaumette, Htbert, 
 and so many others to the highest municipal functions. 
 He represented to him that the moment had arrived 
 for abjuring, in the face of France, the CathoUc faith, 
 whereof he was the chief pontiS'; that his example 
 would sway all the ministers of religion, enlighten the 
 nation, provoke a general abjuration, and compel the 
 convention to pronounce the abolition of Christianity. 
 Gobel declined to renounce his faith exactly, and 
 thereby declare that he had been deceiving mankind 
 all his life ; but he consented to abdicate his episco- 
 pacy, and subsequently induced his vicars to follow 
 the example. It was consequently agreed with Chau- 
 mette and the members of the departmental directory, 
 that all the constituted authorities of Paris should 
 accompany Gobel, and form part of the deputation, 
 in order to give more solemnity to the act of renun- 
 ciation. 
 
 On the 17th Brumaire (7th November 1793), ]\ro- 
 moro, Paclie, L'Huillier, Chaumette, Gobel and all his 
 clergy, repaired to the convention. Chaumette and 
 L'HuiUier, both procurators, the one of the commune 
 and the other of the department, annoimced that the 
 clergy of Paris had come to render a signal and inge- 
 nuous homage to reason. They then introduced Gobel. 
 He, bonneted with the red cap, and holding in his 
 hand his mitre, crosier, cross, and ring, addressed the 
 assembly. " Born a plebeian," said he, " an incumbent 
 in Porentruy, sent by my brother clergy to the first 
 assembly, and ultimately elevated to the archbishopric 
 of Paris, I have never ceased to obey the people. I 
 I accepted the duties which the people formerly confided 
 I to me ; and to-day I again obey them by attending to 
 1 resign them. I became a bishop when the people 
 ( wanted bishops ; I cease to be one now when the people 
 are tired of them." Gobel added that all his clergy, 
 animated by the like sentiments, authorised him to 
 make a similar declaration on their behalf On con- 
 eluding these words, he laid down his mitre, cross, 
 and ring. His clergy testified their approbation. The 
 president replied to him, Avith much address, that the 
 convention had decreed the freedom of religion, which 
 it had left unshackled to every sect, and tliat it had 
 never interfered witli articles of faith, but that it ap- 
 plauded men who, enlightened by reason, were moved 
 to abjure their errors and superstitions. 
 
 Gobel had not renounced the priesthood and Catho- 
 licism, nor ventured to declare himself an impostor 
 who had been eventually induced to avow his false- 
 hood ; but others stretclied his declaration to that 
 extent. " Redeemed," said the incuml)ent of Vaugi- 
 rard, " from the prejudices which fanaticism had 
 planted in my heart and in my mind, I cast down mj' 
 letters of ordination." Divers liishops and priests, 
 members of the convention, followed this example, 
 and deposited their letters of ordination, or abjured 
 Catholicism. Jidien of Toulouse likewise shook ofl" 
 his gown as a Protestant minister. Vociferous plau- 
 dits from the assembly and the galleries greeted these 
 
 renunciations. At this moment, Gregoire, Bishop of 
 Blois, entered the convention. He was informed of 
 what had passed, and many urged him to imitate the 
 conduct of his colleagues. He refused with com-age, 
 " Is the question concerning the income attached to 
 the office of bishop ?" said he ; " if so, I give it up 
 without regret. l)oes it concern my quality as a 
 priest and bishop ? I cannot divest myself of it ; my 
 faith forbids me. I invoke the liberty of religion." 
 The words of Gregoire Avere closed amidst tumult, but 
 they scarcely checked the extravagant joy otherwise 
 excited by the scene. The deputation quitted the 
 assembly amidst an immense crowd, and proceeded to 
 the town-hall, in order to receive the felicitations of 
 the commune. 
 
 So flagi'ant an example once given, it was not diffi- 
 cult to instigate the sections of Paris and all the com- 
 munes in the repubUc to imitate it. The sections 
 sjieedily gathered, indeed, and appeared at the bar of 
 tlie convention to declare, one after the other, that 
 they renoimced all the errors of superstition, and re- 
 cognised for the future but one creed, that of reason. 
 The section of L'Homme-Arme averred that it ac- 
 knowledged no other creed than that of truth and 
 reason, no other fanaticism than that of liberty and 
 equality, no other dogma than that of fraternity and 
 the repubUcan laws decreed since the 31st May 1793. 
 The section of La Reunion announced that it purposed 
 to make a bonfire of aU the confessionals and all the 
 books used by Catholics, and to shut up the church 
 of Saint-]\Iory. The section of William Tell renounced 
 for ever the creed of error and falsehood, as it stated. 
 The section of Mucius-Scaevola abjured Catholicism, 
 and intimated its intention the following decade, on 
 the chief altar of Saint-Sidpice, to celebrate the inau- 
 guration of the busts of Marat, Lepelletier, and Mucius- 
 Scjevola. The section of Pikes would henceforth adore 
 no other god than the god of liberty and equality. 
 The section of the Arsenal likewise foreswore the 
 CathoUc faith. 
 
 Thus the sections, taking the initiative, abjured 
 Catholicism as the public religion, and appropriated 
 its echfices and property, as resolving into the com- 
 munal domain. The deputies on mission in the de- 
 partments had already induced a number of the com- 
 munes to seize upon the moveables in the churches, 
 which, they alleged, were not necessary to religion, 
 and in truth belonged to the state as public propertj', 
 and were legally available to its exigencies. Fouche 
 had transmitted from the department of the Allier 
 several boxes of plate, and similar spoils had arrived 
 from divers other departments. The example was not 
 lost on Piiris and its environs ; and the bar of the con- 
 vention was speedily choked with the rich fruits of 
 this new-born zeal. All the churches were stripped, 
 and the various communes sent deputations witli the 
 gold and silver accumulated in the niches of saints, or 
 in places consecrated by the piety of foregone ages. 
 They repaired in processions to the convention, and 
 the populace, indulging in their tendency to burlesque, 
 parodied in most fantastic forms the rites of religion, 
 and found as much pleasure in profaning as tliey had 
 ever done in celebrating them. Men clotlicd in sur- 
 plices, hoods, and copes, chanting luUlelujahs and 
 dancing the carmagnole, came to the bar of the con- 
 vention, where they deposited glories, crucifixes, cha- 
 lices, and statues of gold and silver, pronouncing bur- 
 les((ue orations, and often addressing to the saints 
 themselves strange and ludicrous invocations. '' Oh 
 ye, instruments of fanaticism 1" exclaimed a deputa- 
 tion from St Denis, " blessed saints of all kinds, be at 
 length ])atriots ; rise in a bod}', serve the country by 
 proceeding to tlic mint to be melted, and promote our 
 happiness in this world as you would fain do in the 
 next." 'Jo sucli scenes of mirth succeeded u]M)n some 
 sudden imi)ulse occurrences disposing, at that time, 
 to respect and emotion. Those same personages who 
 trod under foot the saints of Christianity, appeared
 
 364 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bearing a canopy; throwing open the curtains and 
 showing the busts of Marat and Lepelletier, they said, 
 " Behold, not gods made by men, but the images of 
 respectable citizens, assassinated by the slaves of 
 kings ! " The processions subsequently defiled before 
 the convention, still chanting the hallelujah and 
 dancing the carmagnole, and marched to deposit the 
 rich spoils of the altar at the mint, and the venerated 
 busts of Marat and Lepelletier in the churches, now 
 become the temples of a new faith. 
 
 At the instance of Cliaumettc, it was determined 
 that the metropolitan cathedral of Notre-Dame should 
 be converted into a republican edifice, to be called the 
 Temple of Reason ; and a festival was instituted for 
 every tenth day, intended as a substitute for the Catho- 
 lic ceremonies of the SundaJ^ The mayor, the muni- 
 cipal officers, and other public functionaries, repaired 
 to the Temple of Keason, read aloud the Declaration 
 of the Rights of Man, as also the Constitutional Act, 
 communicated an analysis of the tidings from the 
 armies, and recounted the important events that had 
 occurred in the course of the decade. A mouth of 
 truth, similar to the mouths of denunciation usual in 
 Venice, was placed in the Temple of Reason, with the 
 view of receiving suggestions, reproaches, or opinions 
 useful to the connnonwealtli. These notes were col- 
 lected every tenth day, and read aloud for public edifi- 
 cation ; an orator delivered a moral discourse, after 
 which pieces of music were executed, and the whole 
 concluded by the congregation singing republican 
 hymns. In the temple two galleries were reserved, 
 the one for old men, the other for pregnant women, 
 decorated with these words — " Reverence for age — Re- 
 spect and attention to pregnant women." 
 
 The first festival of Reason was celebrated with 
 pomp on the 20th Brumaire (November 10). All the 
 sections attended it in conjunction with the consti- 
 tuted authorities. A young woman personated the 
 goddess of Reason ; she was the wife of the printer 
 Momoro, one of the friends of Vincent, Ronsin, Chau- 
 mette, Hebert, and similar personages. She was clad 
 in white drapery, a sky blue mantle hung over her 
 shoulders, and her luxuriant hair was crowned with 
 the cap of liberty. She was seated on an antique chair 
 adorned with ivy, and borne by four citizens. Young 
 girls, dressed in white and crowned with roses, pre- 
 ceded and followed the goddess. Then came the busts 
 of Marat and Lepelletier, musicians, troops, and all 
 the armed sections. Speeches were delivered and 
 hymns chanted in the Temple of Reason, and the pro- 
 cession moved on to the convention, which assembly 
 Chaumette addressed in these words : — 
 
 " Legislators — fanaticism has given place to reason. 
 Its craven eyes have been unable to bear the lustre of 
 light. To-day an immense concourse has been gathered 
 under those Gothic arches, which for the first time 
 have served as the echo of truth. There the French 
 have celebrated the only true worship — that of liberty 
 and reason. There we have offered vows for the suc- 
 cess of the republican arms. There, in fine, we have 
 abandoned inanimate idols for reason — for this ani- 
 matedimage, the masterpiece of nature." As he uttered 
 these words, Chaumette pointed to the living goddess 
 of Reason. The young and beautiful female who 
 represented it descended from her seat, and advanced 
 to the president, who gave her the fraternal embrace 
 amidst universal bravos, and shouts of " The republic 
 for ever !" " Reason for ever !" " Down with fanati- 
 cism ! " Tlie convention, which had hitherto abstained 
 from directly countenancing these performances, was 
 hurried a\vay and obliged to follow the procession, 
 which again returned to the Temple of Reason, and 
 sang within it a solemn patriotic anthem. Important 
 intelligence, avouching the recapture of Noinnoutiers 
 from Charette, augmented the general rapture, and 
 supplied a more substantial motive for it than the 
 downfal of fanaticism. 
 
 All reflect, doubtless, with disgust upon such scenes, 
 
 devoid of true emotion, hollow and spurious, wherein 
 a populace changed its creed without comprehending 
 either the old or the new. But when is the popidace 
 sincere? When is it capable of understanding the 
 dogmas that are given it to believe ? What are its 
 cravings ordinarily ? Large assemblages which gra- 
 tify its passion for congregating ; symbolical spectacles 
 whereby it is continually impressed with the idea of a 
 power superior to its own ; and festivals in which 
 homage is rendered to men who have the nearest 
 approached to the good, the glorious, the grand — in a 
 word, temples, ceremonies, and saints. Here, then, 
 were temples. Reason, Marat, and Lepelletier. It had 
 assembled, adored a mysterious power, and celebrated 
 the memory of two men. All its longings, therefore, 
 were satisfied, and it only gave Avay to that wherewith 
 it is swayed at all periods. 
 
 If we cahrdy contemplate the condition of France 
 at this epoch, we cannot but remark that never was 
 constraint exercised with such crushing weight as at 
 present upon that inert and patient part of the popu- 
 lation, whereon all political experiments are tried. 
 Men no longer ventured to hazard an opinion ; they 
 feared to see even their friends and relatives, lest they 
 might be compromised with them, and lose liberty if 
 not life itself One hundred thousand arrests, and a 
 few hundreds of condemnations, rendered always pre- 
 sent to the imaginations of twenty-five millions of 
 Frenchmen the jail and the guillotine. The general 
 taxes exigible were felt oppressive ; but if an indivi- 
 dual chanced, according to a purely arbitrary classifi- 
 cation, to be inscribed in the list of rich, he lost for 
 that year a material portion of his income. Sometimes, 
 upon the re(iuisition of a representative or of any 
 agent Mhatsoever, he was bound to surrender his har- 
 vest, or his most precious moveables in gold and silver, 
 as the case might be. None presumed to affect any 
 degree of luxury, or to indulge in outward pleasures. 
 Specie laboured under a ban, and might not be safely 
 used ; it was necessary to accept or disburse a depre- 
 ciated paper, wherewith it was difficidt to procure such 
 articles as were needful. The merchant felt himself 
 coerced to sell at a ruinous price ; the consumer had 
 to content himself with the worst of commodities, since 
 the really good fled markets possessed by the maxi- 
 mum and assignats ; sometimes, indeed, he was ft lin 
 to dispense with any at all, for at times both good and 
 bad were equally withdrawn. By both rich and poor 
 was obtainable only one species of brown bread, to be 
 struggled for at the doors of the bakers after a dreary 
 expectancy of several hours. The designations of 
 weights and measures, the names of months and days, 
 were changed ; only three Sundays instead of four 
 were permitted in the lunar revolution ; and, in fine, 
 women and old men suddenly found themselves de- 
 prived of those religious ceremonies which they had 
 been accustomed to attend all their lives. 
 
 Never, then, in the history of the world, did power 
 more violently assail all the cherished habits of a 
 nation. Menacing all existences, decimating fortunes, 
 regulating coercively the course of exchanges, altering 
 the appellations of familiar objects, abrogating the 
 offices of religion, it was without contradiction the 
 most atrocious of tyrannies ; but we are bound to con- 
 sider the danger of the state, the inevitable hazards of 
 trade, and the spirit of system inseparable from the 
 spirit of innovation. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 RETURN OF DANTON. — DIVISIONS IN THE PARTY OF THE 
 MOUNTAIN. — ABOLITION OF THE WORSHIP OF REA- 
 SON. — FINAL CONSOLIDATION OF THE REVOLUTION- 
 ARY GOVERNMENT. ARREST OF RONSIN, VINCENT, 
 
 AND FOREIGN EMISSARIES. 
 
 Since the fall of the Girondists, the Mountaineer 
 party, remaining alone and victorious, had begmi to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH llEVOLUTiON. 
 
 365 
 
 break into factions. The constantly growing excesses 
 of the revolution produced a more decided division, 
 which was on the verge of resolving into a complete 
 rupture. Several deputies had been painfully affected 
 at the unworthy fate of the Girondists, of Bailly, of 
 Brunet, of Houchard ; others blamed the violences per- 
 petrated with respect to religion, judging them most 
 impolitic and dangerous. These maintained that new 
 superstitions would inevitably succeed those so fran- 
 ticaUy decried ; that the pretended creed of reason was 
 no other than that of atheism ; that atheism could not 
 consist with any nation ; and that such extravagances 
 must be instigated by foreign gold. On the other 
 hand, the party predominant at the Cordelier Club 
 and the commune, which boasted Ilebert as its lite- 
 rary champion, Eonsin and Vincent as its leaders, 
 Chaumette and Clootz as its apostles, upheld that its 
 adversaries were intent on resuscitating a moderate 
 faction, and provoking fresh discords in the republic. 
 
 Daiiton had retiu-ned from his retreat. He avoided 
 declaring his opinion ; but a party-leader would in 
 vain strive to conceal it ; it was whispered from ear 
 to ear, and soon became obvious to all comprehensions. 
 It was notorious that he had desired to avert the exe- 
 cution of the Girondists, and that he had been deeply 
 moved at their tragical end ; it was known that, 
 though the partisan and inventor of revolutionary 
 means, he began to censure their blind and ferocious 
 employment; that the sjstcm of violence seemed to 
 him unnecessarily prolonged after the cessation of 
 danger; and that at tlie conclusion of the present cam- 
 paign, and upon the entire expidsion of the foreign foe, 
 he was solicitous to see restored the reign of mild and 
 equitable laws. None -were as yet bold enough to 
 attack him in the tribune of the clubs ; even Hebert 
 presumed not to assail him in his sheet " Pere Du- 
 chene ; " but by word of mouth the most insidious 
 reports were cii'culated : suspicions were hinted as to 
 his probity ; the exactions in Belgium were recalled 
 with most industrious perfidy, and partly charged 
 upon him ; durmg his retreat at Arcis-sur-Aube, in- 
 deed, malicious rumour had averred the fact of his 
 emigration with hoards of wealth. With him were 
 associated, as equally reprehensible, Camille-Desmou- 
 lins, his friend, who had partaken his commiseration 
 for the Girondists and defended Dillon ; and Philip- 
 peaux, who had returned from La Vendee furious 
 against disorganisers, and intent on denouncing Eon- 
 sin and Eossignol. Moreover, in his party were classed 
 all those who, in any manner, had discountenanced the 
 revolutionary zealots, whereof the number was begin- 
 ning to grow somewhat considerable. 
 
 Julien of ToiUouse, previously regarded with jea- 
 lousy in consequence of his connexion with D'Espag- 
 nac and the contractors, had completely compromised 
 himself by a report on the federalist administrations, 
 in which he laboured to extenuate the faults of the 
 great majority. He had no sooner presented it than 
 the Jacobins and Cordeliers in multitudmous deputa- 
 tions obliged him to withdraw it. They instituted an 
 inquiry into his private life upon the occasion, when 
 the fact transpired that he passed his time with stock- 
 jobbers, and that he maintained as his mistress an 
 abandoned countess ; \\hereupon they denounced him 
 as thoroughly corrupt, and as an undisguised mode- 
 rate. Fabre-d'Eglantine, too, was observed to have 
 suddenly altered his luode of life, and to display a 
 luxury altogether unwonted in him heretofore. Cha- 
 bot, the well-known capuchin, who, when first mingling 
 in the revolution, possessed notlung beyond his eccle- 
 siastical pittance, likewise surprised the community 
 by ostentatious decorations in his mansion, and by 
 espousing the sister of the two Freys with a portion 
 of 200,000 livres. So startling a change of circum- 
 stances suggested doubts touching the honesty of the 
 newly enriched ; and in a short time a proposition 
 they submitted to the convention effectually sealed 
 their ruin. A deputy, Ossehn, had been recently ar- 
 
 rested for harbouring an emigrant, as it was alleged. 
 Fabre, Chabot, Julien, and Hehnmay, who were not 
 at ease as to themselves — Bazire and Tlmriot, who had 
 no cause for self-reproach, but who saw with alarm 
 that all respect for members of the convention was 
 cast aside — proposed a decree enacting that no deputy 
 could be arrested without being prelimmarily heard 
 at the bar. This decree was adopted, but all the clubs 
 and the Jacobins reclaimed with fury, maintaining it 
 was a covert scheme to re-establish the inviolahilitij. 
 They caused it to be rescinded, and forthwith com- 
 menced a severe scrutiny touching those who had 
 mtroduced it, both as to their course of life and the 
 origin of their rapid fortunes. Julien, Fabre, Chabot, 
 Helaunay, Bazire, and Thuriot, stripped of all popu- 
 larity within the briefest interval, were ranked in the 
 party of " equivocals and moderates." Hebert ex- 
 hausted the vocabulary of abuse on their heads in his 
 journal, and recommended them to the execrations of 
 the populace. 
 
 Four or five other personages fell under the same 
 anathema, although hitherto reputed exemplary pa- 
 triots. These were Proli, Pereyra, Gusman, Dubuis- 
 son, and Desfieux. Almost all denizens of a foreign 
 soil, they had been moved, like the two Freys and 
 Clootz, to cast themselves into the French revolution 
 by enthusiasm, and probably likewise by the expecta- 
 tion of acquiring wealth. So long as they worked 
 diligently in the onward cause of the revolution, the 
 question of who they were was never started. Proli, 
 who belonged to Brussels, had been sent with Pereyra 
 and Desfieux to the camp of Dumouriez, in order to 
 sound his intentions. They succeeded in drawing 
 from him an explanation ; and returned, as we have 
 previously recounted, to denounce him to the conven- 
 tion and the Jacobin Club. So far all was well ; but 
 they had been subsequently emjjloyed by Lebrun, 
 because, being foreigners and well-informed men, they 
 were able to render essential services in the department 
 of foreign affairs. By communication with Lebrun, 
 they learned to estimate his qualities, and at a later 
 period they warmly defended him. Proli had enjoyed 
 opportunities of appreciating Dumouriez, and notwith- 
 standing the defection of that commander, he had 
 persisted in extolling his talents, and in maintaining 
 that he might have been preserved to the republic. 
 Furthermore, nearly all of them, possessing superior 
 knowledge as to the dispositions of other countries, 
 had blamed the application of the Jacobin system to 
 Belgium and other provinces united to France. Their 
 words were treasured for the evil day ; and when a 
 general distrust evoked a belief in the secret inter- 
 vention of an alien faction, men began to suspect them 
 and to quote their past declarations. It was known 
 that Proli was the natural son of Kaunitz, and he was 
 surmised to be the leading plotter, the whole of them 
 being at once set down as spies of Pitt and Cobourg. 
 The popular WTath speedily wore a more threatening 
 aspect ; and the very exaggeration of their patriotic 
 pretensions, Avhich they deemed calculated to establish 
 their justification, only served to compromise tliem 
 the more. They were universally classed with the 
 equivocals and moderates. 
 
 Thus it came to pass, that when Danton or his friends 
 hazarded an observation on the faults of the minis- 
 terial agents, or on the violences exhibited towards 
 tlie cause of religion, tlie Ilebert, Vincent, and Eonsin 
 party retorted by vociferations against moderation, 
 corruption, and foreign factions. According to custom, 
 the moderates threw back the accusation on their 
 adversaries, saying to them — " It is you who are the 
 acconii)lices of these foreigners : every thing avouches 
 your confederacy — the common violence of your lan- 
 guage, and the manifest design of uprooting all social 
 order by driving things to the worst. Behold," con- 
 tinued they, " that commune arrogating a legislative 
 authority, and enacting laws under the specious title 
 of resolutions ; extending its regulations to all matters,
 
 366 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 police, trade, religion ; substituting, of its own motion, 
 one creed for another ; replacing the old by new super- 
 stitions ; openly preacliing atheism ; and enforcing its 
 example on all the municipalities in the repulilic. Behold 
 those offices of the war department, whence emerge a 
 multitude of agents Avho infest the provinces, uphold- 
 ing rivalry with the representatives, connnitting de- 
 plorable excesses, and shaming the revolution by their 
 conduct. We say, look at that commune and those 
 ofiices : what are their designs, if not to usurp both 
 legislative and executive authority, to neutralise the 
 convention and its committees, and to dissolve the 
 government? And who can urge them to such an 
 aim but the foreigner ? " 
 
 Amidst these agitations and quarrels, the supreme 
 authority was preparing to assume a stern course of 
 action. Robespierre held, with all the comniittce, that 
 such mutual accusations were extremely dangerous. 
 His policy, as we liave already intimated, had, since 
 the 31st May, consisted in preventing a fresh revolu- 
 tionary outbreak, in rallying o])inion around the con- 
 vention, and the convention itself around the committee 
 of public welfare, so as to concentrate a strong govern- 
 ing power; and for these his purposes he had used 
 the Jacobins, then all-powerful over opinion. The 
 imputations cast iipon well-accredited patriots, such 
 as Danton and Camille-Desmoidins, seemed to him 
 pregnant witli hazard. He began to fear that no re- 
 putation might withstand the assaults of frenzied agi- 
 tators ; he was api)rehensive, too, that the violences 
 with regard to religion might indispose a part of 
 France, and cause the revolution to be identified with 
 atheism ; and, lastly, in all this confusion he thought 
 he detected the hand of the foreigner. In this mood, 
 he failed not to seize the opportunity, which Hcbert 
 soon afforded him, of exj)laming his sentiments at the 
 Jacobin Club. 
 
 The views of Robespierre had partly transpired. A 
 rumour was seci-etly propagated that he intended to 
 direct the stream of obloquy against Pache, Hebert, 
 Chaumette. and Clootz, the authors of the movement 
 against religion. Proli, Desfieux, and Pereyra, already 
 compromised and threatened, determined to unite their 
 cause with that of Pache, Chaumette, and Hebert; witli 
 which intention they visited the Litter, and pointed 
 out to them that since a conspiracy was farmed against 
 the best patriots, and all were ecpially in danger, it 
 belioved tliem to support and vindicate each other. 
 Hebert fortliwith repaired to the Jacobin Club, the 
 1st Frimaire (21st November), and complained of a 
 plan in agitation tending to divide the patriots. " On 
 all sides," said he, " I meet persons who congratidate 
 me on not being arrested. It is reported that Robes- 
 pierre has resolved to denounce me — me, Chaumette, 
 and Pache. As to me, who daily put myself forward 
 in the cause of the country, and who utter every thing 
 that comes into my head, the rumour may have some 
 foundation ; but Pache ! — I know all the regard Robes- 
 pierre has for him, and I cast any such idea far from 
 me. It has been likewise stated that Danton had 
 emigrated, that he had gone into »Switzerland loaded 
 witli the spoils of the people. I met him this morn- 
 ing at the Tuileries ; and since he is in Paris, he ought 
 to come and fraternally explain himself to the Jaco- 
 bins. All jjatriots are bound to repudiate injurious 
 statements circulated respecting them." Hebert sub- 
 sequently asserted that he derived a portion of this 
 information from Dubuisson, who had offered to unfold 
 to him a conspiracy hatching against the patriots ; 
 and, adhering to the usage of throwing all odium on 
 the vanquished, he added that the cause of the troubles 
 lay in the accomplices of Brissot who were still alive, 
 and in the Bourbons remaining at the Temple. 
 
 Robespierre succeeded him at the tribune. " Is it 
 true," said he, " that om- most dangerous enemies are 
 the impure remnants of our tyrants' race ? I pray 
 with all my heart for the disappearance of the race of 
 tyrants fiom the eartli, but can I be blind to the situ- 
 
 ation of my country, disposed to believe that such an 
 event would suffice to extinguish the flames of those 
 conspiracies now distracting us ? Who will be per- 
 suaded that the punishment of Capet's contemptible 
 sister would have a more imposing effect on our ene- 
 mies than that of Capet himself and his guilty consort ? 
 
 Is it, moreover, true that the cause of our calamities 
 is fanaticism? Fanaticism! it is expiring — I may 
 even say that it is dead. AVlien directing all our at- 
 tention for many days in opposing it, have you not 
 diverted our vigilance from the real sources of danger ? 
 You are afraid of priests, and they are all alacrity to 
 throw aside their calling, so that they may exchange 
 it for the prerogatives of municipal officers, adminis- 
 trators, and even of presidents of popular societies. 
 They were formerly much attached to the pastoral 
 office, when it produced them 70,000 livres a-year; 
 but they have abjured it when it is not worth more 
 than 6000. Ay, dread not their fanaticism, but their 
 ambition — not the habit which they wore, but the 
 new skin which they have assumed. Dismiss your 
 apprehensions as to the old superstition, but beware 
 the new and corrupt superstition which is insidiously 
 affected to promote our ruin ! " 
 
 Then Robespierre, entering upon the subject of reli- 
 gion in the frankest mood, added : 
 
 " When citizens, animated by a pure zeal, come to 
 deposit on the altar of the country the useless and 
 ostentatious monuments of superstition, in order that 
 they may be made serviceable to the triumphs of 
 liberty, the counti'y and reason approve such offerings ; 
 but by what right have aristocracy and hypocrisy 
 ventured to mingle their baneful influence witli that of 
 civism ? By what right have men, unknown to this 
 day in the career of the revolution, come forward, 
 amidst all these events, studying the means of usurp- 
 ing a false popidarity, drawing patriots themselves 
 into wayward measures, and exciting amongst us 
 trouble and discord ? By what right do they appear 
 to challenge the liberty of religious faith in the name 
 of liberty, and assail fanaticism by a new and worse 
 fanaticism? By what right have they caused the 
 solemn homage paid to pure truth to degenerate into 
 a revolting and contemptible farce ? 
 
 Many have supposed that the convention, by wel- 
 coming certain civic offerings, had actually proscribed 
 the Catholic worship. No ; the convention has not 
 adopted that step, and never will. Its intention is to 
 maintain the liberty in matters of conscience it has 
 long ago proclaimed, and at the same time to keep all 
 those in check who would abuse that liberty to dis- 
 turb public order. It will not permit the peaceable 
 ministers of the different persuasions to be persecuted ; 
 and it will also punish them with severity whensoever 
 they shall dare to turn their functions into means of 
 public delusion, and to instigate prejudices or royalism 
 against the republic. 
 
 There are men who would go much farther ; who, 
 under pretext of eradicating superstition, would make 
 a species of religion out of atheism itself Every 
 ])hilosopher, every individual, can adopt such opinion 
 upon the subject as he pleases ; whoever should at- 
 tempt to charge it upon him as a crime, must be a 
 fool ; but the public man, the legislator, would be a 
 tenfold greater fool who should adopt such a system. 
 The National Convention abhors it. The convention 
 is not a fabricator of books or systems. It is a poli- 
 tical and popular body. Atheism is aristocratic. The 
 idea of a great being, Avho watches over oppressed in- 
 nocence and punishes triumphant crime, is truly popu- 
 lar. The people, the unfortunate, will applaud me ; 
 if I find censors, it will be amongst the rich and the 
 criminal. I have been, from boyhood, but an indiffe- 
 rent Catholic ; I have never been a cold friend or a 
 faithless defender of humanity. I am only the more 
 attached to those moral and political ideas I have but 
 now propounded to you. If God did not exist, it would 
 be fitting to invent him."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 367 
 
 Robespierre, after delivering this profession of faith, 
 unputed to foreign uitrigues the persecutions insti- 
 tuted against rehgion, and the cahimnies propagated 
 against undoubted patriots. Being of a singularly 
 distrustful character, as his belief that the Girondists 
 were royalists ■well avouches, he put implicit credit 
 in the existence of a foreign faction, which, as we have 
 previously explained, was only represented by a few 
 spies distributed amongst the armies, and by certain 
 bankers, the upholders of stockjobbing and the cor- 
 respondents of emigrants. " The foreigner," said he, 
 " has two sorts of armies : the one on our frontiers 
 is powerless and on the verge of ruin, thanks to our 
 victories ; the other, more dangerous, is in the midst 
 of us. It is an army of spies, of suborned knaves, 
 who creep in every where, even into the bosom of oiu" 
 popular societies. It is this faction which persuaded 
 Ilebert that I designed to provoke the arrest of Pache, 
 Chaumette, Hebert, the whole commune, in short. I 
 assail Pache ! — I, who have always admired and vindi- 
 cated his manly and modest virtue, and have fought 
 for him against Brissot and his accomplices ! " 
 
 Robesx>ierre praised Pache, and was silent as to 
 Hebert He contented himself with sa3ang that he 
 had not forgotten the services of the commune during 
 the days liberty was in peril. Subsequently venting 
 his wrath upon what he styled the foreign faction, he 
 turned the rage of the Jacobins against Proli, Du- 
 buisson, Pereyra, and Desfieux. He recapitulated their 
 history, and pourtrayed them as agents of Lebrun 
 and the foreigner, commissioned to envenom ani- 
 mosities, to sow discord amongst the patriots, and to 
 stimulate them into actual conflict. From the terms 
 in which he expressed himself, it was obvious that the 
 hatred he harboured against the former friends of 
 Lebrun entered largely into the elements of his dis- 
 trustful aversion. In conclusion, he prevailed to have 
 all four expelled the society, amidst vociferous plau- 
 dits ; and he proposed, moreover, a purifying scrutiny 
 applicable to aU the Jacobins. 
 
 Thus did Robespierre strike with his anathema the 
 new worship, reading a severe lesson to all froward 
 intermeddlers ; not only avoiding to praise Hebert, but 
 intimating significantly his dissatisfaction with the 
 vile editor ; and directing the whole storm against 
 certain foreigners who were unfortunate enough to 
 have been friends of Lebrun, to have admired Dumou- 
 riez, and to liave censured the political system adopted 
 in conquered countries. Furthermore, he had secured 
 to himself the recomposition of the entire society, 
 by the resolution he had procured enjoining a pm'ify- 
 ing scrutiny. 
 
 During the following days Robespierre folloAved up 
 his system : he appeared in the Jacobin tribune to 
 read both anonymous and intercepted letters, proving 
 that the foreigner, if he were not the actual author 
 of the extravagances attending the new creed, and of 
 the calumnies affecting the best patriots, at all events 
 approved of and rejoiced at them. Danton had in 
 some sort been challenged by Hebert to exculpate 
 himself. He had refrained from doing so immediately, 
 lest he might seem to obey a summons ; but a fort- 
 night afterwards he seized a favourable occasion to 
 present himself. The question under discussion Avas 
 the expediency of supplying the pojiular societies with 
 localities at the expense of the state. On that subject 
 he proffered various observations ; and in the course 
 of liis speech took the opportunity of declaring, that if 
 the constitution Avere intended to slumber whilst the 
 people were smiting and intimidating their enemies 
 by revolutionary operations, still those ought to be 
 viewed with distrust who laboured to excite the people 
 beyond the limits of the rev(jlution. Coupe, deputy 
 from the Oise, replied to Danton, and perverted his 
 sentmients whilst jjrofessing to combat them. Danton 
 immediately returned to the tribime, and was met with 
 murmurs. He thereupon invited all who had grounds 
 of suspicion agamst him to assign their charges, in 
 
 order that he might publicly rebut them. He com- 
 plained of the disapprobation manifested at his pre- 
 sence. " Have I then lost those traits which charac- 
 terise the asj^ect of a free man ? " he exclaimed ; and as 
 he uttered those words, he elevated the countenance 
 that had been so often seen, so often encountered in 
 the storms of the revolutio.n, and which had always 
 animated the courage of republicans and spread terror 
 amongst aristocrats. " Am I no longer," he added, 
 " that same man who was found at your side in all 
 the moments of critical emergency ? Am I no longer 
 that man, so persecuted and so AveU known to you all ; 
 that man whom you have so often embraced as your 
 friend, and with Avhom you have taken the oath to 
 perish in the same hazards.'" He then called to re- 
 collection that he had been the defender of Marat, and 
 was thus obliged to cover himself with the shade of 
 that being whom he had formerly protected and de- 
 spised. " You will be astonished," said he, " when I 
 unfold to you my private conduct, to find that the 
 colossal fortune which my enemies and yours attri- 
 bute to me, is comprised in the small amount of pro- 
 perty I have always possessed. I defy the most male- 
 volent to adduce any proof against me. All their 
 efforts will not avail to stagger me. I will stand up- 
 right in the face of the people : you shall judge me in 
 their presence. I am not more disposed to tear out 
 the page of my history than you are of your OAvn." In 
 conclusion, Danton demanded a committee to examine 
 the accusations objected against him. 
 
 Robespierre ascended the tribune with imwonted 
 eagerness. " Danton," he exclaimed, " asks from you 
 a committee to investigate his conduct : I consent to 
 its appointment, if he thinks such a measure will be 
 beneficial to him. He desires that the complaints 
 harboured against him may be particularised : so be 
 it, I Avill midertake the task. Danton, thou art accused 
 of having emigrated. It has been stated that thou 
 hadst passed into Switzerland ; that thy illness Avas 
 feigned to conceal thy flight from the people ; tliat 
 thy ambition was to be regent under Louis XVII. ; 
 that at a determinate period, all was prepared for pro- 
 claiming that shoot of the Capets ; that thou wert the 
 leader of the conspiracy ; that not Pitt, or Cobourg, 
 England, Austria, or Prussia, were our real foes, but 
 thou alone ; that the Mountain was composed of thy 
 accomplices ; that it was futile to devote attention to 
 the agents employed by foreign powers ; that their 
 plots were fables worthy of contempt only ; in a word, 
 that it behoved us to slaughter thee, and thee alone ! " 
 — Universal applause droAvned the voice of Robes- 
 pierre. He resumed : " Art thou not aware, Danton, 
 that the more a man is distinguished for courage and 
 patriotism, the more strenuously do the enemies of 
 the public Aveal strive to effect his ruin .' Art thou 
 not aware, and are you not all aAvare, citizens, that 
 this result is inevitable ? Ah ! if the champion of 
 liberty Avere not calumniated, it would be a proof that 
 Ave had no more nobles or priests to combat ! " Then 
 alluding to the publications of Ilebert, in wliich he, 
 Robespierre, Avas highly extolled, he added — " Tlie ene- 
 mies of the country seem to select me exclusively for 
 their praises. But I repudiate tliem. Is it imagined 
 th;it, alongside the eulogies repeated in certain prints, 
 I do not discern the knife Avith A^•hich their authors 
 Avould Avillingly dispatch the country ? The cause of 
 patriots is like that of tyrants ; they are equally ex- 
 posed. I am deceived, perha])s, respecting Danton ; 
 init, Avith regard to his domestic affairs, he merits full 
 appro))ation. In political matters I have observed 
 him ; a difference of opinion induced me to study him 
 with attention, frequently Avitli anger; he was not 
 sufficiently prompt, I alloAv, in suspecting Dumouriez ; 
 he did not sufficiently hate Brissot and his accomplices ; 
 but if lie has not ahvays been of my opinion, shall 
 I thence coni'lude that he betrayed the countrj'? 
 No ; I have constantly seen him serve it Avith zeaL 
 Danton desires that he may be put upon his trial : he
 
 368 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 is right. Let rae be put upon my trial also. Let 
 those men come forward who are greater patriots than 
 we ! I'll wager they are nobles or priests. You will 
 find a marquis amongst tliem, and will hence learn 
 the just measure of patriotism in the persons who 
 accuse us." 
 
 Robespierre concluded by moving that all who had 
 any reproach to urge against Danton shoidd then be 
 heard. None ventured to appear. Momoro himself, 
 one of Hubert's friends, was tlie first to exclaim that 
 tlie fact of no person presenting himself was a proof 
 that nothing could be alleged agauist Danton. A 
 member thereupon proposed that the president should 
 give him the fraternal embrace. The general ap- 
 proval was manifested, and Danton being led to the 
 table, there received the brotherly salute amidst tu- 
 multuous cheers. 
 
 The conduct of Robespierre upon this occasion was 
 generous and dexterous. The common danger to all 
 tried patriots, the signal ingratitude towards such ser- 
 vices as Danton's, in fine, an undisputed superiority, 
 had disarmed Robespierre of his habitual egotism, 
 and, for once actuated by amiable sentiments, he had 
 spoken witli more true eloquence than seemed con- 
 sistent with his nature. But the service he rendered 
 Danton was more advantageous to the cause of the 
 existing government and the old patriots who com- 
 posed it than to Danton himself, whose popidaritj' 
 was lost for ever. Enthusiasm is not easily rekindled 
 when suffered to expire, and it could scarcely happen 
 that such great public dangers should occur as to give 
 Danton an opportunity, by the display of his undaunted 
 courage, of regaining liis influence. 
 
 Robespierre, intent upon his purpose, never omitted 
 being present at eacli sitting of tlie Jacobins devoted 
 to the process of purification. Tlie name of Clootz 
 being paused upon, he was accused of a connexion 
 with the foreign bankers, Vandenivers. He endea- 
 voured to justify himself, but Robespierre arose and 
 claimed attention. He recalled tlie alliance of Clootz 
 with the Girondists, and his rupture with them, in 
 consequence of a pamplilet entitled, " Neither Roland 
 nor Marat," a production wherein he attacked tlie 
 Mountain equally with the Gironde ; he spoke of his 
 extravagant doctrines, his obstinacy in descanting 
 upon an universal republic, in stimulating a rage for 
 conquests, and in compromising France towards all 
 Europe. " And how can M. Clootz be so warmly in- 
 terested in the welfare of France," added Robespierre, 
 " when he is so strongly affected for the prosperity of 
 Persia and Mesopotamia ? There is a late catastrophe 
 of which he is probably very proud. I refer to the 
 movement against religion, a movement which, if con- 
 ducted with prudence and caution, might have con- 
 duced to excellent results, but the violence which 
 marked it was calculated to produce most serious mis- 
 chief. M. Clootz had a nocturnal conference with 
 Bishop Gobel. Gobel passed his word for the follow- 
 ing day, and sure enough he came, with a sudden al- 
 teration of language and garb, to deposit his letters of 
 ordination. M. Clootz believed we were the dupes of 
 such buffoonery. No, no ; the Jacobins will never re- 
 gard as a friend of the people this pretended sans- 
 culottes, who is a Prussian and a baron, who jiossesscs 
 100,000 livres a-year, who dines with conspiring 
 bankers, and who is, in short, not the orator of the 
 French people, but of the human race." 
 
 Clootz was, without further deliberation, erased 
 from tlie list of the society ; and, at the instance of 
 Robespierre, it was determined to expel without dis- 
 tinction all nobles, priests, bankers, and foreigners. 
 
 At the subsequent sitting came the turn of Camille- 
 Desmoulins. He was reproached with his letter to 
 Dillon, and with symptoms of sensibility exhibited 
 towards the Girondists. " I had judged Dillon brave 
 and skilfid," said CamUle in vindication, "and I ac- 
 cordingly defended him. As to the Girondists, I was 
 in a peculiar position with regard to them. 1 have 
 
 always loved and served the republic, but I have been 
 often deceived respecting those who promoted it. I 
 adored Mirabeau, I cherished Barnave and the La- 
 metlis ; I confess it ; but I sacrificed my friendship 
 and my admiration as soon as I knew they had ceased 
 to be Jacobins. A singular fatality has so willed it, 
 that outof sixty revolutionists who signed my marriage- 
 contract, there remain to me but two friends, Danton 
 and Robespierre. All the others are emigrants or 
 guillotined. In that number were seven of the twenty- 
 two. A movement of sensibility, therefore, was very 
 pardonable on that occasion. I have stated," added 
 Desmoulins, " that they died republicans, but federal- 
 ist republicans ; for, I assure you, I do not think there 
 were many royalists amongst them." 
 
 The easy disposition, the lively and original wit of 
 Camille-Desmoulins, rendered him a general favourite. 
 " Camllle has chosen his friends badly," remarked a 
 Jacobin ; " let us show him we know how to choose 
 ours better by admitting him without scruple." Ro- 
 bespierre, still the protector of his old colleagues, but 
 careful always to observe a tone of superiority, de- 
 fended Camille-Desmoulins. " He is weak and con- 
 fiding," said he, " but he has alwaj's been a republican. 
 He admired Mirabeau, Lame^i, and DUlon ; but he 
 himself broke his idols whenever he was undeceived. 
 Let him pursue his career, and be more cautious for 
 the future." After these opinions, CamUle was re- 
 tained amidst great applause. Danton was subse- 
 quently admitted without observation. Fabre-d'Eg- 
 lantine also successfully passed through the ordeal, 
 though not without undergoing interrogation respect- 
 ing his fortune, which was considerately attributed to 
 his literary talents. This purification was continu- 
 ous! j^ prosecuted, and occupied a considerable interval. 
 Commenced in November 1793, it endured through 
 several months. 
 
 The views of Robespierre and the government were 
 now well known. The energy with which those views 
 had been manifested intimidated the agitators, pro- 
 moters of the new worship, and they bethought them- 
 selves how to retract and neutralise their indiscreet 
 ])roceedings. Chaumette, who had all the ready pert- 
 ness of a club or communal orator, but was entirely 
 devoid of the ambition or courage befitting a party 
 leader, never contemplated entering upon a rivalry 
 with the convention, or constituting himself the founder 
 of a new creed ; wherefore he hastened to seize an 
 occasion to amend his error. He determined to re- 
 commend a supplementary interpretation to the ordi- 
 nance closing all places of worship, and accordingly 
 moved the commune to declare that it had no inten- 
 tion of curtailing religious liberty, or of interdicting 
 the followers of each persuasion from the privilege of 
 assembling in buildings rented and supported at their 
 own charges. " Let no one pretend," said he, " that 
 it is weakness or policy which induces me to act thus ; 
 I am incapable of being moved by either the one or 
 the other. It is the conviction that our enemies will 
 abuse our zeal so as to push it beyond legitimate 
 bounds, and provoke us into mischievous measures. 
 It is the conviction that, if we prevent the Catholics 
 from exercising their worship publicly and with the 
 sanction of the law, bilious beings will hide in caverns 
 to foster fanaticism or to conspire ; and it is this con- 
 viction which alone inspires me and urges me to speak." 
 
 The resolution proposed by Chaumette, after ob- 
 taining the strenuous support of the mayor Paclie, was 
 ultimately adopted, not without dissonant murmurs 
 however, quickly stifled in hearty acclamations. On 
 its part, also, the convention declared that it had never 
 purposed in its decrees to oppress religious liberty ; 
 and it strictly prohibited the removal of such plate as 
 still remained in the churches, since the exchequer no 
 longer stood in so pressing need of that description of 
 aid. Henceforth, therefore, the indecent frivolities in 
 which the populace had unwittingly indulged ceased in 
 I'aris, and the ceremonies appointed for the worship
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 369 
 
 of Reason, which had afforded so much spurious diver- 
 sion, were abolished. 
 
 The committee of public welfare, amidst this be- 
 wildering confusion, became every day more firmly 
 convinced of the necessity that existed for rendering 
 authority stronger and prompter, and for ensuring it 
 more implicit obedience. The experience of the ob- 
 stacles it had to encounter, gave it daily a greater in- 
 sight into the deficiencies of the government, and it 
 added fresh parts to the revolutionary machine con- 
 trived for the duration of tlie war. It had already 
 prevented the transfer of power into new and inex- 
 perienced hands, by prolonging the convention and 
 declaring the government revolutionarj' until peace. 
 At the same time, it had concentrated that power in 
 itself by bringing under its control the revolutionary 
 tribunal, the police, the military operations, and even 
 the distribution of articles of consumption. Two 
 months' experience enabled it to estimate the impedi- 
 ments which local authorities, either from excess or 
 defect of zeal, opposed to tlie action of the supreme 
 authority. The transmission of decrees was frequently 
 interrupted or delayed, and their promulgation alto- 
 gether neglected in certain departments. Several of 
 those federalist administrations which had rebelled 
 were yet extant, nor was the faculty of concert abso- 
 lutely debarred them. And if, on the one hand, the 
 departmental administrations oflfered some danger of 
 federalism, the communes, on the other hand, acting 
 in a directly opposite spirit, exercised, in imitation of 
 the Parisian commune, a vexatious sway, enacting 
 laws and imposing taxes, whilst the revolutionary 
 committees of sections exerted arbitrary and inquisi- 
 torial powers against persons. Revolutionary armies, 
 formed in diflPerent localities, completed those petty 
 distinct governments, tyrannical to the last degree, 
 disunited amongst themselves, and highly embarrass- 
 ing to the superior government. Moreover, the autho- 
 rity of the representatives on missions, entering into 
 the general rivalry, aggravated the confusion as to 
 prerogatives ; for the representatives levied imposts 
 and published penal laws like the communes and the 
 convention itself. 
 
 BiUaud-Varennes, in a badly expressed but very 
 able report, unfolded these mconveniences, and intro- 
 duced the decree of the 14th Frimaire, year 2 (4th De- 
 cember 1793), which, being adopted, may serve as a 
 model for all provisional, energetic, and absolute go- 
 vernments. " Anarchy," said the reporter, " menaces 
 republics in their infancy and their decay. Let us 
 strive to avert it." The decree instituted the Bulletin 
 of Laws, a new and admirable invention, of which no 
 idea had been previously entertained. Hitherto the 
 laws, sent by the assembly to the ministers, and by 
 the ministers to the local authorities, without any 
 specified periods for so doing, and without any records 
 authenticating their transmission or receipt, were 
 frequently passed for lengthened intervals before they 
 were promulgated or known. According to the new 
 decree, a committee, a press, and a particular paper, 
 were exclusively assigned for the publication and dis- 
 patch of laws. The committee, formed of four indi- 
 viduals, independent of all control and reheved from 
 every other duty, received the law, caused it to be 
 printed, and then transmitted it by the j'ost within 
 fixed and invariable periods. The dispatch and tlie 
 receipt were verified by the convenient agency of the 
 post-office ; and the operations being thus regulated, 
 became sure and effective. The convention M'as sub- 
 sequently declared the centre of impulse to the govern- 
 ment. Under these words was concealed the sove- 
 reignty of the committees, which transacted all affairs 
 for the convention. The departmental authorities 
 were in some sort abolished : they were shorn of all 
 political attributes, and were left, like the department 
 of Paris at the crisis of the 10th August, witli no ftmc- 
 tions beyond the assessment of contributions, the re- 
 pair of roads, and other purely economical matters. 
 
 Thus, those too powerful interveners between the 
 people and the supreme authority were suppressed. 
 The district and communal administrations were alone 
 suflTered to exist with their prerogatives unimpaired ; 
 every local administration, at the same time, was pro- 
 hibited from coalescing with others, from removing its 
 seat, from sending out agents, from passing resolutions 
 extending or limiting the scope of decrees, and from 
 levying men or taxes. All the revolutionary armies 
 established in the departments were disbanded, and 
 none was allowed to subsist but the revolutionar}- 
 army enrolled at Paris, as sufficient for the service of 
 the whole republic. The revolutionary committees 
 were enjoined to correspond with the district autho- 
 rities set in superintendence over them, and with the 
 committee of general safetj'. Those of Paris were 
 debarred from commimicating with the commune, or 
 any other body than the committee of general safety. 
 Lastly, the representatives were forbidden to levy 
 taxes unless authorised by the convention, and also 
 to publish penal laws. 
 
 Thus all the authorities were restricted to their 
 proper spheres, and their conflict or coalition became 
 impossible. They received the laws by an assured 
 routine, and they could neither modify them nor defer 
 their execution. The two committees were fortified in 
 their supremacy. That of public welfare, besides its 
 predominance over the committee of general safety, 
 continued to engross dijjlomacy and war, and to exer- 
 cise a sovereign superintendence over all things. Hence- 
 fortli it alone was entitled to assume the designation of 
 a committee of public welfare. No committee in the 
 various commimes could arrogate that title. 
 
 This new decree upon the regulation of the revolu- 
 tionary government, although restrictive touching the 
 power of the communes, and aimed chiefly indeed at 
 their abuses of authority, was received by the com- 
 mune of Paris with signal demonstrations of respect. 
 Chaumettc, who affected docility as a proof of patriot- 
 ism, delivered a long oration in praise of the decree. 
 Li his witless eagerness to comply Avith the novel 
 system of government, he even drew upon himself a 
 humiliating rebuff; for, carrying his ardour to obey too 
 far, he fell into the predicament of infraction. The 
 decree, as we have stated, placed the revolutionary 
 committees of Paris in direct and exclusive communi- 
 cation with the committee of general safety. These, 
 in their fiery zeal, were accustomed to issue warrants 
 of arrest in indiscriminate multifariousness ; insomuch 
 that they were accused of having incarcerated nume- 
 rous patriots, and of containing men who now began 
 to be stigmatised as idtra-revolutionists. Chaumettc 
 arraigned their conduct before the council -general, and 
 proposed to summon them to the bar of the conmnme 
 with the view of reading them a severe admonition. 
 His motion was adopted : but, in his anxiety to reap 
 the credit of submission, he had overlooked the fact 
 that, according to the new decree, the revolutionary 
 committees of Paris could hold correspondence with 
 the committee of gener.d safety alone. The committee 
 of public welfare, equally averse to an exaggerated 
 obedience as to disobedience itself, and moreover dis- 
 inclined to allow the commime, even when teaching 
 rightlj', to lecture committees placed under the su- 
 preme authority, caused Chaumette's resolution to be 
 annulled, and proliil)ited the committees from attend- 
 ing before the commune. Cluumiette bowed to the 
 correction with exemplary meekness. " Every man," 
 said he at the commune, " is subject to error. I 
 frankly confess that I have been misled. The conven- 
 tion has annulled the resolution I was instrumental in 
 passing ; it has dealt justly with the faiUt I committed ; 
 it is our common parent, let us show our inseparable 
 union."* 
 
 It was only by such uncompromising energy that the 
 conmiittee could hope to suppress unruly movements 
 
 * 19th Frimaire.
 
 370 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 arising either from fervour or from resistance, and to 
 invroduce the utmost possible precision into the action 
 of government. The ultra-revolutionists, viewed with 
 suspicion and kept in check since their proceedings 
 against religion, were now doomed to undergo a fm-- 
 ther discomfiture, more fatal than the preceding. 
 Ronsiu had returned from Lyons, whitlier he had ac- 
 companied Collot-d'Herbois with a detachment of the 
 revolutionary army, arriving in Paris at a moment 
 when the relation o{ the sanguinary atrocities perpe- 
 trated at Lyons excited general pity and remorse. 
 Ronsin signalised his return by affixing a placard 
 ■which aroused the ire of the convention. In this docu- 
 ment he asserted that out of the one hundred and fifty 
 thousand inhabitants of Lyons, only fifteen lumdred 
 were not accomplices in tlie revolt ; and that before the 
 end of Frimaire (December) aU the guilty would have 
 perished, and the Rhone have borne tlieir bodies to 
 Toulon. Otlier revolting expressions of liis were cited, 
 and indignation was stimulated against the despotism 
 of Vincent in the war department, against the conduct 
 of the ministerial agents in the provinces, and against 
 their audacious rivalry with the representatives. Some 
 amongst them were alleged to liave let fall words 
 plainly indicating a sclieme to precipitate the consti- 
 tutional organisation of the executive power. Tlie 
 energy so recently displayed by Robespierre and the 
 committee encouraged declarations adverse to these 
 agitators. In the convention, on the 27 th Frimaire 
 (17th December), the sitting was opened by bitter 
 complaints against certain revolutionary committees. 
 Lecointre denounced the arrest of a courier from the 
 committee of public welfare by one of the ministerial 
 agents. Boursault stated that when passing through 
 Longjumeau, he had been stopped by the commmie ; 
 and though he proclaimed his rank of deputy, it never- 
 theless insisted upon having his passport accredited 
 by the resident agent of the executive council. Fabre- 
 d'Eglantine mveighed against ^Maillard, the leader of 
 the September assassins, who had been sent on a mis- 
 sion to Bordeaux by the executive council, whereas 
 his demerits called for universal reprobation ; against 
 Ronsm and his placard, the objects of all honest men's 
 abliorrence ; and, lastly, against Vincent, wlio had 
 usurped all authority in the offices of the war depart- 
 ment, and had affirmed lie would either blow up the 
 convention or force it to organise the executive power, 
 since he was determined to be no longer the menial of 
 committees. The convention forthwith declared under 
 arrest Vincent, secretarj-general of the war-office ; 
 Ronsin, general of tlie revolutionary armj' ; jNIaiUard, 
 envoy to Bordeaux ; three other agents of the executive 
 power, wliose vexations at Saint-Girons were detailed ; 
 and a person named ]\Iazuel, adjutant in the revolu- 
 tionary army, who had been heard to state that the 
 convention was conspiring, and that he would spit in 
 the face of every deputy. The assembly subsequently 
 proclaimed the penalty of death against the officers of 
 revolutionary armies illegally formed in the provinces, 
 M-liich were not immediatel}' disbanded. Finally, it 
 enjoined the executive council to appear on the morrow 
 to justify itself. 
 
 This act of vigour struck the Cordeliers with deep 
 dejection, and provoked certain murmurs amongst the 
 Jacobins. The latter refrained from taking any de- 
 cided part on behalf of Vincent and Ronsin, but the}' 
 demanded that an inquiry should be instituted to as- 
 certain the extent of their delinquencies. The exe- 
 cutive council came, in all humility, to exculpate itself 
 before tlie convention, asseverating that it had never 
 purposed to compete with the national representation, 
 and that the stoppage of couriers and the impediments 
 experienced by the deputy Boursault wlioUy proceeded 
 from an order of the committee of public welfare itself, 
 an order which directed all passports and dispatches 
 to be verified. 
 
 At the same time that Vincent and Ronsin were 
 consigned to prison as ultra-revolutionists, the com- 
 
 mittee proceeded with undiminished rancour against 
 the party of " eqiuvocals" and stockjobbers. It ordered 
 under arrest Proli, Dubuisson. Dcsfieux, and Pereyra, 
 accused of being foreign agents and accomplices in all 
 foregone intrigues. Fiu-fhermore, it caused to be seized, 
 in the middle of the night, the four deputies Bazire, 
 Cliabot, Delaunay of Angers, and Julien of Toulouse, 
 accused of being moderates, and of having too rapidly 
 acquired fortunes. 
 
 We have already recomited the particulars of the 
 clandestine association formed by these representa- 
 tives, and of the fraud which had been its consequence. 
 We recollect that Chabot, struck with affright, Avas pre- 
 paring to denounce his confederates, and to throw all 
 the odium upon them. The rumours current respect- 
 ing his marriage, and the invectives daily repeated by 
 Ilcbert, filled up the measm-e of his terror, and he 
 hastened to unfold the whole manoeuvre to Robespierre. 
 He pretended that throughout the plot he had been 
 actuated solely by a desire to penetrate and reveal it ; 
 the plot itself he attributed to the foreigner, who was 
 bent, as he idleged, upon degrading the national re- 
 presentation by corrupting the deputies, and who made 
 use of Hebert and his accomplices to defame, after 
 having succeeded in debaucliing them. Thus there 
 were, so he maintained, two branches in the conspi- 
 racy, the one corruptive and the other defamatory, 
 both subtlely contrived to dishonour and dissolve the 
 convention. The participation of foreign bankers in 
 this intrigue, the expressions of Julien of Toulouse 
 and Delaunay, who often said that the convention 
 would soon finish by devouring itself, and that it be- 
 hoved wise men to gain wealth with all possible dis- 
 patch, and a certain intimacy between Hebert's wife 
 and the mistresses of Julien and Delaunay, served 
 Chabot as proofs to support his fable of a two-sided 
 conspiracy, in Avhich corrupters and defamers Avere 
 secretly leagued to attain the like idtimate aim. At 
 the same time Chabot proved himself not altogether 
 unscrupulous, for he exculpated Bazire ; and as he in 
 person had bribed Fabre, and might provoke his de- 
 nmiciation by accusing him, he affirmed that his offers 
 had been rejected, and that the 100,000 francs, sus- 
 pended on a thread m the privy, were the same in- 
 tended for Fabre and refused by him. These tales of 
 Chabot were devoid of even the semblance of truth, 
 for had he entered into the conspiracy merely to betray 
 it, he would naturally have forewarned some members 
 of the one or the other committee, and deposited the 
 money in their hands. Robespierre referred Chabot 
 to the committee of general safety, who caused the 
 implicjited deputies to be apprehended. Juhen of 
 Toulouse alone succeeded in effecting his escape ; Ba- 
 zire, Delaunay, and Chabot were taken and lodged in 
 prison.* 
 
 The detection of this shameful machination caused 
 a prodigious clamour, and was held to confirm all the 
 calumnies heaped by the various parties upon each 
 other. The belief became more prevalent than ever 
 in the existence of a foreign faction, corrupting the 
 patriots, and mstigating them to fetter the march of 
 the revolution, some by an inopportime moderation, 
 others by an insane exaggeration, by a constant course 
 of defamation, and by an odious profession of atheism. 
 In such suppositions, howcA'er, there was but little 
 reality. On the one hand were men less fanatical, 
 more prone to pity the vanquished, and for that very 
 reason more susceptible to the allurements of pleasure 
 and Avealth ; on the other hand were men more vio- 
 lent and blind in their passions, resting on the lowest 
 portion of the populace, assaihng with their outcries 
 all who did not partake their fanatical insensibility, 
 and profaning the ancient objects of reverence Avith 
 reckless indecency ; and amidst these two parties Avere 
 bankers profiting by every crisis to deal in stockjob- 
 bmg, and four deputies, out of 750, incapable of re- 
 
 * 27th Brumaire (17tli Xovemberl.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 371 
 
 sisting corruption, and becoming accomplices in such 
 impure practices ; lastly, certain sincere revolutionists, 
 but foreigners, and suspected on that account, com- 
 promising themselves by that very exaggeration under 
 favour of which they sought to have their origin for- 
 gotten: so much of reality tliere was, and therein 
 nothing but what might arise in the ordinary course 
 of circumstances — nothing, certainly, which required 
 for elucidation the surmise of some deep-laid conspi- 
 racy. 
 
 The committee of public welfare, resolute in its pur- 
 pose to overawe all parties, determined to smite and 
 brand them, for Avhich end it strove to represent them 
 all as accompUces of the foreigner. Robespierre had 
 already often expatiated on a foreign faction, in the 
 existence of which his jealous spirit moved him firmly 
 to believe. With regard to the turbulent faction that 
 thwarted the superior authority and dishonoured the 
 revolution, he hesitated not to denounce it as in alli- 
 ance with this foreign faction ; but hitherto he had not 
 made any such accusation against the moderate part}', 
 and had even defended it, as we have seen, in the 
 person of Danton. That he still respected the latter, 
 arose from its having done nothing as yet to impede 
 the march of the revolution, and from its containing 
 but few members, and those not obstinate opponents 
 like the old Girondists, since it only comprised certain 
 scattered individuals, who more highly re^irobated the 
 vdtra-revolutionary extravagancies. 
 
 Such was the situation of parties, and the policy of 
 the committee of public welfare regarding them, in 
 Frimaire, year 2 (December 1793). Whilst it was 
 using authority with so much vigour, and perfecting 
 the machine of revolutionary government in the in- 
 terior, it displayed equal energy m outward affairs, 
 and secured the safety of the revolution by signal 
 victories. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1793. RETREAT OF THE 
 
 AUSTRIANS AND PRUSSIANS. — SIEGE AND CAPTURE 
 OF TOULON. — IRRUPTION OF THE VENDEANS BEYOND 
 THE LOIRE. THEIR DEFEAT AT MANS, AND DESTRUC- 
 TION AT SAVENAY. GENERAL RETROSPECT AS TO 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1793. 
 
 The campaign of 1793 terminated on all the frontiers 
 in the most brilliant and auspicious manner. On the 
 side of Belgium, the French had eventually decided 
 upon retiring into winter quarters, notwithstanding 
 the project entertained by the committee of public 
 welfare for profiting by the victory of Watignies to 
 envelop the enemy between the Scheldt and tlie 
 Sambre. Accordingly, on that point events had not 
 varied, and the advantages consequent upon Watig- 
 nies had remained with the French. 
 
 On the Rhine, the campaign was greatly prolonged 
 by the loss of the lines of Weissembourg, forced on 
 the 13th October (22d Vendemiaire), which tlie com- 
 mittee of public welfare determined to recover at any 
 cost, and likewise to raise the blockade of Landau, as 
 it had previously effected with regard to Diuikirk and 
 Maubcuge. Tlie state of the French departments 
 bordering on the Rhine was an additional motive with 
 the convention to hasten the departure of tlie enemy. 
 The country of the Vosges was singularly imi)ressed 
 with the feudal spirit ; the priests and nobles had pre- 
 served considerable influence within it ; the French 
 language being only partially disseminated, the new 
 revolutionary ideas had slowly penetrated its (confines ; 
 in several of the communes the decrees of the conven- 
 tion were unknown; many were entirely devoid of 
 revolutionary committees, and in almost all the emi- 
 grants moved to and fro without molestation. The 
 nobles of Alsace had followed the army of Wurmser 
 in great numbers, and spread themselves from Weis- 
 
 sembourg to the environs of Strasburg. In this latter 
 city a plot had been formed to deliver it up to Wurm- 
 ser. The committee of public welfare forthwith dis- 
 patched Lebas and Saint-Just thither, to exercise the 
 usual dictatorship of commissioners from the conven- 
 tion. It, moreover, named young Hoche, who had so 
 greatly distinguislied himself at the siege of Dunkirk, 
 general of the army of the Moselle ; draughted from 
 the inactive army of the Ardennes a strong division, 
 which was divided between the two armies of the 
 IMoselle and the Rhine; and, lastly, raised general 
 levies in all the neighbouring departments, and di- 
 rected them upon Besan^on. These new levies occu- 
 pied the fortresses, and the garrisons were incorporated 
 in the line. Saint-Just displayed all his accustomed 
 energy and intelligence at Strasburg. He struck the 
 malecontents with awe, and consigned to a commission 
 those who were suspected of having mtrigued to de- 
 liver up the city, who were thence speedily conducted 
 to the scaffold. He communicated fresh alacrity to 
 both generals and soldiers, and exacted daily attacks 
 along the wliole line, in order to exercise the young 
 conscripts. Equally a stranger to fear as to pity, he 
 himself advanced into the fire and partook all the 
 dangers of the war. A high enthusiasm animated 
 the whole army, which was incited with the hope of 
 regaining the lost territory ; the universal cry of the 
 French soldiers was, " Landau or death ! " 
 
 The manoeuvre expedient to be executed on this 
 part of the frontiers stiU consisted in conjoining the 
 two armies of the Rhine and the Moselle, and operat- 
 ing en masse on a single flank of the Vosges. For tliat 
 purpose it was necessary to recover the passes which 
 intersected the mountains, and which the French had 
 lost since Brunswick had proceeded to the centre of 
 the Vosges and Wurmser under the walls of Strasburg. 
 The plan of the committee was quickly formed : it 
 determined to seize upon the chain itself, in order to 
 sepai-ate the Prussians from the Austrians. Hoche, 
 full of ardour and talent, was charged to execute this 
 liroject, and his first movements at the head of the 
 army of the Moselle warranted anticipations of most 
 strenuous action. 
 
 With the view of strengthening their position, the 
 Prussians had attempted to carry by surprise the 
 castle- of Bitche, situated in the very midst of the 
 Vosges. The enterprise was defeated by the vigilance 
 of the garrison, which hastened in time to the ram- 
 parts ; and Brmiswick, either disconcerted at his fail- 
 ure, or dreading the activity and energy of Hoche, or 
 perhaps dissatisfied with Wurmser, between whom 
 and himself feelings not the most friendly prevailed, 
 retrograded first to Bisingen on the line of the Erbach, 
 and subsequently to Kayserlautern in the centre of 
 the Vosges. He had not apprised Wurmser of this 
 backward movement ; and whilst the latter was en- 
 gaged on the eastern flank almost abreast of Stras- 
 burg, he, Brunswick, on the western flank, was actually 
 in the rear of Weisseml)ourg and nearly abreast of 
 Landau. Hoche liad closely followed Brunswick in 
 his retrogi'ade movement ; and after vainly endeavour- 
 ing to surround him at Bisingen, and to anticipate him 
 at Kayserlautern, he formed the design of attacking 
 him at the latter jilace, notwithstan<hng the difticulty 
 of the ground. Hoche had abnut o(),000 men ; he en- 
 gaged on the 28th, 29th, and 3()tli November ; but the 
 localities were little known and replete with obstacles. 
 The first day General Anibert, wlio commanded tlie 
 left wing, encountered the enemy, whilst Hoche in the 
 centre Mas seeking his route. The following day 
 Hoche found himself in presence of the hostile arm}', 
 whilst Anibert was wandering in tlie mountains. Tlius, 
 owing to the difficulties of the ground, his strength, and 
 the advantage of his position, Brunswick obtained com- 
 plete success. He only lost about 1200 men, whereas 
 Hoche was obliged to retire with a loss of nearly 3000 ; 
 but he was not discouraged, and succeeded in rallying 
 his forces at Pirmasens, Hornbach, and Deux-Ponts.
 
 37i 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Altliough discomfited, Hoche had exhibited a hardi- 
 hood and resohition which secured him the confidence 
 of the representatives and the army. Tlie committee 
 of pubUc welfare, which, since the accession of Carnot, 
 had become sufficiently enlightened to be just, and 
 was henceforth severe only against lack of zeal, ad- 
 dressed to him encouraging letters, and, for the first 
 time, bestowed encomiums on a defeated general. 
 
 Hoche, without allowing his reverse to depress the 
 spirit of enteqjrisc, instantly took a resolution to effect 
 a junction with the army of the Rhine, in order to 
 overwhelm Wurmser. That general, Avho had re- 
 mained in Alsace whilst Brunswick was retrograding 
 to Kayserlautern, had his right flank uncovered. 
 Hoche directed General Taponnier with 1:2,000 men 
 on Werdt, to pierce the line of the Vosges and fall on 
 Wurmser's flank, whilst the army of the Rhine was to 
 make a general attack on his 'Sront. Between that 
 army and the Austrians, the presence of Saint-Just 
 had induced continual combats during the close of 
 November and the commencement of December, so 
 that by daily exposure to fire it was beginning to ac- 
 quire disciphne and steadiness. Pichegru held the 
 command. The corps sent into the Vosges by Hoche 
 encountered numerous difficulties in its progress, but 
 it eventually succeeded in penetrating the mountains, 
 and seriously incommoded Wurmser's right. On the 
 22d December (2d Nivose), Hoche marched in person 
 across the mountains, and appeared at Werdt on the 
 summit of the eastern ridge. He rushed impetuously 
 on Wurmser's right wing, captured several guns, and 
 took numerous prisoners. The Austrians felt con- 
 strained to quit the line of tlie Motter, and betake 
 themselves first to Sidtz, and eventually on the 24th 
 to Weissembourg, on the very lines of the Lauter. 
 Their retreat was eifected in disorder and confusion. 
 The emigrants and Alsatian nobles, flocking in the 
 track of Wurmser, fled with the utmost precipitation. 
 Whole families covered the roads, anxiously endeavour- 
 ing to escape. The Prussian and Austrian anuies 
 were mutually discontented, and slackly aided each 
 other against an enemy buoyant with ardour and en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 The two armies of the Rhine and the Moselle were 
 at length conjoined. The representatives gave the 
 command-in-chief to Hoche, who immediately pre- 
 pared to retake Weissembourg. The Prussians and 
 Austrians, now concentrated by their retrograde move- 
 ments, were better enabled to act in concert. They 
 accordingly resolved to assume the offensive on the 
 26th December (6tli Nivose), the same day fixed by 
 the French general for an attack on them. The 
 Prussians were in the Vosges and around Weissem- 
 bourg ; the Austrians extended in front of the Lauter, 
 from Weissembourg to the Rhine. Had they not de- 
 termined to take the initiative, they would cei'tainly 
 not have stood an attack in front of the lines, having 
 the Lauter in their rear ; but they had decided upon 
 being the first to assail, and when the French advanced 
 upon them, they found their advanced guards in mo- 
 tion. General Dessaix, commanding the right of the 
 army of the Rliine, marched on Lauterbourg ; General 
 ilichaud was directed on Schleithal ; the centre en- 
 gaged the Austrians drawn up on Geisberg ; and the 
 left penetrated the Vosges in order to turn the Prus- 
 sians. Dessaix carried Lauterbourg, ilichaud occupied 
 Sclileithal, and the centre, dislodging the Austrians, 
 drove them from Geisberg even to Weissembourg. 
 The immediate occupation of Weissembom'g must 
 have proved signally disastrous to the allies, and it 
 seemed inevitable ; but Brunswick, who was stationed 
 at Pigeonnier, flew to the spot and checked the French 
 with the greatest firmness. The retreat of the Aus- 
 trians was consequently effected with less disorder ; 
 but on the following day the French occupied the lines 
 of Weissembourg. The imperialists fell back on Ge- 
 mersheim, and the Prussians on Bergzatern. The 
 French soldiers continually advanced with cries of 
 
 " Landau or death !" The Austrians hastened to re- 
 pass the Rhine, indisposed to hazard another day or 
 the left bank, and without giving the Prussians time 
 to reach jNIayence. The siege of Landau was raised, 
 and the French took up winter quarters in the Pala- 
 tinate. The two allied generals forthwith accused each 
 other in contradictory accounts of the operations, and 
 the Duke of Brunswick tendered his resignation to 
 the King of Prussia. Thus, on that portion of the 
 theatre of war, the French had gloriously recovered 
 their frontiers, despite the united force of Prussia and 
 Austria. 
 
 The army of Italy had undertaken nothing of im- 
 portance, having, since its defeat in the month of June. 
 remained on the defensive. In the month of Septem- 
 ber, the Piedmontese, seeing Toulon attacked by the 
 English, were tardily moved to profit by an occasion 
 which might ensure the destruction of the French 
 army. The King of Sardinia repaired in person to 
 the scene of warfare, and a general attack on the 
 French camp was determined for the 8th September. 
 The most effectual mode of operating against the 
 French consisted in occupying the line of the Var, 
 which separated Nice from their own territory. Tliis 
 manoeuvre would have been attended with the recovery 
 of all the positions they had seized beyond the Var, 
 and would have compelled them to evacuate Nice, or 
 perhaps even to lay down their arms. A direct assault 
 upon their camp, however, was preferred ; which, being 
 attempted with detached corps and by different val- 
 leys at once, was unsuccessful, and the King of Sar- 
 dinia retired into his own dominions much dissatisfied 
 with the result. Shortly thereafter, the Austrian 
 general Dewins at length resolved to move upon the 
 Var ; but he executed his intention with but 3000 oi 
 4000 men, advanced no further than Isola, and, being 
 stopped by a slight check, re-ascended the Upper 
 Alps, without prosecuting his enterprise. Such had 
 been the insignificant operations of the army of Italy. 
 
 A more grave solicitude fixed all attention on Toulon. 
 That jilace, being held by the English and Spanish, 
 gave them a dangerous footing in the south, and a 
 basis for adventuring a further invasion. Hence it 
 behoved France to recover it with all practicable 
 speed ; the committee, indeed, had issued the most 
 urgent orders on the subject, but the means of insti- 
 tuting a siege were almost wholly deficient. Carteaux, 
 after effecting the subjection of Marseilles, had de- 
 bouched with 7000 or 8000 men by the gorges of 
 Ollioules, whereof he gained possession after a slight 
 engagement, and established himself at their outlet 
 within view of Toulon ; at the same time, General 
 Lapoype, being detached from the army of Italy with 
 about 4000 men, had drawn up on the opposite side 
 towards Sollies and Lavalette. The two French corps 
 thus planted, the one to the west the other to the east, 
 were so distant that they could scarcely discern each 
 other, and were quite incapable of reciprocating suc- 
 cour. Tlie besieged, with a httle more activity, might 
 have easily attacked them separately and overwhelmed 
 Ihem in succession. Happily, they were bent only on 
 fortifying the town and filling it with troops. Eight 
 thousand Spaniards, Neapolitans, and Piedmontese 
 were disembarked, who, with two English regiments 
 drawn from Gibraltar, swelled the garrison to 14,000 
 or 15,000 men. They perfected all the defences and 
 manned all the forts, especially those on the coast, 
 which protected the road where their squadrons lay 
 at anchor. They applied themselves more particu- 
 larly to render inaccessible the fort of L'Egiiillette, 
 placed at the extremity of the promontory which shuts 
 up the inner or little road. They in sooth rendered 
 its approach so difficult, that it was called in the army 
 " the Little Gibraltar." The Marseillese and all the 
 Proven(;als who had sought refuge in Toulon, bestirred 
 themselves at the works, and displayed the greatest 
 zeal. It was impossible, however, for union to be of 
 long duration in the interior of the town, inasmuch as
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 373 
 
 the reaction against the jMonntain had revived all the 
 dormant factions. Every shade of the repubhcan and 
 royaHst parties had its adherents. The allies them- 
 selves were not in strict concord. The Spaniards 
 were offended at the snperiority affected by the Eng- 
 lish, and distrusted their intentions. Admiral Hood, 
 taking advantage of this disunion, stated, that since 
 the inhabitants could not agree amongst themselves, 
 it ■was expedient to avoid proclaiming any authority 
 for the present. He even prevented the departure of 
 a deputation appointed by the Toulonese to wait upon 
 the Count de Provence, with the view of soliciting 
 that prince to appear in their city under the title of 
 regent. From that moment the designs of the Eng- 
 lish were shrewdly suspected, and a painful impres- 
 sion prevailed as to the blind and culpable i^recipi- 
 tancy wherewith Tovdon had been delivered to the 
 bitterest enemies of the French navy. 
 
 With their existing means, the republicans could 
 have no hope of retaking Toulon. The representatives, 
 indeed, recommended the army to be moved beyond 
 the Durance, and the siege deferred mitil the following 
 season. However, the capture of Lyons having placed 
 additional forces at disposal, troops and munitions 
 were forthwith transported towards Toidon. General 
 Doppet, to whom the reduction of Lyons was attri- 
 buted, was appointed to supersede Carteaux. Doppet 
 himself was speedily displaced by Dugommier, a man 
 of much greater experience and of distinguished intre- 
 pidity. Twenty-eight or thirty thousand men were 
 eventually mustered, and orders arrived to finish the 
 siege before the close of the campaign. 
 
 The French commenced by closely pressing the 
 place, and by establishing batteries against the forts. 
 General Lapojqje, with his detachment from the army 
 of Italy, was still to the east, and the general-hi-chief 
 Dugommier to the west, in front of Ollioules. Upon 
 the latter devolved the principal attack. The com- 
 mittee of public welfare had already caused a regidar 
 plan of attack to be framed by the committee of forti- 
 fications. The general assembled a council of war to 
 discuss the plan transmitted from Paris. This plan 
 was very ably conceived, but another was suggested 
 more suitable to circumstances, and promising more 
 prompt residts. 
 
 Li this council of war appeared a young officer, who 
 commanded the artillery in the absence of its superior 
 chief. His name was Bonaparte, a native of Corsica. 
 Faithfid to France, m the bosom of which he had been 
 educated, he had fought in Corsica for the cause of 
 the convention against Paoli and the English ; he had 
 subsequently joined the army of Italy, and was now 
 serving before Toulon. He evinced excellent jn.dgment 
 and great activity, and always slept at the side of his 
 guns. This yomig officer, upon a survey of the loca- 
 lities, was struck with an idea, which he propounded 
 to the council. The fort L'Eguillette, surnamed the 
 Little Gibraltar, barred the road in which the aUied 
 squadrons were riding. K this fort were occupied, the 
 squadrons could no longer anchor in the road without 
 incurring the hazard of being burnt, nor could they, 
 moreover, vacate it without leaving a garrison of 
 1 5,000 men cut olT from all commmiication or succour, 
 and sooner or later doomed to surrender at discretion : 
 wherefore it was to be inferred, that if the fort L'Eguil- 
 lette were once in possession of the rcx)ublicans, the 
 squadrons and the garrison would evacuate Toulon 
 together. Thus the key of the fortress lay in L'Eguil- 
 lette, but it was almost impregnable. Young Bona- 
 parte strenuously enforced his conception, and suc- 
 ceeded in imparting his own convictions. 
 
 The first operations were directed to straiten the 
 investment. Bonaparte, under favour of some olive- 
 trees which concealed his artillerymen, i>lanted a bat- 
 tery near the fort of Malbosquet, one of the most 
 important of those encompassing Toulon. One morn- 
 ing this battery suddenly opened, and greatly surprised 
 the besieged, who never unp^gined a fire could be esta- 
 
 blished so close to the fort. O'Hara, the English 
 general -who commanded the garrison, resolved to make 
 a sally for the purpose of destroying the battery and 
 spiking the guns. On tlie 30th November (10th Fri- 
 maire), accordingly, he issued forth at the head of 
 6000 men, quickly penetrated the repubhcan posts, 
 seized upon the battery, and forthwith commenced to 
 spike the guns. Bonaparte fortmiately chanced to be 
 within a short distance, accompanied by a battalion. 
 A trench led up to the battery ; into this Bonaparte 
 plunged with liis battalion, crept noiselessly into the 
 midst of the English, gave the word to fire, and by 
 so unexpected an appearance threw them into the 
 greatest confusion. O'Hara, much astonished, thought 
 his own soldiers must have fallen into some strange 
 mistake, and were firing on their comrades. He con- 
 sequently advanced towards the republicans to satisfy 
 himself, but was wounded in the hand, and taken in 
 the trench by a sergeant. At the same moment, 
 Dugommier, who had beat to arm.s throughout the 
 camp, gathered his troops for the attack, and moved 
 between the battery and the fort. The Enghsh, thus 
 threatened to be cut off, retired, after losing their 
 general and failing to rid themselves of the obnoxious 
 battery. 
 
 This success higlily animated the besiegers, whilst it 
 spread infinite discouragement amongst the besieged. 
 Distrust was excited in the latter to such a height, 
 that they alleged General O'Hara had contrived his 
 capture with the view of selling Toulon to the repub- 
 licans. Meanwhile these, resolute to conquer the place, 
 and devoid of means to ptu'cha.se it, were preparing 
 for the hazardous assault of L'Eguillette. They had 
 already tliroAvn numerous shells into it, and endea- 
 voured to raze the defences with projectiles from 
 twenty -four pounders. On the 18th December (28th 
 Frimaire), the assault was fixed for midnight. A 
 simultaneous attack was to be made by General La- 
 poype on Fort Faron. At midnight, amidst a fright- 
 ful storm, the republicans were m motion. The soldiers 
 who guarded the fort usually kept in quarters, so as 
 to be under shelter from the bombs and balls. The 
 French hoped to reach it before they were perceived ; 
 but at the foot of the height they encountered some 
 of the enemy's sharpshooters. An engagement imme- 
 diately ensued. At the noise of the musketry, the 
 garrison of the fort flew to the ramparts, and opened 
 a nmrderous discharge on the assailants. These re- 
 coiled and returned, time after time. A young captain 
 of artillery, by name Muiron, profiting by the inequa- 
 lities of the gromid, succeeded in attaining the height 
 without losing many of his men. IJeaching the base 
 of the fort, he vaulted through an embrasure ; the 
 soldiers followed him, penetrated into the battery, 
 seized the guns, and speedily effected a conquest of 
 the fastness itself. 
 
 In this action. General Dugommier, the represen- 
 tatives Salicetti and Robespierre the younger, and the 
 commandant of artillery Bonaparte, had stood in the 
 midst of the fire, and communicated to all the troops 
 an exalted courage. On the side of General Lapojpe, 
 the attack was likewise crowned vnth success, a re- 
 doubt of Fort Faron having been carried by storm. 
 
 Tlie instant Fort L'P^guihette was occupied, the 
 republicans hastened to dispose the guns so as to 
 cannonade the fleet. But the English aflbrded them 
 no time for the visitation. They innnediately decided 
 upon evacuating the place, in order to shun the further 
 chances of a difficult and perilous defence. Before 
 retiring, they resolved to burn the arsenal, the dock- 
 yards, and the ships they were unable to remove. On 
 the 18th and 19th, withoutnotifyingtheir intention to 
 the Spanish adniiriil, or even to the unfortunate com- 
 munity about to be left at the mercy of the victorious 
 Mountaineers, orders were issued for the evacuation. 
 Each English vessel proceeded in its turn to ship sup- 
 pUes at the arsenal. The forts were subsequently all 
 vacated, except Fort Lamalgue, which was intended 
 2 B
 
 374 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 to be the last abandoned. Tliis evacuation was exe- 
 cuted so rapidly, that two thousand Spaniards, too 
 tardily warned, remained outside the walls, and only 
 saved themselves by a miracle. 
 
 At last the command was given to fire the arsenal. 
 Twenty ships and frigates suddenly appeared in the 
 docks wrapped in flames, a spectacle calculated to 
 excite despair amongst the Avretched inhabitants and 
 indignation amongst the republicans, who were con- 
 demned to witness the conflagration without the ability 
 to arrest it. Thereupon, upwards of twenty thousand 
 individuals, male and female, including the aged and 
 the young, bearing with them their most precious 
 moveables, rushed upon the quays, stretching forth 
 their arms towards the squadrons, and imploring an 
 asylum against the vengeance of the victorious army. 
 They comprised all those Proven9al families, who, at 
 Aix, Marseilles, and Toulon, had been compromised 
 in the sectional movements. Not a single boat put 
 off" to receive those imprudent Frenchmen, who had 
 placed their trust in foreigners, and surrendered to 
 them the first port of their country. Ultimately, 
 Admiral Langara, more moved by humanity, ordered 
 his boats to be lowered, and as many refugees brought 
 on board the Spanish ships as they would contaui. 
 AdmiriU Hood durst no longer resist this example and 
 the imprecations shrieked against him. He gave direc- 
 tions in his turn, but almost too late, to receive the 
 Toulonese. Those luifortunate persons wildly preci- 
 pitated themselves into the boats dispatched for their 
 rescue. In the confusion some fell into the sea, and 
 others were separated from their famihes. jMothers 
 were seen seeking their children, wives and daughters 
 calling upon their husbands and parents, all roaming 
 to and fro on the quays, amid the lurid glare of the 
 conflagration. At that terrible moment, brigands, 
 seizing the occasion to pillage, charged the forlorn 
 creatures accumulated on the quays, and fired amongst 
 them, with howls of " The republicans are on you ! " 
 Consternation fell upon the multitude ; all pressed 
 forward, clashing with lamentable cries, and, thinking 
 only of flight, abandoned the spoils to the atrocious 
 ruffians who had planned the stratagem. 
 
 The republicans eventually entered, and found the 
 city half deserted and a large proportion of the naval 
 establishments destroyed. The convicts had fortu- 
 nately checked the fire, and prevented all its possible 
 devastation. Out of fifty-six ships and frigates, there 
 remained but seven ships and eleven frigates ; the 
 rest had been either taken or bm-nt by the English. 
 The horrors of the siege and evacuation were soon 
 succeeded by those of revolutionary rage. We will 
 hereafter recount the train of disasters visited upon 
 that guilty and iinfortunate city. The capture of 
 Toulon caused extraordinarj- joy, and produced as 
 powerful an impression as the victory of Watignies, 
 the reduction of Lyons, or tlie relief of Landau. 
 Thenceforth, all apprehension was removed lest the 
 English, resting on Toulon, might carry desolation or 
 rebellion into the southern districts of France. 
 
 The campaign had closed less auspiciously on the 
 Pyrenees. However, notwithstanding numerous re- 
 verses and remarkable ignorance on the part of their 
 generals, the French had merely lost the line of the 
 Tech, whilst that of the Tet liad remained to them. 
 After the mitoward action of TruUlas, fought on the 
 22d September (1st Vendemiaire), against tlie Spanish 
 camp, and wlicrein Dagobert had manifested such 
 exemplary valour and coolness, Ricardos, instead of 
 marching forward, had retrograded to the Tecli. The 
 recapture of Villefranche, and a reinforcement of 
 1 5,000 men received by the repubUcans, had induced 
 him to make this retrograde movement. After raising 
 the blockade of Collioure and Port-Vendre, he had 
 moved to the camp of Boulon, between Ceret and 
 Ville-Longue, whence he watched over his communi- 
 ( ations, with the high-road to Bellegarde in his keep- 
 ing. The representatives Fabre and Gaston, giving 
 
 way to their impetuous ardour, urged an attack on 
 the Spaniards' camp, in order that they might be re- 
 pelled beyond the Pyrenees ; but the assault was 
 abortive, resulting simply in a fniitless eSusion of 
 blood. 
 
 The representative Fabre, impatient to attempt 
 some signal enterprise, had long dwelt upon the prac- 
 ticability of a march beyond the Pyrenees, with the 
 viev? of compelling the Spaniards to retreat. He had 
 been persuaded that the fort of Roses might be gained 
 by a sudden attack. In accordance with his ideas, 
 and despite the contrary opinion of the generals, three 
 columns Avere thrown beyond the Pyrenees, with in- 
 structions to unite at Espola. But, too weak and too 
 far separated, they were unable to eflTect the intended 
 junction, and being defeated, were driven back on the 
 great chain, after suflin-ing a considerable loss. This 
 disaster had occurred m October. In November, mi- 
 usually stormy weather for the season swelled the 
 momitain torrents, interrupted the communications 
 between the different Spanish camps, and placed them 
 in a perilous predicament. 
 
 An opportunity was thereby offered for revenging 
 on the Spaniards the reverses sustained at their hands. 
 The bridge of Ceret alone remained to them for re- 
 passing the Tech, and they lay inundated and famished 
 on the left bank at the mercy of the French. But no- 
 thing that ought to have been done was performed. 
 To General Dagobert had succeeded General Turreau, 
 and to him General Doppet. The army was disor- 
 ganised. It fought languidly in the vicinity of Ceret, 
 and even lost the camp of Saint-Ferreol, whereby 
 Ricardos escaped the dangers of his position. In a 
 little while he avenged with somewhat greater abUity 
 the peril he had encountered, faUmg, the 7th Novem- 
 ber (ITtli Brumaire), upon a French column stationed 
 at Ville-Longue, on the right bank of the Tech, be- 
 tween the river, the sea, and the Pj^renees. He re- 
 pulsed that column, 10,000 strong, and threw it into 
 such disorder that it could not be rallied earlier than 
 at Argeles. Immediately afterwards, Ricardos directed 
 an attack on the division of Delatre at Collioure, 
 gained possession of CoUioui-e, Port-Vendre, and Saint- 
 Elme, and drove the French completely beyond the 
 Tech. It was thus the campaign terminated towards 
 the latter days of December. The Spaniards took up 
 winter quarters on the banks of the Tech ; the French 
 encamped around Perpignan and on the banks of the 
 Tet. A portion of French territory was occupied by 
 the enemy, but less tlian so many disasters gave rea- 
 son to apprehend. This, however, was the only fron- 
 tier on which the campaign had not closed gloriously 
 for the arms of the republic. On the side of the 
 Western Pyrenees both parties had stood on the de- 
 fensive. 
 
 La Vendee had been again the scene of further and 
 desperate struggles, concluding in the issue to the 
 advantage of the republican cause, but involving 
 serious evil to France, since all who fell in the anta- 
 gonist ranks were to be mourned as Frenchmen. 
 
 The Vendcans, defeated at Chollet on the 17th 
 October (26th Vendemiaire) had fled, as we remem- 
 ber, to the edge of the Loire, in a promiscuous multi- 
 tude of 80,000 souls, men, women, and children. Not 
 ventm-ing to return to their own districts, now in the 
 occupation of the republicans, and unable longer to 
 keep the field in presence of a victorious army, they 
 resolved to pass into Brittany, and accomplish the 
 views of Bonchamps, although that young hero, being 
 dead, could no more direct their mournful destinies. 
 We have mentioned, that on the eve of the battle of 
 Chollet he had sent a detachment to occupy the post 
 of Varade on the Loire. That post, inefiBciently 
 guarded by the republicans, was taken during the 
 night between the 16th and 17th. After the loss of 
 the battle, therefore, tlie Vendeans were enabled to 
 cross the river without hindrance, by means of boats 
 left along the shore, and sheltered from the republican
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 375 
 
 cannon. The danger having hitherto existed on the 
 left bank alone, the government had overlooked the 
 necessity of defending the country on the other side 
 the Loire. All the towns of Brittany were unguarded ; 
 a few detachments of national guards, scattered here 
 and there, were quite incapable of checking tlie Ven- 
 deans, and could only fly at their approach. The latter 
 consequently advanced witliout impediment, and tra- 
 versed successively Cande, Chateau-Gonthier, and La- 
 val, without encountering any resistance. 
 
 Meanwhile the republican army was imcertain of 
 their course, their numbers, or their designs. For a 
 moment, indeed, it had deemed them exterminated, 
 and the representatives had so written to the conven- 
 tion. Kleber alone, who still commanded the army 
 under the auspices of Lechelle, formed a different 
 judgment, and strove to remove a dangerous security. 
 Nor was it long before intelligence arrived that the 
 Vendeans were far from being destroyed ; but that, 
 on the contrary, in the fugitive column there yet re- 
 mained 30,000 or 40,000 armed men fit for combat. A 
 coimcil of war was immediately assembled, and as it 
 was unknown whether the fugitives would move on 
 Angers or on Nantes, whether they would i^ass into 
 Brittany or proceed by the Lower Loire to join Cha- 
 rette, it was decided that the army should be divided ; 
 that one portion, under General Haxo, should march 
 to keep Charette m check and recover Noinnoutiers ; 
 that another, under Kleber, should occupy the camp 
 of Saint-George near Nantes ; and that the remainder 
 should continue at Angers, in order to cover that 
 town and observe the motions of the enemy. Doubt- 
 less, if the republicans had been better informed, they 
 would have understood how much it behoved them to 
 keep united, and follow with all diligence the track of 
 the Vendeans. In their confusion and panic the latter 
 might have been easily dispersed, if not entirely cut 
 off; but the direction they had taken being unknown, 
 the course adopted by the republicans, in their state 
 of doubt, was certainly the most prudent. Shortly, 
 however, more accurate tidings were gathered, and 
 the march of the Vendeans on Cande, Chateau-Gon- 
 thier, and Laval, became knowm. Thereupon an instant 
 resolution was taken to pursue them, with the hope 
 of overtakmg them before they could throw Brittany 
 into a flame, and seize upon any important city or a 
 port on the ocean. The Generals Vimeux and Haxo 
 were left at Nantes and in Lower Vendee ; aU the 
 rest of the army moved towards Cande and Chateau- 
 Gonthier. VVestermann and Beaupuy formed the 
 vanguard; Chalbos, Kleber, and Canuel, each com- 
 manded a division ; and Lechelle, holding aloof from 
 scenes of conflict, left the movements to be directed 
 by Kleljcr, who engrossed the confidence and admira- 
 tion of the army. 
 
 On the evening of the 25th October (4th Bnmiaire), 
 the republican vanguard arrived at Chateau-Gonthier; 
 the bulk of tlie forces lagged a day's march in the rear. 
 Although the soldiers were gi'eatly fatigued, although, 
 moreover, it was nearly dark, and a distance of six 
 leagues intervened to Laval, Westermann proposed to 
 advance thither without halting. Beaupuy, not less 
 brave but more circumspect than Westermann, vainlj-^ 
 attempted to impress upon him the danger of attack- 
 ing the Vendean mass in the middle of the night, so 
 far in advance of the main army, and with troops 
 exhausted by fatigue. Beaupuy being constrained to 
 submit to his senior in command, the march forward 
 was at once conmieuced. Reaching Laval in the dead 
 of night, Westermann detached an officer to recon- 
 noitre the enemy's position ; but he, carried away by 
 his ardom-, made a charge instead of an observation, 
 and suddenly drove back the outermost posts. The 
 alarm was unmediately given in Laval, the tocsin 
 rung, and the whole power of tlie enemy speedily 
 mustered and brought in array against the republi- 
 cans. Beaupuy, evincing his accustomed firmness, 
 intrepidly withstood the efforts of the Vendeans. 
 
 Westermann, displaying all the energies of heroic 
 valour, sustained a most obstinate struggle, which 
 the obscurity of night rendered more sanguinary. 
 The republican vanguard, albeit very inferior in nujn- 
 ber, would, notwithstanding, have succeeded in main- 
 taining its ground to the end, had not Westennann's 
 cavalry, which sometimes lacked the gallantry of its 
 leader, all at once disbanded and obliged the vanguard 
 to retreat. Under favour of Beaupuy, Chateau-Gon- 
 thier was regained in comparative order. The main 
 body arrived there the following day. The whole army 
 was thus conjoined on the 26th October, the vanguard 
 weakened by a bootless and sanguinary conflict, and 
 the main body harassed by a long route, travelled 
 without provisions, without shoes, and over the broken 
 roads of autumn. Westermann and the representa- 
 tives urged a fresh movement in advance. Kleber 
 strenuously controverted their project, and procured 
 a determination to proceed no farther than Villiers, 
 midway between Chateau-Gonthier and Laval. 
 
 The immediate topic of discussion was a plan for 
 the attack of Laval. That town is situated on the 
 Mayenne. To march directly by the left bank, then 
 occupied by the republicans, was highly injudicious, 
 as a distinguished officer, Savary, who was perfectly 
 acquainted with the localities, forcibly inculcated. 
 The Vendeans might easily seize the bridge of Laval, 
 and there withstand all attacks ; moreover, Avhilst the 
 republican army was uselessly accumulated on the left 
 bank, they would have it in their power to defile along 
 the right bank, cross the Mayenne in its rear, and fall 
 suddenly upon it with terrible effect. He consequently 
 proposed to divide the attack, and push forward one 
 part of the army by the right bank. On that side 
 there was no bridge to carry, nor any material obstacle 
 to the occupation of Laval. Tliis suggestion, recom- 
 mended by the approbation of the generals, was sanc- 
 tioned by the fiat of Lechelle. On the morrow, how- 
 ever, that commander, who sometimes started from 
 his virtual nidlity to commit blunders, transmitted a 
 grossly stupid order, in distinct opposition to the ar- 
 rangement of the previous day. He therein enjoined 
 the generals to march, according to his ordinary ex- 
 pression, majestically and in mass on Laval, by defiling 
 along the left bank. Kleber and all his colleagues 
 were indignant, but obedience was imperative. Beau- 
 puy led the van, and Kleber closely followed him. The 
 whole Vendean army was drawn up on the heights of 
 Enframes. Beaupuy began the battle ; Kleber de- 
 ployed to the right and left of the route, so as to ex- 
 tend himself as far as possible. Aware, however, of 
 the disadvantages attending his position, he sent to 
 LecheUe requesting him to lead the division of Chal- 
 bos upon the enemy's flank, a movement calculated to 
 throw him into confusion. But that column, composed 
 of the battalions formed at Orleans and Niort, which 
 had so often fled, disbanded without marching a step 
 in advance. The commander-in-chief was the first to 
 speed away at full gallop ; and the larger half of the 
 army, without having engaged, fled precipitately at 
 the heels of LecheUe, hastening to Chateau-Gonthier, 
 and thence to Angers. The brave Maycncers, who 
 had never previously jaelded ground, gave way for 
 the first time. The rout then became general ; Beau- 
 puy, Kleber, Marceau, and the representatives Merlin 
 and Turreau, made incredible but fruitless efforts to 
 stop the fugitives. Beaupuy received a shot in the 
 centre of his breast. Being borne into a cabin, he 
 exclaimed, " Leave me here, and display my bloody 
 shirt to the soldiers." The valiant Bloss, who com- 
 manded the grenadiers, and was distinguished for his 
 extraordinary intrepidity, met death at their head. 
 A part of the army eventually halted at Lion-d'An- 
 gers ; the remainder paused not until imder shelter of 
 Angers. 
 
 General indignation was expressed at the cowardly 
 example given by Lechelle in beuig the first to fly. 
 The soldiers openly mm-murcd. The next day, during
 
 376 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 a review, the few warriors who had remained beneath 
 their standards, and who were all Mayencers, raised 
 tries of " Down with Lc'ehelle ! Kk'ber and Dubayet 
 forever! Give us back Dubayet ! " Lechelle, who heard 
 these shouts, was still more incensed ajrainst the cohort 
 of Mayence, and against the generals whose valour 
 caused" his own shame. The representatives, perceiving 
 that the troops despised Lechelle, decided upon sus- 
 pending him, and otlered the conmiand to Klcber. lie 
 declined it, because he was averse to the situation of 
 general-in-chief, so incessantly assailed by the repre- 
 sentatives, the ministry, and the conmiittce of public 
 welf;ire, and consented merely to direct the army in 
 another's name. The command was consequently be- 
 stowed on Chalbos, one of the oldest generals in the 
 army. Lechelle, forestalling the ordinance of tlie re- 
 presentatives, demanded liis discharge on tlie plea of 
 illness, and retired to Nantes, where he shortly after- 
 wards quietly departed this life. 
 
 Kleber, taking into consideration the deplorable 
 state of tlie army, partly dispersed at Angers and 
 partly at Lion -d' Angers, proposed to concenti'ate it 
 ;dtogether at Angers, to allow it a few days' repose, 
 to supply it with shoes and clotlies, and to re-organise 
 it in an efficient manner. This plan was adopted, and 
 all the troops were united at Angers. LecheUe, when 
 offering his resignation, had not failed to denoxmce the 
 cohort of Mayence, and to charge upon brave men a 
 tlight which was owing solely to his own cowardice. 
 A jealousj^ had long been rankling against that corps, 
 founded on its spirit of union, its attachment to its 
 generals, and its opposition to the staff of Samuur. 
 The recent shouts of "' Dubayet for ever ! down with 
 Lechelle I " completed its delinquency in the ej'es of 
 the government. The committee of public welfare, ac- 
 cordingly, promptly issued an ordinance enjoining its 
 dissolution and amalgamation with the other corps, 
 and intrusting the execution of the measure to Kleber. 
 Although the proceeding was levelled at him and his 
 companions in arms, he cheerfully aided its enforce- 
 ment, for he was sensible of the danger at hazard from 
 the spirit of rivalry and hatred prevailing between the 
 garrison of ilayence and the rest of the troops ; and, 
 above all, he foresaw much advantage would accrue 
 from forming trustworthy heads of colunuis, which, 
 being judiciously distributed, might commmiicate their 
 own energy to the whole anuy. 
 
 Whilst these things were passmg at Angers, the 
 Vendeans at Laval, freed from the republicans and 
 from every apparent obstacle to their progress, were 
 nevertheless undecided what coiu-se they ought to 
 take, or, in other words, upon what theatre to carry 
 the war. They had the choice of two, equally invit- 
 ing ; their dilemma seemed to lie between the extre- 
 mity of Brittany and that of Normtmdy. Ulterior 
 Brittany was thorouglily fanaticised by priests and 
 nobles ; the population would have joyfully received 
 them ; the countrj', momitainous and intersected, 
 would have afibrded them ample facilities for resist- 
 ance ; and there they would have gained the sea-coast 
 and means of communication with the English. LT- 
 terior Normandy, or the penmsida of Cotentin, was 
 somewhat more distant, but even more easy to defend ; 
 for by seizing on Port-Beil and Saint-Cosme, they 
 would have entirely barred all access. Moreover, they 
 would there have found tlie important fortress of Cher- 
 bourg, quite open to them on the land side, stocked 
 with supplies of all kinds, and especially adapted to 
 hold intercourse with the English. Both these pro- 
 jects, therefore, were recommended by eminent advan- 
 tages, and in the execution of neither were any serious 
 impediments to be apprehended. The route to Brit- 
 tany was guarded only by the army of Brest, mider 
 the charge of Hossignol, and consistmg, at the utmost, 
 of five or six thousand ill-organised troops. The route 
 to Normandy was defended by the anny (jf Cherbourg, 
 compased of levies en masse ready to disperse at the 
 first shot, and of merely a few thoiisand men of more 
 
 regular training who had not yet quitted Caen. Thus, 
 neitlicr of these two armies could be formidable to the 
 ^''endean horde. In fact, b}- a little celerity, even their 
 encounter might have been avoided. But the nature 
 of the localities was unknown to the Vendeans ; they 
 had not a single officer who could enlighten them con- 
 cerning Brittany and Normandy, or explain to them 
 what were their military advantages or their strong- 
 holds. Thej* believed, for example, that Cherbourg 
 was fortified on the land side. They were consequently 
 incapacitated for forming just appreciations as they 
 progressed, for deciding with ])romptitude, or, in short, 
 for acting with any degree of vigour or precision. 
 
 Although numerous, their army was in a desperate 
 plight. All the principal chiefs were dead or wounded. 
 Bonchamps had expired on the left bank ; D'Elbee, 
 wounded, had been transported to Noirmoutiers ; and 
 Lescure, pierced by a ball in the foreliead, was borne 
 in a dying state in the track of the army. Laroche- 
 jacquelein, the sole survivor, had received the com- 
 mand-in-chief, Stofflet ranking next in authority. 
 The soldiers, being now obliged to abandon tlieir native 
 districts and to keep in constant locomotion, ought 
 to have been organised, instead of which they moved 
 without order hke a wandering tribe, having their 
 wives, children, and wains interspersed amongst them. 
 In a regular army, the brave, the weak, and the cow- 
 ardlv, incorporated one with the other, remain per 
 force together, and affi^rd reciprocal aid. A few men 
 of courage often suffice to impart their energy to an 
 entire mass. Here, on the contrary-, no rank being 
 maintained, no tlivision into companies or battalions 
 being observed, but every one marcliing with whom 
 he listed, tlie more valiant spirits had associated toge- 
 ther, and formed a body of five or six thousand men, 
 always the first ready to confront emergent hazards. 
 After them came a troop less to be rehed upon, and 
 adapted mainlj' to decide a victory, by bearing upon 
 the flanks of an enemy already shattered. Lastly, the 
 mass, ever prompt to fly at the first discharge, lagged 
 confusedly in the rear of those two bands. Thus, the 
 thirty or forty thousand armed men were reduced in 
 reality to a few thousands, wliose martial temperament 
 predisposed them for adventurous conflict. The lack 
 of subdivisions prevented the formation of detach- 
 ments, the direction of a corps upon any pai-ticular 
 point, or the execution of any stratagetic disposition. 
 Some followed Larochejacquelein, others Stofflet, and 
 in sooth themselves only. The promulgation of orders 
 was impracticable ; all that could be obtained was the 
 observance of a signal for moving forward. Stofflet 
 kept by him some trusty peasants, who circulated his 
 wishes amongst their comrades. In the whole army, 
 the Vendeans scarcely mustered two hundred ill- 
 mounted cavalry and thirty pieces of ordnance, badly 
 conditioned and badly servei The baggage encum- 
 Ijered their march ; the women and old men, seeking 
 for the post of greatest security, crept into the midst 
 of the best troops, and bj' crowding their ranks em- 
 barrassed their movements. Distrust was likewise 
 beginning to gather in the breasts of the soldiers with 
 respect to their officers. It was rumoured that the 
 latter desired to reach the ocean merely for the pur- 
 pose of embarking, and abandoning to their fate the 
 unfortunate peasjuits they had torn from their homes. 
 The council, whose authority, indeed, had become 
 purely illusorj^, was furthermore divided : the priests 
 expressed infinite dissatisfaction with the military 
 leaders. In a word, nothing would have been more 
 easy than to destroy such an army, had not the utmost 
 disorder in the exercise of command reigned amongst 
 the republicans. 
 
 The Vendeans, therefore, we must conclude to have 
 been unfitted to frame or execute any advantageous 
 plan. They had quitted the Loire for twenty-six days, 
 and in that long interval had substantially effi^cted 
 nothing. After a procrastinated hesitation, they even- 
 tually adopted a determination. On the one hand.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 377 
 
 they had been told that Eennes and Saint-Malo were 
 guarded by considerable forces, and on the other that 
 Cherbourg was strongly fortified on the land side : 
 wherefore they decided upon besieging Gmnville, a 
 town seated on the brink of the sea, between the ex- 
 tremity of Brittany and that of Normandy. Tliis 
 design was recommended by its drawing them into 
 proximity with Normandy, a land that had been de- 
 picted to them as of matchless fertility and super- 
 abundantly furnished. In consequence, they moved 
 coward towards Fougeres. Fifteen or sixteen thou- 
 sand men of the forced levy had been dra^m together 
 to oppose their progress, but they dispersed without 
 waiting to be attacked. The Vendeans reached Dol 
 on the 10th November, and Avranches on the 12th. 
 
 On the 14th November (24th Brumaire), they pro- 
 ceeded towards Granville, leaving at A-\Tanches half 
 their numbers and aU their baggage. The garrison 
 having ventiired to make a saUy, they repulsed it, and 
 pursued it into the suburb which precedes the body of 
 the place. The garrison had sufficient time to re-enter 
 and close the gates ; but the suburb remained in their 
 possession, and they thus secured great facilities for 
 continuing the attack. They advanced from the 
 suburb to some palisades which had just been planted ; 
 and without endeavouring to carry them, they con- 
 tented themselves with rifle-shooting on the ramparts, 
 retorted on the part of the besieged with cannon-balls 
 and grape-shot. At the same time they fixed some 
 pieces on the neighbouring heights, and fired them 
 innocuously over the parapet of the walls and the 
 roofs of the houses. At night they dispersed and 
 abandoned the suburb, where the fire from the fortress 
 allowed them no repose. They proceeded in quest of 
 quarters, provisions, and especially fuel (for the weather 
 began to grow intensely cold), beyond the range of the 
 artillery. The officers coidd with difficulty retain a 
 few hundred men in the suburb to keep up the rifle- 
 shooting. 
 
 The following day their inability to reduce a forti- 
 fied town was rendered still more manifest. They 
 again put their batteries in vogue, but without etfect. 
 They renewed their fire along the palisades, but were 
 speedily discoiiraged. Suddenly one of them started 
 the idea of profiting by the ebb-tide to traverse a beach 
 and take the town on the side of the harbour. They 
 were preparing for this new enterprise, when the 
 suburb was set on fire by the rejiresentatives immured 
 in Granville. The Vendeans were thereupon com- 
 pelled to evacuate it ; and, utterly disheartened, they 
 thought only of retreat. The attempt on the harbour 
 was altogether abandoned, and on the morrow they 
 all returned to rejoin their reserve and baggage at 
 Avranches. From that moment extreme dejection 
 reigned amongst them ; they complained more bit- 
 terly than ever of the cliiefs who had forced them 
 from their hearths, and who, they alleged, were revolv- 
 ing the means of forsaking them ; and they demanded 
 with loud sliouts to be reconducted to the Loire. It 
 was in vain that Larochejacquelein, at the head of the 
 most cliivalric, essayed a fresh attempt to draw them 
 into Normandy ; in vain he marched on Ville-Dieu, 
 whereof he gained possession ; scarcely a thousand men 
 volunteered to follow him. The residue of the horde 
 retook the road to Brittany, marching on Pontorson, 
 through which it had arrived. It seized upon tlie 
 bridge at Beaux, which, affi)rding a passage over the 
 Selune, was indispensable for reaching Pontorson. 
 
 Whilst these events were occurring at Granville, 
 the repubUcan army had been re-organised at Angers. 
 No sooner had the time necessary to give it a little 
 rest and order elapsed, than it was conducted to Ken- 
 nes, for the purpose of joining the 6000 or 7000 men of 
 the army of Brest, conunanded by Rossignol. There, 
 in a council of war, the measures to be adopted for 
 resuming the pursuit of the Vendeans were settled. 
 Chalbos having obtained permission to retire into the 
 interior to renovate his health, Rossignol received from 
 
 the representatives the command-in-chief of the armies 
 of the west and of Brest, fonning in the whole 20,000 
 or 21,000 men. It was resolved that both armies 
 should proceed witli aU dispatch to Antrain ; that 
 General Tribout, who was at Uol with 3000 or 4000 
 men, sho\ild move on Pontorson ; and that General 
 Sepher, who led 6000 soMiers of the army of Cher- 
 bourg, should follow in the wake of the Vendeans. 
 Thus, encompassed by the ocean, the troops at Pon- 
 torson, the army at Antrain, and Sepher, who was 
 already approaching Avranches, those unfortmiate 
 fugitives seemed doomed to speedy destruction. 
 
 All these chspositions were executed at the moment 
 the Vendeans quitted AATanches, and seized upon the 
 bridge at Beaux in their way to Pontorson. It was 
 now the ISth November (28th Brumaire). General 
 Tribout, a declaimer profoundly ignorant of war, had, 
 effectually to defend Pontorson, merely to occupy a 
 narrow road passing through a marsh which covered 
 the tOAvn and could not be turned. In so advan- 
 tageous a position he might have prevented the "N'en- 
 deans from advancing a single step. But the instant 
 he descried the enemy, he abandoned his defile and 
 moved forward. The Vendeans, encouraged by their 
 easy capture of the bridge at Beaux, fell vigorously 
 upon him, compelled him to recoil, and, profiting by 
 the disorder of his retreat, rushed at his heels into the 
 causeway traversmg the marsh, and thus rendered 
 themselves masters of Pontorson, from aU approach 
 to which they might have been so easily foiled. 
 
 Owing to this unpardonable blimder, an imexpected 
 route lay open to the Vendeans. They coidd march 
 on Dol ; but from Dol they must proceed to Antrain, 
 and pass through the mass of the grand repubhcan 
 army. However, they evacuated Pontorson and ad- 
 vanced on DoL Westermann liovered in pursuit. Still 
 impetuous as ever, he urged ]\Iarigny and his grena- 
 diers onward, and daringly followed the Vendeans 
 even to Dol, with a mere advanced guard. Despite 
 his discrepancy of force, he immediately attacked and 
 drove them precipitately into the town : but speedily 
 regaining courage, they poured out of Dol, and by 
 that destructive fire they knew so well how to main- 
 tain, they compelled the republican advanced guard 
 to retire a considerable distance. 
 
 Kleber, who continued to direct the army by his 
 counsels, although another ranked as its commander, 
 proposed, with the view of achieving the complete 
 reduction of the Vendeans, to blockade them, and 
 thus ensure their extermination by the ravages of 
 famine, disease, and destitution. Disliandings were so 
 frequent among the republican troops, that a direct 
 attack exposed them to dangerous chances. On the 
 other hand, by fortif\-ing Antrain, Pontorson, and 
 Dinan, the Vendeans would be enclosed between the 
 sea and three mtrcnched points ; and by subjecting 
 them to daily harassings from Westermann and Ma- 
 rigny, their destruction nmst inevitably ensue. The 
 representatives approved this plan, and orders were 
 issued in conformity. But an officer suddenly arrived 
 from Westermann, who stated that if his general were 
 seconded, and Dol assailed from Antrain, wliilst he 
 was attacking it on the side of Pontorson, the Catholic 
 army was doomed, and its annihilation certain. The 
 representatives were dazzled with this proposition. 
 Prieur de la Marne, equally ardent with Westermann 
 himself, caused the plan previously arranged to be set 
 aside ; and it was ultimately resolved that iLarceau, at 
 the head of a colunm, siiould march on Dol concur- 
 rently with Westermann. 
 
 On the morning of the 21st Westermann advanced 
 on Dol. In his impatience for action, he took no heed 
 whether ^larceau's column, appointed to co-operate 
 from Antrain, was arrived on the field of battle, but 
 began the attack without a moment's delay. The 
 Vendeans answered his onslaught with their deadly 
 vcjlleys. Westermann deployed his infantry, and still 
 kept gaining on his foes ; but the cartridges began to
 
 378 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fail, whereupon he was obliged to make a retrograde 
 movenaent, and he proceeded to establish himself on 
 an eminence in the background. The Vendeans, eager 
 to pursue their advantage, rushed upon his column and 
 dispersed it. In the mean time, jNIarceau arrived in 
 sight of Dol ; the victorious Vendeans \mited against 
 him, but he resiste<l with fortitude tUl the close of 
 day, and succeeded in maintaining himself on the 
 field of battle. But his position was extremely critical, 
 and he sent to Klebcr demanding from him succour 
 and advice. Klober hastened on the summons, and 
 recommended liim to take up a very strong, but cer- 
 tainly a retrograde position, in the environs of Trans. 
 He was still hesitating to follow tlie ophiion of Kleber, 
 when the appearance of the Vendean riflemen caused 
 a panic amongst his troops. Tliey forthwith disbanded, 
 but were speedily rallied on the position indicated by 
 Kleber. 
 
 After these reverses, Kleber again urged the original 
 plan he had propounded, which consisted in fortifying 
 Antrain. It was favourably received; but uistead of 
 returning to Antrain, it was determined to remain at 
 Trans, and there throw up fortifications, with the view 
 of being nearer the enemy at Dol. Upon some sudden 
 impulse, however, with the fickleness usually evinced 
 in its deliberations, the council again revoked its deci- 
 sion, and once more resolved upon the offensive, re- 
 gardless of the lesson so recently taught. A reinforce- 
 ment was detached to Westermann, with orders to 
 attack on his side simultaneously with the prmcipal 
 army from Trans. 
 
 Kleber in vain objected that Westermann's troops, 
 discouraged by their yesterday's overtlirow, could not 
 be depended upon ; the representatives insisted, and 
 the attack was fixed for the morrow. On the follow- 
 ing day, in fact, the movement was executed. Wes- 
 termann and Marigny were anticipated and assailed 
 by the enemy. Their troops, although supported by 
 a reinforcement, broke rank and fled. The generals 
 made all possible efforts to stop them ; in vain they 
 gathered a few resolute warriors around them ; they 
 were speedily swept off the ground. The Vendeans, 
 completely victorious, left that point and moved to 
 their right, on the army advancing from Trans. 
 
 Whilst they were gaining this advantage, and pre- 
 paring to obtain a second, the roar of the cannon had 
 struck terror throughout the town of Dol, and into the 
 hearts of those amongst the Vendeans who had not 
 yet come forth to combat. The women, old men, and 
 children, mingled with the stalwart poltroons, hurried 
 from all quarters, and fled in the direction of Dinan 
 and the sea. Their priests, holding the cross aloft, 
 squandered fruitless exhortations to stay their preci- 
 pitancy. Stofflct and Larochejacquelein flew in every 
 direction to allay their fears. At length they suc- 
 ceeded in rallying and diverting them into the road 
 from Trans, in the track of their com-ageous comrades 
 already far in advance. 
 
 A confusion not less deplorable reigned in the prin- 
 cipal camp of the republicans. Rossignol and the 
 representatives, all commanding at once, could neither 
 concert nor act. Kk'her and Ahirceau, oppressed with 
 chagrin, had advanced to reconnoitre the ground and 
 check the progress of the Vendeans. Arriving in front 
 of the eneni}', Kleber attempted to deploy the vanguard 
 of the army of Brest, Init it disbanded at the first 
 volley. He then brought forward the brigade of 
 Canuel, composed in part of the Mayence battalions : 
 these, true to their old renoAvn, resisted throughout 
 the day. and remained alone on the field of battle, for- 
 saken by the rest of the army. Btit the Vendean band 
 which had difeated Westermann eventually took them 
 in flank and forced them to retreat. The Vendeans, 
 pushing their advantage, pursued them even to the 
 outskirts of Antrain. That to\vn being no longer 
 tenable, the wliole reimblican army executed a timely 
 retrogression to Kennes. 
 
 Now was made manifest all the wisdom of Kieber's 
 
 counsels. Rossignol, under one of those generous 
 movements whereof he was capable, notwithstanding 
 his repugnance to the ]Mayence generals, appeared in 
 the council of war with a scroll containing his resig- 
 nation. " I am not made," so he spoke, " to command 
 an army. Give me a battalion, and I will do my duty ; 
 but I am incapable of wielding the connnand-in-chief. 
 Here, therefore, is my resignation ; and if you refuse it, 
 you are enemies to the republic." " Put up thy resig- 
 nation !" exclaimed Prieur de la Marne, " thou art the 
 first-born of the committee of public welfare. We 
 will give thee generals who will advise thee, and who 
 will cover thy responsibility for the events of the war." 
 Thereupon Kleber, deeply afflicted at the unskilful 
 conduct which paralysed the anny, proposed a plan, 
 assuredly the only one adapted to meet the exigency 
 of affairs, but little in accordance with the preposses- 
 sions of the representatives. Leaving Rossignol in 
 his rank of generalissimo, he inculcated the necessity 
 of nominating a commander-in-chief of the troops, a 
 commander of the cavalry, and another of the artillery. 
 His suggestion was adopted. He had then the courage 
 to propose Marceau as commander-in-chief of tlie 
 troops, Westermann as commander of the cavalry, and 
 Debilly as commander of the artillery — all three ob- 
 noxious to jealousy as members of the Ma3'ence faction. 
 A momentary contest arose respecting the individuals, 
 but the point was conceded, all bowing to the ascen- 
 dancy of that able and generous warrior, who loved 
 the republic, not from a mere ebullition of enthusiasm, 
 but in sober preference — a man who served with ad- 
 mirable fidelity and disinterestedness, and possessed, 
 in a rare degree, zeal and genius for his calling. Kleber 
 had recommended IMarceau because he swayed that 
 j'oung and gallant officer, and could rely on his entire 
 devotedness. He was assured, if Rossignol adhered 
 to his non-intervention, that he himself woidd exercise 
 the supreme guidance, and bring the war to a happy 
 termination. 
 
 The division of Cherbourg, which had arrived from 
 Normandy, was conjoined with the armies of the west 
 and of Brest, and the united forces quitted Rennes to 
 proceed towards Angers, where the Vendeans were 
 attempting to pass the Loire. These, having secured 
 the means of return, by their twofold victor}- towards 
 Pontorson and Antrain, had determined to re-enter 
 their own country. They repassed through Fougeres 
 and Laval without opposition, and projected the 
 seizure of Angers, with the design of crossing the 
 Loire at the bridge of Ce. The unfortunate experi- 
 ment they had lately tried at Granville had not suffi- 
 ciently convinced them of their incapacity to take 
 Availed towns. On the 3d December they penetrated 
 into the suburbs of Angers, and opened their volleys 
 on the front of the fortress. They persevered during 
 the following day ; but however great their ardour to 
 cut a way to their home, wherefrom merely the Loire 
 now separated them, they quickly despaired of suc- 
 cess. The arrival of Westermann's vanguard in tlie 
 course of the same day, the 4th, completed their dis- 
 couragement, and decided them to abandon the enter- 
 ])rise. They moved dejectedly away, remounting the 
 Loire, ignorant of where they might accomplish its 
 passage. One party urged the ascent to Saumur, 
 another to Blois ; but Kleber, unexpectedly- appearing 
 with his division along the Saumur highway, cut 
 short their deliberations, and constrained them to 
 sweep once more into Brittany. Behold, then, those 
 forlorn fugitives, destitute of food, clothes, or vehicles 
 to convey their families, and afflicted with a wasting 
 epidemic, again wandering over Brittany, in fruitless 
 quest of an asylum or an outlet! Tlie roads were 
 strewed with their wrecks ; and on the bivouac before 
 Angers many women and cliildren were found dead 
 from cold and hunger. Now the idea began to be 
 entertained amongst them that the wrath of the con- 
 vention was pointed against their chiefs alone, and 
 numbers threw away their arms hoping to escap'.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 379 
 
 unobserved across the fields. At length the accounts 
 they heard of Mans, touching the abundance there to 
 be found, and the friendly dispositions of the inhabi- 
 tants, determined them to proceed thither. They 
 marched thirough La Flcche, into which they forced 
 their way, and entered Mans after a trifling skirmish. 
 
 The republican army followed them. Fresh quar- 
 rels had arisen amongst its generals. Kleber had 
 overawed the malccontents by his finnness, and obliged 
 the representatives to countermand Rossignol, with 
 his division of the army of Brest, to Rennes. An 
 ordinance of the committee of public welfare next 
 arrived, investing jNIarceau with the title of com- 
 mander-in-chief, and superseding all the Mayence 
 generals, leaving to Marceau, however, the privilege 
 of provisionally employing Kleber. ]\Iarceau declared 
 that he would not assume the command unless Kleber 
 were at his side to regulate all things. " Li accepting 
 this title," said Marceau to Kleber, " I take the re- 
 buffs and the responsibility on myself, and I leave to 
 you the real command and the means of saving the 
 army." " Be at ease, my friend," replied Kleber, " we 
 will fight and get guillotined together." 
 
 The march was forthwith commenced, and, from 
 this moment, all was conducted with unity and firm- 
 ness. The vanguard imder Westermann reached Mans 
 on the 12th December, and immediately charged the 
 Vendeans. Tlie latter were thrown into confusion ; 
 but a few thousand of their bravest troops, led by 
 Larochejacquelein, contrived to form in front of the 
 town, and forced Westermann to fall back on Mar- 
 ceau, who was approaching with a division. Kleber 
 was still considerably behind with the rest of the 
 army. Westermann proposed to make an instant 
 assault, although it was dark. INIarceau, moved by 
 his gallant fervour, but dreading the rebuke of Kleber, 
 whose stern and imperturbable judgment no vivacity 
 could overbear, hesitated ; but at length, unable to 
 resist Westermann's unportunities, he yielded and 
 attacked Mans. The tocsin toUed its dismal knell, 
 and consternation was paramount within the town. 
 Westermann and Marceau, rushing onward amid the 
 gloom, overthrew all before them, and, despite a 
 galling fire from the houses, succeeded in driving the 
 great bulk of the Vendeans into the large market- 
 place. Marceau caused the streets leading into this 
 square on his right and left to be occupied, and thus 
 held the Vendeans blockaded. His position, never- 
 theless, was not free from hazard ; since, entangled in 
 a town, and enveloped in darkness, he might have 
 been turned and sm-rounded. He therefore dispatched 
 a courier to Kleber, pressing him to hasten with all 
 speed to his assistance. It was dawn, however, be- 
 fore he came up. The greater number of the Ven- 
 deans had fled. The bravest alone remained, striv- 
 ing to protect the retreat: the republicans charged 
 them with fixed bayonets, pierced their ranks, put 
 them to rout, and began a horrible carnage through- 
 out the town. 
 
 Never had defeat been more destructive. A multi- 
 tude of women, left behind, were made prisoners. 
 Marceau saved a young female who had lost her 
 parents, and who in her despair begged for death. 
 She was bashful and beautiful ; Marceau, full of scru- 
 pulous delicacy, removed her into his carriage, re- 
 spected her misfortunes, and caused her to be placed 
 in safety. The fields were covered far and wide with 
 mementos of this great disaster. The indefatigable 
 Westermann hunted the flying horde, and choked the 
 avenues with mangled bodies. The wretched Ven- 
 deans, knowing not where to hide their heads, crowdeil 
 into Laval for the third time, and forthwith evacnatcd 
 it to again seek refuge on the Loire. They purposed 
 to repass it at Ancenis. Larochejacquelein and Stofi- 
 let crossed to the opposite shore, with the design, it 
 is stated, of proceeding in quest of boats, and bring- 
 ing them to the right bank. They returned no niori'. 
 We are assured that their return was impracticable. 
 
 The passage could not be elfected. The Vendeans, 
 deprived of the presence and support of their two 
 leaders, continued to descend the Loire, always pur- 
 sued and always vainly searching for the means of 
 transit. At length, driven to despair, completely at 
 a loss whither to betake themselves, they adopted the 
 last resource of flying to the extremity of Brittanj^ 
 into INIorbihan. They repaired to Blain, where their 
 rearguard gained an advantage, and from Blain to 
 Savenay, whence they hoped to make good their 
 entry into Morbihan. 
 
 The repuljlicans had followed them without inter- 
 mission, and they arrived at Savenay on the evening 
 of the day it was occupied by them. Savenay had the 
 Loire on the left, marshes on the right, and a wood 
 in front. Kleber perceived the importance of imme- 
 diatel}^ occupying the wood, and rendering himself 
 master of all the heights, so as to overwhelm the Ven- 
 deans on the foUowing day in the toAvn itself, before 
 they had time to leave it. Accordingly, he let loose 
 the vangviard upon them, -whilst he himself, seizing 
 the moment when the Vendeans debouched from the 
 wood to repel the vanguard, charged furiously into 
 the midst, and swept them from the shelter. They 
 fled into Savenay, and there ensconced themselves, 
 maintaining, however, throughout the night a conti- 
 nuous fire. Westermann and the representatives urged 
 an immediate assault, eager that the work of destruc- 
 tion might be consummated before another day dawned. 
 Kleber, determined that no mischance shoixld snatch 
 an assured victory from his grasp, pronounced deci- 
 sively that no attack should be hazarded ; after which 
 declaration, resolving himself into a fixed composure, 
 he took no further part in the debate, nor replied to 
 ajiy provocation. He thus prevented every species of 
 movement. 
 
 On the morrow, the 23d December, before daybreak, 
 Kleber and Marceau were on horseback traversing 
 the lines, when the Vendeans, hopeless of surviving 
 the day, and frantic with despair, first rushed preci- 
 pitately upon the republicans. Marceau led the centre, 
 Canuel the right, and Kleber the left. AU charged toge- 
 ther, and drove back the Vendeans into their quarters. 
 Marceau and Kleber met in the town, collected all the 
 cavalry Mdthin hail, and dashed forward in pursuit of 
 the enemy. The Loire and the marshes cut off" all 
 retreat ; numbers fell by the bayonet, many were made 
 prisoners, and a few foimd means to escajie. On that 
 day, the army was utterly extinguished, and the great 
 war of La Vendee veritably concluded. 
 
 Thus that unfortunate population, exiled from its 
 native land by the imprudence of its chiefs, and re- 
 duced to wander in quest of a port, anticipating suc- 
 cour from the English, had after aU ineffectuidly gained 
 the shores of the ocean. Unable to take Oranville, it 
 had been driven back on the Loire ; unable to repass 
 that river, it had been a second time forced into Brit- 
 tany, and from Brittany upon the Loire again. At 
 last, unsuccessful in all attempts to clear that fatal 
 barrier, it had met its final doom at Savenay, betweoi 
 the Loire and the marshes. Westermann and his troop 
 of cavalry were left to pursue the straggling fugitives. 
 Kleber and Marceau returned to Nantes. Welcomed 
 by the inliabitants of that town, they obtained a species 
 of triumi>li, and were rewarded by the Jacobin Club 
 with civic crowns. 
 
 If we cast a comprehensive retrospect over this 
 memorable campaign of 1793, we shall scarcely refrain 
 from deeming it the greatest efli)rt ever nuuie by a 
 tlireatened community. In the year 1792, the coali- 
 tion, not then coiu])lete, had acti'd witliout combina- 
 tion or energy. The Prussians had attempted an 
 abortive invasion in Chamj)agne ; the Austrians had 
 contented themselves with bombarding Lille in Flan- 
 ders. The Frencli, in their first enthusiasm, repulsed 
 the Prussians beyond the Rhine, and the Austrians 
 lieyond the Meusi', and conquereil Belgium, IMaycnce, 
 Savoy, and tlw; county of Nice. The y<^ar 1793 opened
 
 380 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 in a very different manner. The coalition was strength- 
 ened by three powers which had hitlierto remained 
 neutral. Spain, provoked to extremity by the 21st 
 January, had concentrated 50,000 men on the Pyre- 
 nees. France had oblioed I'itt to declare himself; and 
 England and Holland had sinuiltaneously entered into 
 the coalition, which Avas thus doubled, and Avhich, 
 better instructed of the resources of the enemy it had 
 to encounter, augmented its forces and prepared for 
 a decisive effort. Thus France, as under Louis XIV., 
 had to sustain tlie ass;iult of combined Europe ; with 
 this difl'erence, that it had not stimulated the ])resent 
 confluence of foes by its ambition, but by the just in- 
 dignation wherewitli it resented the interference of 
 foreign powers in its domestic affairs. 
 
 In the month of March, Dumouricz took the initia- 
 tive in an enterprise of great temerity — he attempted 
 to overrun Holland by pushing to its core in boats. 
 In the interim, Cobourg surprised his lieutenants, 
 drove them beyond the Meuse, and constrained liim 
 to hasten in person to the head of his army. Dumou- 
 riez was obliged to liazard the battle of Neerwinden. 
 That disastrous field was almost won, when the left 
 wing recoiled and repassed the Gette ; thenceforth the 
 contest became one of retreat, and the French lost 
 Belgiimi in a few days. Then reverses fomenting alter- 
 cations, Dumouriez quarrelled with his government 
 and passed over to the Austrians. At the same mo- 
 ment, Custine, discomfited at Frankfort, thro-wTi back 
 on the Ilhine, and finally separated from IMayence, 
 left the Prussians at liberty to blockade that famous 
 stronghold, and commence its siege ; the Piedmontese 
 triumphed at Saorgio ; the Spaniards swept the Pyre- 
 nees ; and, lastly, the western provinces, previously 
 deprived of their priests, and further driven to exas- 
 peration by the levy of 300,000 men, burst into revolt 
 under the banner of the throne and the altar. It was 
 then that the Mountain, infuriated by the defection 
 of Dumouriez, the defeats sustained in the Low Coun- 
 tries, on the Rhine, and in the Alps, and above all by 
 the insurrection of the west, cast aside every restrain- 
 ing influence, tore by force the Girondists from the 
 sanctuary of the convention, and thus repudiated all 
 who might for the future speak the language of mo- 
 deration. This new outrage provoked new enemies. 
 SLxty-seven departments out of eighty-three arose 
 against the government, which had then to contend 
 against Europe, royalist La Vendee, and three-fourths 
 of France. Such was the epoch when the camp of 
 Famars and the brave Dampierre were lost, when the 
 blockade of Valenciennes was consummated, when 
 Mayence was on the verge of capture, when the Spa- 
 niards passed the Tech and menaced Perpignan, when 
 the Vendeans took Saumur and besieged Nantes, when 
 the federalists were preparing to pour from Lyons, 
 Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Caen, on Paris, the metro- 
 polis. 
 
 From all points a bold march on the capital was 
 feasible, whereby the revolution might have been ter- 
 minated in a few days, and European civilisation post- 
 poned indefinitely. Fortunately, its enemies were 
 content to besiege fortresses. We recollect witli what 
 firmness the convention subjugated the departments 
 by an imposing show of authority, and by dispersing 
 the imprudent federalists who had advanced to Ver- 
 non ; we recollect, also, with what vigour the Vendeans 
 were repulsed from Nantes and arrested in their vic- 
 torious march. But whilst the convention triumphed 
 over federalism, its other enemies were making alarm- 
 ing progress. Valenciennes and Mayence were taken 
 after memorable sieges ; the war of federalism involved 
 two disastrous events, the siege of Lyons and tlie trea- 
 son of Toulon ; and La Vendee itself, although con- 
 fined to the lines of the Loire, the sea, and Poitou, by 
 the successful resistance of Nantes, had recently over- 
 thrown the cohmms of Westermann and Labarolicre, 
 who had endeavoured to penetrate into its interior. 
 Sever had the situation been more critical. The 
 
 allies Avcre no longer stayed by sieges in the north 
 and on the Rhine ; Lyons and Toiilon offered solid 
 points of sujiport to the Piedmontese ; La Vendee ap- 
 peared unconquerable, and presented tempting means 
 of descent to the English. Then it was that the con- 
 vention convoked at Paris the delegates of the primary 
 assemblies, gave them the constitution of the year 3 
 to swear by and defend, and decided with them that 
 all France, men and things, was at the disposal of 
 government. Then was decreed the national levy, 
 generation by generation ; and the power affirmed of 
 exacting on requisition all that might be necessary for 
 the war. Then were instituted the great book, and 
 the forced loan upon the rich, with the view of with- 
 drawing a portion of the assignats from circulation, and 
 coercing a speedy realisation of the national domains. 
 Then two large armies were directed on La Vendee ; 
 the garrison of Mayence was forwarded thither by 
 post relays ; and the resolution was pronmlgated that 
 that unfortunate country should be laid waste by fire, 
 and the population transported elsewhere. Lastly, 
 then Carnot entered the committee of public welfare, 
 and began to introduce order and combmation into 
 the military operations. 
 
 The French had lost Caesar's camp ; and Kilmaine, 
 by a skilfid retreat, had saved the residue of the army 
 of the north. The English had fiistened on Dunkirk, 
 and were prosecuting the siege thereof, whilst the 
 AiLstrians were attacking Le Quesnoy. A mass was 
 rapidly projected from LiUe on the rear of the Duke 
 of York. If Houchard, who commanded upon that 
 occasion 60,000 Frenchmen, had comprehended the 
 plan laid down by Carnot, and moved upon Furnes, 
 not a man in the English army would have escaped. 
 Instead of planting himself between the army of ob- 
 servation and the besieging corps, he pursued a direct 
 march ; but at all events forced the siege to be raised 
 by the auspicious battle of Hondtschoote. That vic- 
 tory was tile first in the campaign won by France ; 
 it saved Dunkirk, excluded the English from all ad- 
 vantage in the war, and restored hope and confidence 
 to the French. 
 
 Fresh reverses soon converted this confidence into 
 apprehension. Le Quesnoy was taken by the Aus- 
 trians ; the army of Houchard was seized at Meniu 
 with a panic, and dispersed ; the Prussians and Aus- 
 trians, to whose progress no material obstacle inter- 
 posed since the reduction of JIayence, advanced on 
 the two flanks of the Vosges, menaced the lines of 
 Weissembourg, and defeated the French in various 
 encomiters. The Lyonnese resisted with energy ; the 
 Piedmontese had recovered Savoy and descended to- 
 wards Lyons with the design of placing the French 
 army between two fires ; Ricardos had passed the Tet 
 and swept beyond Perpignan ; and, lastl}^ in the west, 
 the division of the troops into two annies, that of La 
 Rochelle and that of Brest, had caused the plan of 
 campaign arranged at Saumur on tlie 2d September 
 to miscarry. Canclaux, ill seconded by Rossignol, 
 had found himself unsupported in the heart of La 
 Vendee, and been obliged to fall back on Nantes. The 
 crisis called forth new efforts : the dictatorship was 
 completed, and announced by tlie institution of the 
 revolutionary government ; tlie power of the com- 
 mittee of public welfare was augmented proportionably 
 with the increase of danger; tlie levies were enforced, 
 and tlie armies swelled by multitudes of conscripts ; 
 the new recruits served as garrisons, and permitted 
 the organised troops to be draughted into the line ; 
 finally, the convention enjoined the armies to conquer 
 within a given interval. 
 
 The measures adopted by the government produced 
 their inevitable effects. The reinforced armies of the 
 north were concentrated at Lille and Guise. The 
 allies were fixed at ilaiibeuge, which they resolved 
 to take before the close of the campaign. Jourdan, 
 jiroceeding from Guise, gave the Austrians battle at 
 VVatignies, and raised the siege of Maubeugc, as Hou-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 381 
 
 cliard had raised that of Dunkirk. The Piedmontese 
 were driven beyond tlie ISaint-Bernard by Keller- 
 mann ; Lyons, enveloped by levies en masse, was car- 
 ried by assault ; Kicardos was repulsed beyond the 
 Tet ; finally, tlie two armies of La llochelle and Brest, 
 united under one leader, Lechelle, who devolved the 
 active command on Kleber, overwhelmed the Ven- 
 deans at Chollet, and compelled them to cross the 
 Loire as fugitives. 
 
 A solitary reverse troubled the general joy which 
 such events were calculated to produce — the lines of 
 Weissembourg were forced. But the committee of 
 public Avelfare determined not to close the campaign 
 until they were retaken. Young Hoche, general of 
 the army of the IMoselle, had failed, despite his intre- 
 pidity, at Kayserlautern ; but though defeated, he was 
 encouraged. Foiled in his enterprise against Bruns- 
 wick, he fell on the flank of Wurmser. Then, the two 
 armies of the Rhine and the jMoselle conjoined, repelled 
 the Austrians beyond Weissembourg, constrained 
 Brunswick to follow his allies' retrograde movement, 
 broke the blockade of Landau, and encamped in the Pa- 
 latinate. Toulon was reduced by a brilliant concep- 
 tion and a signal display of valour. The Vendeans, who 
 were thought to be destroyed, but who in their despair 
 had migrated, to the number of 80,000 souls, across 
 the Loire, and were seeking for a port to invite suc- 
 cour from the English, were rejected from the shores 
 of the ocean, equally so from the banks of the Loire ; 
 and between those two barriers, which they found 
 impassable, were ultimately extinguished. On the 
 Pyrenees alone the French arms had been unfortimate, 
 but the loss was confined to the line of the Tech, and 
 the army still encamped in advance of Perpignan. 
 
 Thus, this famous and terrible year shows us Europe 
 pressing upon the revolution with aU its force, exact- 
 ing from it an atonement for its first successes in 1792, 
 sweeping its armies far into the background, and 
 penetrating by all the frontiers at once ; and a portion 
 of France breaking into insurgency, and adding its 
 hostile efforts to those of foreign powers. Then was 
 the revolution lashed to fury ; its first ebulUtion of 
 vengeance ended in the 31st May, whereby it aroused 
 new enemies against itself, and seemed ready to suc- 
 cumb before banded Europe and three-fourths of the 
 French provinces. But it speedily reduced its internal 
 enemies to submission, raised a million of men, de- 
 feated the English at Hondtschoote, was beaten in 
 turn, redoubled its efforts, gained a battle at Watig- 
 nies, recovered the lines of Weissendjourg, repelled 
 the Piedmontese beyond the Alps, took Lyons and 
 Toulon, and twice overwhelmed the Vendeans — once 
 in La Vendee itself, and, secondly and lastly, in Brit- 
 tany. Never was a grander spectacle, or one more 
 worthy to be commended to the admiration and imi- 
 tation of nations. France had recovered all it had lost, 
 except Conde, Valenciennes, and a few forts in Kous- 
 sillon : the powers of Eurojje, on the contrary, though 
 all combined in hostilities against one, had gained no- 
 thing, but were left to expend their wrath in mutual 
 accusations, and to fasten on each other the stigma of 
 disgrace. France com])leted the organisation of its 
 resources, and prepared to assume a more formidable 
 aspect in the following year. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXL 
 
 CONTEST BETWEEN THE IIEBERTISTS AND UANTONISTS. 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF PUIILIC AVELFAIIE PLACES 
 
 ITSELF BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES. — FAMINE IN 
 
 PARIS. EFFORTS OF THE HEBERTISTS. ARREST 
 
 AND DEATH OF HEBERT, CHAUMETTE, &C. — ARREST, 
 TRIAL, AND EXECUTION OF DANTON, CAMILLE-DES- 
 MODLINS, &C. 
 
 The convention had already adopted certain rigorous 
 measures against the turbulent faction of the Corde- 
 
 liers and the ministerial agents. Ronsin and Vincent 
 were in prison. Tiieir partisans, however, were not 
 scared from agitation. ]\Iomoro at the Cordelier, and 
 Hcbert at the Jacobin Club, laboured to excite in 
 favour of their friends the influence of the revolu- 
 tionary zealots. The Cordeliers framed a petition, 
 and, in terms far from respectful, demanded whether 
 it was intended to punish Vincent and Ronsin for 
 having courageously assailed Dumouriez, Custine, and 
 Brissot; declaring, moreover, that, for themselves, 
 they regarded those two citizens as excellent patriots, 
 and woidd always uphold them as members of their 
 society. The Jacobins presented a more guarded 
 petition, whereof the prayer urged only a speedy re- 
 port upon Vincent and Ronsin, in order that they 
 might be punished if they were culpable, or restored 
 to liberty if they were innocent. 
 
 The committee of public welfare abstained from 
 any intimation of its purpose. Collot-d'Herbois alone, 
 although a memljcr of the committee, and a bounden 
 partisan of the government, evinced an active zeal in 
 behalf of Ronsin. His motive was very obvious: the 
 cause of Vincent did not affect him; but that of Ron- 
 sin, an envoy to Lyons with himself, and the execu- 
 tive instrument of his own remorseless ordinances, 
 touched him most nearly. Collot-d'Herbois had main- 
 tained with Ronsin that but a hundredth part of the 
 Lyonnese could be ranked as patriots, and that policy 
 imperatively demanded that the vast residue should be 
 banished or slain, the Rhone covered with corpses, the 
 southern departments dismayed by the spectacle, and 
 the rebellious city of Toulon, in particular, struck 
 with consternation. Ronsin had been incarcerated 
 for repeating these horrible expressions in a placard. 
 Collot-d'Herbois, recalled to give an account of his 
 mission, had naturally every inducement to vindicate 
 the conduct of Ronsin, since the approval of his own 
 was involved in the issue. Meanwhile, a petition 
 from certain citizens of Toulon arrived, wherein a 
 most harrowing picture of the calamities inflicted on 
 that city was set forth. It described the massacres 
 by grape-shot succeeding the slower executions by the 
 guillotine, and recomited the horrors of an immense 
 population threatened with extermination, and of a 
 foir and productive city demolished, not by the jnck- 
 axe alone, but by the rapid agency of mines. 1'his 
 petition, Avliich four citizens had manifested sufficient 
 hardihood to sign, produced a mournful impression on 
 the convention. Collot-d'Herbois hastened to ]iresent 
 his report, and, in his revolutionary frenz}^ he therein 
 exhibited those execrable enormities in the light they 
 appeared to his own distorted fancy ; that is to sa}', as 
 indispensable and perfectly natural. " The Lyonnese," 
 he said, in substance, " were vancjuished, but they 
 openly declared they woidd shortly wreak their re- 
 venge. Hence the necessity to impress those still 
 refractory rebels with terror, as likewise all disposed 
 to imitate them; hence the necessity of a prom])t and 
 terrible example. The ordinary instrument of death 
 lacked the requisite dis])atcli, and the hammer was 
 but a tardy medium of demolition. Therefore, grape- 
 shot was put in recjuisition for persons, and tlie mine 
 for buildings. They who had suffered had all im- 
 bued tlieir liands in tlie blood of jiatriots. A jiopnlar 
 commission had selected them, after a rapid but 
 searching inspection, from out the multitude of pri- 
 soners, and no cause of regret existed for any of the 
 doomed." 
 
 Collot-d'Herbois prevailed to extort from the as- 
 toundeil convention an acquiescence in deeds that 
 seemed to hinisclf so irreiiroachable ; and he subse- 
 quently re])aired to llie Jacobin Chil) to com])lain of 
 the difticulty lie had encountered in justifying his 
 conduct, and of the commiseration testifie(i for tlie 
 Lyonnese. " 'J'his morning," he said, " J liave iicwled 
 circumlocutions to get the death of traitors sanctioned. 
 There were tears, and piteous (luestions u-hclltcr they 
 had died at the iimt discharqe. At the first discharge —
 
 382 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 for counter-revolutionists ! And Chalier died, forsooth, 
 at the first stroke.* ' You anxiously inquire,' I said 
 to the convention, ' how those men died Avho were 
 covered with the hlood of our brethren ! And if they 
 were not dead, you would not he deliberating here!' 
 What think you? They would scarcely endure this 
 language ! They could nut bear to hear of the dead ; 
 they were terrified at the idea of their ghosts !" Then 
 referring to Konsin, Collot-d'IIerbois stated that he 
 had partaken all the dangers of the patriots in the south, 
 that he had there braved with himself the poniards of 
 tiie aristocrats, and disi)layed the greatest firmness in 
 enforcing respect for the authority of the republic ; 
 moreover, that at this moment all the aristocrats were 
 gladdened at his arrest, and drew from it an augury 
 of hope for themselves. " What has Ronsin done to 
 merit imprisonment?" added Collot. "I have asked 
 the question of all I meet, but none can solve it." In 
 the sitting of the following day, 3d Nivose, Collot, 
 resuming the subject, announced the death of the 
 patriot Gaillard, who, seeing the convention hesitate 
 to approve the energy deployed at Lyons, had com- 
 mitted suicide. " Did I deceive you," exclaimed lie, 
 " when I told you that the patriots would be driven 
 to despair, if public spirit began to sink here ? " 
 
 Thus, two important leaders of the ultra-revolu- 
 tionists being immured, tlieir partisans laboured dili- 
 gently in their behalf. The clubs and the convention 
 were importuned with remonstrances against their de- 
 tention, and even a member of the committee of public 
 welfare, being compromised in their sanguinary sys- 
 tem, defended them in self- vindication. Their adver- 
 saries began, on their side, to prosecute the attack 
 with redoubled vigour. Philippeaux, who had just 
 returned from La Vendee boiling with indignation 
 against the staff of ISaumur, was eager that the 
 committee of public welfare, participating his own 
 wrathful animosity, should discern treachery in the 
 non-success of the plan of campaign fixed on the 2d 
 September, and institute proceedings in consequence 
 against Rossignol, Konsin, and certain others. We 
 have already explained how many were the reciprocal 
 wrongs, the misunderstandings, and the incompati- 
 bilities of character, which signalised the conduct of 
 that war. Rossignol and the staff of Saumur had 
 evinced reprehensible acrimony, but no treachery ; 
 and the committee, although disposed to regard theni 
 unfavourably, could not consign them to a condemna- 
 tion neither just nor politic. Robespierre was desirous 
 that friendly explanations should be exchanged ; but 
 Philippeaux, too impatient to brook delay, composed 
 a virulent pamphlet, wherein he recounted all the 
 circumstances of the war, and mingled many errors 
 with a large amount of truth. This production was 
 calculated to provoke a lively sensation, for it assailed 
 the most decided revolutionists, and accused them of 
 hideous treasons. " What has Ronsin done?" inquired 
 Philippeaux ; " intrigued, robbed, and lied ! His only 
 expedition is that of the 18th September, and in that 
 he contrived to have 4.'5,()0() patriots overwhelmed by 
 3000 brigands. It was that fatal day of Coron, when, 
 after disposing our artillery in a gorge, at the head of 
 a column six leagues in flank, he concealed himself in 
 a stable, like a cowardl}' knave, two leagues from the 
 field of battle, and when our imfortunate comrades 
 were destroyed by their own cannon." From this 
 specimen, we may judge tliat the expressions in Phi- 
 lippeaux's publication were not peculiarly choice or 
 guarded. Unfortunately, too, the committee of pnljlic 
 welfare, which he ought, upon every principle of policy, 
 to have interested in his favour, was not treated with 
 becoming res))ect. Philippeaux, irritated at finding his 
 indignation but coldly ])artakcn, impliedly attributed 
 to the committee some of tlie delincpiencies he charged 
 
 * That Movintainocr, condemned to death hy the Lyonneso 
 federalists, had been awkwardly executed by the hangman, who 
 required three attempts before he succeeded in severing tlie head 
 from tlie body. 
 
 upon Ronsin, and even used this offensive phrase— 
 '■^ If you had only been deceived.^'' 
 
 The work, as we have stated, produced a consider- 
 able sensation. Camille-Desmoidins was unacquainted 
 with Philippeaux ; but, gratified to learn that in La 
 Vendee the idtra-revolutionists were equally obnoxious 
 as at Paris, and not imagining that excess of anger 
 had so blinded Philippeaux as to make him convert 
 mere errors into treachery, he read his pamphlet with 
 delight, admired his coiu-age, and said, with his usual 
 frankness, to all he met — " Have youread Philippeaux ? 
 Pray, read Phihppeaux." Every one, in his opinion, 
 ouglit to peruse a work which demonstrated the dan- 
 gers the republic had incurred by means of the faction 
 of exaggerated revolutionists. 
 
 Camille was warmly attached to Danton, and the 
 feeling was reciprocated. Both thought that since 
 the republic was placed beyond danger by its recent 
 victories, the time had arrived for putting an end to 
 cruelties henceforth useless ; that such cruelties, if 
 further prolonged, could only serve to disgrace the 
 revolution ; and that the foreigner alone coidd desire 
 or instigate their continuation. Camille conceived 
 the project of publishing a new journal which he en- 
 titled the Old Cordelier, for Danton and he were the 
 oldest members of that celebrated club. The object 
 of the paper was to attack the new revolutionists, who 
 were striving to cast down and sweep over the earliest 
 and best tried revolutionists. Never had this writer, 
 the most remarkable of the revolution, and one of the 
 most natural and lively in the French language, dis- 
 played so much grace, originality, and even eloquence. 
 He thus opened his first number (15th Frimaire) : — 
 
 " Oh Pitt ! I pay homage to thy genius ! What 
 new emigrants from France to England have offered 
 thee such excellent counsels and means so sure to 
 ruin my country ? Thou hast seen that thou wouldst 
 perpetually miscarry against her, unless thou took 
 measures to destroy in public opinion those who, for 
 the last five years, have foded all thy designs. Thou 
 hast well comprehended that they who have always 
 conquered thee were such as it behoved thee mainly 
 to subdue ; that thy surest course lay in causing to 
 be accused of corruption those precisely whom thou 
 hadst been unable to corrupt, and of lukewarmness 
 those whose zeal thou hadst ever failed to cool ! " " I 
 have opened my eyes," he added, " and beheld the 
 multitude of our enemies : their numbers roused me 
 from the house of invalids, and carried me again into 
 the conflict. I must write, I must quit the slow pencil 
 of the history of the revolution, which I was drawing 
 at my fireside, to resume the quick and beating pen 
 of the journalist, and follow headforemost the revo- 
 lutionary torrent. A consulting deputy, whom no 
 one has consulted since the 3d June, I leave my cabinet 
 and easy ('hair, Avhere I have enjoyed ample leisure 
 to study the new system of om* enemies." 
 
 Camille highly extolled Robespierre for his conduct 
 at the Jacobin Club, and for the generous aid he had 
 rendered the old patriots ; and he expressed himself 
 in the following manner with regard to religiou and 
 the proscriptions : — 
 
 " With the diseased human mind is necessarily 
 associated the bed of superstitious dreams : and look- 
 ing at the festivals and processions that are enjoined, 
 the altars and saints that are set up, it seems to me 
 that they do but change the bed of the inv^alid ; save 
 that they take from him the pillow of hope in an after 
 life. For myself, I thus spoke the very day on which 
 I saw Gobel come to the bar, with his double cross 
 borne in trium])h before the philosopher Anaxagoras.* 
 If it were not a crime of lese-Mountain to suspect a 
 I)resi(lent of the Jacobins and a procurator of the 
 connmme, such as Clootz and Chaumette, I should 
 be tempted to believe that at the tidings of Barrcre, 
 ' La Vendee exists no longer,' the King of I'russia 
 
 * A name assumed by Chaumette.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 383 
 
 mournfully cried out, ' All our efforts, then, will fail 
 against the republic, since the nucleus of La Vendee 
 is destroyed ;' and that the subtle Luchesmi, to con- 
 sole him, might thus address him — ' Invincible hero, 
 I discern a resource ; leave me to develop it. I will 
 buy some priests to confess themselves cheats, and 
 inflame the patriotism of others to make a similar 
 declaration. There are at Paris two famous patriots, 
 Avho will be, by their talents, their exaggerations, and 
 their well-known religious ideas, admirably adapted 
 to receive and second our impressions. All we have 
 to do is, to instruct our friends in France to act in 
 concert with the two great philosophers Anacharsis 
 and Anaxagoras, to stir up their bile effectually, and 
 to dazzle their civism by the rich temptation of the 
 sacristies. [I hope that Chaumette will not complain 
 of this inuendo; the Marquis de Luchesini cannot 
 speak of him in more honourable terms.] Anacharsis 
 and Anaxagoras will imagine they are driving the 
 wheel of reason, whilst it will be that of the counter- 
 revolution ; and instead of allowing papistry, now 
 ready to heave its last groan, quietly to expire from 
 decay and inanition, I promise you tliat, by intolerance 
 and persecution against those who want to mass and 
 be massed, many will be the recruits forced into the 
 ranks of Lescm-e and Larochejacquelem.' " 
 
 Subsequently reverting to the era of the Roman 
 emperors, and pretending to give merely a translation 
 from Tacitus, Camille made a startling allusion to the 
 law against " the suspected." " In former tunes, at 
 Rome," said he, " according to Tacitus, there was a 
 law specifying crimes of lese-majesty and against the 
 state, and inflicting capital punishment. These crimes 
 of lese-majesty under the republic had never exceeded 
 four kinds — if an army had been abandoned in a hos- 
 tile country ; if seditions were excited ; if the members 
 of the constituted bodies had wickedly administered 
 the affairs or the finances of the commonwealth ; if 
 the majesty of the Roman people had been degraded. 
 The emperors only required to add a few articles to 
 this law, in order to include in the proscription an in- 
 definite number of citizens, and even entire cities. 
 Augustus was the first to extend this law of lese- 
 majesty, by comprehending within it writings he 
 called counter-revolutionary. Shortly the applications 
 stretched beyond all limitation. When words had 
 become state crimes, only a single step was needed 
 to convert into evidences of treason mere expressions 
 of countenance, melancholy, compassion, sighs, silence 
 itself. 
 
 Soon it was adjudged a crime of lese-majesty, or 
 counter-revolution, in the town of Nursia, the rearing 
 of a monument to its inhabitants killed at the siege 
 of Modena ; a crime of counter-revolution in Urusus, 
 the inquiry from fortune-tellers whether he should 
 not one day possess great wealth ; a crime of counter- 
 revolution in the writer Cremuntius Cordus, having 
 styled Brutus and Cassius the last of the Romans ; 
 a crime of counter-revolution in a descendant of 
 Cassius, having in his house a portrait of his an- 
 cestor ; a crime of counter-revolution in Marcus 
 Scaurus, having composed a tragedy containing a 
 verse capable of two interpretations ; a crime of coun- 
 ter-revolution in T()r(|uatus Silanus, s])ending pro- 
 fusely ; a crime of counter-revolution in retranis, hav- 
 ing had a dream about Claudius ; a crime of counter- 
 revolution in Pomponius, tiuit a friend of Sejanus 
 had sought an asylum in one of his country-houses ; 
 a crime of counter-revolution to deplore the calamities 
 of the times, for that was to arraign the government ; 
 a crime of counter-revolution not to invoke the divine 
 spirit of Caligida. For liaving failed therein, num- 
 berless citizens were beaten with rods, condenmed to 
 mines or wild beasts, and some even sawed through 
 the body. Lastly, it was a crime of counter-revolu- 
 tion in the mother of the consul Fusius Germinus, 
 having wept the mournfvd death of her son. 
 
 It was necessary to testify joy at the death of a 
 
 friend or a relative, if a citizen wished to avoid perish- 
 ing himself. 
 
 Every thing gave umbrage to the tyrant. Had a 
 citizen popidarity ? He was a rival of the prince, who 
 might excite a civil war. Studio cioium in se verteret, 
 et si multi idem audcant. helium esse* Suspected. 
 
 Did he, on the contrary, shmi popularity, and hold 
 himself secluded within his domicile? Such a retired 
 life caused him to be remarked, gave liim considera- 
 tion. Quanta meta occultior, tantb plus fama adeptus.\ 
 Suspected. 
 
 Was he rich? There was imminent danger that 
 the people would be corrupted by his largesses. Auri 
 vim atque opes Pluti, principi infensas.% Suspected. 
 
 Was he poor? How now, invincible empei'or? 
 Such a man cannot be too closely watclied. There is 
 none so enterprising as he who has nothing. Syllam 
 inopem, unde prcecipuam audaciam.^ Suspected. 
 
 Was he of a sombre, melancholy character, or negli- 
 gent in his attire? What afflicted him was the suc- 
 cessfxil conduct of public affairs. Hominem publicis 
 bonis mirstum.\\ Suspected." 
 
 Camille-Desmoulins further continued this striking 
 enumeration of the suspected in the same strain, and 
 drew a dismal picture of what was passing at Paris, 
 by narrating what had been done at Rome. If the 
 pamplilet of Philippeaux had produced a powerful sen- 
 sation, the journal of CamiUe-Desmoulins had a tenfold 
 greater effect on the public mind. Fifty thousand copies 
 of each number were sold in a few days. The demand 
 from the provinces was very considerable ; and it was 
 secretly circulated amongst the prisoners, who now 
 read with delight, and with some degree of hope for 
 themselves, that revolutionist who had been hitherto 
 so odious in their eyes. Camille, without desiring 
 that the prison gates shoidd be thrown open, or the 
 revolution be made to retrograde, advocated the insti- 
 tution of a committee, to be styled "of clemency" 
 charged to examine the incarcerated, liberate the 
 citizens confined without sufficient cause, and stay the 
 effusion of blood, where too much had been already 
 shed. 
 
 The publications of Philippeaux and Hesmoulins 
 exasperated the revolutionary zealots to the last de- 
 gree, and both were denounced at the Jacobin Club. 
 Hebert assailed them with more than wonted fury, and 
 even proposed to strike the authors from the list of the 
 society. He moreover designated Bourdon [de I'Oise] 
 and Fabre-d'Eglantine as accomplices of Camille-Des- 
 moulins and Philippeaux. It will be remembered that 
 Bourdon [de I'Oise] had purposed, in concert with Gou- 
 pilleau, to supersede Rossignol ; he had since openly 
 quarrelled with the staff of Samimr, and never omitted 
 an opportunity of inveighing against the Ronsin fac- 
 tion in the convention. It was thus lie became classed 
 witli Philippeaux. Fabre was accused of having taken 
 part in the affair of the false decree, and many were 
 disposed to believe him im})Iicated, altliough he had 
 been exonerated by Chabot. Feeling his jwsition 
 l)erilous, and having the worst to fear from a sj'stem 
 of extreme severity, he had twice or thrice raised his 
 voice for the system of indulgence, had consequently 
 been altogether discarded by the idtra-revijlutionists, 
 and been stigmatised as an " intriguer" in the Pere 
 Dwlienr. The Jacobins, without adopting the vio- 
 lent jirojiositions of Ih'bert, decided that I'liiliiijieaux, 
 Camille-Desmoulins, Bourdon [de I'Oise,] and Fabre- 
 d'Eglantine, should aiipear at tlie bar of the club, to 
 give explanations touching their writings and their 
 speeches in the convention. 
 
 The sitting at which they were to appear was at- 
 
 * [lie fixes the hopes of tlie citizens on himself; anil if many 
 he moved by Kimultiineous audacity, war ensues.] 
 
 t [The more secluded by fear, the more souglit out by fame.] 
 X [The power of gold, the possession of wealth, is offensive in 
 the eyes of nionarclis.] 
 § [From indigence spning Sylla's egregious daring.] 
 [A man made mournful by the general prosperity.!
 
 b84 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tended by a prodigious concourse. The seats were 
 furiously disputed, and some were sold as high as 
 twenty -five francs. It was, in fact, the tri;d of the 
 two nQ\v classes of patriots about to be heard before 
 the all-puissant tribunal of the Jacobins. Philippeaux, 
 although not a member of the society, took his station 
 at the bar, and repeated the charges he had already 
 chronicled, either in his correspondence with the com- 
 mittee of public AVL'lfare or in his pamphlet. He 
 treated individuals with no more forbearance than he 
 had previously observed, and twice or thrice gave 
 Hebcrt the lie direct in most insulting language. These 
 heedless personalities of Philippeaux began to agitate 
 the assemblage, and the sitting threatened to end in 
 tumult, when Danton, ascending the tribune, observed, 
 that in order to judge so grave a question, the utmost 
 attention and calmness were indispensable ; that ho 
 himself had formed no opinion upon Philippeaux or on 
 the truth of his accusations; that he had already 
 stated to him in person — " Thou must prove thy 
 charges, or carry thy head to the scafibld ;" that pos- 
 sibly^'the only guilt rested with the events ; but that, 
 howsoever the case might be, it was necessary that 
 every one should be heard, and, what was of more 
 consequence, be listened to. 
 
 Robespierre, speaking after Danton, said that he 
 had not read Philippeaux's pamphlet ; that he was 
 merely aware the committee was therein made respon- 
 sible for the loss of 30,000 men ; that the committee 
 had no time to answer libels or carry on a paper war ; 
 that at the same time he did not imagine PhUippeaux 
 guilty of evil intentions, but led away by his passions. 
 " I do not pretend," Robespierre continued, " to impose 
 silence on the convictions of ray colleague ; but let him 
 examine himself, and judge whether he be altogether 
 free from vanity and liatred. I consider him urged 
 not less by patriotism than by anger ; but let him 
 reflect — let him ponder on the contest he provokes ! 
 He will find that the moderates will assume his de- 
 fence, that the aristocrats will side with liira, that the 
 convention itself will be divided, that an opposition 
 party may probably be aroused, which would prove 
 of disastrous import, reviving the struggle through 
 which we have recently passed, and the consjiiracies 
 we have had such trouble to suppress." He accord- 
 ingly besought Philippeaiix to weigh his secret motives, 
 and'the Jacobins to afford him an attentive heai'ing. 
 
 Than the observations of Robespierre nothing could 
 be more just and appropriate, save that the tone par- 
 took too much of the supercilious and dictatorial quali- 
 ties which had more remarkably characterised all his 
 speeches since he had attained undoubted sway over 
 the Jacobins. Philippeaux resumed, fell back into his 
 former personalities, and provoked fresh disturbance. 
 Danton exclaimed, in an accent of impatience, that 
 *' it behoved them to cut short such quarrels, and at 
 once to name a commission to examine the documents 
 adducible in the case." Couthon objected that, before 
 having recourse to such an expedient, it was fitting 
 they should be satisfied that the question at issue was 
 worth the trouble — that, in fact, it was not merely a 
 dispute between man and man ; and he proposed to 
 demand from Philippeaux whether on his sovd and con- 
 science he believed there had been treachery. Then 
 addressing Philippeaux — " Dost thou believe," said he 
 to him, " on thy soid and conscience, there has been 
 treachery?" "Yes," imprudently answered Philip- 
 peaux. " In that case," resumed Couthon, " there is 
 no other mode of proceeding : it is incumbent on us to 
 nominate a commission which shall hear the accused 
 and the accusers, and make its report to the society." 
 The proposition was adopted, and the commission 
 named was instructed to examine, besides the accusa- 
 tions advanced by Philippeaux, the conduct of Bour- 
 don [de rOise], Fabre-d'Eglantine, and Camille-Des- 
 moulins. 
 
 This occurrence took place on the 3d Nivose (23d 
 December). During the interval occupied by the 
 
 commission in framing its report, the war by pen and 
 word of mouth raged without intermission. The Cor- 
 deliers excluded Camille-Desmoulins from their club. 
 They likewise drew up fresh petitions on behalf of 
 Ronsin and Vincent, and marched to communicate 
 them to the Jacobins, for the purpose of engaging the 
 latter to support them before the convention. That 
 crowd of adventurers and dissolute characters, too, 
 with whom the revolutionary army had been filled, 
 appeared every where throughout the capital, in the 
 promenades, the taverns, the cafes, and the theatres, 
 distinguished by worsted epaulettes and mustaches, 
 making a prodigious clamour for Ronsin their general, 
 and A^incent their minister. They were surnamed 
 the Epauletters, and were much dreaded in Paris. 
 Since the law interdicting the sections from assembling 
 more than twice during the week, those assemblies 
 had resolved themselves into popular societies of a 
 most turbulent character. There were generally two 
 of these societies in each section, and all parties inte- 
 rested in provoking a movement distributed their 
 agents amongst them. The epauletters failed not to 
 frequent such congenial arenas, and, by their assist- 
 ance, tumult and uproar usually predominated in all. 
 Robespierre, still firm and inflexil)le, prevailed with 
 the Jacobins to repudiate the petition of the Corde- 
 liers, and induced them, moreover, to disown all the 
 popidar societies formed since the 31st of May. These 
 were acts of energy at once prudential and laudable. 
 The committee, at the same time, amidst all these 
 strenuous efforts to put down the turbulent faction, 
 was obliged to take care lest it might be charged Avith 
 mild and moderate tendencies. For the preservation 
 of its popularity and strength, it was necessary that 
 it shoidd exert the same rigour against the opposite 
 faction. Wherefore, on the 5th Nivose (25th Decem- 
 ber), Robespierre was appointed to draw up a new 
 report upon the principles of the revolutionary govern- 
 ment, and to adduce reasons for adopting measures of 
 severity against certain eminent prisoners. Always 
 intent, as well from policy as from belief, to charge 
 all disorders iipon the pretended foreign faction, he 
 imputed to it the faidts of both moderates and zealots. 
 " The foreign courts have vomited on France," he 
 said, " all the artful miscreants whom they hold in 
 their pay. These sit in our administrative bodies, 
 and creep into our sectional assemblies and our clubs ; 
 they have even appeared in the national representa- 
 tion ; they direct, and will eternally direct, the coun- 
 ter-revolution upon the same plan. They hover 
 around us, surprising our secrets, fomenting our 
 passions, and labouring to influence us even in oiu" 
 opinions." Pursuing this strain, Robespierre exhibited 
 them as alternately stimulating to exaggeration or 
 depressing to effeminacy ; exciting at Paris a persecu- 
 tion against religion, and in La Vendee a war of fana- 
 ticism ; assassinating Lepelletier and Marat, and then 
 agitating amongst the populace, to procure them the 
 assignment of divine honours, with the view of ren- 
 dering their memory ridicidous and odious ; giving to 
 or withholding from the people the necessaries of life, 
 causing specie to appear or disappear at pleasure, and, 
 in short, profiting by all accidents to turn them to 
 account against the revolution and France. Thus, 
 summing up all the evils besetting France at the time, 
 which his prepossessions forbade him to view as inevi- 
 table, he attributed them to the foreigner, who, doubt- 
 less, miglit rejoice at them, but had, for his share in 
 their provocation, merely to rely on the inherent vices 
 of human nature, and could never have supplied by con- 
 spiracies any agency nearly so effective. In conclusion, 
 denouncing as accomplices of the coalition all the dis- 
 tinguished prisoners still surviving, he proposed to 
 send them forthwith before the revolutionary tribunal. 
 Accordingly, Dietrich, Mayor of Strasburg, Custine, 
 son to the unfortunate general of that name, Biron, 
 and other officers obnoxious as friends of Dumouriez, 
 Custine, and Houchard. were destined for immediate
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 385 
 
 condemnation. A decree of the convention, imdoubt- 
 edly, was not needed to ensure the sacritice of these 
 victims by tlie revolutionary tribunal ; but the reso- 
 lution manifested by thus hastening their execution, 
 afforded a proof that the government was not dis- 
 posed to relax its sternness. Robespierre moreover 
 proposed to augment by a third the territorial recom- 
 penses promised to the defenders of the country. 
 
 After this report, Barrere was charged to frame 
 another on the arrests, which were stated to be daily 
 on the increase, and to propound means for ascer- 
 taining the grounds of such arrests. The aim of this 
 report was to answer, without professing to do so, the 
 Old Cordelier of Camille-Desmoulms, and his propo- 
 sition of a committee of clemency. Barrere alluded 
 to " translations of ancient authors" in terms of severity, 
 but recommended, nevertheless, the apj^ointment of a 
 commission to inquire into the causes of arrests, which 
 was almost equivalent with the committee of clemency 
 advocated by Camille. However, upon the observa- 
 tions of some of its members, the convention deemed 
 it expedient to adhere to its previous decrees, which 
 made it obligatory on the revolutionary committees 
 to communicate the motives of arrests to the com- 
 mittee of general safety, and permitted the detained 
 to lodge reclamations with that last-named committee. 
 
 The government thus pursued its course between 
 the two parties then gathering strength, secretly in- 
 clining towards the moderate party, but still afraid to 
 allow its preference to be too marked. IVFeanwliile, 
 Camille published a number of his journal yet more 
 energetic than its predecessors, which he specifically 
 addressed to the Jacobins. He styled it " My defence ;" 
 and it contained the boldest and most mispariug re- 
 criminations upon his adversaries. 
 
 Adverting to his expulsion from the Cordelier Club, 
 he said — "Pardon, brethren and friends, if I still 
 venture to assume the title of ' Old Cordelier,' after 
 the resolution of the club prohibiting me from using 
 that designation. But, in truth, the revolt of grand- 
 children against their grandfather, and their injunc- 
 tion against his bearing his own name, involved so 
 incredible an insolence, that I am determined to plead 
 my cause against the ungrateful progeny. I will see 
 to whom of right the name belongs, whether to the 
 grandpapa, or to the children foisted upon him, of 
 whom he never recognised or so much as knew the 
 decimal fraction, and who yet pretend to thrust him 
 from the paternal sanctuary." 
 
 He then proceeded to unfold his opinions. " The 
 vessel of the republic floats between two reefs — the 
 rock of exaggeration and the sandbank of mode- 
 ratism. Perceiving that the Pore Duchene ^ and 
 nearly all the patriot sentinels were standing on deck, 
 telescope in hand, solely occupied in vociferating, 
 ' Take care ! you are running on moderatism !' it 
 became imperative on me, an old Cordelier and elder 
 of the Jacobins, to impose on myself the dilRcult of- 
 fice, which none of the more youthful would attempt 
 from the dread of forfeiting their popularity, of raising 
 the counter cry, ' Take care ! you are about to fomider 
 on exaggeration !' And estimate the obligation con- 
 tracted by all my colleagues in the convention towards 
 me, for having thus hazarded my popularity in order 
 to save the ship ^'herein my stake was not gi'eater 
 than theirs." 
 
 He next justified himself touching that expression 
 which had been so often the theme of invective against 
 him, ^^Vince7it-Pitt governs George-Bouchotle." He said, 
 "I called Louis XVI., in 1787, an egregious noodle of 
 a king, without being shut up in tlie Bastille there- 
 for. Is Bouchotte a more mighty potentate ?" 
 
 He subsequently passed his antagonists in review. 
 To CoUot-d'Herbois he said, that if he (J)esmoulins) 
 had his Dillon, he (Collot) liad his Brunet and I'roli, 
 both of whom he had defended. To Barrere he said, 
 " We no longer know each other on the Mountain. 
 Had it been an old Cordelier like myself, a rectilineal 
 
 patriot, Billaud - Varennes, for example, who had 
 worried me so savagely, sitstinuissem utique (I would 
 have borne it all) ; I should have said, ' The hasty 
 Saint Paul gives the good Saint Peter a box on the 
 ear for his sins !' But thou, my esteemed Barrere, 
 the enviable guardian of Pamela!*- — thou, the presi- 
 dent of the Feuillants, who proposed the committee 
 of twelve ! — thou who, on the 2d June, brought under 
 deliberation in the committee of pulilic welfare the 
 question whether Danton should be arrested ! — thou, 
 whose other transgressions I could so easily illustrate, 
 if I were inclined to rifle the old sack f — thou becomest 
 on a sudden a deputy-Robespierre, and of a verity apos- 
 trophisest me thus sharply ! " 
 
 " This, after all," added Camille, " is a mere man- 
 and-wife squabble with my friends, the patriots Collot 
 and Barrere ; but I am in my turn goijig to be in a 
 furious passioii'l with the Pere Duchene, who calls me 
 'a miserable intriguer — a fit subject for the guillotine — 
 a conspirator who tvants to open the prisons to make a 
 fresh La Vendee — a wheedlcr bribed by Pitt — the long- 
 eared colt of an ass.' Wait, Hebert, I will be at thee in a 
 moment. Biit it is not with gross epithets and words 
 I shall assail thee; it is with facts." 
 
 Then Camille, who had been upbraided by Hebert 
 M'ith having espoused a wealthy female, and dining 
 at the houses of aristocrats, gave the history of his 
 marriage, which had brought him an income of 4000 
 livres (£166), and a description of his simple, unos- 
 tentatious, and indolent life. Reverting to Hebert, 
 he called to recollection the former avocation of the 
 check-taker, the frauds which had caused his dis- 
 misssal from the theatre, his sudden and undoubted 
 fortune, and covered him Avith well-deserved infamy. 
 He recounted and proved that Bouchotte had given 
 Hebert, from the funds of the war-department, first 
 120,000 francs, then 10,000, and then 60,000, for copies 
 of Pere Duchene distriliuted in the armies ; that such 
 copies did not exceed 16,000 francs in value, and that 
 consequently the nation had been robbed of the sur- 
 plus. 
 
 " Two hundred thousand francs," exclaimed Camille, 
 " to this poor sans-culotte Hebert, for supporting the 
 motions of Proli and of Clootz ! Two hundred thou- 
 sand francs for calumniating Danton, Lindet, Cambon, 
 Thuriot, Lacroix, Philippeaux, Bourdon- de-1'Oise, 
 Barras, Freron, D'Eglantine, Legendre, Camille-Des- 
 moulins, and almost all the commissioners of the 
 convention ! For inundating France with his writ- 
 ings, so singularly fitted to improve the mind and 
 heart, 200,000 francs from Bouchotte ! Can any one be 
 surprised, after this, at that filial exclamation of Hebert 
 at the sitting of the Jacobins — ' To dare attack Bou- 
 chotte! Bouchotte, who has placed sa?is-culottes generals 
 at the head of the armies .' Bouchotte, a patriot so su- 
 premely pure!' I am astonished that, in the transports 
 of his gratitude, the Pere Duchene did not add, 
 ' Bouchotte, who has given me 200,000 francs since 
 June ! ' 
 
 You talk to me of the society I keep : but does not 
 every one know that it is with the confidant of Du- 
 mouriez, the banker Kock, and with the woman Poche- 
 chouart, the agent of the emigrants, that the grand 
 patriot Hebert, after traducing in his journal the most 
 incorruptible men in the republic, departs full of glee, 
 accompanied by his Jacqueline, to pass tlie beauteous 
 days of summer in the country, to drink the wine of 
 Pitt, and swallow toasts to the ruin of the reputations 
 of the founders of liberty?" 
 
 Canulle next proceeded to reproach Hebert with the 
 
 * An allusion to the play of Pamela, the representation of 
 which had been prohibited. 
 
 t " Vii'uxSac," the name bywhich Barr6rewas called, when 
 noble. 
 
 ij: " lionprement en coUre," the phrase of the public liawkers, 
 who, when selling copies of the Pire J)uiiieiic, were accustomed 
 to cry in the streets — " He is in a furious passion, the Pcre Du- 
 chene ! " {II est bougrcment en colere, le Pere Duchenel)
 
 386 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 style of his journal. " Know'st thou not, Hebert, 
 that wlien the tyrants of Europe wish to make their 
 slaves believe that France is enveloped in the darkness 
 of barbarism — that Paris, the city so va^inted for its 
 attic wit and taste, is peopled with Vandals — knovv'st 
 thou not, poor wretch, that it is refuse from thy pub- 
 lication they insert in their gazettes ? As if the people 
 were as ignorant as thou \\ouldst lead M. Fitt to 
 infer — as if we could speak to liim only in language 
 equally loathsome — as if such were the language of tlie 
 convention and the committee of public welfare — as 
 if thy obscenities were tliose of the nation — as if a 
 sewer of Paris were the Seine ! " 
 
 Camille subsequently accused him of having added, 
 by his articles, to the scandal of the worship of Reason ; 
 and thereafter broke out thus indignantly : " So, it is 
 this vile panderer, at a wage of 200,000 francs, who 
 would upbraid me with my wife's income of 4000 
 livres ! It is this intimate friend of the Kocks, the 
 Rochechouarts, and an army of sharpers, who would 
 hold me up to obloquy for the society I frequent ! It 
 is this senseless or perfidious scribbler, who would re- 
 proach me with aristocratic writings — he, whose sheets 
 I can demonstrate to be the joy of Coblentz and the 
 sole hope of Pitt ! This man, struck from the list of 
 menials at a theatre for theft, would have struck from 
 the list of the Jacobins, for their opinions, certain 
 deputies, the immortal founders of liberty! This 
 author of filthiness and depravity would be the regu- 
 lator of opinion — the Mentor of the French people ! " 
 
 " Let it not be imagined," added Camille-Desmou- 
 lins, " that I am to be intimidated by the terrors of 
 arrest, wherewith rumour so rifely threatens me. We 
 are forewarned that the miscreants meditate another 
 31st of May against the most energetic men on the 
 jMountain. Oh, my colleagues ! I will say to you, in 
 the words of Brutus and Cicero — ' Nimium timemus 
 mortem et exilium et paupertatem.' We are too much 
 afraid of death, and exile, and poverty! What! when, 
 day by daj% twelve hundred tliousand Frenchmen 
 confront batteries bristUng with murderous ordnance, 
 and fly from victory to victory, shall we, deputies of 
 the convention, who can never fall, like the soldier, in 
 the obscurity of night, mowed down in the dark 
 without witnesses of his valoiu* — we, whose death 
 suffered for liberty can be none other than glorious 
 and solemn, received, as it must be, in presence of 
 the whole nation, of Europe, and of posterity— shall 
 we be more cowardly than our soldiers ? — shall M'e 
 dread the peril of looking Bouchotte in the face? — 
 shall we not venture to brave the miglity wrath of 
 the Pere Duchene, in order thereby to achieve the 
 victory which the people expect from us — victory 
 over the ultra-revolutionists as well as over the coun- 
 ter-revolutionists — victory over all intriguers, over all 
 knaves, over all the ambitious, over all the enemies 
 of tlie public weal? 
 
 Let it not be believed that, even on the scaffold, 
 being sustained by the inward conviction that I have 
 passionately loved my country and the rejjublic, and 
 rewarded with the esteem and regret of all true re- 
 publicans, I would excliange my doom for the fortune 
 of this miserable Hebert, who, in his paper, urges 
 to despair and revolt twenty classes of citizens — who, 
 to stupify his mind against the stings of remorse 
 and the recollection of liis calumnies, has need of a 
 drunkenness stronger than that of wine, and is fain to 
 lap blood at the foot of the guillotine. AV'liat, indeed, 
 is the scaffold to a patriot, but the pedestal to a Sid- 
 ney or a .Tolm de Witt? What, in a time of war 
 wherein I liave had two brothers cleaved for liberty, 
 is, after all, this g^iillotine but a sabre-cut, and tlie 
 most glorious of all for a deputy, the victina of his 
 courage and his republicanism?" 
 
 These quotations will give an idea of the manners 
 of the epoch. The roughness, the stoicism, and the 
 eloquence of Rome and Athens, had revived in 
 France with democratic hberty. 
 
 This last number of Camille-Desmoiilins caused an 
 agitation yet more considerable than those preceding. 
 Hebert was incessant in his denunciations against 
 him at the Jacobins', and continually urged the pro- 
 duction of the report by the commission of inquiry. 
 At length, on the 16th Nivose, CoUot-d'Herbois ap- 
 peared in the tribune to read that report. The 
 audience was ^s numerous as the day on which the 
 discussion had been first entered upon, and seats were 
 sold equally dear. Collot evinced more impartiality 
 than might have been expected from a friend of Ron- 
 sin. He censured Philippeaux for implicating the com- 
 mittee of public welfare in his accusations, for show- 
 ing favourable dispositions towards suspected indivi- 
 duals, for speaking of Biron with eulogy whilst he 
 assailed Rossignol with virulence ; and, in short, for 
 manifesting precisely the same preferences as the 
 aristocrats. He Ukewise reproached him with a fact, 
 which, under actual circumstances, had some weight ; 
 to wit, the having suppressed in his last publication 
 the charges alleged against Fabre-Fond, the brother 
 of Fabre-d'Eglantine. Phihppeaux, in truth, being 
 unacquainted with either Fabre or CamiUe, had at 
 first denounced the brother of the former, whom he 
 deemed to have transgressed in La Vendee. But 
 when he became allied with Fabre by his position, 
 and was associated in accusation with him, he with- 
 drew, from a very natural delicacy, the allegations 
 relative to his brother. This circumstance was of 
 itself sufficient to prove that these parties had been 
 induced, by individual considerations and without 
 concert, to act as they had done, and that they by no 
 means formed a real faction. But the spirit of party 
 inspired different conclusions, and Collot insinuated 
 that there existed a furtive intrigue and cabal amongs-^ 
 the advocates of moderation. He reverted to the past, 
 moreover, and upbraided Philippeaux with his votes 
 respecting Louis XVI. and Marat. As to Camille- 
 Desmoulins, he treated him with much less acrimony ; 
 he represented him as a good patriot misled by evil 
 company, whom it was fitting to pardon, with a warn- 
 ing, nevertheless, not again to commit similar delin- 
 quencies. He accordingly moved the expulsion of 
 Philippeaux, and a simple censure on Camille. 
 
 When he liad ceased, Camille, jjresent at the sitting, 
 handed a letter to the president, Avherein he declared 
 that his defence was contained in his last number, and 
 craved the society graciously to hear its contents. At 
 this request, Hebert, who justly dreaded the public 
 reading of a paper wherein the viUanies of his life 
 were exposed, cried out tliere was a design to com- 
 plicate the discussion by adducing calumnies against 
 him, and that, to distract attention, he had been 
 charged with robbing the exchequer, which was an 
 atrocious fiilsehood. " I have the proofs in my hand ! " 
 exclaimed Camille. These words caused prolonged 
 tumult. Robespierre the younger at length said 
 " that personal disputes ought not to be entertained ; 
 that the society had met for other purposes than the 
 care of reputations, and that if Hebert were a tliief, 
 it was not interested in the matter ; that those who 
 were burdened with self-reproach, must not interrupt 
 the general debate." At these somewhat criminatory 
 expressions, Hebert vociferated — " I have nothing to 
 reproach myself with." " The troubles of the depart- 
 ments," retorted Robespierre the younger, " are thy 
 handiwork ; thou hast contributed to provoke them 
 by attacking the lil)erty of religion." Hebert was 
 silenced by this direct assault. Robespierre the elder 
 then ascended the triV)une, and observing greater 
 caution than his brother, but without being more 
 favourable to Hebert, said that Collot had presented 
 the question under its genuine aspect; that an un- 
 toward incident liad thstnrbed the dignity of the dis- 
 cussion ; and that all were censurable — Hebert as well 
 as those who had answered him. " What I am about 
 to say," he added, " has reference to no individual. 
 They show bad grace who complain of calumny when
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 S87 
 
 they themselves have cahimniated. They have no 
 ground for comphiining of injustice, who have judged 
 others with inconsiderate precipitation and fury. Let 
 every man probe his conscience, and apply these re- 
 flections. I was anxious to prevent the present dis- 
 cussion ; I desired that in private interviews, in ami- 
 cable conferences, each should otfer explanations and 
 confess his errors. By such means, tlie parties miglit 
 have arrived at a mutual understanding, and spared 
 themselves much scandal. But my counsels were 
 unheeded ; pamplilets were circulated the very next 
 day, and the utmost eagerness evinced to foment ex- 
 citement. At present, all that concerns us in these 
 personal quarrels is, not to ascertain whether on aU 
 sides passion and injustice have predominated, hut 
 whether the accusations directed by Philippeaux 
 against the persons charged with the most important 
 of our wars are well founded. Such is the point it 
 behoves us to elucidate, not in the interest of indivi- 
 duals, but m that of the republic." 
 
 Robespierre, in effect, deemed it fruitless to discuss 
 the allegations of Camille against Hebert, for all were 
 aware of their substantial accuracy. He was further- 
 more of opinion that they involved nothing which the 
 republic was interested in authenticating ; but that, on 
 the contrary, it was of material moment to investigate 
 the conduct of the generals in La Vendee. In accord- 
 ance with these views, the inquiry relative to rhihp- 
 peaux was resumed. The whole sitting was devoted 
 to the examination of divers witnesses from the theatre 
 of war ; but, from out their contradictory statements, 
 Danton and Robespierre declared they could winnow 
 no precise facts whereon to gromid a satisfactory 
 judgment. The debate, already tediously prolonged, 
 Avas adjourned to the following sitting. 
 
 On the 18th the society again met. Philippeaux 
 was absent. Tlie discussion of which he was the sub- 
 ject, having led to no important revelation, had be- 
 come generally wearisome, and attention was directed 
 to Camille-Desmoulins. He was called upon for ex- 
 planations touching the encomimns he had passed on 
 Philippeaux, and the relations he held with him. Ca- 
 mille knew him not, so he asseverated ; certain facts 
 avouched by Goupilleau and Bourdon had at first per- 
 suaded him that Philippeaux spoke truly, and he had 
 been filled with indignation ; but now that he per- 
 ceived, from the inquiry, that Philippeaux had tam- 
 pered with the truth (which began indeed to transpire 
 on all points), he retracted his eulogies, and allowed 
 he had no longer any opinion on the subject. 
 
 Robespierre, once more rising to dehver his senti- 
 ments respecting Camille, repeated much of what he 
 had previously stated in liis behalf; averring that 
 his character indeed was exemi)lary, but tliat this ac- 
 knciwledged estimation gave him no warrant to write 
 against patriots ; that his publications were eagerly 
 perused by the aristocrats, to whom they gave especial 
 joy, and were circiilated through all the departments ; 
 that he had translated Tacitus without comprehending 
 him ; that he must be treated like a headstrong boy, 
 who had handled dangerous weapons, and used them 
 noxiously — pledged to forsake aristocrats and other 
 evil society whereby he had been corrupted ; and that, 
 whilst granting him forgiveness, the numbers of his 
 journal nmst be burnt. Hereupon Camille, forget- 
 ting the circumspection necessary towards the arro- 
 gant Robespierre, exclaimed from his seat — -"Burning 
 is not answering." " Very well !" retorted Kobespierre, 
 splenetically, " let us not burn, then, but answer ; 
 let us now read Camille's numbers. Since he wiU 
 have it so, let him be covered with ignominy ; let 
 the society give vent to its indignation, since he obsti- 
 nately persists in vindicating his diatribes and his 
 dangerous princijjles. The man who so strenuously 
 adheres to perfidious writings is perliaps more than 
 misled ; if he had been truly sincere, if he liad written 
 in the simplicity of his licart, he would not have 
 ventured longer to uphold works iiroscribed by patriots 
 
 and welcomed by counter-revolutionists. His courage 
 is merely derivative ; it reveals the hidden influence 
 under which he has written his journal ; it tells that 
 Desmoulins is the organ of a wicked faction, which has 
 borrowed his pen in order to distil its poison with more 
 security and effect." Camille in vain essayed to speak 
 and propitiate Robespierre ; the club refused to hear 
 him, and forthwith passed to the perusal of his papers. 
 
 With whatever respect and temper mdividuals may 
 be disposed to treat one another in the contests of 
 party, it is seldom but that ere long egotism is piqued, 
 and its attendant passions become predominant ele- 
 ments in the strife. With such susceptibility as that 
 of Robespierre on the one hand, and such careless 
 frankness as that of Camille on the other, it was in- 
 evitable that collision of opinion should eventuallj'' 
 provoke the irascibilities of self-love, and resolve into 
 personal animosity. Robespierre held Hebert and his 
 partisans in too great contempt to enter into alterca- 
 tion with them ; but it was far different with a writer 
 so celebrated m the revolution as Camille-Desmoulins ; 
 and the latter mifortunately lacked suflicient art in 
 conciliation to avert a rupture. 
 
 The reading of Camille's journal occupied two 
 entire sittings. Afterwards the inquu-y relative to 
 Fabre was opened. That personage was subjected to a 
 long interrogatory, chiefly with the view of extracting 
 from him what share he had taken in composing the 
 writings recently disseminated. On that point he 
 parried his querists by observing, that he did not at- 
 tend upon an indictment for punctuation ; and, with 
 respect to Philippeaux and Bourdon de I'Oise, he stated 
 he could safely affirm himself to be unconnected with 
 them. At length a motion was formally made to 
 adopt a resolution affecting the four individuals ar- 
 raigned. But Robespierre, albeit little disposed to 
 shield Camille, proposed to leave the question where 
 it stood, and jiass to another subject of greater gravity 
 — one more worthy of the society and more beneficial 
 to the public mind — to wit, the vices and crimes of the 
 English government. " That atrocious government," 
 said he, "conceals, under certain appearances of liberty, 
 a principle of frightful despotism and machiavelism ; 
 we must denounce it to its own people, and answer 
 its calumnies by proving its vices of organisation 
 and its unparalleled enormities." The Jacobins were 
 heartily enough inclined to the theme, for it promised 
 a vast field to their mania for invective ; but some 
 amongst them desired preliminarily to anathematise 
 Philippeaux, Camille, Bourdon, and Fabre. One voice 
 was eveia heard to accuse Robespierre of arrogating a 
 species of dictatorship. " My dictatorship," he ex- 
 claimed, " is that of Marat and Lepelletier ; it consists 
 in being daily and hourly exposed to the daggers of 
 the tyrants. But I am weary of the disputes perpe- 
 tually arising in the heart . of the society, and which 
 lead to no useful end. Our veritable enemies are 
 foreigners ; it is they we must confront — it is their 
 Avebs we must unravel." Robespierre, in consequence, 
 renewed his proposition, and prevailed in carrying, 
 amidst loud applause, that the society, setting aside 
 all disputes at issue between individuals, should de- 
 vote the ensuing sittings to discuss, without interrup- 
 tion, the vices of the English government. 
 
 This was adroitly to divert the unquiet imagination 
 of the Jacobins, and direct it upon a tojiic calculated 
 to afford lengthened occupation. Philippeaux had 
 retired without awaiting the decision. Camille and 
 Hourdon were neither expelk'd nor confirmed; all fur- 
 ther mention of them was avoided, and they were con- 
 tent to withhold attendance at the society. As for 
 Fabre-d' Eglantine, although Chabot had entirely ex- 
 culpated him, the facts which daily came to the know- 
 ledge of the connnittee of general safety no longer 
 permitted his confederacy to be matter of doubt : it 
 became necessary to issue a warrant of arrest against 
 him, and to unite him Avith Chabot, Bazire, Uelaunay, 
 and Julien of Toulouse.
 
 338 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 From all these discussions there remained an im- 
 pression imfavourable to the new moderates. Ajnongst 
 the parties latel,v on trial there had been in reality no 
 sort of concert. Philippeaux, almost a Girondist here- 
 tofore, was unacquainted with Fabre, Caniille, and 
 Bourdon ; Camille alone was inditfcrently connected 
 with Fabre ; and as to Boiu"don, he was a complete 
 stranger to the other three. But it was incontinently 
 inferred that a secret faction was in existence, whereof 
 they were the dupes or accomplices. The facility of 
 character, the epicurean tastes of Camille, and two or 
 three banquets he hail partaken with the rich finan- 
 ciers of the epoch ; t lie proved confederacy of Fabre with 
 stockjobbers, and his recent opulence, all strengthened 
 the supposition that they were combined with the pre- 
 tended corrupting faction. None yet ventured to de- 
 signate Dantou as their leader; but, if he were not 
 accused in a public manner, if Hcbert in his paper and 
 the Cordeliers in their tribune still respected that re- 
 doubtable revolutionist, in conversation such sinister 
 inferences circulated freely. 
 
 The most hurtful man to the party was Lacroix, 
 whose exactions in Belgium were so notorious that 
 they miglit be safely charged upon him without risk- 
 ing a denunciation for calumny, and without his ven- 
 turing to retort. He was classed with the moderates, 
 on account of his former connexion with Danton, and 
 defiled them by his infamy. 
 
 The Cordeliers, meanwhile, indignant that the Jaco- 
 bins had abstained from passing judgment on tlie 
 arraigned, resolved — 1st, That riiilippeaux was a ca- 
 lumniator ; 2d, That Bourdon, the inveterate accuser 
 of Rousin, Vincent, and the war department, had lost 
 their confidence, and was in their estimation but an 
 accomplice of Philippeaux ; 3d, That Fabre, who par- 
 took the sentiments of Bourdon and Philippeaux, was 
 only a more artful intriguer ; and, 4th, That Camille, 
 already excluded from their ranks, had likewise lost 
 their confidence, although he liad in times past ren- 
 dered good service to the revolution. 
 
 After Ronsin and Vincent had been detained in 
 prison for some time, they were liberated, for it was im- 
 possible to bring them to trial on any feasible ground. 
 Ronsin could not be prosecuted for his conduct in La 
 Vendee, as the events of that war were enveloped in 
 profound obscurity, nor more so for his performances 
 at Lyons, since that would start a dangerous question, 
 and involve a censure on Collot-d'Herbois and the 
 ruling system of the government. It was equally 
 difficult to impeach Vincent for certain acts of alleged 
 despotism in the offices of the war department. An 
 arraignment for political opinions was the only pro- 
 cess available against either, and the moment had not 
 yet arrived for hazarding the experiment. They were 
 accordingly set at libertj',* to the great joy of the 
 Cordeliers and all the epauletters of the revolutionary 
 army. 
 
 Vincent was a young man of twenty and some years, 
 a species of enthusiast, wliose fanaticism amounted to 
 disease, and to whom alienation of mind might be 
 rather imputed than personal ambition. One day, as 
 his wife, who visited him in confinement, was recount- 
 ing to him the passing events, moved with indignation 
 at the recital, he sprang ui)on a lump of raw meat, 
 and, as he tore it with his teeth, passionately repeated, 
 "•Thus would I devour all the miscreants!" Ronsin, 
 alternately a mediocre pamphleteer, a contractor, and 
 a general, combined considerable intelligence with 
 uniloubted courage and great activity. Naturally 
 prone to exaggerated dogmas, but ambitious withal, 
 he was the most distinguished of those adventurers 
 who had pressed forward to serve as the instruments 
 of the new government. Nominated cliief of tlie re- 
 volutionary army, he revolved the means of turning 
 his position to account, cither for his own behoof or 
 for tlie advancement of his proper system. He and 
 
 * On tlie 14th Pluviose (2d February* 
 
 Vincent, when confined together in the prison of the 
 Luxembourg, had always demeaned themselves as 
 superiors ; from the first, they boasted they would 
 prevail over intrigue, issue forth in triumph by the 
 exertions of their partisans, and then return to enlarge 
 the captive patriots and dispatch all the other pri- 
 soners to the guillotine. Throughout their detention 
 they had cruelly annoyed the unfortunate persons in- 
 carcerated with them ; and when they were happily 
 removed, they left them full of terror. 
 
 No sooner beyond the walls of the Luxembourg 
 than they loudly proclaimed tliey would have their 
 revenge, and speedily find means to reckon with their 
 enemies. The committee of public welfare had been 
 almost constrained to liberate them ; but it was not 
 slow in perceiving it had unchained two furies, whom 
 it was essential to render with aU promptitude inca- 
 pable of injury. At the period of their release there 
 remained at Paris 4000 men of the revolutionary army. 
 Tliese were in great part composed of adventurers, 
 thieves, and Septembrizers, who assumed the mask of 
 patriotism, and infinitely preferred a roving and 
 plundering career in the interior to incurring a life of 
 hardship and peril by joining the armies on the fron- 
 tiers. Those contemptible bullies, with their fierce 
 mustaches and long swords, exercised an insufferable 
 despotism in all public places. Besides, possessing 
 artillery, munitions, and an enterprising leader, they 
 might really become dangerous to the governmg power. 
 To them were joined the restless characters swarming 
 in the offices of Vincent's department. That person 
 was their civil chief, as Ronsin was their military one. 
 They held correspondence with tlie commune through 
 Hcbert, the substitute of Chaimiette, and through 
 Pache the mayor, who made it a point to entertain 
 all parties and to court men of formidable uifluence. 
 Momoro, one of the presidents of the Cordelier Club, 
 was their faithful partisan and advocate with the Ja- 
 cobins. Thus Ronsin, Vincent, Hebert, Chaumette, 
 and Momoro, were classed together; and to the list 
 were added Pache and Bouchottc, as functionaries 
 who allowed them to usurp two important branches 
 of authority. 
 
 These men observed no measure in their discourse 
 against the national representatives, wlio designed, as 
 they alleged, to perpetuate their power and show favour 
 to aristocrats. One day, happening to dme with 
 Pache, they met at his table Legendre, the friend of 
 Danton, formerly the imitator of his vehemence, now 
 of his reserve, and the victim of that imitation, for he 
 encountered the attacks which the boldest shrunk 
 from directing against Dantou himself. Ronsin and 
 Vincent took the opportunity of assailing him in terms 
 of contumely. Vincent, who had been under obhga- 
 tions to him, saluted him, saying that he saluted tlie 
 old and not the new Legendre ; that the new Legendre 
 had become a moderate, and had forfeited all title to 
 esteem. Vincent afterwards sneeringly asked him 
 whether he had worn the costume of a deputy in his 
 missions. Legendre having answered that he wore it 
 in the armies, Vincent observed that it was doubtless 
 a very grand uniform, but unworthy of true republi- 
 cans ; adding, that he would dress up an effigy in the 
 costume, assemble the people, and say to them — " Be- 
 hold the representatives you have given yourselves ! 
 They preach equality to you, and deck themselves in 
 gold and feathers!" He moreover intimated that he 
 would set fire to the aforesaid effigy. Legendre, there- 
 upon, told him he was a fool and a seditious Enave. 
 Tlie polite dialogists rose to end their encounter by 
 personal combat, but were restrained by tlie pitiable 
 terror of their host. Legendre, addressing himself to 
 Ronsin, who appeared more calm, m-ged him to tran- 
 quillise Vincent ; to which appeal Ronsin responded 
 l)y stating that his friend Vincent was certainly hot 
 but that his character suited the circumstances of the 
 times, and that such men were needed in the present 
 emergency. " You have a faction," he added, " in the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 3fi9 
 
 heart of the convention ; unless you take care to get 
 rid of it, you will render us a severe account." Le- 
 gendrc left the house with indignation, and repeated 
 abroad what he had seen and heard during the enter- 
 tainment. The conversation thus becoming public, 
 gave a more striking idea of the audacity and frenzy 
 of the two men so recently liberated from thraldom. 
 
 At the same time, these parties professed a high 
 respect for Pache and his virtues, as the Jacobins had 
 formerly done when he was in the ministry. It was 
 the fortune of Pache to charm by his complaisance 
 and mildness the most violent factionists. They were 
 delighted to find their passions approved by a man 
 bearing all the outward semblance of eminent sagacity. 
 The new revolutionists, they affirmed, would make him 
 an important personage in their government ; for, with- 
 out having any definite aim, without having formed any 
 project, or indeed possessing the requisite hardihood 
 for an insurrection, they vapoured prodigiously, after 
 the fashion of all disturbers, who begin by testing and 
 stimulating their spirit in words of sound and fury. 
 They every where proclaimed the time arrived for 
 new institutions. The only objects that met their 
 approbation in the actual system of the government 
 were the revolutionary tribunal and arm}-. Conse- 
 quently, they imagined a constitution whereof the 
 prominent features were a supreme tribunal presided 
 by a grand-judge, and a militarj' council directed by 
 a generalissimo. In this goverumerit, trials, as well 
 as admmistrative details, would be conducted upon 
 military principles. The generalissimo and the grand- 
 judge were the two chief personages. To the tribmial 
 would be assigned a grand-accuser, mider the title of 
 censor, whose functions were to consist in instituting 
 prosecutions. Tluis, in this scheme, the wild ofi'spring 
 of revolutionary ferment, the two material, if not soli- 
 tary provinces of government, were to condemn and 
 give battle. We are ignorant v/hether the project 
 originated with some enthusiast in a delirium, or with 
 several amongst the extreme party ; and whether it 
 had any other existence than in verbal froth, or was 
 regularly digested ; but this mvich is certain, that its 
 model was to be found in the revolutionary commis- 
 sions established at Lyons, Marseilles, Toulon, Bor- 
 deaux, and Nantes, and that the imaginatiou being 
 heated by the awfid occurrences in those great cities, 
 their ruthless executors longed to govern all Finance 
 on the same plan, and to make the violence of a day 
 the type of a permanent government. As yet one 
 only of the individuals proposed to be elevated to these 
 supreme dignities was designated. Pache was admi- 
 rably adapted for the office of grand-judge; and, ac- 
 cordingly, the confederates gave out that he was des- 
 tined to fill it, and shoidd assuredly do so. Without 
 knowing any thing of the scheme in embryo, or of this 
 extraordinary dignity of grand-judge, many repeated 
 as matter of gossip — " Pache is to be made grand- 
 judge." This rumour circulated without being either 
 explained or compi-ehended. As to tlic post of gene- 
 ralissimo, Konsin, although general of the revolution- 
 ary araiy, ventured not to aspire, nor his partisans to 
 propose him for it, because a greater name than his 
 was required for sucli a dignity. Chamuette, too, was 
 indicated by certain of the initiated as censor, but his 
 name was more rarely mentioned. Amidst the various 
 reports, none became well-established save that wliich 
 affirmed Pache to be the intended grand-judge. 
 
 Dm-ing the Avhole coiu-se of tlie revolution, when- 
 ever the passions of a party, after long incitement, 
 were ready to burst the tranunels of control, it was 
 always a defeat, a treason, a dearth, some calamity, 
 in short, which served as the pretext for explosion. 
 The examjile was not belied in the ]irescnt instance. 
 Tlie Second law of the maximum, wiiich, stretching 
 beyond the stores of retailers, fixed tlie value of com- 
 n^odities at the jJace of production, determined tlie 
 cost of transport, and settled the profit of the wliole- 
 sale dealer and also that of tlie retailer, had, we are 
 
 aware, been passed; but trade still eluded in various 
 ways the despotism of the law, evading it above all 
 in the most disastrous form — stagnation. Articles of 
 consumption were not less withheld than formei'ly ; and 
 if they were no longer reinsed to purchasers at the 
 par value of assignats, they were hoarded or not 
 moved, and thus ceased to be transported to the great 
 emporiums of commerce. Tliis general stagnation of 
 trade naturally caused great scarcity. Nevertheless, 
 the extraordinary efforts of the government, and the 
 indefatigable labours of the committee for sui)plies and 
 provisions, had partly succeeded in preventing an ex- 
 treme deficiency of grain, and, above all, in allajing 
 the di-ead of a famine, equally formidable as the reality, 
 on account of the doubts and uncertainties it pro- 
 vokes in commercial relations. But a new calamity 
 had lately happened to aggravate existing difficulties, 
 namely, a falling off in the supply of meat. The 
 droves of cattle that La Vendee sent into the neigh- 
 bouring provinces before the insurrection, no longer 
 arrived. The departments of the Rhine had likewise 
 ceased to furnish any since they had become the seat 
 of war; whence there resulted a considerable dimi- 
 ntition in the actual quantity forwarded from the 
 grazing districts. Fm-thermore, the butchers, buying 
 animals at a high price and obliged to sell them at 
 the arbitrary rate of tlie maximiun, laboured diligently 
 to evade the law. The good meat was reserved for 
 the rich, or for the thriving tradesmen, who were able 
 and content to pay extravagantly. Clandestine sales 
 were made in great abundance, especially in the envi- 
 rons of Paris and in the country ; so that there re- 
 mained merelj^ the refuse for the jjeople, and for such 
 buyers as visited the public shops, and bargained on 
 the basis of the maximum. Thus the butchers were 
 compensated for tlie low price at A^hicli they were 
 constrained to sell by the inferior quaUty of their 
 merchandise. The popidacc raised furious outcries 
 against the weight and quality of the meat, against 
 merry-makings, and against the secret markets esta- 
 blished around Paris. Upon the failure of cattle fit 
 for the shambles, it had been found necessary to 
 slaughter cows with calf. The populace instantly 
 exclaimed that the butcher aristocrats wished to de- 
 stroy the species, and loudly demanded the penalty 
 of death against all who should kill cows or ewes with 
 young. But this was far from being the extremity 
 of the evil ; vegetables, fruits, eggs, butter, fish, no 
 longer appeared in the markets. A cabbage often 
 realised twenty sous (tenjience). The carts were met 
 on the highways, siurounded b_y clamorous competi- 
 tors, and their burdens inirchased at any price ; little 
 arrived in Paris, where the people were anxiously but 
 fruitlessly awaiting the necessary supplies. Whenever 
 any branch of industry is opened, persons are quickly 
 found to prosecute it. Employment was to be gained 
 by scouring the coimtry, and forestalling gardeners 
 and farmers bringing vegetables and other produce 
 to market ; and a multitu(le of men and women eagerly 
 assumed the labour, buying the articles on account of 
 afiUient individuals, by paying for them above the 
 maximum value. Wherever a market better provi- 
 sioned than others was heard of, thither sjieeded those 
 active iiiterlo])ers, and carried away every edible frag- 
 ment at jiriccs far sujierior to the fixed tariff. The 
 jieople were moved with extreme wrath against those 
 who folldwed tliis trade; it was even said that in the 
 number were many of those unfortunate jiublic females 
 wliom the ordinances of Chaumette liad driven from, 
 their wretched avocation, and who, as a means of live- 
 lihood, had embraced this novel jirofession. 
 
 To obviate all thi-se inconveniences, the commune 
 had ordained, on tlie reiterated jietitions of the sec- 
 tions, that the butchers should no longer 1)0 ])C'niiitted 
 to meet the? droves of cattle on the way, or tr:ifiic out 
 of the ordinary markets ; that they might kill only 
 in the authorised slaugliter-houses ; that meat should 
 be sold only in the stalls ; that none should be allowed
 
 390 
 
 HISTOHY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 to anticipate the farmers in tlieir progress to town, 
 but that upon their arrival tlicy shoiild be directed 
 by the police, and distri!)uted in equal proportions 
 amongst the different markets ; and that it sliould be 
 unlawfid to take station at the butchers' doors before 
 six in the morning, it often happening that persons 
 rose at three for tliat purpose. 
 
 These niidti])lied regulations were all inadequate to 
 relieve the peo])le from the sufferings they endured. 
 The ultra-revolutionists racked their imaginative 
 powers for additional expedients. A final idea had 
 occurred to them, to wit, that the ornamental gardens 
 so numerous in tlie faubourgs of Paris, and especially 
 in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, might be put under 
 cultivation. The conunune, which refused them no- 
 thing, had immediately ordered a survey and allot- 
 ment of tliose gardens, upon which being accomplished, 
 it was determined that potatoes and pot-herbs shouKl 
 be there i-eared. INloreover, tliey had surmised that 
 tlie cause of vegetables, dairy produce, and poultry, 
 not arriving in the city, was imputable to the aristo- 
 crats who had withdrawn to their country-houses. It 
 was a fact tliat many of the wealthy classes liad re- 
 treated to the concealment of their residences around 
 Paris. Certain sections a])peared before the conunune, 
 urging it to pass an ordinance or to demand a law 
 for the purpose of compelling their return. Chau- 
 mettc, however, feeling that sucli an interference 
 would be too odious a violation of personal liberty, 
 contented himself with delivering a threatening ora- 
 tion against the aristocrats in retii'ement aromid the 
 city. He addressed to them an invitation to re-enter 
 Paris ; and further, at his instance, the village muni- 
 cipalities were exhorted to keep a strict wateli on 
 their proceedmgs. 
 
 Impatience under the distress, meanwhile, attained 
 an alarming height. In all the markets a frightful 
 disorder reigned. Tunmlts arose every instant. Ap- 
 plicants had to stand in a row at the doors of the 
 butchers, and notwithstanding the proliibition to at- 
 tend there before a certain hour, the same eagerness 
 to anticipate others was still evinced. A custom which 
 had originated at tlie bakers' shops was adopted here 
 also : a rope was attached to the post of the stall, which 
 each grasped and firmly held to maintain his station. 
 But it happened, as before th.e bakers', that mischie- 
 vous or backward persons cut tlie cords, whereupon 
 the ranks were confounded, the attendant throng 
 was thrown into the direst confusion, and vehement 
 wrangles, nay, pugilistic struggles, repeatedly ensued. 
 All ingenuity seemed baflied. The people could 
 not, as previous to the 31st Jlay, complain that the 
 convention refused a law for the maximum, the object 
 of all hopes, since it in truth granted everv demand. 
 The wildest imagination being now at a loss for de- 
 vices, the convention indeed was no longer troubled 
 Avith siiggestions or conunaiids. Still, however, it 
 was impossible that the voice of vituperation should 
 be stilled : the epauletters, the clerks in Eouchotte's 
 war-offices, and the Cordeliers, exclaimed that the 
 cause of the dearth lay in the moderate faction of the 
 convention ; that Camille-Desmoulins, Philippeaux, 
 Bourdon de I'Oise, and their friends, were the authors 
 of all the evils afflicting the community ; that exist- 
 ence was no longer possible under such calamities, and 
 that recourse must be had to extraordinary means ; 
 adding the old phrase in requisition during ever^- in- 
 surrection — " We want a chief." Then they wliisiiered 
 mysteriously amongst themselves — " Fache must be 
 made grand-judge." 
 
 At the same time, although this violent party could 
 bring considerable means to bear, and had in its fa- 
 vour the revohitionary army and a famine, the govern- 
 ment and ])ublic opinion, as represented by the all- 
 pervading Jacobins, were arrayed against it. Ilonsin, 
 Vincent, and Hc'bert were constrained to profess out- 
 ward respect for the estalilislied authorities, to conceal 
 their designs, and to cabal in the shade. At the eras 
 
 of the 10th Aug-ust and the 31st May, the conspirators, 
 masters of the commune, the Cordelier, Jacobin, and 
 all the clubs, and having in the national assembly and 
 its committees numerous and energetic partisans, 
 could jirosecute their plots in the face of day, openly 
 instigate the people to abet them, and use large masses 
 in the execution of their purposes ; but the case was 
 very diiferent with the party of ultra-revolutionists. 
 
 Tlie paramount authority of the time refused no 
 extraordinary measures of defence or even of ven- 
 geance ; no acts of treachery belied its vigilance ; on 
 the contrary, victories on all the frontiers attested at 
 once its strength, ability, and zeal. Consequently, 
 those who assailed that authority and promised supe- 
 rior energy or capacity, were obviously influenced by 
 views of personal ambition or by an inordinate thirst 
 for disorder. Such, in truth, was the pul)lic conviction, 
 and the caballists could have but slender hopes of draw- 
 ing the people in their wake. Thus, although they 
 might become formidable if left to agitate, they were 
 very partially so if timeously grappled witli. 
 
 The committee narrowly observed them, and it con» 
 tinned, in a series of reports, to analyse the two op- 
 posing parties. In the ultra-revolutionists it perceived 
 veritable conspirators to destroy ; but in the moderates 
 it beheld merely old friends still participating its opi- 
 nions, whose patriotism seemed above suspicion. But, 
 to avoid even the semblance of retrogression in the 
 suppression of the ultra-revolutionists, it was necessi- 
 tated to condemn the moderates, and remind them 
 ever and anon of the sword of terror. These ventured 
 to retort. Camille published further numbers of his 
 journal ; Danton and his friends combated in discourse 
 the reasons of the committee ; and thus ensued an 
 avowed warfare carried on by the press and by verbal 
 recrimination. Acrimony was of course engendered ; 
 and Saint-Just, Robespierre, Barrere, and BiUaud, who 
 had originally repudiated the moderates solely from 
 policy and in order to strengthen their hands against 
 the ultra-revolutionists, now began to attack tliem 
 with tlie virulence of personal spleen and hatred. Ca- 
 mille had previously assailed CoUot and Barrere, as 
 we narrated at the time. In his letter to Dillon, he 
 had ridicided the dogmatical fanaticism of Saint-Just 
 and the monkish austerity of Billaud, in a strain of 
 sarcasm they bitterly resented. Robespierre, also, he 
 had incensed at the Jacobin Club, and, even whilst 
 grossly lauding him, he had contrived to rouse all the 
 implacable ire of the man. Danton was offensive in 
 their eyes on account of his fame ; and now tliat he 
 stood aloof from the conduct of affairs, censuring the 
 government, and appearing to instigate the caustic 
 and gossiping* pen of Camille, he necessarily became 
 still more odious to them. It was not probable tliat 
 I!obespierre would again incur the hazard of defend- 
 ing him. 
 
 Robespierre and Saint-Just, who were accustomed 
 to draw up expositions of principles in the name of 
 the connnittee, and were in some sort charged with 
 the moral part of the government, whilst Barrere, 
 Carnot, Billaud, and others, undertook the material 
 and administrative part, presented two reports, the 
 one " on the moral principles which ought to actuate 
 the revolutionary government," and the other on tlie 
 detentions whereof Camiile had complained in his 
 (Jld Cordelier. It is interesting to learn how two 
 such spmbre spirits understood the revolutionary go- 
 vernment, and what were their means of regenerating 
 a state. 
 
 " The principle of the government-democratic is 
 virtue," said Robespierre,f "and its agency, whilst 
 consolidating, is terror. We propose to substitute, in 
 our native country, morality for selfishness, probity 
 for honour, principles for usages, duties for civilities, 
 tlie empire of reason for the tyranny of fashion, con- 
 tempt of vice for contempt of mischance, stateliness 
 
 * An expression of Camille himself. 
 
 t Sitliiig of the 17lh Pluviose, ye;u- 2 (."Jth February).
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 391 
 
 for insolence of bearing, high-mindediiess for vanity, 
 the love of glory tV)r the love of pelf, honest men for 
 polite society, merit for intrigue, genius for wit, truth 
 for show, the charms of content for the lassitude of 
 voluptuousness, the greatness of man for tlie pettiness 
 of the great, a people magnanimous, puissant, and 
 happy, for a people agreeable, frivolous, and wretched ; 
 that is to say, all the virtues and marvels of a republic 
 for all the vices and absurdities of a monarchy." 
 
 To attain this desirable end, an austere and ener- 
 getic government was needed, so he maintained, fitted 
 to surmount resistances of every kind. On the one 
 hand was brutal and lustful ignorance, seeking only 
 for riot and confusion in the republic ; and on tlie 
 other, vile and effeminate corruption, sighing for the 
 enjoyments of former luxuriousness, and incapable of 
 submitting to the hardy virtues of democrac3\ Hence 
 two factions ; the one striving to carry all tilings to 
 extremes — to dethrone God liimself mider the plea of 
 attacking superstition, and to shed torrents of blood 
 under tlie pretext of avenging the republic ; the other 
 weak and vicious, boasting itself " not svfficienthj vir- 
 tuous to be so inexorable" and ignominiously lamenting 
 over all the sacrifices which the consolidation of virtue 
 rendered necessary. "The first of these factions," 
 Saint-Just averred,* ^'■wishes to convert liberty into a 
 bacchanal, the latter into a prostitute." 
 
 Robespierre and Saint- J ust set forth the follies of 
 certain agents of the revolutionary government, and 
 of two or three procurators of communes, who had 
 pretended to revive the energy of Marat ; and tliey also 
 alluded to the various extravagances of Hebert and 
 his associates. They afterwards desc;uited on the fail- 
 ings of weakness, complaisance, and sensibility, im- 
 puted to the new moderates ; reproaching them -with 
 mourning over the lot of generals' widows, of intrigu- 
 ing women belonging to the old nobility, and of all 
 female aristocrats, and with incessantly expatiating 
 on the severities of the repuljlic, althougli far inferior 
 to the cruelties of monarchies. "You have," said 
 Saint- Just, " one hundred thousand persons in deten- 
 tion, and the revt)lutionary tribunal has already con- 
 denuied three hundred of the guilty. But under the 
 monarchy you had four hundred tliousand prisoners ; 
 fifteen thousand illicit traders were hanged every year ; 
 three thousand men were broken on the wheel ; and 
 even at tlie present day, there are four millions of 
 captives in Europe to whose cries you are insensible, 
 whilst your parricidal moderation would allow aU the 
 enemies of your own government to triunipli ! We 
 are overwhelmed with reproaches, wliilst kings, a 
 thousand times more cruel than we, are left to slimi- 
 ber in crime!" 
 
 Tlie two reporters added, agreeably to the precon- 
 ceived system, that both factions, in appearance an- 
 tagonistic, had a common basis, the foreigner, who 
 incited them to their respective agitation with the 
 design of ruining the republic. 
 
 We here perceive how much of fanaticism, policy, 
 and hatred was incongruously commingled in tlie sys- 
 tem of the committee. Caniille deemed himself and 
 liis friends attacked by allusions and even by direct 
 cxjiressions. He replied, in his Old Cordelier, to the 
 assumption or theory of virtue by upholding the i)rin- 
 ciple of hai)piness. He stated that he loved the re- 
 public because it was calculated to increase general 
 felicity; because commerce, industry, and civilisation 
 had been developed with greater lustre at Athens, 
 Venice, and Florence, than in any monarchy; and be- 
 cause a republic alone could realise that deceiitive 
 promise of the monarchy, "A fowl in the pot." " W'liat 
 would Pitt care that France were free," exclaimeil 
 Camille, " if freedom only served to carrj"^ us back to 
 the ignorance of the okl Gauls, to their coarse and 
 uncouth raiment, their braccce and saiji, to their food 
 of acorns, and to their huts of clay ? 1 ar from lament- 
 
 * Reiwrt of the 8th Ventose (2Gth February). 
 
 ing, it occurs to me tliat Pitt would give very many 
 guineas to have such liberty established amongst us. 
 But the English government would be rendered frantic 
 if tliat were said of France which Dicosarchus said of 
 Attica — ' In no part of the world can a man live more 
 agreeably tlian at Athens, whether he have money or 
 have none. Those who have acquired Mealth, by 
 commerce or by their industry, are able to procure 
 every imaginable comfort ; and as to those who are 
 3'et struggling with the world, there are so many 
 workshops where they may earn enough to divert 
 theniselv'cs at the Anthesteries, and yet put something 
 aside, that none can have cause to complain of poverty, 
 without implying a reproach on himself for idleness.' 
 
 I therefore hold that liberty does not exist in an 
 equality of privations, ahd that it would convey the 
 highest eulogiuni on tlie convention if it could thus 
 speak in testimony of itself — ' I found the nation sans 
 culottes [brcechless], and I leave it culuttee [lireeched].' ' 
 
 " How delectable a democracy was that of Athens !" 
 added Camille. " Solon did not pass therein for a 
 debauchee ; he was not less regarded as the model of 
 legislators, and proclaimed by the oracle the first of 
 the seven sages, although he cared not to confess his 
 inclination for wine, women, and music ; and he has 
 a reputation for wisdom so firmly established, that 
 even at the present day his name is pronounced in the 
 convention and the Jacobin Club as that of the greatest 
 legislator. How many amongst us are held as aristo- 
 crats and Sardanapaluses who have published no such 
 profession of faith ! 
 
 And the divine Socrates, one day, meeting Alci- 
 biades gloomy and thoughtful, probably because a 
 letter from Aspasia had troubled him — ' What dis- 
 tresses you ?' said to him that gravest of Mentors ; 
 ' have you lost your shield in battle ? Have you been 
 overcome in the camp, on the race-course, or in the 
 hall of arms ? Has some one sung better or played 
 more sweetly on the h^re than you at the general's 
 table ?' How admirably does this depict the manners 
 of the time ! What amiable republicans !" 
 
 Camille subsequently complained that not only the 
 manners of Athens, but the freedom of language pre- 
 valent in that republic, were idike proscribed. Aris- 
 tophanes, he said, represented generals, orators, philo- 
 sophers, and the ]ieople themselves, on the stage ; and 
 the people of Athens, sometimes i^ourtrayed in the 
 character of an old man. sometimes in that of a youth, 
 far from being irritated, proclaimed Aristophanes 
 victor of the games, and rewarded him with crowns 
 and plaudits. JIany of those comedies were directed 
 against the ultra-revolutionists of that age, and were 
 filled with the bitterest raillery. "And if any one," 
 added Camille, " should now translate one of those 
 pieces represented 430 years before Christ, under the 
 Archon Stenocles, Hebert would assert at the Corde- 
 lier Club that it could only be a work of yesterday, 
 the invention of Fabre-d'Eglantine, levelled at him and 
 Ronsin, and that the translator was the cause of the 
 scarcity." 
 
 " Nevertheless," resumed Camille, mournfully, " I 
 err when I state that men are changed ; tliey have 
 idways been the same: liberty of speech met with no 
 greater impunity in ancient reiaiblics than in modern, 
 Socrates, accused of having (lenied the gods, drank 
 hemlock ; Cicero, for having attacked Antony, was 
 included in the ])roscription." 
 
 In this passage the writer seemed to predict that 
 license wouhl l)e no more pardonid in him than in so 
 many of tlie illustrious dead. His pleasantries, his 
 lively elo(iucnee, in truth, greatly exasi)erated the 
 conimittee. Whilst it merely kept a watchful eye on 
 Ronsin, Hebert, Vincent, and the other agitators, it 
 harboured a deadly hatred against the oi)en-hcarted 
 Camille, who laughed at its systems; against Danton, 
 wiio was liekl to instigate him in the tone of his arti- 
 cles ; and, moreover, agauist all the supposed friends 
 or partisans of those two leaders.
 
 392 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 In adherence to its prescribed line of conduct, the 
 committee presented two decrees in connexion with 
 the rcfwrts of Robespierre and Saint-Just, tending, it 
 averred, to render the people happy at the expense of 
 their enemies. By these decrees, the committee of 
 general safety was solely invested with the faculty of 
 examining the reclamations of prisoners, and of libe- 
 rating them if ascertained to be patriots. All those, 
 on the other hand, who were recognised as enemies of 
 the revolution, should remain in confinement until the 
 peace, and then be banished for life. Their possessions, 
 provisionally sequestrated, were appointed to be di- 
 vided amongst indigent patriots, of whom lists were 
 to be frameil by the communes.* This was, in reality, 
 an agrarian law, applied against tlie suspected for the 
 profit of the patriots. These decrees, conceived by 
 Saint-Just, were intended as answers to the ultra- 
 revolutionists, and as measures calculated to preserve 
 the committee its reputation for energj'. 
 
 Mcanwliile, the caballists bestirred themselves witli 
 increasing violence. There is nothing to prove that 
 their designs were definitively considered, or that they 
 had brought Pache and the commune into their con- 
 federacy. But they agitated in like manner as before 
 the 31st May; they incited the popular societies, the 
 Cordeliers, and the sections, busied themselves in pro- 
 pagating alarming rumours, and sought all means to 
 profit bj' the troubles and discontent springing from 
 the scarcity, Mrhich eveiy day rendered more general 
 and severe. 
 
 Suddenly inflammatory placards and tracts appeared, 
 affixed and distributed in the various markets, insist- 
 ing that the convention was the cause of all the cala- 
 mities affecting the people, and that the dangerous 
 faction which was striving to revive the Brissotins 
 and their hateful system must be thence rooted out. 
 Some of these publications even maintained that the 
 entire convention ought to be renewed, a chief nomi- 
 nated, and the executive power organised, &c. In 
 short, all the ideas that Vincent, Eonsin, and Hebert, 
 were known to entertain, formed the staple of these 
 productions and seemed to betray their origin. At 
 the same time, the epauletters, more turbulent and 
 overbearing than ever, were heard openly to threaten 
 that they would scour the prisons and exterminate the 
 enemies whom the corrupt convention persisted in 
 sparing. They asserted, moreover, that numerous 
 patriots were unjustly confounded in captivity with 
 the aristocrats, but whom it was their intention to 
 select from the impure, and invest at once witli liberty 
 and arms. Ronsin, in grand costume as general of the 
 revolutionary army, wearing a tri-coloured scarf and 
 a huge scarlet tassel, and accompanied by several of 
 his officers, visited the prisons, inspected the registers, 
 and drew up analogous lists. 
 
 On the 15th Ventose (Gth IMarch), the section of 
 Marat, under the presidency of ]Momoro, assembled, 
 and indignant, as it recited, at the machinations of the 
 enemies of the people, it resolved by acclamation that 
 it was in a state of resistance ; that the table of the 
 declaration of rights should be veiled; and that it would 
 remain in such state until food and liberty were as- 
 sured to the people, and their enemies effectually 
 punished. During the same evening, the Cordeliers 
 mustered in a tumultuous gathering; their orators 
 expatiated on the public sufferings, and recounted the 
 persecutions recently undergone by those two pre- 
 eminent patriots, Ronsin and Vincent, who, they al- 
 leged, hatl Ixen ill whilst in the Luxemljom-g, and been 
 denied the common privilege of a physician to attend 
 them. In consequence, the country was declared in 
 danger, and the declaration of rights ordered to be 
 veiled. It was thus that all the insurrections had 
 commenced, by resolutions purporting the suspension 
 of all law, and the determination of the peojile to re- 
 sume the exercise of their sovereignty. 
 
 * Decrees of the 8th and 13th Ventose, j'ear 2. 
 
 On the morrow, the section of IMarat and the Cor- 
 deliers appeared before the commune to intimate their 
 resolutions, and induce it to adojjt similar proceedings. 
 Pache discreetly avoided attcudance. One named 
 Lubin presided at the comicil-general. He replied to 
 the deputation with evident embarrassment. lie said 
 it seemed sm-prising that the moment when the con- 
 vention was taking such energetic measures against 
 the enemies of the revolution, andinrelief of indigent 
 patriots, should be selected to hoist the signal of dis- 
 tress and to veil the declaration of rights. Then pre- 
 tending to justify the council-general, as if it were 
 accused, he affirmed that the council had ilireeted all 
 its energies to ensure adequate supplies and their 
 equitablis distribution. Chaumctte discom-sed in a 
 manner equally vague. He recommended peace and 
 concord, and strongly urged the completion of the 
 rei)orts on the cultivation of the ornamental gardens 
 and on the provisioning of the capital, wherein, ac- 
 cording to the decrees, supplies were to be accmnu- 
 lated as in a menaced fortress. 
 
 Thus the leaders of tlie comnnme hesitated: the 
 movement, although tunuiltuons, was not sufficiently 
 powerful to carry them in its wake, or to inspire them 
 with courage to betray the connnittee and the con- 
 vention. The disorder prevailing nevertheless was 
 extreme. An insurrection Avas commencing precisely 
 as those which had heretofore succeeded, and one cal- 
 culated to provoke equal apprehension. By an imlucky 
 fatality, too, the committee of public safety was de- 
 prived at the time of its most mfiuential members. 
 BiUaud-Varennes and Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre were 
 absent on affairs of administration; Couthon and 
 Robespierre were intlisposed, and the latter was dis- 
 abled from coming foi-th to rule his faithful Jacobins. 
 Upon Saint-Just and CoUot-d'Herbois alone devolved 
 the task of combating the danger. They repaired 
 together to the convention, wliere the members were 
 congregating m aU the hurry and trepidation of un- 
 seasonable atFright. On their proposition, Fouquier 
 Tinville Avas immediately summoned, and charged to 
 use all diligence in discovering the distributors of the 
 incendiary Avritings circulated in the markets, the 
 agitators who stirred up the popidar societies, and all 
 the conspirators, in short, who threatened the public 
 tranquillity. He was enjoined by an exjiress decree 
 to arrest them forthwith, and to render within three 
 days his report thereon to the convention. 
 
 It availed little to have extorted a decree from the 
 convention, for that body had never refused such 
 means against pertiu-bators ; the Girondists, for in- 
 stance, had been freely armed therewith against the 
 insurgent commune ; hence its execution altogether 
 depended on the committee enlistmg opinion in its 
 favour. Collot, who enjoyed great popularity amongst 
 the Jacobins and Cordeliers by his profii'iency in club 
 oratory, and, moreover, by an acceptal)le force of revo- 
 lutionary sentiment, undertook that charge, and pro- 
 ceeded in all haste to the Jacobin Club. Scarcely had 
 the members thereof assi'uibled, than he presented to 
 them a portraiture of the factions then endangering 
 liberty, and of the plots in preparation. " A fresh 
 campaign," he said, " is about to open ; the labours of 
 tlie committee, which so auspiciously terminated the 
 last campaign, were preparmg for the republic fresh 
 victories. Relying on your confidence and approba- 
 tion, which it has always assiduously laboured to 
 merit, the committee was piu-suing its operations, when 
 suddenly oiu" enemies have endeavoiu"ed to fetter it in 
 its course ; they have stimulated patriots against it, 
 with the view of setting them in opposition to it, and 
 of inciting them to slaughter each other. They wish 
 to make us soldiers of Cadmus; they would have 
 us immolated by the hands of our comrades. But 
 no, we will not be the soldiers of Cadnms ! Thanks 
 to your excellent spirit, we will remain friends, and 
 we "shall be the soldiers of liberty alone ! Supported 
 by you,, the committee will know how to resist with
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 393 
 
 energy, to repress the agitators, to expel them from 
 the ranks of the patriots ; and, after that indispensable 
 sacriiice, to prosecute its labours and your victories. 
 The post in Avhich you have placed us," added Collot, 
 " is perilous ; but none of us trembles before the danger. 
 The committee of general safety accepts its painful 
 mission to Avatch and pursue all the enemies who ma- 
 noeuvre in secret against liberty ; the committee of 
 public welfare neglects nothing to fulfil its vast duties ; 
 but both require to be supported by j-ou. In these 
 days of danger, we are but few. BiUautl and Jean- 
 Bon are absent ; our friends Couthon and Robespierre 
 are ill. We remain therefore m small force to combat 
 the enemies of the jjublic weal : we must either be 
 sustained by you or retire." " No, no," cried the 
 Jacobins ; " you need not retire — we will support 
 you!" Vociferous acclamations accompanied these 
 encouraging expressions. Collot continued, and nar- 
 rated what had passed at the Cordelier Club. " There 
 are men," said he, " who have lacked courage to suffer 
 a few days' detention — men who have undergone no 
 trials during the revolution — men whose advocacy we 
 have undertaken when we deemed them oppressed, 
 and who strive to excite an insurrection in Paris, 
 because they have been confined a few seconds. An 
 insurrection, because two men have suffered — because a 
 j)hysician did not attend them when they were unwell ! 
 Cursed be they Avho seek an insurrection !" " Yes, 
 yes ! cursed ! cursed !" responded all the Jacobms in 
 chorus. 
 
 " Marat was a Cordeliei-," resumed Collot-d'Herbois, 
 " and Marat was a Jacobin. Well ! he was persecuted 
 also, assuredly much more than these men of a day ; 
 he was dragged before the tribunal Avhere none but 
 aristocrats ought to appear : did he provoke an insur- 
 rection? No. The sacred insurrection, the insurrec- 
 tion appointed to free humanity from its oppressors, 
 takes birth in sentiments pmx-ly generous, not in such 
 petty feelings as those wherewith these men wovdd 
 fainly actuate us. But we will not fall into their snares. 
 The committee of public welfare Avill not yield to in- 
 triguers ; it is taking strong and vigorous measures ; 
 and, though it be destined to perish, it will not recoil 
 from its glorious task !" 
 
 When Collot ceased, Momoro essayed to justify the 
 section of Marat and the Cordeliers. He allowed that 
 a veil had been cast over the declaration of rights, but 
 he disavowed the other charges ; he denied the design 
 of an insurrection, and asserted that the section of 
 Marat and the Cordeliers were animated with the very 
 purest sentiments. AVhen conspirators are constrained 
 to retract and to prevaricate, they are already doomed. 
 When it comes to pass tliat they dare not avow their 
 insurrectionary purjiose, and that tlie mere announce- 
 ment of their aim fails to fire a mine of sympathy in 
 their favour, they are substantially powerless. Mo- 
 moro was heard with marked disapprobation ; and, 
 ultimately, Collot was commissioned to proceed, in 
 the name of the Jacobins, to fraternise with the Cor- 
 deliers, and to redeem those erring brethren from the 
 thraldom of pernicious monitors. 
 
 Tlie niglit l)eing already far advanced, Collot was 
 unable to visit the Cordeliers until tlie following day, 
 the 17th Ventose (8th Jlarch) ; but the danger, liow- 
 ever formidable at first, had visibly declined in mag- 
 nitude. It had l)een made evident that oi)inion was 
 not favourably disposed towards tlie consjyirators, ii 
 tliat name could be a])plied to them. The conmnme 
 liad shrunk at the critical moment, and the Jacobins 
 had adhered to the committeo and to Robespierre, 
 altlK)ugh that potential leader was debarred from ap- 
 pearing amongst them. The Cordeliers, albeit excited 
 and impetuous, but feebly directed, and, above all, de- 
 serted bythe communeand tlie Jacobins, could scarcely 
 be expected to resist the congenial dechunation of 
 Collot-d'Herbois, and the honour of seeing in thi'ir 
 tribune so renowned a member of the government. 
 Vincent, with aU or more than his wonted frenzy; He- 
 
 l)ert, with his despicable journal, of which he multi- 
 X>lied the numbers ; and Momoro, ANith his resolutions 
 of the Marat section — were utterly incompetent to in- 
 stigate a decisive movement. Ronsin alone, with his 
 epauletters and a considerable store of munitions, was 
 in a position to have attempted a sudden onslaught. 
 Nor did he lack the requisite audacity ; but whether 
 he found his friends deficient in the daring which ani- 
 mated his own breast, or whether he could not sufE- 
 ciently rely on his trooii, it is certain he remained 
 inactive; and from the IGth to the 17th, the crisis 
 reached not beyond the ferment of agitation and re- 
 dundant menaces. The epauletters spread through 
 the popidar societies, and tlirew them all into boiste- 
 rous tumult ; but they Avere overawed from having 
 recourse to arms. 
 
 On the evening of the 17tli, Collot repaired to the 
 Cordelier Club, where he was hailed Avith congratu- 
 latory acclaim. He explained to the members " that 
 the secret enemies of the revolution Avere seeking to 
 beguile their patriotism ; that they had been moved 
 to declare the republic in a state of distress, whereas 
 royalty and aristocracy alone Avere, at the moment, 
 in the throes of agony ; that Avicked men had endea- 
 voured to divide the Cordeliers and Jacobins, who 
 ought, on the contrary, to compose but one family, 
 united in principles and vicAvs; that the project of 
 an insurrection, and the veil thrown over the decla- 
 ration of rights, had gladdened the hearts of aristo- 
 crats, and tliat yesterday they had all imitated the 
 example, and shrouded in their saloons the declara- 
 tion of rights ; and that consequently, to avoid thus 
 signally gratifying the common enemy, it behoved 
 them Avith all speed to unveil the sacred code of 
 nature." The Cordeliers Avere regained liy such as- 
 surances, although a great number of Bouchotte's sub- 
 ordinates Avas amongst them ; they hastened to sig- 
 nalise their repentance by tearing away the crape 
 hung before the declaration of rights and delivering 
 it to Collot, with an entreaty to assure the Jacobins 
 that they would always march in an identical path. 
 
 Within a fcAv minutes Collot-d'Herbois was in the 
 midst of the Jacobins, proclaiming to them their vic- 
 tory over the Cordeliers and the ultra-revolutionists. 
 The conspirators Avere thencetbrth abandoned on all 
 sides ; the only resource left them Avas a bold and 
 sudden attack, which, as we have intimated, Avas al- 
 most impossible. The committee of public Avelfare 
 promptly resolved to prevent any such desperate 
 movement on their part, by causing the principal 
 leaders to be arrested, and sending them fortlnvith 
 before the revolutionary tribunal. It ordered Fouquier 
 to collect the facts necessary to prove a conspiracy, 
 and to prepare articles of impeachment Avithout delay. 
 MeaiiAvhile, Saint-Just Avas (•ommissicmed to make a 
 report to the convention against the united factions 
 Avhieh threatened the tranquillit.y of the state. 
 
 On the 23d Ventose (Kith March), Saint-Just pre- 
 sented his report. In conformity Avitli the adopted sys- 
 tem, he still pourtrayed the foreigner as instigating 
 tAvo factions seemingly adverse — the one composed of 
 seditious men, incendiaries, jjlundcrers, defaniers, and 
 atheists, who laboured to throw the republic into 
 chaotic confusion by exaggeration ; the otlier com- 
 posed of corruptionists, stockjobbers, and extortion- 
 ers, Avho, having yielded to the seductions and allure- 
 ments of pleasure, tended to enervate and dishonour 
 the republic. He allegi'd that the first of these two 
 factiuns had taken the initiative, and had endeavoured 
 to raise the standard of revolt, but that it Avould be 
 S])eedil3' su])pressed ; and he concluded by demanding 
 in consequence a decree of death against all, in gene- 
 ral terms, who had meditated the subversion of the 
 existing authority, assisted in corrupting the public 
 mind and r(.']nil)lican nianners, impeded the arrival of 
 sui)])lies, and contriliuted in any manner to tlie plan 
 haldied by the alien. Saint-Just subsequently mided, 
 that, from this time forth, "// wan vecessaru to in-
 
 394 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 scribe on the order of the day, justice, probity, and all 
 republican virtues." 
 
 In this report, indited in a spirit of fanatical Aio- 
 lence, all the factions were etiually menaced; but 
 there were exphcitly devoted to the mercies of tl>e 
 revolutionary tribunal only the ultra-revolutionary 
 conspirators," such as Ronsin, Vincent, Ilebert, &c., 
 and the corruptionists Chabot, Bazire, Fabre, and 
 Julien, the fiibricators of the false decree. A sinister 
 reserve was affected towards those whom Saint-Just 
 stigmatised as " indulgents" and " moderates." 
 
 In the course of the same evenmg, Eobespierre ap- 
 peared at the Jacobin Club with Coutlion, and both 
 were greeted with entluisiastic cheers. Tlie members 
 surrounded them, congratulated them on tlie re-esta- 
 blishment of their health, and promised towards 
 Robespierre in particular an unlimited devotion. He 
 moved an extraordinary sitting for the morrow, witli 
 the view of elucidating tlie mystery of the detected 
 conspiracy. The sitting was voted at once. The 
 cibse(|ui(>us eagerness of tlie commune w:.s co.ually 
 striking. On the proposition of Cliaumette himself, 
 it was resolved to soUcit a formal commmucation of 
 the report delivered by Saint-Just to the convention ; 
 and meanwhile messengers were dispatched to the 
 printing-office of the republic to obtain a copy for 
 immediate perusal. All submitted with perfect doci- 
 lity to the triumxihant power of the committee of 
 public welfare. During tliat night, Fouquier-Tinville 
 took into custody Hcbert, Vincent, Ronsin, Momoro, 
 Mazuel, one of Ronsin's officers; and, lastly, the 
 foreign banker Kock, an ultra-revolut«mary stock- 
 jobber, at whose table Hebert, Ronsin, and Vincent, 
 frequently regaled themselves and arranged all their 
 schemes. Thus the committee had two foreign 
 bankers available to convince the sceptical that tlie 
 two factions were impelled by the coalition. Tlie 
 Baron de Batz could serve to jn-ove the fact agauist 
 Chabot, Juhen, Fabre, against all alleged corrup- 
 tionists and moderates, in short ; and Kock was ad- 
 ducible to prove the same charge against Vmcent, 
 Ronsin, and the iiltra-revolutionists. 
 
 The prisoners enumerated liad siu-i-endered them- 
 selves without resistance, and they were consigned 
 the following day to the Luxembourg. Its previous 
 occupants tlironged joyfully forward to witness the 
 arrival of those fui-ious characters wlio had so cruelly 
 terrified them by the threat of a renewed September. 
 Ronsin evinced infinite firmness and indiffei'ence ; 
 the dastardly Hcbert drooped in hopeless depi'ession, 
 ]\romoro was struck with consternation, and Vincent 
 fell into con\nilsions. The report of these arrests cir- 
 culated rapidly through l\iris, and produced general 
 satisfaction. Unfortunately, it was attended witli a 
 further rumour that all was not yet finished, and tliat 
 tlie adherents of every faction were to be instantly 
 crushed. The assertion was accredited in the extra- 
 ordinary sitting of the Jacobins. After each had 
 recounted wliat he knew of the conspiracy, of its 
 autl ors, and of their projects, some Avere there who 
 roimdly intimated that all suspected jilots were to be 
 investigated, and that a report would be framed on 
 other men besides tiiose actually seized. 
 
 The offices of the war department, tlie revolutionary 
 army, and the Cordelier Club, were all struck at in 
 the persons of Vincent, Ronsin, Hebert, Mazuel, and 
 Momoro. An inclination was felt to aim a blow at 
 tlie commune also. The rumour touching the office 
 i of grand-judge being destined for Paclie, had been 
 muversally disseminated ; but he was known to be 
 incapable of engaging in a conspiracy, to be docile 
 towards the supreme authority, and to be respected 
 by the people ; wherefore it was deemed advisable to 
 refrain from tlie possibly hazardous experiment of 
 sending him to join his late associates, 'llie arrest of 
 Chaumette seemed preferable ; for although he was 
 neither bolder nor more dangerous than Raehe, yet he 
 had been, from vanity and a species of infatuation, the 
 
 autlior of many most imprudent resolutions on the 
 part of the commune, and one of the most zealous 
 apostles of the worsliip of Reason. Accordingly, the 
 unfortunate procurator was apprehended and trans- 
 mitted to the Luxembourg, in company witii Bishop 
 Gobel, principal actor in the famous scene of the 
 abjuration, and Anacharsis Clootz, already excluded 
 from the convention and the Jacobin Club on account 
 of his foreign origin, his nobility, liis wealth, his uni- 
 versal republic, and his atheism. 
 
 Wlien Cliaumette arrived at the Luxembourg, its 
 numerous inmates, the whole body of tlie suspected, 
 pressed eagerly to meet him, and discliarged upon his 
 head a storm of railleiy. lie, poor creature, with an 
 msatiable passion for declamation, was utterly devoid 
 of Ronsin's audacious spirit or of Vincent's furious 
 excitement. His lank hair and demure furtive aspect 
 gave him the appearance of a missionary ; and in 
 reality he had filled the part with respect to tlie 
 newly invented faith. The prisoners derided him for 
 his requisitions against courtesans, against aristocrats, 
 against the suspected, and regarding the famine. One 
 amongst them addressed him, with a low bow, thus — • 
 " Philosopher Anaxagoras, I am suspected, thou art 
 suspected, we are suspected." Cliaumette attempted 
 to exculpate himself in a deprecatory and trembling 
 tone. But thenceforward he never ventured to leave 
 his cell, or to appear in the court amidst his fellow- 
 captives. 
 
 After thus securing the purposed victims, the com- 
 mittee devolved on its consort of general safety the 
 task of framing the articles of accusation against 
 Chabot, Bazire, Delaunay, Julien of Toulouse, and 
 Fabre. All five were included in the same indictment, 
 and remitted to the revolutionary tribunal. At this mo- 
 ment, it was learned that a female emigrant, pursued 
 by a revolutionary committee, had fomid an asylum 
 under the roof of Heraidt-Sechelles. Already that 
 well-known deputy, who joined to a large fortune 
 high birth., an elegant exterior, and an accomphshed 
 and graceful mind — who was tlie friend of Danton, 
 Camille-Desmoulins, Proli — and who often shuddered 
 to find himself in the ranks of tliose fearful revolu- 
 tionists — had fallen under suspicion, and the merit of 
 being the principal author of the existing constitution 
 had been long forgotten. The committee hastily 
 seized the occasion to order his arrest, first because it 
 bore him no love, and secondly because it desired to 
 show it would proceed without any scruple against 
 all moderates surprised in delinquency, and treat 
 them with no greater measure of indidgence than 
 other offenders. Thus the wrath of the redoubtable 
 committee fell indiscriminately on men of all ranks, 
 all opinions, and all degrees of merit. 
 
 The trial of a portion of the conspirators commenced 
 on the 1st Germinal (20th jNIarch). In the same ar- 
 i-aignment were combined Ronsin, Vincent, Hebert, 
 jMomoro, Alazuel, Kock the banker, Leclere, a young 
 Lyonnese who had become the head of a department 
 in the war-office imder Bouchotte ; Ancar and l)u- 
 crocjuet, commissioners of supplies ; and certain other 
 members of the revolutionary army and the war mini- 
 stry. To maintain the supposition of confederacy be- 
 tween the ultra- revolutionary faction and that of the 
 foreigner, with these were confounded Proli, Dubuis- 
 son, Pereyra, and Desfieux, who had never held any 
 relations with them. Chaumette was reserved to figure 
 hereafter with Gobel and the other instigators of the 
 worship of Reason ; except that Clootz, who ought to 
 have been associated with the latter, was tacked to 
 Proli in his capacity of a foreigner. Tlie accused were 
 nineteen in number. Ronsin and Clootz were the most 
 firm and undaunted. " This," said Ronsin to his fel- 
 lows in misfortune, " is a political trial ; what avail 
 your papers and your labours at justification? You 
 will be condemned. When j^ou ought to have acted, 
 you talked ; now learn to die ! For myself, I swear 
 you will never see me quail ; eudeavom to do as much.'
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 395 
 
 The despicable Hubert and Momoro uttered f^-ievous I he could so accurately foreshow their purposes. The 
 lamentations, asserting?, amongst other things, that scarcity, with whicli they had reproacned the govern- 
 liberty was ruined. "Liberty ruined!" exclaimed | ment to excite the people, was nnputed to them alone - 
 
 Ronsin, " because a few miserable individuals are 
 about to perish ! Liberty is innnortal ; our enemies 
 will fall after us, and liberty will survive the whole!" 
 Recriminations suljscquently passing amongst them, 
 Clootz exhorted them not to aggravate their calami- 
 ties by mutual invectives, and lie repeated to them 
 the famous apologxie — • 
 
 " Je revais cette nuit que, de mal consumd, 
 C6te k cote d'un gueux on ni'avuit inhum^."* 
 
 The quotation had its effect, and tliey ceased to up- 
 braid each other Mith their common fate. Clootz, still 
 full of his philosophical opinions though so near the 
 scaffold, laboured diligently to eradicate the last rein- 
 nants of deism which might be still lingering in their 
 muids, and to the last preached the cause of nature 
 and reason with ardent zeal and an inconceivable con- 
 tempt of death. 
 
 They were conducted to the tribunal amidst a pro- 
 digious concourse of spectators. The recital of their 
 conduct has shown us in what their conspiracy 
 really consisted. Clubbists of the lowest grade, the 
 dregs of official schemers, thieves and murderers en- 
 rolled in the revolutionary army, they had exhibited 
 the usual exaggeration of inferiors, of subordinates 
 intrusted with commissions, who invariably exceed 
 their mandate. Thus they had endeavoured to urge 
 the revolutionary government into a mere military 
 commission, the abolition of a state religion into a 
 proscription of aU worsliip, republican manners into 
 revolting coarseness, liberty of speech into the most 
 disgusting grossness, democratic jealousy and severity 
 with regard to individuals, in fine, into a system of 
 the most atrocious defamation. Abusive expressions 
 against the convention and the ruling committee, wild 
 schemes of government verbally propounded, turbu- 
 lent motions at the Cordelier Club and in the sections, 
 foul placards and tracts, a visit by Ronsin to the pri- 
 sons, to ascertain whether any patriots were confined 
 therein as he himself had lately been ; lastly, certain 
 vapouring menaces, and an attempt at a movement 
 under favour of the general scarcity — such were their 
 plots. Herein was little more than the vile and stupid 
 effervescence of restless iniquity. A conspiracy pro- 
 foundly laid and concerted with the foreigner, was far 
 above the capacity of such despicable creatures. That 
 was the perfidious allegation of the committee, which 
 the infamous Fouquier-TinviUe was charged to main- 
 tain before the tribunal, and which the tribunal had 
 orders to hold irrefragably demonstrated. 
 
 The insulting language in wliich Vincent and Ron- 
 sin had iiididged towards Legendre, wlien dining in 
 his company with Pache, and their reiterated proposi- 
 tions f(jr organising the executive power, were adduced 
 as substantiating the project to annihilate the national 
 representation and the committee of jjublic; welfare. 
 Their repasts at the house of Kock tlie banker were 
 alleged as attesting their correspondence with the 
 foreigner. This charge was fiirtlier supported by tes- 
 timony of a diflerent character. Certain letters written 
 from Paris to London, and inserted in the Englisli 
 newspapers, had announced that, judging from the 
 prevailing agitation, fresh movements might be anti- 
 cipated. These letters were held to prove that the 
 foreigner was in the confidence of the accused, since 
 
 * [This apologue is a short poem of ten lines, the composition 
 of a Caen poet, named I'atrix, and written on his deathbed. It 
 contains but a trite moral. Tlie poet dreams that, dying, he is 
 buried by the side of a beggar, and disgusted with such eo7upany, 
 he abuses his companion in opprobrious terms, and connuands 
 him to begone. The beggar reminds the aristocratic poet tliat 
 where they have now met there is no distinction of rank. D'Israeli 
 I thus translates the concluding lines of the beggar's reply : — 
 
 " Here all are equal— now thy lot is mine !— 
 I on my dungliUl, as thou art on thine ! "] 
 
 for Fouquier, rendering calumny for calumny, main- 
 tained that they were the authors of tliis very dearth, 
 by causing the waggons bearing vegetables and other 
 produce to be pUlaged. The munitions collected at 
 Paris for the revolutionary army were charged upon 
 them as preparations for the conspiracy. The visit 
 of Ronsin to the prisons was given as evidence of a 
 design to arm the suspected and to turn them loose 
 on the Parisians. Lastly, the writings distributed in 
 the markets, and the veil thrown over the declaration 
 of rights, were represented as overt acts of actual 
 sedition. As for Hcbert, he was covered with infamy. 
 His political acts and his journal were scarcely alluded 
 to ; it was deemed enough to prove against him petty 
 thefts of shirts and liaudkerchiefs. 
 
 But let us turn from the odious discussions between 
 such degraded criminals and the equally degraded 
 accuser, of whom a terrible government made use to 
 accomplish the sacrifices it required. Holding alooi 
 in its elevated sphere, that government marked out 
 the individuals who were obstacles in its way, and 
 left to its attorney-general Fouquier-TinviUe the task 
 of satisfying forms by falsehoods. If, in this hideous 
 hecatomb, sacrificed to the exigenc^y of public tran- 
 quillity, any particular victims merit a separate notice, 
 they are those mifortunate strangers, Proli and Ana- 
 charsis Clootz, arraigned as agents of the coalition. 
 Proli, as we have narrated, being intimately acquainted 
 with Belgium, his native country, had blamed the ig- 
 norant violence of the Jacobins in that state ; he had, 
 moreover, admired the talents of Dumouriez, and 
 avowed it before the tribunal. His knowledge of 
 foreign courts had on different occasions rendered him 
 useful to Lebrim, and this he also avowed. " Thou 
 hast blamed the revolutionary system in Belgium," 
 said his judges ; " thou hast admired Dumouriez, thou 
 hast been the friend of Lebrun ; therefore art thou an 
 agent of the foreigner." There was not another fact 
 adduced against him. As to Clootz, his universal 
 republic, his creed of reason, his income of a liundred 
 thousand livres, and certain endeavours on his part 
 to save a female emigrant, sufficed to convict him. 
 Scarcely had the third day of the investigation com- 
 menced, than the jury declared itself sufficiently in- 
 formed, and forthwith condemned at one swoop the 
 whole array of intriguers, agitators, and aliens, to the 
 pains of death. One only was excepted, a person 
 named Laboureau, who had served in the affair as a 
 spy of the committee. On the 4th Germinal (24th 
 March), at four in the afternoon, the condemned were 
 conveyed to the ])Iace of execution. The crowd was 
 equally great as on any previous occasion. Places on 
 waggons and on tables disposed around the scaffold 
 were openly let to the highest bidders. Neither Ron- 
 sin nor Clootz qitaikil, to use their own terrible ex- 
 pression. Hebert, overwhelmed with disgrace, shame, 
 and scorn, made no effort to surmount his terror ; he 
 repeatedly fainted on the way, and the pojudace, brutal 
 as he himself was vile, followed the fatal cart, repeat- 
 ing the cry of the news-venders, " He is in a furious 
 passion, the Pere Ducliene!" 
 
 Thus were these worthless cliaraeters sacrificed to 
 the indispensable necessity of consolidating a firm and 
 vigorous government: and here the essential need of 
 order and obedience was not one of those sophisms 
 under cover of whicli governments are wont to immo- 
 late their victims. All Europe menaced France, and 
 at the very time, every ])resmii])tuous demagogue was 
 endeavouring to arrogate a share of authority, and 
 endangering the public welfare by incessant contests. 
 In such an exigency, it was absolutely requisite that 
 some superior and energetic men should seize and 
 ai)i)ropriate this disputed authority, hold it to the ex- 
 elusion of all, and l)e thereby enabled to direct its 
 whole force in resisting combined Europe. If we ex-
 
 396 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 perience any regret, it is to witness the employment 
 of falsehood against siu-h despicable persons ; to see 
 amongst them a man of great courage, Ronsin ; an 
 uioflensive maniac, Clootz ; and a foreigner, possibly 
 an intriguer, but no conspirator, and possessing a high 
 degree of merit, the imfurtunate rroli. 
 
 When the Hobertists had undergone their final 
 doom, tlie indidgents exhibited infinite joy, and ex- 
 claimed every where that they must have been right 
 in denouncing Hobcrt, Ronsin, and Vincent, since the 
 committee of jmblic welfare and the revolutionary 
 tribun;d had consigned them to death. " Of what, 
 therefore, can we be accused ?" they said. " Our only 
 offence is having reproached those factious individuals 
 with designing to overthrow the republic, destroy tlie 
 National Convention, supplant the committee of public 
 welfare, add the danger of religious to that of civil 
 war, and provoke general confusion. This is precisely 
 what 8aint Just and Fouquier-TinviUe upbraided 
 them witli, wlieu sending them to the scaffold. In 
 what can we be conspirators or enemies of the re- 
 public ? " 
 
 Nothing could be more just than these reflections, 
 and the committee thouglit exactly as Danton, Ca- 
 mille-Desmoulins, Philippeaux, or Fabre, respecting 
 the danger of that anarchical turbulence. In proof 
 whereof, Robes])ierre, since the 31st Jlay, had con- 
 stantly defended iJanton and Camille,a7id as constantly 
 animadverted upon tlie anarchists. But, as we have 
 already intimated, tlie committee, in crusliing the lat- 
 ter, exposed itself to the stigma of moderatism, and 
 was constramed to display unrelenting rigour in the 
 contrary direction, in order to avoid compromising its 
 revolutionary reputation. Albeit holding identical 
 sentiments witli Danton and Camille, the circum- 
 stances of the times made it imperative that it should 
 censure their ojiinions, repudiate tliem in its public 
 documents, and, in short, appear not to favour them 
 more than the Hebertists themselves. In his report 
 against the two factions, Saint-Just had accused the 
 one equally with the other, and had observed an omi- 
 nous silence with regard to indulgents. At the Jaco- 
 bin Club, Collot had stated that all was not concluded, 
 and that a report was preparing against others besides 
 the men actually arrested. To these menaces was 
 joined the ai)prehension of Herault-Sechelles, the 
 friend of Danton, and one of the most esteemed per- 
 sonages of the ej>ocli. Such indications were far from 
 announcing any intention to relax in severity, and yet 
 it was repeated on all sides that the committee pur- 
 posed to retrace its steps, to mitigate the revolution- 
 ary system, and to take vengeance on destroyers of 
 every description. Tliose who ardently longed for 
 such return to a more merciful policy — the detained, 
 their families, all the peaceable citizens, in short, 
 harassed under the name of " indifferents" — gave way 
 to those mdiscreet iiopes, and openly affirmed that the 
 government of blood was at length about to finish. 
 This was soon the general opinion; it circulated ra- 
 pidly in the departments, especially in those of tiie 
 Rhone, where some montlis previously such atrocious 
 vengeance had been wreaked, and through which 
 Ronsin had spread such terror. At Lyons, tlie inha- 
 bitants breathed freely for a moment, ventured to look 
 their op])ressors in the face, and seemed to warn them 
 that their cruelties woidd be brought to a speed}' ter- 
 mination. At these rumours, at these anticipations 
 of the middle and peaceable class, the patriots no 
 longer restrahied their indignation. The Jacobins of 
 Lyons wrote to those of Paris that aristocracy was 
 again rearing its head ; tliat in a short time they woiild 
 be imable to hold their ground ; and that, if strengtli 
 and encouragement were not given to them, they 
 would be driven to commit self-murder, lilce the 
 patriot Gaillard, who had thrust a dagger into his 
 body on the occasion of llonsin's first arrest. 
 
 " I have seen letters," said Robespierre to the Jaco- 
 bins, " from some of the Lyoncse patriots : thej' all 
 
 evince the same despair ; and if some prompt remedy 
 be not applied to their sores, they will have no solace 
 but in the recipe of Cato and Gaillard. The perni- 
 cious faction, which, affecting an extravagant pa- 
 triotism, was fm'tively plotting the immolation of the 
 patriots, has been sup;)ressed ; but that is of little 
 consequence to the foreigner, so long as another is 
 rampant. If Hebert had been victorious, the conven- 
 tion was scattered, the republic fell into chaos, and 
 tyranny was satisfied; but with the moderates, the 
 convention loses its energy, the crimes of the aristo- 
 cracy remain unpunished, and the tyrants triumpli. 
 The foreigner, therefore, has as mucli hope from the 
 one as from the other of these factions, and he suborns 
 them all without relying solely on any. What cares 
 he for Ileliert dying on the scaffold, if traitors of an- 
 other kind remain to him, ready to aid in accomplish- 
 ing his designs ? You have then done nothing so long 
 as a faction is stiU extant and left to be destroyed ; 
 the convention is resolute in its purpose to extermi- 
 nate tlieni all, even to the last fragment." 
 
 Thus was it made apparent that the committee 
 had felt the necessity of clearing itself from the re- 
 proach of moderation by a new sacrifice. Robespierre 
 had heretofore defended Danton, when a turbulent 
 faction would have struck that most renowned of 
 patriots at his very side. At that time both policy 
 and their common danger counselled him to vindicate 
 his old coUeag-ue ; but now that audacious faction was 
 no more. By longer defending this now unpopidar 
 colleague, he incurred the certain hazard of compro- 
 mising himscff. Besides, the conduct of Danton was 
 calculated to awaken certain misgivings in his jealous 
 breast. What was Danton's position aloof from the 
 committee ? In close association with Philippeaux 
 and Camille-Desmoulins, he seemed the instigator and 
 veritable leader of that new opposition which harassed 
 the government with incessant censures and most 
 pungent raillery. Seated in front of the tribune, 
 wlience the members of the committee propounded 
 their views, Danton had for many a day borne a scowl- 
 ing and contemptuous expression as he heard and 
 eyed them. His demeanour, his words, eagerly cauglit 
 up and repeated from mouth to mouth, his intimacies, 
 all tended to demonstrate that, after thus alienating 
 himself from the government, he liad resolved into its 
 bitter detractor, and kept himself apart from all con- 
 tact, as if to set in opposition against it his own great 
 revolutionary name. For, be it remembered, although 
 svmk in popularity, he stiU enjoyed an extraordinary 
 reputation for hardiiiood and pt)litical genius. Thus, 
 were Danton removed, no commanding influence would 
 remain without the pale of the committee, to eclipse or 
 discredit the secondary men of wliom it was composed, 
 such as Saint- Just, Couthon, and Collot- dTlerbois. 
 By consenting to the sacrifice, also, Robespierre Avould 
 at once get rid of a rival, restore to the government 
 its reputation for energy, and enhance his own fame 
 for virtue by smiting a man so generally accused of 
 unduly relishing money and ])leasure. j\Ioreover, he 
 was especially urged thereto by all his collcagaies, to 
 whom Danton was more obnoxious than to himself. 
 Couthon and Collot-d'IIerbois were conscious that the 
 celebrated tril^mie held them in supreme contempt. 
 Billaud, envious, cold-blooded, and ruthless in tempe- 
 rament, looked malignantly on a man before whom lie 
 felt himself, as it were, insignificant and overawed. 
 Saint-Just, dogmatical, austere, and arrogant, was the 
 very antithesis to a vivacious, free, and open-hearted 
 revolutionist ; and he foresaw that, were Danton dead, 
 he would become the second person in the republic. 
 All, in fine, were aware, that in his project for re- 
 modelling the committee, Danton heldtluit Robespierre 
 alone ought to be retained. They therefore surrounded 
 their potential colleague, and in truth found no great 
 difficulty in wringing from him a concurrence in what 
 so agreeably flattered his ambition and pride. We 
 cannot recount the precise arguments that influenced
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 397 
 
 tlie decision, or assign the day wliereon it was taken ; 
 but, as by some secret concert, tliey all suddenly be- 
 came threatening and mysterious. Amongst those 
 wlio narrowly watched the lowering portents, no doubt 
 was felt as to their real intentions. At the convention 
 and tlie Jacobin Club, it is true, tliey observed an 
 absolute silence ; but the sinister rumour travelled in 
 a quick under-current. It was stated that Danton, 
 Camille, Thilippeaux, and Lacroix, were marked as 
 sacrifices to the authority of the committee. Some 
 common friends of Danton and Koljespierre, alarmed 
 at these intimations, and judging that if such a blow 
 were struck none could henceforward deem himself in 
 security, nay, that Robespierre even could not be alto- 
 gether tranquil, endeavoured to bring them together 
 and ])rovoke a mutual explanation. Robespierre, 
 shrouding himself in an obstinate silence, refused to 
 reply to these overtures, and maintained a stern and 
 sullen reserve. When they spoke to him of the friend- 
 sliip he had formerly testified for Danton, he answered 
 as an accomplished hypocrite, that he was powerless 
 either for or against his colleague ; that justice would 
 always shield innocence; that for himself, liis whole 
 life had been a continual sacrifice of his affections for 
 his country ; and that if his friend were guilty, he 
 would sacrifice him with regret, but still he must 
 sacrifice him, as any other criminal, to the republic. 
 
 The true intent of th.ese evasions was sufficiently 
 obvious ; and those anxious peace-makers were con- 
 vinced that Robespieri'e piu'posely avoided contracting 
 any engagement towards Danton, but reserved to 
 himself the liberty of giving him up to his colleagues. 
 Meanwhile, the rumour of the impending arrests ac- 
 quired greater consistence. The friends of Danton 
 surrounded him, and earnestly besought him to rise 
 from his species of slumber, to shake off his indolence, 
 and to erect once more that revolutionary front which 
 had never been shown in vain during the storm. " I 
 know," said Danton, " they want to arrest me. But," 
 he added, " they will not dare 1" And, after all, what 
 could he do ? To fly was impossible. What country 
 would have afforded an asylum to this terrible revolu- 
 tionist ? And ought he by flight to have confirmed 
 all the calumnies of his enemies ? Moreover, he tridy 
 loved his country. " Can a man carry his country at 
 the sole of his foot?" he often exclaimed. On the 
 other hand, if he remained in France, but few means 
 of resistance were available to him. The Cordeliers 
 were devoted to the ultra -revolutionists, and the 
 Jacobins to Robespierre. The convention was para- 
 lysed and terror-stricken. Where was the support on 
 which he could rely.'' This question lias not been 
 sufficiently considered by those who, seeing this ex- 
 traordinary man overturn the throne on the 10th 
 August and arouse the whole population against 
 aggressive foreigners, have expressed such amazement 
 tliat he fell without a struggle. Revolutionary genius 
 does not consist in regaining a lost poi^ularity, or in 
 creating forces which have no existence, liut in direct- 
 ing the affections of a people when i'lilly possessed. 
 The generous sentiments of Danton, and his alienation 
 from affairs, had almost wholly deprived him of the 
 popular favour, or at all events had not left him enough 
 to siibvert the reigning authority. Impressed with the 
 conviction of his comparative impotence, he remained 
 quiescent, and repeated — " They will not dare !" lie 
 might, in fact, with some reason, believe tliat before 
 so formidable a name and such great services, his 
 adversaries would hesitate. He thus sunk back into 
 his lethargy, or, more correctly speaking, into that 
 proud indittei'cnce of strong minds awaiting expectant 
 danger witliout using undignified exertions to avert it. 
 
 The connnittee stiU observed a gloomy silence, 
 whilst sinister rumours contimied tliickly to circulate. 
 Six days had elapsed since the execution of Ik'bert, 
 and it M'as now the 9th of Germinal. The peace- 
 able class of citizens, who had formed indiscreet hoiK'S 
 from the suppression of the furious faction, suddenly ori- 
 
 ginated a report that the community would be speedily 
 freed from the two martyrs, Marat and Chaher ; that 
 sufficient had been detected in their lives to transform 
 them, as rapidly as Hebert, from patriots into mis- 
 creants. This assertion, founded on the idea of a re- 
 trograde movement, was propagated with singular in- 
 dustry ; and on all sides men were heard repeating that 
 the busts of JNlarat and Chalier were about to be 
 broken. Legendre foolishly denoimced tliese incon- 
 siderate words before the convention and the club of 
 Jacobins, as if to protest, in the name of his friends 
 the moderates, against any such design. " Be under 
 no alarm," said Collot to the Jacobins ; " these reports 
 will be belied. We have directed the thunderbolt on 
 the infamous men who were deceiving the people — we 
 have torn from them the mask which concealed their 
 deformity ; but they are not alone in their iniquity ! 
 We will tear away all possible masks. Let not the 
 indulgents imagine that it is for them we have fought 
 — that it is for them we have here held such glorious 
 sittings ! We shall soon undeceive them." 
 
 In fact, the very next day, 10th Germinal (31st 
 March), the committee of public welfare, to invest its 
 determination Avith the greater authority, called to its 
 counsels the committee of generiil safety and the com- 
 mittee of legislation. Wlien all the members were 
 assembled. Saint- Just arose, and, in one of those vio- 
 lent and insidious reports he knew so well how to 
 frame, he denounced Danton, Desmoulins, Philippeaux, 
 and Lacroix, and proposed their apprehension. The 
 members of the two other committees, dismayed and 
 trembling, durst offer no resistance, but hoped rather 
 to keep the danger from themselves by signifj'ing a 
 read}- adherence. The strictest silence was enjoined ; 
 and during the night of the 10th Germinal, Dan- 
 ton, Lacroix, Philippeaux, and Camille-Desmoulins 
 were sm'prised, arrested, and lodged iii the Luxem- 
 bourg. 
 
 Almost by dawn the intelligence had travelled over 
 Paris, throwing its inhabitants into a species of stupor. 
 The members of the convention assembled in terror 
 and silence. The committee, which was invariably 
 to be waited for, having already assumed aU the offen- 
 sive insolence of power, had not yet arrived. Legendre, 
 who had not been deemed sufficiently important to be 
 arrested with his friends, hastened to occupy the tri- 
 bune. He said, " Citizens, four members of this 
 assembly have been arrested last night ; I know tliat 
 Danton is one of them — I am ignorant of the names 
 of the others ; but whoever they may be, I move 
 that they be heard at the bar. Citizens, I declare 
 that I esteem Danton as pure as myself; and I have 
 yet to learn that any thing can be possibly alleged 
 against me. I will not attack any member of the 
 committees of public welfare and general safet_y ; but 
 I am justified in expressing in}' appreliension that 
 private antipathy and i)ersonal feelings have dragged 
 from liberty men who have rendered the most signal 
 and beneficial services. The man who, in Se])teniber 
 1 792, saved France by his energy, surely deserves a 
 hearing, and ought to have the privilege of explanation 
 accorded him, when he is accused of having betrayed 
 his country." 
 
 To obtain for Danton tiie power of addressing the 
 convention, was tlu? best expedient for saving him and 
 foiling his adversarii'S. Several mem])ers, in conse- 
 (juence, intimated tluir opinion in i'avour of hearing 
 him; l)ut, in the midst of tlie discussion, Roliesjiierre, 
 preceding the c(mmiittee, arrived, mounted the tribune, 
 and in an angry and menacing tone s]ioke in tliese 
 terms : — " From the unusual excitement i)ervading 
 this assembly, from the agitation caused by a previous 
 speaker, it is i^lain that s()ine(iuestii)n of great interest 
 occupies you ; tliat tlie jxiiut at issue is, whether a ihw 
 individuals shall this day prevail over the countiy. 
 But how could you forget ycair iirinciples so far as to 
 entertain a ]>ro])ositioii for granting to certain persona 
 what you have formerly refused to Chabot, Delaunay
 
 39a 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and Fabre-d'Eglantine ? Why this difference in favour 
 of particular indivi(hials ? AVhat care I for the eulo- 
 friums which men pass on themselves and tlieir friends ? 
 Fatal experience Inis tanjfht us to distrust sucli eulo- 
 gies. Our province is to inquire, not whetlier a man 
 has performed such or sucli a patriotic act, but what 
 has been his whole course of conduct. 
 
 Legendre professes ignorance as to the names of 
 those who are arrested. The whole convention Icnows 
 tliem. His friend Lacroix is amongst the number; 
 why does Legendre feign to be ignorant of that ? Be- 
 cause he is well aware tluit none can witli decency 
 defend Lacroix. He has spoken of Danton, becnuse 
 he thinks, doubtless, a privilege is attaclied to that 
 name. No ; we will liave no privileges — we will have 
 no idols !"' 
 
 At these last words great applause Avas manifested ; 
 and the cowardly memliers, then trembling before an 
 idol, hailed with see;ning rapture the downfall of one 
 that was no longer to be feared. Robespierre con- 
 tinued : " In what is Danton superior to Lafayette, 
 Dumouriez, Brissot, Fabre, Chabot, or Hcbert ? What 
 is said of him that may not be said of them ? And 
 yet, did ,you exhibit any delicacy towards them ? You 
 are told of the desjiotism of tiie conmiittces, as if tlie 
 confidence the peoi)le have reposed in you, and which 
 you have delegated to those committees, was not a 
 sure guarantee of their patriotism. Fears are affected, 
 too ; but, I say, whoever trembles at this moment is 
 guilty, for innocence never dreads public vigilance." 
 
 Here arose further plaudits from those very poltroons 
 who were then sitting in mortal trepidation, and who 
 would fain prove they had no fear. " And in me also," 
 added Robespierre — " in me also it has been sought to 
 inspire terror. I have been emphatically warned, that 
 after attaining Danton, the danger might reach my- 
 self I have been so admonished in writing. The 
 friends of Danton have loaded me with letters, they 
 have besieged me in person with exhortations ; they 
 imagined the remembrance of an old intimacy — a by- 
 gone faith in false virtues — would induce me to relax 
 my zeal and passion for liberty. Indeed ! I assert that 
 if the dangers of Danton were certain to become mine, 
 such a consideration would not weigh with me for an 
 instant. Now especially it behoves us all to evince 
 some courage and greatness of soul. Vulgar minds 
 or guilty men alone dread to see their prototypes f dl, 
 because, having then no longer a barrier of tiie crimi- 
 nal before them, they stand exposed to the glare of 
 truth ; but if such \mlgar minds exist, there are in 
 this assembly sufficient of tlie heroic cast, who will 
 know how to brave all factitious terrors. Moreover, 
 the number of the guilt_y is not great ; crime has found 
 but few partisans amongst us, and the country will be 
 delivered at a trifling sacrifice." 
 
 Robespierre had now acquired sufficient confidence 
 and assurance to say whatever suited him, and never 
 perhaps had he exhibited greati'r ingenuity or greater 
 perfidy. To speak of the sacrifice he made in aban- 
 doning Danton, to arrogate merit therefor, to defy 
 such danger as miglit thence accrue, and to reassure 
 tlie cowardly by alluding to the small number of the 
 guilty, was assuredly a master-stroke of hypocrisy and 
 address. So all his colleagues in the convention de- 
 cided, without a dissentient voice, tliat the four 
 deputies aiTestod the previous night should not be 
 lu^-ird at their bar. At that moment Saint-Just ap- 
 peared, and proceeded to read Ins report. On him was 
 generally devolved the task of vilifving victims, be- 
 cause, to the subtlety reriuired for contorting facts 
 and giving them a signification abhorrent to truth 
 and candour, he joined a rare proficiency in the style 
 vituperative and vigorous. Never on any previous 
 occasion had he been more horribly elocjuent or more 
 unscrupulous ; for all his hatred, howsoever intense it 
 might tie, could not have so blinded his judgment as 
 to set down all he advanced in good faith. After re- 
 viling riiilippeaiLx, Camille-Desmoulins, and Herault- 
 
 Sechelles, at great length, and more directly accusing 
 Lacroix, he came eventually to Danton, and invented 
 facts utterly false, or perverted acknowledged facts 
 in an atrocious manner. According to him, Danton, 
 covetous, lazy, mendacious, and dastardly even, had 
 sold himself to Mirabeau, afterwards to Ijameth, and, 
 in concert with Brissot, had drawn up the petition 
 which led to the massacre of the Chanip-de-Mars, not 
 with the view of subverting royalty, but in order to 
 get the best citizens destroyed ; thereafter he had de- 
 jiarted with impunity to enjoy himself, and spend the 
 fruit of his perfidies at Arcis-sur-Aubc. He had con- 
 cealed himself on the U)th August, and had reap- 
 peared only to make himself minister ; he had then 
 allied himself v/ith the Orleans party, and procured 
 the election of Orleans and Fabre to the national de- 
 putation. Leagued with Dumouriez, having for the 
 Girondists a mere affected hatred, and holding it al- 
 ways in his power to unite with them, he had been 
 decidefUy opposed to the 31st Alay, and even endea- 
 voured to cause the arrest of Henriot. When Dumou- 
 riez, Orleans, and the Girondists were punished, he 
 had negotiated with the party which proposed to put 
 Louis XVII. on the throne. Grasping at money from 
 every quarter — from Orleans, the Bourbons, and the 
 foreigner — dining with bankers and aristocrats, deep 
 in every intrigue, prodigal of promises to all parties, 
 a veritable Catiline in short, rapacious, debauched, 
 idle, a corruptor of public morals, he had gone a 
 second time to bury himself at Arcis-sur-Aube, in 
 order to revel on the ample produce of his cupidity. 
 He had finally returned thence, and recently entered 
 into confederacy with all the enemies of the common- 
 wealth, with Hebert and his gang, by the common 
 link of the foreigner, for the especial purpose of as- 
 sailing the committee, and the men whom the con- 
 vention had intrusted with its confidence. 
 
 After listening to this iniquitous report, the con- 
 vention decreed an impeachment against Danton, 
 Camille-Desmoulins, Philippeaux, Heraidt-SecheUes, 
 and Lacroix. 
 
 Those mifortunate deputies had been conducted to 
 the Luxembourg. Lacroix said to Danton, " Arrest 
 us ! — us ! I could never have imagined it ! " " Thou 
 couldst never have imagined it ? " remarked Danton ; 
 " I knew it — I was forewarned ! " " Thou knewest it ! " 
 exclaimed Lacroix, " and didst nothing ! See the 
 effect of thy usual indolence ; it has ruined us ! " "I 
 did not think," observed Danton. in reply, "they 
 would have ever dared to execute their design." 
 
 All the prisoners had crowded to the gate, eager to 
 see the celebrated Danton, and that interesting Ca- 
 mille, who had illumined their dungeons with a ray 
 of cheerfulness and hope. Danton was, as usual 
 with him, calm, statel^y, and withal gay ; Camille 
 seemed astounded and melancholy; Philippeaux ex- 
 cited and elevated by his danger. Herault-Sechelles, 
 vi'lio had jireceded them at the Luxembourg by a 
 few days, hastened to meet his friends, and merrily 
 saluted them. " When men commit folly," observed 
 Danton, " they certainly ought to know how to laugh 
 at it." Then perceiving Thomas Paine, he said to 
 him, " What thou hast done for the happiness and 
 liberty of thy country, I have in vain attempted to 
 do for mine ; I have been less fortunate, but not more 
 culjiable. I am doomed to the scaffold; well, my 
 friends, we must go there cheerfully !" 
 
 On the following day, 12th Germinal, the articles 
 of impeachment were sent to the Luxembourg, and 
 the accused ordered to be tr:msferred to the Concier- 
 gerie, for the purpose of appearing before the tribunal. 
 Camille was roused to fury as he perused the odious 
 falsehooJs wheK'with the indictment was surcharged. 
 He soon grew tranquil, however, and exclaimed, with 
 deep affliction, " I go to the scaffold for having shed a 
 few tears over the fate of so manj- unfortunate vic- 
 tims. IMy only regi-et in dying is that I coidd not 
 serve them !" All the detained, whatever their poll-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 399 
 
 tical opinions, testified the most lively interest in his 
 liehalf, and otrered up ardent vows for his acquittal. 
 Philippeaux spoke a few v.ords ahout his wife, and 
 tlien remained calm and serene. Herault-Scchelles 
 retained that gracefulness of mind and manner which 
 distinguished him even amongst men of his own rank ; 
 he embraced his faithful servant, who had followed 
 him to the Liixerabourg, but was debarred from ac- 
 companying him to the Conciergerie, consoling him 
 with words of comfort, and exhorting him to fortitude. 
 Fabre, Chabot, Bazire, and Delaunay, were directed 
 to be removed at the same time, it being determined 
 to try them conjointly with Danton, iu order to throw 
 disgrace on his case by an appearance of confederacy 
 with forgers. Fabre was ill, and almost dying. Cha- 
 bot, who from tlie recesses of his prison had never 
 ceased writing to Robespierre, imploring his pity in 
 abject terms, and lavishing on him the basest flattery, 
 without, however, moving his obdurate heart, was 
 now convinced that death was inevitable, and for him 
 equally assured infamy ; he accordingly resolved upon 
 self-destruction. He swallowed corrosive sublimate ; 
 but acute agony having forced him to utter cries, he 
 confessed his attempt, accepted relief, and was carried 
 to tlie Conciergerie iu as VTetched a condition as 
 Fabre. A somewhat more noble sentiment seemed to 
 animate him amidst his anguish — it was that of soi'- 
 row for having compromised his friend Bazire, who 
 had taken no part in the fraudulent transaction. 
 " Bazire !" he repeatedly exclamied, " my poor Bazire ! 
 what hast tliou done?" 
 
 At the Conciergerie the accused inspired equal 
 curiosity as at the Luxembourg. They occupied the 
 apartment of the Girondists. Uanton conversed with 
 his accustomed enei'gy. " On such a day it was," said 
 I he, " that I caused the revolutionary tribunal to be 
 instituted. I ask pardon for the act of God and men. 
 My design was to prevent a fresh September, and not 
 to send a pestilence on humanity." Reverting to his 
 scorn for the colleagues who were assassinating him — 
 " These brother-Cains," he exclaimed, " understand 
 nothing ahout government. I leave every thing in 
 frightful disorder." Then depicting the impotence 
 of the paralytic Couthon and the cowardly Robespierre, 
 he ridiculed them m gross but original expressions, 
 which still announced a singular vivacity of spirit. 
 For a moment he evinced some slight regret for hav- 
 ing taken part in the revolution. " It were better to 
 be a poor fisherman than to govern men," he said. 
 This was the only phrase of the sort he uttered. 
 
 Lacroix betokened astonishment on witnessing the 
 number and deplorable state of the jirisoners in the 
 cpUs. " What ! " cried a voice, " did not the carts 
 loaded with victims teach you what was passing in 
 Paris?" The surprise of Lacroix was uuaflTeeted, and 
 it is a lesson for men who, in ardent pursuit of a poli- 
 tical object, give too little heed to the individual suf- 
 ferings of the unfortunai'e, and seem as if they believed 
 not in their existence because not actually beheld. 
 
 On the following day, the 13th Germinal, the ac- 
 cused were conducted before the tribunal to tlie num- 
 ber of fifteen. The list was incongruously made up 
 of the five leading moderates, Uanton, Ilerault-Sc- 
 clielles, Camille, I'hilippeaux, and Lacroix ; of tlie 
 four charged with forgery, Chabot, Bazire, Delaunay, 
 and Fabre-d'Eglantine ; of Chabot's two brothers-in- 
 law, Junius and Emanuel Frey ; of the contractor 
 IJ'Lspagnac, and the ill-fated Westermann, accused 
 of having taken part in tbe corrujjtion and intrigues 
 of Danton ; and of two foreigners, friends of the panels, 
 the Spaniard (Juzman and the Dane Diederichs. Tlie 
 design of the committee, in this singular amalgamation, 
 was to confound the moderates witli the corrujilionists 
 and aliens, in order still to maintain tlie ii:iradox, 
 tliat moderation was the joint oH'si)ring of a falling otf 
 from republican virtue and the subornation of the 
 foreigner. The concourse assembled to witness the 
 trial was beyond all pi-ecedent immense. Some ves- 
 
 tiges of that interest Danton had so long inspired were 
 revived by his appearance at the bar. Fouquier-Tin- 
 ville, the judges, and the jurymen, all subaltern revo- 
 lutionists drawn from obscurity by his potent hand, 
 sat abashed in his presence : his confident and haughty 
 demeanour overawed them, and he seemed rather the 
 accuser than the accused. The president, Hermann, 
 and F'ouquier-Tinville, instead of selecting the jury- 
 men by lot, as the law enjoined, flagrantly nominated 
 the leet, and fixed upon such exclusively as they called 
 " tlie solid." They then proceeded to interrogate the 
 prisoners. When Danton was asked the usual ques- 
 tions upon his age and domicile, he answered disdain- 
 fully that he was thirty-four, and that his name would 
 be shortly in the Pantheon, himself in nonentity. 
 Camille blasphemously replied, that " he was thirty- 
 three years old, the age of the sans-culotte Jesus Christ 
 when he perished." Bazire was twenty-nine. Herault- 
 Sechelles and Pliilippeaux were eacli thirty -four. Thus 
 were talents, courage, patriotism, and youth, found 
 luiited in this hecatomb, as amid that otfered up in 
 the persons of the Girondists. 
 
 Danton, Camille, Herault - Sechelles, and others, 
 protested against their cause being confounded with 
 that of forgers. No heed, however, was given to their 
 reclamation. The court first proceeded to investigate 
 the charges against Chabot, Bazire, Delaunay, and 
 Fabre-d'Eglantine. Chabot persisted in his former 
 statement, and boldly maintained that he had taken 
 part in the conspiracy of the stockjobbers solely for 
 the purpose of betraying it. His assertion gained 
 no credence, being devoid of probability on several 
 grounds ; if founded in fact, he woidd have privately 
 intimated his object to some member of the commit- 
 tees, more promptly revealed the machination, and 
 abstained from keeping the funds in his possession. 
 Delaunay was adjudged guilty at once ; and Fabre, 
 too, notwithstanding his artful defence, that when he 
 made alterations and erasures in the copy of the decree, 
 he imagined it to be merely the draft of an intended 
 law, was convicted by Cambon, whose frank and un- 
 suspected testimony was conclusive. He proved, in 
 fact, that the projects of laws were never signed; that 
 the copy Fabre had interlined was attested by all the 
 members of the commission of five ; and that, conse- 
 quently, he could not have altered it under the idea 
 that it was a simple draft. Bazire, whose confederacy 
 only amoimtcd to concealment of the fraud, was heard 
 impatiently in his defence, and forthwith assimilated 
 with the rest. The tribunal then passed to D'Espag- 
 nac, who was accused of having corrupted Julieu of 
 Toulouse, with the view of inducing him to support 
 his contracts, and of being concerned in the intrigue 
 of the East India Compan3^ In this instance, the 
 facts were substantiated by written documents, and 
 all the ingenuity of D'Espagnac failed to invdidate 
 sucli evidence. 
 
 licrault-Sechcllcs was subsequently interrogated. 
 Bazire had been declared guilty as the friend of Cha- 
 bot; so against lleraidtwas the like judgment pro- 
 nounced for having lieen the friend of Bazire, for 
 having hiid through him soiiif knowledge of the stock- 
 jobbing jilot, for having assisted an emigrant, for hav- 
 ing iK'cn the companion of moderates, and for having 
 furnished grounds of suspicion, by his mildness, his 
 elegance, his fortune, and his ill-disguised regrets, 
 that he was in truth a inoderMte liimself. 
 
 After Ileranlt was disjiosed of, Danton was called 
 upon. A profound silence reigiud throngli the assem- 
 blage as he arose to reply. " Danton," said the presi- 
 dent, addressing him, " the convention accuses you 
 of having conspired with Mirabi-au, with Dumouriez, 
 with Orleans, with the (iirondists, with the foreigner, 
 and with thi faction striving to restore liOuis XVII." 
 " j\ly voice,' answered Danton, in his own sonorous 
 tones, " that voice which has so often made itself 
 heard in the cause of the people, will have no diffi- 
 culty in repelling calumnj; Let the knaves who ac-
 
 400 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 cuse me appear, and I will cover them with ignominy. 
 Let the committees come forward — I will answer only 
 before them : I want them botli as accusers and wit- 
 nesses. Let them appear. At the same time, I care 
 little for you and your judjjrnient. I have already told 
 j-ou, nonentity will soon be my asylum. Life is a bur- 
 den to me ; tear it from me. I long to be freed from it ! " 
 Whilst uttering these words, Danton was filled with 
 indignation ; his feeluigs revolted at the idea of answer- 
 ing before such men. His demand for the appearance 
 of the committees, and his expressed intention to reply 
 only in their presence, embarrassed the tribunal, and 
 caused a general agitation. Their confronting him 
 in open court would have doubtless proved a cruel 
 exposure to them ; they must have been overwhelmed 
 with confusion, and the condemnation might perhaps 
 have become impossible. 
 
 " Danton," said the president, after a pause, " auda- 
 city is the accompaniment of crime ; calmness that of 
 innocence." At this phrase, Danton exclaimed — " In- 
 dividual audacity is reprehensible, undoubtedly ; but 
 tliat national audacity of which I have so many times 
 given tlie example, with which I have so often served 
 libertj-, is the most meritorious of all the virtues. 
 Such audacity is mine ; such it is I here display for 
 the republic agamst the cowards who accuse me. 
 When I see myself so basely calumniated, can I re- 
 strain my indignation ? It is not from a revolutionist 
 like Die that you must expect a cold stuched defence. 
 Men of my order are inestimable in revolutions — on 
 their forehead is the genius of liberty stamped ! " As 
 he thus spoke, Danton threw aloft his head, and sur- 
 veyed the judges in an attitude of defiance. His for- 
 midable expression produced a profound sensation. 
 The people, whom a manifestation of power always 
 affects, sent fortli an applauding nnirmur. " I," con- 
 tinued Danton — " I accused of having conspired with 
 INIirabeau, Dumouriez, Orleans — of having crawled at 
 tlie feet of vile despots ! It is I whom you summon 
 to answer to ' inevitable, injlexible justice !'* And tliou, 
 infamous Saint-Just, Avilt answer to posterity for tliy 
 accusation against the mainstay of liberty I In look- 
 i;!g over this list of horrors," added Dauton, holding 
 up the articles of impeachment, " I feel my whole 
 being shudder ! " 
 
 The president again recommended him to be more 
 calm, and cited the example of ilarat, who had de- 
 meaned himself respectfully before the tribunal. Dan- 
 ton resumed, and said that, since they desired it, he 
 would recount his life. He then proceeded to narrate 
 the difficulties he had encountered in attaining muni- 
 cipal rank, the efforts of the Constituent Assembly to 
 counteract him in liis object, the resistance he opposed 
 to tlie designs of Mirabeau, and, above all, his conduct 
 on that famous day when, surrounding tlie royal car- 
 riage with an immense concourse, he jirevented the 
 journey to Saint-Cloud. Thereafter, he recalled the 
 time when lie led the people to tlie Champ-de-ISIars 
 to sign a petition against royalty, and the occasion of 
 that celebrated petition ; tlie boldness wherewith he 
 first proposed the overtlirow of the throne in 1792; 
 the courage with which he proclauiied the insurrection 
 on the evening of the 9th August, and the firmness he 
 displayed during the twelve hours of conflict. Here, 
 incensed almost to sufTocatioii when he reflected on 
 the charge against him of having concealed himself 
 at the crisis of the lOtli August, he broke forth into 
 a strain of passionate invective. " Wliere," lie ex- 
 claimed, " are the men who found it necessary to ex- 
 liort Danton to show himself on that day? Where 
 are the privileged and gifted beings whose energy he 
 borrowed ? I^et them come forth, niy accusers ! It 
 rouses all the vigour of my mind when I demand 
 them. I will unmask the three wretched knaves who 
 liave encompassed and entrapped Kobespierre. Let 
 them but appear, and I will plunge them into the 
 
 * A term used in tlie articles of impeachment. 
 
 nonentity whence they ought never to have emerged!" 
 The president once more interrupted him by ringing 
 his bell. Danton drowned its sound with his stento- 
 rian voice. " Do you not hear me ? " asked the presi- 
 dent. " It is fitting the voice of a man defending his 
 honour and his life," replied Danton, "should stifle 
 the noise of thy bell." His indignant excitement 
 began, however, to fatigue him; his tone became 
 fainter, and the president considerately besought him 
 to take a little rest, in order to recommence his de- 
 fence with more calmness and tranquillity. 
 
 Danton acceded, and was silent. The public pro- 
 secutor next called upon CamQle, whose Old Cordelier 
 was read over with comments, he vainly reinidiating 
 the mterpretations given to his writings. Lastly came 
 the turn of Lacroix, whose conduct in Belgium was 
 bitterly assailed, and who, after the example of Dan- 
 ton, claimed the appearance of several members of the 
 convention, and formally insisted on compliance. 
 
 This first hearing produced a powerful impression 
 on the public mind. The crowd which surrounded 
 the Palace of Justice, and extended even to the bridges, 
 gave tokens of being greatly agitated. The judges 
 were overawed and terror-stricken. Vadier, Vouland, 
 and Amar, the most detestable members of the com- 
 mittee of general safetj', had witnessed the proceed- 
 ings, concealed in the printing-office contiguous to the 
 hall of the court, and communicating with it by a 
 small window. From that position they had looked 
 on Avith deep alarm, as they beheld the undamited 
 hardihood of Danton and the visible emotions of the 
 audience. They began to entertain serious doubts 
 that the condeinnatiun was i^racticable. Hermann 
 and Fouquier had both repaired, immediately after 
 the tribunal adjourned, to the committee of public 
 welfare, and made known to it the demand of the ac- 
 cused touching the appearance of several members of 
 the convention. The committee seemed unprepared to 
 act in the emergency ; Ilobespierre had retired for the 
 day, and BiUaud and Saint-Just alone were present. 
 They instructed Fouquler to refrain from giving any 
 decisive answer; to prolong the discussion so as to 
 consume the three days without affordmg explanations ; 
 and then to make the jurymen declare they were suf- 
 ficiently informed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the excitement caused by the trial in 
 the Palace of Justice, the committee, and all Paris, 
 was full}' participated in the prisons, whose inmates 
 took a lively interest in the accused, since they felt 
 that no hope could exist for any if such revolutionists 
 were condemned. In the Luxembourg was at this 
 time immiired the unfortunate Dillon, the friend of 
 Desinoulins, by ivliom he had been defended ; he had 
 learnt through Cliaumette, who, being exposed to the 
 like danger, now made common cause with the mode- 
 rates, what had passed before the tribunal. Cliau- 
 mette obtained the information from his wife. Dillon, 
 whose imagination was easily heated, and who, more- 
 over, sometimes sought, as an old soldier, to drown 
 sorrow in wine, spoke indiscreetly to a person named 
 Laflotte, confined in the same prison, telling him that 
 it Avas time for good rejiublicans to rise against vile 
 opjiressors, that the people had appeared to be moved, 
 that Danton had claimed to iinswer before the com- 
 mittees, that his condemnation was far from being 
 assured, that the wife of (\amille-Desmoidins, by dis- 
 trilmting assigniats, might arovise the populace, and 
 that, if he himself could contrive to escape, he would 
 muster a body of resolute men sufficient to rescue the 
 republicans about to be sacrificed by the tribunal. 
 These words were but the idle effusions of intoxication 
 and anger. It would appear, however, that some pro- 
 posid was entertained for . transmitting a thousand 
 crowns and a letter to Camille's wife. The treacherous 
 Laflotte, trusting to obtain life and liberty by denounc- 
 ing a iilot, hastened to the governor of the Luxem- 
 bourg, and made before him a declaration, wherein he 
 represented a eonspirat:y on the point t>f breakuig out
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 401 
 
 both within and without the jirisons, for the purpose 
 
 of delivering the accused and assassinating the nicni- 
 
 I bers of the two committees. We shall soon see to 
 
 what purposes this infamous deposition was made 
 
 ! subservient. 
 
 On the following day the confluence was equally 
 great at the Palace of Justice. Danton and his com- 
 panions, still firm and unyielding, again demanded 
 the appearance of several members of the convention 
 and the two committtcs. Fouquier, constrained to 
 answer, stated that he did not oppose any necessary 
 witnesses being called. " Eut it is not sufficient," ob- 
 jected the accused, " that he oflers no obstacle, he 
 must himself summon them to attend." Foiiquier 
 thereupon remarked that he would summon all those 
 who might be named, excepting members of the con- 
 vention, because it lay Avith that assembly to deter- 
 mine whether its members could he cited. The accused 
 again exclaimed that they were denied the means of 
 defending themselves. The whole court was thrown 
 into the iitmost confusion. The president proceeded 
 to question certain others of the panels, Westermann, 
 the two Freys, and Guzman, and then hastily broke 
 up the sitting. 
 
 Fouquier immediately wrote to the committee, ap- 
 prising it of what had occurred, and requesting in- 
 structions how to meet the reiterated demands of the 
 accused. The position was fuU of embarrassment, and 
 all hesitated as to the course to be pursued. Robes- 
 ])ierre affected indifference, and declined giving any 
 opinion. Saint-Just alone, more resolute and bold than 
 his colleagues, maintained that thcj' ought not to re- 
 coU ; that all further discussion must be interdicted, 
 and the accused at once sent to execution. At this 
 moment the deposition of the prisoner Laflotte, for- 
 warded to the police by the keeper of the Luxem- 
 bourg, was placed before the committee. Sain.t-Just 
 promptly detected in it the proof of a conspiracy laid 
 by the accused, and the iiretext for a decree abruptly to 
 terminate their dispute with the triliunal. The next 
 morning, accordingly, he appeared before the conven- 
 tion, and assured it that a great danger threatened 
 the country, but that it was the last, and that, if braved 
 with courage, it would be speedily siu-mounted. " The 
 accused now before the revolutionary tribunal," he 
 said, " are in open revolt ; they menace the tribunal ; 
 they carry their insolence so far as to throw balls of 
 crumbs at the heads of the judges ; they excite the 
 peojile, and may even succeed in deluding them. Nor 
 is this indeed all : they have hatched a conspiracy in 
 the prisons ; the wife of Camille has received money 
 in order to provoke an insurrection ; General Dillon 
 is to break from the Luxembourg, put himself at the 
 head of his confederates, massacre the two conmiittees, 
 and -liberate the guilty." At this false and hypocri- 
 tical relation, tlie complaisant convention wrung with 
 cries of "Horrible! horrible!" and forthwith unani- 
 mously voted tl;e decree proposed by iSaint-Just. By 
 virtue of this enactment, the tribunal was to continue, 
 without adjournment, th.e trial of Danton and his 
 accomplices ; and was moreover authorised to order 
 from the bar such of the panels as should fail in re- 
 spect to the court or endeavour to excite distiu-l)ance. 
 A copy of the decree was instantly transcribed. \'ou- 
 land and Vadier departed to carry it to the tribunal, 
 where the third sitting had commenced, and where 
 the redoubled energy of the accused was throwing 
 Fouquier into the most pitia])le perplexity. 
 
 On this thiid day, in fact, tlie prisoners had deter- 
 mined to persist more strenuously tlian ever in their 
 reclamations. All of them arose together, and urged 
 Fouquier to summon the witnesses they had demanded. 
 They required furthermore that the convention should 
 nominate a commission to receive the denunciations 
 they were jirepared to make against the design of a 
 dictatorsliip harboured by the committees. Fouquier 
 was comi)letely at a loss what answer to return. In 
 the midst of his embarrassment, an usher advanced to 
 
 call him out of court. He proceeded into an adjoin- 
 ing chamber, where he found Vouland and Vadier. 
 who, flushed and out of breath, cried to him, " We 
 have the miscreants ! Here is what will relieve you 
 from all further ti'ouble !" And they placed m his 
 hands the decree which Saint-Just had just extorted. 
 Fouquier grasped it with rapture, returned to the liall, 
 craved liberty to address the tribunal, and read aloud 
 the fatal document. Danton started passionately to his 
 feet: "I take the audience to witness," he exclaimed, 
 " that we have not insulted the tribunal." " That is 
 true !" shouted several voices in the hall. The Avhole 
 multitude, indeed, betokened amazement, indignation 
 even, at so glaring a denial of justice to men formally 
 arraigned. The sensation was general and unequivo- 
 cal : the judges were intimidated. 
 
 " One da3%" added Danton, " the truth will be known. 
 I see great calamities preparing for France. Rehold 
 tlie dictatorship ; it shows itself openly and without 
 disguise !" Camille, on hesiring the Luxemboiu-g, Dil- 
 lon, and his wife, spoken of in the decree, exclaimed, 
 in an accent of despair, " The miscreants ' not content 
 with taking my hfe, they Avould also murder my wife !" 
 Danton perceived at the end of the hall, in the corri- 
 dor, Vadier and Vouland, who were there lurking to 
 witness the effect of the decree. He pointed to them 
 with his finger : " See," he cried, " those infiimous 
 assassins ! They hover around us ; they will not quit 
 us until we are bereft of life itself!" Vadier and 
 Vouland disappeared in tremor. The tribunal, as the 
 shortest mode of avoiding remonstrances, dissolved 
 the sitting. 
 
 The following was the fourth day, and the jury 
 had the power to supersede further discussion by declar- 
 ing itself sufficiently iiiformed. Accordingly, without 
 affording the accused time to defend themselves, the 
 jury demanded the termination of the process. Camille 
 yielded to an impulse of wrath : he declared to the jury- 
 men that they were assassins, and called upon the people 
 to testify to their iniquity. The officers approached to 
 remove him, with his companions in misfortune, from 
 the hall. He resisted, and they dragged him out by 
 force. Meanwhile, Vadier and Vouland addi-essed the 
 jurymen in exciting terms, who, however, stood uot 
 in need of such instigation. The president Hermann 
 and Fouquier followed them into their retiring-room. 
 There Hermann had the incredible effrontery to tell 
 them that a letter written to foreigners had been inter- 
 cepted, which placed the connivance of Danton with 
 the coalition beyond doubt. Three or four jurjmieu 
 alone ventured to vindicate the accused ; the}' were 
 overborne by the majority. The foreman of the jiu'y, 
 one Trinchard, retm-ned to the hall hideous with sa- 
 vage jo3% and pronounced, in the tone and manner of 
 a ferocious maniac, the iniquitous verdict. 
 
 It was deemed advisable to avoid the hazard of any 
 additional outbreak on the part of the newly con- 
 demned, by bringing them into the hall of the tribunal 
 to hear their sentence ; wherefore an usher descended 
 to the prison for the purpose of reading it to them. 
 They di>inissed him, however, without allowing him 
 to finish the document, exclain\ing at the same time 
 that they were ready to be conducted to death. The 
 condemnation being finally pronounced, Danton, upon 
 whom indignation had recently acted as a i)owerful 
 stimulant, relapsed into calmness, and recovei-ed ;U1 his 
 scorn for the beings who persecuted him. Camille, 
 easily pa<'ified, shed a few tciirs over iiiswife; and, 
 fortunate in a happy improviilcnce, he had no idea he 
 was really destineil to death, acoinnction which would 
 have rendered his last moments insufierable. llerault 
 was gay and lively as usual. The whole of the ill-fated 
 band, in fact, evinced exemplary firnmess ; and Wes- 
 termann, in particular, showed himself worthy his 
 renown for courage. 
 
 They were executed on the 16th Germinal (5th 
 April). The infamous gang bribed to insult vii-tims 
 followed the carts. Camille, incensed at tliis atrocious
 
 402 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 outrage, attempted to address the multitiide, and 
 poured forth the most vehement imprecations ayainst 
 the base and lij^iocrltical Kobespicrre. The wrt-tches 
 employed thus to vituperate retorted upon him in tlie 
 foulest lan,iiuage. lie, in tlie violence of his action, 
 had torn his shirt, and stood, the object of their gross 
 derision, with his shoulders bare to the skin. Danton, 
 casting upon the ruffians a calm and scornful look, 
 said to Camille — " Be tranquil, and never mind that 
 vile rabble." Arrived at tlie foot of the scafibld, 
 Danton was about to embrace llerault-Scchelles, who 
 e.Kteuded his arms towards him ; the executioner in- 
 terposing to ])revent him, he spoke thus terribly to 
 that functionary, but with a smile on his countenance — 
 " Thou canst be then more cruel than death ! Away ; 
 thou wilt not, a moment hence, prevent our heads 
 embracing in the pannier !"* 
 
 Such was the end of that Danton who had played 
 so signal a x>iirt in the revolution, and had been so 
 instrumental to its onward course. Daring, ardent, 
 panting for excitement, eager for the gratiiications of 
 pleasure, he had rushed into the stormy career with 
 qualities fitting him especially to shine in days of 
 turmoil and terror. Prompt and positive, unaffected 
 by either tlie difficulty or the novelty of an extraor- 
 dinary position, none could better judge what means 
 were necessary, or had less fear or scruj)le in adopting 
 them. He liiid deemed it imperative to terminate the 
 struggles between the monarchy and the revolution, 
 and he perpetrated the 10th of August. ^Menaced by 
 the Prussian invasion, he had conceived it indispen- 
 sable to overawe France and commit it past recall to 
 the system of tlie revolution ; he directed, it is said, 
 the massacres of September, and, even thougli ordain- 
 ing them, he saved a multitude of victims. At the 
 commencement of the great year 1793, the convention 
 was astounded at the spectacle of all Europe under 
 arms; he pronounced, comprehending them in aU 
 their profundity, those remarkable words — " A nation 
 in a revolution is more likely to concpier its neighbours 
 than to be conquered." He held tliat twenty-five 
 millions of men, whom a popular government might 
 venture to move, could have nothing to dread from a 
 few hundreds of thousands accoutred by monarchs. 
 He proposed, therefore, to arouse the people, to levy 
 contributions on the rich ; in shoi't, he it was who in- 
 vented all tliose revolutionary measures which have 
 left so terrible a remembrance, but which nevertheless 
 saved France. This man, so poteniial in action, re- 
 lapsed into mdolence and the life of pleasm-e he had 
 
 * [" They proceeded to execution with the assurance usual 
 at that period. A large body of troops had been called to arms, 
 and their escort was very considerable. The crowd, Reneraliy 
 boisterous and exulting, was silent. CamilloDcsnioulins, even 
 on the fatal cart, was still amazed at his condemnation, and 
 could scarcely credit it. 'This then,' he exclaimed, 'is tlie 
 recompense awarded to the first apostle of liberty !' Danton c.ir- 
 ried his head erect, and surveyed the concourse with a tranquil 
 and haughty giu;e. At the foot of the scaffold, he was aflec^ed 
 for a moment. ' Oh, my well-beloved !' he cried ; ' oh, my wife ! 
 I will see thee then no more !' But, instantly recovering himself — 
 ' Danton, no weakness !' 
 
 Thus perished the tardy but last defenders of humanity and 
 moderation ; the last who advocated peace amongst the conque- 
 rors of the revolution, and mercy towards the vanquished. After 
 them, no voice wius heard for a while against the dictatorsliip of 
 terror ; it struck, from one end of France to tlie other, multiplied 
 and silent blows. The Girondists had endeavoured to prevent 
 this violent system, the Dantonists essayed to counteract it ; all 
 perished, and the victors had so many more victims to immolate 
 as they counted more enemies. So sanguinary a career, once en- 
 tered upon, its limit was to be found only in the destruction of its 
 authors. The Dei.eravirs, after the definitive fall of the Giron- 
 dists, had inscribed terror as the order of the day ; after the fall 
 of the Hcbertists, they had made it justice and prohiti/, because 
 those were impure factionists ; after the fall of the Dantonists, 
 they rendered it (error and all the virtues, because they stigmatised 
 them as the party of indulgents and immoralists."— ,!//<;««<, vol. 
 ii. pp. 47, 4a] 
 
 always coveted, during the intervals of danger. He 
 delighted even in the most innocent enjoyments — such 
 as the country, a beloved wife, and attached friends, 
 are so calcidated to impart. Then he forgot the van- 
 quislied, or at least to hate them, and could even render 
 them justice, pity, and defend tliem. But during those 
 periofls of repose, so necessary to his impassioned tem- 
 perament, his rivals gradually acquired bj^ perseve- 
 rance that renown and influence he had achieved in a 
 single day of peril The fanatics reproached him witl» 
 effeminacy and gentleness, overlooking the fact that, 
 m point of political cruelty, he had rivalled them all 
 in the dismal days of September. Whilst confiding in 
 his fame, procrastinating from iixlolence, and revolv- 
 ing in his brain noble projects for restoring mild laws, 
 for restricting the reign of violence to the era of danger, 
 for separating the exterminators, irrevocably involved 
 in the ruthless effusion of blood, from the men who 
 had yielded only to the force of circumstances — for 
 organising France, in fine, and reconciling it with 
 Europe — he was surprised by the colleagues to whom 
 he had abandoned the government. These, after 
 striking a blow against the ultra-revolutionists, were 
 constramed, to avoid the appearance ot retrograding, 
 to smite with equal rigour the jiarty of the moderates. 
 Thus policy demanded victims, malevolence and envy 
 selected them, and sent to the scafibld the most cele- 
 brated and the most dreaded man of his epoch. Dan- 
 ton succumbed, despite his renown and services, befora 
 the formidable power he had contributed to establish ; 
 but by his undamited boldness he rendered Ms fall at 
 least doubtful for a moment. 
 
 Danton possessed a mind uncultivated doubtless, 
 but great, capacious, and, above all, simple and solid. 
 He drew upon its resources only wlien spurred by 
 exigency, and never for the mere purpose of shining ; 
 consequently he spoke little, and disdained to write. 
 According to a contemporary, he had no pretension, 
 not even that of comprehending what he was ignorant 
 of, a pretension so common in men of his order, lln 
 was accustomed to heed Fabre-d'pjglantine, and to 
 leave the part of oratory to his young and talented 
 friend Camille-Desmoulins, whose lively imagination 
 was to him an inexhaustible source of deliglit, and 
 whom he had the grief to involve in his fall. He died 
 with his usual fortitude, and communicated it to his 
 friend. Like jMiralx.'au, lie quitted the world, proud 
 of himself, and believing his faults and his hfe suffi- 
 ciently exi^iated by his great services and his ultimate 
 projects. 
 
 The leaders of the two parties, then, had been sacri- 
 ficed. Tliey were speedily followed by their adherents 
 on both sides, men of the most opposite princijiles be- 
 ing blended and tried together, in order still further to 
 accredit the opinion that they were accomplices in the 
 same plot. Chaumette and Gobel apjieared side by 
 side with Arthur Dillon and Simon. The Gram- 
 nionts, father and son, LepaUu, and other members of 
 the revolutionary army, were classed with General 
 Beysser before the tribunal. Lastly, the Avife of 
 llebert, formerly the inmate of a convent, was placed 
 at the bar with the youthful spouse of Camille-Des- 
 moulins, scarcely in her twenty-third year, redolent 
 of beauty, grace, and innocence. Chaumette, whom 
 we recollect so eminent for submissiveness and docility, 
 was accused of having conspired at the commune 
 against the government, of having starved the people, 
 and sought to infiame tliem by his extravagant ordi- 
 nances. Gobel was regarded as tlie accomplice of 
 Clootz and Chaumette. Arthur Dillon had intended, 
 so it was alleged, to throw open the prisons of Paris, 
 slaughter the convention and the tribunal, and rescue 
 liis friends. The members of the revolutionary army 
 were arraigned as agents of Konsin. General Beysser, 
 who had so powerfully contributed to save Xantes in 
 concert with Canclaux, and who was suspected of an 
 atta<,'hnient to federalism, was charged as an accom- 
 plice of the ultra-revolutionists. Tlie records of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 4U3 
 
 Vendean war show how preposterous was tlie allega- 
 tion of an understanding between the staff of Nantes 
 and that of Saumur. The woman llcbert was doomed 
 under the character of her husband's coadjutor. Seated 
 on the same bench with the wife of Camille, she said 
 to her, " You are fortunate ; no charge is raised against 
 you. You will be saved." In fact, all that coidd be 
 assigned against that young female, was the crime of 
 having loved her husband too well, and of having con- 
 tinuously wandered with her children around the jail, 
 to see their father and point him out to them. How- 
 ever, both were condemned ; and the consorts of He- 
 bert and Camille perished as guilty of an identical 
 conspiracy. The mifortunate Madame Uesmoulins 
 died with a courage worthy of her husband and her 
 own vii-tue. Since the deaths of Charlotte Corday and 
 Madame Roland, no victim had inspired a more ten- 
 der interest, or excited more unfeigned regret. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE LAST CONDEMNATIONS AGAINST 
 THE PARTIES OPPOSED TO THE GOVERNMENT. EF- 
 FORTS OF THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC WELFARE TO 
 CONCENTRATE ALL POWER IN ITSELF. THE CONVEN- 
 TION, UPON A REPORT OF ROBESPIERRE, PROCLAIMS, 
 IN THE NAME OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE, THE RECOG- 
 NITION OF THE SUPREME BEING, AND THE IMMORTA- 
 LITY OF THE SOUL. 
 
 The government, then, stood in the midst, with the 
 ruins of two hostde parties strewed on each side. The 
 first, that of the ultra-revolutionists, was really for- 
 midable, or might have become so ; the second, that 
 of the new moderates, was, so to speak, innocuous. 
 The destruction of the latter, therefore, was not justi- 
 fied by necessity, but was judged advisable, in order 
 to clear the committee from any unputation of mode- 
 rate tendencies. The committee had acted in tlie 
 sacrifice hypocritically, and without conviction ; soleh' 
 moved, indeed, by env}^ hatred, and malice. It had 
 been found difficidt, however, to plant this final blow, 
 we have seen the whole body hesitate, and Robespierre 
 retreat to his domicile as in the days of imminent 
 peril. But Saint-Just, stimulated by his indomitable 
 courage and his jealous malignity, remained steadfast 
 at his post, reanimated Hermann and Fouquier, the 
 vile instruments of judici;d iniquity, alarmed the con- 
 vention, extorted from it a decree of death, and tliereby 
 consununated the work of blood. The final effort re- 
 quired by authority to render itself absolute, is gene- 
 rally the hardest to achieve;* it has need of all its 
 strength to surmount the idtimate obstacle; but that 
 effectually subdued, all yield and bow before it ; it 
 has thenceforth only to wield its sovereignty. Then 
 occurs the period of its development, its profligacy, 
 its course to ruin. Whilst every tongue is silenced, 
 and every countenance wears the downcast expression 
 of obsequiousness and submission, hatred rankles in 
 all hearts, and tlie materials. of retribution are ])re- 
 pared even in the hour of overweening triumjih. 
 
 At present, therefore, the committee of public wel- 
 fare, after successfully contending with two classes of 
 men, so ditl'erently actuated, who had manifested a 
 disposition to control or merely t() ammadvert on the 
 exercise of its sway, had become irresistible. The 
 winter months were past. The campaign of 1794 
 (Cerminal, year 2) was about to open with the ad- 
 vent of spring. Formidable armies were in motion to 
 
 * [Tliepassnjje, if .iPCiiratdy rendered, slioiild represent the last 
 ban-ier as a/ways the most diflicult to break down ; but even as it 
 stands in the text, it is open to much objection. The Chinese 
 have a sayiug, " that in a journey of ten paces, nine are liol/ 
 the distance;" but as Madame de Stacl observes {I)r I'AHfimiiiiii', 
 vol. ii. p. 15(ii, its application is chiefly confined, in I^urope at 
 least, to Geniiun dramatists, who never know how to finish their 
 pieces.] 
 
 deploy on all the frontiers, and to illustrate abroad 
 the terrible power so ruthlessly administered at home. 
 \Miosoever had appeared to resist, or to evince any 
 interest in those recently bereaved of life, felt it in 
 cumbent to record with all speed his abject acquies- 
 cence and contrition. Tims Legendre, mIio had made 
 an effort on the day Danton, Lacroix, and Camille- 
 Desmoulins were arrested, and who had endeavoured 
 to move the convention in their favour, hastened to re- 
 pair his imprudence, and to abjm'e his friendship for 
 the late victims. Several anonymous letters had been 
 sent to him, wherein he M'as urged to smite the tyrants, 
 who, it was alleged, had now thrown off the mask. 
 Legendre appeared at the Jacobin Club on the 21st 
 Germinal (10th April), denounced these unauthenti- 
 cated communications, and complained that he should 
 be taken for a Seide, whose hand was alwaj's ready 
 to grasp a dagger. " And now," said he, " since I am 
 forced to it, I declare to the people, who have always 
 heard me speak with sincerity, that I consider it de- 
 monstrated the conspiracy, of which the leaders have 
 ceased to breathe, really existed, and that I was the 
 dupe of traitors. I have found the proofs in difierent 
 documents deposited with the committee of public 
 welfare, above all, in the criminal behaviour of the 
 accused before the national justice, and in the machi- 
 nations of their accomplices, who Avould fain arm an 
 honest man ■with the homicidal poniard. I was, be- 
 fore the discovery of the plot, the intimate friend of 
 Danton ; I would have answered for his principles 
 and his conduct with my head ; but now I am con- 
 vinced of his guilt — I am persuaded he would have 
 plunged the people into the depths of error. I might 
 perhaps have fallen into the pit myself, if I had not 
 been enlightened in time. I tell the anonymous 
 scribblers who would induce me to poniard Robes- 
 pierre, and render me the instrument of their evil 
 purposes, that I was born in the bosom of the people, 
 that I make it my glorj' to remain there, and that I 
 will sooner die than abandon their rights. They will 
 write me no letter I shall not take to the conunittee 
 of public welfare." 
 
 The spirit of submission thus exemplified in Le- 
 gendre, was general throughout France. A multitude 
 of addresses arrived from all parts of the countiy, 
 wherein the convention and the committee of public 
 welfare were congratulated on their energy. The 
 number of these addresses was incalculable. In all 
 stj'les, in forms the most grotesque, one vied witli 
 the other in expressing approbation of the acts of 
 tlie government, and in acknowledging its justice. 
 Rjiodez transmitted the following manifesto : — " Wor- 
 thy representatives of a free peojjle '. — It is in vain the 
 sons of Titan have raised their proud heads ; the 
 thunderbolt has laid them prostrate! "What, citizens! 
 sell liberty for vile riches! The coiistitution you 
 have given us has shaken all thrones, has struck 
 terror into all kings. Liberty advancing with giant 
 strides — despotism crushed — superstition eradicated 
 — the republic resuming its unity — conspirators disco- 
 vered and iJimished — faithless mandatories, base and 
 perfidious functionaries, falling under the axe of the 
 law — the irons of the slaves in the New World broken 
 — such 3'our trophies ! If intriguers still exist, let 
 them tremble ! Let tlie death of the conspirators 
 attest your triunqili ! For j'ourselves, representa- 
 tives, live hap])y under the wise laws you have made 
 for the i)ros]icrity of all nations, and receive the tri- 
 bute of our allection!"* 
 
 It was not from any abhorrence of sanguinary 
 measures that tlie committee smote tlie ultra-revolu- 
 tionists, but in order to strengthen authority, and to 
 sweep awaj' the impedhncnts that checked its action. 
 Hence wo find it constantly thereafter aiming at a 
 twofold object — to render itself more formidable, and 
 to concentrate all power in its own hands. Collot, 
 * Sitting of the 26th Germinal, No. 208 of the Moititeur of th« 
 year 2 (April 17U4).
 
 404 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ■who had become an orator of the government at 
 the Jacobin Chib, expounded its policy in terras 
 singularly energetic. During a vehement discourse, 
 wherem he intimated to all the constituted autho- 
 rities the new route they were expected to follow, 
 and the peculiar zeal they were to manifest in the 
 exercise of their functions, he said — " The tyrants 
 have lost their vigour; their armies quail in pre- 
 sence of ours ; already some despots are seeking to 
 withdraw from the coalition. In this state, there 
 remains to them but one hope, founded on intestine 
 conspiracies. We must not cease, therefore, to keep 
 a watchful eye on traitors. Like our brethren, con- 
 querors on tiie frontiers, let us have oiu- weapons at 
 our shoulders and fire all together. WhUst our exter- 
 nal enemies f;ill beneath the blows of our soldiers, let 
 internal enemies fall beneath the blows of the people. 
 Our cause, supported b}- justice and energy, will be 
 triumphant. Nature herself works this year for the 
 republicans ; it promises them a twofold abundance. 
 The blades as they sprout announce the overthrow of 
 tyrants. I repeat to you, citizens, let us be vigilant 
 at home, whilst our warriors fight abroad. Let the 
 functionaries intrusted with the pubhc surveillance 
 redouble their carefidness and zeal; let them be 
 thoroughly impressed with this idea, that there is not 
 perhaps a street or an alley in which a traitor medi- 
 tating a last plot may not be fomid. Let that traitor 
 meet death, and death the most prompt ! If the ad- 
 ministrators, if the puldic functionaries wish to find 
 a place in history, now is the favourable moment fin- 
 attempting it. The revolutionary tribunal has already 
 secured an eminent position in its records. Let all 
 the administrations learn to imitate its zeal and its 
 inexorable energy ; let the revolutionary committees, 
 above all, redouble their vigilance and activity, and 
 let them beware how they yield to the solicitations 
 with which they are besieged, whereby they are 
 moved to an indulgence most fatal to liberty." 
 
 Saint-Just presented to the convention a formid- 
 able report on the general police of the republic. He 
 therein repeated the fiibidous history of the various 
 conspiracies, representing them as the outbreak of 
 vice against the austere system of the repubUc. He 
 said tiiat the government, so far from relenting, must 
 smite continually, until it had extirpated all the 
 beings whose corruption formed an obstacle to the 
 establishment of virtue. He passed the accustomed 
 eulogy on severity, and sought to prove, as was usual 
 at the time, by similes of all kinds, that the origin of 
 great institutions was necessarily terrible. "What 
 would an indulging republic become ? " he exclaimed. 
 ■' We have encountered the sword with the sword, 
 and the republic is founded. It has emerged from the 
 bosom of storms : such an origin is in common with 
 the world sprimg from chaos, and with man wailing 
 at his birth." In pursuance of these maxims, Saint- 
 Just proposed a general measure against ex- nobles. 
 This was the first of the kind, thus distinctly framed, 
 that had been propounded. Danton, in the preceding 
 year, during a paroxj'sm of wrath, had caused all 
 aristocrats to be declared beyond the pale of the law. 
 That decree being incapable of execution on account 
 of its comprehensiveness, another had been substi- 
 tuted which condemned all suspected persons to pro- 
 visional detention. But no specific law against ex- 
 nobles had yet been enacted. Saint-Just exhibited 
 them as the irreconcilable enemies of the revolution. 
 •' Whatever you may do," said he, " you will never 
 satisfy the enemies of the people, unless you re-esta- 
 blish the tyranny. They must go, therefore, elsewhere 
 in quest of slavery and kings. They cannot make 
 peace Avith you ; you do not speak the same language ; 
 you will never understand each other. Drive them 
 forth, then ! The world is not inhospitable, and the 
 public welfare is amongst us tiic supreme law." 
 
 He accordingly submitted a decree banishing all 
 ex-nobles and aliens from Paris, from fortified towns. 
 
 and from maritime places, and putting out of the pale 
 of the law such as shoidd not have obeyed the decree 
 in the space of ten days. Other articles of the enact- 
 ment imposed on all authorities the emphatic duty of 
 redoubling their activity and zeal. The convention 
 applauded the proposition, as it never failed to do, and 
 voted it by acclamation. CoUot-dTlerbois, the vindi- 
 cator of the decree before the Jacobins, added hi? 
 tropes to those wherewith Saint-Just had enlightened 
 the national representatives. " It is necessary," he 
 said, " to expel the unwholesome humours of the aris- 
 tocracy from the body politic ; the more it transpires, 
 the healthier will it become." 
 
 Such were the steps taken by the committee to 
 manifest the rigour of its future policy. We now 
 proceed to its acts for the greater concentratiim of 
 power. In the first place, it resolved upon the disem- 
 bodiment of the revolutionary' armj'. Organised ac- 
 cording to a conception of Danton, that army had 
 originiilly been serviceable in enforcing the fiats of 
 the convention, Avhilst there 3"et survived any relics 
 of federalism ; but haA-ing become the rallying-point 
 for perturbators and adventurers of the worst grades, 
 and having, moreover, availed the recenth' suppressed 
 demagogues as a supporting basis, it was deemed 
 necessary to chsperse it. Besides, the government, 
 being every where implicitly obeyed, had no further 
 occasion for this horde of satelUtes to carrj' its orders 
 into execution. In consequence, it was disbanded by 
 decree. The committee then proposed the abolition 
 of the different ministries. These were felt still to 
 possess too much importance, as respected the mem- 
 bers of the supreme committee. Either they left all 
 to be done by the committee, in which case they were 
 useless ; or they essayed to act, and then they became 
 obnoxioiis rivals. The instance of Bouchotte, who, 
 when governed by Vincent, had so often and so greatly 
 embarrassed the committee, was an instructive ex- 
 ample. In consequence, the ministries were abrogated. 
 In their stead were instituted the following twelve 
 commissions : — 
 
 L Commission of civil administration, police, and 
 coiu-ts of justice. 
 
 2. Commission of public instruction. 
 
 3. Commission of agriculture and arts. 
 
 4. Commission of trade and magazines. 
 .5. Commission of pubhc works. 
 
 6. Commission of public aids. 
 
 7. Commission of transport, post, and mails. 
 
 8. Commission of finance. 
 
 9. Connnission of organisation and direction for the 
 land forces. 
 
 10. Commission of the navy and colonies. 
 
 11. Commission of arms, amnmnition, and mines. 
 
 1 2. Commission of foreign relations. 
 
 These commissions, all dependent on the committee 
 of public welfare, were merely so many boards amongst 
 whom the details of administration were distributed. 
 Hermann, who presided at the revolutionary tribunal 
 during the trial of Danton, was rewarded for his ze:J 
 by being nominated chief of one of these commissions. 
 In fact, the most important was confided to him, that 
 " of civil administration, police, and courts of justice." 
 
 To ])romote the centralisation of power, other mea- 
 sures were likewise adopted. According to the law 
 bearing on revolutionary committees, one was en- 
 joined in each commune, or section of a commime. 
 The rurid communes being very numerous, and thinly 
 popidatcd, it residted that the committees were too 
 multifarious, and their duties scattered and trifling. 
 Their composition, moreover, was unsatisfactory. The 
 peasants, iilthough ardent revolutionists for the most 
 part, were mieducated, and the municipal functions 
 had therefore devolved in general on landowners living 
 upon their estates, who were but indifferently disposed 
 to exercise their power in the spu'it of the government ; 
 in consequence whereof, the surveillance of the coun- 
 trj-, and, above ;dl, of coimtry seats, was flagrantly
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 405 
 
 neglected. To remedy this obnoxious state of things, 
 the revolutionary committees of communes were sup- 
 pressed, and those of districts alone maintained. By 
 this expedient, the police was concentrated, and ren- 
 dered more effective, being exclusively vested in the 
 burghers of districts, who were nearly all firm Jaco- 
 bins, and jealous of the old gentry. 
 
 The Jacobins formed the principal association or 
 club, and the only one patronised by the government. 
 They had invariably vindicated its principles and in- 
 terests, and had, like it, pronounced equally against 
 the Hebertists and Dantonists. The committee of 
 piiblic welfare was anxious that this favoured society 
 should absorb the majority of the others, and thus 
 concentrate in itself the influence of opinion, as it, the 
 committee, had already engrossed the whole power of 
 the government. Tliis idea was highlj'' flattering to 
 the ambition of the Jacobins, and they made the 
 greatest eSbrts to realise it. Since the meetings of 
 sections had been limited to two in the week, in order 
 tliat the people might attend them, and secure the 
 adoption of revolutionary motions, the sections had 
 resolved into popular societies. The nuiuber of such 
 societies was very great in Paris, there being two or 
 three in eacli section. AVe have previously mentioned 
 the complaints to which they had given rise. It was 
 asserted that the aristocrats, that is to say, clerks and 
 apprentices discontented with the conscription, old 
 servants of the nobility, all those, in short, who had 
 any motive for resisting the revohitionary system, 
 mustered in these societies, and exhibited the hostility 
 thej' dared not manifest at the Jacobin Club or in 
 the sections. The vast number of these secondary 
 associations prevented their efiectual supervision, and 
 opinions were often promulgated within them which 
 none would have ventured to whisper elsewhere. Their 
 abolition had already been the subject of discussion. 
 The Jacobins had no right to entertain such a topic, 
 and the government could have taken no steps in 
 the matter, without appearing to interfere with the 
 liberty of assembling and deliberating in common, a 
 franchise dearly valued at the time, and held to be of 
 right unlimited. The difficulty was thus obviated. 
 On the proposition of CoUot, the Jacobins decided 
 that they would receive no more deputations on the 
 part of societies formed in Paris since the 10th August, 
 and that all coiTcspondence with them should be dis- 
 continued. As to those which had been formed in 
 Paris before the 10th August, and which enjoyed the 
 privilege of correspondence, they resolved that a report 
 should be framed on each of them, to ascertain whether 
 they ought to retain that advantage. This measure 
 chiefly concerned the Cordeliers, already assailed in 
 the persons of their leaders, Ronsin, Vincent, Hebert, 
 and since regarded with jealousy and suspicion. Thus, 
 all the sectional societies were branded by this reso- 
 lution, and the Cordeliers Avere condemned to undergo 
 the ordeal of an inquiry. 
 
 The effect anticipated from this measure was soon 
 realised. All the sectional societies, intimidated or 
 l)ersuaded, appeared in rotation before tlie convention 
 and the Jacobin Club, to announce their voluntary 
 dissolution. All of them adopted the language of 
 congratulation, equally towards the convention and 
 the Jacdiiins, and declared that, whollj' devoted to 
 the i)u})lic interest, they were ready to separate of 
 their own accord, since their meetings had been deemed 
 hurtfid to the cause they desired to serve. Thence- 
 forth, the parent society of the Jacobins alone re- 
 mained in I'aris, and its affiliated societies in the 
 provinces. It is true, the Cordelier Club still lingered 
 precariously. Originallj^ formed by Danton, towards 
 whom, as its fomider, it had been signally migrateful, 
 and ultimately subservient to Hebert, Ronsin, and 
 Vincent, it had for a while disquieted the govcrimient 
 ' and rivalled even the Jacobins. The outcasts of Vin- 
 ! cent's ministry, and of the revolutionary army, con- 
 tinued to assemble in its hall. As a chiti. it could not 
 
 be directly dissolved ; but the report concerning it was 
 presented, which set forth that, for some time, it had 
 corresponded rarely and negligently Avith the Jacobin, 
 and that, in consequence, it appeared useless to pro- 
 long the privilege of correspondence. On that occa- 
 sion, certain Jacobins proposed for discussion the 
 question, whether more than one popular society was 
 necessary in Paris. They even ventured openly to 
 maintain, that a single centre of opinion ought to be 
 established, and fixed at the Jacobin Club. The so- 
 ciety passed to the order of the day on these proposi- 
 tions, and even refrained from deciding whether the 
 right of correspondence should be preserved to the 
 Cordeliers. But the existence of that celebrated club 
 had virtuaUy terminated : completely discredited, it 
 dwindled into insignificance, and the Jacobins rested, 
 Avith theu- train of affiliated societies, the sole masters 
 and regulators of opinion. 
 
 After having centralised opinion, if we may so speak, 
 endeavours Avere directed to regulate its expression, 
 to render it less boisterous and less embarrassing to 
 the government. Hitherto, the main occupation of 
 the Jacobins had consisted in perjDetually censuring 
 and denouncing all public functionaries, magistrates, 
 deputies, generals, and administrators. That mania 
 for vituperating and assailing the agents of poAver had 
 been attended A\'ith its mconveniences, but Avith its 
 advantages, likcAvise. so long as their zeal and o])i- 
 nions could be reasonably doubted. But noAv that the 
 committee possessed all authority, Avatchcd its agents 
 with unremitting vigilance, and selected them in a 
 truly revolutionary spirit, the Jacobins could no longer 
 be permitted to indulge in their habitual suspicions, 
 or to tantalise functionaries for the most part dis- 
 creetly chosen and under close supervision. Such a 
 license, mdeed, would have invoh'ed danger to the state. 
 It Avas with reference to Generals Charbonnier and 
 Dagobert, Mho had been both calumniated, whilst the 
 one Avas gaining advantages over the Austrians and 
 the other laying down liis life in Cerdagne stricken 
 Avith years and wounds, that CoUot-d'Herbois took 
 the opportunity of complaining to the Jacobins con- 
 cerning this reckless propensity to revile generals and 
 functionaries of all grades. Adhering to the custom 
 of charging all on the dead, he -attributed this rage 
 for denunciation to the remnants of the Hebert faction, 
 and urged the Jacobins no longer to tolerate these 
 pubhc attacks, which caused the society, as he said, 
 to lose much precioiis time, and tended to loAver in 
 estimation the agents appointed by the government. 
 Thus premising, he concluded by moving the appoint- 
 ment of a committee of the society, with instructions 
 to receive demmciations, and transmit them m secrecy 
 to the committee of public Avelfare ; which proposition 
 was adopted. In this manner, denunciations were 
 deprived of their trouljlesome and outrageous charac- 
 ter, and the demagogical sph-it began to settle down 
 mto the quietude of formality and routine. 
 
 Thus, then, to declare unmitigated hostility towards 
 the enemies of the revolution, and to centralise aihni- 
 nistration, police, and opinion, Avere the first cares of 
 the committee, and the immediate results of its victory 
 over the two parties. Doubtless ambition noAv com- 
 menced to instigate its determinations, much more 
 than during the earlier moments of its existence, yet 
 not so greatly as might be inferred from tlie prodigious 
 extent of poAver it had grasped. Instituted at the 
 opening of the campaign of 1793, and in the midst of 
 other urgent perils, it Avas at once the offspring and 
 the resource of dire necessity. Once established, it 
 had gradually assumed a greater share of power, as 
 the exigencies of tlie state arose, and had so advanced 
 to the dictatoi'ship itself. Its position amid the uni- 
 versal confusion and the dissolution of all authority 
 Avas such, that it could not reorganise without gaining 
 poAver, or effect good without the antidote of ambition. 
 Its last measures redounded unquestionablj' to its own 
 profit, but they were in themselves prudent and bene- 
 2D
 
 406 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ficial. The major part, indeed, liad been sujrgested to it ; 
 for in a society undergoing the process of reconstruc- 
 tion, many things, amidst the latitude of invention, 
 must be forced on the creative authority. But the 
 moment approached wlien ambition was to be its sole 
 monitor, and when tlie interest of the state was to be- 
 come subordinate to that of its own predominance. 
 Such is man ; he caimot continue long disinterested, 
 but too soon blends the consideration of self with the 
 mission assigned him. 
 
 The last subject tliat demanded the attention of the 
 committee of public welfare, was one which has at all 
 times seriously occupied the organisers of nations or 
 communities, namely, religion. It had already taken 
 moral sentiments under its protection, by inscribing, 
 ^^ probity, justice, and all the virtues, on the order of 
 the day." Religiims sentiments remained to challenge 
 its regard. 
 
 And here let us digress for an instant, to remark 
 the singular progression of the systems from time to 
 time upheld by these dogmatists of the ruling party. 
 When the Girondists were to be supplanted, they de- 
 scribed them as moderates and emasculate republi- 
 cans, spoke incessantly of patriotic energy and public 
 salvation, and sacrificed them to those ideas. When 
 from the conquering ranks two new parties arose, the 
 one furious, brutal, extravagant, ready to rush into 
 anarchy aild revolting profanation, the other indul- 
 gent, frank, and friendly to mUd manners and social 
 enjoyments, they passed from ideas of patriotic energy 
 to those of order and virtue. They decried the fatal 
 moderation which was enervating the vigour of the 
 revolution ; they asserted the wiiole phalanx of the 
 vices to be arrayed against the austerity of the repub- 
 lican spirit ; on either side they saw violence repudi- 
 ating all idea of order, effeminacy and corruption out- 
 raging all idea of morality, delirious impiety rejecting 
 all idea of God, and then they deemed the republic, 
 like virtue, assaulted by all the evil passions at once. 
 The word " virtue" forthwith became the predominant 
 motto, and justice and probity were formally installed 
 as " the order of the day." By an easy transition they 
 were moved to maintain the existence of a Supreme 
 Being, the inuuortality of the soul, the obligation of 
 the moral code ; and tlius were they led to promulgate 
 a solemn profession of faith, or, in other words, to 
 prescribe the religion of the state. A decree of the 
 convention was all the agency they needed, and that 
 medium they resolved to use. Tluis they encountered 
 anarchists with the watchword of order, atheists with 
 the invocation of God, and libertines with the vindi- 
 cation of morality. Their system of virtue had already 
 received a signal development. In addition to other 
 motives^ moreover, they were extremely solicitous to 
 remove from the republic the stigma of impiety, which 
 all Europe had agreed in fixing upon it; and they 
 prepared to assert, in the face of the world, what has 
 been often said to intolerant priests, reproaching others 
 with profaneness because they hesitated to accept all 
 their dogmas — -We believe in God. 
 
 Reasons derived from considerations of a different 
 nature likewise urged them to adopt a decisive mea- 
 sure touching religious faith. The ceremonies ap- 
 pointed for the worship of Reason had been abolished ; 
 no particular mode of celebrating the tenth days or 
 decades had been instituted ; and, whilst meeting the 
 moral and religious wants of the people, it was like- 
 wise of importance to gratify their imagination, and 
 to provide them with occasions of public congregation. 
 The period, besidess was peculiarly favourable : the 
 republic, victorious at the close of the preceding cam- 
 paign, had opened the present under most flattering 
 auspices. Instead of the deficiency of means which 
 had crippled its efforts during the previous year, it 
 was now, by the foresight of its government, prepared 
 with ample military resources. From the dread of 
 undergoing the horrors of conquest, it had passed to 
 the brilliant anticipation of carrj-ing victory into other 
 
 lands ; whilst on the domestic arena perfect submis- 
 sion had succeeded to formidable insurrections. And 
 if constraint still continued to fetter the operations of 
 internal commerce, owing to the assignats and the 
 maximum, nature seemed beneficent^ disposed to 
 make amends, and to shower its richest gifts on France, 
 by the promise of an abundant harvest. From all the 
 provinces the reports coincided that the crops would 
 be doubly prolific, and arrive at maturity a month 
 earlier than usual. Tliis, then, was the moment for 
 prostrating the republic, saved, victorious, loaded with 
 benefits, at the footstool of the Eternal. Grand and 
 affecting the occasion to those who believed, opportune 
 to those upon whom political ideas alone operated ! 
 
 A singular sjiectacle is here offered to reflection. 
 Dogmatists, in whose eyes no human agreement or pre- 
 possession was worthy of regard ; who, from their ex- 
 traordinary contempt for all other nations, and their 
 equally extraordinary self-sufficiency, cared for no 
 opinion, and scrupled not to defy that of the whole 
 world ; who, in the matter of government, had super- 
 seded all principles for the maxim of stern necessity, 
 and had admitted the authority only of certain citi- 
 zens temporarily elected ; who had rejected all grada- 
 tion of classes, and had feared not to abolish the most 
 ancient and firmly rooted of creeds — they, these dog- 
 matists, paused before two ideas, morality and the 
 Divine Being! After having repudiated all those 
 from which they conceived mankind might be set free, 
 thej' remained subject to the influence of these two, 
 and had sacrificed a party to each. If all were not 
 sincere in their belief, all at least felt the absolute need 
 of order amongst men, and, as the essential means of 
 supporting that human order, they perceived the ne- 
 cessity of recognising a general and intelligent Provi- 
 dence in the universe. It is the first time, in the 
 history of the world, that the demolition of every sub- 
 sisting authority left society a prey to the government 
 of minds purely systematic (for the English, at the 
 era of their commonwealtli, put implicit faith in the 
 Cliristian dispensation) ; and those very minds, which 
 had so contemptuously spurned all received ideas, yet 
 retained and adopted those which involved the sanc- 
 tity of morals and the Godhead. This example is 
 solitary in the annals of the world. It is grand and 
 striking. The historian is justified in staying his 
 narrative to ponder on such things. 
 
 Robespierre was the reporter on this solemn occa- 
 sion, and most appropriately so, according to the dis- 
 tribution of parts arranged amongst the members of 
 the connnittee. Prieur, Robert-Lindet, and Carnot, 
 attended in silence to the details of administration and 
 of war. Barrere compiled the majority of the reports, 
 particularly those which had reference to the opera- 
 tions of the armies, and in general all such as required 
 extempore delivery. Collot-d'IIerbois, skilful in the 
 art of declamation, was deputed to the clubs and po- 
 l)idar meetings, there to harangue in the interest of 
 the connnittee. Couthon, despite his paralytic infir- 
 mity, also moved to and fro, spoke in the convention, 
 in the Jacobin Club, and in assemblies of the people ; 
 and possessed the art of interesting his hearers, not 
 only by his bodily aflaiction, but also by the kind and 
 gentle tone he assumed even when uttering the most 
 violent doctrines. Billaud, less inclined to personal 
 exertion, devoted his time to tlie correspondence, and 
 occasionally treated on questions of general policy. 
 Saint-Just, young, bold, and active, passed rapidly 
 between fields of battle and the committee ; when he 
 had sufliciently impressed the armies with terror and 
 energy, he returned to frame sanguinary reports against 
 ])arties marked out for death. Lastly, Robespierre, 
 their universal chief, was consulted on all subjects, 
 but spoke only on great occasions. High moral and 
 political questions were reserved exclusively for him. 
 svich eminent themes being alone deemed worthy his 
 talent and inefl[able merit. Thus the distinction of 
 reporter upon the topic now appointed for discussion
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 407 
 
 fell to him of right. None had declared more vehe- 
 mently against atheism, none was held in sucli deep 
 respect, none enjoyed so great a reputation for purity 
 and virtue ; none, in short, was more fitted, from liis 
 ascendancy and dogmatism, to take upon him this 
 species of pontificate. 
 
 Never had so fair an opportunity occurred for imi- 
 tating Rousseau, whose opinions he professed, and of 
 whose style he made a continual study. The talents 
 of Robespierre had been wonderfidly developed in the 
 long struggles of the revolution. This cold and unima- 
 ginative being had learnt to extemporise with great 
 readiness and fluency ; and when he wrote, his pro- 
 ductions were distinguished for perspicuity, brilliancy, 
 and strength. In his stjde something of Rousseau's 
 caustic and sombre humour might be detected ; but 
 he could never engraft the noble sentiments or the 
 generous and impassioned soul of the autlior of Emile. 
 
 He appeared in the tribune on the 18th Floreal 
 (7th May), with a sedulously wrought discourse. Pro- 
 found attention was accorded him. " Citizens," so he 
 commenced his address, " it is in the period of prospe- 
 rity that it behoves nations, equally with individuals, 
 to probe themselves, if I may so speak, in order that 
 they may listen to the voice of wisdom in the stillness 
 of their passions." He then proceeded to unfold his 
 subject at large. The repubhc, as lie represented, was 
 virtue; and aU the adversaries it had encountered 
 were only so many varieties of vices contending against 
 it, and fostered by kings. The anarchists, the cor- 
 ruptionists, and the atheists, had all been the agents 
 of Pitt. " The tyrants," he stated, " satisfied with the 
 audaicious conduct of their emissaries, had eagerly held 
 up to the odiimi of their subjects tlie extravagances 
 they themselves had paid for ; and, feigning to believe 
 them committed by the French people, seemed to say 
 to them, ' What will you gam by shaking off our yoke ? 
 You see the republicans are no better than ice are!'" 
 Brissot, Danton, and Hebert, were reviewed by him in 
 succession ; but whilst indulging in virulent declama- 
 tion agamst those pretended enemies of virtue, tirades 
 which from repetition had become nauseous, he was 
 coldly heard. He speedily abandoned that part of 
 his subject,' however, and turned to the inculcation of 
 truly great and moral ideas, most ably expounded. 
 He then obtained universal applause. He observed 
 with reason that it was not as authors of systems that 
 the representatives of the nation ought to reprobate 
 atheism and proclaim deism, but as legislators seeking 
 the most suitable principles for men united in a social 
 compact. " What signify to j'ou, legislators," he ex- 
 claimed, "the various hypotheses whereby certain 
 philosophers explain the phenomena of nature ? You 
 may safely leave aU such points to their interminable 
 disputations ; it is neither as metaphysicians nor as 
 theologians you are called upon to view them : in the 
 eyes of the legislator, aU that is useful to the world 
 and practically beneficial is truth. The idea of the 
 Supreme Being and of the immortality of the soul is 
 a continual incitement to justice ; therefore is it soci- 
 able and repubhcan. Who has invested thee," he con- 
 tinued, apostrophising an atheist, " with a mission 
 to teach the people that the divinity has no existence — 
 thou who evincest such zeal for that barren doctrine, 
 but who art ever lukewarm for thy country ? Wliat 
 profit dost thou find in persuading man that a blind 
 force rules over his destinies, and smites at hazard 
 both crime and virtue — that his soul is but a volatile 
 essence, absorbed in the dreariness of the tomb ? AVill 
 the idea of his nonenity inspire him with more pure 
 and elevated sentiments tlian that of liis immorta- 
 lity ? — will it inspire him with more resjject for liis 
 fellow-men and for himself — with more devotedness 
 towards his country — with more heroism to brave 
 tyranny — with more contempt for death or voluptu- 
 ousness ? Ye who regret the loss of a virtuous friend, 
 cherish ye not the thought that his noblest part has 
 escaped the stroke of death ? Ye who weep over the 
 
 shroud of a son or a pnrtner, are you consoled by him 
 who tells you that nothing remains of those beloved 
 beings but vile dust ? Ye unfortunates who fall beneath 
 the blow of the assassin, is not your last sigh an appeal 
 to eternal justice ? Innocence on the scaffold can 
 make the tyrant quail on his triumphal car. Would 
 it have that power if the grave levelled the oppressor 
 and the oppressed ? " 
 
 Robespierre, still intent on presenting the question 
 in its political phase, added these remarkable obser- 
 vations: "Let us here take a lesson from history. 
 Remark, I pray you, how the men who have influenced 
 the destinies of states were determined towards the one 
 or the other of the two antagonist systems by their 
 personal character and the nature of their politicjil 
 views. See with what profound art Cffisar, pleading 
 in the Roman senate in favour of Catiline's accom- 
 plices, wanders into a digression against the belief in 
 the immortality of the soul, so adapted did he esteem 
 such ideas to extinguish in the hearts of the judges the 
 energy of virtue — so intimatel.y did he deem the cause 
 of crime allied with tliat of atheism ! Cicero, on tlie 
 contrarj', invoked against the traitors both the sword 
 of the law and the vengeance of the gods. Socrates, 
 dying, conversed with his friends on the immortality 
 of the soul. Leonidas, at ThermopyliP, supping with 
 Ms companions in arms on the eve of executing the 
 most heroic purpose human virtue ever conceived, in- 
 vited them for the morrow to another banquet in a 
 new world. Cato hesitated not between Epicurus and 
 Zeno. Brutus, and the illustrious band Avho partook 
 his dangers and his glory, also belonged to that sublime 
 sect of stoics, who maintained such loftj- ideas of the 
 dignity of man, who pitched their enthusiasm for vir- 
 tue so high, and indeed overstrained heroism itself. 
 Stoicism reared emulators of Brutus and Cato even 
 in the dismal ages m liicli followed the loss of Roman 
 liberty ; stoicism redeemed the honour of human na- 
 ture, degraded by the vices of Caesar's successors, and 
 above all by the patience of the people." 
 
 Clinging to the subject of atheism. Robespierre 
 spoke in a singular strain concerning the encyclo- 
 pedists.* " That sect," he said, " in political views 
 always stopped short of the rights of the people ; in 
 moral views it went far beyond the overthrow of re- 
 ligious prejudices. Its coryphoci occasionally declaimed 
 against despotism, and they were pensioned by despots ; 
 they sometimes wrote books against the court, and 
 sometimes dedications to kings, speeches for courtiers, 
 and madrigals for ladies-in-waiting ; they were arro- 
 gant in their works, and cringing in antechambers. 
 That sect propagated with the utmost zeal the doctrine 
 of materialism, which obtained amongst nobles and 
 wits ; to it we partly owe tliat species of practiciU 
 philosophy, which, reducing selfishness into a system, 
 regards human society as a war of stratagem, success 
 as the measure of justice or injustice, probity as a 
 matter of taste or convenience, the world as the patri- 
 mony of adroit knaves. 
 
 Amongst those who, at the time of which I speak, 
 distinguished themselves in the career of letters and 
 philosophy, one man, by the elevation of his soul and 
 the grandeur of his character, showed himself worthy 
 to be the precejitor of the human race. He attacked 
 tj'ranny with all the sinccritj' of his heart ; he spoke 
 with entliusiasm of tiie Divinity ; his vigorous and 
 honest elo(|ucnce depicted in glowing colours the 
 charms of virtue, and vindicated those consolatory 
 doctrines wliich reason gives for support to Inmianity. 
 The purity of his opinions, founded on nature and a 
 profound hatred of vice, equally witli his unalterable 
 contempt for tlie intriguing sophists who arrogated 
 the title of philosophers, drew upon him tlie enmity 
 
 * [It is i)erhaps Bciircely iicccssiiry to remind tlie reader that 
 this title refers to the French philosophers of the last ccnturj', 
 who composed and published an encyclopedia amidst many ob- 
 structions from the government, comprising Voltaire, Kouuohu, 
 Diderot, D'Alembert, Grimm, lto.2
 
 408 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and persecution of his rivals and false friends. Ah ! 
 if he had witnessed this revolution, of which he was 
 the precursor, who can doubt that his generous mind 
 would have embraced with ardour the cause of justice 
 and equality ? " * 
 
 Robespierre subsequently laboured to dispel the idea 
 that the government, in asserting the dogma of a Su- 
 preme Being, was promoting the interests of priests. 
 On this topic lie thus expressed himself: — "What is 
 there in common between priests and the Deity? 
 Priests are to ethics what charlatans are to medicine. 
 How infinitely is the God of nature different from the 
 God of priests ! I know nothing so much resembling 
 atheism as the rehgions they have fabricated. By 
 degrading the Supreme Being, they have annihilated 
 him as much as in them lay ; they have made him 
 sometimes a ball of fire, sometimes an ox, sometimes 
 a tree, sometimes a man, sometimes a king. Priests 
 have created a God after their o^vn likeness; they 
 have made him jealous, capricious, covetous, cruel, 
 and implacable. They have treated him as in times 
 past the mayors of the palace treated the descendants 
 of Clovis, in order that they might reign in his name 
 and usurp his place ; they have chained him in heaven 
 as in a palace, and have called him on earth only to 
 demand for their own profit tithes, lands, honoiu-s, 
 luxury, and power. The veritable temple of the Su- 
 preme Being is the universe ; his creed, virtue ; his 
 worship, the gladness of a multitiwie assembled before 
 him to strengthen the bands of universal brotherhood, 
 and to offer him the homage of pure and sensible 
 hearts." 
 
 In conclusion, Robespierre advocated the expediency 
 of festivals in a nation. " Man," said he, " is tlie 
 noblest object in nature, and the most magnificent of 
 all spectacles is that of an immense congregation." In 
 consequence, he propounded a scheme for holding as- 
 semblies on all the tenth days or decades. 
 
 His report was closed amidst the most deafenmg ap- 
 plause. He then formally proposed the decree, which 
 was adopted by acclamation. It set forth — 
 
 Art. 1st. " The French people recognise the exist- 
 ence of the Supreme Being, and the immorttdity of the 
 soul." 
 
 Art. 2d. " They acknowledge that the worship wor- 
 thiest of the Supreme Bemg is the observance of the 
 duties of man." 
 
 Subsequent articles enacted the institution of festi- 
 vals, " with the view of recalling man to a sense of the 
 Divinity and the dignity of his own being." They 
 were to take their names from the events of the revo- 
 lution, or from the virtues most beneficial to mankind. 
 Besides the festivals of the 14th July, 10th August, 
 21st January, and 31st May, the republic was hence- 
 forth to celebrate the following: — To the Supreme 
 Being ; to the human race ; to the French people ; to 
 the benefoctors of mankind ; to the martj-rs of lil^erty ; 
 to liberty and equality ; to the repubUc ; to the liberty 
 of the world ; to the love of country ; to the hatred of 
 tyrants and traitors ; to truth ; to justice ; to modesty ; 
 to glory ; to friendsliip ; to frugality ; to courage ; to 
 good faith ; to heroism ; to disinterestedness ; to stoic- 
 ism ; to love -, to conjugal constancy ; to paternal love ; 
 to paternal tenderness ; to filial piety ; to infancy ; to 
 youth ; to manhood ; to old age ; to misfortune ; to 
 agriculture ; to industry ; to forefathers ; to posterity ; 
 to happiness. 
 
 A solemn festival was ordained for the 20th Prairial, 
 the plan whereof was confided to David. It ought to 
 be added, that in this decree the freedom of religious 
 worship was again confirmed. 
 
 Robespierre's report had been ordered to be printed 
 the moment it was concluded. During the same day, 
 the conmiune and the Jacobin Club called for its public 
 perusal, greeted it with vociferous plaudits, and de- 
 liberated upon the propriety of repairing en maase to 
 
 * [Robespierre here alludes to Rousseau.] 
 
 tender their thanks to the convention for the sublime 
 decree it had just passed. Remarks had been current 
 upon the fact, that, after the sacrifice of the two fac- 
 tions, the Jacobins had refrained from manifesting 
 their satisfaction, or congratulating the committee and 
 the convention. A member now reminded them of 
 that reproach, and stated that the present occasion 
 was most opportune for proving the union of the Ja- 
 cobins with a government so worthy of esteem. An 
 address was accordingly voted and presented to the 
 convention by a deputation of Jacobins. Its conclud- 
 ing paragraph Avas thus couched : — " The Jacobins 
 have come this day to thank you for the solemn de- 
 cree you have passed ; they will come again to imite 
 with you in the celebration of that glorious day when 
 the festival to the Supreme Being will draw together 
 virtuous citizens from all parts of France, to sing the 
 hymn of virtue." 
 
 The president replied to the deputation in a some- 
 what magniloquent strain. " It is worthy," he said, " of 
 a society which fills the world with its renown, which 
 enjoys so vast an influence over public opinion, which 
 has at all times been found in alliance with the most 
 courageous amongst the defenders of the rights of 
 man, to visit the temples of the laws, to render homage 
 to tlie Supreme Being." 
 
 The president continued, and after a long oration 
 on the subject, transferred it for exhaustion to Cou- 
 thon. He, Couthon, forthwith proceeded to deliver a 
 vehement harangue against atheists and corruption- 
 ists, and a pompous eulogy on the society. He then 
 proposed, on this solemn day of gladness and thanks- 
 giving, to render the Jacobins a tribute long and justly 
 due to them, to "vvit, the acknowledgment, that, since 
 the commencement of the revolution, they had never 
 ceased to merit well of the coimtry. The motion was 
 adopted amidst the most enthusiastic cheering. The 
 assembly broke up in transports of joy, and in a state 
 bordering on delirium. 
 
 If the convention had received numerous addresses 
 after the execution of the Hebertists and Dantonists, 
 they were infiniteh' exceeded by those transmitted to 
 it in consequence of the decree proclaiming belief in 
 the Supreme Being. Ideas and phrases become conta- 
 gious amongst the French with extraordinary rapi- 
 dity. Among a people so quick and communicative, 
 the idea which occupies a few minds is speedily the 
 idea wliich occupies all, and the phrase which is on a 
 few tongues is quickly on all. Addresses poured in 
 from all quarters, congratulating the convention on 
 its sulilime decrees, and thankuig it for having esta- 
 bhshed virtue, proclaimed the Supreme Being, and 
 restored hope to mankind. All the sections appeared 
 in their order to express the hke sentiments. The sec- 
 tion of Marat, on presenting itself at the bar, apostro- 
 phised the INIouutain, saying — " Beneficent INIountain ! 
 Sinai-protector ! deign to receive our expressions of 
 gratitude and felicitation for aU the sublime decrees 
 thou daily emittest for the happiness of the himaan 
 race. From thy avenging hand hath darted the salu- 
 tary thunderbolt, which, crushing atheism, imparts to 
 all true republicans the consolatory conviction of hv- 
 ing free, under the eye of the Supreme Being, and in 
 the expectancy of an immortality hereafter. Long 
 live the convention ! long hve the repubhc ! long live 
 the Mountain !" AU these addresses besought the 
 convention, as before, to retain power. One, mdeed, 
 urged it to sit until the reign of virtue was established 
 in the republic on imperishable bases. 
 
 From this time forth, the words " virtue " and 
 " Supreme Being" were in all mouths. Over the por- 
 tals of temples, where had been written " to Reason," 
 was now displayed in large characters, " To the Su- 
 preme Being." The remains of Rousseau were trans- 
 ported to the Pantheon. His widow was presented to 
 the convention, and gratified with a pension. 
 
 Thus the committee of public welfere, triimiphant 
 over all factions, enfeofied in al authority, placed at
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 409 
 
 the head of an enthusiastic and victorious nation, pro- 
 claiming the reign of virtue and the creed of a Supreme 
 Being, was at the pmnacle of its power and the con- 
 summation of its systems. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 STATE OF EUROPE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE 
 YEAR 1794. — POLICY AND PLANS OF THE ALLIES AND 
 
 OF FRANCE. OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. — VICTORY 
 
 OF TURCOING. CLOSE OF THE WAR IN LA VENDEE, 
 
 AND BEGINNING OF THAT OF THE CHOUANS. EVENTS 
 
 IN THE FRENCH COLONIES. DISASTER OF ST DOMINGO. 
 
 LOSS OF MARTINIQUE. — NAVAL BATTLE. 
 
 The winter had heen employed in Europe and in 
 France to make preparations for the approaching 
 campaign. England was still the soul of the coahtion, 
 and continued to incite all the powers of Europe to 
 destrojs on the hanks of the Seine, a revolution which 
 alarmed her, and a rival which was hateful to her. 
 The implacable son of Chatham had made prodigious 
 efforts this year to crush France. However, he had 
 not obtained from parliament the means proportioned 
 to his vast projects without encountering obstacles. 
 Lord Stanhope, in the upper house. Fox and Sheridan 
 in the lower house, had always opposed the system of 
 the war. They refused the supplies demanded by the 
 ministers, and were content to grant only so much as 
 was needful for defending the coasts ; above aU, they 
 protested agamst the war being described as "just and 
 necessary;" it was, on the contrarjs they averred, 
 iniquitous, ruinous, and justly signalised by reverses. 
 They asserted its alleged motives, the opening of the 
 Scheldt, the dangers of Holland, and the necessity of 
 defending the British constitution, to be false and 
 groundless. Holland had not been exposed to peril by 
 the openmg of the Scheldt, and the British constitution 
 was not menaced. The aim of the ministers was, they 
 maintained, to subjugate a nation which had presumed 
 to become free, and to augment their own influence 
 and authority under pretence of resisting the machi- 
 nations of French Jacobins. The war itself had been* 
 carried on by disgraceful means. Civil war and do- 
 mestic massacres had been fomented ; but a brave and 
 generous people had foiled the schemes of its adversa- 
 ries by a courage and efforts without example. Stan- 
 hope, Fox, and Sheridan, concluded that such a contest 
 would dishonour and ruin England. They erred in 
 the latter respect. The English opposition may fre- 
 quently reproach the government with commencing 
 unjust wars, but never disadvantageous ones. If the 
 war waged against France had no just motive, it was 
 supplied with excellent political reasons, as we shall 
 have occasion to show ; and the opposition, misled by 
 its generous sentiments, overlooked the advantages 
 which must thence result to England. 
 
 Pitt pretended to be alarmed at the threats of de- 
 scent bellowed from the tribune of the convention. 
 He asseverated that certam Kentish yeomen had been 
 heard to say, " The French are coming to bring us 
 the rights of man." On such expressions (due, it was 
 said, to his ovm gold) he professed to ground his fears 
 for the constitution. He denounced the constitutional 
 societies of England, which had been stirred into some- 
 what greater activity by the example of the clubs in 
 France, and maintained that they were striving to 
 establish a convention mider tlie pretext of promoting 
 parliamentary reform. In consequence, he demanded 
 the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the seizure 
 of papers belonging to such societies, and the prosecu- 
 tion of some of their members. He asked, moreover, 
 for permission to enrol vohmteers, and support them 
 by means of benevolences or subscriptions ; and for 
 authority to augment the army and navy, and to take 
 into pay a body of 40,000 aliens, French emigrants, 
 and others. The opposition offered a strenuous resist- 
 
 ance. It held that no cause warranted the suspension 
 of the most precious of English liberties ; that, as the 
 accused societies deliberated in public, their views 
 openly expressed could involve no conspiracy ; that 
 those views were general throughout the country, 
 extending, as they did, only to the enforcement ol 
 parliamentary reform ; that the immoderate augmen- 
 tation of the army was dangerous to the English peo- 
 ple ; that if volunteers might be armed by subscrip- 
 tion, it would become feasible for the minister to levy 
 armies without the sanction of parliament ; that, to 
 subsidise so great a number of foreigners, was a pro- 
 fligate waste of mone}% and intended merely to reward 
 French traitors. Notwithstanding the remonstrances 
 of the opposition, which had never displayed greater 
 eloquence or less numerical strength — for it mustered 
 only thirty or forty votes — Pitt obtained all he desired, 
 and carried the whole of the measures he had pro- 
 pounded. 
 
 Having thus procured the allowance of his various 
 demands, he doubled the militia, increased the army 
 to 60,000 men and the navy to 80,000, organised ad- 
 ditional corps of emigrants, and filed criminal infor- 
 mations against several members of the constitutional 
 societies. The English jury, a more solid guarantee 
 than the parliament, acquitted the defendants ; but 
 this was of little moment to Pitt, who had now at his 
 disposal unlimited means of repressing the least poli- 
 tical movement, and of deploying a colossal might in 
 Europe. 
 
 The moment was opportune for profiting by an 
 imiversal war, to overwhelm France, to annihilate her 
 navy, and to -wTest from her her colonies — results in- 
 finitely more sure and desirable in the eyes of Pitt 
 than the suppression of certain political and religious 
 doctrines. He had succeeded the previous year in 
 armmg against France the two maritmie powers bound 
 by every tie of interest to remain in alliance with her, 
 Spain and Holland ; and he strove dihgently to keep 
 them steadfast in their political error, and to derive 
 the greatest possible aid therefrom against the French 
 navy. England could send from her ports at least 
 one hundred ships of the line, Spain forty, Holland 
 twenty, without reckoning a multitude of frigates. 
 How was France, with the fifty or sixty vessels re- 
 maining to her smce the conflagration of Toulon, to 
 resist such forces ? Thus, although not a single naval 
 battle had been yet fought, the English flag domineered 
 in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the 
 Indian seas. In the Mediterranean, the Enghsh 
 squadron menaced the ItaUan states which desired to 
 preserve neutrality, and blockaded Corsica to force it 
 from French possession, whilst, nearer home, they 
 awaited an opportunity for disembarking troops and 
 munitions in La Vendee. In America, they hovered 
 round the Antilles, and sought to profit by the de- 
 plorable contentions amongst the whites, mulattoes, 
 and blacks, to secure them for the British crown. In 
 the Indian seas, they accomplished the estabhshment 
 of British supremacy, and the ruin of Pondicherry. 
 One campaign more, and French commerce was de- 
 stroyed, whatever might be the fortime of arms on 
 the continent. Tims the war waged by Pitt against 
 France was eminently politic, and the opposition 
 erred in blaming it on the score of utility. It will 
 have judged correctly only in one contingency, and 
 that contingency has not yet happened ; — if the na- 
 tional debt, continually on the increase, and now be- 
 come enormous, be really beyond the resources of the 
 country, and must one day result in bankruptcy, 
 England wiU have exceeded its means, and acted im- 
 providently in contending for an empire whicli has 
 exhausted its elements of strength. But this is yet a 
 mystery of the future. 
 
 Pitt refrained from no measure, however violent, 
 which promised to facilitate Ins views, and aggravate 
 the evils of P>ance. Tlic Americans, happy and con- 
 tent under Washington, freely ploughed the seas, and
 
 410 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 began to prosecute that vast carrying trade, which 
 proved to them so rich a source of wealth during the 
 long wars in Europe. The English squadrons stopped 
 the American ships, and impressed sailors from their 
 crews. Upwards of five hundred vessels had already 
 undergone that violation, which formed the subject of 
 vehement but hitlierto fruitless remonstrances on the 
 part of the American government. Nor was this all : 
 under favour of their neutrality, the Americans, Danes, 
 and Swedes, frequented the French ports, conveying 
 supplies of corn, which the scarcity rendered extremely 
 valuable, together with numerous articles required in 
 navy -yards, and bearing away in return the wines and 
 other products of the French soil. Owing to this in- 
 tervention of neutrals, commerce was not entirely in- 
 terrupted, and the most importunate wants of con- 
 sumption had been satisfied. England, considering 
 France in the light of a besieged fortress to be starved 
 and reduced to despair, regarded with a malevolent 
 eye these rights of neutrals, and had addressed to the 
 northern courts divers notes, replete with sophistry, 
 designed to justify a dereliction of international law. 
 
 Whilst employing these various modes of maritime 
 hostility, England still maintained 40,000 men in the 
 Low Countries, under the orders of the Duke of York. 
 Moreover, Lord Moira, who had failed to arrive in time 
 before Granville, was lying at Jersey with his flotilla, 
 and a disembarking force of 10,000 men. In fine, the 
 English exchequer held fmids at the disposition of all 
 the belligerent powers. 
 
 On the continent, martial ardour had somewhat 
 cooled. The powers, not having tlie same interest in 
 war as England, and carrying it on, indeed, simply for 
 pretended principles, were far from exhibiting either 
 similar zeal or similar activity. England laboured 
 strenuously to reanimate them all. Holding HoUand 
 under thraldom by means of the Prince of Orange, she 
 constrained it to furnish its contingent to the allied 
 army of the north. Thus that unfortunate nation had 
 its ships and its troops in the service of its most for- 
 midable enemy, and acting in opposition to its surest 
 ally. Prussia, despite the mysticism of its king, had 
 lost much of the illusion so sedidously propagated 
 amongst its people during the last two years. Tlie 
 retreat of Champagne in 1792, and that of the Vosges 
 in 1793, had certainly not tended to encourage it. 
 Frederick William, who had exhausted his treasure 
 and weakened his army in a war which could have 
 no result advantageous to his kingdom, and which, in 
 the most favourable point of view, could only serve the 
 interests of the house of Austria, would have willingly 
 receded from it. Besides, a subject infinitely more 
 interesting to him called his attention to the north : 
 Poland was in agitation, and its dissevered members 
 aiming at a rejunction. England, plying him in this 
 state of uncertainty, prompted him to continue the 
 war by the all-powcrfid stimidus of gold. Slie con- 
 cluded at the Hague, in her own name and in that of 
 Holland, a treaty whereby Prussia was bound to fur- 
 nish 02,400 men to the coalition. These forces were 
 to be under the connnand of a Prussian, and their future 
 conquests to belong in common to the two maritime 
 powers, England and Holland. In return, these two 
 states guaranteed a monthly subsidy of £50,000 ster- 
 ling to Prussia for the maintenance of its troops, and 
 the reimbursement of its expenditure for bread and 
 forage. They furthermore granted the siun of £300,000 
 to defray the charges of entering on the campaign, and 
 £100,000 for the return into the Prussian confines. 
 At tliis price, Prussia continued the impolitic war it 
 had commenced. 
 
 The house of Austria had no longer any object of 
 solicitude in France, since the queen-consort of Louis 
 XVI. had expired on the scaffold. Austria must have 
 had less reason than any other country to dread the 
 contagious influence of the revolution, since even thirty 
 years of political discussions have failed to excite her 
 phlegmatic subjects. She made war on France, there- 
 
 fore, from a motive of vengeance, from respect for her 
 engagements, and from the desire of gaining certain 
 fortresses in Flanders ; perhaps, also, from the futile 
 hope of grasping a portion of the French provmces. 
 She evinced gi'eater ardour than Prussia, but not 
 much more of real activity, for she did but complete 
 and re-organise her battalions without augmenting 
 their number. A considerable proportion of her troops 
 was in Poland, since she had, like Prussia, potential 
 reasons for looking to the rear, and keeping a steady 
 gaze on the Vistula as well as on the Rhine. The 
 GaUicias bespoke her attention not less, assuredly, than 
 Belgium and Alsace. 
 
 Sweden and Denmark adhered to their sage neu- 
 trality, and replied to the sophisms of England with 
 befitting spirit. They stated that the public law was 
 immutable ; that no reason existed for infringing it 
 with respect to France, or for extending to an entire 
 country the rules of blockade, which were only appli- 
 cable to a besieged fortress; that the Swedish and 
 Danish vessels were m'cU received in France, not en- 
 countering barbarians, as was generally surmised, but 
 a government which acted uprightly towards foreign 
 merchants, and treated them with all the regard due 
 to the siibjects of nations with whom it was at peace ; 
 and that, consequently, they had no motive for break* 
 ing asunder advantageous relations. Accordingly, 
 although Catlierine, being favourably inclined towards 
 the projects of England, seemed to pronounce against 
 the rights of neutral nations, Sweden and Denmark 
 persisted in their resolution, observed a firm and pru- 
 dent neutrality, and concluded a treaty whereby the 
 two countries pledged themselves to maintain the 
 rights of neutrals, and to enforce the clause in the 
 treaty of 1780, which closed the Baltic to the armed 
 vessels of powers which possessed no port in that sea. 
 France, therefore, might still expect to receive com, 
 and the timber and hemp necessary for her navy, from 
 the north. 
 
 Russia, albeit affecting boundless indignation against 
 the French revolution, and amusing the emigrants 
 with many lofty expectations, had in reality her at- 
 tention concentrated on Poland, and only entered with 
 such apparent warmth into the pohcy of the English 
 to obtain their concurrence in her own. Herein may 
 be found the explanation of England's silence on so 
 momentous an event as the disappearance of a king- 
 dom from the political stage. At this period of gene- 
 ral spoliation, indeed, when England was gathering 
 acquisitions so rapidly in the south of Europe and in 
 every sea, it little became her to speak the language 
 of justice to the co-partitioners of Poland. Thus the 
 coalition, which accused France of having fallen into 
 barbarism, committed in the north the most audacious 
 robbery ever planned by political rascality, contem- 
 plated a similar appropriation of the GaUic provinces, 
 and contributed to destroy for ever the liberty of the 
 seas. 
 
 The German princes obeyed the impulse of the 
 house of Austria. Switzerland, protected by its moun- 
 tains and its institutions from being drawn into the 
 crusade for the cause of monarchy, persisted in its 
 system of non-intervention, and thus covered by its 
 neutrality the eastern provinces of France, the least 
 defensible of all. The Swiss acted the same part on 
 the continent as the Americans, Swedes, and Danes, 
 on the seas ; they rendered analogous services to 
 French connnerce, and reaped a corresponding recom- 
 pense. They imported horses, of which the French 
 armies stood in great need, and cattle, which had be- 
 come deficient since the Vosges and La Vendee had 
 been ravaged bj' war, and they exported the products 
 of French manufactures, thus constituting themselves 
 the intermediate agents of a most profitable traffic. 
 Piedmont continued the war probably with regret, 
 but it could not consent to lay down its arms after 
 having lost two i)rovinces. Savoy and Nice, in the 
 desperate and inconsiderate game. Most of the other
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 411 
 
 Italian states desired to remain neutral, hut in this 
 design they were exposed to much aimoj'^ance. The 
 republic of Genoa had suffered the mortification of 
 beholding the English perpetrate within its harbour 
 an luiworthy act^ — a veritable outrage on the law of 
 nations. They had seized on a French frigate, an- 
 . chored under shelter of Genoese neutrality, and mas- 
 sacred the crew. Tuscany had been obliged to dismiss 
 the French resident. Naples, which had acknowledged 
 the republic when the French squadrons threatened its 
 shores, demonstrated its hostility when the English 
 flag was unfurled in the Mediterranean, and undertook 
 to furnish 18,000 auxiliary troops to Piedmont. Rome, 
 happily impotent, anathematised the French, and al- 
 lowed their diplomatic agent, Basseville, to be mur- 
 dered within her walls. Lastly, Venice, although 
 little gratified by the demagogical language of French 
 republicans, was decidedly opposed to embarking in 
 the war, and hoped, under favom- of her distant posi- 
 tion, to escape its embroilment. Corsica was on the 
 ]ioint of falling, since Paoli had declared for the Eng- 
 lish ; Bastia and Calvi were the only possessions left 
 to the French in the whole island. 
 
 Spain, the least blameable of all the allies, continued 
 an impolitic war, and participated in the grievous blun- 
 der of Holland. The imagined duties of thrones, the 
 victories of Ricardos, and the Aveight of English in- 
 fluence, determined it to attempt another campaign, 
 despite its great exhaustion and its deficiency in sol- 
 diers, and, above all, in fmids. The celebrated Alcudia 
 effected the disgrace of D'Aranda for having recom- 
 mended peace. 
 
 The political state of Europe, therefore, had imder- 
 gone scarcely any modifications since the preceding 
 year. Interests, errors, faults, and crimes, were in 
 1794 the same as in 1793. England alone had mate- 
 rially augmented its forces. The allies stiU pos- 
 sessed in the Low Coimtries one hundred and fifty 
 thousand men, Austrians, Germans, Dutch, and Eng- 
 lish. Twenty-five thousand or thirty thousand Aus- 
 trians were at Luxumbourg, and sixty thousand Prus- 
 sians and Saxons in the vicinity of Mayence. Fifty 
 thousand Austrians, including a proportion of emi- 
 grants, lined the Rhuie from Manheim to Basle. The 
 Piedmontese army amounted to forty thousand men, 
 with seven thousand or eight thousand Austrian 
 auxiliaries. Spain had levied recruits to recompose 
 its battalions, and had demanded pecuniary aid from 
 the clergy ; but its army was not greater than in the 
 preceding campaign, being still restricted to sixty 
 thousand men, distributed between the Eastern and 
 Western Pyrenees. 
 
 It was on the north the allies proposed to strike 
 the must decisive blow, basing their operations on 
 Conde, Valenciennes, and Le Quesnoy. The cele- 
 brated ]\Iack had arranged a plan at London, from 
 which mighty results were anticipated. On this occa- 
 sion the German tactician, evincing greater hardihood 
 than heretofore, had included a march on Paris in his 
 scheme of campaign. Unfortunately, he was a little 
 too late in arriving at this degree of boldness, for it 
 was no longer possible to take the French by sur- 
 prise, and their means of resistance Avere almost in- 
 calculable. His plan consisted in captm-ing one addi- 
 tional fortress, that of Landrecies, concentrating in 
 force on that point, drawing the Prussians from the 
 Vosges to the Sambre, and marching forward, with 
 the precaution of leaving two corps on the wuigs, the 
 one in Flanders, the other on tlie Sambre. At the 
 same time, Lord Moira was to disembark troops in 
 La Vendee, and aggravate the enemy's danger by a 
 double march on Paris. 
 
 To take Landrecies, when they possessed Valenci- 
 ennes, Conde, and Le Quesnoy, was, on the part of 
 the allies, a superfluous caution ; to cover their com- 
 munications towards the Sambre was wisely judged ; 
 but to detach a corps to guard Flanders, when it be- 
 hoved them to form the largest possible invading mass. 
 
 was highly injudicious ; to draw the Prussians on the 
 Sambre was of doubtful policy, as we shall learn here- 
 after ; finally, to effect a diversion in La Vendee, was 
 impracticable by the lapse of many months, for the 
 great Vendean war had been suppressed. The com- 
 parison of the event with the design, however, will 
 more clearly show the futility of the plans transcribed 
 in London.* 
 
 The coalition, we have stated, had not called forth 
 its utmost resources. There were, in fact, at this mo- 
 ment, but three powers really active in Europe — Eng- 
 land, Russia, and France. And, for sufficient reasons, 
 England was intent on the sovereignty of the seas, 
 Russia on the appropriation of Poland, and France on 
 the preservation of its existence and liberty. These 
 were the only three great interests powerfully excited ; 
 that of France alone was noble, and in its vindication 
 she manifested an indomitable energy, of which his- 
 tory records no other example. 
 
 The permanent requisition, decreed in the month of 
 August of the preceding year, had already produced 
 considerable reinforcements to the army, and contri- 
 buted to the successes which tcnninated the last cam- 
 paign ; but that great measure was not destined to 
 exhibit all its effects until the present year. Under 
 the impetiis of that extraordinary movement, twelve 
 hundred thousand men had quitted their homes, and 
 lined the frontiers or crowded the depots in the inte- 
 rior. The business of embodying these recruits had 
 been diligently prosecuted. A battalion of the line 
 was incorporated with two battalions of the new levy, 
 by which means excellent regiments were formed. 
 Seven hundred thousand men had been already orga- 
 nised on this plan, and dispatched to the frontiers or 
 stationed in fortresses. There were, including garri- 
 sons, 250,000 men in the north, 40,000 in the Ardennes, 
 200,000 men on the Rhine and the Moselle, 100,000 
 on the Alps, 20,000 on the Pyrenees, and 80,000 be- 
 tween Cherbourg and La Rochelle. The expedients 
 employed to equip these troops had not been less 
 prompt or extraordinary than those to muster and 
 discipline them. The manufactories of arms esta- 
 blished in Paris and in the departments had quickly 
 attained the activity sought to be given them, and 
 furnished cannons, muskets, and swords, in amazing 
 quantities. The committee of public welfare, per- 
 fectly conversant with the peculiar genius of the 
 French people, had skilfully contrived to render the 
 preparation of saltpetre a subject of emulation. During 
 the previous year, it had ordered cellars to be visited 
 with the view of separating the saline mould. Subse- 
 quently, it went a step further : it framed a series of 
 instructions, drawn up with admirable simplicity and 
 perspicuity, to enable the citizens themselves to apply 
 the requisite process to the earth of cellars. It more- 
 over retained some practical chemists to teach the 
 mode of manipulation. A taste for the employment 
 Vas speedily disseminated ; those who had received 
 lessons imparted the information to their neighbours, 
 and in a little while each house supplied several pounds 
 of the precious commodity. Certain of the Parisian 
 quarters congregated to bear in pomp to the conven- 
 tion and the Jacobin Club the saltpetre they had fa- 
 bricated. The idea of a festivid was started, wherein 
 each person shoidd advance and deposit his olfermg 
 on the altar of the country. The salt was shaped in 
 emblematic forms ; all sorts of epithets were lavished 
 on it ; the peoi)le styled it " the avenging salt," " the 
 liberating salt," &c. Thus it furnished them with a 
 topic of amusement ; but they produced considerable 
 quantities of tlie essential article, and the government 
 had gained its object. Some degree of confusion was 
 naturally attendant on so singular an occupation. The 
 cellars were dug up, and the earth, after being sub- 
 
 * Those who are desirous of perusing the best political and 
 military dissertation on this subject, have only to consult the 
 critical mcnrioir written on this campaign by General Jomini, and 
 subjoined to his great History of the Wars of the Revolution.
 
 412 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 jected to the process, was thrown into the streets, 
 which it obstructed and injured. An ordinance of the 
 committee of pubhc welfare i)ut a stop to this abuse, 
 and the earthy ore was tlienceforth replaced in the 
 cellars. Brine also was deficient ; the committee or- 
 dained that all the herbs that were not used eitlier in 
 the feeding of animals or f(ir domestic and agricultural 
 purposes, should be forthwith burnt, to serve for the 
 extraction of saltpetre, or to be converted into brine. 
 
 The government had tlie art to instigate another 
 mania equally advantageous. It was found more easy 
 to levy men and manufacture arms than to obtain 
 horses ; the artillery and the cavalry were both defec- 
 tive in quadrupeds. The war had rendered them 
 scarce ; the demand and the general enliancement in 
 value had greatly increased their price. Tlie grand 
 resource of a reqiiisition was deemed indispensable; 
 that is to say, the taking by force what an imperative 
 necessity required. In each canton one horse out of 
 twenty-five was confiscated, at the rate of nine hun- 
 dred francs. But, however powerful force may be, 
 good will is always more elBcacious. The committee 
 conceived the idea of having a trooper fully equipped 
 presented to it by the Jacobm Club. The example 
 was followed universally. Communes, clubs, and sec- 
 tions, vied in offering to the republic Jacohin cavaliers, 
 as they were called, aU completely accoutred and 
 mounted. 
 
 Soldiers, then, were abundant, but not so ofiicers. 
 The committee met the want witli its usual prompti- 
 tude. " The revolution," said Barrere, " must preci- 
 pitate in every instance to supply its wants. The 
 revolution is to the human mind what the sun of 
 ^Vfrica is to vegetation." The school of Mars was 
 re-established ; young men, selected from all the de- 
 partments, repaired on foot and in military form to 
 Paris. Encamped under tents, in the middle of the 
 plain of Sablons, they were rapidly instructed in all 
 branches of the art of war, and afterwards distributed 
 amongst the armies. 
 
 Efforts equally vigorous were made to recompose 
 the navy. In 1789, it consisted of fifty ships, and as 
 many frigates. The disorders of the revolution, and 
 the calamity of Toulon, had reduced it to fifty vessels 
 in all, whereof thirty at the utmost were fit for ser- 
 vice. But the cliief deficiency was in crews and offi- 
 cers. The na^y required experienced men, and all such 
 had long been incompatible with the revolution. The 
 reconstruction enforced on the staffs of the army was 
 consequentl}' even more inevitable with regard to the 
 commanderies of the navy, and necessarily calculated 
 to produce a still greater degree of disorganisation. 
 The two ministers of the admiralty, Monge and D'Al- 
 barade, had been found imequal to grapple with the 
 difficulties thence resulting, and been dismissed ac- 
 cordingly. The committee resolved on this point also 
 to employ extraordinary measures. Jean-Bon-Saint- 
 Andre and Prieur-de-la-Marne were sent to Brest, 
 with the usual powers of commissioners of the con- 
 vention. The squadron of Brest, after a tedious cruise 
 of fijur months off the western coasts, to prevent com- 
 munications between the Vendcans and the English, 
 had nmtinied in consequence of its prolonged hard- 
 ships. Scarcely had it returned into port ere its 
 commander. Admiral Morard de Gales, was arrested 
 by the representatives, and held responsible for the 
 disaffection of the fleet. The crews were broken up, 
 and recomposed after the prompt and violent manner 
 of the Jacobins. Peasants, who had never rowed a 
 boat, were transported to the decks of men-of-war, to 
 manoeuvre against the veteran English sailors ; simple 
 officers were raised to the highest grades, and Captain 
 Villaret-Joycuse was promoted to the command of 
 the squadron. In the space of one month, a fleet of 
 thirty line-of-battle ships was in readiness to weigh 
 anclior ; it left the port, full of enthusiasm, and amidst 
 the jov'ful acclamations of the people of Brest, not 
 certainly with the intention of braving the formidable 
 
 squadrons of England, Holland, and Spain, but of 
 protecting a convoy of 200 sail, then bringing from 
 America a considerable quantity of corn, and of fight- 
 ing to the death, if the safety of the convoy so required. 
 At the same time, Toulon was the scene of a creative 
 activitj' not less dihgent. The ships that had escaped 
 the conflagration were repaired, and others built ; the 
 charges being defrayed bj' the property of those 
 amongst the Toulonese who had aided in delivering 
 the port into the hands of the enemy. In defect of 
 large fleets, then only in preparation, a multitude of 
 privateers scoured the seas, and made numerous cap- 
 tures. A hardy and valiant people, to whom the means 
 of carr3-ing on a combined system of warfare are de- 
 nied, can alwaj's have recourse to a war of detail, and 
 therein find opportunities of displaying its intelligence 
 and courage; on land it prosecutes a partisan war, 
 on sea a privateering war. According to a statement 
 of Lord Stanhope, the French had, from 1793 to 1794, 
 taken 410 vessels, whilst the English had captured 
 from them but 316. The government, therefore, was 
 far from renouncing the idea of re-establishing French 
 power even on the ocean. 
 
 AU these prodigious exertions were now destined 
 to have their appropriate consequences; in 1794 was 
 to 1)6 reaped the reward of the efforts of 1793. 
 
 The campaign first opened on the Pyrenees and the 
 Alps. .Almost stagnant on the Western Pyrenees, it 
 shortly became singularly active on the Eastern Pyre- 
 nees, where the Spaniards had gained the fine of the 
 Tech, and occupied the famous camp of Boulou. 
 Ricardos was dead, and that able general had been 
 replaced bj^ one of his lieutenants, the Count de la 
 Union, an intrepid soldier, but a mediocre commander. 
 Not having yet received the reinforcements he ex- 
 ])ected. La Union was content to hold fast by his posi- 
 tion at Boulou. The French were commanded by the 
 brave Dugommier, the conqueror of Toulon. A part 
 of the ordnance and the troops employed in subju- 
 gating that city had been moved before Perpignan, 
 whilst the young recruits were organising in its rear. 
 Dugommier coidd muster 35,000 men in line, to profit 
 by the defective strength of the Spaniards Dagobert, 
 always impetuous in spite of his age, proposed a plan 
 of invasion by Cerdagne, whereby the lYench, advanc- 
 ing beyond tlie Pyrenees and to the rear of the Spanish 
 army, would oblige it to retrograde. The e-xperiment 
 of an attack on the camp of Boulou was preferred ; and 
 Dagobert, resting with his division in Cerdagne, had 
 orders to await the result of that assault. The camp 
 of Boulou, placed on the banks of the Tech, and lean- 
 ing on the P_yrenees, had behind it the Bellegarde 
 road, which forms the highway from France mto 
 Spain. Dugommier, instead of taking the enemy's 
 positions in front, which were strongly fortified, de- 
 termined to penetrate, if possible, between Boulou 
 and the BcUegarde turnpike, with the view of com- 
 pelling the evacuation of the Spanish camp. His 
 project succeeded beyond expectation. La Union had 
 drawn tlie bulk of his forces to Ceret, and left the 
 heights of Saint-Christophe, wliicli commanded Boidou, 
 insufficiently guarded. Dugommier passed the Tech, 
 threw a part of his army towards Saint-Christophe, 
 attacked with the residue the front of the Spanish 
 positions, and after a vigorous contest remained mas- 
 ter of the heights. From that moment the camp was 
 no longer tenable, and a retreat by the Bellegarde 
 highway became expedient ; but Dugommier promptly 
 occupied it, and afforded the Spaniards only the nar- 
 row and difficult tract through the defile of Porteuil. 
 Their retreat soon resolved itself into a rout. Charged 
 opportunely witli vivacity, they fled in disorder, leav- 
 ing in the hands of the French 1 500 prisoners, 140 
 pieces of cannon, 800 mules loaded with baggage, and 
 camp materials for 20,000 men. This victory, gained 
 in the middle of Floreal (beginning of ]May), had the 
 effect of restoring the line of the Tech, and carrying 
 the French beyond the Pyrenees. Dugommier inime-
 
 
 r 
 
 \,y>.,,.,//y/-^i...
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 413 
 
 diately blockaded CoUioure, Port-Vendre, and Saint- 
 El me, to redeem those places from the Spaniards. 
 During this im^jortant achievement, the valiant Dago- 
 bert, attacked by a fever, closed his long and glorious 
 career. This noble veteran, who had attained the 
 age of seventy-six, was interred amidst the sorrow 
 and the admiration of the whole army. 
 
 Thus the first operations of th" French on the 
 Eastern Pyrenees were crowned with brilliant success. 
 On the side of the "Western Pyrenees, they carried the 
 valley of Bastan, and these triumphs over the Spa- 
 niards, whom they had not hitherto defeated, excited 
 universal joy. 
 
 On the Alpine frontier, the French had stiU to esta- 
 blish their line of defence on the great chain. Towards 
 Savoy, they had last year forced the Piedmontese back 
 into the valleys of Piedmont, but they had not suc- 
 ceeded in taking the positions of the Little St Bernard 
 and of Moimt Cenis. In the direction of Nice, the army 
 of Italy was, as before, encamped in front of Saorgio, 
 without having been able to carry the formidable 
 camp of Les Fourches (The Forks). General Uugom- 
 mier had been succeeded by the aged Dumerbion, ah 
 intrepid commander, but almost constantly afflicted 
 with gout. Fortunately, he permitted himself to be 
 entirely directed by young Bonaparte, who, as we have 
 seen, had decided the reduction of Toulon by recom- 
 mending the attack on Little Gibraltar. That service 
 had procured Bonaparte the rank of general of brigade, 
 and given him great consideration in the army. After 
 surveying the hostile positions, and perceiving the 
 impossibility of forcing the camp of Les Fourches, he 
 was struck with an idea equally happy with that 
 which recovered Toulon to the republic. Saorgio is 
 situated in the valley of the Eoya. Parallel with this 
 valley runs that of Oneille,' through which flows the 
 Taggia. Bonaparte conceived the plan of throwing a 
 division of 1 5,000 men into the valley of Oneille, caus- 
 ing it to ascend to the sources of the Tanaro, then 
 pushing it onwards even to Mount Tanarello, which 
 borders the Upper Roya, and thus intercepting the 
 road to Saorgio, between the camp of Les Fourches 
 and the Col de Tende. By this manoeuvre, the camp 
 of Les Fourches, isolated from the Great Alps, would 
 necessarily fall. The project was open to only one 
 objection, namely, that it obliged the army to violate 
 the territory of Genoa. But that republic could take 
 no just offence thereat ; for, the year before, 2000 Pied- 
 montese had traversed the Genoese confines, and pro- 
 ceeded to embark at OneiUe for Toidc>n ; furthermore, 
 the outrage committed by the English on the frigate 
 La Modeste, in the very port of Genoa, was a most 
 flagrant infringement of neutral rights. Gi'eat advan- 
 tages must, moreover, accrue from extending the right 
 of the army to Oneille ; it would be thereby enabled 
 to cover part of the Genoese coast, expel tlie privateers 
 from the little port of Oneille, where they habitually 
 rendezvoused, and thus protect the trade of Genoa 
 with the south of France. Tliat trade, which was 
 carried on in coasting vessels, was greatly interrupted 
 by the English privateers and squadrons, and its secu- 
 rity was of considerable imx'ortance, as it contributed 
 to supply the southern departments with corn. There 
 could be no hesitation, conseciuentlj', in adopting tlie 
 plan recommended by Bonaparte. Tlie representa- 
 tives solicited the necessary authority from the com- 
 mittee of public welfare, and the execution of the pro- 
 ject was promptly ordained. 
 
 On the 17th Germinal (6th April), a division of 
 14,000 men, divided into five brigades, passed tlie 
 Roya. General Masscna advanced on Mount U'anardo, 
 and Bonaparte, with three brigades, niarclied on Oneille, 
 drove out an Austrian division, and entered the town. 
 He seized therein twelve pieces of ordnance, and cleared 
 the harbour of aU the privateers which infested those 
 shores. Whilst Masscna was ascending from Tanardo 
 to Tanarello, Bonaparte continued his operations, and 
 proceeded from Oneille to Ormea in the valley of the 
 
 Tanaro. He entered that place on the 15th April 
 (26th Germinal), and found in it divers muskets, 
 twenty pieces of cannon, and magazines stored with 
 cloth for soldiers' clothing. So soon as the French 
 brigades had united in the valley of the Tanaro, they 
 moved towards the Upper Roya, to execute the pre- 
 scribed movement on the left of the Piedmontese. 
 General Dumerbion attacked the positions of the 
 Piedmontese in front, whilst Massena was closing on 
 their flank and rear. After several spirited actions, 
 the Piedmontese abandoned Saorgio, slnd fell back on 
 the Col de Tende, and finally gave up the Col de 
 Tende itself to take refuge in Limone, beyond the 
 great chain. 
 
 Wliilst these events were passing in the valley of the 
 Roya, the vallejs of the Tinea and the Vesubia were 
 swept by the left of the army of Italy ; and shortly 
 afterwards, tlie army of the Great Alps, incited by the 
 spirit of emulation, carried by main force Saint-Ber- 
 nard and Mount Cenis. Thus, by the middle of Flo- 
 real (beginning of May), the French were victorious 
 along the whole chain of the Alps, and occupied it 
 from the first eminences of the Apennines to Mont- 
 Blanc. Their right, supported on Ormea, reached 
 almost to the gates of Genoa, covered a large portion 
 of the shore of the Ponant, and thus protected trade 
 ft-om the ravages of piracy. They had made 3000 or 
 4000 prisoners, captured fifty or sixty pieces of ord- 
 nance, large stores of accoutring materials, and two 
 fortified places. Their commencement, therefore, was 
 equally fortunate on the Alps as on the Pyrenees, 
 since on both points they obtained a rampart for the 
 frontier, and a portion of the enemies' resources. 
 
 The campaign had ojiened somewhat later on the 
 great theatre of the war, namely, the North. There 
 500,000 men were arrayed for combat on a line 
 stretching from the Vosges to the sea. The French 
 had still their principal strength concentrated towards 
 Lille, Guise, and IMaubeuge. Pichegru had become 
 their general. Commander of the army of the Rhine 
 during the previous year, he had contrived to usurp 
 the honour of raising the blockade of Landau, which 
 belonged rightfiUly to young Hoche. He had won 
 the confidence of Saint-Just ; and, whilst Hoche was 
 thrown into prison, obtained the command-in-chief of 
 the army of the North. Jourdan, esteemed as a pru- 
 dent general, was not deemed sufficiently enterpris- 
 ing to retain the important command of the North, 
 and he succeeded Hoche in the army of the Moselle. 
 IMichaud replaced Picliegru in that of the Rhine. 
 Carnot, be it remembered, always presided over the 
 military operations, and directed them from his cabi- 
 net. Saint-Just and Lelias had been dispatched to 
 Guise, for tlie purpose of invigorating the resolution 
 of the army. 
 
 The nature of the country prescribed a plan of 
 operations at once simple aiul calculated to produce 
 prompt and vast results ; which consisted in moving 
 the main mass of the French forces on the Meuse 
 towards Nanmr, and thus threatening the communi- 
 cations of the Austrians. Therein lay the key of the 
 theatre of war ; and it will always be so when hosti- 
 lities are carried on in the Low Countries against 
 Austrians advancing from the Rhine. Any diversion 
 in Flanders was injudicious ; for, if the wing thrown 
 into Flanders were sufficiently strong to make head 
 against the allies, it merely contributed to repulse 
 thcni in front, witliout compromising their retreat; 
 and if it were not sufficiently powerful to obtain de- 
 cisive advantages, tlie allies had only to let it i)rogress 
 into West P'landers, to be afterwards enabled to hem 
 it in and drive it into tlie sea. I'ichcgru, possessing 
 acquirements, intelligence, and considerable firmness, 
 but indift'erently gifted with military genius, formed 
 an erroneous estimate of his position ; and Carnot, 
 j)repossesse<l by his plan of the preceding year, per- 
 sisted in enjoining a direct attack on the centre of the 
 enemy and distracting demonstrations on his two
 
 414 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ■wings. In consequence, the principal mass was ap- 
 pointed to act from Guise upon the centre of the allies, 
 vhUst two strong divisions, operating, the one on the 
 Lys and the other on the Sambre, were to make a 
 twofold diversion. Such was the plan opposed to 
 the aggressive project of IMack. 
 
 The Prince of Cobourg continued to hold the chief 
 command of the allied forces. The Emperor of Ger- 
 many had repaired in person to the Low Countries, 
 with the view of encouraging his army, and more 
 especially of terminating, b}^ his presence, the disputes 
 which were perpetuaUy arising amongst the allied 
 generals. Cobourg concentrated a mass of about one 
 hundred thousand men in the plains of Cateau, in order 
 to blockade Landrecies. This was the preliminary 
 operation with which the allies were to open the cam- 
 paign, whilst awaiting the consent of the Prussians to 
 march from the Moselle on the Sambre. 
 
 The movements commenced towards the close of 
 Germinal (April). The allied mass, after driving the 
 scattered French divisions before it, established itself 
 around Landrecies. The Duke of York was stationed 
 in observation towards Cambray ; Cobourg towards 
 Guise. By the movement which the allies thus effected, 
 the French divisions of the centre, compelled to retro- 
 grade, were separated from the divisions of Maubeuge, 
 which formed the left wing. On the 2d Floreal (21*1 
 April), an effort was attempted to renew the commu- 
 nications with those divisions of ^Maubeuge. A san- 
 guinary conflict ensued on the Helpe. The French 
 columns, still too much divided, were repulsed on all 
 points, and chased into the positions whence they had 
 ventured. 
 
 A fresh but general attack was then resolved upon 
 by the French commanders, on the centre and the 
 two -wings simultaneously. The division of Desjardins, 
 which was posted towards iMaubeuge, had orders to 
 make a movement with the view of uniting with the 
 division of Charbonnier on its way from the Ardennes. 
 In the centre, seven columns were to act at once and 
 concentrically on the whole hostile mass grouped 
 around Landrecies. Finally, on the left, Souham and 
 IMoreau, starting from Lille with two divisions, form- 
 ing in all 50,000 men, were appointed to advance into 
 Flanders, and capture, under the nose of Clairfayt, the 
 fastnesses of ]\Ienin and Courtray. 
 
 The right of the French army operated its manoeuvre 
 without obstacle, for the Prince of Kaunitz was un- 
 able, with the division he led on the Sambre, to pre- 
 vent the junction of Charbonnier and Desjardins. The 
 columns of the centre got in motion on the 7th Floreal 
 (26th April), and marched from seven different points 
 on the Austrian army. This system of simultaneous 
 and unconnected attacks, which had succeeded so ill 
 the j'car before, met with no better fortune on this 
 occasion. The columns, too far asimder from one 
 another, could afford no mutual support, and failed to 
 obtain a decisive advantage on any individual point. 
 One of them, indeed, that of General Chappuis, was 
 entirely defeated. That commander, moving from 
 Cambray, found himself opposed to the Duke of York, 
 who, we have already stated, covered Landrecies on 
 that side. lie scattered his troops on divers points, 
 and came before the intrenched positions of Trois- 
 Villes with insufficient force. Overwhelmed by the 
 English fire, charged in flank by the cavalry, he was 
 put to flight, and his dispersed division re-entered 
 Cambray in the utmost confusion. These checks pro- 
 ceeded much more from the manner of conducting 
 the operations than from any deficiency on the part 
 of the troops. The young French soldiers, astounded 
 occasionally at the terrors of a fire whereof they could 
 have formed no previous idea, were, nevertheless, 
 easily led on and rallied to the attack, and often, in- 
 deed, displa3'ed extraordinary ardour and enthusiasm. 
 "Wliilst this abortive struggle was going forward in 
 the centre, the diversion essayed in Flanders against 
 Clairfayt completely succeeded. Souham and Moreau 
 
 had departed from LiUe and advanced on Menin and 
 Courtray on the 7 th of Floreal (26th April). These two 
 to\vns are situated, the reader is aware, one below thfc 
 other, on the Lys. Moreau invested the first, Souham 
 seized on the second. Clairfayt, deceived respecting 
 the march of the French, went in quest of them where 
 they were not to be found. He was speedily apprised, 
 however, of the investment of Menin and the capture 
 of Courtray, and he then determined to make the 
 French retrograde by menacing their communications 
 with Lille. On the 9th Floreal (28th April), accord- 
 ingly, he moved to jMouscron with 18.000 men, and. 
 thus imprudently exposed himself to the onslaught of 
 50,000 French, who could easily have crushed him by 
 recoiling. Moreau and Souham, immediately recalling 
 a part of their troops towards the threatened commu- 
 nications, marched on Mouscron, and resolved upon 
 giving battle to Clairfayt. He was intrenched on a po- 
 sition which could be reached only through five narrow 
 defiles, defended by a formidable artillery. On the 
 10th Floreal (29th April) the attack was ordered. 
 The young recruits, of whom the greater part wit- 
 nessed an enemy's fire for the first time, gave way 
 before it ; but the generals and the officers exerted the 
 most heroic eflbrts to rally them, succeeded, and the 
 positions were carried. Clairfayt lost twelve hundred 
 prisoners, of wliom eighty-four were officers, thirty- 
 three pieces of ordnance, foiir standards, and five hun- 
 dred muskets. This was the first victory in the north, 
 and it tended greatly to heighten the courage of the 
 French army. Menin was taken immediately after. 
 A division of emigrants, entrapped witliin the walls, 
 bravely saved itself bj' cutting an outlet sword in hand. 
 
 The success of the left, and the discomfiture of the 
 centre, induced Pichegru and Carnot to abandon the 
 centre altogether, and to act exclusively on the ^vings. 
 Pichegru detached General Bonnaud with 20,000 men 
 to Saingliien, near Lille, in order to assure the com- 
 munications with IMoreau and Souham. He left at 
 Guise only 20,000 men under the orders of General 
 Ferrand, and dispatched the rest towards ilaubeuge, 
 to join the division of Desjardins and Charbonnier. 
 These united forces increased to 56,000 men the right 
 wing destined to act on the Sambre. Carnot, judging 
 more correctly than Pichegru the situation of afiairs, 
 issued an order which decided the fate of the campaign. 
 Beginning to perceive that the point on which the 
 allies ouglit to be assailed was the Sambre and the 
 ]Meuse, and that, if defeated on that line, they would 
 be separated from their base, he directed Jourdan to 
 draw 15,000 men from the armj'of the Rhine, to leave 
 on the western slope of the Vosges such force as was 
 necessary to cover that frontier, then to quit the IMo- 
 selle with 45,000 men, and advance to the Sambre by 
 forced marches. The army under Jourdan, when 
 united with that of jMaubeuge, would form a mass of 
 90,000 or 100,000 men, and ensure the repulse of the 
 allies on the decisive point. This order, the most 
 sagacious of the campaign, and to which aU its results 
 nmst be attributed, was transmitted on the 11th 
 Floreal (.30th April) from the cabinet of the committee 
 of public welfare. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cobourg had taken Landrecies. Under- 
 valuing the defeat of Clairfayt, he contented himself 
 with detaching the Duke of York to Lamain, between 
 Tournay and Lille. 
 
 Clairlajt had moved into "West Flanders, between 
 the advanced left of the French and the sea, whereby 
 he was still fiirther removed than before from the 
 grand army and the succours brought him by the 
 Duke of York. The French, extending from Lille to 
 Menin and Courtray, composed an advanced column 
 in Flanders; Clairfayt, stationed at Thielt, rested 
 between the sea and that column ; and the Duke of 
 York, posted at Lamain, before Touniay, was between 
 that column and the grand allied mass. Clairfayt 
 determined to risk an attempt on Courtray, and 
 marched to attack it on the 21st Floreal (10th Mav\
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 415 
 
 Souham was at this moment to the rear of Courtray. 
 lie promptly completed his arrangements, returned 
 into the town to the aid of Vandamme, and, whilst 
 preparing for a saUy, detached Macdonald and Mal- 
 branck on Menin, with orders to pass the Lys and 
 turn Clairfayt. The battle was fought on the 22d 
 Floreal (11th May). Clairfayt had made admirable 
 dispositions on the Bruges highway and in the suburbs ; 
 but the French conscripts intrepidly braved the fire 
 from the houses and the batteries, and after a fierce 
 encounter, compelled Clairfayt to retire. Four thousand 
 men on both sides covered the field of battle ; and if, 
 instead of tiu-ning the enemy on the side of Menin, 
 the French had turned him on the opposite quarter, 
 they would unquestionably have cut off his retreat on 
 Flanders. 
 
 This was the second defeat Clairfayt had sustained 
 m contest with the left wing of the French. Their 
 right wmg on the Sambre was not equally fortunate. 
 Commanded by several generals, who deliberated in 
 councils of war with the representatives, Saint-Just 
 and Lebas, it was not under such efficient direction 
 as the two divisions led by Souham and Moreau. 
 Kleber and Marceau, who had been transferred thither 
 from La Vendee, might have conducted it to victory, 
 but their opinions were little heeded. The movement 
 prescribed for this right wing consisted in passing the 
 Sambre, in order to advance on Mons. A first pas- 
 sage was attempted on the 20th Floreal (9th May), 
 but the necessary dispositions not having been made 
 on the opposite bank, the army was unable to main- 
 tain itself, and was obliged to repass the Sambre in 
 disorder. On the 22d, Saint-Just insisted upon mak- 
 ing a renewed effort, notwithstanding the failure of 
 the first. It would have been more consistent with 
 prudence to await the arrival of Jourdan, who, with 
 his 45,000 men, promised to render the success of the 
 right wing infidlible. But Saint-Just would hear 
 neither of hesitation nor delay, and implicit obedience 
 to the fiats of the terrible pro-consul was imperative. 
 The second endeavour to pass was equally abortive. 
 The army certainly cleared the barrier of the Sambre 
 for the second time ; but, being again attacked on the 
 other bank, before it could securely establish itself, it 
 would have been utterly destroyed, had not tlie intre- 
 pidity of Marceau and the firmness of Klleber inter- 
 posed to save it. 
 
 Thus, for a whole month, the hostile armies had 
 contended on a field stretching from Maubeuge to the 
 shores of the ocean, with incredible fury, but without 
 any decisive success. The French had been victorious 
 on the left, discomfited on the right ; but in the in- 
 terim their soldiers were becoming inured to action, 
 and the bold and skilful movement prescribed to 
 Jourdan was preparing the way for great results. 
 
 The plan originally formed by Mack could not be 
 carried into execution. The Prussian general, iloel- 
 lendorf, refused to march on the Sambre, alleging that 
 he had no orders from his court. The English diplo- 
 matists had departed to exact explanations from the 
 Prussian cabinet respecting the treaty of the Hague, 
 and, meanwhile, Cobourg, menaced on one of his 
 wings, had been constrained to dissolve his centre 
 after the example of richcgru. He had reinforced 
 Kaunitz on the Sambre, and moved the bulk of his 
 army towards Flanders to the environs of Tournay. 
 A decisive engagement, therefore, was to 1)e expected 
 on the left, as the moment drew near when, large 
 masses must come in contact, and necessarily be em- 
 broiled. 
 
 At this time a project was propoimded at the Aus- 
 trian head-quarters, designated by its originators as 
 " the plan of ilestruction" the ultimate aim of which 
 was to cut off the French army from Lille, envelope 
 it, and thus annihilate it. Such an operation was 
 doubtless possible, for the allies coidd bring nearly 
 100,000 men to bear upon 70,000, but the dispositions 
 they made to effect their purpose were somewhat 
 
 singular. The French were still distributed in the 
 following manner: — Souham and Moreau at Menin 
 and Courtray, with 50,000 men ; and Bonnaud in the 
 vicinity of Lille, with 20,000. The allies were par- 
 celled on the two flanks of this advanced line ; Clair- 
 fayt's division to the left in West Flanders, the mass 
 of the allies to the right towards Tournay. In this 
 state of things, the allies resolved to make a concen- 
 tric effort on Turcoing, which interposes between 
 Menin and Courtray and Lille. Cairfayt was to march 
 thither from West Flanders, passing by Werwick and 
 Linsellcs. The generals. Von Busch, Otto, and the 
 Duke of York, had orders to proceed thither from the 
 opposite quarter, that is to say, from Tournay. Von 
 Busch was directed specifically on Mouscron, Otto on 
 Turcoing itself ; and the Duke of York, pushhig for- 
 ward to Roubaix and Mouveaux, was to combine with 
 Clairfiiyt. By this last junction, Souham and Moreau 
 woidd be cut off from Lille. General Kinsky and the 
 Archduke Charles were charged, with two strong 
 columns, to drive Bonnaud into Lille. These dispo- 
 sitions, to succeed, required a combination in the 
 movements practically impossible. The majority of 
 these corps, be it observed, had to start from points 
 far asunder, and Clairfayt had to penetrate through 
 the French army. 
 
 It was fixed that these operations should be exe- 
 cuted on the 28th Floreal (17th May). Pichegru had 
 repaired at this critical moment to the right wing on 
 the Sambre, in order to remedy the disasters that 
 portion of the army had recently encountered. Sou- 
 ham and Moreau commanded the French in his 
 absence. The first signal of tlie allies' designs was 
 given them by Clairfayt's march on Werwick. They 
 mstantly moved in that direction ; but, on learning 
 that the mass of the enemy was arriving on the oppo- 
 site quarter, and threatening their communications, 
 tliey took a prompt and judicious resolution, namely, 
 to hasten on Turcoing, and secure that important 
 position between Menin and Lille. Moreau remained 
 with Vandamme's division in front of Clairfayt to 
 impede his progress, and Souham marched on Tur- 
 coing with 45,000 men. The communications Avith 
 Lille not being yet interrupted, orders could be trans- 
 mitted to Bonnaud requiring him likewise to advance 
 upon Turcoing, and to make a strenuous effort to 
 preserve the communication of that position Avith 
 Lille. The foresight of the French generals was jus- 
 tified by the event. Clairfayt could struggle onwards 
 but slowly ; retarded at Werwick. he failed to reach 
 Linselles on the day assigned. General Von Busch 
 had at first possessed himself of Mouscron, but he 
 had afterwards experienced a slight check, and Otto, 
 having weakened himself to succour him. remained 
 in insufficient force at Turcoing. The Duke of York 
 had advanced to Koubaix and Mouveaux without 
 meeting Clairfayt as he expected, and without being 
 able to effect the intended junction. Finally, Kinsky 
 and the Archduke Charles only arrived near LiUe 
 late in the evening of the 28th (i7th May). Tlie fol- 
 lowing morning, the 29th, Souham pushed rapidly on 
 Turcoing, overcame all opj)osition, and secured that 
 important position. On his side, Bonnaud, marching 
 from Lille on the Duke of York, whose province it 
 was to plant himself between that city and Turcoing, 
 foimd him scattered on an extended line. The Eng- 
 lish, although taken by surprise, attem])ted to resist, 
 but tlie Gallic conscripts, charging with impetuositj', 
 obliged them to recoil, and eventually to fly, throwing 
 away their arms. Tiie rout was so complete, that tlie 
 Duke of York, scouring the plain at full gallop, owed 
 his safety to the fleetness of his steed alone. From 
 that moment general confusion ensued amongst tlie 
 allies, and tlie Emperor of Germany had tiie mortifica- 
 tion to behold, from the heights of Templeuve, his 
 whole army in full retreat. During these events, 
 the Archduke Charles, from defective information, and 
 the difficulties of liis position, had remained inactive
 
 41G 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 below Lille, and Clairfayt, being stopped towards the 
 Lys, had been compelled to retire. Such was the 
 issue of this " plan of destruction." It bestowed on the 
 French several thoiisands of prisoners, a vast quantitj^ 
 of warlike stores, and the renown of a great victory 
 obtained with seventy thousand men over nearly one 
 hundred thousand. 
 
 Piclicgru arrived after the battle was won. AH the 
 allied divisions fell back on Toiu-nay, and Clairfayt, 
 regaining Flanders, took up his old position at Thielt. 
 Pichegru turned this signal victory to ^vTetched ac- 
 count. The allies had settled round Tournay, having 
 their right supported on tlie Scheldt. The French 
 general was seized with the whim of capturmg certain 
 supplies of forage ascending the Scheldt, and, in the 
 prosecution of this puerile design, he drew the wliole 
 army into the hazard of an engagement. Moving to- 
 wards the river, he pressed on the allies in their semi- 
 circidar position of Tournay. In a sliort wliile all his 
 corps found themselves successively embroiled on this 
 semicircle. A most determined action was fought at 
 Pont-a-Chin, along the banks of the Scheldt. For 
 twelve hours a frightful carnage went on, without any 
 possible result of moment. Seven or eight thousand 
 men perished on both sides. The French army re- 
 coiled after having burnt a few boats, and with tlie 
 partial forfeiture of that ascendancy secured to it by 
 the battle of Turcoing. 
 
 However, the French could justly deem themselves 
 ■\actorious in Flanders, and the necessity imposed on 
 Cobourg of detaching reinforcements to other points, 
 afterwards rendered their superiority more decided. 
 On the Sambre, Saint-Just had resolved to attempt a 
 third passage, and to invest Charleroi ; but Kaunitz, 
 strong!}' reinforced, had raised the siege at the moment 
 when, auspiciously enough, Jourdan appeared with 
 the entire army of the IVIoseUe. Thenceforth 90,000 
 men were to act on this the veritable line of opera- 
 tions, and to terminate the hesitations of fortune. 
 
 On the Rhine noticing important liad occurred, save 
 only, that General IMoeUendorf, profiting by the dimi- 
 nution of the French forces in that quarter, had car- 
 ried the post of Kayserslautern, but had relapsed into 
 inaction after that achievement. 
 
 Thus, up to tlie month of Prairial [end of IVIay], 
 over the wide expanse of the northern frontier, the 
 French had not only resisted the coalition, Irat tri- 
 umphed over it in several encounters ; they had gained 
 one important victory, and advanced on two wings 
 into Flanders, and to the Sambre. The loss of Lan- 
 drecies was insignificant when balanced with such 
 advantages, and, above all, with those their present 
 position insured them. 
 
 The war of La Vendee had not entirely ceased with 
 the disaster of Savenay. Three chiefs had effected 
 their escape, Larochejacquelein, Stofflet, and Marigny. 
 Besides these three leaders, Charette, who, instead of 
 passing the Loire, had seized upon the isle of Noir- 
 moutiers, stiU remained in Lower Vendee. But the 
 war had sunk into a mere series of skirmishes, and 
 no longer gave disquietude to the republic. General 
 Turreau had received the command of the west. He 
 had divided the disposable army into moveable columns 
 which scoured the country, concentrically advancing 
 at the same time on one point. Tliese columns hunted 
 down the fugitive bands, and, when they were not to 
 be found, they put in execution the decree of the con- 
 vention, that is to say, burnt the forests and tlie vil- 
 lages, and ejected the population to be transported 
 elsewhere. Several engagements had taken place, but 
 without producing any important consequences. Ilaxo, 
 after recapturing from Charette the isles of Noirmou- 
 tiers and Bouin, had, upon various occasions, nearly 
 succeeded in taking him prisoner ; but that daring 
 partisan always escaped him, and quickly reappeared 
 on the scene of strife with a determination equal to 
 his address. The war itself was little more than a 
 war of devastation. Genend Turreau was constrained 
 
 to adopt a most cruel measure, namely, to publish an 
 order warning the inliabitants of the hamlets to leave 
 the country, under pain of being treated as enemies 
 if they remained. This notification compelled them 
 either to quit the soil wlience they drew all their 
 means of existence, or to suffer the horrors of military 
 execution. Such are the peculiar evils of civU wars. 
 
 Brittany had become the theatre of a new species 
 of war, that of the Chouans. That province had for- 
 merly evinced a disposition to imitate La Vendee, but 
 the tendency to insurrection was not so general, and 
 individuals merely, profiting by the nature of the 
 country, had given way to predatory habits. The 
 ■wrecks of the Vendean column which had passed into 
 Brittany subsequently swelled the number of these 
 partisans. Their principal rendezvous was in the 
 forest of Perche, and they traversed tlie prevince in 
 troops of fort}^ or fifty, sometimes attacking the gend- 
 armerie, levying contributions on the petty communes, 
 and committing other disorders in the name of the 
 royal and cathohc cause. But the A^eritable war was 
 finished, and the only uneasiness that survived arose 
 from those unfortunate districts being still afficted 
 with such deplorable calamities. 
 
 In the French colonies and at sea, tlie war raged 
 with not less fury than on the continent of Europe. 
 The rich settlement of St Domingo had been the scene 
 of a more horrible catastroplie tlian an}' recorded in 
 history. Tlie white population liad embraced with 
 enthusiasm the cause of the revolution, which, as they 
 imagined, would lead to their independence of the 
 mother-country. The midattoes had embraced it with 
 equal ardour, but they anticipated other results than the 
 independence of the colony, and aspired to the rights 
 of citizenship, from which they had been hitherto ex- 
 cluded. The Constituent Assembly had recognised the 
 rights of the mulattoes ; but the whites, who desired 
 the revolution only for themselves, had raised the 
 standard of revolt, and a civil Avar had commenced 
 between the old race of the privileged and the freed- 
 men. Taking advantage of this contest, the negroes 
 had appeared on tlie scene in their turn, and announced 
 their rising by fire and blood. Tliey had massacred 
 their masters and burnt their plantations. From that 
 moment the colony became a prey to the most dread- 
 ful confusion ; each party reproached the other with 
 instigating the new enemies who had appeared, and 
 witli giving them arms. The negroes, without yet de- 
 claring for any cause, ravaged the country. Shortly, 
 however, incited by the emissaries of the Spanish party, 
 they pretended to serve the royal cause. To augment 
 the disorder, the English had interfered. Part of the 
 whites had invoked their aid in a moment of danger, 
 and yielded to them the important fortress of Saint- 
 Nicholas. The commissioner Santhonax, assisted by 
 the mulattoes and a portion of the whites, resisted the 
 invasion of the English, and idtimately perceived no 
 other mode of repelling it than that of acknowledging 
 the freedom of the negroes who should declare for the 
 republic. The convention had confirmed this mea- 
 sure, and proclaimed by a decree all the negroes free. 
 Thereupon, a portion of them, who advocated the 
 royal cause, went over to the republicans ; and the 
 English, intrenched in the fortress of Saint-Nicholas, 
 lost all hope of acquiring the possession of St Domingo, 
 which, after a long course of desolation, was finally 
 destined to fall under its own self-governance. Gua- 
 daloupe, after being captured and recaptured, had 
 eventuallj' remained to the Fi'ench, but Martinique 
 was definitively lost. 
 
 Such was the state of the colonies. On the sea, an 
 important event had occurred, namely, the arrival of 
 that convoy from America whicli liad been so long 
 expected in the French ports. The Brest squadron, 
 numbering thirty sail, had left the harbour, as we have 
 stated, with orders to cruise, but to avoid an engage- 
 ment, unless the safety of the convoy imperiously de- 
 manded such a risk. Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre was on
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 417 
 
 board the admiral's ship; and, as we have related, 
 ViUaret-Joyeuse had been promoted from the rank of 
 captain to the command of the squadron ; peasants 
 who had never beheld the sea, had been transformed 
 into mariners, and these oflncers and sailors of a day 
 had been sent forth to contend with the veteran Eng- 
 lish navy. Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse weighed anclior 
 on the 1st Prairial (20th May), and made sail towards 
 the islands of Coves and Flores, there to await the 
 convoy. He captured on the way several English 
 commercial vessels, the captains whereof said to him, 
 " You have taken us in detail, but Admiral Howe will 
 take you in the aggregate." In sooth, that admiral 
 was cruising along the coasts of Brittany and Nor- 
 mandy with thirty-three ships of the line and twelve 
 frigates. On the 9th Prairial (28th May) the French 
 squadron descried a ileet. The crews eagerly gazed 
 on the horizon as the dark masses rose to view ; and 
 when they recognised the English, they uttered shouts 
 of enthusiasm, and demanded the signal of battle with 
 that patriotic ardour which has always distinguished 
 the inhabitants of the French maritime provinces. 
 Althougli the instructions given to the admiral autho- 
 rised him to engage only in case the convoy was m 
 jeopardy, Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre, himself impelled by 
 the general enthusiasm, consented to offer battle, and 
 allowed the necessary orders for that piu'pose to be 
 given. Towards evening, a vessel of the rearguard, 
 Le Jievolut'ionnaire, which had slackened sail, fell foid 
 of the English, made an obstinate resistance, lost its 
 captain, and was obliged to be towed into Rochefort. 
 The night prevented the action from becoming gene- 
 ral. 
 
 The following day, the 29th May, the sun displayed 
 the two squadrons drawn up in hostile array. The 
 Enghsh admiral manoeuvred against the French rear- 
 guard. The movement made by the French to pro- 
 tect it, brought on a general engagement. They, fail- 
 ing to manoeuvi-e as well as their opponents, two of 
 their vessels, L^ Indamptable and Le Tyrannicide, were 
 exposed to the attack of a superior force, but fought 
 with the most determined courage. Villaret-Joyeuse 
 gave the signal to succour these ships ; but his orders 
 being eitlier misunderstood or badly executed, he ad- 
 vanced alone at the hazard of not being followed. 
 Shortly, however, his example M'as unitated; the 
 whole French squadron bore do\vn on the enemy, and 
 obliged him to retire. Unluckily, the advantage of 
 the wind was lost ; tlie French kept up a terrible can- 
 nonade on the English, but they Avere unable to pur- 
 sue them. The two threatened vessels and the field 
 of battle, at all events, remained to cheer them. 
 
 On the 30th and 31st May, a thick mist enveloped 
 the two armaments. The French strove to draw the 
 English to the north and west of the course the con- 
 voy was likely to take. On the 1st Jmie (13th Prai- 
 riaj) the mist evaporated, and a brilliant sun gleamed 
 upon the two fleets. The French had only twenty- 
 six sail of the line, whereas their enemies had thirty- 
 six. The crews again demanded to be led to combat ; 
 and it was judged expedient to gratify their ardour, 
 in order to occupy the English, and to remove them 
 from the course of the convoy, which lay directly over 
 the battle-ground of the 29th May. 
 
 Tlie battle, one of the most memorable in naval 
 warfare, began at nine in the morning. Admiral 
 Howe advanced in order to cut the French line. A 
 false manoeuvre of the ship La Montagtie allowed him 
 to pierce it, separate the left wing, and direct upon it 
 his whole force. The French right wing and van- 
 guard remained isolated. The admiral did his ut- 
 most to rally tliem around him to bear down on the 
 English squadron, but he had lost the advantage of 
 the wind, and for the sjjace of five hours was unable 
 to near the field of battle. In the interim, the vessels 
 engaged in the conflict fought with extraordinary 
 heroism. The English, superior in the art of manoeuv- 
 ring, were more ou a level with their opponents when 
 
 matched ship to ship ; and they encountered a formid- 
 able resistance both to their fire and to their attempts 
 at boarding. In the height of the action, the French 
 vessel Le Vengeur, dismasted, half destroyed, and 
 almost ready to foimder, refused to haul down its co- 
 lours, even at the risk of being buried in the waves. 
 The English were the first to cease firing, and they 
 retired with astonishment at so determined a resist- 
 ance. They carried off six of the French fleet. On 
 the following day, Villaret-Joyeuse, having collected 
 his vanguard and right whig, desired to fall upon tliem 
 and reconquer their prizes. Tlie Eijghsh, being greatly 
 damaged, woidd have perhaps yielded an easy victory. 
 Jean-Bon-Saint- Andre, however, opposed the renewal 
 of the battle, notwithstanding the ardour of the crews. 
 The English were consequently enabled quietly to 
 regain their ports. They returned home surprised at 
 their victory, and impressed with admiration for the 
 bravery of their inexperienced adversaries. At the 
 same time, the main object of this terrible contest was 
 accomplished. Admiral Venstabel had crossed, dur- 
 ing the engagement of the 1st of June, tlie battle-field 
 of the 29th May (10th Prairial), found it strewed with 
 wrecks, and entered the French harbours in safety. 
 
 Thus, victorious on the Pyrenees and the Alps, for- 
 midable m the Low Countries, heroic at sea, and suffi- 
 ciently powerful to dispute a naval victory with the 
 English, the French commenced the campaign of 1794 
 in the most brilliant and glorious manner. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 DOMESTIC STATE OF FRANCE AT THE BEGINNING OF 
 1794. — POLITICAL PERSECUTIONS.— ATTEMPT TO AS- 
 SASSINATE ROBESPIERRE AND COLLOT d'hERBOIS. 
 
 DOMINATIt)N OF ROBESPIERRE. FESTIA'AL TO THE 
 
 SUPREME BEING. EXECUTIONS AT PARIS AND ELSE- 
 WHERE. — DROWNINGS IN THE LOIRE. — RUPTURE IN 
 THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC WELFARE, AND RETIRE- 
 MENT OF ROBESPIERRE. 
 
 Whilst the republic was thus victorious externally, 
 its domestic condition had ceased not to be one of 
 suffering and violence. The evils that afflicted it were 
 unchanged in character; their causes were still the 
 assignats, the maximum, the scarcity of provisions, 
 the law of the suspected, and the revolutionary tri- 
 bunals. 
 
 The difficulties arising from the necessity of regu- 
 lating all the transactions of commerce, had been con- 
 stantly accumulating. It had been found indispen- 
 sable to introduce frequent modifications into the law 
 of the maximum ; first, twine and rope had to be 
 excepted from its provisions, and alloAved ten per cent, 
 above the scale of prices; then pins, cambrics, lawns, 
 muslins, gauze, thread and silk lace, silk and silken 
 stuffs. And whilst a variety of articles were tliiis 
 imperatively excepted from the operation of the maxi- 
 mimi, it became equally urgent to include others within 
 its stringent purposes. Thus, the price of horses hav- 
 ing risen to an excessive height, their value was, ill 
 obedience to the presumed exigency, fixed according 
 to their size and breeding. From such expedients the 
 same inconvenience always resulted : trade stagnated, 
 the markets were unfrequented, or rather clandestine 
 sales were effected, and authority was quite power- 
 less against such consequences. If the government 
 had, by means of assignats, been enabled to realise the 
 value of the national domains, and by means of the 
 maximum to convert assignats into a current and cor- 
 responding medium of exchange, it could have no 
 mode of preventing the secretion of conmioditics, or 
 their being withheld from purchasers. Accordingly, 
 we find incessant complaints were raised against dealers 
 for secluding themselves and their goods from the 
 usual marts, or for closing their stores. 
 Less apprehension was felt this year, however, than
 
 418 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 during: the lust, as to a deficiency of food. The con- 
 voys arrived from North America, and an abundant 
 harvest, had provided a sufficient quantity of corn for 
 the consumption of France. The committee, wieklin,? 
 administration in all details with equal vij^our, had 
 ordained tliat an account of tlie harvest should be 
 taken under charge of the committee for supplies and 
 provisions, and that an adequate portion of the grain 
 should be forthwith threshed to meet the demand in 
 the markets. Fears having been entertained lest the 
 shearers, who were accustomed to migrate into the 
 corn provinces, might exact high wages, the committee 
 declared that all male and female citizens known to 
 seek employment in harvest labour, were in forced 
 requisition, and that their wages should be settled by 
 the local authorities. Shortly thereafter, the journey- 
 men bakers and butchers having struck work, the com- 
 mittee adopted a more general measure, and plac ed in 
 req^iisition all operatives of every descrijition engaged 
 in tlie manipulation, the transport, and the sale of 
 articles deemed of prime necessity. 
 
 The supply of meat was a subject attended with 
 infinitely greater difficulty and anxiety. In Paris, 
 especially, an extraordinary scarcity had long ])re- 
 vailed, and, since the time when the Ilebertists had 
 attempted to profit by that dearth to excite a com- 
 motion, the evil had j)rogressivcly increased. It was 
 eventually foun<l necessary to place the inhabitants 
 of Paris on rations. The commission for supplies and 
 provisions fixed the daily consumption at 75 oxen, 
 ITjO hundredweight of veal and mutton, and 200 pigs. 
 It procured the requisite number of animals, and sent 
 tliem to the hospital of L'Humanite, which was as- 
 signed as the general and only authorised slaughter- 
 house. The butchers nominated by each section re- 
 paired thither to obtain the carcasses apportioned to 
 them, the amount whereof was regulated according to 
 the population they had to serve. They were directed 
 to distribute, every fifth day, half a pound of flesh per 
 head to each family. In this arrangement, the tickets 
 issued by the revolutionary committees for the i^ur- 
 chase of bread, and which contained the number of 
 individuals composing each family, were likewise to 
 be used. To avoid tumults and long vigils, all resort 
 to the shambles of the butchers before six in tlie morn- 
 ing was prohibited. 
 
 The insufficiency of these regulations was soon 
 made manifest. As we have already stated, clandes- 
 tine butcher-markets had been previously established, 
 and now they became daily more numerous. Cattle 
 no longer arrived at the markets of Neubourg, Poissy, 
 and Sceaux ; the country dealers forestalled them on 
 the way, and even proceeded to the grazing farms in 
 quest of them. Relying on the apathy of the rural 
 communes in the execution of the law, those dealers 
 sold above the maximum, and more plentifully sup- 
 plied the inhabitants of the large towns, and particu- 
 larly those of Paris, who were not contented with the 
 half pound distributed every fifth day. In this manner 
 the country butchers entirely engrossed the trade of 
 their city brethren, whose occupation had dwindled 
 into an occasional division of rations. Several of the 
 latter, indeed, demanded a law enabling them to cancel 
 their tenancies. Hence it became necessary to pro- 
 nudgate additional ordinances to prevent cattle from 
 being intercepted in their progress to market, and 
 proprietors of pasturage-lands were subjected to de- 
 clarations and formalities extremely irksome and vexa- 
 tious. Still more minute provisions had to be made 
 for wants of a different character : wood and charcoal 
 ceasing to arrive on account of the maximum, sxispi- 
 cions of regrating were engendered, and an inhibition 
 was issued against any individual having in his pos- 
 session more than four loads of wood and two loads 
 of cliarcoal. 
 
 The new government met all the difficulties which 
 entangled its career with extraordinary activity. 
 Whilst framing these multifarious regulations, it was 
 
 occupied with projects for reforming agriculture, and 
 altering the law of landlord and tenant as to distraints 
 on land, and for introducing improved modes of mix- 
 ing soils, preparing artificial meadows, and rearing 
 cattle. It decreed the formation of botanical gardens 
 in all the departmental capitals, in order to naturalise 
 exotic plants, create nurseries for all kinds of trees, 
 and institute agricultural lectureships for the behoof, 
 and adapted to the capacity, of farmers ; it enjoined 
 the general draining of marshes, upon a vast and 
 well-conceived plan, determining that the state should 
 make advances for so great an undertaking, and that 
 the proprietors whose lands were drained and ferti- 
 lised, should pay a tax, or surrender their ownership 
 for a fixed equivaloit ; it invited all architects to 
 present plans for building villages out of the ruins of 
 lordly mansions ; it ordered embellishments in the 
 garden of the Tuilleries, to render it more acceptable 
 to the public ; and, lastly, it called upon artists to 
 submit a scheme for chriUging the opera-house uito a 
 covered arena, where the people might assemble in 
 winter. 
 
 Thus, then, the government executed, or, at all 
 events, essayed, almost every thing at once : so true . 
 it is that when much is to be performed, the greater 
 is the capacity for effecting much. The state of the 
 finances was not the least difficult or anxious of its 
 cares. We have stated what methods were adopted 
 in the month of August 1793 to restore the credit of 
 assignats, by withdrawing them in part from circu- 
 lation. The thousand millions abstracted by the forced 
 loan, and the victories v.diich terminated the campaign 
 (tf 1793, enhanced them considerably, and, as we have 
 already intimated, they nearly reached to par, from 
 the effect of those terrible enactments which rendered 
 the possession of specie so fidl of danger. However, 
 that apparent prosperity was not of long continuance ; 
 the assignats had a speedy relapse, and the quantity 
 of emissions ensured their accelerated decline. A 
 portion of them certainly returned in the shape of 
 purchase-money for the national domains, but to an 
 amount quite insufficient to balance the issue. Yet 
 these domains were sold above the valuation, which 
 was not at all surprising, for the valuation had been 
 calculated in money, and the payments were made in 
 assignats ; whereby it came to pass that the price was 
 in reality far below, although in semblance much be- 
 yond, the estimate. Besides, that mode of absorbing 
 assignats could not be otherwise than slow, whereas 
 the emission was necessarily immense and prompt. 
 Twelve hundred thousand men to pay and arm, parks 
 of artillery to found, and a navy to construct, with a 
 depreciated paper, required enormous quantities of 
 the discredited medium, which, having become the 
 sole available resource, and the mass of hypothecated 
 property, moreover, being daily augmented by con- 
 fiscations, was used resignedly to the full extent exi- 
 gency demanded. The distinction between the ordi- 
 nary and extraordinary exchequer was abrogated, 
 the first of which had been set apart for the receipt of 
 taxes, the latter for the creation of assignats. The two 
 kinds of resources were confounded, and whenever the 
 necessity arose, the revenue was eked out by fresh 
 emissions. At the commencement of 1794 (year 2), 
 the sum-total of issues had been doubled. Nearly 
 four thousand millions had been added to the amount 
 pre%iously in existence, raising the whole to about 
 eight thousand millions. Deducting the quantity 
 returned and burned, and the stock not yet disbursed, 
 there remained in actual circulation five thousand five 
 hundi-ed and thirty-six millions (two hundred and 
 thirty millions sterling). In Mcssidor, year 2 (June 
 1794), the convention decreed the fabrication of an 
 additional thousand millions (forty-two millions ster- 
 ling) of assignats, in values varying from 1000 francs 
 (£41, 13s. 4d.) to 15 sous (7^d). The finance com- 
 mittee, furthermore, had again recourse to a forced 
 loan on the rich. The lists "of the previous year were
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 419 
 
 made use of, and on those wlio were therein enrolled, 
 was levied an extraordinary war contribution to the 
 amount oafcne-tenth of the former loan, that is to say, 
 one hundred millions. That sum was imposed upon 
 them not as an advance to be reimbursed, but as an 
 impost to be paid by them without return. 
 
 To complete the institution of the g-reat book, and 
 the project of rendering the public debt uniform, it 
 remained to capitalise the annuities and convert them 
 into an inscription. These annuities, of every kind and 
 form, gave rise to the most complicated jobbing ; like 
 the old obligations on the state, they had the inconve- 
 nience of resting on a royal title, and obtaining a 
 marked preference over the republican engagements ; 
 for it was constantly repeated, that if the republic con- 
 sented to pay the debts of the monarchy, the monarchy 
 would refuse to acknowledge those of the republic. 
 Cambon, therefore, consummated his great work, the 
 regeneration of the debt, by proposing and carrying 
 the law which capitalised the annuities ; it provided, 
 also, that the documents of title should be delivered 
 up by the notaries, and afterwards burned, according to 
 the plan adopted with regard to the old obligations. 
 The capital originally advanced by the annuitant was 
 converted into an inscription, and charged with a per- 
 petual interest of five per cent, instead of a life-annuity. 
 At the same time, out of regard for the aged and 
 poorer recipients, who had hoped to double then- in- 
 comes by purchasing annuities, moderate claims were 
 allowed to their full extent, with reference to the age 
 of the individuals. Thus, persons between forty and 
 fifty years old were left to enjoy annuities ranging 
 from 1500 to 2000 francs ; those between fifty and 
 sixty, annuities ranging from 3000 to 4000 francs ; 
 and so on to the age of one hundred, and to the amount 
 of 10,500 francs. If the annuitant comprehended in 
 any of these classes were entitled to draw a sum ex- 
 ceeding the prescribed rate, the surplus was capitalised. 
 It was barely possible to have evinced greater consi- 
 deration for old age and small fortmies than did the 
 legislature in this instance ; yet it is a fact that scarcely 
 any law gave rise, to more bitter complaints and re- 
 monstrances, and the convention encountered, for this 
 measure, so fraught with wisdom and humanity, a 
 higher degree of censure than for all the other mea- 
 sures which daily signalised its terrible dictatorship. 
 The stock-brokers were incensed because the decree 
 required, for the substantiation of claims, certificates 
 of existence. The holders of emigi'ants' bonds could 
 not easily procure such certificates ; hence the brokers, 
 who were affected by this condition, raised a prodigious 
 clamour in the name of the old and the infirm, and 
 exclaimed that neither age nor poverty was respected. 
 They attempted to persuade the annuitants, moreover, 
 that they would not be paid, as the operation and the 
 formalities it enjoined must lead to interminable de- 
 lays ; which, however, was not the case. Cambon 
 introduced certain modifications into the decree, and 
 by dint of imi-emitting superintendence at the office 
 of the exchecjuer, hurried the work to completion with 
 the utmost promptitude. The claimants, who were 
 not mere jobbers on the investments of others, but 
 lived on their own legitimate incomes, were imme- 
 diately satisfied ; and, as Barrere stated, instead of 
 awaiting their turn for payment in open courts, ex- 
 posed to the intemperature of the weather, they at- 
 tended in the warm and sheltered apartments of the 
 exchequer. 
 
 Accompanying these beneficial reforms, the course 
 of cruelty swept on more impetuously than ever. The 
 law expelling ex-nobles from Paris and all fortified 
 and maritime towns, occasioned infinite distress. Now, 
 that nobility was a calamitous appendage, it had be- 
 come equally difficult to distinguish genuine nobles as 
 in the days when it was an esteemed privilege. Ple- 
 beian females married to nobles, and left in widowhood, 
 purchasers of otfices who had assumed aristocratic 
 designations, claimed to be exempted from a distinc- 
 
 tion they had once eagerly coveted. Consequently, 
 that enactment afforded boundless scope for arbitrary 
 treatment and tyrannical vexations. 
 
 The representatives on missions exercised their aii- 
 thority Avith extreme rigour, and some amongst them 
 gave way to extravagant and monstrous cruelties. At 
 Paris, the prisons were daily more crowded with cap- 
 tives. The committee of general safety had instituted 
 a police which carried terror into every quarter. The 
 chief thereof was a man named Heron, who had under 
 his direction a swarm of agents fully worthy of such 
 a leader. They were, as their usual title intimated, 
 ordvr-bcarcrs from the committees. Certain of them 
 performed the functions of spies ; others, furnished 
 with secret orders, often even with blank orders, 
 prowled around to make arrests both in Paris and in 
 the departments. An allowance was granted them 
 for each such enterprise, and they exacted money from 
 the prisoners besides, thus aggravating cruelty by ra- 
 pine. All the adventurers disbanded from the revo- 
 lutionary army, and dismissed from the ministry of 
 Bouchotte, had passed into this new occupation, and 
 become more formidable than before. They crept in 
 every where, into theatres, coffee-houses, and public 
 promenades ; the dread of being marked or overheard 
 by one of these inquisitors weighed on every mind. 
 Through their instrumentality the mmiber of the 
 " suspected " had swelled in Paris alone to seven or 
 eight thousand. The prisons no longer presented the 
 same scenes as heretofore ; the spectacle was no longer 
 witnessed of the wealthy contributing for the poor, or 
 of men differing widely in opinions and ranks leading 
 a comparatively agreeable life upon an expenditure in 
 conuuon, and mitigating the rigours of captivity by 
 recreations in the arts. That system had been deemed 
 too lenient for those who were stigmatised as aristo- 
 crats ; malignant assertions had been propagated that 
 luxury and abundance reigned with the suspected, 
 whilst the people M-ere reduced to rations, and that 
 the rich prisoners amused themselves by wasting pro- 
 visions which might have served to feed the indigent 
 patriots ; wherefore it had been determined that the 
 prison discipline should be altered. Accordingly, 
 general refectories and tables were established ; at 
 fixed hours, and in large rooms, a detestable and un- 
 wholesome regimen was administered to the inuuured, 
 for which they were, furthermore, dearly charged. 
 The privilege of buying food in lieu of that they were 
 unable to eat, was entirely abrogated. Moreover, their 
 persons were searched, and th^ir assignats abstracted, 
 whereby any possibility of procuring alleviations was 
 debarred. Finally, the liberty of enjoying intercourse 
 amongst themselves was denied, and to the afflictions 
 of solitary confinement were added the terrors of sud- 
 den death, for the thirst of blood was hourly becom- 
 ing more urgent and insatiate. The revolutionary 
 tribunal had begun, since the trial of the Hebertists 
 and Dantonists, to immolate victims in bands of twenty 
 at a time. It had condemned the Malesherbes family 
 and its kinsmen, to the number of fifteen or twenty 
 persons. The venerable head of that house had pro- 
 ceeded to execution with the serenity and cheerfulness 
 of a snge. Making a false step as he walked to the 
 scaffold, he had exclaimed, " That false step is of bad 
 augury ; a Konian would liave returned home." The 
 Malesher>)es had been followed by twenty-two mem- 
 bers of tlic parliament. Almost the entire parliament 
 of Toulouse was exterminated. Lastly, the farmers- 
 general had been recently brought to trial on account 
 of their old contracts with the royal treasury. Proof 
 was adduced that these contracts contained stipula- 
 tions onerous to tlie state, and the revolutionary tri- 
 bunal sent them to tlie guillotine for by-past exac- 
 tions on tobacco, salt, &c. Amongst the number was 
 a man illustrious in the annals of science, the chemist 
 Lavoisier, who in vain solicited a few days' reprieve 
 to digest a discovery. 
 
 The impulse was given ; administering, fighting.
 
 4-20 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and slauirhtering, proceeded in fearful combination. 
 The coniniittces, planted in the centre, distingiiished 
 their sway by an uniform uninterrupted vigour. The 
 convention, still awed to silence, granted pensions to 
 the widows and children of soldiers who had died for 
 their country, reviewed judgments pronounced by the 
 tribunals, explained decrees, regidated the exchange 
 of sundry parcels of the domains, and, in short, at- 
 tended to affairs of a trifling and purely accessory 
 nature. Barrcre appeared before it almost daily to 
 recite accounts of victories. He usually styled these 
 reports carmagnoles. At the end of each month he 
 intimated, for the sake of form, that the powers of the 
 committees had expired, and that they needed renewal. 
 On such occasions he was answered, with applauding 
 shouts, that the committees had merely to prosecute 
 their patriotic labours. Sometimes, indeed, he omitted 
 the formality, without his negligence affecting the 
 authority of the committees. 
 
 It is during such periods, marked by an universal 
 absolute submission, that exacerbated minds revolt, 
 and that despotism has most to dread the stroke of 
 the assassin. There was then at Paris a man em- 
 ployed as an attendant at the national lottery office, 
 who had formerly been in the servit'e of several emi- 
 nent families, and who was actuated with a deadly 
 hatred against the existing system of things. He was 
 fift}' years of age, and called Ladmiral. He had formed 
 the design of assassinating one of the most influential 
 members of the committee of public welfiire, Robes- 
 pierre or Collot-d'Herbois. For some time he had 
 resided in the same house as Collot-d'Herbois, in the 
 street Favart, still hesitating between Collot and 
 Robespierre. On the 3d Prairial (22d May), having 
 then determined to select Robespierre, he repaired to 
 the committee of public welfare, and waited tlie whole 
 day in the gallery leading to the room in which the 
 committee sat. Failing to encounter his intended 
 victim, he returned home, and stationed himself on 
 the staircase, with tlie view of smiting Collot-d'Her- 
 bois. Towards midniglit Collot entered, and, as he 
 was ascending the stairs, Ladmiral snapped a pistol 
 at his head. The pistol missed fire. Ladmiral pre- 
 sented it a second time, and the weapon again defeated 
 his design. A tliird time he repeated the trial, when 
 at lengtli the charge went off, but merely lodged in 
 tiie wall. A struggle immediately ensued. Collot- 
 d'Herbois uttered vehement shouts of "murder!" 
 Fortunately for him, a body of patrol was passing in 
 the street, who hastened towards the noise. Ladmiral 
 took to flight, mounted to his apartment, and barri- 
 caded the door. The patrol followed him, and at- 
 tempted to force an entrance. He gave warning that 
 he was armed, and would fire on any who should ven- 
 ture to present themselves. The menace was disre- 
 garded hy tlie patrol. The door was broken in ; a 
 locksmith, named Geffroy, led the way into the room, 
 and received a musket shot which almost mortally 
 wouuded him. Ladmiral was instantly arrested and 
 conducted to prison. Being interrogated by Fouquier- 
 Tinville, he recounted the particulars of his life, and 
 avowed his purpose, detailing the attempts he had 
 made to dispatch Robespierre before assailing Collot- 
 I d'Herbois. He was asked who had urged him to com- 
 t mit the crime. He replied with firmness that it was 
 I not a crime, but a servicre he had desired to render his 
 I country ; that he alone had conceived the project with- 
 I out any foreign suggestion ; and that his only regret 
 . arose from his failure in the execution. 
 I The report of this attack circulated with rapidity ; 
 I and, according to custom, it tended to strengthen the 
 power of those against whom it was directed. Barrere 
 hastened to the convention the following day, the 4th 
 Prairial, to render an account of this new machination 
 of Pitt. " The internal factions," he said, " have never 
 ceased to correspond with that government, the traf- 
 ficker in coalitions, the suborner of assassinations, 
 M'bicli pursues liberty as its greatest enemy. Whilst 
 
 we make justice and virtue the order of the day, tlie 
 allied tyrants make crime and assassination the order 
 of the day. On all sides you encountei^the fatal 
 genius of the Englishman ; in our markets, in our 
 purchases, on the seas, on the continent, in the petty 
 courts of Europe, and in our cities. The same head 
 directed the hands which murdered BasseviUe in 
 Rome, the French sailors in the port of Genoa, the 
 f;iithful Frenchmen in Corsica ; the same liead directed 
 the knife against LepeUetier and Marat, the guillotine 
 against Chaher, and the pistol against Collot d'Herbois." 
 Barrere produced letters from London and Holland, 
 wliich had been interccjited, announcing that the de- 
 signs of Pitt were levelled at the committees, and par- 
 ticularly at Robespierre. One of these letters stated 
 in substance, " We greatly dread the influence of Ro- 
 bespierre. The more the French republican govern- 
 ment is concentrated, the greater will be its force, and 
 the more difficult to subvert." 
 
 Tliis manner of presenting the facts was eminently 
 fitted to excite a lively interest in favour of the com- 
 mittees, and especially of Robespierre, and to identify 
 their preservation with that of the republic. Barrere 
 subsequently related the event in all its details, com- 
 mended the " affecting zeal" shown by the constituted 
 authorities in protecting the national representation, 
 and extolled in hyperbolical terms the conduct of 
 citizen Geffroy, who had received a dangerous wound 
 in seizing the assassin. The convention greeted Bar- 
 rere's report with loud acclamations ; it ordered rigo- 
 rous inquiries to ascertain whether Ladmiral had ac- 
 complices or not, passed a vote of thanks to citizen 
 Geffroy, an^ directed, as a means of compensating 
 him for his sufferings, that the bulletin of his health 
 should be daily read from the tribune. Couthon after- 
 wards delivered a furious harangue in support of a 
 motion that Barrere's report should be translated into 
 all languages, and disseminated in aU lands. " Pitt, 
 Cobourg, and all ye base and petty tyrants," he ex- 
 claimed, " who regard the world as j'our heritage, and 
 who, in the last moments of your agony, are struggling 
 with such desperation, whet — whet your daggers ; we 
 contemn you too much to fear you, and you know well 
 we are too noble to imitate you ! " The hall resounded 
 with plaudits. Couthon subjoined — " But the law, 
 whose reign terrifies you, has its sword suspended 
 over your heads ; it will smite you aU! The human 
 race has need of such an exami)le, and the heaven 
 whom you outrage has ordained it !" 
 
 At this instant Collot-d'Herbois entered, doubtless 
 to enjoy the flattering notice of the assembly. He 
 was hailed with enthusiastic transports, which almost 
 drowned his voice when he essayed to speak. Robes- 
 pierre, infinitely more astute, abstained at the moment 
 from any public appearance, and seemed to shun the 
 incense awaiting him. 
 
 Diu'ing that same day, a young female, by name 
 Cecile Renault, knocked at Robespierre's door with a 
 packet under her arm. She requested to see him, and 
 urgently insisted upon lieing introduced to his pre- 
 sence, alleging that a public functionary ought always 
 to receive with alacrity those who demanded an inter- 
 view, and even heaping reproaches on the Duplaix, in 
 whose house Robespierre dwelt, when they declined 
 to admit her. The girl's earnestness and strange 
 manner created suspicions : she was seized and de- 
 livered to the police. Her parcel was opened, and 
 found to contain raiment and two knives. The de- 
 duction was instantaneous that she had intended to 
 assassinate Robespierre. She underwent an interro- 
 gatory, wherein she displayed equal assurance with 
 Ladrniral. To the inquirj' , what she wanted with 
 Robespierre, she replied, her object was to see how a 
 tyrant was made. More closely pressed, questioned 
 as to the packet and its contents, she stated she had 
 entertained no design of using the knives, and had 
 provided herself -with the clothes because she expected 
 to be conveyed to prison, and from the prison to the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 piillotine. Slie added, she was a royalist, as she pre- 
 ferred one kin^ to fifty thousand. Being further exa- 
 mined, and harassed vith additional questions, she 
 refused to answer, and demanded to be led to the 
 scaffold. 
 
 The proofs were held sufficient to establish the con- 
 clusion tliat the girl Kenault was one of tlie assassins 
 employed against Eobespierre. Tlie belief was cor- 
 roborated by another incident. At Cliois3--sur-Seine, 
 a citizen seated in a coffee-room chanced to narrate 
 the circumstances of tlie attempt on Collot-d'IIerbois' 
 life, and to express his joy that it had not succeeded. 
 A monk named Saintonax, who listened to the recital, 
 remarked, that it ANas unfortunate these miscreants 
 in the committee had escaped, but that sooner or later 
 they would be struck, as he hoped. The man was 
 forthwith pinioned, and removed the sanie night to 
 Paris. No doubt could now exist, had there been any 
 ])revious sceptics, that the plot had vast ramifications ; 
 assertions were confidently made that a band of as- 
 sassins was already marshalled, intent upon their pro- 
 ject ; the members of the committee were assiduously 
 surrounded, and entreated to be careful of themselves, 
 to preserve lives so precious to the countr}-. The sec- 
 tions assembled, and once more sent deputations and 
 addresses to the convention. They averred, that amid 
 all the miracles vouchsafed by Providence in favour 
 of the republic, the recent escape of Robespierre and 
 CoUot-d'Herbois from the designs of assassins was the 
 most signal. One of them even proposed to furnish a 
 guard of twenty-five men to watch over the safety of 
 the members of the committee. 
 
 On the second day afterwards occurred the usual 
 meeting of the Jacobins. Robespierre tmd Collot- 
 d'Herbois repaired to the club, and were received with 
 a delirium of enthusiasm. When power has succeeded 
 in enforcing universal submission, it has merely to 
 allow abject minds to follow their innate tendencies, 
 for such hasten of their own accord to rivet the chains 
 of thraldom, and prostitute divine honours to the idol 
 of the day. Robespierre and Collot-d'Herbois were 
 viewed with eager curiosity. " Behold these precious 
 men," exclaimed an orator ; " the God of freemen has 
 saved them ; he has covered them with his shield, 
 and preserved them to the republic ! They must be 
 made to partake the honours France has decerned to 
 the martyrs of liberty ; she will thus have the satis- 
 faction of honouring them, without having to mourn 
 over their funeral urn." * 
 
 Collot first rose to speak, with his accustomed im- 
 petuosity, and affirmed that the emotion he felt at the 
 moment proved to him how sweet it was to serve his 
 country, even at the hazard of tlie direst peril. " I 
 gather this truth," he said, " that he who has incurred 
 some danger for his country derives fresh strength 
 from the fraternal interest he inspires. Those kindly 
 clieers are a new bond of union amongst strong minds. 
 The tyrants, reduced to the last gasp, and perceiving 
 their end approach, strive in vain to employ daggers, 
 poison, snares : the republicans are not to be intimi- 
 dated. Are these tyrants not aware, that wlien a 
 patriot expires beneath their blows, it is on his tomb 
 that the patriots who survive him swear vengeance 
 for the crime, and obtest the eternity of lil)erty?" 
 
 Collot concluded amidst vociferous applause. Ben- 
 tabolle moved that the president give Collot and 
 Robespierre the fraternal embrace in the name of tlie 
 j M-hole society. Legendre, with the zeal of a man who 
 I had been Danton's friend, and was oldigid to efface 
 : that recollection by odious syeojihancy, asserted, " that 
 ] the hand of crime had been raised to smite virtue, but 
 I tliat the God of nature had inteqwsed to prevent the 
 j accomplishment of the enormity." lie urged the citi- 
 i zens to form a guard around the mc nilx-rs of the com- 
 I mittee, and ottered himself as the first to watch over 
 I tlieir inestimable lives. At this instant, certain sec- 
 
 • See the sitting of the Jacobins on the 6th Prairial. 
 
 tions craved admittance into the hall ; an extraordi- 
 nary eagerness was evinced by them, but the crowd 
 within the precincts was so great, that the favour could 
 not be granted, and they had to content themselves 
 with clustering around the doorways. 
 
 Here the committee Avas offered the insignia of 
 sovereign power at an admirable moment for rejecting 
 them. Sagacious leaders will be satisfied to ])rovoke 
 the tender, and reap the merit of a refusal. The 
 members of the committee present at the sitting com- 
 bated the proposition of assigning them guards with 
 ■well-feigned indignation. Couthon hurried to the 
 tribune. " He was astonished," he said, " at the sug- 
 gestion Avhich had just been propounded to the Jaco- 
 bin Club, and which had already been submitted to 
 the convention. He was disposed, unquestionably, to 
 attribute it to the purest motives ; but it Avas only 
 despots who surrounded themselves with guards, and 
 the members of the committee had no wish to be assi- 
 milated with despots. They had no need of guards 
 to defend them. Virtue, the confidence of the people, 
 and Providence, watched over their days ; they wanted 
 no other guarantees for their safety. Moreover, they 
 woidd always know how to die at their posts and for 
 the cause of liberty." 
 
 Legendre essayed to justify his proposition. He 
 asserted that he had not intended precisely to give an 
 organised guard to the members of the committee, but 
 merely to urge all good citizens to watch over their 
 lives ; that his motives were pure, but that if he haxl 
 been misled, he was willing to retract. Robespierre 
 succeeded him in the tribune, his first appearance 
 therein since the recent occurrences. Vehement plau- 
 dits broke from the assembly, and long continued to 
 resound : ultimately, silence was restored, and Robes- 
 pierre permitted to proceed. " I am one of those," he 
 said, " whom the events that have lately passed neces- 
 sarily interest in a very remote degree, but I cannot 
 prevent myself from making a few reflections. Let the 
 champions of liberty be marks for the poniards of 
 tyranny ; it is to be expected ! I said long ago, 
 if we discomfit our enemies, if we foil the factions, 
 we shall be assassinated. What I foresaw has hap- 
 pened ; the tyrants' soldiers have bitten the dust, 
 the traitors have perished on the scaffold, find daggers 
 have been pointed against us. I know not what im- 
 pression these events may have made on you, but I 
 will avow what they have produced on me. I have 
 felt that it was more easy to nmrder us than to subdue 
 our princi])les and vanquish our armies. 1 have 
 thought within myself, that the more uncertain and 
 precarious may be the life of the people's defenders, 
 the more zealously should they labour to consume their 
 last days in actions beneficial to liberty. I, who be- 
 lieve not in the necessity of living, but simply in vir- 
 tue and in Providence, find myself occupying a position 
 in which the assassins unquestionably had no desire 
 to place me ; I feel myself more independent than 
 ever of the iniquity of men. The crimes of tyrants 
 and the blades of assassins have rendered me more 
 free to act, more redoubtable against the enemies of 
 the people ; ni}' soul is more eager than ever to grapple 
 with traitors, and tear from them the mask the.vliave 
 dared to assume. Frenchmen, friends of eciuality, 
 trust us to enqiloy the sliort existence vouchsafed us 
 by Providence in comlxiting the enemies who encom- 
 jiass us !" Redoubled acclamations were elicited by 
 this harangue, and from all ]iarts of the hall eflusions 
 of rapture were lavislied. After enjoying tliis enthu- 
 siasm for a while, K()besj)ierre again raised his voice 
 to controvert a mem])er of the society who had moved 
 that civic honours be paid to Gefiroy. He classed 
 this motion with the one submitteil for giving guards 
 to the members of the committees, and maintained 
 that such motions were designed to excite envy and 
 obloquy against the government, by loading it with 
 su]>erfluous honours. In consequence whereof he pro- 
 posed, and the society ratified, a sentence of expulsion 
 2 u
 
 422 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 uijon the individual who had advocated civic honours 
 for Geflfroy. 
 
 From the height of power it had attained, prudence 
 warned tlie committee to discard all outward symbols 
 of sovereignty. It wielded an absolute dictatorship, 
 but the fact must not be made too palpable ; all the 
 trappings and pomp of power could only tend to en- 
 danger its stability. An ambitious Soulier, raised to 
 supremacy by his sword, and coveting a throne, 
 hastens to invest his authority with an imposing cha- 
 racter as early as he dare, and to add the insignia of 
 power to power itself; but the loaders of a party, who 
 govern that party merely by their influence, and who 
 desire to remain masters of it, must still continue to 
 flatter it, constantly attribute to it the sway they en- 
 joy, and, whilst ruling it in all things, seem to obey 
 it only. 
 
 Tlie members of the committee of public welfare, 
 the leaders of the jMountain, were debarred by power- 
 ful considerations from any obvious ist)lation as re- 
 spected that faction or the convention at large, but, on 
 the contrary, felt it incumbent to repudiate all that 
 might appear to elevate them too highly above tlieir 
 colleagues. Already, dissatisfaction was brooding, and 
 the extent of their power generating alarm even in 
 their own party. Already they were viewed as dic- 
 tators, and Robespierre, above all, from his command- 
 ing influence, began to attract odium. It had become 
 usual to say, not " the committee so wills," but 
 " Robespierre so wills." Fouquier-Tinville was wont 
 to tell any individual whom he threatened with the 
 revolutionary tribunal, " // Robespierre desires it, you 
 will go there." The agents of the government inva- 
 riably named Robespierre in their operations, and 
 seemed to invoke him as the source whence all orders 
 emanated. The sufferers failed not to cliarge all their 
 calamities on him, and in the prisons one oppressor 
 only was recognised — liobespierre. Even foreigners 
 in their proclamations called the French soldiers " the 
 soldiers of Robespierre." That expression occurred in 
 a manifesto of the Duke of York. Deeply sensible 
 how dangerous was this abuse of his name, Robes- 
 pierre promptly repaired to the convention, and de- 
 livered a discourse for the purpose of repelling what 
 he designated perfidious insinuations, the object of 
 which was to ruin him in public estimation. He i-e- 
 peated it at the Jacobin Club, and drew all the applause 
 wherewith his words were sin-e to be hailed. The 
 Journal of the Mountain and the Moniteur having the 
 following day copied the speech, with an observation 
 that it was a masterpiece whereof any analysis was 
 impossible, because '''' every word told with the force of a 
 sentence, every sentence with the force of a page," he was 
 highly incensed, and proceeded forthwith to the Jaco- 
 bin Club to complain of the jomnuils which, he alleged, 
 insidiously extolled the members of the committee, in 
 order to cover them with obloquy, by investing them 
 with the attributes of omnipotence. The editors were 
 obliged to publisli a recantation, and an apology for 
 having praised Robespierre, albeit asseverating that 
 their motives were most pure. 
 
 Robespierre had abundant vanity, but a mind not 
 sufficiently great to be ambitious. Fond of flattery 
 and homage, he greedily exacted tliem, justifying 
 himself at all times by assurances that he had no de- 
 sire for power. He had around him a species of court 
 composed of sundry men, but more numerously of 
 women, who lavished on him the most delicate atten- 
 tions. ^Vlwaj's besieging liis residence, these females 
 testified an earnest .and constant solicitude for his 
 person ; they never ceased to commend his virtue, 
 his eloquence, and his genius ; they styled him a 
 divine man, above humanity. An old marcliioness 
 was the chief personage amongst tliese women, who 
 tended like genuine devotees the sanguinary and ar- 
 rogant pontiff. The zealotry of women is invariably 
 the surest symptom of public infatuation. Theirs is 
 the province, by exaggerated sedulousness and hyper- 
 
 bolical phrases, to provide an eflTectual antidote, in the 
 guise of ridiciUe, as it would seem. 
 
 In addition to the creatures who adored Robespierre, 
 there existed an absurd and fantastic sect but re- 
 cently formed. At the period Avhen religious worship 
 was abolished, sects sprung up in all quarters, because 
 the inherenf craving for objects of faith sought to 
 feed itself witli new illusions, in lieu of the doctrines 
 which were proscribed. An aged female, whose brain 
 had become disordered in the vaults of the Bastille, 
 and who was known under the name cf Catherine 
 Tht'ot, affirmed lierself to be the mother of God, and 
 announced the speedy coming of a new Messiah. He 
 was, she taught, to appear amidst universal ruin, and, 
 at the moment of his advent, the elect were to enter 
 upon an eternal life. These elect were enjoined to 
 disseminate their creed by all expedients, and to ex- 
 terminate tlie enemies of the true God. The Car- 
 thusian, Dom Gerle, who had figured in the Consti 
 tuent Assembly, and whose weak imagination had 
 been bewildered in mystic reveries, was one of two 
 prophets ; Robespierre was the other. His deism had 
 probably secured him that distinction. Catherine 
 Thcot delighted to call him her beloved son ; the 
 initiated regarded him with reverence, and beheld in 
 his person a supernatm-al being, appointed to mys- 
 terious and sublime destinies. In all likelihood lie 
 was acquainted with their folly, and secretly enjoyed 
 their delusion, without committing himself as an as- 
 sociate. It is certain that he had protected Dom 
 Gerle, received frequent visits from him, and given 
 him a certificate of civism, avouched Ijy his own sig- 
 nature, to shield him from the persecutions of a revo- 
 lutionary committee. This sect counted numerous 
 votaries : it had a peculiar form of worship and cere- 
 monies, which not a little contributed to its propa- 
 gation. It was accustomed to assemble at the house 
 of Catherine Theot, in a secluded quarter of Paris, 
 near the Pantheon. There proselytes were initiated, 
 in the presence of the mother of God herself, Dom 
 Gerle, and the principal elders. The sect was creep- 
 ing into notoriety, and a vague rumour prevailed that 
 Robespierre was in its belief a prophet. Thus all 
 things conspired at once to exalt and compromise him. 
 
 It was more particularly amongst his immediate 
 colleagues that umbrage began to be taken. Divi- 
 sions had been already manifested, as was natural; 
 for the power of the committee being established, the 
 period for rivalries had arrived. The committee was 
 separated into several distinct groups. The death of 
 Herault-Seehelles had reduced to eleven the twelve 
 members who originally composed it. Jean-Bon-Saint- 
 Andre and Pj-ieur- de-la- Alarne had been constantly 
 employed on missions. Carnot was exclusively occu- 
 pied with the war department, Prieur de la Cotc-d'Or 
 with the commissariat department, and Robert Lindet 
 with superintending supplies of food. These three were 
 called examination men. They took no part either in 
 political matters or in personal contentions. Bobes- 
 pierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon, had formed a close 
 alliance. A certain superiority of mind and manners, 
 tlie great importance they seemed to arrogate, and 
 the contempt they appeared to entertain for their re- 
 maining colleagues, had conduced to isolate them : 
 they were styled the men of the high hand. In their 
 eyes, Barrere was a weak and pusillanimous being, 
 endowed with the readj' faculty of serving any cause ; 
 Collot-d'Iierbois a mere club declaimer ; and Billaud- 
 Varennes a mediocre, surly, and envious personage. 
 These three latter could not overlook their ill-con- 
 cealed disdain. Barren; dared give no outward token 
 of his feelings ; but Collot-d'llerbois, and especially 
 Billaud, wlio was of an impetuous character, were un- 
 able to dissemble the hatred corroding in their breasts. 
 They sought to derive support from their colleagues, 
 the men of examination, and to range them on t)if ir 
 side. They might reasonably hope for aid, too, on the 
 part of the committee of general safety, which was
 
 r.— 
 
 HllSTOKY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 423 
 
 beginning to evince irritation under the supreniacj' of 
 the committee of public Avelfure. Specifically limited 
 to matters of police, and frequently superintended or 
 controlled in its operations by the committee of public 
 welfare, the committee of general safety endured its 
 dependence with visible impatience. Ainar, Vadier, 
 Vouland, Jagot, and Louis of the Lower Khine, its 
 most obdurate members, were those most disposed to 
 shake off the humiliating yoke. Two of tlieir col- 
 leagues, who were called the listeners, watched them on 
 behalf of Robespierre, and they found this system of 
 espionnage insufferable. The malecontents of both 
 committees might therefore coalesce and become 
 dangerous to Robespierre, Coutlion, and Saint-Just. 
 Here we may remark, that a strife founded on rivalry 
 in pride and power occasioned the division, and not a 
 difference of political opinion ; for Billaud-Varenncs, 
 Collot-d'Herbois, Vadier, Voulund, Amar, Jagot, and 
 Louis, were not less uncompromising revolutionists 
 than the three redoubtable adversaries they desired 
 to supplant. 
 
 A circumstance tended still more to incense the 
 committee of general safety against the predominant 
 members of the committee of public welfare. Nume- 
 rous complaints were made concerning the arrests, 
 which daily became more multifarious, and which 
 were freqtiently marked by injustice, being executed 
 against individuals known as excellent patriots ; espe- 
 cially, the exactions and intolerable tyranny of the 
 numberless agents to whom the committee of general 
 safety had delegated its inquisitorial powers, gave 
 rise to piteous remonstrances. Robespierre, Saint- 
 Just, and Couthon, not venturing to attempt the abo- 
 lition or the reconstruction of that corannttee, con- 
 ceived the plan of instituting a police department 
 within the pale of the committee of public welfare. 
 This scheme, without altogether abrogating the com- 
 mittee of general safety, was calculated to intrench 
 upon its functions, and practically absorb them. 
 Saint-Just was intended to have the direction of this 
 department; but being called to the army, he could 
 not undertake the task, and Robespierre assumed the 
 office in his stead. The pohce department liberated 
 those whom the committee of general safety caused 
 to be arrested, and the latter retorted in a correspond- 
 ing manner. This usurpation of functions ])rovoked 
 an open rupture. Rumours of the dissension crept 
 abroad ; and, despite the secrecy which shrouded the 
 government, the fact that its members were at va- 
 riance soon became known. 
 
 In the convention, likewise, dissatisftiction of an 
 equally serious character prevailed. It was still silent 
 and abject; but certain of its members, who had be- 
 come alarmed fur themselves, were inspirited into 
 hardihood by their danger. These were chiefly former 
 friends of Danton, compromised by their ties with him, 
 and sometimes menaced as relics of the party of cor- 
 ruptionists and indulgents. Sundry of them had trans- 
 gressed in the execution of official duties, and natu- 
 rally abhorred the application of the sj/stem of virtue ; 
 others had betokened repugnance to the employment 
 of rigour on so magnified a scale. The most compro- 
 mised amongst them was Tallien. It was affirmed 
 that he had been guilty of malversations at the com- 
 mune when a member thereof, and at Bordeaux when 
 there on a mission. It was hinted, moreover, that in 
 the last-named town he had allowed himself to be 
 mollified and seduced by a yoimg and beautiful female, 
 who had accompanied him to Paris, and been ri^-ently 
 cast into prison. Next to Tidlien stood Bourdon-de- 
 rOise, committed by his contest with the party of 
 Saumur, and expelled from the Jacobin society con- 
 junctly with Fabre, Camille, and I'hilippeaux. Then 
 came Thuriot, likewise excluded from the club of 
 Jacobins ; I,egendre, who, notwithstanding his obse- 
 quious deportment, could not obtain forgiveness for 
 his old relations with Danton; final)}', Frcron, Barras, 
 Lecointre, Rovere, IMonestJer, Panis, &c. — all either 
 
 associates of Danton or rcprobators of the system 
 pursued by the government. These personal anxieties 
 were connnunicated, and the number of the malecon- 
 tents was daily augmented. Thus, in the convention 
 were many prepared to unite with such of the mem- 
 bers of either committee as should cultivate their 
 alliance. 
 
 The 20th Prairial (Sth June) approached : it Avas 
 the day fixed for the festival to the Supreme Being. 
 On the IGth, the election of a president occurred: the 
 convention with one accord nominated Robespierre as 
 the occupant of the chair, whereby the principal part 
 in the cei-emonj' of the 20th was secured to him. His 
 colleagues, we perceive, still sought to flatter and con- 
 ciliate him by a show of deference and honour. Vast 
 preparations for the occasion had been made, conform- 
 ably to the plan conceived by David. The festival 
 ■was to lie on a magnificent scale. The sun broke forth, 
 on the morning of the 20th, in all his splendour. The 
 multitude, ever prompt to attend the spectacles vouch- 
 safed by authority, thronged early to the scene. Ro- 
 bespierre kept the assembly waiting a considerable 
 period. At length he appeared amidst the convention. 
 He was elaborately attired ; on his head he wore a 
 plume of feathers, and in his hand he held, like the 
 other representatives, a bouquet of flowers, fruits, and 
 wheaten ears. On his coimtenance, usually so sombre, 
 sparkled a joy of most unwonted character. An am- 
 phitheatre had been erected in the middle of the gar- 
 den of -the Tuileries. The convention occupied it ; on 
 the right and the left were clustered several groups of 
 children, youths, old men, and women. The infantine 
 were crowned with violet, the adolescent with myrtle, 
 the virile with oak, the veteran with vine and olive. 
 The women held their daughters by the hand, and 
 carried baskets of flowers. In front of the amphi- 
 theatre were displayed figures representing Atheism, 
 Discord, and Selfishness. They were destined to he 
 consumed by fire. The moment the convention had 
 taken its place, a strain of music opened the ceremony. 
 The president delivered a preliminary discourse on the 
 object of the festival. " Republican Frenchmen," he 
 said, " the ever fortunate day, consecrated by the 
 French people to the Supreme Being, has at length 
 arrived. Never did the world he created offer him a 
 spectacle so worthy his contemplation. He has beheld 
 tyranny, crime, and imposture, reigning on the earth : 
 at the present moment he beholds an entire nation, 
 contending against all the oppressors of the human 
 race, suspend the course of its heroic labours, to ele- 
 vate its voice and mind towards the Great Being who 
 has given it the mission to undertake and the courage 
 to execute them !" 
 
 After an harangue of sundrj^ minutes, the president 
 stepped from the amphitheatre, and, snatching a torch, 
 applied its flame to the monstrous effigies of Atheism, 
 Discord, and Selfishness. From out their ashes 
 emerged a statue of Wisdom ; but it was remarked 
 that it had been blackened by the smoke amidst which 
 it was revealed. Robespierre returned to his station, 
 and pronounced a second oration on the extirpation 
 of the vices leagued against the republic. This first 
 ceremony concluded, the procession was formed to 
 l)roceed to the ('hamp-dc-i\Iars. The pride of Robes- 
 pierre seemed doubly inflated, and lie aflectcd to march 
 considerably in advance of his colleagues. But some, 
 more froward and indignant, qtiickened their steps, 
 dosed upon him, and derided his arrogance with bit- 
 ing sarcasms. One party sneered at tlie new pontiff, 
 and told him, with an allusion to the statue of Wisdom, 
 which had come fortli begrimed, that his wisdom was 
 darkened. Others made the word " tyrant" tingle in 
 his ears, and wliispered that the race of Brutus was 
 not extinct. Bourdon-de-l'Oise saluted him with the 
 words, " The Tarpdnn Ruck stands near the Capitol." 
 
 The procession at length reached the Champ.de- 
 Mars. On the plain stood, in lieu of the old altar of 
 the country, a lofty moujitain. On the pinnacle of
 
 4-24 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 this eminence a tree was planted ; beneatli its branches 
 the convention reposed. The various jrroiips of chil- 
 dren, old men, and women, arranged themselves on 
 each side of the moimtain. A symphony played ; then 
 the groups chanted stanzas with alternate responses ; 
 eventually, at a preconcerted signal, the young men 
 drew their swords, and swore, on the hands of the old, 
 to defend the country ; the mothers elevated their in- 
 fants in their arms ; all present raised their hands to- 
 wards heaven, and the oaths to conquer blended ex- 
 ultingly with the homage rendered to the Supreme 
 Being. The procession afterwards returned to the gar- 
 den of the Tuileries, and the festival terminated with 
 public games. 
 
 Such was the famous festival celebrated in honour 
 of the Supreme Being, liobespierre, that day, had 
 attained the height of grandeur ; but he had climbed 
 to the summit only to be thence precipitated. His 
 pride had offended all beholders. Even at the moment 
 of his triumph, raillery had mortified his spirit, and 
 he had encountered in some of his colleagues a hardi- 
 hood ominous and unprecedented. On the morrow, 
 he repaired to the committee of public welfare, and 
 vented his wratli against the deputies who had in- 
 sulted him the preceding day. He denounced espe- 
 cially " those friends of Danton, those impure relics 
 of the indulgent and corrupt faction," anil demanded 
 their punishment. Billaud- Varennes and CoIlot-d'Her- 
 bois, who were not less irritated than the others at 
 the deportment of liobespierre during the ceremony, 
 heard his reproaches with infinite coolness, and mani- 
 fested little inclination to avenge him. They did not 
 defend the deputies of whom Kobespicrre complained, 
 but they animadverted on the festival itself, and ex- 
 pressed apprehensions as to its effects. It had indis- 
 posed numerous minds, they alleged. Besides, those 
 ideas of a Supreme Being and the immortality of the 
 soul, such pomp and ceremony, they maintained, 
 seemed the harbingers of a return to the superstitions 
 of former times, and might cause the revolution to re- 
 trograde. Robespierre was incensed at these remarks : 
 he asseverated that he had never designed to make 
 the revolution retrograde ; that, on the contrary, lie 
 had laboured incessantly to accelerate its march. In 
 corroboration, he adduced a project of law which he 
 had recently digested in concert with Couthon, framed 
 with the view of rendering the revolutionary tribunal 
 more murderous. 
 
 This project thus originated. For the last two 
 months, the subject of introducing modifications into 
 the organisation of the revolutionary tribunal had 
 been canvassed. The defence made by Danton, Ca- 
 mille, Fabre, and Lacroix, had demonstrated the in- 
 convenience of even such formalities as were allowed 
 to remain. And still the annoyance was of daily re- 
 petition ; witnesses and advocates had to be heard ; 
 and, however brief the process of evidence, however 
 curtailed the arguments of counsel, a great loss of time 
 resulted, and a certain sensation was produced. The 
 chiefs of the government, who were anxious that all 
 should be done promptly and silently, desired to abro- 
 gate these obnoxious formalities. Having inured them- 
 selves to the conviction that the revolution had a right 
 to destroy its enemies, who were to be identified by 
 mere inspection, they held that the revolutionary pro- 
 cedure could not be too expeditious, liobespierre, in 
 whose province the tribunal more particidarly lay, 
 had prepared the law with Couthon idone, for Saint- 
 Just was absent. He had not deigned to consult the 
 other members of the committee, but contented him- 
 self with reading to them the project before presenting 
 it to the convention. Although Barrcre and Collot- 
 d'Herbois were as strongly in favour of its sanguinary 
 purpose as himself, they felt bomid to receive it coldly, 
 because it had been planned and drawn up without 
 their participation. Nevertheless, it was agreed that 
 it should be proposed the following day, imder the I 
 auspices of Couthon aa reporter. But no satisfaction | 
 
 was awiirded to Robespierre for the contumely he had 
 experienced on the preceding evening. 
 
 The committee of general safety had been left equally 
 in ignorance touching this intended law as the com- 
 mittee of public welfare. It knew, certainly, that a 
 measure was in agitation; but it received no invita- 
 tion to consult or concur. It craved the privilege of 
 nominating twenty out of fifty jurymen who were to 
 be ajipointed ; but Robespierre rejected its leet, and 
 inserted his own creatures only. The proposition was 
 sul)niitted on the 22d Prairial, by Couthon the re- 
 porter. After the usual declamation concerning the 
 inflexibility and promptitude which ought to charac- 
 terise revolutionary justice, he read the project, which 
 was conceived in a fearful s])irit. The tribunal was 
 to be divided into four sections, constituted by a pre- 
 sident, tliree juilges, and nine jurj'mcn. Twelve judges 
 were nominated, and fifty jurymen, who were to suc- 
 ceed each other in the exercise of their functions, in 
 order that the tribunal might sit daily. The sole 
 punishment tlie court could inflict was death. The 
 tribunal, so the law spoke, was instituted to chastise 
 the enemies of the people — a definition of the vaguest 
 and yet most comprehensive character. In the list 
 were enumerated dishonest contractors, and alarm- 
 ists wlio propagated false intelligence. The power of 
 consigning citizens to the revolutionary tribunal was 
 vested in the two committees, the convention, the 
 representatives on missions, and the public prosecutor, 
 Fouquier-Tinville. If proofs existed, either physical or 
 moral, the hearing of testimony was to be dispensed 
 with. Finan}^ a clause was thus couched — " The law 
 ijivcs, as defimlers to calumniated patriots, patriot juries ; 
 it grants none to conspirators." 
 
 A law which suppressed all guarantees, which 
 limited criminal process to a mere arraigimient, and 
 which, investing the two committees with the power 
 of sending citizens before the revolutionary tribunal, 
 conferred upon them in fact the prerogative of life and 
 deiith — such a law was indeed calculated to startle and 
 terrify especially those members of the convention 
 already uneasy about their safety. It was not ex- 
 pressed in the project whether the committees were 
 to have the faculty of consigning representatives to 
 the tribunal without obtaining a preliminary decree 
 of impeachment ; in the absence of all inhibition, the 
 connnittees, therefore, might dispatch their colleagues 
 to death, with the trouble of a nod to Fouquier-Tin- 
 ville. Consequently, the remnants of the pretended 
 faction of the indulgents combined ; and, for the first 
 time during a long interval, an opposition was arrayfed 
 on the benches of the assembly. Ruamps moved that 
 the project be printed and the debate adjourned, say- 
 ing, that if such a law were adopted without conside- 
 ration, the only course left them was to dash out their 
 brains. Lecointre of Versailles supported the motion 
 of adjourmnent. Robespierre immediately rose to 
 crush this unexpected resistance. " There are two 
 opinions," he said, " as old as our revoluticm — the one 
 tending to punish conspirators in a prompt and inevi- 
 table manner, the other tending to absolve the guilty. 
 This last has never failed to reappear upon all occa- 
 sions. It is displaying itself again to-da}', and I am 
 here to repel it. For two months the tribunal has 
 com])lained of the impediments which have clogged 
 its progress; it l\as complained of wanting jurymen; 
 tlierefore a law is necessary. Amidst the victories of 
 the republic, the conspirators are more active and 
 zealous than ever ; to smite them is urgent. The un- 
 expected opposition now manifested is not natural. It 
 
 is intended to divide the convention— to alarm it" 
 
 " No, no," exclaimed several voices ; " they will not 
 divi(le us." " We," added Robespierre, " have always 
 defended the convention ; we are not the parties it has 
 to fear. For the rest, we are arrived at a crisis when 
 we may be slain probably, but we will not be prevented 
 from saving the country." 
 
 Robespierre never failed to talk of daggers and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 42& 
 
 assassins, as if he were perpetually threatened by them. 
 Bi)urdon-de-rOise replied to him, and stated that if 
 the tribunal needed jurymen, the proposed list ought 
 to be forthwith adopted, as none could wish to impede 
 tlie course of justice; but that the remainder of the 
 ^)roject might be innocuously deferred. Robespierre 
 remounted the tribune, and argued that tlie law was 
 not more complicated or obscure than divers others 
 which had been passed without discussion ; and that, 
 at a moment when the defenders of liberty were 
 menaced with the dagger, to delay the repression of 
 conspiracies was fraught with danger. In conclu- 
 sion, he proposed to discuss the whole measure, clause 
 by clause, and to sit until midnight, in order that it 
 might be decreed the same day. The influence and 
 pertinacity of Robespierre prevailed : the law was 
 read and adopted in a few minutes. 
 
 Bourdon, Tallien, and other members who laboured 
 under personal apprehensions, were justly alarmed at 
 this enactment. The committees being thereby em- 
 powered to send all citizens indiscriminately before 
 the revolutionar}' tribunal, without any exception in 
 favour of the members of the national representation, 
 they dreaded lest they might be captured in a single 
 night, and delivered over to the mercies of Fouquier- 
 Tinville, without any previous intimation to the con- 
 vention. Accordingly, on the following day, the 23d 
 Prairial, Bom'don appeared in the tribune. " When 
 investing the committees of public welfare and general 
 safety," he said, " with power to commit citizens to 
 the revolutionary tribunal, the convention had no in- 
 tention, assuredly, that the privilege should embrace 
 its members without a preliminarj- decree." " No, no," 
 was exclaimed from all sides. " I expected those re- 
 sponses," he cried ; " they prove to me that liberty is 
 imperishable." This remark occasioned a profound sen- 
 sation. Bourdon moved a resolution that the members 
 of the convention could not be carried before the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal unless by virtue of a decree of 
 impeachment. The committees Avere not present, and 
 Bourdon's proposition was hailed with satisfaction. 
 Merlin moved the previous question ; murmurs arose 
 against him ; he explained, and amended his motion 
 for the previous question with a declaration to the 
 effect that the convention had never been competent 
 to divest itself of the sole right to impeach its mem- 
 bers. The declaration was adopted amidst general 
 applause. 
 
 An occurrence which happened during the same 
 evening gave additional zest to this unwonted opposi- 
 tion. TaUien and Bourdon chanced to be strolling in 
 the garden of the Tuileries, when they were closely 
 followed by certain spies of the committee of public 
 welfare. Tallien, irritated at the insufferable nuisance, 
 turned and confronted them, upbraiding them as vile 
 spies of the committee, and enjoining them to hasten 
 with a report to their employers of Avhat they had 
 seen and heard. This scene caused extraordinary 
 excitement. Couthon and Robespierre were highly 
 incensed. On the morrow they repaired to the con- 
 vention, determined to remonstrate authoritatively 
 against the resistance they encountered. Delacroix 
 and Mallarmo offered them an ojjportunity. Delacroix 
 moved that a more i)recise definition should be inserted 
 of those whom the law designated as " dejjravers of 
 manners." Mallarme demanded the meaning of the 
 words — " the law gives to calumniated jiatriots only 
 the consciencesof patriotic jurymen as their defenders." 
 Couthon thereupon mounted tlie tribune, and inveighed 
 against the amendments then and formerly projiounded. 
 "You have calumniated the connnittee of ])ublic wel- 
 fare," he said, " by ajijjearing to suppose that it coveted 
 the privilege of sending members of the convention to 
 the scafibld. That tyrants calumniate the conmiittee 
 is natural ; but that the convention shoidd seem to 
 sanction the calumny, is an insupportable injustice, 
 and it cannot avoid complaining of such conduct. 
 Yesterday a chance clamour was extolled as proving 
 
 that liberty Avas imperishable — as if, forsooth, liberty 
 had been threatened! To make that attack, the 
 moment was chosen Avhen the members of the com- 
 mittee were absent. Such a proceeding was unfair ; 
 and I move that the amendments adopted yesterday 
 be rescinded, and those proposed to-day rejected." 
 
 Bourdon replied, that to ask explanations on a law 
 was not a crime ; that if he had expressed satisfaction 
 at an exclamation, it was because he felt gratified at 
 being in harmony with the convention ; and that, if 
 equal asperity were exhibited on both sides, all discus- 
 sion would be impracticable. " I am accused," he said, 
 " of speaking like Pitt and Cobourg ; if I retorted in 
 a similar strain, what would be the consequence ? I 
 esteem Couthon, I esteem the committees, and I es- 
 teem the ^Mountain Avhich has saved liberty." Bour- 
 don's explanations were applauded, but they were in 
 truth excuses, for the authority of the dictators was 
 as yet too strong to he openly defied. Robespierre 
 then presented himself, and delivered a verbose dis- 
 course, replete Avith arrogance and acrimony. " Moun- 
 taineers," he said, "you AviU ahvays be the bulAvark 
 of public liberty, but you have nothing in common 
 Avith the intriguing and the perverse, whomsoever 
 they may be. If they attempt to rank themselves 
 amongst you, they are not the less strangers to your 
 principles. Do not suffer certain intriguers, more 
 despicable than the others, Ijpcause they are more 
 hypocritical, to SAvay some of your number, and render 
 
 themselves the leaders of a party" Bourdon-de- 
 
 rOise interrupted Robespierre Avith a disclaimer of 
 his having ever purposed to render himself the leader 
 of a party. Robespierre resumed, Avithout noticing 
 the observation. " It would be the height of disgrace," 
 he continued, " if caliuuniators, misleading our col- 
 leagues" Bom'don again iuterrupted him. " I de- 
 mand," he exclaimed, " that proof be given of what is 
 advanced ; the allusion is sufficiently clear that I am 
 vicAved as a villain." " I have not named Bourdon," 
 replied Robespierre ; " avo to him Avho names himself! 
 Yes, the ^Mountain is pure, it is sublime ; intriguers 
 are not of the jMountain ! " He subsequently expati- 
 ated on the efforts making to alann the members of 
 the convention, and to persuade them they Avere in 
 danger ; he aA-erred that the gudfA' alone had reason 
 to be terrified, and that they Avickedly endeavoured to 
 communicate their oAvn apprehensions. EA-entually 
 he referred to the encomiter of the preceding evening 
 between Tallien and the spies, Avhom he described as 
 " messengers of the committee." His accomit of the 
 incident led to vehement explanations on the part of 
 Tallien, Avhich only drcAv upon him, in retiu-n, virulent 
 vituperation. At length this angry discussion Avas 
 terminated by the adoption of the motions emanating 
 from Couthon and Robespierre. The amendments of 
 the jirevious day Avere rescinded, those of the present 
 Avere negativeil, and the terrible hiAv of the 22d re- 
 mained such as it had been originally presented. 
 
 Once more, therefore, the overbearing chiefs of the 
 comnnttee Avere triunqjliant, and their opponents 
 struck Avith dismay. Tallien, Boiu-don, ]\uamj)s, De- 
 lacroix, Midlarmc, all, in short, Avho had offered objec- 
 tions to the law, gave themselves uj) for lost, and ex- 
 j>ected every moment to be arrested. Even though 
 the preliminary decree of the convention Avere neces- 
 sary to an ini])eacliment, that assembly Avas so effec- 
 tually intimidateii, tliat any concession might be readily 
 wrung from it. Against the puissant Danton it had 
 l)assed the retpiired ordinance ; much more might it 
 sanction proceedings against such of his friends as 
 sm-vived. A rumour ]irevailed that the list of pro- 
 scription Avas actually framed ; the number of victims 
 Avas assigned as twelve, subsequently eighteen. They 
 were all designated by tiie public voice. Nevertlieless, 
 the terror became general, and upwards of sixty mem- 
 bers of the convention no longer slept under their own 
 roofs. 
 
 HoAvever, an obstacle interposed to prevent their
 
 426 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 lives being so easily taken as they apprehended. The 
 chiefs of the government were divided. We have al- 
 ready seen that Billaud-Varennes, Collot, and Barrere, 
 had listened to Robespierre's first complaints against 
 many of his colleagues with studied indifierence. The 
 members of the committee of general safety were more 
 decidedly aroused against him, fcjr they warmly re- 
 sented the recent aifront of submitting the law of the 
 22d Prairial without their concurrence, and it would 
 even seem that some amongst them were menaced. 
 Robespierre and Couthon, too, were insatiable in their 
 exactions ; their thirst of vengeance could be assuaged 
 only by the immolation of numerous deputies ; they 
 particularised TaUien, Bourdon - de - I'Oise, Thuriot, 
 Rovere, Lecointre, Taiiis, Monestier, Legendre, Fre- 
 ron, and Barras ; tliey even demanded Cambon, whose 
 financial renown mortified them, and who had be- 
 tokened disapprobation of their merciless cruelties ; 
 finally, they would luive scaled the summit of the 
 Mountain, and struck several of its most zealous mem- 
 bers, such as Uuval, Audouin, Leonard, and Bourdon.* 
 The three members of the committee of pubHc wel- 
 fare, Billaud, Collot, and Barrere, and all those of the 
 committee of general safety, refused their consent. The 
 danger, spreading over so wide a surface, might even- 
 tually involve themselves. 
 
 Such were the hostile dispositions in the two com- 
 mittees, such the slender prospect of unanimity touch- 
 ing a new and miscellaneous sacrifice, when a last 
 circumstance provoked a definitive rupture. The com- 
 mittee of general safety had discovered the meetings 
 held at the house of Catherine Theot. It had learned 
 that her extravagant sect deemed Robespierre a pro- 
 phet, and that the latter had given Dom Gerle a cer- 
 tificate of civism. Vadier, Voulaud, Jagot, and Amar, 
 eagerly resolved to avenge themselves by representing 
 this sect as a band of dangerous conspirators, denounc- 
 ing it in that light to the convention, and thus cover- 
 ing Robespierre himself with some of the odium and 
 ridicule attached to it. They employed an agent, 
 Senart, who, under pretext of soliciting initiation, 
 gained admittance to one of the conclaves. In the 
 middle of the ceremony, he crept to a window, gave 
 the signal to the armed force, and succeeded in cap- 
 turing almost the entire sect. Amongst the rest, 13om 
 Gerle and Catherine Theot were apprehended. The 
 certificate of civism given by Robespierre to Dom 
 Gerle was found upon him ; and in the bed of the 
 mother of God was discovered a letter addressed by 
 her to her well -beloved son, to the first prophet, to 
 Robespierre, in short. When Robespierre knew it was 
 intended to prosecute the sect, he determined to op- 
 pose the design, and conmienced a discussion on the 
 subject in the committee of public welfare. We have 
 previously intimated that Billaud and Collot were but 
 lukewarm in the cause of deism, and that they viewed 
 with umbrage the political purposes to whicla Robes- 
 pierre strove to bend that belief. They declared in 
 favour of the prosecution. Robespierre persistmg in 
 controverting it, the discussion became extremely ani- 
 mated; acrimonious expressions were interchanged, 
 Robespierre failed to carry his point, and retired from 
 the committee foaming with rage. The dispute had 
 been so warm, that, to avoid being heard by those who 
 traversed the galleries, the members of the committee 
 resolved to transfer their place of meeting to the upper 
 floor. The report against the sect of Catherine Tlieot 
 was presented to the convention. Barrere, to gratify 
 his animosity against Robespierre, had exercised his 
 peculiar talent, and secretly framed the report to be 
 delivered by Vouland. The sect was held up equally 
 to ridicule and detestation. The convention, alter- 
 nately moved to abhorrence and mirth by Barrere's 
 exposition, at once decreed impeachment against the 
 principal leaders of the sect, and consigned them to 
 the revolutionary tribunal 
 
 * Consult the list furnished by Villate in his Jlemoirs. 
 
 Robespierre, indignant both at the resistance he had 
 encountered and at the injurious terms used towards 
 him, resolved to abstain from appearing in the com- 
 mittee, or taking part for the future in any of its de- 
 liberations. He withdrew towards the conclusion of 
 Prairial (the middle of June). This retirement proves 
 the nature of his ambition. The man of lofty and 
 aspiring spirit never yields to chagrin ; he is irritated 
 by obstacles, seizes daringly on power, and uses it to 
 crush the enemies who have maltreated him. A weat 
 and vainglorious declaimer frets and recedes when he 
 no longer meets -with flattery and deference. Danton 
 retired from indolence and disgust, Robespierre from 
 wounded vanity. To each his retreat was equally 
 fatal. Couthon henceforth remained alone against 
 Billaud-Varennes, CoUot-d'Herbois, and Barrere, who 
 prepared to monopolise the direction of aU atFairs. 
 
 These divisions were not yet notorious. It was 
 merely known that a misunderstanding existed be- 
 tween the two committees, and their discord occasioned 
 infinite joy, for it seemed to warrant the hope that 
 fresh proscriptions would be prevented. Those who 
 felt themselves in jeopardy clung to the committee of 
 general safety, exhorting, cajoling, imploring it. They 
 had actually received from certain members the most 
 cheering promises : Elie-Lacoste, Moyse-Bayle, Lavi- 
 comterie, and Dubarran, the worthiest men on the com- 
 mittee of general safety, had undertaken to withhold 
 their signatures from any new list of proscription. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Jacobins were still devoted to Robes- 
 pierre. They had hitherto made no distinction be- 
 tween the different members of the committee — between 
 Couthon, Robespierre, and Saint-Just, on the one part, 
 and Billaud-Varennes, CoUot-d'Herbois, and Barrere, 
 on the other. On the contrary, they saw only the 
 revolutionary government on the one hand, and on 
 the other sundry relics of the faction of indulgents — 
 certain friends of Danton, who, with reference to the 
 law of the 22d Prairial, had unexpectedly started into 
 opposition against that salutary government. Robes- 
 pierre, who had defended that government when ad- 
 vocating the law, was always in their eyes the first 
 and greatest citizen in the republic ; his opponents 
 were despicable intriguers, whose destruction it be- 
 hoved them to promote. Accordingly, they readily 
 excluded Tallien from their committee of correspond- 
 ence, on the ground that he had failed to answer the 
 accusations directed against him in the sitting of the 
 24th. From that moment, Collot and Billaud-Va- 
 rennes, perceiving the all-commanding influence of 
 Robespierre, refrained from frequenting the Jacobin 
 Club. It was the wisest course they could adopt. By 
 attending, they would surely have exposed their per- 
 sonal quarrel, and made matter of public question 
 whether they or Robespierre surpassed in pride and 
 malice. It merely remained for them, therefore, to 
 observe silence and await events. Robespierre and 
 Couthon consequently had the field to themselves. 
 The rumour of an impending proscription having pro- 
 duced an unfavourable effect, Couthon hastened to 
 disclaim before the society the designs they were al- 
 leged to entertam against the safety of twenty-four 
 and even sixty members of the convention. " The 
 shades of Danton, llebert, and Chaumette," he said, 
 " still Avalk amongst us ; they seek to perpetuate 
 trouble and dissension. What passed in the sitting 
 of the 24tli is a signal confirmation of it : men strive 
 to divide the government and to discredit its mem- 
 bers, by representing them as Syllas and Neros ; they 
 deliberate in secret, congregate in hidden corners, form 
 pretended lists of proscription, and alarm the citizens 
 with the insidious view of rendering them enemies of 
 the public authority. They spread, a few days ago, a 
 report that the committees intended to arrest eighteen 
 members of the convention, and even mentioned their 
 names. Reject these perfidious insinuations: those 
 who circulate such rumours are accomplices of Hebert 
 and Danton ; they dread the pmiishment of their guilty
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 427 
 
 conduct ; they endeavour to associate with them pure 
 patriots, in the hope that, concealed behind them, they 
 may more easily escape the eye of justice. But dismiss 
 your fears ; the number of the guilty is trifling ; it is 
 only four, or six, perhaj)s, and those will be certainly 
 attacked, for the time has arrived to deliver the re- 
 public from the last foes conspiring against it. Con- 
 fide in the energy and justice of the committees for its 
 preservation." 
 
 It was politic thus to depress the number of victims 
 whom Robespierre wished to smite. The Jacobins 
 applauded, according to usage, Cou);hon's speech ; but 
 it failed to reassure any of the threatened members, 
 and those who deemed themselves in peril continued 
 to sleep apart from their households. Never had 
 greater terror prevailed during the revolution, not 
 alone in the convention, but in the prisons and through- 
 out all France. 
 
 The merciless agents of Robespierre, the public 
 accuser Fouquier-Tinville and the president Dumas, 
 had joyfully grasped the law of the 22d Prairial, and 
 armed themselves therewith to devastate the prisons. 
 " Shortly," said Fouquier, " a board will be exposed 
 above the gates, bearing the notice — A house to let." 
 The design was to get rid of the greater part of the 
 suspected. These were, by the inveterate prejudices 
 of the time, considered irreconcilable enemies, vt^hora, 
 for the safety of the republic, it was imperative to 
 destroy. To slay thousands of individuals guilty of no 
 delinquency but that of thinking in a certain manner, 
 and who frequently did not differ in opinions with 
 their persecutors, seemed quite natural, from the force 
 of the habit so long indulged of shedding the blood 
 of adversaries. The indifference with which death was 
 administered and met had become truly marvellous. 
 On fields of battle and on scaffolds thousands of human 
 beings daily j^erished, without harrowing the sensibili- 
 ties, or, in fact, without exciting any peculiar obser- 
 vation. The first murders committed in 1793 pro- 
 ceeded from a real exasperation, grounded on a sense 
 of imminent danger. At present the danger had 
 ceased, the republic was victorious, and the system of 
 slaughter was continu.ed, not from high-wrought indig- 
 nation, but from the horrible usage too firmly and 
 fatally engrafted on the revolution. That formidable 
 machinery, heretofore found indispensable effectually 
 to resist so many varieties of enemies, began to be no 
 longer necessary ; but once put in motion, it could 
 not be easily stayed. Every government seems des- 
 tined to have its period of excess, and to perish only 
 when it attains that period. The revolutionary go- 
 vernment was not to finish the very day all the ene- 
 mies of the republic were sufficiently intimidated ; it 
 was to go far beyond that limit, and exercise its sway 
 until it had earned universal execration by its deplo- 
 rable atrocity. Human affairs are not otherwise riiled. 
 Why had fearful circumstances rendered it incumbent 
 to create a government of death, which could reign 
 and vanquish only by so desperate an engine ? 
 
 The most lamentable consequence of all appears, 
 that when the impetus is imparted, when the idea is 
 established that lives must be sacrificed, and that by 
 sacrificing them the state will be saved, all concur in 
 carrying out the frightful dogma with extraordinary 
 facility. Every one acts without remorse, witliout 
 repugnance — less importuned by scruples, in sooth, 
 than the judge wlien consigning criminals to execution, 
 the anatomist with creatures writhing under his knife, 
 or the general ordering the sacrifice of twenty thou- 
 sand soldiers. A hideous language, too, is forged for 
 the new career — even a sportive, derisive language ; 
 quaint phrases are invented to express sanguinary 
 ideas. Impelled, maddened by the prevailing mania, 
 none can resist its influence ; and men are seen, who 
 an instant earher were tranquilly engaged in arts or 
 commerce, devoting themselves with equal assiduity 
 to the repulsive work of death and destruction. 
 The committee had given the signal, by the law of the 
 
 22d Prairial ; Dumas and Fouquier had only too well 
 comprehended its import. Nevertheless, pretexts were 
 requisite for effecting so indiscriminate an immolation. 
 What crime could be imputed to unfortunate captives, 
 of whom the greater part were peaceable, obscure citi- 
 zens, who had never harassed the state by any overt 
 act ? An evil imagination discovered that, immured 
 in jails, they must long for their deliverance ; that 
 their numbers must inspire them with a feeling of 
 strength, and suggest to them the resolution of using 
 it to break from bondage. The pretended conspiracy 
 of Dillon was the germ of this idea, which was deve- 
 loped in an atrocious manner. Certain wretches 
 amongst the detained, who consented to perform the 
 infamous part of informers, were suborned. These 
 designated one hundred and sixty prisoners in the 
 Luxembourg, who, they alleged, had taken part in 
 Dillon's plot. In all the other places of detention such 
 fabricators of lists were foimd ; and in each, from one 
 to two hundred individuals were denounced as accom- 
 plices in the conspiracy of the prisons. An attempt 
 at escape made at La Force only served to accredit 
 the iniquitous flible ; and, without further delay, hun- 
 dreds of unfortunates were hurried before the revolu- 
 tionary tribunal. They were transferred from the dif- 
 ferent prisons to the Conciergerie, thence to proceed 
 before the tribunal, and to the scaffold. During the 
 night of the 18th-19th Messidor (6th June), the one 
 hundred and sixty designated at the Luxembourg were 
 removed. They trembled upon hearing the roll called ; 
 they knew not Avhat crime was imputed to them, but 
 they had a presentiment of the probable issue — the 
 death in store for them. The ferocious Fouquier, since 
 he was armed with the law of the 22d, had effected 
 great alterations in the hall of the tribunal. In lieu 
 of the seats reserved to advocates and the bench for 
 the accused, which contained but eighteen or twenty 
 places, lie had caused an amphitheatre to be con- 
 structed, capable of holding one hundred or one hun- 
 dred and fifty prisoners at a time. He called this 
 erection " his little tiers." Carrying his ardour to a 
 pitch of extravagance, he had reared a scaffold in the 
 very hall of the court, and congratulated himself upon 
 the prospect of having the one hundred and sixty 
 captives from the Luxembourg sentenced at the same 
 sitting. 
 
 The committee of public welfare, on learning the 
 species of delirium that had seized upon its pubUc 
 prosecutor, summoned him before it, ordered him to 
 remove the scaffold from the haU in which it was 
 raised, and prohibited him from arraigning more than 
 sixtj' individuals at once. " Wouldst thou demoralise 
 punishment, then?" said Collot-d'Herbois to him, in 
 a transport of anger. We must observe, however, 
 that Fouquier has asserted the contrary to be the fact, 
 and maintained that it was he who urged the trial of 
 the one hundred and sixty in three detachments. It 
 is sufficiently pi-oved, nevertheless, that the committee 
 was less extravagant than its minister, and that it 
 controlled his frenzy. A second imperative injunction 
 to Fouquier to remove the scaffold from the hall of the 
 tribunal was necessary. I 
 
 The one hundred and sixty were divided into three \ 
 bands, and tried and executed in three days. The i 
 process had become as expeditious and horrible as j 
 that employed at the wicket of the Abbaye during i 
 the nights of the 2d and 3d September. The carts, 
 put in daily requisition, waited from dawn in the court 
 of the Palace of Justice, and the accused could per- 
 ceive them as they ascended to the tribimal. The 
 ! president Dumas, with the demeanour of one infuri- 
 ated, had a brace of pistols on the table before him. 
 He interrogated the prisoners simply as to their 
 names, and occasionally added some general question. 
 In the examination of the one hundred and sixty, the 
 president, addressing one of them called Dorival, said, 
 " Are you acquainted with the conspiracy ?" " No." 
 " I expected you would give such an answer but it
 
 428 
 
 HISTOEY OF THE FRENCH KEVOLUTION. 
 
 will not succeed. Pass to another I" To an indivi- 
 dual named Champigny, he said — " Are you not an 
 ex-noble ?' " Yes." " To another !" To Guedreville 
 — " Are you a priest ?" " Yes, but I have taken the 
 oath." " Hold your tongue. Another!" To Menil 
 — ■" Were you not a servant of the ex-constituent 
 Menou?" "Yes." "Another!" To Vely — "Were 
 you not architect to IMadame ?"* " Yes, but I was 
 disgraced in 1788." "Another!" To Goudrecourt 
 — " Have you not your father-in-law at the Luxem- 
 bourg ?" " Yes." " Another !" To Durfort — " Were 
 you not a body-guardsman .'" " Yes ; but I was dis- 
 banded in 1789." "Another!" 
 
 It was thus that the trial of these unfortunate men 
 proceeded. The law bore that the hearing of wit- 
 nesses should be dispensed with only when there sub- 
 sisted physical or moral proofs ; none were ever called, 
 however, it being always pretended that jiroofs of 
 that description existed. The jurymen did not even 
 trouble themselves to retire into the consulting-room. 
 They declared their opinions in open court, and the 
 sentence was immediately pronounced. The accused 
 had scarcely time to rise and enunciate their names. 
 One day an individual happened to be brought up 
 whose name was not on the list of the accused ; and 
 he said to the tribunal, " I am not accused ; my name 
 is not in your list." " Eh ! what signifies ?" cried 
 Fouquier ; " give it immediatelj'." He gave his name, 
 and was sent to death with the rest. The greatest 
 negligence signalised this barbarous species of admi- 
 nistration. It frequently occurred, as the result of 
 the outrageous precipitancy, that the articles of accu- 
 sation were not intimated ; and in such cases they 
 were conveyed to the accused when at the bar. The 
 strangest errors, too, were committed. A respectable 
 old man, Loizerolles, heard his surname called out, 
 coupled with the Christian names of his son ; he ab- 
 stained from reclaiming, and was sent to the scaffold. 
 Some time after, the son was placed before the tri- 
 bunal in his turn, when it was discovered that he 
 ought to be no longer in existence, as an individual 
 bearing all his names had been executed : the substi- 
 tute was his father. He perished notwithstanding. 
 On sundry occasions, prisoners were called who had 
 been already executed a long while previously. Hun- 
 dreds of indictments were kept in readiness, to which 
 merely the designations of prisoners required to be 
 added. The like method was pursued Avith regard to 
 the sentences. A printing-office adjoined the hall of 
 the tribunal ; the types were already up, the offences 
 and the judgment were in composition ; the names 
 only had to be inserted, and they were handed to the 
 compositor through a grated window. Thousands of 
 copies were forthwith struck off and distributed, 
 spreading grief amongst families, and consternation 
 amongst captives. Urchin-hawkers vended the bul- 
 letin of the tribunal under the windows of the prisons, 
 crying out, " Here's a list of those who have won in the 
 lottery of the holy <]uillotine !" The accused were exe- 
 cuted upon leaving the court, or at the latest on the 
 morrow, if the day were too far advanced. 
 
 kSince the law of the 22d I'rairial, heads fell at the 
 rate of fifty and sixty each day. " All right !" said 
 Fouqiuer ; " heads fall like hailstones." He added— 
 " It must go still better next decade ; I must have 
 four hundred and fifty at least."t For that fell pur- 
 pose, " bespeaks," as the phrase went, were made to 
 the " lambs," meaning thereby the spies on the de- 
 tained. Those miscreants had become the terror of 
 the prisons. Immured amongst the rest as suspected 
 persons, it was not exactly known who had under- 
 taken to designate victims ; but they were generally 
 betrayed by their iusolent demeanour, the favours 
 they obtained from the jailers, and the orgies they 
 
 * [Wife of Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII. ] 
 t For all these details, consult the long trial of Fouquier-Tin- 
 ville. 
 
 held in the guardrooms with the agents of the police. 
 Frequently they allowed their importance to trans- 
 pire, with the view of turning it to pecuniary account. 
 They were caressed and entreated with abject sedu- 
 lousness by their trembling fellow-captives ; sums of 
 money were given them to withhold names from their 
 list. They made their selections at hazard : they 
 said of one that he had held aristocratic language, of 
 another that he had drank one day when a defeat of 
 tlie armies was aimounced ; and their mere denuncia- 
 tion was equivalent to a judgment of death. The 
 names furnished by tliem were introduced into the 
 analogous number of indictments; and officers ap- 
 peared in the evening to serve those indictments on 
 the prisoners, and conduct them to the Conciergerie. 
 This proceeding was styled, in the phraseology of the 
 jailers, " the evening journal." When the miserable 
 captives heard the rumbling of the carts brought to 
 remove them, they were thrown into an anxiety as 
 dreadful as death itself; they hurried to the wickets, 
 pressed against the bars to hear the list, and shook 
 with tremor lest their names might fall from the lips 
 of the messengers. When they had been nominated, 
 they embraced their companions in misfortune, and 
 took their farewells as dying men. The most afHict- 
 ing separations were often witnessed — a father tear- 
 ing himself from his children, a husband from his 
 wife. Those who remained were equally unhappy 
 with those conveyed to the caverns of Fouquier-Tin- 
 ville ; they returned to their cells with the gloomy an- 
 ticipation of si)eedily following their comrades. After 
 the fatal roU was finished, the survivors breathed more 
 freely, perhaps, but only until the morrow. Then 
 their agony recommenced, and the horrible rumbling 
 of the carts again struck all with dismal dread. 
 
 Public commiseration was beginning, however, to 
 be manifested in a manner somewhat disquieting to 
 the exterminators. The tradesmen in the street 
 Saint-Honore, through which the carts daily passed, 
 closed their shops. To prevent the victims witness- 
 ing these evidences of s\mipathy, the scaffold was 
 transported to the Barrier du Trone ; and in that 
 quarter of ojieratives, not less pity was evinced than 
 in the most richly inhabited thoroughfares of Paris. 
 The people, in a moment of delirium, may unmerci- 
 fully exult over victims immolated by themselves ; 
 but when the spectacle is daily presented to them of 
 fifty or sixty fellow-beings expiring on a scaffold, 
 against whom they are aroused by no extraordinary 
 fury, they are speedily melted into compassion. In 
 the present instance, however, such emotion was as 
 yet silent and timorous. All the more distinguished 
 inmates of the prisons had fallen ; the wretched sister 
 of Louis XVI. had been decapitated in her turn ; and 
 now, from the elevated ranks of society, the destroyer 
 was descending to the lowest. On the lists of the re- 
 volutionary tribunal at this period we perceive tailors, 
 shoemakers, barbers, butchers, husbandmen, lemonade- 
 venders, and even working men, condemned for senti- 
 ments and expressions reputed counter-revolutionary. 
 The multitudinous executions at this epoch may be 
 demonstrated by the simple statement, that from the 
 month of March 1793, when the tribunal entered on 
 its functions, to the month of June 1794 (22d Prairial, 
 year 2), it had condemned 577 persons; Avhilst, from 
 the 10th June (22d Prairial) to the 27th July (9th 
 Thermidor), it condemned 1285 ; whereby it appears 
 that the total number of victims, up to the 9 th Ther- 
 midor, was 1862. 
 
 The shedders of all this blood, meanwhile, enjoyed 
 little tranquilhty. Dumas was troubled in conscience, 
 and Fouquier dared not venture out after dusk — he 
 saw the relatives of his victims always ready to smite 
 him. Crossing the courts of the Louvre one day with 
 Senart, he took alarm at a slight noise : it was merely 
 a man passing very near him. " If I had been alone," 
 he exclaimed, " something might have happened to 
 me."
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 J -29 
 
 In the principal towns of France, terror prevailed 
 equally as in Paris. Carrier had been sent to Nantes, 
 commissioned to chastise La Vendee. Carrier, still 
 young in years, was one of those mediocre and vio- 
 lent beings, who, in the excitement of civil broils, 
 become monsters of cruelty and extravagance. He 
 commenced his career, on arriving at Nantes, b3^ de- 
 claring his opinion that an indiscriminate slaughter 
 must be made ; and that, notwithstanding the promise 
 of pardon held out to such Vendeans as laid down 
 their arms, mercy should be extended to none. The 
 constituted authorities having ventured to speak of 
 
 holding faith with the rebels — " You are ," said 
 
 Carrier to them ; " you don't know your trade : I 
 will have you aU guillotined ; " and he proceeded to 
 fulfil his mission, by causing the unfortunate men 
 who had surrendered to be mowed down by ball and 
 grape-shot, in bands of one and two hundred. He 
 appeared before the popular society with a drawn 
 sword in his hand, scattering abusive epithets, and 
 threatening aU with the guillotine. The society 
 speedily displeased him, and he forthwith dissolved 
 it. He intimidated the authorities to such an extent, 
 that they durst no longer assemble in his presence. 
 One day some of the members presumed to mention 
 the subject of provisions to him : he replied to the 
 mmiicipal officers " that the affair was none of his ; 
 
 that the first who spoke to him about provisions 
 
 should have his head struck off; and that he had no 
 time to attend to their nonsense." The madman 
 thought his only mission was to slay. 
 
 He resolved upon punishing not only the rebellious 
 Vendeans, but also the federalist Nantese. who had at- 
 tempted a movement in favoiir of the Girondists after 
 the siege of tlieir city. Fugitives, who had escaped 
 the massacres of Mans and Savenay, daily arrived in 
 crowds, chased by the armies which encompassed 
 them on all sides. Carrier caused them to be im- 
 mured in the prisons of Nantes, and thus accumu- 
 lated of those unhappy creatures nearly ten thousand. 
 He afterwards formed a company of assassins, who 
 spread themselves over the adjoining country, arrested 
 the Nantese families, and plundered at will in addi- 
 tion to their other enormities. Carrier had originally 
 instituted a revolutionary commission, to pass the 
 Vendeans and Nantese through a form of trial. 
 Under his direction the Vendeans were shot, and the 
 Nantese accused of federalism or royalism were guil- 
 lotined. In a little while, however, he found the for- 
 mality too tedious, and the mode of execution by 
 grape-shot attended with inconveniences. The de- 
 struction was somewhat lingering, and it was trouble- 
 some to inter the bodies. They frequently remained 
 on the field of slaughter, and so infected the air, that 
 an epidemic prevailed in the town. The Loire, which 
 traverses Nantes, suggested a horrible idea to Car- 
 rier — namely, to get rid of his prisoners by throwing 
 them into the river. He made a preliminary experi- 
 ment, by loading a barge with ninety priests, under 
 pretence of transporting them elsewhere, and causing 
 it to be scuttled at a distance from the city. The 
 expedient being found to answer, he decided upon 
 adopting it more extensively. He no longer employed 
 the derisory formality of arraigning the victims be- 
 fore a commission ; he had them taken from the 
 prisons during the night, in bands of one and two 
 hundred, and co.iducted into lighters. From these 
 lighters they were transferred into small vessels pre- 
 pared for the execrable purpose. Tlie doomed were 
 stowed into the hold of the craft, the port-holes nailed 
 up, and the apertures of the deck covered with planks ; 
 then the executioners retired into the barges, whilst 
 carpenters stationed in boats stove in the sides of the 
 vessel with hatchets, and sent it to the bottom. Such 
 was the process whereby four or five thousand indi- 
 viduals perished. Carrier congratulated himself on 
 having discovered this more expeditious and salu- 
 brious method of delivering the republic from its 
 
 enemies. Not only men, but a great number of 
 women and children likewise, were drowned in this 
 fashion. TTpon the dispersion of the Vendcan fami- 
 lies after the catastrophe of Savenay, several inhabi- 
 tants of Nantes had received children into their 
 houses with tlie view of rearing them. " They are 
 wolves' whelps," said Carrier ; and he ordered they 
 should be surrendered to the republic. These orplian 
 children were nearly all drowned. 
 
 The Loire was choked with corpses ; ships, in cast 
 ing anchor, sometimes raised vessels filled with dead. 
 Birds of prey hovered on the shores of the river and 
 devoured the human relics.* The fish were tai ared 
 with a diet which rendered their use dangerous, and 
 the municipality issued a prohibition against drawing 
 them. These horrors were aggravated by a conta- 
 gious malady and a famine. Amidst all the calamity. 
 Carrier, always frantic and wrathful, denounced the 
 slightest expression of pity ; seized by the collar and 
 threatened with his sword any who ventured to ad- 
 dress him ; and caused a notice to be affixed, that who- 
 ever should pester him with solicitations for a priso- 
 ner, would be himself thrown into prison. Fortunately, 
 the committee of public welfare superseded him ; for, 
 however much it approved of extermination, it was 
 called upon to discourage extravagance. The num- 
 ber of victims sacrificed by Carrier is estimated at 
 four or five thousand. The greater part were Ven- 
 deans. 
 
 Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Toulon, had also dearly 
 to expiate their federalism. At Toulon, the repre- 
 sentatives Frcron and Barras had dispatched 200 
 inhabitants with grape-shot, visiting upon them a 
 crime whose veritable authors had escaped on board 
 the foreign squadrons. Maignet exercised in the de- 
 partment of Vaucluse a dictatorship equally formid- 
 able with the other envoys of the convention. He 
 had reduced the small town of Bedouin to ashes, on 
 the gromid of rebellion ; and, at his instance, the com- 
 mittee of public -welfare had established at Orange a 
 revolutionary tribunal, with a jurisdiction compre- 
 hending all the southern departments. This tribunal 
 was organised according to the precedent of that at 
 Paris, dittering from its model only in the absence of 
 juries ; five judges condemned, upon what they called 
 mo7-al proofs, the unhappy beings whom Maignet col- 
 lected in his circuits. At Lyons, the barbarous exe- 
 cutions ordered by CoUot-d'Herbois had ceased. The 
 revolutionary commission had recently rendered an 
 account of its labours, and furnished an enumeration 
 of the acqiiitted and the condemned. One thousand 
 six himdred and eighty -four individuals had been put 
 to death by the guillotine, or by discharges of mus- 
 ketry and grajje-shot. One thousand six hundred 
 and eighty-two had been set at liberty, " by the justice 
 of the commission." 
 
 The north likewise had its proconsul impersonated 
 in Joseph Lebon. This individual had been a priest, 
 and often avowed that in his j'outh religious fanati- 
 cism would have impelled him to slay his father and 
 mother, if the sacrifice had been enjoined him. He 
 was a veritable maniac, less ferocious perhaps than 
 Carrier, but even more outrageous in liis insanity. 
 His words and his conduct clearly proved that his 
 l)rain was deranged. He fixed his principal residence 
 at Arras. He instituted a tribunal with the sanction 
 of tiie committee of public welfare, and traversed 
 the departments of the north foUoAved by his judges 
 and a guillotine. He visited Saint-Pol, Saint-Omer, 
 Bethune, Bapaume, Aire, &c., and every where left 
 bloody traces behind him. The Austrians having 
 approached Cambray, and Saint-Just deeming he de- 
 tected a secret intercourse between tlie aristocrats of 
 that town and the enemy, he called Lebon thither, 
 who in a few days sent to the scafibld a multitude of 
 pretended criminals, and boasted he had saved Cam- 
 
 * Poposition of a ship captain on Carrier's trial
 
 ■ioO 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bray by his firmness. When Lebon liad finished his 
 circuits, he always returned to Arras. There he 
 abandoned himself to the most disgusting orgies with 
 his judges and certain members of the clubs. The 
 executioner was admitted to his table, and treated 
 with the greatest consideration. Lebon himself at- 
 tended all the executions, seated on a balcony ; thence 
 lie harangued the people, and ordered the Ca ira to 
 be played whilst the guillotine was at work. One 
 day, intelligence of a victory arrived at the critical 
 moment; he hastened to his balcony and caused the 
 execution to be suspended, in order that the wretched 
 creatures awaiting death might learn the success of 
 the republic. 
 
 Lebon had displayed such evident lunacy in his 
 conduct, that even before the committee of public 
 welfare he was assailable. Certain inhabitants of 
 Arras had fled to Paris, where tliey used every exer- 
 tion to gain an audience of Robespierre, their fellow- 
 citizen, in order to lay their grievances before him. 
 Some of them had known and even obliged him in 
 his youth ; but they were unsuccessful in their en- 
 deavours to see him. The deputy Gulfroy, who was 
 a native of Arras, and endowed with a manly courage, 
 devoted himself with infinite ardour to prevail on the 
 committees to review the proceedings of Lebon. He 
 had even the noble hardihood to make an express 
 denunciation before the convention. The committee 
 of public welfare felt it incumbent to take cognisance 
 of this open exposition, and summon Lebon to Paris. 
 However, as the committee was determined not to 
 disavow its agents, or seem to allow that too much 
 severity was possible against aristocrats, it remanded 
 Lebon to Arras, and employed in its instructions to 
 him the following expressions : — " Continue to etfect 
 good, and do it with such discretion and dignity as 
 may defy the calumnies of aristocracy." 
 
 The complaints submitted to the convention by 
 Guffroy against Lebon, called forth a special report 
 from the committee. Barrere was charged with its 
 composition. " All remonstrances against represen- 
 tatives," he said, " ought to be judged by the commit- 
 tee, in order to avoid debates which may trouble the 
 government and the convention. Thus have we acted 
 in this instance touching Lebon ; we have investigated 
 the motives of his conduct. Are these motives pure ? 
 Is the result beneficial to the revolution? Does it 
 profit liberty? Are not the complaints mere recri- 
 minatory aspersions, or are they not in truth the vin- 
 dictive outcries of aristocracy? So the committee 
 has concluded in this business. Forms somewhat sharp 
 have been employed ; but those forms have destroyed 
 tlie snares of aristocracy. The committee, doubtless, 
 Aay have disapproved of them ; but Lebon has com- 
 pletely crushed the aristocrats, and saved Cambray. 
 Besides, what is not permitted to the hatred of a re- 
 publican against aristocracy ! How many are the 
 generous sentiments felt by a patriot, leading him to 
 overlook what may be severe in the pursuit of the 
 enemies of the people ! The revolution ought to be 
 spoken of only with reverence, revolutionary measures 
 with circumspection. Liberty is a virgin whose veil it 
 is criminal to lift." 
 
 The meaning of these ambiguous phrases was, that 
 Lebon had been continued in his authority, and that 
 Guffroy was ranked amongst the obnoxious censiirers 
 of the government, and exposed to all their perils. It 
 was obvious that the entire committee upheld the 
 reign of terror. Robespierre, Couthon, Billaud, Collot- 
 d'Herbois, Vadicr, Vouland, Amar, might be divided 
 amongst themselves as to their individual prei)onde- 
 rance, or as to the number and selection of their col- 
 leagues doomed for sacrifice ; but they were in perfect 
 harmony with regard to the system of exterminating 
 all who stood in the way of the revolution. They had 
 no wish, indeed, that this system should be applied 
 with the extravagance of such men as Lebon and Car- 
 rier ; but they verily intended that, after the examjjle 
 
 of the operations at Paris, the persons whom they 
 deemed conspirators against the republic shoidd be 
 disposed of in a prompt, sure, and, as far as possible, 
 noiseless manner. P>ven w hen blaming, therefore, cer- 
 tain outrageous and revolting cruelties, they had all 
 the jealous pride of power, which never disavows its 
 agents ; they condemned the proceedings at Nantes 
 and Arras, but in outward semblance they approved 
 them, scorning to acknowledge a fault in their admi- 
 nistration. Thus irretrievably committed to this ruth- 
 less career, they advanced blindly and recklessly, 
 knowing no longer into what catastrophe it was to 
 gather. Such is the sad condition of men engaged in 
 evil, that they cannot halt in their course. When 
 doubts begin to arise in their minds touching the 
 nature of their actions, when they are brought to dis- 
 cern that they have erred, instead of retrograding, 
 they rush more madly f )rward, as if to whirl their 
 senses into dizziness, and stifle the voice which up- 
 braids them. Calm reflection and rigid self-exami- 
 nation, so difficult amid the turmoil of passion, may 
 make men pause and retrace their steps ; but they 
 must thereby pass a judgment on themselves almost 
 too stern for human frailty. 
 
 In the present posture of affairs, onl}"- a general 
 outbreak could restrain the authors of this horrible 
 system. Into such a demonstration might enter sun- 
 dry members of the committees, jealous of the predomi- 
 nant influence, the threatened Mountaineers, the con- 
 vention, indignant under its yoke, and all, in fine, who 
 abhorred the unmerciful effusion of blood. But before 
 this alliance of jealousy, fear, and indignation, could 
 be formed, it was requisite that the jealousy should 
 be aggravated in the committees, the fear become ex- 
 treme in the Mountain, and the indignation inspire 
 courage in the convention and the community. An 
 occasion was needed to force all these feelings into 
 simultaneous explosion ; it was necessary that the 
 oppressors should aim the first blow, to stimulate the 
 spirit of retribution. 
 
 Opinion thus disposed, the moment was approach- 
 ing when a movement in the name of humanity against 
 revolutionary violence was possible. The republi'^ 
 being victorious and its enemies prostrated, appre- 
 hension and fury were subsiding, and confidence and 
 lenity arising in their stead. For the first time dur- 
 ing the revolution such a reaction might become ge- 
 neral. When the Girondists, when the Dantonists 
 perished, the time had not arrived for invoking huma- 
 nity. The revolutionary government had not yet lost 
 either its utility or its credit. 
 
 IVIeanwhile, until events produced the crisis, a lull 
 of mutual observance prevailed, and resentments were 
 left to accumulate and canker in the heart. Robes- 
 pierre had entirely ceased to attend the committee of 
 public welfare. He hoped to disparage the adminis- 
 tration of his colleagues by withholding his coxmte- 
 nance and participation. He appeared only in the 
 Jacobin Club, into which BiUaud and Collot no longer 
 ventured, and where he was every day more adored. 
 He now began to make allusions before the Jacobins 
 to the intestine divisions in the committees. " For- 
 merly," he said, addressing them on the 13th Messi- 
 dor, " the furtive faction, composed of the relics of 
 Camille-Desmoulins and Danton, attacked the com- 
 mittees in the aggregate ; at present it prefers to at- 
 tack certain members in particular, to promote its 
 constant design of rupturing unity. Formerly, it 
 dared not attack the national justice ; at present it 
 deems itself suflJciently strong to calumniate the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal, and the decree amending its orga- 
 nisation ; it attributes what concerns the whole go- 
 vernment to a single individual ; it presumes to assert 
 that the revolutionary tribunal has been instituted to 
 slaughter the nationsd convention, and unfortunately 
 it has obtained only too much credence. Its calum- 
 nies have been believed, and assiduously propagated ; 
 a dictator has been spoken of, ay, named ; it is I who
 
 HlttTOllY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 431 
 
 have been designated, and you would shudder if I told 
 you in what place ! Truth is my only refuge against 
 guilt. Such calumnies M'ill undoubtedly not discou- 
 rage me, but they leave nie undecided as to the con- 
 duct I ought to pursue. Until I can divulge more, 
 I invoke for the safety of the republic the virtues of 
 the convention, the virtues of the committees, the 
 virtues of all good citizens- — yours, in fine, which have 
 been so often beneficial to the country." 
 
 We see by what perfidious insinuations Robespierre 
 sought to excite odium against the committees, and 
 to attach the Jacobins exclusively to himself. They 
 repaid him these marks of confidence with a boundless 
 adulation. The revolutionary system being attributed 
 to him alone, it was natural that all the revolutionary 
 institutions should be favourably disposed towards 
 him, and embrace his cause with zeal. Hence, to the 
 Jacobins were necessarily joined the commune, always 
 united in principles and conduct with their club, and 
 all the judges and jurymen of the revolutionary tribu- 
 nal. This coalition could deploy considerable strength, 
 and, with greater resolution and energy, Robespierre 
 might have become extremely formidable. In the 
 Jacobins, he possessed a turbulent mass, which had 
 hitherto represented and controlled opinion ; in the 
 commune, he commanded the local authority, wliich 
 had taken the initiative in every preceding insurrec- 
 tion ; and, above all, the armed force of Paris. The 
 mayor Pache, and the commandant Henriot, who had 
 been saved by him when threatened to be involved in 
 the fate of Chaumette, were entirely devoted to him. 
 Billaud and Collot had, it is true, profited by his ab- 
 sence from the committee to imprison Pache ; but the 
 new mayor Fleuriot, and the national agent Payan, 
 were equally prepared to become his instruments. 
 Add to these individuals the president of the tribunal 
 Dumas, the vice-president Coflfinhal, and the other 
 judges and jurymen, and an idea may be formed of 
 the means wielded by Robespierre M'ithin the city of 
 Paris. Should the committees and the convention 
 discard his influence, he had only to complain and 
 excite a moveinent at the Jacobin Club, impart that 
 movement to the commune, procure a declaration by 
 the municipal body that the people resumed their 
 sovereign powers, draw out the sections, and send 
 Henriot to demand from the convention fifty or sixty 
 deputies. Dumas and Cotfinhal, M'ith the entire tri- 
 bmial, were afterwards ready to dispatch the deputies 
 whom Henriot had obtained by violence. All the 
 means, in short, of another 31st of ifay, more prompt 
 and sure than the former, were in his hands. Accord- 
 ingly, his partisans and sycophants collected around 
 him, and earnestly besought him to assume the oflfen- 
 sive. Henriot offered the services of his columns, and 
 promised to be more energetic than on the 2d of June. 
 Robespierre, who preferred to use oratory as his most 
 effective agent, and still deemed that favourite resource 
 equal to the exigency, resolved to wait. He relied 
 upon discrediting the committees by his retirement 
 and by his speeches at the Jacobin Club, and proposed 
 eventually to seize a fitting moment for openly attack- 
 ing them in the convention. He continued, notwith- 
 standing his species of abdication, to direct the tribu- 
 nal, and to exercise an active police system by means 
 of the peculiar department he had instituted. He 
 thereby subjected his opponents to a vigilant scrutiny, 
 and gained intimation of all their proceedings. He 
 allowed himself at the ])resent junctm-e somewhat 
 more relaxation than had ever been usual with him. 
 He visited an agreeable country residence, situated 
 at Maisons-Alfort, three leagues from Paris, whicli 
 was occupied by a family attached to his fortunes. 
 Thither many of his partisans accompanied him — 
 Dumas, Cofl[inhal, Payan, and Fleuriot. Henriot, like- 
 wise, often repaired to the villa with all his aides-de- 
 camps, scouring the roads five abreast and at full 
 gallop, prostrating any wayfarers who chanced to 
 encoimter them, and spreading terror through the 
 
 district by their presence. The hosts and friends of 
 Robespierre caused him, by their indiscretion, to be 
 suspected of more dangerous projects than he medi- 
 tated, or had indeed the courage to form. When in 
 Paris, he was always surrounded by the same indi- 
 viduals, and moreover followed at intervals by sundry 
 Jacobins, or jurymen of the tribunal, his zealous ad- 
 herents, who carried clubs and concealed arms, and 
 were ready to fly to his aid on the first signal of 
 danger. They were called his body-guards. 
 
 On their side, Billaud-Varennes, CoUot-d'Herbois, 
 and Barrere, monopolised the administration of affairs, 
 and, in the absence of their rival, secured the co-ope- 
 ration of Carnot, Robert Lindet, and Prieur-de-la- 
 Cote-d'Oi'. A common interest attracted to them the 
 committee of general safety ; but, at the same time, 
 they deemed it expedient to proceed with profound 
 reserve. Their endeavours were directed to gradually 
 diminish the power of their adversary by reducing the 
 armed force of Paris. There existed forty-eight com- 
 panies of artillerymen, belonging to the forty-eight 
 sections, perfectly organised, and having at all periods 
 evinced tlie most revolutionary spirit. They had 
 always declared for the cause of insurrection, from the 
 10th of August to the 31st May. A decree ordained 
 that, provided one-half at least of this force were left 
 in Paris, the remainder nnght be moA-^ed elsewhere. 
 Billaud and Collot enjoined the president of the com- 
 mission for army movements to march the permitted 
 number successively towards the frontiers. In aU 
 their operations they veiled as much as possible from 
 Couthon, who, not having retired like Robespierre, 
 observed them sedulously, and greatly incommoded 
 them. In this posture of affairs, Billaud, ever morose 
 and melancholy, seldom quitted Paris ; but the gay 
 and voluptuous Barrere resorted to Passy with the 
 principal members of the committee of general safety, 
 the elder Vadier, Vouland, and Amar. They met 
 under the roof of Dupin, an old farmer-general, cele- 
 brated under the royalty for liis table, and in the re- 
 volution for the report which consigned the farmers- 
 general to death. There they abandoned themselves 
 to pleasure and indulgence with beautiful females, and 
 Barrere exercised his wit against the " pontiff of the 
 Supreme Being, the first prophet, the beloved son of 
 the mother of God." After thus revelling in enjoy- 
 ment, they left the arms of their courtezans to retm'n 
 to Paris, swimming with blood and torn with intes- 
 tine rivalries. 
 
 On their part, the veteran members of the Mountain, 
 who felt themselves in jeopardy, kept up a secret in- 
 tercourse with each other, and endeavoiu-ed to arrange 
 a general confederacy. The generous woman who 
 had attached herself to Tallien at Bordeaux, and had 
 wrested from him numberless victims, urged him from 
 the recesses of her prison to smite tlie tyrant. With 
 Tallien, Lecointre, Bourdon-de-l'Oise, Thuriot, Panis, 
 Barras, Freron, and IMonestier, had united Guffroy, 
 the denouncer of Lebon, Dubois-Crance, compromised 
 at the siege of Lyons and detested by Couthon, and 
 Fouche of Nantes, who had quarrelled with Robes- 
 pierre, and drawn upon himself the reproach of not 
 having acted in a sufficiently patriotic manner at 
 Lyons. Tallien and Lecointre were the boldest and 
 most impatient. Fouche was especially dreaded for 
 his skill in weaving and managing an intrigue, and 
 against him the wrath of the triumvirs was most 
 violently excited. 
 
 On occasioii of an address from the Jacobins of 
 Lyons to those of Paris, in which they grievously 
 complained of their existing condition, the recent his- 
 tory of that unfortunate city was reviewed. Couthon 
 denounced Dubois-Crance, as he had done some months 
 previously, accused him of having allowed Precy to 
 escape, and caused him to be erased from the list of 
 Jacobins. Robespierre assailed Fouche, and imputed 
 to him the devices which had induced the patriot 
 Gaillard to commit suicide. He procured a resolution
 
 4;52 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 that Fouche should be summoned before the society 
 to justify his conduct. It was less the intrigues of 
 Foiiche at Lyons than at Paris that Robespierre feared 
 and wished to punish. Fouche, sensible of his peril, 
 addressed an evasive letter to the Jacobins, and en- 
 treated them to suspend their judLtment, until the 
 committee, to which he had submitted his conduct 
 and all vindicatory documents, had delivered its 
 sentence. " It is astonishing," exclaimed Robespierre, 
 " that Fouche now invokes the aid of the convention 
 against the Jacobins. Does he dread the eyes and 
 cars of the people ? Is he apprehensive lest his dis- 
 comfited countenance proclaims his guilt ? Or is he 
 fearful lest the scrutinising glances of six thousand 
 patriots, fixed on him, detect his soul in his eyes, and 
 in spite of nature, which has shrouded them, therein 
 read his thoughts ? The conduct of Fouche is that of 
 a conscious criminal ; you cannot longer retain him in 
 your society ; he ought to be excluded." Fouche was 
 forthAvith expelled, as had happened to Dubois-Crance. 
 Thus the storm was gathering more loweringly over 
 tlie menaced IMountaineers, and on all sides the hori- 
 zon was darkened with clouds. 
 
 Amidst this portentous gloom, the meinbers of the 
 committees, who feared Robespierre, would willingly 
 have preferred a mutual explanation and compromise, 
 rather than incur the hazard of a dangerous conflict. 
 Robespierre had summoned his young colleague Saint- 
 Just, who had immediately returned from the army. 
 After his arrival, a meeting was proposed with the 
 view of effecting a reconciliation. Robespierre took 
 much entreaty ere he consented to an interview : at 
 length he yielded, and the two committees assembled. 
 Reciprocal complaints were urged with infinite ran- 
 cour. Robespierre spoke of himself with his accus- 
 tomed arrogance, inveighed against secret conclaves, 
 descanted on the condign punishment merited by con- 
 spiring deputies, censured all the operations of the 
 government, and found every department delinquent 
 — civil administration, war, and finance. Saint-Just 
 supported Roliespierre, pronounced on him a magni- 
 loquent eulogium, and concluded by declaring that 
 the last hope of the foreigner rested on dividing the 
 government. In corroboration of this averment, he 
 cited the testimony of an officer taken prisoner before 
 jMaubeuge. According to this officer, the enemy was 
 waiting until a more moderate party overthrew the 
 revolutionary government and gave predominance to 
 other principles. Saint-Just relied upon this fact to 
 demonstrate more incontestibly the necessity of mutual 
 forbearance, and of proceeding henceforth in concord. 
 The adversaries of Robespierre willingly acquiesced 
 in the soundness of this doctrine, but would consent 
 to act upon it only so far as consisted with their own 
 pre-eminence in the government ; Avliilst, to attain the 
 object in view, all the demands of Robespierre must 
 be conceded, and such preliminaries were utterly in- 
 compatible with their views. The members of the 
 committee of general safety complained bitterly that 
 their functions had been wrested from them ; Elie- 
 Lacoste was hardy enough to affirm that Couthon, 
 Saint-Just, and Robespierre, formed a committee 
 within the committees, and even ventured to mention 
 the word " triumvirate." Nevertheless, certain con- 
 cessions were yielded on both sides. Robespierre 
 agreed to confine his department of general police to 
 a suy)erintendence over the agents of the committee of 
 public welfare ; and, in return, his opponents consented 
 to intrust Saint-Just with the preparation of a report 
 to the convention upon the interview that had taken 
 place. In this report, as may be surmised, any avowal 
 of the divisions that had existed in the committees 
 was to be avoided : its topics were to be the commo- 
 tion into which public opinion had been thrown in 
 recent times, and the course the government proposed 
 to follow for the future. Billaud and Collot malici- 
 ously intimated that any undue amplification concern- 
 ing the Supreme Being would be objectionable, as 
 
 Robespierre's pontificate was for ever recurring to 
 their recollection. At the same time, Rillaud, with 
 his gloomy and misgiving demeanour, assured Robes- 
 pierre that he had never been his enemy; and the 
 committees separated, appearing somewhat less di 
 vided than formerly, Ijut far from establishing a sincere 
 union. Such a reconciliation, in truth, covdd have 
 nothing real in its elements, for the same ambition 
 remained to actuate either party ; it was one of those 
 eflbrts at negotiation made by all parties before com- 
 ing to a final ruptu^. It recalled the famous Lamow 
 rette hls.s, and the various reconciliations attempted 
 between the Constitutionalists and the Girondists, be- 
 tween tlie Girondists and the Jacobins, between Dan- 
 ton and Robespierre. 
 
 If, however, it failed to restore harmony amongst 
 the members of the committees, it greatly alarmed the 
 Mountaineers. They feared their destruction would 
 be the pledge of peace, and stiove anxiously to ascer- 
 tain the actual conditions of the treaty. Elie-Lacoste, 
 Dubarran, and Moyse-Bayle, the most estimable mem- 
 bers of the committee of general safety, hastened to 
 remove their apprehensions, tranquillising them with 
 the assurance that no sacrifice had been arranged. 
 The fact was true, and formed one of the reasons 
 which prevented the possibility of a perfect adjust- 
 ment of diffi?rences. Nevertheless, Barrere, who la- 
 boured to inculcate the belief that concord prevailed, 
 asserted in his daily reports that the members of the 
 government were cordially united, that they had been 
 unjustly accused of not being so, and that they were 
 directing their common efforts to render the republic 
 universally victorious. He pretended to assume the 
 reproaches levelled at the triumvirs as aimed against 
 all, and lie repelled such imputations as criminal slan- 
 ders equally injurious to both committees. "Amidst 
 the shouts of victory," he said, " dull murmurs are 
 heard, dark calumnies are propagated, subtle poisons 
 are infused into the journals, disastrous plots are de- 
 vised, factitious discontents are fanned, and the govern- 
 ment is perpetually harassed, fettered in its operations, 
 perplexed in its movements, calumniated in its mo- 
 tives, and menaced in its component members. What, 
 notwithstanding, has it accomplished ? " And Barrere 
 proceeded to repeat the visual enumeration of the la- 
 bours and services of the government. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY OF THE NORTH TOWARDS 
 
 THE MIDDLE OF 1794. CAPTURE OF YPRES. — BATTLE 
 
 OF FLEURUS. — OCCUPATION OF BRUSSELS. — LAST DAYS 
 OF THE REIGN OF TERROR. — 8TH AND 9TH THERMI- 
 DOR ; ARREST AND EXECUTION OF ROBESPIERRE AND 
 HIS CONFEDERATES. — PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION 
 FROM 1789 TO THE 9TH THERMIDOR. 
 
 Whilst Barrere was thus diligently em.ploj'ed in 
 throwing a veil over the dissension in the committees, 
 Saint-Just, despite the report he had been charged to 
 frame, returned to the army, where important events 
 were passing. The movements commenced on both 
 wings had been arduously prosecuted. Pichegru had 
 continued his operations on the Lys and the Scheldt, 
 and Jourdan had opened his on the Sambre. Profiting 
 hy the defensive attitude which Cobourg had assumed 
 at Tournay, since the engagements of Turcoing and 
 Pont-a-Chin, Pichegru projected an attack on Clair- 
 fayt separately. But not venturing to advance so far 
 as Thielt, he resolved to commence the siege of Ypres, 
 in the double hope of drawing Clairfayt upon him and 
 of taking that fortress, which would consolidate the 
 establishment of the French in West Flanders. Clair- 
 fayt was awaiting reinforcements, and made no move- 
 ment in advance. Pichegru accordingly pushed the 
 siege with such vigour, that Cobourg and Clairfayt 
 felt it incumbent to quit their respective positions.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 433 
 
 with the view of relieving tlie bt'sieged phice. To pre- 
 vent Cobourg from pursuing tliis intention, Pichegru 
 directed a sortie of troops from Lille, and so threatening 
 a demonstration to be made on Orchies, that Cobourg 
 was detained at Tournay. In tlie interim, he himself 
 moved forward and bore rapidly on Clairfayt, who 
 was advancing towards Rousselaer and Hooglede. His 
 prompt and well-conceived movements again provided 
 him with an opportunity of defeating Clairfayt apart 
 from his allies. By an unlucky chance, a division 
 mistook the route, and Clairfayt had time to retrograde 
 to his camp at Thielt, after suffering a trifling loss. 
 But three days subsequently, on the 25th Prairial 
 (13th June), having received the reinforcement he 
 expected, he suddenly deployed in front of the French 
 columns with 30,000 men. The French soldiers ran 
 eagerly to arms, but the right division, l^eing attacked 
 with great impetuosity, disbanded, leaving the left 
 division uncovered on the plateau of Hooglede. Mrc- 
 donald commanded this left division. He contrived 
 to uphold it against the repeated attacks in front and 
 flank to which it was long exposed, and by this coura- 
 geous resistance he afforded time to the brigade of 
 Devinthier to rejoin him, and then obliged Clairfayt to 
 retire with considerable loss. This was the fifth occa- 
 sion on which Clairfayt, badly supported, had sus- 
 tained a defeat from the army of the North. The 
 action, so honourable to JLacdonald's division, decided 
 the fate of the besieged fortress. Four days afterwards, 
 29th Prairial (17th June), Ypres opened its gates, and 
 a garrison of 7000 men laid down its arms. Cobourg 
 was on the point of proceeding to the aid of Ypres and 
 Claii-fayt, when he learnt it was too late. The events 
 occurring on the Sambre then constrained him to di- 
 verge towards the opposite extremity of the theatre of 
 war. He left the Duke of York on the Scheldt, Clair- 
 fayt at Thielt, and marched with all the Austrian 
 troops on Charleroi. This was a complete separation 
 between the principal powers, England and Austria, 
 who stood upon indifferent terms, and whose very dis • 
 tinct interests were now illustrated in a most striking 
 manner. The English remained m Flanders, towards 
 the maritime provinces, and the Austrians hastened 
 towards their threatened connnunications. Their sepa- 
 ration tended to augment their misunderstanding. 
 The Emperor of Germany had retired to Vienna, dis- 
 gusted with so unsuccessful a war ; and Mack, perceiv- 
 ing his plans subverted, once more quitted the impe- 
 rial staff. 
 
 We narrated the arrival of Jourdan from the ]\Io- 
 selle at Charleroi, precisely as the French, repulsed for 
 the third time, were repassing the Sambre in disorder. 
 After allowing a few days' respite to the troops, of 
 whom one portion was dejected at its discomfitures 
 and the other wearied by its rapid march, an altera- 
 tion was made in their organisation. The divisions 
 of Uesjardins and Charbonnier were incorporated witli 
 those arrived from the Moselle into a single army, 
 called the army of the Sambre and Meuse, which 
 amounted to about G 8,000 men, and was placed under 
 the orders of Jourdan. A division of 15,000 men, 
 commanded by Scherer, was left to guard the Sambre, 
 from Thuin to Maubeuge. 
 
 Jourdan resolved immediately to cross the Sambre 
 and invest Charleroi. The division of Hatry was ap- 
 pointed to attack the place, whilst the bulk of the 
 army should encompass it to protect the siege. Char- 
 leroi is situated on the Sambre. Beyond its circuit 
 sweeps a range of positions in the form of a semicircle, 
 the extremities whereof rest on the Sambre. These 
 positions are by no means advantageous, because the 
 semicircle they describe is ten leagues in extent, and 
 because, moreover, they are unconnected with one an- 
 otlier, and have a stream in the rear. Kleber, with 
 the left, stretched from the Sambre to Orchies and 
 Trasegnies, and guarded the rivulet of the Pieton, 
 which traversed the debatable ground, and flowed 
 into the Sambre. In tlie centre, Morlot occupied Gos- 
 
 selies ; Championnet pushed forward between Hepig- 
 nies and Wagne ; Lefebvre held Wagne, Fleurus, and 
 Lambusart. Lastly, on the right, Marceau extended 
 in front of the wood of Campinaire, and carried the 
 line to the Sambre. Jourdan, sensible of tlie disad- 
 vantages attending these positions, determined to 
 vacate them ; and in order to accomplish that object, 
 proposed to take the initiative in an attack on the 
 morning of the 28th Prairial (16th June). Cobourg 
 had not yet moved on this point; he was still at 
 Tournay, contemplating the defeat of Clairfayt and 
 the capture of Ypres. The Prince of Orange, detached 
 towards Charleroi, commanded the army of the allies. 
 He resolved on his part to anticipate the attack where- 
 with he was menaced ; and, at dawn on the 28th, his 
 troops, distributed in order of battle, compelled the 
 French to sustain the conflict on the ground they oc- 
 cupied. Four columns, arrayed against the right and 
 centre, had already penetrated into the wood of Cam- 
 pinaire, where Marceau was stationed, wrested Fleu- 
 rus from Lefebvre and Hepignies from Championnet, 
 and were proceeding to drive ]\Iorlot from Pont-a- 
 Migneloup on Gosselies, when Jourdan, hastening op- 
 portunely with a reserve of cavalry, stopped the fourth 
 column by a fortunate charge, rallied ^lorlot's troops 
 into their positions, and restored the battle in the 
 centre. On the left, Wartensleben had made similar 
 progress towards Trasegnies. But Kleber, by the 
 most skilful and prompt dispositions, retook Traseg- 
 nies, and then, seizing the critical moment, turned 
 Wartensleben, repulsed him beyond the Pieton, and 
 prepared to pursue him on his two columns. So far 
 the battle was maintained with advantage, and even vic- 
 tory was about to declare for the French, Avhen the 
 Prince of Orange, concentrating his two first columns 
 towards Lambusart, on the point connecting the ex- 
 treme right of the French Mith the Sambre, threat- 
 ened their communications. Thereupon the right and 
 the centre were constrained to retrograde. Kleber, 
 abandoning his victorious march, protected the retreat 
 with his division. It was effected in good order. Such 
 was the affair of the 28tli (16tli June). This Avas the 
 fourth time the French had been obliged to repass the 
 Sambre ; but on this occasion it happened in a man- 
 ner more honourable to their arms. Jourdan gave 
 way to no dejection. He again cleared the Sambre a 
 few days subsequently, resumed his positions of the 
 28tli, re-invested Charleroi, and caused it to be bom- 
 barded with extreme vigom-. 
 
 Cobourg, apprised of these new operations on the 
 part of Jourdan, at length approached the Sambre. 
 It behoved the French to take Charleroi before the 
 reinforcements expected by the imperialists came up. 
 The engineer Marescot pushed on the works so briskly, 
 that in eight days the fire from the town was silenced, 
 and all prepared for an assaidt. On the 7 th Messidor 
 (2Gth June), the commandant dispatched an officer 
 with a letter proposing a parley. Saint-Just, who 
 still exercised supremacy in the French camp, refused 
 to open the letter, and dismissed the messenger with 
 these words — " It is not a rag of paper, hut the town we 
 want!" The garrison marched out of the place tlie 
 same evening, at the very moment Cobourg arrived 
 in sight of the Frencli lines. The sm-render of Char- 
 leroi remained unknown to tlie enemy. The posses- 
 sion of the fastness materially strengthened the French 
 position, and rendered the battle about to be fought, 
 with a river in the rear, infinitely less dangerous. The 
 division of Hatry, now left at liberty, was moved to 
 Ransart, to reinforce the centre ; and all was made 
 ready for a decisive action the following day, the 8th 
 Messidor (27th June). 
 
 Tlie Frencli positions were the same as on the 28th 
 Prairial (IGth June). Kleber commanded on the left, 
 ranging from the Sambre to Trasegnies. Morlot, Cham- 
 pionnet, Lefebvi-e, and Marceau, formed the centre and 
 the right, and extended from Gosselies to the Sambre. 
 Intrenchments had been thrown up at Hepignies, to
 
 4;J4 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 proteot the centre. Cobourg directed his attack on 
 the whole of this semicircle, instead of making a con- 
 centric effort on one of the extremities, on the right 
 for example, and seizing the passages of the Sambre. 
 
 The battle began on the morning of the 8th Messi- 
 dor. The Prince of Orange and General Latonr, who 
 confronted Kleber on the left, repulsed the French 
 columns, and drove them through the wood of iMon- 
 ceaux, even to the banks of the 8ambre,to ]Marchienne- 
 au-Pont. Kleber, who had been fortunately stationed 
 on the left to direct all the divisions in that wing, 
 immediately hastened to the tlireatened point, planted 
 batteries on the heights, enveloped the Austrians in 
 the wood of ^lonceaux, and caused tliem to be assailed 
 on all sides. They having ascertained, on approach- 
 ing the Sambre, that Charleroi was in possession of 
 the French, began to evince hesitation ; Kleber quickly 
 profited tlierebv, charged them vigorously, and ex- 
 pelled them from the vicinity of Marchienne-au-Pont. 
 Whilst Kleber thus extricated one of the wings, Jour- 
 dan acted as efficiently for the safety of the centre and 
 right. ^Nlorlot, who was in advance of Gosselies, had 
 maintained a lengthened contest with General Kwas- 
 danovich, and attempted several times to turn him, 
 but had been idtimately out-manceuvred and turned 
 himself. lie fell back on Gosselies, after efforts highly 
 honourable to his courage and capacity. Champion- 
 net resisted with equal pertinacity, supported by the 
 redoubt of Ilepignies ; but the corps of Kaunitz hav- 
 ing advanced to turn the redoubt, at the moment a 
 false report announced the retreat of Lefebvre on the 
 right, Championnet, deceived by the intelligence, re- 
 trograded, and had already evacuated the redoubt, 
 when Jourdan, spying the danger, detached a part of 
 Hatry's division placed in reserve, enabled Hepignies 
 to be recovered, and ordered his cavalry to charge into 
 the plain upon the Austrian troops. Whilst on either 
 side repeated onslaughts were making with unusual 
 fury in this quarter, a still more violent conflict raged 
 near the Sambre, at Wagne and Lambusart. Beau- 
 lieu, ascending simultaneously the two banks of the 
 Sambre to assail the French extreme right, had re- 
 pulsed Marceau's division. This division fled in all 
 haste through the woods which skirt the Sambre, and 
 even crossed the river in disorder. Thereupon Mar- 
 ceau gathered certain battalions around him, and, 
 without heeding the remainder of his fugitive division, 
 threw himself into Lambusart, determined todie rather 
 than abandon that post, contiguous to the Sambre, and 
 indispensable as a base to the extreme right. Lefebvre, 
 who was stationed at Wagne, Hepignies, and Lambu- 
 sart, recalled his advanced posts from Fleurus to 
 Wagne, and detached some troops on Lambusart to 
 support Marceau. That place then became the deci- 
 sive point of the battle. Beaulieu perceived its criti- 
 cal importance, and directed thither a third column. 
 Jourdan, attentive to the danger, also dispatched to 
 the scene the remainder of his reserve. The opposing 
 forces contended around the village of Lambusart with 
 extraordinary fierceness. The fire was so continuous 
 that the volleys were no longer distinguishable. The 
 forage and casks in the camp ignited, and the battle 
 proceeded amidst the blaze of a conflagration. Even- 
 tually the republicans remained nuvsters of Lambu- 
 sart. 
 
 At this moment, the French, repulsed in the eai-ly 
 part of the day, had succeeded in restoring the com- 
 bat on all points : Kleber had covered the Sambre on 
 the left ; ^Nlorlot, driven back to Gosselies, had there 
 stood his ground ; Championnet had retaken Hepig- 
 nies, and a furious encounter at Lambusart had ended 
 in securing that position. The close of day drew 
 nigh. Beaulieu had learned on the Sambre the fact 
 already known to the I'rince of Orange — the occui^a- 
 tion of Charleroi by the French. Thereupon C(jbourg, 
 not venturing to persist, ordered a general retreat. 
 
 Such was this decisive battle, one of the most vigo- 
 rously contested in the campaign, and fought on a 
 
 semicircular range of ten leagues, between two armies 
 of about eighty thousand men each. It was called 
 the battle of Fleurus, although that village had borne 
 a very secondary part in the atFray, because the Duke 
 of Luxumbourg had already illustrated the name un- 
 der Louis XIV. Although its results in immediate 
 acquisition were inconsiderable, and the victory itself 
 only amounted to a defeated attack, it determined the 
 retreat of the Austrians, and thereby led to vast con- 
 sequences.* Tlie Austrians were incapacitated from 
 hazarding another engagement. They must at all 
 events have efii^cted a })reliminary jimction with the 
 iJuke of York or with Clairfayt, and both those gene- 
 rals were occupied in the north by Pichegru. More- 
 over, threatened on tlie I\Ieuse, it became essential for 
 them to retrograde, to avoid compromising their com- 
 munications. From that instant the retreat of the 
 allies was general, and they resolved to concentrate 
 their strength on Brussels, in order to cover that 
 city. 
 
 The campaign was manifestly decided ; but a delu- 
 sion of the committee of public welfare prevented such 
 prompt and considerable advantages being derived as 
 might have been reasonably hoped. Pichegru had 
 formed a plan, unquestionably the best of all his mili- 
 tary conceptions. The Duke of York was on the 
 Scheldt parallel with Tournay, and Clairfayt, far re- 
 moved, at Thielt in Flanders. Pichegru, intent on 
 his design of destroying Clairfaj't separately, proposed 
 to pass tlie Sclieldt at Oudenarde, thus isolate Clair- 
 fayt from the Duke of York, and once more engage 
 him apart from his allies. Afterwards he purposed, 
 wliilst tlie Duke of York, finding himself alone, should 
 be pondering on a junction with Cobourg, to over- 
 whelm him in his turn, and eventually take Cobourg 
 in the rear, or unite with Jourdan. This plan, which, 
 besides the advantage of exposing the Duke of York 
 and Clairfayt to isolated attacks, possessed the merit 
 of attracting all the French forces towards the Meuse, 
 was counteracted by a remarkablj- stupid conceit of 
 the committee of public welfare. Carnot had been 
 persuaded to send Admiral Venstabel with troops for 
 disembarkation in the isle of Walcheren, with the view 
 of exciting insurrectionary movements in Holland. 
 In order to favour this scheme, Carnot enjoined Piche- 
 gru to meander with his army along the shore of the 
 ocean, and seize upon all the ports in West Flanders ; 
 he moreover directed Jourdan to detach 16,000 men 
 from his army for the purpose of assisting in this 
 maritime demonstration. This last order was espe- 
 cially irrational and dangerous. The generals demon- 
 strated its absurdity to Saint-Just, and it was not 
 executed ; but Pichegru found himself under the ne- 
 cessity of moving towards the sea, under a mandate 
 to capture Bruges and Ostend, whilst Moreau should 
 take possession of Nieuport. 
 
 The operations were prosecuted on both wings 
 sinlultaneousl\^ Pichegru left IMoreau, with a por- 
 tion of the array, to besiege Nieuport and Sluys, 
 and with the residue forcibly occupied Bruges, Ostend 
 and Ghent. lie subsequently advanced towards Brus- 
 sels, wliither Jourdan was progressing on his side. 
 The only resistance offered to the French consisted in 
 conflicts with the allies' rearguards ; and at length, 
 on the 22d IMessidor (10th July), their vanguard 
 entered the capital of the Low Countries. A few days 
 afterwards, the two armies of the North and the 
 Sambre and Meuse accomphshed their junction. The 
 event was one of paramount miportance : one liundred 
 and fifty thousand French troops concentrated in the 
 capital of the Low Countries, might from that point 
 
 * It is an error to attribute the great effect produced on public 
 opinion in Franco by the battle of Fleurus to the interest of a 
 faction. The Robespierrian faction had, on the contrary, exnellent 
 reasons for disparaging at the moment the effect of victories, as 
 will be shortly made apparent. The battle of Fleurus opened 
 Belgium and Brussels to the French, and this it w.as which caused 
 its reputation.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 435 
 
 fall with terrific eifect on ti.e discomfited armies of 
 Europe, which, repulsed on all sides, were flying to 
 regain the sea or the Rhine, as their homes pointed. 
 The fastnesses of Condo, Landrecies, Valenciennes, 
 and Le Quesnoy, which the allies had previously 
 taken, were forthwith invested; and the convention, 
 pretending that the deliverance of the territory su- 
 perseded all laws, decreed that if the garrisons did not 
 immediately surrender, they should be put to the 
 edge of the sword. It had already ]iassed a decree, 
 enacting that no more English prisoners should be 
 made, in order thereby to avenge all the wrongs of 
 Pitt towards France. The French soldiers abstained 
 from executing the decree. A sergeant having taken 
 some English soldiers, conducted them to an officer. 
 " Why hast thou taken them ?" said the officer to 
 him. " Because they make so many shots the less to 
 receive," replied the sergeant. " True," responded 
 the ofiicer ; " but the representatives will compel you 
 to shoot them." " It will not be we who will shoot 
 them," retorted the sergeant ; " send them to the re- 
 presentatives, and, if they are barbarians, let them 
 kill and eat them too if they please." 
 
 Thus the French armies, at the beginning, had 
 directed their efforts against the enemy's centre, and, 
 finding it too strong, subsequently divided into two 
 wings, and diverged, the one upon the Lys and the 
 other upon the Sambre. Pichegru had first defeated 
 Clairfayt at Moucroen and Courtray, then Cobourg 
 and the Duke of York at Turcoing, and finally Clair- 
 fayt again at Hooglede. After several abortive pas- 
 sages over the Sambre, Jourdan had marched to that 
 locality, in pursuance of a brilliant conception of 
 Carnot, and decided the success ,of the right wing at 
 Fleurus. From that moment, overpowered on the 
 two wings, the allies had abandoned the Low Countries 
 to the French. Such was the campaign. Its asto- 
 nishing success was the theme of universal congra- 
 tulation. The victory of Fleui'us, the occupation of 
 Charleroi, Ypres, Tournay, Oudenarde, Ostend, Bruges, 
 Ghent, and Brussels, and the junction of the armies 
 in that capital, were extolled as veritable prodigies. 
 Such achievements, however, were by no means grate- 
 ful to Robespierre, who saw, with secret mortification, 
 the reputation of the committee increase, and espe- 
 cially that of Carnot, who, it must be allowed, was 
 too inordinately lauded for the results of the cam- 
 paign. All the good effected, all the glory reaped by 
 the committees in Robespierre's absence, arose up- 
 braidingly against him, and redounded to his discredit. 
 A defeat, on the contrary, would have rekindled revo- 
 lutionary fury, permitted him to accuse the commit- 
 tees of inertness or treachery, justified his retirement 
 during the last four decades, conveyed a high idea of 
 his foresight, and carried his power to the extreme 
 verge. He had therefore placed himself in the most 
 moiirnful of positions, that in which his country's re- 
 verses were desirable ; and there can be no doubt he 
 did anxiously desire them. It was not fitting he 
 should either proclaim or allow to be detected this his 
 disposition ; but, despite himself, it was perceptible in 
 his speeches. He laboiu'ed, when haranguing the 
 Jacobins, to damp the enthusiasm which the successes 
 of the republic inspired ; he insinuated that the allies 
 retreated now, as they had formerly done before Du- 
 mouriez, only to return the sooner and the stronger ; 
 and he held that, in momentarily removing from the 
 frontiers, their design was merely to leave the nation 
 a prey to the passions evolved by prosperity. He 
 added, at the same time, " that victory over foreign 
 armies was not such as should be most craved. The 
 true victory," as he inferred, " M'as that which the 
 friends of liberty gain over factions ; such is the vic- 
 tory which rccaHs amongst nations peace, justice, and 
 happiness. A nation is not rendered illustrious be- 
 cause it prostrates tyrants or enchains populations. 
 'Ihis was the manner of the Romans and sundry 
 other nations. Our destiny, incomparably more sub- 
 
 lime, is to found on earth the empire of wisdom, jus- 
 tice, and virtue."* 
 
 Robespierre had absented himself from the commit- 
 tee since the latter days of Prairial. The first of Ther- 
 mldor were now entered upon. For nearly forty days 
 he had stood aloof from his colleagues ; the time was 
 come for taking a decided part. His confidants openly 
 affirmed that another 31st of ]\Iay was necessary ; 
 Dumas, Ilenriot, Payan, and their associates, urged 
 him unceasingly to give the signal. But he neither 
 l)art()()k their predilection for violent methods, nor 
 shared their brutal impatience. Accustomed to effect 
 his purposes by oratory, and shrinking from a viola- 
 tion of legality, he preferred the experiment of a dis- 
 course, wherein he should denounce the committees 
 and demand their reconstruction. If by this peaceful 
 course he succeeded, he became absolute master, with- 
 out danger or commotion. If he failed, his trial of 
 the gentle mode did not preclude recourse to violent 
 expedients, nay, on the contrary, it would stimulate 
 their adoption. The 31st of May had been preceded 
 by multitudinous harangues and respectful addresses, 
 and it was only after solicitation proved fruitless that 
 coercion had been applied. He resolved, therefore, to 
 follow the precedent of that celebrated occasion : in 
 the first place to instigate the presentation of a peti- 
 tion by the Jacobins, then to pronounce a studied 
 oration, and lastly, to introduce Saint-Just with a re- 
 port. If this demonstration were insufficient, he had 
 all his resources intact — the Jacobins, the commune, 
 and the armed force of Paris. But he really hoped to 
 avoid the necessity of renewing the scene of the 2d 
 of June. He lacked the requisite audacity, and still 
 entertained too much respect for the convention to 
 desire so desperate a proceeding. 
 
 For some time he had been assiduously preparing 
 a voluminous harangue, in which he taxed his inge- 
 nuity to unfold the abuses of the government, and to 
 fasten upon his colleagues all the calamities attributed 
 to it. He wrote to Saint- Just, urging his return from 
 the army ; he detained his brother, who ought to have 
 departed for the Italian frontier ; he appeared every 
 day at the Jacobins', and made every disposition for 
 the attack. As always happens in critical conjunc- 
 tures, various incidents tended to augment the gene- 
 ral excitement. A man, by name Magenthies, pre- 
 sented an absurd petition, craving the penalty of death 
 against all who should indulge in imprecations which 
 profaned the name of God. jMoreover, a revolution- 
 ary committee imprisoned as suspected persons cer- 
 tain operatives who had contrived to get intoxicated. 
 These two circumstances occasioned various rumours 
 to the prejudice of Robespierre. Amongst otlier tilings, 
 it was sneeringly observed that his Supreme Being 
 promised to become more oppressive than the religion 
 of Christ, and that the inquisition would be shortly 
 seen revived for behoof of deism. Alive to the dan- 
 ger of such accusations, he hastened to denounce 
 Magenthies before the Jacobins as an aristocrat 
 suliorned by the foreigner to disjjarage the creed i)r(i- 
 mulgated by the convention ; he even procured his 
 consignment to the revolutionary tribunal. Further- 
 more, availing himself of his board of police, he caused 
 all the meml)ers of the oflending revolutionary com- 
 mittee to be lodged in prison. 
 
 Tlie ap])roach of the catastrophe Avas felt, and it 
 would s(M'in tliat the members of the committee of 
 public welfare, Barrcre in particular, desired to make 
 peace with their redoubtable coll(>ague ; but he had 
 become so exorbitant, that any compromise was ab- 
 solutely imjiossible. Barrere, returning home one 
 evening with a fricn<l, said to him, as he threw 
 himself on a sofa, " This Robespierre is insatiable ! 
 Let him demand Tallien, Bourdon-de-fOisc, Thuriot, 
 Guffroy, Rovere, Lccointre, Panis, Barras, Frcron, 
 Legendre, Monestier, Dubois-Crance, Fouche, Cam- 
 
 * Sitting of the Jacobins, 2Ist Messidor (9lh July).
 
 436 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bon, and all the Danton squad — so be it ; but Duval, 
 Audouin, Leonard-Bourdon, Vadier, Vouland — it is 
 impossible to consent ! " We see, then, that Robes- 
 pierre required the sacrifice of sundry members of the 
 committee of general safety, whereby all prospect of 
 accommodation was precluded ; to break and run the 
 chances of the struagle was henceforth unavoidable. 
 However, not one of Robespierre's adversaries had suf- 
 ficient daring to take the initiative. The members of 
 the connnittees waited to be denounced, and the pro- 
 scribed IMountaineers until their heads were actuallj^ 
 demanded ; all, in short, resolved to let the attack be 
 made on them before taking measures of defence ; and 
 thej' acted reasonably. It was politic to allow Robes- 
 pierre to commence the engagement, and compromise 
 himself in the opinion of the convention by a demand 
 for additional proscriptions. Then they would be in 
 the position of men defending not only their own 
 lives but those of others ; for if another sacrifice were 
 to be offered up, no limit could be assigned to the 
 execrable system. 
 
 All was arranged, and the first movements began 
 on the 3d Thermidor at the Jacobin Club. Amongst 
 the confidants of Robespierre was a person named 
 Sijas, an adjunct to the commissi(jn for army move- 
 ments. This commission was obnoxious for having 
 ordered the successive departure of several companies 
 of artillerymen, and thus reduced the armed force of 
 Paris. A direct accusation for so doing was not yet to 
 be ventured upon ; but Sijas assailed the president of 
 the commission, Pyle, for the secrecy in whicli he en- 
 veloped his proceedings, and discharged upon him the 
 vituperation he dared not utter against Carnot or the 
 conmiittee of public welfore. Sijas maintained that 
 only one resource was available, namely, to address 
 the convention, and submit a formal charge against 
 Pyle. Another Jacobin denounced an agent of the 
 committee of general safety. Thereupon Couthon 
 ascended the tribune, and said it was necessary to 
 strike higher, and present an address to the National 
 Convention on all the machinations which were once 
 more threatening liberty. "I invite you," he pro- 
 ceeded, " to submit your reflections to it. It is pure ; 
 it will not allow itself to be subjugated by four or five 
 miscreants. As to myself, I affirm they will never 
 subjugate me." Couthon's proposition was forthwith 
 adopted. The petition was framed, approved on the 
 5th, and presented to the convention on the 7tli 
 Thermidor. 
 
 The style of this petition was, as usual, respectfiU 
 in form but imperious in substance. It stated that 
 the Jacobins " came to repose in the bosom of the conven- 
 tion the solicitudes of the people." It repeated the cus- 
 tomary declamations against the foreigner and his 
 accomplices, against the system of indulgence, against 
 tlie alarms disseminated for the purpose of dividing 
 the national representation, against the eflbrts made 
 to render the worship of God ridiculous, &c. It con- 
 tained no specific conclusions, but ended in general 
 terms — " You will make traitors, knaves, and in- 
 triguers, tremble ; j'ou will reassure the honest ; you 
 will maintain that union which constitutes your 
 strength ; you will preserve in all its purity tliat 
 sublime creed whereof every citizen is a minister, 
 whose only practice is virtue ; and the people, confid- 
 ing in you, will place their duty and glory in respect- 
 ing and defending their representatives to the death." 
 Tills was intimating sutticiently explicitly — "You 
 will do what Robespierre shall dictate, or you will be 
 neither respected nor defended." The perusal of this 
 petition was heard in sullen silence. No rej>ly was 
 given. Immediately after its presentation, Dubois- 
 Crance appeared in the tribune, and, without alluding 
 to the petition or to the Jacobins, complained of the 
 rancour with which he had been assailed during the 
 last six months, and of the injustice rendered to his 
 services, concluding with a motion that the commit- 
 tee of public welfare should be charged to draw up a 
 
 report on his conduct, although in that committee, as 
 he said, were two of his accusers. He further moved 
 that such report be presented within three days. His 
 demands were acceded to, without eliciting a single 
 remark, amidst a continued silence. Barrere suc- 
 ceeded him in the tribune. He brought up a grand 
 re])ort on the comparative state of France in July 
 1793 and July 1794. It is certain a prodigious ditfe- 
 rence existed ; and that if the France, convulsed at 
 once by royalists, federalists, and foreigners, were 
 compared with the France victorious on all the fron- 
 tiers and mistress of the Low Countries, a tribute of 
 approbation to the government which had effected 
 such a change in one j^ear could scarcely be withheld 
 The only manner in which Barrere ventured indi- 
 rectly to attack Robespierre, was by extolling the 
 committee ; he even expressly commended him in his 
 rejiort. Referring to the insidious agitation noto- 
 riously prevailing, and to the reprehensible clamour 
 of certain pertnrbators who upheld the necessit)' of a 
 second 31st of May, he said, " That a representative 
 who enjoyed a well-mei'ited reputation for patriotism, 
 founded on a service of five j-ears, and on steadfast 
 principles of independence and libert3% had contro- 
 verted with energy those counter-revolutionary doc- 
 trines." The convention, after hearing this report, 
 separated under the foreboding impression of some 
 imminent catastrophe. The members observed each 
 other in silent distrustfulness, daring neither to offer 
 nor to seek explanations. 
 
 On the following day, the 8th Thermidor, Robes- 
 pierre determined to pronoimce his famous discourse. 
 All his agents were apprized and on the alert, and 
 Saint-Just arrived in the course of the day. The con- 
 vention, on beholding Robespierre appear in that 
 tribune he so rarely mounted, prepared for a decisive 
 scene. He was received in gloomy stillness. " Citi- 
 zens," he said, " let others sketch flattering pictures 
 for you ; I come to tell you useful truths. I am 
 not come to realise the absurd alarms circulated by 
 perfidy ; but I wish to extinguish, if possible, the 
 flames of discord by tlie mere force of truth. I am 
 about to defend before you your own outraged autho- 
 rity and violated liberty. I am about to defend my- 
 self: you will not be surprised thereat. You bear no 
 similitude to the tyrants whom you combat. The 
 cries of oppressed innocence importune not your ears ; 
 and this cause, j-ou are aware, is not foreign to your- 
 selves." Robespierre subsequently alluded to the agi- 
 tation that had existed for some time, to the fears 
 sedulously propagated, and to the projects attributed 
 to the committee and himself against the convention. 
 " AVe," he exclaimed, " attack the convention ! And 
 what are we without it ? Who has vindicated it at 
 the jieril of his life? Who has devoted himself to 
 rescue it from the thraldom of factions?" Robes- 
 pierre answered that it was he who had done these 
 things ; in corroboration whereof he adduced his de- 
 fence of the convention against sundry factions, and 
 his tearing from its jiale Brissot, Vergniaud, Gen- 
 sonne, Petion, Barbaroux, Danton, Camille-Desmou- 
 lins, &c. After the proofs of zealous devotion he had 
 given, he was amazed at sinister reports having crept 
 into circulation. " Is it then true," he said, " that 
 detestable lists have been hawked about, wherein 
 several members of the convention were marked for 
 victims, and that the Avork was asserted to be the 
 committee's, and ultimately mine? Is it true that 
 sittings of the committee, rigorous ordinances which 
 never existed, and arrests not less chimerical, have 
 been audaciously invented ? Is it true that attempts 
 have been made to persuade irreproachable represen- 
 tatives that their destruction was resolved upon ? — to 
 persuade all those, in short, who, acted upon by any 
 terror, had yielded an involmitary tribute to human 
 frailty, that they were to undergo the fate of conspi- 
 rators ? Is it true that the imposture has been main- 
 tained with such art and eflrontcry. that a number of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 437 ' 
 
 members no longer slept at home ? Yes, these facts 
 are certain, and their proofs are -with the committee 
 of public welfare ! " 
 
 He proceeded to complain that accusations, first 
 directed against the committees in the aggregate, had 
 eventuall}^ settled on him alone. He averred that his 
 name M'as connected ■with whatever of evil was per- 
 petrated in the government. If patriots wei'e impri- 
 soned instead of aristocrats, it was said — " It is RoIjcs- 
 ])ierre who so resolves :" if any patriots had fallen 
 victims, it was said — " It is Robespierre who has so 
 ordained :" if the numerous agents of the committee 
 of general safety extended the sphere of their vexa- 
 tions and rapine, it was stated — " It is Robespierre 
 who sends them :" if a new law harassed annuitants, 
 it was said — " It is Robespierre who ruins them." He 
 affirmed that he had been represented as the auth(jr 
 (if all calamities, with the view of injuring him in 
 pvibHc estimation ; tliat he had been called atyi'ant; 
 and that, on the day of the festival to the Supreme 
 Being — " tliat daj^ whereon the convention smote at one 
 blow atheism and priestly despotism, and attached to 
 the revohition all generous hearts — that day, in short, 
 of felicity and holy rapture" — the president of the Na- 
 tional Convention, speaking to the assembled popula- 
 tion, had been insulted by guilty men ; and that those 
 men were deputies. He had been called a tyrant ! — 
 and wlierefore? Because he had acquired some influ- 
 ence by holding the langxiage of truth. " And what 
 do you seek," he exclaimed, " you who desire that 
 truth should be without force in the mouths of the 
 representatives of tlie French people ? Truth, doubt- 
 less, has its jiower, its wrath, its despotism ; it has its 
 touching and terrible accents, which vibrate in hearts 
 pure and spotless, as in consciences the most guilty, 
 and falsehood can no moi'e imitate it than Salmoneus 
 the thunders of Heaven. But do you accuse the people, 
 the nation tlicrefore, Mdio feels and loves it ? "Who 
 am I that am thus accused .' A slave of liberty — a 
 living martyr of the republic — the victim as well as 
 the enemy of crime ? All knaves rail at me ; the most 
 indifferent and legitimate actions on the part of others, 
 are crimes in me. A man is reviled the moment he 
 forms an acquaintance with me : the delinquencies of 
 others are pardoned ; my zeal is converted into guilt. 
 Take away my conscience, I am the most imfortunate 
 of men ; I do not even enjoy the rights of a citizen ; 
 naj', I am not permitted to fulfil the duties of a repre- 
 sentative of the peojilel" 
 
 It was by such vague and artful declamations that 
 Robespierre sought to defend himself, and, for the 
 first time, he found the convention sidlen, silent, and, 
 as it were, impatient under the infliction of his verbo- 
 sity. He came at length to the more stirring part of his 
 theme — accusation. Assailing all parts of tlie govern- 
 ment, he first censured the financial system with dia- 
 bolical perfidy. Himself the author of the law of the 
 22d Prairial, he descanted in a strain of deep conmii- 
 seration on the law of annuities ; indeed, against every 
 measure, even to the maximum, he seemed to declare, 
 by his assertion, that intriguers had entrapped the 
 convention into violent expedients. " In whose liands," 
 he asked, " are your finances ? In the hands of Feuil- 
 lants, of known rogues — Cambon, Mallarmc, Ramel." 
 He subsequently adverted to the'war department, and 
 spoke with disdain of those victories " whicli had been 
 described with academic levitij, as if they had cost 
 neither blood nor toil." " Be vigilant on victor^-," he 
 exclaimed ; "keep an eye on Belgium. Your enemies 
 retire, and leave j'OU to your intestine dissensions : 
 beware the end of the campaign. Divisions have been 
 sown amongst the generals ; military aristocracy is 
 protected ; faithful generals are persecuted ; the mili- 
 tary administration surrounds itself with a suspicious 
 authority. These truths countervail many epigrams." 
 He said no more against Carnot and Barrere, leaving 
 to Saint-Just the task of vituperating Carnot's plans. 
 The crafty misanthrope, as we see, tinged every topic 
 
 with the envious malignity rankling within him. He 
 next proceeded to reprobate the committee of general 
 safety, expatiating on the multitude of its agents, on 
 their cruelties and on their exactions ; he denounced 
 Amar and Jagot for having monopolised the police, 
 and for doing tlieir utmost to discredit the revolution- 
 ary government. He complained of the sarcasms ut- 
 tered in the tribune with respect to Catherine Theot, 
 and affirmed that pretended conspiracies were ima- 
 gined, in oi'der to conceal real ones. He represented 
 the two connnittees as abandoned to intrigues, and, 
 to a certain extent, engaged in the schemes of the 
 anti-national faction. In the entire existing state of 
 things, he found nothing ])raiseworthy but the revo- 
 lutionary government, and of that only the principle, 
 not the execution. The jirinciple was his ; he it was 
 who had instituted that government, whereas it was 
 his adversaries who had corrupted it. 
 
 Such the purport and essence of Robespierre's volu- 
 minous harangue. He concluded with the following 
 words in the nature of a summary : — " Let us acknow- 
 ledge that a conspiracy exists against public liberty ; 
 that it owes its strength to a criminal coalition in- 
 triguing in the very heart of the convention ; that this 
 coalition has accomjilices witliin the committee of 
 general safety, and in the offices of that committee 
 which they control ; that the enemies of the republic 
 have opposed this committee to tlie committee of 
 public welfare, and thus constituted two goverimients ; 
 that certain members of the committee of public wel- 
 fare participate in this plot ; that the coalition thus 
 formed seeks to ruin patriots and the country. What 
 is the remedy for these evils? To punish the traitors, 
 remodel tlie offices of the committee of general safety, 
 purify that committee itself, and render it subordinate 
 to the committee of public welfare ; to purify the 
 committee of public welfare as m'cII, establish the go- 
 vernment mider the suprem.e authority of the National 
 Convention, which is the centre and the judge, and 
 thus crush all the factions by the weight of the na- 
 tional authority, in order to rear upon their ruins the 
 sway of justice and liberty. Such are the essential 
 principles. If it be impossible to uphold them with- 
 out being esteemed ambitious, I will conclude that 
 principles are proscribed, and that tyranny reigns 
 amongst us, but not that I ought to conceal the fact ; 
 for what can be objected to a man who adheres to 
 truth, and who knows how to die for his country ? I 
 Avas made to combat crime, not to govern it. The 
 time is not yet arrived when honest men can serve 
 the country with imjmnity!" 
 
 Robespierre had commenced his speech amid silence, 
 and so concluded it. From every part of the hall all 
 eyes were fixed on him, but not a sound escaped. 
 Those deputies, formerly so eager and animated in 
 their homage, had become suddenly conecaled ; they 
 withheld all expression of their feelings, nnving seem- 
 ingly found courage at least to remain cold and quies- 
 cent, since the tyrants, divided amongst themselves, 
 had taken them as arbiters. An impenetrable reserve 
 sat on every countenance. An indistinct murnnu- 
 gradually arose in the assembly, but no member ven- 
 tured for a while to address it. I^ccointre of Versailles, 
 one of tlie most energetic of Robespierre's antagonists, 
 was tiie first to present himself, but merely in order to 
 move the printing of the discourse, so egregiously did 
 the boldest hesitate to enter upon the confiict. Bom-- 
 don-de-l'Oise presumed to opjiose the motion, on the 
 ground that the sjicech involved questions of too mucli 
 gravity ; and lie moved its reference to the two com- 
 mittees. Barrere, always prudential, supported the 
 original motion, maintaining that in a free country 
 every thing ought to be jirinted. Couthon sprang to 
 the tribune, indignant at tlie idea of a debate instead 
 of an outburst of enthusiasm, and demanded not only 
 the printing but the transmission to all the communes 
 and all the armies. " He required to ease his afflicted 
 heart," lie said ; " for during past davs tlie deputies
 
 438 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FliEISCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 most faitliful to the cause of the people had been 
 steeped in odium ; they were accused of shedding 
 blood, of wisliing to shed more ; and j'ct, if he thouglit 
 he had contributed to the destruction of one innocent 
 person, he woidd sacrifice himself for grief." The 
 vehemence of Couthon resuscitated the spirit of suh- 
 naission in the assembly ; it vot^'d the printing of the 
 speech and its transmission to all the niunici])alities. 
 
 The adversaries of liobcspierre seemed on tlie point 
 of sustaining a signal discomfiture; but Vadier, Cam- 
 bon, Billaud-Vareunes, I'anis, and Amar, hastily de- 
 manded leave to answer his invectives. The danger 
 reanimated their drooping courage, and the decisive 
 contest began. The greatest eagerness was evinced 
 by them to occupy the tribune; insomuch, that it was 
 found necessary to determine the order of their prece- 
 dence. Vadier was first admitted to the privilege of 
 explanation. He vindicated the committee of general 
 safety, and upheld that the report on Catherine Theot 
 had been framed for the purpose of unfolding a deep 
 and veritable conspiracy, subjoining, in a significant 
 tone, that he possessed documents sufficient to prove 
 its importance and danger. Cambon, spealving with 
 his natural impetuosity, warmly defended his financial 
 measures, and likewise his probitj', wliichwas univer- 
 sally known and admired in a situation open to so 
 many and great temptations. He showed that stock- 
 jobbers alone could have been injured by his financial 
 laws ; and ultimately breaking through the reserve 
 hitherto maintained — " It is time," he exclaimed, " to 
 tell the whole truth. Is it I who ought to be accused 
 of having rendered myself master in any thing ? The 
 man wlio has rendered himself master in all things, 
 the man who paralyses your will, is he who has but 
 recently spoken — Robespierre I" This energetic frank- 
 ness disconcerted Robespierre : as if he had been 
 charged with playing the tyrant in matters of finance, 
 he remarked that he had never interfered in financial 
 questions, and could not, therefore, have constrained the 
 convention on such points ; he moreover averred that, 
 although assailing Cambon's plans, he had no inten- 
 tion to impeach his motives. He had, however, desig- 
 nated him a rogue. Billaud-Vaix-nnes, an equally 
 formidable antagonist, mamtained that the time was 
 come for placing all truths on record ; expatiated on 
 Robespierre's retirement from the conmiittees and on 
 the removal of the companies of artillerymen, whereof 
 but fifteen had been draughted from Paris, whilst the 
 law sanctioned the displacement of twenty-four ; and 
 added that he would shortly tear away all masks, much 
 preferring that his corpse should serve as a footstool 
 to an ambitious character, rather than by his silence 
 seem to authorise his projects. He moved the repeal 
 of the decree which directed Robespierre's speech to 
 be printed. Panis complained of the continual calum- 
 nies accredited by Robespierre, who, he alleged, had 
 laboured to represent him as the author of the days 
 of i^eptember ; and he called upon Robespierre and 
 Couthon to explain themselves as to the five or six 
 deputies whose sacrifice they had for the last month 
 been so incessantly demanding at the Jacobin Club. 
 Instantly tiie same cry was repeated from all parts of 
 the liall. Robespierre replied witli hesitation, tliat he 
 had come to unmask abuses, but had never imdertaken 
 to j ustify or accuse any particular individual. " Name, 
 name the persons!" exclaimed the deputies. Robes- 
 pierre again attempted to equivocate, and stated that 
 " Whenever he had presumed to impress upon the 
 convention counsels which he deemed advantageous, 
 
 he gave no heed" He was interrupted. Charlier 
 
 shouted to him, " You who pretend to have the cou- 
 rage of virtue, show you have that of truth. Name, 
 name the individuals !" Great confusion ensued. 
 Eventually the question of the x^rinting was reconsi- 
 dered. Araar insisted upon a remit of the speech to 
 the committees. Barrere, perceiving the advantage 
 of supporting those who advocated the reference to the 
 committees, rose to excuse himself in some degree for 
 
 having previously repudiated tliat proposition. At 
 length the convention revoked its decision, and or- 
 dained that Robespierre's discourse, instead of being 
 printed, should be referred to the examination of the 
 two conmiittees. 
 
 This sitting of the convention was at once a memo- 
 rable and extraordinary event. The deputies had 
 shaken off their habitual submission and resumed their 
 pristine courage. Robespierre, who had always been 
 devoid of true hardihood, and gifted only with an 
 arrogant effrontery, was amazed, chagrined, and pro- 
 strated. He felt the necessity of encouragement, and 
 hastened amongst his faithful Jacobins in quest of 
 friends and to borrow assurance from their sympathy. 
 They were already apprised of the result, and impa 
 tiently awaited his arrival. His appearance was the 
 signal for vociferous plaudits. Couthon followed him, 
 and received similar acclamations. The recitation of 
 the speech was enthusiastically demanded. Robespierre 
 gratified them by repeating it, an occupation in which 
 he again consumed two mortal hours. At every para- 
 grapli he was interrupted by frantic exclamations 
 and cheers. When lie had concluded, he added a few 
 words expressive of emotion and dejection. " This 
 discourse you have just heard," he said to the Jaco- 
 bins, " is my dying testament. I have ascertained it 
 to-day ; the league of the wicked is so strong that I 
 cannot hope to escape it. I succumb without regret ; 
 I bequeath you my memory ; it will be dear to you, 
 and you will defend it." At these words they ex- 
 claimed there was no cause for fear or despair ; that 
 on the contrary they woidd avenge the father of the 
 country on all the iniquitous united. Ilenriot, Dumas, 
 Coffinhal, and Payan, surrounded him and declared 
 themselves ready to act. Ilenriot stated that he still 
 knew the road to the convention. " Separate the 
 wicked from the weak," responded Robespierre ; " de- 
 liver the convention from the miscreants who oppress 
 it ; render it the service it expects from you, as on the 
 31st May and 2d June. March — again save liberty! 
 If, notwithstanding all such eS'orts, we must j'ield, so 
 be it : my friends, you will see me drink the hemlock 
 with composure." " Robespiei're," shouted a deputy, 
 " I will drink it with thee 1" Couthon proposed to 
 the society a new purifying scrutiny, and maintained 
 that the deputies who had voted against Robespierre 
 should be expelled on the instant : he had with him a 
 list of their names, •which he immediately submitted. 
 His proposition was adopted amidst a deafening tu- 
 mult. Collot-d'IIcrbois attempted to offer certain 
 observations ; he was overborne witli outcries : he 
 adverted to his services, his dangers, tlie two shots of 
 Ladmiral ; he M'as jeered, hooted, and driven from tlic 
 tribune. All the deputies present and designated by 
 Couthon were forced out, some by the agency of blows. 
 Collot saved himself amid an array of daggers sus- 
 pended over him. The club was that day swelled by 
 all the men of action, who, in periods of commotion, 
 gained admittance with spurious tickets or without 
 having any. These luiited violence with clamour, 
 and were even ready to add assassination. The 
 national agent Payan, who was a man of execution, 
 proposed a bold scheme. He urged that all the con- 
 spirators should be forthwith seized, which might have 
 been accomplished, for those he so stigmatised were 
 at that very moment gathered together in the com- 
 mittees of which they were members. The struggle 
 would have been thus terminated without a conflict, 
 by a sudden movement. Robespierre opposed the 
 project : he was hostile to such promjjt proceedings ; 
 he thought that all the precedents of the 31st May 
 ought to be followed. A solemn petition had already 
 been presented ; he himself had delivered an oration ; 
 Saint-Just, who had but now arrived from the army, 
 would make a report the following morning; he, 
 Robespierre, would again speak, and, if all were un- 
 successful, the magistrates of the people, assembled 
 in the interim at the commmie, and supported by the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 439 
 
 armed force of the sections, should proclaim that the 
 jiL'ople resxmied their sovereignty, and advance to de- 
 liver the convention from the wretches who misled it. 
 The plan was thus traced by precedents, as he demon- 
 strated. The Jacobins separated with mutual pledg-es 
 that, on the morrow, Robespierre should be in the 
 convention, the Jacobins in their hall, the nnmicipal 
 magistrates at the commune, and Henriot at the head 
 of the sections. They relied, moreover, on the youths 
 in the school of Mars, whose commandant, Labretcche, 
 was devoted to the cause of tlie commune. 
 
 Such was the day of the 8th Therniidor, the last of 
 tlie sanguinary tyranny which had brooded so heavily 
 on France. Still, on that day even, the liorrible re- 
 volutionary system was in full activity. The tribunal 
 sat, and victims were conducted to the scaffold. Among 
 the number were two celebrated poets, Roucher, au- 
 thor of Lcs Mois, and yomig Andre Chenier, wlio left 
 many admirable though unfinished pieces, and whom 
 France has cause to regret, in association with all those 
 young men of genius — orators, writers, and generals — 
 prematurely cut off by the guillotine or the sword. 
 Those two votaries of the Muses consoled each other in 
 the fatal cart by repeating verses from Racine. Young 
 Andre, on mounting the scaffold, uttered the com- 
 plaint of genius arrested in its course : " To die so 
 young .'" he exclaimed, striking his forehead ; " there 
 was something here ! " * 
 
 During the night which ensued, every quarter of 
 Paris was the scene of agitation, and each party 
 strove to collect its strength. The two committees 
 were assembled, in deliberation on the events of the 
 day, and on the prospects of the morrow. From what 
 liad occurred at the Jacobin Club, it was manifest 
 that the mayor and Henriot would sui)port the trium- 
 virs, and that all the forces of the commune would 
 
 * [Andrd Chenier was bom at Constantinople, where his 
 father was consul-general for France. The motlier of Ancli-^ was 
 a Greek lady, celebrated for her beauty and wit. Eetui-ning to 
 his native country about the year 1753, the consul Oienier 
 placed his son at the college of Navarre, where he remained until 
 of age to enter the aiTny. But a garrison life did not accord with 
 his tastes, and we find him pursuing a literary career in Paris at 
 the commencement of the revolutionary strusgle. A partisan, at 
 first, of the popular cause, Chenier published a number of jjoems 
 full of ardent notions respecting liberty, and calculated to en- 
 courage his countrymen in their tumultuary efforts. The excesses 
 into which they ran, however, shocked his ingenuous spirit, and 
 he exerted himself so much in defence of the king, as to com- 
 promise his own safety. After a short imprisonment, during 
 which he produced some affecting and appropriate poetical com- 
 positions, he ended his career on the scaftbid, at the age of thirty- 
 three. The following fragmentary verses are said to have been 
 composed and repeated by him, while waiting his turn to be 
 called to the guillotine : — ■ 
 
 " As the summer day pours its parting ray, 
 Or the breeze its farewell sigli. 
 At the scaflbld's foot do I wake the lute, 
 As I wait my time to die. 
 
 Perchance ere this hour, in its circling tour, 
 
 O'er tlie dial-front hath run, 
 And his sixtieth pace hath told that the race 
 
 Hy his wakeful steps is won ; 
 
 The sleep of the tomb o'er my lids in glormi 
 
 Shall fait, ere the verse I pen 
 He made complete in cadence meet ; 
 
 And the walls of this scared den 
 
 Sliall haply ring with the tones tliat bring 
 
 Tlie decree of fate to nie — 
 Borne on the breath of the herald of deaf h, 
 
 Who recruits for the shades " * * * 
 
 fhe lines were left incomplete. In alluding to this subject, 
 D'Israeli mentions only two (four-line) stanzas as having been 
 composed by Chenier; but M. Tissot, from whose collection of 
 French literature we translate the piece, gives the additional 
 lines here presented in an English fonii. 
 
 M. Thiers's mother is understood to have bilonged to the 
 family whence Andre Chenier sprung.] 
 
 have to be encountered in the hour of peril. The most 
 prudent course in the option of the committees was 
 to have ordered the arrest of those two leaders ; but 
 they still hesitated ; they were swayed to and fro in 
 pitiable vacillation ; in sooth, they felt a species of 
 regret at having commenced the contest. They re- 
 flected that, if the convention were sufficiently power- 
 ful to vanquish Robespierre, it would resume all its 
 authority ; and that, tliough they might be rescued 
 from the fangs of their rival, they would be denuded 
 of the dictatorship. It had been better, doubtless, to 
 have negotiated a compact ; but the opportunity was 
 gone. Robespierre took especial care not to intrust 
 himself amongst his colleagues after the meeting of 
 the Jacobins. Saint-Just, however, who had arrived 
 from the army a few hours ago, sat observing them 
 in gloomy silence. He was asked for the report, the 
 preparation whereof had been confided to him at the 
 last interview, and a desire was expressed to hear it 
 read ; he answered that he could not communicate it, 
 having previously given it to one of his colleagues to 
 peruse. He was solicited to impart the substance, at 
 least, but he declined. At this moment, Collot entered, 
 furious at the outrage he had just experienced at the 
 Jacobin Club. " What is passing at the Jacobins ?" 
 inquired Saint- Just. " Thou askest !" replied Collot, 
 wrathfully ; " art thou not the accomphce of Robes- 
 pierre? Have you not together arranged all your 
 sclietnes? I see it: you have formed an infamous 
 triumvirate, and you purpose to assassinate us ; but 
 if we fall, you will not long enjoy the fruit of your 
 crimes !" Then stepping up to Saint- Just with en- 
 raged vehemence — "Thou designest to denounce us 
 to-morrow morning," he said ; " thou hast thy pockets 
 full of notes against us: show them!" Saint-Just 
 emptied his pockets, and pledged his word he had no 
 such documents. Collot-dTIerbois was pacified. The 
 comiuittees exacted from Saint-Just an engagement 
 to attend at eleven hi the morning, to commtmicate 
 his report before reading it to the convention. Ere 
 they finally separated, they agreed to demand from 
 the convention the dismissal of Henriot, and the sum- 
 mons to the bar of the mayor and the national agent. 
 
 Saint-Just hurried away to compose his report, 
 which was not yet drawn up ; and therein arraigned, 
 with more brevity and force than had distinguished 
 Robespierre's effort, the conduct of the committees 
 towards tlieir colleagues, the assumption of all fifiairs, 
 the superciliousness of Billaud-Varennes, and the 
 false manoeuvres of Carnot, who had transferred Piche- 
 gru's army to the coasts of Flanders, and endeavoured 
 to wrest 1 G.OOO men from Jourdan. This report be- 
 trayed a spirit equally perfidious as the speech of Ro- 
 bespierre ; but in other respects it was characterised 
 by great ability. Saint-Just resolved to read it to the 
 convention without any previouc intimation of its con- 
 tents to the conmiittees. 
 
 Whilst the conspirators Avero occcupied in concert- 
 ing their measures, the Mountaineers, who had hither- 
 to confined themselves to intercommunications of their 
 apprehensions, and had formed no specific design, 
 hastened from house to house, and exchanged pledges 
 to attack Robesi)ierre in a more formal manner on the 
 following day, and to obtain his impeacliment if pos- 
 sible. To achieve this latter object, the concurrence 
 of the deputies of the J'lainwas requisite, whom they, 
 the Mountaineers, had frequently menaced, and Ro- 
 besj)ierre, aflecting the part of "moderator, had for- 
 merly defended. They had, consequently, but indifte- 
 rent claims to their support. They proceeded, how- 
 ever, to visit Boissy-d'Anglas, Durand-Maillane, and 
 Palasne-Champeaux, all three ex-constituents, whose 
 example was likely to influence the others. They 
 warned them they would be responsible for all the 
 blood hereafter shed by Robespierre, unless they con- 
 sented to vote against him. Repulsed at first, three 
 times they returned to the charge, and ultimately pro- 
 cured the desired promise. They continued their cir-
 
 440 
 
 HIBTOKY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 cuits (luring the whole morning of the 9th. Tallicn 
 undertook to lead the attack, and requested only from 
 others the boldness to xiphoid him. 
 
 Every one early flev to his post. The mayor Fleu- 
 riot and the national agent Payan were at the com- 
 mune. Henriot was on horseback with his aides-de- 
 camp, traversing the streets of Paris. The Jacobins 
 had commenced a permanent sitting. The deputies, 
 on the alert since dawn, had repaired to the conven- 
 tion before the accustomed hour. They congregated 
 tunmltuonsly in the corridors, and the IMuuntaineers 
 besieged them with assiduity to incline them in their 
 favour. It was within half an hour of noon. Tallien 
 was talking at one of the doors of the hall to some of 
 his colleagues, when he saw Saint- Just enter and take 
 possession of the triljune. " Now is the moment," he 
 exclaimed ; " let us enter." They followed him, the 
 benches gradually tilled, and all awaited in silence the 
 opening of that scene, destined to be one of the most 
 striking in the stormy annals of the repul)lic. 
 
 Saint-Just, who had broken f\iith with his colleagues 
 regarding the report, which he had promised to pre- 
 liminarily submit to them, was in the tribune. The 
 two Eobespierres, Lebas, and Couthon, were seated 
 side by side. CoUot-d'Herbois occujjied tlie chair. 
 Saint-Just stated that he had been charged by the 
 committees to present a report, and he accordingly 
 obtained liberty to Bi)eak. He commenced by asseve- 
 rating that he was of no faction, but belonged solely to 
 truth ; and averred tliat the tribune might be, to him 
 as to many others, the Tarpeian Rock, but that he 
 would not the less utter his unreserved opinion on the 
 divisions M'hich had arisen. Tallien scarcely allowed 
 him to finish these first passages, ere he arose and 
 claimed to speak on a point of order. Leave was ac- 
 corded him. "The republic," said he, "is in the most 
 melancholy state, and no good citizen can avoid shed- 
 ding tears over its calamities. Yesterday a member of 
 the government isolated himself and denounced his 
 colleagues ; another comes to do the same to-day. It 
 is sufficient to aggravate our misfortunes : I demand 
 that the veil be at length entirely torn away." No 
 sooner were these words pronounced than plaudits 
 broke fortli, which were caught up and long sustained, 
 again conmienced, and even for a third time resounded 
 in deafening echoes. It was the ]»recursor signal of 
 the fall of the triumvirs. Blllaud-Varennes, who had 
 struggled into the tribune after Tallien, annomiced 
 that the Jacobins had held a seditious meeting the 
 previous evening, in which suborned assassins were 
 present, wlio had avowed the design of slaughtering 
 the convention. General abhorrence was manifested. 
 " I see in tlie galleries," added Billaud-Varennes, '-one 
 of the men who yesterday threatened the faithful de- 
 puties. Let him be seized !" The man was immedi- 
 ately pinioned, and delivered over to the gendarmes. 
 Billaud subsequently maintained that Saint-Just had 
 no right to speak in the name of tlie committees, inas- 
 much as he had not communicated to them his report ; 
 and he further insisted tluit the moment was one in 
 which the assembly ought to repudiate indulgence, for 
 it would perish if it were weak. " No, no!" shouted the 
 deputies, waving their bats in the air; "it will not be 
 weak, and it will not perish !" Lebas claimed the tri- 
 bune, which Billaud bad not yet vacated. He gesti- 
 cidated violently, and otherwise created gi-eat disturb- 
 ance in his eagerness to obtain it. At the instance of 
 the entire assembly, he was called to order. Unmind- 
 ful of the rebuke, "he still persisted. " To the Abbey 
 with the malignant !" growled sundry voices from the 
 Mountain. 
 
 Billaud resumed, and, casting aside all further re- 
 serve, boldly afhrmed that Robespierre had always 
 sought to domineer in the committees ; that he had 
 withdrawn when resistance was ottered to his law of 
 the 22d Prairial, and to the purposes which he in- 
 tended to make it subserve ; that he had insisted upon 
 retainhig the noble, Lavalette, a conspirator in the 
 
 national guard at Lille ; that he had prevented the 
 arrest of Henriot, the accomplice of Hebert, in order 
 to mould him as his creature -, that he had, moreover, 
 opposed the apprehension of a secretary of the com- 
 mittee, who luul misappropriated 114,000 francs; that 
 he had caused to be incarcerated, by means of his 
 board of police, the best revolutionary committee in 
 Paris ; that he had invariably followed his own will in 
 all things, and assiduously aimed at absolute supiv- 
 macy. Billaud subjoined, that he could cite a nuilti- 
 tude of additional facts, but it sufficed to state tliat 
 yesterday Robespierre's agents, the Dumas' and Ci;t- 
 finhals, had pledged themselves at the Jacobin Club 
 to decimate the National Convention. Whilst BilLuid 
 enumerated these enormities, the assembly expressed 
 at intervals unequivocal symptoms of indignation. 
 Robesi)icrre, livid with rage, had quitted his seat and 
 mounted the steps of the tribune. Standing behind 
 Billaud, he demanded from the president liberty to 
 speak, witli extreme veliemence. He seized the mo- 
 ment when Billaud paused, to claim it with redoubled 
 violence. "Down with the tyrant! down with the 
 tyrant!" reverberated from all 'parts of the hall. 
 Twice this accusing cry arose, and announced that 
 the deputies at length ventured to give him the name 
 he merited. AVhile passionately insisting on his right, 
 Tallien, who had again rushed to the tribune, like- 
 wise craved the ear of the president, and obtained 
 attention in preference. " But a few minutes ago," he 
 said, " I demanded that the veil should be wholly rent ; 
 I perceive it has now been so. The conspirators are 
 unmasked. I knew that my life was menaced, and 
 hitherto I had kei)t silence ; but 3'esterday I was pre- 
 sent at the meeting of the Jacobins, I saw the army 
 of the new Cromwell formed, I trembled for the coun- 
 try, and I armed m3'self with a poniard to pierce his 
 heart, if the convention should lack the courage to de- 
 cree him under impeachment." As he uttered these 
 words, Tallien displayed his dagger, and the assembly 
 covei'ed him with applause. He then moved the arrest 
 of the leader of the conspirators, Henriot. BLOaud 
 proposed to add the names of the president Dumas 
 and of one Boulanger, who had distinguished himself 
 on the eve as one of the most furious agitators amongst 
 the Jacobins. The convention forthwith decreed the 
 arrest of those three criminals. 
 
 At this moment Barrcre entered, to submit to the 
 assembly the propositions which the committees had 
 agreed upon during the night before separating. Ro- 
 bespierre, who had not quitted the tribune, availed 
 himself of the occasion again to urge his claim to be 
 heard. His adversaries were determined to reject his 
 appeals, lest his voice might awaken a remnant of the 
 dastardly and servile spirit so recently predominating. 
 All planted on the sumndt of the Mountain, they 
 vociferated with renewed energy ; and whilst Robes- 
 pierre turned alternately to the president and to the 
 asseml)ly, " Down ! down with the tyrant !" they ex- 
 claimed in stentorian accents. Barrcre likewise was 
 adjudged to take precedence of Roljespierre. It is 
 afUrmed that this man, whom vanity had incited to 
 play a prominent part, and whom weakness now filled 
 with dread at his own success, had two reports in his 
 pocket, one in behalf of Robespierre, the other in be- 
 iialf of the committees. He proceeded to develop the 
 project resulting from the night's deliberation; it in- 
 cluded the abolition of the grade of commander-in- 
 chief, the re-establisbnient of the old law passed by the 
 I^egislative Assembly, whereby each legionary leader 
 connnanded the armed force of Paris in rotation; and 
 the sununons to the bar of the mayor and nation.il 
 agent, to answer for the tranqudlity of the capital. 
 Tlie articles were adopted and decreed on the instant, 
 and an usher departed to communicate them to the 
 commune, amidst great personal hazard. 
 
 When the decree proposed by Barrcre had been 
 passed, the enumeration of Robespierre's delinquenciea 
 was resumed : the deputies were emulous to chargt
 
 
 V
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 441 
 
 him with crimes. Vadier, who professed to have dis- 
 covered an important conspiracy on the seizure of 
 Catherine Theot, imparted, what he had not specified 
 the previous day, that Dom Gerle possessed a certifi- 
 cate of civism signed by Robespierre ; and that, in 
 a mattress belonging to Catherine Tlieot, a letter 
 liad been found, wherein she styled Robespierre her 
 oeloved son. He subsequently expatiated on the 
 spy-system maintained b\- the conmiittees, with the 
 ditfuseness of old age, and a deliberation altogether 
 unsuitable to the excitation of the moment. Tallien 
 impatiently remounted the tribune, and once more ad- 
 dressed the assembly, stating, that the true point of 
 the question had been departed from and must be 
 restored. It was true that Henriot, Dumas, and 
 Boulanger, had been impeached, and Robespierre 
 called a tyrant ; but no decisive resolution had been 
 taken. He observed that it was not merely certain 
 details in the life of the man, stigmatised as a tyrant, 
 which were to be reprobated, but that his entire career 
 ought to be dragged into light. He thereupon com- 
 menced a ruthless survey of the conduct pursued from 
 early times by that cowardlj', supercilious, and san- 
 guinary demagogue. Robespierre, half suffocated with 
 rage, interrupted him with howls of fury. Louchet 
 exclaimed, " It is time to finish : the arrest of Robes- 
 pierre !" Loseau added, " Impeachment against the 
 denouncer!" "Impeachment! Impeachment!" shouted 
 numerous deputies. Louchet arose ; and, looking 
 around him, asked if he would be supported. " Yes ! 
 yes !" responded a hundred voices. Robespierre the 
 younger said from his place — " I partake the crimes 
 of my brother ; join me with him !" This expression 
 of devotedness was scarcely heeded. " The arrest ! 
 the arrest !" again echoed wildly. At this moment, 
 Robespierre, who had been continually moving to and 
 fro between his seat and the table, once more ap- 
 proached the president, and demanded to be heard. 
 But Tlmriot, who had succeeded CoUot-d'Herbois in 
 the chair, answered him only by ringing his bell. 
 Then Robespierre turned his eyes upon the Mountain, 
 but met the gaze simply of cold friends or infuriated 
 enemies. He averted them towards the Plain. " It is 
 to you," he said, " pure and virtuous men — it is to you 
 I address myself, and not to brigands!" Some moved 
 aside, others used menacing gestures. Hopeless, he 
 retreated to the president, and thus invoked him : — 
 " For the last time, president of assassins, I demand 
 leave to speak !" These words he uttered in stifled 
 and almost inarticulate accents. " The blood of Dan- 
 ton chokes you !" cried Garnier-de-l'Aube. Duval, 
 irritated at the hesitation, rose and exclaimed — " Pre- 
 sident, is this man to be still the master of the con- 
 vention ?" " Ah ! how hard it is to beat down a 
 tyrant !" added Freron. " To the vote ! to the vote !" 
 vociferated Loseau. The arrest so often urged was at 
 length put to the vote, and decreed amidst an extraor- 
 dinary ferment. Scarcely was the decree passed ere the 
 whole assemblage rose throughout the sjjacious hall, 
 and with one impulse proclaimed — " Long live liberty ! 
 Long live the reimblic ! The tyrants are no more !" 
 
 When the excitement had subsided, various mem- 
 bers sprang up, and asserted that they had imder- 
 stood the vote of arrest included the accomplices of 
 Robespierre, Couthon and Saint Just. Their names 
 were forthwith appended to the decree. Lebas asked 
 to be inserted tlierein ; his rciiuest was granted, as 
 likewise Robesyjierre the younger's. These men still 
 inspired such dread, that the ushers of tlie assembly 
 had not ventured to approach in order to lead them 
 to the bar. Perceiving that they remained on their 
 seats, several deputies inquired wliy they did not de- 
 scend to the place assigned for those under accusation ; 
 the president rejdied tliat the usliers had been unable 
 to execute the command. The shout—" To the bar ! 
 to the bar!" then became general. The five accused 
 proceeded thitlier, Robespierre bewildered with wrath. 
 Saint- Just calm and scornful, the others in deep de- 
 
 jection at their novel and unexpected humiliation. 
 At last they too stood in that dock whither they had 
 sent Vergniaud, Brissot, Petion, Camille-Desnioulins, 
 Danton, and so many others of their colleagues, illus- 
 trious for their virtue, their genius, or their courage. 
 
 It was five afternoon. The assembly had declared 
 the sitting permanent ; but at this period, overcome 
 with fatigue, it took the hazardous resolution of sus- 
 pending the sitting until seven, to allow an interval 
 of repose. The deputies thereupon separated, and 
 thus left to the commune, if it possessed any hardi- 
 hood, the opportunity of closing the place of their 
 meetings, and seizing upon all dominion in Paris. 
 The five under impeachment were conducted to the 
 connnittee of general safety, and subjected to an inter- 
 rogatory before their colleagues, preparatory to their 
 incarceration. 
 
 Whilst these important events were passing in the 
 convention, the commune had remained in observance. 
 The usher, Courvol, had appeared before it, to inti- 
 mate the decree placing Henriot under arrest, and 
 summoning the mayor and national agent to the bar. 
 The reception accorded him had been by no means 
 .Ecracious. Having requested an acknowledgment ol 
 the execution of his mission, the mayor had replied to 
 him — " On a day like this, we give no acknowledgments. 
 Go to the convention, infoim it we shall know fiow to keep 
 the day ; and tell Robespierre he may he under no appre- 
 hension, for we are here." The mayor had subsequently 
 expressed himself in a vague and mj'sterious manner 
 to the comicil-general regarding the objects of the 
 meeting ; he adverted merely to the decree ordaining 
 the commune to watch over the tranquillity of Paris, 
 and to the epochs when that same commune had dis- 
 played heroic courage, alluding with sufficient expli- 
 citness to the 3 1 st of May. The national agent, Payan, 
 speaking after the mayor, had proposed to send two 
 members of the coimcil to harangue the people, con- 
 gregated in a vast multitude on the square in front of 
 the town-hall, and invite them " to unite tvitk their 
 magistrates to save the country." Eventually an address 
 had been framed, wherein it was alleged that mis- 
 creants were oppressing Robespierre, " that virtuous 
 citizen, wlio caused to be proclaimed the consolatory 
 dogmas of tlie Supreme Being and the immortality of 
 the soul ; Saint-Just, that apostle of virtue, who up- 
 rooted the treason on the Rhine and in tlie north ; 
 Couthon, that virtuous citizen, who has but the trunk 
 and head of mortals, but possesses them glowing with 
 patriotism." * Thereafter, a resolution had been passed, 
 that the sections should be convoked, and their pre- 
 sidents and the commanders of the armed force called 
 before the commune to receive its directions. A de- 
 putation had been sent to the Jacobins, soliciting tliem 
 to come and fraternise with the connnune, and to 
 detach to the council-general their most energetic 
 members, and an adequate supply of " male and female 
 citizens for the galleries." Without yet proclaiming 
 an insurrection, the commune took all the measures 
 requisite to maintain one, and obviously progressed 
 towards that conclusion. Tlie arrest of the five de- 
 puties was unknown to it, which accounts lor any 
 species of reserve being .still manifested by the turbu- 
 lent body. 
 
 Meanwhile, Henriot was scouring the streets of 
 Paris with a troop of horse. In his progress, he 
 learnt that the five dcinitics had liecu ])ut under ar- 
 rest ; wlicreupon he attem])tcd to excite the popu- 
 lace, exclaiming that miscreants were oppressing the 
 faithful deimties, and that tliey had already arrested 
 Couthon, Saint-Just, and Robespierre. The wretch 
 was half-intoxicated ; he rose upon liis saddle, and 
 brandislied his sAvord like one demented. He rei)aired, 
 in tlie first ])lacc, to the Faubourg Saint-Aiitoine, 
 with the intention of arousing the operatives, who 
 
 * [In uxplanatian of this singtilnr eulogy, the rp:t<liT may be 
 reminded that Couthon had almost lost the use of his limbs.]
 
 442 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 scarcely comprehended what he laboured to impress 
 upon them, and who, moreover, began to be touched 
 with pity at the daily spectacle of victims passing to 
 death. By a hazard fatal to liis projects, Ilenriot 
 encountered the carts proceeding to the scaffold. On 
 hearing of Robespierre's arrest, the people had sur- 
 rounded them, imagining that, as Robespierre was 
 understood to be the author of all the murders, his 
 downfall implied a cessation of the executions. Tliey 
 consequently desired to turn back the gloomy caval- 
 cade. Heni-iot, rushing up at the moment, opposed 
 their design, and caused that last innnolation to be 
 consummated. He then returned, still at full speed, 
 to tlie Luxembourg, and ordered the gendarmes to 
 muster on the square of the town-hall. He took A 
 detaclmiL-nt with him, and started otf along the quays 
 towards the Place du Carrousel, in order to rescue 
 the prisoners under detention with the committee of 
 general safety. As he galloped down the quays witli 
 his aides-de-camp, he overtlirew sundry individuals. 
 One man thus treated, who had his wife on his arm, 
 appealed to the gendarmes, crying out — " Gendarmes, 
 apprehend that brigand ; he is no longer your gene- 
 ral !" An aide-de-camp silenced him by a cut of his 
 sabre. Henriot continued his route, and plunged into 
 the Street St Honore. Arrived on the Place du Palais- 
 Egalite (Palais-Royal), he descried Merlin de Thion- 
 ville, and charged upon him, siiouting, " Arrest this 
 knave ! he is one of those who persecute the faithful 
 representatives ! " Merlin was immediately grasped, 
 brutally ill used, and conveyed to the nearest guard- 
 house. In the courts of the National Palace, Henriot 
 caused his followers to dismount, and attempted to 
 enter the palace. The grenadiers refused liim admit- 
 tance, and presented their bayonets. At this moment, 
 an usher advanced, and said, " Gendarmes, arrest that 
 rebel ; a decree of the convention connuands you ! " 
 Henriot was forthwith siuTounded, himself and seve- 
 ral of his aides-de-camp disarmed, pinioned, and con- 
 ducted into the room of the committee of general 
 safety, beside the Robespierres, Couthon, Saint-Just, 
 and Lebas. 
 
 Hitherto all had gone favourablj^ for the convention. 
 Its decrees, boldly passed, were happily executed. Put 
 the commune and the Jacobins, wlto had not yet openly 
 proclaimed an insurrection, were now about to enter 
 upon a more determined course of action, and realise, 
 if they could, their project of another 2d of June. 
 Fortunately, whilst the convention imprudently sus- 
 pended its sitting, the commune had done the same, 
 and the decisive opportunity was lost to both. 
 
 The commmie did not again assemble until six 
 o'clock. Upon this I'esumption of the sitting, the 
 arrest of the five deputies and of Henriot was known. 
 The council no longer restrained its fury, but at once 
 declared that it rebelled against the oppressors of the 
 people, who were intent on destroying their defenders. 
 It ordered the tocsin to be sounded at the town-hall 
 and in all tlie sections. It detached one of its mem- 
 bers into each of the sections, to incite those bodies 
 into insurrection, and induce them to send their bat- 
 talions t<i the commune. It dispatched gendarmes to 
 close the barriers, and enjoined all the keepers of tlie 
 prisons to refuse any captives who might be brought 
 to their gates. L;xstly. it nominated an executive 
 committee of twelve members, in which Payan and 
 Coffinhal were included, to direct the uisurrection, 
 and wield all the sovereign powers of the people. By 
 this time, a few sectional battalions, several companies 
 of artillery, and a large proportion of the gendarmerie, 
 were already gathered on the square of the commune. 
 The municipality began to administer an oath to the 
 commandants of the battalions a<!tually under arms. 
 Subsequentl}', it directed Coffinhal to proceed Avith a 
 few hundred men to the convention, and deliver the 
 prisoners. 
 
 Robespierre had been already dismissed to the 
 Luxembourg, liis brother to the House of Lazarus, 
 
 Couthon to Port-Libre, Saint-Just to the Ecossais, 
 and Lebas to the court-house of the department. Tlit 
 order given to the jailers was obeyed, and they refused 
 to receive tlie prisoners. The administrators of police 
 then seized upon their persons, and conducted them 
 in carriages to the municipality. When Robespierre 
 appeared, he was embraced, loaded with testimonies 
 of affection, and stunned with oaths to die in his de- 
 fence, and in that of all the faithful deputies. Mean- 
 while, Henriot had alone remained at the committee 
 of general safety. Coffinhal, vice-president of the 
 Jacobins, appeared there sword in hand, with some 
 companies of the sections, forced his way into the 
 saloon of the committee, drove out the members, and 
 delivered Henriot and his aides-de-camp. Henriot, 
 thus rescued, flew to the Place du Carrousel, regained 
 his horse, vaulted into the saddle, and, with great 
 presence of mind, assured the companies and artillery- 
 men around him that the committee had just pro- 
 nounced him innocent, and reinstated him in the 
 command. Thereupon they encompassed him, form- 
 ing a sufficiently formidable array ; and he commenced 
 to issue orders against the convention, and to make 
 pre])arations for besieging its hall. 
 
 It was now seven in the evening, the hour to which 
 the convention stood adjourned. In the interval, the 
 conmiune had acquired important advantages. It 
 had, as we have narrated, proclaimed an insurrection, 
 deputed commissioners to the sections, already ga- 
 thered around it several companies of artillery and 
 gendarmes, and rescued the prisoners. It was in a 
 position, if possessing the requisite hardihood, to march 
 promptly on the convention, and compel it to revoke 
 its decrees. It had cause to rely, moreover, on the 
 School of Mars, the commandant whereof, Labreteche, 
 was its devoted instrument. 
 
 The deputies congregated in tumult, and imparted 
 to each other the disastrous tidings of the evening 
 with coimtenances of dismay. The members of the 
 committees, in deep alarm and incertitude, were as- 
 sembled in a small chamber contiguous to the bench 
 of the president. They there deliberated, unconscious 
 of the course it behoved them to pursue under the 
 emergency. In the interim, several deputies succes- 
 sively mounted the tribune, and recounted the events 
 that had passed in Paris. Tliey bore testimony tliat 
 the prisoners were liberated, that the comnmne had 
 coalesced with the Jacobins, that it already disposed 
 of a considerable force, and that the convention was 
 speedily to be environed. Bourdon proposed to issue 
 forth in a body, and reclaim the people by so affect- 
 ing a spectacle. Legendre strove to encourage the 
 assembly with assurances that it would every where 
 encounter none but pure and faithful Mountaineers 
 ready to defend it, and evinced at this moment a for- 
 titude he had never manifested before Robespierre. 
 Billaud now appeared in the tribune, and announced 
 that Henriot was on the Place du Carrousel, and that, 
 ha^-ing debauched the artillerymen, he had caused 
 the cannons to be turned against the hall of the con- 
 vention, and was on the point of beginning the attack. 
 ColIot-d'Herbois seated himself in the chair, which, 
 from the disposition of the hall, must receive the first 
 ball that was fired, and said, as he assumed that post 
 of danger, " Representatives, this is the moment to die 
 at our posts. Miscreants have invaded the National 
 Palace." At these words, all the deputies, some of 
 whom were standing, others pacing the floor, took 
 their places, and awaited the issue in majestic silence. 
 All the occupants of the galleries fled in a tumultuous 
 uproar, and left nothing behind them but a cloud of 
 dust. The convention remained in solitude, and with 
 the conviction of its impending massacre, but resolved 
 to perish rather than endure a Cromwell. Here let 
 us admire the wondrous influence of a crisis on cou- 
 rage. Those same men, so long abashed before the 
 mere declaimer, now brave his bristling camion with 
 sublime heroism I
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Certain memberfi- of the assembly were appointed 
 to bring intelligence of occurrences on tlie Carrousel. 
 They reported that Henriot was still giving orders. 
 " Outlawr}' ! outlawry against the brigand !"' resounded 
 through the hall. The decree declaring him without 
 the pale of the law was instantly jiassed, and several 
 deputies quitted their seats to publish it in front of 
 the National Palace. At that moment, Henriot, hav- 
 ing succeeded in deluding the artillerjnnen and induc- 
 ing them to plant their ])ieces against the hall, was 
 urging them to fire. The deputies exclaimed, " Artil- 
 lerymen, will you dishonour yourselves 1 That brigand 
 is without the law !" Those sturdy repulilicans re- 
 sponded to the appeal, and refused to obey Henriot. 
 Abandoned by his adherents, his only resource was to 
 turn and flee to the commune. 
 
 This first danger averted, the convention put the 
 deputies who had evaded its decrees, and all the mem- 
 bers of the conmiune pai-ticipating in the revolt, under 
 the ban of outlawry. But this measure, however bold, 
 was in itself inoperative. If Henriot had disappeared 
 from the Place du Carrousel, the insurgents were still 
 in great force at the commune, and able even to at- 
 tempt a sudden onslaught. Against this latter hazard 
 especially it was incumbent to take precaution. But 
 much time was Avasted in fruitless deliberation. Even- 
 tually, in the small chamber behind the president's 
 chair, where the members of the committees and seve- 
 ral representatives were assembled, it was proposed to 
 appoint a commander of the armed force, selected from 
 the convention itself " Who ?" inquired divers of the 
 interlocutors. '* Barras," replied a voice, " and he will 
 have the courage to accept !" On the instant, Vou- 
 land hastened to the tribune, and moved the nomina- 
 tion of the representative Barras as director of the 
 armed force. The convention acquiesced in the sug- 
 gestion, nominated Barras general-in-chief, and added 
 seven other deputies to command under him, to wit, 
 Freron, Ferrand, Rovcre, Uelmas, Bolleti, Leonard- 
 Bourdon, and Bourdon-de-l'Oise. ]\Ioreover, at the 
 instance of a member of the assembly, a proposition 
 not less important than the preceding was adopted, 
 namely, the delegation of chosen representatives to 
 the sections, for the purpose of enlightening them as 
 to the true character of the contest, and soliciting 
 from them the aid of their battalions. This resolution, 
 in fact, was one of paramount necessity, as to decide 
 the wavering and reclaim the deceived sections had 
 become of extreme urgency. 
 
 Barras proceeded, immediately after his appointment, 
 to the battalions already mider arms, to intimate his 
 authority and distribute them around the convention. 
 The deputies commissioned to the sections repaired to 
 their several destinations with the utmost prompti- 
 tude. Even yet the majority of those bodies were 
 undecided ; at the same time, very few inclined to- 
 wards the commune and Robespierre. Abhorrence at 
 the atrocious system imputed to Robespierre, and 
 aspirations for some event to deliver France there- 
 from, were almost imivcrsal. But terror still para- 
 lysed the citizens, insomuch that they dared not ven- 
 ture to declare themselves. The conmnme, which the 
 sections were accustomed to obey, liad sunmioned 
 them, and several, shrinking from an open resistance, 
 had sent delegates, not to coincide in the project of 
 insurrection, but to take note of circumstances. Thus 
 was Paris in a state of uncertainty and anxiety. The 
 relatives and friends of prisoners, all who suffered 
 from the existing state of things, issued from their 
 domiciles, crept from street to street towards the places 
 where noise prevailed, and eagerly sought to gather 
 tidings. The unfortunate captives themselves, per- 
 ceiving from their grated apertures an mmsual com- 
 motion, and hearing the varied din, concluded some 
 crisis was at hand, although they dreaded the result 
 niight but aggravate their ciUamitous lot. However, 
 the grow ing uneasiness of the jailers, their whispers in 
 the ears of the fabricators of lists, and the visible con- 
 
 sternation following such revelations, were deemed of 
 good omen, and jiartially dissipated their doubts. Ulti- 
 mately they became aware, from divers involuntary 
 expressions, that Robespierre was in danger ; kinsmen 
 came and i)lantcd themselves underneath the windows 
 of the prisons, indicating by signs what was passing; 
 then the captives, hurrying together, gave way to aU 
 the delirium of unbounded joy. The infamous delators, 
 now trembling in their turn, took some of the sus- 
 pected apart, and strove to justify themselves, by spe- 
 cious arguments, that they were not the autliors of the 
 lists of proscription. Otiiers, avowing their guilt, 
 sought to extenuate it by assurances tliat they had 
 suppressed many names ; one had furnished but forty 
 out of two hundred demanded from him, another had . 
 erased entire catalogues. In their terror, these wretches 
 conmicnced to recriminate, and to throw the burden 
 of opjirobrium from one to the other. 
 
 The deputies who visited the sections experienced 
 little ditficulty in prevailing against the obscure mis- 
 sionaries of the commune. Those of the sections which 
 had detached their battalions to the town-hall re- 
 manded them, the remainder directed theirs towards 
 the National Palace. That edifice was already sur- 
 rounded by a sufficient force. Barras appeared before 
 the convention to certify the fact, and then hastened 
 to the plain of Les Sablons, in order to replace La- 
 breteche, who was superseded, and liring the Schoel of 
 Mars to the succour of the convention. 
 
 The national representation now found itself secure 
 against attack. In fact, the reverse contingency had 
 arisen, and to march upon the commune, to assume 
 the offensive it shrunk from adventuring, M-as feasible. 
 A resolution to advance upon the town-hall was ac- 
 cordingly taken. Leonard-Bourdon, being at the head 
 of numerous battalions, prepai'ed to lead tlicm onward. 
 Appearing to announce his design of moving upon the 
 rebels— "Go," said Tallien, who occupied the chair, 
 '• and may the sun on rising alight not on living con- 
 spirators!" Bourdon debouched by the quays, and 
 thus readied the square in front of the town-hall.* 
 An imposing array of gendarmes, artillery, and armed 
 citizens from the sections, still occupied its spacious 
 area. An agent of the committee of i)ul;lic welfare, 
 named Dulac, had the courage to penetrate the hostile 
 ranks and read the decree of the convention declaring 
 the commune without the pale of the law. The habi- 
 tual respect entertained for that assembly, in whose 
 name the government had been conducted for two 
 years, the reverence which the words law and republic 
 inspired, operated magically. The battalions separated, 
 some returning whence they came, others uniting with 
 Leonard-Bourdon. The square of tlie comnume re- 
 mained vacant ; those who giuirded it and they who 
 had just arrived to assault it, drew up in the surround- 
 ing streets so as to occupy all the avenues. 
 
 So impressive an idea of the determination of the 
 conspirators prevailed, and so greatly did their appa- 
 rent stillness in the town-hall amaze their assailants, 
 that they hesitated to ajiproaeh. Leonard-Bourdon 
 apprehended they had ])lanted a mine beneath the 
 building. It was not so, however ; they were delibe- 
 rating in extreme confusion, pro])osing to write to the 
 armies and the provinces, ignorant in whose name they 
 ought to write, and completely intimidated from adopt- 
 ing any decisive part. If RoU'sijii'rre luid ventured, 
 like a man of nerve and action, to show himself and 
 march upon the convention, it liad ])erchance been 
 placed iiv jeopardy. Ihit lie was a mere rhetorician, 
 and he felt, moreover, and all his partisans partici- 
 pated in the feeling, that public opinion had forsaken 
 him. The end of tlie reign of terror had in Vruth 
 arrived ; the convention was universally obeyed, and 
 
 * [The n.imes of several of the principal sqiuires in Paris were 
 friqucntly changed in the course of the revolution. Tlie sq\iaro 
 now referred to was the cclehrated Place de Cirevo, the scene of 
 many a bloody tragedy from the earliest times of the old monarchy. 
 A permanent gibbet stoed in its centre during the middle ages.]
 
 44t 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the proclamations of outlawry produced a miraculous 
 effect. Had he been really endowed with greater 
 energy, he must have been discouraged under such cir- 
 cumstances, so predominant above all individual force. 
 When from the square in front the decree of out- 
 lawry reached the town-hall, all within it were struck 
 as if by sudden stupor. I'ayan, who first obtained 
 it, read it in a loud voice, and, with gi-eat iiresence of 
 mind, added to the list of those jilaced without the 
 pale of the law the prople of the yulkries, an addendum 
 certainl^^ not in the decree. Contrary to his exj)ecta- 
 tion, however, the populace in the galleries stole ter- 
 rified away, not caring to partake the anathema 
 launched by the convention. Terrible presentiments 
 then came across the conspirators. Henriot descended 
 to harangue the artillerymen, but he looked in vain 
 for a single defender. He exclaimed with an oath, 
 " How ! those wretches of gunners, Avho saved me a 
 few hours ago, now abandon me !" Furious, he re- 
 scaled the flight of steps and apprised the council of 
 this crowning disaster. The conspirators were plunged 
 in despair ; they saw themselves forsaken by their 
 troops and encompassed on all sides by those of the 
 convention. Mutual accusations began : each re- 
 proached the other with the common calamity. Cof- 
 finhal, an energetic man, and who had been badly 
 seconded, assailed Henriot, saying to him — " Villain, 
 it is thy cowardice that has ruined us 1" With these 
 words he rushed upon him, and, seizing him round 
 the waist, hurled him out of a window. The miserable 
 Henriot ahghted on a heap of refuse, which, softening 
 the fall, prevented its being mortal. Lebas fired a 
 pistol at himself; Robespierre the younger threw him- 
 self out of a window ; Saint-Just stood calm and mo- 
 tionless, a weapon in his hand, but without seeking to 
 kill himself; Robespierre, too, eventually determined 
 to close his career, and foimd in this extremity courage 
 to attemj>t his own life. He drew a pistol upon him- 
 self, but the ball, striking beneatli the lip, only pierced 
 tiie cheek, and inflicted a severe though not dangerous 
 wound. 
 
 At this moment, certain intrepid men — the agent 
 Dulac, the gendarme Meda, and some others — leaving 
 Bourdon with his battalions on the square, mounted 
 the staircase, armed with swords and pistols, and en- 
 tered the hall of the council precisely as the report of 
 two shots came echoing from within. The nmnicipal 
 officers were preparing to throw aside their scarfs ; but 
 Dulac threatened to cut down the first wlio should 
 attempt so to divest himself. None ventured to stir : 
 the municipal officers, Payan, Fleuriot, Dumas, Coffin- 
 hal, &c., were seized, the wounded placed on shutters, 
 and all carried in triumph to the convention. It was 
 three in tlie morning. Shouts of victory rent the air, 
 sending the gladdening sounds to reverberate even 
 beneath the arches of the hall. The dei)uties instantly 
 arose and vociferated, " Live liberty ! Live the conven- 
 tion ! Down with tyrants !" The president addressed 
 them in these words : " Representatives, Robes])ierre 
 and his accomplices are at the door of your hall : is 
 it your pleasure that they be brought before you ?" 
 " No, no !" they responded from all sides ; " to execu- 
 tion with the conspirators !" 
 
 Robespierre was transported, together with his com- 
 panions, into the room of the committee of public 
 welfare. He was stretched on a table, and a bundle 
 of paper was placed under his head. He preserved 
 his presence of mind, and betokened no emotion. He 
 wore a blue coat, the same that he appeared in at the 
 festival to the Supreme Being, nankeen trousers, and 
 white stockings, which amidst the tumult he had 
 allowed U) fall over his shoes. The blood si)outed from 
 his wound, and he staunched it with the holster of a 
 pistol. TJiose around presented him from time to 
 time with pieces of paper, which he used to dry his 
 face. He thus remained several hours, exposed to the 
 curiosity and the insults of a nmltitude of people. 
 When the surgeon arrived to dress his wound, he rose 
 
 of himself, descended from the table, and moved into 
 a chair. He imderwent the painful operation of dress- 
 ing without uttering the least complaint. He evinced 
 the insensibility and sullenness of pride humiliated. 
 He replied to no incpiiries. He was subsequently re- 
 moved, with Saint-Just, Coiithon, and the others, to 
 the Conciergerie. His brother and Henriot had been 
 taken up half dead in the streets adjoining the town- 
 hall. 
 
 The previous declaration of outlawry obviated the 
 necessity of a trial : it was sufficient to prove identity 
 The following morning, 10th Thermidor (28th July), 
 the criminals appeared, to the number of twenty-one, 
 before that tribunal to which they had consigned so 
 many victims. Fouquier-Tinville produced evidence 
 of identit}', and at four in the afternoon obtained their 
 condemnation to immediate death. The populace, 
 who had long abstained from attending executions, 
 thronged to the spectacle on this occasion with the 
 utmost eagerness. The scaffold had been erected on 
 the Place de la Revolution. An immense croAvd filled 
 the Street Saint Honore, the Tuileries, and the large 
 square itself. Numerous relatives of former victims 
 followed the carts, vomiting imprecations : several 
 api^roached, demanding to see Robespierre ; the gen- 
 darmes pointed him out to them with the points of 
 their swords. When the cavalcade had reached the 
 scaflbld, the executioners sho-wed Robespierre to all the 
 people ; they tore away the bandage which bound his 
 cheek, and drew from him the first exclamation he 
 had yet uttered. He died with the impassibility he 
 had manifested for the preceding hours. Saint-Just 
 met death with the courage whereof he had always 
 given proof. Couthon appeared in extreme trepida- 
 tion. Henriot and Robespierre the younger were 
 almost dead from the consequences of their faM. At 
 every stroke of tlie fatal axe, loud cheers broke forth, 
 and the crowd betokened extravagant jo}-. The rap- 
 ture was general, indeed, throughout Paris. In the 
 prisons hynms of thanksgiving were chanted ; the 
 captives embraced with a species of delirium, and paid 
 even thirty francs for the newspapers containing a 
 report of the late events. Although the convention 
 had made no declaration of its purpose to abolish the 
 system of terror, although tlie conquerors themselves 
 were either the authors or the upholders of that very 
 sj'stem, still it was universally deemed to be finished 
 with Robespierre, so peculiarly had he drawn upon 
 himself all its fearful odium. 
 
 Such w-as the fortunate catastrophe which checked 
 the onward march of the revolution, and made it be- 
 gin to retrograde. The revolution had, on tlie I4th 
 July 1 789, prostrated the old feudal constitution : on 
 the .5th and 6th October, it had wrested the king from 
 the court, in order to make sure of his person; subse- 
 quently, it had framed for itself a constitution, and 
 intrusted its guardianship to the monarch, as upon 
 trial. Soon regretthig that confidence, and despairing 
 to reconcile the court with liberty, it had invaded the 
 Tuileries on the 10th August, and consigned Louis 
 XVI. to a prison. Austria and Prussia advancing to 
 destroy it, it threw — to use its own terrible language — 
 it threw down, as the gage of combat, the heads of a 
 king and six thousand captives : thus irrevocably 
 counnitted in the contest, it engaged and repulsed the 
 allies by a first eflbrt. Its wrath doubled its enemies ; 
 the increase of foes and danger redoubled its M'rath 
 and lashed it into fury. It tore by violence, from the 
 temple of the laws, men who were sincere republicans, 
 but who, not comprehending its inexorable necessities, 
 wished to moderate it. Then it had to contend with 
 one-half of France, La Vendee, and Europe. As the 
 consequence of this continual struggle between it and 
 obstacles, with all the vicissitudes thereof acting and 
 reactmg, as well upon its opponents as upon its own 
 wild rage, it reached the extreme point of danger and 
 passion ; it reared scaflfolds in every city, and sent a 
 milUon of men to the frontiers. Then, at once suK
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 443 
 
 lime and atrocious, it administered affairs with a mira- 
 culous promptitude and a profound sagacity, whilst it 
 destroyed with a blind fury. Converted, by the exi- 
 gency of a concentrated action, from a turbulent de- 
 mocracy into an absolute dictatorship, it became regu- 
 lar, silent, and formidable. During the latter months 
 of 1793 and the conmiencement of 1794, it proceeded 
 Avith unanimity, the result of imminent peril. But 
 victory having crowned its efforts at the close of 179."^, 
 occasion of discord arose, for then generous and manly 
 hearts, calmed by success, raised and responded to the 
 cry of " Mercy to the vanquished !" But all hearts 
 were not yet mollified ; the safety of the revolution 
 was not manifest to all minds ; the commiseration of 
 some stimulated the fury of others, and an extrava- 
 gant party appeared, which would have resolved all 
 government into a tribunal of death. The dictator- 
 ship smote the two new parties which embarrassed 
 its coiurse. Hebert, Ronsin, and Vincent, perished with 
 Danton and Camille-Desmoulins. The revolution thus 
 continued its career, achieved a glorious renown in 
 the beginning of 1794, defeated combined Europe, and 
 struck it with dismay. This was the moment when 
 pity ought finally to have superseded wrath. But it 
 happened according to all precedent : on the incident 
 of a day it was determined to graft a sj'stem of endu- 
 rance. The chiefs of the government had sj^stematised 
 violence and cruelty ; and even when the dangers were 
 past and passions had subsided, they insisted still 
 upon continued slaughter ; but general abhorrence was 
 unequivocally expressed. Opposition they prepared 
 to stifle by the habitual mode — death ! Then a cry 
 of indignation sprung simultaneously from their rivals 
 in power and from their threatened colleagues, and 
 that cry was the signal for an universal outbreak. It 
 took an interval to shake off the deadening influence 
 of fear; but finally courage was inspired, and the 
 reign of terror was subverted. 
 
 It may be asked, what would have resulted had 
 Robespierre been victorious? The state of abandon- 
 ment in which he fomid himself proves that it was 
 impossible. But, supposing him successful, he must 
 have either yielded to the general feeling or succumbed 
 somewhat later. Like all usurpers, he would have 
 been impelled to substitute a mild and tranquil go- 
 vernment for the horrors of incessant strife. But, in 
 truth, the part of an usurper was for him impracti- 
 cable. The French revolution was on too vast a scale 
 to permit the same man, a deputy in the Constituent 
 Assembly of 1789, to be proclaimed emperor or pro- 
 tector in the cathedral of Notre Dame in 1804. In a 
 countrj' less advanced and of smaller confines, such as 
 England was, where the same individual might be 
 both delegate and general, and actually unite those 
 two characters, a Cromwell was able to enact the parts 
 of a factionist at the conmiencement, and of an usurji- 
 ing soldier at the end. But in a revolution extending 
 over so wide a surface as the French, where war Avas 
 so terrible and predominant, and where the same in- 
 dividual could not occupy both the tribune and tht; 
 camp, the factionists first destroyed each other ; and 
 after them came soldiers, one of whom renuuned the 
 ultimate master. 
 
 It was not reserved for Robespierre, therefore, to act 
 the usurper in France. Still, how came it to pass that 
 he survived all those famous revolutionists, wlio were 
 so superior in genius and might to himscH'— Danton, 
 for exami)le ? Robespierre possessed imdcniable in- 
 tegrity ; and to captivate the masses, an misullied re- 
 putation is essential. lie was devoid of pity — a qua- 
 lity which, in revolutions, ruins those who hearken to 
 its impulses. He had, moreover, in a supreme degree, 
 that stubborn and indomitable self-suftii'iency and as- 
 sumption wliicji weighs so influentially with mankind. 
 These qualifications were sufiicient to ensure his sur- 
 vival beyond all his contemporary rivals. But he was 
 of the worst order of men. A zealot without passions, 
 lucking the vices, doubtless, to which they expose, 
 
 but equally so the courage, the magnanimity, and the 
 sensibility which usually accompany them, exclusively 
 wrapped up in his pride and dogma, hiding in the 
 hour of danger, and reappearing to gather homage 
 after the victory was secured by others, he presents 
 himself to our contemplation as one of the most odious 
 beings who have ever domineered over men, and we 
 should say also one of the most vile, did we not ac- 
 knowledge his strong conviction and his undeviating 
 rectitude. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE 9tH THERMIDOR. MODIFICA- 
 TIONS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT. 
 
 SUSPENSION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL AND 
 
 LIBERATION OF THE SUSPECTED. THE CONVENTION 
 
 DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTIES THE MOUNTAINEERS 
 
 AND THE THERMIDORIANS.^ — STATE OF THE FINANCES, 
 OF TRADE, AND OF AGRICULTURE, AFTER THE REIGN 
 
 OF TERROR. NUMEROUS DECREES REGULATING THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. THE REMAINS OF MARAT TRANS- 
 PORTED TO THE PANTHEON AND DEPOSITED IN THE 
 PLACE OCCUPIED BY MIRABEAU'S. 
 
 The events of the 9th and 10th Thermidor produced 
 a paroxysm of joy, which several days were insuffi- 
 cient to moderate. Not only in Paris, but throughout 
 all France, the gladness was supreme. A number of 
 persons, who had quitted the jirovinces to seek con- 
 cealment in the metropolis, threw themselves into the 
 public conveyances, to regain their abodes and carry 
 tidings of the common deliverance. On the way they 
 were stopped at every interval by eager crowds clamo- 
 rous to learn the details. Every Avhere, as the happy 
 intelligence transpired, citizens, who had for many 
 months forsaken their domiciles, re-eritered them in 
 confidence, and others, long secluded in subterranean 
 darkness, ventured into the light of day. The cap- 
 tives who peopled the countless prisons of France, 
 began to indulge hopes of liberty, or at least to dis- 
 miss fears of death. 
 
 The precise nature of the revolution just effected 
 was not investigated ; how far the surviving members 
 of the committee of public welfare were disposed to 
 persist in the revolutionary system, or to what extent 
 the convention might participate in their views, were 
 considerations not heeded : the one great event, the 
 death of Robespierre, was alone beheld and compre- 
 hended. It M'as he who had been the head of the 
 government ; to him were imputed the incarcerations, 
 the executions, all the enormities, in sjiort, of the late 
 tyranny. Robesiiierrc dead, it seemed as if all must 
 change and assinne a new^ aspect. 
 
 At all times, public expectation, consequent upon 
 the occurrence of some great event, becomes an irre- 
 sistible influence, to which rulers must more or less 
 defer. Thus, after two days devoted to receiving con- 
 gratulations, hearing addresses, all echoing the same 
 cry, " Catiline is no more — the republic is saved !" 
 recompensing individual acts of courage, and voting 
 memorials to render the day of the 9th for ever famous, 
 the convention directed attention to the measures its 
 new situation demanded. 
 
 The ])opular connnissions instituted to select indi- 
 viduals for detention, tlu' ri'volutiimary triiiunal com- 
 ])()un(led by liobispicrri'. and the ])ublic accuser Fou- 
 quier-Tinville, still remained in authority, and needed 
 >;ut a signal of encouragement to continue tlieir ruth- 
 less proceedings. In the sitting even of the 11th 
 Thermidor (29th July), a motion was nuule and passed 
 for subjecting the popular commissions to a process of 
 l)urgation. Flic-Lacoste solicited attention to the 
 revolutionary trii)unal, and j)rop()sed its suspension 
 until it were reorganised upon ditferent princii)les and 
 (composed of other individuids. The proposal of Elie- 
 Lacoste was adopted ; and, at the same time, in order
 
 4-iC 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 to avoid delay in trying Robespierre's accomplices, it 
 was agreed to nominate a provisional commission to 
 supersede tlie revolutionary tribunal. In the evening 
 sitting, Barrerc, in his habitual character of reporter, 
 appeared to announce a further achievement — tlie 
 entry of the French into Liege ; and afterwards di- 
 gressed to the existing condition of the connnittees, 
 which had been reduced at various times, by execu- 
 tions and missions, in the number of members. Robes- 
 pierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon, had expired on the 
 scaffold the previous day. Ilerault-Scclielles had died 
 with Danton. .Tean-lJon-Saint-Andre and Prieur [de- 
 la-Marue] were on missions. The acting memljcrs 
 on the committee of public welfare consisted only of 
 Carnot, who attended exclusively to tlie war depart- 
 ment ; Prieur [de-la-C6te-d"Or], cluvrged with the care 
 of arsenals and magazines ; Robert Lindet, witli tlie 
 superintendence of supplies and of trade ; Billaud-Va- 
 reunes and Collot-d'IIerbois, witli the management of 
 correspondence witli the administrative bodies ; and, 
 lastly', Barrere, Avitli the preparation of reports. Out 
 of twelve, therefore, but six remained. The committee 
 of general safety was more complete, and pronounced 
 fidly adequate to its duties. Barrere proposed to 
 replace the three members recently executed by three 
 new members, for the interval occurring until the 
 general renewal of the committees, wliich was fixed 
 for the 20th of each month — a form that had ceased 
 to be observed since the ascendancy of the dictatorship. 
 Hereby important considerations were suggested : — 
 Ought all the men who had formed part of the late 
 government to be cashiered ? Ought not only the 
 men but the jirinciples and constitution of the com- 
 mittees to be changed, precautions taken against their 
 undue influence, their powers curtailed ; in a word, a 
 complete revolution effected in the administration of 
 the government? 
 
 Such were the questions started by Barrere's pro- 
 position. First, exception was taken to the form of 
 proceeding, whereby the convention was suddenly and 
 dictatorially asked to nominate members for the com- 
 mittee the same day they were proposed. It was 
 thereuiion moved that the list of names submitted be 
 printed, and the appointment adjourned. Dubois- 
 Crance went furtlier, and complained of the prolonged 
 absence of members of the committees. " If Ilerault- 
 Sechelles," he said, " had been replaced, if Prieur-de- 
 la-Marne and Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre had not been 
 left constantly on missions, a majority would have 
 been more certain, and less hesitation manifested in 
 attacking the triumvirs." lie subsequently maintained 
 tliat men grew indolent in power, and otherwise con- 
 tracted dangerous habits. In consequence, he recom- 
 mended a decree, providing that, for the future, no 
 member of tiie committees should be competent to 
 accept missions ; and that a fourth jiart of eacli com- 
 mittee should be renewed every month. Cambon, 
 urging the discussion still further, alleged that the 
 entire government required a fresh organisation. The 
 committee of public welfare, he represented, had 
 monopolised all atlairs, whence it resulted that the 
 members, albeit toiling day and night, were unequal 
 to the burden imposed upon them, whilst the com- 
 mittees of finance, legislation, and general safety, were 
 reduced to complete nullity. A new distribution of 
 functions, therefore, was essential, in order to prevent 
 the committee of public welfare being overwhelmed 
 with business and the other committees practically 
 annihilated. 
 
 The discussion being thus provoked, an assault was 
 threatened on all portions of the revolutionary govern- 
 nient. But Bourdon-de-l'* )ise, whose opposition to 
 ]{ol)espierre's system was well known, inasmuch as 
 he had been marked for one of his first victims, checked 
 this premature movement. He said that France had 
 long possessed an able and vigorous government, tt) 
 which the safety of the country and many signal vic- 
 tories were owing ; that great iicril might ensue from 
 
 imprudently interfering with its organisation ; tliat all 
 the hopes of the aristocrats would be thereby resusci- 
 tated ; and that, whilst guardmg against a newtyranny, 
 still infinite caution shoidd be observed in modif^'ing 
 an institution productive of so many great results. 
 However, Tallien, the hero of the 9tb, argued that at 
 least certain questions might be now entertained, and 
 that tlieir immediate decision could be attended with 
 no danger. Why, for example, not decree on the in- 
 stant that a fourth of the mem])ers of the committees 
 should go out in rotation every month ? This proposi- 
 tion of Dubois-Crancc, thus reproduced by Tallien, 
 was hailed with enthusiasm, and adopted amid cries of 
 " Long live tlie republic !" To this measure the deputy 
 Delmas advocated an addition. Addressing the as- 
 semldy, he said, " You have now stifled ambition at 
 its source ; to complete your decree, I move you to 
 decide that no inemljer shall be eligible to re-enter a 
 connnittee witliin a month after leaving it." This 
 resolution, greeted like the preceding, was instantly 
 passed. Tliese principles being thus sanctioned, it 
 was eventually agreed that to a commission should be 
 delegated the task of presenting a new project for the 
 organisation of the governing committees. 
 
 On the following day, six members were chosen, to 
 replace those dead or absent, on the committee of 
 l>yblic welfare. On this occasion, the nominations 
 submitted by Barrere were not confirmed. The choice 
 of the convention fell on Tallien, in remembrance of 
 his courage ; on Breard, Thuriot, and Treilhard, mem- 
 bers of the first committee of public welfare ; and on 
 the two deputies Laloi and Eschaaseriaux the elder, the 
 latter of whom was conversant in matters of finance 
 and political economy. Tlie committee of general 
 safety was likewise remodelled. Three of its mem 
 bers were objects of general odium — David, obnoxious 
 as a reputed adherent of Robespierre, and Jagot and 
 Lavicomterie, accused of having exercised their in- 
 <luisitorial p(jwers in a revolting manner. Numerous 
 voices demanded their displacement, and it was de- 
 creed. The assembly appointed, to succeed them and 
 comjilete the committee of general safety, several of 
 the champions who had distinguished themselves on 
 the 9th Tiiermidor — Legendre, Merlin de Thionville, 
 Goui)ilIeau de Fontenay, Andre Dumont, Jean De- 
 liry, and Bernard de Saintes. It subsequently re- 
 scinded the law of the 22d Prairial by an unanimous 
 vote. Complaints were then vehemently urged against 
 the decree which permitted the incarceration of a 
 deputy without a preliminary hearing before the con- 
 vention — tliat fatal decree, which had consigned to 
 death many eminent victims yet cherished in re- 
 collection, Danton, Camille-Desmoulins, Heraidt-Se- 
 chelles, &c. The decree was abrogated. All these 
 measures, however, only affected the substance of 
 things, and there were men against whom the public 
 resentment was fierce and inexorable. " All Paris," 
 exclaimed Legendre, " invokes you for the justly 
 merited punishment of Fonquier-Tinville ! " The sug- 
 gestion was immediately acted upon, :ind Fouquier 
 decreed under impeachment. " We can no longer sit 
 by the side of Lebon!" cried another voice; and all 
 ej-es were turned on the proconsul who had deluged 
 the town of Arras with blood, and v.diose excesses had 
 provoked remonstrance even in the time' of Robes- 
 pierre. Lebon was forthwith declared in a state of 
 arrest. The storm next fell on David, who had been 
 at first merely excluded from the committee of general 
 safety, and he was placed under arrest. The like pro- 
 ceeding was adopted against Heron, the principal 
 agent of the police instituted by Robespierre ; against 
 General Kossignol, heretofore well known ; and against 
 Hermann, jiresident of the revolutionary tribunal pre- 
 vious to Dumas, afterwards appointed, through the 
 influence of Robespierre, head of the commission of 
 police and courts of justice. 
 
 Thus the revolutionary tribunal was suspended, the 
 law of the 22d I'rairial repealed, the committees of
 
 HIS'lORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 447 
 
 pultlic welfare and general safety partially reconiposerl, 
 and tlie principal ajrents of the late dictatorship ar- 
 rested and criniinated. The character of the last re- 
 volution was fixed, and the impulse yiven to hopes 
 and appeals of every kind. The detained who filled 
 the prisons, and their fomilies, now congratulated 
 themselves on the prospect of enjoying the fruits of 
 the 9th Tliermidor. Anterior to this happy moment, 
 the relatives of the suspected dared not reclaim, even 
 to substantiate the most legitimate reasons, under 
 the apprehension either of awakening the attention 
 of Fouquier-Tinvillc or of being themselves immured 
 for soliciting in favour of aristocrats. The dreary 
 interval of terror had, however, at length elapsed. 
 The sections, which had been long abandoned to the 
 sans-culottes, Avho received forty sous a-d;iv, began 
 again to be frequented, and were speedily filled with 
 individuals uow emerging from the deepest seclusion, 
 relatives of prisoners, and fathers, brothers, or sons of 
 victims immolated by the revolutionary tribunal. The 
 desire of delivering their kinsmen animated several, 
 the thirst of vengeance incited others. In all the 
 sections the liberation of the detained was advocated, 
 and deputations were sent to the convention craving 
 a decree in conformity. These petitions were referred 
 to the committee of general safety, whose duty it was 
 to superintend the application of the law of the sus- 
 pected. Although it still contained the greater mmi- 
 ber of those who had signed the warrants of arrest, 
 the bias of circumstances and the infusion of new 
 members necessarily inclined it to lenity. It com- 
 menced, in fact, to issue orders of discharge in great 
 profusion. Certain of its members — Legendre, Merlin, 
 and others — visited the prisons to gather complaints, 
 and inspired infinite gladness by their words and pre- 
 sence ; their colleagues, sitting day and night, enter- 
 tained the pleas of relatives, who attended in crowds 
 to obtain adjudications of release. The committee 
 was instructed to examine whether the alleged sus- 
 pected had been incarcerated on grounds set forth in 
 the law of the 17th September, and whether such 
 grounds were specified in the warrants of arrest. 
 This was merely reverting to the law of the 17 th 
 September m its more strict mterpretation and exe- 
 cution ; but it in trutli sufficed to empty the prisons 
 almost entirely. The precipitation of the revolutionar}' 
 agents had been so great, that they were accustomed 
 to apprehend without particularising the assigned 
 motives, or giving the prisoners intimation thereof. 
 Accordingly, liberations proceeded as multitiidinously 
 as the previous detentions. The joy, if less boisterous, 
 became then more heartfelt ; it communicated to fe- 
 milies who recovered a father, a son, or a brother, of 
 whom they had been long deprived, and whom tliey 
 had given up as doomed to the scaffold. Men now 
 poured forth from the prisons whom their reserve or 
 their cojmexions had rendered obnoxious to a suspi- 
 cious authority, and many, also, in whom even an 
 accredited patriotism had not availed to pardon op- 
 position. That young general, who, concentrating the 
 two armies of the Moselle and the Rhine on a single 
 flank of the Vosgcs, had raised the blockade of Lan- 
 dau by a movement worthy of the greatest captains, 
 Hoche, immured for his resistance to the committee 
 of public welfare, was released, and restored to his 
 family and tlie armies which he was again to lead on 
 to victory. Kilmaine, too, who saved the army of the 
 North by evacuating Cajsar's Camp in August 1793, 
 and imprisoned for that admirable retreat, likewise 
 recovered his liberty. Tliat young and beautiful 
 female, who had gained so beneficial a sway over 
 Tallien, and had never ceased to stinuilate his courage 
 fronr the recesses of her prison, was delivered by him 
 and made his wife. The liberations, in fact, increased 
 after a geometrical ratio, although tlie solicitations 
 with which the committee was ])esieged seemed still 
 numerous as ever. " Victory," said Barrere, " has 
 proiluced an epoch in which the country may be in- 
 
 dulgent without danger, and deem incivic errors 
 effaced by an interval of confinement. The commit- 
 tees labour continuously to decide on claims of free- 
 dom, and to repair individual mistakes or injustice. 
 Shortly the trace of personal vengeance will disappear 
 from tlie soil of tlie republic ; but the concourse of 
 suitors of both sexes at the doors of the committee of 
 general safety only tend to retard exertions so ad- 
 vantageous to the public. We grant the impatience 
 of families to be natural under the circumstances ; 
 but why delay, by solicitations irksome to legislators, 
 and hy assemblages inconveniently tumultuous, the 
 rapid course that national justice ought to take at 
 this period?" 
 
 The committee of general safety was in trutli 
 assailed by importunities of every kind. Females 
 especially exerted their influence to procure acts of 
 clemency, even in behalf of known enemies of the 
 revolution. More than one deception was practised 
 on the committee : the Dukes d'Aumont and De 
 Valentinois were released imder supposititious names, 
 and a great number of others obtained enlargement 
 by similar devices. But little positive danger could 
 thence accrue ; for, as Barrere had truly stated, vic- 
 tory had introduced an epoch in which the republic 
 might securely become lenient and benign. At the 
 same time, the report that many iindoubted aristo- 
 crats were being liberated, was calculated to revive 
 revolutionary clistrust, and rupture the unaniniitj' 
 wherewith the measures of mildness and concord were 
 at }>resent greeted. 
 
 Tlie sections, meanwhile, had become scenes of 
 agitation and tumult. The relatives of prisoners or 
 of victims, the suspected recently' liberated, and all, 
 indeed, to whom freedom of speech was restored, as 
 might hiive been anticipated, clamoured not onl}" for 
 reparation of past injuries, but also f<jr vengeance on 
 the wrong-doers. An inveterate feeling more particu- 
 larly prevailed against the revolutionary committees, 
 and they were bitterly assailed. It was proposed to 
 remodel, even to abolish them ; and these angry dis- 
 cussions provoked sundry disturbances in Paris. The 
 section of Montreuil appeared before the convention 
 to denounce the arbitrary acts of its revolutionary 
 committee ; that of the French ranthcon declared its 
 committee had forfeited its confidence ; and that of 
 the Social Contract likewise adopted severe resolutions 
 touching the conduct of its revolutionary committee, 
 and appointed a commission to investigate its records. 
 
 These movements M-ere indicative of a natural re- 
 action on the part of the moderate class, long awed 
 into silence and fear by the inquisitors of the revolu- 
 tionary committees, and could scarcely fail to attract 
 the attention of the IMountain. 
 
 That redoubtable Mountain had not perished with 
 Robespierre, but yet survived to play a part. Certain 
 of its members were steadfastly convinci'd of tlie inte- 
 grity and loyalty of Robespierre's intentions, and re- 
 fused to believe he contemplated usurpation. They 
 regarded him as the victim of Danton's friends and of 
 tlie corrupt party, tlie remains wiiereof he liad been 
 unable to destroy ; but a very trifling minority held 
 that opinion. The majority of the Mountaineers, sin- 
 cere and enthusiastic republicans, viewing witli abhor- 
 rence every project of exclusive dominion, had aided 
 in accomi)lisiiing the 9th Tliermidor, less to subvert a 
 sanguinary government than to smite a rising Crom- 
 well. iJoubtless, revolutionary justice, such jis it had 
 become under the auspices of Robespierre, Saint-Just, 
 Coutlion, Fouquier-Tinvillc, and Dumas, was revolt- 
 ing to their feelings ; but they intended in no degree 
 to relax the energy of the government or to spare 
 what was called aristocracy-. The greater part were 
 ujiright and rigid men, strangers to the dictatorship 
 and to its acts, and by no means interested in vindi- 
 cating it ; but they were likewise jealous revolutionists, 
 averse to the 9tli Thermidor resulting in a reaction 
 and turning to tlie advantage of a party. Amongst
 
 448 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the members of the convention who had coalesced to 
 overtlirow the dictatorship, they belield with secret 
 aversion men Avho passed for knaves and extortioners, 
 friends of Chabot and Fabre-d'lvj;lantine, members, 
 in short, of the so-much-decried venal, jobliing, and 
 debauched part}'. They had seccjnded them against 
 liobespierre, but they were prepared to oppose them 
 if they perceived any tendency towards chediing re- 
 volutionary energy, or converting the late events into 
 a means of exalting any faction whatsoever. Uanton 
 had been accused of corruption, federalism, Orleanism, 
 royalism ; therefore it is not surprising that suspi- 
 cions of a like nature arose against his now triumph- 
 ant friends. At the same time, no attack was yet 
 made ; but the numerous liberations and the general 
 demonstration against the revolutionary system began 
 to awaken solicitude. 
 
 The veritable authors of the 9th Thermidor, mmi- 
 bering fifteen or twentj', of whom the principal were 
 Legendre, Freron, Tallien, Merlin- de-Tliionville, Bar- 
 ras, Thuriot, Bourdon [de-l'Oise], Dubois-Crancc, and 
 Lecointre of Versailles, were not more disposed than 
 their colleagues towards royalism and a counter-revo- 
 lution ; but, excited by the danger the}' had incurred 
 and the arduous struggle so recently maintained, tliej- 
 pronounced more decidedly against the revolutionary 
 laws. Moreover, they partook in a much greater de- 
 gree that feeling of commiseration which had ruined 
 their friends Danton and Dcsmoulins. Encompassed, 
 extolled, importuned, they became more committ^ 
 than their colleagues of the iNIountain to the system 
 of clemency. It is possible, indeed, that some amongst 
 them were drawn into involuntary beneficence by 
 their new position. To render services to disconsolate 
 families, to receive testimonies of overfiowing grati- 
 tude, to soothe the bitterness of past aSliction, had 
 charms to tempt more obdurate men than they. Be 
 that as it may, already those who distrusted their 
 complaisant mood, and likewise those who placed fu- 
 ture hopes in the dawning change, gave them a pecu- 
 liar appellation — they called them Tltermidorians. 
 
 Contentions frequently occurred on the subject of 
 liberations. Thus, for example, on the recommenda- 
 tion of a deputy in behalf of an individual from his 
 department, the committee ordered his release; shortlj' 
 a deputy of the same department appeared to com- 
 plain of this order, affirming that the committee had 
 enlarged a pure aristocrat. Such disputes often re- 
 curring, and the confluence of mmierous undoubted 
 enemies of the revolution, who came forth beaming 
 ^■ith joyful anticipations, led to a measure whicii 
 was adopted without much importance being attached 
 to it at the moment. This was a resolution that the 
 list of all the individuals discharged by orders from 
 the committee of general safety should be printed, and 
 that opposite the name of each such person should be 
 specified the names of those who had pleaded for him 
 and who had answered for his princijiles. 
 
 This measure ])roduced a most painful impression. 
 Still mindful of the tyranny they had so recently en- 
 dured, many citizens were alarmed to perceive their 
 names connnetnorated on a list which might hereafter 
 serve as a foundation for fresh severities, if the system 
 of terror were ever re-established. Several of* those 
 who had solicited and obtained liberations deeply re- 
 gretted their interference, wliilst others shrimk "from 
 advocating any fin-tber claims. In the sections, nume- 
 rous speakers inveighed against a measure so calcu- 
 lated to throw gloom over the public joy and confi- 
 dence, and strcTuiously insisted it ought to be revoked. 
 
 On the 2(3th Thermidor (13th August), an inciden- 
 tal discussion arose in the convention, touching the 
 agitation prevailing in the sections of Paris. The 
 section of jMontreuil had attended to denounce its re- 
 volutionary conmiittee, and received for answer that 
 it should address its complaints to the conmiittee of 
 general safety. Duhem, deputy for Lille, a personage 
 unconnected with the acts of the late dictatorship, but 
 
 a friend of Billaud-Varennes, partaking all his opi- 
 nions, and firmly convinced that the revolutionary 
 authority ought not to be relaxed in rigour, rose and 
 expressed himself with pecidiar vehemence against 
 aristocracy and moderatism, which, he averred, " were 
 already rearing their audacious heads, and concluding 
 that the 9th Thermidor had been effected for their 
 benefit." Baudot and Taillefer, who had manifested a 
 courageous resistance under the supremacy of Robes- 
 pierre, but were equalh' uncompromising INIountain- 
 eers as Duhem, together with Vadier, famous as a 
 member of the old connnittee of general safety, like- 
 wise maintained that aristocracy was in activity, and 
 that, whilst the government showed itself'just,it ought 
 also to remain inflexible. Granet of ^larseilles, who 
 sat upon the ^fountain, submitted a motion which 
 tended to augment the excitement of the assembly. 
 He moved that the prisoners already liberated, whose 
 sureties failed to furnish their names within a given 
 period, should be again incarcerated^ This proposi- 
 tion caused a general commotion. Bourdon, Lecointre, 
 and iNIcrlin de Thionville, opposed it with their ut- 
 most strength. The discussion, as generally happens 
 on such occasions, travelled from the immediate sub- 
 ject to the political position, and much ac-rimon}- was 
 displayed in assailing the views respectively attributed 
 on the hostile sides. " It is time," exclaimed Merlin 
 de Thionville, " that all the factions be debaiTed from 
 using the steps of Robespierre's throne. Nothing 
 oiight to be done by halves, and yet it must be granted, 
 the convention, in the day of the 9th Thermidor, did 
 many things incompletely. But if it left tyrants here, 
 they ought at least to keep silence." IMuch applause 
 greeted Merlin's words, which were addressed chiefly 
 to Vadier, one of those who had most strongly in- 
 veighed against the movements in the sections. Le- 
 gendre occupied the tribime after ^lerlin. " The com- 
 mittee is well aware," he said, " that it has been 
 trepanned into the release of certain aristocrats ; but 
 the number is not great, and they will soon be reim- 
 prisoned. Why perpetually accuse each other ? Why 
 regard one another as enemies, Avhen our intentions 
 link us together? Let us moderate our passions, if 
 we Avould assure and accelerate the success of the re- 
 volution. Citizens, I move j'ou to repeal the law of 
 the 23d, which commands the publication of the lists 
 of released citizens. That law has dissipated public 
 joy and frozen all hearts." 
 
 Tallien succeeded Legendre. He was heard with 
 profound attention as the principal of the Thermido- 
 rians. " For several days," he said, " all good citizens 
 have perceived with grief that endeavours are making 
 to divide you, and to rekindle those animosities which 
 Avere thought to hs buried in the tomb of Robespierre. 
 On entering here, a note Avas handed me, intimating 
 that several members were to be attacked in this sit- 
 ting. Doubtless they are enemies of the repulilic who 
 give currencj' to such reports : let us bcAvare how we 
 promote their designs by our dissensions." Plaudits 
 interrupted Tallien : he resumed. " Imitators of Ro- 
 bespierre," he exclaimed, "expect no success! The 
 convention is determined to perish rather than suffer 
 a ncAv tyranny. The convention desires an inflexible 
 but also a just goA-ernment. It is possible that some 
 patriots have been deceived regarding certain prison- 
 ers ; we do not hold the infallibility of men. But let 
 the individuals improperly liberated be denounced, and 
 they Avill be recommitted. For myself, I here declare, 
 in all sincerity, tlwit I prefer seeing tAventy aristocrats 
 at large to-day, Avho can be retaken to-morroAV, rather 
 than endure the consciousness that one patriot re- 
 mained in durance. What ! the republic with its 
 tAvelve hundred thousand armed citizens, afraid of a 
 few aristocrats ! No — it is too great ; it can at all 
 times discover and put its enemies to confusion." 
 
 The cheers which had often interrupted Tallien in 
 his speech rcsoimded still more vociferously on its 
 conclusion. After much general recrimination, the
 
 HiWTOJtiY OF THE FRENCH KEVOLUTION. 
 
 discussion reverted to the law of tlie 23d, and to the 
 additional clause -which Granct projioscd for inser- 
 tion therein. The advocates of the law maintained, 
 that none could fear publicity in the performance of 
 a patriotic act, such as appealing in behalf of a citi- 
 zen unjustly conlined. Its opponents replied, that 
 nothing was more dangerous than such lists ; that 
 those of the twenty thousand and of the eight thou- 
 sand had been tlie occasion of continual mieasiness ; 
 that all whose names were thereon inscribed had lived 
 in terror ; and tliat, were no other tyranny to be ap- 
 prehended, the individuals recorded in the new lists 
 would never enjoy tranquillity. Eventuallj' a com- 
 promise was offered. Bourdon submitted a motion to 
 the effect that the names of the enfranchised prisoners 
 should be printed, without the addition of those who 
 had solicited the liberations. This suggestion was 
 accepted, and a resolution passed that the names of 
 the discharged alone should be published. Tallien, 
 who was not satisfied with this surrender, immedi- 
 ately presented himself in the tribune. " Since you 
 have determined," he said, " to publish the list of the 
 citizens restored to liberty, you cannot consistently 
 withhold that of the citizens who caused their incar- 
 ceration. It is equally fitting that we know those who 
 denounced and inmiured good patriots." The assem- 
 bly, somewhat taken by surprise, found the proposi- 
 tion just, and forthwith adopted it. Scarcely had the 
 vote been taken, however, ere several members pro- 
 tested. " This is a list," said they, " which will stand 
 in opposition to the former ; it involves civil ivar !" The 
 phrase was repeated in the hall, and mmierous voices 
 exclaimed, " It involves civil war !" " Yes," resumed 
 Tallien, who again mounted the tribune — " yes, it is 
 civil war! I think with you. Your two decrees will 
 set in distinct array two classes of men M-ho can never 
 forgive each other. But I wished, in proposing the 
 second decree, to make you sensible of the inconve- 
 nience of the first. Now, I move j'ou to rescind both." 
 From all quarters the exclamation arose, " Yes, yes ! 
 the repeal of both decrees !" Amar himself coincided, 
 and the two decrees were recalled. All publication of 
 lists was thus averted, the result of Tallien's bold and 
 adroit surprise on the assembly. 
 
 This sitting restored confidence to many in whom 
 alarm was again becoming predominant ; but it at the 
 same time proved that all animosities were not recon- 
 ciled nor all struggles terminated. Every party had 
 now been struck in its turn, and shorn of its most 
 eminent members : the royalists at several eras ; the 
 Girondists on the 31st May; the Dantonists in Ger- 
 minal; the ultra-Mountaineers on the 9th Thermidor. 
 But if the more distinguished leaders had perished, 
 the parties themselves survived ; for such confede- 
 racies are rarely crushed by a single mischance, but 
 even in their crippled state continue a more cautious 
 agitation. These parties, then, were henceforth to 
 contend for the direction of the revolution, and to re- 
 commence an arduous and merciless career. It seems, 
 in sooth, that when the minds of men have been urged 
 by the stimulus of danger to the acme of excitement, 
 it is only by slow degrees they can subside into pris- 
 tine calmness ; whilst, in the interim, power is grasped 
 alternately by the struggling factions, and one re- 
 morseless combat of passions, systems, and ambition, 
 waged. 
 
 After devoting its earliest attention to the mitiga- 
 tion of unnecessary severity, the convention turned to 
 the organisation of the comn)ittces and of the i)rovi- 
 sional government, intended, as has been often men- 
 tioned, to rule France until the era of a general peace. 
 A preliminary discussion had occurred, as we remem- 
 ber, respecting the committee of public welfare ; and 
 the whole question had been referred to a commission, 
 with special instructions to digest and present a new 
 jiroject. The subject was one of imperative urgency, 
 and the assembly entered upon it with the commence- 
 ment of Thermidor. The difficulty of the position 
 
 lay in steering between two opposite systems and 
 dangers — between the fear, on the one hand, of weak- 
 ening the authority intrusted with the safety of the 
 revolution, and the dread, on the other, of restoring 
 tlie tyranny. The tendency of men is to feel undue 
 alarm at perils that are past, and to adopt precautions 
 against what cannot recur. The tyranny of the late 
 committee of public welfare had sprung from the ne- 
 cessity of fulfilling an extraordinary task amidst ob- 
 stacles the most harassing and various. Certain men 
 had taken upon themselves to perform what a large 
 assembly could or dared not attempt with any hope 
 of success ; and, engrossed by unprecedented labours 
 for a period of fifteen months, it had been impossible 
 for them either to assign the grounds of their proceed- 
 ings, or to render an account of them to the conven- 
 tion, save in a general manner : they had not had 
 time even to deliberate amongst themselves, and each 
 governed in the department committed to him as ab- 
 solute master. They had thus become so many invo- 
 luntary dictators, whom circumstances rather than 
 ambition invested with imcontrolled power. Now 
 that the task was almost accomplislied, and the season 
 of extreme peril past, no occasion remained to war- 
 rant or render feasible any similar authority. It par- 
 took of the puerile to guard so anxiously against a 
 danger practically impossible ; nay, this very wari- 
 ness might be productive of serious evil, by relaxing 
 authority and depriving it of energy. Twelve hun- 
 dred thousand men had been raised, provisioned, armed, 
 and conducted to the frontiers ; but their further main- 
 tenance and direction were essential as heretofore, and 
 required continued vigilance, joined to great capacity 
 and extensive powers. 
 
 The principle of partially renewing the committees 
 ever}' month had been already adopted ; and, at the 
 same time, a resolution had been passed, that the re- 
 tiring members should be ineligible for re-election 
 during a month. These two conditions, framed to 
 prevent a new dictatorship, likewise prevented all 
 effective administration. In a ministry constantly 
 fluctuating, coherency, continuous appUcation, or se- 
 crecy, was impracticable. Scarcely was a member 
 initiated in afiairs, ere he was compelled to forego 
 their management ; and though a peculiar aptitude 
 were manifested, as by Carnot for war, Prieur [de-la- 
 Cote-d'Or] and Robert Lindet for civil administration, 
 and Cambon for finance, still such superior talent was 
 lost to the state at the term fixed ; for the mere ab- 
 sence during a month, required by the law, rendered 
 almost nugatory the advantages of a subsequent re- 
 election. 
 
 But the spirit of reaction was irresistible. An ex- 
 treme concentration of power was to be succeeded by 
 an equally extreme dissemination, hazardous in the 
 opposite tendency. The former committee of public 
 welfare, being intrusted with tlie exercise of sovereign 
 control over all that concerned the well-being of tlie 
 state, had enjoyed the prerogative of summoning tlie 
 other committees before it, and constraining them to 
 render an account of their operations ; whereby it had 
 contrived to ajipropriate every imjiortant function in 
 the department of each. To prevent such encroach- 
 ments for tlie future, the new system of organisation 
 separated and sjiecified tlie jurisdictions of the com- 
 mittees, and constituted them mutually independent. 
 Sixteen were established : — 
 
 1. The committee of public welfare. 
 
 2. Tlie committee of general safety. 
 
 3. The committee of finance. 
 
 4. The committee of legislation. 
 
 .5. The committee of public instruction. 
 ('). Tlie conmiittee of agriculture and arts. 
 
 7. The committee of trade and supplies. 
 
 8. The committee of public works. 
 
 9. The committee of post-conveyances. 
 10. The military committee. 
 
 H. The committee of the navy and colonies.
 
 450 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 12. The committee of public aids. 
 
 13. The committee of division. 
 
 14. The committee of minutes and records. 
 
 1 5. Tlie committee of petitions, correspondence, and 
 dispatches. 
 
 16. The committee of curators of tlie national palace. 
 Tlie committee of public welfiire was composed of 
 
 twelve members. It retained the direction of military 
 and diplomatic operations ; it was charged with the levy 
 and equipment of armies, the choice of generals, the 
 plans of campaigns, &c. ; but its powers were confined 
 within those limits. The committee of general safety, 
 composed of sixteen members, had the police assigned 
 it ; that of finance, composed of forty-eight members, 
 had the management of the revenue, the exchequer, 
 the coinage, assignats, &c. The committees were em- 
 powered to unite for objects of common concernment. 
 Thus, the absolute authority of the former committee 
 of public welfare was superseded l)y a number of rival 
 boards, liable to embarrass and interfere Avith each 
 other in their action. Such was the new organisation 
 of the government. 
 
 Other reforms, deemed equally exigible, were effected 
 at the same time. The revolutionary committees, 
 established in tlie smallest towns, and authorised to 
 execute inquisitorial fmictions therein, were the most 
 vexatious and abhorred of all the institutions attri- 
 buted to the Kobespierre faction. With the view of 
 restraining their obnoxious activity, their number was 
 reduced to one in each district ; jirovided, however, 
 that one must be maintained in every borough con- 
 taining eight thousand inhabitants, whether it were 
 the district capital or not. In Paris, the number was 
 curtailed from forty-eight to twelve. These commit- 
 tees were henceforth to be composed of twelve mem- 
 bers ; the signature of three members at least was de- 
 clared essential to tlie validity of a writ, and of seven 
 to substantiate a warrant of arrest. Like tlie superior 
 committees, they were subjected to a monthly renewal 
 of one-fourth jiart. These regulations were accom- 
 panied by anotlier not less important in its operation, 
 namely, a decree prohibiting the sectional assemblies 
 from being held more than once in a decade, appoint- 
 ing the decadis or tenth days for such meetings, and 
 disallowing the further payment of forty sous to the 
 citizens attending them. This measure had the effect 
 of confining democracy within narrower limits, by ren- 
 dering popular assemblages more rare, and especially 
 by depriving the lower classes of the remuneration pre- 
 viously granted fi^r their presence. A practice M'as thus 
 abolished wiiich had degenerated into a monstrous 
 abuse in Paris. It had been usual to jiiiy in each section 
 twelve hundred members as jiresent, whilst scarcely 
 three hundred were actually in attendance. Those 
 present had been accustomed to answer for the absent 
 — a service alternately performed and returned. Now, 
 that operative militia, so long devoted to Kobespierre, 
 found itself discarded and constrained to labour. 
 
 One of the most important determinations taken by 
 the convention was aimed at the individuals compos- 
 ing the local authorities, revolutionary committees, 
 municipalities, &c., who were appointed to undergo a 
 process of purgation. In tliose bodies, as we have 
 previously intimated, the most ardent revolutionists 
 were comprised — men who in each locality had played 
 the part of Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon at 
 Paris, and exercised their sway with all the brutality 
 of inferior demagogues. The decree of the revolu- 
 tionary government, suspending the constitution until 
 the return of peace, had postponed elections of every 
 description, in order to avoid disturbance and to 
 maintain authority in approved hands. The conven- 
 tion, for reasons perfectly similar, that is to say, in 
 order to jirevent collisions between the Jacobins and 
 the aristocrats, confirmed the dispositions of that de- 
 cree, and merely empowered the representatives on 
 missions to purge the administrations throughout 
 France. By this expedient it secured to itself the 
 
 selection and control of the local authorities, and 
 averted the ebullition of faction against faction. 
 
 Lastly, the revolutionary tribunal, recently sus- 
 pended, was restored to activity. The judges and 
 jurA'men not being j-et all nominated, those actually 
 appointed were to assume tlieir functions ad interim, 
 and try prisoners according to the laws in force prior 
 to the decree of the 22d Prairial. Those laws were of 
 a sufficiently formidable character ; but the men who 
 had been chosen to ajiply them, and the aptitude of 
 extraordinary tribunals to obey the spirit of the go- 
 vernment that calls them into existence, were guaran- 
 tees against fresh cruelties. 
 
 All these measures were adopted between the 1st and 
 the 15th of Fructidor (end of August). Still one in- 
 valuable privilege remained to be adjusted — the liberty 
 of the press. No law prescribed restrictions upon it ; 
 in the declaration of rights it was even recognised in 
 an unlimited sense; but it had been practically inter- 
 dicted under the reign of terror. A single indiscreet 
 word sufficing to compromise the life of a citizen, it 
 wfmld have argued reckless temerity to essay author- 
 ship. The fiite of the lamented Camille-IX'smoulins 
 had significantly proved the real thraldom of the press 
 in recent times. Durand-Maillane, an ex-constituent, 
 and one of those timid characters who had shrunk into 
 complete niillity dm-ing the storms of the revolutionary 
 era, was the first to demand that the liberty of the 
 press should be again formally asserted. " We have 
 never been able," said that exemplar^' personage to 
 his colleagues, " to utter oiir sentiments within these 
 walls, without being exposed to insults and menaces. 
 If you wish our opinions in the discussions hereafter 
 to arise, if you wish that we may contribute our infor- 
 mation to the connuon stock, you must give fresh 
 securities to those who are disposed either to speak or 
 to Avrite." 
 
 A few days thereafter, Freron, the friend and asso- 
 ciate of Barras in his mission to Toulon, the intimate 
 of Danton and of Camille-Dcsmoulins, and since their 
 death a determined enemy of the committee of public 
 welfare, raised his voice in support of Durand-Mail- 
 lane, and moved the grant of miliraited freedom to the 
 press. Opinions were divided. Those who had lived 
 in constraint under the late dictatorship, and longed 
 to express their ideas upon all subjects witliout hazard, 
 tliose wlio were inclined to react energetically against 
 the revolution, argued in favour of a formal declara- 
 tion guaranteeing the liberty of thought, written or 
 spoken. The ISIountaineers, foreboding the use to 
 whicli this license might be converted, seeing in embryo 
 the tirades contemplated against all the individuals 
 who had exercised any functions during the terror ; 
 and many others also, who, without having personal 
 fears, duly apjjreciated the dangerous weapon proposed 
 to be conferred on the counter-revoluticjnists, already 
 swarming in all quarters — all these opposed an ex- 
 jiress declaration. They alleged as their reasons, that 
 the declaration of rights consecrated the libertj- of the 
 press ; that to acknowledge it anew was useless, since 
 it Avas proclaiming a recognised right ; and that, if it 
 were intended to render the license unfettered, such a 
 purpose Avas imprudent and impolitic. "Would you 
 then permit royalism to spring up again," asked Bour- 
 don-de-l'Oise and C.ambon, " and publish whatsoever 
 it may please against the institution of the republic ?" 
 The proposition Avas referred to the competent com- 
 mittees, to consider the expediency of a fresh declara- 
 tion. 
 
 Thus the provisional government, framed to direct 
 the revolution until the advent of peace, was integrally 
 modified in accordance with the lenient and generous 
 principles manifested since the 9th Thermidor. The 
 governing committees, the revolutionary tribunal, the 
 local administrations, were reorganised or purged ; the 
 liberty of the press was vindicated, and all announced 
 a new era. 
 
 The effect these reforms Avere calculated to produce
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 451 
 
 was not long in becoming apparent. Hitherto, the 
 party of nltra-revohitionists had occupied the seats 
 of government itself; it monopolised the committees 
 and swayed tlie convention ; it reigned supreme at 
 the Jacobin Clubs, and filled tlie municipal admini- 
 strations and the revolutionary committees where- 
 with all France was ramified. Now dispossessed, it 
 began to find itself utterl}- excluded from the govern- 
 ment, and to form a hostile faction against it. 
 
 The Jacobin Club had been suspended during the 
 night of the 9th-10thThermidor. Legendre had closed 
 their hall, and deposited the keys on the table of the 
 convention. The keys were restored, and the society 
 was permitted to be reconstituted, on condition of 
 undergoing purification. Fifteen of the oldest members 
 were appointed to investigate the conduct of the whole 
 fraternity on tlie night of the 9 th Thermidor. They 
 were enjoined to admit those only who, during that 
 famous night, had been at their posts as citizens, in- 
 stead of attending at the commune to conspire against 
 the convention. Pending this purgation, the former 
 members were allowed to occupy the hall as provi- 
 sional members. The scrutiny being commenced, it 
 was found that a strict inquiry touching each of them 
 would involve great delay and difficulty ; wherefore 
 the censors were content to pass them througli an 
 interrogatory, and adjudicate on their replies. In how 
 indulgent a spirit such an examination -was likely to 
 be conducted may be surmised, when it is remembered 
 that Jacobins were sitting in judgment on Jacobins. 
 In the course of a few days, upwards of six hundred 
 members were reinstalled, uj)on their shni)le assurance 
 that, during the night in question, they had been at 
 the posts presi-ribed by their duty. The club was 
 speedily recomposed in its previous condition, filled 
 with individuals the zealous adherents of Robespierre, 
 Saint- Just, and Couthon, and mourners of them as 
 martyrs to liberty and victims of the counter-revolu- 
 tion. In connexion with the parent society, that 
 famous electoral club still existed, into which those 
 retired who had propositions to make inconsistent 
 with the caution expedient on the public arena of the 
 Jacobins themselves, and wherein some of the signal 
 events of tlie revolution had been concocted. It still 
 met at the Eveche, and was composed of old Coi'de- 
 liers, of tlie most determined Jacobins, and of men the 
 most compromised during the reign of terror. The 
 Jacobin Club and it were the natural asylums of those 
 functionaries whom the recent purgations had expelled 
 from office. Thus tlie judges and jurymen of the 
 revolutionary tribiuial, the members of the forty-eight 
 committees to the number of four hundred or there- 
 abouts, the agents of the secret police under Robes- 
 pierre and Saint-Just, the order-bearers of the com- 
 mittees, who formed the band of the notorious Heron, 
 the clerks in diflerent departments, the officials, in 
 short, of every order, excluded from the places they 
 had filled, congregated at the Jacol^in and Electoral 
 Clubs, whether they chanced to be already memliers 
 or now obtained admission for the first time. There 
 they gave free vent to their complaints and resent- 
 ments. Tliey were uneasy as to their personid safety, 
 dreading the vengeance of those they had persecuted ; 
 and furthermore, they regretted the loss of lucrative 
 appointments, especially those who, being members of 
 the revolutionary committees, ha<l enjoyed opportuni- 
 ties of adding plunder and extortion to their fixed 
 emoluments. The union of these men produced a 
 violent and vindictive party, the natural ardour of 
 their opinions being now inflamed with tlie exaspe- 
 ration of wounded self-interest. The jirecedcnt of 
 Paris served for example to tlie rest of Franco. The 
 discarded members of the municipalities, the revolu- 
 tionary committees, and the district directories, ga- 
 thered together in the affiliated societies, and gave 
 utterance in concert to their grievances and their ani- 
 mosities. They commanded the sympathy of the popu- 
 lace, who had likewise been despoiled of agreeable 
 
 functions since the payment of the forty sous was 
 discontinued as the reward of attendance in the sec- 
 tions. 
 
 In abhorrence of this party and in antagonism to 
 it, there grew up another, which was, however, little 
 more than a revival. It comprehended all who had 
 suffered or been reduced to silence during the system 
 of terror, and who now deemed the moment arrived 
 for springing into activity, and directing in their 
 turn the course of the revolution. We have already 
 seen, when on tlie topic of the liberations, the rela 
 lives of captives and victims reappear in the sections, 
 and there busily agitate to accelerate the opening 
 of the prisons, or stimulate the denunciation and ar- 
 raignment of the revolutionary committees. The 
 new tendencies of the convention, the reforms effected, 
 increased the hopes and the courage of these first 
 reclaimers. They belonged to all the classes that 
 had endured oppression, various in grade and calling, 
 but chiefly to the commercial and burgher class — to 
 that industrious, opulent, and moderate community, 
 which, monarchical and constitutional with the Con- 
 stituent Assembly and republican with the Girondists, 
 was vanquished on the 31st May, and had been since 
 exposed to unrelenting persecution. In its ranks were 
 now concealed the small remnants of nobility, who 
 dared not yet complain of their depression, but who 
 invoked the rights of humanity in their own behalf, 
 and sundry partisans of royalty, creatures or agents 
 of the old court, who had never ceased to foster ob- 
 stacles in the way of the revolution, by joining in 
 every opposition, whatever might be its principle or 
 character. The young men of these different classes 
 Avere they who, as usual, declared themselves with the 
 greatest vivacity and energy, for the impetuosity of 
 youth is always the first to assail an oppressive sys- 
 tem. 1'liese filled the sections, the Palais-Royal, and 
 the public places, and vented their opinions against 
 those who were called the terrorists, in the most re- 
 solute strain. They alleged the most exalted motives. 
 Some had witnessed the desolation of their families ; 
 others foreboded their tyrannical treatment, should the 
 reign of terror be restored; and all obtested they would 
 resist its revival to the last drop of their blood. But 
 the secret of the vehemence on the part of many 
 amongst them lay in the conscription : some had 
 avoided it by secreting themselves, others had quitted 
 the armies on hearing of the 9th Thermidor. To them 
 were joined the authors and writers, so enthralled in 
 recent times — an order of men jjrone as youth itself to 
 swell the cry of opposition ; these already inundated 
 the journals, and stocked pamphlets with furious dia- 
 trilies against the reign of terror and its abettors. 
 
 The two parties expressed themselves in the most 
 strenuous but contradictory terms on the modifica- 
 tions introduced l)y the convention into the revolu- 
 tionary system. The Jacobins and the clubbists ex- 
 claimed against aristocracy ; they complained of the 
 committee of general safet3% for liberating counter- 
 revolutionists, and of the press, as being already made 
 the vehicle of ruthless calumny against those who had 
 saved France. The measure which chiefly roused 
 their ire, however, was the sweeping process of pur- 
 gation applied to the various authorities. Not ven- 
 turing precisely to remonstrate against the dismissal 
 of individuals, since that would have implied personal 
 motives, tliey declaimed against the mode of nomina- 
 tion, maintaining tliat the right of electing their ma- 
 gistrates ought to be restored to the i>eople, and that to 
 delegate the appointment of members of municipali- 
 ties, district directories, and revolntionaiy committees, 
 to representatives on missions, was a flagrant usurpa- 
 tion. They likewise asserted th.at the limitation of 
 the sections to one meeting in each decade was a vio- 
 lation of the inherent right possessed by the citizens 
 of assembling to deliberate on public affairs. Most of 
 such complaints were in direct contradiction to the 
 principles of the revolutionary government, which
 
 452 
 
 lilSTOllY OF THE FltENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 had prohibited idl elections until the restoration of 
 peace ; but parties are regtardless of inconsistencies 
 when their interests are affected, and tlie revolution- 
 ists were aware that a popular election would have 
 reseated them in tlieir ])laces. 
 
 On the other hand, the bur^liers in the sections, the 
 young men at the Palais-Roval and in the public 
 places, and the writers in the journals, demanded with 
 vehemence the unlimited freedom of the press, and 
 inveighed against the retention of numerous agents of 
 the late dictatorship in the existing committees and 
 authorities. They even ventured to frame ]jetitions 
 against representatives who had been engaged on cer- 
 tain missions. In truth, they derided all services 
 hitherto rendered, and began to revile the convention 
 itself 
 
 Tallien, who, in his capacity of the Thermidorian 
 leader, considered himself peculiarly responsible for 
 the new impulse imparted to affairs, was desirous that 
 such impulse should be sustained with tirnmess, bend- 
 ing neither to the one side nor to the other. In a dis- 
 course replete with subtle distinctions between the 
 system of terror and the revolutionary government, 
 tiie general purport whereof was, that, without put- 
 ting in vogue systematic cruelty, an adequate degree 
 of energy must yet be observed, Tallien moved the 
 convention to declare that the revolutionary govern- 
 ment was still in force, and that consequently the 
 primary assemblies ought not to be convoked for the 
 purpose of elections ; but he proposed to declare at 
 the same time, that all the courses of terror were pro- 
 scribed, and that proceedings instituted against writers 
 for freely delivering their opinions, should be deemed 
 modes of terror. 
 
 These propositions, which embodied no specific 
 measure, and merely intimated the views of the Ther- 
 midorians, who wished to plant themselves between 
 the two parties without favouring either, were re- 
 ferred to the three committees of public welfare, gene- 
 ral safety, and legislation, to wliom every thuig bear- 
 ing on these questions was remitted. 
 
 The rancour of the two parties, however, was not 
 to be assuaged by such impartial indications. They 
 continued their mutual invectives with imabated 
 virulence ; and what greatly contributed to augment 
 the general uneasiness and to multiply topics of com- 
 plaint and accusation, was the economical situation of 
 France, more deplorable at this moment, perhaps, than 
 it had ever been, even in the most calamitous ejwchs 
 of the revolution. 
 
 The assiguats, notwithstanding the victories of the 
 republic, had experienced a rapid depreciation, and 
 represented in trade only the sixth or the eighth frac- 
 tion of their nominal value, which caused a lament- 
 able derangement in traffic, and rendered the maxi- 
 mum more impracticable and vexatious than ever. 
 Want of confidence was obviously no longer the rea- 
 son of this depreciation, since no fears could now l)e 
 entertained for the existence of the republic ; it was 
 owing to the excessive and always increasing issues 
 commensurate with the decline. The taxes, gathered 
 with difficulty and paid in paper, scarcely supplied a 
 fourth or a fifth, of the sums monthlj' dispensed by 
 the government for the extraordinary expenses of the 
 war, and the deficiency was to be made good by fresh 
 emissions. Thus, since the iirevious year, the quan- 
 tity of assignats in circulation, which it had been 
 expected to reduce by various combinations to two 
 thousand millions, h<ad risen, on the contrary, to four 
 thousand si.x hundred millions. 
 
 To tliis enormous accumulation of paper-money, 
 and to the depreciation consequent thereon, were 
 added all the calamities resulting both from the war 
 itself and the arbitrary measures it had superinduced. 
 We recollect that, in order to establish a forced rela- 
 tion between the nominal value of assignats and 
 articles of merchandise, the law of the maximum had 
 l;een devised, which regulated the price of all com- 
 
 modities, and interdicted dealers from enhancing it in 
 proportion to the decline of paper ; and tliat this mea- 
 sure was aggravated by requisifluns, in the enforce- 
 ment whereof the representatives or agents of the 
 administration were invested with power to purvey 
 all supplies necessary for the armies and the larger 
 boroughs, paying for them in assignats, and at the 
 rates of the maximum. These expedients ha i saved 
 France, but with the evil of throwing trade iind the 
 circuhition into irremediable confusion. 
 
 The principal inconveniences of the maximum have 
 been already detailed, but may be recapitidated. The 
 general establishment of two markets, the one public, 
 in which the dealers exposed only their v^orst articles, 
 and in the smallest possible quantity, and the other 
 clandestine, in which they sold their best commodities 
 for si)ecie, and at unfettered prices ; the universal 
 secretion of produce, wliich the cultivators contrived 
 to shield from the vigilant scrutiny of the agents 
 charged to make requisitions ; lastly, disorder and 
 intermission in manufacturing, V)ecanse the manufac- 
 turers could not realise, from the prices allowed on 
 their goods, the cost even of production. All these 
 evils of a two-sided traffic, the concealment of agri- 
 cultural produce, and the stagnation of manufacturing 
 industry, had only increased with the course of time. 
 Throughout all the ramifications of trade, two ex- 
 changes had been established — the one pubUc and defi- 
 cient, the other furtive and extortionate. There were 
 two qualities of bread, two qualities of meat, two qua- 
 lities of every thing ; the one for the rich, who coidd 
 pay in specie or exceed the maxinnmi, the other for 
 the poor, the artisan, the annuitant, who could only 
 offer the nominal value of the assignat. The farmers 
 had become daily more ingenious in hoarding their 
 stocks ; they made false declarations, and abstained, 
 under pretext of lacking labour, from threshing their 
 corn — an allegation sufficiently plausible, for the war 
 had absorbed fifteen hundred thousand men ; they 
 urged, likewise, the bad harvest, wliich had certainly 
 not turned out so favourably as had been anticipated 
 in the early part of the year, when, at the festival to 
 the Supreme Being, thanksgivings were chanted to 
 Heaven for victories and abundant crops. As to the 
 manufacturers, they had entirely suspended their ope- 
 rations. We recollect that, in order to avoid injus- 
 tice towards the retailers, it had been found neces- 
 sary during the preceding year to extend the law to 
 the manufacturers, and to fix the price of fabrics at 
 the place of production, adding thereto the cost of 
 carriage; but the hnv then became unjust towards 
 tliese new objects of its attention. Ivaw materials 
 and handicraft labour having shared in the general 
 enhancement, the manufacturers had been unable to 
 redeem their outlay, and had accordingly ceased to pro- 
 duce. The commercial community were in the same 
 predicament. For example, the freight on merchan- 
 dise from the Indies had risen from 150 francs to 400 
 francs per ton, and tlie rates of insurance from 5 and 
 6 to 50 and 60 per cent. Importers, therefore, could 
 no longer afford to dispose of foreign cargoes at the 
 ])rices of the maximum, and they conse(j^uently ceased 
 their traffic. As we have elsewhere remarked, if the 
 price be forced on one article, it must be equally so 
 through all the ramifications of industry ; which is 
 altogether impracticable. 
 
 Time had unfolded other mischievous consequences 
 resulting from the maximum. The price of corn had 
 been fixed u])on an uniform scale throughout France. 
 But tlie jiroiiuction of corn being unequal in cost and 
 quantity in the different provinces, the legal rate 
 ])roved inappropriate to the various local jiecidiarities. 
 Again, the power vested in the municipalities of de- 
 termining tlie prices of all commodities, led to another 
 species of derangement. When a deficiency existed 
 in any town, the authorities raised the standard of 
 I>rices, which had the effect of attracting supplies to 
 the prejudice of adjacent districts; so tliat in one
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 place a glut, in another a dearth, prevailed, at the vriW 
 of those who regulated the tariff, and the operations 
 of trade, instead of flowing in a regular and natural 
 channel, were subjected to capricious, partial, and con- 
 vulsive vicissitudes. 
 
 The consequences of the requisitions were even more 
 fUsastrous. This oppressive system was enforced for 
 the purposes of supplying the armies, providing the 
 great arm-manufactories and arsenals with all that 
 they needed, provisioning the large towns, and some- 
 times obtaining for manufacturers the materials re- 
 quired in their business. Those to whom the power 
 of making requisitions was delegated, were the repre- 
 sentatives on missions, the commissaries m the armies, 
 and the agents of the commission for trade and sup- 
 phes. Dm'ing the urgenc}' of the danger, requisitions 
 had been made with precipitation and disorder, fre- 
 quently encountering on the same articles, whereby the 
 owners were perplexed which to obey. They were 
 generally on an unlimited scale, embracing an entire 
 commodity in a towm or a department. In such cases, 
 the traders or farmers were debarred from selling to 
 any but the purveyors of the republic ; and all deal- 
 ings being interdicted, the article under requisition 
 remained for a long period without being removed or 
 paid for, and the interchanges of trade were effectually 
 checked. In the confusion of the emergency, distances 
 had been scarcely calculated, and departments were 
 often laid under requisition the most remote from the 
 town or army intended to be supplied, ■whereby trans- 
 ports were inconveniently augmented. Several rivers 
 and canals being devoid of water on account of an 
 unusual drought, land-carriage alone was feasible, and 
 tlie horses engaged in agriculture were absorbed for 
 the purpose. This extraordinary employment, com- 
 bined with a forced levy of 44,000 horses, rendered 
 them so scarce, that the means of conveyance were 
 absolutely exhausted. The effect of these ill-designed 
 and often useless removals, was to accumulate enor- 
 mous quantities of goods and provisions in the public 
 magazines, heaped promiscuously together, and ex- 
 posed to infinite damage and loss. The cattle collected 
 for the republic were insufficiently fed ; they reached 
 the shambles in lean and poor condition, and a cala- 
 nntous deficiency in greasy products, lard, tallow, &c., 
 resulted. To all this were added woful waste, and 
 abuses of the most disgraceful description. Dislionest 
 agents secretly resold at the highest currency the com- 
 modities they had obtained at the maximum by means 
 of requisitions. Such frauds were likewise practised 
 by traders and manufiicturers, who, having previously 
 procured orders of requisition under pretence of sup- 
 plying their own wants, subsequently disposed at en- 
 hanced prices of what they had purchased at the rates 
 of the maximum. 
 
 These various causes co-operating with the evils of 
 a continental and naval war, had reduced commercial 
 industry to the most melancholy condition. All in- 
 tercourse with the colonies was at an end, the English 
 cruisers rendering access almost impracticable, and 
 nearly the wliole of them being ravaged by war. The 
 most important, Saint-Domingo, was laid waste with 
 fire and sword by the hostile parties contending for 
 its possession. By this concourse of untoward acci- 
 dents, external communication had become rare and 
 precarious — a state of isolation furtlier augmented by 
 the revolutionary measure subjecting to sequestration 
 the property of aliens at war with France. The ob- 
 ject of the conventioB, in ordaining that sequestration, 
 was to suppress the negotiation of foreign paper, and 
 prevent capitalists from disparaging assignats by pur- 
 chases of bills of exchange on Frankfort, Amsterdam, 
 London, and otlier emporiums. The confiscation of 
 credits held by Spaniards, Germans, Dutch, and Eng- 
 lish, on France, provoked a similar proceeding on 
 their part, and all circidation of exchangeable values 
 between France and the principal states of Europe 
 ceased. Commercial relations existed only with the 
 
 neutral coimtries, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, the 
 United States, and the Levant ; but the commission 
 for trade and supplies had engrossed the whole of such 
 intercourse in procuring grain, iron, and different ar- 
 ticles requisite for the navy. For those purposes it 
 had placed all the biUs drawn on those countries under 
 requisition, giving the French bankers assignats in 
 return, and using them to pay for the various products 
 purchased in Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, or Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 The whole commerce of France, therefore, was re- 
 duced to the operations of government in drawing 
 supplies from foreign counti'ies by means of the bills 
 forcibly extorted from the French bankers. If any 
 cargoes chanced to arrive on private account, they 
 were summarily attached by requisitions, whereby, as 
 we have already intimated, the merchants were effec- 
 tually discouraged, since freight and insurance cost 
 them a prodigious outlay, and they were remunerated 
 at the rates of the maximum alone. The only mer- 
 chandise at aU abundant in the French ports pro- 
 ceeded from captures made by corsairs ; but it was 
 stopped 171 transitu by the requisitions, and also by the 
 prohibitions issued against the produce of hostile na- 
 tions. Nantes and Bordeaiix, previously devastated 
 by the civd war, had fallen into decay and extreme 
 distress through this stagnation of commerce. Mar- 
 seilles, which formerly flourished by its trade with 
 the Levant, saw its harbours blockaded by the Eng- 
 lish, its principal merchants dispersed by the reign of 
 terror, its soap-manufactories destroyed or transported 
 into Italy, and a meagre, disadvantageous intercourse 
 with Genoa its sole field of activity. The cities in 
 the interior were stricken with a ruin equally complete. 
 Nismes had ceased to produce its silks, which it for- 
 merly exported to the value of twenty millions. The 
 opulent town of Lyons, destroyed by bombs and mines, 
 was in a state of demolition, and no longer fabricated 
 the rich tissues it was wont to vend annually for an 
 amount exceeding sixtj' millions. A decree directing 
 the stoppage of all articles destined for towns in re- 
 bellion, had been the means of accunndating around 
 Lyons immense stores, part whereof had been intended 
 for Lyons itself, and the remainder for conveyance 
 through it to the numerous points studding the great 
 route to the south. The towns of Chalons, Ma^on, 
 and Valence, had taken advantage of this decree to 
 arrest the commodities proceeding along that usually 
 crowded thoroughfare. The manufacturers of Sedan 
 had been obliged to intermit the weaving of fine fa- 
 brics, and apply themselves to the production of cloth 
 suitable for troops ; Avhilst, at the same time, the prin- 
 cipal amongst them were imprisoned as accomplices 
 of the movement projected by Lafayette after the 10th 
 August. The departments of the North, the Pays-de- 
 Calais, the Somine, and tlie Aisne, so rich from the 
 cultivation of flax and hemp, had been complctelj' de- 
 vastated by the war. Towards the west, in the unfor- 
 tunate La Vendee, upwards of six hundred square 
 leagues were lying almost an entire waste. The coim- 
 try was in part an unpeopled desert, and the flocks 
 roamed at hazard, witliout pasturage or covering. In 
 fine, even where peculiar calamities were not super- 
 added to the general disasters, the war had fatally 
 thinned the la])ouring po])ulation, whilst terror on the 
 one hand, and political preocciqiation on the other, 
 had driven from or disgusted witli toil a vast number 
 of industrious citizens. In every locality tlie work- 
 sliops and fields were abandoned liy multitudes for the 
 cliarms of the clubs, the municipal councils, and the 
 sections, where they received forty sous for indulging 
 in excitement and agitation. 
 
 Thus, disorder in the markets, scarcity of provisions, 
 and stagnation of manufacturing industry in conse- 
 quence of tlie maxinumi; inconsiderate removals, use- 
 less accumulations, waste and damage of goods, and 
 exhaustion of the means of transport imder the sys- 
 tem of requisitions; interruption of intercourse with 
 2 6
 
 454 
 
 HlbTOHY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 neighbour iii<j nations on account of the war, naval 
 blockade and sequestrations ; devastation of mnnufac- 
 tiiring towns and agricultural districts in civil strife ; 
 loss of population by the conscription ; idleness re- 
 sulting from the passion for politic: J excitation— such 
 is the picture of France rescued from foreign conquest, 
 but shattered for a moment by the stupendous eliurts 
 iun)0sed upon her. 
 
 Under these circxmistances it is that we perceive 
 two parties at issue after the 91 h Tliermidor — the one 
 upholding the revolutionary measures as indispen- 
 sable, and striving to prolong indefinitely a state of 
 things essentially transient ; the other, exasperated at 
 the inevitable cakiniities of an extraordinary organi- 
 sation, forgetting the services rendered by that organi- 
 sation, and labouring to abolish it as atrocious ; and, 
 in the existing condition of France, we may conceive 
 how profusely two sucli parties would be supplied 
 with to])ics of recrimination. The Jacobins Exclaimed 
 against tlie relaxation of the laws ; against the viola- 
 tion of the maximum by the farmers, dealers, and rich 
 merchants ; against the impunity allowed to stock- 
 jobbing, and against tlie depreciation of assignats ; 
 thus reviving the outcries of the Hcbertists against 
 the rich and against forestallers and stockjobbers. 
 Their opponents, on the contrary, now venturing for 
 tlie first time to assail revolutionary expedients, in- 
 veighed against the excessive emission of assignats, 
 the tyranny of requisitions, the injuries inflicted on 
 Lyons, Sedan, Nantes, and Bordeaux, and the various 
 prohibitions and fetters which paralysed and ruined 
 commerce. These were, with the liberty of the press 
 and the mode of nominating public functionaries, the 
 standard themes dilated upon in the counter-petitions 
 from the clubs and sections. AU such documents 
 were meanwhile referred to the committees of jiublic 
 welfare, finance, and trade, with instructions to frame 
 reports and propound their views thereon. 
 
 Thus, in all that had been done and in all that was 
 yet doing, two parties in hostile array were bent on 
 seeking and finding continual subjects of accusation 
 and reproach. Every thing hitherto performed, good 
 or evil, was imputed to the members of the old com- 
 mittees, against whom the authors of the reaction 
 now began to vent their smothered wrath. Although 
 they had contributed to overthrow Robespierre, it was 
 alleged that their quarrel with him was instigated 
 solely by ambition and the desire of more largely par- 
 ticipating in the tyranny; that at bottom they thoiight 
 alike, held identical principles, and purposed to con- 
 tinue the same odious system in their own persons. 
 Amongst the Thermidorians ranked prominently Le- 
 cointre of Versailles, who, being of an ardent and 
 wayward temperament, expressed himself with an 
 imprudent warmth disapproved by his colleagues. He 
 had formed the design of denouncing Billaud-Va- 
 rennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and Barrere, of the old com- 
 mittee of public welfare, and David, Vadier, Amar, 
 and Vouland, of the committee of general safety, as 
 accomplices and cuntinwiturs of Robespierre. He 
 neither could nor dared make the same accusation 
 against Carnot, Frieur [de-la-C6te-d'0r], and Robert 
 Lindet, whom opinion entirely separated from their 
 colleagues, and who were esteemed as exclusively oc- 
 cupied by the labours to which the safety of France 
 was owing. Neither did he venture to attack all the 
 members of the committee of general safety, because 
 in public estimation they were not aU equally crimi- 
 nal. He communicated his project to Tallien and 
 Legendre, who endeavoured to dissuade him from its 
 execution ; l)ut, deaf to tlieir entreaties and arguments, 
 in the sitting of the 12tli Fructidor (29th August), he 
 presented twunty-six heads of accusation against the 
 members of the old committees. These twenty-six 
 articles were compounded of vague charges, that the 
 accused had been accomplices in the system of terror 
 which Robespierre had perfected to oppress the con- 
 vention and all France ; bad joined in the arbitrary 
 
 acts of the two committees ; had signed orders of pro- 
 scription ; had disregarded the appeals made on be- 
 half of citizens unjustly imprisoned ; had powerfully 
 contributed to the deatli of J)anton ; had upheld the 
 law of the 22d Prairial ; had left the convention in 
 ignorance that law was not the work of the whole 
 committee ; had failed to denounce Robespierre when 
 he seceded from the committee of public welflire ; and, 
 lastlj', had taken no precautions during the 8th, 9th, 
 and 10th Thermidor, to shield the convention from 
 the designs of the conspirators. 
 
 When Lecointre had finished the perusal of these 
 twenty-six articles, Goujon, deputy of the Ain — a 
 j'oung, sincere, fervent republican, and a disinterested 
 Mountaineer, for he was free from the reproaches to 
 wliicli the late government was obnoxious — arose and 
 mounted the tribune, with all the appearances of pro- 
 found sorrow. "I am painfully affected," he said, 
 " when I behold the cool tranquillity wherewith en- 
 deavours are made to sow new seeds of discord and 
 accelerate the ruin of tlie country. Sometimes you 
 are urged to anathematise, under the name of the 
 system of terror, all that has been done during the 
 last year ; at other times you are asked to impeach 
 men who have rendered signal services to the revolu- 
 tion. They may he culpable ; I know not. I was 
 with tlie armies, and I am miable to judge ; but if I 
 had documents criminating members of the conven- 
 tion, I would not produce them, or only bring tliem 
 under grievous necessity. On tlie contrary, with what 
 matchless unconcern do others attempt to plunge a 
 dagger in the breasts of men dear to the country for 
 their important services ! But mark, the charges 
 alleged against them bear on the convention itself. 
 Yes, it is the convention that is accused — the French 
 people who are put upon their trial— since botli the one 
 and the other have endured the tyranny of the infa- 
 mous Robespierre. As Jean Debry told you shortly 
 ago, they are aristocrats who submit or instigate all 
 these propositions" — " And embezzlers," interrupted 
 sundry voices. " I move," resumed Goujon, " that the 
 discussion instantlj' cease." Several deputies opposed 
 this summary dismissal of the subject. Billaud-Va- 
 rennes started to the tribune, and vehemently insisted 
 that tlie debate he continued. 
 
 " There is no doubt," he stated, " that if the facts 
 alleged be true, we are great criminals, and our heads 
 ought to be forfeited. But we defy Lecointre to prove 
 tliem. Since the fall of the tyrant, we have been ex- 
 posed to the attacks of the wliol6 body of intriguers, 
 and we declare that life has no value in our eyes if 
 tliey are to prevail." Tlius proceeding, Billaud averred 
 tliat he and his colleagues had long meditated the 9th 
 Tliermidor ; that if tlicy had deferred it, circumstances 
 had rendered the delay imperative ; that they had 
 been the first to denounce Robespierre and tear away 
 the mask he had assumed ; that if the death of Danton 
 were charged on them as a crime, he would be the 
 promptest to accuse himself; that Danton was the 
 accomplice of Robespierre, tlie rallying point for all 
 counter- revolutionists, and that, if he had lived, liberty 
 must have perished. " For some time," exclaimed 
 Billaud, " we have seen in agitation, intriguers, em- 
 bezzlers" — — At tliis last word. Bourdon interrupted 
 him by saying, " The word is uttered ; it must be 
 proved." " I undertake to prove it, for one," retorted 
 J )uhem. " We will prove it, for others," echoed seve- 
 r;il voices from the JMountain. This was an old re- 
 proach the Mountaineers were always ready to revive 
 against the friends of Danton, now for the most part 
 ranked as Thermidorians. Billaud, who, amidst the 
 tumult and interruption, had still clung to the tribune, 
 persisted, and finally moved for an investigation, in 
 order tliat tlie guilty might be ascertained. Carabon 
 succeeded him, and warned the convention to avoid 
 the snare set to entrap it ; he affirmed that the aris- 
 tocrats were seeking to induce it to dishonour itself 
 by disgracing certain of its members, and that, if the
 
 HISTORY OF TPIE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 455 
 
 ..•ommittees -were culpable, it was equally so. " And 
 all the nation with" it," added Bourdon [de-l'Oise]. 
 At this instant of commotion, Vadier suddenly ap- 
 peared in the tribune with a pistol in his hand, vocife- 
 rating that he would not survive the calumny, if he 
 were not permitted to justify himself. Divers meni- 
 u-rs rushed to seize and drag him from the tribune. 
 The president Thuriot declared that he woxdd adjourn 
 the,assembly if the tumult were not abated. iJuhem 
 and Amar insisted upon tlic' continuation of the debate, 
 IS an act of justice to the inculpated parties incumbent 
 on the convention. Thuriot, who was a zealous Ther- 
 niidorian but nevertheless a staunch Llountaineer, had 
 listened with pain to the agitation of such angry topics. 
 He now addressed the assembly from the chair in these 
 words : " On the one hand, the i^ublic interest is con- 
 cerned that such a discussion as the present be imme- 
 diately closed ; on the other, the interest of those ac- 
 cused is concerned that it be proceeded with : let us 
 reconcile both by passing to the order of the day on 
 the proposition of Lecointre, and declaring that the 
 assembly has heard that proposition with the deepest 
 indignation." Tlie convention adopted the suggestion 
 of Thuriot with eager alacrity, and passed to the order 
 of the day, branding, as proposed, the denunciation of 
 Lecointre. 
 
 This discussion gave rise to anxious reflections on 
 the part of all sincerely attached to their country. 
 What advantage, they asked, could be gained by re- 
 verting to the past, winnowing the e^'il from the good, 
 and deciding to Avhom really belonged the tyranny so 
 recently subverted .' Or how, in fact, assign the re- 
 spective parts — of Robespierre and of the committees 
 who had divided the power, of the convention which 
 had supported them, of the nation, in short, which had 
 suffered the convention, the connuittees, and Robes- 
 pierre ? And hoAv, moreover, could this tyranny be 
 truly judged ? Did it pi-oceed from criminal andntion, 
 or from the energetic and irref'ictive action of men 
 determined to attain their aim at .nil hazards, and 
 reckless of the means they emploj'ed.' Huw, in such 
 multifarious action, could be discriminated the share 
 of cruelty, ambition, mistaken zeal, sincere and fervid 
 patriotism ? T(; unravel so many mysteries, to pene- 
 trate the thoughts and hearts of so many men, partook 
 of the impracticable. On the contrary, it behoved the 
 predominant party to forget the past, receive from the 
 hands of those now excluded from power the France 
 they had saved, control anarchical tendencies, miti- 
 gate the ruthless severity of the laws, and remember 
 that in political affairs evils may be redressed, never 
 avenged. 
 
 Such were the conclusions of prudent moderate men. 
 But the enemies of the revolution -were overjo3ed at 
 Lecointre's rash proceeding; and seeing that the dis- 
 cussion had been abru])tly closed, they proclaimed the 
 convention under the influence of fear, and asserted 
 that it dared not entertain questions so embarrassing 
 and dangerous to itself. Tlie Jacobins, likewise, ancl 
 the Mountaineers, still the enthusiasts and fanatics of 
 earlier times, and prepared in extremity to vindicate 
 the reign of terror, were eager for the discussion and 
 furious at its interruption. On the following day, 
 accordingly, the 13th Fructidor, several j\Iount;dncers 
 protested, alleging that the president had yesterday 
 taken the assend)ly by surprise when he closed the 
 debate; tliat he had delivered his opinion without 
 quitting the chair; that, as president, he was incom- 
 petent to express his sentiments ; tliat the ternunation 
 was an act of injustice ; and that it was due to the 
 members inculpated, the convention itself, and the 
 revolution, to enter franlcly upon a discussion which 
 patriots assuredly had no reason to dread. In vain 
 did tlie Thermidorians, Legendrc, Tallien, and others, 
 who were accused of having instigated Lecointre, but 
 who, on the contrary, had sought to dissuade him from 
 his project, maintain tlie expediency of allowing tlie 
 subject to drop. The assembly, which had not alto- 
 
 gether thrown off its habitual deference for the IMoun- 
 tain, agreed to revoke its decision of the eve and re- 
 open the debate. Lecointre was called into the tribune, 
 to read his twenty-six articles and substantiate them. 
 by authentic documents. 
 
 Lecointre had found it impossible to procure docu- 
 mentary evidence for this singular process, since he 
 would have required proofs of what had occurred in 
 the interior of the conuuittees, to show how far the 
 accused members had participated in the so-called 
 tyranny of Robespierre. He could merely adduce, in 
 corroboration of each article, public notoriety, speeches 
 delivered at the Jacobin Club or in the convention, 
 and a few original warrants of arrest, which of them- 
 selves proved nothing. At each new charge, the in- 
 censed Mountaineers vociferated, " The documents ! 
 the documents!" and protested against his proceed- 
 ing imlcss he produced the written proofs. Lecointre, 
 generally in the predicament of being unable to fur- 
 nish them, appealed to the recollection of the assembly, 
 and demanded whether it had not always considered 
 Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d"IIerbois, and Barrcre, as in 
 concert with Robespierre. But a reliance on this fact, 
 the only material one citable mider the circumstances, 
 demonstrated tlie absurdity of his accusation. By 
 analogous assumptions, it might have been maintained 
 that the convention was the accomplice of the com- 
 mittee, and all France of the convention. The !Moim- 
 taineers would not permit Lecointre to continue such 
 remarks : they cried to him, " Thou art a calumnia- 
 tor!" and obliged him to pass to another count. No 
 sooner had he read the succeeding one,.than they again 
 assailed him with shouts of " The documents ! the 
 documents ! " and Lecointre not supplying them — " To 
 the next!" they exclaimed, more boisterously than 
 before. Amidst this continual tumult, Lecointre ar- 
 rived at his last count, without having been able to 
 authenticate any charge he had advanced. The only 
 reason he could allege consisted in the averment that 
 the accusation was political, and did not admit the 
 usual mode of i^rocedure ; to which a ready answer 
 might liaf c been given, that it was improper to insti- 
 tute one of such a character. After a prolonged and 
 stormy debate, the convention declared the charges 
 of Lecointre false and calumnious, and thus assoilzied 
 the old committees. 
 
 The result of this proceeding tended to re-invigo- 
 rate the RIountain, and partially to revive in the con- 
 vention its ancient dread of that redoubtable faction. 
 Nevertheless, Billaud-Varennes and Collot-d'IIerbois 
 tendered their resignation as members of the commit- 
 tee of public welfare. Barrere was ejected by the 
 hazard of the ballot. Tdlien also, on his part, volun- 
 tarily retired ; and all four were replaced by Delmas, 
 Merlin of Douay, Cochon, and Fourcroy. Thus, of 
 the members of the famous committee of public wel- 
 fare, Carnot, Prieur [de-la-Cote-d"()r], and Robert 
 Lindet, alone remained. The committee of general 
 safety likewise underwent the prescribed renewal of 
 one-fourth its members. Elie-Lacoste, Vouland, Va- 
 dier, .and Moyse-Bayle, had to withdraw. David, Jagot, 
 and Lavicomterie, had been previously excluded by 
 a decision of the assembly. These seven members 
 were succeeded by Bourdon [de-l'Oise], Colombelle, 
 Alcaullc, Clauzel, Mathieu, Mon-Mayau, and Lesage- 
 Seiiault. 
 
 The prevailing ferment was unexpectedly increased 
 by an unfortunate and entirely fortuitous c vent. The 
 powder-magazine of VJreiiclle ignited and cxjiloded. 
 The sudden and tremendous concussion threw Paris 
 into the utmost consteniation, and seemed to the 
 atirighted population ominous of some new and dire 
 conspiracy. Tlii' calamity was at once charged upon 
 the aristocrats, and by the aristocrats upon the Jaco- 
 bins. The convention again became the arena of 
 fierce recrimination between the two jiarties, without 
 leading to any definite result. Amidst the excitement 
 of this first accident, another happened to iiiHanie the
 
 456 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 discord. On the evening of the 23d Fnictidor (9th 
 September), Tallien was returning to his residence. 
 A man, enveloped in a large cloak, fell upon him, ex- 
 claiming, "I have been awaiting thee! — tlmu shalt 
 not escape me!" At the same moment he discharged 
 a pistol at his person, whieli fractured liis shoulder. 
 The following day Paris was in a state of conmiotion. 
 Moderate citizens lamented that all hope of repose 
 seemed extinguished ; that two parties, infuriated 
 against each other, had apparently sworn to keep the 
 republic in perpetual turmoil. ( )n one side, the at- 
 tempt on Tallien was attributed to tlie Jacobins ; on 
 the other, to the aristocrats. Many, again, ventured 
 to intimate that Tallien, following the example of 
 Grangeneuve previous to the 10th August,, had pur- 
 posely caused himself to be wounded, in order to up- 
 braid the Jacobins with the crime, and to introduce 
 an occasion for urging their dissolution. Legendre, 
 Merlin [de Tliion\nllei, and other friends of Tallien, 
 hurried to the tribune, and asserted with vehemence 
 that the Jacobins Avere tlie instigators of the atrocity. 
 Tlius they argued : Tallien had not forsaken tlie cause 
 of the revolution, yet miscreants idleged that he liad 
 passed over to the aristocrats and moderates. These 
 latter, therefore, could not have formed the design of 
 murdering him ; the idea could have originated only 
 with the furious men who accused him, that is to say, 
 the Jacobins. Subsequently, ]Merhn specifically de- 
 nounced their last meeting, and quoted an expression 
 of Duhem — " The toads of the marsh are raising their 
 heads; so much the better, they will be the more easy to 
 chop off." Thus inveighing against the Jacobins, 
 Aferlin eventually moved, with his accustomed hardi- 
 hood, the dissolution of that celebrated club, which 
 had rendered, he admitted, most eminent services, and 
 liad powerfully contributed to prostrate the throne : 
 but which, having no longer a throne to subvert, was 
 now aiming at the overthrow of the convention itself 
 The conclusions of Merlin and his friends were not 
 adopted ; but, as usual, the whole subject was referred 
 to the appropriate committees, with instructions to 
 digest a report thereon. Remits of this description 
 had been already made with regard to all the material 
 questions at issue between the two parties. Reports 
 had been ordered on the liberty of the press, on assig- 
 nats, on the maxinmm, on the system of requisitions, 
 on the impediments affecting commerce ; in short, on 
 all tliat had become the object of dissension and con- 
 troversy. A desire was now manifested that all these 
 reports' should be comprised in one ; and, accordingly, 
 the committee of public welfare was charged to pre- 
 sent a general report on the actual condition of the 
 republic. The task was delegated to Robert Lindet, 
 as the member most conversant with the state of 
 aflfixirs, since he had belonged to the old coiuTnittees, 
 and most to be relied on for iTupartialitj', inasmuch 
 as he had been exclusively occupied in serving his 
 country by indefatigable attention to the arduous de- 
 partment of sui)plies and transports. The day fixed 
 for receiving this report was the 4th Saus-culottide 
 of the year 2 (20th September 1794). 
 
 In the interim, whilst all awaited with anxious im- 
 patience the presentation of this report as the precur- 
 sor of most important decrees, Paris continued a prey 
 to agitation. The young men confederated against 
 the Jacobins were accustomed to assemble in the gar- 
 den of the Palais-Royal. There they read aloud the 
 newspapers and pamphlets, which appeared in great 
 numbers, against tlie late revolutionary system, and 
 were sold by the booksellers of the arcades. Tliey 
 frequently formed bands, and departed to disturb the 
 meetings of the Jacobins. On the day of the 2d 
 Sans-culottide, several of these bands were formed, 
 composed of those zealous youths who, to distinguish 
 themselves from the Jacobins, affected great propriety 
 of attire, and wore high cravats, which procured them 
 the cognomen of mmcadins. A person in one of these 
 jjroups chanced to exclaim, that, if any evil betided. 
 
 the rallying cry must be " the convention," and that 
 the Jacobins were intriguers and miscreants. A 
 Jacobin came forward to answer him. Thereupon a 
 tumult arose ; on one side was vociferated, " The con- 
 vention for ever ! Down with the Jacobins ! Down 
 witli Robespierre's tail ! " On the other, " Down with 
 the aristocrats and the muscadins ! The convention 
 and the Jacobins for ever!" The tumult speedily 
 grew into a conflict. The Jacobin who had attempted 
 to speak, and tlie few bystanders disposed to abet 
 him, were maltreated. The guard hastened to the 
 spot, dispersed the crowd alreadj' beginning to accu 
 midate, and prevented a general engagement 
 
 At length, on the second day thereafter, being the 
 one fixed for receiving the joint and comprehensive 
 re])ort of the three committees of public welfare, gene- 
 ral safety, and legislation, Robert Lindet appeared in 
 the tribune. The picture he drew of the state of France 
 was sufficiently gloomy. After tracing the course of 
 successive factions, and the progress of Robespierre's 
 power to its decline and fall, he exhibited two parties 
 as existing, the one composed of ardent patriots, fear- 
 fid for the revolution and for tliemselves, the other of 
 disconsolate families, whose near kinsmen had been 
 immolated or were stiU groaning in fetters. " Restless 
 men conceive," said Lindet, "that the government 
 gives symptoms of lacking energy ; and they avail 
 themselves of all possible expedients to propagate 
 their opinion and their apprehensions. They send 
 deputations and addresses to the convention. These 
 apprehensions are chimerical : in your hands the go- 
 vernment will preserve all its force. And can patriots 
 or public functionaries fear tliat their services will be 
 effaced from recollection? How great the courage 
 they needed to accept and perform their dangerous 
 functions ! But now France recalls them to their oc- 
 cupations and professions, from which they have been 
 too long estranged. They know that their functions 
 were temporary, and that power too long continued in 
 the same hands becomes a subject of uneasiness ; they 
 ought to have no dread that France will abandon them 
 to resentment and vengeance." 
 
 Then adverting to the position of the other party, 
 composed of those who had suffered, Lindet proaeeded 
 in these words : " Restore freedom to tliose whe^ ani- 
 mosities, passions, the error of public functionaries, 
 and the fury of the last conspirators, have caused to 
 be thrown multitudinously into jails ; restore it to the 
 artisans, the traders, and the relatives of the young 
 heroes who are defending the country. The arts have 
 been persecuted ; and j'ct it is from them you have 
 learned to forge the thunderbolt ; it is through their 
 instrumentality the invention of Mongolfier has served 
 to ascertain the movements of armies -,* it is by thera 
 metals are purified and prepared, leather tanned, 
 dressed, and fashioned for use within the week. Pro- 
 tect them, succour them. Slany useful men still lan- 
 guisli in dungeons." 
 
 The reporter subsequently drew a sketch of the 
 agricultural and commercial condition of France. He 
 showed the calamities resulting from the over issues 
 of assignats, from the maximum, the system of requi- 
 sitions, and the interruption of extern;d intercourse. 
 " Industry," he said. " has lost much of its activity, as 
 well because fifteen hundred thousand men have been 
 transferred to tlie frontiers, and multitudes, besides, 
 have been engaged in civU strifes, as because the minds 
 of men, distracted by political passions, have been 
 diverted from their habitual occupations. There are 
 many new tracts drained or cleared, but infinitely more 
 neglected. The corn remains unthreshed, the wool un- 
 carded ; the cultivators neither steep their hemp nor 
 peel their flax. Let us endeavour to repair evils so 
 immerous and various ; let us restore tranquillity to 
 the great maritime and manufacturing cities. Let the 
 demolitions at Lyons be terminated. With peace, pru- 
 
 * f Alluding to the invention of balloons.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 457 
 
 dence, and oblivion, the citizens of Nantes, Bordeairx, 
 Marseilles, and Lyons, will resume their callings. Let 
 us revoke the laws so destriictive of commerce, give to 
 commodities their natural and beneficial circulation, 
 and encourage exportation, in order that what we want 
 may be brought us in return. Let the cities and de- 
 partments cease to exclaim against the government, 
 which, they allege, has exhausted their resources, 
 failed to observe just proportions in its demands, and 
 caused the biu-den of requisitions to weigh unequtilly. 
 Let those who thus complain but cast their eyes on 
 the accounts, the declarations, and the addresses, of 
 their fellow-citizens in other districts! They will 
 there behold the same complaints, the same remon- 
 strances, the same energy, inspired by the sense of 
 identical suflTerings. Let us recall tranquillity of mmd 
 and industry to the coimtry ; the artisans to their 
 workshops, the husbandmen to their fields. Above 
 all, let us strive to cultivate union and confidence 
 amongst ourselves. Let us cease to reproach each 
 other with our misfortunes and errors. Have we ever 
 been, have we had it in our power to be, what we 
 would always wish in fact to be ? We have all been 
 hurled into the same career: some have combated 
 with courage and calm reflection ; others have rushed 
 headlong, in their exuberant ardour, against aU the 
 obstacles they desired to surmount and overthrow. 
 Who will interrogate us, and demand an account of 
 those movements it was impossible to foresee and con- 
 trol ? The revolution is accomplished : it is the work 
 of all. What generals, what soldiers have never over- 
 stepped the limits of rigid necessity, or have been 
 able to pause exactly where cold and imimpassioned 
 reason would have warned them to stop ^ Were we 
 not in a state of war with countless and redoubtable 
 adversaries ? Have not reverses inflamed our courage, 
 kindled oiu- wrath ? What has happened to us that 
 happens not to all men thrown an incalculable space 
 from the ordinary course of human existence ?" 
 
 This report, so appropriate, impartial, and complete, 
 was received with plaudits. All approved the senti- 
 ments it embodied, and it was unfortunate all could 
 not cordially embrace them. Lindet eventually pro- 
 posed a series of decrees, which commanded the same 
 favourable reception as his report, and were forthwith 
 adopted. 
 
 By the first decree, the committee of general safety 
 and the representatives on missions were directed to 
 investigate the reclamations of traders, agriculturists, 
 artists, and parents of citizens absent with the armies, 
 who were themselves or had relatives in prison. By 
 the second, the municipalities and committees of sec- 
 tions were bound to assign their reasons when they 
 refused to grant certificates of civism. These were 
 intended as concessions to those who incessantly com- 
 plained of tlie system of terror, and were haunted with 
 the dread of its revival. A third decree ordained the 
 preparation of moral institutes, designed to inculcate 
 the value of industry and respect for the laws, and to 
 instruct the citizens in the principal circumstances of 
 the revolution, which were a})pointed to be read to the 
 people on the decadal festivals. A fourth decree esta- 
 blished a plan of normal schools, for training youiig 
 teachers, and thus disseminating education and know- 
 ledge throughout France. 
 
 These decrees were accompanied by others, enjoin- 
 ing the connnittees of finance and commerce to con- 
 sider with due promptitude, 
 
 1st, The advantages of allowing a free exjjortation 
 of articles of luxury, on condition of their value being 
 returned to France in miscellaneous mercliandise. 
 
 2d, The advantages or disadvantages of allowing 
 a free exportation of the surplus of articles of ])rimary 
 necessity, on condition of a similar return, and the 
 observance of certain formalities. 
 
 3d, The most advisable means of putting into cir- 
 culation the commodities seized on the way to cities 
 in rebellion and retained under seal. 
 
 And, 4th, Tlie appeals of merchants, who were 
 bound, by virtue of the law of sequestration, to deposit 
 in the district treasuries the sums they stood indebted 
 to foreigners with whom France was at war. 
 
 Hence, we perceive, these decrees afforded securities 
 to those who exclaimed against persecution, and acce- 
 lerated the adoption of measures calculated to amelio- 
 rate the depressed state of commerce. The Jacobin 
 party alone was benefited by no decree ; but it in truth 
 needed none. It had undergone neither molestation 
 nor imprisonment ; of power alone it had been de- 
 prived ; and no reparation, therefijre, was exigible in 
 its behalf. To reassure it as to the future course of 
 the government was all that could be attempted, and 
 the report presented by Lindet was conceived and 
 expressed in such spirit. Consequently, the effect of 
 that report, and of the decrees accompanying it, was 
 in the highest degree favourable on all parties. 
 
 A partial lull ensued. On the morrow, the last day 
 and 5th Sans-culottide of the year 2 (21st September 
 1794), was performed the long-decreed ceremony of 
 placing Marat in the Pantheon and ejecting Mirabeau 
 therefrom. Tliis proceeding was now no longer in 
 harmony with the spirit and feelings of the moment. 
 Marat was no longer the saint, nor Mirabeau the cul- 
 prit, in public estimation, sufficient to warrant such 
 honour to the sanguinary apostle of terror, or such 
 opprobrium to the mightiest orator of the revolution. 
 But, lest the Mountain might take umbrage, and the 
 symptoms of reaction become too rapid and prominent, 
 the previous ordinance was not disturbed. On the ap- 
 pohited day, the remains of Marat were borne in pomp 
 to the Pantheon, and those of Mirabeau ignominiously 
 cast out by a lateral postern. 
 
 Thus, pre-eminence in power, perilously wrested 
 from the Jacobins and Mountaineers, was now pos- 
 sessed by the partisans of Uanton and Camille-I)es- 
 moulins — by the nuich vilified indulgents, in short, 
 who had become known as Thermidorians. These 
 latter, however, whilst intent on repairing the evils 
 produced by the revolution, whilst liberating the sus- 
 pected, and striving to confer freedom and security 
 on commerce, still evinced a prudent deference towards 
 the Mountain they had superseded, and even consented 
 to enshrine ISIarat in the temple whence they repudi- 
 ated IMirabeau. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIL 
 
 RESUMPTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. SURRENDER 
 
 OF CONDE, VALENCIENNES, &C. DEJECTION OF THE 
 
 ALLIES. — PASSAGE OF THE MEUSE.— OCCUPATION OF 
 THE RHINE ALONG ITS WHOLE COURSE. — SITUATION 
 
 OF THE ARMIES ON THE ALPS AND PYRENEES. THE 
 
 SUCCESS OF THE FRENCH ON ALL POINTS. — LA VEN- 
 DEE AND BRITTANY ; WAR OF THE CHOUANS. ROY- 
 ALIST INTRIGUES IN FRANCE. 
 
 The activity of military operations liad somewliat 
 abated toward tlie middle of the season. The two 
 grand armies of tlie North and of the Sambre and 
 Meuse, after entering Bnissels in Thermidor (July), 
 and subsequently marcliing, the one on Antwerp, the 
 other on the Meuse, had sunk into a long repose, 
 awaiting the reduction of Landrecies, Le Quesnoy, 
 Valenciennes, and Condc, fortresses lost during the 
 preceding campaign. On the Khine, (Jeneral Mi- 
 chand was occupied in recomposing liis army, to re- 
 trieve tlie check of Kayserlautern, and expecting a 
 reinforcement of l.O.OOO men drawn from La Vendee. 
 The armies of tlie Al])s and of Italy, now in possession 
 of the great I'liain, were encamped on the heights of 
 the Alps, awaiting the approval of a plan of invasion, 
 generally attributed to the young officer who had de- 
 cided the capture of Toulon and the lines of Saorgia 
 On the Eastern I'yrenees, Dugonmiier, after his pre- 
 vious success at Boulou, had been delayed in taking
 
 458 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH KEVOLUTION. 
 
 CoUioiire, and was now blockading Bellegarde. The 
 army of the AVestern Pyrenees was still organising. 
 This prolonged inertness in the midst of tlie campaign, 
 which must be imputed to the eriticid events occur- 
 ring in the interior, and to defective combinations, 
 might have frustrated the success of tlie French, if 
 their enemies had known how to turn time to account. 
 But so great was the disorder and despondency pre- 
 vailing amongst the allies, tliat they souglit no ad- 
 vantage from the faidt, and it merely tended to retard 
 for an interval the extraordinary progress of the 
 French arms. 
 
 Nothing could be worse judged than the inaction 
 of the French in Belgium, encamped around Antwerp 
 and on the banks of the Meuse. Their most certain 
 plan, for accelerating the surrender of the four for- 
 tresses, consisted in always increasing the distance 
 between them and the great armies, which could alone 
 atford them succour. If due advantage had been taken 
 of the confusion into which the defeat of Fleurus and 
 the retreat consequent thereon had thrown the allies, 
 they might, with comparative ease, have speedilj'' 
 reached tlie margin of the Rhine. Unfortunately, the 
 grand art of profiting bj- victory was yet unknown — 
 an art most rare in military commanders ; for it infers 
 that success is not tlie mere accident of a fortunate 
 attack, but the foreseen residt of profound and vast 
 combinations. In order to hasten the reduction of 
 the foiu- strongholds, the convention had passed a 
 ruthless decree, similar in spirit to all those that 
 marked the era from Prairial to Thermidor. Pre- 
 mising that the allies held four French possessions, 
 and that every means are justifiable to expel an enemy 
 from invaded territory, it had decreed that if, twentj--- 
 four hours after being summoned, the garrisons failed 
 to surrender, they should be put to the sword. The 
 garrison of Landrecies alone yielded before this ter- 
 rible menace. The commandant of Conde returned 
 the dignified answer, '■''that one nation had no rigid to 
 ordain tlie dislionour of anoihei:" Le Quesnoy and 
 A''alenciennes also manifested a determined spirit of 
 resistance. The conmiittee, sensible of the injustice 
 of such a decree, contrived to avoid its enforcement 
 by a subtle device, without subjecting the convention 
 to the necessity of repealing it. The committee drew 
 the presumption that the decree had not been fornudly 
 notified to the commandants of the three places, and 
 therefore was to them unknown. Before intimating 
 it in express tenns, it directed General Selierer to 
 carry on the works with sufficient activity to render 
 the summons imposing, and to justify a capitulation 
 on the part of the garrisons. In consequence, Valen- 
 ciennes was ceded on the 12th Finictidor (29th Au- 
 gust) ; Conde and Valenciennes were delivered on the 
 following days. Those fortresses, therefore, which 
 had cost the allies such efforts to reduce during the 
 preceding campaign. Mere recovered by the French 
 with trifling exertion ; and the French territory in 
 Flanders no longer contained a single point in hostile 
 occupation. On the contrary, the French were mas- 
 ters of all Belgium from Antwerp to the Meuse. 
 
 Moreau had just taken Sluys and returned into 
 line; Schcrer had detached Osten's brigade to I'iche- 
 gru, and rejoined dourdan with his own division. By 
 these junctions, the army of the North, under Piehe- 
 gru, was raised to upwards of 70,000 men under arms, 
 and that of the ]\leuse, under Jourdan, to 116,000. 
 The government, exhausted bj- the efforts it had made 
 to expedite the equipment of these armies, attended 
 but imperfectly to their maintenance, and it was 
 found necessary to make amends by moderate requi- 
 sitions and the exercise of much military virtue. The 
 soldiers accustomed themselves to disjH'nse with tlie 
 most necessary articles ; without tents to encamp 
 beneath, they contentedly bivouacked xuuler the foliage 
 of trees or the open eanojn" of heaven. The officers, 
 without appointments, or ])aid in assignats, lived as 
 the common soldiers, subsisted on the same coarse ' 
 
 food, and marched on foot like them, with knapsacks 
 on their backs. Republican enthusiasm and the confi- 
 dence of victory supported those armies in their hard- 
 ships, composed as they were of the most docile and 
 heroic troops ever possessed by France. 
 
 The allies were in a state of lamentable disorder. 
 The Dutch, ill supported by their confederates the 
 English, and doubtful of their good faith, were in tlie 
 iitmost consternation. They formed a cordon before 
 their strongholds, with the view of gaining time to 
 put them in a state of defence, which ought to have 
 been effected long before. The Duke of York, equally 
 incompetent and presumptuous, knew not how to 
 make use of his English forces, and took no decisive 
 part. He retired towards the Lower Meuse and the 
 Rhine, stretching his wings alternately towards the 
 Dutch and towards the imperialists. But, b}' miiting 
 with the Dutch, he might have disposed of 50,000 
 men, and attempted, on the flanks of either of the two 
 armies of the North and of the Meuse, one of those 
 enterprising movements which General Clairfayt, in 
 the following year, and the Archduke Charles, in 
 1796, executed with such effect and credit, and where- 
 of a great commander has since given so many memo- 
 rable examples. The Austrians, intrenched along the 
 Meuse, from the mouth of the Roer to that of the 
 Ourthe, were discouraged by their reverses and lacked 
 supplies. The Prince of Cobourg, whose incapacity had 
 been strikingly exemplified in the last campaign, had 
 yielded the command to Clairfayt, the most Avorthy 
 to hold it amongst all the Austrian generals. It was 
 not yet too late to have joined the Duke of York, 
 and operated en masse against one of the two French 
 armies ; but all thought was centred on guarding the 
 jMeuse. The cabinet of Saint-James, alarmed at 
 the course of events, had sent envoy after envoy to 
 rekindle the zeal of Prussia, to claim on its part the 
 execution of the treaty of the Hagaie, and to engage 
 Austria, by promises of aid, to defend with vigour the 
 line still occupied by its troops. A congress of Eng- 
 lish, Dutch, and Austrian ministers and generals was 
 held at Maestricht, and a firm resolution taken to 
 dis])ute the country beyond the IMeuse. 
 
 The French armies at length shook off their lethargy 
 in the middle of Fructidor (beginning of September). 
 Pichegru advanced from Antwerp towards the mouths 
 of tlie rivers. The Dutch thereupon committed the 
 mistake of separating from the English. To the 
 number of 20,000 men, they took up positions parallel 
 with Bergen-op-Zoom, Breda, and Gertruydenberg, 
 resting on the sea, and so injudiciously ranged, that 
 they were incapable of acting in defence of the places 
 tliey wished to cover. The Duke of York, with his 
 British and Hanoverians, retreated on Bois-le-Duc, 
 keeping up a communication with the Dutch by a 
 chain of posts, which the French army could force 
 the moment it appeared. At Boxtcl, on the edge 
 of the Dommel, Pichegru came up with the Duke of 
 York's rearguard, surmunded two battalions, and 
 compelled them to lay down their arms. The follow- 
 ing day, he encountered General Abercromby on the 
 banks of the Aa, again took several prisoners, and 
 continued to push the Duke of York, who hastily re- 
 passed the IMeuse at Grave, under protection of the 
 guns of that fastness. In this march Pichegru had 
 taken 1500 prisoners. He reached the banks of the 
 flense on the anniversary of the 2d Sans-culottide 
 (18th September). 
 
 At the same time, Jourdan advanced on his side, and 
 prepared to cross the ]Meuse. The JNleuse has two 
 main tributaries — the Ourthe, which joins it towards 
 Liege, and the Roer, which flows into it towards Rure- 
 monde. These two confluents form two lines, dividing 
 the countrj' between the Meuse and tlie Rhine, which 
 must be successively carried in ortler to reach the 
 Rhine. The French, masters of Liege, cleared the 
 Meuse, and immediately took up a position in front 
 of the Ourthe ; they skirted the Meuse from Liege
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 459 
 
 to jNIuestricht, and the Ourtlie from Liege to Com- 
 bhiine-au-Pont, tlius forming an angle ^'hereof Liege 
 was tlie apex. Clairfayt had drawn up his left wing 
 liehind the Ourthe, on the heights of Sprimont. 
 These heights are flanked on one side by the Ourthe, 
 and on the other by the Ay vaille, which falls into the 
 Ourthe. General Latour commanded the Austrians 
 on this point. Jourdan ordered Scherer to attack the 
 position of Sprimont on the side defended by the 
 Ayvaille, whilst General Bonnet was to assail it by 
 passing the Ourthe. On the anniversary of the 2d 
 Sans-cidottide (18th September), Scherer divided his 
 troops into three columns, commanded by Generals 
 Jilarceau, Mayer, and Hacquin, and moved on the line 
 of the Ayvaille, which flows in a deep bed between 
 two steep banks. The generals themselves gave the 
 example, plunged into the water, and led their soldiers 
 to the ojiposite shore, despite the play of a formidable 
 artillery. Latour had remained immoveable on the 
 heights of Sprimont, intending to fall on the French 
 columns Avhen they had passed the stream. But the 
 moment these had scaled the precipitous l^arrier, they 
 rushed on his position, without giving him time to 
 anticipate the aggression. They attacked him with 
 tlie utmost energy ; m\d at the same time General 
 Hacquin deployed on his left flank, and General 
 Bonnet, having passed the Ourthe, advanced on his 
 rear. Latour was thereupon constrained to decamp, 
 and fall back on the imperial army. 
 
 This enterprise, well designed and admiraljly exe- 
 cuted, reflected equal credit on the commander-in-chief 
 and the army. Thirty-six pieces of ordnance and one 
 hundred ammunition waggons fell into the hands of 
 the French ; and the Austrians lost 1500 men, killed 
 and wounded. This reverse determined Clairfayt to 
 quit the line of the Ourthe, bemg apprehensive, now 
 that his left was defeated, lest his retreat might be cut 
 off from Cologne. Accordingly, he abandoned the 
 banks of the Meuse and the Ourthe, and retired upon 
 Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 The barrier of the Roer now alone remained to the 
 Austrians. They occupied that river from Dueren 
 and Juliers to its junction with the Meuse, that is to 
 say, to Rureraonde. They had yielded all the course 
 of the Meuse extending from the Ourthe to the Roer, 
 between Liege and Ruremonde ; they only occupied 
 the space from Ruremonde to Grave, the point by 
 which they held communication with the Duke of 
 York. 
 
 It behoved the imperialists to defend vigorously the 
 line of the Roer, to prevent the loss of the left bank of 
 the Rhine. Clairfayt concentrated all his forces on 
 its banks, between Dueren, Juliers, and Linnich. 
 Some time previously he had ordered the erection of 
 considerable works to strengthen the line, and had 
 stationed advanced corps in front of the Roer, on the 
 plateau* of Aldenhoven, fortified with intrench ments. 
 He himself encamped behind the steep declivities of 
 the river, with the bulk of his army and a numerous 
 artillery. 
 
 On tiie 10th Vendemiaire year .3 (1st October 1704), 
 Jourdan came in presence of the enemy with all his 
 forces. He ordered General Scherer, conunanding 
 the right wing, to move on Dueren, passing the Roer 
 .at every fordable point ; General Hatry to cross to- 
 wards the centre of the position, at Altorp ; Cliam- 
 pionnet and Morlot, with their divisions, supported 
 by cavalry, to carry tlic plateau of Aldenhoven rising 
 in advance of the Roer, then to sweej) tlie plain, tra- 
 verse the stream, and mask Juliers, to prevent the 
 Austrians debouching from it; CJencral Lefebvre to 
 seize upon Liimich and cross by nil the fords abound- 
 ing in its vicinity ; and, lastly, Kleber, who was sta- 
 tioned towards the mouth of the river, to ascend it as 
 far as Ratem, and pass it at that weakly defended 
 
 * [Although the word plateau is almost naturalised, we may 
 here explain, that it means an elevated plain or table-land. In 
 militajy description it is of necessary use.] 
 
 point, so as to cover the battle on the side tow ards 
 Ruremonde. 
 
 The next day, the 11th Vendemiaire, the French 
 commenced their movement along tlie whole line. 
 One hundred thousand young republicans marched 
 simultaneously, Avith an order and precision worthy of 
 veteran troops. They had not hitherto appeared in 
 such numbers upon the same field of battle. They 
 advanced resolutely towards the Roer, the prize to be 
 contested. They were unfortunately a considerable 
 distance from that river, and failed to reach it until 
 nearly mid-day. The general-in -chief, in the judg- 
 ment of military men, had committed but one fault, 
 which consisted in having taken a point of departure 
 too remote from the point of attack, and not having 
 devoted a day to approaching nearer the hostile line. 
 General Scherer, commanding the right, moved his 
 brigades on ditterent points of the Roer, and directed 
 General Hacquin to proceed to the ford of Winden, 
 far up the river, and there pass, in order to tm'n the 
 left flank of the enemy. It was eleven o'clock when 
 he issued this order. Hacquin occupied a long in- 
 terval in traversing the circuit assigned him. Scherer 
 paused until Hacquin should reach the prescribed 
 point, ere throwing his divisions into the Roer, and 
 thus allowed Clairfayt time to prepare all his means 
 of resistance along the heights of the opposite bank. 
 At three in the afternoon Scherer determined to wait 
 no longer, and forthwith put his troops in motion. 
 Marceau plunged into the water with lus division, and 
 crossed at the ford of Mirveiller ; Lorges did the same, 
 advanced on Dueren, and drove out the enemy after 
 a sanguinary conflict. The Austrians evacuated 
 Dueren but for a moment : retiring to the rear, they 
 speedily returned in augmented force. Marceau im- 
 mediately threw himself into Dueren, to support the 
 brigade of Lorges. Mayer, who had passed the Roer 
 a little above, at Niedereau, and sustained a murderous 
 fire of artillery, hkewise fell back on Dueren. On that 
 point, therefore, all efibrts were now concentrated. 
 The enemy, who had hitherto acted only with his van- 
 guards, was drawn up in the background, on heights 
 planted with sixty pieces of ordnance. He now brought 
 these into play, and mowed down the French with a 
 continuous shower of grape-shot and balls. The young 
 soldiers, encouraged by their generals, stood firm to 
 their position. Unfortunately, Hacquin had not yet 
 made his appearance on the left flank of the eneni}', 
 a manoeuvre on vrhich the success of the battle mainly- 
 depended. 
 
 Meanwhile the battle was raging in the centre, on 
 the advanced plateau of Aldenhoven. The French 
 had scaled it at the point of the bayonet. Their ca- 
 valry had then deployed, and made and received several 
 charges. The Austrians, perceiving the Koer carried 
 above and below Aldenhoven, ultimately abandoned 
 the plateau, and fell back on Juliers beyond the river. 
 Championnet, who pursued them even to the glacis, 
 opened a fire on the fortress, and a vigorous cannon- 
 ade was maintained on both sides. At Linnich, Le- 
 febvre had repulsed the Austrians and gained the 
 Roer ; but, having found the bridge burnt, he was com- 
 pelled to lose time in restoring it. At Ratem, Kleber 
 had encountered masked batteries, and was engaged 
 in answering tlion b}- all his disposable artillery. 
 
 The decisive conflict, therefore, lay on the right at 
 Dueren, where Marceau, Lorges, and Mayer were 
 concentrated, awaiting the movement of Hacquin. 
 .lourdan had ordered Hatry to move on ]^ueren, in- 
 stead of efl'ecting the passage at Altorp ; but the dis- 
 tance was too great for that colunm to become avail- 
 able on the decisive point. At length, at five in the 
 afternoon, Hacipiin appeared on the left flank of La- 
 tour. Tliereupon the Austrians, seeing themselves 
 threatened on the left by Hacquin and confronted by 
 Lorges, Marceau, and IMayer, determined to retreat, 
 and drew in their left wing,' the same which had 
 fought at Sprimont. On their extreme right, Kleber
 
 460 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH ItEVOLUTlON. 
 
 menaced them with a -bold movement. Tlie bridge 
 he had attempted to throw across proving too short, 
 his soldiers demanded leave to breast the stream. 
 Kleber, to encourage and cover their hazardous un- 
 dertaking, concentred all his artillery, and poured tre- 
 mendous volleys on the enemy occupying the opposite 
 bank. From that point, hkewise, the imperialists 
 were then obliged to retire, and in a short while they 
 withdrew from all the others. Thus they abandoned 
 the Roer, leaving 800 prisoners, and 3000 men on the 
 field of battle. 
 
 On the following day, the French found Juliers 
 evacuated, and were enabled to pass the Roer on all 
 points. Such was the important action which secured 
 them the definitive conquest of the left bank of the 
 Rhine — one of those achievements which have espe- 
 cially recommended General Jourdan to the gratitude 
 of his country and the applause of military men. 
 Nevertheless, critics have reproached him with not 
 taking a point of departure nearer the point of attack, 
 and not directing the bidk of his army on MirveiUer 
 and Dueren. 
 
 Clairfayt took the high road to Cologne. Jourdan 
 followed him, and occupied that citj' on the loth 
 Vendemiaire (6th October). On the 29th (20th Octo- 
 ber) he entered Bonn. Kleber proceeded, in conjmic- 
 tion with IMarescot, to beleaguer Maestricht. 
 
 Whilst Jourdan thus brilliantly executed his task, 
 and took possession of the important line of the 
 Rhine, Pichegru was busied in preparing to pass the 
 Meuse, with the view of subsequently advancing on 
 the Wahl, the principal branch of the Rhine towards 
 its embouchure. As we have shortly ago narrated, 
 the Uuke of York had traversed the Meuse at Grave, 
 leaving Bois-le-Uuc to its own resources. Before at- 
 tempting the passage of the Meuse, it was necessary 
 for Pichegru to possess himself of Bois-le-l)uc ; but a 
 siege at that advanced season, and with insufficient 
 materiel for the purpose, was attended with difficulty 
 and hazard. However, the daring enterprise of the 
 French, and the despondency of their antagonists, 
 rendered nothing impossible. The fort of Crevecoeur, 
 near the ]\Ieuse, being suddenly menaced by a battery 
 bearing on a point it had been deemed imjDracticable 
 to attain, sm-rendered. The munitions found therein 
 became available in pressing the siege of Bois-le-I)uc. 
 Five consecutive attacks astounded the governor, who 
 yielded the place on the 19tli Vendemiaire (10th 
 October). This imhoped-for acquisition secured to 
 the French a solid basis and considerable munitions, 
 to aid their further operations beyond the Meuse to 
 the banks of the Wahl. 
 
 Moreau, who formed the right, had advanced to 
 Venloo, since the victories of the Ourthe and the Roer. 
 The Duke of York, alarmed at that movement, had 
 withdrawn all his troops beyond the Wahl, and aban- 
 doned the ground intervening between the Meuse and 
 the Wahl or Rhine. Subsequently, however, reflect- 
 ing that Grave (on the Meuse) would be left without 
 communications or support, he repassed the Wahl, 
 and undertook to defend the space comprised between 
 the two streams. The groimd, as always liappens 
 near the mouths of large rivers, was lower than the 
 bed of the water, presenting vast meadow-lands inter- 
 sected by dykes and canals, and inundated in sundry- 
 places. General Hammerstein, stationed interme- 
 diately between the j\Ieuse and the Wahl, had added 
 to the difficulty of the approach by occupying the 
 roads, planting the dykes with artillery, and throwing 
 bridges over the canals, which his soldiers were to 
 destroy as they retired. The Duke of York, whose 
 vanguard he formed, remained in the rear, on the 
 banks of the Wald, in the camp of Nimeguen. 
 
 In the course of the 27th and 28tli Vendemiaire 
 (18th and 19th October), Pichegru passed two of his 
 divisions across the Meuse upon a bridge of boats. 
 The English, intrenched under the cannon of Nime- 
 guen, and Hamraerstein's vanguard, disposed along 
 
 the canals and dj-kes, were much too distant mate- 
 rially to impede the operation. The rest of the army 
 reached the opposite shore under protection of those 
 two divisions. On the 28th, Pichegru determined 
 upon an attack of all the works covering the inter- 
 mediate space between the Meuse and the Wahl. He 
 threw four columns, composing a mass superior to 
 the eneniv, into those inundated and intersected mea- 
 dows. The French braved the fire of the artillery 
 with admirable fortitude, and plunged into the canals, 
 having the water to their necks, through which they 
 steadily advanced, whilst the riflemen, distributed 
 along the elevations of the ground, fired over their 
 heads. The enemy retrograded in dismay, thinking 
 only of saving his artillery. He took refuge in the 
 camp of Nimeguen, on the banks of the \^"ahl, 
 whither the French speedily followed, to taunt him 
 with daily insidts. 
 
 Thus, towards Holland as towards Luxumbourg, 
 the French had at length succeeded in attaining 
 that formidable barrier of the Rhine, which nature 
 seems to have assigned as a boundary to their coun- 
 try, and which they have always felt ambitious to 
 render one of its frontiers. Pichegru, it is true, 
 checked by Nimeguen, was not yet master of the 
 course of the Wahl ; and, if he entertained any 
 thoughts of conquering Holland, he had before his 
 eyes numerous streams of water, divers fortified 
 places, extensive inundations, and an inclement sea- 
 son ; but. nevertheless, he touched upon the long- 
 desired point, and with one more act of intrepidity, 
 he might force his way into Nimeguen or the Isle of 
 BomniL-l, and firmly establish himself on the Wahl. 
 Moreau, styled the general of sieges, had just carried 
 Venloo by a display of extraordinary gallantr3^ Jour- 
 dan was triumphantly consolidated on the banks of 
 the Rlune. To complete the occupation of that ma- 
 jestic stream, the French armies had also reached its 
 course from the Moselle and Alsace. 
 
 Since the check at Kayserlautern, the armies of 
 the Moselle and of the Upper Rhine, commanded by 
 ]Michaud, had been awaiting reinforcements in de- 
 tachments drawn from the Alps and La Vendee. At 
 length, on tlie 14th Messidor(2d July), an attack was 
 adventured along the whole line, from the JMoselle to 
 the Rhine, upon both slopes of the Vosges. This 
 attack, too scattered and divided, was repulsed. A 
 second attempt, conducted upon better principles, was 
 made on the 25th Messidor (13th July). The principal 
 effort was directed upon the centre of the Vosges, with 
 the design of conquering the defiles ; and it induced, 
 as in other places, the general reti-eat of the allied 
 armies beyond Frankenthal. The committee then 
 ordered a diversion on Treves, which was occupied as 
 a just chastisement on the elector. By this movement, 
 a large division found itself exposed between the im- 
 perial armies on the Lower Rliine and the Prussian 
 army on the Vosges, without the latter heeding the 
 opportunity to intiict a grievous injury on their op- 
 ponents. The Prussians, however, eventually taking 
 advantage of the diminution of the French forces to- 
 wards Kayserlautern, made a sudden onslaught, and 
 repelled them beyond that town. At this moment 
 intelhgence arrived of Jourdan's victory on the Roer 
 and of Clairtayt's passage of the Rhine at Cologne. 
 The aUies no longer ventured to remain in the Vosges ; 
 they forthwith retrograded, abandoning the whole Pa- 
 latinate to the French, and throwing a strong garri- 
 son into Mayence. Their sole possessions on the left 
 bank, consequently, were limited to the two towns of 
 Luxumbourg and JMayence. The committee issued 
 immediate orders for their investment. Kleber was 
 called from Belgium to Mayence, in order to direct 
 the siege of that place, which he had so gallantly con- 
 tributed to defend in 1793, and where he had first 
 gained his renown. Thus the tide of victory flowed 
 on all points, and the barrier of the Rhine fell 
 throughout into possession of the French.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 461 
 
 In the Alps, the state of inactivity had been con- 
 tinued, and the g:reat chain contirmed definitively to 
 the French. The plan of invasion ably devised by 
 General Bonaparte, and communicated to the com- 
 mittee by Robespierre the younger, who was com- 
 missioned to the army of Italy, had been originally 
 adopted. It consisted in uniting the two armies of the 
 Alps and of Italy in the valley of Sturia, and thus 
 overrvmning Piedmont. The orders to march were 
 already given, when the catastrophe of the 9th Ther- 
 midor hapi)ened : the execution was then suspended. 
 The commandants of places who had been obliged to 
 detach part of their garrisons, the representatives on 
 missions, the municipalities, and all the partisans of 
 reaction, alleged that the plan was designed to destroy 
 the army by entangling it in Piedmont, re-open Tou- 
 lon to the English, and aid the sinister views of Robes- 
 pierre. Jean-Bon-Saint-Andre especially, Avho had 
 been dispatched to Toulon to reorganise the navy, 
 and who revolved peculiar schemes of action in the 
 Mediterranean, appeared as one of the bitterest oppo- 
 nents of the plan. Bonaparte was even accused of 
 being an accomplice of the Robespierres, an insinua- 
 tion foimded on the confidence his talents and views 
 had inspired in the yoimgest of the two brothers. The 
 army consequently retrograded in disorder upon the 
 great chain, where it resumed its positions. The cam- 
 paign closed, however, with a brilliant affair. The 
 Austrians, in concert M'ith the English, resolved to 
 make an attempt on Savona, in order to intercept the 
 communication with Genoa, which by its neutrality 
 rendered important services with regard to supplies. 
 General Colloredo, accordingl}*, advanced with a body 
 of eight to ten thousand men ; but using little celerity 
 in his march, he gave the French time to prepare for 
 him. Surprised amidst the mountains by the French 
 troops, whose movements General Bonaparte directed, 
 he lost 800 men and retired ingloriously, charging 
 tlie English with his disaster, which they retorted on 
 him. The communication with Genoa was maintained, 
 and the array consolidated in all its positions. 
 
 On the Pyrenees the Frencli had recommenced a 
 successful career. Dvigommier had been long en- 
 gaged on the siege of Bellegarde, being anxious to re- 
 duce that place before descending into Catalonia. La 
 Union had endeavoured, by a general attack on the 
 French line, to succour the besieged ; but, repulsed at 
 all points, he had moved off in disorder; whereupon 
 the garrison, effectually discouraged by this rout of 
 the Spanish army, surrendered on the 6th Vendemiaire 
 (27th September). Dugommier, now secm-e in his 
 rear, prepared to advance into Catalonia. On the 
 AVestern Pyrenees, the French, at length emerging 
 from their inertness, had overrun the valley of Bastan, 
 carried the strongholds of Fontarabia and Saint-Sebas- 
 tian, and, under the genial climate of that region, 
 made dispositions, as on the Eastern Pyrenees, to 
 push their successes notwithstanding the appi'oach of 
 winter. 
 
 In La Vendee the war continued : not an active or 
 dangerous, but a slow and devastating war. Stofllet, 
 Sapinaud, and Charette, had of late divided the com- 
 mand in the insurgent districts. Since tlie death of 
 Larochejacquelein, Stofflet had succeeded him in An- 
 jou and Upper Poitou. Sapinaud had long preserved 
 the small circuit of the centre. Charette, renowned 
 for his campaign during the previous winter, when, 
 with forces almost destroyed, he had invariably con- 
 trived to baffle the pursuit of the republicans, com- 
 manded in Lower Vendee, but aspired to the com- 
 mandership-in-chief. A meeting had been held at 
 Jallais, where a convention was adopted imder the 
 influence of the Abbe Bernier, incumbent of Saint- 
 Laud, the monitor and friend of StofHet, and govern- 
 ing the country in his name. This abbe was equally 
 ambitious with Charette, and desired such a combi- 
 nation as would enable liim to exercise over all the 
 chiefs the sway he already held over Stofflet. It was 
 
 agreed to form a superior council, under whose orders 
 every thing should be conducted for the future. Stof- 
 flet, Sapinaud, and Charette, mutually confirmed their 
 several commands in Anjou, the centre, and Lower 
 Vendee. M. de Marigny, who had survived the great 
 Vendean expedition against Granville, having in- 
 fringed an order issued by the newly appointed coun- 
 cil, was arrested and cruelly shot by Stofflet on a re- 
 port of Charette. This act of rigour, which produced 
 a mournful impression on all the royalists, has been 
 generally attributed to jealousy. 
 
 The war, in the absence of any possible result, had 
 become little more than one of plunder and extermi- 
 nation. The republicans had established fourteen in- 
 trenched camps around the insurgent country, whence 
 issued devastating columns, which, under the superior 
 command of General Turreau, executed the terrible 
 decree of the convention. They burnt the woods, 
 hedges, and heaths, frequently even the villages, car- 
 ried off the crops ai)d cattle, and, alleging the decree 
 which enjoined every inhabitant not engaged in the 
 revolt to withdraw twenty leagues from the insurgent 
 districts, treated as enemies all whom they met. The 
 Vendeans, on the other hand, obliged to find means 
 of existence, still continued to cultivate their fields 
 amidst these horrible scenes, and revenged the aggres- 
 sions in a manner calculated to render the warfare 
 perpetual. At a signal from their chiefs, they formed 
 sudden assemblages, fell upon the camps from the 
 rear, and swept all before them ; or, allowing the 
 columns to penetrate, they assailed them when en- 
 tangled in the country, and if they succeeded in break- 
 ing their ranks, they massacred them to the last man. 
 On such occasions they seized upon the arms and 
 munitions with extraordinary avidity ; and, without 
 having at all weakened an enemy so far superior to 
 themselves, indulged in congratulations upon obtain- 
 ing the means of continuing this atrocious warfare. 
 
 Such was the state of things on the left bank of the 
 Loire. On the right bank, in that part of Brittany 
 comprised between the Loire and the Vilaine, a new 
 insurrectionary assemblage had been formed, com- 
 posed in a great measure of the remnants of the Yen- 
 dean column dispersed at Savenay, and of the pea- 
 sants dwelling on those plains. M. de Scepeaux was 
 the leader of this band ; it contained a force nearly 
 equal to that of M. de Sapineau, and served to connect 
 La Vendee with Brittany. 
 
 Brittany had become the theatre of a war altogether 
 different from that of La A^endee, and not less deplor- 
 able. The Chouans, of whom we have already spoken, 
 were smugglers whom the abolition of provincial du- 
 ties had left without employment, yomig men who had 
 contrived to elude the conscription, and a few Ven- 
 deans, escaped, like those under M. de Scepeaux, from 
 the disaster of Savenaj'. They secreted themselves as 
 banditti among the rocks and vast woods of Brittanj-, 
 particularly in the great forest of I'ertre. They did 
 not form, as the Vendeans, numerous bodies, capable 
 of keeping the field ; they roamed in bands of thirty 
 and fifty, stop])ing couriers and public convej'ances, 
 and assassinating justices of the peace, mayors, all 
 republican functionaries, in fact, and especially the 
 purchasers of national donuiins. As to those who 
 were not owners, but sinii)ly the cultivators of any 
 such domains, they visited their farmsteads and levied 
 the amomit of rent payable. They generally adopted 
 the i)lan of destroying bridges, breaking up roads, and 
 disabling wains, in order to i)revent the transport of 
 provisions into the towns. They issued terrible menaces 
 against those who carried tlieir i)roilnce to market, 
 and made good their tin-cats by pillaging and burning 
 their ])roperty. Incapable of occupying the country 
 in a military point of view, their aim manifestly was 
 to throw it into a state of anarchj% by scaring the 
 citizens from accepting any functions under the re- 
 public, by avenging the acquisition of national do 
 mains, and by famishing the towns. Less united and
 
 462 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 numerous than the Vendeans, they were even more 
 formidable, and truly merited the appellation of bri- 
 gands. 
 
 They had a secret leader, whose name has already 
 occurred in our annals, ]M. de Puisaye, formerly a 
 member of the Constituent Assembly. After the 10th 
 Auo^st he had retired into Normandy, joined in the 
 federalist insurrection, and, after the defeat at Vernon, 
 concealed himself in Brittany, where he laboured to 
 collect tlie remains of the conspiracy of La Rouarie. 
 With great intelligence and a rare capacity for unit- 
 ing the elements of a party, he combined extreme 
 activit}' of mind and body, and boundless ambition. 
 Struck with the peninsular position of Erittany, the 
 vast extent of its coasts, the peculiar nature of its 
 surface, covered by forests, mountains, and impene- 
 trable retreats, and, above all, with the ignorance of 
 irs inhabitants, speaking a strange language, whereby 
 they were isolated from communication with the other 
 inhaliitants of France, entirely subject to the influence 
 of priests, and three or four times more numerous 
 than the Vendeans, Puisaye deemed it possible to 
 organise an insurrection in Brittany much more for- 
 midable than that under the guidance of such chiefs 
 as Cathelineau, D'Elbee, Eonchamps, and Lescure. The 
 vicinity of England, and the happy juxtaposition of the 
 islands of Guernsey and Jersey, had suggested to him, 
 moreover, the idea of inducing the cabinet of London to 
 concur in his projects. He was consequently desirous 
 that the energy of the country should not be wasted in 
 useless ruffianism, but strove to bring it under regula- 
 tion, and mould it in furtherance of his own extended 
 views. Aided by the priests, he had caused all the 
 men capable of bearing arms to be enrolled on registers 
 f>pened in the various parishes. Each parish was to 
 furnish a company, and each canton a division ; the 
 united divisions were to form four principal divisions, 
 those of Morbihan, Finisterre, C6tes-du-Nord, and 
 lUe-et-Vilaine, all dependent on a central committee 
 representing the supreme authority of the country. 
 Puisaye presided over the central committee in the 
 character of generalissimo ; and, by means of these 
 ramifications, he ensured the distribution of his orders 
 over the whole district. Untd entering upon the exe- 
 cution of his ultimate designs, he recommended as few 
 acts of hostility to be committed as possible, in order 
 to avoid drawing too many troops into Brittany ; he 
 enjoined his j)artisans to content themselves with col- 
 lecting munitions and intercepting the conveyance of 
 provisions to the towns. Nevertheless, the Cliouans, 
 little fitted for the kind of general war he meditated, 
 continued to indulge in individual lawlessness, which 
 they found more profitable and more to their taste. 
 Puisaye used indefatigable exertions to com])lete his 
 arrangements, and proposed, so soon as he had achieved 
 the organisation of his party, to visit London for the 
 purpose of opening a negotiation with tlie English 
 cabinet and the French princes. 
 
 As already mentioned in the account of the preced- 
 ing war, the Vendeans had held no intercourse with 
 foreign powers. IM. de Tinteniac had been, however, 
 sent amongst them, to ascertain their character, prin- 
 ciples, and numbers, and to offer them arms and aid if 
 they could possess themselves of a port on the coast. 
 This was the inducement that led them to Granville, 
 an expedition which ended in the disastrous issue we 
 bave re(!orded. Lord ]\Ioira's squadron, after a fruit- 
 less cruise off the coasts, had conveyed to IIoHand the 
 succours intended for La Vendee. I'uisaye hoped to 
 prevail on the English cabinet to dispatch a second 
 flotilla, and to form arrangements with the French 
 ])rinces, who had hitherto neither testified gratitude 
 nor given encouragement to the royalists under arms 
 in the interior. 
 
 On their j)art, the princes, despairing of effective 
 .support from tlie allies, began to cast their eyes on 
 tlieir partisans in France. But they were not sur- 
 rounded bv comiscllors fitted to take advantage of the 
 
 ze;il manifested by the brave men prepared to sacri- 
 fice themselves in their cause. A few old lords and 
 friends had followed the fortunes of Monsieur, who 
 had been declared regent, and taken up his abode at 
 Verona, since the district of the Rhine had become 
 unsafe for i)eaceful residents. The Prince of Conde, 
 a brave but incompetent leader, continued on the 
 Upper Rhine, drawing to him all who were willing to 
 use their swords. A party of young nobles accom- 
 panied the Count d'Artois in his travels, and had fol- 
 lowed in his train to St Petersburg. Catherine had 
 given the prince a brilliant reception, and presented 
 him with a frigate, a million of money, a sword, and 
 the gallant Count de Vauban to admonish and stimu- 
 late him in the use of those precious gifts. She had 
 furthermore held out magnificent promises of future 
 aid, if the prince should succeed in making a descent 
 on La Vendee. That operation, however, was not 
 effected ; and the Count d'Artois had sailed to Hol- 
 land, and repaired to the head-quarters of the Duke of 
 York. 
 
 The situation of the three emigrant princes was 
 far from enviable. Austria, Prussia, and England, 
 had refused to recognise Monsieur as regent ; for the 
 acknowledgment of a sovereign of France other than 
 the sovereign de facta, would have impUed an inter- 
 ference in its domestic concerns which no power de- 
 sired ostensibly to arrogate. Now, especially, when 
 they were defeated, all affected to maintain that they 
 had taken up arms solely with a view to their own 
 security. The recognition of the regent would have 
 entailed a still further inconvenience, in the pledge it 
 involved to make peace dependent on the destruction 
 of the republic — a consunnnation, under present prog- 
 nostics, of rather hopeless achievement. At the same 
 time, the powers received the agents of the princes, 
 but allowed them no public character. The Duke 
 dTIarcourt at London, the Duke d'Havre at Madrid, 
 and the Duke de Polignac at Vienna, delivered notes, 
 seldom read and more rarel}^ heeded ; they were rather 
 the intermediate recipients of the pecuniary aid occa- 
 sionallj' doled out to the emigrants than the organs of 
 an acknowledged authority. Thus the utmost dis- 
 content prevailed in the three emigrant courts towards 
 the great powers. They began to perceive that the 
 boasted zeal of the coalition in favour of royidty con- 
 cealed the most violent hatred against France. Aus- 
 tria, by planting her flag on Valenciennes and Conde, 
 had, according to the emigrants, chiefly occasioned 
 the outburst of French patriotism. Prussia, whose 
 pacific tendencies they already detected, had failed, 
 they asserted, in all her engagements. Pitt, who of 
 all the allies evinced the greatest sternness and dis- 
 dain towards them, was especially odious in their 
 eyes. The only appellation he obtained amongst them 
 was " the perfidious Englishman ;" and they held it 
 justifiable to accei)t his largesses and afterwards de- 
 ceive him if the opportunity offered. They maintained 
 that 8]iain only could be relied upon : Spain alone was 
 a faithful relative, a sincere ally ; upon it solely were 
 any hopes to be founded. 
 
 The three petty fugitive coiirts, so slenderly con- 
 nected with the belligerent powers, possessed no bond 
 of union even amongst themselves. The court of 
 Verona, stagnant and remote, transmitting orders to 
 the emigrants which they disregarded, and making 
 communications through unaccredited agents to the 
 cabinets, wliich tliey treated with contumely, distrusted 
 the two others, viewed with jealousy the active con- 
 duct of the Prince of Conde on the Rhino, and the 
 partial consideration his useless but energetic courage 
 availed him with the cabinets, and even nmrmured 
 enviously at the travels of the Count d'Artois through 
 Europe. The Prince of Conde, on his part, equally 
 deficient in talent as full of bravery, refused to enter 
 into any consistent i)lan, and manifested but little 
 deference for the two courts which held aloof from 
 warfare. I^astly, the diminutive court located at Am-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 463 
 
 lieim, abjured as well the dangers to be encountered 
 on the Rliine as the authority to be obeyed in A''crona, 
 and clung to the English head-quarters, under pre- 
 text of divers momentous projects on the coasts of 
 France. 
 
 Bitter experience having taught the French princes 
 that they could not rely on the enemies of their coun- 
 try to restore their throne, they fondly turned to their 
 partisans in the interior and to La ^'cndc■e, and alleged 
 that upon them alone all hope thenceforth rested. 
 When terror ceased its reign in France, malignants 
 unfortunately recovered confidence equally with honest 
 men. The communications of the emigrants with the 
 interior then recommenced. The court of Verona, 
 through the medium of the Count d'Entraigues, cor- 
 responded with one Lemaitre, an intriguer who had 
 been successively an advocate, secretary of the coun- 
 cil, a pamphleteer, a prisoner in the Bastille, and now 
 finally an agent of the princes. To him were joined 
 a certain Laville-Heurnois, formerly a master of re- 
 quests and a creature of Calonne, and an Abbe Bro- 
 thier, tutor of the Abbe Maury's nephews. From 
 these intriguers were demanded details on the state 
 of France, and on the situation and views of parties, 
 and digested plans of conspiracy. They replied by 
 statements for the most part false : they boasted of 
 pretended relations with the chiefs of the government, 
 and laboured with all their power to persuade the 
 princes that every thing was to be expected from a 
 movement in the interior. They had been specifically 
 instructed to open a communication with La Vendee, 
 and particularly with Charette, who by his long re- 
 sistance had become the hero of the royalists, but with 
 whom no negotiation had been yet attempted. 
 
 Such, then, was the position of the royalist party 
 within and without France. In La Vendee it prose- 
 cuted a war, little alarming from its dangers, but afflic- 
 tive by its ravages. In Brittany it formed extensive 
 projects, but remote as yet, and dependent on a doubt- 
 ful contingency — union and concert amongst a multi- 
 tude of lawless individuals. Out of France it was 
 divided, contemned, unsupported ; but, finally dis- 
 abused touching the efficaciousness of foreign aid, it 
 had reverted to the royalists of the interior, and opened 
 with them an insignificant intercourse. 
 
 The republic, therefore, had little to dread from 
 the efforts of Europe or of royalism. Apart from the 
 regret occasioned by the unsuppressed ravages in La 
 Vendee, it had abundant themes of congratulation in 
 its brilliant triumphs. Saved the preceding year from 
 invasion, it had this year wreaked revenge by con- 
 quests : it had acquired Belgium, Dutch Brabant, the 
 districts of Luxmiibourg, Liege, and Juliers, the elec- 
 torate of Treves, the Palatinate, Savoy, Nice, a for- 
 tress in Catalonia, the valley of Bastan ; and thus 
 menaced at once Holland, Piedmont, and Spain. Such 
 were the results of the extraordinary efforts of the 
 celebrated committee of public welfare. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIIL 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS. — ALTERATION OF MAN- 
 NERS. SALOONS OF PARIS. — CONFLICTS BETWEEN 
 
 THE TWO PARTIES. — MODIFICATIONS IN THE MAXI- 
 MUM AND THE Sy.STEM OF REQUISITIONS. — ATTACK 
 ON THE HALL OF THE JACOBIN CLUB, AND CLOSING 
 THEREOF. — RETURN OF THE SEVENTY-THREE DEPU- 
 TIES IMPRISONED AFTER THE 31 ST MAY. — CONDEJl- 
 
 NATION OF CARRIER. PROCEEDINGS COM.'MENCEl) 
 
 AGAINST BILLAUD-VARENNES, COLLOT-d'hERBOIS, 
 AND BARRERE. 
 
 Whilst the events we have recounted were passing 
 on the frontiers, the convention jjrosecuted its reme- 
 dial measures. The representatives appointed to re- 
 model the authorities, traversed France, every where 
 reducing the number of revolutionary connnittees. 
 
 composing them of other individuals, arresting, as 
 accomphces of Robespierre's system, those whose ex- 
 cesses were too flagrant to be allowed to pass un- 
 punished, changing the municipal functionaries, re- 
 organising the popular societies, and purging them of 
 tlie most dangerous men. These operations were not 
 always effected without opposition. At Dijon, for ex- 
 ample, the revolutionary organisation had been more 
 compactly knitted than at almost any other place. The 
 same individuals, members at once of the revolutionary 
 committee, the municipality, and the popular society, 
 had kept the inhabitants in constant dread and trepi- 
 dation. They were accustomed to inunure travellers 
 and residents in the most arbitrary manner, to in- 
 scribe on the list of emigrants the names of all whom 
 it suited them to include under that category, and to 
 intimidate the sections fi"om granting such persons 
 certificates of residence. They had enrolled them- 
 selves under the form and name of a revolutionary 
 army, and compeUed the conunune to allow thein pay. 
 They followed no industrious profession, attended the 
 sittings of the club as a pastime, accompanied by their 
 wives, and dissipated in orgies, where it was permitted 
 to drink only from large and flowing goblets, the two- 
 fold product of their appointments and their rapine. 
 Tliey corresponded with the Jacobins of Lyons and 
 MarseiUes, and served as their medium of communi- 
 cation with the brethren of Paris. The representative 
 Cales experienced infinite difficidty in breaking up 
 this confederacy ; he superseded all the revolutionary 
 authorities, and selected twenty or thirty moderate 
 members of the club, and charged them to institute a 
 process of purgation as to the remainder. 
 
 When the ultra-revolutionists were expelled from 
 the various municipalities in the departments, they 
 followed the example of those at Paris, and usually 
 retired into the Jacobin Club. If the club had been 
 purged, they forcibly invaded it after the departure 
 of the representatives, or formed another. There they 
 indulged in language even more violent than here- 
 tofore, and gave way to all the frenzy of combined 
 rage and fear, for they saw retribution and vengeance 
 menacing them from every quarter. The Jacobins 
 of Dijon transmitted an inflammatory address to those 
 of Paris, breathing the most implacable sentiments. 
 At Lyons they presented an equally determined as- 
 pect ; and as the city still lay under the ban of the 
 convention's ruthless decrees, the representatives were 
 greatly fettered in tlieir endeavours to repress their 
 fury. At MarseiUes they were yet more audacious ; 
 joining the heated passions characteristic of the loca- 
 lity to those of their universal party, they gathered 
 into a tumultuous crowd, surrounded a room in which 
 the deputies Auguis and Serres were dining, and sent 
 in envoys, who, with swords and pistols in their hands, 
 demanded the hberation of the imprisoned patriots. 
 The two representatives displayed the utmost firm- 
 ness ; but, ill supported by the gendarmerie, which 
 had constantly assisted in the perpetration of the re 
 cent cruelties, and deemed itself in a great measure 
 responsible for them, they narrowly escaped being 
 strangled or stabbed. Several Parisian battalions, 
 however, happening to be in Marseilles at the moment^ 
 came to the rescue of the representatives, and dispersed 
 the multitude. At Toidouse, also, the Jacobins pro- 
 voked riots. In that city were four individuals who 
 had rendered themselves the leaders of the revolu- 
 tionary j)arty — a director of the post-ollice, a secre- 
 tary of the district, and two comedians. These had 
 formed a committee of surveillance for an extensive 
 district, and stretdu'd their tyranny far beyond Tou- 
 louse. They opjjosed the reforms and imprisomnents 
 ordered bj' the dejaities D'Artigoyte and Chaudron- 
 Rousseau, aroused the popular society, and had the 
 iiardihood to intiuce it to publish a declaration that 
 those representatives had forfeited the confidence of 
 the people. Ultimately overpowered, liowever, they 
 were incarcerated, with their ju-incipal accomplices.
 
 464 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Such scenes oaeurred throughout all France, with 
 more or less violence, according to the character of 
 the provincial population. Nevertheless, the Jacobins 
 were repressed in every locality. Those of Paris, the 
 ruling elders of the confederacy, were in the greatest 
 alarm. They beheld the capital obviously repugnant 
 to their doctrines, and it now became equally appa- 
 rent that in the departments, opinion, less prompt in 
 its manifestations than at Paris, had also emphatically 
 pronounced against them. They knew they were 
 every where stigmatised as cannibals, as partisans, 
 accomplices, and continuators of Robespierre. True, 
 they felt themselves supported by the horde of dis- 
 missed functionaries, by the Electoral Club, by a zealous 
 and often victorious minority in the sections, and even 
 by a portion of the members of tlie convention, some 
 of whom still frequented their society ; but tliey were 
 not the less dismayed at the unequivocal tendency of 
 the public mind, and tliey loudly proclaimed there was 
 a plot formed to dissolve all the popular societies, and 
 after them the republic itself. 
 
 They drew up an address to the affiliated societies, 
 with the view of refuting tlie charges alleged against 
 tliem. " Endeavours are making," so tlieir manifesto 
 ran, " to destroy our fraternal union, to break a com- 
 pact formidable to the enemies of liberty and equality : 
 we are denounced and assailed with the blackest ca- 
 lumnies. Aristocracy and moderatism are raising 
 their audacious fronts. The disastrous reaction caused 
 by the fall of the triumvirs is perpetuated ; and, from 
 amidst the storms brewed by the enemies of the people, 
 has started a new faction, which aims at the dissolu- 
 tion t)f all the popular societies. It exacerbates and 
 labours to infuriate public opinion ; it puslies effron- 
 tery so far as to represent us a rival power to the 
 national representation — we who have fought and coa- 
 lesced with it in all the dangers of the country. It 
 accuses us of being the successors of Robespierre, 
 wliilst we have on our registers the names of those 
 only who, during the night of the 9th and 10th Ther- 
 midor, occupied the posts which tlie danger of the 
 country assigned to them. But we wiU answer these 
 vile calumniators by assiduously combating them ; we 
 will answer them by tlie purity of our principles and 
 actions, and by an unshaken devotion to the cause of 
 the people which they have betrayed, to the national 
 representation which they would dishonour, and to 
 the equalit}' which they so much abhor." 
 
 They affected great respect, it will be observed, for 
 the national representation. At one of their meetings 
 they had even delivered up to tlie committee of gene- 
 ral safety a member for having stated that the chief 
 conspirators against liberty were in the bosom of the 
 convention itself. They caused their address to be 
 circulated through all the departments, and particu- 
 larly through the sections of Paris. 
 
 The party opposed to them became every day more 
 emboldened. It had already assumed peculiar em- 
 blems and manners, and agreed upon places and cries 
 for rallying together. It was composed, especially in 
 the beginning, as we have previously mentioned, of 
 young men belonging to the persecuted families, or 
 who had eluded the conscription. These had foimd 
 ready allies in the female sex, who had passed the 
 last winter in terror, and aspired to pass the present 
 in festivities and pleasure. Frimaire (November) was 
 approacliing : the women were eager to throw off the 
 semblance of indigence, simplicity, squalor even, they 
 had been long condemned to affect during the reign of 
 terror, and to substitute for such obnoxious constraint 
 indulgence in elegant apparel, in the forms and enjoy- 
 ments of refined intercourse. They made common 
 cause with the youthful reprobators of a savage demo- 
 cracy, stimulated their zeal, and bound them, by tlieir 
 encomiums and exhortations, to observe the graces of 
 politeness and studied costume. Thus fashion recom- 
 menced its sway. It imposed, as one of its laws, that 
 the hair should be bound in tresses, and confined at 
 
 the back of the head by a comb. This was a usage 
 borrowed from the military, who thus disposed their 
 hair to parry the strokes of swords. It originated in 
 the idea of thereby intimating that those thus adorned 
 had taken part in the success of the French armies. 
 It was likewise essential to wear large cravats, black 
 or green collars, according to a practice of the Chouans ; 
 and, above all, crape round the arm, as if mourning 
 some victim of the revolutionary tribunal. Hence we 
 see what a singular medley of ideas, recollections, and 
 opinions, gave rise to the peculiarities of the gilded 
 youth, for such was the name given to that class. At 
 night, in the saloons, which were resuming their an- 
 cient brilliancy, the women rewarded with smiles and 
 praises the young men who had displayed their cou- 
 rage in the sections, at the Palais-Royal, or in the 
 garden of the Tuileries, and the writers also, who, in 
 the thousand pamphlets and prints of the day, assailed 
 with sarcasms the revolutionary rabble. Freron had 
 become the chief of journalists; he edited the Orator 
 of the People, which speedily acquired renown. It 
 was the journal read by the " gilded youth," and 
 the monitor they consiilted for their daily instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 The theatres were not yet open. The actors of the 
 Comedie-Franyaise were still in prison. In default of 
 that place of resort, concerts were frequented, given 
 at the Feydeau Theatre, and illustrated by a melodious 
 voice Avhich now first asserted its charms over the 
 Parisians — the voice of Garat. There congregated all 
 that might be called the aristocracy of the time, 
 represented by a few nobles who had not quitted 
 France, by persons of wealth who now ventured to 
 show themselves in public, and by contractors who 
 no longer dreaded the severity of the committee of 
 public welfare. The women appeai-ed in a costume 
 modelled on the antique, according to the mania of 
 the epoch, and copied from designs by David. They 
 had long ago abandoned powder and hoops ; they wore 
 fillets around their hair ; the form of their garments 
 approached as nearly as possible the simple tunic of 
 the Grecian women ; and, instead of high-heeled shoes, 
 they assumed that covering we see on ancient statues 
 — a slight sandal attached to the ankle by ribands. 
 The young men, with braided hair and black capes, 
 filled the pit of the theatre, and occasionally arose to 
 greet with acclamations the elegant and capriciously 
 attired females who embellished those assembhes by 
 their presence. 
 
 IMadanie TaUien was the most beautiful and ad- 
 mired of those women who introduced the new tastes : 
 her saloon was the most brilliant and crowded. Daugh- 
 ter of the Spanish banker Cabarus, widow of a pre- 
 sident at Bordeaux, and recently married to Tallien, 
 she was linked both to the men of the old and of the 
 new order of things. Slie had viewed with abhorrence 
 the reign of terror, as well from indignation as from 
 amiability ; she had warmly interested herself in the 
 misfortunes of others, and both at Bordeaux and at 
 Paris had never ceased to act the part of a petitioner, 
 which she performed, it is said, with irresistible fasci- 
 nation. It was she who had contrived to soften the 
 proconsular severity which her husband manifested 
 in the Gironde, and recall him to more humane sen- 
 timents. She aspired to make him the pacificator, 
 the redresser of the wrongs of the revolution. She 
 invited to her house all those who had contributed 
 with him to consummate the 9th Thermidor, and 
 strove to gain them over to the cause of mercy by 
 gentle flattery, and by firing their minds with dazzhng 
 hopes of public gratitude, of oblivion of the past, 
 which many assuredly needed, and of power, which 
 now inclined rather to the opponents than to the par- 
 tisans of terror. She drew aromid her fair associates, 
 who aided in this scheme of pardonable seduction. 
 Amongst them shone pre-eminent the widow of the 
 unfortunate General Alexander Beauharnais, a yoimg 
 Creole, attractive not so much from her beauty as her
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 465 
 
 inimitable grace.* Into this polished circle were at- 
 tracted the rough and enthusiastic men who had been 
 wont to lead so austere and harassing a life. They 
 were there caressed, sometimes even rallied on their 
 garb, their manners, or their rigorous principles. They 
 were brought to sit at table with men whom they 
 would have formerly persecuted under the character 
 of aristocrats, enriched stockjobbers, or peculators of 
 the public moneys, and thus made to feel their infe- 
 riority with regard to the ancient models of good taste 
 and conversation. Many amongst them, deficient in 
 acquirements, lost their self-possession with their 
 rudeness, and were unable to sustain the energy of 
 their character -, others again, who, by their superior 
 resources, knew how to vindicate their rank and 
 speedily to acquire those advantages of mien and ex- 
 pression required in society, so frivolous and so easily 
 caught after all, were nevertheless not always proof 
 against alluring blandishments. The member of a com- 
 mittee, adroitly besought during an entertainment, 
 often granted a favour or allowed his vote to be in- 
 fluenced. 
 
 Thus, a woman, born of a financier, married to a 
 magistrate, and fallen, like any other spoil of the 
 olden time, into the arms of an ardent revolutionist, 
 took upon herself to reconcile simple men, sometimes 
 uncouth and almost uniformly fanaticised, Avith ele- 
 gance, taste, pleasure, freedom of social intercourse, 
 and indifference as to opinions. The revolution re- 
 deemed (and that was, doubtless, a blessing) from the 
 extreme limit of fanaticism and coarseness, was, not- 
 withstanding, advancing too rapidly towards an utter 
 disregard of republican manners, princi]iles, and, we 
 may almost say, antipathies. The Thermidorians 
 were reproached with the change ; they were accused 
 of having commenced it, of eagerly embracing it, and 
 of accelerating its predominance. The charge was 
 true, and could not be gainsaid. 
 
 The revolutionists shunned these concerts and 
 saloons. Rarely some amongst them ventured to enter 
 such uncongenial scenes, and then hastened from them 
 to their own tribunes, there to inveigh against " La 
 Cabarus,"f and all the aristocrats, intriguers, and 
 contractors she drew in her wake. They, the idtra- 
 revolutionists, had no other places of resort than their 
 clubs and sectional assemblies, which they frequented, 
 not in quest of pleasure properly so called, but to give 
 their passions vent. Their wives, who were styled " the 
 Furies of the Guillotine," because they had often formed 
 a circle around the scaffold during executions, appeared 
 in the galleries of the clubs, attired in tlie popular cos- 
 tume, to bestow their applause on the most violent 
 motions. Several members of the convention still con- 
 tinued to attend the meetings of the Jacobins, some 
 bearing the halo of celebrity with them, but silent and 
 gloomy, as Collot-d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, and 
 Carrier. Others, such as Duhem, Crassous, Lanot, 
 &c., gave their presence from attachment to the cause, 
 and without having any peculiar reason for defending 
 tlieir revolutionary conduct. 
 
 The two parties repeatedly came into collision at the 
 Palais-Royal, around the convention, in the galleries, 
 and in the sections. In the sections, especially, where 
 they had to deliberate and disc^uss, tlie tumults were 
 characterised by extreme violence. It had become 
 usual for certain unruly spirits to carry the address of 
 the Jacobins to the affiliated societies from one to the 
 other of the sectional meetings, and insist upon liaving 
 it read. On the other hand, a special decree had di- 
 rected the report of Robert Lindet on the state of 
 France to be read on such occasions — a report which 
 presented so truthful a picture, and expressed in so 
 appropriate a manner the sentiments wlierewith the 
 majority of the convention and all honest men were 
 
 * [This lady, it is perhaps scarcely necessary to state, subse- 
 quently became Empress of the French, as the wife of Napoleon 
 Bonaparte.] 
 
 * [This was the natal name of Madame Tallien.) 
 
 animated. The reading of these two diverse documents 
 became every decade the subject of lively contention. 
 The revolutionists demanded with loud shouts the 
 address of the Jacobins ; their adversaries clamoured 
 for Lindet's report. An indescribable uproar generally 
 ensued. The members of the old revolutionary com- 
 mittees took down the names of all who mounted the 
 tribune from the opposing ranks, and as they wrote 
 them they exclaimed, "We will exterminate them!" 
 Their habitual pursuits during the reign of terror had 
 familiarised on their tongues the vocabidary of ruffian- 
 ism and slaughter, and they could scarcely speak in 
 any other language. By their present proceeding they 
 gave occasion to a reproach that they were drawing 
 up fresh lists of proscription, and making ready to 
 recommence the system of Robespierre. These scenes 
 usually terminated in actual conflicts ; sometimes the 
 victory remained uncertain, and ten o'clock arrived 
 without any thing having been read. At such times 
 the revolutionists, who never scrupled to overstep the 
 legal hour, waited until their antagonists, who pro- 
 fessed unlimited submission to the law, had retired, 
 when they read whatever they pleased, and entertained 
 all such topics of deliberation as their fancies sug- 
 gested. 
 
 Every day scenes of this nature were reported to 
 the convention, and bitter complaints lodged against 
 the members of the old revolutionary committees, wlio 
 were, it was generalh' asserted, the originators of all 
 these distnrljances. The Electoral Club, a more outra- 
 geous and turbulent arena than even any of the sec- 
 tions, contrived at length to provoke the patience of 
 the assembly by an address conceived in the most 
 dangerous spirit. Tliat club was the resort, as we have 
 before mentioned, of all the men most irretrievably 
 compromised, and the place where the most daring 
 schemes were concocted. A deputation from this club 
 appeared, to demand that the election of municipal 
 magistrates should be restored to the people ; that the 
 municipality of Paris, which had not been re-esta- 
 blished since the 9th Thermidor, should be reconsti- 
 tuted ; and, lastly, that instead of one sectional meet- 
 ing each decade, two should be again allowed. On this 
 audacious petition being read, simdry deputies arose, 
 enforced the prevailing topics of complaint, and moved 
 that proceedings be commenced against the members 
 of the old revolutionary committees, to whom all the 
 disorders were attributable. Legendre, although he 
 had disapproved the previous attack of Lecointre 
 upon Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and Barrere, 
 affirmed that the evil was to be traced to a higher 
 source ; that it was to be found in the members of the 
 old government committees, who abused the indulgence 
 of the assembly, and that the time had at last arrived 
 when it was imperative to punish their former tyranny 
 in order to avert its recurrence. This declaration 
 occasioned a renewed and acrimonious outburst. 
 After long and deplorable recriminations had been 
 exchanged, the assembly, feeling tlie questions either 
 insoluble or dangerous, for the second time passed 
 to the order of the day. 
 
 Divers measures were then successivel_y propounded, 
 designed to repress ebullitions in tlie jiopulur socie- 
 ties and abuses in the right of iietition. It was 
 jiroposed to subjoin to Lindet's rejiort an address to 
 the Frencli nation, expressing in more clear and ener- 
 getic terms the sentiments of tlie assembly, and the 
 new course it pvirjwised to follow. This suggestion 
 Avas ado])ted. The deputy Richard, who had just re- 
 turned from the army, maintained that tlie expedient 
 was inade(iuate : that a vigorous government was the 
 recpiired i)aiiacea ; that addresses were of no avail, 
 because the framcrs of petitions would take care to 
 neutralise their effect by counter-appeals ; and that 
 words ought no longer to be allowed utterance at the 
 bar, which, pronounced in the streets, would lead to 
 the arrest of those using such license. Bourdon [de- 
 rOise] rose to speak. " It is time," he said, " to tell
 
 46(i 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 \'()u some useful truths. Do you know why your 
 armies are constantly victorious ? It is because tliey 
 observe an exact disciphne. EstabUsh in the state a 
 tcood police, and you will have a fjood government. 
 Do you know whence spring the perpetual attacks 
 directed against yonr rule?— from the miscliievous 
 pm-poses to which your ene^nies convert whatever is 
 democratic in j-our institutions. They delight in re- 
 peating that you will never have a government — that 
 you will be eternally torn by anarchy. Can it tlien 
 be possible tliat a nation uniformly victorious should 
 be ignorant 1k)w to govern itself; and that the con- 
 vention, aware that the defect alone prevents the con- 
 summation of the revolution, should not remove it ? 
 No, no ; let us deceive our enemies. It is by the abuse 
 of popular societies and of the right of petitioning 
 that they think to destroy us : it is that abuse which 
 must be suppressed." 
 
 Various modes of rendering the popular societies 
 innocuous without anniliilating them, were then sug- 
 gested. Pelet, with th.c view of depriving tlie Jacobins 
 of the support they derived from several Mountaineer 
 deputies sitting in their club, and more especially of 
 tearing from them Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Iierbois, 
 and other dangerous leaders, proposed that all the 
 members of the convention be prohibited to enrol 
 themselves members of a popular societ}'. His motion 
 was adopted. But vehement remonstrances were urged 
 by the IMountain : it was alleged that the right of 
 meeting to discuss public interests was a privilege 
 inherent in all the citizens, which a deputy could be 
 no more debarred from exercising than anj- other 
 member of the community, and that conseqiiently the 
 decree just passed was a violation of an absolute and 
 unassailable right. The decree was rescinded. Du- 
 hois-Crance thereupon submitted another motion. 
 Reciting the manner in which the Jacobins had exe- 
 cuted the process of ptu'ification, he showed that the 
 club still retained within its pale the very individuals 
 who had misled it under I?obesinerre. He maintained 
 that the convention had an undoubted right to purge 
 it in the same effective manner it had pursued, through 
 its commissioners, with regard to the popular societies 
 in the departments. He eventually moved that the 
 subject be referred to the competent committees, with 
 instructions to devise a suitable method of purification 
 and a ])lan for rendering the popular societies benefi- 
 cial. This amended proposition was finally adopted. 
 
 The Jacobins were thrown into an extraordinary 
 ferment by the decision of the convention. They pro- 
 tested that Dubois- Crance had deceived the deputies; 
 that the ]nn-ification ordained after the 9th Thermidor 
 had been rigorously executed; that no authority could 
 warrant another r-visal; that they were all equally- 
 worthy to sit in that illustrious societ\', which had 
 rendered such eminent services to the country ; but 
 that, at the same time, they shrunk from no scrutiny 
 howsoever severe, and tliat tliey were ready to under- 
 go the examination required. In consequence, they 
 resolved that the list of all the members should be 
 printed, and borne to the bar of the convention by a 
 deputation. On the following day, the 13th Vende- 
 miaire (4th October), however, they evinced a less 
 docile spirit. They affirmed that their resolution of 
 the eve was inconsiderate ; that to deliver the list of 
 the society to the national assembly, was tantamount 
 to a recognition of the right to institute a jmrification, 
 which they held was possessed by no earthly power ; 
 tliat all the citizens enjoying the privilege of meeting, 
 without arms, to confer on questions of public imjiort, 
 no individual could be declared unfit to be enrolled in 
 a society ; and tliat, consequently, the purification was 
 contrary to all right, and the list should not be ren- 
 dered. " The popular societies," exclaimed a certain 
 Giot, an outrageous Jacobin, and one of the delegates 
 to the armies — •' the popular societies are independent 
 of all but themselves. If it were otherwise, the in- 
 Cimous court would have purged that of the Jacobins, 
 
 and you would have seen these benches, which ought 
 to be filled by virtue alone, polluted by the presence 
 of the Jaucours and the Fenillants. Well ! the court 
 itself, which respected nothing, dared not interfere 
 with you ; and what the court dared not do, is to be 
 attempted at a moment when the .Jacobins have sworn 
 to prostrate all tyrants, whoever they may be, and to 
 yield invariable submission to the convention ! I have 
 just arrived from the departments ; I can assiu'e you 
 the existence of the popular societies is seriously jeo- 
 pardised ; I have been treated as a miscreant, because 
 the title of Jacobin was in my commission. I was told 
 that I belonged to a society which was composed only 
 of brigands. There are furtive schemes hatching to 
 alienate from you the other societies in the republic ; 
 I have been fortunate enough to check the schism, 
 and to knit more firmly the bands of fraternity between 
 you and the society of Bayonne, which Robespierre 
 had calumniated in j-our hall. What I have stated 
 of one is common to all : be prudent ; always adhere 
 to your principles and to the convention ; and, above 
 all, acknowledge in no power the right to purify you." 
 The Jacobins applauded this discourse, and determined 
 they would not furnish their list to the convention, 
 but would await its decrees. 
 
 The Electoral Club was stiU more unruly. Since 
 its last petition, it had been excluded from the Eveehc. 
 and taken refuge in a room of the Museum, in the 
 immediate vicinity of the convention. There, in a 
 sitting held during the night, amidst furious cries 
 from the assembled horde, and clattering peals from 
 the feet of the women located in the galleries, it de- 
 clared that the convention had overstepped the dura- 
 tion of its powers ; that it had been deputed to try 
 the last king and frame a constitution ; and that, 
 having accomplished those two objects, its task was 
 performed and its authority extinct. 
 
 These scenes in the Jacobin and Electoral Clubs were 
 quickly denounced before the convention, which re- 
 ferred the additional facts to the committees charged 
 to present a report touching the abuses of the popular 
 societies. It had adopted an address to the French 
 nation, as previously resolved, and transmitted it to 
 the sections and all the coimnunes in the republic. 
 This address, couched in firm and moderate language, 
 inculcated in a manner more positive and precise the 
 sentiments expressed in the report of Robert Lindet. 
 It became the subject of fresh contests in the sections. 
 The revolutionists strove to prevent its being read, 
 and opposed addi-esses of adhesion being voted in re- 
 ply ; on the contrary, they moved and carried the 
 adoption of addresses to the Jacobins, expressive of 
 the interest felt in their cause. Frequently, after hav- 
 ing thus decided a vote, auxiliaries reinforced their 
 adversaries, who proceeded to expel them ; and the 
 section, thus remodelled, arrived at an ojiposite conclu- 
 sion. It consequently liapjiened that several amongst 
 them proffered two contradictory addresses — the one 
 to the Jacobins, the other to the convention. In the 
 first, the services of the popular societies were extolled, 
 and vows oflered up for their preservation ; in the 
 latter, the convention was assured that the section, 
 freed from the. thraldom of anarchists and terrorist.s, 
 came to express its true feelings, to place at its dis- 
 posal the arms and lives of its members, to combat both 
 the successors of Robespierre and the agents of royal- 
 ism. The convention calmly surveyed these dissen- 
 sions, whilst awaiting the forthcoming project on the 
 regulation of the popular societies. 
 
 It was presented on the 2r)tli Vendcmiaire (16th 
 October). Its principal aim was to break up the coa- 
 lition formed throughout France by the various Jaco- 
 bin societies. Affiliated to the parent societj% regu- 
 larly con'esponding with it, and obeying its orders, 
 these composed a vast party, skilfully organised, under 
 a supreme and central direction — the feature most ob- 
 noxious to a ruling power. The proposed decree in- 
 terdicted " all affiliations and federations, as likewise aV
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 467 
 
 correspondence, in a collective capacitij, between popular 
 societies." It provided, moreover, that no petitions or 
 addresses should he framed in a collective capacity, 
 in order to avoid those imperious manifestoes which 
 the delegates of the Jacobin and Electoral Clubs were 
 wont to read at the bar, and which had often become 
 mandates to the assembly. Every address or petition 
 was to be individually signed. Tliis stipulation as- 
 sured the means of ascertaining and prosecuting the 
 authoi's of inflammatory motions ; and hopes were en- 
 tertained tliat tlie necessity of appending their signa- 
 tures would induce them to pause. The list of mem- 
 bers belonging to eacli society was to be immediately 
 drawn out and affixed in the place of meeting. 
 
 Scarcely was the project submitted to the assembly, 
 ere a hundred voices broke forth in condemnation. 
 •' The design of destroying the popular societies is 
 manifest," said the Mountaineers ; " but you forget 
 that they have saved the revolution and liberty ; you 
 forget that they offer the most potent engine for unit- 
 ing the citizens, and preserving in them energy and 
 patriotism ; you infringe, by prohibiting them from 
 holding correspondence, the essential right appertain- 
 ing to all citizens of corresponding together — a right 
 equally sacred as that of congregating peaceablj' to 
 confer on questions of public interest." The deputies 
 Lejeune, l)uhem, and Crassous, all Jacobins, all 
 strongly interested in discarding sucli a decree, were 
 not the onlj' members who thus expressed themselves. 
 The deputy Thibaudeau, a sincere republican, uncon- 
 nected with either Momitaineers or Thermidorians, 
 betokened alarm at the possible consequences of the 
 decree, and urged its postjwnement, signifying himself 
 apprehensive that it would endanger the very exist- 
 ence of the popular societies. " No intention exists 
 of destroying them," replied the Tliennidorians, the 
 authors of the decree ; " it is merely wished to place 
 them under necessary restrictions." 
 
 Amidst the contention, Merlin de Thionville sud- 
 denly exclaimed — " President, c:ill the previous speak- 
 ers to order. They pretend that we desire to abolish 
 the popular societies, whereas the question solely re- 
 lates to the regulation of their external position." 
 Rewbel, BentaboUe, and Thuriot, likewise maintained 
 that their suppression was not contemplated. " Are 
 they prevented," they argued, " from meeting peace- 
 ably and unarmed to confer on public affairs ? Cer- 
 tainly not ; tliat right remains unimpeached. The}- 
 are prevented from affiliating or confederating, and 
 they are thereby treated only as the departmental 
 authorities liave previously been. These latter were 
 interdicted, by the decree of the 14th Frimaire, insti- 
 tuting the revolutionary government, from correspond- 
 ing or concerting together. Is it intended that the 
 popular societies should be allowed a license withheld 
 from the departmental authorities ? They are prolii- 
 bited from corresponding in a ccJlective capacity, and 
 in that restriction no right is violated : everj' citizen, 
 doubtless, is entitled to correspond from one extre- 
 mity of France to another; but do citizens correspond 
 through presidents and secretaries ? It is tliis official 
 correspondence between jwwerful and organised bodies 
 that the decree purposes, and most reasonably purposes, 
 to prevent, in order to destroy a federalism more mon- 
 strous and dangerous than that of the departments. 
 It is by means of these afiiliatiims and correspondences 
 that the Jacobins have succeeded in attaining so for- 
 midable an influence over the government, and assum- 
 ing a part in the direction of affairs whicli rightfully 
 belongs to the national rei)resentation alone." 
 
 Bourdon [de-rOise], one of tlie most influential 
 members of the connnittee of general safet}', and, as 
 we recollect, not ahvays in perfect concord witli his 
 friends, although a Therm idorian, thus spoke : — " The 
 popular societies are not tlie people ; I see the people 
 only in the primary assemblies : tlie popular societies 
 iire collections of men self-elected, self-nominated, like 
 monks, who have concluded by forming an e.xclusive 
 
 and permanent aristocracy, entitling itself the people, 
 and planting itself alongside the national representa- 
 tion, to dictate, modify, or oppose its resolutions. I 
 say, by the side of the convention I perceive another 
 representation in full activity, and that representation 
 is located at the Jacobin Club." Loud plaudits in- 
 terrupted Bourdon: he continued in these terms: — 
 " I bring so little passion to the discussion, that to 
 have peace and union I would willingly say to the 
 people, ' Determine between the men you have ap- 
 pointed to repi'esent you and those who have reared 
 themselves by their side ; it m.itters little, so that you 
 have a single representation.'" Fresh cheers again 
 compelled Bourdon to pause. He resumed : " Yes," 
 lie passionately exclaimed, "let the peojjle choose be- 
 tween you and the men who would have proscribed 
 representatives possessing the national confidence — 
 between you and the men who, leagued with the 
 municipality of Paris, laboured so strenuoush', but a 
 few months ago, to strangle hberty. Citizens, would 
 you conclude a glorious peace ? — woidd you grasp the 
 boundaries of ancient Gaul ? Then offer to the Bel- 
 gians, to the people bordering on the Rhine, a peace- 
 able revolution — a republic without a double represen- 
 tation — a republic without revolutionary committees 
 imbrued with the blood of citizens. Say to the Bel- 
 gians and the people of the Rhine, ' You aspired to a 
 demi-libcrty, we give it you whole, only sparing you 
 the cruel calamities which precede its establisliment — 
 sparing you the bloody trials through Avhich we have 
 ourselves passed.' Remember, citizens, that in order 
 to deter the neighbouring populations from uniting 
 with you, they are told that you have no government ; 
 that in treating with j'ou it is difficult to ascertain 
 whether the convention or the Jacobin Club ought to 
 be addressed. Give, on the contrarj', iinity and con- 
 centration to your government, and you will find that 
 no population will display aversion towards yoii and 
 your principles — you will find that no population hates 
 liberty." 
 
 Duhem, Crassous, and Clausel, pressed for at least 
 the postponement of the decree, alleging that it was 
 too imjiortant a measure to be passed thus abruptly ; 
 all anxious to address the assembly, they contended 
 for priority. Merlin de Thionville demanded it in 
 preference to them all, with that ardour he could 
 manifest in the tribune as well as on the field of battle. 
 The president ended the strife by calling upon them 
 successively. Dubarran, Levasseur,Romme, were like- 
 wise heard against the decree ; Thuriot in its favour. 
 Finally, Merlin once more spoke. " Citizens," he ex- 
 claimed, "when the establishment of the republic was 
 discussed, you decreed it without delay or report ; to- 
 day its establishment for the second time is in some 
 sort the question, since it has to be rescued from the 
 popular societies coalesced against it. Citizens, there 
 is no reason to recoil from an attack on that cavern, 
 notwithstanding the blood and eorjises that obstruct 
 its entrance ; j)enetrate boldly into it, drive out the 
 knaves and assassins, and leave none but good citi- 
 zens therein, to ponder tranquilly on the gre:it inte- 
 rests of the country. I move you to pass this decree, 
 which saves the republic, as you did that which 
 created it, tliat is to say, Avithout delay or report." 
 
 Merlin was gix atly apiiiaudcd, and the decree forth- 
 with voted, clause by clause. It was the first blow 
 levelled at that celebrated society, which had hitherto 
 held the convention in trembling thraldom, and con- 
 stantly nnparted to it the revolutionary impulse. The 
 importance of the decree was not to be estimated 
 merely by its provisions, which might be easily evaded, 
 but by the courage manifested in its adojition, for the 
 spirit was ])ortentons to the .Jacobins of their ap- 
 proaching fall. Congregating that same evening in 
 their hall, they commented on the measure and the 
 manner in which it had been passed. The deputy 
 Lejeune, who had strenuously opposed it in the con- 
 vention, complained of not having been adequately
 
 468 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 supported ; lie asserted that few members of the as- 
 sembly had spoken in defence of the society to which 
 they belonged. " There are certain members of the 
 convention." he said, " renowned for their revolution- 
 ary and patriotic energy, who maintained this day a 
 reprehensible silence. Either those members are guilty 
 of tyranny, as alleged against them, or tliey have la- 
 boured for the public welfare. In the first supposition, 
 they are culprits, and ought to be |)imished ; in the 
 second, their task is not yet accomplished. After hav- 
 ing facilitated by their vigils the successes of the coun- 
 try's defenders,' they ought to vindicate their prin- 
 ciples and the endangered rights of the people. But 
 two months ago, you, Collot and Billaud, were inces- 
 santly descanting on the rights of the people from this 
 tribune ; how comes it that you have ceased to up- 
 hold them ? Why are you silent now, when so many 
 appeals are still made upon your courage and talents?" 
 In truth, since the formal accusation lodged against 
 them in the convention, Billaud and Collot had ob- 
 served a sullen silence. But thus invoked by their 
 colleague Lejeune, and upbraided with not having de- 
 fended the society, they appeared in the tribune, and 
 declared, " that if they had preserved silence it was 
 from motives of prudence, not from weakness ; that 
 they had been apprehensive their support might injure 
 rather than benefit the cause advocated by patriots ; 
 that this dread of prejudicing discussions had long 
 been the sole reason of their reserve ; that, moreover, 
 being accused of having domineered over the conven- 
 tion, they had sought to answer their accusers by ab- 
 staining from all prominent participation in attairs ; 
 but that they responded with delight to the caU made 
 upon them by their colleagues, to emerge from that 
 voluntary retirement, and would again feel authorised 
 to devote their energies to the cause of liberty and the 
 republic." 
 
 Satisfied with this explanation, the Jacobins greeted 
 them with applause, and reverted to the law enacted 
 that morning. They found consolation in the idea 
 that they would still communicate with all France by 
 means of their orations in the tribune. Goujon urged 
 them to respect the decree just passed, and prevailed 
 in extorting a promise from them to that effect ; but 
 a Jacobin, by name Terrasson, propounded a scheme 
 for continuing the correspondence ^vithout directly 
 infringing the law. This consisted in framing a cir- 
 cular letter, not written in the name of the Jacobin 
 Club and addressed to other Jacobins, but signed by 
 all the free men assembled in the hall of the Jacobins, and 
 addressed tn all the free men of France assembled in 
 popular societies. The suggestion was hailed with 
 rapture, and the plan of transmitting such circulars 
 definitively adopted. 
 
 Thus we see how lightly the Jacobins treated the 
 menaces of the convention, and how little disposed 
 they showed themselves to profit by the warning it 
 had given them. ]\Ieanwhile, Tmtil fresh provocations 
 should render additional measures respecting them 
 indispensable, the convention applied itself to the task 
 traced out in Robert Lindet's report, and entered \ipon 
 the discussion of the various questions treated by 
 him in that document. The objects in view were to 
 remedy the effects of a violent system of government 
 on agriculture, trade, and currency, and to revive con- 
 fidence, security, and the spirit of order and industry, 
 in all classes of the connnunity. But here, again, the 
 contending parties were equally at variance, equally 
 certain to be engaged in altercation, as on all other 
 matters of polity. 
 
 The requisitions, the maximum, the assignats, and 
 the sequestration on the property of foreigners, were 
 topics of as virulent invective against the late govern- 
 ment as the imprisonments and executions. The 
 Thermidorians, supremely ignorant on subjects of 
 political economy, were moved, by the mere force of 
 reaction, to censure all that had been done in that 
 branch of administration in bitter and outrageous 
 
 terms ; and yet, if in the general government of the 
 state, during the preceding year, any thing had been 
 really irreproachable and completely justified by ne- 
 cessitj', it was the conduct of the financial and vic- 
 tualling departments. Cambon, the most influential 
 member in the committee of finance, had brought the 
 exchequer into admirable order : he had caused large 
 issues of assignats, it is true, but that was the sole 
 resource ; and he had quarrelled Avith Robespierre, 
 Saint-Just, and Couthon, because he refused to con- 
 cur in an increased revolutionary expenditure. And 
 Lindet, charged with the superintendence of tran- 
 sports and requisitions, had laboured with the most 
 exemplary zeal in obtaining from abroad, amassing in 
 France, and conveying botli to the armies and to the 
 great towns, the supplies that were necessarj'. The 
 mode of requisitions was undoubtedly a violent one ; 
 but on all hands it was acknowledged to be the only 
 possible expedient, and Lindet had sedulously endea- 
 voured to use it with the utmost moderation. At the 
 same time, he could not be held responsible either for 
 the fidelity of all his agents or for the conduct of 
 those who exercised the privilege of making requisi- 
 tions, such as municipal functionaries, representatives 
 on missions, or commissioners to the armies. 
 
 The Thermidorians, and especially Tallien, directed 
 the most frivolous and unjust attacks upon the gene- 
 ral system of these revolutionary expedients, and upon 
 the manner in which they had been carried into effect. 
 The primary cause of all the evils Avas, according to 
 them, the excessive issue of assignats, whereby they 
 had been depreciated, and rendered utterly dispropor- 
 tionate in value to articles of food and merchandise. 
 It was thus the maximum had become so disastrous 
 and oppressive, because it compelled all venders or 
 creditors to receive in payment a nominal and purely 
 illusory acquittance. There was nothing very novel 
 or profound in these objections ; no indication of any 
 remedj% or of any discovery miknown to all the world ; 
 but it was the object of Tallien and his friends to 
 attrilnite the inordinate issue of assignats to Cambon, 
 and thus apparently to charge upon him all the cala- 
 mities of the state. They likewise reproached him 
 with the sequestration of foreign property — a measure 
 which, having provoked reprisals against the French, 
 had interrupted the circulation of bills of exchange, 
 destroj-ed every species of credit, and annihilated com- 
 merce. As to the commission for supplies and pro- 
 visions, the same censors accused it of having harassed 
 France with requisitions, expended enormous sums 
 abroad in procuring corn, and left Paris in scarcity at 
 the commencement of a rigorous winter. They main- 
 tained the expediency of subjecting it to a severe 
 inquiry'. 
 
 Cambon possessed a reputation for integrity xinim- 
 pugned by any party. He was actuated with an 
 ardent zeal for the best practicable administration of 
 the finances, but combined therewith an impetuous 
 temperament, which an unjust reproach excited be- 
 yond the limits of control. He had intimated to Tal- 
 lien and his friends that he would not assail them, 
 but that, at the first whisper of calumny, he would j 
 approve himself a mei'ciless antagonist. Tallien had 
 the imprudence to aggravate his attacks from the 
 tribune of the convention by vituperative articles in 
 the journals. Cambon was incensed to fury, iind 
 during one of the mimerous sessions devoted to the 
 discussion of those matters, he huri'ied to the tribune, 
 and thus apostrophised Tallien : "Ah! thou attackest 
 me ! — thou wouldst throw doubts upon my honesty ! 
 So be it! I will prove tliat thou art an embezzler and 
 an assassin. Thou hast not rendered thy accounts as 
 secretary of the commune, and I have the proof thereof 
 at the committee of finance ; thou hast ordered an out- 
 lay of fifteen hundred thousand francs for an object 
 which will cover thee with infiimy. Thou hast not 
 rendered the accounts of thy mission to Bordeaux, and 
 I have likewise proofs of this at the committee. Thou
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 469 
 
 wilt remain for ever suspected of confederacy in the 
 crimes of September, and I shall proceed to prove, by 
 thy own words, that confederacy against thee, which 
 ought to condemn thee to silence for the rest of thy 
 life." Here Canibon was interrupted ; he was told 
 that such personalities were trespasses on the order 
 of debate, that no person impugned his honesty , and 
 that the discussion had rcfei'ence merely to the fiuan- 
 c'al sj'stein. Tallien muttered a few incoherent sen- 
 rcnces, to the effect that he did not answer personal 
 charges, but simply such as related to public ques- 
 tions. Cambon subsequently proceeded to demon- 
 strate that assignats had been the sole resource of the 
 revolution, as the expenditure had amoimted to three 
 hundred millions per month ; that the income, amidst 
 the prevailing disorder, had scarcely furnished the 
 fourth of that sum, and the deficiency was to be made 
 good every month by assignats ; that the quantity in 
 circulation was no mystery, and amounted to six thou- 
 sand four hundred millions ; and that at the same time 
 the national domains represented twelve thousand mil- 
 lions, and supplied adequate means for redeeming the 
 republic from debt. He averred that he had, at the 
 peril of his life, saved five hundred millions, which 
 Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon proposed to 
 apply to certain purposes ; that he had long opposed 
 the maximum and sequestration ; and that, with re- 
 gard to the commission for commerce, being obliged 
 to pay twenty-one francs the quintal abroad for corn, 
 and to resell it in France for fjurteen, there could be 
 little ground for wonder that its transactions had en- 
 tailed heavy losses. 
 
 These controversies, so indiscreet on the part of the 
 Thermidorians, who, whether right or wrong in their 
 views, had assuredly a somewhat tarnished reputation, 
 and should have paused ere they ventured to assail a 
 man at once upright, able, and violent, caused to the 
 assembly the loss of much valuable time. Although 
 the attacks ceased on the side of the Thermidorians, 
 Cambon's wrath was not appeased, and every day he 
 repeated in the triljune : " To accuse me ! the vile 
 rabble ! I challenge you to examine my accounts, 
 and investigate my conduct!" "Be tranquil," ex- 
 claimed the members around him ; " no one doubts 
 your integrity." But he reverted to the subject almost 
 daily. Amidst this hot contention and personal recri- 
 mination, the assembly adopted, to the extent of its 
 capabiht}^ such measures as were most calculated to 
 repair or mitigate existing evils. 
 
 It ordered a general statement of the finances, de- 
 tailing the receipts and payments, and a report on the 
 means of withdrawing a part of the assignats from 
 circulation, without depriving them of their cm-rent 
 cliaracter, so as to avoid discrediting them. On the 
 motion of Cambon, it renounced a miserable financial 
 expedient, which gave rise to infinite peculation, and 
 outraged the prejudices of sundry provinces, to wit, 
 the melting of church plate. This resource had been 
 originally estimated at a thousand millions ; in reality, 
 it produced only thirty millions. A resolution was 
 passed that the plate in question should not be touched 
 for the future, but remain in deposit with the com- 
 munes. The more serious inconveniences of the 
 maximum next occupied the attention of the assembly. 
 Some members already advocated the entire abolition 
 of that measure ; but the apprehension of a dispropor- 
 tionate enhancement of prices prevented acquiescence 
 in so sweeping a reaction. The modification of the 
 law was alone aimed at. The maxinmm had contri- 
 buted to destroy commerce, because the merchants 
 obtained, in the rates of the tariff, no allowance for 
 the charges of freight or insurance. In consequence, 
 all colonial produce, all articles of primary necessity, 
 and all raw materials brought from abroad into the 
 French ports, wore freed from the maximum and the 
 burden ol requisitions, and might be sold in open 
 competition. The same privilege was granted with 
 regard to merchandise captured in prizes, which had 
 
 hitherto lain unproductive in the warehouses. The 
 uniform maximum on corn had been attended with 
 manifold inconveniences. The production of grain 
 being more costly and less copious in certain de- 
 partments, the prices received by the farmers in those 
 departments had not repaid even their outlay. It was 
 decided that the prices of grain should varj' in each 
 department, according to the scale of 1790, and be 
 raised two-thirds upon that basis. When thus in- 
 creasing the value of the commodities of life, it was 
 proposed to augment appointments, salaries, and the 
 incomes of small annuitants ; but this suggestion, con- 
 siderately submitted by Cambon, was repudiated as 
 interested by Tallien, and deferred for after conside- 
 ration. 
 
 The subject of requisitions Avas subsequently dis- 
 cussed. The principal evils attending them were the 
 general, iinlimited, and confused manner in which they 
 were levied, and the exhaustion of the means of tran- 
 sport ; to aA'ert which for the future, it was deter- 
 mined that the commission for supplies should alone 
 possess the right of making requisitions ; that it 
 should be debarred from exacting an entire commo- 
 dity, or all the produce of a department ; but that it 
 should specify the article needed, both as to its nature 
 and quantity, and the period for its delivery and pay- 
 ment ; and that it should regulate its demands accord- 
 ing to the actual necessity, and select the district 
 contiguous to the locality requiring supplies. The re- 
 presentatives with the armies were solely' authorised, 
 in urgent cases of destitution or of rapid movements, 
 to make prompt and indispensable requisitions. 
 
 The question touching the sequestration of foreign 
 property was warmly flebated. One party argued that 
 the war ought not to be extended from governments 
 to sulijects ; that it M-as fitting tlie latter should be 
 allowed peaceably to continue their relations and in- 
 terchanges, and armies only be attacked; that the 
 French had confiscated but twenty - five millions, 
 whereas they had lost by seizures in foreign countries 
 at least one hundred millions ; that policy dictated 
 tlie restitution of the twenty -five in order to recover 
 the one hundred millions ; that the sequestration was 
 ruinous to the French bankers, inasmuch as the}' were 
 obliged to deposit in the public treasury the sums they 
 owed to aliens, whilst they were debarred from re- 
 ceiving what aliens were indebted to them, as the 
 foreign governments api)ropriated all such balances 
 by way of reprisal ; th \t this measure, thus prolonged, 
 rendered commercial ii ^ercourse with France distaste- 
 ful and suspicious evei to neutrals ; and that, lastly, 
 the circulation of bills having ceased, it was found 
 necessary to pay for a cor?siderable portion of the pro- 
 duce imported from adjacent countries in specie. The 
 other party replied that, since a distinction was taken 
 between subjects and governments in time of warfare, 
 the rule must be applied to balls and bullets as well 
 as commerce, and those missiles be directed at the 
 heads of kings alone, not at those of their soldiers ; 
 that the Knghsh trading vessels taken by French pri- 
 vateers ought to be restored, upon the same principle, 
 and only ships of war retained ; that if the twenty- 
 five millions sequestrated were reimbursed, the ex- 
 ample would not be imitated by the hostile govern- 
 ments, and the one hundred millions belonging to 
 Frenchmen be still withheld ; and, finally, that to re- 
 establisli the circulation of bills of exchange would 
 merely serve to ])rovide the emigrants with a medium 
 for drawing funds out of France. 
 
 The convention slinmk from deciding the point, 
 and simply resolved that the secpiestration should he 
 raised so far as regarded the Belgians, whom conquest 
 had in a certain sense placed at peace with France, 
 and the merchants of Hamburg, who were guiltless of 
 the war declared by the empire, and whose crctlits 
 represented grain furnished to France. 
 
 To all these retrieving measures adopted in behalf 
 of agriculture and commerce, the convention super- 
 2H
 
 470 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 added others calculated to revive confidence and re- 
 instate the trading community in its wonted activit^^ 
 A former decree placed beyond the pale of the law all 
 who should elude a sentence, or evade the provisions 
 of an enactment; it was abolished, and those con- 
 demned by revolutionary conunissions, or included in 
 the lists of suspected, who had concealed themselves, 
 were formally authorised to re-enter tlieir abodes in 
 safety. The suspected still imder detention were 
 allowed the right of administering their property. 
 Lyons was declared to be no longer in a state of re- 
 bellion ; its name was restored ; the demolitions ceased ; 
 the goods stopped by the surrounding communes were 
 given up to it ; its merchants no longer needed certi- 
 ficates of civism to receive or transmit merchandise, 
 and the benefits of trade recommenced for that unfor- 
 tunate city. Tlie members of the popular commission 
 of Bordeaux and their adherents, that is to say, nearly 
 all the Bordeaux merchants, were under the ban of 
 outlawry ; the decree fulminated against them was 
 cancelled. An invidious column had been ordered for 
 erection at Caen, in execration of federalism ; the order 
 was countermanded, and a resolution passed that no 
 such column should be reared. Sedan was pronounced 
 free to manulacture all descriptions of cloth. The 
 departments of the North, the Pays de Calais, the 
 Aisne, and the Somme, were relieved from the land- 
 tax for four years, on condition they resumed the cul- 
 tivation of flax and hemp. Lastly, a commiserating 
 glance was cast at the ill-fated La Vendee. The re- 
 presentatives Hentz and Francastel, General Turreau, 
 and several others, who had executed the ruthless 
 decrees promulgated under the reign of terror, were 
 recalled. It was alleged, naturally enough, that they 
 were accomplices of Robespierre and the committee 
 of public welfare, who had purposed, bj- the employ- 
 ment of cruelty, to render the war of La Vendee per- 
 petual. Why the committee should have harboured 
 such an intention, was not stated ; but parties are not 
 scrupulous in branding adversaries. Vimeux was ap- 
 pointed to command in La Vendee, young Hoche in 
 Brittany ; and into both districts new representatives 
 were dispatched, with commissions to examine whether 
 any probability existed that an amnesty would be 
 accepted, and thereby a pacification happily accom- 
 plished. 
 
 It now becomes obvious how rapid and general was 
 the reaction towards other ideas. And whilst alle- 
 viating all manner of woes, reintegrating all classes 
 of proscribed, it was natural that the sympathy of the 
 convention should be likewise awakened on behalf of 
 its own members. For more than a year, seventy-three 
 deputies had languished in detention at Port Libre, 
 for having signed a protest against the outrage of the 
 31st May. They had written a letter demanding a 
 trial. All that yet remained of the riglit side, and a 
 portion of the section stigmatised as the Belly, started 
 from their long slumber on a question which involved 
 the freedom and security of debate, and strenuously 
 advocated the reinstalment of their colleagues. Then 
 ensued one of those stormy antl interminable discus- 
 sions which invariably arose when the past came un- 
 der review. " You would then condemn the thirty- 
 first of May ! " the Mountaineers exclaimed ; " 3'ou 
 would anathematise a day which up to this hour you 
 have asserted glorious and salutary ; you would resus- 
 citate a faction which, by its baneful opposition, pvlmost 
 ruined the republic ; you would reorganise federtil- 
 isra ! " The Thermidorians, themselves the authors 
 or approvers of the 31st ^lay, were embarrassed ; and, 
 in order to delay the decision, the convention ordered 
 a report on the suspended deputies. 
 
 It is in tlie nature of reactions not only to seek 
 redress for ills inflicted, but also to exact vengeance. 
 At this time the convention was besieged with exhor- 
 tations to hasten the trial of Lebon and Fouquier- 
 Tinville. We are aware that proceedings against 
 Billaud. CoUot, Barrere, Vadier, Amar, Voulandi, and 
 
 David, members of the old committees, had been pre- 
 viously and repeatedly urged. Circumstances daily led 
 to further propositions of the like nature. The drown- 
 ings at Nantes, atrocities long unknown, had at length 
 been revealed. One hundred and thirty-three Nantese, 
 transferred to Paris for trial before the revolutionary 
 tribunal, had not arrived until after the 9th Thermi- 
 dor. They had been acquitted, and heard with favour 
 wliilst recounting the calamities visited on their city. 
 The public indignation Avas so vividly excited, that it 
 had been found expedient to summon the members of 
 the revolutionary committee of Nantes to Paris. Tlie 
 evidence adduced on their trial furnished a melancholy 
 picture of the enormities usual in civil strife. At 
 Paris and elsewhere, remote from the theatre of war- 
 fare, no conception was formed of the excess to whi(!h 
 ferocity had been carried. The accsused could allege 
 but two facts in their exculpation, and they pleaded 
 them to all the charges — La Vendee raging around 
 them, and the orders of the representative Carrier. 
 As the proceedings drew towards a close, they in- 
 veighed more bitterly against Carrier, and demanded 
 that he be made to partake their fate, and to answer 
 in his own person for the acts he had enjoined. The 
 entire population was aroused, and clamoured for the 
 arrest of Carrier, and for his arraignment before the 
 revolutionary tribvmal. It became necessary for the 
 convention to adopt some resolution upon the topic 
 thus agitating the public mind. The Mountaineers 
 were struck with dismal apprehensions ; they asked 
 whether, after having already immured Lebon and 
 David, and several times accused Billaud, Collot, and 
 Barrere, their adversaries intended to finish by calling 
 to accoimt all the deputies who had been engaged on 
 missions. To allaj' their fears, the expedient of a 
 decree was devised, for the purpose of placing under 
 the safeguard of strict formalities prosecutions against 
 members of the national representation. The intro- 
 duction of this decree gave rise to lengthened debates, 
 characterised by great asperity on both sides. The 
 Mountaineers desired, with the view of averting a 
 fresh proscription, to render the formalities slow and 
 complicated. Those they called " the reactors," on 
 the contrary, desired to simplify them, in order to 
 ensure more promptly and certainly the chastisement 
 of those obnoxious deputies classed under the title of 
 " proconsuls." Eventually tlie measure was so framed 
 that all denunciations were to be referred to the three 
 committees of public welfare, general safety, and legis- 
 lation, who should decide whether there were grounds 
 for investigation ; that, in case of an afiirmative deci- 
 sion, a committee of twenty-one members should be 
 chosen by ballot to draw up a report ; and that, with 
 such report and the vindication of the inculpated 
 deputy before it, the convention should determine in 
 the last resort whether there were grounds for im- 
 peachment, and, in the unfavourable alternative, send 
 the deputy before the competent tribunal. 
 
 So soon as the decree was passed, the three com- 
 mittees declared there were grounds for investigation 
 against Carrier. A committee of twenty-one mem- 
 bers was thereupon impanelled, to which all the docu- 
 ments in the pending trial wei"e referred : it summoned 
 Carrier to give appearance before it, and forthwith 
 entered upon the examination. After the circimi- 
 stances that had transpired at the revolutionary tri- 
 bunal, and the notoriety of his revolting acts, the fate 
 of Carrier could not be doubtful. The Mountaineers, 
 albeit reprobating the crimes of Carrier, professed to 
 believe that, if he were prosecuted, it was not 30 much 
 to punish his transgressions, as to i)repare the way 
 for a long series of avenging sacrifices against the 
 men whose energy had saved France. Their oppo- 
 nents, on the other hand, comparing the urgent de- 
 mands, pressed by the members of the revolutionary 
 committee on trial, for the arraignment of Carrier, with 
 the singidar tardiness of the committee of twenty-one, 
 concluded there was a project formed for sparing
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 471 
 
 him. The committee of general safety, fearing that 
 he might take fliglit, surrounded liini witli police 
 agents, who kept constant vigils on his movements. 
 Carrier does not seem, however, to have meditated 
 flight. Certain ultra-revolutionists had secretly urged 
 him to escape ; hut their exhortations were lost on 
 him — he appeared overwhelmed and paralysed hy tlie 
 public abhorrence. One day, perceiving he was fol- 
 lowed, he turned upon one of the agents, asked fm-i- 
 ously why he was dogging him, and, sliowing a pistol, 
 threatened to blow out his brains. A crq^d collected, 
 and symptoms of a commotion were manifested; the 
 armed force hastened to the spot, seized Carrier, 
 and conducted him to his dwelling. This occurrence 
 gave rise to considerable excitement in the assembly, 
 and to vehement outcries in the Jacobin Club. It was 
 maintained that the national representation had been 
 outraged in the person of Carrier, and explanations 
 were demanded from tlie conmiittee of general safety. 
 The committee frankly avowed its share in the mat- 
 ter; and, though subjected to severe animadversion, 
 it gained the credit of being determined to prevent 
 Carrier's escape. At length, the conmiittee of twent}'- 
 one made its report, concluding for impeachment be- 
 fore the revolutionary tribunal. Carrier essayed de- 
 spondingly to defend himself; he traced all his cruelties 
 to the exasperation provoked by the civil war, to the 
 necessity of terrifying La Vendee, stillin a menacing 
 condition, and to the impulse imparted from the com- 
 mittee of public welfare, on which he dared not di- 
 rectly charge the drownings, but to which he explicitly 
 imputed that inspiration to ferocious energy which 
 had hurried into extravagance divers commissioners 
 of the convention. Here, as had often previously hap- 
 pened, dangerous questions were revived ; the more 
 hazardous, that the share of each in the violences of 
 the revolution must become, when brought under dis- 
 cussion, the fertile theme of recrimination. The com- 
 missioners might attribute to the committees, the 
 committees to the convention, the convention to aU 
 France, that inspiration which had led to such fright- 
 ful and to such great results, which was common to 
 the whole country, and which above all sprung from 
 a situation without example. " Every one," exclaimed 
 Carrier, in a moment of despair — '• every one is guilty 
 here, even to the president's bell !" Nevertheless, tlie 
 narrative of the abominations perpetrated at Nantes 
 liad aroused so deep a feeling of indignation, that not 
 a single member ventured to vindicate Carrier, or at- 
 tempted to shield him even upon general considera- 
 tions. He was decreed under impeachment by an 
 unanimous vote, and consigned to tlie revolutionary 
 tribunal. 
 
 The reaction was thus proved to be making rapid 
 strides. The blow, which the convention had here- 
 tofore shrunk from aiming at the members of the old 
 committees of government, was now levelled at Carrier. 
 AU the deputies who had filled missions, all the indi- 
 viduals who had officiated on revolutionary commit- 
 tees — all those, in short, who had exercised rigorous 
 powers — began to tremble for their safety. 
 
 The Jacobins, already struck at by a decree which 
 interdicted them from maintaining affiliations and 
 correspondence in a collective capacity, had need of 
 prudence; but, since the late measures of tlie assem- 
 bly, so contrary to their views and doctrines, it was 
 scarcely to be anticipated tliey would subside into 
 acquiescence, and thus avert a ruj)tnrc with the con- 
 vention and the Thermidorians. Tlie resolution taken 
 with regard to Carrier, in fact, evoked all their latent 
 animosity, and led to a violent outburst in their club. 
 Crassous, a deputy and Jacobin, described it as one of 
 the means employed by aristocracy to ruin the patriots. 
 " The trial now proceeding before the revolutioniiry 
 tribunal," he said, " is the chief reliance of aristocracy, 
 and that on which it grounds its hopes. The accused 
 are scarcely allowed tlie privilege of being heard be- 
 fore the tribunal ; nearly all the M-itnesses are men 
 
 interested in making a great uproar about this affair — 
 some of them have passports signed by Chouans ; the 
 journalists and pamphleteers have conspired to ex- 
 aggerate the most trifling facts, bewilder public opi- 
 nion, and keep out of view the cruel circumstances 
 which produced and which explain the calamities tliat 
 occurred, not only at Nantes but throughout France. 
 Unless the convention be on its guard, it will find it- 
 self disgraced by these aristocrats, who make so much 
 noise about this trial only to throw upon it all tlie 
 odium. It is not the Jacobins who are to be accused 
 of seeking to dissolve the convention, but these men, 
 confederated to compromise and degrade it in the eyes 
 of France. Let aU good patriots, therefore, be vigi- 
 lant ; the attack upon them is commenced ; let them 
 hold togetlier and be prepared to defend themselves 
 with energy." 
 
 Several Jacobins spoke after Crassous, and ha- 
 rangued in the same strain. " The reactors descant," 
 they said, " on drownings and shootings ; but they 
 omit to mention that the individuals whom they pro- 
 fess to commiserate had furnished aid to the brigands ; 
 they forget the cruelties inflicted on our volunteers, 
 who were hanged on trees and sliot in files. If the 
 brigands are to have vengeance, let the families of two 
 hundred thousand republicans, mercilessly massacred, 
 also come forward and demand vengeance." The 
 minds of the assembled Jacobins became furiously 
 excited ; the meeting was converted into a raging 
 tumult. At length, Billaud-Varennes, whose long si- 
 lence had been a subject of reproach, appeared in the 
 tribune. " The tactics of the counter-revolutionists 
 are well known," he said : " when they endeavoured, 
 under the Constituent Assembly, to assail the revo- 
 lution, they called the Jacobins disorganisers, and mas- 
 sacred them on the Champ de l^.Iars. After the 2d 
 September, when they strove to prevent the establish- 
 ment of the republic, they called them drinkers of 
 blood, and loaded them with atrocious calimmies. 
 Now they are recommencing the same machinations . 
 but let them not delude themselves with hopes oi' 
 triumph ; the patriots have thought fit to observe 
 silence for a moment, but the lion is not dead when 
 he sleeps, and on his awakening he annihilates all his 
 enemies. The trenches are opened, and the patriots 
 are about to shake off their slumber and resume all 
 their energy. We have already a thousand times ex- 
 posed our lives ; if the scaffold still await us, let us 
 remember that it is the scaffold which secured the 
 glory of the immortal Sidney !" 
 
 Tliese Avords electrified the assemblage. The Jaco- 
 bins gathered around Billaud-Varennes, and raptu- 
 rously applauded him; they pledged themselves to 
 make common cause with all the tlireatened patriots, 
 and to combat in their defence whilst life held. 
 
 In the present position of parties, this scene neces- 
 sarily attracted attention. Tlie spcecli of Billaud- 
 Varennes, who had hitherto abstained from occupying 
 either of tlie two tribunes, was a veritable declaration 
 of war. The Thermidorians, at all events, so construed 
 it. On the following day, BentaboUe produced the 
 journal of tlie Mountain, which contamed an account 
 of the meeting at the Jacobin Club, and denoimced 
 that expression of Billaud-Varennes — " The lion is not 
 dead ichen he sleeps, and mi his airakeniiKj he annihi- 
 lates all his enemies." Scarcely had Bentabollc time 
 to repeat this phrase, ere the Mountaineers arose in 
 a body, assailed him with abusive epitliets, and ex- 
 claimed that he too was one of those who liad liberated 
 aristocrats. Duhem, in jiarticular, pronounced him 
 a villain. Tallien veliemently insisted ujwn Ik-nta- 
 boUe's right to be heard, that deputy, scared at the 
 tumult, being about to leave the tribune. He was 
 induced to remain, however, and proceeded to demand 
 an exjilanation from Billaud-Varennes as to the words 
 '■^ on the awakeniny of the lion.'' Bilhuid I'ose to reply 
 in his place. " To the tribune !" was shouted from all 
 sides. He resisted ; but was finally obhged to mount
 
 472 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the rostrum, and speak from that conspicuous station. 
 " I do not disavow," he said, " the opinion I uttered 
 at the Jacobin Club. So long as I deemed personal 
 quarrels the only matters at issue, I remained silent • 
 but I could no longer be silent when I saw aristocracy 
 arising more formidably than ever." At these words 
 a laugh broke forth in one of the galleries, and a 
 noise in another. " Turn out the Chouans !" vocife- 
 rated the Mountaineers. Billaud continued, amidst 
 antagonist cheers and miu-murs. He affirmed, in an 
 embarrassed tone, that known royalists had been libe- 
 rated and the purest patriots immured; in corrobo- 
 ration, he cited the instance of JMadame de Tourzel, 
 the governess of the children of France, " who had 
 recently been set at large, and wlio might of herself 
 form a nucleus of contra-revolution." Aluch laughter 
 was elicited by this remark. He added, that the 
 secret conduct of the committees belied the pulilic 
 language of the convention in its addresses ; and that 
 in such a state of things he was justified in speaking 
 of " an awakening" as necessary to patriots, for it is 
 the slumber of men on their rights that leads them to 
 slavery. 
 
 Partial applause from the Mountain accompanied 
 Billaud as he descended the steps of the tribune, but 
 the great body of the audience and the assembly in- 
 dulged in obstreperous laughter, or evinced that in- 
 sulting pity engendered at the sight of fallen tyranny, 
 struggling dismally and vainly to plead its justifica- 
 tion. Tallieu hastened to succeed Billaud, and retort 
 his reproaches. " It is time," he said, " to answer the 
 men who are striving to incite the people against the 
 convention." " No person is doing so," cried sundry 
 voices in the liaU. " Yes, yes !" responded others ; 
 " men are striving to incite the people against the 
 convention !" " They are those men who tremble for 
 themselves," continued Tallien, "on beholding the 
 sword of justice suspended over guilty heads, light 
 piercing into all parts of the administration, and the 
 vengeance of the law ready to fall upon assassins ; 
 they are the men now agitating, who pretend that 
 the people ought to awaken, who seek to mislead 
 patriots by assuring them that they are all compro- 
 mised, and who fondly hope, in short, imder favour of 
 a general commotion, to prevent the prosecution of 
 Carrier's accomplices and upholders." Universal 
 plaudits interrupted Tallien. Billaud, who repudiated 
 any connivance with Carrier, exclaimed fi'om his seat, 
 " I assert that I have not upheld the conduct of Car- 
 rier." No attention was given to this disclaimer of 
 Billaud. The cheering continued, and it was not for 
 some moments Tallien could resume. " It is impos- 
 sible," he subjoined, " that two rival authorities can 
 be longer suffered to exist — that members who are 
 silent here should be permitted to denounce elsewhere 
 what you have done." "No, no!" echoed several 
 voices ; " no rival authorities to the convention !" " It 
 must not be," pursued Tallien, " that men go, I care 
 not where, to throw ignominy upon the convention, 
 and on such of its members as it has intrusted with 
 the government. I will not submit any resolution at 
 this moment," he added. " It is sufficient that this 
 tribune has replied to what has been said in another ; 
 it is sufficient that the unanimity of the convention 
 against the men of blood is strikingly manifested." 
 
 Renewed acclamations proved to Tallien that the 
 assembly was in a mood to sanction whatever might 
 be proposed against the Jacobins. Bourdon [de-l'Oise] 
 supported the views of the preceding speaker, although 
 on several questions he differed from his friends the 
 Thermidorians. Legendre, also, made his sonorous 
 voice be he;u-d. " Who are those," he asked, " who 
 censure our operations? It is a handful of men of 
 prey. Look them in the face : you will see on their 
 visage a varnish comjjounded of the gall of tyrants." 
 This expression, which was levelled at the sombre and 
 livid countenance of Billaud- Varennes, elicited great 
 applause. " Of what do you complain," Legendre 
 
 continued — " you who so unceasingly accuse us ? Is it 
 because citizens are no longer incarcerated by hun- 
 dreds? Is it because fifty, sixty, eighty persons are 
 no longer guillotined each revolving day? Ah! I 
 confess, in that our gratification is different from 
 yours, and our manner of emptying the prisons is not 
 the same. We have visited them ; Ave have drawn, as 
 well as we were able, the distinction between aristo- 
 crats and patriots : if we liave been deceived, our heads 
 are here to answer for the error. But whilst we re- 
 dress wrongs — whilst we seek to make you forget that 
 those wrongs are yours — why repair to a famous club, 
 to denounce us and mislead the people, fortunately 
 few in number, who frequent it ?" In conclusion, Le- 
 gendre added, " I move that the convention take mea- 
 sures to prevent its members attending and preaching 
 revolt at the Jacobin Club." The convention adopted 
 the proposition of Legendre, and instructed the com- 
 mittees to devise and propound those measures. 
 
 The convention and the Jacobins were thus in hos- 
 tile array, and under circumstances where, Avords being 
 exhausted, the final appeal must be to coercion. That 
 the convention was well disposed to abrogate that 
 celebrated club, could not be doubted ; it only remained 
 for the committees to muster corn-age formally to sub- 
 mit the proposition. The Jacobins felt their preca- 
 rious tenure, and complained in all their sessions of the 
 manifest intention to dissolve them : they compared 
 the existing government to Leopold, Brunswick, and 
 Cobourg, who had also demanded their dissolution. 
 Moreover, a phrase dropped in the tribune had fur- 
 nished them with a fertile text whereon to descant, in 
 proof that they Avere calumniated and menaced. It had 
 been unguardedly stated, that in certain intercepted 
 letters evidence was discovered that the committee of 
 emigrants in Switzerland coincided with the Jaco- 
 bins of Paris. K it Avere merely intended by this state- 
 ment that the emigrants vicAved with satisfaction'any 
 excitement or agitation calculated to embarrass the 
 government, notliing could be more true. A letter 
 seized on an emigrant Avas found, in fact, to maintain 
 that the hope of subduing the revolution by arms Avas 
 pure folly, and that its annihilation was to be sought 
 through its own disorders. But if, on the contrary, it 
 Avere meant to be inferred that the Jacobins and emi- 
 grants corresponded and concerted together in order 
 to attain an identical object, the charge A\as equally 
 preposterous and ludicrous ; and nothing could be 
 more agreeable to the Jacobins than to be criminated 
 and assailed after such a fashion. Accordingly, we 
 find that for several days they ceased not to proclaim 
 themselves injured and calumniated men ; and Duhem 
 insisted, at repeated intervals, that these pretended 
 letters should be produced and read in the tribune of 
 the assembly. 
 
 MeauAvhile an extraordinary ferment prevailed in 
 Paris. Large croAvds, issuing on the one hand from 
 the Palais-Royal, and composed of the young men Avith 
 braided hair and black collars, and on the other from 
 the Faiibourg Saint-Antoine, the streets Saint-Denis 
 and Saint-]\Iartin — from aU the quarters, in short, 
 commanded by the Jacobins— encountered on the Car- 
 rousel, in the garden of the Tuileries, and on the Place 
 de la Revolution. The first raised shouts of " The 
 convention for ever ! DoAvn with the terrorists and 
 the tail of Robespierre!" The second retorted Avith 
 cries of " The convention for ever ! The Jacobins for 
 ever ! DoAvn Avith the aristocrats !" They had also 
 distinct songs. The " gilded youtli " had adopted an 
 air which Avas called Le Reveil dii Peuple ; the parti- 
 sans of the Jacobins struck up that old air of the revo- 
 lution, immortalised by so many victories — " AUons ! 
 enfans de la patrie !" When these hostile crowds came 
 in contact, they roared their respective airs, chorus 
 against chorus ; then they yelled forth their several 
 rallying Avhoops, and charged Avith A^olleys of stones 
 and flourishes of bludgeons ; blood soon flowed, and on 
 both sides prisoners were made and taken to the com-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 473 
 
 mittee of general safety. The Jacobins asserted that 
 this committee, entirely comjTOsed of Thermidorians, 
 released the yomig men thus delivered into its hands, 
 and detained only the patriots. 
 
 These scenes recurred several days consecutively, 
 and ultimately became sufficiently alarming to induce 
 the committees of government to take measures of 
 precaution, and to double the guards at all the posts. 
 On the 19th Brumaire (9th November), the assem- 
 blages were more multifarious and considerable than 
 on any preceding occasion. One crowd, pouring out 
 of the Palais-Royal and advancing along the Rue 
 Saint-Honore, stopped before the hall of the Jacobins 
 and surrounded it. The multitude swelling every 
 moment, all the avenues were obstructed ; and the 
 Jacobins, who chanced to be in session at the time, 
 had reason to believe themselves besieged. Some 
 groups, favourable to them, gave utterance to the ac- 
 customed shouts — " The convention for ever ! The 
 Jacobins for ever !" which provoked the adverse cries ; 
 a conflict ensued, and, as the youths were the strongest, 
 they speedily succeeded in putting the hostile groups 
 to flight. They then completely encompassed the 
 hall of the club, and broke the windows with showers 
 of stones. Large fragments of flint fell amidst the 
 congregated Jacobins. They, incensed and furious, 
 exclaimed they were about to be murdered ; and, on 
 the ground that members of the convention were in 
 the meeting, they afiirmed that it was intended to 
 assassinate the national representation. The women 
 who filled their galleries, known under the cognomen 
 of " furies of the guillotine," endeavoured to leave the 
 hall in order to escape the danger ; but the young men 
 outside, seizing upon those who sought to fly, sub- 
 jected them to the grossest indecencies, and even 
 cruelly maltreated many of them. Several retreated 
 into the hall, their dresses in shreds, their hair dishe- 
 velled, echoing shrieks of " murder !" Still the stones 
 continued to shower into the assembly. The Jacobins 
 then resolved to make saUies and charge the assailants. 
 The energetic Duhem, armed with a club, headed one 
 of these sorties, and a frightful encounter in the Street 
 Saint-Honore resulted. If the weapons of the two 
 ]iarties had been deadly, a prodigious massacre must 
 l\ave attended the collision. The Jacobins re-entered, 
 ■,'irrying with them sundry prisoners. The young 
 :uen, remaining without, threatened, if their comrades 
 were not released, to storm the haU and wreak upon 
 their adversaries remorseless vengeance. 
 
 This commotion had continued several hours before 
 the governing committees assembled or could issue 
 orders. Emissaries, on the part of the Jacobins, had 
 appeared before the committee of general safety, to 
 announce that the deputies sitting in the society were 
 exposed to assassination. The four committees of 
 public welfare, general safety, legislation, and war, 
 consulted jointly, and determined to dispatch patrols 
 forthwith to rescue their colleagues engaged in this 
 scandalous rather than sanguinary scene. 
 
 The patrols departed, accomi)anied by a member 
 of each committee, towards the place of combat. The 
 members of the committees restrained tlie gensdarmes 
 from attacking the assailants, contrary to tlie insti- 
 llations of the Jacobins ; they likewise refused to enter 
 the hall, although strongly urged by their colleagues 
 present at the meeting. They remained without the 
 building, exhorting the young men to disperse, and 
 promising to secure the freedom of their comrades. 
 Eventually, they succeeded in gradually dissipating 
 the assemblage, and afterwards caused the hidl of the 
 Jacobins to be evacuated, dismissing every one to his 
 abode. 
 
 Tranquillity being re-established, they returned to 
 tlieir colleagues, and the four conmiittees passed the 
 night in discussions upon the course to be adopted. 
 Some argued in favour of suspending the Jacobin 
 Club, others dissented. Thuriot especially, albeit a 
 strenuous opponent of Robespierre on the 9th Ther- 
 
 midor, began to be alarmed at the sweeping rapidity 
 of the revulsion, and betokened a leaning towards the 
 Jacobins. The committees separated without arriv- 
 ing at any conclusion. 
 
 On the following morning, 20th Brumaire, the con- 
 vention met under the excitement of the night's occur- 
 rence. Duhem was foremost, as may be imagined, 
 to maintain that a conspiracy had been laid to exter- 
 minate tlie patriots, and that the committee of general 
 safety had failed in its duty. The galleries, taking 
 part "in the discussion, made a terrific noise, mani- 
 festing on one side approval, on the other denial, of 
 the facts alleged. The disturbers were ordered to be 
 removed, and immediately afterwards a number of 
 members demanded simultaneously to be heard — Bour- 
 don [de-l'Oise], Rewbel, and Clausel, to defend the 
 committee ; Duhem, Duroy, and Bentabolle, to censure 
 it. Each spoke in his turn, and represented the cir- 
 cumstances according to his peculiar view, interrupted 
 at intervals by the contradictions of those who had 
 viewed them in a different light. Some had chanced 
 merely to perceive crowds in which patriots were 
 maltreated; others had happened only to encounter 
 groups in which the youths were ill-used, and the 
 convention and the committees denounced. Duhem, 
 who could with difiiculty restrain his violent temper 
 in discussions of this nature, exclaimed that the attack 
 had been planned by the aristocrats M'ho dined with 
 La Cabarus and pursued the chase at Raincy. He 
 was ordered out of the tribune, and debarred from 
 addressing the assembly. From amidst this chaos of 
 conflicting assertions, it remained obvious that the 
 committees, notwithstanding their alacrity in meeting 
 and summoning the armed force, had been \mable to 
 send it until late to the scene of commotion; that 
 when the patrols Avere at length directed to the Rue 
 Saint-Honore, they had not allowed them to extricate 
 the Jacobins by force, but contented themselves with 
 gradually dispersing the multitude ; that, in short, 
 they had exhibited a very natural forbearance towards 
 men who used as their motto, " The convention for 
 ever ! " and who were not accustomed perpetually to 
 vociferate that the government was delivered over to 
 counter-revolutionists. More, in fact, could scarcely 
 have been expected from them. To prevent assaults 
 on their enemies was distinctly their duty ; but it was 
 too much to insist that they shovdd charge sword in 
 hand their own friends, or in other words, young men 
 who daily mustered in numerous bands, ready to sup- 
 port them against the ultra-revolutionists. They de- 
 clared to the convention that they had consumed the 
 night in deliberation upon the question whether it were 
 fitting or not to suspend the Jacobin Club. They 
 Avere asked if they had passed a resolution, and on 
 their intimation that they had not yet settled the 
 point, the whole subject was remitted to their consi- 
 deration, with instructions to frame a report and sub- 
 mit it to the assembly. 
 
 The Jacobins not meeting this day (the 20th), it 
 elapsed in comparative quietude. But on the morrow 
 (the 21st), being one of the usual club days, crowds 
 congregated as before. On both sides, the parties 
 seemed prepared for a determined struggle, and it was 
 evident they would come into collision during the 
 evening. The four coimnittccs hastily assembled, 
 suspended by an ordinance the sittings of the Jaco- 
 bins, and directed that the key of the hall should be 
 innnediately brought to the office of the secretary to 
 the committee of general safety. 
 
 The order was executed, the hall closed, and the 
 key lodged in the secretary's office. This measure 
 prevented the tumult justly apprehended : the crowds 
 dispersed, and the night passed in perfect calmness. 
 ( )n the following day, Laignelot appeared in the name 
 of the four committees, to communicate to the con- 
 vention the resolution they had taken. " We never 
 entertained the idea of attacking popular societies," 
 he said ; " but we have the right to close the doors
 
 474 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of buildings wliere factions are reared and civil war 
 preached." The assembly showered upon him repeated 
 jilaudits. Tlie call of the roll was demanded, and the 
 resolution sanctioned ahiiost unanimously, amidst ac- 
 clamations and cries of " The republic for ever ! The 
 convention fur ever ! " 
 
 Thus finislied that society whose name has remained 
 so celebrated and so odious, and which, similar to all 
 the assemblies, to all the men Avho successively figured 
 on the scene, similar to tlie revolution itself, possessed 
 the merit, togetlier -with the vices, of extreme energy. 
 Occup3'ing a p(;sition inferior to tliu convention, and 
 open to all now aspirants, it was the arena whereon 
 +he young revolutionists, who had not yet distinguislied 
 themselves, and were impatient to emerge from ob- 
 scurity, made trial of their powers, and sought to 
 propel the slower movement of revolutionists alreadj' 
 seated in power. So long as the demand existed for 
 fresh champions, fresh, talents, fresh lives ready to 
 offer themselves for sacrifice, the society of the Jaco- 
 bins was useful, and furnished men of Avhom tlie re- 
 volution had need in its sanguinary and terrilile 
 struggles. When the revolution had readied its final 
 term, and began to retrograde, the ardent men who 
 had been formed amongst the Jacobins, and had sur- 
 A'ived tlie convulsion, were driven for sanctuary, as 
 it were, into the bosom of their club. Soon it became 
 obnoxious from its anxieties and ebullitions, dange- 
 rous from its very terrors. It was then sacrificed by 
 tlie men who were striving to heave back the revo- 
 lution from the extreme point it had reached, and to 
 substitute a medium system, witli reason, equity, and 
 liberty for its principles — men who, blinded l)y hope, 
 as are all who innovate, fondly believed they could 
 fix it in that desired medium. They had reason, 
 doubtless, in wishing to return to moderation, and 
 the Jacobins, too, had reason in warning them they 
 were advancing to counter-revolution. Eevolutions 
 sweeping like a pendulum violently agitated from one 
 extreme to anotlier, we may always surely prognosticate 
 they will have excesses ; but, fortunately, political so- 
 cieties, after oscillating fitfully in contrary directions, 
 conclude by settling into an equable and justly-poised 
 movement. But what an interval was yet to occur — 
 what calamities, wjiat bloodshed — before arriving at 
 that happy epoch ! Tlic English, also, the forerunners 
 in revolutions, had to pass through the ordeal of a 
 Cromwell and two Stuarts. 
 
 The dispersed Jacobins were not men to retire at 
 once into private life and renounce political agitation. 
 Part repaired to the Electoral Club, which, expelled 
 from the Eveche by the committees, had since mus- 
 tered in a room of tlie Museum ; others betook them- 
 selves to the Faubourg Saint- Antoine, to the popular 
 society of the section of the Quinze-Vingts, the resort 
 of the most prominent and decided men in that fau- 
 bourg. The Jacobins appeared there in a cluster, on 
 the 24th Brnmaire. saying — " Brave citizens of the 
 Faubourg Antoine, you who are the sole supporters of 
 tlie peojjle, you see before you unfortunate i)ersecuted 
 Jacobins. We ask to be received into your society. 
 We have said to each other, ' Let us go to the Faubourg 
 Antoine, we shall be there unassailable ; united, we 
 sliall strike surer blows to guarantee the people and 
 the convention from slavery!'" They were all ad- 
 mitted witliout scrui)le. They gave utterance to the 
 most inflammatory and dangerous doctrines, and seve- 
 ral times read that clause in the declaration of rights 
 which ran : " When the government violates the rights 
 of the people, insurrection becomes for the people the most 
 sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties." 
 
 The committees, having made trial of their power 
 and found themselves capable of acting decisively, did 
 not deem it necessary to pursue the Jacobins into their 
 asylums, but permitted them to indulge in idle vapour- 
 ings; prepared, at tiie same time, to interfere on the 
 first symptom of turbulence, if deeds should happen 
 to follow words. 
 
 The majority of the sections in Paris, emboldened 
 by the aspect of affliirs, altogether expelled from their 
 purlieus those known as terrorists, wlio retreated into 
 the quarters of the Temple and the Faubourgs Saint- 
 Antoine and Saint-Marceau. Thus freed from oppo- 
 sition, they adopted addresses of congratulation to the 
 convention on the energy it had just displayed against 
 tlie " accomplices of Robespierre." Similar addresses 
 emanated from nearly all the towns in France ; and 
 the convention, already committed to the hue of con- 
 duct recently exemplified, was hurried forward still 
 more rapidly. The seventy-three suspended deputies, 
 whose restoration had been previously advocated, now 
 became the objects of still more assiduous reclamations 
 from members of the centre and the right side, whose 
 zeal was kindled by tlie desire not only of vindicating 
 tlie freedom of debate, compromised in the persons of 
 tlieir colleagues, but also of securing the valuable rein- 
 forcement of seventy-three votes. They were at length 
 libei'ated and reinstated ; the convention, without 
 passing any judgment on the .^Ist May, declared that 
 it was possible to have thought differently from the 
 majority touching that event without tliereby incur- 
 ring guilt. They entered the assembly in a body, the 
 aged Dusaulx at their head. He spoke in behalf of 
 all on the occasion, and gave assurance that, in seating 
 themselves again by the side of their colleagues, they 
 buried all resentment, and would be actuated solely by 
 anxiety to promote the public weal. This boon granted, 
 it seemed as if concession were to become illimitablck 
 Louvet, Lanjuinais, Henri-Lariviere, Doulcel, Isnard, 
 all the Girondists escaped from proscrii)tion, and for 
 the most part concealed in caverns, wrote and claimed 
 to be reinstalled. A violent debate ensued upon this 
 subject. The Thermidorians, aroused to a sense of the 
 extraordinary progress of the reaction, resisted the 
 demand, and overawed the right side, which, deeming 
 itself in need of their further assistance, presumed not 
 to irritate them, and desisted from enforcing the point. 
 It was, however, decreed that the deputies under the 
 ban of outlawry should be no longer molested, but not 
 allowed to resume their functions as members of the 
 national representation. 
 
 The same spirit which led to the absolution of some, 
 instigated the condemnation of others. A venerable 
 deputy, named Kaflron, scaled the tribune, and obtested 
 that the time was come for punishing all who were 
 culpable, and for proving to France that the conven- 
 tion was not the confederate of assassins. He urged 
 that Lebon and David, both under arrest, should be 
 forthwith brought to trial. The enormities committed 
 in the south, and especially at Bedouin (Vancluse), 
 having been made known, a report and a decree oi 
 impeachment against Maignet were demandt d. Sun- 
 dry voices also claimed an immediate judgment upon 
 Fouquier-Tinville,* and a prosecution against the for- 
 
 * [Now that Foiiquior-Tinville disappears from t)ie scene, a 
 few particulars of tliat revolting character may not prove unac- 
 ceptable. We quote from the author of the Graphic HUtory oj 
 the French National Convention, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217. 
 
 " Fouquier-Tinville, a Picard by birth, bom in 1747. and pro- 
 cureur in the court of the Chatelet, exhibited one of tliose extra- 
 ordinary characters, in which thei'c is siieh a mixture of bad and 
 strange qualities as to be almost inconceivable. Gloomy, cruel, 
 atrabilious, the unsparing enemy of every species of merit or 
 virtue, jealous, artfiU, vindictive, ever ready to suspect, to ag- 
 gravate tlie already overwiielming dangers of innocence, he ap- 
 peared impervious to every feeling of compassion or equity : justice 
 in his estimation consisted in condemnation ; an acquittal caused 
 him the most severe mortification ; he was never happy but when 
 he had sent all tlie accused to the scaffold ; he prosecuted them 
 with an extreme achariicment, made it a point of honour to repel 
 their defences : if they were firm or calm in presence of the judges 
 of the tribunal, his rage knew no bounds. Kut with all this hatred 
 to what generally secures admiration and esteem, he showed him- 
 self alike insensible to the allurements of fortune and the endear- 
 ments of domestic life : he was a stranger to every species of re- 
 creation — women, the pleasures of the table, the theatres, had 
 for him no attractions. Sober in bis habits of life, if he ever be-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 475 
 
 iiier minister of war, Bouchotte, the same who had 
 delivered up the oflBces of that department to the Ja- 
 cobins. A simihir measure was advocated against 
 the ex-mayor Pache, who was alleged to have been 
 the accomplice of the Hebertists, and saved by the 
 influence of Robespierre. Amidst this torrent of ac- 
 cusation against revolutionary leaders, the three prin- 
 cipal chiefs, so long spared, were at length doomed to 
 fall. Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and Barrere, 
 .!ice more formally denounced by Legendre, could not 
 scape the common lot. The committees were con- 
 rrained to receive the denunciation and pronounce an 
 ipinion on its merits. Lecointre, declared a calum- 
 I'iator in his previous accusation, announced that he 
 had caused the documents to be printed which he had 
 formerly lacked, and they were accordingly referred 
 til the committees. Tliej', impelled by the current of 
 1 pinion, dared no longer resist, and speedily resolved 
 that there were grounds for investigation as against 
 Dillaud, Collot, and Barrere, but not in the case of 
 ■\"adier, Vouland, Amar, and David. 
 
 The trial of Carrier, tardily prosecuted in presence 
 uf a public AS'hich ill disguised the spirit of reaction 
 wherewith it was animated, finally closed on the 26th 
 Frimaire (16th December). Carrier and two mem- 
 bers of the revolutionary committee of Nantes, Pinel 
 and Grand-Maison, were condemned to undergo the 
 pains of death, as agents and accomplices of the sj^s- 
 tem of terror. The others were acquitted, as exone- 
 rated from their participation in the drownings b}' 
 obedience to their superiors. Carrier, still persisting 
 that the entire revolution — those who had caused, 
 suffered, or directed it — were equally culpable with 
 himself, was dragged to the scaffold : at the fatal 
 moment he evinced resignation, and received death 
 with calmness and courage. In proof of the imnatural 
 passions engendered by civil war, traits of character 
 were adduced of Carrier before his mission to Nantes, 
 which showed him to have possessed a temperament 
 the reverse of sanguinary. The revolutionists, even 
 whilst condemning his conduct, were dismayed at his 
 fate ; they could not dissemble from themselves that 
 his execution was the commencement of those ruth- 
 less reprisals the counter-revolution was preparing for 
 them. Besides the proceedings threatened against 
 representatives, members of the old committees, or 
 
 came intoxicated, it was with the commonest kind of wine. Tlie 
 orgies in which he participated had all a political view, as, for 
 example, to procm-e a. feu de file; on such occasions lie was the 
 first to bring together the judges and juries, and to provoke Bac- 
 clianalian orgies. What he required, above everj" thing, was human 
 blood. 
 
 A feu defile, in the Jacobin vocabulary, was the condemnation 
 to death of all the accused. When it took place, the countenance 
 of Fouquier-Tinville became radiant ; no one could doubt that he 
 was completely happy ; and to attain such a result he spared no 
 pains. He was, to be sure, incessantly at work : he went into 
 no society, hardly ever showed himself at the clubs: it was not 
 there, he said, that his post lay. The only recreation which he 
 allowed himself was to go to the place of execution, to witness 
 the pangs of his victims : on such occasions his gratification was 
 extreme. 
 
 Fouquier-Tinville might have amassed a large fortune : he was, 
 on the contrary, poor, and his wife, it is said, actually died of 
 starvation. He lived without any comforts : his wliole furniture, 
 sold after his decease, only produced the sum of five liundred 
 francs. Ho was distinguished by tlie appearance of poverty and 
 a real contempt of money. No sixjcics of seduction could reach 
 him: he was a rook, a mass of steel, insensible to everything 
 which usually touches men — to beauty and riches ; lie became 
 animated only at tlie prospect of a murder whicli might be com- 
 mitted, and on such occasions he was almost handsome, so ra- 
 diant was the expression of his visage. 
 
 The friend of Robespierre, who fuUy appreciated his valuable 
 qualities, he was the depository of his inmost thoughts. The 
 dictator asked him one day what he could ofl'er liim most attrac- 
 tive, when supreme power was fully concentrated in his hands, 
 • Repose," replied Fouquier-Tinville, ' but not till it is proved 
 that not another head remains to fall : incessant labour till 
 tlien.'" 
 
 envoys on missions, recent enactments warned them 
 that vengeance was about to take a lower range, and 
 that inferiority of function would be no safeguard. A 
 decree made it imperative on all who had exercised 
 any powers whatsoever, or disbursed the public fimds, 
 to render an account of their transactions. Now, as 
 all the members of revolutionary committees had 
 formed treasuries Avith the proceeds of the taxes, with 
 the plate of churches, and with extraordinary revolu- 
 tionary imposts, in order to organise the first battalions 
 of volunteers, to subsidise revolutionary armies, to pay 
 for transports, to establish police, to meet miiltifarious 
 expenses of the like nature, it was obvious that every 
 individual functionary during the reign of terror, 
 however low his grade, would be liable to all the 
 hazards of retribution. 
 
 These well-founded apprehensions were aggravated 
 by divers alarming rumours. Peace was spoken of 
 with Holland, Prussia, Spain, the Empire, La A^'endee 
 even, and it was alleged that the conditions of such 
 pacification would be fatal to the revolutionary party. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE WAR ON THE RHINE. — CAP 
 
 TURE OF NI3IEGUEN BY THE FRENCH. CONQUEST OF 
 
 HOLLAND BY PICHEGRU. CAPTURE OF UTRECHT, 
 
 AMSTERDAM, AND THE PRINCIPAL TOW'NS. NEW 
 
 POLITICAL, ORGANISATION OF HOLLAND. VICTORIES 
 
 ON THE PYRENEES. CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 
 
 1794. NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. STATE OF LA 
 
 VENDEE AND BRITTANY. NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE 
 
 VENDEAN CHIEFS. 
 
 The French armies, consolidated on the left bank of 
 the Rhine, and with no formidable impediment to 
 obstruct their passage to the right shore, menaced 
 Holland and Germany. Was it prudent to move 
 them onwards, or ought they to be withdraw-n into 
 cantonments ? Such Avas the question to be solved. 
 
 Notwithstanding their triumphs and long sojom-n 
 in fertile and teeming Belgium, they were in the 
 utmost destitution. The country they occupied, over- 
 run for three years by innumerable legions, was en- 
 tirely exhausted. "With the evils of war were com- 
 bined those of the French administration, which had 
 introduced in its Avake assignats, requisitions, and the 
 maximum. Provisional municipalities, eight inter- 
 mediate authorities, and a central administration 
 estabUshed at Brussels, governed the country pending 
 its definitive fate. Eighty millions had been imposed 
 on the clergy, the abbeys, the nobles, and the corpo- 
 rations. The assignats had been put into forced cir- 
 culation, and the prices at Lille had served to deter- 
 mine the rates of the maxinumi throughout all Bel- 
 gium. Articles of food and commodities of essential 
 usefulness were subjected to requisition. These regu- 
 lations had fiiiled to obviate the scarcity. The traders 
 and farmers concealed all they possessed, and both 
 officer and soldier were exposed to the greatest priva- 
 tions. 
 
 Levied en masse the preceding year, accoutred on 
 the spur of the moment, and hastily transported to 
 Hondtschoote, Watignics, Landau, the army had since 
 received nothing from the government but powder 
 and projectiles. Long ago it had ceased to encamp 
 under tents ; it bivouacked under the foliage of trees, 
 despite the commencement of a winter already incle- 
 ment. Many soldiers, in defect of shoes, enveloped 
 their feet in wisps of straw, and covered their bodies 
 with mats in place of mantles. The officers, paid in 
 assignats, often found their appointments depreciated 
 to eight or ten actual francs per month ; those who 
 received supplies from their friends were seldom 
 allowed to appropriate tiiem, for every thing was 
 absorbed by the requisitions of the French adminis
 
 476 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tration. They were reduced to the condition of the 
 private soldier, marching on foot, carrying knapsacks 
 on their backs, feeding on the coarse ration-bread, and 
 trusting for existence to the precarious chances of 
 war. 
 
 The war administration seemed exhausted by the 
 extraordinary etforts it had made to levy and equip 
 twelve hundred thousand men. Nor was the new 
 organisation of the government, weak and disjointed, 
 calculated to impart to it the requisite vigour and 
 activity. Thus all conspired to counsel the with- 
 drawal of the army into winter quarters, and the 
 boon of permission for it to reap the recompense of 
 its victories and military virtues in the enjoyment of 
 repose and abundance. 
 
 At the same time, it was to be considered that the 
 army was already before the fortress of Ximeguen, 
 which, situated on the Wahl (such is the name of the 
 Rhine near its mouth), commanded both its banks, 
 and might serve the enemy as a means for debouching 
 in the following campaign on the left bank. It was, 
 therefore, important to occupy this place before win- 
 tering ; but the attack presented almost insuperable 
 difficulties. The English army, dra^vn up on the 
 right shore, counted at least 38,000 men ; a bridge of 
 boats furnished it with the means of communicating 
 with the town and throwing in supplies. Besides its 
 own fortifications, Nimeguen was defended by an 
 intrenched camp in advance, filled with troops. Con- 
 sequently, to render an investment complete, it woidd 
 have been necessary to detach a strong force over the 
 river, exposed to all the hazards of the passage and of 
 an engagement, and in case of defeat to almost certain 
 destruction, as retreat would have been impracticable. 
 The French, under these circumstances, could ope- 
 rate on the left bank alone, and were in the dilemma 
 of having no alternative but to attack the intrenched 
 camp, with very slender hopes of success. 
 
 The French generals, however, were determined to 
 attempt one of those sudden and bold attacks, which 
 had recently opened to them, in so short a time, the 
 strongholds of ]\Iaestricht and Venloo. The allied 
 generals, feeling the importance of Nimeguen, had 
 assembled at Arnheim to deliberate on the best mode 
 of defending it. They had arranged that an Austrian 
 corps, under the orders of General Werneck, should 
 pass into the English service, and form the left of the 
 Duke of York, for the defence of Holland. Whilst the 
 Duke of York, Avitli his English and Hanoverians, 
 remained on the riglit bank, before the bridge of 
 Nimeguen, and reinforced the defenders of the place, 
 General AVerneck was to execute, towards Wesel, 
 considerably above Nimeguen, a singular move- 
 ment, which experienced military men liave deemed 
 one of the most absurd imagined by the allies in 
 the course of their luckless campaigns. This corps, 
 profiting by an islet wliicli the Rliine forms towards 
 Buderich, was to pass on the left bank, and attempt 
 a point between the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse 
 and that of the North. Thus 20,000 men were to be 
 thrown, beyond a large river, between two victorious 
 armies of 80,000 to 100,000 men each, to see what 
 effect they would produce on the latter : they were to 
 be reinforced according to tiie event. We can con- 
 ceive that such a movement, effected by the united 
 armies of the coalition, might have become grand 
 and decisive ; but, essayed with a force of 20,000 
 men, it was a project essentially puerile, and pro- 
 bably disastrous, so far as the troops charged there- 
 with were concerned. 
 
 Nevertheless, trusting to save Nimeguen by these 
 means, the allies caused, on the one hand, the corps of 
 Werneck to advance, and on the other, the garrison of 
 Nimeguen to prosecute harassing sallies. The French 
 repelled these sorties, and, as at JMaestricht and Ven- 
 loo, opened the trenches at a proximity to the place 
 as yet unusual in war. A fortunate accident facili- 
 tated their labours. The two extremities of the arc 
 
 they described around Nimeguen rested on the Wahl j 
 from these extremities they attempted to bombard 
 the bridge. Some of their projectiles alighted on the 
 pontoons, and jeopardised the communications of the 
 garrison with the English army. The English in the 
 fortress, surprised by this unexpected occurrence, 
 re-established the pontoons, and hastened to rejoin 
 the bulk of their army on the opposite sliore, aban- 
 doning to its own resources the garrison, composed of 
 3000 Dutchmen. "When the republicans perceived 
 this evacuation, they redoubled their fire. Tlie go- 
 vernor, struck with dismay, sent to apprise the Prince 
 of Orange of his critical position, and obtained per- 
 mission to retire so soon as he judged the danger 
 sufficiently great. Scarcely had he received this 
 authority, ere he repassed the Wahl in his own per- 
 son. The garrison was thro\vn into the utmost dis- 
 order : one part grounded arms ; the residue, at- 
 tempting to escape on a floatmg bridge, were checked 
 by the French cutting the cables, and eventually 
 foundered on an island, where they were made pri- 
 soners. 
 
 On the 18th Brumaire (8th November), the French 
 entered Nimeguen, and found themselves undisputed 
 masters of that important station — an achievement 
 due to their temerity and the terror inspired by their 
 arms. Meanwhile, the Austrians, under the command 
 of Werneck, had endeavoured to debouch by AVesel ; 
 but the impetuous Vandamme, falling on them the 
 moment they set foot on the left bank of the Rhine, 
 had forced them to recross the stream, fortunate that 
 they had been thus stopped at the outset, for they 
 would liave surely incurred the risk of utter destruc- 
 tion had tliey advanced farther. 
 
 The time was now at length arrived for entering 
 into cantonments, since the French were in possession 
 of all the important points on the Rhine. Doubtless, 
 to conquer Holland, and thus secure the navigation of 
 the three great rivers, the Scheldt, the ileuse, and the 
 Rhine, deprive England of its most powerful maritime 
 alliance, menace Germany on its flanks, interrupt the 
 communications of the continental enemies of France 
 with the insular, or at least oblige them to make the 
 long circuit of Hamburg ; in short, open up the richest 
 coimtry in the world, and the most desirable for France 
 in its present commercial prostration, was an object, 
 with such inordinate advantages, apt to tempt the 
 ambition of the government and armies of France. 
 But how many considerations prompted them to avoid 
 hazarding an invasion of Holland — an enterprise al- 
 most impracticable at all times, but especially so in 
 the season usually marked by deluges of rain ! Planted 
 at the mouths of several rivers, HoUand is formed by 
 mere fragments of soil, accumulated between the 
 waters of such rivers and those of the ocean. Its 
 surface, every where depressed below the bed of the 
 waters, is incessantly menaced by the sea, the Rhine, 
 the Meuse, the Scheldt, and intersected, moreover, by 
 small detached branches of those rivers, and by a 
 multitude of artificial canals. These low lands, thus 
 perpetually threatened, are covered with gardens, 
 manufacturing towns, and dockyards. At every step 
 an army might adventure, it has to encounter either 
 large rivers, whose margins are lofty dykes planted 
 with cannon, or arms of rivers and canals, all defended 
 by the art of the engineer, or, finally, fortresses which 
 are the strongest in Europe. Those grand mancBuvres, 
 which often disconcert a methodical resistance by 
 rendering sieges unnecessar}-, are therefore impossible 
 upon a superficies intersected and defended by innu- 
 merable lines. Should an army succeed, however, in 
 surmounting so many obstacles, and advancing into 
 Holland, its inhabitants, by an act of heroism such as 
 signalised them on the invasion of Louis XIV., have 
 only to pierce their dykes, inundate the country, and 
 with it engulf the enemy sufficiently rash to penetrate 
 its confines. Their vessels remain to them ; and they 
 can, like the Athenians of old, fly with their moveable
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 477 
 
 wealth, and await better times ; or depart for India, 
 and found a new empire in the vast territories there 
 belonging to them. All the difficulties we have enu- 
 merated become still greater in the season of floods, 
 and a naval alliance, such as that of England, renders 
 them insurmountable. 
 
 It is true, that the spirit of independence which 
 animated the Dutch at this period, their hatred of the 
 stadtholderate, their aversion to England and Prussia, 
 the knowledge they possessed of their true interests, 
 the resentments still rankling for the violent suppres- 
 sion of the revolution in 178" — all gave assurance that 
 the French armies would be welcomed by the great 
 body of the people. It might be rationally concluded 
 that the Dutch would oppose the cutting of the dykes, 
 and the consequent ruin of the country, for a cause 
 they detested. But the army of the Prince of Orange 
 and that of the Duke of York still overawed them ; 
 and they united would amply suffice to prevent the 
 passage of the multitudinous lines to be carried before 
 their eyes. Upon the whole, therefore, if a surprise 
 were rashness in the time of Dumouriez, it was almost 
 madness at the end of 1794. 
 
 Nevertheless, the committee of public welfare, sti- 
 mulated by the Dutch refugees, seriously discussed 
 the expediency of pushing for a point beyond the 
 Wahl, Pichegru, in a plight deplorable as that of 
 his soldiers, who -were covered with itch and vermin, 
 had repaired to Brussels for relief from a cutaneous 
 disorder. Moreau and Regnier had succeeded him in 
 the command : both counselled repose and winter 
 quarters. The Dutch general Daendels, a refugee 
 and an intrepid soldier, earnestly recommended a pre- 
 liminary attack on the Isle of Bommel, with the con- 
 dition that, if it failed of success, the scheme should 
 be prosecuted no farther. The Meuse and the Wahl, 
 flowing parallel towards the sea, mingle their waters 
 for a moment considerably below Nimegiien, again 
 diverge asunder, and ultimately reunite at Woudri- 
 chem, a little above Gorcmn. The ground enclosed 
 between their two streams forms what is called the 
 Isle of Bommel. Notwithstanding the dissent of JMo- 
 reau and Kegnier, an attack was adventured on this 
 island, at three different points. It was unsuccessful, 
 and the plan forthwith abandoned, in good faith and 
 candour, especially on the part of Daendels, who 
 promptly acknowledged its impossibility the instant 
 it became apparent to his mind. 
 
 Thereupon, that is to say towards the middle of 
 Frimaire (commencement of December), the army 
 was allowed to take up winter quarters, whereof it 
 stood in such need ; and part of the cantonments were 
 established around Breda, so as to form a species of 
 blockade. This fortress and that of Grave had not 
 yet surrendered ; but, from the want of communica- 
 tions during all the period of winter, they were inevi- 
 tably doomed to fall. 
 
 In this state of repose the army confidently expected 
 to pass the season ; and assuredly it had achieved 
 enough to be proud of its glory and services. But a 
 hazard, partaking of the miraculous, opened for it a 
 new career, to close in yet more brilliant destinies. 
 The cold, already intense, soon increased to such a 
 point as to foster hopes that the great rivers might 
 be probably frozen. Pichegru quitted Brussels, with- 
 out waiting for his eflectual cure, eager to be on the 
 spot to take advantage of the season if it offered the 
 opportunity of fresh conquests. In effect, the winter 
 speedily became more severe, and gave tokens of 
 proving the most rigorous that had occurred during 
 the century. Already tlie ]\Ieuse and the Wald were 
 filled with floating masses of ice, and tlieir margins 
 congealed. On the 3d Nivose (2.3d December), the 
 Meuse was firmly frozen, so as to bear the weight of 
 cannon. General Walraoden, to whom the Duke of 
 York had devolved the conunand upon his own de- 
 parture for England, and whom he had thereb}' con- 
 demned to a series of humiliating disasters, found him- 
 
 self in a precarious position. The IMeuse being frozen 
 over, his front was exposed ; and the Wahl being filled 
 with ice, threatening to carry away tlie bridges, his 
 retreat was endangered. He speedily learned tliat the 
 bridge of Arnheim had been actually swept away, and 
 he thereupon hastened to transfer his baggage and 
 heavy cavalry to the rear, and in person directed a 
 retreat on Deventer, on the banks of the Yssel. Piche- 
 gru, profiting by the opportunity wliich fortune pre- 
 sented to him of surmounting obstacles usually in- 
 vincible, prepared to cross the Meuse on the ice. He 
 proposed to pass it on three points, and to seize on 
 the Isle of Bommel, whilst the division blockading 
 Breda should attack the lines encompassing that place. 
 
 The French soldiers, braving the hardest winter of 
 the century almost in a state of nudity, marching in 
 shoes whereof the upper leather was all that remained, 
 left their quarters with alacrity, and cheerfully re- 
 nounced the repose they had scarcely begun to enjoy. 
 On the 8th Nivose (28th December), in a cold of 
 seventeen degrees, they pressed forward on three 
 points — Creveca3ur, Empel, and Fort Saint- Andre — 
 traversed the ice with their artillery, surprised the 
 Dutch, nearly benumbed by the cold, and completely 
 routed them. Whilst they took possession of the Isle 
 of Bommel, the division besieging Breda attacked and 
 stormed the lines. The Dutch, assailed on all points, 
 retrograded in disorder, one part towards the head- 
 quarters of the Prince of Orange, who had always 
 continued at Gorcum, tlie residue to Thiel. Such 
 was the confusion of their retreat, that they even 
 omitted to take measures for defending the passage 
 of the Wahl, which was not entirely frozen over. 
 Pichegru, master of the Isle of Bommel, which he had 
 reached by passing the stream of the Meuse, now 
 crossed the Wahl at sundry points, but refrained from 
 adventuring beyond that river, as the ice was not 
 sufficiently strong to bear cannon. In this state of 
 aflairs, the fate of Holland hung on the contingency 
 of a thaw, whilst every thing annomiced the long 
 duration of the frost. The Prince of Orange with his 
 dispirited forces at Gorcum, and Walmoden with his 
 English in full retreat on Deventer, could offer but 
 a slender resistance to the progress of a formidable 
 victor, who was much superior to them in strength, 
 and had already succeeded in breaking the centre of 
 their line. 
 
 The political situation of Holland was not less 
 alarming than the military. The Dutch, full of joy- 
 ful anticipations as they viewed the approach of the 
 French, began to evince symptoms of disaffection. The 
 Orange party was too weak to keep the republicans in 
 check. Every where the enemies of the stadtholderate 
 upbraided the reigning power Avitli having abolished 
 tlie liberties of the country, imj)risoned or banished 
 the best and most enlightened patriots, and, above all, 
 sacrificed Holland to the English, by entangling her in 
 an alliance opposed to all her commercial and maritime 
 interests. They congregated secretly in revolutionary 
 committees, ready to rise on the first signal, super- 
 sede the authorities, and nominate others of more po- 
 pidar tendencies. The province of Friesland, whose 
 states were assembled at the time, ventured openly 
 to declare an intention of sejiaratiiig from the stadt 
 holder ; and the citizens of Amsterdam i)resentcd an 
 address to tlie authorities of the i)rovince, wherein 
 they announced their determination to oppose all pre- 
 parations for defence, and especially their fixed ])ur- 
 pose not to sufler the dykes to be breached. In this 
 tiireatening posture of affairs the stadtholder resolved 
 to negotiate, ami dispatched envoys to tiie head- 
 quarters of Piiliegni, in order to solicit a truce, and 
 ofler, as conditions of peace, neutralitj' and an indem- 
 nity for the expenses of the war. The French gene- 
 ral and tiie representatives refused to grant a truce ; 
 and as to the offers of peace, they undertook to refer, 
 them to the committee of public welfare. 
 Spain, likewise, menaced by Dugomniier, whom we
 
 478 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 left descending from the Pyrenees, and by Moncey, 
 vrho, master of Guipuscoa, was advancing on Pampe- 
 luna, had made propositions of peace. The represen- 
 tatives sent into La Vendee to ascertain whether a 
 paciiication were possible, had reported in the athr- 
 mative, and urged a decree of amnesty. However 
 guarded a government may be, negotiations of tliis 
 nature invariably transpire ; they transpire even under 
 absolute and permanent ministers ; how then could 
 they remain secret under committees partially re- 
 newed every month? It was publicly known that 
 Holland and Spain had submitted proposals ; it was 
 alleged, moreover, that Prussia, awakened from her 
 delusion, and recognising tlie error she had committed 
 in allying herself with the house of Austria, had inti- 
 mated a desire to treat ; and it was matter of notoriety, 
 as published in all the journals of Europe, that at the 
 diet of Ratisbon several states of the empire, wearied 
 of a war which but slightly interested them, had de- 
 manded the opening of negotiations. All tended, tliere- 
 fore, to inspire ideas of peace ; and as the violent prin- 
 ciples of revolutionary terrorism had formerly yielded 
 to sentiments of lenity, so in like manner did the pas- 
 sion for war now give way to an inclination for a 
 general reconcilement with Europe. The most trifling 
 circumstances, in tliis disposition of the public mind, 
 were made the foundations of ingenious conjecture. 
 The unfortunate children of Louis XVI., stiU surviv- 
 ing in the prison of the Temple, cut off from all their 
 relatives, and separated from each other, had experi- 
 enced some alleviation in their lot since the 9th Ther- 
 midor. The cordwainer Simon, the keeper of the 
 young prince, had perished as an accomplice of Robes- 
 pierre. In his place three guardians had been nomi- 
 nated, one of whom attended throughout each day, and 
 these treated the prince with more consideration and 
 humanity. Mighty consequences were held to be in- 
 volved in these changes at the Temple. The inquiry 
 instituted as to the means of withdrawing assignats 
 from circulation, also gave rise to sundry inferences. 
 The royalists, who already appeared avowedly, and 
 whose numbers were swelled In* the cohesion of those 
 waverers who always desert a party when it begins 
 to totter, propagated with maUcious industry the 
 rumour of approaching peace. No longer able to 
 taimt the republicans as before with the cry, " Your 
 armies will be beaten !" which had been repeated too 
 often Avithout success, and had become, in truth, too 
 ridiculous to avail any longer, they wheeled into an 
 entirely different strain, and addressed them in such 
 language as the following : — " You are to be stopped in 
 your course of victory ; peace is signed ; j'ou will not 
 get the Khine for a frontier; the conditions of the 
 peace will be the establishment of Louis XVII. on 
 the throne, the return of the emigrants, the abolition 
 of assignats, and tlie restitution of the national do- 
 mains." Such assertions, it may be well conceived, 
 were eminently adapted to exasperate the patriots. 
 Already alarmed at the proceedings threatened against 
 them, they were driven to absolute desjjair b}^ the con- 
 viction, that the objects for wliich they had struggled 
 so long and painfully were about to be sacrificed by 
 tlie government. " For what do you destine the 
 young Cajiet ?" they asked. 'MVhat is jour inten- 
 tion respefting the assignats? Have our anuies shed 
 so much blood only to be stopped in the midst of 
 their victories? Are they not to enjoy the satis- 
 faction of giving their country the barriers of the 
 Khine and the Alps ? Europe proposeil to dismember 
 France: the just retribution of victorious France upon 
 Europe is to conquer the provinces which comjilete 
 her surface. What is projected for La Vendee? Are 
 rebels to be pardoned when patriots are immolated ?" 
 " It were better," exclaimed a member of the Moun- 
 tain, in a transport of indignation, '• to be Charette 
 than a deputy in the convention !"\ 
 
 Such subjects of discord, added to those arising 
 from the domestic policy of the government, neces- 
 
 sarily caused a great and increasing ferment in the 
 public mind. The committee of public welfare, find- 
 ing itself pressed between the two parties, deemed it 
 incumbent to explain the views of the government. 
 On two different occasions, once through the medium 
 of Carnot, a second time through Merlin of Douay, it " 
 declared that the armies had received orders to pursue 
 their triumphs, and to heed no propositions of peace 
 until within the walls of the enemies' cai)itals. 
 
 The overtures of Holland, in fact, had seemed to it 
 somewhat too tardy, nor did it deem France bound to 
 listen to negotiations when on the very point of sub- 
 duing the country. ]Moreover, the overthrow of the 
 stadtholderate and the restoration of the republic in 
 Holland, appeared to it objects signally worthy the 
 ambition of the French republic. True, the Hutch 
 colonies, and even navy, would be exposed to the risk 
 of falling into the power of the English, who woidd 
 profess to seize them in the name of the stadtholder ; 
 liut immediate political considerations outweighed 
 those yet distant contingencies. France was irresis- 
 tibly impelled to subvert the stadtholderate ; besides, 
 the conquest of Holland would add to the marvels of 
 her late career in arms, tend still more to intimidate 
 Europe, uncover the flanks of Prussia, compel that 
 power to treat without further delay, and, above all, 
 reassure the French patriots. Accordingly, Pichegru 
 was ordered to tarry not an instant. 
 
 Neither Prussia nor the emiiire had as yet submitted 
 any proposals, so that no reply was called for in either 
 case. As to Spain, which promised to recognise the 
 republic, and pay it indemnities, on condition that 
 it assigned a small principalitj^ to Louis XVII. near 
 the Pyrenees, her offers were heard with indignation 
 and scorn, and orders forthwith given to the two 
 French generals to advance with augmented celerity. 
 With regard to Vendee, a decree of amnesty was 
 passed, which imported that all the rebels, without 
 distinction of rank, who should laj' down their arms 
 in the space of a month, would be free from molesta- 
 tion on account of their insurrection. General Can- 
 <!laux, formerly superseded on the ground of modera- 
 tisni, was replaced at the head of the army called of the 
 West, which comprehended La Vendee. Young Hoche, 
 already in command of the army on the coast of Brest, 
 was intrusted in addition with that of the army on 
 the coast of Cherbourg. No persons coidd have been 
 selected more capable than these two generals of tran- 
 quillising the coimtry by a happy combination of 
 prudence and energy. 
 
 Pichegru, who had received positive injunctions to 
 prosecute his victorious march, waited until the sur- 
 face of the Walil was firmly congealed. Meanwhile, 
 his army skirted its banks, cUstributed towards MiUin- 
 gen and Nimeguen, and along the shore of the Isle of 
 Pommel, whereof it held complete possession. Wal- 
 moden, observing that Pichegru had merely stationed 
 a few advanced posts on the right bank opposite 
 Pommel, drove them back, and commenced an often- 
 sive movement. He urged the Prince of Orange to 
 join him, in order to form, with their united armies, 
 an imposing mass, capable of contesting a battle with 
 an enemy whom it was no longer possible to restrain 
 by the barrier of rivers. The Prince of Orange, how- 
 ever, resolute m his purpose of not uncovering the 
 route to Amsterdam, refused to quit Gorcum. Wal- 
 moden tiien determined to plant himself on his line 
 of retreat, which he had traced in anticipation from 
 tlie AVaiil to the Linge, from the Linge to the Leek, 
 from the Leek to the Yssel, by Thiel, Arnheim, and 
 Deventer. 
 
 Whilst the republicans awaited the operation of the 
 frost with the utmost impatience, the fortress of Grave, 
 heroically defended by the commandant Debons, sur- 
 rendered, almost in a heap of ruins. It was the prin- 
 cipal of tlie strongholds possessed by the Dutch beyond 
 the Meuse, and the only one which had not yielded 
 to the ascendancy of the French arms. The French
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 41H 
 
 enfered it on the 9th Nivose (29th December). At 
 length, on the 19th Nivose (8th January 1795), the 
 Wiihl was solidly frozen. The division of Souhani 
 passed over from Bommel ; the brigade of Dewinther, 
 detached from the corps under Macdonald, traversed 
 it near Thiel. At Nimeguen and above, the passage 
 was not equally easy, because the Wahl was not wholly 
 firm. Nevertheless, on the 21st (10th January), the 
 right of the French crossed it above Nimeguen ; and 
 Macdonald, supported by that wing, effected the pas- 
 sage at Nimeguen in boats. On beholding this general 
 movement, Walmoden and his army retrograded. A 
 battle alone could have saved him the ignominy of 
 retreat ; but in the state of division and discourage- 
 ment paralysing the allies, an engagement would have 
 probably led to a more dismal disaster. Walmoden 
 wheeled his front to the rear, and posted onwai'ds to 
 the line of the Yssel, in order to gain Hanover by the 
 upper provinces. Thus, conformably to the plan of 
 retreat he had marked out for himself, he abandoned 
 the provinces of Utrecht and Guelderland to tlie 
 French. The Prhice of Orange remained towards the 
 sea, that is to say, at Gorcum. Giving up the case 
 as desperate, he deserted his army, presented himself 
 before the states assembled at the Hague, announced 
 to them he had attempted all in his power for the 
 defence of the country, and declared that nothing 
 more coidd be done. He urged the representatives 
 to offer no further resistance to the conqueror, in order 
 to avert still greater calamities, and with this exhor- 
 tation set sail for England. 
 
 From that moment, the advance of the invading 
 army became the rush of a torrent. On the 28th Ni- 
 vose (17th January), Salon's brigade entered Utreclit, 
 and General Vandamme, Arnheim. The states of 
 Holland resolved that all resistance to the French 
 should cease, and commissioners be dispatched to 
 open to them the fortresses they might deem requisite 
 for their security. In every town, the secret com- 
 mittees previously formed manifested their organisa- 
 tion, annulled the established authorities, and spon- 
 taneously appointed others in their stead. The French 
 were received with open arms, and as liberators ; the 
 food and raiment they so woefully lacked were brought 
 to them with alacrity. At Amsterdam, where their 
 arrival was impatiently expected, an extraordinary 
 ferment reigned. The citizens, incensed against the 
 Orangists, insisted that the garrison shoidd evacuate 
 the town, the regency lay down its authority, and the 
 pe(jple be provided with arms. Pichegru, who was 
 rapidly api)roacliing, detached an aide-de-camp to 
 exhort the municipal authorities to maintain tranquil- 
 lity and prevent disturbances. At length, on the 1st 
 of Pluviose (20th January), Pichegru, accompanied 
 by the representatives Lacoste, Bellegarde, and Jou- 
 bert, made his entry into Amsterdam. Tlie inhabi- 
 tants flocked to greet his advent, bearing in triumph 
 tlie persecuted patriots, and rending the air with cries 
 of " The French republic for ever ! Long live Piche- 
 gru ! Liberty for ever ! " They could not sufficiently 
 admire those intrepid men, who, half-naked, had defied 
 the rigour of so unparalleled a winter, and achieved 
 such brilliant actions. The Frencli soldiers gave, on this 
 occasion, an admirable example of order and discipline. 
 Hungry, and scantily clad, exposed to a pitiless storm 
 of snow and hail, in the heart of one of the richest 
 capitals of Europe, they waited patientl^y for several 
 hours, around their arms, piled in pyramids, until the 
 magistrates had provided for their nourishment and 
 distribution. Whilst the republicans had marched 
 into the city on one side, the Orangists and French 
 emigrants had disappeared by the opposite extremity. 
 The sea was covered with vessels bearing from the 
 shore fugitives and property of every description. 
 
 On the same day, 1st Pluviose, Bonnaud's division, 
 which had on the eve captured Gertruydenberg, tra- 
 versed the frozen Biesbos and entered the town of 
 Dordrecht, where it found six hundred pieces of ord- 
 
 nance, ten thousand muskets, and magazines of pro- 
 visions and ammunition for an army of 30,000 men. 
 This division subsequently passed through Rotterdam 
 on its way to occupy the Hague, where the states were 
 in session. Thus, the right towards the Yssel, the 
 centre towards Amsterdam, and the left towards the 
 Hague, were successively advancing to the conquest 
 of all the Netherland provinces. Already extraordi- 
 nary as an operation of war, it was invested with the 
 character of marvellous by a final stroke. A portion 
 of the Dutch fleet lay at anchor near the Texel. 
 Pichegru, unwilling to allow it time to break through 
 the ice and make sail for England, detached some di- 
 visions of cavalry and several batteries of light artil- 
 lery towards Nord-Holland. The Zuyder-Zee was 
 frozen, and the French squadrons scoured at a gallop 
 its icy plain, M-hen the singular spectacle was exhibited 
 of hussars and horse-ai'tillerymen summoning ships 
 of war, embedded in the frozen mass, like a fortified 
 town. The Dutch vessels promptly struck their flags 
 to these novel assailants. 
 
 On the left, the only province yet unoccupied was 
 that of Zealand, which is composed of islands placed 
 at the mouths of the Scheldt and the Meuse ; and on 
 the right there remained to subjugate the provinces 
 of Over- Yssel, Drenthe, Friesland, and Groningen, 
 which join Holland to Hanover. The province of 
 Zealand, strong in its inaccessible position, proposed 
 a somewhat haughty capitulation, by which it stipu- 
 lated that garrisons should not be placed in its prin- 
 cipal towns ; that it should not be subjected to contri- 
 butions, or be compelled to receive assignats ; that its 
 vessels and public and private property should be 
 guaranteed ; in a word, that it should midergo none of 
 the inconveniences of war. It likewise demanded, on 
 behalf of the French emigi'ants, license to depart in 
 peace and safety. The representatives acceded to 
 some of the articles of the capitulation, and abstained 
 from contracting any engagement as to the others, 
 saying they must refer them to the committee of public 
 welfare ; and without further explanations the}- entered 
 the province, happy to avert the dangers of a hostile 
 attack, and to secure the fleet, which might otherwise 
 have been delivered to England. Whilst affairs were 
 thus progressing on the left, the right, crossing the 
 Yssel, drove the English before it and chased them 
 beyond the Ems. The provinces of Friesland, Drenthe, 
 and Groningen, were thus subdued, and the seven 
 United Provinces lay at the mercy of the victorious 
 republic. 
 
 This conquest, due to the season, the indefatigable 
 courage of the French soldiers, and their capacity to 
 withstand accunudated sufferings, much more than to 
 the ability of the generals, excited in Europe an asto- 
 nishment mingled with dread, and in France a bound- 
 less exultation. Carnot, having directed the opera- 
 tions of the armies during the campaign in the Low 
 Countries, was the principal and veritable author of 
 tlie successes. I'ichegru, and especially Jourdan, had 
 admirably seconded his views throughout that series 
 of sanguinary conflicts. But after the army had pro- 
 ceeded from Belgium into Holland, all was owing to 
 the soldiers and the frost. Nevertheless, I'ichegru, 
 generalissimo of the forces, monopolised the glory of 
 this miraculous conquest, and his name, borne on the 
 wings of fame, circulated througli all Europe as that 
 of the greatest French captain. 
 
 It was not sufficient, liowever, to have conquered 
 Holland ; the equally difficult task remained to exhibit 
 prudence and policy in its treatment. The first great 
 point was to jirotect the country from excesses, in 
 order not to indispose tlie population. Next in im- 
 portance was the political direction to be impressed 
 on Holland ; and here two contrary opinions were to 
 be considered. One party maintained that the con- 
 quest should be rendered advantageous to the cause 
 of liberty, by revolutionising Holland ; another held 
 that too marked a spirit of proselytism should not lie
 
 ■iiiO 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH llEVOLUTlOM, 
 
 manifested, in order to avoid giving fresh umbra|2:e 
 to Europe, now ready to seal a reconciliation with 
 France. 
 
 The earliest care of the representatives was to pub- 
 lish a proclamation, wherein they declared that all 
 private property should be held sacred, excepting that 
 of the stadtholder ; tliat lie, the said stadtliolder, being 
 the only enemy of the French Kepublic, his posses- 
 sions were confiscated to the victors, in satisfaction of 
 the expenses of tlie war ; and that tlie Frencli had 
 come, as the friends of the Biitavian nation, not to im- 
 pose upon it any creed or form of government what- 
 soever, but to free it from oppressors, and restore to 
 it the means of expressing its wishes. This procla- 
 mation, accompanied by corresponding acts, produced 
 a most favourable impression. The authorities were 
 every where renewed in the Frencli interest. In the 
 states-general, certain members were excluded who 
 owed their introduction solely to the stadtholder's in- 
 fluence ; and Peter Paulus, minister of the marine be- 
 fore the overthrow of the republican party in 1787, a 
 man of distinguished talents and strongly attached to 
 his country, was elected president. That assembly 
 likewise abolished the stadtholderate for ever, and 
 proclaimed the sovereignty of tlie people. These re- 
 solutions were formally communicated to the repre- 
 sentatives by a deputation of tlie states, as an ac- 
 ceptable homage to their principles. The assembly 
 subsequently proceeded to frame a constitution, and 
 meanwliile connded the administration of the country 
 to a provisional government. Of the eighty or ninety 
 vessels composing the naval force of Holland, fifty 
 were found to have remained in the harbours, and 
 were saved to the Batavian republic ; tlie residue had 
 been seized by the English. The Dutch army, dis- 
 persed since the departure of the Prince of Orange, 
 was appointed to be reorganised upon a different prin- 
 ciple, under the orders of General Daendels. Amongst 
 other subjects of interest demanding immediate notice, 
 the affairs of the famous Bank of Amsterdam were 
 investigated, and the mystery in which they had been 
 long enveloped finally dispelled. Whether it had con- 
 tinued solely as a bank of deposit, or had become a 
 bank of discount by affording loans to the East India 
 Company, to the government, and to the provinces, 
 were questions wliich had long occupied attention, 
 and materially affected the credit of the institution. 
 It was ascertained tliat it had lent, to the extent of 
 eight or ten millions of florins, on obligations of the 
 East India Company, the Chamber of Debits, the pro- 
 vince of Friesland, and the city of Amsterdam. This 
 involved a violation of its charter. At the same time, 
 it was alleged that no real deficit existed, because 
 those obligations represented assured funds. But tliat 
 the engagements incurred by tlie bank could be all 
 redeemed in full, depended of course on the solvency 
 of tlie company, the Chamber of Debits, and the go- 
 vernment. 
 
 In the interim, wliilst the Dutch were engaged in 
 regulating the state of their country, the wants of the 
 destitute French army demanded relief The repre- 
 sentatives addressed a requisition to the provisional 
 government, for (doth, sliocs, raiment of all kind, pro- 
 visions, and munitions, which it undertook to satisfy. 
 This requisition, without being excessive, was suffi- 
 cient to equip and victual the army. The Dutch go- 
 vernment invited tlie difl'crent towns to furnish their 
 respective proportions of tliis requisition, saying to 
 them with reason tliat a cheerful acquiescence was due 
 to a generous conqueror, who asked instead of taking, 
 and whose demands were confined within tlie strict 
 limits of his exigencies. The towns evinced a cordial 
 nlacrit_v in responding to this appeal, and the objects 
 included in the requisition were punctually provided. 
 An arrangement was subsequently concluded touching 
 the circulation of assignats. As the soldiers received 
 their pay in paper alone, it was necessary to make 
 that paper current as money to enable them to dis- 
 
 charge such liabilities as they might incur. The 
 Dutch government framed an ordinance on the sub- 
 ject. The shopkeepers and petty dealers were enjoined 
 to accept assignats from the French soldiers, at the 
 rate of nine sous per franc, and to refrain from selling 
 to any one soldier goods to the value of more than ten 
 francs. At the close of each week they were to appear 
 before the municipal authorities, who would retire the 
 assignats at the rate they had taken them in exchange. 
 Owing to these arrangements, the army, which had 
 undergone such lengthened privations, at last found 
 itself amidst abundance, and began to taste the fruit 
 of its victories. 
 
 The triumph of France, so complete and astonishing 
 in Holland, was not less signal in Spain. There, the 
 climate, from its mildness, had not obstructed the ope- i 
 rations of the army. Dugomniier, quitting the Upper j 
 Pj'renees, had moved in jiresence of the hostile lines, ' 
 and attacked on three points the long chain of posi- 
 tions occupied by General La Union. The gallant 
 leader of the French, Dugomniier, was killed by a 
 cannon-baU in the central onslaught. The left wing 
 failed to make any impression ; but the right, thanks 
 to the bravery and energy of Augereau, obtained a 
 complete victory. The command-in-chief was con- 
 ferred on Perignon, who resumed the attack on the 
 30tli Brumaire (20th November), and gained a deci- 
 sive advantage. The enemy fled in disorder, and 
 abandoned to the French the intrenched camp of 
 Figueras. Consternation seized on the Spaniards ; the 
 commandant of Figueras threw open the gates of that 
 town on the 9th Frimaire, and the French entered into 
 possession of one of the finest fortifications in Europe, 
 Such was their position in Catalonia. Towards the 
 Western Pyrenees, they had taken Fontarabia, Saint- 
 Sebastian, and Tolosa, and occupied the wluile pro- 
 vince of Guipuscoa. INIoncey, who succeeded General 
 jMuller, had cleared the mountains and advanced even 
 to the gates of Pampeluna. However, deeming his 
 situation too hazardous, lie had retraced his steps, and, 
 resting on more secure positions, awaited the return 
 of spring to penetrate into the Castilles. 
 
 The winter, therefore, had not been allowed to re- 
 tard the progress of this immortal campaign, and it 
 only now finally closed amidst the stormy and incle- 
 ment weather of Pluviose. If the auspicious cam- 
 paign of 1793 had saved France from the horrors of 
 invasion by the deblockades of Dunkirk, Maubeuge, 
 and Landau, that of 1794 crowned her with the laurel 
 of a conqueror, by subjugating to her sway Belgium, 
 Holland, the districts comprised between the Meuse 
 and the Rhine, the Palatinate, the great barrier of the 
 Alps, the line of the Pyrenees, and several places in 
 Catalonia and Biscay. Hereafter, doubtless, we shall 
 witness still greater marvels ; but these two campaigns 
 will hold their place in history as the most decidedly 
 national, legitimate, and honourable, ever undertaken 
 by France. 
 
 The coalition could not bear up against such rude 
 and numerous shocks. The English cabinet alone, 
 which, by the aid of the incompetent Duke of York, 
 had merely lost the territories of its allies, and, vmder 
 pretext of recovering those of the stadtholder, had 
 acquired forty or fifty ships of war, and projected the 
 appropriation, under the like pretence, of the Dutch 
 colonies, could have no urgent reasons for terminating 
 the war ; on the contrary, it trembled at the prospect 
 of its conclusion by the rupture of the coalition. But 
 I'russia, which lielield the French on the banks of the 
 Rhine and the Ems, and saw the torrent ready to 
 sweep into her own confines, no longer hesitated. She 
 forthwith dispatched an envoy to Pichegru's head- 
 (juarters, empowered to conclude a truce and imder- 
 take to open immediate negotiations for peace. The 
 place selected for the conference was Basle, where the 
 French republic maintained an agent who had gained 
 the esteem and consideration of the Swiss by his 
 talents and moderation. The reason alleged for choos-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 481 
 
 ing this locality was, that the negotiations might be 
 there conducted with greater secrecy and tranquilUty 
 than at Paris, where too manj- passions still fermented, 
 and foreign intrigues were in dangerous activity : but 
 this was not the real motive. Even whilst making 
 overtures of peace to that republic which she had 
 vowed to annihilate by a single march, Prussia wished 
 to dissemble the confession of her defeat, and preferred 
 seeking peace in a neutral land rather tlian visit Paris 
 in the character of a suppliant. The committee of 
 public welfare, less arrogant than its predecessor, and 
 feeling withal the importance of detaching Prussia 
 from the coalition, consented to invest its agent at 
 Basle with the requisite powers to treat. Prussia 
 accredited the Baron von Goltz, and the powers were 
 exchanged at Basle on the 3d of Pluviose, year 3 (22d 
 January 1795). 
 
 The empire was equally desirous of withdrawing 
 from the coalition as Prussia. The majority of its 
 members, incapable of furnishing the quintuple con- 
 tingent, and the subsidies voted under the influence 
 of Austria, had been fruitlessly urged, during the 
 whole campaign, to fulfil their engagements. Except- 
 ing those who had possessions compromised beyond 
 the Rhine, and who were well aware that France 
 would not restore them unless wrung by force, all 
 wished for peace. Bavaria, Sweden for the duchy of 
 Holstein,* the Elector of ilayence, and several other 
 states of the empire, had maintained in the diet that 
 it was time to put an end, by an acceptable peace, to a 
 ruinous war; that the German empire had engaged 
 in hostilities solely to maintain the stipulations of 
 1648, and to defend such of the states as adjoined 
 Alsace and Lorraine ; that it contemjjlated its integrity, 
 not its aggrandisement ; that its purpose never had been 
 or could be to interfere in the internal government of 
 France ; that this conciliatory declaration ought to be 
 published with all promptitude, in order to terminate 
 the evils which afflicted humanity ; and that Sweden, 
 as the guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, 
 and fortunately a neutral power amidst the universal 
 warfare, might undertake the office of mediator. The 
 majority of the votes had acquiesced in these views. 
 The Elector of Treves, denuded of his territories, 
 and the imperial envoy for Bohemia and Austria, had 
 alone upheld the doctrine that, however desirable peace 
 might be, it was not possible with a country devoid 
 of a government. Eventually, on the 25th December, 
 the diet had promulgated a provisional conclusum fa- 
 vourable to peace, reserving the question of from whom 
 the proposition should emanate. The conclusum in 
 substance set forti. that, although making preparations 
 for a fresh campaign, overtures of peace ought, not- 
 withstancUng, to be encouraged ; and that no doubt 
 France, touched with the evils of humanity, and con- 
 ■vinced that no idea of interfering in our internal affairs 
 was entertained, would consent to conditions honour- 
 able to both parties. 
 
 Thus, many who had committed egregious errors 
 souglit to repair them, if there were yet time. But 
 Austria, however exhausted by her efforts, had lost 
 too much in losing the Low Countries to think of 
 laying down her arms. Spain would have willingly 
 receded, but, entangled in the meshes of English in- 
 trigue, and moved by a false i)ride to uphold tlie cause 
 of the French emigrants, she could not yet sunmion 
 resolution to solicit peace. 
 I The despondency into which the foreign enemies 
 I of the republic had fallen, crept also upon its domestic 
 ! foes. The Vendeans, distracted and exhausted, were 
 1 not far distant from peace ; to fix their determination, 
 it only needed to be adroitly oiTered them, and with 
 I such evidences as might convince them it was sin- 
 j cerely intended. The forces of Stofflet, Sapinaud, and 
 I Charette, were greatly reduced. By constraint alone 
 I were they able to make their peasants marcli; wearied 
 
 * [This is an error in the text. For Sweden, Denmark should 
 I be substituted. 1 
 
 of carnage, and ruined by the devastations, they wcnild 
 gladly have abandoned so horrible a warfare. Entirel}'' 
 devoted to the chiefs there only remained the men of 
 a purely enterprising character — smugglers, deserters, 
 poachers — to whom conflicts and pillage had become 
 habitual cravings, and the labours of agriculture tire- 
 some and distasteful: but these were few in number. 
 They pomposed the chosen troop, which was con- 
 stantly under arms, but altogether insufficient to 
 make head against the republicans. It was with the 
 utmost difficulty the more industrious peasants could 
 be dragged from their fields on days set apart for ex- 
 peditions. Tims the three Vendean chiefs were almost 
 devoid of forces. To increase their forlorn condition, 
 discord fell amongst them. We remember that Stof- 
 flet, Sapinaud, and Charette, had concluded a compact 
 at Jalais, which proved a mere postponement of their 
 rivalry and dissension. Stofflet, instigated by the 
 ambitious Abbe Bernier, had speedily manifested an 
 intention of organising his army separately, and of 
 establishing finances, an administration — all, in short, 
 that constitutes a regular authority ; and, in further- 
 ance of his object, he commenced to fabricate a paper 
 currency. Charette, who viewed Stofflet with a jea- 
 lous eye, strongly opposed his designs. Seconded by 
 Sapinaud, Avhom he swayed, he required Stofflet to 
 renounce his scheme, and to appear before the general 
 council instituted by the convention of Jalais. Stof- 
 flet declined to answer, whereupon Charette declared 
 the convention of Jalais annulled. This was tanta- 
 mount to a repudiation of his title to exercise com- 
 mand, for at Jalais they had mutually acknowledged 
 their respective claims. The rupture, consequently, 
 was complete, and all hope of redeeming their cause 
 by union and concord at an end. It seems strange 
 that, notwithstanding the royahst agents in Paris had 
 instructions to open a correspondence with Charette, 
 and forward to him letters from the regent, no com- 
 munication had yet reached that chief. 
 
 The division of Scepeaux, between the Loire and 
 the Vilaine, presented a like desolate spectacle. In 
 Brittany, however, energy was less relaxed : a pro- 
 longed, interminable war had not occurred to depress 
 and wear out the inhabitants. The Chouans pursued 
 a lucrative occupation as banditti, and one by no 
 means severe or fatiguing to those engaged in it ; 
 besides, a single chief, of almost unequalled perseve- 
 rance, was always at hand to rekindle ardour when 
 ready to droop. But this chief, who, as we have men- 
 tioned, was only tarrying until he had completed the 
 organisation of Brittany, had recently proceeded to 
 London, for the purpose of holding direct communica- 
 tion with the English cabinet and the French princes. 
 Puisaye had appointed one Sieur Desotteux, calling 
 himself Baron de Cormatin, to succeed him in tlie cen- 
 tral committee, under the designation of major-gene- 
 ral. Emigrants, so abundant in the courts of Europe, 
 were very scarce in La A''endee, Brittany, and wliere- 
 ever civil war raged with its dangers and horrors. 
 They affected great disdain for tliis species of service, 
 and called it ClwuunnisiiKj. On this account the 
 selection was limited, and Puisaj-e had pitched upon 
 tliis adventurer, who had lately assumed the title of 
 Baron de Cormatin, because liis wife had inherited a 
 small lordshij) \\\ Burgundy of that name. He had in 
 his chefjuered life figured alternately as a hot-brained 
 revolutionist, an officer of BouiHe, a kniglit of the 
 dagger, and, finally, an emigrant, and in every ca])a- 
 city striving to play a ])art. He was an arrant blus- 
 terer,* speaking and gesticulating witli extraordinary 
 vivacity, and capable of the most sudden transforma- 
 tions. Such was the man whom Puisaye, witiiout 
 sufliciently fathoming, left behind him in Brittany. 
 
 Puisaye had taken care to arrange a corresi)ondence 
 through the island of Jersey ; but his absence was 
 
 * [The term used by M. Tliiers is eiia-gitmcne, a repronelifiO 
 epithet. In his sketch of Cormatin's cliaractcr, it m.iy be ob- 
 served, he has been neither very happy nor very consistent.]
 
 4B2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 protracted, his letters frequently miscarried ; Cor- 
 matin was utterly incapable of supplying his place 
 and sustaining partisan courage ; the chiefs grew im- 
 patient or disheartened, and they found rancour and 
 animosity, calmed by the clemency of the con%x'ntion, 
 vanishing amongst their followers, and the elements 
 of civil war dissolving. The approach of such a gene- 
 ral as Hoclie was little calculated to encourage them. 
 From all these causes, it resulted that Erittany, 
 though less exhausted than La Vendee, was equally 
 disposed to accept a peace dexterously propounded. 
 
 Canclaux and Hoche were both eminently adapted 
 to promote that desirable end. Canclaux, as recorded 
 at the time, had been engaged in the first Vendean 
 war, and had left in the country a high reputation 
 for moderation and ability. Tlie army now placed 
 under his command was considerably weakened by 
 the reinforcements continually drafted for the P>Te- 
 nees and the Rhine, and moreover deplorably disor- 
 ganised by so long a sojourn in the same locality. As 
 an invariable sequence in civil wars, insubordination 
 had gained ground, and thence had ensued pillage, 
 debauchery, drunkenness, disease. It was the second 
 relapse of that army since the commencement of this 
 fatal war. Of 46,000 men composing it, 15,000 or 
 18,000 were in hospital ; the 30,000 remaining were 
 badly armed, and the moiety garrisoned the towns : 
 consequently, 15,000 were at the utmost disposable. 
 Canclaux procured an augmentation of 20,000 men — 
 14,000 drawn from the army of Brest and 6000 from 
 that of Cherbourg. By the aid of this reinforcement, 
 he doubled all the posts, retook the camp of Sorinieres 
 near Nantes, recently stormed by Charette, and moved 
 in force on the Layon, which formed the defensive 
 line of StofHet in Upper Anjou. After having taken 
 this imposing attitude, he disseminated in profusion 
 copies of the decrees and the proclamation of the con- 
 vention, and dispatched emissaries over all the land. 
 
 Hoche, accustomed to war on a grand scale, and 
 endowed with superior qualifications to conduct it, 
 saw himself, with an emotion of despair, condemned to 
 a civil war, inspiring no generous impulses, presenting 
 no grand combinations, oftering no glory. He had at 
 first solicited to be relieved ; but he had soon resigned 
 himself to serve his country in a post at once repug- 
 nant to his feelings and too obscure for his talents. 
 He was to be rewarded for this resignation by finding, 
 on the very theatre he desired to quit, an opportunity 
 of displaying the qualities of a statesman as well as 
 those of a general. His army was extremely enfeebled 
 by the reinforcements sent to Canclaux; he had 
 scarcely forty thousand men, in defective organisa- 
 tion, to giiard a broken, mountainous, and woody 
 country, with more tlian three hundred and fifty 
 leagues of coast from Cherbourg to Brest. He was 
 promised twelve thousand auxiliaries drawn from the 
 department of the North. He entreated, above all 
 things, the assistance of soldiers inured to discipline ; 
 and forthwith applied himself to redeem his own from 
 habits contracted in the infectious atmosphere of civil 
 war. " We must," said he, " put at the head of our 
 columns only disciplined men, who can show them- 
 selves moderate as valiant, and be mediators as well 
 as soldiers." He distributed his troops into a multi- 
 tude of small camps, and exhorted them to range 
 abroad in bands of forty and fifty, seek to obtain a 
 knowledge of localities, habituate themselves to a war 
 of surprises, and contend in artifice with the Chouans ; 
 converse with the peasants, associate with them, en- 
 courage and cheer them, and gain their good will, if 
 possible their co-operation. " Let us never forget," 
 he wrote to his officers, "that policy must have a 
 great share in this war. Let us employ alternately 
 humanity, probity, virtue, force, guile ; and alw^ays 
 the dignity befitting republicans." In a short time 
 he had imparted to that army an entirely different 
 aspect and attitude; tlie order indispensable to his 
 views of pacification was re-established amongst its 
 
 hitherto disorderly members. Blending towards his 
 soldiers indulgence with severity, he wrote to one of 
 his lieutenants, who complained too virulently of cer- 
 tain bacchanalian excesses, in the following happy 
 strain : — " Ha ! my friend, if soldiers were philoso- 
 phers, they would take care not to fight! Let \is 
 correct drunkards, however, if intoxication causes 
 them to neglect their duty." He had formed most 
 just ideas on the country and the mode of pacifying it. 
 " Priests are a necessary want to these peasants," he 
 indited ; " then let them have them, since they wish 
 it. Many have undergone much hardship, and sigh 
 for a return to peaceful husbandry ; let them have 
 assistance to put their farms in order. As to those 
 who have become fit for nothing but war, it would be 
 inconsiderate to retm-n them to the country ; they 
 would disturb it by their idle and restless habits. 
 These ought to be formed into legions, and enrolled 
 in the armies of the republic. They will make excel- 
 lent soldiers for advanced guards ; and their hatred of 
 the coalition, for aflbrding them no succour, assures 
 us of their fidelity. Besides, what does cause signify 
 to them .' War is what they want. Remember," he 
 added, " the bands of Du G uesclin marching to dethrone 
 Peter the Cruel, and the regiment levied by Villars 
 in the Cevennes." Such was the young general selected 
 to tranquillise those unfortunate districts. 
 
 The decrees of the convention abundantly circu- 
 lated in La Vendee and Brittany, the liberation of the 
 suspected both at Nantes and at Rennes, the pardon 
 granted to Madame de Bonchamps, who was saved by a 
 decree after sentence of death had been passed upon her, 
 the revocation of all condemnations not executed, the 
 freedom allowed to the exercise of religions worship, 
 the injunctions against injuring churches, the enlarge- 
 ment of the priests, the pmiishment of Carrier and his 
 accomplices — all these causes, operating conjomtly, be- 
 gan to produce the eflects in the two provinces Avhicli 
 were expected from them, and to dispose the minds of 
 all to embrace the benefits of the general amnesty ex- 
 tended to both chiefs and followers. The intense hatred 
 so long fomented gradually subsided, and with it the 
 courage to bear up against the accumulated evils de- 
 solating the land. The representatives on mission at 
 Nantes held interviews with the sister of Charette, 
 and through her agency succeeded in forwarding him 
 a copy of the decree of the convention. He was at 
 this moment reduced to extremity. Albeit gifted with 
 unparalleled obstinacy, some hope was necessary to lure 
 him onwards, and hot a ray gleamed from any quarter 
 to cheer his path. The court of Verona, where his 
 name was mentioned in such terms of admiration, as 
 we have heretofore intimated, abstained, nevertheless, 
 from taking any active steps in his behalf. The re- 
 gent indeed had written him a letter, wherein he no- 
 minated him lieutenant-general, and styled him the 
 second founder of the monarchy. But, intrusted to 
 the agents at Paris, this letter, which would have 
 served at all events to gratifj^ his vanity, had never 
 reached him. He had for the first time craved suc- 
 cours from England, and dispatched his young aide- 
 de- camp. La Roberie, to London ; but he had heard 
 no tidings of him since his departure. Thus, not a 
 word of recompense or encouragement was vouchsafed 
 him, either from the princes in whose cause he had 
 been so long battling or from the powers whose views 
 he had assisted. He accordingly consented to an in- 
 terview with Canclaux and the representatives of the 
 people. 
 
 At Kennes the desired reconciliation was likewise 
 promoted by a sister of one of the chiefs. Botidoux, 
 one of the principal Chouans of Morbihan, having 
 learnt that his sister, who was at Rennes, had been 
 thrown into prison on his account, was induced to re- 
 pair thither with the view of obtaining her liberation. 
 The representative Boursault restored him his sister, 
 and otherwise treated him with marked consideration : 
 he succeeded in dispelling the jealous chieftain's doubts
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 483 
 
 as to the intention of the govei-nment, and in con- 
 vincing him of the sincerity -wherewith the decree of 
 amnesty had been promulgated. Botidoux undertook 
 to write to Bois-Hardi, a young intrepid Chouan, who 
 commanded tlie division on tlie Cotes- du-Nord, and 
 enjoyed the reputation of being the most formidable 
 of the rebels. He consequently addressed hin) in these 
 terms : — " What are your anticipations ? Tlie repub- 
 lican armies are in possession of the Rhine. Prussia 
 solicits peace. You cannot rely on the word of Eng- 
 land ; you cannot rely on chiefs who merely send j'ou 
 letters from be3'ond sea, or who have deserted you 
 under pretext of going in quest of succours : for the 
 future you can only carry on a war of assassinations." 
 Bois-Hardi, startled by this letter, and unable to quit 
 the coasts of the North, where active hostilities stiU 
 required his presence, besought the central committee 
 to visit his quarters, for the purpose of agreeing upon 
 an answer to Botidoux. The committee, with Cor- 
 matin as major-general at its head, consented, and 
 accordingly removed to the vicinity of Bois-Hardi. 
 
 There was at this time a young general in the re- 
 publican army, bold, hardy, full of natural readiness, 
 and, above all, of that finesse which is said to be pecu- 
 liar to the profession he had formerly followed, that 
 of a pimp, by name General Huml^ert. " He was of 
 the number of those," says Puisaye, " who have only 
 too well proved that one year's practice in war is more 
 than equivalent to all the trainings of the esplanade." 
 He composed a letter, the stj'le and orthography 
 whereof were reprobated before the committee of pub- 
 %e welfare, but which was well suited to captivate 
 such men as Bois-Hardi and Cormatin. These parties 
 had a conference. Bois-Hardi displayed the frank 
 acquiescence of a young warrior, devoid of malice or 
 animosity, and inspirited to arms by natural tempera- 
 ment rather than fanaticism ; nevertheless, he came 
 under no distinct pledges, and allowed Cormatin to 
 bear the principal part in the interview. The lat- 
 ter, with his habitual instability, flattered at being 
 called to treat with the generals of the puissant French 
 republic, acceded to all the overtures of Humbert, and 
 demanded to be put in communication with the gene- 
 ralissimos Hoche and Canclaux, and with the repre- 
 sentatives. Interviews were arranged, the days and 
 places fixed. The central committee reproached Cor- 
 ! matin with evincing over-eagerness. He, joining du- 
 plicity to' unsteadiness, assured the committee he 
 would not betray its cause ; that in holding a confe- 
 rence, he was actuated solely by a desire to observe 
 their common enemies more narrowly, and to judge 
 of their strength and dispositions. He moreover 
 alleged two reasons of great importance, as he repre- 
 sented them. In the first place, they in Brittany had 
 never seen Charette, or been enabled to concert mea- 
 sures with him ; in obtaining a meeting Mith him, 
 under pretext of rendering the negotiation common to 
 La Vendee and Brittan}', he would have an opportu- 
 nity of apprising him of Puisaye's projects, and in- 
 ducing him to concur in them. Secondlj% Puisaye, 
 the companion in boyliood of Canclaux, had written 
 him a letter calculated to have considerable eflbct 
 upon his mind, and containing the most brilhant otters 
 to gain him over to the cause of the monarchy ; this 
 letter Cormatin, under pretence of seeking an inter- 
 view, would forward to Canclaux, and thus promote 
 the views of Puisaye. In this manner, affecting the 
 part of a skilful diplomatist with his colleagues, Cor- 
 matin obtained authority to open a feigned negotia- 
 tion with the republicans, in order to concert with 
 Charette and seduce Canclaux. He wrote to Puisaye 
 in this vein, and departed upon his mission, full of the 
 most conflicting cogitations ; now buoyed witli tlie 
 conceit of deceiving the repulilicaus, intriguing before 
 their eyes, and robbing them of a general ; anon in- 
 flated with the idea of becoming the mediator between 
 the insurgents and the representatives of the republic ; 
 and fitted, amidst this mental bewilderment, to be 
 
 himself the dupe endeavouring to dupe others. He 
 saw Hoche, and first of all demanded from him a tem- 
 porary truce, and subsequently permission to visit all 
 the Chouan chiefs in succession, with the view of dif- 
 fusing pacific sentiments amongst them ; and to confer 
 with Canclaux, and especially Charette, in order that 
 he and the latter might act together, as the Bretons 
 would not separate from the Vendcans. Hoche and 
 the representatives granted all his requests ; but they 
 gave him Humbert as an associate, to be present at 
 his various interviews. Cormatin, at the summit of 
 his hopes, wrote to the central committee and to Pui- 
 saye that his artifices were succeeding ; that the re- 
 publicans were his dupes ;' that he was starting to con- 
 firm the Chouans in their fidelity, explain affairs to 
 Charette, urge him merely to temporise until the 
 grand expedition was prepared, and finally debaucli 
 Canclaux. He then set out upon his journey through 
 Brittany, visiting the chiefs in all directions, and 
 astonishing them by exhortations to peace, and by 
 the intimation of this unexpected truce. Unable to 
 comprehend the nicety of his subterfuge, the majority 
 were discouraged and perplexed. The cessation of 
 hostilities that ensued, introduced a love of repose and 
 peace ; and, without his intending it, Cormatin mate- 
 rially advanced the pacification. He himself began 
 to incline towards that consummation ; and, whilst 
 intent on deceiving the republicans, it chanced that 
 the republicans unconsciously entrapped him. 
 
 ISIeanwhile, a day and place had been fixed for an 
 interview, by Charette. It was to take place near 
 Nantes. Cormatin agreed to repair thither and com- 
 mence the negotiations. He, becoming daily more 
 entangled in engagements with the republicans, fa- 
 voured the central committee more rarely with his 
 communications, and the committee, seeing the turn 
 affairs were about to take, wrote a i)ressing letter to 
 Puisaj^'e, in Nivose, thus couched : — " Eeturn with all 
 speed. Courage is shaken ; the republicans are se- 
 ducing the chiefs. You must come, were it only with 
 twelve thousand men, together M-itli a suppl}' of money, 
 priests, and emigrants. Be here before the end of 
 January (Pluviose)." Thus, whilst the emigrants and 
 foreign powers were building such sanguine hopes on 
 Charette and on Brittany, a negotiation was on the 
 point of tranquiUising tlie two disturbed districts. In 
 Pluviose (January-February), therefore, the repuijlic 
 had opened conferences at Basle with one of the 
 principal members of the coalition, and at Nantes 
 with the royalists who had hitherto denied and com- 
 bated it. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. , 
 
 RKOPENING OF THE THEATRES AND LEARNED SOCIE- 
 TIES. — ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS. DECREES RE- 
 LATIVE TO COMMERCE, &C. — SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 ABOLITION OF THE MAXIMUJI AND REQUISITIONS. 
 
 - — REINSTATEMENT OF THE GIRONDIST DEPUTIES. — 
 TUMULTS OCCASIONED BY THE DEARTH. — INSURREC- 
 TION OF THE 12th germinal. — BANISHMENT OF BAR- 
 RERE, COLLOT-d'hERBOIS, AND BILLAUD-VARENNES. 
 
 ARREST OF SEVERAL MOUNTAINEER DEPUTIES. — 
 
 DISARMING OF THE PATRIOTS. 
 
 The Jacobins were dispersed, tlie principal agents or 
 leaders of tiie revolutionarv government impeached. 
 Carrier put to death, and several other deputies as- 
 sailed on account of their missions ; moreover, Billaud- 
 Varemies, Collot-d'llerbois, Harrere, and Vadier, were 
 placed mider detention, and destined to be sjjcedily 
 arraigned before the tribunal of their colleagues. But 
 whilst France thus sought vengeance upon the men 
 who had exacted from her many painful efl'orts and 
 condemned her to pass through so terrible an ordeal, 
 she returned with ecstasy to the arts, pursuits, and 
 recreations of civilisation, from which those men 1 ad
 
 484 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 for a time debarred her. We have already seen with 
 wliat zest preparations were made to enjoy tlie winter, 
 with what sincfular and novel taste the women had ar- 
 rayed themselves, with wliat eagerness they crowded to 
 the concerts in the Rne Feydeau. Now all the theatres 
 were reopened. The ])erformers of the Comedie Fran- 
 (;tiise had been released from prison ; Larive, Saint- 
 Pris, Dazincourt, Saint-rhal, jVIesdemoiselles Contat 
 and Devienne, liad reappeared on the stage. The 
 population flocked to the theatres as if impelled by a 
 mania. All the passages bearing the remotest allu- 
 sion to terror were vociferously applauded ; the air of 
 the liereil dii Peiiple was chanted at intervals, and the 
 Marseillais altogether proscribed. In the boxes ap- 
 peared the beauties of the hour — the wives or friends 
 of the Thermidorians ; in the pit " the gilded youth " 
 seemed by their mirth, their attire, and their appre- 
 ciation, to shame by contrast those sanguinary and 
 uncouth terrorists, who, they alleged, liad designed to 
 destroy all civilisation. Balls were attended with the 
 same ardour. One was held where none gained ad- 
 mittance who had not lost a relative in the revolution : 
 it was called tlie futll of the victims. The public build- 
 mgs consecrated to the arts \vere likewise reopened. 
 The convention, actuated bj- great ideas as well as 
 passions, had ordained the formation of a museum, in 
 which were collected not only the pictures already 
 possessed by France, but those also gained by conquest. 
 The masterpieces of the Flemish school, acquired in 
 Belgium, had been transferred to its walls. The Ly- 
 ceum, in which La Ilarpe had but recently extolled 
 pliilosophy and liberty in the red cap — the Lyceum, 
 closed during the reign of terror, was restored to the 
 {)ublic through the liberality of the convention, which 
 luid voted a contribution to the charges of the esta- 
 blishment, and distributed some hundreds of tickets 
 amongst the young people of each section. There 
 La Harpe was now heard declaiming against anarch}', 
 terror, the degradation of the French language, philo- 
 sophism, and all that he had formerly vaunted, before 
 the liberty, which he had celebrated without under- 
 standing, had terrified his petty mind. The conven- 
 tion also granted pensions to most of the literary and 
 scientific men of the day, without distinction of poli- 
 tical principles. It had already decreed the institution 
 of primary schools, wherein the jjeople were to be 
 taught tlie elements of language spoken and written, 
 the rules of arithmetic, the rudiments of mensuration, 
 and practical ideas upon the principal phenomena of 
 nature ; likewise of central schools, intended for higher 
 classes, where youths were to be instructed in mathe- 
 matics, natural philosophy, chemistry, natural history, 
 botany, mechanics, tlie art of design, polite literature, 
 the ancient languages, the living tongues most appro- 
 priate to the position of localities, general grammar, 
 logic and analysis, history, political economy, the 
 principles of legislation, all in the order best adapted 
 to develop the minds of the pupils ; also of a normal 
 school, wherein young professors were to be trained, 
 under the most celebrated literary and scientific cha- 
 racters, and subsequently distributed through France, 
 to diffuse the knowledge acquired in this focus of in- 
 telligence ; and, lastly, of special schools for medicine, 
 law, and veterinary science. 
 
 Besides this vast system of education, destined to 
 disseminate that civilisation whic'h the revolution was 
 so unjustly accused of having banished, the conven- 
 tion offered encouragements to works of all kinds. The 
 establishment of various manufactures was decreed. 
 National domains at Besan<;on were conferred upon 
 certain Swiss, expatriated by domestic broils, with the 
 view of forming there a clock and watch manufactory. 
 The convention furthermore instructed its committees 
 to digest plans for canals and banks, and a system of 
 advances to certain provinces devastated by the war. 
 It modified sundry laws injurious to agriculture and 
 commerce. A great number of cidtivators and arti- 
 sans had quitted Alsace, when it was evacuated by 
 
 Wurmser, Lyons during its siege, and the whole south, 
 at the time of the crusade against federalism. These 
 the convention distinguished from emigrants, and 
 passed a decree whereby the peasants and artisans, 
 who had left France since the 1st of JMay 1793, and 
 were disposed to return before the 1st of Germinal, 
 should not be considered as emigrants. The law of 
 the suspected, the repeal of which had been often 
 urged, was maintained ; but it was no longer formi- 
 dable except to the patriots, who had become the sus- 
 pected of the era. The revolutionary^ tribunal was 
 entirely reconstructed, and placed on the footing of 
 the ordinary criminal courts, having judges, jurymen, 
 and advocates. It was not permitted to decide upon 
 written documents and without hearing witnesses. 
 The law allowing silence to be imposed on jirisoners, 
 which had been enacted against Danton, was rescinded. 
 The district administrations were henceforth to cease 
 being permanent, excepting in towns of above fifty 
 thousand souls. Finall}', the important subject of 
 religion was regulated by a new law. This ordinance 
 recited that, by virtue of the declaration of rights, all 
 creeds were free ; but it announced at the same time 
 that the state subsidised none, and forbade all public 
 celebration of rites. Each sect was at liberty to build 
 or hire edifices, and solemnise the services of its re- 
 ligion in the interior of such edifices. As a substitute 
 for the ancient ceremonies of the Catholic fiiith and 
 for those of Reason, a plan of decadal festivals was 
 devised. It combined music, dancing, and moral 
 exhortations, so as to render the amusements of the 
 people profitable, and leave impressions upon their 
 minds at once beneficial and agreeable. Thus relieved 
 from the absorbing care of defending itself, the revo- 
 lution discarded the violent forms it had assumed 
 under the pressure of danger, and reverted to its veri- 
 table mission, that of encouraging arts, industry, en- 
 lightenment, and civilisation. 
 
 But whilst the convention was busied in abrogating 
 harsh and cruel laws, and the tipper classes were again 
 taking consistence and eagerly treading the paths of 
 pleasure, the lower classes were suffering from a dread- 
 ful scarcity, and from an intense cold almost unknown 
 in these latitudes. The winter of the year .3, which had 
 permitted the French to traverse as on dry land the 
 rivers and seas of Holland, revenged that conquest, 
 as it were, by subjecting lioth the town and rural 
 population to terrible hardships. It was, witliout doubt, 
 tlie most rigorous that had occurred during the cen- 
 tury, far exceeding that Avhicli preceded the opening 
 of the states-general in 1789. Provisions were defi- 
 cient from various causes. The principal was the 
 insufficiency of the harvest. Although the crops had 
 promised to yield abundantly, a long drought and sub- 
 sequent dampness had blighted expectation. The 
 thrashing had also been neglected, as in previous j-ears, 
 both from a want of hands and from the unwillingness 
 of the farmers. The assignats falling almost continu- 
 ally, and having at this period sunk to the tenth of 
 their nominal value, the maximum had become pro- 
 l)ortionably more oppressive, and tlie repugnance to 
 obey it, the efibrts to evade it, grew daily greater. 
 Tlie farmers universally delivered false declarations, 
 and were supported in their prevarications by the 
 nmnicipalities, which, as we are aware, had been all 
 recently renewed. Being now generally composed of 
 moderate men, they complacently winked at infrac- 
 tions of the revolutionary laws ; whereby, the springs 
 of authority being relaxed, and the government ceas- 
 ing to inspire terror, the requisitions for the supply of 
 armies and large towns were no longer heeded. Ac- 
 cordingly, that extraordinary system of drawing sup- 
 plies, devised as a substitute for the natural operations 
 of trade, was eflfectually disorganised before trade had 
 resumed its usual channels. The scarcity thence re- 
 sulting Avas most sensibly felt in the larger towns, 
 whfch are at such times difficidt to provision. Paris, 
 in particular, was threatened with a famine more in-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 485 
 
 vetcrate than any that had excited apprehensions dur- 
 ing the course of the revohition. With general causes 
 were combined otliers purely local. By the suppression 
 of the commune, attainted of (;onsinracy on the 9th 
 Tliermidor, the care of alimentinc; Paris had devolved 
 on the commission for trade and supplies ; which 
 change was productive of interruption in the services. 
 Orders had been issued tardily, and then precipitately 
 :ind without circumspection. The means of carriage 
 lacked deplorably ; the horses had all been absorbed ; 
 and thus, besides the difficulty of collecting sufficient 
 quantities of corn, there was the equally arduous 
 undertaking of conveying them to Paris. Delay's, 
 pillages on the routes, all the unavoidable contingen- 
 cies of scarcities, foiled tlie exertions of the commis- 
 sion. Nor was the dearth of food the only evil ; the 
 want of fuel entailed equal misery. The canal of 
 Briare had been dry during the whole summer. No 
 coals had arrived, and the charcoal had been all con- 
 sumed in domestic purposes. The orders to fell timber 
 had been given late in the season, and the contractors 
 for floating wood, molested and harassed by the local 
 authorities, were completely discouraged. Coals and 
 wood, therefore, were deficient ; and in this rugged 
 winter, a scarcity of fuel was scarcely less calamitous 
 than one of food. 
 
 Thus, fearful distress amongst the lower classes con- 
 trasted unhappily with tlie enjoyments to which the 
 upper classes abandoned themselves. The revolu- 
 tionists, exasperated against the government, followed 
 the example of all beaten parties, and used the public 
 misfortunes as so many grounds of invective against 
 the actual leaders of the state. They even contributed 
 to aggravate those calamities by thwarting the orders 
 of the administration. " Avoid sending your corn to 
 Paris," they said to the farmers ; " the government 
 is counter-revolutionary ; it is bringing back the emi- 
 grants ; it refuses to put the constitution in force ; it 
 leaves the grain to nioidder in the magazines of the 
 commission for trade ; it wishes to starve the people, 
 so as to compel them to throw themselves into the 
 arms of royalty." By such exhortations they induced 
 the holders of grain to keep it back. They quitted 
 the towns in which they had usually resided for the 
 larger cities, where they were unknown and beyond 
 the reach of those they had persecuted, and there in- 
 stigated commotions. At Marseilles, they had recently 
 subjected the reijresentativcs to outrages, and obliged 
 them to suspend the proceedings instituted against 
 the alleged accomplices of the s}-stem of terror. It 
 had even been found necessary to declare the city in a 
 state of siege. At Paris, esi)ecially, they congregated 
 in great numbers, and manifested the utmost turbu- 
 lence. They inveighed perpetually on the same topic — 
 the distress of the people, and drew comparisons be- 
 tween it and the luxury of the new leaders of the con- 
 vention. Madame Tallicn was thi? female of the day 
 whom they chiefly assailed, for at all periods one had 
 been the object of popular odium ; upon this perfidious 
 enchantress it was they charged, as formerly upon 
 Madame Roland, and earlier upon Marie-Antoinette, 
 all the sufferings of tlie people. Her name, frequently 
 mentioned reproachfully in the convention, had not 
 appeared to move Tallien. One day, however, he 
 ascended the tribune to vindicate her from this series 
 of aspersions. He dei)icted her as a model of constancy 
 .and courage, and as one of tlie victims destined by 
 Robespierre for tlie sca(U)ld ; declaring, moreover, that 
 she had become his wife. Barras, Legendre, and 
 Frcron, supported him ; they affirmed, that the time 
 was at length arrived for a definitive explanation, and 
 proceeded to exchange calumnious expressions witli 
 niembcrs of the Mountain. The convention found it 
 incumbent, as usual, to put an end to the discussion 
 by passing to the order of the day. On another occa- 
 sion, Uuhem told the deputy Clausel, a mend)er of tlie 
 committee of general safety, that he would assassinate 
 l.im, A horrible tumult ensued, and the order of the | 
 
 day was again interposed to terminate the disgraceful 
 scene. 
 
 The violent and indefatigable Duhem chanced to 
 alight on a publication entitled The Spectator of the 
 lievoJution, in which appeared a dialogue on the two 
 governments, republican and monarchical. In this 
 production a decided preference was given to the mo- 
 narchical government, and it even urged, in terms 
 sufficiently unequivocal, the French people to return 
 to tliat system. Duhem indignantly denounced the 
 work as one of the symptoms of the royalist conspi- 
 racy. The convention, acquiescing in the propriety 
 of this denunciation, sent the author before the revo- 
 lutionary tribunal ; but Duhem, having taken upon 
 himself to assert that royalism and aristocracy were 
 in the ascendant, was committed to the Abbey for 
 three days, as having insulted the assembly. 
 
 These scenes agitated all Paris. In the sections 
 addresses were proposed respecting them, which gave 
 rise to fierce contentions as to the terms in which they ! 
 should be embodied, each party striving to carry them 
 in accordance with its own views. Never had the 
 revolution presented so stormy a spectacle. Formerly, 
 the Jacobins, all powerful over opinion, had encoun- 
 tered no resistance capable of producing a veritable 
 striiggle. They had driven all before them, and re- 
 mained undisputed conquerors ; conquerors obstre- 
 perous and wrathful, it is true, but sole and supreme. 
 Now, a mighty party had arisen, and, although it was 
 less outrageous, it supplied by numbers what it lacked 
 in violence, and could contend upon equal terms. 
 Addresses were thus framed in opposite senses. Seve- 
 ral Jacobins, congregated in the coffee-houses, in the 
 populous quarters of Saint-Denis, the Temple, and 
 Saint- Antoine, held language such as they had used 
 in the worst times. They threatened to attack the 
 new conspirators at the Palais-Royal, the theatres, 
 and even in the convention. On their side, the young 
 men indulged in boisterous clamour in the pits of the 
 theatres. They vowed to perpetrate a galling outrage 
 on the Jacobins. The bust of Marat was planted in 
 all public places, and prominently in those of pub- 
 lic amusement. At the theatre Feydeau, some young 
 men sprang up the balcony, and, clambering on each 
 other's shoulders, they pulled down the bust of the 
 saint, broke it to atoms, and replaced it by one of 
 Rousseau. The police used fruitless efforts to prevent 
 this exploit. Universal acclamations greeted the action 
 of these daring youths. Garlands were thrown on the 
 stage wherewith to crown the bust of Rousseau ; verses, 
 written for the occasion, were delivered, and the build- 
 ing re-echoed with shouts of '* Down with the terror- 
 ists! Down with Marat ! Down with that bloodthirsty 
 monster who demanded three hundred thousand heads ! 
 Long live the author of Emile, the Social Contract, 
 and the New Heloise I"' Similar scenes were enacted on 
 tlie following day in all the theatres and ])ublic i)laces. 
 Bands rushed into the niarket-])laces, bedaubed the 
 busts of Marat with blood, and then hurled them into 
 the nnid. Even boj's formed a procession in the quarter 
 of ^lontmartre, and, after bearing the bust of Marat 
 to the brink of a sewer, cast it amongst the filth. The 
 public detestation was expressed with extreme viru- 
 lence ; disgust and abhorrence of IMarat were in all 
 hearts, even amongst the majority of the Mountaineers, 
 f()r none of them had been able to follow in his aberra- 
 tions the C()neei)tions of tbat audacious maniac. But 
 the nameof Marat being hallowed— tliedagger of Char- 
 lotte Corday having exalted him into a sjiecies of idol 
 — a dread of touching his shrines had been felt eijual to 
 that of desecrating those of liberty itself. We have 
 seen that, during the last Sans-culottides, only four 
 months ago, he had been placed in the Pantheon in 
 lieu of Mirabeau. The conuiiittees hastened to ])roflt 
 by this ex])losion of ojjinion, and proi)osed to the con- 
 vention a decree whereby no individual could be de- 
 posited in the Pantheon before a lapse of twenty years, 
 and no bust or portrait of any citizen be exposed in
 
 4Hf> 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 public places. It was adopted, with the addition that 
 every contrary decree was cancelled. In consequence, 
 Marat was ejected from the Pantheon, after an occu- 
 pation of but f\)ur months, yuch is the instability of 
 revolutions ! Immortality to-day decerned, to-morrow 
 abrogated; and popular odium pursues party leaders 
 even beyond the gates of death ! From that moment 
 commenced the long infamy to which Marat has been 
 nonsigned, and which he has partaken with Robes- 
 pierre. Both, recently deified by fanaticism, now 
 judged by acerbity, were devoted to permanent execra- 
 tion. 
 
 The Jacobins, incensed at this outrage on the 
 memory of one of the most renowned revolutionists, 
 assembled in the Faubourg Saint- Antoine, and swore 
 to avenge the fame of Marat. They took his bust, car- 
 ried it in triumph through all the quarters they swayed, 
 and, armed to the teeth, menaced with death any who 
 should disturb their sinister celebration. The young 
 men debated whether they should assault the pro- 
 cession ; they encouraged each other to make the 
 attack, and a battle nuist have inevital)ly ensued, if 
 the committees had not caused the club of the Quinze- 
 Vingts to be closed, prohibited processions of this 
 description, and dispersed the crowds. At the sitting 
 of the 20th Nivose (9th January), the busts of Marat 
 and Lepelletier were removed from the convention, as 
 likewise the two fine pictures in which David had 
 I'epresented them dying. The galleries, filled by the 
 opposing partisans, uttered antagonist cries ; some 
 raised applauding cheers, others howled in dismal 
 yells. Amongst the latter were those females usually 
 styled " furies of the guillotine : " they were expelled 
 from the building. The majority of the assembly 
 joined in the acclamations, whilst the Mountain, sul- 
 len and silent, appeared to behold, in the removal of 
 those celebrated pictures, the portent of the approach- 
 ing ruin of the revolution and the republic. 
 
 The convention, through its committees, had inter- 
 fered to prevent the two parties from coming to actual 
 conflict on the recent occasion ; but the collision was 
 only delayed for a time. Animosities were so deep 
 and bitter, the sufferings of the people so great, that 
 the recurrence of one of those desperate commotions, 
 so common in the annals of the revolution, might be 
 hourly expected. Meanwhile, in all the uncertaint}' 
 of coming events and issues, the convention discussed 
 the questions forced on its attention by the commer- 
 cial and financial condition of the country — painful 
 and unhappy questions, which were ever and anon 
 perforce revived, for treatment and solution in the 
 varying modes called for by the fluctuations ideas 
 underwent from time to time. 
 
 Two months earlier it had modified the maximum, 
 by rendering the prices of grain variable with refe- 
 rence to local circumstances ; it had modified the 
 system of requisitions, by rendering them special, 
 limited, and regular ; and it had postponed the in- 
 quiry relative to the foreign sequestration, to cur- 
 rency, and to assignats. At the i)resent moment, all 
 respect for revolutionary creations was gone. It was 
 no longer a simple modification that men demanded, 
 but the abolition of the whole coercive system insti- 
 tuted during the terror. The opponents of that sys- 
 tem advanced excellent reasons in support of their 
 views. " All values not being assigned," they argued, 
 " the maximinn was absurd and iniquitous. The 
 farmer, paying 30 francs for a ploughshare he for- 
 merly bought for 50 sous, 700 francs to a servant 
 whom he could have engaged heretofore for 100 
 francs, and 10 francs to a day-labourer instead of .50 
 sous, could not sell his produce at the same price as 
 in times past. Raw materials imported from abroad 
 having been recently excepted from the maxinmm, 
 with the view of restoring some activity to commerce, 
 it was preposterous to subject them, when numufac- 
 tured, to its operation ; for thereby they woidd bring 
 eiiiht or ten times less than in the thw state. These 
 
 instances M'ere not the only ones that might be ad- 
 duced : a thousand others of the same kind could be 
 cited. The maximum thus exposing the merchant, 
 the manufacturer, and the agriculturist, to inevitable 
 losses, they naturally shunned it ; the first abandoned 
 his warehouse or his manufactory, the last hoarded 
 his grain or had it consumed in the farm-yard, be- 
 cause he found it more advantageous to sell fatted 
 I)oultry and pigs. Hence, if it were wished that the 
 market should be supplied, prices must be rendered 
 free, for no one would labour in order to incur certain 
 loss. For the rest," added tlie adversaries of the re- 
 volutionary sj'stem, " the maximum had never been 
 practically executed ; those who stood in need of 
 articles were actually compelled to pay a remunera- 
 tive price, and not the legal i)rice. The whole ques- 
 tion, therefore, had resolved itself into this alternative 
 — pay dear or M'ant. Vain was the hope of supplying 
 the spontaneous activity of industry and trade by re- 
 ([uisitions, that is to say, by the action of the govern- 
 ment. A government embarking in commerce was a 
 monstrous absurdity. That commission of supplies, 
 which had boasted so nmch of its operations, Avere 
 peojtle aware what quantity of foreign corn it had 
 brought into France ? Just enough to feed France for 
 five days. It was indispensable, thei'efore, to revert 
 to individual activity, that is to say, to free trade, and 
 trust to it alone. When the maximum was abrogated, 
 and the merchant could reimburse himself the charges 
 of freight and insurance, interest upon his capital, and 
 a fair profit, he would bring commodities from all 
 quarters of the globe. The large cities, especially, 
 which were not, like Paris, provisioned at the expense 
 of the state, had trade alone to rely upon, and would 
 be absolutely starved unless the fetters impeding its 
 operations were removed." 
 
 In principle, these arguments were sound and just ; 
 but it was not the less true that the transition from 
 the coercive system to free trade, at so critical a period 
 as the present, was necessarily hazardous and dange- 
 rous. Until the inducement of unfettered prices had 
 revived individual industry and stocked the markets, 
 all articles must undergo an extraordinary enhance- 
 ment. This might be but a slight inconvenience as 
 to C(mimodities not of primary necessity, producing 
 at the worst a temporary interruption, until, in the 
 ordinary course of things, competition brought down 
 prices ; but as it affected articles of subsistence, which 
 would allow of no interruption, the subject was fraught 
 with difficulty. "Whilst waiting until the faculty of 
 selling corn at free prices had caused vessels to be 
 dispatched to the Crimea, Poland, Africa, and Ame- 
 rica, and constrained farmers, by the natural spirit of 
 competition, to bring forward their produce, how were 
 the people in large cities and towns to Hve, witliout 
 the maxinmm and without requisitions ? After all, 
 bad bread, scantily obtained by the arduous efforts of 
 the administration, and amidst incredible obstacles, 
 was better than absolute famine. Doubtless it was 
 expedient to get rid of this forced system as soon as 
 possil)le, but with caution and not impetuous precipi- 
 tancy. 
 
 The reproaches of M. Boissy-d'Anglas against the 
 commission of supplies Avere equally unjust as pre- 
 posterous. Its importations, he said, would not have 
 fed France for more than five days. Granting the 
 calculation correct, which was controverted, his objec- 
 tion is valueless. It is only a little a country ever 
 needs in the case of domestic deficiency, otherwise it 
 could not be sui)plied ; but was it not a signal service 
 to have produced that little ? Can the desperate con- 
 dition of a whole country deprived of bread for even 
 five days be imagined ? Were such a destitution, in- 
 deed, equally borne and distributed, it might prove 
 less mortal ; but whilst the rural districts would have 
 had corn in superfluity, the great towns, and espe- 
 cially the metropolis, M'ould have been devoid thereof, 
 not for five days only, but for ten, twenty, fifty, and
 
 HlaTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 487 
 
 complete anarchy must have resulted. Eesi('es, the 
 conmiission for trade and supplies, directed by Lindet, 
 had not simply limited its labours to the injportatiou 
 of produce from abroad, but had likewise superin- 
 tended the transport of grain, provender, and other 
 agricultural produce in France itself, from the coun- 
 try to the frontiers and to the large towns ; and trade 
 would assuredly not liave performed those services if 
 left to itself, amidst the terrors of war and political 
 fury. It had been found indispensable to substitute 
 the will of the government for the action of com- 
 merce, and the energetic marvellous realisation of 
 that will deserved the gratitude and admiration of 
 France, despite the sneers of those insignificant per- 
 sonages who, during the dangers of the country, had 
 employed their faculties only in concealing them- 
 selves from observation. 
 
 The question was carried by assault, if it may be 
 so expressed. The convention abolished the maximum 
 and system of requisitions by overruling impulse, 
 in like manner as it had recalled the seventy-three 
 deputies, and passed a decree against Billaiid-Varennes, 
 CoUot-d'IIerbois, and Barrere. Certain remnants of 
 the system of requisitions were, however, allowed 
 to subsist. Such as had been issued for the pm'pose 
 of alimenting large towns Avere to remain in force 
 for one month longer. The government likewise 
 retained the privilege of pre-emption, that is to say, 
 the power of taking commodities by authority at the 
 market value. The famous conmiission was partly 
 curtailed in its title ; it was to be no longer called the 
 commission for trade and supplies, but simply the 
 commission of supplies. Its five directors were re- 
 duced to three, and its ten thousand agents to a few 
 hundreds. Tlie system of private enterprise was suJi- 
 stituted for that of administrative action, and sundry 
 passing invectives were uttered against Pache for his 
 institution of the committee of contracts. The wain- 
 age was surrendered to purveyors. The manufactm'e 
 of arms at Paris, which had rendered cosily but im- 
 mense services, was discontinued, which could now 
 be done without inconvenience, and the fabrication of 
 arms abandoned to private enterprise. The workmen, 
 aware they would henceforth receive less wages, mur- 
 mured ; instigated bj' the Jacobins, they even threat- 
 ened a movement ; but they were curbed, and dis- 
 missed to their several districts. 
 
 The qiiestion of sequestration, previously adjourned 
 because fears were entertained that, by restoring the 
 circulation of bills of exchange, remittances would 
 be forwarded to the emigrants and stockjobbing in 
 foreign paper revived, was finally considered, and de- 
 cided to the advantage of commercial freedom. The 
 sequestration was raised, and the convention thereby 
 surrendered to foreign merchants their confiscated 
 balances, at the hazard of not obtaining a similar re- 
 stitution in favour of the French. Lastly, the free 
 circulation of specie was re-established, after a warm 
 discussion. It had been heretofore interdicted, with 
 the view of preventing the emigrants from drawing 
 bullion out of France ; it was now permitted, on the 
 ground that, the means of exchange being defective, 
 Lyons being no longer able to furnish sixty millions' 
 worth of manufactures, Nismes twenty, and Sedan ten, 
 commercial intercourse would be impracticable, unless 
 license were given to pay in gold or silver for pur- 
 chases made abroad. Aloreover, it was judged that 
 specie being now hoarded and kept back on account 
 of the paper- money, the privilege of reimbursing 
 foreigners for articles imported would have the eflect 
 of drawing it forth, and re-introducing it into the cur- 
 rency. At the SJime time, useless i)recauti()Ms were 
 taken to prevent it being exjiorted for the licnefit of 
 emigrants. Whoever transmitted an^- of the precious 
 metals abroad, was bound to inqwrt merchandise of 
 corresponding value. 
 
 Finally, the difficult question of assignats came to 
 be solved. There were nearly seven thousand and 
 
 five or six hundred millions in actual circulation ; five 
 or six hundred millions remained in the coffers of the 
 state ; consequently the amount fabricated reached 
 eight thousand millions. The hypothec in property 
 of first and second origin, such as forests, lands, palaces, 
 mansions, houses, and moveables, amoimtcd toujiwards 
 of fifteen thousand millions, according to the actual 
 valuation in assignats. The pledge, therefore, was 
 amply sufficient. Kevertheless, the assignat was de- 
 preciated to nine-tenths or eleven-twelfths of its value, 
 according to the natm-e of the objects for which it Avas 
 exchanged. Thus the state, which received the taxes 
 in assignats, the fund-holder, the public functionary, 
 the proprietor of laml or houses, the creditor of out- 
 standing capital — all those, in short, who received their 
 appointments, dividends, salaries, or payments, in 
 paper — suffered losses in a perpetually increasing ratio, 
 and the distress thence resulting became daily more 
 afflictive. Cambon had proposed to augment the 
 salaries of pubhe functionaries and the dividends of 
 stockholders. After opposing his suggestion, it had 
 been found necessary to adopt it in behalf of public 
 functionaries, who could no longer exist ujion their 
 pittances. But this was a feeble palliative for an evil 
 so immense ; it merely relieved one class out of a 
 hmidred. To make the relief effectual and general, 
 it was requisite to establish the just proportion between 
 values of all kinds : but how was this to be eflected? 
 
 The notions in vogue during thq preceding year 
 were again fi)ndly indulged ; still the cause of the de- 
 preciation of assignats, and the means of raising them 
 in value, were the themes of discussion. In the first 
 place, albeit granting that their inordinate quantity 
 was one reason for the discredit into which they had 
 fallen, it was maintained that it was by no means the 
 greatest ; and this to vindicate their profuse emission. 
 In corroboration of this statement, it was alleged that, 
 at the period of Dumouriez's defection, the insurrec- 
 tion of La Vendee, and the capture of Valenciennes, 
 the assignats, circulating in far less abundance than 
 subsequent to the deblockades of Dunkirk, Maubeuge, 
 and Landau, nevertheless declined more ; which, in- 
 deed, was true, and i)roved unquestionably that defeats 
 and victories materially influenced the standard of the 
 paper-money — an incontestible axiom. But now, in 
 Ventose, year 3 (March 1795), the triumph of the re- 
 public was complete on all points, confidence in the 
 sales of national domains was established, those do- 
 mains had even become the objects of a species of 
 jobbing, numerous speculators purchasing them to 
 profit by their resale or subdivision ; and yet the de- 
 I)reeiation of assignats was four or five times greater 
 than in the previous year. The huge emission was 
 therefore the veritaljle cause of the discredit, and its 
 reduction the only mode of enchancing the value. 
 
 The sole legitimate means of lessening the amount 
 of assignats in circulation consisted in redeeming them 
 bj^ sales of national property. But ho\v were these 
 sales to be effected? — an eternal question, canvassed 
 every year. The causes which hail ri'tardtd the pur- 
 chases of domains in preceding years were repugnance, 
 prejudices, and, above all, want of confidence in the 
 stability of the acquisitions. Now the case was alto- 
 gether diflTerent. Let us consider for a moment how 
 acipiisitions of inmioveable i)roperty are made in the 
 ordinary course of things. The mcrciiiint, manufac- 
 turer, agriculturist, or caidtalist, buys, with the accu- 
 mulations of his industry, or incduie, the land of an 
 individual wiio has become impoverislied, or who dis- 
 poses of his estate to exchange it for another. Lands 
 are thus constantly changing hands, cither for others, 
 or for floating caiiital accnnndated by enterprise or 
 thrift. 'I'he new purchaser retires to "his estate, and 
 the vender seeks to tm-n the money he has received 
 in payment to account, and succeeds to the industriij 
 occujiation of the previous realiser. Such is tlie in- 
 sensible operation proceeding with regard to inunove- 
 able property. But, on the otlier hand, let us imagino
 
 488 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the third of a vast torritorv, comprising immense 
 estates unbroken by divisions, parks, palaces, and 
 sumptuous mansions, exposed to sale all at once, and 
 at the verv moment that landed proprietors and mer- 
 chants, all the richest capitalists, were dispersed, and 
 vre shall understand why dispositions were impracti- 
 cable. It was not a few citizens or agriculturists, 
 escaped from the proscription, who could attempt such 
 acquisitions or pay for them. It may be objected, 
 doubtless, that the mass of iissignats in circulation 
 was sufficient to absorb the domains : but tliis mass 
 was illusory, wlien it is remembered that each holder 
 of assignats was obliged to use them in an eight or 
 ten fold proportion beyond their v;ilue, to procure such 
 objects as were essential to liis comfort or existence. 
 
 The difficulty consisted, then, in imparting, not the 
 inclination to purchase, but the abiUty to pay. Thus, 
 all the measures proposed proceeded on a false basis, 
 for thev iill presupposed tliis ability. The measures 
 themselves were either of a coercive or voluntary 
 nature. The first contemplated demonetisation, or a 
 forced loan. Demonetisation converted the paper 
 from current money into a mere obligation on the 
 domains. It was tyrannical ; for, when it struck the 
 assignat in the hands of the operative, or of the indi- 
 vidual who had only wherewithal to Hve, it trans- 
 formed his crust of bread into clay, and reduced tlie 
 unfortunate holder to famine. Tiie mere rumour, in 
 fact, of such a project being entertained with regard 
 to a portion of the assignats, had caused them to de - 
 cline rapidly, and the convention was constrained to 
 promulgate" a decree that it would not demonetise. A 
 forced loan was not less tyrannical ; it likewise con- 
 sisted in changing the assignat from money into a 
 charge upon the national property. The only diffe- 
 rence was, that the forced loan bore upon the liigher 
 and wealthy classes, and operated the conversion as to 
 them alone' ; but they had already suffered so much, 
 tliat it was scarcely possible to make them purchase 
 land without subjecting them to severe embarrass- 
 ment. Besides, since the reaction, they had begim to 
 defend then\selves from any recurrence to revolution- 
 ary expedients. 
 
 Measures of a voluntary nature, therefore, alone re- 
 mained feasible. Divers were propoimded. Cambon 
 conceived the idea of a lottery, to be comi>osed of four 
 millions of lots, of one thousand francs each ; which 
 supposed a contribution of four thousand millions on 
 the part of the public. The state was to add three 
 hundred and ninety-one millions to make up prizes, 
 so that there might be four prizes of 500,000 francs, 
 thirtv-six of 250,000, and tliree hundred and sbrty of 
 100,000. The least fortimate would recover their 
 pristine disbursement of one thousand francs ; but aU, 
 instead of recei\-ing assignats, would be furnished with 
 bonds on the national domains, bearing three per cent, 
 interest Thus, it was imagined that the allurement 
 of a considerable prize would tempt the pubUc to com- 
 pete for this mortgage on the national property, and 
 that four thousand imllions of assignats would quit the 
 character of currency to assume that of obhgations on 
 land, by means of this premium of three hundred and 
 ninety-one millions. This scheme was still foimded 
 on the supposition that the investment could in fact 
 be made. Tliirion recommended another mode, that 
 of a tontine. But tliis plan, well adapted for render- 
 ing a small capital productive to a few survivors, was 
 infinitely too slow, and utterly inadequate for an ope- 
 ration affecting so enormous a mass of floating paper. 
 Johannot proposed a species of territorial bank, in 
 which assignats should be deposited for bonds be;iring 
 three per cent, interest — bonds convertible atwiU into 
 assignats. This was only another nio<lification of the 
 project for changing the paper-money into obligations 
 on land, with the difference, that the power of recon- 
 verting them into a current form was here secured. 
 It is obvious that none of these schemes overcame the 
 real, substanti;d obstacle ; and that all the plans pro- 
 
 pounded for withdrawing the paper and enhancing it 
 in value were purely illusory. Notliing was left, 
 therefore, but to pursue indefinitely the same course, 
 emitting assignats ad libitum, until they should reach 
 their lowest point of depression, and the term arrive 
 for a forced solution of all difficulties. It is unfortu- 
 nate that nations never can discern the necessary 
 sacrifices, and diminish their weight and extent by 
 anticipating the jieriod when they become unavoidable. 
 This foresight and courage have always faUed nations 
 in financial crises. 
 
 To tliese abortive projects for redeeming assignats 
 were added others, happily more practical, but lamen- 
 tably insufficient to meet tlie evil. The moveables 
 belonging to emigi-ants. whicli might be easily realised, 
 amounted in value to two hundred millions. Amicable 
 arrangements for the shares of emigrants in commercial 
 companies might produce one hundred millions ; their 
 portion of hereditaments five hundred millions. But, 
 \vith regard to the first, capital would be withdrawn 
 from commerce ; and, with regard to the second, part 
 of the produce must be received in real estate. It was 
 resolved to offer a premium to those who should com- 
 plete their payments for lands already purchased, 
 whereby it was expected eight hundred millions would 
 be gjiined. Finally, the large mansions situated in 
 Paris, and not let, were to be disposed of by lottery, 
 which would bring in a thousand millions more. In 
 tlie event of aU anticipations being fulfilled, the expe- 
 dients just enumerated might return into the ex- 
 chequer two thousand six hundred millions ; but if, 
 from the whole, fifteen hundred millions accrued, the 
 result might be deemed auspicious ; and this sum was 
 already destined for immediate outlay. The necessity 
 for this disbursement arose from a considerate and 
 humane measure which had been recently decreed ; 
 to wit, the liquidation of the debts of emigrants. It 
 had been originally determmed to institute an indivi- 
 dual liquidation for each emigrant. As several of 
 them were insolvent, the republic would thus have 
 satisfied claims only so far as the assets permitted on 
 each estate. But tliis separate investigation threat- 
 ened interminable delays ; an account must have been 
 opened for every individual emigrant, and the produce 
 of his lands and moveables balanced with his liabihties, 
 in the course of which operation, tlie unfortunate cre- 
 ditors, almost all domestics, artisans, and tradesmen, 
 might have waited twenty or thirty years for payment. 
 Cambon was instrumental in procuring a decree that 
 the creditors of emigrants should be considered credi- 
 tors of the state, and forthwith paid, excepting those 
 whose debtors were notoriously bankrupt. The re- 
 pubUc might thus lose smidrj- millions ; but it allevi- 
 ated many severe pangs, and conferred a signal boon 
 on the objects of its bounty. The arch-revolutionist 
 Cambon was the author of this beneficent and humane 
 proceeding. 
 
 But whilst the convention was engaged in anxious 
 discussion upon these grave and difficult questions, it 
 was perpetually recalled to cares still more emergent, 
 arising from the absolute dearth menacing Paris. 
 ^ entose was just elapsing.* The abolitiou of the 
 maximum had as yet failed to revive trade, and sup- 
 phes of grain ceased to arrive. Numerous deputies, 
 disseminated aroimd Paris, issued requisitions which 
 were not heeded. .iVlthough these were still autho- 
 rised for the purpose of alimenting large tovras, and 
 were to be reimbursed at the market value, the far- 
 mers a.sserted they were aboUshed, and refused obedi- 
 ence. Nor was this the only or the greatest obstacle. 
 The rivers and canals were completely frozen, and all 
 traffic upon them at an end. The roads, covered with 
 ice, were impracticable ; to render wainage possible, it 
 vras necessarj' to strew them with sand for a circuit 
 of twenty leagues. On the way the waggons were 
 plundered by the starving population, whose rage the 
 
 * The middle of March.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 48.9 
 
 Jacobins stimulated by inculcating the belief that the 
 government was counter-revolutionary, that it alloAved 
 the corn to rot in Paris, and was labouring to re-esta- 
 blish royalty. Whilst supplies diminished, consump- 
 tion increased, as always happens in similar cases. 
 Tlie apprehension of scarcity induced all who were 
 able to lay in stores ft)r several days. Following the 
 ])recedent of former times, bread was distributed on 
 the presentation of tickets, but every one exaggerated 
 his necessities. On the entreaties of their laundry and 
 dairy-wamen. or of the country people who brought 
 them vegetables and fowls, the inhabitants of Paris 
 gave them bread, which they preferred to money, as 
 the famine raged in the environs as cruelly as in Paris. 
 The bakers even sold the unbaked dough to persons 
 from the country ; and from fifteen hundred sacks of 
 tlour, the consumption had increased to nineteen hun- 
 dred. The abolition of the maximum had caused the 
 price of all edibles to reach an extraordinary height ; 
 to induce a decline, the government had consigned 
 divers articles of primary use to the sausage- venders, 
 grocers, and other sliopkeepers, in order that they 
 might retail them at low prices, and thus reduce the 
 general dearness. But the consignees abused their 
 trust, and sold at higher rates than they had under- 
 taken to observe. 
 
 The conmiittees were daily harassed with alarm and 
 solicitude lest the nineteen hundred sacks of flour, 
 indispensable for the diurnal consumption, should not 
 be forthcoming. Boissy-d'Angias, ivpon whom the 
 burden chiefly lay, presented repeated reports, with 
 the view of tranquillising the public, and inspiring it 
 with a confidence and security not enjoyed by the 
 government itself. In this situation, a constant war 
 of recrimination was waged between the antagonist 
 parties. " Behold," said the Mountain, " the precious 
 consequence of your abolition of the maxinmm ! " 
 " Behold," retorted the right side, " the inevitable ef- 
 fect of your revolutionary measures ! " Each urged as 
 the required panacea the accomplishment of its party 
 views, and often demanded mcasin-es the most alien 
 to the dolorous subject that stirred the strife. " Pmiish 
 all the guilty," cried the right side, "redress all inju- 
 ries, revise all the tyrannical laws, and rescind the law 
 of the suspected." " No," answered the Mountaineers ; 
 "remodel your committees of government, reinfuse 
 revolutionary energy into them, and cease to persecute 
 the purest patriots and to resuscitate aristocracy." 
 Such were the ideas jtroiiounded by the respective 
 factions for the alleviation of the public calamity. 
 
 It is always such moments parties select to press 
 hostilities the most fiercely, and to secure the triumph 
 of their peculiar tenets or desires. The report so long 
 expected on Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'IIerbois, Bar- 
 rcre, and Vadier, was now presented to the assembly. 
 The committee of twenty-one concluded for impeach- 
 ment, and recommended provisional detention. The 
 arrest was at once voted by an overwhelming majority. 
 With regard to the impeachment, it was decided that 
 the four inculpated deputies slundd be heard by the 
 assembly, and a solenm delil)eratit)n be subsequently 
 held on the merits of their case. Scarcely had this 
 resolution been passed ere a niotion was submitted 
 for reinstalling the proscribed deputies, who, two 
 months ago, had been relieved from molestation, but 
 not permitted to resume their seats amidst their for- 
 mer colleagues. Sieyes, who had studied silence for 
 five years — who, since tlie I'arly montlis of the Consti- 
 tuent Assembly, had sought to bury in ol)livion his 
 reputation and his genius, by crouching amongst the 
 centre, and whom the dictatorship had jjardoned as 
 an unsocial idealist, incai)al)le of conspiring, and ceas- 
 ing to be dangerous when he ceased to write — Sieyes 
 emerged from iiis long inanition, and ol)served, that 
 since the reign of tlie laws appeared to he returning, 
 lie would resume the faculty of speecli. So long as 
 the outrage perpetrated on tlie national representation 
 was not redressed, the reign of the laws, in his opinion, 
 
 was not established. " Your whole history," he said 
 to the convention, "is divided into two epochs: from 
 the 21st September, the day of your hiauguration, 
 until the 31st May, oppression of the convention ]>y 
 the deluded people ; since the 31st May until the pre- 
 sent moment, oppression of the peojile b^^ the tj^ran- 
 nised convention. From tliis day forth you will prove 
 you have become free, by recalling your colleagues. 
 Such a measure cannot even be discussed ; it is of 
 clear right." The Mountaineers vehemently contro- 
 verted this manner of presenting the subject. "All 
 tliat you have done, then, is null !" exclaimed Cam- 
 bon. " Those vast labours, tliat multitude of laws, all 
 those decrees which constitute the actual government, 
 are then null ! and the salvation of France, worked 
 out by your courage and etforts — all is null !" Sieyes 
 explained that he had been misunderstood. The 
 assembly, despite the protestations of the IMountain, 
 ordained the reinstatement of the deputies who had 
 escaped the scatfold. Those famous outlaws, Isnard, 
 Henri-Lariviere, Louvet, Larevelliere-Lepaux, Doulcet 
 of Pontecouland, entered amidst acclamations. " Alas 
 that a cavern was not found sufficiently deep," ex- 
 claimed Cht'nier, " to save from the executioners the 
 eloquence of Vergniaud and the genius of Condorcet !" 
 
 The ISIountaineers were extreiuely wroth. Several 
 Thermidorians even, alarmed at the reintegration into 
 the assembly of the leaders of a faction MJiich had 
 opposed so dangerous a resistance to the revolutionary 
 system, returned to the Mountain. Thuriot, that 
 bitter opponent of Robespierre, who had been saved 
 by a miracle from the fate of I'hilippeaux ; Lesage- 
 Senault, a man of prudent sagacity, but a decided 
 enemy to all counter-revolution ; Lecointre, in fine, ■ 
 the determined adversary of Billaud, Collot, and Bar- 
 rere, who had been pronounced a calumniator five 
 months previouslj', for having denounced the seven 
 surviving members of the old committees — all resumed 
 their seats on the left side. " You know not what you 
 are doing," said Thuriot to his colleagues ; " those 
 men will never forgive you." Lecointre proposed to 
 draw a distinction. " Recall," he said, " the proscribed 
 deputies, but inquire who amongst them have borne 
 arms against their country by inciting the depart- 
 ments', and such admit not into your bosom." AU, in 
 fact, had taken up arms. Louvet hesitated not to 
 avow the fact, and even moved a resolution that the 
 departments which had risen in June 1793 had de- 
 served well of the country. Here Tallien started to 
 the tribune, amazed at the audacity of the Girondists, 
 and repelled both propositions — Lecointre's and Lou- 
 vet's. They were severally negatived. Whilst thus 
 restoring the proscribed Giron(hsts, the convention 
 consigned to examination before the connnittee of 
 general safety, Pache, Bouehotte, and Garat. 
 
 Such indications were not calculated to allay agita- 
 tion. The scarcity still increasing, at length rendered 
 it imperative to adopt a step which had been deferretl 
 for some time, in the hojie it might be averted, for it 
 was one certain to inflame exasperation to the highest 
 ])itch. This reluctant measure was ])utting the iuha- 
 i)itants of Paris on rations. Boissy-d'Angias appeared 
 before the convention on tiie 2r)tli Ventos(> (Kith 
 Mareli), and i)ropose(l, in order to j)revent waste and 
 secure to every one a sufiiciency of food, that each 
 individual should be limited to a certain allowance of 
 bread. The number of individuals comjiosing each,, 
 family, he suggested, should 1k' indicated on the 
 tickets, and no more than one i)ouiul of bread de- 
 livered per head dail^y. Under this restriction, he 
 undertook to promise that the city would not lack 
 subsistence. The .Mountaineer Bonnne moved as an 
 amendment that the ration of labouring men should I 
 be extended to a ])ound and a half. The higher classes, | 
 he urged, had nutans of jirocuring meat, rice, and vege- 
 tables; but the l>o])tdat'e, being able to purchase bread 
 alone, ought to have an additional quantity. This 
 amendment of lionnne was adoj)ted, and the Tlienni-
 
 490 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 dorians regretted they had not themselves originated 
 it, in order thereby to gain the snpport of the people 
 and withdraw it from tlie Mountain. 
 
 No sooner was tlie decree passed, than it excited a 
 prodigious ferment in tlie populous quarters of Paris. 
 The revolutionists applied themselves to exaggerate 
 its consequences, and stigmatised Boissy-d'Anglas 
 witli the epitliet of Fumine-Boissy. On the second 
 day thereafter, 27th Vcntose, when the decree was 
 for the first time put in execution, violent commo- 
 tions occurred in the Faubourgs Saint- Antoine and 
 Saint-:\Iarceau. For the 636,000 inhabitants of the 
 capital had been distributed 1897 sacks of Hour: 
 324,000 citizens received the additional half-loaf as- 
 signed to operatives engaged in manual labour. Never- 
 theless, it appeared so novel to the people of the 
 faubourgs to be placed upon rations, that they nnir- 
 nnn-ed discontentedly. Sundry females, the habitual 
 frequenters of clubs, and always ready to raise their 
 discordant voices, broke into flagrant mutiny in the 
 section of L'Observatoire. The ordinary agitators of 
 the section hastened to join them. The united male- 
 contents proposed to march with a petition to the 
 convention ; but in order to frame a petition a meet- 
 ing of the whole section was requisite, and it was only 
 allowed to assemble on specific days — the decades. 
 Notwithstanding, they surrounded the civil conmiit- 
 tee, and demanded witli menaces the keys of the 
 building in which the section held its sessions ; and, 
 on the refusal of that body to surrender them, they 
 insisted that one of its members should be delegated 
 to accompany them to the convention. The commit- 
 tee acceded, and deputed one of its members to regu- 
 late the movement and prevent disorders. A similar 
 disturbance was proceeding at the same moment in 
 the section of Le Finistere. A crowd was there 
 gathered, which eventually blended with the muster 
 of L'Observatoire. The two conjoined marched to- 
 wards the convention. One of the ringleaders under- 
 took the part of orator, and was introduced with seve- 
 ral companions to the bar. The residue of the nnd- 
 titude remained at the door, making a fearful clamour. 
 " We are in want of bread," said the orator of the 
 deputation ; " we are ready to regret all the sacrifices 
 we have made for the revolution." At these words, 
 the assembly, stirred with indignation, interrupted 
 liim, and a number of members arose to rebuke such 
 unseemly language. " I^read! bread!" vociferated the 
 petitioners, striking furiously on the bar. At this 
 insolent demeanour, the assembly prepared to order 
 them from the hall. But the tumult abating, the 
 orator was permitted to finish his harangue: he 
 stated that, until the wants of the people were satis- 
 fied, tliey would never cease the shout of " The 
 republic for ever!" The president replied with firm- 
 ness to this seditious discourse ; and, without inviting 
 the petitioners to tlie honours of the sitting, dismissed 
 them to their avocations. The committee of general 
 safety, which had meanwhile collected several bat- 
 talions of the sections, caused the avenues of the con- 
 vention to be cleared, and dispersed tlie assemblage. 
 
 This occurrence produced a vivid impression on 
 the members of the national representation. The con- 
 tinual threats of the Jacobins scattered amongst the 
 sections of the faubourgs ; their inflanmiatory i)lacards, 
 wherein they announced an insurrection within eight 
 days, unless the patriots were relieved from further pro- 
 secution and the constitution of 1703 was put in force ; 
 their almost overt conspiracies, hatched in the coffee- 
 houses of the faubourgs ; and, lastly, this late attempt 
 to foment a commotion, revealed to tlie convention 
 the design of another 31st of May. The right side, 
 the restored Girondists, the Thermidorians, all equally 
 menaced, bethought themselves of measures to avert 
 the calamity of a fresh attack upon the national re- 
 presentation. Sieves, who now appeared prominently 
 oil the scene, and had been nominated on the com- 
 mettee of public welfare, !<ubuiitted to the united com- 
 
 mittees a species of martial law, framed to prevent 
 new outrages against the convention. This project 
 of law declared seditious every assemblage in which 
 propositions were entertained for assailing public or 
 private property, for re-establishing royalty, for sub 
 verting the republic and the constitution of 1793, for 
 resorting to the Temple or to the convention, or for 
 other analogous purposes. Every individual forming 
 part of such an assemblage was liable to transporta- 
 tion. If, after three summonses by the magistrates, 
 the assemblage failed to disperse, force was to be em- 
 ployed ; all the adjacent sections, pending the muster 
 of the public force, were to forward their several bat- 
 talions. An insult committed on a representative of 
 the people was punished with banishment ; an outrage, 
 accompanied by violence, with the penalty of death. 
 One bell only was to remain suspended in Paris, and 
 be placed on the tower of L'Unite. If a crowd marched 
 on the convention, this bell was immediately to sound 
 the tocsin. At this signal, all the sections were bound 
 to assemble, and move to the succour of the national 
 representation. If the convention were dissolved or 
 fettered in its lilierty, all the members who could 
 escape were enjoined to depart forthwith from Paris, 
 and repair to Chalons-sur-Marne. AU those elected 
 as substitutes, and all the deputies on missions or 
 furloughs, were directed to join them. The gene- 
 rals were with all speed to send them troops from the 
 frontier; and this new convention formed at Cha- 
 lons, concentrating all legitimate authority, was to 
 march on Paris, deliver the oppressed portion of the 
 national representation, and pmiish the authors of the 
 treason. 
 
 The committees hailed this project with rapture. 
 Sieyes was charged to digest the report thereon, and 
 present it without delay to the assembly. On their 
 part, the revolutionists, emboldened by the late de- 
 monstration, deriving in the scarcity an opportunity 
 most favourable to their views, perceiving the danger 
 of their party on the increase, and the fatal moment 
 approacliing for Billaud, Collot, Barrere, and Vadier, 
 manifested a most resolute spirit, and seriously re- 
 volved the expedient of a sedition. The Electoral Club 
 and the popular society of the Quinze-Vingts had been 
 dissolved. Thus deprived of those places of resort, 
 tlie revolutionists had of late overspread the sec- 
 tions, and filled the assemblies held every decade : they 
 chiefly occupied the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and 
 Saint- Marceau, the quarters of the Temple, and the 
 City. They met in certain coffee-houses situated in 
 the heart of these localities, and deliberated on a 
 movement, without having, however, any distinct 
 plan or well-defined leaders. Amongst them were 
 several men compromised by former deeds, either in 
 the revolutionary committees or in different employ- 
 ments, who had considerable influence over the mul- 
 titude, but none of them enjoyed a decided pre-emi- 
 nence. Being thus poised amongst themselves, their 
 agreement was not altogether harmonious : they held, 
 bej'ond doubt, no communication with the deputies of 
 the Mountain. 
 
 The old popular leaders, always in alliance with 
 Danton, Kobespierre, and the chiefs of the govern- 
 ment, had heretofore been instrumental in giving the 
 word of command to the jjopulace. But they had 
 perished witli tlieir superiors. The new leaders were 
 strangers to tlie new cliiefs of the Mountain : they 
 had in common with them only their dangers and 
 their attachment to the same cause. ]\Ioreover, the 
 Mountaineer deputies, forming the minority in the 
 assembly, and incessantly taunted with conspiring to 
 recover their lost power, the general fate of sup- 
 planted parties, were reduced to the necessity of daily 
 justifying themselves, and protesting tliat they were 
 not conspiring. The ordinary effect of such a posi- 
 tion is to create a desire that others may rebel, but a 
 repugnance to take the initiative in any preparatory 
 measures. Thus the IMountaineers constantly re-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 491 
 
 peated — " The people will rise — the people must rise ;" 
 but the.y did not venture to concert with them to pro- 
 voke the outbreak. Certain unguarded expressions 
 of Duheni and Maribon-Moutaud in a cafe were in- 
 deed adduced ; both were sufHciently devoid of pru- 
 dence and self-control to have uttered them. Decla- 
 matory harangues of Leonard-Bourdon at the sectional 
 society of the Eue du Vert-Bois, were also cited ; 
 they were such as might have probably fallen from 
 him. But it was not the less true that not one of 
 them held correspondence with the patriots. As to 
 Billaud-Varennes, Collot-d'Herbois, and Barrcre, who 
 were more interested than any others in the result of 
 a movement, they dreaded lest, by taking part therein, 
 they might aggravate tlie perils of their position, al- 
 ready too precarious. 
 
 The patriots, therefore, proceeded alone, devoid of 
 effective combination, as invariably occurs when in- 
 fluential leaders are wanting. They luu-ried to and 
 fro, passed mottos or tokens from street to street, from 
 «-ard to ward, and circulated tidings of intended peti- 
 tions or movements on the part of such and such 
 sections : such their desultory mana?uvres. At the 
 commencement of a revolution, when a party is full of 
 pristine vigour, with all its chiefs unscathed, when 
 success and novelty draw the masses in its wake, and 
 it disconcerts its adversaries by the unexpected bold- 
 ness of its attacks, it supplies the lack of combination 
 and order by enthusiasm : on the other hand, when it 
 is reduced to defend itself, is deprived of all inspiring 
 impulse, and is thoroughly known to its adversaries, 
 then must all its hopes rest upon perfect union and 
 discipline. But this discipline, always extremely dif- 
 ficult, becomes impossible when the commanding spi- 
 rits have disappeared. This was the position of the 
 patriot party in Ventose, year 3 (end of March) : it 
 was no longer the torrent of the 14th July, the 5th 
 and 6th October, the 10th August, the 31st May; 
 simply an amalgamation of men hardened in a long 
 course of civil discord, seriously compromised, fidl of 
 energy and determination, but less fitted to vanquish 
 than to combat with the obstinacy of despair. 
 
 In accordance with the established custom of pre- 
 ceding every movement by an imperious and yet 
 guarded petition, the sections of Montreuil and the 
 Quinze-Vingts, comprised within the Faubourg St 
 Autoine, composed an address, in strict analogy with 
 all those that had heralded the great insurrections. 
 It was fixed for presentation on the 1st Germinal 
 (21st March). This chanced to be the day on whicli 
 the committees had resolved to propound the law of 
 high police, the produce of Sieyes' fertile brain. It 
 was arranged amongst the patriots that the deputation 
 appointed to present the petition should be accom- 
 panied to the Tuileries by a large concourse : accord- 
 ingly, on tlic day prescrilsed, they repaired thither in 
 vast numbers, and as usual formed into multitudinous 
 groups, crying ever and anon, " The convention for 
 ever ! The Jacobins for ever ! Down with the aristo- 
 crats!" The young men of braided locks and sable 
 collars likcAvise poured from the I'alais-Koyal towards 
 the Tuileries, and fell into antagonist bands, shouting 
 " The convention for ever ! Down with the terrorists !" 
 The petitioners were introduced to the bar: the lan- 
 guage of their addn^ss was extremely temperate. They 
 adverted to the sufi'erings of the people, witliout any 
 peculiar bitterness ; they controverted the charges 
 alleged against the patriots, witliout recriminating on 
 their adversaries. Tliey merely remarked that in 
 these accusations both the past services of tlie patriots, 
 and the position in Miiich they had been placed, had 
 been overlooked; at the same time, they confessed 
 tliat excesses had been committed, but added, that 
 jiarties, of whatever complexion they might be, were 
 composed of men and iKjt of gods. " The sections of 
 the Quinze-Vingts and Montreuil," they said, "are 
 not here to ask of you, as general measures, eitlier 
 exile or effusion of blood against such or such party 
 
 — measures which confound simple error with crime ; 
 in Frenchmen they behold only brethren, differently 
 organised, it is true, but all membe'-s of the same 
 family. They are here to solicit you to employ a re- 
 source which is in j-our own hands, and which can 
 alone be efficacious in terminating our political tem- 
 pests : it is the constitution of 1793. From tliis day 
 forth, organise that popular constitution which the 
 French people have accepted and sworn to defend. 
 It will reconcile all interests, tranquillise all anxieties, 
 and conduct you to the goal of your labours." 
 
 This artful requisition embodied all the revolution- 
 ists contemplated at the moment. They dreamed, in 
 fact, that the constitution, leading to a dissolution 
 of the assembly, would restore themselves and their 
 leaders to preponderance in the legislature, the execu- 
 tive power, and the municipal administrations. In 
 this expectation they erred exceedingly ; but such was 
 their hope ; and they imagined that, without ad- 
 vancing obnoxious demands, such as the liberation of 
 the patriots under detention, the suspension of all pro- 
 cedures, and the incorporation of a new commune at 
 Paris, they would amply realise it by obtaining the 
 enforcement of the constitution. If the convention 
 refused their request, or evaded it by vague protesta- 
 tions, and failed to fix an early period for its accom- 
 plishment, it woidd thereby evince its repugnance to 
 the constitution of 1793 : so they argued. The presi- 
 dent Thibaudeau answered them in a firm tone, con- 
 cluding in these severe and reproachful terms : " The 
 convention has never attributed the insidious petitions 
 which have been brought before it to the hardy and 
 sincere defenders of liberty furnished by the Faubourg 
 St Antoine." When the p)residcnt had ceased, the 
 deputy Chales hastened to tlie tribune, and moved 
 that the declaration of rights be exposed in the hall 
 of the convention, as directed by one of the articles of 
 the constitution. Tallica succeeded him in the tribune. 
 " I beg to ask those men," he said, " who now approve 
 themselves such ardent supporters of the constitution, 
 who seem to have borrowed the rallyir.g-cry of a sect 
 which appeared at the close of the Constituent As- 
 sembly — ' Tlie constitution, rtothlng but the constitution,' 
 whether they are not the very parties who have shut 
 it up in a box ?" Plaudits on one side, murmurs and 
 shouts on the other, interrupted Tallien : he resumed 
 amidst the turmoil. " Nothing," he continued, " will 
 prevent me from expressing my opinion Avhen I am 
 amongst the representatives of the people. We all 
 desire the constitution, with a firm government — with 
 the government it prescribes ; and it is to be repro- 
 bated that certain members should encourage the 
 people to believe there are members in this assembly 
 who repudiate the constitution. It has now even be- 
 come imperative to prevent them, by the adojition of 
 distinct measures, from calumniating the pure and 
 estimable majority of the convention." " Yes ! yes ! " 
 resounded from all quarters. " That constitution," 
 proceeded Tallien, " which they followed up, not by 
 laws fitted to fulfil it and render its execution feasible, 
 but by the revolutionary government; that constitu- 
 tion, I repeat, must be brought into play, and vitality 
 imparted to it. But we will not be so inqirudi'iit as to 
 attemi)t putting it into execution witliout organic laws, 
 and thereby deliver it up, incomjilete and without safe- 
 guards, to all the enemies of the reinililic. AVherefore 
 I move that a report be, with all convenient dispatch, 
 digested on the means of executing the constitution, 
 and that it lie decreed, at this i)rcseiit moment, that 
 between the existing and definitive government none 
 other shall intervene." 
 
 Tallien descended from the tribune amidst general 
 expressions of apjirobation, for his re])ly had tended 
 to relieve the assembly from embarrassment. The 
 necessity of organic laws was a happy device for post- 
 poning the ])ronmIgation of the constitution, and like- 
 wise for modifying it. An opiiortunity was thereby 
 afforded of instituting a revision, such as that operated
 
 492 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 on the old constitution of 1791. The deputy Miaulle, 
 a moderate Mountaineer, acquiesced in the opinion of 
 Tallien, and admitted with him that the execution of 
 tlie constitution ought not to be unduly hurried ; but 
 he maintained there could be no inconvenience in 
 giving it publicity, and he proposed that it be engraved 
 on tables of marble, and exposed in all public places. 
 Thibaudeau, alarmed at the consequences of such 
 notoriety to a constitution drawn up in a moment of 
 popular delirium, yielded the chair to Clauzel, and 
 mounted the tribune. " Legislators," he exclaimed, 
 " we ought not to imitate those priests of antiquity 
 who had two modes of expressing themselves, the one 
 secret the other open. It behoves us to avow with 
 courage what we think of this constitution ; and 
 should I be doomed to death, as were those who last 
 year ventured to offer observations against it, I will 
 still speak." After protracted interruption, caused by 
 a series of acclamations, Thibaudeau boldly asserted 
 there would be danger in publishing a constitution 
 which was certainly unknown to those who so highly 
 extolled it. " A democratic constitution," he said, 
 " is not that under which the people themselves ex- 
 ercise all powers." " No ! no ! " responded numerous 
 voices. " It is," resumed Thibaiideau, " one wherein, 
 l)y a wise distribution of poAvers, the people enjoy 
 liberty, equality, and repose. Now, I do not perceive 
 these results in a constitution which would rear, by 
 the side of the national representation, an usurping 
 commune or a factious club of Jacobins ; which would 
 refuse to the national representation the direction of 
 the armed force in the city where it sits, and thus 
 deprive it of the means of defending itself and vindi- 
 cating its dignity ; which would grant to a fraction of 
 the people the right of partial insurrection, and the 
 privilege of subverting the state. It is idle to tell us 
 an organic law will correct all these inconveniences. 
 A mere law may be changed by the legislature, but 
 dispositions so important as those to be introduced 
 into such organic laws ought to be immutable as the 
 constitution itself Moreover, organic laws are not 
 made in a fortnight, nor in a month ; and, in the 
 interim, I suggest that no publicity be given to the 
 constitution, that fresh vigour be imparted to the 
 government, and that, if need be, additional preroga- 
 tives be conferred on the committee of public welfare." 
 Thibaudeau left the tribune amid vehement applause 
 elicited by the hardy frankness of his declaration. It 
 was immediately proposed to close the discussion ; 
 the president put the question to the vote, and almost 
 the whole assembly rose to affirm it. The discomfited 
 jMountaineers alleged that time had not been allowed 
 to comprehend the import of the president's words, 
 that they were ignorant of the proposition submitted : 
 they were not heeded, and the subject was disposed 
 of Legendre tlien advocated the formation of a com- 
 mittee of eleven members to undertake the task of 
 framing with all speed the organic laws wherewith 
 the constitution was to be accompanied. This sug- 
 gestion was instantly adopted. At that moment the 
 commit-tees announced that they had an important 
 report to present, and Sieyes ascended the tribune to 
 propound his law of high police. 
 
 Whilst tliese circumstances were proceeding in the 
 interior of the convention, tumult reigned paramomit 
 without. The patriots of the faubourg, who had been 
 unable to gain admittance into the haU, had over- 
 spread the Carrousel and the garden of the Palais- 
 lioyal ; they awaited with impatience, uttering their 
 accustomed whoops, tidings of the effect jiroduced by 
 the petition on the convention. Some of their num- 
 ber, descending from the galleries, came to report 
 what was passing to their associates, and, giving a 
 false account, stated that the petitioners had been 
 maltreated. Thereupon they were excited to fury ; 
 some hastened to the faubourgs, to proclaim that their 
 delegates were abused at the convention ; others over- 
 ran the garden, driving before them the young men 
 
 whom they encountered : they even seized three, and 
 threw them into the large reservoir of the Tuileries. 
 The committee of general safety, on learning these 
 disturbances, ordered the call to arms to be beateh in 
 the adjacent sections. The danger, however, was 
 imminent, and before the sections coidd be convoked 
 and marshalled, much time must necessarily elapse. 
 The committee was surroimded by a nmltitude of 
 youths, gathered to the number of a thousand or 
 twelve hundred, armed with bamboos, and eager to 
 fall upon the groups of patriots, who had hitherto met 
 with no resistance. It accepted their aid, and autho- 
 rised them to assume the police of the garden. They 
 immediately rushed iipon the groups, vociferating 
 " The Jacobins for ever !" dispersed them after a long 
 struggle, and even chased a portion to the hall of the 
 convention. Several of the fugitive patriots broke 
 into the galleries, and caused by their precipitate 
 arrival considerable confusion. Sieyes had at that 
 identical moment concluded his report upon the law 
 of high police. The Mountain demanded an adjourn- 
 ment, exclaiming, " It is a law of blood ! it is a mar- 
 tial law ! It purposes the removal of the convention 
 from Paris ! " With these shouts was blended the 
 noise of the patriots pouring into the galleries. A 
 scene of hideous commotion ensued. " The royalists 
 are assassinating the patriots !" roared sundry sten- 
 torian voices. Tmnult was heard at the doors ; the 
 president put on his hat. The majority of the assem- 
 bly arose, and stated that the exigency preconceived 
 l)y the law of Sieyes had arrived, and that it ought to 
 be instantly voted. " To the vote ! to the vote ! " 
 echoed through the chamber. The law was accord- 
 ingly put to the vote, and adopted by an immense 
 majority, amidst the din of uproarious cheering. The 
 members of the left extremity refused to take part in 
 the deliberation. Bj^ degrees comparative tranquillity 
 was re-established, and mdividual voices began to be 
 heard above the clamour. " The convention has been 
 deceived ! " exclaimed Duhem. Clauzel, entering the 
 hall, came, so he asserted, to reassure the assembly. 
 " We have no occasion to be reassured," angrily re- 
 torted divers members. Clauzel, however, continued, 
 and affirmed that virtuous citizens had congregated 
 to form a rampart with their bodies round the national 
 representation. His intimation was received with 
 apiilause. " Thou art the man," cried Kuamps, ad- 
 dressing him, " who has instigated these assemblages 
 to get an atrocious law passed." Clauzel essayed to 
 reply, but his intonation was too feeble to rise above 
 the storm. At length energetic remonstrances were 
 advanced against the law which had been voted with 
 such precijjitancy. " The law is passed," said the 
 president ; " it cannot be reverted to." " There are 
 men here conspiring with those outside," observed 
 Tallien ; " no matter, let us re-open the discussion 
 upon the project, and show that the convention can 
 deliberate calmly even amidst the howls of murderers." 
 The suggestion of Tallien was acceded to, and Sieyes' 
 project resubmitted to consideration. The debate was 
 prosecuted with more calnmess. Whilst the conven- 
 ticm was thus engaged in deliberation, the turmoil 
 beyond its walls subsided. The youths, victorious 
 over the Jacobins, craved permission to appear before 
 the assembly ; they were introduced by deputation, 
 and gave assurance of their jiatriotic intentions, and 
 of their zeal in the cause of the national representa- 
 tion. They then withdi'ew, rewarded by the applaud- 
 ing acclamations of the deputies. Tlie convention, 
 persisting to discuss the law of police without adjourn- 
 ment, voted it clause by clause, and finally separated 
 at ten in the evening. 
 
 This day left upon both parties the conviction that 
 a decisive crisis was at hand. The patriots, contemned 
 by the convention abruptly closing the discussion upon 
 their petition, and soundly beaten by bamboos in the 
 garden of the Tuileries, carried their wrath into the 
 faubourgs, and laboured assiduously to incite the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 493 
 
 pop\ilace to a movement. Tlie assembly saw clearly 
 that it was about to be attacke<l, and resolved upon 
 calling into requisition the tutelary law it had just 
 enacted. 
 
 The following day had been assigned for a proceed- 
 ing equally grave in character with that of its prede- 
 cessor in the calendar. Eillaud-Varennes, Collot- 
 d'Herbois, Barrere, and Vadier, were to be heard for 
 the first time before the convention. A host of patriots 
 and women had early hurried from their homes in 
 order to fill the galleries. The youths, more prompt, 
 l,iad anticipated them on the scene, and prevented 
 the females from entering. They had even rudely 
 dismissed them, and thence had resulted divers con- 
 flicts around the hall. However, numerous patrols, 
 distributed in the environs, had maintained public 
 tranquillity ; the galleries were occupied without much 
 disturbance, and from eight in the morning to mid- 
 day the time had been employed in chanting patriotic 
 airs. By one party was swig Le Receil du Ptuple, liy 
 the other La Marseillaise, pending the moment tor the 
 deputies to assume their seats. At length the presi- 
 dent took the chair, amidst cries of " The convention 
 for ever I The republic for ever !" The defendants 
 were introduced to the bar, and profound stillness 
 reigned through the expectant assemblage. 
 
 Kobert Lindet first demanded to be heard on a point 
 of order. It was immediately apprehended that he, 
 himself above reproach, and not at all implicated in 
 the accusations directed against the other members of 
 the old committee of public welfare, purposed to de- 
 fend his former colleagues. It was noble in him to do 
 so, for he had participated even less than Carnot and 
 Prieiu" [de-la-Cote-d'Or] in the political measiires of 
 that committee. He had accepted the department of 
 supplies and transports only on condition of remaining 
 a stranger to all the operations of his colleagues, of 
 never deliberating with them, and even of occupying 
 a different locality with his offices. He had declined re- 
 s])onsibility before any danger threatened ; the danger 
 come, he generously claimed it. It was deemed pro- 
 bable that Carnot and Prieur [de-la-C6te-d'0r] would 
 follow his example; consequently several members on 
 the right side simultaneously protested against Robert 
 l^indet being allowed to address the assembly. "It is 
 fiir the defendants to speak," lu-ged sundry deputies ; 
 " they must be heard before their accusers or de- 
 fenders." " Yesterday," cried Bourdon [de-l'Oise], " a 
 plot was hatched to save the accused ; good citizens 
 foiled it. To-day recourse is had to other means ; 
 scruples are suggested to honest men, whom accusa- 
 tion has severed from their colleagues, and influences 
 are used leading them to make common cause with 
 the guilty, in order to retard the course of justice by 
 fresh obstacles." Robert Lindet replied, that it was 
 the entire government now under arraignment; that 
 he had been a member thereof; that, in consequence, 
 he could not consent to be separated from his col- 
 leagues ; and that he demanded his share of the re- 
 sponsibility. It is hard to withstand a resplendent 
 manifestation of courage and magnanimity. Robert 
 Lindet obtained the leave he sought, and proceeded to 
 retrace with lengthened minuteness the vast labours 
 of the committee of public welfare; he ])roved its ac- 
 tivity, its foresight, its eminent services ; he inculcated 
 the persuasion that the excitation of zeal evoked by 
 the prolonged struggle had alone caused the excesses 
 wherewith certain members of that goverinnent were 
 reproached. 
 
 This discourse, of six hours' duration, was not heard 
 without frequent interruptions. Ingrates, forgetting 
 the services of the men under accusation, found this 
 vindication inordinately tedious ; some had even the 
 effrontery to declare that the oration should be printed 
 at the expense of Lindet, as it would be too costly a 
 publication to be undertaken by the republic. 'I'lie 
 Girondists growled when they heard the federalist 
 insuiTection and the evils it had caused averted to. 
 
 Every one, in fact, found matter of complaint. An 
 adjournment took place until the morrow, all vowing 
 to suffer no more such voluminous depositions in fa- 
 vour of the accused. However, Carnot and Prieur 
 [de-la-Cote-d'Or] claimed to be heard in their turn ; 
 they, too, wished to afford timely and generous aid to 
 their colleagues, and, at the same time, to justify 
 themsehes from a variety of charges which could not 
 press ui)on Billaud, CoUot, and Barrere, without im- 
 plicating them likewise. The signatures of Carnot 
 and Prieur [de-la-Cote-d'Or] were, in truth, attached 
 to orders the most strenuously objected against the 
 accused. Carnot, with his great reputation, the man 
 of whom it was said in France and in all Eurojie that 
 he oiyaniied victory, and whose courageous contests 
 with Saint- Just and Robespierre were topics of noto- 
 riety — Carnot must necessarily command attention if 
 not respect. The tribune was accorded him. " It 
 belongs to me," he said, " to vindicate the committee 
 of public welfare — to me, who first ventured to con- 
 front Robespierre and Saint-Just;" and he might 
 have added, " who ventured to attack them when you 
 obeyed their slightest wislies, and decreed at their 
 pleasure all the mandates of death they sought from 
 you." He pref;iced his remarks by an explanation of 
 the manner in -which his own, and the signatures of 
 his colleagues, non-participant in the political acts of 
 the committee, came to be affixed, notwithstanding, to 
 the most atrocioiis orders. " Overwhelmed," he said, 
 "liy multitudinous toils, having three and four hun- 
 dred affairs to regulate every day, and often unable to 
 spare time for necessary refreshment, we had agreed 
 to lend each other signatures. "We signed a multitude 
 of documents without perusing them. I signed war- 
 rants of accusation, and my colleagues signed ordci's 
 for movements, plans of attack, without either the 
 one or the other having time to seek exi)lanations. 
 The necessities of this prodigious labour had called 
 for such individual dictatorship, and it was recipro- 
 cally conceded. Never otherwise cotdd the work have 
 been accomplished. An order to arrest one of my most 
 efficient clerks in the war department — an order on ac- 
 coimt of which I assailed Robespierre and Saint-Just, 
 and denounced them as usvn-pers — that order I had 
 mj-self signed without being aware of it. Thus our 
 signatures prove nothing, and cannot ba made evi- 
 dence of our participation in the acts oljjected to the 
 late government." Carnot then proceeded to excul- 
 pate his accused colleagues. Assuming, without ex- 
 pressly avowing, that they had been of the ruthless 
 and violent in the committee, he asseverated they had 
 first arisen against the triumvirate, and that the in- 
 domitable character of Billaud- Varennes, in particular, 
 had beeu the greatest obstacle Robesjiierre encountered 
 in his progress. Prieur [de-la-C6te-d"()r], who, by 
 presiding over the fabrication of arms and numitions, 
 had rendered services equally signal with those of 
 Carnot himself, and who had granted signatures in 
 the same manner, reiterated Caruot's declaration, and 
 demanded, like him and Lindet, to share the respon- 
 sibility weighing upon the defendants at the bar. 
 
 Here the convention again found itself entangled 
 in the embarrassments of a question already several 
 times incidentally started, and which had invariably 
 led to dismal confusion. This example, given by three 
 men enjoying universal consideration, and coming for- 
 ward to ])roclaini themselves eo-obligants of the old 
 government, was it not a warning, an intimation to 
 it? Hid it not import that every one had been more 
 or less the accomi)lice of the former conunittees, and 
 that it, the convention, ought itself to solicit arraign- 
 ment, as Lindet, Carnot, and Prieur? In sooth, it had 
 not attacked the tyramiy until after the three men it 
 now sought to punish as the accomplices thereof; and 
 as to their remorseless passions, it had partaken them 
 all ; it was even more cul])able than thay, if it had not 
 been actuated by such ])assions, for it had sanctioned 
 all the excesses into which they had hurried others.
 
 494 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Tlius the discussion became, during the days of the 
 4th, 5th, and 6th Germinal (24th, 25th, and 26th 
 March), a continued storm. Every moment the name 
 of a member became implicated ; he chiimed the 
 rii^ht of justifying himself; he recriminated in his 
 turn ; and protracted and acrimonious digressions en- 
 sued, evolving topics most dangerous to handle. It 
 was accordingly ordained that the accused, and the 
 members of the commission of twenty-one, should 
 alone be permitted to discuss the facts, article by ar- 
 ticle, and tliat each deputy should be proliibited from 
 endeavouring to excidpate himself if his name were 
 mentioned. It was in vain this order had been pro- 
 nounced ; the discussion became genend again almost 
 every instant, and not an act was adduced which was 
 not the innnediate occasion of charges and retorts ex- 
 changed with frantic violence. The excitement pre- 
 vailing since the preceding outbreaks was only fanned 
 into greater fury ; tlie faubourgs rang witli but one 
 sliout — " We must to the convention, to demand bread, 
 the constitution of '93, and the liberty of the patriots !" 
 Unfortunately, the quantity of ilour reqiiisite to fur- 
 nish the eighteen hundred sacks not ha^ang arrived at 
 Paris on the 6tli, in the morning of the 7th only half- 
 rations were distributed, with promises of the remain- 
 ing moiety in the after part of the day. The women 
 dwelling in the section of Les Gravilliers, quarter of 
 the Temple, refused the demi-rations offered them, 
 and assembled tumultuously in tlie Street du Vert- 
 Bois. Some amongst them, alive to the movement in 
 view, strove to form a multitude, and, dragging with 
 them all the females they met, marched towards the 
 convention. Whilst they advanced in that direction, 
 the agitators hastened to the president of the section, 
 violently possessed themselves of his bell and the keys 
 of the public building, and proceeded to constitute an 
 illegal meeting. They appointed a president and secre- 
 taries, and read several successive times the clause in 
 the declaration of rights which declared insurrection 
 a right and a duty. The women, meanwhile, had 
 continued their progress to the convention, and created 
 a deafening clamour at the doors. They insisted upon 
 being introduced in a body ; twenty only were per- 
 mitted to enter. One of the number boldly addressed 
 the assem'nh% and complained of having received only 
 half-a-poxmd of bread. The president essaying to 
 repl}', they drowned his voice with shouts of " Bread ! 
 bread !" They internipted, by similar exclamations, 
 Boissy-d'Anglas, when he attempted to explain the 
 circumstances attending the distribution of the morn- 
 ing. They were eventually ejected, and the discussion 
 touching the accused deputies was resumed. The 
 committee of general safety caused these women to be 
 conveyed back to their settlements l)y the patrols, 
 and dispatched one of its members to dissolve the 
 meeting illegally convened in the section of Les Gra- 
 villiers. Those who composed it declined at first to 
 heed the exhortations of the representative deputed to 
 them ; but, seeing the armed force, they ultimately 
 dispersed. During the night, the principal instigators 
 were arrested and lodged in prison. 
 
 This was the third attempt at a movement : on the 
 27th Ventose, the commotion had originated on ac- 
 count of the system of rations ; on the 1st Germinal, 
 from the petition of the Quinze-Vingts ; and on the 7th, 
 from an insufficient distribution of bread. A general 
 outbreak was apprehended on the decade, a day of 
 iilleness and meeting in the sections. To obviate the 
 dangers of nocturnal congregations, it was decided 
 tliat the meetings shoidd be held from one to four 
 o'clock. This was but an insignificant precaution, and 
 one utterly inefficient to prevent outrage. The feel- 
 ing meanwhile gained ground that the chief causes of 
 these disturbances were the impeachment directed 
 against the members of the former committee of 
 ])ublic welfare and the incarceration of the patriots. 
 Several deputies proposed to abandon these proceed- 
 ings, whicli, however just the}- might be, were unques- 
 
 tionably dangerous. Rouzet suggested an expedient 
 whereljy a judgment upon the accused might be dis- 
 pensed with, and their lives at the same time spared: 
 namely, an ostracism. He maintained, that when a 
 citizen had rendered his name a subject of discord, he 
 should be banished for a time. His idea was promptly 
 discarded. Merlin [de Thionville] himself, aU zealous 
 Thermidorian and intrepid of mind as he was, began 
 to surmise that it would be better perhaps to avoid the 
 struggle. He proposed, therefore, to convoke the pri- 
 mary assemblies, put the constitution forthwith in 
 force, and refer the judgment upon the accused to 
 the subsequent legislature. ^lerlin of Douay strongly 
 supported this opinion. Guiton-ilorveau intimated 
 one of a firmer character. " The process we have 
 instittited," he said, " is a scandal : where are we to 
 stop, if we pursue all those who have made more san- 
 guinary motions than tliose charged against the ac- 
 cused ? It is difficult to say. in truth, whether we are 
 terminating or recommencing the revolution." The 
 convention was justly alarmed at the idea of resigning 
 authority, at such a moment, to a new assembly; 
 neither had it any uaclination to give France a consti- 
 tution so singularly preposterous as that of 1793; it I' 
 consequently resolved that there was no grounds for | 
 deliberating on the proposition of the two Merlins. ' 
 As to the impeachment alreaoN- commenced, too many } ! 
 revengeful feelings were enlisted in its prosecution to 1 1 
 allow of its cessation. It was merely determined that 
 the assembly, in order to meet other calls upon its 
 attention, should devote alternate day.s only to the 
 trial of the accused deputies. 
 
 This decision was, as may be imagined, far from 
 satisfying the views of the patriots. The whole of the 
 decade (10th Germinal) was spent by them in mutual 
 instigations. The sectional assemblies were extremely 
 tumultuous ; but the da}- elapsed without the dreaded 
 movement occurring. In the section of the Quinze- 
 Vingts, a new petition was framed, bolder in its terms 
 than the last, which it was agreed to present on the 
 morrow. It was read, in fact, at the bar of the con- 
 vention. '• Why," it ran, " is Paris Avithout a muni- 
 cipality ? Why are the po{)ular societies closed ? 
 What has become of our harvests? Why are assiv,- 
 nats daily depressed ? Why may the young men < 1 
 the Palais-Royal alone assemble ? Why are patrioi.s 
 alone found in the prisons ? The people are at length 
 determined to be free. They know that, when they 
 are oppressed, insurrection is the first of their duties." 
 The petition was heard amidst the murmurs of a ma- 
 jority of the conventi(m, and the acclamations of the 
 Mountain. The president Pelet [de-la-Lozere] sternly 
 rebuked the petitioners, and dismissed them from the 
 bar. The only satisfaction accorded them was the 
 transmission of the list of patriots under detention to 
 the sections, in order that they might judge whether 
 there were any who merited favourable consideration. 
 
 The remainder of the 11th was passed in exciting 
 the population of the faubourgs. Men canvassed the 
 various districts, repeating that on the following day 
 the convention must be visited, to again demand from 
 it what had been hitherto withheld. This phrase was 
 circulated from mouth to mouth tlirough all the quar- 
 ters occupied by the patriots. The ringleaders of each 
 section, without having any definite object, laboured 
 to produce a general rising, and to propel on the con- 
 vention the entire mass of the people. So success- 
 ful were their efforts, that in the next morning, 12th 
 Genninal (1st April), the women and boys mustered 
 in the section of the City, and besieged the doors of 
 the bakers, preventing aU applicants from receiving i 
 tlieir rations, and striving to draw them towards the 
 convention. The chief malecontents meanwhile gave 
 vent to all sorts of rumours : they asserted that the 
 convention was abfiut to depart for Chalons, and 
 abandon the population of Paris to its misery; that 
 the secfeion of the Gravilliers had been disarmed dur- 
 ing the night ; that the young men were gathered, to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FHENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 495 
 
 tlie nunihcr of tliirty tlioiisaiid, on the Champ de I 
 Mars, and that with their assistance it was intended 
 to disarm the patriot sections. Tliey forced tlie autho- 
 rities of tlic section of the Citj' to surrender th.e drums, 
 ■\vliich seizinsr, they carried through all the streets, 
 beating the call to arms. The contagion spread with 
 rapidity ; the populace of the Temple and the Fau- 
 bourg St Antoine arose, and, following the quays and 
 the boulevards, moved towards the Tuileries. This 
 formidable assemblage was composed of women, strij)- 
 lings, and intoxicated men ; the latter were armed 
 with clubs, and bore on their hats the words — •" Bread 
 and the constitution o/''93." 
 
 The convention was at this moment listening to a 
 report of Boissy-d'Anglas on the various systems 
 ado])ted to procure supplies of food. It had merely 
 its ordinary guard around it ; the rioters had already 
 reached the doors -, they inundated the Carrousel and 
 the Tuileries, and choked all the avenues, insomuch 
 that it was impossilile for the numerous patrols scat- 
 tered through Paris to approach in order to defend 
 the national representation. The crowd pressed into 
 the Saloon of Liberty, the vestibule preceding the hall, 
 and attempted to penetrate into the midst of the as- 
 sembly. The ushers and guard endeavoured to stop 
 it ; several men, armed with clulis, rushed forward, 
 dispersed all who offered resistance, charged precipi- 
 tately upon the doors, broke them in, and at length 
 all poured like a ton-ent into the middle of the con- 
 vention, uttering deafening shouts, waving their hats, 
 and enveloped in a cloud of dust. " Bread ! bread ! 
 Tlie constitution of '93 !" such were the cries voci- 
 ferated by this blind mob. The deputies retained their 
 scats, and manifested an imposing calmness. Suddenly 
 line of them arose and exclaimed — " The renublic for 
 ever !" All imitated him ; and the crowd likewise re- 
 sponded to the cry, but added, "Bread! The constitution 
 of '93 !" The members of the left side alone deemed it 
 fitting to cheer ; and they otherwise betokened that the 
 presence of the populace, in the national sanctuary, 
 occasioned them no feelings of regret or indignation. 
 The multitude, which had started without any specific 
 plan, whose leaders merely purposed by its means to 
 intimidate the convention, spread amongst the de- 
 puties and sat down by their side, but witliout ven- 
 turing to commit any violence towards them. Le- 
 gendre mounted the tribune. " K ever malevolence," 
 
 he commenced He was not allowed to continue. 
 
 " Down ! down !" roared the multitude ; " we have 
 no bread I" Merlin de Thionville, always prompt to 
 signalise the courage he had displayed at Mayence 
 and in La Vendee, quitted his seat, descended amidst 
 the populace, spoke to several of the men, embraced 
 them, received embraces in return, and urged them 
 to respect the convention. " To thy place !" cried 
 some of those on the Mountain. " ]\Iy place," retorted 
 ]\Ierlin, " is in the midst of the people. These men 
 have just assured me they have no evil intentions ; 
 that they have no wish to overawe the convention by 
 tlicir numbers ; that, on the contrary, they will de- 
 fend it, and that they are here only to make known 
 the urgency of their wants." " Yes ! yes !" exclaimed 
 voices in the crowd ; " we want bread !" 
 
 At this moment shouts were heard in the vestibule 
 of Liberty : it was a fresh j)opular Hood surging over 
 the first — a second irruption of men, -Avomen, and chil- 
 dren, vociferating in chorus — "Bread! bread!" Le- 
 gendre recommenced the speech lie had been waiting 
 impatiently to deliver ; he was again interrupted by 
 a vollej' of " Down ! down !" 
 
 The Mountaineers ])erceived that, in the present 
 state of afliiirs, the convention, invaded, outraged, and 
 overborne, could not enter upon deliberation, since it 
 was impossible for any voice to be heard -, and that 
 the only object of the insurrection must fail, as the 
 desired decrees conld not be passed. Gaston and 
 Dnroi, both members of the left side, arose and com- 
 plained of the condition to which tlie assembly had 
 
 been reduced. Gaston approached the people. •' My 
 friends," said he, " you want bread, the liberation of 
 the patriots, and the o<mstitution ; but for those pur- 
 poses we must deliberate, raid we cannot do so if you 
 remain here." The noise prevented Gaston from being 
 understood. Andre Dumont, who had superseded the 
 president on the bench, strove in vain to impress the 
 same reasons on the mob : he was not heeded. The 
 ]\Ionntaineer Huguet alone succeeded in making a 
 few words lie heard. " The people who are here," he 
 said, pitching his voice to its highest key, " are not 
 in insurrection ; they have come to press a just de- 
 mand — the enlargement of the patriots. People, main- 
 tain your rights !" At this instant a man mounted 
 on the bar, forcing his way through the crowd which 
 opened before him : it proved to be Vanec, who com- 
 manded the section of the City at the epoch of the 31st 
 May. " Representatives," he said, " you see before 
 you the men of the 14th July, the 10th August, and 
 ■dho of the 31 St Mai/." Here the galleries, the popu- 
 lace, and the Mountain, applauded most vociferously, 
 " These men," Vanec continued, " have sworn to live 
 free or die. Your divisions distract the country ; it 
 must no longer suffer from your animosities. Restore 
 liberty to the patriots and bread to the people. Give 
 us justice on the army of Freron — those gentry with 
 canes. And thou, holy Mountain," added the de- 
 claimer, turning to the benches on the left — " thou who 
 hast so often combated for the republic — the men of 
 the 14th July, the 10th August, and tlie 31st May, 
 claim thee in this moment of crisis ; thou wilt always 
 find them ready to sustain thee, always ready to shed 
 their blood for the country !" Shouts and cheers ac- 
 companied the concluding words of Vanec. One voice 
 in the assembly was thought to be detected in con- 
 demnation, but too indistinctly to be traced. An 
 immediate call was made for any one who had a charge 
 to advance against Vanec to come forward and give 
 it utterance. " Yes," cried Duhem, exultingly, " let 
 him speak it aloud !" 
 
 The orators of several sections appeared succes- 
 sively at the bar, and in somewhat more measured 
 terms ur,ued the same demands as the leader of the 
 City. The president Dumont replied, with firmness, 
 that the convention would attend to the wishes and 
 wants of the people when it was enabled to resume 
 its labours. "Let it do so at once," cried several 
 voices ; " we have no bread !" Thus the tumult con- 
 tinued for several hours. The president was exposed 
 to appeals and reproaches of all kinds. " Royalism 
 is in the chair," said Choudieu addressing him. " Our 
 enemies are exciting the storm," replied Dumont ; 
 " they are little aware that the thunder is about to 
 fall on their own heads." " Yes," retorted Rnamps, 
 " the thunder of your Palais-Royal youths." " Bread ! 
 bread !" interrupted the women, furiously. 
 
 At length the tocsin on the tower of L'Unite was 
 heard tolling. The committees, in fact, putting into 
 execution the law of high police, were engaged in 
 summoning the sections. Several of those bodies had 
 already taken up arms, and were marching to the 
 convention. The Mountaineers became more than 
 ever sensible of the importance of summarily convert- 
 ing into decrees the wishes of the patriots ; but for 
 tliat purjmse it was necessary to disengage the assem- 
 bly to a certain extent, and permit it to breathe more 
 freely. "President," exclaimed Duhem, "invite the 
 good citizens to retire, in order that we may delibe- 
 rate!" He likewise addressed the people. "The 
 tocsin has sounded," he said to them, " the drum has 
 beaten in the sections ; if you do not permit us to 
 deliberate, the country is lost." Choudieu took a 
 female by the arm, beseeching her to withdraw. " We 
 are in our own house," she replied, petulantly. Chou- 
 dieu turned to the jiresident, and told him that if he 
 did not know how to jierform his duty, and cause the 
 hall to lie evacuated, he ought to yield his place to 
 another. He again spoke to the mob : " Snares are
 
 496 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 laid to entrap you," he said ; "withdraw, in order that 
 we may accomplish your views." The people, per- 
 ceiving the signs of impatience manifested by the 
 whole" Mountain, prepared to retire. The example 
 once given, it was gradually followed ; the concourse 
 diminished in the interior of the convention, and be- 
 gan to decrease outside also. The bands of young men 
 could this day have done nothing against so immense 
 a multitude ; but the numerous battalions of the sec- 
 tions faithful to the convention were already arriving 
 from all quarters, and the crowd retreated before 
 them. Towards evening, the hall was entirely freed 
 both within and without, and tranquillity re-esta- 
 blished in the convention. 
 
 So soon as the assembly found itself delivered from 
 the mob, it ordered Boissy-d' Anglas to resume the 
 perusal of his report, in which task he had been in- 
 terrupted by the inroad of the populace. The mem- 
 bers were not yet restored to confidence, and they 
 desired to show that the first subject they entered 
 upon, after becoming free, related to the subsistence 
 of the people. At the close of his report, Boissy- 
 d'Anglas proposed to draw an armed force from the 
 sections of Paris to protect in the environs the con- 
 voys of corn. The decree for the purpose was passed. 
 Prieur-de-la-lNIarne proposed to conunence the distri- 
 bution of bread with the working-classes, which mo- 
 tion was likewise adopted. The evening was now far 
 advanced ; a considerable force was mustered around 
 the convention. A few malecontents, who still re- 
 sisted, had congregated in the section of the Quinze- 
 Vingts ; others, again, in the section of the City. These 
 latter had seized upon the cathedral of Notre-Dame, 
 and there, as it were, intrenched themselves. How- 
 ever, all apprehensions were at an end, and the assem- 
 bly was in a position to avenge the outrages of the 
 day. 
 
 Isabeau presented himself in the name of the com- 
 mittees, and narrated the events of the day, the man- 
 ner in which the assemblages had been formed, the 
 direction they had received, and the measures taken 
 by the committees to disperse them, conformably to 
 the law of the 1st Germinal. He related that the 
 deputy Auguis, being commissioned to visit different 
 quarters of Paris, had been stopped by the factious, 
 and wounded ; and that Peniere, detached to extricate 
 him, had been fired at and struck. At this recital, 
 cries of indignation burst forth, and vengeance was 
 demaiided. Isabeau proposed, first, to declare that 
 on this day the liberty of the convention in its ses- 
 sions had been violated ; and, secondly, to charge the 
 committees to take measures against the authors of 
 the enormity. The Mountaineers, seeing how promptly 
 it was intended to turn the abortive attempt to their 
 prejudice, received this proposition with murnmrs. 
 Three-fourths of the assembly immediately arose, and 
 demanded that it be put to the vote. Several mem- 
 bers exclaimed that it was a 20th of June against the 
 national representation ; that to-dny the hall of tlie 
 assembly had been invaded as was the palace of the 
 king on the 20th June ; and that, unless the conven- 
 tion took signal vengeance on the perpetrators, a 10th 
 of August would be shortly prepared for it. Sergent, 
 a deputy of the ^lountain, maintained that the move- 
 ment was attributable to the Feuillants, the Lameths, 
 and 1 )uports, who intrigued in London to urge the 
 patriots of Paris into imprudent excesses. He was told 
 in rejoinder that his wits were wandering. Thibau- 
 deau, who, during the late disturbance in the assem- 
 ])ly, had withdrawn, indignant at the violence offered 
 to its independence, now spi-ang to the tribune. " The 
 conspiring minority is there," he said, pointing to the 
 left side. " I protest I have absented myself for four 
 hours, because I no longer beheld the n:itional repre- 
 sentation here. I now retuni and support the proposed 
 decree. The time for weakness is i)ast ; it is the weak- 
 ness of the national representation that has always 
 compromised it, and encouraged a criminal faction. 
 
 The safer}' of the country is this day in your hands ; 
 j'ou will ruin it if you evince imbecility ! " The 
 decree was voted amidst protracted plaudits ; and 
 those outbreaks of wrath and vindictiveness, stimu- 
 lated by the remembrance of indignities and dangers 
 incurred, began fastly to miiltiply. Andre Dumont, 
 who had occupied the chair amidst the tempestuous 
 scene, ascended the tril)une, and complained of the 
 menaces and insults to wliich he had been exposed : 
 he afiirmed that Chales and Choudieu had exclaimed, 
 directing the attention of the people to him, that 
 royalism was in the chair, and that Foussedoire had 
 recommended, only the evening before, amidst a group 
 of persons, the disarming of the national guard. Fous- 
 sedoire gave him the lie ; but sundry deputies asseve- 
 rated they had heard him. " For the rest," resumed 
 Dumont, " I contemn all those enemies who would 
 have directed daggers against me ; it is the chiefs who 
 must be struck. The attem]it made to-day was to 
 save Billaud, Collot, and Barrere : I will not propose 
 to you to send them to death, for they are not tried, 
 and the period for assassinations is past, but to banish 
 them from the territory they infect and agitate by 
 seditions. I move the transportation, this very night, 
 of the four defendants whose case you have been can- 
 vassing for several days." This motion was hailed 
 with enthusiastic acclamations. The members of the 
 ilountain demanded a call of the assembly, and seve- 
 ral of them proceeded to the table to sign the demand. 
 " It is the last efibrt," said Bourdon, " of a minority 
 whose schemes are confounded. I move, besides, the 
 arrest of Choudieu, Chales, and Foussedoire." Both 
 propositions were decreed. Thus was terminated, by 
 a sentence of exile, the long process of Billaud, Collot, 
 Barrere, and Yadier. Choudieu, Chales, and Fousse- 
 doire, were punished with arrest. The course of re- 
 tribution did not stop here. It was recalled to memory 
 that Huguet had spoken during the invasion of the 
 hall, and had exclamed, " People, maintain your 
 rights !" — that Leonard-Bourdon had presided at the 
 ]inpular society of the Rue du Vert-Bois, and that by 
 liis incessant declamations he had tended to foment 
 insurrection ; that Duhem had openly encouraged the 
 insurgents during the irruption, and that on the pre- 
 vious days he had been seen at the Payen Cafe, in the 
 section of the Invalides, carousing with the principal 
 leaders amongst the terrorists, and inciting them to 
 insurrection : in consequence, Huguet, Leonard, and 
 Duhem, were decreed under arrest. Divers others 
 were likewise denounced ; in tlie number was Amar, 
 the most abhorred member of the old committee of 
 general safety, and deemed the most dangerous of the 
 ^lountaineers. The convention doomed him also to 
 detention. With the view of removing these alleged 
 leaders of the conspiracy to a distance from Paris, 
 it was suggested they should be confined in the castle 
 of Ham. The idea was adopted, and it was moreover 
 decided they should be conveyed thither forthwith. 
 It was subsequently determined to proclaim the capi- 
 ta) in a state of siege, until the danger should have en- 
 tirely subsided. General Pichegru was at that moment 
 in Paris, and in the height of his renown. He was 
 nominated commander of the armed force dui-ing all 
 the time the peril should continue ; with him were 
 conjoined the deputies Barras and ]Merlin de Thion- 
 ville. It was now six in the morning, 13th Germinal 
 (2d April) ; the assembly, exhausted with fatigue, 
 adjourned, confiding in the efficacy of the measures it 
 had taken. 
 
 The committees proceeded without delay to put in 
 execution the decrees which had just been passed. 
 That very morning, the four exiles were placed in 
 carriages, although one of them, Barrere, was ex- 
 tremely' ill, and dispatched towards Orleans on the 
 route to Brest. The like promptitude was shown in 
 removing the seven deputies condemned to detention 
 in the castle of Ham. The vehicles had tt) traverse 
 the Chiunps-Elysees ; the patriots were aware of the
 
 JIISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 4fl7 
 
 fact, and a crowd of them congregated on the way 
 with the view of stopping them. When the carriages 
 arrived, preceded by the gendarmerie, they smTomided 
 them in great numbers. Some vociferated it was the 
 convention retiring to Chalons, bearing away the fmids 
 of the treasury ; others shouted, on the contrary, it 
 was patriot deputies unjustly torn from the sanctuary 
 of the convention, and that to deprive them of their 
 finictions was against the law. They dispersed the 
 gendarmerie, and conducted the vehicles to the civil 
 committee of the section of the Champs-Elysees. At 
 Hie same moment, a mob attacked the post on guard 
 at the barrier of L'Etoile, seized the cannons, and 
 pointed them down the avenue. The commander of 
 the gendarmerie vainly attempted to parley with the 
 insurgents ; he was assailed and obliged to fly. He 
 hastened to the Gros-Caillou to demand aid ; but the 
 artillerymen of tlie section threatened to fire on him 
 unless he immediately withdrew. INIeanwhile, several 
 battalions of the sections, and a few hundreds of young 
 men, arrived, mider the command of Pichegru, elated 
 at the idea of marching under the orders of so cele- 
 brated a general. The insurgents discharged two 
 cannon-balls and a volley of musketry. Kaffet, who 
 tliat day commanded the sections, received a shot 
 fired close to his person ; Pichegru himself incurred 
 the greatest danger, and was twice aimed at. How- 
 ever, his presence, and the confidence he communicated 
 to those he led, decided the conflict. The insurgents 
 were put to flight, and the carriages departed without 
 further obstacle. 
 
 It remained to dissipate the assemblage in the section 
 of the Quinze-Vingts, Avith which had united the 
 muster previously formed in the cathedral of Notre- 
 Dame. There the malecontents had constituted them- 
 selves a permanent assembly, and were engaged in 
 deliberating upon a fresh insurrection. Pichegi-u pro- 
 ceeded to the spot, cleared the hall of the section, and 
 finally succeeded in restoring public tranquillity. 
 
 On the followmg day he appeared before the con- 
 vention, and announced that its decrees were executed. 
 Unanimous apjjlause greeted tlie conqueror of Hol- 
 land, who had, by his opportune presence at Paris, 
 thus rendered an additional service to the state. " The 
 vanquisher of tyrants," the president replied to him, 
 " could not fail to triumph over factionists." He re- 
 ceiA-ed the fraternal embrace and the honours of the 
 sitting, and remained for several hours exposed to the 
 gaze of the assembly and the public, who fixed all 
 1 )bservatiou on him alone. The cause of his conquests 
 was not investigated, the part due to fortunate acci- 
 dents was not weighed ; the results were great and 
 striking, and so brilliant a career Avas viewed with 
 universal admiration. 
 
 This audacious outrage of the Jacobins, whicli can- 
 not be better characterised than by calling it another 
 20tli of June, aroused against them redoubled acri- 
 mony, and provoked ncAv repressive measures. A 
 searching inquiry was instituted to discover all the 
 ramifications of the conspiracy, which was erroneously 
 imputed to the members of the Mountain. They had 
 held no commmiications with the popular agitators, 
 and their relations with them Avere limited to a few 
 ?neetings in cofTee-houses and to vague verbal cncou- 
 lagements ; nevertheless, the committee of general 
 safety Avas instructed to draw up a report. 
 
 The conspiracy was supposed the more extensiA'e 
 irom the circumstance of conmiotions having likewise 
 occurred in all the districts bordering on the Rhone 
 and the Mediterranean, at Lyons, Avignon, IMarseilles, 
 and Toulon. Previous denunciations had been levelled 
 at the patriots for quitting the conmiunes, where they 
 had signalised themselves by excesses, and gathering 
 in arms in the principal cities, both to avoid the notice 
 of their fellow-citizens and to coalesce Avith their ])ro- 
 totypes in those larger conmiunities, and form with 
 them a combined and formidable mass. They Avere 
 stated to be traversing the banks of the Rhone, liover- 
 
 ing in numerous bands around the environs of Avig- 
 non, Nismes, and Aries, and in the plains of LaCrau, 
 and committing robberies on the inhabitants re})uted 
 to be royalists. They Avere charged Avith the murder 
 of a wealthy proprietor, a magistrate of Avignon, who 
 had been plundered and assassinated. At Marseilles, 
 they were M'ith difficulty repressed by the activity of 
 the representatives present on the spot, and by the 
 measures adopted consequent upon declaring the city 
 in a state of siege. At Toulon they had mustered in 
 great force, and composed a multitude of several thou- 
 sand persons, almost after the manner of the federalists 
 on the arrival of Genei'al Cartaux in 1793. They com- 
 manded the toAvn b)^ their junction with the indivi- 
 duals employed in the navy-yards, Avho had nearly all 
 been chosen by Robespierre the younger after the cap- 
 ture of the place. They had many partisans amongst 
 the Avorkmen of the arsenal, whose mmiber exceeded 
 twelve thousand ; and all these men, when imited, were 
 capable of perpetrating any imaginable atrocities. At 
 this moment the squadron, in a complete state of 
 equipment, Avas ready to Aveigli anchor ; tlie represen- 
 tative Letonrneur Avas on board the admiral's vessel ; 
 troops for disembarkation had been shipped, and the 
 expedition was imderstood to be destined for Corsica. 
 The revolutionists, taking advantage of the opportu- 
 nity when merely a weak and uncertain garrison re- 
 mained in the place, and Avherein they counted several 
 partisans, broke into open insurgency, and in the very 
 arms of the three representatives, Mariette, Ritter, 
 and Chambon, slew seven prisoners accused of emi- 
 gration. In the latter days of Ventose (]\Iarch), they 
 repeated simDar acts of A'iolence. TAventy prisoners, 
 taken in a foreign frigate, were in one of the forts ; 
 these, they asserted, Avere emigrants whom it was in- 
 tended to pardon. They roused the twelve thousand 
 Avorkmen of the arsenal, surroimded the representa- 
 tives, Avho narroAvly escaped Avitli their lives, and were 
 only arrested in their career by a battaUon Avhich Avas 
 fortunately landed from the fleet. 
 
 These events, happening concurrently with those at 
 Paris, added to the apprehensions of the government, 
 and lu'ged it to increased severity. Injunctions had 
 been already issued to all the members of municipal 
 administrations, rcA'olutionary committees, and popu- 
 lar or military commissions, in short to all function- 
 aries superseded since the-9th Therm idor, to leave the 
 towns in which they had assembled and return to 
 their several conmiunes. A still more rigorous decree 
 was noAv fidminated against them. They having jms- 
 sessed themselves of arms distributed in moments of 
 danger, it Avas ordained that all those Avho Avere known 
 throughout France to have participated in the vast 
 tyranny abolished on the 9th Thermidor should be 
 disarmed. Upon each municipal or sectional assembly 
 Avas dcA'olved the task of designating the accomplices 
 of that tyranny in the A'arious comnumcs, and taking 
 measures to disarm them. We may Avell conceive to 
 Avhat harassing persecutions such a decree must luiA'e 
 exposed them, at a time when they had drawn upon 
 themselves so inveterate a hatred. 
 
 Nor Avas this sufficient to satisfy the ruling party 
 in the convention : it determined, moreover, to deprive 
 them of the assmned leaders they liad on tlie benches 
 of the IMonntain. Although tlie three principal had 
 been condemned to exile, and seven nu.ire, to wit, 
 Choudieu, Chales, Foussedoire, Leonard -Bourdon, 
 Iluguet, Duhem, and Amar, consigned to the fortress 
 of Ham, it held that others yet remained who might 
 prove formidable. Cambon, the Ttinancial dictator, 
 and the incxoralile adversary of the Tliermidorians, 
 Avliose insinuations on his jiroliity he had ncA'cr par- 
 doned, appeared an encumbrance certainly, and might 
 even be dangerous. It Avas alleged that, on the morn- 
 ing of the 12th, he had stated to tlie clerks at the 
 treasury — " There are tliree hundred of you here, and 
 in ease of accidents you Avill be able to resist ;" Avords 
 he might have probably spoken, and Avhich evidenced
 
 4S8 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 his unison of sentiment, but not his confederacy, ■with 
 tlie Jacobins. Thuriot, formerly a Thermidorian, but 
 again become a Mountaineer since the restoration of 
 the seventy-three and the twenty-two proscribed de- 
 puties, and a very influential member luidoubtedlj', 
 was likewise marked down as a leader of the faction. 
 In the same category were ranked Crassous, who had 
 been one of the most energetic supporters of the Ja- 
 cobin Club ; Lesage-Si'nault, who had concurred in 
 closing that club, but had since taken alarm at the 
 rapidity of the reaction ; Lecointre of Versailles, an 
 avowed opponent of BiUaud, CoUot, and Barrere, and 
 a receder to the Mountain since the return of the 
 Girondists ; Maignet, the incendiary of the South ; 
 Hentz, the terrible proconsul of La Vendee ; Levas- 
 seur [de-la-Sarthe], one of those who had contributed 
 to the death of Philippeaux ; and Granet of Marseilles, 
 accused as an instigator of the revolutionists in the 
 South. Tallien undertook the office of denunciator : 
 after nominating them from the tribune of the assem- 
 bly, he moved they should be arrested, and sent to 
 Ham after their seven colleagues. The selections of 
 Tallien were ratified, and the denounced representa- 
 tives condemned to suffer incarceration accordingly. 
 
 Thus, this movement of the patriots resulted in 
 drawing upon them additional severity ; they were 
 disarmed throughout France, and remanded to their 
 communes ; and in their fate they involved nearly 
 twenty Mountaineers, of whom some were exiled and 
 others immured. Every movement of a party not 
 sufficiently strong to conquer, only tends to hasten its 
 ruin. 
 
 After smiting individuals, the Thermidorians turned 
 with zest to the substance of things. The committee 
 of seven, charged to frame a report on the organic 
 laws of the constitution, declared, without reservation, 
 that the constitution was so vague it must be re-formed. 
 A conmiittee of eleven members was tliereupon ap- 
 pointed to present a new plan. Unfortunately, the 
 victory of their adversaries, instead of reducing the 
 revolutionists to order, only infuriated them the 
 more, and provoked, on their part, new and perilous 
 efforts. 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 
 COXTINUATIOX OF THE NEGOTIATIONS AT BASLE. 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE WITH HOLLAND ; ALSO WITH 
 
 PRUSSIA. POLICY OF AUSTRIA AND THE EMPIRE. — 
 
 PEACE WITH TUSCANY. — SUBMISSION OF CHARETTE 
 
 AND OTHER VENDEA.V CHIEFS. FEIGNED PEACE OF 
 
 THE BRETON CHIEFS. STATE OF AUSTRIA AND 
 
 ENGLAND. DISCUSSIONS IN THE BRITISH PARLIA- 
 MENT. — PREPARATIONS OF THE COALITION FOR A 
 NEW CAMPAIGN. 
 
 During these melancholy internal dissensions, the 
 negotiations commenced at Basle had been suspended 
 for an interval by the sudden demise of Baron von 
 Goltz. The most untoward rumours were forthwith 
 circulated. One day it was said, " The Towers will 
 never treat witli a republic incessantly torn by fac- 
 tions ; they will leave it to perish in the convulsions 
 of anarchy, without either attacking or recognising 
 it." Another day, the direct contrary was alleged : 
 " Peace is made with Spain ; the French armies will 
 advance no farther; negotiations are opened with 
 England and witli Russia, but to the prejudice of 
 Sweden and Denmark, who are to be sacrificed to the 
 ambition of Pitt and Catherine, and thus rewarded 
 for their friendship towards France."' Here malevo- 
 lence, careless of contradictions, prompted apprehen- 
 sions of what chanced to be most injurious at the 
 moment to France : were peace desirable, it proclaimed 
 ruptures; if victories were needfid, it deplored tlie 
 calamity of peace. Once, even, it strove to dissemi- 
 nate the belief tliat all pea<:e was for ever impossible 
 
 and that a protestation on the subject had been lodged 
 with the committee of public welfare by a majoritv 
 (if the members of the convention. An impetuous 
 sally of Duheni was the groundwork of this report. 
 That deputy had maintained that it was preposterous 
 to treat with a single power, and that peace ought to 
 be granted to none until they all solicited it together. 
 This doctrine he had embodied in a note which he 
 deposited with the committee of public welfare, and 
 thus arose the unfomided clamour concerning a pro- 
 testation. 
 
 The patriots, on their part, were equally busy in 
 jiropagating sinister statements. They said that 
 Prussia was purposely protractmg the negotiations, 
 in order to include Holland in a common treaty, and 
 thereby to maintain her influence in that country, and 
 save the stadtholderate. They complained that the 
 fate of the Dutch republic reiuained so long unde- 
 cided; that the French enjoyed there none of the ad- 
 vantages of conquest ; that the assignats were received 
 only at half value, and exclusively from soldiers ; that 
 the Dutch merchants had written to their Belgian 
 and French correspondents that they were ready to 
 transact business with them again, but only on con- 
 dition of being paid in advance, and in the precious 
 metals; and, finally, that the Dutch had permitted the 
 stadtholder to depart, carrying with him whatever he 
 chose, and had themselves sent to London, or trans- 
 ported on board the vessels of the East India Company, 
 a considerable projwrtion of their wealth. Undoubt- 
 edly, many difficulties had accrued in Holland, both 
 with regard to the conditions of peace and on account 
 of the extreme views of the patriot party. The com- 
 mittee of public welfare had dispatched thither two 
 of its members, fitted by their commanding inliuence 
 to adjust all differences. The conmiittee had craved 
 from the convention, with reference to the dehcacy 
 and success of the negotiation, the privilege of with- 
 holding their names or the object of their mission. 
 The assembly had acceded to the request, and the 
 members appointed had forthwith taken their depar- 
 ture. 
 
 It was natural that such important events, that 
 such high interests as were involved in their issue, 
 should excite contrary hopes, fears, and allegations. 
 But, despite all these rumours, the conferences con- 
 tinued auspiciously ; the Count von Hardemberg had 
 succeeded the Baron von Goltz at Basle, and appear- 
 ances promised a speedy settlement of the conditions. 
 
 Scarcely had these negotiations been commenced, 
 ere it became obvious that circumstances imperiously 
 demanded a modification of the powers vested in the 
 committee of public welfare. It was manifest that a, 
 government so completely open, unable to conceal 
 any tiling, to decide upon or to peribrm any act, with- 
 out a i)ublic deliberation, would be incajiable of ne- 
 gotiating a treaty with any power, howsoever frank. 
 In order to arrange preliminaries even, it is necessary 
 to sign suspensions of hostilities, and to neutralise 
 certain territories ; secrecy, above all, is indispensable, 
 for a power often negotiates long before it thinks fit 
 to avow the design. Moreover, there are frequently 
 articles which, upon every princijile of policy, should 
 remain unknown. For example, if one power under- 
 take to unite its forces with those of another — if it 
 stipulate the junction of an army or of a squadron — in 
 short, any concurrence of measures, the importance 
 of such combinations depends on their secrecy. But 
 how was tlie conmiittee of public welfare, renewed 
 by one-fourth every mouth, obliged to render an ac- 
 count of all ojierations, and altogether devoid of that 
 vigour and hardihood possessed by the old committee, 
 which scrupled not to act upon its own resjionsibility 
 — how, we ask, was it to negotiate, especially with 
 powers chagrined at their own faults, reluctantly sub- 
 mitting to allow their discomfiture, and all insisting, 
 either upon leaving certain conditions secret, or upon 
 not having the fact of their treating at all made
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 499 
 
 known until after peace was signed ? The necessity 
 it liail felt of sendinuc two of its members into Holland, 
 without imparting their names or their mission, was 
 the first distinct proof that secrecy had been ascer- 
 tained to be indispensable in diplomatic operations. 
 Acting upon this knowledge, the conunittee submitted 
 a decree conferring upon it the powers requisite for 
 treating with foreign states, a step which occasioned 
 fresh rumours. 
 
 Regarding simply the theory of governments, it is 
 curious to behold a democracy foregoing indiscreet 
 curiosity, surmounting its jealousy of jjower, and, 
 impelled by necessity, granting to a few individuals 
 the extraordinary privilege of stipulating secret con- 
 ditions. Such was the course of the convention at the 
 present moment. It conferred on the committee of 
 public welfare power to conclude armistices, to neu- 
 tralise territories, to negotiate treaties, and to settle, 
 frame, and even sign their conditions, reserving only 
 what veritably appertained to itself — the ratification. 
 It did more : it authorised the committee to adopt 
 secret articles, under the sole condition that those 
 articles contained nothing inconsistent with the patent 
 stipulations, and that they should he published so 
 soon as tlie occasion for secrecy was over. Provided 
 with these powers, the committee prosecuted, and 
 conducted to a happy termination, the negotiations 
 commenced witli different powers. 
 
 Peace with Holland was eventually concluded under 
 the auspices of Rewbell, and. above all, of Sieyes, who 
 were the two members of the government recently 
 accredited to Holland. The Dutch patriots accorded 
 distinguished honours to the celebrated author of the 
 first Declaration of Rights, and evinced a deference 
 towards him which smoothed sundry difficidties. The 
 conditions of peace, signed at the Hague on the 27th 
 Floreal, year 3 (16th May 1795), were as ft)llow : — 
 The French republic acknowledged the republic of the 
 United Provinces as a free and independent power, 
 and guaranteed its independence and the abolition of 
 the stadtholderate. An ofiiiusive and defensive alli- 
 ance was declared between the two republics during 
 the continuance of the existing war. This offensive 
 and defensive alliance was to be perpetual between 
 the two republics in all cases of war against England. 
 The United Provinces placed forthwith at the dispo- 
 sition of France twelve ships of the line and eighteen 
 frigates, which were to be employed principally in the 
 North and Baltic seas. They gave, moreover, as an 
 auxiliary force to France, the moiety of their army, 
 which, in truth, was reduced to almost nothing, and 
 required a total reorganisation. The demarcations 
 of territory were fixed in the following manner : — 
 France retained all Dutch Flanders, thereby complet- 
 ing its territories towards the ocean, and extending 
 them to the mouths of the rivers ; towards the JMeuse 
 and the Rhine, it obtained the possession of Venloo 
 and Maestricht, and all the country to the south of 
 Venloo, stretching on both sides of the Meuse. Tlius 
 the reimblic abstained from jjressing its extension to 
 the Rhine on this point, as was but reasonable. In 
 fact, in that direction, the J^hine, the Meuse, and the 
 Scheldt are so mingled together, that there is no clear 
 boundary. Which of those streams was to be con- 
 sidered as the Khine? It is impossible to decide, and 
 the question resolves itself into one purely conven- 
 tional. Besides, in that quarter, no hostilities could 
 threaten France except those of Holland, which were 
 not nuich to be dreaded, and therefore did not need 
 the protection of a strong harrier. In short, tlie ter- 
 ritory assigned by nature to Holland consisting of 
 alluvial soil accumulated at the moutlis of the rivers, 
 France, in order to include one of the principal streams, 
 must have appropriated three-fourths at least of that 
 residuum, ami thus pretty nearly aimihilated the re- 
 public it ha<l just enfranchised. The Rhine becomes 
 the limit of France, witli respect to Germany, only in 
 the vicinity of Wesel, and the possession of both banks 
 
 of the Meuse, to the south of Venloo, left that ques- 
 tion untouched. Furthermore, the French republic 
 reserved to itself tlie pjrivilege, in case of war towards 
 tlie Rhine or Zealand, of jilacing garrisons in the for- 
 tresses of Grave, Bois-le-Duc, and Bergen-op-Zoom. 
 Tlie port of Flushing remained in common. Thus all 
 necessary precautions were taken. The navigation of 
 the Rhine, the JMeuse, the Scheldt, the Ilondt, and 
 their several branches, was declared for ever free. In 
 addition to these advantages, an indenniity amount- 
 ing to one hundred millions of florins was paid by 
 Holland. To compensate the latter for its sacrifices, 
 France promised it, on the event of a general peace, 
 territorial indemnities Avrested from the conquered 
 countries, and most suitably located for the due de- 
 finement of the respective boundaries. 
 
 This treaty was founded on the most reasonable 
 bases ; the conqueror exhibited in its terms equal 
 generosity and acumen. The allegation is futile, that 
 by fixing Holland in its alliance, France exposed her 
 to the risk of losing one-half of her navy detained in 
 the English ports, and, above all, her colonies, aban- 
 doned without defence to the ambition of Pitt. Hol- 
 land, left in neutrality, would have neither recovered 
 her ships nor preserved her colonies : Pitt would have 
 still found a pretext for seizing on them in the name 
 of the stadtholder. The retention of the stadtliolde- 
 rate alone, without certainly saving either the Dutch 
 ships or colonies, would have deprived English cupi- 
 dity of all pretence ; but this maintenance of the 
 stadtliolderjite, with the political principles of France, 
 with the promises made to the Batavian patriots, with 
 the spirit which animated them, with the hopes they 
 had conceived when throwing themselves into the 
 arms of the French — was it possible, was it even 
 just ? 
 
 The conditions with Prussia were more easy to 
 settle. Bischofwerdcr had been consigned to prison ; 
 and the King of Prussia, delivered from mysticism, 
 had formed new ideas of ambition. He no longei 
 talked of upholding the principles of general order ; 
 he now panted to render himself the mediator of a gene- 
 ral pacification. The treaty with him was signed at 
 Basle on the 16th Germinal' (5th April 1795). It set 
 forth, in the first place, that there should be peace, 
 friendship, and good intelligence, between his majesty 
 the King of Prussia and the French rejiublic ; that 
 the troops of the latter should evacuate that portion 
 of the Prussian dominions which they occupied on the 
 right bank of the Rhine ; that they should continue 
 to occupy the Prussian provinces on the left bank, 
 and that the definitive allocation of those provinces 
 should not be decided until the period of general con- 
 cord. From this last condition, it was obvious that 
 the republic, -without j^et distinctly exi)laining its 
 views, had conceived the design of giving itself the 
 limit of the Rhine ; but that, ])ending fresh victories 
 over the armies of the emiiire and over Austria, it 
 deferred tlie solution of the diftii'iilties necessarily 
 attendant on the advancement of tliat lofty pretension. 
 Then only could it evict or grant iiideiiinities, when 
 its predominance was firmly establislied. Tiie French 
 republic, moreover, engaged to accept the mediation 
 of the King of Prussia, in efiecting a reconciliation 
 with the i)rinces and states of tiie (Jennan empire ; 
 it even jiledged itsi'lf to refrain, during three iiu)nths, 
 from treating as eneniii'S such of the i)riiices on the 
 right bank in belnUf of wiiom his Prussian majesty 
 should manifest an interest. This was an assured 
 metiiod of inducing the whole empire to seek iKiace 
 through the intervention of Prussia. 
 
 Immediately after the treaty was signed, the cabi- 
 net of Hcrliii solemnly announced its conclusion to the 
 empire, and detailed tiie motives which had influenced 
 the conduct of Prussia, it (k'tlarcd to tlie diet that 
 its good offices were at tlie disposal of the empire, if 
 it desired peace ; and, should the majority of tlie states 
 reject an accommodation, of those amongst them vrlio
 
 500 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 should feci constrained to nesrotiute separately tor 
 their individual safety. On her part, Austria ad- 
 dressed sundry bitter reflections to the diet : she stated 
 that she -wished for peace as much as any other power, 
 but that she deemed it impossible; that she would 
 choose the suitable moment for treating, and that the 
 states of the empire would tind greater advantages in 
 relj-ing upon Austrian lidelity, than upon perjured 
 powers which had failed in all their engagements. 
 The diet, to apjiear prepared fjr war even whilst 
 soliciting peace, decreed for the ensuing campaign the 
 quintuple contingent, and resolved that the states 
 which were unable to furnish soldiers, should have 
 the privilege of avoiding the obligation by paying 
 two hundred and forty tlorins in lieu of each man. 
 At the same time, it decided that Austria, having 
 become bound with England to continue the war, 
 could not act as the mediatrix of ])eace. and that such 
 mediation must be confided to Prussia. It only re- 
 mained, therefore, to settle the form and composition 
 of the delegation. 
 
 Notwithstanding this strong inclination to treat for 
 peace, the empire could scarcely do so in its collective 
 capacity ; for it must demand, in behalf of its mem- 
 bers who had lost their territories, restitutions which 
 France could not have made without renouncing the 
 barrier of the Khine. But it was manifest that, under 
 this impossibility of negotiating collectively, the seve- 
 r:d princes would throw themselves into tlie arms of 
 Prussia, and conclude, through her friendly agency, 
 individual accommodations. 
 
 Tlius the republic began to disarm its enemies, and 
 coerce them to adopt pacific views. Those only were 
 resolutely bent on war who had suffered severe re- 
 verses, and who entertained no hopes of recovering by 
 negotiations what they had lost by arms. Such were 
 naturally the dispositions of the princes on the left 
 bank of the Rhine, driven from their possessions, of 
 Austria, deprived of the Low Countries, and of Pied- 
 mont, despoiled of Nice and Savoy. Those, on the 
 contrary, who had had the good sense to observe neu- 
 trality, daily congratulated themselves on their saga- 
 city, and the advantages it had ensured them. Sweden 
 and Denmark were about to send ambassadors accre- 
 dited to the convention. Switzerland, which h;i(l 
 become the entrepot of continental commerce, adliered 
 to its prudent intentions, and addressed, through tlie 
 .medium of M. Ochs, to tlie French envoy Barthcleniy, 
 these admirable words — " A Switzerland is necessary 
 to France, and a France to Switzerland. It is, in 
 truth, reasonable to suppose that, without the Hel- 
 vetic confederation, the relics of the old kingdoms of 
 Lorraine, Burgundy, and Aries, would not have been 
 united to tlie French dominions ; and it is difficult to 
 believe that, without tlie powerful diversion and de- 
 termined interference of France, Helvetic liberty must 
 not have been eventually stiffed at its birth." The 
 neutrality of Switzerland had been uiiquestionalily of 
 eminent service to France, and had contributed to 
 save it from foreign conquest. To tliese reflections 
 M. Ochs added others not less elevated. " ^Meii will 
 perhaps one <lay admire," he said, " tliat sentiment of 
 natural justice which, leading us to rejiudiate all ex- 
 ternal intliience in the choice of our forms of govern- 
 ment, forliids us likewise to constitute ourselves judges 
 of the mode of administration adopted by our neigh- 
 bours. ( )ur fathers censured neitiier the great feuda- 
 tories of the German empire for vicing with the im- 
 perial power, nor the royal authority of France for 
 repressing its great vassals. They successively beheld 
 the states-general representing the French nation ; 
 the Bichelieus and Mazarines seizing upon absolute 
 power ; Louis XIV. concentrating in his own person 
 the entire power of the nation; and the parliaments 
 claiming to share public luithority in tlie name of the 
 people; but never were they heard in rash tones arro- 
 gating a riglit to remonstrate with France, at any 
 period of her history. The prosperity of France was 
 
 their prayer, her unity their hoi)e, the iutegritj- of 
 her territories tlieir reliance." 
 
 These principles, so enlightened and so just, con- 
 veyed a severe censure on the conduct of Europe ; 
 and the results which Switzerland derived from their 
 observance were a striking demonstration of their 
 utility. Austria, jealous of lier commercial activity, 
 desired to fetter it by establishing a cordon ; but 
 Switzerland reclaimed to Wurtemburg and the ad- 
 jacent states, and obtained justice. 
 
 The Italian powers longed for peace, or those at 
 least whom their imprudence might one day expose 
 to untoward consequences. Piedmont, although greatly 
 exhausted, had lost too much to forego all further a]>- 
 peal to arms. But Tuscany, constrained against her 
 inclination to break her neutrality by the English 
 ambassador, who, threatening her with a squadron, 
 had only allowed her twelve hours to decide, was im- 
 patient to resume her former jiosition, especially since 
 the French had penetrated to the gates of Genoa. In 
 coiiseijuence, the grand-duke had opened a negotia- 
 tion, which terminated in a treaty, the most easily 
 adjusted of all. Good intelligence and friendship were 
 re-established between the two states, and the grand- 
 duke restored to the republic the corn belonging to 
 Frenchmen in his ports, upon wliich an embargo had 
 been laid at the period of the declaration of war. 
 Indeed, before the negotiation, he had made that resti- 
 tution of his own accord. This treaty, advantageous 
 to France by facilitating the trade of the southern 
 departments, especially in grain, had been concluded 
 on the 21st Pluviose (9th February). 
 
 Venice, who had recalled her envoy from France, 
 announced her intention of appointing another, and 
 sending him forthwith to Paris. The Pope, too, on 
 his part, intimated regret at the outrages that had been 
 committed on the French. 
 
 The court of Naples, blinded by the passions of a 
 foolish queen, and instigated by tlie intrigues of Eng- 
 land, scorned all idea of negotiating, and made ridicu- 
 lous promises of aid to the coalition. 
 
 To Spain peace was still most needful : she seemed 
 as if waiting to be driven into it by additionid re- 
 verses. 
 
 A negotiation not less important, perhaps, wlien the 
 moral etfect it Avas calculated to produce is considered, 
 was that opened at Nantes with the insurgent pro- 
 vinces. We have narrated how it came to pass that 
 the chiefs of La Vendee, divided amongst themselves, 
 almost deserted by their peasants, followed only by a 
 few determined partisans, pressed on all sides by the 
 republican generals, reduced to the alternative of ac- 
 cepting an amnesty or undergoing extermination, had 
 been brought to treat of peace. We have mentioned 
 that Charette had agreed to an interview near Nantes, 
 and that the pretended Baron de Cormatin, Puisaye's 
 major-general, had presented himself as the mediator 
 tV)r Brittany, after having made a long tour with 
 Humbert, hesitating the wliile between the credit of 
 deceiving the reiiubhcans, completing an arrangement 
 with Charette and seducing Canclaux, and the renown 
 of being the pacificator of those celebrated districts. 
 The general rendezvous was at Nantes ; the inter- 
 views were to commence at the castle of La Jaunaye, 
 a league from that city, on the 24th Pluviose (12tli 
 February). 
 
 Ujion his arrival at Nantes, Cormatin attempted to 
 place Puisaye's letter in the hands of Canclaux ; but 
 the man, so intent on beguiUng the reiiublicans, lacked 
 wit even to keep from them a knowledge of this dan- 
 gerous communication. It was discovered and pub- 
 lished, and Cormatin constrained to asseverate that 
 the letter was supposititious, that he had not been the 
 bearer of any such document, and that he had come 
 with the sincere desire of concluding a peace. He 
 thus became more than ever committed ; his part of 
 a cunning diplomatist, deluding the repulilicans, con- 
 certing witli Charette, and winning over Canclaux.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 501 
 
 entirely failed him ; he was curtailed to that of a paci- 
 ficator. He saw Charette, and found him reduced by 
 his position to the necessity of at least temporarily 
 treating with the enemy; whereupon he no longer 
 hesitated in deciding for the accomplishment of a 
 peace. StiU it was agreed between them that this 
 peace should be merely feigned ; that, pending the 
 execution of her promises by England, they should 
 pretend submission to the republic, and strive to 
 obtain, meanwhile, the best conditions possible. So 
 soon as the conferences were opened, accordingly, 
 Cormatin and Charette delivered a note, in which the}- 
 demanded freedom of religious worship, alimentary 
 provision for all the ecclesiastics of La Vendee, exemp- 
 tion from military service and taxes for ten years, in 
 order to repair the calamities of war, indemnities for 
 all the devastations, the liquidation of the engage- 
 ments contracted by the chiefs for the supply of their 
 armies, the re-establishment of the old territorial sub- 
 divisions of the country and of its old mode of admi- 
 nistration, the formation of rural guards under the 
 command of tlie present chiefs, the removal of all the 
 republican armies, the exclusion of all the inhabitants 
 of La Vendee who had left the country as patriots, 
 and whose property had l)een seized by the royalists, 
 and, lasth', an amnesty common to the emigrants as 
 well as to the Vendeans. Such demands were pre- 
 posterous and altogether inadmissible. The represen- 
 tatives granted freedom of worship, indemnities for 
 those whose cottages had been destroyed, exemption 
 from service for the young men liable to tlie present 
 requisition, for the purpose of repeoi)ling the country, 
 the formation of rural guards, to be under the orders 
 of the administrations, to the number of two thousand 
 men only, and the payment of the obligations signed 
 by the leaders to the extent of two millions. But they 
 refused the restoration of the old territorial subdivi- 
 sions and the old civil administrations, exemption 
 from taxes for ten years, the removal of the rei^ubli- 
 can armies, and the amnesty for the emigrants ; and 
 they insisted upon the restitution of their property 
 to the Vendean patriots. They stipulated, moreover, 
 that these concessions should be embodied, not in a 
 formal treaty, but in ordinances to be issued by the 
 representatives on mission ; and that, on their side, 
 the ^''endean generals should subscribe a declaration 
 acknowledging the republic, and promising to give 
 obedience to its laws. A final conference was fixed 
 for the 29th Pluviose (17th February), as the truce 
 expired on the 30th. 
 
 A request was urged that, before concluding peace, 
 StoflBet should be invited to these conferences. Seve- 
 ral royalist oflScers desired it, because they held that 
 he ought to participate in the negotiations; the I'e- 
 presentatives were also anxious for his presence, as 
 they wished to comprehend all La Vendee in one 
 treaty. Stofflet was at this period swayed by the 
 ambitious Abbe Bernier, who was hostile to a peace 
 which would deprive him of all his influence ; and be- 
 sides, Stofflet himself felt indignant at the idea of 
 playing a second part, and at negotiations being 
 connnenced and carried on without his concurrence. 
 However, he consented to attend the conferences, and 
 he appeared at La Jaunaye, accompauied by a nu- 
 merous retinue of ofticers. 
 
 Great was the tumult consequent upon this gather- 
 ing. The advocates of peace and the partisans of war 
 evinced much nmtual exasperation. Tlie former clus- 
 tered around Charette : they alleged that those who 
 wished to continue the war were precisely the i)arties 
 who never engaged inaction; that the country was 
 mined, and reduced to the last gasp; that the powers 
 had done nothing, and would in all probability never 
 do anj' thing for them; and in whispers they added 
 too, that at any rate it behoved them to temjiorise, to 
 gain time by means of a simulated peace, and that if 
 F.ngland ever kept her jiromises, they would be al- 
 ways ready to rise. The partisan^ of war maintained. 
 
 on the other hand, that they were otTered peace merely 
 with the intention of disarming them, subsequentlj^ 
 violating all the conditions, and immolating them at 
 leisure ; that to lay down their arms, even for an in- 
 stant, would tend to slacken courage, and to render 
 all future insurrections inipractieable; that inasmuch 
 as the repviblic negotiated, they had good proof she 
 herself was reduced to deploraljle extremities; that 
 they only needed the exercise of a little more patience 
 and constancy to see the moment arrive when they 
 might attempt great things by the assistance of fo- 
 reign powers; that it was unworthy French chivalry 
 to sign a treaty with the secret resolution to break it; 
 and that, for the rest, they had no power to recogmse 
 the republic, for they should therebj- abjure the rights 
 of the princes for whom they had so long contended. 
 Several consultations were held by the two parties, in 
 which much asperity of feeling was manifested, and 
 even fierce passions engendered. On one occasion, so 
 violent were the reproaches and menaces levelled by 
 the partisans of Charette against those of Stofflet, that 
 a general combat was with difflctdty averted. Cor- 
 matin was one of the most zealous advocates of peace; 
 his fluency, his vehemence of action and opinion, and 
 his quality of representative of the Breton army, se- 
 cured him attention and consideration. L^nluckily for 
 him, he was accompanied by a certain Solilhac, whom 
 the central committee of Brittany had given him as an 
 attendant. Solilhac, amazed at perceiving Cormatin 
 enact a part so different from that he had been aj)- 
 pointed to perform, remarked to him that he was de- 
 parting from his instructions, and that he had not 
 been deputed to conclude a pacification. Cormatin 
 was thrown into the utmost perplexity ; Stofflet and 
 the upholders of war exulted over their opponents, on 
 learning that Brittany purposed rather to gain delay 
 and to concert with La Vendee than to submit, and 
 declared they wotdd never lay down their arms, since 
 Brittany was determined to support them. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th Pluviose (17th Feb- 
 ruary), the council of the army of Anjou met in a 
 separate room of the castle of La Jaunaj'e, to adopt a 
 definitive resolution. The oflEicers of Stofflet's division 
 drew their swords, and swore to cut the tliruat of the 
 first who spoke of peace; and they forthwith passed a 
 resolution to continue the war. In another room, 
 Charette, Sapinaud, and their followers, decided for 
 peace. At noon a meeting was to be held, under a 
 tent pitched on the lawn, with the rejjresentatives of 
 the people. Stofflet, not venturing to confront them 
 with the declaration of his intentions, sent to inform 
 them tliat lie declined their propositions. The repre- 
 sentatives left at the prescribed distance the detach- 
 ment which attended tliem, and entered the tent. 
 Charette left his Vendeans at the same interval, and 
 repaired to the rendezvous, accompanied only by liis 
 principal ofticers. Meanwhile, Stotiiet was seen to 
 mount his horse, with the infuriateil partisans who 
 followed liim, and depart at full gallop, waving his 
 hat, and sl'.outing "Long live tlie king!" There was 
 little to discuss under the tent where Sapiii;;ud and 
 Charette had n)et tiie representatives, for the ultima- 
 tum of the latter had been jjreviously accepted. ']"he 
 stijmlations were respectively subscribed. Ch.arette, 
 Sapinaud, Cormatin, and the other oflicer.s, signed an 
 act of submission to the laws of tlie repulilic; tlie re- 
 presentatives delivered the ordinances containing tlie 
 conditions granted to tlte \'en(k'an cliiefs. A mutual 
 suavity and politeness illustrated the conference, and 
 all things seemed to betoken a sincere reconciliation. 
 
 The representatives, desirous of throwing a lustre 
 upon the submission of Charette, made iirejjarations 
 fur giving him a magnificent reception in Nantes. 
 Tlie most exulierant joy r<'igncd in that jiatriotic city. 
 The inhabitants rejoiced in the brlief tli;it at length 
 the calamity of civU war was aluait to terminatt; ; 
 they hailed witli rapture the return of so distinguished 
 a man as Charette into the bosom of the republic 
 2K
 
 502 
 
 HISTORY OF TUE FKEiNCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and dwelt complacently on the probability of his 
 sword being henceforth devoted to its service. On 
 tlie day appointed for his solemn entry, the national 
 guard and the army of the West were drawn u]) under 
 arms. The whole population flocked, fidl of gladness 
 and curiosity, to behold and honour the celebrated 
 chief He was received with shouts of "The repub- 
 lic for ever ! Charette for ever !" He wore the cos- 
 tume of a Vendean general, relieved by the tricoloured 
 cockade. In character, Charette was stern, distrust- 
 ful, cunning, and intrepid; and these qualities were 
 depicted on his countenance and in his deportment. 
 Of medium stature, his small and sparkling eye, nose 
 of Tartar form, and ample mouth, gave him a strange 
 and peculiar expression, but one singidarly appropriate 
 to his character withal. Whilst thus congregated to 
 greet him, all sought to penetrate the sentiments pass- 
 ing in his mind. The royalists were fain to detect 
 perplexity and remorse in his features. The repulv 
 licans found him delighted, almost intoxicated with 
 his triumph. He might have reasonably been so, de- 
 spite the embarrassment of his position; for his ene- 
 mies accorded hira the first grateful recompense he 
 had yet received for his exploits. 
 
 Inimediately after the conclusion of the peace, the 
 representatives determined upon renewed efforts to 
 win over Stofflet, a'ud to induce the Chouans to accept 
 the conditions granted to Charette. The latter ap- 
 peared cordial in his manifestations ; he circulated pro- 
 clamations through the country, urging all to return 
 to their duty. The inhabitants were in general over- 
 joyed at the pacification. The men completely addict- 
 ed to war were organised into rural guards, and their 
 command was intrusted to Charette, with authority 
 to form the police of the country. This was in ac- 
 cordance with a suggestion of Iloche, perverted to 
 satisfy the Vendean chiefs, who, entertaining both 
 ulterior views and present doubts, desired to retain 
 under their orders the men most inured to martial 
 life. Charette even promised his assistance against 
 Stofflet, if he, hard pressed in Upper Vendee, shoidd 
 fall back on the Marais. 
 
 General Canclaux was sent without delay in pursuit 
 of Stofflet. Merely leaving a corps of observation 
 around Charette's district, he moved the greater part 
 of his troops on the Layon. Stofflet, anxious to mag- 
 nify his importance by a brilliant achievement, made 
 an attempt on Chalonne, which was vigorously re- 
 pulsed, and he recoiled on Saint-Florent. He declared 
 Charette a traitor to the cause of royalty, and caused 
 sentence of death to be pronounced against him. The 
 representatives, aware that such a war was to be ter- 
 minated, not only by force of arms, but by giving a 
 counter interest to the motives of the ambitious 
 leaders, by bestowing pecuniary aids on men impo- 
 verished and without resources, likewise employed 
 the agency of money. The committee of public welfare 
 had opened them a credit on its secret funds. They 
 distributed 60,000 francs in specie, and .365,000 in assig- 
 nats, amongst sundry officers of Stofflet. His major- 
 general, Trotouin, received 100,000 francs, half in 
 money and half in assignats, and deserted him. He 
 addressed a letter to the officers of the armyof Anjou, 
 exhorting them to peace, adducing such reasons as 
 were best adapted to shake their constancy. 
 
 Whilst these measures were in progress touching 
 the army of Anjou, the representatives, pacificators 
 of La Vendee, repaired to Brittany, with the view of 
 bringing the Chouans into a similar accommodation. 
 Cormatin accompanied them; he was now altogether 
 committed to the system of peace, and indulged hopes 
 of repeating at Rennes the triumphal entry of Cha- 
 rette at Nantes. Notwithstanding the truce, several 
 acts of rapine had been perpetrated by the Chouans. 
 They being for the most part mere bandits, without 
 attachment to any cause, and concerning themselves 
 but little about the political views which induced their 
 chiefs to sign a suspension of arms, took no heed as to 
 
 its observance, and thought only of pillage and bootj'. 
 Some of the representatives, viewing this conduct of 
 the Bretons in a serious liglit, began to doubt their 
 intentions, and to apprehend that all expectation of 
 lieace must be abandoned. Boursaidt was the most 
 disposed to encourage these nusgivings. The repre- 
 sentative BoUet, (m the contrary, a zealous advocate 
 of peace, held that, despite certain acts of hostility, 
 an accommodation was ])racticable, and that mildness 
 would be eventually efficacious in quelling the dis- 
 turbances. Hoche, meanwhile, flying from canton- 
 ment to cantonment, at distances of eighty leagues, 
 never enjoying a moment of repose — placed between 
 the representatives who advocated war and those who 
 advocated peace — between the Jacobins of the towns, 
 who accused him of weakness and treachery, and the 
 royalists, who denounced him for barbarity — Hoche was 
 sickened with disgust, though his ardour remained 
 unabated. "You wish me another campaign of the 
 Vosges," he wi'ote to one of his friends; "how would 
 you make such a campaign against Chouans, auA 
 almost without an army ?" This young hero saw his 
 talents wasted in an ungrateful war, whilst generals 
 greatly inferior to himself were reaping immortal 
 liononr in Holland and on the Rhine, at the head of 
 the finest armies of the republic. Still he prosecuted 
 his mission with zeal, and with a profoxind apprecia- 
 tion of men and of his own position. We have seen 
 that he had already proffered the most prudent coun- 
 sels — as, for example, to indemnify those insurgents 
 who had continued the avocation of peasants, and to 
 enrol those whom war had converted into soldiers. 
 Further acquaintance with the country had unfolded 
 to him the veritable means of appeasing the inhabi- 
 tants and attaching them to the republic. 
 
 "We must continue to treat with the chiefs of the 
 Chouans," he said ; " their good faith is doubtless 
 problematical, but we must display it towards them. 
 We shall thus, by infusing confidence, gain over tliose 
 who ask only to have their doubts removed. Such as 
 are ambitious should be tempted by militar}' rank — 
 such as are poor and needy by money ; thus they will 
 be divided amongst themselves, and those Avho may 
 be surely relied on can be intrusted with tlie rural 
 police, having territorial guards assigned to them, the 
 institution whereof has been already sanctioned. At 
 the same time, twenty-five thousand men ought to be 
 distributed in several camps, to watch over the whole 
 country; a service of gunboats placed along the 
 coasts, to be in perpetual activity; and the arsenals, 
 arms, and munitions, transferred from open towns to 
 fortified places and forts. xVs to the inhabitants, the 
 priests should be employed to influence them, and as- 
 sistance judiciously administered to the indigent. If 
 we succeed in reviving confidence by means of the 
 priests, Chouannerie will subside at once." 
 
 "Circulate," he wrote to his general officers on the 
 27 th Ventose — " circidate the beneficial law just passed 
 by the convention on the freedom of worship, and 
 vindicate religious tolerance in your own persons. 
 The priests, convinced that they will not be disturbed 
 for the future in the exercise of their ministry, will 
 become your friends, were it oidy to secure tranquil- 
 lity. Their profession disjjoses them to peace: see 
 them, and urge upon them that the continuation 
 of the war will expose them to the risk of being 
 harassed and molested, not by the republicans, who 
 respect religious opinions, but by the Chouans, who 
 acknowdedge neither God nor law. and are solely in- 
 tent on keeping the country in a state of alarm, and 
 on plundering. Amongst tliem are many extremely 
 j)oor, and in general they are very covetous; be care- 
 ful to offer them assistance, but not ostentatiously ; 
 on the contrary, with all the delicacy of which you are 
 capable. Through them you will learn all the manreu- 
 vres of the party, and obtain their influence to keep 
 the peasants in their fields and prevent them from 
 going to fight You perceive that, to attain this ob-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 605 
 
 ject, mildness, amenity, and candom" are requisite. 
 Engage some officers and soldiers to attend with 
 decorum some of their ceremonies, but with strong 
 injunctions never to disturb them. Tlie country ex- 
 pects from you the greatest zeal; all means are lawful 
 in its service, when they are consistent with the laws 
 and with republican honour and dignity." Hoclie 
 appended to these exhortations a recommendation not 
 to draw any tiling for the subsistence of the army 
 from the country, at least for a time. With regard 
 to the designs of the English, he advised, in order to 
 balk them, that Jersey and Guernsey should be seized 
 upon, and a Cliouannerie introduced into England, 
 to give them occupation at home. He cast his eyes 
 also on Ireland; but on this topic he wrote that he 
 would personally explain his views to the committee 
 of public welfare. 
 
 This policy, dictated by sound discretion, and em- 
 jiloyed in various localities with exemplary address, 
 liad already been attended with marked success. 
 Brittany was completely divided; all the Chouans 
 who appeared at Rennes were caressed, subsidised, 
 inspired with confidence, and prevailed on to lay 
 down their arms. Others, more obstinate, and relying 
 on Stofflet and Puisaye, determined to persevere in 
 carrying on the war. Cormatin continued to traverse 
 the country, urging all to treat, and endeavouring to 
 draw them to La Prevalaye. Notwithstanding the 
 ardour this adventurer manifested in pacifying the 
 country, Hoche, who had penetrated his character, 
 and duly estimated his instability and vainglory, 
 distrusted him, and doubted he would break faith 
 with the republicans as previously with the royal- 
 ists. He observed him with close attention, to satisfy 
 himself whether he were labouring sincerel)^ and 
 without ulterior views, in the great work of pacifi- 
 cation. 
 
 Singular intrigues were brought to bear on these 
 efibrts of the republicans to promote a general pacifi- 
 cation. We have seen that Puisaye had proceeded to 
 London with the view of gaining the concurrence of 
 the English cabinet in prosecution of his projects; 
 and we have seen the three French princes scattered 
 over the continent, one awaiting the course of events 
 at x\rnheim, another fighting on the Rhine, and the 
 third, in his character of regent, corresponding from 
 Verona with all the European cabinets, and maintain- 
 ing a secret agency at Paris. Puisaye had conducted 
 his negotiations with equal skill and activity. Dis- 
 regarding the old Duke of Harcourt, the regent's 
 useless ambassador at London, he addressed himself 
 directly to the English ministry. Pitt, usually inac- 
 cessible to the emigrants who abounded in the streets 
 of London, and besieged him with projects and de- 
 mands, promptly received the organiser of Brittany, 
 and introduced him to the minister of war, Mr Wind- 
 ham, who was an ardent friend of monarchy, and ad- 
 vocated its maintenance or re-establisjiment through- 
 out the globe. Puisaj'c's designs, after undergoing a 
 rigid examination, were cordially adopted. England 
 promised an army, a fleet, money, arms, and munitions, 
 for a descent on the coasts of France, but imposed se- 
 crecy on Puisaye with regard to his countrymen, and 
 esi)ecially as to the Duke of Harcourt, the envoy of 
 the regent. This accorded with Puisaye's own views, 
 who was ambitious of acting entirely by himself: he 
 remained impenetraljle to tlie Duke of Harcourt, to 
 , all the other agents of tlie princes in London, and in 
 particular to the agents at Paris, who corresijondcd 
 with the secretary of the Duke of Harcourt. He 
 merely wrote to the Count d'Artois reciuesting from 
 him extraordinary powers, and urging him to come 
 over and put himself at the head of the expedition. 
 'J'he prince forwarded the powers, and intimated his 
 intention of assuming the command in jierson. In a 
 short time the projects of Puisaye were suspected, 
 despite his efforts to conceal them. All the emi- 
 grants, repulsed by Pitt and amused by Puisaye, were 
 
 unanimous in their denunciations. According to 
 them, Puisaye was a base intriguer, sold to the per- 
 fidious Pitt, and meditating most suspicious schemes. 
 This opinion, diligently inculcated at London, soon 
 travelled to the counsellors of the regent at Verona. 
 Already, in tliat petty court, great distrust of Eng- 
 land prevailed — in fact ever since the affair of Tou- 
 lon ; and now that she proposed to make use of one 
 of the princes, the utmost anxiety was engendered. 
 On this occasion, it demanded with extraordinary 
 solicitude what she intended to make of the Count 
 d'Artois; why the name t>f Monsieur was excluded 
 from her designs; whether she thought he could be 
 dispensed with, &c. The agents at Paris, who held 
 their mission from the regent, and participated in his 
 ideas respecting England, being unable to obtaui any 
 communication from Puisaye, repeated the same objec- 
 tions to the enterprise preparing in London. Another 
 motive induced them still more to discountenance 
 it. The regent entertained tlnuights of recurring to 
 Spain, and proposed to remove into that country, in 
 order to be nearer La Vendee and Charette, whom he 
 especially idolised as a hero. The agents at Paris, on 
 their part, had oi)ened a communication with an emis- 
 sary of S]iain, who had strongly urged them to avail 
 themselves of that power, and promised it would effect 
 for Monsieur and Charette what England was pro- 
 jecting for the Count d'Artois and Puisaye. But it 
 would be requisite to wait until Monsieur could be 
 transported from the Alps to the Pyrenees by the 
 Mediterranean, and a considerable expedition be pre- 
 pared. The Parisian intriguers, therefore, were stre- 
 nuous in extolling Spain. They pretended slie would 
 exasperate the French less than England, because her 
 interests were less directly opposed to France; more- 
 over, that she had already gained Tallien through 
 his wife, the daughter of the Spanish banker Caba- 
 rus; and they scrupled not to affirm that they were 
 sure of Hoclie, so little did inipostiu'e cost them, to 
 give importance to their projects. But after uU, 
 Spain, with her fleets and armies, was of little mo- 
 ment, as they represented, in comparison with the 
 grand schemes they were concocting in the interior. 
 From their central position hi the heart of tlie cajji- 
 tal, they professed to discern a decided feeling of in- 
 dignation harboured against the revolutionary system. 
 This sentiment, they alleged, must be fostered, and 
 adroitly turned to the advantage of royalty ; but, for 
 that purpose, the royalists ought to show themselves 
 as little formidable as possible, for the Mountain was 
 strengthened by all the apprehensions which the idea 
 of a counter-i-cvolution uispired. A victory by Cha- 
 rette, a descent of emigrants in Brittany, would suf- 
 fice to restore the revolutionary i)arty to the influence 
 it had forfeited, and deprive the Thermidorians, from 
 whom so much was to be expected, of all their ])oi)U- 
 larity. Charette had certainly made peace, but it 
 was with the intention of being ready to resume hos- 
 tilities : in the same manner, Anjou and Brittany must 
 aj)pear to submit for a time; during the interval the 
 leaders of the government and the genends would be 
 seduced, and the armies allowed to pass the Rhine and 
 become entangled in Germany; then, siuldenly, the 
 slumbering convention would be surprised, and roy- 
 alty jiroclaimed in La Vendee, Brittany, I'aris itstlf 
 An exj)edition from Spain, including the regent, and 
 concurring with these simultaneous movements, would 
 then decide the success of royalty. As to England, 
 all tliat "fehould be asked from her was money (for 
 these personages were acutely alive to its charms), 
 and afterv.-ards she might be langlu'd at. Thus, eacli 
 of the numerous agents employed in behalf of the 
 counter-revolution indulged his own conceits, fornu'd 
 views accurding to his individual jiosition, and aspired 
 to I)e the ]iiiiu'ii)al restorer of the moiiiirchy. False- 
 hood and intrigue were their sole instruments for the 
 most ])art, and money the chief object of their desires. 
 Holding and inculcating such ideas, the agency at
 
 501 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Paris, similar in character to that which Puisaj-e was 
 labouring to estabhsh at London, naturally- sought to 
 prevent any enterprise for the nionient, to tranquil- 
 lise tlie insurgent pi'ovinces, and to promote the con- 
 elusion of a feigned peace. Under favour of the truce 
 granted to the Chouans, Lemaitre, Brottier, and La- 
 ville-Heiu-nois had recently succeeded in opening a 
 direct communication with the insurgent provinces. 
 The regent had instructed them to deliver letters into 
 the hands of Charette : they intrusted them to an old 
 olEcer of the navy, Duverne de Presle, who had been 
 deprived of his commission, and was ready for any 
 employment. They charged him, at the same time, 
 to aid'the pacification, by advising the insurgents to 
 temporise, and to wait for succours from Spain and a 
 movement in the interior. This emissary repaired to 
 Rennes, whence he contrived to forward the letters of 
 the regent to Charette, and afterwards recommended 
 a momentary submission to all the chiefs. Others 
 were likewise dispatched on the same mission by the 
 agents at Paris ; and speedily ideas of peace, already 
 prevailing in Brittany, became still more predomi- 
 nant. The opinion rapidly propagated that hostili- 
 ties ought to cease ; that England was deceiving the 
 royalists ; that every thing was to be expected from 
 the convention ; that it was about to re-establish mo- 
 narchy of its own accord; and that, in the treaty 
 signed with Charette, were included secret articles 
 conditioned for the recognition, as King Louis XVII., 
 of the young orphan in the Temple. Cormatin, whose 
 position had become highly embarrassing, from his 
 having so flagrantly belied the confidence of Puisaye 
 and the central committee, found in the system of the 
 agents at Paris an excuse and encouragement for his 
 conduct. It appears, even, that he was flattered with 
 hopes of having the command of Brittany confided to 
 him in lieu of Puisaye. By dint of great exertions, 
 he succeeded in mustering the principal Chouans at 
 La Prevalaye, and the conferences were eventually 
 opened. 
 
 In the mean time. Messieurs de Tinteniac and de 
 la Roberie had been sent from London by Puisaye — 
 the first to convey to the Chouans ammunition, 
 money, and intelligence of an approaching expedi- 
 tion ; the latter to apprise his uncle, Charette, of the 
 intended descent on Brittany, and in\'ite him to hold 
 himself in readiness to second it ; and both con- 
 jointly to insist upon the rupture of the negotia- 
 tions. They had attempted to disembark with some 
 emigrants on the coast of Brittany; the Chouans, 
 informed of their intention, had liastened to receive 
 them, become embroiled with the republicans, and 
 suffered a defeat. ]\Iessieurs de Tinteniac and de la 
 Roberie had escaped by a miracle ; but the truce was 
 compromised, and Hoche, who began to be diffi- 
 dent of the Chouans, and strongly suspected the 
 honesty of Cormatin, proposed his immediate arrest. 
 Cormatin protested his good faith to the representa- 
 tives, and prevailed on them to refrain from declaring 
 the truce broken. The conferences proceeded at La 
 Prevalaye. An agent of Stofilet appeared to take part 
 in them" Stofflet, repulsed, pursued, reduced to extre- 
 mity, deprived of all his resources by the discovery 
 of the small arsenal he possessed in a forest, now at 
 length begged to be admitted to treat, and accord- 
 ingly sent an envoy to La Prevalaye in the person of 
 General Beauvais. The conferences were extremely 
 animated, as they had been at La Jaunaye. General 
 Beauvais still advocated the continuance of "the war, 
 notwithstanding the sorrowful condition of the chief 
 he represented, and maintained that Cormatin, having 
 signed the peace of La .launaye, and acknowledged 
 the republic, had forfeited the command wherewith 
 he had been invested by Puisaye, and was incapa- 
 citated from participating in the deliberations. M. 
 de Tinteniac, having penetrated, in spite of all dan- 
 gers, to the place of conference, essayed to foreclose 
 tlie negotiation upon the authority of I'uisaye, and 
 
 annomiced his intention of immediately returning to 
 London; but Cormatin and the partisans of peace 
 jirevented him from carrying his object into effect. 
 Eventually Cormatin decided the majority to accept 
 a compromise, on the arguments that time would be 
 gained by agreeing to an apparent submission, and 
 the vigilance of the republicans lulled. The condi- 
 tions were identical with those conceded to Charette: 
 freedom of religious observances, indemnities to those 
 whose property had been laid waste, exemption from 
 the conscription, and the institution of rural guards. 
 The present treaty was illustrated by one condition 
 the more, to wit, the pa_\Tnent of a million and a half 
 to the principal ciiiefs, a sum whereof Cormatin was 
 to have his share. Not to forego an instant his career 
 of turpitude, says General Beauvais, Cormatin, at the 
 moment of appending his signature, took his sword 
 m his hand, and swore to resume arms upon the first 
 opportunity ; and recommended every one to observe, 
 until fresh orders, the organisation hitherto main- 
 tained, and the respect due to aU the superiors 
 thereof. 
 
 The royalist chiefs subsequently removed to La 
 Mabilaye, a league from Rennes, to sign the treaty at 
 a solemn meeting with the representatives. Several 
 of them expressed repugnance to proceed thither, but 
 Cormatin overruled their objections. The meeting 
 took place with the same formalities as at La Jau- 
 naye. The Chouans had requested that Hoche might 
 not be present, on account of the extreme distrust he 
 manifested : their demand was complied with. On 
 the 1st Floreal (20th April), the representatives deli- 
 vered similar ordinances to those given at La Jaunaye, 
 and the Chouans subscribed a declaration, wherein 
 they acknowledged the republic and submitted to 
 its laws. 
 
 On the following day, Cormatin made his entry into 
 Rennes as Charette into Nantes. The activity he had 
 displayed, and the importance he had arrogated, caused" 
 him to be considered as the leader of the Breton roy- 
 alists. AU was attributed to him — as well the exploits 
 of that host of unknown Chouans who had mysteriously 
 overrun Brittany, as the peace which had been so long 
 and ardently desired. He received a species of triumph. 
 Applauded by the inhabitants, admired and flattered 
 by the women, endowed with an ample fund of assig- 
 nats, he reaped all the honours and advantages of the 
 war, as if he had long been its prop and mainstaj'. 
 Yet he had disembarked in Brittany only to perform 
 the singular part we have recorded. Henceforward, 
 however, he presumed not to address Puisaye : he 
 dared not venture his person out of Rennes, lest, if he 
 advanced into the country, he might be shot by the 
 malecontents. The principal chiefs, after the forma- 
 lity was over, returned into their several districts, 
 first writing to Puisaye that they had been deceived, 
 that he had only to come amongst them, and that at 
 the first signal they would rally and fly to meet him. 
 A few days afterwards, StofHet, seeing himself com- 
 pletely deserted, signed the peace at Saint-Floreut, on 
 the same conditions as the otlier chiefs, 
 
 ^Vliilst the two divisions of La Vendee and Brittany 
 were thus succumbing, Charette had at length re- 
 ceived a letter from the regent, the first token of tlie 
 interest he had inspired. It was dated on the 1st of 
 February. The prince saluted him as the second 
 founder of the monarchy, exi)ressed to him his grati- 
 tude, his admiration, his desire to join him, and nomi-, 
 nated him heutenant-general. These testimonies of 
 regard came somewhat tardily. Charette, greatly 
 moved, forthwith replied to the regent, " that the letter 
 with which he had been honoured transported his soul 
 with joy ; tliat his zeal and fidelity woidd always re- 
 main the same ; that necessity alone had constrained 
 him to yield, but that his submission was only feigned ; 
 that, ivhen parties were better united, he would again 
 take arms, and be ready to die under the eyes of his 
 prince, and for the most glorious of causes."
 
 IIISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 505 
 
 Such was tlie first pacification of the insurgent 
 provinces. As Hoche had divined, it was only ap]ia- 
 rent ; but as he had also judged, it might he rendered 
 fatal to the Vendean chiefs, by accustoming the coun- 
 try to tranquillity and to the laws of the republic, 
 and by extinguishing or diverting to more beneficial 
 purposes that passion for war wliich animated num- 
 bers of men. Notwithstanding the assurances of 
 Charette to the regent, and of the Chouans to Tuisaye, 
 that ferocious spirit nmst necessarily subside after a 
 few months of calmness and repose. Such subterfuges 
 were neither more nor less than acts of bad faith, ex- 
 cusable, doubtless, in the frenzy of civil war. but which 
 take from those Avho fall into their commission all 
 right to complain of the severities of their adversaries. 
 The republican representatives and gerierals exhibited 
 the most scrupulous honom- in fulfilling the conditions 
 stipulated. It is surely superfluous to demonstrate 
 the absurdity of the report then circulated, and even 
 since repeated, that the treaties now signed contained 
 secret articles, involving a pledge to place Louis XVII. 
 on the throne. As if any representatives could have 
 been sufficiently mad to contract such an obligation ! 
 As if it were credible that a republic would be sacri- 
 ficed to a few partisans, which was resolutely main- 
 tained against all Europe ! For the rest, none of the 
 chiefs, when writing to the princes or the various 
 royalist agents, ever ventured to advance so palpalile 
 an anomaly. Charette, arraigned at a later date for 
 having violated the conditions of the treaty concluded 
 with him, never attempted to urge so irrefragable a 
 plea as the non-execution of a secret article. Puisaye, 
 in his memoirs, has treated the assertion as equally 
 preposterous and false ; and it would not have been 
 here alluded to, had it not been revived in a multitude 
 of memoirs. 
 
 The result of this pacification was not simply that 
 it led to a disarming of the disturbed districts ; hap- 
 pening concurrently with the treaties of peace signed 
 with Prussia, Holland, and Tuscany, and with the ma- 
 nifestation of pacific intentions by several other states, 
 it had the fiu-ther advantage of j^roducing a striking 
 moral effect. Europe beheld the republic recognised 
 at once by its internal and external enemies — by the 
 coalition and by the royalist party itself. 
 
 Amongst the decided enemies of France, England 
 and Austria stood alone. Russia was too remote to 
 be dangerous ; the emj^ire was ready to fall in pieces, 
 and at all events incapable of sustaining the war; 
 Piedmont was exhausted ; Spain, little participating 
 the chimerical hojies of the royalist intriguers, sighed 
 for peace ; and the anger of the court of Naples was 
 as impotent as ridiculous. Pitt, notwithstanding the 
 unprecedented triumphs of the French republic, de- 
 spite a campaign without examjile in the annals of 
 war, was not shaken in resolution ; his powerful in- 
 tellect had comprehended that so many victories, how- 
 ever disastrous to the continent, were not at all hurt- 
 ful to England. That the stadtholder had lost all, the 
 princes of Germany, Austria, Piedmont, and Si)ain, a 
 portion of their dominions, was most true ; but Eng- 
 land had acquired an incontestible superiority upon 
 the seas ; she swept the IMediterranean and the ocean ; 
 she had confiscated a moiety of the Dutch navy ; she 
 was impelling Spain to weaken her marine in con- 
 flicts with that of France ; she was proceeding to con- 
 quer the French colonies, to occupy all those of Hol- 
 land, and to consolidate for ever lier empire in India. 
 An additional period of war and political aberration 
 on the part of the continental powers, was still re(iui- 
 site for her purposes. It behoved her, therefore, to 
 stimulate hostilities by giving subsidies to Austria, 
 rekindling the zeal of Spain, and fomenting fresh dis- 
 orders in the southern jjrovinces of France. Mourn- 
 ful, doubtless, for the belligerent powers, if they were 
 beaten in a new cam])aign : but England had nothing 
 to apprehend ; she would continue her progress on tbe 
 ocean, in India, and in America. If, on the other 
 
 hand, the powers were victorious, she gained an im- 
 portant point, bj' replacing under thx? dominion of 
 Austria the Low Coimtries, which she dreaded above 
 all things to see in the hands of France. Such were 
 the rutldess but profound calculations of the Enghsh 
 minister. 
 
 Notwithstanding the losses that England had sus- 
 tained by captures at sea, the defeats of the Duke of 
 York, and the enormous outlay she had incurred in 
 siibsidies to Prussia and Piedmont, she still possessed 
 resources nuich greater even than the English or Pitt 
 himself had conceived. It is true, she complained 
 bitterly of the numerous captures ; of the scarcity and 
 enhanced prices of all articles of consumption. Eng- 
 hsh merchant vessels, having alone continued to navi- 
 gate the seas, were of course more exposed to the 
 hazards of capture by privateers than those of other 
 nations. Policies of insurance, which had become the 
 occasion of boundless speculation, rendered their owners 
 more reckless ; and they often refused to wait for con- 
 voys, whereby the French cruisers were richly bene- 
 fited. As to the famine, it Avas general throughout 
 Europe. On the Rhine, around Frankfort, the bushel 
 of rye cost fifteen florins. The vast consmnption of 
 the armies, the multitude of labourers torn from agri- 
 culture, and the calamities of ill-fated Poland, which 
 had scarcely ftirnislied any corn last year, liad pro- 
 duced this extraordinary dearth. Besides, tlie navi- 
 gation from the Balric to England had become ex- 
 tremely perilous since the French took possession of 
 Holland. Europe had been obliged to visit the New 
 World in quest of food; and at this moment she was 
 subsisting on the surplus produce of those virgin soils 
 which the North Americans had so recently subjected 
 to agi'iculture. But the rates of freight were excessive, 
 and the price of bread had progressively risen in Eng- 
 land to an exorbitant height. The price of meat, also, 
 had kept pace with that of bread. The wools of Spain 
 no longer arrived since the French occupied the ports 
 of Biscay, and the manufacture of cloth was threatened 
 with interruption. Tims, while in the throes of labour 
 with her future greatness, England was oppressed by 
 many grievous afflictions. The working classes mu- 
 tinied in aU the manufacturiiig towns ; the peo]i]e 
 clamoured for bread in menacing accents ; and the 
 houses of Parliament were harassed with petitions, 
 bearing thousands of signatures, imploring a tcrnuna- 
 tion to this disastrous war. Ireland, agitated on ac- 
 count of boons denied and withdrawn, was preparing 
 additional embarrassments to those aheady burdening 
 the government. 
 
 Yet, through these sinister appearances, did Pitt 
 discern both the means and motives for prosecTiting 
 the war. In the first place, it flattered the passions of 
 his court, it flattered even those of the English pct)ple, 
 who had a leaven of hatred against France, always 
 to be stirred even amidst the most cruel suffering. 
 Moreover, despite the losses of commerce, losses which 
 proved that the English alone continued to traverse 
 the seas, Pitt beheld this commerce augmented during 
 the last two years by the monopoly of all the marts 
 of India and America. It was known to him tliat the 
 export trade had singularly increased since the com- 
 mencement of tlie war; and already the future supe- 
 riority of his nation miist have gleamed pro])heti- 
 cally as he pondered in his cabinet. In the system 
 of loans he found a resource, the teeming fertility 
 whereof astonished liimself. The government stocks 
 maintained their value ; the conquest of Holland had 
 afll'cted them but slightly, because, the event beingfore- 
 seen, a prodigious amount of capital had been remit- 
 ted from Amsterdam to London. The Dutch mer- 
 chants, albeit firm patriots, looked nevertheless some- 
 what gloomily on afl'airs, and sought to place their 
 Avealth in security, by transporting it to England. 
 Pitt had but spoken of a new loan, and, despite the 
 war and all other calamities, oflcrs showered thickly 
 upon him. Experience lias since proved that war.
 
 506 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REA^OLUTION. 
 
 cramping commercial enterprise, and concentrating 
 speculation on the public funds, facilitates rather tlian 
 impedes loans. This result was still more naturally 
 to be anticipated in a country which, having no assail- 
 able frontiers, never finds in war a question of exist- 
 ence, but simplv one of trade and commercial aggran- 
 disement. Pitt accordingly resolved, by means of the 
 rich capitalists of his nation, to furnish subsidies to 
 Austria, augment his navy, reorganise his anny for 
 transport to India and America, and afford consider- 
 al)le succours to the French insurgents. He con- 
 cluded a subsidiary treaty with Austria, similar to 
 that he had made the year before with Prussia. That 
 power liad abundance of soldiers, and she undertook 
 to keep at least two hundred thousand effective men 
 on foot ; but she lacked the essential sinew, money, 
 and was imable to obtain further loans in Switzer- 
 land, Frankfort, or Holland. England engaged, not 
 actually to provide her with funds, but to guarantee 
 a loan she proposed to open in London. To guarantee 
 the debts of a power like Austria, was almost tanta- 
 mount to an engagement to pay them ; but the opera- 
 tion, under this form, was more easy of justification 
 before parliament. This loan was for 4,600,000 
 pounds sterling (115 millions of francs), with interest 
 at five per cent. Pitt opened at the same time a loan 
 for eighteen millions, on account of J^ngland, at foiir 
 per cent. The capitalists evinced extreme eagerness 
 for the investment; and as the Austrian loan was 
 guaranteed by England, and bore a higlier interest, 
 they demanded that, for two-thirds subscribed to the 
 English loan, one-third should be apportioned them 
 in the Austrian. Pitt, having thus assured himself 
 of Austria, attempted .to arouse the animation of 
 Spain ; but he found it drooping dolefully. He took 
 in his pay the emigrant regiments under Conde, and 
 intimated to Puisaye that, as the pacification of La 
 Vendee tended to lessen confidence in the insurgent 
 provinces, he would give him a squadron, materiel for 
 an army, and the emigrant regiments, but no English 
 soldiers ; and that, if, as they wrote from Brittany, the 
 dispositions of the royalists were really unchanged, 
 and the expedition should prove successful, he would 
 endeavour to render it decisive, by dispatching an 
 array to the scene of action. lie moreover resolved 
 to increase his navy from eighty thousand to one 
 hundred thousand seamen. To effect this object, he 
 devised a species of conscription. Every merchant 
 vessel was bound to furnish one sailor from a crew of 
 seven — a contribution due from commerce for the pro 
 tection it received from the military marine. Agri 
 cultural and manufacturing industry likewise owed 
 succour to the navy, which secured them marts; con- 
 sequently, each parish was also obliged to furnish a 
 sailor. Pitt thus procured the means of giving to the 
 English navy an extraordinary development. The 
 English ships of war were much inferior in construc- 
 tion to the French; but the vast superiority in mmie- 
 rical force, the excellence of the crews, and the ability 
 of the naval officers, precluded all idea of competition. 
 With all these combined preparations, Pitt met 
 parliament. The opposition had this year received 
 an accession of nearly twenty members. The advo- 
 cates of peace and of the French revolution were invi- 
 gorated beyond precedent, for they had portentous 
 facts to oppose to the minister. The language which 
 Pitt prompted to the crown, and which he himself 
 held during this session — one of the most memorable 
 in the British annals for the momentous questions dis- 
 cussed, and the eloquence of Fox and Sheridan — was 
 signally adroit. He gi'anted tliat France had obtained 
 unparalleled trimuphs; but those triimiphs, far from 
 discouraging its enemies, ought, on the contraiy, he 
 alleged, to inspire them with greater determination 
 and perseverance. It was still England, he repre- 
 sented, that France aimed to injure ; it was her con- 
 stitution and prosperity it sought to annihilate ; and 
 to yield before such an inveterate, redoubtable animo- 
 
 sity, would be equaUy imprudent and pusillanimous. 
 At the present moment, especially, a cessation of hos-> 
 tilities on the part of England would, he affirmed, 
 betray a fatal imbecility. France, having only Aus- 
 tria and the empire to combat, would overwhelm 
 them ; then, faithful to her hatred, she would return, 
 freed from her enemies on the continent, and fall on 
 England, which, standing alone in tlie struggle, must 
 be exposed to a terrible encounter. Therefore, the mo- 
 ment when several powers were still contending, was 
 to be seized, to attack in concert tlie common enemy, 
 to restrict France to her limits, to wrest from her 
 Holland and Belgium, and to repel within her own 
 confines alike her armies, her commerce, and her jjer- 
 nicious principles. Furthermore, one other effort only 
 was required-^a single effort — to prostrate her. She 
 had vanquished, doubtless, but at the expense of 
 exhaustion, by employing barbarous expedients, which 
 had become null by their very violence. The maxi- 
 mum, requisitions, assignats, terror, had been used by 
 the rulers of France, untU the}' were of no further 
 avail in their hands. Those rulers had fallen a sacri- 
 fice to the very system they pursued for achieving 
 their victories. Thus, he added, one more campaign, 
 and Europe and England were avenged, and preserved 
 from a sanguinary revolution. But, even should these 
 reasons of honour, security, and policy be repudiated, 
 and peace desired, such peace was impossible. The 
 French demagogues would reject it with that fero- 
 cious arrogance they had exhibited even before their 
 recent triumphs. And to treat with them, where 
 were they to be found ? Where was the government to 
 be .sought for amidst those bloodthirsty factions, heaved 
 alternately into power, and disappearing as quickly as 
 they reached it? How could a solid peace be con- 
 cluded with those ephemeral depositaries of an autho- 
 rity perpetually disputed ? It was consequentlj' dis- 
 honourable, imprudent, and impossible to negotiate. 
 England had stiU immense resources ; her exports were 
 greatly increased ; her trade endured captures which 
 demonstrated its hardihood and its activity; her navy 
 was growing in miglit, and her wealth Avas spontane- 
 ously offered in profusion to the government, in order 
 to prosecute this ^\ji/st mid necessary war." 
 
 This was the appellation where^with Pitt had gilded 
 the war at its commencement, and which he affected 
 still to retain. We see that, amidst these his senato- 
 rial arguments, he dared not allege the true motives ; 
 he shrunk from avowing through what machiavellian 
 routes he purposed to conduct England to the pinnacle 
 of greatness. Such ambition is rarely proclaimed in 
 the face of the world. 
 
 Accordingly, the opposition replied with overpower- 
 ing effect. We were asked, said Fox and Sheridan, 
 for but one campaign last session ; already sundry 
 fortifications were held by the allies ; the)' were to 
 start therefrom in spring to subjugate France. Yet 
 behold the results ! The French have conquered 
 Flanders, Holland, all the left bank of the Khine save 
 jNIayence, a part of Piedmont, the greater portion of 
 Catalonia, and all Navarre. Adduce a similar cam- 
 paign in the annals of Europe ! It is allowed they 
 have taken a few fortresses ; show us a war in which 
 so many places have been captured in a single cam- 
 paign I If the French, contending against the whole 
 of Europe, have gained such triumphs, what advan- 
 tages will they not have against Austria and England 
 when almost alone .' — for the other powers either can 
 no longer assist us or have actually concluded peace. 
 We are told thej' are exhausted ; that the assignats, 
 their sole resource, have lost their value ; and that their 
 government has now ceased to manifest its former 
 energy. But the Americans saw their paper-money 
 fall ninety per cent., and they did not siiccumb. And 
 this government, when it was energetic, we were told 
 was barbarous ; now that it has become humane and 
 moderate, it is discovered to be without strength. Our 
 resources, our disposable wealth, are exultingly re-
 
 ^^. ■.- 1 'ff'^ 
 
 y . 
 
 C ,i' r ■///// ^ urn .: ., ^//^/i/^'^ ( ' ^^/'^''' ^ 
 
 /. / 

 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 507 
 
 ferred to ; but the people are perisliinjj with want, 
 they are unable to purchase either bread or meat, and 
 they demand penre with loud outcries. This marvel- 
 lous wealth, which seems created as by enchantment, 
 is it real ? Are treasures created by paper ? All these 
 systems of tinanre conceal some deadly fallacy — some 
 yawning chasm, which must open appallingly upon us 
 at no distant day. We proceed lavishing our treasure 
 on the powers of P^urope : already we have disbursed 
 large sums to Piedmont and to Prussia ; and the same 
 extravagance is to be continued towards Austria. 
 Who assures us that this power will be more faithful 
 to her engagements than Prussia ? Who guarantees 
 us that slie will not prove false to her promises, and 
 negotiate after receiving our gold.' We are exciting 
 an infixmous civil war; we are arming Frenchmen 
 against their countrj' ; and yet, to our disgrace, those 
 Frenchmen, recognising their error and the prudence 
 of their new government, have laid down their arms. 
 Are we to rekindle the extinguished embers of discord 
 in La Vendee, to light up there a devastating confla- 
 gration? We are reminded of the barbarous prin- 
 ciples of France : can those principles be more anti- 
 social than our conduct with regard to her insurgent 
 provinces? All the means for continuing the war, 
 therefore, are either doubtfid or criminal. Peace, we 
 are told, is impossible ; France hates England : but 
 when did the wrath of the French manifest itself 
 against us ? Was it not when we showed the repre- 
 hensible intention of wresting from them their liberty, 
 of interfering in their choice of a government, of ex- 
 citing civil war amongst them ? Peace, it is alleged, 
 would spread the contagion of their principles. But 
 Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the United States, 
 are at peace with them : are their constitutions de- 
 stroyed? Peace, it is added, is impossible with a 
 tottering and ever-changing government. But Prus- 
 sia and Tuscany have found parties to treat with ; 
 Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States, 
 know with whom to confer in their relations with 
 France ; and j'et we cannot negotiate with her ! We 
 ought to have been forewarned on commencing the 
 war that we were not to make peace until a certain 
 form of government was re-established amongst our 
 enemies — until tlie repulilic was abohshed — until they 
 had adopted the institutions it pleased us to give them. 
 Pitt, resolute in his purpose, unaffected by this 
 encounter of reason and eloquence, still shrouding his 
 veritable motives, obtained all he sought — loans, mari- 
 time impressment, suspension of the ha bean-corpus 
 act. Aided by his treasures, his navy, the two hun- 
 dred thousand men of Austria, and the desperate cou- 
 rage of the P'reiuh emigrants, he determined to wage 
 another campaign, sure at least of domineering on 
 water, even though victory on laud remained with the 
 enthusiastic nation he assailed. 
 
 To resume': these negotiations, these conflicts of 
 o])inion in Europe, these preparations for war, prove 
 how important a station France then held in tbe 
 world. At tliis period arrived contemporaneously 
 ambassadors from Sweden, Denmark, Jlollund, I'rus- 
 sia, Tuscany, Venice, and America. Upon their ar- 
 rival at Paris, they proceeded to visit the president of 
 the convention, whom they sometimes found dwelling 
 on a third or foiu'th storey, and wliose simjjle, unaf- 
 fected welcome had superseded the pompous rece])tioiis 
 of the old court. They were afterwards introduced 
 into that famous hall, where sat, on naked benches iiiid 
 in homely costume, tlu^ assembly which, by its power 
 and the greatness of its ])assions, no longer appeared 
 ridiculous, but terrible and imposing in the eyes of 
 men. They were conducted to <;hairs opposite that 
 of the president ; they sjjoke in a sitting posture ; the 
 president re]ili(d to them in the same manner, address- 
 ing them by tlie titles expressed in their credentials. 
 He sulisequently gave them the fraternal embrace, and 
 proclaimed tliem representatives of the states from 
 which they came accredited. A gallery was reserved 
 
 for them to attend the convention when they thought 
 fit, and witness those tempestuous debates which in- 
 spired foreigners with mingled curiosity and terror. 
 Such was the ceremonial emphn-ed with regard to the 
 ambassadors of the powers at peace Avith France. 
 Simplicity became a, republic, receiving without osten- 
 tation, but with propriety and respect, tlie envoys of 
 the kings it had vanquished. The name of Frenchman 
 was honourable at this epoch : it was ennobled by the 
 most brilliant victories, and the most unsullied of all — 
 those which a nation had won in defending its exist- 
 ence and its liberty. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIL 
 
 NEWCONSriRACY OF THE PATRIOTS. MASSACRE IN THE 
 
 PRISONS OF LYONS. — ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINAN- 
 CIAL MODIFICATIONS. INSURRECTION OF THE 1ST 
 
 PRAIRIAL ; EVENTS OF THAT DAY AND THE FOLLOW- 
 ING. ARREST AND EXECUTION OF SEVERAL REPRE- 
 SENTATIVES. DISARMING OF THE PATRIOTS. MEA- 
 SURES FOR THE RETIREMENT OF ASSIGNATS. 
 
 The events of Germinal had wrought on the two 
 parties which now divided France the invariable con- 
 sequence of an indecisive collision : those two parties 
 had become more violent — each more furiously intent 
 on extirpating the other. Over the whole south, and 
 particularly at Avignon, Marseilles, and Toulon, the 
 revolutionists, more menacing and audacious than 
 ever, defying all the efforts that were made to disarm 
 or remand them to their comnnmes, persisted in 
 clamouring for the liberation of patriots, the deatli of 
 returned emigrants, and the constitution of 1793. 
 They corresponded with their partisans in other pro- 
 vinces ; they urged them to join them and to concen- 
 trate on two principal points — Toulon for the south, 
 Paris for the north. AVhen they should be in sufKcient 
 force at Toidon, tliey intended, so they alleged, to 
 arouse the departments and march to unite with their 
 brethren of the north. This was ^jrecisely the scheme 
 of the federalists in 1793. 
 
 Their adversaries, whether royalists or Girondists, 
 had also grown more emboldened since the govern- 
 ment, attacked in Germinal, had given the signal for 
 persecutions. Masters of the local administrations, 
 they turned to terrible accoimt the decrees enacted 
 against the patriots. They immured them as accom- 
 plices of Robespierre or as intromitters with the public 
 funds unannealed by acquittances : they disarmed tliem 
 as participators in the tyranny abolished on tlie 9tli 
 Thermidor, or chased them from i)lace to place as men 
 who had quitted their communes. It was in the south, 
 more especially, that the severities against the unfor- 
 tunate patriots were the most actively pursued, for 
 violence necessarily engenders violence. In tlie de- 
 Iiartment of the Rhone, the reaction was assuming an 
 asjiei't of most fearful malignity. The royalist.s, who 
 had been obliged to fly before the remorseless energy 
 of 179.'!, returned through Switzerland, crossed the 
 frontiers, entered Lyons with false passports, dis- 
 coursed largelj' concerning the king, concerning re- 
 ligion, concerning former prosi)erit_\ , and dwelt jierti- 
 naciously on the massacres ami enorniilies consequent 
 upon the siege, with the insidious view of converting 
 that rejiublican city to the tenets of monarchy. Thus, 
 the royalists established themselves at l>yons as the 
 patriots at Toulon. I'recy even was stated to be con- 
 cealed in the city, the calamities of which he had so 
 greatly aggravated by his courageous defence. Num- 
 bers of emigrants, accumulatid at iiasle, Berne, and 
 Lausanne, indulged in more presumptuous language 
 than had ever distiiiguishetl them. They spoke con- 
 fidently of tlieir ai)i>roachiiig return, afliniiiiig tliat 
 their friends were now in power; they boasted that 
 the son of Louis XVI. would be shortly replaced on 
 the throne, themselves honourably recalled, and 'heir
 
 508 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 property restored to them ; tliey said that, with t'ne 
 exception of certain military chiefs wliom it would be 
 necessary to punish, every one would promote this 
 restoration witli eagerness and zeal. At Lausanne, 
 wliere the youthful generation was entlmsiastic in 
 favour of the French revolution, they were rudely 
 assailed, and compelled to observe silence. In other 
 places they were allowed to chatter as they listed ; 
 their vauntings were dtrided, for they had become 
 stale and trite in a rehearsal of six years ; hut um- 
 brage was taken at several amongst them, who were 
 pensioned by the Austrian police as spies upon the 
 words of travellers in inns and hostelries. It was in 
 this quarter, that is to say, towards Lyons, that com- 
 panies had again been formed, under the titles of Com- 
 panies of the Sun and Companies of Jesus, for the spe- 
 cific objects of scouring the country, penetrating into 
 towns, and slaughtering the patriots living in retire- 
 ment on their lands or detained in the prisons. The 
 banished priests likewise re-entered France by this 
 frontier, and had already overspread the eastern pro- 
 vinces, ^rhere they declared null and void all the eccle- 
 siastical ordinances the conforming priests had admi- 
 nistered ; they rebaptised the children, remarried those 
 joined in wedlock, and inspired the people with hatred 
 and contempt of the government. They took the pre- 
 caution, however, of hovering near the frontiers, in 
 order to retreat at the first signal. Those who had 
 not been sentenced to exile, and who enjoyed an ali- 
 mentary provision in France, and permission to exer- 
 cise their religious duties, equally abused with their 
 banished brethren the toleration of the government. 
 Not content with celebrating mass in buildings hired 
 or lent for the purpose, they stirred up the people and 
 headed them in forcibly appropriating the churches 
 which had devolved in possession upon the communes. 
 Numerous scandalous scenes of this description had 
 occurred, and the employment of force had been found 
 necessary to compel observance of the laws. At Paris, 
 the venal journalists of royalism, directed by Lemajtre, 
 wrote with more hardihood than ever against the 
 revolution, and almost openly advocated a return to 
 uu)narcliy. Lacroix, the editor of the Spectator, had 
 been acquitted upon the prosecution conmienced 
 against him, since which event the tribe of libellists 
 no longer stood in awe of the revolutionary tribunal. 
 
 Thus the two parties were in array, prepared for a 
 ilecisive conflict. The revolutionists, resolved to strike 
 a blow of which the 12th Germinal had been but the 
 portent, openly conspired. They planned schemes in 
 every quarter, since they had lost the principal leaders, 
 who alone revolved designs for the entire party. A 
 meeting was organised at the house of one Lagrelet, in 
 the Rue de Bretagne, wherein they canvassed a pro- 
 ject for instigating several simultaneous risings, at the 
 head whereof Canibon, Maribon-Montaut, and Thu- 
 riot, were to be placed, some to attack the prisons and 
 deliver the patriots, others to abduct the committees, 
 and others, again, to besiege the convention and wring 
 from it the requisite decrees. Once masters of the 
 convention, the conspirators purposed to coerce it into 
 reintegrating the imprisoned deputies, anmdling the 
 condemnation pronounced against Billaud-Varennes, 
 CoUot-d'Herbois, and Barrcrc, excluding the seventy- 
 three, and proclaiming instanter the constitution of 
 1793. All the arrangements were complete, CA'en to 
 the crowbars for forcing the prisons, to the tickets for 
 ascertaining the initiated, to a piece of cloth for hang- 
 ing at the window of the house whence orders Avere to 
 issue. A letter was intercepted, concealed in a loaf, and 
 addressed to a prisoner, in which these words occurred : 
 " On the day you receive eggs half-white and half-red, 
 you will hold yourselves in readiness." The day fixed 
 was the 1st of Prairial. One of the conspirators be- 
 trayed the secret, and revealed to the committee of 
 general safety the details (jf the project. That com- 
 mittee immediately caused all the leaders specified to 
 be arrested, which unfortunately failed to derange the 
 
 plans of the patriots, for every one was now a leader 
 amongst them, and they plotted in a thousand places 
 at once. Rovere, worthy to be stigmatised in times 
 past with the name of terrorist under the old com- 
 mittee of public welfare, but at present a furious re- 
 actionist, presented a report to the convention upon 
 this plot, and inculpated sundry deputies as appointed 
 to take the lead of the various assemblages. Those 
 deputies were strangers to the scheme, and their names 
 had been used without their knowledge, as men who 
 were needful in the emergency, and whose dispositions 
 could be relied on. Already condemned to detention 
 at Ham, they had not obeyed the sentence, and stdl 
 contrived to elude its execution. Eovere prevailed on 
 the assembly to decide that, unless they forthwith stir- 
 rendered themselves prisoners, they should be deemed 
 banished by the mere fact of contumacy. This abor- 
 tive project sufficiently indicated a coming storm. 
 
 When this new machination of the patriots was 
 made public by the press, an extraordinary ferment 
 manifested itself in Lyons, and the previous animosity 
 harboured against them was redoubled in intensity. At 
 the moment a prominent terrorist denunciator chanced 
 to be undergoing trial, prosecuted under the decree 
 passed against the accomplices of Robespierre. The 
 Parisian journals subsequently arrived, containing the 
 report presented by Rovere to the convention upon 
 tlie conspiracy of the 29th Germinal. The Lj'onnese 
 began to exhibit symptoms of turbidence; the majority 
 of them, be it remembered, had to deplore either the 
 ruin of their fortmies or the death of their kinsmen. 
 They gatliered tumultuously around the hall of the 
 tribunal The representative Boisset appeared in the 
 midst, on a charger ; they closed upon him, vocife- 
 rously enumerating their several wrongs against the 
 man on trial. The promoters of disorder, the members 
 of the companies of Jesus and the Sun, hastened to 
 profit by this commotion, fomented the excitement, 
 moved towards the prisons, stormed them, and mas- 
 sacred seventy or eighty prisoners, reputed terrorists, 
 and cast their bodies into the Rhone. The national 
 guards made elforts to prevent this slaughter, but per- 
 haps failed to evince the zeal they Avould have dis- 
 played had less resentrhent animated them against the 
 victims of the day. 
 
 Thus, scarcely had the Jacobin plot of the 29th 
 Germinal transpired, ere the couuter-revolutionists 
 had answered it by the massacre of the 5th Floreal 
 (24th April) at Lyons. The sincere republicans, albeit 
 holding in abhorrence the projects of the terrorists, 
 were now struck with alarm at those of the counter- 
 revolutionists. Hitherto their views had been chiefly 
 directed to the prevention of a new reign of terror, 
 and royalism had not entered Avithin the scope of 
 their apprehensions ; royalism, in sooth, appeared so 
 inconceivable, after the executions of the revolutionary 
 trilmnal and the victories of the republic. But Avhcn 
 they saw it, hunted as it were from La Vendee, re- 
 turning through Lyons, forming companies of assassins, 
 pushing turbulent priests into the heart of France, 
 and dictating at Paris itself Avritings teeming with the 
 diatribes of emigration, they took counsel upon such 
 facts, and concluded, that to the rigorous measures 
 adopted against the abettors of terror must be added 
 others against the partisans of royalty. In the first 
 place, to leave Avithout pretexts those avIio had suffered 
 from former excesses, and who demanded retribution 
 on the perpetrators, they moved the convention to 
 enjoin upon the tribunals a greater degree of activity 
 in judging the individuals accused of malversations, 
 abuses of authority, and oppressive acts. Thereafter 
 they deliberated onthe measures best calculated to re- 
 press the royalists. Chtnier, knoAvn for his literary ta- 
 lents and his stanch republican principles, was charged 
 with a report upon this subject. In his exposition he 
 drcAv a forcible pictm-e of France, of the two parties 
 disputing its empire, and especially of the insidious 
 practices of t!ie emigration and the clergy. He pr(»
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 509 
 
 jiosocl that every returned eniigrant should be fortli- 
 with broUii:lit before the tribunals, to undergo the 
 application of tlie law ; that every banished person 
 should be considered an emigrant, who, having re- 
 visited France, was found therein at the expiration of 
 a month ; that whoever violated the law on religious 
 worship, and attempted to take forcible X'ossession of 
 churches, should be visited wil h six months' imprison- 
 ment ; that every writer who tended to bring the 
 national representation into contempt, or to promote 
 the return of royalty, should be condemned to banish- 
 ment ; and, lastly, that all the authorities charged with 
 the disarming of the i)atriots should be obliged to 
 assign motives for each deprivation of arms. All these 
 measures were received M'ith universal approbation, 
 except two, which gave rise to observations. Thibau- 
 deau held it imprudent to punish with six months' im- 
 prisonment infractions of the law on religious worship. 
 He argued with reason that the churches ■were adapted 
 only for one purpose, that of religious ceremonies ; 
 that the people, sutficiently devout to attend mass in 
 private conventicles, would always view with indig- 
 nant regret their exclusion from the edifices in which 
 it was formerly celebrated ; and that, whilst declaring 
 the government for ever unconnected with the cost of 
 any worship, the churches might be restored to the 
 Catholics, in order to avert complaints, disturbances, 
 and perhaps a general La Vendee. Thibaudeau's re- 
 marks made but a slight impression, for the conven- 
 tion was apprehensive lest, by restoring the cliurches 
 to the Catholics, even on condition of their upholding 
 them at their own charge, the clergy might revive the 
 imposing pomp of their ritual, which had heretofore 
 materially contributed to exalt their influence. Tal- 
 lien, who had become a journalist with Freron, and 
 who, either on that account or from an affectation of 
 justice, desired to protect the independence of the 
 press, controverted the proposal for exiling wxiters. 
 He mamtained that the provision was arbitrary, and 
 allowed too inordinate a latitude for severities against 
 the press. His argument was just; but, in this state 
 of open war with roj^alism, it perhaps behoved the 
 convention to adopt a strong resolution against those 
 libellists, who laboured so earnestly to reclaim France 
 thus prematurely to monarchical ideas. Louvet, tliat 
 impetuous Girondist, whose sus])icions had wrought 
 such mischief for his party, but who was, undoubtedly, 
 one of the most sincere men in the assembly, hastened 
 to answer Tallien, and conjured all the friends of the 
 republic to forget their mutual differences and griev- 
 ances, and unite against the oldest, the only veritable 
 enemy they all had, namely royalty. The testimony 
 of Louvet in favour of violent measures could scarcely 
 be impugned ; for he had braved a most ruthless pro- 
 scription in combating the system of revolutionary 
 government. The whole assembly applauded his noble 
 and frank declaration, voted the printing and trans- 
 mission of his discourse to all the towns of France, 
 and adopted the proposed article, to the sad confusion 
 of Tallien, who had chosen so injudicious a moment 
 to vindicate a maxim inherently just and true. 
 
 Thus the convention, having previously ordained 
 prosecutions against the patriots, their deprivation of 
 arms, and their return to their conmiunes, had found 
 it necessary likewise to renew the laws against emi- 
 grants and exiled priests, and to prescribe penalties 
 against the opening of churches and against royalist 
 pul)lications. But penal laws are feeble guarantees 
 against parties actuated by an inextinguishable and 
 rancorous feud. The deputy Thibaudeau i)ropounde<l 
 an opinion that the organisation of the governing 
 committees, since the 9th Thermidor, was too weak 
 and subdivided. This organisation, instituted at the 
 moment when the dictatorship was subverted, had 
 been prompted solely by the dread of a now tyranny. 
 Consequently, to an exceeding tension on all the si)rings 
 of government had succeeded an extreme relaxation. 
 Each committee had been reinvested with its pecu- 
 
 liar authority, in order to destroy the too predominant 
 influence of the committee of public welfare ; whence 
 had resulted intricacies, delays, and a complete para- 
 lysis of the government. For example, if troubles 
 occurred in a particular department, the administra- 
 tive gradation in observance assigned the intimation 
 to the committee of general safet}' ; this committed 
 summoned to its assistance that of public welfare, and 
 in certain cases that of legislation ; before these com- 
 mittees could unite in conference, each required to be 
 complete ; and besides the time thus lost, was added 
 the interval consumed in dehberation. Thus, such 
 meetings were attended with many impediments ; and, 
 when formed, were too numerous to decide and act 
 with befitting ijroraptitude. Were it merely requisite 
 to dispatch twenty men on guard, the committee of 
 general safety, charged with the police, was obliged 
 to make application to the military committee. It 
 now became obvious how erroneous was the excessive 
 alarm at the tyranny of the old committee of public 
 welfare, and the precaution against a danger thence- 
 forward chimerical. 
 
 A government thus constituted could offer but a 
 very feeble resistance to virvdent factions, or curb 
 them by a display of concentrated energy. The de- 
 puty Thibaudeau accordingly proposed a simplifica- 
 tion of the government. He reconnnended that the 
 conmiittees shoidd be restricted to the simple function 
 of originating laws, and that executive measures should 
 Ijelong exclusively to the committee of public welfare -, 
 that the latter should unite the police to its other at- 
 tributes, and, in consequence, the committee of general 
 safety be abolished ; and, lastl)^ that the committee of 
 public welfare, thus burdened with the whole weight 
 of government, shoidd be increased to twenty-four 
 members, in order to meet the vast extension of its 
 duties. Those timid personages in the assembly, who 
 were ever ready to take alarm at impossible dangers, 
 exclaimed against this project, and maintained that it 
 would revive the former dictatorship. The question 
 being thus introduced, and scope given to imagination, 
 numerous were the suggestions tendered to the wis- 
 dom of the convention. Those who cherished tlie 
 phantasy of returning to constitutional forms, to the 
 division of prerogatives, proposed to create an execu- 
 tive power apart from the convention, in order that 
 administrative and legislative functions might be kept 
 asunder ; others, again, proposed to take the members 
 of this power from the ranks of the convention, but 
 to interdict them, during the continuance of their 
 authority, from exercising the legislative vote. After 
 long and discursive debates, the assembly arrived at 
 the conclusion, that, inasnmch as its existence would 
 not be prolonged beyond the span of two or three 
 months, that is to say, for the interval necessary to 
 complete the constitution, it would be folly to waste 
 its latter moments in framing a provisional constitu- 
 tion, and, above all, to discard the dictatorship at a 
 period so fraught with peril, when strength Avas more 
 than ever neeilful. Consequently, it rejected all tlie 
 propositions tending to promote a division of powers ; 
 but the ])roject of Thibaudeau excited too much dread 
 of an op))osite character to be adopted, and the con- 
 vention contented itself with rendering the action of 
 the connnittees less fettered. It decided that they 
 should 1)0 reduced to the mere faculty of submitting 
 laws ; that the committee of public welfare should 
 alone possess the direction of executive measures, but 
 that the i)olice should remain with the connnittee of 
 general safety; that the joint confereni'cs of connnit- 
 tees should for the future be managed by delegates ; 
 and, finally, to guard still more against that redoubt- 
 able conmiittee of public welfare, which caused so 
 much api)rehension, that it, this last-named committee, 
 should i)e deprived of the initiative in laws, and be 
 for ever debarred from taking any steps tending to 
 the impeachment of a deputy. 
 
 After these measures had been adopted, with the
 
 510 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 view of imparting additional energy to the govern- 
 ment, the convention resumed consideration of those 
 financial questions, tlie discussion whereof had been 
 abruptly ruptured by the events of the month Ger- 
 minal. The abolition of the maximum, of requisitions, 
 of the sequestration — in sliort, of the entire system of 
 forced expedients — by restoring all things to their 
 natural cliannel, had rendered still more rapid the 
 decUne of assignats. Sales being no longer forced, 
 and prices having become free, commodities had been 
 enhanced in an extraordinary manner, and assignats 
 of course proportionnbly depreciated. The communi- 
 cations witli otlier countries being re-established, the 
 assignat had again entered into competition witli 
 foreign bills, and its inferiority had been speedily 
 manifested by the continual fall of its exchangeable 
 value. Thus the degradation of the paper-money was 
 complete in all respects ; and, according to the ordinary 
 law of gravitation, the rapidity of the descent was 
 accelerated according to the depth of the fall. All 
 sudden fluctuations in money-values lead to hazardous 
 speculations, that is to say, to stockjobbing ; and as 
 these fluctuations never occur except as the conse- 
 quence of either financial or political disorder, when 
 production languishes, when industry and trade are 
 discouraged, this species of enterprise is almost the 
 only occupation left ; wherefore, instead of fabricating 
 or transporting additional commodities, capitalists are 
 content to speculate on the variations of price in those 
 already on the spot. In lieu of producing, ingenuity 
 and sagacity are diverted to wagering on what is 
 already produced. Stockjobbing, therefore, which had 
 gained such a height in the months of April, May, 
 and June, 1793, when the defection of Dumoiiriez, 
 the insurrection of La Vendee, and the federalist con- 
 federacy, provoked so considerable a depreciation of 
 assignats, reaj^peared more actively than before in 
 the months of Germinal, Floreal, and Prairial, year 3 
 (April and ]\Iay 179.5). Thus to the horrors of famine 
 were added the scandal of reckless gambling, which 
 materially aided to enhance tlie ]>rice of commodities 
 and to precipitate the downfall of the paper. The 
 course of the speculators was the same as in 1793 — • 
 the same, indeed, as ever. They purchased articles 
 of merchandise, which, rising in relation to the assig- 
 nat with great rapidity, grew in value in their hands, 
 and procm-ed them in short periods large profits. 
 All hopes and all exertions were thus directed to pro- 
 mote the degradation of the paper. Many articles 
 were sold and resold thousands of times without 
 l)eing removed. Nay, bargains were made on imagi- 
 nary investments. An article was bought of a seller 
 who had it not, but who was to deliver it at a fixed 
 term : the term elapsed, the vender did not deliver it, 
 but paid the difference between the rate of contract 
 and the price of the day if the article had risen, or 
 received the difference if the article had fallen in 
 value. The Palais-Royal, already so odious in the 
 eyes of the people as the resort of " the gilded youth," 
 was the place wliere the gamblers assembled. A citizen 
 could not traverse that locality without being assailed 
 by traffickers, who carried in their hands stuffs, gold 
 snuff-boxes, silver vases, or rich bronzes : it was veri- 
 tably a den of thieves. At the Cafe de Chartres all 
 the speculators in the precious metals chiefly gatliered. 
 Although gold and silver were no longer considered 
 merchandise, and since 1793 it was forbidden, under 
 severe penalties, to exchange them against assignats, 
 the traffic in them proceeded almost openly. The 
 louis-d'or was sold for 100 livres in paper; and in the 
 space of an hour it was made to vary from 160 to 200 
 and even 210 livres. 
 
 Tluis a deplorable scarcity of bread, an absolute de- 
 ficiency of fuel, amid a cold still rigorous in the heart 
 of spring, an excessive enhancement in the price of 
 all commodities, the impossibility of obtaining tliem 
 with a paper which fell every day in value ; and amidst 
 all these calamities a loathsome jobbing, accelerating 
 
 the depreciation of assignats by its operations, and 
 presenting the spectacle of scandalous gambling — of 
 sudden fortunes mocking the general misery — such 
 were the exhaustless topics of invective afforded to the 
 patriots for inflaming tlie wrath of the people. To 
 alleviate the public distress, and to prevent a general 
 outbreak, it was essential to remove these causes of 
 complaint ; but therein lay the ever-recurring and in 
 surmountable difficulty. 
 
 The measure deemed indispensable, as Ave have 
 mentioned, was to enhance the assignats by withdraw- 
 ing them ; but to withdraw them it was necessary to 
 sell domains, and here the real obstacle occurred, which 
 was eitlier not comprehended or wilfully overlooked — 
 the difficulty of obtaining purchasers Avith the ability 
 to pay for a third of the French territory. Violent 
 means had been rejected, to wit, arresting the (;urrency 
 altogether or levying a forced loan ; the clioice vibrated 
 between the two voluntary exj)edients, that is to saj% 
 between a lottery and a bank. The proscription of 
 Canibon decided the preference in favour of Johan- 
 not's scheme, which contemplated the formation of a 
 bank. But, pending tlie interval requisite to realise 
 this chimerical idea, which, even though it succeeded, 
 could never restore assignats to the standard of specie, 
 the grand evil, that of a difference between the nominal 
 and the real value of the paper, still remained. Thus 
 the creditor of the state or of individuals received the 
 assignat at par, and could reinvest it only at a loss 
 of nine-tentlis at the least. Proprietors who had 
 leased their lands received but the tenth fraction of 
 their rents. Tenants had been seen to discharge the 
 amount of their rents with the produce of a sack of 
 corn, a fatted hog, or a horse. The public exchequer, 
 especiall_y, suffered a loss which contributed to ruin 
 the finances of the state, and, as a necessary conse- 
 quence, the credit of the paper-money. It received in 
 satisfaction of taxes the assignat at its nominal value, 
 and collected montlily fifty millions, which were equi- 
 valent to five at the utmost. To supply the deficit 
 thus accruing, and to meet the extraordinary expenses 
 of the war. it was obliged to issue assignats to the 
 extent of eight hundred millions per month, on account 
 of their great depreciation. The first remedial mea- 
 sure indispensable, therefore, whilst awaiting the effect 
 of the fallacious projects devised for withdrawi)ig and 
 enhancing them, was to establish the relation between 
 their real value and their nominal A'alue, so that the 
 republic, the creditors of the state, the owners of lands, 
 the capitalists, all the individuals, in short, paid in 
 paper, might not be involved in utter bankruptcy and 
 destitution. Joliannot proposed to declare tlie precious 
 metals the standard of value. According to his plan, 
 the current price of assignats, with reference to gold 
 or silver, was to be daily ascertained, and all engage- 
 ments acquitted on that basis. Thus, he to whom 
 1000 francs were due would receive 10,000 francs in 
 assignats, if they were only worth the tenth in specie. 
 The taxes, rents, incomes of all kinds, payments for 
 national domains, would all be rendered in money or 
 in assignats at the current rate. This selection of 
 RI)ecie. as the common regulator of all values, was op- 
 posed, first, from a lingering antipathy against the pre- 
 cious metals, Avhich were accused of having ruined the 
 paper ; and, secondly, because the English, having a 
 profusion thereof, would be enabled, so it was gravely 
 argued, to make them fluctuate at their ])leasure, and 
 thus control the course of the assignats. Such reasons 
 were truly miserable, but tliey weighed with the con 
 vention to reject metals as tlie measure of value. 
 Thereupon J can -Bon -Saint -Andre suggested the 
 adoption of corn, which formed amongst all nations 
 tlie essential basis whereby prices of other articles 
 were necessarily regulated. By this method, taking 
 the inr-tance of a man discharging a liability, tlie quan- 
 tity of corn wliich the sum due coidd command would 
 lie calculated, as at tlie period wlien the transaction 
 had been concluded, and so many assignats paid in
 
 HISTOUY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 511 
 
 liquidation as would purchase the same quantity at 
 the time of settlement. Thus, he who owed interest, 
 rent, or taxes, to the amount of 1000 francs, at a period 
 ■wlien 1000 francs represented 100 quintals of wheat, 
 would give the current value of 100 quintals of wheat 
 in assignats. But here a fatal ohjection was started. 
 The exigencies of the war and the depression of agri- 
 culture had tended to raise considerably the price of 
 corn in relation to all other produce or conmiodities, 
 even in the proportion of four to one. Wheat ought, 
 according to the present rate of assignats, to have cost 
 only ten times the price of 1790, that is to say, 100 
 francs the quintal ; hut it cost nevertheless 400. He 
 who owed 1000 francs in 1790 would now owe 10,000 
 francs assignats, accounting after the standard of 
 specie, and 40,000 francs, reckoning upon the basis of 
 wlieat ; he would thus be mulcted in three times his 
 real debt. Calculation was therefore completely baffled 
 as to the adoption of a standai'd of value. The deputy 
 EafFron xn'oposed to reduce the assignats one per cent, 
 per diem, dating from the 30th of the month. An 
 immediate outcry arose that this was a bankruptcy, 
 as if it were not one to jtlace assignats on a metallic 
 or corn basis, or in other words, reduce them at one 
 bk)W ninety per cent. Bourdon, who discoursed in- 
 cessantly on finances without understanding them, 
 caused a decree to be passed that no proposition tend- 
 ing to bankruptcy would be entertained by the legis- 
 lature. 
 
 ]\loreover, the allocation of the assignat to a rate of 
 exchange had an inconvenience of the gravest nature. 
 If in all payments, whether for taxes or national do- 
 mains, the assignat should he taken for the future only 
 at the ratio to which it daily sunk, no limit could be 
 assigned to its decline, for then there would be no 
 countervailing agency. In the present state of mat- 
 ters, the assignat being still available for its nominal 
 value in the discharge of taxes, rents, and all sums 
 overdue, it fulfilled a service Avhich gave a certain re- 
 ality to its value ; but if it were received henceforth 
 universally only at tlie standard of the day, it must fall 
 indefinitelj' and without measure. The assignat emitted 
 to-day for 1000 francs might to-morrow be worth but 
 100 francs, one franc, or one centime : tr\ie, this depre- 
 ciation would injure no one, either individuals or the 
 state, for all would take it only for what it was worth ; 
 but its value, being forced in no direction, would forth- 
 with decline to the k)west ebb. There was no positive 
 reason whj' a nominal thousand millions should not 
 dwindle to one substantial franc ; and in such case the 
 resource of paper-money, still indispensable to the 
 government, would fail it altogether. 
 
 Dubois-Crance, finding all tliese x>rojects fraught 
 with danger, opposed the reduction of assignats to a 
 basis, and disregarding the sufferings of those who 
 were impoverished by payments in paper, advocated 
 sinij)ly the exaction of the land-tax in kind. The state 
 would thus be enabled to ensure the supply of the 
 armies and the large towns, and to dispense with an 
 emission of from three to four thousand millions of 
 l)a])er, which it nmst disburse in order to satisfy in- 
 evitable demands. This scheme, which seemed plau- 
 sible at the first blush, was discarded after more ma- 
 ture examination. Some other was to be sought for. 
 
 Meanwhile, the evil increased daily : disturbances 
 occurred in all quarters on account of the scarcity of 
 provisions and of wood for fuel ; at the Talais-lJoyal 
 bread was seen exposed to sale at twenty-two francs 
 the pound ; boatmen at one of the passages of the 
 Seine had demanded 40,000 francs for a service for- 
 merly performed in consideration of 100. A species 
 of despair seized on the minds of men ; exclamations 
 broke forth that the country must be extricated from 
 this horriljle condition — that measures must be found 
 at all hazards. In this cruel ])erplexity. Bourdon [de- 
 I'Oise], ignorant as a financier, who treated all these 
 questions in a very declamatory stjle, di.scovered, as- 
 suredly by accident, the only feasible method of escap- 
 
 ing from the embarrassment. To bring the assignats 
 under the regulation of a standard was difRcidt, as we 
 have shown, both on account of the dilemma touching 
 the selection of specie or corn as the basis, and because 
 it woidd inmiediately rob them of all value and expose 
 them to an interminable depreciation. To enhance 
 them by withdrawal was equally difficult, for the na- 
 tional domains must be sold, and the disposition of so 
 prodigious a quantity of immoveable jjroperty was 
 almost impossible. 
 
 Nevertheless, one mode of selling the domains was 
 practicable, and that consisted in placing them within 
 the reach of purchasers by exacting from them merely 
 a value commensurate with the state of the public 
 fortunes. The domains were at present sold by auction ; 
 whence it resulted that otfers were based on the de- 
 preciation of the paper, and five or six times the price 
 of 1790 was now to be given in assignats. This, it is 
 true, was still only the hah' of the vahie the lands bore 
 at that period, but it was too high for the present 
 times, since the land, in reality, was not worth the 
 half, not the fourth of what it had been worth in 1790. 
 There is nothing absolute in value. In America, on 
 vast continents, lands are worth little, because their 
 mass is infinitel}' superior to the amount of capital. 
 It was the same, so to speak, with France in 1795. 
 The valuation of 1790 had become fictitious, and it 
 was therefore requisite to forego it and adopt one 
 suitable to the era of 1795, for the true value of a 
 thing must depend upon the capability of buying it. 
 
 In consequence, Bourdon-de-1'Oise proposed to ad- 
 judge lands, without auctions and by mere minutes of 
 agreement, to all who should ofi'er m assignats three 
 times the estimation of 1790 — between two competi- 
 tors, the preference to be accorded to him who had 
 first made tlie application. Thus, a property valued 
 at 100,000 francs in 1790 would now be bought for 
 300,000 in assignats. The assignats having fallen to 
 a fifteenth of their value, 300,000 francs represented 
 in reality only 20,000 sterling francs ; therefore an 
 estate was to be purchased for 20,000 francs which in 
 1790 was worth 100,000 francs. This by no means 
 involved an absolute loss of four-fifths, because, in 
 sooth, it was impossible to obtain more. Besides, had 
 the sacrifice been real, stiU it ought to have been 
 made, for immense advantages attended the scheme. 
 
 In the first place, it obviated the inconveniences of 
 establishing a standard of value which would destroy 
 the paper altogether. We have akeady exjilained, in 
 fact, that the assignat, levelled to a current rate of ex- 
 change for aU piirposes, even for the payment of nationsil 
 domains, would be entirely deprived of any fixed value, 
 and nmst sink into nullity. But ])y preserving to it 
 the faculty of paying for domains, a fixed value was 
 secured to it, lor it represented a certain (puintity of 
 land ; this land being at all times procurable, it would 
 always retain such value as the land itself jjossessed, 
 and utterh- peri.sh only with its substantial represen- 
 tative : consequently the plan averted the annihila- 
 tion of the pa])er. But it had other good ])roperties. 
 It is certain, and what occurred two months after- 
 wards proved it, that all the donuiins might have been 
 forthwith disjwsed of, on condition of their being paid 
 for at the rate of tliree times the valuation of 1790. 
 All, or nearly all. the assignats might thus have been 
 retired; those which remained in circulation would 
 have recovered their value ; the state might have ven- 
 tured on a fresh emission, and rendered this resource 
 again available. I)oublk>ss, bj- reqviiring only thrice 
 the estimation of 1790, it became obliged to give nmch 
 more land in ordi r to retire the floating mass of pajier: 
 but still sutlicier.t would remain to it for the purj)()se 
 of meeting extraordinary exigencies. Moreover, the 
 taxes, at present almost unpnuhu-tive since tiiey were 
 paid in worthless assignats, would be restored in value 
 if the assignats were either absorbed or enhanced. The 
 domains, surrendered to private enterprise and indus- 
 try, would innnediately become productive both to
 
 51-2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 individuals and the state, and tlie most afflictive cala- 
 mity would be obviated bj' the just relation of values 
 being re-established. 
 
 The project of Bourdon-de I'Oise was adopted, and 
 preliminary steps taken for putting it into prompt 
 execution. But the storm which had been long ga- 
 tiicring, and wiiereof the 12th Germinal had been but 
 the precursor, was becoming more portentous than 
 ever ; it had settled on the horizon, and was on the 
 point of bursting. The two antagonist parties had 
 continued to agitate in their respective spheres of 
 action. The counter-revolutionists, predominating 
 in certain sections, prepared petitions against the 
 measures introduced bj^ Chtnier in his report, and 
 particularly against the provision punishing with 
 banisliment the abuses of the press by the royahsts. 
 On their side, the patriots, reduced to extremity, 
 meditated designs prompted by despair. The execu- 
 tion of Fouquier-Tinville, condemned with several 
 jurymen of the revolutionary tribunal for the manner 
 in which he had exercised his functions, had urged 
 their exasperation to the highest pitch. Although 
 detected in their scheme of tlie '29\h Germinal, and' 
 more recently foiled in a second attempt to constitute 
 all the sections permanent, under pretence of the 
 famine, they conspired with imabated activity- in 
 dilferent jwpulous quarters. They had now so far 
 matured their plans, as to form a central committee 
 of insurrection, located between the quarters of Saint- 
 Denis and ^lontmartre, in the Rue Mauconseil. It 
 was composed of members of the old revolutionary 
 committees, and of sundr}' individuals of similar cha- 
 racter, almost all unknown beyond the precincts of 
 their wards. Tlie plan of insurrection was modelled 
 on preceding outbreaks of the like nature : the Avomcn 
 to Ije put in the van, followed by an immense con- 
 course ; the convention to be surrounded by such a 
 multitude that no succours could reach it, and then 
 compelled to discard the seventy- three, recall Billaud, 
 Collot, and Barrere, liberate the deputies detained at 
 Ham and all the incarcerated patriots, declare the 
 constitution of 1793 in force, give a new commune to 
 Paris, and revert to the revolutionary expedients of 
 the maxinmm, requisitions. &c. — such was the plan 
 of the patriots. Tliey digested it into a manifesto, 
 comprising eleven articles, and published " in the name 
 of the sovereign people re-entered upon their rights." They 
 caused it to be printed on the evening of the 30th 
 Floreal (19th May), and circulated through Paris. 
 The inhabitants of the ca])it;d were exhorted to re- 
 pah", en masse, to the convention, bearing on their hats 
 these words : " Bread and the Constitution ('/ '93." 
 The entire night of the 30th Floreal to the 1st Prai- 
 rial, was passed in commotion, in clamour, in furious 
 menaces. Women scoured the streets, vociferating 
 that on the morrow the convention must be visited ; 
 that it had murdered Robespierre only to assume his 
 place ; that it starved the people, protected the dealers 
 who sucked the blood of the poor, and consigned to 
 death all the patriots. They encouraged each other 
 to march in the van, because, they said, the armed 
 force would not venture to fire on women. 
 
 In the morning,* in fact, at the break of day, the 
 tumult was general in the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine 
 and Saint-^larceau, in the quarter of the Temple, 
 in the Streets Saint-Denis and Saint-^Iartin, and, 
 above all, in the City. The patriots rang all the bells 
 they could command, beat the tattoo, and discharged 
 pieces of ordnance. At the same instant, the tocsin 
 pealed from the tower of L'Unite, by direction of the 
 committee of general safety, and the sections began 
 to muster ; but those which were involved in the plot, 
 had formed at early dawn, and were already under 
 arms, long before the otliers had received any inti- 
 mation to hold themselves in readiness. The multi- 
 tude, constantly swelling, advanced gradually towards 
 
 * 1st Pmiriul year 3 iWednesday, i20th May). 
 
 the Tuileries. A gang of women, interspersed with 
 drunken men, and yelling " Bread and tlie constitution 
 of '93 ! " troops of bandits, armed Avith pikes, swords, 
 and every variety of weapon, throngs of the lowest 
 popidace, and several battalions of the sections regu- 
 larly armed, composed this heterogeneous assemblage, 
 and marclied without order towards the jioint assigned 
 for all — the convention. About ten o'clock they had 
 reached the Tuileries ; they forthwith beleaguered the 
 hall of the assembl}-, and blocked all the avenues. 
 
 The deputies, summoned in all haste, were at their 
 post. The members of the Slountain, having held 
 no communication with the obscure committee of 
 insurrection, had not lieen apprised of the intended 
 movement, and, like their colleagues, were warned of 
 it only by the cries of the populace and the knell of 
 the tocsin. They were even moved with distrust, 
 fearing that the committee of general safety had laid 
 a snare for the patriots, and incited them to tumult 
 in order to gain an opportunity of treating them with 
 additional severity. The assembly was no sooner 
 constituted, than Isabeau rose to read the manifesto 
 of insurrection. The galleries, early occui)icd by the 
 patriots, immediately resounded with deafening ac- 
 clamations. Seeing the convention thus environed, 
 a member exclaimed, it would know how to die at its 
 post. Instantly all the deputies sprang to their feet, 
 and repeated emphatically, " Yes! yes!" A gallery, 
 filled more favourably than the others, applauded t^jiis 
 declaration. jSIeanwhile, the pervading din grew more 
 distinct, the roar of the great popular wave reverbe- 
 rated in louder echoes : deputies appeared successively 
 in the tribune, and offered divers suggestions. Sud- 
 denly, a swarm of women was seen pouring into the 
 galleries ; they rushed precipitately forward, treading 
 under foot those who occupied them, and vociferating, 
 " Bread ! bread I" The president Vernier covered, 
 and commanded them to be silent ; but they not the 
 less continued to cr}-, " Bread ! bread ! " Some clenched 
 their fists at the assembly, others mocked its distress. 
 Numerous members arose to speak, but their efforts 
 to obtain a hearing were ineffectual. They called 
 upon the president to enforce the respect due to the 
 convention ; the president was powerless. Andre 
 Dumont, who had presided with firmness on the 12th 
 Germinal, succeeded Vernier, and seated himself on 
 the bench. The disturbance continued, the shouts 
 of " Broad ! bread ! " were reiterated by the women 
 who had stormed the galleries. Andre Dumont de- 
 clared he would order their removal : howls on one 
 side, plaudits on the other, greeted the announcement. 
 At this moment, violent blows were heard on the door 
 to the left of the bench, and the noise of a multitude 
 endeavouring to force it. The stanchions of the 
 door creaked, and the plaster began to ftill. In this 
 perilous situation, the president addressed a general, 
 who had presented himself at the bar with a company 
 of young men, to deliver on the part of the section of 
 Bon-Conseil a judicious petition, in these words : 
 "General, I summon you to watch over the national 
 representation ; and I appoint you provisional com- 
 mandant of the armed force." The assembly con- 
 firmed this nomination by its applause. The gener;il 
 affirmed lie would die at his post, and departed for 
 tlie scene of combat. Presently, the noise at one of 
 the doors ceased, and a degree of calmness ensued. 
 Andre Dumont, addressing himself to the galleries, 
 enjoined rJl good citizens present in tliem to with- 
 draw, and announced he was about to employ force 
 in compelling their evacuation. Many citizens re- 
 tired, but the women remained, still eclioing the same 
 shouts. In a few minutes, the general, charged by 
 the president to watch over the convention, returned 
 with an escort of fusiliers, and several young men 
 who had provided themselves with postilions' whips. 
 They scaled the galleries, and expelled the women, 
 chasing them away with sonorous chastisement. The 
 females fled, uttering lamentable cries, relieved by

 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 )13 
 
 the acclamations of the major part of the specta- 
 tors. 
 
 Scarcely were the galleries cleared, ere the noise at 
 the door on the left recurred. The crowd had re- 
 turned to the charge ; it was again assailing the door, 
 which at length yielded to the pressure, started, and 
 fell in fragments. The members of the convention 
 retreated to the upjier benches ; the gendarmerie 
 formed a barrier around to protect them. Divers 
 armed citizens of the sections hastened into the hall, 
 by the door on the riglit, to repulse the populace. 
 They at first succeeded, and captured some women ; 
 but they were speedily obliged to recoil in their turn 
 before the victorious horde. Fortunately the section 
 of Crenelle, the first to fly to the succour of the con- 
 vention, arrived at this critical moment, and furnished 
 an important reinforcement. The deputy Auguis was 
 at its head, sword in hand. "Forward!" he cried. 
 The battalion closed, advanced, crossed bayonets, and 
 repelled without wounding the multitude of assailants, 
 who shrunk back as the glittering phalanx approached. 
 One of the insurgents was grasped by the collar, 
 dragged to the foot of the bench, rifled, and his pockets 
 found full of bread. It was now two o'clock. Com- 
 parative tranquillity revived in the assembly : a reso- 
 lution was passed that the section of Gretielle had 
 deserved well of the country. All the foreign ambas- 
 sadors had repaired to the gallery set apart for their 
 use. and remained spectators of this scene, as if to 
 partake in some sort the perils of tlie convention. It 
 was decreed that especial mention of their courageous 
 sympathy shoifld be recorded in the votes. 
 
 IMeanwhile the crowd gradually increased around 
 the hall. Two or three sections only had been suffi- 
 ciently alert to gain and penetrate the National Palace, 
 and they were incapable of resisting the continually 
 augmenting mass of assailants. Others had subse- 
 cjuently arrived, but strove in vain to reach the inte- 
 rior ; they were debarred from communicating with 
 the committees, they had no specific orders, and thus 
 thej' halted in ignorance whether to make use of their 
 arms. In a few moments the crowd made a fresh 
 inroad through the Saloon of Liberty, and pushed on- 
 ward to the prostrated door. The shouts " to arras !" 
 were renewed ; the armed force in the interior of the 
 hall hurried to the tlireatened inlet. The president 
 covered his head, and the assembly sat in calm solici- 
 tude. The two parties were speedily in collision ; 
 before the portal itself the struggle commenced : the 
 defenders of the convention crossed their bayonets ; 
 the assailants on their side fired sundry shots ; the 
 bullets wliistled through tlie hall and lodged in the 
 widls. The deputies arose and cried with one accord, 
 " The republic for ever !" Additional detachments 
 poiu'ed in, traversed the luiU from right to left, and 
 reinforced those already sustaining the assault. The 
 discharge of musketry was redoubled : the battalions 
 charged and pierced the crowd amid the clash of 
 sabres. But the vast mass behind the assailants urged 
 them forward, drove them in their own despite \i\mn 
 the bayonets, overthrew all oj)p<)sing obstacles, and 
 swept like a torrent into the assembly. A deputy, 
 named Feraud, recently arrived from the army of the 
 Rliine, and who for the last fortnight had been scour- 
 ing the environs of Faris to hasten the arrival of pro- 
 visions, an ingenuous young man, glowing with courage 
 and ardour, flew in front of the invading nudtitude, 
 and conjured them to advance no farther. " Take 
 my life," he exclaimed, laying bare his bosom ; " you 
 will enter only after passing over my body !" In fa(;t, 
 he extended himself on the ground, hoi)ing to check 
 them ; but the infuriated mob derided his appeal, 
 passed over his body, and ])ressed on towards the 
 bench. Tliree o'clock had just struck. Intoxicated 
 women, and men armed with swords, ])ikes, and nnis- 
 kets, bearing on thi'ir hats the words, "Bread and the 
 constitution of 'y.'5," filled the hall ; some occupied the 
 lower seats abandoned by the deputies ; others crowded 
 
 tlie space below the bar ; and others again planted 
 tliemselves before the bench, or clustered on the steps 
 leading to the chair of the president. A j'oung officer 
 of tlie sections, named Malh', stationed on the steps 
 of the bench, tore from one of these men the motto on 
 his hat. He was immediately fired ujion, and he fell 
 covered with wounds. At this moment, all the bay- 
 onets and pikes were directed upon the president ; his 
 head was enveloped in a forest of steel. The occupant 
 of the chair was Boissj'-d'Anglas, Avho had succeeded 
 Andre Duniont ; he remained iinmovable ;uid calm. 
 Feraud, who had raised himself from the floor, ap- 
 peared at the foot of the tribune, tore his hair and 
 smote his breast, v.-ith the aspect of a man in the 
 deepest affliction ; then, perceiving the danger of the 
 president, he sprang forward to cover him with his 
 body. One of the men with pikes endeavoured to 
 restrain him by grasj)ing his coat ; an officer, with the 
 view of disengaging Feraud, struck the man who de- 
 tained him with liis fist ; the wretch retorted the blow 
 with a pistol-bullet, which pierced Feraud in the 
 shoulder. The unfortunate young man fell ; he was 
 borne along in the moving mass, trampled underfoot, 
 ultimately dragged out of the hall, and his corpse 
 thrown to the populace. 
 
 Boissy-d'Anglas continiied in the chair, amidst this 
 frightful commotion, calm and imperturbable : the 
 bayonets and the pikes still bristled as a halo around 
 his head. Now commenced a scene of confusion no 
 pen can adequately describe. Every one essayed to 
 speak, and taxed his lungs in vain to make himself 
 heard. The drums beat to restore silence; but Ihe 
 crowd, feeling delight in the chaos, roared the louder, 
 kicked with their feet, clattering and hallooing Avith 
 frantic joy at the spectacle of the condition to which 
 the supreme council of the nation Avas reduced. It 
 was not thus the 31st ]\Iay had been accomjilished, 
 when the revolutionary party, having at its head the 
 commune, the stalf of the sections, and a considerable 
 number of deputies, to receive and give the necessary- 
 injunctions, surrounded the convention with a silent 
 and armed concourse, and, blockading without invad- 
 ing it, made it pass, with some semblance of dignity, 
 the decrees required at the moment. In the present 
 instance, all was clamour and tumult ; no one could 
 be heard, no means were ensured for even extorting 
 an apparent concurrence in the desires of the patriots. 
 An artilleryman, surrounded with fusileers, mounted 
 the tribune to read the plan of insurrection. He was 
 interrupted every instant by shouts, execrations, and 
 the rolling of the drum. One man obtained a momen- 
 tary lull, and began to address the multitude. " ]\Iy 
 friends," he said, " we are all here for the same cause. 
 Danger presses, decrees are needed : allow yc)ur repre- 
 sentatives to pass them." "Down! down!" they 
 shouted to him for answer. The deputy Rhiil, an old 
 man of venerable aspect, and a zealous Mountaineer, 
 endeavoured to utter a few words from his place, ex- 
 horting to silence ; but he was stopped by a renewed 
 storm of vocifenitions. Komme, a man of austere 
 character, unconnected Avith the insurrection, as was 
 all tlie Mountain, liut desirous that the measures de- 
 maiidLd liy the peo]ile should be adopted, and jiercciv- 
 ing with regret that this deplorable confusion would 
 terminate in no result, like tlie movement of the 12th 
 Germinal — he, Komme, earnestly begged to be heard. 
 Duroi also urged a similar (Mitreaty with an identical 
 object: neither the one nor tlie other could olitaln at 
 tention. The tumult recommenced, more terrible than 
 ever, after these various essays, and continued thus 
 for upwards of an hour longer. AVhilst at its height, 
 a head suddenly ajipeared, borne aloft on the poiut of 
 a bayonet : it was belield with a thrill of horror: the 
 features could not be recognised. Some asserted it 
 was the head of Freron, otliers that of luraud. It 
 ■was Firaud's, too truly: the brigands had decapi- 
 tated his corpse, and jilaced the head on the edge of a 
 bayonet. They paraded it through the hall amid the
 
 614 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FHENCH ItEVOLUTlOxV. 
 
 howls of the niultitutle. The fury against Boissy- 
 d'Aiiglaswas revived; lie was again exposed toinnai- 
 nent peril ; his liead was enclosed in a circuit of 
 bayonets, muskets were levelled at.hiin on all sides, 
 death menaced him from a thousand arms. 
 
 Thus tlie time elapsed until seven in the evening. 
 A new terror was suggested to the minds of the re- 
 presentatives : they feared that the mob, which in- 
 cluded many determmed miscreants, would proceed to 
 the last extremities, and massacre the national repre- 
 sentation under the obscurity of night. Several 
 members of the centre besouglit certain ^lountaineers 
 to exhort the populace to disperse. Vernier endea- 
 vtmred to inculcate upon the insurgents tliat it was 
 already late, that they ought now to retire, that they 
 woidd expose the people to the danger of wanting 
 bread by disarranging the operations for obtaining 
 supplies. "That is themaniEuvre," rejoined the crowd; 
 " you have told us that fur the last three montlis." 
 Thereupon suudry cries broke from the multitude : 
 one voice demanded the liberty of tlie patriots and of 
 the arrested deputies ; anotlier the constitution of '93; 
 a third the arrest of aU emigrants ; numei'ous others 
 the permanence of the sections, tlie re-establishraent of 
 the coinmune, the appointment of a commander of tlie 
 Parisian armed force, domiciliary visits in quest of 
 concealed provisions, the assignats at par, &c. &c. One 
 man, who contrived to gain a hearing for a few mo- 
 ments, insisted that the convention should immediately 
 nominate a commander of the Parisian armed force, 
 and select Soubrany for the post. Another, at a loss 
 wliat to demand, exclaimed, " Tiie arrest of knaves 
 and cowards !" and for the space of thirty minutes, he 
 repeated at intervals, in sonorous accents, " The arrest 
 of knaves and cowards ! " 
 
 Oue of the ringleaders, sensible at length of the 
 necessity of gaining decisions from the convention, 
 proposed that the deputies should descend from the 
 upper benches to whicli they had retreated, collect in 
 the middle of the hall, and tliere enter on deliberation. 
 The idea was fortliwith acted upon ; tlie people forced 
 tlie deputies from their seats, compelled them to de- 
 scend, and drove them, like a flock of sheep, into the 
 space intervening between the tribune and the lowest 
 benches. Men encompassed them with pikes, forming 
 a ring or pen around them with those weapons. Ver- 
 nier superseded in the presidency Boissy-dAnglas, 
 who was exhausted with the fatigues of so arduous 
 and perilous a post as lie had occupied for the last six 
 hours. It was nearly nine o'clock. A species of deli- 
 beration was organised: it was arranged that the 
 people should remain covered, and the deputies alone 
 raise their hats in sign of approbation or disapproval. 
 Tlie Mountaineers began to entertain hopes that the 
 desired decrees might really be jiassed, and they pro- 
 ceeded accordingly to submit motions. Koinme, who 
 liad already rendered himself cons{)icuous, moved that 
 the enlargement of tlie patriots be ordained by de- 
 cree. Duroi stated that, since the 9th Thermidor, the 
 enemies of the country had promoted a fatal reaction; 
 that the deputies arrested on the 12th Germinal had 
 been so illegally, and that their recall must be forth- 
 with pronounced. The president was obliged to put 
 these different propositions to the vi)te ; hats were 
 raised, and cries of " Adopted ! adopted I " uttered, 
 amidst tremendous uproar, without the possibility of 
 distinguishing whether the deputies had actually af- 
 firmed or negatived. Goujon followed Romme and 
 Duroi, and maintained that means must be taken to 
 ensure the exe(;ution of the decrees. He said that the 
 comniitces had not appeared; that it was of import- 
 ance to know what they were doing; that they ought 
 to be called upon to render an account of their pro- 
 ceedings, and be replaced by an extraordinary com- 
 mission. Herein lay the great peril of the day to the 
 Mountaineers. If the commitees remained free to 
 act, they might advance to deliver the convention from 
 its oppressors. ^Vlbitte the elder suggested that suffi- 
 
 cient order was not manifested in the form of delibe- 
 ration ; that the bureau was not constituted, and that 
 one ought immediately to be formed. It was com- 
 posed forthwith. Bourbotte moved the arrest of news- 
 paper editors. An unknown voice arose, crying that, 
 to prove the patriots were not cannibals, the penalty 
 of death should be abolislied. " Yes, yes ! " responded 
 on all sides ; " except for emigrants and the forgers ot 
 assignats." This proposition was adopted in the same 
 manner as the preceding. Duquesnoi reverted to the 
 subject introduced by Goujon, and moved the suspen- 
 sion of the committees and the nomination of an ex- 
 traordinary eonmiission of four members. On the 
 instant, Bourbotte, Prieur [de-la-]SIarne], Duroi, and 
 Duquesnoi himself, were appointed. Those four de- 
 puties accepted the fmictions confided to them. How- 
 ever hazardous they might be, they would know, so 
 they asseverated, how to fulfil them and to die at 
 their post. They prepared to depart, with the inten- 
 tion of repairing to the committees and seizing upon 
 all authority. Here was the difficulty ; and the suc- 
 cess of the insurrection depended altogether upon the 
 result of that enterprise. 
 
 It was nine o'clock : neither the committee of in- 
 surrection nor the committees of government had 
 ajjpeared io act during this long and terrible day. All 
 that the committee of insurrection had been able to 
 do, was to propel the people on the convention : as we 
 have previously mentioned, it was composed of obscure 
 leaders, such as remain in the latter days of a party, 
 havi!ig no commune, no staff of the sections, no com- 
 mander of the armed force, no deputies, at their dis- 
 position, and consequently incompetent to direct the 
 insurrection with the combination and vigour requisite 
 to ensure it success. They had sent forward a horde 
 of furious wretc-hes, who had committed horrible ex- 
 cesses, but who had done nothing they ought to have 
 done. No detachment had been sent to suspend and 
 neutralise the committees, or to open the prisons 
 and deliver the energetic men whose aid would 
 have been so valuable. The arsenal alone had been 
 seized, which the gendarmerie of the tribunal, com- 
 prising the militia organised by Fouquier-Tinville, 
 delivered to the first apidicants. On the contrary, the 
 governing committees, surrounded and defended by 
 the " gilded youth," had employed the interval in 
 strenuous efforts to muster the sections. The task 
 was arduous amid tlie tumult which reigned, the terror 
 wherewith many of them were struck, and the hostile 
 feeling even, displayed by some. The commitees had 
 early succeeded in assembling two or three, whose 
 assistance, as we have seen, had been rendered nuga- 
 tory by the force of the assailants. At a later period 
 they had contrived to collect a greater number, owing 
 cliietly to the zeal of the section Lepciletier, formerly 
 known as that of the Filles 8t-Thomas ; and towards 
 night they were prepared to seize the moment when 
 the multitude, wearied with fatigue, would begin to 
 dAvindle, in order to fall uptm the insurrectionists and 
 deliver the convention. Foreseeing that, during its 
 prolonged invasion, the convention would be coerced 
 into dec^rees repugnant to its wishes, they had passed 
 a resolution, branding as spurious all decrees which 
 might be adopted on that day. Their arrangements 
 thus completed, Legendre, Auguis, Chenier, Delecloi. 
 Bergoeng, and KervOlegan, liad proceeded, at the 
 head of strong detachments, towards the convention. 
 Arrived there, they had agreed to leave the doors open, 
 in order that the ])oi)idu(;e, i)ressed on one side, might 
 retreat by the other. Legendre and Delecloi had then 
 undertaken to penetrate into the hall, ascend the tri- 
 bune despite all dangers, and summon the insurgents 
 to withdraw. " If they refuse," tliej'^ said to their 
 colleagues, " do you charge, and fear nothing for us. 
 Though we must perish in the tumult, still advance." 
 
 Legendre and Delecloi, in fact, penetrated into the 
 
 hall at the very moment the four deputies nominated 
 
 I to compose the extraordinary commission were on the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 515 
 
 point of departing. Legendre scaled the tribune, 
 amidst insults and blows, and essaj'ed to speak under 
 a roar of bowls. "I invite the assembly," lie cried, 
 " to remain firm, and the citizens who are present to 
 retire." " Down ! down 1" shouted the mob. Le- 
 gendre and Delecloi were compelled to withdraw. 
 ]3uquesnoi then addressed his colleagues of the extra- 
 ordinary commission, and urged them to follow him, 
 so that they might at once suspend the committees, 
 which it was obvious, he said, were in contravention 
 to the resolutions of the assembly. Soubrany also 
 engaged them to be prompt. Thereupon all four 
 moved out of the hall ; but they speedily encountered 
 the detachment at the head of which marched the re- 
 presentatives Legendre, Kervelegan, and Auguis, and 
 the commander of the national guard, Raffet. Prieur- 
 de-la-Marne demanded of Raffet whether he had re- 
 ceived from the president orders to enter. " I have 
 nothing to do with you," replied Raffet, and he pro- 
 ceeded onwards. The multitude was again summoned 
 to withdraw : the president repeated the invitation in 
 the name of the law : it answered by yells. The de- 
 tachments immediately lowered their bayonets and 
 entered ; the unarmed crowd yielded, but the men 
 holding weapons stood and resisted ; they were quickly 
 repulsed, and fled, vociferating, " To us, Sans-culottes !" 
 Part of the patriots returned at this cry, and charged 
 with impetuosity the detachment which had penetrated. 
 For a moment they had the advantage : the deputy 
 Kervelegan was wounded in the hand; the Moun- 
 taineers, Bourbotte, Peyssard, and Gaston, exulted in 
 shouts of victory. But the noise of the charge had 
 resounded to the outer hall ; a considerable reinforce- 
 ment poured in, made a fresh onslaught upon the 
 insurgents, di'ove them back, and pursued them at the 
 point of the bayonet. They fled with precipitation, 
 crowding through the doorway's, clambering up the 
 galleries, or leaj^ing out of the windows. The hall of 
 representatives was finally cleared, just on the stroke 
 of midnight. 
 
 The convention, delivered fi-om the assailants who 
 had outraged bj^ violence and death its hallowed pre- 
 cincts, took a few seconds to recover itself. Tranquil- 
 lity gradually revived. " It is then too true," exclaimed 
 a member, " that this assembly, the cradle of the re- 
 public, has once more narrowly escaped becoming its 
 tomb ! Fortunately, the criminal designs of the con- 
 spirators have again been foiled. But, representatives, 
 you will not be worthy of the nation, unless you exact 
 for it a signal vengeance." He was apjilauded from 
 all sides ; and, as on the 12th Germinal, the night was 
 devoted to punishing the enormities of the day. But 
 much graver delinquencies now demanded proportion- 
 ably severer measures. The first care was to rescind 
 the decrees proposed find passed by the insurgents. 
 " Rescind is not the word," said a dejiuty to Legendre, 
 who had submitted this motion. " The convention did 
 not, could not vote, whilst ruffians were murdering one 
 of its members. All that has been done is not the act 
 of the convention, but of tlie brigands who oppressed 
 it, and of some culpabli; representatives who rendered 
 themselves their accomplices." The assembly accord- 
 ingly declared all that had been done null and void. 
 The secretaries burnt the minutes of the decrees 
 carried by the rebels. All eyes were then turned in 
 quest of the deputies wlio had taken part in the 
 late tempestuous scene : they were eagerly ]X)inted out, 
 their names velieniently pronounced. " No longer," 
 exclaimed Thil)audeau — " no longer any liope exists 
 of reconciliation between us and a factious minority. 
 Since the sword is drawn, we must combat it with 
 the greater resolution, and profit by existing circum- 
 stances to restore peace and security in the lieart of 
 this assembly for ever. I move that you instantly 
 decree the arrest of those deputies who, betraying 
 all their duties, endeavoured to realise the views of 
 the insurrection, and embodied them in laws. I move 
 that the committees forthwith propound measures 
 
 of severity against those mandatories, recreant at 
 once to their country and their oaths." The con- 
 tumacious deputies were thereupon designated, to wit, 
 Rbul, Romme, andDuroi, who had enjoined silence in 
 order to open the deliberation ; Albitte, who hud 
 caused the constitution of a bureau ; Goujon and 
 Duquesnoi, who had urged the suspension of the com- 
 mittees and the formation of an extraordmary com- 
 mission of four members ; Bourbotte and Prieur-de-la- 
 Marne, who had accepted, with Duroi and Duquesnoi, 
 the appointment of members of that commission ; 
 Soubrany, whom the rebels had nominated for com- 
 mander of the Parisian army ; and, lastly, Peyssard, 
 who had shouted " victory" during the action. Duroi 
 and Goujon desired to speak : they were not permitted ; 
 they were execrated as assassins, and instantly decreed 
 under arrest. A suggestion was offered, that means 
 should be taken to prevent them escaping, as the 
 majority of those who had been condenmed on the 
 12th Germinal. The president directed the gendar- 
 merie to surround them and convey them to the bar. 
 Search was made for Romme, who shrunk from obser- 
 vation : Bourdon stretched out his hand, detecting 
 him ; he was dragged to tlie bar with his colleagues. 
 The spirit of vengeance, thus aroused, demanded more 
 ample gratification : all the Mountaineers who had 
 signalised themselves on extraordinary missions in the 
 departments, long obnoxious objects, now likewise fell 
 under anathema. " I move," exclaimed a member, 
 " the arrest of Lecarpentier, the executioner of La 
 jNIanche." " Of Pinet the elder," cried another voice, 
 " the executioner of the people of Biscay." " Of Borie," 
 added a third, " the devastator of the South, and of 
 Fayau, one of the exterminators of La Vendee." These 
 propositions were adopted amid shouts of " The con- 
 vention for ever ! The republic for ever !" " We must 
 have no more half measures," said Tallien. " The 
 object of the movement to-daj' was the re-establish- 
 ment of the Jacobins, and especially of the comnmne ; 
 we must destroy what yet remains of it — both Pache 
 and Bouchotte must be ari'ested. This is only the 
 prelude of the measures the committee will submit to 
 you. Vengeance, citizens — vengeance against the 
 assassins of their colleagues and of the national repre- 
 sentation! Let us profit by the blunders of these 
 men, who deem themselves the equals of those who 
 prostrated the throne, and would fain emulate them^ 
 of those men who would make revolutions, and can 
 only foment revolts. Let us profit by their incapacity , 
 let us hasten to smite them, and thus put an end to the 
 revolution." The assembly applauded, and at ou'-e 
 adopted the proi)osition of TaUien. In this paroxysm 
 of -wrath, sundry voices denounced Robert Lindet, 
 whom his virtues and his services had hitherto shielded 
 from the fiu-y of the reaction. Lehardi moved the 
 arrest of ^^ that monster " but so many deprecatory 
 voices were raised in praise of I^indet's suavity, in 
 testimony that he had saved from famine entire cities 
 and dejiartments, that the order of the day was adojited 
 on the motion. After these resolutions, the conven- 
 tion renewed its decree for tlie disarming of the ter- 
 rorists ; it ordained tiiat, on the a]iproaching quintidi 
 (Sunday, 24tli May), tlie sections should assemble, and 
 proceed forthwith '* to (llsann the assaatiins — the drinkers 
 of blood — the robhera and aifents of tlie fi/rantii/ which 
 preceded the 9(h Thermidvr ;" it even antliorised them 
 to arrest those they considered ougiit to be arraigned 
 liefore the revohitionarv tribunal. It determined at 
 the same time tliat, until further orders, women should 
 be no longer admitted into tlie galleries. It was now 
 three in the morning. The committees announcing 
 that all was tranquil in Paris, the convention sus- 
 pended its session until ten o'clock. 
 
 Such was the revolt of the 1st Prairial. On no day 
 
 during the revolution had so terrible a spectacle been 
 
 present(rd. If on the .'Hst May and 9th Therniidor, 
 
 cannon were pointed on the convention, the place o 
 
 I its sessions, nevertheless, had not been invaded, ren-
 
 £16 
 
 HISTORY OF TUE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 dered the arena of a sansjuinary conflict, traversed by 
 bullets, and stained by the murder of a representative 
 of the people. The revolutionists, on this occasion, 
 haJ exhil)ited the inefficiency and violence of a party 
 long subdued, devoid of confederates in the government 
 from which it had been excluded, deprived of its 
 leaders, and directed by men at once obscure, compro- 
 mised, and desperate. Without knowing how to avail 
 themselves of the Mountain, without even apprising 
 it of the movement, they had inculpated and exposed 
 to the scatfold honest deputies, unsullied by the ex- 
 cesses of the subverted tyranny, attaclied to the 
 patriots from alarm at tlie reaction, and who liad taken 
 part in the events of the day oidy to avert greater 
 calamities, and to liasten tlie accomplishment of certain 
 views they held in counnon with the insurgents. 
 
 Nevertiieless, the malecontents, seeing tlie fate im- 
 pending over them all, and habituated so inveterately 
 as they were to revolutionary struggles, were not 
 men to succumb all at once. Thej' collected on the 
 following day at the hidl of the connnune, proclaimed 
 themselves in permanent insurrection, and laboured 
 to muster around theni the sections devoted to their 
 cause. Feeling, however, that the commune was not 
 a good post, although located between the quarter of 
 the Temple and the City, they deemed it preferable to 
 establish the nucleus of insurrection in the Faubourg 
 Saint-Antoine. They proceeded thither accordingly 
 in the middle of the day, and took measures for renew- 
 ing tlie enterprise of the eve. They now endeavoured 
 to act with a greater degree of order and prudence. 
 They dispatched three battalions completely armed 
 and organised, being those of the sections Quinze- 
 Vingts, ilontreuil, and I'opincourt, all three composed 
 of stalwart operatives, and directed by intrepid leaders. 
 These battalions advanced alone, without the dis- 
 orderly rabble which had yesterday accompanied them, 
 encountered sections faithful to the convention, but not 
 in suflucieut force to check them, and finally, after 
 mid-day, planted themselves with their artillery in 
 front of the Nation:d Palace. At the sanie time, the 
 sections Lepelletier, Butte-des-]Mouhns, and others, 
 took up a position confronting them, to protect the 
 convention. But should a regular engagement en- 
 sue, in the present state of affairs, it was extremel}- 
 dubious that the victory would remain with the de- 
 fenders of the national representation. To render the 
 chance more precarious, the artillerymen, wlio in all 
 the sections were operatives and ardent revolution- 
 ists, abandoned the sections drawn up before the 
 palace, and proceeded with their pieces to join the 
 artillerj-men of Popincom-t, 3.Iontreuil, and the Quinze- 
 Vingts. The cry " To arms ! " passed along the lines, 
 muskets were loaded on both sides, and all seemed pre- 
 pared for a sanguinary action. The dull rolling of tlie 
 ordnance was lieard echoing under the arches of the 
 convention. Divers mendjers sprang up to give utter- 
 ance to their feehngs. " Kepresentatives," exclahned 
 Legendre, " be calm, and remain at your post. Nature 
 has doomed us all to die : a little sooner or a little later 
 is of small nidinent I Good citizens are ready to defend 
 you. Meanwhile, the dignified course is to observe 
 silence." The entire assembly immediately sat down, 
 and displayed that imposing calmness whicli it had 
 eAinced on the 9th Thermiilor, and on so many other 
 occasions in the course of its stormy career. In the 
 interim, the two opposing forces, already in battle 
 array, had assumed the most menacing attitude. Be- 
 fore actually coming into collision, several mdividuals 
 cried out that it was horrible for good citizens to 
 slaughter one another; that at least some explanation, 
 some effort at an understanding, should be attempted. 
 Many stepped from the antagonist ranks and parleyed 
 on alleged grievances. Certain members of the com- 
 mittees, wiio clianced to be present, glided into tlie 
 battalions of the hostile sections, and addressed them 
 in soothing language ; when, finding that much might 
 be gained by the ways of conciliation, they sent to 
 
 request from the assembly a deputation of twelve 
 members, for the purpose of fraternising with the 
 relenting rebels. The convention, considering this 
 step an act of unbecoming weakness, manifested re- 
 pugnance to adopt it ; but being assured that its com- 
 mittees deemed it advisable and calcidated to prevent 
 the effusion of blood, it acqixiesced : tlie twelve mem- 
 bers were delegated, and they presented themselves to 
 the three sections. Speedily the ranks were broken on 
 both sides, and the troops mingled indiscriminately. 
 The man of uncultivated mind and inferior grade is 
 alwa3-s sensible to the amicable demonstrations of the 
 person whom costume, langaiage, and manners, place 
 above him. The soldiers of the three malecontent bat- 
 talions were afi'ected ; they declared that they had no 
 wish either to shed the blood of their fellow-citizens, or 
 to f;iil in the respect due to the National Convention. 
 However, the ringleaders insisted upon their petition 
 bemg heard. General Dubois, who commanded the 
 cavalry of the sections, and the twelve representatives 
 commissioned to fraternise, consented to introduce a 
 deputation from the three battalions to the bar of the 
 National Convention. 
 
 They accordingly introduced the deputation, and 
 craved leave for the petitioners to speak. Some de- 
 puties protested against the permission; but it was 
 eventually accorded. " ">Ve are instructed to ask from 
 you the constitution of 1793 and the liberty of the 
 patriots," commenced the orator of the delegates. At 
 these words the occupants of the galleries manifested 
 impatience, and uttered cries of " Down with the 
 Jacobins!" The president imposed silence on the 
 brawlers. The orator continued, and stated that the 
 citizens assembled before the convention were ready 
 to withdraw into the bosom of then- families, but that 
 they would rather die than abandon their post, if the 
 remonstrances of the people were not heeded. The 
 president rephed with firmness to the petitioners, that 
 the convention had just passed a decree on the sub- 
 ject of provisions, which he would read to them. This 
 promise he proceeded to fulfil, and subsequently added 
 that the convention would examine their propositions, 
 and decide in its wisdom what was fitting m the case. 
 He then invited them to the honours of the sitting. 
 
 During this interval, the three malecontent sections 
 had remained intermingled with the others. They 
 were told that their petitioners had been graciously 
 received, that their demands would be considered, and 
 tliat they must await the decision of the convention. 
 It was now eleven o'clock ; the three battalions saw 
 tliemselves surrounded by a large majority of the in- 
 habitants of Paris ; the hour was moreover late, espe- 
 cially for working men, and they adopted the resolu- 
 tion of retiring into their faubourgs. 
 
 This second attempt, therefore, equally ended in 
 the discomfiture of the patriots. They nevertheless 
 continued congregated in the faubourgs, preserving 
 their hostile attitude, and persevering in the demands 
 they had so often urged. The convention, during the 
 morning of the 3d, passed several decrees Avarranted 
 by the exigency. With the view of infusing greater 
 unity and vigour into the execution of its measures, 
 it conferred the direction i)f the armed force on three 
 representatives, Gilet, Aubry, and Delmas, and autho- 
 rised them to employ the agency of arms in tlie main- 
 tenance of public trancpiilhty. It prescribed sixmonths' 
 imprisonment on whomsoever should beat the tattoo 
 without orders, and the penalty of death on whomso- 
 ever should beat the general call to arms without the 
 sanction of the representatives of the people. It or- 
 dained the formation of a military commission, to try 
 and send to immediate execution all the prisoners 
 taken from the rebels in the insurrection of the 1st 
 Prairial. It converted into a decree of impeachment 
 the decree of arrest pronounced against Duquesnoi, 
 Duroi, Bourbotte, Prieiu--de-la-]\Iarne, Kommc, Sou- 
 hrany, Goujon, Albitte the elder, Peyssard, Lecar- 
 peutier of La Mauche, Phiet the elder, Borie, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 517 
 
 Fayau. It adopted a similar proceeding with regard 
 to the deputies arrested on the 12th and 16th Ger- 
 minal, and enjoined its committees to present a re- 
 port on the tribunal to be appointed for the trial of 
 both classes of offenders. 
 
 The three representatives hastened to recall the 
 troops distributed over the environs of Paris to protect 
 the arrival of corn ; they retained under arms the sec- 
 tions favourable to the convention, and called around 
 them companies of the young men, M-ho had never 
 quitted the committees during the whole insurrection. 
 The military commission entered on its functions that 
 very day. The first individual it tried was the assassin 
 of Feraud, who had been apprehended tlie previous 
 evening ; it condemned him to death, and ordered his 
 execution the same afternoon. The convict was ac- 
 cordingly carried to the scaffold ; but tlie patriots 
 were cognisant of the intention ; some of the most 
 determined had gathered around the place of punish- 
 ment ; they rushed upon the scaffold, dispersed the 
 gendarmerie, rescued the criminal, and convoj'ed him 
 into the insurgent faubourg. During the night, they 
 summoned to their aid aU the patriots scattered through 
 Paris, and prepared to intrench themselves in the 
 Faubourg Saint-Antoine. They placed themselves 
 nuder arms, pointed their cannon on the square of tlie 
 Bastille, and thus awaited the consequences of their 
 audacious outrage. 
 
 So soon as this event was communicated to the con- 
 vention, it decreed that the Faubourg Saint-Antoine 
 should be summoned to deliver up the convict, to sur- 
 render its arms and artillery, and, in case of refusal, 
 be immediately bombarded. At this moment, in fact, 
 the forces at its disposal permitted the convention to 
 assume a more imperious tone. The three represen- 
 tatives had succeeded in assembling three or four thou- 
 sand troops of the line ; they had besides upwards of 
 twenty thousand men of the armed sections, whom the 
 dread of witnessing the revival of the terror inspired 
 with courage and zeal ; and, finally, the devoted com- 
 panies of the " gilded youth." Tliey intrusted the 
 command of these united forces to General INIenou, 
 and prepared to march on the faubourg. That same 
 day, 4th Prairial (23d May), whilst the representa- 
 tives were advancing, the " gilded youth" had been 
 moved by a spirit of bravado to repair alone to the 
 Faubourg Saint-Antoine. This daring trooj) was com- 
 posed of ten or twelve hundred individuals. The 
 patriots allowed them to penetrate, without offering 
 any resistance, and then enveloped them on all sides. 
 The young men speedily perceived the redoubtal)le 
 battalions of the faubourg in their rear ; at the win- 
 dows they descried a multitude of infuriated women, 
 ready to shower upon their heads a storm of missiles ; 
 and they began to conclude their reckless enterprise 
 must terminate in a disastrous catastrophe. Luckily 
 for them, however, the armed force was approaching, 
 and, moreover, the inhabitants of the faubourg had 
 not an insatiable thirst for their blood ; they permitted 
 them to retreat from the quarter, after inflicting chas- 
 tisement upon sundry of their number. At this mo- 
 ment General Menou appeared witli 20,000 men ; he 
 caused all the aveinies of the faubourg to be occujiied, 
 especially those which communicated with the patriot 
 sections. He planted his artillery, and formally s\nn- 
 nioned the rioters. A depiitation came forward and 
 received his ultimatum, which contained a demand for 
 the surrender of all arms and of Feraud's assassin. 
 The manufacturers, together with all the more wealthy 
 and peaceable citizens of the faubourg, alarmed at the 
 threat of a bombardment, hastened to use their influ- 
 ence over the pojjulation, and prevailed upon the tlu'ce 
 sections to lay down tlieir arms. Accordingly, tlie 
 insurgent sections of Popincourt, Montreuil, and the 
 Quinze-Vingts delivered up their artillery, and under- 
 took to search for the convict, who had been removed. 
 General Menou returned in triumph with the camion 
 of the faubourg ; and from that instant the convention 
 
 had nothing more to dread from the patriot party. 
 Utterly prostrated, its only part in future annals is 
 undergoing the exactions of vengeance. 
 
 The military commission forthwith commenced to 
 try all the prisoners captured during the late events : 
 it condemned to deatli gendarmes who had taken 
 part with the rebels, and operatives, shopkeepers, and 
 members of the revolutionary committees, seized -m 
 flagrante delicto on the 1st Prairial. In all the sec- 
 tions, the disarming of the patriots, and the apprehen- 
 sion of the most conspicuous malecontents, proceeded 
 on the day appointed ; and, as the interval Avas too 
 short for such an operation to be completed within 
 the prescribed hours, the sections were authorised to 
 declare themselves permanent for that special occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 But it Avas not at Paris alone tliat the despair of the 
 patriots urged them to excesses. In the South, equally 
 deplorable occurrences signalised tlie spirit that ac- 
 tuated them. We have narrated their congregation 
 at Toulon to the number of seven or eight thousand ; 
 their violence towards the representatives upon divers 
 occasions, tearing from them prisoners accused of 
 emigration ; and their efforts to draw into the revolt 
 the workmen of the arsenal, the garrison, and the 
 crews of the ships of war. The fleet was ready to set 
 sail, and they determined to prevent it. The crews 
 of certain vessels arrived from Brest, and united to 
 the Toiilon squadron for the expedition in meditation, 
 were altogether adverse to them ; but they could rely 
 on the seamen belonging to the port of Toulon. They 
 pitched upon nearly the same period for their outbreak 
 as the patriots of Paris. The representative Char- 
 bonnier, who had solicited leave of absence, was 
 charged with secretly instigating them. They arose 
 in insurrection on the 23d Floreal (14th May), marched 
 on the commune of Souhes, seized upon fifteen emi- 
 grant prisoners, and carried them in triumph to 
 Toulon ; they consented, however, to surrender them 
 to the representatives. But on the following days 
 they again revolted, stirred uj) the workmen of the 
 arsenal, appropriated the arms it contained, and sur- 
 rounded the representative Brunei, to exact from 
 him an order for the liberation of the patriots. The 
 representative Nion, who was on board the fleet, hur- 
 ried to the assistance of his colleague ; but the sedition 
 proved too formidable. The two deputies were com- 
 pelled to sign the order of liberation. Brunei, over- 
 wlielmed with shame for having yielded, blew out his 
 brains ; Nion sought refuge in the squadron. There- 
 upon the insurgents resolved to march on Marseilles, 
 in order, as they stated, to arouse the whole South. 
 But tl\e representatiA'-es on mission at Marseilles 
 planted a company of artillery on the route, and took 
 all possible precautions to prevent the execution of 
 their projects. On tlio 1st of Prairial, they were 
 masters of Toulon, but imable to extend their sway ; 
 they directed their endeavours to gain over the crews 
 of the squadi'on, of whom a part resisted tlieir blan- 
 dishments, whilst tlie remainder, comprising Proven- 
 cal seamen alone, betokened a spirit of mutiny and 
 an intertion to join them. 
 
 The narrative of these events was commimicated 
 to the convention on the 8th Prairial. It was well 
 calculated to provoke a fresh ebullition against the 
 patriots and Moimtainccrs. Tlic insurrections at 
 Toulon and Paris were at once deemed the result of 
 concert; the Mountaineer deputies were proclaimed 
 their secret organisers, and the wrath against tliem 
 Avas lashed to fury. Instantly, decrees of arrest ^^•ere 
 passed against Charbonnier, Fsciulier, Picord, and 
 Salicetti, all four accused of agitation in the southern 
 departments. The deputies incarcerateil on the 1st 
 Prairial, Avhose judges were not yet appointed, became 
 the objects of ruthless malediction. Without regard 
 to their quality of representatives, they were consigned 
 to the military commission instituted to try the authors 
 and accomplices of the insurrection of tlie 1st Prairial. 
 2L
 
 518 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 One only was exce])ted, the aged Rhul, whose mode- 
 ration and virtues were attested by several deputies. 
 The tribunid of the Eure-et-Loir was assigned for the 
 trial of the ex-mayor Pache, his son-in-laAv Audouin, 
 the ex-minister Bouchotte, and his adjuncts Daubigny 
 and Hassenfratz, and the tliree principal agents of 
 Robespierre's police, Heron, Marchand, and Clenience. 
 The sentence of exile pronounced against Rillaud, 
 Collot, and Barrere, ouglit to have been definitive as 
 a judgment passed : it was not so considered. In this 
 hour of rigour, the punishment was deemed too light : 
 it was decided they shoidd be tried again, and ar- 
 raigned before the tribunal of La Charente-Inferieure, 
 to receive the doom of death destined for all the lead- 
 ers of the revolution. Hitherto, the remaining mem- 
 bers of the former committees had appeared forgiven ; 
 the brilliant services of Carnot, Robert Lindet, and 
 Prieur [de-la-Cote-d'Or], had seemingly availed to 
 protect them against their enemies : they were now 
 denounced with extreme virulence by the Girondist 
 Henri Lariviere. Robert Lindet, although defended 
 by numerous deputies who avouched his merit and 
 services, was decreed under arrest. " Carnot organUed 
 victory" exclaimed sundry voices : even the most 
 furious of the reactors shrunk from proposing a decree 
 against the vanquisher of tlie coalition. Prieur-de- 
 la-C6te-d'0r happily escaped further observation. 
 But all the members of the old committee of general 
 safety not yet arrested, were involved in the common 
 fate. David, who owed a previous absolution to ad- 
 miration of his genius, was arrested with Jagot, Elie- 
 Lacoste, Lavicomterie, Dubarran, and Bernard of 
 Saintes. The only exception made was in favour of 
 Louis of the Lower Rhine, whose known Immanity 
 pleaded all-powerfully in his behalf. Lastly, the re- 
 port previously ordered against those who had ful- 
 filled missions, and who were stigmatised with the 
 epithet of proconsuls, was demanded on the instant. 
 Proceedings were immediately ordered against Ar- 
 tigoyte, ilallarme, Javognes, Sergent, !Monestier, 
 Lejeune, Allard, Lacoste, and Baudot ; and it was 
 moreover resolved that the conduct of every member 
 who had been intrusted with any mission whatsoever, 
 should be investigated and minutely reviewed. Thus, 
 not one of the leaders of that government which had 
 saved France, was pardoned : members of committees, 
 deputies on missions, underwent a common anathema. 
 Carnot alone, whom the esteem of the armies rendered 
 it expedient to respect, was spared from ignominy; 
 but Lindet fell, a citizen equally useful and more 
 generous, but whom the lustre of victories was want- 
 ing to shield from the base obduracy of the reactors. 
 
 Assuredly, such sacrifices were more than needful 
 to satisfy the manes of young Feraud ; solemn honours 
 rendered to his memory nught have sufficed. In truth, 
 the convention decreed a funereal sitting on his ac- 
 count. The hall was hmig in black ; all the repre- 
 sentatives appeared in grand mourning costume. Soft 
 and melauchol}' music opened the scene, and Louvet 
 subsequently delivered an eulogiura upon the young 
 representative, so devoted, so courageous, so early 
 taken from his comitry. A monument was voted to 
 perpetuate his heroism. The occasion was seized to 
 ordain a commemorative festival m honour of the 
 Girondists. The homage was just and commendable ; 
 victims so illustrious, although they had endangered 
 their country, merited sympathy and reverence ; but 
 flowers .strewed upon their tombs would have been 
 sufficient, blood was not required. And yet it was 
 shed in floods ; for what party, even that which as- 
 sumes humanity as its device, is wise in anger? It 
 seemed, indeed, as if the convention, not content with 
 its several diminutions, had taken some stern resolu- 
 tion to augment tliem of its own action. The im- 
 peached deputies, originally conducted to the castle 
 of La Taureau, in order to prevent any attempt in 
 their favour, were remanded to Paris, and the process 
 aL'ainst them prejiared with the greatest diligence. 
 
 The old man Rhul, wlio had been alone excepted from 
 the decree of impeachment, repudiated such clemency ; 
 believing liberty for ever lost, he struck a dagger into 
 his heart. Affected by so many mournful scenes, 
 Louvet, Legendre, and Freron, urged that the depu- 
 ties, consigned to the military commission should be 
 arraigned before their constitutional judges ; but Ro- 
 vere, an old terrorist, now become a rabid roj-alist, 
 and Bourdon- de-l'Oisc, implacable as a man who had 
 quaked with many a mortal dread, insisted upon the 
 maintenance of the existing decree, and succeeded 
 in enforcing its execution. 
 
 The deputies were led before the commission on the 
 29th Prairial (17th June.) Notwithstanding the most 
 assiduous researches, no fact had been discovered de- 
 monstrating their secret connivance with the insm:- 
 gents. Sucli a discovery, in fact, was rather difiicidt, 
 as they had been profoundly ignorant of the intended 
 movement ; they wei'e even unacquainted with each 
 other, save that Bourbotte knew Goujon, having met 
 him on a mission to the armies. It was merely proved 
 that, dm'ing the predominance of the insurrection, they 
 had endeavoured to invest some of the commands of 
 the populace with a legal sanction. They were found 
 guilty, nevertheless; for a military commission, towhose 
 mercies a government commends important state cri- 
 minals, would betray its trust were it to return them 
 absolved, to shame and upbraid the prosecutor. Fores- 
 tier alone was acquitted ; he had been conjoined with 
 the others, although he had not made a single motion 
 during the famous sitting. Peyssard, who had simply 
 uttered an exclamation durmg tlie conflict, was adjudged 
 to banishment. Romme, Goujon, Duquesnoi. Duroi, 
 Bourbotte, and Soubrany, were condemned to death. 
 Ronmie was a simple and austere man ; Goujon, yoimg, 
 handsome, and gifted Avith engaging qualities ; Bour- 
 botte, equally youthful with Goujon, combined a highly 
 cultivated mind with a rare fortitude ; Soubrany was 
 an ex-noble, sincerely devoted to the cause of the revo- 
 lution. At the moment their sentence was pronounced, 
 they delivered to the registrar letters, signets, and por- 
 traits, intended for their families. They Avere then 
 removed, to be placed in a secluded chamber, prepa- 
 ratory to their conveyance to the scaffold. They had 
 vowed never to reach it. They onlj' possessed a knife 
 and a pair of scissors, which they had concealed in the 
 lining of their raiment. On descending the staircase, 
 Romme first pierced his bodj% and, fearfid lest he should 
 miscarry in his purpose, struck himself several times, 
 on the heart, the throat, and tlie face. He transferred 
 the knife to Goujon, who, with a steady hand, gave 
 himself a mortal stab, and fell lifeless. From the grasp 
 of Goujon, the liberating weapon passed successively 
 to the hands of Duquesnoi, Duroi, Bourbotte, and Sou- 
 brany. Unfortunatel}', Duroi, Bourbotte, and Soubrany, 
 failed to inflict mortal wounds on themselves ; tliey 
 were dragged weltering in blood to the scaffold. Sou- 
 brany, bathed in blood, retained, despite his anguish, 
 the self-possession and haughty aspect for which he 
 luid been always remarkable. Diu^oi manifested deep 
 regret at his attempt having proved abortive. " Enjoy," 
 he exclaimed — " enjoy your triumph, gentlemen roy- 
 alists 1" Bourbotte preserved all the serenity of youth- 
 ful manliood ; he spoke with imperturbable tranquillity 
 to the people. At the instant he was about to receive 
 the fiital stroke, it was perceived the adze had not re- 
 momited ; the instrumentof death required adjustment: 
 he employed the interval in delivering a few additional 
 observations. He assured the spectators that none 
 died more devoted to Ids country, more attached to its 
 welfare and liberty. The number present at the execu- 
 tion was small : tiie period of political fanaticism had 
 elapsed ; .slaughter no longer proceeded with tliat wild 
 fury which steeled the hearts of men, and rendered 
 them insensible to emotions of pity. A deep feeling 
 of commiseration was aroused in the minds of all on 
 learning the details of this afflictive scene, and the 
 Thermidorians reaped a deserved measure of oppro-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 519 
 
 briuni. Thus, in this long succession of contrary ideas, 
 victims wei'e sacrificed to all ; the ideas even of cle- 
 mency, humanity, and reconciliation, had their heca- 
 tombs : so true it is that hi revolutions none can remain 
 pure from human blood. 
 
 The Mountaineer party was thus entirely destroj'ed. 
 The patriots had just been suppressed at Toulon. After 
 a sanguinary engagement on tlie highway to IMarseilles, 
 they had been compelled to lay down their arms, and 
 surrender the city which they hoped to secure as a 
 basis for insurrectiouising France. They were con- 
 sequently extinct as an obstacle to the pi-edominant 
 ]«irty; and, according to precedent, their fall involved 
 the proscription of several revolutionary institutions. 
 The celebrated tribunal, almost reduced, since the law 
 of the 8th Nivose, to an ordinary court of justice, was 
 definitively abolished. All prisoners were remitted to 
 tlie criminal tribunals trying after the forms of process 
 observed in 1791 ; conspirators alone were to be judged 
 by the procedure established on the 9th Nivose, and 
 without the privilege of appeal. The phrase " revo- 
 lutionary," as applied to institutions and authorities, 
 was discarded. The national guards were re-organised 
 on the ancient footing ; operatives, servants, indigent 
 citizens, the people, in short, were excluded from its 
 ranks ; and the care of the public tranquillity again 
 devolved on the class most interested in its maintenance. 
 At Paris, the national guard, organised in battalions 
 and brigades, and commanded in rotation by the chiefs 
 of brigade, was placed imder the supreme direction of 
 the military comnnttee. Fui'thermore, the concession 
 so ardently desired by the Catholics, the restitution of 
 the churches, was granted them ; they possessed them 
 under the burden of upholding those fabrics at their 
 own cost. This measure, indeed, although the con- 
 sequence of the reaction, was advocated by the most 
 rellective minds. They deemed it calculated to calm 
 the Catholics, who would never consider tliey had 
 recovered religious freedom so long as they were 
 debarred from celebrating the ceremonies of their faith 
 in the accustomed edifices. 
 
 The financial discussions, interrupted by the events 
 of Prairial, were resumed by the assembly on the 
 restoration of tranquillity, as still involving the most 
 urgent and painful claims on its attention. It revived 
 the regulation that only one description of bread 
 shoixld be sold, in order to remove from the populace 
 a pretext for invective against the luxury of the rich ; 
 it ordered estimates of the stocks of grain, with the 
 view of assigning the superfluity of each department 
 to the supjjly of the armies and large cities ; and it 
 rescinded the decree permitting a free traffic in g(jld 
 and silver. Thus the exigency of circumstances con- 
 strained a recurrence to some of those revolutionary 
 measures which had been most virulently reprobated. 
 The spirit of gambling, meanwhile, had reached a fear- 
 ful height. The race of butchers, bakers, and grocers, 
 as separate callings, was extinct; every one bought 
 and sold bread, meat, spices, oils, &c. The granaries 
 and vaults were filled witli articles of merchandise 
 and consumption, on Avhich speculation operated. On 
 the Exchange, at tlie I'alais-Koyal, wheaten bread was 
 sold at 25 and 30 francs the pound, liegraters swept 
 the markets, and bouglit up the fruits and vegetables 
 brought by the country i)eoi>le, in order to force up 
 prices. They purchased in advance the growing crops 
 and herds of cattle grazing, in anticipation of future 
 l)rofits. The convention proliibited these fijrestallers 
 from appearing in tlic markets before a certain hour. 
 It was obliged to decree tliat licensed butcliers alone 
 should be coni])etent to purcluise cattle, and thatcrojis 
 could not be sold before maturity. Thus extraordi- 
 nary confusion was introduced into all the relations 
 of life; individuals, altogether miconnocted with the 
 s})eculations of connnerce, became alive to each varia- 
 tion of the assignat, in order to throw the loss on 
 others, and obtain for themselves the utmost value of 
 any article of food or merchandise. 
 
 We have seen that, repudiating the two schemes 
 of reducing the assignat to its current value and of 
 levying the taxes in kind, the convention had pre- 
 ferred a project for disposing of the national domains 
 by private contract, at thrice the valuation of 1790. 
 This was, as we have already explained, the only 
 mode of selling them, since exposing them to auction 
 ahvaj's tended to enhance the prices in proportion to 
 the depression of assignats, to such an extent, in fact, 
 that the public coidd not possibly compete. So soon 
 as the law was passed, the number of applications was 
 prodigious. "VVlien it became generally known that a 
 person had only to be the first applicant to obtain 
 lands at thrice tlie valuation of 1790 in assignats, com- 
 petitors poured in from all quarters. For certain 
 properties several hundred offers were lodged ; at 
 Charenton, three hundred and sixty were made for a 
 domain escheated by the Fathers of Mercy ; for ano- 
 ther, even five hundred were submitted. The district 
 court-houses were crowded with aspirants. Sim])le 
 clerks, men without fortune, but in whose hands 
 assignats had momentarily accumulated, hastened to 
 apply for national property. As they were only 
 bound to pay one-sixth immediately, and the residue 
 after the lapse of several months, they purchased 
 with trilling sums considerable estates, with the inten- 
 tion of re-selling them at a profit to those who had' 
 been less alert. Owing to this eagerness, domains 
 which the local authorities were not aware had be- 
 come national property, were signalised as such. Tlie 
 plan conceived by Bourdon-de-l'Oise was consequently 
 attended with complete success, and hopes might rea- 
 sonably be indulged tliat, in a short time, a large pro- 
 portion of the domains would be sold, and the assig- 
 nats either retired or enhanced. It is true that on 
 these sales the republic suffered losses, which, nume- 
 rically calculated, were very considerable. The esti- 
 mation of 1790, founded on the apparent rent, was 
 frequentl}' inaccurate ; for the lands of the clergy, and 
 those of the order of Malta, were let at extremely low 
 money-rents ; the farmers made up the deficiency in 
 free-will offerings, which often amounted to three or 
 four times tlie amount of the stipulated payment. A 
 farm leased ostensibly at 1000 francs, produced in 
 reality 4000: by the valuation of 1790, this farm was 
 estimated at 25,000 francs; it was now purchasable 
 for 75,000 in assignats, which were actually worth 
 only 7500 francs. At Honfleur, the salt magazines, 
 which had cost 400,000 francs in erecting, were to be 
 sold for 22,500 effective francs. Agreeably to this 
 calculation, the loss was enormous; but it was neces- 
 sary to submit to it, save that it might be rendered 
 less, by demanding four or five times the valuation of 
 1790, instead of three times only, as at present con- 
 templated. 
 
 Rewbel and many other deputies failed to compre- 
 hend this necessity: they saw only the ajiiiarcnt loss. 
 The}'- asserted that tlie wealth of the republic was 
 wilfully wasted, and that its resources would be dried 
 uj). 'J'lie operation ])rovoked remonstrances on all 
 sides. Those who diil not understand the question, 
 and they were not few, and those who saw with reluc- 
 tance the lands of tlie emigrants distributed, coalesced 
 to obtain a suspension of the decree. Balland and 
 Bourdon-de-rOise defended it with energy : tiiey lacked 
 sufficient insight to rely ujion tlie essential reason, to 
 wit, that more slioidd not be demanded for tiie do- 
 mains than jiurcliasers could give; but they alleged 
 with trutli that tlie numerical loss was not so great as 
 it actually ajipeared; that 75,000 francs in assignats 
 were certainly worth only 7500 francs in specie, but 
 that specie intrinsically possessed twice the value of 
 former times, and that 7500 francs represented in fact 
 15,000 or 20,000 francs of 1790. They argued, more- 
 over, that the actual loss was counterbalanced by the 
 advantages of bringing to a speedy close the financial 
 catastrophe, of retiring or enhancing the assignats, of 
 terminating the speculations on commoditi(;s by direct-
 
 520 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 iiig the paper to land, ofdelivei-ing to private industry 
 the mass of national property, and, finally, of blasting 
 the last hopes of tlie emigrants. 
 
 The decree was nevertheless suspended. The local 
 authorities were ordered to continue to I'eceive appli- 
 cations, in order that all the national property' might 
 be made known through the instigation of individual 
 cupidity, and thus a more exact account thereof be 
 framed. A few days afterwards, the decree was abro- 
 gated altogether, and a return to the system of sales 
 by auction commanded. 
 
 Thus, after obtaining a glimpse of the means Avhereby 
 the crisis might be averted, the convention retraced its 
 steps, and fell back into the direfid distress whence it 
 had the opportunity of emerging. However, since it 
 refused to follow out measures calculated to enhance 
 the assignats, it could not persist in upholding the 
 monstrous fallacy of the nominal value, which was 
 ruining the republic and all individuals paid in paper. 
 It was compelled to revert to the proposition previ- 
 ously submitted for reducing the assignats. It had 
 rejected the plan of levelling them to the standard of 
 specie, because the English, it was alleged, having a 
 superfluity of the precious metals, would be masters 
 of the course of excliange ; it had declined to reduce 
 them to the standard of corn, because the price of grain 
 had advanced considerably ; it had refused to adopt 
 time as a scale, and to reduce the paper monthly at a 
 certain rate, because that was equivalent to demoneti- 
 sation or striking it from the circulation and declaring 
 a bankruptcy. All these reasons were frivolous, for, 
 whether specie, corn, or time, were taken to determine 
 the reduction of the paper, it would be equally demo- 
 netised, or, in other words, branded as a circidating 
 medium. Bankruptcy did not consist in reducing the 
 value of the assignat as between individuals, for such 
 reduction had in fact taken place, and to recognise it 
 would have merely the effect of preventing cruel rob- 
 beries ; bankruptcy was more real by re-establishing 
 the sale of national property by the way of auction. 
 What the republic had promised, in reality, was not 
 that the assignats should bear such or such a value as 
 between individuals (which did not depend upon it), 
 but that they shoidd command such an amount of 
 property ; now, by establishing the system of auctions, 
 the assignats no longer commanded that quantity of 
 property ; they became equally useless with regard to 
 the domains as with reference to commodities ; they 
 underwent a similar depreciation from the effect of 
 competition. 
 
 Another measure than that of specie, com, or time, 
 for regulating the reduction of assignats, was there- 
 fore to be found : the quantity in circulation was taken 
 as the basis. It is undeniable in princijjle that the 
 augmentation of the circulating mediiim tends to aug- 
 ment proportionally the jmcc of all objects. Thus, if 
 an article had been worth one franc, when there were 
 two thousand millions of a currency in circulation, it 
 must be worth two francs when there are four thou- 
 sand millions of that currency, three when there are 
 six, four when there are eight, five when there are 
 ten. Supposing that the actual circulation of assignats 
 amoimted to ten thousand millions, it was now neces- 
 sary to pay five times more for any commodity than 
 when there were only two thousand millions. A scale 
 of proportion was established, conmiencing at the 
 period when there were but two thousand millions in 
 circulation, and it was decreed that, in every payment 
 made in assignats, a fourth should be added to the 
 principal for every five hundred millions added to the 
 circulation. Thus, a sum of two thousand francs, due 
 when there were two thousand millions in circulation, 
 would be liquidated, when there were two thousand 
 five hundred millions, by two thousand five hundred 
 francs ; when there were three thousand millions, by 
 three thousand francs ; and at present, when there 
 were ten thousand millions, the liquidation could be 
 etiected only by ten thousand francs. 
 
 Those who regarded demonetisation* as a bank- 
 ruptcy, could have had their apprehensions but little 
 calmed by such a measure as this, for it merely substi- 
 tuted one mode of driving the assignat out of circula- 
 tion for another ; instead of demonetising in the pro- 
 portion of specie, corn, or time, it demonetised in that 
 of issues, Avhich amounted to the same thing, with one 
 inconvenience the more. By the new scale, every emis- 
 sion would lower to a certain and prescribed amount 
 the value of the assignat ; consequently, by issuing five 
 hundred millions, the state would rob the holder of 
 assignats of a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, &c., of what he 
 possessed. 
 
 At the same time, this scale, which had its incon- 
 veniences in common with the other proposed reduc- 
 tions to the standard of specie or corn, ought at least 
 to have been made applicable to all transactions ; but 
 this the convention did not venture to attempt — it 
 was rendered applicable at first only to taxes and 
 arrears of taxes. Promises were made to apply it to 
 the public functionaries when their number should 
 have been reduced, and to the fundholders of the state 
 when the receipts of the taxes, gathered according to 
 the new scale, should permit them to be paid on the 
 same basis. In Hke manner, the advantage of this 
 improved mode of accounting was not extended to 
 private creditors, the owners of houses in town or 
 country, the proprietors of kilns, &c. The only 
 favoured class was that of landowners. As the far- 
 mers were making enormous profits by their produce, 
 and paying, through the convenient agency of assig- 
 nats, only the tenth or twelfth fraction of their cove- 
 nanted rents, they were constrained henceforth to 
 liquidate them agreeably to the new scale. They were 
 to render an amount of assignats proportioned to the 
 quantity emitted since the date of their contracts of 
 lease. 
 
 Such were the measures by which it was sought to 
 lessen the evils of over-speculation and stockjobbing, 
 and to terminate the grievous calamity of a disordered 
 state of the exchanges. They consisted, as we see, iu 
 prohibiting speculators from forestalling consumers in 
 the purchase of the necessaries of life, and in regulat- 
 ing payments in assignats upon a scale graduated by 
 the quantity of paper in circulation. 
 
 The close of the Jacobin Club in Brumaii'e had 
 commenced the ruin of the patriots, the event of the 
 12tli Germinal had accelerated it, and that of the 1st 
 Prairial had consummated it. The great mass of 
 citizens who had opposed them, not from a tendency 
 to royalism but from the di-ead of a ne^v reign of 
 terror, were at the present moment furiously incensed, 
 and persecuted thera with merciless rigour. All the 
 men who had zealously assisted the revolution Avere 
 immur(.'d or disarmed. Acts equally arbitrary were 
 committed towards them as any that had been en- 
 forced against the former " suspected." The prisons 
 were filled as before the 9th Thermidor, but their 
 inmates Avere revolutionists. The number of the 
 detained was not, as previous to that era, nearly one 
 hundred thousand, but certainly twenty or twenty- 
 * [Demonetisation is a term, we believe, not to be found in the 
 glossary of British political economists, and for the very fortmiato 
 reason that the idea it represents has never been suggested in this 
 country. AltliouRh pains have been taken to explain the word, 
 by paraphrasing it in the text, it may not be quite obvious to all 
 readers. To elucidate it more fully, we will take the instance of 
 a bank of issue stopping payment ; on the occurrence of such a 
 catastrophe, its notes necessarily become no longer current, and, 
 in fact, become demonetised, that is, struck out of the circulating 
 medium of the country. France is perhaps the only country in the 
 world wherein it was ever seriouslj' contemplated to declare of no 
 value a currency which the government had issued on its plighted 
 faith, to the extent of nearly five hundred millions sterling. The 
 distress to individuals consequent upon such a measure can be 
 scarcely imagined, so great and universal must it have been. The 
 bare proposition of so flagrant a violation of national honour shows 
 into what a wTetched condition the revolution had thrown Fi-cinc« 
 in this particular.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 521 
 
 five thousand. The royalists were in exuberant spirits. 
 The disarming or imprisonment of tlie patriots, the 
 execution of the Mountaineer deputies, the proceed- 
 ings commenced against sundry others, the suppres- 
 sion of the revolutionary tribunal, the restoration of 
 the churches to the services of religion, the recompo- 
 sition of the national guards — were so many measures 
 iiifiating them Avith joy and hope. They flattered 
 themselves with the idea that thej'^ should speedily 
 i)rovoke the revolution to destroy itself, and witness 
 the republic immuring or guillotining aU the men who 
 had fomided it. To hasten that consummation, tliey 
 intrigued in the sections, inflamed tliem against the 
 revolutionists, and urged them to direful excesses. A 
 multitude of emigrants re-entered France, either with 
 false passports or under pretext of soliciting their era- 
 sure from the list of the proscribed. The local admi- 
 nistrations, remodelled since the 9th Thermidor, and 
 filled with men of weak character or secretly hostile 
 to the republic, lent themselves to aU the official false- 
 hoods craved from them ; any act tending to mitigate 
 the hardships of those who were called the victims of 
 terror seemed to them defensible ; and they thus fur- 
 nished too many enemies of their country with the 
 means of revisiting it to rend and convulse it. At 
 Lyons and in all the southern departments, the royalist 
 agents continued to gatlier stealthily. The companies 
 ( if Jesus and the Sun had committed fresh massacres. 
 Ten thousand muskets, destined for the army of the 
 jVlps, had been fruitlessly distributed to the national 
 guard of Lyons ; it had made no use of the arms, but 
 looked calmly on whilst a number of patriots were 
 slaughtered (25th Prairial). The Saone and the Rhone 
 had once more floated with corpses. At Nismes, Avig- 
 non, and Marseilles, similar massacres had been per- 
 petrated. In tlie last-named city, men had proceeded 
 to the Fort Saint-Jean, and renewed the horrors of 
 September against the prisoners confined therein. 
 
 The dominant party in the convention, composed 
 of Thermidorians and Girondists, albeit intent on 
 crushing the revolutionists, yet observed the royalists 
 with uneasiness, and felt tlie necessity of curbing them. 
 It immediately caused a decree to be passed, ordain- 
 ing that the city of Lyons should be disarmed by a 
 detachment from the army of the Alps, and that the 
 authorities which had permitted the massacre of the 
 patriots should be superseded. At the same time, the 
 civil committees of the sections were enjoined to revise 
 the lists of detention, and to direct the enlargement 
 of those who were immured upon insufficient grounds. 
 Thereupon the sections, stimulated by the royalist 
 intriguers, expressed great indignation; they pre- 
 sented menacing petitions to the convention, and com- 
 plained that the committee of general safety liberated 
 terrorists and restored them their arms. The sections 
 of Lepelletier and the Theatre-Fran^ais (Odeon), 
 always the most ardent against the revolutionists, 
 insolently demanded whether it were intended to re- 
 invigorate the prostrated faction, and whether it were 
 not merely to stifle the recollection of terrorism, that 
 royalism was spoken of in France. 
 
 To these petitions, often most irreverently couched, 
 the interested fomenters of disorder added such rumours 
 as were best adapted for keeping the public mind in 
 agitation. Toulon had been delivered into the hands 
 of the English ; the Prince of Conde and the Austrians 
 were on the point of entering France by Franche- 
 Comptc, whilst the English were to penetrate by the 
 West ; Pichegru was dead ; provisions would shortly 
 fail altogether, since it had been determined to replace 
 them on a basis of free trade; all the committees had 
 suddenly assembled, alarmed at the public dangers, 
 to deliberate in concert on the expediency of re-esta- 
 blishing the system of terror. The journals devoted 
 to the cause of royalism originated and aggravated 
 all such and many other sinister reports ; and, amidst 
 this general agitation, it might be truly said that the 
 reign of anarchy had come. The Thermidorians and 
 
 the counter-revolutionists deceived themselves when 
 they stigmatised as anarchy the order of things pre- 
 ceding the 9tli Thermidor : that system had been a 
 fearfiil dictatorship ; but anarchy had veritably com- 
 menced, since two factions, nearly equal in strength, 
 arose to wage an inveterate warfare, witlKJut the go- 
 vernment being sufficiently powerful to restrain them. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIIL 
 
 SITUATION OF THE ARMIES IN THE YEAR 3. — FIRST 
 
 INDICATIONS OF PICHEGRU'S TREASON. INTRIGUES 
 
 OF THE ROYALISTS IN LA VENDEE AND BRITTANY. 
 
 RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES IN THOSE COUNTRIES. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF QUIBERON.^ — PEACE WITH SPAIN. 
 
 PASSAGE OF THE RHINE BY THE FRENCH ARMIES. 
 
 The situation of the armies had undergone little change, 
 and, although half of the favourable season was elapsed, 
 no important event had occurred. INIoreau had re- 
 ceived the command of the army of the North, en- 
 camped in Holland ; Jourdan that of the Sambre-and- 
 Meuse, stationed on the Rhine towards Cologne ; and 
 Pichegru that of the army of the Rhine, cantoned 
 from Mayence to Strasburg. The troops were in a 
 state of destitution, daily augmented by the relaxation 
 of all the springs of government and by the ruin of 
 the paper-money. Jourdan was devoid of a bridge- 
 equipage for passing the Rhine, and of horses to draw 
 his artillery and baggage-waggons. Kleber, before 
 Mayence, possessed not the fourth of the materiel 
 necessary for besieging that fortress. The soldiers 
 deserted in numbers to the interior. The greater part 
 deemed they had done enough for the republic in 
 bearing its victorious banners to the banks of the 
 Rhine. The government was incapable of forwarding 
 supplies, and equally so to occupy or rekindle their 
 ardour by grand operations. It dared not remand by 
 force those who abandoned their colours. It was no- 
 torious that the young men of the first requisition, 
 who had returned into the interior, were neither sought 
 after nor punished ; at Paris even, they enjoj'cd the 
 favour of the committees, for M'hom they often formed 
 a volunteer militia. Thus the number of desertions 
 was considerable ; the armies had lost the fourth of 
 their effective force, and that feeling of a general laxity 
 was every where predominant, which so powerfully 
 tends to detach the soldier from tlie service, to render 
 the officers discontented, and to place their fidelity in 
 peril. The deputy Aubry, to whom, in the committee 
 of public welfare, the constitution of the army was 
 confided, had wrought a complete reaction against all 
 the patriot officers in favour of those who had not 
 served in the two great campaigns of 1793 and 1794. 
 
 If the Austrians had been less dispirited, now was 
 the moment for them to avenge their reverses ; but 
 they slowly concentrated beyond the Rhine, and ven- 
 tured no demonstration to impede the only two ope- 
 rations attempted by the French armies — the siege of 
 Luxumbourg and that of Mayence. Those two for- 
 tresses were the sole points still retained b\' the coali- 
 tion on the left bank of the Rhine. The fall of Lux- 
 imibourg would complete the conquest of the Low- 
 Countries, and render it definitive ; that of Mayence 
 would deprive the Imperiiilists of a tete-de-pont, which 
 .'ilways allowed them to clear the Rhine in security. 
 Luxumbourg, blockaded during the whole winter and 
 spring, surrendered from famine on the 6th Messidor 
 (24th June). Mayence could be captured by a siege 
 alone, but the materiel was deficient ; it was necessary 
 to invest the place on both banks, and, for that pur- 
 pose, either Join-dan or Pichegru nnist pass the Rhine, 
 an operation difficult in the presence of the Austrians, 
 and impossible in the absence of bridge equipages for 
 the transit. Thus the French armies, although victo- 
 rious, were arrested by the Rhine, which they were 
 unable to cross for lack of means, and Irooped, in
 
 6'J2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 common witli the whole administrative action, under 
 the ])arah'sins: influence of the existing government. 
 
 On the frontier of the Alps, the situation of the 
 French was still less satisfactory. On the Rhine, they 
 had at all events gained the important acquisition of 
 Luxumbourg, whereas on the Italian frontier they had 
 recoiled. KeUermann commanded the two armies of 
 the Alps ; they were in the same state of destitution 
 as the others ; and, in addition to the effects of deser- 
 tion, they liad been weakened by draughts of divers 
 detachmeuts. The government had conceived the 
 absurd idea of attempting a sudden attack ou Ivome. 
 Actuated by a desire to avenge the assassination of 
 Rasseville, it had embarked 10,000 men on board the 
 Toulon squadron, completely refitted by the exertions 
 of the old committee of jjublic welfare ; these it deter- 
 mined to send to the mouth of the Tiber, there to be 
 landed for the purpose of levying a contribution on 
 1 he papal city, and after that exploit to be reshipped 
 with all convenient promptitude. Fortunately, a naval 
 engagement sustained against Lord Hotham, from 
 which both parties had retired equally crippled, pre- 
 vented the execution of the scheme. The division 
 which had been drawn from the army of Italy M^as 
 restored ; but, at the same time, it became necessary 
 to detach a corps on Toulon, in order to crush the 
 terrorists, and another ou Lyons, in order to disarm 
 the national guard, which had allowed the massacre 
 of the patriots. In this manner, the two armies of 
 the Alps found themselves weakened by the loss of 
 part of their strength in presence of the Piedmontese 
 and Austrians, reinforced l)y ten thousand men arrived 
 from the Tyrol. General Devins, seizing the moment 
 when KeUermann had dispatched one of his divisions 
 to Toulon, had attacked his right towards Genoa. 
 KeUermann, imable to resist his superior force, had 
 been obliged to faU back. Still occup.^ang with his 
 centre the Col di Tende, on the Alps, he had ceased to 
 extend his right as far as Genoa, and had taken up 
 a position behind the Hue of Borghetto. Fears were 
 entertained that the communication Avould be inter- 
 rupted with Genoa, whose trade in grain must be ex- 
 posed to many obstacles, should the Riviera di Pouente 
 be occupied by the enemy. 
 
 In Spain, nothing decisive had been performed. The 
 French army of the Eastern Pyrenees stiU occupied 
 Catalonia to the banks of the Fluvia. Fruitless 
 actions had been fought on the banks of that river, 
 and it had been unable to establish itself beyond the 
 barrier. In the Western Pyrenees, jNIoncey was en- 
 gaged in organising his army, suffering from disease, 
 with the intention of returning to Guipuscoa and ad- 
 vancing into Navarre. 
 
 Although the French armies had not lost ground, 
 except in Italy, and had even subjugated one of the 
 strongest fortresses in Europe, they were, as we per- 
 ceive, defectively supplied, feebly conducted, and be- 
 numbed by the effects of the general anarchy prevail- 
 ing in every branch of the administration. 
 
 This, then, was a favourable moment, not for van- 
 quishing them, for the peril of an attack would have 
 revived their energy, but for practising on their fide- 
 lity and attemj)ting projects of counter-revolution. 
 We left the royalists and foreign cabinets contemplat- 
 ing various enterprises on the insurgent provinces — 
 Puisaye and England concerting a plan of descent in 
 Brittany, the agents at Paris and Spain projecting 
 an expedition into La Vendee. The emigrants were 
 at the same time speculating on an incursion into 
 France by another point. They designed to attack 
 her on the east, whilst the expeditions adventured by 
 Spain and ICngland were operating on the west. The 
 Prince of Condc had his head-quarters on the Rhine, 
 where he commanded a corps of 2500 infantry and 
 1500 cavalry. All the emigrants dispersed over the 
 continent were to be strictiy enjoined to unite with 
 him, under pain of being no longer suffered by the 
 powers to remain in their territories ; his corps would 
 
 be thus augmented by the hitherto useless emigrants; 
 and, leaving the Austrians occupied on the Rhine in 
 checking the republican armies, it might endeavour 
 to penetrate by Franche-Comtc, and march on Paris, 
 whUst the Count d'Artois, Avitli the insurgents of the 
 west, was approaching that capital on the other side. 
 Should the emigrants not succeed, they had the hope 
 at least of obtaining a capitulation similar to that of 
 the Vendi'ans: they had the same reasons for demand- 
 ing it. " We are Frenchmen," those who took part in 
 the expedition might urge, " who have had recourse 
 to civil war — but in France, and without including 
 foreigners in our ranks." According to the partisans 
 of this project, it was in truth the only mode whereby 
 the emigrants could ever return to France, combining 
 the alternative chances of a counter-revolution or of 
 an amnesty. 
 
 The English government, Avhich had taken the 
 corps under Conde into its pay, and which ardently 
 desired a diA'ersion towards the east whilst it was 
 operating on the Avest, was urgent that the Prince of 
 Conde should hazard an enterprise, no matter of what 
 kind. It promised him, through the medium of its 
 ambassador in Switzerland, Wickham, ample subsi- 
 dies and all necessary means for forming new regi- 
 ments. The gaUant prince had no higher ambition 
 than to have an expedition intrusted to him ; he was 
 altogether incapable of directing an affair of import- 
 ance, or a battle, but he was ready to rush into the 
 jaws of danger when prompted by astuter heads. 
 
 At this time the idea was suggested to him that 
 Pichegru, who commanded the army of the Rhine, 
 might be open to seduction, from considerations of 
 the following nature. The terrible committee of public 
 welfare no longer overawed the generals, or kept over 
 them a watchful eye and a suspended arm ; the repub- 
 lic, paying its officers in assignats, gave them scarcely 
 wherewithal to satisfy their most pressing wants ; the 
 disorders now convulsing it put its existence in peril, 
 and must alarm the ambitious men, rendering them 
 feai-ful of losing by its fall the eminent positions they 
 had gained. It was known that Pichegru was addicted 
 to the pleasures of wine and women ; that the 4000 
 francs he received per month in assignats, being 
 scarcely worth 200 francs on the frontiers, must be 
 inadequate to gratify his desires ; and that he had 
 expressed disgust at serving under a government so 
 unstalile and tottering. It was remembered, also, that 
 in Germinal he had taken arms against the patriots 
 on the Chamjis-Elysees. All these circumstances 
 tended to inspire hopes that Pichegru might probably 
 be accessible to tempting offers. Accordingly, the 
 prince addressed himself to j\[. de MontgaiUard for the 
 execution of the project, and he again to a bookseller 
 of Neufchatel, I\[. Fauche-Borel, who, the denizen of a 
 prudent and flourishing republic, consented to become 
 the obscure servitor of a dynasty under which he had 
 not been born. This JNI. Fauche-Borel repaired to 
 Altkirch, where the head-quarters of Pichegru were 
 then fixed. After following him to several reviews, 
 he succeeded in attracting his attention by persever- 
 ingly hovering on his steps : at length, he ventured to 
 accost him in a corridor : he spoke to him at first of 
 a manuscript he wished to dedicate to him, and 
 Pichegru, having in some sort provoked a confidential 
 disclosure, he concluded by explaining his purpose. 
 Pichegru demanded from him a letter signed by the 
 Prince of Conde himself, that he might know with 
 whom he was really treating. Fauche-Borel retxirned 
 to MontgaiUard, and the latter to the prince. An 
 entire night was consumed in inducing the prince to 
 write a letter of eight lines. Now he was averse to 
 styUng Pichegru a general, apprehensive of thereby 
 acknowledging the republic ; now he refused to im- 
 press his arms on the envelope. EventuaUy, the letter 
 being written, Fauche-Borel returned to Pichegru, who, 
 recognising the holograph of the prince, immediately 
 entered on the negotiation. He was offered for him
 
 IllbTOHY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 523 
 
 self the dignity of marshal, the government of Alsace, 
 a million in specie, the castle and park of Chambord 
 in fee, with twelve pieces of cannon taken from tlie 
 Austrians, and a pension of 200,000 francs, with rever- 
 sion to his wife and children. He was oflTered, with 
 regard to his army, the confirmation of all conmiis- 
 sions, pensions for the commandants of fortresses 
 who should surrender them, and exemption from 
 taxes, during fifteen years, for the towns which 
 should open their gates. But it was required that 
 Pichegru should hoist the white flag, deliver the for- 
 tress of Huningen to the Prince of Conde, and march 
 M'ith him on Paris. Pichegru was too cunning to ac- 
 cept such propositions. He woidd not deliver Hun- 
 ingen and raise the white standard in his army ; that 
 would commit and compromise him too effectually. 
 He demanded that he should be allowed to pass the 
 Rhine with a chosen corps ; there he promised to un- 
 furl the white banner, unite with the Prince of Conde, 
 and subsequently march on Paris. It is not clear how 
 his design could be thereby jiromoted ; for it was as 
 ditBcult to seduce the army beyond as on this side the 
 Rhine ; but he avoided the danger of surrendering a 
 fortress, of being surprised in the criminal act, and of 
 having no excuse to allege for his treason. Besides, 
 after gaining the other bank of the Rhine, he would 
 still have it in his power to repudiate the treason, if 
 he failed to settle terms with the Prince of Conde and 
 the Austrians ; or, if he were discovered too soon, he 
 might profit by the ])assage of the river to execute the 
 operations commanded him by his government, and 
 then profess he had listened to the propositions of the 
 enemy only to make them instrumental to his discom- 
 fiture. In each case he reserved the faculty of be- 
 traying either the republic or the prince with whom 
 he was treating. Fauche-Borel returned to his em- 
 ployers ; but he was again sent back to insist on the 
 same proposals. He thus went to and fro several times, 
 without being able to terminate the dilference, -which 
 always consisted in the positive determination of the 
 prince to obtain Huningen, and that of Pichegru the 
 passage of the Rhine. Neither was disposed to recede, 
 to give up in advance so considerable an advantage. 
 The motive which chiefly weighed with the prince in 
 refusing consent to Pichegru's preliminary demand, 
 was founded on the necessity of an application to the 
 Austrians for authority to grant the passage of the 
 river : he desired to act without their concurrence, 
 and to monopolise the honour of the counter-revolu- 
 tion. It would appear, however, he was obliged to 
 refer the matter to the Aulic Coimcil ; and in the 
 interim, Pichegru, vigilantly watched by the repre- 
 sentatives, found it necessary to suspend liis corres- 
 pondence and postpone his treason. 
 
 Whilst these things were passing on the frontiers, 
 the agents in the interior, Lemaitrc, Brottier, Despo- 
 melles, Laville - Heurnois, Duverne - Despresle, and 
 others, continued their intrigues. The young prince, 
 son of Louis XVI., had died of a tumour on the knee, 
 the residt of a scrofidous affection. The royalist agents 
 affirmed he had been poisoned; and made diligent 
 inquiries after works treating on the ceremonial of 
 coronations to send to Verona. The regent had be- 
 come king in their eyes, under the title of Louis 
 XVIII. The Count d'Artois had in like manner 
 become Monsieur. 
 
 In the insurgent districts of La Vendee and Brit- 
 tany the pacification had only been apparent. The 
 inhabitants; who began to enjoy repose and security, 
 were, it is true, disposed to remain at peace ; but the 
 cliiefs and the warlike men who surrounded them, 
 only awaited an occasion for resuming their arms. 
 Charette, having under his orders those rural guards 
 into which all tliose ha<l entered whose tastes were of 
 a decidedly military character, was engaged, under 
 pretext of executing the police of the country, in 
 forming the nucleus of an army preparatory to a re- 
 commencement of hostilities. He seldom quitted his 
 
 camp at Belleville, and received there numerous roy- 
 alist emissaries. The agents at Paris had forwarded 
 to him a letter from Verona, being a vejAy to that 
 epistle he had formerly written to excuse the pacifi- 
 cation. The pretender relieved him from all anxiety 
 on that point, assured him of his continued confidence 
 and favour, confirmed his nomination as lieutenant- 
 general, and announced to him the approaching suc- 
 com-s of Spain. The agents at Paris, improving on 
 the expressions of the prince, flattered the ambition 
 of Charette Avith a most alluring perspective : they 
 promised him the command of all the royalist districts, 
 and the aid of a considerable expedition intended to 
 be dispatched from the ports of Spain, bearing the 
 French i)rinces and ample supplies. As to the expe- 
 dition preparing in England, they appeared to put no 
 faith in it. The English, they said, had always pro- 
 mised and always deceived ; at the same time, it might 
 be expedient to make use of their assistance, if the 
 opportunity offered, but for a very different object 
 from that which they proposed to themselves : the 
 succours destined for Brittany must be landed in La 
 Vendee, and that country subjugated to Charette, who 
 alone enjoyed the confidence of the present king. 
 Such ideas were well calculated to gratify at once the 
 ambition of Charette, his animosity against StofHet, 
 his jealous spleen at the importance recently acquired 
 by Puisaye, and his resentment against England, 
 which he denounced for having never afforded him 
 countenance or aid. 
 
 With regard to Stofflet, he had less inclination than 
 Charette to resume arms, although he had manifested 
 much greater repugnance to lay them down. His 
 district of country was more sensible of the benefits 
 of peace than the others, and exhibited an unequivocal 
 distaste for a renewal of hostilities. He himself was 
 deeply mortified at the preference shown for Charette. 
 He had equally merited that distinction of lieutenant- 
 general conferred on his rival, and he was thoroughly 
 disgusted at the injustice of which he deemed himself 
 the victim. 
 
 Brittanj^, organised as heretofore, was completely 
 ripe for an outbreak. The leaders of the Chouans 
 had secured, like the Vendean chiefs, the organisation 
 of their best soldiers into regular companies, vmder 
 the pretence of constituting a rural police. Each of 
 the chiefs had formed a company of chasseurs, wearing 
 a uniform of gi-een coat and pantaloons, and red vest, 
 and composed of the most intrepid amongst the 
 Chouans. Cormatin, continuing his old career, had 
 assumed an amazing importance. He had established 
 at La Prevalaye what he denominated his head-quar- 
 ters ; he publicly dispatched orders, dated from that 
 locality, to all the Chouan chiefs ; he travelled through 
 the various districts for the purpose of in.specting the 
 companies of chasseurs ; he affected to punish infrac- 
 t'ums of the treaty when any had been committed, 
 and acted in all respects as if he were the veritable 
 governor of Brittany. He often rode into Rennes 
 decked in his Chouan uniform, which had become the 
 prevailing fashion : there he received in polite circles 
 the flattering homage of the inhabitants and the blan- 
 dishments of the women, who thought they beheld in 
 him a personage of supreme importance, and the grand 
 leader of the royalist party. 
 
 Secretly, he fomented the hostile spirit rife amongst 
 the Chouans, and maintained acorrespondencewithtlie 
 royalist agents. His position with regard to Puisaye 
 was embarrassing ; he had disobeyed him and belied 
 his confidence, insonuich that his only resource thence- 
 forth was to throw himself into the arms of the agents 
 at Paris, who had given him hopes of receiving the 
 conmiand of Brittany, ami confided to liim the secret 
 of their negotiations with Spain. That power pro- 
 mised 1,500,000 francs per month, on condition that 
 England should not be allowed to participate. Nothing 
 could be more agreeable to Cormatin than a ])lan based 
 on a rupture with England and Puisaye. Two other
 
 524 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ofBcers, whom Puisaye had sent from London into 
 Brittany, Messieurs de la Vicuville and Dandigne, 
 had likewise fallen into the system of the Paris agents, 
 being persuaded that England designed to repeat the 
 deception practised at Toidon, make use of the roy- 
 alists in order to secure a port, and incite Frenchmen 
 to combat against Frenchmen, but to afford no real 
 succour capable of consolidating the power of the 
 royalist party and ensuring its triumph. Whilst these 
 ideas prevailed amongst one portion of the Breton 
 chiefs, those of Morbihan, Le Finistere, and the Cotes- 
 du-Nord, long connected « ith Puisaye, accustomed to 
 serve under him, organised by liis efibrts, and strangers 
 to the intrigues of I'aris, remained attached to their 
 old leader, stigmatised Cormatin as a traitor, and wrote 
 to London that they were ready to lly to arms. They 
 made dUigent preparations, purchased numitions and 
 bales of cloth for fashioning into black collars, their 
 distinctive peculiarity, decoyed the republican soldiers, 
 and induced them to desert. Their success in these 
 practices was owing to the advantage they possessed 
 of having provisions in abundance, they being masters 
 of the country, while the republican soldiers, insuffi- 
 ciently fed and unable to eke out their scanty rations 
 Avith valueless assignats, were compelled to forsake 
 their colours in order to subsist. Moreover, the go- 
 vernment had been imprudent enough to leave nume- 
 rous Bretons in the regiments serving against the 
 royalist districts, and it was only natural they should 
 pass into the ranks of their compatriots. 
 
 Hoche, whose vigilance was ever on the alert, ob- 
 served with attention the state of the coimtry. He 
 saw the patriots persecuted under colour of the law 
 for disarming them, the royaUsts full of presumptuous 
 confidence, the agricultural produce kept back by the 
 farmers, the highways insecure, the public vehicles 
 obliged to start with convoys for protection, the 
 Chouans congregating in secret assemblies, and fre- 
 quent communications interchanged with the Channel 
 Islands : moved by these portents, he had written to 
 the committee and the representatives that the paci- 
 fication was an infatnous deception, that the republic 
 had been begiiiled, and that every thing announced a 
 speedy resumption of arms. He had employed the in- 
 terval in forming moveable columns, and distributing 
 them throughout the country, with the view of main- 
 taining tranquiUity, and of falling upon the first insur- 
 gent band that might be mustered. But the number 
 of his troops was insufficient for the extent of the 
 country and the immense line of coast. Every moment 
 the apprehension of a movement in some part of the 
 province, or the reported appearance of the English 
 fleet on the coasts, demanded the presence of his 
 columns, and they were worn out by constant marching. 
 In so arduous and harassing a service, a resignation, 
 infinitely more meritorious than the courage of braving 
 death, Avas essential both on his part and on that of his 
 army. Unfortunately, the soldiers indemnified them- 
 selves for their fatigiies and hardships by excesses: 
 such conduct deeply afflicted the young general, and 
 his anxieties were redoubled by the twofold soli- 
 citude of curbing his own troops and watching the 
 enemy. 
 
 He had shortly an opportunity of detecting Cormatin 
 in flagrant delinquency. Dispatches from him to divers 
 Chouan chiefs were intercepted, and positive proof of 
 his secret machinations was obtained. Apprised that 
 ho intended to visit Kennes on a fair-day witli a num- 
 ber of disguised Chouans, and fearing he contemplated 
 an attempt on the arsenal, Hoche caused him to be 
 arrested on the evening of the 6th I'rairial, and thus 
 put an end to his career. The various chiefs imme- 
 diately exclaimed against the act, and complained that 
 the treaty was violated. Hoche published in reply the 
 letters of Cormatin. and sent him with his accomplices 
 to the prison of Cherbourg ; at the same time, he held all 
 liis columns in readiness to overwhelm the first rebels 
 wlio should show themselves. The ChevaJiex Desilz 
 
 having arisen in Morbihan, was promptly attacked bj' 
 General Josnet, who destroyed three hundred of his 
 men, and completely routed him, the chief himself 
 falling in the action. In the C6tes-du-Nord, Bois- 
 Hardi likewise started into insurrection : his corps was 
 dispersed, and himself taken and kUled. The soldiers, 
 furious at the bad faith of that young chief, who was 
 the most formidable in the country, cut off his head 
 and elevated it on the point of a bayonet. Hoche, 
 indignant at this breach of military generosity, wrote 
 a noble letter to his soldiers, and ordered the culprits 
 to be souglit out and punished. This speedy destruc- 
 tion of two chiefs who had attempted to renew the 
 rebellion, overawed the others ; they remained quiet, 
 awaiting with impatience the arrival of that expedition 
 so long annomiced. Their motto was — " The King, 
 England, and Bonchamp.'" 
 
 At this moment active preparations were proceeding 
 at London. Puisaye had come to a perfect understand- 
 ing with the British ministers. They declined to grant 
 him all they had originally promised, because the paci- 
 fication diminished their confidence in the project ; but 
 they gave him the emigrant regiments and considerable 
 AvarUke stores to effect the disembarkation, and they 
 promised him aU the resources of the monarchy if the 
 expedition had a successful commencement. The ob- 
 vious interest of England was a pledge of the sincerity 
 of these promises ; for, driven from the continent since 
 the conquest of Holland, she regained a field of war- 
 fare, carried that field of warfare into the A'ery heart 
 of France, and composed her armies of Frenchmen. 
 The means placed at the disposal of Puisaye may be 
 thus sketched. The emigrant regiments on the con- 
 tinent had, since the last campaign, passed into the 
 service of England ; those formmg the corps \mder 
 Conde were, as we have mentioned, to act on the 
 Rhine ; the others, Avhich were mere Avrecks, were to 
 be shipped at the mouth of the Elbe and transported 
 into Brittany. Besides these old regiments, which bore 
 the black cockade and were disgusted with the fruit- 
 less and murderous service in which they had been 
 hitherto employed by the coalition, England had con- 
 sented to form nine new regiments to be in her pay, 
 bxit Avhich Avere to mount the Avhite cockade, in order 
 tliat their object might appear more peculiarly French. 
 The difficulty consisted in recruiting them ; for, if in 
 the early moments of fervour the emigrants had agreed 
 to serve as common soldiers, they refused to do so now. 
 It was proposed to take French deserters and prisoners 
 collected on the continent. Deserters Avere not to be 
 found, for the conqueror but rarely deserts to the van- 
 quished ; prisoners, therefore, were the only resource. 
 The Count d'Hervilly having discovered certain Toulon 
 refugees at London. Avho had been enrolled in a regi- 
 ment, incorporated them into his oavh, and thus suc- 
 ceeded in swelling it to eleven or tAvelve hundred men, 
 that is to say, to more than tAvo-thirds of its comple- 
 ment. The Count d'Hector composed another of sailors 
 Avho had emigrated, and thus mustered a regiment of 
 six hundred men. The Count du Dresna)^ found in 
 the prisons several Bretons, enrolled against their will 
 in the first requisition, and made prisoners during the 
 Avar : of these he collected four or five hundred. But 
 these ctmstitutcd all the Frenchmen that co\dd be 
 gathered to serve in the regiments distinguished by the 
 Avhite cockade. Thus, of the nine contemplated, only 
 three were formed, Avliereof one had tAvo-thirds, and 
 the other tAvo but one-third of their respective com- 
 I)lemcnts. Lieutenant-colonel Rothalier, hoAvever, Avho 
 comnuuided four hundred Toulon artillerymen, was 
 still at London. Of these a regiment of artillery Avas 
 composed, to Avhich Avere joined sundry French en- 
 gineers, embodied as a sejiarate engineer corps. As 
 to the host of emigrants Avho refused to serve except 
 in their former grades, and Avere unable to obtain sol- 
 diers for the formation of regiments, it was resolved 
 to constitute them as skeleton-regiments, to be filled 
 up in Brittany Avith insurgents. There, men being
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 525 
 
 abundant, and experienced officers rare, they woxild 
 find no difficulty in resuming their appropriate func- 
 tions. They were sent to Jersey in order to be or- 
 ganised and ready to follow the descent. Whilst thus 
 engaged in marshalling troops, Puisaye at tlie same 
 time sought to x>rovide himself with funds. England 
 had originally undertaken to furnisli him with a suffi- 
 cient quantity of specie ; but he desired to procure 
 assignats. Accordingly, he obtained authority from 
 the princes to fabricate three thousand millions of 
 forged assignats ; for this employment he designed the 
 idle ecclesiastics who could not wield the sword. The 
 Bishop of Lyons, viewing this measure in a ditferent 
 light from the princes and Puisaye, prohibited the 
 clergy from lending their aid in its execution. Puisaye 
 then applied to other more pliable instruments, and 
 succeeded m forging the quantity he purposed to carry 
 with him. He likewise desired to be accompanied by 
 a bishop, who might perform the part of a papal legate 
 to the Catholic districts. He remembered that an 
 intriguer, the pretended Bishop of Agra, had gained 
 an extraordinary influence OA'er the minds of the 
 peasants by assimiing that usurped title in the first 
 Vendean Avar. He consequently took with him the 
 Bishop of Do], who held a commission from Rome. In 
 fine, he procured from the Coiuit d'Artois the necessary 
 powers to command the expedition, and nominate to 
 commissions, pending his own arrival. The English 
 ministry, too, on its part, confided to him the direction 
 of the expedition ; but, distrusting his temerity and 
 his extreme anxiety to land, it stipulated that the 
 Count d'Hervilly should command the emigrant regi- 
 ments until the descent were consummated. 
 
 All the dispositions being made, a squadron took on 
 board the regiment of D'Hervilly, the two regiments 
 of D'Hector and Du Dresnay, all wearing the white 
 cockade, the four hundred Toulon artillerymen com- 
 manded by Rothalier, and an emigrant regiment of old 
 embodiment, that of La Chatre, known under the name 
 of the Loyal-Emigrant, and reduced by the war on the 
 continent to four hundred men. This gallant remnant 
 was to be reserved for decisive actions. In the squadron 
 were likewise shipped provisions for an army of 6000 
 men during three months, 100 saddle and draught 
 horses, 1 7,000 complete infantry uniforms, 4000 cavalry 
 uniforms, 27,000 muskets, ten field-pieces, and 600 bar- 
 rels of powder. Puisaye was presented with ten thou- 
 sand louis in gold and letters of credit on England, to 
 add to his false assignats financial resources of a more 
 assured character. The squadron intrusted with this 
 expedition comprised three ships of the line of 74 guns, 
 two frigates of 44, four brigs of 30 to 36, and several 
 gunboats and transports. It was commanded by Com- 
 modore Warren, one of the most distinguished and 
 intrepid officers in the English navy. It constituted 
 the first division. Immediately subsequent to its depar- 
 ture, it was agreed that another naval division should 
 proceed to take up at Jersey tlie emigrant officers there 
 organising ; that, after so doing, it should cruise for 
 some time before Saint Malo, Avhere I'uisaye had oi)ened 
 commmiications, and which certain traitors had pro- 
 mised to deliver into his hands ; and that after this 
 cruise, if Saint Malo were not surrendered, it should 
 follow Puisaye, and convey to him the emigrant offi- 
 cers. At the same time, transport ships M'ere to be 
 detached to the moutli of the Elbe, to receive the emi- 
 grant regiments wearing the black cockade, and trans- 
 port them to Puisaye. It was expected that these dif- 
 ferent detachments would arrive almost simultaneously 
 with himself. If all he had stated were realised — if the 
 discmbarkmcnt were efiected without difficulty — if the 
 natives of Brittany flocked to his standard — if he suc- 
 ceeded in taking up a solid position on the coasts of 
 France, whether it were Saint-Malo, Ij'Orient, I'ort- 
 Louis, or any other port that he contrived to seize — 
 then a fresh expedition, bearing an English army, 
 additional supplies of military stores, and the Count 
 d'Artois in person, would immediately put to sea 
 
 Lord Moira had in fact been commissioned to visit 
 the continent in quest of that prince. 
 
 These arrangements were liable to only two objec- 
 tions, but those of a serious character. The expedition 
 was divided into several detachments, and the French 
 prince, above all, was not placed at the head of the first. 
 
 The expedition set sail towards the end of Prairial 
 (middle of Jmie). Puisaye carried with him the 
 Bishop of Dol, a numerous body of clergy, and forty 
 noblemen, all bearing an illustrious name, and serving 
 as simple volunteers. The point of disembarkment 
 was a mystery for all except Puisaye and Commodore 
 Warren, and ilessieurs de Tinteniac and d'Allegre, 
 whom Puisaye had dispatched to announce his arrival. 
 
 After long and anxious deliberation, the southern 
 coast of Brittany had been preferred, and the Bay of 
 Quiberon finally pitched upon, as an admirable and 
 secure station, and one well known to the English, 
 from their having long used it as an anclioring ground. 
 Whilst the expedition was under sail. Sir Sidney 
 Smith and Lord Cornwallis made threatening demon- 
 strations along the whole extent of the coast, in order 
 to deceive the republican armies as to the true point 
 of disembarkation; and L(5rdBridport, with the squad- 
 ron stationed off" the Isle of Ushant, protected the 
 convoy. The French Atlantic fleet had not yet re- 
 covered the effects of the disastrous cruise during the 
 previous winter, in the course of which the Brest 
 squadron had been dreadfully shattered by tempes- 
 tuous weather. However, Villaret-Joyeuse was ordered 
 to depart with nine ships of the line anchored off' Brest, 
 to reheve a division blockaded at Belle-Isle. He 
 weighed anchor accordingly, and, after relieving the 
 division and givmg chase to sundry English vessels, 
 he returned towards Brest, when he encountered a 
 sudden squall of wind which dispersed his fleet. Much 
 time was lost in uniting it again, and in the interval 
 he fell in with the expedition destined for the coasts 
 of France. He was superior in force, and might have 
 completely destroyed it; but Commodore Warren, des- 
 crying the danger, crowded all sail, and placed his 
 convoy in the distance, so as to present the appearance 
 of a second line : at the same time he detached two 
 corvettes in quest of the powerful squadron under 
 Lord Bridport. Villarct, deeming he could not give 
 battle with advantage, resumed his course for Brest, 
 according to the instructions he had received. But 
 Lord Bridport hove in sight at this moment, and im- 
 mediately attacked the republican fleet. It Avas the 
 5th Messidor (23d June). Villaret, wishing to form 
 parallel with the Alexandre, which was a bad sailer, 
 wasted irreparable time in fruitless manoeuvres. His 
 line was thrown into confusion : he lost three vessels, 
 the Alexandre, the Furmidulle, and the Tiger, and, 
 being unable to regain Brest, was obliged to run for 
 L'Orient. 
 
 The expedition having thus signalised its outset by 
 a naval victory, continued to steer for the Bay of 
 Quiberon. A division of the squadron diverged to 
 summon the garrison of Belle-Isle in the name of the 
 King of France, but it received from General Boucret 
 an energetic reply, backed by a volley of cannon-balls. 
 The convoy came to anchor in the Bay of Quiberon, 
 on the 7th Jlessidor (25th June). I'uisaye was aware, 
 from the information he had gathered, that there were 
 but few troops on the coast ; he jiroposed, in his ar- 
 dour, to make an immediate descent on shore. The 
 Coimt d'Hervilly, who was a brave officer, well calcu- 
 lated to discipline a regiment, but incapal)le of skil- 
 fully directing an operation, and above all, vastly 
 l)unctilious with regard to authority and duty, stated 
 that he connnanded the troops, that he was answerable 
 for their safety to the English government, and tliat he 
 would not hazard them on a strange and liostile coast 
 until time hadbccn taken to reconnoitre. He consumed 
 an entire day in surveying the coast with a telescope; 
 and, though he had not descried a single soldier, he 
 still refused to allow the troops to land. Puisaye and
 
 0-26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Commodore Warren insisting on the descent, DTIer- 
 villy ultimately acceded ; and, on the 9th Messidor 
 (27th June), those heedless and imprudent French- 
 men alighted, full of joyful anticipation, on that soil 
 to -Nvhich they were bringing the horrors of civil war, 
 and on which they were appointed to meet so mourn- 
 ful a fate. 
 
 The bay in which they had cast anchor is formed on 
 one side ])y the shore of Brittany, and on the other bj' 
 a promontory nearly a league broad and two leagues 
 in length ; it is the well-known peninsula of Qui- 
 beron. It adjoins the mainland by a narrow tongue 
 of sand, a league in length, and called La Falaise. The 
 fort of Penthie^Te, erected between the peninsula and 
 La Falaise, defends the approach on the land side. 
 In this fort was a garrison of seven hundred men. 
 The bay, formed by this promontory and the coast, 
 offers to vessels one of the safest and best sheltered 
 roads on the continent. 
 
 The expedition disembarked in the bottom of the 
 bay at the village of Carnac. At the instant of its 
 arrival, several chiefs, Dubois-Berthelot, D'Allegre, 
 George Cadoudal, and IMercier, forewarned by Tintc- 
 niac, hastened vi'ith their troops, dispersed the detach- 
 ments guarding the coast, drove them into the interior, 
 and repaired to the shore. They brought four or five 
 thousand men inured to war, but ill-clad, badly armed, 
 advancing M'ithout order, and resembling a gang of 
 plunderers rather than an array of soldiers. With 
 these Chouans had mingled the peasants of the neigh- 
 bourhood, crying, " The king for ever!" and carrj'ing 
 eggs, fov.ls, provisions of all kinds, to the liberating 
 army, come to restore to them their prince and their 
 religion. Puisaye, overjo3'ed at this demonstration, 
 already concluded that all Brittanj- was ready to rise 
 in insurrection. The emigrants who accompanied him 
 experienced different impressions. Having lived in 
 courts or served in the best appointed armies of Europe, 
 they viewed with disgust and apprehension the soldiers 
 to be placed under their command. Sarcasms and 
 murmurs already began to circulate. The chests of 
 muskets and uniforms were exposed ; the Chouans fell 
 impetuously thereupon; some sergeants of D'Hervilly's 
 regiment attempted to establish order ; a scuffle en- 
 sued, and, but for the intervention of Puisaye, fatal 
 consequences might have resulted. These first cir- 
 cumstances were little calculated to promote confidence 
 between the insm-gents and the regular troops, who, 
 coming from England and belonging to that power, 
 were regarded with a certain degree of suspicion by 
 the Chouans. However, the bands which arrived Mere 
 all armed, and in the course of two days their number 
 amounted to ten thousand men. They were invested 
 with red coats and muskets, and Puisaye then pre- 
 pared to assign them leaders. There was a deficiency 
 of officers, for the forty volunteer noblemen who had 
 followed him were insufficient ; the skeleton regiments 
 were not yet at his disposal, for, according to the plan 
 agreed upon, they were still cruising before ISaint 
 Jlalo; he therefore proj)osed to draught officei-s from 
 the regiments in which they abounded, distribute 
 them amongst the Chouans, march rapidly on Vannes 
 and Keimes, allow the republicans no time to concen- 
 trate, stir up the whole country, and advance to take a 
 position behind the important line of JIayenne. Once 
 there, master of forty leagues of country, with the 
 entire po})ulation in action, Puisaye deemed it would 
 be then the time to organise the irregular troops. 
 D'llervilly, gallant but fastidious, methodical, and 
 holding these uncouth Chouans in contempt, refused 
 his officers. Instead of giving tlieni to the Chouans, 
 he wished to pick out from amongst the latter men to 
 complete the regiments, and then advance, recon- 
 noitring cautiously and selecting safe positions. Tliis 
 but ill accorded with Puisaye's views. He attempted 
 to enforce his authority; jyilervilly denied it, stating 
 that the conmiand of the regular troops belonged to 
 him, that he was responsible for their safety to the 
 
 English government, and that he must take care not 
 to compromise them. Puisaj'e represented to him 
 that he held that command only during the voyage, 
 but that landed on the soil of Brittany, he, Puisaye, 
 was the supreme chief and director of the operations. 
 He forthwith dispatched a corvette to London, to ob- 
 tain an exjilanation of the powers confided to him ; 
 and, iu the interim, he conjured DTIervilly not to foil 
 the enterprise by baneful divisions. D'Hervilly was 
 a man unquestionably of loyal intentions, but not at all 
 adapted for civil war, and he had moreover an in- 
 vincible repugnance towards the tatterdemalion insur- 
 gents. All the other emigrants, besides, thought with 
 him they were not parties to Chouann'ise ; that Puisaj'e 
 would endanger them by advancing into Brittany ; that 
 it was in La Vendee they ou<iht to have landed, where 
 they would have met the illustrious Charette, and 
 doubtless very different soldiers. 
 
 Several days were lost in contentions of this nature. 
 The Chouans were finally distributed into three corps, 
 and sent to take up advanced positions so as to occupy 
 the roads leading from L"Orient to Hennelwu and 
 Aurai. Tinteniac, with a corps of 2500 Chouans, 
 was stationed on the left at Landevant ; Dubois-Ber- 
 thelot, with a nearly equal force, on the right towards 
 Aurai. The Count de Vauban, one of the forty volun- 
 teer noblemen who had accompanied Puisaye, and one 
 of those whom reputation and merit placed in the first 
 rank, was ordered to occupy a central position at 
 Mendon with four thousand Chouans, so as to be able 
 to succom- either Tinteniac or Dubois-Berthelot. He 
 had the command of the whole line, defended by nine 
 or ten thousand men, and projected four or five leagues 
 into the interior. The Chouans, thus planted in the 
 van, immediately demanded why troops of the line 
 were not associated with them ; they relied much 
 more on those troops than on themselves ; they had 
 come to rally around them, to follow and support 
 them, but expecting at the same time that they would 
 be the first to advance, in order to sustain the formid- 
 able shock of the republicans. Such were their mur- 
 murings. Vauban solicited at least four hundred 
 men, both to resist, in case of need, a first attack, and 
 to encourage the Chouans, afford them an example, 
 and prove to them they were not intended to be ex- 
 posed alone. D'Hervilly at first refused the application, 
 then took time for consideration, and eventually sent 
 the required detachment. 
 
 The expedition had been disembarked five days, and 
 had advanced only three or four leagues into the land. 
 Puisaye was MToth and discontented ; but he suppressed 
 his chagrin, hoping to overcome the delays and ob- 
 stacles his companions in arms opposed to his designs. 
 Deeming that, under any circumstances, it would be 
 advisable to secure a basis of operations, he proposed 
 to D'Hervilly the seizure of the peninsula by sur- 
 prising the fort of Penthievre. Once masters of that 
 fortress, which closed the peninsula towards the land, 
 and supported on both sides by the English squadrons, 
 they would hold an unassailable position, and the 
 peninsida itself, a league in width and two leagues in 
 length, would become a possession as sure as the ports 
 of Saint-Malo, Brest, or L'Orient, and more com- 
 modious. The English would have ample facilities 
 for landing there all the succours they had promised 
 in men and stores. This measure of security was of 
 a nature to please D'Hervilly : he yielded his consent, 
 but recommended a regular siege of the fort of Pen- 
 thievre. Puisaye paid no attention to his advice, and 
 projected an attack by way of assault : Commodore 
 Warren, animated with the utmost zeal, undertook to 
 support it by all the fire of his squadron. They com- 
 menced to cannonade it on the 1st July (1.3th Mes- 
 sidor), and the decisive attack was fixed for the .3d 
 July. Whilst making his preparations, Puisaye dis- 
 patched envoys through all Brittany, in order to arouse 
 Sccpeaux, Charette, Stofflet, and other chiefs of the 
 insurgent provinces.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 527 
 
 Tidings of tlie disembarkation had spread with 
 singular rapidity ; the intelligence traversed Brittany 
 in two days, all France in a few more. The royalists 
 full of joy, the revolutionists of wrath, deemed the 
 emigrants already at Paris. The convention instantly 
 delegated two extraordinary commissioners to Hoche, 
 selecting for the mission Blad and Tallien. The pi"e- 
 sence of the latter on the threatened point was intended 
 to prove that the Thermidorians were equally opposed 
 to royalism as to terror. Hoche, calm and energetic, 
 forthwith -wi-ote to the committee of public welfare to 
 allay its fsars. " Composure," so he expressed himself, 
 " activity, the provisions we need so much, and the 
 twelve thousand men you have promised me so long : 
 such are our Avants." He issued the requisite orders 
 to his chief of the staff; he directed General Chabot 
 to plant himseU' between Brest and L'Orient, with a 
 corps of 4000 men, in order to fly to the aid of either 
 of those ports if menaced. " Watch especially over 
 Brest," he said to him ; •' in extremity, shut yourself in 
 the place, and defend it to the death." He wrote to 
 Aubert-Dubayet, who commanded the coasts of Cher- 
 bourg, to detach troops to the north of Brittany, for 
 the piu-pose of guarding Saint-Malo and tlie coast. To 
 secure the south, he begged Canclaux, who was still 
 watching Charette and Stofflet, to send liim General 
 Lemoiue with an auxiliary force through Nantes and 
 Vannes. He subsequently caused all his troops to con- 
 centrate on llennes, Ploermel, and Vannes, disposing 
 them on those three points with the view of guarding 
 his rear. Finally, he advanced in person on Aurai 
 with all the strength he could muster at the moment. 
 On the 14th Messidor (2d Jul^') he appeared at Aurai 
 with from three to four thousand men. 
 
 Brittany was thiis entirely encompassed. Now were 
 to be dissipated the illusions which the first war of 
 La Vendee had generated. Because in 1793, the 
 peasants of La Vendee, encountering in combat mere 
 national guards, composed of citizens who were igno- 
 rant how to handle a gun, had been able to occupy all 
 Poitou and Anjou, and afterwards organise in their 
 marshes and ravines a focus of rebelhon difhcult to 
 destroj% it was imagined that Brittany would rise at 
 the first signal from England. But the Bretons were 
 far from having the ardour of the first Vendeans ; 
 certain brigands merely, under the appellation of 
 Chouans, were resolutely bent on war, or, to speak 
 more correctly, on pillage; and moreover, a young 
 captain, whose activitj' equalled his genius, com- 
 manding experienced troops, curbed the entire popu- 
 lation with a firm and dexterous hand. The only hope 
 of kindling the embers of revolt in Brittany, under 
 such circumstances, rested on the promptitude and 
 rapidity wherewith the expedition, come to rally it 
 under the royal standard, advanced into the coimtry ; 
 but, as we see, it loitered, under the gloomy auspices 
 of discord, on the strand it had been first cast upon. 
 
 Nor was tliis all. Part of the Chouans who were 
 under the influence of the royalist agents at Paris, 
 desired, before joining Puisaye, the presence of a 
 prnice in his camp. The objections of those agents 
 and of all those who participated in their intrigues 
 were, that the expedition was insufficient and falla- 
 cious, and that England had appeared in Brittany only 
 to repeat tlie occurrence of Toulon. They no longer 
 alleged tliat she ])urposcd to bestow the crown on the 
 Count d'Artois, because he was not there, but on the 
 Duke of York; they wrote, urging their adherents not 
 to aid the expedition, which, tliey stated, nmst be 
 comx)elled to re-embark and make the descent in con- 
 cert witli Charette. That chief was perfectly favour- 
 able to this view of matters. He evaded the requests 
 of Puisaye's agents by asserting that he had sent M. 
 de Scepeaux to Paris, in order to claim the execution 
 of one of the articles contained in his treaty, and that 
 he must therefore await the return of that officer to 
 avoid exposing him to the chance of arrest by prema- 
 turely resuming arms. Stofflet, who was better in- 
 
 clined towards Puisaye, answered, that if the rank of 
 lieutenant-general were assured to him, he would 
 instantly march and cause a diversion on the rear of 
 the republicans. 
 
 Thus all things conspired against Puisaye — coimter- 
 views entertained by the royalists of the interior, 
 jealousies harboured by the Vendean chiefs, and an 
 able adversary, disposing of forces perfectly organised, 
 and sufficiently numerous to keep in check whatever 
 royalist zeal might lurk amongst the Bretons. 
 
 Meanwhile, the 15th INIessidor (3d July), the day 
 assigned by Puisaye for attacking the fort of Pen- 
 thic'vre, arrived. The soldiers who defended it had 
 been devoid of bread for three days. Threatened with 
 an assault, bombarded by the fire of the ships, and 
 commanded pusillanimously, they sounded a parley, 
 and surrendered the fortress to Puisaye. At that 
 precise moment, Hoche, established at Aiirai, executed 
 an attack upon all the advanced posts of the Chouans, 
 for the purpose of restoring the communications from 
 Aurai to Hennebon and L'Orient. He had ordered 
 the attack to be simultaneous on Landevant and on 
 the post towards Aurai. The Chouans under Tinte- 
 niac, vigorously assailed bj- the republicans, were un- 
 able to stand before those disciplined troops. Vauban, 
 who was placed intermediately at Mendon, hastened 
 with a part of his reserve to the aid of Tinteuiac, but 
 he foimd the corps of that leader dispersed, and the 
 band he himself led melted away at the sight ; he was 
 compelled to fly with precipitation and swini across 
 two small inlets of the sea, in order to rejoin the resi- 
 due of his Chouans at ]Mendon. On his right, Dubois- 
 Berthelot had been repulsed ; whereby the republicans 
 were enabled to advance on both his flanks, and ex- 
 pose him to the risk of being enclosed within their 
 two divisions. It was at this critical instant that 
 the four hundred troops of the line he had required 
 would have been of essential service in sustaining 
 his Chouans and ralh'ing them to the combat; but 
 D'Hervilly had remanded them for the attack on the 
 fort. However, he inspired his soldiers with an im- 
 pulse of courage, and induced them to profit bj" the 
 occasion, in order to fall on the rear of the republicans, 
 whom the ardour of pursuit had carried far into the 
 van. He accordingly recoiled towards his left, and 
 charged upon a village which the republicans had just 
 entered in the heat of their chase after the Chouans. 
 They were unprejjared for this rough and sudden 
 onslaught, and were compelled to fall back. Vauban 
 subsequently returned towards his position of Mendon ; 
 but he found it deserted; aU had taken to flight around 
 him ; and he also was obliged to retire, but with order, 
 and after an act of hardihood which had checked the 
 impetuosity of the enemy. 
 
 The Chouans were indignant at having been ex- 
 posed alone to the attack of the republicans, and they 
 inveighed most bitterly against the withdrawal of the 
 four hundred men of the line. Puisaye upbraide<l 
 D'Hervilly with the abstraction ; the latter retorted 
 that he had recalled them for the assault on the fort. 
 Such reciprocal coiuplaints were calculated rather to 
 widen than to heal the breach, and on both sides great 
 irritation jirevailed. However, the fortof Penthievre 
 had been taken. Puisaye caused all the military stores 
 sent by the English to be landed on the promontory ; 
 be likewise fixed his head-(iuarters there, removed 
 most of the tro()i)s into it, and resolved to establish 
 himself siilidly on that advantageous station. He gave 
 orders to the engineers to perfect the defences of the 
 fort, and to throw up advanced works. On its turrets 
 was planted the white banner, in conjunction with the 
 English standard, as the symbol of alliance between 
 the kings of France and England. It was agreed that 
 the garrison should be comjjosed by draughting a de- 
 tachment from eadi regiment in proportion to its 
 force. D'Hervilly, who was very solicitous to com- 
 plete his own regiment, especially with good troops, 
 proposed to the republicans who had been taken pri-
 
 528 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 soners to pass into his service, and to form a third 
 battalion in liis regiment. Largesses, the provisions 
 sc long -withheld from them, the reluctance to remain 
 as prisoners, and the hope of being soon enabled to 
 return to Hoche, decided their acquiescence in the 
 proposal ; and they were consequently enrolled in the 
 corps commanded by D'Hervilly. 
 
 Puisaye, whose design to march into the interior 
 was still inflexible as ever, and who had only paused 
 to take the peninsula with the view of assuring 
 himself a position on the coast, now addressed D'Her- 
 villy in a more peremptory tone, laying before him 
 thestrongest reasons to induce his compliance with 
 his views, and threatening to demand his dismissal 
 if he persisted in controverting them. D'Hervilly 
 appeared for a moment to accede to his projects. 
 The Chouans, as Fuisaye represented, required, in 
 order to elicit their bravery, the support and example 
 of regular soldiers ; hence it was necessary to distri- 
 bute in their van and on their rear troops of the line, 
 thus place them in the midst, and, with twelve or 
 thirteen thousand men, comprising nearly three thou- 
 sand of the line, push over the forces under Hoche, 
 who had at the moment but five or six thousand 
 men at the utmost. D'Hervilly consented to this plan. 
 Meanwhile, Vauban, who found his position extremely 
 hazardous, having lost that he had originally occu- 
 pied, demanded orders and succours. D'HerviUy sent 
 liim an order, couched in most pedantic terms, wherein 
 he enjoined him to fall back on Carnac, and prescribed 
 to him a series of manoeuvres such as the best-trained 
 troops of Europe only could have executed. 
 
 On the 5th July (17tli Messidor), Puisaye issued 
 from the peninsula to hold a review of the Chouans, 
 and D'Hervilly likewise came forth with his regiment, 
 to prepare for the execution of the project, agreed 
 upon the previous day, to march into the interior. 
 Puisaye encountered nothing but dejection, despon- 
 dency, and discontent, amongst the men who, a few 
 days earlier, had manifested such enthusiasm. They 
 said it was evident they were to be exposed alone, and 
 sacrificed to the republican troops of the line. Puisaye 
 appeased them as well as he could, and endeavoured 
 to cheer their spirits and re-animate their courage. 
 D'Hervilly, on his part, beholding those unfortimate 
 men, accoutred in red coats, wearing their ill-ad- 
 justed uniforms and carrjing their bayonets in so 
 ungainly a fashion, exclaimed that nothing could be 
 made of such wretched troops, and wheeled romid 
 with his regiment. Puisaye met him as he drew off, 
 and asked him whether it was tlms he purposed fulfil- 
 ling the stipulated plan. D'Hervilly replied that he 
 would never risk himself in an enterprise with such 
 soldiers ; that the only course left was to re-embark, or 
 shut themselves up in the peninsula, to await fresh 
 orders from London, whicli, as he surmised, would 
 bring directions to make the descent in La Vendee. 
 
 On the following day, 6th July (18th Messidor), 
 Vauban was secretly apprised that the repi^icans 
 were preparing to attack his whole line. The intima- 
 tion found him in a most perilous situation. His left 
 rested on a post called Saint-Barbe, which communi- 
 cated with the peninsula ; but his centre and right 
 skirted the coast of Carnac, and had only the sea for 
 a retreat. Thus, if he were strongly assailed, his right 
 and centre might be driven into the sea; his left 
 alone could find refuge in Quiberon, through Saint- 
 Barbe. His Chouans, utterly dispirited, were inca- 
 pable of maintaining their ground; no other plan was 
 open to him, therefore, save to throw his centre and 
 right on his left, and defile by La Falaise into the 
 peninsula. But in that case he shut himself up in that 
 strip of land without the possibility of leaving it: for 
 the post of Saint-Barbe, which was to be abandoned, 
 although defenceless on the land side, was impreg- 
 nable on the side of La Falaise, and completelj' com- 
 manded it. Thus this project of retreat was equi- 
 valent to a determination to retire altogether into 
 
 the peninsula of Quiberon. Consequently Vauban 
 demanded aid, in order that he might be saved the 
 necessity of adopting that alternative. D'Hervilly 
 transmitted him further orders, drawn up in all the 
 pomposity of the military style, and containing a posi- 
 tive injimction to hold Carnac to the last extremity. 
 Puisaye served a formal smnmons on D'lIerviUy to 
 send troops, which di-ew from liira a promise to for- 
 ward a detachment. 
 
 At break of day on the morrow, 7th July (19th 
 Messidor), the republicans were seen advancing in 
 deep columns, and making dispositions to attack the 
 ten thousand Chouans along their whole line. The 
 latter cast their eyes towards La Falaise, but dis- 
 cerned no appearance of a movement on the part of 
 the regular troops. Thereupon they broke out into 
 furious outcries against the emigrants for not com- 
 ing to their assistance. Young George Cadoudal, 
 whose soldiers refused to fight, entreated them not to 
 disband ; but they gave no heed to his solicitations. 
 George, sharing their exasperation, exclaimed that 
 those miscreants of Enghsh and emigrants had arrived 
 only to ruin Brittany, and that it was unfortunate 
 the sea had not engulfed them rather than transported 
 them to that coast. Vauban, in this state of atfairs, 
 ordered his right and centre to recoil upon his left, 
 with the view of saving them by La Falaise, in the 
 peninsula. The Chouans rushed precipitately to the 
 point indicated; the greater part were followed by 
 their families, flying from the vengeance of the repub- 
 licans. Old men, women, children, bearing their 
 household wrecks, and intermingled with several 
 thousand Chouans in their military garb, covered 
 that long and narrow tongue of sand, lashed on both 
 sides by the waves, and already furrowed by cannon- 
 balls and buUets. Vauban, gathering aromid him all 
 the chiefs, endeavoured to rally the bravest of the 
 men, urging them not to expose themselves bj' a pre- 
 cipitate flight to certain destruction, and conjuring 
 them, for their safety and honour, to make a retreat 
 in good order. "They woidd cover with shame that 
 troop of the hue," he told them, "which so disgrace- 
 fidly left them to bear the whole brunt of the peril." 
 By degrees he infused into them a degree of confi- 
 dence ; they turned to face the enemy, braved his fire, 
 and retorted it. Thereupon, owing to the admirable 
 fortitude of the chiefs, the retreat began to be exe- 
 cuted with calmness ; the ground was disputed inch 
 by inch. Still, a vigorous charge might have proved 
 irresistible, and forced the retiring Chouans into the 
 sea ; but, fortunately, the gaUant Warren, mooring his 
 ships and gunboats inshore, opened a tremendous fire 
 on the republicans from both sides of La Falaise, and 
 prevented them for that day at least from further 
 pursuing their advantage. 
 
 The fugitives flocked to enter the fort, but for a time 
 access was debarred them ; they accordingly fell upon 
 the palisades, tore them up, and poured pell-meU into 
 the peninsula. At that moment, D'Hervilly appeared 
 with his regiment ; Vauban encountered him, and, 
 under an impulse of anger, Avarned him he would bring 
 his conduct imder review before a council of war. The 
 Chouans overspread the area of the promontory, on 
 which were perched simdry hamlets and cottages. All 
 the accommodation was forestalled by the oflacers and 
 soldiers of the regiments, who defended their quarters 
 from invasion ; disputes and tumults ensued, but finally 
 the Chouans stretched themselves on the groimd. A 
 half-ration of rice was distributed amongst them, which 
 they consumed in the raw state, being destitute of the 
 means of cooking food. 
 
 Thus the expedition, which was to have carried so 
 speedily and triumphantly the banner of the Bourbons 
 and the English to the banks of the Mayenne, was at 
 present confined within the limits of a promontorj' 
 jutting two leagues into the sea. Its conductors had 
 twelve or fifteen thousand souls the more to support, 
 to whom they could give neither shelter, nor fiiel. nor
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 529 
 
 utensils to prepare their victuals. The peninsula, 
 defended by a fortress at its gorge, and flanked on both 
 sides by tlie English squadrons, might be deemed an 
 invulnerable possession ; but it suddenly became un- 
 tenable by the want of provisions. On board the 
 squadron, in fact, had been shipped only supplies cal- 
 culated to maintain six thousand men during three 
 months, and there were eighteen or twenty thousand 
 tongues clamorous for food. To escape from this dolo- 
 rous position by a sudden assault on Saint-Barbe was 
 scarcely possible ; for the republicans, relaxing not an 
 instant in their ardour, were intrenching that post in 
 a manner to render it impregnable from the peninsula. 
 Whilst confusion, animosities, and dejection, prevailed 
 amid the incongruous assemblage of Chouans and emi- 
 grants, in the camp of Hoche, on the contrary, soldiers 
 and officers were animated with one spirit, fired with 
 an emulous zeal to perfect the defences of their posi- 
 tion. " I saw," says Puisaye, " the officers themselves, 
 in their shirts, and merely distinguished by their 
 cravats, wielding the pick-axe, and accelerating the 
 labours of their soldiers." 
 
 HoAvever, Puisaye determined upon a sortie that 
 very night, in order to interrupt the works ; but the 
 darkness, combined with the terrors of the enemy's 
 cannonade, threw the ranks into confusion, and he 
 found it necessary to draw in the troops. The poor 
 Chouans were stricken with despair : they loudly com- 
 plained of having been villanously deceived ; they 
 lamented their old mode of Avarfare, and clamoiu-ed to 
 have their forests restored to them. They suffered the 
 pangs of hunger, too. D'HerviUy, for the purpose of 
 constraining them to enlist in the regiments, had 
 issued an ordinance, to the effect that only half-rations 
 sliould be distributed to the irregular troops. They 
 broke into open mutiny. Puisaye, without whose 
 knowledge the order had been promidgated, imme- 
 diately cancelled it ; full rations were granted, and the 
 malecontents pacified. 
 
 Besides the ability and spirit for which Puisaj'e was 
 eminent, he was distinguished for an extraordinary 
 perseverance under difficulties : he was never dis- 
 couraged. He now conceived tlie idea of selecting the 
 choicest amongst the Chouans, and disembarking them 
 on the coast in two divisions, with instructions to 
 scour the country to the rear of Hoche, muster the 
 chiefs from whom no tidings had as yet come, and 
 bear en masse on the camp of Saint-Barbe, so as to 
 take it in rear, Avhilst the troops from the peninsula 
 were attacking it in front. This project promised the 
 advantages of reducing the number of consumers by 
 six or eight thousand, employing those detached in 
 beneficial activity, rekindling the zeal of the Breton 
 chiefs, at present so singularly sluggish, and preparing 
 the way for an attack on the rear of the camp of Saint- 
 Barbe. The scheme formed, he picked his men from 
 the Chouan ranks with the best discrimination, and 
 assigned four thousand to Tinteniac, together with 
 three intrepid chiefs, George Cadoudal, Mercier, and 
 D'Allegre, and three thousand to Messieurs Jean- Jean 
 and Lantivy. Tinteniac was to be landed at Sarzeau, 
 near the mouth of the Vilaine ; Jean- Jean and Lan- 
 tivy near Quimper. Both v.'ere enjoined, after sweei)ing 
 over a wide area, to unite at Baud on tlie 15th July 
 (27th Messidor), and march in conjunction, at dawn 
 on the 16th, upon tlie rear of the camp of Saint-Barbe. 
 At the instant of departure, the Cliouan chiefs sought 
 out Puisaye, and entreated liini, their old leader, to 
 accompany tliem, representing to him that the traitor- 
 ous English would assuredly ruin him : it was impos- 
 sible for Puisaye to comply with these friendly in- 
 stances. Tlie troops sailed for their destinations, and 
 were happily disembarked. Puisaye lost no time in 
 writing to London that all would be yet rejiaired, but 
 that supplies of provisions, ammunition, and troops, 
 must be immediately forwarded, together with the per- 
 son of a French prmce. 
 
 Whilst these arrangements were progressing in the 
 
 peninsula, Hoche had collected from eight to ten thou- 
 sand men at Saint-Barbe. Aubert-Duhayet provided 
 him, from the coasts of Cherbourg, with troops to 
 guard the north of Brittany, and Canclaux had sent a 
 considerable reinforcement from Nantes, under the 
 orders of General Lemoine. The representatives had 
 foiled all the machinations tending to deliver up 
 L'Orient and Saint-Malo. The prospects of the re- 
 publicans, therefore, brightened with the lapse of every 
 day. Moreover, Lemaitre and Brothier, the royalist 
 agents, were straining every nerve to thwart the ex- 
 pedition. They had at the commencement written tc 
 Brittany, condemning and disparaging it. As they 
 described it, the expedition had a dangerous object in 
 view, manifested by the fact of the prince's absence, 
 and that no good royalist ought to aid it. In conse- 
 quence, emissaries had gone abroad and circulated 
 orders, in the name of the king, to abstain from par- 
 ticiijating in any movement ; they had also warned 
 Charette to persist in his inaction. Adhering, never- 
 theless, to their good old practice of profiting by the 
 succours of England while deriding and duping it, the 
 agents had formed a scheme for turning them to ac- 
 count in the present instance. Implicated in the in- 
 trigue to deliver Saint- ]\Ialo into the hands of Puisaye, 
 their design was to call the emigrant officers cruising 
 on board the English fleet into that ])lace, and take 
 possession of the port in the name of Louis XVIII., 
 leaving Puisaye to act at Quiberon as he best could, 
 and, as they insinuated, in behalf of the Duke of York. 
 The plot touching Saint-Malo liaving failed, they fixed 
 upon Saint-Brieuc, retained before that coast the flotilla 
 bearing the skeleton regiments, and hastily dispatched 
 emissaries to Tinteniac and Lantivy, with whose dis- 
 embarkation they were acquainted, to enjoin them to 
 move upon Saint-Brieuc. It was thus their aim to 
 form in the north of Brittany a counter-expedition, 
 more sure, as thej^ prognosticated, than the enterprise 
 of Puisaye in the soutli. 
 
 Tinteniac had, as we have intimated, effected a 
 landing without loss or accident : after carrying several 
 republican posts, he had advanced to Elven. At that 
 place he received a command, delivered in the name of 
 the king, to march on Coetlogon, there to await fresh 
 orders. He alleged in objection the commission given 
 him by Puisaye, and tlie impropriety of hazarding the 
 success of an arranged plan by departing from tho 
 point indicated. He yielded, however, hoping, by 
 means of a forced march, to reach the background 
 of Saint-Barbe by the 1 6th. Jean- Jean and Lantivj% 
 having landed with equal good fortune, were prepar- 
 ing to move towards Baud, Avhen they likewise were 
 served with an injunction to march upon Saint- 
 Brieuc. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hoche, disquieted as to his rear, felt 
 compelled to send out detachments to arrest the bands 
 of whose march he had been apprised ; but he retained 
 in Saint-Barbe a force sufficient to resist an assault. 
 He was much incommoded by the English gunboats, 
 which opened a destructive fire on his troops when- 
 ever they ventured to a])pear on La Falaise, and liis 
 hopes of reducing the emigrants were thus almost re- 
 stricted to the tardy operation of famine. 
 
 Puisaye, on his part, was engaged in diligent pre- 
 parations for the important day of the 16th July (28 th 
 Messidor). On the 15th, a naval division cast anchor 
 in the bay ; it proved to be that formerly dispatclied 
 to the mouth of the Elbe to receive the emigrant regi- 
 ments which had entered the service of England, and 
 were known as the regiments with the black cockade. 
 It brought the legions of Salm, Damas, Beon, and 
 Peregord, reduced in all to eleven hundred men, by the 
 losses of the campaign, and connnanded by a dis- 
 tinguished oflicer, ]\I. do Sombreuil. The squadron 
 likewise contained additional supplies of provisions and 
 ammunition, and announced the coming of three thou- 
 sand English led by Lord Graham, and the speedy 
 advent of the Count d'Artois with more considerable
 
 530 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 forces. A letter from the English minister informed 
 Puisaye that the emigrant ofRcers in the other division 
 were detained upon the nortliern coast by the royahst 
 agents, who professed to have it in their power to 
 secure them the possession of a port. Another dis- 
 patch, which arrived at tlie same time, terminated the 
 difference between Puisaye and D'Hervilly, by con- 
 firming the former in tlie absolute command of the 
 expedition, and conferring on him, moreover, the title 
 of lieutenant-general in the army of England. 
 
 Puisaye, thus rendered free in his conuuand, com- 
 pleted his arrangements for the grand enterprise of 
 the morrow. He would have wiUingly postponed the 
 projected attack, in order to afford SombreuU's divi- 
 sion time to disembark ; but, every thing having been 
 fixed for the 16th, and that day distinctly assigned to 
 Tinteniac, he could not defer it. On the evening of 
 the 15th, he detached Vauban with 1200 Chouans to 
 land on the beach at Carnac, for the purpose of causing 
 a diversion on the extremity of the camp of Saint- 
 Barbe, and uniting with the Chouans appointed to 
 assail it from the rear. It was late before the boats 
 were got ready, and Vauban was unable to embark 
 imtil midnight. He had orders to discharge a rocket 
 if he succeeded in landing, and to shoot up a second 
 if he should foil to hold his ground on shore. 
 
 At break of day on the 1 6th, Puisaye issued from 
 the peninsula with the whole force at his disposal. He 
 marched in columns. The gallant regiment of the 
 Loyal-Emigrant was in tlie van, with the artillery- 
 men undcrEothaliei'. On the left advanced the regi- 
 ments of Royal- ]\Iarine and Drusena3% with six hun- 
 dred Chouans, comnumded by the Duke de Levis. 
 D'Hervilly's regiment, and a thousand Chouans, com- 
 manded by the Chevalier de Saint-Pierre, occupied the 
 right. These united corps scarcely mustered four 
 thousand men. Whilst advancing along La Falaise, 
 they perceived a rocket in the air discharged by the 
 Count de Vauban ; not seeing a second, they con- 
 cluded that Vauban had succeeded. They continued 
 their march. Suddenly a distant sound, as of mus- 
 ketry, was heard. " It is Tinteniac," exclaimed Pui- 
 saye ; "forward !"' Thereupon tlie charge Avas sounded, 
 and the assailants moved with quicker step on the 
 intrenchments of the republicans. Hoche's vanguard, 
 commanded by Ilvnubcrt, was stationed in front of the 
 heights of Saint-Barbe. At the approach of the enemy 
 it fell back, and withdrew into the lines. The attack- 
 ing force pushed onwards in confidence and exulta- 
 tion : suddenly a corps of cavalry, Mhich had remained 
 in position, made a movement askance, and unmasked 
 a formidable range of batteries. A fire of musketry 
 and artillery instantly opened on the emigrants ; 
 grape-shot, balls, and shells, sliowered thickly upon 
 them. On the left, the regiments of Royal-Marine 
 and Drusenay lost whole ranks without swerving ; the 
 Duke de Levis was seriously wounded at the head of 
 his Chouans ; on the riglit, the regiment of D'Hervilly 
 marched intrepidly amid tlie appalling fire. Mean- 
 while, the musketry thought to have been heard on 
 the flanks and rear had ceased to resound. Neither 
 Tinteniac nor Vauban, therefore, had attacked, and 
 all hope of storming the camp was extinguished. At 
 this moment, the wliole republican army, infantry and 
 cavalry, moved out of its intrenchments; Puisaye, 
 seeing further perseverance in the attempt must lead 
 to certain destruction, instructed D'Hervilly to give 
 orders for the right to retreat, whilst he himself exe- 
 cuted that movement on the left. D'Hervilly, who 
 confronted the fire with tlie utmost courage, un- 
 happily received a bullet in his chest at this instant; 
 he charged an aide-de-camp to convey the order of 
 retreat ; the aide-de-camp was swept away by a can- 
 non-ball. Not lieing warned, therefore, the regiment 
 of DTIervilly, and the thousand Chouans under Saint- 
 Pierre, continued to advance despite the terrible fire. 
 Whilst a retreat was sounded on the left, the charge 
 was sounded on the right. The confusion and the 
 
 carnage were frightful. ' In this dismal state of things, 
 the republican cavalry fell furiously on the emigrant 
 army, and drove it in disorder back on La Falaise. 
 llotlialier's ordnance, embedded in the sand, was cap- 
 tured. After many feats of heroic valour, the whole 
 army fled to the fort of Penthievre; the republicans 
 followed at their utmost speed, and M'ould have en- 
 tered the fortress with the fugitives, but an unhoped- 
 for aid intervened to check the ardour of pursuit: 
 Vauban, who was understood to be at Carnac, ap- 
 peared at the extremity of La Falaise with his corps 
 of Chouans, and by his side stood Commodore Warren. 
 Planted in gunboats, and pouring on La Falaise a 
 terrific fire, they caused the republicans to pause, and 
 once more saved the unfortunate army of Quiberon. 
 
 Thus Tinteniac had not appeared. Vauban, too 
 late in embarking, had failed to surprise the repub- 
 licans, and being subsequently ill supported by his 
 troops, Avho plunged their muskets in the water to 
 avoid the necessity of fighting, had returned near the 
 fortress. His second rocket, sent up in the sun's rays, 
 had not been perceived; and it was thus that Puisaye, 
 deceived in all his combinations, had sustained this 
 disastrous repulse. All the regiments had undergone 
 heavy losses: that of Royal-Marine had lost out of 
 seventy-two officers fifty-three; the others had suf- 
 fered in proportion. 
 
 It must be allowed that Puisaye acted with great 
 precipitation in attacking the camp. Four thousand 
 men, proceeding to assail ten thousand, strongly 
 intrenched, ought to have been assured beyond all 
 doubt that the co-operative movements on the rear 
 and the flanks were ready to be executed as pre- 
 arranged. It Avas assuredly not sufficient to have 
 assigned a rendezvous for troops, having numerous 
 ditficidties to surmount, to conclude at once that they 
 must arrive at the hour and place fixed ; a signal, or 
 some other means, ought to have been agreed upon, 
 whereby intelligence might be communicated, and the 
 desired combination secured. In this respect, although 
 deceived by the report of distant firing, Puisaye had 
 not evinced adequate caution. At the same time, he 
 had himself participated in all the dangers of the 
 enterprise, and given a sufficient answer to tliose who 
 affected to suspect his personal bravery, because they 
 could not deny his talents. 
 
 It is not difficult to account for Tintcniac's breach 
 of engagement. He had received at Elven orders to 
 march on Coetlogon, with which strange injunction 
 he had complied, in the hope of regaining the lost 
 time by a forced march. At Coetlogon he had found 
 sundry females commissioned to deliver him an order 
 to move upon Saint-Brieuc. This order emanated 
 from the agents opposed to Puisaye, v/ho, using the 
 name of the king, on Avhose behalf they always 
 affected to speak, desired to make the corps detached 
 by I'uisaye concur in promoting the counter-expedi- 
 tion which they meditated on Saint-Malo or Saint- 
 Brieuc. Whilst conferences Avere holding on the sub- 
 ject of this command, the castle of Coetlogon was 
 attacked by the detachments Avhich Hoche had dis- 
 patched in pursuit of Tinteniac; that unfortunate 
 leader hastened to the scene of action, and in a few 
 moments fell lifeless, pierced by a bullet in the temple. 
 His successor in the command consented to march on 
 Saint-Brieuc. On their side, also. Messieurs Jean- 
 Jean and Lantivy, who had landed in the vicinity of 
 Quimper, had found similar orders; the leaders were 
 divided in opinion, and their soldiers, already dis- 
 contented, seeing this conflict of orders and projects, 
 finally dispersed. Such Avere the circumstances pre- 
 venting either of the corps detached by Puisaye to 
 effect a diversion from arriving at the rendezvous. 
 The agency of Paris, with its peculiar schemes, had 
 thus deprived Puisaye of the emigrant officers it de- 
 tained upon the northern coast, of tAvo detachments 
 it had kept from repairing to Baud on the 14th, and, 
 lastly, of the aid and concurrence of those numerous
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 531 
 
 chiefs it had interdicted from sharing in any move- 
 ment. 
 
 Shut up in Quiberon, Puisaye had no longer anj'' 
 hope of emerging in order to advance into the inte- 
 rior ; it only remained for him to re-embark ere driven 
 by famine, and proceed to attempt a more fortunate 
 descent on another part of the coast, in La Vendee to 
 wit. The major part of the emigrants were extremely 
 favourable to this idea; the renown of Charette led 
 them to anticipate in La Vendee a great general at the 
 head of a splendid army. They were likewise gratified 
 with a plan which promised to take from Puisaye 
 the management of the counter-revolution, if any such 
 were to be consummated. 
 
 ISIeanwhile, Iloche was occupied in attentively sur- 
 veying the x^eninsula, and canvassing the means of 
 penetrating into it. It was defended in front by the 
 fort of Penthievre, and on the flanks by the English 
 squadrons. To effect a landing in boats was out of 
 the question, and to reduce the fortress by a regular 
 siege was equally impracticable, for it coidd be reached 
 only by La Falaise, always swept by the fire of the 
 English gunboats. In fact, the republicans were 
 unable to make even a reconnoissance without being 
 mowed down by continuous volleys. Consequently, a 
 nocturnal surprise, or famine, could alone give Hoche 
 possession of the promontory. A circumstance deter- 
 mined him to attempt a surprise, however hazardous 
 it might be. The prisoners, who had been enrolled 
 almost against their will in the emigrant regiments, 
 could have been reconciled to the change by success 
 alone ; but, setting aside their patriotism, they were 
 urged by pressing motives of interest to take part with 
 a victorious enemy, who would treat them as deserters 
 if taken Mith arms in their hands. ^Many of them 
 repaired at night to the camp of Hoche, asseverating 
 that they had enlisted only to get out of prison, or to 
 avoid being subjected to the confinement of one. They 
 indicated to him a mode of penetrating into the penin- 
 sula. A rock stood on the left of Port Penthievre ; it 
 was possible to make the circuit of that rock by wading 
 into the water breast high, and then a path would be 
 found conducting to the elevation of the fort. The 
 fugitives gave assm-ance, in the name of their comrades 
 composing the garrison, that they would aid in opening 
 its gates. 
 
 Hoche no longer hesitated, notwithstanding the 
 danger of such an enterprise. He formed his plan 
 according to the information given him, and resolved 
 to force his way into the peninsula, in order to capture 
 the whole expedition before it liad time to I'c-embark 
 on board the ships. On the evening of the 20th July 
 (2d Thermidor), the sky Avas overcast ; Puisaye and 
 Vauban ordered patrols for the specific purpose of 
 averting the chance of a nocturnal attack. " In such 
 weather," they said to the officers, " you must compel 
 the enemy's sentinels to keep discharging their mus- 
 kets." All appearing to them tranquil, they retired to 
 rest in full seciu-ity. 
 
 The pi'eparations were speedily completed in the 
 republican camp. At the approach of midnight, Hoche 
 put his army in motion. The skj- was densely charged 
 with clouds ; a strong wind agitated the Avaves ; their 
 united roar covered the tramp of soldiers and the clang 
 of arms. Hoche disposed his troops in cohunns on 
 La Palaise, and assigned three humlred grenadiers to 
 Adjutant- General Menage, a young re])ul)lican of in- 
 trepid courage. He ordered him to defile towards the 
 right, plunge into the sea with his grenadiers, turn the 
 rock on which the walls of the fortress rested, scale 
 the pathway, and attempt thus to introduce himself 
 into the fort. These dispositions made, he marched 
 forward in profound silence : patrols to whom red 
 uniforms had been given, taken from the dead in tlie 
 action of the 16th, and possessing the pass- word, 
 deceived the advanced sentinels. The assailants pro- 
 ceeded without being recognised. Menage entered the 
 sea with his three hundred grenadiers, the howling of 
 
 the wind drowning the noise they made in moving 
 through the Avater. Several fell and regained their 
 footing, others were engulfed in deep holes. At length, 
 scrambling from rock to rock, they reached the land 
 in the wake of their gallant leader, and succeeded in 
 ascending the patli conducting to the fortress. In the 
 interim, Iloche had arrived beneath the walls with his 
 columns. But at this critical moment the sentinels 
 discovered one of the false patrols ; even in the obscu- 
 rity of the night they perceived a dark and moving 
 mass ; instantly they discharged their pieces ; the 
 alarm was given. The Toulonnese artillerymen flew 
 to their guns, and opened a vigorous cannonade on 
 Heche's troops : they were thrown into disorder, their 
 ranks confounded, and the whole assailing body on the 
 point of giving way. But at this instant Menage 
 reached the elevation of the fort ; the soldiers of the 
 garrison, confederates of the besiegers, appeared on 
 the battlements, held out the butt -ends of their muskets 
 to the republicans, and thus helped them to scale the 
 walls of the fortress. All together then fell on the 
 remainder of the garrison, slew those who resisted, 
 and immediately hoisted the tricoloured flag. Hoche, 
 amidst the confusion into which the enemy's batteries 
 had thrown his cohunns, retained all the composure 
 for which he was remarkable ; he sought out the com- 
 manding officers, remanded each to his post, restored 
 the regularity of the ranks, and rallied his army under 
 the tremendous fire from the fort. The darkness be- 
 ginning to decrease, he descried the republican banner 
 floating on the pinnacle of the fortress. "What!" 
 he cried to his soldiers, " will you recoil when your 
 comrades have already planted their standard on the 
 walls ? " He led them upon the advanced works, in 
 which a body of the Chouans was encamped ; they 
 penetrated on all sides, andfinaUy rendered themselves 
 masters of the fortress. 
 
 At this moment, Vauba,n and Puisaye, aroused by 
 the firing, hastened to the scene of action ; but it was 
 too late. They met, flying in all the i^recipitancy of 
 terror, the Chouans, the officers abandoned by their 
 soldiers, and the portion of the garrison Avhich had 
 remained faithful. Hoche made but a transient pause 
 after the capture of the fort ; he marshalled a part 
 of his columns, and advanced into the peninsula before 
 the expedition could have time to re-embark. Puisa_ye, 
 Vauban, and all the chiefs, retired towards the inte- 
 rior, where were still encamped the regiment of D'Her- 
 villy, the wrecks of the regiments Drusenay, Royal- 
 Marine, and Loyal-Emigrant, together Avith the legion 
 of Sombreuil, lauded two days earlier, and eleven 
 hundred men strong. By taking up a good position, 
 and there was more than one such on the promontory, 
 and manning it M'ith the three thousand regrdar troops 
 they yet possessed, they might have given the squad- 
 ron time to rescue the unfortunate emigTants. The 
 fire of the gunboats would have protected the embar- 
 cation : but consternation was predominant amongst 
 the fugitives ; the Chouans rushed into the sea Avith 
 their families, to seize some fishing-boats moored along 
 the shore, and pushed ofl" to tlie squadron, Aviiich the 
 stormy weather kept at a considerable distance. The 
 troops, scattered in the peninsida, ran to and fro, in- 
 capable of concentrating. D'llervilly, Avell adapted 
 for vigorously defending a position, and thoroughly 
 convers^ant Avith the localit}', lay mortally Avounded ; 
 Sombreuil, Avho had succeeded to his conunand, Avas 
 unacquainted Avith the ground, Avas ignorant Avhere 
 he might make a stand, Avhitlier he ought to retire, 
 and, altliough of unquestionable bravery, appeared in 
 tliis emergency to liave lost the necessary presence of 
 mind. Puisaye, meanwhile, having reached Som- 
 breuil's quarters, indicated to him a favourable posi- 
 tion. Sombreuil inquired Avhether he had sent to the 
 s(piadron desiring it to ajiproacli nearer; Puisaye 
 replied that he had dispatched a skilful and trusty 
 pilot ; but the wind Avas high — the pilot Avould not 
 arrive sufficiently early in the opinion of men exposed
 
 632 
 
 liiaXUllY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 to the imminent hazard of being driven into the sea. 
 The republican columns were advancing ; Sombreuil 
 grew more urgent. " Is the squadron apprised ? " he 
 demanded of Tuisaye. Unable to give any satisfactory 
 answer, Puisaye agreed to go on board in person to 
 urge the approach of the commodore — a commission 
 he might have more suitably delegated to another, for 
 he ought to have been the last to withdraw from the 
 danger. An important consideration decided him — 
 the necessity of securing his correspondence, which 
 would have compromised numberless individuals in 
 Brittany if it had fallen into the hands of the repub- 
 licans. " There were doubtless as pressing reasons for 
 saving it as for saving the army itself; but Puisaye 
 might have sent it on board without going in person. 
 He departed, and arrived alongside the commodore 
 simultaneously with the pilot he had akeady dis- 
 patched. The distance, the darkness, and the rough- 
 ness of the weather, had yjrevented the disaster from 
 being perceived on board the squadron. Admiral War- 
 ren, who during the whole expedition had seconded 
 the emigrants with the greatest zeal, lost no time 
 in hoisting sail, and eventually hove-to within can- 
 non-shot of the shore, at the moment that Iloche, at 
 the head of seven hundred grenadiers, was closing on 
 Sombreuil's legion, and forcing it almost to the water's 
 edge. How melancholy a spectacle did that coast 
 present at the instant ! The raging surf scarcely per- 
 mitted the boats to near the shore; a despairing mul- 
 titude of Chouans and fugitive soldiers plunged into 
 the water up to their necks, in order to reach the 
 boats, many being drowned amid the breakers in their 
 anxious haste to meet them ; whilst several hundreds 
 of unfortunate emigrants, placed between the sea and 
 the bayonets of the republicans, were reduced to the 
 alternative of throwing themselves into the waves or 
 upon the bristling weapons of their enemies, suffering 
 at the same time from the fire of the English squadron 
 equally with the republicans themselves. A few boats 
 had gained the shore, but ou a different point. On 
 that side there was only one corvette, which kept up 
 an astonishing fire, anil retarded for a moment the 
 march of the republicans. Some grenadiers cried out, 
 it is stated, to the emigrants— "Surrender; no injury 
 will be done to you." This phrase passed from rank 
 to rank. Sombreuil attempted to approach the re- 
 publicans to open a parley with General Humbert ; 
 but the continued fire prevented him from accomplish- 
 ing his purpose. An emigrant officer forthwith swam 
 off to the squadron to obtain a cessation of the 
 cannonade. Hoche was determined to graut no capi- 
 tulation ; he was too well acquainted with the laws 
 against the emigrants to venture upon contracting an 
 engagement, and he was incapable of promising what 
 he could not perform. He has affirmed, in a letter 
 published through all Europe, that he heard none of 
 the pledges attributed to General Humbert, and that 
 he would not have sanctioned them. Some of his sol- 
 diers might have exclaimed "Surrender!" but he 
 offered no terms, came under no obhgation. He ad- 
 vanced imperturbably ; and the emigrants, having no 
 alternative but to sun-ender or to sell their lives, con- 
 ceived hopes that they would probably be treated like 
 the Vendeans. They threw down their arms. No 
 capitulation, even verbally, was made with Hoche ; 
 Vauban, who was present, allows that no convention 
 took place, and even asserts that he advised Sombreuil 
 not to surrender upon the vague expectations mspired 
 by the shouts of a fa^^ soldiers. 
 
 Several of the emigrants fell on their swords ; others 
 threw themselves into the waves to join the ships. 
 Commodore Warren made all practicable efforts to 
 surmount the obstiicles arising from the roughness of 
 the sea, in order to save the greatest possible number 
 of those unfortunate persons. Tiiere were many who, 
 on seeing the boats draw near, had plunged into the 
 water to their necks ; the republicans fired at their 
 heads from the beach. Sometimes they attempted 
 
 to enter boats already overloaded, and those already 
 tlierein, apprehensive of being swamped, hacked oil' 
 their hands with their sabres. 
 
 Let us quit, however, these scenes of horror, where 
 appalling calamities visited in retribution egregious 
 faults. Several were the causes that had contributed 
 to foil tlie success of the expedition. In the first place, 
 too great a reliance had been placed on Brittany. A 
 people veritably disposed to rebel arises with one im- 
 pulse, as did the Vendeans in j\Iay 1793, goes in quest 
 of leaders, entreats, and forces them to become its 
 rulers and directors, not postponing its outbreak until 
 it be sedulously organised, nor suffering two years of 
 oppression, to revolt after the oppression itself has 
 ceased. But, had the population of Brittanj' been 
 actuated by the most eager desire to hail a liberator, 
 such an overseer as Hoche would have repressed its 
 manifestations. Thus Puisaye unquestionably laboured 
 under much delusion. Still, important aid might have 
 been drawn from this pojiulation, numbers might have 
 been found prepared to combat, if a considerable expe- 
 dition had advanced to Rennes, and chased before it 
 the army which kept the countrj' in check. For this 
 end, it was indispensable that the chiefs of the insur- 
 gents had been in concert with Puisaye, and Puisaye 
 with the agency at Paris ; that the most opposite in- 
 structions had not been transmitted to the Chouan 
 chiefs, some receiving orders to remain quiescent, 
 others directed upon points distant from those assigned 
 by Puisaye ; that the emigrants had formed a more 
 correct idea of the war they were about to prosecute, 
 and entertained somewhat less contempt for the pea- 
 sants devoted to their cause ; that the English had 
 been less distrustful of Puisaye, fettered him with no 
 adjunct in the command, given him at once aU the 
 means they destined for him, and entered upon the 
 expedition with their full measiu-e of strength ; above 
 all, that a great prince had been at the head of the 
 enterprise — that he should be great indeed was scarcely 
 needed, so that he had been the first to set foot on 
 shore. At his presence, all obstacles would have 
 vanished. The dissensions of the Vendean chiefs 
 amongst themselves, of the Vendean chiefs with the 
 Breton chief, of the Breton chief with the agents at 
 Paris, of the Chouans with the emigrants, of Spain 
 with England — that discord in all the elements of the 
 enterprise — would have instantaneously ceased. At 
 the ai>pearance of the prince, all the enthusiasm of 
 the country would have been fired, jealousies or rival- 
 ries have ceased, every one have submitted to the pre- 
 eminence of the prince, and concurred with alacrity 
 in the undertaking. Hoche might have been encom- 
 passed, and, despite his talents and vigoiu", compelled 
 to recede before an influence all-powerful in those dis- 
 tricts. Doubtless, he had behind him those valiant 
 armies which had conquered Europe ; but Austria 
 might have occupied them on the Rhine, and prevented 
 them from detaching strong reinforcements; the go- 
 vernment no longer possessed the energy of the great 
 committee, and the revolution would assuredly have 
 encountered infinite hazard. Subverted twenty years 
 earlier, its benefits would not have had time to take 
 root and become consohdated; all the incredible efforts, 
 the inuuortal victories, the torrents of blood, which 
 had illustrated it, would have produced no fruit for 
 France ; or at least, if it were not reserved for a hand- 
 ful of fugitives to have subjugated to their yoke a brave 
 nation, they woidd have jjlaced its regeneration in 
 peril, whilst, with regard to themselves, they would 
 not have abandoned their cause without strenuous 
 efforts to render it paramount, and their pretensions, 
 however fatal to the country, would have derived fac- 
 titious honour from their energy and fortitude. 
 
 The blame of the failure, meanwhile, was charged 
 upon Puisaye and England by the malignants com- 
 posing the royalist party. I'uisaye, as they maintained, 
 was a traitor suborned by Pitt "to renew the scenes of 
 Toulon. Nevertheless, it was undoubted that Puisaye
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 533 
 
 had done all he could under the circumstances. It 
 was preposterous to suppose that England did not de- 
 sire success ; her i^recautions with regard to Puisaye 
 himself, the selection she made of D'Hervilly to inter- 
 pose lest the emigrant regiments might be too rashly 
 compromised, and finally, the zeal manifested hy Com- 
 modore Warren in rescuing the unfortunate siu'vivors 
 from the perjnsula, prove that, notwithstanding her 
 crafty genius, she had not meditated the base and 
 revolting crime attributed to her. Justice to all be 
 our motto, even to the implacable enemies of the revo- 
 lution and of France ! 
 
 Commodoi-e Warren disembarked on the Isle of 
 Houat the forlorn remnants of the expedition, and 
 there awaited fresh orders from London, and the 
 arrival of the Count d'Artois, who was on board the 
 Lord Moira, to regulate his further proceedings. Des- 
 pair reigned on that little island : the emigrants and 
 Chouans, in the greatest misery, and afflicted Avith a 
 contagious malady, indulged in passionate recrimi- 
 nations, and bitterly upbraided Puisaye. The despair 
 •was yet greater at Aurai and Vannes, whither the 
 thousand emigrants taken in arms had been trans- 
 ported. Hoche, after subduing them, had hurried from 
 the dismal spectacle, and proceeded in pursuit of Tin- 
 teniae's band, known under the appellation of the Red 
 Army. The fate of the prisoners rested not on his 
 fiat ; he was powerless for the aggravation or mitigation 
 of their punishment. The laws existed, and he could 
 neither evade nor annul them. He left the question 
 concerning them to be decided by the committee of 
 public welfare and by Tallien. That deputy hastily 
 departed for Paris, where he arrived on the eve of the 
 anniversary of the 9th Thennidor. On the morrow 
 was celebrated, according to the new mode adopted, 
 within the walls of the convention itself, a festival in 
 commemoration of Robespierre's fall. AU the repre- 
 sentatives assembled in grand costume ; a numerous 
 orchestra executed patriotic airs ; choristers chanted 
 hymns composed by Chenier. Coiu'tois read a report 
 on the achievement of the 9th Thermidor. Tallien 
 afterwards read a report on the affair of Quiberon. The 
 intention of arrogating a double triumph was remarked 
 as too palpable in him; nevertheless, his services of 
 the previous j-ear, and those he had just rendered, pro- 
 cured him boundless applause. His presence, in fact, 
 had been of considerable advantage to Hoche. On the 
 same day a banquet was given by Tallien : the prin- 
 cipal Girondists were associated with the Tliermi- 
 dorians as his guests ; Louvet and Lanjuinais appeared 
 conspicuously at the festive board. Lanjuinais pro- 
 posed a toast to the 9th Thermidor, and to the coura- 
 geous deputies who had prostrated the tyranny. Tal- 
 lien proposed a second to the seventy-three, to the 
 twenty-two, to all tlie deputies wlio had been the vic- 
 tims of the reign of terror : Louvet added these words 
 —'■'■ And to their intimate union icitli the men of the 'Jth 
 Thennidor." 
 
 They had gre.it need of imion, in truth, to combat in 
 concert the adversaries of various kinds now tin-eat- 
 ening the republic. Great joy prevailed in Paris, 
 increased by the reflection how signal nmst have been 
 the danger had the expedition in tlie AVest been able 
 to co-operate with that which tlie Prince of Conde had 
 prepared towards the East. 
 
 The fate of the prisoners was a subject requiring 
 immediate decision. Numerous solicitations were 
 addressed to the committees ; but, in the present posi- 
 tion of afifinrs, it was impossible to spare them. 'I'lie 
 reimV)licans were constantly assei'tiug that the govern- 
 ment intended to recall the emigrants, restore to tlieni 
 their property, and, consequently, re-establish royalty ; 
 the royalists, always presumptuous, nuiintained the 
 same thing; they stated that their friends governed 
 the countr3% and the more their h()i)es were excited 
 the more audacious did they prove themselves, 'io 
 evince the least lenity on tliis occasion, was to justify 
 the fears of the fii'st, the ielle anticipations of the lat- 
 
 ter; it would drive the republicans to despair, and 
 stimulate the roj'alists to still bolder enterprises. The 
 committee of public welfare ordered the laws to be 
 enforced, and assuredl}' there were no Mountaineers 
 within its pale to influence tbe resolution ; it felt the 
 imjjossibility of acting otherwise. A commission, 
 located at Vannes, was instructed to separate the 
 prisoners enrolled in their own despite from the real 
 emigrants. These latter were shot. The soldiers 
 allowed as many to escape as they could. Several 
 brave men perished, certainly, but they could have 
 anticipated no other doom, after carrying war into 
 their native countrj' and being taken with arms in 
 their hands. Less menaced by enemies of ever}' des- 
 cription, and in jxirticular bj' their oAvn confederates, 
 the republic might have pardoned them ; it was de- 
 barred from doing so under actual circumstances. M. 
 de Sonibreuil, albeit a man of bravery, yielded at the 
 moment of death to an impulse little worthy of his 
 courage. He wrote a letter to Conmiodore Warren, 
 in which he accused Puisaye with all the virulence of 
 desperation. He commissioned Hoche to forward it 
 to the commodore. Altliough it contained a false as- 
 sertion, Hoche, respecting the wishes of a dying man, 
 transmitted it to the commodore ; but he repelled the 
 statement of Sombreuil in a letter of his own : " I was 
 at tlie head of Humbert's seven Inmdred grenadiers," 
 he said, " and affirm that no capitulation was made " 
 All the contemporaries to whom the cliaracter of the 
 young general Avas known, have deemed him in- 
 capable of falsehood. Eye-witnesses have moreover 
 confirmed his assertion. Sombreuil's letter was sin- 
 gularly i^rejudicial to the emigi-ants and to PuisaA'e ; 
 and it was judged so dishonourable to the memory 
 of its author that the re])id)licans were charged 
 with fabricating it, an imputation in every respect 
 worthy of the miserable fables propagated by the 
 emigrants. 
 
 Whilst the royalist party thus sustained so rude a 
 check at Quiberon, a discomfiture equallj* fatal was 
 preparing for it in Spain. Moncey h;id again entered 
 Biscay, taken Bilboa and Vittoria, and was closely 
 pressing Pampeluna. The favourite who governed 
 the court of jMadrid, after repudiating the overtures 
 of peace made by the French government at the com- 
 mencement of the campaign, because he was not the 
 medium through which they were submitted, now 
 determined to negotiate, and dispatched the Clievalier 
 Yriarte to Basle. The peace was signed at that place 
 with the envoy of the republic, Barthelemy, on the 
 24th Messidor (12th July), the very time disasters 
 were thickening so portentously at Quiberon. The 
 conditions were the restitution of all the conquests of 
 France on the ten-itory of Spain, and, in requital, the 
 cession to France of the Spanisli portion of Saint-Do- 
 mingo. Here France made great concessions for an 
 advantage almost illusory, for Saint- Domingo uo 
 longer belonged to either power ; but those conces- 
 sions were dictated by the soundest policy. France 
 had nothing to covet beyond the Pyrenees ; she had 
 no interest in weakening Spain : on the contrary, it 
 behoved her, had it been possilile, to restore to that 
 powf'r the strength it had lost in a contest so detri- 
 mciilal to the interests of Ijoth nations. 
 
 This i)eace was hailed with the most lively satisfac- 
 tion by all who loved France and the repul)]ic. It 
 (K'taclied another jjower from the coalition, it sliowed 
 a lJ.)url)on recognising the republic, and it rendered 
 two arnues disjiosable for transference to the Aljis, 
 the West, or the Khine. The royalists were struck 
 witli consternation. Tlie agents at Paris, especially, 
 dreiKled lest their intrigues might be divulged, lest 
 their letters to Spain sliould be made public. Eng- 
 land would have therein read their real sentiments 
 respecting lier; and, although that power was grossly 
 vituperated for the afi'air of Quiberon, it was lieiice- 
 forth their only pecuniary resource: hence tlie ne- 
 cessity of conciliating it. with a mental reserva 
 2M
 
 534 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tioii to deride and deceive it when the opportunity 
 occurred.* 
 
 An exploit, not less important in its consequences, 
 was achieved by the armies of Jourdan and Pichegru. 
 After long delays, it had been finally decided that the 
 Rhine should be passed. The French and Austrian 
 armies confronted each other upon the opposite banks, 
 from Basle to Diisseldorf. The defensive position of 
 the Austrians on the Rhine was excellonth' chosen. 
 The fortresses of Diisseldorf and Ehrenbreitstcin co- 
 vered their right ; Mayence, Manheim, and Philips- 
 bourg, tlieir centre and left ; the Neckar and the 
 Maine, taking their sources not far from the Danube, 
 and flowing almost parallel towards the Rhine, formed 
 two important lines of communication with the here- 
 ditary states, brought supplies in profusion, and 
 covered the two flanks of the army when operating 
 concentrically towards ilayence. The plan to be 
 followed on this scene of warfare was identical for both 
 the Austrians and French : accorchng to the opinion 
 of an eminent general and a celebrated critic, it was 
 incumbent on both to act concentrically between thc' 
 Maine and the Neckar. The obvious plan for the 
 French armies under Jourdan and Pichegru was to 
 attempt the passage of the Rliine towards Mayence, 
 at a short distance from each other, subsequently 
 unite in the valley of the Maine, separate Clairfayt 
 from Wurmser, and ascend between the Neckar and 
 the Maine, striving to repulse successively the two 
 Austrian generals. In like manner, the Austrian 
 generals were called upon to concentrate their forces, 
 in order to debouch by IMayence upon the left bank. If 
 they were anticipated, if the Rhine were passed on 
 any point, they ought to concentrate between the 
 Neckar and the Maine, prevent the junction of the 
 two French armies, and seize an opportunity for fall- 
 ing on one or other. The Austrian commanders had 
 every advantage for taking the initiative, as they occu- 
 pied Mayence, and could debouch, when they pleased, 
 on the left bank. 
 
 The French, however, took the initiative. After a 
 tedious delay, the Dutch boats had at length reached 
 the height of Diisseldorf, and Jourdan prepared to 
 cross the Rhine. On the 20th Fructidor (6th Sep- 
 tember), he passed, at Eicheleamp, Diisseldorf, and 
 Neuwied, by a bold manoeuvre. He advanced by the 
 Diisseldorf road to Frankfort, between the line of the 
 Prussian neutrality and the Rhine, and arrived at the 
 Lahn on the 4th complementary day or Sans-Cullot- 
 tide (20th September). In the mean time, Pichegru 
 had been ordered to attempt the passage over the 
 Upper Rhine, and to summon Manheim. That flou- 
 rishing town, threatened with a bombardment, surren- 
 dered, contrary to all expectation, on the 4th com- 
 plementary day (20th September). From that moment 
 all the advantages were with the French. Pichegru, 
 based on Manheim, had only to draw thither all his 
 army and unite with Jourdan in the valley of the 
 Maine. They would then be enabled to divide the 
 two Austrian generals, and act concentrically between 
 the Maine and the Neckar. It behoved Jourdan espe- 
 cially to move with all dispatch from his position 
 between the neutral line and the Rhine ; for his army, 
 having no means of transjjortfor its supphes, and being 
 unable to treat the country in a hostile manner, must 
 soon be reduced to destitution unless he marched for- 
 ward. 
 
 Thus, at this era, fortune smiled benignantly on the 
 republic. Peace with Spain, the destruction of the 
 expedition hazarded by England on the coasts of Brit- 
 tany, the passage of the Rhine, oflensive operations pro- 
 pitiously commenced in Germany — success beamed on 
 all quarters. It remained for its generals and states- 
 men to profit by the concurrence of so many auspicious 
 events. 
 
 * The fifth volume of Puisaye's Jleraoirs contains proof that 
 such were the views entertained. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 MACHINATIONS OF THE ROYALIST PARTY. DIRECTO- 
 RIAL CONSTITUTION, AND DECREES OF THE 5TH AND 
 13TH FRUCTIDOR. — ACCEPTANCE THEREOF BY THE 
 PRIMARY ASSEMBLIES. — INSURRECTION OF THE 13TH 
 YENDEMIAIRE ; DEFEAT OF THE INSURGENT SECTIONS. 
 DISSOLUTION OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 
 
 Defeated on the frontiers, and abandoned by the 
 court of Spain, on which it relied most securely, the 
 royalist party was reduced to intrigue in the interior; 
 and it must be allowed that, at this moment, Paris 
 was an admirable arena for intrigues. The prepara- 
 tion of the constitution was nearly completed; the 
 period when the convention should abdicate its autho- 
 rity, France be convoked to elect new representatives, 
 and a fresh assembly replace that which had reigned 
 so long, was the most favourable that could be ima- 
 gined for prosecuting counter-revolutionary projects. 
 
 In the sections of Paris violent passions were in 
 fermentation. The frequenters of those assemblies 
 were not royalists, but they unconsciously aided royal- 
 ism. They had laboured to oppose the teri'orists; 
 they had become inflamed by their arduous struggle, 
 desired to persecute the vanquished, and inveighed 
 against the convention, because it refused to carry 
 persecution to an extreme limit. They were ever 
 ready to recall to recollection that the terror had ema- 
 nated from the convention itself; they demanded from 
 it a constitution and a code of laws, and the termina- 
 tion of its prolonged dictatorship. The majority of 
 the men who urged these demands, scarcely cast a 
 thought upon the Bourbons. They were members ol 
 the wealthy third-estate of 1789 — merchants, shop- 
 keepers, proprietors, advocates, literary men, Avho were 
 at last determined to insist upon the re-establishment 
 of laws and the enjoyment of tlieir rights ; young men, 
 sincerely republican, but blinded by their wrath against 
 the revolutionary system ; and smidry ambitious per- 
 sonages, writers in journals, and orators of sections, 
 v.'ho, to make way for themselves, wished the conven- 
 tion to retire from the stage. The royalists lurked 
 behind this mass. They were composed of certain 
 emigrants and priests who had returned, divers crea- 
 tures of the old court who had lost lucrative posts, 
 and many indifferent and timid individuals who shud- 
 dered at the idea of a tempestuous democracy. These 
 latter rarely visited the sections ; but the former were 
 assiduous in their attendance, and employed all pos- 
 sible means for keeping them in agitation. The in- 
 structions given by the royalist agents to their confi- 
 dants, were to adopt the language of the sectionists, 
 inveigh upon the same topics, demand like them the 
 punisJmient of the terrorists, the accomplishment of 
 the constitution, and the trial of the Mountaineer 
 deputies ; but to insist upon these things with a 
 greater degree of violence, so as to compromise the 
 sections with the convention and provoke fresh com- 
 motions ; for every turmoil afforded a chance, and 
 might at all events serve to excite disgust for a re- 
 public so incessantly the prey of tumult and disorder. 
 
 Such machinations were fortunately possible at 
 Paris alone, for that is invariably the most agitated 
 city in France^that wherein discussions on public 
 questions are carried on with the greatest heat, where 
 the desire and pretention of dictating to the govern- 
 ment are universal, and where ojiposition is always 
 first manifested. Excepting Lj-ons, ilarseilles, and . 
 Toulon, where the jiopiilations were engaged in mas- 
 sacres, the rest of France viewed with comparative 
 indifference the political struggles of the time, and 
 took an infinitesimally less part therein than the sec- 
 tions of Paris. 
 
 Combined with all they said or prompted in the 
 sections, the intriguers in the service of royalism 
 circulated pamphlets and published articles in tlie 
 journals. Moreover, thev prevaricated egregiously,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 533 
 
 as was their wont, arrogated an importance they were 
 far from possessing, and wrote abroad that they had 
 seduced the principal leaders of the government. By 
 means of such arrant mendacity alone, they contrived 
 to prociire money, and liad recently obtained from 
 England several thousands of pounds sterling. Never- 
 theless, it is certain that, altliougli they had not 
 gained Tallien or Hoche, as tliey boasted, tliey had 
 succeeded with some members of the convention — 
 two or three, perhaps. As men who had fallen within 
 their toils were mentioned Kovere and Saladin, ori- 
 ginally two rabid revolutionists, and of late become 
 equally rabid reactors. It is credible, also, that they 
 had moved, by more delicate appliances, sundry of 
 those deputies holding moderate sentiments, who felt 
 an inclination favourable to representative monarchy, 
 that is to say, to a Bourbon pretending to be bound 
 by laws on the English model. PichegTU had been 
 tempted by abrupt offers of a castle, artillery, and 
 money ; legislators and members of committees may 
 have been more cautiously addressed : " France is too 
 extensive a country to be a republic; she would be 
 far happier under a king, with responsible ministers, 
 hereditary peers, and deputies." This idea, indeed, 
 without being suggested, might naturally occur to 
 contemplative personages, especially those who deemed 
 themselves avcII adapted for fulfilling the functions of 
 deputies or hereditary peers. Be that as it may, the 
 Xianjuinais', Boissy-d'Angias, Henri-Lariviere, and 
 Lesage [d'Eure-et-Loire], were regarded at this epoch 
 as secret royalists. 
 
 "We perceive that the means wielded by the agency 
 were not very potent ; but they sufficed to hai-ass public 
 tranquillity, infuse apprehensions into the minds of 
 men, and above all, recall to the memory of the French 
 those Bourbons, the only implacable enemies of the 
 republic, whom its arms were unable to vanquish, for 
 traditions are not obliterated by bayonets. 
 
 Amongst the seventy-three reintegrated deputies, 
 there were assuredly monarchists ; but in general they 
 were republicans ; the Girondists were all so, or nearly 
 all. Nevertheless, the newspapers in the counter-re- 
 volutionary interest lauded them with singular perti- 
 nacity, and thus succeeded inrentleringthem suspected 
 by the Thermidorians. To vindicate themselves from 
 these affected eulogies, the seventy-three and the 
 tM'enty-two strenuously protested their attachmerit 
 to the republic; in sooth, none woidd have then dared 
 to speak slightingly of that republic. How dismal an 
 inconsistency, indeed, if they had not cherished it, after 
 having made such sacrifices of blood and treasure for 
 its establishment ! — after havingimmolated in its cause 
 thousands of Frenchmen in civil warfare or in resisting 
 foreign aggression ! Therefore, to love the republic, 
 or at least to profess that affection, was an impera- 
 tive obligation. However, notwithstanding these pro- 
 testations, the Thermidorians were distrustful ; they 
 relied with confidence only on Daunou, whose probity 
 and severe principles were incontestible,andon Louvet, 
 whose ardent mhid had remained unequivocally re- 
 publican. After having lost so many illustrious friends, 
 and in his own person encountered so many perils, 
 Louvet could not believe the whole to have been a 
 dream — that those valuable lives had been taken to 
 pave the way for royalty. Accordingly, he had com- 
 pletely identified himself with the Thermidorians. 
 These again appro.ximated day by day more closely to 
 the Mountaineers — to that body of sturdy republicans, 
 whose ranks they liad themselves so wofully thinned. 
 
 The Thermidorians desired to pass stringent mea- 
 sures against the return of the emigrants, mIio con- 
 tinued to XH'ur into France, some with false ])assports 
 and under fictitious names, others imder pretence of 
 seeking the erasure of their names from the emigrant 
 lists. Almost all presented false certificates of resi- 
 dence, and alleged they had not left France, but had 
 remained in oanceahnent or been pursued only on oc- 
 casion of the events of the 31st Alay and 2d June. 
 
 Under pretext of prosecuting their appeals before the 
 committee of general safety, they flocked to Paris, 
 where many fomented the agitations in the sections. 
 Amongst the most eminent personages returned to Paris 
 was Madame de Stael,* who had rea^Dpeared in France 
 with her consort, the ambassador from Sweden. She 
 had thrown open her saloons, M'here she gratified her 
 riding ambition of displaying her varied and brilliant 
 ])owers. A republic was far from distasteful to tlie 
 soaring hardihood of her mind, but she would have 
 accepted it only on condition of seeing her proscribed 
 friends shining in its councils — on condition of sweep- 
 ing away those I'evolutionists, who passed doubtless 
 for men of energy, but as uncouth and devoid of intel- 
 lectual refinement. From their hands, in truth, the 
 saved republic woidd be thankfully received, but with 
 the intention of promptly excluding them from the 
 legislature and the government. Foreigners of dis- 
 tinction, all the ambassadors of friendly powers, the 
 men of letters most renowned for their talents and 
 wit, assembled under the roof of Madame de Stael. 
 It was no longer the saloon of Madame Tallien, it 
 was hers, which attracted all attention ; and that cir- 
 cumstance alone may afford an estimate of the change 
 French societj^ had undergone during the previous six 
 months. Madame de Stael was asserted to intercede 
 for emigrants, endeavouring to procure the recall of 
 Narbonne, Jaucourt, and several others. Legendre 
 formally denounced her from the tribune. The journals 
 were filled with complaints of the influence exercised 
 by the coteries formed around the foreign ambas- 
 sadors, and advocated the necessity of suspending all 
 appeals for erasures. The Thermidorians, indeed, 
 caused the adoption of a decree, enacting that every 
 emigrant returned to solicit his erasure should be 
 bound to repair to his commune, and there await the 
 decision of the committee of general safety.f By this 
 expedient, it was hoped that the capital might be freed 
 from a multitude of intriguers who contributed to dis- 
 tm-b its tranquillity. 
 
 The Thermidorians Avere anxious, at the same 
 time, to check the persecutions directed so remorse- 
 lessly against the patriots. They had already induced 
 the committee of general safety to liberate Pache, 
 Bouchotte, the noted Heron, and several others. It 
 must be allowed they might have selected a better 
 object for their comnuseration than the last-named 
 personage. The sections had previously ^^resented 
 petitions on the subject of these liberations, as we have 
 recorded ; they now remonstrated with redoubled 
 vehemence. The committees, thus provoked, replied 
 that it was fitting the imprisoned patriots should be 
 forthwith tried, and no longer detained if they were 
 innocent. To propose their trial was tantamount to a 
 proposition for their enlargement, since their delin- 
 quencies were for the most part of that political cha- 
 racter which rendered their arraignment impossible. 
 Exccjtting certain members of the revolutionary com- 
 mittees, guilty of atrocious excesses, the majority 
 could not be legally condemned. Several sections ap- 
 
 * [Madame de StaSl was the daughter of Neekcr, the finance 
 minister in the early period of tlie revohition. She is distinguished 
 as the authoress of two celebrated worlfs, " Corinne," ami '• Do 
 rAllemagne." The latter cspeeially i« a work of extraordinary 
 merit, not only from tlie matelilessgraecs of its style, the admir- 
 able picture it presents of Germany, and the masterly analysis of 
 German literature and philosophy it contains, but .also from the 
 sublime sentiments it upholds in all that cnnee:Tis the great inte- 
 rests of humanity. The work was proscribed in Kranee imdcr 
 Napoleon, his police minister, the Uuke de Rovigo, writing to 
 Madame de Stael that her production was not " Fi-eiich!" and 
 ordering her to quit the realm within a week. The disgraceful 
 conduct of Napnlcou towards this lady pourtrays his character 
 in one of its meanest and most contemptible phases. Tlirough liis 
 unrelenting animosity she led a life of exile for many years, .and 
 resided for some time in lingland, where her celebrity secured 
 her admission into the most elevated circles.] 
 
 t Decree of the 18th August.
 
 636 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 pcared before the convention to request that tliey 
 might be granted afew days of consecutive permanence, 
 in order to assign grounds for the arrest and disarm- 
 ing of those they had incarcerated ; they alleged that, 
 in the hurry of the moment, they had been unable to 
 search for proofs or to particidarise reasons ; but they 
 offered to furnish them. The convention repudiated 
 these insidious demands, which cloaked the desire of 
 obtaining permission to assemble in permanent meet- 
 ings, and it instructed the committees to submit a pro- 
 ject for bringing the detained patriots to trial. 
 
 This project gave rise to a stormy discussion. On 
 one side it was projiosed to send the patriots before 
 the departmental tribunals ; on the other, members, 
 apprehensive of local prejudices and passions, opposed 
 the selection of those judicatories, and advocated the 
 appointment of a commission of twelve members taken 
 from the convention, empowered to institute a preU- 
 minary investigation touching tlie detained, to liberate 
 those against wliom insufficient charges were preferred, 
 and to consign the remainder to the criminal courts. 
 They argued that this commission, unallected by the 
 animosities rankling in the departments, would act 
 with greater justice and impartiality, and avoid con- 
 founding patriots simply misled by tl^e ardour of their 
 zeal with men midoubtedly culpa1)le of having par- 
 ticipated in the cruelties of the decemviral tyranny. 
 All the inveterate enemies of the patriots exclaimed 
 against the suggestion of this commission, which 
 would doubtless proceed after the manner of the com- 
 mittee of general safety when remodelled subsequent 
 to the 9th Thermidor, that is to say, by liberating en 
 masse. They tauntingly asked how this commission 
 of twelve members could investigate twenty or twenty- 
 five thousand different cases. They were answered 
 very shortly, that it would manage like the committee 
 of general safety, which had adjudicated upon eighty 
 or a hundred thousand, on occasion of the prisons 
 being thrown open. But this was precisely the mode 
 of deciding on incarcerations now considered so objec- 
 tionable. After a debate of several days, interspersed 
 with petitions, one emulous of tlie otlier in the auda- 
 ciousness of its terms, the resolution was finally passed 
 that the patriots should be tried by the departmental 
 tribunals, and the decree was referred to the com- 
 mittees, for the purpose of being modified in certain 
 of its practical provisions. The continuation of the 
 report upon deputies denounced for acts committed 
 whilst on missions was likewise carried. Decrees of 
 arrest were passed* against Lequinio, Lanot, Lefiot, 
 Dupin, Bo, Piorry, ]\Iaxieu, Chaudron-Rousseau, La- 
 planche, and Fouche ; and the process against Lebon 
 was commenced. At this period, the convention had 
 as many of its members in prison as daring the reign 
 of terror. Thus tlie partisans of clemency had no 
 especial reason to deplore the i)ast ; they had returned 
 the full measure of evil for evil. 
 
 Meanwhile, the constitution had been presented by 
 the commission of eleven. It was discussed during the 
 three months of ilessidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor, 
 year 3, and was seriatim decreed with little variation. 
 Its authors were Lesage, Daunou, Boissy-d'Anglas, 
 Creuze-Latouche, Berlier, Lcmvet, Larevelliere-Le- 
 paux, Lanjuinais, Durand-Maillane, Baudin of the 
 Ardennes, and Thil)audeau. Sieves had refused to 
 form part of the commission ; for on tlie topic of con- 
 stitutions he was even more dogmatical than on other 
 subjects. The contemj)lation of his whole life had 
 been centred on constitutions ; they formed his pecu- 
 liar vocation. He had one ready-wove in his brain, 
 and he was not the man to bury it in the recesses 
 thereof. He propounded it on his own behalf, and 
 without the intervention of tlie commission. The 
 convention, from respect for his genius, willingly ac- 
 corded him a hearing, but declined to adopt his scheme. 
 We shall find it reappear at a later date, and that will 
 
 • Decrees of the 8th and 9th August. 
 
 be the appropriate time for making known this con- 
 ception, which presents so remarkable a feature in the 
 history of the human mind. That which the assembly 
 adopted was in accordance with the progress made in 
 practical knowledge. In 1791, men were at once so 
 inexperienced and confiding, that they had not ima- 
 gined as possible the existence of an aristocratic body 
 controlling the wiU of the national representation, and 
 yet they had admitted and retained with reverence, 
 almost witli affection, the royal power. But, upon 
 more mature reflection, they might have recognised 
 that an aristocratic body is of all countries, and even 
 that it is more peculiarly suitable to republics ; that a 
 great state may very well dispense with a king, but 
 never witli a senate. In 1795, however, they had 
 enjoyed abundant opportunities of judging to what 
 disorders a single assembly is exposed, and they cheer- 
 fully consented to the establishment of a legislative 
 body divided into two assemblies. They were then 
 less irritated against aristocracy than against royalty, 
 because, in truth, they dreaded the latter more at the 
 moment. Thus thej' displayed greater solicitude in 
 guarding against its semblance when deciding the 
 composition of an executive power. The commission 
 contained a monarchical party, comprising Lesage, 
 Lanjuinais, Durand-MaiUane, and Boissy-d'Anglas. 
 This party proposed a president : the idea was repelled. 
 " Some day, perhaps," said Louvet, " you would have 
 a Bourbon presented to j'ou." Baudin of the Ardennes 
 and Daunou suggested two consuls ; others demanded 
 three. Five directors, deciding by a majority, were 
 preferred. None of the essential attributes of royalty 
 was conferred on this executive authority, such as 
 inviolability, the sanction of laws, tlie judicial pre- 
 rogative, or the right of peace and war. It simply 
 possessed the common inviolability of deputies, the 
 promulgation and execution of laws, the direction, but 
 not the decision of war, and the negotiation, but not 
 the ratification of treaties. 
 
 Such were the principles on which reposed the direc- 
 torial constitution. The convention accordingly de- 
 creed the institution of — • 
 
 A council, called of the Five Hundred, composed of 
 five hundred members, thirty years of age at least, 
 solely enjoying tlie privilege of originating laws, and 
 renewable by a third every year; 
 
 A council, called of the Ancients, composed of two 
 hundred and fifty members, forty years of age at 
 least, all to be either married or widowers, enjoying 
 the ])rivilege of sanctioning laws, and also renewable 
 by a tliird yearly; 
 
 Lastly, an executive directory, composed of five 
 members, deliberating by a majority, renewable ever}'' 
 j^ear by a fifth, having responsible ministers, promul- 
 gating laws and enforcing their execution, holding 
 the disposition of the land and sea forces, managing 
 external relations, possessing the power to repel sud- 
 den hostilities but not to make war without the con- 
 sent of the legislative body, and to negotiate treaties, 
 submitting them to the ratification of the legislative 
 body, with the reservation of secret articles, which it 
 had the faculty of stipulating if they were not in con- 
 travention of the patent articles. 
 
 These different authorities were to be nominated in 
 the following manner: — 
 
 All the citizens, twenty-one years of age, met of 
 riglit in primary assemblies every first day in tlie 
 montli of I'rairial, and appointed electoral assem- 
 l)lies. These electoral assemblies met every 2()th 
 of Prairial, and appointed the two councils. The 
 two councils nominated the directory. It was judged 
 that the executive power, holding its appoint- 
 ment from the legislative body, would be more de- 
 pendent on it, and a consideration, founded on existing 
 circumstances, strengthened the determination. The 
 republic not being yet integrally associated with the 
 habits of FrantX', i)eing rather a theory of enlightened 
 men or of those compromised in the revolution than
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 537 
 
 ill! universal sentiment, it was deemed impolitic to 
 intnist the composition of the executive powei" to the 
 masses. Hence the conclusion that, during the first 
 years at least, the authors of the revolution, necessarily 
 predominating in the legislative body, should hold the 
 i^ower of selecting directors capable of defending their 
 v.ork. 
 
 The judicial functions were confided to elective 
 Midges. Justices of peace were instituted. A civil 
 tribunal was established for each department, adjudi- 
 ' ating causes arising in the department in the first 
 instance, and by appeal those arising in adjacent 
 I It'partments. A criminal court, composed of five 
 members and a jury, was added to the list of judica- 
 ,ories. 
 
 Communal assemblies were not admitted ; in lieu 
 v.ere introduced municipal and departmental admi- 
 nistrations, composed of three or five members and 
 more, according to the population ; they were to be 
 formed bj' the mode of election. Experience prompted 
 tlie adoption of certain accessory dispositions of great 
 importance. Thus the legislative body itself assigned 
 1 lie place of its sessions, and could remove into any 
 ^ummune it pleased to select. No law could be passed 
 ^^•ithout three preliminary readings, unless it were 
 qualified as a measure of urgency, and M^ere so recog- 
 nised by the council of ancients. This regulation was 
 intended to prevent those hasty and often - revoked 
 decisions for which the convention had been so re- 
 markable. Moreover, all societies self-styled popular, 
 holding public meetings, having a regular organisa- 
 tion of officers (a bureau) and tribunes, with affilia- 
 tions, were interdicted. The press was entirely un- 
 shackled. The emigrants were for ever expelled from 
 the territory of the republic, the national domains 
 irrevocably secured to the purchasers, and aU creeds 
 declared free, albeit not recognised or supported by 
 the state. 
 
 Such was the constitution based upon the hope of 
 maintaining France as a republic. After its adoption, 
 a material question occurred : the Constituent Assem- 
 bles through an ostentatious disinterestedness, had 
 excluded its members from the legislative body which 
 superseded it ; was the convention to do the same ? 
 There can be no doubt such a determination woidd 
 have been an act of great imprudence. Among a 
 volatile and fickle people, who, after sitting under the 
 yoke of monarchy for fourteen centuries, had cast it 
 off in a moment of entliusiasm, the republic was not 
 so firmly rooted as to warrant abandoning its esta- 
 blishment to the course of events. The revolution 
 could only be efficiently defended by its authors. The 
 convention was composed in great part of members 
 of both the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies ; 
 it comprised the men who had abolished the ancient 
 feudal constitution on the 14th July and 4th August 
 1780, who had subverted tlie throne on the 10th 
 August, who had on the 21st January inmiolated the 
 head of the Bourbon dynasty, and who, during tlie 
 space of three years, had made astomiding efforts 
 against banded Europe to uphold their work — they 
 alone were capable of adequatel.y sustaining tlie revolu- 
 tion, now consecrated in the directorial constitution. 
 Thus, abjuring all mawkisii disinterestedness, they 
 boldly decreed, on the 5th Fnictidor (22d August), 
 tjiat the new legislative body should, in the fraction 
 of two-thirds, be composed of the existing convention, 
 and that only one-third should be newly chosen. This 
 decision originated the further question whether the 
 convention should itself designate the two-thirds con- 
 served, or leave that task to the electorsil assemblies. 
 After an acrimonious disputation, it was agreed, on 
 the 13th Fructidor (30th August), that the electoral 
 assemblies should be charged with that selection. The 
 convention ordained, moreover, that the primary as- 
 semblies should meet on the 20th Fructidor (Gth 
 September) to accept the constitution and the two 
 Bupjilementary decrees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor. 
 
 It likewise decreed that, after having recorded their 
 votes on the constitution and the decrees, the primary 
 assemblies shoidd re-constitute themselves, and forth- 
 with make, that is to say, in the year 3 (1795), the 
 elections appointed for the 1st Trairial of the follow- 
 ing year. The convention thereby proclaimed its 
 immediate purpose to lay down the dictatorship and 
 put the constitution in operation. It lastly resolved 
 that the armies, although usually debarred from the 
 privilege of deliberating, should nevertheless muster 
 on the fields of warfare they occupied at the moment, 
 in order to vote the constitution. It was fitting, the 
 advocates of this measure urged, that those who were 
 to defend shoidd have the option of accepting the con- 
 stitution. Furthermore, the armies, by this exercise 
 of the suffrage, would feel still greater interest in the 
 cause of the revolution. 
 
 The adoption of these resolutions threw the nume- 
 rous and various enemies of the convention into a 
 jiaroxysm of rage and disappointment. The constitu- 
 tion was an object of mere secondary importance to the 
 majority amongst them. Au}'^ suited their views, so 
 long as it gave occasion for a general renewal of the 
 members of the government. The royalists desired 
 that renewal as a means of provoking confusion, and 
 with the view also of returning as many men favour- 
 able to their cause as possible, thus availing them- 
 selves of the republic itself to work out their schemes 
 of royalt3^ It was especially dear to them, moreover, 
 as presenting an opportunity of discarding the conven- 
 tionalists, who were so deeply interested in opposing 
 the counter-re-s'olution, and of throwing the govern- 
 ment into the hands of new men, inexperienced, not 
 compromised like their predecessors, and more easy of 
 seduction. Many literary men, authors, and obscure 
 personages, who were devoured by a passion to enter 
 the political career, not from any counter-revolution- 
 ary zeal, but simply from personal ambition, likewise 
 desired this complete renewal, in order that the num- 
 ber of vacant seats might be multiplied. All these 
 overspread the sections, and incited them against the 
 decrees. The convention, they said, wished to perpe- 
 tuate itself in power ; it spoke of the rights of the 
 people, and yet indefinitely postponed their exercise ; 
 it controlled them in their suffrages, and took from 
 them the power of preferring men unsullied by crimes ; 
 it evinced a determination forcibly to preserve a ma- 
 jority composed of the individuals who had covered 
 France with scaffolds. Thus, they added, the new 
 legislature would not be purged of all the terrorists ; 
 France would not be perfectly at ease touching her 
 future destiny ; she could not enjoy the certainty of 
 never again beholding a horrible S3'stem of terror jire- 
 dominant. These declamations acted upon a great 
 number of minds — the burgher class of the sections, 
 Avhich was sufficiently favourable to the new institu- 
 tions, but laboured under an excessive dread of the 
 revival of terror ; conscientious but irreflective men, 
 who cherished dreams of spotless republics, and longed 
 to see a new and pure generation seated in power ; 
 young men, enamoured of the same Utopian chimeras ; 
 and, in fine, that large community greedy of novelty — 
 all these viewed the conduct of the convention in thus 
 l)r()longing its existence for two or three years with 
 regret and disapprobation. The tribe of journalists 
 inveighed with wonted virulence. Sundry individuals 
 who held rank in literature or had figured in the 
 former assemblies, appeared in the tribunes of the sec- 
 tions. Suard, Morellet, Lacretelle the younger, Fievce, 
 Vaublanc, I'astoret, Dupont of Nemours, Quatremere 
 of Quincy, Dclalot, the violent convert La Ilarpe, 
 General ^liranda, escaped from tlie imprisonment to 
 which his behaviour at Neerwimlen liad consigned 
 him, the Spaniard Marchenna, saved from tlie pro- 
 scription of his friends the Girondists, and J/cmaitre 
 the leader of the royal agency, signalised themselves 
 by pamphlets or vehement orations in the sections. 
 An universal tui-moil prevailed.
 
 538 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The plan open to the malecontents was perfectly 
 simple, namely, to accept the constitution and reject the 
 decrees. This they accordingly proposed to do at Paris, 
 and strenuously urged all the sections in France to 
 imitate the example. But the intriguers who agitated 
 the sections, and who were hent on pushing tlie oppo- 
 sition into insurrection, advocated a more extensive 
 plan. They held that the primary assemblies, after 
 having accepted the constitution and rejected the de- 
 crees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor, should constitute 
 themselves permanent, declare the powers of the con- 
 vention at an end, and the electoral assemblies free to 
 choose as their deputies whomsoever they thought tit, 
 and refuse to separate until after the installation of 
 tlie new legislative body. The emissaries of Lemaitre 
 circulated this scheme in the environs of Paris ; they 
 wrote into Normandy, -where views favourable to the 
 constitution of 1791 were assiduously inculcated, into 
 Brittany, the Gironde, into every district, in short, 
 where they maintained relations. One of their letters 
 was intercepted and read from the tribune. The con- 
 vention heard without alarm of the machinations in 
 progress against it, and awaited with composure the 
 decision of the primary assemblies throughout France, 
 assured that the majority would declare in its favour. 
 Nevertheless, suspecting the design of an outbreak in 
 prospective, it ordered some troops to advance, and 
 collected them in the camp of Les Sablons, under 
 Paris. 
 
 The section of LepeUetier, erst Saint-Tliomas, took 
 a prominent part upon this occasion, as from its well- 
 known sentiments was but natural : it appeared, with 
 those of the Mail, the Butte-des-jMoulins, the Champs- 
 Elysees, and the Theatre-Fran9ais (L'Odeon), to pre- 
 sent petitions to the assembly. They all concurred 
 in demanding whether the Parisians had proved them- 
 selves delinquent, whether the convention distrusted 
 them, since it had summoned troops ; they moreover 
 complained of the pretended violence ottered to the 
 freedom of election, and used this insolent ex])ressiou : 
 " Merit our sutirages, not command them." The con- 
 vention replied with dignified firmness to these ad- 
 dresses, contenting itself witli stating that it awaited 
 with respect the manifestation of the national will, 
 that it would defer thereto wlien unequivocally ex- 
 pressed, and that it would compel all others to yield a 
 like obedience. 
 
 The chief object of the malecontents was to establish 
 a central point of commmiication with all the sec- 
 tions, in order to give thcra a common impulse, and 
 thus organise a revolt. Examples had been sufficiently 
 plentiful to show that such was the primary want. 
 The section of LepeUetier undertook to form the re- 
 quired centre : it was well entitled to the honour, for 
 it had ever approved itself the most turbulent. It 
 commenced by publishing an act of guarantee, equally 
 inconsiderate and futile. " The powers of the consti- 
 tuent body," it said in substance, " ceased in presence 
 of the sovereign people ; the primary assemblies repre- 
 sented that sovereign people ; tliey had the right to 
 express any opinion whatsoever on the constitution 
 and the decrees ; they were under mutual safeguards 
 as respected each other, and ought to give reciprocal 
 guarantees of their independence." These, as gene- 
 ral maxims, were undeniable, saving a modification 
 to be appended — that the constituent body retained 
 its powers until the fiat of the majority was pro- 
 nounced. For the rest, these vain generalities were 
 only intended as introductory to a further and graver 
 step. The section of LepeUetier urged each of the 
 forty-eight sections of Paris to nominate a delegate, 
 in order that the sentiments entertained by the citizens 
 of the metropolis on the constitution and the supple- 
 mentary decrees might be expressed. Herein was 
 involved an infraction of the laws ; for the primary 
 assemblies were prohibited from holding intercommu- 
 nications — from corresponding by delegates or ad- 
 dresses. The convention canceUcd the resolution of 
 
 the section, and declared that its execution would be 
 considered a misdemeanour affecting the public secu- 
 rity. 
 
 The sections, not being yet sufficiently emboldened, 
 succumbed, and proceeded to coUect the votes on the 
 constitution and the decrees. They commenced by 
 expelling, without the semblance of any legal form, 
 the patriots who came to record their sutfrages. In 
 some, they were quietly turned to the door of the haU ; 
 in others, they were warned by placards to remain at 
 home, for if they presumed to appear at the sections, 
 they would be ignominiously driven from the precincts. 
 Tlie persons thus debarred from exercising their fran- 
 cliise were A^ery numerous ; they flocked to the con- 
 vention to protest against the violence offered to 
 them. The convention reprobated the conduct of the 
 sections, but declined to interfere, in order to avoid 
 the appearance of canvassing for votes, and to let the 
 very abuse prove the freedom of the deliberation. 
 The patriots, thus excluded from their sections, took 
 refuge in the galleries of the convention, and occupied 
 them in great numbers ; they daUy pressed the com- 
 mittees with solicitations to restore them their arms, 
 affirming that they were ready to employ them in the 
 defence of the republic. 
 
 All the sections of Paris, except that of the Quinze- 
 Vingts, accepted the constitution and rejected the 
 decrees. The case was very different in the rest of 
 France. Opposition, as usual, was less ardent in the 
 provinces than in the capital. The royalists, the in- 
 triguers, the ambitious, all who had interested motives 
 for urging the renewal of the legislative body and the 
 government, had chiefly congregated at Paris, and 
 were numerous there onlj^ ; consequently, in the pro- 
 vinces the assemblies deliberated with calmness, al- 
 though without the slightest constraint. They adopted 
 the constitution almost unanimously, and the decrees 
 by a large majority. As to the armies, they received 
 the constitution with enthusiasm, both in Brittany and 
 La Vendee, on the Alps and on the Rhine. The 
 camps, converted into primary assembUes, resounded 
 with acclamations. They were full of men devoted to 
 the revolution, attached to it by the verj' perils they 
 had undergone in its cause. That violent revulsion 
 which had taken place in Paris against the revolu- 
 tionary government was unfelt in tlie armies. The 
 conscripts of 1793, with whom their ranks were filled, 
 preserved in grateful remembrance the famous com- 
 mittee, whicli had directed and supported them so 
 incomparably better than the new government. Re- 
 moved from the sphere of private life, accustomed to 
 brave hardships, llitigues, and death, animated by the 
 lust of glory and by dazzling illusions, they stiU re- 
 tained that enthusiasm, Avhich, in the mterior of 
 France, was rapidly decaying — they were proud to 
 call themselves soldiers of a republic upheld by them 
 against all the kings of Europe, and with which they 
 Mere closely identified, as in some sort their own work. 
 Tliey swore with fervour and sincerity never to let it 
 perish. The army of the Sambre-and-Meuse, com- 
 manded by Jourdan, partook the noble sentiments of 
 its gallant leader. It was the same which had con- 
 quered at Watignies and raised the blockade of ISIau- 
 beuge ; the same that had vanquished at Fleurus and 
 given Belgium to France ; the same, in fine, which, by 
 tlie victories on the Ourthe and the Koer, had assured 
 to her the bulwark of the Rhine. That army, which 
 had best merited of the republic, was also the most 
 attached to it. It had recently passed the Rhine ; it 
 ]Kiused on its triumphant march, and exhibited the 
 solemn spectacle of sixty thousand men marshalled on 
 a foreign battle-field, greeting with one accord the new 
 republican constitution of their country. 
 
 Tidings of these events, arriving successively in 
 Paris, diffused joy amongst the members of the con- 
 vention, and corresponding sadness amongst the sec- 
 tionaries. These had daily appeared, to present 
 addresses, Avhercin tliey announced the vote of their
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 639 
 
 assemblies, and proclaimed with insulting rapture that 
 the constitution was accepted and the decrees rejected. 
 The patriots, massed in the galleries, murmured at 
 these declarations ; but when the returns from the 
 departments were read, recording for the most part 
 the acceptance of both the constitution and the supple- 
 mentary decrees, the patriots broke into frantic accla- 
 mations, and exulted in peals of derisive mirth over 
 tlie crestfallen sectionists seated at the bar. The con- 
 cluding days of Fructidor passed in scenes of this de- 
 scription. At length, on the 1st Vendeniiaire of the 
 year 4 (23d September 1795), the general result of 
 the suffrages was proclaimed. 
 
 The constitution was accepted almost unanimously 
 by the voters, and the decrees by an immense majority. 
 Several thousand votes, nevertheless, had been given 
 against the decrees, and, here and there, some had 
 ventured to demand a king — a sufficient proof that the 
 most perfect freedom had reigned in the primary assem- 
 blies. That very day, the constitution and the decrees 
 were solemnly declared by the convention laws of the 
 state. This declaration was followed by prolonged 
 plaudits. The convention subsequently decreed that 
 the primary assemblies which had not yet appointed 
 their electors shoidd be bound to conclude that nomi- 
 nation before the 10th Vendemiaire (2d October) ; that 
 the electoral assemblies should be formed on the 20th, 
 and tinish their operations by the latest on the 29th 
 (21st October); and, lastly, that the new legislative 
 body should meet on the 15th Brumaire (6th No- 
 vember). 
 
 This issue of the great experiment was desolation 
 to the sectionists. They had hoped, up to the last 
 moment, that France would pronounce a verdict simi- 
 lar to that of Paris, and that they would be delivered 
 from what they called " the two-thirds ;" but the decree 
 just passed cut off every ray of hope. Affecting to 
 discredit the honest computation of the votes, they 
 sent delegates to the committee of decrees, in order to 
 investigate the records. This invidious proceeding 
 was met with unmerited coiu'tesy. They were allowed 
 to examine the records, and to compare the account of 
 votes ; they found it correct. Thenceforth they had 
 not even this forlorn objection of an error or a fraud 
 in the calcixlation ; nothing remained to them save an 
 insurrection. But this Avas a desperate expedient, and, 
 moreover, one not easily compassed. Those ambitious 
 characters who desired to supplant the men of the 
 revolution in the government of the republic ; the 
 youths who were eager to display their courage, the 
 majority of whom, indeed, had served in the armies ; 
 the royalists, in fine, Avho had no other resource than 
 an attack by force, might willingly expose them- 
 selves to the hazards of a conflict; but thatimass of 
 peaceable men, prompted to attend the sections by a 
 dread of the terrorists rather than by political courage, 
 was to be roused with difficulty. In the first place, 
 insurrection was opposed to their principles : how 
 could the avowed enemies of anarchy assail with arms 
 the established and recognised authority of the state ? 
 Parties, it is true, are not scrupxilous about contra- 
 dictions or inconsistencies : but then, again, how were 
 burgliers, who had never left their desks or domiciles, 
 to venture an attack on troops of the line fortified with 
 artillery? However, the royalist and ambitious agi- 
 tators bestirred themselves in the sections ; they dis- 
 coursed largely on the public interest, and on honour ; 
 they averred that the .feeling of security was altogether 
 inconsistent with the longer governance of the present 
 conventionalists; that the country would always remain 
 exposed to the revival of terrorism ; and that, at any 
 rate, it was ignominy to recede and tamely submit. 
 They adroitly seized the occasion, too, to enlist vanity 
 as one of their moving influences. The youths who 
 had been in the armies were boisterous and exuberant ; 
 they rallied, insjjirited the timid, and prevented them 
 from manifesting their fears. An act of energy was 
 determined upon. Groups of youths traversed the 
 
 streets, vociferating, " Down with the two-thirds !" 
 When the soldiers of the convention interfered to dis- 
 perse or prevent them uttering seditious cries, they 
 presented arms, and often discharged a volley. There 
 were divers collisions and many shots fired in the very 
 midst of the Palais-Royal. 
 
 Lemaitre and his colleagiies, perceiving their de- 
 signs thus prospering, called several Choua'n chiefs 
 and emigrants to Paris; these they sedulously se- 
 creted, awaiting the signal to bring them forth. They 
 had succeeded also in provoking commotions at Or- 
 leans, Chartres, Dreux, Verneuil, and Nonancourt. At 
 Chartres, a representative, by name Letellier, having 
 failed in his efforts to quell a riot, passed a bullet 
 through his head. Although these disturbances had 
 been suppressed, a successful rising in Paris would 
 probably lead to a general movement. Nothing was 
 omitted to foment it, and too speedily the success of 
 the conspirators appeared complete. 
 
 The expedient of an insurrection was not yet fully 
 resolved upon ; but the honest burghers of Paris gra- 
 dually allowed themselves to be overcome by the hair- 
 brained youths and the crafty intriguers. In a short 
 while they were found indulging in bravadoes equally 
 with the others, and became irrevocably committed. 
 The section of Lepelletier still maintained its repu- 
 tation for superior turbulence. As -we have already 
 intimated, it had been deemed essential, before forming 
 any enterprise, to establish a central direction. The 
 means of accomplishing this purpose had been anxiously 
 canvassed for some time. It was suggested that the 
 assembly of electors, nominated by all the primary 
 assemblies of Paris, might become tliis central autho- 
 rity; but, according to the late decree of the conven- 
 tion, that assembly was not to meet before the 20th, 
 a delay which the excitement of the moment could not 
 Ijrook. The section of Lepelletier thereupon imagined 
 a resolution, founded on a sufficiently singular allega- 
 tion. The constitution, it set forth, interposed but 
 twenty days between the meeting of the primary 
 assemblies and that of the electoral assemblies. The 
 primary assemblies were convoked on this occasion 
 for the 20th Fructidor; the electoral assemblies ought 
 therefore to meet on the 10th Vendemiaire. The con- 
 vention had fixed the 20th, however, for their muster, 
 evidently with the view of postponing the period for 
 putting the constitution in operation, and dividing 
 jjower with the new third. In conseqiience, premis- 
 ing the necessity of protecting the rights of the citi- 
 zens, the section Lepelletier resolved that the electors 
 aJready appointed should immediately assemble; and 
 it communicated the resolution to the other sections, 
 craving their approval and concurrence. Several of 
 these acceded accordingly. The assembly was fixed 
 for the 11th, at the Theatre-Fran9ais (L'Odeon). 
 
 On the 11th Vendemiaire (.3d October), a portion of 
 the electors congregated in the theatre, imder the pro- 
 tection of certain battalions of the national guard. A 
 multitude of persons, attracted by curiosity, gathered 
 on the Place de L'Odeon, and soon formed a consider- 
 able assemblage. The connnittees of general safety 
 and public welfare, together witli the three represen- 
 tatives who, since the 4th Prairial, had retained the 
 direction of the armed force, were always united on 
 important occasions. They hastened to the conven- 
 tion in order to denounce this preliminary infraction, 
 which evidently denoted, as they deemed, an ultimate 
 project of insurrection. The convention was engaged 
 in celebrating, in the hall of its sessions, a funereal 
 festival in honour of the lamented Girondists. It was 
 proposed to postpone the solenmity : Tallien contro- 
 verted the suggestion ; he said it would he unworthy 
 of the convention to interrupt its proceedings ; amidst 
 all perils it ought to pursue the even tenor of its 
 duties. A decree was passed, enjoining everj' meet- 
 ing of electors, formed either in an illegal maimer or 
 before the prescribed term, or for an object alien to 
 their electoral functions, immediately to separate. To
 
 640 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 afford those an outlet who might be disposed to recede, 
 a clause was added to the decree, bearing that all who 
 had been led into illegal practices, and should forth- 
 with return to their duty, would be exempted from 
 prosecution. Certam officers of police, under an escort 
 of six dragoons, were dispatched to the Tlace de 
 UOdt'on, with instructions to proclaim the decree. 
 The committees were desirous to avoid, as tar as pos- 
 sible, the employment of force. The crowd around the 
 Odoon had increased as the night advanced. The 
 interior of the theatre was dimly lighted ; the boxes 
 were filled with a vast concourse of sectionaries ; those 
 who took an active part in the movement perambu- 
 lated the stage m great excitement. Indecision reigned 
 in the meeting; tlie malecontents ventured neither to 
 deliberate nor to decide. On learning the arrival of 
 the officers of police commissioned to read the decree, 
 they hurried to the open square. The crowd had 
 already surrounded those functionaries; they instantly 
 rushed upon them, extinguished tlie torches thej' car- 
 ried, and compelled the dragoons to fly. They then 
 returned into the theatre, in exultation at this achieve- 
 ment ; they delivered sundry orations, and vowed 
 with oaths to resist tyranny ; but no measure was 
 taken to abet the decisive act they had just com- 
 mitted. Meanwhile the night was progressing: many 
 of the sectionaries and of the curious retired; the 
 theatre began rapidly to disgorge its unruly occupants, 
 and remained completely deserted at the approach of 
 the armed force, wliicli speedily reached the locality. 
 The committees had ordered General Menou, appointed 
 since the 4th Prairial general of the army of the in- 
 terior, to advance with a column from the camp of 
 Les Sablons. The column arrived with two pieces of 
 ordnance, but discovered no living soul either loitering 
 on the square or lurking in the theatre of L'Odeon. 
 
 This occurrence, although without result, caused a 
 great sensation. The sectionaries were flushed with 
 their demonstration of strength, and invigorated in 
 courage, as generally happens after an open defiance 
 of authority. The convention and its partisans viewed 
 with alarm the events of this day; and, more prompt 
 to dread the resolutions of their adversaries than the 
 latter to form them, tliey no longer doubted an insur- 
 rection was intended. The patriots, albeit wroth with 
 the convention, which had treated them so severely, 
 but inspired with their usual indomitable ardour, felt 
 that they ought to sacrifice their resentment to their 
 cause ; and, in the course of that same night, they 
 flocked in numbers to the committees, for the pur- 
 pose of tendering their assistance and demanding 
 arms. Some had but jiist issued from prison, others 
 had been excluded from the primary assemblies, aU 
 had the most powerfnl motives fi)r zeal. To them 
 were joined numerous officers struck from the rolls of 
 the army by the reactor Aubry. The Thermidoi'ians, 
 still predominating in the committees, and now en- 
 tirely allied to the Mountain, were well disposed to 
 receive the offers of the patriots with approbation, and 
 their opinion was supported by more than one Giron- 
 dist. Louvet, in meetings which were held at the 
 house of a connnon friend of the Girondists and tlie 
 Thermidorians, had already proposed to re-arm the 
 faubourgs and even re-open the Jacobin Club, reserv- 
 ing the power of subsequently closing it should the 
 necessity recur. The committees, therefore, promptly' 
 determined to deliver arms to all the citizens who pre- 
 sented themselves, and gave tliem for officers the 
 military men then at I'aris without employment. The 
 veteran General Berruyer was charged to connuand 
 them. This operation of arming the patriots Avas 
 effected during tlie morning of the 12th. The intelli- 
 gence quickly travelled into all the quarters of Paris. 
 It furnished an admirable pretext for the agitators of 
 the sections, who were striving to compromise the 
 peaceable citizens of tlie metropolis. The convention 
 purposed, they alleged, to recommence the system 
 of terror, since it had re-armed the terrorists ; it was 
 
 preparing to let them loose on all honest people; per- 
 sons and property were no longer in safety; arms 
 must be taken up in pure self-defence. In truth, the 
 sections of LepeUetier, the Butte-des-]Moulins. the So- 
 cial Contract, the Theatre-Fran<;ais, the Luxembourg, 
 the Rue Poissonniere, Brutus, the Temple, declared 
 themselves in insurrection, caused the tattoo to be 
 beaten in their wards, and enjoined all citizens in the 
 national guard to repair to their battalions, in order to 
 watch over the public safety, menaced by the terror- 
 ists. The section of LepeUetier forthwith constituted 
 itself permanent, and became the centre of all tlie 
 coiinter-revolutionary machinations. The drummers 
 and proclamators of the sections overspread Paris 
 with singular audacity, and carried every where the 
 signal of revolt. The citizens, excited by the reports 
 in circulation, hastened in arms to their sections, 
 ready to yield to all the suggestions of impetuous and 
 impi'udent youths, and of a perfidious faction. 
 
 The convention detlared itself in permanence, and 
 charged its committees to watch over the public safety 
 and the execution of its decrees. It repealed the law 
 which ordained the disarming of the patriots, and thus 
 legaUsed the steps taken by the committees. At the 
 same time, it published a proclamation designed to 
 tranquiUise the inhabitants of Paris and calm their 
 disquietude as to the intentions and patriotism of the 
 men to whom arms had been I'estored. 
 
 The committees, perceiving that the section of Le- 
 peUetier had become the focus of intrigue, and would 
 shortly perhaps be the head-quarters of rebellion, re- 
 solved that the section should be surrounded and dis- 
 armed without delay. Menou received a fresh order 
 to quit Les Sablons with a corps of troops and artil- 
 lery. This General Menou, an excellent officer, mild 
 and moderate as a citizen, had led throughout the 
 revolution a painful and harassing existence. Sent to 
 combat in La Vendee, he had been tormented by all 
 the vexatious proceedings of the Ronsin part}'. Trans- 
 ferred to Paris, and threatened with a trial, he had 
 owed his life to the timely occurrence of the 9th Ther- 
 midor. Nominated general of the army of the interior 
 on the 4th Prairial, and directed to march on the 
 faubourgs, he had upon that occasion to oppose men 
 who were his natural enemies — men, moreover, pro- 
 scribed by opinion, and who, above all, cared, in their 
 furious energy, too little for the lives of others to 
 inspire scrui)les about sacrificing theirs ; but now it 
 was the superior population of the capital, the youth 
 of the best families, the class, in short, which ruled 
 opinion, that he was appointed to massacre, if it per- 
 sisted in its heedless criminality. He was thrown, 
 therefore, into cruel perplexity by this consideration, 
 as is usual with a weak man who shrinks from resign- 
 ing his commission, and yet cannot reconcile himself 
 to a rigorous lino of duty. He put his columns in 
 motion with great tardiness ; he allowed the sections 
 the whole day of the 12th to act and publish procla- 
 mations as they listed ; he even opened a secret parley 
 with some of their leaders, instead of acting promptly ; 
 and declared to the three representatives intrusted 
 with the direction of the armed force, that he would 
 not have under his orders the battalion of patriots. 
 The representatives intimated to him, in reply, that 
 the battalion, so obnoxious in his eyes, was placed 
 under the sole command of General Berruyer. They 
 urged him to fulfil the hij unctions of the committees, 
 without denouncing to them his indecision and luke- 
 warmness. They detected, moreover, a similar repug- 
 nance on the part of sundry officers, and amongst 
 others, in the two genends of brigade, Despierre and 
 Debar, Avho, pretending illness, absented themselves 
 from their posts. At length, as night was closing in, 
 Menou advanced, with the representative Laporte, on 
 the section of LepeUetier. It was sitting in the con- 
 vent of the Filles Saint-Thomas, which has been since 
 replaced by the fine structure of the I2xchange. They 
 proceeded thither by the Rue Vivienne. Menou ac-
 
 IIIISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 541 
 
 cumulated his infantry, cavalry, and artillery, in this 
 street, placing himself in a position where he woiild 
 have fought under great disadvantages, encompassed 
 by the multitude of sectionaries, who blocked all the 
 outlets and crowded the windows of the houses. He 
 eventually planted his cannou before the door of the 
 convent, and entered, Avith the representative Laporte 
 and a battalion, into the hall occupied by the section. 
 The members of the section, instead of being formed 
 into a deliberative assembly, Avere under arms and 
 drawn up in line, with their president, M. Uelalot, at 
 their head. The general and the representative sum- 
 moned them to surrender their arms ; they sternly 
 refused. The president Delalot, seeing the faintness 
 and hesitation M'ith which the summons was made, 
 replied with warmth, addressed the soldiers of Menou 
 pertinently and with much presence of mind, and 
 announced that the last extremities must be resorted 
 to before the section would lay down its arms. To 
 commence an engagement in that confined area, or to 
 retire and bombard the convent with cannon-balls, 
 was a dolorous alternative undoubtedly ; but if Menou 
 had spoken Avith firmness and pointed his cannon in 
 readiness to fire, it is questionable whether the reso- 
 lution of the sectionaries would not have quailed. 
 Menou and Laporte preferred a capitulation ; they 
 TUidertook to withdraw the troops of the convention, 
 on receiving a pledge that the section would instantly 
 separate : it gave, or feigned to give, the required pro- 
 mise. A part of its battalion actually defiled as if to 
 retire. Menou, on his part, left the building with his 
 company, and wheeled round his columns, which ex- 
 perienced great difficidty in traversing the multitude 
 amassed in the surrounding quarters. Whilst he thus 
 Aveakly recoiled before the firmness of the section, 
 that body re-entered its hall of session, and, proud of 
 its successful resistance, was more than ever confirmed 
 in its rebellious spirit. The report quickly circulated 
 that the decrees were not executed, that the insurrec- 
 tion was triumphant, that the troojis had returned 
 witliout having succeeded in enforcing the authority 
 of the convention. Numerous spectators of the late 
 scene flew to the galleries of the convention, Avhich 
 was in permanence, apprised the deputies of its inci- 
 dents, and soon from all sides voices were heard voci- 
 ferating, "We are betrayed! Ave are betrayed ! Gene- 
 ral Menou to the bar !" The committees were ordered 
 to attend and give explanations. 
 
 At this moment the committees, warned of the 
 pusillanimous retreat of their general, Avere in the 
 utmost alarm and agitation. They determined to 
 arrest Menou, and judge him on the instant. But his 
 punishment could not retrieve afiiiirs ; what he had 
 lacked fortitude to perform required to be done, and 
 promptly too. But forty individuals, discussing mea- 
 sures of execution, Avere little adapted for resolving 
 and acting Avith the necessary vigour and precision. 
 Nor Avere three persons, holding the command of the 
 armed force, fitted to exercise an authority equal to 
 the emergency. The idea of nominating a single 
 leader Avas suggested, as on all critical occasions ; and 
 at this instant, Avhich vividly recalled the dangers of 
 the 9th Thermidor, memory reverted to the deputy 
 Barras, who, in his capacity of genend of brigade, had 
 received the conunand on that famous day, and ac- 
 quitted himself Avitli all the energy desirable. The 
 deputy Barras was tall in stature, and possessed a 
 sonorous voice ; he was incapable of making long 
 speeches, but lie excelled in the art of extemporising 
 short, graphic, and vehement phrases, which obtained 
 for him the reputation of a resolute and sincere man. 
 He was now, accordingly, appointed general of the 
 army of the interior, and giA-en as adjuncts tlie three 
 representatives previously charged with the direction 
 of the armed force. This selection of the conmiitt ees 
 proved singularly ha))py, from a circumstance Avhich 
 may be deemed fortuitous. Barras had near him an 
 officer eminently qualified to command, and he dared 
 
 not have displayed the deplorable meanness of throw- 
 ing aside a man he knew to be more able than himself. 
 All the deputies conmiissioned to the army of Italv 
 Avere acquainted with the young oflicer of artillery 
 Avho had decided the capture of Tcjulon, and carried 
 Saorgio and the lines of the Koya. That young oflacer, 
 after attaining the rank of general of brigade, had 
 been superseded by Aubry, and Avas condemned to 
 loiter in Paris, inactive and almost reduced to indi- 
 gence.* He had been introduced to Madame Tallien, 
 Avho received him Avith her accustomed amiability, 
 and CA-en exerted her powers of solicitation in his 
 behalf. His figure Avas sliglit, and somewhat short, 
 his cheeks hollow and livid ; but his expressive fea- 
 tures, his fixed and piercing eyes, the firmness and 
 originality of his language, attracted attention. He 
 frequently spoke of a decisive theatre of Avar, Avhere 
 the republic Avould find victories and peace : he meant 
 Italy. He laboured assiduously to impress that be- 
 lief: it Avas the constant theme of his discourse. 
 Thus, Avhen the lines of the Ajiennines Avere lost 
 under KeUerraann, he Avas called before the committee 
 to })ropound his views. The committee at that time 
 confided to him the framing of dispatches, and he had 
 remained attached to the direction of the militaiy 
 operations. Barras remembered him on the 12th 
 Vendemiaire, and demanded him as second in com- 
 mand, Avhich Avas accorded. The tAvo nominations, 
 submitted to the convention the same night, Avere 
 immediately confirmed. Barras delegated the care of 
 the military operations to the 3'oung general, avIio 
 undertook the charge Avith alacrity, and proceeded to 
 issue orders Avith extreme activity. 
 
 MeanAvhile, the call to arms had continued to beat 
 in all the quarters of Paris. Emissaries had been dis- 
 patched in every direction to extol the resistance and 
 success of the section Lepelletier, exaggerate its dan- 
 gers, inculcate that those dangers were connnon to all 
 the sections, pique their spirit of emulation and honour, 
 and excite them to rival the brave grenadiers of Saint- 
 Thomas. These instigations Avere successful. jMen 
 hastened from all parts, and a central miiitarA' com- 
 mittee Avas at length formed in the section of Lepel- 
 letier, under the presidency of the journalist Kicher- 
 berizy. The project of an insurrection Avas finally 
 decided : the battalions mustered, irresolute men Avere 
 borne along almost in their oa^'u despite, and the Avhole 
 burgher class of Paris, deluded upon a false point of 
 honour, prepared to play a part little adapted to its 
 habits or fitted to promote its interests. 
 
 The time Avas past for entertaining the idea of 
 
 * [Tlie following notice of Bonaparte at this period, wlien we 
 refltct on his future destiny, seems inexpressibly interesting. It 
 is taken from the memoirs of the Duoliess D'Abrantes: — 
 
 " On Uonapiirte's return to Paris, lie wjis in very destitute cir- 
 cumstani'os. From time to time he received remittances, I sus- 
 l)Oot from his brother Joseph ; but with all his economy, these 
 supplies were insufficient, lie was therefore in absolute distress. 
 Junot used often to speak of the six months they passed together 
 in Paris at this time. When they took an evening stroll on the 
 Houlevard, which used to be the resort of young men mounted on 
 fine liorses and displaying all the luxuries which they were per- 
 mitted to show at that time, lJonap;irte would declaim against 
 fate, and exjiress his contempt for the coxcombs, who, as they 
 rode past, would cidogise in ecstacy the manner in whicli Madamo 
 Scio sang. ' And is it on such beings as these," he would s;iy, 
 ' that Fortune confers her favours ? Heavens, how conteniptiblo 
 is human nature !' His friend Junot used occasionally to resort 
 to the gaming-table; he was often successful, and on these occ.i- 
 sions lie and Honaparte used to make merry and pay off their 
 most pressing debts. The latter was at that time attired in the 
 costume he wore almost ever after. IIo had on a grey greatcoat 
 very plainly made, buttoned up to his chin ; a round hat, which 
 was either drawn over his forehead so as almost to conceal his eyes, 
 or stuck upon tlie back of his head so that it appeared iu danger 
 of falling ofl"; and a black cravat very clumsily tied." It was at 
 this time that he is stated to have left his sword at a coffeehouse 
 in security of his reckoning, redeemed by Talma, the celebrated | 
 tragedian.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 marching on the section Lepelletier, to crush the in- 
 surrection in embryo. The convention had only about 
 five thousand troops of tlie line at its disposal. If all 
 the sections manifested the like zeal, they could bring- 
 together forty thousand men, perfectly armed and or- 
 ganised, and it was assuredly not with five thousand 
 men the convention could venture to advance through 
 the streets of a large capital, upon forty thousand 
 redoubtable adversaries. The utmost hope, therefore, 
 •was to defend the convention by converting it into an 
 intrenched camp. Tliis was the course projected by 
 General Bonaparte. The sections were devoid of 
 artillery ; they had all delivered \i\) their cannon after 
 the 4th Prairial, and the most turbulent at present 
 were then the first to give the example, in order to 
 ensure the disarming of the Fauboiu'g Saint- Antoine. 
 This was a circumstance of great advantage to the con- 
 vention. The entire i)ark was located in the canij) of 
 Les Sablons. One of Bonaparte's first measures was 
 to order Colonel Murat to take three hundred horses 
 and bring the whole into Paris. That officer arrived 
 at the very moment a battalion of the section Lejiel- 
 letier was advancing to seize the park ; he outstripped 
 the battalion, yoked his horses, and dragged the pieces 
 to the Tuileries. Bonaparte then took his precautions 
 for barricading the avenues. He had five thousand 
 soldiers of the line; a troop of patriots, which, since the 
 preceding night, had been increased to fifteen hundred 
 men ; several gendarmes of the tribunals, disarmed in 
 Prairial and re-armed on this occasion; and, lastly, the 
 police legion, and a few invalids, the whole scarcely 
 amounting to eight thousand men. He distributed his 
 troops and artillery in the streets Cul-de-sac Dauphiiie, 
 L'Echelle, Rohan, andSaint-Nicaise; onthePont-Neuf, 
 the Pont-Royal, and the Pont Louis XVI. ; on the 
 places Louis XV. and Vendome — on all the points, in 
 short, whereby the convention Avas accessible. He 
 placed his corps of cavalrj% and a part of his infantry, 
 in reserve on the Carrousel and in the garden of the 
 Tuileries. He directed that all the provisions stored 
 in Paris should be transported to tlie Tuileries, and 
 that a depot of munitions, and an infirmary for the 
 wounded, should be likewise established in that palace. 
 He sent a detachment to seize the depot of Meudon, 
 and to occu])}' its heights, with the view of retiring on 
 that point with the convention in case of a reverse. 
 He caused the Saint-Germain road to be blockaded, 
 in order to prevent cannon being brought to the rebels ; 
 and chests of arms to be conveyed to the Faubourg 
 Saint- Antoine, in order to arm the section of the 
 Quinze-Vingts, which had alone voted fi)r the decrees, 
 and whose zeal Freron had proceeded to kindle. These 
 dispositions were comi)leted during the morning of the 
 13th. Orders were issued to the republican troops to 
 await aggression, and to avoid provoking it. 
 
 During the like interval, the committee of insur- 
 rection, established at the section of Lepelletier, had 
 likewise made its dispositions. It had declared the 
 governing committees out of the pale of the law, and 
 instituted a species of tribunal to judge those who 
 should resist the sovereignty of the sections. Sundry 
 generals had appeared to offer it their services — a V^en- 
 dean, known under the name of the Count do Mau- 
 levrier, and a young emigrant, called Lafond, emerged 
 from their retreats to direct tlie movement. The 
 Generals Duhoux and Danican, who had commanded 
 the republican armies in La Vendee, had joined the 
 insurgents. Danican was a restless personage, better 
 calculated to shine as a declaimer in clubs than as the 
 commander of an army ; he had been a friend of Iloche, 
 ■who often rebuked him for his vagaries and incon- 
 sistencies. He was now at Paris, erased from the 
 army-list, discontented with the government, and quite 
 prepared to embrace any desperate project; he was 
 appointed generahssimo of the sections. The determi- 
 nation having been irrevocably taken to wage battle, 
 and the citizens being committed to the enterprise 
 past recall, a regular plan of attack was digested. The ' 
 
 sections of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, under the 
 orders of the Count de !^la^devrier, were to start from 
 the Odcon with the view of attacking the Tuileries by 
 the bridges ; the sections on tlie right bank of the Seine 
 were to advance by the Eue Saint-Honore and all the 
 cross streets leading from the Rue Saint-Honore to the 
 Tuileries. A detachment, under the orders of young 
 Lafond, was to occupy the Pont-Neuf, so as to preserve 
 the communication between the two divisions of the 
 sectionary army. In the van of the columns were 
 stationed the young men who had served in the armies, 
 and who were best adapted for standing the fire of 
 artillery. Of the forty thousand men composing the 
 national guard, twenty or twenty-seven thousand at 
 the utmost were present under arms. An infinitely 
 surer manoeuvre was open to them than that of con- 
 fronting the fire of the batteries in deep columns ; this 
 consisted in tlu-owing up barricades in the streets, 
 enclosing the convention and its troops in the Tuileries, 
 seizing upon tlie surrounding houses, directing thence 
 a continuous fire, picking off the defenders of the na- 
 tional representation, and thus leisurely reducing them 
 by bullets and famine. But the insurgents thought 
 only of a direct assault, and expected by a single charge 
 to penetrate to the palace, an t force their way into its 
 precincts. 
 
 In the course of the morning, the section of Poisson- 
 niere intercepted the artillery horses and the arms 
 intended for the section of the Quinze-Vingts ; that 
 of !Mont-Blanc carried off the provisions destined for 
 the Tuileries ; a detachment of the section Lepelletier 
 took possession of the Treasur3\ Lafond, at the head 
 of several companies, moved towards the Pont-Neuf, 
 whilst other battalions proceeded by the Rue Dau- 
 phine. General Carteaux had been charged to guard 
 that bridge with four hundred men and four pieces of 
 cannon. Not wishing to commence the engagement, 
 he retired upon the quay of the Louvre. The batta- 
 lions of the sections advanced on aU sides, and drew 
 up a few paces from the posts of the convention, suf- 
 ficiently near to converse with the sentinels. 
 
 Tlie troops of the convention would have had a de- 
 cided advantage if they had taken the initiative, and 
 probably, by making a sudden attack, they would 
 have thrown the assailants into confusion ; but the 
 generals had been recommended to await aggression. 
 In consequence, notwithstanding the acts of hostility 
 already committed, notwithstanding the abduction of 
 the artillery horses, the seizure of the provisions des- 
 tined for the Tuileries and of the arms forwarded to the 
 Quinze-Vingts, and the murder of an hussar attached 
 to the ordnance, slain in the Rue Saint-Honore, they 
 still persisted in maintaining a defensive attitude. 
 
 The forenoon had thus elapsed in preparations on 
 the part of the sections, in observance on the part of 
 the conventional army, when Danican, before begin- 
 ning the combat, deemed it fitting to dispatch an 
 envoy to the committees with a tender of conditions. 
 Barras and Bonaparte were visiting the posts when 
 the envoy was conducted to them, his eyes bandaged 
 as in a place of war. They directed him to be led 
 before the committees. The envoy spoke in very 
 menacing terms, and oflTered peace on condition that 
 the patriots were disarmed and the supplementary 
 decrees of the .5th and 13th Fructidor repealed. Such 
 conditions were inadmissible; and, furthermore, none 
 could be then entertained. However, the committees, 
 deliberating to avoid a specific answer, resolved to 
 nominate twenty -four deputies for the purpose of fra- 
 ternising with tlie sections — an expedient which had 
 often succeeded ; for words of conciliation have a 
 mighty effect on men ready to engage in mortal strife, 
 and tiiey willingly accede to an arrangement which 
 may obviate the necessity of the murderous appeaL 
 Meanwhile Danican, receiving no reply to his propo- 
 sitions, issued orders for the attack. Volleys of mus- 
 ketry were heard : Bonaparte sent into one of the 
 rooms of the convention eight hundred guns and car
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 543 
 
 touche-boxes, in order to arm tlie representatives 
 themselves, who would serve, in case of need, as a 
 body of reserve. Tliis precaution made manifest the 
 full extent of the danger. Each deputy hastened to 
 take his seat, and, following the precedent of earlier 
 crises, the assembly awaited in profound stillness the 
 result of the combat, the first regidar battle it had 
 waged against the revolted sections. 
 
 It was half-past four, afternoon. Bonaparte, accom- 
 panied by Barras, mounted his horse in the court of 
 the Tuileries, and galloped to the post of the Cul-de- 
 sac Dauphine, fronting the church of Saint-Roch. The 
 sectionary battalions filled the Street Saint-Honore, 
 and were pushing towards the entrance of the cul-de- 
 sac. One of their best battalions had taken post on the 
 steps of the church Saint-Roch, and was placed in an 
 advantageous position for shooting the conventional 
 artillerymen. Bonaparte, weU aware of the impor- 
 tance of the first blow, immediately advanced his 
 pieces, and ordei-ed a general discharge. The sec- 
 tionaries retorted by a continuous volley of musketry; 
 but Bonaparte, showering uj^on them grape-shot, 
 obliged them to recoil on the steps of the church Saint- 
 Roch ; he instantly debouched into the Street Saint- 
 Honore, and directed upon the church a troop of 
 patriots, who fought by his side Avith the greatest 
 intrepidity, and who were moreover animated by the 
 injiu'ies they had to avenge. The sectionaries, after a 
 vigorous resistance, were dislodged. Bonaparte, turning 
 his pieces to the right and to the left, swept the whole 
 length of the Rue Saint-Honore. The assailants fortli- 
 with fled on all sides, and retreated in the utmost dis- 
 order. Thereupon Bonaparte left to an officer the task 
 of continuing the fire and completing the defeat ; he 
 himself retiarned towards the Carrousel, and hurried 
 to the other posts. He every where ordered discharges 
 of grape, and soon put to flight those unfortunate 
 sectionaries, so imprudently exposed in deep columns 
 to the effects of artillery. The sectionaries, although 
 having at their head men of great bravery, fl', d pre- 
 cipitately towards the head-quarters of tlie Filles 
 Saint-Thomas. Danican and the other leaders then 
 recognised the fault they had committed in marching 
 on intrenched cannon ^instead of throwing up barri- 
 cades and effecting a lodgment in the houses contigii- 
 ous to the Tuileries. Hi)wever, their courage was still 
 buoj'ant, and they determined to make a renewed 
 effort. They agreed to operate a junction with the 
 columns advancing from the Faubourg Saint-Ger- 
 main, with the view of attempting a general assault 
 on the bridges. Accordingly, they rallied from six to 
 eight thousand men, directed them towards the Pont- 
 Neuf, where Lafond was posted M'ith his troop, and 
 coalesced with the battalions coming from the Rue 
 Dauphine, under the command of Count IMaulevrier. 
 All blended together, advanced in close column from 
 the Pont-Neuf towards the Ront-Royal, following the 
 Quay Voltaire. Bonaparte, always present where 
 danger called, had hastened to this locality. He 
 planted several batteries on the quay of the Tuileries, 
 which runs parallel with the Quay Voltaire; he caused 
 the cannons placed at tlie end of the I'ont-Hoyal to be 
 moved forward, and pointed so as to enfilade tlie quay 
 whereby the assailants were approaching. These 
 measures taken, he allowed the sectionaries to draw 
 near; suddenly he gave the word to fire. Volleys of 
 grape poured from the bridge, and mowed the section- 
 aries in front ; simultaneous discharges crossed from 
 the quay of the Tuileries, and swept them in flank. 
 Dreadful havoc ensued in their ranks : tlie insurgents 
 were stricken with dismay. Young Lafond, still un- 
 daunted, rallied around him his firmest soldiers, and 
 continued to push for the bridge, with the hope of 
 capturing the ordnance. A redoubled fire scattered 
 his column. He vainly strove to rally it a last time ; 
 it fled and dispersed in all directions before the ter- 
 rific thunder of the artillery. 
 
 At six o'clock, the conflict, commenced half an hour 
 
 before five, was over. Bonaparte, who had evinced 
 
 merciless energy in action, and fired on the population 
 of the capital as on Austrian battalions, now gave 
 orders to load with powder only, to consunmiate the 
 discomfiture of the rebels. Some sectionaries had 
 intrenched themselves on the Place Vendome, in 
 the church of Saint-Roch, and in the Palais-Royal, 
 lie caused his troops to debouch by all the avenues 
 of the Rue Saint-Honore, and detached a corps which, 
 starting from the Place Louis-Quinze, traversed the 
 Rue Royale, and skirted the Boulevards. He thus 
 rendered the Place Vendome untenable, cleared the 
 church of Saint-Roch, invested the Palais-Royal, and 
 blockaded its area, in order to avoid the hazards of a 
 nocturnal combat. 
 
 The following morning a few shots sufficed to pro- 
 cure the evacuation of the Palais-Royal and the con- 
 vent of the section Lepelletier, where the insurgents 
 had contemplated intrenching themselves. Bonaparte 
 threw down some barricades formed near the barrier 
 of Les Sergents, and stopped a detachment advancing 
 from Saint-Germain with cannon for the sectionaries. 
 Tranquillity was entirely re-established during tlie 
 forenoon of the 14th. The dead were removed with all 
 speed, and every other trace of the melancholy con- 
 flict forthwith obliterated. Three or four hundred 
 bodies were collected, killed and wounded on both 
 sides. 
 
 This victory excited general joy amongst the sincere 
 friends of the republic, who coidd not be insensible to 
 the influence of royalism in the recent movement. It 
 restored to the menaced convention, that is to say to 
 tlie revolution and its authors, the authority thej' so 
 much needed for the consolidation of the new institu- 
 tions. At the same time, an universal sentiment pre- 
 vailed adverse to harshness and severity. A reproach 
 was ready-coined against the convention : malignants 
 were prepared to assert that it had fought on tlie late 
 occasion under the banner of terrorism, and witli the 
 view of re-establishing its reign. Hence the impor- 
 tance of averting all pretext for the imputation that it 
 purposed to shed blood. Moreover, the sectionaries 
 had approved themselves but sorry conspirators, and 
 showed they were far from possessing the energy of 
 the patriots; thej' had hastened to regain their homes, 
 satisfied with their escape from the dangers of the 
 day, and proud of having braved for an instant that 
 artillery which had so often shattered the lines of 
 Brunswick and Cobourg. So that they were left to 
 indulge in harmless boasts of their courage, there was 
 little fear of their becoming dangerous. Upon these 
 considerations, therefore, the convention contented 
 itself with dismissing the staflT of the national guard, 
 dissolving the companies of grenadiers and chasseurs, 
 which were the best organised of the sectionary forces, 
 and contained almost all the young men of the " gilded 
 youth," placing the national guard for the future 
 under the orders of the general commanding the army 
 of the interior, ordaining the sections Lepelletier and 
 the Thcatre-Francais to be disarmed, and instituting 
 three commissions to try the chiefs of the rebellion, 
 who, however, had for the most part disappeared. 
 
 The companies of grenadiers and chasseurs quietly 
 yielded to the order for their dissolution ; the sections 
 of Lepelletier and the Thcatre-Francais surrendered 
 their arms without resistance ; all, in fact, evinced a 
 docile and submissive spirit. Tlie committees, fully 
 participating in the general bias to lenity, allowed the 
 implicated to escape by flight or to remain in careless 
 concealment at Paris. Tlie commissions pronounced 
 all their sentences in contumacy. One only of the 
 armed leaders was aiipreheiided — young Lafond. He 
 had insj)ired considerable interest by his intrepidity, 
 and a wish to spare him was entertained ; but he ob- 
 stinately insisted on avowing himself a returned emi- 
 grant, and vindicating his rebellion : it was found 
 impossible to pardon him. So great was the tolerance, 
 that a member of the committee formed to direct the
 
 544 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 insurrection at the section of Lepelletier, M. de Cas- 
 tcUanc, encountering a patrol one night, who challenged 
 him with the usual cry, " Who goes there?" replied, 
 " Castcllane, an oixtlaw I " The consequences of the 
 13th Vendemiaire, tliercforc, were singularly bloodless, 
 and the capital was saved from an}' of those harrow- 
 ing scenes which had so often thrown it into sadness 
 and gloom. The guilty retired, or Avalked freely 
 abroad, and the saloons resounded with narratives of 
 the exploits they were not afraid to recount. Instead 
 of punishing those who had attacked it, the conven- 
 tion rewarded those who hail defended it ; it declared 
 they had deserved well of the country, voted them 
 subsidies, and accorded to Barras and Bonaparte, in 
 particular, distinguished honours. Barras, already 
 celebrated for his conduct during the 9th Thermidor, 
 reai)ed vast additional renown from the affair of Ven- 
 demiaire : the preservation of the convention was at- 
 tinbuted to his exertions. However, he had the 
 candour to throw jiart of liis glory on his young lieu- 
 tenant. " It is General Bonaparte," he said, " whose 
 prompt and skilful dispositions saved this edifice." 
 These words were warmly applauded. The command 
 of the army of the interior was confirmed to Barras, 
 and the post of second in command to Bonaparte. 
 
 The royalist intriguers were somewhat puzzled 
 to account for this issue of the grand insurrection. 
 They wrote to Verona that they hud been deceived by 
 every one ; that money had been deplorably deficient ; 
 that " where there ought to have been gold they had 
 scarcely found old rags ;" that " the monarchist de- 
 puties, those from whom they had promises, had 
 Avofidly deceived them, and played a villanous game ;" 
 that " they were a Jacobinical race, in whom no trust 
 could be placed ;" that, " unfortunately, those who 
 wished well to the cause had not been suiEciently 
 compromised and committed ;" that " the royalists of 
 Paris with black and green collars and braided hair, 
 who were such braggadocios under the roofs of theatres, 
 had fled at the first musket-shot, and concealed them- 
 selves beneath the beds of the women who coun- 
 tenanced them." 
 
 Lemaitre, their leader, had been arrested with other 
 instigators of the section Lepelletier. At his house a 
 quantity- of papers had been seized : the royalists were 
 struck with ajjprehension lest these papers might 
 betray the secret of their plot, and, above all, lest Le- 
 maitre himself might make fatal revelations. Still 
 they were far from losing courage ; tlieir trusty adepts 
 in agitation contiimed to perambulate the sections. 
 The impmiity allowed to the sectionaries had conduced 
 to resuscitate their hardihood. Since tlie convention, 
 they argued, although victorious, dared not punish 
 them, it clearly recognised that opinion was on their 
 side; it could not be sure of the justice of its cause 
 since it thus hesitated. Accordingh% notwithstanding 
 their defeat, they assumed an air of superiority over 
 the convention, and reappeared in the electoral as- 
 semblies to carry the elections in conformity with their 
 views. Those assemblies were appointed to meet on 
 the 20th Vendemiaire and to continue until the 30th ; 
 the new legislative body was convoked for the 5th 
 Brumaire. At Paris, the royalist agents secxu'ed the 
 nomination of the conventionalist Saladin, whom they 
 had previously gained. In several departments they 
 provoked collisicms ; schisms ensued in many of the 
 electoral assemblies, and those bodies separated into 
 two hostile parts. 
 
 These machinations, this revival of audacity, con- 
 tributed greatly to irritate the patriots who had seen, 
 ui the events of the 13th, all their prognostics realised, 
 and were proud at once of having divined so justly, 
 and of having overcome by their courage the danger 
 they had foretold. They were naturally desirous that 
 the victory should not be wholly useless to their party, 
 but lead to retributive severities on their adversaries, 
 and reparations to their friends detained in the prisons. 
 Thus they framed iKstitions, wherein they craved the 
 
 liberation of patriots in captivity, the dismissal of the 
 otiicers appointed by Aubry, the restoration to their 
 grades of those superseded by him, the trial of the 
 incarcerated deputies, and their reintegration on the 
 electoral lists, if they should be proved innocent. The 
 IMountain, supported by the galleries which were filled 
 with patriots, cheered these demands, and contended 
 with vehemence for their adoption. Tallien, the civil 
 leader of the predominant partj% as Barras was its 
 military chief, and who had recently approximated 
 towards the IMountain, strove to moderate its violence, 
 and caused the withdrawal of the last demand relative 
 to the insertion of the imprisoned deputies on the 
 electoral lists, as contrar}- to the decrees of the 5th 
 and 1 3th Fructidor. Those decrees, in fiict, declared 
 ineligible the deputies actually suspended from their 
 functions. However, the Mountain was equally diffi- 
 cult to keep in check as the sectionaries ; and it seemed 
 almost impossible that the latter days of the National 
 Convention, Mhich had but a decade to sit, coidd elapse 
 Mithout some final storm to illustrate its demise. 
 
 The intelligence from the frontiers likewise tended 
 to foment agitation, by arousing suspicions on the 
 part of the patriots, and stimulating the inextinguish- 
 able hopes of the royalists. We have mentioned that 
 Jourdan had passed the Khine at Diisseldorf, and ad- 
 vanced on the Sieg; that Pichegru had entered Man- 
 heim, and thrown a division beyond the Rhine. These 
 propitious events had failed to inspire the so-much- 
 vaunted Pichegru with any great conception, and he 
 had fully demonstrated either his incapacity or per- 
 fidy. According to analogous deductions, we should 
 attribute his errors to incapacity, for, even with the 
 contemplation of treachery, a man never refuses an 
 opportunity of obtaining signal advantages: they 
 always serve to enhance the value of his defection. 
 Nevertheless, contemporaries worthy of credit have 
 judged tliat his false manoeuvres must be imputed to 
 treacher}'; in which case he is the only general known 
 in history who has wilfully contrived his own dis- 
 comfiture. It was not a mere corps he ought to have 
 thrown beyond Manheim, but his entire army, in 
 order to seize upon Heidelberg, which is the essential 
 pf)int where the roads cross leading from the Upper 
 Rhine into the valleys of the Neckar and the IMaine. 
 He would thus have occupied the point whereby 
 Wurmser could effect a junction with Clairfayt, for 
 ever separated those two generals, and made sure of 
 the position, enabling him to unite with Jourdan and 
 to form with liim a mass capable of successively over- 
 whelming Clairfayt and Wurmser. Clairfayt. dis- 
 cerning the danger, quitted the banks of the Maine, 
 and hastened to Heidelberg ; but his lieutenant, Kwas- 
 danovieh, aided by Wurmser, had already succeeded 
 in dislodging from Heidelberg the division which 
 Pichegru had pl.mted in that place. Thereupon, 
 Pichegru being immured in ^lanheim, and himself 
 relieved from all apprehensions as to his communica- 
 tions with Wurmser, Clairfayt immediately marched | 
 on Jourdan. This latter general, squeezed between I 
 the Rhine and the line of the Prussian neutrality, de- ; 
 barred from using the country in a hostile manner, j 
 and having no service organised for drawing resources 
 from the Low Countries, found himself in a most i 
 critical position, where he could neither advance for- 
 ward nor oj)erate a junction with Pichegru. More- | 
 over, Clairfayt, not respecting the neutndity, had 
 extended his forces in such a manner as to turn his 
 left, and threaten to drive him into the Rhine. It 
 was imi)Ossible for Jourdan, therefore, to remain 
 where he was. The representatives and the generals, 
 convoked in a council of war, recommended that he 
 shouhl recoil on Mayence, and form the blockade of 
 that city on the right bank. But that position would 
 be equally hazardous with the preceding ; it left him 
 in the same destitution, exposed him to the attacks 
 of Clairfayt in a disadvantageous situation, and sub- 
 jected him to the risk of losing his communications!
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 545 
 
 towards Diisseldorf; in consequence, it was ulti- 
 niately determined that he should execute a retreat, 
 with the view of regaining the Lower Khine, wliich 
 he accomphshed in good order, and without being 
 incommoded by Clairfayt, who, revolving a grand 
 project, returned upon the Maine in order to keep in 
 the vicinity of iLayence. 
 
 The effect of these tidings, intimating the retrograde 
 march of the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse, was ag- 
 gravated by sinister rumours touching the army of 
 Italy. Scherer had joined it with two excellent divi- 
 sions from the Easteril Pyrenees, rendered disposable 
 by the peace with 8]iain ; but nevertheless that gene- 
 ral was stated to view his position as extremely preca- 
 rious, and to have demanded succours in materiel and 
 supplies, which the government could not forward to 
 him, and without which he threatened to make a re- 
 trograde movement. Lastly, reports were circulated 
 cf a second expedition from England, bearing the 
 Coimt d'Artois and numerous troops for disembarka- 
 tion. 
 
 These various tidings, although little alarming as 
 regarded the stability of the republic, which still held 
 the coiu-se of the Rhine, possessed two additional ar- 
 mies to detach, the one into Italy and the other into 
 La Vendee, and had such recent grounds, in the event 
 at Quiberon, for confidently relying on Hoche and 
 disregarding the expeditions of the emigrants, tended 
 notwithstanding to reinvigorate the royalists, pros- 
 trated for the moment by the 13th Vendtiuiaire, and 
 to exasperate the patriots, discontented with the 
 manner in which that victory had been used. The 
 discovery of Lemaitre's coiTcspondence. above all, 
 produced a most baneful impression. Therein was 
 detected the entire plot, as it had been long susjDected. 
 All doubts were removed as to the existence of a 
 secret agency established at Paris, communicating 
 with Verona, La Vendee, and all the provinces of 
 France, fomenting counter-revolutionary movements, 
 and maintaining intelligence with several members of 
 the convention and the committees. The very boast- 
 ing of those wretched agents, who plumed themselves 
 on having gained sometimes generals, sometimes depu- 
 ties, and who professed to hold intimate relations with 
 the monarchists and the Thermidoi'ians, contributed 
 still more to excite distrust, and to throw doubts u^ow 
 the honesty of the members of the right side. 
 
 Rovere and Saladin had been previously designated 
 as disguised royalists, and now irrefragable proofs 
 were obtained against them. The latter had published 
 a pamphlet against the decrees of the 5th and 13tli 
 Fructidor, and been rewarded therefor by the suf- 
 frages of the Parisian electors. Lesage [d'Eure-et- 
 Loire], Larivicre, Boissy-d'Anglas, and Lanjuinais, 
 were likewise marked as secret accomplices of the 
 royalist agency. Their silence during the days of the 
 11th, 12th, and 13th Vendemiairc, had given rise to 
 severe conmients. The counter-revolutionary jour- 
 nals, by assiduously extolling them, contributed to 
 compromise them more effectually. Tliese same jour- 
 nals, which so zealously lauded the seventy-three, 
 fiercely vituperated the Thermidorians. Under such 
 circumstances, a rupture must almost necessarily en- 
 sue. The seventy-three and the Tliermidorians still 
 continued to meet at the house of a conunon friend; 
 but nmtual alienation and want of confidence were 
 manifested in their intercourse. Towards the latter 
 days of the session, conversation turned, at one of 
 these meetings, on the new elections, on the intrigiies 
 of the royalists to influence them, and on the sikiue 
 of Boissy-d'Anglas, Lanjuinais, Larivicre, and Le- 
 sage, during the scenes of Vendi'miaire. Lcgcndre, 
 with his usual impetuosity, upbraided the four depu- 
 ties who were present with this silence. They at- 
 tempted to justify themselves. Lanjuinais allowed to 
 escape him the singular expression of the vmsmrrc of 
 the 13th Vendemiaire, thus exhibiting a marvellous 
 confusion of ideas, or sentiments but slenderly repub- 
 
 lican. Tallien, upon hearing this phrase, was moved 
 with the utmost wrath, and prepared to leave the 
 apartment, exclaiming that he would not longer re- 
 main in the society of ro5-alists, but proceed to de- 
 nounce them before the convention. The company 
 intercepted him in his purpose, calmed his irritation, 
 and strove to palliate the language of Lanjuinais! 
 Nevertheless, the parties separated in avowed hosti- 
 lity. 
 
 ]\Ieanwhilc, the excitement grew more vivid in 
 Paris ; misgivings multiplied on all sides, and suspi 
 cions of royalism extended vaguely and indefinitely. 
 Tallien moved the convention to resolve itself into 
 a secret conmuttee, and then formally denounced 
 Lesage, Larivicre, Boissy-d'Anglas, and Lanjuinais. 
 His proofs were not sufficient ; they rested only on 
 deductions more or less probable, and the accusation 
 was not sustained. Louvet, although attached to the 
 Thermidori-ins, declined to support the denunciation 
 against the four deputies, m-1io were his personal 
 friends ; but he accused Rovere and Saladin, and ex- 
 patiated on their conduct in vehement terms. He 
 retraced their career in its alternations from the most 
 rabid terrorism to the most violent royalism, and pro- 
 voked a decree of arrest against them. The like pro- 
 ceeding was adopted against Lhomond, comj)romised 
 by Lemaitre and by Aubry, the author of the niili- 
 tary reaction. 
 
 The adversaries of Tallien moved, in reprisal, the 
 publication of a letter from the pretender to the Due 
 d'Harcourt, wherein, speaking of what was communi- 
 cated to him from Paris, he said, "I cannot believe 
 that Tallien is a royalist of the true kind." It will 
 be recollected that the agents at Paris pretended to 
 have gained Tallien and Hoche. Their hal)itual 
 vauntings, and their calumnies with respect to Hoche, 
 suffice to acquit Tallien of the imputation. Tlie letter 
 itself had very little effect, for TalHen, since the ca- 
 tastrophe of Quiberon, and his conduct in Vende- 
 miaire, had departed so far from any semblance of 
 royalism as to be esteemed a sanguinary terrorist. 
 Thus, the men who ought to have acted in concert — 
 directed their common efforts to save a revolution 
 M-hich was their own work — viewed each other M-ith 
 distrust and animosity, and suflered themselves to be 
 tarnished in reputation, if not actually seduced, by 
 the machinations of roj'alism. Owing to the calunmies 
 of the royalists, this illustrious assembly closed as it 
 had begun, in turmoil and contention. 
 
 Tallien eventually proposed the a])pointment of a 
 commission, to consist of five members, charged to 
 propound efficacious measures for upholding the revo- 
 lution during the transition from one government to 
 the other. The convention acceded, and nominated 
 Tallien, Duliois-Crance, Florent-Guyot, Eou.x [dc-la- 
 Jlarne], and I'ons of Verdun. The design of this 
 commission was to counteract the manoeuvres of the 
 royalists in the electoral assunblies, and to calm the 
 apprehensions of the rc])ublicans as to the composi- 
 tion of the new government. Tiie Mountain, ever 
 buoyant and ardent, imagining that this connnission 
 would realise all its views, believed for a moment, and 
 circulated the report, that all the elections were to be 
 annulled, and the operation of the constitution sus- 
 pended, for a time to come. The Mountaineers were 
 in truth firndy persuaded that the present was not the 
 period for abandoning the revolution to itself, that the 
 royalists were not sufficiently subdued, and that the 
 revolutionary government ought to be prolonged in 
 order to coiisuTumate their suppression. The coun- 
 ter-revolutionists laboured insidiously to propagate 
 similar rumours. The deputy Thil)audeau, who had 
 hitherto acted neither with the Mountaineers, the 
 Thermidorians, nor the Monarchists, but had never- 
 theless betokened a firm adherence to repidilican jirin- 
 ciples, and on whom the choice of thirty-two depart- 
 ments had just fallen (for by nominating him tlie 
 electors gained the advantage of avoiding a declara-
 
 d4(j 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tion in favour of any party) — Thibandcau Avas very 
 naturally inclined to deem the public mind in a miich 
 sounder state than the Thermidorians. He held that 
 Tallien and his party calumniated the nation by ad- 
 vocatint; so many precautions against it ; he even 
 surmised that Tallien entertained personal schemes — 
 that he meditated planting himself at tlie head of the 
 Mountain, and maturing a dictatorship, under pre- 
 text of preserving the republic from tlie royalists. He 
 accordingly denounced, in virulent and unmeasured 
 terms, this pretended project of dictatorship, and dis- 
 charged against Tallien an unexpected tirade, whereat 
 all the republicans were sorely amazed, for the mo- 
 tive was to them a complete enigma. This attack, 
 indeed, ruined Thibaudeau in the opinion of those 
 most predisposed to mistrust; and henceforth inten- 
 tions were imputed to him which he had certainly not 
 formed. If he could refer to his position as a regicide, 
 it was well known, from seized letters,* that the death 
 of Louis XVI. could be expiated by services rendered 
 to his heirs, and this distinction was consequently no 
 longer regarded as an undoubted guarantee. Thus, 
 albeit a sincere republican, his outburst against Tal- 
 lien injured him in the estimation of the patriots, and 
 procured him extravagant eulogies from the royalists. 
 He was designated the Bod of Iron. 
 
 The convention passed to the order of the day, and 
 awaited the report of Tallien from the commission of 
 five. The result of that commission's labours was a 
 project of law containing the following provisions : — 
 Exclusion from all civil, military, legislative, and 
 judicial functions, of emigrants and relatives of emi- 
 grants, until a general peace. 
 
 Permission for all who were unwilling to live under 
 the laws of the republic to quit France and remove 
 their property. 
 
 Dismission of aU officers who had not served during 
 the revolutionary system, that is to sa\', since the lOtli 
 August, and who had been appointed since the 15th 
 Germinal, that is to say, since the administration of 
 Aubry. 
 
 These dispositions were adopted and embodied in a 
 decree. 
 
 Thereafter the convention promulgated, in solemn 
 form, the union of Belgium with France, and its sub- 
 division into departments. F'inally, on the 4th Bru- 
 maire, on theeve of dissolution, it resolved to terminate 
 its long and tempestuous career by a signal homage 
 to humanity. It decreed that the punishment of death 
 should be abolished in tlie French republic from the 
 period of general peace ; it changed the name of tlie 
 Place de la Revolution to that of Place de la Concorde ; 
 and it pronounced an amnesty for all acts having re- 
 ference to the revolution, save for the revolt of the 
 13th Vendemiaire. This was setting at liberty the 
 men of all parties, except Lcmaitre, against whom 
 al )ne of all the conspirators of Vendemiaire sufficient 
 proofs to warrant condemnation existed. The sentence 
 of banishment against BiUaud- Varennes, CoUot-d'Her- 
 bois, and Barrere, wliich had been revoked in order 
 that they might undergo a new trial, or in other words 
 a judgment of death, was confirmed. Barrere,t wlio 
 alone had not yet embarked, was appointed to be trans- 
 ported forthwith. All the prisons were ordered to be 
 tlirown open. At length, two hours and a half after 
 mid-day of the 4th Brumaire year 4 (2Cth October 
 1795), the president of the convention delivered these 
 words : " Tlie National Convention declares that its 
 mission is fulfilled, and its session terminated." Cries 
 enthusiastically repeated of " Long live the republic !" 
 accompanied and followed these last words. 
 
 Thus closed tlie protracted and memorable session 
 of the National Convention. The Constituent As- 
 * ,1fo»ii7eKr of tlie yc.'ir4, page 150. Letter from D'Entraigues 
 to Lemaitre, dated the 10th October 17!''>. 
 
 \ [Barrere, it appears, has only died this year, 1841. lie is re- 
 porte<l to have expired on the 13th February at Torbes, his native 
 place, at the advanced age of 85. 
 
 sembly had found the old feudal organisation to de- 
 stroy and a new organisation to construct : the task 
 of the Legislative Assembly had been to essay this new 
 organisation, burdened with the king left as a com- 
 ponent part of the constitution. After an experiment 
 of several months, it ascertained and proclaimed the 
 incompatibility of the king with the new institutions, 
 and his confederacy Avith coalesced Europe ; it sus- 
 pended the king and the constitution, and abdicated 
 its functions. The convention, therefore, on its con- 
 vocation, encountered a dethroned king, an abrogated 
 constitution, war declared against Europe, and, as re- 
 sources in the emergency, an administration utterly 
 subverted, a paper-money greatlj'^ depreciated, and 
 antiquated forms of regiments, hoUow and emasculated 
 skeletons. Thus, it was not liberty the convention 
 had to assert in presence of an enfeebled and con- 
 temned throne ; it was liberty it liad to defend against 
 all Europe — a task of very different import. L'n- 
 daunted in the crisis, it proclaimed the republic in the 
 teeth of the hostile armies ; it immolated the king to 
 render its contest irrevocable ; eventually it arrogated 
 all authority, and resolved itself into a dictatorship. 
 Within its own pale, voices arose to invoke humanit}' 
 when it would hear only of energj^ ; it stifled them. 
 Speedily this dictatorship, Mdiich it had assumed over 
 France in the exigency of general peril, twelve mem- 
 bers assumed over it, for the like reason and in aggra- 
 vated exigenc}'. From the Alps to the ocean, from the 
 Pyrenees to the Rhine, those twelve dictators seized 
 upon all, men and things, and commenced with the 
 nations of Europe the greatest and most terrible 
 struggle recoi'ded in history. In order to remain 
 supreme directors of this mighty undertaking, thej' 
 smote all parties successively ; and, according to the 
 condition of human weakness, they exhibited their 
 qualities in their extremes. Those qualities were for- 
 titude and energy ; the excess was cruelty. They 
 shed torrents of blood, until, become useless through 
 victory and odious by the abuse of power, they suc- 
 cumbed. The convention thereupon resumed the dic- 
 tatorship, and began by degrees to relax the springs 
 of its redoubtable administration. Tranquillised re- 
 garding its safety by victory, it listened to the voice 
 of humanity, and yielded to its spirit of regeneration. 
 During a year it was actuated by the desire of devis- 
 ing and establisliing whatever was good and great in a 
 community ; but fictions, crushed beneath a merciless 
 authority, revived under a government of clemency 
 and forbearance. Two factions, in which Avere amal- 
 gamated, in infinite shades, the friends and enemies of 
 the revolution, attacked it in turn. It vanquished the 
 first in Germinal and Prairi;d, the second in Vende- 
 miaire, and to the last day manifested an heroic cou- 
 rage amidst dangers. Finally, it framed a republican 
 constitution, and, after a strife of three years, with 
 Europe, v.ith factions, and witli itself, bleeding and 
 mutilated, it abdicated, and transferred France to the 
 Directory. 
 
 It has left behind it terrible reminiscences ; but for 
 its exculpation it has one — one single fact to allege, 
 and all reproaches sink before that stupendous fact 
 — it saved France from foreign invasion ! The pre- 
 ceding assemblies had left France in peril and hazard, 
 it bequeathed France saved and victorious to the Direc- 
 tory and the Emi)ire. If the emigration had succeeded 
 in subduing I' ranee in 1793, no trace had remained of 
 the labours of tlie Constituent Assembly, or of the 
 benefits resulting from the revolution ; instead of 
 tliose admirable civil institutions — of those magni- 
 ficent achievements which signalised the Constituent, 
 the Convention, the Directory, the Consulate, and the 
 Empire — i'rance would have been a prey to such san- 
 guinary and degrading anarchy as we now deplore 
 beyond the Pyrenees. By repelling the aggression of 
 the kingly conspiracy against the republic, the con- 
 vention secm-ed to the revolution an uninterrupted 
 action of thirty years on the area of France, aud
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 647 
 
 afforded to its works time for consolidation, and for 
 acquiring that force which enables them to defy the 
 impotent wrath of the inveterate foes of humanity. 
 
 To the men who call themselves with pride " pa- 
 triots of 1780." the convention will always justlj- reply, 
 " You had provoked the struggle ; it is I who sustained 
 and terminated it." 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 INSTALLATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY AND DIREC- 
 TORY. — FIRST MEASURES OF THE DIRECTORY. RE- 
 SUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES IN BRITTANY AND LA 
 VENDEE. FORCED LOAN BY THE DIRECTORY. AR- 
 MISTICE CONCLUDED ON THE RHINE. — OPERATIONS 
 OF THE ARMY OF ITALY. — EXPEDITION OF ISLE-DIEU, 
 AND DEPARTURE OF THE ENGLISH SQUADRON. — 
 RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1793. 
 
 The 5th Brumaire year 4 (27th October 1795) was 
 the day assigned for putting in force the directorial 
 constitution. On that day, the two-thirds of the con- 
 vention, retained in the new legislative body, were to 
 unite with the third freely chosen by the electoral 
 assemblies, divide into two councils, take formal oi-ga- 
 nisation, and proceed to nominate five directors for 
 wielding the executive power. During the first mo- 
 ments devoted to the organisation of the legislative 
 body and the directory, the old governing committees 
 were to remain in activity, and preserve the delegation 
 of all authority. The members of the convention, 
 commissioned to the armies or to the departments, 
 were to continue their functions until the installation 
 of the directory was duly notified to them. 
 
 The public mind was in a state of anxiety and fer- 
 ment. The moderate and the ultra patriots showed 
 an equal irritation against the part}^ which had 
 attacked the convention on the 13th Vendemiaire. 
 They were filled with apprehensions, and exhorted 
 each other to coalesce, to array themselves in a firm 
 compact, in order to resist royalism ; the}' loudly 
 asserted the necessity of calling to the Directorj', and 
 to all places of power, such men only as were irre- 
 vocably committed to the cause of the revolution ; 
 they were tormented with doubts touching the depu- 
 ties of the new third, and inquired with solicitude into 
 their names, their past lives, and their known or pre- 
 sumed opinions. 
 
 The sectionaries, scattered on the 13th Vendemiaire, 
 but treated with imexampled lenity after the victory, 
 had again become presumptuous. Proud of having 
 withstood artillery for an instant, they seemed to ima- 
 gine that the convention, in sparing them, liad dreaded 
 their spirit and strength, and tacitly recognised the 
 justice of their cause. They were every where to be 
 met boasting of their great deeds ; in the saloons they 
 reviled Avith disgusting impertinence the assembly 
 which had just resigned the government, and exulted 
 at the prospect of the things to be achieved by the 
 newly elected deputies. 
 
 Those deputies, thus apj)ointed to take their seats 
 amidst the veterans of the revolution, iuul to represent 
 the opinions generated in France after its long con- 
 vulsions, Avere far from justifying either tlie appre- 
 hensions of the rei)ublicans or the hopes of the counter- 
 revolutionists, in their number appeared sundry 
 members of the old assemblies, such as Vaublanc, 
 Pastoret, Dumas, Dupont [deXeinours], andtliehonest 
 and learned Troncbet, who liad rendered such eminent 
 services to French legislation. The majority, however, 
 were new men, not those extraordinary characters who 
 shine at the outbreak of revolutions, but several pos- 
 sessing those solid qualifications which, in the career 
 of polities as in tliat of arts, follow in the wake of 
 genius ; for example, jurisconsults and administrators, 
 such as Portalis, Simeon, Barbc-SIarbois, and Tron- 
 (;on-Ducoudray. Li general, the newly elected mem- 
 
 bers, saving certain notorious counter-revolutionists, 
 belonged to that class of moderate men, who, having 
 taken no part in events, and having consequently never 
 been exposed to commit wrong or yield to delusion, 
 professed to cherish the republic, but apart from what 
 they called its crimes. They were naturally well dis- 
 posed to censure the past ; but they were reconciled 
 with the convention and the republic by their election ; 
 for men willingly pardon an order of things in which 
 they have gained station and eminence. In fine, 
 strangers to Paris and to politics, timid as yet on the 
 novel arena, they sought out and paid court to the 
 most distmguished members of the National Con- 
 vention. 
 
 Such were the dispositions of men on the 5th Bru- 
 maire. The re-elected members of the convention met 
 and attempted to settle in concert the nominations yet 
 to be made, so as to secure the control of the govern- 
 ment. By virtue of the celebrated decrees of the 5th 
 and 13th Fructidor, the number of conventionalists 
 in the new legislative bodj- was fixed imperatively at 
 five hundred. If this number were not completed by 
 the re-elections, the members present on the 5tli Bru- 
 maire were to resolve themselves into an electoral body 
 to supply the vacancies. A list was drawn out at the 
 committee of public welfare, in which were included 
 several decided Mountaineers. This list was not wholly 
 sanctioned, but nevertheless known patriots only were 
 inserted in it. On the 5th, aU the deputies present, 
 gathered in a single assembly, constituted themselves 
 into an electoral body. In the first place, they com- 
 pleted the two-thirds of the conventionalists who were 
 to sit in the legislative body ; afterwards, they framed 
 a list of all the deputies who were married and above 
 forty years of age, and selected by ballot two hundred 
 and fifty to form the Council of Ancients. 
 
 On the morrow, the Council of Five Hundred met 
 at the Manege, in the former hall of the Constituent 
 Assembly, and chose Daunou president, and Rewbell, 
 Chenier, Cambaceres, and Thibaudeau, secretaries. 
 The Councd of Ancients assembled in the former hall 
 of the convention, and called Larcvelliere-Lepaux to 
 the chair, and Baudin, Lanjuinais, Brcard, and Charles 
 Lacroix, to the bureau. These selections were highly 
 appropriate, and proved that the majority in both 
 councils were wedded to the republican cause. There- 
 after the councils declared they were constituted, in- 
 terchanged communications bj^ message to that effect, 
 confirmed provisionally the powers of the de]mties, 
 and postponed their formal verification until after the 
 organisation of the government. 
 
 The most important of all the elections yet remained, 
 that of the five magistrates to be invested with the 
 executive power. In their nomination Avere involved 
 at once the fate of the republic and the fortune of 
 individuals. The five directors, in fact, holding the 
 appointment of all public functionaries and of all ofli- 
 cers in the army, would be enabled to compose the 
 government at their pleasure, and to fill it with men 
 favoural)le or adverse to the republic. The destiny of 
 individuals, moreover, would rest entirely with tliem; 
 they could ojjcn or close at Avill the career of public 
 emiiloyment, and reward or discourage talents conse- 
 crated to the cause of the revolution. Hence the in- 
 fluence they must of necessity excrci.se was innnense. 
 Consequently, attention was keenly directed to the 
 choice of tliose high dignitaries. 
 
 The conventionalists congregated privately to decide 
 their suflrages. Their unanimous ojiinion Avas in favour 
 of electing regicides, in order to secure additional gua- 
 rantees. After rtuctuating for some time, their choice 
 eventually fell on Barras, PcAvbell, Sieyes, Larevel- 
 liere-Lepaux, and I>e Tourneur. Barras had rendered 
 great services in Therniidor, Prairial, and Vendemi- 
 aire ; he had been in some respect the martial legis- 
 I lator o])posed to all the factions ; the last struggle of 
 the l.'Uli Vendemiaire especially had elcA-ated him 
 I high in consideration, altliough the merit of the mill-
 
 548 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tary dispositions on that celebrated occasion belonged 
 exclusively to young Bonaparte. KewbeU, immured 
 in ilayence during the siege, and frequently called 
 into the committees since the 9th Tliermidor, had 
 adopted the views of the Thermidorians, and be- 
 tokened aptitude and application in the conduct of 
 affairs, together with a certain fortitude of character. 
 Sieyes was regarded as tlie first specidative genius of 
 the age. Larevellicre-Lipaux had voluntarily asso- 
 ciated himself with the Girondists on the day of their 
 proscription, returned amidst his colleagues on the 
 9th Thermidor, and since combated with zeal the two 
 factions which had alternately assailed tlie convention. 
 A mild and humane jjcrsonage, he was the only Giron- 
 dist whom tiie ^Mountain viewed without suspicion, 
 and the only patriot whose virtues the counter-revo- 
 lutionists dared not denj\ He had but one drawback, 
 in the opinion of certain cavillers, namely, the defor- 
 mity of his person ; they sneeringly remarked, that the 
 directorial mantle would sit uncouthly on his shoul- 
 ders. Finidly, Le Tourneur, known as a patriot, es- 
 teemed for his honesty of character, was an old officer 
 of engineers, who had in recent times replaced Car- 
 not at the committee of public welfare, albeit far from 
 possessing the talents of his predecessor. Some of the 
 conventionalists woidd have seen with complacency 
 the elevation to a seat in the directory of one of the 
 generals who had most distinguished themselves ,in 
 military commands, as Kleber, iloreau, Pichcgru, or 
 Hoche ; but the majority were apprehensive of giving 
 too much influence to soldiers, and repudiated the idea 
 of investing any of them with supreme power. In 
 order to render their selections certain, the conven- 
 tionalists agreed to employ an expedient, which, with- 
 out being illegal, bore a strong affinity to guile and 
 covin. Agreeably to the constitution, the Comicil of 
 Five Hundred, in the case of all nominations, was to 
 present a decemviral leet to the Council of Ancients. 
 The latter, out of the ten candidates, culled one. For 
 the five directors, therefore, it was requisite to send up 
 the names of fifty candidates. The conventionalists, 
 who formed the majority in the five hundred, resolved 
 to place Barras, RewbeU, Sieyes, Larevelliere-Lepaux, 
 and Le Tourneur, at the head of the list, and append 
 thereto forty-five unknown names, from which it 
 would be impossible to make an eligible choice. By 
 this device, the five candidates whom the convention- 
 alists wished to plant in the directory must be per- 
 force preferred. 
 
 This plan was faithfully pursued, save that a name 
 happening to be deficient among the forty-five, the 
 leet was completed with that of Cambaceres, to the 
 great gratification of the new third and all tlie mode- 
 rates. When the list was presented to the Ancients, 
 they manifested niucli disj)Ieasure at this artful mode 
 of coercing their votes. Hupont [de Nemours], wlio 
 had already figured in the preceding assemblies, and 
 was an avowed opponent, if not of the republic, at 
 least of the convention, strongly advocated an adjourn- 
 ment. " Doubtless," he argued with great plausibility, 
 "the forty-five individuals who complete this list are 
 not unworthy of your clioice, for the contrary suppo- 
 sition would imply that it has been purposely intended 
 to constrain your suffrages in favour of five person- 
 ages. Assuredly these names, wliich now come before 
 you for the first time, belong to men of modest virtue, 
 and who are consequently worthy to represent a great 
 republic; but we require time to enable us to know 
 them and form an estimate. Their very modesty, 
 which has conduced to keep them in the shade, calls 
 upon us to institute researches in order that we may 
 appreciate their merit, and authorises us to demand a 
 postponement." The Ancients, however, although dis- 
 contented with the subterfuge, really participated in 
 the sentiments of the majority of the Five Hundred, 
 and confirmed the five nominations thus adroitly im- 
 posed upon them. LarOvelliere-Lepaux, out of two 
 hundred and eighteen voters, obtained the suffrages of 
 
 two hundred and sixteen, so nearly unanimous was 
 the feeling of esteem for that exemplary individual. 
 Le Tourneur obtained one hundred and eighty-nine ; 
 liewbell, one hundred and seventy-six ; Sieyes, one 
 hundred and fifty-six ; and Barras, one hmidred and 
 twenty-nine. The latter, being more a party man 
 than the others, naturally provoked dissents and at 
 tracted fewer votes. 
 
 These five nominations gave unqualified satisfac 
 tion to the revolutionists, who saw themselves thereby 
 secured of the government. But it was nevertheless 
 a question whether all the directors would accept the 
 appointment. There was not much doubt about three 
 of them, but two were known to have no predilection 
 for power. Larevelliere-Lepaux, a simple and modest 
 man, little adapted for the difficult part of managing 
 men and things, found and sought pleasure only at 
 the Botanical Garden {Jardin des Plantes), with the 
 brothers Tliouin : it Avas very questionable whether 
 he woidd be prevailed upon to undertake the duties of 
 director. Sieyes, with a powerful mind capable of 
 grasping all subjects — matters of business eqiially ■with 
 principles — was notwithstanding incompetent hy cha- 
 racter to bear the burdens of government. Perhaps, 
 also, his spleen at a republic not constituted according 
 to his ideas, rendered him less disposed to accept the 
 direction of its atiairs. As to Larevelliere-Lepaux, a 
 consideration was urged upon him which proved irre- 
 sistible to his honest nature : he was assured that his 
 association with the magistrates who Avere to govern 
 the republic was advisable and necessar3^ In truth, 
 a man of spotless and acknowledged virtue was really 
 indispensable as an adjimct to persons recommended 
 solely by their reputation as men of business or of 
 action, and such a character was supplied by the ad- 
 hesioii of Larevelliere-Lepaux. He yielded to the 
 soUcitations wherewith he was besieged. But the re- 
 pugnance of Sieyes could not be overcome ; he refused, 
 asseverating that he candidly believed himself unfit 
 for government. 
 
 It became necessary to provide a substitute. Carnot 
 at this period enjoyed a vast consideration in Europe. 
 His military services, great and real \mdoubtedly, 
 were much exaggerated; tlie entire sei'ies of French 
 victories was attributed to his inspiration ; and, al- 
 though he had been a member of the famous com- 
 mittee of public welfare, the colleague of Robespierre, 
 Saint-Just, and Couthon, he was known to have often 
 opposed those redoubtable triumvirs with fortitude 
 and vigour. In him was seen combined the endow- 
 ment of rare military genius with the stern, unbending 
 characteristics of a stoic. Sieyes and he were the two 
 most renowned personages of the epoch ; and, for tlie 
 credit of the Directory, it seemed expedient to replace 
 one of such rejiutations by the other. Carnot was 
 consequently inscribed on tiie new leet, along with men 
 who rendered his election constrained, except tliat 
 Cambaceres was again added to the list, which thus 
 contained but eight unknown names. The ancients, 
 however, hesitated not to prefer Carnot ; he obtained 
 one hundred and seventeen votes out of two hundred 
 and thirteen, and became one of the five directors. 
 
 Thus Barras, Rewbell, Larcvelliere-Lopaux, Le Tour- 
 neur, and Carnot, were the five magistrates charged 
 with the government of the republic. Amongst these 
 five individuals, there was no man of genius or even 
 of imposing celebrity, excepting Carnot. But this 
 defect was unavoidable at the conclusion of a san- 
 guinary revolution, which, in the course of a few 
 years, had swept away whole generations of superior 
 men in all orders of service. The assemblies could 
 no longer boast of an extraordinary orator ; in diplo- 
 macy there was not a single esteemed negotiator. 
 Barthelemy alone, by his treaties with Spain and 
 Prussia, had attracted a degree of attention ; but the 
 patriots regarded him with aversion and distrust. In 
 the armies great generals were already formed, and 
 still greater generating ; but at present there was no
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 549 
 
 decided superiority, and furthermore, the military 
 
 were ohjects of jealousj^ and suspicion. There existed, 
 acconlintcly, but Uvo great reputations, as we have 
 stated, tiiose of Sieves and Carnot. In the impossi- 
 bility of procuring the first, the latter had been secured 
 to the directorial board. Barras could acquit himself 
 in action, Rewbell and LeTourneur were indefatigable 
 in toil, Larevelliere-Lepaux was sage and upright. It 
 would have been hardly possible, at the moment, to 
 have better or otherwise composed the supreme ma- 
 gistracy. 
 
 The situation in which these five magistrates were 
 called to power was most deplorable ; and infinite 
 courage and public spirit on the part of some, much 
 ambition on the part of others, could alone have in- 
 duced them to accept so onerous a burden. The 
 country had just witnessed a conflict wherein it had 
 been found requisite to invoke the aid of one faction 
 to combat another. The patriots who had fought so 
 resolutely were importunate ; the sectionaries had not 
 ceased to be presumptuous. The day of the 13th 
 Vendemiaire, in short, had not been one of those vic- 
 tories followed by retributive vengeance, which, albeit 
 subjecting the government to the sway of a triumph- 
 ant faction, delivered it at least from the turbulence 
 of the vanquished faction. The patriots were rein- 
 vigorated, the sectionaries were not subjugated. Paris 
 teemed with intriguers of all parties ; it was at once 
 convulsed by all the discordant elements of ambitious 
 strife, and stricken with woful miserj'. 
 
 Now, equally as in Prairial, provisions failed in all 
 the large towns ; the paper-money occasioned disorder 
 in every transaction, and left the government with- 
 out resources. The convention liaving refused to dis- 
 pose of the luitional domains for thrice the valuation of 
 1790 in assignats, the sales had been suspended; the 
 paper, which could be redeemed only by such sales, 
 had remained in circulation, and its dej^reciation liad 
 proceeded with alarming strides. In vain had a scale 
 of proportion been devised, to diminish the loss of those 
 who received assignats; that scale reduced them 
 merely to a fifth, whereas they retained not even the 
 one hundred and fiftieth fraction of their primitive 
 value. The state, receiving paper alone in payment 
 of taxes, was ruined equally with individuals. It col- 
 lected, certainly, a moiety of the land-tax in kind, 
 which furnished it witli i)artial supplies for the nou- 
 rishment of the armies; but the means of transport 
 were frequently deficient, and those articles of sub- 
 sistence perished in the magazhies. Its expenditure, 
 moreover, was greatly increased by the necessity of 
 provisioning Paris. It dispensed the rations for a 
 sum in assignats, which scarcely covered the hun- 
 dredtli part of the cost. At the same time, tliis was 
 the only possible mode of providing the fundholders 
 and public functionaries, wlio were paid in assignats, 
 with even a modicum of bread ; but tliis exigency had 
 swelled the disbursements of the state to an enormous 
 extent. Having nothing but paper to meet it, the 
 state had issued assignats without measure, and had 
 carried in a few months the emission from twelve to 
 twenty-nine thousand millions. By former redemj)- 
 tions and funds in the exchequer, tlie quantity in 
 actual circulation amounted to nineteen thousand 
 millions [eight hundred niilHons sterling], an aj)i)al- 
 ling sum, exceeding all known calculations in finance. 
 In order to avoid the further multiplication of issues, 
 the commission of five, instituted during the latter 
 days of the convention for the ))urpose of propound- 
 ing extraordinary measures of police and finance, had 
 caused the adojition in principle of an extraordinary 
 war-contribution, amounting to twenty times the 
 land-tax, and ten times the miscellaneous imposts, 
 tlie amount whereof n)ight reacli to six or seven thou- 
 sand millions in pa]>er. But this contribution was 
 decreed only in principle ; meanwhile, purveyors Avere 
 given inscriptions of stock, whicli they received at a 
 ruinous rate. Five francs of annuity were accepted 
 
 for ten francs of capital. Moreover, the expedient of 
 a voluntary loan, at three per cent., had been essayed, 
 on terms equally disastrous to the state, without, how- 
 ever, attracting many subscribers. 
 
 In this melancholy state of things, the public 
 functionaries, utterly imable to exist u])on their ap- 
 pointments, resigned their oftices; tlie soldiers deserted 
 the armies, which had lost a third of their efiective 
 force, and returiK d into the towns of the interior, 
 where the weakness of the government permitted 
 them to remain with impunit\'. Thus five armies and 
 an immense metropolis to sustain, with the bootless 
 faciUty of issuing assignats without worth; those 
 armies to recruit, and the whole government to re- 
 construct, amid the assaidts of two hostile and inve- 
 terate factions — such tlie task of the five magistrates 
 now raised to the supreme administration of the re- 
 public. 
 
 The necessity of order is so strongly felt in hinnan 
 societies, that they themselves tend spontaneously to 
 its establishment, and marvellously second those who 
 are charged with the care of reorganising them : it 
 would be indeed impossible to accomplish the task 
 were it otherwise, but we are not the less bound to 
 admire tlic courage and efibrts of those who venture 
 to grapple with the difiiculties of such an undertak- 
 ing. The five directors, on repairing to the palace of 
 the Luxembourg, found not a single article of furni- 
 ture within its walls. The keeper lent them a rick- 
 etty table, a sheet of letter-paper, and an inkstand, 
 enabling them to indite their first communication, 
 which announced to the two councils that the Direc- 
 tory was constituted. Not a penny in specie was disco- 
 vered at the Treasury. The assignats necessary for 
 the service of the following day were struck ofl' each 
 night, and they issued reeking damp from the presses 
 of the republic. The greatest uncertainty prevailed 
 as to the supplies of provisions, and during several 
 days it had been impossible to distribute more than a 
 few ounces of bread or rice to each of the people. 
 
 The first demand of the Directory was for a vote of 
 credit. According to the new constitution, it Avas 
 requisite that every disbursement should be preceded 
 by a vote of credit, with allocation to the respective 
 ministries. The two councils were to pass the vote, 
 and then the treasury, which had been i-endered inde- 
 pendent of the du-ectory, would deliver the funds 
 granted by the decree of the tAvo councils. The direc- 
 tory demanded, in the first place, three thousand mil- 
 lions of assignats, which were accorded ; these it had 
 to exchange forthwith for specie. But here a diffi- 
 cidty arose, whether the directory or the treasury 
 ought to be intrusted with this negotiation. The 
 treasury, by being permitted to make contracts, de- 
 parted from its province of mere superintendence ; 
 nevertheless the question Avas solved by conferring 
 upon it the comnussion of negotiating the paper. The 
 three thousand millions could at the utmost jiroduce 
 tAventy or twenty-five millions in metallic currency. 
 Thus they could merely avail to satisfy inunediate 
 current wants. The digestion of a regidar plan of 
 finance Avas meanwhile undertaken, and the directory 
 intimated to the two councils that it Avould be sub- 
 mitted to them in the course of a few days. In the 
 interim, Paris, Avhich was utterly destitute, must be 
 subsisted. There Avas no longer an organised system 
 of requisitions; consequi'utly the Directory asked 
 ])()Aver to exact, by the formality of summonses, in the 
 dei)artments coiUiguons to that of the Seine, the 
 quantity of ^50,000 quintals of grain, on account of 
 the land-tax payable in kind. The Directory suljse- 
 quently denumded a variety of laws for the suppression 
 of abuses of all kinds, and ]):irtii'ul:irly of desertion, 
 which was daily dimiiiisliing the strength of the ar- 
 n)ies. At the same time, it j)roceeded to select the 
 individuals Avho Avere to compose the administration. 
 Merlin of Donay Avas apjKiinted to the ministry of 
 justice ; Aubert-Dubayet Avas called from the ariuA' on 
 2N
 
 550 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the coasts of Cherbourg to receive the portfolio of tlie 
 war department; Charles Lacroix was i)laced in the 
 oflBce of foreign affairs; Faypoult in that of finances; 
 and Benezech, an enlightened administrator, in tliat 
 of the interior. From the nmltitude of solicitors wlio 
 importuned it, the Directory next strove to cull the 
 men most cajiable of filling public offices. In the 
 precipitation to which it was condenmed, it could 
 scarcely avoid making certain bad selections. It con- 
 fided employments to a great number of patriots, who 
 had signalised themselves too conspicuously to bo 
 impartial and discreet. The 13th Veudemiaire had 
 rendered them necessary, and obliterated the appre- 
 hensions they had formerly excited. The entire go- 
 vernment, therefore — directors, ministers, and agents 
 of all grades — was constituted in hostility to the 13tli 
 Vendemiaire and to the party which had provoked 
 that day. The conventional deputies, even, were not 
 yet remanded from their missions; the Directory, 
 wishing to afford them time to complete their opera- 
 tions, had merely for that purpose to avoid formally 
 notifj'ing to them its installation. Frcron, commis- 
 sioned to the southern departments to quell the coun- 
 ter-revolutionary excesses there prevailing, was thus 
 enabled to continue his circuit through those unfor- 
 tunate districts. The five directors laboured indefa- 
 tigably, and manifested, m these the first moments of 
 their administration, the same exemplary zeal as had 
 been displayed by the members of the great committee 
 of public welfare during the ever-memorable days of 
 September and October 1793. 
 
 Unhappily, the difficulties of their task were aggra- 
 vated by military reverses. The retreat to which the 
 army of the Sambre-and-Meuse had been constrained, 
 gave rise to the most alarming rumours. By a super- 
 latively \'icious plan, and the treachery of Pichegru, 
 the projected invasion into Germany had been com- 
 pletely foiled, as we have previously narrated. The 
 French had designed to pass the Rhine on two points, 
 and occupy the right bank by two armies. Jourdan, 
 starting from Diisseldorf after having crossed the 
 river under flattering auspices, had proceeded on the 
 Lahn, hemmed in between the Khine and the Prussian 
 frontier, and incapable of drawing supplies from a 
 neutral country, where he was debarred from living 
 at discretion. But this distress would have only- 
 lasted a few daj-s, if he could have advanced into the 
 hostile territories and effected a junction with Piche- 
 gru, who had obtained, by the occupation of Manheim, 
 so easy and unexpected a means of passing the Rhine. 
 Jourdan would have repaired by this junction the 
 errors of the plan of campaign prescribed to him ; but 
 Pichegru, who was still discussing the conditions of 
 his defection with the agents of the Prince of Condc, 
 had merely thrown beyond the Rhine a weak and 
 insufficient corps. He persisted in refusing to pass 
 the river with the bulk of his army, and left Jourdan 
 alone, en Jteche,* in the midst of Germany. This 
 position could not be maintained. All who had the 
 smallest conccptic^-n of warfare trembled for Jourdan. 
 Iloche, wlio, although sufliciently engaged with his 
 harassing command in Brittany, cast an e3'e of inte- 
 rest on the operations of the other armies, wrote in 
 terras of great anxiety on the subject. Jourdan was 
 eventually compelled to retire and repass the Rhine, 
 and he therein acted with consummate prudence, and 
 merited every eulogium for the mamier in which he 
 effected his retreat. 
 
 The enemies of the republic exulted at this retro- 
 gra<le movement, and indulged in comments calcidated 
 to diffuse disma}' and apprehension. Tlieir malig- 
 nant predictions were unfortunately realised at the 
 very moment of the installation of the Directory. The 
 
 * [Tlie French are so much better adepts in military terms than 
 the English, that it is foimd absolutely necessary to adopt their 
 phraseol()g>'. which is at once concise and expressive. Knjicche 
 may be Anglicised " ftir ahead," as an arrow shot from the bow, 
 consequently isolated from co-operating forces.] 
 
 inherent vice of the jjlan adopted by the committee 
 of public welfare consisted in dividing the French 
 forces, thus leaving the enemy, who occupied IMayence, 
 the advantage of a central position, and suggesting to 
 him thereby the idea of imiting his troops and moving 
 their entire mass on one or other of the French armies. 
 General Clairfayt owed to this situation a brilliant 
 conception, which attested a higher genius than he 
 had hitherto exhibited, or than he showed indeed in 
 its execution. A corps of about thirty thousand 
 French blockaded JIayence. In possession of that 
 place, Clairfayt could thence debouch and overwhelm 
 this blockading army, before Jourdan and Pichegru 
 had time to reach the spot. lie seized the suitable 
 moment with admirable judgment. Scarcely had 
 Jourdan retired upon the Lower Rhine by Diisseldorf 
 and Neuwied, ere Clairfayt, leaving a detachment to 
 observe him, marched on Mayence, and there concen- 
 trated his forces, with the view of suddenly debouch- 
 ing on the blockading division. This division, under 
 the orders of General Schaal, stretched in a semi- 
 circle around Mayence, foraiing a line of nearly four 
 leagues. Although great care had been taken to for- 
 tify this line, its extent did not allow of its being 
 barred throughout. Clairfayt, who had accurately 
 surveyed it, discovered more than one point easily 
 accessible. The extremity of this semicircular line, 
 which ought to have rested on the upper course of 
 the Rhine, left between the last intrenchments and 
 the river a spacious jjlaiu. It was upon this point 
 that Clairfayt resolved to direct his principal effort. 
 
 On the 7th Brumaire (29tli October), he debouched 
 by Mayence in fomiidable strength, but nevertheless 
 with forces not sufficiently numerous to render his 
 operation decisive. ^Military men, in truth, have cen- 
 sured him for leaving on the right bank a corps, 
 which, employed in action on the left bank, would 
 have inevitably ensured the ruin of a part of the 
 French army. He propelled a column along the 
 meadow-land stretching over the space between the 
 Rhine and the line of blockade, which marched with 
 arms poised. At the same time a flotilla of gunboats 
 ascended the stream to aid the movement of this 
 column. Clairfaj't directed the remainder of his army 
 on the front of the lines, and ordered a prompt and 
 vigorous attack. The French division placed at the 
 extremity of the semicircle, finding itself at once 
 attacked in front, turned by a corps defiling along 
 the river, and bombarded by a flotilla from the rear, 
 was seized with a panic, and fled in disorder. The 
 division under Saint-Cyr, which was stationed imme- 
 diately approximate, was thereupon micovered, and 
 threatened with inevitable destruction. Fortunately, 
 the rapid appreciation and judgment of its general 
 extricated it from peril. He gave the command to 
 wheel round front to rear, and executed his retreat in 
 good order, warning the other divisions to follow his 
 example. From that moment the whole semicircle 
 was abandoned, the division of Saint-Cyr made its 
 movement of retreat on the army of the Upper Rhine, 
 whilst the divisions of Mengaud and Renaud, which 
 occupied the other part of the line, finding themselves 
 separated, recoiled on the army of the Sambre-and- 
 i\Ieuse, whereof a column, commanded by Marceau, 
 had by a happy hazard advanced into the Hunds- 
 Riick. Tlie retreat of these latter divisions was ex- 
 tremely difficult, and might have become altogether 
 impossible, had Clairfayt, fully comprehending the 
 whole value of his admirable manoeuvre, acted with 
 stronger masses and with adequate rapidity. He 
 might, in the opinion of military critics, after break- 
 ing the French line, have rapidh- turned the divisions 
 descending towards the I^wer Rhine, enveloped and 
 hemmed them in the recess the Rhine forms by its 
 bend from ]Mayence to Bingen. 
 
 Clairfayt's manoeuvre, nevertheless, was supremely 
 dexterous, regarded as the first of the kind attempted 
 by the allies. Whilst he thus carried the lines of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 551 
 
 Mayence, Wunuser, making a simultaneous attack 
 on Pichegru, wrested from liim tlie bridge of the 
 Neckar, and after\vards drove him behind the walls of 
 Manheim. Thus, the two French armies, repulsed 
 lieyond the Rhine, preserving, it is true, Manheim, 
 Xeuwied, and Diisseldoi-f, but separated from each 
 other by Clairfayt, Avho had swept away the whole 
 Ijlockading force before jNIayence, might incur the 
 extremest hazards before a bold and enterprising 
 general. The late events had greatly shaken their 
 contidence ; many fugitives had recovered from their 
 alarm only when beyond the frontier, and an absolute 
 destitution added to the dispiriting effects of defeat. 
 By a fortunate chance, Clairfayt acted with tardiness 
 and excessive circumspection, consuming infinitely 
 more time than needful to concentrate all his forces. 
 
 These mournful tidings, Avhich reached Paris on the 
 11th and 12th Brumaire, at the very moment of the 
 installation of the Directory, materially contributed 
 to aggravate the difficulties attending tlie new repub- 
 lican organisation. Other events, less dangerous in 
 reality, but equally grave in aspect, were passing in 
 the West. A renewed disembarkment of emigrants 
 menaced the republic in that quarter. After the 
 disastrous descent at Quiberon, Avhicli was effected, 
 as we have recorded, with but a portion of tlie forces 
 collected by the English government, tlie Avrecks of 
 the expedition had been embarked on board the Eng- 
 lish fleet, and eventually put on shore in the small 
 island of Houat. There were landed the ill-fated 
 families of Morbihaii, who liad so eagerly rushed to 
 hail the expedition on its arrival, and the sad remnant 
 of the emigrant regiments. An epidemic disease and 
 inveterate discord reigned among the forlorn groups 
 cooped up on tliis petty surface. After the lapse of 
 a short period, Puisaye, invoked by all the Chouans 
 who had ruptured the pacification, and who attributed 
 to the Englisli alone, and not to their old leader, the 
 misfortune of Quiberon, had returned into Brittany, 
 where he had made every preparation for a renewal 
 of hostilities. During the Quiberon expedition, the 
 chiefs of La Vendee had remained inert, on account 
 of the expedition not having been directed to their 
 shores, on account of the orders transmitted by the 
 Paris agents prohibiting them from aiding Puisaye, 
 and finallj', on account of their repugnance to com- 
 promise themselves until encouraged by some success- 
 ful achievement. Charette alone had become embroiled 
 with the republican authorities, on the subject of 
 various disorders committed in his district of country, 
 and of certain military preparations he was charged 
 with making, and he had almost openly revolted. He 
 had recently received, through the medium of Paris, 
 additional favours from Verona, and obtained tlie 
 command-in-chief of the Catholic provinces, which 
 was the great object of his amlntion. This new 
 dignity, albeit congealing the zeal of his rivals, had 
 tended to stimulate his own in a singular degree. He 
 confidently anticipated a fresh expedition destined for 
 his province ; and Commodore Warren having offered 
 him the munitions remaining from tlie Quiberon ex- 
 pedition, he no longer hesitated ; he made a general 
 attack along the shore, drove in the republican posts, 
 and secured some barrels of powder and muskets. 
 The English fleet, at the same time, disemliarked on 
 the coast of Morbihan the unfortunate families it had 
 borne from tlieir native land, and who had been suf- 
 fering the extremities of liimger and misery on the 
 Isle of Houat. Thus the jiacification was broken, and 
 the war recommenced. 
 
 The three republican generals, Aubert-Dubayet, 
 Hoche, and Canclaux, respectively commanding tiie 
 three armies styled of Cherbourg, Brest, and tlic West, 
 had long regarded the pacification as ruptured not only 
 in Brittany but also in the I^ower Vendee. Tlie}' hail 
 all three met in consultation at Nantes, but had taken 
 no definitive resolution. They had, nevertheless, 
 arranged their forces to hasten individually upon the 
 
 first threatened point. The rumour of a fresh dis- 
 embarkation gained ground ; it was stated, truly 
 enough, that the division sent to (Quiberon was only 
 the first, and that another would sliortly arrive. 
 Aijprised of the new dangers menacing the coasts, the 
 French government nominated Hoche to the command 
 of the array of the West. The victor of Weissemliourg 
 and Quiberon, in truth, was the man to whom, in this 
 pressing exigeiicy, tlie national confidence was justly 
 due. He immediately repaired to Nantes, in order to 
 replace Canclaux. The three armies appointed to 
 keep in cheek the insurgent provinces, had been suc- 
 cessively reinforced by detachments drawn from the 
 North, and by several of the divisions rendered dis- 
 posable from the peace with Spain. Hoche obtained 
 permission to draught additional detachments from 
 the armies of Brest and Cherbourg, to augment that 
 of La Vendee, wliich lie thus increased to 44,000 men. 
 He established strongly intrenched posts on the Sevre- 
 Nantaise, wliich flows between the two Vendees, and 
 which separated the country of Stofflet from that of 
 Charette. His object was thus to isolate those two 
 chiefs, and prevent them from acting in concert. 
 Charette had entirely thrown off the mask, and again 
 proclaimed war. Stofilet, Sapinaud, and Scepeaux, 
 jealous of Charette's appointment as generalissimo, 
 intimidated, moreover, by Hoche's preparations, and 
 uncertain of the arrival of the English, refrained as 
 yet from any demonstration. The Englisli squadron 
 at length appeared, first in the Bay of Quiberon, and 
 subsequently in that of Isle-Dieu, off the coast of 
 Lower Vendee. It carried 2000 English infantrj-, 
 500 fully equipped cavalry, sundry emigrant skeleton 
 regiments, provisions, habiliments for a considerable 
 army, funds in specie, and, above all, the long-expected 
 jirince. ]\Iore numerous forces were to follow, if the 
 expedition commenced with the harbinger of success, 
 and if the French prince betokened a sincere intention 
 of putting himself at the head of the royalist party. 
 Scarcely was the squadron signalled oft' the coasts ere 
 all the royalist chiefs sent emissaries to the prince, to 
 assure him of their devotedness, to claim the honour 
 of his presence, and to concert their operations. Cha- 
 rette, master of the sea board, was most advanta- 
 geously placed to facilitate the disembarkation, and 
 his reputation, combined with the prepossessions of 
 the emigrants, attracted the expedition to his vicinage. 
 He had likewise dispatched agents to settle a plan of 
 operations. 
 
 Hoche, meanwhile, carried on his preparations with 
 his accustomed activity and promptitude. He formed 
 the project of moving three columns from Ch;dlans, 
 Clisson, and Saint-Hermiiic, three points placed on 
 the circumference of the country, and propelling them 
 on Jklleville, the head-quarters of Charette. These 
 three columns, from twenty to twenty-two thousand 
 men strong, would, he expected, by their imposing 
 mass, overawe the district, ruin the principal establish- 
 ment of Charette. and throw him, by a sudden and 
 vigorous attack, into such disorder as to disable him 
 from pritecting the disembarkation of the emigrant 
 prince. Hoche accordingly ordered the columns to 
 inarch, and united them at Belleville without encoun- 
 tering any obstacle. Charette, whose jjrincipal f\)rce 
 be hoped to surprise and overthrow, was not at Belle- 
 ville; he had collected nine or ten thousand men, and 
 proceeded towards Lucon. witli the view of carrying 
 the war into tlie midst of the conntrv, and thereby 
 diverting the attention of the re]mblicans from the 
 coasts. His plan was well conceived; but it failed 
 through the unwavering fortitude of liis opponents. 
 Whilst Hoche took possession of Belleville with liis 
 three columns, (Hiarette was before the post of Saint- 
 Cyr, which covers the route from Lucon to liCS Sallies. 
 He attacked that post with all his forces : two hundred 
 republicans intrenched in a church ofl'ered an heroic 
 resistance, and gave the division of Lucon, which 
 heard the cannonade, time to hasten to their succour
 
 552 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Charette, taken in flank, vras completely defeated, and 
 obliged to disperse with his bands in order to regain 
 the interior of the Marais. 
 
 Hoche, not finding the enemy as he anticipated, and 
 comprehending the true intent of his movement, led 
 his columns to the points Avhence they had started, and 
 occupied himself in establishing an intrenched camp 
 at Soullans, near the coast, with the design of falling 
 on the first corps which should attempt to land. 
 During this interval, the emigrant prince, surroimded 
 by a numerous council and the envoys of all the Breton 
 and Vendtan chiefs, had continued in deliberation 
 upon the various schemes of descent propounded to 
 him, and allowed to Hoche ample time for preparing 
 his means of resistance. The English vessels, mean- 
 while, hovering in sight of the coasts, tormented the 
 republicans with apprehensions, and inflated the roy- 
 alists with hopes. 
 
 Thus, precisely at the time the Directory was in- 
 stalled, a defeat before IMayence and an impending 
 disembarkation in La Vendt'e, were topics of alarm 
 seized \ipon with perfidious avidity by the enemies of 
 the government, to harass and impede its establish- 
 ment. The Directory explained or denied many of the 
 rumours so diligently circulated respecting the situa- 
 tion of affairs on the two frontiers, and promulgated 
 elucidations as to the occurrences that- had recently 
 happened. It could not disguise the defeat sustained 
 before the lines of ]\Iaycnce ; but it showed, in reply 
 to the exaggerations of the alarmists, that Neuwied 
 and Dlisseldorf still remained in possession of the 
 French ; that Manheim also was in their hands ; that, 
 consequently, the army of the Sambre-and-lNIeuse held 
 two tetes-de-pont* and the army of the Rhine one, 
 enabling them to debouch, when circumstances war- 
 ranted, beyond the Rhine ; and that their situation 
 was therefore analogous to that of the Austrians, since, 
 if the latter enjoyed facilities for acting on both banks 
 through Mayence, the former had equivalent advan- 
 tages through Dlisseldorf, Neuwied, and Manheim. 
 The reasoning was just ; but the contingency was 
 doubtful, whether or not the Austrians, pursuing their 
 success, would wrest from their adversaries both 
 Neuwied and Manheim, and consolidate themselves 
 on the left bank, between the Vosges and the jNIoselle. 
 As to La Vendee, the goverimient detailed the vigo- 
 rous dispositions made by Hoche, which satisfied all 
 considerate minds, but failed to banish the fears of the 
 ultra-patriots, or to prevent the counter-revolutionists 
 from labouring assiduously to instil dread. 
 
 Amidst these dangers, the Directory redoubled its 
 efforts to reorganise the government, tlie administra- 
 tions, and, above all, the finances. Three thousand 
 millions liad been granted to it, as we have mentioned, 
 and had produced at the uttermost twenty or twenty- 
 five millions in specie. The voluntary loan opened at 
 three per cent, during the concluding days of the 
 convention, had been suspended ; for the terms offered 
 by the state bound it to pay the interest in specie on 
 an amount of stock commensurate with the capital 
 advanced in paper, involving a most ruinous loss. The 
 extraordinary war-tax proposed by the commission of 
 five had not yet been enforced, and it occasioned com- 
 plaints as a last revolutionary act of the convention 
 against the public contributors. All the ramifications 
 of the public service were on the eve of stagnation. 
 Individuals, reimbursed debts according to the scale 
 of proportion, urged such pressing remonstrances, that 
 it had been found necessary to suspend coercive ac- 
 quittances. The postmasters, paid in assignats, inti- 
 mated their intention to throw up their oflBces, as the 
 insuflJcient payments of the government subjected 
 them to heavy deficits. The service of the posts 
 would therefore fail altogether, that is to say, all com- 
 
 * [^Tek-de-pont a military term, requiring a circumlocutory 
 interpretation. It signifies the possession of a bridge as the basis 
 or medium of operations, or, in some cases, the possession of an 
 advantageous position for cfifecting or defending a passage.] 
 
 munications, even by letter, would cease throughout 
 the area of France. Hence the m-gency of developing 
 without delay the financial plan already annoimced to 
 be in preparation. It was commanded as the primary 
 necessity of the state, and the first importunate duty 
 of the Directory. It was at length communicated to 
 the finance commission. 
 
 The mass of floating assignats might be estimated 
 at twenty thousand millions [eight hundred and forty 
 millions sterling]. Even supposing the assignats still 
 worth the hundredth fraction of their value, and not 
 the one hundred and fiftieth, their actual value did 
 not exceed two hundred millions [eight millions four 
 hundred thousand pounds] : it is certain they did not 
 liass for more in circulation, and that those who pos- 
 sessed them could not make them available at a higher 
 rate. The reality might therefore be at once legalised, 
 assignats taken only for what they were veritably 
 worth, and admitted as currency only at the par of 
 exchange, whether in transactions between individuals, 
 in the discharge of taxes, or in tlie payment for na- 
 tional domains. Thus, in one instant, this great and 
 appalling mass of paper, this enormous debt, would 
 disappear. There yet remained nearly seven thousand 
 millions, specie value, in national domains, including 
 in the calculation those of Belgium and the national 
 forests : ample resources existed, therefore, to redeem 
 these twenty thousand millions, when reduced to two 
 hundred millions, and to offer a basis for future ex- 
 penses. But this mode, so jjrompt and bold, of solvhig 
 all difficulties, was not easily to be compassed ; it was 
 repudiated, both by the scrupulous, who regarded it as 
 a bankruptcy, and by the patriots, who condemned it 
 as tending to ruin the assignats. 
 
 Botlf classes of objectors exhibited slender powers 
 of induction. This bankruptcy, if it were one, was 
 inevitable, and came to pass at no distant date. The 
 material point at present was to abridge the calamity, 
 that is to say, the confusion in values, and restore the 
 just equipoise, the paramount justice due from the state 
 to the whole community. Doubtless, at the first blush, 
 it appeared a bankruptcy to take, in 179.5, for one franc, 
 an assignat which, in 1790, had been issued for one 
 hundred, and which then embodied a promise of one 
 hundred francs in land. Upon that basis, the twenty 
 thousand millions of paper ought to have been esti- 
 mated at the same number of millions in bulUon, and 
 integrally redeemed ; but the national domains would 
 have scarcely paid a third of that sum. Even in the 
 case of ability to pay the sum integrally, the question 
 must have arisen how much the state had truly re- 
 ceived for this emission of twenty thousand millions: 
 four or five thousand millions, perhaps. At such de- 
 preciation those assignats had been accepted when 
 received from the state, and it had already redeemed 
 by sales an equal amount in national property. It 
 would therefore have been the cruellest mjustice with 
 regard to the state, that is to say, to those contribut- 
 ing to its burdens, to estimate the assignats accord- 
 ing to their primitive value. Hence the necessity of 
 consenting to estimate them at a reduced standard : 
 the process had been already commenced by the adop- 
 tion of the scale of proportion. 
 
 Undoubtedlj', if there were individuals 3'et holding 
 the first assignats issued, having retained without 
 once exchanging them, such persons Avere exposed to 
 a prodigious loss ; for, having received them almost at 
 par, they would now suffer the full extent of the re- 
 duction. But this was a purely gratuitous fiction. 
 No one had kept assignats in his coffers, for paper is 
 not what men hoard or treasure up : all had hastened 
 to pass them away, and each had sustained a portion 
 of the loss. Every body had already endured his 
 share of this pretended bankruptcy, and accordingly 
 it was no longer one. The bankruptcy of a state con- 
 sists in throwing upon a few individuals, that is to 
 say, creditors, a debt which ought to be borne by the 
 community at large ; now. if every niember of that
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 653 
 
 community had more or less suffered from the depre- 
 ciation of assignats, the bankruptcy was illusory — it 
 affected no one. A still stronger argument might 
 have been urged than all the others. If assignats had 
 undergone depreciation in the hands of only a few in- 
 dividuals — if they had really lost value only for a few 
 individuals — they had now passed into the possession 
 of speculators in paper, and it would have been that 
 class, much more than that of the veritable sufferers, 
 who would have reaped the advantage of an insensate 
 restoration of value. Thus, Calonne had published a 
 pamphlet in London, wherein he stated, Avith great 
 justice, that the.belief was vain and imsubstantial that 
 France must sink beneath the burden of assignats ; 
 that this paper-money offered the means of making 
 without declaring a bankruptcy. He ought to have 
 stated, to express himself with greater accuracy, that 
 it presented a mode of throwing that bankruptcy upon 
 the whole community, or, in other words, of rendering 
 it null and innocuous. 
 
 It was, therefore, reasonable and just to legalise the 
 reality — to take the assignat for what it was really 
 worth. The patriots contended that this course would 
 ruin the assignats, which had saved the revolution, 
 and reprobated the idea as a conception emanating 
 from the royalists. Those who professed to reason 
 with more enlightenment and greater knowledge of 
 the subject, maintained that the paper would be utterly 
 depressed, and no circidating medium left in the coun- 
 try, lacking the assignats perished and the metals 
 either hoarded or exported abroad. The future de- 
 monstrated the error of those who used such reason- 
 ing ; but a simple calculation might have at once in- 
 spired them with juster notions. Thus, the twenty 
 thousand millions of assignats represented less than 
 two hundred millions ; now, according to all estima- 
 tions, the circulation could not be kept up formerly 
 with less than two thousand millions, gold or silver. 
 If, therefore, the assignats were a constituent element 
 of the circulation only to the extent of two hundred 
 millions, how was the deficiency supplied ? It is A'ery 
 evident that the precious metals must have circulated 
 in great quantity ; and they did so circulate, but in 
 the provinces and rural districts, far from the observa- 
 tion of the government. Besides, the precious metals, 
 like all other merchandise, always come where the 
 demand imperiously calls them ; and, after driving 
 away the paper, they would have spontaneously re- 
 turned, as they returned, in fact, Avhen the paper 
 expired of itself. 
 
 Hence it was a twofold error, nevertheless firmly 
 imbedded in the minds of men, to regard the reduc- 
 tion of the assignat to its real value as a bankruptcy 
 and as a sudden destruction of all circulating medium. 
 The scheme had one inconvenience, which, however, 
 was not objected to it, as we shall shortly learn. The 
 finance commission, fettered by the general prejudices 
 prevalent, could only partially adopt the true prin- 
 ciples of the matter. After having concerted with the 
 Directory, it digested the following project : — 
 
 Until, by the new plan to be adopted, the sale of 
 property and the collection of taxes brought into the 
 exchequer real and not fictitious payments, it was still 
 necessary to make use of assignats. It was accord- 
 ingly proposed to increase the emission to tliirty thou- 
 sand millions, under a solenm obligation not to exceed 
 that amount. On the 30th Nivoso, the copperiilate 
 was to be publicly broken. Tims the public would be 
 satisfied as to tlie exact quantity of tlie new issues. 
 To the thirty thousand millions emitted were to be 
 distinctly appropriated one thousand millions of money 
 in national domains ; whereby the assignat, which 
 was worth in circidation but the one Inmdred and 
 fiftieth fraction, and much less, would be licjuidated at 
 a thirtieth, which promised a considerable advantage 
 to the holders of the paper. Another thousand millions 
 of lands were to be assigned as recompenses to the 
 Boldicrs of the republic, in fulfilment of an old pledge 
 
 to those defenders of the country. Thus there would 
 remain five out of the seven thousand miUions dis- 
 posable. In these five A\'ere included the national 
 forests, the moveables of the crown and emigrants 
 the royal palaces, and the property of the Belgian 
 clergy. Five thousand millions in national property, 
 therefore, lay at the disposal of tlie state. But thf 
 great difficulty was to realise that valuation. The 
 assignats had been originally devised as the means 
 of bringing that dormant capital into circulation, in 
 anticipation of sales being effected. But the assignats 
 being practically suppressed, since ten thousand mil- 
 lions only could be henceforth added to tlie twenty 
 existing — a sum which, at the utmost, represented but 
 one hundred millions of money— how was the value ol 
 the domains to be realised in advance and made sub- 
 servient to the expenses of the war ? Herein lay the 
 sole objection that might be urged against the liqui- 
 dation of the paper and against its suppression. The 
 plan of mortgage schedules was conceived, Avhich had 
 laeen suggested the preceding year. According to 
 this revived scheme, the state Avould borrow, and give 
 to the lenders Schedules bearing specific hypotheca- 
 tions on particularised domains. In order to prose- 
 cute this system of borrowing, it was proposed to 
 recur to financial companies, which would take charge 
 of these schedules in the first instance. Thus, instead 
 of a paper with a forced circulation, which possessed 
 merely a general hypothec over the mass of national 
 property, and the value whereof fluctuated from day 
 to day, there would be substituted, by the medium of 
 schedules, a voluntary paper-money, which was speci- 
 fically charged on an estate or a messuage, and which 
 could undergo no other fluctuation than the value of 
 the hereditament it bona fide represented. This, in- 
 deed, was not properly a paper currency. It was not 
 exposed to depression, because it Avas not forcibly in- 
 troduced into the circulation ; but for that very reason 
 it would be impracticable to negotiate it. In short, 
 the difficulty always consisting, now equally as at 
 the commencement of the revolution, in bringing into 
 circulation the value of the domains, the question was, 
 whether it were better to force the circulation of that 
 value or to leave it voluntary. The first mode being 
 utterly exhausted, it was natural that recourse should 
 be had to the latter. 
 
 It Avas therefore determined, that, after increasing 
 the paper to thirty thousand millions, after appropri- 
 ating one thousand millions of money's worth in pro- 
 perty as an absorbing medium for that paper, and 
 reserving another thousand millions in lands for the 
 soldiers of the country, the state should issue schedules 
 for a sum proportioned to the public exigencies, and, 
 by means of those schedules, treat Avith financial com- 
 panies. The national forests Avere not to be scheduled ; 
 it Avas intended to keep them in the hands of the state. 
 They formed nearly tAvo out of the five thousand mil- 
 lions remaining disposable. Sim])ly the alienation of 
 their produce during a certain number of years to the 
 companies was contemplated. 
 
 The consequence of this project, founded on the 
 reduction of assignats to their real A'alue, Avould be to 
 admit them for the future in all transactions only at 
 the par of exchange. In the mterim, until, by the 
 sale of the thousand millions specially assigned in 
 their behalf, they could be redeemed, they Avere to be 
 receivable by individuals and by the state simply at 
 their current value. Thus, the disorder in all social 
 transactions would cease, and fraudtdent payments 
 become impossible. The state Avould receive real funds 
 from the taxes, Avhich Avould at least coA'cr the ordi- 
 nary expenditure, and the extraordinary expenses of 
 the Avar alone Avould have to be borne by the national 
 property. The assignats were to be received at par 
 only in satisfaction of arrears of taxes — arrears Avhich 
 Avere considerable, amounting to thirteen thousand 
 millions. Thereby an easy mode of discharging their 
 obligations Avas afforded to tax-payers in arrear, on
 
 5fi4 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 condition they took advantajje of it without delay ; 
 and that sum of thirty tliousand niiUions, redeemable 
 in national domains at the rate of a thirtieth, would 
 be so far diminished. 
 
 This plan, adopted by the Five Hundred after a long 
 discussion in secret committee, was fortliwith sub- 
 mitted to the Ancients. Whilst the latter were pre- 
 parmg to discuss it, additional questions were brought 
 before the Five Hundred, touching the manner whereby 
 the soldiers who had deserted to the interior might be 
 remanded to their flags, and touching the mode of 
 nominating judges, municipal officers, and function- 
 aries of all kinds, whom the electoral assemblies, agi- 
 tated by the passions rampant in Vendemiaire, had 
 not had time or inclination to elect. The Directory 
 thus laboureil with indefatigable industry, and conti- 
 nually provided fresh subjects of deliberation to the 
 two councils. 
 
 The financial scheme submitted to the Ancients rested 
 on sound principles ; it developed resoiu"ces, f<)r France 
 still possessed many great and undoubted ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, it failed to obviate the material difficulty, for 
 it did not render those resources sufficrently actual and 
 available. It is very evident that France, with taxes 
 adequate to defray her annual expenditure when the 
 paper no longer rendered the receipt illusory, and with 
 seven thousand millicms of national property to re- 
 deem the assignats and pi'ovide for the extraordinary 
 expenses of the war — -it is very evident, we say, that 
 France had resources. The difficulty consisted in 
 meeting the instant emergencies of the state, whilst 
 founding a plan upon equitable principles and adapt- 
 mg it to the future. 
 
 Xow, the Ancients were loath to beheve that assig- 
 nats must be so promptly relinquished. The power 
 of creating a further quantity of ten thousand millions 
 involved at tlie utmost a resource of one hundred mil- 
 lions cash — but a small fund to proceed upon whilst 
 awaiting the receipts prognosticated from the new 
 plan. Moreover, would companies be found to treat 
 for the lease of forests during twenty or thirty years ? 
 Would they be found to accept the scliedules, that is 
 to say, free assignats ? In the uncertainty prevailing 
 whether it would be possible to render tlie national 
 property available by the new expedients, ought the 
 old manner of turning them to accoimt to be re- 
 nounced, that is to say, forced assignats ? The Council 
 of Ancients, which evinced great severity in judging 
 the resolutions of the Five Hundred, and had already 
 rejected more than one, set its veto on the financial 
 project, and refused to sanction it. 
 
 This rejection occasioned a general feeling of anxiety, 
 and replunged all things into the utmost uncertainty. 
 The counter-revolutionists, overjoyed at the conflict 
 between the branches of government, proclaimed the 
 difficulties of the situation to be insuperable, and the 
 republic doomed to perish through the corroding evil 
 of the finances. The most enlightened men, who are 
 not always the most dauntless, feared their prognostics 
 would be too surely realised. The patriots, driven to 
 the highest pitch of irritation by the avowed design of 
 abolishing assignats, were clamorous against the de- 
 struction of this last revolutionary creation, which had 
 saved France ; they demanded that, without any more 
 devious experiments, the credit of assignats should be 
 re-established by the expedients of 1793 — the maximum, 
 requisitions, and death. A degree of violence and ex- 
 citement prevailed, which recalled the most turbulent 
 epochs. To fill up the measure (jf calamity, tlie 
 events on the Rhine grew more ominous : Clairfayt, 
 without profiting by his victorj- as a great captain, had 
 nevertheless gained fresh advantages. Having sum- 
 moned to his aid the corps of La Tour, he had 
 marched on IMchegru, attacked him on the Ffrim and 
 canal of Frankendhal, and successively rejiulsed him 
 even to the walls of Landau. Jourdan had advanced 
 on the Nahe through a difficult country, and evinced 
 the noblest zeal in pushing the war amidst hideous 
 
 mountains, in order to disengage the army of the 
 Rhine ; but his efforts could only arrest the impetuo- 
 sity of the enemy, without repairing the losses of the 
 French. 
 
 If, therefore, the barrier of the Rhine remained to 
 the French in the Low Countries, it was lost parallel 
 with the Vosges, and the Austrians had driven them 
 from a vast semicircle stretching around ISIayence. 
 
 In this dismal crisis, the Directory addressed an 
 urgent message to the Council of Five Hundred, and 
 proposed one of those extraordinary measures which 
 had been adopted in the most pressing emergencies of 
 tlie revolution. This was a forced loan of six hundred 
 millions in real funds, either specie or assignats at the 
 par of exchange, levied on the wealthiest classes. The 
 proposal seemed the harbinger of a renewed series of 
 arbitrary acts, like its protot>T)e, the forced loan ex- 
 acted by Cambon from the rich ; but, as this new loan 
 was to be immetliately exigible, as it would absorb all 
 the circulating assignats, and furnish besides a surplus 
 of three or four hundred millions in specie, and as, 
 above all, it was absolutely necessary to find instant 
 resources, the legislature sanctioned it. 
 
 The law decided that the assignats should be re- 
 ceived at the one hundredth fraction : therefore, two 
 hmidred millions of the loan would suffice to absorb 
 twenty thousand millions of paper. All thus paid into 
 the exchequer were to be burnt. It was hoped that the 
 paper, thus almost entirely withdrawn, would rebound 
 from its depression, and that in extremity more might 
 be issued, and tliis resource again made serviceable. 
 After the absorption of the assignats, there would re- 
 main four hundred millions, out of the loan of six hun- 
 dred millions, to receive in specie — a fund sufficient to 
 satisfy the Avants of the two next succeeding months, 
 for the expenditure of this year (year 4 — 1795-1796) 
 was estimated at fifteen hundred millions. 
 
 Certain adversaries of the Directory, who, without 
 materially interesting themselves in the state of the 
 country, were sold}' intent on thwarting the new 
 government at all hazards, sounded the tocsin of alarm 
 in this instance with transcendent vehemence. This 
 loan, they asserted, woidd sweep away all the specie 
 in France, even had she sufficient to pay it ; as if the 
 state, in taking four hundred millions of specie, would 
 not throw tliem back into the circulation by purchases 
 of grain, cloth, leather, iron, &c. The state intended 
 to burn the paper only. The real question was, whe- 
 ther France could furnish, within a short interval, four 
 hundred millions in articles of subsistence and mer- 
 chandise, and commit two hundred mUlions of paper 
 to the flames — an amount ostentatiously described as 
 twenty thousand millions. There is no doubt she 
 could. The only inconvenience was in the mode ol 
 perception, which would be necessarily vexatious, and 
 thereby become less productive ; but, truly speaking, 
 the wit of man was sorely baflled. To limit the as- 
 signats to thirty thousand millions, that is to say, to 
 secure merely one hundred mUlions real cash in ad- 
 vance, then destroy the plate, and commit the fortune 
 of the state to the chance of selling the yearly produce 
 of the forests and negotiating the proposed schedules, 
 or, in other words, to the emission of a voluntary paper, 
 had appeared too bold an experiment. In the uncer- 
 tainty how free will might act, the legislative coimcils 
 preferred to force the French to contribute extraordi- 
 narily. 
 
 By the forced loan, it was concluded, a portion at 
 least of the paper would return to the state coffers, and 
 with it a certain quantity of specie ; and still, moreover, 
 the plate ■\\'ould remain — a ver^- valuable possession 
 after the absorption of the greater part of the assignats. 
 Nevertheless, other resources were not renounced : it 
 was determined that a portion of the domains should 
 be scheduled, an operation requiring nmch time, for 
 the description of each hereditament must be inserted 
 in the schedules, and contracts subsequently negotiated 
 with financial companies. A decree was passed for
 
 mSTOEY OF THE FRENCH KEVOLUTiON. 
 
 555 
 
 exposing to sale the messuages situated in towns, 
 estates consisting of less than three hundred acres, 
 and, lastly, the property of the Belgian clergy. The 
 alienation of all the former royal palaces was likewise 
 ordered, excepting Fontamebleau, Versailles, and Com- 
 piegne. The moveables of the emigrants were also 
 directed to be forthwith converted into money. All 
 these sales were appointed to be made by auction. 
 
 The government, therefore, shrunk as j'et from 
 decreeing the reduction of the assignats to the par of 
 exchange, which would have obviated the greatest evil 
 of the time — the ruin inflicted on all who were obliged 
 to receive them, both individuals and the state. It 
 was deterred by considerations from destroying them 
 by this prompt and simple measure. It decided, at 
 the same time, that in the forced loan they should be 
 received as one for a hmidred ; that for arrears of con- 
 tributions they should be received for their full value, 
 in-order to encourage the discharge of those arrears, 
 wliich might be anticipated to bring in thirteen thou- 
 sand millions ; that the forced repayments of princijial 
 sums shoidd still be suspended, but that house-rents 
 and interests of all kinds should be paid at the rate 
 of ten for one, which was still a very onerous arrange- 
 ment for those who drew their incomes from such 
 sources. The payment of the land-tax and of terri- 
 torial rents was maintained on the old basis, that is to 
 say, half in kind, half in assignats. The customs-duties 
 were to be levied half in assignats, half in specie. This 
 proviso was applied to the customs, because specie was 
 already plentiful on tlie frontiers. There was likewise 
 a special provision with regard to Belgium. The assig- 
 nats had not penetrated into that part of the republic ; 
 accordingly, it v/as determined that the forced loan 
 and the taxes should be there collected in specie alone. 
 
 Thus, the existing government of France timidlj^ 
 reverted to specie, not daring boldly to solve all diffi- 
 culties by one decisive step, and betraying the tem- 
 porising hesitation usual in such cases. The financial 
 expedients were, therefore, the forced loan, the national 
 domains exposed to sale, and the collection of arrears ; 
 all which, promising to lodge large amounts of paper 
 in the state coffers, would permit a future issue. More- 
 over, regular receipts in specie might be relied on. 
 
 The subjects next in importance to the questions of 
 finance were those relative to desertion and to the 
 nomination of the non-elected functionaries. Touching 
 the first, a measure was required for recomposing the 
 armies ; and with regard to the latter, one for com- 
 pleting the organisation of the municipal bodies and 
 the courts of justice. 
 
 Desertion to the enemy, a crime very rare, was 
 punished with death. The penalty to be inflicted for 
 seducing soldiers was discussed with much warmth. 
 Notwithstanding a severe opposition, however, seduc- 
 tion was punished in the same manner as desertion to 
 the eriemy. All furloughs granted to the young men 
 of the requisition were to expire in ten days. The 
 pursuit after conscripts who had forsaken their ban- 
 ners, when confided to the municipalities, was found 
 to be conducted with apathy and to be of none effect ; 
 wherefore the duty was transferred to the gendarmerie. 
 Desertion to the interior was punished with detention 
 for the first offence, and with the galleys for the second. 
 The grand plan of reciuisition framed in August 1793, 
 which remained the sole measure of recruitment that 
 had been adopted, provided a sulticient numlx'rof men 
 to fill the armies ; it had sufficed for three years to 
 maintain them on a respectable footing, and it might 
 still prove adequate by means of a new law more effec- 
 tually ensuring its execution. The propositions of the 
 government were assailed by the ojijiosition, which of 
 course strove to impede the action of the executive ; 
 but they were adopted by the majority of the two 
 councils. 
 
 Numerous electoral assemblies had consumed the 
 interval of their convocation in debates on the decrees 
 of the 5th and 13tli Fructidor, and failed to nominate 
 
 individuals to compose the local administrations and 
 the tribunals. Such as were held in the provinces of 
 the West, had been debarred from making those appoint- 
 ments by the civil war. Others had allowed the pri- 
 vilege to lapse through negligence. The conventionalist 
 majority, actuated by the desire of rendering all the 
 parts of the government harmonious, and of perfecting 
 one homogeneous revolutionary whole, maintained that 
 the Directory should have the nominations. It seems 
 natural that the rights citizens think fit to relinquish 
 should devolve on the government, or in other words, 
 that the action of the government should make amends 
 for the inaction of individuals. Accordingly, in all 
 cases where the electoral assemblies had allowed the 
 constitutional term to elapse, or refrained for any cause 
 from exercising their privileges, the Directory was 
 naturall}' the party to supply the vacancies. To convoke 
 new assemblies would involve an infringement of the 
 constitution, which prohibited such recall, and offer, 
 moreover, a recompense to discjbedience and revolt ; 
 above all, the opportunity would be seized to provoke 
 fresh troubles. Besides, there already existed analo- 
 gous provisions in the constitution, tending to resolve 
 the question in favour of the Directory. Thus, it was 
 empowered to fill up nominations in the colonies, and 
 to replace functionaries deceased or resigned in the 
 period occurring between the elections. The opposition 
 controverted this doctrine with great force. Dumo- 
 lard in the Council of Five Hundred, Portalis, Dupont 
 [de Nemours], and Tron9on-Ducoudray,inthe Council 
 of Ancients, objected that this right of appointment 
 would confer a royal prerogative on the Directory. 
 This minority, which secretly inclined rather to a 
 monarchy than a republic, here changed parts with 
 the republican majority, and advocated democratical 
 views with strange exaggeration. At the same time, 
 the discussion, conducted at once with warmth and 
 decorum, was not disturbed by anj?^ violent outbreak. 
 The Directory obtained the nominations, on the sole 
 condition of making its selections amongst the men 
 who had been already honoured by the suffrages of the 
 people. This determination was inspired by a regard 
 to princiiiles ; but policy recommended it even more 
 forcibly. New elections, and their concomitant agi- 
 tation, were thereby avoided, and the whole adminis- 
 tration of the country, comprehending local authorities, 
 courts of justice, and the executive, was rivetted in a 
 compacter unity. 
 
 The Directory, therefore, was armed with the means 
 of procuring funds, recruiting the army, and complet- 
 ing the organisation of the civil and judicial admini- 
 stration. It had a majority in the two councils. A 
 systematic opposition had arisen, it is true, in the Five 
 Hundred and the Ancients ; certain members of the 
 new third disjjuted the augmentation or extent of its 
 attributes, but their opposition was calm, and free from 
 unseendy viridence. It seemed as if they respected 
 its extraordinary situation and its courageous labours. 
 Doubtless, they likewise respected, in this government 
 elected and supported by the conventionalists, the still 
 all-puissant revolution j'ct smouldering M-ith wrath. 
 The five directors had divided amongst tlu'mselvcs the 
 general service of the state. Barras superintended the 
 composition and Carnot the movement of the armies; 
 Kewbell managed the foreign relations ; Le Tourneur 
 and IiarcveHi('re-Lci)aux the internal administration. 
 On all imixirtant measures, iiowever, thi'V deliberated 
 in conniion. They had, since their first occupation of 
 the Luxembourg, ])i)ssessed but sorry furniture ; they 
 eventually drew from tlie Garde-Meuble the neces- 
 sary articles for the embellishment of that residence, 
 and bi'gan to reju-esent the Frencli rei)ublic with a 
 more inii)osing dignity. Tluir antechambers were 
 crowded with eager api)licants, amongst whom it was 
 not always easy to choose with very nice discrimina- 
 tion. Faithful to the nature and origin of its institu- 
 tion, however, the Directory invariably selected the 
 most decided adherents of the revolution. AVarned by
 
 o56 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the revolt of the 13th Vendcmiau-e, it had marshalled 
 a considerable force to griiarantee Paris and the seats 
 of government from the hazards of an assault. Young 
 Bonaparte, who had rendered himself so conspicuous 
 on the 13th Yendemiaire, was intrusted with the 
 command of this force, styled the army of the interior. 
 He had subjected it to a total reorganisation, and lo- 
 cated it in the camp of Grenelle. He had embodied 
 in a single corps, under the name of the legion of 
 police, a portion of the patriots who had olfered their 
 services on the 13th Yendemiaire. Those patriots 
 belonged for the most part to the old gendarmerie 
 dissolved after the 9tli Thermidor, which had been 
 entirelj^ composed of soldiers formerly enrolled in the 
 French guards. Bonaparte afterwards organised the 
 constitutional guard of the Directory and that of the 
 two councils. This formidable and weU-directed force 
 was adequate to impress the turbulent with a whole- 
 some feeling of respect, and to keep all parties in awe 
 and order. 
 
 Firm in its hne of policy, the Directory manifested 
 its principles still more unequivocally in various mea- 
 sures of detail. It persisted in abstaining from any 
 formal notification of its installation to the conven- 
 tional deputies on missions in the departments. It 
 enjoined the managers of theatres to proscribe the 
 recitation of all popular airs but one, the Marseillaise. 
 The Reveil du Peiiple was interdicted. This order was 
 censured as puerile : it is certain dignity would have 
 been best consulted by prohibiting every species of 
 song; but the object of the government at present was 
 to rekindle republican enthusiasm, unhappUy some- 
 what dormant and lukewarm. The Directory prompted 
 prosecutions against sundry royalist journalists, M-ho 
 had continued to write with the same violence as in 
 Yendemiaire. Althoug'a the freedom of the press was 
 unlimited, the law of the convention against writers 
 who should provoke to the return of royalty, furnished 
 a medium of repression in extreme cases. Kicher- 
 Serizy was indicted ; the process was opened against 
 Lemaitre and Brottier, whose correspondence with 
 Yerona, London, and La Yendee, proved their cha- 
 racter of royalist agents and their influence in the 
 troubles of Yendemiaire. Lemaitre was condemned 
 to death as the principal agent; Brottier was acquitted. 
 Two secretaries of the committee of public welfjire 
 were ascertained to have communicated to them im- 
 portant papers. The three deputies, Saladin, Lhomond, 
 and Rovcre, placed under arrest on account of the 13th 
 Yendemiaire, but subsequent to their actual re-elec- 
 tion by the electoral assembly of Paris, were reinte- 
 grated by the two coimcils, on the ground that they 
 were already deputies when proceedings were com- 
 menced against them, and that the forms prescribed 
 by the constitution with regard to deputies had not 
 been observed. Cormatin. and the Chouans seized 
 with him as infractors of the pacification, were like- 
 wise put on their trial. Cormatin was sentenced to 
 expatriation for having continued secretly to foment 
 civil war ; the others were acquitted, to tlie great dis- 
 pleasure of the patriots, who complained most bitterly 
 of the indulgence evhiced by the tribunals. 
 
 The conduct of the Directory with reference to the 
 minister of the court of Florence, demonstrated even 
 more emphatically the republican rigour of its senti- 
 ments. A convention had been signed with Austria, 
 whereby it was agreed to deliver into her hands the 
 daughter of Louis XYL, the sole remnant of the 
 family immured in the Temple, on condition that the 
 deputies betrayed b}' Dumouriez should be surrendered 
 to tlie French advanced posts. The princess emerged 
 from the Temple on the 28th Frimaire (19th Decem- 
 ber). The minister of the interior attended in person 
 to receive her, and conducted her, with signal marks 
 of respect, to his residence, whence she departed, ac- 
 companied by the individuals she had selected for that 
 purpose. A munificent allowance was granted for her 
 journey, and she was thus honourably conveyed to the 
 
 frontier. The royalists failed not to publish verses 
 and articles on the unfortunate captive, at the moment 
 of her being finally restored to liberty. Count Carletti, 
 the Florentine minister, who had been accredited to 
 France on account of his known attachment to the 
 country and the revolution, demanded from the Direc- 
 tory permission to visit the princess in his character 
 of ambassador of an allied court. This minister had 
 become suspected, doubtless erroneously, owing to the 
 very exa'ggeration of his republicanism. It appeared 
 inconceivable that the envoy of an absolute prince, 
 and especially of an Austrian prince, could honestly 
 entertain such extreme opinions. The Directory, as 
 the sole reply to his demand, signified to him an order 
 forthwith to leave Paris, but declared at the same 
 time that this proceeding was purely personal to the 
 ambassador, and not intended as an insult to the court 
 of Florence, with which the French republic remained, 
 and wished to remain, on terms of amity. 
 
 Six weeks at the uttermost had elapsed since the 
 Directory was installed, and already it began to be 
 firmlv seated in authority ; the parties were becoming 
 habituated to the idea of an established government, 
 and, meditating less upon its subversion, prepared to 
 combat it within the hmits prescribed bj' the consti- 
 tution. The patriots, adhering to their favourite idea 
 of a club, congregated at the Pantheon; they often 
 gathered within that spacious edifice to the number 
 of four thousand and upwards, composing an assem- 
 blage bearing a strong affinity to that of the effete 
 Jacobins. Obedient, however, to the letter of the 
 constitution, tliey abstained from any dii'ect violation 
 of its prohibitions affecting the meetings of citizens, 
 abjuring every semblance of organisation as a political 
 assembly. Thus they appointed no regidar officers 
 to constitute a bureau; they distributed no tickets 
 amongst themselves; the individuals present were not 
 distinguished as spectators and initiated associates; 
 they maintained neither correspondence nor the rela- 
 tions of affiliation with other societies of a like nature. 
 With these exceptions, the club had all the charac- 
 teristics of the old parent society, and its passions, if 
 more duUed by time, were only the more obstinately 
 rooted. 
 
 The sectionaries resolved themselves into associa- 
 tions more analogous to their tastes and manners. 
 Now, as under the convention, they included secret 
 royalists in their ranks, but comparatively few in 
 number; the majority of them, from imdefined appre- 
 hensions, and from an affectation of fashion, were 
 declared enemies of terrorists and conventionalists, 
 whom they professed to confound, and whose predo- 
 minance in the new government they regarded with 
 spleen and anger. They formed societies, where they 
 met to read the newspapers and converse on political 
 topics with all the suavity and polish of the saloons, 
 and where such perusal and conversations were fol- 
 lowed by dancing and music. The winter was advanc- 
 ing, and these personages abandoned themselves to 
 gaiety, as a proof of hostility to the revolutionary 
 sj'stem — a system, by the way, which was beyond the 
 power of revival, for no Saint-Justs, Robespierres, or 
 Couthons, were alive to enforce upon tlie French, by 
 the agency of terror, odious and impossible manners. 
 
 The two parties had their respective journals. The 
 patriots had Le Tribun du Peuple, L'Ami du Peuple, 
 ly'Eclaireur du Peuple, L'Orateur Plebeien, Le Journal 
 des Homines Libres : these pubhcations Avere thoroughly 
 Jacobinical. La Quotidienne, L' Eclair, Le Veridique, 
 Le Postilion, Le Mcssager, La Feuille du Jour, p.assed 
 for royalist journals. The patriots, in their club and 
 peculiar prints, betokened great discontent and irrita- 
 tion, although the government was assm-edly well 
 attached to the revolution. It was, undoubtedly, less 
 against the government than against events that their 
 wrath was excited. The reverses on the Rhine, the 
 new movements in La Yendee, and the dismal finan- 
 cial crisis, were to them so many grounds for reverting
 
 UISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 657 
 
 to their cherished doctrines. If the armies were 
 beaten, if assignats fell, it was because of the indul- 
 gent laxity — because recourse was not boldly had to 
 the grand revolutionary expedients. The new finan- 
 cial system, especiallj% which betrayed the desire to 
 abolish assignats, and seemed too sure a precursor of 
 their ultimate suppression, had aroused their choler 
 in a supreme degree. 
 
 To their adversaries no other subjects of invective 
 were needed than this very irritation of the patriots. 
 Terror, so they inculcated, was on the eve of resusci- 
 tation. Its partisans were incorrigible : the Directory 
 vainly strove to obey their wishes ; they were not sa- 
 tisfied; they wei'e engaged in renewed agitations, thej^ 
 had re-opened the old den of the Jacobins, and were 
 meditating aU imaginable atrocities. 
 
 Such were the labours of the government, the ten- 
 dencies of opinion, and the situation of parties, in 
 Friniaire year 4 (November and December 1795). 
 
 The military operations, continued despite the 
 season, began to promise more auspicious results, and 
 to afford the new administration some solace for its 
 arduous etForts. The zeal wherewith Jourdan had 
 plunged into the Hundsruck through a horrible 
 country, and without any of the physical resoiirces 
 calculated to alleviate the sutferings of his army, had 
 somewhat re-established affliirs on the Rhine. The 
 Austrian generals, whose troops were equally fatigued 
 with the French, finding themselves exposed to a series 
 of stubborn conflicts, in the heart of winter, proposed 
 an armistice, during which the two hostile armies 
 should retain their actual positions. The armistice 
 was accepted, on condition of its cessation being pro- 
 claimed ten days before the resumption of hostilities. 
 The line which separated the two armies, following 
 the Rhine from Diisseldorf to above Neuwied, left the 
 river at that point, formed a semicircle from Bingen 
 to Manheim, passing by the foot of the Vosges, re- 
 joined the Rhine above Manheim, and skirted it all 
 the way to Basle. Thus the French had lost all that 
 the semicircle encompassed on the left bank — a loss, 
 at the same time, which a well-conceived manoeuvre 
 might repair. The great misfortune consisted in hav- 
 ing forfeited for the moment the ascendancy of vic- 
 tory. The armies, overwhelmed witii hardships and 
 exhaustion, entered into cantonments, and in the inte- 
 rim, the preparations requisite for putting them in a 
 state to open a decisive campaign early in the ensu- 
 ing spring, were diligently prosecuted. 
 
 On th.e Italian frontier, likewise, the season failed 
 to put an entire stop to the operations of war. The 
 army of the Eastern Pyrenees had been transported 
 to the Alps. The march from Perpignan to Nice had 
 necessarily occupied a lengthened interval, and had 
 been additionally delayed by the want of provisions 
 and of shoes for the soldiers. At length, towards 
 the month of November, Augereau appeared with a 
 superb division, which had already gathered laurels 
 in the plains of Catalonia. Kellermann, as previously 
 chronicled, had been compelled to fall back on his right 
 wing, and to relinquish the immediate comniimication 
 with Genoa. He had his left on the Great Alps, and 
 his centre in the Col di Tende. His right was sta- 
 tioned behind the line called of Borglietto, one of the 
 three detected and marked out by Bonaparte during 
 the preceding year as available in case of a retreat. 
 Dewins, vastly elated with his inconsiderable success, 
 reposed on the Genoese coast, and talked in a ma- 
 jestic strain about his projects, without, however, 
 attempting the execution of any. The brave Keller- 
 mann had awaited with impatience the reinforcements 
 from Spain, in order to resume the offensive and re- 
 cover his commmiication with Genoa. He longed to 
 terminate the campaign by a brilliant action, which 
 might restore the Riviera to the French, open to them 
 the avenues of the Apennines and of Italy, and detach 
 the King of Sardinia from the coalition. The French 
 ambassador in Switzerland, Barthclem forcibly in- 
 
 culcated that a victory towards the Maritime Alps 
 would immediately ensure a peace with Piedmont and 
 the definitive cession of the barrier of the Alps. The 
 French government, in unison with Kellermann as to 
 the necessity of attacking, dissented from him with 
 regard to the plan of operations, and superseded him 
 in favour of Schcrer, whom his achievements at the 
 battle on the Ourthe and in Catalonia had already re- 
 commended to favourable notice. Scherer arrived in 
 the middle of Brumaire, and resolved to attempt a 
 decisive blow. 
 
 It is known that the chain of the Alps, noAv become 
 the Apennines, trenches closely on the Mediterranean 
 from Albenga to Genoa, and leaves between the sea and 
 the crest of the momitains merely narrow and rapid 
 slopes, which have a breadth of scarcelj' three leagues. 
 On the opposite side, on the contrary, that is to say, 
 towards the valley of the Po, the slopes decline gently 
 upon a space of twenty leagues. The French army, 
 placed on the maritime slopes, was encamped between 
 the mountains and the sea. The Piedmontese army, 
 under Colli, fixed in the intrenched camp of Ceva, on 
 the reverse of the mountain ridge, guarded the avenues 
 of Piedmont against the left of the French army. The 
 Austrian army, stationed partly on the summit of the 
 Apennines, at Rocca-Barbenne, and partly on the 
 maritime fiank in the basin of Loano, thus communi- 
 cated with Colli by its right, occujiied with its centre 
 the pinnacle of the mountains, and blocked the shore 
 with its left, so as to intercept the French communi- 
 cations with Genoa. Upon a contemplation of this 
 state of things a conception was vividly presented to 
 the mind. INIove in force on the right and centre of 
 the Austrian army, drive it from the crests of the 
 Apennines, and wrest from it all the upper heights : 
 such the plan pointed out to the French. They would 
 thus isolate the Austrians from Colli, and, marching 
 rapidly along the mountain tops, enclose their left in 
 the basin of Loano, between the mountains and the 
 sea. Massena, one of the generals of division, had 
 seized this idea and propounded it to Kellermann. 
 Scherer likewise discerned all the advantages of the 
 plan, and resolved to put it in execution. 
 
 Dewins, after having essayed a few attempts on the 
 French fine of Borglietto during the months of August 
 and September, had renounced the intention of any 
 further aggressive movement for the year. He had 
 ftillen into bad health, and given up the command to 
 Wallis. The officers of his army thought only of 
 enjoying to the utmost the pleasures of winter in 
 Genoa and the environs. Scherer, after procuring 
 for his forces supplies of provisions and twenty-four 
 thousand pairs of shoes, whereof they were absolutely 
 devoid, fixed his movement for the 2d Frimaire (2.3d 
 November). With thirty-six thousand men he pre- 
 pared for an attack upon forty -five thousand ; but the 
 excellent choice of the point whereon he purposed to 
 direct his efforts compensated the inferiority of 
 strength. He instructed Augereau to drive the left 
 of the enemy into the basin of Loano ; he ordered 
 Massena to fall on their centre at Rocca-Barbenne, 
 and seize upon the sunmiit of the Apennines ; lastly, 
 he enjoined Serrurier to keep in check the army imder 
 Colli, who formed the right on the opposite flank. 
 Augereau, whilst pushing the Austrian left into the 
 basin of Loano, was to operate leisurely ; Massena, 
 on the contrar}-, was to defile rapidly along the crests 
 and turn the basin of Loano, with the view of hem- 
 ming in the Austrian left ; Serrurier was directed to 
 beguile the attention of Colli by false demonstrations 
 of attack. 
 
 On the morning of the 2d Frimaire, the French 
 cannon startled the Austrians, who had but little ex- 
 pectation of a battle. Tlie officers hastened from 
 Loano and Finale to jilace themselves at the head of 
 their amazed troops. Augereau attacked with vigour 
 but with preconcerted composure. He was an-ested 
 by the brave Roccavina. That general, placed on an
 
 558 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 eminence in the middle of the basin of Loano, defended 
 it with obstinacy, and allowed himself to be surrounded 
 by the division under Augereau, resolutely refusing: 
 to surrender. When he was enveloiied, he rushed 
 headlong on the encompassin"; line, and rejoined the 
 Austrian army, sweeping over the bulk of a French 
 brigade. 
 
 Scherer, restraining the ardour of Augereau, obliged 
 him to skirmisli before Loano, in order to avoid pusli- 
 ing the Austrians too rapidly on their line of retreat. 
 In the interim, ]\Iassena, cliarged with the brilliant 
 part of the plan, scaled, with the temerity and vigour 
 which distinguislied him on all occasions, the crests 
 of the Apennines, surprised Argenteau, who com- 
 manded the right of the Austrians, threw him into 
 extreme disorder, chased him from all his positions, 
 and appeared in the evening on the heights of jVIe- 
 logno, which formed the enclosure of the basin of 
 Loano and b.arred its rear. Serrurier, by a series of 
 firm and skilfully devised attacks, had kept Colli and 
 the whole adverse right in check. 
 
 On the evening of the 2d, the French encamped 
 on the positions they had gained, amidst deplorable 
 weather. By dawn on the 3d, Scherer resumed his 
 operation : Serrurier, being reinforced, prepared to 
 engage Colli more seriously, -with the view of com- 
 pletely isolating him from his allies; INIassena con- 
 tinued to occupy all the crests and gorges of the 
 Apennines ; Augereau, ceasing to restrain his ardour, 
 impetuously assailed the Austrians, whose rear-ground 
 had been thus intercepted. From that moment, the 
 Imperialists began their retreat, impeded by dismal 
 weather and most frightful roads. Their right and 
 centre recoiled in disorder upon the reverse flank of 
 the Apennines, whilst their left, pressed between the 
 mountains and the sea, retired arduously along the 
 line of coast by the route of Corniche. A storm of 
 wind and snow prevented the pursuit being prosecuted 
 with all the requisite activity; nevertheless, five 
 thousand prisoners, several thousands disabled on tlie 
 field, forty pieces of cannon, and immense magazines, 
 were the results of this engagement, which proved 
 one of the most disastrous fought hy the allies since 
 the commencement of the war ; whereas, on the part 
 of the French, it has been deemed most ably planned 
 and conducted, by experienced military critics. 
 
 Piedmont was struck with consternation at the 
 tidings of this defeat ; all Italy, indeed, trembled, and 
 was consoled only liy the hope that the advanced 
 season M-ould deter the French from carrying forward 
 their operations. Abundant magazines, meanwhile, 
 served to alleviate the sutterings and privations of 
 their army. This important achievement occurred 
 most opportunely to dispel the gloom brooding over 
 France, and to strengthen the nascent government. 
 It was proclaimed and greeted with rapturous joy by 
 all true patriots. 
 
 In the provinces of the West, also, events simulta- 
 neously took a turn not less favourable to the govern- 
 ment. Hoche, having augmented the army occupying 
 the two Vendees to 44,000 men, planted intrenched 
 posts on the Sevre-Nantaise, so as to separate StofHet 
 from Charette, and disjjersed the first assemblage 
 gathered by the latter chief; and, by means of a camp 
 at SouUans, guarding the whole coast of the Marais, 
 was fully prepared to oppose a disembarkation. The 
 English squadron, anchored oif Isle-Dieu, was, on the 
 contrary, in a very forlorn condition. The island on 
 which the expedition had so injudiciously landed, was 
 a bare surface, without shelter or resource, and less 
 tlian three quarters of a league in area. The shores 
 of the islet, moreover, atforded no safe anchorage. 
 The vessels were exposed to all the violence of the 
 wind, on a rocky ground which cut the cables and 
 nightly placed them in imminent peril. The confront- 
 ing coast, on which it was proposed to disembark, 
 presented to contemplation a long, flat, narrow beach, 
 on which the waves were incessantly breaking, and 
 
 which the boats, taken athwart by the billows, could 
 not approach without incurring great danger of being 
 swamped. Every day increased the hazards of the 
 English squadron and the means of Hoche. Six weeks 
 had already elapsed since the French prince first set 
 foot on Isle-Dieu. The envoys of the Chouans and 
 Vendi'ans clustered around him, and, amalgamated 
 with his own stall", profl'ered their views and counsel 
 with emulous ardour, each labouring to give his own 
 predominance. All wished to possess the prince, but 
 all were agreed tliat his immediate disembarkment 
 was essential, whatever point might obtain the pre- 
 ference. 
 
 It cannot be denied tliat this sojourn of six weeks 
 in Isle-Dieu, within view of the coasts, had rendered 
 a disembarkation more ditficult. A descent on a hos- 
 tile land, like the passage of a river, should not be 
 preceded l)y a prolonged hesitation, which puts the 
 enemy on his guard and intimates to him the menaced 
 point. When the resolution to assail the coast was 
 finally taken, and all the chiefs were foi'ewarned, the 
 descent should have been suddenly attempted at a point 
 where the communication with the English squadron 
 might be maintained, and the Vendeans and Chouans 
 enabled to concentrate with their forces. There is little 
 doubt that, if the disembarkation had been effected on 
 the coast without this long preliminary menace, forty 
 thousand royalists from Brittany and La Vendee might 
 have been nmstered before Hoche had time to put his 
 battalions in motion. When we remember what oc- 
 curred at Quiberon — the facility with which the descent 
 was accomplished, and the interval that elapsed before 
 the republican troops could be assembled — we readily 
 comprehend how easy this second descent woidd have 
 been, if it had not been wilfully jeopardised by a 
 lengthened cruise ofi" the coasts. Moreover, in the pre- 
 vious expedition, the supremacy of Puisaye was dis- 
 tasteful to the chiefs ; whereas, in the present one, the 
 name of the prince would have rallied them all, and 
 stirred twenty departments. True, the emigrants when 
 landed would have had many rude combats to sustain ; 
 they nmst have submitted to encounter the chances 
 that StoSlet, Charette, and others had braved for nearly 
 three years — to disperse, perchance, before their enemy, 
 fly like marauding partisans, conceal themselves in 
 woods, reappear, again seek concealment, and, in fine, 
 incur the risk of being captured and shot. Thrones 
 are won by such means. There was no degradation 
 in Chnuannising amid the woods of Brittany, or amidst 
 the marshes and thickets of La Vendee. A prince, 
 issuing from those retreats to regain the throne of 
 his fathers, woidd not have been less glorious than 
 Gustavus Vasa, emerging from the mines of Dale- 
 carlia. For the rest, it is probable that the presence 
 of the prince woidd have awakened sufficient zeal in 
 the royalist districts to enable him, with a numerous 
 army steadf;ist under his banner, to attempt enter- 
 prises of greater pith and moment. It is, at the same 
 time, equally probable that none of those around him 
 would have possessed sufficient genius to cope with 
 the young plebeian who commanded the republican 
 army ; but, at all events, the glory of contesting vic- 
 tory was to lie gained. There are often consolations 
 amid discomfiture : Francis I. found such after the 
 defeat of l^ivia. 
 
 If, therefore, the disembarkation had been practi- 
 cable at the moment the squadron arrived, it was no 
 longer so after loitering six weeks at Isle-Dieu. The 
 English naval officers declared that the station would 
 speedily become untenable, and that some determina- 
 tion must be forthwith taken. All the ccast of Cha- 
 rette's country was covered with troops ; there was 
 no possibiUty of efiecting a descent except beyond the 
 Loire, towards the mouth of the Vilaine, or in Sce- 
 peaux's district, or again in Brittany, in concert with 
 Puisaye. But the emigrants and the prince were 
 averse to a descent any where but in Charette's neigh- 
 bourhood, and expressed confidence in that leader
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 559 
 
 alone. Now, the thing was impracticable on Cha- 
 rette's line of coast. The prince, according to tlie 
 assertion of M. de Vaubau, demanded to be recalled 
 by the English ministry. That ministry at first re- 
 fused his application, miwilling that the expenses of 
 its armament should be altogether fruitless. Ulti- 
 mately it left the prince at liberty to adopt what step 
 he chose. 
 
 Immediately thereupon preparations were made for 
 departure. Long and useless instructions were framed 
 for the royalist chiefs. They were told that superior 
 orders prevented for the moment the execution of the 
 enterprise ; that ^lessieurs Charette, Stofflet, Sapi- 
 naud, and Sccpeaux, must arrange to assemble a force 
 of twenty-five or thirty thousand men beyond the 
 Loire, which, with the junction of the Bretons, might 
 be swelled into an effective army of forty or fifty 
 thousand men, suificient to protect the disembark- 
 ment of the prince ; that the point of descent would 
 be intimated so soon as those preliminary measures 
 had been taken ; and that all the resources of the Eng- 
 lish monarchy woidd be freely lavished in aiding the 
 efibrts of the royalist districts. With these instruc- 
 tions were combined sundry thousands of pounds ster- 
 ling for each chief, a supply of muskets, and a small 
 quantity of gunpowder. These articles were landed 
 at night on the coast of Brittany. The provisions 
 the English had stored in their squadron having be- 
 come damaged, they were cast into the sea. It was 
 found necessary to consign to a like fate the five hun- 
 dred horses belonging to the English cavalry and 
 artillery. Those animals were almost all diseased 
 from the effects of the prolonged navigation. 
 
 The English squadron set sail on the 1 5th November 
 (26th Brumaire), and left as its parting legacy con- 
 sternation amongst the roj-alists. It was the English, 
 they were taught, who had compelled the prince to 
 forsake them : they were filled with indignation, and 
 inveighed in terms of unmeasured virulence against 
 the pei^fidy of England. Charette was the most deeply 
 incensed, and he had good reason to be so, for he was 
 the most compromised. Charette had resumed arms 
 in anticipation of a great expedition — in the hope of 
 receiving powerful succours cayjable of establishing an 
 equality of strength between him and the republicans : 
 these expectations belied, he could see before him 
 nothing but destruction — an inevitable and speedy 
 destruction. The threatened descent had drawn upon 
 him all the forces of the republicans ; this time he 
 could entertain no hopes of a negotiation ; the fate 
 awaiting him, if taken, must be stern and merciless, 
 without any right on his part to complain of an enemy 
 who had once so generously forgiven him. 
 
 He determined to sell his life dearly, and to devote 
 his last moments to a desperate struggle. He waged 
 several engagements in endeavours to pass to the rear 
 of Hoche, pierce the line of the Sevre-Nantaise, and 
 reach the country of Stofflet, in order to coerce that 
 partisan into a resumption of hostilities. His efforts 
 were vain, and he was driven back into the IVIarais by 
 the columns of Hoche. Sapinaud, whom he had en- 
 gaged to retake arms, surprised the town of Montaigu, 
 and attempted to penetrate as far as Chatillon ; but 
 he was stopped before that place, defeated, and obliged 
 to disband his corps. The line of the Sevre could not 
 be forced. Stofflet, behind that fortified barrier, was 
 constrained to remain in tranqiiillity, and, indeed, he 
 was not disposed to resume arms. He viewed with 
 secret pleasure the approacliing ruin of a rival who had 
 been loaded witli titles, and wjio had meditated liis de- 
 liverance into the hands of the repul)licans. Sccpeaux, 
 also, between the Loire and the Vilaine, dared not 
 move. Brittany was di.sorganised by discord. The 
 division of Morbihan, connuanded by George Cadoudal, 
 had revolted against I'uisaye, at the instigation of the 
 emigrants who accompanied the French prince, and 
 who still harboured against him tlieir old resentments. 
 They were anxious to wrest from him the command 
 
 of Brittany. However, the division of INIorbihan was 
 the only one that denied the authority of the general- 
 issimo. 
 
 It was in this state of things that Hoche commenced 
 the great work of pacification. That young soldier, 
 an able politician as well as general, perceived that the 
 agency of arras alone must be ineflectual to subjugate 
 an enemy Avho baffled all pursuit and was impervious 
 to regular warfare. He had already dispatched several 
 moveable columns in the wake of Charette ; but soldiers, 
 heavil}' armed and under the necessity of carrying 
 every thing with them, and ignorant, moreover, of the 
 country, could not keep pace with the fleetness of 
 peasants who bore nothing but their muskets, sure of 
 finding provisions everj^ where, and cognisant of every 
 petty ravine and thicket in the land. Accordingly, 
 he countermanded his orders for pursuit, and formed 
 a plan, which, followed with constancy and firmness, 
 promised to revive the reign of peace in those deso- 
 lated provinces. 
 
 The inhabitant of La Vendee was at once a peasant 
 and a soldier. Amidst all the horrors of civil war he 
 had never ceased to cultivate his fields and tend his 
 flocks. His musket was ever at his side, concealed un- 
 der the soil or in the midst of straw. At the first sig- 
 nal from his chief he flew to the rendezvous, attacked 
 the republicans, disappeared through the woods, re- 
 turned to his fields, and again concealed his musket : 
 so the repubhcans found him a mere unarmed peasant, 
 in whom it was impossible to recognise the recent 
 soldier. In this manner the Vendeans carried on 
 incessant hostilities, reared sufficient produce for their 
 maintenance, and remained, as it Avere, unassailable 
 to their enemies. Whilst they always possessed the 
 means of inflicting injury and recruiting their strength, 
 the republican armies, to whom an exhausted admini- 
 stration could no longer forward the requisite supplies, 
 lacked all essential ai'ticles, and pined under the most 
 horrible destitution. 
 
 Under such circumstances, the only mode of making 
 the Vendeans feel the war sensibly was by perpetrating 
 devastations — a course that had been adopted during 
 the system of terror, but which had only tended to 
 excite more inveterate animosities without causing the 
 cessation of the civil war. 
 
 Hoche devised an ingenious scheme for reducing 
 without destroying the coimtry, by abstracting its 
 arms, and appropriating a part of its produce for the 
 use of the republican army. In the first place, he ad- 
 hered to the plan of distributing several intrenched 
 camps, whereof some, situated on the Sevre, separated 
 Charette from Stofflet, Avhilst others covered Nantes, 
 the coast, and Les Sables. He next formed a circular 
 line resting on the Sevre and the Loire, whereby it was 
 intended progressively to encompass the whole district. 
 This line was composed of strong posts, connected to- 
 gether by patrols, so that not an interval renuiined 
 free to admit the passage of an enemy at all numerous. 
 These posts were charged to occupy every market-town 
 and village, and disarm the inhabitants. To succeed 
 in that operation, they were directed to seize the cattle, 
 whieli usually depastured in conunon, and the corn 
 stored in granaries, and to arrest the most notable of 
 the inhabitants ; the cattle, corn, and iul)abitants thus 
 taken as hostages, were to be restored only when the 
 peasants should have voluntarily surrendered their 
 arms. Now, as the Vendeans prized their flocks and 
 grahi nK)re than the Bourbons or (^harette, it was 
 ])rctty certain they would give u]) their weajxins. To 
 frustrate any deceiition on the part of the peasants, 
 who might deliver a few damaged pieces and retain 
 the rest, tlie officers intrusted with the care of disarm- 
 ing them were to insist upon an inspection of the re- 
 gisters of enrolment kept in each parish, and denumd 
 as many muskets as tliere were names enrolled. In 
 default of these registers, they were enjoined to make 
 a calculation of the population, and exact a number of 
 tire-arms eqiiivalent to the fourth of the male inhabi-
 
 5(;o 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tants. After receiving the arms, tliey were commanded 
 to restore the cattle and grain with scrupulous fidelitj', 
 save a portion deducted under the title of impost, to 
 be deposited in magazines formed to the rear of the 
 line of circumvalhition. Iloche strongly inculcated 
 upon his officers the necessity of treating the inhahi- 
 tants with the greatest mildness, and of observing the 
 strictest good faith in the restitution of their flocks, 
 stores, and above all, their hostages. He especially 
 exhorted thcTu to hold conciliatory converse with the 
 people, manifest an interest in their welfiire, forward 
 some of them to his head-quarters, and make them 
 presents in grain or in different objects. lie likewise 
 prescribed sedulous regard towards the incimibents. 
 Tlie Vendeans, he urged, were actuated hy but one 
 genuine sentiment — attachment to their priests. Those 
 ecclesiastics wanted merely protection and repose; let 
 them be assured on those two points, let even certain 
 benefits be added, and the aflTections of the country 
 would be retrieved to the republic. 
 
 The line, which was denominated the line of dis- 
 armment, was intended to envelop Lower Vendee 
 circularly, advance by gradual steps, and conclude b}' 
 grasping it in close tension. As it moved forward, it 
 would leave behind it the countrj- disarmed, reduced, 
 and even reconciled with the republic. IMoreover, it 
 would protect such districts from a return of the in- 
 surgent chiefs, who were accustomed to punish by de- 
 vastations submission to the republic and the deposit 
 of arms. Two moveable columns were to precede it, 
 for the purpose of engaging those chiefs and seizing 
 them if possible ; and thus, steadily compressing them 
 more and more, it must speedily suiTound and inevi- 
 tably capture them. The utmost vigilance was re- 
 commended to the commandants of posts, in maintain- 
 ing communications by patrols, and. preventing armed 
 bands from penetrating the line and returning to Avage 
 war in the rear. However watchful the attention, 
 nevertheless, it might occur that Charette and some 
 of his followers were able to bafBe the vigilance of tlie 
 posts, and clear the line of disarmment ; but, in that 
 case even, which was possible, they could only pass 
 with a few individuals, and would find themselves in 
 disarmed locahties, restored to repose and security, 
 tranquillised by humane treatment, and furthermore 
 intimidated by that vast network of troops embracing 
 the country. The contingency of a revolt on the rear 
 was also foreseen. Hoche ordered that one of the 
 moveable columns should immediately recoil on the 
 insurgent quarter, and that, to punish it for not having 
 surrendered all its arms and for having again appealed 
 to them, its flocks and grain should be carried off, and 
 the principal inhabitants arrested. The effect of such 
 chastisement was undoubted; dispensed with justice, 
 its infliction was sure to inspire, not hatred, but a 
 salutary dread. 
 
 The project thus sagaciously conceived by Hoche 
 was forthwith put in execution, that is to saj-, during 
 the montlis of Brumaire and Frimaire (November and 
 December). The line of disarmment, passing by Saint- 
 Gilles, Lege, Montaigu, and Chantonnay, formed a 
 semicircle, the right extremity whereof rested on the 
 sea, the left on the River Lay, to be progressively ad- 
 vanced imtil Charette was cooped up in impracticable 
 marshes. Upon the wisdom of the execution the suc- 
 cess of a plan of this nature entirely depended. Hoche 
 guided his officers by detailed instructions marked 
 by good sense and perspicuity, and was liimself on 
 every point to amend irregularities. It was no longer 
 merely a war he had to prosecute, but a grand political 
 operation, which required equal prudence and vigour. 
 The inhabitants soon began to surrender their arms, 
 and to become reconciled with the republican troops. 
 Hoche pcranted certain appropriate relief to the indi- 
 gent from the magazines of the army ; he visited in 
 person the inhabitants detained as hostages, kept them 
 under guard for a few days, and then dismissed them 
 well satisfied. To some he gave cockades, to others 
 
 caps Avorn by the police, and sometimes corn to those 
 who needed it to sow their fields. He maintained a 
 correspondence with the incumbents, Avho had great 
 confidence in him and acquainted him with all the 
 secrets of the country. He thus commenced to ac- 
 quire a great moral influence — the veritable power 
 wherewith such a Avar might be best terminated. 
 MeauAvhile, the magazines formed on the rear of the 
 line of disarmment Avere filled with grain, large flocks 
 of cattle Avere herded, and the army began to enjoy 
 abundance, through the Aery simple expedient of col- 
 lecting taxes and penalties in kind. 
 
 Charette had retreated into the woods, with one 
 hundred or one hundred and fifty men, equally des- 
 perate with himself. Sapinaud, who, at his insti- 
 gation, had again taken up arms, offered to lay them 
 doAvn a second time, on the sole condition of having 
 his life spared. Stofflet, enclosed in Anjou with his 
 minister Bernier, welcomed to his district all the offi- 
 cers Avho abandoned Charette and Sapinaud, and sought 
 to strengthen himself Avith their spoils. At his head- 
 quarters of Laval, he held a, species of court, com- 
 posed of emigrants and officers. He enrolled men and 
 levied contributions, under pretext of organising the 
 rural guards. Hoche kept an attentive ej'^e upon his 
 movements, pressed upon him more closely Avith the 
 intrenched camps, and threatened him with an imme- 
 diate disarming on the first cause of offence. An 
 expedition which Hoche dispatched into Le Loroux, a 
 country which had a sort of independent existence, 
 obeying neither the republic nor any chief, struck 
 StofSet Avith dismaj-. Hoche Avas prompted to under- 
 take this expedition in order to procm'e supplies of 
 Avine and Avheat, Avith Avhich Le Loroux aboimded, 
 and whereof the city of Nantes was entirely devoid. 
 Stofflet was grievously alarmed, and solicited an in- 
 tervicAv with Hoche. He might plausibly protest his 
 fidelity to the treaty, intercede for Sapinaud and the 
 Chouans, affect the part of mediator in a new pacifi- 
 cation, and secure bj- such means a prolongation of 
 influence. It was his object thus to probe the views 
 of Hoche regarding him. Hoche expressed to him the 
 complaints of the republic, and intimated that if he 
 afl!"orded asylum to every brigand, continued to IcA-y 
 men and money, and attempted to be any thing more 
 than the temporary chief of the pohce of Anjou, or 
 to play the part of a prince, he would instantly seize 
 him and disarm his province. Stofflet promised un- 
 limited submission, and retired full of disquieting 
 reflections touching the future. 
 
 Hoche was beset with additional difficiflties at this 
 critical moment. He had drawn under his standard 
 draughts from the two armies of Brest and Cherbourg. 
 The impending danger of a descent had procured him 
 tliese reinforcements, Avhich had increased to 44,000 
 men the troops assembled in La Vendee. The gene- 
 rals commanding the armies of Cherbourg and Brest 
 noAv reclaimed the detachments they had lent, and the 
 Directory seemed to approve their demands. Hoche 
 Avrote that the operation he had just commenced 
 Avas of the utmost moment ; that if he were de- 
 prived of the troops he had spread like a net around 
 the IMarais, the subjugation of Charette's country, 
 and the destruction of that chief, Avhich Avere immi- 
 nent, Avould be postponed indefinitely ; that it Avould 
 be better to finish what Avas already so far advanced 
 before proceeding elsewhere ; and that, after such ac- 
 complishment, he Avould use all diligence in returning 
 the troops he had borroAved, and even furnish his OAvn 
 to the general commanding in Brittany, in order that 
 the same measures might be there applied which had 
 already produced such happy effects in La Vendee. 
 The government, struck Avitli the reasons of Hoche, 
 and having great confidence in him, summoned him 
 to Paris, Avith the intention of approving all his plans 
 and conferring on him the command of the three 
 armies of La Vendee, Brest, and Cherbourg. It was 
 at the end of Frimaire that the order reached him to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 561 
 
 visit Paris, for the purpose of concerting with the 
 Directory the operations best adapted for putting an 
 end to this, the most calamitous of wars. 
 
 Thus terminated the campaign of 1795. The cap- 
 ture of Luxumbourg, the passage of the Rhine, the 
 victories on the Pyrenees, followed by peace with 
 Spain, the destruction of the emigrant army at Qui- 
 beron, had illustrated the commencement and the 
 middle. The end was less propitious. The retreat of 
 the armies over the Rhine, the loss of the lines before 
 Maj'ence, and of part of the territory at the foot of 
 the Vosges, occurred to obscure for a while the lustre 
 of victory ; but the battle of Loano, laying open the 
 avenues of Italy, re-established the French ascend- 
 ancy in arms, whilst the labours of Hoche in the West 
 prepared the way for the veritable pacification of La 
 Vendee, so often prematurely annoimced. 
 
 The coalition, reduced to England and Austria, with 
 a few straggling princes of Italy and Germany, was in 
 the last throes of its eflbrts, and would have demanded 
 peace but for the late successes on the Rhine. Clair- 
 fayt was invested with a vast renown ; and the next 
 campaign Avas apparently expected to open in the heart 
 of the Rhenish provinces. 
 
 Pitt, who stood in need of subsidies, convoked a 
 second parliament in autumn to demand fresh sacri- 
 fices. The inhabitants of London still invoked peace 
 with their former pertinacity. The society called the 
 Corresponding Society had met in the open air, and 
 adopted addresses, couched in bold and menacing lan- 
 guage, against the continuance of the war and in 
 favour of parliamentary reform. As the king went 
 down to parliament, his carriage was assailed with 
 stones, the Avindows were broken, and an air-gun was 
 even supposed to have l)een discharged at his person. 
 Pitt, passing through the streets of London on horse- 
 back, Avas recognised by the people, pursued to his 
 residence, and covered Avith mud. Fox and Sheridan, 
 armed with all the poAvers of their eloquence, had a 
 rigorous account to exact. Holland conquered, Bel- 
 gium incorporated with the French republic, its con- 
 quest rendered in some sort definitive by the reduction 
 of Luxumbourg, enormous sums shamefully expended 
 in La Vendee, and unfortunate Frenchmen fruitlessly 
 exposed to death, were serious subjects of accusation 
 against the ability and policy of the government. The 
 Quiberon expedition, in particular, excited general 
 indignation. Pitt essayed its defence by alleging the 
 fact that English blood had not floAved. " Alas !" re- 
 torted Sheridan, in a bitter repartee, " if no English 
 blood trickled, English honour gushed out at every 
 pore." 
 
 Pitt, Avith his \isual impassibility, represented all 
 the events of the year as misfortunes M'hich must be 
 expected Avhen the fortune of Avar is risked ; but he 
 laid great stress on the recent victories of Austria on 
 the Rhine ; he infinitely overrated their importance in 
 a military sense, as likewise their effect in facilitating 
 negotiations with France. Adhering to his accus- 
 tomed topics, he maintained that the French republic 
 touched the limit of its poAver ; that an inevitable 
 bankruptcy Avas on the point of throwing it into com- 
 plete confusion and prostration ; and that, by having 
 supported the war for another year, the advantage 
 had been gained of reducing the common enemy to 
 extremity. He solenmly promised, at the same time, 
 that if the new French government gave token of 
 becoming established and assuming a regular form, he 
 would seize the first opening to negotiate. He con- 
 cluded by asking a new loan of three millions sterling, 
 and penal laws against the press and political socie- 
 ties, to which he attributed the outrages offered to 
 the king and himself. The opposition replied to him, 
 that the boasted victories on the Rhine Avere merely 
 ephemeral ; that defeats in Italy had since destroyed 
 the effect resulting from any advantages obtained in 
 Germany ; that the French republic, perpetually re- 
 duced to the last gasp, arose more vigorous than ever 
 
 at the opening of each campaign ; that the assignats 
 had sunk long ago, they had performed the service 
 for Avhich they were instituted, the resources of France 
 were independent of that paper currency, and if she 
 Avere really verging to a state of exhaustion, Great 
 Britain Avas advancing to that catastrophe much more 
 rapidly ; finally, that the national debt, daily aug- 
 mented, had reached an appalling amount, and threat- 
 ened speedily to crush the energies of the British na- 
 tion. As to the laAvs against the press and popular 
 meetings, Fox declared, in a transport of indignation, 
 that if they AA'ere passed, the English people had no 
 other resource than resistance ; and that he would re- 
 gard resistance no longer as a question of duty, but 
 one of prudence. This assertion of the right of insur- 
 rection provoked a violent outburst, Avhich was termi- 
 nated by the adoption of Pitt's propositions : he ob- 
 tained the ncAv loan and the repressive Liavs, promising 
 to open a negotiation as soon as practicable. The 
 session of parliament Avas prorogued on the 2d Febru- 
 ary 1796 (13th Pluviose year 4).* 
 
 Pitt had not the slightest intention to conclude 
 peace. He merely purposed to make demonstrations 
 to satisfy public opinion and facilitate the success of 
 his loan. The possession of the Loav Countries bj' 
 France rendered all idea of peace insupportable. His 
 pledge simply implied that he Avould take an opportu- 
 nity of commencing a feigned negotiation, and offering 
 inadmissible conditions. 
 
 Austria, to satisfy the empire, Avhich clamoiired for 
 peace, had made overtures through the medium of 
 Denmark. That poAver, on the part of Austria, had 
 claimed from the French government the formation 
 of an European congress ; to which the French go- 
 vernment had replied, with justice, that a congress 
 Avoiild render all negotiation impracticable, because 
 too many interests Avould be brought into collision ; 
 that if Austria wished for peace, she had only to make 
 a direct proposition, since France Avas ready to treat 
 individually with all her enemies, and to seal a peace 
 without any intermediate agenc3^ This reply Avas 
 consonant Avith reason, for a congress Avould have 
 necessarily complicated the negotiations, the subject- 
 matter of one treaty being mixed up Avith that of 
 another, so that the peace Avith Austria might have 
 been made contingent on peace with England or the 
 empire, and thus rendered any conclusion impossible. 
 For the rest, Austria desired no other rejoinder, as 
 she had no real inclination to negotiate. She had lost 
 too much, and her recent successes had inspired too 
 sanguine hopes, for her to lay down arms Avith com- 
 placency. She strove to reanimate the courage of tlie 
 King of Sardinia, Avhom the victory of Loano had 
 greatly alarmed, and promised him for the ensuing 
 campaign a numerous army and a different general. 
 The honours of a triumph Avere decerned to Clairfayt 
 on his entrance into Viemia : his carriage was draAvn 
 by the people, and the favours of the court happily 
 mingled with the incense of popular enthusiasm. 
 
 Thus closed, for all Europe, the fourth canii>aign of 
 this ever memorable Avar. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVL 
 
 CONTINUATION OF ADMI.NISTRATIA'E LABOURS BY THE 
 
 DIRECTOUY. PARTIES IN THE LEGISLATIVE BODY. 
 
 DISCONTENT OF THE JACOBINS. INSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 MINISTRY OF POLICE. — FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS ; 
 CREATION OF MANDATS. — CONSPIRACY OF BABdUTF. 
 
 PACIFICATION OF LA VENDEE ; DEATHS OF STOF- 
 
 FLET AND CUARETTE. 
 
 The republican government was at once encouraged 
 and strengthened by the events wherewith the cam- 
 
 * [Tlie session in question was not closed until the 19th May 
 17yf>. Tlie inaccuracy of Frencli authors in treating of British 
 affairs has often been remarked.]
 
 562 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 paign had finally terminated. The convention, by 
 incorporating Belgium with France, hy comprehend- 
 ing it within the constitutional area, had imposed on 
 its successors the obligation of concluding treaties 
 solely on the basis of the Rhine remaining the barrier 
 of France. New efforts were requisite, therefore — a 
 fresh campaign, more decisive than the preceding, 
 was required, to constrain the house of Austria and 
 England to acquiesce in the galling fact of French 
 aggrandisement. With this necessity before it, the 
 Directory laboured without intermission to complete 
 the armies, re-estabhsh the finances, and repress tlie 
 factions. 
 
 The Directory exhil)ited the utmost rigour in exe- 
 cuting the laws relative to the young conscripts, and 
 obliged them to rejoin the armies with stern harsh- 
 ness. It had caused to be annulled all pleas of exemp- 
 tion, and had instituted in each, canton a medical board 
 to adjudicate upon cases of infirmity. A great num- 
 ber of young men had intruded themselves into the 
 offices of administration, where they defrauded the 
 republic and manifested a dangerous spirit. Strict 
 orders were accordingly issued that no persons should 
 be retained in the public offices but such as were free 
 from the requisition. 
 
 The finances attracted the especial attention of the 
 Directory. It strove Avith indefatigable activity to 
 accelerate the collection of the forced loan of six hun- 
 dred millions ; but an interval must necessarily elapse 
 before it could touch tlie funds arising from that loan, 
 from the alienation of the produce of the national 
 forests, from the sale of domains three hundred acres 
 in extent, and from the paj-ment of contributions in 
 arrear. In the interim means were to be found to 
 meet the expenses, which unfortunatelj' pressed mul- 
 titudinously, inasmuch as the installation of tlie new 
 government was the period which had been assigned 
 as the era of general liquidation, and the winter, more- 
 ever, was the season appointed for the preparations of 
 war. To forestall the receipts from all these sources, 
 the Directory had been compelled to employ that re- 
 source which had been purposely left at its disposition 
 — the issue of assignats. But it had already emitted in 
 one month from twelve to fifteen thousand millions, 
 in order to obtain a few millions m specie ; and the 
 crisis had at length arrived when it was no longer 
 possible to negotiate them at any sacrifice whatsoever. 
 It thereupon conceived tlie idea of issuing a current 
 paper at short dates, representing the income of the 
 year, as is practised in England with exchequer bills, 
 and as is now usual in France with royal bills. In 
 consequence, it emitted, imder the title of rescriptions, 
 bills to bearer, payable at the treasury witli the bul- 
 lion which would continuously flow in, as Avell from 
 the forced loan, which, in Belgium, was exigible in 
 specie alone, from the produce of the customs, and 
 from the contracts made with the companies which 
 should undertake the management of the forests. It 
 issued at first thirty millions of these rescriptions, and 
 si>eedily increased them to sixty millions, using the 
 aid of bankers in the operation. 
 
 Financial comi)anies were no longer prohibited. The 
 government determined to render them instrumental 
 in the establishment of a bank — an institution needful 
 to public credit, especially at a moment Mhen the 
 belief was prevalent that specie had entirely departed 
 from France. It constituted a company, and proposed 
 to endow it with a certain quantity of national do- 
 mains to serve as the capital of a bank. This bank 
 was to issue notes, which would have lands as their 
 pledge, and would be payable at sight, like all bank- 
 notes. It was to lend the state a sum proportioned to 
 the quantity of domains so hypothecated. This, we 
 gather, was only another mode of drawing on the 
 value of the national property ; instead of resorting 
 to the medium of assignats, that of bank-notes was 
 adopted. 
 
 The success of this experiment was extremely prob- 
 
 lematical ; but, in its miserable situation, the govern- 
 ment had recourse to everj- device, and was justified 
 by the pressure of circumstances. Its most commend- 
 able operation was the suppression of rations and the 
 reinstatement of free traffic in the article of provisions. 
 We have often alluded to the efforts imposed upon the 
 government, by having taken upon itself the charge of 
 alimenting Paris, and to the heavy burden thence 
 resulting upon the treasury, which bought corn in 
 genuine money, and distributed it to the people of 
 the capital for a nominal value. It recovered scarcely 
 the two-hundredth part of the expenditure ; and thus 
 the repubhc almost virtually subsisted the population 
 of Paris. 
 
 The new minister of the interior, Benezech, keenly 
 sensible to the inconveniences of this sj'stem, and con- 
 vinced that existing circumstances warranted its re- 
 linquishment, exhorted the Directory to evince the 
 requisite courage. Trade was beginning to resume 
 its wonted course ; corn reappeared in all the markets ; 
 the people insisted upon receiving their wages in 
 specie, and they were consequently enabled to defray 
 the price of bread, which, in intrinsic currency, was 
 moderate. The minister Benezech, therefore, formally 
 proposed to the Directory to suppress the distribution 
 of rations, which were paid in assignats alone, reserv- 
 ing them merely for the indigent, and for the public 
 fundholders and functionaries, whose annual incomes 
 did not exceed one thousand specie francs. Except- 
 ing these three classes, all others were henceforth to 
 provide themselves at the bakers' shops on the, prin- 
 ciple of free trade. 
 
 This was a very bold measure, and required no 
 ordinary courage to attempt. The Directory put it 
 into immediate execution, regardless of the discontent 
 it miglit engender amongst the people, and of the 
 provocative to turmoil it might furnish to the two 
 factions confederated against the tranquillity of the 
 republic. 
 
 Besides these measures, it devised others not less 
 calculated to exacerbate individuals, but which were 
 equally necessary. One of the chief wants of the 
 armies — a want always severely felt in the progress of 
 lengthened warfare — was horses. The Directory de- 
 manded from the two councils authority to levy all 
 horses kept for pleasure, and to take, paying for the 
 same, the thirtieth horse employed in agriculture and 
 wainage. The acknowledgment of a horse thus ap- 
 propriated was to be received in satisfaction of taxes. 
 
 Tliis measure, though harsh, was indispensable, and 
 was sanctioned. 
 
 The two councils seconded the Directory in all its 
 endeavours, and betokened in every respect an iden- 
 tical spirit, apart from the opposition, hitherto guarded, 
 of the minority. Divers discussions had occurred 
 touching the verification of the powers, the law of the 
 3d Brumaire, the successions of emigrants, the priests, 
 and the events in the southern departments ; and 
 parties began to assume a more distinct development. 
 
 The verification of the powers having been referred 
 to a commission, which had numerous investigations 
 to institute relative to the members whose eligibility 
 might be contested, its labours had necessarilj'^ occu- 
 pied a long interval, and the legislature had sat two 
 months ere its report was ready for presentation. It 
 gave rise to a variety of altercations on the intent and 
 meaning of the law of the 13th Brumaire. That law, 
 we remember, proclaimed an amnesty for all crimes 
 and misdemeanours committed during the revolution, 
 excepting those having reference to the 13th Vende- 
 miaire ; it excluded from political functions the kinsmen 
 of emigrants and the individuals who, in the electoral 
 assemblies, had declared rebelliously against the de- 
 crees of the 5th and 13th Fructidor. It had been the 
 crowning act of energy on the part of the convention- 
 alists, and it was singularly repugnant to the men of 
 moderate tendencies and to the counter-revolutionists 
 who lurked behind them. Several deputies came
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 563 
 
 within its application, and particularly one named Job 
 Ajme, member for La Drome, who had excited to 
 violence the electoral assembly of his department, and 
 who was accused of belonging to the Company of Jesus. 
 A member of the Five Hundred ventured to move the 
 abrogation of the law. This proposition caused all 
 parties to emerge from the reserve they had hitherto 
 observed. A contention, similar to those which so 
 often divided the convention, occurred in the Council 
 of Five Hundred. Louvet, always true to the revolu- 
 tionary cause, eagerly ascended the tribune to defend 
 the law. Tallien, wiio had enacted so conspicuous a 
 part since the 9th Thermidor, and whom the lack of 
 personal consideration had alone preventedfrom attain- 
 ing a seat in the Directory, here showed himself the 
 stanch upholder of the revolution, and delivered a 
 discourse which produced a great sensation. Tlie 
 opponents of the law of Brumaire had dwelt upon the 
 circumstances under which it was passed ; they had 
 appeared to insinuate that it was an abuse of the vic- 
 tory gained on the 13th Vendemiaire with regard to 
 the vanquished of that day; and they had spoken 
 largely of Jacobins and their revived effrontery. " Let 
 men cease to alarm us," exclaimed Tallien, " by de- 
 scanting on terror, by recalling epochs totally different 
 from the one of the present time, and by leading us 
 to dread their return. Assuredly, the times are greatly 
 changed : at the epochs to which they so affectedh' 
 revert, the royalists had not raised an audacious front ; 
 fanatical priests and returned emigrants were not pro- 
 tected ;.Chouan chiefs were not acquitted. Wherefore, 
 then, compare circumstances which have nothing in 
 common ? It is too evident they would arraign the 
 13th Vendemiaire, the measures which followed that 
 memorable day, and the men who, in those great 
 dangers, saved the republic. So be it ! Let our ene- 
 mies mount this tribune : the friends of the republic 
 will defend us from it. The very men who, during 
 those disastrous occurrences, urged a deluded multi- 
 tude to the cannon's mouth, would reproach us for the 
 efforts we required to make in order to repel that 
 multitude ; they would fain revoke the measures the 
 most pressing danger forced you to adopt : but no, 
 they will not succeed ! The law of the 3d Bnmiaire, 
 the most important of those measures, will be main- 
 tained by 3'OU, forasmuch as it is necessary to the con- 
 stitution ; and surely you will maintain the constitu- 
 tion." " Yes, yes ! we Avill !" cried numerous voices. 
 Tallien subsequently proposed the exclusion of Job 
 Aymc. Several members of the new third vigorously 
 opposed this exclusion. The debate was characterised 
 by extreme warmth. Eventually the law of the 3d 
 Brumaire was ratified by a renewed sanction, and Job 
 Ayme definitively expelled. Moreover, the scrutiny 
 was ordered to be continued as to such members of the 
 new third whom the provisions of that law similarly 
 affected. 
 
 The next subject of discussion was relative to emi- 
 grants, and their right to successions not yet fallen. 
 A law of the convention, passed to prevent emigrants 
 from receiving succours, seized their patrimonies and 
 declared the successions to which they had rightful 
 claims, fallen l)y anticipation, and devolved to the re- 
 public. In consequence, a sequestration had been 
 placed on the property of the parents of emigrants. A 
 resolution was submitted to the Five Hundred, autho- 
 rising a partition, and the abstraction of the part due 
 to emigrants, in order that the sequestration might be 
 raised. A vigorous opposition was offered by the new 
 third. They essayed to combat the proposal, which 
 partook undoubtedly of the revolutionary character, 
 by reasons drawn from common law ; they alleged it 
 involved a violation of the rights of property. The 
 council, nevertheless, adopted the resolution. It fared 
 otherwise with the Ancients. This latter council, from 
 the mature age of its members, from its attributes as 
 supreme examiner, natm'ally acted with more delibe- 
 ration and circumspection than that of the Five Hun- 
 
 dred. It was less influenced by the adverse passions ; 
 it was less revolutionary than the majority, and much 
 more so than the minority. Like every intermediate 
 body, its tendencies were of a medium nature ; and it 
 rejected the measure, because it would promote the 
 execution of a law it deemed unjust. The councils 
 subsequently decreed that the Directory should be 
 empowered to adjudicate supremely upon demands of 
 erasure from the list of emigrants. They renewed all 
 the laws against the priests who had not taken the 
 oath, or who had retracted it, and against those whom 
 the departmental administrations had condemned to 
 expatriation. They enacted that those priests should 
 be treated as returned emigrants if they reappeared 
 on the French soil. They abated their rigour only in 
 behalf of such as were infirm and unable to transport 
 themselves abroad, who were enjoined to seclusion. 
 
 Another topic yet more violently agitated the coun- 
 cils, and provoked a passionate explosion. Freron 
 continued his mission in the southern departments, 
 where he compounded the administrations and tribu- 
 nals of ardent revolutionists. The members of the 
 Companies of Jesus, and the counter-revolutionists of 
 every grade, who had indulged in assassinations since 
 the 9th Thermidor, found themselves in their turn 
 exposed to reprisals, and uttered vehement outcries. 
 The deputy Simeon had already urged temperate 
 remonstrances. The deputy Jourdan of Aubagne, a 
 man of ungovernable impulses, and the ex-Girondist 
 Isnard, now vented the most bitter complaints in the 
 Council of Five Hundred, and occupied several sittings 
 with their declamations. The two parties were vio- 
 lently excited. Jourdan and Talot commenced to 
 quarrel in the assembly itself, and almost committed 
 themselves to a pugilistic encounter. Their colleagues 
 happily interfered and separated them. A. committee 
 was nominated to frame a report on the state of tlie 
 South. 
 
 These different scenes of contention brought forth 
 the antagonist parties in more distinct array. The ma- 
 jority was considerable in the councils, and actuated 
 congenially with the DirectorJ^ The minority, though 
 overborne, daily evinced additional hardihood, and 
 openly manifested its spirit of reaction. This was an 
 exaggerated phasis of the feeling more or less predo- 
 minant since the 9th Thermidor, which had at first 
 most justly declared against the enormities illustrative 
 of the reign of terror, but had from day to day grown 
 more encroaching and impassioned, until it finally 
 called in question the whole revolution. A few mem- 
 bers of the conventional two-thirds voted with the 
 minority, and certain of the new third with the majo- 
 rity. 
 
 The conventionalists seized the occasion furnished 
 them by the approaching anniversary of the 21st 
 January, to subject their colleagues suspected of roy- 
 alism to a painful ordeal. They proposed to hold a 
 festival every 21st of January, commemorative of the 
 last king's death, on which day every individual 
 member of the two councils and the Directory should 
 take an oath of hatred to royalty. This formality of 
 an oath, so often enforced by the ruling parties, could 
 never be regarlcd as a guarantee; it was simi)ly a 
 vexation of the conquerors, who derived a malicious 
 pleasure from constraining the vanquished to perjure 
 themselves. The project was adopted by the two 
 councils. The conventionalists were all impatience 
 for the sitting of the 1st Pluviose year 4 (21st Ja- 
 nuary 1796), to enjoy the spectacle of their colleagues 
 of the new third passing up to the tribmie to anathema- 
 tise their supi)osed opinions. Each council assembled 
 that day with extraordinary pomp and ceremony. A 
 festival was prepared in Paris, at which the Direc- 
 tory and all the authorities were appointed to assist. 
 When the time arrived for taking the oath, some of 
 the newly elected betokened eniban'assment. The 
 ex-constituent Dupont de Nemours, a member of tlie 
 Ancients, who retained in advanced age great asperity
 
 564 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of temper, and always evinced a spirit of determined 
 hostility to the present government, could not Hltotje- 
 ther dissemble his chaijrin, and as he pronomiced the 
 words, ^'' I swear hatred to roi/alti/," he added, " ayirl to 
 evert/ species of ti/ranni/." It was a mode he selected 
 of avenging himself for the refined torture, and of 
 swearing hatred to the Directory in indirect terms. 
 Loud murmurs arose, and Dupont de Nemours was 
 obliged to restrict himself to the official formula. In 
 the Council of Five Hundred, a member named Andre- 
 would have abjured with the same addendum, but 
 was in like manner confined to the strict phraseology 
 of the oath. The president of the Directory delivered 
 an energetic harangue, and the whole government 
 thus solemnly published a profession of faith purely 
 and unequivocally revolutionary. 
 
 At this i)eriod it occurred that the deputies who 
 had been exchanged for the daughter of Louis XVI. 
 made tlieir appearance in Paris. Their names were, 
 Quinette, Bancal, Camus, Lamarque, Drouet, and 
 Beurnonville, ex-minister of war. They gave a de- 
 tailed statement of their sufferings in captivity; their 
 words were heard with lively indignation, testimonies 
 of affectionate sympathy were accorded them, and, 
 amidst general satisfacti(m, they assumed the seats 
 the convention had reserved for them in the two coun- 
 cils. It had been already decreed, in fivct, that they 
 should be as of right members of the legislative body. 
 
 Thus things stood with the government and parties 
 during the winter of the year 4 (1795-1796.) 
 
 France, which desired above all things a stable 
 government and the re-establishment of laws, was be- 
 ginning to cherish the new state of things, and woidd 
 have altogether approved it, but for the efforts still 
 required of her for the salvation of the republic. The 
 rigorous execution of tlie edicts regulating the con- 
 scription, the forced loan, the levy of every thirtieth 
 horse, and the wretched condition of the fundholders 
 paid in assignats, were grave subjects of com[)laint; 
 without such topics of grievance, the new government 
 would have been found excellent. It is only the nobler 
 portion of a nation that is truly sensible to glory, to 
 liberty, to lofty and generous ideas, and consents to 
 undergo sacrifices in their name. The mass sighs for 
 sluggish repose, and cries aloud to be spared sacri- 
 fices. There are moments, doubtless, when that 
 opaque and inert mass is animated — stirred bj' grand 
 and rooted passions : so we saw it in 1789, when 
 liberty was to I)e achieved, and in 1793, when liberty 
 was to be defended. But, exhausted by these efforts, 
 the great majority of Frenchmen M'ere averse to renew 
 or continue them. It indeed required a government 
 of surpassing ability and vigour to obtain from them 
 the resources necessary to the consolidation of the re- 
 public. Fortunately, the youthful generation, always 
 allured by the prospective charms of wild adventure, 
 presented a teeming source for recruiting the armies. 
 The conscripts manifested at first some repugnance to 
 leave their homes and kindred, but they yielded after 
 a slight resistance. Transported to the camps, they 
 quickly acxpiired a decided taste for war, and distin- 
 guished themselves by prodigies of valour. The stag- 
 nant community, from whom contribvitions of money 
 were exacted, was nnich more difficult to subdue and 
 to reconcile with the government. 
 
 The enemies of the revolution took as their staple 
 text the new sacrifices imposed upon France, and de- 
 claimed in their journals against tlie conscription, the 
 forced loan, the forcible levy of horses, the state of 
 the finances, the distress of the fundholders, and the 
 ruthless execution of the edicts regarding emigrants 
 and priests. They affected to consider the govern- 
 ment as still based on revolutionary principles, and 
 possessing all their inherent despotism and violence. 
 The nation, tliey held, could not yet place confidence 
 in it, or confide with security in the future. They 
 inveighed especially against the design of a fresh 
 campaign; they pretended that the tranquillity, the 
 
 fortunes, and the lives of the citizens, were sacrificed 
 to the vain ambition of conquests, and evinced regret 
 tliat the revolution should have reaped the honour of 
 giving Belgium to France. At the same time, it was 
 not surprising, they said, that the government should 
 be actuated by such a spirit, or indulge in such pro- 
 jects, Mdien it was remembered that the Directory and 
 the councils were filled with the members of an assem- 
 bly blackened by the perpetration of hideous crimes. 
 
 The patriots, who, in the art of reproaching and re- 
 criminating, were equally practised adepts, found on 
 the other hand the government too feeble, and showed 
 a palpable tendency to accuse it of undue concession 
 to the counter-revolutionists. Their complaints were, 
 that emigrants and priests were allowed to return, 
 that the conspirators of Vendemiaire were daily ac- 
 quitted, that the young men of the requisition were 
 not remanded to the armies with sufficient severity, 
 and that the forced loan was' collected with laxit3^ 
 They especially disapproved of the financial system 
 tlie government appeared disposed to adopt. We have 
 previously learned that the idea of suppressing assig- 
 nats luid irritated them, and that they had demanded 
 an immediate recurrence to the revolutionary expe- 
 dients which, in 1793, had rallied the paper to par. 
 The design of having recourse to financial companies, 
 and of estal)lishing a bank, awakened all their preju- 
 dices. The government, they said, was about to throw 
 itself into the hands of stockjobbers ; by the insti- 
 tution of a bank, it would ruin the assignats, and ut- 
 terly destroy the paper-money of the republic, for the 
 advantage of a private paper, the creation of stock- 
 jobbers. The suppression of rations also roused their 
 indignation. They deemed it an attack on the revo- 
 lution to restore articles of consumption to free traffic, 
 and to cease the further alimenting of Paris : it be- 
 trayed the purpose of starving the people and driving 
 them to despair. On this point the journals of the 
 royalists coincided with those of the Jacobins, and the 
 minister Benezech was assailed with vituperations 
 from both parties. 
 
 The wrath of the patriots against the new goA'ern- 
 ment was inflamed to the highest pitch by an addi- 
 tional circumstance. The law of the 3d Bruraaire, 
 which amnestied all offences having reference to the 
 revolution, nevertheless excepted particular crimes, as 
 robberies and assassinations, which were still amenable 
 to the application of the laws. Thus, the proceedings 
 commenced during the latter daj's of the convention 
 against tlie perpetrators of the massacres of September, 
 were continued as ordinary indictments against mur- 
 der. The consj)irators of Vendemiaire were, at the 
 same time, put upon their trial and almost universally 
 acquitted. The process against the authors of Sep- 
 tember, on the contrary, was prosecuted with extreme 
 rigour. The patriots were incensed to fury. A cer- 
 tain Babccuf, a rabid Jact)bin, already incarcerated in 
 Prairial, and wlio now owed his Uberty to the law of 
 amnesty, had started a journal, in imitation of ilarat, 
 under the title of the Tribune of the People. What the 
 imitation of such a model would be is easy of conjec- 
 ture. More violent than that of Marat, the journal of 
 Baboeuf was distinguished not so much by its cynicism 
 as its loathsome vulgarity. The accidents extraordi- 
 nary circumstances had provoked were here reduced 
 into system, and upheld with a blindness and frenzj' 
 liitherto unexampled. When peculiar ideas, which 
 have been paramount for a while, verge to depres- 
 sion, they remain imbedded in certain heads, and re- 
 solve themselves into mania and imbecile aberration. 
 Babceuf was the leader of a sect of infatuated creatures, 
 who maintained that the massacre of September had 
 been incomplete, that it ought to be renewed and ren- 
 dered general, so as to be made definitive. They openly 
 advocated an agrarian law, from which the Hebertists 
 themselves had shruidc, and called into requisition a 
 new term, " the general happiness," to express the aim 
 of their system. I'he phrase alone was sufficient to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 565 
 
 characterise them as arrived at the last stage of de- 
 maiTogical absolutism. The pages of Baba?uf excited 
 a shudder on their perusal. Men of honest intentions 
 pitied his extravagance ; the alarmists feigned to be- 
 lieve in the advent of a new terror ; and, sooth to say, 
 the meetings of the society of the Pantheon fur- 
 nished a specious pretext for their fears. It was in 
 the spacious edifice of Saint-Genevicve that the Jaco- 
 bins had virtually reopened their club, as we have 
 previously intimated. Slore numerous than ever, they 
 mustered nearly forty thousand souls, vociferating with 
 united clamour into the still hours of night. They had 
 gradually overstepped the constitution, and had as- 
 simied all it prohibited, that is to say, a bureau, a pre- 
 sident, and tickets ; in short, they had resumed the 
 character of a political assemblage. The standard 
 themes of declamation in this boisterous congregation 
 were afforded by emigrants, priests, stockjobbers — the 
 blood-suckers of the peoi)le — the project of a bank, the 
 suppression of assignats, and the proceedings insti- 
 tuted against the patriots. 
 
 The Directory, which found itself daily more firmly 
 consolidated and less exposed to dread counter-revo- 
 lution, inclined more obviouslj' to conciliate the appro- 
 bation of all moderate and reasonable men. Acting 
 upon a due sense of its position, it determined to re- 
 press this violent outbreak on the part of the Jacobin 
 faction. It possessed the means in the constitution 
 and the existmg laws : it resolved to enforce them. In 
 the first place, it caused several numbers of Baboeuf 's 
 journal to be seized, as provoking to the subversion of 
 the constitution ; and in the next place, it closed the 
 society of the Pantheon and some others formed by 
 the gilded youth, in which the journals were read and 
 balls held. These latter were located in the Palais- 
 Royal and on the Boidevard des Italiens, under the 
 titles of the Chess Club, the Salon des Princes, and Salon 
 des Arts. They were not at all formidable, and were 
 comprehended in the measure merely as an evidence 
 of impartiality. The ordinance on the subject was 
 published and executed on the Sth Ventose (27th 
 February 1796). An edict obtained from the councils 
 appended a condition to those already imposed on 
 popular societies by the constitution : henceforth the 
 number of members in any such society was restricted 
 to sixty. 
 
 The minister Benezech, attacked with viridenco by 
 both parties, tendered his resignation. The Directory 
 refused to accept it, and wrote him a letter laudatory 
 of his services. This letter was made public. The 
 new system concerning provisions was resolutely main- 
 tained ; the indigent, the fundholders, and the public 
 functionaries whose incomes were below one thousand 
 specie francs, alone received rations. A furtlier mea- 
 sure of relief was considered just towards the unfor- 
 tunate fundholders, who were still paid in assignats. 
 The councils decreed they should be paid in assignats 
 after the ratio of ten to one ; an augmentation utterly 
 inadequate, by the "way, for assignats scarcely com- 
 manded the two-hiuidredth portion of their nominal 
 value. 
 
 The Directory accompanied these measures by the 
 recall of the conventional deputies on missions. It 
 replaced them by commissioners of the government. 
 These commissioners, accredited to the armies or pro- 
 vincial administrations, were to represent the Direc- 
 tory and superintend the execution of the laws. They 
 were not invested, as formerly, with uidimited powers 
 in the armies ; but in pressing cases, where the power 
 of the general was insufficient, as in the instance of 
 requisitions either for provisions or ti"oops, they might 
 issue an order of iirgency, which was to be provision- 
 ally executed, and afterwards submitted to the apj)ro- 
 bation of the Directory. Frequent complaints having 
 arisen against sundry of the functionaries nominated 
 by the Directory inunediately after its installation, it 
 directed its civil commissioners to keep a watchful 
 eye uoon their proceechngs. to gather tlie complaints 
 
 urged against them, and to forward to it the names of 
 those whose dismissal they deemed expedient. 
 
 With the view of more narrowly observing the fac- 
 tions, which, now driven from their public resorts, 
 would prosecute their schemes in secret, the Directory 
 conceived the project of creating a special ministry of 
 police. 
 
 The police is an important oliject in imsettled and 
 troubled times. The three preceding assemblies had 
 each assigned a numerous committee to exercise its 
 functions ; and the Directory, now considering they 
 ought not to be left among the accessory attributes of 
 the minister of the interior, proposed to the two coun- 
 cils the establishment of a special ministry. The op- 
 position objected that it would prove an inquisitorial 
 institution, in which they judged correctly; but it was 
 unhappily an evil inseparable from a period of factious 
 turbulence, and especially from one wherein stubborn 
 and inveterate factions were perforce restricted to 
 furtive machinations. The directorial proposition re- 
 ceived the legislative sanction. The deputy Cochon 
 was intrusted with the duties of this new ministry. 
 
 Moreover, additional laws fettering the liberty of 
 the press were desired by the Directory. The consti- 
 tution declared that liberty unlimited, save such pro- 
 visions as might be rendered necessary to curb its 
 excesses. But the two councils, after a solemn dis- 
 cussion, rejected the whole project of restrictive law. 
 The parts were again reversed upon this subject. The 
 partisans of the revolution, Avho ought to have been 
 advocates of illimitable freedom, upheld measures of 
 repression ; and the opposition, whose secret bias in- 
 clined much moi-e to monarchy than to the republic, 
 declared for imrestricted liberty — so completely are 
 parties governed by interest ! At the same time, the 
 decision Avas commendable. Tlie press may be left 
 unshackled without danger : truth alone is formidable; 
 falsehood is powerless, and the more it exaggerates 
 the more does its influence dwindle. No government 
 that ever existed has perished through sheer menda- 
 city. Little moment that a Babosuf celebrated the 
 virtues of an agrarian law, or that a Quotidienne de- 
 preciated the grandeur of the revolution, calumniated 
 its heroes, and strove to restore banished princes. 
 The government had simply to contemn their decla- 
 niatory effusions : a week of exaggeration and false- 
 hood exhausts the pens of pamphleteers and libellists. 
 But experience and the liglit of philosophy are needed 
 before governments will admit these axioms. The 
 time had perhaps not arrived for the convention to 
 risk their practical efficacy. The Directory, however, 
 which was more trari([uil and more securely seated, 
 ought to have comprehended their force and acted in 
 accordance therewith. 
 
 The last measures of theDirectorj', to wit, the closing 
 of the society of the Pantheon, the refusal to accept 
 the resignation of Benezech, the recall of the conven- 
 tionalists on missions, and tiie dismissal of certain 
 obnoxious functionaries, produced llie happiest effect; 
 they tended to reassure those who conscientiously 
 feared the revival of terror, condemned to silence those 
 who malevolently allected to dread it, and satisfied 
 reflective minds anxious to see the government hold a 
 position paramount to all sub-agitating factions. The 
 coherency and activity manifested by the Directory in 
 its labours, combined with other considerations to com- 
 mand esteem. IIo])es of permanent repose, confidence 
 in the durability of the actual ordi'r of things, gradually 
 gained gromid. The live directors liad assumed a cer- 
 tain outward state. Barras, more prone to the re- 
 laxations of pleasure than his colleagues, dispensed the 
 lionours of the Luxembourg, and in some degree im- 
 personated the whole Directory. Society presented 
 almost the same aspect as during the preceding j'ear, 
 exliiVjiling a singular medley of conditions and origins, 
 great freedom of manners, an insatiable thirst for plea- 
 sures, and an inordinate luxury. The saloons of the 
 director were crowded with generals whose education 
 '.' (>
 
 6t)6' 
 
 HISTORY OF TUE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and fortune had been acquired witliin two years, con- 
 tractors and other business men who had enriched 
 themselves by speculations and embezzlements, exiles 
 who had returned and now strove to attach themselves 
 to the government, men of tak'nt who, beginning tn 
 have faith in the reiiublic, desired to attain place and 
 station therein, finally, intriguers on the alert for con- 
 fidences and favours." AVomea of all origins flocked to 
 display their charms in those saloons, and to exert their 
 influence, at a time when all was to be solicited and 
 obtained. If sometimes manners lacked that reserve 
 and dignity which arc so nuich affected in France, and 
 which are" the fruits of a polished, calm, and exclusive 
 society, there reigned an extreme liberty of thought, 
 and that fertility of ideas, that grasp of intellect, which 
 the spectacle and habitual handling of momentous 
 aflairs naturally impart. The men who composed that 
 society were enfrancliised from the enervathig thraldom 
 of routine, and the dull monotony of insignificant tra- 
 ditions ; all their acquirements were due to native 
 hardihood and to jiersonal experience. They had 
 witnessed the grand events of modern history — they 
 had taken and were taking part therein; and it is 
 easy to imagine how such things must have stimulated 
 the young, the ambitious, the buoyant in hope. There 
 glittered in the first rank the youthful Roche, who, 
 from a private soldier in the French guards, had 
 become in one campaign general-in-chief, and had, in 
 the course of two years, given himself a finished edu- 
 cation. Endowed with personal grace and beauty, 
 renowned as one of the first captains of his day, and 
 scarcely twenty-seven years of age, he was the hope 
 of the republicans and the idol of the women, always 
 smitten with external comeliness, talent, and glory. 
 Beside him was already remarked the yomig Bonaparte, 
 who had not yet gained fame, but whose services at 
 Toulon and on the 13th Vendemiaire were appreciated, 
 whose character and mein occasioned observation as 
 pourtraying singularity, whilst his mind evinced its 
 striking qualities of originality and vigour. In this 
 society, where Jkladame Tallien shed the lustre of her 
 beauty, Madame Beauharnois of her grace, Madame 
 de Stael diffused the rays of genius, exalted by the 
 inspiring influences of circumstances and of liberty. 
 
 These young men, called to pre-eminence in the 
 state, selected their consorts, sometimes from amongst 
 the females of antiquated i-ank, who deemed themselves 
 honoured by their choice, and sometimes in the fami- 
 lies of those who had reaped wealth amidst the dis- 
 asters of the ejioch, who were delighted to ennoble 
 fortune by an alliance witli reputation. Bonaparte had 
 recently espoused the widow of themifortunate General 
 Beauharnois. The paths to distinction were multiform : 
 each prepared to throw himself into the destiny be- 
 fitting his qualifications, already spurred hy antici- 
 pations of a brilliant future. War on the continent, 
 war at sea, the legislature, the magistracy— a great 
 republic, in short, to defend and govern — such the 
 objects held up to inflame desires. The government 
 liad lately made a precious ac(iuisition, in the person 
 of an ingenious and profound writer, who devoted his 
 rising talents to reconcile opinion with the new republic. 
 M. Benjamin Constant had just ])ul)lished a work en- 
 titled " On the Force of Government," which had pro- 
 duced a powerful impression. He therein demonstrated 
 the necessity of upholding a government on which 
 hung the sole hopes of France and of all parties. 
 
 The harassing subject of the finances still chiefly 
 occupied the attention of the government. The last 
 measures had merely proved an adjournment of the 
 difficulties. They had conferred on the government 
 a certain quantity of domains for immediate sale, the 
 power of leasing the large forests, and the levy of a 
 forced loan, whilst the engraving of assignats had been 
 left to it as an extreme resource. To anticipate the 
 produce of these various resources, it had, as we have 
 seen, created sixtj' millions of rescriptions, upon the 
 model of exchequer bills or royal bonds, payable with 
 
 the first specie which should fall into the coffers of 
 the state. But these rescriptions had been negotiated 
 slowly and arduously. The bankers, assembled to 
 concert a scheme of territorial bank based on the 
 national domains, had dispersed on hearing the out- 
 cries of the patriots against stockjobbers and revenue- 
 farmers. The forced loan was collected much more 
 tardily than had been expected. The assessment had 
 }>roceeded upon purely arbitrary bases, inasmuch as 
 the loan was to be levied on the most affiuent classes ; 
 every one appealed, and each quota of the loan was 
 contested with those appointed to gather it. Scarcely 
 a third had reached the treasmy in two months. A 
 few millions in bullion, and a few thousand millions 
 in paper, had been at length amassed. Utterly inade- 
 quate, therefore, in its results, the government had 
 been driven to the extreme resource left to it in the 
 failure of the others, the graving-plate of assignats. 
 The issues had been increased within the last two 
 months to the unparalleled sum of forty -five thousand 
 millions (£1,890,000,000 sterling). Twenty thousand 
 milli<ms had scarcely produced one hundred millions 
 of specie, for the assignats bore only the two-hundredth 
 fraction of their value. The public was obviously un- 
 willing to take any more of them, as they were no 
 longer available for any purpose. They could not be 
 used in liquidation of debts, for that coercive process 
 was suspended ; in the paj'ment of land-rents and 
 taxes they were only valuable for the half, since the 
 other moiety was exigible in kind ; they were refused 
 in the markets, or accepted according to their actual 
 reduced worth ; lastly, they were taken in purchases 
 of domains only at the rate of the market value, as the 
 system of auctions always drove up otfers in propor- 
 tion to the depreciation of the paper. It was impos- 
 sible to employ them, therefore, in any manner capable 
 of eliciting value. An emission of imascertained ex- 
 tent caused extraordinary amounts to dwindle into 
 insignificant sums. Thousands of millions signified 
 at the utmost millions. That absolute depression 
 whereof we have spoken when animadverting on the 
 refusal to interdict auctions in the sale of national 
 property,* was now realised. 
 
 Men in whom the revolution had left its prejudices 
 implanted — for all systems and all modes of authority 
 engender such, to be long harboured — desired that 
 assignats should be enhanced, by assigning a vast 
 quantity of domains in hypothecation, and resorting 
 to violent measirres to give them currency. But there 
 is nothing mcjrc impracticable in the world than to 
 re-establish the credit of a paper-money. Assignats 
 were to be abandoned as hopeless. 
 
 It may be asked, why not abolish the paper-money 
 at once, by reducing it to its real value, which was 
 two hundred millions at the uttermost, and by exact- 
 ing the taxes and p.ayments for national property 
 either in specie or in assignats at the standai'd of 
 value? Specie, in fact, was reappearing, and even 
 somewhat abundantly, especially in the provinces ; 
 tluis demonstrating the futility of the apprehensions 
 entertained of its great scarcity ; the fact itself behig 
 avouched by the circumstance of the paper holding a 
 place in the circulation merely to the extent of two 
 hundred millions : but other considerations prevented 
 tlie sudden renunciation of a paper currency. The 
 only wealth of the state, it nuist always be borne in 
 n)ind, consisted in the national domains. Their sale 
 appeared neither certain nor proximate. Unable to 
 wait, therefore, until their worth came spontaneously 
 to the treasury b}' purchases, the govermnent must 
 needs forestall it by paper, and make issues to be re- 
 deemed hereafter : in short, the value of those domains 
 was to be exjiended before it was received. This ne- 
 cessity of disbursing before selling suggested the crea 
 tion of a new paper. 
 
 The schedules, which contemplated a special hypo- 
 
 * Vide page 510 of tliis History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 S6J 
 
 tliec on particular properties, would have occasioned 
 tedious delays, as they nnist have contained a special 
 description of each hereditament ; besides, the^y Avere 
 dependent on the inclination of individuals, and failed 
 to obviate the real substantial difficulty. The jiaper 
 noAV imagined was, under the name of mandats, to re- 
 present a detenninate amount of property. The do- 
 mains were made subject to purchase, without auction 
 and by simple agreement, at prices in maudats equi- 
 valent to the valuation of 1790, which was calculated 
 at twenty-two years' purchase. Of these raandats 
 two thousand four hundi'ed millions were to be created, 
 and domains of corresponding value, according to the 
 estimate of 1790, were to be forthwith assigned in 
 specific security. Thus, these mandats could undergo 
 no variation apart from the domains themselves, .since 
 they represented a fixed quantity. They could not, 
 it is true, attain the standard of bullion, for the do- 
 mains were not worth so much as in 1790 ; but they 
 would necessarily bear the value of the domains. 
 
 It was resolved to employ a portion of these ma^n- 
 dats in retiring the assignats. The copperplate of 
 the assignats was finally broken on the 30th Pluviose 
 year 4 (19th February.) By that time it had served 
 to manufacture forty-five thousand five hundred mil- 
 lions. By means of different payments, arising from 
 the forced loan and outstanding arrears, the floating 
 mass had been reduced to thirty-six thousand mil- 
 lions, and would be shortly stiU further reduced to 
 twenty-four thousand millions. These twent3'-four 
 thousand millions, divided by thirty, represented eight 
 hundred millions : it was decreed they should be ex- 
 changed for eight hmidred millions of mandats, which 
 was a liquidation of the assignat at the rate of one- 
 thirtieth of its nominal value. An additional quan- 
 tity of six hundred millions of mandats was to be 
 issued for the public service ; and the remaining one 
 thousand millions were to be deposited in a coffer 
 with three keys, and abstracted under the authority 
 of decrees as emergency demanded. 
 
 This creation of mandats was a re-impression of as- 
 signats, varying only in the figure, the denomination, 
 and the peculiarity of possessing a determinate value 
 in relation to property. It was as if, beyond the 
 twent3"-four thousand millions remaining in circula- 
 tion, other forty-eight thousand millions had been 
 added, making in the whole seventy-two thousand 
 millions; and as if these seventy-two thousand mil- 
 lions were to be received in payment of national do- 
 mains, at thirty times the valuation of 1790, Avhich 
 supposed two thousand four hundred millions' Avortli 
 of lands assigned in hypothecation. Thus the figure 
 was lowered, the relation to property fixed, and the 
 name changed. 
 
 The mandats were decreed on the 26th Ventose 
 (16th March.) The domains were to be forthwith 
 exposed to sale, and delivered to the bearer of man- 
 dats on simple contracts. One-half of the price was 
 to be paid in the first decade, and the other within 
 three months. The national forests were set apart, 
 and the two thousand foiur hundred millions' worth 
 of property was taken from tlie estates of less than 
 three hundred acres. Contemporaneous with the emis- 
 sion, such measures were enacted as the ado])tion of 
 a paper-money necessitates. The mandat being the 
 money of the republic, all payments were to be made 
 in that currency. Obligations stipulated upon a me- 
 tallic basis, house and farm rents, interest on loans, 
 taxes, excepting taxes in arrear, dividends on state- 
 stocks, pensions, salaries of pul)lie functionaries — all 
 were to be paid in mandats. A long discussion oc- 
 curred on the subject of the land-tax. Tliose wlio 
 foreboded that mandats would decline after the man- 
 ner of assignats, maintained that, in order to assure 
 the state a certain receipt, the land-tax should be con- 
 tinued exigible in kind. The difficulties of the collec- 
 tion were objected in rejoinder, and a resolution was 
 eventually passed that it should be paid in mandats, 
 
 as likewise the custoins-duties, dues of enrolment, 
 stamp-duties, postages, &c. Nor were these the only 
 regulations deemed requisite. It was judged essen- 
 tial to accompany the creation of the new paper with 
 those stringent provisions accessory to the employ- 
 ment of forced values. It was ordained that gold and 
 silver should no longer be considered in the light of 
 merchandise, or allowed to be sold against paper, and 
 vice versa. After the lessons experience had taught, 
 this was a prejiosterous measm-e. Another equally so 
 was adopted at the same time, which greatly injm-ed 
 the Directory in public opinion — namely, the closing 
 of the Bourse or Stock Exchange. It might have been 
 well aware that shutting up a public mart will not 
 prevent a thousand being opened elsewhere. 
 
 In making mandats a new currency, and rendering 
 them in all cases the substitute of specie, the govern- 
 ment committed a grave error. Even though it sus- 
 tained its value, the mandat could never equal the 
 standard of money. The mandat was worth, we will 
 allow, as much as the land, but it could not be worth 
 more. Now, the land was not worth the half of the 
 price estimated in 1790: a property, even in fee, of 
 one hundred thousand francs, woidd not bring fifty 
 thousand in specie. How, then, were one hundred 
 thousand francs in mandats to be worth one hundred 
 thousand in specie ? This difference, therefore, ought 
 at all events to have been taken into account. So, 
 independently of all other causes of depreciation, the 
 government had to encounter a preliminary objection, 
 arising from the fall in the value of land. 
 
 So pressing were the exigencies, that promises of 
 mandats were put into circulation, until the mandats 
 themselves should be ready for emission. From the 
 first moment, these promises circulated at a rate in- 
 ferior to their nominal value. Great alarm ensued 
 the fear was general that the new paper, on whicli 
 such expectations had been built, was about to fi\ll 
 like the assignats, and leave the republic utterly 
 without resource. There was a cause, however, for 
 this decline, which might be soon remedied. It was 
 requisite to frame instructions for the guidance of the 
 local administrations, with the view of regulating the 
 very complicated cases which must necessarily arise 
 from the sale of domains on simple contract ; and this 
 operation required considerable time, and retarded the 
 commencement of the sales. During this interval the 
 mandat fell, and many alleged its value would de- 
 cline so rapidly that the state would not open the 
 sales at all, and abandon the domains for a nominal 
 equivalent; that the mandats would fare as the as- 
 signats before them — tlicy would be depressed to 
 nuUity, and then they would be received in pajinent 
 of domains, not at tlieir emitted but at their sunken 
 value. Malignants thus endeavoured to inculcate that 
 the new paper was a mere decoy, that the domains 
 were never intended to be alienated, and tliat the re- 
 public purposed to reserve tliem as an ostensible and 
 everlasting pledge for every variety of paper fabrica- 
 tion it might choose to issue. Nevertheless, the sales 
 were opened. Numerous ap])licants subsciibed their 
 names. The inandat of one hundred francs had fallen 
 to fifteen. It rallied successively to thirty, forty, and 
 in some localities to eighty-eight francs. Thus for 
 a while the success of the new operation was confi- 
 dently anticipated. 
 
 It was amidst factions secretly conspiring against it, 
 that the Directory devoted its energies to these arduous 
 toils. The agents of royalty continued their furtive 
 machinations. The death of I>emaitrc had not dis- 
 couraged tliem. Brottier, having been acquitted, had 
 become tlie head of the agency; Duverne de Bresle, 
 Laville-Heurnois, and Desponielles, were conjoined 
 witli him, and formed tiie clandestine royal committee. 
 These per.sonages possessed no greater infiuence than 
 in times past : they intrigued, clamoured lustily for 
 moiiey, boasted of numerous correspondences, an(l pro- 
 mised marvels. They were still the medium of com 
 
 li:
 
 568 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 munication between the pretender and La Vendee, 
 whore they had divers a,<;ents. They persisted in 
 their former opinions, and, seeing the insurrection 
 quelled by Hoche and on the point of dying away, 
 they were still more confirmed in the plan of effecting 
 every thing at I'aris, by a movement in the interior. 
 They professed, as in the days of the convention, to 
 be in relation with several deputies of the new third; 
 and maintained that tlie expedient course was to tem- 
 porise, work upon opinion through journals, disparage 
 the government, and perfect such prei)arations as 
 might secure the return of deputies essentially counter- 
 revolutionary in the elections of the succeeding year. 
 They thus flattered themselves they should destroy 
 the republican coiTititution by means of the constitu- 
 tion itself. This ])lan was undoubtedly the least chi- 
 merical they had formed, and is that which gives the 
 most favourable idea of their intelligence. 
 
 The patriots, on their part, concocted plots with 
 equal diligence, and, from the means they held at dis- 
 posal, of a more formidable character. Driven from 
 the Pantheon and completely discountenanced by the 
 government, which had separated from them and dis- 
 missed them from their employments, they had de- 
 clared against it, andbecome its irreconcilable enemies. 
 Terceiving themselves the objects of vigilant super- 
 vision, they had found it necessary to envelop tlieir 
 proceedings in the deepest secrecy, and to observe 
 such arrangements as might keep the leaders of the 
 conspiracy altogether unknown. They had chosen 
 four persons to form a directory of public welfare ; 
 Baboeuf and Drouet were of the number. This secret 
 directory was intended to communicate with twelve 
 principal agents unacquainted and unconnected with 
 each other, and charged to organise societies of patriots 
 in all the quarters of Paris. These twelve agents, 
 thus acting in their respective circuits, were strictly 
 enjoined not to allow the names of the four members 
 composing the secret directory to transpire ; they were 
 instructed to speak and enforce obedience in the name 
 of a mysterious and supreme authority, instituted to 
 direct the efforts of the patriots towards the attain- 
 ment of general happiness, as their ultimate aim was 
 expressed. In this manner the ramifications of the 
 conspiracy were almost impenetrable ; for, supposing 
 one of the agents was seized, the others would still 
 remain unknown. This organisation was perfected 
 in accordance with the plan imagined by Baboeuf: 
 societies of patriots were formed throughout Paris, 
 which, through the medium of the twelve principal 
 agents, received the impulse of an unknown autho- 
 rity. 
 
 Baboeuf and his colleagues, meanwhile, canvassed the 
 mode whereby what they called the deliverance was to 
 be accomplished, and the parties in whom power 
 should be vested after they had dispatched the Direc- 
 tory, dispersed the councils, and put the people in 
 possession of their sovereignty. They were too doubt- 
 ful of the provinces and of opinion in general to incur 
 the hazards of an election and to sunnnon a new as- 
 sembly. They determined, therefore, to nominate 
 one composed of the most trusty Jacobins in each de- 
 partment, the selection to be made by themselves. 
 This assembly they purposed to complete by adding 
 all the Mountaineers of the old convention who hail 
 not been re-elected. Yet even these Mountaineers 
 appeared to them deficient in the essential guarantees, 
 for many had adhered, iu the latter days of the con- 
 vention, to what they stigmatised as liberticide mea- 
 sures, and had even accepted offices from the Directory. 
 They finally agreed, however, to allow the admission, 
 into the new assembly, of sixty-eight of those dis- 
 placed deputies who were deemed the most pure. 
 This assembly was to wield all the powers of govern- 
 ment, until the general happiness was secured. 
 
 In prosecution of these views, it was necessary to 
 enter into communication with the non-elected con- 
 vcutioualists. of whom the greater part were in Paris. 
 
 Pjabceuf and Drouet accordingly opened conferences 
 with them. The clioice of measures afforded the 
 principal subject of discussion. The conventionalists 
 found those proposed by the insurrectionary direc- 
 tory somewhat too extravagant : their voice was given 
 for the re-establishment of tlie late convention, with 
 the organisation prescril)ed by the constitution of 
 1793. Eventually, the parties came to an understand- 
 ing, and the insuiTection was prepared for the month 
 of Ploreal (April-May). The means the secret direc- 
 tory contemplated calling into requisition were truly 
 appalling. In the first place, it held correspondence 
 with the principal towns of France, for the purpose of 
 rendering the projected revolution simultaneous and 
 identical in ;ill quarters. At the appointed time, the 
 patriots were to nuister, with banners fl^'ing, on which 
 was to be inscribed the following motto : — " Liberty — 
 Eqiialiti/ — Constitution of 1793 — General Happiness.'' 
 Whoever should resist the sovereign people was 
 doomed to death. The five directors, certain mem- 
 bers of the Five Hundred, and the general of the army 
 of the interior, were preliminarily marked for slaughter. 
 The Luxembourg, the Treasury, the Telegraph, the 
 arsenals, and the depot of artillery at Meudon, were to 
 be seized. With the view of stimulating the people 
 to rise, and of no lunger feeding them with vain pro- 
 mises, all the inhabitants in competent circimistances 
 were to be compelled to lodge, clothe, and maintain 
 every man who had taken part in the insurrection. 
 The bakers and wine-dealers were to furnish bread 
 and liquids to the people, receiving an indemnity from 
 the republic, under pain of being hanged at the lantern 
 in case of refusal. Every soldier who should join the 
 ranks of the insurgents was to retain his accoutre- 
 ments in full ownership, receive a sum of money, and 
 enjoy the privilege of returning to his family. It 
 was hoped that these inducements would gain over all 
 those who served with reluctance. To seduce the sol- 
 diers who had an actual partiality for war, the houses 
 of the royalists were offered them for pillage. In order 
 that the armies might be kept at their full comple- 
 ment, and those replaced who should return to their 
 homes, it was intended to confer on recruits such ad- 
 vantages as would infaUibly ensure a spontaneous levy 
 of many thousands. 
 
 Such were the terrible and desperate schemes con- 
 templated by these infuriated men. They purposed 
 Rossignol, formerly general in La Vendee, to command 
 the Parisian army of insurrection. They had already 
 tampered with the legion of police, which formed part 
 of the army of the interior, and was entirely composed 
 of patriots, gendarmes of the tribunals, and old French 
 guardsmen. The legion, iu fiict, mutinied, but too 
 prematurely, and was dissolved by the Directorj^ The 
 minister of police Cochon, who followed the progress 
 of the conspiracy, which was divulged to him by an 
 officer belonging to the army of the interior who had 
 been urged to co-operate therein, allowed it to pro- 
 ceed in order to trace aU its ramifications. On the 
 20th Floreal (9th May), BabcRuf, Drouet, and the 
 other leaders and agents, were to meet at the house 
 of a carpenter in the Rue Bleue. Some officers of 
 police, stationed in the environs, seized the conspi- 
 rators and immediately conducted them to prison. 
 Others apprehended at the same time the ex-con ven- 
 tionahsts Laignelot, Vadier, Amar, Ricord, Choudieu, 
 the Piedmontese Buonarotti, Anotenelle, ex-member 
 of the Legislative Assembly, and Lepelletier of Saint- 
 Fargeau, the brother of him who had been assassi- 
 nated. The Directory api)lied to the two coimcils foi- 
 a decree of accusation against Drouet, who was a 
 member of the Five Hundred, and it consigned the 
 whole band to the high national court, which was not 
 j-et organised, but the necessary steps were forthwith 
 taken for that purpose. Baboeuf, whose effrontery 
 rivalled his fanaticism, wrote a singiUar letter to the 
 Directory, which fully pourtrayed the deUrious state 
 of his intellect. "I am a power," so he expressed
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 oiia 
 
 himself to the five directors ; " fear not, therefore, to 
 treat with me as an equal. I am the chief of a for- 
 midable sect, wliich you will not destroy by sendinsc 
 rae to death, and which, after my execution, will only 
 be the more incensed and dangerous. You have but 
 one link in the conspiracy ; it is nothing your having 
 arrested a few individuals ; leaders will continually 
 start up again. Spare j'ourselves an useless effusion 
 of blood : you have not yet created any great sensa- 
 tion ; avoid doing so, and treat with the patriots ; they 
 remember you were formerly sincere republicans ; they 
 wiU forgive you, if you will act in concert witli theiu 
 for the welfare of the republic." 
 
 The Directory vouchsafed no attention to this ex- 
 travagant eflTusion, and ordered the indictments to be 
 preferred. The process must necessarily occupy a 
 lengthentd interval, for it was determined to proceed 
 in strict adherence to formalities. This last act of 
 vigour tended most materially to strengthen the Di- 
 rectory in public opinion. The end of winter was 
 approaching; the factions were vigilantly watched 
 and curlied ; the administration was directed with 
 zeal and assiduity ; the remodelled paper-money alone 
 occasioned disquietude ; it had, nevertheless, furnished 
 temporary resources towards the preparations for the 
 campaign about to open. The season for military 
 operations had in fact arrived. The British minister, 
 always astute in his policy, liad made the advance to 
 the French government which the general feeling of 
 his nation imposed as a duty. He had instructed his 
 agent in Switzerland, Wickliam, to address certain 
 preposterous questions to Barthelemj', the minister of 
 France. This overture, made on the 17th Ventose 
 (7th March 1796), had for object to demand whether 
 France was disposed to peace, whether she would con- 
 sent to a congress for tlie purpose of discussing its 
 conditions, and whether she would intimate in advance 
 the principal bases on which she was resolved to treat. 
 Such a proceeding was merely an idle concession of 
 Pitt to the gTowing discontent of tlie British nation, 
 in-order to gain a pretext, founded on the refusal of 
 France, for requiring fresh sacrifices. If Pitt had been 
 really sincere, he would not have intrusted this over- 
 ture to an agent without powers ; he would not have 
 demanded an I'^,uropean congress, which, from the 
 complication of questions, must have been engaged in 
 interminable negotiations, and which, moreover, France 
 had already refused to Austria through the medium 
 of Denmark ; finally, he would not have inquired on 
 what bases the negotiation was to open, since he was 
 well aware that, according to the constitution, tlie 
 Austrian Netherlands had become an integral portion 
 of the French territory, which the present government 
 was not comi)etent to detach. The Directory, in no 
 mood to be duped, caused Wickham to be answered, 
 that neither the form nor tlie object of liis communi- 
 cation was of a nature to impress belief in the since- 
 rity of the advance ; but, to evince; its pacific inten- 
 tions, it consented to reply to questions that did not 
 merit the condescension, and declared its readiness to 
 treat on the bases fixed by the constitution. This was 
 tantamount to a definitive announcement that France 
 vrould never renounce Belgium. Tlie letter of the 
 Directory, couclied in firm and temperate terms, was 
 forthwith piil)Iished together with that of Wickham. 
 It presented the first example of a diiilomacy at once 
 frank and firm, and free from any vainglorious as- 
 sumption. 
 
 The conduct of the Directory was approved by the 
 whole nation, and on both sides vigorous preparations 
 were made for recommencing hostilities. I'itt solicited 
 from parliament an additional loan of seven millions 
 sterling, and he attempted to negotiate anotlier for 
 the emperor of three millions. lie had been for some 
 time past labouring to arouse the King of Prussia from 
 his neutralit}', and to drag him again into tlie contest ; 
 he offered him funds, and represented to him that, 
 coming in at the close of the war, when all parties 
 
 were exhausted, he would wield an incontestible supe- 
 riority. The King of Prussia, however, too sapient 
 to relapse into his former error, turned a deaf ear to 
 the delusive proposal, and adhered to his neutrality. 
 A part of his army was stationed in Poland, to com- 
 plete the incorporation of the recent acquisitions ; the 
 other was ranged along the lihine, ready to defend 
 the line of neutrality against either of the powers that 
 should violate it, and to afford protection to such of 
 the states of the empire as sliould claim tlie mediation 
 of Prussia. Russia, alwaj^s profuse in promises, pru- 
 dently abstained from sending troops, and occupied 
 herself in organising the share of Poland she had taken 
 under her dominion. 
 
 Austria, inflated by her successes at the close of 
 the last campaign, prepared for war with zest, and 
 indulged in tlie most jiresumptuous hopes. The gene- 
 ral to whom she had been indebted for that transient 
 gleam of returning fortune, was nevertheless super- 
 seded, despite the lustre of his glory. Clairfayt, hav- 
 ing given offence to the Aulic Council, was replaced 
 in the command of the army of the Lower Rhine by 
 the young Archduke Charles, of whom great expec- 
 tations were formed, without his eminent talents, 
 however, being as yet discerned. lie had exhibited, 
 in the preceding campaigns, the qualities of an ex- 
 cellent officer in subordinate commands. Wurmser 
 was still at the head of the army of the Upper Rhine. 
 To confirm the King of Sardinia in his warlike inten- 
 tions, a considerable reinforcement had been detached 
 to the imperial army battling in Piedmont, and the 
 command conferred on General Beaulieu, who had 
 achieved a high reputation in the Low Countries. 
 Spain, commencing to reap the benefits of peace, had 
 her attention fixed on the impending struggle ; and, 
 now more enlightened as to her real interests, offered 
 up vows for the success of France. 
 
 The Directory, inspired with all the zeal of a new 
 government, and eager to illustrate its administration, 
 meditated great designs. It had placed the armies in 
 a respectable state as to force ; but, whilst forwarding 
 them men, it had been unable to furnish other requi- 
 site supplies. All Bclgimn had been put under con- 
 tribution to aliment the army of the Sambre-and- 
 Meuse ; extraordinarj^ efforts had been necessary to 
 enable that of the Phine to exist amidst tlie moun- 
 tains of the Vosges. StiU they were both deficient in 
 the means of transport and in horses for the cavalry, 
 without the utmost exertions of the government being 
 available to repair the evil. The army of the Alps liatl 
 subsisted on the magazines taken from the Austrians 
 after the battle of Loano ; but it was devoid of raiment 
 and shoes, and the pay was in arrear. Tlie \ictory of 
 Loano had thus remained without result. The armies 
 in the western provinces, owing to the jirecautions of 
 Hoclie, were in a better condition than any of the 
 others, but even they were not provided with all they 
 needed. Yet, notwithstanding this destitution, the 
 French armies, inured to suffering, accustomed to 
 rely on precarious expedients, and tliorougiily imbued 
 with tlie martial spirit in the course of tiieir glorious 
 campaigns, were animated with all the aspirations 
 heralding great achievements. 
 
 The Directory coiitemiilated, we say, vast projects. 
 It desired to finisii tin; war of La Vendee before the 
 advance of sjiring, and suhsecimntly assume tlie offen- 
 sive on all jioinfs. Its comliined aim was to propel 
 tlie armies on the Khine into (lermany, in order to 
 blockade and besiege Mayence, complete the submis- 
 sion of the princes of the empire, isolate Austria, 
 transjiort the theatre of the war into the heart of lier 
 hereditar}- dominions, and jirovide subsistence fiir the 
 troojis, at the ex])eiise of tlie enemy, in the rich valleys 
 of the IMaineaiid tiie Neckar. \\'ith regard to Italy, 
 it cherished yet grander schemes, suggested by (Jene- 
 ral Bonaparte. As the Krencli had not ])rofiled by the 
 victory of Loano, they must, according to the views of 
 that oilicer, gain a second, compel the King of Sardinia
 
 570 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 to conclude peace or Arrest from him his territories, 
 then cross the Po, and proceed to phick from Austria 
 the brightest jewel in her crown, Lombardy. Tliat 
 was the decisive field of action ; there the most sen- 
 sible blow was to be inflicted on Austria — an equiva- 
 lent conquered to requite her surrender of Belgium, 
 peace to be won, and perha])s fair Italy enfranchised. 
 Moreover, the most impoverished of the armies would 
 be nourished and recruited in that most fertile region 
 of the globe. 
 
 The Directory, pondering on these ideas, made cer- 
 tain alterations in the command of the armies. Jour- 
 dan retained the command he had so well merited of 
 the army of the Sambre-and-]Meuse. Pichegni, who 
 had betrayed his country, and whose treason was al- 
 ready suspected, was superseded by Moreau, who com- 
 manded in Holland. Pichegru was offered the embassy 
 to Sweden, which he dechned. BeurnonA-ille, recently 
 returned from captivity, succeeded Moreau in the com- 
 mand of the French army in Holland. Scherer, whose 
 ■failure to profit by the victory of Loano had caused 
 dissatisfaction, was superseded. A young enterprising 
 general was needed to prosecute a bold campaign. 
 Bonaparte, who had already distinguished himself in 
 the army of Italy, and who, moreover, manifested so 
 keen a perception of the advantages to accrue from a 
 march beyond the Alps, appeared the most eligible 
 man to replace Scherer. He was accordingly promoted 
 from the command of the army of the interior to that 
 of the army of Italy. He immediately departed to 
 join his troops at Xice. Fidl of ardour and joy, he 
 said on starting that in a month he would be at Milan 
 or at Paris. Such exuberance might betoken rashness ; 
 but in a young soldier, appointed to a hazardous en- 
 terprise, it was of good augury. 
 
 Equally important changes were effected in the 
 three armies which guarded the insurgent provinces. 
 Hoche, summoned to Paris in order to concert with 
 the Directory a plan calculated to put an end to the 
 civil war, had been received with justly merited favour 
 and the most flattering testimonies of esteem. The 
 l')irectory, duly estimating the sagacity of his projects, 
 had approved them all ; and in order tliat none might 
 thwart their execution, it had amalgamated the three 
 annies of Cherbourg, Brest, and the West, into one, 
 under the title of the army of the coasts of the ocean, 
 and invested him with the supreme command thereof 
 It was the principal army belonging to the republic, 
 for it amounted to one hmidred thousand men, extended 
 over several provinces, and required in the general- 
 issimo a junction of civil and military powers almost 
 unprecedented. So vast a command was the greatest 
 proof of confidence that could be given to a general. 
 It was assuredly not misplaced in Hoche. Possessing 
 in his twentv'-seventh year that rare union of civil 
 and military talents which often proves dangerous to 
 hberty, and even stirred by lofty ambition, he had 
 not that culpable audacity of mind which prompts an 
 illustrious captain to aspire to something beyond the 
 quality of citizen ; he was a sincere repubUcan, and 
 rivalled Jourdan in patriotism and disinterestedness. 
 Liberty might applaud his triumphs without fear, and 
 wish him victories in full reliance on his imabated 
 allegiance. 
 
 Hoche had scarcely passed a month at Paris. He had 
 hastened his return into La Vendee, in order to con- 
 summate the pacification of that country, if possible, 
 by the end of winter or the commencement of spring. 
 His plan of disarmment and pacification was reduced 
 into form and converted into a decree by the Direc- 
 tory. According to this plan, it was arranged that a 
 cordon of disarmment should be extended around all 
 the insurgent provinces, and sweep them successively. 
 Pending their complete jiacification, they were sub- 
 jected to martial law. All the towns were declared in 
 a state of siege. In principle, it was affirmed that the 
 army was to live at the cost of the insurgent country; 
 consequently, Hoche was authorised to collect tlie 
 
 taxes and the forced loan, either in kind or in specie, 
 as he might deem fitting, and to form magazines and 
 chests for the use and support of the army. The towns 
 exposed to suffer famine from the hostile determina- 
 tion of the cultivators to keep back supplies, were to 
 be provisioned after military usage, by columns at- 
 tached to the principal amongst them. Pardon was 
 offered to all the rebels who should lay down their 
 arms. As to the chiefs, they who were taken in actual 
 hostilities were appointed to be shot, wliilst the}' wlio 
 submitted were to he incarcerated or detained under 
 surveillance in specified towns, or conducted forth of 
 France. Tlie Directory, coinciding with the sugges- 
 tion of Hoche that La Vendee should be tranquOlised 
 before anj' steps were taken with regard to Brit- 
 tany, empowered him to terminate his operations on 
 the left bank of the Loire before concentrating his 
 troops on the right bank. So soon as La Vendee was 
 entirely subjugated, a line of disarmment was intended 
 to embrace all Brittany, from Granville even to the 
 Loire, and to move forward, traversing the whole 
 Breton peninsula, to the extremity of Finistere. It 
 was left to the discretion of Hoche to fix the period 
 when the provinces, appearing to him subdued, should 
 be relieved from martiid law and restored to the con- 
 stitutional system. 
 
 Hoche, who reached Angers towards the end of 
 Nivose (mid-January), found his operations sadly de- 
 ranged during his absence. The success of his plan 
 depending chiefly on the manner in which it was exe- 
 cuted, his presence was indispensably requisite. Gene- 
 ral Willot had supplied the want inefficiently. The 
 line of disarmment had made little progress. Charette 
 had broken it, and passed to the rear. The regular 
 system enjoined for gathering provisions having been 
 ill observed, and the army having often lacked neces- 
 saries, it had again relapsed into defective discipline, 
 and committed acts calculated to alienate the inhabi- 
 tants. Sapinaud, after having attempted an aggres- 
 sion upon iSIontaigu, as previously recorded, had ob- 
 tained from General Willot terms of peace so flagrautly 
 absurd as to render their ratification by Hoche impos- 
 sible.' Stofflet, still enacting the prince, and Bernier 
 the prime-minister, incorporated the deserters who 
 fled from Charette, and carried on secret preparations. 
 The towns of Nantes and Angers laboured under a 
 deplorable scarcity. The patriots, chased from the 
 surrounding districts, had taken refuge withm their 
 walls, and, filling the clubs, gave vent to the most 
 furious declamations, worthy of Jacobins in their most 
 palmy days. The belief was current that Hoche had 
 been called to Paris to be deprived of his conmiand. 
 Some alleged him to have been superseded as a roy- 
 alist, others attributed his disgrace to the fact of his 
 being a Jacobin. 
 
 His retiirn dispelled all doubts, and retrieved the 
 evils caused by his absence. He reorganised the line 
 of disarmment, stocked the magazines, and provisioned 
 the towns, declaring them all in a state of siege. 
 Authorised henceforth to exercise a military dictator- 
 ship, he shut up the Jacobin clubs formed by the 
 refugee patriots, and especially a society known at 
 Nantes under tiie title of Chambre Ardente. He refused 
 to sanction the peace granted to Sapinaud ; he caused 
 his country to be occupied, and gave him the option 
 of leaving France or lurking in the woods, under the 
 promise of being shot if taken. He pressed more 
 closely upon StofBet than before, aiid recommenced 
 the pursuit of Charette. He confided to Adjutant- 
 General Travot, who combined great intrepidity with 
 all the activity of a marauding partisan, the charge of 
 following Charette with several columns of light in- 
 fantry and cavalrj', with directions to allow him no 
 repose or gleam of hope. 
 
 Charette, in fact, hunted day and night, had no 
 chance of escaping. The inhabitants of the Maniis, 
 disarmed and watched, could afford him no succours. 
 They had already delivered up seven thousand mus-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ;7i 
 
 kets and more, sundry pieces of ordnance, and forty 
 barrels of powder, so any resumption of arms on their 
 part was almost impossible. Moreover, had their 
 capabilities been ever so ample, inclination would have 
 restrained them, for they found themselves happy in 
 the enjoyment of the tranquillity now assured to them, 
 and shuldered at the thoughts of exposing themselves 
 to fi'esh devastations. The peasants, indeed, came 
 voluntarily forward to dividge to the republican ofn- 
 cers the roads taken by Charette. and the retreats he 
 sought to re])ose his wearied body for a Mdiile ; and 
 when they could siu-prise anyof thosewho accompanied 
 him, they convej'cd thcra to the army. Charette, 
 escorted by scarcely a hundred devoted adherents, and 
 followed by certain females whom he reserved for his 
 private gratifications, still spurned all idea of surrender. 
 Tormented by suspicions, he occasionally put his hosts 
 to death, if the fear of being betrayed by them was 
 suggested to his mind. He is stated to have caused 
 the miu"der of a parish priest whom he suspected had 
 denounced him to the republicans. Travot more than 
 once encovmtered him, slew sixty of his men, several 
 of his officers, and amongst the rest his brother. Then 
 there remained around the wandering chief but forty 
 or fifty men. 
 
 Whilst Hoche thus harassed Charette without re- 
 mission, and prosecuted his plan of disarmment, Stof- 
 flet suddenly cast his eyes about him in dismay, and 
 became convinced that, encompassed on all sides as he 
 was, when Charette and Sapinaud were destroyed and 
 all the Chouans subjugated, the species of principality 
 he had carved for himself in Upper Anjou must be 
 dt)omed to speedy annihilation. He held it would be 
 folly to wait until all the royalists were exterminated : 
 so, alleging as his pretext a regulation of Hoche, he 
 again raised the standard of revolt and resumed hosti- 
 lities. Hoche was at that moment on the banks of the 
 Loire, pm-posing to visit Calvados, that he might judge 
 in person the state of affairs in Normandy and Brittany. 
 He immediately postponed his journey, and made pre- 
 parations to overwhelm Stofflet, before his revolt could 
 attain any formidable progress. In truth, he was well 
 pleased that Stofflet himself supplied an opportunity 
 of breaking the pacification. This additional warfare 
 gave him little uneasiness, and enabled him to treat 
 Anjou like the IMarais and Brittany. He moved his 
 columns from several points simultaneously — from the 
 Loire, the Layon, and the Sevre-Nantaise. Stofflet, 
 assailed on all sides, was unable to withstand the shock. 
 The peasants of Anjou were even more sensible to the 
 blessings of peace than those of the Marais ; they had 
 not responded to the appeal of their old leader, and 
 had left him to commence the war with the evil-dis- 
 posed of the district and the emigrants abounding in 
 his canij). Two bands lie had mustered were dispersed, 
 and himself obliged, like Charette. to scour the woods. 
 But he had neither the indefatigability nor the dex- 
 terity of that chieftain, and his coimtry -was fortu- 
 nately not so well adapted for concealing a troop of 
 fugitive marauders. He was betrayed by liis own ad- 
 herents. Enticed into a farm-house luider pretence 
 of a conference, he was seized, pinioned, and delivered 
 to the republicans. We are assured that his faithful 
 minister, the Abbe Bernier, aided and abetted in the 
 treacherous act. The capture of this chief was highly 
 important, from the moral effect it was fitted to pro- 
 duce on the rebellious districts. He was conducted 
 to Angers, and, after undergoing an interrogator^', 
 shot on tlie Ttli Ventose (26th February), in presence 
 of an immense concourse. 
 
 This mtclligcnce caused a transport of joy, giving 
 presage that the civil war would soon terminate in 
 those mifortunate provinces. Hoche, amidst the 
 painful anxieties inseparable from such a system of 
 warfare, was distressed by accinnulated annoyances. 
 The royalists, as was to be exjiected, called him a 
 miscreant and a blood-drinker, although he used legi- 
 timate means only to subjugate them ; but the patriots 
 
 themselves tormented him with their calumnies. The 
 refugees of La Vendue and Brittany, whose turbulence 
 lie repressed, and whose sloth he crossed by withdraw- 
 ing from them support when their farms might be 
 safelj"^ occupied and tilled, denounced him in virulent 
 terms to the Directory. The authorities of the towns 
 he declared in a state of siege exclaimed against the 
 establishment of the military sj'stem, and likewise 
 denounced him. The rural communes, made amenable 
 to penalties for transgressions, or to the military col- 
 lection of the taxes, also raised the voice of complaint. 
 There was one incessant din of abuse and remon- 
 strance. Hoche, Avhose disposition was irritable, was 
 several times urged to desperation, and formally de- 
 manded his recall. But the Directory refused his 
 application, and soothed him by repeated assurances 
 of unalterable esteem and confidence. It presented 
 him, in the name of the nation, with two superb steeds, 
 a gift not only acceptable as a recompense but prized 
 as an indispensable succour. This young general, who 
 relished the fascinations of pleasure, who was at the 
 head of an army counting one hundred thousand men, 
 and who administered the revenues of several pro- 
 vinces, nevertheless often suffered the extremest priva- 
 tions. His appointments, paid in paper, were valueless. 
 He was devoid of horses, bridles, saddles, and he craved 
 permission to approjiriate, reimbursing their worth, 
 six bridles, six saddles, some horse-shoes, a few bottles 
 of rum and loaves of sugar, from the magazines left 
 by the English at Quiberon : an admirable example of 
 delicacy, M-hich the republican generals frequently 
 gave, but which was to become every day more rare, 
 in proportion as the range of conquest extended, and 
 martial virtues gave way before the seductions of 
 abundant spoils and the contamination of courtly 
 habits. 
 
 Encouraged by the government, Hoche continued 
 his efforts to consummate his task in La Vendee. An 
 universal pacification now depended solely on the cap- 
 ture of Charette. That chief, reduced to extremities, 
 sent to solicit from Hoche permission to retire into 
 England. Hoche acceded to the request, in accordance 
 witli the authority vested in him by the edict of the 
 Directory relative to the chiefs embracing the option 
 of submission. But Charette had made this demand 
 merely for the purpose of obtaining a short respite, 
 and he refused to profit by Hoche's acquiescence. On 
 the other hand, the Directory was averse to extend 
 mercy to Charette, inasmuch as it considered that 
 famous chieftain would always remain a source of 
 disturbance in the district ; and it consequently en- 
 joined Hoche to grant him no accommodation. But 
 when Hoche i-eceived these fresh instriictions, Cha- 
 rette had already avowed that his proposal was a mere 
 feint to gain an interval of repose, and declared that 
 he would accept no pardon from the republicans. He 
 had again committed himself to the mazes of the 
 forests. 
 
 It was impossible for Charette much longer to baffle 
 the piu-suit of the republicans. Encircled by columns 
 of infantry and cavalry, watched by soldiers disguised 
 as peasants, betrayed by the inhabitants, who desired 
 to preserve their province from devastation, tracked 
 tlirough the woods like a wild beast, he fell on the 2d 
 (jcrminal (22d March) into an ambuscade laid for him 
 by Travot. Armed to the teeth, and surrounded In- a 
 few brave followers who strove to cover him with their 
 bodies, he defended hinis<.'lf like a lion at hay, and 
 finally sunk on the ground weltering from several 
 sabre wounds. He declined to surrender his sword 
 except to the intrepid Travot, who treated him with 
 all the regard due to his iudoniitable courage. He was 
 conducted to the republican head-quarters, and ad- 
 mitted to the table of Hedouville, chief of the staffs 
 He conversed with great serenit}', and manifested no 
 regret for the fate awaiting him. Transferred at first 
 to Angers, he was subsequently removed to Nantes, 
 to yield xip his life at the place which had been the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 scene of his triumphal entry. He underwent an inter- 
 rogatory, wherein he replied with fortitude and be- 
 coming calmness. He was questioned as to the aUegod 
 secret articles in the treaty of La Jaunaye, and he 
 confessed that none existed. He sought neither to 
 palliate his conduct nor to disguise his motives ; he 
 avowed that he was the servant of royalt}', and that 
 he had laboured with all his force to subvert tlie re- 
 public. He bore himself with dignity and stern indif- 
 ference. Led to execution amidst a vast assemblage 
 of people, who were not sufficientlj' generous to forgive 
 him the calamities tiiey had suflered during the civil 
 war, he retained all his composure. lie was still 
 covered with blood ; he had lost three fingers in his 
 last conflict, and carried his arm in a scarf. His head 
 was bandaged with a kerchief He refused to allow 
 his eyes to be covered, or to kneel. Remaining erect, 
 he drew his arm from the scarf and gave the signal. 
 He was instantly stretched lifeless. The 9 th Germinal 
 marks tlie date. 
 
 Thus ended this celebrated man, whose invincible 
 courage entailed many evils on his coimtry, and who 
 merited distinction in some other and better career. 
 Compromised by the last descent attempted on his 
 coasts, he flung away all idea of peace, and battled to 
 the last with the energj' of despair. He evinced, it is 
 affirmed, a vivid resentment against the princes for 
 whom he had struggled, deeming himself cruelly aban- 
 doned. 
 
 Tlie death of Charette occasioned an exultation as 
 great as could the most signal victory over the Aus- 
 trians. It decided the suppression of the civU war. 
 Hoche, considering that nothing remained to be done 
 in La Vendee, withdrew the bulk of his troops to 
 move them be^-ond the Loire and disarm Brittany. 
 He left, nevertheless, a sufficient body of troops to 
 check the isolated marauders who usually survive the 
 termination of civil wars, and to complete the disarm- 
 ing of the country. Before proceeding into Brittany, 
 he had to quell a movement of revolt wliich occuiTcd 
 in the vicinity of Anjou, towards BeiTy. It was the 
 occupation of but a few days. He thereafter marched 
 with twenty thousand men into Brittany, and, adher- 
 ing strictly to his plan, encircled it with a vast cordon, 
 stretching from the Loire to GranvUle. The unfortu- 
 nate Chouans were utterly incapable of withstanding 
 so mighty and well-concerted an eflfort. Sccpeaux, 
 between the Vilaine and tlie Loire, was the first to 
 tender his submission. He delivered up a consider- 
 able quantity of arms. In proportion as they were 
 driven towards the ocean, the Chouans became more 
 stubborn. Destitute of ammunition, they fought man 
 to man, with dagger, sword, and bayonet. Ultimately 
 they were hurled to the very shores of the sea. Then 
 ilorbihan, which had long been severed from Puisaye, 
 surrendered its arms. Tiie other divisions followed 
 this example one after the other. In a short while all 
 Brittany was subjugated, and Hoclie had merely to 
 distribute his hundred thousand men into a multitude 
 of cantonments, to keep watch over the country, and 
 to draw supplies more easily. The task remaining for 
 him to accomplish involved only the cares of adminis- 
 tration and police ; he required a few months more of 
 mild and able government to allay animosities and 
 re-establish concord. Despite the furious outcries of 
 factions, Hoche was feared, beloved, respected in the 
 provinces, and the royalists began to pardon a republic 
 so worthily represented. The clergy, above all, whose 
 confidence he had studiously laboured to conciliate, 
 were entirely devoted to him, and held him exactly 
 instructed in all he was interested to know. Every 
 thing, tlierefore, presaged the continuance of peace and 
 the final cessation of calamitous warfare. 
 
 England could now no longer rely on the western 
 provinces as the means of assailing the republic in its 
 vital parts. She beheld, on the contrar}', an army of 
 I0(\000 men arraj-ed on their coasts, whereof 50,000 
 had become disposable, and might be employed in 
 
 some enterprise of fatal moment to herself. Hoche, 
 in fact, meditated a grand design, which he reserved 
 for the middle of summer. The government, grateful 
 for the services he had just rendered, and desirous of 
 compensating him fijr the repulsive duties he had so 
 magnanimously performed, prompted the legislature 
 to proclaim, in solemn edict, as for armies which 
 gained great victories, that the army of the ocean and 
 its general had deserved well of the country. 
 
 Thus La Vendee was pacified by the month of 
 Germinal, before any of the armies had taken the 
 field. The Directory was at liberty to attend without 
 disquietude to its stupendous operations abroad, and 
 even to draw, in emergency, useful reinforcements 
 from the coasts of the ocean. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIL 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1796. CONQUEST OF PIEDMONT AND 
 
 LOMBARDY BY GENERAL BONAPjiRTE. — BATTLES OF 
 MONTENOTTE AND MILLESIMO. — PASSAGE OF THE 
 BRIDGE OF LODI. — JIILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE 
 
 NORTH. — BATTLES OF RADSTADT AND ETTLINGEN. 
 
 THE AR3IY OF ITALY ON THE ADIGE AND THE DANUBE. 
 
 The fifth campaign of liberty Avas on the eve of com- 
 mencement, it was appointed to open on the finest 
 military theatres in Europe — on the most varied in 
 impediments, in accidents of conformation, in lines of 
 defence and attack. On the one hand were the great 
 valley of the Rhine and the two transversal valleys 
 of the Maine and the Xeckar ; on the other were the 
 Alps, the Po, and Lombardy. The armies to be ranged 
 under the banners of the republic were more perfectly 
 inured to war than any ever mustered in arms ; they 
 were sufficiently numerous to occupy the ground on 
 which they were to act, but not sufficiently so to render 
 combinations needless, and reduce the war to a mere 
 torrent of invasion. Tliey were commanded by young 
 generals, free from the trammels of antiquated routine, 
 free from slavish adherence to long-descended tradi- 
 tions, but instructed, nevertheless, and glowing with 
 the enthusiasm aroused by mighty circumstances. 
 All combined, therefore, to ensure a struggle, obsti- 
 nate, varied, fertile in combinations, and fitted to ab- 
 sorb the contemplation of men. 
 
 The design of the French government, as we have 
 intimated, was to invade Germany, for the purpose 
 of subsisting its armies in the enemy's country, de- 
 taching the princes of the empire from tlie coalition, 
 investing Mayence, and menacing the hereditary states 
 of Austria. It purposed, at the same time, to attempt 
 a bold experiment in Italy, with the view of nourish- 
 ing its troops on that fertile soil and wresting it from 
 the grasp of the house of Hapsburg. 
 
 Two superb armies, of seventy to eighty thousand 
 men each, were confided to two celebrated commanders 
 on the Rhine. Thirty thousand famished soldiers 
 were abandoned to a young man, unknown, but of 
 daring mind, to tempt fortune beyond the Alps. 
 
 Bonaparte reached the head-quarters at Nice on the 
 fith Germinal j-ear 4 (26th March). He found every 
 thing in a deplorable state. The troops were in the 
 last condition of misery. In rags and shoeless, penni- 
 less, and often destitute of food, they still bore up with 
 marvellous courage against theii" accumulated suffer- 
 ings. Thanks to that active, industrious spirit which 
 characterises the French soldier, they had organised 
 a system of foraging, and descended in alternate bands 
 into the plains of I'iedmout to gather provisions. An 
 absolute deficiency of horses for the artillery existed. 
 The cavalry, for the convenience of pasturage, had 
 been sent to the rear on the banks of tlie Rhone. 
 The tliirtieth horse and the forced loan had not been 
 levied in the southern departments, on accomit of the 
 troubles prevailing. The whole resources placed at 
 the disposal of Bonaparte consisted of two thousand
 
 ^^ h^.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 573 
 
 loms in gold and a million in bills, whereof a part had ! 
 been already protested. To retrieve affairs in some 
 degree, a negotiation had been opened with the Ge- 
 noese government. The French had not yet received 
 any satisfaction for tlie outrage committed on the 
 frigate La Modeste; and, in reparation of that violation 
 of neutrality, they demanded, on the part of the senate 
 of Genoa, the advance of a loan and the surrender of 
 the fortress of Gavi, which commanded the road from 
 Genoa to Milan. They likewise insisted on the recall 
 of the Genoese families expatriated for their attach- 
 ment to France. 
 
 Such was the situation of the army when Bonaparte 
 arrived to assume the command. It presented a ver}' 
 different aspect with reference to men. They were, 
 for the most part, soldiers hurried to the armies at 
 the period of the national levy, in vigorous manhood, 
 perfectly disciplined, accustomed to privations, and 
 hardened to war in tlie rugged conflicts amid the 
 heights and gorges of the Alps and Pyrenees. The 
 generals jiartook the. quaUties of their soldiers. The 
 principal were IMassena, a young Nissard, of imculti- 
 vated mind, but of quick and accurate perception 
 amidst dangers, and of indomitable tenacity ; Augereau, 
 formerly a fencing-master, whom eminent valour and 
 the art of animating soldiers had canied to the highest 
 grades ; Laharpe, an expatriated Swiss, in whom 
 courage was combined with information ; Serrurier, 
 a major of the olden time, methodical and brave ; 
 lastly, Berthier, whom his activity, his precision in 
 arranging details, his topographical erudition, his rapi- 
 dity of measurement M-ith the eye, either as to the 
 extent of particular ground or to the numerical force 
 of a column, eminently adapted for the post of chief 
 of the staff. 
 
 This army had its depots in Provence. It was 
 ranged along the chain of the Alps, connected by its 
 left with the forces under Kellcnnann, guarding the 
 Col di Tende, and extending towards the Apennines. 
 The active army amounted to upwards of thirty-six 
 thousand men. Serrurier's division was stationed at 
 Garessio, beyond the Apennines, watching the Pied- 
 montese in their intrenched camp of Ceva. The divi- 
 sions of Augereau, Massena, and Laharpe, forming a 
 mass of about thirty thousand men, were on this side 
 the Apennines. 
 
 The Piedmontese, to the number of twenty or 
 twenty-two thousand men, and under the orders of 
 Colli, were encamped at Ceva, on the reverse of the 
 mountains. The Austrians, thirty-six or thirty-eiglit 
 thousand strong, were advancing by the routes from 
 Lombardy towards Genoa. Beaulieu, who commanded 
 them, had achieved distinction in Flanders. He "was 
 a veteran burning with all the ardour of youth. The 
 enemy, therefore, could oppose about sixty tliousand 
 soldiers to the thirty thousand that Bonaparte had to 
 fjlace in line ; but the Austrians and Piedmontese 
 Avere weakened by discord. Agreeably to the old 
 plan, Colli's object was to cover Piedmont, Beaulieu's 
 to maintain his communication with Genoa and the 
 English. 
 
 Such the respective force of the two parties. Al- 
 though Bonaparte was ahx-ady favourably known to 
 the army of Italy, in the camp his appointment to tlie 
 command at so early an age gave rise to many rude 
 comments. Stunted and attenuated in form, with 
 nothing striking but his Roman features and a pierc- 
 ing, sparkling eye, neither his person nor his past life 
 presented nmch to dazzle the minds of men. He was 
 received with comparative coldness. Massena already 
 bore him ill-will, for having acquired a paramount 
 influence over Humerbion, in 1T94. Bonaparte, how- 
 ever, addressed his army in energetic and inspiriting 
 language. '"Soldiers," he said, " you are half-starved 
 and almost wholly nak(;d. The government owes you 
 much, but can do nothing for you. Your patience 
 and courage are honourable to you, but thty jirocure 
 you neither advantage nor glory. I am about to lead 
 
 you into the most fertUe valleys of the world ; you will 
 there find flom-ishing cities and teeming proA^nces ; 
 you will there reap honour, glory, and riches. Sol- 
 diers of Italy, will you lack courage?"' The armj 
 hailed this language with beaming pleasure : young 
 othcers, who all had their fortunes yet to carve, adven- 
 turous and needy soldiers, asked nothing better than 
 to behold those fair regions thus temptingly indi- 
 cated. Bonaparte completed an arrangement with a 
 purveyor, and procured for his troops a part of the 
 pay so far in arrcar. He distributed to each of his 
 generals four louis in gold, whereby the state of the 
 finances at that time may be estimated. He after- 
 wards transferred his head-quarters to Albenga, and 
 drew all the services along the shore, exposed to the 
 fire of the English gunboats. 
 
 The plan to follow was the same which had so for- 
 cibly offered itself the previous year on occasion of 
 the battle of Loano. To penetrate by the lowest ridge 
 of the Apennines, and separate the Austrians from 
 the Piedmontese, by strongly deploying on tlieir 
 centre, was the simple idea suggested to Bonaparte on 
 a view of the localities. He commenced operations so 
 promptly, that he indulged hopes of surprising the 
 enemy, and throwing him into disorder. However, 
 he failed in his purpose of anticipating him. Before 
 his arrival. General Cervoni had been pushed on 
 Voltri, near to Genoa, in order to intimidate the se- 
 nate of that city, and constrain it to acquiesce in the 
 demands of the Directory. Beaulieu, di'eading the re- 
 sult of this movement, hastened to enter on action, 
 and marched his army on Genoa, partly on one flank, 
 partly on the other flank of the Apennines. Bona- 
 parte's plan, therefore, was still feasible, except so far 
 as the intention of surprising the Austrians was con- 
 cerned. Several routes conducted from the back of 
 the Apennines to their maritune flank ; first that 
 leading by the Bocchetta to Genoa, next that of 
 Acqui and Dego, Avhich crosses the Apennines by the 
 ridge of Montcnotte, and opens into the basin of Sa- 
 vona. Beaulieu left his right wing at Uego, moved 
 his centre, under Argenteau, towards the height of 
 Montenotte, and proceeded in person, with his left, 
 by the Bocchetta and Genoa, on Voltri, skirting the 
 sea. Thus, his position was that of Dewins at Loano. 
 A part of the Austrian army was between the Apen- 
 nines and the sea ; the centre, under Argenteau, was 
 on the very summit of the Apennines at Montenotte, 
 connected with the Piedmontese encamped at Ceva, 
 on the other side of the mountain chain. 
 
 The two annies, breaking ground at the same time, 
 came into collision on the road, on the 22d Germinal 
 (11th April.) Upon the coast, Beaulieu encountered 
 the vanguard of Laharpe's division, which had been 
 detached on Voltri to alarm Genoa, and repulsed it. 
 Argenteau, with the centre, traversed the ridge of 
 Montenotte, intending to fall at Savona upon the 
 centre of the French army during its supposed march 
 on Genoa. He found at Montenotte only Colonel 
 Ram])on, at the head of 1200 men, and obliged him 
 to take refuge in the old redoubt of Montelegino, 
 which barred the route from Montenotte. This intre- 
 pid colonel, feeling the importance of the threatened 
 post, intrenched himself in the redoubt, and resisted 
 with determined obstinacy all the eflbrtsof the Impe- 
 rialists. Thrice he was attacked by the whole Aus- 
 tri;in infantry, and thrice he rei)elled its assaidt. 
 Amidst the most murderous fire, lie made his soldiers 
 swear to die in the redoubt rather tlutn abandon it. 
 The soldiers took the oath, and remained all night 
 under arms. This act of heroism averted the derange- 
 ment of General Bonaparte's plans, and perhaps the 
 failure of the entire campaign. 
 
 Bonaparte was at this moment at Savona. He had 
 not intrenched the height of Montenotte, because, 
 when the resolution is taken to assume the ofiensive, 
 such a proceeding is r.-vrely necessary. He was speedily 
 apprised of what had occurred during the day at
 
 £74 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Montelegino and Voltri. He instantly discerned tliat 
 the moment was come for putting: his plan in execu- 
 tion, and he manoeuvred accordingly. During the 
 same night he drew back his right, formed by La- 
 harpe's division, which had l)een engaged with Beau- 
 lieu along the coast, and moved it, by the route to 
 Montenotte, in front of Argeuteau. He directed 
 Augereau's division on the same jx'hit, to support 
 Laharpe. Finally, he ordered IMassena to march by 
 a bv-path over the Apennines, so as to plant himself 
 on the rear of Argenteau. On the 2.3d (12th April), 
 by dawn, all his columns were in motion. Stationed 
 on an elevated point, he beheld Laharpe and Auge- 
 reau marching on ,\rgenteau, whilst Massena, wind- 
 ing along the cliain, struggled to attain his rear. The 
 Austrian infantry resisted with courage ; but, enve- 
 loped (m all sides by superior forces, it was put to 
 flight, leaving two thousand prisoners, and several 
 hundreds of dead and wounded. It retreated in dis- 
 order on Dego, where the remainder of the army was 
 located. 
 
 Thus Bonaparte, to whom Beaulieu attributed the 
 design of defiling along the coast on Genoa, had sud- 
 denly diverged, and, pouring up the roads traversing 
 the Apennines, had broken the Austrian centre, and 
 debouched victoriously beyond the rampart of the 
 mountains. 
 
 Bonaparte deemed it of little^moment to have over- 
 whelmed the enemy's centre, 'unless the Austrians 
 were definitively separated from the Piedmontese. That 
 very day (23d) he advanced to Carcare, in order to 
 render his position more central between the two allied 
 armies. He was in the valley of the Bormida, which 
 flows south through Italy. Lower down, confronting 
 hitn, at the bottom of the valley, were the Austrians, 
 who had rallied at Dego, guarding the route by Acqui 
 into Lombardy. On his left, he had the gorges of 
 Millesimo, which join tlie valley of the Bormida, and 
 in which were stationed the i'icdmontese, guarding 
 the route by Ceva into Piedmont. Thus, on his 
 left he required to force the gorges of Millesimo, in 
 order to open the route to Piedmont, and in front to 
 carry the position of Dego, in order to gain possession 
 of the route by Acqui, conducting into Lombard3\ 
 Then, master of the two routes, he would irrevocably 
 separate tlie allies, and be enabled at will to fall upon 
 either. On the morning of the following day (1.3th 
 April), he moved his army forward : Augereau, on 
 the left, attacked Millesimo, wliilst the clivisions of 
 Alassena and Laharpe advanced into the valley on 
 Dego. The impetuous Augereau assailed the gorges 
 of Millesimo with such vigour, that he forced their 
 entrance, won his way through them, and gained their 
 extremity, before General Provera, who was planted on 
 a height,' had time to fall back. That commander 
 •was posted in the ruins of the castle of Cossaria. Per- 
 ceiving himself surrounded, he prepared to defend his 
 position ; Augereau encircled it, and summoned him 
 to surrender. Provera attempted to parley and open a 
 negotiation. It was important not to be delayed by 
 this obstacle, and the French immediately mounted to 
 the assault of his post. The Piedmontese hurled a 
 deluge of stones on their heads, rolled down innnense 
 fragments of rock, and crushed whole lines. Never- 
 theless, the brave Joubcrt animated his soldiers, and 
 scaled the height at their head. Arrived within a 
 short distance, he fell pierced by a bullet. At this 
 accident, the soldiers recoiled. The French were coin- 
 pelled to encamp in the evening at the foot of the 
 height ; they threw up intrenchments of fallen trees, 
 and kept watch during the night to prevent the escape 
 of Provera. Meanwhile, the divisions charged to act 
 m the bottom of the valley of the Bormida had 
 marched on Dego, and carried the approaches. The 
 next day was to witness the decisive struggle. 
 
 On the 25th (14th April), accordingly, the attack 
 was renewed on all points. On the left, Augereau, in 
 the gorge of Millesimo, repulsed all the efforts made 
 
 by Colli to disengage Provera, fought the Avhole day, 
 and reduced Provera to despair. That general at 
 length laid down his arms at the head of 1500 men. 
 Laharpe and Mas.sena, on their side, fell on Dego, 
 where the Austrian army had been reinforced, during 
 the 22d and 2-3d, by the corps recalled from Genoa. 
 The assault was terrific ; after several charges, Dego 
 was stormed. The Austrians lost a part of their artil- 
 lery, and' left 4000 prisoners, of whom twenty -four 
 were officers. 
 
 During this action, Bonaparte had remarked a 
 young officer, named Lannes, mounting to the breach 
 with extraordinary intrepidity : he made him colonel 
 on the field of battle. 
 
 The army had been now engaged for four days, and 
 it stood in need of repose. Scarcely, however, had the 
 soldiers rested from the fatigues of fighting, ere the 
 din of arms was again heard. Six thousand grena- 
 diers entered Dego, and wrested from the French that 
 position which it had cost them such efforts to conquer. 
 It proved to he one of the Austrian corps which had 
 remained on the maritime flank of the Apennines, 
 and which were now repassing the mountains. The 
 disorder was so great, that this corps had fallen, with- 
 out suspecting it, into the midst of the French army 
 The gallant AVukassovich, who commanded these six 
 thousand grenadiers, deeming his only hope of safety 
 to rest on a bold surprise, had attacked and carried 
 Dego. Hence it became necessary to renew the battle 
 and repeat the efforts of tlie previous day. Bonaparte 
 galloped to the spot, rallied his columns, and propelled 
 them on Dego. Tliey were checked by the Austrian 
 grenadiers ; but they returned to the charge, and, in- 
 spirited by Adjutant-General Lanusse, who raised his 
 hat on the point of his sword, they re-entered Dego, 
 and recovered their conquest, making several hundred 
 prisoners. 
 
 Thus Bonaparte was master of the valley of the 
 Bormida. The Austrians fled towards Acqui on the 
 road to Milan ; the Piedmontese, after haraig lost the 
 gorges of IMillesimo, retired on Ceva and ilondovi. 
 He was in possession of all the avenues, had taken 
 nine thousand prisoners, and spread consternation be- 
 fore him. Skilfully manoeuvring the mass of his 
 forces, and bearing it now on Montenotte, now on 
 Millesiino and Dego, he had on every occasion over- 
 whelmed his foe, by rendering himself superior on 
 each individual point. The moment was come for de- 
 ciding his future course. The plan sketched by Car- 
 not enjoined him to neglect the Piedmontese and 
 hasten after the Austrians. Bonaparte considered the 
 Piedmontese army too formidable to be left on his rear ; 
 he felt, moreover, that another blow would suffice to 
 destroy it; and he deemed his more prudent course 
 was to consummate the ruin of the Piedmontese. 
 Accordingly, he abstained from further entangling 
 himself in the vallcj' of the Bormida or descending 
 towards the Po, in the track of the Austrians ; he 
 diverged to the left, plunged into the gorges of Mil- 
 lesimo, and followed the route to Piedmont. The 
 di\ision under Laharpe alone was appointed to remain 
 in tiie camp of San-Benedetto, commanding the course 
 of the Belbo and the Bormida, in order to observe the 
 Austrians. The French soldiers were exhausted with 
 fatigue ; they had fought on the 22d and 23d at Mon- 
 tenotte, on the 24th and 25th at Millesimo and Dego, 
 lost and retaken Dego on the 26th, enjoyed the 27th 
 onl}' as a day of rest, and were now, on the 28th, 
 again in full march on INIondovi. Amidst these rapid 
 movements, there had been no time for making regular 
 distributions ; they were destitute of food, and had 
 given way to some acts of pillage. Bonaparte, indig- 
 nant at this breach of discipline, punished the pillagers 
 with the utmost rigour, and exhibited equal energy 
 in repressing disorders as in pursuing the enem}'. He 
 liad acquired in these few daj'S the entire confidence 
 of his soldiers. The generals of division were sub- 
 dued. They lieard witli attention, already with ad-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 575 
 
 miration, the concise and graphic language of the 
 young captain. From the heiglits of Monte-Zemoto, 
 which it was necessary to clear in order to reach Ceva, 
 the army beheld tlie smiling plains of Piedmont and 
 Italy. It contemplated, flowing in tlieir tranquil beds, 
 tlie Tanaro, the 8tura, the To, and all tlie streams 
 which meander towards the Adriatic ; it discerned in 
 the background the majestic Alps girdled with snow ; 
 it was seized with rapture as it gazed on the alluring 
 expanse of the. promised land* Bonaparte was at the 
 head of his soldiers : he felt a lively emotion. " Han- 
 nibal," he exclaimed, " crossed the Alps ; we have 
 turned them ! " In this short phrase stood the whole 
 campaign revealed. How bright the destinies that 
 then dawned vipon France ! 
 
 Colli defended the intrenched camp of Ceva only 
 lung enough to retard for a moment the march of the 
 French. That excellent officer had contrived to re-invi- 
 gorate his troops and to restore their drooping courage. 
 He no longer indulged the hope of defeating his re- 
 doubtable opponent ; but he determined to contest his 
 retreat inch by inch, and to afford the Austrians time 
 to come to his succour by a circuitous march, in per- 
 formance of the promise they had given. He paused 
 behind the Cursaglia, in front of jMondovi. Serrurier, 
 who, at the commencement of tlie campaign, had been 
 left at Garessio to observe Colli, had now rejoined the 
 main army. Thus it gained an additional division. 
 Colli was protected by the Cursaglia, a deep and rapid 
 river, which sweeps into the Tanaro. Joubert at- 
 tempted to jiass it on the right, but he was nearly 
 drowned without succeeding in his object. In the 
 centre, Serrurier endeavoured to cross the bridge of 
 Saint-Michel. He succeeded ; but Colli, allowing him 
 to advance, fell upon him unawares with his best 
 troops, drove hun back on the bridge, and compelled 
 liim to repass the river in disorder. The position of 
 the army became disquieting. It had in the rear 
 Beaulieu, who was reorganising his forces ; it was of 
 essential moment to reach Colli with the utmost dis- 
 patch. Nevertheless, the position seemed almost im- 
 pregnable, if it were vigorously defended. Bonaparte 
 ordered a fresh attack for the morrow. On the 2d 
 Floreal (21st April), the French marched to the brink 
 of the Cursaglia, and found the bridges abandoned. 
 Colli had resisted on the eve merely to delay the 
 retreat. He was sui'itrised in line at Mondovi. Ser- 
 rurier decided the victory by the capture of the prin- 
 cipal redoubt, that of La Bicoque. Colli left three 
 thousand men killed or prisoners on the field, and 
 continued his retreat. Bonaparte arrived at Cherasco, 
 a i)lace weakly defended, but important from its situ- 
 ation at the conflux of the Stura and Tanaro, and 
 easily fortified with the artillery taken from the enemy. 
 In this position, Bonaparte was twenty leagues fi'om 
 Savona, his point of departure, ten from Turin, and 
 fifteen from Alessandria. 
 
 Great was the confusion in the councils of Turin. 
 The king, who was stubborn in temper, repudiated 
 the idea of yielding. The ministers of Englaml and 
 Austria besieged him with exhortations, m-ging liim 
 to shut himself up in Turin, to send his army beyond 
 the Po, and thus to imitate the great examples of 
 his ancestors. They strove to alarm Mini by depict- 
 ing the revolutionary influence the French would 
 exercise in Pieilmoiit ; they demanded for Beaulieu 
 the three fortresses of Tortona, Alessandria, and Va- 
 lenza, in order that he might intrench and defend 
 himself in tiie triangle which they form with the bar- 
 rier of the Po. This proposal was extremely repug- 
 nant to tiie feelings of the king. To surrender into 
 the hands of his ambitious neighbour in I>ombardy 
 the three princii)al strongholds of his dominions, was 
 an insupportable idea. Cardinal Costa prevailed upon 
 him to throw himself into the arms of the French. 
 He pointed out to him the impossibility of witlistand- 
 
 * An c.xiiicijsidn of Uuiiiiimrtt!. 
 
 ing so rapid a conqueror, the danger of exasperating 
 him by a prolonged resistan(!e, and the probability of 
 thereby driving him to revolutionise Piedmont — and 
 all to serve the alien and even antagonist ambition of 
 Austria. The king acquiesced in the justice of these 
 observations, and directed overtures to be made, 
 through the medium of Colli, to the French general. 
 These reached Cherasco on the 4th Floreal (2.8d April). 
 Bonaparte had no powers to sign a peace ; but he was 
 competent to grant an armistice, and he determined 
 to act upon tliat authority. He had contravened the 
 plan of the Directory in order to complete the reduc- 
 tion of the Piedmontese ; but, at the same time, he 
 had no intention of conquering Piedmont, his object 
 being simply to secure his rear. To subjugate Pied- 
 mont, he must have taken Turin, and he had neither 
 the necessary battering train, nor forces sufficient to 
 form a blockading corps and leave an active army 
 disposable. Besides, the catastrophe of the campaign 
 would then have sunk into a mere siege. By con- 
 cluding an agreement with Piedmont, under essential 
 griarantees, he would be enabled to pursue the Aus- 
 trians in security, and drive them forth of Italy. There 
 were those about him who held that no conditions 
 ought to be granted ; that a king, the kinsman of the 
 Bourbons, should be at all hazards dethroned, and the 
 French revolution ditiused through Piedmont. Such, 
 indeed, were the opinions of many soldiers, officers, 
 and generals in the army, and especially of Augereau, 
 who was boi'n in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and 
 had inhaled all its sentiments. Bonaparte thought 
 differently ; he comprehended the difficulty of revolu- 
 tionising a monarchy firmly based on military prin- 
 ciples, and wherein old habits and ideas had re- 
 mained stagnant for ages ; he deemed it of infinite 
 moment to clear all obstructions from his progress ; 
 in short, his great aim was to achieve the rapid con- 
 quest of Italy, which depended on the annihilation of 
 the Austrians and their expidsion beyond the Alps. 
 He was determined, therefore, to avoid aught that 
 might complicate his situation or retard his onward 
 course. 
 
 Accordingly, he consented to an armistice. But in 
 conceding this favour he added, that, considering the 
 respective positions of the armies, an armistice would 
 be fatal to him, unless certain guarantees were given 
 him for the safety of his rear ; in consequence, he 
 demanded tlie delivery into his hands of the three 
 fortresses of Coni, Tortona, and Alessandria, with all 
 the magazines they contained, ^vhich sliould be taken 
 for the service of the army, reserving the repayment 
 for subsequent stipulation with the republic. He 
 insisted, moreover, that the routes through Piedmont 
 should be thrown open to the French, whi(!h would 
 considerably abridge the distance from France to the 
 banks of the Po ; that stores should be accumulated 
 on such routes for the use of the troops passing along 
 them ; and, lastly, that the Sardinian army should be 
 dispersed into garrisons, in siu'h a manner as to ob- 
 viate all apprehensions on the part of the French 
 army. These conditions were accepted, and the ar- 
 mistice was signed at Cherasco, on the 9th Floreal 
 (28th April), with Colonel Lacoste and tlie Count 
 Latour. 
 
 It was agreed that ])leniputentiaries should im- 
 mediately depart for Paris, in order to negotiate a dc 
 fiiiitive treaty. Tlie three fortresses specified were, 
 surrendered, with imnu'iise magazines. From lliat 
 moment, the army had its line of ojieration covered 
 by the three strongest fortifications in Piedmont ; it 
 had sure and commodious roads, much shorter than 
 those passing 1)y the Genoese coast, and provisions in 
 abundance ; it was reinforced liy many soldiers, who, 
 on tile cheering reports of victory, hurried from the 
 hospitals ; it jiossessed a numerous artillery, cajitured 
 at Cherasco and in different places, and horses in great 
 number ; in short, it was provided with every tiling 
 it could desire, and the promises of the general were
 
 57(j 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 aniplj' redeemed. Duriiiir the first days of its entry 
 into Piedmont, it had piUaged, because, in its rapid 
 niarclies, it had received no distributions of food, 
 rienty reigning uistead of destitution, oi'der was re- 
 stored. The Count de Saint-^Marsan, the Piedmon- 
 tese minister, visited Bonaparte, and ingratiated him- 
 self in his good opinion ; even the son of the king 
 journeyed to behold the young conqueror, and testified 
 his esteem with a cordia'lity that afi[l-cted him. Bona- 
 parte adroitly repaid the 'flatteries he received; he 
 sought to dispel alarm as to the intentions of the Di- 
 rectory and the impending danger of revolution. He 
 was sincere in his protestations, for he already che- 
 rished an idea, which he partially allowed to transpire 
 in his ditlerent conferences. Piedmont had derogated 
 from all her interests when allying herself to Austria ; 
 it was to France she ought to cling — to France which 
 was her natural friend ; for France, separated from 
 Piedmont by the Alps, could never harbour designs 
 hostile to her independence ; on the contrary, it would 
 defend her against the ambition of Austria, and per- 
 haps even procure her aggrandisement. Bonaparte 
 could not promise that the Directory would consent 
 to give any part of Lombardy to Piedmont ; for it was 
 not yet subjugated, and the purpose which rendered 
 its conquest desirable Avas to obtain possession of an 
 equivalent for the cession of the Austrian Nether- 
 lands ; but vagiie anticipations of aggrandisement 
 might dispose Piedmont to join in alliance with France, 
 which would thereby gain a reinforcement of twenty 
 thousand excellent troo})s. He gave no distinct pledges, 
 but he-understood how to stimulate, b}- a few artful 
 hints, the cupidity and hopes of the cabinet of Turin. 
 
 Bonaparte, who joined to a mind of the most posi- 
 tive order a strong and brilliant imagination, and who 
 loved to stir emotions, adopted a novel and impressive 
 mode of announcing his successes : he sent his aid-de- 
 camp Murat to make a solemn tender to the Direc- 
 tory of twenty-one banners he had taken from the 
 enemy. He subsequently addressed to his soldiers the 
 following proclamation : — 
 
 " Soldiers! — In fifteen days you have gained six vic- 
 tories, taken twenty-one standards, fifty-five pieces of 
 cannon, several fortified places, and conquered the 
 richest part of Piedmont. You have made fifteen 
 thousand prisoners,* slain or wounded more than ten 
 thousand men. You had hitherto contended for sterile 
 rocks, illustrated by your courage, but useless to the 
 country ; you now rival by your achievements the 
 armies of Holland and the Khine. Devoid of all aids, 
 you have shown how to dispense with them. You have 
 won battles without artillery, you have passed rivers 
 without bridges, made forced marches without shoes, 
 bivouacked without brandy and often without bread. 
 Republican phalanxes, the soldiers of liberty, were 
 alone capable of enduring what you have suflered : all 
 praise be rendered unto you, soldiers ! A grateful 
 country will owe to you its prosperity ; and if, as con- 
 querors of Toidon, you heralded the immortal cam- 
 paign of 1793, your present victories presage one still 
 more glorious. The two armies which formerly at- 
 tacked you with bold assurance, fly panic-struck be- 
 fore you ; the malignant men who derided your misery 
 and rejoiced in prognostications of the triumphs of 3-our 
 enemies, are confounded and struck with trepidation. 
 But, soldiers, you have done nothing, whilst any thing 
 remains to be done. Neither Turin nor Milan is 
 yours : the ashes of Tarquin's conquerors are still 
 trampled by the assassins of Basseville ! Is it true 
 there are some amongst you whose courage slackens 
 — who would prefer returning to the peaks of the 
 Apennines and the Alps? No, I will not believe it. 
 The victors of Montenotte, of Millesimo, of Dego, of 
 Mondovi, burn to carry yet farther the glory of the 
 French nation !" 
 
 As tidings of these events, these trophies and pro- 
 
 * Ten or eleven thoiuand only. 
 
 clamations, arrived successively at Paris, the feeling 
 of joy rose to exuberance. One day announced a vic- 
 tory which opened the Apennines and gave two thou- 
 sand prisoners ; another, a more decisive victory, which 
 severed the Piedmontese from the Austrians, and gave 
 six thousand prisoners. The following days brought 
 stiO more propitious intelligence — the destruction of 
 the Piedmontese army at Mondovi, the submission of 
 Piedmont at Cherasco, and the certainty of an ap- 
 proaching peace, the sure harbinger of others. The 
 rapidit}' of the success, the number of the prisoners, 
 surpassed all that had been yet witnessed. The lan- 
 guage of the proclamations, glowing with the reminis- 
 cences of antiquity, electrified the imagination. Men, 
 marvelling, asked each other whence came this j'oung 
 general, whose name, known to certain appreciators 
 and unknown to France, now burst forth with such 
 sudden lustre. It was yet strange in their ears; and 
 fervid congratulations were exchanged that the re- 
 public thus beheld new talents emerging daily to glo- 
 rify and defend it. The councils three several times 
 resolved, by solenm edicts, that the army of Italy had 
 deserved well of the coimtry, and decreed a festival to 
 Victory, in celebration of the auspicious commence- 
 ment of the campaign. The aid-de-camp detached 
 by Bonaparte presented the banners to the Directory. 
 The ceremony was singularly imposing. On the same 
 day several foreign ambassadors were received, and 
 the government appeared encircled with a new halo of 
 consideration. 
 
 Piedmont subdued. General Bonaparte Avas free to 
 march in pursuit of the Austrians, and advance to the 
 conqviest of ItalJ^ 'i'he victories of the French had 
 profoundly agitated the populations of that country. 
 Circumstances rendered it of essential moment that 
 he who was about to enter* it, at the head of an invad- 
 ing army, should possess the qualities of an able poli- 
 tician as well as those of a great captain, to act with 
 the requisite prudence. It is known how Italy pre- 
 sents itself to one coming from the Apennines. The 
 Alps, the highest mountains of Europe, after describ- 
 ing a vast semicircle, within which they enclose Upper 
 Italy, return upon themselves, and abruptly shoot in 
 an oblique line towards the south, thus forming a long 
 peninsula bathed by the Adriatic and the Mediterra- 
 nean. Bonaparte, arriving from the west, and having 
 cleared the chain at the point where it begins to 
 dwindle, and continues, under the name of the Apen- 
 nines, to vein the peninsula, had in front the fer- 
 tile semicircle of Upper Italy, and on his right the 
 long and narrow peninsula which constitutes Lower 
 Italy. A number of petty states divided that country, 
 which has always sighed after union, without which 
 there can never be a great national existence. 
 
 Bonaparte had traversed the territories of Genoa, 
 which are situated on this side the Apennines, and 
 advanced into Piedmont, which lies beyond. Genoa, 
 an ancient republic, founded by Doria, had alone, of 
 all the Italian governments, preserved the traces of 
 former energy. Planted between the two belligerent 
 armies for the last four years, it had contrived to 
 maintain its neutrality, and had thus secured all the 
 advantages of commerce. It contained, in its capital 
 and on the coast, nearly one hundred thousand inha- 
 bitants ; it usually supported a force of from three to 
 four thousand troops ; in emergency it could arm the 
 peasants of the Apennines, and thereby muster an 
 excellent militia ; in fine, it enjoyed large revenues. 
 Two parties divided it : the party opposed to France 
 held the superiority, and had expelled several families. 
 The Directory purposed to demand the recall of those 
 families, anil an indemnity for the outrage committed 
 on the French frigate La Modeste. 
 
 On quitting Genoa, and proceeding to the right into 
 the peninsula, along the southern range of the Apen- 
 nines, first appears Tuscany, a happy region, stretch- 
 ing on both sides of the Arno, basking under the most 
 genial of climates, and reposing in one of the best
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 577 
 
 sheltered parts of Italy. A portion of this district 
 formed the small republic of Liicoa, peopled by one 
 hundred and forty thousand inhabitants ; the re- 
 mainder constituted the grand-dutchy of Tuscany, 
 recently governed by tlie Archduke Leopold, and now 
 by the Archduke Ferdinand. In this country, the 
 most enlightened and polislied of Italy, the philosopliy 
 of the eighteenth century had mildly germinated. 
 Leopold had distinguished liis rule by admirable legis- 
 lative reforms, and attemxited with success experi- 
 ments tlie most honourable to humanity. The Bishop 
 of Pistoia had even commenced a species of religious 
 reform, by propagating tlie Jansenist doctrines. Al- 
 though the Frencli revolution had alarmed the gentle 
 and timid minds of Tuscany, yet it was tliere tliat 
 France had the most appreciators and friends. The 
 archduke, albeit an Austrian, had been one of the 
 first potentates in Europe to acknowledge the republic. 
 He possessed a million of subjects, six thousand troops, 
 and a revenue of fifteen millions. Unfortunately, Tus- 
 cany, of all the Italian principalities, was the least 
 capable of defending itself. 
 
 After Tuscany come the states of the Church. The 
 provinces sunjected to the Pope, extending on both 
 flanks of the Apennines, reaching from the Mediter- 
 ranean to the Adriatic, were tlie worst administered 
 in Europe. They had merel}' their excellent system 
 of agricidtiu'e, handed down from remote tradition, 
 which is common to all Italy, and supplies the wealth 
 of manufacturing industry, long banished from its 
 confines. Excepting in the legations of Bologna and 
 Ferrara, where a profound contempt prevailed for the 
 government of priests, and at Rome, the ancient seat 
 of learning and of arts, where a few nobles had im- 
 bibed the philosophy of their class throughout Europe, 
 the human intellect had remained in tlie most dis- 
 graceful barbarism. A superstitious and savage mul- 
 titude, lazy and ignorant monks, composed the popu- 
 lation of two millions and a half of subjects. The 
 army consisted of four or five thousand soldiers, of 
 what quality it is imnecessary to mention. The reign- 
 ing pope, an arrogant personage, fond of magnificence, 
 jealous of his autliority and of that of the holy see, 
 entertained an inveterate antipathy to the philosophy 
 of the eighteenth century ; he thought to redeem for 
 the chair of St Peter a portion of its former influence 
 by displaying an extraordinary pomp, and he extended 
 his patronage to woi'ks calculated to advance the arts. 
 Relying on the sanctity of his person and the fascina- 
 tion of his eloquence, which was great, he had formerly 
 undertaken a journey to the court of Joseph II., to 
 confirm his wavering faith in the doctrines of the 
 church, and to exorcise the philosopliy which seemed 
 unhappily to have taken root in the mind of that 
 prince. That join-ney had not ]n'oved particularly 
 propitious. The pontiff, seized with holy horror at 
 tlie French revolution, had laimched an anathema 
 against it, and preached a crusade ; he had even suf- 
 fered the assassination of the French agent, Bassevillc, 
 in the city of Rome itself. Instigated by the monks, 
 his subjects partook his hatred against France, and 
 imprecated Mith fanatical frenzy on learning the suc- 
 cess of her arms. 
 
 The extremity of the peninsula and Sicily compose 
 the kingdom of Naples — the most powerful in Italy, 
 the most analogous, by ignorance and barbarism, to 
 the states of tlic Church, and even worse governed, 
 if it were possible. There reigned a Bourbon, a soft 
 and imbecile prince, devoted to a single object of soli- 
 citude — fisiiing. That pursuit absorbed all his time, 
 and whilst he gave himself madly to the gratification 
 of this darling passion, the government of his kingdom 
 was abandoned to his wife, an Austrian princess, the 
 sister of JIarie-Antomette, Qneen of France. This 
 princess, capricious and dissolute, had a favourite sub- 
 orned by tlie English, the minister Acton, and there- 
 fore conducted afl'airs in the most insensate manner. 
 England, whose policy was always directed to gain a 
 
 footing on the continent, by swaying the petty states 
 bordering on the sea, liad attempted to spread her 
 enthralling patronage over Naples, as she had long 
 done in Portugal and Holland. She stimulated the 
 hatred of the queen against France, and inflamed her 
 moreover with the ambition of preponderating su- 
 premely in Italy. The popidation of the kingdom of 
 Naples amounted to 6,000,000. The army counted 
 60,000 men ; but, very diflerent from the brave and 
 docile soldiers of Piedmont, the Neapolitan soldiers, 
 true lazzaroni, without cohesion and without discipline, 
 were characterised by the usual cowardice of armies 
 devoid of organisation. The court of Naples had 
 always promised to add 30,000 men to the army of 
 Dewins, but had disp9,tched only 2400 cavalry, a well- 
 mounted and sufficiently creditable troop. 
 
 Such were the principal states situated in the pen 
 insula to the right of Bonaparte. Confronting liim, 
 in the semicircle of Upper Italy, his eye first em- 
 braced, on the slope of the Apennines, the dutchy of 
 Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, comprising 500,000 
 inhabitants, supporting 3000 men under arms, fur- 
 nishing four millions of revenue, and governed by a 
 Spanish prince, an old pupil of CondiUac, but who, 
 despite the soundness of his education, had fallen 
 under the yoke of priests and monks. A little far- 
 ther to the right, still on the slope of the Apen- 
 nines, appeared the dutchy of j\Iodena, Reggio, and 
 Mirandola, containing a population of 400,000 souls, 
 maintaining a standing armj^ of 6000 men, and 
 groaning inider the authority of the last descendant 
 of the illustrious house of Este. This morbid prince 
 had conceived such dread of the spirit of the age, that 
 he had become a prophet through the pure force of 
 fear, and had foretold the revolution. His predictions 
 were now cited. Actuated by his deadly terrors, he 
 had resolved to fortify himself against the strokes of 
 fortune, and had amassed immense wealth by grinding 
 his dominions. Avaricious and timid, he was held in 
 contempt by his subjects, who are amongst the most 
 intelligent and satirical of the Italians, and irresistibly 
 disposed to embrace the new ideas. Farther onward, 
 beyond the Po, gleamed Lombardy, governed by an 
 archduke as an Austrian vicei'oy. That balmy, lux- 
 uriant region, hounded by the iVlps, M'hose streams 
 fertilise its soil, and by the Adriatic, whose waters 
 hear to it the wealth of the East, covered with corn- 
 fields, rice-i)lantations, meadows, flocks, and rich 
 beyond all the provinces of the world, was discon- 
 tented under its foreign masters. It was still Guelph,* 
 notwithstanding its long slavery. It contained 1,200,000 
 inhabitants. Milan, the capital, was one of tlie most 
 enlightened cities in Italy ; less favoured with regard 
 to the arts than Florence or Rome, it was nearer the 
 illumination of the north, and it contained a great 
 number of men who sighed for the civil and political 
 regeneration of their countrj'incn. 
 
 The last state of Upper Italy was the ancient re- 
 public of Venice. That republic, with its old oligarchy 
 enrolled in the Golden Book, its state-inquisition, its 
 sombre silence, its distrustful and astute policy, was 
 no longer a formidable power either for its subjects 
 or its neighbours. With its territories on the main- 
 land, situated at the foot of the Tyrol, and those of 
 Illyria (Dalmatia"), it counted nearly three millions of 
 subjects. It could raise 50.000 Sclavonian troops, 
 excellent soldiers, inasmuch as they were well formed, 
 well disciplined, and well paid. It was rich in the 
 wealth of other days ; but it is known that, for the 
 last two centuries, its commerce had passed into the 
 ocean, and carried its treasures to the insular popula- 
 tions of the Atlantic. It scarcely retained a few ves- 
 sels, and the passages of the canals were almost choked. 
 Nevertheless, it was still endowed with ample reve- 
 * [The Giielphs and Ghibcllines arc the tradition;il factions of 
 Italy. Tlie Giielphs opposed, tlie fJhibellines upheld, the piedo- 
 niinance nf the Geniian eniperors in Italy, who claimed over most 
 of its states a feudal superiority.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Dues. Its policy consisted in amusing the people, in 
 repressing their energies by pleasure and somniferous 
 repose, and in observing tlie strictest neutrality in its 
 foreign relations. The nobles on the mainland were 
 jealous, however, of the Golden Book, and bore with 
 impatience the yoke of the oligarchy seated on the 
 canals. In Venice itself, a burgher class sufficiently 
 opulent began to exercise reflection. In 1793, the 
 coalition had constrained the senate to declare against 
 France ; it had yielded, but it reverted to its neutral 
 policy the moment other powers commenced to treat 
 with the French republic. As we have previously 
 recorded, it had hiistened to concur with Prussia and 
 Tuscany in sending an ambassador to Paris. Now 
 again, yielding to the instances of the Directory, it 
 had recently enjoined the head of the house of Bour- 
 bon. Louis XVIIT., to quit Verona. That prince 
 obeyed ; but, on his departure, he demanded the resti- 
 tution of a suit of armour presented by his ancestor 
 Henry IV. to the senate, and the erasure of his family 
 name from the pages of the Golden Book. 
 
 Such at that time was Italy. The general spirit of 
 the age had penetrated it, and found numerous pro- 
 selytes. The inhabitants were far from wishing a 
 revolution, especially those who pondered on the 
 frightful scenes which had sullied the French ; but all, 
 though in different degi'ees, desired a reform, and 
 there was not a heart which did not throb with emo- 
 tion at the idea of the independence and consolidation 
 of the Italian nation. That population of agricul- 
 turists, burghers, artists, nobles, the priests excepted, 
 who knew the church only as their country, was ani- 
 mated with the hope of seeing all the divisions of the 
 country united in one aggregate, under an identical 
 government, republican or monarchical, but Italian. 
 Surely twenty millions of men, with an admirable 
 soil, a large extent of coast, excellent harbours, and 
 magnificent cities, might compose a glorious and 
 puissant state ! But, alas ! they had no army. Pied- 
 mont alone, always engaged in the wars of Europe, 
 possessed brave and disciplined troops. Doubtless 
 nature had not refused natural courage to tlie other 
 regions of Italy ; but natural courage is of no avail 
 without a stnjug military organisation. Italy had 
 not a regiment which could support the view of tlie 
 French or Austrian bayonets. 
 
 At the approach of the French, the opponents of 
 political reform were filled with dismay — its partisans 
 with joy. The great mass was uneasy and anxious; 
 it had vague, uncertain presentiments ; it knew not 
 whether it ought to fear or hope. 
 
 The design and the orders of Bonaparte on entering 
 Italy tended simply to drive out the Austrians. His 
 government desiring, as we have intimated, to procure 
 peace, meditated the conquest of Lombardy merely 
 to restore it to Austria, obtaining from her in return 
 the absolute cession of the Low Countries. It was no 
 part of Bonaparte's scheme, therefore, to enfranchise 
 Italy, and, indeed, with little more than thirty thou- 
 sand men, the enforcement of a political regeneration 
 might well seem chimerical. At the same time, the 
 Austrians once repulsed beyond the Alps, and his 
 power well assured, he might exercise great influence, 
 and, according to circumstances, attempt important 
 modifications. If, for example, the Austrians, beaten 
 on all points — on the Po, the Khine, and the Danube 
 — were obliged to cede Lombardy itself; if the inhabi- 
 tants, really inspired with the love of liberty, spon- 
 taneously declared for it on the approach of the French 
 armies, then high destinies might open for Italy. 
 But, meanwhile, Bonaparte was bound to assign no 
 such object, lest he should thereby exasperate the 
 princes whom he left on his rear. His determination, 
 consequently, was to abstain from manifesting any 
 revolutionary projects, but equally so from damping 
 the ardour of imagination, and to await the effect 
 produced by the presence of the French upon the 
 Italian people. 
 
 It Avasthus that he had refrained from encouragin.-. 
 the malecontents of Piedmont, because he saw a coun- 
 try difficult to revolutionise, a strong government, 
 and an army whose co-operation might be rendered 
 available. 
 
 No sooner was the armistice of Cherasco signed, 
 than he put his army in moticm. Many of his officers 
 and soldiers disappi'oved a march in advance. " What !" 
 said they, "we are but thirty and a few thousand 
 strong — we have revolutionised neither Piedmont nor 
 Genoa — we are leaving behind us those governments, 
 our secret enemies, and we are about to attempt the 
 passage of a great river like the Po, to push through 
 Loml)ardy, and j)robably induce, by our appearance, 
 the republic of Venice to throw fifty thousand men 
 into the scale against us I" Bonaparte had orders to 
 advance, and he was not the man to flinch from the 
 execution of a daring commission ; but, in truth, he 
 was prepared to execute it, because it corresponded 
 with his own views, whicli were founded on substantial 
 reasons. " Piedmont and Genoa," he said, " would 
 embarrass us much more if they were thrown into a 
 state of revolution. Thanks to the armistice, we have 
 a route secured by three strong fortresses ; all the 
 governments of Italy will submit, if we succeed in 
 driving the Austrians lieyond the Alps; Venice will 
 tremble, if we are victorious at her side ; the roar of 
 our cannon will even decide her to ally herself with 
 us. It behoves us, therefore, to advance not only 
 lieyond the Po, but beyond the Adda, the jMincio, even 
 to the line of the Adige ; there we will besiege Man- 
 tua, and make aU Italy quake behind us." The young 
 general, his ideas inflamed by his progress, revolved 
 even more gigantic projects than those he avowed to 
 his army. He designed, after having annihilated 
 Beaulieu, to plunge into the Tyrol, repass the Alps, 
 and pour into the valley of the Danube, there to imite 
 with the armies from the banks of the Rhine. This 
 colossal and imprudent scheme was inspired by the 
 twofold presumption of youth and success acting upon 
 a vast and comprehensive mind, insatiable for resiilts. 
 He wrote to his government for authority to execute it. 
 He had opened the campaign on the 20th Germinal 
 (9th April) ; the submission of Piedmont was con- 
 simimated on the 9th Floreal (28th April) by the 
 armistice of Cherasco: the operation had occupied 
 eighteen days. He proceeded forthwith in pursuit 
 of Beaidieu. He had stipulated with Piedmont for 
 the surrender of Valenza to secure the passage of the 
 Po ; but this condition was a feint, since it was not 
 at Valenza he intended to cross that river. Beaulieu, 
 on learning the particulars of the armistice, had re- 
 solved to seize by surprise the three fortresses of 
 Tortona, Valenza, and Alessandria. He succeeded in 
 capturing Valenza alone, into whicli he threw the 
 Neapolitans. After this achievement, perceiving Bona- 
 parte advancing rapidly, he hastily repassed the Po, 
 in order to place the river between him and the French 
 army. He proceeded to encamp at Valleggio, at the 
 conflux of the Po and the Tecino, towards the apex of 
 the angle formed by those two streams. He reared 
 some intrenchments to strengthen his position and to 
 oppose the passage of the French army. 
 
 Bonaparte, on quitting the territories of the King 
 of Sardinia, and entering those of the Duke of 
 Parma, received envoys from that prince, who came 
 to propitiate the clemency of the conqueror. The 
 Duke of Parma was the relative of Spain ; it was 
 prudent, therefore, to treat him with consideration, a 
 course which, on other grounds, coinci<led with the 
 views of the general. But it was allowable to exer- 
 cise upon him some of the rights of war. Bona- 
 parte met his envoys at the passage of the Trebbia; 
 he aflected to be indignant that the Duke of Parma 
 had not seized the moment to make his peace when 
 Spain, his kinsman, was negotiatmg with the French 
 republic. Eventually he granted an armistice, exact- 
 ing a subsidy of two millions in specie, whereof the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 army-chest was in great ueed, sixteen hundred horses, 
 necessary for the artillery and the baggage-waggons, 
 a considerable quantity of wheat and oats, authority 
 to traverse the dutchy, and the estaljlishment of 
 hospitals for his invalids at the cost of the prince. 
 The general did not limit himself to these terms. He 
 loved and appreciated the arts as an Italian ; he was 
 sensible how much they added to the splendour of 
 an empire, and how great the effect they produce 
 on the imaginations of men : he demanded twenty 
 pictures, to be selected by French commissioners, for 
 transportation to Paris. The envoys of the duke, 
 too happy to disarm, at this price, tlie anger of the 
 general, consented to all his proposals, and hastened 
 to execute the conditions of the armistice. They 
 offered a million, however, to save the pictiire of 
 Saint - Jerome. Bonaparte addressed his army : — 
 " This million we shall soon have spent, and we shall 
 find many others to receive. A masterpiece of art is 
 eternal ; it will embellish our country." The ' million 
 was refused. 
 
 Bonaparte, after thus obtaining the advantages of 
 conquest without its delays or difficulties, continued 
 his march. The condition expressed in the armistice 
 of Cherasco, relative to the passage of the Po at Va- 
 lenza, together Avith the direction of the principal 
 French columns towards that town, led to the belief 
 that Bonaparte purposed to attempt the passage of the 
 river in its vicinity. AVhilst the bulk of his army was 
 already concentrated on the point where Beaulieu was 
 lying in wait, on the 17th Floreal (6th May), he di- 
 verged, with a corps of 3500 grenadiers, his cavalry, and 
 twenty-four pieces of cannon, skirted the banks of 
 the Po, and arrived on the morning of the 18th at 
 Placentia, after a march of sixteen leagues and thirty- 
 six hours. The cavalry had seized on the road all the 
 boats that were found on the shore of the river, and 
 carried them to Placentia. It had captured, moreover, 
 a considerable quantity of forage, and the medicine- 
 chest of the Austrian army. A ferry-boat transported 
 the vanguard, commanded by Colonel Lannes. The 
 moment that ofiicer reached the opposite bank, he fell 
 with his grenadiers on some Austrian detachments 
 which were scouring the left side of the river, and 
 dispersed them. The residue of the grenadiers suc- 
 cessively crossed the Po, and the construction of a 
 bridge was hastily commenced for the passage of the 
 armj', which had received orders to descend in like 
 manner to Placentia. Thus, by means of a feint and 
 a bold march, Bonaparte found himself beyond the 
 Po, and with the advantage of having turned the Te- 
 cino. If, in fact, he had passed higher up the river, 
 besides the difficulty of doing so in presence of Beau- 
 Ueu, he would have come upon the Tecino, and must 
 have effected a second passage. But, at Placentia, 
 that obstacle was averted, for the Tecino has there 
 blended with the Po. 
 
 On the 18th Floreal, the division under Liptai, 
 being the first apprised of the French manoeuvre, had 
 moved on Fombio, a sliort distance from the Po, on 
 the road to Pizzighitonc. Bonaparte, careful not to 
 allow it to establish itself in that position, where the 
 whole Austrian army might raUy, and where he might 
 be afterwards compelled to give battle witli the Po at 
 his back, instantly resolved to attack with the force 
 he had with him. He accordingly charged the divi- 
 sion, which had intrenched itself, dislodged it, after a 
 sanguinary conflict, and made two thousand prison- 
 ers. The remnant of the division, gaining the road 
 to Pizzighitonc, threw itself into that place. 
 
 On the evening of the same day, Beaulieu, informed 
 of the passage of the Po at Placentia, arrived to the 
 succoiu- of Liptai's division. Ignorant of the discom- 
 fiture of that division, he fell foul of the French ad- 
 vanced posts, was warmly received, and obliged to 
 recoil in all haste. Unfortunately, the gallant La- 
 harpe, so serviceable to the army by his intelligence 
 and intrepidity, was slain by his own soldiers amidst 
 
 the obscurity of the night. The whole army regretted 
 that brave Swiss, whom the tyranny of Berne had 
 driven into France. 
 
 The Po cleared, the Tecino turned, Beaulieu beaten 
 and unable to keep the field, the route to ]\Iilan lay 
 open. It was natural that the youthful conqueror 
 should be impatient to enter it. But, above all things, 
 Bonaparte desired to complete the destruction of 
 Beaulieu. With that view, it was not enough to have 
 defeated him, he desired also to tm-n him, cut ofl' his 
 retreat, and oblige him, if possible, to lay do^\^l his 
 arms. To attain this object, he required to forestall 
 him at the passages of the rivers. Numerous streams 
 descend the Alps, and flow through Lombardy on their 
 course to the Po and the Adriatic. After the Po 
 and the Tecino, come the Adda, the Oglio, tlie Mincio, 
 the Adige, and several others. Bonaparte had now 
 before him the Adda, which he could not turn like the 
 Tecino, because for that purpose he must have crossed 
 the Po at Cremona. The Adda was to be passed at 
 Pizzighitonc ; but the wreck of Liptai's division had 
 throAvn itself into that place. Bonaparte hastened to 
 ascend the xVdda, to reach the bridge of Lodi. Beau- 
 Hen was there long before him ; therefore he could not 
 be anticipated in the passage of the river. But Beau- 
 lieu had at Lodi only twelve thousand infantry and 
 four thousand cavalry. Two other divisions, under 
 CoUi and Wukassovich, had made a detour upon 
 jNIilan, to throw a garrison into the citadel, and were 
 afterwards to return upon the Adda and cross it at 
 Cassano, considerably below Lodi. By attempting, 
 therefore, to clear the Adda at Lodi, despite the pre- 
 sence of Beaulieu, the French might reach the other 
 bank before the two divisions, which were to pass at 
 Cassano, had accomplished their prescribed move- 
 ment. In such case, there would be every probabUity 
 of intercepting them. 
 
 Bonaparte arrived before Lodi on the 20th Floreal 
 (9th May). This town is situated on the same side 
 of the river as that M'hereby the French army ap- 
 proached. Bonaparte caused a sudden attack to be 
 made upon it, and carried it in spite of the Austrians. 
 They, thereupon quitting the town, retired by the 
 bridge, and proceeded to join the bulk of their army 
 on the opposite bank. It was this bridge tlie French 
 had to cross, upon leaving Lodi, in order to clear the 
 barrier of the Adda. Twelve thousand infantry and 
 foiu" thousand cavalry were drawn up on the opposite 
 bank ; twenty pieces of artillery enfiladed the bridge ; 
 a swarm of sharpshooters lined the shore. It was 
 not customary in war to brave such defences ; a bridge 
 defended by sixteen thousand men and twenty pieces 
 of ordnance, presented an obstacle never sought to be 
 surmoimted. The French army was placed under 
 shelter from the fire behind the walls of Lodi, awaiting 
 orders from the general. Bonaparte issued from the 
 town, traversed the margin of the river amidst a 
 shower of balls and grape, and, after deciding on his 
 plan, returned into Lodi to put it in execution. He 
 directed his cavalry to ascend the course of tlie river, 
 and attempt to pass at a ford above the bridge. He 
 tlien assembled a column of six thousand grenadiers ; 
 he went througli their ranks, encouraged them, and 
 communicated to them, by his presence and words, an 
 extraordinary courage. He ultimately ordered them 
 to debouch by the gate opening on the bridge, and to 
 advance at fidl speed. He calculated that, from the 
 rapidity of the movement, the column would not have 
 time to suffer very severely. This formidable column 
 closed its ranks and emerged, rushing along the bridge 
 with intrepid ardour. A terrible fire opened upon 
 it ; the front ranks were all laid prostrate. Still it 
 advanced : arrived on the middle of the bridge, it 
 wavered ; but the generals animated it by their voice 
 and example. It took fresh courage, moved onwards, 
 flew upon tlie pieces, and cut down the artillerymen 
 who essayed to defend them. At this instant, the 
 Austrian infantry approached to support tht arciUery ;
 
 680 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 but after what it had just achieved, the indomitable 
 column contemned mere bayonets ; it charged upon 
 the Austrians pi-ecisely as the French cavalry, which 
 had found a ford, appeared to menace their flanks : 
 it worsted and dispersed them, securing two thousand 
 prisoners.* 
 
 This stroke of transcendent hardihood struck the 
 Austrians with amazement; but unfortunately it 
 proved useless. Colli and Wukassovich had suc- 
 ceeded in gaining the Brescia liighway, and were be- 
 yond the reach of interception. If the main object 
 had failed, the line of the Adda at least was carried ; 
 the courage of the soldiers was exalted to the highest 
 pitcli of entluisiasm, and their devotion to their general 
 rendered boimdless. 
 
 In their exuberant gaiety they conceived a singular 
 idea, which strikingly pourtraysthe national character. 
 The oldest soldiers mustered one day, and, finding 
 their general very young, resolved to make him pass 
 through all the grades : for his conduct at Lodi they 
 appointed him a corporal, and saluted him, when he 
 appeared in the camp, with tlie title, since so famous, 
 of the Litth Corporal {Petit Caporal). We shall see 
 them hereafter confer others, as he was judged to have 
 deserved them. 
 
 The Austrian army was assured of its retreat into 
 the Tyrol : there was no further inducement to follow 
 it. Bonaparte, therefore, determined to return into the 
 Milanese, in order to take possession and commence 
 the organisation of his conquest. The remnant of 
 Liptai's di\ision had intrenched itself at Pizzighitone, 
 and might convert it into a stronghold. He moved 
 upon that post and expelled it. He subsequently 
 dispatched Massena to precede him at Milan. Auge- 
 reau retrograded to occupy Pavia. Bonaparte desired 
 
 * [The battle of Lodi was in itself a useless effusion of blood, 
 but it is celebrated in historj' not only as a surprising feat of arms, 
 but as the achievement which first rendered Bonaparte tlie idol 
 of the French soldiers, and opened to him the road to futiu-e 
 greatness. The account of the battle as given in the text avoids 
 all notice of Bonaparte's personal prowess, upon which the admi- 
 ration of his troops was founded ; and we have consequently 
 deemed it expedient to subjoin a description of the battle, 
 taken from Bourrienne's Memoirs, which enters more into de- 
 taU. 
 
 " It now remained to cross the river ; hut thirty pieces of can- 
 non, placed in battery, some at the further end of the old bridge, 
 and some a little above, and others a little below it, on the left 
 bank, in order to produce a cross fire, seemed to render such an 
 enterprise next to impossible. Jlore than one brave republican 
 general recommended a pause, which must have ended in a re- 
 treat ; but Bonaparte, keeping his eyes fixed, and his hand point- 
 ing to the bridge, said — ' That is the way to Jlilan — to Rome — to 
 tlie possession of all Italy ; we must cross, let it cost what it may. 
 It must not be said that the tributary Adda stopped those lieroes 
 who had forced tlie Po I ' On this occasion the French were pretty 
 well supplied with artUIery, and their first operation was to open 
 a heavj- fire across the river on the enemy's guns. General Beau- 
 mont, who commanded their cavalry, was sent to pass the Adda 
 at a ford about a league above the bridge ; and he took with him 
 some flying artillery, with which he was to cannonade the rijjlit 
 flank of the Austrians. By an inconceivable imbecility, the ford 
 was not sufficiently guarded, and Beaumont, though not without 
 diflficulty , passed through it with his horses and guns. As soon as 
 Bonaparte saw that the heads of the French cavalry were form- 
 ing on the left bank of the Adda, and that the manoeuvre gave 
 great uneasiness to the Austrians, he pointed his swonl at the 
 bridge and sounded the charge. It was on the lOtli May, and about 
 six o'clock in the evening, when 4(X)0 picked men, shouting ' Vive 
 la. Republique!" advanced on the bridge, which was literally 
 swept by the enemy's guns. The first effect was tremendous ; 
 the French were involved in a murderous Iiailstonn of cannon- 
 balls, grape-shot, and musket-balls; t)iey stopped— for a moment 
 they wavered. Then Bonaparte, and Lannes, and Berthier, and 
 Massena, and Cervoni, and D'AUemagne, and Dupas, threw 
 themselves at the he;id of the columns, which dashed across the 
 bridge, and up to tlie mouths of the enemy's guns. Lannes was 
 the first to reach the left bank of the Adda, Bonaparte the second. 
 The Austrian artillerymen were bayoneted at their guns before 
 Rciiulieu could get to their rescue, for this doomed old general 
 
 to impress that spacious city, celebrated for its uni- 
 versity, with a vivid sense of the French power, and 
 sent to overawe it one of the finest divisions of the 
 army. The divisions of Serrurier and Laharpe were 
 left at Pizzighitone, Lodi, Cremona, and Cassauo, to 
 guard the Adda. 
 
 At length Bonaparte made ready to visit Milan. At 
 the approach of the French army, the partisans of 
 Austria, and all others who were alarmed at the re 
 ports current of the French soldiers, who were repre 
 seated to be quite as barbarous as courageous, had fled, 
 and covered the roads to Brescia and the TjtoI. The 
 archduke had taken his departure ; he had been ob- 
 served to shed tears on quitting his superb capital. 
 The great majority of the Milanese gave way to san- 
 guine hopes, and awaited the advent of the French in 
 the most favourable dispositions. When they had re- 
 ceived the first division, commanded by ilassena, and 
 saw those soldiers, whose reputation was so formidable, 
 respect property and persons, and manifest all that 
 benevolence so natural to their character, they were 
 transported with joy, and loaded them with their 
 choicest benefits. Tlie patriots, who had hurried from 
 all parts of Italy, impatiently expected the young vic- 
 tor whose exploits were so rapid and dazzling, and whose 
 Italian name was so dulcet in their ears. The Count 
 de Melzi was commissioned to meet Bonaparte w ith a 
 formal tender of submission. A national guard was 
 formed, attired in the three colours, green, red, and 
 white, and the command thereof intrusted to the Duke 
 of Serbelloni. A triumphal arch was reared ':o re- 
 ceive the French general. On tlie 26th Floreal (15th 
 May), one month after the opening of the campaign, 
 Bonaparte made his entry into jMilan. The entire 
 population of that metropolis assembled to witness 
 
 had kept his infantrj- too far in the rear of the bridge. By this 
 means, also, the French infantry were allowed time to debouch 
 from the tete-du-pont, and form in pretty good order. The battle, 
 however, was not over. Though stupid, Boaulieu was brave, and 
 the Austrian troops had not yet lost tlieir dogged obstinacy. 
 Tliey concentrated a little behind the river — they put their re- 
 maining artillery in battery, and for some minutes it seemed 
 doubtful whether they woidd not drive their foes back to the 
 blond-covered bridge, or into the waters of the Adda. But, in 
 addition to Beaumont, who acted with the cavalry on their right 
 flank, Augercau now came up from Borghetto to the opportune 
 assistance of his comrades. Then Beaulieu retreated, but in such 
 good order that the French made but few prisoners. The shades 
 of night closed over a scene of horror: between the town and the 
 bridge of Lodi, and the scene of the prolonged action on the left 
 bank, 2500 men and 400 horses, on the side of the Austrians, lay 
 dead or wounded ; and the French could not have left fewer than 
 2000 men in the same condition, although Bonapai'te owned only 
 to the loss of 400. 
 
 This battle, which he used to call ' The terrible passage of the 
 bridge of Lodi,' carried his fame to the highest pitch, while the 
 great personal bravery he displayed in it endejired him to the 
 troops. The men, who cannot always appreciate military genius 
 and science, know perfectly well how to estimate courage, and 
 they soon idolise the commander that shows himself ready to 
 share in their greatest dangers. It was on this occasion that the 
 soldiers gave Bonaparte the honorary and affectionate nickname 
 of 'the little corporal!' He was then slight in figure, and had 
 almost an effeminate appearance. ' It was a strange sight," says 
 a French veteran, ' to see him on that day on foot on the bridge, 
 under a/iu <l'fii/cr, and mixed up with our tiUl grenadiers: be 
 looked like a little boy .' ' Those men of routine and prescription, 
 the Austrian oflicers, who adhered to the old system of warfare, 
 could not comprehend his new conceptions and his innovations. 
 ' This beardless youth ought to have been beaten over and over 
 again,' said poor Beaulieu; ' who ever saw such tactics?' A day 
 or two after the battle of Lodi, an old Hungarian officer, who did 
 not know his person, was brought in prisoner to the French com- 
 mander-in-chief. ' Well,' said Bonaparte, ' what do you think 
 of the state of the war now ? ' ' Nothing can be worse on your 
 side,' replied the old martinet. ' Here you have a youth who 
 absolutely knows nothing of the rules of war ; to-day he is in our 
 rear, to-morrow on our ilank, next again in our front. Such grosd 
 violations of the principles of the art of war are not to be sup- 
 ported ! ' "]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 5KI 
 
 liis arrival. The national guard was marshalled and 
 under arms. Tlie municipality came in procession to 
 deliver him the keys of the city. Acclamations ac- 
 companied his progress even to the SerbeUoni palace, 
 where preparations had been made for liis reception. 
 At this moment the imagination of the Italians was 
 wound up in him equally witli that of his own soldiers, 
 and he could henceforth act by moral, as efficaciously 
 as by physical force. 
 
 It was not his intention to remain at jMilan longer 
 than he had tarried at Cherasco after the submission 
 of Piedmont. He merely proposed to sojourn a suffi- 
 cient time to organise provisionally the province, draw 
 from it the resources necessary for his army, and re- 
 gulate all things upon his rear. His grand design still 
 was to hasten on the Adige and Mantua, and, if it 
 were possible, into the Tyrol and be_yond the Alps. 
 
 The Austrians had left two thousand men in the 
 citadel of IMilan. Bonaparte caused it to be imme- 
 diately invested. It was agreed with the governor of 
 the castle that he should not fire upon t^ae city, for it 
 formed an Austrian possession he was interested in 
 saAdng from destruction. The works vi the siege were 
 commenced witliout delay. 
 
 Bonaparte, without irrevocably committing himself 
 to the ^Milanese, and without promising thena an in- 
 dependence he could not ensure them, inspired them, 
 nevertheless, with sufficient hopes to stimulate their 
 patriotism. He held to them an energetic language, 
 telling them that, to procure liberty, they must merit 
 it by aiding him to deliver Italy for ever from Austria. 
 He instituted provisionally a municipal administra- 
 tion. He caused the formation of national guards m 
 all quarters of the coimtry, in order to give a com- 
 mencement to the military organisation of Lombardy. 
 He subsequently directed his attention to the wants 
 of the army, and was obliged to impose a contribution 
 of twenty milUons on the Milanese. This measure 
 he adopted reluctantly, because it was calculated to 
 operate prejudicially on the public mind ; but it occa- 
 sioned less discontent than might have been antici- 
 pated, and, moreover, it was indispensable. Owing to 
 the magazines obtained in Piedmont and to the corn 
 furnished by the Duke of Parma, the army enjoyed 
 provisions in great abundance. The soldiers improved 
 palpably in appearance : they subsisted on excellent 
 bread and meat, and drank good wine. They were 
 quite content, and observed the strictest discipline. 
 The only want yet left unsatisfied was that of raiment. 
 Clad in the old clothes they had so long worn on the 
 Alps, they were tattered and in rags, and coidd strike 
 beholders with awe only from their glory, their martial 
 firmness, and their admirable disciphue. Bonaparte 
 speedily found additional resonrees. The Duke of 
 Modena, whose territories skirt the Po, below those 
 of the Duke of Parma, dispatched envoys to solicit 
 from him the same conditions as those granted to the 
 Duke of Parma. This old avaricious prince, seeing 
 all his predictions realised, had sought refuge in 
 Venice, carrying with him liis treasures, and aban- 
 doning the government of his dominions to a regency. 
 Not wilhng, however, to lose them altogether, he 
 craved leave to negotiate. Bonaparte was not com- 
 petent to conclude treaties, hut he could grant armis- 
 tices which were equivalent therewith, and Avhich, as 
 lie framed them, rendered him master of destinies in 
 Italy. He demanded ten millions, supplies of all 
 kinds, horses, and pictures. 
 
 With these resources obtained in the coimtr^', he 
 established on the banks of the Po large magazines, 
 and hospitals provided with the paraphernalia requisite 
 for fifteen thousand invalids, and filled all the chests 
 of the army. Deeming himself sufficiently affluent, 
 he forwarded to Genoa a few millions for the Direc- 
 tory. Furthermore, as he was aware the army of the 
 Rhine languished for lack of funds, and was retarded 
 by that deficiency in taking the field, he transmitted 
 through Switzerland a million to Moreau This act 
 
 evinced the kindly spirit of a comrade in arms, and 
 was equally honourable and advantageous to him, 
 since so timely a remittance would enable jVIoreau to 
 enter upon the campaign and restrain the Austrians 
 from moving their principal forces into Italy. 
 
 Meditating on the aspect of affairs, Bonaparte was 
 more than ever confirmed in his original views. He 
 considered it was not nec-essary to march against the 
 potentates of Italy ; it behoved him to act against the 
 Austrians alone : so that they were effectually resisted 
 and debarred from returning into Lombardy, all the 
 Italian states, trembling under the ascendancy of the 
 French army, would submit one after the other. The 
 Dukes of Parma and ]\Iodena had alread}^ succumbed : 
 Rome and Naples would follow their example, if he 
 remained master of the great avenues of Italy. In 
 like manner, he was called upon to observe neutrality 
 with regard to the populations, and, taking no step's 
 to subvert the existing governments, to wait until the 
 subjects themselves unequivocally declared their senti- 
 ments. 
 
 But amidst these sagacious reflections and multitu- 
 dinous labours, he was perplexed by a coxmteraction 
 of the most baneful tendency. The Directory was 
 charmed with his services ; but Carnot, on reading 
 his dispatches, written with energy and precision, and 
 also witli extreme imaginative ardour, was alarmed at 
 his gigantic projects. He deemed, with reason, that 
 the proposal to traverse the Tyrol and cross the Alps 
 a second time, was too hazardous and even impracti- 
 cable a scheme : but, essaying to amend the project 
 of the young captain, he in his turn conceived one in- 
 finitely more dangerous. According to Carnot, the 
 course for the French to adopt, after the conquest of 
 Lombard}', was to fall back into the peninsula, and 
 proceed to punish the Pope and the Bourbons of 
 Naples, and to chase the English from Leghorn, where 
 the Duke of Tuscany allowed them to domineer. Un- 
 der this persuasion, Carnot ordered, in the name of 
 tlie Directory, that the forces in Italj' should be di- 
 vided into two parts, whereof one Avas to be left in 
 Lombardy, under the orders of General KeUermann, 
 and the other to march on Rome and Naples, under 
 the orders of Bonaparte. This disastrous project con- 
 templated a repetition of the self-same error the French 
 have always committed, a precipitate advance into the 
 peninsula before the complete I'eduction of Upper Italy. 
 It was not with the pope or the King of Naples they 
 had to contend for the mastery of Italy, but with the 
 Austrians. Consequently, the line of operations was 
 not at that time on the Tiber, but on the Adige. The 
 impatience to grasp advantages has always impelled 
 the French to Rome and Naples ; and whilst sweep- 
 ing through the peninsula, they have invariably found 
 the route closed upon them. It was natural that re- 
 publicans should burn with desire to inflict chastise- 
 ment on a pope and a Bourbon ; but thej' relajjsed into 
 the flagrant error of the old kings of France. 
 
 Bonaparte, when forming his plan of penetrating 
 into the valley of the l^anube, had fixed his eye on 
 the Austrians solely ; it was an exaggeration, doubt- 
 less, of the true aim, arising in a mind of profound 
 judgment, but tinged with youthful impetuosity ; yet, 
 after arriving at this his firm conviction, he could not 
 consent to march into the peninsula; moreover, feel- 
 ing the importance of concentrated control on a scene 
 of action reciuiring in equal degrees the dis]ilay of 
 political and military genius, he could not brook the 
 idea of dividing the command willi an old general, 
 brave, but mediocre and self-sufficient. He was swayed 
 b\' tliat legitimate egotism of genius, wliich insists 
 upon executing its task alone, because it feels itself 
 alone capable of accomplishing it. He here conducted 
 himself as if on a field of battle ; he risked all his 
 future fortunes, and tendered his resignation in a 
 letter equally firm and respectful. He might surmise 
 the Directory would not venture to accept it ; but it 
 is certain that he preferred resignation to obedience, 
 2 1'
 
 582 
 
 HISTORY OP THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 for he would not consent to ruin both his own fame 
 and his army by executing a vicious plan. 
 
 Opj)osing the most luminous train of reasoning to 
 the false deductions of Carnot, lie showed that it was 
 still necessary to make head against the Austrians, 
 and to attend to them alone ; that a mere division, de- 
 filing backwards on the To and on Ancona, would suf- 
 fice to alarm the peninsula, and oblige Rome and Naples 
 to crave mercy. He instantly i)repared to depart from 
 Jlilan, to hasten on the Adige, and commence the 
 siege of Mantua. He proposed to await there the new 
 orders of the Directory, aii^ an answer to his last 
 disjiatciies. 
 
 Meanwhile, he published a new proclamation to his 
 soldiers, eminently adapted to stir their minds, and 
 likewise to make a strong impression upon those of 
 the pope and the King of Naples. 
 ■ " Soldiers ! — You have rushed as a torrent from 
 the summit of the Apennines ; you have overthrown 
 and dispersed all wlio would have opposed your march. 
 Piedmont, delivered from Austrian tyranny, has re- 
 verted to its natural sentiments of peace and friend- 
 ship for France. ^lilan is yours, and the republican 
 flag AS'aves over all Lombardy. The ] )ukes of Parma 
 and Modena owe their political existence to j^our 
 generosity alone. The army which so proudly me- 
 naced you uo longer finds a barrier to sustain it against 
 your courage ; the Po, the Tecino, the Adda, have 
 failed to check you a single day ; those vaunted bul- 
 warks of Italy have proved insufiicient; you have 
 cleared them as rapidly as the Apennines. Sucli suc- 
 cesses have carried joy into the heart of our native 
 land ; your representatives have decreed a festival 
 dedicated to your victories, to be celebrated in all the 
 communes of the republic. There, your mothers, 
 your wives, your sisters, your lovers, rejoice over your 
 achievements, and boast with pride of their relation- 
 ship to j'OU. Yes, soldiers, you have done much ; but 
 does nothing, therefore, remain for you to do ? Shall 
 it be said that we have known how to conquer, but 
 that we have not known how to profit by victory ? 
 Shall posterity reproach you with having found a 
 Capua in Lombardy ? But I already see you flying 
 to arms. Let us go, then! We have yet forceil 
 marclies to make, enemies to subdue, laui'els to gather, 
 inj uries to avenge. Let those wlio have whetted the 
 daggers of civil war in France, who have basely assas- 
 sinated our ministers, burnt our vessels at Toulon, 
 tremble ! Tlie kntU of vengeance has sounded. But 
 let the nations be without disciuietude ! "We are the 
 friends of all nations, and more especially of the de- 
 scendants of Brutus, of the Scipios, and of the great 
 men whom we have taken as models. To restore the 
 Capitol, to place there with honour the statues of the 
 heroes who have rendered it so renowned, to awaken 
 the Roman people, benumbed by several centuries of 
 slavery — such will be the fruit of our victories. They 
 will form an epoch for posterity : 3'ou will reap the 
 immortal glory of changing the aspect of the finest 
 region of Europe. The French people, free, respected 
 by the whole world, will give to Europe a glorious 
 peace, which wiU indemnify it for the sacrifices of all 
 kinds it has made during the last six years. You will 
 then return to your homes, and your fellow-citizens 
 will say, pointing to you. He belonged to the army of 
 Italy ! " 
 
 He tarried but eight days at Milan ; he left it on 
 the 2d Prairial (21st May), to proceed by Lodi upon 
 tiie Adige. 
 
 Whilst Bonaparte pursued his march, an unexpected 
 event suddenly recalled liim to Milan. The nobles, 
 the monks, the retainers of the fugitive liimilies, and 
 numerous creatures of the Austrian government, had 
 prepared a revolt against tlie French army. Tliey 
 circulated rumours that Beaulieu, strongly reinforced, 
 was atlvancing with sixty thousand men ; that the 
 Prince of Conde was pouring through Switzerland on 
 tlie rear of the repubUcans, and that they woidd be 
 
 infallibly destroyed. The priests, exerting their in- 
 fluence over some peasants who had suffered from tlie 
 passage of the army, excited them to take up arms. 
 Bonaparte's departure from Milan was deemed to pre- 
 sent the favourable moment for eifecting the revolt 
 and arousing all Ltmibardy in his rear. The garrison 
 in the citadel of I\Iilan gave the signal by a sally. The 
 tocsin was immediately rung in all the surrounding 
 districts, and armed peasants flocked to Milan in order 
 to dislodge tlie French. But the division which Bona- 
 parte had left to blockade the citadel gallantly repulsed 
 the garrison within its walls, and dissijjated the pea- 
 sants who appeared with hostile intentions. In the 
 environs of Pavia, the insurgents were more success- 
 ful. They entered that city, and gained possession of 
 it, despite the efforts of three hundred men whom 
 ]5onaparte had posted there as a garrison. Those three 
 Imndre^^ men, exhausted with fatigue and sickness, 
 shut themselves up in a fort to avoid being massacred. 
 The insurgents surrounded the fort, and smnmoned 
 them to surrender. A French general, who chanced 
 to be passing through Pavia at tlie moment, was seized, 
 and compelled, with the dagger at his throat, to sign 
 an order for the garrison to open the gates. The 
 order was transmitted and obeyed. 
 
 This revolt might have led to disastrous conse- 
 quences ; it might have provoked a general insurrec- 
 tion, and conduced to the ruin of the French army. 
 The public spirit of a nation is always more advanced 
 in towns than in the country. Whilst the population 
 of the Italian cities declared almost unanimously for 
 the French, the peasants, instigated by the priests, 
 and injured by the passage of the armies, were male- 
 volently inclined. Bonaparte was at Lodi, when, on 
 the 4tli Prairiid (23d May), he learnt the events that 
 had occurred at ]\Iilan and Pavia. He instantly re- 
 traced his steps, with three hundred cavalry, a batta- 
 lion of grenadiers, and six pieces of artillery. Order 
 was already re-established at jSIilan. He contmued 
 his march on Pavia, sending to herald his approach 
 the Archbishop of MUan. The insurgents had pushed 
 an advanced guard to the village of Binasco. Lannes 
 dispersed it. Bonaparte, deeming he ought to act 
 with decision and vigour, to check the evil in its 
 birth, set fire to this village, Avith the view of affright- 
 ing Pavia by the sight of the conflagration. On his ar- 
 rival before that city, he paused. It contauied thirty 
 thousand inhabitants ; it was surrounded by an old 
 wall, and occupied by seven or eight thousand armed 
 peasants. They had closed the gates and manned the 
 walls. To take a large town under sucli circumstances, 
 with three hundred troopers and a battalion, was no 
 easy task ; and yet he could affljrd to lose no time, 
 for the army was already on tlie ( Jglio, and in need of 
 its general. During the night, he caused a threaten- 
 ing proclamation to be affixed to the gates of Pavia, 
 wherein he stated that a deluded midtitude, destitute 
 of any effective means of resistance, was defying an 
 army triumphant over kings, and hazarding the wel- 
 fare of the Italian peo])le ; that, adhering to his 
 intention of not making w^ar on nations, he was wil- 
 ling to pardon this delirium, and leave a door open to 
 repentance ; but that tliose who refused to lay down 
 their arms on the instant should be treated as rebels, 
 and their villages burnt. The flames of Binasco, he 
 added, might serve them as a warning. In the morn- 
 ing, the peasants, who preponderated in the city, 
 rejected all overtures of surrender. Bonaparte there- 
 upon caused the walls to be swept by grape and shells, 
 and then sent forward his grenadiers, who broke open 
 the gates with hatchets. They penetrated into tlie 
 city, and sustained a sanguinary conflict in the 
 streets. However, the resistance they encountered 
 was not of long duration. The peas;tnts fled, and 
 abandoned tiie unfortunate Pavia to the rage of the 
 conquerors. The soldiers demanded leave to pillage 
 with loud outcries. Bonaparte, to give a severe ex- 
 ample, granted them three hours' pillage. They
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 583 
 
 scarcely counted a thousand men, and could not per- 
 petrate any great enormities in a city so considerable 
 as Pavia. They rushed upon the goldsmiths' shops, and 
 seized a large quantity of jewellery. Tlie most cen- 
 surable act was the pillage of the Mont-de-Piete ; but 
 happily, in Italy as wherever there are poor and os- 
 tentatious grandees, the pawnbr)king establishments 
 were stored with articles belonging to the higher 
 classes of the commimity. The houses of Spallanzani 
 and Volta were preserved by the officers, who guarded 
 in person the abodes of those illustrious benefactors of 
 science — an examiDle doubly honourable for France 
 and for Italy ! 
 
 Bonaparte subsequently let loose upon the country 
 his three hundred horse, who put numbers of the re- 
 bellious peasants to the sword. This prompt suppres- 
 sion restored obedience tliroughout the Milanese, and 
 awed the party in Italy opposetl to liberty and France. 
 It is mournful to be obliged to employ such means ; 
 but Bonaparte was constrained by overruling neces- 
 sity, if lie wished to save his army and the destinies of 
 Italy from sacrifice. The party of the monks trembled 
 with excessive fear ; the misfortunes of Pavia, nar- 
 rated from mouth to mouth, were heightened by 
 exaggeration, and the French army was reinvested 
 vnth its terrible reputation. 
 
 This enterprise being thus terminated, Bonaparte 
 instantly departed to rejoin his army, which was upon 
 the Oglio, and about to enter the Venetian tei'ritory. 
 
 At the approach of the Fi'ench army, the question, 
 so often canvassed at Venice, as to the part to be 
 taken in the contest between Austria and France, was 
 anew anxiously discussed by the senate. A few old 
 oligarchs, whom a spirit of fortitude still actuated, 
 advised an immediate alliance with Austria, the na- 
 tural patron of all venerable despotisms; but Austrian 
 ambition inspired dread for the future, and French 
 thunder for the moment. Besides, this resolution 
 would have entailed the necessity of assuming arms, 
 a course extremely repugnant to an enervated govern- 
 ment. Certain of the younger senators, equally ener- 
 getic but less infatuated than their older compeers, 
 likewise upheld a courageous line of action; they 
 proposed to arm upon a formidable scale. Ijut to pre- 
 serve neutralit.v, threatening with fifty thousand men 
 whomsoever of the two belligerents should presume 
 to violate the Venetian territory. This was a strong 
 resolution, but in truth too strong to be adopted. 
 Divers sagacious men, on the contrary, recommended 
 a third course, to wit, an alliance with France. The 
 senator Battaglia, of mind acute, comprehensive, and 
 equanimous, propounded a scries of weighty deduc- 
 tions, which, now recorded, seem almost as if inspired 
 by the spirit of prophecy. As he represented; neutra- 
 lity, even if armed, was the worst of all possible 
 determinations. Venice woidd be unable to enforce 
 respect, whatever strength she miglit deploy ; and 
 having attached neither party to her cause, she would 
 be sacrificed sooner or later by both. It was there- 
 fore necessary to decide either for Austria or for 
 France. Austria was for the moment expelled from 
 Italy ; and even supposing her to possess the means 
 of returning, she could not do so within two months, 
 pending wbicli interval the rei)ublic miglit be utterly' 
 destroyed by the French army; moreover, the ambi- 
 tion of Austria was constantly the most formidal)ic 
 for Venice. That power had always envied ber pro- 
 vinces in Illyria and Upper Italy, and would seize the 
 first opportunity of wresting them from her. The 
 sole safeguard agninst this ambition Avas to be found 
 in France, wliicli liad nothing to covet from Venice, 
 and would always be interested in defending her. 
 True, France entertained principles rei)ulsive to the 
 Venetian nobility ; but the time liad at length come 
 when some sacrifices to the spirit of tlic age — when 
 some concessions to the nobles of tiie mainland, by 
 which alone they could be firmly attached to tlie re- 
 public, or reconciled with the Golden Book — were 
 
 absolutelj' indispensable. With certain slight modifi- 
 cations on the ancient constitution, the senate might 
 gratify the desires of all classes of Venetian subjects, 
 and conciliate France; if, furthermore, it took up arms 
 for that power, it might hope, perhaps, that in re- 
 compense of its services Ihe spoils of Austria in 
 Lombardy woidd be conceded to it. In everj' case, 
 however, the senator Battaglia reiterated, neutrality 
 was the course most fraught with evil. 
 
 This counsel, whereof time has demonstrated the 
 sagacity, offended too profoundly the pride and pre- 
 judices of the old Venetian aristocrac}' to meet appro- 
 bation. It must be allowed, at the same time, that 
 the senate regarded the stability of the French power 
 in Italy as too problematical to Avarrant an alliance 
 with it. There was an ancient Italian maxim which 
 taught that Itah/ was the grave of Frenchmen; and it j 
 feared being eventually exposed, without defence, to 
 the vengeance of Austria. 
 
 These three plans were all finally repudiated for one 
 more convenient, more suited to the sleepy routine 
 and effeminacj' of this antiquated government— a dis- 
 armed neutrality. It was decided that envoj's should 
 be dispatched to meet Bonaparte, commissioned to 
 protest the neutrality of the republic, and to claim the 
 respect due to the Venetian territory and subjects. 
 A feeling of intense alarm prevailed with respect to 
 the French ; but they were known to be of easy dis- 
 position, and sensible to good treatment. Orders were 
 given to all the agents of government to receive and 
 accommodate them with every earnest of good will, 
 and in particular to court the generals and officers, so 
 as to propitiate their friendship. 
 
 Upon passing the Venetian frontier, Bonaparte had 
 as much need of priulence as Venice itself Tliat 
 power, although in the hands of a feeble government, 
 was still great ; policy enjoined him to refrain from 
 irritating it so far as to force it into a hostile attitude, 
 for in such case Upper Italy would be rendei'ed un- 
 tenable for the French ; but, at the same time, whilst 
 observing the limits of neutrality, he must compel 
 Venice to suffer them on her territory, to allow them 
 to fight within its confines, and even to subsist them 
 if possible. She had granted a passage to the Aus- 
 trians : that was the ground to be alleged for taking 
 every advantage, for urging every demand, albeit re- 
 maining within the bounds of neutrality. 
 
 Bonaparte, on entering Brescia, pviblished a procla- 
 mation, wherein be stated that, in traversing tlie Ve- 
 netian territorj- for the essential purpose of pursuing 
 the imperial army, which had received permission to 
 cross it, he would respect the dominions and inhabi- 
 tants of the republic of Venice, tliat he would cause 
 his army to observe the strictest discipline, that all it 
 took should be reimbursed, and tliat he was not un- 
 niindfid of the ancient tics whicli united the two re- 
 publics. He wa.^ most aflflxbly received by the Venetian 
 proveditore of Brescia, and continued his march. He 
 had cleared the Oglio, which flows after the Adda ; 
 he now came upon the ]\Iincio, which issues from tlie 
 Lake of Garda, meanders in tiie Mantuan plain, forms, 
 after a course of several leagues, a fresh lake, in the 
 midst of wliicli stands the city of IVIantua. and finally 
 proceeds to join the Po. Beaulicu, reinforced by ten 
 tliousand men, had planted himself on the line of the 
 Mincio, witli the intention of defending it. A van- 
 guard of four thousand foot and two thousand horse 
 was stationed in front of the river, at the village of 
 Borghetto. The main army was jdaced bej'ond the 
 Mincio, in the position of Valeggio ; the reserve was 
 stationed a little to tlie rear, at Villa-Franca ; detached 
 corps guarded the course of the Mincio, above and 
 below Valeggio The Venetian town of Peschiera is 
 situated on tlie Mincio, as it issues from the lake of 
 Gardiu Bcnulieu, who desired to possess that place to 
 strengthen tin; right of liis line, deceived the Vene- 
 tians ; under pretext of obtaining a passage for fifty 
 men, he surprised the town, and placed m it a strong
 
 584 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 garrison. It had a bastioncii circuit, pointed with 
 eighty pieces of cannon. 
 
 Bonaparte, advancing upon this line, neglected 
 Mantua, which was on his risht, and the time for 
 blockading which had not yet arrived, and pushed on 
 his left towards Peschiera. His design was to pass the 
 :\Iincio at Borghetto and'H^ileggio. For that purpose 
 it was requisite to hegude Beaulieu touching his real 
 intention. lie operated here as on the passage of the 
 Po ; he directed a corps ou Peschiera and another on 
 Lonato, so as to disquiet Beaulieu respecting the Upper 
 Mincio, and lead him to suppose that he intended 
 either to pass at Peschiera or to turn the lake of Garda. 
 At the same time, he directed his more serious attack 
 on Borghetto. This village, situated in advance of the 
 jMincio, was, as we have stated, guarded by four thou- 
 sand infantry and two thousand cavalry. On the 9th 
 Prairial (28th May), Bonaparte commenced tlie en- 
 gagement. He had hitherto experienced difficultj- in 
 bringing his cavalry into action. It was little accus- 
 tomed to charge, because the use j)reviously made of 
 it had been inconsiderable, and it was, moreover, inti- 
 midated by the high reputation of the German cavalry. 
 Bonaparte determined at all hazards to put it to the 
 test, as he attached great importance to the services 
 it might render. In advancing on Borghetto, he dis- 
 tributed his grenadiers and carabineers on the right 
 and left of his cavalry, planted the artillery m the 
 rear, and, after thus enclosing it, spurred it on the 
 enemy. Supported on all sides, and inspirited by the 
 impetuous IMurat, it performed prodigies, and put to 
 flight the Austrian squadrons. The infantry after- 
 wards assailed the village of Borghetto, of -which it 
 secured possession. The Imperialists, on retiring by 
 the bridge leading from Borghetto to Valeggio, at- 
 tempted to destroy it. They succeeded, in fact, in 
 breaking an arch. But some grenadiers, conducted 
 by General Gardanne, plunged mto the stream of the 
 Mincio, which was fijrdable at several points, and 
 crossed it, holding their weapons above their heads, 
 and braving the fire from the opposite heights. The 
 Austrians thought they belield the column of Lodi, 
 and retreated without completing the destniction of 
 the bridge. The broken arch was re-established, and 
 the army enabled to pass. Bonaparte proceeded with- 
 out delay to ascend the Mincio with the division under 
 Augereau, in order to give chase to the Austrians ; but 
 they declined an engagement during the whole day. 
 He thereupon left Augereau's division to continue the 
 pursuit, and returned to Valeggio, where ]\Iassena's 
 division was posted, preparing at the moment to boil 
 soup. Suddenly the charge was heard to sound, and 
 the Austrian hussars galloped into the middle of the 
 village. Bonaparte had scarcely time to save himself. 
 He sprang on liorseback, and speedily ascertained that 
 the surprise came from one of the enemy's corps sta- 
 tioned to guard the Lower :Mincio, which was remount- 
 ing the river to join Beaulieu in his retreat towards 
 the mountains. ISIassena's division flew to arms, and 
 rushed in piirsuit of this corps, which contrived, never- 
 theless, to rejoin Beaulieu. 
 
 The barrier of the Mincio, therefore, was surmounted. 
 Bonaparte had a second time induced tlie retreat of 
 the Imperialists, who recoiled definitively into the 
 Tyrol. He had gained an important advantage in 
 having brought his cavalry to bear the brunt of action, 
 and dissipated its dread of that of the Austrians. He 
 attached great value to this circumstance. Little use 
 was made of cavalry before this period, and he had 
 judged it might be rendered eminently serviceable 
 when employed to cover artillery. He had calculated 
 that light artillery and cavalry, employed on fitting 
 occasions, might produce the effect of a mass of in- 
 fantry ten times the strength. He already regarded 
 with affection young Murat, who possessed the talent 
 of leading squadrons into battle, a merit he then con- 
 sidered extremely rare in officers of that service. The 
 surprise which had jjlaced his person in danger sug- 
 
 gested to him another idea: this was to form a corps 
 of picked men, who, under the name of guides, were 
 to accompany him at all times aiM places. His per- 
 sonal safety was but a secondary ol)jeet in his eyes ; 
 he discerned the advantage of having always near him 
 a devoted corps, capable of the most daring deeds. 
 We shall, in fact, hereafter see him decide a critical 
 event by an opportune charge of twenty-five of those 
 brave men. He gave the command of this new-formed 
 corps to a cavalry oflficer, distinguished for his cool 
 intrepidity, and well known under the name of Bes- 
 sicrcs. 
 
 Beaulieu had evacuated Peschiera when ascending 
 into the Tyrol. A conflict had occurred with the 
 Austrian rearguard, and it cost the French a severe 
 engagement to make good their entry into the town. 
 The Venetians having been unable to secure it from 
 Beaulieu, it had ceased to be neutral ground, and the 
 French were authorised to establish themselves therein. 
 Bonaparte was well awai-e that the Venetians had been 
 deceived b\' Beaulieu, but he resolved to avail himself 
 of the circumstance to obtain from tliem all he desired. 
 He wanted the line of the Adige, and particularly the 
 important citj' of Verona, which commands that river; 
 above all, he wanted facilities for provisioning his 
 troops. 
 
 The proveditoreFoscarelli, an old Venetian oligarch, 
 deeply imbedded in prejudices and actuated by a livelj' 
 hatred against France, was instructed to visit the 
 head-quarters of Bonaparte. He had been warned 
 that the general was excessively wroth at the affair of 
 Peschiera, and report announced that his ebullitions 
 of wrath were fearful to encounter. Binasco and Pavia 
 attested his severity; two armies overthrown, and 
 Italy conquered, attested his power. The proveditore 
 came to Peschiera, fidl of terror ; on starting for his 
 mission, he had wT-itten to his government in a very 
 desponding strain. " Afa;/ God in liis mercy" he ex- 
 claimed, "accept me as a .sacrifice!" The especial 
 object of his embassy was to prevent the French from 
 entering Verona. That city, which had afforded an 
 asylum to the pretender, was plunged in harrowing 
 solicitude. Bonaparte, who was liable to violent gusts 
 of passion, and coidd feign them likewise in emergency, 
 omitted nothing to aggravate the terror of the pro- 
 veditore. He inveighed M'ith vehemence against the 
 Venetian government, which professed to be neutral 
 and yet knew not how to make its neutrality respected; 
 which, allowing the Austrians to seize Peschiera, had 
 subjected the French army to the loss of many brave 
 men before that place. He said that the blood of his 
 companions in arms cried aloud for vengeance, and 
 that it should be his care to render it signal. The pro- 
 veditore lalx)ured to exculpate the Venetian authori- 
 ties, and eventually introduced the essential topic which 
 brought liim to tlie camp — Verona. He asserted that 
 he had orders to bar its access to both the belligerent 
 powers. Bonaparte, in reply, informed him his com- 
 nmnication was too late; that ISIassena had already 
 proceeded thither ; and that, perhaps, as they were 
 now conferring, he had set it on fire, to punish a city 
 which had exliibited the unparalleled effrontery to 
 regard itself for a time as the capital of the French 
 empire. The proveditore supplicated more earnestly, 
 and Bonaparte, feigning to relent, stated that he could 
 at the utmost, supposing Massena had not already- 
 entered by main force, grant a delay of twenty-four 
 hours, after which he would put in requisition the 
 terrors of l)t)ndiardment. 
 
 The proveditore withdrew in consternation. He 
 returned to Verona, where he proclaimed the necessity 
 of receiving the French. At their approach, the 
 wealthiest inhabitants, apprehensive that tlie sojourn 
 of the pretender in their city would be visited on them 
 as an inexpiable offence, ficd tumultuously into the 
 Tyrol, bearing with them their most precnous commo- 
 dities. The Veronese, however, speedily regained 
 confidence on beholding the French, and convincing
 
 HibTOllY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 535 
 
 i| 
 
 themselves, -with their own eyes, that those republicans 
 M'ere not so barbarous as fame depicted them. 
 
 Two other Venetian envoys arrived at Verona to 
 parley with Bonajjarte. The senate had selected for 
 the mission two of its members, Erizzo and Battaglia. 
 The latter was the same of whom we have spoken as 
 advocating an alliance with France ; and hopes were 
 entertained at Venice that these ambassadors would 
 succeed better than Foscarelli in assuaging the anger 
 ■of the general. He, in fact, received them mucla more 
 affably than Foscarelli ; and now that he had attained 
 the object of his views, he affected greater placability 
 and consented to hear reason. The further points he 
 desired to compass were periodical supi)lies of provi- 
 sions, and if possible an alliance of Venice with France. 
 It behoved him alternately to impress witli awe and 
 win by blandishment : he acquitted himself with con- 
 summate art. " The first law for men," he said, " is 
 to live. I would willingly spare the republic of "\'enice 
 the care of victualling us ; but since the fate of war 
 has compelled us to come thus far, we are constrained 
 to live where we chance to find ourselves. Let the 
 republic of Venice furnish my soldiers with what they 
 require ; it can subsequentlj' account with the French 
 republic." It was agreed that a Jew contractor should 
 procure for the army all that was necessary for it, and 
 that Venice should secretly pay this contractor, in 
 order that it miglit not appear to violate the neutra- 
 lity by provisioning the French. Bonaparte after- 
 wards opened the question of an alliance. " I have 
 just occupied the Adige," he said ; " I have done so 
 because I wanted a barrier, because that line is the 
 best, and because your government is incapable of 
 defending it. Let it arm 50,000 men, let it place them 
 on the Adige, and I will restore it its fortresses of 
 Verona and Porto-Lcgnago. At the same time," he 
 added, "you ought to see us here with pleasure. 
 What France sends me to perform in these countries 
 is altogether coincident with the interest of Venice. 
 I come to drive the Austrians beyond the Alps, per- 
 haps to constitute Lonibardy an independent state : 
 can any thing be more advantageous to your republic? 
 If it will \mite with us, it would probably receive a 
 high reward for such service. We make war on no 
 government : we are the friends of aU wlio will assist 
 us in confinmg the Austrian power withua its proper 
 bounds." 
 
 The two Venetians retired, struck with the com- 
 mandihg genius of their young dialogist, who, by turns 
 menacing and caressing, now imperious now ingra- 
 tiating, discoursing on all topics, military or political, 
 with equal profoundness and eloquence, evinced that 
 the statesman was as precociously developed in him 
 as the warrior. " This man," they said in writing to 
 Venice, " will one day exercise a great influence over his 
 rountry." * 
 
 Bonaparte was at length master of the line of the 
 Adige, which possession he had long considered as of 
 essential importance. He attributed all the faults 
 committed during the earlier campaigns of the French 
 in Italy, to the injudicious selection of a defensive 
 line. The lines are numerous in Upper Italy, for 
 sundry rivers traverse it from the Alps to tlie sea. 
 The largest and most celebrated, the line of tiie To, 
 which jjasses through idl Lonibardy, appeared to him 
 objectionable, as too extended. An army, in his opi- 
 nion, was incapable of defending fifty leagues of bar- 
 rier. A feint could always oi)en the jjassage of a 
 great river. He himself had cleared tlie To a few 
 leagues from Beaulieu. The other rivers, such as 
 the Tecino, the Adda, the Oglio, falling into the I'o, 
 were confounded witii it and liable to the same excep- 
 tions. The Mincio was fordable, and, besides, it like- 
 wise joined the Po. The Adige alone, issuing from 
 the Tyrol and flowing into the sea, barred access into 
 Italy. It was deep, and had but one short channel 
 
 ♦ This iiicdiction is dated "itli .June ^'%. 
 
 from the mountains to the sea. It was commanded 
 by two places, Verona and Porto-Legnago, very near 
 each other, and which, without being strong, were 
 capable of resisting a first attack. Lastly, after leav- 
 ing Legnago, it passed amidst impracticable marshes, 
 wliich protected the lower part of its course. The 
 rivers, further onward in Upper Italy, such as the 
 Brenta, the Piave, the Tagliamento, were fordable, and 
 furthermore turned by the great road from the Tyro!, 
 which opens to their rear. The Adige, on the con- 
 trary, had the advantage of being placed at the gorge 
 of that route, which proceeds along its own valley. 
 
 Such were the reasons that decided Bonaparte to 
 prefer this line, and a memorable campaign has de- 
 monstrated the soundness of his judgment. The line 
 being occupied, it behoved him to think of connnenc- 
 ing the siege of Mantua. 
 
 That city, situated on the Mincio, lay behind the 
 Adige, and was protected by that river. It was usually 
 regarded as the bulwark of Italy. Seated in the midst 
 of a lake formed by the waters of the Mincio, it com- 
 municated with the mainland by five dj'kcs or cause- 
 ways. Notwithstanding its great reputation, this 
 fortress had inconveniences Avhich diminished its real 
 strength. In the first place, standing amid marshy 
 exhalations, it was exposed to pestilence; and, secondly, 
 when the causeway-heads were carried, the besieged 
 must retreat into the place, and might be there block- 
 aded by a cor])s much inferior to the garrison. Bona- 
 pai'te relied upon taking it before a new army could 
 arrive to tlie succour of Italy. On the 15th Prairial 
 (3d June), he attacked the causeway -heads, one of 
 which was formed l)y the suburb of Saint-George, and 
 cai-ried them. From that moment, Serrurier could 
 blockade, with eight thousand men, a garrison which 
 was composed of fourteen, vrhereof ten were under 
 arms and four in the hospitals. Bonaparte caused the 
 works of the siege to be commenced, and the whole 
 lines of the Adige put in a state of defence. Thus, in 
 less than two months, he had conquered Italy. It now 
 remained for him to defend it. But as to his capacity 
 in that respect, serious doubts were entertained, and 
 aU eyes were fixed on Mm as now to undergo his test- 
 ing ordeal. 
 
 The Directory had recently replied to the observa- 
 tions submitted by Bonaparte on the plan of dividing 
 the army and marching into the peninsula. The ideas 
 of Bonaparte were so just and so forcibly expounded, 
 that they could not fail to strike the mind of Carnot, 
 and his services too signal to allow his resignation to 
 be accepted. The Directory hastened to apprise him 
 that his views were approved, to confirm him in the 
 command of all the forces acting in Italy, and to assure 
 him of the unlimited confidence re])osed in him by the 
 government. If the magistrates of the republic had 
 possessed the gift of prophecy, they would have done 
 well to accept the resignation of this young man, 
 although he was right in the opinion he upheld, and 
 although his retreat would have deprived the republic 
 of Italy and of a great captain. But at this moment 
 his youth, his genius, his victories, dazzled all under- 
 standings, and the interest and deference they were 
 fitted to inspire naturally weighed with the rulers of 
 the country. 
 
 Only one condition did the Directorj' venture to 
 impose on Bonaparte, which was to make liome and 
 NajJes feel the might of the republic. All tlie sincere 
 patriots in France ardently desired this manifestation. 
 The jiope, who had anathematised France, preached a 
 crusade ;igainst her, and permitted the a.ssassination 
 of her ambassador in his cajiital, assuredly merited 
 chastiscme-nt. Bonaparte, now free to act as lie listed, 
 purposed to achieve this result without quitting his 
 line of the Adige. Whilst one part of the army guarded 
 that line, and another blockaded Mantua and the 
 citadel of Milan, he determined, with a simple divi- 
 sion thrown back upon the Po, to overawe the whole 
 peninsula and compel the pontiflT and the Queen of
 
 5«6 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Naples to implore the clemency of tlie repiililic. He 
 ■was informed that a great army, detached from the 
 Khine, was approaching to dispute the possession of 
 Italy with its conquerors. This army, wliich must 
 traverse the Elack Forest, the A^'orarlberg, and the 
 T3'rol, could not arrive in less than a month. He had 
 consequently time to accomplish all his designs in the 
 interior, without removing too far from the Adige, and 
 so as to be able, l)y a short retrograde march, to return 
 in face of the enemj'. 
 
 It was high time, in fact, that he turned his atten- 
 tion to the rest of Italy. The presence of the French 
 army had tended to develop opinions through the 
 peninsula with singular rapidity. The Venetian pro- 
 vinces were ready to discard the aristocratic yoke 
 under which thej' groaned. The city of Brescia mani- 
 fested an unequivocal disposition to revolt. In all 
 Lombardy, and especially at Milan, public spirit was 
 fermenting with accelerated progress. The dutchies 
 of Modena and Keggio, the legations of Bologna and 
 Ferrara, bore impatiently the sway of their duke and 
 the pojie. On tlie other h;nid, the contrary party was 
 becoming more hostile. The Genoese aristocracy, in 
 particular, was animated with the worst spirit, and 
 meditated sinister projects on the rear of the French. 
 The Austrian minister Gerola was the secret insti- 
 gator of those designs. The dominions of Genoa M'ere 
 largel}"^ composed of petty fiefs holding of the empire. 
 The Genoese nobles invested with these fiefs collected 
 the deserters, the bandits, the Austrian prisoners who 
 had contrived to escape, the Piedmontese soldiers who 
 had been disbanded, and formed companies of parti- 
 sans known under the name of Barbets. These in- 
 fested the Apennines on the points bj' which the 
 French army had entered ; they stopped the couriers, 
 pillaged the convoys, massacred the French detach- 
 ments when they were not sufficiently numerous to 
 defend themselves, and rendered the communications 
 with France precarious and hazardous. In Tuscany 
 the English had become masters of the port of Leg- 
 horn, owing to the protection of the governor, and 
 French commerce was harassed and banished. Lastly, 
 Rome was making hostile preparations, England hav- 
 ing promised it several thousand men ; and Naples, 
 constantly kept in agitation by the caprices of a vio- 
 lent queen, threatened a formidable demonstration. 
 The imbecile king, quitting for a moment his ignoble 
 pursuits, had publicly implored the Divine assistance ; 
 in a solemn ceremony, he had divested himself of the 
 royal insignia and consecrated them at the foot of the 
 altar. The whole Neapolitan population had ap- 
 plauded the monarch and rent the air with vengeful 
 vociferations ; a multitude of blustering caitiffs, inca- 
 pable of handling a musket or confronting a French 
 bayonet, demanded arms, and vowed to march against 
 the invaders of Italy. 
 
 Although these movements portended nothing very 
 alarming for Bonaparte, so long as he wielded a dis- 
 posal)le force of six thousand men, he was urged to 
 repress them before the arrival of the new Austrian 
 army, wliicli would require the presence of ;dl his 
 forces on the Adige. He began to receive reinforce- 
 ments from the army of the Alps, which enabled him 
 to employ fifteen thousand men in the blockade of 
 Mantua and the castle of Milan, to station twenty 
 thousand for the defence of the Adige, and to move a 
 division on the Po to execute his plans in the south 
 of Italy. 
 
 He forthwitli repaired to Milan with the view of 
 opening the trenches around the citadel and hastening 
 its reduction. He ordered Augereau, who was on the 
 Mincio, very near the Po, to pass that river at Borgo- 
 Forte, and advance on Bologna. He directed Vaubois 
 to march from Tortona to Modena, with four or five 
 thousand men arrived fnnn tlie Al])s. In this manner, 
 he was enabled to move eight or nine thousand men 
 into the legations of Bologna and Ferrara, and thence 
 to menace tlie whole peninsulii. 
 
 He waited for a few days until the inmidations on 
 the l^ower Po had subsided, before putting his column 
 in motion. IMeanwhile, the court of Naples, as fickle 
 as it was violent, had passed from fury to dejection. 
 On learning the last victories of the French in Upper 
 Italy, it had dispatched the Prince of Belmonte-Pig- 
 natelli with tenders of submission to the conqueror. 
 Bonaparte referred the question of peace to the Direc- 
 tory, but deemed it fitting to grant ai^armistice. He 
 was not prepared to advance to the gates of Naples 
 with a few thousand men, and especially at a moment 
 M'lien expecting the arrival of the Austrians. It was 
 sufficient for his immediate purpose to disarm that 
 power, deprive Pome of its support, and embroil it 
 with the coalition. He could not impose contributions 
 on it, as on the other petty princes he had at his 
 mercy, but he wrung from it engagements to open all 
 its ports to the French, withdraw from England five 
 ships and several frigates it had furnished to the naval 
 force of that state, and, finally, recall from the Aus- 
 trian army the two thousand four hundred cavalry 
 serving in its ranks. This troop of horse was to re 
 main in the hands of Bonaparte, with authority to 
 constitute it captive on the first violation of the armis- 
 tice. Bonaparte was well assured that such conditions 
 woiddTiot satisfy his government ; but, at the moment, 
 it behoved him to secure tranquillity in his rear, and 
 he demanded only what he thought he could obtain. 
 The submission of the King of Naples would disable 
 the pope from raakmg any eflectual resistance ; thus, 
 the expedition on the right of the Po would dwindle, 
 as he wished, into an aflair of a few daj's, and he could 
 return ^viih security to the Adige. 
 
 After signing this armistice, he took his departure 
 for the Po, intending to put himself at the head of the 
 two columns he had directed upon the States of the 
 Church, the one under Vaubois, recently arrived from 
 the Alps to reinforce him, and the other under Auge- 
 reau, which had retrograded from the Mincio on the 
 Po. He viewed with considerable uneasiness the dis- 
 positions evinced by Genoa, because it commanded one 
 of the two routes leading into France, and because its 
 senate had always been distinguished for energy in its 
 determinations. He felt that he would have to demand 
 the expulsion of twenty families, the feudatories o» 
 Austria and Naples, in order to ensure the preponder- 
 ance of France in its councils ; but he had no orders 
 on this point, and he was moreover repugnant to adopt 
 steps savouring of revolution. He consequently con- 
 tented himself with writing a letter to the senate, in 
 which he required that the governor of Novi, who had 
 protected the brigands, should be punished in an 
 exemplary manner, and that the Austrian minister 
 should be expelled from Genoa. He furthermore in- 
 sisted upon a I'ategorical explanation. " Can you, or 
 can you not," he asked, " deliver your territory from 
 the assassins who infest it ? If you are unable to take 
 measures, I will take them for you. I will have the 
 towns and villages burnt where a murder is committed ; 
 1 will have the houses burnt M'hich afford asylum to 
 murderers, and signal chastisement infiicted on the 
 magistrates who tolerate their presence. The murder 
 of a Frenchman shall bring desolation on whole com- 
 munes that have not prevented it." As he was ac- 
 quainted with diplomatic procrastination, he detached 
 his aid-de-camp Murat to bear his letter and read it 
 in person to the senate. " AVe must use a mode of 
 communication," he wrote to the minister Faypoult, 
 "which will electrifv those lofty personages." He 
 dispatched Lannes at the same time, with twelve hun- 
 dred men, to ravage the imperial fiefs. The mansion 
 of Angustin Spinola, the chief instigator of the revolt, 
 was burnt to the gi'ound. The Bar/jets taken with 
 arms in their hands were shot without mercy. The 
 senate of Genoa, intimidated at these portents, super- 
 seded the governor of Novi, dismissed the minister 
 Gerola, and undertook to guard the routes with its 
 own troops. It sent A'incent Spinola to I'aris, in
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 5})7 
 
 orier to arrange with the Directory all subjects of 
 dispute — the indemnity due for the frigate La Mo- 
 deste, the expulsion of the feudatory families, and the 
 recall of the exiled families. 
 
 Bonaparte subsequently marched on Modena, where 
 he arrived on the 1st Messidor (19th June); Auge- 
 reau entered Bologna on the same day. 
 
 The inhabitants of Modena exhibited the utmost 
 enthusiasm. They poured forth to greet his arrival, 
 and appointed a deputation to congratidate him in 
 glowing terms. The principal amongst them besieged 
 him with solicitations, and earnestly besought him to 
 emancipate them from the yoke of their duke, who 
 had carried his accimudated extortions to Venice. 
 Inasmuch as the regency left by the duke had adhered 
 faithfully to the conditions of the armistice, and as 
 Bonaparte had no grounds of justification warranting 
 him to exercise the rights of conquest on the dutch}', 
 he could not satisfy the wishes of the Modenese : their 
 requests, moreover, involved a question policy ren- 
 dered it expedient to adjourn. He contented himself 
 ivith fostering hopes, and in the interim recommended 
 tranquillity. He departed for Bologna. The fortress 
 of Urbino stood on his route ; it was the first place 
 belonging to the pope. He summoned it to surrender, 
 and the garrison capitulated. It contained sixty pieces 
 of cannon of large calibre and a few hundred men. 
 Bonaparte caused this heavy artillery to be transported 
 to Mantua, as an auxiliary battering train f(jr the 
 siege of that city. He then advanced to Bologna, 
 where Augereau's division had preceded him. The 
 joy of the inhabitants was boundless. Bologna is a 
 city containing fifty thousand souls, magnificently 
 embellished, and celebrated for its artists, its men of 
 science, and its university. •Affection towards France 
 and detestation of the Holy See were the paramoimt 
 sentiments. Here Bonaparte had no motives for 
 checking ebullitions of revolutionary feeling, as he 
 was in the dominions of an avowed foe, the pope, and 
 he was justified in exercising the right of conquest. 
 The two legations of Ferrara and Bologna commis- 
 sioned deputies to urge their entreaties : he granted 
 them a provisional independence, promising to procure 
 its recognition on the conclusion of peace. 
 
 The Vatican was in dismal alarm, and it hastily 
 dispatched a negotiator to intercede in its favour. 
 The Spanish ambassador, D'Azara, remarkable for 
 his vigorous understanding and his predilection for 
 France, and the minister of a friendly power withal, 
 was chosen as the fittest agent to execute this mis- 
 sion. He had already negotiated for behoof of the 
 Duke of Parma. On his arrival at Bologna, he placed 
 the tiara at the feet of the victorious republic. Faith- 
 ful to his plan, which consisted as yet in neither sub- 
 vertmg nor erecting, Bonaparte was content to demand 
 that the legations of Bologna and Ferrara should 
 remain independent, the town of Ancona receive a 
 I'rench garrison, and the pope furnish twenty-one 
 millions, supplies of corn and cattle, and one hundred 
 pictures or statues. These conditions were accepted. 
 Bonaparte conversed much with the minister D'Azara, 
 and inspired him with an enthusiastic admiration. He 
 transmitted a letter, in the name of the republic, to 
 the celebrated astronomer Oriani, and requested an 
 interview. The modest scholar was abashed in pre- 
 sence of the young conqueror, and rendered him only 
 the toizching homage f)f embarrassment. Bonaparte 
 neglected no opportunity of honouring Italy, of awaken- 
 ing its pride and its patriotism. He was not a barba- 
 rous conqueror come to scourge and ravage it, but a 
 hero of liberty, rekindling tlie fire of genius on its 
 pristine soil, in the ancient land of civilisation. He 
 left Monge, Bertholet, and the brothers Thouin. whom 
 the Directory had conmiissioned to him, to select the 
 articles destined for the museums of Paris. 
 
 On the 8th ]\lessidor (2fitli June), he passed the 
 Apennines with Vaubois' division, and entered Tus- 
 cany. The didce, in terror, sent to him his minister 
 
 Manfredini. Bonaparte tranquillised him as to his 
 intentions, which, however, he kept profoundly secret. 
 Meanwhile his column moved by forced marches on 
 Leghorn, in which city it made an unexpected appear- 
 ance, and confiscated the English factory. The gover- 
 nor, Spannochi, was seized, thrust into a close carriage, 
 and dismissed to the grand-duke, with a letter explain 
 ing the motives of this act of hostility committed to- 
 wards a friendly power. The grand-duke was told 
 that liis governor had violated all the laws of neutrality 
 by oppressing the French commerce, and by affording 
 asylum to emigrants and other enemies of the re- 
 public. It was likewise intimated that, from respect 
 for his authority, the care of punishing this faithless 
 minister was referred to himself. This act of vigour 
 demonstrated to all neutral states that the French 
 general would regulate their police, if they were un- 
 mindful of the duty themselves. The French had been 
 unable to seize all the vessels belonging to the English, 
 but their commerce suffered a severe blow. Bonaparte 
 left a garrison in Leghorn, and appointed commis- 
 sioners to sequestrate all the property appertaining to 
 subjects of England, Austria, and Russia. He subse- 
 quently proceeded in person to Florence, where the 
 grand-duke gave him a magnificent reception. After 
 tarrying there a few days, he repassed the Po, and 
 returned to his head-quarters at Roverbella, near 
 Mantua. Thus, an interval of less than three weeks, 
 and a single division deployed on the riglit bank of 
 the Po, had sufficed him to overawe the princes of 
 Italy, and to ensure peace and quiet during the 
 struggles he had yet to sustain against the Austrian 
 power. 
 
 Whilst the army of Italy was performing with such 
 glory the task which had been assigned it in the 
 general plan of the campaign, the armies on the Ger- 
 man frontier had not yet been able to move forward. 
 The difficulty of organising their commissariat ser- 
 vices, and of procuring horses, had hitherto retained 
 them in inaction. On her part, Austria, Avho had the 
 strongest motives for promptly taking the initiative, 
 had evinced an inconceivable tardiness in making 
 her preparations, and was not in a condition to com- 
 mence hostihties before the middle of Prairial (end of 
 May). Her armies were on a formidable footing, and 
 greatly superior to the French. But the successes of 
 the latter in Italy had obliged her to detach Wurmser 
 with thirty thousand of her best troops from the 
 Rhine, for the purpose of rallying and reorganising 
 the wrecks of Beauheu's forces. Thus, besides its 
 conquests, the army of Italy rendered the important 
 service of relieving from their incubus the armies on 
 the frontier of Germany. The Aidic Council, wliich 
 had determined to assume the oftensive, and to carry 
 the war into the heart of the French provinces, thence- 
 forth thought only of guarding the defensive and op- 
 posing an invasion. It would even have willingly 
 allowed the armistice to continue; but its expiry was 
 notified, and hostilities were appointed to commence 
 on the 12th Prairial (31st May). 
 
 We have already given a sketch of that theatre of 
 war. Tbe Phine and the Danulie, issuing, the one 
 from^e Great Alps and the other from tlie Suabian 
 Alps, after approximating in the vicinity of the J-ake 
 of Constance, sejjarate and proceed on their respective 
 courses, the first towards the north, the latter towards 
 the east of Europe. Two transversal and almost 
 parallel valleys, those of the Maine and the Neckar, 
 form, as it were, two avenues, leading on the one 
 hand into the valley of the Danube through the mas- 
 sive chain of the Suabian Alps, or on the other from 
 the valley of tiie Danube into that of the Rhine. 
 
 This theatre of war, and the plan of operations 
 adapted to it, were not then so well known as now, 
 elucidated as they have since been by great examples. 
 Carnot, who directed the French plans, had adopted 
 a theory based on the celebrated campaign of 1794, 
 which had gained him so viist a renown iu Europe.
 
 588 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 At that period, tlie centre of the enemy, being in- 
 trenched in the forest of ilormale, in a position defy- 
 ing attack, the French had defiled on liis wings, and, 
 by outflanking them, liad compelled him to retreat. 
 This result had simk deep in the memory of Carnot. 
 Endowed with a mind ot gi-eat originality, but prone 
 to systematise, he had modelled his views upon the 
 incidents of that campaign, and he was persuaded that 
 it was always proper to act simultaneously on the two 
 wings of an army, and strive at all times to outflank 
 them. jMilitary "men have regarded this idea as an 
 undoubted progress in the art of war, and as much 
 preferable to the system of cordons disposed to assail 
 the enemy on all points ; but it had resolved itself, in 
 the mind of Carnot, into a settled and dangerous sys- 
 tem. The circumstances now presenting themselves 
 to him, conduced still more to confirm liim in the re- 
 solution of pursuing this fiivourite jilan. The amiy 
 of the Sambre-and-Meuse, and that of the Rhine and 
 Moselle, were both stationed on the Kliine, at two 
 points tar distant from one another, and two valleys 
 started from those points, opening the way to the 
 Danube. Here the reasons were all-sufficient for Car- 
 not to form the French into two columns, whereof one 
 ascending by the Maine, the other by the Neckar, 
 they would thus tend to outflank the wings of the 
 imperial armies, and oblige them to retrograde on the 
 Danube. He accordingly enjoined the two generals, 
 Jourdan and ISIoreau, to proceed, the first from 
 Diisseldorf, the second from Strasburg, and advance 
 separately into Germany. As a great captain and a 
 great critic have both remarked, and as facts subse- 
 quently proved, to foi-m into two corps was instantly 
 to give the enemy the faculty and the idea of concen- 
 trating his forces, and overwhelming with the entire 
 mass one or other of those two corps. Clairfayt had 
 partially executed that manoeuvre in the preceding 
 campaign, by first repulsing Jourdan upon the Lower 
 Rhine, and then throwing himself on the lines of May- 
 ence. Even were the antagonist general not a superior 
 man, he must be thereby constrained to adopt that 
 course ; and the thought which genius alone would have 
 inspired, became palpably suggested to his mind. 
 
 The invasion, therefore, was planned on this vicious 
 principle. The mode of execution was as injudicioush'^ 
 conceived as the project itself. The line which sepa- 
 rated the armies ascended the Rhine from Diisseldorf 
 to Bingen,' then described an arc from Bingen to ]Man- 
 heim by the foot of the Vosges, and rejoined the Rhine 
 up to Basle. Carnot directed that the army under Jour- 
 dan, debouching by Diisseldorf and the tete-de-pont 
 of Neuwied, should pass, to the number of 40,000 men, 
 on the right bank, in order to dra^vr the attention of 
 the enemj' to that point ; whilst the rest of his army, 
 25,000 strong, starting from Mayence under the orders 
 of Marceau, should ascend the Rhine, and, defiling to 
 the rear of Moreau, effect by stealth the passage of the 
 river in the vicinity of Strasburg. Generals Jourdan 
 and Moreau combined in representmg to the Directory 
 the evil tendencies of this evolution. Jourdan, reduced 
 to 40,000 men on the Lower Rhine, might be over- 
 whelmed and cut off, whilst the residue of his army- 
 would lose incalculable time in ascending from^Iay- 
 ence to Strasburg. It seemed much more natural to 
 allow the passage of the river near Strasburg to be 
 executed by iMoreau's extreme right. This manner 
 of proceeding permitted quite as much secrecy as the 
 otlier, and obviated the loss of a precious interval of 
 tune. This modification was admitted. Jourdan, 
 profiting by the two tetes-de-pont he had at Diisseldorf 
 and Neuwied, was first to pass, in order to draw the 
 enemy towards his army, and thus distract attention 
 fronj the Upper Rhine, where Moreau had a passage 
 to effect by main force. 
 
 The plan being tlms definitively fixed, preparations 
 were made for putting it in execution. The armies 
 of the hostile nations were nearly equal in strength. 
 Since the departure of Wurmser, the Austrians had 
 
 along the extensive line of the Rhine one hundred fifty 
 and some odd thousand men. cantoned from Basle to 
 the environs of Diisseldorf. The French had as many, 
 without counting 40,000 men specifically assigned for 
 the defence of Holland, and maintained at its cost. 
 There were certain discrepancies, nevertheless, be- 
 tween the two armies. The Austrians, in their 150,000 
 men, mustered almost 38,000 horse and 115,000 foot 
 soldiers ; whereas the French had upwards of 130,000 
 foot, and only 15,000 or 18,000 horse at the utmost. 
 This superiority in cavalry gave the Imperialists a 
 decided advantage, especially in retreats. They pos- 
 sessed the still gi-eater advantage of obeying a single 
 general. Since the removal of Wurmser, the two Im- 
 perial armies had been placed under the supreme com- 
 mand of the yomig Archduke Charles, who had already 
 distinguished himself at Tiircoing, and from whose 
 talents happy auguries were drawn. The French had 
 two excellent generals, but acting separatel}', at a great 
 distance from each other, and under the direction of 
 a cabinet seated two hundred leagues from the theatre 
 of war. 
 
 The armistice expired on the 11th Prairial (30th 
 May). Hostilities commenced by a general recon- 
 naissance on the advanced posts. Jourdan's army ex- 
 tended, as we are aware, from the environs of Mayence 
 to Diisseldorf At the latter place he had a tete-de- 
 pont for debouching on the right bank, after which he 
 might ascend between the line of Prussian neutrality 
 and the Rliine to the banks of the Lahn, with the 
 eventual intention of moving from the Lahn on the 
 Maine. The Austrians Jiad fifteen or twenty thousand 
 men scattered from ^Mayence to Diisseldorf, under the 
 orders of the Prince of Wm-temburg. Jourdan caused 
 Kleber to debouch by Djisseldorf with 25,000 men. 
 That general drove back the Austrians, worsted them 
 at Altenkirchen on the IGth Prairial (4th Jime), and 
 ascended the right bank between the line of neutralitj'' 
 and the river. When he had reached the height of 
 Neuwied and covered that point, Jourdan, profiting 
 by his tete-de-pont, crossed the river with a part of 
 his forces, and rejoined Richer on the opposite bank.' 
 He thus found himself on.the Lahn ^vith about 45,000 
 men, on the 17th Prairial (5th June). He had left 
 Marceau with 30,000 men before Mayence. The 
 Archduke Charles, who was in the vicinity of May- 
 ence, on learning that the French were repeating the 
 enteri^rise of the preceding year, and again debouch- 
 ing by Diisseldorf and Neu^vied, recoiled with a por- 
 tion of his troops on the right back, to oppos-e their 
 march. Jourdan pi-oposed to attack the corps under 
 the Prince of Wiu"temburg before he was reinforced ; 
 but, being obliged to defer the operation for a day, he 
 lost the opportmiity, and was himself attacked at 
 Wetzlar on the 19th (7th June). He skirted the 
 Lahn, having his right on the Rhine and his left at 
 Wetzlar. The archduke, acting with the mass of his 
 forces on Wetzlar, defeated his extreme left, composed 
 of Lefebvre's division, and compelled it to fall back. 
 Jourdan, worsted on the left, was constrained to retire 
 on his riglit, which touched the Rhine, and thus foimd 
 himself thrown towards that river. To avoid being 
 forced into it, he must attack the archduke, or, in 
 other words, give battle with the Rhine at his back. 
 He would thus expose himself, in case of defeat, to the 
 difficulties of a retreat on liis bridges at Neuwied and 
 Diisseldorf, and perhaps to a disastrous rout. A battle 
 was therefore dangerous, and even useless, since he 
 had fulfilled his object by attracting the enemy to him, 
 and inducing a diversion of the Austrian forces from 
 the Upper to the Lower Rhine. He consequently- 
 deemed it prudent under the circumstances to recoil, 
 and gave orders for a retreat, which was conducted 
 with order and firmness. He repassed at Neuwied, 
 and directed Kleberto descend to Diisseldorf", and tliere 
 likewise cross the Rhine. He recommended him to 
 march leisurely, but to shun any serious action. Kle- 
 ber, feeling himself too closely pressed at Ukeratli,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 589 
 
 and carried aAvay by his martial instinct, suddenly 
 faced his enemy and inflicted on him a severe but 
 fruitless blow, and regained his intrenched camp at 
 Diisseldorf. Jourdau, in thus advancing subsequently 
 to return, had performed an ungrateful task for the 
 benefit of the army of the Rhine. lU-informed per- 
 sons, in fact, might regard this operation as a defeat ; 
 but the zeal of that brave general made him superior 
 to personal considerations, and he waited with com- 
 posure until the army of the Rhine should have pro- 
 fited by the diversion he had effected, to resume the 
 offensive. i 
 
 Moreau, who had evinced exemplary prudence, firm- 
 ness, and imperturbability, in the operations wherein 
 he had been previously employed towards the North, 
 completed his dispositions to perform the task now 
 assigned him. He had resolved to cross the Rhine 
 at Strasburg. That large -city formed an excellent 
 point of departure. He could concentrate within it a 
 considerable number of troops. The woody islands, 
 which break the current of the Rhine at that point, 
 facilitated the passage. The fort of Kehl, situated on 
 the opjiosite bank, might be easily surprised ; once 
 occupied, it would become available as a protection to 
 the bridge intended to be thrown before Strasburg. 
 
 All arrangements being made in furtherance of this 
 design, and the attention of the enemy directed towards 
 the Lower Rhme, Moreau ordered, on the 2Gth Prairial 
 (14th June), a general attack on the intrenclied camp 
 of Manhiiira. The object of this attack was to fLx on 
 Manheim the attention of General Latour, who com- 
 manded the troops on the Upper Rhine under the 
 Archduke Charles, and to confine tlie Austrians within 
 their line. The attack, conducted with ability and 
 vigour, was completely successful. Immediately after- 
 Avards, Moi-ea,u directed a part of his forces on Stras- 
 burg ; a report was circulated that they were proceed- 
 ing into Italy to reinforce the army there ; and, in 
 order to strengthen the rumour, stores of provisions 
 were accumulated on the routes through Franche- 
 Comte. Other troops started at the same time from 
 the environs of Huningen to descend on Strasburg ; 
 and as to these, it was pretended they were going 
 into garrison at Worms. These movements were so 
 concerted, that the troops should arrive at the pre- 
 scribed pomt on the 5th Messidor (23d June). On 
 that day, in fact, 28,000 men were assembled in the 
 polygon of Strasburg and in the environs, under the 
 command of General Desaix. Ten thousand men were 
 to attempt the passage below Strasburg, in the vicinity 
 of Gambsheim, and 15,000 were to cross from Stras- 
 burg to Kehl. On the same evening, the gates of 
 Strasburg were closed, in order that advice of the 
 passage might not be conveyed to the enemy. During 
 the night the troops marched in silence towards the 
 river. The boats were conveyed into the Mobile branch, 
 and thence into the Rhine. The large isle of Ehrlen- 
 Rhein presented an ir.termediate point favourable to 
 the passage. The boats landed on its shore 2600 
 men. Fearful of giving the alarm by the report of 
 fire-arms, those brave soldiers charged at the point of 
 the bayonet the troops distributed in the isle, put them 
 to flight, anel allowed them no time tt) break down the 
 little bridges which conducted from the isle to the 
 right bank. These bridges they passed in pursuit ; 
 and although neither ai'tillery nor cavalry could follow 
 them, they ventured to debouch alone on the great 
 plain which abuts on the river, and approached Kehl. 
 The Swabian contingent was encamped at a short 
 distance from that place, at Wilstett. The detach- 
 ments which arrived thence, especially th.e cavalry, 
 rendered very perilous the situation of the French 
 infantry, which had thus so daringly debouched on 
 the right bank. It hesitated not, however, to send 
 back the boats which had transported it, and thereby 
 to cut off the hope of retreat, in order to bring fresh 
 detachments in aid. Additional troops, in fact, ar- 
 rived ; the French advanced on Kehl, assailed the i 
 
 intrenclmients with the bayonet, and stormed them. 
 The artiUery found in the fort was instantly turned 
 upon the hostile troops arriving from Wilstett, and 
 they were repulsed. Thereupon a bridge was con- 
 structed between Strasburg arid Kehl, which was 
 finished the following day, 7th INIessidor (25th June). 
 The whole army passed over it. The 10,000 men 
 sent to Gambsheim had not been able to attempt 
 the passage, on account of the flooded state of the 
 river. They remounted to Strasburg, and crossed the 
 stream b}' the bridge just thrown over it. 
 
 This operation had been executed with secrecy, 
 precision, and hardihood. However, the dissemina- 
 tion of the Austrian troops from Basle to ]\Ianheira 
 detracted considerably both from the difficidty and 
 the merit. The Prince of Conde was located at 
 Brisach on the Upper Rhine with 3800 men ; the 
 contingent of Swabia, to the number of 7500, Avas at 
 AVilstett, nearly opposite Strasburg ; and 8000 men, 
 or thereabouts, under Starrai, were encamped between 
 Strasburg and JLinheim. The Austrian forces, there- 
 fore, were not very formidable in this quarter ; but 
 that very advantage was owing to the secrecy of the 
 passage, and the secrecy again to the prudence with 
 which it had been arranged. 
 
 In this situation an opportunity Avas presented for 
 effecting a series of brilliant achievements. If Moreau 
 had acted with the rapibity of the conqueror of Mon- 
 tenotte, he might have fallen on the corps scattered 
 along the river, destroyed them one after the other, 
 and even succeeded in overwhelming Latour, who Avas 
 repassing from Manheim on the right bank, and 
 could have at the moment scarcely thirty-six thou- 
 sand men under his command. He Avoidd thus have 
 extinguished the army of the Upper Rhine before tlie 
 Archduke Charles could have returned from tlie 
 banks of the Lahn. History shoAvs that promptitude 
 a,nd rapidity are all-poAverful in Avar, as in all situa- 
 tions of life. The enemy, anticipated on all points, is 
 cut off in detail ; suffering bloAv after bloAv, he has no 
 time to recoA'er himself, becomes demoralised, and 
 loses at once understanding and courage. But this 
 rapidity, whereof Ave have witnessed such signal 
 examples on the Alps and the Po, supposes more than 
 simple activity ; it supposes a grand design, a master 
 mind to form it, great passions impelling to the daring 
 pretension. Nothing great in this Avorld is accom- 
 plished Avithout passions — without theardoiu" and bold- 
 ness they impart to thought and resolution. IMoreau, 
 a man of lucid apprehension and of fortitude, had not 
 that inspiring glow, Avhich, in the tribune or in Avar, 
 in all situations, elevate men and lead them in their 
 OAvn despite to mighty consummations. 
 
 Moreau employed the interval betAAeen the 7th and 
 10th Messidor (25th and 28th June) in collecting his 
 divisions on the right bank of the Rliine. That of 
 Saint-Cyr, which he had left at Manheim, was ad- 
 vancing by forced marches. Whilst aAvaiting that 
 division, he had at hand 53,000 men, Avhereas around 
 him Avere disseminated but 20,000 of the enemy. On 
 the lOth (28th June), he attacked 10,000 Austrians 
 intrenched on the Renchen, defeated them, and took 
 SOO prisoners. The remains of that corps recoiled 
 on Latour, Avho Avas ascending the right bank. On 
 the )2th (3()th June), Saint-Cyr having arrived, tlie 
 Avhole army Avas on the German side of the river. It 
 counted C3,000 foot soldiers and (5000 horse, forming 
 a total of 7 J, 000 men. IMoreau gave the right to 
 Ferino, the centre to Saint-Cyr, and the left to Desaix. 
 He found himself at the base of tlie Black Mountains. 
 The Swabian Alps fiirm a barrier Avhicli throws, as 
 we know, the Danube to the east, the Rhine to the 
 north : it is through this cliain the Neckar and the 
 ]\Iaine wind their course to the Rhine. They arc 
 mountains of moderate elevation, covered Avith Avood, 
 and traversed by narrow defiles. The valley of the 
 Rhine is separated from that of the Neckar by a ridge 
 called the Black Mountains. IMoreau. noAv clear of
 
 690 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the Rhine, was at their base. He must surmount 
 them to debouch into the valley of the Neckar. The 
 Swabian contingent and the corps of Condo ascended 
 towards Switzerland to guard the upper passes of the 
 Black Mountains. Latour, with the principal corps, 
 was returning from Manheim to guard the lower 
 passes by Kastadt, Ettlingen, and Pforzheim. ]\Ioreau 
 might, without danger, have neglected the detach- 
 ments retiring in the direction of Switzerland, and 
 moved, with the entire mass of his forces, on Latour : 
 he must infallibly have overwhelmed him. Then 
 he would have deljouchcd victoriously into the valley 
 of the Neckar, before the Archduke Charles. But, as 
 a circumspect general, he coniidcd to Ferino the task 
 of following with his right the detached corps of 
 Swabia and Condc, whilst he sent Samt-Cyr, with the 
 centre, directly towards the mountains, to occujiy cer- 
 tain heights, and skirted in person their base, to reach 
 Kastadt and meet Latour. This march was doubly 
 enjoined him by his own caution and the plans of 
 Carnot. He wished to cover himself on all points,, 
 and at the same time to extend his line towards Swit- 
 zerland, to be prepared to support by the Alps the 
 army of Italy. He commenced his movement on the 
 12th (.30th June). He marched between the Rhine and 
 tlie mountains, in a broken country, intersected witli 
 wood and i)loughcd bj' torrents. He advanced with 
 discretion, and only arrived at Rastadt on the l.itli 
 (3d Jidy). There was still time to overwhelm Latour, 
 who had not been yet joined by the Archduke Charles. 
 That prince, on being apprised of the passage over the 
 Rhine, had started with a reinforcement of 25,000 
 men, proceeding by forced marches. He left 36,000 
 on the Lahn, and 27,000 before IMayence, to keep 
 Jourdan in check, the whole under the orders of Ge- 
 neral Wartensleben. He was hastening to the scene 
 of action with all possible dispatch ; but his heads of 
 columns were as yet far distant. Latour, after having 
 left a garrison in Manheim, had at the utmost 36,000 
 men under his command. He was drawn up on the 
 Murg, which flows into the Rhine, having his left at 
 Gernsbach, in the mountains ; his centre, at their foot, 
 towards Kuppenheim, a little in advance of the Murg; 
 his right in the plain, skirting the woods of Neider- 
 buhl, which stretch to the bank of the Rhine ; and 
 his reserve at Rastadt. It was imprudent in Latour 
 to engage before the arrival of the archduke. But his 
 position inspiring him with confidence, he determined 
 to resist, in order to cover the great road which, from 
 Rastadt. opens on the Neckar. 
 
 Moreau had with him only his left wing ; his centre, 
 under Saint-Cyr, had remained behind to take posses- 
 sion of some posts in the Black Mountains. This 
 circumstance reduced the inequality of force. He at- 
 tacked Latour on the 17th (.'ith July). His troops 
 conducted themselves with distinguished valour, car- 
 ried the position of Gernsbach on the Upper Murg, 
 and penetrated to Kuppenheim, towards the centre of 
 the enemy's position. But in the plain his divisions 
 experienced difficulty in debouching, under the heavy 
 fire of the artillery and in presence of the numerous 
 Austrian cavalry. Nevertheless, the French attained 
 Niederbidd and Rastadt, and succeeded in rendering 
 themselves masters of the Murg on all points. The}' 
 made a thousand prisoners. 
 
 Moreau halted on the field of battle, without at- 
 tempting to pursue the enemy. The archduke had not 
 arrived, and he might yet have annihilated Latour ; 
 but he found his troops fatigued, he felt the necessity 
 of drawing Saint-Cyr to iiis assistance, in order to act 
 with a greater mass, and he waited until the 21st (9th 
 July) before hazarding a fresh attack. This interval 
 of four days allowed the archduke to come up with a 
 reinforcement of 25,000 men, and the Austrians to 
 give battle on equal terms. 
 
 The respective positions of the two armies were 
 nearly the same. They were botli on a line perpen- 
 dicular to the Rhine, a wing in the mountains, the 
 
 centre at their base, the other wmg in the woody and 
 marsliy plain skirting the river. IMoreau, on whom 
 appreciation dawned slowly I)ut always in time, as he 
 preserved the calmness requisite to rectify his errors, 
 had become sensible, during the conflict at Rastadt, 
 of the importance of making his principal eflibrt in the 
 mountains. He, in fact, who was master of them, pos- 
 sessed the avenues into the valley of the Neckar, the 
 main object of dispute; he might, moreover, outflank 
 his adversary, and push him into the Rhine. ^loreau 
 had an additional reason for fighting in the movmtains, 
 namely, his superiority in infcntry and his inferiority 
 in cavalry. The archduke equally felt the importance 
 of establishing himself on them ; but he had, in his 
 numerous squadrons, a reason for also keeping on the 
 plain. He amended the position assumed by Latour: 
 lie threw the Saxons into the mountains to outflank 
 Moreau ; he reinforced the plateau of Rothensohle, 
 vrhere his left rested ; and he deployed his centre at 
 the foot of the mountains in front of ilalsch, and his 
 cavalry in the plain. He purposed to attack on the 
 22d (10th July). Moreau anticipated him, and at- 
 tacked on the 21st (9th July). 
 
 General Saint-Cyr, whom Moreau had counter- 
 manded, and who now formed the right, assailed the 
 I)lateau of Rothensohle. He displayed all that pre- 
 cision and ability in manojuvring which distinguished 
 him during his eminent career. Finding himself unable 
 to dislodge the enemy from that formidable position, he 
 surrounded him with sharpshooters, made a spirited 
 charge, and pretended to fly, in order to induce the 
 Austrians to quit their position and rush in pursuit 
 of the French. This stratagem succeeded. The Aus- 
 trians, seeing the French advance and then fly in dis- 
 order, plunged after them. Saint-Cyr, who had troops 
 in readiness, thereupon propelled them. on the Aus- 
 trians. who had quitted their position, and rendered 
 himself master of the plateau. After this achieve- 
 ment, he advanced, intimidated the Saxons destined 
 to outflank the French right, and obliged them to fall 
 back. At Jlalsch. in the centre, Desaix engaged the 
 Austrians in an animated action, took and lost that 
 village, and concluded the day by moving on the last 
 heights which wind along the foot of the mountains. 
 In the plain, the French cavalry had not engaged, 
 Morcaii having kept it on the skirts of the woods. 
 
 The battle, therefore, was indecisive, except in the 
 mountains. But that was the important point ; for 
 Moreau, by ])ursuing his success, might extend his 
 right wing around the archduke, wrest from him the 
 avenues of the valley of the Neckar, and push him into 
 the Rhine. It is true that the archduke, if he lost the 
 mountains, which were his base, might, in his turn, 
 deprive Moreau of \he Rliine, which was the French 
 base ; he might renew his eflTort in the plain, defeat 
 Desaix, and, advancing along the Rhine, set Moreau, 
 as it wercj, adrift in a hostile country. On such oc- 
 sions, it is the least adventurous who is compromised ; 
 he who deems himself cut ofi", is so in fact. The arch- 
 duke considered it incumbent on him to retire, that he 
 might not endanger, by a hazardous evolution, the 
 Austrian monarchy, whose only support rested on his 
 army. He has been blamed for this resolution, which 
 led to the retreat of the Imperial armies, and exposed 
 Germany to an invasion. We may admire those 
 dazzling and d.aring flights of genius, wliich achieve 
 great results at the risk of great perils ; but we cannot 
 mould them into precedents. I'rudence is a stern 
 dut}-, in such a situation as that of the archd\ike ; and 
 he cannot be justly censured for having retrograded, 
 in order toforestall Moreau in the valley of the Neckar. 
 and thus protect the hereditary states. His determi- 
 nation was promptly taken to abandon Germany, 
 which no line cf)uld now cover, and to move, by as- 
 cending the Maine and the Neckar, on the grand line 
 guarding the hereditary states, that of the Danube, 
 Tiiis river, defended by the two fortresses of Ulm and 
 Katisbon, was the surest bulwark of Austria. There
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 591 
 
 concentrating his forces, the archduke was close upon 
 his resources, and in possession of a great river, witli 
 forces equal to those of the enemj-, with the power of 
 manoeuvring on both banks, and of overwhelming one 
 of the two invading armies. The enemy, on the wn- 
 ti'ary, would be far from his resources, at an innneuse 
 distance from his base, without that superiority of 
 strength which obviates the danger of such removal, 
 with the disadvantage of a most difficult country to 
 traverse, either for invading or retreating, and finally, 
 with the inconvenience of being divided into two 
 armies and commanded by two generals. Thus the 
 Imperialists gained by approximating to the Danube 
 all that the French forfeited. But, to ensure all these 
 advantages, the archduke must reach the Danube 
 without suffering the calamity of a defeat; conse- 
 quently his course henceforward was to retire with 
 firmness, but avoiding the hazard of an engage- 
 ment. 
 
 The archduke therefore ordered Wartensleben, after 
 leaving garrisons in Mayence, Ehrenbreitstein, Cassel, 
 and Manheim, to retire gradually by the valley of the 
 Maine, and to gain the Danube, engaging the enemy 
 sufficiently day by day to sustain the moral courage 
 of his troops, but not sufficiently to compromise them 
 in a general action. He adopted the same plan with 
 his own army ; he moved it from Pforzheim into the 
 valley of the Neckar, and there delayed only the time 
 necessary to collect his parks and to secure them leisure 
 to retire. Wartensleben retrograded with 30,000 foot 
 and 15,000 horse, the archduke with 40,000 infantry 
 and 18,000 cavalry, which made 103,000 men in all. 
 The remainder was in the fortresses, or had defiled by 
 the Upper Rhine into Switzerland before General 
 Ferino, who commanded Moreau's right wing. 
 
 As soon as Moreau had constrained the Austrians 
 to retreat, the armj' under Jourdan again passed the 
 Rhine at Diisseldorf and Neuwied, manoeuvring as it 
 had previously done, and advanced on the Lahn, with 
 the view of subsequently debouching into the valley 
 of the Maine. The two French armies, therefore, 
 marched forward in two columns, along the Maine and 
 the Neckar, following the two imperial armies, which 
 effected their retreat in admirable order. The nume- 
 rous squadrons of the Austi'ians, hovering in the rear, 
 kept the French in check, covered their infantry from 
 insult, and rendered futile all efforts to force it into 
 battle. Moreau, having had no fortress to mask when 
 detaching himself from tlie Rhine, led on 71,000 men. 
 Jourdan, having been obliged to blockade JMayence, 
 Cassel, and Ehrenbreitstein, and to assign 27,000 men 
 to conduct those operations, advanced with but 46,000, 
 being a mere trifle superior to Wartensleben. 
 
 In accordance M'ith the vicious plan of Carnot, the 
 French generals still deemed it imjierative to outflank 
 the wings of the enemy, that is to say, to derogate 
 from the essential object — the junction of the two 
 armies. This junction would have enabled the French 
 to bear down upon the Danube in a mass of 115,000 
 or 120,000 men, an overwhelming, enormous mass, 
 which w(mld have destroyed all tlie (-alculations of the 
 archduke, rendered nugatory all his endeavours to 
 concentrate his forces, passed the Danube before his 
 eyes, carried Ulm, and, with that basis, menaced 
 Vienna and shaken the imperial throne.* 
 
 Conformably, then, with this plan of Carnot, Moreau 
 was to bear towards the Upper Rhine and the Upi)er 
 Danube, and Jourdan towards Bohemia. Moreau was 
 supplied with an additional reason for keeping in 
 that direction, namely, the possibility of connnuni- 
 cating with the army of Italy by the T^'rol, whicli i)re- 
 sumed the execution of Bonaparte's gigantic plan, 
 justly discoimtenanced by the Directory. As Moreau 
 desired, at the same time, not to be too far detached 
 
 ♦ On this subject may bo consiilteJ tlie deductions Mliicli Napo- 
 leon has druwn, and which lie has accredite<l by such meinoruble' 
 exaniijlub. 
 
 from Jourdan, but to give him his left hand whilst 
 he extended the right to the army of Italy, he was 
 seen, on the banks of the Neckar, occupying a line of 
 fifty leagues. Joiirdan, on his part, charged to out- 
 flank Wartensleben, was compelled to remove from 
 Moreau ; and as Wartensleben, a general of the old 
 routine school, failed to comprehend the idea of the 
 archduke, and instead of approximating to the Danube 
 diverged towards Bohemia in order to cover it, Jour- 
 dan, striving to outflank him, was forced to expand 
 still more widely. 'J'hus it chanced that the antagonist 
 armies did, each for itself, the contrary of what they 
 ought to have done. There was, however, this diffe- 
 rence between Wartensleben and Jourdan, that the 
 first derogated from an excellent order, and that the 
 latter was obliged to follow a bad one. The fault of 
 Wartensleben was exclusively his own, that of Jour- 
 dan was chargeable on the director Carnot. 
 
 Moreau fought with the enemy at Canstadt to gam 
 the passage of the Neckar, and subsequently plunged 
 into the defiles of the Alb, a chain of mountains 
 which separates the Necker from the Danube, as the 
 Black Mountains separate it from the Rhine. He 
 cleared those defiles, and finally debouched into the 
 valley of the Danube, towards the middle of Thermidor 
 (end of Jul}'), after a month's march. Jourdan, after 
 having passed from the banks of the Lahn to those of 
 the Maine, and met the enemy in conflict at Freid- 
 berg, halted before the city of Frankfort, which he 
 threatened to bombard unless it were instantly' de- 
 livered into his hands. The Austrians consented to 
 this surrender on condition of obtaining an armistice 
 for two days. By this suspension of arms they would 
 be enabled to cross the ISIaine and gain a considerable 
 advance ; but it would save from destruction a 
 flourishing city, whose resources might be serviceable 
 to the army. Jourdan assented to the proposition. 
 The place was surrendered on the 28th Messidor (16tli 
 July). Jourdan imposed contri'outions upon Frank- 
 fort, but evinced great moderation in the levy, and 
 even displeased his army by the regard he manifested 
 for a hostile country. The report of the abundance 
 amidst which the army of Italy revelled had inflamed 
 the desires of the French soldiers, and they panted 
 for the like profusion in Germany. Jourdan after- 
 wards ascended the Maine, took possession of Wurz- 
 burgon the 7th Thermidor (25th Jul}-), and eventusilly 
 debouched bej'ond the mountains of Swabia, on the 
 banks of the Naab, which falls into the Danube. He 
 was almost parallel with jMoreau, and at the same 
 period, that is to say, towards the middle of Thermidor 
 (conmiencement of August). Swabia and Saxony had 
 acceded to a neutrality, sent agents to Paris to treat 
 for peace, and consented to pay contributions. The 
 Saxon and Swabian troops accordingly withdrew, and 
 thus weakened the Austrian army by twelve thousand 
 men, who had been in fact of little use, havuig fought 
 without energy or zeal. 
 
 Thus, in the middle of summer, the French armies, 
 masters of Italy, which they wholly ruled, and of one- 
 half of Germany, which they had overrun as far as 
 the Danube, held the most menacing of attitudes to- 
 wards Europe. For two months La Vendee had been 
 hushed and subdued. Of the one hundred thousand 
 men distributed over the western provinces, fifty 
 thousand might be detached and moved on any point 
 at pleasure. The pledges of the Directorial govern- 
 ment could not have been more gloriously redeemed. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 INTKR.NAI. .STATE OF FK.\NCK I.\ THE MIDDLK OF 179r). 
 — FINAXCIAI, EMBAHRASS.MENT.S. — RENEWAL OF THE 
 FAMILVCOMI'ACT WITH .SI'AIN, AND PROJECT OH 
 QlTADRirPLE ALLIANCE. — PRO.TECTEU EXPEDITION 
 INTO IRELAND. — BATTLES OF LONATO AM) CASTIO-
 
 69-2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 UOXE IN ITALY. — OPERATION'S OX THE DANUBE; 
 
 BATTLE OF NEBESHEIM. MARCH OF BONAPARTE ON 
 
 THE BRENTA ; BATTLES OF ROVER EDO, BASSANO, AND 
 ST GEORGE. — BATTLE OF WURZBUKU ; RETREAT OF 
 JIOREAU AND OF JOURDAN. 
 
 France had never -worn a more imposing external 
 aspect than during tliis summer of 1796 ; but its do- 
 mestic situation bore little analogy with its outward 
 splendour. Paris, in particular, offered a singular 
 spectacle. The patriots, deeply incensed at the arrest 
 of Babceuf, Drouet, and their other leaders, execrated 
 the government, and no longer rejoiced at the victories 
 of the republic, since they conduced to the advantage 
 of the Directory. The avowed enemies of the revolu- 
 tion obstinately denied them altogether ; whilst men 
 tired of and estranged from it seemed to place but 
 little credence in them. Certain newdy enriched in- 
 dividuals, who owed their wealtii to stockjobbing or 
 to contracts, displayed an unbridled luxurj', and mani- 
 fested a most ungrateful indiflerence for that revolu- 
 tion which had raised them to affluence. This morbid 
 condition was the inevitable result of a general fatigue 
 in the nation, of inveterate passions in parties, and of 
 cupidity stimulated by a financial crisis. But, happily, 
 there were still many Frenchmen enthusiastic re- 
 publicans, whose sentiments had not varied — whose 
 hearts were gladdened by tlie victories of the armies 
 — who, fi\r from denying "them, hailed the tidings with, 
 transport, and who pronounced with zealous atlection 
 and admiration the names of Hoche, Jourdan, ]\Ioreau, 
 and Bonaparte. These desired that additional efforts 
 should be made — that the malignants and the luke- 
 warm should be compelled to contribute, with all theii* 
 means, to the glory and grandeur of the republic. 
 
 To obscure the lustre of the victories, the factions 
 applied themselves to decry the generals. They were 
 especially envenomed against the youngest and most 
 brilliant, Bonaparte, whose name, in the short space 
 of two months, had become so ftimous. On the 13th 
 yendomiaire he had struck terror into the royalists, 
 and they treated him with corresponding asperity in 
 their journals. It was known that he had exhibited 
 a sufficiently imperious character in Italy -, attention 
 had been peculiarh' drawn to the manner in which he 
 acted with regard to the states of that country, grant- 
 ing or refusing at his pleasure armistices which de- 
 termined the' question of peace or war ; and it was 
 moreover ascertained that, without using the medium 
 of the treasury, he had remitted funds to the army of 
 the Rhine. Hence a maUcious pleasure was taken in 
 averring him to be intractable, and in circulating 
 assurances that he was to be superseded. Thus a 
 great general was to be lost to the republic — an impor- 
 tunate glory to be abruptly stifled. In this spirit the 
 malignants disseminated rumours of the most prei)os- 
 terous description ; they even ventured to assert tliat 
 Hoche, who was then at Paris, was on the eve of start- 
 ing to arrest Bonaparte in the midst of iiis army. The 
 government deemed it fitting to write a letter to Bona- 
 parte contradicting these reports, and in whicli it 
 reiterated the expression of its entire confidence. It 
 caused this letter to be publislied in all the journals. 
 The gallant Hoche, incapable of any base jealousy 
 towards a rival who in two months had placed himself 
 above the first generals of the republic, likewise wrote 
 to repudiate the part malevolence assigned to him. 
 The letter he penned on this occasion, so honourable 
 to both the young heroes, is worthy of record ; it was 
 addressed to the minister of police, and was made 
 kno\vn tlirough the usual channels of publicity. 
 
 "Citizen minister — Men who, concealed or unknown 
 during the first years of tlie foundation of the republic, 
 now appear in it only to seek the means of destroying 
 it, and speak of it only to calumniate its firmest up- 
 holders, have for the last few days circidated reports 
 most injurious to the armies and to one of the gener.al 
 officers wlio conmiand them. Is it then no longer 
 
 sufficient for them, in order to attain their object, to 
 correspond openl}' with the conspiring horde domesti- 
 cated at Hamburg? Must the„v, in order to obtain 
 the favour of the masters they woidd fain give to 
 France, degrade the leaders of our armies ? Do they 
 tliink that the latter, as weak as in times past, wili 
 allow themselves to be slandered without daring to 
 reply — to be accused without defending themselves ? 
 AVhy, then, is Bonaparte the object of these men's 
 fury ? Is it because he has defeated their friends and 
 themselves in Vendemiaire? Is it because he dis- 
 solves the armies of kings, and furnislies to the repub- 
 lic the means of gloriously terminating this honourable 
 war ? Ah ! intrepid youth, what republican soldier 
 burns not with desire to imitate thee ? Courage, Bona- 
 parte ! Lead our victorious armies to Naples and 
 to Vienna ; reply to thy personal enemies by humbling 
 kings — by investing our arms with a new lustre ; and 
 leave us to take care of thy glory ! 
 
 I have smiled with pity on seeing a man. who in 
 other respects has great intelligence, profess dis- 
 quietude, which he feels not, concerning the powers 
 granted to the French generals. You know them all 
 indiflerently well, citizen minister. Which of them, 
 even supposing him to possess sufficient influence over 
 his army to make it march against the government — 
 which of them, I ask, coidd attempt to do so, without 
 being instantly overpowei'ed by his colleagues in com- 
 mand ? The generals scarcely know each other, rarely 
 correspond together. Their number ought to inspire 
 confidence as to the designs gratuitously attributed to 
 one of them. Are we ignorant of the swaj'^ exercised 
 over men by euA'y, ambition, hatred, I may add, I 
 think, love of country and honour? Dismiss your 
 fears, then, good republicans. 
 
 Some journalists have carried absurdity to the point 
 of sending me into Italy to aiTcst a man whom I 
 esteem, and of whom the government has the greatest 
 reason to be proud. They may be assured that in the 
 times in which we live, few general officers would 
 undertake to discharge the duties of gendarmes, 
 although many are disposed to combat factions and 
 the factious. 
 
 Since my residence at Paris I have seen men of all 
 opinions ; I have been able to appreciate some at their 
 just value. There are those who think that the 
 government cannot go on without them : these bellow 
 to get places. Others, although no one concerns him- 
 self about them, think that their destruction has been 
 sworn : they bellow to render themselves interesting. 
 I had seen emigrants, more Frenchmen than ro^'alists, 
 weep for joy at the recital of our victories ; I have 
 since seen Parisians cast doubts on their reality. It 
 has appeared to me that an audacious part}', but de- 
 void of means, woidd subvert the actual government 
 to substitute anarchv in lieu; that a second, more 
 dangerous, more astute, having friends in all quarters, 
 labours for the overthrow of the republic, to confer on 
 France the hobbling constitution of 1791 and a thirty 
 years' civil war ; lastly, that a tliird, if it continues to 
 despise the two others and wield over them the empire 
 with which the laws invest it, will vanquish them, 
 because it is composed of sincere, indeflitigable, and 
 honest republicans, whose means are talents and vir- 
 tues — because it counts in the number of its jiartisans 
 all the good citizens, and the armies, which have as- 
 suredly not conquered for the last five years to allow 
 their country to be enslaved." 
 
 These two letters dissipated all sinister reports, and 
 imposed silence on the malevolent. 
 
 In the midst of its glory, the government inspired 
 pity by its indigence. The new paper-money had 
 sustained its credit but a short period, and its fall 
 deprived the Directory of an important resource. We 
 remember that, on the 26th Ventose (16th March), 
 two thousand four hundred millions of mandats had 
 been created, and hypothecated on a corresponding 
 value in national domains. I'art of tiiose mandatJi
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 593 
 
 had been devoted to the redemption of the twenty -four 
 thousand millions of assignats remaining m circulation, 
 and the remainder to meet growing exigencies. It 
 was in some sort, as we have stated, a re-issue of the 
 old paper, with a new title and a new ligiire. The 
 twenty-four thousand millions of assigiiiits were re- 
 placed by eight hundred millions of mandats ; and, 
 instead of issuing other forty-eight thousand millions 
 of assignats, sixteen hundred millions of mandats were 
 created. The difference was therefore in the name and 
 the amount. There was a great distinction, also, in the 
 hypothecation ; for the assignats, from the effect of 
 auctions, did not represent a determinate value of pro- 
 perty ; the mandats, on the contrary, being exchange- 
 able against property on the simple offer of the valua- 
 tion of 1790, did actually represent the sum of two 
 thousand foixr hundred millions. This advantage, how- 
 ever, failed to prevent their depreciation, which was 
 the result of different causes. France was altogether 
 adverse to paper, and refused to put any faith in it. 
 Now, however sohd may be the guarantees, when no 
 heed is given to them, they are as if they existed not. 
 Moreover, the amount of the paper, although reduced, 
 was not sufficiently so. Twenty-four thousand milhons 
 of assignats were converted into eight hundred millions 
 of mandats, thereby reducing the old paper to the 
 thirtieth part ; whereas it ought to have been reduced 
 to the two-hundredth part, in strict relation to the 
 actual circumstances, for twenty-four thousand millions 
 were worth at the utmost but one hundred and twenty 
 millions. To reproduce them in the circulation to the 
 extent of eight hundred millions, by changing them 
 into mandats, was an error. It is true that an equi- 
 valent amount of property was allocated for them ; but 
 an estate which in 1790 was worth one hundred thou- 
 sand francs, would now command but twenty-five or 
 thirty thousand francs ; consequently, the paper bearing 
 this new title and ligiire, had it even exactly repre- 
 sented the domains, could be worth, like them, but the 
 third of the value. Therefore, the endeavour to give 
 it circulation at par, was again to ujihold a fiction. 
 Thus, even had it been possible to revive confidence 
 in paper, the exaggei-ated siipposition of its value must 
 alwayshave caused ittodecline. Accordingly, although 
 its circulation was forced by legislative provision, it 
 was accepted for a very brief interval. The violent 
 measures which had intimidated in 1793, were inope- 
 rative at the present time. All transactions were con- 
 ducted on a metallic basis. The specie, which had 
 been deemed buried or exported abroad, appeared 
 abundantly in circulation. tSuch as had been concealed 
 was again brought forth, such as had been carried out 
 of France was re-imported. The southern provinces 
 were filled with dollars, wliich came from Spain, drawn 
 thither by the demand. Gold and silver flow, like all 
 articles of merchandise, where a demand exists for 
 them ; only their price is higher, which is kept up 
 until the supply be adequate and the want be satisfied. 
 There Avere still certain frauds committed by liijui- 
 dations in mandats, because the laws, giving a forced 
 currency to the paper, permitted its employment in 
 acquittances of bygone engagements ; but few ven- 
 tured to take advantage of the enactment, and all 
 fresh bargains were universally made in specie. Nothing 
 but gold or silver was seen in the markets ; the wages 
 of the labouring population were paid exclusively in 
 coin. It might have been imagined that no paj)er- 
 money existed in France. The mandats were found 
 only in the hands of speculators, who received them 
 from the gcjvernment, and sold them to intending pur- 
 chasers of national projjcrty. 
 
 In this manner, the financial crisis, although still 
 subsisting for the state, had almost ceased for indi- 
 viduals. Commerce and industry, profiting by the 
 first interval of repose, and the partial comnmnications 
 reopened with the continent in consequence of the vic- 
 tories of the republic, began to resume some activity. 
 It is not necessary, as governments have the folly to 
 
 allege, that production should be encouraged to become 
 prosperous ; all it requires is not to be cramjied. It 
 seizes the first moment to develop itself with won- 
 derful activity. But if individuals recovered at this 
 period a degree of competence, it was otherwise with 
 the government, that is to say, with its heads, its 
 agents of all kinds, militarj% administrative, or magis- 
 terial, and its creditors, who were reduced to the direst 
 misery. The mandats given to them were useless in 
 their hands ; their only mode of turning them toaccoimt 
 was to dispose of them to the speculators in paper, who 
 took them at the rate of six for one hundred, and after- 
 wards resold them to the purchasers of national domains. 
 Thus the stockholders were perishing in absolute des- 
 titution ; the functionariesof government threw up then- 
 situations ; and, contrary to usage, instead of soliciting 
 employments, men shunned or resigned them. The 
 armies of Germany and Italy, living in the enemy's 
 country, were excepted from the common misery ; but 
 the armies in the interior were in a deplorable state ot 
 distress. Hoche subsisted his soldiers solely by the 
 provisions collected in the western provinces, and he 
 was obliged to maintain the military system in those 
 districts, that he might be enabled to levy contributions 
 in kind. As to the officers and himself, they had not 
 wherewithal to clothe themselves. The supply of 
 magazines established in France for troops marching 
 through it, had often failed, because the contractors 
 would advance nothing more. The detachments sent 
 from the coasts of the ocean to reinforce the army of 
 Italy were stopped on the road. On some occasions 
 even hospitals had been closed, and the unfortunate 
 soldiers who occupied them expelled from the asylum 
 the republic owed to their infirmities, because neither 
 medicines nor aliment could be provided for them. The 
 gendarmerie was entirely disorganised. Being neither 
 clad nor equipped, it scarcely performed any duty. The 
 gendarmes, wishing to save their horses, which were 
 not replaced, no longer protected the routes ; brigands, 
 who abound at the close of civil wars, infested them. 
 They scoured the country, and even penetrated mto 
 towns, committing nmrder and robbery with un 
 paralleled audacity. 
 
 Such, then, was the internal state of France. The 
 particular characteristic of this new crisis was the 
 destitution of the government amidst a return of com- 
 parative affluence amongst individuals. The Direc- 
 tory drew its means of livelihood from the proceeds of 
 paper alone, eked out by certain remittances sent it 
 by the armies from abroad. General Bonaparte had 
 alreadj' transmitted to it thirty millions, together with 
 •ne hundred carriage-horses, to contribute somewhat 
 to its pomp. 
 
 It was now proposed to demolish the whole fabric 
 of paper-monej^. For that purpose all forced currcnc}' 
 must be abrogated, and the taxes received oidy in real 
 worth. It was accordinglj^ declared, on the 28th Mes- 
 sidor (16th July), that every one might bargain as he 
 pleased, and stipulate in money of his own choosing ; 
 that mandats shoidd be receivable only at their current 
 value ; and that the rate of exchange should be daih' 
 ascertained and jmblished by the treasurj-. The reso- 
 lution was at leiigtli hazarded, also, that the taxes 
 should he gatliered in specie, or in mandats at the pai 
 of exchange ; the only exception was with regard to 
 the land-tax. Since the creation of mandats, it had 
 been rendered leviable in paper and not in kind. Kx- 
 periince had shown it wonld have been better to have 
 continued its rcceijit in kind, because, anndst all the 
 depreciations of tlie ])aper, provisions wonld at least 
 have been collected. It was decided, therefore, after 
 prolonged discussions, and several projects successively 
 rejected b}- the Ancients, that, in the frontier depart- 
 ments, or those adjoining the stations of armies, the 
 collection might be exacted in kind ; but that in the 
 others it should be taken in mandats on a corn stand- 
 ard. Thus, wheat was valued at ten francs the quintal 
 in 1790; it was now valued at eighty francs in man-
 
 594 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 dats. Every ten francs of assessment, representing a 
 quintal of wheat, Avas now to be paid by eighty francs 
 in uiandats. It would have been much more simple 
 to exact the payment in specie or in mandats at the 
 par of excliange ; but tliis was too bold a measure. A 
 return, therefore, was commenced to reality, but with 
 hesitation. 
 
 The forced loan was not j'et collected. The govern- 
 ment no longer possessed that despotic energy which 
 might have ensured tlie prompt execution of such a 
 measure. There remained nearly tliree hundred mil- 
 lions to receive. It was decreed tliat, in payment of 
 the loan and of taxes, mandats should be accepted at 
 par and assignats at the rate of one for a Imndred, but 
 merely during fifteen days, after which period the 
 paper was to be receivable only at the course of ex- 
 change. This was an inducement to encourage the 
 discliarge of arrears. 
 
 The downiiill of mandats being declared, it was no 
 longer possible to receive them in fuU payment for 
 the national domains specifically allocated m their 
 behalf; and tlie bankruptcy which had been predi- 
 cated with respect to them, as previously to assignats, 
 became inevitable. It had been announced, in fact, 
 that, the mandats issued for two thousand four hun- 
 dred millions having fidlen far below that value, and 
 being worth no more than two or three Imndred mil- 
 lions, the state woidd not continue to give the promised 
 amount of property, that is to saj', two thousand four 
 hundred millions' worth of land. The contrary had 
 been maintained for a while, in the hope that mandats 
 would retain a certain value ; but one hundred francs 
 falling to five or six, the state could no longer give a 
 propert}', say worth one hundred francs in 1790 and 
 thirty or forty at the present time, for five or six 
 francs. This was the species of bankruptcy the assig- 
 nats had undergone, the nature of wJiich we have 
 previously explained. The state did then what a 
 sinking-fund does now, which redeems at the price of 
 the da3% and Avhich, in case of an extraordinary de- 
 cUne, might happen to redeem at fifty what had been 
 issued at eighty or ninety. Accordingly, it was 
 enacted, on the 8th Thenni'dor (26th JulyX that tlie 
 fourth instalment for the national domains, subscribed 
 for since the law of the 26th Ventose (that creating 
 the mandats), sliould be liquidated in mandats at the 
 course of exchange, and in six equal payments. As 
 applications had been made for eight hundred millions' 
 worth of domains, this fourth amomited to two hun- 
 dred millions. 
 
 The paper-money, therefore, was progressing to 
 extinction. It may be asked, wh}- this second issue 
 of mandats was adventured — a new paper so short- 
 lived and iinsuccessful. In general, measures of this 
 kind are judged too independently of the circumstances 
 that have commanded them. The apprehension of a 
 total deficiency of specie had doubtless contributed to 
 induce the creation of mandats ; and if there liad been 
 no other reason, it would have been a very foolish 
 measure, as specie cannot fail altogether in such a 
 country as France ; but the principal cause was the 
 imperious necessity of Uving by the domains and of 
 anticipating their sale. It was indispensably re- 
 quisite to put their value in circulation before realis- 
 ing it, and for that purpose to emit it in the form of 
 a paper-money. Certainly the resource had not proved 
 considerable, as the mandats had declined so rapidly; 
 but still the state liad existed for otlier four or five 
 months. And was that nothing? The mandats must 
 be considered as a new discount of the value of tlie 
 national domains — as an expedient pending the actual 
 sale of those domains. We shall see the government 
 pass through many paroxysms of distress ere the mo- 
 ment arrived when that sale could be effectuated in 
 the precious metals. 
 
 The treasury was not destitute of resources im- 
 mediatply exigiVjle ; but it was with those resources 
 !is with the national domains — the difficulty was to 
 
 render them available. It had yet to receive three 
 hundred millions of the forced loan ; tliree himdred 
 millions for tlie land-tax of the current year, that is 
 to sa}-, the whole amount of that impost ; twenty -five 
 millions of miscellaneous taxes ; all the rents of the 
 national domains, and the arrears of those rents, 
 amounting in all to sixty millions ; different military 
 contributions ; the produce of the moveables of emi- 
 grants ; divers arrears ; eighty milhons of paper on 
 foreign comitries. AU these items, added to the two 
 hundred mUlions from the last instalment of the price 
 of sold domains, amounted to eleven hundred millions, 
 an enormous sura, but difficult to realise. The trea- 
 sury only required, to complete its year, that is say, 
 to manage until the 1st of Vendemiaire, foiu- himdred 
 millions ; if it could forthwith realise them out of the 
 eleven hundred millions due, its exigencies would be 
 met. For the following year, it had the ordinary 
 contributions, which were aU expected to be paid in 
 specie, and which, amounting to five hundred and some 
 odd millions, would cover what Avas called the ordinary 
 expenditure. For the expenses of the Avar, in case of 
 a fresh cami>aign, it had the residue of the eleven 
 hundred millions, of Avhich it Avas to absorb this year 
 but four hundred millions, and it had, moreoA'er, all 
 further sales of national domains. But the difficulty 
 still consisted in grasping these sums. The dispos- 
 able funds must come from the products of the year ; 
 yet it Avas almost impracticable to gather all simul- 
 taneously from the forced loan, the land and assessed 
 taxes, and the sale of domains. Meanwliile, increased 
 exertions were to be used in collecting the various 
 contributions, and the Directory Avas invested Avitli 
 the extraordinary poAver of pledging the Belgian pro- 
 pertj' for one hundi-ed millions in specie. The rescrip- 
 tions, a species of exchequer bills designed to forestall 
 the receipts of the year, had partaken the fate of aU 
 the paper. Being unable to make use of that expe- 
 dient, the minister paid contractors in ordinances of 
 liquidation, Avliich Avere to be made good out of the 
 first receipts. 
 
 Such Avere.the distresses of this gOA-ernment, so glo- 
 rious in its outAvard aspect. The tAvo parties, mean- 
 Avhile, had never ceased from agitating in the interior. 
 The submission of La Vendee had greatly reduced 
 the hopes of the royalist faction ; but the agents at 
 Paris Avere only the more convinced of the excellence 
 of their old plan, Avhich consisted in refraining from 
 the employment of civil Avar, and in corrupting opi- 
 nions and gradually gaining possession of the councils 
 and other authorities. They laboured through their 
 journals to attain these objects. As to the patriots, 
 they had reached the highest pitch of indignation. 
 They had facihtated the flight of Drouet, Avho had 
 contriA'ed to escape from prison ; and they meditated 
 fresh plots, notAvithstanding the recent discovery of 
 that formed by Baboeuf. Sundry old conventionalists 
 and Thermidorians, heretofore Avarm pM'tisans of the 
 government they had themselves constituted on the 
 morrow of the 13th Vendemiaire, began to be discon- 
 tented. By an existing laAv, ex-conventionaUsts and 
 all superseded fmictionaries were enjoined to quit 
 Paris. The police, through inadA'ertence, sent man- 
 dates of Avithdrawal to ioui conventionalists, members 
 of the legislatiA'e body. These mandates Avere de- 
 nounced Avith acrimony in the Council of Five Hun- 
 dred. TaUien, Avho, since the discovery of Baboeuf 's 
 conspiracy, had strongly declared liis adhesion to the 
 system of the government, inveighed Avith vehemence 
 against the police of the Directory, and against the 
 suspicions Avith Avhich the patriots Avere regarded and 
 harassed. His habitual adversary, Thibaudeau, re- 
 plied to him, and after an animated discussion, mingled 
 with much recrimination, the feeling of resentment 
 was left only rankling the more bitterly. The minister 
 Cochon, his agents and spies, Avere in an especial degree 
 the objects of detestation on the part of the patriots, 
 Avho had been the first to experience the effect of their
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 596 
 
 surveillance. The course of the government was 
 meanwhile distinctly traced ; if it had unequivocally 
 declared against the royalists, it had also totally se- 
 parated from the patriots, that is to say, from that 
 portion of the revolutionary party Avhich desired to 
 revert to a more democratic republic, and which 
 deemed the existing system too mild towards aristo- 
 crats. But, setting aside the state of the finances, 
 this position of the Directory, holding aloof from all 
 parties and curbing them with a vigorous hand, wliilst 
 deriving support from victorious armies, was upon tlie 
 whole cheering and auspicious. 
 
 The patriots had already made two attem.pts and 
 suffered two discomfitures since the installation of 
 the Directory. They had essayed to rccompose the 
 Jacobin Club at the Pantheon, and had found them- 
 selves excluded from that edifice by the government. 
 They had afterwards concocted a mysterious plot 
 under the direction of Baboeuf ; they had been dis- 
 covered by the police and deprived of their new leaders. 
 They still pursued their projects, nevertheless, and 
 proposed to hazard a last enterprise. The opposition 
 in the two councils, by again assailing the law of the 
 3d Brumaire, aroused in them a redouljled inveteracy 
 of rage, and impelled them to a final explosion. They 
 strove to corrupt the legion of police. That legion 
 had been dissolved, and converted into a regiment 
 forming the 21st dragoons. This regiment they now 
 tampered with, hoping that, if they gained it, they 
 would draw after it the entire army of the interior, 
 encamped m the plain of Grenelle. They piu-posed 
 at the same time to excite a movement in Paris, by 
 discharging muskets and throwing wliite cockades into 
 the streets, raising shouts of The king for ever ! and 
 thus leading to the supposition that the royalists were 
 arming and preparing to subvert the republic. Their 
 intention was to take advantage of this pretext, fly to 
 arms, seize upon the government, and induce the camp 
 of Grenelle to declare in their favour. 
 
 On the 12th Fructidor (29th August), they executed 
 a part of their scheme, firing petards and scattering 
 white cockades in the streets. But the police, being 
 forewarned, had taken such precautions that they 
 were unable to incite any movement. They were not 
 discouraged, however ; and a few days afterwards, on 
 the 22d (9th September), they determined to accom- 
 plish their design. Thirty of the principal patriots 
 met at Gros-Caillon, and resolved to form a muster 
 that very night in the quarter of Vaugirard. This 
 quarter, adjacent to the camp of Grenelle, was full of 
 gardens and intersected by stone walls ; it presented 
 ramparts behind which they might gather and resist, 
 in case they were attacked. In the evening, accord- 
 ingly, they assembled to the number of seven or eight 
 hundred, armed with nuiskets, pistols, sabres, and 
 sword-sticks. Tliis party comprised all the most 
 determined characters m the patriot faction. There 
 were amongst them a few superseded officers, who 
 appeared at the head of the assemblage in their uni- 
 forms, and wearing epaulettes. Certain ex-conven- 
 tionalists in the costume of representatives also formed 
 part of the group ; and even Drouet, it is alleged, who 
 had remained since his escape concealed in Paris, was 
 present. An ofiicer of the Directorial guard, at the 
 head of ten horsemen, was patrolling througli Paris, 
 when he received inteUigence of tlie muster organised 
 at Vaugirard. lie hastened thitlier at the liead of this 
 feeble detachment ; but, on his arrival, he was saluted 
 with a volley of musketry and assaulted by two hun- 
 dred armed men, wliereupon he retreated at full gaUop. 
 He immediately proceeded to place under arms the 
 Directorial guanl, and dispateiied an officer to tlie 
 camp of Grenelle to give the alarm. The patriots 
 lost no time after this flagrant outrage, but repaired 
 in all liaste to the plain of Grenelle, counting several 
 hundreds. They advanced towards the quarter of the 
 21st dragoons, late the legion of police, and sought to 
 gain the regiment by assurances that they had come to 
 
 fraternise with it. Colonel JVIalo, who commanded 
 this corps, rushed from his tent, half-clad, sprang on 
 horseback, gathered around him some officers and all 
 the dragoons he encountered, and cliarged sword in 
 hand upon those who thus proposed to fraternise with 
 his men. Tliis example decided the soldiers : they 
 hurried to their horses, fell upon the crowd, and 
 quickly dispersed it. They slew or wounded a great 
 number of the insurgents, tmd apprehended one hun- 
 dred and thirty-two. The noise of the combat aroused 
 the whole camp, which was placed under arms, and 
 spread alarm through Paris. But confidence was 
 speedily restored, on the result and folly of the enter- 
 prise being made known. The Directory caused the 
 prisoners to be immured, and demanded from the two 
 councils authority to institute domiciliary visits, for 
 the purpose of seizing, in particular quarters, divers 
 seditious persons whom their wounds prevented from 
 leaving Paris. Having taken part in an armed as- 
 semblage, they were amenable to military judicatories, 
 and were consigned to a commission, which promptly 
 commenced by condemning certain of the number to 
 be shot. The organisation of the High National 
 Court was not yet completed ; its installation was 
 now accelerated, in order to open the proceedings 
 against Baboeuf 
 
 This rash and iU-concerted outbreak was regarded 
 in its true light, namely, as one of those reckless pro- 
 ceedings which characterise an expiring party. The 
 enemies of the revolution alone affected to consider it 
 of importance, that they might found thereon a pre- 
 tence for renewed clamours repecting terror, and for 
 disseminating alarming rumours. Little apprehension 
 was felt by the community in general ; and this abortive 
 enterprise proved, more than all the other successes 
 of the Directory, that its establishment was definitive, 
 and that the factions must renounce all hope of sub- 
 verting it. 
 
 Sucli were the circumstances presently illustrating 
 the interior of France. 
 
 Whilst beyond its confines fresh collisions were 
 about to ensue, important negotiations were proceed- 
 ing in Europe. The French republic was at peace 
 with several powers, but in alliance with none. The 
 malignants who had asserted it would never be recog- 
 nised, now boasted it would ever remain without 
 allies. To repel these malevolent insinuations, the 
 Directory sought to renew the Family-Compact with 
 Spain, and projected a quadruple alliance between 
 France, Spain, Venice, and the Ottoman Porte. Such 
 an alliance, composed of the powers of the south in- 
 opposition to that existing amongst the powers of the 
 north, would command the IMediterranean and the 
 east, give disquietude to Pussia, menace the rear of 
 Austria, and raise up a new maritime enemy to Eng- 
 land. Furthermore, it would be productive of great 
 advantages to the army of Italy, by ensuring it the 
 support' of the Venetian galleys and of thirty thousand 
 Slavonian soldiers. 
 
 Spain was the easiest to decide amongst the powers. 
 She liad grievances against England dating from the 
 commencement of the war. Tlie principal were the 
 conduct of the English at Toulon, and the secrecj- ob- 
 served towards the Spanish admiral at the period of 
 the expedition to Corsica, She had still greater causes 
 of complaint since the jieace with France ; the English 
 had insulted her flag, stopped munitions destined for 
 her ports, violated her territory, captured posts menac- 
 ing to her possessions in America, outraged the cus- 
 toms-regidations of her colonies, and openly endea- 
 vom-ed to excite tliem to revolt. These gnmnds of 
 dissatisfaction, combined with the brilliant offers of 
 tlie Directory, which led lier to anticipate possessions 
 in Italy, and with the victories of the French armies, 
 wliich warranted a reliance on the accomplishment of 
 such offers, induced Spain to sign, on the 2d Fructidor 
 (19th August), a treaty of alliance offensive and de- 
 fensive with France, on tiie bases of the Family-Corn-
 
 sye 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 pact. By the terms of this treaty, the two powers 
 mutually guaranteed all their respective possessions 
 in Europe and in the Indies ; they promised a reci- 
 Itrocal aid of eijrhtcen thousand infantry and six thou- 
 sand cavalry, of fifteen first-rates, fifteen seventy -fours, 
 six frigates, and four corvettes. These succours were 
 to be furnished on the rccjuisition of either of the two 
 powers unhappily involved in war. 
 
 Instructions were forwarded to the French ambas- 
 sadors at Constantinople and Venice, to impress upon 
 tlie Sublime Porte and the republic the advantages 
 necessarily accruing to them from a concurrence in 
 the proposed alliance. 
 
 The French republic, therefore, was no longer 
 isolated, and it had provided England with a new 
 naval foe. Indications were positive that the decla- 
 ration of war by Sjiain against England would speedily 
 follow the treaty of alliance with France. 
 
 The Directory was iireparing at the same time em- 
 barrassments of a diftcrent nature for Pitt. Hochc 
 was at the head of a hundred thousand men, distributed 
 along the coasts of the ocean. La Vendee and Brittany 
 being sul)jugated, he ardently desired to employ these 
 forces in a manner worthy of his talents, and to add 
 fresh laurels to those he had won at Weissembom'g 
 and Landau. He suggested to the government a 
 scheme he had long revolved — namely, an expedition 
 into Ireland. Now, he urged, that civil war had been 
 repelled from the coasts of France, it was fitting to 
 visit that pestilence on the shores of England, and 
 requite her, by arousing the Catholics of Ireland, for 
 the evils she had infiicted on France by abetting the 
 Poitevins and Bretons. The moment was favourable : 
 the Irish were more tlian usually irritated by the 
 oppression of the English government ; the whole 
 population of the British Islands was suffering dread- 
 fully from the war. and, an invasion occurring to fill 
 the rheasure of calamity, it might be driven to the 
 verge of desperation, 'riie finances of Pitt, too, were 
 in a tottering state. Thus, such an enterprise, di- 
 rected by Hoche, might lead to momentous conse- 
 quences. The project was heartily approved. The 
 minister of marine, Truguet, an excellent reirablican 
 and able minister, promoted it with all his energies. 
 He collected a squadron in the harbour of Brest, and 
 used every exertion compatible with the state of the 
 finances to equip it efficientlj-. Hoche mustered all 
 the best troops in his armj', and drew them near Brest 
 in readiness to embark. Care was taken to spread 
 various reports as to their destination : now an expe- 
 dition to Saint-Domingo, now a descent at Lisbon, to 
 drive the I^nglish out of Portugal, in concei't with 
 Spain, was alleged to be in contemplation. 
 
 England, suspecting the object of these preparations, 
 was in serious alarm. The treaty of oflTensive and 
 defensive alliance between Spain and France foreboded 
 her new dangers, whilst the defeats of Austria inspired 
 the dread of losing her last and powerful ally. Her 
 finances, moreover, were in a gloomy condition : the 
 bank had contracted its discounts ; capital began to 
 fail ; and the loan opened for the emperor had been 
 closed, in order that additional funds might not be ex- 
 tracted from the circulation. The Italian ports were 
 shut against English vessels ; the Spanish were on 
 the eve of being so ; those of the ocean, as far as the 
 Texel, were already barred. Tims the commerce of 
 frreat Britain was materially cripjiled. To all these 
 sinister circumstances were superadded the disorders 
 attendant upon a general election ; for the parliament, 
 verging upon its seventh year, had been dissolved. 
 The elections were conducted amidst clamorous male- 
 dictions against Pitt and the war. 
 
 The empire had almost wholly abandoned the cause 
 of the coalition. Tlie dutchies of Baden and Wurtem- 
 burg had recently signed a definitive jieacc, permitting 
 to the belligerent armies the right of passage over 
 their dominions. Austria was in great trepiilation, on 
 beholding two French armies upon the Danube, and 
 
 a third \ipon the Adige, apparently blocking ingress 
 into Italy. She had dispatched Wurmser with 30,000 
 men, to marshal several reserves in the Tyrol, to rally 
 and reorganise the wrecks of Beaulieu's armjs and to 
 descend into Lombardy with G0,000 men. On that 
 side she deemed herself less in danger, and felt but little 
 solic;itude ; whereas she was greatly alarmed for the 
 Danul)e, and fixed on it her most an.vious attention. 
 To prevent untoward rumours, the Aulic Council had 
 prohil)ited at Vienna all allusion to political events; 
 it h.ad organised a levy of volunteers, and laboured 
 with indefatigable industry to equip and arm fresh 
 troops. Catherine, who alwaj's promised and never 
 fulfilled, rendered a solitary service slie guaranteed 
 the Gallicias to Austi'ia, which permitted the latter to 
 withdraw the troops stationed in those provinces, and 
 march them towards the Alps and the Danube. 
 
 Thus France intimidated her enemies in all quar- 
 ters, and the result of the coming shock along the 
 Danube and the Adige was impatiently awaited by 
 expectant mortals. On the immense line stretching 
 from Bohemia to the Adriatic, three armies arrayed 
 against other three were about to engage in deadly 
 conflict, and the fate of Europe hung upon the issue. 
 
 In Italy, negotiations had been actively prosecuted 
 pending the resumption of hostilities. Peace had been 
 concluded with PiednMut, a treaty having succeeded 
 the original armistice. This treaty stipulated the de- 
 finitive cession of the dutchy of Savoy and the county 
 of Nice to France ; the destruction of the forts of Susa 
 and Brunette, situated at the gorge of the Alps ; the 
 occupation during the war of the fortresses of Coni. 
 Tortona, and Alessandria ; a free passage for the 
 French troops through the territories of Piedmont, 
 and the purveyance of what was necessary for those 
 troops during tlie transit. The Directoiy, at th.e in- 
 stigation of Bonaparte, would have contracted, more- 
 over, an offensive and defensive alliance with the King 
 of Sardinia, in order to procure an auxiliary force of 
 10,000 or 15,000 men from his armJ^ But that poten- 
 tate, in return, demanded Lombardy, of which France 
 could not yet dispose, and which indeed she still pur- 
 posed to use as an equivalent for the Low Countries. 
 This concession being accordingly refused, the king 
 declined to accede to an alliance. 
 
 The Directory had not yet brought the negotiation 
 with Genoa to a termination ; the subjects of dispute 
 continued to be the recall of the exiled families, the 
 exjmlsion of the families feudatories of Austria and 
 Najiles, and the indemnity for the frigate La Modate. 
 
 With Tuscany, the relations were amicable ; never- 
 theless, the measures that had been emplo3'ed towards 
 the Leghorn merchants, to wring forth revelatioMS of 
 merchandise belonging to the enemies of France, had 
 created a feeling of dissatisfaction. Rome and Naples 
 had sent envoys to Paris, conformably to the terms of 
 the armistice ; but the negotiations for peace proceeded 
 languidly. It was evident the Italian diplomatists were 
 awaiting the issue of events in the field, ere finally 
 committing themselves to conditions. Tiie populations 
 of Bologna and Ferrara were still animated with their 
 pristine enthusiasm for the hberty they had provi- 
 sionally acquired. The regency of Modena and the 
 Duke of Parma were quiescent. Lombardy was ab- 
 sorbed in intense anxiety for the result of the campaign. 
 The French had addressed repeated applications to 
 the senate of Venice, for the purpose of inducing it 
 to concur in the project of a quadruple alliance, and 
 thereby securing a useful auxiliary for the army of 
 Italy. Besides the.se direct overtures, their ambassa- 
 dors at Constantinople and M;idrid had indirectly, 
 flirough the Venetian legations at those cities, en- 
 forced the advantages to accrue from the proposed 
 alliance ; but all such representations had proved in- 
 effectual. Venice detested the French, now that she 
 saw them planted on her territory and their principles 
 becoming diffused amongst her population. She no 
 longer adhered to an unarmed neutrality ; on the con-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 597 
 
 trary, she was arming with activity. She had giiven 
 orders to the commandants of the isles to send the 
 disposable galleys and troops into the canals, and she 
 had called sundry Slavonian regiments from lllyria. 
 The podestat of Bergamo was engaged in secretly 
 arming the brave and superstitious peasants of the 
 Bergamasco. Funds were collected by the twofold 
 expedient of conti'ibutions and voluntary gifts. 
 
 Bonaparte held that, for the present, the policy of 
 the French was to temporise on all sides, to spin out 
 negotiations, to conclude nothing definitively, and to 
 affect ignorance of all hostile manifestations, imtil fresh 
 military events had decided either their expulsion from 
 or their establishment in Italy. He deemed it advis- 
 able to adjourn the questions they had to settle with 
 Genoa, and to persuade her they were content with 
 the concessions already granted, in order that she 
 might be foimd friendly in the adverse predicament 
 of a retreat. The Duke of Tuscany, also, ought uot 
 to be irritated by the conduct of the French agents at 
 Leghorn. Bonaparte assuredly did not esteem it fit- 
 ting to leave a brother of the emperor in that dutchy, 
 but he was desirous that he should not be alarmed too 
 prematurely. The commissioners of the Directory, 
 Garreau and Salicetti, having issued an ordinance 
 banishing the French emigrants from the environs of 
 Leghorn, Bonaparte addressed to them a letter, wherein, 
 without much regard for their quality, he severely 
 reprimanded them for having exceeded their powers 
 and vexed the Duke of Tuscany by presuming to arro- 
 gate a sovereign authority within his dominions. 
 With regard to Venice he was equally disposed to 
 observe the status quo. Only, he complained loudly of 
 certain assassinations committed on the roads, and of 
 the preparations he saw making aromid him. His 
 object in harbouring gromids of quarrel was that he 
 might continue to draw supplies of provisions and 
 have an excuse for mulcting the republic in a penalty 
 of several millions, if he triiunphed over the Austrians. 
 " If I conquer," he wrote, " a simple estafette will 
 suffice to rid me of all the difi5culties rearing against 
 me." 
 
 The citadel of Milan had fallen into his power. The 
 garrison had surrendered as prisoners of war; the 
 whole artillery had been transported to Mantua, where 
 he had collected a considerable train. He would have 
 willingly finished the siege of that city before the new 
 Austrian army came up to relieve it ; but his hopes 
 of succeeding in that design were slender. He em- 
 ployed in the blockade only so many troops as were 
 indispensably necessary, on account of the fevers epi- 
 demic in the vicinage. Nevertheless, he pressed the 
 place closely, and projected one of those surprises 
 which, according to his own expression, depend upon 
 a goose or a dog; but the fiiU of the waters in the lake 
 prevented the passage of the boats destined to convey 
 a body of disguised troops. Thenceforth he relin- 
 quished the idea for the time of rendering himself 
 master of Mantua. The approach of Wurmser, more- 
 over, summoned him to a scene of more imminent 
 danger. 
 
 The army, which entered Italy with thirty and a 
 few thousand men, had received but feeble reinforce- 
 ments to retrieve its casualties. Nine tliousand men 
 had reached it from the Alps. The divisions drawn 
 from the army under Iloche had been unaljle to tra- 
 verse France. Owing to that reinforcement of 9()U0 
 men and to the invalids who had emerged from the 
 depots in Provence and Var, the army liad rei)laced 
 its losses, and even gained strength. It counted nearly 
 45,000 men, spread along the Adige and around ^lau- 
 tua, at the moment when Bonaparte returned from 
 his march into the peninsula. The complaints which 
 attacked the soldiers before Mantua reduced it again 
 to 40,000 or 42,000 men. This was its force in the 
 middle of Thermidor (end of July). Bonaparte had 
 left mere depots at Milan, Tortona, and Leghorn. Two 
 armies, one of Piedmontese and one of Austrians, he 
 
 had already scattered to the winds ; now he had to 
 confront a third more formidable than tlie preceding. 
 
 Wurmser marched at the head of 60,000 men : 30,000 
 were draughts from the llhine, all excellent soldiers. 
 The remainder was composed of Beauheu's discomfited 
 divisions, and battalions dra^vn from the interior of 
 Austria. IMore than 10,000 men were immured in 
 Mantua, without including the sick. Thus the entire 
 army constituted a force exceeding 70,000 men. Bona- 
 parte had nearly 10,000 around Mantua, and could 
 oppose only about 30,000 to the 60,000 on the point 
 of debouching from the Tyrol. With such an ine- 
 quality of strength, it required infinite prowess in the 
 soldiers, and a most fertile genius in the general, to 
 restore the l)alance. 
 
 The line of the Adige, to which Bonaparte attached 
 so much value, was to become the scene of the struggle. 
 We have already detailed the reasons which induced 
 him to prefer it before all others. The Adige had not 
 the length of the Po, or of the rivers which, flowdng 
 into the Po, mingle their lines with it ; it passed di- 
 rectly into the sea, after a course of moderate extent ; 
 it was not fordable, and could not be turned in the 
 T3'^rol, like the Brenta, the Piave, and the rivers more 
 advanced towards the extremity of Upper Italy. This 
 river has been the theatre of such great events, that 
 we have felt boimd to describe its course with some 
 minuteness. 
 
 The waters of the Tyrol form two lines, that of the 
 IMincio and that of the Adige, almost parallel, and 
 each a barrier to the other. Part of those mountain 
 streams compose in the mountains themselves a large 
 and longitudinal lake, which is called the Lake of 
 Garda; they afterwards issue from it at Peschiera 
 and traverse the ^lantuan plain, become the IMincio, 
 form a new lake around INIantua, and finally proceed 
 to join the Lower Po. The Adige, formed by the 
 waters of the upper valleys of the Tyrol, flows beyond 
 the preceding line ; it descends through the movm- 
 tains parallel with the Lake of Garda, emerges into 
 the plain in the environs of Verona, then runs parallel 
 with the Mincio, hollows out a broad and deep bed as 
 fiir as Legnago, and, at a few leagues from that town, 
 ceases to be confined, and is converted into impassable 
 morasses, which intercept the entire space comprised 
 between Legnago and the Adriatic. Three routes 
 were at the option of the advancing Austrians : the 
 first, crossing the Adige abreast of Roveredo, before 
 the formation of the Lake of Garda, winded round 
 that lake, and conducted to its rear at Salo, Gavardo, 
 and Brescia. Two other routes, starting from Rove- 
 redo, followed the two banks of the Adige in its course 
 parallel with the Lake of Garda. The one, skirting 
 the right bank, proceeded between that river and the 
 lake, passed through the mountains, and opened into 
 the plain between the Mincio and the Adige. The 
 other, following the left bank, conducted into the plain 
 towards Verona, and thus fell on the front of the de- 
 fensive line. The first of the three, that which crossed 
 the Adige above the Lake of Garda, combined the 
 advantages of turning both the two lines of the Mincio 
 and the Adige, and of leading to the rear of tlie army 
 guarding them. But it was not ver3' practicable, being 
 accessible only to light artillery, and tiiercfore suitable 
 for a diversion, but not for a main operation. The 
 second, descending from the moutitains between the 
 lake and the Adige, passed the river at Kivalta or 
 Dolce, points where it was weakly defended ; but it 
 meandered in the mountains through positions easily 
 defended, such as those of La Corona and Kivoli. The 
 third and last, winding beyond the river into the midst 
 of the plain, debouched on its farther bank and fell on 
 the best defended part of its course, from Verona to 
 Legnago. Tims all the three routes presented peculiar 
 obstacles. The first could be pursued by a detachment 
 simply ; the second, passing Ix^tween the lake and the 
 river, encountered the positions of La Corona and 
 Rivoli ; the third plunged on the Adige, which runs,
 
 598 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 between Verona and Leg;nag(). in a hroad and deep 
 channel, and is defended by two fortresses only eight 
 leagues asunder. 
 
 Bonaparte had planted General Sauret with 3000 
 men at Salo, to guard the route conducting to the rear 
 of the Lake of Garda. Massena, with 12,000, inter- 
 cepted the route winding between the Lake of Garda 
 and the Adige, and occupied the positions of La Corona 
 and Hivoli. Despinois, with 5000, was in the environs 
 of Verona; Augereau, with 8000, at Legnago; and 
 Kilmaine, with 2000 horse and tlie light artillery, was 
 in reserve, occupying a central position at Castel- 
 Nuovo. It was here that Bonaparte had fixed his 
 head-quarters, in order that he might be equidistant 
 from Salo, Hivoli, and Verona. Attaching great value 
 to Verona, which commanded three avenues over the 
 Adige, and suspecting the intentions of Venice, he 
 determined to drive out the Slavonian troops garri- 
 soned within it.' Pretending they Avere hostile to the 
 French troops, under pretext of preventing collisions, 
 he issued orders for their evacuation. The provedi- 
 tore obeyed, and the French garrison alone remained 
 in Verona. 
 
 Wurmser had pitched his head-quarters at Trent 
 and Roveredo. He detached 20,000 men under Quas- 
 danovich to take the route turning the Lake of Garda, 
 and to debouch on Salo : 40,000 he kept under his 
 own command, distributing them on the two routes 
 skirting the Adige, one division being intended to at- 
 tack La Corona and Rivoli, and the other to debouch 
 on Verona. He thus expected to envelop the French 
 army, which, being assailed concomitantly on the 
 Adige and to the rear of the Lake of Garda, might 
 be forced on its front and cut off from its line of re- 
 treat. 
 
 The renown of Wurmser had outstripped his arri- 
 val. Throughout all Italy his approach was the topic 
 of speculation, and the party adverse to Italian inde- 
 pendence exhibited an exulting gladness and hardi- 
 hood. The Venetians were unable to restrain their 
 satisfaction within the bounds of moderation. The 
 Slavonian soldiers thronged the public places, and, 
 stretching out their hands to the passers-b}', demanded 
 the price of the French blood they were about to shed. 
 At Rome, the agents of France were insulted ; the 
 pope, emboldened by the prospect of a speedy deliver- 
 ance, stopped the carriages conveying the first instal- 
 ment of the contribution that had been imposed on 
 him ; he even sent back his legate to Ferrara and 
 Bologna. The court of Naples, also, abandoned to the 
 counsels of folly, spurned the conditions of the armis- 
 tice, and marched troops to the frontiers of the papal 
 dominions. A painful solicitude, on the contrary, 
 prevailed in the cities devoted to France and liberty. 
 Tidings from the Adige were awaited with impatience. 
 The Italian imagination, so prone to magnify, had 
 exaggerated the discrepancy of strength. Wurmser 
 was reported to command two armies, the one of 
 60,000, the other of 80,000 men ; and it was asked 
 how such a handful of French could possibly resist so 
 overpowering a mass. The famous proverb was in all 
 mouths — "/^//y is the grave of the French." 
 
 On the 11th Thermidor (29th July), the Austrians 
 came in presence of the French jjosts, and surprised 
 them all. The detachment sent to turn the Lake of 
 Garda arrived at Salo and thence repulsed General 
 Sauret. General Guyeux alone stood his ground with 
 a few hundred men, and immured himself in an old 
 building, wlience he refused to move, although he had 
 neither bread nor water, and but a scanty supply of 
 nmnitions. On the two routes skirting the Adige, the 
 Austrians advanced witli equal success ; they forced 
 the important position of La Corona between the 
 Adige and the Lake of Garda, and they surmounted 
 the obstacles of the third route, and debouched into the 
 plain before Verona. Bonaparte received tidings of 
 these reverses at his head-quarters of Castel-Nuovo. 
 Coui-iers arrived in quick succession ; and in the com-se 
 
 of the following day, 12 th Thermidor (.30th July), he 
 learnt that the Austrians had pushed on from Salo to 
 Brescia, and that his retreat on 5lilan was consequently 
 barred ; that the position of Rivoli was forced like that 
 of La Corona ; and that the Austrians were on the 
 point of crossing the Adige. In this alarming situa- 
 tion, having lost his defensive line and his line of 
 retreat, it was natural he should feel somewhat dis- 
 mayed. It was his first visitation of misfortune. 
 Either influenced by the enormity of the peril, or, 
 having already resolved to adopt a daring course of 
 action, he wished to share the responsibility with his 
 generals, he summoned a council of war, and, for the 
 first time, asked the opinion of his officers. All de- 
 clared for a retreat. Without support in front, and 
 one of the two routes into France being intercepted, 
 none deemed it consistent with prudence to hold their 
 ground. Augereau alone, whose conduct at this period 
 was the most glorious of his life, strongly insisted upon 
 an appeal to the fortune of arms. He was j'oung and 
 ardent ; he had learnt in the faubourgs to speak the 
 language of camps, and he declared that he had sturdy 
 grenadiers who woidd not retire without fighting. 
 Little capable of estimating the resources which the 
 situation of the armies and the nature of the ground 
 still afforded, he spoke only upon the impulse of cou- 
 rage, and tended by his martial ardour to animate the 
 genius of Bonaparte. He, the latter, dismissed the 
 generals without intimating his opinion ; but his plan 
 was fixed. Although the line of the Adige was forced, 
 and that of the Mincio and the Lake of Garda was 
 turned, the ground was such as still to ofier many 
 resoiu-ces to a man of genius and resolution. 
 
 The Austrians, divided into two corps, were de- 
 scending both banks of the Lake of Garda : their junc- 
 tion was to be effected at the termination of the lake, 
 and, arrived there, they would have 60,000 men to 
 overwhelm 30,000. But, by concentrating at the 
 point of the lake, their junction might be prevented. 
 By rapidly fi)rming a main mass, the French might 
 overpower the 20,000 who had turned the lake, and 
 immediately afterwards return to the 40,000 who had 
 defiled between the lake and the Adige. But, to 
 occupy the extremity of the lake, it was necessary to 
 call in all the troops from the Lower Adige and the 
 Lower Mincio ; Augereau must be withdrawn from 
 Legnago and Serrurier from Mantua, for so extensive 
 a line was no longer tenable. This involved a great 
 sacrifice, for IVIantua had been besieged during two 
 months, a considerable battering train had been trans- 
 ported before it, the fortress was on the point of capi- 
 tulating, and, by allowing it to be revictuaUed, the 
 fruit of these vigorous efforts, an almost assured prey, 
 escaped his grasp. Bonaparte, however, did not hesi- 
 tate ; between two important objects, he had the saga- 
 city to seize the most important and sacrifice to it the 
 other — a simple resolution in itself, but one which 
 displays not alone the great captain but the great man. 
 It is not in war merely, it occurs in politics and in all 
 the situations of life, that men encounter two objects, 
 and, aiming to compass both, fail in each. Bonaparte 
 possessed that rare and decisive vigour which prompts 
 at once the choice and the sacrifice. Had he persisted 
 in guarding the whole course of the Mincio, from tlie 
 extremity of the Lake of Garda to Mantua, he would 
 have been pierced ; by concentrating on IMantua to 
 cover it, he would liave had 70,000 men to cope with 
 at the same time— 60,000 in front and 10,000 in the 
 rear. He sacrificed Mantua, and concentrated at the 
 point of the Lake of Garda. Orders were forthwith 
 dispatched to Augereau to quit Legnago, and to Ser- 
 rurier to quit Mantua, for the purpose of concentrating 
 their forces towards Valeggio and Peschiera upon the 
 Upper Mincio. During the night of the 13th Ther- 
 midor (31st July), Serrurier burnt his artillery -frames, 
 spiked his cannon, buried his projectiles, and threw 
 his powder into the water, preparatory to his departure 
 to rejoin the active army.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 599 
 
 Bonaparte, husbanding every moment of time, de- 
 termined to march in the first place on the hostile 
 corps the most advanced, and the most dangerous from 
 the position it had taken up. This wa-s the army of 
 20,000 men under Quasdiinovieh, which had de- 
 bouched by Salo, Gavardo, and Brescia, on the rear 
 of the Lake of Garda, and threatened the communica- 
 tion with Milan. On the very day that Serrurier 
 abandoned Mantua, the Kith (31st July), Bonaparte 
 retrograded with the intention of falling upon Quasda- 
 novich, and repassed the Mincio, at Peschiera, with 
 the greater part of his forces. Augereau recrossed it 
 at Borghetto, by the bridge that had been the scene 
 of so glorious an action at the period of the first con- 
 quest. The rearguards were left to M'atch the pro- 
 gress of the enemy, who had passed the Adige. 
 Bonaparte ordered General Sauret to advance and 
 extricate General Guyeux, who was shut up in an 
 old building with 1700 men, without water or provi- 
 sions, and who had heroically defended himself for 
 two days. He resolved to march in person on Lonato, 
 whither Quasdanovich had already pushed forward a 
 division ; and he directed Augereau to move on Brescia, 
 in order to restore the communication with Milan. 
 Sauret succeeded in disengaging General Guyeux, 
 repelled the Austrians into the mountains, and took 
 from them several hundred prisoners. Bonaparte, 
 with the brigade of Allemagne, was not in time to at- 
 tack the Austrians at Lonato ; he was anticipated. But 
 after a vigorous engagement, he repulsed the enemy, 
 made his way into Lonato, and captured 600 pri- 
 soners. Augereau, meanwhile, marched on Brescia ; 
 he entered it the following day (1st August), without 
 encountering opposition, delivered some prisoners 
 taken by the Austrians, and forced the latter to re- 
 coil towards the mountains. Quasdanovich, who 
 expected to have reached the rear of the French army 
 and sm-prised it, was astonished to find imposing 
 masses on aU points, confronting him with such impe- 
 tuosity. He had lost but few men either at Salo or 
 Lonato ; but he deemed it incumbent to halt and avoid 
 engaging himself further, before learning what had 
 become of Wurmser with the prmcipal Austrian army. 
 He accordingly paused. 
 
 Bonaparte stopped short, also, on his part. Time 
 was precious in tliis direction ; it behoved him not to 
 push success beyond the strictly essential point. It 
 was enough to have awed Quasdanovich ; he was now 
 to return and make head against Wurmser. He re- 
 trograded with the divisions of Massena and Augereau. 
 On the 15th (2d August), he planted Massena's divi- 
 sion at Ponte-San-Marco, and Augereau's at Monte- 
 Chiaro. The rearguards he had left on the Mincio 
 became by this evolution his advanced guards. His 
 arrival was not too early, for the 40,000 men under 
 "Wurmser had crossed not only the Adige but the 
 Mincio. The division under Bayalitsch, having 
 masked Peschiera by a detachment, and passed the 
 Mincio, was advancing on the road to Lonato. The 
 division under Liptai had cleared the Mincio at 
 Borghetto, and driven General Valette from Castig- 
 lione. Wurmser had proceeded, with two divisions of 
 infantry and one of cavalry, to raise the blockade of 
 Mantua. On beholding the French gun-carriages in 
 ashes, their artillerj' spiked, and all the traces of an 
 extreme precipitation, he discerned, not the calcula- 
 tion of genius, but the result of a panic ; he was filled 
 with joy, and entered in triumph the city he had 
 come to deliver. This event occurred on the 15th 
 Thermidor (2d August). 
 
 Bonaparte, returned to Ponte-San-Marco and 
 Monte-Chiaro, allowed himself no interval of repose. 
 His troops had been constantly in motion ; he himself 
 had never been off horseback ; nevertheless, he de- 
 termined«to give battle on the following morning. He 
 had before him Bayalitsch at Lonato and Liptai 
 at Castiglione, presenting a front of 25,000 men. 
 The object was to attack them before Wurmser' re- 
 
 turned from Mantua. Sauret had a second time 
 aljandoned Salo : Bonaparte again detached thither 
 Guyeux, to retake the position and keep Quasdanovich 
 in check. After these precautions on his left and 
 rear, he resolved to march forward to Lonato witli 
 Massena, and to throw Augereau on the heights of 
 Castiglione, forsaken the preceding day by General 
 Valette. He deprived that general of his command 
 before the whole army, in order to impress upon his 
 lieutenants the duty of firmness. On the morrow, 
 the 16th (.3d August), all the French forces were in 
 motion. Guyeux re-entered Salo, which rendered 
 still more impracticable any comnninication between 
 Quasdanovich and the main Austrian army. Bona- 
 parte advanced on Lonato; but his vanguard was 
 worsted, some pieces were captured, and General 
 Pigeon remained a prisoner. Bayalitsch, flushed with 
 this success, pushed forward with confidence, and ex- 
 tended his wings around the French division. He had 
 two objects in executing this manoeuvre — first, to sur- 
 round Bonaparte, and, secondly, to extend his right 
 so as to enter into communication with Quasdanovich, 
 whose cannon he heard at Salo. Bonaparte, relieved 
 from apprehensions touching his rear, allowed him- 
 self to be outflanked with imperturbable coolness ; he 
 threw some tirailleurs on his threatened wings, and 
 then drawing up the eighteenth and thirty-second 
 demi-brigades of infantry, he ranged them in close 
 column, assigned a regiment of dragoons to support 
 them, and charged impetuously on the centre of the 
 enemy, who had weakened by expanding himself. He 
 overthrew all opposition with this brave inflmtr}', and 
 pierced the Austrian line. The Imperiahsts, thus cut 
 in two, lost their presence of mind ; one part of this 
 division under Bayalitsch fled in all haste towards 
 the Mincio, but the other, which had stretched out to 
 communicate with Quasdanovich, found itself driven 
 towards Salo, where Guyeux Avas in force. Bonaparte 
 caused it to be pursued with the utmost promptitude, 
 in order to place it between two fires. Junot led the 
 pursuit with a regiment of cavalry. He rushed for- 
 ward at full speed, slew six troopers with his own 
 hand, and fell covered with sabre wounds. The fugi- 
 tive division, taken between the corps stationed at 
 Salo and that following from Lonato, broke rank, fled 
 in disorder, and left at every step hundreds of pri- 
 soners. Whilst the pursuit was thus proceeding, 
 Bonaparte moved to the right, to Castiglione, where 
 Augereau had been fighting since the morning with 
 admirable intrepidity. His orders were to carry the 
 heights on which Liptai's division had planted itself. 
 After an obstinate conflict, several times renewed, he 
 had eventually succeeded in his aim; and Bonaparte, 
 on his arrival, found the enemy retiring on all points. 
 Such was the battle knowni as that of Lonato, fought 
 on the 16th Thermidor (3d August). 
 
 Its results were considerable. The French had cap- 
 tured twenty pieces of camion, taken 3000 prisoners 
 from the division cut off and thrown back on Salo, and 
 pursued the scattered remnants into the mountains. 
 They had made 1000 or 1500 prisoners at Castiglione; 
 slain or wounded 3000 men ; and cfiectually terrified 
 Quasdanovich, who, finding the Frencli army before 
 him at Salo, and hearing it in the distance at Lonato, 
 deemed it omnipresent. Tliey had almost disorganised 
 the divisions of Bayalitsch and Liptai, who recoiled 
 on Wiu'mser. This general now arrived with 15,000 
 men, rallied around him the two worsted divisions, 
 and commenced to deploy in the plains of Castig- 
 lione. Bonaparte, on tlie niorning of the 17th (4th 
 August), perceived him put himself in line to receive 
 battle. He resolved to assail him once more, and en- 
 gage in a final conflict to decide the fate of Itidy. But, 
 for that purpose, it was requisite he shoidd concentrate 
 at Castiglione all his dis]iosable troops. He conse- 
 quently deferred till the morrow this decisive battle, 
 lie started off at a gallop for Lonato, in order to acce- 
 lerate in person the movement of his troops. He had
 
 coo 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 in the last few days completely exhausted five horses. 
 He trusted implicitly' to none for the execution of his 
 orders ; he saw and verified all with his own eyes ; 
 infused animation every where by his presence. It is 
 thus a great mind communicates its impulse to a vast 
 mass, and quickens it with its fire. He arrived at 
 Lonato about noon. His orders were already in the 
 course of execution -, part of the troops was in march 
 for Castiglione, and another portion had moved towards 
 Ssilo and Gavardo. One thousand men at the utmost 
 remained at Lonato. Scarcely had Bonaparte entered 
 that place ere an Austrian herald presented himself 
 with a summons to surrender. The general, greatly 
 surprised,- was at a loss to comprehend how by pos- 
 sibility he could be in presence of the Austrians. The 
 enigma was however shortly explained. The division 
 cut off at the battle of Lonato and driven back on Salo, 
 had been partly captured ; but a corps of about four 
 thousand men had wandered all night in the moun- 
 tains, and, perceiving Lonato almost abandoned, had 
 conceived the design of penetrating into it, and thus 
 opening a passage to the Mincio. Bonaparte possessed 
 only a thousand men to oppose this corps, and above 
 all, he had no time to spare for an engagement. He 
 caused all the officers who were with him to mount on 
 horseback, and then ordered the herald to be led for- 
 ward and the bandage removed from his eyes. The 
 German officer was seized with amazement on beholding 
 so numerous a staff". " Unfortunate man," said Bona- 
 parte, addressing him, " are you ignorant then that you 
 are in the presence of the general-in-chief, and that he 
 is here with all his army .' Go, tell those who sent you 
 that I give them but five minutes to surrender, or I 
 will put them to the edge of the sword, as a just chas- 
 tisement for the insult they have presumed to pass 
 upon me." He immediately directed the artillery to 
 be brought forward, threatening to open a cannonade 
 upon the columns that were advancing. The herald 
 returned to report what he had seen and heard, and 
 the four thousand men laid do^vn their arms before one 
 thousand.* Bonaparte, saved by this opportune dis- 
 play of Ills presence of mind, distributed his orders for 
 the coming struggle. He added fresh troops to those 
 already detached on Salo. The division under Des- 
 pinois was united with that under Sauret, and the two 
 combined, profiting by the ascendancy of victory, were 
 enjoined to attack Quasdanovich, and drive him defi- 
 nitively into the mountains. He recalled all the rest 
 to Castiglione. He returned there during the night, 
 and, without allowing himself an instant of repose, 
 mounted another horse, and visited the field of battle 
 to make his final dispositions. The ensuing day was 
 to decide the destiny of Ital3-. 
 
 The plain of Castiglione was appointed as the scene 
 of this memorable conflict. A series of heights, formed 
 by the last ridges of the Alps, run from the Chiesa to 
 the Mincio, by Lonato, Castiglione, and Soherino. At 
 the foot of these heights extends the plain which was 
 to serve as the field of battle. The two armies were 
 drawn up in opposite array, perpendicularly to the 
 line of heights, upon which both rested a wing. Bona- 
 parte touched them with his left, Wurmser with his 
 riglit. The former commanded 22,000 men at most ; 
 the latter 30,000. Wurmser had an additional ad- 
 vantage : his wing in the plain was covered by a re- 
 doubt placed on the detached eminence of Medolano. 
 Thus he was supported on both flanks. To coun- 
 terbalance the advantages of number and position, 
 Bonaparte relied on the ascendancy of victory and on 
 the dexterity of his evolutions. Wurmser would natu- 
 rally tend to prolong his right, which rested on the 
 line of heights, in order to open a communication to- 
 wards Lonato and Salo. It was thus Bayalitsch had 
 
 * This fact has been called in question by an historian, IM. Botta ; 
 but it is corroborated by all the accounts, and I have received an 
 assurance of its authenticity from the qu;u-termastcr-general of 
 the active army, M. Auberaon, who passed the four thousand 
 prisoners in review. 
 
 acted two days before, and the same course was impe- 
 rative on Wurmser; for his main object was necessarily 
 to effect a junction with his large detachment. Bona- 
 parte resolved to encourage this movement, from which 
 he hoped to derive important benefit. He had now 
 at disposal the division under Serrurier, which, pur- 
 sued by Wurmser since it had quitted Mantua, had 
 been hitherto unable to enter into line. It was com- 
 ing up by Guidizzola. Bonaparte ordered it to debouch 
 towards Cauriana, on the rear of Wurmser. He 
 awaited its fire to begin the battle 
 
 By break of day the two armies entered on action. 
 Wurmser, impatient to attack, moved his right along 
 the heights ; Bonaparte, to encoirrage this movement, 
 drew back his left, which was formed by Massena's 
 di\'ision ; he kept his centre immoveable in the plain. 
 Shortly he heard the fire of Serrurier. Thereupon, 
 whilst he continued to draw back his left, and Wurm- 
 ser to extend his right, he caused the redoubt of Me- 
 dolano to be attacked. He in the first place directed 
 twenty pieces of light artillery upon that redoubt, 
 and, after vigorously cannonading it, detached General 
 Verdier, with three battalions of grenadiers, to storm 
 it. That gallant officer advanced, supported b}' a 
 regiment of cavalry, and carried the redoubt. The 
 left wing of the Austrians was then uncovered, at the 
 very moment that Serrurier, arrived at Cauriana, 
 spread alarm on their rear. Wurmser immediately 
 threw a part of his second line to his left, thus de- 
 prived of support, and placed it in aid to make head 
 against the French about to debouch from IMedolano. 
 He moved the residue of his second line to the rear, 
 in order to cover Cauriana, and thus continue to op- 
 pose the progress of the enemy. But Bonaparte, 
 seizing the moment with his accustomed promptitude, 
 now ceased to refuse his left and centre ; he instantly 
 gave Massena and Augereau the signal they were 
 impatiently awaiting. Massena with the left and 
 Augereau with the centre fell upon the weakened line 
 of the Austrians, and charged it with impetuosity. 
 Attacked so abruptly on his whole front, menaced on 
 his left and rear, the enemy began to yield ground. 
 The ardour of the French redoubled. Wurmser, see- 
 ing his amiy compromised, gave the signal for retreat. 
 His foe pursued, capturing sundry prisoners. To put 
 him completely to rout, the French must have used 
 redoubled celerity, and driven him in disorder on the 
 Mincio. But, for the last six days, the troops had 
 been fighting and marching without intermission, 
 they were unable to advance, and slept on the field of 
 battle. Wurmser lost this day but 2000 men ; but he 
 had not the less lost Italy. 
 
 On the following day, Augereau pushed on to the 
 bridge of Borghetto and Massena to Peschiera. Au- 
 gereau opened a cannonade, which was followed by the 
 retreat of the Austrians ; and Massena engaged in a 
 rearguard action with the division which had masked 
 Feschiera. The Mincio was abandoned by Wurmser ; 
 he retook the road to Rivoli, between the Adige and 
 the Lake of Garda, in order to regain the Tyrol. 
 Massena followed him to Rivoli and to La Corona, 
 and resumed his former positions. Augereau pre- 
 sented himself before Verona. The Venetian prove- 
 ditore, with the intention of affording the Austrians 
 time to evacuate the city and save their baggage, de- 
 manded an interval of two hours before opening the 
 gates : Bonaparte shivered them into fragments with 
 cannon-balls. The Veronese, who were devoted to 
 the cause of Austria, and had unequivocally expressed 
 their sentiments at the moment of the French retreat, 
 dreaded the wrath of the conqueror ; but he caused 
 the greatest forbearance to be observed towards them. 
 On the side of Salo and tlie Chiesa, Quasdanovich 
 effected a diflScult retreat behind the Lake of Garda. 
 He ventured to halt and defend the defile of Rocca 
 d'Anfo; but he was worsted, and lost 1200 men. 
 Ere long the French had again taken up all their 
 former positions.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 6Ul 
 
 This campaign had occupied six days. In that in- 
 terval, thirty and a few thousand men had put sixty 
 thousand to flight. Wurmser had lost twenty tliou- 
 sand men, of whom seven or eight thousand were 
 killed and wounded, twelve or thirteen thousand taken 
 prisoners. He was repulsed into the mountains, and 
 rendered incapahle of keeping the field. Thus had 
 vanished that formidable host before a handful of 
 heroes. Such extraordinary results, unparalleled in 
 history, were due to the promptitude and vigour of 
 resolution displayed by the young captain. A^^iilst 
 two numerous armies covered both shores of the Lake 
 of Garda, and the courage of all was shaken, he had 
 contrived to reduce the campaign to a single contin- 
 gency — the junction of those two armies at the ex- 
 tremity of the Lake of Garda ; he had not hesitated 
 to make a mortifying sacrifice, giving up the blockade 
 of Mantua to concentrate his forces on the decisive 
 point ; and, falling irresistibly on each of the hostile 
 masses in turn, at Salo, Lonato, and Castiglione, he 
 had successively disorganised them, and repelled them 
 into the mountains whence they had issued. 
 
 The Austrians were overcome with terror, the 
 French were transported with admiration of their 
 young general. Zeal and confidence in him animated 
 every breast. A battalion felt competent to make 
 three fly. The old soldiers, who had nominated him 
 corporal at Lodi, saluted him as sergeant at Castig- 
 lione. Throughout Italy a profound sensation reigned. 
 Milan, Bologna, Ferrara, the to^vns in the dutchy of 
 Modena, and all the friends of liberty, were in ecstacies 
 of joy. Grief pervaded convents and antiquated aris- 
 tocracies. The governments which had been betrayed 
 into indiscretions — Venice, Rome, Naples — were in 
 trepidation. 
 
 Bonaparte, correctly appreciating his position, did 
 not deem the contest terminated, albeit he had de- 
 prived Wurmser of 20,000 men. The veteran marshal 
 had retreated into the Alps with 40,000. There he 
 would repose, reanimate and recruit his forces, and 
 it was to be presumed would again fall on Italy. 
 Bonaparte had lost several thousand men, prisoners, 
 killed, or wounded ; he had a great number in hospi- 
 tal : he judged it expedient still to temporise, to keep 
 his eyes on the Tyrol, his feet on the Adige, and to 
 content himself with overawing the Italian powers, 
 until he enjoyed the opportunity of chastising them. 
 Thus he merely intimated to the Venetians that he 
 was aware of their preparations, and continued to 
 supply his army at their expense, postponing the nego- 
 tiations for an alliance. He had learnt the arrival at 
 Ferrara of a legate from the pope, commissioned to 
 resume possession of the legations ; him he summoned 
 to his head-quarters. This legate, by name Cardinal 
 Mattel, fell at his feet, ejaculating, " Peccavi." Bona- 
 parte placed him under arrest in a seminaiy. He 
 wrote to M. d'Azara, who was his intermediary with 
 the courts of Rome and Naples, complaining of the 
 imbecihty and bad faith of the papal government, and 
 announcing his jmrpose of speedily returning to the 
 south, shoiild circumstances constrain him. As to 
 the court of Naples, he held yet more menacing lan- 
 guage. " The English," he said to M. d'Azara, " have 
 persuaded the King of Naples that he is somebody ; I 
 will prove to him that he is nobody. If he persist, 
 despite the armistice, in collecting troops, I bind 
 myself, in presence of Europe, to march against his 
 pretended seventy thousand men with six thousand 
 grenadiers, four thousand horse, and fifty pieces of 
 cannon." 
 
 He addressed a conciliatory but firm note to the 
 Grand-Duke of Tuscany, who had allowed the Eng- 
 lish to take possession of Porto-Ferrajo, and apprised 
 him that France would be justified in punishing him 
 for such negligence by occupying his territories, but 
 that, in consideration of ancient amitj', she would 
 refrain from enforcing the right. lie changed the 
 garrison of Leghorn, in order to intimidate the Tus- 
 
 cans by a movement of troops. He was silent with 
 Genoa, He dispatched an energetic remonstrance to 
 the King of Sardinia, who tolerated the Barbets in his 
 dominions, and detached a roving military commis- 
 sion to seize and shoot the Barbets found on the roads. 
 The population of Milan had evinced tlie most friendly 
 dispositions towards the French. He forwarded a 
 letter to that city, couched in delicate and noble terms, 
 expressive of his gratitude. His late victories inspir- 
 ing stronger hopes of retaining Italy, he considered he 
 might commit himself more frankly with the Lom- 
 bards ; he gi'anted them arms, and permission to levy 
 a legion at their own charge, the ranks whereof were 
 eagerly filled up by the Italians favourable to liberty, 
 and by the Poles wandering through Europe since the 
 last partition. Bonaparte testified his satisfaction to 
 the populations of Bologna and Ferrara. The people 
 of Modena craved to be dehvered from the regency 
 established by the duke. Bonaparte had already cer- 
 tain motives for breaking the armistice, inasmuch as 
 the regency had caused provisions to be conveyed to 
 the garrison of Mantua ; but he determined to wait 
 yet a while. He solicited succours from the Directoi-y 
 to repair his losses, and consolidated himself at the 
 portals of the Tyrol, ready to fall on Wurmser and 
 destroy the remnant of his army the moment he learnt 
 that Moreau had crossed the Danube. 
 
 Whilst these great events were passing in Italy, 
 others of almost equal moment were progressing in 
 Germany. Moreau had gradually driven l)ack the 
 archduke, and arrived about the middle of Thermidor 
 (early part of Augiist) on the Danube. Jourdan had 
 reached the Naab, which falls into that river. The 
 chain of the Alb, which separates the Neckar from 
 the Danube, is composed of mountains of moderate 
 elevation, terminating in table-lands, and traversed by 
 defiles narrow as the fissures of rocks. It was by 
 these defiles Moreau had debouched on the Danube, 
 into a broken country, intercepted by ravines and 
 covered with wood. The archduke, who cherished 
 the design of concentrating himself on the Danube, 
 and retrieving his strength on that powerful barrier, 
 suddenly formed a resolution which placed in need- 
 less jeopardy his sagacious plan. He learnt that 
 Wartensleben, instead of falling back on him, as near 
 to Donawerth as possible, was recoiling on Bohemia, 
 with the preposterous intention of covering it ; and he 
 became apprehensive lest the army of the Sambre- 
 and-Meuse, taking advantage of this false movement, 
 which uncovered the Danube, should attempt to 
 effect its passage. He resolved, therefore, to pass it 
 himself, defile rapidly on the other bank, and confront 
 Jourdan. But the river was lined with his magazines, 
 and time was required for emptying them ; moreover, 
 he was unwilling to execute the passage under the 
 eyes of Moreau, and liable to his assaults; wherefore 
 he conceived the project of removing him from his 
 vicinity, by giving him battle with the Danube at his 
 back — a faulty conception, for which he afterwards 
 severely blamed himself, since it exposed him to the 
 risk of being forced into the river, or at least of not 
 making good his arrival on it entire, a condition in- 
 dispensable for the success of his ulterior designs. 
 
 On the 24th Thermidor (11th August), he halted 
 before tlie positions of Moreau, intending to make a 
 general attack upon him. Moreau was at Ncresheim, 
 occupying the positions of Duiistelkingen and Dis- 
 chingen by his right and centre, and that of Nord- 
 lingen by liis left. The archduke, wishing in the first 
 place to remove him from the Danul)e, next to cut 
 him off", if possible, from the mountains tiirough wiiich 
 he had debouched, and lastly, to prevent him <;om- 
 niimicating with Jourdan, attacked him, in order to 
 achieve all his aims, on all points simultaneously. He 
 succeeded in turning Moreau's right, by dispersing 
 his flanking corps ; he advanced even to Heidenhcim, 
 almost, on his rear, and occasioned so much alarm that 
 all the ammunition magazines were hastily carried
 
 6U2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 back. In the oetitre, he essayed a vigorous attack, 
 but it vas not sufficiently decisive. On the left, to- 
 wards Nordlingen, he made threatening demonstra- 
 tions. ]Moreau was not intimidated either by the 
 demonstrations made on his left or by the excursion 
 beyond his right; and. judging with reason that the 
 essential point was in the centre, he acted in opposi- 
 tion to the tactics deemed sacred by ordinary gene- 
 rals, always in extreme terror when their enemy 
 threatens to outflank them : he weakened his wings 
 to the profit of the centre. His precaution and fore- 
 sight were justified by the event. The archduke, 
 redoubling his efforts on the centre, towards Dunstel- 
 kingen, was repulsed with loss. Both armies reposed 
 on the field of battle. 
 
 Moreau found himself the following day in a dis- 
 agreeable predicament, by the retrograde movement 
 of his magazines, which left him without munitions. 
 However, he determined to put a bold front on the 
 matter, and manifest an intention to attack. But the 
 arcliduke, anxious to repass the Danube, felt no in- 
 clination to renew the combat : he continued his re- 
 treat, with infinite firmness, on the river, crossed it 
 without being incommoded by Moreau, and broke 
 down the bridges as far as Donawerth. He now re- 
 ceived intelligence of wliat had passed between the 
 two armies which had operated by the Maine. War- 
 tensleben had not thrown himself into Bohemia as he 
 feared; he had rested on the Naab in presence of 
 Jourdan. The young Austrian prince thereupon 
 formed a very admirable resolution, the consequence, 
 in some measure, of his long retreat, and well calcu- 
 lated to decide the campaign. His object in fidling 
 back on the Danube had been to concentrate himself 
 on that river, in order that he might be enabled to act 
 against one or other of the two French armies with a 
 superior mass of troops. The battle of Neresheim 
 might have compromised this plan, if, instead of being 
 indecisive, it had proved altogether adverse. But, 
 having retired unbroken on the Danube, he might 
 now profit by the separation of the French armies, 
 and fall upon one of the two. Accordingly, he resolved 
 to leave General Latour with 36,000 men to occupy 
 Moreau, and to move in person with 25,000 towards 
 Wartensleben, in order to overwhelm jourdan by 
 their junction. Jourdan's army was the weakest of 
 the two French armies. At an equally great distance 
 from its base, it scarcely counted upwards of 45,000 
 men. It was obvious it could offer no effectual resist- 
 ance, and might even be exposed to great disasters. 
 Jourdan beaten and driven back on the Rhine ; Mo- 
 reau, on his part, unable to remain in Bavaria ; and 
 the archduke possibly enabled to advance on the 
 Neckar and intercept him in his line of retreat — such 
 the conception, which has been esteemed by far the 
 brightest amongst those distinguishing the Austrian 
 generals during these long wars : like the combina- 
 tions illustrating the genius of Bonaparte in Italy at 
 the time, the idea originated with a very young man. 
 
 The archduke left Ingolstadt on the 29th Thermidor 
 (16th August), five days after the battle of Neresheim. 
 Jourdan, posted on the Naab, between Naaburg and 
 Schwandorf, was unjjrepared for the storm about to 
 burst on his head. He had detached General Berna- 
 dotte to Neunuxrkt on his right, with the view of 
 putting himself in communication with Moreau — an 
 object impossible to accomplish, and for which a 
 detached corps was uselessly jeopardised. The arch- 
 duke, arriving from the Danube, necessarily encoun- 
 tered this detachment. Genend Bernadotte, attacked 
 by superior forces, offered an honourable resistance, 
 but was obliged to repass with rapidity the moimtains 
 through which the army had debouched from the 
 vaUey of the Elaine into that of the iXinube. He re- 
 treated to Nuremberg. The archduke, after detaching 
 a corps to pursue him, moved with the rest of his 
 forces on Jourdan. The latter, warned of the arrival 
 of a reinforcement, and apprised of tlie danger Berna- 
 
 dotte had incurred, and of his retreat to Nuremberg, 
 likewise prepared to repass the mountains. At the 
 moment he was getting under march, he was attacked 
 by both the archduke and Wartensleben ; he had an 
 arduous combat to sustain at Amberg, and lost his 
 direct route upon Nuremberg. Thrown with his parks, 
 his cavalry, and his infantry, into cross-roads, he ran 
 the greatest danger, and prosecuted, during a period 
 of eight days, a most difficult retreat, reflecting equal 
 credit on himself and his troops. He regained the 
 Maine at Schweinfurt on the 12th Fructidor (29th 
 August), and proposed to direct his march on Wurtz- 
 burg, there to halt, rally his corps, and once more try 
 the fortune of arms. 
 
 Whilst the archduke was executing this brilliant 
 movement against the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse, 
 he afforded Moreau an opportunity of effecting a 
 similar evolution, equally brilliant and decisive. An 
 enemy never attempts a bold manoeuvre without un- 
 covering himself, and without opening many excellent 
 chances to his antagonist. Moreau, having only 38,000 
 men before him, might have easily overwhelmed them 
 by acting with moderate vigour and promptitude, 
 lie might have done more (in the opinion of Napoleon 
 and the Archduke Charles) : he might have attempted 
 a movement promising results altogether transcendent. 
 He ought himself to have followed the march of the 
 enemy, wheeled upon the archduke, as that prince 
 had wlieeleil upon Jourdan, and fallen suddenly upon 
 his rear. The archduke, taken between Jourdan and 
 Moreau, must have incurred incalculable hazards. 
 But, for that purpose, he required to execute a very 
 extended movement, promptly change his line of ope- 
 ration, and throw himself from the Neckar on the 
 Maine ; above all, he must have derogated from the 
 instructions of the Directory, which enjoined him to 
 diverge towards the Tyrol, in order to outflank the 
 wings of the enemy and open a communication with the 
 army of Italy. The youthful conqueror of Castiglione 
 would not have hesitated to make this bold march, and 
 to comnnt an act of disobedience calculated to decide 
 the campaign in a victorious manner : but Moreau was 
 incapable of such a determination. He remained 
 several days on the banks of the Danube, ignorant of 
 the archduke's departure, and slowly exploring a 
 ground which was then but little known. Eventually 
 apprised of the movement his enemy had just operated, 
 he felt misgivings for the fate of Jourdan ; but, not 
 venturing to adopt an energetic determination, he re- 
 solved to clear the Danube and advance into Bavaria, 
 in the hope of thereby drawing the archduke back, 
 adhering at the same time to the plan of the Direc- 
 tory. He might have readily concluded, however, 
 that the archduke would not quit Jourdan before he 
 had driven him out of the field, and would not be 
 diverted from the execution of a decisive project by 
 an inroad into Bavaria. Moreau, nevertheless, crossed 
 the Danube, in the wake of Latour, and approached 
 the Lech. Latour evinced an intention of disputing 
 tlie passage of the Lech ; but, too extended to sustain 
 himself on its banks, he was obliged to abandon it, 
 after maintaining an unfortunate rencounter at Fried- 
 berg. Moreau subsequently moved on towards Mu- 
 nich : on the 15th Fructidor (1st September) he took 
 up positions at Dachau, PfaflPenhofen, and Geisenfeld. 
 
 Thus fortune began to frown on the French in Ger- 
 many, in consequence of that vicious plan which, by 
 dividing their two armies, exposed them to the hazard 
 of being separately defeated. Meanwhile, events of 
 imi)ortance were occurring in Italy. 
 
 AVe have seen that Bonaparte, after having repulsed 
 the Austrians into the Tyrol and resumed his former 
 positions on the Adige, meditated fresh projects against 
 Wurmser, whom he was not content to have weakened 
 by 20,000 men ; his army he desired utterly to destroy. 
 This consummation was necessary for the fulfilment 
 of the various designs he entertained. Wurmser anni 
 hilated, he miglit push onwards even to Trieste, ruin
 
 HiaXORY OF THE FKEMCH KEVOLUTlOiN. 
 
 C03 
 
 that sea-port so valuable to Austria, afterwards return 
 upon the Adige, dictate terms to Venice, Rome, and 
 Naples, whose malevolence was still manifest as ever, 
 and, lastly, hoist the standard of liberty in Italy, by 
 constituting Lombardy, the legations of Bologna and 
 Ferrara, perhaps even the dutchj' of ^lodena, into an 
 independent republic. Revolving such projects, he 
 determined to advance into the Tj^rol, assured now of 
 being seconded by the presence of iloreau on the other 
 flank of the Alps. 
 
 Whilst the French troops employed a respite of 
 three weeks in recovering ft-om their fatigues, Wurmser 
 was engaged in reorganising and reinforcing his army. 
 Fresh detachments, draughted from Austria and the 
 Tyrolean militia, enabled him to augment his army 
 to nearly 50,000 men. The Aulic Council sent him 
 another chief of the staff, Lauer, general of engineers, ' 
 with new uistructions as to the plan to be followed for 
 carrying the line of the Adige. Wurmser was to 
 leave 18,000 or 20,000 men under Davidovich to giiard 
 the TjTol, and to descend with the residue, through 
 the valley ol the Brenta, into the plains of Vicenza 
 and Padua. The Brenta takes its rise not far from 
 Trent, diverges from the Adige in the form of a curve, 
 again runs parallel with that river in the plain, and 
 finally flows into the Adriatic. A causewaj-, starting 
 from Trent, leads into the valley of the Brenta, and 
 proceeds through Bassano into the plains of Vicenza 
 and Padua. Wurmser Avas to traverse this valley, 
 debouch into the plain, and attempt the passage of the 
 Adige between Verona and Legnago. This plan was 
 not more judiciously conceived than the preceding, 
 since it again embodied the evil principle of dividing 
 the forces into two corps, and placing Bonaparte in 
 the midst. 
 
 Wurmser commenced operations simultaneously 
 with Bonaparte. The latter, ignorant of Wurmser's 
 designs, but foreseeing with rare sagacity that during 
 his inroad into the depths of the Tyrol the enemy 
 might possibly move to try the line of the Adige, left 
 General Kilmaine at Verona with a reserve of nearly 
 3000 men, and with capabilities of resistance for at 
 least two days. General Sahuguet remained with a 
 division of 8000 men before Jlantua. Bonaparte set 
 ofi" with 28,000, and ascended by the three routes of 
 the Tyrol — by that which winds behind the Lake of 
 Garda, and by the two which skirt the Adige. On 
 the 17th Fructidor (.3d September), Sauret's, now 
 become Vaubois' division, after having fought several 
 actions in its devious course behind the Lake of Garda, 
 reached Torbole, the upper extremity of the lake. 
 On the same day, the divisions under IMassena and 
 Augereau, who at first skirted the two banks of the 
 Adige but had subsequently united on one by the 
 bridge of Golo, arrived before Serravalle. Their van- 
 guard became embroiled with the enemy, and took 
 from him sundry prisoners. 
 
 The French had now to ascend a deep and narrow 
 valley : on their left was the Adige, on their right 
 lofty mountains. Frequently the river, sweeping to 
 the foot of the mountains, left only the breadth of the 
 road, and thus formed dismal defiles for an army to 
 surmount : of such there were several to clear before 
 penetrating into the Tyrol. But the French, bold and 
 nimble, proved equally adapted for this kind of warfare 
 as for that they had carried on in the spacious plains 
 of Mantua. 
 
 Davidovich had stationed two divisions, the one 
 at the camp of Mori, on the right bank of the Adige, 
 to make head against Vaubois, advancing along the 
 highway from Torbule to Roveredo, after leaving the 
 Lake of Garda; tlie other at San-i\Iarco, to guard tlie 
 defile against Massena and Augereau. On the 18tli 
 Fructidor (4th September), the French descried the 
 Austrian division posted under Wukassovich to defend 
 the defile of San-Marco. Bonaparte, promptly adopt- 
 ing the tactics suital)le to the locality, formed two 
 <:orps of light infantrv, and distributed tlieni to the 
 
 right and the left on the neighbouring heights , then, 
 after harassing the Austrians a while, he drew up the 
 eighteenth demi-brigade in close column by battalions, 
 and ordered General Victor to force the pass at its 
 head. A furious conflict ensued : the Austrians re- 
 sisted with obstinacy, but Bonaparte decided the en- 
 gagement by commanding General Dubois to charge 
 at the head of the hussars. That brave ofllicer rushed 
 on the Austrian infantry, broke it, and fell pierced by 
 three bullets. He was removed in the arms of death. 
 " Before I die," he said to Bonaparte, " let me know 
 if we are victorious." On all sides the Austrians fled 
 and retreated to Roveredo, situated a league from San- 
 Jvlarco : they were pursued at racing speed. Roveredo 
 is a short distance from the Adige ; Bonaparte de- 
 tached Rampon, with the thirty-second, towards the 
 ground separating the river from the town ; he urged 
 Victor, with the eighteenth, on the town itself. The 
 latter entered the principal street of Roveredo at full 
 charge, swept the Austrians before him, and reached 
 the further extremity of the town at the instant Ram- 
 pon accomplished its outer circuit. Whilst the main 
 army thus carried Saiv Marco and Roveredo, Vaubois 
 arrived at Roveredo with his division by the other 
 bank of the Adige. Tlie Austrian division mider 
 Reuss had disputed with him the camp of Mori, but 
 he had stormed it the same morning ; and now all the 
 French divisions were united towards the middle of 
 the day abreast of Roveredo, on both banks of the 
 Adige. But the most difficult part of the imdertaking 
 yet remained for achievement. 
 
 Davidovich had rallied his two divisions on his 
 reserve in the defile of Galliano, a formidable pass, far 
 more dangerous than that of Marco. At that point, 
 the Adige, encroaching on the mountains, left be- 
 tween its channel and their base the mere breadth of 
 the road. The gorge of the defile was closed by the 
 castle of La Pietra, which connected the mountain 
 with the river, and was crowned with artillery. 
 
 Bonaparte, pursuing the same course of tactics, 
 distributed his light infantry to the right, on the ac- 
 clivities of the mountain, and to the left on the bank 
 of the river. His soldiers, born on the banks of the 
 Rhone, the Seine, or the Loire, rivalled in agility and 
 daring the famed hunters of the Alps. Some clam- 
 bered from rock to rock, attained the smimiit of the 
 mountain, and opened a fire overhead upon the enemy. 
 Others, not less intrepid, crept along the river, gain- 
 ing a footing wherever thej' could, and so tin-ned the 
 fort of La Pietra. General Dammartin planted hap- 
 pily a battery of light artillery, which told with great 
 effect : the castle was won. Thereupon the infantry 
 passed through it, and charged in close column upon 
 the Austrian army amassed in the defile. Artillery, 
 cavalry, and infantry, became all amalgamated inex- 
 tricably, and fled in horrible disorder. Young Lema- 
 rois, aid-de-camp of the general-in- chief, midertook 
 to stop the flight of the Austrians : he galloped for- 
 ward at the head of fifty hussars, pressed along the 
 side of the Austrian mass, and, turning quickly round, 
 attempted to check the fugitive van. He was thrown 
 from his horse, but he spread terror through tlie ranks 
 of the Austrians, and gave time to the cavalry, which 
 was rushing in pursuit, to secure several lumdred 
 prisoners. Here finished this series of engagements, 
 which conferred on tlie French the defiles of the 
 Tyrol, the town of Roveredo, the whole Austrian ar- 
 tillery, and four thousand prisoners, omitting from 
 the calculation the dead and wounded. Bonaparte 
 classed the events of this day under the title of the 
 battle of Roveredo.* 
 
 * [An .'iniinatcd and succinct account of nonaparte's progress 
 into the Tyrol occurs in tlio Annual Register for 17U6, rather an 
 unfaviiuialilc record of his exploits in general : — 
 
 " As tlic reimhlicans moved forward, they successively drove 
 the Austrian outposts from Alia and Serravalle, and conipellwl 
 them to retire, with the loss of three or four hundred men. to 
 Miaco and Mori. At six in the morning, the two laltcr pontu
 
 604 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 On the morrow, 19th Fnictidor (5th September), 
 the French entered Trent, the capital of the Italian 
 Tyrol. The bishop had previously taken to flight. 
 Bonaparte, ^rith tlie view of tranquiUising the Tyro- 
 lese, who were strongly attached to the house of 
 Austria, addressed them in a proclamation, wherein 
 he invited them to lay down their arms, and to re- 
 frain from committing hostilities against his army, 
 upon which conditions he promised their pro])erty and 
 public establishments sliould be respected. Wurmscr 
 was not found at Trent. Bonaparte had surprised 
 liini at the very moment he was commencing his 
 march to put his plan into execution. Perceiving tlie 
 French entangle themselves in the T3T0I, with the 
 intention, perhaps, of communicating with Germany, 
 Wurraser was only the more fortified in his resolution 
 of descending by tlie Brenta, in order to force tlie 
 Adige during their absence. He even hoped that, by 
 a rapid circuit, which would lead liim to Verona, he 
 might shut up the French in the upper valley of the 
 Adige, and thus at once envelop and cut them off 
 from Mantua. He had set out two days earlier, and 
 must have already reached Bassano : Bonaparte in- 
 stantly formed a most daring resolution. He deter- 
 mined to leave Vaubois in charge of the Tyrol, and 
 push on through the gorges of the Brenta in pursuit 
 of Wurmser. He could take with him but 20,000 men, 
 and Wurmser had 30,000 ; he might be cooped up in 
 those fearful ravines, if Wurmser lield him at bay; 
 he might hkewise arrive too late to fall on Wurmser's 
 rear, and the Austrians might have had time to pass 
 the Adige : all these contingencies were possible. 
 But, on the other hand, his 20,000 were equivalent 
 to the 30,000 of his adversary; if Wurmser at- 
 tempted to make head, and to shut him up in the 
 gorges, he would ride roughshod over his body ; if he 
 had twenty leagues to accomplish, he would do so in 
 two days, and arrive in the plain as soon as Wurm- 
 ser. Then he would drive him eitlier on Trieste or 
 on the Adige. If he drove him on Trieste, he would 
 pursue him, and burn that port before his eyes ; if he 
 drove him on the Adige, he woiUd enclose him between 
 his army and that river, and thus envelop the enemy 
 who vainly dreamt of ensnaring him in the gorges of 
 the T\Tol. 
 
 This 3'oimg soldier, whose conceptions were formed 
 and acted upon with the rapidity of lightning, ordered 
 Vaubois, the very day of his arrival at Trent, to 
 march on the Lavisio, and wrest tliat position from 
 Davidovich's rearguard. He superintended in person 
 the execution of this enterprise, pointed out to Vau- 
 bois the positions he was to guard A\'ith liis 10,000 men, 
 and prepared to advance with the 20,000 remaining, 
 and plunge into the ravines of the Brenta. 
 
 He started at dawn on the 20tli (6th September), 
 and slept that evening at Levico. The following 
 morning he resumed his march, and arrived before 
 another defile, known as the pass of Prunolano, where 
 Wurmser had posted a division. He employed the 
 same manoeuvres as before, throwing riflemen on the 
 heights and on the bank of the Brenta, and then 
 charging in column along the road. The defile was 
 
 were attacked by the French, and by noon the Austrians were 
 not only expelled from them, but were pursued through Rove- 
 redo, as far as the defile of Calliano. Bonaparte did not pause 
 for a moment. lie ordered the division of Massena to advance 
 immediately against this almost impregnable pass. The order 
 was obeyed, the defile was carried, and tlie troops which defended 
 it were thrown into utter confusion with astonishing rapidity. 
 By nightfall the routed Austrian army was driven beyond Trent ; 
 having, in the course of the day, suffered, independently of tlie 
 killed and wounded, a loss of five thous;ind men taken prisoners, 
 twenty-five pieces of cannon, seven standards, and a profusion 
 of ammunition and baggage. On the following morning the re- 
 publicans entered Trent, to which place no French army had 
 ever before been able to penetrate. From Trent a division was 
 dispatched against the position of Lavis, which was mastered 
 with ao little trouble a-s either of the former."] 
 
 carried. A small fort stood beyond : it was sur- 
 rounded and stormed. Some hardy soldiers, scourmg 
 the road, got in front of the fugitives, retarded their 
 flight, and afforded the army time to come up and 
 capture them. Three thousand prisoners were taken 
 by the French, wlio arrived the same evening at Cis- 
 mone, liaving travelled twenty leagues in two days. 
 Bonaparte was eager to advance still further, but the 
 soldiers were unable ; he liimself was overcome with 
 fatigue. He had outstripped his staS", and found him- 
 self without retinue or provisions ; lie divided a piece 
 of ration-bread with a soldier, and threw himself on 
 the ground, impatiently awaiting tlie break of day. 
 
 This extraordinary and unexpected march appalled 
 Wurmser. He had never imagined his enemy would 
 adventure into such gorges, at the imminent hazard 
 of being enveloped ; he now proposed to take advan- 
 tage of the position of Bassano, which closes them, and 
 bar their outlet with his whole army. If he suc- 
 ceeded in keeping liim at bay, Bonaparte would be 
 cooped up in the curve of the Brenta. He had already 
 detached the division under De Mezaros to try Ve- 
 rona, but he countermanded it in order to contend on 
 this point with all his forces : it was not probable, 
 however, the order would arrive m time. The town 
 of Bassano is situated on the left bank of the Brenta, 
 communicating with the right bank by a bridge. 
 Wurmser planted the two divisions of Sebottendorf 
 and Quasdanovich on the two banks of the Brenta, in 
 advance of the town. He disposed six battalions as a 
 vanguard in the defiles which precede Bassano and 
 shut in the vallej'. 
 
 On the morning of the 22d (8th September), Bona- 
 parte left Cismone and advanced on Bassano. Mas- 
 sena marched on the right bank, and Augereau on the 
 left. The French carried the defiles and debouched 
 in presence of the hostile arm\% drawn up on both 
 banks of the Brenta. Wurmser's troops, disconcerted 
 by the temerity of the French, failed to resist with 
 tlie courage they had exhibited on so many occasions 
 they faltered, broke, and retired into Bassano. Auge- 
 reau pushed on to tlie entrance of tlie town. Massena, 
 from the opposite bank, had to force a passage over 
 the bridge ; he carried it in close column, as had been 
 the bridge of Lodi, and reached the town at the same 
 time as Augereau. Wurmser, whose head-quarters 
 were still at Bassano, had scarcely time to save him- 
 self, leaving in the hands of the French 4000 prisoners 
 and immense mihtary stores. Bonaparte's plan, there- 
 fore, was executed ; he had debouched into the plain 
 as soon as Wurmser, and it now only remained for 
 him to envelop the Austrians by driving them on the 
 Adige. 
 
 Wurmser, in the disorder of so precipitate a move- 
 ment, found himself separated from the remains of the 
 division under Quasdanovich. That division retired 
 towards Friuli, whilst he, pressed by the divisions of 
 ^lassena and Augereau, which closed against him the 
 road to Friuli and repelled him on the Adige, formed 
 the resolution of cutting his way across the Adige and 
 throwing liimself into ]VIantua. He had drawn to him 
 the division under De Mezaros, which had been mak- 
 ing fruitless efforts to carry Verona. His force did 
 not exceed 14,000 men, of which 8000 were infantry 
 and 6000 excellent cavalry. He skirted the Adige in 
 quest of a point to effect a passage. Luckily for him, 
 tlie post which guarded Legnago had been moved to 
 Verona, and a detachment, sent to occupy that town, 
 had not yet arrived. Wurmser, seizing this fortunate 
 hazard, secured Legnago. Being now certain of regain- 
 ing Mantua, he granted some repose to his troops, who 
 were exhausted witli fatigue. 
 
 Bonaparte followed him without respite. He was 
 deeply chagrined on learning the omission wliicli had 
 saved Wurmser ; however, he did not yet despair of 
 orestalling him at Mantua. He tlirew aiassena's di- 
 vision to the other bank of the Adige by the ferry of 
 Ronco, and directed it on Sanguinetto, to bar the road
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 605 
 
 to IMantua, He sent Augereau on Legnago itself. 
 Massena's vanguard, outstripping his division, entered 
 Cerea on the 25tli (11th September), at the moment 
 of Wurmser's arrival from Legnago, with all his army. 
 This vanguard of cavalry and light infantry, com- 
 manded by Generals Murat and Pigeon, made an 
 heroic resistance, but was overpowered ; Wurmser 
 cut it down, and continued his march. Bonaparte 
 came galloping up alone during the action ; he nar- 
 rowly escaped being taken, and had to save himself 
 in all haste. 
 
 Wurmser passed through Sanguinetto, and learning 
 that all the bridges over the MohneUa were broken 
 down, except that of Villa Impenta, he descended to 
 that point, there cleared the river, and pushed rapidly 
 for Mantua, General Charton attempted to stop liim 
 with 300 men formed in square ; those brave men 
 were cut to pieces or taken. Wurmser thus arrived 
 at Mantua on the 27th (13th September). These 
 slight advantages afforded some consolation for the 
 previous disasters of the intrepid and veteran general. 
 He spread himself in the environs of Llantua, and 
 kept the field for an interval, owing to his numerous 
 and well-appointed cavalry. 
 
 Bonaparte arrived with breathless celerity, furious 
 against the negligent officers who had caused him to 
 lose so glorious a prize. Augereau had retaken Leg- 
 nago and captured the Austrian garrison, 1600 
 strong. Bonaparte ordered him to proceed to Gover- 
 nolo, on the Lower Mincio. He tlien engaged Wurm- 
 ser in sundry skirmishes, with the view of drawing 
 him out of the fortress ; and during the night of the 
 28th-29th (14th-15th September), he tookup a position 
 in the background, in order to induce Wurmser to 
 show himself in the plain. The old general, elated with 
 his petty successes, did in fact deploy out of Mantua, 
 between the citadel and the suburb of Saint-George. 
 Bonaparte attacked him on the 3d complementarj' 
 day of the year 4 (19th September). Augereau, ad- 
 vancing from Govemolo, formed the left ; Massena, 
 moving from Due-CasteUi, formed the centre ; Sahu- 
 guet, with the blockading corps, composed the right. 
 Wurmser had stni 21,000 men in line. He was worsted 
 on all points, and driven into the fortress with the loss 
 of 2000 men. A few days afterwards he was com- 
 pletely cooped up within the walls of Mantua. The 
 numerous cavalry he had brought with him, become 
 of no use, served merely to augment the number 
 of improfitable consumers. He kiUed and salted all 
 the horses. His garrison consisted of twenty and some 
 thousand men, of whom several thousand were in 
 hospital. 
 
 Thus, although Bonaparte had failed to reap all the 
 fruits of his daring march on the Brenta, and to 
 compel the marshal to surrender at discretion, he had 
 entirely ruined and dispersed his army. A few thou- 
 sand men were chased into the Tyrol under Davido- 
 vich; a few thousand had fled into Friuli under 
 Quasdanovich ; Wurmser, with twelve or fourteen 
 thousand, had shut liimself up in Mantua. Thirteen 
 or fourteen thousand were prisoners; six or seven 
 thousand killed and %vounded. The Austrian army 
 had accordingly again suffered a loss of twenty thou- 
 sand men in ten days, besides a considerable train of 
 artillery. Bonaparte had lost seven or eight thousand, 
 of whom fifteen hundred were prisoners, the residue 
 killed, wounded, or sick. Thus, to the armies of Colli 
 and Beaulieu, destroyed on entering Italy, was now 
 to be added tliat of Wurmser, twice scattered, first in 
 the plains of Castiglione, and secondly on the banks 
 of the Brenta. The trophies of Montenotte, Lodi, 
 Borghetto, Lonato, and Castiglione, were outshone by 
 the recent glories of Roveredo, Bassano, and Saint- 
 George : at wliat period of history had such great re- 
 sults been witnessed, so many enemies slain, so many 
 prisoners, standards, pieces of ordnance captured ! 
 The tidings diff\ised fresh joy through Lombardy, 
 and terror through other portions of the iMjninsula. 
 
 France was in raptures of admiration for the general 
 of the army of Italy. 
 
 On the other theatres of the war the fortune of arms 
 was less propitious for the French. Moreau had 
 advanced on the Lech, as we have seen, in the hope 
 that his progress would bring back the archduke and 
 disengage Jourdan. Such an expectation was ground- 
 less, for the archduke must have been ignorant of the 
 importance of his movement, if he were deterred from 
 its execution by considerations prompting him to return 
 towards Moreau. The campaign depended upon the 
 events that were to occur on the Maine. If Jourdan 
 were defeated and driven back on the Rhine, the pro- 
 gress of Moreau would only tend to compromise him 
 the more, and expose him to lose his line of retreat. 
 The archduke, accordingly, contented himself with 
 detaching General Nauendorff, with two regiments of 
 cavalry and some battalions, to reinforce Latour, and 
 continued his pursuit of the army of the Sambre-and- 
 j\Ieuse. 
 
 That valiant army retired with the most poignant 
 regret, retaining all the consciousness of power. It 
 was the same that had performed many glorious deeds 
 during the first years of the revolution ; the same that 
 had conquered at Watignies, at Fleurus, and on the 
 banks of the Ourthe and the Roer. It had unlimited 
 confidence in its general and in itself. The retreat had 
 not discouraged it, for it was well persuaded that it 
 yielded only to superior combinations, and to the mass 
 of the opposing forces. It ardently desired an oppor- 
 tunity of coping with the Austrians, and retricAang the 
 honour of its flag. Jourdan was actuated by the same 
 sentiment. Tiie Directory had written to him that he 
 must at all hazards maintain himself in Franconia, on 
 the Upper Maine, both to secure his winter-quarters 
 in Germany, and above all, to cover Moreau, who had 
 advanced even to the gates of ISIunich. iSIoreau, on 
 his own part, had just communicated to Jourdan, 
 under date of the 8th Fructidor (25th August), his 
 march beyond the Lech, the advantages he had gained, 
 and the project he had formed of still proceeding on- 
 wards in order to bring back the archduke. All these 
 reasons decided Jourdan to try the fate of a battle, 
 although he was confronted by very superior forces. 
 He would have deemed himself wanting to the dictates 
 of honour if he had quitted Franconia without fighting, 
 and left unaided his colleague in BaA^aria. Deceived, 
 moreover, by the movement of General NauendorfT, 
 Jourdan surmised that the archduke had actually set 
 out to regain the banks of the Danube. He halted, 
 therefore, at Wurtzburg, a x^lace which he judged it 
 important to preserve, but the citadel of which idone 
 had been retained by the French. He gave some rest 
 to his troops, made certain changes in the distribution 
 and command of his divisions, and announced his in- 
 tention of engaging the enemy. The army evinced the 
 greatest ardour in carrying all tlie positions Jourdan 
 considered it advisable to occupy before joining battle. 
 He had his right resting on Wurtzburg, and the rest 
 of his line on a series of positions stretching along the 
 Maine as far as Schweinfurth. Tlie Maine sejjarated 
 him from the enemy. One i)art only of the Austrian 
 army had crossed that river, which confirmed him in 
 the idea that the archduke had returned to the Danube. 
 He placed at the extremity of his line, at Schweinfurth, 
 Lefebvre's division, to assure liis retreat on the Saal 
 and Fulda, in case the battle sliould cause him to lose 
 the road to Frankfort. He thus deprived liimself of a 
 second line and a corps of reserve ; but he deemed it 
 fitting to make that sacrifice to the necessity of en- 
 suring his retreat. He determined to attack on the 
 morning of the 17tli Fructidor (.3d September). 
 
 In the course of the preceding night, the archduke, 
 apprised of his adversary's design, rapidlj' passed the 
 remainder of his army beyond the Maine, and deploj'ed 
 his superior forces before the eyes of Jourdan. The 
 battle began with advantage to the French ; but their 
 cavalry, assailed in the plain stretching along the
 
 606 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Maine by a formidable force of cavalry, was broken, 
 rallied, was again broken, and found shelter only 
 behind the lines and well-supported fire of their in- 
 fantry. If his reserve had not been so far removed 
 from him, Jourdan might have gained the victory; to 
 summon Lefebvre he dispatched some officers, who 
 were unable to penetrate through the numerous hostile 
 squadrons. He hoped, however, that Lefebvre, seeing 
 that Schweinfurth was not menaced, would march to 
 the point of danger ; but he hoped in vain, and drew 
 back his army to protect it from the redoubtable 
 cavalry of the enemy. The retreat was conducted in 
 good order on Arnstein. Jourdan, the victim of the 
 Directory's vicious plan, and of his zeal towards his 
 colleague, now felt it incumbent to recoil on the Lahn. 
 He continued his march without intermission, sent 
 orders to Marceau to retire from before Mayence, and 
 arrived behind the Lahn on the 24th Fructidor (10th 
 September). His army, in this arduous march to the 
 frontiers of Bohemia, had only lost some five or six 
 thousand men. It sustained a serious loss in the death 
 of young Marceau, who was pierced by the bullet of a 
 Tyrolian ranger, and who could not be borne from the 
 field of battle. The Archduke Charles caused him to 
 be tended with the greatest care, but he soon expired. 
 The young hero, regretted by both armies, was interred 
 amid" salvos of artillery from the hostile camps.* 
 
 Whilst these events were passing on the Maine, 
 Moreau, still beyond the Danube and the Lech, was 
 impatiently awaiting tidings from Jourdan. None of 
 the officers detached to convey him intelligence had 
 arrived. He remained inactive, without venturing to 
 adopt a decisive resolution. In the interval, his left, 
 under the orders of Desaix, sustained a rude encoun- 
 ter with Latour's cavalry, which, united with that of 
 Nauendorff". suddenly debouched by Langenbriick. 
 Desaix made such excellent and prompt dispositions, 
 that he repulsed the numerous squadrons of the 
 enemy, and dispersed them in the plain, after sub- 
 jecting them to considerable carnage. IMoreau, yet 
 tormented by uncertainty, at length determined, after 
 a delay of twenty days, to attempt a movement in 
 quest of information. He resolved to approach the 
 Danube, in order to extend his left wing to Nurem- 
 berg, and either obtain news of Jourdan or carry him 
 succour. On the 24th Fructidor (10th September), 
 he repassed the Danube with his left and centre, leav- 
 ing his right alone beyond that river, towards Zell. 
 The left, under Desaix, advanced as far as Aichstatt. 
 In this singular situation, he stretched his left towards 
 Jourdan, who, at the moment, was sixty leagues from 
 him ; he had his centre on the Danube, and his right 
 beyond it, exposing one of those three corps to certain 
 destruction, if Latour had kno^vn how to profit by their 
 isolation. All military authorities have censured Mo- 
 reau for this movement, as one of those half measures 
 which involve all the peril of great ones without any 
 of their advantages. In fact, Moreau having failed 
 to seize the occasion of rapidly wheeling on the arch- 
 duke, when that prince diverged on Jourdan, he could 
 only compromise himself the more eflectually by thus 
 placing himself astride the Danube. 
 
 * [" Tlie flying French were eagerly pursued by the Austrians. 
 On the l!)th, Lieutenant-Ccneral liotze came up, at Hoehstebach, 
 with their rearguard under General Marceau, who made a stand, 
 to give the rest of the army time to pass the defiles of Altenkir- 
 chen. After a gallant resistance, Marceau was defeated, mortally 
 wounded, and made prisoner. Every care and attention was 
 lavished by the Austrian chiefs on the captive general, who, 
 though only twenty-seven years of age, was one of the most accom- 
 plished, intelligent, and brave of the French oflicers ; and was not 
 less humane than able and courageous. On the 21st he expired, 
 and his body was restored to his countrymen by the Archduke, 
 on condition that the Austrians should have notice of the time of 
 his fimeral, that tliey might join in paying to him those military 
 honours wliich he justly deserved. lie was buried in the intrenched 
 camp at Coblentz ; and, during the interment, discharges of artil. 
 lery were fired by the hostile armies on the opposite banks of the 
 Khine." — Anixiiol Riyisterior 171*<>, p- l'J5.\ 
 
 Eventually, after tarrjing four days in this anoma- 
 lous position, he felt its danger, again removed his 
 army over the Danube, and resolved to ascend its 
 course in order to approximate towards his basis of 
 operations. He now learned the forced retreat of 
 Jourdan on the Lahn, and no longer doubted that, 
 after having driven back the army of the Sambre- 
 and-Meuse, the archduke would hasten on the Neckar, 
 to bar the return of the army of the Rhine. He was 
 likewise apprised of an attempt made by the garrison 
 of Manheim on Kehl, witli the view of destroying the 
 bridge by which the French army had debouched into 
 German}'. In this state of affairs, his hesitation was 
 at an end, and a march to regain France became im- 
 perative. His position was extremely perilous. En- 
 tangled in the midst of Bavaria, obliged to repass the 
 Black Mountains to return on the Rhine, having 
 in front Latour with 40,000 men, and exposed to 
 encounter the archduke on his rear with 30,000, 
 he might justly anticipate the direst disasters. But 
 if he were devoid of the vast and fiery genius his 
 rival displayed in Italy, he possessed that firm- 
 ness of mind which rendered him superior to the 
 dejection wherewith men of more ardent tempera- 
 ments are sometimes stricken. He commanded a su- 
 perb army, sixty and some thousand men strong, 
 unshaken by the demoralising effect of a defeat, and 
 placing in its chief an unbounded confidence. Duly 
 estimating so invaluable a possession, he was not 
 alarmed at his position, and prepared to pursue his 
 route with tranquillity. Reflecting that the arch- 
 duke, after beating back Jourdan, would in all proba- 
 bility return upon the Neckar, he feared that he should 
 find that river already occupied ; he consequently 
 ascended the valley of the Danube, intending to make 
 straightway for that of the Rhine by the route of the 
 Forest Towns. Those avenues being the most distant 
 from the point actually occupied by the archduke, 
 seemed to him the safest. 
 
 Remaining beyond the Danube, therefore, he com- 
 posedly ascended it, resting one of his wings on the 
 river. His artillery and baggage-waggons proceeded 
 before him, without confusion, and every day his 
 rearguards braveh^ repulsed the enemy's vanguards. 
 Latour, instead of passing the Danube, and endeavour- 
 ing to anticipate Moreau at the entrance of the de- 
 files, was content to follow him step by step, without 
 venturing to bring him into action. AVhen he had 
 arrived near the lake of Feder See, Moreau deemed it 
 fitting to pause. Latour had divided his force into 
 three corps : he had given one to Nauendorff, and sent 
 hira to Tubingen, on the LTpper Neckar, by which 
 Moreau had no intention of passing ; he was at Bibe- 
 rach in person with the second ; and the third was 
 stationed at a considerable distance, at Scliussenried. 
 Moreau, who was approaching the Valley of Hell (the 
 HoUenthal), through which he purposed to retire, 
 felt the importance of not being too closely pressed 
 during the passage of that defile ; therefore, seeing 
 behind him Latour insulated, and aware that a vic- 
 tory would give firmness to his troops for the remain- 
 der of the retreat, he halted on the 1 1th Vendemiaire, 
 year 5 (2d October), in the vicinity of the lake of 
 Feder See, not fixr from Biberach. The country was 
 mountainous, woody, and intersected with valleys. 
 Latour was ranged on different heights, which might 
 be isolated and turned, and which, moreover, had at 
 the back a deep ravine, that of the Riss. Moreau 
 attacked him on all points, and, skilfully contriving 
 to penetrate through his positions, assailing some in 
 front and turning others, drove him back, and threw 
 him into the Riss, taking from him four thousand 
 prisoners. This important victory, known as that of 
 Biberach, repelled Latour a considerable distance, and 
 singularly invigorated the spirit of the French army. 
 Moreau resimied his march, and approached the de- 
 files. He had already gone past the routes which 
 traverse the valley of the Neckar and oi^en into that
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 G07 
 
 of the Rhine ; there remained to him the road which, 
 proceeding by Tuttlingen and Rothweil, towards the 
 sources of the Neckar, follows the valley of the Kint- 
 zig, and terminates at Kehl ; but NauendorfF had al- 
 ready occupied it. The detachments from Manheim 
 had joined the latter, and the archduke was also 
 drawing nigh. Morcau preferred to ascend a little 
 higher, and proceed tlirough the Valley of Hell, which, 
 traversing the Black Forest, formed certainly a long 
 elbow, but led to Brisach, a point more distant from 
 the archduke. In consequence, he posted Dcsaix and 
 Ferino with the left and right towards Tuttlingen and 
 Rothweil, in order to cover himself on the side of the 
 defiles occupied by the principal Austrian forces ; and 
 he sent the centre, under Saint-Cyr, to force the 
 Vallej' of Hell. At the same time, he dispatched his 
 great parks on Iluningen, by the route of the Forest 
 Towns. The Austrians had surrounded him with a 
 number of small corps, as if they had hoped to enve- 
 lop him, and had nowhere placed themselves in force 
 to resist him. Saint-Cyr merely encoimtered a de- 
 tachment in the Valley of Hell, passed without diffi- 
 culty to Neustadt, and arrived at Friburg. The two 
 wings immediately followed him, and debouched 
 through that dismal defile into the valley of the 
 Rhine, with the attitude of a victorious army rather 
 than with that of an army in retreat.* 
 
 Moreau reached the valley of the Rhine on the 
 21st Vendemiaire (12th October.) Instead of repass- 
 ing the Rhine by the bridge of Brisach, and skirting 
 the river on the French bank to Strasburg, he resolved 
 to advance along the right bank to Kehl, in presence 
 of the whole Austrian army. Whether he desired to 
 make a more imjjosing return, or he hoped to main- 
 tain himself on the right bank and cover Kehl by 
 moving straightway on it, in either case he had insuf- 
 ficient grounds for hazarding a battle. By recrossing 
 the Rhine at Brisach, he might have proceeded with- 
 out obstacle to Strasburg, and once more debouched 
 by Kehl. That tete-de-pont was capable of resisting 
 long enough to afford him time to arrive. To march, 
 on the contrary, in face of the hostile army, now 
 wholly assembled under the archduke, and thus ex- 
 pose himself to a general battle with the Rhine at his 
 back, was an inexcusable imprudence, when there was 
 no longer any motive for assuming the offensive, or 
 any necessity for protecting the retreat. On the 28th 
 Vendemiaire (19th October), the two armies con- 
 fronted each other on the banks of the Eltz, from 
 Waldkirch to Emmendingen. After a sanguinary and 
 varying conflict, INIoreau perceived the impossibility 
 of penetrating to Kebl along the right bank, and took 
 a resolution to proceed over the bridge of Brisach. 
 Deeming it imi^racticable, liowever, to pass all his army 
 over that bridge without the confusion of overcrowding, 
 and being very solicitous to forward troops with the 
 utmost dispatch to Kehl, he detached Desaix with the 
 left on Brisach, and returned towards Huningen with 
 the centre and right. This determination has been 
 judged equally imprudent with that which led to the 
 battle of Emmendingen ; for IMoreau, weakened by 
 one-third of his army, incurred the hazard of being 
 effectually compromised. He relied, it is true, upon a 
 very admirable position, tliat of Schliengen, which 
 covers the avenue of Huningen, upon which lie might 
 halt and fight, in order to render the passage more 
 tranquil and safe. He accordingly recoiled ujion tliat 
 point, halted there on the 3d Brumaire (24th October), 
 and sustained an obstinate and drawn battle. After 
 
 * [The Valley of Hell crosses the Rlack Mountains between 
 NeustaJt and Friburg. It is a gloomy and terrible defile, six 
 miles in length, shut in on each hand by lofty, pointed, woody 
 rocks, and in some places not more than a few fathoms wide. 
 At the bottom rushes a torrent. It is curious tliat the jiass by 
 which Moreau thus saved liis army had aj)palled the celebrated 
 Villars in 1702. When urged to traverse it by the Elector of Ba- 
 varia, he replied, " Pray, excuse me ; I am not quite de\il enough 
 to K>( by such a road." ' 
 
 securing his baggage leisure to traverse the stream by 
 this day's conflict, he evacuated the position during 
 the night, regained the left bank, and moved in the 
 direction of Straslnirg. 
 
 Thus ended this celebrated campaign, and this still 
 more celebrated retreat. The result sufficiently pour- 
 trays the fundamental error of the plan. If, as Na- 
 poleon, the Archduke Charles, and General Jomini 
 have demonstrated — if, instead of forming two armies, 
 advancing in isolated columns, under two indepen- 
 dent generals, with the paltry intention of outflank- 
 ing the wings of the enemy, the Directory had con- 
 stituted a single army of one hundred and sixty thou- 
 sand men, whereof a detachment of fifty thousand 
 would have besieged Mayence, and the remaining one 
 hundred and ten thousand, united in a single corps, 
 would have invaded Germany by the valley of the 
 Rhine, the Valley of Hell, and Upper Bavaria, the im- 
 perial armies must have been compelled constantly 
 to retrograde, witliout being enabled to concentrate 
 advantageously against a mass inordinately superior 
 The famous evolution of the young archduke would 
 have been impossible, and the republican flag have 
 been borne to the gates of Vienna. Under the pre- 
 scribed plan, Jourdan was an involuntary scapegoat. 
 His operations, miiformly unfortunate, were those of 
 constrained devotedness, both when he cleared the 
 Rhine for the first time, in order to draw upon him the 
 forces of the archduke, and also when he advanced 
 into Bohemia and fought at Wurtzburg. Moreau 
 alone, with his fine army, might have in part retrieved 
 the vices of the plan, either by hurrying on and crush- 
 ing all before him at the moment he debouched by 
 Kehl, or by closing on the rear of the archduke when 
 he moved on Jourdan. He was either afraid or incom- 
 petent to adopt any such steps ; but we are to allow, 
 that if he failed to evince a ray of genius— if to a de- 
 cisive and victorious manceuvre he preferred a retreat 
 — he at all events displayed hi that retreat an excellent 
 judgment and an indomitable firmness. It was doubt- 
 less not so diflicult as it has been represented, but it 
 was conducted nevertheless in a very imposing man- 
 ner. 
 
 The young archduke was indebted to the absurdity 
 of the French plan for a brilliant conception, which 
 he realised with prudence ; but, like JNIoreau, he lacked 
 that ardour, that audacity, if you will, which might 
 have rendered the blunder of the French government 
 fatal to its armies. Conceive what would have hap- 
 pened if on either side had been engaged the impetu- 
 ous genius which had annihilated tliree armies beyond 
 the Alps! If the 70,000 men of IMoreau, at the mo- 
 ment they debouched from Kehl, or if the Imperialists, 
 at the moment they quitted the Danube to wheel on 
 Jourdan, had been conducted with the vigour and 
 promptitude exhibited in the Italian campaign, as- 
 suredly the war would have been forthwith termi- 
 nated most disastrously for one of the two ))owers. 
 
 The campaign endowed the young archduke with 
 a resplendent fame in Europe. In France, a grateful 
 feeling was engendered towards Moreau, for luiving 
 led back in safety the army compromised in Bavaria. 
 The greatest anxiety had been felt respecting tliat 
 army, esjiecially from the time when, Jourdan being 
 repelled, the bridge of Kelil menaced, and the com- 
 numications through Swabia intercepted b}' a multi- 
 tude of detached corps, notliing was known of its 
 operations or its fate. But when, after an interval of 
 poignant disquietude, it was seen debouching into the 
 valley of the Rhine in so perfect an attitude, men were 
 enchanted with the general who had so auspiciously 
 redeemed it. His retreat was extolled as a master- 
 piece of art, and straightway compared to that of tlie 
 Ten Tliousand. None ventured, indeed, to oppose it 
 to the brilliant triumphs of the army of Italy ; but as 
 there are always many whom sujicrior genius and 
 high fortune mortify, and whom less shining merit 
 rather gratify, all such declared for Moreau, vaunted
 
 608 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 his consummate prudence and ability, and esteemed 
 it preferable to the electric hardihood of young Bona- 
 parte. From this period, jMoreau had for partisans 
 all who prefer secondary to transcendent talents ; and, 
 it must be confessed, in a repubUc we almost pardon 
 such enemies of genius, when we see how that genius 
 can become culprit towards the liberty which has 
 quickened, fostered, and raised it to the pinnacle of 
 glory. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SITUATION OF FRANCE AT 
 
 THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR 5. OVERTURES 
 
 BY ENGLAND TOWARDS A NEGOTIATION WITH THE 
 
 DIRECTORY. ARRIVAL OF LORD MALMESBURY AT 
 
 PARIS. — PEACE WITH NAPLES AND GENOA ; FRUIT- 
 LESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POPE ; DEPOSITION 
 OF THE DUKE OF MODENA ; FOUNDATION OF THE CIS- 
 PADlN REPUBLIC. — NEW EFFORTS OF THE AUSTRIANS 
 IN ITALY ; PERILOUS POSITION OF THE FRENCH ARMY ; 
 BATTLE OF ARCOLE. 
 
 The result of the German campaign proved highly 
 prejudicial to the republic. Its enemies, who per- 
 sisted in denying its victories or predicting for it 
 cruel reverses of fortune, deemed their prognostics 
 fulfilled, and exulted with undisguised malevolence. 
 Those rapid conquests in Germany, they said, had 
 then no stability. The Danube and the talents of a 
 young piince had brought them to a speedy termina- 
 tion. There was little doubt the rash army of Italy, 
 which appeared so firmly established on the Adige, 
 would be thence scourged in its turn, and chased over 
 the Alps as the armies of Germany over the Rhine. 
 It is true, the conquests of General Bonaparte seemed 
 to rest on a somewhat more solid basis. He had not 
 merely driven Colli and Beaulieu before him ; he had 
 annihilated them : he had not merely repulsed the 
 new army of Wurmser; he had tirst disorganised 
 it at Castiglione, and eventually dissipated it on the 
 Brenta. Thus there were better hopes of holding 
 ground in Italy than in Germany ; but a malicious 
 pleasure was taken in disseminating sinister reports. 
 Numerous forces were arriving, it was confidently 
 alleged, from Poland and Turkey, destined for the 
 Tyrol ; the imperial armies of the Rhine could now 
 send additional detachments ; and, with all his genius, 
 General Bonaparte, having constantly fresh enemies 
 to encounter, must finally reach the limit of success, 
 were it only from the exhaustion of his own army. 
 It was natural that, under actual circumstances, such 
 conjectures should be formed ; for imagination, after 
 exaggerating successes, inevitably tends to exagge- 
 rate reverses. 
 
 The armies of Germany had retired without sus- 
 taining any material damage, and yet held the line 
 of the Rhine. There was nothing so very disastrous 
 in this, save that the army of Italy was thereby 
 left without support, which was doubtless a serious 
 calamity. Moreover, the two principal armies, by 
 their return upon the French territory, must become 
 chargeable upon the national finances, which were 
 still in a deplorai)le state : and herein lay the cruellest 
 dilemma. The mandats, having ceased to possess a 
 forced currency, had sunk interminably, and even 
 had that not been the case, they were nearly all ex- 
 pended, few remaining at the disposal of government. 
 They were held chiefly at Paris, by certain specula- 
 tors, who sold them to the purcliasers of national do- 
 mains. The arrears due to the state were still con- 
 siderable, but were not paid ; tlie taxes and the forced 
 loan were collected with difhculty ; the national do- 
 mains, taken under contracts of purcliase, were paid 
 for only in part ; the instalments still due were not 
 yet exigible according to the law ; and the additional 
 sales efil;cted from time to time were not sufficiently 
 numerous to supply the treasury. It was upon the 
 
 funds arising from such sales, however, together with 
 the proceeds of the loan and articles obtained upon 
 ministerial promises of reimbursement, that the ser- 
 vices of government were carried on. The budget for 
 the year 5 had recently been prepared, divided into 
 ordinary and extraordinary expenses. The ordinary 
 expenses amounted to 450 millions ; the extraordi- 
 nary to 550 millions. The land-tax, the customs, the 
 stamp-duty, and other sources of income, were assigned 
 to bear the ordinary expenditure. The 550 millions 
 of extraordinaries would be sufficiently covered by the 
 arrears of taxes due the preceding year, and of the 
 forced loan, and by the payments still to make for 
 domains purchased. There was in addition the re- 
 source of the domains yet possessed by the republic ; 
 but all these items were to be realised — the old and 
 inveterate difficulty. The contractors, remaining un- 
 paid, refused to continue their supplies, and all the 
 services were in destitution. The public functionaries 
 and fundholders received no salaries or dividends, and 
 lacked the necessaries of life. 
 
 Thus, the isolation of the army of Italy, and the 
 miserable state of the finances, were calculated to in- 
 spire the enemies of France with sanguine hopes. 
 The scheme of a quadruple alliance, formed by the 
 Directory, between France, Spain, the Porte, and Ve- 
 nice, had hitherto ripened only into an alliance with 
 Spain. Tliis last-named power, induced by the offers 
 of France, and her brilliant fortune in the middle of 
 summer, had determined, as we have seen, to renew 
 the family-compact with the republic, and had re- 
 cently issued a declaration of war against Great Bri- 
 tain. Venice, notwithstanding the instances of Spain 
 and the invitations of the Porte, and despite the vic- 
 tories of Bonaparte in Italy, had declined to unite 
 herself with the republic. ' It was vainly urged upon 
 her that Russia regarded with a covetous eye her co- 
 lonies in Greece, and Austria her provinces in Illyria ; 
 that her union with France and the Porte, who en- 
 vied none of her possessions, would guarantee her 
 from those ambitious foes ; that the repeated victo- 
 ries of the French upon the Adige ought to satisfy 
 her touching a return of the imperial armies and the 
 vengeance of the emperor ; that the co-operation of 
 her forces and na\-y would render that return stUl 
 more improbable ; that neutrality, on the contrary, 
 would leave her without a friend or protector, and 
 perhaps expose her to serve as spoils of accommoda- 
 tion between the belligerent powers. Venice, bhnded 
 with antipathy towards the French, and engaged in 
 preparations evidently intended against them, since 
 she consulted the Austrian minister upon the choice 
 of a general, repudiated for the second time the alli- 
 ance pressed upon her. She clearly discerned the 
 danger of Austrian ambition ; but that of French 
 principles was the greatest and most urgent in her 
 eyes, and she replied to all the overtures, that she 
 would adliere to her unarmed neutrality, which was 
 false, as she was arming with the utmost diligence. 
 The Porte, staggered by the refusal of Venice, and 
 influenced by tlie suggestions of Vienna and London, 
 had not acceded to the project of alliance. There 
 consequently remained but France and Spain, whose 
 union might contribute to wrest the Mediterranean 
 from the English, but might likewise endanger the 
 Spanish colonies. Pitt, in fact, was revolving plans 
 to induce their revolt against the mother country, and 
 he had already commenced his intrigues in Mexico. 
 The negotiations with Genoa were not yet brought to 
 a close, for the points at issue were at once the pay- 
 ment of a sum of money, the expulsion of certain fa- 
 milies, and the recall of certain others. Neither were 
 they more advanced with Naples, since the Directory 
 insisted upon a contribution, and the Queen of Naples, 
 Avho treated with repugnance, refused to consent to 
 that condition. The peace with Rome was not con- 
 cluded, on account of an article enforced by the Direc- 
 tory ; it required the Holy See to revoke all the briefs
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 609 
 
 issued against France since the commencement of the 
 revolution, which wounded the pride of the aged 
 pontilF jn a peculiar degree. He convoked a con- 
 clave of cardinals, who decided that the revocation 
 could not be made. The negotiations were broken off. 
 They were recommenced at Florence, where a con- 
 gress was opened. The nuncios of the Pope having 
 declared that the bidls were irrevocable, and the 
 French commissioners having intimated, on the other 
 hand, that the revocation was a condition sine qua 
 non, the parties separated in a few minutes. The ex- 
 pectation of succour from the Kings of Naples and 
 England encouraged the pontiff in his refusal. He 
 had previously dispatched Cardinal Albani to Vienna, 
 in order to implore the aid of Austria, and to concert 
 with her his measures of resistance. 
 
 Such were the relations of France with Europe. 
 Her enemies, on their side, were greatly exhausted. 
 Austria felt comforted, it is true, by the retreat of the 
 French armies which had advanced to the Danube ; 
 but she was in grievous alarm for Italy, and was 
 making fresh preparations to recover it. England 
 was reduced to a sad state. Her establishment in 
 Corsica was precarious, and the speedy loss of that 
 island seemed to her inevitable. The object of the 
 French government was to close all the ports in Italy 
 against her, and another victory won by General 
 Bonaparte would suffice to provoke her total exclusion 
 from that country. The war with Spain threatened 
 to drive her from the Mediterranean and to jeopardise 
 Portugal. The whole coast, as far as the Texel, was 
 inaccessible to her. . The expedition preparing by 
 Hoche in Brittany disquieted her regarding Ireland. 
 Her finances were in peril, her bank was shaken, and 
 the people clamoured for peace ; the opposition had 
 gained strength in the recent elections. These con- 
 stituted reasons sufficiently urgent to recommend ideas 
 of peace, and the late reverses of France might suggest 
 hopes that she would be constrained to accept any 
 offers of a pacific tendencj'. But the royal family and 
 the aristocracy had a great repugnance to treat with 
 France, since in their eyes it involved an approval of 
 the revolution. Pitt, less wedded to aristocratical 
 principles, and solely occupied with the promotion of 
 English interests, would have willingly concluded 
 peace, but under a condition, indispensable to his 
 views and inadmissible for the republic — the restitu- 
 tion cf the Low Countries to Austria. Pitt, as we 
 have already remarked, was a true Englishman, in 
 pride, ambition, and prejudices. The greatest offence 
 of the revolution was, in his estimation, not so much 
 the birth of a colossal republic as the imion of the Low 
 Countries with France. 
 
 The Low Countries, in fact, constituted an impor- 
 tant acquisition for France. It conferred upon her 
 the possession of provinces the richest and most fer- 
 tile on the continent, and above aU of a manufacturing 
 country ; it gave her the mouths of the most important 
 rivers for the commerce with the north of Europe — the 
 Scheldt, the Meuse, and the Rhine ; a considerable 
 augmentation of coast, and consequently of shipping ; 
 excellent and advantageous ports, especially that of 
 Antwerp ; and, lastly, a prolongation of maritime 
 frontier in the most dangerous direction for the Eng- 
 lish frontier, opposite the defenceless coasts of Essex, 
 Suffolk, Norfolk, and Yorkshire. In addition to these 
 positive benefits, the acquisition of Belgium had a 
 further value for France : Holland fell under her im- 
 mediate influence when no longer separated by Aus- 
 trian provinces. Thus the French line became ex- 
 tended, not only as far as Antwerp, but even to the 
 Texel, and the shores of England were enveloped by 
 a range of hostile coast. When we reflect, moreover, 
 on the family-compact with Spain, at that time a 
 powerful and well-organised kingdom, we can readily 
 comprehend that Pitt must have felt solicitude touch- 
 ing the naval power of England. It is a principle with 
 every Englishman, thoroughly imbued with national 
 
 ideas, that England ought to riile at Naples, Lisbon, 
 and Amsterdam, in order to maintain a footing on the 
 continent, and to break the long line of coasts which 
 may prove adverse to her. This tenet was as firmly 
 rooted in 1796 as that which taught every injury in- 
 flicted on France to be a benefit secured for England. 
 Accordingly, to procure a momentary respite for his 
 finances, Pitt would have consented to a temporary 
 peace, but on condition that Belgium was restored to 
 Austria. He was well inclined, therefore, to open a 
 negotiation on tliat basis. He could scarcely hope that 
 France would admit such a preliminary, for Belgium 
 was the principal acquisition of the revolution, and 
 the constitution actually debarred the Directory from 
 treating for its alienation. But Pitt was little ac- 
 quainted with the continent ; he sincerely believed 
 France to be ruined ; and it was in perfect good faith 
 that he came forward every year to announce the ex- 
 haustion and fall of the republic. He thought that if 
 France had ever been disposed for peace, she must be 
 so at the present moment, both on account of the de- 
 preciation of mandats, and on account of the retreat 
 of her armies from Germany. Besides, whether he 
 deemed the condition admissible or not, an importu- 
 nate motive urged him to open a negotiation. This 
 was the necessity of satisfying public opinion, which 
 imperiously demanded peace. In fact, to obtain a levy 
 of 60,000 militia and 15,000 seamen, he required to 
 prove, by a signal demonstration, that he had done 
 his utmost to conclude a treaty. Another considera- 
 tion of equal moment weighed with him : by taking 
 the initiative, and commencing a solemn negotiation 
 at Paris, he would bring into discussion the general 
 interests of Europe, and prevent Austria from openmg 
 a separate negotiation. This latter power, in truth, 
 was less concerned for the recovery of the Low Coun- 
 tries than England to restore them to her. Belgium 
 was for her a distant province, detached from the cen- 
 tre of her dominions, exposed to continual invasions 
 from France, and deeply inoculated with revolutionary 
 ideas — a province she had several times endeavoured 
 to exchange for other possessions in Germany or Italy, 
 and which she had retained solely because Prussia had 
 always opposed her aggrandisement in Germany, and 
 no combinations had ever been feasible admitting the 
 cession of an equivalent in Italj'. Pitt held that a 
 formal negotiation, opened at Paris on behalf of all 
 the allies, would obviate individual arrangements, and 
 prevent any accommodation relative to the Low Coun- 
 tries. He desired, furthermore, to have an agent in 
 France, who might judge her more nearly, and obtain 
 certain information touching the expedition prepai'ing 
 at Brest. Such were the motives which, -without even 
 the expectation of concluding a peace, induced I'itt to 
 make an advance towards the Directory. He was not 
 content, as in the preceding year, with directing a 
 trifling communication through Wickham to Bartlie- 
 lemy ; he sent to demand passports for an envoy in- 
 vested with powers from Great Britain. This extra- 
 ordinary step on the part of the most implacable enemy 
 of the republic, had something glorious for it. The 
 English aristocracy was so far humbled as to solicit 
 peace from the regicide republic. The passports 
 were immediately granted. Pitt made choice of Lord 
 Malmesbury, formerly Sir James Harris, and son ot 
 the author of " Hermes." This individuid was not 
 known as the friend of republics; he had contributed 
 to the oj>])rcssion of Holland in 1787. He arrived at 
 Paris witli a nmnerous suite on the 2d Brumaire (23d 
 October 1796). 
 
 The Directory appointed the minister Delacroix to 
 represent it. The two negotiators met at the Foreign 
 Office on the 3d Brumaire year 5 (24th October 
 1796.) The Frencii minister exhibited his credentials. 
 Lord Malmesbury announced himself as the plenipo- 
 tentiary of Great Britain and her aUies, empowered to 
 negotiate a general peace. He subsequently delivered 
 in his powers, whicli were signed by England alone.
 
 610 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The French minister thereupon inquired whether he 
 held a commission from the allies of Great Britain to 
 treat in their name. Lord INIalmesbury replied, that 
 so soon as tlie negotiation was opened, and the prin- 
 ciple on which it might be based admitted, his Bri- 
 tannic Majesty was assured of obtaniing the concur- 
 rence and sanction of his allies, lie then submitted 
 to Delacroix a note from his conrt, in wliich it pre- 
 scribed the principle on which tlie negotiation was to 
 be l)ascd. Tliis principle was that of reciprocal resti- 
 tution of conquests by the belligerents. The note 
 stated that England had made conquests in the French 
 colonies ; France had made conquests on the continent 
 from the allies of England; there -were consequently 
 subjects of restitution on each side : but the principle 
 of mutual compensation must be first conceded ere 
 explanations were given touching the objects to be 
 compensated. The English cabinet obviously shunned 
 any premature and positive exjjlication respecting the 
 retrocession of the Low Countries, and put forward 
 this general principle in order that the negotiation 
 might not be broken ofl" at its very commencement. 
 The minister Delacroix replied, that he would refer 
 the subject to the consideration of the Directory. 
 
 The Directory could not relinquish the Low Coiin- 
 tries ; such a surrender was beyond its powers, and 
 even had it been otherwise, paramount obligations 
 forbade it. France had pledged her honoiu- towards 
 those provinces, and coiild not expose them to the 
 vengeance of Austria, by restoring them, without dis- 
 grace. Besides, she was entitled to indemnities for 
 the unjust war so long waged against her; she had a 
 right to receive some equivalent for the aggrandise- 
 ments of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, in Poland, ob- 
 tained by a flagrant crime ; it behoved her, in fine, to 
 persist in the design of recovering her natural bar- 
 rier : for all which reasons, it had become imperative 
 on her to retain Belgium, and uphold the provisions 
 of the constitution. The Directory, firmly resolved 
 to perform its duty in this respect, might have ab- 
 ruptly closed a negotiation, the clear intent of which 
 was to demand the abandonment of the Low Coun- 
 tries, and to prevent an arrangement with Austria ; 
 but it would thereby have afforded ground for the al- 
 legation that it did not desire peace, accomplished one 
 of the principal intentions of Pitt, and furnished hira 
 with excellent reasons for requiring additional sacri- 
 fices from the English nation. It rephed on the very 
 following day. France, it stated, had already treated 
 separately with the majority of the powers composing 
 the coahtion, without tlieir having invoked the con- 
 currence of all the allies ; that to render the negotia- 
 tion general was to render it interminable, and to jus- 
 tify the belief that the present negotiation was not 
 more sincere than the overture made tlie preceding 
 year through the medium of the minister Wiekham. 
 Jloreover, the English envoy was not provided with 
 credentials from the allies in whose name he professed 
 to speak. Lastly, the principle of compensations was 
 intimated in too vague and general a form to permit 
 either its admission or rejection. The application of 
 such a principle nmst always depend on the nature of 
 the acquisitions and the capacity of the resi)ective 
 belligerents to preserve them. Thus, the Directory 
 added, the French government might have dispensed 
 with returning any answer ; but, to prove its inclina- 
 tion for peace, it declared its perfect readiness to en- 
 tertain every specific proposition, whenever Lord 
 Malmesbury should be invested witli authority by the 
 powers in behalf of whom he claimed to treat. 
 
 Having nothing to conceal in this negotiation, but 
 being, on the contrary, enabled to act with the utmost 
 frankness, the Directory resolved to render it public, 
 and to publish in the newspapers the notes of the 
 British envoy and tlie replies of the French minister. 
 It accordingly ordered the immediate publication of 
 Lord Malmesbury's memorial and the answer it had 
 made thereto. This mode of proceeding was calcu- 
 
 lated to disconcert somewhat the tortuous policy of 
 the British cabinet, but it did not necessarily infringe 
 propriety by deviating from usage. The rejoinder of 
 Lord Malmesbury was to the effect that he would 
 apply to his government for further instructions. He 
 must be deemed a singular plenipotentiary who pos- 
 sessed such inadequate powers, that, at the occurrence 
 of each difHculty, he was obliged to refer its elucida- 
 tion to his court. The Directory might have in this 
 detected a subterfuge, and a design to spin out the 
 negotiation under a vain semblance of treating ; nor 
 could it view with satisfaction the prolonged sojourn 
 of a foreigner, whose intrigiies might prove danger- 
 ous, and who had come to discover the secret of the 
 armaments preparing in the French ports. Neverthe- 
 less, it manifested no displeasure ; it allowed Lord 
 Malmesbury to await the answer of his court, and, in 
 the interim, to observe the different parties, estimate 
 their strength, and speculate on that of the govern- 
 ment. The Directory, in sooth, had little to dread 
 from the scrutiny. 
 
 Meanwhile, the situation of the French was becom- 
 ing perilous in Italy, notwithstanding the recent 
 triumphs of Koveredo, Bassano, and Saint-George. 
 Austria was making gigantic preparations to recover 
 Loinbardy. The assurances given by Catherine of 
 Russia, guaranteeing the safety of the GaUicias, had 
 permitted the emperor to transport the troops in Po- 
 land towards the Alps. The confident hope of pre- 
 serving peace with the Ottoman Porte had, in like 
 manner, prompted liiin to uncover the Tm^kish fron- 
 tier, and all the reserves of the Austrian empire were 
 directed upon Italy. A numerous and loyal popula- 
 tion, moreover, afforded copious means of recruitment. 
 The Imperial government displayed extraordinary 
 zeal and activity in enrolling new soldiers, incorporat- 
 ing them in veteran regiments, arming and equipping 
 them. An excellent army was thus mustered in 
 Friuli, comprising the wrecks of Wurmser, the troops 
 drawn from Poland and Turkey, the detachments 
 from the Rhine, and the recruits. Marshal Alvinzy 
 was commissioned to undertake the command. San- 
 guine expectations were indulged that this third army 
 would be more fortunate than the two preceding, and 
 finally wrest Italy from its youthful conqueror. 
 
 Bonaparte, during the interval, was importunate in 
 demanding succours and in urging pacifications with 
 the Italian powers on his rear. He earnestly exhorted 
 the Directory to treat with Naples, to renew the ne- 
 gotiations with Rome, to conclude with Genoa, and to 
 arrange an offensive and defensive alliance with the 
 King of Sardinia, in order that he might obtain aid in 
 Italy, if none could be forwarded to him from France. 
 He desired permission to proclaim the independence 
 of Lombardy .and of the dominions under the Duke of 
 Modena, with the view of securing partisans and 
 auxiliaries devotedly attached to his cause. The policy 
 he recommended was most expedient, and the distress 
 of his army fully warranted his strenuous entreaties. 
 The rupture of the negotiations with the pope had a 
 second time caused the contribution imposed by the 
 armistice of Bologna to be countermanded. One in- 
 stalment only had been transmitted. The contribu- 
 tions levied on Parma, Modena, and IMilan, were ex- 
 hausted, either by the expenses of the army or by the 
 remittances sent to the government. Venice furnished 
 provisions in an adequate ratio, but the pay of the 
 troops was in arrear. The funds exigible from the 
 foreign commerce of Leghorn were still under litiga- 
 tion. Amidst the richest regions of the earth, the 
 army began to experience privations. But its most 
 serious calamity was the hollowness of its ranks, 
 thinned by the Austrian fire. It had not destroyed 
 so many enemies without undergoing grievous emacia- 
 tion. It had received reinforcements to the extent of 
 9000 or 10,000 men since the commencement of the 
 campaign, whereby the number of Frenchmen led into 
 Italy had been increased to nearly 50 000 : but at the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 611 
 
 present moment it contained only thirty and a few 
 thousands, so great had been the havoc of war and 
 pestilence. Twelve battalions had recentlj^ arrived 
 from La Vendee, but deplorably crippled by desertions ; 
 the other detachments promised were not forthcoming. 
 General WiUot, who held command in the southern 
 departments, and who was instructed to direct several 
 regiments upon the Alps, detamed them to quell the 
 disturbances his own hicapacity and truculent spirit 
 had provoked in the provinces mider his ride. Keller- 
 mann coidd scarcely weaken his line, for his first duty 
 was to be constantly prepared to repress Lj'ons and 
 the environs, where the Companies of Jesus still mur- 
 dered and devastated. Bonaparte solicited the eighty- 
 third and fortieth demi-brigades, comprising nearly 
 6000 good troops, and stated that all his apprehensions 
 would be dissipated if they came up in time. 
 
 He complained that the negotiation with Rome had 
 not been confided to him, as he woidd have delayed 
 the commmiication of an ultimatum until the payment 
 of the contribution. " So long as your general," he 
 said, " is not the centre of all in Italy, every thing will 
 go wrong. I may easily be accused of ambition ; but 
 I am in truth satiated with honours. I am ill ; I can 
 scarcely sit on horseback ; courage alone remains to 
 me, which is not enough for the post I occupy. People 
 begin to enumerate us," he added ; " the prestige of 
 our might is wearing away. Troops — or Italy is lost." 
 
 The Directory, feeling the importance of detaching 
 Naples from Rome and securing the rear of Bonaparte, 
 eventually concluded a treaty with the King of the 
 Two Sicilies. It waived all objectionable demands, 
 and the Neapolitan court, which the late victories of 
 the French had intimidated, which saw Spain making 
 common cause with France, and which feared that the 
 English would be speedily driven from the Mediterra- 
 nean, acceded to the treaty. The peace was signed on 
 the 19th Vendemiaire (lOtli October). It was stipu- 
 lated that his Sicilian majesty shoidd witlihold suc- 
 cours of every kind from the enemies of France, and 
 close his ports against the armed ships of the bellige- 
 rent powers. The Directory subsequently brought 
 the negotiations with Genoa to a close. An untoM'ard 
 circumstance accelerated their termination : Nelson 
 captured a French vessel in sight of the Genoese bat- 
 teries. This violation of the neutrality egregiously 
 compromised the republic of Genoa ; the French party 
 within it assumed a bolder tone — the adverse party 
 shrunk into timidity ; the determiiiation was carried 
 to conclude an alliance with France. The Genoese 
 ports were shut against the English. Two millions 
 were paid to France as an indeumity for the frigate 
 La Modeste, and two millions more furnished as a 
 loan. The feudatory famihes were not exiled, but all 
 the partisans of France, expelled from the country 
 and the senate, were recalled and reinstated. Pied- 
 mont was again urged to accept an offensive and de- 
 fensive alliance. Its monarch had recently expired ; 
 hisyoung successor, Charles-Emanuel, evinced friendly 
 dispositions towards France, but he was not satisfied 
 with the advantages she offered him as the i)rice of 
 his alliance. The Directory undertook to guarantee 
 his dominions, which he held by an micertain tenure 
 amidst the general convulsion and the various repub- 
 lics ready to start into existence. But the reigning 
 king, like his predecessor, demanded the cession of 
 Lombardy, which the Directory could not promise, 
 having to husband equividents for treating with Aus- 
 tria. The Directory afterwards empowered Bonaparte 
 to resume the negotiations with Rome, and -conferred 
 upon him full powers for that purpose. 
 
 The pai)al court had previously dispatched Cardinal 
 Albani to Vienna. It had built lofty hopes on Naples, 
 and, in the delirium of its rage, had insidted the 
 Spanish legation. Naples suddenly failing it, and 
 Spain manifesting her high displeasure, it was in the 
 agonies of alarm, and presented a favourable moment 
 for renewing overtures of peace. Bonaparte desired, 
 
 in the first place, to wring from it money ; next, al- 
 though he contemned its temporal power, he regarded 
 with uneasiness its moral inlluence over populations. 
 The two Italian parties, procreated by the French 
 revolution, and stimulated into development by the 
 presence of the French armies, were daily growing in 
 mutual exasperation. K JVIilan, Modena, Reggio, Bo- 
 logna, and Ferrara, were the strongholds of the patriot 
 party, Rome was the eenti'e of the monkish and aris- 
 tocratic party. It was still possible for tlie Vatican 
 to arouse fanatical fiu-y and gi'eatly harass and perplex 
 the French, especially now that the struggle for mastery 
 with the Austrian army was about to be decided. 
 Bonaparte felt that it was jet incumbent on him to 
 temporise. Of free and independent mind, he despised 
 all the fanaticisms which depress the human intellect ; 
 but, as a man of action, he dreaded the power unas- 
 sailable by force, and preferred to elude rather than con- 
 tend with it. Besides, although educated in France, 
 his birth had occurred in the heart of Italian super- 
 stition, and he was far from partaking that disgust 
 towards the Cathohc rehgion which prevailed so deeply 
 and universally amongst the French at the close of the 
 eighteenth century. Thus he entertained no such 
 repugnance to treat with the Holy See as existed at 
 Paris. By gaining time, he would avoid the necessity 
 of a retrograde march into the peninsula, avert priestly 
 anathemas, and possibly recover the sixteen millions 
 comitermanded to Rome. He accordingly instructed 
 the minister Cacault to disavow the demands of the 
 Directory as to religious concerns, and to insist only 
 on the material conditions. He selected Cardinal 
 Mattel, whom he had imnmred in a convent, as an 
 envoy to Rome ; setting him at liberty, he charged 
 him to conve}^ his exhortations to the ear of the 
 Pope himself " The court of Rome," he wrote to 
 him, " wishes war ; it shall have it ; but, previously, I 
 owe it to my country and humanity to make a last 
 effort to recall the Pope to reason. You know, my 
 lord cardinal, the strength of the army I command : 
 to destroy the temporal power of the Pope, the wdl is 
 all I need. Go to Rome, see the holy father, enlighten 
 him as to his true interests ; release him from the 
 intriguers who surround him, and who would ruin 
 both him and Rome itself The French government 
 yet permits me to hear the words of peace. All may 
 be acconmiodated. AVar, so disastrous to nations, 
 brings fearful results on the vanquished. Save the 
 Pope from the calamities which threaten him. You 
 are well aware how sincerely I desire to conclude by 
 peace a contest which war would terminate for me 
 without glory as without peril." 
 
 Whilst employing such means " to deceive," as he 
 expres.sed it, " the old fox" and to guard against the 
 consequences of fanaticism, Bonaparte sought to 
 foment the spirit of liberty in Upper Italy, so that 
 he might oi)pose patriotism to superstition. The 
 whole of Upper Italy was in a ferment : the ISIilanese, 
 wrested from Austria, the provinces of ^lodena and 
 Keggio, impatient under the yoke fastened upon them 
 by their old absent duke, an(l tlie legations of Bologna 
 and Ferrara, protected from the galling servitude of 
 the Pope, loudly demanded their independence and 
 their establishment as republics. He could not pro- 
 claim the indejiendence of Lombardy, for victory' had 
 not yet sufficiently decided its fate ; but lie gave it 
 hopes and encouragement. As to the provinces of 
 Modena and Reggio, they laj- innnediately on the rear 
 of his army^ — their confines touching Mantua. He 
 had grounds of complaint against the regency, which 
 had f'or\^ar(led provisions to the garrison ; and he hat! 
 recommendeil the Directory not to grant peace to the 
 Duke of Modenii, but to rest satisfied with the armis- 
 tice, in order to reserve the power of punishing him 
 in case of necessity. Circumstances becoming every 
 day more difficult, he determined, without consulting 
 the Directory, to adopt a resolute course of action. 
 It was unquestionable that the regency had again
 
 612 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 recently proved delinquent, and infringed the armis- 
 tice, by furnishing suppUes to Wunnser, and alTording 
 an asylum to one of his detachments. He mstantly 
 declared the armistice broken ; and, by vktue of the 
 rights of conquest, he drove away the regency, and 
 pronounced the Duke of ISIodena deposed and his 
 states free. The enthusiasm of the inhabitants of 
 Reggio and Modena was excited to the liighest pitch. 
 Bonaparte organised a municipal government, to ad- 
 minister the country provisionally, until it was defini- 
 tively constituted. Bologna and Ferrara had already 
 formed themselves into a republic, and were com- 
 mencing to levy troops. Bonaparte planned the miion 
 of these legations with the Dutchy of Modena, in order 
 to mould them into a single republic, which, wholly 
 seated on this side the Fo, should be styled The Cis- 
 padan Republic. He conceived, that if, on the conclu- 
 sion of peace, the restoration of Lotnbardy to Austria 
 were unavoidable, it might be possible to prevent the 
 restitution of the IModenese and the legations to the 
 Duke of Modena and the Fope ; and that thus a re- 
 public, the offspring and ally of the French republic, 
 would be erected beyond the Alps, to serve as the 
 focus of French principles, and the asylum of perse- 
 cuted patriots, whence hberty might one day expand 
 over the whole of Italy. He was not sufficiently 
 sanguine to believe that the enfranchisement of Italy 
 could be accomplished at one blow ; he deemed the 
 French government too much exhausted to effect it at 
 the present moment ; but thought that he ought at all 
 events to plant the germs of liberty in this first cam- 
 paign. That object would be fulfilled by incorporating 
 Bologna and Ferrara with Modena and Reggio. The 
 spirit of locaUty was adverse to such junction ; but he 
 hoped to surmount that obstacle by his all-powerful 
 influence. He visited the different cities, in aU of 
 which he was received with enthusiasm, and decided 
 them to send one hundred deputies from the various 
 districts of their territory to Modena, there to form a 
 national assembly, charged to constitute the Cispadan 
 Republic. This convention, accordingly, met at ]Mo- 
 dena on the 25th of Vendemiaire (16th October). It 
 was composed of advocates, landowners, and mer- 
 chants. Awed by the presence of Bonaparte, and 
 directed by his counsels, it evinced an exemplary dis- 
 cretion. It voted the amalgamation into a single 
 republic of the two legations and the dutchy of JMo- 
 dena ; it abolished feudalism, and decreed civil 
 equaUty ; it nominated a commissioner, empowered 
 to organise a legion of 4000 men, and ordained the 
 formation of a second assembly, which was appointed 
 to meet on the 5th Nivose (25th December), in order 
 to frame a constitution. The Reggians displayed an 
 unbounded zeal. An Austrian detachment having 
 saUied out of :Mantua, they flew to arms, surrounded, 
 captured, and conducted it to Bonaparte. Two Reg- 
 gians were slain in the encounter, and were the first 
 martyrs to Italian independence. 
 
 Lombardy was jealous and alarmed at the favours 
 granted to the Cispadan states, and drew therefrom 
 an evil augury for itself It was feared that, since 
 the French constituted the legations and the dutchy 
 without constituting Lombardy, they harboured tlie 
 intention of restoring it to Austria. Bonaparte again 
 strove to encourage the Lombards, pointed out to 
 them the difficulties of his position, and repeated to 
 them that they must gain independence by vigorously 
 sustaining him in his arduous struggle. They resolved 
 to increase to 12,000 men the two Italian and Pohsh 
 legions, of which they had already commenced the 
 organisation. 
 
 Bonaparte thus seciu-ed friendly governments around 
 him, prepared to direct aU their efforts to support him. 
 Their troops, doubtless, were of little value ; but they 
 were capable of forming the police of the conquered 
 countries, and in this manner would render disposable 
 the detachments he was obliged to employ for that 
 service. They might, aided by a few hundreds of 
 
 French, resist a first attempt of the pope, if he had 
 the folly to make one. Bonaparte endeavoured, at the 
 same time, to reassure the Duke of Parma, whose 
 dominions abutted on the new republic ; his friendship 
 might be useful, and his kinsmansliip with Spain en- 
 joined deference and forbearance. He flattered him 
 with the prospect of possibly acquiring certain towns 
 amidst the dismemberments of territory. He thus 
 availed himself of the resources of policy, to supply 
 that deficiency of strength which his government 
 could not replenish ; and, in so doing, he performed 
 his duty towards France and Italy, and executed his 
 task, too, with all the consummate tact of a veteran 
 dijilomatist. 
 
 Corsica had just been emancipated by his exertions. 
 He had collected the principal refugees at Leghorn, 
 given them arms and officers, and boldly thrown them 
 into the island to uphold the revolt of the inhabitants 
 against the P^nglish. The expedition succeeded ; his 
 native land was rescued from English thraldom, and 
 the ilediten-anean would, in aU probability, soon enjoy 
 the like deliverance. It might be reasonably antici- 
 l^ated, that the Spanish squadrons, united with those 
 of France, would for the future close the Straits of 
 Gibraltar against the fleets of England, and reign 
 paramount throughout the ]Mediterranean. 
 
 lie had, therefore, employed the time elapsed since 
 the events on the Brenta in ameliorating his position 
 in Italy ; but if he had somewhat less to dread from 
 the princes of that country, the danger on the side of 
 Austria was only becoming more alarming, and his 
 forces to parry it were lamentably inadequate. The 
 eighty-third and fortieth demi-brigades he had so 
 urgently requested, were still detained in the south of 
 France. He had 12,000 men in the Tyrol, under 
 Vaubois, planted in advance of Trent on the banks of 
 theLa\'isio; about 16,000 or 17,000 under Massena 
 and Augereau, on the Brenta and the Adige ; lastly, 
 8000 or 9000 before Mantua ; so that his army con- 
 sisted of 36,000 or 38,000 men. Davidovich, who 
 had remained in the Tyrol after the discomfiture of 
 Wurmser, with a few thousand men, now commanded 
 18,000. xUvinzy was advancing from Friuli on the 
 Piave with about 40,000. Bonaparte was consequently 
 in extreme jeopardy ; for to resist 60,000 men he had 
 but 36,000, fatigued by a triple campaign, and daily 
 diminished by the fevers they caught in the rice 
 plantations of Lombardy. He wrote despondingly to 
 the Directorv, and warned it he was about to lose 
 Italy. 
 
 The Directory, discerning the fuU extent of the 
 peril menacing Bonaparte, and being unable to for- 
 ward him succours with sufficient celerity, formed the 
 design of suspending hostilities by means of a nego- 
 tiation. Lord Malmesbury was at Paris, as we have 
 mentioned : he was awaiting the reply of his govern- 
 ment to the communications of the Directory, which 
 had insisted upon his producing credentials from 
 all the powers, and expressing himself more clearly 
 respecting the principle of compensation. The Eng- 
 lish ministry, after an interval of nineteen days, had 
 at length, on the 24th Brumaire (14th November), 
 intimated in rejoinder that the pretensions of France 
 were unprecedented, and that it was usual for a belli- 
 gerent to demand to treat in the name of its alUes, 
 before possessing their formal authority; that England 
 was assured of obtaining such authority, but that it 
 was previously necessary for France to give a frank 
 explanation touching the principle of compensation, 
 which was tlie sole basis whereon the negotiation 
 could be opened. The British cabinet added, that the 
 answer of the Directory was filled with unbecoming 
 insiniutions as to the intentions of his Britannic 
 majesty, which it was beneath his dignity to rebut, 
 and that he would refrain from dwelling on them, to 
 avoid impeding the progress of the negotiations. On 
 the same day, the Directory, determined to be prompt 
 and categoric, rephed to Lord Malmesbury that it
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 613 
 
 admitted the principle of compensation, but required 
 him forthwith to specify the objects to which he 
 would apply that principle. 
 
 The Directory was competent to return this answer 
 without committing itself too far, since, albeit refusing 
 to cede Belgiiun and Luxembourg, it had at its dis- 
 posal Lombardy and sundry other small territories. 
 For the rest, the negotiation itself was obviously 
 illusory ; the Directory could anticipate no real result 
 therefrom ; and it resolved to baffle the subtlety of 
 England bj^ dispatching an envoy direct to Vienna, 
 empowered to conclude a separate accommodation 
 with the emperor. The first proposition tliis envoy 
 would submit, establislied an armistice in Germany 
 and Italy, to continue for at least six months. The 
 Rhine and the Adige were to divide the armies of the 
 two powers. The sieges of Mantua and Kehl were to 
 be suspended. The provisions necessary for the diur- 
 nal consumption of Mantua might be daily introduced, 
 so as to leave the two parties in their present state at 
 the close of the armistice. France Avould thus secure 
 the preservation of Kehl, and Austria that of Mantua. 
 A negotiation was to be immediately opened for the 
 conclusion of peace. The conditions otrered by France 
 were the following: — Austria to cede Belgium and 
 Luxembourg to France ; France to restore Lombardy 
 to Austria, and the Palatinate to the Empire, thus 
 relinquishing, on the latter point, the barrier of the 
 Rhine; and to consent, moreover, with the view of 
 indemnifying Austria for the loss of the Low Countries, 
 to the secularisation of several bishoprics included in 
 the Germanic empire. The emperor to imdertake that 
 he would neither directly nor indirectly interfere in 
 the affairs between France and the Pope, and lend his 
 mfluence to procure for tlie Stadtholder indemnities 
 in Germany. This last was a condition essential to 
 the tranquillity of Holland, and to the satisfaction of 
 the King of Prussia, whose sister had espoused the 
 deposed stadtholder. These terms were singularly 
 moderate, and proved the desire felt by the Directory 
 to terminate the horrors of warfare, and its lively 
 solicitude for the army of Italy. 
 
 The Directory selected as the bearer of these pro- 
 positions General Clarke, who was employed in the 
 ofiices of the war department under Carnot. His 
 instructions were signed on the 26th Brumaire (16th 
 November). But before he could prepare for his 
 mission, reach Vienna, and obtain a reception or a 
 hearing, some considerable interval must elapse, and, 
 meanwhile, events followed each other with wondrous 
 rapidity in Italy. 
 
 Marshal Alvinzy, having thrown bridges over the 
 Piave, had moved towards the Brenta by the 11th 
 Brumaire (1st November). The plan of the Austrians, 
 upon this occasion, was to attack concurrently by the 
 mountains of the Tyrol and by the plain. Davidovich 
 was to chase Vaubois from his positions, and descend 
 the two banks of the Adige to Verona. Alvinzy, on 
 his part, was to cross the Piave and the Brenta, ad- 
 vance (m the Adige, enter Verona with tlie bulk of 
 his army, and effect a j miction Mdth Davidovich. The 
 two Austrian armies were intended to start from that 
 point, and marcli in concert to the deblockade of 
 Mantua and the deliverance of Wurniser. 
 
 Alvinzy, after passing the Piave, moved on the 
 Brenta, where Massena was posted witli liis division. 
 He, Massena, having ascertained the strength of the 
 enemy, thereupon recoiled. Bonaparte marched to 
 his aid with the division of Augereau. He enjoined 
 Vaubois, at the same time, to check Davidovich in 
 the valley of tlie Upper Adige, and to wrest from him, 
 if he could, his position on the Lavisio. He proceeded 
 in person to meet Alvinzy, resolved, despite the dis- 
 proportion of forces, to attack him impetuously, and 
 disperse his army at the very commencement of tlie 
 campaign. He arrived on the morning of the 16th 
 Brumaire (6th November) in sight of the enemy. 
 The Austrians had taken up positions in front of tlie 
 
 Brenta, from Carmignano to Bassano ; their reserves 
 had remained in the rear, beyond the Brenta. Bona- 
 parte directed upon them all his forces. Massena 
 attacked Liptai and Provera before Carmignano ; 
 Augereau attacked Quasdanovich before Bassano. 
 The actions were animated and sanguinary ; the 
 troops displayed an indomitable prowess. Liptai and 
 Provera were driven beyond the Brenta bj' JIassena ; 
 Quasdanovich was repulsed on Bassano by Augereau. 
 Bonaparte desired to have penetrated into Bassano 
 that very day ; but the approach of the Austrian 
 reserves prevented him. It became necessary to 
 postpone the assault until the foUoAving day. The 
 unforttmate tidings reached him during the night that 
 Vaubois had sustained a reverse on the Upper Adige. 
 That general had bravely attacked the positions of 
 Davidovich, and success was already dawning on his 
 efforts; but suddenly a panic had seized upon his 
 soldiers, notwithstanding all their approved valour, 
 and they fled in disorder. He had eventually rallied 
 them in that famous defile of Galliano, where the 
 army had evinced such signal intrepidity in the inva- 
 sion of the Tyrol. Whilst trusting to maintain him- 
 self m that rugged pass, Davidovich, directing a corps 
 on the other bank of the Adige, turned Galliano, and 
 doubled the position. Vaubois sent to apprise Bona- 
 parte that he must retire to avoid being cut off, and 
 expressed his fears lest Davidovich should forestall 
 him in the important positions of La Corona and 
 Rivoli, which cover the route into the TjtoI between 
 tlie Adige and the Lake of Garda. 
 
 Bonaparte instantly discerned the danger of further 
 pressing upon Alvinzy, when Vaubois, who was with 
 his left in the Tyrol, miglit probabh' lose La Corona, 
 Rivoli, even Verona, and be driven back mto the 
 plain. He would then have been cut off from his 
 principal wing, and placed with 15,000 or 16,000 men 
 between Davidovich and Alvinzy. He consequently 
 took an instant resohition to retrograde. He directed 
 a trusty ofiicer to fly to Verona, there collect all the 
 troops he could muster, and move them to Rivoli and 
 La -Corona, so as to anticipate Davidovich in those 
 posts, and secure Vaubois leisure to reach them. 
 
 On the morrow, ITtli Brumaire (7th November), 
 he wheeled back, and passed through the town of 
 Vicenza, whose inhabitants were greatly amazed to 
 behold the French army in retreat after the successful 
 combats of the eve. He repaired to Verona, at which 
 place he concentrated his arm}^ He ascended alone 
 to Rivoli and La Corona, where he had the satisfac- 
 tion of finding Vaubois's troops rallied and prepared 
 to make head against a fresh attack of Davidovich. 
 He determined to impress a stern lesson on the 
 thirty -ninth and eighty -fifth demi-brigades, which 
 had yielded to a panic. He assembled the whole 
 division, and, addressing those two demi-brigades, he 
 upbraided them with their want of discipline and 
 their flight. Then turning to the chief of the staff, 
 he said : " Let it be inscribed on the colours that tlie 
 thirty-ninth and eighty-fifth no longer form part of 
 the army of Italy." Tlicse expressions caused in the 
 soldiers of the two demi-brigades tlie most poignant 
 sorrow ; they surrounded Bonaparte, assured him 
 they had fought one against three, and entreated to 
 be sent into the vanguard, tliat they might sliow 
 wliether or not they were worthy of tlie army of Italj'. 
 Bonaparte indemnified them for iiis severity by a few 
 gracious phrases, wliich transported them witli joy, 
 and he left them firmly resolved to avenge their tar- 
 nislied honour by a desperate valour. 
 
 Only 8000 men, of the 12,000 lie commanded before 
 Iiis recent mishap, survived to Vaubois. Bonaparte 
 distributed them to the best advantage in the positions 
 of La Corona and Rivoli, and, after satisfying himself 
 that Vauiiois could hold iiis ground there for a few 
 (lays, and cover his left and rear, he returned to 
 Verona to operate against Alvinzy. Tlic highway 
 leading from the Brenta to Verona, following the foot 
 2R
 
 614 
 
 HISTORY or THE FKENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of the mountains, passes by "N'icenza, jNIontebello, 
 Villa-Nuova, and Caldiero. Alvinzy, surprised to 
 see Bonaparte fall hack on the niurrow of a successful 
 engagement, had followed him at a distance, surniising 
 that the progress of Davidovich alone could have in- 
 duced him to retrograde. He indulged the flattering 
 hope that his plan of junction at \ erona was about 
 to be accomplished. lie halted about three leagues 
 from Verona, on the heights of Caldiero, which com- 
 mand the route. These heights afforded an admirable 
 position for holding at bay an army issuing from 
 Verona. Alvinzy established himself on them, planted 
 batteries, and omitted nothing to render the position 
 impregnable. Bonaparte reconnoitered the ground, 
 and determined to attack him without delay; for the 
 situation of Vau])oi.s at Kivoli was very precarious, 
 and allowed him but little time to act separately 
 against Alvinzy. lie marched against him in the 
 afternoon of the 21st (11th November), repulsed his 
 vanguard, and bivouacked with the divisions of ]Mas- 
 sena and Augereau at the base of Caldiero. At break 
 of day, he discovered that Alvinzy, strongly in- 
 trenched, was prepared to give battle. The position 
 was assailable on one side, that wliich rested on the 
 mountains, and which had not been fortified by Al- 
 vinzy with sufficient precaution. Bonaparte directed 
 Massena on that point, and charged Augereau to 
 attack the rest of the line. A hot engagemeut ensued ; 
 but the rain fell in torrents, which gave a decided 
 advantage to the Austrians, whose artillery had been 
 previously placed in good positions, whereas that of 
 the French, obliged to move in roads become imprac- 
 ticable, could not be brought on the suitable points, 
 and was thus rendered wholly inoperative. Never- 
 theless, ilassena succeeded in scaling the height 
 neglected by Alvinzy. But suddenly the rain changed 
 to a frigid sleet, which a coarse wind drov^e violently 
 upon the faces of the soldiers. At this moment, 
 Alvinzy marched his reserve on the position that 
 Massena had carried, and recovered all his posts. 
 Bonaparte vainly strove to repeat his efforts ; the 
 case was hopeless. The two armies passed the night 
 in nmtual presence. The rain poured incessantly, 
 and reduced the French soldiers to the most dismal 
 condition. The next morning, 23d Brumaire (13th 
 November), Bonaparte re-entered Verona. 
 
 The situation of the army had become most critical. 
 After having fruitlessly driven the enemy beyond the 
 Brenta, and sacrificed without benefit a multitude of 
 brave men ; after having lost the Tyrol and 4000 men 
 on the left ; after having fought an unsuccessful battle 
 at Caldiero, with the view of forcing Alvinzy from 
 Verona, thereby still fm'ther diminishing its strength 
 unavailably — all resource seemed at an end. The left, 
 which scarcely cotmted 8000 men, was liable every 
 moment to be repelled from La Corona and Kivoli, 
 and in that case Bonaparte would be surrounded at 
 Verona. The two divisions of Massena and Augereau, 
 which formed the active army opposed to Alvinzj% 
 were reduced, by the two battles, to 14,000 or 15,000 
 men. How could a force of 14,000 or 15,000 men 
 cope with one of nearly 40,000.=' The artillery, by 
 which the French had always contrived to counter- 
 balance the superiority of their foes, was rendered 
 immoveable by the state of the roads, so that no hope 
 remained of contending with any chance of success. 
 The army was stricken with dismay. Those hardy 
 soldiers, tested by so many fatigues and perils, began 
 to nmrmur. Like all intelligent troops, they were 
 subject to emotions of discontent, because they were 
 capable of reflection and judgment. " After having 
 destroyed," they said, " two armies sent against us, 
 we are expected also to destroy those wliich were 
 oppo.sed to the armies of the Khine. AVurmser suc- 
 ceeds Beaulieu ; Alvinzy succeeds "Wurmser : the 
 contest is renewed every day. We cannot perform 
 the task of all. It is not our province to combat 
 Alvinzy, any more than it was our part to fight 
 
 AVunnser. If all had done their duty like us, the war 
 would have been finished. Still," they added, " if 
 succours were only given us proportioned to our 
 dangers ! But we are abandoned at the extremity of 
 Italy ; we are left alone to contend with two innu- 
 merable armies. And when, after having shed our 
 blood in myriads of actions, we are at last driven over 
 the Alps, we shall return without honour or glory, 
 like fugitives who have failed in their duty." Such 
 was the language of the soldiers in their bivouacks. 
 Bonaparte, who partook their dissatisfaction and 
 chagrin, wrote to the Directory, on the 24th Bru- 
 maire (14th November), in a desponding and uj)- 
 1)raiding strain. " ^yi our superior oflticers," he said, 
 " idl our chosen generals, are disabled ; the army of 
 Italy, reduced to a handful of meu, is exhausted. The 
 heroes of ]\Iillesimo, Lodi, Castigiione, and Bassano, 
 have died in the service of their country or are in the 
 hospitals. There remaui to the regiments only their 
 renown and their honest ]>ride. Joubert, Lannes, 
 Lamare, Victor, Murat, Chariot, Dupuis, Rampon, 
 Pigeon, Menard, Chabrand. are wounded. We are 
 isolated in the depths of Ita'y : the brave men who 
 survive see death inevitable, amidst such continu;d 
 hazards and with forces so greatly inferior. Perhaps, 
 the knell of the valiant Augereau, of the mtrepid 
 
 Massena, is about to sound Then ! then, what 
 
 will become of these heroic men ? This idea renders 
 me cautious ; I dare no longer confront deatli, as it 
 woidd be a cause of discouragement to those who are 
 the objects of my solicitude. If I had received the 
 eighty-third, composed of 3500 men known to the 
 army, I would have answered for all ! Perhajis, within 
 a few days, 40,000 will be insufficient! To-day," 
 added Bonaparte, " we give the troops repose ; to- 
 morrow, according to the movements of the enemy, 
 we will act." 
 
 Whilst addressing these bitter complaints to the 
 government, he afiected, nevertheless, a perfect confi- 
 dence in the eyes of his soldiers. He instructed the 
 officers to enforce upon them that a vigorous effort 
 must be made, and that such efl'ort would be the last ; 
 that, Alvinzy vanquished, the resoiu-ces of Austria 
 woidd be utterly exhausted, Italy conquered, peace 
 secured, and the glory of the army immortid. His 
 presence, his words, reanimated drooping courage. 
 The invalids, burning with fever, poured in numbers 
 from the hospitals, on learning that the army was in 
 danger, and hurried to resume their stations in its 
 ranks. Deep and anxious emotions throbbed in all 
 hearts. The Austrians had approached Verona in 
 the course of the day, and exhibited the ladders they 
 had prepared for moimting the walls. The Veronese 
 manifested their joy at the expectation that, within 
 a few hours. Alvinzy woidd be imited to Davidovich 
 in their city, and the French exterminated. Some 
 amongst them, compromised by their attachment to 
 the French cause, perambulated the streets in sad- 
 ness, counting the diminutive force of their champions. 
 
 The army waited with breathless interest the orders 
 of the general, expecting every moment he would 
 command a movement. However, the day of the 
 24th elapsed, and, contrary to custom, tlie order of 
 the day gave no announcement. But Bonaparte had 
 not wasted time : after pondering on the scene of war- 
 fare, he had formed one of those resolutions where- 
 with despair inspires genius. Towards night, an 
 order was issued for all the army to get under arms. 
 The utmost stillness was enjoined. The troops were 
 put in motion ; but, instead of proceeding forward, 
 they retrograded, repassed the Adige bj* the bridges 
 of Verona, and issued from the city by the gate lead- 
 ing to Milan. They imagined the intention of de- 
 fending Italy was finally relinquished : a mournful 
 dejection oppressed the ranks. At some distance 
 from Verona, however, they diverged to the left : 
 instead of continuing to remove from the Adige, they 
 began to skirt it and descend its course. They fol-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 615 
 
 lowed it for a space of foivr leagries. Event>i:illy, after 
 a march of several hours, they arrived at Konco, 
 where a bridge of boats had been constructed by the 
 foresiglit of the general ; they recrossed the stream, 
 and, at break of day, once more found themselves 
 beyond the Adige, which they feared to have aban- 
 doned for ever. The plan conceived by their general 
 was extraordinary, and one well fitted to surprise both 
 armies. The Adige, on leaving Verona, ceases for an 
 interval to flow perpendicularly from the mountains 
 to the sea, and bends towards the east : in this oblique 
 course, it approaches the route from Verona to the 
 Brenta, upon which Alvinzy was encamped. Bona- 
 parte, when at Ronco, was consequently on the flank, 
 and almost on the rear, of the Austrians. In tliis 
 position he was stationed amid vast morasses. These 
 marshes were traversed by two causeways, whereof 
 the one. to the left, ascending the Adige by Porcil 
 and Gombione, led again to Verona, Avhilst the other, 
 to the right, passed over a small river called the 
 Alpon, at the village of Arcole, and joined the road 
 from Verona near Villa-Nuova, behind Caldiero. 
 
 Bonaparte, therefore, held at Konco two causeways, 
 both of which communicated witli the high road oc- 
 cupied by the Austrians — the one between Caldiero 
 and Verona, the other between Caldiero and Villa- 
 Xuova. His project was based on the following con- 
 siderations : — Amidst these morasses, the advantage 
 of numbers became of no avail ; the armies could 
 deploy only on the caiiseways, and on causeways the 
 intrepidity of the heads of columns decides every 
 thing. By the causeway on the left, which joined 
 the road between Caldiero and Verona, he could fall 
 on the Austrians if they attempted to storm Verona. 
 By that on the right, which passed the Alpon at the 
 bridge of Arcole, and terminated near Villa-Nuova, 
 he could debouch on the rear of Alvinzy, capture his 
 magazines and baggage, and intercept his retreat. 
 He was thus unassailable at Ronco, and extended his 
 two aiTus around the enemy. He had barricaded the 
 gates of Verona, and left Kilmaine in it with 1500 
 men, in order to withstand a first assault. Tliis com- 
 bination, so singularly bold and profound, struck the 
 army with mingled admiration and astonishment ; it 
 instantly comprehended the latent purpose, and re- 
 sumed all its buoyant aspirations. 
 
 Bonaparte planted Massena on the left dyke or 
 causeway, with the view of ascending to Gombione 
 and Porcil, and taking the enemy in flank if lie 
 marched on Verona. Augereau he directed on tlie 
 right to debouch upon Villa-Nuova. I'lie day had 
 now fully broken. Massena placed himself in obser- 
 vation on the left dj-ke ; Augereau, to traA-erse the 
 right dyke, had to cross the Alpon b}' the bridge of 
 Arcole. Some Croatian battalions, detached to recon- 
 noitre the country, chanced to occupy that position at 
 the moment. They lined the river, and pointed their 
 cannon on the bridge. They saluted Augereau's van- 
 guard with a vigorous fire, and compelled it to recoil. 
 Augereau hurried to the spot, and again led his troops 
 forward : but the fire from the bridge and the oppo- 
 site bank once more checked them. He was obliged 
 to yield before this obstacle, and halt in his march. 
 
 Meanwhile, Alvinzy, who had his attention centred 
 on Verona, and who believed the French army still 
 there, was surprised to liear a brisk firing amidst tlie 
 marshes. He never supposed that General Bonaparte 
 could have chosen .such ground, and he concluded it 
 came from some detached corps of light trdops. But 
 his cavalry soon arrived to ini'orm him that the en- 
 gagement was serious, and that the firing proceeded 
 from all quarters. A\"ithout being fully enlightened 
 on the matter, he dispatched two divisions : one, under 
 Provera, followed the left dyke; the other, under 
 ilitrouski, proceeded along the right dyke, and ad- 
 vanced on Arcole. JNIassena, perceiving tlie Austrians 
 approach, allowed them to advance on the narrow 
 causeway ; and when he deemed them sufficiently 
 
 entangled, he charged upon them at full speed, threw 
 them back, hurled them into tlie marsh, and cut down ' 
 and submerged a considerable number. On the other 
 side, Mitrouski's division arrived at Arcole, debouched 
 over the bridge, and wound along the dyke like Pro- 
 vera's. Augereau fell upon it, broke it, and cast part 
 of it into the marsh. He pursued it, and attempted j 
 to pass the bridge in its wake ; but the bridge was ' 
 even better guarded than in tlie morning ; a numerous 
 artillerj' defended the approach, and all tiie rest of the 
 Austrian line was drawn up on the bank of the Alpon, 
 firing on the dyke and raking it crosswise. Augereau 
 seized a flag, and bore it on the bridge. His soldiers 
 followed him, but a terrible fire forced them back. 
 Generals Lannes, Verne, Bon, and Verdier, were dan- 
 gerously wounded. The column recoiled, and the 
 troops crept along the side of the dyke to protect 
 themselves from the Austrian balls. 
 
 Bonaparte saw from Ronco the whole Austrian 
 army break up ; for, now apprised of the danger, it 
 hastened to quit Caldiero, to avoid being taken in the 
 rear at ViUa-Nuova. It was with deep mortification 
 he perceived a decisive I'csult escaping him. He had 
 indeed sent Guyeux with a brigade to attempt the 
 passage of the Alpon below Arcole, but several hours 
 must be consumed in the execution of that enterprise ; 
 and yet it was of the last importance to clear the 
 Alpon without a moment's delay, in order to arrive 
 in time on the rear of Alvinz}-, and obtain a complete 
 triumph : the fate of Italy hung on the contingency. 
 The conviction formed, he galloped oft" with all speed, 
 arrived near the bridge, threw himself from his horse, 
 approached the soldiers, who had squatted on the 
 sides of the dyke, asked them if they were still the 
 conquerors of Lodi, animated them by his words and 
 gestures, and, snatching a banner, exclaimed to them, 
 " Follow your general !" At this cry, many of the 
 soldiers remounted on the causeway and followed him; 
 unfortunately, the impulse could not be communicated 
 to the Avhole column, the residue of which remamed 
 behind the dyke. Bonaparte advanced, bearing the 
 flag aloft, amidst a storm of bullets and grape. All 
 his generals sm-rounded him. Lannes, already 
 woimded by two shots in the course of tlie day, was 
 struck by a third. Yoimg Sluiron, the generars 
 aid-de-camp, essayed to cover him with his body, and 
 fell lifeless at his feet. However, the column was on 
 the point of clearing the bridge, Avhen a final dis- 
 charge stopped and swept it back. The rear aban 
 doned the head of ther column. Thereiipon the soldiers 
 who stood near the general seized him in their arms, 
 bore him awa^' amidst tlie roar and smoke of the fire, 
 and endeavoured to reseat him on horseback. An 
 Austrian column, which charged ujjou them, threw 
 them in disorder into the marsh. Bonnparte fell, and 
 sunk to Ids middle in tlie bog. The soldiers instantly 
 perceived his extreme peril : " Forward !" they shouted, 
 " to save tlie geneml 1" They flew, at tlie heels of 
 Belliard and Vignolles, to extricate him. They drew 
 him from tlie miry pit, planted him on horseback, and 
 he returned to Ronco. 
 
 By tliis time, Guyeux had succeeded in passing 
 below Arcole, and in carrying the village by the 
 ojiposite hank. But it was too late. Alvinzy had 
 renioved liis magazines and baggage ; lie had deployed 
 in the i)iain, and was in a jiosition to frustrate the 
 designs of Bonaparte. All this display of heroism 
 and genius was consequently fruitless. Bonaparte 
 might have avoided llie obstacle of Arcole by throw- 
 ing his bridge over the Adige a little below Koueo, 
 tliat is to say, ^t Alboredo, a point whereat the Alpon 
 lias united with the Adige. But in that case he must 
 have debouched into the plain, which it behoved him 
 to shun ; * and he would not have been in a capacity to 
 
 * I here mention a criticism often addressed to Honap.irte 
 resiH'cting this celebrated battle, and the reply he has liiiuBclf 
 made in his Alcnioii's.
 
 616 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 hasten bj* the left dyke, in criso of need, to the relief 
 of Verona. He was therefore justified in acting as 
 lie had ; and, althougli tlie success was not complete, 
 important results were gained. Alvinz>' had quitted 
 his formidable position of Caldiero ; he had again 
 descended into tlie plain ; he no longer menaced Ve- 
 rona, and he had lost a great number of men in the 
 marshes. The two dykes had become the only inter- 
 mediate field of battle between the two armies, wliich 
 ensured the advantage to prowess, and took it from 
 superiorit}- of force. In fine, tlie French soldiers, 
 animated by the conflict, had recovered all tlieir con- 
 fidence. 
 
 Bonaparte, who had to attend to manifold cares and 
 hazards at once, now turned his attention to his left 
 wing, stationed at Rivoli and La Corona. As it might 
 be momentarily overpowered, he desired to have it in 
 his power to fly to its aid. lie therefore judged it 
 requisite to fall back from Gombione and Arcole, 
 repass the Adige at Ronco, and bivouac on this side 
 the river, that he might be in a position to succour 
 Vaubois, if, during the night, he should learn his 
 defeat. Such was this first day of the 2.5th Brumaire 
 (IStli November). 
 
 The night passed over without any untoward in- 
 telligence. Vaubois was known to be still in posses- 
 sion of Rivoli. The exploit of Castiglione served to 
 protect Bonaparte on that quarter. Davidovich, who 
 commanded a corps in the afflxir at Castiglione, had 
 received such an impression from that event, that he 
 durst not advance before obtaining certain tidings of 
 Alvinzy. Tiius the spell of Bonaparte's genius hovered 
 where he was himself absent. The morning of the 
 26tli Brumaire (16th November) dawned; the hostile 
 troops met on the two dykes. The French charged 
 with the bayonet, drove in the Austrians, forced a 
 great number into the marshes, and made numerous 
 prisoners. They captured several standards and pieces 
 of cannon. Bonaparte directed a fire across the Alpon, 
 but adventured no decisive effort to pass it. As the 
 night closed in, he again drew back his columns, re- 
 moved them along the dykes, and rallied them on the 
 other bank of the Adige, content to have harassed the 
 enemy during the whole day, and awaiting more cer- 
 tain infornuition from Vaubois. The second night 
 elapsed as before ; the news from Vaubois were cheer- 
 ful. A tliird day might be devoted to a definitive 
 struggle with Alvinzy. At length the sun rose for the 
 third time upon this fearful field of carnage. It was 
 the 27 th Brumaire (17 th November). Bonaparte cal- 
 culated tliat the enemy, in killed, wounded, drowned, 
 and prisoners, nmst have lost nearly a third of his 
 army. He deemed him exhausted and discouraged, 
 whilst he found his own soldiers full of enthusiasm. 
 He therefore resolved to quit the dykes, and carry the 
 field of battle into the plain beyond the Alpon. As 
 on the preceding days, tlie French, delioucliing from 
 Ronco, encountered the Austrians on the causcAvaj's. 
 Massena still occupied the left dyke ; on the right 
 dyke was planted General Robert, who was instructed 
 to charge whilst Augereau diverged to cross the Alpon, 
 near its junction witli the Adige. Massena experi- 
 enced at first a strenuous resistance ; but he placed 
 his hat on the point of his sword, and thus marched 
 at the head of the soldiers. As on the previous occa- 
 sions, many of the enemy were slain, stifled, and taken. 
 On the right dyke, General Robert advanced for a 
 while with success ; but he was killed, and his column 
 eventually repulsed almost to the bridge of Ronco. 
 
 Bonaparte, spj'ing the danger, placed the thirty- 
 second in a plantation of willows whicli skirted the 
 dyke. Whilst the antagonist column, victorious over 
 Robert, was advancing, the thirty-second suddenly 
 sprang from its ambuscade, took it in flank, and 
 
 threw it into irremediable disorder. It comjirised 
 
 3000 Croats; the greater part were killed or made 
 
 captive. The dykes being thus swept, Bonaparte [ he win find an account of their institution at page 584 of thie 
 determined to clear the Alpon : Augereau had already | history.l 
 
 passed it on the extreme right. Bonaparte recalled 
 Massena from the left to the right dyke, directed him 
 upon Arcole, which was evacuated, and thus moved 
 his whole army into the plain,' confronting that of 
 Alvinzj-. Before ordering the charge, he sought to 
 infuse terror by means of a stratagem. A marsh, 
 stocked with reeds, covered the left wing of the enemy: 
 he directed Colonel Hcrcule to take twenty-five of his 
 guides,* defile through the reeds, and make a sudden 
 onslaught with a loud clang of trumpets. The intrepid 
 band of twenty-five straightway proceeded to execute 
 the order. Bonaparte then gave the signal to Mas- 
 sena and Augereau. They charged impetuously on 
 the Austrian line, which stubbornly resisted. But, 
 at a critical moment, a great noise of trumpets was 
 heard : the Austrians, beUeving themselves assailed 
 by an entire division of cavalry, yielded ground. At 
 the same instant, the garrison of Legnago, which 
 Bonaparte had called out to demonstrate on their 
 rear, appeared in the distance, and added to their 
 disquietude. Thereupon they retired ; and, after 
 seventy-two hours of murderous conflict, discouraged 
 and overwhelmed with fatigue, they ceded the vic- 
 tory to the heroism of a few thousand warriors, and 
 to the genius of a great captain. 
 
 The two armies, exhausted by their efforts, passed 
 the night in the plain. By daybreak on the morrow, 
 Bonaparte recommenced the pursuit on Vicenza. 
 Arrived at the point of the high road leading from 
 Verona to the Brenta which touches Villa- Nuova, he 
 devolved upon his cavalry alone the task of pursuing 
 the enemy, and returned towards Verona by the route 
 of Villa-Nuova and Caldiero, for the purpose of bearing 
 succours to Vaubois. He learnt on the way that Vau- 
 bois had been constrained to abandon La Corona and 
 Rivoli, and to fall back on CastehNuovo. He redoubled 
 his speed, and arrived the same evening at Verona — 
 passing over the field of battle which Alvinzy had occu- 
 pied. He entered the city by tlie gate opposite that 
 through which he had departed. \Vhen the Veronese 
 saw that handful of men, who had issued as fugitives 
 by the IMilan gate, return as conquerors by the Venice 
 gate, they were amazed beyond expression. Friends 
 and foes were alike unable to restrain their admiration 
 of the general and the soldiers who had so gloriously 
 changed the fortune of the war. From that moment, 
 fears and hopes were equally dismissed that the French 
 were to be expelled from Italy. Bonaparte instantly 
 sent forward Massena to Castel-Nuovo, and Augereau 
 to Dolce, by the left bank of the Adige. Davidovich, 
 assailed on all sides, was promptly driven back into 
 the Tyrol, with the loss of sundry prisoners. Bona- 
 parte contented iiimself with reoccupying the positions 
 of La Corona and Rivoli, without attempting to as- 
 cend as far as Trent, and to regain possession of the 
 Tyrol. The French army was greatly weakened by 
 this last struggle. The Austrian army had lost .5000 
 prisoners and 8000 or 10,000 killed and wounded, but 
 was still upwards of 40,000 strong, including the corps 
 under Davidovich. It retreated hito the Tyrol and 
 on the Brenta, to repose after its fatigues ; it was far 
 from having suffered like tlie armies of Wurmser and 
 Beaulieu. The French, from their exhaustion and 
 deficiency, had been able merely to repulse without 
 destroying it. Ail idea of pursuing it was necessarily 
 relinquished, or, at all events, until the promised rein- 
 forcements should have arrived. Bonaparte contented 
 iiimself with occupying the Adige from Dolce to the 
 sea. 
 
 This fresh victory occasioned a rapturous joy both 
 in Italy and in France. All men extolled that indo- 
 mitable spirit which, with a force of 14,000 or 1.5,000 
 in array against 40,000, had never dreamt of retreat- 
 ing ; that fertile and profound genius which had so 
 promptly discovered, in the dykes of Ronco, a per- 
 * [If the reader has forgotten who lionaparte's " guides" were,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Ci7 
 
 fectly new field of battle, that annihilated the advan- 
 tage of number, and opened up the flanks of the enemy. 
 They celebrated more espeeiaJlj^ the heroism displayed 
 at the bridge of Arcole ; and the young general was 
 every where depictured in the midst of the fire and 
 the smoke, bearing a flag in his hand. The two 
 councils, when declaring, according to usage, that tlie 
 army of Italy had deserved well of tlieir country, 
 decreed, moreover, that the standards borne by Gene- 
 rals Bonaparte and Augereau on the bridge of Arcole, 
 should be presented to them as trophies to be pre- 
 served in their families : an admirable and noble 
 recompense, worthy of an heroic age, and infinitely 
 more glorious than the diadem subsequently awarded 
 by infatuation to transcendent genius ! 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 CL.iRKE AT THE HEAD-QCARTERS OF THE ARMY OF 
 ITALY. — RUPTURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE 
 
 BRITISH CABINET. EXPEDITION TO IRELAND. — 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE LABOURS OF THE DIRECTORY 
 
 DURING THE WINTER OF THE YEAR V. STATE OF 
 
 THE FINANCES. CAPITULATION OF KEHL. LAST 
 
 ATTEMPT OF AUSTRIA UPON ITALY. — VICTORIES OF 
 RIVOLI AND LA FAVORITA. — -FALL, OF MANTUA. — 
 CLOSE OF THE MEMORABLE CAMPAIGN OF 1796. 
 
 General Clarke, charged with pacific overtures to 
 the Emperor of Austria, reached, on his way to 
 Vienna, the head-quarters of the army of Italy. The 
 essential object of his mission had lapsed, for the 
 battle of Arcole rendered an armistice unnecessary. 
 Bonaparte, whom General Clarke was instructed to 
 consult, entirely disapproved of the projected armis- 
 tice and of its conditions. The reasons he alleged 
 were just and potential. An armistice could now 
 produce but one advantage, namely, the preservation 
 of the fortress of Kehl on the Rhine, which the 
 Archduke Charles was besieging with inexorable per- 
 tinacity ; and, for this very secondary object, Mantua 
 was relinquished. Kehl merely afforded a tete-de-pont, 
 which was not indispensable for invading Germany. 
 The capture of Mantua, on the contrary, involved the 
 definitive conquest of Italy, and would warrant the 
 exaction, in restitution, of Mayence and the entire 
 line of the Rhine. An armistice woidd evidently 
 jeopardise this conquest ; for Mantua, filled with in- 
 valids and reduced to stinted rations, coidd not defer 
 its surrender more than a month. The provisions to 
 be introduced, according to the stipulation, would tend 
 to recruit the health and vigour of the garrison. It 
 would be in)possible to ascertain the exact quantity 
 exigible under the convention : and Wurmser, by 
 instituting a rigid economy, might husband supplies 
 j enabling luni to prolong his resistance, in case liosti- 
 I lities were eventually resumed. The series of battles 
 fought to cover the blockade of Mantua,- would thus 
 I become altogether fruitless, and the contest must be 
 recommenced with all the attendant sacrifices. Nor 
 i was this all. The Pope would, of course, be compre- 
 hended in the armistice by Austria, and thus would 
 be lost the opportunity of chastising him, and extort- 
 ing from him twenty or thirty millions, necessary for 
 I behoof of the army, and serviceable in the prosecution 
 of afresh campaign. In short, Bonaparte, diving into 
 I the future, recommended that, instead of suspending 
 I hostilities, they should be continued witli vigour; but 
 j that the war should be centred on its true theatre, 
 i and a reinforcement of 30,000 men detached into Italy. 
 I He undertook on such terms to march on Vienna, and 
 i Avin in two months a peace, the frontier of tlie Rliine, 
 I and a republic in Italy. Undoubtedly, such a combi- 
 I nation placed in his hands all the military and political 
 I operations of the war ; but whether it were dictated 
 ! by selfishness or otherwise, it was based on sound and 
 
 comprehensive views, and the future demonstrated its 
 wisdom. 
 
 Nevertheless, in obedience to the Directory, com- 
 munications y-'tiTQ forwarded to the Austrian generals 
 on the Rhine and the Adige, proposing to them an 
 armistice, and requesting a safe conduct for Clarke. 
 The Archduke Charles replied to Moreau that he 
 could not hearken to any proposal for an armistice, 
 as his powers did not embrace such a sul)ject, and 
 that it must be referred to the Aulic Council. Al- 
 vinzy returned a similar answer, and dispatched a 
 courier to Vienna. The Austrian ministry, secretly 
 devoted to England, was little inclined to entertain 
 the overtures of France. The cabinet of London had 
 I imparted to it the mission intrusted to Lord Malmes- 
 bury, and laboured to persuade it that the emperor 
 I would act more advantageously for himself by taking 
 ' part m the negotiation opened at Paris, than by con- 
 cluding a separate accommodation, since the English 
 conquests in the two Indias were to be sacrificed in 
 order to procure for him the restitution of the Low 
 Countries. Besides the instigations of the English 
 cabinet, the imperial counsellors had other reasons 
 for rejecting the propositions of the Directory. They 
 flattered themselves with the speedy reduction of the 
 fortress of Kehl, when the French, checked along the 
 course of the Rhine, would be miable to clear that 
 bulwark, and additional detachments might be safely 
 withdrawn for removal to the Adige. These detach- 
 ments, joined to the new levies in most active progress 
 throughout the Austrian possessions, would allow 
 another attempt to be made on Italy ; and perhaps 
 that terrible army, which had annihilated so many 
 Austrian battalions, would finally succumb xmder 
 such reiterated assaults. 
 
 The inflexibility of the German character was in 
 this instance perfectly exemplified ; despite such dis- 
 astrous reverses, the idea of recovering the fair region 
 of Italy was yet clung to with steadfast tenacity. 
 Hence, access to Vienna was denied to the French 
 envoy. Moreover, repugnance was felt to the pre- 
 sence of an observer m the metropolis of the empire, 
 and no desire existed for opening a direct negotiation. 
 The armistice, indeed, woidd have been welcome on 
 the Adige, but not on the Rhine. Clarke was in- 
 formed, in reply, that if he betook himself to Vicenza, 
 he woidd there find the Baron von Vincent, with 
 whom he might confer as to him seemed meet. An 
 interview between these parties was accordingly held 
 at Vicenza. The Austrian nuncio intimated tliat the 
 emperor could not receive an envoy from the republic, 
 as that would imply a recognition ; and, with respect 
 to the armistice, he declared that it was admissible 
 with a hmitation to Italy. This restriction was pre- 
 posterous; and it is diflScult to conceive how the 
 Austrian ministry could seriously submit such a pro- 
 yiosition, for whilst it rescued Mantua, it abandoned 
 Kehl to fate, and the French nmst have been shallow 
 indeed to accept so bootless a reciprocity. At the same 
 time, the cabinet of Vienna, mindful to prepare the 
 way for a separate negotiation in case of exigencj', 
 allowed its nuncio to inform the French commissioner 
 that if ho h;id any proposals to make relative to peace, 
 he might repair to Turin and communicate them to 
 the Austrian andjassador resident at the Sardinian 
 court. Thus, tiirough the suggestions of England 
 and the futile hopes of the imperial councillors, the 
 noxious scheme of an armistice was frustrated, (^larke 
 proceeded to Turin, in order to profit, should cir- 
 cumstances render it expedient, by the intermediary 
 ottered him at that court. He had, besides, another 
 mission — to watch General Bonaparte. The genius 
 of that young man had appeared so extraordinary, 
 his character so absolute and energetic, that, without 
 any precise ground, he was supposed ambitious. Ho 
 had insisted upon conducting tlie war according to 
 his own ideas, and had tendered his resignation wlien 
 a plan Mas prescribed to him which he disapproved ;
 
 t>iu 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 he had acted with sovereign independence in Ital}-, 
 dispensing to its princes peace or war, mider the 
 specious appellation of armistices ; he had complained 
 with haughty indignation that the negotiations with 
 the Pope were not left exclusively to his management, 
 and had demanded that the task of prosecuting them 
 should be forthwith delegated to him ; he treated with 
 harshness the commissioners Garau and Salicetti, 
 when they ventured to adopt measures wluch pro- 
 voked his displeasure, and he had obliged them to 
 quit his head-quarters ; in fine, he had not scrupled 
 to remit fimds to other armies without any warrant 
 on the part of the government, and without using the 
 indispensable medium of the iiuVtlic treasmy. All 
 these facts indicated a man lustful to jierform alone 
 what he deemed himself alone capable of fitly accom- 
 plishing. It was as yet but the impatience of genius, 
 scorning the thraldom of dictation ; but in this im- 
 patience the germ of despotic will might be detected. 
 When seen to arouse Upper Italy against its old lords, 
 and to create or subvert states, he was alleged to con- 
 template his own elevation to the dukedom of Milan. 
 A presentiment of his aspiring ambition was general, 
 and he himself foreboded the imputation. He com- 
 plained of being accused, and laboured to dispel ob- 
 loquy, without the Directory having by word or act 
 given occasion for such disclaimers. 
 
 Clarke, therefore, besides his mission to negotiate, 
 was privily instructed to observe Bonaparte. The 
 latter was apprised of the fact, and, acting with the 
 sternness and address pecuhar to him, he rendered it 
 obvious he knew the object of his mission, and speedily 
 subjugating him by his ascendancy and insinuating 
 grace — as ineffable, it is represented, as his genius — 
 he converted him into a warm adherent. Clarke pos- 
 sessed considerable acuteness, but he had too large a 
 share of vanity to play the adroit and subtle spy. He 
 remained in Italy, sojourning sometimes at Turin and 
 sometimes at head- quarters, and eventually became a 
 creature of Bonaparte rather than of the Directory. 
 
 At Paris, the English cabinet had exerted its inge- 
 nuity to protract the negotiation; but the French 
 government, by prompt and explicit rejoinders, finally 
 constrained Lord Malmesbury to explain himself. 
 That plenipotentiary, as we have recorded, had origi- 
 nally laid down the principle of a general negotiation 
 and of reciprocal compensations: on its part, the 
 Directory had insisted upon the production of creden- 
 tials from all the allies, and upon a more precise ex- 
 planation of the compensatory principle. The English 
 envoy had taken nineteen days to compose an answer; 
 ultimately, he had rephed that the credentials were 
 sohcited, but that before obtaining them, the French 
 government must distinctly admit the principle of 
 compensations. The Directory had then demanded 
 tliat the objects of retrocession should be forthwith 
 specified. At this point we left the negotiation. Lord 
 ilalmesbury again \vrote to London, and, after a lapse 
 of twelve days, deUvered a communication on the 6th 
 Frimaire (26th November), to the effect that his 
 court had nothing to add to its previous statements, 
 so long as the French government refrained from 
 formally admitting the proposed principle. This 
 amounted to a subterfuge; for, by demanding the 
 specification of the objects intended for compensation, 
 France evidently admitted the principle itself To 
 correspond with London, and consume twelve days for 
 such an evasion, was assmedly trifling with the 
 Directory. It answered, as was its wont, on the fol- 
 lowing day ; and in a note of four lines, stated that 
 its previous note necessarily implied the admission 
 01 the compensalion principle, but that, to obviate 
 doubts, it formally admitted that basis, and demanded 
 the nnmediate de^iirnation of the objects to which it 
 was to be made referable. The Directory begsed to 
 be mfonned, moreover, whether Lord Malmesbury 
 must write to London as every question arose. Lord 
 ilalnicsbury rejilied vaguely that he would be obliged 
 
 to communicate with his cabinet whenever the ques- 
 tion required fresh instructions. He wrote once 
 more, and remained twenty days a passive sojourner 
 in Paris. The tune had now come when he must 
 leave the indefinite generahtics wherein he had 
 shrouded his intentious, and introduce the delicate 
 topic of the Low Countries. To explain his views on 
 that point was to break off the negotiation, and it is 
 clear the British cabinet sought to delay the rupture 
 as long as possible. At length, on the 28th Frimaire 
 (18th December), Lord Malmesbury had an interview 
 with the minister Delacroix, and delivered to him a 
 note wherein the pretensions of the British govern- 
 ment were set forth. It required France to restore 
 to the powers of the Continent all she had conquered : 
 to Austria, Belgium and Luxumbourg ; to the Empire, 
 the German principalities on the left bank of the 
 lihine ; to evacuate the whole of Italy, and replace it 
 in the status quo ante belluin; to restore certain portions 
 of territory to Holland, such as the Maritime Flan- 
 ders, for example, so that it might be rendered inde- 
 pendent ; in fine, to make modifications in her existing 
 constitution. The English cabinet tmdertook to re- 
 store the colonies of Holland only in case the Stadt- 
 holderate were re-established, and even then not all : 
 it claimed to retain some as an indemnity for the war, 
 the Cape of Good Hope being of the number. For 
 all these sacrifices, it ofiered the restitution of two or 
 three islands which the fortune of war had torn from 
 France in the Antilles, Martinique, Saint Lucia, and 
 Tobago, burdened, moreover, with the condition that 
 the whole of Samt-Domingo shoidd not remain under 
 French dominion. Thus France, after an iniquitous 
 war, in which all the justice had been on her side, in 
 maintaining which she had disbursed enormous sums, 
 and wherefrom she had emerged victorious, Avas not 
 to have a single province, whilst the northern powers 
 had partitioned a powerful kingdom, and England had 
 made enormous acquisitions in India ! France, which 
 still occupied the line of the Rhine and was mistress 
 of Italy, was to evacuate the Rhine and Italy on the 
 simple summons of England ! Such conditions were 
 absurd and inadmissible ; the mere submission of 
 them was offensive, and they ought not to have been 
 entertained. Delacroix, however, listened to them 
 with a politeness wliich affected the British envoy, 
 and even led him to hope the negotiation might be 
 continued. 
 
 Delacroix, in the course of the conference, relied on 
 an argument which was valueless, to wit, that the 
 Low Countries were declared national territory by 
 the constitution ; to which the English minister ob- 
 jected a fact equally pithless in the controversy — that 
 tlie treaty of Utreclit assigned them to Austria.* The 
 constitution might be obligatory on the French na- 
 tion, but it neither concerned nor bound foreign 
 nations. The treaty of Utrecht was, like idl treaties 
 made in this world, an arrangement resulting from 
 force, which force might s\reep away. The only rea- 
 son the French minister ought to have given was, 
 that the union of Belgium with France was just, 
 agreeable to all natural and political harmonies, and 
 warranted by victory. After a lengthened discussion 
 on various accessory points of the negotiation, the 
 two ministers separated. DelacroLx reported the re- 
 sidt to the Directory, which, justly irritated, resolved 
 to answer the English minister as he richly merited. 
 Tlie memorial of the British plenipotentiary was. not 
 signed, having been merely enclosed in a signed letter. 
 The Directory demanded, during the same day, that 
 
 * [M. Thiers has here adopted an ingenious mode of repre- 
 senting the case. Lord Malmesbury did not adduce the treaty of 
 Utrecht as the chief iciison for tlie restitution of the Low Coun- 
 tries, but to show the futility of Delacroix's plea about the French 
 constitution. DeL'icroix told Malmesbury that the union of Bel- 
 gium with Franco by the constitution w-.ia notorious to the whole I 
 world, and Malmesbury replied that when tlie French made j 
 that constitutinn, the treaty of Utrecht was equally notorious.] I
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 619 
 
 ' it should be completed by tlie necessary forms, and 
 that Lord Malniesbury should furuish his ultimutum 
 within twenty-four hours. Lord INIalmesbiirv, much 
 embarrassed, replied that the memorial was sufficientlj' 
 I authenticated by its enclosure witliin a signed letter, 
 and that with respect to an ultimatum, it was contrary 
 to all usage to demand one so abruptl}'. On the fol- 
 lowing day, the 29th Frimaire (19tli December), the 
 Directory intimated to him that it would never listen 
 . to any proposition contrary to the laws and treaties 
 which bound the republic. It added, furthermore, 
 that Lord Malmesbury finding it necessary to consult 
 his government every moment, and enacting a part 
 purely passive in the negotiation, his presence at 
 j Paris was useless, and tliat consequently he was 
 ! ordered to withdraw, he and all his suite, within 
 I forty-eight hours. The Directory stated in conclu- 
 I sion, that the negotiation might be carried on by the 
 I interchange of couriers, if the British government 
 ; thought fit to adopt the basis fixed by the French 
 • republic. 
 
 Thus finished tliis negotiation, in wliich the Direc- 
 tory, so far from infringing establi^ied forms, as was 
 alleged, gave a veritable example of frankness in its 
 intercourse with hostile powers. There was no usage 
 violated in its progi-ess. The communications of go- 
 vernments are characterised, like all the relations 
 between individuals, by the peculiar spirit of the age, 
 of the situation, and of the men wielding the sovereign 
 functions. A strong and victorious government holds 
 a language very ditferent from a feeble and vanquished 
 government ; and it befitted a republic supported by 
 justice and victory, to speak with decision, prompti- 
 tude, and publicity. 
 
 Pending these events, the grand project of Iloche 
 on Ireland was executed. The English government 
 had viewed the preparations with the utmost alarm, 
 well aware the blow would fall on a vulnerable jjoint, 
 and possibly be productive of disastrous consequences. 
 Notwithstanding the rumours artfully disseminated of 
 an expedition to Portugal or to America, the Britisli 
 minister had sagaciously divined the object of the 
 armaments fitting out at Brest. Pitt had called out 
 the militia, put the coasts in a state of defence, and 
 issued du'ections to remove every thing into the inte- 
 rior if the French should efiect a disembarkation. 
 
 Ireland, the intended destination of the expedition, 
 was in a state calculated to inspire the deepest solici- 
 tude. The advocates of parliamentary reform and the 
 Catholics formed a body sufficiently numerous to 
 hoist the standard of rebellion. They were ready to 
 adopt a republican government under the guarantee 
 of France, and had sent secret agents to Paris to 
 concert with the Directory. Thus the opportunity 
 seemed ausfiicious for an expedition mto that island, 
 being well-timed for occasioning England the most 
 serious embarrassments, and for reducing her to accept 
 a peace upon somewhat different conditions than she 
 now presumed to offer. Hoche, who had consumed 
 the two fairest years of his life in La Vendee, and 
 who saw the great theatres of action occupied by 
 Bonaparte, Moreau, and Jourdan, burned to open one 
 for himself in Ireland. England was as noble an 
 antagonist as Austria, and the honour to be reaped 
 in combating and vanquishing her was not less bril- 
 liant. A new reimblic had been reared in Italy, as a 
 centi'e to diffuse the rays of liberty through all that 
 land. Hoche deemed it glorious and possible to esta- 
 blish one in Ireland, by the very side of aristocratic 
 England. He had cultivated an intimate intelligence 
 with Admiral Truguet, the minister of marine, a man 
 of aspiring views. They had pondered together on 
 the means of restoring the imijortance of the navy 
 and of accomplishing great deeds ; for at this time all 
 men strained their faculties to the utmost, all medi- 
 tated prodigies for the glory and happiness uf France. 
 The offensive and defensive alliance concluded with 
 Spain at St Ildefonso, rendered ample resources avail- 
 
 able, and permitted hopes of mighty achievements. 
 By uniting the Toulon fleet with the Spanish squad- 
 rons, and concentrating them in the British Channel 
 with those which France possessed on the Atlantic, a 
 most formidable force might be collected, and a decisive 
 effort made to emancipate the seas ; at all events, a 
 firebrand might be thrown into Ireland, and the con- 
 quests of England in India seriously interrupted. 
 Admiral Truguet, keenly alive to the importance of 
 carrying instant succours to India, held that the Brest 
 squadron, without awaiting the junction of the French 
 and Spanish fleets in the Channel, should inmiediately 
 put to sea, land the army of Iloche in Ireland, keep a 
 few thousand men on board, crowd all sail for the Isle 
 of France (the jMauritius), there receive the battalions 
 of blacks presently organising, and transport these 
 auxiliaries into India, to sustain Tippoo Saib in his 
 contest. This vast project was liable to tlie objection 
 of disembarking in Ireland only a portion of the army 
 destined for the expedition, and of leaving it exposed 
 to great hazards, pending the problematical junction 
 of the squadron under Admiral Villeneuve, appointed 
 to sail from Toulon, of the Spanish fleet which was 
 scattered in the ports of Spain, and of the squadron 
 under Kichery expected from America. The enter- 
 prise thus planned by Truguet was not attempted. 
 It was determined to await the arrival of Kichery 
 from America, and meanwhile, despite the low ebb of 
 the state finances, extraordinary effbi'ts were made to 
 equip the squadron lying in Brest. In Frimaire (De- 
 cember) it was in a fit state for sea. It comprised 
 fifteen line-of-battle shijis, twenty frigates, six brigs, 
 and fifty transports. It might carry twenty- two 
 thousand men. Hoche finding it impossible to act 
 in concert with Villaret-Joyeuse, that commander 
 was superseded for Morard-de-Galles. The Bay of 
 Bantry was assigned as the place of disembarkation. 
 Sealed orders were lodged with each captain, pre- 
 scribing the course he was to take and the anchorage 
 to choose, in case of accident. 
 
 The expedition set sail on the 26th Frimaire (16th 
 December). Hoche and Morard-de-Galles were sta- 
 tioned on board a frigate. The French squadron, 
 under favour of a thick mist, escaped the English 
 cruisers, and scudded 'into the open sea without being 
 perceived. But during the night of the 26th-27th, a 
 frightful storm dispersed it : one vessel foundered. 
 Rear-admiral Bouvet, however, manceuA'red to rally 
 the squadron, and, after a lapse of two days, suc- 
 ceeded in mustering it, with the exception of a ship 
 and three frigates. Unfortmiately, tlie frigate bear- 
 ing Hoche and Morard-de-Galles was of the num- 
 ber of the missing. The squadron bore away for Cape 
 Clear, off' which it manoeuvred during several days, 
 awaiting the two commanders. At length, on the 
 5th Nivose (24tli December), it entered the Bay of 
 Bantr_y. A council of war decided upon a disem- 
 barkation, but it became inijiracticable from the bois- 
 terous weather. The squadron was again driven off 
 the Irish coast. Rear-admiral Hi)uvet, alarmed by so 
 many obstacles, afraid of falling short of provisions, 
 and separated from his sui)eri()r officers, thought it 
 best to make for the coast of France. Hoche and 
 Morard-de-Galles eventually arrived in the Bay of 
 Bantry, and learned the dejiarture of the French 
 flotilla. They returned through incredible perils. 
 Shattered by the sea and inn-sued by the English, 
 they reached the shores of France only by a sort of 
 miracle. The ship " Les Droits de I'llomme," Cap- 
 tain La Crosse, was parted from the squadron, and 
 performed prodigies. Attacked by two English ves- 
 sels, it destroyed one and esca]>cd from the other; but 
 sadly crippled, di'prived of masts and sails, it suc- 
 cumbed to the violence of the sea. Part of the crew 
 unhappily sunk, the remainder was rescued with 
 much difficulty. 
 
 Such was the result of this expedition, which ex- 
 cited great consternation in England, aud revealed
 
 620 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 her assailable point to foes. The Directory fostered 
 the idea of resuming; the enterprise at a subsequent 
 period, and in the interim centered all its attention 
 on the continent, to accelerate the moment wlien 
 Austria might be induced to lay down her arms. Tlie 
 troops on board the fleet had suffered little ; they were 
 forthwith disembarked. The force necessary to main- 
 tain the police of the country was left on the coasts, 
 v.hilst the greater part of tlie army, whicli had borne 
 the title of the Army of the Ocean, was marched 
 towards the Rhine. The two Vendees and Brittany 
 were indeed completely subdued by the continual pre- 
 sence and labours of Hoche. An important command 
 was intended for that general, to indemnify liim for 
 his former arduous and ungrateful task. The resig- 
 nation of Jourdan, whom tlie unfortunate issue of the 
 campaign had disgusted, and wlio had been provision- 
 ally succeeded by Beurnonville, afforded the oppor- 
 tunity of offering Hoche a recompense, long and richly 
 merited by his talents and patriotism. 
 
 Winter, already far advanced (January 1797 had 
 commenced), had not interrupted this memorable 
 campaign. On the Rhine, the Archduke Charles 
 prosecuted the sieges of Kehl and the tete-de-pont of 
 Huningen : on the Adige, Alvinzy was preparing for 
 a fresh and finixl effort against Bonaparte. The inte- 
 rior of the republic was sufficiently tranquil : the 
 factions had all ej'es fixed on the different theatres of 
 warfare. The consideration and strength of the go- 
 vernment vacillated according to the vicissitudes of 
 the campaign. The recent victory of Areola had shed 
 a lustre around it, and retrieved the e\i\ effect pro- 
 duced by the retreat of the armies of the Rhine. But 
 still that amazing effort of desperate courage failed to 
 dispel all apprehensions touching the retention of 
 Italy. Rumours were current that Alvinzy was re- 
 inforcing his army, and the Pope preparing arma- 
 ments. The malignants asserted that the army of 
 Italy was exhausted ; that its general, overwhelmed 
 by the fatigues of an unprecedented campaign, and 
 consumed by an extraordinary malady, was disabled 
 from mounting his horse. ]\Iantua still remained 
 untaken, and a feeling of disquietude was engendered 
 for the events Januar}'^ might bring forth. 
 
 The journals of the two parties, revelling in all the 
 licentiousness of the press, continued to be distin- 
 guished for virulent diatribes. Those devoted to the 
 counter-revolution were more than usually intent on 
 stirring opinion and disposing it in favour of the 
 cause they advocated, on account of the approach of 
 spring, the season appointed for the new elections. 
 Since the disastrous issue of their contest in La 
 Vendee, it had become the last resource of the royal- 
 ists to make use of liberty itself as the means of 
 destroying it, and to subvert the republic by influ- 
 encing the elections. On observing their unscru- 
 pulous violence, the Directory gave way to those 
 emotions of indignation from whicli the most enlight- 
 ened government cannot always guard itself. Although 
 well inured to the excesses of liberty, the language 
 held in certain journals struck it with alarm : the 
 expediency of allowing free vent to every variety of 
 publication was not then sufficiently understood ; the 
 knowledge that falsehood is never to be dreaded, how- 
 ever industriously disseminated, that it becomes in- 
 nocuous through very violence, and that a government 
 perishes by the force of truth alone, and, above all, by 
 that of suppressed truth, was as yet enigmatical. The 
 Directorj-, therefore, moved the two councils to enact 
 laws respecting the abuses of the press. The demand 
 gave rise to bitter vituperation ; it was accused of a 
 design to oppress liberty during the approaching elec- 
 tions. The laws it solicited were refused. Two 
 regulations only were granted it : one relative to the 
 repression of private calumny, the other to the hawk- 
 ers of newspapers, who, perambulating the streets, 
 were accustomed, instead of procdaiming them simply 
 bv their names, to recommend them by detached 
 
 phrases, often extremely injurious. Thus a pamphlet 
 was offered for sale through the streets, with such 
 cries as the following: " Hestore us our wyriads and 
 
 the camp, if you cannot promote, the happiness of the 
 
 people .'" To avert this scandal, it was provided that 
 newspapers and other writings should be henceforth 
 cried only by their respective titles. The Directory 
 proposed, moreover, the establishment of an oflBcial 
 journal of the government. The Five Hundred sanc- 
 tioned, the Ancients rejected the suggestion. The 
 law of the Sd Brumaire, brought a second time under 
 discussion in Vendtmiaire, and made the pretext for 
 the ridiculous attack on the camp of Crenelle, had 
 been confu-med after a protracted debate. It was the 
 topic upon which the two parties were distinctly 
 arrayed in hostility. The provision excluding the 
 relatives of emigrants from public functions, was that 
 which the right side chiefly desired to expunge, and 
 the republicans to retain. After a third attack, it was 
 decided that this provision should be maintained. A 
 single modification was made in the law. As it stood, 
 it excepted from the general amnesty extended to 
 revolutionary delinquencies such as had reference to 
 the 13th Vendemiaire: that event was now sufficiently 
 remote to pardon those who had taken part in it, and 
 who in fact already enjoyed a virtual impunity ; con- 
 sequently, the amnesty was rendered applicable to the 
 crimes of Vendemiaire as to all other deeds purely 
 revolutionary. 
 
 Thus the IMrectory and the upholders of the direc- 
 torial republic still preserved a majority in the two 
 councils, notwithstanding the opposition of certain 
 madly excited patriots, and of sundry intriguers sold 
 to the counter-revolution. 
 
 The state of the finances had the usual effect of 
 penury in private families ; it troubled the domestic 
 union of the Directory and the legislative body. The 
 Directory complained that its measures were not 
 always favoirrably received by the councils ; it ad- 
 dressed to them an alarming message, wliich it ren- 
 dered public, as if to throw on them the odium of the 
 public misfortunes, should they decline to adopt its 
 propositions. This message, dated the 25th Brumaire 
 (15th December), was conceived in these terms : 
 
 " Every branch of the public service suffers imder 
 depression. The pay of the troops is in arrear ; the 
 defenders of the country are exposed to the horrors of 
 nakedness ; their courage is blighted by the discourag- 
 ing influence of want ; disgust, which is the necessary 
 consequence, provokes desertion. The hospitals are 
 deficient in furniture, fuel, and medicines. The cha- 
 ritable institutions, affected by the like destitution, 
 afford no asylum to the indigent and infirm, of whom 
 they were the sole resource. The creditors of the 
 state, the contractors who daily contribute to supply 
 the necessities of the armies, receive but a small pro- 
 portion of the sums due to them : their distress scares 
 men who might pei'form the same services with 
 greater punctuality or on more moderate terms. The 
 roads are broken up, the communications interrupted. 
 The public functionaries remain without salaries : 
 from one end of the republic to the other, we see 
 judges and administrators reduced to the horrible 
 alternative of existing with their families in utter 
 wretchedness, or of dishonouring themselves by ac- 
 cepting the bribes of intriguers. A malignant spirit 
 is every where rife ; in several localities assassination 
 is reduced to a system, and the police, devoid of acti- 
 vity and strengtli from tlie lack of pecuniary means, 
 is unable to check such disorders." 
 
 The councils were irritated at the publication of 
 this message, which seemed to charge on tliem the 
 calamities of the country, and pointedly censured the 
 indiscretion of the Directory. They applied them- 
 selves, however, to the immediate consideration of the 
 suggestions it propounded. Specie was every where 
 abundant, except in the coffers of tlie state. The 
 taxes, exigible in specie or paper at the course ef
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 621 
 
 exchange, dropped in slowly and reluctantly. The 
 national domains, previously sold, were partly paid 
 for ; the instalments, still outstanding, were not yet 
 due. Meanwhile, temporary expedients were resorted 
 to ; the contractors were put olf with ministerial orders 
 or notes of liquidation, a species of jiostponed i)ai)er, 
 which were taken onlj^ at a reduced value, and which 
 tended to enhance considerably the rates of all con- 
 tracts. Thus aflTairs were in the same situation as 
 we have already so often described. 
 
 Great improvements were introduced into the finan- 
 cial system for the year 5. The budget was divided, 
 as we have preA'iously mentioned, into two parts — the 
 ordinary expenditure of 450 millions, and the extra- 
 ordinary expenditure of 550 millions. The land-tax, 
 estimated at 250 millions, the assessed taxes at 50. 
 the customs, stamp-dutj% and fees of registration, at 
 150, were expected to provide the 450 millions of 
 ordinary expenditure. The extraordinary was to be 
 covered by the ari'cars of taxes and the produce of the 
 national domains. All imposts were henceforth exi- 
 gible in specie. There still remained in circulation a 
 quantity of mandats and assignats, which were at 
 once annulled and made receivable at the course of 
 exchange, in satisfaction of arrears. In this manner 
 the disorders resulting from the paper money were 
 etfectually cured. The forced loan was definitively 
 closed ; it had scarcely produced 400 millions of avail- 
 able funds. The contributions in arrear were ordered 
 to be wholly discharged before the 15th Frimaire of 
 the present year (5th December). Bailiffs were put 
 in requisition to accelerate the collection. The sche- 
 dules were directed to be immediately made out, in 
 order that the fourtli of the taxes of the year 5 might 
 be collected without delay. The question remained 
 to be solved how the value of the national domains 
 was to be realised, now that there was no paper-money 
 to bring it by anticipation into circulation. The last 
 sixth due for the domains under contract of purchase 
 was still to be received. It was determined that, with 
 the view of forestalling this final payment, the pur- 
 chasers should be required to give obligations payable 
 in specie, falling due at the same period whereat the 
 law obhged them to pay up their instalments, and 
 involving, in case of protest, the forfeiture of the pro- 
 perty purchased. This measure would provide tlie 
 state with eighty and some millions iu obligations, 
 which the contractors declared their readiness to 
 accept. They had no longer any confidence in tlie 
 state, but they had it in individuals ; and the eighty 
 millions of this personal paper possessed a value which 
 a paper issued and guaranteed by the republic would 
 not have had. It was decreed, moreover, that the 
 domains hereafter sold shoidd be paid for as follows : 
 a tenth down in specie, five-tenths down in ministerial 
 notes or orders of liquidation issued to contractors, 
 and the remaining four-tenths in four bonds or obli- 
 gations, one payable annually. 
 
 Thus, public credit being exhausted, the govern- 
 ment availed itself of private credit ; being no longer 
 able to emit paper-money hypothecated on the na- 
 tional property, it required from the purchasers of 
 such property a species of paper which, bearing their 
 signatures, possessed an individual value; and, I'ur- 
 thermore, it afforded the contractors an opportunity 
 of reimbursing themselves by acquiring national pro- 
 perty on their own account. 
 
 These regulations warranted hopes of revived order 
 and certain receipts. To meet the pressing wants 
 of the war ministry, the sum of one himdred and 
 twenty millions was fortiiwith adjudged to it for tlie 
 months of Nivose, I'luviose, Ycntose, and Germinal, 
 the months devoted to prejjarations for a new cam- 
 paign, of which sum thirty-tliree millions were to be 
 taken from tlie ordinary, and eighty-.seven from the 
 extraordinary income. Tlie registration tax, the post- 
 office, the customs, patents, and the land-tax, were 
 cxjiccted to furnish the tliirty-three millions ; the 
 
 eighty-seven of extraordinaries were to be raised by 
 the produce of the forests, the arrears of military con- 
 tributions, and the obligations of the purchasers of 
 national domains. These amounts were certain, and 
 must be speedily gathered. AU the public function- 
 aries Avere paid in specie. It was resolved to pay the 
 fundholders in the same manner; but the treasury 
 being unable as yet to give them specie, delivered 
 them drafts; to bearer, receivable in payment of na- 
 tional domains, like the ministerial orders and notes 
 of liquidation issued to the contractors. 
 
 Such were the administrative labours of the Direc- 
 tory during the winter of the year 5 (1796 to 1797), 
 and the means it husbanded for prosecuting a fresh 
 campaign. The actual campaigYi, meanwhile, was not 
 yet terminated, and it seemed only too manifest that, 
 notwithstanding ten months of furious warfare, not- 
 withstanding the bleak season of frost and snow, addi- 
 tional battles would yet be fought. The Archduke 
 Charles was obstinately bent on carrying the tetes-de- 
 pont of Kehl and Huningen, as if, by possessing himself 
 of them, he would for ever interdict the return of the 
 French to the right side of the Rhine. The Directory, 
 too, was materially interested in giving him occupa- 
 tion at those points, in order to prevent him diverging 
 into Ital}'. He consumed nearly three months before 
 the fort of Kehl. On both sides the troops distin- 
 guished themselves by an heroic courage, and the 
 generals of division evinced talents of the highest 
 practical order. Desaix, especially, immortalised him- 
 self by his intrepidity, his imperturbable coolness, and 
 his admirable dispositions around that wretchedly 
 intrenched fortress. The conduct of tlie two generals- 
 in-chief was not so cordially approved as that of tlieir 
 lieutenants. ]\Ioreau was censured for not having 
 profited by tlie strength of his army, and debouched 
 on the right Imnk to fall on the besieging army. The 
 archduke was blamed fijr wasting such prodigious 
 efforts on a mere bridge-head. Moreau surrendered 
 Kehl on the 28th Nivose, year 5 (9th January 1797); 
 it was but a slight loss. The prolonged resistance of 
 the French demonstrated the solidity of the Rhinish 
 barrier. Tlie troops had sufi'ered little : Moreau had 
 employed the time in perfecting their organisation, 
 and his army now presented a superb appearance. 
 That of the Sambre-and-Meuse, recently placed under 
 the orders of BeurnonviUe, had not been actively 
 engaged during these last months, but it had been 
 refreshed by repose, and reinforced by numerous de- 
 tachments from La Vendee; it had, moreover, received 
 an illustrious leader, Iloche, who was at length called 
 to a scene of warfare worthy of his talents. Thus, 
 although it did not yet possess Mayence and had been 
 bereft of Kehl, the Directory might still deem itself 
 powerful on the Rhine. The Austrians, on their side, 
 were elated with the capture of Kehl, and concentrated 
 all their might against the liridge-liead of Huningen. 
 Rut the emperor and his ministers had their atten- 
 tion almost exclusively absorlK'd by Italy. The exer- 
 tions of the government to reinlbrce the army under 
 Alvinzy, and to maintain a last vigorous struggle for 
 l)reponderance in Italy, i)artook of the extraonfinary. 
 'I'roops were forwarded by ]K)st-relays. The entire 
 garrison of Vienna had been moved to the Tyrol. The 
 inhabitants of the cajiital, glowing with loyal zeal for 
 the imperial faiiiily, had furnished 4000 volunteers, who 
 were embodieil under the title of the \ 'icumi Volunteers. 
 The emjiress presented them with banners embroi- 
 dered by her own hands. A fresh levy had been made 
 in Hungary, and several thousands of the best troops 
 in the empire had been draughted from the Rhine. 
 Hy means of these diligent operations, worthy of the 
 highest eiilogium, Alvinzy "s army was reinforced bv 
 2(),()0() men, and its full strength increased to upwards 
 of 60,000. It was invigorated by rest, and subjected 
 to reorganisation ; and, although containing many 
 recruits, it was conijiosed in the greater part of vete- 
 ran troops. The battidion of Vienna Volunteers was
 
 6-J2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 formed of young men, strangers, it is true, to war, but 
 belonging to good families, animated with lofty senti- 
 ments, ardently devoted to the imperiid house, and 
 burning to display their personal prowess. 
 
 The Austrian minisiers had come to a perfect 
 understanding with the Tope, and engaged him to 
 contemn the menaces of Bonaparte. They had sent 
 him Colli and sundry othc-ers to command his army, 
 exhorting him to move it as near as possible to Bo- 
 logna and Mantua. They had advised Wui-mser of 
 approaching aid, and ordered him not to surrender ; 
 but, if he were reduced to extremity, to sally from 
 Mantua with all the disp(jsable troops, and especially 
 the officers, and proceed, through the legations of 
 Uologna and Terrara, Into the papal states, to join the 
 Roman army, which he would forthwith organise and 
 march to the rear of Bonaparte. This scheme, doubt- 
 less very ably conceived, might have succeeded under 
 a general so renowned for bravery as Wurmser. That 
 veteran marshal, however, maintained himself in 
 Iklantua with the greatest fortitude, although liis 
 garrist)n was reduced to subsist on salted horse-flesh 
 and poulenta. 
 
 Bonaparte, meanwhile, awaited the coming struggle, 
 which was to decide definitively the fate of Italy, and 
 prepared to meet it. As the malignants, who desired 
 the humiliation of the French arms, reported at Paris, 
 he was labouring under a cutaneous disorder, caught 
 before Toulon by loading a cannon with his own hands, 
 which had been injudiciously treated. This malady, 
 little known, combined with the incredible fatigues of 
 the campaign, had greatly weakened him. He could 
 scarcely support himself on horseback ; his cheeks 
 were hollow and livid, and his emaciation produced 
 an appearance of almost pitiful debility ; his eyes 
 alone, still lively and piercing, announced that the 
 fire of his mind was not extinguished. His physical 
 I proportions formed, indeed, a singular contrast with 
 his genius and fame, affording to soldiers, at once 
 gay and enthusiastic, the theme of many a quaint 
 remark. Notwithstanding the prostration of his 
 strength, his highly impassioned temperament sus- 
 tained him, and communicated to him an activity 
 which left no subject unheeded. He had commenced 
 what he called " war against the robbers." Intriguers 
 of all descriptions had flocked into Italy, to worm 
 their way into the administration of the armies, and 
 to fatten on the spoils of that celebrated country. 
 Whilst simphcity and indigence prevailed in the armies 
 of the Rhine, luxury had crept into the army of Italy, 
 rivalling in extent the glory it had achieved. The 
 soldiers, comfortabl}'^ clad, well fed. and viewed with 
 complacency by the dark-eyed daughters of the soil, 
 revelled in pleasures and abundance. The officers 
 and generals particiiiated in the common prosperity, 
 and began to found fortunes. As to the contractors, 
 tl)ey. displayed a scandalous sumptuousness, and pur- 
 chased with the produce of their exactions the favours 
 of the most beautiful actresses in Italy. Bonaparte, 
 in whom all passions worked, but who, at the moment, 
 was engrossed by one alone, that of glory, lived in a 
 simple and austere manner, and sought relaxation 
 only in the society of his wife, whom he tenderly hjved, 
 and whom he had recently called to his head- quarters. 
 Indignant at the disorders existing in the army admi- 
 nistration, he instituted a severe scrutiny into the 
 smallest details, examined in person the transactions 
 of the different companies, ordered prosecutions against 
 corrupt agents, and denounced the whole commissariat 
 tribe in the bitterest terms. He upbraided this class 
 especially with a lack of courage, and with abandoning 
 the army on occasions of danger. He recommended 
 the Directory to select men of apj)roved energy ; he 
 urged the establishment of a syndicate, which, judging 
 like a jury, sliould be empowered to pmiish, upon 
 internal conviction, delinquencies which could never 
 l>e substantially proved. He willingly jjardoned in- 
 dulgences in liis soldiers and officers, which were not 
 
 likely to act on them as the voluptuousness of Capua 
 did of yore on Hannibal's troops ; but he harboured 
 an implacable hatred against those who enriched 
 themselves at the expense of the army, without 
 aiding it by their personal braver}- or exertions. 
 
 He had manifested a similar spirit of observance 
 and activity in his relations with the Italian powers. 
 StiU dissembling with Venice, whose armaments in 
 the lagunes and the mountains of the Bergamasco 
 were not miknown to him, he postponed the period 
 for explanation until the reduction of Mantua. He 
 caused his troops to take provisional occupation of 
 the citadel of Bergamo, which had a A'enetian garri- 
 son, alleging in justification that he did not deem it 
 sufficiently guarded to resist a sudden attack of the 
 Austrians. He thus ])rotected himself from the chance 
 of perfidy, and overawed the mmierous enemies he 
 ha<l in Bergamo. In Lombardy and the Cispadan 
 states, he continued to foster the spirit of liberty', 
 curbing the Austrian and papal party, and moderat- 
 ing the democratic party, Avhich, in all countries, 
 stands in need of control. He maintained himself in 
 friendship with the King of Sardinia and the Duke of 
 Parma. He repaired in jierson to Bologna, in order 
 to terminate a negotiation with the Duke of Tuscany, 
 and to intimidate the Pope of Rome. The Duke of 
 Tuscany was incommoded by the presence of the 
 French at Leghorn ; acrimonious disputes had arisen 
 with the Leghorn merchants respecting the merchan- 
 dise belonging to the subjects of powers hostile to 
 France. Ihese discussions had engendered infinite 
 animosity ; liesides, the commodities, Avhich Avere with 
 such diffictulty obtained, were afterAvards badly sold, 
 and by a company which had recently defrauded the 
 army of five or six millions. Bonaparte, imder these 
 circumstances, esteemed it preferable to treat with 
 the Grand Duke. It was agreed that he should eva- 
 cuate Leghorn on receiving two millions — a course 
 recommended l)y the farther advantage of rendering 
 the garrison of that city disposable. He had formed 
 the design of uniting the garrison of Leghorn with 
 the two legions levied hy the Cispadan republic, in- 
 creased by tliree tliousand of his other troops, and 
 pushing this small army into Romagna and the 
 March of Ancona. He Avished to seize upon two 
 additional provinces of the Roman state, grasp the 
 private jirojierty of the Pope, arrest the taxes, levy 
 by such means the contribution which had been with- 
 held, select hostages from the party opposed to France, 
 and thus establish a barrier between the states of the 
 Church and Mantua. He would thereby render im- 
 practicable the plan of a junction between Wurmser 
 and the papal army : he might succeed in terrifying 
 tlie Pojie, and at length obUge him to accede to the 
 conditions proposed by the French republic. In his 
 anger against the Holy See, he had even abjured the 
 idea of pardoning it, and contemplated an entirely 
 new division of Italy. Lombard}' might be restored 
 to Austria ; a powerful republic might be constituted 
 by adding to the dutchy of jNIodena and the legations 
 of Bologna and Ferrara, Romagna, the IMarch of 
 Ancona, and the dutchy of Parma ; and Rome might 
 be given to the Duke of Parma, which would give 
 gi-eat satisfaction to Spain, and compromise the most 
 Catholic of all the powers. He had already begun to 
 put his jiroject in execution ; he had advanced to 
 Bologna with three thousand men, whence he menaced 
 the Holy See, which had already formed tlie nucleus 
 of an army. But the Pope, now assured of a fresh 
 Austrian expedition, and hoping to communicate Avith 
 Wurmser by the Lower Po, defied the threats of the 
 French general, and even testified a desire to see him 
 advance still farther into his provinces. "The holy 
 father," according to the counsellors of the Vatican, 
 " Avould quit Rome if it AAcre necessivry, and take 
 refuge in the extremitj* of his dominions. The farther 
 Bonaparte should proceed and remoA'e from the Adige, 
 the greater the danger he must incur, and the more
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 62S 
 
 favourable the chances for the sacred cause." Bona- 
 parte, being gifted with a foresight qnite equal to that 
 of the Vatican, had no intention of marching on 
 Rome ; he merely purjiosed to intimidate, and his 
 attention was constantly fixed on the Adige, where 
 he expected every moment' the resumption of hosti- 
 lities. On the 19th Nivose (8th January 1797), in 
 fact, he learned that a collision had occurred on all 
 his outposts : he iustanth' repassed the Po with 2000 
 men, and hastened with all speed to Verona. 
 
 His army had received since the battle of Arcole 
 the reinforcements it ought to have received before 
 that critical conflict. The sick had left the hospitals 
 during the winter, and it now counted about 45,000 
 men under arms. Their distribution was the same as 
 before: 10,000 men, or thereabouts, blockaded Man- 
 tua under Serrurier ; 30,000 Avere in observation on 
 the Adige. Augereau guarded Legnago ; Massena, 
 Verona ; Joubert, who had succeeded Vaubois, Rivoli 
 and La Corona. Key, with a division of reserve, was 
 at Desenzano, at the bottom of the Lake of Garda. 
 The remaining four or five thousand men were either 
 in the citadels of Bergamo and Milan, or in the Cis- 
 padan republic. The Austrians were advancing with 
 sixty and some thousand men, and had twenty besides 
 in Mantua, of whom twelve at least were mider arms. 
 Thus in the coming contest, as in the preceding, the 
 proportion of the enemy was twofold. The Aus- 
 trians had this time formed a new project. They had 
 already essayed all the routes permitting an attack on 
 the double line of the Mincio and the Adige. At the 
 time of Castiglione, they had descended along both 
 shores of the Lake of Garda, l)y the two valleys of the 
 Chiesa and the Adige. Subsecpiently, they had de- 
 bouched by the valley of the Adige and by that of 
 the Brenta, attacking by Rivoli and Verona. Now 
 they had modified their plan, in consequence of their 
 arrangements with the Pope. Their principal attack 
 was intended to be made on the Upper Adige, with 
 45,000 men under the command of Alvinzy. An 
 accessory attack, independent of the first, was to be 
 adventured with about 20,000 men, under the orders 
 of Provera, by the Lower Adige, in the hoi)e of 
 comnumicating M'ith Mantua, liomagiia, and the 
 Papal army. 
 
 Alvinzy was to lead the main attack : he was suf- 
 ficiently strong to warrant the expectation of complete 
 success, and his instructions enjoined him to i)ush 
 onwards without consideration for what might befall 
 I'rovera. We have elsewhere described the three 
 routes which issue from the mountains of the Tyrol. 
 That winding behind the Lake of Garda had been 
 neglected since the attair of Castiglione ; the other 
 two were again preferred in tliis instance. The first, 
 meandering between the Adige and tlie Lake of 
 Garda, passed through the mountains separating the 
 lake from the river, and came upon the position of 
 liivoli ; the other skirted the farther bank of the river, 
 and opened into the ])lain of Verona, Ix'yond the 
 French line. Alvinzy deci<led in favour of the route 
 between the river and the lake, which led him at once 
 upon the French line. His efforts were consequently 
 to be directed on Kivoli. That celebrated jKjsition 
 requires a particular description. The cliain of the 
 Monte-Baldo divides the ]>ake of Garda from tlie 
 Adige. The high road winds between the Adige and 
 the foot of the mountains, for a space of several 
 leagues. At Incanale the Adige sweeps up to the 
 very base of the mountains, and debars fartlier pro- 
 gress along its bank. The road then diverges from 
 the river, ascends by a sort of spiral staircase the 
 fianks of the mountain, and conducts to an extensive 
 plateau, which is that of Kivoli. It counnands the 
 Adige on one side, and on the other it is encompassed 
 by the amphitheatre of the Jlonte-Haldo. An army, 
 in position on this plateau, threatens tlie spiral way 
 by which it is reached, and in the distance sweeps by 
 its fire both banks of the Adige. The plateau is not 
 
 easily to be carried in front, on account of the narrow 
 tortuous ascent, which must be climbed to attain its 
 level. Thus an enemy would not choose to attack it 
 by that way alone. Before reaching Incanale, other 
 paths lead over the IMonte-Baldo, which, scaling those 
 steep acclivities, likewise conduct to the plateau of 
 Eivoli. They are not practicable either for cavalry 
 or artillery, but thej^ afibrd an easy access to troops 
 on foot, and may be used for moving a considerable 
 force of infantry to the flank and rear of the army 
 defending the plateau. The plan of Alvinzy Avas to 
 attack the position bj^ all the avenues simultaneously. 
 On the 23d Nivose (12th January) he attacked 
 Joubert, who held all the advanced positions, and 
 forced him back on Rivoli. The same day Provera 
 pushed forward two vanguards, the one on Verona, 
 the other on Legnago, through Caldiero and Bevilagua. 
 Massena, being at Verona, sallied fortli, repulsed the 
 vanguard which had advanced to his vicinity, and 
 took 900 prisoners. Bonaparte arrived immediately 
 afterwards from Bologna. He recalled the whole di- 
 vision into Verona, to hold it in readiness to march. 
 During the night he learned that Joubert had been 
 attacked and forced at Rivoli, and that Augereau had 
 perceived considerable forces before Legnago. He 
 was not yet able to divine on what point the enemy 
 was directing his principal mass. He kept Massena's 
 division disposable for any movement, and ordered 
 Key's division, which was at Desenzano, and which 
 had descried no enemy advancing behind the Lake ol 
 Garda, to proceed to Castel-Nuovo, as the most central 
 point between the Upper and Lower Adige. On the 
 following day, the 24th (13th January), couriers ar- 
 rived in rapid succession. Bonaparte was apprised 
 that Jou])ert, assailed by an overwhelming force, was 
 on the point of being enveloped ; and that by the ob- 
 stinacy and fortune of his resistance alone he had been 
 enabled still to retain the plateau of Kivoli. Auge- 
 reau informed him from the Lower Adige, that a 
 brisk firing was maintained along the opposite banks, 
 without having led to any important event. Bona- 
 parte had before him at Verona scarcely 2000 Aus- 
 trians. He instantly comprehended the project of 
 the enemy, and became convinced that his principal 
 attack was to be directed on Kivoli. He deemed 
 Augereau adequate to defend the Lower Adige : he 
 reinforced him with a corps of cavalry detached from 
 Massena's division. He directed Serrurier, who 
 blockaded IMantua, to move his reserve to Villa- 
 Franca, in order that it might be stationed interme- 
 diately as regarded all points. He left at Verona a 
 regiment of infantry and one of cavalry ; and, during 
 the night of the 24th-25th (13tli-14th January), he 
 set out with the eighteenth, thirty-second, and 
 seventy-fifth demi-brigades of IMassena's division, and 
 two squadrons of cavalry. He ilispatched an order 
 to Hey not to halt at Castel-Nuovo, but to advance 
 with all speed on Kivoli. He outstripj)ed his troops, 
 and reached Kivoli in person at two in the morning. 
 The weather, wiiich had been rainy the preceding 
 days, had become serene. The sky was cloudless, the 
 landscape glittered in a brilliant moonlight, the air 
 was sharp and jiiercing. At the moment of his ar- 
 rival, Bonai)arte beheld the wholi, horizon reddened 
 by the glare of the enemy's fires. lie i)resume(l him 
 to possess 45,000 men ; Joubert had 10,000 at the 
 utmost: the timely arrival of succours was therefore 
 indispensable. 'J'he enemy was divided into several 
 corps. The principal, composed of a massy cohunn 
 of grenadiers, all the cavalry, artillery, and baggage, 
 followed, under (iuasdimovich, tlu^ iiigli road between 
 the river and ;\Ionte-Bal(lo, intending to advance by 
 the s])iral ascent of Incanale. Three other corps, 
 under tlie orders of ( )cskay, Kol)lotz, and Liptai, com- 
 posed of infantry solely, had scaled the crests of the 
 mountains, prepared to descend the steps of the am- 
 phitheatre which tile Monte-Baldo forms around the 
 jilateau of Hivoli, and thus reach the field of battle.
 
 621 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 A fourth corps, under the command of Liisignan, 
 winding along the verge of the phiteau, was to plant 
 itself on the rear of the French army, in order to cut it 
 off from the road to Verona. Alvinzy had, moreover, 
 detached a sixth corps, which, from its position, was 
 altogether excluded from the projected operation. It 
 had passed to the other side of the Adige, and tracked 
 the route which, through Ixovercdo, Dolce, and 
 Verona, followed its farther bank. This corps, com- 
 manded by Wukassovich, could, at the utmost, send a 
 few bullets on the field of battle, across the interven- 
 ing river. 
 
 Bonaparte instantly discerned that the plateau must 
 be preserved at all hazards. He had in front tlie 
 Austrian infantry descending the amphitheatre, with- 
 out a single piece of cannon ; on his right he had the 
 grenadiers, artillery, and cavalry, moving along the 
 route of the river, and preparing to debouch by the 
 ascent of Incanale on his right flank. On his left, 
 Lusiirnan was in progress to turn Kivoli. From the 
 opposite bank of the Adige, the volleys of Wukassovjch 
 threatened annoyance. Planted on the plateau, he 
 prevented the junction of the difterent arms, he would 
 sweep down the infantry devoid of cannon, and drive 
 back the cavalry and artillery entangled in a narrow 
 and winding path. In such case, the efforts of Lusig- 
 nan to turn him, and of Wukassovich to pick off his 
 men, would be of little moment. 
 
 His plan being formed with his accustomed promp- 
 titude, he commenced operations before break of day. 
 Joubert had been obliged to shrink in compass, so as 
 to occupy only a space proportioned to his force; 
 hence a dread lest the infantry descending the grada- 
 tions of Monte-Baldo should effect a junction with the 
 head of the column ascending by Incanale. Bonaparte, 
 long before dawn, aroused Joubert's troops, which, 
 after sustaining a combat of forty-eight hours' dura- 
 tion, were seeking repose in a hurried sleep. He 
 assaulted the outposts of the Austrian infantry, drove 
 them in, and expanded more widely over the plateau. 
 
 The action speedily raged with fury. The Austrian 
 infantry, without ordnance, recoiled before the French, 
 which was supported with its formidable artillery, and 
 fell back in a semicircle towards the amphitheatre of 
 Monte-Baldo. But a disastrous event occurred at 
 the moment on the French left. Liptai's corps, which 
 held the extremity of the hostile semicircle, charged 
 on Joubert's left, composed of the eighty-ninth and 
 twenty -fifth demi-brigades, which it surprised, broke, 
 and forced to retreat in disorder. The fourteenth, 
 standing immediately next to those two demi-brigades. 
 wheeled round to cover the rest of the line, and 
 resisted with admirable courage. The Austrians 
 mustered all their strength against it, and nearly pre- 
 vailed in overwhelming it. They strove especially to 
 wrest from it the cannon, the horses of which had 
 bviCH killed. They had already reached the pieces, 
 when an officer exclaimed — " Grenadiers of the four- 
 teenth, will you let j'our pieces be captured ?" Fifty 
 men instantly rushed forward, with this brave officer 
 at their head, repulsed the Austrians, yoked them- 
 selves to the pieces, and retrieved them. 
 
 Bonaparte, descrying the danger, left Berthier on 
 the threatened point, and started at full gallop for 
 Rivoli, in quest of succours. The first troops of Mas- 
 sena's division had just come up, after having marched 
 all night. Bonaparte took the thirty-second, rendered 
 famous by its exploits during the campaign, and moved 
 it to the left, to rally tlie two demi-brigades which 
 had yielded. The intrepid Massena advanced at its 
 head, rallied behind him the discomfited troops, and 
 overthrew all who ventured to withstand hiiu. He 
 chased back the Austrians, and planted himself by the 
 side of the fourteenth, which had continued through- 
 out to perform prodigies of valour. The battle was 
 thus re-established on this quarter, and the army again 
 occupied the semicircle of the plateau. But the 
 momentary check on the left had compelled Joubert 
 
 to fall back with the right -, he yielded /ground, and 
 tlie Austrian infantry was a second time approaching 
 the point Bonaparte had been so solicitous to make 
 it abandon : it Avas on the point of gaining the avenue 
 by which the spiral road of Incanale opened on the 
 plateau. At the same moment, the column composed 
 of artillery and cavalry, and preceded by several bat- 
 talions of grenadiers, ascended the spiral way, and, 
 with incredible eflbrts of bravery, repvdsed the thirty- 
 ninth. Wukassovich, from the other side of the Adige, 
 poured a continuous volley of bullets to protect this 
 species of escalade. The grenadiers had already scaled 
 the summit of the defile, and the cavalry debouched 
 in their wake on the plateau. Nor was this all : the 
 column under Lusignan, whose fires had been per- 
 ceived in the distance, and which had been seen turn- 
 ing the position of the French to the left, now placed 
 itself on their rear, intercepted the route to Verona, 
 and barred the way to Hey, who was advancing from 
 Castel-Nuovo with the division of reserve. Lusignan's 
 soldiers, finding themselves on the rear of the French 
 army, clapped their hands and exidted at its inevitable 
 destruction. Thus, on this plateau of Ilivoli, hemmed 
 in front by a semicircle of infantry, turned on the 
 left by a strong column, stormed on the right by the 
 bulk of the Austrian army, and raked by the bidlets 
 showered from the opposite bank of the Adige, Bona- 
 ]iarte stood isolated, with the divisions of Joubert and 
 Massena, amidst a swarm of enemies. With 16,000 
 men, he was enveloped by at least 40,000. 
 
 In this fearful moment, his presence of mind was 
 unshaken. He manifested all the fire and promptitude 
 of his wonted intuition. Surveying the Austrians 
 under Lusignan, he said, " Those men are ours " and 
 he allowed them to proceed without concerning him- 
 self as to their movement. The soldiers, understand- 
 ing their general's thoughts, partook his confidence, 
 and repeated amongst themselves, " TJieij are ours ! " 
 
 At the present time, the attention of Bonaparte was 
 directed exclusively to his antagonists in front, and to 
 their efforts. His left was covered by the heroism of 
 the fourteenth and the thirty-second ; his right was 
 menaced at once by the infantry which had resumed 
 the offensive and by the column escalading the plateau. 
 He forthwith ordered decisive movements. A battery 
 of light artillery and two squadrons, under two brave 
 officers, Leclerc and Lasalle, were directed on the 
 outlet of the pass. Joubert, who, with the extreme 
 right, had that outlet at his back, faced about with a 
 corps of light infantry. All charged together. The 
 artillery first made play on those who had debouched ; 
 the cavalry and liglit infantry then rushed forward 
 with impetuosity. Joubert fell, with his horse slain 
 beneath him ; he arose again, more terrible in his 
 wrath, and flew on the enemy with a loaded musket. 
 All who had debouched — grenadiers, cavalry, artillery 
 — were precipitated pell-mell down the inclined way 
 of Incanale. A frightfid confusion reigned within its 
 crooked course : some pieces of ordnance rolling into 
 the defile augmented the terror and disorder. At 
 every step the French cut down or made prisoners at 
 discretion. After having delivered the plateau from 
 the assailants who had scaled it, Bonaparte resumed 
 his attack upon the infantry ranged in a semicircle 
 before him : he drove upon it Joubert with the light 
 infantry and Lasalle with two hundred hussars. At 
 this renewed onslaught a panic seized the Austrian 
 infantry, now deprived of all hope of effecting a junc- 
 tion, and it fled in disorder. Thereupon the whole 
 French line moved forward from right to left, pushed 
 the Austrians against the amphitheatre of Monte- 
 Baldo, and hotly pursued them into the mountains. 
 Bonaparte subsecpicntly returned to the rear, and pre- 
 pared to realise his prediction touching the corps of 
 Lusignan. That division, on beholding the discom- 
 fiture of the Austrian army, quickly foresaw its im- 
 pending fiite. After having cannonaded it, Bonaparte 
 ordered the eighteenth and seventy-fifth demi-brigades
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 625 
 
 to charge it. Those gallant troops advanced chanting 
 the chant du depart, and drove Lusignan on the road 
 to Verona, by which Eey was coming np with the 
 reserve. The Austrian corps made at first a show of 
 resistance, then retreated, and finally fell upon the 
 head of Key's division. Terrified at this unexpected- 
 incident, it invoked the clemency of the victor, and 
 laid down its arms to the number of four thousand 
 men. Two thousand had been previously captured 
 in the defile of the Adige. 
 
 It was now five o'clock, and the Austrian army 
 might be deemed annihilated. Lusignan was taken ; 
 the infantry, which had approached by the mountains, 
 was flying over rugged rocks ; the principal column 
 was engulfed on the strand of the river ; the subsi- 
 diary corps of Wukassovich had beheld the disastrous 
 issue of the combat with fruitless grief, separated by 
 the Adige from the field of battle. This admirable 
 ■victory beguiled but transiently the thoughts of Bona- 
 parte : his eyes were instantly averted to the Lower 
 Adige, which he had left menaced. He judged that 
 Joubert, with his intrepid division, and Key, with the 
 division of reserve, would suffice to inflict the last 
 blows upon the enemy, and to wrest from him some 
 thousands of prisoners. He mustered IMassena's divi- 
 sion, which had fought the previous day at Verona, 
 had subsequently marched all night, again fought the 
 whole day of the 25th (14th), and now once more set 
 out for a dreary nocturnal march in quest of fresh 
 conflicts. Tliose brave soldiers, anticipating further 
 victories with joyful countenances, seemed insensible 
 to fatigue. They flew rather than marched to cover 
 Mantua, from which fourteen leagues separated them. 
 
 Bonaparte learned on the way what had passed on 
 the Lower Adige. Provera, masking his operations 
 from Augereau, had thrown abridge over the river at 
 Anghuiari, a Uttle below Legnago, and, leaving Ho- 
 henzollern beyond the Adige, had marched on Mantua 
 with 9000 or 10,000 men. Augereau, apprised too 
 late, had nevertheless followed in his wake, taken him 
 in rear, and captured from him 2000 prisoners. But 
 Provera was marching on Mantua with 7000 or 8000 
 men to join the garrison. Bonaparte learned these 
 details at Castel-Nuovo. He was apprehensive lest 
 the garrison might sally forth to act in concert with 
 the corps advancing to its relief, and take the block- 
 ading force between two fires. He had marched all 
 the night of the 25th-26th (14th-1.5th) with Mas- 
 sena's division, and he made it continue the movement 
 during the day of the 26th, in order that it might 
 arrive the same evening before IMantua. He likewise 
 directed thither the reserves which he had left at the 
 intermediate station of Villa-Franca, and hastened to 
 the spot in person to make his dispositions. 
 
 On the same day, the 26th (15th January), Provera 
 arrived before Mantua. He presented himself before 
 the suburb of Saint-George, in which Miollis was 
 stationed with 1500 men at the utmost. I'rovera 
 summoned him to surrender. The valiant Miollis 
 replied bj' a discharge of artillery. Provera, repulsed, 
 moved to the side of the citadel, hoping Wurmser 
 would make a sortie ; but he found Serrurier confront- 
 ing him. He halted at the palace of La Favorita, 
 between Saint-George and the citadel, and lanched 
 a boat across the lake with a message to Wurmser to 
 debouch from the fortress on the following morning. 
 Bonajjarte arrived in the evening,', and disposed Auge- 
 reau on the rear of J'rovera, Victor and ^lassena on 
 his flanks, so as to separate him from the citadel, by 
 which Wurmser was to attempt his sally. He oj)- 
 posed Serrurier to Wurmser. 'i'lie next day, 27th 
 Nivose (16th January), at break of day, tlie battle 
 began. Wm-mser dcbouclied from the place, and at- 
 tacked Serrurier witli fury; the latter resisted witji 
 equal valour, and kej)t him in check along the lines 
 of circumvallation. Victor, at the head of the fifty- 
 seventh, which on that day received the appellation 
 of tlie Terrible, charged on Provera and overthrew all 
 
 he encountered. After an obstinate conflict, Wurmser 
 was driven back into ^Mantua. Provera, hunted like a 
 stag, surrounded by Victor, Massena, and Augereau, 
 disquieted by a sortie of Miollis, laid down his arms 
 with 6000 men. The young volunteers of Vienna 
 formed part of them. After an honourable defence, 
 they surrendered their arms, together with the banner 
 embroidered by the hands of the empress. 
 
 Such was the crowning achievement of this memo- 
 rable campaign, judged by military' men one of the 
 most brilliant and extraordinary recorded in histor)^ 
 Intelligence arrived that Joubert, pursuing Alvinzy, 
 had again taken from his shattered forces 7000 pri- 
 soners. At the battle of Kivoli 6000 had been secured, 
 making 13,000 in all. Augereau had made 2000 
 prisoners, Provera had capitulated with 6000 men, 
 1000 had been picked up before Verona, and a few 
 hundred stragglers besides, which rendered the num- 
 ber of captives, taken in three days, 22,000 or 2.'?,000. 
 Massena's division had marched and fought without 
 respite for four days, marching by night, fighting by 
 day. Thus Bonaparte boasted, with just pride, that 
 his soldiers had surpassed the vaunted celerity of 
 Caesar's legions. Why he at a later date attached to 
 the name of IMassena that of Kivoli will be readily 
 understood. The action of the 25th (14th January) 
 was styled the battle of Kivoli, that of the 27th (16th 
 January), before Mantiia, the battle of La Favorita. 
 
 Thus, again, in three days, Bonaparte had taken or 
 slain half of the hostile army, and struck it as if with 
 a thunderbolt. Austria had made her last effort, and 
 now Italy lay at the mercy of France. Wurmser, 
 immured in j^lantua, was without a ray of hope ; he 
 had consumed all his horses, and disease conspired 
 with famine to destroy his garrison. A longer resist- 
 ance would have been useless, and repugnant to 
 humanity. The old marshal had given proof of a 
 noble courage and a rare fortitude ; he might without 
 dishonour prepare to capitulate. He dispatched one 
 of his officers, by name Klenau, to parley with Ser- 
 rurier. The latter referred the subject to his superior 
 general, who repaired to the conference. Bonaparte, 
 enveloped in his mantle, and without making him- 
 self known, listened to the discussion between Ser- 
 rurier and Klenau. The Austrian envoy descanted 
 largely on the resources remaining to his general, and 
 asserted that he had still provisions for three months. 
 Bonaparte, continuing his disgaiise, approached the 
 table at which the interlocutors stood, grasped the 
 paper whereon Wurmser's propositions were tran- 
 scribed, and began to trace some lines on the margin, 
 without uttering a word, to the great amazement of 
 Klenau, who was at a loss to comprehend the action 
 of the unknown. Then rising and uncovering, Bona- 
 parte advanced to Klenau. " Here," he said, " these 
 are the conditions I grant to your marshal. If he had 
 provisions for merely fifteen days, and talked of sur- 
 rendering, he woidd not deserve an honourable capi- 
 tulation. Since he deputes you here, he is reduced to 
 extremity. I respect his age, his bravery, his mis- 
 ft)rtunes. Convey to him the conditions 1 grant him : 
 let him leave tlie place to-morrow, in a month, or in 
 six, he will liave conditions neither better nor worse. 
 He can remain as long as it befits his honour." 
 
 By this language, by the tone of its deliver^', Klenau 
 recognised tlie illustrious ca])tain, and he hastened to 
 bear to Wurmser the conditions accorded him. The 
 veteran niarKlial was filled with gratitude on learning 
 the generous treatment vouchsafed him by his young 
 antagonist, lie allowed him permission to issue freclv 
 from the fortress witli all his stall"; he even granted 
 him two hundred horsemen, five hundred men to be 
 nominated by himself, and six pieces of cannon, in 
 order that his evacuation might be less humiliating. 
 The garrison was to be conducted to Trieste, there to 
 be exchanged against French prisoners. Wurmser 
 gladly accepted these terms; and to testify his gra- 
 titude towards the French general, he informed hiiu
 
 6-26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of a plot to poison him planned in the states of the 
 Church. Tlie 14th Pluviose (2d February) was ap- 
 pointed as the day of his evacuation. On quittin"; 
 Mantua he derived consolation from the idea of sur- 
 rendering his sword to the conqueror himself; but he 
 found only the brave Scrrurier, l)efore whom he was 
 obliged to defile witii all his staff. Bonaparte had 
 already dei)arted for Romagna, intent on cliastising 
 the Pope and humbling the Vatican. His vanity, lofty 
 as his genius, moved him diflerently from vulgar 
 minds; he preferred being absent rather than present 
 on the scene of triumph. 
 
 With the capitulation of Mantua the campaign was 
 terminated, and Italy definitively conquered. 
 
 When we ponder on the whole series of events, tlie 
 imagination is struck by the multiplicity of engage- 
 ments, the variety and fecundity of conceptions, and 
 the inmiensity of the results. PLntering Italy with 
 thirty and some thousand men, Bonaparte first sepa- 
 rated the Piedmontese from the Austrians at Monte- 
 notte and Millcsimo, and accomplished the destruc- 
 tion of the first at Mondovi ; then hastened after tlie 
 latter, passed in face of tliem the Po at Placentia, 
 and the Adda at Lodi, took possession of Lombardy, 
 there halted for an interval, speedily resumed liis 
 march, found the Austrians reinforced on the Mincio, 
 and completed their overthrow at the battle of Bor- 
 ghetto. Then lie formed at a glance the plan of his 
 future operations : it was upon the Adige he must 
 establish liiniself to confront the Austrians ; as to tlie 
 princes on his rear, it would be sufficient to emj)loy 
 negotiations and menaces to keep them in check. A 
 second army was sent against him under Wurmser : his 
 only chance of defeating it was by concentrating his 
 forces rapidly, and smiting alternately each of its iso- 
 lated masses : with prompt resolution, he sacrificed the 
 blockade of Mantua, crushed Wurmser at Lonato .and 
 Castiglione, and repulsed him into the Tyrol. Wurm- 
 ser was reinforced, as had been Beaulieu : Bonaparte 
 anticipated him in the Tyrol, ascended the Adige, cut 
 down all before him at Roveredo, plunged back through 
 the valley of the Brenta, intercepted Wurmser, who 
 expected to be himself the interceptor, worsted him 
 at Bassano, and shut him up in Slantua. This was 
 the second Austrian army destroyed after having been 
 reinforced. 
 
 Bonaparte, constantly negotiating and menacing 
 from the banks of the Adige, awaited the approach of 
 the third army. It was a formidable host : it arrived 
 before he had received reinforcements ; he was com- 
 pelled to recede before it ; he was reduced to despair, 
 and on the point of succumbing, when he found, amidst 
 an impassable marsh, two lines leading into the flanks 
 of the enemy, and threw himself upon them with an 
 incredible audacity. He was again triumphant at 
 Arcole. But the enemy was arrested, not destroyed : 
 he returned a last time, and more puissant than before. 
 On one side, he descended from the moimtains ; on the 
 other, he advanced by the Lower Adige. Bonaparte 
 discerned the only point where the Austrian columns, 
 winding in a mountainous country, could effect a 
 junction, threw himself on the celebrated plateau of 
 Rivoli, and, from that position, overwhelmed the prin- 
 cipal army under Alvinzy ; then, turning his flight 
 towards the Lower Adige, he encompassed the column 
 which had crossed it. His last operation was the most 
 brilliant, for in that instance fortune waited upon 
 genius. Thus, in ten months, besides the Piedmontese 
 army, three formidable armies, thrice reinforced, had 
 been utterly discomfited by an army, which, thirty 
 and a few thousand strong at the commencement of 
 the campaign, had since received but 20,(K)() to rej)air 
 its losses. In other words, .5.5,000 Frenchmen had 
 defeated upwards of 200,000 Austrians, of whom they 
 had captured more than 80,000, and killed or wounded 
 at least 20,000 ; they had fought twelve pitched battles, 
 and upwards of sixty minor actions, and passed several 
 rivers, defying alike the hostile elements of fire and 
 
 water. When warfare is a purely mechanical routine, 
 presenting a dry detail of one host assailing another 
 immediately before it, the record is unworthy of his- 
 tory ; but when one of those encounters is pourtrayed, 
 wherein we perceive a mass of men moved by a single 
 and transcendent intellect, which develops its powers 
 amidst the roar of thunder, with the equanimity of a 
 Newton or a Descartes in the stillness of the cabinet, 
 then is the spectacle worthy the philosopher equally 
 with the statesman and the .soldier ; and, if this iden- 
 tification of a multitude with a single individual, which 
 imparts to force its utmost might, serves to protect 
 .and defend a noble cause, that of liberty, the exem- 
 plification becomes as moral as it is grand. 
 
 Bonaparte now hurried to fresh enterprises. He 
 moved towards Rome, for the purpose of terminating 
 the treacherous machinations of that court of priests, 
 intending to return, no longer upon the Adige, but 
 upon Vienna itself lie had, by his successes, centred 
 the war on its veritable theatre, that of Italy, whence 
 the hereditary dominions of the emperor might lie 
 easiest overrun. The government, enlightened by his 
 achievements, forwarded him reinforcements, with 
 which he might advance to Vienna, and dictate a 
 glorious peace in the name of tlie French republic. 
 The close of the campaign had stimulated all the hopes 
 its commencement had engendered. 
 
 The victory of Rivoli filled the patriots with un- 
 measured joy. In all public places exidting reference 
 was made to the twenty-two thousand prisoners cap- 
 tured during the late events, and the testimony of the 
 authorities of Milan, who had passed them in review 
 and certified their number, was triumphantly cited to 
 silent the affected doubts of the malevolent. The sur- 
 render of Mantua still further augmented the general 
 enthusiasm. From that moment, the conquest of 
 Italy was believed definitive. The courier who brought 
 the intelligence reached Paris in the evening. The 
 garrison was forthwith assembled, and the tidings 
 published amid the glare of torches, the flourish of 
 trumpets, and the rapturous exclamations of all true 
 P'renchmen. Days for ever renowned, evoking pain- 
 ful regret on retrospection ! At what epoch was France 
 as a nation greater or more glorious ! The storms of 
 the revolution appeared liushed ; the murmurs of 
 parties were heard only as the dying echoes of the 
 tempest. Those remains of agitation were indeed 
 regarded as the vital principle of a free state. The 
 trade and finances of the country were happily emerg- 
 ing from a dismal crisis, and its soil, restored to indus- 
 trious cidtivators, promised more than wonted fecun- 
 dity. A government composed of citizens, all equals, 
 ruled the republic with moderation ; the worthiest 
 were called to succeed them. All voices were free. 
 France, at the pinnacle of power, was mistress of sdl 
 the territory stretching from the Rhine to the Pyre- 
 nees, and from the Ocean to the Alps. Holland and 
 Spain were about to unite their fleets with hers, and 
 to attack in concert the maritime despotism. She was 
 resplendent with immortal glor}'. Redoubtable armies 
 bore her three colours fluttering triumphantly in the 
 face of the kings who had conspired to annihilate her. 
 Twenty heroes, differing in character and in talents, 
 similar only in age and courage, led her soldiers to 
 victory. Hoche, Kk'ber, Desaix, Moreau, Joubert, 
 Massena, Bonaparte, and many others, were rising to 
 fame concurrently. Men canvassed their respective 
 merits ; but as yet no eye. however piercing it might 
 be, detected in that galaxy of heroes the unfortunate 
 or the criminal ; no eye marked him who was to ex- 
 pire in the flower of his age, wasted by an unknown 
 malady— him who was to perish under the Mussulman's 
 poniard or beneath an enemy's fire — him who woidd 
 oppress liberty — or him who would prove a traitor to 
 his country : all appeared great, pure, fortunate, ripe 
 for future destinies ! This was but for a moment ; yet 
 there are isolated moments in the existence of nations 
 as in that of individuals. Internal tranquillity was
 
 HISTORY OF THE FllENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 627 
 
 beginning rapidly to reproduce wealth; liberty and 
 j;lory were akeady abtuidantly enjoyed. In tlie words 
 of an ancient, " A country ought to be not only pro- 
 sperous, hut sufficiently glorious." Tliis condition 
 was fully realised. Frenchmen, we who liave since 
 seen our liberty stifled, our country invaded, our heroes 
 shot or false to their fame, let us never forget those 
 immortal days of liberty, of greatness, and of bright 
 anticipation. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 SITUATION OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE WINTER OF 
 
 THE YEAR 5 (1797). CHARACTERS AND DISPUTES OF 
 
 THE FIVE DIRECTORS. CLUB OF CLICHY ; INTRIGUES 
 
 OF THE ROYALIST FACTION. PLOT OF BROTTIER 
 
 AND ACCOMPLICES DISCOVERED. ELECTIONS OF THE 
 
 YEAR 5. GLANCE AT THE SITUATION OF FOREIGN 
 
 POWERS AT THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 
 1797. 
 
 The late victories of Rivoli and La Favorita, followed 
 by the capture of ^lantua, had restored to France aU 
 her superiority. The Directory, although still the 
 object of ruthless obloquy, inspired the Eiu-opean 
 powers with a profound dread. " The half of Europe," 
 wrote Mallet-du-Fan,* " is on its knees before this 
 divan, to purchase the honour of becoming its vassal." 
 Fifteen months of firm and glorious sway had rooted 
 the five directors in power, but had at the same time 
 developed their passions and characters. Men cannot 
 long act in conjunction without experiencing indivi- 
 dual distastes or predilections, and without associating 
 conformably to their inclinations. Carnot, Barras, 
 Rewbell, Larevelliere-Lepaux, and Le Tourneur, were 
 already divided in accordance with this invariable 
 result. Carnot was systematic, obstinate, and haughty. 
 He was entirely devoid of those qualities which impart 
 to the mind comprehensiveness and perspicuity, and 
 to the disposition pliability. He possessed penetration, 
 and could readily master any subject submitted to his 
 investigation ; but, once committed to an error, he 
 never retracted. He was a man of strict probity, 
 high courage, and ardent devotion to business, but he 
 never forgave either an injury or a mortification to 
 his seh-love ; yet he was undoubtedly intellectual and 
 original, which is indeed not micommon with men 
 wrapped up in themselves. He had formerly quar- 
 relled with the members of the committee of public 
 welfare, for it was impossible that his pride could have 
 ever harmonised with that of Robespierre or Snint- 
 Just, or his lofty courage quailed before their despo- 
 tism. At present the like mishap unavoidably befell 
 him in tlie Directory. Independently of those frequent 
 occasions of collision with his colleagues, arising from 
 the common performance of a task so difficult as that 
 of conducting a government, and which so naturally 
 provokes diversity of opinions, he harboured old re- 
 sentments, particularly against Uarras. All his pre- 
 possessions as an austere, s(!rupulous, and laborious 
 man, alienated him from that ])rodigal, debauched, 
 and indolent colleague ; but he above all detested him 
 as the leader of tlie Tliermidorians, the friends and 
 avengers of Danton, and the persecutors of the old 
 Momitain. Carnot, having been one of the chief pro- 
 moters of Danton's execution, and having subseijuently 
 narrowly escaped being involved in tlie fate of the 
 principal Mountaineers, could not forego his vindic- 
 tive feelings against the Tliermidorians : accordingly, 
 lie cherislied a rooted hatred against Harras. 
 
 Barras had formerly served in India, and had there 
 evinced the qualities of a brave soldier. He was well 
 fitted, during civil broils, to enact a military part, and, 
 as we have seen, that merit had elevated liim to a 
 seat in the Directory. Tims, on all difficult occasions, 
 
 * Secret currcspoudence with the goverament of Venice. 
 
 he was prone to boast of mounting on horseback and 
 puttmg the enemies of the repu1)hc to the sword. In 
 person he was tall and lumdsonie ; l)ut his expression 
 bore something sombre and sinister, which iU accorded 
 with a character more passionate than malignant. 
 Althougli reared in an elevated rank, his manners 
 were far from possessing any peculiar elegance. They 
 were, on the contrary, rough, bold, and vidgar. He 
 was endowed with a soundness and penetration of 
 mind which, with study and industry, might have 
 become distinguished faculties ; but lazy and igno- 
 rant, he knew just so much as may be learned in the 
 course of a chequered caix-er ; still, in aftairs he was 
 daily called upon to discuss, he gave token of a judg- 
 ment sufficiently acute to make his defective educa- 
 tion a subject of regret. For the rest, dissolute and 
 cynical, violent and fidse as the sons of the south, 
 who possess the art of concealing duplicity under the 
 mask of bluntness, a republican by feeling and by 
 position, but a man devoid of faith, receiving at his 
 house the most furious revolutionists of the faubourgs 
 and all the emigrants who had returned to France, 
 gratifying the first by his frivolous violence, the latter 
 by his spirit of intrigue — he M-as in reality a warm pa- 
 triot, and in secret held out hopes to all parties. He 
 was tlie sole representative of the entire Dantonist 
 party, lacking the genius of its pristine leader, which 
 had not descended to his successors. 
 
 Rewbell, originally an advocate at Colmar, had ac- 
 quired at the bar and in the difierent assemblies- great 
 experience in the management of affairs. With the 
 rarest penetration and discernment, he combined ex- 
 tensive information, a prodigious memory, and an 
 extraordinary assiduity in toil. These qualities ren- 
 dered him an invaluable man at the head of a state. 
 He discussed questions with admirable perspicuity, 
 although somewhat prone to subtilise, a remnant of 
 his forensic habits. To a rather prepossessing ap- 
 pearance he joined a perfect knowledge of societj' ; 
 but he was rude and repulsive from the vivacity and 
 bitterness of his language. Notwithstanding the 
 calumnies of libellers and counter-revolutionists, he 
 was a man of strict probity. Unfortmiately he was 
 not altogether free from avarice ; he was intent on 
 employmg his individual fortune in an advantageous 
 manner, which caused him to hold frequent inter- 
 course with men of business, and which furnished a 
 fruitful theme for slander. He devoted himself pecu- 
 liarly to the department of foreign relations, and was 
 actuated by so keen an attachment to the interests of 
 France, that he would have been willingly unjust to- 
 wards other nations. An ardent, sincere, and firm 
 republican, he belonged originally to the moderate 
 party in the convention ; and he viewed with equal 
 repugnance both Carnot and Barras, the one as a 
 Mountaineer, the other as a Dantonist. Thus Carnot, 
 Barras, and Rewbell, all three sprung from different 
 parties, cordially detested each other; the enmities 
 contracted during a long and painful struggle still 
 survived under the constitutional system ; hearts re- 
 fuseil to blend in unison, as rivers which join without 
 mingling tiieir waters. Nevertheless, albeit fostering 
 this anti])athy, these tliree men restrained their feel- 
 ings, ami labourid in concord at the common task. 
 
 The two remaining directors, Larevelliere-Lepaux 
 and Le Tourneur, harboured no resentments against 
 any one. Le Tourneur, of an amiable ilisposition, but 
 vain, altliongii his vanity was siini)le and inoffensive, 
 being content with tbe external .symbols of power and 
 the homageof sentinels— he, Le Tourneur, entertained 
 a submissive respect for Carnot. He was jirompt to 
 give his opinion, but e([u:Uly so to retract it wlien he 
 was proved to be wrong, or if Carnot spoke adversely. 
 His vote, on all occasions, belonged to Carnot. 
 
 Lari'vellirre. the best and honestest of men, pos- 
 sessed, with much varied knowledge, a just and observ- 
 ing mind. He was attentive to business, and capaide 
 of giving prudent oomisel on all subjects ; on several
 
 628 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 important occasions his judicious advice was tendered 
 with paramount advantage. But he was often misled 
 by illusions, or fettered by the scruples of a virtuous 
 heart. He occasionally desired what was uiipossible, 
 and shrunk from sanctioning what was necessary ; for 
 it requires a great mind to determine what is due to 
 circumstances without infringing principles. Speak- 
 ing with facility, and gifted with unshaken firmness, 
 he was of infinite utility \vhen it became needful to 
 vindicate expedient measures, and he was of essential 
 service to the Directory by his personal consideration. 
 
 His part, amidst colleagues so bitterly estranged 
 from each other, was most salutary. Amongst the 
 four directors, his preference was decided in favour of 
 the most able and upright, namelj', of Rewbell. He 
 liad, nevertheless, avoided forming any intimate con- 
 nexion, which would have been agreeable to his feel- 
 ings, but which would have tended to alienate him 
 from his other coljeagues. He was not without a par- 
 tial predilection for Barras, and might have united 
 with him had he found him less corrupt and false. 
 He exercised over that personage a certain ascendancy, 
 from the high consideration he enjoyed, as also from 
 his penetration and his firmness. The dissolute are 
 ever ready to deride virtue, but they are awed by it 
 when they find it armed with the insight which 
 probes, and the courage that scorns to fear them. 
 Larevelliere used his influence over Kewbell and 
 Barras to keep them in harmony with each other and 
 with Carnot. Owing to this happy mediator, and 
 owing also to their general zeal for the interests of 
 the republic, those directors acted befittingly together, 
 and performed their allotted tasks, divided upon ques- 
 tions submitted for conamon deliberation according 
 to their actual opinions rather than according to their 
 private animosities. 
 
 With the exception of Barras, the Directors lived 
 with their families, each occupying apartments in the 
 Luxembourg. They displayed but a very moderate 
 share of luxury. Larevelliere, nevertheless, indulg- 
 ing in a relish for society, inspired with a love for the 
 arts and sciences, and deeming it incumbent on him 
 to expend his otficial income in a manner beneficial 
 to the state, was accustomed to receive men of science 
 and literature, entertaining them with a modest and 
 cordial simplicity. He had unfortunately exposed 
 himself to some ridicule, without having in the slight- 
 est degree merited it. He professed in all respects 
 the philosophy of the eighteenth century, such as it 
 was expressed in the Savoyard Vicar's profession of 
 faith. He desired the suppression of the Catholic 
 religion, and held that it would soon sink if govern- 
 ments had the prudence to employ against it simply 
 indifference and neglect. He was opposed to super- 
 stitious ceremonies and material representations of 
 the divinity ; but he thought meetings essential to 
 men, wherein they might discourse in common on 
 morality, and on the great objects of creation. Those 
 subjects, in fact, require to be treated in assemblies, 
 because in them lofty emotions, noble and generous 
 sentiments, are more easily excited and communicated. 
 He had developed his ideas in a published work, 
 wherein he contended that the ritual of the Catholic 
 worship oixght to be superseded for meetmgs some- 
 what similar to those of the Protestants, but still 
 more simple and free from forms. This doctrine, 
 embraced by sundry well-meaning individuals, was 
 forthwith acted upon. A brother of the celebrated 
 naturalist Ilaiiy formed a society which he styled that 
 of the Theophilanlhropists, whose meetings were de- 
 voted to moral exhortation.?, philosophical lectures, 
 and pious anthems. Others were instituted for the 
 like purposes. They were held in rooms hired at the 
 expense of tlie members, and under the surveillance 
 of the police. Although Larevelliere approved of 
 them, and believed them well adapted for enticing 
 from the Catholic cliurches many of those devout 
 persons in whom the necessity of poiu-ing forth their 
 
 religious feelings in concert with others was all- 
 powerful, he cautiously abstained from appearing in 
 them, or even allowing his family to attend them, 
 lest he might incur the odium of enacting the part 
 of a sectarian leader, and revive the recollection of 
 Robespierre's pontificate. But notwithstanding his 
 reserve, malevolence seized the pretext to throw ri- 
 dicule upon a magistrate universally respected, and 
 whf)se life afforded no gromid for calumny. At the 
 same time, if Tlieophilanthropism formed the theme 
 of certain spiritless sarcasms in the saloons of Barras 
 or in the royalist journals, it attracted very little at- 
 tention generally, and tended in no degi-ee to lessen 
 the esteem wherewith he was regarded. 
 
 The member of the Directory Avho really damaged 
 the reputation of the government was Barras. His life 
 was not simple and retired like that of his colleagues ; 
 he exhibited a luxury and prodigality for which his 
 participation in ill-gotten gains could alone account. 
 The finances of the state were managed with strict 
 probity by the directorial majority and by the ex- 
 cellent minister liamel ; but they could not prevent 
 Barras receiving, from the contractors and bankers 
 he supported, considerable portions of the profits they 
 reaped. He had, moreover, divers other modes of de- 
 fraying his expenses. France v.-as becoming the ar- 
 biter of so many states, both great and small, that 
 several ])rinces were moved to cultivate her favour, 
 and to pay large sums for the promise of a vote in the 
 executive cabuiet. Instances of this shameful tam- 
 pei-ing will be hereafter adduced. The splendour that 
 Barras maintained might not have been hurtful, for 
 it behoves the rulers of an empire to draw men around 
 them, that they may study, appreciate, and discreetly 
 choose them ; but he was encompassed, not only by 
 X)ractical men, but by intriguers of all sorts, by dis- 
 solute women, and by notorious knaves. A shameful 
 contempt of decency prevailed in his saloons. Those 
 clandestine connexions which, in well-regulated socie- 
 ties, are studiously shrouded in mystery, were pub- 
 licly avowed. Gros-Bois, a seat in the vicinity of 
 Paris, was made the scene of scandalous orgies, which 
 supplied the enemies of the republic with powerful 
 topics of invective against the government. Barras, 
 in truth, never attempted to conceal his conduct, but, 
 as is usual with confirmed debauchees, delighted to 
 publish his excesses. He himself related before his 
 colleagues, who often addressed to him severe re- 
 proaciies, his precious feats at Gros-Bois and at the 
 Luxembourg; he boasted how he had compelled a 
 celebrated contractor of the time to relieve him from 
 the burden of a mistress who began to pall upon him, 
 and whose profusion he found it inconvenient to sus- 
 tain ; how he had revenged himself on a journalist, 
 the Abbe Poncelin, for certain diatribes levelled 
 against him ; how, after drawing him to the Luxem- 
 bourg, he had caused his domestics to flagellate the 
 unfortunate author. Such conduct, characteristic only 
 of a degenerate prince, practised in a republic, greatly 
 injiu-ed the Directory, and would have completel}' 
 arrayed the feeling of the country against it, had 
 not the virtues of Carnot and Larevelliere counter- 
 balanced the infamy of Barras's proceedings. 
 
 The Directory, instituted immediately subsequent to 
 the 1.3th Vendemiaire, formedin hatred of the counter- 
 revolution, composed of regicides, and assailed with 
 unrelenting fury by the royahsts, could scarcely be 
 otlier than zealously republican. But each of its mem- 
 bers wasmoreor less identifiedwith the opinions which 
 divided France. Larevelliere and Rewbell were dis- 
 tinguished for that moderate but rigid repubhcanism, 
 which equally abjured the frenzy of 1793, and the 
 violent royalist reaction of 1795. To induce them 
 by any appliances to aid the counter-revolutionary 
 cause, was felt to be impossible. The unerring in- 
 stinct of party taught that no compromise of prin- 
 ciples was to be expected from them, by means either 
 of direct seduction or of insidious flattery in the jour-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 629 
 
 nals. Consequently, towards those two directors both 
 factions indulged in venomous censure. The case was 
 different with Barras and Carnot. Barras, although 
 he mingled with all indiscriminately, was in reality 
 an ardent revolutionist. The faubourgs held him in 
 high estimation, always remembering that he had 
 been the general in Vendemiaire, and the conspirators 
 at the camp of Crenelle had been persuaded that he 
 at least sympathised with them. Thus the patriots 
 loaded him with praises, and the royalists with abuse. 
 Certain secret agents of roj^alism, drawn within his 
 circle by a common spirit of intrigue, might, with re- 
 ference to his proiligacy, entertain hopes ; but if so, 
 they were confined to themselves alone. The mass 
 of the party held him in abhorrence, and uiveighed 
 against him Avith demoniacal rancour. 
 
 Carnot, an ex-]Mountaineer, a member of the old 
 committee of public welfare, and almost a victim of 
 the reaction which followed the 9 th Thermidor, must 
 surely have been a decided republican, and was so in 
 fact. At the first moment of his accession to the 
 Directory, he had strenuously advocated the appoint- 
 ments distributed amongst the ilountaineer part}' ; 
 but by degrees, as the alarm provoked by the events 
 of Vendemiaire subsided, his tendencies had under- 
 gone a change. Even in the committee of public wel- 
 fare, he had never cherished any cordial affection for 
 the revolutionary rabble, and had powerfully contri- 
 buted to destroy the HObertists. When he saw Barras, 
 who affected to continue a king of the nwb {roi de la 
 canaille^ collect arovmd him the remains of the Ja- 
 cobin party, he had become hostile towards that party ; 
 he had displayed infinite energy in the affair of the 
 camp of Crenelle, and with the greater zest that Barras 
 chanced to be somewhat implicated in that disturbance. 
 Moreover, Carnot was haunted with retrospections. 
 The reproach addressed to him, that he had signed the 
 most sanguinar}' orders of the committee of public 
 veelfare, cruelly tormented him. The very natural ex- 
 planations he had given were not sufficient in his 
 eyes ; he was anxious to prove, above all things, that 
 he was not a monster — and to establish that fact to 
 his own satisfaction, he would have made weighty 
 sacrifices. Parties are gifted with wonderful powers 
 of divination and discernment ; they are fastidious 
 and captious with regard to men only when in the 
 ascendant ; but when vanquished, they are willing to 
 accept all recruits, and exhibit an especial anxiety to 
 win over the directors of armies. The royalists had 
 quickl}- detected the sentiments of Carnot touching 
 Barras and the patriot party. They comprehended his 
 craving to relieve himself from the sense and stigma 
 of opprobrium ; they were sensible of his military im- 
 portance ; and they took care to treat him differently 
 from his colleagues, and to speak of him in the terms 
 they knew the best adapted to affect him. Thus, whilst 
 the whole of their journals teemed with the grossest 
 abuse of Larevelliere, liewbcU, and Barras, they had 
 nothing but eulogy and incense for the ex-Moun- 
 taineer and regicide, Carnot. Besides, by gaining 
 Carnot, they also won Lctourneur; and thus, by a 
 commonj)lace but potential artifice, like all cunning 
 prostitutions to egotism, two voices in the Directory 
 were to be secured in the counter-revolutionary inte- 
 rest. Carnot had the weakness to yield to this 
 species of seduction ; and, without foregoing or be- 
 coming absohitely recreant to his internal convictions, 
 he formed, with his friend Le Tourneur, within the 
 pale of the Directory, an opposition analogous to that 
 presented by the new third in the two councils. On 
 all questions submitted to the decision of the Di- 
 rectory, he declared for the opinion adopted by the 
 opposition in the councils. (3n all occasions, when 
 matters relative to peace or war were discussed, he 
 voted for peace, after the examj^le of the opposition, 
 which professed a marvellous anxiety for its blessings. 
 He had forcibly maintained that great sacrifices shoulil 
 be made to the emperor j and that peace should be 
 
 concluded with Kome and Naples, without insisting 
 on too rigorous conditions. 
 
 The moment such dissensions break forth, they 
 grow in virulence with great rapidity. The party 
 which expects to profit by them lauds beyond measure 
 the men it hopes to gain, and redoubles the tirade of 
 detraction against the others. The usual success had 
 attended .such tactics in the present instance. Barras 
 and Rewbell, already hostile to Carnot, became still 
 more so in consequence of the eulogiums so profusely 
 pom-ed upon him, and imputed to his influence the 
 outrageous vituperation with which themselves were 
 assailed. Larevelliere in vain emploj'ed his good oflSces 
 to allay their mutual resentment ; the schism became, 
 despite his benevolent efforts, every day the wider ; 
 and the public, well aware of the existing discord, 
 divided the Directory into a majority and a minority, 
 classing Larevelliere, Rewbell, and Barras on one side, 
 Carnot and Le Tourneur on the other. 
 
 The various ministers, also, were regarded with 
 peculiar views. As it had been at all times usual to 
 criticise the management of the finances, an incessant 
 clamour persecuted the minister Rumel, albeit an ex- 
 cellent administrator, whom the deplorable state of 
 the exchequer compelled to adopt expedients, at any 
 other time imdoubtedly blameable, but under existing 
 circumstances altogether unavoidable. The taxes 
 came slowly in, on account of the almost insurmount- 
 able difficulties impeding the collection. It had been 
 found necessary to reduce the land-tax, and the in- 
 direct contributions produced much less than had been 
 anticipated. It often happened that the national trea- 
 sury was absolutely destitute of money ; and, in such 
 pressing cases, the funds destined for the extr.aordinary 
 service were perforce misappropriated to meet the 
 ordinary expenditure, or the receipts were anticipated, 
 and all the strange and onerous contracts were entered 
 into which situations of this nature render inevitable. 
 Then outcries arose against abuses and against mal- 
 versations, whereas every assistance, on the contrary, 
 should have been afforded to the government. Kamel, 
 who performed the duties of his ministiy with equal 
 integrity and talent, was the especial object of all 
 attacks, and was treated as a public enemy by every 
 journal. Almost equal acrimony Avas exhibited to- 
 wards the minister of marine, Trug-uet, knoAvn as a 
 frank repul -lican, as the friend of Hoche, and as the 
 patron of all the patriot officers ; towards the minister 
 of foreign affairs, Delacroix, a man whose qualities 
 fitted him for the labours of administration, but who 
 was undoubtedly a sorr}- diplomatist, being withal too 
 formal and arrogant in his intercourse with the mini- 
 sters of other powers ; and, lastly, towards Merlin, 
 who, in the department of justice, evinced all tlie fer- 
 vour of a Mountaineer republican. The ministers of 
 tlie interior, of war, and of police, Benezech, Petiet, 
 and Cochon, were entirely severed from their afore- 
 named colleagues. Benezech had been assailed with 
 such fury by the Jacobins, for having proposed a re- 
 currence to free traffic in articles of food and an aban- 
 donment of the alimentary provision to Paris, that he 
 had become agreeable to the counter-revolutionary 
 party. An al)le administrator, but reared under the 
 old system, which he still regretted, he partly deserved 
 the favour of those who praised him. Petiet, minister 
 at war, discharged his duties Avith great efficiency ; 
 but, as the creature of Carnot, he Avas associated in 
 the same category with respect to party. (>och()n Avas 
 likcAvise recommended by his connexion with Carnot; 
 the discovery he had made of Jacobin plots, and the 
 zeal he had manifested in in-ging the jirosecutions 
 against their authors, procured iiim the applause of the 
 ojiposite party, Avhieh extolled him with egregious 
 ailectation. 
 
 NotAvithstanding these estrangements, the goA-eni- 
 nient was still siifliciently united to administer aftairs 
 Avitli vigour, and to pursue with glory its operations 
 against the hostile powers of Europe. The opposition
 
 t)30 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 was effectual!}- curbeil by the c'liiVL-ntiunal niajoi-ity 
 retained in the legislative body. However, the elections 
 were approaching, and the moment was at hand when 
 a new third, elected under the bias predominant at the 
 time, would replace another conventional third. Tlie 
 opposition was sanguine of then acquirmg a majority, 
 and of emerging from that state of subjection in which 
 it had hitherto languished. Consequently, its language 
 in the two councils grew insensibly bolder, a portent 
 significant of its swelling hopes. The members who 
 constituted the present minority were wont to assemble 
 at Tivoli, to discuss their projects and concert their 
 course of action. This meeting of deputies had become 
 a club of the most violent character, known under the 
 title of the CUchy Club. Tlie newspapers aided the 
 movement. A vast immber of young men, who, under 
 the obsolete order of things, must have been content 
 to indite vapid odes, declaimed in fifty or sixty prints 
 against the excesses of the revolution, and against tlie 
 convention to wiiich they imputed tliose excesses. 
 None quarrelled with the republic, they asserted, but 
 with those who had drenched its birth in blood. 
 Assemblies of the electors were convoked in advance, 
 and earnest endeavours made to settle tlie eventual 
 nominations. The identical language, spirit, and pas- 
 sions of Vendemiaire were all in all revived ; the same 
 sincerity and delusion existed in the mass, the same 
 ambition actuated individuals, the same perfidy and 
 deception marked the conspirators who furtively 
 laboured in the cause of royalty. 
 
 This royalist faction, constantly discomfited, but 
 ever sanguine and wily, was perpetually starting into 
 renewed vitality. Wherever there is a claim supported 
 by pecuniary supplies, intriguers will be found in 
 abundance ready to promote it by any desperate 
 scheme. Although Lemaitre had been condemned to 
 death, La Vendee subjugated, and I'ichegru deprived 
 of his connnand over the arm}' of the Rhine, the ma- 
 chinations of the counter-revolutionists had not ceased; 
 on the contrary, they were continued with extreme 
 activity. Meanwhile, sundry changes had occurred 
 in the positions of individuals. The pretender, desig- 
 nated alternately the Count de Lille and Louis XVIIL, 
 had quitted Verona, as we are aware, and repaired to 
 the army on the Rhine. He had tarried for an interval 
 in the camp of the Prince of Conde, where an accident 
 had endangered his life. Standing at a window, a 
 musket-ball struck him, slightly grazing his body. 
 The act, the author whereof remained undiscovered, 
 was of course charged upon the Directory, which was, 
 however, not so iuordinateh' stupid as to suborn as- 
 sassins to commit a crime that would redound solely 
 to the advantage of the Count d'Artois. The pre- 
 tender did not sojourn long with the Prince of Condc. 
 His presence in the Austrian army was not agreeable 
 to the cabinet of Vienna (which had always alDstained 
 from recognising him), being conscious how surely it 
 would tend still more to embitter the quarrel witli 
 France, which was already sufficiently fraught with 
 irritating topics. He received an order to depart, 
 and, on his refusal to obey it, a detachment was sent 
 to enforce compliance. He tliereupon retired to Blan- 
 kemburg, where he continued to be the centre of tlie 
 royalist correspondence. Conde remained with his 
 corps on the Rhine. The Count d'Artois, after his 
 abortive designs on La Vendee, had withdrawn into 
 Scotland, whence he still held communications with 
 certain intriguers, who travelled to and fro between 
 La VendOe and England. 
 
 Lemaitre being dead, his associates had taken his 
 place, and succeeded him in the confidence of the 
 pretender. They were, as we h<ave previously inti- 
 mated, the Abbe Brottier, of old a preceptor, Laville- 
 Heurnois, a master of requests in times past, a certain 
 Chevalier Despomelles, and a naval officer called Du- 
 verne de Presle. Tlie constant system of these agents 
 located at Paris had been to concentrate all action in 
 intrigues conducted at the capital itself; whilst the 
 
 ^'enduaas had aimed to eOict tlie great object of the 
 restoration by an armed insurrection, and the Prince 
 of Conde through the treacherous intervention of 
 Pichegru. La Vendee being tranquillised, Pichegru 
 reduced to a private station, and a powerful reaction 
 in obvious progress against the revolution, the Paris 
 agents were the more confirmed in opinion that all 
 their hopes were to be realised by a spontaneous move- 
 ment throughout the country. First, to secure the 
 elections, next, by the elections to command the coun- 
 cils, and lasth', by the councils to seize upon all offices 
 and upon the Directory itself, seemed to them an as- 
 sured process for re-establishing royalty, wielding such 
 means only as were afforded by the republican consti- 
 tution. But for this purpose it was absolutely essen- 
 tial to put an end to that discrepancy of ideas which 
 had always marked and frustrated the counter-revo- 
 lutionary plans. Puisaye, still secreted in Brittany, 
 jiondered as formerly on an insurrection of that 
 l)rovince ; M. de Frotte, in Normandy, was striving 
 to convert that ancient dutchy into a modern La 
 Vendee ; but neither of these two chiefs would enter 
 into communication with the agents at Paris. The 
 Prince of Conde, baffled in his mtrigue with Pichegru, 
 still insisted on prosecuting it alone, without the in- 
 terference of either the Austrians or the pretender, 
 and it was with much reluctance he had imparted to 
 them the secret. To mould these incoherent schemes 
 into one harmonious co-operation, and, above all, to 
 procure money, the Parisian agents dispatched one of 
 their number into the western provinces, into Eng- 
 land, Scotland, Germany, and Switzerland. Duveme 
 de Presle was selected for the mission. Failing to 
 deprive Puisaye of his command, he endeavoured, 
 through tlie influence of the Count d'Artois, to attach 
 hiin to the system of the Paris agency, and constrain 
 him to concert his measures with it. From the Eng- 
 lish the most important point was gained — a grant of 
 subsidies. Powers were obtained from tlie pretender, 
 whereby the agency of Paris was confirmed in the 
 exclusive privilege of originating and directing in- 
 trigues. The Prince of Conde was visited, though it 
 would seem he was not rendered either more intelli- 
 gent or more pliable. M. de Prccy, also, who still con- 
 tinned the secret fomentor of troubles in Lyons and 
 the south, was seen in his district. In short, a gene- 
 ral plan was arranged, which on paper possessed the 
 requisites of combination and unity ; but, unhappily, 
 none felt himself thereby debarred from acting as he 
 might deem fit, with reference to his individual inte- 
 rests and pretensions. 
 
 It was agreed that the whole of France should be 
 divided into two agencies, the one comprehending the 
 east and south, the other the north and west. M. de 
 Precy was at the head of the first, the Paris agents 
 directed the latter. These two agencies were to act in 
 concert in all their operations, and to correspond di- 
 rectly with the pretender, who would give them orders 
 from time to time. Secret associations were devised, on 
 the principle of those instituted by Babceuf. Isolated 
 with respect to each other, and ignorant of the names 
 of the chiefs, the discovery of one would not affect the 
 general ramifications of the plot. These associations 
 were to be formed in accordance with tlie opinions 
 prevalent in France. As it was deemed apparent that 
 the majority of the population, without entertaining 
 any direct wish for the restoration of the Bourbons, 
 desnx'd order and tranquillity, and imputed to the 
 Directorythecontinuationof the revolutionary system, 
 a sort of masonic confederation was imagined, under 
 the title of the Society of Philanthropists, the members 
 of which sliould l)ind themselves to exercise their 
 electoral rights, and in favour of men opposed to the 
 Directory. The Philanthropists were to be kept m 
 ignorance of the real object of the machinations, the 
 only design avowed to them being that of strengthen- 
 ing the opposition. Another association, more secret, 
 concentrated, and limited, called the Society of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 631 
 
 Faithful, was to be cuiiiposed of such energetic and 
 devoted men, as the secret of the faction might he 
 safely intrusted witli. Tlie Faithful were to he secretly 
 armed, and kept in readiness for all sudden enter- 
 prises. They were intended to be enrolled in the 
 national guard, which was not yet organised, because, 
 under favour of that costume, thej' could more surely 
 execute the orders given them. Their bounden dutj-, 
 independentlj' of abetting any plan of insurrection, 
 was to watch over the elections, and if conflicts oc- 
 curred, as had happened in Vendemiaire, to aid the 
 party of the opposition. The Faithful would assist, 
 moreover, in concealing emigrants and priests, fabri- 
 cating false passports, and harassing revolutionists 
 and purchasers of national property. These associa- 
 tions were to be under the direction of military 
 leaders, who would correspond with the two principal 
 agencies and receive their injunctions. Such was tlie 
 new plan of the faction, truly a chimerical one, whicli 
 history would disdain to particularise, if it were not 
 instructive as an evidence of the hallucinations where- 
 with parties beguile themselves in their adversity. 
 Notwithstanding this boasted combination, the asso- 
 ciation of the south ripened merely into the production 
 of a few nan)eless companies, acting without aim or 
 direction, and obej'ing the impulses solel}' of ven- 
 geance, lust, and rapine. Puisa3-e, Frotte, and 
 Rochecot, in Brittany and Normandy, laboured apart 
 to kindle another Vendean conflagration, and dis- 
 avowed the mixed counter-revolution of the Parisian 
 agents. Puisaye even issued a manifesto, declaring 
 that Brittany would never second projects which did 
 not contemplate, by means of open force, the restora- 
 tion of an imimpaired and absolute sovereignty to the 
 house of Bourbon. 
 
 The Prince of Condc continued on his part to cor- 
 respond directly with Pichegru, whose strange and 
 capricious conduct can be explained only by the em- 
 barrassment of his position. This general, the first 
 known in history to have mcurred a voluntary defeat, 
 had himself solicited his recall. This circumstance 
 may well appear surprising, since he thus deprived 
 himself of all means of influence, and consequently 
 rendered it impossible for hini to accomplish his pro- 
 fessed purposes. It becomes comprehensible, ho^vever, 
 on an examination of Pichegru's situation. He could 
 not remain in his command without carrying into 
 execution the enterprise he had undertaken, on ac- 
 covmt whereof he had already received considerable 
 sums. Before him stood three portentous examples, 
 all different in their kind, those of Bouille, Lafayette, 
 and Dumouriez, which convinced him that to inveigle 
 an army was a hopeless task. He accordingly re- 
 solved to divest himself of the power of attempting 
 any thing, and tlius is explained the sudden tencler of 
 his resignation, which the Dkectory, as yet altogether 
 unconscious of his treason, only accepted with reluc- 
 tance. The Prince of Conde and his agents were in- 
 finitely amazed at the conduct of Pichegru, and con- 
 cluded that he had defrauded them of their mone}', 
 and that at bottom he had never intended to serve 
 them. But after being superseded, Pichegru returned 
 to the banks of the Kliine, under pretence of selling 
 his carriages, and subsequently proceeded into the 
 Jura, which was his native district. He there renewed 
 his intercourse with the agents of the prince, and re- 
 presented his resignation to them as a most profound 
 manoeuvre. He would be considered, he set forth, as 
 a victim of the Directory, and he was about to connect 
 himself with all the royalists of the interior, and or- 
 ganise a prodigious party ; his army, wjiich liad passed 
 under the orders of Moreau, poignantly regretted him, 
 and, at the first reverse it suffered, would not fail to 
 claim its former general, and to mutiny imless he 
 were placed at its head. That critical moment he 
 designed to seize, throw aside all disguise, hasten to 
 his army, assume the dictatorship, and proclaim roy- 
 alty. This ridiculous scheme, luul it even been pro- 
 
 pounded in good faith, must have been altogethei 
 dependent on the discomfiture of Moreau, who, as it 
 chanced, even during his famous retreat, had been 
 uniformly victorious. The Prince of Conde, the 
 Austrian generals, to whom he had been obliged to 
 divulge the cherished mysterj', and the English mi- 
 nister in Switzerland, Wickham, all began to opine 
 that General Pichegru was an arrant deceiver. They 
 exclaimed against longer continuing the correspon- 
 dence; but on the entreaties of the intermediate agents, 
 who never willingly confess to an abortive undertaking, 
 the correspondence was continued, in the forlorn hope 
 of deriving some advantage from it, even though 
 trifling. It M-as carried on through Strasburg, by 
 means of certain spies who crossed the Rhine and re- 
 paired to the quarters of the Austrian general Kling- 
 lin ; and also through Basle, with the English minister 
 Wickham. Pichegru remained in the Jura without ac- 
 cepting or refusing the embassy to Sweden which was 
 offered him, but labom'ing diligently to get himself 
 elected a deputy, feeding the agents of the prince with 
 empty and most puerile expectations, and receiving 
 from them seasonable supplies of money in return. 
 He held out mighty consequences as inevitably to 
 ensue from his nomination to the Council of Five 
 Hundred ; he boasted of an influence which he was 
 far from possessing ; he pretended to give the Di- 
 rectory perfidious counsel, and to trepan it into dan- 
 gerous determinations ; he attributed to himself the 
 lengthened resistance of Kehl, which he asserted he 
 had advised witli the view of compromising the army. 
 Very little faith was put in these his equivocal services. 
 The Count de Bellegarde wrote — " We are in the situa- 
 tion of the gambler who wishes to regain his money, 
 and who exposes himself to lose still more in attempt- 
 ing to recover what he has lost." The Austrian gene- 
 rals, however, kept up the intercom-se, because, in 
 defect of great results, thej" at least obtained valuable 
 details touching the condition and the movements of 
 the French army. The infamous agents employed 
 in these communications forwarded to General Kling- 
 lin all the reports and plans they were enabled to 
 procure. During the siege of Kehl, they had even 
 indicated the points on which the enemy's fire might 
 be directed with the greatest effect. 
 
 Such at this time was the degraded position of 
 Pichegru. With a mind of mediocre compass, he was 
 subtle and sagacious, and had sufficient forethought 
 and experierice to be aware that any project for eflect- 
 ing a counter-revolution was impracticable at the 
 moment. His perpetual delays, his fables to amuse 
 the credulity of the prince's agents, prove his convic- 
 tion in this respect ; and his conduct under criticiil 
 circumstances will demonstrate it more infallibly. He 
 did not the less receive, however, the reward of the 
 schemes he never designed to execute, and had the art 
 of procuring it to be i)ressed upon him without pre- 
 cisely demanding the wages of infamy. 
 
 At the same time, his conduct was in strict keeping 
 with that of all the royalist agents. They were 
 finished adepts in impudent prevaricati(jn, asserting 
 themselves to wield an influence they never remotely 
 enjoyed, and pretending to sway the most important 
 men, frequently witliout having exchanged words witli 
 them. Brottier, Dnverne de Presle, and Laville-Heur- 
 nois, boasted of holding numerous members of the two 
 councils at their beck, and jiledged themselves to have 
 many more after the forthcommg elections. In this 
 statement tliey deviated egregiously from the fact : 
 they were in conmiunication only with the deputy 
 Lenicrer and a cei-tain Mersan, who had been ex- 
 pelled from the legislative body, by virtue of the law 
 of the .3d Brumaire against the relatives of emigrants. 
 Through Lemerer they professed to conmiand all the 
 deputies composing the assemblage of Clichy. From 
 the speeches and votes of those deputies, they d.eniLd 
 it probable they would applaud the restoration of the 
 monarchy ; and hence they considered themselves
 
 632 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 autlioi'ised to make an immediate tender of their at- 
 tachment, and even of their repentance, to tlie King of 
 Bhmkenburg. The wretches butli imposed on the 
 prince and ealnmniated the members of the Clicliy 
 Club. There were in that society ambitious men, 
 sworn foes to the conventionalists, because the latter 
 monopolised the entire government — men exasperated 
 at the revolution — and many of weak character, who 
 were mere creatures in the hands of others ; but very 
 few indeed sufficiently bold to contemplate royaltj-, or 
 of sufficient ability to aid materially in its re-establish- 
 ment. It was upon such foundations, nevertheless, that 
 the roj'alist agents built their plans and promises. 
 
 From England came all the funds to expedite the 
 anticipated counter-revolution. The subsidies craved 
 by Puisaye were remitted direct from London to 
 Brittany. Wickham," tlie English minister in Swit- 
 zerland, was directed to furnish supplies to the two 
 agencies of Lyons and Paris, and to refresh witli 
 suitable retainers the zeal of Pichegru, who was, 
 according to the correspondence, " cut out for great 
 occasions." 
 
 The agents of the counter-revolution vaunted their 
 dexterity in drawing money from England whilst 
 entertaining a deliberate intention to deceive her. 
 Thej' had agreed with tlie pretender to accept her 
 donations, without ever following any one of her 
 views, or ever acceding to any one of her suggestions, 
 which, they held, were always to be suspected. Eng- 
 land was not their dupe, l)ut entertained for them 
 all the contempt they merited. Wickham, Pitt, 
 and the other English ministers, placed no reliance 
 whatsoever on the operations of such persons, or in- 
 dulged hopes of a comiter-revolution. They merely 
 wanted disturbers, who would keep France in turmoil, 
 spread disquietude and alarm by their machinations, 
 and, without exposing the government to any real 
 danger, inspire it with exaggerated apprehensions. 
 They willingly devoted a million or two of francs per 
 annum to this object. Thus the royalist agents sig- 
 nally erred when they thought to practise such decep- 
 tion on the English. With all their frank alacrity to 
 commit a swindle, they were not successful, for Eng- 
 land had an accurate conception of their capacit}', 
 and depressed her expectations to that standard. 
 
 Such were the projects and means of the ro3'alist 
 faction. Cochon, the minister of police, was partially' 
 cognisant of what was going forward ; he was aware 
 tluit correspondents of the court of Blankenburg re- 
 sided in Paris ; in fact, at no time in the course of the 
 revolution, so thickly strewed with successive plots, 
 had a conspiracy been hatched to maturity without 
 previous detection. He sedulously tracked the course 
 of these men, surrounded them with spies, and 
 awaited some overt act on their part to seize them 
 with advantage. They speedily furnished him with 
 the opportnnitj' he desired. Intent on realising their 
 cherished plan of securing the authorities, they turned 
 their attention in the first place to the military com- 
 manders of Paris. The principal forces in the capital 
 consisted of the grenadiers of the legislative body and 
 of the troops in tlie camp of Les Sablons. The gre- 
 nadiers of the legislative body were a chosen corps of 
 twelve hundred men, wliom the constitution had 
 assigned to the two councils as a guard of security 
 and honour. Their conmiander, Adjutant-General 
 Ramel, was known for his moderate sentiments, 
 which formed a sufficient ground, in the opinion of 
 the pretender's imbecile agents, for deeming him a 
 royalist. The armed force encamped at Les Sablons 
 amounted to nearly twelve thousand men. Tinder the 
 command of General Hatry, a brave officer, whom no 
 hope existed of seducing. The agents consequently 
 fixed their eyes on that colonel of the 21st dragoons, 
 by name Malo, who had so briskly charged the Jaco- 
 bins, when they made their ludicrous attempt on the 
 camp of Grenelle. They reasoned concerning him as 
 concerning Ramel : because he had repudiated the 
 
 Jacobins, they concluded he would embrace the roya- 
 lists. They sounded both these officers, and made them 
 l)roiiositions, which were listened to, and the next 
 moment denounced to the minister of police. That 
 functionary enjoined Ramel and Malo to give further 
 car to the conspirators, in order to ascertain their 
 whole plan. They were accordingly incited to enter 
 into an elaborate develo])ment of their projects, 
 means, and prospects, and an early interview was 
 fixed, at which they were to produce the powers they 
 held from Louis XVIII. This occasion was selected 
 for their arrest. The interview was to take place at 
 Colonel Malo's apartments in the Jlilitary School. 
 Gendarmes and witnesses were concealed in a manner 
 enabling them to hear every thing that passed, and to 
 start forward at a given signal. On the lltli Pluviose 
 (."^Oth January), the appointed day, the unfortunate 
 dupes duly repaired to Mulo's, with their credentials 
 from Louis XVIII., and again expatiated on their 
 promising schemes. When they had sufficiently com- 
 mitted themselves, they were permitted to take leave, 
 but the gendarmes on the watch forthwith secured 
 their i)ersons and conducted them to the office of the 
 police-minister. Their residences were immediately 
 visited, and all their papers seized in their presence. 
 Letters were found which fully proved the conspiracy, 
 and partially revealed tlie details. It was discovered, 
 for example, that they had taken ujion themselves to 
 construct a government in anticipation. They had 
 agreed, in the first instance, until the arrival of the 
 king from Blankenl)m-g, to allow part of the existing 
 authorities to continue. They purposed to retain 
 Benezech in the home dep.artmeut, Cochon in the 
 police ; but if the latter, as a regicide, was obnoxious 
 to the royalists, they proposed to put in his place 
 M. Simeon or M. Portalis. They intended likewise 
 to confer the portfolio of finance on M. Barbe-Marbois, 
 " who possesses," they stated, " talents and information, 
 and passes for hrniest." They had certainly never 
 considted Benezech or Cochon, or Messieiirs Por- 
 talis, Simeon, and Barbe-Marbois, to whom they were 
 totally unknown ; but they had disposed of those par- 
 ties, as usual, without their knowledge, and merely 
 on account of their presumed opinions. 
 
 The detection of this plot, produced a deep sensa- 
 tion, rendering manifest, as it did, that incessant 
 vigilance was needful to protect the republic from its 
 old enemies. It excited unfeigned astonishment in 
 the opposition, which approximated to royalism almost 
 unconsciously, and whi(;h had been left in total igno- 
 rance of the secret. This surprise shows clearly how 
 those imbeciles had prevaricated, when assuring the 
 king at Blankenburg that they swayed numerous mem- 
 bers of the two comicils. The Directory forthwith de- 
 termined to arraign them before a military connuission. 
 Tliey protested against such a judicature, contending 
 that they had not been taken with arms in their 
 hands, or in prosecution of any attempt by open force. 
 Several deputies, who in sentiment sympathised 
 with their cause, supported them in the two councils ; 
 but the Directory nevertheless persisted in sending 
 tliem before a military commission, as having at- 
 tempted to inveigle soldiers. 
 
 Their defence was characterised by considerable 
 ingenuity. They allowed their character of agents to 
 Louis XVIII., but maintained that the only mission 
 they held was to prepare opinion, and from it alone, 
 not from force, to expect a return to monarchical ideas. 
 They were condemned to death ; but their punish- 
 ment was commuted to imprisonment, in requital of 
 disclosures furnished by Duverne de Presle. That 
 individual made a long confession before tlie Direc- 
 tory, wherein he unfolded all the machinations of the 
 ro^'alists, and which was deposited in the secret 
 registry. The Directory refrained from publishing 
 the particxdars of this revelation, in order that the 
 conspirators might remain m ignorance of its thorough 
 acquaintance with their plans. Duverne de Presle
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 633 
 
 stated nothing- concerning Piehegru, wliose intrigues, 
 conducted directly vitli the Prince of Condc, Avere 
 unknown to the agents at Paris ; but he declared 
 vaguely, upon the strength of rumours, that attempts 
 had been made to establish a correspondence in one 
 of the principal armies. 
 
 This arrest of their principal agents might have 
 annihilated the hopes of the royalists, if they had 
 proceeded on a combined plan ; but each acting for 
 himself and in his own manner, the disaster of 
 Brottier, Laville-Henrnois, and Duverne de Presle, 
 failed to prevent Puisaye and De Frotte from con- 
 tinuing to intrigue in Normandy and Brittany, M. de 
 Precy at Lyons, and the Prince of Conde on the 
 Rhine. 
 
 Baboeuf and his accomplices were shortly after- 
 wards brought to trial. AH were acquitted, with 
 the exception of Baboeuf and Darthe, who suffered 
 the penalty of death on the 6th Prairial (23d May). 
 
 The elections now became the momentous subject 
 of speculation. From a spirit of opposition to the 
 Directory, or from pure royalism, numbers exerted 
 themselves to influence the choice of the electoral 
 body. In the Jura, agitation was rife to carry the 
 nomination of Piehegru, and at Lyons of M. Imbert- 
 Colomes, one of Louis XVIII.'s agents in the Soixth. 
 At Versailles, the return of M. de Vauvilliers, a man 
 seriously compromised in the recently discovered plot, 
 was almost assured. Everywhere, in short, selections 
 hostile to the Directory were threatened. At Paris, 
 the electors of the Seine had assembled to preconcert 
 their nominations. The}' proposed to submit the 
 following questions to the candidates : Have you pur- 
 chased nalioiial property? Have you been a journalist? 
 Have you written, aided, or done am/tliing in the course of 
 the revolution? Any who should answer these questions 
 in the affirmative, were to be at once rejected. The 
 exaction of such tests proved the violence of the re- 
 action against all the men who had taken part in the 
 revolution. A hundred journals, besides, teemed 
 with inflammatory diatribes, and worked the public 
 mind into a veritable delirium. The only means of 
 curbing the licentiousness of the press, possessed by 
 the Directory, consisted of the law punishing with 
 death writers promoting the restoration of royalty. 
 The tribunals invariably refused to apply the provi- 
 sions of so sanguinary a law. The government, for 
 the third time, demanded from the two councils ad- 
 ditional enactments on the subject, and its request 
 was once more rejected. It likewise urged that an 
 oath of hatred to royalty should be administered to the 
 electors. A warm discussion ensued on the efficacy of 
 the oath, and the proposition was modified by ch.ang- 
 ing it into a declaration. Each elector was to declare 
 that he was equally opposed to anarchy and roj'alty. 
 The Directory, on its own part, abstaining from any 
 of the discreditable means so frequently used in re- 
 presentative governments to influence elections, con- 
 tented itself with sclectijig men known for their 
 republican sentiments asconnnissioners to the assem- 
 blies, and with issuing circulars, through the minister 
 Cochon, in which it recommended particular can- 
 didates to the electors. A loud but senseless out- 
 cry was raised against these circulars, wliich could 
 operate simjjly as an exhortation, and not at all 
 as an injunction ; for the number and indei)endence 
 of the electors, especially in a state where almost all 
 oflSces were elective, removed them far without the 
 pale of any executive influence or intimidation. 
 
 Whilst the elections thus absorbed attention, some 
 share of interest was excited by the vacancy in the 
 directorial body itself. The first anxiety was, as to 
 which of the five directors windd be designated by lot, 
 conformably to the constitution, to retire from the 
 government. If the chance fell on Barras, Rewbell, 
 or Larevellicre-Ix'paux, the opposition felt sure, by 
 the aid of the new third, of nominating a director of 
 w)ugenial views. In such case it anticipated a ma- 
 
 jority in the executive cabinet ; but it therein reckoned 
 too sanguinely, for its absurdities must have shortly 
 driven Carnot and Le Tourneur from its alliance. 
 
 The selection of a new director became the theme 
 of animated discussions in the Clichy Club. Cochon 
 and Barthelemy were both i)roposed. Cochon had 
 somewhat forfeited the good opiinon of the counter- 
 revolutionists, since he had. caused Brottier and his 
 accomplices to be arrested, and especially since his 
 emission of the circidars to the electors. The majority 
 decided in preference of Barthelemy, French ambassa- 
 dor in Switzerland, who was believed to be secretly con- 
 nected with the emigrants and the Prince of Conde. 
 
 Amidst this universal agitation, the most absurd 
 reports were propagated. It was boldly asseverated 
 that the Directory had resolved to arrest the newly- 
 elected deputies, and to prevent their junction in the 
 legislative councils ; nay, tliat a serious intention was 
 formed to procure their assassination. On the other 
 hand, the friends of the Directory repeated, that 
 articles of impeachment against it had been prepared 
 in the Clichy Club, which were to be presented to the 
 Five-Hundred the moment the new third was installed. 
 
 But whilst party spirit thus raged, in the agony 
 of a conflict which was to decide the possession of 
 power and the future direction of the republican 
 government, a fresh campaign was preparing, which 
 seemed destined to be the last. The belligerents 
 were matched as in the preceding campaign. France, 
 united Avith Spain and Holland, had to contend against 
 England and Austria. The sentiments of the court 
 of Spain were not, and could scarce!}' be, favourable to 
 the republican French ; but its policy, dictated by the 
 Prince of Peace, Avas unequivocally directed in accord- 
 ance with their views. It regarded their alliance as 
 the surest protection against their principles, judging 
 with reason they would refrain from attempts to 
 revolutionise it, so long as they found in it a powerful 
 naval auxihary. It had, moreover, an ancient feud 
 with England, and flattered itself that the junction 
 of all the continental navies would ensure it a grateful 
 vengeance. The Prince of Peace, feeling that his own 
 sway depended on the maintenance of this policy, 
 and that its abandonment woidd involve his downfall, 
 employed all his influence over the queen to rivet it 
 on Spain, despite the sentiments of the royal family ; 
 in which he succeeded according to his desires. It 
 resulted from this state of things, that the French 
 were individually ill-treated in Spain, whilst their 
 government obtamed an unlimited acquiescence in its 
 demands. Unfortunately, the F'rench legation evinced 
 neither the consideration due to a friendly power, nor 
 the firmness necessary to protect French citizens. 
 Through her alliance with France, Spain had lost the 
 important colony of Trinidad. She trusted, however, 
 that if France were relieved from Austria this year, 
 and enabled to direct all her streng-fh against England, 
 that power would be speedily made to atone for its 
 successes. The queen was more particularly intent 
 on procuring an aggrandisement in Italy for the be- 
 nefit of her son-in-law, the Duke of Parma. The 
 (luestion of an enterprise against Portugal, likewise, 
 was again canvassed, and, imdcr favour of the present 
 jiolitical convulsion, the court of Madrid was not 
 without hojjcs of reuniting tlie whole peninsula under 
 one crown. 
 
 As to Holland, her situation was sufficiently deplor- 
 able. The country was distrai'ted by all the passions 
 a change of constitution so jxiwerfully tends to arouse. 
 Moderate men, who desired a government in which 
 file ancient fediiative system might be reconeikd 
 with the concentration necessary to imjiart vigour 
 to the Hatavian republic, had to combat tliree parties 
 equally dangerous. First, the Urangeists, comprehend- 
 ing all the creatures of the Stadtholder, individuals 
 enjoying oflicial incomes, and thejwpulace ; secondly, 
 the Federalists, including all the wealthy and power- 
 ful families anxious to preserve the oldstiiteof thiny
 
 cu 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 with the exception of the Stadtholderate, which mor- 
 tified their pride ; lasth', tlie decided democrats, a 
 turbulent, bold, and nnplacable party, composed of 
 enthusiasts and adventurers. These three parties 
 waged an intenninable strife, and prevented the esta- 
 blishment of the constitution. Besides these internal 
 dissensions, Holland always stood in dread of an in- 
 vasion by Prussia, whicji was only kept in check by 
 the successes of France. She found her commerce 
 harassed in the North by England and Russia, and 
 she was losing all her colonies by the treachery of 
 most of her governors. The Cape of Good Hope, 
 Trincomalee, and the ^Moluccas, were already in the 
 power of the English. The French troops, encamped 
 in Holland to protect it against Prussia, observed a 
 laudable and severe discipline ; but the military ad- 
 ministrations and commanders were deficient both in 
 forbearance and in honesty. The country was con- 
 sequently oppressed with merciless exactions. It 
 might be hence concluded that Holland had acted 
 unwisely in linking herself to France, but this wo\dd 
 be a superficial inference. Holland, placed between 
 two colossal and hostile states, must necessarily fall 
 under the influence of the conqueror. Under the 
 Stadtholder, she was the vassal of England, and 
 sacrificed to her interests, and shackled, moreover, 
 with domestic slavery. In allying herself to France, 
 she incurred the hazards incidental to the nature of 
 that power, territorial rather than maritime, and 
 endangered her colonies; but she might one day, 
 favoured by the happy junction of the three continen- 
 tal navies, recover what she had lost ; and she might 
 hope for an equitable constitution under the a?gis of 
 French protection. The fate of nations is thus ruled : 
 if they be strong, they effect their own revolutions, but 
 they undergo all the miseries inseparable from social 
 convulsions, and shed torrents of native blood ; if 
 they be weak, they see their neighbours arrive to 
 revolutionise them at the point of the bayonet, and 
 suflTer all the inconveniences arising from the presence 
 of a foreign army. True, they are saved from interne- 
 cine struggles, but condemned to maintain the soldiers 
 who are distributed over their confines to preserve 
 order. Such was the destiny of Holland, and her 
 position with reference to the French. Under these 
 auspices she had not proved of much utility to the 
 French government. Delays and difficulties impeded 
 the reorganisation of her navy and army ; the Batavian 
 bonds, in which the war-indemnity of one hundred 
 millions had been paid, had been negotiated for a poor 
 trifle, and the advantages of the alliance had become 
 almost null for France ; hence had accrued asperity 
 between the two countries. The Directory reproached 
 the Dutch government with not performmg its en- 
 gagements, and tlie Dutch government upbraided the 
 Directory with rendering it incapable of fulfilling 
 them. Not^vithstanding this gloom upon their rela- 
 tions, the two powers were animated with a hke 
 purpose. A fleet and an army for embarkation were 
 preparing in Holland to co-operate in the enterprises 
 contemplated by the Directory. 
 
 With Prussia, a large portion of Germany, Den- 
 mark, Sweden, and Switzerland, France still continued 
 on terms of strict neutralitj'. DiflTerences had arisen 
 between France and America. The United States 
 had manifested a spirit equally unjust and ungrateful 
 with regard to France. Washington in his old age 
 had allowed himself to be trepanned into the party of 
 John Adams and the English, who wished to restore 
 aristocratic and monarchical institutions in America. 
 The injurious acts of certain privateers, and the con- 
 duct of the agents of the committee of public welfare, 
 served as the pretexts against France — pretexts sin- 
 gularly baseless, for the wrongs of the English towards 
 the American marine were much more glaring, and 
 the demeanour of the French agents had been re- 
 sented at the time, and ought to have been excused. 
 The .supporters of the English party contended that 
 
 France meant to procure the cession of Louisiana and 
 the Floridas from Spain ; that by means of these pro- 
 vinces and of Canada, she would surround the United 
 States, disseminate therein her democratic principles, 
 successiveh^ detach all the States from the Union, 
 thus dissolve the American confederation, and form 
 one vast democracy from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
 Five Lakes. There was no truth in this, but such 
 allegations served to inflame animosit}", and stir up 
 enemies to France. A treaty of commerce had recently 
 been concluded between America and England, which 
 contained stipulations transferring to the latter power 
 exclusive advantages hitherto reserved to France alone, 
 and well earned by the services she had rendered the 
 American cause. Under these circumstances, a rup- 
 ture Avith the U^nited States found advocates in the 
 French goveraraent. Monroe, who chanced to be the 
 American minister at Paris, gave the most sagacious 
 counsel to the Directory on this subject. " War with 
 France," he represented, "will force the American 
 government to throw itself into the arms of England, 
 and wholly subject it to the influence of the latter; 
 aristocracy will become predominant in the United 
 States, and liberty be endangered. On the contrary, 
 by patiently enduring the wrongs of the present pre- 
 sident, you will leave him without excuse, disabuse 
 the American people, and ensure a different choice 
 at the next election. All the grievances of which 
 France may have to complain will then be redressed." 
 This prudent and prophetic exhortation prevailed with 
 the majority of the Directory. Rewbell, Barras, and 
 Larevelliere successfully enforced the views thus in- 
 culcated, despite the protest of Carnot, who, although 
 usually predisposed for peace, maintained the policy 
 of appropriating Louisiana, and converting it into a 
 republic. 
 
 Such were the relations of France with the powers 
 which ranked either as its allies or simpl}^ as its 
 friends. England and Austria had in the preceding 
 year negotiated a treaty of triple alliance with Russia ; 
 but the great and crafty Catherine had since ceased 
 to exist. Her successor, Paul, a prince of diseased 
 intellect, and rational only for evanescent intervals, 
 as has often happened in his family, had evinced great 
 regard for the French emigrants, but Uttle eagerness to 
 execute the conditions of the treaty of triple alliance. 
 It would seem that the colossal magnitude of the 
 French revolution had made a deep impression on his 
 mind, and he is even stated to have comprehended 
 the danger of rendering it more formidable by con- 
 tending against it ; indeed, his language to a French- 
 man well known for his talents and accomplishments 
 leads strongly to the inference. Without disavowing 
 the treat}-, lie had adduced the state of his armies and 
 exchequer in exculpation of inaction, and recommended 
 England and Austria to attempt the ways of nego- 
 tiation. England had endeavoured to prevail on the 
 King of Prussia to join the coalition, but had not 
 succeeded in her aim. That monarch was sensible he 
 had no interest in advancing to the succour of his 
 redoubtable enemy the emperor. France held out 
 to him the promise of an indemnity in Gemiany for 
 the Stadtholder, who had married his sister; he 
 liad therefore nothing to desire individually. His 
 great object was to prevent Austria, defeated and 
 despoiled by France, from obtaining indemnities for 
 her losses in Germany ; he even desired to oppose her 
 receiving such indemnities in Italy : thus he had an- 
 nounced that he would never consent to the cession of 
 Bavaria to Austria in exchange for the Low Countries; 
 and at the same time he offered his alliance to the re- 
 public of Venice, undertakingto guarantee its integrity 
 in case France and Austria should venture to accom- 
 modate their differences at its expense. His manifest 
 purpose, therefore, was to debar the emperor from 
 receiving equivalents for the losses he had suffered 
 in his struggle against France. 
 
 Russia still standing aloof from the contest, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Prussia persisting in her neutrality, England and 
 Austria remained alone in the lists. The situation 
 of England had become one of discouragement. She 
 no longer dreaded, at least fur the moment, an expe- 
 dition against Ireland, hut her bank was more serious- 
 ly threatened thau ever ; she founded but feeble hopes 
 on Austria, whom she saw gasping for breath ; and 
 she viewed with alarm the probability of France, after 
 dictating peace to the continent, overwhelming her 
 with its undivided force. Austria, notwithstanding 
 the reduction of Kehl and Huningen, felt that she 
 had wasted her energies in so obstinately persevering 
 against two mere bridge-heads, and that she ought to 
 have moved the bulk of her forces into Italy. The 
 disasters of Kivoli and La Favorita, and the surrender 
 of Mantua, had placed her in imminent peril. She 
 was obliged to uncover the Rhine, and to reduce her 
 strength on that frontier far beneath that of the French, 
 in order to withdraw troops, together with her Arch- 
 duke Charles, to the Italian theatre of war. But 
 during the interval occupied by these troops in tra- 
 versing the distance between the Upper Rhine and 
 the Piave and Isonzo, she was exposed without defence 
 to the assaults of an adversary who seized the advan- 
 tages of time with admirable promptitude. 
 
 The apprehensions of Austria were only too Avell 
 justified. France was preparing to assail her in her 
 most vital parts, and the campaign we are about to 
 record will show with what vigour and success. 
 
 CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 STATE OF THE FRENCH ARMIES AT THE Ol'ENING OF 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1797. — MARCH OF BONAPARTE 
 
 AGAINST THE ROMAN STATES. TREATY OF TOLEN- 
 
 TINO AVITH THE POPE. FRESH CAMPAIGN AGAINST 
 
 THE AUSTRIANS. — PASSAGE OF THE TAGLIAMENTO, 
 
 AND BATTLE OF TARWIS. PASSAGE OF THE JULIAN 
 
 ALPS, AND MARCH ON VIENNA. PRELIMINARIES OF 
 
 PEACE SIGNED WITH AUSTRIA AT LEOBEN. PASSAGE 
 
 OF THE RHINE. PERFIDY OF THE VENETIANS. — MAS- 
 SACRE OF VERONA. FALL OF THE REPUBLIC OF VE- 
 NICE. 
 
 The army of the Sambre and Meuse, reinforced by 
 a considerable portion of the army of the Ocean, had 
 been augmented to eighty thousand men. Hoche, 
 who had been appointed its commander, had tarried 
 but a short while in Paris after his return from the 
 Irish expedition, and repaired with all haste to his 
 head quarters. He had employed the winter in or- 
 ganising his troops, and forming magazines of neces- 
 sary supplies. Drawing ample resources from Holland 
 and the provinces between the Meuse and the Rhine, 
 which were regarded as conquered countries, he had 
 relieved his soldiers from the wants whicli afflicted 
 the army of the Rhine. Imagining another distri- 
 bution of the different arms, he had moulded the whole 
 into a more perfect ff)rm of comVjination, and trained 
 it into the exactest discipline. He panted to lead his 
 eighty thousand men into the field, and recognised no 
 obstacle to prevent him advancing into the very heart 
 of Germany. Eager to illustrate his political views, 
 he cherished a desire to imitate the example of the 
 conqueror of Italy, and to create in his turn a new 
 republic. The ])rovinces between the Meuse and 
 Rhine, which had not been, like Belgium, declared 
 constitutional territory, were jjrovisionally under mili- 
 tary rule. If, on the conclusion of iic-ice with the 
 empire, they were refused to France, from repugnance 
 to grant her the barrier of the Riiine, consent might 
 at least be wrung to their constitution as a republic — 
 the friend and ally of the French. Such a repiiblic, 
 under tlie name of the ('isrhenane republic, might be 
 indissolubly attached to J'>ance, and become as useful 
 to her as one of her own provinces. Hoche took 
 advantage of the moment to give it a provisional 
 
 organisation, and to prepare it for republican insti- 
 tutions. He had formed at Bonn a commission charged 
 with the twofold duty of organising it, and of levying 
 the supplies requisite for his troops. 
 
 The armj' of the Upper lihine, under the command 
 of Moreau, was far from being in so satisfactory a 
 condition. So far as the braver}-^ and discipline of the 
 soldiers Mere concerned, nothing was to be desired ; 
 but it lacked the necessaries of life ; and the want of 
 money preventing even the purchase of a bridge-equi- 
 page, its appearance in the field was fiitally retarded. 
 ]Moreau earnestly entreated for the grant of a few 
 hundred thousand francs, but the exchequer was ut- 
 terly unable to gratify even so moderate a demand. 
 In his distress he had applied to Gener;d Bonaparte 
 for a remittance ; but tlie latter could not comply 
 with his wishes until he had brought his enterprise 
 against tlie pap:d dominions to a fortunate issue. 
 Owing to this penury, the operations on the Rhine 
 were necessarily delayed. 
 
 Prompt and signal blows, meanwliile, were about to 
 be struck in Italy. Bonaparte, when preparing to de- 
 stroy the last Austrian army at Rivoli, had annoimced 
 that he would afterwards make an excursion of a 
 few days in the states of the Pope, for the purpose of 
 subduing his holiness to the yoke of the republic, 
 and of gathering tlie fimds he required for the exigen- 
 cies of his army ; and he had added that, if a reinforce- 
 ment of 30,000 men were sent him, he would clear the 
 Julian Alps, and march boldly on Vienna. This pro- 
 ject, justly deemed chimerical the preceding year, had 
 now become feasible. PoUcy on the part of the Di- 
 rectory could alone oppose any obstacle ; it might 
 naturally have felt averse to entrust all the operations 
 of the war in the hands of a j'oung man so absolute 
 m his determinations. However, the confiding Eare- 
 velliere strongly insisted that he should be furnished 
 with the means of executing a plan so glorious, and 
 one which would, moreover, terminate the war so 
 speedily. It was decided that 30,000 men should be 
 forwarded to him from the Rhine. Bernadotte's divi- 
 sion was draughted from the army of the Sambre 
 and Meuse, and Delmas' division from that of the 
 Upper-Rhine, to be transported across the xUps in the 
 depth of winter. IMoreau used every effort to put 
 Delmas' division into a suitable state to represent 
 with credit the army of the Rhine in Italy ; he selected 
 his best troops, and emptied his magazines to equip 
 them. It was impossible that any could have evinced 
 a more honourable and disinterested feeling. These 
 two divisions, forming twenty and some odd thousand 
 men, passed the Alps in January, at a time when 
 their march was suspected by none. A storm arrested 
 them as they were on the point of clearing the Alpine 
 ridge. The guides recommended a halt until it sub- 
 sided ; but the charge was sounded, and the temi)est 
 defied, with drums beating and banners streaming in 
 the gale. They had already descended into the plains 
 of Piedmont, ere their departure from the banks of 
 the Ixliine was known. 
 
 Bonaparte had scarcely signed the capitulation of 
 IMantua, than he set out, witliout waiting to witness 
 the humiliation of Marshal Wunnser, and ]iroceeded 
 straightway to Bologna, with tlie view of taking 
 immediate measures against the Pojie. Tlie Direc- 
 tory would have been well pleased if be had finally 
 destroyed the temporal power of the Holy See, but 
 it refrained from impf)sing this course upon him as 
 an obligation, and left him free to act according to 
 circunistnnces and liis own dictates. Bonaparte had 
 no intention of ctiiharking in such an enterjtrise. 
 Whilst preparations wctc in progress throughout 
 Upper- Italy for a march beyond the Julian Alps, he 
 jnirposed wresting one or two additional provinces 
 from the Pope, and subjecting him to a contribution 
 sufiicient to defray tlie charges of the impending 
 campaign. To attempt more, w ould be to compromise 
 the general plan against Austria, It especially be •
 
 636 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 hoved him to regulate his conduct iu such a manner 
 as to avoid a religious war, and to overawe the court 
 of Naples, which had signed a peace, but considered 
 itself in no degree bound by its treaty. That power 
 was anxious to interfere in the dispute, as well with 
 the hope of grasping part of the papal spoils, as for 
 the purpose of averting the establishment of a republic 
 at Rome, and the extension of the revolution to its 
 own portals. Bonaparte assembled at Bologna \'ict()r's 
 division, and the ItaUan troops newly levied in Lom- 
 bardy and the Cispadan republic, and marched at 
 their head, to execute in person an enterprise which, 
 to be conducted successfully, required a more than 
 usual display of his tact and promptitude. 
 
 The Pope was in mortal disquietude. The emperor 
 had promised him his alliance only on very hard 
 conditions, to wit, at tlie price of Ferrara and Com- 
 machio ; but even this alliance had become of no avail 
 since the discomfiture of the Austrian army under 
 Alvinzy. The Holy See had therefore compromised 
 itself to little purpose. The correspondence of Cardinal 
 Busca, secretary of state, and a sworn enemy of 
 France, had been intercepted. Tlie plans laid to 
 destroy the French army by attacking it from the 
 rear were all unfolded, so that not even an excuse 
 remained for deprecating the vengeance of a conqueror 
 whose pacific propositions had been for a whole year 
 spurned and rejected. When the French resident 
 Cacault communicated the manifesto of the general, 
 and requested permission to retii-e, the papal court 
 hesitated to retain him from a remnant of pride, but 
 it was tlirown into direful consternation. Soon, how- 
 ever, it took counsel of despair. The Austrian general 
 Colli, who had arrived at Rome with sundry officers, 
 was placed at the head of the papal troops ; fanatical 
 exhortations were delivered throughout the Roman 
 provinces ; paradise was promised to all who shmdd 
 take up arms for the Holy See, and every effort made 
 to stir up a Vendee around Bonaparte. Urgent 
 prayers were addressed to the court of Naples, de- 
 signed to kindle alike the fervour of ambition and the 
 zeal of fiinaticism. 
 
 Bonaparte advanced with rapidity to quench the 
 conflagration ere it had time to spread. On the 16th 
 Pluviose (4tli February), lie marched on tlie Senio, 
 where the papal army was intrenched. It was com- 
 posed of seven or eight thousand regular troops, and a 
 great number of peasants hastily armed and led by 
 monks. The appearance of this host was signally 
 grotesque. An officer bearing a flag of truce appeared 
 to declare that, if the French army persisted in ad- 
 vancing, it would be fired upon. Notwithstanding 
 this menace, it proceeded towards the bridge over the 
 Senio, which was strongly defended. Lannes ascended 
 the course of the river with a few hundred men, passed 
 it at a ford, and drew up in battle array on the rear 
 of the Roman forces. Thereupon General Lahoz, 
 with the Lombard troops, marched on the bridge, and 
 speedily succeeded in carrying it. The new Italian 
 troops bravely withstood the fire, whicli for an interval 
 was brisk and sustained. Four or five hundred pri- 
 soners were taken, and several peasants put to the 
 sword. The papal army retreated in disorder. It 
 was pursued to Faenza ; the gates of tlie town were 
 forced, and an entrance effected amidst the howls of 
 a furious population and the peals of the tocsin. The 
 soldiers demanded leave to pillage ; Bonaparte refused 
 it. He assembled the prisoners captiu-ed in the affair 
 on the banks of the Senio, and addressed them in 
 Italian. Those unfortunate men imagined they were 
 drawn out to be slaughtered. Bonaparte rebuked 
 their fears, and intimated to them, amidst their 
 joyful astonishment, that he gave them liberty, on 
 condition they returned to enUghten their countrymen 
 respecting the intentions of the French, who had 
 come to destroy neither religion nor the popedom, 
 but desired simply to remove the evil counsellors 
 with whom the Pope was environed. He subsequently 
 
 caused food to be distributed amongst them, and then 
 dismissed them. From Faenza Bonaparte pushed 
 rapidly on to Forli, Cesena, Rimini, Pesaro, and 
 Sinigaglia. CoUi, with whom not more than three 
 thousand regular troops remained, intrenched himself 
 in advance of Aiicona, in a strong position. Bonaparte 
 surrounded him, and took the greater part of his men 
 prisoners. He gave them likewise liberty on the same 
 conditions- Colli retired with his officers to Rome. 
 It now only remained to march on that capital. 
 Bonaparte proceeded straightway to Loretto, whence 
 the treasures were found to have been removed, on 
 which account scarcely a million was collected. The 
 antique wooden Virgin was transported to Paris as 
 an object of curiosity. At Loretto he quitted the 
 coast, and marched by Macerata on the Appenines, 
 intending to cross them and debouch on Rome if it 
 should become necessary. He arrived at Tolentino 
 on the 25th Pluviose (13tli February), and there 
 halted, to await the effect produced by his rapid 
 march, and the liberation of the prisoners. He had 
 summoned the general of the Camaldulenses, a friar 
 in whom Pius VI. reposed great confidence, and 
 charged him to bear a mission of peace to Rome. 
 Bonaparte was extrem(.'ly desirous that the Pope 
 should submit, and accept the conditions he designed 
 to impose upon him. He had no wish to lose time in 
 effecting a revolution at Rome, which would detain 
 him longer than it suited him to tarry, possibly pro- 
 voke the court of Naples to take up arms, and, by 
 overthrowing the established government, ruin for the 
 moment the Roman finances, and prevent the extraction 
 from the country of the twenty or thirty millions 
 whereof he stood in such pressing need. He held 
 that the Holy See, shorn of its finest provinces for 
 behoof of the Cispadan republic, and exposed to contact 
 with that newly-established democracy, would be 
 speedUy invaded by the revolutionary contagion, and 
 swept away by its potent agency. His views were 
 eminently sagacious, and the future demonstrated their 
 forethought. He thus awaited at Tolentino the com- 
 bined effects of clemencj' and terror. 
 
 The liberated prisoners had, in fact, spread through 
 all parts of the Roman dominions, and especially at 
 Rome, the most favourable reports concerning the 
 French army, and gi-eatly allayed the existing rancour 
 against it. The general of the Camaldulenses reached 
 the Vatican as the Pope was preparing to step into 
 his carriage and quit Rome. The pontiff, encouraged 
 by what this messenger related to him, relinqiiished 
 all intention of abandoning his capital, dismissed the 
 secretary of state Busca, and dispatched Cardinal 
 Mattel, the prelate Galeppi, the jMarquis Massimi, 
 and his nephew the Uuke di Brasclii, to Tolentino, to 
 treat with tlie Frencli general. They were vested 
 with full powers to conclude a treaty, provided the 
 republican exacted no sacrifice bearing on faith. The 
 negotiation consequently became an affair of little 
 difficulty, for, on articles of faith, the French general 
 betokened a most accommodating spirit. The treaty 
 was arranged in a few days, and signed at Tolentino 
 on the 1st Ventose (19th February). Its principal 
 conditions were as follows. The Pope revoked every 
 treaty of alliance against France, recognised the re- 
 pubhc, and declared himself at peace and in good in- 
 teUigence with it. He ceded to it all his rights on 
 the Comtat Venaissin, and surrendered definitively 
 to the Cisjiadan republic t!ie legations of Bologna and 
 Ferrani, and the rich province of Romagna in ad- 
 dition. The city and important citadel of Ancona 
 were to remain in the possession of France until a 
 general peace. The two provinces of tlie Duchy of 
 Urbino and of Macerata, which the French army had 
 overrun, were restored to the Pope in consideration 
 of fifteen millions. A similar sum was to be paid in 
 conformity with the provisions of the armistice con- 
 cluded at Bologna, not yet executed. These thirty 
 millions were payable, two-thirds in money, and one
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 637 
 
 third in diamonds and other precious stones. The 
 Pope was to furnisli besides 800 cavalry horses, 800 
 draught horses, buffaloes, and other products of the 
 ecclesiastical territory. He bound himself to dis- 
 avow the murder of Basseville, and to pay 300,000 
 francs, in compensation, as well to his heirs as to 
 those who had suffered from the consequences of 
 that event. All the objects of art and manuscripts 
 ceded to France by the armistice of Bologna were to 
 be immediately conveyed to Paris. 
 
 Such was the treaty of Tolentino, which secured 
 to the Cispadan republic, besides the legations of 
 Bologna and Ferrara, the fine province of Romagna, 
 and obtained for the French army a subsidy of thirty 
 millions, being more than sufficient for the cam- 
 paign in perspective. Fifteen days had sufficed to 
 bring the expedition to a fortunate issue. Whilst 
 negotiating this treaty, Bonaparte had contrived to 
 keep the court of Naples in wholesome awe, and to 
 free himself from such embarrassments as it could 
 offer. Before quitting Tolentino, he performed a 
 remarkable act, which already bespoke his latent 
 tendencies. Italy, and particularly the states of the 
 Church, swarmed with expatriated French priests. 
 These unfortunate men, seeking refuge in the con- 
 vents, were not always received in those establish- 
 ments with the most charitable welcome. The 
 decrees of the Directory warned them from the 
 countries occupied by the French armies, and the 
 Italian monks were not grieved to be delivered from 
 them by the approach of the French troops. The 
 wretched exiles were reduced to despair. Long 
 banished from their native land, and exposed to the 
 scorn and obloquy of strangers, they shed tears on 
 beholding the French soldiers ; they even recognised 
 some of them, whose pastors they had been in the 
 rural parishes of France. Bonaparte was easily 
 moved ; he furthermore took pleasure in showing 
 himself free from every kind of prejudice, revolu- 
 tionary or religious; hence, he enjoined, by an ordi- 
 nance, all the convents in the papal dominions to 
 receive the French priests, maintain them, and afford 
 them a pecuniary allowance. He thus ameliorated 
 their condition, instead of driving them before him 
 as fugitives. He notified to the Diri;ctory the motives 
 which had induced him to commit this infraction of 
 its decrees. " By continually expelling these unfor- 
 tunates from their retreats," he wrote, " you oblige 
 them to return home. It is better that they remain 
 in Italy than migrate to France ; they will be useful 
 to us there. They are less fanatical than the Italian 
 priests, and they will enlighten the people whom 
 every means are taken to excite against us. Besides," 
 he added, "they weep on seeing us; how withliold 
 pity for their misfortunes ?" The Directory a|)proved 
 his conduct. This action and his explanatory letter, 
 transpiring through the public prints, produced a 
 very great sensation. 
 
 Bonaparte immediately returned to the Adigc, to 
 execute the boldest march whereof history makes 
 mention. After having once passed the Alps to 
 enter Italy, he now prejiared to cross them a second 
 time, to throw himself beyond the Drave and the 
 Muehr, into the valley of the Danube, and to advance 
 on Vienna. No French army had ever appeared in 
 sight of that capital. In the accom|)lishmeiit of so 
 mighty an undertaking he had to defy a[)palling dan- 
 gers. He left Italy in his rear, — Italy, absorbed in 
 terror and admiration, it is true, but still impressed 
 with the belief that the French could not hold it 
 long. 
 
 The last camjiaign of Rivoli and the reduction of 
 Mantua had apparently dissipated all such doul)ts ; 
 but a march into GermaTiy was fitted to revive them 
 in their full extent. The goverinnents of (Jenoa, 
 Tuscany, Naples, Rome, Turin, and Venice, irri- 
 tated at the spectacle of the revolution planted (»n 
 (licir confines, in the Cispadan and FiOmbardv, would 
 
 probably rise in hostilities on tidings of the first 
 reverse. In the uncertainty of the result, the Italian 
 patriots remained quietly observant, to avoid com- 
 promising themselves. The army of Bonaparte was 
 much inferior in strength to what it ought to have 
 been, considering the vast hazards his plan involved. 
 The divisions of Delmas and Bernadotte, recently 
 arrived from the Rhine, did not comprise above 
 twenty thousand men ; the old army of Italy con- 
 tained upwards of forty, which, with the Lombard 
 troops, might make about seventy thousand in all. 
 But it would be necessary to leave twenty thousand 
 at least in Italy, fifteen or eighteen in guard of the 
 Tyrol, and thus thirty or thereabouts would be left 
 to march on Vieima, — an incredible temerity ! To 
 obviate this difliculty in some degree, Bonaparte 
 attempted to conclude an offensive and defensive 
 alliance with the king of Sardinia, which, indeed, he 
 had long ago desired. This alliance promised to 
 bring him ten thousand men, brave and disciplined 
 troops. The king, who had heretofore deemed the 
 guarantee of his possessions too small a reward for 
 the services he might render, was now happy to em- 
 brace the offer, seeing that revolutionary ideas were 
 spreading with so impetuous a wave. He signed the 
 treaty, which was transmitted to Paris. But this 
 treaty ran counter to the views of the French govern- 
 ment. The Directory, approving the policy of 
 Bonaparte in Italy, which consisted in awaiting the 
 subversion of governments, neither provoking nor 
 discouraging change, so as to avoid both the trouble 
 and responsibility of revolutions, — the Directory was 
 wishful neither to molest nor to guarantee any 
 prince. The ratification of the treat,v was therefore 
 very doubtful, and at any rate it could not arrive in 
 less than fifteen or twenty days. The Sardinian 
 contingent was then to be nuistered and put in mo- 
 tion, and by that time Bonaparte would be already 
 beyond the Alps. 
 
 Bonaparte was even more solicitous to conclude a 
 similar treaty of alliance with Venice. The govern- 
 ment of that republic was making considerable arma- 
 ments, of which the design was sufficiently obvious. 
 The lagoons were filled with Sclavonian regiments. 
 The podestat of Bergamo, Ottolini, a fit instrument 
 of state-inquisitors, had distributed money and arms 
 amongst the mountaineers of the Bergamasco, and 
 held them ready for a favourable occasion. This 
 Venitian government, however, equally emasculated 
 and perfidious, refrained from compromising itself, 
 and persisted in its pretended neutrality. It had 
 refused the alliance of Austria and Prussia, but it 
 was in arms; and should the French, on entering 
 Austria, sustain reverses, it M'as prepared to take a 
 decided part, by massacring them in their retreat. 
 Bonaparte, whose astuteness rivalled even that of 
 Venitian aristocracy, was sensible of this danger, and 
 |)ressed for its alliance rather to secure himself from 
 its evil purposes than to obtain its aid. On passing 
 the Adige, he called to his presence the proveditore 
 Pezilro, the same he had so cruelly terrified the pre- 
 ceding year at Peschiera ; he now subnfitted to him 
 th«! most frank and amicat)le overtures. The whole 
 terra-firma, he represented to him, was imbued with 
 revolutionary ideas; a single word from the French 
 would suffice to arouse all the provinces in rebellion 
 against Venice; but, if Venice united herself in 
 alliaiu-e with the French, they would refrain from 
 encouraging revolt, stri\e to calm discontent, guar- 
 antee the repultlic against the ambition of Austria, 
 and, without demanding the sacrifice of its constitu- 
 tion, be content to reconmicTui, for its own welfare 
 
 and stal)ility, certain indis|iensable modifications 
 
 'i'he i)ru(lent course thus ad\ised was enforced with 
 all the earnestness of sincerity. It is not true that 
 at the very moment Uonapartc lavished tliese exhor- 
 tations, (he Directory and liimsclf already contem- 
 plateii the surrender of Venice to .Austria. The
 
 638 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Directory entertained no fixed ideas on the suhject ; 
 or if, pendinp; the issue of events, it revolved any 
 particular plans, they were based on the principle of 
 enfranchising Italy rather than of yielding a portion 
 to Austria. As to Bonaparte, ho was sincerely de- 
 sirous of securing an ally ; and if Venice had hearkened 
 to him, if she had cordially embraced his offers, and 
 submitted to mo<lify her constitution, she would 
 have preserved her territory and her ancient laws. 
 Pezaro replied in evasive terms.- Bonaparte, per- 
 ceiving he had nothing to hope, determined to adopt 
 requisite precautions, and to supj)ly all deficiencies 
 by his accustomed resource, — rapidity and vivacity 
 of action. 
 
 He had under his command upwards of sixty 
 thousand men, unsurpassed in military qualities by any 
 troops hitherto arrayed for combat. Ten thousand 
 he purposed to leave in Italy, which, united with the 
 Lombard and ("isjiadan battalions, would form a 
 body of fifteen or eighteen thousand men, sufficient 
 to overawe the Venetians. Fifty and a few thousand 
 remained for offensive operations, which he marked 
 out for disposition according to the nature of the 
 ground and the position of the enemy. Three routes 
 led, across the Rh;etian, Norican and Julian Alps, to 
 Vienna : the first towards the left, traversing tlie 
 Tyrol by the defile of Brenner ; the second in the 
 centre, passing Carinthia by the pass of Tarwis; the 
 third on the right, crossing the Tagliamento and the 
 Isonzo, and leading into Carniola. The Archduke 
 Charles had the bulk of his forces on the Isonzo, 
 guarding Carniola and covering Trieste. Two corps, 
 the one at Feltre and Belluno, tlie other in the 
 Tyrol, occupied the two other roads. Through the 
 neglect of Austria in too tardily moving reinforce- 
 ments into Italy, six divisions detached from the 
 Rhine had not yet arrived. This omission midit 
 have been partly repaired, f the Archduke Charles, 
 planting his head-quarters in the Tyrol, had resolved 
 to operate on the French left. He would have re- 
 ceived the six divisions from the Rhine fifteen days 
 earlier ; and in .that case, Bonaparte, instead of de- 
 filing on the right through Carinthia or Carniola, 
 would have been compelled to engage and defeat 
 him before hazarding a march beyond tlie Alps. But 
 he would have encountered the Archduke with his 
 best troops and found the task by no means easy. 
 The Archduke, however, had strict orders to cover 
 Trieste, the only port belonging to the Austrian 
 empire. He accordingly established himself at tlie 
 entrance of Carniola, and merely [)ostcd accessory 
 corps on the roads through Carinthia and the Tyrol. 
 Two of the disisions draughted from the Rhine 
 were appointed to reinforce General Kerpen in the 
 Tyrol; the other four were to pass behind the Alps, 
 through Carinthia and Carniola, and join the head- 
 quarters in Friuli. The month of March had only 
 commenced. The Alps were covered with ice and 
 snow. How improbable that Bonaparte would seri- 
 ously think of scaling their fearful crests at such a 
 moment ! 
 
 Bonaparte conceived that by falling impetuously 
 on the Archduke, before the arrival of the principal 
 forces from the Rhine, he would carry the passes of 
 the Alps with comparative facility, clear them in his 
 wake, successively defeat, as he had always done, 
 the isolated Austrian corps, and, if he were supported 
 by a movement of the armies of the Rhine, advance 
 even to Vieima. 
 
 In consequence he reinforced Joubert, who, since 
 the battle of Rivoli, had deservedly obtained his 
 unlimited confidence, with the divisions of Baraguey 
 d'Hilliers and Delmas, and placed him at the head of 
 eighteen thousand men. He instructed him to ascend 
 into the Tyrol, furiously assail CJenerals Laudohn 
 and Kerpen, drive them beyond the Brenner, on the 
 other side of the .-Vlps, afterwards diverge towards 
 the right through the Pusterthal, and eventually 
 
 join the grand army in Carinthia. Laudohn and Ker- 
 pen might doubtless return into the Tyrol, after .Jou- 
 bert had rejoined the principal army ; but they would 
 require time to recover from their defeat, to procure 
 reinforcements and regain the Tyrol, and in the in- 
 terim Bonaparte would be at the gates of Vienna. 
 In order to conciliate the Tyrolese, he recommended 
 Joubert to caress the priests, to speak well of the 
 Emperor and ill only of his ministers, to seize 
 nothing but the imperial coffers, and to make no 
 changes in the administration of the country. He 
 charged the intrepid ^Jassena, \^'ith his fine division, 
 ten thousand strong, to march on the corps stationed 
 in the centre towards Feltre and Belluno, hasten 
 to the gorges of Ponteba which precede the great 
 pass of Tarwis, take possession of the gorges and the 
 pass, and thus secure the entrance into Carinthia. 
 In person he proposed to march with three divisions, 
 twenty-five thousand men strong, on the Piave and 
 the Tagliamento, drive the Archduke before him 
 into Carniola, then diverge towards the road through 
 Carinthia, join jMassena at the pass of Tarwis, clear 
 the Alps by that defile, descend into the valley of 
 the Drave and the Muehr, pick u]) Joubert, and 
 march on Vienna. He relied greatly on the im- 
 petuosity and boldness of his attacks, and on the 
 awe usually inspired by the unexpected and terrible 
 blows he was wont to strike. 
 
 Before commencing his movements, he conferred 
 on General Kilmaine the command of Upper Italy. 
 Victor's division, distributed in the states of the 
 Pope, awaiting the payment of the thirty millions, 
 was to return within a few days on the Adige, and 
 there form with the Lombards the corps of observation. 
 Meanwhile an extraordinary ferment reigned in the 
 Venitian provinces. The peasants and mountaineers 
 devoted to their priests and to tlie existing oligarchy 
 on the one hand, and the inhabitants of the towns agi- 
 tated by the revolutionary spirit on the other, were 
 ready to engage in civil strife. Bonaparte enjoined 
 General Kilmaine to observe the strictest neutrality 
 between the two parties, and set out to execute his 
 vast projects. According to usuage, he published 
 an energetic proclamation, fitted to stimulate still 
 higher the enthusiasm of his soldiers, if that had 
 been possible. On the 20th Ventose, Year V. (10th 
 ]\Iarch 1797), amidst an intense cold, and with sev- 
 eral feet of snow lying on the mountains, he put his 
 whole line in motion. Massena began his operation 
 against the corps in the centre, drove it on Feltre, 
 Belluno, and Cadore. captured a thousand prisoners, 
 in the number of whom was General Lusignan, di- 
 verged on Spilimbergo, and plunged into the gor- 
 ges of Ponteba, which precede the pass of Tarwis. 
 Bonaparte advanced on the Piave with three divi- 
 sions: the division of Serrurier, which had distin- 
 guished itself before ]\Iantua, the division of Augereau, 
 actually commanded by (ieneral Guyeux in the ab- 
 sence of Augereau, who had been sent to Paris with 
 the Austrian flags, and the division under Bernadotte 
 recently arrived from the Rhine. This latter offered 
 a strong contrast, by its simplicity and austere de- 
 portment, to the old army of Italy, enriched in the 
 teeming plains it had conquered, and composed of 
 the daring, fiery, and intemperate denizens of the 
 south. The soldiers of Italy, proud of their vic- 
 tories, ridiculed those of the Rhine, and called them 
 the. continyent, in allusion to the contingents of the 
 circles, which, in the armies of the em[)eror, usually 
 performed their duty sluggishly and indifferently. 
 The soldiers of the Rhine, veterans in arms, were 
 impatient to prove their prowess before their rivals 
 in glory. Already several duels had been fought on 
 account of these jibes, and the emulous eagerness to 
 wrestle gloriously with the enemy w-as wrought to 
 the highest pitch. 
 
 On the •23d (13th March), the three divisions passed 
 the Piave witiiout accident, save only that they nearlv
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 G39 
 
 lost a man, who was on the point of being washed 
 away by the current, when a canteen- woman swam 
 to his rescue and broufjht him happily to shore. 
 Bonaparte presented this heroine with a golden neck- 
 lace. The enemy's outposts fell straightway back 
 and sought shelter behind the Tagliamcnto. All the 
 Archduke's troops, distributed in Friuli, were there 
 assembled to disjiute the passage. The two youthful 
 adversaries were now at length to confront each 
 other. One, by saving Germany through a luminous 
 conception, had acquired a high reputation the pre- 
 ceding year. He was bold, resolute, and unfettered by 
 the antiquated routine of German tactics, but dubious 
 always of success and in trepidation for his glory. 
 The other had astounded Europe by the fecundity 
 and audacity of his combinations ; and nothing in the 
 world daunted him. Modest previous to Lodi, he 
 now deemed no capacity equal to his own, nor any 
 soldier equal to the French soldier. On the morning 
 of the 26th Ventose (16th March), Bonaparte movad 
 his three divisions on the banks of the Tagliamento 
 through Valvasone. This river, whose bed is often 
 uncertain, falls from the Alps over rocky chaimels, 
 and divides into a multitude of arms, all fordable. 
 The Austrian army was drawn up on the opposite 
 side, protecting with its fire the shores of the river, 
 and keeping its superb cavalry deployed on its wings, 
 in order to draw from it every advantage on plains 
 so eminently favourable for evolutions. 
 
 Bonaparte left the division of Serrurier in reserve 
 at Valvasone, and moved forward the two divisions 
 under Guyeux and Bernadotte, the first to the left, 
 fronting the village of Gradisca, where the enemy 
 was posted, and the latter to the right, in face of 
 Godriopo. The cannonade commenced, and a few 
 cavalry skirmishes occurred on the flanks. Finding 
 the enemy too well prepared, Bonaparte made a feint 
 of giving his troops repose, directed an intermission 
 of the fire, and ordered the soup to be made ready. 
 The device succeeded ; the enemy concluded that 
 the divisions having marched all night would now be 
 brought to a halt and recruited with an interval of 
 rest. But at noon, Bonaparte suddenly issued orders 
 for the resumption of arms. The division under 
 Guyeux deployed to the left, that under Bernadotte 
 to the right. Battalions of grenadiers were formed. 
 At the head of each division was placed the light 
 infantry, prepared to disperse as sharpshooters, and 
 then the grenadiers who were appointed to charge, 
 together with the dragoons who were to support 
 them. The two divisions were drawn uf) in the 
 rear of these two vanguards. Each demi-brigade 
 had its first battalion deployed in line, and the two 
 others formed in close column on the wings of the 
 first. The cavalry was stationed to hover on the 
 wings. The army advanced in this order towards 
 the banks of the river, marching to combat with the 
 precision and coolness of troops on parade. 
 
 General Dammartin on the left, and General Les- 
 pinasse on the right, pushed forward their artillery. 
 The light infantry dispersed and covered the banks 
 of the Tagliamento with a swarm of sharpshooters. 
 Bonaparte thereupon gave the signal. The grena- 
 diers of the two divisions entered the stream, suj)- 
 ported by squadrons of cavalry, and moved steadily 
 through its waters towards the op[)osite shore. 
 " Soldiers of the Rhine," exclaimed Bernadotte, 
 ' the army of Italy has its eyes on you !" The 
 troops hurried forward with equal intrepidity on both 
 quarters. They rushed upon the hostile army and 
 repulsed it on all sides. The Archduke, however, 
 had posted a mass of infantry at Gradisca on the 
 French left, and held his cavalry on their right, with 
 the view of outflanking and charging them on the 
 plain. General Guyeux attacked Gradisca with im- 
 petuosity at the head of his division, and carried it, 
 Bonaparte disposed his reserve of cavalry on his 
 threatened wing, and directed it, under the orders of 
 
 General Dugua and Adjutant-general Kellermann, 
 to attack the Austrian cavalry. It executed the 
 charge with skill and promptitude, captured the 
 general of the enemy's cavalry, and put it to flight. 
 Along the whole line the Tagliamento was cleared 
 and the Austrians in retreat. The French had taken 
 four or five hundred prisoners ; the open nature of 
 the ground prevented them from securing more. 
 
 Such was the action of the 2Gth Ventose (16th 
 ISIarch), called the battle of the Tagliamento. During 
 its progress, Massena, on the centre road, attacked 
 Osopo, seized the gorges of Ponteba, and drove the 
 remains of Lusignan and Ocskay's divisions on 
 Tarwis. 
 
 The Archduke Charles perceived that if he re- 
 solved to guard the route of Carniola and cover 
 Trieste, he must lose the route of Carinthia, which 
 was the most direct and the shortest, and that which 
 Bonaparte desired to follow in his march on Vienna. 
 The chaussee of Carniola communicates with that of 
 Carinthia and the pass of Tarwis by a cross road 
 which winds along the valley of the Isonzo. The 
 Archduke detached the division under Bayalitsch by 
 this communication towards the pass of Tarwis to 
 anticipate Massena if possible. He himself retired 
 with the remainder of his forces on Friuli, with the 
 design of disputing the passage of the Lower-Isonzo. 
 
 Bonaparte pursued him and reduced Palnia-Nuova, 
 a Venitian fortress, which the Archduke had occu- 
 pied, and which contained large magazines. He 
 afterwards marched on Gradisca,* a town situated in 
 front of the Isonzo. He arrived there on the 29th 
 Ventose (19th March). Bernadotte advanced mth 
 his division to the walls of the place, which was 
 weakly fortified, but defended by three thousand 
 men. Meanwhile, Bonaparte sent Serrurier's divi- 
 sion below Gradisca, with orders to pass the Isonzo 
 and intercept the retreat of the garrison. Berna- 
 dotte, without awaiting the result of this manoeuvre, 
 summoned the town to surrender. The Austrian 
 officer in command refused to capitulate. The 
 soldiers of the Rliine demanded leave to assault, 
 burning with ardour to enter the place before their 
 comrades of Italy. They rushed furiou-ly on the 
 intrenchments, but a storm of balls and grape 
 stretched upwards of five hinidred on the ground. 
 Serrurier's movement, however, fortunately put an 
 end to the combat. The three thousand Austrians 
 in Gradisca laid down their arms, and delivered up 
 their flags and cannon. 
 
 In the meantime Massena had at length reached 
 the pass of Tarwis, and, after a hot engagement, 
 succeeded in securing that avenue of the Alps. Thus 
 Bayalitsch, crossing the country by the Isonzo to 
 anticipate him at this important post, was foiled ir 
 his purpose, and doomed to find the approach barred. 
 The Archduke, foreseeing the possibility of this 
 misfortune, left the residue of his army on the route 
 to Friuli and Carniola, with orders to rejoin him 
 behind the Alps at Chigenfm-t, and hastened in person 
 to Villach, where numerous detachments were arriv- 
 ing from the Rhine, in order to direct a counter' 
 attack on Tarwis, dislodge Massena, and re-open the 
 route to the (li\ision under Bayalitsch. Bonaparte, 
 on his side, left Bernadotte's division to continiie the 
 pursuit of the corjis retiring into Carniola, arui with 
 the divisions of tJuyeux and Serrurier set off in the 
 wake of JJayalitsch to envelop him from the rear in 
 the valley of the Isonzo. 
 
 Prince Charles, having rallied behind the moun- 
 tains the shattered corps of Lusignan and Ocskay, 
 which had been cluised from the |iass of Tarwis, 
 strengthened them with six thousaiKi grenadiers, the 
 best and bravest of the emperor's forces, and attacked 
 the defile, in which Massena had merely left a de- 
 
 • Tliis town will lie distiiipuislied from the one of tlic saius 
 n;imc on the T.'iglianicnto.
 
 64U 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tachment. He succeeded in recovering it, and there 
 established himself with the troops of Lusignan and 
 Ocskay and the 6,000 grenadiers. Massena collected 
 the whole of his division to redeem its loss. Both 
 commanders were well aware of the great importance 
 of the position. By securing Tarwis the French 
 became masters of the Alps, and completely encom- 
 passed Bayalitsch and his division. Massena led on 
 his brave infantry with headlong impetuosity, ex- 
 posing himself, as usual, to the front of danger. 
 The Archduke was not less prodigal of his person 
 than the republican general, and repeatedly con- 
 fronted the fire of the French riflemen. The pass of 
 Tarwis is the most elevated of the Noric Alps, 
 soaring high above and commanding the plains of 
 Germany. The battle was fought above the clouds, 
 in the midst of snow, and on fields of ice. Whole 
 troops of cavalry were overturned and disabled on 
 this dismal scene of conflict. At length, after con- 
 testing the ground to his last battalion, the Archduke 
 relinquished Tarwis to his persevering adversary, 
 and was constrained to sacrifice the division of 
 Bayalitsch. Massena, again master of the pass, 
 turned back to meet that unfortunate division, and 
 attacked it in front, whilst pressed from the rear by 
 the divisions of Guyeux and Serrurier, united under 
 the orders of Bonaparte. It had no alternative but 
 to submit at discretion. Many of the soldiers com- 
 posing it, natives of Carniola and Croatia, saved 
 themselves across the mountains, having thrown 
 douTi their arms ; but five thousand remained in the 
 power of the French, with all the baggage, adminis- 
 trations and magazines of tlie Austrian army, which 
 had been directed on this route. Thus had Bona- 
 parte reached the summit of the Alps in fifteen days, 
 and, on the side where he himself commanded, fully 
 accomplished the oljject he had aspired to realize. 
 
 In the Tyrol also, Joubert justified the confidence 
 reposed in him by a series of brilliant actions. The 
 two Austrian generals, Laudohn and Kerpen, occu- 
 pied the two banks of the Adige. Joubert had 
 attacked and defeated them at Saint-Michel, killing 
 2,000 of their men, and taking 3,000 prisoners. 
 Pursuing them without intermission on Neumarkt 
 and Tramin, and cutting off other 2,000 men, he 
 had driven Laudohn to the left of the Adige, into 
 the valley of Meran, and Kerpen to the right, to the 
 foot of the Brenner. Kerpen, reinforced at Clausen 
 by one of the divisions inarching from the Rhine, 
 had attempted to make a staiul, and been again de- 
 feated. At Mittelwald he had been further rein- 
 forced by a second division from the Rhine, had 
 been once more worsted and finally repulsed beyond 
 the Brenner. Having thus swept the Tyrol, Jou- 
 bert had wheeled to the right, and was now marching 
 through the Pusterthal in order to rejoin his com- 
 mander-in-chief. It was only the 12th Germinal 
 (1st April), and Bonaparte had already penetrated 
 to the summit of the Alps, taken nearly twenty 
 thousand prisoners, secured the proximate junction 
 of Joubert aiul Massena with his principal corps, 
 and prepared the way for advancing on Vienna with 
 fifty thousand men. His discomfited antagonist was 
 striving to rally the broken wrecks of his army, and 
 to unite them with the troops arriving from the 
 Rhine. Such were the results of this rapid and 
 audacious movement on the part of the French 
 general. 
 
 But whilst Bonaparte was pursuing this swift 
 career of victory, all that he had foreboded on iiis 
 rear came to pass. The Venitian provinces, stirred 
 by revolutionary ideas, had broken into revolt. They 
 had thus furnished the government of Venice with a 
 pretext for assembling considerable forces, and for 
 putting itself into a condition to overwhelm the 
 French army in case of reverse. The provinces on 
 the right side of the Mincio were the most imbued 
 with the revolutionary spirit from their contiguity to 
 
 Lombardy. In the towns of Bergamo, Brescia, 
 Salo, and Crema, resided a number of great families, 
 to whom the yoke of the nobility of the Golden- 
 Book was most odious, and who, supported by the 
 bulk of the citizens, formed a powerful party of 
 malcontents. By following the counsels of Bona- 
 parte, opening the pages of the Golden-Book, and 
 making certain modifications in the ancient constitu- 
 tion, the Venitian government would have disarmed 
 the hostility of the formidable party which had 
 arisen in all the provinces of the Terra- Firma ; but 
 the accustomed blindness of aristocracies had pre- 
 vented the adoption of any conciliatory course, and 
 rendered a revolution inevitable. The part taken 
 by the French in this- revolution is easily explained, 
 despite the malicious fabrications suggested by hatred 
 and repeated by folly. The army of Italy was com- 
 posed of southern, that is to say, ardent revolution- 
 ists. It Avas impossible but that in their intercourse 
 \\'ith the subjectsof Venice they should communicate 
 the sentiments that animated them, and excite dis- 
 satisfaction against the most detestable of oligarchies ; 
 this was unavoidable and beyond the power of either 
 the French government or generals to avert. The 
 views of the Directory and of Bonaparte were per- 
 fectly clear. The Directory desired the natural 
 dissolution of the Italian governments, but was 
 determined to take no active part in hastening their 
 overthrow ; and, moreover, it had delegated to Bona- 
 parte the entire conduct of all political as well as 
 military operations in Italy. With respect to Bona- 
 parte himself, he had too much need of concord, 
 tranquillity, and friends in his rear to have any in- 
 clination to revolutionize Venice. A compromise 
 between the two parties consorted best with his 
 position. This compromise and the French alliance 
 being refused, he intended on his return to exact by 
 coercion what he had been unable to obtain by per- 
 suasion ; but, for the present, it was his object to 
 abstain from any attempt at interference, and his 
 opinions in that behalf were explicitly stated to the 
 Directory. Furthermore, he had given General Kil- 
 maine positive injunctions to take no part in political 
 affairs, and to maintain public tranquillity as far as in 
 him lay. 
 
 The towais of Bergamo and Brescia, of all those 
 on the Terra-Firma the most unruly and agitated, 
 had long been in communication with Milan; in fact, 
 secret revolutionary committees were formed in 
 various quarters to hold correspondence with the 
 Milanese patriots, and solicit their aid in throwing 
 otf the yoke of Venice. The victories of the French 
 removed all doubt as to the definitive expulsion of 
 the Austriiins; the patrons of aristocracy therefore 
 were vanquished, and although the French affected 
 neutrality, it was certain they would not employ 
 their arms in subduing populations to a thraldom 
 they had repudiated ; hence it was to be inferred 
 that they who rebelled would not only obtain but 
 enjoy uiunolested the advantages of freedom. Such 
 was the manner in which the Italians argued. The 
 citizens of Bergamo, the nearest in coiuiection with 
 Milan, applied to the Milanese authorities, inquiring 
 how far they might rely on their assistance and on 
 the support of the Lom])ard legion commanded by 
 Lahoz. The podestat of Bergamo, Ottolini, the same 
 who, as the faithful agent of the State-Inquisitors, 
 distributed money and arms among the peasants and 
 mountaineers, retained spies in the councils of the 
 Milanese patriots; consequently he was informed of 
 the schemes in contemplation, and furnished with the 
 names of the principal Bergamascans implicated 
 therein. He hastened to dispatch a courier to Venice 
 with the intelligence thus obtained, and in his letters 
 urged the immediate arrest of those he had ascer- 
 tained to be involved in the insurrectionary project. 
 The inhabitants of Bergamo, apprized of this pro- 
 ceeding of the podestat, sent in pursuit of his mes-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 641 
 
 Sanger, who was overtaken and stopped, and the 
 names of tlii)se comproinised were forthwith pub- 
 lished. This circuinstance produced the lonp^-dreaded 
 explosion. On the 11 th March, at the very time 
 Bonaparte was advaiK-inc: 0:1 the Plave, the com- 
 motion begm in Ber^ano. The p')destat i-i=iied 
 threatening proi-lamatioiis which were disregarded. 
 The French commander, whom Bonaparte ha<l pUiced 
 in the citadel to watch the movements of the moun- 
 taineers of the Bergamasco, saw cause for increased 
 vigilance, a!id reinforced all his posts. On both sides 
 his aid was invoked ; but he replied that he could not 
 interfere in disputes between Venitian subjects and 
 their government, and, moreover, intimated that he 
 had doubled his posts merely as a precaution for the 
 security of the fortress co itided to liis guardianship. 
 In executing his orders ,iid remaining neutral, he 
 sufficiently promoted the designs of the Bergamas- 
 cans. They assembled the following day, I'ith 
 March, instituted a provisional municipality, declared 
 the city of Bergamo free, and expelled the podestat 
 Ottolini, who withdrew with the Venitian troops. 
 They likewise sent a deputation to Milan to crave 
 the co-operation of the Lombards. The rapid ex- 
 tension of the insurrection to Brescia and the neigh- 
 bouring towns was of unavoidable occurrence. The 
 Bergamascans had no sooner hoisted the standard of 
 liberty than they dispatched deputies to Brescia, 
 whose presence and exhortations sufficed to arouse 
 the inhabitants of that city. Battaglia, the Venitian 
 who had given such sage advice to the senate in its 
 deliberations, was in authority at Brescia. Believing 
 resistance fruitless, he retired from the town, and 
 the revolution was effected mthout difficulty on the 
 13th March. Thence skirting the foot of the moun- 
 tains, the revolt continued to spread. It reached 
 Salo, where the revolution was accomplished, as 
 elsewhere, by the arrival of Bergamascans and Bres- 
 cians, by the retirement of the Venitian authorities, 
 and in presence of the French garrison, which re- 
 mained neutral, but whose aspects, althou^di silent, 
 seemed propitious to the insurgents and filled them 
 with hopes. This outbreak of the patriot party in 
 the towns was naturally calculated to provoke a 
 counter-movement by the opposite party dwelling 
 on the mountains and in the fields. The mountain- 
 eers and peasants, Vmf; a^o armed by the zeal of 
 Ottolini, received the signal of action from the 
 C!apuchins and monks wlio preached a crusade from 
 hamlet to hamlet; preparations were made for at- 
 tacking and sacking the insurgent towns, and, if 
 opportunities offered, for massacring the French. 
 Henceforth the French generals could no longer 
 contiime inactive, how.'ver much disposed to remain 
 neutral. Tiicy were too well acquainted with the 
 designs of the mountaineers and peasants to suffer 
 their assumption of arms ; an<l without desiring to 
 afford su])port to any party, they found themselves 
 obliged to interfere and to repress those who har- 
 boured and even procbiimed hostile intetitions against 
 them. Kilmaine forw.irded immediate orders to 
 Lahoz, commander of the Lombard legion, to march 
 towards the mountains and oppose the armament \n 
 progress. He neither would nor miglit have offered 
 any obstacle to the operations of the regular Venitian 
 troops, but it was impossible for him to allow a 
 general rising, the consequences whereof were in- 
 calculable should any disaster happen the army in 
 Austria. He dispatrlied couriers to Bonaparte with- 
 out loss of time, and sent to hasten the march of 
 Victor's division, which was on its return from the 
 states of his Holiness the Pope. 
 
 The government of Venice, as usually happens 
 with besotted rulers, who refuse to avert danger 
 by timely concessions of what is indispensable, 
 was struck with dismay by these events, as if they 
 had been uiforetold. It instiintly put in uuifion 
 the troops it had mustered long before, and directed 
 
 them on the towns to the right of the Miiicio. At 
 t!ie same time, convinced that the influence chiefly 
 to be invoked lay with the Frencli, it addressed 
 to the minister of France, Lallemant. the inquiry 
 whether, in this extreme peril, the republic of Venice 
 might rely 0.1 the friendship of the Directory. The 
 reply of the minister Lallemant was simple, and such 
 as his position dictated. He declared that he had 
 no instructions from his government anticipatory of 
 such a case, in which he merely stated the truth ; 
 but, he added, that if the Venitian govennnent 
 would introduce into its constitution such modifica- 
 tions as were demanded by the exigencies of the 
 times, he was of the opinion that Fi'ance would 
 cheerfully support it in the present emergency. No 
 other answer coild have been given by Lallemant; 
 for if France had offered its alliance to Venice as 
 against foreign powers, it had never done so as against 
 its own subjects ; nor could it have entered into any 
 such domestic guarantee, unless on condition that a 
 prudent and rational policy were adopted by the 
 government. The great council of Venice met in 
 solemn deliberation on the reply of Lallemant. Sev- 
 eral centuries had passed since a proposition for a 
 cliange in the constitution had been publicly made, 
 and now out of above two hundred voices it obtained 
 favour only with five. Fifty senators declared for 
 the adoption of energetic measures ; but one hundred 
 and eighty decided for a slow and progressive reform, 
 to be deferred until calmer times, or, in other words, 
 for evasion. It was resolved to send forthwith two 
 deputies to Bonaparte, with the view of sounding his 
 intentions and soliciting his aid. For this mission 
 were nominated J. B. Cornaro, one of the sages of 
 the Terra- Firma, and Pesaro, the famous procurator, 
 whom we have already seen in conference with the 
 general. 
 
 The couriers dispatched by Kilmaine and the 
 Venitian deputies reached the quarters of Bonaparte 
 at the moment his l)old manduivres had secured him 
 the line of the Alp<, and laid open to invasion the 
 hereditary states of Austria. He was at Gorizia. 
 engaged in settling the capitulation of Trieste. He 
 learnt with sinrere affliction the events that had oc- 
 curred on his rear, as may be readily imagined when 
 the daring and perilous nature of his march on Vienna 
 is considered. Moreover, his dispatches to the Di- 
 rectory prove the vexation he experienced ; and they 
 who have alleged that he did not express his real 
 feelings in those dispatches have evinced but little 
 reflection, since he never hesitated to avow in such 
 communications his craftiest designs against the 
 Italian governments. It was diffuHilt for him to 
 determine what part he should take under tlie cir- 
 cumstances. Policy and generosity equally forbid 
 him to repress by force the party which upheld 
 French principles, which caressed ami welcomed 
 Frem-h soldiers, and to confirm the sway of that 
 which was ready, in case of disaster, to destroy 
 those same principles and soldiers. Meanwhile, he 
 resolved to profit by the a(;tual contingency in order 
 to obtain from the Venitian envoys tlie concessions 
 and succours which had been iiitherto denied to him. 
 He received the two deputies with politeness, and 
 granted them an audience on the 5tli Germinal (25th 
 March). " That I should take arms," he said to 
 them, "against my friends, against tho<e who hail 
 our p esence and would willingly fight for us, in 
 behalf of my enemies, in favour of fho'<e who detest 
 ami would willingly massacre us, is quite impossible. 
 So base a politry is equally repugnant to my heart 
 and my interests. I will never lend my aid in oppo- 
 sition to principles for which France has made its 
 revolution, and to which I partly owe the success of 
 my arms. But I once more offer you my friendship 
 and advice. Ally yourselves fraid^ly with France, 
 approximate to her principles, and make in<iispensable 
 modifications in your constitution ; in that case I
 
 642 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 answer for all, and without employing a violence 
 which is impossible on my part, I will obtain throus^h 
 my influence over the Italian people, and by the 
 assurance of a more reasonable system of government, 
 a return to peace and order. This result is as de- 
 sirable for you as for me." 
 
 This language, spoken with sincerity, and the wis- 
 dom whereof needs no demonstration, did not suit 
 the Venitian envoys, especially Pesaro. Their views 
 were otherwise directed ; they were desirous that 
 Bonaparte should restore the fortresses he had occu- 
 pied by way of precaution, as Bergamo, Brescia, and 
 Verona, and allow the arming of the fanatical party 
 against the patriotic, thus permitting another Vendee 
 to arise in his rear. Such ideas were not calculated 
 to promote an understanding. Bonaparte, whose 
 temper was hasty, treated the envoys with great 
 harshness, and, recalling to them the various pro- 
 ceedings of the Venitian government towards the 
 French army, warned them he was well aware of 
 their secret dispositions and projects, but that he 
 was prepared, and an army remained in Lombardy to 
 keep watch upon their conduct. The conference 
 thus became acrimonious. From these questions 
 the parties passed to those respecting supplies. 
 Hitherto Venice had furnished provisions to the 
 French army, and she had justified Bonaparte in 
 exacting them by the support she gave the Austrian 
 army. Now that he had moved into the hereditary 
 states, the Veiiitians propo-edthat Bonaparte should 
 cease to live at their expense. This, however, was 
 not at all his intention, since in order that he might 
 propitiate the inhabitants of the Austrian countries, 
 it was his purpose to avoid subjecting them to any 
 demands. Meanwhile the purveyors, secretly com- 
 missioned by the Venitian government to supply the 
 army, had ceased their operations, whereby it had 
 become necessary to make requisitions in the Veni- 
 tian territories. " This is a vicious method," Bona- 
 parte remarked; "it harasses the cultivator and 
 gives rise to monstrous peculations ; give me a 
 million monthly whilst this campaign lasts, which 
 cannot be long ; the French republic will afterwards 
 account with you, and it ^^'ill owe you more for this 
 million than for all the evils you mil endure from 
 requisitions. Besides, you have cherished all my 
 enemies, you have given them an asylum, and you 
 owe me reciprocity." The two envoys replied by 
 stating that the exchequer was exhausted. " If it 
 be exhausted," rejoined Bonaparte, "take from the 
 treasures of the Duke of Modena, which you have 
 received to the prejudice of my allies the ^lodenese; 
 get money from the effects of the English, Russians, 
 Austrians, of all my enemies, which you hold in 
 charge." They parted with abundant dissatisfaction 
 on both sides. Another interview took place the 
 following day. Bonaparte renewed \\-ith calmness 
 his propositions; but Pesaro offered nothing to satisfy 
 him, and simply promised to inform the senate of all 
 his demands. Thereupon Bonaparte, whose irrita- 
 tion began to swell beyond control, seized Pesaro by 
 the arm and said to him: "I see through you, I 
 probe you ; I know what you are preparing for me ; 
 but, beware ! if, whilst I am engaged in a distant 
 enterprise, you massacre my sick, attack my depots 
 or threaten my retreat, you provoke your own ruin. 
 What I might have overlooked whilst in Italy, \\-ill 
 become an inex|)iable crime when I am entangled in 
 Austria. If you take arms, you decide either my 
 destruction or yours. Reflect, therefore, and ex- 
 pose not rashly the sickly lion of Saint Mark against 
 the fortune of an army whose depots and hospitals 
 alone could supply force enough to storm your lagoons 
 and exterminate you." This energetic language struck 
 terror, v\'ithout carrying conviction, into the minds 
 of the Venitian envoys, who immediately transmitted 
 the result of their conference. Bonaparte, on his 
 part, forthwith wrote to Kilmaine, enjoining him to 
 
 redouble his vigilance, to punish any French com- 
 manders who overstepped the limits of neutrality, 
 and to disarm all the mountaineers and peasants. 
 
 Events were so far advanced that it was impossible 
 to stop their course. The insurrection of Bergamo 
 occurred on the 23d Ventose (I3th March) ; tliat of 
 Brescia on the 27th (17th March) ; that of Salo on 
 the 4th Germinal (24th March). On the 8th Ger- 
 minal (28th JNIarch), tiie town of Crema effected its 
 meditated revolution, and the French troops became 
 perforce implicated in it. A detachment which pre- 
 ceded the division of Victor, on its return to Lom- 
 bardy, appeared before the gates of Crema. It was 
 at a moment of fermentation. The sight of the 
 French troops naturally tended to inflame the hopes 
 and courage of the patriots. The Venitian podestat, 
 who was in great consternation, at first refused ad- 
 mission to the French ; eventually he allowed forty 
 to enter, who seized the gates of the to«Tiand open- 
 ed them to the advancing columns. The inhabitants 
 took advantage of the opportunity, arose in insurrec- 
 tion, and expelled the podestat. The French had 
 thus acted merely to secure a passage ; the patriots 
 profited thereby to revolt. When such dispositions 
 exist, anything serves as a cause of explosion, and 
 circumstances altogether involuntary lead to results 
 which induce a suspicion of confederacy perfectly 
 groundless. Such was the situation of the French, 
 who, beyond all doubt, were individually favourable 
 to the revolution, but officially preserved neutrality. 
 
 The mountaineers and peasants, stimulated by the 
 agents of the Venitian government, and by the ex- 
 hortations of the Capuchins, overran the open coun- 
 try. The Sclavonian regiments, landed from the 
 lagoons on terra firma, advanced towards the insur- 
 gent towns. Kilmaine had issued his orders, and put 
 in motion the Lombard legion to disarm the peasants. 
 Several conflicts had already taken place; villages 
 had been burnt, and peasants seized and disarmed. 
 But these, on their part, began to sack the towns 
 and to slaughter the French, whom they designated 
 under the name of Jacobins. Even earlier they had 
 put to death all such as they found scattered in the 
 most horrible manner. First of all, they eflfected a 
 counter-revolution at Salo : whereupon a body of 
 the inhabitants of Bergamo and Brescia, supported 
 by a detachment of Poles from the Lombard legion, 
 marched upon Salo to drive out the mountaineers. 
 Certain individuals, sent forward to open a parley, 
 were dra\vn into the town and slain; the detachment 
 was surrounded and repulsed; two hundred Poles 
 were taken prisoners and conducted to Venice. At 
 Salo, \'erona, and in all the \'enitian cities, the 
 known partisans of the French were siezed and con- 
 veyed beneath " the Leads,"* and the inquisitors of 
 state, encouraged by this miserable success, appeared 
 disposed to proceed to cruel extremities. Some 
 have alleged, indeed, that it was prohibited to dredge 
 the canal Orfano, which was appropriated, as is 
 known, to the detestable usage of drowning prisoners 
 of state. Still, whilst preparing to put in force a 
 relentless rigour, the Venitian govenunent strove to 
 deceive Bonaparte by acts of seeming acquiescence, 
 and it granted the million per month whiclrbad been 
 asked. The assassination of Frenchmen, however, 
 wheresoever they were encountered, did not the 
 less continue. The situation of affairs was becoming 
 extremely critical, and Kilmaine dispatched fresh 
 couriers to Bonaparte. He, on hearing of the ac- 
 tions fought by the mountaineers, of the event at 
 Salo, where two hundred Poles had been made 
 prisoners, of the incarceration of all the partisans 
 of France, and of the assassinations committed on 
 Frenchmen, was seized with wrath. He instantly 
 addressed an imperious letter to the senate, wherein 
 
 • [/ Piornfii, the celebrated prisons underneath the f'n.f of 
 the old duc-al palace in Venice.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 643 
 
 he recapitulated all his causes of complaint, and de- i 
 inanded the disarinin!^ of the mountaineers, and the i 
 liberation as well of the Polish prisoners as of the 
 Venitian subjects confined beneath " the Leads." 
 He commissioned Junot to carry this letter and read 
 it to the senate, and at the same time ordered the 
 minister Lallemant to immediately quit Venice with 
 a declaration of war, if all the points demanded were 
 not conceded. 
 
 Meanwhile, he descended with gigantic strides 
 from the heights of the Noric Alps into the valley 
 of the Muehr. His principal reliance, in undertaking 
 a movement of such temerity, was on the prom[)t co- 
 operation in the campaign of the armies of the Rhine, 
 and their speedy arrival on the banks of the Danube. 
 But he received a letter from the Directory which 
 deprived him of all hopes in this respect. The pen- 
 ury of the exchequer was such that it could not 
 furnish General Moreau with the few hundred thou- 
 sand francs requisite to procure a bridge-equipage 
 to pass the Rhine. The army under Hoche, which 
 occupied two bridges and was quite ready, clamoured 
 to march, but the government dared not hazard it 
 beyond the Rhine, whilst Moreau remained behind it. 
 In his dispatch, Carnot even magnified the delays 
 which must retard the advance of the two armies 
 into Germany, and left Bonaparte no hope of being 
 supported. The intimation greatly disconcerted 
 him ; ardent in imagination, he passed at once from 
 extreme confidence to the uttermost distrust. He 
 suspected either that the Directory wished to ruin 
 the army of Italy and its general, or that the other 
 generals refused to second him. He replied with 
 bitter reflections on the conduct of the armies of the 
 Rhine. He stated, "that a line of water was no 
 impediment, as he had himself sufficiently proved ; 
 that when a general desired to cross a river, he could 
 always do so; that by determining never to risk his 
 glory, a man sometimes lost it ; that he had cleared 
 the Alps with three feet of snow and ice, and that if 
 be had calculated like his colleagues he would not 
 have ventured to attempt it ; that if the soldiers of 
 the Rhine left the army of Italy exposed alone in 
 Germany, they could have no blood in their veins; 
 that, for the rest, this brave army, if it were aban- 
 doned, would recoil, and to Europe he appealed as 
 the judge between it and the other armies of the 
 republic." Like all proud and irascible men, Bona- 
 parte loved to complain, and to exaggerate the sub- 
 ject of his complaints. Although he thus wrote, he 
 entertained no intention of retreating or even of 
 pausing, but the contrary design of striking Aus- 
 tria with terror by a rapid march, and flictating 
 to her a peace. Maiiy considerations tended to 
 flatter this purpose. Vienna was already in con- 
 sternation ; the court was inclined to treat ; Prince 
 Charles strongly advised it ; the ministry alone, 
 devoted to England, still resisted. The con- 
 ditions prescribed to Clarke, previous to the vic- 
 tories of Arcole and Rivoli, were so moderate that 
 Austria might be easily brought to accept them, or 
 perhaps even worse. Re-united with Joubcrt aiul 
 Massena, Bonaparte would have ftu'ty five or fifty 
 thousand men under his connnand, and with so 
 powerful a mass he need not dread a general battle, 
 whatever might be the force of the enemy. For all 
 these reasons, he resolved to make an overture to 
 the Archduke Charles, and it" he made no reply, to 
 fall upon him with impetuosity, and to strike a blow 
 so prompt and signal that all further opposition to 
 his offers would vanish. And how glorious for him, 
 if, alone, without aid or support, penetrating into 
 the heart of Austria by so extraordinary a route, he 
 should impose peace upon the haughty and puissant 
 emperor ! 
 
 On the 11th Germinal (31st March), Bonaparte 
 was at Klagenfurth, the capital of Carinthia. Jou- 
 bert, on his left, was accomplishing his movement, 
 
 and about to rejoin him. Bemadotte, whom he had 
 detached to sweep the road of Carniola, had pos- 
 sessed himself of Trieste, the rich mines of Idria, 
 and the Austrian magazines, and was advancing by 
 Laybach upon Klagenfurth. On this day, the 11th 
 Germinal, he addressed to Prince Charles a memor- 
 able letter. 
 
 " General-in-chief," he wrote, "brave soldiers 
 make war and desire peace. Has not this war con- 
 tinued six years''' Have we not slain enough of men 
 and caused sufficient evils to suffering humanity? 
 From all quarters her appealing voice is heard. 
 Europe, whicli took up arms against the French re- 
 public, has laid theai down. Your nation alone re- 
 mains, and yet blood is about to flow more profuselv 
 than ever. This sixth campaign opens under dismal 
 auguries. Whatever may be its issue, we shall kill 
 on both sides several thousands of men, and after all 
 we must finish by coming to an understanding, since 
 every thing has a term, even the passions of hatred 
 and animosity. 
 
 " The Executive-Directory of the French republic 
 has already made known to his Majesty the Emperor 
 its desire to terminate a war which desolates both 
 nations. The intervention of the court of London 
 frustrated the design. Is there then no hope of an 
 amicable settlement; and is it fixed that, for the in- 
 terests and passions of a nation removed from the 
 calamities of war, we are to continue to massacre 
 each other? You, sir, wlm by your birth stand so 
 near the throne, and are superior to all the petty 
 passions which often animate ministers and govern- 
 ments, are you ambitious to merit the title of bene- 
 factor of all humanity and true saviour of Germany ? 
 Think not, commander-in-chief, that I mean by these 
 words that it is not possible to save it by force of 
 arms ; but even supposing the chances of war be- 
 come favourable to you, Germany will not be the 
 less laid waste. As to myself, commander-in-chief, 
 if the overture I have the honour to make you, may 
 save the life of a single man, I shall feel more proud 
 of the civic crown I will esteem myself to have 
 merited, than of the mournfid glory which can result 
 from military successes." 
 
 The Archduke Charles could not entertain this 
 overture, inasmuch as the determination of the Aulic 
 Council was not yet taken. At Vienna, precautions 
 were being adopted to meet the worst extremity ; 
 the moveables of the crowm and all important docu- 
 ments were embarked on the Danube, the young 
 archdukes and archduchesses were sent into Hungary, 
 and the court itself was prepared, in case of dire 
 necessity, to evacuate the capital. The Archduke 
 accordingly replied to General Bonaparte, that he 
 was equally desirous of peace with himself, but that 
 he had no power to treat, and that he must address 
 himself directly to Vieinia. Bonaparte advanced 
 rapidly through the mount.ains of Carinthia, and on 
 the morning of the 12th Germinal (1st April), drove 
 the enemy's rear-guard on Saint-Veit and Freisach, 
 and dispersed it. In (he afternoon of the same day, 
 he encountered the Archduke, who had taken up a 
 position in front of the narrow gorges of Nemnarkt 
 with the remains of his Friidian army, and witii fcmr 
 divisions (fi-awn from the Rhine, those of Kaim, 
 Mercantin, and the Prince of Orange, and the re- 
 serve of grenadiers. A furious comliat ensued in 
 these gorges, of which Massena had again all the 
 honour. The soldiers of tlie Rhine defied the 
 veterans of the army of Italy, and it became a rival- 
 ry between them who should advance quickest and 
 farthest. After a desperate engagement, in which 
 the Archduke lost three th.ousand men on the field 
 of battle and twelve hundred prisoners, all wiis 
 forced at the juiint of the bayonet, arui the gorges 
 carried. On tlie following day, Bonaparte marched 
 without halting from Neumarkt on Hunsmarkt. It 
 'vas oetwcen these two points that the cross road
 
 644 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLTTTION. 
 
 uniting the great highways of the Tyrol and Carin- 
 thia came to a head. By this route Kerpen was ap- 
 proaching, followed by Joubert. The Archduke, 
 with the view of gaining time to secure the junction 
 of Kerpen, proposed a suspension of arms, in order, 
 as he alleged, to take into consideration the letter 
 of the 1 1th (.31st March). Bonaparte returned for 
 answer that they could both fight and negotiate, and 
 continued his march. The next day, 14th Germinal 
 (3d April), he again engaged the enemy in a fierce 
 conflict at Hunsmarkt, where he took 1,500 prison- 
 ers, entered Knittelfeld, and met wth no further 
 obstacle as far a- Leoben. Ilis van-guard reached 
 that town on the 18th Germinal (7th April). Mean- 
 while, Kerpen had made a considerable circuit to 
 rejoin the Archduke, and Joubert had approximated 
 to the principal French army. 
 
 On the very day that Bonaparte entered Leoben, 
 Lieutenant - general Bcllegarde, chief of Prince 
 Charles' staff, and Major-general jMeerveldt, arrived 
 at head-quarters as envoys of the Emperor, whom 
 the rapid advance of the French had intimidated, and 
 who desired a suspension of arms. They solicited 
 one for ten days. Bonaparte was sensible that a 
 suspension of arms for ten days would give the 
 Archduke time to receive his last reinforcements 
 from the Rhine, to collect together all the scattered 
 portions of his army, and to recover from the effects 
 of his precipitate retreat. But to himself, a truce 
 was extremely needful ; and on his side he would 
 thereby gain the advantage of securing a junction 
 with Bernadotte and Joubert ; moreover, he trusted 
 in the sincerity of the desire to treat for peace, and 
 he granted a suspension of arms for five days, in 
 order to allow plenipotentiaries time to arrive and 
 sign preliminaries. A convention to this effect was 
 signed on the 18th (7th April), covenanted to con- 
 tinue in force only till the 23d (12th April). He 
 fixed his head-quarters at Leoben, and pushed Mas- 
 sena's van-guard forward to the peak of the Simmer- 
 ing, the last height of the Noric chain, distant only 
 twcTity-five leagues from Vienna, and whence the 
 towers of that metropolis were discernible to the 
 eye. He employed the five days in re-positioning 
 and gathering his columns. He issued a proclama- 
 tion to the inhabitants calculated to calm their fears 
 as to his intentions, and not in words only but in 
 deeds he manifested the sincerity of his protestations. 
 Nothing was taken by the army without being equi- 
 valently reimbursed. 
 
 Bonaparte awaited the expiration of the five 
 days, ready to strike a fresh blow to complete 
 the terror of the imperial court, if it were not 
 yet sufficiently alarmed. But at Vienna all things 
 wore a favourable aspect for the termination of this 
 long and terrible struggle, which had lasted six years, 
 and caused the effusion of torrents of blood. The 
 English party in the ministry was totally discredited, 
 and Baron Thugut tottered on the verge of disgrace. 
 The inhabitants of Vienna clamoured loudly for 
 peace. The Archduke Charles himself, the hero of 
 Austria, advised it, and declared that the empire 
 could not be saved by arms. The Emperor inclined 
 to the same opinion. At length the determination 
 was taken, and the Count de Meerveldt and the 
 Marquis de Gallo, Neapolitan ambassador at Vienna, 
 were forthwith dispatched to Leoben. The latter 
 was selected through the influence of the Empress, 
 who was a daughter of the Queen of Naples, and who 
 interfered greatly in afl^airs. Their instructions were 
 to sign preliminaries which should serve as the bases 
 in negotiating thereafter a definitive peace. They 
 arrived on the 24th Germinal (13th April), in the 
 morning, at the moment that Bonaparte, the truce 
 having expired, was about to attack the advanced 
 posts. They intimated that they held full powers 
 to settle the bases of peace. A garden in the vicinity 
 of Leoben was made neutral ground, and the confer- 
 
 ences were opened amidst the bivouacs of the French 
 army. The young general, suddenly transformed 
 into a negotiator, had never undergone a diplomatic 
 apprenticeship ; but for a year past, he had had 
 manifold important affairs to transact, such as in the 
 world could be scarcely rivalled ; moreover he pos- 
 sessed a fame which rendered him the most imposing 
 personage of his epoch, whilst the language he was 
 wont to hold was as calculated to dazzle and over- 
 awe as his glory. Thus he constituted a brilliant 
 representative of the French republic. He held no 
 commission to negotiate; Clarke alone was invested 
 with full powers in this respect, and Clarke, whom 
 he had summoned, had not yet arrived at head- 
 quarters. But he might consider preliminaries of 
 peace in the light of an armistice, which was within 
 the province of generals to grant; besides, he was 
 certain that Clarke would sanction whatever he 
 might determine, and he hesitated not to enter upon 
 the negotiation. The regulation of the etiquette to 
 be observed was a chief point with the Emperor 
 and his envoys. According to ancient custom the 
 Emperor had the honour of precedence above the 
 monarchs of France ; he was always first named in 
 the protocol of treaties, and his ambassadors also 
 took precedence of the French ambassadors. He 
 was the only sovereign to whom this distinction was 
 conceded by France. The imperial envoys offered 
 to immediately recognise the French republic if the 
 old etiquette were preserved. "The French repub- 
 lic," Bonaparte haughtily replied, "has no need o'*^ 
 recognition ; it is in Europe as the sun above the 
 horizon ; so much the worse for the blind who can 
 neither see nor profit by it." He rejected the article 
 of recognition. As to the point of etiquette, he 
 declared "that such questions were very indifferent 
 to the republic ; that it might be hereafter settled 
 with the Directory, which would probably not be 
 averse to sacrifice matters of that sort for substantial 
 advantages ; but that, for the moment, they would 
 treat on the footing of equality, and France a7id the 
 Emperor take alternatively the post of precedency." 
 Topics of graver interest were then entered upon. 
 The first and most important article was the cession 
 of the Belgian provinces to France. It was not con- 
 ceivable that Austria could contemplate a refusal. 
 AccortUngly, it was at once agreed that the Emperor 
 should relinquish to France all his Belgian provinces, 
 and moreover that he should acquiesce, as a member 
 of the Germanic empire, in the extension of the 
 French boundary to the banks of the Rhine. The 
 difficulty was to find indemnities of equivalent value 
 for the Emperor, which he insisted upon having 
 either in Germany or Italy. There were two modes 
 of procuring them for him in Germany : the assign- 
 ment of Bavaria, or the secularization of sundry 
 ecclesiastical states of the empire. The first idea 
 had already more than once occupied European 
 diplomacy. The second was due to the wit of 
 Rewbell, who had imagined the scheme as at once 
 the most expedient and the most conformable to the 
 spirit of the revolution. The time in fact was past 
 for bishops to be allowed the possession of temporal 
 sovereignties, and it was an ingenious thought to 
 make the ecclesiastical power pay the penalty of 
 French aggrandizement. But the assent of Prussia 
 to the augmentation of Austrian power in Germany 
 could scarcely be anticipated ; and furthermore, if 
 Bavaria were appropriated, an iiulemnity must be 
 found for the prince who held it. Besides, the 
 states of Germany being already under the imme- 
 diate influence of the Emperor, he gained compara- 
 tively little by the acquisition, and thus it hap- 
 pened that he greatly preferred an aggrandizement 
 in Italy, which would give a veritable increase to 
 his dominion and power. Hence Italy became the 
 region where indemnities for the Emperor were to 
 be found.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 645 
 
 If the French had consented to restore Lombardy 
 unconditionally to the Emperor, and undertaken to 
 preserve the republic of Venice in its actual state, 
 and to keep back the approacrh of democracy to the 
 Alpine frontiers, he would have immediately ac- 
 cepted peace, and have recognised the Cispadan re- 
 public, composed of the Duchy of Modcna, tlie two 
 legations, and Romagna. But to replace Lombardy 
 beneath the yoke of Austria, Lombardy which had 
 evinced such attachment towards the French, which 
 had made so many efforts and sacrifices for tliem, 
 and the principal inhabitants of wliicdi had so strongly 
 compromised themselves, would have been an act of 
 equal baseness and imbecility, since their position 
 enabled them, in a certain degree, to dictate terms. 
 To guarantee the independence of Lombardy, there- 
 fore, was a settled point, and thus it became neces- 
 sary to seek in Italy for indemnities to recompense 
 the Emperor for the twofold loss of Belgium and 
 Lombardy. There was a very simple arrangement, 
 which had more than once occurred to the minds of 
 European diplomatists and already formed a subject 
 of hope to Austria and of fear to Venice, which was 
 to compensate Austria with the Venitian territories. 
 The Illyrian provinces, Istria and all Upper Italy, 
 from the Isonzo to the Oglio, formed rich posses- 
 sions amply sufficient to console Austria for her 
 cessions. The conduct of the Venitian oligarchy 
 towards France, its repeated refusals to form an 
 alliance with her, its secret armaments, the obvious 
 purpose of which was to attack the French in the 
 event of a reverse of fortune, the recent rising of the 
 mountaineers and peasants, the assassinations com- 
 mitted on Frenchmen, had tilled Bonaparte with 
 indignation. And if the Emperor, for whom Venice 
 had secretly armed, was content to accept her spoils, 
 Bona[)arte, against whom her preparations had been 
 made, could have little scruple to concede them. Be- 
 sides, equivalents might be offered to Venice. There 
 were Lombardy, the duchy of Modena, the legations 
 of Bologna and Ferrara, and Romagiia, rich and ex- 
 tensive provinces, whereof a portion formed the Cis- 
 padan republic, with some of which Venice might be 
 iiidemnifie.d. This arrangement appeared the most 
 expedient, and now, for the first time, was adopted 
 the principle of compensating Austria with the 
 Venitian possessions on terra-firma, in consideration 
 of the republic being indemnified \vith other Italian 
 provinces. 
 
 This mode of settlement was referred to Vienna, 
 whence the negotiators were scarcely twenty-five 
 leagues distant. It was there approved of, and the 
 preliminaries of peace were forthwith arranged and 
 reduced into articles, which were to serve as the 
 bases of a definitive peace. The Emperor relin- 
 quished to France all his territories in the Low 
 Countries, and consented, as a member of tiie em- 
 pire, that till! republic should ac((uire the boundary 
 of the Rhine. He likewise renounced all rights to 
 Lombardy. In return for these sacrifices, he re- 
 ceived the Venitian dominions on terra-iirma, Dal- 
 matia, Istria, and Upper Italy to the Oglio. Venice 
 remained independent, retained the Ionian Islands, 
 and was to obtain a recompense out of the |)rovinces 
 which were at tlie disposal of I'ni'ice. Tlie Em- 
 peror recognised tlie republics which were intended 
 to be estabiislied in Italy. The French army was 
 to \vithdraw from the Austrian states, and canton 
 on their frontier, th-it is to say, to evacuate Carintiiia 
 and Carniola, and plant itself on the Isonzo and at 
 the entrances of the Tyrol. All the arrangements 
 relative to the provinces and governmfint of Venice 
 were to be made in concert with Austria. Two con- 
 gresses were to be opened, one at Berne for tlie in- 
 dividual peace with tlie Emperor, and the other in a 
 town of Germany for the general peace with the 
 Empire. The treaty with the Emperor was to \n: 
 concluded in three months, under pain of the pre- 
 
 liminaries being void. Austria had in addition a 
 powerful reason for hastening the conclusion of the 
 definitive treaty, namely, to enter as early as pos- 
 sible into possession of the Venitian provinces, in 
 order that the French might not have time to propa- 
 gate revolutionary ideas. 
 
 Tiie design of Bonaparte was to dismember the 
 Cispadan republic, comprising the duchy of Modena, 
 the two legations, and Romagna, and to incorporate 
 the duchy of Modena with Lombardy, forming of 
 them a single republic, the capital of which should 
 be Mil, in and the name Cinnlplnc, on account of its 
 position with respect to the Alps. The two lega- 
 tions and Romagna he proposed to give to Venice, 
 intending at the same time to humble the aristocracy 
 and modify its constitution. Thus two republics 
 woulil be established in Italy, close allies of France, 
 indebted to him for their existence, and disposed to 
 co-operate in all his plans. The frontier of the 
 Cisalpine republic would be the river Oglio, which 
 might easily be lined with intrenchments. It would 
 not possess Mantua, which, together with the ]\Ian- 
 tuan, was to be restored to the Emperor; but 
 Pizzighitone, on the Adda, might be rendered a 
 fortress of impregnable strength, and the walls of 
 Bergamo and Orema miglit be raised. The republic 
 of Venice with its islands, with the Dogado and 
 Polesina, which endeavours would be made to pre- 
 serve for it, with the two legations and Romagna, 
 which were to be given to it, with the principality 
 of Massa-Carrara, and the gulf of Spezia, which 
 might be added to it in the Mediterranean, would 
 constitute a great maritime power touching the sea 
 on both sides of the peninsula. 
 
 It may be asked why Bonaparte did not profit by 
 his position to drive the Austrians altogether out of 
 Italy, and more especially why he indemnified them 
 at the expense of a neutral power, after a process 
 similar in appearance to the infamous partition of 
 Poland. But, as to the first point, was it possible 
 wholly to enfranchise Italy? Must not Europe have 
 been entirely prostrated to wring its consent to the 
 deposition of the Pope, the King of Sardinia, the 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany, the King of Naples, and 
 the Prince of Parma ? And was the French republic 
 capable of the efforts which such a consummation 
 implies? Was it not, in truth, a great achievement 
 in this one campaign to extend the principles of 
 lil^erty by the establishment of two republics, whence 
 they must necessarily spread to the utmost limits of 
 the Peninsula ? With regard to the second point, 
 the partition of the Venitian territories bore no re- 
 semblance to the celebrated atrocity which has so 
 long formed the reproach of Europe. Poland was 
 divided by the very powers which had fomented her 
 disorders, and which were solemnly bound to afford 
 her their assistance. \'enice had repudiated tlie 
 offers of friendship which the French had often made 
 her in all sin(;erity, and was, moreover, prepared to 
 lietray and attack them in the moment of peril. If 
 she had to complain of any party it was of the .Vus- 
 trians, for who<e advantage her treachery toward 
 the French was designed. Poland, l)esi(h's, was a 
 country wiiose limits were clearly <li'tiiied on the 
 map of I'urope; whose indepeink'nce was, so to 
 speak, ordained by nature and essential to European 
 tran(|uillity ; whose constitution, althougli vicious, 
 was generous; whose citizens, so sliamefuUy betray- 
 ed, manifested a noble courage and commanded the 
 sympathies of all civilized connnunities. Venice, on 
 till' ('(^MtrMry, had no natural territory liiif her lagoons, 
 f(n- her power had never consisted in her possessions 
 on terra-firma; she was not obliterated because cer- 
 tain of her provinces \vere extdianged for others ; 
 her constitution was the most inifjuitous in Europe; 
 her government was abhorred by her own subjects; 
 her perfidy and cowardice destroyed all claim either 
 to sympathy or existence. In no feature, there-
 
 646 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fore, could the dismemberment of the Venitian states 
 be assimilated with the partition of Poland, unless it 
 were in the conduct of Austria. 
 
 It is, moreover, to he considered that, in order to 
 avoid the necessity of givini,' such indemnities to the 
 Austrians, they laiist have been excluded from Italy, 
 which could have been effect cd only by dictating,' a 
 peace in Vienna itself. For this the co-operation of 
 the armies of the Rhine was indispensably re(juisite, 
 and Bonaparte had been informed tliat they could 
 not enter upon the canipai,t,'n in loss than a month. 
 In this situation his only alternative was to retro- 
 grade and await their appearance in the field, a course 
 exposing: hiui to serious inconveniences, for the Arch- 
 duke woidd have thereby guiucd time to collect a 
 formidable army against him, and the Hunj^'arians to 
 rise en masse and assail his Hanks. And, besides, the 
 very fact of retropradinp^ involved an admission of 
 the heedless temerity of his advance. By accepting 
 the preliminaries he had the honour of singly extort- 
 ing peace ; he reaped the reward of his perilous en- 
 terprise, and obtained conditions which, in the 
 situation of Europe, were singularly brilliant, and 
 above all far more advantiigeous than those which 
 Clarke had been instructed to demand, since they 
 contaiiied stipulations for the frontier of the Rhine 
 and the Alps, and for the establishment of a republic 
 in Italy. Accordingly, partly moved by military and 
 political and partly by personal considerations, he 
 determined to sign the preliminaries. Clarke had 
 rot yet reached head-fpiarters. With his accus- 
 tomed hardihood, and the assurance which his glory, 
 his services, and the general desire of peace gave 
 him, Bonaparte exceeded his powers and affixed his 
 signature to the preliminaries, as if the question had 
 been one of a simple armistice. The signature was 
 attached at Lcoben on the 29th Germinal, Year V. 
 (18th April 1797). 
 
 If he had known at the moment what was passlrg 
 on the Rhine, he would have been less hasty in 
 signing the preliminaries of Leoben ; but the only 
 information he possessed was to the effect that the 
 inaction of the armies must be long-continued. He 
 appointed Massena to carry tlie convention to Paris. 
 This was the only distinguished olhcer who had not 
 been deputed to present captured banners and enjoy 
 the honours of a triumph. Bonaparte deemed the 
 preser.t a fitting occasion to employ him in so glorious 
 a mission, and one worthy of the signal services he 
 had rendered. He likewise dispatched couriers to 
 the armies of the Rhine and the Sambre-and-Meuse, 
 who passed through (Jermany, in order that they 
 might arrive with tlie greater speed, and stop hos- 
 tilities if they had already commenced. 
 
 Hostilities had in fact conunenced about the very 
 time of the signature of the prelinunaries. Hoche, 
 who had long burned with impatience to enter upon 
 action, continually urged the Directory for permis- 
 sion to take tlie field. Aloreau had repaired to Paris 
 in order to solicit in person the necessary funds for 
 the purchase of a bridge-equipage. At length the 
 order to begin operations was transmitted. Hoche, 
 at the head of his fine army, debouched by Neuwied, 
 whilst Championnet, with tlie right wing, debouched 
 by Diisseldorf, and marched on Uckerath and Alten- 
 kirchen. Hoche attacked the Austrians at Hedders- 
 dorf, where they had reared formidable intrench- 
 ments, killed a multitude of their soldiers, and took 
 five thousand prisoners. After this brilliant exploit, 
 he advanced with rapidity on Frankfort, constantly 
 repulsing Kray, and striving to cut off his retreat. 
 He was on the point of surrounding him by a mas- 
 terly iiiaiKcuvre, and possibly of reducing him to 
 surrender, when Bonaparte's courier, announcing the 
 signature of the |)reliniiiiaries, arrived. This in- 
 telligence arrested Hoche in the midst of his vic- 
 torious progress, and caused him infinite chagrin, 
 for he once more found himself obstructed in his 
 
 career. If the couriers had been but sent through 
 Paris, he would have had time utterly to annihilaie 
 Kray, which had added a glorious feat of arms to his 
 laurels, and exercised a vast influence on the course 
 of the negotiations. Whilst Hoche was moving so 
 rapidly on the Nidda, Desaiz, who had received from 
 Moreau authority to pass the Rhine, executed one 
 of the boldest actions recorded in history. He chose 
 a point considerably below Strasburg at which to 
 cross the river. After being stranded with his troops 
 on a sand-bank, he eventually reached the opposite 
 shore ; there he remained for twenty-four hours, 
 exposed to the hazard of being driven into the Rhine, 
 and obliged to contend agiiinst the whole Austrian 
 army to maintain himself in thickets and swamps 
 whilst a bridge was constructing over the river. At 
 length the passnge was effected. The French re- 
 pi'lled the Austrians into the Black JNIountains, and 
 captured part of their magazines. Here again the 
 army was stopped in the midst of its successes by the 
 courier from Leoben, and it also had cause to regret 
 that the erroneous information transmitted to Bona- 
 jjarte had induced him to sign the convention so 
 hastily. 
 
 The couriers subsequently arrived at Paris, where 
 the intelligence they conveyed diffused inexpressible 
 ioy amongst all who ardently longed for peace, but 
 gave indifferent satisfaction to the Directory, who, 
 deeming the military position of the republic ex- 
 tremely formidable, was discontented that it had not 
 been turned to a still more advantageous account. 
 As philosophers, Larevelliere and Rewbell desired 
 the total emancipation of Italy, and Barras, as a vio- 
 lent revolutionist, the more complete humiliation of 
 potentates. But Carnot, who had affected modera- 
 tion for some time past, and very generally supported 
 the views of the opposition, advocated peace, and 
 maintained that in order to render it durable the 
 Emperor ought not to be too much humbled Several 
 warm discussions took place in the Directory upon 
 the preliminaries ; ultimately, however, from a dread 
 of irritating opinion and of appearing to desire an end- 
 less war, it was decided that the conditions settled 
 at Leoben should be approved. 
 
 Whilst these things were passing on the Rhine 
 and in France, important events occurred in Italy. 
 We have seen that Bonaparte, being apprized of the 
 troubles which disturbed the Venitian territories, of 
 the rising of the mountaineers against the towns, of 
 the repulse of the Brescians before Salo, of the cap- 
 ture of 200 Poles, of the assassination of numberless 
 Frenchmen, and of the imprisonment of all French 
 partisans, had written a vehement letter to the 
 Venitian senate from Leoben. He had instructed 
 his aide-de-camp Junot to read it in person to the 
 senate, and to demand the immediate liberation of 
 all the prisoners, together with the prosecution and 
 punishment of assassins; and, if ample satisfac- 
 tion were not given, he had directed him forthwith 
 to leave Venice after publishing a declaration of war. 
 Junot was introduced to the senate on the 26th 
 Germinal (13th April). He read aloud the threat- 
 ening letter of his general, and conducted himself 
 with all the rudeness of a soldier flushed with the 
 insolence of victory. He was answered that the 
 warlike preparations complained of had been made 
 with no other view than to maintain subordination 
 within the dominions of the republic, and that if 
 assassinations had been committed, the evil was un- 
 intentional, and it should be remedied. Junot refused 
 to be satisfied with vain protestations, and threat- 
 ened to publish the declaration of war uidess the 
 senate liberated the prisoners of state and the Poles, 
 and gave directions to disarm the mountaineers and 
 to prosecute the perpetrators of the assassinations. 
 With difficulty the senate induced him to moderate 
 his tone, and it was finally arranged with him and 
 the French minister Lallemant, that the senate should
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 647 
 
 write to General Bonaparte, and send to him two 
 deputies to treat of the satisfactions he demanded. 
 The two deputies chosen were Francis Donati and 
 Leonard Justiniani. 
 
 Meanwhile, the apritation was far from subsiding in 
 the Venitian dependencies The peasants and moun- 
 taineers were still in hostility with the urban popu- 
 lation. The emissaries of the aristocratical and 
 monkish party circulated the most deceitful reports 
 as to the fate of the French army in Austria. They 
 proclaimed that it had been enveloped and destroyed, 
 and appealed to two facts in corroboration of their 
 false assertions. Bonaparte having recalled to the 
 main army the two corps under Joubert and Berna- 
 dotte, which he had dispatched, tlie one tl)rough the 
 Tyrol and the other through Carniola, had thereby 
 uncovered his flanks. Joubert had defeated and 
 repulsed Kerpen beyond the Alps, but had left 
 Laudohn in a part of the Tyrol, whence he had 
 shortly emerged, arousing the faithful population of 
 that mountainous country, and descending the Adige 
 in the direction of Verona. General Servier, sta- 
 tioned with twelve hundred men to guard the Tyrol, 
 slowly retreated before him on Verona, in order to 
 obtain the aid and support of the French forces left 
 in Upper Italy. At the same time, a corps of equal 
 force, posted in Carniola, recoiled before the Croats, 
 who had risen in arms like the Tyrolese, and fell 
 back on Palma-Nuova. These were but trivial 
 events, and the French minister, Lallemant, en- 
 deavoured to impress upon the senate their trifling 
 importance mth the view of saving it from fresh 
 imprudences; but all his arguments were unavailing ; 
 and at the very time that Bonaparte had compelled 
 the Emperor to send plenipotentiaries to his head- 
 quarters, it was confidently rumoured in the Venitian 
 territories that he was beaten, enveloped, and about 
 to perish in liis mad enterprise. The party hostile 
 to France and the revolution, at the head of which 
 stood the niiijority of the members of the Venitian 
 government, although the government itself studied 
 to appear unconnected therewith, manifested extreme 
 exultation. At Verona, more especially, a prodigious 
 ferment prevailed. This city, the most considerable 
 in the Venitian dependencies, was the next exposed 
 to the revolutionary contagion, since it stood imme- 
 diately after Salo on the line of insurgent towns. 
 The Venitians determined to save it from the infec- 
 tion and expel the French from its precincts. Every 
 tiling encouraged their resolution, as well the general 
 dispositions of the inhabitants as the concourse of 
 mountaineers and the approach of Laudohn. Certain 
 Italian and Sclavonian troops in the service of Venice 
 were already stationed there; more were added, and 
 shortly all the comnmnications with the circumjacent 
 towns were intercepted. General Balland, who com- 
 manded the French garrison at Verona, found himself 
 separated from the other commanders posted in the 
 vicinity. Upwards of twenty thousuTid mountaineers 
 overspread the country around. The French de- 
 tachments were attacked on the roads. Capuchins 
 preached to the populace in the streets, and a false 
 manifesto of the podestat of Verona was (irculated, 
 exhorting to the slaughter of the French. This 
 manifesto was forged, a fact sufficiently avouched by 
 the signature of Battaglia, which had been daringly 
 attached to it; but it did not the less contribute to 
 inflame the passions. Lastly, a comnmnication, ad- 
 dressed by the heads of the party in Verona, an- 
 nounced to General Laudohn that the time liad 
 arrived for him to advance, and that the town would 
 be delivered into his haiuls. All tliis passed during 
 the days of the '2()th and '27th Germinal (15th an<i 
 16th April). No intelligence of J^eolien had yet been 
 received, and the moment, in fact, appeared most 
 happy for an explosion. 
 
 General Balland was on his guard. He had issued 
 orders to his troops to retire into the forts on the 
 
 first signal. He protested to the Venitian author- 
 ities against the measures pursued with regard to 
 the French, and especially against the preparations 
 he saw in progress. But he obtained no real satis- 
 faction ; simply evasive assurances. He wrote to 
 Mantua and JNIilan to request succours, and he held 
 himself in readiness to take refuge in the forts. On 
 the '28th Germinal (17th April), which happened to 
 be Easter Monday, an extraordinary ferment mani- 
 fested itself in Verona ; bands of peasants entered 
 the town vociferating "Death to the Jacobins!" 
 Balland immediately A^thdrew his troops into the 
 forts, merely leaving detachments at the gates, and 
 intimated that upon the first act of violence he would 
 bombard the town. Nevertheless, towards the mid- 
 dle of the day, repeated whistlings were heard in the 
 streets, and eventually tumultuous assaults were 
 made on the French, armed bands fell on the de- 
 tachments left on guard at the gates, and all were 
 massacred who had not time to reach the forts. 
 Ferocious assassins pursued the unarmed Frenchmen, 
 whom their functions retained in Verona, slew them, 
 and threw their ]>odies into the Adige. They did 
 not even respect the hospitals, and a part of the sick 
 was slaughtered to satisfy their thirst of blood. 
 Those who could save themselves by flight, but had 
 not time to reach the forts, escaped into the govern- 
 ment hospital, where the Venitian authorities gave 
 them refuge in order that the massacre might not 
 seem their work. Already upwards of four hundred 
 unfortunate men had been sacrificed; the French 
 garrison boiled wdth rage on beholding their country- 
 men murdered and their dead bodies floating in the 
 stream of the Adige. General Balland at once gave 
 orders to fire, and a cannonade opened upon the 
 town. He might easily have laid it in ashes. But 
 if the mountaineers who crowded it were indifferent 
 to such a catastrophe, the inhabitants and magis- 
 trates were alarmed, and resolved to parley for the 
 purpose of saving their town from destruction. 
 They accordingly sent an envoy to General Balland 
 to negotiate with him and avert the disaster. Gen- 
 eral Balland consented to listen to terms with a view 
 of rescuing the fugitives in the palace of the govern- 
 ment, upon whom all the mischief done to the town 
 was threatened to be avenged. Among these were 
 women and children belonging to the employes of the 
 administrations, and the sick escaped from the hospi- 
 tals, whom it was of consequence to extricate from 
 danger. Balland demanded they should be forthwith 
 delivered to him, and that the mountaineers and 
 Sclavonian regiments should be sent away, the 
 populace disarmed, and hostages given in the persons 
 of the Venitian magistrates, as pledges of the sub- 
 mission of the town. The envoy begged that an 
 officer should be sent to treat at the jialace of the 
 government. The brave Colonel Beaupoil had the 
 courage to undertake this mission. He pushed 
 tluotigh the crowd of infuriated populace, who 
 howled to tear him in pieces, and with dilliculty 
 reached the seat of the authorities. The whole 
 night was jiassed in fruitless discussions with the 
 proveditore and podestat, but nothing satisfactory 
 could be arranged. They refused to disarm or to 
 give hostages, and they required guarantees against 
 the vengeance which (Jeneral Bonaparte would not 
 fail to take upon the rebellious city. But during 
 tiiese negotiations, the agreement to abstain from 
 hostilities whilst the conference was held \\as not 
 maintained by the furious hordes tiiat had broken 
 into Verona; the forts were fired on, and the French 
 troops provoked into sallies. The following morn- 
 ing, '2'Jth Germinal (18th April), Colonel Beaupoil 
 returned to the forts, amidst the greatest dangers, 
 without having contained any concession. Shortly 
 the Frencl' learned that the Venetian magistrates, 
 being unable to control the enraged multitude, had 
 disappeared. The firing against the forts was re-
 
 643 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 newed. Thereupon General Balland once more ap- 
 plied the torch to his pieces, and opened a n:eneral 
 discharge against the town. Flames burst forth in 
 several quarters. Some of the principal inhabitants 
 assembled at the palace of the government to take 
 the direction of the to\v!i in tlie absence of the au- 
 thorities. Fresh negotiations were commenced. A 
 mutual pledge was given to cease the firii^g. But 
 this convention was not better observed by the in- 
 surgents, who continued to fire on the forts. The 
 barbarous peasants who overran the country fell 
 upon the garrison of the fort of lia Chiusa upon tlie 
 Adige, and put every man to death. They executed 
 the same ruthless vengeance upon all the French 
 scattered in the villages around Verona. 
 
 But the hour of vengeance was at hand. Couriers 
 had been dispatched on all sides to carry the intelli- 
 gence to General Kilmaine. Troops approached 
 from all quarters. Kilmaine had issued immediate 
 orders to General Chabran to mnrch with 1,200 men, 
 to Lahoz, commander of the Lombard legion, to 
 push forward with 800 more, and to Generals Victor 
 and Baraguay-d'Hilliers to advance with their divi- 
 sions. Whilst these movements were being executed, 
 General Laudohn had received intelligence of the 
 signing of the preliminaries, and halted on the Adige. 
 After a sanguinary conflict which General Chabran 
 had to sustain against the Venitian troops, Verona 
 was encompassed on all sides, and then the madmen 
 who had massacred the French sunk from the height 
 of fury to the deepest dejection and dismay. Mean- 
 while from the 1st to the 5th Floreal (20th to the 
 24th A()ril), the negotiations and the tiring were 
 both contiimed without cessation. The Venitian 
 magistrates had re-appeared, and again insisted upon 
 guarantees against the vengeance which menaced 
 them ; twenty-four hours were given them to form 
 their determination, but before that time they again 
 vanished A provisional municipality replaced them, 
 which, seeing the French masters of the town, and 
 prepared to reduce it to ashes, surrendered at dis- 
 cretion. General Kilmaine did his utmost to prevent 
 pillage ; but with all his efforts he could not save the 
 Mont-de-Piete, which was partly plundered. He put 
 to death some of the acknowledged leaders of the in- 
 surrection, taken with arms in their hands, imposed 
 a contri])ution of 1,100,000 francs (£50,000) on the 
 town for the payment of the army, and sent out his 
 cavalry on the different roads to disarm the peasants, 
 and destroy those who had the hardihood to resist. 
 He then took measures for the re-establishment of 
 order, and drew up a report for the commander-in- 
 chief, awaiting his decision with regard to the fur- 
 ther treatment of the rebellious city. Such were 
 the massacres known under the name of the Veronian 
 Easter. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing at Verona, an 
 act still more atrocious, if possible, was perpetrated 
 at Venice itself. There was an ordinance prohibit- 
 ing armed vessels of belligerent powers from entering 
 the harbour of Lido. A lugger under the command 
 of Captain Laugier, forming part of the French 
 flotilla in the Adriatic, being chased by some Aus- 
 trian frigates, had taken refuge under the batteries 
 of the Lido, and fired a salute of nine guns. Not- 
 withstanding the weather and the enemy's vessels in 
 pursuit he was ordered by signal to bear away. He 
 was about to obey, when, without allowing him time 
 to make a tack-off into the open sea, the forts opened 
 on the unfortunate vessel and raked her without 
 mercy. Captain Laugier, inspired with a generous 
 devotion, ordered his crew below, and paced the deck 
 in person with a speaking-trumpet to his nmuth, 
 proclaiming his intention to retire. But he was shot 
 dead on the deck with two men of his company. At 
 the same moment several Venitian boats, mamied by 
 Sclavonians, rowed off to the lugger, boarded her, 
 and put all the crew to death, with the exception of 
 
 two or three miserable survivors who were con- 
 ducted to Venice. This deplorable event took place 
 on the 4th Floreal (23 April). 
 
 It was at this time that, following the massacre at 
 Verona, the capture of that city and the signing of the 
 preliminai'ies were made known at Venice. No longer 
 able to rely on the destruction of General Bonaparte, 
 who, so far from being surrounded and defeated, was, 
 on the contrary, completely victorious, and had dic- 
 tated peace to Austria, the government felt itself 
 thoroughly compromised. It was now to confront 
 the all-powerful commander whose alliance it had 
 spurned and whose soldiers it had but just cruelly 
 butchered. It was seized with well-founded terror. 
 That it had ollicially ordered either the massacre at 
 Verona or the cruel outrage in the port of Lido was 
 not to be supposed, and they would know but little 
 of the working of governments controlled by factions 
 who should allege it. Governments in this situation 
 have no need to issue orders for the execution of 
 what they desire ; they have but to leave the fac- 
 tion, whose views they approve, to act. They yield 
 it their means, and do through it what they dare not 
 perform openly themselves. The insurgents at Ver- 
 ona [)ossessed cannons, and had been aided by regular 
 Venitian regiments ; the podestat of Bergamo, Otto- 
 lini, had long before received in abundance the sup- 
 plies necessary to arm the peasants ; wherefore, after 
 having furnished the means, the government had 
 simply to sit still and wink at their employment, 
 and such precisely had been its conduct. Still, in 
 this critical position, it committed a fatal indiscre- 
 tion, — which was to decree a reward to the com- 
 mander of the Lido, for having, as it premised, 
 caused the Venitian laws to be respected. Thus it 
 destroyed all hope of propitiating Bonaparte by any 
 valid excuses. It forwarded fresh instructions to 
 the two deputies Donati and Justiniani, who at first 
 had been simply commissioned to answer the de- 
 mands made by Junot on the 26th Germinal (13 
 April). At that time the events at Verona and the 
 Lido were not known ; but now the deputies had a 
 very different task to accomplish, and occurrences of 
 a more austere order to explain. 
 
 These, however, proceeded forward on their mis- 
 sion, and as they advanced amidst the rejoicings 
 occasioned by the news of peace, they speedily com- 
 prehended that they alone had reason to be sad at 
 this momentous juncture. They learnt on the way 
 that, to punish their refusal of his alliance, their 
 prosecutions of his partisans and some isolated mur- 
 ders committed on Frenchmen, Bonaparte had ceded 
 a portion of their provinces to Austria. Alas ! 
 what would it be when he came to know the 
 grievous charges which had been since supplied ! 
 
 Bonaparte had already retrograded from Leoben, 
 and, in accordance with the terms of the jirclimi- 
 naries, moved back his army on the Alps and the 
 Isonzo. The envoys found him at Gratz, and were 
 presented to him on the 6th Floreal (25th April). 
 He was as yet aware oidy of the massacres at Verona, 
 which had commenced on the 28th Germinal (17th 
 April), and not of the occurrence before the Lido, 
 which had taken place on the 4th Floreal (23d 
 April). They had provided themselves \\'ith a 
 letter from the general's brother with the hope of 
 procuring a more gracious reception. They ap- 
 proached with trembling awe "this man so truly 
 exirnordinari/," as they themselves describe him, 
 '■\from his vivacity of iinayiiuition, his promptness of 
 understandiiKj, and his invincible strength of charac- 
 ter." He received them with urbanity, and, re- 
 straining his wrath, permitted them to explain at 
 great length ; but at last breaking silence, he 
 abruptly interrogated them : " Are my prisoners 
 discharged? Are the assassins punished? Are the 
 peasants disarmed ? I want no vain words ; — my 
 soldiers have been massacred, signal vengeance must
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 649 
 
 be taken!" The two envoys pleaded llie circuni- i 
 stances which had compelled their government to 
 provide against an outbreak, the excesses inseparable 
 from such events, the dilliculty of seizing the real 
 assassins. " A government," hotly retorted Bona- 
 parte, "so well served by spies as yours ought to 
 know the real instigators of these murders. How- 
 ever, I am well aware it is not more despicable than 
 despised, and that it is no longer able to disarm 
 those whom it arm.'d; but I will disarm them for it. 
 I have made peace, and have 80,UUU men ; I will 
 demolish your Leada, I will prove a second Attila to 
 Venice. 1 will have no Inquisition, no Golden Book; 
 they are institutions of barbarous ages. Your 
 government is anticjuated, it must be swept away. 
 When I was at Goritz, I offered M. Pezaro my alli- 
 ance and rational counsel. He repudiated me. You 
 waited for my return to cut off my retieat ; well, 
 here I am ! I will treat no longer, I shall now give 
 law. If you have nothing further to say, I tell you 
 at once you may retire." 
 
 These words, uttered with passionate vehemence, 
 struck dismay into the hearts of the Veiiitian envoys. 
 They solicited a second interview, l)ut could obtain 
 no other declarations from the general, who persist- 
 ed in the intentions he had expressed, his evident 
 determination being to act arbitrarily towards Venice, 
 and destroy by force an aristocracy he had failed to 
 induce by persuasion to reform itself. But they 
 shortly had fresh grounds of apprehension when they 
 learnt in detail the massacres at Verona, and espe- 
 cially the detestable act of cruelty in the port of 
 Lido. Not daring to present themselves before 
 Bonaparte, they ventured to write him a letter of 
 the most submissive character, offering him all the 
 explanations he might desire. '* I caiuiot receive 
 you all-reeking with French blood," lie replied to 
 them; " I will hear you when you have delivered 
 to me the three inquisitors of state, the commander 
 of the Lido, and the principal officer of police at 
 Venice." Nevertheless, as a later courier had 
 arrived with dispatches for them relative to the 
 Lido affair, he consented to see them, but he refused 
 to listen to any proposition until the individuals he 
 had specified were delivered into his hands. Then 
 the two Venitians, seeking to use an appliance which 
 the republic had often in times [Kist found of good 
 effect, essayed to tenipt him wdtli a satisfaction of a 
 diiferent species. " No, no," exclaimed the indig- 
 nant general, "if you were to cover this whole 
 region with gold, all your treasures, with those of 
 Peru to boot, would not avail to redeem the blood 
 of one of my soldiers." 
 
 Bonaparte dismissed them. It was the 13th Flo- 
 real ("id May), and lie forthwith issued a manifesto 
 of war against Venice. The French constitution 
 permitted neither the Directory nor commanders of 
 armies to declare war, out it authorized them to 
 repel hostilities. Accordingly, Bonaparte, founding 
 his proceedings on tiiis provision and on the affairs 
 of Verona and the Lido, declared hostilities com- 
 menced, summoned the minister Lalleniaiit to leave 
 Venice, directed the lion of Saint Mark to be struck 
 down in all the provinces of the terra-firma, the 
 towns to be municipalized, the overthrow of the 
 Venitiati government U) be everywhere proclainied, 
 and, pending the march of his troops from Austria, 
 ordered Geneial Kilmaine to move the divisions 
 under Baraguay-d'Hilliers and Victor to the margin 
 of the lagoons. His determinations, equally [irompt 
 with his anger, were instantly put in execution. In 
 the twinkling of an eye the aiK'ient lion of Saint 
 Mark disappeared from the hanks of the Isonzo to 
 those of the Mincio, and was everywhere replaced 
 by the tree of libertv. Troops advanced from all 
 quarters, and the Frendi cannon reverberated on 
 those shores which for so long a period had not been 
 startled by a hostile gun. 
 
 The ancient city of Venice, standing amidst its 
 lagoons, might still present almost insu[)erable diffi- 
 culties even to the general who had just humbled 
 Austria. All its lagoons were defended. It had 
 thirty-seven galleys, one hundred and sixty-eight 
 gun-boats, carrying seven hundred and fifty pieces of 
 ordnance, and eight thousand five hundred sailors 
 and gunners. It was garrisoned by three thousand 
 five hundred Italians and eleven thousand Sclavoni- 
 ans, was provisioned for eight months, w'ith fresh 
 water for two, and possessed the means of renewing 
 its stores. The French were not masters of the 
 sea ; they had no gun-boats to traverse the lagoons ; 
 they must advance cautiously, sounding their way 
 every step, along those canals altogether unknown 
 to them, and under the fire of innumerable batteries. 
 However bold and impetuous the conquerors of Italy 
 had proved themselves, these were obstacles which 
 might stop them and compel a siege of several months. 
 And how many events might a delay of months bring 
 forth ! Defeated Austria might reject the prelimi- 
 naries, arise again in its strength, and risk the hazards 
 of a fresh encounter. 
 
 But if the military situation of Venice presented 
 resources, its internal condition scarcely allowed an 
 energetic application of thein. Like all decayed 
 bodies, its aristocracy was divided ; it had neither 
 the same interests nor the same passions. The high 
 aristocracy placed aloof, dispensing offices, honours, 
 and riches, was less ignorant, prejudiced, and impas- 
 sioned than the inferior nobility ; and moreover was 
 actuated by the lust of power. The bulk of the 
 nobles, excluded from employments, living in depen- 
 dence, ignorant and furious, were imbued \\ath gen- 
 uine aristocratic prejudices. United with the priests 
 they swayed the populace, which adhered to them, 
 as usually happens in communities where no middle 
 class exists in sufficient strength to direct its im- 
 pulses. This populace, composed of sailors and 
 artisans, rough, superstitious, and half-savage, was 
 ready for any outbreak of fanaticism and ferocity. 
 The middle class, composed of merchants, shop- 
 keepers, lawyers, doctors, &c., desired, as in other 
 places, the establishment of civil liberty, and rejoiced 
 at the approach of the French, but dared not evince 
 any such feeling, in presence of a populace which 
 might be roused to the most barbarous excesses, 
 uncil a revolution was actually effected. More- 
 over, to all these elements of discord was added a 
 circumstance not less fruitful of danger perhaps. 
 The Venitian government was served by Sclavonians. 
 This barbarous soldiery, foreign to the Venitian 
 people, and often in hostility with them, only wanted 
 an occasion to commence a general pillage without 
 reference to the interests of any party. 
 
 Such was the internal condition of Venice. Feeble 
 and decrepit, its body- politic seemed on the point of 
 crumljling in pieces of its mere motion. The grandees 
 in piissession of the government were terrified to 
 enter the lists witli a warrior like Bonaparte. Not- 
 withstanding Venice was in a position to resist an 
 attack, tliey regarded with deep apprehension the 
 horrors of a siege, the broils which were sure to 
 ensue between two exasperated parties, tlie outrages 
 of the Sdavonian soldiery, the dangers to which 
 N^enice with its tnaritime and commercial establish- 
 ments would be exposed; and above all, tliev dreaded 
 to have liieir estates, situated on the Terra-firma 
 and liable to confiscation, seized and se(iuestrated by 
 Honaparte. 'J'liey trembled even for the pensions 
 whereon the inferior nobility depended, and which 
 might be lost if, pushing the contest to extremify, the 
 chance (»f a revoiuticjn was incurred, 'i'liev thaughi 
 that by means of negotiation they might save the 
 aacient institutions of \'enice through modilications ; 
 retain the chief power, which always falls to the lot 
 of those accustomed (o wield it ; preserve their own 
 l)ossessions and the pensions of the lower nol)iIitv.
 
 650 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and rescue the city from the horrors of a sack and pil- 
 lage. Accordinjrly these men, who lacked both the 
 energy of their ancestors and the passions of the mass 
 of nobles, resolved to treat. The principal mem- 
 bers of government met at the palace of the Doge. 
 The assembly comprised the six councillors of the 
 Doge, the thiee presidents of the Criminal Gallery, 
 the six grand sages, the five sages of the Terra-firma, 
 the five sages of the Orders, the eleven sages deputed 
 from the Council, the three heads of the Council of 
 Ten, and the three Avogadors. The object of this 
 extraordinary assembly, convoked in contravention 
 of all usage, was t<i provide for the safety of Venice. 
 Terror was predominant in the conclave. The Doge, 
 an old man enfeebled by age, his eyes filled with 
 tears, presided. He spoke, saying there was no 
 security that they should even that night sleep 
 tranquilly in their beds. Every one was eager to 
 proffer his counsel. One member proposed to make 
 use of the banker Haller for the purpose of gaining 
 Bonaparte. The idea was found idle and ridiculous. 
 In truth, their ambassador Quirini had already in- 
 structions to do everything he could at Paris in that 
 way, and even to buy votes in the Directory, if it 
 were possible. Others declared for a vigorous de- 
 fence. This proposal was treated as rash, and wor- 
 thy only of young and foolish heads. At length the 
 suggestion was adopted of propounding before the 
 Great Council a modification in the Constitution, 
 with the view of appeasing Bonaparte by the con- 
 cession. The Great Council, usually composed of 
 all the nobility, and representing the Venitian na- 
 tion, was accordingly convoked. Six hundred and 
 nineteen members, that is to say, somewhat more 
 than one-half, were present. The proposition was 
 submitted amidst a mournful silence. The subject 
 had been already canvassed upon a communication 
 from the minister Lallemant to the senate, and it 
 had been then determined to postpone the modifica- 
 tions to a future day. But at present any recur- 
 rence to dilatory measures was felt to be hopeless. 
 The proposition of the Doge was adopted by five 
 hundred and ninety-eight voices. It bore that two 
 commissioners deputed by the senate should be au- 
 thorized to negotiate with Bonaparte, and to treat 
 even on points within the province of the Great 
 Council, that is to say, on constitutional questions, 
 subject to subsequent ratification. 
 
 The two commissioners departed forthwith, and 
 discovered Bonaparte on the margin of the lagoons, 
 at the bridge of IMarghera. He was in the act of 
 disposing his troops, and already an exchange of shots 
 had commenced between the French artillery and 
 the Venitian gun-boats. The commissioners drew 
 near and delivered to him the vote of the Great 
 Council. He seemed struck for a moment at its 
 terms ; but, resuming his abrupt and rapid manner, 
 he exclaimed : " And the three inquisitors of state 
 and the commandant of the Lido, are they arrested ? 
 I must have their heads. No treaty until that French 
 blood is avenged. Your lagoons do not alarm me ; 
 I find them just as I expected. In a fortnight I will 
 be in Venice. Y^our nobles will esrape death oidy by 
 betaking themselves, like the French emigrants, to 
 wander in misery over the face of the earth." The 
 deputies strove ardently to obtain a delay of a few 
 days to arrange the terms of satisfaction he demanded. 
 He refused to grant them more than twenty-four 
 hours. He agreed, however, to give a suspension 
 of arms for six days, to allow the Commissioners 
 time to rejoin him at Mantua, with the acceptance 
 by the Great Council of all the prescribed condi- 
 tions. 
 
 Bonaparte, satisfied to strike the Venitians with 
 terror, was by no means anxiou-; to engage in actual 
 hostilities, for he duly appreciated the difficulty of 
 forcing the lagoons, and foresaw an intervention on 
 the part of Austria. By an article in the prelimi- 
 
 naries, it was provided that everything relative to 
 Venice should be regulated in concert by France and 
 Austria. Hence, if he entered the city by force of 
 arms, complaints would lie made at Vieima of a vio- 
 lation of the preliminaries. On all accounts, there- 
 fore, it suited him better to induce them to submit. 
 So, content with the fright he had given them, he 
 took his departure for Mantua and Milan, not doubt- 
 ing they would soon follow with a full and entire 
 submission. 
 
 The assembly of all the members of government, 
 previously constituted at the palace of the Doge, 
 again met to receive the report of the commissioners. 
 No option was left under the circumstances ; it was 
 necessary to concede all the demands of the general, 
 for the internal danger was becoming hourly more 
 imminent. It was rumoured that the citizens were 
 conspiring and laying plans to slaughter the nobles, 
 and that the Sclavonians were prepared to profit by 
 the occasion to plunder the city. A resolution was 
 passed to submit a fresh proposition to the Great 
 Council, in substance yielding to all the requisitions 
 of General Bonaparte. On the 15th Floreal (4th 
 May) accordingly the Great Council was again con- 
 voked. By a majority of 704 votes to 10, it de- 
 termined that the commissioners should be authorized 
 to treat unreservedly as to conditions with General 
 Bonaparte, and a prosecution immediately instituted 
 against the three inquisitors of state and the com- 
 mandant of the Lido. 
 
 Invested with these new powers, the commission- 
 ers followed Bonaparte to IVIilan, to lay the boasted 
 constitution of Venice at his feet. But six days 
 were not sufficient, and the truce must necessarily 
 expire before they could reach and satisfy Bonaparte, 
 During the interval, the alarm grew to a fearful 
 pitch in Venice. At one moment so terrible was the 
 consternation, that the commandant of the lagoons 
 was authorized to capitulate with the French generals 
 left in command by Bonaparte. He was merely 
 enjoined to stipulate for the independence of the 
 republic, the security of religion, of persons, and of 
 the foreign ambassadors, for public and private pro- 
 perty, the mint, the bank, the arsenal, and the 
 archives. A prolongation of the truce, however, 
 was obtained from the French generals, to afford the 
 Venitian envoys time to negotiate with the com- 
 mander-in-chief. 
 
 The arrest of the three inquisitors of state had 
 disorganized the police of Venice. The most in- 
 fluential personages of the middle class associated 
 together, and openly asserted their intention to 
 hasten the fall of the aristocracy by active means. 
 They applied to the French chary c-(V affaires, Ville- 
 tard, who had remained at Venice after the departure 
 of Lallemant, and who was an ardent patriot. They 
 relied with confidence on him for support in their 
 projects. At the same time, the Sclavonians mani- 
 fested symptoms of insubordination, and gave rise to 
 fears of frightful excesses. They had already had 
 some broils with the Venitian populace, and the 
 citizens seemed to foment these disturbaiices, as they 
 tended to promote dissention in the forces of the 
 aristocracy. On the 20th Floreal (&th May), the 
 terror reached its height. Two influential members 
 of the revolutionary party, named Spada and Zorzi, 
 entered into communication with certain of the indi- 
 viduals composing the extraordinary assembly formed 
 at the Doge's palace. They suggested the prudence 
 of applying to the Fi'cnch charr/f-d'affaires, and con- 
 sulting with him on the means of preserving Venice 
 from the calamities which threatened it. Donati 
 and Battaglia, two |)atricians whom we have before 
 known as actors on this scene, did in fact address 
 themselves to Villefard on the above-named day, 
 inquiring of him what measures were best calculated, 
 in the existing peiil, to save Venice. He replied 
 that he was not authorized to treat by the com-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 631 
 
 mander-in-chief, but that if his private opinion were 
 desired, he would advise the folio vviiifif measures : 
 the dismissal and emb irkation of the Sclavonians ; 
 the foi'mation of a biiryher guard ; the introduction 
 of 4,000 French troops into Venice, and the occupa- 
 ti n by them of all the fortified posts ; the abolition 
 of the ancient government; the substitution ia its 
 place of a municipality of thirty-six members chosen 
 from all classes, and taking the present Doge as 
 mayor ; and the liberation of all prisoners confined 
 on account of opinion. Villetard added, that on 
 these conditions there was no doubt General Bona- 
 parte would pardon the three inquisitors of state and 
 the com nandant of the Lido. 
 
 These recommendations were carried to the coun 
 oil assembled at tiie Doge's palace. They were of 
 serious import, since they involved a total revolution 
 of things in Venice. But the heads of the govern- 
 ment were in mortal dread of a revolution effected 
 amid blood and pillage by the execution of the 
 designs of the revolutionary party, through the 
 barbarous violence of the mob, and the unbridled 
 lust of the Sclavonians. Two of their number were 
 differently affected, and vehemently opposed sur- 
 render. Pesaro maintained they ought to retire into 
 Switzerland rather than themselves consummate the 
 ruin of the ancient Venitian government. Oppo- 
 sition, however, was disregarded, and a resolution 
 passed to lay these propositions before the Great 
 Council. Its convocation was fixed for the 2;3d 
 Floreal (12th May). Meanwhile the Sclavonians 
 were paid all their arrears and shipped on board of 
 transports to be reconveyed to Dalmatia. But a 
 contrary wind detained them in the harbour, and 
 their presence in the waters of Venice continued to 
 excite uneasiness and apprehension. 
 
 On the 23d Floreal (12th IVIay) the Great Council 
 assembled with unusual solemnity, to vote the an- 
 nihilation of this ancient oligarchy. An immense 
 crowd was congregated. On one side were seen the 
 citizens, overjoyed at finally beholding the power of 
 their masters abolished ; on the other, the populace, 
 stimulated by the nobles, eager to assault and sacri- 
 fice those whom it regarded as the promoters of this 
 revolution. The Doge rose, and, with tears start- 
 ing from his eyes, proposed the abdication of its 
 sovereignty to the Council. While yet in delibera- 
 tion a report of firing was heard. The nobles start- 
 ed in alarm, believing they were about to be massa- 
 cred. " To the vote!. To the vote!" they cried 
 from all sides. Five hundred and twelve suffrages 
 were given for the demolition of the ancient govern- 
 ment. According to the statutes six hundred were 
 requisite. Twelve voted in the negative and six 
 were neuter. The Great Council then surrendered 
 the goveriunent to the whole Venitian people. It 
 ordained the establishment of a provisional govern- 
 ment, composed of deputies from all the Venitian 
 states, aiul of a municipality ; it consolidated the 
 public debt and the pensions granted to tlie poor 
 nobles, and decreed the introduction of the French 
 troops into Venice. Scarcely had these resolutions 
 passed, than a flag was hoisted at a window of the 
 palace. At this sight the citizens a|)plauded and 
 were full of joy ; but the populace, enraged aiul 
 furious, seizing an image of St. Mark, rushed through 
 the streets of Venice, and attacked the houses of 
 those accused of having forced the nobility to take 
 this step. The dwellings of Spada and Zorzi were 
 sacked and plurulered. Universal confusion reigned, 
 and a frightful carnage and convulsion seemed in- 
 evitable. Meanwhile a number of inhabitants inter- 
 ested in the public trancpiillity gathered together, 
 placed at their head an old Maltese general, called 
 Salembeni, who had been long persecuted by tiie 
 State-inquisition, and fell upon (he rioters. After 
 a conllict on tliL' Kialto they dis[)i:jsed them, and re- 
 stored peace and order. 
 
 The Sclavonians were finally embarked and sent 
 off, after committing abominable excesses in the 
 villages of Lido and Malamocco. The new munici- 
 pality was instituted, aiul on the 27t!i Floreal (16th 
 May), the flotilla was dispatched to bring a division 
 of 4,000 French, who quietly established themselves 
 in Venice. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing at Venice, Bona- 
 parte had signed at Milan, and on the same day, a 
 treaty with the Venitian plenipotentiaries in every 
 respect conformable to the course things had taken. 
 He therein stipulated for the abdication of the 
 aristocracy, the establishment of a provisional gov 
 ernment, the admission of a French division under 
 the guise of protection, and the punishment of the 
 three inquisitors of state and the commandant of 
 the Lido. Secret articles moreover specified certain 
 exchanges of territory, a contribution of three mil- 
 lions in money and of other three millions in naval 
 stores, and the surrender to France of three men-of- 
 war and two frigates. This treaty was to have 
 been ratified by the Venitian government; but this 
 was no longer possible, since the abdication had al- 
 ready taken place, and was besides of no moment, as 
 all the chief articles of the treaty were executed. 
 The provisional municipality, nevertheless, thought 
 fit formally to ratify it. 
 
 Thus had Bonaparte accomplished his ends with- 
 out compromising himself with Austria, or incurring 
 the vexatious embarrassments of a siege. He had 
 overthrown the absurd oligarchy which had betrayed 
 him, and placed Venice in the same situation as 
 Lombardy, Modena, Bologna, and Ferrara. He 
 might now, without any difficulty, make all such 
 arrangements of territory as appeared expedient to 
 him. Whilst ceding to the Fmperor all the terra- 
 firma extending from the Isoiizo to the Oglio, he 
 possessed the means of indemnifying Venice by giving 
 it Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna, which at present 
 formed part of the Cispadan Republic. Incorporating 
 these provinces with revolutionized Venice, could 
 not certainly be regarded as again placing them un- 
 der the yoke of subjection. Then there remained 
 the duchy of Modena and Lombardy, out of which 
 might be carved a second republic, the ally and sister 
 of the first. But a still better ami more compre- 
 hensive plan was feasible ; namely, supposing all 
 local rivalries subdued, to amalgamate all the pro- 
 vinces emancipated by the French arms, and to 
 merge Lombardy, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Ro- 
 magna, Polesina, Venice, and the Isles of Greece, 
 into one mighty republic, capable of commanding 
 both the continent and the seas of Italy. 
 
 The secret articles, relative to the payment of 
 three millions in naval stores and to the surrender 
 of three men-of-war and two frigates, afforded an 
 opportiuiity of laying hands on the whole Venitian 
 navy. Bonaparte, whose vast mind and foresight 
 embraced all objects at a view, was determined that 
 the sanu; mischance should iu)t befall the French 
 with regard to Venice which had hai)pened with re- 
 gard to Holland, that is to say, that the naval olli- 
 cers and connnand(M-s of islands, dissatisfied with the 
 revolution, should deli ver to the ICnglish the vessels 
 and pla(;es uiuler their comnuuul. He regarded with 
 especial interest the imp(»rtant islands of Corfu, 
 /'ante, Cephahniia, Santa-Maura, and Cerigo, all be- 
 longing to Venice, in the Grecian Archipelago. He 
 accordingly made immediate jireparations for occupy- 
 ing them. He dispatched letters to Toulon, direct- 
 ing that a certain numlier of sailors should be sent 
 to him bv land, |iromising at the same time to pay 
 and erjiiip them on their arrival at Venice. He 
 demanded from the Directory orders for Admiral 
 Brneys to sail instantly with six ships, in order to 
 rally under his flag the whole Venitian navy, and l)e 
 enabled to secure possession of the islands in ques- 
 tion. He trans-mitted two millions to Toulon, that
 
 652 
 
 HISTORV OF THP: FllEiNCH liEVOLUTIUxX 
 
 the admiralty officer might not be delayed in the 
 execution of his commands by the want of finids. 
 In this instance he again transgressed the rules of 
 the treasury to insure promptitude. Nevertheless, 
 fearing that Brueys would arrive too late, he joined 
 the small dotilla he bad in the Adriatic to the vessels 
 found at Venice, put mixed crews of French and 
 Venitiaiis on board of them, embarked two thousand 
 troops, and dispatched them to seize the islands. 
 He thus took measures to obtain possession of the 
 most important posts in the Levant and Adriatic; 
 and thereby yet more to improve a position, which, 
 becoming daily more imposing, nuist necessarily 
 greatly influence the definitive negotiations with 
 Austria. 
 
 Since the signing of the preliminaries at Leoben 
 had decided the fate of Italy and the predominance of 
 the French, the revolutionary spirit grew wider and 
 bolder day by day. It was now certain that the greater 
 part of Upper Italy would be formed into a democra- 
 tic republic. This tended to agitate the minds and 
 excite the hopes of the people of Piedmont, Parma, 
 Tuscany, and the Papal states. The French general, 
 however, took no steps to stimulate disaffection, 
 but stood ready, as it seemed, to extend his counte- 
 nance to all who should seek his protection. At 
 Genoa, great animosity prevailed against the aris- 
 tocracy, a less preposterous and emasculated body 
 than that of Venice, but even more obstinate if that 
 were possible. As we have related, France had 
 treated with her to secure the rear of the army of 
 Italy, confining her demands to two millions by way 
 of indemnity, two millions by way of loan, and the 
 recall of the families e.xiled for their attacliment to 
 France. But now that Bonaparte had imposed 
 peace on Austria, no measures were observed by the 
 patriot party. It assembled at the house of a person 
 called Morandi, and established a club of the most 
 violent character. A petition was there drawn up, 
 and afterwards presented to the Doge, demanding 
 modifications in the constitution, which he referred 
 to a commission for consideration. In the interval, 
 the ferment increased. The citizens of Genoa, with 
 sundry young and ardent spirits, took concert to- 
 gether and prepared for an appeal to arms. On 
 their side the nobles, aided by the priests, inflamed 
 the populace, and supplied arms to the charcoal- 
 burners and porters. The French minister, a mild 
 and moderate man, restrained rather than excited 
 the patriot party. But on the '22(\ May, when the 
 events at Venice were made known, the Morandists, 
 as they were called, assembled in arms and attempted 
 to seize the principal posts in tlie city. A furious 
 conflict ensued ; the patriots, wlio were opposed to 
 the entire populace, were defeated and subjected to 
 the crudest violence. The victorious mob committed 
 all sorts of excesses, not even sparing the families of 
 the French resident in Genoa, many of whom were 
 grossly abused. The French minister himself was 
 respected only because the Doge took the precau- 
 tion to send him a guard. As soon as Bonaparte 
 was apprized of these proceedings, he perceived 
 he could no longer refrain from interfering. He dis- 
 patched his aide-de-camp Lavellettn to claim the 
 release of all imprisoned Frenchmen and compensa- 
 tions in their behalf, and especially to insist upon 
 the arrest of the three inquisitors of state accused of 
 having put arms into the liaiids of the populare. 
 The patriot party, reanimated by tliis powerful sup- 
 port, again took the olFeiisive, gained the upi)er 
 hand, and compelled the Genoese oligarchy, like that 
 of Venice, to abdicate. A provisional govcrinnent 
 was installed, and a deputation sent to Bonaparte 
 to confer with him touching the constitution suitable 
 for the repui>lic of Genoa. 
 
 Thus, after having in two months subdued the 
 Pope, passed the Julian Alps, dictated peace to 
 Austria, recrossed the Alps and chastised Venice, 
 
 Bonaparte was at Milan, exercising a supreme autho- 
 rity over the whole of Italy, awaiting without press- 
 ing the march of the revolution, deliberating upon 
 the constitution of the emancipated provinces, creat- 
 ing a navy in the Adriatic, and rendering his position 
 continually more potential with regard to Austria. 
 The i)relimiiiaries of Leoben had been ajiproved at 
 Paris and Vienna ; the ratifications were exchanged 
 between Bonaparte and De Gallo, and the immedi- 
 ate opening of the conferences for a definitive 
 peace expected with impatience. And Bonaparte 
 thus at i^Iilan, a simple general of the Republic, 
 wielded greater influence than all the potentates 
 of Europe. Couriers incessantly arriving and de- 
 parting, proclaimed that there the destinies of 
 nations were to be decided. The enthusiastic 
 Italians clustered whole hours around the palace 
 Serbelloni to catch a glimpse of the great general 
 as he issued forth. His wife, Madame Bonaparte, 
 was constantly attended by the young and beautiful 
 of her sex, who formed around her a brilliant court. 
 Here, in truth, commenced that extraordinary exist- 
 ence which for so long a while amazed, dazzled, and 
 awed the world. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 BONAPARTES POSITION WITH REGARD TO THE 
 DIRECTORY EMBARRASSING SITUATION OF ENG- 
 LAND AFTER THE PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE WITH 
 
 AUSTRIA. RENEWED PROPOSALS FOR PEACE 
 
 AND CONFERENCES AT LILLE. ELECTIONS OF 
 
 THE YEAR V. CONTEST BETWEEN THE COUNCILS 
 
 AND DIRECTORY. STATEMENT OF THE FINANCES 
 
 OF THE YEAR V. RETURN OF THE PRIESTS 
 
 AND E3IIGRANTS. INTRIGUES OF THE ROYALIST 
 
 PARTY. POSITION AND STRENGTH OF PARTIES. 
 
 ■ — DISPOSITION OF THE ARMIES. 
 
 The conduct of Bonaparte with regard to Venice 
 was sufficiently bold, but nevertheless within the 
 strict letter of the laws. He had grounded the 
 manifesto issued by him at Palma - Nuova on the 
 necessity of repelling hostilities actually conunenced; 
 and before the war had been fairly declared or begun 
 he had concluded a treaty, which rendered it un- 
 necessary for the Directory to submit the declara- 
 tion of war to the two Councils. Thus the republic 
 of Venice had lieen attacked, abolished, and effaced 
 from tlie map of Europe without the general having 
 almost consulted the Directory, or tlie Directory the 
 Councils. It simply remained to notify the treaty 
 and tlie result. So with regard to Genoa, which had 
 been similarly revolutionized without any appearance 
 of concurrence on the part of the Directory ; all 
 which events, being attributed to General Bonaparte 
 even more than the facts really warranted, gave an 
 extraordinary idea of his power in Italy, and of the 
 authority he arrogated. The Directory in truth 
 felt that Bonaparte had resolved sundry important 
 questions after a too peremptory fashion, but it 
 could scarcely object to him that he had materially 
 exceeded his powers. Moreover, it was unable to 
 deny the general utility and fitness of his operation , 
 whilst it dared not venture to censure a commander 
 so signally \ict()rious and in such high esteem with 
 his countrymen. 
 
 The Venitian ambassador at Paris, Quirini, liad 
 meanwhile used all possible endeavours to gain voices 
 in the Directory, in behalf of his country. He em- 
 ployed on this service a skilful intriguer, a Dalma- 
 tian, who had succeeded in forming an intimate com- 
 munication with Barras and securing the favour of 
 that director. It would seem that a sum of G(K),000 
 francs (£24,n(K)), was given to him in bills as the 
 consideration of defending Venice in the Directory.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 653 
 
 But Bonaparte, being apprized of the transaction, 
 denounced it ; and as Venice was not saved, pay- 
 ment of tlie bills was refused. These facts beintr 
 known to the Directory, provoked explanations, and 
 even the coinnieiicemeiit of a process; but they were 
 ultimately stifled. The conduct of Boiianarte in 
 Italy was approved, and the preliminaries of LeobeTi 
 were universally hailed with joyful acclamations. 
 It is true the enemies of the revolution and the 
 Directory, who had so lustily invoked peace as a 
 means of harassii:g the government, were at heart 
 bitterly disappointed with the auspicious conclusion 
 of the war. But all true republicans were exceed- 
 ingly rejoiced. These would have doubtless pre- 
 ferred the total emancipation of Italy ; but they 
 exulted in the fact of the recognition of the republic 
 b}' the emperor, which seemed to gain a new con- 
 secration tliereby. The great mass of the population 
 viewed with delight the termination of hostilities, 
 anticipating a reduction in the public burdens. The 
 sitting in which the Councils received the notifica- 
 tion of the preliminaries presented an exciting scene 
 of enthusiasm. Decrees were passed that the armies 
 of Italy, the Rhine, and the Sambre-and-I\Ieuse had 
 deserved well of their country and of humanity, by 
 conquering peace with victory. All parties lavished 
 on General Bonaparte expressions of the warmest 
 admiration, and it was even proposed to confer on 
 him the surname of Itnlicufs, as the Romans had of 
 old given Scipio that of Africanus. 
 
 With Austria, the continent was subdued. There 
 now remained only England to combat ; and, cut off 
 from all foreign aid, that country was veritably 
 exposed to great dangers. Hoche, stopped at Frank- 
 fort in his course of triumphs, was impatient to open 
 a new career. Ireland was always present to his 
 mind, and he still clung to the project he had formed 
 the preceding year. He had nearly 80,000 men 
 between the Rhine and the Nidda ; he had left 
 about 40,000 in the district of Brest, and the 
 squadi'on in that port wa-i all ready for sea. A 
 Spanish fleet collected at Cadiz oidy awaited an 
 accident of wind, which should compel Admiral 
 Jervis to sheer off, in order to leave the roadstead 
 and sail into the channel, to join the French fleet. 
 The Dutch had likewise at length succeeded in 
 equipping a squadron, and reorganizing a part of their 
 army. Thus Hoche had prodigious means at dis- 
 posal to invade Ireland. He proposed to detach 
 20,000 men from the army of the Sainbre-and-Meuse, 
 and march them towards Brest, to be there embarked 
 for this service. He had already selected his best 
 troops for the undertaking upon which all his 
 thoughts were fixed. He repaired in person to Hol- 
 land, preserving a [)rofouiid incognito, and giving out 
 that he had gone to pass a tew days with his family. 
 He there superintended the prei)ai'ations with liis 
 own eyes; 17,000 excellent soldiers of the Dutch 
 army were put on board a fleet, and held in readiness 
 to join the expedition prepared at Brest upon the 
 signal being given. If to these forces were added 
 the Spanish contingent, England was, as we see, 
 truly menaci'd with appalling dangers. 
 
 Pitt was in the greatest terror. The defection of 
 Austria, the preparations at the Texel and at Brest, 
 the squadron collected at Cadiz, which a pulFof wind 
 might relieve from blockade — all these were cir- 
 cumstances calculated to excite alarm. Moreover, 
 Fraiu-e and Spain were at work with Portugal to 
 drive her into a peace, and thus (here was reason (o 
 fear the loss even of that ancient ally. These 
 gloomy considerations had tended very sensibly to 
 affect public credit, and to produce a crisis which 
 had been long foreseen and often foretold. The Eng- 
 lish government had been in the constant habit of 
 applying to the bank for pecuniai'y aid. and had ob- 
 tained from it enormous advances, l)y forcing ujjon 
 it both the purchase of stock and the discount of ex- 
 
 chequer bills. These advances it had been enabled 
 to make oidy by profuse issues of notes. But when 
 alarm began to spread, and the fact of the prodigi- 
 ous loans made to government by the bank became 
 generally known, an universal run for gold took 
 p'ace. In consequence, so early as the month of 
 March, at the moment Bona[)arte was ad\'ancing on 
 Vienna, the bank found itself compelled to demand 
 power to suspend its cash payments. This power 
 was granted to it. and it was relieved from the weight 
 of an obligation it had no longer the means of fulfill- 
 ing; but even this relief did }iot suffice to save its 
 credit and its existence. An immediate publication 
 of its assets and liabilities was found necessary. The 
 assets were estimated at £17,597,280 sterling, and 
 the liabilities at £13,770,390 sterling. This showed 
 a surplus of assets of £3,826,800. But it was not 
 stated how much of these assets consisted of govern- 
 ment securities. All the bank possessed, in bullion 
 or in commercial bills of exchan^re, was safe enough ; 
 but the stocks and exchequer bills, which constituted 
 the larger portion of its assets, had lost credit with 
 the political mischances of the government. Bank 
 notes forthwith fell upwards of fifteen per cent, in 
 value. The private bankers in their turn claimed 
 the like privilege of paying in notes, on the threat of 
 being obliged to stop payment. It was only fair 
 they should be allowed the same favour as the bank 
 of England, and, in fact, strict justice ordained it; 
 for the bank, by refusing to perform its e'lgagements 
 in specie, had rendered it quite impossible for them 
 to redeem theirs in such medium. But this was 
 tantamount to a forced currency of paper. To avert 
 this inconvenience, the principal merchants of London 
 met together and gave a remarkable proof of public 
 spirit and intelligence. Perceiving that a refusal to 
 accept bank-notes in payments would lead to an in- 
 evitable catastrophe, in which the fortunes of all 
 would be equally exposed to danger, they resolved 
 to avoid it as far as lay in their power, and agreed 
 by common consent to receive notes in payment. 
 From that time England entered on the career of 
 paper-money. It is true that this paper-money, in- 
 stead of being forced, was voluntary ; but it possessed 
 merely the attributes of a paper-currency, and de- 
 pended entirely on the political management of the 
 cabinet. To render it more convenient for the pur- 
 poses of money, it was emitted in smaller sums. 
 Tiie bank, whose lowest notes were for fi\e pounds, 
 was authorized to issue them for one and two jiounds. 
 They were thus made available for tlie payment of 
 the wages of labour. 
 
 Although the good sense of the conunercial com- 
 munity thus [)revented this financial crisis proving so 
 disastrous as it might have been, yet the situation of 
 allairs was not the less [x'rilous ; and that it might 
 not become absolutely fatal, seemed to depend wholly 
 on bringing France to terms, and on stopping the 
 Spanish, Dutch, and French fleets from sailing to 
 light up a flame in Ireland. The Royal family was 
 still as nuH'h opi)osed as ever to the revolution and 
 to peace ; but Pitt, who had no other \iew but the 
 interest of (Ireat Hiilain, (U'cnied a resjiite at this 
 moment indispensable. Wlu-llicr peace should be 
 definitive or not, an interval of rejiose uuist be ob- 
 tained. I'ntirely agreed with Lord Grenville upon 
 this point, he determined the cabinet to open a sin- 
 cere negotiation, which might procure two or three 
 years' relief to the over-stretched capacities of Eng- 
 land. 'I'lieie could l)e no longer any |)retence for 
 disputing about the Netherlands, as they were now 
 ceded by Austria herself; the only questions that 
 I'emained for settlement had refereiu-e to the colonies, 
 and these there wa-* good reason to hope means might 
 be found to adjust. And not oidy did the actiuil 
 condition of affairs indicate a disposition to treat 
 with sincerity, luit the choice of a negotiator de- 
 monstrated it more fully. Lord .Malmesburv was
 
 654 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 again appointed upon this occasion, and at his age 
 he would not have been tmce in succession employed 
 upon an idle mission. Celebrated for his long diplo- 
 matic career, and for his dexterity as a negotiator, 
 Lord Malmesbury sighed for retirement from public 
 affairs, but aspired to signalize his retreat by a happy 
 and lirilliant negotiation. None could be more de- 
 sirable than a pacification with France after so ter- 
 rible a conflict ; and if he had not been assured that 
 his cabinet desired peace, he would not have con- 
 sented to act, for a vain parade would become ridi- 
 culous by repetition. He had received, in fact, se- 
 cret instructions which left him no room to doubt. 
 The English ministry lost no time in demanding 
 passports for its envoy, and by mutual consent the 
 place of conference was fixed at Lille, instead of 
 Paris. The Directory preferred receiving the Eng- 
 lish ambassador in a provincial town, because it there 
 cared less for his intrigues. The English minister, 
 on his part, was not over-anxious to be in immediate 
 contact with a government whose forms were some- 
 what rude, and was well content to treat through 
 the medium of its accredited agents. Lille, there- 
 fore, was the place chosen, and each party nominated 
 a solemn legation. Hoche, nevertheless, continued 
 to urge his preparations with vigour, in order to give 
 greater weight to the French plenipotentiaries. 
 
 Thus France, victorious on all sides, was in nego- 
 tiation with the two great European powers, and 
 verging on a general peace. Events so glorious and 
 auspicious ought to have occasioned, it was natural 
 to suppose, no feeling but one of general congratula- 
 tion ; but the elections of the year V. had given the 
 opposition a dangerous accession of strength. We 
 have seen how the opponents of the Directory be- 
 stirred themselves as the elections approached. The 
 Royalist faction had greatly influenced the result. 
 It had lost three of its principal agents by the ar- 
 rest of Brottier, Laville-Heurnois, and Duverne de 
 Presle ; but this was of little moment, for so great 
 was the confusion in its ranks that even the loss of 
 its leaders could scarcely increase it. There still 
 existed two associations, the one composed of de- 
 voted partisans fitted to take arms, the other of less 
 decided adherents to be relied on only as voters at 
 the elections. The Lyons agency had remained en- 
 tire. Pichegru, plotting apart, still corresponded 
 with the English minister Wickham, and with the 
 Prince of Conde. Influenced by these intrigues of 
 various kinds, and especially by the spirit of reaction, 
 the elections resulted in the maimer that bad been 
 foreseen. Almost the whole of the second third, 
 like the first, was formed of men who were opposed 
 to the Directory, either from attachment to royalty, 
 or from hatred to the system of terror. The advo- 
 cates of royalty, it is true, were not very numerous ; 
 but they would avail themselves, according to cus- 
 tom, of the passions of others. Pichegru was no- 
 minated a deputy in the Jura. At Colmar, the 
 electors chose one Chemble, employed in the corre- 
 spondence with Wickham ; at Lyons, Imbert-Co- 
 lomes, one of the members of the royalist agency in 
 the south, and Camille-Jourdan, a young man of good 
 intentions, but actuated by a lively imagination and 
 a rii iculous wrath against the Directory; at Mar- 
 seilles, General Willot, who had been detached from 
 the army of the Ocean to take the command of the 
 department of tlie Bouches-du-Rhone, and who, far 
 from curbing the factions, had allowed himself to be 
 gained, perhaps unconsciously, by the royalist party ; 
 at Versailles, a person named Vauvilliers, implicated 
 in Brottier's conspiracy, and designed by the agency 
 for the post of administrator of provisions ; at Bre.-t, 
 Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse, who had ([uarrelled with 
 Hoche, and in consequence with the government, on 
 the occasion of tlic expedition to Ireland. Several 
 other nominations were made equally significant with 
 these. On the other hiuid, all were not so threaten- 
 
 ing to the Directory and the Republic. General 
 Jourdan, amongst others, who had relinquished the 
 command of the army of the Sambre-and-^Ieuse after 
 the misfortunes of the preceding campaign, was 
 elected a deputy by his department. He was worthy 
 to represent the army in the legislative body, and to 
 redeem the dishonour about to be reflected on it by 
 the treachery of Pichegru. By a strange singularity 
 Barrere was returned from the department of the 
 Upper-Pyrenees. 
 
 The new deputies hastened with all speed to Paris. 
 Whilst awaiting the 1st Prairial, the day of their in- 
 stallation, they were enticed to attend the meetings 
 at Clichy, which daily increased in violence. The 
 Councils themselves no longer preserved their former 
 moderation. As they saw the moment draw nigh 
 when they would be so strongly reinforced, the mem- 
 bers of the first third began to throw aside that 
 reserve they had maintained during the last fifteen 
 months. Hitherto they had followed in the wake of 
 the Constitutionalists, or in other words, of those 
 deputies who professed to be neither friends nor 
 enemies of the Directory, but affected to adhere to 
 the constitution alone, and to oppose the government 
 only when it departed therefrom. This spirit had 
 yet more especially prevailed in the council of the An- 
 cients. But as the day of the junction approached, 
 the opposition in the Five-Hundred assumed a tone 
 of a more menacing character. It was echoed from 
 mouth to mouth that the Ancients had led the Five- 
 Hundred too long, and that it was time for the latter 
 to emerge from tutelage. Thus, both in the club at 
 Clichy and in the legislative body, the party in ex- 
 pectation of a majority set no bounds to its exulta- 
 tion and audacity. 
 
 The self-complacent Constitutionalists, labouring 
 under the delusion that had affected all the parties 
 which, since the commencement of the revolution, 
 had been drawn into the ranks of opposition, believed 
 that they were the destined masters of the move- 
 ment, and that the new arrivals would prove to 
 them a powerful reinforcement. Carnot was at 
 their head. He, driven continually more in the false 
 direction he had taken, had never ceased to support 
 the opinion of the legislative majority in the Direc- 
 tory. Particulaily in the discussion on the pre- 
 liminaries of Leoben, he had displayed an animosity 
 he had hitherto restrained within the limits of de- 
 cency, and advocated, with a zeal inconsistent with 
 his whole life, the concessions made to Austria. 
 Blinded by egotism, he regarded the constitutional 
 party, both in the Ancients and in the Five-Hundred, 
 as completely under his guidance, and saw in the 
 newly-elected deputies oidy so many partisans the 
 more. In his heat to gather the elements of a party 
 which he expected to lead, he sought to ingratiate 
 himself with the most marked of the new deputies. 
 He even made advances to Pichegru, who viewed all 
 the members of the Directory with an evil eye, and 
 paid him a visit. But Pichegru, returning but in- 
 differently his advances, received him with distant 
 coolness, amounting almost to disdain. Nevertheless 
 Carnot was in close intimacy with numerous deputies 
 of the first and second third. His apartments at the 
 Luxembourg became the rendezvous of the new op- 
 position, and his colleagues had occasion to remark 
 their avowed enemies his daily visitors. 
 
 The great point was the choice of a new director. 
 Chance was to designate the retiring member. If 
 the lot fell on Larevelliere-Lepeaux, Rewbell, or 
 Barras, the policy of the government was changed ; 
 for the director nominated by the new majority could 
 not fail to side with Carnot and Letourneur. 
 
 \ rumour got abioiid that the five directors had 
 agreed amongst themselves which should go out; 
 that Letourneur had consented to resign, and that 
 the ballot would be merely nominal. It was im- 
 possible for a supposition to be more absurd. All
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 655 
 
 the directors, Larevellierealore excepted, were duly 
 enamoured of place. Besides, Cariiotand Letouriieur, 
 expecting to become masters of the government if 
 fortune shoukl rid them of one of their colleagues, 
 could not voluntarily relinquish their position. The 
 report originated in a peculiar way. The five di- 
 rectors had covenanted together that ho whom fate 
 decided to abdicate should receive an indemnity of 
 10, out) francs from each of his colleagues, making a 
 sum of 40,000 francs in the whole, which would 
 serve to break the too sudden transition of a poor 
 director from splendour to penury. This arrange- 
 ment gave rise to an impression that the other di- 
 rectors had consented to give up part of their emol- 
 uments to Letourneur, if he would of his own accord 
 surrender office. There was no pretence nevertheless 
 for the surmise. One false rumour, however, be- 
 gets another. A further statement gained credit, 
 that this resignation was to take place before the 
 first of Prairial, in order that the appointment of a 
 new director might be carried before the accession 
 of the second third to the councils ; a plau altogether 
 impossible with the presence of Carnot. 
 
 The Clichy club, however, was in great alarm, 
 and took measures to prevent the arrangement thus 
 spoken of. It resolved to have a motion submitted 
 to the Five-Hundred to the effect that the directors 
 should be compelled to draw the lots publicly. Such 
 a motion was unconstitutional, for the constitution 
 prescribed no particular mode of drawing, but reck- 
 oned for its due regularity upon the x'igilance of each 
 of the parties directly interested ; nevertheless it 
 passed the councils. Larevelliere-Lepeaux, unam- 
 bitious but tenacious %vithal, represented to his 
 colleagues that this measure was an interference 
 with their functions, and induced them to deny its 
 legality. Accordingly a message from the Directory 
 intimated its refusal to obey the vote of the Coun- 
 cils, seeing that it was clearly unconstitutional. 
 The Councils rejoined by a declaration that the Di- 
 rectory was not competent to judge a decision of the 
 legislative body. The Directory was inclined to 
 persevere, and to maintain that the constitution was 
 placed by a fundamental article under the safeguard 
 of each of the governing powers, and that the execu- 
 tive power was bound not to execute an unconstitu- 
 tional measure ; but Carnot and Letourneur forsook 
 the diet of their colleagues. Barras, who with all 
 his violence lacked firmness, prevailed on Rewbell 
 and Larevelliere to yield, and thus all dispute about 
 the mode of drawing was ended. 
 
 The turbulent clubbists of Clichy devised fresh 
 motions for discussion in the Councils before the 
 first Prairial. The most important in their eyes 
 was one for the repeal of the famous law of the 3d 
 Brumaire, which excluded the relatives of emigrants 
 from public employments, and barred the door of the 
 legislative body to several of both the first and 
 second third. The motion was brought forward 
 accordingly in the Five-Hundred some days previous 
 to the first Prairial, and after a stormy debate suc- 
 cessfidly carried. This unex[)cctcd victory, even 
 before the juiii^tion of the second tliird, |)ro\ed the 
 sway already exercised by tiie Opposition over tlie 
 legislature, although still composed of two-thirds 
 Conventionalists. The party, however, which styled 
 itself ConstitutioTial was more in the ascendant with 
 the Ancients. It was offended at the violeiu-e of 
 deputies who had hitherto professed to follow its 
 impulse, aiul refused to rescind the law of the 3d 
 Brumaire. 
 
 At length tlie first Prairial arrived, and the two 
 hundred and fifty newly elected deputies repaired to 
 the legislative body, and quietly displaced two hun- 
 dred and fifty Conventionalists. Out of tin? seven 
 hundred and fifty menil)ers of the two Councils, there 
 thus remained only two hundred and fifty l>olo?igiiig 
 to the great assembly which had achieved and de- 
 
 fended the revolution. When Pichegru appeared in 
 the Five-Hundred, the greater part of the members, 
 ignorant as yet that they harboured a traitor amongst 
 them, but seeing in him only a general of illustrious 
 merit disgraced by the government, rose through a 
 movement of curiosity. Out of 444 votes he ob- 
 tained 387 for the presidency. The moderate and 
 constitutional party desired to place General Jourdan 
 in the bureau, so as to prepare the way for him to 
 succeed Pichegru in the chair ; but the new majority, 
 elated with its strength and already regardless of 
 discretion, rejected Jourdan. The members of the 
 bureau elected were Simeon, Vaublanc, Henri La 
 Riviere, and Parisot. The exclusion of Jourdan was 
 impolitic, and could not fail to excite the deep re- 
 sentment of the armies. When the assembly was 
 constituted, its first act was to annul the election of 
 the Upper-Pyrenees which had returned Barrere to 
 the legislative body. Thereafter the result of the 
 Directorial ballot was communicated to it. By a 
 strange chance, the lot had actually fallen on Le- 
 tourneur, which confirmed the opinion previously 
 entertained of concert on the part of the directors.* 
 The nomination of his successor became forthwith 
 the leading topic. The choice to be made was now 
 of less importance since it could not change the 
 Directorial majority, but still an efficient ally was to 
 be provided for Carnot ; and furthermore, as the 
 real sentiments of Larevelliere-Lepaux were not dis- 
 tinctly known, and as he was notoriously a moder- 
 ate man and one of the proscribed in 1793, hopes 
 were indulged that he might, in certain cases, take 
 part with Carnot and reverse the majority. The 
 Constitutionalists, who desired to modify the policy 
 of the government without destroying" it, were iii 
 favour of a candidate attached to the actual system, 
 but opposed to the Directory and prepared to sup- 
 port Carnot. They accordingly proposed Cochon, the 
 minister of police, and the friend of Carnot. Beur- 
 nonville was likewise mentioned by them. But in 
 the Clichy club, Cochon was not regarded with 
 favour, although he had obtained great credit with it 
 at first on account of his energy agahist the Jacobites. 
 He was now ui bad odour, however, owing to the 
 arrest of Brottier, Duverne de Presle, and Laville- 
 Heurnois, and more particularly to his circulars to 
 the electors. Hence, Cochon was repudiated, as 
 likewise Beurnonville. Barthelemy, French ambas- 
 sador in Switzerland, and negotiator of the treaties of 
 peace with Prussia and Spain, was projiosed. It was 
 certair.ly not with any view of honouring him as a 
 pacific diplomatist, but as the presumed accomplice 
 of the pretender and the emigrants. Nevertheless, 
 the royalists who hoped, and the republicans who 
 dreaded, to find in him a traitor, were equally de- 
 ceived. Barthelemy was but a weak and mediocre 
 personage, faithful to the reigning [)ower, and devoid 
 even of the boldness necessary to betray it. To 
 facilitate his election, which encountered obstacles, 
 it was rumoured that he would not accept the office, 
 and that his nomination would be simply an act of 
 homage to tiu; man wlio had conuuenced the recon- 
 ciliation of France with Europe. This mannnivre 
 was not witlu)ut success. In the Council of Five- 
 Hundred he had 301) votes, and Cochon -230. On the 
 list of candidates presented to the Ancients, there 
 likewise appeared the names of Massena, supported 
 
 • Wo road in a niultilu<le of works that I.otouriumr went 
 out by a voluntar.v :nT;'.ii|;o:iK'iit. Tlie director Larevclliere 
 rA>i)eaux, in his valuable but uiipublisbed memoirs, assures us 
 to the contrary. To tliose wlio l<new tliat virtuous citizen, so 
 incapable of falsehood, his assertion will be a sutlioient jrroof. 
 Hut we cannot have a shadow of doubt after readiu}; Caniot's 
 narrative, written subsequent to the 18tli Kructidor. In that 
 account replete with ^all, and which is to be retjrettod for tno 
 fame of Curnot, he allirms that such an arran;fenicnt was a 
 puio fiction, lie assuredly had no interest in justifyinj; his 
 cuUuuKues, aRuinst whom in fact he was deeply incensed.
 
 656 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 hy 187 suffrages, of Kleber by 173, and of Aufrereaii 
 by 139. Many of the deputies were desirous of rais- 
 ing to the seat of government one of the most dis- 
 tinguished of the generals of division in the armies of 
 France. 
 
 Barthelemy was selected by the Ancients ; and, 
 disregarding the subterfuge employed to gain him 
 votes, he replied with prompt alacrity that he ac- 
 cepted the oifice of Director. His substitution in 
 place of Letourneur elFccted no cha'ige of impor- 
 tance. He was eciualiy incapable with Letourneur 
 of exercising intluence over his colleagues, and he 
 was bound by position to vote and act in the same 
 manner as bis predecessor had done from attachment 
 to Carnot. 
 
 The members of the Clichy club, the Clirhi/ans, as 
 they were called, prepared to take the field in earnest 
 after the first Prairial, and announced the most 
 violent intentions. Few amongst them were in the 
 confidence of the royalist agents. Lemerer, Mersan, 
 Imbert-Colomes, Pichegru, and perhaps Willot, alone 
 were in the secret. Pichegru, from having been 
 originally in communication with Condc and Wick- 
 ham, had recently been put in direct relation with 
 the pretender. He received lavish encomiums, 
 magtiificent promises, and additional remittances, 
 which he again accepted without being more certain 
 than before of the use to which he could apply them. 
 He, on his part, promised mighty things, but said 
 that before taking any decisive step he must have 
 time to observe the new course of events. Cold and 
 taciturn, he affected with his accomplices, and with 
 all the world, the mysteriousness of a wondrous 
 profundity and the reserve of an important personage. 
 As common in such cases, the less he said the more 
 deep his combinations, the more ample his means 
 were supposed. The great majority of the Clichyans 
 were entirely ignorant of his secret mission. The 
 government itself was in the same condition, for 
 Duverne de Presle had no knowledge of it, and there- 
 fore could not communicate it. 
 
 Amongst the Clichyans, some were inspired by 
 ambition, others by an instinctive love of monarchy, 
 but the greater munber by dread of the revival of the 
 system of terror, which they held in fearful remem- 
 brance. Drawm together by different motives, thev 
 were impelled, as too often happens with large assem- 
 blages, by the most ardent among them. From the 
 very earliest moment the wildest projects were 
 formed. The first was to declare the Councils per- 
 manent. Next they would demand the removal of 
 the troops stationed in Paris ; assume the police of 
 the ca|)ital under a free interpretation of the clause 
 in the constitution which assigned to the legislative 
 body the police <■{ its place of sessions, reading for 
 the word '■'■place" the word '■^ citi/ ;" put the Direc- 
 tors imder impeachment, nominate others, and armul 
 in a mass the laws called revolutionary, that is to 
 say, annul, by virtue thereof, the whole revolution 
 itself. Then Paris in their power, the heads of the 
 government deposed, the entire authority in their 
 hands to dispose of at pleasure, they might hazard 
 any extremity, even to the proclamation of royalty. 
 But these schemes, urged by the more furious of the 
 party, were too desperate for immediate adoption. 
 Certain prudent men, perceiving that they were equi- 
 valent to a direct attack by force upon the Directory, 
 opposed them, and succeiMled in enforcing more 
 moderate counsels. It was therefore determined 
 that for the present they should make use of their 
 majority to change all the committees, to remodel 
 certain laws, and to thwart the policy of the govern- 
 ment. Legishitive tactics, accordinglv, were pre- 
 ferred for the moment to an assault by arms. 
 
 This plan being settled, no time was lost in put- 
 ting it into execution. The election of Barrere was 
 first of all ainuilUd, and five members of the first 
 third, who had been excluded the year before by 
 
 virtue of the law of the 3d Brumaire, were installed. 
 The refusal of the Ancients to repeal this law was 
 no obstacle. The deputies rejected from the legis- 
 lative body were reinstated as unconstitutionally 
 excluded. Their names were Ferrand-Vaillant, 
 Gault, Polissart, Job Ayme de la Drome, and Mer- 
 san, one of the royalist airents. A new mode of 
 abrogatinsf the law of the 3d Brumaire was devised. 
 A proposition for its repeal having been made a few 
 days previously, and negatived by the Ancients, the 
 motion could not be entertained again for a year. 
 Another form was adopted therefore, and the F'ive- 
 Hundred passed a resolution that the law of the 3d 
 Brumaire was void so far as related to exclusion from 
 public employments. In this consisted nearly the 
 whole law. The Ancients nevertheless concurred in 
 the resolution under this form. By force thereof, the 
 members of the new third, who were debarred from 
 taking their seats as relations of emigrants, or as 
 amne-tied for revolutionary offences, were enabled to 
 enter the legislative body. To it M. Inibert Colomes 
 of Lyons owed the opportunity of making his elec- 
 tion available. It in like manner profited Salicetti, 
 who had been implicated in the events of Prairial 
 and amnestied with several members of the conven- 
 tion. Nominated in Corsica, his election was held 
 valid. Through an affectation of impartiality, the 
 leaders of the Five-Hundred caused a law of the 
 'ilst Floreal, banishing from Paris all conventional- 
 ists not invested with public duties, to be likewise 
 repealed. The real motive was to prepare the way 
 for a total abrogation of all the revolutionary laws. 
 The verification of the elections was the next mea- 
 sure that engaged attention, and, as was natural to 
 expect, all doubtful returns affecting a republican 
 were cancelled, and all those affecting an enemy of the 
 revolution were sustained. The whole of the com- 
 mittees were changed, and, pretending that every- 
 thing ought to take date from the period of the new 
 iTifusion into the legislative body, the majority called 
 for the financial accounts up to the first Prairial. 
 Special committees were moreover appointed to 
 consider the laws relative to emigrants, priests, 
 religion, public instruction, colonies, &c. The in- 
 tention to remodel the whole system of govern- 
 ment was made sufficiently manifest. 
 
 In the laws banishing the emigrants for ever, two 
 exceptions had been made ; the one in favour of the 
 artisans and husbandmen whom Saint -Just and 
 Lebas had expelled from the Upper Rhine during 
 their mission in 1793; the other in favour of the 
 individuals concerned in the events of the 31st of 
 May, and obliged to fly in consequence. The exiles 
 of Toulon, who had delivered that fortress and taken 
 refuge on board the English squadron, were alone 
 excepted from the benefit of the second exemption. 
 Under favour of these provisions, a multitude of 
 emigrants had already returned. Some gave them- 
 selves out as labourers or agriculturists belonging to 
 the Upper Rhine, and others as proscripts of the 31st 
 of May. The Clichyans obtained an extension of the 
 term granted to the fugitives of the Upper Rhine, pro- 
 longing it for six months. They procured a decree, 
 besides, that the Toulon exiles might come in under the 
 exception made in behalf of the proscripts of the 3Ist 
 of May. Although this grace was well-deserved by 
 many of the Southerns who had fled to Toulon, and 
 from Toulon to the British ships, only to save them- 
 selves from the vengeance vowed against the Federal- 
 ists, it nevertheless recalled and seemed to pardon 
 the most culpable action of the counter-revolution- 
 ists, and was calculated to incense the patriots. The 
 discussion upon the colonies and the conduct of the 
 agents of the Directory at Saint-Domingo led to a 
 violent outlireak. The commission charged with 
 this in()uiry, and composed of Tarbe, Villaret- 
 Joyeuse, Vaublanc, and Bourdon de I'Oise, pre- 
 sented a report wherein the Convention was treated
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 657 
 
 wnth the utmost bitterness. The Conventionalist 
 Marec \v;is accused in it of not havitiij resisted tijrannt/ 
 with the energy of virtue. At these words, which 
 realized the dcsig-ii often indicated of aspersing 
 the members of the Convention, all of them who yet 
 sat in the Five-Hundred rushed to the tribune and 
 demanded a report more becoming the dignity of the 
 legislative body. A scene of furious contention 
 ensued. The Conventionalists, however, supjjorted 
 by the moderate deputies, succeeded in having the 
 report sent back to the commission. Carnot in- 
 rtuenced the committee by means of Bourdon de 
 rOise, and tlie terms of the projected decree were 
 modified. It had been originally intended to take 
 from the Directory the power to send agents into the 
 colonies; this power was now left, limiting the 
 number of the agents to three, and the duration of 
 their mission to eighteen months. Santhonax was 
 recalled. The Constitutionalists, seeing that in this 
 instance they had been able, by uniting with tlie 
 Conventionalists, to control the fury of the Clichy- 
 ans, flattered themselves they could at any time 
 assume the direction of the Councils. But this 
 delusion was speedily dispelled in the following diets. 
 
 Among the number of important subjects the new- 
 ly-elected deputies proposed to regulate, were re- 
 ligion and the laws respecting priests. The com- 
 mission charged with this grave matter nominated as 
 its reporter young Camille Jordan, whose mind had 
 been inflamed amid the horrors of the siege of Lyons, 
 and whose sensibility, although sincere, was not 
 without pretensions. In his report he entered upon 
 a long and inflated dissertation touching religious 
 liberty. "It was not sufficient," he said, " to al- 
 low every one the exercise of his own religion, but, 
 in order that real liberty might prevail, nothing 
 should be imposed offensive to conscience. Thus, 
 for example, the oath required from priests, although 
 attacking no article of creed, having been misinter- 
 preted by them, and regarded as contrary to the doc- 
 trines of the Catholic church, ought not to be ex- 
 acted. It amounted to a tyranny, the result of 
 which was to create a large body of proscripts, and 
 very dangerous proscripts, because they exercised 
 considerable influence over multitudes, and, shelter- 
 ed from the researches of authority by the pious and 
 eager zeal of the people, laboured in the dark to 
 stimulate revolt. With regard to the ceremonies of 
 religion, it was not enough to permit them in closed 
 temples; certain necessary observances should be 
 openly allowed, under a strict prohibition of any 
 external pomp calculated to excite trouble. Thus 
 bells were necessary to assemble Catholics at a cer- 
 tain hour ; they were an essential part of religion ; 
 to prohiliit them was to outrage liberty. Besides, 
 the peo[)le were accustomed to such sounds, loved 
 them, aiul had never lost their inclination for them ; 
 indeed, in tlie country, the law against l)ells had 
 never been observed. To allow their use, there- 
 fore, was simply to satisfy an iiniocent desire, and to 
 put an end to the scandal of a disregarded law. The 
 same held good with regard to cemeteries. Whilst 
 interdicting pul)lic rites to all persuasions, it was 
 nevertheless pr()[)er to allow each of them to possess 
 enclosed grounds conseci-ated to l)urials, in wlii<'h 
 enclosures the signs peculiar to tiieir faith might be 
 placed." In accordance with these prin('i[)les, Ca- 
 mille Jordan proposed the abolition of the oath, and 
 of the repressive laws consequent upon it, and per- 
 mission to use bells and have cemeteries, within the 
 walls of which religions symbols might be placed 
 according to pleasure u()on the toml)s. 
 
 The principles of this report, although enforced 
 with indiscreet emphasis, were indisputably just. 
 Nothing is more true than that the only way to ex- 
 tirpate old superstitions is to leave them in |)overty 
 and contempt. Govermnents, by suffering all creeds 
 and subsidising none, take the best means to hasten 
 
 their decay. The Convention had already restored 
 to the Catholics buildings to serve as churches ; the 
 Directory would have done well to give them Ijells 
 and crosses in their grave-yards, and to abolish the 
 use of the oath and the laws enacted against the 
 priests who refused to take it. But were tiie pro- 
 per steps pursued, was the moment wisely selected 
 for urging such claims ? If, instead of treating the 
 subject as one of the counts of the grand indictment 
 against the Directory, a moment more seasonable 
 had been waited for and time given for passions to 
 cool, and for the governmeiit to acquire stability, 
 the concessions desired would have been readily ob- 
 tained. But from the very fact of the counter-revo- 
 lutionists insisting on them as coTiditions, the patriots 
 opposed them ; for it is the nature of man to contest 
 what an enemy wishes. In imagining the sound of 
 bells, they seemed to hear the tocsin of counter- 
 revolution. Every party demands to have its own 
 passions understood and satisfied, even whilst re- 
 fusing to recognise or regard those of the opposite 
 faction. The patriots had their [lassions compounded 
 of errors, fears, and hatreds, which still required to 
 be estimated and considered. This report, accord- 
 ingly, produced an extraordinary sensation, for it 
 touched animosities hot and sensitive. It was the 
 boldest and most dangerous act of the Clichyans, 
 although at bottom the least reprehensible. The 
 patriots spoke absurdly when they described the pro- 
 position as one to reward the violation of laws by 
 repealing them. It involved, in truth, the abroga- 
 tion of laws incapable of being executed. 
 
 To all these vexatious attacks on the Directory, 
 the Clichyans added annoyances on the subject of 
 the finances. This, indeed, was the great point 
 on which they expected to distress and overthrow 
 the government. Vt^e have already mentioned, in 
 giving a sketch of the financial resources of the 
 year V. (1797), the estimated income and expendi- 
 ture of that year: 450 millions of ordinary expenses 
 were to be defrayed by 250 millions of the property 
 contribution, 50 millions of the personal contribu- 
 tion, and 150 millions the produce of stamps, regis- 
 trations, patents, posts, and duties : 550 millions of 
 extraordinary expenses were to be provided for by 
 the last fourth of the price of the national property 
 disposed of in the preceding year, amounting to 100 
 millions and secured by bills on the part of the pur- 
 chasers, by the produce of the woods and rents of 
 the national estates, the arrears of contiibutions, the 
 Batavian payments, the sale of national moveables, 
 different accessary products, and lastly, the eternal 
 resource of the domains remaining unsold. But all 
 these means were insufficient, and for the most part 
 far below theii' presumed value. The receipts and dis- 
 biu'sements of the year being arranged only provi- 
 sionally, the collection of three-fifths of the jiroperty 
 and personal I'onti ibulions bad been ordained to be 
 levied on the provisional lists. But these lists being, 
 as we have said, defectively prepared by the local 
 administrations on accomit of the contiiuial varia- 
 tions in the fiscal laws, and over-scrawled with an- 
 notations, gave rise to per[)etual dillk'ulties. The 
 indisposition of the payers likewise increased these 
 dilliculties, and the collection conse(]uentlv was 
 made but slowly. And, independently of this delay 
 in the receijjt, the amount was much below what 
 had been reckoned. It became evident that the 
 property-tax would not produce more than 200 in- 
 stead of 2.50 millions. The dilferent items of 
 stamps, registers, patents, duties, ami posts, would 
 not exceed 100 iiihtead of 150 millions. Such the 
 deficiency in the ordinary income set ajiart to meet 
 the ordinary expenditure. It was not less in the 
 extraordinary branch. Tlie bills of the national jiur- 
 chasers for the amount of the last fourth had been 
 negotiated at a heavy loss. To avoid the like result 
 upon the Batavian rescriptions.they had been pledged
 
 658 
 
 HISTORi" OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 for a sum greatly inferior to their expressed value. 
 The lands sold slowly, and thus on all sides expec- 
 tation was defeated and the distress extreme. The 
 army of Italy had contrived to support itself upon 
 the contributions it levied; but the armies of tiie 
 Rhine, of the Sambre-and-Meu>e, of the Interior, 
 and the forces of the Marine, had suffered terrible 
 privations. Upon several occasions the troops had 
 almost been driven to revolt and mutiny. All the 
 national establishments and hospitals were in fright- 
 ful destitution, and public functionaries pined with- 
 out hope of salary. 
 
 In this extremity it had been found necessary to 
 resort to expedients of all kinds. Thus, as we have 
 related above, recourse was had to delays in the ful- 
 filment of certain obligations. The fimdholders were 
 paid only one-fourth in cash, and the other three- 
 fourths "in notes redeemable in national property, 
 called " notes of the three-fourths." The charge of 
 the consolidated debt, annuities, and pensions, 
 amounted to 248 millions ; accordingly there were 
 only 62 millions to pay, and the ordinary expenditure 
 was tlius reduced by 18G millions. But, notwith- 
 standing this reduction, the expenditure did not the 
 less exceed the receipts. Although a distinction had 
 been established between the ordinary and extra- 
 ordinary expenditures, it was not observed in the 
 payments of the treasury. Extraordinary expences 
 were defrayed from resources appropriated to ordi- 
 nary charges ; that is to say, in default of money to 
 pay the troops, or the contractors who supplied them, 
 funds intended for public functionaries, judges, and 
 administrators of all descriptions, were applied for 
 the purpose. Not only were these two kinds of 
 funds confounded, but receipts were anticipated by 
 assignations on such and such receivers, payable with 
 the first monies that came into their hands. Con- 
 tractors were paid by drafts on the treasury, of 
 which the minister settled the order of payment 
 according to the urgency of circumstances : a prac- 
 tice which sometimes gave occtision to abuses, but 
 was nevertheless useful as a resource in providing 
 for pressing emergencies, besides being often of great 
 service to individual purveyors, who were thereby 
 enabled and encouraged to complete their under- 
 takings. Finally, in default of every other resource, 
 debentures on the national property were issued, a 
 sort of paper which was negotiable on certain terms. 
 This was the mode employed, since the destruction 
 of the paper-money, of anticipating sales. From 
 this state of the finances it resulted that contractors 
 of the worst description, namely, adventurers and 
 speculators, alone surrounded the government, and 
 imposed on it the most onerous contracts. It 
 was oidy at a very low value they accepted the 
 paper given to them, and they raised the price of 
 articles in proportion to the delays and risks of pay- 
 ment. Recourse was often had to very singular 
 contrivances to meet particular exigencies. For in- 
 stance, the minister of Marine had purchased flour 
 for the navy on condition that the contractor, on 
 delivering the flour at Brest, should furnish a part 
 in money, for^the purpose of paying the wiiges of 
 the seamen, who were on the point of mutinying. 
 Compensation for this advance of specie was of 
 course found in the increased price charged for the 
 flour. Such losses were unavoidable, and resulted 
 from the situation of the country. To charge them 
 upon the government was unjust. But unfortunately 
 the scandalous conduct of one of the directors, who 
 had a secret share in the extraordinary |)rorits of the 
 contractors, and who took no pains to conceal either 
 his prodigality or the rise of his fortunes, supplied a 
 pretext for every calumny. It was assuredly not 
 the infamous gains of an individual which plunged 
 the state in distress, but advantage was taken of 
 them to accuse the Directory of ruining financial 
 credit. 
 
 Thus, to a violent and unscrupulous opposition, 
 ample scope was afforded for declamations and sinis- 
 ter projects. Nor did it fail to avail itself of the 
 opportunity after a very dangerous fashion. It had 
 formed the finance-conmiission of men in its own 
 ranks, and decidedly inimical to the government. 
 The first proceeding of this commission was to pre- 
 sent to the Five-Hundred, through its reporter 
 Gilbert-Dcsmolieres, an incorrect account of the in- 
 come and expenditure. It exaggerated the one and 
 largely abridged the other. Com-pelled to acknow- 
 ledge the insufficiency of the ordinary resources, such 
 as the property-tax, registration, stamps, patents, 
 posts, customs, it nevertheless objected to all the 
 taxes proposed to make up the deficiency. Since 
 the outbreak of the revolution it had been hitherto 
 found impossible to re-establish indirect taxation. 
 A duty on salt and tobacco being suggested, the 
 commission pretended it would alarm the people ; a 
 lottery, it repudiated as immoral ; tolls on highways, 
 it found open to serious difficulties. All this was 
 more or less true, but means were somehow or other 
 to be found. The sole resource the commission de- 
 vised consisted in an intention, as it announced, of 
 discussing the imposition of a notarial duty. As to 
 the deficiency in the extraordinary receipts, far from 
 attempting to provide therefor, it sought to aggra- 
 vate the extent by prohibiting the Directoi'y from 
 resorting to those expedients by means whereof it 
 had alone contrived to carry on affairs. The case 
 stood thus. 
 
 The constitution had divided the Treasury from 
 the Directory, and made a separate establishment of 
 it, which was directed by independent commissioners 
 nominated by the Councils, and having no other 
 duty but to receive the revenue and discharge the 
 expenditure. In this manner the Directory had not 
 the management of the funds of the State ; it deliv- 
 ered orders on the Treasury, which the latter paid in 
 concurrence with credits opened by the Councils. 
 Nothing could be more detrimental to the public 
 service than this arrangement, for the management 
 of the state-funds is a matter of polity which ought 
 to rest with the executive, like the direction of 
 military operations, and with regard to which delib- 
 erative bodies can no more interfere than with the 
 plan of a campaign. Indeed, it is not unusual that 
 a minister, by a prompt and dexterous adaptation, 
 succeeds in creating temporary resources upon a 
 presshig emergency. The two Councils, accordingly, 
 had, during the preceding year, empowered the Trea- 
 sury to perform such transactions as might be en- 
 joined by the Directory. The new commission, 
 however, determined to put a stop to the expedients 
 whereby the Directory subsisted, by taking from it 
 all power over the Treasury. In the first place, it 
 decided that the government ought no longer to have 
 the power of ordering the negotiation of securities. 
 M'hen occasions arose for realizing paper on hand, 
 the commissioners of the Treasury were to negotiate 
 it themselves on their own responsibility. In the 
 next place, it proposed to deprive the Directory of 
 tlie power to settle the order in which drafts for 
 payment should be retired. It, moreover, proposed 
 to forbid all anticipations on the funds receivable in 
 the departmental exchequers. It even urged that all 
 assignations already issued on funds uncollected 
 should be carried to the Treasury, verified, and paid 
 in their turn ; a measure which would interrupt and 
 put an end to all- the operations then in progress. It 
 insisted, besides, on the necessity of rendering obli- 
 gatory the distinction established between the two 
 kinds of expenses and receipts, and of enacting that 
 the ordinary expenditure should be strictly borne by 
 the ordinary income, and the extraordinary expendi- 
 ture by the extraordinary income; a fatal design at 
 a moment when every pressing want as it arose must 
 of necessity be met by tlie first funds available. Ti»
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 659 
 
 all these propositions it appended yet another, still 
 more dangerous than any of the preceding. We have 
 stated that, owing to the slow sale of the national 
 domains, anticipations were formed thereon by issu- 
 ing debentures which were receivable in payment for 
 lands. The contractors were content to take these 
 debenture-!, which they afterwards negotiated with 
 intending purchasers. This pa[)er, it is true, came 
 into competition witli the notes of the three-fourths 
 delivered to the fund-holders, and diminished their 
 value by its rivalry. Under pretence of [)rotectiiig 
 the unfortunate fund-holders against the avidity of 
 the contractors, the commission proposed to annul 
 the privilege of paying for national domains with de- 
 bentures issued to contractors. 
 
 All these recommendations were adopted by the 
 Five-Hundred, the majority of whom, driven blindly 
 forward, no longer preserved any measures. They 
 were fraught with da7iger, and threatened to paralyse 
 every service in the State The Directory, in fact, 
 being henceforth unable to negotiate at its pleasure 
 the securities it held, or to fix the order of payments 
 according to the exigency of cases, or to anticipate 
 in emergencies the uncollected funds, or to apply the 
 ordinary to the purposes of the extraordinary depart- 
 ments, or to emit a voluntary paper redeemable in 
 national property, was at once deprived of all the 
 means whereby it had hitherto succeeded in carrying 
 on the government, and which had enabled it, under 
 the impossibility of satisfying all wants, to provide 
 at least for the most craving. The propositions 
 adopted, well calculated as they might be to estab- 
 lish order in a period of tranquillity, were utterly de- 
 structive in a situation like the present. The Con- 
 stitutionalists in the Five-Hundred made strenuous 
 but fruitless efforts to prevent their passing. They 
 failed, and no hope remained but in the Council of 
 the Ancients. 
 
 The Constitutionalists, moderate enemies of the 
 Directory, beheld with the utmost concern the spirit 
 that actuated the Council of Five-Hundred. They 
 had indulged the hope that the accession of a new 
 third would be advantageous rather than prejudicial 
 to them, that its effect would be simply to shift the 
 majority, and that they would become masters of 
 the legislative body. Carnot, their leader, had given 
 way to these delusive expectations; but he and all 
 of them found themselves carried far beyond their 
 original views, and were taught on this occasion, as 
 on all others, that behind every opposition lurked 
 the counter-revolution with its evil designs. They 
 possessed, however, much greater influence in the 
 Council of Ancients than in that of the Five-Hun- 
 dred, and they exerted all tlieir strength to procure 
 the rejection of the finance-resolutions. Carnot had, 
 among the Ancients, a devoted friend in the person 
 of the deputy Lacuee, and had likewise relations 
 with Dumas, formerly a member of the Legislative 
 Assembly. He eouhl also count on the co-operation 
 of Portalis, Tron9on-Ducoudray, Lcbrini, and IJar- 
 be-Marbois, all moderate opponents of the Directory, 
 and inimical to the violent proceedings of the Clich- 
 yan party. Through tlie combined eiforts of these 
 deputies, and the general disposition of tlie Council 
 of Ancients, the first resolutions of Gilbert- Desmo- 
 lieres, which debarred the Directory from command- 
 ing the negotiations of tiie treasury, from fixing the 
 order of payments, and from confounding the ordi- 
 nary witli the extraordinary, were ncgativtul. This 
 result gave great satisfaction to the Constitutional- 
 ists, and in general to all moderate men who dreaded 
 above all tilings a new explosion. Carnot evinced 
 uncommon delight. He again felt confident of his 
 power to control the Clicliyans l)y means of the 
 Council of Ancients, and that the direction of affairs 
 would finally rest with him and his friends. 
 
 After all, it proved but a trifling palliative. The 
 Clichy club resounded with the most furious denun- 
 
 ciations against the Ancients, and with fresh topics 
 of accusation against the Directory. Gilbert-Des- 
 molieres renewed his first propositions, rejected by 
 the Ancients, in the hope that, by presenting them 
 under another form, they would be induced to adopt 
 them upon a second deliberation. Meanwhile, resolu- 
 tions of every kind adverse to the government rapidly 
 multiplied in the Five-Hundred. Deputies were 
 declared ineligible to accept offices for a year before 
 their retirement from the legislative body. Imbert- 
 Colomes, who corresponded with the court of Blan- 
 kenburg, carried a motion that the Directory be de- 
 prived of the power it held by law of inspecting 
 foreign letters. Aubry, the same who, after the 
 9th Thermidor, effected a reaction in the army, and 
 who, in 1795, dismissed Bonaparte, proposed to take 
 from the Directory the right of cashiering officers, 
 which deprived it of one of its most essential con- 
 stitutional prerogatives. He likewise [iroposed to 
 add a company of artillery and a squadron of dra- 
 goons to the 1,200 grenadiers composing the guard 
 of the legislative body, and to give the command of 
 the whole to the inspectors of the hall of the legis- 
 lative body, — a proposal in itself absurd, but which 
 indicated a spirit of preparation for war. Marked 
 censure was passed against the transmission of a 
 million to the conunander of the navy at Toulon, a 
 remittance made direct by Bonaparte, without using 
 the medium of the treasury, in order to expedite the 
 departure of the squadron which he so much needed 
 in the Adriatic. This million had been seized by 
 the treasury and carried to Paris. Similar remit- 
 tances sent in the same manner from the army of 
 Italy to the armies of the Alps, the Rhine, and the 
 Sambre-and-Meuse, were likewise condemned. A 
 long report was presented respecting the relations 
 \vith the LTnited States ; and whatever reason the 
 Directory might have in the differences that had 
 arisen with America, its conduct was bitterly assailed. 
 In fine, the rage for attacking and condenniing all 
 the operations of the government betrayed the 
 Clichyans into a last step, which involved a fatal 
 imprudence on their part. 
 
 The events of Venice had caused a profound sen- 
 sation throughout Europe. Since the manifesto of 
 Palma-Nuova, that republic had been annihilated 
 and the government of Genoa revolutionized, with- 
 out any intimation on the subject from the Direc- 
 tory to the two Councils. This silence was owing, 
 as we have seen, to the rapidity of the occurrences, 
 a rapidity so great that Venice had fallen before the 
 question of war could be brought under deliberation 
 in the legislative body. The subsequent treaty had 
 not yet been submitted to discussion, but was in- 
 tended to be so in a few days. At the same time, 
 it was less the silence of the Directory that gave 
 offence than the destruction of aristocratic govern- 
 ments and the progress of the revolution in Italy. 
 Under this feeling Dumolard, a verbose orator, who 
 for nearly two years had kept up an incessant assault 
 upon the Directory in the Five-Hundred, determined 
 to introduce a motion relative to the events at Venice 
 and (ienoa. The movement was a bold om-, for it 
 was impossible to attack the Directory without at- 
 tacking General Bonaparte. In this he must defy 
 general ojiinion, and all that mighty influence sur- 
 rounding Bonaparte since he had imposed jicace on 
 Austria, and, in the double capacity of warrior and 
 diplomatist, seemed at Milan to regulate the des- 
 tinies of Europe. Such of the Clichyans as still 
 retained any measure of reason used their endea- 
 vours to dissuade Dumolard from carrying out his 
 intention ; but he persisted, and in the sitting of the 
 5th Me-sidor ('23d June), made a motion of order on 
 the affairs of Venice. He said, " Fame, whose 
 bounds we cannot circumscribe, has everywhere 
 spread tlie report of our victories over the Venifians 
 and of the astonishing revolution that has crowned
 
 GC.O 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 them. Our troops are in their capital ; their navy 
 is delivered up to us ; the most ancient state of 
 Europe is annihilated ; it reappears in the twinkling 
 of an eye under democratic forms ; finally, our sol- 
 diers brave the waves of the Adriatic, and are trans- 
 ported to Corfu to consummate the new revolution. 
 Admit these events for certain, and it follows that 
 the Directory has made in disguised terms war, peace, 
 and, in =ome respects, a treaty of alliance with 
 Venice, and all without your concurrence. Are we 
 no longer then that people who has proclaimed as a 
 principle, and maintained hy force of arms, that it is 
 not allowable for foreign powers, under any pretext, 
 to interfere with the form of the government of 
 another state ^ Abused by the Venitians, was it 
 upon their political institutions that we had a right 
 to declare war ? Victors and conquerors, did it 
 behove us to take an active part in their revolution, 
 so sudden in appearance ? I will not now ask what 
 fate is reserved for Venice, and more especially for 
 its provinces of the Terra-firma. I will not consider 
 whether their seizure, meditated, perhaps, before the 
 acts which served for its motives, is not destined to 
 figure in history as a worthy appendage to the par- 
 tition of Poland. I will postpone these reflexions, 
 and I a«k. with the constitutional act in my hand, 
 how the Directory can justify the absolute ignorance 
 in which it seeks to leave the legislative body with 
 regard to this multitude of extraordinary events." 
 After having spoken of the affairs of Venice, Dumo- 
 lard turned to those of Genoa, which presented, he 
 said, the same character, and gave reason to pre- 
 sume the interference of the French army and its 
 leaders. He spoke also of Switzerland, with which, 
 he alleged, France was in contention about a right 
 of navigation, and he demanded whether it was 
 intended to democratise all the states in alliance with 
 France. Whilst frequently extolling the heroes of 
 Italy, he never once mentioned the general-in-chief, 
 whose name at that time none lost an opportunity of 
 pronouncing with extravagant eulogies. He con- 
 cluded by proposing a message to the Directory, to 
 demand from it explanations touching the events at 
 Venice and Genoa, and the relations of France with 
 Switzerland. 
 
 This motion caused general astonishment, and 
 served forcibly to demonstrate the boldness of the 
 Clichyans. It was destined to cost them dear ; but 
 whilst its bitter consequences were yet undeveloped, 
 they exhibited the utmost arrogance, proclaimed 
 openly their lofty expectations, and manifested their 
 perfect assurance of speerlily becoming masters of 
 the government. On all sides, in truth, was evinced 
 the same confidence and imprudence as at the epoch 
 of Vendemiaire. The emigrants returned in crowds. 
 A multitude of forged passports and certificates of 
 residence were sent from Paris to all parts of Eu- 
 rope, aTid a regular commerce was established in them 
 at Hamburg. The emigrants passed the frontiers by 
 Holland, Alsace, Switzerland, and Piedmont. Urged 
 alike by the love of country inherent in all French- 
 men, and by the sufferings and distastes experienced 
 in foreign countries, having nothing, moreover, to 
 hope from war since the negotiations opened with 
 Austria, and having even cause to apprehend the dis- 
 banding of the corps under Conde, they poured in to 
 attempt, in the chances of peace and by means of 
 internal intrigues, that counter-revolution they had 
 failed to accomplish by the aid of united Europe. 
 And even without much hope of a counter-revolu- 
 tion, they longed tq^revisit their native country and 
 to. recover if possible a part of their possessions. 
 These they in fact enjoyed many facilities for regain- 
 ing, owing to the interest they inspired in almost 
 every quarter. The jobbing practised with regard 
 to the various securities admitted in payment for 
 national domains and the ease of procuring them at a 
 low price, the feeling of the local administrations for 
 
 old proscribed families, the complaisance of bidders 
 who withdrew when old proprietors sought to pur- 
 chase their estates under supposititious names, all 
 enabled the emigrants to redeem their patrimonies 
 for insignificant sums of money. Above all, the 
 priests re-entered France in swarms. They were 
 welcomed by the whole religious community, who 
 lodged and fed them, erected chapels for them in 
 their houses, and even supplied them with money 
 obtained by gathering contributions. The ancient 
 ecclesiastical hierarchy was secretly re-established. 
 None of the new distributions in the civil constitu- 
 tion of the clergy were recognised. The former 
 dioceses were still preserved and administered by 
 bishops and archbishops who corresponded with Rome. 
 Through them and their ministry all the ceremonies 
 of the Catholic church were performed ; they con- 
 fessed, baptized, and married those who remained 
 faithful to the old religion. The Chouans also, or 
 such of them as their occupations permitted, flocked 
 to Paris and joined the emigrants, who were as- 
 sembled there, it was stated, to the number of five 
 thousand and upwards. Seeing the conduct of the 
 Five-Hundred and the critical condition of the Di- 
 rectory, they deemed a few days would suffice to 
 produce the catastrophe so long desired. They im- 
 parted these hopes to their friends abroad. Around 
 the prince of Conde, whose corps had retired into 
 Poland, around the pretender who was at Blanken- 
 burg, around the Count d'Artois who was in Scot- 
 land, all was joy and exultation. With the same 
 infatuation they had shown at Coblentz, when they 
 boasted of returning to Paris in a fortnight in the 
 train of the King of Prussia, their followers again 
 formed schemes of return, canvassed them in differ- 
 ent shapes, and discoursed facetiously concerning 
 them as of events on the eve of accomplishment. 
 Their partisans filled the towns bordering on the 
 frontiers of France, impatiently awaiting the moment 
 of recall to their country. To all these indications 
 must be added the unbridled language of the royalist 
 journals, whose violence augmented with the revived 
 boldness and hopes of their party. 
 
 The Directory was well-advised by its police of 
 these various circumstances. The conduct of the 
 emigrants and the proceedings of the Five-Hundred 
 agreed with the declaration of Duverne de Presle 
 as demonstrating the existence of a veritable plot. 
 Duverne de Presle had denounced, without naming 
 them, one hundred and eighty deputies as accom- 
 plices. He had specifically mentioned Lemerer and 
 Mersan only, stating that the others were all mem- 
 bers of the Clichy club. In this he was mistaken, 
 as we have seen. The greater part of the Clichyans, 
 (five or six might form the exception,) acted under 
 the influence of opinion and not in conspiracy. But 
 the Directory, deceived by appearances and the state- 
 ment of Duverne de Presle, believed them formally 
 implicated in the plot, and viewed them solely in 
 the light of conspirators. Meanwhile a discovery 
 made by Bonaparte in Italy gave it an insight into 
 an important secret and tended to increase its fears. 
 The Count d'Entraigues, an agent of the pretender, 
 his intermediary with the intriguers in France, and 
 the repository of all the secrets of the emigration, 
 had taken refuge at Venice. When the French en- 
 tered that city, he was seized and delivered up to 
 Bonaparte. Th^ ge-ieral might have sent him into 
 France to be shot as an emigrant and a conspirator; 
 but he allowed himself to be moved by his position, 
 and preferred to make use of him and his indiscre- 
 tions rather than consign him to death. He assigned 
 him the city of Milan for a prison, granted him 
 pecuniary aid, and induced him to disclose all the 
 secrets of the prcten<ler. The whole history of 
 Pichegru's treachery was known to him, which had 
 hitherto remained concealed from the goverinnent, 
 Rewbell alone entertaining certain suspicions which
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 661 
 
 had been treated with scorn by his colleagues. 
 D'Entraigues related to Bonaparte all he knew, and 
 put him in possession of the entire schemes of the 
 emigration. Besides these verbal revelations, other 
 curious information was obtained by the seizure of 
 papers found at Venice in d'Entraigues' portfolio. 
 Amongst other documents was one of great impor- 
 tance, containing the minutes of a long conversation 
 held by d'Entraigues with the Count de Montgaillard, 
 in which the latter gave an account of the first ne- 
 gotiation with Pichegru, which proved abortive 
 through the obstinacy of the Prince of Condc. 
 D'Entraigues had written down this conversation 
 which was found among his papers. Berthier, 
 Clarke, and Bonaparte, immediately affixed their 
 signatures to attest its authenticity, and transmitted 
 it to Paris.* 
 
 The Directory kept this discovery secret, as well 
 as the declaration of Duverne de Presle, awaiting 
 the opportunity of using them with advantage. But 
 it no longer entertained any doubt as to the part 
 played by Pichegru in the Five-Hundred : it had 
 found the clew to his unexpected defeats, his extra- 
 ordinary conduct, his refusal to go to Stockholm, 
 his hostile proceedings, and, finally, his influence 
 over the Clichyans. It henceforth regarded him as 
 the leader of one hundred and eighty deputies, his 
 accomplices, busily plotting a counter-revolution. 
 
 The five directors were divided, since the new 
 part taken by Carnot, in which he was followed by 
 Barthelemy. Barras, Rewbell, and Larevelliere- 
 Lepeaux alone remained steadfast to the existing 
 system of government. Yet these three directors 
 were not cordially united amongst themselves, for 
 Rewbell, who was a moderate conventionalist, de- 
 tested Barras as a partisan of Danton, and, more- 
 over, held his habits and character in utter disrepute. 
 Larevelliere was attached to Rewbell by certain in- 
 timate relations, but held little communication with 
 Barras. The chief bond of union consisted in the 
 habitual uniformity of their votes. All three were 
 exasperated against the faction of Clichy and deter- 
 minedly opposed to it. Barras, although he received 
 the emigrants at his residence from the mere facility 
 of his manners, constantly avowed his readiness to 
 mount on horseback sword in hand, and, at the head 
 of the faubourgs, put to death all the counter-revo- 
 lutionists in the Five-Hundred. Rewbell expressed 
 himself in very different terms ; he deemed all lost ; 
 and though resolved to do his duty, he believed that 
 his colleagues and himself would soon have no other 
 resource but flight. Larevelliere-Lepeaux, on the 
 other hand, endowed with equal courage and honesty 
 of purpose, held the necessity of making head against 
 the storm, and of attempting everything for the sal- 
 vation of the republic. With a heart free from ani- 
 mosities, he served as a connecting tie between 
 Rewbell and Barras, and undertook the part of 
 mediator between them. He first addressed himself 
 to Rewbell, for whose integrity and talents he en- 
 tertained a profound esteem, and, explaining to him 
 his views, besought him to assist in saving the re- 
 
 • M. de Montgaillard, in his work replete >fith calumnies 
 and eiTors, has maintained that this document contained 
 genuine facts, but that it was forged and had been fabricated 
 by Bonaparte, Berthier, and Clarke. The contrary is beyond 
 all doubt, though we may conceive the desire of M. de Mont- 
 gaillard to justify his brother as to the part in the conversation 
 attributed to him in the paper. But it is difficult to imagine 
 under any circumstances that three persons of such station 
 durst venture to commit a forgery. Acts like these are as 
 rare in our days as poisonings. Clarlic was dismissed after 
 Fructidor, and belonged to Carnot's party. It is not proba- 
 ble he would lend himself to fabricate papers calculated to 
 strengthen the government of Fructidor. Moreover, tlie docu- 
 ment was insufficient for the purpose for which it was intend- 
 ed, whereas if it had been a forgery it would have been made 
 complete. Everything therefore proves the falsehood of M. 
 de Montgaillard. 
 
 volution. Rewbell warmly responded to his over- 
 tures and promised him the fullest co-operation. 
 They then consulted about securing Barras, whose 
 energetic language was not sufficient to calm the 
 doubts of his colleagues. Assuming in him neither 
 rectitude nor principles, and seeing him surrounded 
 by all parties, they believed him equally capable of 
 selling himself to the emigration as of putting him- 
 self at the head of the faubourgs and perpetrating a 
 horrible massacre. They dreaded the one as much 
 as the other. They desired to save the republic by 
 an act of energy, but not to sully it by fresh murders. 
 Incensed at the conduct of Barras, they regarded 
 him perhaps with unnecessary distrust. Larevelliere, 
 however, took upon himself to sound him. Barras, 
 delighted at the idea of a coalition with his col- 
 leagues, and of securing himself their support, flat- 
 tered, moreover, by the credit of their alliance, gave 
 in his glad adhesion to their projects, and manifested 
 every disposition to second their views. Henceforth 
 they were assured of forming a compact majority, 
 and of wholly neutralizing, by their united votes, 
 the influence of Carnot and Barthelemy. Still the 
 important point remained to decide what means they 
 should adopt to defeat the conspiracy, which, as 
 they suppo ed, had such wide ramifications in the 
 two Councils. To employ judicial measures, to de- 
 nounce Pichegru and his accomplices, demand their 
 impeachment from the Five-Hundred, and afterwards 
 procure their condenmation, was altogether impos- 
 sible. In the first place, they had only the names of 
 Pichegru, Lemerer, and Mersan. True, they might 
 judge who the others were from their connections, 
 their intrigues, and their violent motions in the Clichy 
 club and in the Five-Hundred, but they were no- 
 where expressly nominated. The conviction of 
 Pichegru and two or three deputies would not de- 
 stroy the conspiracy. Besides, they had not even 
 the means of convicting Pichegru, Lemerer, and 
 Mersan; for the existing proofs against them, though 
 carrying a moral persuasion of their guilt, would not 
 suffice to warrant a legal condemnation by the judges. 
 The declarations of Duverne de Presle and of d'En- 
 traigues were in themselves deficient without the cor- 
 roboration of oral testimony. But still the greatest 
 difficulty lay not therein : for had they possessed 
 against Pichegru and his accomplices all the evidence 
 they lacked, an act of accusation was requisite from 
 the Council of Five-Hundred, and were the proofs 
 clear as day the majority would disregard them ; 
 since the culprits would be in fact at the bar of their 
 own fellows in conspiracy. These reasons were so 
 evident, that, notwithstanding their respect for le- 
 gality, Larevelliere and Rewbell were com|)elled to 
 renounce the idea of a regular trial, and to resolve 
 on a cuvp d'i'tat ; a sad and deplorable resource, but 
 one which, in their situation and in their state of 
 alarm, was alone feasible. Determined upon ex- 
 treme measures they were still averse to such as 
 might lead to the elfusion of blood, and strove to 
 rej)re.ss tlie revolutionary tastes of Barras. Without 
 having agreed upon the mode and moment of action, 
 they concurred in the proposal to arrest Picliegru 
 and his one hundred and eighty su[)posed accom- 
 plices, denounce them before the expurgated legis- 
 lative body, and demand from it an extraordinary 
 law decreeing their banishment without trial. In 
 their supreme (hstrust they cast unjust suspicions on 
 Carnot ; forgetting his past life, his rigid principles, 
 his unbending pride, they almost believed him a 
 traitor. They feared that he, in concert with Bar- 
 thelemy, was in the plot with Pichegru. His en- 
 deavours to marshal the opi)osition around him and 
 to render himself its leader, were, in their a|)pre- 
 hensive eyes, so many proofs of criminal confederacy. 
 They were not fully convinced however; but reso- 
 lutely bent on a bold stroke, they were determined 
 not to act l)y halves ; and if it proved necessary, they
 
 B62 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH RiilVOLUTION. 
 
 were prepared to crush the guilty, e\eii thouefh they 
 sat as their colleiigiies and in the sanctuary of the 
 Directory itself. 
 
 The phiii arranp^ed was to make every preparation 
 for the exec'ition of their project, and meanwhile to 
 to keep a watciiful eye on their enemies, so as to 
 seize the uri,'ent moment for attacking them. VVitli 
 the intention of attemptinij so hazardous a blow it 
 behoved them to look around for support. The 
 patriot party, from which they could alone derive it, 
 was now as lieretofore divided into two classes. 
 The one consistinfj of men who, exasperated at the 
 catastrophe of the 9th Thermidor, hail brooded in 
 discontent for three years past, and who were at a 
 loss to compreiieud the perverted march of the re- 
 volution, hohlini,' the faith they did, that the estab- 
 lishment of a lejjal system was but a concession 
 to the counter-revolutionists, and that veiifreance 
 and proscriptions were the true watchwords of gov- 
 ernment. Still, althou<;h the Directory had smitten 
 this party in the person of Bab I'uf, its members 
 were ready, with their pristine alacrity, to lend it 
 their effective succour. But to employ them in 
 active service was full of danger, and the utmost 
 that could be ventured was, on the day of peril, to 
 draw them out in array, as on the 1.3th Vendemiare, 
 and trust to their heroism m defying death. They 
 had already given good proof of what they were 
 capable in time of danger by the side of Bonaparte 
 and on the steps of the church of St. Roch. Be- 
 sides these ardent patriots, who were almost all 
 compromised by their display of zeal or their actual 
 participation in the revolution, there were the mo- 
 derate patriots who belonged to a superior class, 
 and who, approving more or less the policy of the 
 Directory, and anxious above all things to iiave the 
 republic based on the authority of laws, perceived 
 the imminent peril to which it was exposed by the 
 progress of reaction. These answered precisely the 
 views of Rewbell and Larevelliere, who might draw 
 from them every assistance, if not of force at least 
 of opinion, the most serviceable to the Directory. 
 They were accustomed to frequent the saloons of 
 Barras who eTitertained for liis colleai^aes, and also 
 those of Madame de Stiiel, who had not quitted 
 Paris, and who, by the graces of hei' mind, gathered 
 around her all that was most biilliant in France. 
 Benjamin Co'istant shone in those assemblies with 
 the grrratest lustre, both from the force of intellect 
 and from the writings he had published in favour of 
 the Directory. There also was to be seen M. de 
 Talleyrand, who, erased from the list of emigrants 
 during the latter days of the convention, had returned 
 to Paris with the hope of obtaining employment in 
 the higher diplomatic service. 'J'hese distii'guished 
 men, composing the society of the government, had 
 resolved to form a club to counterbalance the in- 
 fluence of tiiat of riichy, and for the discussion of 
 political questions in a contrary spirit. It was called 
 the "Constitutional Circle." It soon comprised all 
 the men whom we have just mentioned, and the 
 members of the Councils who voted with the gov- 
 ernment, that is to say, nearly the whole last con- 
 ventional third. The members of the legislative 
 body who called themselves constitutionalists might 
 have likewise joined the new " Circle," for their 
 principles were the same ; but their amour-propre had 
 become piqued in the course of the debates in the 
 councils with regar<l to the Directory, and they 
 persisted in standing aloof, between the Constitu- 
 tional Circle and the Clichy club, under the leader- 
 fhip of the directors (^"arnot and Barthelemy. and of 
 the deputies Troncon-Ducoudray, Portalis, Lacure, 
 Dumas, Doiilcet-Pontrcoulant, Simeon, and Thi- 
 baudeau. Bi-njamin Constant frequently spoke in 
 the Constitutional Circle, as did likewise ISI. de 
 Talleyrand. The example was imitated ; and circles 
 of the same character, composed, it is true, of less 
 
 elevated members and of less guarded patriots, were 
 formed in all quarters. The Constitutional Circle 
 had been opened on the first of Messidor Year V, 
 o;e motith after the first of Prairial. In a short 
 time similar societies were established throughout 
 all France ; the hottest |)atriots resorted to them, 
 and, by a very natural reaction, the jacobin party 
 seemed on the point of agaiti starting into life. 
 
 But after all they sup|ilied a force almost ex- 
 hausted and of little avail. Clubs had fallen into 
 disrepute in France, and were in truth deprived by 
 the constitution of the means to become formidable. 
 Fortunately the Directory had another resource in 
 the support of the armies, into which republican 
 principles seemed to have taken refuge since the 
 agonies of the revolution had wrought so great and 
 general a revulsion in the interior. Every army is 
 attached to the government which organizes, main- 
 tains, and rewards it; but more than that, the re- 
 publican soldiers of that era saw in the Directory, 
 not only the heads of the goverinnent, but the leaders 
 of a cause for which they had been levied en masse 
 in 1793, and for which they had fought and con- 
 quered during the last six years. And nowhere was 
 the attachment to the revolution more firm than in 
 the army of Italy. It was composed of those revo- 
 lutionists of the South, who betrayed equal im- 
 petuosity in their opinions and in their valour. 
 Generals, olHcers, and soldiers, had become loaded 
 with honours, enriched with spoil, inflamed by plea- 
 sures. Their victories too had inspired them with 
 an inordinate pride. Informed of all that was passing 
 in France by the journals with which they were 
 supplied, they vowed to repass the Alps and put to 
 the sword the aristocrats of Paris. The repose 
 they had enjoyed since the signing of the prelimin- 
 aries contributed to increase their effervescence, as 
 was natural in a state of idleness. Massena, Joubert, 
 and Augereau, above all, gave them an example of 
 the most ardent republicanism. The troo[)s that 
 had come from the Rhine, without being less repub- 
 lican, were nevertheless colder and less impassioned, 
 and had contracted under Moreau a more decided 
 spirit of sobriety and discipline. Bernadotte com- 
 manded them. He affected the man of cultivated 
 breeding, and sought to distinguish himself from his 
 colleagues by the superior polish of his manners. 
 In his division the appellation of Monsieur had been 
 revived, whilst in the old army of Italy the title ot 
 citizen was alone permitted. The old soldiers of 
 Italy, insolent, licentious, and quarrelsome, as sons 
 of the South and men spoiled by success, had here- 
 tofore provoked a rivalry in valour with the soldiers 
 of the Rhine; now they commenced a rivalry of a 
 different sort, not one of opinion, but of habits and 
 usages. They scorned the distinction of Monsieur, 
 and on this ground frequently measured swords with 
 their comrades of the Rhine. Augereau's division 
 especially, which, like its leader, was noted for hot 
 revolutionary tendencies, was the most unruly. It 
 required an energetic proclamation from its com- 
 mander to keep it in order and to put an end to 
 duels. The title otci/izcn was however declared to 
 be the only one authorized in the army. 
 
 General Bonaparte regarded the spirit that ani- 
 mated the army with satisfaction and fostered its 
 growth. His first achievements had been directed 
 against the royalist faction, both before Toulon and 
 on the 18th ^^endemiare. He had broken with it 
 therefore in the outset of his career. Since then it 
 had laboured to depreciate his trium|)hs, chiefly be- 
 cause their glory spread a lustre over the revolution. 
 Its latest attacks especially roused his anger. He 
 coidd not restrain his indignation on reading the mo- 
 tion of Dumolard, and on learning that the Treasury 
 had intcrce|)ted the million transmitted by him to 
 Toulon. But in addition to these particular reasons 
 for hating the royalist faction, he had one more gen-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 663 
 
 eral and profound : this was in his own glory and 
 the greatness of his destiny, ^\^lat could a king 
 make him ? High as he might exalt him, this king 
 would be always above him. Under a republic, on 
 the contrary, no head would overtop his own. 
 Though he might not yet dream of the magniiicent 
 fate in store for him, he could at least discern a 
 boldness and vastness of enterprise in a republic 
 tallying closely with the characteristics of his own 
 genius ; whilst, with a king, France must have been 
 reduced to an obscure and limited existence. What- 
 ever therefore he did with this republic, whether he 
 served or oppressed it, Bonaparte could be great 
 only with it and through it, and must perforce cher- 
 ish it as the instrument of his fortune. That Piche- 
 gru could be allured by a castle, a title, and a few 
 millions, is conceivable enough ; to the soaring ima- 
 gination of the conqueror of Italy a different per- 
 spective was needed. The stupendous idea of a new 
 world, revolutionized by his prowess, was required 
 to fill the mind of Bonaparte. 
 
 He accordingly wrote to the Directory that he 
 was ready, himself and his army, to fly to its aid and 
 annihilate the counter-revolutionists. He ventured 
 even to give advice, and strenuously exhorted the 
 Directory to sacrifice certain traitors and break cer- 
 tain presses. 
 
 In the army of the Rhine feelings were more tran- 
 quil. Although a few malcontent officers had been 
 placed in it by Pichegru, the bulk of the army was re- 
 puT)lican, but calm, disciplined, poor, and less intoxi- 
 cated with success than that of Italy. An army is 
 usually moulded after the fashiob of its general. His 
 spirit steals into the officers, and from them is com- 
 municated to the soldiers. Thus did the army of the 
 Rhine take its tone from Moreau. That general 
 had been an object of flattery with the royalists, 
 who professed to extol his prudent retreat above the 
 marvellous exploits in Italy, and accordingly felt 
 less hatred against them than Bonaparte. In tem- 
 perament, moreover, he was indiiFereiiT, cold, and 
 moderate, and his taste for politics partook the char- 
 acter of his mind. Consequently he held back and 
 sought to avoid declaring himself. Still he was a 
 republican, and not a traitor as has been stated. 
 He held at this very moment proofs of Pichcgru's 
 treachery, and might have rendered the government 
 a vast service. We have already related that he had 
 seized a carriage belonging to General Klinglin, con- 
 taining a great number of papers. These papers 
 comprised Pichegru's entire correspondence in cipher 
 with Wickham, the Prince of Conde, &c. He 
 could therefore have furnished full proof of the 
 treason, aiul have rendered a judicial process more 
 prairticable. But Pichegru had l)een his commander- 
 in-chief and his friend. He was unwilling to betray 
 him, and contented himself with the task of de- 
 ciphering the correspondence, without communi- 
 cating it to the Directory. Let us not omit that it 
 contained evidence of IVIoreau's own fidelity to tlie 
 republic. After having tlirown up his connnand, 
 Pichegru could only preserve his importance by one 
 pretence, which was, that he ruled Morcau, and that, 
 whilst confiding to him tiie conduct of the army, he 
 himself prepared to direct the intrigues of the in- 
 terior. But, in fact, Pichegru constantly repeated 
 that it was of no use applying to Moreau, for lie 
 would listen to no overture.* Hence, we conclude 
 that Moreau was faithful, tlunigh cool. His army, 
 at the same time, was one of the fiiu'st and bravest 
 ever possessed liy tlie repid)li<'. 
 
 With the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse the state 
 of feeling was very different. This, as we have 
 elsewhere stated, was the army of Fleurus, of the 
 
 * If M. do Moiit:j,aillarJ liiul roail Ivlinglin's corrcsijondcncf. 
 he would not have asserted, on the faith of an expression of 
 Louis XVIII., that Moreau hetrayed France from 1797. 
 
 Ourthe and of the Roehr, an army brave and repub- 
 lican like its former general. Its ardour was still 
 further increased when Hoche, appointed to its com- 
 mand, came to infuse into it all the fire of his soul. 
 That young officer, promoted in one campaign from 
 a sergeant in the guards to be general-in-chief, loved 
 the republic as a mother and a benefactress. In the 
 dungeons of the committee of public welfare his sen- 
 timents had not cooled ; in La Vendee they had been 
 fanned by contending against the royalists. In Ven- 
 demiaire he was ready to fly to the succour of the 
 convention, and he had already put 20,000 men in 
 motion, when the vigour of Bonaparte, on the day 
 of the 13th, rendered his farther advance unnecessary. 
 Having in his political capacity had occasion to min- 
 gle with alTiiirs, which Moreau never had, regarding 
 Bonaparte with no jealousy, but with impatience to 
 rival him in the career of glory, he was in heart 
 wholly devoted to the republic, and prepared to 
 serve it in any manner, on the field of battle or amid 
 civil broils. We have already had the opportunity 
 of remarking, that to consummate prudence he joined 
 an uncommon warmth and impetuosity of cliaracter. 
 Ever prompt to take part in events, he at once 
 offered his arm and his life to the Directory. Thus 
 physical force was not wanting to the government; 
 but the essential point was to employ it with judg- 
 ment and especially at the fitting moment. 
 
 Of all the generals Hoche was the one whom it 
 best suited the Directory to employ. If the char- 
 acter and high renown of Bonaparte were calculated 
 to inspire distrust, it was otherwise with Hoche. 
 His victories at Weissemburg in 1793, his admirable 
 pacification of La Veiulee, and his recent victory of 
 Neuwied, had covered him with glory, but glory of 
 a mixed character, in which esteem for the states- 
 man was mingled with admiration of the warrior ; — 
 in a word, a glory that gave no apprehensions for 
 liberty. Therefore, if a general were to be called to 
 interfere in the troubles of the state, he was a more 
 appropriate agent to invoke than the colossus who 
 overrode Italy. In all respects he was the soldier 
 dearest to the republicans, and upon whom their 
 hopes rested without any admixture of fear. More- 
 over, his army was nearest to Paris. Twenty thou- 
 sand of his troops might be detached and reach the 
 capital in a few marches, to aid by their presence 
 the vigorous blow contemplated by the Directory. 
 
 LTpon Hoche accordingly the three directors Bar- 
 ras, Rewbell, and Larevelli^re, turned their thoughts. 
 But Barras, more active and prone to intrigue than 
 his colleagues, and who desired in this new crisis to 
 usurp the honour of the execution, wrote without 
 their privity to Hoche, with wliom lie was in corre- 
 spoiulence, and requested his intervention in the 
 forthcoming events. Hoche declared his readiness 
 without hesitation. A very opportune occasion 
 offered for directing troops on Paris. He was at 
 this moment engaged in preparing with his wonted 
 energy his new expedition against Ireland, and had 
 visited Holland to expedite tlie |)reparations making 
 at the Texel. He liad determined to detach 20,000 
 men from tiie army of tlie Samlire-and-Meuse for 
 emliarkation at Brest. On their route through the 
 interior it was easy to halt them abreast of Paris, 
 and [)lace them at the dis|)osition of the Directory. 
 He offercfl jet more. Money was necessary, both 
 for tlie colunm on march, and tor a coiip-ilc-main ; lie 
 secured it in a very adroit manner, ^\'e have seen 
 that tlie provinces between flie Metise and the Rhine 
 were in an uncertain position until a peace was con- 
 cluded with the Empire. They had not been, like 
 Belgium, divided into departments and united to 
 France ; they were administered with much pru- 
 dence, but martially, by Hoche, wlio jiroposcd to re- 
 |)ul)licanize them, and, in case their actual incorpora- 
 tion with France could not I)e obtained, to constitute 
 them a se|)arate republic attached to France as its
 
 664 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 creator and protector. He had established a com- 
 mission at Bonn, with powers to administer the 
 country and to receive the contributions levied on 
 both sides the Rhine. Two millions and some 
 hundred thousand francs were in the hands of this 
 commission at the present time. Hoche forbid it to 
 transfer this sum to the paymaster of the army, since 
 it would thereby have fallen under the authority of 
 the Treasury, and been perverted perhaps to other 
 purposes than those of the army. Instead, he caused 
 the pay ( f the column intendccl fur detachment to be 
 discharged, and nearly two millions kept in reserve, 
 either for the use of the Directory or for promoting 
 the expedition to Ireland. Political zeal alone im- 
 pelled him to commit this infraction of the laws, for 
 he, who more than any other general had possessed 
 opportunities of enriching himself, was extremely 
 poor. In making all these dispositions, Hoche deemed 
 he was executing the orders, not only of Barras, but 
 likewise of Rewbell and Larevelliere-Lepeaux. 
 
 Two months had elapsed since the 1st Prairial, 
 that is to say, since the opening of the new session ; 
 it was nowthe end of Messidor (mid-July). A con- 
 stant succession of measures, digested at the Clichy 
 club and propounded in the Five-Hundred, had been 
 kept up the whole time. Another was now brought 
 forward to which the royalist faction attached great 
 importance. The organization of the national guards 
 was not yet decreed ; the principle only was laid 
 down in the constitution. The Clichyans were anx- 
 ious to have the control of a force opposed to the 
 armies, and to again place arms in the hands of the 
 young men who had risen in Vendemiaire against the 
 convention. They had accordingly appointed a com- 
 mittee in the Five-Hundred to frame a project of 
 organization, with Pichegru as its chairman and re- 
 porter. In addition, the finance-committee had again 
 taken up the propositions rejected by the Ancients, 
 and sought to renew them in another manner, so as 
 to procure their adoption in a different shape. These 
 proceedings of the Five-Hundred, threatening as 
 they were, less alarmed however the three allied 
 directors than the conspiracy, at the head of which 
 they knew a general of celebrity, and which they 
 believed to have the widest ramifications in the two 
 Councils. Urged by these considerations to prompt 
 action, they first proposed to make certain changes 
 in the ministry which they thought necessary, both 
 to render the "administration of the state more har- 
 monious, and to make manifest in a firm and decided 
 manner the policy of the government. 
 
 Cochon, the minister of police, though somewhat 
 in disgrace with the royalists since the prosecution 
 of the pretender's agents and the circulars regarding 
 the elections, was nevertheless wholly devoted to 
 Carnot. With the designs in view it was impossible 
 for the Directory to permit the police to remain in 
 his hands. Petiet, the muiister at war, was in great 
 esteem with the royalists, and a mere creature of 
 Carnot's. Him likewise it would be necessary to 
 dismiss, in order to prevent an enemy remaining the 
 medium of communication between the armies and 
 the directorial majority. Benezech, the muiister of 
 the interior, an able person in his department, and 
 submissive to his superiors, gave no particular cause 
 of umbrage to any party ; but his known inclinations, 
 and the forbearance of the royalist journals with re- 
 gard to him, rendered him an object of distru .t. It 
 was determined to change him also, were it merely 
 for the sake of having a man more surely to be re- 
 lied upon. Perfect confidence was felt in Truguet, 
 the minister of marine, and Charles Delacroix, min- 
 ister for foreign affairs ; but reasons derived from 
 regard for the public service induced the directors 
 to wish their displacement. Truguet was attacked 
 with great virulence by the royalist faction, which 
 he, in some measure, deserved by his haughty and 
 violent character. He was a man of sterling honesty 
 
 and of considerable talents, but wanted the courtesy 
 and attention to individuals necessary in the head of 
 a large department. Besides he might be employed 
 to better purpose in a diplomatic capacity ; he him- 
 self was desirous of succeeding General Perignon in 
 Spain, with the view of moving that power to co- 
 operate in his great designs on the Indies. With 
 respect to Delacroix, he h.as since proved his ability 
 to execute the duties of an important office ; but he 
 possessed neither the dignity nor information be- 
 fitting the representative of the republic in relation 
 with foreign powers. But, in truth, the directors 
 were actuated by a strong desire to see another per- 
 sonage in the management of his department : to wit, 
 M. de Talleyrand. The enthusiastic spirit of Ma- 
 dame de Stiiel had been fired with admiration of the 
 cold, caustic, profound wit of Talleyrand. She had 
 brought him in communication vnth Benjamin Con- 
 stant, who in his turn was made the medium of his 
 introduction to Barras. M. de Talleyrand soon con- 
 trived to ingratiate himself with Barras, a thing to 
 him of easy accomplishment with a subtler genius 
 than that of the debauched director. After being 
 thus recommended by Madame de Stiiel to Benjamin 
 Constant, and by Benjamin Constant to Barras, he 
 was presented by the latter to Larevelli^re, and 
 equally succeeded in gaining the ear of the honest 
 man as he had done that of the unprincipled. He 
 appeared to them all a person much to be pitied, for, 
 odious to the emigration as a partisan of the revolu- 
 tion, and suspected by the patriots on account of his 
 aristocratic lineage, he seemed at once the victim of 
 his opinions and o^ his birth. Thus it became 
 settled that he should be made minister of foreign 
 affairs. The vanity of the directors was flattered by 
 attaching so great a personage to their government, 
 and they had, moreover, the assurance of confiding 
 that department to a man at once well-informed, 
 skilful, and personally connected \vith the whole of 
 European diplomacy. 
 
 Ramel, at the head of the finances, and Merlin 
 de Douai, at that of Justice, were the only remain- 
 ing ministers. They were both obnoxious to the 
 royalists, more than all the others together, but they 
 fulfilled the duties of their departments with equal 
 zeal and ability. The three directors had therefore 
 no wish to part with them. Thus, out of the seven 
 ministers, policy dictated the dismissal of Cochon, 
 Petiet, and Benezech on account of their opinions, 
 and of Truguet and Delacroix from regard to the in- 
 terests of the public service ; whilst the retention of 
 Merlin and Ramel was commended by both consid- 
 erations. 
 
 In every state with representative institutions, 
 whether monarchical or republican, the appointment 
 of ministers indicates emphatically the leading spirit 
 and policy of the government. The nomination of 
 ministers, therefore, is the great object of party con- 
 tention, and is sought to be decided as much from 
 regard to the carrying out of opinions as from mere 
 lust of power. But if, amongst opposing parties, 
 there be one desirous of more than a simple modifi- 
 cation in the principles of the government, aspiring 
 in fact to an overthrow of the existing system, fear- 
 ful of reconciliations tending to strengthen and con- 
 solidate, and having objects of embroilment in view 
 rather than a change of ministry, it takes no part 
 therein or interferes with the sinister intention of 
 thwarting and preventing it. Pichegru, accordingly, 
 and the Clichyans in the secret of his schemes, at- 
 tached no iin[)ortance to any alteration in the depart- 
 ments of the administration. Nevertheless, they 
 made advances to Carnot, and held interviews with 
 him ; but more for the purpose of sounding him and 
 discovering his hidden views than of promoting a 
 result which was wholly insignificant in their eyes. 
 Carnot had declared himself in the frankest terms 
 I both in conferences and in writing, when replying to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 665 
 
 the members deputed to wait upon him. He had 
 stated that "he would sooner perish than suffer the 
 constitution to be infringed, or the powers it had in- 
 stituted to be disgraced" — (the literal expressions in 
 one of his letters). -He had thus reduced those who 
 sought to tamper with him to the necessity of discuss- 
 ing merely constitutional projects, such as a change 
 of ministry might involve. As to the constitutional- 
 ists, and those of the Clichyans who were less impli- 
 cated in the faction, they sincerely desired to effect 
 a ministerial revolution, and to rest contented with 
 the attainment of that object. These naturally 
 ranged themselves under the standard of Carriot. 
 The members of the Ancients and of the Five-Hun- 
 dred, whom we have already specified, Portalis, 
 Tronfon-Ducoudray, Lacuee, Dumas, Thibaudeau, 
 Doulcet-Pontecoulant, Simeon, Emery, and others, 
 consulted with Carnot and Barthelemy, and discussed 
 the changes to be made in the ministry. The two 
 ministers, whose displacement they most eagerly de- 
 manded, were Merlin, minister of Justice, and Ra- 
 mel, minister of the Finances. Having particularly 
 attacked the financial system, they were more em- 
 bittered against the minister of that department than 
 any other. They likewise urged the dismissal of 
 Truguet and Charles Delacroix. Cochon, Petiet, 
 and Benezech, they were of course in favour of re- 
 taining. Carnot and his ally Barthelemy were not 
 difficult to persuade. The feeble Barthelemy, in 
 truth, had no opinion of his own ; but Carnot saw all 
 his friends in the ministers retained, and all his ene- 
 mies in those rejected. The plan, however, easy 
 enough to form in the coteries of the Constitution- 
 alists, was not so simple of arrangement with the 
 three other directors, who, having resolved upon an 
 adverse policy, proposed to discharge those precisely 
 whom the Constitutionalists desired to keep in office. 
 Carnot, who was unconscious of the union formed 
 by his three colleagues, Rewbell, Larevelleire, and 
 Barras, and little aware that Larevelliere formed the 
 connecting link between the two others, indulged 
 the hope that he would be the easiest to gain over. 
 He, therefore, recommended the Constitutionalists 
 to address themselves to him, with the view of in- 
 ducing him to concur in their projects. They ac- 
 cordingly repaired to Larevelliere, and explained to 
 him their purpose, but found beneath his moderation 
 an invincible firmness. Unaccustomed, like all the 
 men of that time, to the tactics of representative 
 governments, Larevelliere had no idea that the ap- 
 pointment of ministers could form a subject of nego- 
 tiation " Perform your part," he said to them, 
 
 "that is to say, make laws; leave us ours, which 
 consists in nominating the public functionaries. We 
 are bound to direct our choice according to our con- 
 sciences, and the opinion we entertain of the merit 
 of individuals, but without reference to the exigence 
 of parties. "^ — He did not then know, and all were 
 equally ignorant, that a ministry should be formed 
 by an amalgamation of influences, taken from the 
 existing parties in the state, and that the nomination 
 of such or such a minister, being a guarantee of the 
 policy to be pursued, may feasibly become an object 
 of negotiation. He had, however, other reasons for 
 repudiating a compromise. He was confident that 
 he and his friend Rewbell had always acted with the 
 purest motives, and that the directorial majority, 
 whatever might be the personal views of the direc- 
 tors, had never decided otherwise than for the public 
 welfare ; that in the management of the finances, 
 without being able to prevent minor peculations, it 
 had at least administered them lioin'^lly. aiul with 
 the smallest amount of evil possiiile under the cir- 
 cumstances ; that in political matters it had never 
 been actuated by personal ambition, or had done any 
 thing to extend its prerogatives; finally, that in the 
 direction of the war it had ever ke|)t steadily in view 
 a speedy, but at the same time an honourable and 
 
 glorious peace. He could not, therefore, either un- 
 derstand or submit to the reproaches made against 
 the Directory. His omi clear conscience rendered 
 them incomprehensible. He regarded the Clichyans 
 in the light of perfidious conspirators, and the Con- 
 stitutionalists as men suffering under the smart of 
 injured self-love. He was ignorant, with all his 
 contemporaries, that the temper of parties is to be 
 taken as an element in politics, and that all preten- 
 sions must be considered and treated, even those 
 founded on wounded vanity. Furthermore, the pro- 
 posals of the Constitutionalists had little of an entic- 
 ing character in them. The three allied directors 
 were intent on framing a homogeneous administration 
 in order to crush the royalist faction ; the Constitu- 
 tionalists, on the contrary, demanded a ministry 
 wholly opposed to such a one as the directors deemed 
 necessary in the crisis, and they had to offer in re- 
 turn only their votes, which were far from numer- 
 ous, and which, sooth to say, they refused to pledge 
 on any given question. Their alliance, consequently, 
 presented no advantages sufficient to induce the Direc- 
 tory to hearken to them, and forego its own projects. 
 Hence, from their communications with Larevelliere 
 they derived but indifferent satisfaction. They beset 
 him through the medium of the geologist Faujas de 
 Saint-Fonds, with whom he was on intimate terms 
 from the conformity of their tastes and studies ; but 
 all in vain. He at length stopped further solicita- 
 tion by the abrupt rejoinder: — -"On the day you 
 attack us, you will find us prepared. We will put 
 you to death, but only politically. You thirst for 
 our blood, but yours shall not be shed. You will 
 be simply reduced to the impossibility of doing mis- 
 chief." 
 
 This obduracy on the part of Larevelliere ren- 
 dered his accession hopeless. Carnot, therefore, ad- 
 vised the Constitutionalists to make application to 
 Barras, doubting nevertheless their success, for he 
 knew the extent of his rancour against them. Ad- 
 miral Villaret-Joyeuse, one of the hottest members 
 of the opposition, but whom his taste for pleasures 
 frequently led into the society of Barras, was selected 
 to open their proposals. The easy-natured Barras, 
 who was prone to give promises without heeding 
 their import, though his opinion- were at bottom 
 sufficiently decided, was in appearance less intracta- 
 ble than Larevelliere. Of the four ministers whose 
 dismissal the Constitutionalists demanded. Merlin, 
 Ramel, Truguet, and Delacroix, he readily con- 
 curred in their scheme as to two, Truguet and Dela- 
 croix. This was according to his compact with 
 Rewbell and Larevelliere, and, in undertaking to get 
 rid of them, he did not transgress his previous en- 
 gagements. But, whether with his usual facility he 
 promised more than he intended to fulfil, or he wished 
 to deceive Carnot and prompt him to move a change 
 of ministers, or his language, generally ambiguous, 
 was too favourably interpreted, the Constitutionalists 
 returned to Carnot with the assurance that Barras 
 had consented to every thing, and would vote with 
 him as ^o each of the ministers. Tiiey were urgent 
 with him that the change should be made at once. 
 But Carnot and Barthelemy, still distrustful of 
 Barras, hesitated to take the initiative. They then 
 pressed Barras to assume the task, and he answered 
 that, from the extreme virulence of the journals at 
 that particidar monu'iit, it would be inferred that 
 the Directory was yielding to their clamour. To 
 ohviate this objection silence was enjoined on the 
 opposition press; but, meanwhile, Hewltcllaiul Lare- 
 velliere, strangers to these intrigues, themselves took 
 the decisive step. On the 'JHth Messidor, Rewbell 
 declared, in the sitting of the Directory, that the 
 time for i)rocrastination was past, that the fluctua- 
 tions of the goverimu-nt must be brought to a close, 
 and a change of ministers effected. He moved that 
 a scrutiny be forthwith commenced. It was so
 
 666 
 
 HISTORY UF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 agreed, and that the scrutiny should be secret. Tru- 
 giiet and Delacroix, whom every one doomed to ex- 
 clusion, were cashiered unanimously. Ramel and 
 Merlin, whom the Constitutionalists "alone desired to 
 supplant, had simply the two votes of Carnot a7id 
 Barthelemy affainst them, and were upheld by the 
 three votes of the other directors. Cochon, Petiit, 
 and Benezech, were deposed by the same majority 
 that had supported Raniel and Merlin. Thus the 
 project devised by the three directors was so far ac- 
 complished. But Carnot, finding himself outwitted, 
 urged that the appointment of successors should Ije 
 at least deferred, alleging that he was not prepared 
 to make a choice. He was harshly answered that a 
 director ouL'ht always to be prepared, and that he 
 should not have joined in dismissing a public fmic- 
 tionary without being in a condition to nominate his 
 succe-sor. His opposition was accordingly overruled 
 and a vote taken on the moment. The five new 
 ministers were named by the majority. Rainel had 
 been retained in the Finance department, and -Merlin 
 in that of Justice; ^I. de Tallyrand was now nomi- 
 nated minister of foreign affairs; Pleville le Peley, a 
 bold and veteran sailor, and excellent administrator, 
 minister of the Navy ; Francois de Neufchateau, a 
 man of some eminence in the walks of literature, but 
 of slender practical ability, minister of the Interior ; 
 Lemoir-Laroche, a discreet and enlightened indivi- 
 dual, who contributed sound political articles to the 
 Moniteur, minister of police ; and lastly, the young 
 iind brilliant connnander whose support it had been 
 resolved to secure, Hoche, minister of war. The 
 latter was not of the age required by the constitu- 
 tion, namely thirty. This was knowii, but Larevel- 
 liere had proposed to his two colleagues, Rewbell 
 and Barras, to appoint him, even were it necessary 
 to supplant hiui within forty-eight hours, both in 
 order tlie more firmly to attach him to their cause, 
 and to propitiate the armies by so flattering a testi- 
 mony to a military idol. 
 
 Thus all parties co-operated in promoting this 
 change of ministers, which as a stroke of policy 
 proved decisive in its consequences. It is common 
 enough, however, to see parties so conspire to pro- 
 voke a certain result, which they fondly conceive 
 must prove advantageous to themselves. They all 
 concur in hastening the conjuncture, but the strongest 
 decides the event in its own favour. 
 
 Carnot, with the irritable pride that characterized 
 him, could scarcely fail to be deeply mortified, or to 
 believe that Barras had tricked him. The members 
 of the legislative body, who had interposed in the 
 negotiation, hurried to his aparlaii'iits, gathered all 
 the details of the diet that had been held of the 
 Directory, broke into furious denunciations of Bar- 
 ras, proclaimed him a deceitful knave, and gave vent 
 to the most outrageous indignation. A fresh circum- 
 stance added fuel to the excitement, and infiarned it 
 to the highest pitch. At the instance of Barras, 
 Hoche had put his troops in motion, with the inten- 
 tion of directing them eventually on Brest, but of 
 halting them for a few days in the vicinity of the 
 capital. He had selected the legion of Franks, com- 
 manded by Humbert, Lemoigne's division of infantry, 
 the division of chasseurs commanded by Richepanse, 
 and a regiment of artillery ; in all from fourteen to 
 fifteen thousand men. Richepanse's division of chas- 
 seurs had already arrived at La Ferte-Alais, eleven 
 leagues from Paris. This involved a serious indiscre- 
 tion, for the constitutional radius was twelve leagues, 
 and, pending the moment for action, it was needless 
 to transgress the legal limit. The imprudence was 
 owing to the mistake of a commissary of war, who 
 had infringed the law without knowing it. To this 
 unfortunate occurrence were added others. The 
 troops seeing the direction they were made to take, 
 and aware of what was passing in the interior, had 
 no doubt they were intended to march against the 
 
 Councils. The officers and soldiers openly boasted 
 on the route that they were going to reduce the 
 aristocrats of Paris to reason. Hoche had contented 
 himself with notifying to the minister at war a gen- 
 eral movement of troops on Brest for the expedition 
 to Ireland. 
 
 All these circumstances indicated to the different 
 parties that some decisive event was ap[)roaching. 
 The opposition and the enemies of the govennnent 
 redoubled their activity to parry the blow that 
 threatened them, whilst the Directory, on its part, 
 neglected no means to forward the execution of its 
 projects and to make sure of victory ; with what 
 measure of success on either side we shall forthwith 
 proceed to unfold. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 I>UEPAU.\TIONS OF THE OPPOSITION AND CLICHYANS 
 
 AGAINST THE DIRECTORY. HOSTILITY OF THE 
 
 COUNCILS. — PROJECT OF LAW AS TO THE NA- 
 TIONAL GUARD AND AGAINST POLITICAL SOCIE- 
 TIES FETE TO THE ARMY OF ITALY. — NEGO- 
 TIATIONS FOR PEACE WITH THE EMPEROR AND 
 ENGLAND COMPLAINT OF THE COUNCILS RE- 
 GARDING THE MARCH OF TROOPS. DIVISIONS IN 
 
 THE PARTY OF THE OPPOSITION. — DEFINITIVE 
 PLAN OF THE DIRECTORY AGAINST THE MAJOR- 
 ITY OF THE COUNCILS COUP-D'eTAT OF THE 
 
 18tH FRUCTIDOR invasion OF THE TWO COUN- 
 CILS BY AN ARMED FORCE BANISHMENT OF 53 
 
 DEPUTIES, TWO DIRECTORS AND OTHER CITI- 
 ZENS CONSEQUENCES OF THIS REVOLUTION. 
 
 Intelligence of the arrival of Richepanse's chas- 
 seurs, with an account of the circumstances attend- 
 ing their march, reached the minister Petiet on the 
 ^8th Messidor, the very day on which the change of 
 ministry took place. Petiet immediately communi- 
 cated the information to Carnot ; and the deputies 
 who flocked around him and the discarded ministers, 
 to indulge their resentment against the directorial 
 majority, and express their sympathy with its vic^ 
 tims, were further dismayed by learning at the same 
 moment the advance of the troops. Carnot stated 
 to them that the Directory had not, to his know- 
 ledge, issued any orders to that effect ; but that the 
 three other directors might perhaps have passed a pri- 
 vate resolution, which in such case must be inserted 
 in the secret register ; that he would go and ascertain 
 the fact; and that, in the meantime, the event itself 
 should not be made public, until he was in a condi- 
 tion to prove the existence of orders. But the ex- 
 citement was too great for any prudent exhortation 
 to be of the least avail. 
 
 The dismissal of the ministers and the march of 
 the troops, combined with the nomination of Hoche 
 in the place of PJtict, served to remove all doubts 
 from their minds as to the intentions of the Directory. 
 They proclaimed that the Directory evidently in- 
 tended to outrage tlie inviolability of the Councils, 
 perpetrate a new tliirty-tirst of May, and proscribe 
 the deputies faithful to the constitution. They 
 assembled in num))ers at the house of Troncon Du- 
 coudray, who was one of the most influential members 
 of the Ancients. The Clichyans, as is the usage 
 with extreme parties, had beheld wath pleasure the 
 moderates, that is to say, the Constitutionalists, de- 
 ceived in their expectations and foiled in their pro- 
 ject of composing a ministry of their own choice. 
 They considered them as duped by Barras, and re- 
 joiced greatly that they had fallen so easily into the 
 snare. But the danger appeared to them rather 
 more serious when they found troops advancing. 
 Their two generals, Pichegru ami VVillot, being 
 aipprized of the special muster at Tronfon-Ducou-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 667 
 
 dray's to confer upon the state of affairs, repaired 
 thither, althoii,t::h the meeting was composed of men 
 differing essentially in principles. Pichet,'rii had not 
 yet any real power at command ; his only means lay 
 in the passions of parties, and wherever these broke 
 forth most violently there it behoved him to be, 
 either curiously to watch or prominently to act, as 
 circumstances might prompt. Amongst the per- 
 sonages assembled there were Portalis, Tron(,'on- 
 Ducoudray, Lacu e, Dumas, Sime'on, Doulcet-Pon- 
 tecoulant, Thibaudeau, and Villaret-Joyeuse, with 
 Willot and Pichegru. Great irritation marked the 
 deportments of those present, as was natural. The 
 actual designs of the Directory formed the prelimi- 
 nary theme of discussion. E.xpressions of Rewbell, 
 Larevelliere, and Barras, were quoted, which im- 
 plied a settled purpose on their part, and from the 
 change of ministry and the march of the troops, it 
 was concluded that this purpose could be none other 
 than an attack on the legislative body. There- 
 upon the most violent resolutions were proposed, 
 such as the suspension of the Directory, its impeach- 
 ment, and even its outlawry. But to put these 
 measures in e-xecution an armed force was requisite, 
 and Thibaudeau, who did not partake the prevailing 
 ferment, calmly inquired where it was to be found. 
 He was answered that they had the twelve hundred 
 grenadiers of the legislative body, a part of the 21st 
 regiment of chasseurs, commanded by Malo, and the 
 national guard of Paris ; that pending the reorgan- 
 ization of that guard, they might send detachments 
 of grenadiers into the various quarters of the capital 
 and rally around them the citizens who had taken 
 up arms in Vendenuaire. A long debate ensued with- 
 out leading to any definife conclusion, as usually 
 happens when means are unsubstantial and inadequate 
 to the purpose. Pichegru, cool and composed as 
 ordinary, let fall some observations on the insuffi- 
 ciency and the peril of the steps proposed, the quiet 
 tone of which contrasted strangely with the agitation 
 raging around him. At length the meeting sepa- 
 rated, some dispersing to (,'ariiot's, others to the 
 residences of the supplanted ministers. Carnot con- 
 demned all the plans proposed against the Directory. 
 A second meeting was held at Tron^on-Ducoudray's, 
 but Pichegru and Willot did not attend it. IMuch 
 wild and vehement elocution was wasted as before, 
 but, shrinking from recourse to violent measures, 
 temperate counsels prevailed with the majority, and 
 it was finally determined to keep within strict con- 
 stitutional limits. A motion was accordingly adopted 
 to demand forthwith the law touching the respon- 
 sibility of ministers and the prompt organization of 
 the national guard. 
 
 In the Clichy club as elsewhere great excitement 
 reigned ; incessant was the declamation, but equally 
 tame the end, for if hotter passions animated the 
 members, their means of aggression were not more 
 powerful. The removal of Cochoii from (he min- 
 istry of police was with them a chief object of re- 
 gret, and they revived one of the favourite schemes 
 of the faction, which consisted in depriving the Di- 
 rectory of all control over tiie police of P;u'is and 
 vesting it in the legislative body, by a forced con- 
 struction of the meaning of an article in the consti- 
 tution. They pro|)()sed at the same time to intrust 
 the direction of this (lolice to Cochon ; but the wiiole 
 design was of too bold a character for them to ven- 
 ture on its immediate adoption. They were content 
 in the end with [)ositive resolutions to raise a cavil 
 about the age of Barras, wlio, it was said, was ru)t 
 forty years old on his nomination to the Directory, 
 and to insist on the instant organization of the na- 
 tional guard. 
 
 On the ;JOfh Messidor (18th July), accordingly, 
 the council of the Five-Hundred was a scene of |)ro- 
 digious clamour. 1'he deputy Delahaye denounced 
 the march of tlic troops, and moved that the report 
 
 on the national guard be presented forthwith. Others 
 inveighed against the conduct of the Directory, de- 
 picted in exaggerated alarm the frightful state of 
 Paris, from the arrival of a multitude of well-known 
 revolutionists and the new formation of clubs, and 
 demanded that a discussion be opened on political 
 societies. Ultimately it was decided that the report 
 on the national guard should be made on the day 
 after the morrow, and immediately afterwards a de- 
 bate commenced on political societies. By the day 
 prescribed, the "id Thermidor ('20th July), additional 
 jiarticulars had arrived respecting the march of the 
 troops and their nundjer, and it was known that 
 there were already four regiments of cavalry quar- 
 tered at La Ferte'-Alais. 
 
 Pichegru presented the report on the orgatiization 
 of the national guard. His plan was conceived in a 
 truly artful spirit. All Frenchmen enjoying the 
 qualification of citizens were to be emoUed on the 
 lists of the national guard ; but all were not to com- 
 pose the actual force of that guard. The national 
 guards intended for duty were to be chosen by the 
 rest, in other words, elected by the mass. In this 
 manner the national guard would be formed like the 
 (^ouncils by electoral assemblies, and the result of 
 the recent elections sufficiently indicated what sort 
 of guard would be obtained by this process. It was 
 to be composed of a battalion for each canton, and in 
 each battalion there was to be a company of grenadiers 
 and chasseurs, thereby re-establishing those chosen 
 companies in which the most decided politicians mus- 
 tered, and of which parties usually availed them- 
 selves for the execution of their schemes. No sooner 
 was the report presented than a motion was made 
 that it be forthwith adopted. The fiery Henri La- 
 riviere rose and asserted that everything announced 
 another thirty-first of May. " Let us have it ! Let 
 us have it then !" exclaimed certain voices from the 
 left, interrupting him. "Yes," he resumed, "but 
 I console myself by reflecting that we are at the 
 second of Thermidor, and that we approach the 9th, 
 a day fatal to tyrants." He moved that the project 
 be voted on the instant, and a message sent to the 
 Ancients requesting them to protract their sitting, 
 in order that they might likewise pass it without 
 adjourning. This proposal was strenuously resisted. 
 Thibaudeau, the leader of the Constitutional party, 
 remarked with reason that, whatever dispatch might 
 be used, the national guard could not be organized 
 within a month ; that such precipitation in passing an 
 important law would therefore be fruitless as a means 
 of saving the legislative body from any dangers that 
 threatened it, and that the national representation 
 should repose on its rights aiul its dignity, and not 
 seek its force in meaiis actually powerless. He 
 therefore urged the expediency of allowing time for 
 reflection. Eventually an adjournment of twenty- 
 four hours was carried for a further consideration of 
 the measure, the principle of the reorganization being 
 however at once alhruu;d. At this uHUiient a mes- 
 sage from the Directory arrived, giving explanations 
 as to the march of the troops. This message set 
 forth that the troops, intended for a distant destina- 
 tion, were obliged to p:iss near Paris; that through 
 the inadverteiu-e of a war-commi>sary they had over- 
 stepped the constitutional limit; that the error of 
 this connnissary was tiie sole cause of this infraction 
 of the laws; and tiiat, to make amends, the troo[)s 
 had received orders to retrograde without delay. 
 'I"he Council was far from ln'iiig content with this 
 explanation. It provoked, indeed, fresh declamations 
 of extreme vioh-nce, and a connnittee was named to 
 examine tlu' message and make a report on the stale 
 of J'aris and tiie advance of the troops. 
 
 On the folio witig day Pichegru's measure was dis- 
 cussed and four of its <-]auses voted. The Council 
 next proceeded to take up the (juestioii of clubs, 
 which were reviving in all quarters aiui seemed to
 
 668 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 threaten a resurrection of the Jacobin party. It was 
 proposed they should be absolutely prohibited, since 
 the laws which restrained them were continually 
 evaded. A decree was in fact passed that no poli- 
 tical assembly should be permitted for the future. 
 Thus the society of Clichy committed a species of 
 suicide, consenting; to its own annihilation on con- 
 dition of destroyiuf^ the Constitutional Circle and 
 the other inferior clubs forming all around. The 
 leaders of the Clichy faction, in truth, had no need 
 of that tumultuous gathering to concert together, 
 and they could afford to sacrifice it without losing 
 any great resource. Willot subsequently opened the 
 attack on Barras, as not being of the age required 
 by the constitution at the time he was appointed a 
 director. But the army registers oeing searched, 
 proved that it was an idle fiction. Meanwhile fresh 
 troops had arrived at Rheims, and the feeling of 
 alarm grew more intense. The Directory having 
 repeated its previous explanations, they were again 
 declared insufficient, and the committee already 
 named was instructed to prosecute its inquiries and 
 present a report with all dispatch. 
 
 In the interim Hoche had arrived at Paris, it being 
 necessary he should visit the capital, whether he 
 intended at once proceeding to Brest, or was to be 
 detained for the execution of a coup-d'etat. He pre- 
 sented himself without any misgivings before the 
 Directory, assured that in putting his divisions in 
 motion he had obeyed the directorial majority. But 
 Carnot, who was president of the Directory at the 
 time, sought to intimidate him, demanding under 
 what order he had acted, and menacing him with an 
 impeachment for having transgressed the constitu- 
 tional limits. Unfortunately, Rewbell and Lare- 
 velliere, not having been informed of the orders sent 
 to Hoche, could not interfere to assist him. Barras, 
 who had issued the orders in question, did not ven- 
 ture to speak, and thus was Hoche left exposed to 
 the searching examination of Carnot. He made 
 answer that he could not go to Brest without troops; 
 upon which Carnot retorted that there were yet 
 43,000 soldiers in Brittany, forming a sufficient 
 number of men for the expedition. At length, Lare- 
 velliere, perceiving the embarrassment of Hoche, 
 came to his rescue, and, expressing to him in the 
 name of the directorial majority the esteem and 
 confidence his services had merited, assured him 
 there was no ground of impeachment against him ; 
 and thereafter broke up the sitting. Hoche hastened 
 to Larevelli^re to thank him for his seasonable in- 
 terposition, and then learnt that Barras had not ap- 
 prised either him or Rewbell of the intended move- 
 ment of troops, having given the orders without 
 their knowledge. He naturally felt indignant with 
 Barras, who, after having compromised him, had 
 shrunk with the meanest cowardice from defending 
 him. It was clear that Barras in thus acting apart, 
 without the privity of his two colleagues, had hoped 
 to retain the sole disposal of the executory force to 
 be employed. Hoche, highly incensed, treated him 
 with haughty disdain, but expressed the greatest 
 regard for Rewbell and Larevelliere. The time was 
 not yet come, nor had any preparations been made, 
 for the execution of the project contemplated by the 
 three directors, and Barras, in thus prematurely 
 summoning Hoche, had uselessly compromised both 
 him and them. The young general accordingly re- 
 turned forthwith to his head-quarters, which were 
 at Wetzlar, and ordered into cantonments the troops 
 he had marched around the environs of Rheims and 
 Sedan, where they were still within reach of a forced 
 march on Paris. Although effectually disgusted with 
 the conduct of Barras towards him, he was ready 
 again to enact the same part on a signal from Rew- 
 bell and Larevelliere. He had beyond doubt griev- 
 ously committed himself, and a serious determination 
 was evinced to bring him under accusation ; but at 
 
 his head-quarters he awaited with composure what- 
 ever steps the majority of the Five-Hundred, in the 
 bitterness of its wrath against him, might hazard to 
 his prejudice. Meanwhile his age not permitting 
 him to accept the ministry of war, Scherer was 
 nominated to it in his stead. 
 
 The unfortunate notoriety that had attended this 
 matter, however, put it out of the power of the 
 Directory to employ Hoche further in the execution 
 of its designs. Moreover, it was a consideration 
 that the importance with which such participation 
 would invest him might excite the jealousy of the 
 other generals. It was not improbable that Bona- 
 parte would take umbrage at others than himself 
 being applied to. It was therefore deemed more 
 advisable not to make use of any of the generals-in- 
 chief, but to employ one of the most distinguished 
 generals of division. The notion was entertained of 
 asking Bonaparte for one of those generals become 
 so famous under his orders ; a step which would 
 combine the advantage of gratifying him personally 
 without giving ground of offence to any of the other 
 commanders-in-chief. But whilst this project of 
 appealing to him was still in deliberation, he himself 
 interfered in a manner somewhat startling for the 
 counter-revolutionists, and at least embarrassing for 
 the Directory. He chose the anniversary of the 
 fourteenth of July, answering to the 26th Messidor, 
 to give a festival to his army, and to publish ad- 
 dresses on the state of affairs at home. He caused 
 to be erected at Milan a pyramid bearing numerous 
 trophies, and the names of all the soldiers and offi- 
 cers killed during the campaign of Italy. Around 
 this pyramid the festival was celebrated with great 
 magnificence. Bonaparte was present in person, and 
 addressed his soldiers in an exciting proclamation. 
 
 " Soldiers !" he said, " this day is the anniversary 
 of the 14th July. You see before you the names of 
 your companions in arms, killed on the field of hon- 
 our for the liberty of our country. They have given 
 you an example. You are bound wholly and indis- 
 solubly to the republic, to the happiness of thirty 
 millions of Frenchmen, to the glory of that name 
 which has received new lustre from your victories. 
 
 ' ' Soldiers ! I am aware you are deeply affected 
 with the misfortunes which threaten our country. 
 But the country cannot encoimter real dangers. The 
 same men who have made it triumph over allied 
 Europe are still here. Mountains separate you from 
 France ; you would clear them with the swiftness of 
 the eagle, if it were necessary, to maintain the con- 
 stitution, defend liberty, and protect republicans. 
 
 " Soldiers ! the government watches over the guar- 
 dianship of the laws intrusted to it. The royalists, 
 the moment they shall show themselves, will have 
 lived.* Be without inquietude, therefore, and let us 
 swear by the manes of the heroes slain by our side for 
 liberty, let us swear upon our standards, implacable 
 war to the enemies of the republic and of the consti- 
 tution of the year III !" 
 
 A banquet wound up the entertainments, at which 
 the most energetic toasts were given by the gen- 
 erals and officers. The generalissimo himself pro- 
 posed the first toast to the brave Stengel, Laharpe, 
 and Dubois, killed on the field of honour. "May 
 their shades," he exclaimed, "watch around us and 
 guard us from the toils of our enemies !" Other 
 toasts were afterwards drank to the Constitution 
 of the year three, to the Directory, to the Council 
 of Ancients, to the memory of the French assas- 
 sinated in Verona, to the re-emi(/ration of the emi- 
 grants, to the union of French republicans, to the 
 "destruction of the Clichy club. The charge was 
 sounded as an accompaniment to this latter toast. 
 
 » [Bonaparte, who was fond of classical allusions in his 
 proclamations, here uses the Latin expression to sipnif)' death, 
 the Romans entertaining a superstitious repugnance to men- 
 tion dissolution otherwise than as life past.]
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 
 669 
 
 Similar fetes took place in all the cities where divi- 
 sions of the army were stationed, and were cele- 
 brated with the like manifestations. Thereafter, in 
 each division of the army addresses were framed still 
 more significant than the proclamation of the general- 
 in-chief. He had observed in his language a certain 
 dignity of style ; but the old jacobin jargon of 1793 
 was revived in the addresses of the divisions of the 
 army. Above the others, those under Massena, 
 Joubert, and Augereau, distinguished themselves for 
 violence of expression. Augereau's in fact exceeded 
 all bounds. " Oh conspirators !" it said, " tremble ! 
 from the Adige and the Rhine to the Seine, there is 
 but a step. Tremble ! your iniquities are told, and 
 their reward is on the point of our bayonets !" 
 
 These addresses were signed by thousands of names 
 and sent to the commander-in-chief. He collected 
 and forwarded them to the Directory, together with 
 his o\vn proclamation, in order that they might be 
 printed and publislied in the newspapers. This pro- 
 ceeding on his part sufficiently indicated his readiness 
 to march against the opposition faction in the Coun- 
 cils, and lend his aid in the execution of a coup-d'etat. 
 However, as he knew the Directory was divided, and 
 perceived that matters were gro\ving serious and 
 complicated, desirous at the same time of having 
 correct information from the scene itself, he selected 
 one of his aide-de-camps, M. de Lavalette, who en- 
 joyed his unlimited confidence, and possessed the 
 penetration necessary to estimate persons and events, 
 whom he dispatched to Paris with orders to observe 
 and gather everything worthy of communication. 
 He likewise conmiissioned him to offer funds to the 
 Directory, in case it needed them to carry into oper- 
 ation any purposed act of aggression. 
 
 When the Directory received these addresses it 
 was greatly embarrassed. They were in some sort 
 illegal, for the armies were forbidden to deliberate 
 on political affairs. To accept and publish them 
 was to authorize the armies to interfere in the gov- 
 ernment of the state, and deliver the republic into 
 the hands of the military power. But was it possi- 
 ble to avoid this dangerous alternative ? By apply- 
 ing to Hoche and requesting troops from him, by 
 demanding the aid of a general from Bonaparte, had 
 not the government itself provoked this intervention ? 
 Obliged to have recourse to force and to violate le- 
 gality, could it rely upon other support than that of 
 the armies ? To receive these addresses was simply 
 an inevitable consequence of what it had done, of 
 what it had been obliged to do. Such was the mel- 
 ancholy fate of the republic, that to escape its ene- 
 mies it was compelled to throw itself into the power 
 of the armies. It was the dread of a counter-revo- 
 lution in 1793 that had driven the republic into the 
 excesses of which we have read the mournful detail ; 
 it was the same dread of a counter-revolution that 
 now impelled it to seek protection from soldiers. 
 In short, it was always to avert the like danger that 
 at one time it had recourse to passions, at another 
 to bayonets. 
 
 Still the Directory would have mllingly concealed 
 these addresses, and withheld them from publication 
 on account of the evil example tliey afforded ; but it 
 would thereby have grievously offended the general, 
 and driven him {)erhaps to side with the enemies of 
 the republic. It was therefore constrained to print 
 and circulate them. They struck terror into tlic 
 Clichyan party, and made it sensible how gross had 
 been its imprudence in attacking, by the motion of 
 Dumolard, the conduct of General 15oiiaparte at 
 Venice. They gave rise to fresh complaints in the 
 Councils. Such an intervention on the part of an 
 army was vehemently denounced, tiie right of soldiers 
 to express political opinions was denied, and further 
 corroborative testimony of the sinister designs of the 
 Directory was therefrom deduced. 
 
 iionaparte caused additional embarrassment to the 
 
 government by the general of division he sent upon 
 its application. It happened that Augereau was the 
 occasion of considerable trouble in the army through 
 the violence of his opinions, which were chiefly adapt- 
 ed for the atmosphere of the Faul)ourg Saint- An- 
 toine. He was ever on the alert to (juarrel with any 
 one not equally violent as himself, so that Bonaparte 
 stood in apprehension of some fierce altercation aris- 
 ing amongst his officers. To get rid of him he pitched 
 upon Augereau to detach to the Directory, thinking 
 he would be well fitted for the service required of 
 him, and much better at Paris than at head-quarters, 
 in a season of inactivity, where he might become dan- 
 gerous. Augereau was well content with the mis- 
 sion, for he liked the agitation of clubs as well as 
 the field of battle itself, and he was by no means in- 
 sensible to the influence of ambition. He set out for 
 Paris, therefore, with the greatest alacrity, and ar- 
 rived about the middle of Thermidor. Bonaparte 
 wrote to his aide-de-camp Lavalette that he had dis- 
 patched Augereau because he could keep him no 
 longer in Italy ; and recommended him to be on his 
 guard with him, and to continue his observations, 
 holding himself as much as possible aloof. He like- 
 wise exhorted him to cultivate friendly relations \^^th 
 Carnot ; for although openly declaring in favour of 
 the Directory against the counter-revolutionary fac- 
 tion, he had no intention of mixing himself up with 
 the personal quarrels of the directors. 
 
 The Directory viewed the arrival of Augereau 
 with any thing but satisfaction. He was agreeable 
 enough to Barras, who found pleasure in drawing 
 around him Jacobins and patriots from the faubourgs, 
 and who was continually boasting of mounting on 
 horseback and brandishing his sword ; but he gave 
 umbrage to Rewbell and Larevelliere, who had de- 
 sired to have a prudent and moderate officer, and one 
 who might, in case of need, make common cause 
 wth them against the schemes of Barras. As for 
 Augereau himself, none could be more elated with 
 the position he occupied. He was an honest man, 
 an excellent soldier, and possessed of a generous 
 heart, but prone to speak vauntingly, and gifted with 
 but little strength of head. He visited much in 
 Paris, partaking of entertainments in his honour, and 
 enjoying all the celebrity of his brilliant achieve- 
 ments in arms, but attributing to himself many of 
 the operations of the army of Italy, willingly leaving 
 it to be inferred that he had inspired the general-in- 
 chief with the finest of his conceptions, and repeat- 
 ing on every occasion that he would soon bring all 
 aristocrats to reason, (jlreatly annoyed at this con- 
 duct, Larevelliere and Rewbell determined to re- 
 monstrate with him, and, by appealing to his vaj;ity, 
 to reclaim him to a more sober demeanour. Lare- 
 velliere accordingly spoke earnestly l)ut affectionately 
 with him, and succeeded in calmii'g him, partly by a 
 little skilful flattery, and partly by the respect he 
 knew how to exact. He pointed out to him that 
 there was no occasion to sully his reputation l)y a 
 massacre of citizens, liut that lie was callid upon to 
 merit tiie title of saviour of the repulilic by eni'rgetic 
 but discreet action, whereby the factious might be 
 disarmed without the shedding of blotxi. Larevel- 
 liere thus tranquillized Augereau, and brought him 
 to a more tractable and reasonable mood. He was 
 forthwitli iippoiiitod to the connnand of the seven- 
 leciitli iiiilitiiry division, wliich C(iiii|)relu'n<k(l Paris. 
 Tliis fresh ste[) left no (U)ubt of the intentions of the 
 Directory : they were in fact definitively settled. 
 Hoche's troops were (piartered within a few marches, 
 and could l)e called at a moment's notice. The 
 directors oidy waited for the funds which Bonaparte 
 had jiromised, and which they hesitated to extract 
 from the Treasurj', in order to avoid compromising 
 the minister llainel, who was closely watched t)y the 
 finance -connnit tee of the Five-Hundred. These 
 funds were partly intended to gain the grenadiers of
 
 670 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the legislative body, then amountiTig to 1,200 men, 
 and who, wthout being very formidable, might, if 
 they resisted, provoke a combat, which it was deter- 
 mined above all things to shun. Barras, as the most 
 skilled in intrigues, took upon himself this task, the 
 accomplishment of which, in the meanwhile, was the 
 cause of delaying the coup-d'etnt. 
 
 These internal troubles had a most disastrous in- 
 fluence on the important negotiations in progress be- 
 tween the French republic aT)d the powers of Europe. 
 The desperate faction, which had sworn implacable 
 war again t the liberty and the tranquillity of France, 
 was now to crown the catalogue of wrongs by jeop- 
 ardizing the consummation of the peace so long and 
 ardently desired. Lord Malmesbury had arrived at 
 Lille, and the Austrian ministers had opened confer- 
 ences at ]Montebello with Bonaparte find Clarke, who 
 were the two plenipotentiaries appointed to represent 
 France. The preliminaries of Leoben, signed on the 
 29th Germinal (18th April), had stipulated that two 
 congresses should be held, the one general at Berne 
 for peace with the emperor and his allies, the other 
 sjiecial at Rastadt for peace with the empire ; that 
 the treaty of peace with the emperor should be con- 
 cluded within three months, under penalty of nuUi- 
 fyii;g the preliminaries; find that nothing should be 
 done meanwhile in the Venitian states except in con- 
 cert with Austria, but that the Venitian provinces 
 should not be occupied by the emperor until after 
 the conclusion of peace. The transactions at Venice 
 seemed in some degree to derogate from these con- 
 ditions, and Austria had, on her part, lost no time 
 in yet more flagrantly violating them by seizing and 
 occupying the Veiutian provinces of Istria and Dal- 
 matia. Bonaparte, however, closed his eyes on this 
 infraction of the preliminaries, to escape recrimina- 
 tions with regard to wliat he had done at Venice, 
 and what he meditated doing in the islands of the 
 Levant. The exchange of the ratifications took 
 place at Montebello, near Milan, on the 5th Prairial 
 (24th May). The Marquis de Gallo, Neapolitan 
 minister at Vienna, appeared as the emperor's envoy. 
 After the exchange of the ratifications, Bonaparte 
 conversed with M. de Gallo, and sought to induce 
 him to forego the intention of holding a congress at 
 Berne, and to treat separately in Italy without call- 
 ing in the other powers. The reasons he had to 
 urge for this course, as regarded the interest of Aus- 
 tria herself, were very persuasive. It was impossible 
 to imagine that Russia and England, if summoned to 
 this congress, would ever consent that Austria should 
 indemnify herself at the expense of Venice, whose 
 possessions they both coveted. The advantage of 
 Austria, coupled with that of a speedy i-ettlement, 
 would therefore, it was plain, l)e best consulted by a 
 separate and immediate conference to be held in 
 Italy. M. de Gallo, a shrewd and intelligent man, 
 was by no means insensible to the force of this argu- 
 ment. To decide him and briig over the Austrian 
 cabinet, Bonaparte coiiceded a point of etiquette 
 upon which the court of Vienna laid great stress. It 
 had been an object of serious apprehension with the 
 emperor lest the republic might reject the ancient 
 ceremonial in use with the Kings of France and in- 
 sist upon an alternate precedency in the protocol of 
 treaties. He, the emperor, was intent on being al- 
 ways first named, and on his ambassadors retaining 
 the privilege of preceding the ambassadors of France. 
 Bonaparte, who had procured authority from the 
 Directory to yield to a-iy such miserable preten- 
 sions, granted what M. de Gallo so urgently solicited. 
 His gratification thereat was so abundant that he 
 forthwith adopted the principle of a separate nego- 
 tiation at ^lontebello, and wrote to Vienna to obtain 
 powers in accordance. But old Thugnt, fretted, 
 stubborn, wliolly attached to the Ergli.-h alliance, 
 and continually offering his resignation since the 
 court, influenced by the Archduke Charles, seemed 
 
 to incline in the opposite direction, entertained very 
 different views. He regarded the prospect of peace 
 with aversion ; the internal troubles of France still 
 served to animate hopes which he fondly cherished, 
 notwithstanding they had proved so often delusive. 
 Although the trust reposed in the vain promises of 
 the emigrants had cost Austria the sacrifice of count- 
 less treasure, led her into sundry false movements, 
 and entailed upon her the shame of an unsuccessful 
 war, still the new conspiracy of Pichegru inspired 
 Thugut with the idea of procrastinating the conclu- 
 sion of peace. He resolved accordingly to oppose 
 studied (ielays in the way of the negotiation ; with 
 which view he disavowed the Mar(|uis de Gallo, and 
 dispatched a fresh envoy to Montebello in the person 
 of Major-general the CouJit de Meewelt. This in- 
 dividual arrived on the 1st INIessidor (19th Jui:e), and 
 proceeded to demand the execution of the prelimin- 
 aries, that is to say, the convention of a congress at 
 Berne. Bonaparte, indignant at this change of sys- 
 tem, gave him a very warm retort. He repeated all 
 he had previously advanced as to the impossibility 
 of obtaining the adhesion of England and Russia to 
 the arrangements laid down hs the bases of a treaty 
 at Leoben ; and added, that a general congress would 
 cause great additional delay, that two months had 
 already elapsed since the preliminaries of Leoben, 
 whilst, according to those preliminaries, the peace 
 was to be concluded in three months, and that its 
 conclusion within such interval would be hopeless if 
 all the powers were invited to assist. These allega- 
 tions left the Austrian plenipotentiary without the 
 power of a reply. The Court of Vienna appeared to 
 yield, and conferei'ces were fixed to be opened at 
 L'dine, in the Venitian provinces, in order that the 
 place of negotiation might be nearer Vienna. They 
 were appointed to connnence on the I3th Messidor 
 (1st July). Bonaparte, whom cares of great im- 
 portance retained at IMitaii, aujidst the new republics 
 in process of formii;g, and who moreover desired to 
 keep a watch, not too remote, on events at Paris, 
 would not be drawn fruitlessly to Udine, there to be 
 duped by Thugut. He sent Clarke alone, declaring 
 that he would not appear in person until he was coi;- 
 vinced, by the nature of the powers given to the 
 negotiators and by their conduct in the negotiation, 
 of the good faith of the Austrian court. He was 
 not deceived in his misgivings, as the event showed. 
 The cabinet of Vienna, more deluded than ever by 
 the wretched agents of the royalist faction, flattered 
 itself it was about to be relieved, by a counter-revo- 
 lution, from the necessity of treating with the Di- 
 rectory, and accordingly delivered through its agent 
 certain notes, assuredly of a strange character in the 
 existing state of the negotiation. These notes, bear- 
 ing date the I8th .luly (30th Messidor), set forth 
 that the court of Vieiuia was disposed to adhere 
 rigorously to the preliminaries, and consequently to 
 treat for a general peace at Berne ; that the period 
 of three months, fixed by the preliminaries for the 
 conclusion of peace, could be understood to com- 
 mence only with the convocation of the congress, 
 for otherwise it would have been insufficient to be 
 stipulated; and that in conseqin-nce, tlie court of 
 Vienna, res(diite to ,al)i(le by the teiior of the pre- 
 liminaries, demanded a general congress of all the 
 powers. These notes likewise contained bitter com- 
 plaints as to the events at Venice and Genoa, main- 
 taining that those transactions invtdved a grave in- 
 fraction of the preliminaries of Leoben, for which 
 France wa- bound to give adequate satisfaction. 
 
 On receiving these notes, Bonaparte was highly 
 exasperated. His first impulse was to collect all the 
 divisions of the army, resume the offensive, and 
 again advaiu'e on ^'ienna to exact co.'iditions some- 
 what more onerous than those of Leoben. But the 
 domestic state of France and the conferences at 
 Lille retrained liini, and he concluded it would Ijc
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 671 
 
 better, under such grave circumstances, to throw on 
 the Directory, who stood in the centre of all affairs, 
 the task of determining the line of conduct to be fol- 
 lowed. He contented himself therefore with direct- 
 ing Clarke to present a vigorous rejoinder. His 
 note hi reply bore in substance that the time was 
 past for demanding a congress, the incompatibility 
 of which had been acknowledged by the Austrian 
 pleni[)otentiaries, and which the court of Vieinia had 
 itself abandoned by fixing conferences at Udine ; that 
 at present no motive existed for such a congress, 
 since the allies of Austria had se[)arated from her 
 and manifested the intention of treating individually, 
 which was proved by the conferences at Lille ; that 
 the period of three months could only be interpreted 
 to commence from the day of signing the prelimin- 
 aries, for otherwise, by deferring the opening of the 
 congress, everlasting delays might be interposed, 
 which France had expressly designed to prevent by 
 stipulating a positive term ; and, iinally, that the 
 preliminaries had not been violated by the conduct 
 pursued with regard to Venice and Genoa, since 
 those states were at liberty to chai.ge the form of 
 their governments without giving offence to any 
 other power, and that, at any rate, by occupying Is- 
 tria and Dalmatia, contrary to the express articles of 
 the convention, Austria had much more wantoidy vio- 
 lated those preliminaries. After thus lodging a re- 
 ply at once firm and appropriate, Bonaparte referred 
 the whole matter to the Directory and awaited its 
 orders, exhorting it merely to decide with all possi- 
 ble speed, since it was of moment not to defer hos- 
 tilities until the setting in of the bad season, if so ex- 
 treme a step shoidd be eventually deemed imperative. 
 
 At Lille, the negotiations were conducted with 
 more sincerity and good-faith, which ought to appear 
 singular, since it was wth Pitt the French plenipo- 
 tentiaries had to treat. But Pitt was really alarmed 
 at the situation of England ; no longer able to rely 
 on Austria, and having lost all confidence in the 
 tales of the royalist agents, he desired to conclude a 
 treaty with France ere peace with the emperor had 
 rendered her more powerful and exorbitant. If, 
 therefore, in the preceding year he had practised a 
 mere feint, in order to satisfy public opinion and 
 prevent an arrangement with regard to the Low 
 (Countries, this year he was sincerely anxious to 
 treat, mentally resolving, no doubt, that the peace 
 should prove but a hollow truce of two or three 
 years' duration. This genuine Englishman, in truth, 
 could not consent to leave the Low Countries in the 
 definitive possession of France. 
 
 At the present moment, as we have said, every 
 thing tended to demonstrate his sincerity, botli the 
 choice of Lord Malmesbury, and the nature of the 
 secret instructions given to him as ambassador. Ac- 
 cording to the custom of English diplomacy, arrange- 
 ments were n/ade for two simultaneous negotiations, 
 the one official and ai)parent, the other secret and 
 real. Mr. Ellis liad lieen a[)p()inted witli Lord 
 JIalmesbury to conduct under his sanction the secret 
 negotiation, and to correspond directly witli Pitt. 
 This practice in English diplomacy is unavoidable 
 under a representative goveriunent. In the official 
 negotiation only so much is stated as may be re- 
 peated in parliament, wiiilstfor the secret negotiation 
 is reserved all it may be judged impolitic to make 
 public. Moreover, in cases where tlie ministry itself 
 is divided on the f|uestion of peace, the secret con- 
 ferences are communicated only to such of the min- 
 isters as approve and direct the negotiation. 
 
 The English eml)assy arrived at Lille with a nu- 
 merous suite, and in great pomp, on the HJth Messi- 
 dor (4th July). The envoys nominated to re()rcsent 
 Fraice were Letourneur, the late director, Pl(\ille 
 Le Peley, who remained at Lille cidy a few days on 
 account of his a[)p()intment to the ministry of marine, 
 and Ungues Maret, afterwards Duke of Bassano. 
 
 Of these three personages the latter was the oidy 
 one fitted to act a useful part in the negotiation. 
 Still young, and from early years initiated in diplo- 
 matic life, he united with great abilities maiiPiers 
 which had become rare in France since the revolu- 
 tion. He owed his introduction to public affairs to 
 M. de Talleyrand ; and it had been matter of recent 
 coiicert between them that the one should have the 
 foreignministryand the other the mission to Lille. M. 
 Maret had been twice sent to London in the early times 
 of the revolution, when he had met with a favourable 
 reception from Pitt, and acquired considerable know- 
 ledge of England and its cabinet. He was therefore 
 well adapted to represent France in the negotiations 
 at Lille. His two colleagues in the mission and 
 himself arrived at that town about the same time as 
 the English embassy. It is not in pubHc conferences 
 that diplomatic arrangements are usually in reality 
 settled. The English negotiators, being men of 
 dexterity and tact, were desirous of mingling famil- 
 iarly with the French envoys, and had too much 
 sense to evince any cold estrangement. On the con- 
 trary, however, Letourneur and Ple'ville Le Peley, 
 who were honest men enough but unaccustomed to 
 diplomacy, retained a good deal of the revolutionary 
 savagerij ; they considered the two Englishmen as 
 dangerous persons, perpetually on the alert to in- 
 trigue and deceive, and against whom it behoved 
 them to be on their especial guard. They refused 
 to see them save officially, fearing to compromise 
 themselves by any other species of communication. 
 It was not the likely method to arrive at an under- 
 standing. 
 
 Lord Malmesbury exhibited his powers, wherein 
 the conditions of the peace were left in blank, and 
 demanded to know the terms proposed by France. 
 The three French negotiators produced their condi- 
 tions, which M'ere, it may be well imagined, pitched 
 on a high maximum. They insisted that the kiisg of 
 Great Britain should renounce the title of king of 
 France, which he continued to assume through one 
 of those ridiculous usages perpetuated in England ; 
 that he should re-deliver all the vessels taken at 
 Toulon, and restore to France, Spain, and Holland, 
 all the colonies he had captured from them. In ex- 
 change for these sacrifices, France, Spain, and Hol- 
 land offered peace, and peace only, for they had 
 taken nothing from England. It is true that the 
 position of France was sufficiently imposing to justify 
 the demand of great concessions ; but to ask every 
 thing for herself and her allies, aiui give nothing iii 
 return, was to bar the possibility of an agreement. 
 Lord Malmesbury, anxious to attain some substantial 
 result, and perceiving the official negotiation would 
 lead to nothing, sought to provoke a more intimate 
 intercourse. Maret, better accustomed than his 
 colleagues to diplomatic usages, willingly acceded; 
 but it required great finesse to induce Letourneur 
 and Pleville Le Peley to attend parties, even at the 
 theatre. The young men attached to the two em- 
 bassies were the first to associate nu)re closely to- 
 gether, and gradually the comnumications became 
 more friendly. Fruice had so completely l)roken 
 with the past since the revolution, that it was with 
 infinite difficulty she could resume her ancient rela- 
 tions with foreign powers. No attempt of the nature 
 had been made in the preceding year, because the 
 liegotiation was not sinciTc, anil both parties were 
 estranged by mutual distrust and a desire to elude 
 contact; but on this occasion it was essential to 
 introduce amicable and effective conuniuiications. 
 Lord Malmesbury accor(ling^y sounded M. Maret 
 with the view of engaging him to enter on a private 
 negotiation. Before consenting, ]\L Maret wrote to 
 Paris to obtain authority from the French ministry. 
 it was granted without difficulty, and he forthwith 
 opened special conferences with" the English pleni- 
 potentiary.
 
 672 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 All pretence of contesting the possession of the 
 Low Countries, or of discussing the new position 
 assumed by France towards Holland, was abandoned; 
 but England wished to retain some of the principal 
 colonies she had conquered, as an indenmification both 
 for the expenses of the war and for the concessions 
 made to France. She consented to restore all the 
 French colonies, and even agreed to renounce all 
 pretension to Saint- Domingo, and assist France in 
 re-establishing her dominion in that island ; but she 
 insisted upon having compensation at the cost of 
 Spain and Holland. Thus she refused to restore to 
 Spain the island of Trinidad, which she had seized, 
 and which was a very important colony from its po- 
 sition at the entrance of the Caribbean sea. She 
 desired besides, of the possessions wrested from the 
 Dutch, to keep the Cape of Good Hope, which com- 
 mands the navigation of two Oceans, and Trincoma- 
 lee, the principal port in the island of Ceylon. More- 
 over, she proposed to exchange the town of Negapat- 
 nam on the coast of Coromandel for the town and 
 fort of Cochin on the coast of Malabar, an invaluable 
 acquisition for her. As to the renunciation of the 
 title of King of France, the English negotiator re- 
 sisted from considerations affecting the royal family, 
 which was indisposed to peace, and whose pride it 
 was necessary to soothe. With regard to the vessels 
 carried off from Toulon, and which had been since 
 equipped and armed after the English method, they 
 deemed it ignominious to surrender them, and offer- 
 ed in lieu an indemnity of twelve millions. Lord 
 Malmesbury assured M. Maret as a reason for making 
 these demands, that he durst not return to London if 
 he gave up all, and preserved for the British nation 
 none of the conquests won at the expense of its blood 
 and treasure. To prove more distinctly his sincerity, 
 he showed all the secret instructions furnished to 
 Mr. Ellis, and which bore convincing evidence of 
 Pitt's desire to obtain peace. The conditions he 
 proposed unquestionably deserved to be dispassion- 
 ately canvassed. 
 
 A circumstance that occurred at this moment 
 suddenly gave considerable advantage to the French 
 negotiator. Besides the union of the Spanish, 
 Dutch, and French fleets at Brest, which depended 
 on the first gale which might blow Admiral Jervis 
 from off Cadiz, England had now to apprehend an- 
 other danger of a different kind. Portugal, menaced 
 by France and Spain, had abandoned her ancient ally 
 and concluded a treaty with France, 'i'he chief con- 
 dition of this treaty prohibited her from permitting 
 in her ports more than six armed vessels at a time be- 
 longing to the belligerent powers. England thus lost 
 her advantageous station in the Tagus. This unex- 
 pected blow placed the English ambassadors more at 
 the mercy of M. Maret. The definitive conditions 
 were at length brought into form between them. 
 Trinidad could not be recovered ; and as to the 
 Cape of Good Hope, which was the most important, 
 it was eventually agreed to be restored to Holland, 
 but on one express condition, — namely, that France 
 should never avail herself of her ascendency over 
 Holland to obtain the cession of it. This was what 
 England most dreaded. She was less anxious to get 
 it herself than to keep France from its possession ; 
 and the restitution was agreed to, on condition that 
 Fraiu-e never should hold it. As to Trincomalee, 
 which involved the dominion of Ceylon, it was to be 
 retained by the English, although with an appearance 
 of alternate lordship oidy. A Dutch garrison was 
 to alternate with an English garrison, but it was 
 understood this should be a mere formality, and that 
 the port should remain for all effective purposes in 
 the possession of England. With regard to the ex- 
 change of Cochin for Negapatnani, tiie English still 
 adhered to the project, without making it however a 
 condition sine quA non. The twelve millions were 
 accepted for the ships transported from Toulon. 
 
 As to the title of King of France, it was arranged 
 that without formally renouncing it, the British 
 monarch should cease to assume it. 
 
 Such were the points to which the respective pre- 
 tensions of the negotiators were modified. Letour- 
 neur, who had been left alone with M. Maret since 
 the departure of Pleville le Peley, appointed to the 
 ministry of marine, remained in complete ignorance 
 of the secret negotiation. M. Maret made him 
 amends for his actual insignificance by yielding to 
 hiin all the external honours and routine of the mis- 
 sion, to which the good and simple man attached 
 great importance. M. Maret communicated all the 
 details of the negotiation immediately to the Direc- 
 tory and awaited its final orders. Never had France 
 and England been so near the verge of an accom- 
 modation. It had been made evident that the con- 
 ferences at Lille were wholly unconnected with 
 those at Udiiie, and that England was acting on 
 her own behalf without any design of concert with 
 Austria. 
 
 The discussion upon these negotiations was calcu- 
 lated to embroil the members of the Directory more 
 perhaps than any other subject. The royalist fac- 
 tion clamoured furiously for peace without desiring 
 it ; the Constitutionalists were sincere in demanding 
 it, even at the cost of certain sacrifices ; the repub- 
 licans wished for it likewise, but without sacrifices, 
 holding as the chief object of their regard the glory 
 of the republic. These last would have willingly 
 bought the total enfranchisement of Italy, and the 
 restitution of all the colonies conquered from France 
 and her allies, at the price of another campaign. 
 The opinions of the five directors were influenced 
 by their several positions. Carnot and Barthelemy 
 argued that the conditions of Austria and England 
 should be accepted, whilst the three other directors 
 upheld a contrary decision. The dispute caused a 
 complete rupture between the two parties in the 
 Directory. Barras bitterly reproached Carnot with 
 the preliminaries of Leoben, the ratification of which 
 the latter had strongly urged, and used with regard 
 to him some very unmeasured terms. Carnot, in 
 reply, and wth reference to this accusation, said, 
 that it was not politic to oppress Austria : meaning, 
 that to insure a durable peace the conditions thereof 
 ought to be moderate. But his colleagues took 
 great umbrage at the expression, and Rewbell 
 taunted him with the query whether he deemed 
 himself a minister of Austria, or a magistrate of the 
 French republic. On receiving the last dispatches 
 of Bonaparte, the three directors were prompted to 
 declare the truce at an end and order the resump- 
 tion of hostilities ; but the state of the republic, the 
 apprehension of affording fresh topics of arraignment 
 to the enemies of the government, and of supplying 
 them with a pretext for maintaining that the Direc- 
 tory never intended to conclude peace, induced them 
 to temporize yet a little longer. They wrote to 
 Bonaparte that the exigence of affairs demanded they 
 should carry patience to the utmost pitch, and wait 
 until the bad faith of Austria were proved in a 
 manner still more palpable, when the recurrence of 
 hostilities could be attributed to her alone. 
 
 The negotiation at Lille supplied a question not 
 less embarrassing for solution. To France itself the 
 course was sufficiently simple, since everything was 
 restored to it ; but with regard to Spain, which was 
 to be deprived of Trinidad, and to Holland, which 
 was to lose Trincomalee, the matter was not so easy 
 of adjustment. Carnot, whom his new position con- 
 strained to declare always in favour of peace, voted 
 for the adoption of the conditions proposed, however 
 unfavourable to the allies. As France had good 
 reason to be dissatisfied with Holland and the parties 
 which divided it, he recommended she should be 
 abandoned to herself, and no further concern taken in 
 her fate, — a counsel equally ungenerous with that to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 67;^ 
 
 sacrifice her colonies. Rewbell took a warm part 
 on the opposite side of the question. Vehement for 
 the interests of France, even to the length of in- 
 justice he maintained that, far from forsaking Hol- 
 land, they should establish a perfect supremacy over 
 her, and even reduce her to a province of the repub- 
 lic ; and he especially opposed \vith all his might the 
 ratification of the article whereby France renounced 
 the future possession of the Cape of Good Hope. He 
 argued, on the contrary, that this colony and several 
 others ought to revert to France in reward for her 
 services. Thus, as we see, he defended the cause 
 of the allies for the sake of France, rather than for 
 their own. Larevelliere, whom a purer spirit of 
 equity moved to advocate their interests, repudiated 
 the proposed conditions for reasons wholly different. 
 He viewed it as disgraceful to sacrifice Spain, who 
 had been dragged into a war to which she was, so to 
 speak, a stranger, and who was to be obliged, as the 
 price of her alliance, to surrender an important 
 colony. He considered it equally scandalous to 
 abandon Holland, whom France had plunged into the 
 vortex of a revolution, with whose fate she had 
 charged herself, and whom she was asked at once 
 to deprive of rich possessions and deliver up to a 
 frightful anarchy. If France withdrew her protec- 
 tion, he urged, it was certain Holland must become 
 the scene of discord and confusion, and for all the 
 blood that might flow she would be responsible. 
 There was much generosity in these considerations ; 
 out it is not equally clear they were well-weighed. 
 The allies of France had suffered losses ; the ques- 
 tion to be pondered was, whether they would not 
 suffer greater by the continuation of the war. The 
 event has proved it to be so ; but at that time the 
 successes of France on the Continent inspired hopes 
 that, once freed from Austria, she would obtain 
 equally great on the seas. The abandonment of her 
 allies appeared infamous ; and ultimately a middle 
 course was adopted. It was resolved to apply to 
 Spain and Holland in order to ascertain their views. 
 They were to be invited to declare whether they 
 desired peace, at the price of the sacrifices demanded 
 by England; and in case they preferred the continua- 
 tion of the war, they were to be called upon, more- 
 over, to state what forces they proposed to contri- 
 bute for the defence of the common cause. The 
 Directory wrote to Lille, at the same time, that a re- 
 ply to the proposals of England could not be given 
 until it had had an opportunity of consulting its allies. 
 These discussions inflamed the quarrel amongst the 
 directors to the deadliest animosity. The moment 
 of the crisis was drawing nigh, and the passions of 
 the two parties grew daily more excited. Mean- 
 while, each of them pursued its determined course. 
 The Finance-Committee in the Five-Hundred had 
 remodelled its resolutions, to induce their adoption 
 by the Ancients with some modifications. The re- 
 gulations relative to the Treasury had been slightly 
 changed. The Directory was )-till to have no part 
 in the negotiation of securities, and without confirm- 
 ing or annulling the distinction between the ordinary 
 and the extraordinary expenditures, it was provided 
 that the charges arising from the pay of the armies 
 should always have the preference. Future antici- 
 pations were prohibited, but those already made were 
 not revoked. Finally, the new provisions touching 
 the sale of the national property were preserved, but 
 with an im|)ortant modification : namely, that minis- 
 terial orders and contractors' notes might be taken 
 in payment of don.ains, on the same footing as scrip 
 of the three-quarters. These measures, thus modi- 
 fied, were adopted ; they were less subversive of 
 financial resources, but were still very dangerous. 
 All the penal laws against priests were likewise re- 
 pealed ; the oath was converted into a simple declara- 
 tion, on the part of the priests, of obedience to the 
 laws of the republic. Nothing was as yet decided 
 
 as to the ceremonies of religion, or the bells in 
 churches. The succession to the estates of emi- 
 grants was taken from the state and vested in rela- 
 tives. Families that had been obliged to compound 
 with the republic for the portions of emigrant sons 
 or kinsmen, were to receive an indemnity out of the 
 patrimonial property. The sale of manses was sus- 
 pended. Lastly, the most important of all the pro- 
 jects, the institution of the national guard, had been 
 passed in a few days on the bases previously detailed. 
 The composition of this guard was to be regulated 
 by way of election. It was upon this measure that 
 Pichegru and his adherents chiefly relied for the exe- 
 cution of their designs. Accordingly, they had added 
 an article whereby the work of organization was to 
 commence ten days after the publication of the law. 
 They thus secured the speedy enrolment of the Par- 
 isian guard, and in its ranks of all the insurgents of 
 Vendemiaire. 
 
 On its part, the Directory, convinced of the im- 
 minence of the peril, and always supposing a con- 
 spiracy prepared for immediate outbreak, had as- 
 sumed a very threatening attitude. Augereau was 
 not the only officer of name at Paris. The armies 
 being in a state of inaction, several other generals had 
 repaired to the capital. In the number were Cherin, 
 the chief of Hoche's staff, and the generals Lemoine 
 and Humbert, who commanded the divisions that had 
 marched on Paris ; Kle'ber aiul Lefebvre, who were 
 on furlough ; and, lastly, Bernadotte, whom Bona- 
 parte had dispatched to present the remainder of the 
 captured standards to the Directory. Besides these 
 superior officers, others of all grades, unattached since 
 the reduction of the reserves, and aspiring to be em- 
 ployed, abounded in all parts of Paris breathing dire- 
 ful anathemas against the Councils. Nunil)ers of 
 revolutionists likewise had flocked from the pro- 
 vinces, as was usuiil with them when they expected 
 a commotion. These symptoms of an approaching 
 catastrophe were strengthened by the conduct held 
 with regard to the troops detached by Hoche. These 
 were still kept in cantonments in the environs of 
 Rheims. Men argued justly that if they had been 
 solely destined for the expedition to Ireland, they 
 would have continued their march on Brest, and not 
 tarried in the vicinity of Paris ; nor would Hoche 
 have returned to his head-quarters ; nor, in fine, 
 would so many cavalry have been collected for a 
 maritime service. A committee had been appointed, 
 we remember, to make an inquiry, and report upon 
 all these facts. To this committee the Directory 
 had thought fit to give but very vague explanations. 
 The troops had been put in motion, it said, towards 
 a distant point by the order of General Hoche, who 
 derived his authority from the Directory, and they 
 had transgressed the constitutional radius only through 
 the inadvertence of a commissary of war. But the 
 Councils replied, at the instigation of Pichegru, that 
 troops could not be transported from otic army to 
 another on the simple orcler of a general-in-chicf ; 
 that the general must hold orders from a higher au- 
 thority ; that he could receive them from the Direc- 
 tory only through the medium of the minister at 
 war ; that the minister at war, Petiet, had not coun- 
 tersigned any such orders ; that, in consequence, 
 General Hoclie had acted without the proper formal 
 warrant ; and lastly, that if the troops had been ap- 
 .pointed for a distant service tliey ought to prosecute 
 their march, and not cluster around Paris. These 
 observations were grounded in reason, and the Direc- 
 tory had good cause for not attempting to answer 
 them. Thereafter, the Councils decreed, in pursu- 
 ance of these conclusions, that a circle should be 
 traced around Paris describing a circumference of 
 twelve leagues, to be marked on all the roads by 
 columns, and that any officers in conunand of troops 
 who should overstep this radius were to be deemed 
 guilty of high-treason
 
 674 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLLTTION. 
 
 Additional circumstances concurred to increase the 
 alarm. Besides the troops already quartered in the 
 (iepartments of the North, around Sedan and Rheims, 
 and wathin a few leap:ues of Paris, Hoche had de- 
 tached others in the same direction. This fresh 
 movement of troops, the language held by the sol- 
 diers, the agitation reigning in Paris, the quarrels of 
 the unattached officers with the young men wearing 
 the costume of the nihied youth, all supplied Willot 
 with fruitful topics for a second philippic. Mount- 
 ing the tribune, he declaimed against the march of 
 troops, the spirit manifested in their ranks, the rage 
 instilled in them against the Councils, and, as appli- 
 cable to this subject, against the addresses of the 
 army of Italy, and the publicity given to them by 
 the Directory. He moved, in coi;sequence, that the 
 inspectors of the liall be charged to take fresh infor- 
 mations, and present a furtlier report. The deputies, 
 called inspectors of the hall, were intrusted with the 
 police of the Councils, and consequently with the 
 duty of watchiTig over their safety. The motion of 
 Wiilot was adopted, and, at the instance of the com- 
 mission of inspectors, on the 17th Therniidor (4th 
 August), several embarrassing questions were ad- 
 dressed to the Directory. These reverted to the 
 nature of the orders under which General Hoche had 
 acted. It was asked whether the purport of these 
 orders could be at length satisfactorily explained, 
 and, moreover, whether measures had been taken to 
 enforce the constitutional article which prohibited 
 the troops from deliberating. 
 
 The Directory determined to answer the questions 
 proposed to it by an energetic message, v.ithout af- 
 fording the explanations it found inconvenient to 
 give. Lare'velliere drew up this message which Car- 
 not and Barthelemy refused to sign. It was pre- 
 sented on the 23d "Therniidor (10th August). It 
 contained nothing new as to the movements of the 
 troops. The commanders of divisions who had 
 marched on Paris, it stated, had received orders from 
 General Hoche, and General Hoche orders from the 
 Directory. The medium through which they had 
 been transmitted was not specified. With regard to 
 the addresses, the Directory set forth : — that the 
 meaning of the word deliberate was too vague to de- 
 termine whether the armies had committed a fault in 
 presenting them ; that it acknowledged the danger 
 of permitting armies to express an opinion, and that 
 it would prevent further publications of the same na- 
 ture ; but that, at the same time, before condemning 
 the step the soldiers of the republic had- ventured 
 upon, it was necessary to recur to the causes which 
 had provoked it ; that these causes lay in the general 
 anxiety which, during the last few months, had been 
 aroused in the public mind ; in the insufficiency of 
 the national revenues, w^hich placed all branches of 
 the administration in a most deplorable situation, and 
 often deprived of their pay, men who for years had 
 shed their blood and wasted their strength in the 
 service of the republic ; in the persecutions and 
 murders inflicted on the purchasers of iiational pro- 
 perty, on public functionaries, and on the defenders 
 of the country ; in the impunity of crime and the 
 partiality of certain tribunals ; in the insolence of 
 emigrants and refractory priests, who, openly re- 
 called and fiivoured, abounded in all quarters, fanned 
 the flame of discord, and taught contempt for the 
 laws ; in the multitude of journals that inundated the 
 armies and the interior, preaching up royalty and the 
 overthrow of the republic; in the interest, always 
 ill-dissembled, and often directly avowed, felt for the 
 glory of Austria and England ; in the attempts made 
 to depreciate the just renown of French warriors ; in 
 the calumnies propagated against two illustrious gen- 
 erals, who had, the one in the West, the other in 
 Italy, enhanced the fame of their exploits by politi- 
 ral conduct of the highest order; finally, in the sin- 
 ister projects professed by men more or less influen- 
 
 tial on the destinies of the state. The Directory 
 added that, notwthstanding, it entertained a firm 
 resolution and well-grounded hope of saving France 
 from the new convulsions with which it was men- 
 aced. — Thus, far from explaining its conduct or pal- 
 liating it, the Directory, on the contrary, recrimin- 
 ated, and openly manifested the design of prosecuting 
 the contest and the belief of emerging victoriously 
 
 from it Its communication was taken for a veritable 
 
 manifesto, and caused a great sensation. The Five- 
 Hundred instantly nominated a committee to con- 
 sider the message and reply to it. 
 
 The Constitutionalists began to be seriously alarm- 
 ed at the situation of affairs. On one side, they 
 saw the Directory prepared to support itself by the 
 aid of the armies ; on the other, the Clichyans intent 
 on enrolling the insurgents of Vende'miaire, under 
 pretence of organizing the national guard. Such as 
 were sincere republicans might prefer the success of 
 the Directory in the coming strife, but they were all 
 averse to a conflict, and now had leisure to repent 
 the evil consequences of their opposition, which had 
 thus resulted in frightening the Directory and en- 
 couraging the royalists. They did not avow their 
 error, but lamented grievously the desolate aspect 
 of things, imputing it as usual to their opponents. 
 Those of the Clichyans who were not in the secret 
 of the counter-revolution, who were in fact not 
 friendly to one, but were actuated solely by a blind 
 detestation of the revolutionary excesses, also took 
 the alarm, and seemed to fear that by their contra- 
 diction they had awakened all the revolutionary 
 tendencies of the Directory. Their ardour hence- 
 forth grew sensibly cooler. But the Clichyans, 
 out-and-out royalists, were urgent for action, and 
 dreaded above all things to be forestalled. These 
 beset Pichegru and warmly pressed him to take the 
 offensive. He, with his accustomed phlegm, hinted 
 at the great results in store, but thought fit as yet 
 to temporize. In truth he had no actual means in 
 his possession ; for a few emigrants and Chouans in 
 Paris constituted a force altogether insufficient ; and 
 until he had the national guard at his command he 
 could not make any serious attempt. Cool and 
 sagacious, he formed a due estimate of his position, 
 and replied to all instances that it was necessary to 
 wait. He was told that the Directory meditated an 
 immediate blow; he answered that the Directory 
 durst not venture it. For the rest, disbelieving the 
 courage of the Directory, finding his own appliances 
 inadequate, enjoying the consideration of an impor- 
 tant personage, and disbursing large sums of money, 
 it was natural he should be in no hurry to hazard 
 the aggressive. 
 
 In this posture of affairs, enlightened minds panted 
 earnestly for some means of averting a struggle. A 
 reconciliation appeared the most advisable, which 
 might have the effect of uniting the Constitution- 
 alists and moderate Clichyans with the Directory, 
 restoring to it the majority it had lost, and enabling 
 it to dispense with any violent measures for insuring 
 safety. jNIadame de Sttiel was in a position to desire 
 and attempt such a coalition. She was the centre 
 of that ir.tellectual and brilliant society, which, 
 albeit deeming the government and its heads some- 
 what vulgar, still loved the republic and chnig stead- 
 fastly to it. INIadame de Stiiel admired that form 
 of government, as supplying the best incitement to 
 human energy ; and having already placed one of her 
 friends in an elevated post, she hoped to exalt others 
 in their turn, and be to them another Egeria. She 
 discerned the dangers to which this order of things 
 that had become dear to her was exposed ; receiving 
 at her house men of all parties, she heard their vari- 
 ous sentiments, and learnt to apprehend the immi- 
 nence of some fatal collision. Of generous impulses 
 and active mind, unable to remain blind to the course 
 of events, it was natural b.he should attempt to use
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 675 
 
 her influence to unite men whom no insurmountable 
 differences separated. She assembled republicans, 
 Constitutionalists, and Clichyans, in her saloons, and 
 sought to soften the asperity of discussions by inter- 
 posing, with the tact of an amiable and gifted woman, 
 to soothe the irritability and captious sensitiveness 
 of rival partisans. But she was not more successful 
 than is common with endeavours to effect reconcili- 
 ations between parties, and the men most widely 
 opposed began to absent tliemselves from her house. 
 She sought especially to gain the members of the 
 two committees appointed to answer the last message 
 of the Directory. Some of them were Constitution- 
 alists, such as Thibaudeau, Emery, Sime'on, Tron- 
 fon-Ducoudray, and Portalis ; through them the 
 framing of tlie two reports might be influenced, 
 which was of the greatest moment, since those docu- 
 ments would be in fact the reply of tlie Councils to 
 the maiiifesto of the Directory. Madame de Stael 
 gave herself no relaxation in the task she had as- 
 sumed, but laboured diligently both by herself and 
 her friends. The Coi'stitutionalists desired a coali- 
 tion, for they were sei:sible of the danger that im- 
 pended ; but t''is coalition required sacrifices on their 
 part it was didicult to wring from them. If the 
 Directory had ever been really in the wrong or had 
 pursued culpaljle measures, they might have stipu- 
 lated the revocation of certain proceedings, and ne- 
 gotiated a treaty founded on the ba-is of reciprocal 
 sacrifices; but, setting aside the private ill-conduct 
 of Barras, the majority of the Directory had ex- 
 hibited all tlie zeal and attachment to the constitu- 
 tion it was possible to exact. No arbitrary act or 
 usurpation of power could be laid to its charge. The 
 administration of the finances, so much decried, was 
 the forced result of circumstances. The change of 
 ministers, the movement of troops, the addresses of 
 the armies, ai;d the nomination of Augereau, were 
 the only facts that could be alleged indicating formi- 
 dable intentions. But these were precautions im- 
 posed upon it by the danger itself, and this danger 
 must be entirely removed, by restoring the majority 
 to the Directory, before it could be justly called 
 upon to abandon such precautions. The Constitu- 
 tionalists, on the contrary, had supported the newly- 
 elected deputies in all their attacks, however unjust 
 or imprudent, and therefore had alone to retract. 
 Hence, nothing could be demanded from the Direc- 
 tory and much from the Constitutionalists, which 
 rendered the exchange of sacrifices impossible, and 
 the egotism of party-spirit intractable to conciliation. 
 
 It was in vain ^ladame de Stiiel and her friends 
 represented that the intention of the Directory was 
 fixed to venture all upon the hazard, and that they, 
 the Constitutionalists, would become the victims of 
 their own obstinacy, aiul invohe the republic in 
 their ruin. They repudiated the notion of any re- 
 cantation and refused every sort of concession, sug- 
 gesting sullenly that the Directory ought to make 
 the first advances. Rewbell and Larevelliere were 
 thereupon applied to. The latter, frankly enter- 
 taining the [)roject of a discussion, entered upon the 
 subject at large, enumerated in detail the various 
 acts of the Directory, and asked, as to each of them, 
 which was blaineable. 1 lis interlocutors found them- 
 selves without an answer. With reference to the 
 dismissal of Augereau, or the revocation of any of 
 the measures adopted under the existing emergeiu-y, 
 the directors were iunnoveable in their refusal, and 
 demonstrated l)y their calm firumess the inflexibility 
 of the determination tliey liad taken. 
 
 Madame de Stiiel, and they who seconded her in 
 her laudable but hopeless enterprise, then directed 
 their principal efforts towards the members of the 
 two committees, striving to deter them from pro- 
 posing legislative measures of too violent a nature, 
 and especially, in replying to the grievaTices assigned 
 in the message of the Directory, from launching into 
 
 dangerous and irritating recriminations. All these 
 endeavours were fruitless, for there are but few 
 exam[)les of parties listening to counsels emanating 
 from neutral sources. In both committees there were 
 Clichyans who advocated the most hostile measures. 
 In the first place, they proposed to invest the criminal 
 jury of Paris specially with cognisance of acts affect- 
 ing the security of the legislative body, and to ordain 
 the retirement of all troops beyond the limit of the 
 constitutional circle ; and, secondly, they demanded 
 that this constitutional circle should form no part of 
 any military division. This last proposition had for 
 its object to deprive Augereau of the command of 
 Paris, and thus eflJect by a decree what they could 
 not accomplish by remonstrance or negotiation. Re 
 solutions founded on these suggestions were adopted 
 by the two committees. But Thibaudeau and Tron- 
 9on-Ducoudray, who were charged to frame the re- 
 spective reports, the one to the Five-Hundred, the 
 other to the Ancients, refused, ^vith equal prudence 
 and firmness, to embody the last proposition. It 
 was accordingly abandoned, and the two first alone 
 retained. Tronfon-Ducoudray presented his report 
 on the 3d, and Thibaudeau on the 4th Fructidor 
 (•20th and 21st August). In these documents they 
 replied indirectly to the reproaches of the Directory. 
 Tron^on-Ducoudray, indeed, addressingthe Ancients, 
 exhorted them to interpose their wisdom and dignity 
 between the vivacity of the young legislators in the 
 Five-Hundred, and the susceptibility of the heads of 
 the executive power. Thibaudeau, on his part, un- 
 dertook to justify the Councils, and to prove that 
 they had never hitended either to attack the govern- 
 ment or calumniate the armies. He referred parti- 
 cularly to the motion of Dumolard regarding Venice, 
 and maintained that no design had existed to crimi- 
 nate the heroes of Italy; but, he urged, the estab- 
 lishments of their creation could be durable only by 
 having the sanction of the two Councils. In the 
 end the trivial measures recommended were passed 
 by both Councils, and these two reports, so anxiously 
 expected, produced scarcely any effect. They suffi- 
 ciently indicated the impotency to which the Con- 
 stitutionalists had reduced themselves, by their am- 
 biguous position between the royalist faction and the 
 Directory, unwilling to conspire with the one or to 
 make concessions to the other. 
 
 The Clichyans bitterly complained of the insig- 
 nificant character of these reports, and gratified their 
 rancour by declaiming against the weakness of the 
 Constitutionalists. The more ardent longed for 
 battle, and especially for the means of waging it, 
 and demanded to know what tlie Directory was 
 doing towards the organization of the national guard. 
 This was precisely what tlie Directory declined to 
 promote, having resolved to abstain fiom any par- 
 ticipation therein. 
 
 Carnot was in a position still more singular tlian 
 the constitutional party. He had promptly broken 
 with the Clichyans on finding the course they were 
 bent on pursuing, he was of no use to the Constitu- 
 tionalists, and had taken no part in their endeavours 
 to effect a coalition, for he was of too irritable a 
 temperament to seek a reconciliation with liis col- 
 leagues. He stood alone, without support, in a va- 
 cuum, as it were, having no longer an object or pur- 
 pose, since the egotistical views he had once in- 
 dulged were totally dissipated, and the majority he 
 had hoped to connnand was impossible of attainuunit. 
 Still, through a perverse obstinacy in snpporting the 
 designs of the ojiposition in the Directory, he intro- 
 duced a formal motion for the organization of tlie na- 
 tional guard. His presidency of tlie Directory was 
 about to close, and he availed himself of the" time 
 still remaining to bring that subject mider discussion. 
 Larevelliere rose upon this occasion with tranquil 
 firnmess, and having never had any personal quarrel 
 with Carnot, appealed to him, for" the last time, to
 
 676 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 reclaim him, if it were possible, to the cause of his 
 colleagues. Addressing him with confidence and 
 mildness, he pro[)ounded to him certain questions. — 
 " Have you ever heard us," he asked, " make a pro. 
 position tending to lower the jurisdiction of the 
 Councils, to exalt our own, or to infringe the consti- 
 tution of the republic ?" " No," replied Carnot, with 
 hesitation. " Have you ever heard us," resumed 
 Lare'velliere, " propose a measure, whether in mat- 
 ters of finance, of war, or of diplomacy, which was 
 not conformable to the public interest ? With re- 
 gard to what is personal to yourself, have you ever 
 heard us either depreciate your merit or deny your 
 services? Since you have separated from us, can 
 you accuse us of failing in respect for your person ? 
 Has your opinion been less heeded, when it has ap- 
 peared to us advantageous, and offered in sincerity? 
 As for myself," added Lare'velliere, "although you 
 have joined a faction which has persecuted both nie 
 and my family, have I ever shown you the least animo- 
 sity?" " No, no," Carnot answered to all these ques- 
 tions. " Well, then !" retorted Lare'velliere, " how 
 come you to detach yourself from us to join a faction 
 which perverts you, which seeks to make use of you 
 only to destroy the republic, which will ruin you too 
 after using you as its tool, and which will disgrace 
 as well as ruin you?" Lare'velliere employed other 
 urgent but friendly expressions, to convince Carnot 
 of the error and danger of his conduct. Rewbell 
 and Barras even did violence to their hatred. Rew- 
 bell, from a sense of duty, Barras, from mere facility 
 of disposition, spoke to him almost as friends. But 
 amicable demonstrations often have the eflfect of irri- 
 tating certain proud minds : Carnot remained cold 
 and distant, and, after the interpellations of his col- 
 leagues, he drily repeated his motion to discuss the 
 organization of the national guard. The three direc- 
 tors thereupon broke up the diet, and retired with 
 the conviction, too natural upon such occasions, 
 that their colleague was betraying them, and acting 
 in concert with the enemies of the government. 
 
 It was thence determined that the blow should 
 be struck against him and Barthelemy, as well as 
 against the principal members of the Councils. The 
 plan definitively arranged, was according to the fol- 
 lowing programme. The three directors still be- 
 lieved that the Clichyan deputies were implicated 
 in a secret conspiracy. They had obtained against 
 them, or against Pichegru, no additional evidence 
 which might admit recourse to a judicial process. 
 It was necessary, therefore, to ado;it the medium of 
 a coup-d'etat. They had in the two Councils a re- 
 solute minority, which would be joined by all the 
 waverers, whom a partial vigour exasperates and 
 alienates, but whom a decisive energy overawes and 
 reclaims. They resolved, accordingly, to shut up 
 the halls in which the Five-Hundred and the An- 
 cients assembled, to fix elsewhere the place of ses- 
 sion, to summon thither all the deputies upon whom 
 they could rely, to present a list comprising the 
 names of the two directors and of one hundred and 
 eighty deputies struck from the most suspected, and 
 to propose their banishment without any judicial in- 
 vestigation, but by extraordinary legislative power. 
 They desired not the death of any individual, but the 
 forced removal of all dangerous characters. Many 
 have thought that this coup-d'etat had become use- 
 less, because the Councils, intimidated by the evi- 
 dent determination of the Directory, betokened a 
 disposition to relent. But this impression is ground- 
 less. All who are acquainted with the spirit of 
 parties, and their sanguine impulses, must be aware 
 that the Clichyans, upon seeing the Directory refrain 
 from active aggression, would speedily have resumed 
 their courage. If they had restrained themselves 
 even until a new election, they would have redoubled 
 their ardour with the accession of the third-third, and 
 then become irresistible in their wrath. Nor would 
 
 then the Directory have had the conventional minor- 
 ity in the Councils to support it, or to lend an ap- 
 pearance of legality to any extraordinary measures it 
 might be driven to attempt. IMoreover, without 
 even taking into consideration the inevitable result 
 of a new election, the Directory, if it remained inert, 
 would be compelled to put the laws, passed by its 
 adversaries, in execution, and to reorganize the na- 
 tional guard, that is to say, to give the counter-re- 
 volutionists the army of Vende'miaire, which must 
 have led to a terrible conflict between the national 
 guards and the troops of the line. In fact, so long 
 as Pichegru and his accomplices had no other offen- 
 sive means than motions in the Five-Hundred and 
 an indefinite body of emigrants or Chouans in Paris, 
 their schemes were not very formidable ; but, sup- 
 ported by the national guard, they might take the 
 field and commence a civil war of uncertain duration 
 and result. 
 
 In accordance unth these views, Rewbell and Lare- 
 velliere determined that it was necessary to act with- 
 out delay, and to put an end to all further uncer- 
 tainty. Bar;-as alone still appeared to hesitate, and 
 caused his colleagues great uneasiness. They were 
 in constant dread lest he might coalesce after all with 
 the royalist faction or unite with the Jacobins to 
 perpetrate a massacre. They watched him, how- 
 ever, with attention, and strove diligently to secure 
 Augereau, by flattering his vanity, and endeavouring 
 to render him sensible to the esteem of honest men. 
 Still the preparations were not complete ; the grena- 
 diers of the legislative body were yet to be gained, 
 the movements of the troops to be regulated, and, 
 most important of all, money to be procured. A 
 postponement, therefore, for a few days was indis- 
 pensable. The directors were averse to request 
 funds of the minister Ramel, from a wish not to 
 compromise him ; and they accordingly waited for 
 those Bonaparte had offered, and which never came. 
 
 Bonaparte, as we have related, had dispatched his 
 aide-de-camp Lavalette to Paris, in order that he 
 might be supplied with accurate information touch- 
 ing all current affairs. An insight into the state of 
 matters at Paris had tended to disgust M. de Lava- 
 lette, and he had communicated his impressions to 
 Bonaparte. So much of individual feeling is mingled 
 with political antagonism, that too near a view of 
 parties is apt to prove repulsive to an ingenuous mind. 
 Nay, if an observer regard merely the personal element 
 in political discords, he will be tempted to believe 
 there is nothing generous, sincere, or patriotic, in the 
 motives <.f public men. Such was the effect that the 
 contentions of the three directors, Barras, Larevel- 
 liere, and Rewbell, with Carnot and Barthelemy, of 
 the Conventionalists with the Clichyans, might fairly 
 produce : a deplorable conflict in which egotism and 
 self-interest might well seem, at the first aspect, to 
 be the chief actuating principles. The military so- 
 journing in Paris, likewise, tended by their preten- 
 sions to aggravate the tumult of those already in col- 
 lision. Although incensed against the faction of 
 Clichy, they were not prepared to declare unreserv- 
 edly for the Directory. iNIen are prone to become 
 petulant and exacting when they imagine themselves 
 necessary. Thus, collecting around the minister 
 Sche'rer, these military affected to consider them- 
 selves ill-used, as if the government had not done 
 sufficient for them. Kleber, one of the noblest but 
 the most intractable of characters, and who has been 
 well described in the phrase that he would be neither 
 the first nor the second, had stated to the Directory 
 in his own original language: ^' I will draw against 
 your enemies if they attack you; but in showing my 
 front to them I will turn my back on yoti." Lefebvre, 
 Bernadotte, and the others, expressed themselves in 
 similar terms. Struck with this chaos, M. de Lava- 
 lette wrote to Bonaparte in a strain calculated to 
 induce him to remain neutral. He, accordingly.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 677 
 
 satisfied with having given the impulse, refused to 
 implicate himself further, and resolved to await the 
 issue. He, therefore, wrote no more. The Direc- 
 tory then applied in its need to the trusty Hoche, 
 who, having alone any reason to be discontented, 
 sent fifty thousand francs, a sum which constituted 
 the greater portion of his wife's dowry. 
 
 It was already the tenth ^ay in the month of 
 Fructidor, and Larevelliere had replaced Carnot in 
 the presidency of the Directory. In this capacity 
 it was his function to receive the envoy of the Cis- 
 alpine republic, Visconti, and General Berjiadotte, 
 bearer of standards taken but not previously trans- 
 mitted by the army of Italy. On this occasion he 
 resolved to speak out in the most undisguised man- 
 ner, and thereby drive Barras to a decision. He 
 delivered, accordingly, two forcible harangues, in 
 which he replied, without mentioning them, to the 
 reports of Thibaudeau and Tron^on-Ducoudray. In 
 allusion to Vei;ice and the other Italian states re- 
 cently emancipated, Thibaudeau had stated in sub- 
 stance that their fate would not be fixed so long as 
 the legislative body of France was not consulted. 
 Larevelliere glanced at this expression in his address 
 to Visconti, saying that the Italian people had deter- 
 mined to have liberty, possessed the right to secure 
 it for themselves, and had no need of any earthly 
 consent therefor. " This liberty," he added with 
 energy, " of which it is sought to deprive you, both 
 you and us, we will defend it together, and shall 
 know how to preserve it." The menacing tone of 
 these two orations dissipated the last shadow of 
 doubt as to the intentions of the Directory ; men 
 who spoke in that stj'le must have their resolution 
 taken and their forces all prepared. The Clichyans 
 were driven wild with sudden apprehensions. In 
 the first paroxysms of fury they revived their project 
 of impeaching the Directory. The Constitutional- 
 ists, however, repudiated the proposal, because they 
 felt it would aiford the Directory a feasible ground 
 for violence, and they threatened, if it were persisted 
 in, to produce proofs of treason against certain Depu- 
 ties and move their impeachment. This menace 
 deterred the Clichyans, and prevented the exhibition 
 of articles of impeachment against the directors. 
 
 For some time past the Clichyans had been desi- 
 rous of adding to the committee of inspectors Pichegru 
 and Willot, who were regarded as the two generals 
 of the party. But this addition of two new mem- 
 bers, increasing the number to seven, was contrary 
 to regulation. They waited, therefore, for the re- 
 appointment of the committee, which took place at 
 the begiiming of each month, and nominated there- 
 on Pichegru, Vaublauc, Delarue, Thibaudeau, and 
 Emery. This committee of inspectors was charged 
 with the police of the hall ; it issued orders to the 
 grenadiers of the legislative body, and formed in 
 some sort the executive power of the Councils. The 
 Ancients had a similar committee, which fraternized 
 with that of the Five-Hundred, and both in coTijunc- 
 tion watched over the common safety. Numerous 
 deputies resorted to the place of their meeting who 
 had no business there, and thus constituted a new 
 Clichy club, in which propositions equally violent 
 and fruitless were submitted and debated. One of 
 their first projects was to organize a police, to be 
 employed in obtaining information touching the 
 designs of the Directory. The superintendence of 
 this police was intrusted to one Dossonville. As 
 no fund for its payment existed, each contributed 
 his quota; but a very moderate sum was raised. 
 Furnished as he was, Pichegru might have proffered 
 a large donation ; but it does not appear that he 
 applied any of the funds received from Wickham to 
 this purpose. 
 
 The use of these police-spies seems to have been 
 principally the collection of idle tales and rumours, 
 with which they afterwards came to terrifv the com- 
 
 mittees. Every day they repeated, " To-day, this 
 very night, the Directory intends to arrest two hun- 
 dred deputies, and have them massacred by the 
 faubourgs." Such reports naturally excited alarm, 
 and this alarm inspired suggestions of the most in- 
 discreet character. The Directory, on the other 
 hand, received through its spies exaggerated accounts 
 of the proceedings in the committees, and imbibed in 
 its turn fears of the gravest nature. Then- expres- 
 sions dropped in the saloons of the Directory, to the 
 effect that it was time to strike if it were intended 
 to avoid being anticipated, and revengeful threats 
 were uttered, which, quickly conveyed to their ears, 
 revisited upon the Clychians terror for terror. 
 
 Cut off from connection with either of the two 
 parties, the Constitutionalists became every day 
 more sensible of their faults and danger, and 
 were overwhelmed \vith the direst consternation. 
 Carnot, still more isolated than they, at enmity 
 with the Clichyans, odious to the patriots, sus- 
 pected even by the moderate republicans, calum- 
 niated and disowmed, received the most rueful warn- 
 ings. Constant rumours reached him of his doom to 
 death by the orders of his colleagues. Barthelemy, 
 who stood in the like predicament, was in the utmost 
 trepidation and gave himself up for lost. 
 
 At the same time, similar warnings were given on 
 all sides. Larevelliere had been informed, in a man- 
 ner to leave no doubt of the fact, that certain 
 Chouans had been hired to assassinate him. Find- 
 ing him the firmest of the three members of the 
 majority, a resolution had been taken, he was told, 
 to remove him as the means of annihilating it. His 
 death assuredly would have changed the whole state 
 of affairs, for the new director nominated by the 
 Councils, would, without question, have voted with 
 Carnot and Barthelemy. The advantages to be 
 reaped from the cHme, and the circumstantial details 
 furnished to Larevelliere, were calculated to make 
 him keep on his guard. But he quailed not, and 
 continued his evening promenades in the Jardin des 
 Plantes. One man was found to offer him an atro- 
 cious insult. This proved to be Malo, colonel of the 
 21st dragoons, who had slaughtered the Jacobins in 
 the camp at Crenelle, and had afterwards denounced 
 Brottier and his accomplices. He was a creature of 
 Carnot and Cochon, and had, without designing it. 
 inspired the Clichyans with hopes which rendered 
 him suspected. Being cashiered by the Directory, 
 he attributed his dismissal to Lare'velhere, and at- 
 tended at the Luxumbourg to threaten him. The 
 intrepid magistrate was undismayed by the bravadoes 
 of this cavalry officer, and thrust him from his pres- 
 ence by the shoulders. 
 
 Rewbell, though sincerely attached to the com- 
 mon cause, was distinguished rather for warmth of 
 temper than firmness. He was informed one day 
 that Barras was treating with an envoy of the pre- 
 tender, and negotiating to betray the republic. 
 Barras' connections with all parties might uiuloubt- 
 edly warrant apprehensions of any kind. — "We 
 are lost," cried Rewbell. " Barras is betraying us, 
 we are doomed to be killed ; it only remains for us 
 to fly, for we can no longer hope to save the repub- 
 lic." — Larevelliere, more calm, replied to Rewbell 
 that, so far from taking to flight, it behoved them to 
 see Barras, speak to him with energy, force him to 
 an explanation, intimidate him to compliance. They 
 both forthwith repaired to Barras, interrogated him 
 with sternness, and demanded why he still procras- 
 tinated. Barras, who was really occupied in making 
 arrangements with Angercau. begged for a delay of 
 three or four days, and promised that no further in- 
 terval should elapse. Rewbell felt reassured and 
 consented to wait. This occurred on the 13th or 
 14th Fructidor. 
 
 Barras and Augereau, in fact, had prepared all for 
 the execution of the blow so long meditated. Hoche's 
 2 X
 
 678 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 troops were disposed around the constitutional limit, 
 ready to pass it and be at Paris within a few hours. 
 A great part of the grenadiers of the legislative 
 body had been gained through the instrumentality of 
 Blanchard the second in command, atid of several 
 other officers, who were devoted to the Directory. 
 A sufficient number of defections in the ranks of the 
 grenadiers had been thus secured to prevent a battle. 
 The commander-in-chief, Ramel, remained faithful 
 to the Councils, on account of his obligations to- 
 wards Carnot and Cochon ; but his influence was 
 not much to be dreaded. As a measure of precau- 
 tion, the troops in garrison, and even the grenadiers 
 of the legislative guard, were daily drilled in musket 
 practice. This martial commotion and roar of guns 
 were intended to deceive as to the actual day of 
 execution. 
 
 Every day was expected to witness the consum- 
 mation "of the crisis. It was believed to be appointed 
 for the 15th Fructidor, then for the 16th ; but the 
 16th answered to the 2d September, and the Direc- 
 tory would not have selected a day of such terrible 
 remiiiiscences. Meanwhile, the Clichyans were in an 
 agony of dread. The police of the inspectors, mis- 
 led bv false appearances, had persuaded them that 
 the event was fixed for the night of the 15th-16th. 
 They assembled tumultuously towards evening in 
 the room of the two committees. Rovere, that 
 furious reactionist, now one of the committee of the 
 Ancients, read a report from the police, according 
 to which two hundred deputies were to be arrested 
 during the night. Others, panting for breath, 
 rushed in to announce that the barriers were shut, 
 that four columns of troops were entering Paris, 
 and that the executive committee was assembled at 
 the Directory. They stated, moreover, that the 
 hotel of the minister of police was all lighted up. 
 A fearful uproar ensued. The members of the two 
 committees, who ought to have been but ten, and 
 were in reality fifty, complained that it was impos- 
 sible for them to deliberate. At length messengers 
 were dispatched, both to the barriers and the hotel 
 of the police, to ascertain the truth of the reports, 
 when it was found that perfect tranquillity prevailed 
 in every quarter. -A communication was then made 
 that the police agents could not be paid on the fol- 
 lowing day, for lack of funds; every one emptied his 
 pockets to eke out the requisite sum. The meet- 
 ing thereafter separated. Several Clichyans sur- 
 rounded Pichegru beseeching him to act ; they pro- 
 posed in the first place, to declare the Councils 
 permanent, and then to collect the emigrants and 
 Chouans that were in Paris, reinforce them with 
 young men, march on the Directory, and capture the 
 three directors. Pichegru pronounced these schemes 
 ridiculous and impracticable, and again repeated 
 that nothing could be done. Tiie more hotbrained 
 of the party vowed, nevertheless, to usher in the 
 morrow by a motion to proclaim the sittings per- 
 manent. 
 
 The Directory was apprized, by its police, of the 
 confusion amongst the Clichyans, and their desperate 
 projects. Barras, who had all the means of execu- 
 tion at command, determined to put them in force 
 during the ensuing night. Everything was arranged 
 to enable the troops to clear the constitutional limit 
 in a few hours. The garrison of Paris would suffice 
 in the interim. A grand parade exercise was com- 
 manded for the next day, in order to be prepared 
 with a pretext. No one was informed of the time 
 selected, neither the ministers nor the directors 
 Rewbell and Lare'velli^re, so that every body was 
 kept in ignorance of the event being on the eve of 
 occurrence. The day of the 17th (3d September) 
 pa-sed in comparative tranquillity ; no motion was 
 made in the Councils. Many of the deputies ab- 
 sented themselves in the fond hope of eluding the 
 catastrophe they had so imprudently provoked. 
 
 The meeting of the Directory took place as usual. 
 All the five directors were present. At four o'clock 
 in the afternoon, when the sitting was over, Barras 
 took Rewbell and Larevelliere aside, and intimated 
 to them tliat it had become necessary to strike the 
 blow that very night, to anticipate the enemy. He 
 had demanded a delay of four days, but he forestalled 
 that period to avoid a surprise. The three directors 
 thereupon repaired to Rewbell's apartments, where 
 they established themselves. It was agreed to sum- 
 mon all the ministers to Rewbell's, to remain there 
 until the event was accomplished, and to permit no 
 one to leave. Communications with the outside 
 were to be made only through Augereau and his 
 aides-de-camp. This plan settled, the ministers 
 were convoked for the evening. Assembled alto- 
 gether with the three directors, they set themselves 
 to frame the necessary orders and proclamations. 
 The design was to surround the palace of the legis- 
 lative body, force the grenadiers from the posts they 
 occupied, disperse tlie committees of inspectors, 
 close the halls of the two councils, appoint another 
 place of meeting, summon thither the deputies that 
 could be relied upon, and make them pass a law 
 against all the obnoxious parties. They reckoned 
 with confidence that no deputies who were enemies 
 of the Directory would venture to appear at the new 
 place of meeting. Accordingly they proceeded to 
 draw up proclamations announcing that a grand plot 
 had been formed against the republic, whereof the 
 principal authors were members of the two committees 
 of inspectors, whence indeed it had been arranged 
 the conspirators were to start, and that, to prevent 
 their criminal purpose, the Directory had caused the 
 halls of the legislative body to be shut, and fixed 
 other places for the meeting of deputies faithful to 
 the republic. The Five-Hundred were invited to 
 assemble in the Odeon theatre, and the Ancients in 
 the amphitheatre of the School of Medicine. A re- 
 cital of the conspiracy, founded on the declaration of 
 Duverne de Presle, and on the document discovered 
 in the portfolio of d'Entraigues, was appended to 
 these proclamations. The whole was immediately 
 printed and ordered to be posted during the night on 
 the walls of Paris. The ministers and three direc- 
 tors remained mth closed doors at Rewbell's, whilst 
 Augereau departed with his aides-de-camp to put 
 the plan in execution. 
 
 Carnot and Barthelemy. having retired into the 
 privacy of their outi apartments at the Luxembourg, 
 were ignorant of what was in preparation. The 
 Clichyans in great excitement crowded the chamber 
 of the committees. But Barthelemy, himself effect- 
 ually deceived, had intimated as from authority that 
 nothing would be attempted that night. Pichegru, 
 too, had just quitted Sche'rer, and he gave his assur- 
 ance that no preparations were as yet made. Some 
 movements of troops had been remarked, but they 
 were, it was stated, on account of the exercises to be 
 held the next day, and they accordingly suggested 
 no uneasiness. Thus every one feeling satisfied re- 
 tired to his OUT! abode. Rovere alone remained in 
 the chamber of the inspectors, and sought repose in 
 a bed designed for the member of the committees on 
 guard. 
 
 Shortly after midnight, Augereau had disposed 
 the troops of the garrison around the palace and 
 brought up a numerous artillery. A perfect calm 
 pervaded Paris, no sound being heard but the tramp 
 of soldiers aud the rolling of guns. The first great 
 object was to gain the posts occupied by the grena- 
 diers of the legislative-body without a conflict. 
 About one in the morning an order was conveyed to 
 their commander, Ramel, to attend the minister at 
 war. He refused, at once divining what was in- 
 tended, hastened to arouse the inspector Rovere, 
 who could not even then believe in the danger, and 
 afterwards proceeded to the barracks of his grena-
 
 F 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 679 
 
 diers for the purpose of calling out the reserve and 
 placing it undi-r arms. Scarcely four hundred men 
 held the different posts of the Tuileries ; the reserve 
 comprised eight hundred. These were speedily mar- 
 shalled in arms and drawn up in battle-array across 
 the garden of the Tuileries. The utmost order and 
 deepest silence reigned throughout their ranks. 
 
 Nearly ten thousand men, all troops of the line, 
 now surrounded the palace and prepared to storm it. 
 The firing of a cannon charged with powder about 
 three o'clock in the morning served as the signal. 
 The commanders of columns presented themselves 
 at the different posts. An officer advanced on 
 the part of Augereau to order Ramel to evacuate 
 the post of the Turning-Bridge, which formed the 
 communication between the garden and the Place 
 Louis Quinze; but Ramel declined. Fifteen hun- 
 dred men, however, having appeared at the post, the 
 grenadiers, the greater part of whom were gained, 
 surrendered it. The same thing occurred at the 
 other posts. All the approaches to the garden and 
 the Carrousel were given up, and on all sides the 
 palace was encompassed by large bodies of infantry 
 and cavalry. Twelve pieces of cannon ready yoked 
 were pointed on the building. The only obstacle 
 that remained was the reserve of grenadiers, eight 
 hundred men strong, ranged in form for action, and 
 having the commander Ramel at its head. A por- 
 tion of the grenadiers was disposed to do their duty ; 
 the remainder, seduced by the emissaries of Barras, 
 were inclined on the contrary to unite mth the 
 troops of the Directory. Murmurs began to be 
 heard in the ranks. — "We are not Swiss," cried 
 several voices. — "I was wounded on the 13th Ven- 
 demiaire by the royalists," exclaimed an officer, 
 "and I have no inclination to fight for them on the 
 18th Fructidor." — The defection soon spread through 
 the companies. Blanchard, the second in command, 
 promoted it by his words and presence. Ramel, 
 however, was still determined to perform his duty, 
 when he received an order, sent from the chamber 
 of the inspectors, forbidding him to fire. At the 
 same moment Augereau came up at the head of a 
 numerous staff. " Commander Ramel," he said, "do 
 you acknowledge me as chief of the 17th military 
 division?" — "Yes," replied Ramel. "Then, as 
 your superior, I order you to submit to arrest." — 
 Ramel obeyed ; but he was subjected to ill-treat- 
 ment by some furious Jacobins on the staff of Auge- 
 reau. The latter disengaged him from their brutality 
 and ordered him to be conducted to the Temple. 
 The report of the cannon and the investment of the 
 palace had by this time startled every one from 
 slumber. It was now five in the morning. The 
 members of the committees had hurried to their 
 post, and were assembled in their chamber. They 
 were surrounded, and could no longer doubt the 
 danger that threatened them. A company of soldiers 
 stationed at their door had instructions to admit all 
 who presented themselves with the medal of a de- 
 puty, but to allow none to come out. They saw 
 their colleague Dumas approaching, hastening to his 
 post; they threw liiin a note from the window to 
 apprize him of the peril and warn him to save him- 
 self. Augereau took their swords from Pichegru 
 and Willot, and sent- them both to the Tem[ile, be- 
 sides several other deputies apprehended in the 
 chamber of the inspectors. 
 
 Whilst this operation was in progress against the 
 Councils, the Directory had instructed 'an olficcr fo 
 place himself at the head of a detachment and pro- 
 ceed to arrest Carnot and Barthe'lemy. Carnot, 
 cautioned in time, had fled from his apartments and 
 succeeded in escaping through a wicket in the garden 
 of the Luxembourg of which he possesse<l the key. 
 But Barthelerny was found at home and captured. 
 His arrest was rather embarrassing to the Directory. 
 With the exception of Barras, tlie directors were 
 
 gratified at Carnot's flight, and they wished sincerely 
 Barthc'leiny had imitated his example. They even 
 proposed to connive at his escape. Barthelerny 
 agreed, on condition he was permitted to travel 
 openly and under his own name to Hamburgh. The 
 directors however could not sanction such a step. 
 Intending to transport several members of the legis- 
 lative-body, they could not show so much partiality 
 towards one of their own colleagues. Barthe'lemy 
 was therefore conveyed to the Temple, where he 
 arrived at the same moment with Pichegru, Willot, 
 and the other deputies taken in the chamber of the 
 inspectors. , 
 
 The morning meanwhile was advancing; it was 
 eight o'clock. I\Iany of the deputies, now aware of 
 all that had occurred, courageously resolved to con- 
 front the danger. Simeon, president of the Five- 
 Hundred, and Lafond-Ladebat, president of the An- 
 cients, proceeded to their respective halls, which were 
 not yet closed, and took their seats accompanied by 
 several deputies. But officers soon appeared and 
 ordered them to withdravf. They had merely time 
 to declare that the national representation was dis- 
 solved. The members retired to the house of one 
 of their number, where the more intrepid urged a 
 fresh attempt. They determined, in fact, to collect 
 a "^econd time, traverse Paris on foot, and present 
 them.selves, with the presidents at their head, at the 
 doors of the Legislative Palace. Eleven o'clock was 
 striking. All Paris was astir, acquainted with the 
 events of the night, but the tranquillity of that im- 
 mense city was not disturbed. It had not been a 
 rising stimulated by passions ; simply a methodical 
 stretch of authority against a body of representatives 
 A multitude of people encumbered the streets and 
 public places without uttering a shout ; save some 
 groups from the faubourgs, composed of Jacobins, 
 who paraded the streets vociferating: Long live the 
 republic ! Down with aristocrats ! They provoked 
 no response or opposition from the mass of the in- 
 habitants. Principally around the Luxumbourg these 
 groups assembled. There they cried : The Directory 
 for ever ! and a few voices : JBarrds for ever I 
 
 The procession of deputies moved in silence 
 through the crowd gathered on the Carrousel, and 
 paused at the gates of the Tuileries. Access was 
 denied them. They persisted in demanding it. There- 
 upon a detachment drove them rudely away, and 
 pursued them until they dispersed. A sad and de- 
 plorable spectacle, which foreboded the too near and 
 inevitable domination of proetorian guards ! Alas ! 
 why had a perfidious faction obliged the revolution 
 to invoke the aid of bayonets! The deputies thus 
 pursued retreated, some to the residence of the pre- 
 sident Lafond-Ladebat, others to a house in the 
 vicinity. There they deliberated in tumult, ami 
 were occupied in framing a protest, when an officer 
 appeared bearing orders for them to separate. A 
 certain number of them was arrested ; namely, 
 Lafond-Ladebat, Barbe'-Marbois, Tron^on-Ducou- 
 dray. Bourdon de I'Oise, Goupil de Prefeln, and some 
 others. These were conducted to the Temple, 
 whither the members of the two committees had 
 already preceded them. 
 
 During this period the directorial deputies had 
 repaired to the new localities assigned for the meet- 
 ing of the legislative-body. The Five-Hundred as- 
 sembled at the Otle'on, and the Ancients at the 
 School of ^ledicine. Noon was approaching, and 
 they were as yet few in number; but every instant 
 achled to the muster, both from intelligence of this 
 extraordinary convocation being diffused more widely, 
 and from all the waverers, fearing to be pronounced 
 dissidents, hastening to show themselves in the novel 
 legislature. From time to time the members present 
 were counted; and when at length the Ancients 
 numbered one hundred and twenty-six, and the Five- 
 Hundred two hundred and lifty-one, more by one
 
 680 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 than the half of the two Counnils, they began to 
 deliberate. There was, at first, some "embarrass- 
 ment in both assemblies, for the act they were called 
 to le,n-alize was only too manifestly a coup-d'etat. 
 Their primary step was to declare themselves per- 
 manent, and to apprize eadi other they were con- 
 stituted. Poulain-Grandpre', member of the Five- 
 Hundred, was the first to speak. " The measures 
 which have been taken," he said, " the locality we 
 occupy, all announce that the country has incurred 
 great dangers, and is yet ex|)osed to them. Let us 
 return thanks to the Directory ; it is to it we owe 
 the salvation of the country. But it is not enough 
 that the Directory is on the watch ; it is likewise 
 our duty to take measures for securing the public 
 safety and the constitution of the year III. With 
 this view, I move the appointment of a committee of 
 five members." 
 
 This proposition was adopted, and a committee 
 nominated, composed of deputies devoted to the sys- 
 tem of the Directory. They were Sieyes, Poulain- 
 Grandpre, Villers, Chazal, and Boulay de la Meurthe. 
 A message from the Directory to the two Councils 
 was announced about six o'clock in the evening. 
 This message contained a recital of the conspiracy, 
 such as it was known to the Directory, copies of 
 the two famous documents of which we have already 
 often spoken, and fragments of letters found amongst 
 the papers of the royalist agents. These pieces 
 comprised all the evidence that had been acquired ; 
 they proved simply that Pichegru was in negotiation 
 with the pretender, tliat Imbert-Colome's corre- 
 sponded with Blaiikenburg, that Mersan and Lemerer 
 were the heads of the conspiracy as regarded the 
 Clichyans, and that a vast association of royalists 
 extended over the whole of France. There were no 
 other names mentioned than those already quoted. 
 These documents produced, nevertheless, a great 
 effect, in carrying a moral conviction, they demon- 
 strated at the same time the impossibility of resort- 
 ing to a judicial process, from the want of direct and 
 positive testimony. The committee of five soon 
 presented a report founded on the message. The 
 Directory not having the initiative of measures, it 
 was for the committee to exercise it ; but this com- 
 mittee was in concert with the Directory, and pre- 
 pared to propose the decrees it had premeditated. 
 Boulay de la Aleurthe, appointed to speak in the 
 name of the committee, expounded the reasons upon 
 which extraordinary measures are usually justified, 
 reasons which, in this instance, were unfortunately 
 too well founded. After stating that they were 
 placed, as it were, on a field of battle, that it was 
 necessary to take prompt and decisive steps, and, 
 without shedding a drop of blood, reduce the con- 
 spirators to impotence for mischief, he submitted the 
 motions projected. The principal consisted in an- 
 nulling the electoral proceedings of forty-eight de- 
 partments thus delivering the legislative-body from i 
 deputies bound to a faction, and in selecting, out of 
 the number, the most dangerous for banishment. 
 The Councils had scarcely any choice as to the mea- 
 sures to be adopted; the crisis, in fact, admitted 
 none others than were proposed to them, and the 
 Directory, moreover, had assumed so formidable an 
 attitude that they dared not reject them. The fluc- 
 tuating and uncertain i)ortion common to all assem- 
 blies, which vigour is so apt to overawe, was now 
 ranged on the side of the directorialists and ready to 
 vote all they might demand. The deputy Chollet, 
 however, requested a delay of twelve hours to consider 
 these propositions ; but cries of to the vufc ! silenced 
 him. The only alteration conceded was the erasure 
 of certain names from the list of the exiled, to wit, 
 those ^ of Thibaudeau, Doulcet de Ponte'coulant] 
 Tarbe', Crecy, Detorcy, Normand, Dupont de Ne- 
 mours, Remusat, and Bailly ; some upon the plea of 
 their being good patriots despite their opposition. 
 
 and others as being too insignificant to be dangerous. 
 After these obliterations, the resolutions as pro- 
 pounded were passed fortiiwith into decrees. The 
 electoral operations of forty-eight departments were 
 quashed. These departments were the following : 
 — Ain, Ardeche, Arrie'ge, Aube, Aveyron, Bouches- 
 du- Rhone, Calvados, Charente, Cher, Cote-d'Or, 
 C6tes-du-Nord, Dordogne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Gi- 
 ronde, He'rault, Hie- et - Vilaine, Indre - et - Loire, 
 Loiret, Manche, Marne, Mayenne, Mont - BlaiiC, 
 Morbihan. Moselle. Deux-Nethes, Nord, Oise, Orne, 
 Pays-de-Calais, Puy-de-D6me, Bas-Rhin, Haut- 
 Rhin, Rhone, Haute-Saone, Saone-et- Loire, Sarthe, 
 Seine, Seine- Inferieure, Seine et-Marne, Seine-et- 
 Oise, Somme, Tarn, Var, Vaucluse, and Yonne. 
 The deputies returned by these departments were 
 expelled from the legislature. All the functionaries, 
 such as judges or municipal administrators, elected 
 by these departments, were likewise degraded from 
 their oifices. The follon-ing individuals were con- 
 demned to banishment, the place of exile being re- 
 ferred to the Directory : — in the Council of the Five- 
 Hundred, Aubry, Job Ayme', Bayard, Blain, Boissy- 
 d'Anglas, Borne, Bourdon-de-l'Oise, Cadroi, Cou- 
 chery, Delahaye, Delarue, Doumere, Dumolard, 
 Duplantier, Duprat, Gilbert-Desmoli^res, Henri La- 
 riviere, Imbert-Colomes, Camille- Jordan. Jonrdan 
 des Bouches-du-Rhone, Gau, Lacarriere, Lemar- 
 chant-Gomicourt, Lemerer, Mersan, Madier, Mail- 
 lard, Noailles, Andre', Mac-Curtain, Pave'e, Pastoret, 
 Pichegru, Polissart, Praire-Montaud, Quatrem^re- 
 Quincy, Saladin, Simeon, Vauvilliers, Vaublanc, 
 Villaret-Joyeuse, and Willot ; in the Council of 
 Ancients, Barbe'-Marbois, Dumas, Ferraut-Vaillant, 
 Lafond-Ladebat, Laumont, Muraire, Murinais, Pa- 
 radis, Portalis, Rovere, and Tron^on-Ducoudray. 
 
 The two directors, Carnot and Barthelemy, the 
 ex-minister of police Cochon, his creature Dosson- 
 ville, the commander of the guard of the legislative- 
 body Ramel, and the three royalist agents, Brottier, 
 Laville-Heurnois, and Duverne de Presle, were like- 
 wise condemned to transportation. Nor did the 
 course of vengeance stop here. Thejournalists had 
 not been less dangerous than the deputies, and the 
 same incapacity existed for smiting them judicially. 
 It was decided, therefore, to proceed revolutionally 
 with regard to them, as had been done with the mem- 
 bers of the legislature. Accordingly the proprietors, 
 editors, and writers of no less than forty-two papers 
 were sentenced to exile ; for no conditions being at 
 that time imposed upon political journals, their num- 
 ber was prodigious. Amongst the forty-two the 
 Quotidieniie figured conspicuously. To these mea- 
 sures against individuals, were added others tending 
 to strengthen the authority of the Directory, and 
 re-establish the revolutionary laws which the Coun- 
 cils had abolished or modified. Thus the Directory 
 was empowered to nominate all the judges and muni- 
 cipal magistrates, whose elections were cancelled in 
 the forty-eight departments. As to the seats of the 
 deputies, they were to remain vacant. The articles 
 of the famous law of the 3d Brumaire, which had 
 been repealed, were again put in force, and even 
 extended. The relatives of emigrants, excluded by 
 that law from the exercise of public functions until 
 the conclusion of peace, were excluded by the new 
 law until a period of four years subsequent to peace ; 
 and were moreover wholly dejirived of the electoral 
 franchise. Emigrants who had returned under pre- 
 tence of seeking the erasure of their names, were to 
 leave the communes in which they lurked within 
 twenty-four hours, and the territory of France within 
 a fortnight. Any of them who should be appre- 
 hended in contumacy, were to undergo the applica- 
 tion of the laws within twenty-four hours. The 
 laws recalling banished priests and relieving them 
 from the oath, substituting a simple declaration, 
 were rescinded. All the enactments relative to the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 681 
 
 performance of religious ceremonies were restored. 
 The Directory was likewise invested with the power 
 of banishing, on a simple order, priests whom it had 
 reason to know were misconducting themselves. 
 As to newspapers, it had the privilege in future of 
 suppressing such as seemed to it dangerous. Politi- 
 cal societies, that is to say clubs, were again legal- 
 ized ; but the Directory was armed \\ath the same 
 power against them that it held against journals : it 
 might silence them at pleasure. Lastly, what was 
 not less important than all the rest, the organization 
 of the national guard was suspended, adjourned to 
 happier times. 
 
 These measures could not be denounced as san- 
 guinary, for the era of blood-spilling was in truth 
 past, but they conferred on the Directory an author- 
 ity wholly revolutionary. They were voted on the 
 evening of the l>^th Fructidor (-Ith September), in 
 the Five-Hundred. Not a voice was raised against 
 their adoption ; certain deputies applauded, the ma- 
 jority were cowed and silent. The decree embody- 
 ing them was instantly carried to the Ancients, who 
 were in permanence as well as the Five-Hundred, 
 and vv'ho were waiting to be supplied \\ath a subject 
 of deliberation. The mere reading of the decree and 
 the report occupied them until the morning of the 
 19th. Fatigued by so long a sitting, they adjourned 
 for a few hours. The Directory, impatient to ob- 
 tain the sanction of the Ancients, and to be provided 
 with legal weapons for consummating the blow it 
 had struck, transmitted a second message to the 
 legislative body. " The Directory," the message 
 bore, "has devoted itself to the salvation of liberty, 
 but it relies upon you to support it. To-day is the 
 19th, and you have done nothing yet to second its 
 endeavours." — The decree was immediately after- 
 wards passed and sent to the Directory. 
 
 The moment it was armed \nth this law, the 
 Directory hastened to put it in force, determining to 
 fulfil its purpose with promptitude, and return with 
 all possible dispatch to a state of order. Several of 
 those condemned to banishment had fled. Carnot 
 had secretly directed his steps towards Switzerland. 
 The Directory would have allowed Barthelemy also 
 to escape, but he refused for the reasons mentioned 
 above. Out of the list of the exiles it selected 
 fifteen, deemed either more dangerous or more cul- 
 pable than the rest, and adjudged them to a trans- 
 portation which for some was less merciful than 
 death itself. These were sent off that very day in 
 grated vans to Rochefort, whence they were to be 
 conveyed in a frigate to Guyenne. They included 
 Barthelemy, Pichegru, and Willot, thus doomed on 
 account of their superior importance or delinquency ; 
 Rovere, because of his known relations with the 
 royalist faction ; Aubry, on account of the part taken 
 by him in the reaction ; Bourdon de I'Oise, Murinais 
 and Delarue, on account of their conduct in the Five- 
 Hundred ; Ramel, for his behaviour at the head of 
 the grenadiers ; Dossonville, for the functions he had 
 performed under the committee of inspectors ; Tron- 
 <;'on-Ducoudray, Barbe-Marbois, and Lafond-Lade- 
 bat, on account, not of their criminality, for they 
 were sincerely attached to the r(;public, but of their 
 influence in the council of the Ancients ; and lastly, 
 Brottier and Laville-Heurnois, on account of their 
 conspiracy. Their accomplice Duverne de Presle 
 was spared in consideration of his revelations. Per- 
 sonal animosity had undoubtedly its share in this 
 choice of victims, for of these fifteen individuals none 
 was really dangerous but Pichegru. The number 
 was increased to si.xteen through the attachment of 
 one Letellier, a servant of BarthcHemy, who begged 
 permission to follow his master. They wore hurried 
 off to their destination \\ithout delay, and were ex- 
 posed, as always happens, to the brutality of subor- 
 dinates. The Directory, however, having learnt 
 that General Duteitre, leader of the escort, behaved 
 
 harshly towards the prisoners, immediately super- 
 seded him. The-e exiles in the cause of royalism 
 were thus sent to follow Billaud-Varennes and Col- 
 lot-d'Herbois, and consort with them in the same 
 desolate habitation. The remainder of the proscripts 
 were banished to the isle of Oleron. 
 
 Diu-ing these two days, Paris remained perfectly 
 calm. The patriots of the faubourgs, it is true 
 found the penalty of banishment too gentle, for they 
 had been accustomed to revolutionary measures lead- 
 ing to a different issue. Confiding in Barras and 
 Augereau, however, they still hoped for better things. 
 They formed in groups, and loitered under the win- 
 dows of the Directory, shouting — Long live the re- 
 public ! Long live the Directory I Barras for ever ! 
 Attributing the affair mainly to Barras, they were 
 desirous that the charge of effectually repressing 
 aristocrats should be committed to him for a few 
 days. But these inconsiderable assemblages in no 
 degree disturbed the general tranquillity of Paris. 
 The sectionaries of Vende'miaire, who would shortly, 
 but for the decree of the 19th, have been reorganized 
 in a national guard, were destitute of energy suffi- 
 cient to prompt a spontaneous assumption of arms. 
 They offered no show of opposition to the full exe- 
 cution of the coup-d'etat. For the rest, opinion was 
 undecided. True republicans allowed that the roy- 
 alist faction had rendered some act of vigour requisite, 
 but they deplored the violation of the laws, and the 
 intervention of military power. They were almost 
 disposed to question the guilt of the conspirators 
 too, on finding a man like Carnot involved in their 
 crime. They feared that antipathies had unduly in- 
 fluenced the determinations of the Directory. In 
 short, even granting that its proceedings might have 
 been necessary, they felt grieved and sad, and with 
 reason ; for it had become evident that the constitu- 
 tion, on which they rested all their hopes, was to 
 prove no termination to discord and strife. The 
 mass of the population submitted in silence, and from 
 this time forth almost wholly abjured politics. We 
 have seen it on the 9th Thermidor, pass from the 
 extremity of hatred against the ancient order of 
 things, to that of hatred against the recent reign of 
 terror. Since, it had never been roused to interfere 
 in affairs except in opposition to the Directory, which 
 it regarded in the same light as the convention and 
 the committee of public welfare. Terrified at pre- 
 sent by the energy of this same Directory, it learnt, 
 from the events of the 18th Fructidor, the wisdom 
 of keeping aloof from political struggles. Accord- 
 ingly we find that, from this day, political feeling 
 gradually abated, and in the end subsided into apathy. 
 
 Such were the consequences of the coup-d'etat of 
 the 18th Fructidor. It has been argued that all 
 necessity for it had ceased at the period of its execu- 
 tion ; that the Directory, by alarming the royalist 
 faction, had already succeeded in awing it ; and that, 
 by persisting in its determination, it prepared the 
 way for military usurpation by an example of the 
 violation of the laws. But, as we have already 
 urged, the royalist faction was intimidated only for 
 the moment; upon the accession of the next third, it 
 would lia\e infallibly reversed the whole order of 
 things, and uprooted the Diiectory. A (ivil war 
 must then have ensued between it and the armies. 
 'I'he Directory, by anticipatmg this royalist move- 
 ment aiui crushing it in embryo, prevented the evils 
 of a civil war, and if it thereby placed itself uiuler 
 the shield of the military power, it submitted to a 
 sad but inevitable nei-essity. Legality was all a farce 
 in the sequel of a revolution like the French. It 
 was not tnider the shelter of a mere legal authority 
 that the different parties could settle and find repose; 
 a stronger power was needed to curb, harmonize, 
 amalgamate them, and abovt' all, protect them against 
 Europe in arms : and this power was the military. 
 The Directory, therefore, by the 18th Fructidor
 
 682 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 prevented a civil war, substituting for it a coup-d'etat, 
 accomplished with force, but with all the calmness 
 and moderation possible in a revolutionary epoch. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OK THE IStH KKUCTIDOH DIS- 
 GRACE OF JIOREAU DEATH OF HOCHE LAW 
 
 AGAINST THE OLD NOBILITY. RUPTURE OF THE 
 
 CONFERENCES AT LILLE WITH ENGLAND. NEGO- 
 TIATIONS AT UDINE. — PROCEEDINGS OF BONA- 
 PARTE IN ITALY ; THE FOU.VDATION OF THE CIS- 
 ALPINE republic; the ligurian constitution; 
 
 ESTABLISH.MENTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 
 
 TREATY OF CAMPO-FORMIO. RETURN OF BONA- 
 PARTE TO PARIS; TRIU.MPHAL FESTIVAL. 
 
 The 18th Fructidor threw terror into the ranks of 
 the royalists. Priest* and emigrants, already re- 
 turned in great numbers, hurried in a panic from 
 Paris and other large towns to regain the frontiers. 
 Those who were preparing to return, again betook 
 themselves to their haunts in Germany and Switzer- 
 land. The Directory had been re-invested, by the 
 law of the 19th, with all the earlier revolutionary 
 omnipotence, and none could venture to brave its 
 wrath. It commenced by sweeping the administra- 
 tions, as usual upon every change of system, and 
 preferred decided patriots to the majority of vacated 
 places. It had the power of nominating to all the 
 elective offices in forty-eight departments, and was 
 thus enabled greatly to extend its influence and mul- 
 tiply its partisans. ' One of its first cares was to re- 
 place the two directors, Carnot and Barthelemy. 
 Rewbell and Larevelliere, whose intiuence the late 
 event had singularly increased, were unwilling to be 
 accused of having deposed two of their colleagues to 
 render themselves sole masters of the government. 
 They insisted, therefore, that the legislative body 
 should be immediately invited to elect two new direc- 
 tors. In this decision Barras did not concur, and 
 still less Augereau. The latter was wonderfully 
 elated with the day of the 18th, and proud of having 
 so successfully conducted it. *In mingling with affairs 
 he had imbibed a taste for politics and power, and 
 formed the ambitious project of aspiring to a place 
 in the Directory. He was of opinion that the three 
 directors, \\-ithout applying to the legislative body 
 for colleagues, should at once coU.ate him to the 
 vacant dignity. In this pretension he was not grati- 
 fied, and no other mode of becoming a director re- 
 mained for him than to obtain a majority in the 
 Councils. But in that hope also he was disappointed. 
 Merlin de Duuai, minister of justice, and Francois 
 de Neufchateau, minister of the interior, commanded 
 the requisite number of votes above all competitors. 
 After them, Massena and Augereau were the candi- 
 dates who united most suffrages in their favour. 
 Massena had a few more than Augereau. The two 
 new directors were installed with the usual cere- 
 monies. They were republicans, rather after the 
 manner of Rewbell and Larevelliere, than that of 
 Barras ; and differed even more essentially from tie 
 latter in habits and manners. Merlin was a lawyer, 
 Fran9ois de Neufchateau a man of letters. Both 
 lived in the sober fashion suitable to their profes- 
 sions, and were formed in all respects to assimilate 
 with Rewbell and Larevelliere. Nevertheless, it 
 was perhaps desirable, for the sake of the sway and 
 consideration of the Directory with the armies, that 
 some general of celebrity had been appointed a mem- 
 ber of it. 
 
 In lieu of the two ministers raised to the Directory, 
 that body appointed two excellent officers taken 
 from the provinces. It desired in this manner to 
 rompose the government of men strangers to the in- 
 
 trigues of Paris and less accessible to favour. To 
 the ministry of justice it promoted Lambreehts, who 
 was commissary in the central administration of the 
 department of la Dyle, that is to say, prefect; he 
 had hitherto approved himself an upright magistrate. 
 For the ministry of the interior it selected Letour- 
 neur, commissary in the central administration of the 
 Loire-Infe'rieure, an able, active, and conscientious 
 functionary, but too little acquainted with the capital 
 and its usages to save himself at all times from in- 
 curring ridicule in the administration of a high de- 
 partment of state. 
 
 The Directory had so far every reason to be gra- 
 tified with the manner in which events had proceeded. 
 The only cause of disquietude existed in the silence 
 of General Bonaparte, who had not written for a 
 long interval, nor had sent the promised remittance. 
 His aide-de-camp Lavalette had not appeared at the 
 Luxembourg during the crisi-, and he was suspected 
 to have poisoned his general against the Directory, 
 and to have forwarded him false information touching 
 the state of affairs. It was in fact true that he had 
 continually advised Bonaparte to hold himself aloof, 
 to keep asunder from the cojtp-d'etat, and to content 
 himself with the assistance he had already given the 
 Directory by his proclamations. Barras and Auge- 
 reau sent for M. de Lavalette and took him angrily 
 to task, saying, he had doubtless deceived Bonaparte 
 and would have been placed under arrest but for the 
 respect due to his general. M. de Lavalette there- 
 upon precipitately departed for Italy. Augereau 
 hastily composed epistles to General Bonaparte and 
 his friends in the army, for the purpose of describing 
 the event in the most favourable colours. 
 
 Already discontented with Moreau, the Directory 
 had resolved to recall him, when it received a com- 
 munication from him which caused a very deep sen- 
 sation. Moreau had seized, after the passage of the 
 Rhine, the papers of General Klinglin, and found 
 amongst them the whole correspondence between 
 Pichegru and the prince of Conde'. He had kept 
 this correspoiidence secret ; but he decided upon im- 
 parting it to the government immediately subsequent 
 to the 18th Fructidor. He professed to have taken 
 this resolution before knowing the events of the 
 18th, and solely with the view of supplying to the 
 Directory the evidence it needed to confound its im- 
 placable enemies. But it is asserted that Moreau 
 had received news of the event on the very day of 
 the 18th by telegraph, and had then hastened to for- 
 ward a denunciation which compromised Pichegru 
 no more than he actually was, and which relieved 
 himself from a heavy responsibility. Be the case as 
 it may, it is, at all events, certain that Moreau had 
 for a long while preserved an important secret, and 
 had brought himself to reveal it only at the very 
 moment of the catastrophe. It was the general im- 
 pression with regard to his behaviour in this instance, 
 that he loved not the republic sufficiently to expose 
 the treachery of his friend, and yet was too luke- 
 \varm a friend to retain the secret to the end. His 
 political character was here exhibited in its real 
 light, that is to say, as weak, vacillating, and uncer- 
 tain. The Directory summ.oned him to Paris to 
 render an account of his conduct. On examining the 
 correspondence it found a full confirmation of all it 
 had otherwise learnt respecting Pichegru, and had 
 only cause to regret it did not possess the knowledge 
 sooner. It likewise discovered proof of Moreau's 
 own fidelity to the republic ; but it rewarded his 
 supineness and procrastination by depriving him of 
 his command and leaving him destitute of employ- 
 ment at Paris. 
 
 Hoche, still at the head of his army of the Sambre- 
 and-Meuse, had undergone during the whole of the 
 past month the most anxious solicitude. He re- 
 mained in his head-quarters at Wetzler, keeping a 
 carriage constantly ready to fly into Germany with
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 683 
 
 his young wafe, if the opposition in the Councils 
 pie vailed. It was in this predicament that, for the 
 first time in his life, he turned a thought to his owni 
 interests aiid sought to secure a sum of money sulH- 
 cient to answer his necessities during his absence. 
 We have already seen that he had lent to the Di- 
 rectory the greater portion of his wife's dowry. The 
 news of the 18th Fructidor filled him with joy and 
 relieved him from all fear on his own account. To 
 recompense his attachment, the Directory united the 
 two great armies of the Sambre-and-Meuse arul the 
 Rhine into one, and appointed him its generalis.-imo. 
 It was the most extensive command in the republic. 
 Unfortunately the health of the young general pre- 
 vented him from enjoying the triumph of the patriots 
 and this testimony of regard on the part of the gov- 
 ernment. For some time a dry and troublesome 
 cough, accompanied by nervous spasms, had alarmed 
 his friends and physicians. A secret malady con- 
 sumed the youthful hero, once so buoyant of health, 
 and who to his great talents added the advantages of 
 personal beauty and the most masculine vigour. Not- 
 withstanding his untoward condition however, he 
 employed himself in organizing into one the two 
 armies confided to his command, and continued to 
 fix his attention on the expedition to Ireland, which 
 the Directory was desirous of holding in terrorein 
 over the British government. But his cough be- 
 came more violent towards the end of Fructidor, and 
 he began to suffer insupportable torments. He was 
 exhorted to suspend his labours, but he refused. He 
 called his physician and said to him : Give me a 
 remedy for fati</ue, but let not that itemed}/ he repose. 
 Conquered by the disease, he at length took to his 
 bed on the first complementary day of the year V 
 (17th September), and expired on the following day 
 amidst the most distressing agonies. The whole 
 army was in the deepest consternation, for it adored 
 its young general. The mournful intelligence spread 
 with rapidity and struck \^'ith affliction all true re- 
 publicans, who placed the greatest hopes in the tal- 
 ents and patriotism of Hoche. The report of poison 
 immediately circulated ; it seemed impossible to be- 
 lieve that one in such vigour of youth, strength, and 
 health, should be thus carried off by natural means. 
 A post mortem examination was instituted ; the 
 stomach and intestines were scrutinized by the Fa- 
 culty, who found them loaded with dark ulcerations, 
 and who, without announcing traces of poison, ap- 
 peared nevertheless to believe in its existence. IMany 
 attributed the poisoning to the Directory, which was 
 absurd, for no member of the Directory was capable 
 of such a crime, so wholly foreign to French man- 
 ners, and none moreover had any interest in its com- 
 mission. In fact, Hoche was the most solid support 
 of the Directory, both against the royalists aiul 
 against the ambitious conqueror of Italy. Otliers 
 surmised with more likelihood that he had been 
 poisoned in the West. His physician thought he 
 remembered that the alteration in his health dated 
 from his last sojourn in Brittany, when he went to 
 embark for Ireland. Some again supposed, but 
 without any proof, that he had been poisoned at a 
 banquet he had given to persons of all parties with 
 the view of reconciling them. 
 
 The Directory instituted magnificent obsequies to 
 his memory. They were celebrated on the Champ 
 de Mars, in presence of all the bodies of the state, 
 and amidst an immense concourse of people. A con- 
 siderable aruiy followed the procession. 'I'he aged 
 father of the general olliciated as chief nu)uriier. 
 This funereal pomp produced a deep impression, and 
 remained a grand memorial of that heroic era. 
 
 Thus closed one of the fairest and most interestiiig 
 existences that adorned the revolution. This time 
 at least it was not by the scaffold. Hoche was only 
 ti his twenty-ninth year. .4> a private soldier iti 
 .he French guards, a few months had sufficed to 
 
 perfect his education. To the physical courage of 
 the warrior, he added an energetic character, a su- 
 perior intelligence, an accurate knowledge of men, 
 an excellent capacity for political emergencies, and, 
 moreover, the inspiring impulse of enthusiasm. This 
 with him amounted to a passion, ardent and uncon- 
 trollable, and which proved perhaps the predisposing 
 cause of his death. The peculiar circumstances of 
 his career increased the interest his manifold qualities 
 excited. He had always met with untoward acci- 
 dents to arrest his fortune. Conqueror at Weissem- 
 burg and ready to enter upon a glorious scene of 
 action, he was suddenly thrown into a dungeon ; 
 released from imprisonment to prosecute the harass- 
 ing warfare of La Vendee, be on that unpropitious 
 stage played an ever-memorable part, and at the 
 moment he was about to execute his great project 
 on Ireland, a tempest and failures in his combinations 
 again defeated his expectations ; removed to the army 
 of the Sanibre-and-Meuse, he gained an important 
 victory at its head, and once more had his progress 
 suspended l)y the preliminaries of Ijcoben ; lastly, in 
 command of the army of Germany, with Europe still 
 disposed for war, he had a vast future before him 
 when he was struck amidst his dazzling prospects, 
 and hurried to the grave by a disease of forty-eight 
 hours' virulence. If, however, a cherished memory 
 can compensate the loss of life, he might be well 
 content to surrender his even thus prematurely. A 
 series of splendid victories, an arduous pacification, 
 a universality of talent, a probity without stain, the 
 belief general amongst republicans that he would 
 have curbed the conqueror of Rivoli and the Pyra- 
 mids, tliat his ambition would have remained repub- 
 lican and formed an insuperable obstacle to the im- 
 perious pride that aspired to a throne, in a word, 
 lofty deeds, noble inspirations, a youth of the fairest 
 promise, — these are what constitute his renown. 
 And assuredly it is great enough ! Let us not pity 
 him then for dying young. It will always redound 
 more to the glory of Hoche, Kleber, and Desaix, 
 that they did not live to be marshals. They all bore 
 the distinction of citizens and freemen to the tomb, 
 and were not reduced like Moreau to become a fugi- 
 tive in foreign armies. 
 
 The Directory gave the army of Germany to 
 Augereau, and thus freed itself from his turbulence, 
 which was becoming inconvenient at Paris. 
 
 In the course of a few days the Directory had 
 completed all the arrangements that circumstances 
 demanded; but the important subject of the finances 
 remained to engage its attention. The decree of 
 the 19th Fructidor, by delivering it from its most 
 formidable enemies, reviving the law of the 3d 
 Brumaire, endowing it with increased means of 
 severity against priests and emigrants, arming it 
 with the power of suppressing journals and clubs 
 whose principles gave it otlViu-e, ])ermitting it to fill 
 all the vacant ollices after the avoidance of the elec- 
 tions, postponing indefinitely the reorganization of 
 the natio)ial guards, — this decree, we say, had re- 
 stored to the Directory all the two Councils had 
 attempted to wrest from it, and had even added a 
 species of revohitionary onmipoteiue. Hut it had 
 equally essential advantages to recover in the matter 
 of finance, for in this respect its intluence had not 
 been less crippled tlian in all others. .\ grand scheme 
 was propounded fi)r the receipts and disbursements 
 of the year VI. The first ol)ject was to restore to 
 the Directory the functions of which it had been 
 deprived relative to the negotiations of tiie Treasury, 
 to the orck-r of payments, in short, to the manage- 
 ment of the fimds. All the provisions adopted by 
 the two (^ouiK'ils, before the 18th Fructidor, on this 
 subject were accorcfingly rescinded. It next became 
 requisite to de'vise fresh sources of income, both 
 with the view of relieving property unduly burdened, 
 and of raising the revenue to a level with the expen-
 
 084 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 diture. The institution of a lottery was authorized; 
 a toll on roads and a tax on pled^'es were likewise 
 established. The imposts on registries were regu- 
 lated in a manner to greatly augment their produce, 
 and the duties on foreign tobacco were increased. 
 By means of these new expedients, the government 
 was enabled to reduce the property-tax to 228 mil- 
 lions and the jiersonal to 50, and yet raise the sum- 
 total of receipts for the year V'l. to GIG millions. 
 In this amount, the anticipated sales of national 
 domains were estimated at only twenty millions. 
 
 The income being by these means elevated to 616 
 millions, it became necessary to diminish the expen- 
 diture to the same level. The war was assumed to 
 cost this year, even in case of a fresh campaign, only 
 283 millions. The other general expenses were esti- 
 mated at 247 millions, making 330 million- in the 
 whole. The interest of the debt alone amounted to 
 258 millions ; and if it had been actually paid, the 
 charge would have reached a point far superior to 
 the resources of the republic. It was proposed, 
 therefore, to discharge only the third of it, that is 
 to say, 86 millions. In this manner, the war, the 
 general services of the state, and the interest of the 
 debt, would require an expenditure of but 616 mil- 
 lions, answering to the income. But to bring it 
 within this limit, a decisive measure \vith regard to 
 the debt was necessary. Since the abolition of 
 paper money and a return to specie, the payment of 
 the interest could not be regularly kept up. A 
 quarter had been paid in specie and three quarters in 
 credits on the national domains, called debentures of 
 the three quarters. This was in point of fact as if a 
 fourth were paid in cash, and three-fourths in assig- 
 iiats. The public debt had therefore been princi- 
 pally provided for from the resource of the national 
 domains, and it became imperative to devise some 
 remedy on the subject, both for behoof of the state 
 and of the creditors. A debt, the annual charge 
 of which amounted to 258 millions, was in truth 
 enormous for that period. The resources of credit 
 and the etfects of a sinking-fund were then unknown. 
 The revenue was much less considerable than it has 
 since become, for there had not yet been time tp 
 reap all the benefits of the revolution; and France, 
 which has been able since to contribute a thousand 
 millions in general taxation, couid then scarcely raise 
 616 millions. Thus the debt was overwhelming, 
 and the country was in the situation of an individual 
 in hopeless insolvency. Hence, the expedient was 
 proposed of continuing to meet a portion of the in- 
 terest in cash, and. instead of paying the remainder 
 by credits on the national property, of liquidating 
 the capital itself out of that property. To effectu- 
 ate this plan, one-third only of the debt would be 
 preserved, to be styled the consolidated third, and to 
 remain in the great book in the light of a perpetual 
 annuity. The two remaining thirds would be paid 
 off, at the rate of twenty times the interest, in 
 securities receivable in payment of national domains. 
 It is true that such securities bore in the market less 
 than a sixth of their value, and that for those who 
 had no desire to purchase lands, it was in reality 
 tantamount to a bankruptcy. 
 
 Notwithstanding the quietude and docility of the 
 Councils since the 18th Fructidor, this measure pro- 
 voked a strenuous opposition. The opponents of 
 the proposed liquidation maintained that it was an 
 actual bankruptcy ; that the delft, at the commence- 
 ment of the revolution, had been placed under the 
 safeguard of the national honour, ami that it was to 
 disgrace the republic to liquidate by such means two- 
 thirds of it ; that the creditors who did not purchase 
 lands would lose nine-tenths in the negotiation of 
 their credit'^, for the emission of so great a quantity 
 of paper must of necessity considerably depress its 
 value; that, setting aside the prejudices arising 
 from the origin of the confiscated property, the 
 
 creditors of the state were for the most part too poor 
 to buy estates ; that associations to purchase them 
 in common were impracticable; that, in consequence, 
 the loss of nine-tenths of their capital was unavoid- 
 able by the majority ; that*he pretended consoli- 
 dated third, even placed above the chance of reduc- 
 tion in future, was only promised ; that the promise 
 of one-tl.'ird was less desirable than the promise of 
 three-thirds ; and lastly, that if the republic could 
 not at the moment meet all the charge of the debt, 
 it was better for the creditors to wait as they had 
 done hitherto, but to wait with the hope of seeing 
 their situation ameliorated, than to be at once de- 
 spoiled of their stock. Many even argued that a dis- 
 tinction should be drawn between the different con- 
 ditions of stock inscribed in the great book, and 
 that only such as had been acquired at a low price 
 should be subjected to the liquidation. It had been 
 sold indeed as low as ten and fifteen francs, and those 
 who had purchased at that rate would still gain con- 
 siderably notwithstanding the reduction to one-third. 
 The advocates of the directorial plan replied that 
 a state possessed the right, like an individual, of 
 abandoning its property to its creditors, when it 
 could no longer pay them ; that the debt far ex- 
 ceeded the resources of the republic ; and that, in 
 this position, it had the privilege of giving up the 
 actual pledge for that debt, namely, the national do- 
 mains; that by purchasing lands the creditors would 
 lose very little ; that those lands would improve in 
 their hands, so as speedily to regain their old value, 
 and that they would thus recover what they had 
 lost; that 1,300 millions of property remained (the 
 thousand millions promised to the armies being trans- 
 ferred to the creditors of the state) ; that peace was 
 near at hand, and upon that event the debentures of 
 liquidation would be alone received in payment for 
 national property ; that, in consequence, the por- 
 tion of the capital liquidated, amounting to about 
 3,000 millions, would have an equivalent of 1,300 
 millions in domains, and would suffer a diminution 
 at the utmost of two-thirds instead of nine-tenths ; 
 that at any rate the creditors had never been treated 
 otherwise heretofore, since they had always been 
 paid in domains, whether in the shape of assignats 
 or oi debentures of the three-fourths ; that the republic 
 was compelled to give them what it had; that they 
 could gain nothing by waiting, inasmuch as it never 
 would be able to provide for the whole debt ; that 
 by liquidating their claims, their situation became 
 henceforth fixed ; that the security of the consoli- 
 dated third would be realized forthwith, for the 
 means of (fischargiiig the interest subsisted ; that the 
 republic would, on its part, be relieved by the opera- 
 tion from an enormous burden, and be enabled to 
 enter for the future upon a regular system ; that it 
 would appear in the face of Europe mth a lightened 
 debt, iiiid thereby become more powerful and im- 
 posing to command peace ; and lastly, that no dis- 
 tinction could be made between the different sorts of 
 stock with reference to the price of acquisition, and 
 that they must be all dealt with on an equal footing. 
 Some measure of this kind was inevitable. The 
 republic merely proposed to do now what it had 
 always done : all engagements above its capacity to 
 meet, it had ever discharged with domains at the 
 price to which they had fallen. It was by assignats 
 it had paid the old burdens of the state as well as all 
 the expenses of the revolution, and it was with lands 
 it had redeemed the assignats. It was in paper- 
 credits, in other words, lands, it had paid the interest 
 of the debt, and it was with lands it finished by 
 liquidating the capital itself. In a word, it gave 
 what it poss'ssed. The United States had done no 
 more for the discharge of their public debt. All the 
 satisfaction their creditors received was derived from 
 the banks of the Mississippi. Measures of this nature 
 cause, like revolutions, much individual suffering and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTIOxV. 
 
 685 
 
 ruin ; but the result must be submitted to when they 
 have become inevitable. 
 
 The plan was ultimately adopted. Thus, by 
 means of new and im^ived taxation, whereby the 
 income was raised to (nTi millions, and by virtue of 
 the reduction of the debt, whereby the expenditure 
 could be limited to that sum, an equilibrium was re- 
 established in the finances, and Ifess dithculty might 
 be reasonably anticipated in the operations of the 
 year VI (from September 1797 to September 1798). 
 
 All these measures, the fruits of its signal victory, 
 the republican party desired to crown by one more. 
 Pleading that the republic would always be in peril 
 so long as a hostile caste, that of the old nobility, 
 should be suffered within its bounds, it proposed 
 that all families which had been formerly noble, or 
 pretended to be so, should be sent into exile, being 
 permitted to realize their property, and carry it with 
 them in French merchandise whithersoever they 
 might choose to betake themselves, their prejudices, 
 iind their passions. This proposition was strongly 
 supported by Sieyes, Boulay de la Meurthe, Chazal, 
 and all decided republicans, but vehemently com- 
 bated by Tallien and the friends of Barras. Barras 
 was himself noble ; the general of the army of Italy 
 was of aristocratic birth ; many of those who shared 
 the pleasures of Barras, and filled his saloons, were 
 likewise of old noble parentage ; and although an 
 exception was made in favour of tliose who had use- 
 fully served the republic, the apartments of the 
 director resounded with angry denunciations of the 
 proposed law. Even apart from these personal rea- 
 sons, strong grounds of objection against such a 
 measure existed in its danger and cruelty. It was 
 submitted, however, to the two Councils, but excited 
 such a storm of opposition that it was obliged to be 
 withdrawn, for the purpose of being greatly modified. 
 It was reproduced and passed in a different shape, 
 whereby the penalty of exile was not pronounced, 
 but simply that persons of noble lineage should be 
 deemed aliens, and obliged, in order to recover the 
 privileges of citizens, to observe the formalities and 
 undergo the ordeal preparatory to naturalization. 
 A saving clause was introduced in behalf of men who 
 had served the republic with advantage either in the 
 armies or in the assemblies. Barras, his friends, and 
 the conqueror of Italy, at whose birth malicious 
 inuendoes were constantly levelled, were thus freed 
 from the consequences of this measui'e. 
 
 The Directory had in all things resumed an energy 
 essentially revolutionary. The opposition, which in 
 the Directory and Councils affected to advocate 
 peace, being removed, the government exhibited 
 more firmness and obduracy in the negotiations at 
 Lille and Udine. It ordered all soldiers absent on 
 furlough immediately to rejoin their regiments, and, 
 replacing everything on a war-footing, sent fresh 
 instructions to its envoys. Maret, at Lille, as we 
 have seen, had succeeded in reconciling tlie preten- 
 sions of the maritime powers. The terms of peace 
 were arranged, pro\'i(led Spain would sacrifice Trini- 
 dad, and Holland 'IVincomalee, and France under- 
 take never to seize the Cape of Good Hope into her 
 own possession. It oidy remained, therefore, to 
 obtain the consent of Spain and Holland. In this 
 negotiation the Directory found Maret too pliable, 
 and resolved accordingly to supersede iiim. In his 
 place it accredited Bonnier and Treilhard with fresh 
 instructions. According to these, France dernaiulcd 
 the simple and unconditional surrender, not only of 
 her own colonies, but of those likewise of Iier allies. 
 With regard also to the negotiations at I'dine, the 
 Directory displayed an equally keen and p()siti\e 
 spirit. It no longer consented to be bound by tlie 
 preliminaries of Leoben, which gave .'\ustria the 
 limit of the Oglio in Italy ; it now insiste<i that Italy 
 should be wliolly enfranchised to the banks of the 
 Isouzo, and that Au>tria should find an indenniify in 
 
 the secularization of certain ecclesiastical states in 
 Germany. It recalled Clarke, who had been chosen 
 and sent by Carnot, and who in his correspondence 
 had spoken reproachfully of the generals reputed the 
 most republican in the army of Italy. BoTiaparte 
 alone remained charged with the powers of the re- 
 public in the conferences with Austria. 
 
 The ultimatum which the Directory caused to be 
 signified at Lille by its new envoys. Bonnier and 
 Treilhard, occasioned a rupture of the negotiation 
 almost concluded. Lord Malmesbury was deeply 
 mortified at this result, for he desired peace, both as 
 an honourable termination of his own career, and as 
 the means of securing his government a moment of 
 respite. He testified the most poignant regret, but 
 it was impossible for England to relinquish all its 
 naval conf|uests and receive nothing in exchange. 
 Lord Malmesbury, at the same time, was so sincere 
 in bis wish to treat, that he urged Maret on his 
 return to Paris to see whether it were not possible 
 to influence the determination of the Directory, and 
 even offered several millions to purchase the vote of 
 one of the directors. ISlaret declined to undertake 
 any negotiation of this sort, and quitted Lille. Lord 
 Malmesbury and ]\Ir. Ellis likewise immediately 
 took their departure. Although the Directory may be 
 reproached on this occasion with having repudiated 
 a certain and advantageous peace for France, its 
 motive nevertheless was creditable. It would have 
 been certainly unjust on the part of France to 
 abandon her allies and impose sacrifices on them for 
 their devotion to her cause. Moreover, presuming 
 on a speedy peace with Austria, or at least on in- 
 timidating her into one by another military move- 
 ment, the Directory indulged the hope of being 
 shortly relieved from its continental enemies, and 
 enabled to concentrate all its forces upon the sub- 
 jugation of England. 
 
 Meanwhile the instructions forwarded to Bona- 
 parte displeased him exceedingly, for he could 
 scarcely expect to act upon them with a prosperous 
 issue. It was a difficult undertaking, in fact, to 
 induce Austria to surrender Italy altogether, and 
 content herself with the secularization of certain 
 ecclesiastical states in Germany, under threat of 
 marching on 'N'ienna. Indeed Bonaparte could no 
 longer aspire to that feat, for he had all tlie forces 
 of the Austrian monarchy arrayed against him, and 
 it was the army of Germany that must first force its 
 way and penetrate into the hereditary states. To 
 this subject of irritation was added another in the 
 doubts conceived to his prejudice at Paris. Augereau 
 had dispatched one of his aidcs-de camp with letters 
 for several of the generals and officers of the army of 
 Italy. This aide-de-camp appeared to fulfd a sort 
 of mission, and to be employed in the charge of 
 rectifying the opinions of the army touching the 18th 
 Fructidor. Bonaparte gathered sufficient to con- 
 \'ince him he was regarded with suspicion. He 
 hastened to act the part of an injured person, and to 
 complain with tiie vivacity and bitterness of one who 
 feels himself indispensable ; he accused the govern- 
 ment of treating him with detestable ingratitude, 
 and of behiiving towards him as towards Pichegru 
 after Venclcnniaire, and he demanded bis sujiercession. 
 Here we find this man, witii so grand and indomitable 
 a spirit, and who ktiew so well how to assume a 
 noble attitude, abandon himself to the spleen of an 
 im[)etuous and froward boy. Tlie Dtrectory took 
 no notice of his demand to be recalled, and solemidy 
 assured him that the letters in question or the dis- 
 patch of an aide-dc-canq) covered no sinister inten- 
 tion towards him. Bonaparte was somewhat ap- 
 peased, but still insisted on lieing sii[)erseded in the 
 functions of negotiator and organizer of the Italian 
 repul)lics. He urged unceasingly that he was ill, 
 that he could not support the fatigue of horse-exer- 
 cise, and that it was impossible for him to prosecute
 
 686 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 a fresh campaign. Nevertheless, although in trath I 
 he was ill and oppressed by the prodigious labours 
 he had undergone for the last two years, he had no 
 desire to be replaced in any of his duties, and felt 
 confident he mii;ht rely on the elasticity of his mind 
 if strength of body were in emergency to fail him. 
 
 He resolved, in fact, to contiime the negotiation, 
 and crown his glory as first captain of the iige wth 
 that of peacemaker. The ultiniutuni of the Direc- 
 tory, it is true, galled him ; but he was not more dis- 
 posed on this occasion than on many others to [)ay 
 implicit obedience to his government. His occupa- 
 tions at this juncture appear almost overwhelming. 
 He was engaged in organizing the Italian republics, 
 creating a navy in the Adriatic, projecting great en- 
 terprises in the Mediterranean, and negotiating with 
 the plenipotentiaries of .Austria. 
 
 He had commenced by organizing into two separ- 
 ate states the provinces he had emancipated in Upper 
 Italy. In his early progress he had formed the duchy 
 of iSIodena and the legations of Bologna and Ferrara 
 into the Cispadan republic. His design was to have 
 united this petty dominion with revolutionized Vemce, 
 and thus recompense the latter for the loss of its pro- 
 vinces on terra-firma. He intended to organize Lom- 
 bardy apart, under the title of the Transpadan re- 
 public. But his ideas soon underwent a change, and 
 he preferred to constitute a single state of the en- 
 franchised provinces. The spirit of locality, which 
 at first appeared an obstacle to the incorporation of 
 Lombaray with the other provinces, was now a mo- 
 tive for amalgamating them. Romagna, for exam- 
 ple, was averse to a union with the legations and the 
 duchy of Modena, but willing to depend on a central 
 government established at Milan. Bonaparte saw 
 that, each detesting its neighbour, it wouul be easier 
 to merge the whole into subjection to a single au- 
 thority. Moreover, the difficulty of determining the 
 question of supremacy between Venice and Milan, 
 and of assigning the preference to one of them as the 
 seat of government, had ceased to fetter him. He 
 was resolved to sacrifice Venice. The Venitians in- 
 spired him with no affection ; he perceived that the 
 change of government had not produced amongst 
 them a change of disposition. The great nobility, 
 the petty, and the people, were all alike still the 
 enemies of France and the revolution, and unanimous 
 in vows for the success of Austria. Merely a small 
 number of the wealthier citizens cordially approved 
 the new order of things. The democratic munici- 
 pality evinced the most hostile spirit towards the 
 French. Nearly the whole population seemed to 
 hope that a return of fortune nn"ght enable Austria 
 to restore the ancient government. Furthermore, 
 the Venetians were contemptible in the eyes of Bona- 
 parte under another aspect highly important in his 
 view, to wit, prostration of power. Their canals and 
 harbours were almost choked up ; their navy was in 
 a deplorable condition ; they were themselves emas- 
 culated by indulgence in pleasures, and altogether 
 incapable of energy. " They are a soft, effeminate, 
 and cowardly people," he wrote, " without land or 
 water, and we have only to dispose of them." He 
 was well disposed, therefore, to abaiulon Venice to 
 Austria, on condition that the latter, relinquishing 
 the boundary of the Oglio, stipulated by the prelim- 
 inaries of Leoben, would retrograde to the Adige. 
 This river, forming an excellent line of demarcation, 
 would then divide Austria from the new republic. 
 The important fortress of Mantua, which, according 
 to the preliminaries, was to be restored to Austria, 
 would remain with the Italian republic, and Milan 
 become the capital without dispute. Hence, Bona- 
 parte greatly preferred the plan of erecting a single 
 state, whereof Milan should be the metropolis, and 
 giving to it the frontier of the Adige and Mantua, 
 to the retention of Venice ; and in this he was right 
 from regard even to Italian freedom. The emanci- 
 
 pation of all Italy to the Isonzo being impracticable, 
 it was better to sacrifice Venice than the frontier of 
 the Adige and Mantua. Bonaparte had found, in 
 conferences with the Austrian envoys, that this new 
 arrangement might be acccptW. In consequence, he 
 proceeded to incorporate Lombardy, the duchies of 
 Modena and Reggio, the legations of Bologna and 
 Ferrara, Romagna, • the Bergamasco, the Brescian, 
 and the Mantuan, into one state extending to the 
 Adige, and possessing excellent fortresses, such as 
 Pizzighitone and Mantua, a population of three 
 millions six hundred thousand souls, an admirable 
 soil, navigable rivers, canals, and harbours. 
 
 Without delay he set himself to mould this con- 
 federation into a republic. He was inclined towards 
 the adoption of a different constitution from that of 
 France. He deemed the executive power in that 
 constitution too weak; and without having any de- 
 cided predilection for this or that form of govern- 
 ment, but moved solely by the necessity of forming 
 a strong state, and one capable of contending with 
 its aristocratic neighbours, he was in favour of a 
 more concentrated and energetic organization. With 
 tliis view he requested that Sieyes should be sent to 
 nim, that he might have the advantage of his assist- 
 ance in the invention ; but the Directory refused to 
 acquiesce in his ideas, and insisted that the new re- 
 public should have the French constitution. Its 
 mandate was obeyed, and forthwith the constitution 
 of France was transplanted to Italy. In the first 
 place, the new republic was christened the Cisalpine. 
 The wish at Paris was to have it denominated the 
 Transalpine ; but this would have been as if Paris 
 were to be the centre, whereas the Itahans contem- 
 plated it being fixed at Rome, for all their vows 
 tended to the enfranchisement and unity of their 
 country, and to the re-establishment of the ancient 
 metropolis. The term " Cisalpine," therefore, was 
 more agreeable to them as suitable to that consum- 
 mation. It was not deemed prudent, at the same 
 time, to intrust the first composition of the govern- 
 ment to the suffrages of the Italians. On this first 
 occasion, therefore, Bonaparte himself nominated the 
 five directors, and the members of the two Councils. 
 He endeavoured to make the best selections, or at 
 least the best his position permitted him. As one of 
 the directors he appointed Serbelloni, one of the 
 chief magnates in Italy. He instituted a general en- 
 rolment of national guards throughout the country, 
 and assembled thirty thousand of them at Milan for 
 the federation of the 14th July. The presence of 
 the Frencli army in Italy, its great achievements and 
 renown, had begun to diffuse a spirit of military en- 
 thusiasm in this land where the use of arms seemed 
 almost forgotten. Bonaparte laboured to stimulate 
 it by every possible means. He was well aware how 
 feeble the new republic was in a military aspect ; the 
 Piedn)ontese army alone commanded any of his esteem 
 in Italy, because the court of Piedmont alone had 
 waged war in the course of the century. He wrot€ 
 to Paris that a single regiment of the King of Sar- 
 dinia would suffice to overthrow the Cisalpine re- 
 public ; that it was of paramount importance therefore 
 to introduce warlike habits amongst its population ; 
 that it might then become a potential state in Italy ; 
 but that time was needed to accomplish this end, for 
 such revolutions were not made in a few days. He 
 was beginning to succeed, however, in his object, 
 for he possessed in the highest degree the art of com- 
 municating to others the most ardent of his passions, 
 that for arms. None ever knew better how to pro- 
 fit by his glory in order to excite enthusiasm for 
 military triumphs, and to point in that direction all 
 pride and ambition. From this period manners began 
 to change in Italy. " The soutane (a sort of cassock), 
 which was the dress in vogue amongst young men, 
 gave place to a military uniform. Instead of passing 
 their davs at the feet of women, the young Italians
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 687 I 
 
 frequented the ridinc^-schools, fencing-schools, and 
 practice-grounds. Cliildren no longer followed their 
 usual games ; they formed regiments armed with 
 weapons of tin, and imitated in their sports the evo- 
 lutions of war. On the stage, and in street-farces, 
 an Italian had been always represented as a coward 
 though full of wit, whilst some blustering captain, 
 either a Frenchman or more frequently a German, 
 strong, bold, and rude, silenced his sallies by sundry 
 rough blows and kicks, to the great enjoyment of the 
 spectators. Now, the people would not permit such 
 exhibitions ; authors introduced on the stage, to the 
 satisfaction of the public, brave Italians, putting 
 foreigners to flight, in defence of their rights and 
 honour. A national spirit was, in fact, forming. 
 Italy had again its native songs at once patriotic and 
 warlike. The women repelled with scorn the atten- 
 tions of men who, with a view to please them, affected 
 effeminate manners."* 
 
 This revolution was, however, only in progress ; 
 the aid of France was still requisite to uphold the 
 new republic. Hence, it was intended to leave in 
 it, as formerly in Holland, a part of the army, which 
 might there rest from its fatigues, enjoy peaceably 
 its glory, and communicate its own martial fire to 
 the whole country. Moreover, with that foresight 
 which embraced all objects, Bonaparte had conceived 
 a vast and admirable undertaking for behoof of the 
 Cisalpine republic. This state might be regarded as 
 an advanced post to France, and it was essential that 
 troops should be able to reach it with rapidity. 
 With this view, he traced the plan of a road which, 
 proceeding from France to Geneva, should thence 
 traverse the Valais, cross the Simplon, and descend 
 into Lombardy. He was already in treaty with 
 Svvitzerland on the subject. He had commissioned 
 engineers to make surveys and estimates, and ar- 
 ranged all the details of execution with the precision 
 he observed in the most extensive and even appar- 
 ently chimerical of his projects. He determined that 
 this stupendous highway, the first directly piercing 
 the Alps, should be spacious, solid, and magnificent, 
 to remain a transcendent monument of liberty and 
 French greatness. 
 
 Whilst thus occupied with a republic which owed 
 to him its existence, he was called upon to ad- 
 minister justice likewise, being chosen as arbitra- 
 tor between two communities. The Valteline 
 had revolted against the sovereignty of the Grison 
 league. The Valteline was composed of three 
 valleys which belonged to Italy, for their waters 
 flowed into the Adda. They were nevertheless sub- 
 ject to the dominion of the Grisons, an insupport- 
 able yoke, for there is none more heavy than that 
 imposed by one people upon another. More than 
 one tyranny of this description existed in Switzer- 
 land. That exercised by Berne over the Pays de 
 Vaud was celebrated. The inhabitants of the Valte- 
 line rebelled, and demanded to be incorporated in 
 the Cisalpine republic. They invoked the protec- 
 tion of Bonaparte, adducing, in order to obtain it, 
 certain ancient treaties which placed the Valteline 
 under the protectorate of the Dukes of Milan. 
 Both people, the Grisons and the Valtelines, agreed 
 to refer tlie matter to the decision of Bonaparte. 
 He accepted the mediation with the sanction of the 
 Directory. He recommended the Grisons to ac- 
 knowledge the rights of the Valtelines and to associ- 
 ate with them in a new Grison league. They rejected 
 this advice, aiul preferred to plead the cause of their 
 sovereignty. Bonaparte as-igned a period for their 
 appearance before his tribunal. When the term 
 arrived, the Grisons, at the instigation of Austria, 
 declined to appear. Thereupon Bonaparte, pro- 
 ceeding upon tlie submission to his award, and upon 
 
 * Memoirs of Napoleon, cditod Yiy Count do Monlholon, vol. 
 iv. ]). 19K. 
 
 the old treaties, condemned the Grisons by default, 
 pronounced the Valtelines free, and permitted them 
 to join the Cisalpine republic. This sentence, found- 
 ed on right and equity, caused a profound sen.sation 
 in Europe. It struck terror into the aristocracy of 
 Berne, but diffused joy through the Pays de Vaud ; 
 and, for the rest, added to the Cisalpine republic a 
 rich, valiant, and numerous population. 
 
 Genoa, at the same time, selected him as its coun- 
 sellor in the choice of a constitution. Not having 
 been conquered, Genoa was free to adopt its own 
 laws, and remained independent of the Directory in 
 that respect. The two parties, aristocratic and 
 democratic, were in consequence at variance. A 
 revolt had broken out, as we have seen, in the month 
 of May ; a second had followed more general in the 
 valley of La Polcevera, which was nigh proving 
 fatal to Genoa. It was excited by the priests against 
 the new constitution. The French general Duphot, 
 who was on the spot with some troops, succeeded in 
 restoring order. The Genoese then made applica- 
 tion to Bonaparte, who sent them in reply an austere 
 letter, in which he gave them much wholesome advice 
 and rebuked their democratic ardour. He ordered 
 certain changes in their constitution. Instead of five 
 magistrates intrusted with the executive power, he 
 allowed them but three ; the members of the Coun- 
 cils too were reduced in number ; in fact, the whole 
 government was organized in a manner less popular 
 but more strong. He granted additional privileges 
 to the priests and nobles, to reconcile them with the 
 new order of things ; and, inasmuch as a proposal 
 had been made to exclude them from public func- 
 tions, he condemned it in emphatic terms. " You 
 would do," he said to the Genoese, '^what they them- 
 selves have done." The letter containing this expres- 
 sion he purposely made public. It conveyed a cen- 
 sure upon the measures taken in Paris with reference 
 to the old nobility. He was well-pleased thus to 
 interfere indirectly in politics, to proclaim opinions, 
 to utter them in opposition to the Directory, and to 
 detach himself at once from the successful party ; 
 for it was his boast to be independent, to neither 
 support nor serve any faction, but to hold them all 
 equally in contempt and awe. 
 
 Whilst thus engaged in the various duties of legis- 
 tor, arbitratod^and counsellor of the Italian popula- 
 tions, he was intent upon other objects of not less mag- 
 nitude, and which marked his profound forethought 
 in a different maimer. He had appropriated the 
 navy of Venice, and ordered Admiral Brueys into the 
 Adriatic, with the design of taking possession of the 
 Grecian islands held by Venice. He had in this way 
 been led to reflect on the Mediterranean, on its im- 
 portance, and on the part whicli France might play 
 therein. The result was a conviction that, if on the 
 ocean France must yield to a master, she ought to 
 reign in the Mediterranean. Whether Italy were 
 wholly or only partially emancipated, whether Venice 
 were finally ceded to Austria or not, he determined 
 that Fraiu'e should possess the Ionian Islands, Corfu, 
 Zante, Santa-Maura, Cerigo and Cephalonia. The 
 people of tiiose islands were indeed eager to become 
 French subjects. Malta, too, the most important 
 post in the Mediterranean, belonged at present to an 
 order, which, long in a state of decreintudc, must 
 necessarily \anish before the influence of the French 
 revolution; and, besides, if left unoccu[)ied by the 
 French, it would inevitably fall into the lumds of the 
 English. Under this persuasion, Bonaparte luid 
 caused tlie property of the knights in Italy to be 
 everywhere confiscated to cripple their resources and 
 hasten tiicir fall. He had also opened intrigues at 
 Malta itself, which was defended by only a few 
 knights aiul a feeble garrison ; and lie proposed to 
 dispatch tiiitiu-r his scjuadron and take possession of 
 it. " From these different points," he wrote to the 
 Directory, " we shall couimand the Mediterranean,
 
 688 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 watch over the Ottoman empire crumbling to decay 
 on all sides, and be in a position either to sustain it or 
 secure our portion of its ruins. We shall do more," 
 he added; " we shall render the dominion of the 
 ocean almost useless to the English. They refused 
 us at Lille the Cape of Good Hope ; we will con- 
 trive to dispense with it. Let us occupy Egypt; 
 we shall then possess the direct route to India, and 
 it will be easy for us to establish there one of the 
 finest colonies in the world." 
 
 It was therefore in Italy, when directing his at- 
 tention to the Levant, that he formed the first idea 
 of the celebrated expedition which was adventured 
 the following year. "It is in Egypt," he wrote, 
 "that Enghuul is to be assailed." ([<etter of the 
 lOth August 1797— 29th Thermidor, year V.) 
 
 To accomplish these views, h," had directed Ad- 
 miral Brueys to sail into the Adriatic with six ships 
 of the line, and an attendant force of frigates and cor- 
 vettes. He had speedily devised a way for gaining 
 the Venitian navy in addition. According to the 
 treaty concluded with Venice, she was to furnish 
 him with three millions in naval stores. Under pre- 
 text of this covenant, he appropriated all the hemp, 
 cables, &c., in the Venitian arsenals, of which in 
 truth they formed the solitary contents. After hav- 
 ing possessed himself of the stores, under pretence of 
 securing his three millions, Bonaparte seized upon 
 the navy itself, under pretence of subjecting the 
 islands to the new Venitian democracy. He ca4ised 
 such vessels as were on the stocks to be forthwith 
 finished, and thus contrived to launch six sail of the 
 line, six frigates, and several corvettes, which he 
 added to the squadron Brueys had brought from 
 Toulon. He found another million in lieu of the 
 one arrested by the Treasury, supplied Brueys with 
 funds to pick up experienced crews in Albania and 
 on the coasts of Greece, and thus created a marine 
 capable of commanding the whole Mediterranean. 
 He fixed its principal station at Corfu, for very ex- 
 cellent reasons, which met the approval of the Direc- 
 tory. From Corfu the fleet could readily repair into 
 the Adriatic, and act in concert with the army of 
 Italy in case of fresh hostilities ; thence it kept the 
 court of Naples in check, was within easy sail of 
 Malta, and, if wanted in the Atlantic to aid in any 
 enterprise, it could reach the Straits more promptly 
 than from Toulon. Moreover, at Corfu the fleet 
 might be practised in the execution of manoeuvres, 
 and be better imired for action than at Toulon, where 
 it was generally kept riding lazily. " You \vi\\ never 
 have sailors," Bonaparte wrote angrily, "by keep- 
 ing them locked up in harbours." 
 
 Such wfis the manner in which Bonaparte occupied 
 his time during the studied delays of Austria. Mean- 
 while his military position with regard to that power 
 was likewise a source of uneasiness. Austria had 
 made gigantic preparations since the signing of the 
 preliminaries of Leoben. She had moved the great- 
 est part of her forces into Carinthia, to protect 
 Vienna and shield herself from a sudden irruption 
 by Bonaparte. Hungary had been raised en 7iiasse. 
 Eighteen thousand Hungarian cavalry had for the 
 last three months been constantly exercising on the 
 banks of the Danube. Thus she deployed ample 
 means to support the negotiations at Udine. Bona- 
 parte had not more than seventy thousand men under 
 his command, of whom only a small number was 
 mounted. He importuned the Directory for rein- 
 forcements to enable him to confront his enemy, 
 and he especially urged the ratification of the treaty 
 of alliance \vith Piedmont, whereby he w uld obtain 
 six thousand of those Piedmontese soldiers he prized 
 so highly. But the Directory was loath to send him 
 reinforcements, fearing the removal of troops would 
 be attended by numerous desertions ; so it preferred, 
 by accelerating the march of the army of Germany, 
 to disengage rather than reinforce the army of Italy. 
 
 Moreover it hesitated to ratify the alliance with 
 Piedmont, being unwilling to guarantee the stability 
 of a throne whereof it expected and desired the spon- 
 taneous do\vnfall. Accordingly only a few troopers 
 were dispatched into Italy on foot. jMeans were to 
 be found in that country for mounting and equipping 
 them. 
 
 Deprived of the au.xiliaries on which he had relied, 
 Bonaparte saw himself exposed to a storm gathering 
 on the side of the Julian Alps. Thus menaced, he 
 endeavoured to supply, by expedients, the additional 
 resources denied him. He fortified and armed Palma 
 Nuova with extraor(hnary activity, and rendered it 
 a fortress of the first order, capable by itself of with- 
 standing a long siege. This precaution sufficed 
 greatly to improve his position. He likewise threw 
 bridges over the Isonzo and erected tetes-de-pont, to 
 be prepared for making a forward movement with his 
 accustomed promptitude. If the rupture occurred 
 before the snow began to fall, he hoped to surprise 
 the Austriaiis, scatter them in disorder, and, despite 
 the superiority of their forces, rapidly penetrate to 
 the gates of Vienna. If, however, the recommence- 
 ment of hostilities were delayed till snow covered 
 the mountains, he could no longer anticipate the 
 Austrians, but must be content to receive them on 
 the plains of Italy, where they might readily debouch 
 at any time, and then the disparity of numbers would 
 be no longer compensated by the advantage of the 
 offensive. In such an emergency he considered he 
 would be in imminent danger. 
 
 Hence it was desirable for Bonaparte that the 
 negotiations should be brought to a speedy close. 
 We remember that after the absurd note of the 18th 
 July, in which the Austrian envoys had again in- 
 sisted upon holding the congress of Berne, and re- 
 claimed against the proceedings at Venice, Bonaparte 
 had replied in very vigorous terms, calculated to 
 convince Austria that he was quite ready to resume 
 his march on Vienna. Messieurs de Gallo and de 
 Meerwelt, with a third negotiator, M. Degelmann, 
 had arrived on the 31st August (14th Fructidor), 
 and the conferences had immediately recommenced. 
 But it was evidently their object to protract a set- 
 tlement ; for, albeit entering into a separate negotia- 
 tion at Udine, they still kept in reserve this general 
 congress at Berne. They argued also that as the 
 congress of Rastadt, for peace with the empire, was 
 about to open, the negotiations should be conducted 
 simultaneously with those at Udine, which would 
 have tended greatly to complicate questions and 
 given rise to as many difficulties as a general con- 
 gress at Berne. Bonaparte observed in reply, that 
 peace with the empire could only be negotiated after 
 peace with the emperor, and that if the congress 
 were opened, France would take no part therein ; 
 adding, that if peace with the emperor were not con- 
 cluded by the first of October, the preliminaries of 
 Leoben would be considered at an end. Things were 
 at this point, when the 18th Fructidor (4th Septem- 
 ber) extinguished all the false hopes of the Austrian 
 cabinet. M. de Cobentzel forthwith hastened from 
 Vienna to Iodine. Bonaparte himself repaired to 
 Passeriano, a charming seat some distance from 
 Udine, and appearances seemed to betoken a sincere 
 desire on both sides to come to terms. The con- 
 ferences were held alternately at Udine in the house 
 of M. de Cobentzel, and at Passeriano, the residence 
 of Bonaparte. M. de Cobentzel was subtle and 
 argumentative, without being a severe logician ; I'r 
 deportment he was sour and pompous. The three 
 other plenipotentiaries preserved a respectful silence. 
 Bonaparte was the sole representative of France, 
 having no colleague since the recall of Clarke. He 
 was suflRciently haughty, and in speech prompt and 
 bitter enough, to be a match for the .■Vustrian count. 
 
 Although it was apparent that AL de Cobentzel 
 was actuated by a real desire to treat, he not the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 689 
 
 less propounded very extravagant pretensions. True, 
 Austria ceded the Low Countries, but she refused to 
 guarantee the boundary of the Rhine, on the plea 
 that it belonged to the Empire to make that conces- 
 sion. In recompense for the rich and populous pro- 
 vinces of Belgium, she required possessions, not in 
 Germany, but in Italy. The preliminaries of Leoben 
 liad assigned her the Venitian states as far as the 
 Oglio, that is to say, Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, the 
 Brescian, the Bergamasco, and the Mantuan, with 
 the fortress of Mantua ; but those provinces did not 
 compensate half her loss in tlie cession of Belgium 
 and Lombardy. It was not too much, I\I. de (Jo- 
 bentzel maintained, not only to leave her Lombardy, 
 but also to give her Venice and the legations, and to 
 re-establish the Duke of Modcna in his duchy. 
 
 To M. de Cobentzel's oratory Bonaparte replied 
 only by a disdainful silence, to his demands by 
 opposing pretensions equally exorbitant, expressed 
 in a firm and imperious tone. He demanded the 
 limit of the Rhine for France, including Mayence, 
 and the limit of the Isonzo for Italy. Between these 
 conflicting claims a medium was to be struck. Bona- 
 parte, as we have already said, had conceived that 
 by surrendering Venice to Austria (a cession not 
 comprehended in the preliminaries of Leoben, because 
 the annihilation of that republic was not then coiitem- 
 plated), he might obtain in requital that tlie emperor 
 should recede from the boundary of the Oglio to 
 the Adige ; that the Mantuan, the Bergamasco, and 
 the Brescian should be relinquished to the Cisalpine 
 republic, which would thus possess the frontier of 
 the Adige and Mantua ; that the emperor, more- 
 over, would recognise the Rhine as the boundary of 
 France, and yield to it Mayence ; and that finally he 
 would consent to grant it the Ionian islands. He 
 resolved to treat on these conditions. He saw 
 plainly the substantial advantages accruing from them 
 to France, and that they were all she could obtain 
 at the moment. By accepting Venice, the emperor 
 would dishonour himself in the eyes of Europe, for 
 it was on his account Venice had betrayed France. 
 By abandoning the Adige and Mantua, the emperor 
 gave the new Italian republic a formidable consis- 
 tence ; by surrendering the Isles of Greece to France, 
 he prepared for her the command of the Mediter- 
 ranean ; by acknowledging the boundary of the 
 Rhine, he deprived the Empire of any power to re- 
 fuse it ; in fine, by yielding Mayence to France, he 
 secured her the veritable possession of that limit, 
 and compromised himself in the gravest manner with 
 the Empire by ceding a place belonging to one of the 
 Germanic princes. It was true that by prosecuting 
 the war the total destruction of the Austrian mon- 
 archy seemed inevitable, or at least the entire con- 
 quest of Italy. But Bonaparte had more than one 
 personal reason for avoiding another campaign. On 
 the eve of October, it was too late to hazard an in- 
 road into Austria. The army of Germany, too, now 
 commanded by Angercau, enjoyed a manifest supe- 
 riority of position, for there was no power to oppose 
 its progress. The army of Italy, on the contrary, 
 had to contend with the whole Austrian forces; it 
 must play a secondary part by being reduced to the 
 defensive ; in short, it could not be first at Vieima. 
 Furthermore, Bonaparte was really fatigued, and 
 longed to enjoy a little of his great renown in peace. 
 A victory or two more would not exalt the marvels 
 of his two campaigns, and l)y concluding a pacifica- 
 tion he would crown him-elf with a double glory. 
 To the fame of a warrior he would add that of a 
 diplomatist, and be the only general of the republic 
 who combined the two, for none had yet signed 
 treaties. He would satisfy one of tlie most ardent 
 desires of his country and return to its bosom with 
 every species of applause. No doubt he committed 
 a formal disobedience by completing a treaty on 
 these conditions, for the Directory insisted on the 
 
 total emancipation of Italy ; but Bonaparte felt 
 assured the Directory dared not refuse to ratify the 
 treaty, for it would thereby act in opposition to the 
 whole public opinion of France. The Directory had 
 already outraged it by the rupture at Lille ; far 
 more would it do so by similar conduct at Udine, 
 since it would justify all the reproaches of the royal- 
 ist faction, which accused it of desiring a perpetual 
 war. He was therefore sure that if he signed the 
 treaty, he would compel the Directory to ratify it. 
 
 Bonaparte therefore boldly presented his ultima- 
 tum to M. de Cobentzel. Its terms were Venice 
 for Austria, but the Adige and Mantua for the Cis- 
 alpine republic, the Rhine and Mayence for France, 
 with the Ionian islands. On the lOth October, the 
 final conference was held at Udine in the house of 
 M. de Cobentzel. On both sides a determination 
 was manifested to break ofl^ the negotiation, and M. 
 de Cobentzel even announced that his carriages were 
 ready. The plenipotentiaries were seated at a long 
 rectangular table, the four Austrians on one side, 
 and Bonaparte alone facing them on the other. M. de 
 Cobentzel once more repeated all he had previously 
 advanced, maintaining that the emperor when he 
 gave up the keys of Mayence must receive those of 
 Mantua, and that he could not act otherwise wthout 
 forfeiting his honour ; and he added that, at any rate, 
 France had never concluded a more glorious peace, 
 nor could she desire a more advantageous one, that 
 she above all things longed for peace, and would 
 know how to appreciate tlie conduct of a negotia- 
 tor who sacrificed the interest and repose of his 
 country to military ambition. Bonaparte, remaining 
 calm and imperturbable during this insulting perora- 
 tion, allowed M. de Cobentzel to finish his harangue ; 
 then moving to a stand on which stood a porcelain 
 vase, given to M. de Cobentzel by Catherine the 
 Great and displayed as a precious object, he seized 
 it and dashed it on the tloor, pronouncing these 
 words: "War is declared; but remember that in 
 less than three montlis I v.n\\ break your monarchy 
 as I break this porcelain." This extraordinary act 
 and speech struck the Austrian plenipotentiaries 
 dumb with amazement. Stiffly bowing to them he 
 abruptly left the apartment, and, jumping into his 
 carriage, ordered an officer to proceed with all haste 
 to inform the Archduke Charles that hostilities 
 would recommence in twenty-four hours. But M. 
 Cobentzel, effectually intimidated, quickly dispatched 
 the ultimatum signed to Passeriano. One of the 
 conditions of the treaty was the liberation of M. de 
 Lafayette, who had supported for five tedious years, 
 ■wath heroic fortitude, his dreary incarceration at 
 Olmiitz. 
 
 On the following day, the 17th October (20 Ven- 
 demiaire), the treaty was signed at Passeriano. It 
 was dated from a small village situated between the 
 two armies, which, however, was not actually visited 
 as it possessed no buihfing fitted for the accommo- 
 dation of the negotiators. This village was called 
 Campo-Formio. It gave its name to tliis celebrated 
 treaty, the first coTicluded between the emperor and 
 the Frencli republic. 
 
 It was stipulated that the emperor, as sovereign 
 of the Low Countries and member of the Empire, 
 should acknowledge the Rhine as the boundary of 
 France and deliver Mayence to the French troops, 
 and that the Ionian Ishinds should remain in the 
 possession of France ; and that the Cisalpine republic 
 should heiicefortii possess in perpetuity I^omagiia, 
 tiie legations, the dufhy of Modena, Lombardy, the 
 Valtcdine, the Brescian, and the Mantuan, with the 
 frontier of the Adige and Mantua. The emiicror 
 furtiiermore subscribed to sundry conditions spring- 
 ing out of this treaty and of others formerly con- 
 cluded binding the French republic. In the first 
 place he engaged to give the Brisgau to the Duke ot 
 Modena in compensation for his ducliy. Next b<?
 
 690 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 bound himself to use his influence to procure an in- | 
 demnity for the Stadtholder in Germany for the loss j 
 of Holland, and another for the kin^ of Prussia on 
 account of the small territory he had surrendered to 
 France on the left bank of the Rhine. Under pres- 
 sure of these engagements, the suffrage of the em- 
 peror was secured to France in the congress of 
 Rastadt, touching the solution of all questions in 
 which she was chiefly interested. In return for his 
 valuable cessions, the emperor received Friuli, Istria, 
 Dalmatia, and the mouths of the Cattaro. 
 
 France had never made so brilliant a peace. She 
 had at length obtained her natural limits, and ob- 
 tained them with the consent of Europe. A great 
 revolution was consummated in Upper Italy. There 
 an ancient state was annihilated and a new one 
 founded. But the iirst was a despotic aristocracy, 
 the irreconcilable enemy of liberty ; the latter a 
 republic democratically constituted, fitted to com- 
 municate freedom through the whole of Italy. It 
 might be regretted, indeed, that the Austrians were 
 not driven beyond the Isonzo, that all Upper Italy 
 and the city of Venice itself were not incorporated 
 in the Cisalpine republic : one campaign more and 
 this result would have been secured. Personal con- 
 siderations had prevented the young victor from 
 making that campaign. Selfish interests began to 
 sway the calculations of the man of genius, and now 
 tarnished this the earliest and perhaps the best 
 achievement of his life. 
 
 Bonaparte could scarcely doubt the ratification of 
 the treaty ; yet he was gnawed by a certain anxiety, 
 for it was in direct contravention to the instructions 
 of the Directory. He forwarded it by the hands of 
 his trusty and pliant chief of the Staff, Berthier, to 
 whom he was much attached, and whom he had not 
 yet sent into France to erjoy the admiration of the 
 Parisians. With his usual tact, he associated with 
 the mere soldier a man of science, Monge, who had 
 been named on the commission appointed to select 
 works of art in Italy, and who, notwithstanding his 
 extreme demagogical principles and mathematical 
 tenacity, had been fascinated, like many others, by 
 the magic influence of genius and glory. 
 
 Monge and Berthier reached Paris in a few days. 
 They arrived in the middle of the night and aroused 
 from his bed the president of the Directory, Lare- 
 velliere-Lepeaux. Although the bearers of a treaty 
 of peace, the two messengers were far from feeling 
 the exuberance and confidence usual on such joyful 
 occasions ; on the contrary, tliey were embarrassed, 
 like men condemned to open their mission with a 
 painful exordium : in truth, they had to announce 
 disobedience to the orders of government. It was 
 only after a propitiatory preamljle, in exculpation of 
 the general, that they unfolded the actual tenor of 
 the treaty. Larevelliere received them with all the 
 attention due to two such distinguished personages, 
 one of whom at least was celebrated in the walks 
 of science ; but he refrained from pronouncing any 
 opinion on the treaty, and simply intimated that the 
 Directory would decide upon its merits. He pre- 
 sented it accordingly on the follo\ving morning to 
 that body. Tidings of the peace had meanwhile 
 circulated to the remotest corners of Paris and dif- 
 fused unspeakable gladness ; the conditions were 
 unknown, but whatever they might be, a certainty 
 prevailed they must be brilliant. Bonaparte was 
 extolled as the marvel of his age, thus. resplendent 
 with a two-fold glory. As he had anticipated, the 
 enthusiasm was boundless at his union of the paci- 
 ficator with the warrior ; and a peace he had signed 
 in pure egotism was eulogized as an unparalleled act 
 of military disinterestedness. " This young hero," 
 so every body said, " has denied himself the renown 
 of a fresh campaign to give peace to his country." 
 
 The manifestation of joy was so unequivocal and 
 prompt, that the Directory could hardly venture to 
 
 damp it by rejecting the treaty of Campo-Formio. 
 True, the treaty itself was the result of flagrant con- 
 tumacy, nor did the Directory lack good and suffi- 
 cient reasons to withhold its ratification : nay, it had 
 been advisable perhaps to teach an audacious officer, 
 guilty of violating precise orders, a severe lesson. 
 But it was impossible to defy public expectation, 
 nor durst the Directory a second time reject peace 
 after refusing it at Lille. It would have given 
 weight to all the imputations of its enemies and 
 rudely exasperated opinion. Another danger not 
 less great warned it to submit. If the treaty were 
 repudiated Bonaparte threw up his command, and 
 reverses would surely follow the resumption of hos- 
 tilities in Italy. How serious the responsibilitv to 
 be braved in such a case ! Moreover, the treaty 
 secured enormous advantages ; over and above the 
 acquisitions of Leoben it gave Mayence and Mantua; 
 it opened the way to a splendid future ; in a word, it 
 left all the forces of France disposable to crush and 
 overwhelm England. 
 
 The Directory therefore approved the treaty : and 
 tlie public gratification was only the more intense 
 and heartfelt. With admirable cunning, the Direc- 
 tory sought, at the same time, to direct all animosi 
 ties against England. The hero of Italy and his 
 invincible comrades were but to fly from one enemy 
 to another, and, on the very day the treaty was pub- 
 lished, an ordinance nominated Bonaparte comman- 
 der-in-chief of the army of England. 
 
 Bonaparte now prepared to quit Italy, to snatch 
 at length a few moments of repose and reap the full 
 harvest of his glory, the most exalted kno\\Ti in 
 modern times. He had been appointed plenipoten- 
 tiary at Rastadt, in conjunction with Bonnier and 
 Trielhard. to negotiate peace with the Empire. It 
 was arranged that he should likewise meet M. de 
 Cobentzel at Rastadt to exchange the ratifications. of 
 the treaty of Campo-Formio. He purposed at the 
 same time to observe the execution of the articles 
 relative to the occupation of Mayence. With his 
 accustomed forethought, he had taken care to stipu- 
 late that the Austrian troops should not enter Pal- 
 ma-Nuova until his own had obtained possession of 
 Mayence. 
 
 Before departing for Rastadt he put the finishing 
 touch to the affairs of Italy. He completed the 
 nominations that remained for him to make in the 
 Cisalpine republic, and settled the conditions of the 
 sojourn in Italy of the French troops and their rela- 
 tions mth the new republic. These troops were to 
 be under the command of Berthier and to form a 
 corps of 30,000 men maintained at the expense of 
 the Cisalpine government, to remain until the 
 general pacification of Europe. He withdrew the 
 corps he had at Venice and delivered that city into 
 the hands of the Austrians. The Venitian patriots 
 were furiously incensed on finding themselves trans 
 ferred to Austria. Bonaparte had assured them an 
 asylum in the Cisalpine states, and stipulated for 
 them with the Austrian government the privilege of 
 realizing their property. They were not sensible of 
 these favours, but railed with vehement imprecations 
 against the conqueror who sacrificed them. Ville- 
 tard, who had in some sort pledged the French 
 government in their behalf, addressed a memorial to 
 Bonaparte and was visited in return with his harshest 
 displeasure. At the same time, it was not only the 
 patriots who manifested a profound grief upon this 
 occasion ; the nobles and the people, who heretofore 
 preferred Austria to France, because they liked the 
 principles of the one and abhorred those of the other, 
 felt all their national feelings rekindle, and now, at 
 the last moment, displayed an affection for their 
 ancient country which inspired an interest they had 
 not previously awakened. A gloomy despair per- 
 vaded the whole community. One noble lady was 
 driven to swallow poison, and the old Doge fell
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 691 
 
 senseless at the feet of the Austrian officer who 
 administered to him the oath of allegiance. 
 
 Ere he went Bonaparte addressed a proclamation 
 to the Italians, in which he bid them adieu and gave 
 them his last advice. It was characterized by that 
 noble, emphatic, and somewhat oratorical strain 
 which marked all his public language. " We have 
 given you liberty," he said to the Cisalpines, " learn 
 to preserve it. To be worthy your destiny, let 
 your laws be wise and moderate, but executed with 
 force and energy. Promote the spread of know- 
 ledge and respect religion. Form your battalions, 
 not of men void of principles, but of citizens who 
 live in the faith of the republic, and are closely at- 
 tached to its prosperity. Most of you require to be 
 impressed with a sense of your own strength and of 
 the dignity which befits a freeman : divided and 
 bowed for ages beneath tyranny, you could not have 
 achieved your liberty ; but in a few years, if left to 
 yourselves, no power on earth will be strong enough 
 to wrest it from you. Till then, the great nation 
 will protect you against the attacks of your neigh- 
 bours ; its political system will be identified with 
 yours. I leave you in a few days. The orders of 
 my government and some imminent danger threaten- 
 ing the Cisalpine republic will alone recall me amongst 
 you." 
 
 This last phrase furnished an answer to those who 
 asserted he wished to make himself king of Lorn- 
 bardy. There was nothing he preferred to the title 
 and distinction of the first general of the French 
 republic. One of the Austrian plenipotentiaries had 
 offered him, on the part of the emperor, a dominion 
 in Germany ; he had replied that he would owe his 
 fortune only to the gratitude of the French people. 
 Had he a prophetic glimpse of the future ? No, cer- 
 tainly ; but were he to remain merely the first citizen 
 of the republic, we can understand he would elect 
 to do so at this moment. 
 
 The Italians followed him with their regrets, and 
 saw with pain this brilliant meteor disappear from 
 amongst them. He traversed Piedmont with rapidity, 
 on his way, through Switzerland, to Rastadt. Mag- 
 nificent fetes, and presents for himself and his wife, 
 awaited him on the route. Princes and people were 
 alike eager to behold a warrior so famous, the arbiter 
 of so many destinies. At Turin the king had pre- 
 pared gifts for presentation to him, in testimony of 
 his gratitude for the support he had received from 
 him with the Directory. In Switzerland, the recep- 
 tion by the inhabitants of the Pays-de-Vaud of the 
 liberator of the Valteline was most enthusiastic. 
 Young girls, attired in the three colours, brought 
 him offerings of crowns. Everywhere was seen in- 
 scribed the maxim so dear to the Vaudois : One com- 
 munity cannot be the subject of another community. 
 At Morat he visited the ossuary ; wherever he went 
 multitudes thronged around him. Cannons were 
 discharged in the towns through which he passed. 
 The government of Berne, which viewed with anger 
 the enthusiasm inspired by the liberator of the 
 Valteline, prohil)ited its officers from firing these 
 salutes, but was not obeyed. On his arrival at 
 Rastadt, Bonaparte found all the German princes 
 impatient to see him. Hefortliwith put the French 
 negotiators in an attitude becoming their mission and 
 character. He refused to receive M. de Ferson, 
 whom Sweden had (;hosen to represent her in the 
 congress of the Empire, and whom his connection 
 with the old court of France rendered unfit to treat 
 with the French republic. This refusal occasioned 
 a great sensation, and showed the constant care that 
 Bonaparte took to exalt the yreat nation, as he called 
 France in all his public papers. After having ex- 
 changed the ratifications of the treaty of Campo For- 
 mio, and made the necessary arrangements for the oc- 
 cupation of Mayence, he resolved to set out for Paris. 
 He found nothing momentous to discuss at Rastadt, 
 
 and foresaw interminable delays in arranging the aflTairs 
 of all these petty German princes. Si ch a part was 
 not according to his taste ; besides, he was worn out 
 with fatigue, and some impatience to reach Paris and 
 ascend the capitol* of the modern Rome was only 
 natural. 
 
 He left Rastadt, traversed France incognito, and 
 arrived at Paris on the evening of the 15th Frimaire 
 year VI. (3th December 1797). He proceeded 
 straightway to seclude himself in a small house he 
 had purchased in the rue Chantereine. This singular 
 man, in whom pride was so paramount a qualitv, had 
 all a woman's art in keeping out of sight. At the 
 surrender of Mantua, he evaded the honour of per- 
 sonally superintending Wurmser's evacuation ; now 
 at Paris, he sought to hide himself in an obscure 
 dwelHng. He affected in his language, dress, and 
 habits, a simplicity which struck the imaginations of 
 men, and the more profoundly, from the eflTect of 
 contrast. All Paris, apprized of his arrival, was on 
 the alert to behold him. The minister of foreign 
 affairs, M. de Talleyrand, for whom, at a distance, 
 he had imbibed a predilection, proposed to visit him 
 that same evening. Bonaparte begged to be excused 
 receiving him, and deferred seeing him till the fol- 
 lowing day. In the morning the saloon at the 
 Foreign office was crowded with great personages 
 eager to salute the hero. Silent to all, he perceived 
 Bougainville standing apart, and advancing to salute 
 him, addressed to him a few words, such a-, falling 
 from his lips, carried with them an indefinable weight 
 and charm. Already he seemed to ape the con- 
 descension of a sovereign towards a useful and cele- 
 brated subject. M. de Talleyrand afterwards pre- 
 sented him to the Directory. Although there were 
 grounds of dissatisfaction existing between the 
 Directory and the general, their interview neverthe- 
 less was full of cordiality. It suited the Directory 
 to feign satisfaction and the general deference, if 
 they did not feel it. But, in fact, the services were 
 so great, the glory so dazzling, it was all but im- 
 possible to harbour discontent, or keep aloof from 
 the general admiration. The Directory forthwith 
 determined to prepare a triumphal festival for the 
 formal presentation of the treaty of Campo Formio. 
 It was appointed to be celebrated, not in the hall of 
 audience, but in the great court of the Luxembourg. 
 Everything was disposed to render this solemnity 
 one of the most imposing of the revolution. The 
 directors were ranged at the bottom of the court, 
 on a platform, apparelled in the Roman costume. 
 Around them, the ministers, the ambassadors, the 
 members of the two councils, the magistracy, and 
 the heads of administrations, were placed on seats 
 piled in form of an amphitheatre. Splendid trophies 
 composed of the numberless standards taken from 
 the enemy were raised at equal distances, aiul gor 
 geous tri-coloured draperies festooned the walls. 
 Galleries were crowded with the choicest portion of 
 Parisian society. Baiuls of nuisicians were stationed 
 in the enclosuie. A nunu-rous artillery was planted 
 arouiul the palace, to add its thunders tothe swell of 
 music and the roar of acclamations. vJlienier had 
 composed for the occasion one of his finest hymns. 
 
 The day selected for the ceremony was the '20th 
 Frimaire. year VL (10th December 1797). The 
 Directory, the public functionaries, and the sjiecta- 
 tors, were all in their [daces awaiting with impatience 
 the illustrious mortal whom few amongst them had 
 yet seen. He appeared at length, accompanied by 
 M. de Tall(!yrand, who was deputed to present him ; 
 for it was the diplomatist to whom the innnediate 
 homage was tciulered. Survivors of that epoch, who 
 in couunon with all beholders were struck by the 
 
 • [It ia to 1)0 prosunipil fbat M. Thiers hero alludes to the 
 oiistoin .it Home for victorious generals to mount in triiiiniih 
 to tlio Ciipitol ujion their return from a suecesstul expedition.J
 
 692 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 attenuated frame, the pallid yet Roman countenance, 
 the bright and flcisliing: ej e, of the young hero, still 
 speak to this day of the effect he produced, of the 
 indefinable impression of genius and authority he 
 left upon their minds. An extraordinary emotion 
 thrilled through the assendily. A thousand accla- 
 mations burst forth as he advanced upon the arena. 
 Long live the republic ! Lomj live Boiwpurte ! were 
 the cries which resounded from all sides. When 
 they subsided M. de Talleyrand raised his voice, and, 
 in a judicious and concise speech, affected to refer 
 the glory of the general, not to himself, but to the 
 revolution, to the armies, to the great nation, in fine. 
 He seemed in this to consult the modesty of Bona- 
 parte, and, with his usual aptitude, to di\-ine how 
 he would wish to be spoken of in his own presence. 
 M. de Talleyrand afterwards alluded to " what might 
 he called," as he said, " /»'.< ambition;" but con- 
 sidering his primitive taste for simplicity, his love 
 for the sciences, his favourite authors, the sublime 
 Ossian with whom he learnt to detach himself from 
 the earth, M. de Talleyrand expressed his fear lest 
 some day it might need urgent solicitations to drag 
 him from his studious retreat. The sentiment thus 
 expressed by ISI. de Talleyrand was in all mouths, 
 and re-echoed in the various orations pronounced 
 during this great solemnity. Everybody said and 
 repeated that the young general was devoid of am- 
 bition, for great was the apprehension of the con- 
 trary. When M. de Talleyrand had ceased, Bona- 
 parte spoke, and uttered in a firm tone the disjointed 
 paragraphs which follow : — 
 
 " Citizens, 
 " The French people, to be free, bad kings to 
 combat. 
 
 " To obtain a constitution founded on reason, 
 they had eighteen centuries of prejudices to over- 
 come. 
 
 " The constitution of the year III. and you have 
 triumphed over these obstacles. 
 
 " Religion, feudality, royalty, liave successively 
 during twenty centuries governed Europe; but from 
 the peace you have just concluded dates the era of 
 representative governments. 
 
 " You have succeeded in organizing the great 
 nation, whose vast territory is circumscribed only 
 because nature herself has assigned it bounds. 
 
 " You have done more. The two fairest regions 
 of Europe, formerly so celebrated for the arts, the 
 sciences, the great men to whom they gave birth, 
 behold with the loftiest hopes the genius of liberty 
 arise from the ashes of their ancestors. 
 
 " They are two pedestals on which the fates will 
 plant two powerful naticms. 
 
 " I have the honour to present to you the treaty 
 signed at Campo Formio, and ratified by his majesty 
 the Emperor. 
 
 " Peace guarantees the liberty, prosperity, and 
 glory of the republic. 
 
 " When the happiness of the French people shall 
 repose on better organic laws, all Europe «t11 be- 
 come free." 
 
 No sooner had he concluded this oration than fresh 
 acclamations greeted him in deafening echoes. Bar- 
 ras, being president of the Directory, exercised the 
 privilege of replying. His discourse was long, dif- 
 fuse, and generally inappro[)riate ; he eulogized with 
 hyperbole the modesty and simplicity of the hero, 
 and hazarded an adroit homage to the memory of 
 Hoche, the supposed rival of the conqueror of Italy. 
 " ^^'hy is Hoche not here," exclaimed the president 
 of the Directory, "to meet, to embrace his friend?" 
 - Hoche had, in fact, defended Bonaparte in the pre- 
 ceding year with generous warmth. Following the 
 new impulse given to the public mind, Barras offered 
 fresh laurels to Bonaparte, and invited him to gather 
 them in England. After these three harangues, 
 
 Chenier's hymn was chaunted in chorus, with the 
 accompaniment of a magnificent orchestra. Two 
 generals next advanced, ushered by tlie miiiister-at- 
 war : they were the brave Joubert, the hero of the 
 Tyrol, and Andreossy, one of the most distinguished 
 officers of the artillery. Aloft, and fluttering in the 
 breeze, they carried with them a resplendent flag, 
 consecrated by the Directory to the army of Italy at 
 the close of the campaign : tlie new orijlamme of the 
 republic. It was studded with numberless characters 
 embossed in gold, and those characters bore the fol- 
 lowing mementos : The army of Italy has made one 
 hundred and fifty thousand prisoners ; it has captured 
 one hundred and sixty-sir standards, five hundred and 
 fifty pieces of siege artillery, six hundred pieces of 
 field artillery, five bridge equipages, nine ships of the 
 line, twelve frigates, twelve corvettes, eighteen galleys. 
 — Armistices with the kings of Sardinia and Naples, 
 the Pope, the duhes of Parma and Modena. — Pre- 
 liminaries of Leoben. — Convention of Montehello with 
 the I'epuhlic of Genoa. — Treaties of peace of Tolen- 
 tino and Campo Formio. — Liberty given to the people 
 of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Massa- Carrara, tto 
 magna, Lombardy, Brescia, Bergamo, Mantua, Cre- 
 mona, a part of the district of Verona, Chiavenna, 
 Bormio, and the Valteline ; to the people of Genoa 
 and of the Imperial fiefs, to the people of the depart- 
 ments of Corcyra, the Egeean sea and Ithaca. — Trans- 
 mitted to l\ris the master-pieces of Michael-Anyelo, 
 Guerchin, Titian, Paul Veronese, Corregio, Albano, 
 Carraccio, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, ^c. — Tri- 
 umphed in eighteen pitched battles, Montenotte, 
 
 MiLLESIMO, MoNDOVI, LoDI, BoRGHETTO, LoNA- 
 
 To, Castiglione, Roveredo, Bassano, Saint- 
 Georges. FoNTAXA-NlVA, C.4LDIERO, ArcOLE, 
 
 RivoLi, La Faforita, the Tagliamento, Tar- 
 
 wis, Neumarckt Fought sixty-seven engagements. 
 
 Jouliert and Andreossy delivered orations in their 
 turn, and elicited flattering responses from the presi- 
 dent of the Directory. After the speeches were 
 concluded, the generals advanced to receive the em- 
 brace of the president of the Directory. At the mo- 
 ment Bonaparte was clasped to the bosom of Barras, 
 the four other directors, impelled as it were by an 
 involuntary impulse, threw themselves into the arms 
 of the general. Tumultuous acclamations rent the 
 air ; the people outside, clustered in the adjoining 
 streets, re-echoed the shouts ; the cannon boomed, 
 the music played ; all brain-^ were in a delirium, a 
 whirl of intoxication. Thus it was that France cast 
 herself headlong into the arms of an extraordinary 
 man ! Let us not accuse the weakness of our fathers ; 
 the glory of that hour comes to us through the mists 
 of time and misfortunes, and yet how it transports 
 us ! Let us repeat with .Sschylus : What would it 
 have been had we seen the thing itself! 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 general BONAPARTE AT PARIS ; HIS RELATIONS 
 WITH THE DIRECTORY PROJECT OF AN INVA- 
 SION OF ENGLAND. — CONGRESS OF RASTADT. — 
 CAUSES OF DIFFICULTY IN THE NEGOTIATIONS. — 
 REVOLCnONS IN HOLLAND, ROME, AND SWITZER- 
 LAND DOMESTIC SITUATION OF FRANCE ; ELEC- 
 TIONS OF THE YEAR VI. ; NO.MINATION OF TREIL- 
 
 HARD TO THE DIRECTORY EXPEDITION TO 
 
 EGYPT SUBSTITUTED FOB AN INVASION OF ENG- 
 LAND ; PREPARATIONS FOR THAT EXPEDITION. 
 
 The triumphal reception accorded by the Directory 
 to General Bonaparte was followed by a series of 
 splendid entertainments given in his honour by the 
 directors, the members of the Councils, and the min- 
 isters. Each strove to excel in the sumptuousness 
 of preparation. The hero of these festivities had
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 693 
 
 occasion to remark the regard evinced towards him 
 by the minister of foreign affairs, and to feel the 
 attractive influence of the old French elegance. 
 Amidst all these pomps, he preserved his simplicity, 
 being affable though austere, seeming almost insen- 
 sible to pleasure, and ever seeking out the gifted and 
 the celebrated to converse apart of the art or science 
 which they illustrated. The greatest names deemed 
 it an honour to be distinguished by General Bona- 
 parte. 
 
 The information of the young general scarcely ex- 
 ceeded that of an officer recently emerged from the 
 military college. Yet with the inspiration of genius 
 he was able to discourse upon topics the most strange 
 to him, and to throw out those occasional bold, but 
 original, suggestions, which are often the mere im- 
 pertinences of ignorance, but. which, coming from 
 superior minds and expressed in their emphatic style, 
 create illusions and deceive even professors them- 
 selves. This facility of treating all subjects was 
 observed with surprise. The journals, which sought 
 with avidity the minutest details regarding his per- 
 son and. movements, reporting daily in what house 
 he had dined and what disposition he had shown, 
 whether he was sad or cheerful, made special obser- 
 vation that when dining with Francois (de Neufchi- 
 teau) he had talked of mathematics with Lagrange 
 and Laplace, of metaphysics with Sieyes, of poetry 
 with Chenier, of legislation and law unth Daunou. 
 Though none dared venture to question him in com- 
 pany, a strong desire was universalVy entertained to 
 lead him to speak of his campaigns. If he chanced 
 to do so, he never spoke of himself, but of his army, 
 of his soldiers, of republican valour ; he depicted 
 with force the movement and tumult of battles, 
 portrayed with precision the decisive moment, 
 showed the manner it was to be seized, and trans- 
 ported all who heard him by his lucid, stirring, and 
 dramatic recitals. If his exploits had bespoke him 
 a great captain, his conversation revealed an original 
 and teeming mind, either vast or precise by turns, and 
 always captivatii'g whenever he pleased to throw 
 aside his habitual reserve. He had dazzled masses 
 by his glory ; he now began to conquer, one by one, 
 the principal men in Fraiice l\j' personal intercourse. 
 Admiration, previously excessive, became almost in- 
 fatuation after he had been seen. Everything about 
 him, even to those marks of a foreign origin, which 
 • time had not yet effaced in him, contributed to effect. 
 Singularity always adds to the prestige of genius, 
 especially in France, where, with the greatest uni- 
 formity of manners, oddity is strangely idolized. 
 Bonaparte affected to shun the crowd and hide him- 
 self from the public gaze. He even sometimes re- 
 sented extravagant proofs of enthusiasm. Madame 
 de Stiiel, who adored, as she had reason, grandeur, 
 genius, and glory, evinced a lively impatience to 
 encounter Bonaparte and pour forth her homage. 
 To his imperious character, disposed to repress un- 
 due assumptions, it was offensive that she seemed to 
 transgress the female province ; he found her too 
 spiritual and of too exalted aspirations ; he detected 
 perhaps her independence peering through her ad- 
 miration ; at all events he was cold, repulsive, unjust 
 to her. She asked him one day, somewhat abru[)tly, 
 who in his estimation was the greatest woman ; he 
 answered harshly, ''she who has home the most chil- 
 dren." Thus was laid tlie foundation of that mutual 
 antipathy, which entailed on her such unmerited 
 sufferings, and incited him to acts of petty and brutal 
 tyranny. Meanwhile he seldom appeared abroad, 
 but lived secluded in his modest house in the rue 
 Chantereine, the name of which had been changed, 
 the department of Paris having ordered it to be 
 called the rue de la Victoire. He saw only a few 
 men of learning, Monge, Laplace, Lagrange, and 
 Berthollet ; a few generals, Desaix, Kleber, Caf- 
 farelli ; certain artists, and particularly the cele- 
 
 brated actor whom France has lately lost. Talma, 
 for whom he ever after manifested a strong predilec- 
 tion. When he left his residence it was usuallv in a 
 plain vehicle ; if he visited the theatre he sat shroud- 
 ed in a grated box, and appeared to partake none 
 of the glittering and dissipated tastes of his wife. 
 Nevertheless he exhibited the warmest affection for 
 her; he was enthralled by that enchanting grace 
 which, in private life as on the throne, never forsook 
 Madame Beauharnois, and with her supplied the 
 place of beauty. 
 
 A seat having become vacant in the Institute by 
 the banishment of Carnot, it was at once offered to 
 him. He accepted it with alacrity, appeared on the 
 day of his reception between Lagrange and Laplace, 
 and ever after wore on public occasions the costume 
 of a member of the Institute, affecting to conceal the 
 warrior under the garb of science. 
 
 Such general homage was calculated to give um- 
 brage to the heads of the government, who, possess- 
 ing neither antiquity of rank nor personal greatness, 
 were totally eclipsed by the soldier-pacificator. Still 
 they testified towards him unbounded regard, and he 
 responded by ostentatious marks of defe'rence. The 
 feeling which is uppermost is precisely that which is 
 least shown. The Directory was far from evincing 
 any of the fears it experienced. It received numer- 
 ous reports from its spies, who frequented taverns 
 and public places to hear the language used respect- 
 i)ig Bonaparte ; and, according to them, he was soon 
 to place himself at the head of affairs, overturn an 
 enfeebled government, and thus save France from 
 the royalists and Jacobins. The Directory, feigning 
 an excess of candour, showed him these reports, and 
 professed to treat them with contempt, as if it be- 
 lieved the general vv'holly incapable of ambition. 
 The general, equally dissembling on his part, ex- 
 pressed his gratitude for this frankness, and gave 
 assurances he was worthy of the confidence reposed 
 in him. But, notwithstanding, an indelible distrust 
 prevailed on both sides. If the spies of the police 
 \varned the Directory of an intended usurpation, the 
 officers who surrounded Bonaparte cautioned him 
 against poison. The premature death of Hoche had 
 originated absurd suspicions, and Bonaparte, who, 
 although free from puerile apprehensions, was never- 
 theless prudential, adopted extreme precautions when 
 he dined at the table of a certain director. He ate 
 but little, and tasted only of the food he had ob- 
 served the director himself partake, and of tlie wine 
 he had seen him drink. 
 
 Barras took pains to represent himself as the au- 
 thor of Bonaparte's fortune, and, now that he had 
 ceased to need his patronage, as a devoted friend. 
 He exiiibited an extraordinary affection for his per- 
 son, and sought, with his usual suppleness, to con- 
 vince him of his unfeigned attachment. He separated 
 himself from the cause of his colleagues, and affected 
 to stand apart. Bonaparte disregarded the advances 
 of this director, whom he held in little esteem, and 
 rewarded his sycophancy with no measure of confi- 
 dence. 
 
 Meanwhile, Bonaparte was often consulted on 
 various questions. A minister was deputed to sum- 
 mon him to the Directory, whither he repaired, took 
 his seat l)y the side of the directors, and gave his 
 opinion with that superiority of discernment which 
 distniguished him equally in matters of administra- 
 tion and governn;ent a- in tlio-^e of war. In politics 
 he inclined to the direction which resulted from the 
 position he had assumed. On the occasion of the 
 18th Fructidor, we have seen that, when the impulse 
 was once given and the defeat of the royalist faction 
 assured, he stopped short, and refused "to afford the 
 govermnent more supjjort than exactly sutbced to 
 prevent the restoration of monarchy. This object 
 obtained, he would not even appear to connect him- 
 self with the Directory ; he preferred to remain aloof, 
 2 Y
 
 694 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the speculation of all parties, neither allied nor em- 
 broiled with any. The attitude of a censor was one 
 agreeable to his ambition. The part is an easy one 
 to play witli regard to a goven^ment assailed by fac- 
 tions on opposite sides, and constantly exposed to 
 the risk of dissolution; and it is advantageous, be- 
 cause it attracts all malcontents, that is to say, all 
 parties, who soon grow disgusted with a government 
 which strives to curb without having sufficient power 
 to crush them. Uonaparte's proclamations to the 
 Cisalpines and the Genoese regarding the laws pro- 
 posed against nobles, liad ser\ed to indicate the ac- 
 tual tendency of his views. It was evident, and he 
 studied no disguise, that he condenmed the conduct 
 the government had adopted subsequent to the 18th 
 Fnictidor. The patriots had naturally resumed a 
 certain ascendency since that event, and the Direc- 
 tory, though not governed, was assuredly influenced 
 by them. This was seen in its appointments, its 
 measures, its whole spirit. Bonaparte, without de- 
 parting from a suitable reserve, sufficiently marked 
 his censure of the direction followed by the govern- 
 ment ; he seemed to contemn it as feeble and incap- 
 able, abandoning it to be conquered by one faction 
 after being coerced by another. In a word, he made 
 it clear that he did not partake its sentiments, lie 
 even acted so as to prove that, whilst determined to 
 oppose the restoration of royalty, he was not dis- 
 posed to accept the whole revolution and all its 
 deeds. The anniversary of the 2Ist January* was 
 approaching; and it required much negotiation to in- 
 duce his appearance at the festival held on this the 
 fifth celebration of the day. He had arrived at Paris 
 in December, 1797. The year 1798 had opened 
 (Nivose and Pluviose year VI). He declined to be 
 present at the ceremony, as if he disapproved the 
 act to be celebrated, or at least washed to make some 
 reparation to the men whom his proclamations, ante- 
 cedent to the 18th Fructidor, and the cannonade of 
 the 13th Vendemiaire, had alienated. It had been 
 proposed that he should officiate in all his capacities. 
 Heretofore general-in-chief of the army of Italy and 
 plenipotentiary of France at Campo-Fonnio, he was 
 now one of the plenipotentiaries at the congress of 
 Rastadt, and general of the army of England ; hence, 
 he ought to assist in the solemnities of his govern- 
 ment. He alleged that these functions in no way 
 bound him to take part in the celebration, and there- 
 fore his presence, being voluntary, would argue an 
 approval he had no desire to give. At length a com- 
 promise was devised. The Institute was to appear 
 in a body at the ceremony ; he mingled in its rank-;, 
 and appeared to fidtil a mere corporate duty. Among 
 all the titles already accumulated on his head, that 
 of a member of the Institute was assuredly the most 
 convenient, and he knew how to avail himself of it 
 to advantage. 
 
 A rising fortune speedily attracts worsliippers. A 
 crowd of othcers and parasites already surromided 
 Boiifiparte, who asked him whether "he would for 
 ever restrict himself to the command of armies, and 
 not at length take that position in the government 
 of the country to which his ascendency and political 
 genius justitied him in aspiring. 'Without being yet 
 able to determine what he might or ought to be, "he 
 felt distinctly enough that he was the tirst man of 
 his time. Reflecting on the influence of Pichegru 
 =n the Five-Hundred, and on that of Barras in the 
 Directory, he might well conclude a high political 
 part was fea>ible to him ; but there was none for him 
 at this moment to play. He was too young to be a 
 director ; it was requisite to be forty years old, and 
 he was not thirty. A dispensation of age was indeed 
 spoken of, but that involved a concession which 
 would alarm the republicans, give rise to a prodigi- 
 ous outcry, and certainly not repay the annoyances 
 
 • [The day of Louis -WI.'s execution.] 
 
 it would occasion. Besides, to take part as a fifth 
 unit in the government, to have simply his vote in 
 the Directory, to weary himself in struggles with 
 councils still independent, offered no attractions to 
 him ; the odium of pro\oking a breach of the laws 
 was not worth incurring for such a result. France 
 had yet a powerful enemy to encounter, England ; 
 and, though Bonaparte was covered with glory, the 
 most advisable course for him was to go forth and 
 reapfreh laurels, leavin.g the government to e.xhaust 
 itself in its painful struggle with contending parties. 
 We have seen that on the same day the treaty of 
 Campo-Formio was ratified at Paris, the Directory, 
 designing to arouse the public mind against England, 
 created an army styled tliat of En (/hind, and gave the 
 command of it to Bonaparte. The government was 
 quite sincere in its intention to take the shortest 
 course with England, and make a descent on he» 
 shores. In the audacity of ideas that prevailed at 
 this epoch, such an enterprise was regarded as per- 
 fectly feasible. The expedition already attempted 
 in Ireland, proved that the straits might be passed 
 under favour of fogs, or a gale of wind. It was not 
 imagined that the British people, with all their pa- 
 triotism, not having then an adequate land-army, 
 could resist the redoubtable warriors of Italy and the 
 Rhine, and especially the genius of the hero of Cas- 
 tiglione, Arcole, and Rivoli. The government re- 
 solved to leave only 25,000 men in Italy, and recalled 
 the remainder. As to the grand army of Germany, 
 composed of the two armies of the Rhine, and the 
 Sambre-and-Meuse, it proposed to reduce it to the 
 strength required to awe the Empire during the ne- 
 gotiations at Rastadt, and distribute the residue 
 along the coasts of the ocean. The same desti;:ation 
 was assigned to all the disposable troops. Engineer 
 officers were commissioned to survey the coasts, and 
 select the best points for embarkation ; orders were 
 issued to assemble large flotillas in the different ports, 
 and the greatest activity was infused into all the 
 naval establishments. The hope was still entertained 
 that a breeze would ultimately scatter the English 
 s(iuadron blockading the roads of Cadiz, and that 
 the Spanish fleet might then be able to sail out and 
 join the French. As to the Dutch fleet, which was 
 likewise expected to strengthen the French navy, it 
 had recently suffered a severe check off the Texel, 
 and its shattered remains driven back into the ports 
 of Holland. But the combined French and Spanish 
 squadrons would suffice to cover /he passage of a 
 flotilla, and protect the transport of sixty or eighty 
 thousand men into England. To carry out all these 
 designs, some fresh means for raising money were to 
 be devised. The budget, fixed, as we have men- 
 tioned, at 616 millions for the year VI., was not cal- 
 culated to meet an extraordinary armament. It was 
 determined, therefore, to njake trade co-operate in 
 an enterprise peculiarly adapted to promote its in- 
 terests, and the scheme of a voluntary loan of eighty 
 millions was planned, to be hypothecated on the state. 
 Part of the advantages to result from the expedition 
 were to be converted into prizes, and drawn by lot 
 amongst the lenders. The Directory negotiated the 
 opening of this loan through some of the most emi- 
 nent merchants. The project was connnunicated to 
 the legislature, and, at first, appeared to be received 
 with favour. From fifteen to twenty millions of 
 subscriptions were at once obtained. At the same 
 time, the Directory levelled against England not only 
 its preparations, but its rigours too. A law existed 
 interdicting the import of English goods ; the execu- 
 tive was now armed with autliority to make domici- 
 liary visits for the purpose of discovering them, which 
 it caused to be put in force throughout the whole of 
 France on the same day and at the same hour, f 
 Bonaparte seemed to abet this great movement 
 
 t Tlic lutli .Nivcjs^' .vi'ui VI. (-tlh Janu.irv 17^8.;
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 69a 
 
 and to give himself to it; but, at heirt, he was in- 
 disposed towards the enterprise. To land sixty 
 thousand men in England, mareli on London and oc- 
 cupy it, was not in his opinion the chief diHiculty. 
 But he felt conscious that to conquer the country 
 and retain possession of it was impossible; it might 
 be ravaged, plundered of much of its wealth, thrown 
 back, annihilated, for half a century ; still the invad- 
 ing army must be eventually sacrificed, and he its 
 leader might have to return almost in solitude, after 
 executing a mere barbarous incursion. Later, with 
 a power more gigantic, a greater experience of his 
 means, and an intense personal exasperation against 
 England, he seriously thought of engaging her on her 
 own soil and hazarding his fortune against hers ; but 
 at present he had other ideas and other designs'. One 
 reason especially prevailed to divert him from the 
 enterprise. The preparations would still require 
 several months ; the spring and summer were yet to 
 come and pass away, and the fogs and gales of the 
 next winter to be awaited, ere a descent could be 
 safely attempted. Now, he was averse to remain a 
 whole year idle at Paris, adding nothing to his great 
 name, and descending in opinion by the very fact of 
 his not rising, lie turned therefore to a project of 
 another ki)Td, one equally stupendous as a descent on 
 England, but more original in design, more produc- 
 tive in its results, more consonant nnth the temper 
 of his imagination, and above all more prompt of 
 execution. We have seen that ^vhile in Italy the 
 Mediterranean occupied a lar^i^e share of his attention, 
 that he had created a navy of no inconsiderable force, 
 and that, in the partition of the Venitian dominions, 
 he had taken care to reserve the isles of Greece for 
 France ; that he had opened intrigues in Malta, with 
 the hope of wresting it from the Knights and the 
 English ; and, lastly, that he had often directed his 
 eyes to Egypt, as tlie intermediary station France 
 ought to hold between Europe and Asia, in order to 
 monopolize the commerce of the Levant, ■.ivd possibly 
 that of India. This idea had rivetted itself in his 
 imagination and now almost wholly engrossed him. 
 Some valuable documents on Egypt, on its colonial, 
 maritime, and military importance, were deposited in 
 the ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he procured from 
 M. de Talleyrand and perused with avidity. Obliged 
 to traverse the coast in furtherance of the preparations 
 against England, he filled his carriage with books of 
 travels and memoirs relating to Egypt. Thus, whilst 
 apparently promoting the views of the Directory, he 
 had another enterprise in his mind, and if in person 
 he scoured the strands of ancient Batavia, his ima- 
 gination was wandering on the shores of the East. 
 Dim visions of some vast future floated in his fmicy. 
 To plunge into those countries of early enlighten- 
 ment and glory, where Alexander and Mahomet had 
 overthrown and founded empires, to make his name 
 famous in their regions, and have it wafted l)ack to 
 France resounding with the echoes of Asia, formed 
 the phantasmagoria of a delicious reverie. 
 
 He devoted then the months of Pluviose and Ven- 
 tose (Jarmary aiul February) to a mission along the 
 coast, imparting an active direction to the prepara- 
 tions in progress, but absorbed in «)ther schemes and 
 prospects. 
 
 Whilst the republic was thus concentrating all its 
 resources for an attack on Eiijjhind, it had still im- 
 portant interests 1o arrange on tiie continent. Its 
 political |)rovince was in truth sutTiciently ample. 
 It had to treat at Rastadt with the Empire, that is 
 to say, with the whole extant feudal system, and it 
 had to tutor in their new career thiee republics, its 
 offspring, to wit, the Batavian. Cisalpine, and Ligu- 
 rian republics. Placed at the head of the democratic 
 system and in presence of the feiulal, its immediate 
 object was to prevent fresh collisions between the 
 antagonist principles, in order to avoid a renewal of 
 the conflict it had recently terminated with so much 
 
 glory, but which had cost it such fearful efforts. 
 Such was its task, and its accomplishment presented 
 diflicultics not less great than those obstructing the 
 invasion and conquest of England. 
 
 The Congress of Rastadt had been assembled for 
 two moutlis. Bonnier, a man of considerable capa- 
 city, and Treilhard, a straightforward but rude per- 
 sonage, represented France. Bonaparte, during the 
 few days he remained at Rastadt, had secretly settled 
 with Austria the plan to be followed in the occupa- 
 tion of Mayence and the tete de pont of Manheim. 
 It had been agreed that tlie Austrian troops should 
 retire on the approach of the French, and abandon 
 the cojitingents of the Empire; whereupon the French 
 troops were to seize Mayence and the tcte de pont of 
 Manheim, either by intimidating the contingents of 
 the Empire, reduced to themselves, or by assault 
 and liattery. k\u\ thus the affair was executed. 
 Tlie troops of the Elector, seeing themselves for- 
 saken by the Austrians, evacuated Mayence. Those 
 at the tUte de pont of Maidieim, attempted resistance, 
 but were, compelled to succumb. A few hundred 
 me* were nevertheless sacriliced. After this event 
 it became manifest that, by the secret articles of the 
 treaty of Campo Formio, Austria had (conceded the 
 limit of the Rhine to France, since she consented to 
 surrender the most important points on that river. 
 It had been furthermore agreed that during the ne- 
 gotiations the French army should quit the right 
 bank of the Rhine and retrograde to the left, from 
 Basle to Mayence ; whilst at that height it might 
 continue to occupy the right bank, skirting the 
 Maine hut not crossing it. As to the Austrian ar- 
 mies, they were to withdraw beyond the Danube 
 and even to the Lech, and evacuate the fortresses of 
 lUm, Ingolstadt, and Philipsbourg. Their position 
 accordingly became, with respect to the Empire, 
 nearly similar to that of the French army. The 
 deputation of the Empire had in fact to deliberate 
 within a circle of oldiers. Austria evaded an exact 
 fulfilment of the secret articles, for, under favour of 
 a specious device, she left garrisons in the three for- 
 tresses specified. France winked however at tliis 
 infraction of the treaty, not wishing to disturb the 
 good understanding. Tlie question of mutually ac- 
 crediting ambassadors had been likewise mooted ; 
 but to this Austria objected, alleging that for the 
 moment it was sufficient to correspond by means of 
 the ministers of the two powers at Rastadt. This 
 refusal certainly evinced no great eagerness to insti- 
 tute amicable relations with France ; but after her 
 defeats and humiliations, a little ill-humour on the 
 part of Austria might be expected and jiardoncd. 
 
 The first explanations between the deputation of 
 the Empire and the Austrian envoys were very bitter. 
 The states of the Empire complained, in truth, that 
 Austria contributed to despoil them by confirming 
 the line of the Rhine to the French republic, and by 
 surrendering in a perfidious manner the city of ^lay- 
 ence and the tete de pont of IManhcim ; and they, 
 moreover, complained that Austria, after having 
 dragged the Ihnpire into her special quarrel, aban- 
 doned it and gave away its [irovinces to procure for 
 herself Italian possessions in exchange. The minis- 
 ters of the emperor retorted that he had been driven 
 into the war from regard for the interests of the Em- 
 pire and in defence (;f the Alsatian feudatories ; ll:at 
 after liaving taken up arms in (luir behalf, he had 
 made extraordinary efforts during six consecutive 
 years; that lie had found himself successively aban- 
 doned by all the states of the Cmifederation ; that he 
 had sustained almost alone the whole burden of the 
 war; that he had lost in the conflict a considerable 
 pait of his own dominions, and especially the rich 
 jjrovincesof Jiclgium aiul Lonibard) ; ar.d that, after 
 such efforts so cruelly rewarded, he had hoped to 
 experience gratitude and not reproaches. The real 
 fact was that the empferor had used the pretext of
 
 G96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the Alsatian feudatories to commence the war, which 
 he had prosecuted for his individual aj^grandisement; 
 that he had involved the (jlermanic confederation 
 therein in its own despite ; and tliat now be betrayed 
 it to indemnify himself at its expense. After lively 
 recriminations, which ended in nothing', the parties | 
 cooled and proceeded to discuss the bases of the ne- 
 gotiation. The French demanded the left bank of 
 the Rhine, and proposed, in order to compensate the 
 princes dispossessed of tlieir dominions, the medium 
 of secularizations. Austria, who, not content with 
 having acquired the greatest portion of the Venitian 
 territory, desired to obtain a further equivalent in 
 certain bishoprics, and had besides a secret under- 
 standing with France ; Prussia, who had stipulated 
 with France to be recompensed on the right liank, 
 for the duchy of Cleves which she had lost on 
 the left ; the dispossessed princes, who preferred to 
 have possessions on tlie right of the Rhine, sheltered 
 from the proximity of the French, to the recovery of 
 their ancient principalities ; — all, Austria, Prussia, 
 and the dispossessed princes, upheld the cession of the 
 limit of the Rhine and the adoption of secularizations 
 as the means of indenuiity. It was difficult therefore 
 for the Empire to resist such a concurrence of po- 
 tential voices. But as the powers given to the de- 
 putation made the integrity of the Germanic empire 
 an express condition, the French plenipotentiaries 
 declared them too liuiited and insufficient, rfnd in- 
 sisted upon others. The deputation procured fresh 
 powers from the Diet in consequence ; but, although 
 then authorized to concede the line of the Rhine, it 
 persisted in a refusal. It alleged various reasons, 
 for reasons are never wanting in such cases. — " The 
 German empire," the deputation argued, " had not 
 been the first to declare war. Before the Diet of 
 Ratisbon had promulgated the declaration, Custine 
 had surprised Mayence and invaded Franconia. It 
 had therefore simply defended itself. The depriva- 
 tion of a part of its territory would lead to the over- 
 throw of its constitution and endanger its existence, 
 which was of importance to all Europe. The pro- 
 vinces on the left side, which were proposed to be 
 torn from it, were of small consideration to a state 
 liecome so enormous as the French republic. The 
 line of the Rhine might be replaced by another mili- 
 tary line, the jNIoselle for example. In fine, the 
 republic would lose, for very miserable advantages, 
 the ineffable and to it useful glory of displaying po- 
 litical moderation." Accordingly, the deputation 
 offered to convey all that the Empire had possessed 
 beyond the Moselle, and to accept that stream as 
 the boundary. To these arguments France replied 
 by others equally cogent. — "True, she had taken 
 the offensive and commenced the war de facto ; but 
 the veritable war, that of intention, of machinations, 
 of preparations, had been commenced by the Empire. 
 It was at Treves and Coblentz that emigrants had 
 been protected and organized ; it was from there 
 the phalanxes destined to humble, brutalize, dis- 
 member France, were appointed to issue forth on 
 their mission. Now, France, instead of being con- 
 quered, was victorious ; wliereof she was disposed 
 to profit, not by returning the evil intended for her, 
 but by indemnifying herself for the war waged against 
 her by claiming her natural boundary, the course of 
 the Rhine." 
 
 Thus was the dispute prolonged, for concessions, 
 even when unavoidable, are always contested. Yet 
 it was evident that the deputation vvouhl eventually 
 yield the left bank, and only continued this resist- 
 ance to obtain better terms on other points in con- 
 troversy. Such was the state of the negotiations at 
 Rastadt in the month of Pluviose year VI. (Febru- 
 ary 1798). 
 
 It was found that Augereau, to whom the Direc- 
 tory, to get rid of him, had given the command of 
 the army of Germany, had congregated around him 
 
 the most violent Jacobins. He afforded manifest 
 ground of offence to the Einiiire, which dreaded 
 above all things the contagion of the new principles, 
 and loudly protested against the circulation of in- 
 cendiary writings in Germany. So general a fer- 
 ment prevailed throughout Europe, that the suppo- 
 sition of French interference was not necessary to 
 account for the propagation of revolutionary works. 
 But the Directory deemed it incumbent to obviate 
 .all causes of complaint ; besides, it was dissatisfied 
 with the turbulent conduct of Augereau, and it ac- 
 cordingly deprived him of his command, der)uting 
 him instead to Perpignan uiuler pretence of there 
 assembling an army, destined, it was said, to act 
 against Portugal. The Portuguese court, at the 
 instigation of Pitt, had delayed to ratify the treaty 
 concluded with the republic, and condign chastise- 
 ment was threatened it as the ally of England. At 
 the same time, nothing more was intended than an 
 idle demonstration, and the commission bestowed on 
 Augereau amounted in fact to a covert disgrace. 
 
 Besides the immediate relations now renewed 
 with the powers of Europe, France had to direct, 
 as we have mentioned, the three new republics. 
 These were naturally agitated by opposite parties. 
 The mission of France was to save them from the 
 convulsions by which she had herself been torn. For 
 this she was invoked and subsidized. She had armies 
 in Holland and in the Cisalpine and Ligurian states, 
 maintained at tVie expense of those republics. If, to 
 avoid the appearance of menacing their independence, 
 she left them to themselves, the danger was incurred 
 of inducing either a counter-revolution or an out- 
 break of Jacobinism. In the first event, the repub- 
 lican system was put in peril ; in the latter, the con- 
 tiiiuance of a general peace. If the Jacobins became 
 masters in Holland, they were almost sure to give 
 umbrage to Prussia and Germany ; if in Liguria and 
 the Cisalpine, they might provoke convulsions in 
 Italy and recall Austria into the field. Hence, it 
 was essential to moderate the course of these repub- 
 lics ; but in so doing an inconvenience of another 
 kind was engendered. Europe upbraided France 
 with having made the Dutch, the Cisalpines, and the 
 Genoese, subjects rather than allies, and with aspir- 
 ing to universal dominion. It was incumbent, there- 
 fore, to select agents possessing precisely the shade 
 of opinion suitable to the country appointed for their 
 residence, and with sufficient tact to make the influ- 
 ence of France felt without being visible. Thus 
 there were difficulties, we perceive, of divers kinds 
 to encounter, in maintaining face to face, and main- 
 taining without a collision, the two systems which 
 had been recently arrayed against each other in 
 Europe. We have seen them engaged in warfare for 
 a series of six years. We are now to behold them 
 for one year consumed in negotiations, and that year 
 will demonstrate, yet better than actual hostilities, 
 their natural incompatibility. 
 
 We have already had occasion to specify the differ- 
 ent parties which divided Holland. The moderate 
 and prudent party, which desired a national and tem- 
 perate constitution, had to combat the Orangeists, 
 partisans of the Stadtholder, the Federalists, up- 
 holders of the old provincial divisions, ambitious to 
 domineer in their several provinces, and content to 
 admit only a feeble federal connection, and lastly, the 
 Democrats or Jacobins, advocates of a pure democracy 
 and unity. The Directory was naturally inclined to 
 support the first party in opposition to the three 
 others, because it hoped, without deviating into 
 any of the contrary extremes, to combine the old 
 federative system with an adequate concentration 
 of government. The Directory has been largely 
 abused for desiring everywhere a republic owe and 
 indivisible, and much imperfect reasoning has been 
 wasted on its system in this respect. The republic 
 one and indivisible, conceived in 1793, had always
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 697 
 
 been a profound idea, had it not been tbe offspring 
 of a resistless instinct. A country so homogeneous, 
 so thoroughly amalgamalcd as France, could not 
 adopt the federal system. A country threatened with 
 such peril as France, would have been ruined by 
 adopting it. It was suitable neither to its geogra- 
 phical configuration nor to its political situation'. 
 Assuredly to insist upon iinitt/ and indivisihilitj/ in all 
 cases to tlie same extent as in France would have 
 been absurd ; but the Directory, placed at the liead 
 of a new system, and constrained to procure ptnver- 
 ful auxiliaries, must necessarily seek to give strength 
 and consistence to its new allies ; and there can be 
 neither strength nor consistence without a certain 
 degree of unity and concentration. Such was the 
 idea, or to speak more correctly, the instinct, which 
 governed, which conld not fail to govern almost 
 unwittingly, tlie l;ea(!s of the French republic. 
 
 Holland with its old federal system would have 
 been reduced to perfect impotency. Its national 
 assembly had not yet been able to give it a constitu- 
 tion. This assembly was fettered by all the regu- 
 lations of the old states-general of Holland, and fed- 
 eralism predominated. The partisans of unity and 
 a moderate constitution demanded the abolition of 
 these regulations and the prompt establishment of a 
 constitution. The French envoy, Noel, was ac- 
 cused of favouring the federalists. France could no 
 longer delay taking a part. Joubert was sent to 
 command the army of Holland, — Joubert, who had 
 been one of Bonaparte's lieutenants in Italy, and 
 gained celebrity for his march through the Tyrol, a 
 modest, disinterested, brave, and devoted patriot. 
 Noel was replaced by Delacroix : it must be con- 
 fessed a more discreet choice might have been made. 
 The Directory was unfortunately deficient in charac- 
 ters adapted for diplomacy. There were many well- 
 informed and distinguished men amongst the mem- 
 bers of the existing arid dissolved assemblies, but 
 they were unacquainted with the forms of diplomatic 
 intercourse ; they were stiif and dogmatic, and it 
 was rare to find any who united firmness of principles 
 with pliancy of manners, such as it behoved envoys 
 to foreign courts to possess, in order that they might 
 at once impose respect for the new doctrines and 
 conciliate antiquated prejudices. On arriving in 
 Holland, Delacroix attended a festival given by the 
 diplomatic committee. All the foreign ministers 
 M'ere invited to be present. After holding in their 
 presence the most demagogical language, Delacroix 
 at last started up, glass in hand, and exclaimed : " Wfn/ 
 is there not a Batavian brave enough to poniard the 
 ref"'lations on the altar of the countrij'f The effect 
 whu:h such an effusion was calculated to produce on 
 strangers may be easily conceived. The regulations, 
 in fact, were speedily poniarded. Forty-three de- 
 puties had already protested against the operations 
 of the national assembly. These met on the 3d 
 Pluviose (22d January 17')^), at the palace of Haar- 
 lem, and there supported by the French troops, pro- 
 ceeded according to the example set at Paris, four 
 months previously, on the 18th Fructidor. Tliey ex- 
 pelledfrom the national assembly a certain number of 
 suspected deputies, caused some to be imprisoned, 
 annulled the regulations, and organized the assembly 
 into a species of convention. In a few days, a con- 
 stitution 7iearly similar to that of I'rance was framed 
 and put in force. Desirous of imitating the conven- 
 tion in all things, the new lawgivers composed the 
 government of the members of the exi<-ting assem])ly 
 and constituted themselves into a Directory and 
 Legislative-body. The men who come forward to 
 effectuate movements like tliese are always the most 
 decided of their party. Hence, it was to be feared 
 that the new Batavian government would he strongly 
 tai)ited with democracy, aiul that, under the influ- 
 ence of an ambassador like Delacroix, it would trans- 
 gress the bounds the French Directory was anxious 
 
 to prescribe it. For the rest, this Dutch parody on 
 the ISth Fructidor failed not to provoke from 
 European politicians, and particularlv from tlie 
 Prussian, acrimonious remarks that France governed 
 Holland, and extended in reality to the waters of 
 the Texel. 
 
 The Ligurian republic was pursuing a satisfactory 
 course, although secretly agitated, like all new states, 
 by two parties equally exaggerated in principles. As 
 to the Cisalpine, it M'as abandoned to furious dis- 
 cords. The spirit of locality was an inevitable 
 source of disunion to the Cisalpins, who of old be- 
 longed to several states successively amalgamated 
 by Bonaparte. But besides this inherent element 
 of division, the agents of Austria, the nobles, the 
 priests, the violent democrats, all conspired to dis- 
 tract the new republic. Of these the democrats 
 were the most dangerous, inasmuch as they had a 
 powerful support ni the army of Italy, composed, as 
 we know, of the most hot-brained patriots in France. 
 The Directory experienced as much difficulty in 
 checking the impulse of its armies abroad as in guid- 
 ing, the tone of its ministers, and encountered, in 
 this respect, as many obstacles as in any other. 
 Hitherto it had not accredited a minister to the new 
 republic. Berthier alone, in his capacity of general- 
 in-chief, still represented the French government. 
 It was now proposed to regulate, by a treaty of 
 alliance, the relations between the two republics, 
 parent and child. Such a treaty was accordingly 
 framed at Paris, and transmitted for the ratification 
 of the two Cisalpine Councils. An alliance, offen- 
 sive and defensive in all contingencies, was therein 
 stipulated, and until the Cisalpine republic should 
 become a military state, France covenanted to lend 
 it the succour of 25,000 men on the following con- 
 ditions : — the Cisalpine was to find barracks, maga- 
 zines, and hospitals, and furnish ten millions a-year 
 for the maintenance of these troops. In ca-e of war ' 
 it was to contribute an extraordinary subsidy. France 
 presented to her ally a considerable portion of the 
 artillery captured from the enemy, in order that he 
 might fortify his strongholds. These conditions bore 
 nothing outrageous on the face of them ; yet several 
 of the Cisalpine deputies in the Council of Ancients, 
 ill - disposed towards the republican system and 
 France, pretended that the treaty was too onerous, 
 that undue advantage had been taken of the depend- 
 ent state of the new government, and prevailed to 
 reject the treaty. A manifest perversity was thereby 
 displayed. Having been obliged of himself to choose 
 the individuals composing the Councils and govern- 
 ment, Bonaparte had been unable to insure the eligi- 
 bility of all his selections, and some amendment now 
 proved necessary. The present councils, nominated 
 arbitrarily by Bonaparte, were, therefore, modified 
 arbitrarily by Berthier. Some of the most obstinate 
 members were cashiered, and the treaty again pre- 
 sented, when it met an immediate approval. It was 
 to be regretted that France found herself compelled 
 thus openly to interfere, as Austria instantly pro- 
 tested that, notwithstanding all the pledges given at 
 Campo-Formio, the Cisalpine was not an independ- 
 ent republic, but clearly a mere province of France. 
 She even ofiposed didiculties to the reception of 
 Marcscalchi, who had been accredited at Vienna as 
 the Cisalpine minister. 
 
 The territories occupied by France and the new 
 republics intermingled with those of still feudal 
 Europe, in a manner dangerous to the continuance 
 of peace between the two rival systems. Switzer- 
 land wholly feudal, though republican, was enclosed 
 between France, Savoy, now a French [>roviiice, and 
 the Cisalpine. Pi;'dmont, with which France had 
 contracted an alliance, was enveloped by France, 
 Savoy, the Cisalpine, and the Ligurian. The Ci-al- 
 pine and the Ligurian republics, again, encompassed 
 the duchies of Parma and Tuscany, and approached 
 
 n
 
 696 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 near enough to communicate their own excitement 
 to Rome, and even Naples. The Directory, how- 
 ever, had taken the precaution to enjoin upon its 
 agents the strictest reserve, and prohihited them to 
 hold out hopes to the democrats. On the contrary, 
 Ginguene in Piedmont, Cacault in Tuscany, Joseph 
 Bonaparte at Rome, and Trouve' at Naples, had all 
 orders to evince the most amicable dispositions to- 
 wards the potentates at whose courts they resided. 
 They were instructed to give assurances that the 
 Directory harboured no intentions of propagating 
 revolutionary principles ; that it was satisfied to 
 maintain the republican system where it was estab- 
 lished, but would encourage no steps to extend it 
 among powers which ke[)t faith with France. The 
 intentions of the Directory on the point were sin- 
 cere and prudent. It desired, doubtless, the progress 
 of the revolution ; but was no longer impelled to 
 accelerate it by arms. It resolved that if a revolu- 
 tion broke out in any fresh places, France should 
 not be reproached with an active participation. 
 Moreover, Italy was full of princes, the relatives or 
 allies of the great monarch?, who could not be in- 
 jured without provoking superior hostilities. Aus- 
 tria, for instance, would not fail to interfere in be- 
 half of Tuscany, Naples, and perhaps Piedmont ; 
 whilst Spain would assuredly step to the rescue of 
 the prince of Parma. It was good policy, there- 
 fore, to avoid the responsibility if any important dis- 
 turbances occurred. 
 
 Such were the views of the Directory ; but it 
 was beyond its capacity to control passions, and par- 
 ticularly those of liberty. Could it prevent French, 
 Ligurian, Cisalpine democrats from corresponding 
 with Piedmontese, Tuscan, Roman, Neapolitan 
 democrats, and inspiring them \nth tlie ardour of 
 their owti opinions, sanguineness, and hopes ? These 
 told them that policy hindered the French govern- 
 ment from openly interfering in the revolutions every- 
 where preparing, but that it would protect them 
 when once accomplished ; that courage only was 
 wanted to make the attempt, and that succours 
 would soon arrive to them. 
 
 True, all the Italian states were more or less agi- 
 tated. Arrests were numerous in every city, but 
 the French ministers interposed only by occasional 
 reclamations in favour of individuals unjustly per- 
 secuted. In Piedmont, where wholesale incarcera- 
 tions took place, the intercession of France was often 
 tendered wdth success. In Tuscany much greater 
 moderation was observed. At Naples a large class 
 of men existed who had embraced the new opinions, 
 against the increase of which a court, equally desti- 
 tute of morality and sense, strove madly with fetters 
 and punishments. The French ambassador, Trouve, 
 was loaded with insults. He was isolated as if in- 
 fected with the plague. The Neapolitans were for- 
 bidden to visit him. He had even ditficulty in pro- 
 curing the attendance of a physician. All were 
 thrown into prison who were accused of holding com- 
 munication with the French legation, or who wore 
 their hair cut and without powder. The ambas- 
 sador's letters were seized, broken open, and detained 
 by the police for ten or twelve days. Frcncnmen, 
 too, had been assassinated. Even when Bonaparte 
 was in Italy, he had found it difficult to restrain the 
 fury of the court of Naples, and now that the terror 
 of his presence was removed, we may judge of what 
 it was capable. The French government had forces 
 sufficient severely to chastise its offences ; but to 
 avoid disturbing the general peace, it instructed 
 Trouve to observe the utmost forbearance, restrict 
 himself to representations, and endeavour to reclaim 
 it to the dictates of reason. 
 
 The government, however, tottering nearest to 
 its ruin was the papal. Not that it took no pains 
 to defend itself, for it likewise made multitudinous 
 arrests ; but an aged pontiff with his spirit quenched, 
 
 and a few feeble incompetent cardinals, could with 
 difficulty struggle against the evils of the times. 
 Already, at the instigation of the Cisalpins, the 
 March of Ancona had revolted and formed itself 
 into a republic. Thence the democrats preached 
 rebellion throughout the whole Roman state. Thev 
 had not many partisans, it is true, but they were 
 aided by the general discontent. The papal govern- 
 ment had lost its imposing splendour in the eyes of 
 tlie people, since the contributions levied at Tolen- 
 tino had compelled it to part wnth the mot costly 
 goods and jewels of the Holy See. New taxes, the 
 creation of a paper currency depreciated below a third 
 of its nominal value, the alienation of a fifth of the 
 possessions of the clergy, had sufficed to exasperate 
 all classes, even the ecclesiastics themselves. The 
 Roman grandees, who had imbibed some of the en- 
 lightenment shed over Europe during the eighteenth 
 century, also murmured loudly against an emascu- 
 lated and imbecile government, and avowed that it 
 was time the temporal power should pass from the 
 hands of ignorant incapable monks, unused to the 
 treatment of human affairs, into those of citizens 
 conversant with the customs and practices of the 
 world. Thus the dispositions of the Roman people 
 were far from favourable to the Pope. Still the 
 democrats were not numerous ; they inspired pre- 
 judices on the ground of religion, to which they 
 were deem.ed enemies. The French artists studying 
 at Rome encouraged them by exhortations ; but 
 Joseph Bonaparte laboured to restrain them, repre- 
 senting that they had not sufficient force to achieve 
 a decisive movement ; that tliey would only ruin 
 themselves and uselessly compromise France ; and 
 that, at all events, she would afford them no support 
 but leave them exposed to the consequences of their 
 imprudence. 
 
 IS'evertheless, on the morning of the fith Nivose 
 (•26th December 1797), they came to apprize him 
 that a movement was prepared. He dismissed them 
 with an admonition to remain quiet, but they dis- 
 believed the protestations of the French minister. 
 The system of all the promoters of revolutions was 
 to hazard an insurrectionary blow and trust to in- 
 I volving France in spite of herself. Accordingly, 
 I they assembled on the 8th Nivose (28th December) 
 I to commence a revolt. Dispersed by the papal 
 dragoons they sought refuge within the jurisdiction 
 of the French ambassador, under the porticoes of 
 the Corsini palace which he inhabited. Joseph 
 i hastened to the scene accompanied by some French 
 ] officers and General Duphot, a distinguished young 
 j soldier of the army of Italy. He attempted to inter- 
 pose between the papal troops and the insurgents in 
 j the hope of preventing a massacre. But the papal 
 j soldiery, payinij no respect to the ambassador, fired 
 and killed at his side the unfortunate Duphot. This 
 young man was about to espouse a sister-in-law of 
 I Joseph Bonaparte. His death caused an extraor- 
 dinary sensation. Several of the foreign ministers 
 hurried to the French embassy, and amongst the first 
 the Sjianish envoy, D'Azara. The Roman govern- 
 ment alone .allowed fourteen hours to elapse without 
 sending to the French minister's, although he had 
 repeatedly written to it in the course of the day. 
 Bonaparte, highly incensed, immediately demanded 
 his passports. They were given to him, and he 
 forthwith took his departure for Tuscany. 
 
 This event produced a lively impression. It was 
 clear that the Roman goverimient might have ob- 
 viated the occurrence, since it was anticipated two 
 days previously, but had preferred to encourage the 
 outbreak with the view of inflicting upon the demo- 
 crats a severe punishment, and that, in the tumult, 
 it had neglected to take the precautions necessary to 
 prevent a violation of the rights of nations and an 
 outrage upon the French embassy. Great indigna- 
 tion was manifested in the Cisalpine republic and by
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 690 
 
 all the Italian patriots against the Holy See. The 
 army of Italy demanded with loud shouts to be led 
 against Rome. 
 
 The Directory was embarrassed. It acknow- 
 ledged in the Pope the sy)iritual head of the party 
 inveterately opposed to tlie revolution, and to de- 
 stroy this high-priest of an antifpiated and tyrannical 
 religion, garbed as Christian, wa-; a sore temptation, 
 notwithstanding the danger of olfending the Euro- 
 pean powers and provoking their intervention. So, 
 disregarding caution and the inconveniences of a 
 hostile determination, revolutionary zeal prevailed, 
 and the Directory ordered Berthier, who commanded 
 in Italy, to march upon Rome. It hoped, at the 
 same time, that as the Pope was neither the kins- 
 man nor ally of any sovereign, his fall would not 
 occasion any powerful interposition. 
 
 Boisterous was the exultation of all true repub- 
 licans and adherents of philosophy. On the 22d 
 Pluviose (10th February 179S), Berthier arrived in 
 sight of the ancient capital of the world, which the 
 French army had not yet visited. The soldiers 
 paused for an instant to contemplate the venerable and 
 magnificent city. The Spaniard D'Azara, the usual 
 mediator of the Italian powers with France, hastened 
 to the head-f|uarfers of the army to negotiate a con- 
 vention. The castle of Saint- Angelo was delivered 
 to the French, on the condition, natural amongst 
 civilized nations, of respecting religion, public estab- 
 lishments, persons and property The Pope shut 
 himself in the Vatican, and Berthier, introduced by 
 the gate of the People, was escorted to the Capitol, 
 like some old Roman triuinpher. The democrats, 
 at the summit of their wishes, assembled in the 
 Campo-Vaccino, where the vestiges of the ancient 
 fOTum are perceptible, and, surromided by a stupid 
 populace, ready to applaud any novelty, proclaimed 
 the Roman republic. A notary drew up an instru- 
 ment whereby tlie people, Mho styled themselves "the 
 Roman People," declared they resumed their sover- 
 e'gnty and constituted themselves into a republic. 
 The Pope had been left in solitude at the Vatican. 
 A deputation waited on him to demand his abdica- 
 tion of the temporal sovereignty, for it was not in- 
 tended to intermeddle wnth his spiritual supremacy. 
 He answered, with some dignity, that he could not 
 strip himself of a possession which belonged not to 
 him but to the successors of the Apostles, and which 
 he held only in trust. This theological thesis ap- 
 peared of little weight in the eyes of republican 
 generals. Tlie pontiff, treated with all the atten- 
 tions due to his age and oflice, was abstracted from 
 the Vatican during the night and conducted into Tus- 
 cany, where he found an asylum in a convent. The 
 people of Rome seemed to regret but indifferently 
 the loss of this ruler, who had nevertheless reigned 
 over them upwards of twenty years. 
 
 Unfortunately, excesses, not against persons, but 
 against property, sullied the entry of the French 
 into the ancient metropolis of the world. There 
 was no longer at the head of the army that stern and 
 inflexible chief, who, less from virtue than an abhor- 
 rence of disorder, had so severely punislicd plun- 
 derers. Bonaparte alone could have bridled cupidity 
 in a country so stocked with riches. Berthier had de- 
 parted for Paris, and Massena succeeded him. Tiiis 
 general, to whom France owes everlasting gratitude 
 for saving it at Zurich from inevitable ruin, was 
 accused of having .set the first example. It was one 
 at all events that found numerous imitators. Palaces, 
 convents, superb collections, were nuMcilessly rilled. 
 Jews, in the train of the army, pin'chased for insig- 
 nificant sums magnificent objects recklessly aban- 
 doned to them by the depredators. The waste was 
 as revolting as the pillage itself. We are bound to 
 record the melancholy fact : it was not the subaltern 
 officers or the soldiers who gave way to tliese temp- 
 tations, but the superior ollicers. All the articles 
 
 carried oflT, and to which the rights of confjuest 
 applied, ought to have been deposited in a common 
 receptacle and sold for the profit of the army, which 
 had received no pay for five months. The want of 
 an efficient financial organization had delayed the 
 payment of the subsidy by the Cisalpine republic 
 stipulated in the treaty with France. The soldiers 
 and subalterns were in the most horrible destitution ; 
 and they naturally felt indignant at the spectacle of 
 their leaders indecently gorging themselves with 
 spoil and tarnishing the glory of the French name, 
 without any relief or advantage to the army. A 
 mutiny broke out against -Massena ; the officers 
 assembled in a church and resolved that they would 
 no longer serve under him. Some of the people, 
 evilly-inclined towards the French, prepared to seize 
 the opportunity of this misunderstanding to attempt 
 reprisals. Massena forthwith withdrew the army 
 out of Rome, leaving a garrison in the castle of 
 Saint- Angelo. The danger put an end to the mu- 
 tiny ; but the officers remained in combination, and 
 persisted in demanding the punishment of the plun- 
 derers and the supercession of Massena. 
 
 Here we see exemplified the fact that to the diffi- 
 culty of tempering the course of the new republics, 
 of selecting and directing agents, was added that of 
 curbing the armies, and all this at immense distances 
 for administrative communications. The Directory 
 recalled Massena, and dispatched to Rome a commis- 
 sion, composed of four upright and eidightened indi- 
 viduals, to organize the new republic : they were 
 Daunou, Monge, Florent, amlFaypoult. The latter, 
 an able and honest administrator, was charged with 
 all that related to the finances. The army of Italy 
 was divided into two corps : that which had been 
 instrumental in dethroning the Pope was called the 
 army of Rome. 
 
 It was necessary to excuse this fresh revolution 
 to other [)0\vers. Spain, whose piety might he sup- 
 posed to be shocked, but who was under French 
 influence, offered no remonstrance. But interest is 
 keener than religious zeal. Accordingly, the dis- 
 contented courts were found to be those of Vienna 
 and Naples. To Austria the extension of French 
 influence in Italy was extremely unpalatable. To 
 mitigate her anger, the intention of incorporating the 
 new republic with the Cisalpine was forborne, and 
 it was erected a separate state. The union of the 
 two would have too forcibly awakened the idea of 
 Italian unity, a ul accredited the imputed design of 
 rendering all Italy democratic. Although the em- 
 peror liad not sent a minister to Paris, yet Berna- 
 dotte was deputed to appease him with explanations 
 and to reside at Vienna. As to the court of Naples, 
 its rage partook of frenzy at witnessing the revolu- 
 tion thus striding towards it. Nothing less than 
 two or three of tlie Roman provinces would serve 
 to pacify it. It demanded especially the duchy of 
 IJenevento and the territory of Ponte-Corvo, which 
 lay very conveniently for its dominion. Carat was 
 sent to negotiate with it: Trouve being transferred 
 to the Ci.^alpine republic. 
 
 The revolution then was making formidable pro- 
 gress, and more rapidly than was altogether agree- 
 al)le to the Directory. We have already mentioned 
 a country into which it threatened to penetrate, 
 namely Switzerland. It might seem that Switzer- 
 land, the ancient land of liberty, famed for its primi- 
 tive and pastoral manners, had nothing to learn from 
 France and could have no cause for change ; yet, 
 though the thirteen cantons were governed with re- 
 publican fonii'i, it did not thence restdt tiiat eijuity 
 was paramomit in the mutual relations of the dilferent 
 republics, or more especially in their relations with 
 the people. On the contrary, feudalism, which is 
 simply a military hierarchy, prevailed with regard to 
 those republics, aiui there were communities depen- 
 dent on other comm>initics, as a vassal on his suzerain
 
 700 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and groaning beneath a yoke of iron. Aargau and 
 the Pays de Vaud were in this manner subject to the 
 aristocracy of Berne, the Lower- Valais to the Upper- 
 Valais, and the Italian bailiwncks, that is to say, the 
 valleys pending on the side of Italy, to different can- 
 tons. Numerous communes moreover belonged to 
 certain towns. The canton of Saint-Gall rested 
 under the feudal jurisdiction of a convent. Nearly 
 all the subject districts had become so on conditions 
 specified in charters now buried in oblivion, and 
 which it was forbidden to bring to light. The 
 country in almost every instance depended on the 
 neighbouring town, and was harassed by odious mono- 
 polies ; nowhere was the tyranny of trade-corporations 
 more oppressively exercised. In all the several gov- 
 ernments, aristocracy had gradually engrossed the 
 whole of the powers. At Berne, the first of these 
 petty states, a few families had usurped the authority 
 to the perpetual exclusion of all others ; they had 
 their golden-book, in which the privileged families 
 were enrolled. Manners often tend to mitigate the 
 injustice of institutions, but it was not so here. 
 These aristocracies exacted vengeance with the vin- 
 dictive spirit characteristic of local despotisms. 
 Berne, Zurich, and (ieneva, had often, and very re- 
 cently, intiicted punishments of the severest kind. 
 In every part of Europe Swiss might be found for- 
 cibly banished from their country, or seeking in vol- 
 untary exile protection from aristocratic outrage. 
 Furthermore, the thirteen cantons, disunited and 
 not seldom opposed to each other, no longer possess- 
 ed any force, and were quite incapable of defending 
 their independence. With the true instinct of bad- 
 fellowship, common amotig federative bodies, they 
 all sought the countenance of foreign powers in their 
 domestic squabbles, and had particular treaties, some 
 with Austria, some with Piedmont, others with 
 France. Switzerlaiul therefore was' nothing now 
 but a romantic recollection and a picturesque region ; 
 politically, she presented but one unbroken chain of 
 petty and humiliating tyrannies. 
 
 Thus we may conceive the effect likely to be pro- 
 duced within it by the example of the French revo- 
 lution. At Zurich, Basle, and Geneva, especially, 
 great excitement had been manifested. In the latter 
 city indeed sanguinary tumults had occurred. Over 
 the whole of the French division, and particularly 
 the Pays de A'aud, revolutionary ideas had circulated 
 extensively. On their side, the aristocrats had 
 omitted nothing to discredit France and to injure 
 her as much as they could without provoking her 
 vengeance. The grandees of Berne had harboured 
 tlie emigrants and rendered them all possible ser- 
 vices. Almost all the plots hatched against the re- 
 public had been effectuated in Suatzerland. It was 
 at Basle, we remember, the English agent "Wickham 
 had directed the counter-revolutionary machinations. 
 The Directory therefore had good reason to be dis- 
 satisfied. Luckily, it chanced to possess a very con- 
 venient mode of avenging France on Switzerland. 
 The Vaudois, persecuted by the Bernese magnates, 
 had invoked the interposition of France. Now, 
 when the Duke of Savoy ceded their country to 
 Berne, France had guaranteed their rights by a treaty 
 bearing the date of 1365 : which treaty had been fre- 
 quently appealed to and enforced by France. Hence 
 there was good precedent for the interference of the 
 Directory now demanded by the Vaudois. Besides 
 several other of these dependent communities had 
 foreign protectors. 
 
 We have witnessed with what enthusiasm the 
 Vaudois had received the Hberator of the ^'alteline, 
 when he passed through Switzerland on liis way 
 from jMilan to Rastadt. Inspired with renewed 
 hope, they had since dispatched envoys to Paris and 
 warmly pressed for the shield of Freiu-h protection. 
 Their countryman, the brave and unfortunate La 
 Harpc, had died for France in Italv at the head of a 
 
 division; they were shamefully tyrannized over, aiul, 
 in default even of any political motive, common hu- 
 manity would have sufficed to induce the interven- 
 tion of France. It was not to be imagined that with 
 her new principles, France should shrink from the 
 execution of a treaty securing the liberties of a 
 neighbouring people, which had been enforced bv 
 the old monarchy. Political considerations alone 
 might have weighed to prevent her entertaining the 
 appeal, for fresh alarm would be given to Europe, 
 especially at a time when the pontifical throne was 
 shaking so violently at Rome. But, although feel- 
 ing it incumbent to propitiate Germany, Piedmont, 
 Parma, Tuscany, and Naples, the Directory recog- 
 nised no necessity for the same deference towards 
 Switzerland, and was moreover greatly tempted to 
 promote the establishment of an analogous govern- 
 ment in a country justly deemed the military key of 
 Europe. Here also, as in the instance of Rome, the 
 Directory was drawii from its prescribed policy by 
 an irresistible seduction. To replace the Alps in 
 friendly hands constituted a motive equally persua- 
 sive with that vvhieh incited to the demolition of the 
 Papacy. 
 
 Consequently, on the 8th Nivose (28th December 
 1797), the Directory proclaimed -that it took the 
 Vaudois under the protection of France, and would 
 hold the members of the governments of Berne and 
 Fribourg responsible for the security of their pro- 
 perty and persons. General Menard, at the head of 
 IMassena's old division, immediately repassed the 
 Alps and pitched his camp at Carouge, in sight of 
 the lake of Geneva. General Schawembourg at the 
 same time ascended the Rhine with a division of the 
 army of Germany, and planted himself in Erguel, in 
 the environs of Basle. This demonstration gave#o 
 the people of the Pays de Vaud, the diocese of Basle, 
 and the district of Zurich, the utmost joy and confi- 
 dence. The Vaudois forthwith preferred a claim 
 for their ancient assemblies. Berne replied that in- 
 dividual petitions would be received, but that no 
 state meetings would be permitted, and demanded a 
 renewal of the oath of fealty. This sufficed as a 
 signal of insurrection to the Vaudois. The bailiffs, 
 whose oppression had been long execrated, were ex- 
 pelled, though without ill-treatment; trees of liberty 
 were everywhere reared, and in a few days the Pays 
 de Vaud, constituted itself into the Lemanique re- 
 public. The Directory hastened to recognise it, and 
 authorized General Menard to occupy it, signifying 
 to the canton of Berne that its independence was 
 guaranteed by France. Meanwhile a revolution was 
 in progress at Basle, of which the tribune Ochs, a 
 man of spirit, a staunch revolutionist, and in close 
 relation with the French govennnent, was the chief 
 promoter. The country population had been ad- 
 mitted with the townsmen to form a species of na- 
 tional convention to digest a constitution. It was 
 drawn up by Ochs in terms almost similar to that of 
 France, which served at this time as a model to all 
 republican Europe. It was translated into three 
 languages, French, German, and Italian, and circu- 
 lated through all the cantons to stimulate their zeal. 
 Mengaud, who was the French minister in Switzer- 
 land and resident at Basle, contributed to impart the 
 impulse. At Zurich also, the people of the surround- 
 ing district had raised the standard of revolt and de- 
 manded the restoration of their rights. 
 
 In the interim, the Bernese aristocrats had collected 
 an army ajid convoked a general diet, at Aran, to con- 
 sult on the state of Switzerland and levy from the sev- 
 eral cantons the federal contingents. 1 hey represent- 
 ed to their German subjects that the French portion of 
 Switzerland wished to detach itself from the confeder- 
 ation and unite with France, and that the cause of re- 
 ligion was at stake, for the atheists of Paris had vowed 
 to <lestroy it. They thus excited to descend from 
 the mountains of the Oberland a simple, ignorant, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 roi 
 
 fanatical population under the belief that its ancient 
 faith was menaced with subversion. They mustered 
 nearly twenty thousand men. who were divided into 
 three corps and stationed at Fribourg, Morat, Buren, 
 and Soleure, guarding the line of the Aar and ob- 
 serving the French. At the time this movement 
 was effected, namely in Pluviose (February), the 
 diet assembled at Arau gave symptoms of embarrass- 
 ment and seemed undecided what course to pursue. 
 Its presence, at all events, was insufficient to deter 
 the inhabitants of Arau from breaking into rebellion, 
 planting the tree of lil)erty and declaring themselves 
 free. The Bernese troops however entered Arau 
 without delay, chopped do\vn the tree of liberty and 
 committed sundry disorders. The French agent 
 Mengaud thereupon announced tliat the people of 
 Arau were under the protection of France. 
 
 The respective forces were thus in array without 
 any actual war being declared. France, iu answer 
 to the appeal of the people whose rights she had 
 guaranteed, shielded them with her troops, and 
 threatened hostilities if the least injury were inflicted 
 on them. On its part, the Bernese oligarchy re- 
 claimed its rights of sovereignty, protesting anxiety 
 to live in peace with France, but on condition of 
 recovering its possessions. Unluckily for it, the 
 other governments around all gave way, either vo- 
 luntarily or by compulsion. Basle enfranchised the 
 Italian bailiwicks, and the Upper-Valais the Lower- 
 Valais. Fribourg, Soleure, and Saint-Gall were in 
 a state of revolution. 'J'he Bernese oligarchy, find- 
 ing itself pressed on all sides, agreed to certain con- 
 cessions, and admitted fifty individuals, selected 
 from the country districts, to participation in the 
 privileges hitherto confined to the governing families ; 
 but it postponed any modification of the constitu- 
 tion for twelve months. This was an insignificant 
 amendment conducive to results altogether inade- 
 quate. Meanwhile a French messenger had been 
 dispatched to the Bernese troops stationed on the 
 frontiers of the Pays de Vaud, to intimate that if 
 they advanced they would be opposed. This mes- 
 senger was assaulted, and two troopers of his escort 
 assassinated. Such an outrage was an inevitable 
 precuror of war. Still Brune, who was intrusted 
 with the command, held some conferences at Pay- 
 erne, but they proved fruitless, aiid on the I"2th 
 Ventose (■2d March) the French troops moved for- 
 ward. General Schawembourg, with the division 
 brought from the Rhine, and cantoned in the terri- 
 tory of Basle, occupied Soleure fuul the course of 
 the Aar. Brune, with the Italian division, seized 
 on Fribourg. General d'Erlach, who commanded 
 the Bernese troops, retired into the positions of 
 Fraubrunnen, Guniinen, Laupen, and Neuneck. 
 These positions covered Berne on all sides, whether 
 the enemy debouched from Soleure or Fribourg. 
 This retrograde movement produced upon the Ber- 
 nese troops the effect usual with fanatical and un- 
 disciplined bands. They believed themselves be- 
 trayed, and murdered their officers. Part of them 
 disbanded. Nevertheless there remained with d'Er- 
 lach some of those battalions, distinguished in all 
 the armies of Europe for their discipline and bravery, 
 and a certain number of determined peasants. On 
 the 15th Ventose (5t]i March), Brune on the Fri- 
 bourg road, and Sdiawembourg on that of Soleure, 
 siumltancously attacked the positions of the Swiss 
 army. General Pigeon, who led Ijrune's vanguard, 
 assailed the position of Neuneck. The Swiss offered 
 an heroic resistance, and, favoured by the advantage 
 of the ground, checked the veterans of Italy. But 
 at the same moment Schawembourg, issuing from 
 Soleure, carried against d'Erlach the [)osition of 
 Fraubruinien, and the city of Berne was thus un- 
 covered on that side. The Swiss found themselves 
 obliged to retreat, and fell back in disorder on 
 Berne. The French eiu'ountered in front of tiie city 
 
 a multitude of infatuated and desperate mountaineers. 
 Even women and old men rushed headlong on their 
 bayonets. The soldiers were reluctantly compelled 
 to exterminate these pitiable zealots who sacrificed 
 their lives so uselessly. Berne was eventually 
 entered. The denizens of the Swiss mountains sus- 
 tained their ancient reputation for valour, but ex- 
 hibited all the blind and irrational ferocity of an 
 Andalusian horde. They perpetrated a fresh mas- 
 sacre of officers, and assassinated the unfortunate 
 d'Erlach. The celebrated avoyer of Berne, Steiger, 
 head of the Bernese aristocracy, evaded with diffi- 
 culty the fury of these fanatics, and sought refuge 
 across the mountains of the Oberland in the small 
 cantons, whence, still insecure, he extended his 
 flight into Bavaria. 
 
 The capture of Berne decided the submission of 
 all the great Swiss cantons. Brune, called, as had 
 befallen so many French generals, to be the founder 
 of a republic, proposed to incorporate the French 
 part of Switzerland, the lake of Geneva, the Pays 
 de Vaud, a portion of the canton of Berne, and the 
 Valais, into a single republic to be called the Rho- 
 donirjue. But the Swiss patriots had desired a revo- 
 lution chiefly in the hope of obtainii:g two principal 
 advantages: the abolition of all jurisdictions of one 
 people over another, and national unity. They 
 longed to witness the extirpati(ni of all domestic 
 tyrannies, and to mould the whole into a general 
 commonwealth by the institution of a central govern- 
 ment. They prevailed that a single republic only 
 should be carved out of the various subdivisions of 
 Switzerland. A convention was summoned at Arau 
 to consider the constitution devised at Basle. The 
 Directory deputed the ex-conventionalist, Lecarlier, 
 to assist the deliberations of the Swiss and promote 
 harmony among them in the establishment of a satis- 
 factory constitution. A remnant of resistance was 
 still exhibited nevertheless in the small mountain 
 cantons of Uri, Claris, Schweitz, and Zug. The 
 priests and discomfited aristocrats persuaded these 
 simple mountaineers that their religion and inde- 
 pendence were alike doomed to destruction. They 
 circulated, amongst other absurd tales, a rumour 
 that France, having need of soldiers to fight the 
 English, intended to kidnap the robust natives of 
 Switzerland, smuggle them on board of ships, and 
 cast them to perish on the shores of Britain. 
 
 On entering Berne, the French seized the ex- 
 chequer of government, which is a usual proceeding 
 and the least contested right in war. All the public 
 property of a van(|uished government belongs to the 
 conqueror. In all these petty states, equally parsi- 
 monious and extortionate, there were long-hoarded 
 treasures. Berne possessed a small coffer of its 
 own, which has furnished to all the enemies of 
 France a fruitful subject of calumny. It has been 
 represented to contain thirty millions, whereas it 
 held but eight. France is accused of having engaged 
 in the war merely to seize this fund and apply the 
 proceeds in the Egyptian expedition; as if she could 
 liave supposed the authorities of Berne would not 
 have the sense to remove it ; or as if it were probable 
 she would make war and risk the consequences of 
 such an invasion to gain eight millions. Such ab- 
 surdities refute themselves.* A contribution to 
 defray the maintenance and pay of the troops was 
 levied on the nicuibers of tiie old oligarchies of 
 Berne, Fribourg, Soleure, and Zurich. 
 
 The winter of 1797 H was drawing rapidly to a 
 close. Five months only had ela[)sed since the treaty 
 of Campo-Formio, but the situation of Europe had 
 greatly changed in the interval. The republican 
 system had made gigantic strides ; to the three re- 
 publics previously founded by France, two others 
 
 * We find. thoni rcpcBU'ii, notnithstandiii;:. h\ .\!;i(t.inio do 
 8tacl and a crowd of iiuthors.
 
 ro2 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 had been added, created within two months. Europe 
 heard with a shudder the continual echo of the 
 words : Batavinn republic, Helvetian republic. Cisal- 
 pine republic, Lifxirian republic, Roman republic. In- 
 stead of three governments, France had now five to 
 superintend— involvinj; a!i additional coniplicatioii of 
 cares and further explanations fur foreign powers. 
 The Directory thus found itself impelled insensibly. 
 There is nothing more insatiable than a system ; it 
 creeps onward almost alone, expanding and over- 
 coming even in spite of its authors. 
 
 Whilst so many external objects demanded its 
 attention, the domestic subject of the elections like- 
 wise forced itself on the anxious notice of the 
 Directory. Since the 18th Fructidor there remained 
 in the Councils only such deputies as the Directory 
 had voluntarily left tiiere, and upon whom it could 
 rely. These were tliey who had either promoted 
 or acquiesced in the coup d'etat. Six months of 
 quietude between the executive power and the Coun- 
 cils had ensued, which the Directory had employed, 
 as we have seen, in negotiations, maritime projects, 
 and the creation of new states. But although so 
 dead a calm had reigned, it did not theiice result a 
 perfect union existed : two bodies with opposite 
 functions could scarcely preserve complete concord 
 for so long an interval. 
 
 Anew opposition was fornung, composed no longer 
 of royalists but of patriots. We may have already 
 remarked that shortly after one faction had been 
 routed, the government found itself involved in a 
 contest with the other which had assisted it to con- 
 quer, because the latter became too exacting, and 
 broke into mutiny in its turn. Since the 9th Ther- 
 midor, an epoch whesi the factions, rendered nearly 
 equal in strength, began to sustain a singular alterna- 
 tion of defeats and victories, the patriots had revolted 
 in Germinal and Prairial, and, immediately after 
 them, the royalists in Vende'miaire. Since Vende'- 
 miaire and the institution of the Directory, the 
 patrmts had shown their teeth and evinced a danger- 
 ous audacity in the wild enterprise of the camp at 
 Crenelle. Subsequently to tliat event, the royalists 
 had resumed the ascendant, had lost it on the 18th 
 Fructidor, and it was now for the patriots to raise 
 their heads. By way of characterzing this course 
 of things, a term had been invented which we have 
 since seen revived, that of see-saw. The political 
 condition which consisted in alternately exalting and 
 depressing each party was called the sce-saw system. 
 The Directory was upbraided with having employed 
 it, and with being by turns the mere creature of the 
 faction whose aid it sought. This reproach was 
 unfounded ; for, uidess seizing the reins of power at 
 the point of the sword, no government can silence 
 all parties at once, and rule without and in spite of 
 them. At each change of system, administrative 
 changes must also be made, and those are naturally 
 selected who have professed o|)inions conformable to 
 the system presently victorious. All the adherents 
 of the successful party, redolent of hopes, start up 
 with claims, press forward to besiege the govern- 
 ment, and, if their desires be unsatisfied, rail against 
 and attack it. The patriots had thus clamoured, 
 supporting their pretensions by the influence of the 
 deputies who had voted with the Directory in the 
 Councils. The Directory had withstood many de- 
 mands, but had been obliged to comply with some. 
 It had nominated several patriots commissaries in 
 the departments (prefects). Numerous others as- 
 pired to enter the legislative Jiody at the approach- 
 ing elections. To these the authorities recently 
 appointed promised inestimable ad\aiitage. 
 
 Besides the new opposition formed by the patriots 
 who were disappointed with the results of the 18th 
 Fructidor, tliere was another, self-styled the consti- 
 tutional. It emerged again at this juncture, affect- 
 ing to lean towards neither the royalists nor the 
 
 patriots, but boasting independence, moderation, and 
 attachment to the laws, and composed of men who, 
 without being enrolled in any party, had personal 
 grounds of discontent. Some had not obtained an 
 ein))assy, a promotion, or a contract for a relative; 
 otliers had failed to attain the vacant seats in the 
 Directory by a few votes. Nothing is more common 
 than this species of dissatisfaction under a new govern- 
 ment, reared by contemporaries, and constituted of 
 men who were yesterday in the rank of simple citizens. 
 Inheritance is said to be a check on ambition, and 
 riglitly, if it be restricted to certain functions. In- 
 calculable is the importunity wherewith men are as- 
 sailed wlio have sprung to dignity from the common 
 herd. Numbers have contributed to raise them, some 
 feel they are above them only by the chance of a few 
 votes : it seems undeniable that such have a right to 
 urge claims atnl have them gratified. Hence, the 
 Directory, without any intention on its part, had 
 made numerous malcontents amongst the deputies 
 who were formerly classed as directorialists, and 
 whom their services in Fructidor had rendered ex- 
 tremely dillicult to satisfy. One of Bonaparte's 
 brothers, Lucien, elected by Cor.-ica to the Five- 
 Hundred, had planted himself in this constitutional 
 opposition, not from any cause of personal pique, but 
 that he imitated his brother, and assumed the office 
 of censor of the government. It was the attitude 
 which suited a family that aspired to take a position 
 ajjart. Lucien was a man of ability, and endowed 
 with an eminent talent for the tribune. He there 
 produced considerable effect, recommended as he was 
 by the glory of his brother. Joseph too, since his 
 retreat from Rome, had returned to Paris, where he 
 maintained a large establishment, and dispensed a 
 generous hospitality to generals, deputies, and dis- 
 tinguished men. The two brothers, Joseph and 
 Lucien, were thus in a capacity to effect many things. 
 which propriety and his studied reserve prohibited to 
 the general. 
 
 Still, if shades might be thus detected in opinions 
 which had continued almost unanimous for six 
 months, no marked dissension was yet apparent. 
 Forbearance and circumspection prevailed in the 
 Councils, and an immense majority sanctioned all the 
 propositions of the Directory. 
 
 All appearances indicated ithat the elections of the 
 year \'I. would terminate in favour of the patriots. 
 They predominated in France and in the new repub- 
 lics. The Directory, however, was determined to 
 employ all legal means to avert their too coin|)lete 
 ascendency. Its commissaries issued moderate cir- 
 culars containing sundry exhortations, but no men- 
 aces. It had not at its disposition, in fact, any of 
 those influences or infamous devices used in our days 
 to decide elections agreeable to the reigning power.* 
 In the elections of the year V. several assemblies had 
 divided, and, to avoid violence, part of the electors 
 had retired to vote separately. This example was 
 recommended in the electoral assemblies of this year. 
 Accordingly, schisms took place almost universally ; 
 everywhere the electors in a minority alleged the pre- 
 texts of an infraction of the law, or of some violence 
 exercised towards them, to collect apart and make 
 their |)articular returns. It is proper to state, at the 
 same time, that, in many of the departments, the 
 patriots conducted themselves with their accustomed 
 turbulence, and justified the nithdrawal of their op- 
 ponents. In some assemblies it was the patriots who 
 were in a minority and made the secession ; but al- 
 most everywhere they were in a majority, because 
 the mass of the population opposed to them (and 
 which had participated in the two preceding elec- 
 
 • [M. Thiers had not been a deimty or a minister when he 
 [jemied tliis phrase, or lie would have probably modified it 
 .M the same time, it is scarcely possible to conceive a more 
 wretched parody on an election than he is proceedin-; to unfold. 
 This he feels, for he is almost unintelligible in describinc it 1
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 703 
 
 tionsof the years V. and VI.), at present intimidated 
 by the 18th Fnictidor, had, so to speak, abjured 
 public affairs, and ventured to take no part tlierein. 
 At Paris, considerable excitement prevailed. There 
 were two assemblies held, one at the Oratory, wholly 
 composed' of patriots, and mustering six hundred 
 electors at least ; the other at the Institute, 
 comprehending- moderate republicans, and counting 
 scarcely two hundred and twenty-eight electors. 
 This latter, however, returned a leet of excellent 
 nominations. 
 
 In general the elections were twofold. Various 
 apprehensions were thereby occasioned. The dis- 
 contented, the lovers of change, all in fact who, from 
 different motives, desired to subvert the existing 
 order of things, exclaimed — "T/iis can go no farther ; 
 after erecutinij an \8th Fnictidor against the rogalists, 
 we are exposed to have another against the patriots." 
 They reported too, that the constitution was about 
 to be altered. The Directory was even applied to 
 on the subject, but it indignantly spurned the idea. 
 
 Different parts might be taken with regard to these 
 elections. Acting in accordance %vith strict princi- 
 ples, the Councils were bound to sustain the returns 
 made by the majorities; for otherwise it would occur 
 that the minorities, by seceding, would secure the 
 privilege of making the nominations. Disturbances 
 and informalities might be reasons for annulling the 
 elections made by the majorities, but not for adopt- 
 ing those of the minorities. The patriots in the 
 Councils strongly contended for this position, be- 
 cause, their party having been most numerous in 
 almost all the assemblies, it insured them a success- 
 ful issue of the question. But the bulk of the two 
 Councils was not inclined to allow them this advan- 
 tage, and two modes of meeting the ditliculty were 
 suggested : either to take the returns made by the 
 seceding assemblies, or to execute a new eighteenth 
 Fructidor. This last was inadmissible ; the first was 
 milder and more natural. It was accordingly adopted. 
 In almost every instance the elections of the patriots 
 were quashed, and those of their opponents con- 
 firmed. The leet chosen at Paris in the assembly 
 held at the Institute, although it numbered but two 
 hundred and twenty-eight electors, whilst that at 
 the Oratory contained six hundred, was in this man- 
 ner approved. Nevertheless, the new third, not- 
 withstanding this reversal, brought no inconsiderable 
 accession of strength to the patriot party in the 
 Councils. Yet was that party sorely irritated at the 
 expedient adopted for excluding the men of its selec- 
 tion, and became henceforth more active and em- 
 bittered against the Directory. 
 
 A new director was next to be chosen. The lot 
 fell on Francois de Neufchateau to retire. He was 
 replaced by Treilhard, one of the French plenipo- 
 tentiaries at Rastadt. Treilhard held identically the 
 opinions of Lare'velliere, Rewbell, and Merlin. His 
 appointment, therefore, caused I'o change in the spirit 
 of the Directory. He was an upright, honest man, 
 sufficiently accustomed to affairs. Hence, there 
 were four stanch republicans in the goveriunent, all 
 voting in perfect unison, and combining intelligence 
 with probity. Treilhard was succeeded at Rastadt 
 by Jean Debry, an ex-member of the legislature and 
 of the national convention. 
 
 Since, by the establishment of the Constitution of the 
 year III., parties were obliged to carry on their warfare 
 within the narrow limits of a constitution, domestic 
 scenes and transactions had lost much of their former 
 zest and stirring incident. Especially, since the 18th 
 Fructidor, the tribune had been shorn of its impor- 
 tance. All eyes were fixed on abroad. 'J he colossal 
 influence! of tlie republic in Europe, its singular and 
 complicated relations with other states, its train of 
 dependent republics, the revolutions it was on all 
 sides promoting, and finally, its designs against Eng- 
 land, engrossed all attcnfion. How was France to 
 
 assail this rival in his most vulnerable part, and to 
 inflict on him the terrible blows she had already 
 given Austria? This was the question repeated 
 from ear to ear. Men had grown so accustomed to 
 feats of chivalric boldness, and to astounding pro- 
 digies, that the passage of the channel seemed an 
 ordinary affair. Both the friends and enemies of 
 England deemed her in imminent peril. She herself 
 felt uneasy, and made extraordinary efforts to defend 
 herself. The world at large had its gaze concen- 
 trated on the coasts of the British channel. 
 
 Bonaparte, who thought upon Egypt as he had 
 two years previously thought upon Italy, as he 
 thought upon every thing, that is to say, with un- 
 controllable energy, had submitted his project to the 
 Directory, which was discussing it at this moment. 
 The great geniuses who have attentively studied the 
 map of the world have all centred their attention on 
 Egypt. We may cite three, Albuquerque, Leibnitz, 
 and Bonaparte. Albuquerque was sensible that the 
 Portuguese, who had just opened the route to India 
 by the Cape of Good Hope, might be deprived of 
 that great trade if the Nile and the Red Sea ever 
 came to be used. Accordingly, he entertained the 
 gigantic idea of turning the course of the Nile, and 
 throwing it into the Red Sea, to render the way for 
 ever impracticable, and assure to the Portuguese the 
 perpetual commerce of India. Vain premeditations 
 of genius, which would constitute fortunes immu- 
 table in an unstable and changeable world ! If the 
 visionary scheme of Albuquerque had been realized, 
 the Herculean labour would have redounded to the 
 profit of the Dutch, and eventually of the English. 
 In the reign of Loiiis XIV., the great Leibnitz, 
 whose high capacity embraced all subjects, addressed 
 to that monarch a memorial, which remains one of 
 the most admirable records of political logic and elo- 
 quence. Louis designed, in a vain-glorious mood, to 
 invade Holland. — " Sire," so Leibnitz spoke oracu- 
 larly, "it is not in their own country you will suc- 
 ceed in vanquishing these republicans ; you will not 
 be able to cross their dykes, and you will range all 
 Europe on their side. It is in Egypt they must be 
 struck. There, you will find the true route for the 
 commerce of India ; you will wrest that commerce 
 from the Dutch, you will insure the everlasting 
 domination of France in the Levant, you will glad- 
 den all Christianity, you will fill the world with 
 astonishm'ent and admiration ; Europe will applaud 
 you, far from combine against you." 
 
 Such were the vast conceptions, slighted by Louis 
 XIV., which stirred the brain of the young republi- 
 can general. 
 
 Even quite recently, moreover, Egypt had been 
 an object of consideration to French politicians. M. 
 de Choiseul had favoured Ihe idea of occupying it, 
 when the American colonies were in danger. Aj/ain 
 it was resumed when Joseph II. aiul Catherine 
 threatened the Ottoman empire. Also M. Magallon, 
 the French consul at Cairo, a distinguished man, and 
 thoroughly conversant with the state of Egypt and 
 the East, had very lately addressed memorials to gov- 
 ernment, both to denounce the confiscations of the 
 Mamelukes on French traders, and to expose tlic 
 advantages which would result from their punish- 
 ment. Bonaparte had p^()^■i(k■d himself with all 
 these docunnMits and formed his plan with reference 
 to their contents. Egypt was, in his view, the true 
 intermediary point between Europe and India; there 
 it behoved France to establish herself to ruin Eng- 
 land ; thence, she nuist for ever rule the Medi- 
 terranean, making of it, according to one of his 
 ex[)ressi()ns, a IVituh Idhr, and lie able to prolong 
 the existence of the Turkish empire, or secure the 
 best portion of its spoils. Once consolidated in 
 Egypt, the French might effect one or both of 
 two objects : either create a navy in the Red Sea 
 and proceed to destroy tlie factories on the great
 
 704 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Indian peninsula, or make of Egypt a colony and 
 entrepot. The commerce of India could not fail to 
 be speedily transferred thither to avoid the circuit- 
 ous route of the Cape of Good Hope. The numer- 
 ous caravans of Syria, Arabia, and Africa, already 
 intersected at Cairo. The trade of these countries 
 alone mii^ht become immense. Egypt was the most 
 fertile country in the world. Besides her prolilic 
 harvests of grain, she could supply all the products 
 of America, and wholly supercede tlie necessity of 
 reliance on tluit continent. Thus, whether Egypt 
 were used as a point of departure for a crusade 
 against the Indian establishments of the English, or 
 simply as an entrepot, tlie high road of commerce 
 was sure to take tliis its legitimate beat, and end as 
 its ultimate goal in France. 
 
 This bold cTiterprise possessed, moreover, in the 
 eyes of Bonaparte, other signal recommendations. 
 According to the luminous reports of M. Magallon, 
 now was the proper season to de art for Egypt. 
 By hurrying the preparations and tlie voyage, the 
 French might reach it in the early part of summer. 
 They would tlicn find the crops cut and garnered, 
 and the winds favourable to asceiul tl)e Nile. Bona- 
 parte urged tluit it was impossible to land in England 
 before the winter, and that in any case her govern- 
 ment was too well forewarned ; that the expedition 
 to Egypt being, on the contrary, wholly unforeseen, 
 wouhi encounter no obstacles ; that a few months 
 would suffice for the establishment of the French ; 
 that he would return in person by the autumn to 
 execute the descent upon the English coast ; that 
 the opportunity would then be more favourable, for 
 a considerable portion of the English tleet would 
 have sailed for India, and the difficulties to overcome 
 in effecting a landing be materially lessened. Besides 
 all these reasons of a public nature, Bonaparte had 
 others personal to himself. The idleness of Paris 
 was insupportable to him ; there was nothing to 
 attempt in civil politics ; he was fearful of losing 
 lustre ; he was on fire to aggrandize his name yet 
 more. He had been heard to say : Great names are 
 made only in the East. 
 
 The Directory, who has been accused of desiring 
 to get rid of Bonaparte by sending him to Egypt, 
 offered on the contrary serious objections to the pro- 
 ject. Lare'vellicre-Lc'peaux, especially, manifested 
 extreme obstinacy in opposing it. lie argued that 
 it would eiulanger thirty or forty thousand of the 
 Viest troops in France, and expose them to all the 
 hazards of a naval warfare ; that it would take from 
 France her greatest commander, him whom Austria 
 dreaded the most, at a moment when the continent 
 was far from being pacified, and when the creation of 
 the new republics had excited violent resentments; 
 and that, furthermore, it would probably exasperate 
 the Porte to a declaration of war, invading thus one 
 of its provinces. Bonaparte was prompt with his 
 rejoinder. He contended that nothing was more 
 easy than to escape the English by keeping them in 
 profound ignorance of the scheme ; that France with 
 three or four hundred thousand soldiers, could not 
 be dependent on thirtv or forty thousand, more or 
 less ; that, for himself, he would shortly return ; 
 that, as to the Ottoman Porte, it had long ago lost 
 Egypt by the usurpation of the Mamelukes, and 
 would witness with pleasure their cln.stisement by 
 France ; that at all events an understanding might 
 be arranged with the Sultan ; that the continent 
 would not break into hostilities so soon, &c. &c. 
 He alluded also to Malta, which he proposed to 
 wrest from the knights as he passed and secure for 
 France. The discussions were often very warm, 
 and on one occasion led to a scene which has l)een 
 always incorrectly reported. Bonaparte, in a mo- 
 ment of impatience, pronounced the word " resigna- 
 tion." — " I am far from wishing to demand it," 
 Larc'velli^re retorted with firmness, "but if vou 
 
 offer it, I am of opinion it should be accepted."*— 
 From this time Bonaparte was careful to avoid any 
 mention of resignation. 
 
 Overcome at length by the instances and reasons 
 of Bonaparte, the Directory consented to the pro- 
 posed expedition. It was incited by the grandeur 
 of the enterprise, by its commercial advantages, and 
 by the promise of Bonaparte to return before; winter 
 and then undertake the descent on England. It 
 was agreed to observe the most perfect secrecy, 
 and, that it might be better guarded, the presence of 
 secretaries was dispensed with. Merlin, president 
 of the Directory, wrote the instructions with his 
 own hand, and even they did not specify the nature 
 of the enterprise. It was settled that Bonaparte 
 should take with him 36,000 men of the old army of 
 Italy, a certain number of generals and officers of his 
 own selection, men of scieiiCi> nnd learning, survey- 
 ors, geographers, workmen of all kinds, and the 
 squadron under Brueys reinforced by part of the 
 vessels remaining at Toulon. Orders were issued to 
 the Treasury to furnish him a million and a half per 
 decade. He was permitted to appropriate three out 
 of the eight millions captured at Berne. It has 
 been said that Switzerland was invaded to procure 
 means for the invasion of Egypt. We may now 
 judge of the truth of such a supposition. 
 
 Bonaparte forthwith nominated a commission to 
 visit the harbours of the Mediterranean and prepare 
 the necessary means of transport. This commission 
 was styled a connnission for arminri the coasts of the 
 Mediterranean. Its members were ignorant, with all 
 the world, of the object of the armament. The 
 secret reposed with Bonaparte and the live directors. 
 As preparations were proceeding in all the ports at 
 once, it was supposed that the Mediterranean arma- 
 ment was only a consequence of that in progress 
 on the ocean. The army collected upon the Medi- 
 terranean was called the left wing of the army of 
 England. 
 
 Bonaparte applied himself to the work with that 
 extraordinary activity which he imparted to the 
 execution of all his projects. Hurryuig alternately 
 to the ministers of war, of the navy, of finance, and 
 to the officers of the treasury, noting with his own 
 eyes the accomplishment of his orders, employing all 
 his ascendency to accelerate their dispatch, corre- 
 sponding with the whole of the ports, with Switzer- 
 land, with Italy, he caused all the preparations to be 
 completed with incredible rapidity. He fixed four 
 points as depots for the convoys and the troops : 
 the principal convoy was to start from Toulon, the 
 second from Genoa, the third from Ajaccio, and the 
 fourth from Civita-Vecchia. He directed towards 
 Toulon and Genoa the detachments of the army of 
 Italy returning to France, and towards Civita-Vec- 
 chia one of the divisions which had marched on 
 Rome. He treated both in France and Italy with 
 owners and captains of merchant vessels, and thus 
 contrived to muster in the ports of departure four 
 hundred sail of ships. He selected a numerous artil- 
 lery to accompany him, and picked out 2,500 troopers, 
 the best in the army, to embark without horses, as 
 he proposed to e(|uip them at the expense of the 
 Arabs. He determined to carry with him saddles 
 aiul harness only, and shipped but three hundred 
 horses, so as to have upon arrival at least a few 
 mounted cavalry and yoked pieces. He collected 
 artisans of all descriptions; api)ropriated the Greek 
 and Arab presses of the Propaganda at Rome, and 
 allotted a body of printers to work them. He 
 f(M-med also a complete collection of philosophical 
 and mathematical instruments. The scientific and 
 
 * This speech lias been by turn? ustribcJ to Itewbell an J to 
 Barras. To the discussion itself hkcwisc, a totally different 
 cause from the true one has been assigned. It was with 
 reference to the Egyptian expedition and with Larevellicre 
 that the scene took place.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 705 
 
 learned men, the artists, tlie surveyors, the desif^ers, 
 the geographers, whom he took, amounted to nearly 
 a hundred individuals. The most celebrated names 
 were associated in his enterprise : ^longe, Bertholet, 
 Fourrier, Dolomieux. were of the expedition ; as 
 were likewise Desgenettes, Larrey, and Dubois. 
 All the world was eager to join the fortunes of the 
 young general. None knew whither the destination 
 tended ; but all were ready to follow him atiy where. 
 During the negotiations at Iodine, Desaix had gone 
 to inspect the fields of battle become so celebrated 
 in Italy. Thenceforth he had attached himself to 
 Bonaparte, and now ri-solved to accompany him. 
 Kleber was at Chaillot, grumbling, as usual with 
 him, against the government, and refusing to solicit 
 employment. He was accustomed often to visit the 
 great master in the art he loved so passionately. 
 Bonaparte pressed him to go with him. Kleber 
 consented with joy: "but the lairi/ers," said he, 
 *' what will they say ? " It was thus he designated 
 the directors. Bonaparte undertook to remove all 
 objections. "So good!" exclaimed Kleber, who 
 believed England the object of attack, "if you send 
 a fire-ship into the Thames, put Kleber on board of 
 it, and you will see what he can do." To these two 
 generals of the first distinction^ Bonaparte added 
 Reynier, Dugua, Vaubois, Bon, Menou, Baraguey- 
 d'Hilliers, Lannes, ]\Iurat, Belliard, and Danunartin, 
 who had all so courageously seconded him in Italy. 
 The brave and accomplished Caffarelli-Dufalga, who 
 had left a leg on the Rhine, commanded the artillery. 
 The weak but useful Berthier was appointed chief 
 of the staff. Smitten with love, he was on th.e point 
 of forsaking the general to whom he owed his for- 
 tune; but he grew ashamed, expressed penitence, and 
 hastened to embark at Toulon. Brueys commanded 
 the fleet; Villeneuve, Blanquet-Duchaila, and Decres 
 served as vice-admirals. Gantheaume was nominated 
 chief of the naval staff. Thus, all that France pos- 
 sessed most illustrious in war, science, and art, pre- 
 pared to embark, on the faith of this young general, 
 for an unkno\vn destination. 
 
 France and Europe rung with the sound of the 
 preparations going forward in the Mediterranean. 
 They gave rise to conjectures of all kinds. " Where 
 is Bonaparte going?" asked every one. " Whither 
 go these generals, these men of science, all this 
 array?" " They go." said some, "into the Black 
 Sea, to restore the Crimea to Turkey." " They 
 go to India," said others, " to support Sultan Tip- 
 poo-Saib." A few, who scented the object, asserted 
 that it was intended to pierce the isthmus of Suez, 
 or otherwise to land on the shores of the isthmus 
 and reimbark in the Red Sea for an excursion to 
 India. Others fell upon the design itself, and main- 
 tained that Egypt was the destination. A memoir 
 read at the Institute the preceding year gave weight 
 to this latter speculation. Recoiulite soothsayers 
 augured a combination more profound. All this 
 parade of preparation, which seemed to lieloken a 
 scheme of colonization, was according to them a 
 mere feint. Bonaparte designed simply, with the 
 Mediterranean fleet, to double the straits of C<ib- 
 raltar, attack Lord St. Vincent who was blockading 
 Cadiz, disperse his sfjuadron, relieve the Spanish 
 fleet from thraldom, and conduct it to Brest, where 
 would be effected the long desired junction of all 
 the Continental navies. It was with this view the 
 troops on the Mediterranean were entitled the left 
 wing of the army of England. 
 
 This chanced to be precisely the conviction of 
 the British cabinet. It had been in a state of alarm 
 for the last six months, and knew 7iot on what side 
 to expect the bursting of the >torm so long brewing. 
 In the general anxiety, the opposition had for a 
 moment coalesced with the ministry, and made com- 
 mon cause with it. Sheridan had turned his elo- 
 ((uence against the insatiable ambition and turbulence 
 
 of the French people, and, save the suspension of 
 the Habeas-Corpus act, had supported on all points 
 the mijiisterial propositions. Pitt, meanwhile, lost 
 no time in equii)ping a second squadron. To pre- 
 pare it for sea extraordinary exertions were used. 
 and the fleet of Lord St. Vincent was reinforced by 
 si.x sail of the line to enable him cffcftually to bar 
 the mouth of the Straits, toward which Bonaparte 
 was so confidently supposed to be steering. Nelson 
 was detached by Lord St. Vincent with three ships 
 to scour the Mediterranean and watch the movements 
 of the French. 
 
 Every arrangement was completed for the embark- 
 ation. Bonaparte was on the point of setting out 
 for Toulon, when an occurrence at Vienna, coupled 
 with the dispositions manifested by divers cabinets, 
 threatened to detain him in Europe. The creation 
 of two new republics had roused to the highest pitch 
 the dread of the revolutionarj- contagion. England, 
 wishful to foment this feeling, had distributed emis- 
 saries amongst all the European courts. She urged 
 the new king of Prussia to throw off his neutrality, 
 in order to preserve Germany from the torrent ; she 
 laboured to inflame the weak and violent mind of 
 the Emperor Paul; she sought to alarm Austria 
 upon the occupation of the Alps by the French, and 
 offered her subsidies to recommence the war; in fine, 
 she exerted her influence to stimulate the insane fury 
 of the queen of Naples and her minion. The court 
 of this latter potentate evinc^nl greater irritation 
 than ever. It insisted that France should evacuate 
 Rome, or cede to it a part of the Roman provinces. 
 The new ambassador, Garat, had in vain displayed 
 an extreme moderation ; his patience ^vvas severely 
 tested by the mortifications he endured at the hands 
 of the Neapolitaii cabinet. The state of the con- 
 tinent, therefore, was calculated to inspire appre- 
 hensions, and an incident happened to aggravate 
 them. Bernadotte had been sent to Vienna, upon a 
 mission of explanation to tlie Austrian cabinet, and 
 he was instructed to take up his residence there, 
 although no ambassador had been yet accredited to 
 Paris. This general, of a restless and susceptible 
 temperament, was very unfit for the post he was 
 appointed to fill. A proposal had been entertained 
 to celebrate at Vienna on the 14th April the enrol- 
 ment of the Imperial volimteers. M'e remember the 
 zeal these volunteers had shomi in the preceding 
 year, and the fate thev met at Rivoli and La Favorita. 
 Bernadotte had tlie l*olly to prote t against this cele- 
 bration, alfirming that it would be an insult to 
 France. The Emperor replied with justice that he 
 was master in his own dominions, that France was 
 free to commemorate her victorie-;, and that he 
 also was at liberty to commemorate the devotion of 
 his subjects. Bernadotte, thus repulsed, then de- 
 termined to give an opposition-fete, and accordingly 
 celebrated in his hotel one of the victories of the 
 army of Italy, of which it chanced to be the anniver- 
 sary, rearing at his door the tri-coloured flag, iii- 
 scrilMjd with the words cqunlitii, lihtrty. The popu- 
 lace of Vienna, excited, it is said, by the emissaries 
 of the English ambassador, attacked the hotel of the 
 French minister, broke the windows, and committed 
 other disorders. The Austrian ministry hastened 
 to send assistance to Bernadotte, and conducted itself 
 with regard to him very differently from the Roman 
 government in the case of .Toseiih Bonaparte. Ber- 
 nadotte, whose own imprudence had provoked the 
 outrage, retired from Vienna and betook liimself to 
 Rastadt. 
 
 The court of Vienna was unquestionably chagrined 
 at this un[)leasant circumstance. It was certain that 
 this government, even supposing it to have every 
 inclination to resume hostilities, would not take the 
 initiative by insulting the French ambassador, and 
 thus precipitate a war for which it was wholly un- 
 prepared. On the contrary, it is undoubted that,
 
 706 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 albeit greatly displeased with France and her late 
 encroachments, and forebodinj^f that the da\' would 
 come when she must renew the struggle with her, 
 Austria was not _vet disposed to try the experiment, 
 deeming both her people too exhausted and her 
 means too iriadequate to assault anew the republican 
 colossus. The cabinet, therefore, immediately pub- 
 lished a disavowal of the event, and wrote to Berna- 
 dotte with the view of appeasing him. 
 
 The Directory judged this occurrence at Vienna 
 indicative of a rupture. It forthwith issued counter- 
 orders to Bonaparte, and even urged him to proceed 
 to Rastadt for the purpose of overawing the Em- 
 peror, and forcing him either to give satisfaction, or 
 take the consequences of war. Bonaparte, highly dis- 
 pleased at the delay occasioiied to his own design, 
 refused to go to Rastadt, and, estimating the posi- 
 tion of affairs with more discernment than the Direc- 
 tory, maintained that the event was far from possess- 
 ing the gravity attributed to it. In fact, Austria 
 speedily intimated that she purposed at length to 
 send an envoy to Paris, in the person of M. Degel- 
 mann ; made a show of disgracing the prime minister 
 Thugut ; and offered to let M. de Cobentzel repair 
 to any place fixed by the Directory, and meet a 
 French agent to give and receive explanations on the 
 occurrence at Vierma and the changes effected in 
 Europe since the treaty of Campo-Formio. The 
 storm, therefore, appeared to be dissipated. Zxlore- 
 over, the negotiations at Rastadt had begun to make 
 a favourable progress. After disputing the left bank 
 of the Rhine inch by inch, after striving to preserve 
 the territory lying between the iMoselle and the 
 Rhine, and ultimately a small strip of land between 
 the Roehr and the Rhine, the deputation of the Em- 
 pire had finally conceded the whole left bank. The 
 line of the Rhine was at last recognised as the 
 natural boundary of France. Another principle of 
 equal moment had been adnntted, that of indemnify- 
 ing the dispossessed princes by means of seculariza- 
 tions. Nevertheless, points not less difficult of ad- 
 justment remained for discussion: the appropriation 
 of the islands of the Rhine, the conservation of for- 
 tified posts, bridges, and bridge-heads (tetcs de punt), 
 the condition of monasteries and of the intermediate 
 nobility on the left bank, the liquidation of the debts 
 of the countries ceded to France, the application of 
 the emigration laws to those countries, and many 
 others. These were questions of difficult solution, 
 especially when left to the proverbial tardiness of 
 Germans. 
 
 Such was the state of the Continent. The hori- 
 zon appearing comparatively serene, Bonaparte at 
 length obtained permission to depart for Toulon. It 
 was agreed that M. de Talleyrand should start im- 
 mediately after him for Constantinople, in the hope 
 of inducing the Porte to regard with complacency 
 the expedition to Egypt. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. DEPARTURE FRO.M TOU- 
 LON; ARRIVAL AT MALT.V ; REDUCTION OF THAT 
 
 ISLAND. DISEMBARKATION AT ALEXANDRIA ; 
 
 CAPTURE OF THAT CITY. MARCH UPON CAIRO 
 
 BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS ; OCCUPATION OF 
 CAIRO. — ADMINISTRATIVE LABOURS OF BONA- 
 PARTE IN EGYPT ; ORtJANIZATION OF THE NEW 
 
 COLONY. BATTLE OF AHOUKIR ; DESTRUCTION OF 
 
 THE FRENCH FLEET BY THE ENGLIsll. 
 
 Bonaparte arrived at Toulon on the 20th Floreal 
 year VI. (9th :\Iay 1798). His presence spread 
 gladness through the army, which had begun to mur- 
 mur, and to fear that he was not at the head of the 
 expedition. It was the old armv of Italy. Its sol- 
 
 diers were loaded with riches and with glory, and it 
 might be truly said that its fortune was made. Ac- 
 cordingly, their passion for war was considerably 
 abated, and it needed all the zeal which their com- 
 mander inspired to determine them to embark and 
 depart for an unknown destination. Still they were 
 seized with enthusiasm on beholding him at Toulon. 
 Eight months had elapsed since he had been amongst 
 them. He proceeded, without enlightening them as 
 to their destination, to address them in the following 
 proclamation — - 
 
 " Soldiers ! 
 
 " You form one of the wings of the army of Eng- 
 land. You have practised the war of mountains, of 
 plains, and of sieges ; it remains for you to practise 
 vvar on the seas. 
 
 " The Roman legions, whom you have sometimes 
 imitated, but not yet equalled, encountered Carthage 
 alternately on this sea and on the plains of Zama. 
 Victory never forsook them, because they were ever 
 brave, patient in supporting fatigue, disciplined and 
 united amongst themselves. 
 
 " Soldiers, Europe has its eyes upon you ! You 
 have high destinies to fulfil, battles to wage, dangers, 
 fatigues to overcome ; you will accomplish more than 
 you have yet done for the prosperity of your country, 
 the happiness of mankind, and your omii glory. 
 
 " Soldiers, sailors, infantry, cavalry, artillery, be 
 united ; remember that on the day of battle you have 
 need of each other. 
 
 " Soldiers, sailors, you have been hitherto ne- 
 glected ; at the present moment the chief solicitude 
 of the republic is for you : you will prove worthy ot 
 the army of which you form a part. 
 
 " The genius of liberty which has rendered the 
 republic, since its birth, the arbiter of Europe, wills 
 that it shall be so also of the seas and of nations the 
 most remote." 
 
 A great enterprise could not have been more im 
 pressively announced, — still leaving it veiled in the 
 obscurity in which it was incumbent to shroud it. 
 
 The fleet under the command of Admiral Brueys, 
 was composed of thirteen ships of the line, one, the 
 Orient, carrying the Admiral and the General-in- 
 chief, being of 120 guns, two of 80, and ten of 74. 
 There were, moreover, two Venitian ships of 65 
 guns each, six Venitian frigates and eight French, 
 seventy-two corvettes, cutters, gun-boats, and small 
 craft of all kinds. The transports collected, as well 
 at Toulon as at Genoa, Ajaccio, and Civita-Vecchia, 
 amounted to four hundred. Five hundred sail in all 
 therefore were to crowd the waters of the Mediter- 
 ranean. Never had such an armament covered the 
 seas. The fleet had on board about forty thousand 
 men of all arms, and ten thousand sailors. It was 
 watered for one and provisioned for two months. 
 
 The sails were hoisted on the 30th Floreal (19th 
 May), amidst the roar of cannon, and the acclama- 
 tions of the whole army. A strong breeze occasioned 
 some damage to a frigate in sailing out of port. The 
 same wind had caused such disasters to the three 
 shi|)s with which Nelson was cruising, that he was 
 obliged to make for the islands of Saint Peter to 
 refit. He was thus removed to a distance from the 
 French squadron, and consequently failed to see it. 
 The fleet made in the first instance for Genoa, to 
 take up the convoy waiting in that port under the 
 command of General Baraguey-d'Hilliers. It after- 
 wards proceeded towards Corsica, picked up the con- 
 voy of Ajaccio, which was under the orders of Vau- 
 bois, and ultimately steered for the Sicilian sea to re- 
 ceive the convoy of Civita-Vecchia, which was under 
 the orders of Desaix. Bonaparte's design was to 
 shape his course for Malta, and attempt on the way 
 an audacious enterprise, the success of which he had 
 long ago taken means to secure by secret practices. 
 This was to seize u[)on that island, which, com-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 707 
 
 mandiiigthe navigation of tbe Mediterranean, became 
 an important acquisition for Egypt, and would assur- 
 edly soon fall into the grasp of tlie English, if they 
 were not anticipated. 
 
 The order of the Knights of Malta was in a similar 
 predicament to all the institutions of the middle 
 ages ; its object was gone, and \vith it its dignity and 
 strength. It was now simply an abuse, profitable 
 only to those who partook it. The Knights enjoyed 
 large possessionsin Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, aTid 
 Germany, which had been bestowed on them by the 
 piety of the faithful to protect Christians visiting the 
 Holy Land. Now that pilgrimages of this sort had 
 ceased, the vocation and duty of the Knights were 
 to protect Christianity against the states of Barbary, 
 and to extirpate the pirates who infested the Medi- 
 terranean. The revenues of the order sufficed for 
 the maintenance of a considerable navy, but the 
 Knights took no pains to form one ; they kept but 
 two or three decayed frigates, moored constantly in 
 port, and a few galleys in which they jaunted round 
 the coasts of Italy, giving and receiving festivities. 
 The bailiffs, or commanders, living in the various 
 countries of Europe, consumed in luxury and idle- 
 ness the riches of the order. Not a knight survived 
 who had waged war against the Infidel corsairs. All 
 interest in the order, moreover, had expired. I)i 
 France its possessions were confiscated, and Bona- 
 parte had caused those in Italy to be seized without 
 exciting a single reclamation in its favour. We have 
 stated that Bonaparte had already endeavoured to 
 establish an intelligence in the island. He had, in 
 fact, gained some of the Knights, and proposed to 
 intimidate the remainder by a bold demonstration 
 and awe them into a surrender, as he had neither 
 time nor means for a regular attack upon a place 
 deemed impregnable. The Order, which had for 
 some time apprehended its danger from the predom- 
 inance of the French squadrons in the Mediterranean, 
 had placed itself under the guardianship of Paul of 
 Russia. 
 
 Bonaparte, in spite of strenuous exertions, was 
 baffled in his attempt to take up the division of 
 Civita-Vecchia, and the junction with it was only 
 effected at Malta. The five hundred sail of the 
 French fleet hove in sight of that island oii the 21st 
 Prairial (9th June), twenty-two days after the de- 
 parture from Toulon. The spectacle occasioned 
 sore tribulation in the minds of the islanders. To 
 make a pretext for stopping, and to originate a cause 
 of quarrel, Bonaparte demanded from the Grand- 
 Master permission to take in water. The Grand- 
 Master. Ferdinand de Hompesch, replied by a posi- 
 tive refusal, pleading the regulations which allowed 
 the introduction of only two vessels at a time belong- 
 ing to belligerent powers. The English had met 
 with a very different reception when they appeared 
 before Malta. Bonaparte proclaimed this denial a 
 proof of unexampled malevolence, and immediately 
 ordered a deljarkation. On the following day, the 
 22d Prairial (lOth June), accordingly, the French 
 landed on the island and completely invested Va- 
 letta, which contained a population of nearly 30,000 
 souls, and was one of the strongest fortresses in 
 Europe. Bonaparte likewise landed artillery to 
 bombard the forts. The knights answered his fire, 
 but inefficiently. They attempted a sally and many 
 of them were captured. Disorder then commenced 
 %vithin the walls. Certain knights of the French 
 tongue declared they would not fight against their 
 countrymen. Some of tliese were thrown into dun- 
 geons. Great trouble reigned ne\'ertheless, and the 
 inhabitants clamoured for a surrender. The Grand- 
 Master, a man of feeble energies, calling to mind the 
 generosity of the hero of Rivoli at Mantua, bethought 
 himself to save his fortunes from shipwreck, and 
 forthwith releasing one of the French knights he 
 bad cast into prison, sent him to Bonaparte with a 
 
 commission to negotiate. An accommodation was 
 soon arranged. The knights relinquished to France 
 the sovereignty of Malta and the dependent isles; 
 and, in return, France promised her intervention at 
 the Congress of Rastadt, to obtain for the Grand- 
 Master a principality in Germany, and, in case of 
 failure, guaranteed him a pension of 300,000 francs 
 for life, and an indemnity of (iOO.OOO francs in money. 
 She settled, moreover, a pension of 700 francs on 
 each knight of the French tongue, and 1,000 on 
 sexagenarians; and engaged to exert her influence 
 that the knights of other tongues might be allowed 
 to enjoy the estates of the Order in their several 
 countries. Such were the conditions on which 
 France gained possession of the first port in the 
 Mediterranean, and of one of the strongest fortresses 
 in the world. It needed the overawing ascendency 
 of Bonaparte to succeed almost \nthout a contest ; 
 and it assuredly needed his confident audacity to 
 hazard the delay of such an midertaking with the 
 English in full pursuit. Caffarelli-Dufalga, equally 
 distinguished for wit and valour, remarked as he 
 walked round the place and admired its fortifications : 
 We are truly fortunate (hat there was some one inside 
 to open the yates. 
 
 Bonaparte selected Vaubois to command at Malta 
 with a garrison of 3,000 men, and appointed Reg- 
 nault de Saint- Jean-d'Angely civil commissary. He 
 made all the administrative regulations necessary for 
 the establishment of the municipal system in the 
 island, and then prepared in all haste to continue his 
 voyage to Egypt. 
 
 He weighed anchor on the 1st Messidor (19th 
 June), after an interval of ten days. His great ob- 
 ject now was to avoid an encounter with the English. 
 Nelson, having refitted at the Saint-Peter islands, 
 had received from Lord St. Vincent a reinforcement 
 of ten ships of the line and several frigates, which 
 constituted him a fleet of thirteen sail of the line and 
 sundry vessels of less calibre. lie had reappeared on 
 the 13th Prairial (1st June) before Toulon; but the 
 French squadron had left twelve days previously. 
 He then hastened from Toulon to the roads of Tag- 
 liamon, and thence to Naples, where he arrived on 
 the 2(1 IMessidor (20th June) almost at the very 
 moment Bonaparte was quitting Malta. Learning 
 that the French had been seen in the direction of 
 Malta he followed them, prepared to attack if he 
 succeeded in overtaking them. 
 
 Throughout the French squadron every thing was 
 prepared for battle. The possibility of meeting the 
 English occurred to all on board, and alarmed none. 
 Bonaparte had distributed to each ship of the line 
 five hundred picked men, who were daily practised 
 at the guns, and over whom was placed one of those 
 generals so well trained to fire under his orders. It 
 was a principle in naval tactics that each ship should 
 have but one aim, that of grappling with another, 
 figliting, and boarding her. Orders were given in 
 conformity, and Bonaparte relied in the event of a 
 conflict on the l)ravery of tlie chosen troops stationed 
 in the ships upon which the brunt of the engagement 
 would fall. These precautions taken, he proceeded 
 in tranquillity towards Egypt. This man, who, 
 according to malignant detractors, dreaded the haz- 
 ards of the sea, abandoned himself calmly to fortune 
 amidst the English fleets, and had e\-en been suffi- 
 ciently rash to lose several da\s at Malta to effect 
 its reduction. Gaiety meanwhile prevailed in the 
 fleet ; none knew exactly whither it was bound, but 
 the secret began to be whispered, and sight of the 
 land designed for conquest was impatiently expected. 
 In the evenings, the general officers who were on 
 board the I/Orient assendiled in the cabin of the 
 general-in-chief, and there the ingenious and learned 
 discussions of the " Institute of Egyjit" were 
 comn)enced. At one time, but for an instant, the 
 English squadron was only a few leagues from the
 
 708 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 immense French convoy, and the proximity was un- 
 knowi on either side. Nelson, beginning to imagine 
 that the French had a design on Egypt, made sail 
 for Alexandria, and got there before them ; when 
 failing to find them he hurried to the Dardanelles, 
 in tlie hope of an encounter. With singular good 
 fortune the French expedition arrived in sight of 
 Alexandria only on the second day after he had left 
 it, to wit, on the loth Messidor (Ist July). Nearly 
 six weeks had elapsed since its departure from 
 Toulon. 
 
 Bonaparte's first step was to send for the French 
 consul. He learnt that the English had appeared 
 two days before, and in the fear they might be 
 Still hovering on the coast, he determined to attempt 
 an immediate debarkation. He could not enter the 
 harbour of Alexandria for a disposition to oppose his 
 access was betrayed; hence it became necessary to 
 land at some distance upon the adjoining strand, in 
 a bay called Marabout. The wind blew violently, 
 and the sea broke with fury on the shelves of the 
 coast. It was towards the close of evening. Bo- 
 naparte ;;ave the signal, resolved to reach the shore 
 without delay. He was tlie first to leap into a boat ; 
 the soldiers clamoured aloud to accompany him. 
 They began to descend from the ships, but the 
 heaving of the waves threatened every instant to 
 dash the boats together and break them to pieces. 
 At length, after iiicurring great danger, the coast 
 was reached. At this moment a straiige sail ap- 
 peared in the horizon: it was believed to be an 
 English vessel. " Fortune," exclaimed Bonaparte, 
 "thou forsakest me! What! Not give but five 
 days!" Fortune did not forsake him, for it proved 
 to be a French frigate rejoining the fleet. Infinite 
 ditficulty was experienced in disembarking between 
 four and five thousand men during the e\ening and 
 night. Bonaparte determined to march immediately 
 on Alexandria, in order to surprise tlie place, and not 
 allow the Turks time to make preparations of de- 
 fence. No sooner had he gained a footing, there- 
 fore, than he set out. Not a single horse had been 
 unshipped ; but Bojiapaite, his staff, and Caftarelli 
 even, despite his wooden leg, accomplished four or 
 five leagues over the sand on foot, and arrived at 
 break of day in sight of Alexandria. 
 
 This ancient city, the eldest-born of .Vlexander, 
 had no longer its magnificent edifices, its innumer- 
 able habitations, its countless multitudes ; three- 
 fourths of it lay in ruiiis. The Turks, the wealthy 
 Egyptians, and the European mercliants, resided in 
 the modern town, which was the otdy part preserved. 
 A few Arabs lurked in the remains of the ancient 
 city. A decayed wall, flanked l)y towers, encom- 
 passed the old and new towns, whilst all around 
 stretched a wilderness of sand, which in Egypt every- 
 where advances as civilization recedes. 
 
 The four thousand French, led by Bonaparte, 
 arrived before it, as we have said, at break of day. 
 During their night-march across the sandy plain, 
 they had encountered only a few Arabs, who, after 
 an exchange of shots, plunged into the desert. Bo- 
 naparte divided his triops into three colunms. Bon, 
 with the first, marched to the right on the Rosetta 
 gate ; Kleber, with the second, in the centre on the 
 gate of the Column; Meiiou, with the third, to the 
 left 071 the gate of the Catacombs. The Arabs and 
 Turks, who are first-rate warriors behind a wall, 
 sustained a well-directed fire from the defences ; but 
 the French planted ladders and speedily cleared the 
 crumbling rampart. Kleber fell among.st the first, 
 struck by a ball in the forehead. , The Arabs were 
 pursued from ruin to ruin, even to the new town. 
 The combat threatened to be prolonged from street 
 to street, aiul to become murderous; when a Turk- 
 ish otlicer inteiposed to negotiate an accommodation. 
 JJonaparte declared that he had not come to ravage 
 tlie land of Egypt, or to dispossess the Grand-Signor, 
 
 but solely to rescue it from the dominion of the 
 Mamelukes, and avenge the outrages they had per- 
 petrated to the injury of France. He engaged that 
 tlie authorities of the country should be maintained, 
 the ceremonies of religion co!. tinned as heretofore, 
 property respected: with other i ledges of an analo- 
 gous character. Under favour of these conditions 
 resistance ceased : and the French were installed 
 masters of Alexandria that very day. In the mean- 
 time, tlie army had landed in safety. These pre- 
 liminary objects accomplished, the next points for 
 consideration were to place the squadron in safety, 
 either in the harbour or in one of the neighbouring 
 roads, to form at Alexandria an administration con- 
 formable to the manners of the country, and to 
 arrange a plan of invasion for the entire conquest of 
 Egypt. For the monient the dangers of the sea 
 and of a rencontre with the English were passed ; 
 the chief obstacles had been surmounted with the 
 auspicious fortune which seems invariably to attend 
 the dawn of a great man. 
 
 Egypt, which the French had thus entered, is the 
 most singular and aptly situated country, as well as 
 one of the most productive in the world. Its posi- 
 tion on the globe is well known. Africa adheres to 
 Asia only by a neck of sand called the Isthmus of 
 Suez, and which, if it were cut through, would afford 
 an outlet from the Mediterranean into the Indian 
 Ocean, and save navigators the toil of sailing im- 
 mense distances and of doubling, amid tempestuous 
 gales, the Cape of Good Hope. Egypt extends in a 
 parallel line to the Red Sea and the Isthmus of Suez. 
 She holds the keys of this isthmus. In ancient 
 times, and in the middle ages, during the greatness of 
 Venice, she was the medium through which the com- 
 merce ot India flowed. Such is her intermediate 
 position between the Eastern and Western hemi- 
 spheres. Her physical constitution and form are not 
 less peculiar. The Nile, one of the principal rivers 
 in the world, takes its source in the mountains of 
 .\byssinia, traverses si.x hundred leagues of the de- 
 serts of Africa, then enters, or rather plunges, into 
 Egypt, rushing over the cataracts of Syena, and pro- 
 ceeds for two hundred leagues farther before it joins 
 the sea. Its banks constitute the whole of Egypt. 
 They form a valley two hundred leagues in length, 
 and from five to six leagues only in breadth. On 
 both sides this valley is bounded by an ocean of sand. 
 Chains of mountains, low, arid, and dislocated, trail 
 tristfuUy through these sands, scarcely casting over 
 their immensity a poor and broken shade. On one 
 side they interpose between the Red Sea and the 
 Nile, on the other they skirt the desert, retreating 
 until lost in its solitudes. On the left bank of tlie 
 Nile, some distance in the desert, two tongues of 
 cultivable earth meander, which break the surface 
 of the sand and display an appearance of verdure. 
 These are the Oases, vegetable islands in a sea of 
 sand. They are known as the greater and the lesser 
 Oasis. By opening a channel from the Nile, the in- 
 dustry of man might render them regions of fertility. 
 Fifty leagues above the sea the Nile divides into two 
 branches, which flow into the Mediterranean sixty 
 leagues apart, the one at Rosetta, the other at Da- 
 mietta. Antiquity assigns seven mouths to the Nile : 
 they may be still detected, but there are only two 
 navigable. The triangle formed by these two 
 branches and the sea, is sixty leagues at its base, and 
 fifty on each of its sides. It is called the Delta. It 
 is the most fertile part of Egypt, because it is the 
 best irrigated and intersected by canals. The whole 
 country is divided into three parts: the Delta or 
 Lower Egypt, otherwise Buhari ; Middle- Egypt, 
 otlierwise Vostani ; and Upper -Egvpt, otherwise 
 Said. 
 
 The Etesian winds, blowing constantly from north 
 to south during the months of May, June, and July, 
 sweep away all the clouds formed at the mouth v.\
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 709 
 
 the Nile, leaving not one to linger in the ever-serene ' 
 atmosphere of this land, and bear them to the tops of 
 the Abyssinian mountains. There they agglomerate, 
 dissolve in rain during the months of July, August, 
 and September, and occasion the celebrated pheno- 
 menon of the inundation of the Nile. Tims the 
 country ref^eives from the overflo\\'ing of the river 
 the waters denied to it from the skies. No rain 
 ever falls ; and the swamps of the Delta, which would 
 be pestilential in the climate of Europe, produce not 
 a single malady. On retiring into its bed, the Nile 
 deposits a rich loam, a sediment which constitutes 
 the only productive soil on its shores, and whence 
 are raised those copious harvests formerly devoted 
 to the nourishment of Rome. The farther the iimn- 
 dation spreads, the more cultivable land is obtained. 
 The o^^Tlers of this land, levelled undistinguishably 
 'by the water every year, apportion it by mensura- 
 tion. Consequently the Egyptians are adepts in that 
 branch of knowledge. Canals might widen the sphere 
 of the inundation, and be useful in lessening the rapid- 
 ity of the stream, in retaining it longer, and in ex- 
 tending fertility at the expense of the desert. No- 
 where could the ingenuity of man produce more 
 salutary effects, or civilization be more desii'able. 
 The Nile and the desert dispute the possession of 
 Egypt, and from civilization alone can the Nile derive 
 the means of overcoming its rival, and compelling it 
 to recede. Egypt is believed to have formerly sup- 
 ported twenty millions of inhabitants, independently 
 of the Roman people. She could with difficulty 
 feed three millions when the French appeared in her 
 territory. 
 
 The inundation terminates in September. Then 
 commence the labours of the field. During the 
 months of October, Novembery December, January, 
 and February, the country of Egypt presents a ravish- 
 ing landscape of fertility and abundance. It is then 
 covered with the richest crops, luxuriant with flowers, 
 and studded with innumerable flocks. In jMarch, the 
 summer-heats prevail; the land cracks so deeply that 
 it is sometimes dangerous to cross it on horseback. 
 The work of husbandry is then finished. The 
 Egyptians have gathered all the riches of the year. 
 Besides grain, Egypt produces the finest rice, the 
 most succulent vegetables, sugar, indigo, senna, cassia, 
 barilla, flax, hemp, and cotton, all with a marvellous 
 fecundity. Olives she has not, but she finds them 
 opposite to her, in Greece ; tobacco and coffee also 
 are wanting, but she has them at her side, in Syria 
 and Arabia. She is likewise destitute of wood, for 
 heavy vegetation is incapable of taking root in the 
 slimy deposit which the Nile amiually reiiews over a 
 bed of sand. A few sycamores and palms are the 
 only trees in Egypt. In lieu of wood, the dung of 
 cows is used for fuel. Egypt supplies with suste- 
 nance immense flocks of cattle. Domestic fowls of 
 all kinds abound. She possesses those admirable 
 horses, so celebrated over the world for their beauty, 
 spirit, and attachment to their masters. She boasts 
 also that matchless quadruped, tlie camel, which can 
 store food and drink for several days, whose hoof is 
 formed to tread the loose and shifting sand without 
 fatigue, and which is as a living bark to navigate the 
 ocean of the desert. 
 
 Every year numberless caravans arrive at Cairo, 
 which emerge from the; depths of the desert on both 
 sides like fleets ap[)roaching from the horizon. Some 
 come from Syria aiul Araiiia, others from Africa and 
 the coasts of Barbary. They are freighted with all 
 the commodities proper to the climes of the sun, 
 gold, ivory, plumes, inimitable shawls, perfumes, 
 gums, aromatics of all kinds, coffee, tobacco, preci- 
 ous woods and slaves. Cairo becomes a magnilicent 
 entrepot for the choicest productions of the globe, 
 those which the genius of the Occidentals, mighty 
 as it is, can never hope to rival, for they are gems of 
 the sun, but of which their refined tastes will always 
 
 render them eager consumers. Thus the commerce 
 of India is the only one which the progress of nations 
 will never tend to extinguish. It would not be 
 necessary therefore to make a military post of Egypt 
 in order to destroy by violence the trade of England. 
 It would be suflicient to establish there an entrepot, 
 with security, good laws, and European commodi- 
 ties, to draw with an irresistible attraction the riches 
 of the world.* 
 
 The population which dwells in Egypt is, like the 
 ruins of the cities that cover it, the wrecks of several 
 races. Copts, the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, 
 Arabs, conquerors of Egypt from the Copts, and j 
 Turks, conquerors over the Arabs, — such are the | 
 tribes whose relics miserably fructify on the face of | 
 a land which they pollute. The Copts, when the j 
 French entered the country, did not exceed two 
 hundred thousand at the utmost. Impoverished, 
 degraded, and despised, they filled, like all proscribed 
 classes, the most abject callings. The Arabs formed 
 nearly the whole bulk of the population ; the de- 
 scendants of the companions of Mahomet. Their 
 condition varied greatly ; some, of high birth, tracing 
 their lineage to Mahomet himself, large proprietors, 
 retaining some tokens of the old Arabian knowledge, 
 and combining with nobility of descent the functions 
 of religion and the magistracy, were, under the name 
 of Scheiks, the veritable grandees of Egypt. In 
 divans they represented the country when its tyrants 
 thought fit to address it for any purpose ; in the 
 mosques, they composed a sort of colleges, in which 
 they taught religion, the ethics of the Koran, and a 
 little philosophy and jurisprudence. The great 
 mosque of Djemil-Azar was the principal learned 
 and religious institution in the East. After these 
 chiefs came the smaller proprietors, composing the 
 second and most luimerous class of Arabs ; and lastly, 
 the labourers, who had fallen into the condition of 
 actual Helots. These latter were bond peasants, 
 tillers of the soil, under the appellation of fellahs, 
 and living in misery and subjection. There was a 
 fourth class of Arabs, the Bedouins or wandering 
 Arabs. These had never been induced to settle on 
 the land : they were veritable sons of the desert. 
 Alounted on horses or camels, "and driving before 
 them numerous herds, they roamed in search of pas- 
 turage on some oasis, or came amiually to sow the 
 ridges of cultivable ground skirting the confines of 
 Egypt. Their vocation was to escort caravans, or 
 lend their camels for transport. But, faithless bri- 
 gands, they often pillaged the merchants they escorted 
 or to whom they had lent their camels. Sometimes 
 indeed, violating the hospitality accorded them on 
 the margin <jf the cultivable lands, they broke into 
 the valley of the Nile, which, only five leagues 
 broad, is easily penetrated, sacked the villages, and, 
 renu)unting their horses, boie their booty into the 
 heart of the desert. Tiirkijh supineness left their 
 ravages almost invariably unpunished, contending 
 with no better effect against the rubbers than against 
 the sa'ids of the desert. These wandering Arabs 
 amounted in number to a hundred or a huiulred and 
 twenty thousand, and furnished twenty or five and 
 twenty thousaiui cavalry, valorous enough, and effec- 
 
 * [Kvi'ry rcHcctive reudi r will perceive the exa^^perations 
 of M. TliiiTS in the impDrtam-i- lie thus assigns to Ep.vpt. It 
 is, however, a favourite dr'ani with tlie I'reneli, that if they 
 could pet hold of Kgypt the.y would crush English commerce, 
 and with it lin^-laiid itself. At the time of Honaparte's expe- 
 dition, the state of India and other circumstances would have 
 rendered its success in all prohahility vastly prejudicial to this 
 country. At the present era, from the entire supremacy of 
 Knuland in India, and the prepress of commerce and manu- 
 factures, the i)ossession of Egypt by Uie French could have but 
 a very small eftect iu derangin;; the trade of England. For, 
 despite M. Thiers' theory of the immutability of Indian traffic, 
 it has undergone, of late years, great changes, and is likely tc 
 undergo vet greater.] 
 
 2Z
 
 710 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tive to harass an enemy, but incapable of withstand- 
 ing the shock of close combat. 
 
 Finally, the third race was that of the Turks ; 
 one equally scanty with the Copts, rountinj^ not 
 more than two hundred thousand at the most. It 
 was divided into Turks and Mamelukes. The 
 Turks, inhabitants since the last conquest by the 
 Sultans of Constantinople, were almost all enrolled 
 on the list of janissaries ; but we know that they 
 usually procure insertion on these lists, merely to 
 enjoy the privileges of janissaries, and that but a 
 small proportion actually enter'^ the service. There 
 were but few of them consequently in the militia of 
 the Pacha. This Pacha, delegated by the Sublime 
 Porte, represented the Sultan in Egypt ; but sup- 
 ported only by a slender force of janissaries, he had 
 found his authority weakened, through the very pre- 
 cautions formerly taken by the Sultan Selim to 
 strengthen it. That Sultan judging from its dis- 
 tance that Egypt might shake off the yoke of Con- 
 stantinople, or that an ambitious and able pacha 
 might erect an independent empire, had devised a 
 counterpoise in the institution of the Mamelukes. 
 But, as it is impossible to overturn the physical con- 
 ditions which render a country dependent or inde- 
 pendent of another, instead of the Pacha it proved 
 to be the Mamelukes who became independent of 
 Constantinople and masters of Egypt. These Mame- 
 lukes were slaves purchased in Circassia. Chosen 
 from amongst the most beautiful boys of the Cau- 
 casus, transported young into Egypt, and reared in 
 ignorance of their origin, in the profession and prac- 
 tice of arms, they formed the bravest and most 
 expert horsemen in the universe. They plumed 
 themselves chiefly on their want of origin, on the 
 prices that had been paid for them, on their beauty 
 and valour. They had twenty-four Beys, who were 
 both their owners and their commanders. These 
 Beys had each five or six hundred Mamelukes. This 
 troop they took care to keep up, ami they sometimes 
 transmitted it to their sons, but more frequently to 
 some favourite Mameluke, who became a Bey in 
 his turn. Each Mameluke was attended by two 
 fellahs. The wliole body was composed of about 
 twelve thousand horsemen, attended by twenty-four 
 thousand Helots. They were the real masters and 
 tyrants of the country. They subsisted either on 
 the produce of the lands belonging to the Beys or 
 on the income of taxes levied in all shapes. The 
 Copts, who, we have already said, performed the 
 most ignoble functions, acted as their collectors, 
 spies, and men of business ; for the degraded always 
 cling to the service of the powerful. The twenty- 
 four Beys, peers in rank, were not so in fact. They 
 were accustomed to wage war on each other, and 
 the strongest, subduing the others, exercised a 
 sovereignty for life. He was wholly independent of 
 the Pacha representing the Sultan of Constantinople, 
 tolerated him at most in Cairo as a state-cipher, and 
 frequently withheld from him the miri or land-tax, 
 which, symbolical of the rights of conquest, was pay- 
 able to the Porte. 
 
 Egypt, therefore, was in an actual feudalism, such 
 as prevailed in Europe during the middle-ages. It 
 contained at once a conquered people, a dominant 
 soldiery in reVjellion against its sovereign, and a 
 primitive degraded class, in the service and employ- 
 ment of the most powerful. 
 
 Two Beys superior to the others ruled Egypt at 
 this moment. The one, Ibrahim -Bey, wealthy, 
 astute, and potent ; tlie other, Mourad-Bey, intre- 
 pid, valiant, and full of energy. They had agreed 
 upon a certain partition of authority, by virtue of 
 which Ibraham-Bey directed the civil and Mourad- 
 Bey the military departments. The latter was the 
 man of war ; he excelled in the art, and engrossed 
 the affection of the Mamelukes, who were all de- 
 votf d to him. 
 
 Bonaparte, who joined to the genius of the captain 
 the skill and aptitude of the founder, and who, more- 
 over, had administered conquered countries suffi- 
 ciently to have acquired a particular art in the task, 
 saw at a glance the policy he had to follow in Egypt. 
 The first object was to wrest the country from the 
 hands of its real masters, namely, the IMamelukes. 
 They were the parties whom it behoved him to 
 attack and cru-h by arms and policy. He had, 
 besides, peculiar rea-ons for calling them to account, 
 since they had continually oppressed and ill-treated 
 the French. As to the Porte, it was incumbent to 
 avoid the appearance of assailing its sovereignty, but 
 affect on the contrary to respect it. Such as it had 
 become, this sovereignty was of little value. A 
 negotiation might be opened with the Porte, either 
 for the cession of Egypt, by offering certain advan- 
 tages elsewhere, or for a division of authority, which • 
 would involve no loss ; for in leaving the Pacha at 
 Cairo as he had hitherto been, and simply succeeding 
 to the power of the Mamelukes, there was no cause 
 of regret given. As to the inhabitants, all care must 
 be taken to conciliate them, and especially the true 
 population of the country, the Arabs. By honour- 
 ing the Scheiks, flattering their patriarchal pride, 
 increasing their intluence, and encouraging a secret 
 desire found in them, as it had been found in Italy, 
 and may be found everywhere, for the restoration of 
 the old dominion, of the Arabian sway, the French 
 were sure to command the country and attach it 
 wholly to them. Furthermore, by respecting per- 
 sons and property amongst a people accustomed to 
 consider victory as conferring the right to murder, 
 pillage and devastate, they would cause an astonish- 
 ment highly advantageous to them ; and if, in addi- 
 tion, they reverenced the women and the Prophet, 
 the conquest of all hearts followed as certainly as 
 that of the soil. 
 
 Bonaparte acted upon these impressions so marked 
 by sagacity and forethought. Endowed with a truly ori- 
 ental imagination, it wa- easy for him to assume the 
 solemn and imposing style in vogue amongst the Arabs. 
 He issued proclamations which were translated into 
 Arabic and circulated through the country. He 
 addressed the Pacha thus: "The French republic 
 has determined to send a pov/erful army to terminate 
 the robberies of the Beys of Egypt, as it has been 
 obliged to do several times during the century against 
 the Beys of Algiers and Tunis. Thou, who ought 
 to be the master of these Beys, and whom they 
 hold nevertheless at Cairo without authority, and 
 without power, thou shouldst witness my arrival 
 with pleasure. Thou art doubtless already informed 
 that 1 have not come to effect anything against the 
 Koran or the Sultan. Thou knowest that the 
 French nation is the only and solitary ally which the 
 Sultan has in Europe. Come then to meet me, 
 and join with me in cursing the impious race of the 
 Beys." 
 
 Addressing the Egyptians, Bonaparte spoke to 
 them in these words: " People of Egypt, you will 
 be told that I am come to destroy your religion. 
 Believe it not ; reply that I have come to restore 
 your rights, to punish usurpers, and that I respect 
 more than the Mamelukes, God, his Prophet, and the 
 Koran." Denouncing the tyranny of the Mamelukes, 
 hesaid: " Is there a fine property? It belongs to the 
 Mamelukes. Is there a beautiful slave, a good horse, 
 a fine house ? It belongs to the Mamelukes. If 
 Egypt be their farm, let them show the lease God 
 has" given them of it. But God is just and merciful 
 to his people, and he has ordained that the empire of 
 the Mamelukes shall pass away." Describing the sen- 
 timents of the French he added : ' ' We too, we are true 
 Mussulmans. Is it not we who have destroyed the 
 Pope, who taught that war must be made on the 
 Mussulmans ? Is it not we who have destroyed the 
 knights of Malta, because those fools believed that
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 711 
 
 God wished them to make war on the Mussulmans ? 
 Thrice happy they who are with us ! They will 
 prosper in fortuTie and in rank. Happy they who 
 remain neuter ! They will have time to know us 
 and will take part with us. But woe, three-fold 
 woe to those who arm for the Mamelukes and fight 
 against us ! There is no hope for them, they will 
 utterly perish I" 
 
 To his soldiers. Bonaparte said : " You are about 
 to undertake a conquest tlie effects of which on the 
 civilization and commerce of the world are incalcu- 
 lable. You will give England the surest and most 
 vital stab, imtil you are enabled to deal her the final 
 death-blow. 
 
 " The people with whom you are going to live 
 are Mahometans. Thc-ir principal article of belief 
 is this : There is no other God but am Gnd, and 
 Mahomet is his prophet. Do not contradict them ; 
 behave to them as we have behaved to the Jews and 
 the Italians. Have respect for their muphtis and 
 their imauns, as you have had for rabbis and bishops. 
 Show the same toleration towards the ceremonies 
 prescribed by the Koran and towards mosques that 
 you have exhibited for synagogues, and for the reli- 
 gion of Moses and for that of Jesus Christ. The 
 Roman legions protected all religions. You wnll 
 find here different usages from those of Europe ; you 
 must accustom yourselves to them. The people 
 whose houses we shall enter treat women differently 
 from us. Remember that, in all countries, he who 
 violates them is a coward and a knave. 
 
 " The first city we shall meet was built by 
 Alexander. At each step we shall encounter great 
 mementos worthy to excite the emulation of 
 Frenchmen." 
 
 Without delay, Bonaparte made his dispositions 
 for establishing the French authority at Alexandria, 
 and for subsequently quitting the Delta to take pos- 
 session of Cairo, the capital of all Egypt. It was 
 already July, and the Nile was al)out to rise. He 
 proposed to arrive at Cairo before the inundation, 
 and to employ the time it lasted in consolidating his 
 power. He gave directions that everything should 
 remain in the same state at Alexandria, that the 
 religious usages should be continued and justice be 
 administered as before by the Cadis. His design 
 was simply to take the place of the Mamelukes, and 
 he accordingly appointed an officer to receive the 
 accustomed taxes. He formed a divan or municipal 
 council, composed of the scheiks and notables of 
 the city, with a view that they might be consulted 
 on all measures taken by the French authority. He 
 left 3,000 men in garrison at Alexandria, and gave the 
 command to Kleber, whom his wound necessarily con- 
 demned to inaction for a month or more. He instruct- 
 ed a young officer of rare merit, who promised to be a 
 great engineer for France, to put Alexandria in a state 
 of defence, and to execute for that purpose all neces- 
 sary works. This was Colonel Cretin, who, at little 
 cost, and in a short time, erected at Alexandria admir- 
 able fortifications. Bonaparte likewise issued orders 
 to place the fleet in safety. It was a question whether 
 the large ships could enter the harbour of Alexaiulria, 
 and in consequence a naval commission was formed 
 to sound the harbour and make a report. In the 
 meantime the fleet was brought to anchor in the 
 roadstead of Aboukir. Bonaparte enjoined Brueys 
 to have the doubt promptly solved, and, if it were 
 ascertained that the ships could not get into Alex- 
 andria, to repair forthwith to Corfu. 
 
 After providing for these objects, he prepared to 
 put his troops in motion. A considerable flotilla, 
 loaded with provisions, artillery, munitions of war, 
 and baggage, was dispatched to skirt the coast as 
 far as the embouchure of Rosetta, there to enter the 
 Nile, and to ascend it at the same time with the army. 
 He then set forth with the bulk of his forces, which, 
 weakmed by the two garrisons left at Alalta and 
 
 Alexandria, mustered scarcely thirty thousand men. 
 He had ordered his flotilla to rendezvous at the 
 point of Ramanieh, on the banks of the Nile. There 
 he proposed to join it and ascend the Nile simulta- 
 neously with it, his purpose being to leave the Delta 
 and enter IMiddle-Egypt or Vostani. To Ramanieh 
 from Alexandria there were two routes: the one 
 through an inhabited country along the -bores of 
 the sea and the Nile ; the other shorter and straight 
 as the bird flies, but across the desert of Danianhour. 
 Bonaparte hesitated not, and decided for the latter. 
 It behoved him to arrive promptly at Cairo. Desaix 
 marched with the vanguard ; the main-body followed 
 at some leagues' distance. The army commenced its ■ 
 march on the 18th Messidor (0th July). When the 
 soldiers saw themselves fairly embarked on this 
 boundless plain, with a slippery sand beneath their 
 feet, a burning sky above their heads, without water, 
 without shade, scanty clumps of palm-trees the sole 
 objects to relieve the dreary monotony of the scene, 
 not a living beuig visible save hovering troops of 
 Arab horsemen, who appeared and disappeared on 
 the horizon, sometimes concealing themselves behind 
 hillocks of sand to slaughter stragglers, they were 
 oppressed with sadness. The desire of repo-e had 
 already arisen in their minds after the long and 
 harassing campaigns of Italy. They had followed 
 their leader into a distant country, because their 
 faith in him was blind, and because a land of promise 
 had been held out to them, whence they would re- 
 turn rich enough to buy each of them his field of 
 acres. But when they looked upon this wilderness, 
 a heavy depression crept over them, which increased 
 almost to despair. They found all the wells, which 
 at intervals lined the route through the desert, de- 
 stroyed by the Arabs. Scarcely a few drops of 
 brackish water remained, wholly insufficient to 
 quench their thirst. They had been told they would 
 find relief and comfort at Damaidiour ; they found 
 only a few miserable hovels, and could procure 
 neither bread nor wine, but merely lentils to satisfy 
 the cravings of appetite, with a small supply of 
 water. It was necessary to move onward and plunge 
 afresh into the desert. Bonaparte saw even the 
 intrepid Lannes and Murat snatch off their hats, 
 throw them on the sand, and trample them under 
 foot. But he overawed all ; his presence imposed 
 silence, and sometimes revived a sjiark of gaiety. 
 The soldiers refused to attribute their sorrows to 
 him ; they charged them upon those who evinced 
 such interest in examining the country. Observing 
 the savants pause to scrutinize each little ruin, they 
 asserted it was for them they had come there, 
 and avenged themselves by witticisms after their 
 fashion. Calfarelli especially, brave iis a grenadier, 
 curious as an anticjuary, passed in their eyes for 
 the man who had deceived the general, and en- 
 ticed him into this dismal region. As he had lost a 
 leg on the Rhine, they said : He cares nothing, not 
 he, he has one foot in France! However, after cruel 
 sufferings, supported at first discontentedly, but ulti- 
 mately with levity and courage, they reached the 
 banks of the Nile "on the I'lA Messidor (lOtli July), 
 after a march of four days. .\l sight of the Nile 
 and of the water so long thir>led for, the soldiers 
 rushed into the stream, and, floundering in its cur- 
 rent, soon forgot tlieir calamities. Desaix's division, 
 which from tlie van had jjassed to the rear, descried 
 two or three hundred ."\Iamelukes capering in front 
 of it, and dispersed them with a few volleys of grape. 
 They were the first that had been seen. They 
 atniounced an approaching rencontre with the hostile 
 army. The valiant I^Iourad-Bey, in fact, duly fore- 
 warned of the coming storm, was collecting all his 
 forces around Cairo. Pending their concentrafioii. 
 he hovered with a thousand horse around the French 
 to reconnoitre and watch their march. 
 
 At Ramanieh the army awaited the arrival of tlie
 
 712 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 flotilla; it reposed until the 23th Mcssidor (13th 
 July), and started on that day for Chebreiss. Mourad- 
 Bey attended its movements with his Mamelukes. ' 
 The flotilla, having departed first and thus got in ■ 
 advance of the army, became engaged ;vith the enemy I 
 before it could he supported. Mourad had his flotilla I 
 also, and both from the shore and his djhmes (light I 
 Egyptian vessels) he directed his fire. The French | 
 had a tough encounter to sustain. The naval officer I 
 in command, Perre'e, displayed an heroic courage; i 
 he was well seconded by the dismounted troopers, 
 who, until equipped at the expense of the Mame- 
 lukes, travelled by water. He retook two gun- 
 boats from the enemy and repulsed him. At this 
 moment the army came up. It was arranged in five 
 divisions. It had not yet fought against these sin- 
 gular enemies. To velocity of action, the impetuous 
 charge of horse, the onslaught of scimitars, were to 
 be opposed the immobility of the foot soldier, his 
 long bayonet, and masses fronting on all sides. Bo- 
 naparte formed his five divisions into five squares, 
 in the midst of which were placed the baggage and the 
 staif. The artillery was planted at the angles. The 
 five divisions were stationed to flank each other. 
 Mourad-Bey darted on these living bastions a thou- 
 sand or twelve hundred intrepid horsemen, who, 
 rushing on ^^-ith loud cries, and at the utmost speed 
 of their horses, discharging their pistols, then draw- 
 ing their formidable sabres, came plunging on the 
 front of the squares. Encountering on all quarters 
 a forest of bayonets and a terrible fire, they fluttered 
 around the French ranks, and strewed the ground 
 before them or escaped over the plain at full gallop. 
 After losing two or three hundred of his bravest 
 troops, Mourad retired to gain the top of the Delta, 
 and to await in the vicinity of Cairo, at the head of- 
 all his forces, the advance of the French. 
 
 This conflict sufficed to familiarize the army with 
 the new description of enemies it had raised, and to 
 suggest to Bonaparte the tactics he must employ 
 against them. Meanwhile the army continued its 
 progress towards Cairo. The flotilla kept up the 
 Nile abreast of the army. The march was prose- 
 cuted without cessation during the ensuing days. 
 The soldiers had fresh sufferings to brave, but they 
 skirted the Nile, and were permitted to bathe in 
 the evenings. The sight of the enemy had revived 
 their ardour. " These soldiers, already somewhat 
 averse to fatigues, as will always happen when suffi- 
 cient glory has been gained, I invariably found," says 
 Bonaparte, " admirable in action." During the 
 marches discontent often recurred, however, and 
 after it had worn away pleasantries succeeded. The 
 savants began to inspire respect by the bravery they 
 had sho\m ; Monge and Bertholet especially had 
 exhibited an heroic courage on board the flotilla. 
 Even whilst passing jokes upon them, the soldiers 
 were at bottom full of regard for them. Seeing no 
 appearance of this capital of Cairo, so vaunted as the 
 great wonder of the East, they said no such place 
 existed, or that it was sure to be like Damanhour, a 
 mere collection of hovels. They mourned, besides, 
 over the deception that had been practised on their 
 poor general, saying he had allowed himself to be 
 decoyed away and transported like a f/ood simple man. 
 he and his companions in glory. At night, when a 
 halt was made, the soldiers who had read or heard 
 related the stories of the Thousand and One Nights, 
 repeated them to their comrades, and they began to 
 promise themselves magnificent palaces, all-dazzling 
 with gold and jewels. In the meantime they were 
 without bread to eat ; not that corn was wanting, 
 for it was everywhere found, but they had no mills 
 or ovens. They were compelled to subsist on lentils, 
 pigeons, and an exquisite water-melon, known in 
 southern climates under the name of pasteque. The 
 French soldiers called it Saint pasteque. 
 
 The French now drew near to Cairo, where the 
 
 decisive engagement was to be fought. Mourad- 
 Bey had assembled there the greatest part of his 
 Mamelukes, ten thousand or thereabouts. Thev 
 were attended by a double amount of fellahs, to 
 whom arms were given, and who were appointed to 
 fight behind the intrenchraents. He had likewise 
 collected a few thousand janissaries or spahis belong- 
 ing to the Pacha, who, not^nthstanding Bonaparte's 
 letter, had tamely suffered himself to be dragged into 
 the party of his oppressors. Mourad-Bey had made 
 his preparations of defence on the banks of the Nile. 
 The capital of Cairo stands on the right bank of the 
 river. It was on the opposite side, namely, on the 
 left bank that Mourad had pitched his camp, in a 
 wide plain extending between the Nile and the 
 pyramids of Ghizeh, the loftiest in Egypt. His dis- 
 positions were these. A large village called Emba- 
 beh, rose from the margin of the river. Mourad had 
 here erected certain works, conceived and executed 
 with true Turkish ignorance. They were a simple 
 trench encompassing the circuit of the village, and 
 immoveable batteries, whose pieces not having field- 
 frames could not be shifted. Such was the in- 
 trenched camp of Mourad. He had stationed with- 
 in it his 24,000 fellahs and janissaries, to battle with 
 the accustomed obstinacy of the Turks behind ram- 
 parts. This village, intrenched and defended on the 
 side of the river, formed his right. The Mame- 
 lukes, to the number of ten thousand horsemen, 
 were stretched over the plain between the Nile and 
 the pyramids. Some thousands of Arab cavalry, 
 auxiliaries of the Mamelukes only to pillage and 
 massacre in case of a victory, occupied the space 
 between the pyramids and the Mamelukes. ^lourad's 
 colleague, Ibraham-Bey, less warlike and valiant 
 than himself, kept on the other side of the Nile with 
 a thousand Mamelukes, guarding his women, slaves, 
 and treasures, ready to fly from Cair > and take 
 refuge in Syria if the French proved victorious. A 
 considerable number of djermes covered the Nile, 
 freighted «dth all the moveable wealth of the Mame- 
 lukes. Such was the position in which the two Beys 
 awaited Bonaparte. 
 
 On the 3d' Thermidor (21st July), the French 
 army was in motion before daylight. The soldiers 
 knew that they were on the point of beholding Cairo 
 and encountering the enemy. At break of day, 
 accordingly, they at length discovered on their left, 
 beyond the river, the lofty minarets of that great 
 capital, and on their right, in the desert, the gigantic 
 pyramids, gilded by the rays of the sun. At sight 
 of these eternal monuments, they paused, arrested 
 by amazement and admiration. The coimtenance of 
 Bonaparte was radiant with enthusiasm ; he galloped 
 before the ranks of the army, and pointing to the 
 pvramids exclaimed : "Reflect that from the summit 
 of those pyramids forty apes look upon you." The 
 troops answered with a shout of exultation and 
 moved rapidly onward. On approaching nearer, 
 they saw the spires and minarets of Cairo rise more 
 proudly, the pyramids grow more vast to the view; 
 they saw the multitude congregated in Embabeh, and 
 the glittering array of those ten thousand horsemen, 
 resplendent in gold and steel, stretched in an inter- 
 minable line over the plain. Bonaparte quickly 
 arranged his plan of battle. The army, as at Che- 
 breiss, was separated into five divisions. The divi- 
 sions under Desaix and Regnier formed the right, 
 towards the desert ; the division under Dugua formed 
 the centre ; the divisions of IMenou and Bon formed 
 the left along the course of the Nile. Bonaparte, 
 who since the combat of Chebreiss had duly esti- 
 mated the peculiarities of the ground and the enemy, 
 made his dispositions accordingly. Each division 
 formed a square; each square had six ranks. Behind 
 were the companies of grenadiers in platoons, ready 
 to support the points of attack. The artillery was 
 on the angles ; the baggage and the generals in the

 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 centre. The squares were shiftini,'-. When they 
 were in motion, two sides marched on the flanks. 
 When they were charged, they were to halt and face 
 round. Acfain, when they intended to attack a posi- 
 tion, the front ranks were to detach themselves and 
 form in columns of attack, whilst the others remained 
 behind, still maintaining the square, but only three 
 files deep, and ready to embrace again the columns of 
 attack. Such were the dispositions ordered by Bona- 
 parte. He was afraid lest the impetuous soldiers of 
 Italy, accustomed to advance at quick march, would 
 have difficulty in resigning themselves to tliis cold and 
 passionless system of bulwarks. He had taken every 
 pains to train them however. Above all, injunctions 
 were given not to tire too soon, but to wait calmly 
 for the enemy, and to fire only within musket-range. 
 The French advanced almost within reach of the 
 enemy's cannon. Bonaparte, who was in the centre 
 square formed by Dugua's division, surveyed with a 
 telescope the state of the camp of Embabeh. He 
 perceived that the artillery of the camp, not being on 
 field-frames, could not be moved into the plain, and 
 that the motley garrison was not likely to sally from 
 the intrenchments. Upon this conclusion he based 
 bis operations. He resolved to bear down with his 
 divisions on the right, that is to say, on the army of 
 Mamelukes, wheeling out of range of the cannon of 
 Embabeh. His intention was to separate the Mame- 
 lukes from the intrenched camp, surround them, 
 drive them into the Nile, and not attack Embabeh 
 until he had disposed of them. It would not be a 
 difficult task, he surmised, to reduce the multitude 
 cooped up in that camp after having exterminated the 
 Mamelukes. 
 
 He forthwith gave the signal. Desaix, who formed 
 the extreme right, was the tirst to march. After him 
 went Regnier's square, and then Dugua's, in which 
 Bonaparte stood. The two others wound round 
 Embabeh, beyond reach of the cannon. Mourad-Bey, 
 who, although without education, was endowed with 
 a high intelligence and keen perception, '.mmediately 
 divined the purpose of his adversary, and determined 
 to charge during the execution of so decisive a move- 
 ment. Leaving two thousand Mamelukes to sup- 
 port Embabeh, he advanced at speed with the re- 
 mainder on the two squares of the right. That of 
 Desaix, entangled amidst palms, was not formed 
 when the front Mamelukes came up. But it formed 
 instantly, and was ready to receive the charge. Eight 
 thousand cavalry galloping under one impulse across 
 the plain form a terrific force. They fell with ex- 
 traordinary impetuosity on Desaix. His brave sol- 
 diers, now as cool as they were wont to be head- 
 strong, awaited them with calmness, and received 
 them at musket-shot with a terrible discharge of 
 balls and grape. Checked by the fire, these innumer- 
 able horsemen flew along the ranks, and encircled the 
 bristling citadel. Some of the bravest precipitated 
 themselves on the bayonets, and turning their horses 
 and backing them on the French, succeeded in mak- 
 ing a breach, and thirty or forty fell dead at the feet 
 of Desaix, in the very centre of the square. The 
 mass, wheeling round, recoiled fiom Desaix's square 
 upon that of Rcgnier which followed. Accosted by 
 a similar fire, they turned towards tlie point they had 
 started from ; but they found in their rear Dugua's 
 division which Bonaparte had mo\ed towards the 
 Nile, and immediately broke into a complete rout. 
 They fled in the utmost confusion. Part of the 
 fugitives escaped on the French right towards the 
 pyramids; others, passing under Dugua's fire, tlirew 
 themselves into Embabeh, whither they carried 
 trouble and dismay. All immediately became con- 
 fusion in the intrenched camp. Bonaparte, perceiv- 
 ing the moment auspi(;ious, ordered his two left 
 divisions to approach Embabeh and storm it. Bon 
 and Mcnou advanced under the fire of the intrench- 
 
 713 
 
 halted. The squares unlined ; the front ranks formed 
 in columns of attack, whilst the others remained in 
 square, still presenting the appearance of living 
 citadels. But at this moment, the Mamelukes, as 
 well those Mourad had left at I']mbabeh as those 
 who had sought refuge within it, attempted to anti- 
 cipate the assault. They charged on the French 
 columns of attack whilst under march. But these, 
 instantly halting and forming in square with match- 
 less rapidity, received them with finnness, and killed 
 a great number. Some retreated into Embabeh, 
 where the disorder became extreme ; others, flving 
 into the plain, between the Nile and the French 
 right, were shot down or driven into the river. The 
 attacking columns then vigorously assailed Embabeh, 
 stormed the intrenchments, and forced into the Nile 
 the unfortunate multitude of fellahs and janissaries. 
 Many were drowned ; but as the Egyptians are ex- 
 cellent swimmers, the great majority contrived to 
 save themselves. The action was finished, and the 
 day over. The Arabs, who had lurked near the 
 pyramids in expectation of a victory, plunged into the 
 desert. Mourad, with the wreck of his fine cavalry 
 and his own face dyed in blood, retired in the 
 direction of Upper-Egypt. Ibrahim, who contem- 
 plated the disastrous conflict from the opposite bank, 
 fled towards Balbeis in retreat for Syria. The 
 Mamelukes set fire to the djermes in the river which 
 contained their valuables. This prey escaped the 
 French, who had the mortification to witness the 
 flames during the whole of the night successively 
 devouring the rich and multifarious booty. 
 
 Bonaparte fixed his head-quarters at Ghizeh, on 
 the banks of the Nile, where JNIourad-Bey had a 
 sumptuous residence. Both at Ghizeh and Emba- 
 beh, considerable stores of provisions were found, 
 and the French soldiers were enabled to make 
 amends for their long privation. They discovered 
 in the gardens of Ghizeh vines loaded with luscious 
 grapes, and failed not to celebrate a speedy vintage. 
 But on the field of battle they gathered fruits of 
 another kind: magnificent shawls, splendid weapons, 
 horses, and purses containing two to three hundred 
 pieces ot gold, for the Mamelukes carried their 
 wealth principally on the person. They passed 
 • the evening, night, and following day in collecting 
 these spoils. From five to six hundred Mamelukes 
 had been killed. More than a thousand were drowned 
 in the Nile. The French soldiers assiduously com- 
 menced to fish up the bodies in order to rifle them ; 
 a pursuit in which they consumed several additional 
 days. 
 
 The battle had scarcely cost the French a hundred 
 killed and wounded; for if defeat be destruction to 
 broken, so is the loss almost luiU to compact aiul vic- 
 torious squares. The Mamelukes had lost their best 
 horsemen on the field or in the water. Their forces 
 were dispersed, and the fall of Cairo into the hands 
 of the French was inevitable. That capital was in 
 great disorder and agitation. It contained upwards 
 of three hunched thousand iidiabitants, and was filled 
 with a ferocious and degraded populace, which aban- 
 doned itself to revolting excesses, aiul attempted to 
 profit by the occasion to plunder the rich palaces or 
 the Beys. Unfortunately, the French flotilla had 
 not yet ascended the Nile, and they had not the 
 means of crossing it to proceed and take possession 
 of Cairo. Some French merchants who happened 
 to be in the city were sent by the scheiks to Bona- 
 parte for the purpose of arranging as to the occupa- 
 tion of tlie place. He contrived to procure some 
 djermes to carry over a detachment, which restored 
 tranquillity and shielded life and property from the 
 outrages of the mol). On the second day thereafter 
 he entered Cairo in person and took up his abode in 
 the palace of Mourad-Bey. 
 
 No sooner was he established at Cairo than he 
 
 ments, and when they reached a suitable distance, | began to put in vogue the policy he had already
 
 714 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 adopted at Alexandria, and wliioh wa* so well calcu- | preserve and monopolize the rich commerce of Egypt, 
 lated to attach the country to him. He visited the He himself nominated the emir-hadje'e. This is an 
 principal scheiks, flatttred tlieir prejudices, cajoled officer chosen annually at Cairo to protect the great 
 them with hopes of the restoration of the Arab : caravan of Mecca. He wrote to all the French con- 
 dominion, promised them the perpetuation of their i suls on the coast of Barbary, instructing them to 
 religion and customs, and completely succeeded in | apprize the Beys that the emir-hadje'e was appointed 
 gaining them by a happy blending of adroit blandish- ' and that the caravans might depart in safety. He 
 ments with imposing language, stamped with oriental caused the scheiks to communicate to the scherif of 
 grandeur. An essential point was to obtain from | Mecca that the pilgrims would be protected and the 
 
 the scheiks of the mosque of Djemil- Azar a declara- 
 tion in favour of the French. This would operate 
 as a brief from the Pope amongst the Catholics. 
 Bonaparte exerted all his address to attain this 
 object and he fully succeeded. The great scheiks 
 made the declaration desired, and exhorted the 
 Egyptians to submit to the envoy of God. who revered 
 the Prophet and was come to avenge his children on 
 the tyranny of the Mamelukes. Bonaparte estab- 
 lished at Cairo a divan in the same manner as at 
 Alexandria, composed of the principal scheiks and 
 other inhabitants. He intended this divan or muni- 
 cipal council to be instrumental both in securing the 
 good- will of the Egyptians by the show of consulting 
 them, and also in imparting information upon the 
 details of the existing internal administration. It 
 was determined that similar ones should be estab- 
 lished in all the [iroviiices, and that these separate 
 divans should send deputies to the divan of Cairo, 
 which would thus become the grand national divan. 
 
 Bonaparte resolved to leave the administration of 
 justice in the hands of the Cadis. In execution of 
 his design to succeed the Mamelukes in their domi- 
 nation, he confiscated their property, and continued 
 for the advantage of the French army the perception 
 of the taxes previously levied. For this latter pur- 
 pose he required the co-operation of the Copts. He 
 omitted no means to gain their attachment, alluring 
 them by hopes of an amelioration of their condition. 
 He dispatched generals with detachments down the 
 Nile to complete the occupation of the Delta, which 
 had been as yet merely traversed. He sent others 
 up the Nile to take possession of Middle-Egypt. 
 Dosaix was stationed with his division at the entrance 
 of Upper-Egypt, which it was intended to wrest from 
 Mourad-Bey as soon as the waters of the Nile sub- 
 sided in the autumn. Each of the generals, fur-i 
 nished with detailed instructions, was to repeat in 
 every part of the country what had been done at 
 .\lexandria and Cairo. They were to call the scheiks 
 around them, conciliate the Copts, and provide for 
 the receipt of the taxes to meet the necessities of the 
 French army. 
 
 The comfort and health of his soldiers likewise 
 commanded the attention of Bonaparte. Egypt was 
 beginning to please them ; they found in it repose, 
 abundance, a pure and healthy climate. They were 
 becoming accustomed to the singular manners of the 
 country, which afforded them a continual subject of 
 banter. Comprehending the intention of the general 
 \vith their usual sagacity, they also feigned great 
 reverence for the Prophet, and laughed with him at 
 the part policy compelled them to play. Bonaparte 
 caused ovens to be constructed that they might be 
 supplied with bread. He lodged them in the excel- 
 lent habitations of the Mamelukes, and enjoined 
 them above all things to respect the women. They 
 had met in Egypt an admirable variety of the ass and 
 in great quantity. Upon these animals it was their 
 delight to make excursions in the environs and scour 
 the face of the country. Their vivacity sometimes 
 occasioned unpleasant accidents to the grave denizens 
 of Cairo. It became necessary to prohibit them from 
 traversing the streets otherwise than at a sedate and 
 orderly pace. The cavalry was now mounted on 
 the finest horses in the world, to wit on the Arab 
 chargers captured from the Mamelukes. 
 
 Bonaparte also applied himself to maintain rela- 
 tions with the neighbouring countries, in order to 
 
 caravans have security and protection. The pacha 
 of Cairo having followed Ibrahim-Bey to Balbeys, 
 Bonaparte addressed to him, as also to the pachas 
 of St. Jean d'Acre and Damascus, letters affirming 
 the cordial dispositions of the French towards the 
 Sublime Porte. This precaution was unfortunately 
 unavailing. The officers of the Sultan could with 
 difficulty be persuaded that the French, who had 
 invaded one of their sovereign's richest provinces, 
 were in reality his truest friends. 
 
 The Arabs were captivated by the character of the 
 young conqueror. They marvelled at the phenome- 
 non of a mortal who wielded the thunderbolts of 
 war being at the same time clement and courteous. 
 They called him the adopted son of the Prophet, the 
 favourite of the great Allah, and had chaunted in 
 the great mosque the following hallelujah : 
 
 "The great Allah is no longer angry wth us! 
 He has pardoned our sins, sufficiently punished by 
 the long oppression of the Mamelukes. Let us sing 
 the mercies of the great Allah ! 
 
 " Who is he that has preserved from the perils of 
 the sea and the rage of his enemies the favourite of 
 Victory ? Who is he that has conducted in safety 
 to the shores of the Nile the warriors of the West ? 
 " It is the great Allah, the all-powerful Allah, 
 who is no longer wroth with us ! Let us sing the 
 mercies of the great Allah! 
 
 " The Mameluke-Beys put their confidence in 
 their horses ; the Mameluke-Beys ranged their in- 
 fantry in battle. 
 
 " But the Favourite of Victory, at the head of the 
 warriors of the West, destroyed the infantry and 
 horses of the Mamelukes. 
 
 " Even as the vapours which rie at dawn from 
 the waters of the Nile are dissipated by the rays of 
 the sun, so has the army of the Mamt-lukes been dis- 
 persed by the warriors of the West, because the 
 great Allah is truly enraged against the Mamelukes, 
 because the warriors of the West are the apple of 
 the eye of the great Allah." 
 
 To enter more completely into the manners of the 
 Arabs, Bonaparte resolved to take part in their 
 festivals. He assisted at that of the Nile, which is 
 one of the greatest in Egypt. That river is the 
 benefactor of the country ; it is accordingly held in 
 deep veneration, and is the object of a species of 
 worship. During the inundation it is introduced 
 into Cairo by a large canal ; a dam bars the entrance 
 of this canal, until the water has reached a certain 
 height ; then it is cut, and the day appointed for 
 this operation is one of jubilee. The height to 
 which the river has attained is proclaimed, and when 
 a plentiful inundation is expected general gladness 
 diffuses itself, for it is a presage of abundance. It 
 was on the 18th of August (1st Fructidor) that this 
 festival was celebrated. Bonaparte had ordered the 
 whole army under arms and raiged it on the banks 
 of the canal. An inmiense crowd was assembled, 
 which viewed with pleasure the warriors of the West 
 participate in their enjoyments. Bonaparte, at the 
 head of the staff, accompanied the principal autho- 
 rities of the country. First, a scbeik declared the 
 heiglit to which the Nile had risen : it was twenty- 
 five feet, which caused acclamations of joy. Then 
 the labour of cutting the dam commenced. The 
 whole French artillery resounded at the moment 
 the waters of the river rushed in. According to 
 custom, a number of boats was launched into the
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 715 
 
 canal to obtain the prize awarded to the one first 
 artoat. Bonaparte delivered this prize in person. 
 Multitudes of men and boys plunged into the stream, 
 attaching peculiar virtues to this immersion. 'Women 
 threw into it hair and pieces of cloth. Bonaparte 
 afterwards caused the city to be illuminated, aiul 
 the day closed amidst festi\ities. The commemora- 
 tion of the Prophet was celebrated with equal pomp. 
 Bonaparte repaired to the great mosque, seated him- 
 self on cushions, his legs crossed like the scheiks, 
 and repeated with them the homilies of the Koran, 
 poising his body and bowing his head as a true mos- 
 lem. He edified all the members of the holy college 
 by his orthodox piety. He subsequently attended 
 the entertainment given by the grand scheik, who is 
 elected on that day. 
 
 It was by such means Bonaparte, an equally pro- 
 found politician as great captain, succeeded in con- 
 ciliating the attachment of the country. But whilst 
 thus flattering its prejudices for a time, he strove to 
 prepare the way for the spread of knowledge within 
 it, by the creation of the celebrated " Institute of 
 Egypt." Assembling the savants and artists he had 
 brought over, and associating with them the best- 
 informed amongst his officers, he formed this Insti- 
 tute, to which he assigned revenues, and one of the 
 most capacious mansions in Cairo. Some were ap- 
 pointed to make an exact description of the country, 
 and draw detailed maps ; others to survey the ruins 
 and furinsh new lights to history ; others to study 
 the productions and digest treatises of utility to 
 medicine, astronomy, and natural history ; others, in 
 fine, to consider the benefits that might be conferred 
 on the inhabitants by the introduction of machines, 
 by canals, works on the Nile, and processes adapted 
 to a soil so singular and different from that of 
 Europe. If fortune was one day to tear this fine 
 country from France, she could Tiot at least rob her 
 of the conquests science was about to achieve on its 
 territory . a monument was in embryo, destined to 
 illustrate i'/he genius and perseverance of her savants, 
 as much as the expedition itself the heroism of her 
 soldiers. 
 
 Monge was the first who exercised the presidency. 
 Bonaparte obtained the distinction only after him. 
 He submitted the following subjects of inquiry: the 
 best construction for water and wind mills ; a sub- 
 stitution for hops, which are not grown in Egypt, in 
 the brewing of beer ; the places best adapted for the 
 cultivation of the vine; the best means of procuring 
 water conveyed to the citadel of Cairo; the expe- 
 diency of digging wells in different parts of the 
 desert ; the mode of clarifying and cooling the water 
 of the Nile ; a plan for rendering useful the accumula- 
 tions of rubbish with which Cairo was choked, as 
 well as all the old towris of Egypt ; the materials 
 Accessary for the manufacture of powder in Egypt. 
 From these topics, selected by him, we may conceive 
 the young general's turn of mind. Fortliwith, the 
 surveyors, designers, and savants, spread themselves 
 through the provinces to form a description and map 
 of the counlry. 
 
 Such were the objects of attention to the new 
 colony, find such tlie manner in which the founder, 
 Bonaparte, directed its labours. The reduction of 
 the provinces of Lower and Micklle Egypt was 
 completed without dillicuity, leading oidy to a few 
 skirmishes with the Arabs. A forced march on Bal- 
 beis had sufficed to scare Ibrahim-Bey into Syria. 
 Desaix was obliged to await tlie arrival of autumn to 
 conquer Upper- Egypt from .Mourad-Hey, who had 
 retreated thither with the remains of his army. 
 
 But, in the meantime, fortune inflicted on Bona- 
 parte the most terril)le of reverses. On quitting 
 Alexandria he had strongly urged Admiral Bnieys 
 to place his squadron in safety from the English, 
 either by securing it in the harbour of Alexandria or 
 by removing it to Corfu, but on no account to remain 
 
 in the roadstead of Aboukir, for it was better to 
 encounter the enemy under sail than to receive him 
 at anchor. A warm dispute had arisen consequent 
 upon the question whether ships of 8() and 120 guns 
 could enter the harbour of Alexandria. There was 
 no doubt about vessels of smaller calibre ; but the 
 two of 80 and the one of 120 guns would require to 
 be lightened, so as to lessen their draught at least 
 tliree feet. To effect this it was necessary to disarm 
 them or to construct floaters. Admiral Brueys re- 
 fused to let his squadron enter the port under this 
 condition. He contended that if such precautions 
 must be taken with regard to his three most power- 
 ful ships, he would never be able to leave it again 
 in presence of an enemy, and might be thus block- 
 aded by a very inferior force: so he determnied to 
 depart for Corfu. But being strongly attached to 
 General Bonaparte, he was unwilling to set sail 
 before hearing news of his entry into Cairo, and of 
 his safe establishment in Egypt. The time which 
 he consumed, first in sounding the channel of the 
 Alexandrian harbour, and secondly in awaiting in- 
 telligence from Cairo, occasioned his own ruin and 
 one of the most fatal events of the revolution: one 
 of those too, which, to the present era, have exer- 
 cised the greatest influence over the destinies of the 
 world. 
 
 Admiral Brueys, then, was still moored in the 
 bay of Aboukir. This bay is an almost regular 
 simicircle. His thirteen vessels formed a semicir- 
 cular line, parallel with the coast. To secure his 
 line of anchorage, the admiral had extended it on 
 one side towards a small islet, named the islet of 
 Aboukir. He conceived that no ship could pass 
 between this islet and his line to take it in rear ; 
 and in this persuasion was content with erecting on 
 it a twelve-gun battery, simply to prevent an enemy 
 from landing. He judged himself so unassailable on 
 this side, that he had stationed there his worst 
 vessels. He feared more for the other extremity of 
 his half-moon. On that side he believed it possible 
 for an enemy to pass between the shore and his an- 
 chorage-ground ; so he had placed there his strongest 
 and best-commanded ships. Moreover he was con- 
 soled by an important consideration, which was, that 
 his line being to the south and the wind blowing 
 from the north, the enemy who should attack on 
 that side would have the wind foul, and would 
 doubtless not expose himself to fight under such a 
 disadvantage. 
 
 In this situation, protected on his left by an islet 
 which he deemed sufficient to shut the bay, and on 
 his right by his best ships and the advantage of the 
 wind, he awaited in security the tidings which were 
 to l)e the signal of his departure. 
 
 Nelson, after having scoured the Arcliipelago, 
 after returning to the Adriatic, to Naples, and to 
 Sicily, had at lengtii obtained certain intelligence of 
 the (h'barkation of tlie French at Alexandria. He 
 immediately sailed in that direction, more sure than 
 ever of at length fintfing tlieir squadron and giving it 
 battle. He dispatched a frigate in advance to seek 
 out and recomioitre its position. This frigate having 
 found it in the bay of Al)oukir, was enabk'd to pry 
 at leisure into the whole mystery of the French 
 half-moon. If the admiral, wlio had in the harbour 
 of Alexandi'ia a multitude of frigates and ligiit ves- 
 sels, had taken the precaution to keep some of tliem 
 under sail, he miglit have held tlie English always 
 at a distance, prevented them from scrutinizing 
 liis line, and at all events been apprized of their 
 approach. Unfortunately he did nothing of the kind. 
 The Fnglish frigate, after having conchided its ob- 
 servations, returned to Nelson, wlio, being informed 
 of all the particulars of the French position, instantly 
 bore towards Aboukir. He reached the mouth of 
 the bay on the 14th Thermidor (1st August), alioiit 
 six o'clock in the evening. Admiral Brutiys uab at
 
 716 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 dinner : but upon seeing tlie English he immediately 
 hoisted the signal for battle. However the French i 
 so little expected to receive an enemy that no pre- 
 parations for an engagement were made in any of 
 their ships, and part of the crews were on shore. I 
 The admiral hurried away olTicers to bring the sailors j 
 on board, and to collect some of those in the trans- ; 
 ports, lie concluded Nelson would not venture to 
 attack that evening, and he trusted to have time for ' 
 the reception of the reinforcements he had sent in 
 quest of. 
 
 Nelson resolved to attack immediately, and to 
 hazard a bold niancruvre, on the success of which he 
 grounded his hopes of victory. This was to approach 
 the French line on the left, namely, by the islet of 
 Aboukir, to pass between that islet and their squad- 
 ron, despite all the dangers of shallows, and to place 
 himself thus between the shore and their line of 
 battle. This manoeuvre was very perilous, but the 
 intrepid Englishman hesitated not. The number of 
 ships was equal on both sides, that is to say, thirteen 
 sail of the line. Nelson began the attack about 
 eight in the evening. His tactics did not at first 
 promise to be successful. The. Culloden, in attempt- 
 ing to steer between the islet of Aboukir and the 
 French line, took the ground. The Goliath, which 
 followed her, was more fortunate, and sailed through; 
 but driven by the wind, she ran beyond the tirst 
 French ship, and was only hauled up opposite the 
 third. The Zealous, the Audacious, the Theseus, 
 and the Orion followed in her wake, and succeeded 
 in taking up positions between the shore and the 
 French. They advanced as far as Le Tonnant, 
 which lay eighth in the French line, and thus engaged 
 their whole centre and left. Their other vessels 
 advanced outside the line and thus placed it between 
 two fires. As the French had not anticipated being 
 attacked in this way, the guns towards the shore 
 were not slung, and their two first ships could only 
 fire from one side, consequently one was disabled 
 and the other unmasted. But in the centre, where 
 the Orient lay, bearing the Admiral's flag, the fire was 
 terrible. The Bellerophon, one of Nelson's principal 
 ships, had her rigging shot away, her masts sent by 
 the board, and was obliged to be drifted off. Other 
 English vessels, dreadfully crippled, were obliged to 
 be removed from the field of battle. Admiral Brueys 
 had received only a part of his sailors; nevertheless, 
 he maintained the contlict with advantage; he even 
 hoped, notwithstanding the success of Nelson's ma- 
 noeuvre, to gain the victory, if the orders which he 
 gave at this moment to his right were executed. 
 The English had engaged only the left and the centre ; 
 the right, comprising five of the best ships, had no 
 enemy before it. Brueys signalled it to weigh, and 
 turn outside the line of battle ; which manoeuvre 
 succeeding, the English ships attacking externally 
 would have been placed between two fires ; but the 
 signals were not seen. In a similar case, a subordi- 
 nate ought not to hesitate in flying to the scene of 
 danger, and to the rescue of his chief. Vice-admiral 
 Villeneuve, brave but irresolute, remained quiescent, 
 awaiting orders. The left and centre, therefore, 
 continued exposed to the battery of two fires. Still 
 the Admiral and his captains worked prodigies of 
 valour, and gloriously sustained the honour of the 
 French flag. The French had lost two ships, the 
 English likewise had lost two, one grounded, the 
 other dismasted ; the French fire was superior. The 
 unfortunate Brueys had been wounded, but refused 
 to quit the deck of his vessel. " An admiral," he 
 exclaimed, "ought to die giving orders." A ball 
 killed him on his quarter-deck. About eleven o'clock 
 the magnificent vessel VOricnt took fire and blew 
 up. This fearful explosion suspended for a time the 
 desolating struggle. Without losing c()uriii,'c, how- 
 ever, the five French ships engaged, Le Fran/din, 
 Le Tonnant, Le Peuple-Souvcrain, Le Sparliatc, and 
 
 L'Aquilon, kept up their fire during the night. 
 There was still time for the right to hoist sail and 
 come to tlieir aid. Nelson trembled lest this manoeu- 
 vre should be executed ; he was so shattered that 
 he could not have sustained the attack. Villeneuve 
 did, in fact, at length weigh anchor and stand out, 
 but it was for the purpose of making off and saving 
 his wing, which he deemed incapable of encounter- 
 ing Nelson with advantage. Three of his ships ran 
 ashore ; he got away with the two others, and two 
 frigates, and crowded all sail for Malta. The battle 
 had now lasted upwards of fifteen hours. All the 
 crews on board the French vessels engaged, had ex- 
 hibited an heroic valour. The brave captain Du 
 Petit-Thouars lost two limbs at a shot; he asked 
 for a pinch of snuff, remained on his quarter-deck, 
 and waited, like Brueys, to be killed by a cannon- 
 ball. The whole French squadron, with the excep- 
 tion of the ships and frigates draughted by Ville- 
 neuve, was destroyed. Nelson was so crippled that 
 he could not pursue the fugitive vessels. ■* 
 
 * [This of course is the most favourable version of the affair 
 for the Frencli. It may be interesting to tlie reader to have in 
 juxtaposition a good lilnglish account of this tamous battle, 
 whicli unquestionably exercised a prodigious eft'ect on the des- 
 tinies of the world, and 6ne is therefore subjoined from the pen 
 of Mr. Alison : — " No sooner did Nelson perceive the situation 
 of the Frencli fleet, than he resolved to penetrate between them 
 and the shore, and in that way double with his whole force on 
 part of that of the enemy. ' Where there Is room for the enemy 
 to suing,' said he, ' there must be room for us to anchor.' His 
 plan was to place his fleet half on the outer, and half on the 
 inner side of the French line, and station his ships, so far as 
 practicable, one on the outer bow and another on the outer 
 quarter of each of the enemy's. Captain Berry, his liag cap- 
 tain, when he was made acquainted with the ilesign, exclaimed 
 with transport, ' If we succeed, what «ill the world say V — 
 ' There is no " If" in the case,' replied Nelson ; ' that we shall 
 succeed is certain ; who may live to tell the story is a very dif- 
 ferent question.' The number of ships of the line on the two 
 sides was equal, but the French had a great advantage in the 
 size of their vessels ; their ships caiTying 1196 guns, and 11,230 
 men, while the English had only lOlL' guns and 8068 men. The 
 Uritish squadron consisted entirely of seventy-fours ; whereas 
 the French, besides the noble L'Orient of 1'20 guns, had two 
 80-gun ships, the Franklin and CJuUlaurae Tell. The battery 
 on Aboukii- fort was mounted with four pieces of heavy can- 
 non and two mortars, besides pieces of a lighter calibre. The 
 squadron advaiued to the attack at three o'clock in the after- 
 noon. Admiral Brueys at first imagined that the battle would 
 be deferred till the foUo«ing morning ; but the gallant bear- 
 ing and steady course of the British ships as they entered the 
 bay, soon convinced him that an immediate assault was in- 
 tended. The moment was felt by the bravest in both fleets ; 
 thousands gazed in silence, and with anxious hearts, on each 
 otiier, who were never destined again to see the sun, and tlie 
 sh(jre was covered with nuiltitndes of Arabs, anxious to behold 
 a fiy:ht on which, to all appearance, the fate of their counti-y 
 would depend. When the English fleet came within range, 
 they were received %«th a steady fire from the broadsides of all 
 the vessels and the batteries on the island. It fell right on the 
 bows of the leading ships ; but, without returning a shot, they 
 bore directly down upon the enemy, the men on board every 
 vessel being employed aloft in fui'ling sails, and below in tend- 
 ing the braces, and making ready for an anchorage. Captain 
 Fowley led the way in the Goliath, outsailing tlie Zealous, 
 under Captain Hood, wliich for some time disputed the post 
 of honour with him ; and when he reached the van of the 
 enemy's line, he steered between the oulermost ship and the 
 shoal, so as to interpose between the French fleet and the 
 shore. In ten minutes he shot aw ay the masts of the Conquer- 
 ant, while the Zealous, which immediately followed, in the 
 same time totally disabled the Guerrier, which was next in 
 line. The othei' ships in that column followed in their order, 
 stiU inside the French line, while Nelson, in the Vanguard, at 
 the bead of five ships, anchored outside of the enemy, within 
 pistol-shot of their third ship, the Spartiate. The efleet of this 
 manreuvre was to bring an overwhelming force against two- 
 thirds of the enemy's squadron, while the other third, moored 
 at a distance fiom the scene of danger, could neither aid their 
 friends nor injure their enemies. Nelson had arranjjed his 
 fleet with such skill, that from the moment that the ships took 
 up their positions, the victoi-y was secure. Five ships had 
 passed the line, and anchored between the first nine of the 
 enemy and the shore, wliile six had taken their station on the 
 outer side of the same vessels, which were thus placed between 
 two fires, and had no possibility of escape. Another vessel, 
 the Leander, was interposed across the line, and cut oft' the 
 Vanguard from all assistance from the rearmost shi])S of the 
 squadron, while her guns raked right and left those between 
 which she was placed. The Culloden, which came up sound- 
 ing after it was dark, ran aground two leagues from the hos- 
 tile fleets, and, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of her cap- 
 tiin and crew, could take no part in the action wliich followed ; 
 but her fate served as a wariiiiig to the Alexander and Swiiu 
 sure, which would else have infallibly struck on the shoal and 
 peiished. The way in which these ships entered the bay and
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 717 
 
 Such was the celebrated naval battle of Aboukir 
 or the Nile, the most disastrous that the French 
 navy had ever sustained, and the military ccmse- 
 quences of which threatened to be most fatal. The 
 fleet which had borne the French to Egypt, which 
 could have succoured or recruited them, which was 
 to second their movements on the coasts of Syria if 
 they undertook any, which was to overawe the Porte, 
 force it to be content with insufficient reasons, and 
 compel it to sanction the invasion of Egypt, which 
 
 took up their station.'! amidst the ploom of night by the li^lit 
 of the increa&ins cannonade, excited the admiration of all who 
 witnessed it. The British ships, however, had a severe fire to 
 sustain as they successively passed along the enemy's line to 
 take up their appointed stations : and the great size of several 
 of the French srjuadron rendered them more tlian a match for 
 any single vessel the English could oppose to them. The Van- 
 guard, which bore proudly down, bearing the admiral's fag 
 and six colours on different parts of the rigging, had eve ry 
 man at the first six guns on the forecastle killed or wounded 
 in a few minutes, and they were three times swept off before 
 the action closed. The Bellerophon dropt her stern anchor 
 close under the bow of the L'Orient, and, notwithstanding the 
 immense disproportion of force, continued to engage her first- 
 rate antagonist till hero^NTi m.asts had all gone overboard, and 
 every officer was either killed or wounded, when she drifted 
 away with the tide, overwhelmed, but not subdued, a glorious 
 monument of unconquerable valour. As she floated along, she 
 came close to the S«iftsure, which -nas coming into action, 
 and not having the lights at the mizen-peak, which Nelson had 
 ordered as a signal by which his own ships might distinguish 
 each other, she was at first mistaken for an enemy. Fortu- 
 nately, Captain Hallowell, who commanded that vessel, had 
 the presence of mind to order his men not to fire, till he ascer- 
 tained whether the hulk was a friend or an enemy, and thus 
 a catastrophe was prevented which might have proved fatal to 
 both of these ships. The station of the Bellerophon in com- 
 bating the L'Orient was now taken by the Swiftsure, which 
 opened at once a steady fire on the quarter of the Franklin 
 and the bows of the French admiral, while the Alexander an- 
 chored on his larboard quarter, ami, with the Leander, com- 
 pleted the destruction of their gigantic opponent. It was now 
 dark, but both fleets were illuminated by the incessant dis- 
 charge of above two thousand jiieces of cannon, and the vol- 
 umes of flame and smoke that rolled away from the bay gave 
 it the appearance as if a tei-rific volcano had suddenly burst 
 forth in the midst of the sea. Victory, however, soon declared 
 for the British : before nine, three ships of the line had struck, 
 and two were dismasted ; and the flames were seen bursting 
 forth from the L'Orient, as she still continued, viith unabated 
 energy, her heroic defence. They spread with fi'ightful rapid- 
 ity, the fire of the Swiftsure was directed with such fatal pre- 
 cision to the bui-ning part, that all attempts to extingui.sh it 
 proved ineffectual ; and the masts and rigging were soon 
 wrapped in flames, which threw a prodigious light over the 
 heavens, and rendered the situation of every ship in both fleets 
 distinctly visible. The sight redoubled the ardour of the Bri- 
 tish seamen, by exhibit'ng the shattered condition and lowered 
 colours of so many of their enemies, and loud cheers from the 
 whole fleet announced every successive flag that was struck. 
 As the fire approached the magazine of the L'Orient, many 
 officers and men jumped overboard, and were picked up by 
 the English boats ; others were dragged into the port^holes of 
 the nearest British ships, who for that pui-jjose suspended their 
 firing ; but the greater part of the crew, with heroic bravery, 
 stood to their guns to the last, and continued to fire from the 
 lower deck. At ten o'clock she blew up, with an explosion so 
 tremendous, that nothing in ancient or modern war was ever 
 equal to it. Every shi]) in the hostile fleets was shaken to its 
 centre ; the firing by universal consent ceased on both sides, 
 and the tremendous explosion was followed by a silence still 
 more awful, interrupted only, after the Lapse of some minutes, 
 by the splash of the shattered masts and yards falling into the 
 water from the vast height to which they had been thrown. 
 The British ships in the vicinity, with admirable coolness, liad 
 made preparations to avoid the" conflagration ; all the shrouds 
 and sails were thoroughly wetted, and sailors stationed with 
 buckets of water to extinguish any burning fragments which 
 might fall upon their decks. By these means, although large 
 burning masses fell on the Swiftsure and Alexander, they were 
 extinguished without doing any serious damage. After a 
 pause of ten minutes, the liring recommenced, and continueii 
 without intennission till after midnight, when it gradually 
 grew slacker, from the shattered condition of the French ships 
 and the exhaustion of the British sailors, numbers of whom 
 fell asleep beside their guns, the instant a moiiKiitary cissa- 
 tion of loading took i)lace. Atdaybreak the magnitude of the 
 victory was ai)parent ; not a vestige of the L'Dnent was to be 
 seen ; the frigate La Serieuse was sunk, and the whole French 
 line, with the exception of the Guillaume Tell and Genereux, 
 had struck their colours. These sliips having been little en- 
 gaged in the action, cut their cables, and stood out to sea, fol- 
 ioived by the two frigates : they were gallantly pursued by the 
 Zealous, which was rapidly jfaining on them ; but as there 
 was no other shi]! of the line in a condition to sujiiMut her, she 
 was recalled, and these ships escaped. Had the Cullddi ii not 
 struck on the shoal, and the fiigates belonging to the squadron 
 been present, not cme of the enemy's fleet would have escaped 
 to convey the nuiurnful tidings to France." — History of Ewojie, 
 vol. iii. pp. 445— 4-JO.] 
 
 was in fine to carry back the French into their owri 
 country in the event of reverses, — this fleet was anni- 
 hilated. The ships of the French were burnt, but 
 they had not set fire to them of their own accord, 
 which made a vast difference in the moral effect. 
 Tidings of the misfortune rapidly circulated through 
 Egypt, and caused a moment of despair to the army. 
 Bonaparte received the intelligence with impertur- 
 bable calmness. " So be it !" he cried ; " we must 
 die here or issue forth great as the ancients !" He 
 wrote to Kleber: — " This will oblige us to perform 
 greater things than we contemplated. We must 
 hold ourselves on the alert." The undaunted soul 
 of Kleber was worthy of such language. "Yes," 
 he replied, " we must do great things ; / am prepar- 
 ing mil faculties."— The fortitude of these great men 
 cheered the armv under its affliction, and restored its 
 tone. Bonaparte sought to distract his soldiers by 
 different expeditions, and soon taught them to forget 
 the disaster. At the fete of the foundation of the 
 republic, celebrated on the 1st Vendemiaire, he strove 
 to exalt their imagination : he caused to be engraved 
 on Pompey's pillar the names of the forty soldiers 
 first killed in Egypt. These were the forty who had 
 fallen in the assault of Alexandria. Their names, 
 furnished from the obscure villages of France, were 
 thus associated with the immortality of Pompey and 
 Alexander. He like\\'ise addre sed to his army a 
 grand and thrilling allocution, retracing its wondrous 
 history. It ran thus — 
 
 " Soldiers, 
 
 " We celebrate the first day of the year VII. of 
 the Republic. 
 
 " Five years ago the independence of the French 
 people was menaced ; but you took Toulon, — it was 
 the presage of the ruin of your enemies. 
 
 " A year after you beat the Austrians at Dego. 
 
 " The year subsequent you were on the summit 
 of the Alps. 
 
 " Two years ago you fought against Mantua, and 
 won the famous victory of Saint George. 
 
 " Last year you were at the sources of the Drave 
 and the Isonzo, on your return from Germany. 
 
 " Who would then have said that you would this 
 day be on the banks of the Nile, in the centre of the 
 ancient world? 
 
 " From the English, renowned in arts and com- 
 merce, to the hideous and ferocious Bedouin, you 
 attract the eyes of all nations. 
 
 " Soldieis^ your destiny is glorious, because you 
 are worthy of what you have done, and of the opinion 
 entertained of you. You will die with honour, like 
 the brave men whose names are written on this 
 colmnn, or you will return to your country covered 
 with laurels", and the admiration of the universe. 
 
 " During the five montlis we have been absent 
 from Europe, we have been the constant object of 
 solicitude to our countrymen. On this day forty 
 millions of citizens celebrate the era of representa- 
 tive governments; forty millions of citizens think of 
 you ; all say : ' It is to "their labours, to their blood, 
 that we owe general peace, tranquillity, tlie prosper- 
 ity of couunerce, and the blessings of civil liberty." 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 EFFKCT OF THE KXI'KDITIO.N OF liGVI'T IN EUROTK. 
 
 FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE BATTLE OF 
 
 ABOUKIR. — DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE PORTE. 
 —EFFORTS OF EN(iLANJ) TO FORM A NEW COALI- 
 TION. — CONFEUENtKS WITH AUSTRIA. — FRESH 
 COMMOTIONS IN HOLLANP, SWITZERLAND, AND 
 THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. —CHANGE IN THE CIS- 
 ALPINE CONSTITUTION. DOMESTIC SITUATION OF 
 
 FRANCE. A MOW OPPOSITION IN THE COUNCILS.
 
 718 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 GENERAL DISPOSITION FOR WAR. LAW OF THE 
 
 CONSCRIPTION. FINANCES OF THE YEAR VII. 
 
 RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES. INVASION OF THE 
 
 ROMAN STATES BV THE NEAPOLITAN ARMV. 
 
 CONQUEST OF NAPLES BV GENERAL CHAMPIONNET. 
 ABDICATION OF THE KING OF SARDINIA. 
 
 The expedition to Egypt remained a mystery in 
 Europe long after the departure of the fleet. The 
 capture of Malta first tended to fix conjecture. That 
 fortress deemed impre<jna1)le, and reduced on the 
 way, threw over the French Arj,'()nauts an extraor- 
 dinary lustre. The debarkation in Egypt, the occu- 
 pation of Alexandria, the battle of the Pyramids, 
 struck with singular amazement the imaginations of 
 men in France and Europe. The name of Bonaparte, 
 which had appeared so mighty when echoed from the 
 Alps, produced a stronger and yet more startling 
 effect reverberated from the distant regions of the 
 East. Bonaparte and Egypt formed the theme of 
 all conversations. Thijigs done were as nought ; 
 still more gigantic enterprises were anticipated. 
 Bonaparte designed, it was said, to traverse Syria 
 and Arabia, and penetrate to Constantinople or India. 
 
 Intelligence of the battle of Aboukir came, not to 
 destroy the prestige of the enterprise, but to revive 
 the liopes of all the enemies of France, and hasten 
 the success of their devices. England, who was 
 greatly alarmed for her commercial supremacy, and 
 waited but the favourable moment to raise fresh ene- 
 mies against France, had filled Constantinople with 
 her intrigues. The Sultan was not sorry to witness 
 the punishment of the ^Mamelukes, but he had no 
 desire to lose Egyi)t. I\I. de Talleyrand, who was to 
 have repaired to Constantinople for the purpose of 
 satisfying the Divan, had not proceeded on his mis- 
 sion. Tie agents of England had the field free ; they 
 instilled into the Porte that the ambition of France 
 was insatiable ; that after having convulsed Europe, 
 she proposed to overturn the East ; and that in con- 
 tempt of an old alliance she had invaded the richest 
 province of the Ottoman empire. These represen- 
 tations, ^vith all the gold scattered in the Divan, 
 would not have sufficed to determine it, if the power- 
 ful fleet of Brueys had been in a condition to bom- 
 bard the Dardanelles; but the battle of Aboukir 
 robbed the French of all their ascendency in the 
 Levant, and transferred to England a decisive pre- 
 dominance. The Porte solemidy declared war against 
 France, * and, for the sake of a province long ago 
 lost, quarrelled with her natural ally, and coalesced 
 with her most formidable enemies, Russia and Eng- 
 land. The sultan ordered the formation of an army 
 for the reconquest of Egypt. This event rendered 
 the situation of the French extremely critical. Se- 
 parated from France, and cut off from succour by the 
 victorious fleets of England, they were exposed to 
 the attacks of all the ferocious hordes of the East. 
 They were but thirty thousand to contend against 
 such perils. 
 
 The conqueror Nelson repaired to Naples to refit 
 his crippled squadron, and receive the honours of a 
 triumph. Notwithstanding the treaties which bound 
 the court of Naples to France, and forbid it to fur- 
 nish aid to her enemies, all the ports and dock-yards 
 of Sicily were opened to Nelson. He himself was 
 welcomed with extraordinary distinction. The king 
 and queen advanced to receive him at the entrance 
 of the harbour, and saluted him as the hero-liberator 
 of the Mediterranean. It began to be insinuated 
 that the success of Nelson ought to be the signal of 
 a general rising, that the [lOwers of Europe ought to 
 take advantage of the moment, when the most for- 
 midable army of France aiul her greatest captain were 
 in)prisone(i in Egypt, to march against her and repel 
 within her own confines her soldiers and her prin- 
 
 » Ou t:.e !8t!i FruLtid .r. year VI. (4th September 179S ) 
 
 ciples. Such suggestions soon became rife in all the 
 courts.- Tuscany and Piedmont were especially ex 
 horted, to stimulate the animosity they had hitherto 
 disguised. This was the moment, they were told, 
 to second the court of Naples, to league together 
 against the common enemy, to rise all at once upon 
 the rear of the French, and exterminate them from 
 one end of the peninsula to the other. Austria was 
 urged that she ought to seize the moment when tlie 
 Italian states took the French in rear to attack them 
 in front, and wrest Italy from their possession. The 
 thing would be of easy accomplishment, she was re- 
 miTided, for Bonaparte and his terrible army were no 
 longer on the Adige. The Empire was incited by 
 the remembrance of the territory it had lost, and of 
 the compulsory cession of the limit of the Rhine. 
 Urgent endeavours were made to draw Prussia from 
 her neutrality ; and lastly, with Paul of Russia influ- 
 ences were used fitted to operate on his diseased 
 mind, and decide him to grant the assistance so long 
 and idly promised by his predecessor Catherine. 
 
 These suggestions could scarcely fail to be favour- 
 ably entertained in the various courts of Europe ; but 
 all were not in a condition to act upon them. The 
 nearest to France were the most irritated and the 
 most disposed to drive back the revolution ; but for 
 the very reason of their propinquity to the republican 
 colossus, they were compelled to use the greater re- 
 serve and discretion ere venturing to declare openly 
 against it. Russia, the most distant fi'om France, 
 and least exposed to her vengeance, both from its 
 remoteness and the moral peculiarities of its popula- 
 tions, was the most easily induced to take the initia- 
 ti ve. Catherine, whose wily policy had always tended 
 to complicate affairs in Europe, both to gain a pre- 
 text for intervention and to pursue at leisure her 
 designs on Poland, was dead, but her policy survived. 
 This policy is inherent in the Russian cabinet ; it re- 
 sults from its very position : it may vary in its mani- 
 festations, in its mode of action, according as the 
 sovereign is astute or violent, but it constantly aims 
 at an identical object, moved by an irresistible im- 
 pulse. The able Catherine had been content to give 
 hopes and subsidies to the emigrants; she had preached 
 a crusade without contributing a soldier. Her suc- 
 cessor had the self-same objects in view, but pursued 
 them with the difference befitting his character. At 
 first indeed this prince, violent in temper, and almost 
 deranged, but of a certain generosity nevertheless, 
 had appeared to discard the policy of Catherine, and 
 refused to execute the treaty of alliance concluded 
 with England and Austria; but after this momentary 
 deviation he had speedily returned to the policy of 
 jiis court. We have seen him afford an asylmn to 
 the pretender, and take the emigrants into his pay 
 after the treaty of Campo-Formio. He was per- 
 suaded that he ought to place himself at the head of 
 European nobility to defend it against the assaults 
 of demagogues. The proceeding of the Knights of 
 Malta, who took him for their protector, contributed 
 to inflame his mind, and he embraced the ideas sug- 
 gested to him with the inconstancy aT)d ardour of the 
 Russian character. He tendered his protection to 
 the Empire, and proposed to constitute himself the 
 guarantee of its integrity. The capture of Malta 
 filled him with rage, and he hastened to offer the 
 co-operation of his armies against France. England, 
 therefore, was in the ascendant at St. Petersburg as 
 well as at Constantinople, and enabled to move in 
 unison enemies hitherto irreconcilable in their hate. 
 
 The same zeal was not displayed by other powers. 
 Prussia found too much advantage in her neutrality, 
 and in the exhaustion of Austria, to have any wish 
 to interfere in the conflict between the two systems. 
 She contented herself with watching narrowly her 
 frontiers on the side of Holland and France to pre- 
 vent the intrusion of the revolutionary mania. She 
 had ranged her armies in a manner to form a cordun
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 719 
 
 sanitaire. The Empire, which had acquired, at a 
 heavy cost, a wholesome knowledge of the power of 
 France, and was always exposed to become the 
 theatre of war, desired peace. The dispossessed 
 princes themselves also wished it, because they were 
 assured of obtaining indemnities on the right bank ; 
 the ecclesiastical princes alone, threatened with se- 
 cularization, were favourable to war. The Italian 
 powers of Piedmont and Tuscany were looking for- 
 ward to a fitting occasion ; but for the present 
 trembled under the republican rod. They dared not 
 stir until Austria or Naples gave them the signal. 
 As to Austria, although the best disposed of the 
 courts forming the monarchical coalition, she still 
 hesitated, with her usual tardiness, to take a decided 
 part, apprehensive doubtless on account of her sub- 
 jects who had been much exhausted in the late war. 
 France had set up against her two new republics in 
 Switzerland and Rome, the one on her flank, the 
 other in Italy, which greatly irritated her, and wholly 
 disposed her for war ; nevertheless, she would have 
 overlooked these fresh encroachments of the repub- 
 lican system, if she had been compensated by certain 
 cessions. It was with this view she had proposed 
 conferences at Selz. Those conferences were ap- 
 pointed to be lield in the summer of 1798, not far 
 from the congress of Rastadt, and concurrently there- 
 with. On tlieir result depended the determination 
 of Austria, and the success of the efforts made to 
 form a new coalition. 
 
 Francois de Neufchateau was the envoy chosen by 
 France. It was on this account that the small town 
 of Selz had been selected for the place of meeting, 
 on account of its situation on the banks of the Rhine, 
 not far from Rastadt. but on the left side. This 
 last condition was necessary, inasmuch as the con- 
 stitution prohibited a retiring director from leaving 
 France before a fixed period. M. de Cobentzel was 
 deputed to represent Austria. From the first mo- 
 ment the real dispositions of that court were apparent. 
 Its object was to obtain compensation, by an exten- 
 sion of territory, for the advances the republican 
 system had made in Switzerland and Italy. France 
 was mainly anxious to arrive at an uhderstanding 
 touching the affair of Vienna, and to procure satis- 
 faction for the insult to Bernadotte. But Austria 
 evaded explanations on that point, and always ad- 
 journed this part of the negotiation. The French 
 envoy, on the contrary, constantly recurred to it ; at 
 the same time he had orders to be satisfied with the 
 least atonement. France would be content if the 
 minister Thugut, disgraced in appearance, were so 
 in reality, and if a slight concession, the most insig- 
 nificant in the world, were made to Bernadotte for 
 the outrage committed on him. M. de Cobentzel 
 contented himself with stating that his court dis- 
 avowed what had passed at Vienna, but he offered 
 no reparation, and persisted in demanding the exten- 
 sions of territory he claimed. It was clear that the 
 sacrifices of pride v^'ould be commensurate only with 
 the gratifications of ambition. Austria contended 
 that the institution of the two republics, the Roman 
 and Helvetian, and the palpable influence exercised 
 over the Cisalpine, Ligurian, and Batavian repub- 
 lics, were violations of the treaty of Campo-Formio, 
 and a dangerous alteration in the state of Europe ; 
 in consequence France must give inchMnnities if she 
 wished these her last usur()ations to be forgiven; 
 and, in the shape of an equivalent, the Austrian ne- 
 gotiator demanded additional [)rovinces in Italy. He 
 asked that the line of the Adige should be moved 
 farther back, and the Austrian possessions extended 
 to the Adda and the Po, or in other words, that the 
 best half of the Cisal|)ine republic should be trans- 
 ferred to Austria. M. de Cobentzel, however, pro- 
 posed to compensate the Cisalpine republic with a 
 part of Piedmont, the surplus of that kingdom being 
 made over to the Grand-duke of Tuscanv, and the 
 
 King of Piedmont receiving in lieu the states of the 
 Church. Thus, for the bribe of an aggrandizement 
 for himself in Lombardy, and for the Tuscan branch 
 of his fiunily, the emperor would have sanctioned 
 the establishment of the Helvetian republic, the 
 overthrow of the Pope, and the partition of the 
 monarchy of Piedmont. It was impossible, never- 
 theless, for France to acquiesce in these propositions 
 for several reasons. In the first place, she could not 
 consent to dismember the scarcely formed Cisalpine 
 state, and to replace, under the Austrian yoke, pro- 
 vinces she had emancipated, to whidi she had so- 
 lemnly promised liberty, and on which she had levied 
 contributions to insure it ; and secondly, she had 
 only the year before concluded a treaty with the 
 King of Piedmont by which she guaranteed his do- 
 minions. This guarantee was particularly stipulated 
 against Austria. Hence, France could not sacrifice 
 Piedmont. Fran9ois de Neufchateau, therefore, was 
 ol)liged to reject the propositions of M. de Cobent- 
 zel. They separated without effecting any arrange- 
 ment. No satisfaction was given for the affair of 
 Vienna. IM. Degelmann, who was to have appeared 
 at Paris as ambassador, did not present himself, and 
 it was announced that the two cabinets would con- 
 tinue to communicate through their ministers at the 
 congress of Rastadt. This separation was generally 
 regarded as a species of rupture. 
 
 The determination of Austria was evidently taken 
 from that moment; but before recommencing hos- 
 tilities with France, she desired to secure the co- 
 operation of the principal powers of Europe. M. de 
 Cobentzel departed for Berlin, with instructions to 
 proceed from Berlin to St. Petersburg. The object 
 of this journey was to aid the efforts of England in 
 forming a new coalition. The emperor of Russia 
 had sent to Berlin one of the most important per- 
 sonages in his empire, Prince Repnin. M. de Cob- 
 entzel was to combine his influKice with that of 
 Prince Repnin and the English embassy to sway the 
 young king. 
 
 France, on her part, dispatched to Berlin one of 
 her most illustrious citizens, — Sieyes. The repu- 
 tation of Sieyes had been immense before the reign 
 of the Convention, but had altogether vanished under 
 the committee of public- welfare. It suddenly re- 
 vived when things began to resume their natural 
 course, and the name of Sieyes was again become 
 the greatest in France after that of Bonaparte ; for, 
 in France, a character for profundity is that which 
 commands most regard after a liigh military renown. 
 Sieyes was therefore one of the two chief person- 
 ages of his country. Always discontented with 
 and criticizing the government, not like Bonaparte 
 through ambition, but from pique against a consti- 
 tution he had not himself framed, he was neverthe- 
 less an importunate applicant. The idea of giving 
 him an embassy had suggested itself. It afforded an 
 opportunity of removing him, of reiulering him use- 
 ful, and especially of furnishing him the means of 
 existence. The revolution had swept all these away 
 by al)clishing ecclesiastical benefices. A great em- 
 bassy would supply a medium for restoring them. 
 The greatest at present was the Prussian, for the 
 French had no envoys in Austria, Russia, or Eng- 
 land. Berlin was tiie theatre of all intrigues, and 
 Sieyes, though indifferently adapted for the manage- 
 ment of affairs, was still a subtle and keen observer. 
 Moreover, his fame rendered him peculiarly fitted 
 to represent France, above all in Germany, which his 
 genius tallied with better than any other coimtry. 
 
 To the Prussian monarch the arrival in his domin- 
 ions of so celel)rated a revolutionist was by no means 
 a source of pleasure ; yet he ventured not to reject 
 liim. Sieyes comported himself with circumspection 
 and dignity ; the reception accorded him was of a 
 similar character, but he was left to pine in solitude. 
 Like all the French envoys to foreign courts he was
 
 720 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 observed with caution, and so to speak isolated. ] 
 The Germans were curious to see him, but durst j 
 not visit him. His influence at the court of Berlin 
 was null. The consideration of his own interests 
 alone weighed with the king in resisting the instances 
 of England, Au-tria, and Russia. 
 
 Whilst endeavours were thus concentrated to 
 vanquish the reluctance of the king of Prussia, the 
 court of Naples, inflated with exultation and inso- 
 lence since the victory of Ahnukir, was making vast 
 preparations for war, and redoubling its solicitations 
 at the courts of Tuscany and Piedmont. France, 
 through an excess of complaisance, had permitted it 
 to occupy the duchy of Beiievento. But this con- 
 cession was far from tranquillizing it. The Neapo- 
 litan cabinet flattered itself with gaining by imme- 
 diate hostilities a moiety at least of the ancient pos- 
 sessions of the Pope. 
 
 Meanwhile the negotiations at Rastadt were pro- 
 gressing favourably for France. Treilhard, elected 
 a director, and Bonaparte, absent in Egypt, had 
 been replaced at the congress by Jean Debry and 
 Roberjot. After having secured the line of the 
 Rhine, a variety of questions, military, political, 
 and commercial, remained for solution. The French 
 legation had become extremely exorbitant and de- 
 manded much more than it had any right to expect. 
 In the first place, it claimed all the islands of the 
 Rhine, an important acquisition, especially in a mili- 
 tary point of view. Next it sought to retain Kehl 
 and' its territory ojjposite Strasburg, with Cassel and 
 its territory opposite Mayence. It insisted that the 
 commercial bridge between the two Brisachs should 
 be re-established ; that fifty acres of land should be 
 given to France in front of the old bridge of Hunin- 
 guen, and that the important fortress of Ehrenbreit- 
 stein should be demolished. It required further- 
 more that the navigation of the Rhine and of all the 
 German rivers flowing into it should be free, all tolls 
 abolished, merchandise on both banks subjected to 
 the same dues, and the towing-tracks preserved and 
 maintained by the river-side populations. In con- 
 clusion, it proposed a final condition of great moment, 
 to wit that the debts of the countries on the left 
 bank, ceded to France, should be transferred to the 
 countries on the right bank, appointed to be given 
 by way of indemnity. 
 
 The deputation of the Empire contended with 
 reason that the line of the Rhine ought to afford 
 equal security to both nations ; that it was this very 
 argument of equal security which had been princi- 
 pally relied upon in sustaining the claims of France 
 to the line in question ; but that this security would 
 no longer exist for Germany if France possessed all 
 the offensive points, as would happen by her reten- 
 tion of the islands, of Cassel and Kehl, of fifty acres 
 opposite Huninguen, &c. The deputation of the 
 Empire therefore refused to admit the demands of 
 France, and proposed as the real line of demarcation 
 the thalweg, that is to say the centre of the princi- 
 pal navigable channel : all the islands on the right of 
 this line to belong to Germany, and those on the 
 left to France. In this maimer the true impediment 
 which renders a river a military line was placed be- 
 tween the two people, namely the principal navi- 
 gable stream. In sequence of this basis, the depu- 
 tation required the demolition of Cassel and Kehl, 
 and refused the fifty acres opposite Huninguen. It 
 was resolute that France should not preserve any 
 offensive point when Germany retained none. With 
 less reason it objected to the demolition of Ehren- 
 breitstein, which was incompatible with the security 
 of the city of Coblentz. It yielded the free naviga- 
 tion of the Rhine, but insisted u; on the freedom 
 extending throughout its course, aisd called upon 
 France to compel the Batavian republic to recognise 
 this principle. As to the free navigation of the 
 internal rivers of Germany, the stipulation exceeded, 
 
 it said, its powers, and concerned each state indi- 
 vidually. The condition regarding towing-tracks 
 was acceded to. It preferred that the question 
 relative to tolls and their abolition were left to be 
 settled by a treaty of conunerce. Finally, it main- 
 tained that the debts of the countries on the left 
 bank ceded to France should remain charged upon 
 them on the maxim that the debt follows its pledge, 
 and that the possessions of the intermediate nobility 
 should be deemed private property and secured ac- 
 cordingly. The deputation demanded in addition 
 that the French troops should evacuate the right 
 bank and relinquish the blockade of Ehrenbreitstein, 
 seeing it subjected the inhabitants to the horrors of 
 famine. 
 
 These incompatible pretensions gave rise to a 
 series of notes and counter-notes during the whole 
 summer. At last, in the month of Vende'miaire year 
 VI. (August and September), the thalweg was ad- 
 mitted by the French legation. The principal navi- 
 gable branch was assigned as the limit between 
 France and Germany, and the islands were to be 
 divided in accordance with that basis. France con- 
 sented to the demolition of Cassel and Kehl, but 
 demanded the isle of Pettersau, which lies in the 
 Rhine almost abreast of Mayence and is of great 
 importance to that place. On its side, the German 
 Empire agreed to the demolition of Ehrenbreitstein. 
 The free navigation of the Rhine and the abolition 
 of tolls were accorded. There still remained for 
 settlement the questions touching the establishment 
 of bridges for traffic, the application of the emigra- 
 tion-laws in the ceded countries, the possessions of 
 the intermediate nobility, and the debts of the ceded 
 territories. The secular princes had declared that 
 all concessions compatible with the honour and 
 security of the Empire ought to be made, in order 
 to obtain peace, so indispensable to Germany. It 
 was evident that the majority of those princes were 
 anxious to arrange terms, and Prussia exhorted them 
 to that effect. But Austria began to evince con- 
 trary dispositions, and to stimulate the resentment 
 of tile ecclesiastical princes against the course of the 
 negotiations. The deputies of the Empire, albeit 
 declaring emphatically for peace, nevertheless ob- 
 served extreme caution, from the apprehensions 
 Austria caused them, and fluctuated between her 
 and Prussia. As to the French ministers, they 
 manifested an austere reserve ; they lived apart and 
 in a species of isolation, like all the French envoys 
 in Europe. Such was the state of the Congress at 
 the close of summer. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing in the East and 
 in Europe, France, still burdened with the task of 
 directing the five republics around her, had en- 
 countered cares innumerable. These arose from the 
 constant difficulties of controlling public opinion in 
 those republics, obtaining sustenance for the troops 
 stationed in them, maintaining harmony between the 
 generals and the ambassadors deputed to them, and 
 lastly preserving concord between them and adjoin- 
 ing states. 
 
 Almost everywhere the same course had been 
 found necessary as in France, that is to say, after 
 having crushed one party to crush another imme- 
 diately afterwards. In Holland a sort of Fructidor 
 had been executed, on the 3d Pluviose (2'2d January), 
 for the purpose of expelling the federalists, annul- 
 ling the ancient regulations, and giving the country 
 a unitarian constitution almost similar to that of 
 France. But this revolution had turned too much 
 in favour of the democrats. They had seized on all 
 the powers of the government. After excluding 
 from the national assembly all the deputies they ad- 
 judged suspected, they had constituted themselves 
 into a directory and two councils, without having 
 recourse to fresh elections. They had designed in 
 this respect to imitate the national convention of
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 7-21 
 
 France and its famous decrees of the 5th and 13th 
 Fructidor. Since then they had arrogated the entire 
 direction of affairs, and departed from the line in 
 which the French Directory wished to keep all the 
 republics confided to its care. General Daendels, 
 one of the most distinguished men of the moderate 
 party, was summoned to Paris, held conferences 
 with the directors, and returned into Holland to deal 
 the democrats the blow recently administered to 
 their brethren at Paris, namely, excluding them from 
 the legislative body bymeaTis of electoral secessiojis. 
 Thus everything done in France, it became imme- 
 diately necessary to repeat in the countries which 
 depended on her. Jonbert had orders to support 
 Daendels. The latter, in concert with the ministers, 
 and by the aid of the Bataviaii and French troops, 
 dispersed the directory and the councils, formed a 
 provisional government, and ordained fresh elections. 
 The French ambassador, Delacroix, who had abetted 
 the democrats, was recalled. These scenes pro- 
 duced the ordinary effect. The reproach failed not 
 to be urged that republican institutions could not 
 subsist of themselves, that they required every 
 moment the lever of bayonets, and that the new 
 states were in the most abject dependence on France. 
 
 In Switzerland the establishment of the republic 
 one and indivisible had not been effected without 
 bloodshed. The petty cantons of Schweitz, Zug, 
 and Glaris, stirred up by the priests and the aristo- 
 crats, had sworn to oppose the adoption of the new 
 system. General Schauembourg, averse to reduce 
 them by force, had interdicted all connnunication 
 between them and the other cantons. The refrac- 
 tory cantons immediately dew to arms and invaded 
 Lucerne, which they pillaged and laid waste. Schau- 
 embourg marched against them, and after sundry 
 obstinate conflicts reduced them to sue for peace. 
 The pledge of this peace was the acceptance of the 
 new constitution. It had been requisite, also, to 
 use the sword and even fire in repressing the pea- 
 sants of the LTpper-Valais, who had made a descent 
 into the Lovver-Valais, with the design of re-estab- 
 lishing their old dominion. Notwithstanding these 
 impediments, the constitution was everywhere in 
 force by Prairial (May 1798). The seat of the 
 Helvetian government was fixed at Aran. Composed 
 of a directory and two councils, it commenced the 
 labours of the administration of the country. The 
 new French commissioner was Rapinat, brother-in- 
 law of Rewbell. He was to assist with his counsels 
 the Helvetian government in the administration of 
 affairs. Circumstances combined to render this ad- 
 ministration peculiarly difficult. The priests and 
 the aristocrats, posted in the mountains, were oidy 
 watching the favourable moment to arouse the popu- 
 lation again. It was necessary to keep on guard 
 against them, to support and pacify the French army 
 retained to oppose them, to organize the administra- 
 tion, and to put things in a train for subsisting in- 
 dependently. This task was not less ditficult for the 
 Helvetian government than for the French commis- 
 sioner placed by its side. 
 
 It was natural that France should appropriate the 
 exchequers of the old aristocratic cantons to defray 
 the expenses of the war. The money contained in 
 those depositaries, and the stores accumulated in the 
 magazines formed by the late cantons, were indis- 
 pensable to her for the support of iier army. It was 
 an ordinary exercise of the right of conquest; she 
 might doubtless have waived the riglit, l)ut necessity 
 compelled her to enforce it at the moment. Rapinat 
 was ordered, therefore, to affix seals on all coffers 
 holding treasure. Many of the Swiss, even amongst 
 those who had promoted the revolution, took it 
 amiss that the fuiuls and magazines of the old 
 governments should be seized. The Swiss are, like 
 all mountaineers, prudent and brave, but extremely 
 avaricious. They were sulficiently pleased that 
 
 liberty had been conferred on them, that they were 
 freed from their oppressive oligarchies, but they 
 demurred to bear the expense of the enfranchise- 
 ment. Whilst Holland and Italy had endured, almost 
 without complaining, the heavy burden of long and 
 devastating campaigns, the Swiss jjatriots raised a 
 prodigious clamour about a few millions rightfully 
 forfeited. The Helvetian directory hastened, on 
 its part, to place other seals on those affixed by 
 Rapinat, and thus protested against the proceeding 
 which confiscated the coffers to the purposes of 
 France. Rapinat immediately caused the seals of 
 the Helvetian directory to be removed, and com- 
 municated to that directory that it was restricted to 
 administrative functions, that it was not competent 
 to act contrary to the authority of France, and that 
 for the future its laws and its decrees would possess 
 no foi-ce except in so far as they contained nothiiig 
 in opposition to the ordinances of the French com- 
 missioner and general. The enemies of the revolu- 
 tion, and more than one had contrived to creep into 
 the Helvetic councils, exulted at this contest, and 
 railed against tyranny. They vociferated that their 
 independence was outraged, and that the French 
 republic, which pretended to bring them liberty, had 
 brought them in reality nothing but slavery and 
 misery. Contumacy was not confined to the two 
 councils ; it was manifested also in the directory and 
 the local authorities. At Lucerne and Berne old 
 aristocrats occupied the administrations, and raised 
 obstacles of every kind to the levy of the fifteen 
 millions imposed on noble families for the necessities 
 of the army. Rapinat deemed it incumbent to purge 
 the government and administrations. In a letter 
 dated the "iHth Prairial (16th June), he demanded 
 from the Helvetian government the dismissal of two 
 directors, named respectively Bay and Pfiffer, and 
 of the minister for foreign affairs, and the recon- 
 struction of the administrative chambers of Lucerne 
 and Berne. Tliis demand, expressed in the per- 
 emptory tone of an order, could not be refused. The 
 dismissals specified were immediately given; but the 
 roughness with which Rapinat conducted himself 
 excited fresh murmurs, and fixed all the wrong on 
 his side. He in fact compromised his government 
 by openly violating forms to efifect changes which 
 might have been easily wrought by other means. 
 Without loss of time, the French Directory wrote 
 to the Helvetian disavowing the conduct of Rapinat, 
 and offering satisfaction for this violation of formal- 
 ities. Rapinat was recalled; nevertheless the dis- 
 missed functionaries were not reinstated. In place 
 of the two deposed diiectors, the Helvetic coun-cils 
 nominated Ochs, the author of the constitution, and 
 Colonel Laharpe, brother of the general killed in 
 Italy, one of the authors of the revolution in the 
 Pays de Vaud, and also one of the most worthy and 
 best-intentioned citizens in the country. 
 
 An alliance, oflensive and defensive, was con- 
 cluded t)etween the French and Helvetian republics 
 on the 2d Fructidor ( iOth August). According to 
 this treaty, either of the two i)owers whidi chanced 
 to be at war had a right to require the intervention 
 of the other, and to demand from it an auxiliary 
 force, the strength of which was lo be determined 
 by circumstances. Tiu' requiring power was to pay 
 the troops furnished by the other. The free naviga- 
 tion of all tlie rivers of Switzerland and Fiance was 
 mutually stipulated. Two routes were to he open, 
 the one from France to the Cisalpine republic, tra- 
 versing the Valais aiul the Simplon, the other from 
 France into Suabia, ascending the Rhiiu' and follow- 
 ing the eastern siiorc of the lake of Constain-e. By 
 this system of league<l reindilics. Fiance; >ecured two 
 great military routes to penetrate into the territories 
 of her allies, and be enal)led to debouch rapidly either 
 in Italy or in Germany. It is said that these two 
 routes had the etfect of transferring the theatre of
 
 722 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 war to the allied states. It was not the routes, but 
 the alliance %vith France which exposed those states 
 to become the theatre of war. The routes were 
 but a means of accelerating movements and of time- 
 ously protectinj^ them, by permittinpf France to as- 
 sume the offensive in Germany or Italv. 
 
 The city of Geneva was united with France, as 
 likewise the borough of .Mulhausen. The Italian 
 bailiwicks, which hid long hesitated between the 
 Cisalpine and the Helvetian republics, declared for 
 the latter, and voted their junction accordingly. 
 The Grison leagues, which the Directory was dis- 
 posed to incorporate with Switzerland, were divided 
 into two rival factions, and wavered between the 
 Austrian and Helvetian domination. The French 
 troops were stationed in observation on them. The 
 monks and foreii^n agents provoked a fresh disaster 
 in Underwalden. They incited the peasants of that 
 valley to rise against the French soldiers. A des- 
 perate conflict took place at Stanz, and it proved 
 necessary to fire that unfortunate hamlet to expel the 
 fanatics who had intrenched themselves within it. 
 
 Similar difficulties occurred on the other side of 
 the Alps. A species of anarchy reigned between 
 the subjects of the new states and their governments, 
 between those governments and the French armies, 
 between the French generals and the French ambas- 
 sadors. Everything was in frightful confusion. The 
 petty Ligurian republic was infuriated against Pied- 
 mont, and vowed at all costs to introduce the revo- 
 lution into it. A great number of Piedmontese 
 democrats had taken refuge in the Ligurian territory, 
 and had emerged therefrom armed and organized, to 
 make incursions in their country and endeavour to 
 subvert the regal government. Another band of 
 them had sallied out of the Cisalpine and advanced 
 by Domo-d'Ossola. But these inroads were repelled 
 and a multitude of lives uselessly sacrificed. The 
 Ligurian republic persevered nevertheless in its 
 design of harassing the government of Piedmont ; it 
 collected and armed fresh refugees, and determined 
 to make war on its own account. The French min- 
 ister at Genoa, Sotin, had the utmost ditticulty in 
 restraining it. On the other hand, the French min- 
 ister at Turin, Ginguene', experienced equal difficulty 
 in silencing the continual complaints of Piedmont 
 and moderating its projects of vengeance against the 
 patriots. 
 
 The Cisalpine republic was in a truly deplorable 
 condition. In constituting it, Bonaparte had not had 
 time to calculate exactly the proportions expedient 
 to be observed in the territorial divisions and in the 
 number of functionaries, or to organize effectively 
 the municipal and fiscal systems. This puny state 
 consequently had no less than two hundred and forty 
 representatives. The departments being too numer- 
 ous, it was devoured by an army of functionaries. 
 It had no regular and uniform system of taxation. 
 With adequate sources of wealth, it had no finances, 
 and could scarcely contrive to pay the subsidy stipu- 
 lated for the maintenance of the French troops. 
 Moreover, in all other respects, intolerable disorder 
 reigned throughout the country. Since the exclu- 
 sion of sundry members from the councils by Ber- 
 thier, when it was found necessary to compel accep- 
 tance of the treaty of alliance with France, the revo- 
 lutionists had gained a complete ascendency, and the 
 phraseology of the Jacobins alone prevailed in the 
 councils and the clubs. The French army abetted 
 this impulse, and lent a ready aid to every variety of 
 exaggeration. After having accomplished the sub- 
 mission of Switzerland, Brune had returned into 
 Italy, where he had received the general command 
 of all the French troops since the departure of Ber- 
 thier for Egypt. He belonged to the party of the 
 most vehement patriots. Lahoz, the commandant 
 of the Lombard troops, whose organization had been 
 commenced under Bonaparte, boasted similar ten- 
 
 dencies. There existed, besides, other causes of 
 disorder in the misconduct of the French officers. 
 They conducted themselves in the Cisalpine state as 
 in a conquered country. They maltreated the inha- 
 bitant<. appropriated quarters, which, according to 
 the existing treaties, were not exigible by them, 
 devastated the localities in which they sojourned, 
 often levied requisitions as in times of war, extorted 
 money from the local authorities, and emptied the 
 coffers of towns without alleging even the shadow 
 of a pretext beyond their own good pleasure. The 
 commanders of fortresses ap[)roved themselves re- 
 lentless extortioners. The governor of Mantua, for 
 instance, was sufficiently audacious to farm for his 
 own profit the fishing of the lake. The general 
 officers proportioned their exactions to their grade, 
 and independently of all they wrung by such flagi- 
 tious courses, they netted scandalous profits from 
 companies. The one which had the contract for 
 provisioning the army in Italy, allowed a bonus of 
 forty per cent to the staff ; and we may judge what 
 its gains must have been to afford such a bribe to its 
 patrons. Furthermore, fi'om the effect of desertions, 
 there were not half the men in the ranks entered on 
 the rolls, insomuch that the republic paid double 
 what it ought to have done. Notwithstanding all 
 these malpractices, the soldiers were indifferently 
 provided, and the pay of the greater number was 
 several months in arrear. Thus, the country the 
 French occupied was horribly oppressed, without 
 the soldiers being at all benefited. For the rest, 
 the Cisalpine patriots tolerated all these atrocities 
 without a murmur, because the staff extended to 
 them its support and countenance. 
 
 At Rome things were in a more satisfactory train. 
 There a commission composed of Daunou, Florent, 
 and Faypoult, governed with prudence and probity 
 the enfranchised country. These three individuals 
 had framed a constitution which had been accepted, 
 and which, with some few exceptions, and a varia- 
 tion in appellations, exactly resembled the French 
 constitution. The directors were styled consuls, 
 the council of Ancients the senate, the second 
 council the tribunate. But the mere gift of a con- 
 stitution availed little ; the essential point was to 
 put it in operation. To this the chief obstacle op- 
 posed was not, as might have been imagined, the 
 fanaticism of the Romans but their'indolence. The 
 only actual malcontents were some peasants on the 
 Apennines, excited by the monks, who were easily 
 subdued. But there was discovered in the inhabi- 
 tants of Rome, called to compose the consulate, 
 senate, and tribunate, a surprising indifference, an 
 extreme inaptitude for labour. Great exertions 
 were needed to induce them to sit one day out of 
 two, and they absolutely mutinied for holidays in 
 summer. To this idleness was joined a complete 
 inexperience and incapacity in the business of admin- 
 istration. There was much more zeal among the Cis- 
 alpines, but it was an unenlightened, unbridled zeal, 
 which rendered it equally mischievous with supine- 
 ness. There was reason to apprehend that, upon 
 the departure of the French commission, the Roman 
 government would fall to pieces from the pure inert- 
 ness or retreat of its members. And yet places were 
 well liked at Rome, indeed keenly relished, as in all 
 countries more remarkable for sloth than industry. 
 
 The commission had put an end to all the mal- 
 versations practised at the first entry of the French 
 into Rome. It had assumed the care of the finances 
 and managed them with skill and integrity. Fay- 
 poult, who was an able and upright administrator, 
 had instituted a well-planned system of taxation for 
 the whole Roman state. He had thus succeeded in 
 satisfying the necessities of the army, and had dis- 
 charged all arrears of pay not only to the army ot 
 Rome, but also to the division embarked at Civita- 
 Vecchia. If the finances had been as well adminis-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 723 
 
 tered in the Cisalpine, the country would not have 
 been oppressed as it wa-:, and the French soldiers 
 inis:ht liave enjoyed comfort and plenty. The mili- 
 tary power at Rome was wholly under the control 
 of the commission. General Saint-Cyr, who had 
 succeeded Massena, was distinguished for inflexible 
 honesty; but partaking tlie taste for authority which 
 had become so general amongst his comrades, he 
 betokened impatience at his subjection to the com- 
 mission. At Milan, indeed, the utmost dissatisfac- 
 tion was felt at the state of matters in Rome. The 
 Cisalpine democrats were highly indignant at the 
 curb so effectually fastened by the couunission on the 
 Roman democrats. The French staff, which held 
 authority over the divisions statioiied at Rome, saw 
 with pain a rich portion of the conquered countries 
 escape it, and sighed for the moment when the func- 
 tions of the commission should determine. 
 
 It is an error to reproach the French Directory 
 with the disorders that prevailed in the allied states. 
 No resolution, however strong, could have obviated 
 the outbreak of passions which disturbed them ; and 
 as to the exactions, the prohibition of Bonaparte 
 himself had not succeeded to prevent them in the 
 conquered provinces. What a single individual, 
 powerful in genius and vigour and on the spot, could 
 not effect, was much less possible to a government 
 composed of five members and seated at a great dis- 
 tance. Still, the majority of the Directory was 
 animated with the purest zeal to promote the wel- 
 fare of the new republics, and viewed with lively 
 indignation the insolence and extortions of the 
 generals, and the palpable robberies of the com- 
 panies. Excepting Barras, who shared in the profits 
 of these companies and was the patron-saint of all 
 the corruptionists at Milan, the fo;ir directors de- 
 nounced in the strongest terms the proceedings in 
 Italy. Larevelliere especially, whose stern probity 
 was shocked by such atrocities, submitted a plan to 
 the Directory which met its approval. He proposed 
 that a commission should contiiuie to direct the 
 Roman government, and restrain the military autho- 
 rity ; that an ambassador be sent to Milan to repre- 
 sent the French government and deprive the staff 
 of all influence ; that this ambassador be empowered 
 to make the alterations in the Cisalpine constitu- 
 tion which were needful, such as reducing the 
 number of local divisions, of public functionaries, 
 and of members in the two councils ; and that this 
 ambassador have for assistant an administrator cap- 
 able of organizing a system of taxation and respon- 
 sibility. This plan was adopted. Trouve', formerly 
 French minister at Naples, and Faypoult, one of the 
 members of the Roman commission, were deputed 
 to Milan to execute the measures recommended by 
 Larevelliere. 
 
 Trouve was instructed, on his arrival at Milan, to 
 collect around him the most enlightened men of the 
 Cisalpine state and consult with them on the altera- 
 tions requisite both in the constitution and in the 
 departments of government. When all these changes 
 were agreed u|)on, he was to cause them to be pro- 
 posed in the C'isalpine councils by deputies in his 
 interest, and if necessary to support them by the 
 authority of France. At the same time he was 
 counselled to mask his design until ripe for accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 Trouve, repairing from Naples to Milan, acted as 
 he had been ordered. But the secret of his mission 
 was dillicult of concealment. It soon transpired 
 that he had come to change the constitution, and 
 particularly to reduce the number of places of all 
 kinds. The patriots, judging from the demeaiu)ur 
 of the ambassador that these reductions would fall 
 on them, were furious. They erdisted in their cause 
 the staff of the army, itself incensed against the new 
 authority destined to supersede its own, and a dis- 
 graceful feud forthwith conunenced between the 
 
 French legation and the French staff, backed by the 
 Italian patriots. Trouve aiul the men who assorted 
 with him were denounced wth extreme violence in 
 the Cisalpine councils. It was asserted that the 
 French minister had been sent to violate the consti- 
 tution, and to repeat one of those acts of oppression 
 which the Directory bad already perpetrated in other 
 allied republics. Trouve' was exposeil to all the 
 annoyances of petty malice on the part of the Italian 
 patriots and the French officers. The latter behaved 
 with signal indecency at a ball he gave, aiul occa- 
 sioned a scene of surpassing scandal. Such occur- 
 rences were most deplorable, especially on account 
 of the effect they produced on foreign niitiisters. And 
 not only were they edified by this spectacle of shame- 
 ful dissensions, but they were insulted, at diplomatic 
 dinners, by toasts, proclaimed in their teeth, to the 
 extermination of all kings. The most outrageous 
 jacobinism, we see. reigned at Milan. Brune and 
 Lahoz set out for Paris to seek the support of Bar- 
 ras. But the Directory, apprized beforehand, was 
 inflexible in its determination. Lahoz had orders to 
 leave Paris the moment he arrived. As to Brune, 
 he was enjoined to return to Milan and co-operate 
 in effecting the alterations Trouve had been com- 
 missioned to introduce. 
 
 After digesting the various modifications expedient 
 in the constitution, Trouve assembled the most 
 moderate of the deputies and submitted the details 
 to them. They approved them, but the irritation 
 was so great that they dared not undertake to pro- 
 pose them in the two councils. Trouve was there- 
 fore obliged to deploy the French authority and 
 visibly exercise a power he would have fain kept 
 out of view. But, after all, the actual mode em- 
 ployed was of little moment. It would have been 
 absurd in France, who had created these new repub- 
 lics and upheld them by her aid, not to profit by her 
 force to establish therein the order she deemed most 
 advisable. The evil was that she had not managed 
 better at first, so as to avoid the necessity of re- 
 peating thus frequently these acts of forcible inter- 
 ference. On the 13th Fructidor (30th August) 
 Trouve convoked the directory and the two councils 
 of the Cisalpine republic, and presented to them the 
 new constitution and the administrative and financial 
 laws prepared by Faypoult. The councils were re- 
 duced from two hundred and forty to one hundred and 
 twenty in number. The individuals to be retained 
 in the councils and the goverrunent were specified. 
 A regular system of taxation was established. Both 
 personal and indirect taxation was instituted, a sys- 
 tem in progress of execution at the moment in France, 
 and which grievously offended the patriots. All 
 the>e measures were sanctioned and adopted. Brune 
 had been compelled to afford the sup|)ort of the 
 French troops. So the rage of the Cisalpine pa- 
 triots was vain, and the revolution accomplished 
 without an obstacle. By a further provision it was 
 ordered that an inunediate convocation of the pri- 
 mary assemblies should be held in order to ratify the 
 alterations made in the constitution. 
 
 The object of 'J'rouve's mission was fulfilled; but 
 the Frencli government, perceiving the ferment that 
 minister had excited, aiul judging it impossilde to 
 leave iiini in the Cisal|)iiie, came to the conclusion 
 that another eud)assy must be s('U'cte<l for him, and a 
 person luicoiniected with the late disputes sent to 
 Milan in his stead. Ifnfortunately (he Directory 
 allowed to be imposed on it an ex-member of the 
 .Iac()l)iii club, who had since l)ecome a supple and 
 servile creature of Barras, and been admitted by him 
 to a participation in the traffic of (he companies, and 
 placed in the way of honours : it was Fouclie, whom 
 Barras thus contrived to foist on his colleagues. 
 Fouche accordingly proceeded to succeed Trouve, 
 who was appointed to the mission at Stutgardt. 
 But Brune, taking advantage of Trouve's departure.
 
 r24 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 presumed, with an audacity to be explained only by 
 the military license of the times, to make grave 
 alterations in the work of the French minister. He 
 demanded the resiq-nation of three of the directors 
 nominated by Trouve', chanired several of tlie min- 
 isters, and introduced sundry alterations into the 
 constitution. One of the three directors whose 
 resignation he had demanded, Sopranzi, having cour- 
 ageously refused to give it, he caused him to be 
 seized by his soldiers and forcibly ejected from the 
 palace of the government. He then hastened to con- 
 voke the primary assemblies to obtain their approval 
 of the constitution framed by Trouve' and modified 
 by himself. Fouche, who arrived in the interval, 
 ought to have opposed this convocation and not 
 allowed modifications to be sanctioned which the 
 general had no authority to make ; but he left Brune 
 to act at his pleasure. ^Mle result was that the con- 
 stitution as altered by Trouve, with the more recent 
 improvements of Brune, was adopted by the primary 
 assemblies influenced at once by military power aiid 
 patriot violence. 
 
 When the French Directory learnt these particu- 
 lars, it betraved no vacillatiim. It annulled all that 
 Brune had done, cashiered him, and commissioned 
 Joubert to restore things to the state in which they 
 had been placed by Trouve'. Fouclie tendered ob- 
 jections ; he represented that the new constitution 
 being ratified with the changes introduced into it 
 by Brune, it would have a bad effect to alter it 
 afresh. In this he was right, and he even gained 
 over Joubert to his opinion. But the Directory felt 
 it incumbent to reprove such usurpations on the part 
 of its generals, and especially to deter them from 
 attempting the exercise of such powers in the allied 
 states. It recalled Fouche himself, who thus en- 
 joyed a very brief career in the Cisalpine, and it 
 ordered the establishment of the constitution inte- 
 grally such as Trouve had framed it in the name of 
 France. With regard to the individuals from whom 
 Brune had wrung resignations, they were invited to 
 renew them in order to avoid fresh changes. 
 
 The Cisalpine republic therefore finally remained 
 constituted as the Directory had designed, save the 
 absence of certain individuals superseded by Brune. 
 But these constant turmoils, these rapid vicissitudes, 
 all these conflicts of civil and military authorities, had 
 a very injurious effect, tending to discourage the 
 newly-enfranchised populations and bring odium on 
 the parent republic, although they demonstrated too 
 truly the difficulty of keeping such numerous bodies 
 in their several orbits. 
 
 Tlie conduct of the Directory was severely repro- 
 bated with reference to these occurrences in the Cis- 
 alpine republic, for it is a custom with men to convert 
 everything into a subject of complaint against a 
 government they oppose, and even to charge upon it 
 as a crime the very obstacles that impede its course. 
 The twofold opposition now assuming consistence 
 in the (\)uncils, assailed variously the operations ex- 
 ecuted in Italy. The argument was quite simple to 
 the patriot opposition : the Directory had committed 
 an outrage against the independence of an allied re- 
 public ; it had even committed a breach of the French 
 laws, for the Cisalpine constitution so recently altered 
 was guaranteed by a treaty of alliance, and this 
 treaty, approved by the Councils, could not be in- 
 fringed by the Directory. As to the constitutional 
 or moderate opposition, it was natural to expect its 
 approbation rather than its reproaches, since the 
 changes made in the Cisalpine were directed exclu- 
 sively against the patriots. But to this section of 
 the opposition appertained Lucien Bonaparte. It 
 was his province to seek topics of censure against 
 the government, and here he had the farther motive 
 of defending the work of his brother, attacked by 
 the Directory. He declaimed therefore, like the 
 patriots, about infringements on the independence of 
 
 allies, violations of treaties, and other attendant 
 offences. 
 
 These two oppositions declared themselves more 
 openly from day to day. They began to contest the 
 exercise of certain powers conferred on the Direc- 
 tory by the law of the 19th Fructidor, and which it 
 had occasionally used. That law, amongst other high 
 prerogatives, gave it the right of closing clubs or 
 suppressing journals, the conduct of which might ap- 
 pear to it dangerous. The Directory had in fact shut 
 up certain clubs become too violent, and suppressed 
 certain journals which had given false intelligence, 
 manifestly invented with a malevolent intention. 
 One journal in particular pretended that the Direc- 
 tory was about to annex the Pays de Vaud to France. 
 this journal the Directory suppressed. The patriots 
 exclaimed agaii;st this arbitrary act, and moved the 
 repeal of several of the articles of tlie law of the 19th 
 Fructidor. The Councils decided that those arti- 
 cles should continue in force until the enactment of 
 a law on the press, and an investigation was ordered 
 preparatory to the introduction of such a law. 
 
 The Directory encountei'ed much virulent con- 
 tention too on the subject of the finances. The 
 time had come to close the budget of the year VI. 
 C1797-8), and devise tliatof the year VII. (1798-9). 
 The budget of the year VI. had beon fixed at 616 
 millions ; but upon these 616 millions there was an 
 actual deficit of 62 millions, and, besides this deficit, 
 a considerable arrear outstanding. The state-credi- 
 tors, notwithstanding the solemn pledge to discharge 
 the interest of the consolidated third, had not been 
 wholly paid. It was resolved they should receive, 
 in liquidation of the residue, bills receivable in acquit- 
 tance of taxes. In tlie budget of the year VII., now 
 about to be entered upon, the expenditure was taken 
 at 600 millions, without the contingency of a new 
 continental war. A reduction was proposed in the 
 land and persojial taxes, which were found too oner- 
 ous, and an increase in the stamp and registration 
 duties and in the customs. Additional centimes 
 were imposed for local expenses, and dues at the 
 gates of towns for the support of hospitals and other 
 establishments. In spite of these augmentations, 
 the minister Ramel contended that th« receipts 
 would not exceed at the utmost three-fourths of the 
 estimate, judging from the results of previous years, 
 and that it would be a wilful exaggeration to reckon 
 the effective income above 450 or 500 millions. He 
 accordingly craved fresh resources virtually to cover 
 the expenditure of 600 millions, and proposed for 
 the purpose a tax on doors and windows, and a 
 duty on salt. This proposition gave rise to violent 
 reclamations. In the end, the tax on doors and wiij- 
 dows was decreed, and a report ordered touching 
 the duty on salt. 
 
 These altercations were not of serious import in 
 themselves ; but they were indicative of a lurking 
 animosity, to which an occasion of public misfortune 
 alone was yvanting to explode in open hostility. 
 The Directory, perfectly acquainted with the state 
 of Europe, was conscious that fresh dangers were 
 gathering, and that ^\ar was again imminent on the 
 continent. It was scarcely possible longer to doubt 
 the fact from the manifestations of the different 
 cabinets. Cobentzel and Repnin had failed to seduce 
 Prussia from her neutrality, and had left Berlin in 
 dudgeon. But Paul of Russia, completely dazzled, 
 had concluded a treaty of alliance with Austria, and 
 his troops were even reported to be on their march. 
 Austria was arming with activity; the court of 
 Naples had ordained the enlistment of its whole 
 population. It would have betrayed great impru- 
 dence not to make preparations in the face of such a 
 movement from the banks of the Vistula to those of 
 the Volturna. The French armies being seriously 
 attenuated by desertion, the Directory originated a 
 scheme to provide for their recruitment by a great
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 725 
 
 institution, which it y*'t remained to create. The 
 Convention had twice drawn upon the population of 
 France, but in an extraordinary manner, and with- 
 out leaving any permanent law for the annual levy 
 of soldiers. In March 1793, it had ordered a levy of 
 300,000 men ; in Augui^t of the same year it had 
 planned the grand and magnificent enterprise of the 
 levy en masse, generation by generation. Since then, 
 the republic had existed upon this measure alone, 
 compelling those to remain under their colours who 
 had taken arms at that period. But war and sick- 
 ness had thinned the ranks, and peace bad restored to 
 their homes a multitude of men. True, only twelve 
 thousand furloughs had been granted, but desertions 
 were tenfold; and it was difficult to exercise severity 
 towards men who had defended their country for six 
 years and caused it to triumph over Europe at the 
 price of their blood. The depots still subsisted and 
 upon an excellent footing. These it was of moment 
 to amplify by new levies, and in so doing to adopt, 
 not an extraordinary and temporary expedient, but a 
 comprehensive and permanent measure ; in short, to 
 pass a law which should become, to a certain extent, 
 an inherent part of the constitution. In a word, the 
 conscription was eliminated. 
 
 General Jourdan was the reporter of this great and 
 salutary measure, which in course of time grew to 
 be abused like all other things in this world, but 
 which was not the less an instrument of salvation to 
 France, and the means of exalting her glory to the 
 highest pitch. By the enactment every Frenchman 
 was declared a soldier in law for a certain period of 
 his life. This period was from the twentieth to the 
 twenty-fifth year of his age complete. The young 
 men between those ages were divided into five 
 classes, year by year. According to exigem-y the 
 government called out men, commencing with the 
 first class, that of twenty years, and \\\t\\ the young- 
 est of each class. It could successively call out the 
 five classes as necessities arose. In time of peace the 
 conscripts were obliged to serve until twenty-five 
 years old. Thus the period of service varied from 
 one to five years, according to the age of the soldiers 
 as they were enlisted. In time of war this period 
 was unlimited ; but the government might grant 
 furloughs when deemed not inconsistent with the 
 public service. There was no exemption of any kind, 
 except for those who had married before the law, or 
 who had already earned their freedom in previous 
 wars. This enactment thus provided for ordinary 
 cases ; but in extraordinary emergencies, when the 
 country was declared in danger, the government had 
 a right, as in 1793, to the whole population, and the 
 levy in mass would be again resorted to. 
 
 This measure was passed without opposition aiid 
 regarded as one of the most im|)ortant creations of 
 the revolution.* The Directory forthwith claimed 
 to make u^e of it, and requested the levy of two 
 hundred thousand conscripts to complete the armies 
 and place them on a respectable footing. This de- 
 mand was granted by acclamation on the '2d Ven- 
 demiaire year VII. (23d September 179H.) Although 
 the two oppositions often harassed the Directory 
 from dislike or jealousy, still they desired that the 
 republic should preserve its asceinlency in presence 
 of the powers of Europe, lint a levy of men re- 
 quires also a levy of money. The Directory asked, 
 in addition to tlie items of the budget, 125 millions, 
 to wit, ninety for the equipment of 2(X),()00 con- 
 scripts and thirty-five to repair the late disaster to 
 the navy. The question was, where they were to be 
 obtained. The minister Ramel replied by showing 
 that the debentures for tiie liquidation of two-thirds 
 of the debt had almost all returned to the exchequer, 
 and that there still remained 400 millions in iiational 
 property, which were consequently free and might 
 
 • It was jiassed on the li'tli Fructidor. yoar VI. (.5th .Sept.) 
 
 be dedicated to the new exigencies of the republic. 
 The sale of 125 millions of national property was 
 accordingly decreed. One-twelfth was to be paid in 
 cash, the remainder in obligations of the purchasers, 
 negotiable at will, and payable successively over a 
 period of eighteen months. They were to bear in- 
 terest at five per cent. This paper might be con- 
 sidered equivalent to money from the facility of pass- 
 ing it to the companies. The estates were to be 
 sold for eight times the rent. This financial opera- 
 tion was hailed with equal unanimity as the law of 
 conscription of which it was a consequence. 
 
 The Directory thus assmned a [)Osition to retort 
 the menaces of Europe, and sustain the dignity of 
 the French republic. Two events, meanwhile, of 
 minor importance had recently occuri'ed, the one 
 in Ireland, the other at Ostend. Ireland was in a 
 state of rebellion, and the Directory had dispatched 
 thither General IIuml)ert with 1,500 men. A 
 remittance of funds to be made by the Treasury 
 having been unfortunately delayed, a second division 
 of 6,(X)0 men, commanded by General Sarrazin, was 
 unable to set sail, and Humbert remained without 
 support. He had maintained himself for some time, 
 and sufficiently to prove that the arrival of the ex- 
 pected reinforcement would have signally changed 
 the face of affairs. But, after a series of honourable 
 engagements, he had been obliged to surrender with 
 all his corps. f A check of the same nature, sus- 
 tained by the English, occurred to compensate this 
 misfortune. The English were accustomed to ap- 
 pear at intervals to throw bombs into the French 
 ports on the ocean. About this time they formed a 
 scheme to land at Ostend for the purpose of destroy- 
 ing the sluices; but, chased at the point of the bay- 
 onet, they were cut off from their ships and captured, 
 to the number of two thousand men. 
 
 Although Austria had contracted an allian-ce with 
 Russia and England, and could rely upon a Scla- 
 vonian army and a British subsidy, she still hesitated 
 nevertheless to re-enter the lists against the French 
 republic. Spain, who viewed with concern the 
 flames of war rekindled on the continent, dre.iding 
 equally the progress of the revolutionary system and 
 her own ruin, for in one case she might be revolu- 
 tionized, and in the other punished for her alliance 
 with France, -Spain, we say, once more interposed 
 to calm the irritated antagonists. Her mediation, 
 by raising discussions and suggesting the possibility 
 of an arrangement, led to further hesitations at 
 Vienna, or at least to furthc-r procrastination. At 
 Naples, where zeal a^nounted to phrenzy, all delay 
 was scouted, and a determination formed to provoke 
 hostilities, in order to force Austria to draw the 
 sword. The infatuation of this petty court was 
 without example. It was the calamity of the Bour- 
 bons at this epoch to be urged by tiieir wives to the 
 connnission of all their errors. 'Fhrce had been seen 
 at once in the same predicament: Louis XVI., 
 Charles IV., and Ferdinand. The fate of the un- 
 fortunate Louis XVI. is known to us. Charles IV. 
 and Ferdinand, though in dillcrent ways, were driven 
 by the like influence to inevitable destruction. The 
 people of Najjles had been made to wear the English 
 cockade, ami Nelson was invoked as a tutelary god. 
 A levy of the fifth of the population inid been ordered, 
 an instance of singular extravagance, for to arm effi- 
 ciently the fiftieth part would have sulVicod to enrol 
 Naples amongst the great powers. Each convent 
 was enjoined to furnish a horseman fully equipped ; 
 part of the possessions of the clergy had been ex- 
 posted to sale, and all the taxes doubled; finally, 
 that planner of unlucky enterprises, all whose mili- 
 tary schemes had so cgregiously failed, and whom 
 
 i lie (lisembarkpti on the . 7th Kructidor (22d August), and 
 was hentcn and made prisoner by General Lord Comwallis on 
 the •-'•-•d (Sth Soptt niluT). 
 
 :i A
 
 7-26 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fate resserved for reverses of the strangest character, 
 Mack was solicited to place himself at the head of 
 the Neapolitan forces. The honours of a triumph 
 were awarded him before the victory, and tlie title 
 of liberator of Italy, the same borne by Bonaparte, 
 was prematurely bestowed on him. To these ma- 
 terial preparations were added ovations to all the 
 saints, supplications to Saint-Januarius, and chas- 
 tisements on all suspected of leaning to the opinions 
 of the French. 
 
 The court of Naples likewise continued its machi- 
 nations in Piedmont and Tuscany. It insisted that 
 the Piedmontese should rise on the rear of the army 
 guarding the Cisalpine state, and the Tuscans on the 
 rear of that guarding Rome. The Neapolitans would 
 profit by the occasion to attack in front the army of 
 Rome, the Austrians would seize the like opportunity 
 to fall on the army in the Cisalpine, and from all 
 these couihinaliops" it was augured not a Frenchman 
 would escape. The king of Sardinia, being a re- 
 ligious prince, was fettered by certain scrufles arising 
 from the treaty of alliance which bound him to 
 France; but he was told that fiith pledged to op- 
 pressors was not binding, and that the Piedmontese 
 enjoyed a right to exterminate the French to the 
 last man. At the same time, scruples were less the 
 veritable obstacle than the rigorous watchfubiess of 
 the French Directory. As to the Grand-Duke of 
 Tuscany, he was wholly destitute of means. To 
 decide him, Naples promised to send him an army by 
 Nelson's squadron. 
 
 On tlie other hand the Directory was on its guard, 
 and took precautions. It chanced that the Ligurian 
 republic, still embittered against the king of Sardinia, 
 had at length declared war against that potentate. 
 To an antipathy of principles was joined an old ani- 
 mosity of neighbourhood, and these puny powers 
 were resolute to have a fight at all hazards. The 
 Directory interposed in the quarrel, signifying to the 
 Ligurian republic a command to lay down its arms, 
 and declaring to the king of Sardinia that it took 
 upon itself to maintain tranquillity in his dominions, 
 but that, for this purpose, it must occupy an impor- 
 tant post. In consequence, it asked permission to 
 occupy with its troops the citadel of Turin. Such 
 a pretension was only to be justified by the appre- 
 hensions the court of Piedmont inspired. There 
 existed an irreconcilable incompatibility between the 
 old and the new states, which prevented them from 
 reposing any trust in each other. The king of Pied- 
 mont proflJered urgent remonstrances, but he had no 
 power to resist the instances of the Directory. The 
 French took possession of the citadel, and forthwith 
 commenced to arm it. The Directory had detached 
 the army of Rome from that of the Cisalpine, and 
 given tlie command to General Championnet, who 
 had distinguished himself on the Rhine. This army 
 was scattered over the surface of the Roman state. 
 In the March of Ancona were four to five thou- 
 sand men commanded by general Casa-Bianca; on 
 the opposite slope of the Apennines, towards Terni, 
 stood General Lemoine with two or three thousand 
 men. Macdonald, with the right, about five thou- 
 sand strong, was stationed upon the Tiber. A small 
 reserve held Rome itself. The army called tliat of 
 Rome contained, therefore, from fifteen to sixteen 
 thousand men at the utmost. The necessity of 
 keeping a vigilant guard upon the country, and the 
 ditticulty of jirocuriiig provisions in sufficient abun- 
 dance, had obliged the French tluis to disperse their 
 troops ; and if an active and well-disciplined enemy 
 had known how to seize the opportunity, he might 
 have made the French rue their inter-isolation. 
 
 In truth, this circumstance was duly estimated at 
 Naples: it appeared easy to surprise the French and 
 destroy them in detail. ^Vhat glory to take the 
 initiative, to gain the first success, to force reluctant 
 Austria to enter upon the career, after having opened 
 
 it to her! Such were the considerations that impelled 
 the court of Naples to precipitate hostilities. It 
 expected that the French would be easily beaten, and 
 that Austria could no longer vacillate when once the 
 sword was drawn. M. de Gallo and Prince Bel- 
 monte-Pignatelli, who understood Europe and affairs 
 somewhat better, opposed the initiative being taken ; 
 but their prudent exhortations were spurned. To em- 
 bolden the poor king and tear him from his innocent 
 occupations, it is said, a counterfeit letter from the 
 Emperor was used, which recommended the com- 
 mencement of hostilities. Instant orders to march 
 were issued towards the close of November. The 
 whole Neapolitan army was put in motion. The 
 king himself set forth with great pomp to assist in 
 the operations. There was no declaration of war, 
 but a summons to the French to evacuate the Roman 
 state : a summons they answered by preparing for 
 combat, despite the disproportion of numbers. 
 
 Considering the respective situations of the two 
 armies, nothing was more easy than to overwhelm 
 the French, dispersed as they were over the Roman 
 provinces, to the right and left of the Apennines. 
 It was simply requisite to march directly on their 
 centre and move the mass of the Neapolitan forces 
 between Rome and Terni. Thus the left of the 
 French, placed beyond the Apennines to guard the 
 Marches, would have been severed from their right, 
 stationed on this side to defend the banks of the 
 Tiber. They would have been thereby prevented 
 from concentrating, and driven in disorder into Up- 
 per Italy. The Peninsula at least would have been 
 delivered ; and Tuscany, the Roman state, and the 
 Marches, would have fallen under the domination of 
 Naples. The preponderance of the Neapolitan troops 
 rendered this plan only the more easy and sure, but 
 it was impossible for Mack to employ a manosuvre 
 so simple. As in his old plans, he would envelop 
 the enemy by a multitude of detached corps. He 
 had nearly GO, 000 men under his command, of whom 
 40,000 formed the active army and 20,000 the gar- 
 risons. Instead of directing this prodigious mass on 
 the essential point of Terni, he divided it into six 
 columns. The first, filing along the reverse of the 
 Apennines and the shore of the Adriatic, was to 
 proceed, by the route of Ascoli, into the Marches ; 
 the second and third, acting upon the other side of 
 the mountains and communicating with the first, 
 were to march, the one on Terni, the other on Mag- 
 liano ; the fourth and principal, forming the main- 
 body, was directed on Frascati and Rome ; a fifth, 
 skirting the Mediterranean, had the task of travers- 
 ing the Pontine Marshes and joining the main-body 
 upon the Appian way ; the sixth and last, shipped on 
 board Nelson's squadron, was dispatched to Leghorn 
 with the view of arousing Tuscany and intercepting 
 the retreat of the French. Thus all was prepared 
 to surround and entrap them to a man, but nothing 
 unfortunately to defeat them in the first instance. 
 
 Such was the order in which Mack set out with 
 his forty thousand men. The quantity of his bag- 
 gage, the indiscipline of his troops, and the bad 
 state of the roads, combined to render his move- 
 mei:ts very slow. The Neapolitan army wound 
 tardily along like a huge tail, without order or co- 
 hesion. Championnet, warned in time of the danger, 
 detached two corps to observe the march of the 
 enemy and protect the isolated corps as they fell 
 back. Not deeming it feasible to retain Rome, he 
 resolved to take up a position beyond it, on the 
 banks of the Tiber, between Civita-Castellana and 
 Civita-Ducale, and there to concentrate his forces to 
 resume the offensive. 
 
 Whilst Championnet wisely retired and evacuated 
 Rome, leaving eight hundred men in the castle of 
 Saint- Angelo, Mack advanced fiercely on all the 
 routes, never dreaming apparently of the possibility 
 of resistance. He arrived at the gates of Rome
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 727 
 
 on 9th Frimaire year VII. (^Oth November), and 
 entered tlie city without obstacle. A triumphal 
 reception hart been prepared for the king. That weak 
 prince, hailed as a conqueror and liberator, was in- 
 toxicated with the military glory he was persuaded 
 he had earned. A noble use of victory was however 
 inculcated on him, and he invited the Pope to re- 
 sume possession of his dominions. His army, less 
 magnanimous than its sovereign, committed horrible 
 excesses. The Roman populace, with the instability 
 characteristic of it, rushed into the houses of those 
 accused of being revolutionists and laid them waste. 
 The mortal remains of the unfortunate Duphot were 
 exhumed and barbarously outraged. 
 
 During the time the Neapolitans thus consumed 
 at Rome, Championnet executed with commendable 
 activity the skilful determination he had formed. 
 Sensible that the essential point was in the centre 
 upon the Upper-Tiber, he ordered IMacdonald to 
 occupy a strong position at Civita-Castellana, and 
 reinforced him with all the troops he could spare. 
 He transported part of the forces he had in the 
 Marches over the Apennines, and left \\ith General 
 Casa-Bianca only as maiiy as were strictly necessary 
 to retard on that side the progress of the enemy. 
 He himself posted to Ancona to hasten the dispatch 
 of bis parks and munitions. Not more alarmed than 
 needful at what was preparing on his rear in Tus- 
 cany, he commissioned an officer, with a feeble de- 
 tachment, to observe what passed in that quarter. 
 
 The Neapolitans at length encountered the French 
 on the different routes which they traversed. They 
 were three-times more numerous, but were opposed 
 to the famous bands of Italy and found their task 
 harder than they anticipated. In the Marches the 
 column advancing by Ascoli was repulsed and pur- 
 sued to a distance by Casa-Bianca. On the Terni 
 route, a Neapolitan colonel was captured with all his 
 corps by General Lemoine. These first experiences 
 of hostilities against the French were little calcu- 
 lated to encourage the Neapolitans. However, Mack 
 made his dispositions to force the position he deemed 
 the most important, that of Civita-Castellana, where 
 Macdonald was stationed with the bulk of the French 
 troops. Civita-Castellena is the ancient Veil. It 
 is situated above a ravine, in a very strong position. 
 The French held several distant posts which covered 
 the approaches. On the 14tli Frimaire year VII. 
 (4th December), Mack attacked Borghetti, Nepi, 
 and Rignano, with considerable forces. He directed 
 by the opposite side of the Tiber an accessory column 
 with orders to seize on Rignano. None of his at- 
 tacks succeeded. One of his columns, put to flight, 
 lost all its artillery. A second, enveloped, lost three 
 thousand prisoners. The others, disheartened, con- 
 fined themselves to simple demonstrations. In fact, 
 in no quarter could the Neapolitans withstand the 
 shock of the French troops. Mack, somewhat dis- 
 concerted, relinquished his design of carrying the 
 central position of Civita-Castellana, and began to 
 perceive it was not on that fxiint he ought to have 
 attempted to force the enemy's line. It was at 
 Terni, a point nearer the Aj)einiines and less de- 
 fended by the French, that he ought to have struck 
 the princijial blow. He now strove to mask the 
 movement of his troops and bear them from Civita- 
 Castellana upon Terni. But to conceal this move- 
 ment a rapidity of execution was required impos- 
 sible with troops devoid of (lisci|)line. It took up 
 several days to repass tiie bulk of the army over the 
 Tiber, and Mack delayed still more by his own fuidt 
 an operation already too tardy. Macdonald, whom 
 he expected to retain at Civita-Castellana by demon- 
 strations, had already moved from Civita-Castellana 
 beyond the Tiber ; Lemoine had been reinforced at 
 Terni. Thus the Neapolitans had been antici|)ated on 
 all the points they contemplated surprising. The very 
 first step taken by (.ieneral Metseh, in advance from 
 
 Calvi on Otricoli, led to nothing but disaster. On 
 the 19th Frimaire (9th December), driven back from 
 Otricoli on Calvi, that general was surrounded and 
 obliged to lay down his arms with four thousand men, 
 before a corps of only three thousand five hundred. 
 From that moment. Mack thought only of return- 
 ing to Rome and of recoiling from Rome to the foot 
 of the mou7itains near Frascati and Albano, there to 
 rally his army and reinforce it with fresh battalions. 
 This was but a sad resource, for it was not so much 
 in the quantity of his soldiers he wanted augmenta- 
 tion as in their quality change ; and he could not 
 hope, by withdrawing a few leagues from the field 
 of battle, to enjoy sufficient opportunity for improv- 
 ing them in disci [)line and valour. 
 
 The King of Naples, on learning these dismal cir- 
 cumstances, hurried furtively from Rome, which he 
 had entered a few days previously in triumph. The 
 Neapolitans evacuated it in disorder, to the great 
 joy of tlie Romans, who were already much more 
 weary of their presence than they had ever been of 
 that of the French Championnet returned to Rome 
 seventeen days after his departure from it. He bad 
 truly earned the honours of a triumph. Ably con- 
 centrating himself with fifteen or sixteen thousand 
 men, he had contrived to resume the offensive against 
 forty thousand and driven them in confusion before 
 him. Not satisfied with merely defending the Roman 
 states, he now conceived the bold design of conquer- 
 ing the Kingdom of Naples with his small force. 
 The enterprise was difficult, less on account of the 
 strength of the Neapolitan army than of the dispo- 
 sition of its inhabitants, who, it was to be feared, 
 might wage a long anrl dangerous guerilla-warfare 
 against the French. Championnet, however, per- 
 sisted in advancing, and hastened from Rome to pur- 
 sue the retreat of Mack. He secured, on the road, 
 a great number of prisoners, and completely routed 
 the column which had been disembarked in Tuscany, 
 of which only three thousand men escaped. 
 
 JNIack, totally demoralized, fell back rapidly into 
 the Neapolitan dominions, and halted only before 
 Capua, on the line of the Volturna. He here picked 
 out his best troops, and planted them in front of 
 Capua, and along the whole line of the river, which 
 is very deep, and forms a barrier not easy to sur- 
 mount. In the meantime the King had returned to 
 Naples, where his sudden appearance caused a dire- 
 ful commotion. The populace, infuriated at the 
 reverses experienced by the army, raised the cry of 
 treachery, demanded arms, and threatened with 
 slaughter the generals, the ministers, all in fact to 
 whom it imputed the disasters of the war. It voci- 
 ferated similar menaces against those accused of 
 fiivouring the French and the revolution. The in- 
 famous court actually consented to place arms in the 
 hands of these lazzaroni, with a clear foresight of the 
 use they would make of them. Scarcely had these 
 semi-barbarians received the spoils of the arsenals 
 than they broke into insurrection, and rendered them- 
 selves masters of Na|)les. Exclaiming constantly 
 against treachery, they seized upon a messenger of 
 the King and tore him to pieces. The favourite 
 Alston, to whom the (uiblic calamities began to be 
 ascribed, the (|ueen, the king, the whole court, 
 trembled in dismay. Naples no longer appeared safe 
 as a habitation ; the idea of taking refuge in Sicily 
 was immediately suggested and adopted. On the 
 11th Nivose (31st December), the pri'cious move- 
 ables of the crown, all the riches in the palaces of 
 Caserte and Naples, and a treasure of twenty millions, 
 were embarked on board Nelson's sijuadron, which 
 set sail for Sicily. Acton, the author of the whole 
 mischief, shrunk from braving the dangers of a further 
 sojourn in Naples, and accompanied the queen to sea. 
 Dock-yards and other things that could not be re- 
 moved, were committed to the flames It was amidst 
 a howling tempest, and covered with the sinister
 
 728 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 fe'lare of a conflaa^ration, that this cowardly and guilty 
 court abandoned to its fate the nation it had com- 
 promised. It left orders, as has been said, to destroy 
 the upper class of citizens, suspected of entertiiiiiing 
 revolutionary principles. All were to bo immolated 
 even to the notaries. Prince Pignatelli remained at 
 Naples charged with the powers of the king. 
 
 Championnet, meanwhile, advanced towards Na- 
 ples. He had committed in his turn the same fault 
 as Mack; he had divided into several columns, ap- 
 pointed to unite before Capua. Their junction 
 througii a dilVicult country, amidst a fanatical popu- 
 lation, in arms on all sides against the alleged enemies 
 of God and St. Januarius, was of very uncertain ac- 
 complishment. 
 
 On arriving with his main-body upon the banks of 
 the Volturna, Championnet resolved to make an 
 attempt upon Capua. Repulsed by a numerous ar- 
 tillery, he \\a-i conipelled to renounce the design of 
 an assault, and to retrograde with his troops, await- 
 ing the arrival of his other columns. This abortive 
 enterprise occurred on the 14th Nivose year VII. 
 (3d January 1799). The Neapolitan peasants, swarm- 
 ing ill all directions, intercepted the French couriers 
 and convoys. Championnet could gain no tidings of 
 his other columns, and his position might be con- 
 sidered extremely critical. Mack profited by the 
 occasion to tender amicable overtures. Champion- 
 net, confident in the fortune of France, boldly re- 
 jected the propositions of Mack. Fortunately he 
 was soon after joined by his columns, and he then 
 agreed to an armistice on the following conditions : 
 Mack was to relinquish the line of tlie Volturna, 
 surrender the town of Capua to the French, retire 
 behind the line of the Regi-Lagni, on the side of the 
 Mediterranean, and of the Ofanto, on the side of the 
 Adriatic, and cede moreover a large portion of the 
 kingdom of Naples. Besides these concessions of 
 territory, a payment of eight millions in money was 
 stipulated. This armistice was signed on the 22d 
 Nivose (11th January). 
 
 When news of the armistice reached Naples, the 
 populace was inflamed with wrath, and shouted yet 
 more vehemently that it was betrayed by the officers 
 of the crown. The appearance of the commissioner 
 charged to receive the contribution of eight millions 
 stimulated it to excesses; it raged in tumultuous in- 
 surrection, and prevented the execution of the armis- 
 tice. Such was the extent of the commotion that 
 Prince Pignatelli abandoned the city in consterna- 
 tion. That beautiful capital was left at the mercy 
 of the lazzaroni. There was no longer any recog- 
 nised authority, and a total dissolution of society 
 seemed inevitable. At length, however, after three 
 days of convulsion, a successful eflfbrt was made to 
 nomhiate a chief who possessed the confidence of the 
 lazzaroni, and also some means of curbing them : this 
 was Prince Moliterne. In the meantime, a similar 
 explosion had taken place in the army under Mack. 
 His soldiers, far from ascribing their defeat to their 
 own cowardice, laid it to the charge of their general, 
 and vowed to massacre him. The pretended libera- 
 tor of Italy, who a month ago had received the hon- 
 ours of a triumph, had now no other asylum but the 
 very camp of the French. He craved permission of 
 Championnet to take refuge with him. The gcner- 
 oiLS republican, overlooking the improper language 
 of Mack in his correspondence, afforded him the de- 
 sired asylum, seated him at his table, and permitted 
 him to retain his sword. 
 
 Authorized by the refusal at Naples to execute the 
 conditions of the armistice, Championnet advanced 
 on that city with the design of capturing it. The 
 affair was difficult; for an immense population, which 
 in the open field might have been swept away by a 
 few squadrons of cavalry, became very formulablc 
 behind the walls of a town. The French had sundry 
 engagements to encounter in their approach, and the 
 
 lazzaroni certainly showed more courage than the 
 Neapolitan army. The imminence of the danger had 
 excited their fury to the highest pitch. The Prince 
 Moliterne, who attempted to restrain them, soon 
 lost his popularity amongst them, and they took for 
 leaders two of themselves, men named Paggio and 
 Michael the Mad. From that moment they aban- 
 doned themselves to the wildest disorders, and com- 
 mitted every species of violence against the citizens 
 and nobles accused of Jacobinism. So desperate was 
 the state of things that every class interested in the 
 preservation of order desired the entrance of the 
 French. Many of the inhabitants sent word to Mack 
 that they would unite with him to deliver Naples 
 into his hands. The Prince iSIolitenie himself under- 
 took to seize the fortress of Saint Elmo, and sur- 
 render it to the French. On the 4th Pluviose (23d 
 January), Championnet marched to the assault. 'J'he 
 lazzaroni defended them-elves valiantly, hut the citi- 
 zens, having obtained possession of Saint Elmo and 
 diflferent posts in the city, gave access to the French. 
 Nevertheless, the lazzaroni, intrenched in the houses, 
 prepared to contest the victory from street to street, 
 perhaps even to fire the town ; but one of their lead- 
 ers being taken prisoner, he was treated with con- 
 sideration, and assured of due respect being paid to 
 Saint Januarius, whereupon he pursuaded his fol- 
 lowers to lay down their arms. 
 
 Championnet forthwith found himself master of 
 Naples, and of the whole kingdom : his first act was 
 to re-establish order, and disarm the lazzaroni. In 
 accordance with the intentions of the French govern- 
 ment he proclaimed the new republic. An ancient 
 denomination was assigned to it, that of the Parthe- 
 nopean republic. Such was the result of the follies 
 and offences of the court of Naples. A few thousand 
 French and the lapse of two months sufficed to dis- 
 sipate its mighty projects, and convert its dominions 
 into a republic. This brief and successful campaign 
 invested Championnet with a brilliant reputation. 
 The army of Rome henceforth took the title of the 
 army of Naples, and was detached from the army of 
 Italy. Championnet became independent of Joubert. 
 Whilst these events occurred in the peninsula of 
 Italy, the fall of the Piedmontese monarchy was 
 finally consummated. Through a precaution which 
 circumstances sufficiently justified, Joubert had al- 
 ready possessed himself of the citadel of Turin, ai;d 
 armed it \\ith the artillery found in the Piedmontese 
 arsenals. But this was an insulficient security in the 
 present state of things. Disturbances continually pre- 
 vailed in Piedmont ; the republicans were incessantly 
 making fresh attempts, and had recently lost six 
 hundred men in an endeavour to surprise Alessandria. 
 A masquerading party from the citadel of Turin, in 
 which the whole court was personated, composed 
 both of Piedmontese and French orticers, whom the 
 generals could not always restrain, had almost led to 
 a sanguinary conflict in the streets of Turin itself. 
 It was impossible that the court of Piedmont could 
 be friendly to the French, and the correspondence 
 between the minister of Naples and M. de Priocca, 
 prime minister of Piedmont, sufficiently avouched 
 the fact. Under such circumstances, France, threat- 
 ened with a fresh war, could not allow to continue, 
 on the line of communication over the Alps, two 
 parties in active contention and a hostile government. 
 She held, with regard to the court of Piedmont, the 
 right that defenders of a fortress may exercise over 
 buildings which embarrass or endanger its defence. 
 It was decided, therefore, that the king should be 
 compelled to abdicate. 'J he republicans were sup- 
 ported, and the French aided them to seize Novarro, 
 Alessandria, Suza, and Chivasso. 'i'he king was 
 then told that his reign over a revolted country was 
 no longer feasible, a country, too, likely to become 
 the theatre of war, and his immediate abdication 
 urged, the island of Sardinia being left to him. The 
 
 WR
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 729 
 
 act of abdication was acoordinjjlv signed on the 19th 
 Friinaire (9th December 1798). Thus, the two 
 most powcifiil nionarchs in Italy, those of Naples 
 and Piedmont, preserved, of their respective domin- 
 ions, but two islands. In expectation of cominj^ 
 events, the French government declined the trouble- 
 some task of creating a new republic, and, pending 
 the result of the war, it was determined that Pied- 
 mont should be provisionally administered by France. 
 No state now survived to grasp in Italy but Tuscany. 
 A simple demonstration would have sufficed to re- 
 duce it ; but this demonstration was deferred, it being 
 deemed advisable to wait until Austria had openly 
 declared herself. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 STATE OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE REPUBLIC 
 AND OF THE ARMIES AT THE COMMENCE3IENT 
 OF IT89.— MILITARY PREPARATIONS. — LEVY OF 
 
 200,000 CONSCRIPTS DECLARATION OF WAR 
 
 AGAINST AUSTRIA. — OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 — INVASION OF THE ORISONS.— BATTLE OF STOCK- 
 ACH. — RETREAT OF JOURDAN.— MILITARY OPERA- 
 TIONS IN ITALY. BATTLE OF MAGNANO RE- 
 TREAT OF SCHERER. ASSASSINATION OF THE 
 
 FRENCH PLENIPOTE.NTIARIES AT RASTADT. 
 
 ELECTIONS OF THE YEAR VII SIEYES ELECTED 
 
 A DIRECTOR IN PLACE OF REWBELL. 
 
 Such was the state of things at the commencement 
 of the year 1799. War, from the events we have 
 just recorded, appeared almost inevitalile. More- 
 over, the correspondences intercepted, the aggressive 
 movement of the court of Naples, which would not 
 have taken the initiative without the certainty of a 
 powerful intervention, the vast preparations of Aus- 
 tria, and the arrival of a Russian corps in Moravia, 
 seemed to render the occurrence still more sure. The 
 new year, 1799, had opened, and it was too evident 
 that hostilities would couimence within a couple of 
 months. Thus was the incompatability of the two 
 great systems which the revolution had brought in 
 array proved by facts. France had begun the year 
 1798 with three republics dependent on her, the 
 Batavian, the Cisal[)ine, and the Ligurian, and at 
 the end of the year six were in existence, by the 
 creation of the Helvetian, Roman, and Parthenopean 
 republics. This extension had been less the result 
 of a spirit of conquest than of the spirit of system. 
 The French had been obliged to succour the op- 
 pressed Vaudois ; at Rome, they had been provoke<l 
 to avenge the death of the unfortunate Duphot, slain 
 in attempting to separate the two parties ; at Naples 
 they had merely repelled an aggression. They had 
 been led by force of circumstances to keep the strug- 
 gle alive. It is certain that the Dn-ectory, though 
 reposing great confidence in the French power, 
 nevertheless desired peace, for reasons both political 
 and financial; it is equally certain that the Emperor, 
 though desirous of war, wished to postpone it. Still, 
 all had conducted themselves as if anxious for au 
 immediate renewal of the contest, so absolute w<is 
 the imcompatibility of the two systems. 
 
 The revolution had imparted to the French 
 government an extraordinary confidence and daring. 
 The last event at Naples, although inconsiderable in 
 itself, encouraged the belief that nothing could with- 
 stand the French l)ayonet. This in truth was the 
 opinion of Euro[)e. It needed all the jjrodigious 
 force combined .-igamst France to embolden her 
 enemies to enter the lists against her. Hut this con- 
 fidence of the French government in its strength was 
 exaggerated, and concealed from it part of the ditfi- 
 culties of its position. The sequel lias shown that 
 its resources were immense, but that at this moment 
 
 they were not sufficiently developed to secure \-ic- 
 tory. Besides France, the Directory had to govern 
 Holland, Switzerland, and Italy divided into several 
 republics. To administer these countries through 
 the medium of their own governments was, as we 
 have witnessed, more difficult than if the immediate 
 command over them had been assumed. Scarcely 
 any assistance could be obtained from them, either 
 in money or men, from defect of organization. It 
 was requisite, notwithstanding, to defend them, and 
 thus to combat upon a line which extended from the 
 Texel without interruption to the Adriatic, a line 
 which, assailed in front by Austria and Russia, was 
 taken in reverse by the English fleets both in Hol- 
 land a"^ d at Naples. The forces which such a military 
 sitaation demanded were to be drawn from France 
 alone. Now the armies were singularly weakened; 
 40,000 soldiers, the best belonging to France, were 
 in Egypt under her great captain. The armies re- 
 maining in the country were diminished one-half by 
 the effect of desertions, which peace always brings 
 in her train. The government contiimed to pay the 
 same number of men, but it had not perhaps 15(3,000 
 effective troops. The administrations and the staffs 
 made a profit on the pay, which operated as a use- 
 less surcharge on the finances. These 150,000 effec- 
 tive men would form excellent depots into which the 
 new levies of conscripts might be draughted ; but 
 time was required for such an operation, and suffi- 
 cient time had not elapsed since the establishment of 
 the conscription. Moreover, the finances were in 
 the same pitiable condition, from the inefficient 
 system of collection. A budget of 000 millions had 
 been voted, and an extraordinary item of 125 millions 
 charged on the 400 millions remaining in the na- 
 tional domains ; but the tardiness of payments and 
 errors in the estimate of certain products left a con- 
 siderable deficit. Furthermore, subordination, so 
 necessary in a machine of such magnitude, was begin- 
 ning to fail. The military were becoming every day 
 more difficult to keep in order. The perpetual state 
 of war made them too sensible of their importance, 
 and they showed themselves imperious and insati- 
 able. Stationed in rich countries, they took flagrant 
 advantage of the opportunity, and were implicated in 
 every description of spoliation and exaction. They 
 attempted likewise to insure the triumphs of their 
 own opinions in the places where they' sojourned, 
 and obeyed with reluctance the direction of the civil 
 agents. An instance of this we have seen in the 
 quarrel between Brune and Trouve. Finally, at 
 home, the opposition which took its rise after the 
 I8th Fructidor, appearing in two phases or charac- 
 ters, was becoming more hostile. The [)atriots, 
 cru>hed in the last elections, were preparing to re- 
 cover their lost ground in the new. The moderates 
 criticized coldly but bitterly all the measures of the 
 government, and according to the practice of all op- 
 positions, rc[)r()ache(l it with the \cry obstacles it 
 had to overcome, and which were for the most part 
 insurmountable. Government is like any other 
 force : it must conquer ; and woe betide it if it fail. 
 Its excuses are never heeded, when it \\t)uld explain 
 the causes of its ill-success. 
 
 Such was the situation of the Directory at the 
 moment war was about to reconnniwice in Europe. 
 It made great c lorts to infuse order through the 
 complicated machinery comuiitted to its guidance. 
 Italy offered a perpetual derangement. The re- 
 sources of that fine country were spoiled and squan- 
 dered, not to the advantage of the army, but to 
 the enrichment of a few plunderers. The com- 
 mission appointed to establish and administer the 
 Roman republic had recently ceased its functions, 
 and forthwith the influence of the staffs had come 
 into jilay. 'I'he consuls who ajipeared too moder- 
 ate were displaced. Advantageous contracts for the 
 maintenance of the army were broken. The com-
 
 730 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 mission, in which Faypoult held the financial direc- 
 tion, had concluded a contract for the support and 
 payment of the troops stationed at Rome, and for 
 the transport of all objects of art sent into France. 
 In return it had assigned national property confis- 
 cated from the clergy. The contract, ])esides being 
 moderate in respect of term*, had the advantage of 
 turning to account the national domains. It was 
 anTiulled however, and subscf|uently given to the 
 firm of Baudin which literally devoured Italy. This 
 company fortified itself by debauching the staffs, to 
 which it allowed one per cent profit. Piedmont, 
 now placed in French occupation, presented a new 
 and tempting o-bject of prey, and the probity of 
 Joubert, general-in-chief of the army of Italy, formed 
 but a slender guarantee against the cupidity of the 
 staff and the companies. Naples, above all, was eyed 
 greedily as a field of legitimate pillage. Happily, 
 there were four honest men in the Directory, Rew- 
 bell, Larevelliere, ^lerlin, and Treilhard, to whom 
 these iniquities were detestable. Larevelliere espe- 
 cially, the most severe and the best informed as to 
 facts from his intimate relations with the ambassador 
 Trouve' and \\-ith the members of the Roman com- 
 mission, recommended an exertion of strong autho- 
 rity. He proposed a very e.xcellent plan on the sub- 
 ject, which his colleagues approved ; namely, to 
 institute in all the countries dependent on France, 
 and which her armies occupied, commissions charged 
 with the civil and financial departments, and alto- 
 gether independent of the staffs. Accordingly, at 
 ^lilan, Turin, Rome, and Naples, civil commissions 
 would receive the contributions payable by the allies 
 of France, conclude contracts, make all the financial 
 arrangements, in a word, provide for the necessities 
 of the armies, but allow no interference with funds 
 by the military chiefs. The commissions would 
 have orders, however, to pay the generals such sums 
 as they might demand, without the latter being 
 obliged to state the application ; they were to ac- 
 count only to the government. Thus pains were 
 still taken to propitiate the military power. The 
 four directors decreed the adoption of the measure, 
 and laid upon Scherer positive injunctions to put it 
 into immediate operation with the utmost vigour. 
 As he evinced some indulgence towards his comrades, 
 he was warned that he would be held responsible for 
 all the disorders permitted to continue. 
 
 This measure, however expedient it might be, was 
 calculated to mortify the staffs. In Italy indeed they 
 manifested a most mutinous spirit ; they asserted that 
 the military were disgraced by the precautions adopt- 
 ed with regard to them, that the generals would be 
 completely fettered and stripped of all authority. 
 Championnet, at Naples, had already arrogated the 
 partof legislator and named commissions to administer 
 the conquered country. Faypoult was dispatched to 
 Naples to take charge of the financial department. 
 He issued the necessary warrants to bring that ad- 
 ministration under his charge, and rescinded certain 
 ill-devised measures planned by Championnet. The 
 latter, with all the irascible pride of men of his sta- 
 tion, particularly when they are victorious, consid- 
 ered hnnself insulted ; he had the hardihood to pro- 
 mulgate an ordinance commanding Faypoult and the 
 other commissioners to quit Naples within twenty- 
 four hours. Such conduct was too gross for endur- 
 ance. To contemn the orders of the Directory and 
 expel from Naples the delegates clothed with its 
 powers, was an act which merited the severest re- 
 prehension, unless it were intended to abdicate the 
 supreme authority and transfer it to the generals. 
 The Directory wavered not an instant, but, through 
 the energy of the upright members bent on uprooting 
 the system of malversation, acted in the fulness of 
 its might. It cashiered Championnet despite the 
 lustre of his recent achievements, and consigned him 
 to a military commission. Unhappily this was not 
 
 the only instance of insubordination. The brave 
 Joubert allowed himself to be persuaded that mili- 
 tary honour was wounded by the decrees of the Di- 
 rectory ; he refused to retain the command on the 
 new conditions prescribed to generals and tendered 
 his resignation. The Directory accepted it. Ber- 
 nadotte declined to succeed Joubert from a similar 
 motive. Nevertheless the Directory adhered to its 
 determination and persisted in its decrees. 
 
 The Directory next devoted its attention to the 
 levy of conscripts, which proceeded but slowly. The 
 two first classes being unable to furnish the two 
 hundred thousand recruits ordained, it obtained au- 
 thority to raise them from all the classes until the 
 required number was complete. To save time, it 
 was decerned that the communes should be them- 
 selves charged with the equipment of the new re- 
 cruits, and the expense allowed in deduction of the 
 land-tax. When equipped the conscripts were to 
 repair to the frontiers, there to be formed into 
 garrison-battalions, relieve the old troops in the for- 
 tresses and reserve-camps, and, as soon as they were 
 sufficiently drilled, be draughted into the active 
 armies. 
 
 The deficit in the finances was a source of lively 
 solicitude to the Directory. Ramel, who had ad- 
 ministered the financial department with ability and 
 probity since the institution of the Directory, after 
 having tested the produce of the taxes, affirmed that 
 the deficiency would be 65 millions, without reckon- 
 ing the arrears resulting from delays in payments. A 
 warm discussion arose in the Councils as to the 
 amount of the assumed deficiency. The opponents 
 of the Directory estimated it not to exceed 15 mil- 
 lions. Ramel demonstrated however that it would 
 certainly amount to 65, and perhaps even to 75 mil- 
 lions. A tax had been imposed on doors and win- 
 dows ; but it was in-ufficient. A duty on salt was 
 again submitted for enactment. The proposal ex- 
 cited a prodigious clamour : it was intended to op- 
 press the people, the opposition vociferated, to fasten 
 the public burdens on a single class, to revive the 
 odious excise (gabelle), &c. Lucien Bonaparte, of 
 all the speakers on the question, was the one who 
 urged the-^e objections with the greatest bitterness. 
 The partisans of the government replied by alleging 
 necessity. The duty was refused by the Council of 
 Ancients. To make good its anticipated produce, 
 the tax on doors and windows was doubled, that on 
 street-gates even multiplied ten-fold. The posses- 
 sions belonging to the protestant religion were di- 
 rected to be sold, and it was decreed that the pro- 
 testant clergy should receive salaries in exchange for 
 their property. All sums receivable from the owners 
 of property held jointly with the state were likewise 
 placed at the disposition of government. 
 
 Unfortunately these various resources were not 
 sufficiently prompt of realization. Besides the diffi- 
 culty of eking out the produce of the taxes to the 
 high level of HOO millions, there was the further in- 
 convenience of retarded payments. The government 
 was reduced, this year as in the preceding, to grant 
 assigmnents to the contractors upon the outstanding 
 amounts. The creditors, to whom, upon the liquida- 
 tion of the two-thirds, the most scrupulous punc- 
 tuality was promised, were themselves paid with 
 securities receivable in acquittance of taxes. Thus 
 was the government again constrained to resort to 
 expedients for a subsistence. 
 
 It was not sufficient to muster soldiers and collect 
 funds to maintain them ; they were to be distributed 
 in an efficient manner and projjcr generals selected 
 for them. As we have said, it was necessary to de- 
 fend Holland, the line of the Rhine, Switzerland, 
 and all Italy, in other words, to operate from the 
 Texel to the Gulf of Trrento. On one side Holland 
 was covered by the neutralily of Prussia, v.'hich ap- 
 peared certain of continuance ; but an Anglo-Russian
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 731 
 
 fleet was likely to effect a debarkation on its shores, 
 and from this dane^er it was incumbent to protect it. 
 The line of the Rhine was guarded by the two places 
 of Mayence and Strasburg ; and although there was 
 little probability of Austria succeeding to force it, 
 prudence rendered it fitting to cover it with a corps 
 of observjition. Whether the offensive were taken 
 or awaited, it was on the banks of the Upper-Danube, 
 in the vicinity of the Lake of Constance, that the 
 Austrian armies must be encountered. An active 
 army would be needed to advance, either from Alsace 
 or Switzerland, into the plains of Bavaria. A corps 
 of observation would be requisite to cover Switzer- 
 land itself, and, in fine, a powerful army to protect 
 Upper-Italy against the Austrians, and Lower-Italy 
 against the Neapolitans and English combined. 
 
 The field of battle was of vast dimensions, and 
 was not known or understood as it has since been, 
 in the sequel of long wars and immortal campaigns. 
 It was then believed that the key of the plains lay 
 in the mountains. Switzerland, lying in the centre 
 of the immense line on which the conflict was to 
 rage, appeared the key of the whole continent ; and 
 France, who occupied Switzerland, seemed to possess 
 a decisive advantage ; — as if by commanding the 
 sources of the Rhine, the Danube, and the Po, she 
 would also command their entire courses : an egre- 
 gious error. We may conceive that two armies 
 resting each a wing immediately on mountains, as 
 the Austrians and French when they fought in the 
 vicinity of Verona, and in the vicinity of Rastadt, 
 should cling to the possession of those mountains, 
 because either of the two being master of them might 
 outflank the enemy by the heights. But when the 
 field of battle is fifty or a hundred leagues from 
 mountains, they cease to be of the same importance. 
 Whilst a desolating struggle were maintained for the 
 pass of St. Gothard, armies assembled on the Rhine 
 or the Lower Po would have time to decide the fate 
 of Europe. But the great is measured by the small : 
 because eminences are important on a field of battle 
 a few leagues in exteiit, it was concluded that the 
 power, master of the Alps, became necessarily so of 
 the continent. Switzerland enjoys but one real ad- 
 vantage, that of beuig able to open the direct ap- 
 proaches to France upon Austria, or to Austria upon 
 France. Hence, for the repose of those two powers 
 and the tranquillity of Europe, it is of consequence 
 to keep those approaches barred. The more points 
 of contact and the means of invasion are prevented 
 so much the better, particularly between two states 
 which cannot meet in collision without convulsing 
 the continent. On this account it is that the neu- 
 trality of Switzerland interests all Europe, and that 
 it has ever been good policy to consecrate it as a 
 maxim of general security. 
 
 By occupying Switzerland, then, France had se- 
 cured the advantage of direct approaches upon Aus- 
 tria and Italy, and, in this liglit, its possession might 
 be regarded as important to her. But if the multi- 
 plicity of approaches be an advantage to the power 
 intent to take the offensive and having adequate 
 means, it becomes an inconvenience for the power re- 
 duced to the defensive by the inferiority of strength. 
 The latter must naturally desire the points of attack 
 as few as possible that he may concentrate his forces 
 with advantage. If, therefore, it were good for 
 France, sufficiently prepared fur the offensive, to be 
 able to debouch into Bavaria by Switzerland, it was 
 bad for her, when reduced to the defensive, to be 
 unable to rely upon the neutrality of Switzerland ; it 
 was bad for her to liave to guard the whole expanse 
 of frontier between Mayence and Genoa, instead of 
 having the power, as in 1793, to concentrate her 
 forces, between Mayence and Strasburg on one side, 
 and between Mont-Blanc and Genoa on the other. 
 
 Thus, the occupation of Switzerland might be- 
 come dangerous for France in the event of defensive 
 
 operations. But she was far from believing herself 
 in that predicament. The design of the government 
 was to assume the offensive in every direction, and 
 to proceed, as heretofore, by rapid inroads. But 
 the distribution of its forces was most unfortunate. 
 It stationed an army of observation in Holland, 
 and another army of observation on the Rhine. An 
 aggressive army was intended to start from Stras- 
 burg, traverse the Black Forest, and invade Ba- 
 varia. A second actixe army was to combat in 
 Switzerland for the possession of the mountains, and 
 thus support on one side that acting on the Danube, 
 and on the other that to act in Italy. Another 
 large army was to move from the Adige to drive the 
 Austrians beyond the Isonzo. Lastly, a third army 
 of observation was to cover Lower-Italy and guard 
 Naples. It was proposed that the army of Holland 
 should contahi twenty thousand men, that of the 
 Rhine forty, that of the Danube eighty, that of 
 Switzerland forty, that of Italy eighty, and that ot 
 Naples forty, making iti all three hundred thousand 
 men, independently of garrisons. With such a force, 
 this distribution would liave been less erroneous. 
 But if, by the levy of conscripts, France might some 
 day swell her troops to that amount, she was far from 
 possessing the capability at this moment. On the con- 
 trary, she could scarcely leave 10,000 men in Holland. 
 On the Rhine she could with difficulty muster a few 
 thousand. The troops destined to form that army 
 of observation were retained in the interior, either 
 to watch La Vendee again threatened, or to protect 
 public tranquillity during the forthcoming elections. 
 The army appointed to operate on the Danube 
 amounted at the utmost to forty thousand men, that 
 of Switzerland to thirty, that of Italy to fifty, and 
 tliat of Naples to thirty. Thus France counted 
 scarcely one hundred and sixty or one hundred and 
 seventy thousand fighting men. To sprinkle these 
 from the Texel to the gulf of Tarento, was of all 
 dispositions the most imprudent. 
 
 Since the Directory, impelled by revolutionary 
 audacity, was determined to take the offensive, it 
 became of the utmost consequence, then more than 
 ever, to select well the points of attack, to con- 
 centrate suifieient force upon those points, and not 
 to disseminate troo[)s for the purpose of engaging on 
 all at once. Accordingly, instead of scattering its 
 forces in Italy from Verona to Naples, it ought, 
 after the exanqde of Bonaparte, to have concentred 
 the great majority on the Adige, and there operated 
 with commanding effect. Whilst figliting the Aus- 
 trians on the Adige, it had been sufficiently demon- 
 strated that Rome, Florence, and Naples, might be 
 kept in due subjection. Again, on the side of the 
 Danube, instead of uselessly casting some thousands 
 of men at the foot of Saint-Gotliard, it sliould have 
 diminished the armies of Switzerland and the Rhine, 
 augmented the active army of the Danube, and waged 
 with it decisive warfare in Bavaria. The points of 
 attack might even have been narrowed, remaining in 
 observation on the Adige, and acting aggressively 
 only on the Danube, there to deal a blow all the 
 stronger and surer forthe increased mass agglomerated 
 to strike it. Napoleon and tlie Archduke Charles 
 have proved, llie first by example, tiie latter by pre- 
 ce|)t, tliat between Austria ami France the quarrel 
 must be deciiled on the Danube. Here lies the 
 shortest pas.>-age to the ultimate goal. A French 
 army, victoiious in Bavaria, renders mill all the 
 su-(!fesses of an Austrian army victorious in Italy, 
 because it approximates so much more nearly to 
 Vienna. 
 
 In cxoul|)ati()ii of the plans of the Directory, it is 
 to be remembered tiiat so vast a lieWi of operations 
 had not yet been embraced, and that the only man 
 then capable of doing so was in Egy[)t. The one 
 hundred and sixty thousand men or thcreuboiits, ac- 
 tually disposable, were theiofore dispersed over the
 
 732 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 immense line we have described, and in the order we 
 have indicated. Ten thousand men were to observe 
 Holland, a few tliou>aiul the Rhine; forty thousand 
 formed the army of the Danube, thirty that of Swit- 
 zerland, fifty tiiat of Italy, thirty that of Naples. 
 The conscripts were destined shortly to reinforce 
 these masses and swell them to the amounts con- 
 templated by the directorial project. 
 
 The choice of c^enerals was not more happy than 
 tlie conception of plans. True, since the death of 
 Hoche, and the departure of Bona|)arte, Kleber, and 
 Desaix for E^ypt, the selection was more confined. 
 One general remained, however, whose reputation 
 was high and deservedly merited, — Moreau. It was 
 possible to be more bold, more enterprising, but 
 scarcely more resolute or safe. A state, defended 
 by such a man, could not perish. Disgraced on 
 account of his conduct in the affair of Pichegru, he 
 had modestly consented to act as a simple inspector 
 of infantry. He was proposed to the Directory for 
 the command in Italy. Since Bonaparte had drawn 
 so much attention to that country, since it was be- 
 come as the apple of discord between Austria and 
 France, this command appeared the most important. 
 On this account JNIoreau was suggested. Barras 
 opposed his nomination with all his power. He 
 rested his objection on high patriot grounds, and 
 represented Moreau as open to suspicion from his 
 conduct on the 18th Fructidor. His colleagues had 
 the weakness to yield. ]\Ioreau was discarded, and 
 remained a simple general of division in the army he 
 ought to have commanded in chief. He nobly ac- 
 cepted this subordinate rank, one so beneath his 
 talents. Joubert and Bernadotte had refused the 
 command of the army of Italy from motives already 
 stated. Scherer, minister at war, was then thought 
 of. This general, by his successes in Belgium and 
 the brilliant affair of Loano, had acquired consider- 
 able reputation. He possessed ability, but his frame 
 was debilitated by age and infirmities; he was no 
 longer capable of leading young soldiers full of vigour 
 and daring. Moreover he had rendered himself ob- 
 noxious to the majority of his comrades, by enforcing 
 with some rigour the repression of military license. 
 Barras proposed him as general of the army of Italy. 
 He did so, it was said, to remove him from the 
 ministry of war, where he was beginning to grow 
 distasteful from his severity. However, the mili- 
 tary men ^vho were consulted, especially Bernadotte 
 and Joubert, having spoken of his capacity as it was 
 universally estimated in the army, that is eulogisti- 
 cally, he was appointed general-in-cliief of the army 
 of Italy. He himself resisted, alleging his age, his 
 health, and above all his unpopularity, arising from 
 the functions he had exercised; but the Directory 
 insisted, and lie was obliged to yield. 
 
 Championnct, arraigneil before a court-martial, 
 was succeeded in the cotmnand of the army of Naples 
 by Macdonald. Massena was intrusted with the 
 command of the army of Helvetia. These were 
 excellent a[)pointments, and such as the republic had 
 every reason to applaud. Tlie im|iortant army of 
 the Danube was confided to Jourdan. Notwith- 
 standing his reverses in the campaign of 1798, the 
 services he had rendered in 1793 and 1794 were not 
 forgotten, and the hope was indulged that he would 
 prove equal to his early career. Since it was not 
 given to Moreau, the army of the Damibe could not 
 iiave been (•onsigned to a more trustworthy guardian. 
 Lnfortunately it was so inferior in numbers, that to 
 command it with assurance required the bold self- 
 confident genius of the conqueror of Arcole and 
 Rivoli. Bernadotte had the army of the Rhine ; 
 Brune the army of Holland. 
 
 Austria had made preparations greatly superior to 
 the French. Not reposing like them on her suc- 
 cesses, she had employed tlie two years (lapsed 
 since the armistice of J,e()l)en, to raise, equip, and 
 
 discipline fresh troops. She had provided them with 
 all things necessary, and studied to place over them 
 the most efficient generals. She could bring actually 
 in line 2"23,000 effective men, without reckoning the 
 recruits still uiuler drill. Russia supplied her with 
 an auxiliary force of G0,000 men, whose fanatical 
 valour was vaunted throughout Europe, and who 
 were commanded by the celebrated Suwarrov. Thus 
 the new coalition would operate on the front of the 
 French line with about 300,tX)0 men. Two other 
 Russian contingents were announced, to unite with 
 tlie English troops, and intended, the one for Holland, 
 the other for Naples. 
 
 The plan of campaign digested by the coalition 
 was no better conceived than that by the French. 
 It was the pedantic offspring of the Aulic Council, 
 highly disapproved by the Archduke Charles, but 
 imposed on hinj and the other generals without per- 
 mission to modify it. 'J'his plan proceeded, like that 
 of the French, on the principle that the mountains 
 form the key of the plains. Consef|uently consider- 
 able forces were accumulated to guard the Tyrol and 
 the Grisons, and to wrest, if possible, the great chain 
 of the Alps from the French. The second object 
 apparently most in favour with the Aulic Council was 
 Italy. A large body of troops was stationed behind 
 the Adige. The most important theatre of war, 
 that of the Danube, seemed not so particularly to 
 command its attention. The happiest arrangement 
 it made in that quarter was placing there the Arch- 
 duke Charles. Thus then were the Austrian forces 
 distributed. The Archduke Charles, with 54,000 
 foot and 24,000 horse, was in Bavaria. In the Voral- 
 berg, along the course of the Rhine to its issue into 
 Lake Constance, General Hotze commanded 24,000 
 foot and 2,000 horse. Bellegarde was in the Tyrol 
 with 46,000 men, of whom 2,000 were cavalry, 
 whilst Krayhad on the Adige 64,000 foot and 11,000 
 horse, making 75,000 in all. The Russian corps, 
 too, was intended to join Kray for the purpose of 
 acting in Italy. 
 
 We see that Hotze's twenty-six thousand men, 
 and Bellegarde's forty-six thousand, were to operate 
 in the mountains. They were to win the sources of 
 the rivers, whilst the armies in the plains were 
 striving to conquer their streams. On the side of 
 the French, the army of Helvetia was charged with 
 the like task. Consequently, on both sides, a mul- 
 titude of men were about to destroy each other use- 
 lessly on inaccessible rocks, whose possession could 
 influence but remotely the fate of the war.* 
 
 The French generals failed not to remonstrate 
 with the Directory on the insufficiency of their 
 means. Jourdan, being obliged to detach several 
 battalions into Belgium to repress some troubles 
 there, and a demi-brigade to the army of Helvetia 
 to replace atiother demi-brigade sent into Italy, had 
 actually not more than 38,000 effective troops. Such 
 a force was too greatly disproportioned with that under 
 the Archduke to contend against him with any hope 
 of advantage. He demanded the prompt formation of 
 the army under Bernadotte, which as yet contained 
 only from five to six thousand men, and especially 
 the organization of additional field-battalions. He 
 was desirous of permission to combine with his own 
 the army either of the Rhine or of Helvetia, in 
 which he evinced sound judgment. Massena, on his 
 side, complained of having neither the magazines 
 nor the means of transport indispensable for the sus- 
 tenance of his army in sterile countries, and of such 
 difficult access. f 
 
 The Directory stated in reply to these complaints 
 that the conscri[)ts would speedily join and be formed 
 into field -battalions; that the army of Helvetia 
 should be forthwith augmented to forty tlio'.:sa::<! 
 
 * .\11 tliise .isscitions are (leiiKnistratcil at liii^ tli li^- the 
 .XnlHliike Cliarles, Jomini, and Napokon.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 733 
 
 men, and the army of the Danube to sixty ; and that 
 HS soon as the elections were over, the old battalions 
 retained in the interior, should be sent to form the 
 nucleus of the army of the Rhine. Bernadotte and 
 Massena had orders to co-operate in the operations of 
 Jourdan, and to act in conformity with his views. 
 Still relyinj,' on the effect of the aj^gressive, and ani- 
 mated with boundless confidence in its soldiers, the 
 government was eager, despite the disproportion of 
 numbers, that it- generals should precipitate the 
 attack, and disconcert the Austrians by an impetuous 
 incursion. Instructions were given in accordance 
 with these sentiinents. 
 
 The Grisons, divided into two factions, had long 
 vacillated between the Austrian and Swiss domina- 
 tions. Eventually they had called the Austrians 
 into their valleys. The Directory, considering them 
 Swiss subjects, ordered Massena to occupy tiieir 
 territory, serving the Austrians with a preliminary 
 summons to evacuate it. In case of their refusal, 
 Massena was instantly to attack them. At the same 
 time, as the Russians were still advancing in .\ustria, 
 it addressed two notes on the subject, one to the 
 congress of Rastadt, the other to the Emperor. Both 
 to the Germanic confederation and to the Enipei'or 
 it announced that unless, within the space of eight 
 days, counter-orders were given to the march of the 
 Russians, it would deem war declared. Jourdan 
 was enjoined to pass the Rhine upon the expiration 
 of that interval. 
 
 The congress of Rastadt had made great progress 
 towards the conclusion of its labours. The ques- 
 tions touching the limit of the Rhine, the partition 
 of the islands and the construction of bridges being 
 adjusted, that relative to the debts alone remained 
 for discussion. The majority of the German princes, 
 saving the ecclesiastical, were undoubtedly solicitous 
 for a settlement to avoid the alternative of war; 
 but subject for the most part to the sway of Austria, 
 they dared not give emphasis to their views. The 
 members of the deputation successively abandoned 
 the Congress, so that further deliberation threatened 
 soon to become impossible. To the note of the 
 Directory the Congress intimated it was not em- 
 powered to reply, and referred the matter to the 
 diet at Ratisbon. The note to the Emperor was 
 forwarded to Vienna and remained unnoticed. War 
 was therefore in point of fact declared. Jourdan 
 was directed to cross the Rhine and advance by the 
 Black Forest to the sources of the Daiuibe. 'He 
 accordingly passed the Rhine on the 1 1th Ventose 
 (1st March). The Archduke ('harles passed the 
 Lech on the 13th Ventose (3d March). Thus the 
 boundaries the two powers had mutually prescribed 
 were overstepped, and they were again about to 
 meet in hostile array. Still, although executing an 
 offensive movement, Jourdan had instructions to 
 let the first shot be fired by the enemy, pending 
 the approval of the declaration of war by the legis- 
 lative body. 
 
 Meanwiiile, Massena commenced operations in the 
 Grisons. He summoned the Austrians to evacuate 
 them on the 16th Ventose (0th March). The Gri- 
 sons comprise the upper valley of the Rhine and the 
 upper valley of the Itm, or Etigadin. Massena re- 
 solved to pass the Rhine near its fall into the Lake 
 Constance, and thus cut off all the corps scattered in 
 the superior valleys. Lecourbe, who led his right 
 wing, aiir! who from his extraordinary activity and 
 temerity was admirably adapted for mountain war- 
 fare, was to starFfrom the vicinity of Saint-Gothard, 
 cross the Rhine towards its sources, and throw 
 himself into the valley of tlie Inn. General Des- 
 soles, with a division of the army of Italy, was to 
 second him by moving from the Valteline into the 
 valley of tlie i'p])cr-Adige. 
 
 These skilful dispositions were realized with ex- 
 emplary vigour. On the IRlh Ventftse (6th March) 
 
 the Rhine was breasted on all points. The soldiers 
 hurled waggons into the river and passed over them 
 as on a bridge. In two days Massena was master 
 of the whole course of the Rhine, from its sources 
 to its fall into Lake Constance, and had taken fifteer. 
 pieces of cannon and 5,000 prisoners. On his part, 
 Lecourbe was not less successful in performing the 
 operations intrusted to him. He crossed the supe- 
 rior Rhine, pushed from Disentis to Tusis in the 
 valley of the Albula, and from that valley boldly 
 threw himself into that of the Inn, traversing the 
 highest mountains in Europe still covered with the 
 snows of winter. A compulsory delay having pre- 
 vented Dessoles from advancing to the Upper- Adige 
 from the Valteline, Lecourbe found himself exposed 
 to envelopment by all the Austrian forces cantoned 
 in the Tyrol. In fact, whilst he was heroically 
 urging his way into the valley of the Inn and march- 
 ing on Martinsbriick, Laudohn planted himself with 
 a corps on his rear ; but the intrepid Lecourbe, 
 retracing his steps, attacked Laudohn, repulsed him, 
 captured a number of his troops, and resumed his 
 course into the valley of the Inn. 
 
 Tliis brilliant opening seemed to accredit the belief 
 that everywhere, in the Alps as at Naples, the French 
 could face triumphantly an enemy far superior in 
 numerical force. It assuredly confirmed the Direc- 
 tory in the opinion that the aggressive must be 
 pursued and deficiency of numbers compensated by 
 greater hardihood. 
 
 The Directory forwarded to Jourdan the declara- 
 tion of war it had procured from the councils,* with 
 orders to attack immediately. Jourdan had de- 
 bouched by the defiles of the Black Forest into the 
 district comprised between the Danube and the lake 
 of Constance. The angle formed by the river and 
 the lake widens continually on the advance into Ger- 
 many. Jourdan, desirous of resting his left on the 
 Danube and his right on the lake of Constance, to 
 communicate with ISIassena, was therefore obliged, 
 in proportion as he advanced, to extend his line and 
 consequently to weaken 'it in a dangerous manner, 
 especially before an enemy far superior m number. 
 He had at first pushed as far as Mengen on one side 
 and Marckdorf on the other. But learning that the 
 army of the Rhine would not he organized before 
 the 10th Germinal (30tli March), and fearing to be 
 turned by the valley of the Neckar, he conceived 
 apprehensions and made a retrograde movement. 
 The reiterated commands of his government and 
 the success of Massena induced him to resume his 
 forward march. He made choice of a fair position 
 between Lake Constance and the Danube. Two 
 rapid streams, the Ostrach and the Aach, starting 
 almost from the same point, and falling the one into 
 the Danube and the other into Lake Constance, form 
 one straight line, behind which Jourdan estal)lished 
 himself. Saint-Cyr, leading his left, was at Alengen; 
 Souham, with the centre, at Pfiillendorf ; Ferine, 
 with the right, at Barendorf D'llaut poult was 
 stationed in reserve. Lefebvre, with the vanguard 
 division, was at Ostrach. This point was the most 
 accessible of the line : placed at the source of the 
 two streams, it presented a tract of marsh-ground 
 which might be traversed by a long causeway. On 
 this point the Archduke (.'liarles, intent to avoid 
 being antici()atc(l, resolved to direct his principal 
 elfort. He dispatched two columns to the right 
 and left of the Freiu'h, against St.-Cyr aiul Ferino. 
 l}ut his main body, lu'arly 50,(KH) strong, was con- 
 centrated on the point of tistracli, where 9,000 French 
 at the utmost were planted. The battle began on 
 the 'id Germinal (22(1 March), and was bloodily con- 
 Icsted. In this first encounter the French displaye<l 
 a valour and pertinacity which excited the admira- 
 tion of the Archduke himself. Jourdan hastened to 
 
 » Tills floolaration of war nas inadu on the '.'•.'d Ventosa 
 Year VII. (13tli March Uimj.
 
 734 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 the threatened position ; but the extent of his line 
 aT)d the nature of the c^rouiid prevented the possi- 
 bility, by a rapid movement, of transporting troops 
 from his wings to the centre. The passage was 
 forced, and aft<?r an honourable resistance, Jourdan 
 found himself obliged to beat a retreat. He fell 
 back between Singen and Tuttlingen. 
 
 A check at the commencement of the campaign 
 was unfortunate ; it destroyed that prestige of hero- 
 ism and invincibility which the French so much 
 needed to obviate the disparity of numbers. Still 
 the inferiority of force had rendered this reverse 
 almost inevitable. Jourdan did not however relin- 
 quish the design of acting on the offensive. Aware 
 that Massena was advar^cing beyond the Rhine, trust- 
 ing to the co-operation of the army of the Danube, 
 he considered himself bound to make a final effort to 
 support his colleague and flank him in his progress 
 to Lake Constance. He had another motive for 
 moving forward again, namely, the desire to occupy 
 the point of Stockach where the roads to Switzer- 
 land and Suabia cross, a point he had done wrong to 
 abando.-i when retiring between Singen and Tutt- 
 lingen. He fixed his operation for the 3d Germinal 
 (•23d March). 
 
 The Archduke Charles was not yet assured of the 
 direction he ought to give his movements. He was 
 undetermined whether he ought to direct his march on 
 Switzerland, so as to separate Jourdan from Massena, 
 or towards the sources of the Danube, so as to sepa- 
 rate him from his ba-e on the Rhine. The direction 
 on Switzerland seemed to him the most advantage- 
 ous for both armies, since the French had as much 
 interest in combining with the Helvetian army as the 
 Austrians had in keeping them asunder. But he 
 was ignorant of Jourdan's projects, and resolved to 
 make a reconnaissance to satisfy himself. He had 
 appointed the 3d Germinal (23 March) for this recon- 
 naissance, the same day on which Jourdan proposed 
 to attack him. 
 
 The nature of the country rendered the position 
 of the two armies e.xtremely complicated. The 
 strategic point was Stockach, where the Suabian and 
 S\\nss roads cross. That was the position Jourdan 
 aspired to recover, and the Archduke designed to 
 preserve. The Stockach, a small river, flows with 
 many sinuosities before the town of that name, and 
 ends its devious course in Lake Constance. On this 
 stream the Archduke had taken up his position. He 
 had his left between Nenzingen and Wahlwies upon 
 certain eminences, and behind one of the windings of 
 the Stockach ; his centre was stationed on an ele- 
 vated plateau called the Nellemberg, and in front of 
 the Stockach ; and his right upon the continuation 
 of this plateau along the road leading from Stockach 
 to Liptingen. Like the centre the latter also was in 
 front of the Stockach. The extremity of this wing 
 was covered by thick woods stretching along the 
 Liptingen road. There were serious defects in this 
 position. If the left had the Stockach before it, the 
 centre and right had it behind them, and might be 
 driven into it by an effort of the enemy. Besides, 
 all the positions of the army had but one issue to the 
 town of Stockach, and in the event of a forced re- 
 treat, the left, the centre, and the right, would all 
 be accumulated on a single way and might be thrown 
 by the entanglement into disastrous confusion. But 
 the Archduke, in determining to cover Stockach, 
 could take up no other position, and necessity formed 
 his excuse. He had to reproach himself with only 
 two actual faults : one in not having reared some 
 works to protect his centre and his right; another in 
 having taken too many precautions on his left, which 
 was sufficiently protected by the river. It was his 
 extreme anxiety to preserve the important point of 
 Stockach that led him thus to distribute his forces. 
 He possessed, at the same time, the advaiit;ige of an 
 immense numerical superiority. 
 
 Jourdan was partly ignorant of the Archduke's 
 dispositions, for nothing is more difficult than recon- 
 naissances, especially in a country so circumstanced 
 as that in which the two armies were acting. He 
 still occupied the apex of the angle formed by the 
 Danube and Lake Constance, from Tuttlingen to 
 Steussliiigen. This was a line of considerable ex- 
 tent, and the nature of the country, which scarcely 
 permitted a rapid concentration, rendered it an in- 
 convenience of serious moment. He ordered General 
 Ferino, who commanded his right at Steussliugen, 
 to march on Wahlwies, and Souham, who com- 
 manded the centre at Eigeltingen, to move on Nen- 
 zingen. These two generals were to unite their 
 efforts to dislodge the left and centre of the Arch- 
 duke by passing the Stockach atul scaling the Nel- 
 lemberg. Jourdan then proposed to push his left, 
 his vanguard and his reserve, on the point of Liptin- 
 gen, with the view of penetrating through the woods 
 which sheltered the right of the Archduke, and 
 carrying its position. These combinations had the 
 merit of centring the largest mass of troops against 
 the right wing of the Archduke, which was the most 
 exposed. Unfortunately the different columns of the 
 army held points of departure too far asunder. To 
 act upon Liptingen, the vanguard and reserve had 
 to start from Emingen, and the left from Tuttlingen, 
 at the distance of a day's march. This separation 
 was the more dangerous, because the French army, 
 about 36,U00 men strong, was at least a third weaker 
 than the Archduke's. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th Germinal (25th March), 
 the two armies met. The French army was march- 
 ing to a battle, the Austrian to a reconnaissance. The 
 Austrians, having broken ground before the French, 
 surprised their advanced guards, but were speedily 
 repulsed on all points by the bulk of their divisions. 
 Ferino on the right, and Souham in the centre, pene- 
 trated to Wahlwies, Orsingen, Nenzingen, to the 
 margin of the Stockach, and to the foot of the Nel- 
 lemberg, drove back the Austrians into the positions 
 they occupied in the morning, and prepared to com- 
 mence the serious attack on those positions. They 
 had to breast the Stockach and storm the Nellem- 
 berg. A heavy cannonade thundered along the 
 whole line. 
 
 On the French left, the success was still more 
 prompt and complete. The vanguard, now com- 
 manded by General Soult, in consequence of a wound 
 received by Lefebvre, repelled the Austrians who 
 had advanced as far as Emingen, chased them through 
 Liptingen, put them to rout in the plain, pursued 
 them with unrelenting ardour, aiid hunted them 
 through the woods. These woods were the same 
 that covered the Austrian right; by following up 
 their attack the French might have forced it into 
 the ravine of the Stockach and occasioned it a terri- 
 ble disaster. But it was clear that this wing would 
 be reinforced at the expense of the centre and left, 
 and that a large mass of troops must be brought to 
 I'Car upon it. Therefore, the vanguard, reserve, 
 and left should all, as in the original plan, have been 
 made to converge on this one point. Unhappily, 
 General Jourdan, inflated with the easy success he 
 had gained, attempted to achieve too extensive an 
 object, and instead of joining Saint-Cyr in the move- 
 ment, he ordered that general to make a long circuit 
 with the view of hemming-in the Austrians and cut- 
 ting off their retreat. In this he showed himself too 
 eager to reap the fruits of victory before the victory 
 was won. Jourdan retained on tils' decisive point 
 only the vanguard division and the reserve com- 
 manded by Hautpoult. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Austrian right, seeing the woods 
 which covered it forced by the enemy, faced round 
 and disputed with extreme tenacity the road from 
 Liptingen to Stockach, which traverses those woods. 
 The battle was raging with fury, when the Arch-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 735 
 
 duke came up in all haste. Discerning the danger 
 with intuitive quickness, he withdrew the grenadiers 
 and cuirassiers from the centre and left, and moved 
 them rapidly to his right. He disregarded the 
 mananivre of Saint-Cyr on his rear, sensible that if 
 he repulsed Jourdan, Saint-Cyr would only be the 
 more compromised, and resolved to confine himself 
 to a decisive effort upon the point actually menaced. 
 The possession of the woods was contested with 
 extraordinary obstinacy. The French, greatly in- 
 ferior in number, resisted with a courage which the 
 Archduke calls admirable ; but the prince at last 
 charged in person with some battalions on the Lip- 
 tingen road and forced the French to give way. 
 They lost the woods, and ultimately found them- 
 selves on the uncovered plain of Liptingen, whence 
 they had started. Jourdan had sent to crave succour 
 from Saint-Cyr, but the opportunity had been for- 
 feited. His reserve still remained, and he determined 
 to risk a charge of cavalry to recover his lost advan- 
 tages. He darted four regiments of cavalry in a 
 simultaneous charge. Stopped by a counter-charge 
 made opportunely at the same moment by the Arch- 
 duke's cuirassiers, this attempt was not crowned 
 with success. Frightful confusion ensued over the 
 plain of Liptingen. After performing prodigies of 
 valour, the French dispersed. General Jourdan 
 made heroic exertions to arrest the fugitives ; he 
 was himself borne along. Nevertheless, the Aus- 
 trians, exhausted by the prolonged struggle, ventured 
 not to pursue them. 
 
 The day was over. Ferino and Souham had 
 maintained themselves, but had forced neither the 
 centre nor the left of the Austrians. Saint-Cyr was 
 hovering on their rear. The battle cannot be said 
 to have been lost : the French, inferior by a third, 
 had everywhere kept the field and displayed tran- 
 scendent courage ; but with their numerical disparity, 
 and the isolation of their different corps, not to have 
 conquered was to be defeated. It became neces- 
 sary immediately to recall Saint-Cyr, rally the dis- 
 comfited vanguard and reserve, and draw in the 
 centre and right. Jourdan issued orders in accord- 
 ance, and especially urged Saint-Cyr to fall back 
 with all possible promptitude. The situation of the 
 latter was very perilous ; but he effected his retreat 
 with the decision which always distinguished him, 
 and regained the Danube without accident. The loss 
 was about equal on both sides, in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners. It amounted to from four to five 
 thousand men. 
 
 After this calamitous event, the French could no 
 longer keep the field, and they must of necessity 
 seek shelter behind a strong barrier. Should they 
 retire into Switzerland, or upon the Rhine ? It was 
 evident that by retiring into Switzerland they might 
 join the army under Massena, and by such junction 
 be enabled again to assume a formidable attitude. 
 General Jourdan, unfortunately, deemed it incum- 
 bent to act otherwise ; he trembled for the line of 
 the Rhine, on which Bernadotte had not yet col- 
 lected above seven or eight thousand men, and he 
 determined to fall back to the entrance ot the defiles 
 of the Black Forest. He there took up a position 
 which he considered a strong one, aiul, leaving the 
 command to his chief of the staff, Ernoulf, departed 
 for Paris to complain in person of the inferiority 
 under which Ids army had laljoured. The result 
 spoke more loudly than all the complaints he could 
 urge, and it had been better to have remained with 
 his army than ifpair to Paris for such a purpose. 
 
 Most fortunately the Aulic Council commanded 
 the Archduke toconunitan egregious blunder, which 
 partly retrieved the French disaster. If the Arch- 
 duke, pushing his advantages, had pursued energeti- 
 cally the conquered army, he might have thrown it 
 into complete disorder and perhaps destroyed it. He 
 would have had afterwards sufficient time to return 
 
 into Switzerland to attack Massena, deprived of all 
 assistance, reduced to his 30,000 men, and involved 
 in the highest valleys of the Alps. It would not 
 have been impossible to cut him off from France al- 
 together. But the Aulic Council prohibited the 
 Archduke from proceeding towar<Is the Rhine before 
 Switzerland was evacuated: still engrossed by the 
 fixed idea that the key to the theatre of war was in 
 the mountains. 
 
 Whilst these events were passing in Suabia, the 
 war was still actively prosecuted in tne Upper Alps. 
 Massena actijig towards the sources of the Rhine, 
 Lecourbe towards those of the Inn, and Dessoles to- 
 wards those of the Adige, had encountered about 
 equalized successes. Beyond the Rhine, a little 
 above the point at which it flows into Lake Con- 
 stance, lay a position of great importance to carry, 
 namely that of Feldkirch. Massena strained iiU his 
 energies to accomplish the object, but was foiled 
 with the loss of more than 2,000 men. On the other 
 hand, Lecourbe at Taufers, and Dessoles at Nauders, 
 fought two brilliant engagements, which availed to 
 each from three to four thousand prisoners, and am- 
 ply compensated the check at Feldkirch. Thus the 
 French, by their activity and hardihood, preserved 
 the superiority in the Alps. 
 
 Operations commenced in Italy the very day suc- 
 ceeding the battle of Stockach. The French had 
 received about 30,000 conscripts, which raised the 
 gross amount of their forces in Italy to nearly 1 16,000 
 men. These were distributed in the following man- 
 ner : 30,000 veteran troops under IMacdonald guard- 
 ed Rome and Naples. The 30,000 young soldiers gar- 
 risoned the fortresses. There remained 3G,000 men 
 under Scherer. Of these, 5,000 had been detached 
 under General Gautier to occupy Tuscany, and 5,000 
 under General Dessoles to act in the Valteline. 
 There were 46,000 men therefore left with Scherer 
 to combat on the Adige, the grand and essential 
 point, where the entire mass of the forces ought to 
 have been agglomerated. Besides the evil of so 
 small a force on this decisive point, there was another 
 not less fatal to the French. The general inspired 
 no confidence ; he was too old, as we have said ; he 
 had moreover aroused an acrimonious feeling against 
 him during his ministry. Of this he was himself 
 sensible, and had accepted the command with reluc- 
 tanc^. He crept stealthily at uights about the tents 
 to listen to the discourses of the soldiers, and gather 
 with his own ears the evidences of his unpopularity. 
 These were circumstances of u)ifavourable augury at 
 the opening of a great and dillicult campaign. 
 
 Suwarrov and Melas were intended to command 
 the Austrians. In the meantime they obeyed the 
 Baron von Kray, one of the best of the imperial gen- 
 erals. Even before the arrival of the Russians they 
 mustered 85,000 men in Upper-Italy. Nearly 60,000 
 were already on the Adige. To both arndes orders 
 had been given to assume the offensive. Tiie Aus- 
 trians were instructed to debouch from Verona, 
 skirt the base of the mountains ami advance beyoiui 
 the river, masking all the fortresses. This move- 
 ment was designed to support that of the army of 
 the Tyrol in the mountains. 
 
 Scherer's injunctions were simply to pass the Adige. 
 This was a dillicult commission, for the Austrians 
 possessed all the advantages of that line. It is siilli- 
 ciently known from the camiiaigu of 17*J(>. \'erona 
 and Legnago, wiiich connnand it, were held by the 
 Austrians. To throw over a bridge on any given 
 point was a very hazardous enterprise, since the Aus- 
 trians, Inning Verona and Legnago, might debouch 
 on the Hank of the army engaged in attempting a pas- 
 sage. The safest plan, if express orders had not been 
 given to take the offensive, would have been to let the 
 enemy debouch beyond the river, await him on chosen 
 grouml, there join battle, and profit by the conse- 
 quences of victory to cross the Adige in his wake.
 
 736 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Constrained to take the initiative, Scherer hesi- 
 tated upon the best phm to adopt, and finally decided 
 in favour of an attack on his left. The position of 
 Rivoli, in the inouTitains, at the entrance of the Ty- 
 rol and considerably above Verona, is doubtless well 
 remembered. The .\ustrians had intrenched all the 
 approaches to it, and formed a camp at Pastreiigo. 
 Scherer resolved to dislodf^a- them from this camp in 
 the first instance, and drive them in that direction 
 beyond the Adige. The three divisions of Serrurier, 
 Delmas, and Grenier, were selected for this service. 
 Moreau, become a simple general of division under 
 Scherer, was appointed, with the two divisions of 
 Hatry and Victor, to threaten Verona. General 
 Montrichard, with a division, was detached to make 
 a demonstration on Legnago. This distribution of 
 forces betokened the uncertainty and obscure percep- 
 tion of tlie general-in-chief. 
 
 The attack was made on the 6th Germinal (29th 
 March), the morrow of the battle of Stockach. The 
 three divisions, charged to assail on divers points the 
 camp of Pastrengo, stormed it with an intrepidity 
 worthy of the old army of Italy, and captured Rivoli. 
 They took 1.500 prisoners from the Austrians and 
 several pieces of ordnance. The latter repassed the 
 Adige in all haste over a bridge they had constructed 
 at Polo, and which they bad time to destroy. In 
 the centre, under the walls of Verona, a sanguinary 
 struggle occurred for the villages lying in front of 
 that city. Kaim displayed a fruitless pertinacity in 
 defending av.A retaking them. That of Massimo was 
 taken and retaken no less than seven times. ISIoreau, 
 not less determined than his adversary, allowed him 
 to gain no advantage, ar.d cooped him up in Verona. 
 Montrichard in making a useless demonstration on 
 Legnago incurred great danger. Kray, deceived by 
 false intelligence, had imagined that the French pro- 
 posed to direct their principal effort on the Lower- 
 Adige : he had therefore moved a great part of his 
 forces to that point, and by debouching from Legnago 
 placed Montrichard in imminent peril. Happily, the 
 latter was enabled to cover himself by the accidents 
 of the grouJid, and prudently recoiled on Moreau. 
 
 The events of the day had been bloodily contested, 
 but in the end terminated wholly to the advantage of 
 the French on the left and in the centre. The loss 
 of the French might be estimated, in killed, wound- 
 ed, and prisoners, at 4,000, and that of the Austaians 
 at 8,000 at least. Still, notv.ithstanding the advan- 
 tages the French had obtained, the results they en- 
 tailed were of inconsiderable value. At Verona they 
 h«d merely compelled the Austrians to confine them- 
 selves within the walls ; above Verona, it is true, 
 they had driven them over the Adige and gained the 
 means of passing it by restoring the bridge of Polo ; 
 but it was unfortunately of questionable utility to 
 pass the Adige at that point. We recollect the road 
 which skirts the fartlser bank of the river leads 
 through A'erona, and that there is no other outlet 
 into the plain. Hence to cross the Adige at Polo 
 was little better than fruitless, since Verona stood 
 directly in the way after it was passed, and must, 
 as in the position of Moreau in the centre, be first 
 carried. If, indeed, on the very day, the disorder 
 of the Austrians after losing the camp of Pastrengo 
 had been profited by and the bridge of Polo rapidly 
 re-established, perhaps the city might have been en- 
 tered at the heels of the fugitives, especially under 
 favour of the obstinate conflict maintained by Moreau, 
 on the other side of the Adige, against the Imperial 
 General Kaim. 
 
 Nothing of that kind however had been attempted. 
 The omission might have been repaired by operating 
 energetically on the following day and moving the 
 mass of the army before Verona and above, by the 
 bridge of Polo. But Scherer wavered for three 
 successive days touching the course he ought to 
 adopt. He sent in quest of a route beyond the Adige 
 
 permitting the evasion of Verona. The army was 
 indignant at this indecision, and loudly complained of 
 the successes obtained in the engagements of the 0th 
 (•26th) being turned to no account. At last, on the 
 9th Germinal (29th Miuch), a council of war was 
 held, and Scherer made up his mind to act. He 
 conceived the singular design of throwing Serrurier's 
 division over the Adige by the l)ri(lge of Polo, and 
 bearing the bulk of his army between Verona and 
 Legnago, there to attempt the passage of the river. 
 To effect this latter purpose, he draughted two di- 
 visions from his left to his right, ordering them round 
 behind the centre, and exposing them to needless 
 fatigues over broken roads utterly destroyed by the 
 rains. 
 
 On the 10th Germinal (30th March), this new 
 scheme was put in operation. Serrurier, with his 
 division six thousand strong, crossed the Adige at 
 Polo alone, whilst the bulk of the army diverged 
 lower down between Verona and Legnago. The fate 
 of Serrurier's division it was not difficult to foretell. 
 Fixed, after passing the Adige, on a route blocked 
 by Verona and forming thus a sort of cul-de-sac,* it 
 was exposed to great hazards. Kray, noting well its 
 situation, directed against it a body of troops triple 
 in number, and vigorously repulsed it to the bridge 
 of Polo. Confusion spread through its ranks, and 
 the other side of the river was regained only in dis- 
 order. Some detachments were obliged to cut their 
 way, and 1,500 remained prisoners. On being ap- 
 prized of this reverse, which was inevitable, Scherer 
 contented himself with rallying the discomfited divi- 
 sion and drawing it near the Lower- Adige, where he 
 had now concentrated the greatest part of his forces. 
 
 Several days again elapsed in mutual hesitation. 
 Eventually Kray formed a determination, and resolv- 
 ed, whilst Scherer was planting himself on the Lower- 
 Adige, to debouch in mass from Verona, bear dowTi 
 upon the flank of Scherer anc inclose him between 
 the Lower-Adige and the sea. The idea was good ; 
 but luckily an intercepted order disclosed to Aloreau 
 the plan of the Austrian general. He hastened to 
 warn his commander of the danger, and urged him to 
 wheel back his divisions and make front on the side 
 of Verona, whence the enemy proposed to debouch. 
 
 It was in executing this movement that the two 
 armies met on the 16th Germinal (5th April), in the 
 vicinity of Magnano. The divisions of Victor and 
 Grenier, forming the right towards the Adige, as- 
 cended the river by San-Giovanni and Tomba, with 
 the intention of advancing to Verona. They over- 
 threw Mercantin's division, which opposed their pro- 
 gre-«, atid entirely cut to pieces Wartensleben's regi- 
 ment. These two divisions accordingly arrived 
 almost abreast of Verona, and were in a capacity to 
 accomplish their object, which was to intercept from 
 the city the forces Kray had sent out. Delmas' 
 division, which was to act in the centre, towards 
 Butta-Preda and Magnano, was too backward, and 
 allowed the Austrian division under Kaim to advance 
 to Butta-Preda, and thus to form a salient point in 
 the middle of the French line. But Moreau, with 
 the divisions of Serrurier, Hatry, and Montrichard, 
 moved forward victoriously on the left. He ordered 
 Montrichard's division to change front, and face round 
 to Butta-Preda, the post at which the enemy had 
 made a point, and marched with his two other divi- 
 sions on Dazano. Delmas, having ultimately reached 
 Butta-Preda, assisted to cover the French line, and 
 at this moment victory seemed to declare for the 
 French, since their right, completely victorious on 
 the side of the Adige, threatened to cut off the re- 
 treat of the Austrians upon Verona. 
 
 Meanwhile Kray, judging that the essential point 
 was on the French right, and that the chance of suc- 
 cess oji the other points must be relinquished to make 
 
 • [Literally, a blind allcy.J
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 737 
 
 sure of it tluM-c, turned in that direction the great 
 bulk of his forces. He liad an advantage over 
 Soberer in the proximity of liis divisions, which al- 
 lowed him to displace them with facility. The 
 French divisions, on the contrary, were far distant 
 from each otlier, and engaged on a ground intersected 
 by numerous enclosures. Kray fell suddeidy with 
 his whole reserve on Grenier's division. \'ictor 
 would have flown to its succour, but he was himself 
 charged by the regiments of Nadasty and Reisky. 
 Kray was not satisfied with his great superiority. 
 He had caused Mercantin's division, beaten in the 
 morning, to be rallied in the rear ; he darted it afresh 
 on the two divisions of Grenier and Victor, and thus 
 decided their defeat. Despite a vigorous resistance 
 they were obliged to abandon the field of battle. 
 The right being routed, the French centre became 
 menaced. Kray failed not to move upon it ; but 
 Moreau was there for its protection, and prevented 
 him from pursuing his advantage. 
 
 The battle was evidently lost and a retreat neces- 
 sary. The loss had been considerable on both sides. 
 The Austrians had 3,000 killed or wounded, and 2.000 
 prisoners. The French had an equal number of killed 
 and wounded, but they had lost 4,000 prisoners. 
 General Pigeon, who during the tirst Italian cam- 
 paign had displayed in the vanguards so much talent 
 and intrepidity, was upon this occasion mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 Moreau proposed to sleep on the field of battle in 
 order to avoid the confusion of a nocturnal retreat, 
 but Scherer resolved to fall back the same evening. 
 On the morrow he retired behind the IMolinella, and 
 on the follomng day, the 18th Germinal (7th April), 
 on the Mincio. Resting on Peschiera on one side and 
 Mantua on the other, he might have oflfered a vigor- 
 ous resistance, recalled Macdonald from the Penin- 
 sula, and, by this concentration of forces, regained 
 the superiority forfeited on the field of Magiiano. 
 But the unfortunate Scherer had entirely lost his 
 head. His soldiers were worse disposed towards 
 him than ever. Masters for three years of Italy, they 
 were exasperated at beholding it wrested from their 
 possession, and they ascribed their reverses solely to 
 the incapacity of the general who commanded them. 
 It is certain that, on their part, they had fought as 
 well as in the brightest days of their glory. The re- 
 proaches of his army tended to disconcert Scherer as 
 much as his defeat. Despairing of maintaining him- 
 self on the Mincio, he retired upon the Oglio, and 
 thence upon the Adda, where he arrived on the 12th 
 April. It seemed uncertain where his retrograde 
 movement would stop. 
 
 Six weeks had scarcely elapsed since the campaign 
 was opened, and already the French were in retreat 
 on all points. Ernoulf, whom Jourdan had left in 
 command of the army of the Danube at the mouth 
 of the defiles of the Black Forest, had taken alarm 
 on hearing of some light troops hovering upon one of 
 his wings, and retired in disorder upon the Rhine. 
 Thus, in Germany as in Italy, the French armies, 
 though brave as ever, lost nevertheless all their ad- 
 vantages, and returned defeated to the frontiers. It 
 was only in Switzerlaiul they had [)reserved their 
 fame. There, Massena maintained himself with all 
 the pertinacity of his character, and, save the abor- 
 tive attempt on Feldkirch, had been invariably suc- 
 cessful. But, established on the salient angle formed 
 by Switzerland between Germany and Italy, lie was 
 placed between two victorious armies, a!id it became 
 incumbent on him to retire. He had, in fact, given 
 Lecourbe instruclions to that effect, and he fell back 
 into the interior of Switzerland, but with order, and 
 preserving an imposing attitude. 
 
 The French arms were humbled, iuid certain of 
 their ministers abroad were made the victims of a 
 most detestable and atrocious outrage. War being 
 declared against the Emperor, but not against the 
 
 German Empire, the Congress of Rastadt had con- 
 tinued its session. It was on the point of settling 
 the final subject in dispute, that concerning the 
 debts ; but two- thirds of the states had recalled their 
 deputies. • This was a consequence of the influence 
 of Austria, who was naturally averse to the conclu- 
 sion of peace. There remained at the Congress, 
 therefore, only a few deputies from Germany, and 
 the retreat of the army of the Danube having laid 
 open the country, the deliberations were carried on 
 amidst the Austrian troops. Hereupon the Austrian 
 cabinet formed a villanous project, which long re- 
 flected deep disgrace upon its policy. It had reason 
 to complain of the haughtiness and vigour displayed 
 by the French ministers at Rastadt. It also imputed 
 to them a revelation which had singularly compro- 
 mised it in the eyes of the Germanic confederation ; 
 to wit, that of the secret articles arranged wnth Bo- 
 naparte for the occupation of Mayence. Those secret 
 articles proved that, in order to gain Palma-Nuova 
 in Friuli, the Austrian cabinet had surrendered May- 
 ence, and betrayed, in a shameful maimer, the inter- 
 ests of the Empire. Hence, it became highly in- 
 censed, and vowed vengeance against the French 
 ministers. It had a further motive for seizing their 
 papers ; namely, to ascertain which of the German 
 princes were then treating individually with the 
 French republic. Thus it came to pass that it con- 
 ceived the design of causing the French ministers to 
 be arrested o« their return to France, plundered, 
 maltreated, and perhaps even assassinated. It has 
 never been known, indeed, whether orders to assas- 
 sinate them were positively given. 
 
 The French ministers already entertained some 
 distrust, and, without apprehending an attempt 
 against their persons, they were in dread concerning 
 their correspondence. In fact, it was interrupted 
 on the 30th Germinal (19th April), by the removal 
 of the ferrymen who served to convey it. The 
 French ministers reclaimed against this violence ; the 
 deputation of the Empire protested likewise, and in- 
 quired whether the Congress might deem itself in 
 security. The Austrian oifiirer to whom application 
 was made returned an unsatisfactory answer. There- 
 upon the French ministers declared they would de- 
 part within three days, namely, on the 9th Floreal 
 (28th April), for Strasburg ; and added, they would 
 remain in that city ready to renew the negotiations 
 whenever the desire was testified. On the 7th 
 Floreal a courier of the legation was stopped. Fresh 
 reclamations were urged by the whole Co?igress, and 
 it was expressly demanded whether the safety of the 
 French ministers was considered inviolate. The 
 Austrian colonel wlu) commanded the Pandour hus- 
 sars cantoned near Rastadt, replied by an order for 
 the French ministers to depart within twenty-four 
 lioius. He was asked for an escort to accompany 
 them, but he refused it, giving assurance that their 
 persons would be respected. The three ministers, 
 Jean Debry, Bonnier, and Koberjot, set out on the 
 9th Floreai (28th April), at nine o'clock in the even- 
 ing. Tiiey occutiied three carriages with tlieir fam- 
 ilies. After them followed the Ligurian embassy, 
 and the secretaries of legation. At first, dilViculties 
 were opposed to their leaving Rastadt, but eventu- 
 ally all obstacles were removed and they started. 
 Tiie night was darK and dismal. They ha<l scarcely 
 proceeded fifty paces front Rastadt ere a troop of 
 Pandour hussars charged on them sword in hand, 
 aiul arrested the carriages. That containing Jean 
 Debry led the way. The hussars violently tore 
 open the door, and incjuired in a semi-barbarous jar- 
 gon if he were Jean Debry. Upon his answering 
 iu the albrmative, they seized him by the throat, 
 dragged him from the carriage, and, befi)re the eyes 
 of his wife an<l children, run him through with 
 swords. Believing him dead, they passed to the 
 other carriages, and slaughtered IJonnier and Rober-
 
 73.S 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 jot in tlie arms of their families. The members of 
 the Ligurian embassy and the secretaries of legation 
 had time to save themselves. The brigands com- 
 missioned to perpetrate this outrage afterwards rifled 
 the carriages, and carried off all the papers they con- 
 tained. 
 
 Jean Debryhad not been mortally wounded. The 
 freshness of the night restored him to the use of his 
 senses, and he trailed himself all bleeding to Rastadt. 
 When this occurrence was known, it aroused the in- 
 dignation of the inhabitants and the members of the 
 Congress. German fidelity was horritied by a viola- 
 tion of the rights of nations unheard of amongst 
 civilized communities, and which was conceivable 
 only of a semi-barbarous court. The members of 
 the'deputation who remained at the Congress lavished 
 on Jean Debry, and the families of the assassinated 
 ministers, the most assiduous attentions. They sub- 
 sequently assembled and drew up a declaration, in 
 which they denounced the atrocity that had been 
 committed, and repelled all suspicion of complicity 
 with Austria. Intelligence of the crime being quickly 
 circulated through I'Airope, it excited universal ab- 
 horrence. The Archduke Charles wrote a letter to 
 Massena, announcing that he would cause the colonel 
 of the hussars to be prosecuted ; but this cold and 
 formal epistle, which proved the embarrassment of 
 the prince, was wholly unworthy of him and his 
 character. Austria neither could nor attempted to 
 answer the accusations directed against her. 
 
 Thus implacable was the war between the two 
 systems which divided the world. The republican 
 ministers, first unfavourably received, next insulted 
 during a whole year of peace, came at last to be in- 
 famously assassinated, and with the ferocity hitherto 
 esteemed characteristic only of barbarous tribes. 
 The rights of nations, observed amongst the most 
 bitter foes, were violated only with regard to them. 
 
 The unexpected reverses which marked the open- 
 ing of the campaign, combined with the outrage at 
 Rastadt, produced an impression extremely detri- 
 mental to the Directory. From the first moment of 
 the declaration of war„the oppositions began to lose 
 moderation ; but they wholly discarded it when they 
 beheld their armies defeated and their ministers 
 murdered. The patriots, incensed by the system of 
 secessions, the military dissatisfied at the curb placed 
 upon their licentiousness, the royalists, concealing 
 themselves behind malcontents of every quality, — 
 all discontented partisans seized, by one consent, 
 upon the late events to denounce the Directory. 
 The armies, they said, had been entirely abandoned. 
 The Directory had allowed their ranks to be thinned 
 by desertion, and had used no activity to replenish 
 them by means of the new conscription. It had re- 
 tained in the interior a great number of veteran bat- 
 talions, which, instead of being sent upon the frontier, 
 were employed to control the freedom of elections; 
 and to those armies, thus reduced to so dispropor- 
 tionate a strength compared with that of the enemy's, 
 the Directory had furnished neither magazines nor 
 provisions, nor accoutrements, nor means of transport, 
 ror surplus horses. It had wickedly surrendered 
 them to the rapacity of the administrations, who had 
 fruitlessly consumed a revenue of six hundred mil- 
 lions, ^loreover, it had made tie worst selections 
 of generals to command them. Championnet, the 
 conqueror of Naples, was in duress for attempting 
 to check the cupidity of the agents of the govern- 
 ment. Moreau was degraded to the post of a mere 
 general of division. Joul)crt, the \ictor of the Ty- 
 rol, and Augercau, one of the heroes of Italy, were 
 without employment. Scherer, on the contrary, 
 who had prepared the way for all these defeats by 
 his administration, had the command of the army of 
 Italy because he was the countryman and friend of 
 Rewbell. Nor did they confine themselves within 
 these bounds. Other names, too, were recalled with 
 
 bitterness to the prejudice of the Directory. Tiie 
 illustrious Bonaparte, the brilliant Kleber and De- 
 saix, his lieutenants, ■)vith their forty thousand com- 
 panions in arms, the vanquishers of Austria, where 
 were they ? In Egypt, in a distant land, whither 
 they had been sent to perish through the imprudence 
 of the government, if not through its villany. For 
 of this enterprise originally so extolled, it now began 
 to be bruited that it was an evil device of the Direc- 
 tory to get rid of a celebrated warrior who caused it 
 umbrage. 
 
 Tiie arraigners of the government ascended yet 
 higher; they upbraided it with the war itself ; they 
 accused it of having provoked hostilities by indiscre- 
 tions towards the European powers. It had invaded 
 Switzerland and overthrown the Pope and the court 
 of Naples, thus rousing Austria to vindication, and 
 fill without being prejiared to enter upon a struggle. 
 By invading Egypt, it had driven the Porte to a 
 rupture. By quarrelling with the Porte, it had de- 
 livered Russia from all fear of a diversion, and per. 
 mitted her to send sixty thousand men into Germany. 
 In short, fury reached such a pitch that the Directory 
 was even charged with being the secret author of 
 the assassination of Rastadt. It was a scheme plan- 
 ned, its accusers alleged, to stimulate opinion against 
 tlie enemies of the country, and to obtain fresh 
 grants from the legislative body. 
 
 These reproaches were repeated everywhere, from 
 the tribune, in the journals, and in places of public 
 resort. Jourdan had repaired in person to Paris to 
 complain of the government and throw upon it the 
 blame of all his disasters. Others of the generals 
 who remained with their armies, had written to 
 expose their grievances. There was an universal 
 clamour and virulence, which might seem incompre- 
 hensible if the fury, and, above all, the inconsistency 
 of parties were not well accredited. 
 
 I3y a very slight reference to facts, these accusa- 
 tions might be shown to be groundless. The Di- 
 rectory had not wilfully permitted the ranks of the 
 armies to be thiimed, for it had granted only twelve 
 thousand furloughs: but it had been unable to pre- 
 vent desertions in time of peace. No government 
 in the world had yet succeeded in wholly preventing 
 them. The Directory had even been accused of 
 tyranny in attempting to oblige soldiers to rejoin their 
 colours. It appeared harsh, in fact, to drag again 
 from their homes men who had performed an arduous 
 service of six years for the benefit of their country. 
 The conscription had only been in existence five 
 months, and there had been no opportunity, in so 
 brief a period, of organizing that system of recruit- 
 ing, and particularly no means of equi|)ping and 
 training the- conscripts, of forming them into field- 
 battalions, and of moving them in time into Holland, 
 Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. A few veteran 
 battalions had been retained in the country because 
 they were indispensable to maintain tranquillity 
 during the elections, and because that task could 
 not be confided to young soldiers, whose spirit was 
 not formed, nor their attachment to the republic 
 sulficiently tested. A yet more important reason 
 justified this precaution; namely, the state of La 
 Vende'e, still agitated bv foreign emissaries, and the 
 danger of Holland, menaced by an Anglo-Russian 
 fleet. 
 
 Touching abuses in the administration, the offences 
 of the Directory were not more real. There had 
 been malversations, doubtless, but almost all to the 
 advantage of those who now complained of them, 
 and despite the strenuous exertions of the Directory. 
 Malversation had prevailed in three forms: pillaging 
 conquered countries, charging the state with the pjiy 
 of soldiers who had deserted, and making disadvan- 
 tageous contracts with the companies. Now all 
 these were acts of peculation which the generals and 
 staffs had committed, and by which they principally
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 739 
 
 had profited. They had plundered conquered coun- 
 tries, appropriated a dishonest surplus upon the pay, 
 and partaken the profits of the companies. We have 
 seen that these latter sometimes allowed even forty 
 per cent, upon their gains to obtain the protection of 
 the staffs. Scherer, towards the close of his minis- 
 try, had quarrelled with his old comrades from the 
 mere attempt to repress these spoliations. The 
 Directory had been compelled, in the hope of putting 
 an end to them, to appoint commissions independent 
 of the stafl!s, and we have witnessed the reception 
 given them by Champioimet at Naples. Another 
 cause existed for the onerous contracts made with 
 the companies, arising from the situation of the 
 finances. Promises only were given to the con- 
 tractors, and they sought to indemnify themselves, 
 through the price, for the uncertainty of the pay- 
 ment. The credits opened this year amounted to 
 600 millions of ordinary and 125 millions of extra- 
 ordinary expenditure. Out of tiiese sums the minis- 
 ter had already disbursed 400 millions for expenses 
 incurred. Only 210 millions of these had as yet 
 been received, so 190 had been provided by antici- 
 pations. 
 
 Hence there was no blame imputable to the Di- 
 rectory on account of the malversations. The selec- 
 tion of generals, excepting of one only, could not be 
 made a legitimate ground of censure. After his 
 conduct towards the commissioners sent to Naples, 
 it was impossible to retain Championnet in his com- 
 mand. Besides Macdonald was quite equal to him 
 as a general, and enjoyed a reputation for severe 
 probity. Joubert and Bernadotte had both declined 
 the command of the army of Italy, and bad both 
 joined in recommending Scherer. It was Barras who 
 had repudiated Moreau, and it was he also who had 
 alone urged the nomination of Scherer. With re- 
 gard to Augereau, his demagogical turbulence was 
 an adequate reason for refusing him a command, and, 
 moreover, notwithstanding his incontestaljle quali- 
 ties, he was not competent for a command-in-chief. 
 Upon the charge respecting the expedition to Egypt 
 we have seen how far the Directory was really guilty 
 of it, and whether it had formed any design of exiling 
 Bonaparte, Kleber, Desaix, and their forty thousand 
 companions in arms. Lare'velliere-Le'peaux, we re- 
 member, had almost come to an open rupture with 
 Bonaparte through his firmness in opposing the ex- 
 pedition. 
 
 The provocation to war was no more the act of the 
 Directory than any other of the misfortunes. It has 
 appeared sufficiently manifest that the war was solely 
 owing to the incompatibility of the political passions 
 which convulsed Europe. No person could be par- 
 ticularly charged with evoking it; but, at all events, 
 the patriots and the military were the last parties to 
 impeach the conduct of the Directory on the subject. 
 What would the patriots have said if the Vaudois 
 had not been su[)ported, the Papal government chas- 
 tised, the king of Naples overthrown, the king of 
 Piedmont forced to abdicate? And had not the 
 military in the army of Italy been continually urgent 
 with the government for the occupation of additional 
 countries? Had not tidings of the declaiatioii of 
 war filled them all witli gladness? Moreover, were 
 not Bernadotte at Vieinia, and a brother of Bona- 
 parte iit Rome, the parties who had been guilty of 
 indiscretions, if any sucli had been committed ? 'i'he 
 hostile determination of the Ottoman Porte had not 
 influenced the conduct of Russia; but eveti if it had, 
 the author of the Egyptian expedition alone deserved 
 to be upbraided therewith. 
 
 The bulk of tlie accusations accumulated against 
 the Directory was therefore altogether unjust and 
 absurd. One reproach it undoubtedly merited, and 
 that was the excessive confidence it reposed, in com- 
 mon with the patriots and military, in the power of 
 the republic. Fired with revolutionary passions it 
 
 had blindly yielded to their impulse. To commence 
 the war it conceived 170,000 men would suffice, and 
 relied implicitly on the decisive effect of the aggres- 
 ^ive. Its plans were certainly bad, but not worse 
 than those of Carnot in 1796, not worse than those 
 of the Aulic Council, and were moreover partly 
 based on a project of General Jourdan. One man 
 only could have formed better, as we have already 
 said, and it was not the fault of the Directory that 
 that man had departed from Eiiroj e. 
 
 Still, although the spirit of equity enjoins the 
 historian to expose the injustice of these reproaches, 
 it is an evil day for a government when everything 
 is imputed to it as a crime. One of the essential 
 properties of a government is to possess a character 
 sufficient to repel injustice. When it loses this, and 
 the wrongs of others, and those even of fortune, are 
 ascribed to it, it no longer enjoys the faculty of 
 governing, and this impotency forebodes its di solu- 
 tion. How many governments had been paralyzed 
 since the commencement of the revolution ! The 
 action of France against Europe was so violent that 
 the springs of government became necessarily weak- 
 ened and successively broken. The Directory was 
 effete, as had been the committee of public welfare, 
 as was Napoleon himself at a later date. The accu- 
 sations levelled against the Directory betokened, 
 not its errors, but its decay. 
 
 At the same time, it is not surprising that five 
 civil magistrates, raised to power, not on account of 
 their hereditary rank or their personal greatness, but 
 from a slight superiority of estimation over their 
 fellow-citizens, magistrates armed oidy with the au- 
 thority of the laws to contend against infuriated fac- 
 tions, to retain in subjection numerous armies and 
 generals covered with glory and full of pretensions, 
 to administer, in fine, the government of one-half of 
 Europe, should appearinadequate to the crisis, amidst 
 the terrible struggle now again to be sustained. The 
 occurrence of a disaster only was needed to bring 
 out this prostration in more full relief. The factions 
 alternately defeated, and the military curbed in their 
 licentiousness, called them contemptuously the latv- 
 l/ers, and asserted with one accord that France could 
 not be governed by them. 
 
 By a singular obliquity, A\atnessed nevertheless 
 occasionally in the conflict of revolutions, opinion 
 was indulgent only towards one of the directors 
 who had least deserved it. Barras, without ques- 
 tion, solely merited the imputations against the Di- 
 rectory. In the first place he had taken no part in 
 business, but had left the whole burden of affairs to 
 his collragues. Except in decisive moments, when 
 he raised his voice, more vigorous than his courage, 
 he absolutely did nothing. At all events he inter- 
 fered merely in appointments, which best suited his 
 intrigiling disposition. He had participated in all 
 the profits of the companies, and alone justified the 
 reproach of malversation. He had always been the 
 defender of the turbulent and of knaves; it was hfc 
 who had supported Brune and commissio)ied Fouchd 
 in Italy. He was tlie cause of tlie unfortunate se- 
 lection of generals, for he had o[)posed tlie nomina- 
 tion of Moreau, and strongly urged that of Scherer. 
 Yet, notwithstanding all his grievous delinquencies, 
 he alFected to hold ^mself apart. He did not, like 
 his four colleagues, come under the category of a 
 lawi/cr ; for his indolence, his dissolute habits, his 
 military propensities, his relations with the .lacobins, 
 the recollection of the 18th Fructidor, which was 
 exclusively attributed to him, constituted him in 
 appearance a man of execution, more capable of 
 governing than his colleagues. The patriots found 
 in him many points of resemblance with themselves, 
 and believed he was in heart devoted to them. The 
 royalists were cajoled by liis secret promises. The 
 staffs, whom he flattered and protected against the 
 just severity of his colleagues, held him in ccnsider-
 
 740 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 able favour. Tlie contractors applauded him too, 
 and in this manner he contrived to escape the fjeneral 
 odium. He even acted perfidiously towards his col- 
 leagues, for all the opprobrium he himself merited, 
 he had the address to lix upon them alone. Such a 
 part cannot be loDg successful, but it may for a time: 
 it succeeded on this occiision. 
 
 The animosity of Barras against Rewbell has been 
 mentioned. Tlie latter, a truly able aduiinistrator, 
 had offended, by his surline:-s and pride, all who 
 came in contact with him. He had evinced a repul- 
 sive sternness towards men of business, towards all 
 the creatures of Barras, and particularly towards the 
 military, and had thus earned very general detesta- 
 tion. He was upright, albeit somewhat penurious. 
 Barras had the cuiming, in his own society, which 
 was very numerou-;, to direct hateful suspicions 
 against him. An unfortunate accident contributed 
 to accredit them. The agent of the Directory in 
 Switzerland, Rapinat, chanced to be the brother-in- 
 law of Rewbell. In Switzerland exactions had been 
 practised as in all the other conquered countries, 
 but to a far kss extent than elsewhere. Yet the 
 vociferous complaints of its parsimoi'ious population 
 had occasioned much scandal. Rapinat had executed 
 the invidious commission of placing seals upon the 
 coffers and exchequer of Berne ; he had likewise 
 treated with superciliousness the Helvetian govern- 
 ment. These circumstances, and his peculiar name, 
 which was unhappy, conduced to brand him as the 
 Verres of Switzerland, and as the author of pecula- 
 tions in which he had no concern ; for he had in fact 
 quitted Switzerland before the work of spoliation 
 had grown to a height. But in the society of Barras 
 poor and malicious puns were fabricated on his name, 
 all which passed current, and recoiled on Rewbell, 
 whose brother-in-law he was. Thus the probity of 
 Rewbell himself became obnoxious to calumny. 
 
 Larevelliere, from his inflexil)le severity, and the 
 influence he had exercised over the affairs of Italy, 
 had rendered himself equally distasteful with Rew- 
 bell. His mode of life, however, was so simple and 
 modest that it was impossible to cast suspicion upon 
 his honesty. The society of Barras, therefore, as- 
 sailed him with ridicule. His personal peculiarities 
 were mocked, and his pretensions to a new papacy 
 jeered. He was taunted with a scheme to found the 
 rebgion of Theophilanthropy, of which he was in 
 truth not the author. Merlin and Treilhard, though 
 less old in the possession of power, and less in view 
 than Rewbell and Larevelliere, were, nevertheless, 
 involved in the same unpopularity. 
 
 Such was the inclination of public feeling when the 
 elections of the year VII. occurred, which proved to be 
 the last. The patriots, fermenting with wrath, were 
 determined not to be excluded from the legislative 
 body this year as in the preceding. They vehemently 
 protested against the system of secessions, and strove 
 to anathematize it in advance. They were so far 
 successful that it was not again attempted to be put 
 in practice. In that state of excitement when ad- 
 versaries are suspected of entertaining every design 
 that is dreaded, they asserted that the Directory, 
 using as on the 18th Fructidor extraordinary means, 
 intended to prolong for five years the powers of the 
 actual deputies, and to susptnd, during the whole of 
 that interval, the exercise of electoral rights. They 
 alleged, moreover, that Swiss were to be brought 
 into Paris, the ground of the accusation being that 
 the organization of the Helvetian contingent was 
 commenced. They raised also a loud clamour touch- 
 ing a circular to the electors issued by the commis- 
 sary of the government (the prefect) in the depart- 
 ment of the Sarthe. This was not such a circular 
 as we have witnessed since, but simply an exhorta- 
 tion. The Directory was constrained to disavow it 
 by a message. The elections, made in these disposi- 
 tions, elevated to the legislative body a considerable 
 
 luunber of patriots. No endeavour was hazarded 
 this year to exclude them, and their return was con- 
 firmed. General Jourdan, who had good reason to 
 asCTibe his reverses to the numerical inferiority of 
 his army, but none to charge the government, as he 
 was weak enough to do, with a desire to ruin him, 
 was again chosen to the legislative body, and took 
 his seat animated with the bitterest resentment 
 against the Directory. Augereau was likewise re- 
 turned, with an increased growth of bile and trucu- 
 lence. 
 
 According to the constitution a new director also 
 was to be chosen. On this occasion fortune de- 
 clared against the republic, for, instead of Barras, 
 Rewbell, the most efficient of the five directors, 
 drew the lot to retire. His mischance afforded, 
 however, the utmost satisfaction to all his enemies, 
 and supplied a fresh opportunity of reviling him with 
 greater impunity. But, as he had been elected to 
 the Council of Ancients, he seized an occasion of 
 replying to his detractors, and did so in the most 
 triumphant manner. 
 
 The retreat of Rewbell was signalized by the only 
 breach of the rigorous laws of probity with which 
 the Directory could be rejToached. The fir.-t five 
 directors, nominated at the institution of the Direc- 
 tory, had made an agreement amongst themselves to 
 deduct from their salaries each 10,000 francs as a 
 contribution for the benefit of the retiring member. 
 The object of that noble sacrifice was to soothe the 
 transition from supreme power to private life, espe- 
 cially to such of the Directory as were destitute of 
 fortune. There was also a motive of dignity if n.ot of 
 policy in thus acling, for it was apt to endanger the 
 consideration of government the spectacle of a man 
 reduced to indigence who a day or two ago had 
 wielded the supreme executive. This very reason 
 now induced the directors to provide in a yet more 
 substantial manner for their seceding colleagues. 
 Their salaries were so moderate that a deduction of 
 10,000 francs appeared excessive. They resolved 
 therefore to alloc-ate a sum of 100,000 francs to each 
 retiring director. This involved an extra charge 
 upon the state of one hundred thousand francs per 
 ammm. This sum was to be drawn from the minis- 
 ter of finance, who might provide it from one of the 
 numberless surplusses so easily eked out in budgets 
 of six or eight hundred millions. It was decided, 
 moreover, that each director should take with him 
 his carriage and horses. As the legislative body 
 allowed every year a sum for travelling expenses, 
 this was a charge to be avowed <and so rendered legi- 
 timate. The directors also resolved that what was 
 saved out of the allowance for travelling expenses 
 should be divided amongst them. This assuredly 
 was but a small inroad upon the public fortune, if it 
 were one at all ; and v.'liilst generals and companies 
 made such enormous profits, 1(XJ,(X)0 francs per an- 
 mnn, devoted to the sustenance of men so recently 
 clothed with the high functions of government, were 
 far from constituting a serious robbery. The mo- 
 tives and the form of the measure, it nmst be allowed, 
 excused it in some sort. Larevelliere, when it was 
 communicated to him, refused to consent to it. Ib^ 
 declared to his colleagues he would never accept his 
 portion. Rewbell received hishowever. The 100,000 
 francs that were |)aid him were taken from the two 
 millions of secret service-money, of the appropriation 
 whereof the Directory was not bound to give any 
 account. Such is the solitary offence with which 
 the Directory can be upbraided collectively. One of 
 its meud)ers, out of the twelve who su(!ceeded each 
 other, was accused of engrossing illegitimate profitrs. 
 ^\"here is the goveriunent in the wide world of which 
 tlie same thing may not be predicated ? 
 
 A successor was to be found in place of Rewbell. 
 It was desirable to select a person of high reputation 
 to give some consideration to the Directory, and at-
 
 r- 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRRNCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 741 
 
 tentioii was turned to Sieves, wboseiiame. after that 
 of Bonaparte, was the most important of the epoch. 
 His embassy to Prussia liad added to his renown. 
 He had already been considered, and very justly, as 
 a man of profound understanding ; but since his mis- 
 sion to Berlin, he was esteemed the preserver of the 
 Prussian 7ieutrality, which, sooth to say, was less 
 due to his intervention than to the situation of that 
 power. Thus he had come to be rej::arded as a man 
 equally capable of directing a goverimient as of de- 
 vising a constitution. He was accordingly elected 
 to the vacant directorship. Many individuals viewed 
 this choice as a confirmation of the rumour generally 
 circulated of intended modifications in the constitu- 
 tion. These conteiided that Sieyes was called to 
 the Directory merely for the purpose of aiding in the 
 concoction of these modifications. So little trust 
 was placed in the stability of the existing state of 
 things that certain indications of change were de- 
 tected in every occurrence. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1799; MAS- 
 SENA COMBINES THE COMMAND OF THE ARMIES 
 OF HELVETIA AND THE DANUBE, AND OCCUPIES 
 
 THE 1.IXE OF THE LIMMAT ARRIVAL OF SUWAR- 
 
 ROV IN ITALY. SCHERER TRANSFERS THE COM- 
 MAND TO MOREAU BATTLE OF CASSANO. RE- 
 TREAT OF MOREAU. ATTEMPT TO JOIN THE 
 
 ARMY OF NAPLES; BATTLE OF THE TREBBIA 
 
 COALITION OF ALL PARTIES AGAINST THE DIREC- 
 TORY. — REVOLUTION OF THE 3(JtH PRAIRIAL. 
 
 Amid the turmoil of the domestic events last nar- 
 rated, the Directory had not intermitted its eiforts 
 to retrieve the disasters which had darkened the 
 openii'.g of the campaign. Jourdan had forfeited the 
 command of the army of the Danube, and Massena 
 had received the command-in-chief of all the troops 
 stationed from Diisseldorf to Mount Saint-Gothard. 
 This fortunate appointment was destined to save 
 France. Scherer, anxiou-; to quit an army whose 
 confidence he had lost, had obtained permission to 
 transfer the command to Moreau. To Macdonald 
 pressiiig orders had been sent to evacuate the king- 
 dom of Naples and the Roman States, and to effect a 
 junction with the army of Upper-Italy. All the 
 veteran battalions hitherto retained in the interior 
 were marched to the frontiers ; the equipment and 
 organization of the conscripts were accelerated, and 
 reinforcements forwarded to all points. 
 
 The moment Massena was nominated commander- 
 in-chief of the armies of the Rhine and Switzerland, 
 he took steps to dispose advantageously the troops 
 confided to him. He could not have assumed the 
 command at a more critical conjuncture. He had at 
 the utmost 80,0()0 men, scattered over Switzerland 
 from the valley of the Inn to Basle ; opjiosed to him 
 were 30,000 men under Bellegarde in the Tyrol, 
 28,000 under Ilotze in the Voralberg, and 4(),00() 
 under the Archduke between Lfike Constance and 
 the Danube. This mass of nearly one huiulred 
 thousand men might, it seemed, at any time, en- 
 velope and annihilate him. If the Archduke had not 
 been thwarted by the Aulic Council or retained by 
 illness, and had crossed the Rhine between Lake 
 Constance and the Aar, he might have intercepted 
 Massena from France, surrounded and destroyed him. 
 Fortunately he was not unshackled in his movements; 
 fortunately also Bellegarde and Hotze had not l)een 
 placed immediately under his orders. A continual 
 estrangement prevailed amongst tiie three generals, 
 which prevented them acting in concert for a deci- 
 sive operation. 
 
 These circimistances favoured Massena, and per- 
 
 mitted him to take up a solid position and to distri- 
 bute appropriately the forces placed at his disposal. 
 All indications tended to prove that the Archduke 
 proposed merely to observe the line of the Rhine on 
 the side of Alsace, and to operate in Switzerland be- 
 tween SchafThausen and the Aar. In consequence, 
 jNIassena moved the greatest part of the army of the 
 Danube into Switzerland, and assigned to it positions 
 it ought to have taken at first, that is to say, imme- 
 diately after the battle of Stockach. He had com- 
 mitted the error of leaving Lecourbe too long en- 
 gaged in the Engadine. That general had been 
 obliged to retreat, after sustaining sundry brilliant 
 encounters, in which he manifested an admirable in- 
 trepidity and presence of mind. The Grisons were 
 evacuated. Thereupon Massena disposed his army 
 between the great chain of the Alps and the conflu- 
 ence of the Aar with the Rhine, choosing the line 
 which seemed to him the best. 
 
 Switzerland presents several lines of water, which, 
 starling from the Great Alps, traverse it throughout 
 and end eventually on the Rhine. The largest and 
 most distended is that of the Rhhie itself, which, 
 taking its source not far from Saint-Gothard, flows 
 at first to the north, then expands into a vast lake,* 
 from which it issues near to Stein, and turns west to 
 Basle, where it recommences to run north, forming 
 the frontier of Alsace. This line is the most exten- 
 sive and embraces all Switzerland. There is a second, 
 that of Zurich, included within the first ; it is formed 
 by the Lint, which, taking its rise in the small can- 
 tons, stops to form the lake of Zurich, leaves it under 
 the name of the Limmat, and finishes its course in 
 the Aar, not far from the embouchure of this latter 
 river in the Rhine. This line, which embraces only 
 a portion of Switzerland, is much more contracted 
 than that of the Rhine. There is yet a third, that 
 of the Reuss, contained still within the second, 
 which, from the bed of the Reuss, passes into Lake 
 Lucerne, whence it proceeds into the Aar, in close 
 proximity to the point where the Limmat joins that 
 river. These lines, commencing on the right at the 
 base of enormous mountains, and terminating on the 
 left in large rivers, consisting now in streams, now 
 in lakes, otfer numerous advantages for acting on the 
 defensive. Massena could not hope to defend the 
 most extensive, that of the Rhine, and stretch from 
 Saint-Gothard to the mouth of the Aar. He was 
 obliged to recoil on that of the Linnnat. where he 
 consolidated himself in massive form. He planted 
 his right wing, composed of the three divisions of 
 Lecourbe, Menard, and Lorge, between the Alps and 
 the lake of Zurich, under the orders of Ferino. He 
 fixed his centre on the Limmat, and constituted it 
 with the four divisions of Oudinot, Vandamme, 
 Thureau, and Soult. His left guarded the Rhine, 
 towards Basle and Strasburg. 
 
 Before intrenching himself in this position, Mas- 
 sena attempted by a battle to prevent the junction 
 of the Archduke with Hotze. Those two generals, 
 both stationed on the Rhine, the one above the 
 entrance of the ri\er into Lake Constance, the other 
 below its issue therefrom, were separated by the 
 whole extent of the lake. In leaving this line to 
 establish themselves before that of Zurich aiul the 
 Limmat, where Massena was phiccd, they must start 
 from the two extremities of the lake to'circct their 
 junction beyond it. Massena might seize the moment 
 wlien Hotze had not yet advanced to fall u ()n the 
 Archduke, drive him over tlie Rhine, afterwards 
 wheel l)ack on Hotze and repulse him in iiis turn. 
 It is calculated he would have had time to exe- 
 cute this double movement, and to defeat separately 
 the two Austrian eonnnanders. lJidui|)i)ilv, he did 
 not think of attacking them until they were almost 
 in a po.-ition to support each other. He engaged 
 
 • The lake of Constance. 
 3B
 
 742 
 
 HISTORY Oy THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 them on several points on tlu- 5tli Prairial (•24th 
 May), at Aldenfing^en and at Frauenfeld, and althou^'h 
 he had everywhere the advantage, from the vigour 
 he always displayed in ai'tion, he could not prevent 
 the junction, ami he was constrained to fall back on 
 the line of the Limmat and Zurich, where he pre- 
 pared to give the Archduke a spirited reception, in 
 case that prince decided to attack hiin. 
 
 Events wore a far more sinister complexion in 
 Italy. There disaster took no pause. • 
 
 Suwarrov had joined the .Austrian army with a 
 corps of twenty-eight or thirty thousand Russians. 
 Melas had assumed the command of the Austrian 
 army. Suwarrov commanded in chief the two armies j 
 amounting at least to 00,000 men. He was desig- 
 nated the Invincible. lie was renowned for his cam- 
 paigns against the Turks, and his cruelties in Poland. 
 He possessed a remarkable strength of character, 
 and an affected eccentricity pushed to the verge of 
 insanity, but no capacity for combination. He was 
 a true barbarian, luckily incompetent to discern the 
 proper employment of his forces, for otherwise the 
 republic might perhaps have fallen. His army was 
 the counterpart of himself. Singularly brave, tinged 
 with fanaticism, but devoid of instruction. Artil- 
 lery, cavalry, engineers, were reduced to an absolute 
 nullity. The bayonet alone was used by it, used as 
 the French had employed it during the revolution. 
 Suwarrov was overbearing towards his allies, and 
 gave the Austrians Russian officers to teach them to 
 handle the bayonet. He held very insulting lan- 
 guage respecting them, saying that women, fvpft, and 
 idlers might quit the army, that tattlers, presuming 
 to criticise the sovereign service should be deemed 
 egotists and lose their grades, and that everybody 
 must be prepared to sacrifice himself to rid Italy of 
 the French and the atheists. Such was the style of 
 his discourses. Fortunately, after inflicting upon the 
 French infinite mischief, this brutal energy was 
 doomed to encounter an artistic and considerate 
 energy, and to be crushed before it. 
 
 Scherer, having entirely lost the use of his faculties, 
 had retired precipitately upon tlie Adda amidst the 
 indignant exclamations of his soldiers. Of his army of 
 46,000 men, he had lost 10,000 in killed and prison- 
 ers. He was obliged to leave 8,000 more at Pes- 
 chiera and Mantua, and thus only 28,000 finally 
 remained with him. Still, even with this handful of 
 men, if he had known how to mannuvre skilfully, he 
 might have gained time for jMacdonald to join him 
 and obviated many calamities. But he planted him- 
 self on the Adda in the most unfavourable manner. 
 He divided his army into three divisions. The 
 division of Serrurier was at Lecco, at the issue of 
 the Adda from the Lake of Lecco. Grenier's divi- 
 sion was at Cassano, Vi(!tor*s at Lodi. Montrichard 
 was stationed with some light corps towards the 
 Modenese and the mountains of Genoa, to maintain 
 the communications with Tuscany, by which JMac- 
 donald was to arrive. His 28,000 men, thus dis- 
 persed over a line twenty-four leagues in extent, 
 could offer no substaTitial resistance on any point and 
 must be routed wherever the enemy should attack 
 in force. 
 
 On the evening of the 8th Floreal (27th April), at 
 the very moment the line of the Adda was forced, 
 Scherer resigned to Moreau the command of the 
 army. That excellent general had good reason to 
 refuse it. He had been degraded to the rank of a 
 simple divisionary, and now that the campaign was 
 lost, that there was nothing but disasters to sustain, 
 the cominand-in-chief was given to him. However, 
 with a patriotic devotedness which history cannot 
 too highly extol, he accepted discomfiture by accept- 
 ing the command on the very evening the Adda was 
 forced. Here commences the least eulogized but 
 direst portion of his life. 
 
 Suwarrov had approached the Adda upon several 
 
 points. When the first Russian regiment appeared 
 in sight of the bridge of Lecco, the carabineers of 
 the brave 18th light infantry sallied from the in- 
 trenchments, and intrepidly confronted the soldiers 
 who were described as such awful and invincible 
 giants. They charged upon them with fixed bay- 
 onets and executed a prodigious slaughter. The 
 Russians were repulsed. This success fired the 
 French troops with exalted courage ; they vowed 
 to make the insolent barbarians, who had come 
 so far to interfere in a quarrel wholly foreign 
 to them, bitterly repent their journey. The no- 
 m nation of Moreau also tended to exhilarate all 
 hearts and inspire the army with confidence. Un- 
 fortunately, the position was no longer tenable. 
 Suwarrov, repulsed at Lecco, succeeded in passing 
 the Adda upon two points, at Brivio and Trezzo, 
 above and below Serrurier's division, which formed 
 the left. That division was thus cut off from the 
 rest of the army. Moreau, with Grenier's division, 
 commenced a furious combat at Trezzo, to repel the 
 enemy beyond the Adda, and recover his communi- 
 cation with Serrurier. He engaged with eight or 
 nine thousand men al)ody of more then twenty thou- 
 sand. His soldiers, animated by his presence, per- 
 formed prodigies of valour, but were unable to drive 
 the enemy over the .\dda. L^nluckily, Serrurier, to 
 whom it was impossible to send orders, had not tl.e 
 wit to move upon this identical point of Trezzo, where 
 Moreau so obstinately contended to restore the com- 
 munication with him. It was eventually found neces- 
 sary to forego the endeavour and abandon Serrurier's 
 division to its fate. It was surrounded by the whole 
 hostile army, but fought with the tenacity of despair. 
 Hemmed in at length on all sides, it was obliged to 
 lay down its arms. Part of the division, through 
 the hardihood and presence of mind of an officer, 
 contrived to escape by the mountains into Piedmont. 
 During this terrible conflict, Victor had fortunately 
 retired to the rear with his division intact. Such 
 was the fatal encounter called the battle of Cassano, 
 fought on the 9th Floreal (28th April), which 
 diminislied the army to about 20,000 men. 
 
 It was with this diminutive force iiloreau undertook 
 to execute a retreat. This admirable commander lost 
 not for an instant that calmness of mind with which 
 nature had endowed him. Reduced to 20,000 sol- 
 diers, in presence of an army which might have been 
 raised to 90,000, if its leaders had understood how to 
 march in mass, he preserved his serenity unbroken. 
 1 This composure was more commendable than that 
 I he displayed when he returned from Germany with 
 a victorious army of 60,000 men ; and yet it has been 
 I much less celebrated, so greatly do the accidents of 
 passion influence the judgment of contemporaries. 
 His primary care was to cover Milan, in order to 
 ! afford opportunity for removing the magazines and 
 I baggage, and also to give time to the members of the 
 j Cisalpine govenmient and all the compromised Mil- 
 I anese to withdraw. Nothing is more dangerous for 
 an army than fugitive families whom it is obliged to 
 receive into its ranks. They embarrass its march, 
 impede its movements, and may sometimes even 
 endanger its safety. After passing two days at 
 JNIilan, Moreau resumed his march to cross the Po. 
 From the conduct pursued by Suwarrov, he might 
 judge he would have leisure to take up a solid posi- 
 tion. He had a twofold object to attain, namely, 
 to cover his communications both with France and 
 Tuscany, by which latter the army of Naples was 
 advanciiig. To secure this important object, it 
 appeared to him advisable to occupy the slope of the 
 Genoese mountains, being the most favourable point. 
 He marched in two columns : the one, escorting the 
 magazines, the baggage, all the paraphernalia of the 
 army, followed the high road from Milan to Turin ; 
 the other diverged upon Alessandria to occupy the 
 routes to the riviera of Genoa. He executed this
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 743 
 
 march without being miirh incommoded by the 
 enemy. Instead of fallii g with his victorious troops 
 upon the enfeebled army of the French, and com- 
 pletely destroying it, Suwarrov stopped at Milan to 
 have the honours of a triumph awarded him, by the 
 priests, monks, nobles, and other creatures of Aus- 
 tria, who flocked in the wake of the allied army. 
 
 Moreau had ample time allowed him to arrive at 
 Turin and send forward all his heavy baggage to- 
 wards France. He manned the citadel, strove to 
 stimulate the zeal of the partisans of the republic, 
 and eventually moved to rejoin the column he had 
 directed upon Alessandria. He there chose a posi- 
 tion which evinced the perspicuity of his judgment. 
 The Tanaro, falling from the Ancnrines, (lows into 
 the Po below Alessandria. Jloreau planted himself 
 at the conflux of these two rivers. Protected at 
 once by both, he had Tiot much to fear from a direct 
 attack ; and guarding at the same time all the routes 
 to Genoa, he might here await the arrival of ^Jac- 
 donald. His position could not have been more 
 happily selected. He occupied Casale, Valenza, and 
 Alessandria ; he had a chain of posts on the Po and 
 the Tanaro, and his mases were disposed in such a 
 manner that he might reach in a few hours the first 
 point assailed. Here he consolidated himself then 
 with 20,000 men, and awaited with imperturbable 
 tranquillity the movements of his formidable enemy. 
 
 Suwarrov had, most auspiciously for the French, 
 consumed much time in advancing. He had de- 
 manded from the Aulic Council that the Austrian 
 corps of Bellegarde, acting in the Tyrol, should be 
 placed at his disposition. This corps had accord- 
 ingly descended into Italy, and augmented the com- 
 bined army to upwards of 100,000 men. But Su- 
 warrov, having injunctions to besiege simultaneously 
 Peschiera, I\Iantua, and Pizzighitone. desiring at the 
 same tiuie to cover himself on the side of Switzer- 
 land, and ignorant moreover of the art of distributing 
 masses, was unable to muster more than 40,000 
 under his inunediate command, a force certainly quite 
 sufficient wherewith to overwhelm jMoreau, if he had 
 only kno^vn how to manage it properly. 
 
 He appeared at length along the banks of the Po 
 and tlie TaTiaro, directly in front of IMoreau. He 
 established himself at Tortona, and there fixed his 
 head-quarters. After some days' inaction, he finally 
 resolved to make an attempt on I\Toreau's left wing; 
 that is to say, on the side of the Po. A little above 
 the confluence of the Po and the Tanaro, opposite 
 Mugarone, occur some woody islands, under favour 
 of which the Russians determined to attempt a pas- 
 sage. During the night of the •22d, 23d, Floreal 
 (11th, I2th, May), they crossed to the number of 
 nearly 2,000 into one of these islands, and thus found 
 themselves over the principal stream. The branch 
 which remained for them to clear was inconsiderable, 
 and might be easily swam across. They boldly tra- 
 versed it, and attained the right bank of the Po. 
 The Frencli, warned of the danger, hastened to the 
 threatened post. Moreau, who was apprized of other 
 demonstrations on the side of the Taiiai-o, paused 
 until the real point of danger was clearly ascertained : 
 when it was made certain he marched thither with 
 his reserve, cut down and drove info the river all 
 the Russians who had had the temerity to cross it. 
 There were 2,500 of them killed, drowned, or cap- 
 tured. 
 
 This vigorous blow effectually assured the position 
 of Moreau in the singular triangle he had shut him- 
 self within. But the inaction of the enemy dis- 
 quieted him ; he feared lest Suwarrov had merely 
 left before Alessandria a sirni)le detadunent, and with 
 the bulk of his forces had ascended the Vo, in tlie 
 view of moving u[)on Turin, and taking tlie posjtio'i 
 of the French in the rear, or otherwise had marclied 
 to meet Macdonald. In the uncertainty induced by 
 Suwarrov's inertness, he resolved to act himself in 
 
 order to ascertain the actual state of things. He 
 proposed to debouch beyond Alessandria, and make 
 a powerful reconnaissance. If it should turn out that 
 the enemy had left before him only a detached corps, 
 Moreau's design was to convert this reconnaissance 
 into a serious attack, cut to pieces this detached 
 corps, and then leisurely retire by the great road of 
 La Bochetta, towards the mountains of Genoa, there 
 to await INIacdonald. If, on the contrary, he found 
 the main body of the enemy, he purposed to fall 
 back without delay, and regain in allha-^tethe riviera 
 of Genoa, by all the accessory communications re- 
 mahiing to him. One reason which above all decided 
 him to adopt this step, was the insurrection of Pied- 
 mont on his rear. It behoved him to appro.ximate 
 towards his base with all possible speed. 
 
 Whilst IMoreau was forming this very wise resolu- 
 tion, Suwarrov conceived one also wholly destitute 
 of rationality. His position at Tortona was cer- 
 tainly the best he could hold, because it placed him 
 between the two French armies, that of the Cisal- 
 pine and that of Naples. It was incumbent on him 
 not to quit it on any account. Nevertheless he pro- 
 posed to push part of his forces beyond the Po, 
 ascend the river to Turin, seize that capital, organize 
 the Piedmontese royalists, ai:d force Moreau from 
 his position. Nothing could be worse calculated 
 than such a manauvre; since, if he wished to force 
 Moreau from his position he might have attempted 
 a direct and vigorous attack, but never for any pur- 
 pose whatsoever ought he to have abandoned the 
 intermediate position between the two armies striving 
 to effect a junction. 
 
 Consequently, whilst Suwarrov. dividing his forces, 
 left a part in tlje vicinity of Tortona, along the Ta- 
 naro, and moved the remainder beyond the Po to 
 march on Turin, Moreau executed the reconnaissance 
 he had projected. He sent Victor's division in ad- 
 vance to attack the Russian corps in front of hiin. 
 He held himself a little in the rear with all his re- 
 serve, ready to change his recoimaissance into a seri- 
 ous attack if he judged that the Russian corps might 
 be overwhelmed. After a smart engagement, in 
 which Victor's troops displayed a rare gallantry, 
 IMoreau concluded that the whole Russian army was 
 before him ; hence, he durst not attack at large for 
 fear of drawing upon him an enemy too superior in 
 force. In consequence, of the two plans he had in- 
 tended to follow, he preferred the second as the 
 safest. He, therefore, resolved to retire towards 
 the mountains of Genoa. His position was very 
 critical. All Piedmont was in revolt on his rear. A 
 body of insurgents had taken possession of Ceva, 
 which conuTianded the principal route, the only one 
 accessible to artillery. The great convoy of objects 
 of art collected in Italy was threatened with capture. 
 'I'hese circumstances wore singularly unfortunate. 
 By taking the routes situated more backward, and 
 which led to the riviera of Poiu-nt, Moreau was 
 afraid of removing too far from the connnunieations 
 with Tuscany, and leaving them exposed to the 
 enemy, wiiom he supposed collected in mass around 
 Tortona. In this perplexity lie forthwith took his 
 resolution and made tlie following dispositions. He 
 detached Victors division, without artillery or bag- 
 gage, to proceed bypaths practicable to infantry only 
 to the mountains of Genoa. It was to hurry forward 
 to occupy all tin- jiassagcs of tlie Apeimincs, with 
 the view of joining the army coming from Naples, 
 and reinforcing it in case it should be attacked by 
 Suwarrov. Moreau, retaining only 8,000 men at the 
 most, set out with his artillery, his cavalry, and all 
 that could not [)ursue the paths through the moun- 
 tains, to gain one of the carriage roads which are 
 fouiul behind Ceva, and which lead into tlie riviera 
 of Ponent. In determining upon this concentric re- 
 treat he had another calculation in view; namely, 
 that he would draw upon himself the hostile army,
 
 744 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 and divert it from pursuing Victor, and falling foul 
 of Macdonald. 
 
 Victor retired without accident liy Acqui, Spigno, 
 and Dego, and occupied the crests of the Apennines. 
 Moreaii, on his part, retreated witli extraordinary 
 celerity on Asti. The capture of Ceva, wliich 
 formed liis princi()al communication, placed him in 
 extreme cmharr.issment. He forwarded the greatest 
 part of his magazines by the pass of Fenestrella, pre- 
 served oidy the field artillery whicdi was indispen- 
 sable to him, and resolved to open a route through 
 the Apennines by making his own sohliers construct 
 one. After four days of incredible exertion, the road 
 was rendered practicable for artillery, and Moreau 
 passed into the riviera of Genoa, without having re- 
 trograded to the pass of Tende, which would have 
 carried him too fir from the troops of Victor de- 
 tached towards (!enoa. 
 
 Suwarrov, on learning the retreat of Moreau, caused 
 him in all haste to be pursued ; but he was unable 
 either to divine or to prevent his refined combina- 
 tions. Thus, through his consummate coolness and 
 address, Moreau redeemed his 20,000 men without 
 permitting them to be once entangled, but on the 
 contrary checking the Russians wherever he encoun- 
 tered them. He had left a garrison of 3,000 men in 
 Alessandria, and was now \\'ith nearly 18,000 in the 
 environs of Genoa. He was seated on the crest of 
 the Apennines awaiting the arrival of Macdonald 
 He had directed the division of Lapoype, the light 
 infantry of ]Montrichard, and Victor's division, upon 
 the Upper-Trebbia to be ready to join IMacdonald. 
 He himself remained in the vicinity of Novi with the 
 residue of liis mainbody. His plans for a junction 
 were profoundly meditated. He might either draw 
 the army of Naples to him by the shore of the IMedi- 
 terranean, combine with it at Genoa, and debouch 
 in company from La Bochetta, or otherwise cause it 
 to debouch from Tuscany into the plains of Placenza, 
 and on the banks of the Po. The first plan insured 
 the junction, since it would be made under shelter 
 of the Apennines, but tlien the Apennines must be 
 again passed, arid the enemy confronted to carry the 
 plain. On the other hand, by debouching in front 
 of Placenza, he became master of the plain up to the 
 Po, could choose his field of battle on the very banks 
 of that river, and, in the event of victory, drive the 
 enemy into it. At the same time Moreau intended 
 that Macdonald should keep his left closely abutting 
 upon the mountains in order to link himself with 
 Victor who was at Bobbio. For his own part he 
 held Suwarrov in observation, ready to fall upon his 
 flanks should he attempt to march against Macdonald. 
 In this situation the junction appeared equally sure 
 as behind the Apennines, and effected on far prefer- 
 able ground. 
 
 At this precise period, it chanced that the Direc- 
 tory had succeeded in collecting a considerable naval 
 force in the Mediterranean. Bruix, minister of the 
 marine, had taken the command of the Brest fleet, 
 raised the blockade of the Spanish squadron, and en- 
 tered the Mediterranean with fifty sail of ships, in 
 the hope of delivering it from the English, and re- 
 storing the comnuinicatioii with the army in Egypt. 
 This long desired junction was, therefore, at length 
 accomplished, and might become the meaiis of re- 
 establishing the French preponderance in the waters 
 of the Levant. Bruix was at this moment before 
 Genoa. His presence had the effect of operating 
 beneficially on the spirit of the army It was bruited 
 that he brought supplies, munitions, and reinforce- 
 ments. It was not so ; but Moreau took advantage 
 of the belief, and strove to give it credence. He 
 encouraged the circulation of a rumour that the fleet 
 had disembarked 20,000 men and considerable stores. 
 This report emboldened the army and greatly abated 
 the confidence of the enemy. 
 
 It was now the middle of Prairial (begimung of 
 
 June). A fresh event had just occurred in Switzer- 
 land. We have seen that Massena occupied the line 
 of the Limmat or of Zurich, and that the Archduke, 
 debouching from the two extremities of Lake Con- 
 stance, had approached to confront that line along 
 its whole extent. He resolved to attack it between 
 Zurich and Bruk; that is to say, between the lake 
 of Zurich and the Aar, the entire length of the Lim- 
 mat. Massena had taken position, not on the Lim- 
 mat itself, but on a series of heights which rise in 
 front of the Limmat, and cover at once both lake 
 and river. He had intrenched these heights in the 
 must formidable manner, and rendered them almost 
 impregnable. Although this part of his line was the 
 strongest, the Archduke had determined to assail it, 
 because a long detour, to attempt an assault above 
 the lake upon the line of the Lint, would have been 
 attended with great danger. Massena might have 
 profited by the opportunity to overwhelm the corps 
 left before him, and thus obtain a decisive advantage. 
 
 The projected attack was executed on the 16th 
 Prairial (4th June). It took place over the whole 
 extent of the Limmat, and was everywhere victori- 
 ously repelled, despite the stubborn perseverance of 
 the Austrians. But the Archduke, conceiving that 
 such enterprises ought to be followed up, that there 
 might be no fruitless sacrifices, recommenced the 
 attack on the following day vvith similar pertinacity. 
 Thereupon, Massena, reflecting that he might be 
 forced, that in such case his retreat would become 
 difficult, and that the line which he relinquished was 
 immediately succeeded by one stronger, the chain of 
 the Albis, which skirts on the farther margin the 
 Limmat and the lake of Zurich, resolved to retire 
 voluntarily. By this retreat he lost merely the town 
 of Zurich, which he regarded as of little importarice. 
 The mountain-chain of the Albis, skirting the lake 
 of Zurich and the Limmat to the Aar, and present- 
 ing moreover a continuous steep acclivity, was al- 
 most unassailable. In occupying it, the French made 
 but a slight concession of ground, for they recoiled 
 only the breadth of the lake and the river. Accord- 
 ingly, Massena retired thither of his own accord, and 
 without loss, and there established himself in a man- 
 ner which stifled the lust of the Archduke to attack 
 him. 
 
 The position of the French, therefore, was still 
 almost the same in Switzerland. The Aar, the Lim- 
 mat, the lake of Zurich, the Lint, and the Reuss, to 
 the base of Mount St. Gothard, constituted their de- 
 fensive line against the Austrians. 
 
 In Italy, Macdonald had at length emerged through 
 Tuscany. He had left garrisons in Fort St. Elmo, 
 in Capua, and in Gaeta, conformably to his instruc- 
 tions. It was a needless abandonment of troops in- 
 capable of sustaining the republican party, and whoL-e 
 loss weakened the active army. On retiring, the 
 French left the city of Naples a prey to a royalist 
 reaction, which rivalled in atrocity the most deplor- 
 able scenes of the French revolution. At Rome, 
 Macdonald had picked up Garnier's division, com- 
 prising a few thousand men; in Tuscany he collected 
 Gauthier's division, and in the Modenese the light 
 corps under Montrichard. He had thus formed a 
 mainbody of 26,000 men. He reached Florence on 
 the 6th Prairial (25th May). So far his retreat had 
 been effected with great rapidity and remarkable 
 order. He unfoitunately lost a good deal of time in 
 Tuscany, and debouched beyond the Apennines, 
 into the plains of Placenza, only towards the end of 
 Prairial (the middle of June). 
 
 If he had debouched earlier he would have sur- 
 prised the allies in such a state of dispersion that he 
 might have successively overthrowii them, and driven 
 them beyond the Po. Suwarrov was at Turin, of 
 which he had recently taken possession, and where 
 he had seized immense supplies of military stores. 
 , Bellegarde was observing the approaches from Genoa,
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 745 
 
 and Kray beleaguering Mantua, the citadel of Milan, 
 and the other fortresses. On no point were 30,000 
 Austrians or Russians concentrated. Macdonald and 
 Moreaii, debouching together with 50,000 men, might 
 have reversed the fortune of the campaign. But 
 Macdonald deemed it expedient to devote an interval 
 of some days to the repose of his troops, and to the 
 reorganization of the divisions he had gathered to his 
 army. He thus permitted an inestimable opportunity 
 to pass away, and gave Suwarrov time to retrieve 
 his blunders. On learning Macdonald's approach, 
 that Russian general hastily quitted Turin and 
 marched with a reinforcement of 20,000 men, to 
 plant himself between the two French generals and 
 resume the position he ought never to have left. 
 He ordered General Ott, who was in observation on 
 the Trebbia in the vicinity of Placenza, to retire on 
 him if he were attacked ; he directed Kray to send 
 him from Mantua all the troops he could spare ; and, 
 leaving to Bellegarde the task of observing Novi, 
 whence Moreau was expected to debouch, he pre- 
 pared to march in p;^'rson into the plains of Placenza 
 to meet IMacdonald. 
 
 These are the only dispositions which, during the 
 whole of this campaign, have gained Suwarrov the 
 unqualified approbatioTi of military men. The two 
 French generals occupied the positions we have in- 
 dicated. Both placed on the Apennines, they must 
 descend from them to unite in the plains of Placenza : 
 Moreau from Novi, Macdonald from Pontreuioli. 
 Moreau had dispatched Victor's division to reinforce 
 Macdonald, and had stationed General Lapoype with 
 a few battalions at Bobbio, on the slope of the moun- 
 tains, to favour the junction. His purpose was to 
 seize the moment when Suwarrov advanced against 
 Macdonald to charge into his flank. But to that end 
 it was necessary Macdonald should keep himself 
 flanked by the mountains, and not give battle too 
 far in the plain. 
 
 Macdonald broke ground about the end of Prairial 
 (middle of June). Hohenzollern's corps, located in 
 the vicinity of Modena, guarded the Lower- Po. He 
 was overwhelmed by superior forces, lost 1,500 men, 
 and narrowly escaped utter destruction. This first 
 success encouraged Macdonald and induced him to 
 hasten his march. Victor's division, which had now 
 joined him, and increased his army to nearly 32,000 
 men, formed his vanguard. The Polish division of 
 Dombrowski marched on the left of Victor's, Rus- 
 ca's division flanking both. Although the bulk of 
 the army, composed of the divisions under Mont- 
 richard, Olivier, and Watrin, was still in the rear, 
 Macdonald, elated with the success he had obtained 
 over Hohenzollern, resolved to crush Ott, who was 
 in observation on the Tidona, and ordered Victor, 
 Dombrowski, and Rusca to march against him with- 
 out a moment's delay. 
 
 Three streams, flowing in parallel lines from the 
 Apennines into the Po, formed the field of battle : 
 these were the Nura, the Trebbia, and the Tidona. 
 The main body of the French army was still on the 
 Nura; the divisions of Victor, Drombrowski, and 
 Rusca wei'e advanced on the Trebbia, haviiig orders 
 to pass it and move on the Tidona, in order to over- 
 whelm Ott, whom Macdonald believed without sup- 
 port. They marched on the 29th Prairial (IJth 
 June). At first tlicy repulsed General Ott's van- 
 guard from the banks of tlie 'J'idona, and obliged it 
 to take up a position behiiul the ri\er at the village 
 of Sermetto. Ott was on the point of being over- 
 thrown, when Suwarrov arrived to his assistance 
 with all his forces. He opposed General Bagration 
 to Victor wlio was moving along the Po, pushed 
 Ott on the centre against Dombrowski, and directed 
 Melas to the right against Rusca. Hagration wa-; 
 not successful against Victor and was forced to retro- 
 grade ; but in the centre, Suwarrov charged Dom- 
 browski's division with the Russian infantry, |ioured 
 
 upon its flank two regiments of cavalry, and broke it. 
 Upon this event, Victor, who had advanced on the 
 Po, fouiul himself outflanked and compromised. Ba- 
 giation, reinforced by grenadiers, resumed the offen- 
 sive. The Russian cavalry, which had broken the 
 Poles in the centre and thus outflanked Victor, 
 charged him in flank and compelled him to retire. 
 Rusca, on the right, was then constrained to yield 
 the ground to Melas. 
 
 The three French divisions repassed the Tidona 
 and retrograded on the Trebbia. 
 
 This first encounter, in whi(;h scarcely a third of 
 the French army had been engaged against the whole 
 army of the enemy, thus proved unfortunate. Mac- 
 donald, ignorant of Suwarrov's arrival, had been too 
 hasty. He now resolved to establish himself behind 
 the 'Trebbia, there unite all his divisions, and signally 
 avenge the check he had sustained. Unhappily, the 
 divisions of Olivier, Montrichard, and Watrin were 
 still in the rear on the Nura, and he proposed to 
 wait until tlie second day, namely, until the 1st 
 Messidor (19th June), to renew the battle. 
 
 But Suwarrov left him no time to combine his 
 forces, and prepared to attack the very day after, to 
 wit, the 30th Prairial (18th June). The two armies 
 were moving along the Trebbia, resting their wings 
 on the Po and the Apennines. Suwarrov, judging 
 correctly that the essential point was in the moun- 
 tains, by which the two French armies were enabled 
 to communicate, directed to that side his best in- 
 fantry and cavalry. He turned Bagration's division, 
 which was originally on his left along the Po, to his 
 right against the mountains. He placed it with 
 Schweikofsky's division under the command of Ro- 
 semberg, and ordered them both to cross the Treb- 
 bia at Rivalta, in the upper part of its course, with 
 the view of detaching the French from the moun- 
 tains. The divisions of Dombrowski, Rusca, and 
 Victor were placed towards that point, on the left 
 of the French line. Olivier and Montrichard's divi- 
 sions were intended to be stationed in the centre, 
 along the stream of the Trebbia. Watrin's division 
 was designed for the right, towards the Po and 
 Placenza. 
 
 On the morning of the 30th Prairial (18th June), 
 the Russian outposts attacked the French outposts, 
 which were beyond the Trebbia, at Casaliggio and 
 Grignano, and drove them in. Macdonald, who had 
 no expectation of being attacked, was engaged in 
 bringing up into line his divisions of the centre. 
 Victor, who commanded on the left, immediately 
 transported all the French infantry over the Trebbia, 
 and for a moment placed Suwarrov in great jeopardy. 
 But Roseuiberg, pushing forward with the division of 
 Schweikofsky, re(;overed tlie advantage, and, after 
 a furious combat, in which the slaughter was terrific 
 on both sides, obliged the French to retire behind 
 the Trebbia. In the meantime, Olivier and Mont- 
 richard's divisions arrived in the centre and Wa- 
 trin's on the right, and a cannonade conunenced along 
 the whole line. After an exchange of a few shots, 
 both sides desisted, reposing on the opposite banks 
 of the Trebbia, which flowed between and separated 
 the two armies. 
 
 Sucii was tlie second encounter. It had consisted 
 in a mere conflict on the French left, a very terrible 
 conflict indeed, but without result. Macdonald, 
 now opi'iating witli iiis entire force, proposed to 
 render the third encounter decisive. His plan was 
 to pass the Trebbia on all points and outflank the 
 two wings of the enemy. With this intention, 
 Dombrowski's division was appointed to ascend the 
 river as far as Rivalta and cross it above the Rus- 
 sians. Watrin's division was at the same time to 
 clear it near its embouchure in the Po, and so gain 
 the extreme left of the Russians. He reckoned like- 
 wise that Moreau, whose co-operation he had ex- 
 pected during the two previous days, would <'i'r-
 
 746 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tainly enter on action this day at the latest. Such 
 was the plan of INIacdonald for the encounter of the 
 1st Messidor (19th June). But a horrible engage- 
 ment took place during the night. A French de- 
 tachment having traversed the bed of the Trobbia 
 to take position, the Russians iningined themselves 
 attacked and flew to arms. The French, in similar 
 alarm, followed their example. The two armies 
 became involved in a night-struggle, where, inter- 
 mingled and in dire confusion, an indiscriminate 
 slaughter was waged, without distinction of friends 
 or foes. After a useless carnage, the generals suc- 
 ceeded in drawing off their soldiers into bivouack. 
 On the morrow, both armies were so fatigued by 
 three days' fighting and the disturbance of the night, 
 that they did not enter on action until towards ten 
 in the morning. 
 
 The battle commenced on the French right, upon 
 the Uppcr-Trebbia. Dombrowski cleared the Treb- 
 bia and Rivalta in spite of the efforts of the Rus- 
 sians, Suwarrov detached Prince Bagration against 
 him. This movement left Rosemberg's flanks un- 
 covered. Victor and Rusca instantly profited by it 
 to fall impetuously on him, pushing across the Treb- 
 bia. They advanced with success, and surrounded 
 on all sides Schweikofsky's division, in which stood 
 Suwarrov in person. They placed it in imminent 
 danger ; but it faced round in every direction and 
 made a valiant defence. Bagration, spying its peril- 
 ous condition, turned promptly back to the menaced 
 point and compelled \'ictor and Ru«ca to give way. 
 If Dombrowski, also seizing the occasion, had in 
 his turn defiled on Bagration, the advantage would 
 have continued with the French on that point, 
 which was the most important of all, since it abut- 
 ted on the mountains. Unfortunately he remained 
 inactive, and Victor and Rusca were obliged to 
 repass the Trebbia. In the centre, Montrichard 
 had crossed the Trebbia at Grignano, Olivier at 
 San-Nicolo. Montrichard marched against the corps 
 under Forster, when the Austrian reserves, which 
 Suwarrov had requested from Melas and which were 
 then in the act of defiling on the rear of the field of 
 battle, suddenly charged into the flanks of his divi- 
 sion. It was taken by surprise, and the 3th Light, 
 which had performed prodigies in a hundred fights, 
 fled in disorder. Thus Montrichard likewise found 
 himself obliged to repass the Trebbia. Olivier, who 
 had met with success at San-Nicolo and had vigor- 
 ously repulsed Ott and Melas, became uncovered by 
 Montrichard's retreat. Thereupon IMelas, counter- 
 manding the Austrian reserves, whose appearance 
 had already thrown Jlontrichard's division into con- 
 fusion, directed them on Olivier's division, which 
 was forced in its turn to repass the Trebbia. In 
 the meantime, Watrin's division, fruitlessly detached 
 to the extreme right, where it found nothing to do, 
 wound along the Po withmit being of any use in the 
 battle. It was in like manner obliged to repass the 
 Trebbia, following the general movement of retreat. 
 Suwarrov, in constant dread of Moreau debouching 
 on his rear, made great efforts during tlie rest of the 
 day to force a passage over the Trebbia, but he was 
 unable to succeed. The French opposed him along 
 its entire course with invincible firnniess, and this 
 mountain-stream, the unconscious witness of so de- 
 termined a struggle, again separated for the third 
 time the two hostile armies. 
 
 Such was the third encounter or act of this san- 
 guinary drama. Both armies were disorganized. 
 They had each lost about 12,()()0 men. Tlie major- 
 ity of the generals were wounded. AVhole regiments 
 Iiad been cut to pieces. But their respective situa- 
 tions were very different. Suwarrov was receiving 
 reinforcements every day, and he had only to gain by 
 the prolongation of the fight. Macdonald, on the 
 contrary, had exhausted all his resources, and by 
 persisting in the contest might be driven back in dis- 
 
 order into Tuscany. He preferred therefore to re- 
 tire on the Nura, with the view of gaining Genoa 
 behind the Apeiniines. He quitted the Trebbia on 
 the id Messidor (iOth June) at dawn. A despatch, 
 in which he described to Moreau his desparate con- 
 dition, having fallen into the hands of Suwarrov, the 
 latter was transported with joy and hastened to pur- 
 sue h'm to the death. Nevertheless, the retreat was 
 executed with comparative order on the banks of 
 the Nura. Uiduckily, Victor's division, which had 
 been constantly engaged in combat for four days, 
 was at last broken and lost a number of prisoners. 
 Macdonald had however time to gather his army 
 beyond the Apennines, after sustaining a loss of 
 fourteen or fifteen thousand men, in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners. 
 
 By good-fortune, Suwarrov, hearing the cannon 
 of Moreau on his rear, was diverted from the pur- 
 suit of Macdonald. jMoreau, whom insurmountable 
 obstacles had prevented from putting himself in mo- 
 tion before the 30th Prairial (18th June), had even- 
 tually debouched from Novi, attacked Bellegarde, 
 put him to rout, and took from him nearly 3,000 
 prisoners. But this tardy success was now, so to 
 speak, abortive, having no other result than that of 
 recalling Suwarrov and preventing him from satiating 
 his ferocity on INIacdonald. 
 
 The junction, then, from which such great results 
 were expected, had led only to a bloody defeat, and 
 occasioned between the two French generals recri- 
 minations which have never been fully brought to 
 issue. Military men have reproached Macdonald 
 with remaining too long in Tuscany, and moving his 
 divisions too far from each other, insomuch that the 
 divisions of Victor, Rusca, and Dombrowski were 
 beaten two days in succession before the divisions 
 under Montrichard, Olivier, and "Watrin were in 
 line ; with attempting, on tl;e day of battle, to out- 
 flank the two wings of the enemy, instead of direct- 
 ing his principal effort on his left towards the Up- 
 per-Trebbia; with keeping too far distant from the 
 mountains, so as not to permit Lapoype, who was 
 at Bobbio, to come to his assistance ; lastly, and 
 chiefly, with having been in too great a hurry to give 
 battle, as if he desired to monopolize all the honour 
 of the victory. On the other hand, military men, 
 approving the plan artistically combined by Moreau, 
 have urged against him but one reproach, namely, 
 that of not having cast aside all complaisance towards 
 an old comrade, taken the direct command of the 
 two armies, and more especially commanded in per- 
 son at the Trebbia. Whatever justice there may 
 be in these allegations, it is certain that Moreau's 
 plan, if executed as conceived, would have saved 
 Italy. It was utterly foiled by the battle of the 
 Trebbia. Fortunately, Moreau was still there to 
 collect the remains of the French, and prevent Su- 
 warrov from profiting by his great superiority. The 
 campaign had been opened but three months, and, 
 excepting in Switzerland, the French had experienced 
 an unbroken series of reverses. The battle of 
 Stockach had caused them to lose Germany ; the 
 battles of Magnano and the Trebbia robbed them of 
 Italy. ^lassena alone, firm as a rock, still occupied 
 Switzerland along the chain of the Albis. It is not to 
 be forgotten however, amidst these cruel visitations, 
 that the courage of the French soldiers had been as 
 indomitable and brilliant as in the most auspicious 
 days of victory ; and that iMoreau had approved him- 
 self a true patriot and a great captain, and had heroi- 
 cally interposed to save the armies of Italy from 
 annihilation by Suwarrov at a single blow. 
 
 These last disasters supplied fresh weapons of ac- 
 cusation to the enemies of the Directory, and aroused 
 against it a redoubled storm of invective. The fear 
 of an invasion began to haunt imagination. The 
 southern and alpine departments, lying first exposed 
 to the inroad of the Austro-Russians, were in a state
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 747 
 
 of great expitement. The towns of Grenoble, Cham- 
 berv, and Orange sent addresses to the legislative 
 body, which caused an extraordinary sensation. Yet 
 they merely embodied the groundless aspersions which 
 for two months had circuhited in all quarters ; they 
 recurred to the pillage of tlie conquered countries, 
 the peculations of the companies, the privations of the 
 armies, the ministry of Scherer, his generalship, the 
 iiiiiistice manifested towards ISIoreau, the arrest of 
 Cliampionnet, &c. " Why, "they asked, "havchonest 
 con?:cripts been obliged to return to their homos on 
 account of the destitution in which they were left? 
 Why have all the malversations remained unpun- 
 ished ? Why was the incapable Scherer, proclaimed 
 as a traitor by Hoche, retained --o long in the min- 
 istry at war ? Why was he enabled to consummate 
 as general the evils he had prepared as minister? 
 Why are names dear to victory superseded by names 
 unknown? Why is the conqueror of Rome and 
 Na;iles under impeachment?" 
 
 The real value of such reproaches we have already 
 learnt to appreciate. But the addresses which con- 
 tained them were awarded the honour of being 
 printed, specially noticed commendably, and re- 
 ferred to the consideration of the Directory. This 
 ma'mer of receiving them sufficiently demonstrated 
 the dispositions of the two Councils. They could 
 not, in truth, be more hostile. The constitutional 
 opt)Osition had coalesced with the patriot opposition. 
 The first was composed of the personally ambitious 
 who aspired to form a new government, and of the 
 officious and importunate who were incensed that 
 their counsels or recommendations had not been 
 heeded ; the latter comprised the patriots excluded 
 by the secessions from the legislative body or re- 
 duced to silence by the law of the 19th Fructidor, 
 all equally desiring the ruin of the existing govern- 
 ment. These atlirmed that the Directory had at 
 once misgoverned and misdefended France, and had 
 violated the freedom of elections, the liberty of the 
 press, and the independence of popular societies. 
 They denounced it as both weak and violent, and 
 even recurred to the If^th Fructidor; saying that, 
 having paid no respect to the laws on that day, it 
 could not now invoke them in its favour.. 
 
 'I'he nomination of Sieyes to the Directory had 
 been a chief incitement to these dispositions. The 
 elevation to the Directory of a man who had never 
 ceased to regard the directorial constitution as vici- 
 ous, and who had for that very reason previously 
 refused to be a director, indicated a certain con- 
 sciousness that some change was desirable. The 
 acceptance of Sieyes, which was doubted on account 
 of his former refusal, only tended to confirm this 
 impression. 
 
 The malcontents of every hue, who fostered no- 
 tions of change, gathered around Sieyes. He, Sieyes, 
 was far from an able party-leader ; he had neither 
 the fitting character at once designing, supple, and 
 daring, nor in sooth the ambition ; but through his 
 fame numbers flocked as it were to his standard. It 
 was notorious that he viewed with a censorious eye 
 both the constitution and the government ; and he 
 seemed thus courted to encourage him to subvert 
 the system. Barras, who had tjie art to get his long 
 continuance in the Directory overlooked, througli 
 his relations and intrigues with all parties, cultivated 
 the good graces of Sieyes, and succeeded in forming 
 an alliance with him l)y a base desertion of his col- 
 leagues. Around tliese two directors therefore 
 rallied all the enemies of the Directory. 'I"he [larty 
 was anxious to obtain the suppcn-t of some young 
 general of iiigh reputation, who enjoyed, like many 
 others, the credit of being a victim of the govern- 
 ment. The position of Joubert, on whom great 
 expectations were fomided, and who was without 
 employment since his supercession, fixed attention 
 upcm him. • He was about to ally himself with M. 
 
 de Semonville by marrying a certain demoiselle de 
 Montbfclon. He was brought into connnunion with 
 Sieyes ; the appointment of general of the 17th mili- 
 tary division was conferred upon him, and every 
 effort used to constitute him the chief of the new 
 coalition. 
 
 Fundamental changes were not as yet contem- 
 plated ; it was merely intended at first to gain pos- 
 session of the government, and save France from the 
 danger of an invasion, postponing constitutional pro- 
 jects to a period when all perils should be passed. 
 The primary object to compass was the removal of 
 the older members of the Directory. Sieyes' nomi- 
 nation was but a fortnight old ; he had only succeeded 
 Rewbell on the 1st Prairial. Barras had timeously 
 crouched to the storm as we know. Hence animosity 
 was concentrated on Larevelliere, Merlin, and Treil- 
 hard, all three ^vholly guiltless of the delinquencies 
 charged against the government. 
 
 They possessed the majority, however, being 
 three in a body of five, but it was proposed to render 
 their exercise of authority impracticable. On their 
 part, these three directors had resolved to evince the 
 greatest consideration for Sieyes, and even to treat 
 his testiness with forbearance, to avoid aggravating 
 the diificulties of the position by those which per- 
 sonal contests might create. But Sieyes proved 
 intractable ; he foimd everything wrong, and doubt- 
 less in perfeot good-faith ; but he expressed himself 
 in a manner to show he would not concert with his 
 colleagues to amend any evil. Somewhat infatuated 
 with what he had witnessed in the country he had 
 lately visited, he repeated pretty constantly to them: 
 " It is not so things are managed in Prussia." " Pray 
 teach us then," observed his colleagues in reply, 
 "how things are managed in Prussia; eidighten us 
 with your counsel, assist us to act for the best." 
 " You would not understand me," Sieyes retorted ; 
 "it is useless my exhorting you; proceed as you 
 have been accustomed to do." 
 
 Whilst internal dissension thus took root within 
 the Directory itself, vehement attacks were made 
 upon it from without on the part of the two Coun- 
 cils. On the subject of the finances an open rupture 
 occurred. A deficiency had arisen, as we have stated, 
 from two causes, the tardiness of payments, and the 
 unproductiveness of assumed sources. Out of 400 
 millions already dispensed in charges incurred, oidy 
 216 millions had been actually received. The de- 
 crease upon the estimate of products amounted, 
 according to Ramel, to 67 and even to 75 millions. 
 As the aggregate of this deficit was still contested, 
 he published in the Moniteur an explict denial to the 
 statements of the deputy Genissieux, and proved his 
 own to be correct. But what avail ])roofs at certain 
 moments? The minister and the government were 
 not the less assailed with invectives ; it was not the 
 less repeated that they were ruining the state and 
 oidy demanding fresh fuiuis to supply the means of 
 fresh mahersations. However, the force of evidence 
 compelled a supplementary grant. A duty upon salt 
 had been refused ; to supply its place, an additional 
 ten per cent, was laid ui)on all the taxes, whilst that 
 upon doors and windows was again doubled. But 
 it was of little u-^e to impose taxes ; the niore essen- 
 tial point was to insure their receipt l)y appropriate 
 laws f(n- their assessment and coUection. These 
 laws were suffered to remain uiqiassed. In vain the 
 minister urged their discussion ; they were con- 
 stantly post|)oned, and his pressing instances answered 
 by ciies t>f tri'achery. robbery, and so forth. 
 
 Besides the dispute upon the finances, another 
 was originated upon a (lilVerent subject. Earlier, 
 reclamations had arisen touching certain articles of 
 the law of the I'Jth I'^ructidor, whicli invested the 
 Directory witli power to close clubs and suppress 
 journals by a simple ordinance. A project of law 
 had been tlien ordered upon the press aifd popular
 
 743 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 societies, framed to modify the law of the 19th 
 Friictidor, and to deprive the Directory of the arbi- 
 trary authority with wliich it was clothed. Cdiii- 
 plaints were likewise enforced against the faculty tiiat 
 law conferred ujion the Directory to banish at plea- 
 sure suspt'cted priests and erase eniitcrants from the 
 list. The patriots themselves manifested a disposi- 
 tion to abolish this dictatorship, hurtful only as it 
 was to their adversaries. Tlie discussion upon the 
 press and popular societies was tirst commenced. 
 The project introduced was the work of Berlier. 
 The debate opened in the beginning of Prairial 
 (middle of June). The advocates of the Directory, 
 amongst whom were distinguished Chenier, Bailleul, 
 Creuze-Latouche, atid Lecointe-Puyraveau, argued 
 that the dictatorship granted to the Directory by the 
 law of the 19th Fructidor, although formidable in 
 ordinary times, was of indispensable necessity uiuler 
 actual circumstances. It was not, they contended, 
 in a moment of extreme peril that the prerogatives 
 of the government should be curtailed. The dicta- 
 torship bestowed upon it on the morrow of the 18th 
 Friictidor was become essential to it, not against 
 the royalist faction, but against the anarchical faction, 
 equally to be dreaded with the former and secretly 
 allied with it. The disciples of Babceuf, they added, 
 were reappearing on all sides, and menacing the re- 
 public with a fresh envelopment. 
 
 The patriots, who abounded in the Council of 
 Five-Hundred, replied with their wonted vehemence 
 to the arguments of the directorial partisans. — ^It 
 was necessary, they asserted, to give an impulse to 
 France, to restore to it the energy of 1793, which 
 the Directory had completely stilled by fastening 
 upon it an oppressive yoke. All patriotism would 
 be extinguished unless clubs were opened, and free- 
 dom restored to the patriotic journals. " It is in 
 vain," they added, "you accuse the patriots, in 
 vain you affect to dread an insurrection on their 
 part. What have these much traduced patriots 
 done ? For three years they have been murdered, 
 proscribed, without a country, in the republic they 
 have powerfully contributed to found, and which 
 they have mainly defended. \\'hat crimes have you 
 to upbraid them with ? Have they reacted against 
 the readers ? No. They are exaggerated, turbu- 
 lent ; be it so. But are these crimes? They talk, 
 they clamour even, if you wish it ; but they do not 
 assassinate, and every day they are assassinated." 
 — Such was the language of Briot du Doubs, of the 
 Corsican Arena, and of numerous others. 
 
 The members of the constitutional opposition 
 expressed themselves differently. They were natu- 
 rally more moderate. They ad pted t-he measured 
 deliberative tone, but mthal the caustic and dog- 
 matic. It was expedient, in their view, to recur to 
 principles too much neglected, and to restore liberty 
 to the press and popular societies. The dangers of 
 Fructidor had perhaps justified a momentary dicta- 
 torship in the Directory, but this dictatorship con- 
 fided in trust, how had it been used? It was 
 only necessary to ask parties, said Boulay de la 
 Meurthe. Although all entertaining discordant 
 views, royalists, patriots, constitutionalists were 
 agreed in declaring that the Directory had misused 
 omnipotence. Such concord, amongst men so 
 opposed in principles and views, could leave no 
 doubt, and the Directory stood unequivocally con- 
 demned. So spoke the constitutionalists. 
 
 Thus the incensed patriots l)ewailed oppression ; 
 the constitutionalists, in the fulness of their preten- 
 sions, denounced misgovernment. All coalesced, 
 however, and tlie articles of the law of the 19th 
 Fructidor relative to journals aiul jjopular societies 
 were rescinded. This was an important victory 
 over the Dircctoi y, which was sure to lead to a furi- 
 ous inundation of periodical prints and revived as- 
 bociations (if JjiroUins. 
 
 The excitement continued to increase during the 
 progress of Prairial. The most sinister rumours 
 circulated in all quarters. The new coalition, mean- 
 while, had resolved to employ those identical tac- 
 tics in vogue vvitli oppositions under representative 
 governments ti) compel a ministry to resign. Em- 
 barrassing and accumulated questions, threats of 
 impeachment, all' were put in requisition. These 
 means are so natural, that, even without piactice in 
 the ways of representative government, the native 
 instinct of party infallibly prompts to their adoption. 
 The committees of expc-nditure, of funds, and of 
 war, appointed by the Five-Hundred to inquire into 
 those various matters, combined and voted a message 
 to the Directory. Boulay de la Meurthe was charged 
 with the report, and presented it on the 15th Prairial 
 On his motion, the Council of Five -Hundred ad- 
 dressed to the Directory a message in which it 
 requested to be informed of the causes of the inter- 
 nal aiul external dangers which threatened the re- 
 public, and of the means which existed for meetmg 
 them. Demands of this nature have usually no other 
 effect than to extort avowals of weakness, and to 
 compromise still more the government from which 
 they are wrung. A government, we repeat, must 
 succeed ; to oblige it to acknowledge that it has not 
 succeeded is to force from it the most fatal of all con- 
 fessions. To this message were added numberless 
 motions of order, all having an analogous aim. They 
 had reference to the right of forming popular socie- 
 ties, to individual liberty, to the responsibility of 
 ministers, to the duplication of accounts, &c. &c. 
 
 On receiving the message in question, the Direc- 
 tory determined to return a circumstantial answer, 
 tracing the course of events, and explaining the means 
 it had taken, and those it still proposed to take, in 
 order to rescue France from the crisis in which it 
 was involved. A reply of this nature required the 
 co-operation of all the ministers, so that each might 
 furnish his particular report. Several days at least 
 were requisite to digest it ; but this was far from 
 agreeable to the leaders of the Councils. They had 
 no desire for an exact and faithful account of the 
 state of France ; what they wanted were prompt and 
 embarrassing avowals. Accordingly, after waiting 
 for a few days, the three committees which had sug- 
 gested the message submitted to the Five-Hundred 
 a new proposition through the medium of the deputy 
 Poulain-Grand-Pre. He presented his report on the 
 28th Prairial (IGth June). It recommended the 
 Five-Hundred to declare themselves permanent until 
 the Directory had replied to the message of the 15th. 
 The proposal was adopted. This step was tanta- 
 mount to a proclamation of danger, and announced 
 some near catastrophe. The Five-Hundred com- 
 municated their resolution to the Ancients, with a 
 solicitation to do likewise. The Ancients in truth 
 imitated the example, and also constituted them- 
 selves permanent. The three committees of expen- 
 diture, funds, and war, being too numerous, were 
 condensed into a single committee, composed of 
 eleven members, and delegated to frame n easures 
 suited to the emergency. 
 
 The Directory intimated, on its part, that it would 
 likewise remain in permanent diet to accelerate the re • 
 port demanded from it. We may conceive the agita- 
 tion that nmst necessarily result from these deter- 
 minations. Rumours of the most alarming character 
 were as usual widely disseminated. The opponents 
 of the Directory proclaimed that it meditated a new 
 coup d'etat, and intended to dissolve the Councils. 
 Its partisans asserted, on the other hand, that there 
 was a coalition formed by the different parties to 
 overthrow by violence the constitution. On neither 
 side were any such schemes contemplated. Tne 
 coalition of the two oppositions was cemented solely 
 by the common desire to supplant the three obnox- 
 ious directors. A prpliminary measure was adopted
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 749 
 
 to accomplish this object. The constitution pre- 
 scribed that a director entering on office shouhl have 
 quitted the legislature a whole year pr^iously. It 
 was now remembered that Treilhard, who had sat 
 thirteen months in the Directory, had left the legis- 
 ture on the SOth Floreal year V., and been elected 
 to the Directory on the 26th Floreal year VI. 
 Four days, therefore, were wanting to the required 
 period. The objection was truly flimsy and frivo- 
 lous, for the irregularity was covered by the silence 
 observed respecting it during two sessions, and 
 ' besides, Sieyes himself vvas in the same predicament. 
 Nevertheless, the committee of eleven instantly pro- 
 posed to annul Treilhard's nomination. The decree 
 of abrogation was passed on the same day, the 28th, 
 and signified to the Directory. 
 
 Treilhard was rough and abrupt in manners, but 
 totally destitute of corresponding firmness. He was 
 disposed to yield. Lare'velliere-Lepeaux was in a 
 very different frame of mind. That upright and dis- 
 interested man, to whom his functions were a bur- 
 den, who had accepted them only from a sense of 
 duty, and who offered vows every year that fortune 
 would restore him to privacy, was resolute to retain 
 oihce as soon as the allied factions seemed inclined 
 to exact its surrender. He considered that they 
 could wish to expel the old directors only for the 
 purpose of abolishing the coiistitution of the year 
 III. ; and that Sieyes, Barras, and the Bonaparte 
 family, concurred in one aim with wholly discordant 
 views, but all equally detrimental to the republic. 
 In this persuasion he was unwilling that the old 
 directors should abandon their post. Consequently 
 he hastened to Treilhard and urged him to resist. 
 " With Merlin and me," he said, "you will form 
 the majority, and we will refuse to execute this re- 
 solution of the legislative body, as illegal, seditious, 
 and extorted by a faction." Treilhard, however, 
 had not courage to follow this advice, but forthwith 
 sent his resignation to the Council of Five-Hundred. 
 
 Although the majority was thus lost, Larevelliere 
 determined nevertheless to refuse his abdication if it 
 were demanded. The leaders of the Five-Hundred 
 first took the precaution of supplying a successor to 
 Treilhard. Sieyes would have had a person named 
 devoted to him ; but his influence on this occasion 
 was disregarded. The election fell on an ex-advo- 
 cate of Rennes, actual president of the tribunal of 
 Cassation, and known to adhere rather to the patriot 
 than to the constitutional opposition. This was 
 Gohier, an honest citizen arid earnest republican, but 
 of slender abilities and profoundly ignorant of men 
 and things. He was nominated on the 29th Prairial, 
 and appointed to be installed on the following day. 
 
 The exclusion of Trielhard merely tended to whet 
 the desire of tearing Lare'velliere and Merlin from 
 the Directory. The patriots especially were furious 
 against Larevelliere; in their wrath they called to 
 mind that, although stern and rigid, he had never 
 been a mountaineer, that he had often since the 9th 
 Thermidor contended against their party, and that 
 in the previous year he had encouraged the system of 
 secessions. They threatened accordingly to put him 
 under impeachment, both him and Merlin, if they 
 delayed to abdicate their functions. Sieyes was 
 deputed to make a preliminary overture, with the 
 view of inducing them to succumb voluntarily to 
 the storm. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th, the day of Treilhard's 
 retirement, Sieyes proposed a private meeting of the 
 four directors in Merlin's apartments. They assem- 
 bled there at the appointed hour. Barras, as if he 
 anticipated danger, came with his sword by his side 
 and retained an unl)roken silence. Sieyes opened 
 the conference in evident perplexity, i)reluding with 
 a lengthy exordimu touching the faults and blunders 
 of the government, and fencing obscurely with the 
 real object of the meeting. At length Larevelliere 
 
 calmly besought him to explain himself with clear- 
 ness " Your friends," replied Sieyes, "and those 
 
 of Merlin, recommend you both to tender your re- 
 signations." Larevelliere inquired who those con- 
 siderate friends were. Sieyes was unable to name 
 one entitled to the least respect or confidence. 
 Larevelliere thereupon addressed him in the language 
 of a man indignant at finding the Directory betrayed 
 by its own members, and abandoned by them to the 
 plots of the facetious. He showed that his conduct 
 and that of his colleagues had been irreproachable, 
 and that the delinquencies ascribed to them were a 
 mere tissue of caUnnnies ; he then directly attacked 
 Sieyes on his secret schemes, and covered him \nth 
 confusion by his forcible apostrophes. Barras, dur- 
 ing the whole of the time, observed a gloomy silence. 
 His position was embarrassing, for he alone had 
 merited the imputations so profusely charged upon 
 his colleagues. To urge their resignation for faults 
 they had not committed, and of which he was solely 
 guilty, would have been too grotesque. He there- 
 fore was silent. The interview ternnnated without 
 result. Merlin, who lacked decision to act for him- 
 self, declared he would follow the example of Lare- 
 velliere. 
 
 Barras imagined the device of employing an inter- 
 mediary to obtain the abdication of his colleagues. 
 He applied with this view to an old Girondist, Ber- 
 goeng, whom a taste for pleasures brought into his 
 society. He charged him to wait on Larevelliere 
 and beseech him to divest himself of the obnoxious 
 dignity. Bergoeng, accepting the mission, came to 
 Larevelliere in the gloom of night, appealed to the 
 long friendship which united them, and inculcated 
 every argument to shake his resolution. He assured 
 him that Barras loved and honoured him, and re- 
 garded his removal as iniquitous, but that he conjured 
 him to yield in order to escape an inevitable outrage. 
 Larevelliere remained inflexible, lie replied that 
 Barras was the dupe of Sieyes, Sieyes of Barras, 
 and that both were duped by the Bonapartes ; adding 
 that the ruin of the republic was designed, but that 
 he would resist to his last gasp. 
 
 On the morrow, the 30th, Gohier was to be in- 
 stalled. The four directors were assembled ; all the 
 ministers were present. When the installation was 
 completed, and the orations of the president and the 
 new director were duly delivered, the subject of the 
 eve was revived. Barras requested to speak in pri- 
 vate with Lare'velliere ; they retired into an adjoin- 
 ing chamber. Barras renewed towards his colleague 
 the same instances, the same caressing flatteries, but 
 found him equally partinacious. He returned suffi- 
 ciently disconcerted with his failure, aiul keenly ap- 
 prehensive of any discussion regarding the acts of the 
 Directory, which could by no means redoiuid to his 
 credit or advantage. He rose to speak, and not 
 venturing to assail Larevelliere, he declaimed against 
 Merlin, whom he heartily detested, drew a descrip- 
 tion of him the most ludicrous and faUe, and depicted 
 him as a braggart bully, plainiing, with a gang of 
 scape grace cut-tliroats, to execute a couji d'vlat 
 against his colleagues aiul the Councils. Larevelliere, 
 rushing to the rescue of Merlin, iunnediately replied 
 and exposed the gross absurdity of such charges. 
 Nothing assuredly could be more dissimilar than this 
 portrait of the nu'ck jurisconsult Merlin. Larevelliere 
 proceeded to unfold the liisloiy of tlie whole direc- 
 torial administration, dwelling ujion it in detail to 
 enlighten the ministers and the entering director. 
 Barras sat duriiig this recital in painful confusion ; 
 he at length started to his feet, exclaiming: " So be 
 it ! it is doiu> ; swords are di'awn !" — " \\' retch !" 
 Larevelliere retoitcd with stermiess, " what dost 
 thou say of s\vor(U ? There are but knives here, 
 and they are directed against blameless men, whose 
 throats you would cut, since you cainmt induce tiiem 
 to commit a weakn(:ss !"
 
 750 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Gobier then attempted to interpose as mediator, 
 but was unable to succeed. At this moment, several 
 members of the Ancients and of the Five-Hundred 
 having taken concert together, appeared to entreat 
 the two directors to yield, promising that no act of 
 impeachment should be exhibited against them. Lare- 
 velliere answered proudly that he asked no favour, 
 that they might impeach him and he would defend 
 himself. The deputies, who had volunteered this 
 mission, then returned to the two Councils and oc- 
 casioned an egregious ferment by a narrative of what 
 had occurred. Boulay de la Sleurthe rose to de- 
 nounce Lare'velliere, acknowledging his probity, but 
 reviling him for projects of a new religion and in- 
 veighing bitterly against his waywardness, which, he 
 said, threatened to ruin the republic. The patriots 
 gave vent to most intemperate exclamations, and 
 vociferated that since they persisted, no mercy should 
 be shown to the two recusant directors. 
 
 The excitement grew to a fearful height, and the 
 struggle being once fairly commenced, it was impos- 
 sible to dttermine to what extremities it might lead. 
 In this conjuncture sundry moderate men of the two 
 Councils entered into consultation, and agreed that, 
 in order to avoid some pitiable catastrophe, it was 
 absolutely essential to prevail on Lare'velliere to suc- 
 cumb. 'I'hey repaired to his residence during the 
 evening of the 30th, and besought him, in the name 
 of the dangers which beset the republic, to resign 
 his office. They assured him they were all exposed 
 to the utmost peril, and that if he persevered in his 
 resistance they knew not to what extravagance the 
 fury of the parties might be goaded. — " But do you 
 not perceive," Lare'velliere replied to them, "the 
 greater peril the republic incurs ? Do you not see 
 that it is not against you intentions are harboured, 
 but against the Constitution ? that in yielding to-day, 
 it becomes incumbent to yield to-morrow, continu- 
 ally, and that the republic will be lost through our 
 weakness ? — My functions," he added, " are burden- 
 some to me ; and if I am obstinate in now retaining 
 them, it is because I deem it a duty to oppose an 
 insurmountable barrier to the plots of the factious. 
 However, if you all believe that my resistance will 
 expose you to danger, I will surrender ; but, I fore- 
 warn you, the republic is lost. A single individual 
 cannot save it ; I yield therefore, since I remain 
 alone, and I give you my resignation." 
 
 He framed it in the course of the night. He ac- 
 companied it with a letter, simple and dignified in 
 style, expressive of his motives. Merlin solicited 
 permission to copy it, and the two resignations were 
 forwarded together. Thus was the old Directory 
 dissolved. All the factions it had successively la- 
 boured to repress ultimately combined to overpower 
 it, their resentment concentrated on a common ob- 
 ject. It was guilty only of one fault, that of being 
 weaker than its enemies ; a signal fault, it is true, and 
 one which necessitates the fall of a government. 
 
 Notwithstanding the general exasperation, Lare- 
 velliere carried with him the esteem of all enlight- 
 ened citizens. On quitting the Directory he de- 
 clined to receive the hundred thousand francs which 
 his colleagues had agreed to give retiring members ; 
 he even rejected the portion to whicli he was entitled 
 of savings upon their appointments, and left behind 
 him the carriage it was usual for an ex-director to 
 take with him. He withdrew to Andilly, to a small 
 mansion he possessed at that place, where he re- 
 ceived the visits of all the eminent men whom the 
 wrath of parties failed to intimidate. The mini-ter 
 Talleyrand was in the number of those who visited 
 the fallen director in his retreat. 
 
 CHAPTER LXL 
 
 FOR3IATION OF THE NEW DIRECTORY MOULINS 
 
 AND R0<;EB-DUC0S .SUCCEED I.AREVELLIERE ANP 
 MERLIN. — LEW OF ALL THE CLASSES OF CON- 
 SCRIPTS. — FORCED LOAN OF ONE HUNDRED MIL- 
 LIONS. FRESH MILITARY PLANS. — RESUMPTION 
 
 OF OPERATIONS IN ITALY JOUBERT GENERAL- 
 IN-CHIEF BATTLE OF NOVI AND DEATH OF JOU- 
 BERT DEBARKATION OF THE ANGLO-RUSSIANS 
 
 IN HOLLAND. NEW TROUBLES IN THE INTERIOR; 
 
 ARREST OF ELEVEN JOURNALISTS ; MOTION TO 
 DECLARE THE COUNTRY IN DANGER. 
 
 Years assuage party-spirit, but many are needed to 
 extingush it. Passions expire only ^nth the hearts 
 in which they blazed. An entii'e generation must 
 disappear ere the assumptions of parties subside into 
 legitimate claims, and time can operate between 
 them a fair and reasonable compromise. But before 
 that period arrives, parties are ungovernable by the 
 sole influence of reason. The government which 
 would address them in the language of justice and 
 the laws soon becomes insupportable to them, and 
 the more moderate it is, the more they despise it as 
 weak and impotent. Should it, finding faction deaf 
 to its voice, seek to employ force, it is pronounced 
 tyrannical, reviled as adding iniquity to weakness. 
 Apart from the effects of time, a strong despotism 
 alone can curb exasperated factions. The Directory 
 was that legal and moderate government which en- 
 deavoured to im, ose the restraint of laws upon the 
 parties the revolution had produced, and which so 
 many years had not yet tamed. They all coalesced, 
 as we have just witnessed, on the SOth Prairial, to 
 effect its downfall. The common enemy overthrown, 
 they stood in presence of each other without any 
 rein to guide them. We shall see how they used 
 their license. 
 
 The constitution, although no longer but a phan 
 tom, was not abolished, and it was requisite to re- 
 place, by some shadow of an executive, the dissolved 
 Directory. Gohier had superseded Treilhard ; suc- 
 cessors were to be found to Larevelliere and Jlerlin. 
 Roger-Ducos and IMoulins were chosen. Roger- 
 Ducos was an old Girondist, of upright character, 
 but very moderate capacity, and wholly devoted to 
 Sieyes. He owed his nomination, indeed, to the in- 
 fluence of Sieyes in the Council of Ancients. Mou- 
 lins was an obscure general, formerly engaged in La 
 A'endee, a zealous and virtuous republican, elected, 
 like Gohier, through the sway of the patriot party. 
 Other men of note, both civil and military, had been 
 put in nomination but rejected. From such selec- 
 tions it was evident the parties were not disposed to 
 give themselves masters. They had raised to the 
 Directory only those mediocre personages usually 
 charged with interim governments. 
 
 The new Directory, composed like the Councils 
 of opposite parties, was necessarily weaker and less 
 homogeneous than the preceding. Sieyes, the only 
 superior man among the five directors, dreamed, as 
 we know, of a reformed political organization. He 
 was the chief of the party which designated itself 
 the moderate or constitutional, all the njembers 
 whereof nevertheless upheld the necessity of a new 
 constitution. He had no attached colleague but 
 Roger-Ducos. Moulins and Gohier, both warm 
 patriots, and incompetent to conceive anything but 
 what existed, supported the actual constitution, but 
 desired to execute and interpret it in the sense of 
 the patriots. As to Barras, naturally occupying 
 the position of arbiter between them, who could 
 rely on him ? The chaos of conflicting vices, pas- 
 sions, interests, and ideas which the expiring repub- 
 lic presented, found in him alone a living emblem.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 i5\ 
 
 The majority, depending on his vote, was therefore 
 committed to hazard. 
 
 Sieyes tohl his new colleagues pretty roundly that 
 Ihey assumed the direction of a government threat- 
 ened with a speedy fall, but that the republic must 
 he saved if the constitution could not. This language 
 highly displeased Gohier and Moulins, and was re- 
 ceived by them in dudgeon. So, from the first day, 
 opinions seemed in little unison. Sieyes held the 
 same language to Joubert, the general sought to be 
 entrapped in the re-organizing party. But Joubert, 
 a veteran of the army of Italy, partook its political 
 sentiments ; he was a stanch patriot, and the views 
 of Sieyes appeared to him suspicious. He opened 
 himself in secret to Ciohier and Moulins, and thence- 
 forth manifestly sided with them. But, in truth, 
 these were questions which could oidy come here- 
 after under discussion. The urgent and immediate 
 point was to administer and defend the menaced re- 
 public. Intelligence of the battle of the Trebbia, 
 universally diffused, had thrown all men into alarm. 
 Decisive measures for the public safety were become 
 indispensable. 
 
 The first care of a government is to do precisely 
 the reverse of its predecessor, were it merely in 
 deference to the passions which have insured its 
 triumph. Championnet, the much-vaunted hero of 
 Naples, Joubert, and Bernadotte, were now destined 
 to emerge from prison or disgrace to fill the highest 
 employments. Championnet was immediately set at 
 liberty, and named general of a new army proposed 
 to be formed along the Great-Alps. Bernadotte 
 was intrusted with the portfolio of the minister of 
 war. Joubert wa% deputed to command the army 
 of Italy. His achievements in the Tyrol, his youth, 
 and his heroic character, all tended to inspire the 
 most exalted hopes. The re-organizers wished him 
 sufficient success and glory to enable him to promote 
 their schemes. The selection of Joubert was very 
 good doubtless, but it was a fresh injustice to Moreau, 
 who had so generously accepted the commaiul of a 
 defeated army, and saved it with such consummate 
 ability. But IMoreau was distasteful to the zealous 
 patriots, who predominated at the moment. He was 
 assigned the command of a pretended army of the 
 Rhine which had no existence. 
 
 There were, moreover, sundi-y changes in the 
 ministry. Ramel, the minister of finance, who had 
 rendered eminent services since the installation of 
 the Directory, and who had officiated during the dif- 
 ficult transition from paper-money to specie, was in- 
 volved in the odium attached to the old Directory. 
 He was so virulently assailed that, despite the esteem 
 they entertained for him, the new directors were 
 constrained to accept his resignation. They ap- 
 pointed as his successor a man dear to the patriots, 
 and respectable with all parties : Robert Lindet, 
 formerly member of the committee of public welfare, 
 so indecently attacked during the reaction. He 
 streiuioiisly opposed the oifer of a portfolio : the ex- 
 perience he bad learnt of the injustice of parties was 
 little calculated to induce his resumption of public 
 life. He eventually consented, however, from a 
 spirit of devotion to the repul)lic. 
 
 The diplomacy of tlie Directory had been equally 
 censured with its financial administration. It was 
 accused of having re[)huiged the repuldic in war 
 with all Europe ; most wrongly so, especially if we 
 consider who were the accusers. They \\'erc, in 
 fact, the patriots tliemselves, whose own passions 
 had maiidy contributed to stir afresh the embers of 
 war. They reproached the Directory more particu- 
 larly with the expedition to Egy{)t, primarily so ex- 
 tolled, and contended that this expedition had pro- 
 voked the ru|)ture with the Porte ami Russia. The 
 minister Talleyrand, already disagreeable to the pa- 
 triots as an ex-emigrant, had incurred all the respon- 
 i;il)ility of this diplomiicy, and was so hotly denounced 
 
 hat it became necessary to act with him as with- 
 Ramel, and accept his resignation. The successor 
 assigned him was a Wurtemberger, who, under the 
 cloak of German hilarity, concealed a remarkable 
 acumen, and whom M. de Talleyrand himself recom- 
 mended as the man most capable of taking his place. 
 This was M. Reinhard. It has been said that this 
 appointment was oidy provisional, and that M. Rein- 
 hard held it merely until M. de Talleyrand could be 
 reuistated. The iTiinistry of justice was taken from 
 Lambrechts on account of his health, and conferred 
 on Cambaceres. In the ministry of police was in- 
 stalled Bourguignon, an. ex-magistrate, a sincere and 
 honest patriot. Fouche, the ex-jacobin, so supple, 
 so insinuating, whom Barras had interested in the 
 traffic of the companies, and afterwards provided 
 with tlie embassy to Milan, Fouche, cashiered on 
 account of his conduct in Italy, also passed for a 
 victim of the late Directory. He must, therefore, 
 participate in the triumph awarded to all the victims, 
 real or pretended ; he was delegated to the Hague. 
 
 Such were the. principal changes made in the de- 
 partments of government and in the armies. The 
 mere change of men availed little ; the more es- 
 sential point was to furnish them with additional 
 capabilities of accomplishing the task, under the 
 weight of which their predecessors had succumbed. 
 The patriots, intent, as usual with them, on revolu- 
 tionary expedients, maintained that great evils must 
 be met by great remedies. They recurred to the 
 urgent measures of 1793. After having refused all 
 aid to the late Directory, they were content to lavish 
 every resource on the present ; they proposed to 
 place in its hands extraordinary means, and compel 
 it to use them too. The committee of eleven, formed 
 from the three committees of expenditure, funds, 
 and war, and charged, during the crisis of Prairial, 
 to devise the means of saving the republic, conferred 
 with the members of the Directory, and digested 
 with them different measures conformable to the 
 dispositions of the moment. Instead of 200,000 
 men, drawn from the five classes of conscripts, the 
 Directory was empowered to call out the whole of 
 the classes. Instead of the taxes propounded by the 
 late Directory and repudiated with such asperity, a 
 forced loan was again resorted to. Agreeably to the 
 system of the patriots it was to be made progres.sive, 
 that is to say, in lieu of making each person contri- 
 bute according to the amount of his direct taxes, 
 which would have at once constituted the lists of 
 property and personal contributions the basis of 
 assessment, each would be obliged to contribute ac- 
 cording to his fortune. In that case a taxing jury 
 was requisite, or, in other words, an ambulatory 
 oommission to assess wealth. The middle party 
 opposed this project, alleging it to be a revival of 
 the system of teiTor, and foreboding that the diffi- 
 culty of assessment would i-ender the measure ineffi- 
 cacious and null, as in the instance of the old forced 
 loa?is. The patriots replied that the expenses of 
 the war must be thrown, not ujion all classes, but 
 upon the rich alone. The same passions, we see, 
 always employ the same reasons. The forced and 
 progressive loan was decreed ; it was fixed at one 
 hundred millions, and declared redeemable in national 
 domains. 
 
 Besides these measures for recruiting the armies 
 and the finances, the adoption of souu' police regula- 
 tion had become in(iis|)ensable for the suppression of 
 chouuiincrie in the South, and in the departments of 
 the West, the former theatres of civil war. Fresh 
 depredations and atrocities had been commenced in 
 those quarters ; the purchasers of national property, 
 reputed patriots, and public fiuictionaries, were assas- 
 sinated, and the diligences were stopped and plun- 
 dered. Among the perpetrators of these enormities 
 were several Vendeans and Chouans, many members 
 of the famous com|>anies of the Sun, and also nuuier-
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 ous refractory conscript;;. Although these brigands, 
 whose presence announced a species of social dissolu- 
 tion, had pillage for their real object, yet it was 
 clear, from the selection of their victims, that they 
 had a political origin or bias. A connnittee was 
 named to concoct a system of repression. It pro- 
 duced a law, which was called the law of hostages, 
 and has remained celebrated under that name. As 
 the greater part of these crimes was attributed to 
 the relatives of emigrants or ex-n(Jbles, it was in con- 
 se(|uenCL' proposed to oblige them to give hostages. 
 Whenever a commune was certified to be in a notori- 
 ous state of disorder, the relations or coimections of 
 emigrants, the ex-nobles, the parents and ascend- 
 ants of individuals known to form part of the gangs, 
 were considered as hostages, and as civilly and per- 
 sonally responsible for the oifences committed. The 
 central administrations were to designate the indivi- 
 duals marked as hostages, and cause them to be in- 
 carcerated in houses selected for the purpose. There 
 they were to live at their owai expense, and as it 
 behoved them, remaining shut up during the con- 
 tinuance of the disorder. When the delinquencies 
 reached the height of murder, four hostages were to 
 be banished for every assassination. All that might 
 be urged for or against such a law is easily conceived. 
 It atibrded, argued its partisans, the only mode of 
 reaching the authors of the disorders, and this mode 
 was mild and humane. It constituted, retorted its 
 adversaries, a new law of the suspected, a revolu- 
 tionary law, which, in the incapacity to reach the 
 true culprits, smote indiscriminately, and inflicted 
 all the injustices attendant upon ^awsof that nature. 
 In a word, pro and con the same arguments were re- 
 peated which we have so often had occasion to quote 
 in the course of this history touching revolutionary 
 laws. But an insuperable objection existed against 
 this measure beyond all others. These brigands 
 springing solely from an actual social dissolution, the 
 only fitting remedy lay in a vigorous reorganization 
 of the state, and not in measures utterly discredited, 
 and which were incapable of imparting any force to 
 the springs of government. 
 
 The law was passed after a warm discussion, dur- 
 ing which the parties that had for a moment com- 
 bined to supplant the old Directory, separated amid 
 a blaze of invective. To these important measures, 
 designed to arm the government with revolutionary 
 powers, others were added tending, in different re- 
 spects, to curtail its prerogative. These accessory 
 measures were a consequence of the reproaches lev- 
 elled against the late Directory. To prevent seces- 
 sions for the future, it was decreed that the return 
 of every electoral fraction should be void; that every 
 agent of the government seeking to influence elec- 
 tions should be punished as for a crime against the 
 sovereignty of the people ; that the Directory should 
 not bring troops within the constitutional radius 
 wthoutan express authority ; that no military ofiicer 
 could be deprived of liis grade without the decision 
 of a court-martial; that the privilege granted to the 
 Directory of issuing warrants of arrest could no 
 longer be delegated to agents ; that no person in 
 government employment, or any functionary whatso- 
 ever, could be either a contractor or even interested 
 in the bargains of contractors ; and that a club could 
 not be formed without the sanction of the municipal 
 ami central admini?.trations. With regard to the 
 press, it was found impossible to agree upon a law 
 for its regulation ; but the article in the law of the 
 I9th Fructidor, wiiich conferred on the Directory 
 the power of suppressing journals, continued never- 
 theless repealed ; therefore, pending a new enact- 
 ment, the press remained indefinitely free. 
 
 Such were tlie acts adopted consequent upon the 
 30th Prairial, both to reform alleged abuses, and to 
 restore to the government the energy it needed. 
 But measures taken in moments of crisis, in the se- 
 
 quel of a change of system, and intended to save a 
 state, rarely achieve the object in view, for all is 
 often decided before they cm be brought into effec- 
 tual action. They provide for the most part only 
 resources for the future. The loan of a hundred 
 millions, and the new levies, could not be raised for 
 some months. Nevertheless, the effect of a crisis is 
 to give an impetus to the motions of government, 
 and inspire it with vigour. Bernadotte hastened to 
 send into all quarters pressing circulars, and thus 
 succeeded in accelerating the organization already 
 commenced of the battalions of conscripts. Robert 
 Lindet, to whom the loan of a hundred millions pre- 
 sented no immediate resource, assembled the prin- 
 cipal bankers and merchants of the metropolis, and 
 urged them to lend their crefUt to the. state. They 
 consented, and gave their signatures to the minister 
 of finance. They formed themselves into a syndi- 
 cate, and pending the receipt of the taxes, signed 
 bills which they were to be reimbursed as products 
 were realized. This constituted a sort of temporary 
 bank established for the exigencies of the moment. 
 
 New plans of campaign were likewise deemed ne- 
 cessary, and Bernadotte was asked for a scheme. He 
 speedily produced one of a singular character, which 
 was fortunately not put in execution. A field of 
 battle so vast as that over which operations extended 
 was of course susceptible of numerous combinations. 
 Every one studying it might entertain a different 
 idea; and if each were allowed to submit his indi- 
 vidual impressions, and have them adopted, there 
 might be a change of project every instant. If in 
 discussion a variety of counsel is advantageous, in 
 execution it is deplorable. In the outset, it had 
 been determined to act simultaneously on the Danube 
 and in Switzerland. After the battle of Stockach, 
 it was resolved to operate only in Switzerland, and 
 the army of the Danube was suppressed. At pre- 
 sent, Bernadotte was of a different persuasion ; he 
 imagined that the cause of the success of the allies 
 lay in the facility with which they were enabled 
 to communicate, over the Alps, from Germany into 
 Italy. To debar them from these means of com- 
 munication, he suggested that Saint-Gothard and the 
 Grisons on the right wing of the army of Switzer- 
 land should be wrested from them, and that an army 
 of the Danube should be formed to re-carry the war 
 into the heart of Germany. To compose this army 
 of the Danube, he proposed to promptly organize the 
 army of the Rhine, and to reinforce it with 20,000 
 men abstracted from Massena. This was effectually 
 to compronnse the latter, who had before him all 
 the forces of the Archduke, and might readily be 
 overwhelmed under the elfect of this displacement. 
 True, it would have been advisable to carry back 
 the war to the Danube, but it was sufficient to give 
 Massena the means of assuming the offensive, in 
 order that his army might itself become this identi- 
 cal army of the Danube. Hence, his hands were to 
 be strengthened rather than weakened. According 
 to Bernadotte's plan, an army was to be assembled 
 on the Great- Alps, in order to cover the frontier 
 against the Austro-Russians on the side of Pied- 
 mont. And Joubert, collecting the remains of all 
 the armies in Italy, and reniforced by disposable 
 troops from the interior, was to debouch from the 
 Apennines and fall upon Suwarrov with irresistible 
 force. 
 
 This plan, highly approved by Moulins, was for- 
 warded to the generals. Massena, weary of these 
 fickle and extravagant projects, tendered his resigna- 
 tion. It was not accepted, nor the plan put in exe- 
 cution. Massena retained the connnand of all the 
 troops from Basle to Saint-Gothard. The scheme of 
 mustering an army on the Rhine to protect that line 
 was however persisted in. An army-nucleus was 
 formed on the Alps, under the orders ot Champion- 
 net. This nucleus was nearly 13,000 men strong.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 733 
 
 All the reinforcements disposable were sent to the 
 army under Joubert, who it was intended should de- 
 bouch from the Apennines. It was now the very 
 middle of the season, ^lessidor (July). The rein- 
 forcements began to reach his camp. A certain 
 number of veteran b;)ttalions, hitherto detained in 
 the interior, were moved to the frontier. The con- 
 scripts were org-anizing, and destined to replace the 
 veteran troops in the garrisons. Lastly, as the de- 
 pots were insufficient for the great number of con- 
 scripts, the device of augmenting the mimber of 
 battalions in the demi-brigades or regiments was hit 
 upon, which permitted the incorporation of the new 
 levies in the old corps. 
 
 A reinforcement of 30,000 Russians was known to 
 be advancing through Germany, under the orders of 
 General Korsakof. Consequently, Massena was urged 
 to move from his positions and attack those of the 
 Archduke, in order to defeat him if possible before 
 his junction with the Russians. Li this respect the 
 government doubtless judged correctly, since it was 
 of importance to make an attempt before so imposing 
 a mass of troops was concentrated. However, Mas- 
 sena refused to act upon the offensive, either that he 
 lacked in this instance his wonted daring, or that he 
 awaited the resumption of hostilities in Italy. Mili- 
 tary authorities have all condemned his inaction, 
 which, in truth, proved eventually fortunate through 
 the blunders of the enemy, and was at all events re- 
 deemed by illustrious exploits. Still, in obedience 
 to the instances of the government, and in partial 
 execution of Bernadotte's plan, the grand feature of 
 which was to prevent the Austro-Russians from com- 
 municating between Germany and Italy, Massena 
 ordered Lecourbe to prolong his right as far as Saint- 
 Gothard, seize upon that important point, and re- 
 take the Grisons. By this operation the Great- Alps 
 reverted under the command of the French, and the 
 hostile armies engaged in Germany were cut off from 
 communication with those acting in Italy. Lecourbe 
 performed the enterprise with the intrepidity and 
 hardihood which distinguished him in mountain war- 
 fare, and once more rendered himself master of Saint- 
 Gothard. 
 
 Meanwhile, fresh events were pending in Italy. 
 Suwarrov, explicitly enjoined by the court of Vienna 
 to reduce all the fortresses before pushing his advan- 
 tages, had not profited in the slightest degree by his 
 victory on the Trebbia. He might, indeed, even 
 whilst conforming with his instructions, have re- 
 served a mass sufficient to scatter to the winds the 
 broken remnants of the French ; but his genius was 
 inadequate to military combinations of that descrip- 
 tion. He consumed his time, therefore, in prosecut- 
 ing sieges. Peschiera, Pizzighitone, and the citadel 
 of Milan, had fallen. The citadel of Turin had under- 
 gone the like fate. The two celebrated strongholds 
 of Mantua and Alessandria still held out and gave 
 promise of a long resistance. Kray beleaguered Man- 
 tua, and Bellegarde Alessandria. Unfortunately all 
 the places had been intrusted to commanders desti- 
 tute either of energy or education. The artillery 
 was inefficiently served, since none but shattered corps 
 had been thrown into them; whilst the distan(!e of 
 the active armies, driven liack on the Apennines, sin- 
 gularly depressed the courage of their defenders. 
 Mantua, the principal of these fortresses, was far 
 from deserving the reputation Bonaparte's siege had 
 conferred upon it. Not its strength, but the conca- 
 tenation of circumstances had then protracted its de- 
 fence. Bonaparte, in fact, with 10,000 men had shut 
 up within its walls 14,000 to perish of fever and 
 famine. At present General Latour-Foissac was the 
 governor of Mantua. He was an experienced olficer 
 of engineers, but deficient in the vigour requisite for 
 the particular nature of the service required. Dis- 
 couraged by the irregularity of the place, and the 
 defective state of the fortifications, he had no idea 
 
 of supplying the want of walls by activity and bold- 
 ness. Moreover, his garrison was insufficient, and, 
 after the first assaults, he appeared disposed to sur- 
 render. General Gaidanne commanded at Alessan- 
 dria. He was a man of determination, but not ade- 
 quately instructed. He vigorously repulsed a first 
 assault ; nevertheless, he was incompetent to discern 
 in the place the resources it still presented. 
 
 More than a month had elapsed since the revolu- 
 tion of the 30th Prairial and the nomination of Jou- 
 bert. Moreau was sensible of the importance of 
 assuming the aggressive before the fall of all the for- 
 tresses, and of debouching, with the army reorganized 
 and reinforced, u|)on the dispersed Austro-Russians. 
 Unhappily he was fettered by directions from the 
 government enjoining him to await the arrival of 
 Joubert. Thus, in this calamitous campaign, a 
 series of untimely incongruous orders had always 
 been the cause of the reverses. Instability of ideas 
 and plans in matters of execution, more particularly 
 in war, is invariably prejudicial. If Moreau, to 
 whom the conunaiid ought to have been given at 
 first, had held it even since the battle of Cassano 
 without participation, all would have been well ; but 
 associated now with Macdonald, now with Joubert, 
 he was prevented for the second and third time from 
 retrieving the disasters and vindicating the honour 
 of the French arms. 
 
 Joubert, whom it was sought to attach, by a mar- 
 riage and tiattering attentions, to the party contem- 
 plating a reorganization, wasted a whole month, that 
 of Messidor (June and July), in celebrating his nup- 
 tials, and thus lost a decisive opportunity. He was 
 not actually gained to the party so desirous of his 
 support, for he remained devoted to the patriots, and 
 the precious interval was in that respect fruitles-ly 
 consumed. He at length departed, saying to his 
 young spouse : " Thuu wilt see me again dead or vic- 
 torious." He bore with him, in truth, the heroic 
 determination to conquer or to die. t^pon reaching 
 the army in the middle of Thermidor (beginning of 
 August), this ingenuous young general testified the 
 utmost deference towards the consummate master he 
 was appointed to supersede. He besought him to 
 remain with him to assist him with his counsels. 
 Moreau, equally generous with the young soldier, 
 consented to be present at his first battle and give 
 him the benefit of his experience. Noble and touch- 
 ing brotherhood, which reHects high honour on the 
 virtues of the republican generals, and belongs to a 
 time when patriotic zeal still overcame ambition in 
 the hearts of French warriors ! 
 
 The French army, composed of the relics of the 
 armies of Upper- Italy and Naples and of reinforce- 
 ments from the interior, amounted to 40,000 men, 
 perfectly reorganized and burning with desire to 
 measure swords again with the enemy. Nothing 
 could excel the patriotic ardour of these soldiers, 
 who, though constantly defeated, had never been dis- 
 couraged, but still demanded to be led against their 
 insolent foes. No republican army ever deserved 
 better of France, for none more fully repelled the 
 unjust reproach attached to the French of being un- 
 able to support reverses. Unquestionably, its firm- 
 ness was partly owing to the brave and unassuming 
 general in whom it had placed all its confidence, and 
 who was taken from it always at the moment he was 
 about to conduct it again to victory. 
 
 These 40,000 men were independent of the 15,000 
 intended to serve, uruler Cliauipionnet, as the nu- 
 cleus of the army of the Great- Alps. They had 
 debouched by the Bormida on Acqui, by the Bochet- 
 ta on Gavi, and taken position in front of Novi. An 
 army of such force might, by debouching m time, 
 before the junction of the different corps engaged in 
 sieges, have gained decisive advantages. But Ales- 
 sandria had recently opened its gates, on the 4th 
 Thermidor (■22d July). A vague rumour also pre-
 
 754 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 vailed that ]Mantua had likewise surrejuiered. This 
 sad report was soon confirmed, and tidings arrived 
 that the capitulation had been signed on the 12th 
 Thermidor (30th July). Kray had just joined Su- 
 warrov with 20,000 men, and the operative mass of 
 the Austrio-Russians was now augmented to sixty 
 and some thousand men. Hence it was no longer pos- 
 sible for Joubert to contend on equal terms ^\^th an 
 enemy so superior. He l.eld a council of war, at 
 which the general opinion was in favour of retreating 
 into the .Apennines and acting on the defensive in 
 expectation of additional forces. 
 
 Joubert was about to execute this resolution when 
 he w'as anticipated by Suwarrov and obliged to ac- 
 cept battle. The French army was ranged in a 
 semicircle on the slopes of the ^lonte-Rotondo, com- 
 manding the whole plain of Novi. The left, formed 
 of the divisions under Groucliy and Lemoine, ex- 
 tended circularly in front of Pasturana. It had 
 behind the ravine of Riasco, which rendered its rear 
 accessible to an enemy sufficiently daring to entan- 
 gle himself in the ravine. The re-erve of cavalry^ 
 commanded by Richepanse, was in the rear of this 
 wing. In the centre, the division of Laboissiere 
 covered the heights to the right and left of the town 
 of Novi. Watrin's division, on the right wing, de- 
 fended the approaches of the AIonte-Rotondo, on the 
 side of the Tortona road. Dombrowski with a divi- 
 sion blocked Seravalla. General Perignon com- 
 manded the French left, and Saint-Cyr the centre 
 and right. The position was strong, advantageously 
 occupied on all points, and assuredly difficult to 
 force. Still forty thousand men against upwards of 
 sixty thousand laboured under an immense disad- 
 vantage. Suwarrov resolved to attack the position 
 with his accustomed violence. He directed Kray on 
 the French left with the divisions of Ott and Bel- 
 legarde. The Russian corps under Derfelden, hav- 
 ing in front the vanguard led by Bagration, was ap- 
 pointed to attack their centre at Novi. JNIelas. 
 remaining a little in the rear with the rest of the 
 army, was to assail their right. By a singular com- 
 bination, or rather through a want of combination, 
 the attacks were to be successive and not simul- 
 taneous. 
 
 At five in the morning of the 28th Thermidor 
 (13th August), Kray commenced the attack. Bel- 
 legarde selected the division under Grouchy on the 
 extreme left and Ott the division under Lemoine. 
 These two divisions being yet unformed were nearly 
 surprised and broken. The obstinate resistance of 
 one of the demi-brigades obliged Kray to throw him- 
 self upon the 20th Light, which he routed, concen- 
 trating upon it his principal efTort. His troops were 
 already gaining ground on the plateau, when Joubert 
 galloped in all haste to the point of danger. There 
 was no longer time to think of a retreat, ai:d every 
 hazard nnist be encountered to repel the enemy to 
 the foot of the plateau. Advancing amidst the tiral- 
 leurs to encourage them, Joubert received a bullet 
 which struck him near the heart and stretched him on 
 the ground. On the point of expiring, the young hero 
 still cried to his soldiers: '■^Forward, mi/ Fi-H'?id.<i, 
 forward." This untoward event was calculated to 
 throw the army into disorder; but fortunately 
 Moreau had accompanied Joubert to the spot. Ho 
 immediately took the command, which was resigned 
 to him by the general confidence, rallied the troops, 
 inflamed with resentment, and led them on the Aus- 
 trians. The grenadiers of the 34th chased them at 
 the point of tlie bayonet and hurled tlieui to the foot 
 of the hill. It was to be regretted the French had 
 not yet their artillery in battery, whilst the Aus- 
 trians, on the contrary, ploughed their ranks with a 
 storm of shells and balls. During this action, Bel- 
 fegarde attempted to turn the extreme right by the 
 ravine of Riasco, which has been already mentioned 
 as giving access to the French rear. He had ad- 
 
 vanced a considerable distance, when Perignon, con- 
 fronting him opportunely with the reserve commanded 
 by General Clausel, ari-ested his march. Perignon 
 I succeeded in driving him back into the plain, charg- 
 ing upon him the grenadiers of Partouneaux and the 
 cavalry under Richepanse. This vigorous exploit 
 disembarrassed the left wing. 
 
 lender favour of the peculiar combination planned 
 I by Suwarrov. who designed to render his attacks 
 I successive, the French centre had not yet been at- 
 j tacked. Saint-Cyr had gained time to make his 
 I dispositions and draw towards Novi Watrin's divi- 
 sion, forming his extreme right. At the instance of 
 Kray, who begged to be supported by an attack in 
 the centre, Bagration finally determined to assault 
 him with his vanguard. Laboissiere's division, which 
 stood to the left of Novi, allowing Bagration's Rus- 
 sians to approach within half-musket-shot, suddenly 
 overwhelmed them with a terrible discharge of mus- 
 ketry and grape and strewed the field with dead. 
 Without giving ground, Bagration detached some 
 battalions to turn Novi on the right ; but, en- 
 countered by the division of Watrin, which was 
 approximating Novi, they w'ere repulsed into the 
 plain. 
 
 Thus the middle of the day arrived witliout the 
 French line being impinged. Suwarrov had just 
 come up with the Russian corps under Derfelden. 
 He immediately commanded a general attack along 
 the whole line. Kray was again to assail the left, 
 Derfelden and Bagration the centre ; whilst Melas 
 was enjoined to accelerate his pace and fall upon 
 the right of the French. All being ready, the Aus- 
 tro-Russians advanced upon the entire line. -Kray, 
 charging furiously on the left, again sought tooreak 
 it in front ; but the reserve under Clausel worsted 
 the troops of Bellegarde, and Lemoine's division 
 routed Ott upon the slopes of the hills. In the 
 centre, Suwarrov opened a tremendous assault both 
 right and left of Novi. A fresh attempt to turn the 
 town was foiled, as in the morning, by Watrin's 
 division. The French soldiers, unfortunately, im- 
 pelled by their ardour, abandoned themselves too 
 hotly to the pursuit of the enemy, adventured into 
 the plain, and were with difficulty rallied into posi- 
 tion. At one o'clock, the action slackened from 
 mutual fatigue ; but it speedily recommenced with 
 violence, atid during four successive hours the 
 French, firm as a wall of rock, resisted with admir- 
 able coolness the furious onslaughts of the Russians. 
 They had as yet suffered an inconsiderable loss. 
 'I'he Austro-Russians on the contrary had been hor- 
 ribly butchered. The plain was choked v^ith their 
 slain and dying. At this moment, the rest of the 
 Austro-Russian army arrived from Rivalta under the 
 orders of JNIelas. I'his new irruption was intended 
 for the French right. Saint-Cyr, descrying its ap- 
 proach, recalled Watrin's division, which had ad- 
 vanced too far on the plain, and directed it on a 
 plateau to the right of Novi. But whilst operating 
 this movement, it found itself already enveloped on 
 all sides by the numerous corps of Melas. This dis- 
 covery bewildered it ; it instantly broke and gained 
 the plateau in disorder. It Mas rallied however a 
 little in the rear. I)i the meantime, Suwarrov, re- 
 doubling his efforts on tl.e centre at Novi, fi);ally 
 drove the French into the town, and stormed the 
 heights which commanded it both right and left. 
 From that moment, Moreau, deennng a retreat una- 
 voidable, ordered it before the further progress of 
 the enemy barred the commuincations on Gavi. On 
 the right, Watrin's division was obliged to cut its 
 way to gain the Gavi road which was already blocked. 
 Laboissiere's division retired from Novi ; while Le- 
 moine's and Grouchy's divisions recoiled on Pastu- 
 rana. sustaining the furious charges of Kray. A 
 hostile battalion unluckily penetrated through the 
 ravine of Riasco, which extends beyond Pasturana
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 753 
 
 Its fire threw the French columns into dismal con- 
 fusion ; infantry, artillery, cavalry, all were con- 
 founded. Lemoine's division, pressed by the enemy, 
 disbanded and poured into the ravine. The French 
 soldiers were swept away like chatF before the wind. 
 Perignon and tirouchy rallied a few brave men to 
 arrest the enemy and save the artillery ; but they 
 were cut down and made prisoners Perignon had 
 received seven wounds, (Jrouchy six, all sabre cuts. 
 The gallant Colli, the Piedmontese General who had 
 so highly distinguished himself in the early campaigns 
 against the French, and had afterwards taken service 
 in their armies, formed in square with some battalions, 
 resisted until broken and forced, and fell all-mutilated 
 into the hands of the Russians. 
 
 After this first moment of confusion, tl;ie French 
 army rallied in advance of Gavi. The Austro- 
 Russians were too exhausted to follow in pursuit. 
 It was enabled to re-form in mai'diing order without 
 being incommoded. The loss on both sides was 
 equal ; it amounted to about ten thousand men in 
 each army. But the killed and wounded were far 
 the most numerous on the part of the Austro-Rus- 
 sians. The French had lost more prisoners. They 
 had likewise lost their general-in-chief, four gener: Is 
 of division, thirty-seven pieces of ordnance and four 
 colours. Never had they displayed more cool or 
 pertinacious valour. They were inferior to the ene- 
 my by at least a third. The Russians had manifested 
 their fanatical bravery, but owed their advantage 
 solely to the superiority of numbers, and certainly 
 not to the combinations of their general, who bad 
 exhibited the profoundest ignorance. He had in fact 
 exposed his columns to be mowed down one after the 
 other, and had failed to point his efforts sufficiently 
 against the French left, which was the position it 
 behoved him especially to carry. This deplorable 
 battle definitively shut out the French from Italy, 
 and permitted them no longer to keep the field. 
 They were compelled to remain close within the 
 Apennines, happy to be enabled to retain them. 
 The loss of the battle could not be imputed to 
 Moreau, but to the lamentable circumstance of the 
 junction between Kray and Suwarrov. Joubert's 
 procrastination, in truth, had alone occasioned this 
 last disaster. 
 
 The French misfortunes were not limited to the 
 battle of Novi. The expedition against Holland, 
 previously intimated, was at length undertaken by 
 the combined British and Russians. Paul had con- 
 cluded a treaty with Pitt, by which he bound himself 
 to furnish 17,000 Russians, to be in the pay of Eng- 
 land and to act in Hollar.d. After many difficulties 
 had been encountered and overcome, the expedition 
 had been prepared towards the end of August (be- 
 ginning of Fructidor) : 30,000 English were intended 
 to join the 17,000 Russians, and if the debarkation 
 were effected without obstacle, cor.fident hopes were 
 entertained of wresting Holland from the hands of 
 the French. It was a subject of the deepest concern 
 to England ; and did she succeed merely in destroy- 
 ing the fleets and arsenals of Holland, she would be 
 sufficiently remunerated for the expenses of the ex- 
 pedition. A powerful squadron sailed in the direc- 
 tion of the Sound in (juest of the Russians. A first 
 detachment endjarked under the orders of General 
 Abercrombie to attempt a landing. All the troops of 
 the expedition when once collected were to be under 
 the supreme conunand of the Duke of York. 
 
 The most advantageous point to land in Ilollarul 
 was the eml)0uchure of the Mouse. There the 
 French line of retreat was menaced, atid the Hague, 
 where the Stadtholder had most partisans, was close 
 at hand. The convenience of the coast caused Nortli 
 Holland to be preferred. Abercrond)ie proceeded 
 towards the Ilelder, where he arrived about the end 
 of August. After sundry obstacles, he disembarked 
 near the Ilelder, in the environs of Groot-Keeten, on 
 
 the 10th Fructidor (27th August). The immense 
 preparations the expedition had required, and the 
 presence of all the English fleets on the coasts, had 
 sufficiently warned the French to be upon their 
 guard. Brune commanded both the French and 
 Batavian armies. He had scarcelv under his orders 
 above 7,000 French and 10,000 Dutch commanded 
 by Daendels. He had directed the Batavian divi- 
 sion to the vicinity of the Helder, and disposed the 
 French division in the neighbourhood of Haerlem. 
 On disembarking, Abercrombie encountered the 
 Dutch at Groot-Keeten, worsted them, and thus 
 succeeded in safely landuig his troops. The Dutch, 
 on this occasion, showed themselves not deficient in 
 bravery, but they were not commanded with compe- 
 tent ability by General Daendels and were compelled 
 to retreat. Brune rallied them, and made his dispo- 
 sitions to attack with promptitude the disembarked 
 troops, before they had firmly established themselves, 
 or been reinforced by the Ei!glish and Russian divi- 
 sions on their way to join them. 
 
 The Dutch evinced very favourable dispositions. 
 The national guards offered to g;irrison the fortresses, 
 which allowed Brune to draw additional troops into 
 the field. He had summoned to his aid the division 
 of Dumonceau, 6,000 men strong, and he resolved to 
 attack, at the commencement of September, the 
 camp in which the English had planted themselves. 
 This camp was formidably situated on the Zip, 
 formerly a marsh but drained by Dutch industry, and 
 now an extensive plain intersected by canals, thickly 
 strewed with dykes, and studded with habitations : 
 17,000 English occupied it, with the best possible 
 defensive dispositions. Brune could nuister but 
 20,000 men at the utmost to execute the assault, 
 which was an insufficient force considering the nature 
 of the ground. He attacked this camp on the 22d 
 Fructidor (8th September), and, after a desperate 
 conflict, was obliged to beat a retreat and fall back 
 on Amsterdam. Thenceforth, he was no longer in 
 a position to prevent the junction of the Anglo- 
 Russian forces, and must await the formation of a 
 French army to oppose them. This establishment 
 of the English in Nord-Holland occasioned an event 
 which was chietly to be dreaded, the defection of the 
 Dutch fleet. No pains had been taken to close the 
 Texel, and the English Admiral Mitchell was enabled 
 to enter it with all his squadron. For some time 
 past the Dutcli sailors had been tampered with by 
 emissaries of the Prince of Orange ; accordingly, at 
 the first summons of Admiral Mitchell, they nm- 
 tinied and compelled Storey, their admiral, to strike. 
 The whole Dutch navy thus fell into the power of 
 the English, in itself an advantage of inestimable 
 price. 
 
 As tidings of these events successively reached 
 Paris, they produced the effect naturally to be anti- 
 cipated. They increased the excitement of all parties 
 but especially of the patriots, who clamoured, with 
 greater vehemence than ever, for the employment of 
 revolutionary expedients. The license restored to 
 journals and clubs had called a great number of both 
 into cxistenee. The remains of the .Tacobin party 
 had collected in the old hall of the Manege, where 
 the first assendjlies had sat. Although the law pro- 
 hibited popular societies from assuming tlie form of 
 delil)erative assemblies, the society (jf tlu- Jlanege had 
 notwithstanding given itself, under diirerent titles, a 
 pr(!si(ient, siu-retaries, and other officers. It was 
 fre(|U('nted by the ex-minister Bouchotte, Drouet, 
 Felix Le[)elletier, and Arena, all disciples or accom- 
 plices of Bahanif. Here they invoked the shades of 
 Goujon, Soubrany, and the \ictims of (iirenelle. And 
 here were demanded, in the style of 1793, the pun- 
 ishment of the blood-suckers of the people, the dis- 
 arming of rojjilists, the levy en masse, the establish- 
 uuMit of manufactures of arms in the public places, 
 the restitution of cannons and pikes to the national
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 guards, &c. The impeachment of the late directors 
 was particularly insisted upon, since to them the 
 recent disasters were unhesitatingly ascribed, as fall- 
 ing within the results of their administration. When 
 intelligence of the battle of Novi and of the events 
 in Holland arrived, the ferment exceeded all bounds. 
 Direful imprecations were lavished upon the generals. 
 Moreau was reviled as a fumbler ; Joubert himself, 
 despite his heroic death, was accused of having de- 
 stroyed the army by his delay in joining it. His 
 young wife, with ISIessieurs de Semonville, Sainte- 
 Foy and Talleyrand, to whom his marriage was at- 
 tributed, were loaded with the vilest abuse. The 
 Dutch government was denounced as guilty of treach- 
 ery ; it was alleged to be composed of aristocrats, of 
 stadtholderians, all enemies of France and liberty. 
 The Journal of Free Men, the organ of the party 
 congregating in the hall of the Manege, continually 
 declaimed in this rabid style, and aggravated the 
 abomination of its matter by accessary incentives in 
 its publication. 
 
 These manifestations awakened in many breasts a 
 sensation of terror. • A fresh representation of the 
 scenes of 9."] was apprehended. Tliose who desig- 
 nated themselves moderates^, or poUficians, Am\ who, 
 treading in the path of Sieves, harboured the laud- 
 able desire but presumptuous conceit of saving 
 France from the fury of parties by re-constituting 
 it, were much incensed by the outbreak of these re- 
 vived Jacobins. Sieyes especially, who held them 
 in habitual fear, declared against them with all the 
 force of his acerbity. And doubtless they wore a 
 formidable aspect, for independently of the bawlers 
 and fire-eaters, who paraded their patriotic energy 
 in clubs and journals, they counted partisans of a 
 graver complexion, more powerful, and consequently 
 more dangerous, ay in the government itself. In 
 the Councils, the patriots, once excluded by the de- 
 vice of secessions, and forcibly returned in the elec- 
 tions of this year, repeated, with variations of a 
 more moderate character, nearly the language used 
 in the society of the Manege. They were men who 
 demurred to risk the chances of a new constitu- 
 tion, and regarded with suspicion those who pro- 
 fessed to desiie one, dreading, above all, lest they 
 should seek for aid amongst the generals. They 
 upheld, moreover, that, to extricate France from 
 her dangers, measures similar to those employed by 
 the committee of public welfare were necessary. 
 The Ancients, more temperate and discreet from 
 their position, were but slightly imbued with this 
 opinion ; yet it was a doctrine hotly supported by 
 upwards of two hundred members in the Five- 
 Hundred. In this number were not merely such 
 obstreperous personages as Augereau, but prudent 
 and enlightened men like Jourdan. These two 
 generals served to give the patriot party a great 
 ascendency in the Five-Hundred. In the Directory, 
 this party had two votes, those of Gohier and Mou- 
 lins. Barras remained undecided ; on one hand he 
 distrusted Sieyes, who testified an aversion towards 
 him and shuinied him as one tainted ; on the other, he 
 dreaded the patriots and their extravagances. Thus 
 he hesitated to declare himself. In the ministry, the 
 patriots had unexpectedly gained an adherent in Ber- 
 nadotte. This general was not nearly so emphatic in 
 his principles as the majority of the generals who had 
 served in Italy, and it may be remembered that his 
 division on arriving upon the Tagliamento, became 
 involved in a quarrel with that of Augereau on the 
 subject of the word monsieur, which it had already 
 substituted for citizen. But Bernadotte was of a 
 fretful ambition ; he had viewed with sullen anger 
 the confidence reposed in Joubert by the reorganizing 
 party, and believed Moreau now the object of atten- 
 tion since the death of Joubert ; which circumstance, 
 inciting him against the projects of reorganization, 
 attached him irresistibly to the patriots. General 
 
 Marbot, commander of the garrison of Paris, a violent 
 republican, was of the same disposition as Berna- 
 dotte. 
 
 Thus, two hundred deputies avowed partisans in 
 the Five-Hundred, at whose head were two celebrated 
 generals, the minister at war, the governor of Paris, 
 two directors, numerous journals and clubs, and a 
 large residuum of men compromised and fit for any 
 enterprise, might reasonably cause some alarm ; and, 
 though the party of the ]\Iountain might not be re- 
 suscitated, yet it is easy to conceive the terrors 
 which even its shadow would inspire in the breasts 
 of men who shuddered at the recollection of 1793. 
 
 At this time it hap[)ened that Bourguignon gave 
 cause of dissatisfaction in his exercise of the fun^, 
 tions of t^ie police. He was an honest citizen, but rr>f 
 inconsiderate. Barras suggested to Sieyes a substr i^. 
 in the person of his creature, for whom he had receiitly 
 procured the embassy to Holland, the wily and astute 
 Fouche. An old associate of the Jacobins, perfecth 
 initiated in their spirit and mysteries, wholly i 
 different to their cause, and intent only amid Vij 
 shipv/reck of parties on his own fortune, Foucte 
 was eminently adapted to keep watch over his former 
 friends, and shield the Directory from their designs. 
 He was accepted by Sieyes and Roger-Ducos, and 
 obtained the ministry of police. Under the circum- 
 stances he was an invaluable acquisition. He forti- 
 fied Barras in the tendency to side rather with the 
 reorganizing than with the patriot party, because the 
 latter had no future in perspective, or sUJh as it had 
 might be carried to a dangerous excess. ^^ 
 
 This precaution taken, war against the patriots 
 commenced. Sieyes, who had great influence over the 
 Ancients, inasmuch as that Council was almost wholly 
 composed of moderates and politicians, now exercised 
 it to have the new society of Jacobins suppressed. 
 The hall of the JIanege, being contiguous to the 
 Tuileries, was comprised within the precincts of the 
 palace of the Ancients. Each Council having the 
 police of its own precincts, tlie Ancients were en- 
 titled to close the hall of the Manege. Accordingly, 
 the committee of inspectors issued an order pro- 
 hibiting any future assemblage in that hall. A simple 
 sentinel placed at the door sufficed to prevent the 
 meeting of the new Jacobins. This was a proof that, 
 if the declamation were the same, their strength at 
 least was very different. The order in question was 
 vindicated before the Council of Ancients by a re- 
 port of the deputy Cornet. Courtois, he who had 
 framed the report on the 9th Thermidor, seized this 
 occasion to make a fresh denunciation of the plots 
 of the Jacobins. His oration was followed by a de- 
 bate resulting in an order for a report upon the 
 subject. 
 
 The patriots, driven from the hall of the Manege, 
 retired to a spacious building situated in the rue du 
 Bac, where they resumed their accustomed vocifera- 
 tions. Their organization as a deliberative assembly 
 remaining as before, the constitution gave the exe- 
 cutive power the right of dissolving their society. 
 Sieyes, Roger-Ducos, and Barras, at the instance of 
 Fouche, determined to close it. Gohier and Moulins 
 dissented from this course, contending that, in the 
 present danger, it was necessary to quicken public 
 spirit by means of clubs ; and that if the new society 
 of Jacobins contained turbulent characters, it boasted 
 no formidable supporters, since it had succumbed 
 before a single sentinel when the hall of the iManege 
 was shut. Their opposition was not heeded, and 
 the determination to stifle the society carried. The 
 execution was deferred till after the celebration of 
 the anniversary of the lOth August, which was 
 to be held on the 23d Thermidor. Sieyes being 
 president of the Directory, in that capacity it was 
 his province to deliver a discourse during the solem- 
 nity. He took occasion to pronounce a remarkable 
 harangue, in which he strove forcibly to illustrate
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 757 
 
 the perils in which the new anarchists threatened to 
 involve the republic, and denounced thein as danger- 
 ous conspirators, contemplating- a fresh revolutionary 
 dictatorship. The patriots present at the ceremony 
 received this oration with stormy disapprobation, and 
 uttered sundry derisive exclamations. Amidst the 
 salvos of the artillery, Sieves and Barras were startled 
 by the belief they heard bullets whistling past their 
 ears, and retreated to the Directory inflamed with 
 indignation. Distrusting the authorities of Taris, 
 they resolved to take the command of the garrison 
 from General ^larbot, who was accused of being an 
 unscrupulous patriot, and implicated in the alleged 
 plots of the Jacobins. Fouche recommended in his 
 :-tead Lefebvre, a brave general, acquainted only 
 with, military routine, aTid a total stranger to the 
 
 rigues of parties. Marbot was therefore dis- 
 nii,5sed, and, on the second day thereafter, the ordi- 
 nance commanding the suppression of the society of 
 the rue du Bac was published. 
 
 The patriots offered no greater resistance in the 
 le du Bac than at the Manege. They ■withdrew, 
 and remained definitively separated. But the press 
 continued open to them, and they turned it to formid- 
 able account. The paper called the Journal of Free 
 Men vituperated, in terms of extreme virulence, the 
 members of the Directory known to have sanctioned 
 
 the ordinance. Sieyes was remorselessly assailed 
 
 " This perfidious priest," said the patriot journals, 
 " has sold the republic to Prussia. It is arranged 
 with tha ower to restore monarchy in France, and 
 give the cr.nvii to Brunswick." — Such assertions had 
 no better foundations than the well-known opinion 
 of Sieyes on the constitution, and his residence in 
 Prussia. He was wont to repeat, in fact, almost 
 daily, that blustering demagogues rendered all govern- 
 ment impossible ; that authority must be concen- 
 trated ; that liberty was compatible even with mon- 
 archy, as England testified ; but that it was incom- 
 patible with this successive domination of various 
 parties. Another saying was attributed to him, that 
 the north of Europe was full of wise and moderate 
 princes, who might, with a vigorous constitution, 
 secure the happiness of France. These opinions, 
 whether true or false, sufficed to cast on him imputa- 
 tions of schemes which existed only in the imagina- 
 tion of his enemies. Barras was not more leniently 
 treated than Sieyes. The forbearance the pa- 
 triots had long exhibited towards him, because he 
 had always flattered them with his support, was now 
 at an end. They proclaimed him a traitor, a rotten 
 corruptionist, one who was of no use to any party. 
 Fouche, his adviser, an apostate like himself, was 
 covered with similar opprobrium. Roger- Ducos 
 was, according to them, a mere imbecile, blindly 
 subservient to the dictation of two traitors. 
 
 The liberty of the press was unlimited. The law 
 proposed by Berlier having been allowed to drop, 
 there existed but one mode of silencing writers, 
 which was to revive a law of the convention against 
 those who, by word or deed, tended to subvert the 
 republic. It was necessary that tliis intention should 
 be demonstrated to render the law applicable, and 
 then the penalty of death was awarded. Hence, no 
 available use could be made of such a provision. A 
 new law had been demanded from the legislative 
 body, and a resolution passed to take the subject 
 into immediate consideration. But, in the mean- 
 while, the attacks continued with unabated vio- 
 lence ; and the three directors composing the mnjo- 
 rity declared that it was impossible to- govern. In 
 this extremity they conceived the idea of applying 
 the 144th article of the constitution, which gave to 
 the Directory the power of issuing warrants of arrest 
 against the authors or accomplices of [ilots hatched 
 against the republic. The article assuredly required 
 to be singularly strained to reach the case of the 
 journalists. Nevertheless, as it afforded a means of 
 
 stifling the abuse of their pens, by apprehending 
 their persons and seizing their presses, the directo- 
 rial majority, on the advice of Fouche', issued war- 
 rants of arrest against the editors of eleven journals, 
 and caused seals to be affixed on their presses. The 
 ordinance was signified o;i the IJth Fructidor (5th 
 Septeinber) to the legislative body, and produced an 
 explosion on the part of the patriots. They railed, as 
 the occasion warranted, against a stretch of authority, 
 a transgression of the law, a dictatorship, &c. &c. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs. In the Direc- 
 tory, in the Councils, everywhere in fact, the moder- 
 ates, the politicians, contended against the patriots. 
 The former had a majority in the Directory as 
 likewise m the Councils. The patriots were in a 
 minority, but they were sufficiently ardent and bois- 
 terous to alarm their adversaries. Fortunately, 
 means of aggression were worn threadbare as the 
 parties themselves, and they could cause each other 
 little injury beyond mutual dread. The Directory 
 had twice closed the new society of Jacobins, and 
 suppressed their journals. The patriots exclaimed 
 and threatened, but had no longer sufficient audacity 
 or sufficient partisans to venture an open attack upon 
 the government. In this condition of things, which 
 had lasted since the 30th Prairial, that is to say, for 
 nearly three months, a suggestion was started, very 
 common on the eve of decisive events, for a recon- 
 ciliation. Several deputies on both sides proposed 
 an interview with the members of the Directory, in 
 order to explain and remove their respective causes 
 
 of complaint " We all cherish liberty," they said, 
 
 " we all aspire to save it from the perils to which it 
 is exposed by the defeat of our armies; let us endea- 
 vour then to agree upon the choice of expedients, 
 since that choice is the sole occasion of our disunion." 
 — The interview was held at the residence of Bar- 
 ras. There never was nor can be a reconciliation 
 between parties, for it requires a renunciation of 
 their several aims, which it were hopeless to expect 
 from a conference. The patriot deputies complained 
 that plots were constantly spoken of, and that the 
 president of the Directory had himself alluded to a 
 class of dangerous men who meditated the ruin of 
 the republic. They demanded that these men should 
 be specified, so that they might not be confoun.ded 
 with the patriots. Sieyes, to whom this interpella- 
 tion was addressed, replied by reviewing the conduct 
 of the popular societies and the journals, and des- 
 canting on the dangers of a fresh anarchy. He was 
 again requested to designate the real anarchists that 
 
 they might be combined against and oi)|)osed 
 
 ' ' And how combine against them, " exclaimed Sieyes, 
 " when every day members of the legislative body 
 ascend the tribune to abet them ?" — " It is then we 
 you attack ?" retorted the deputies to whom Sieyes 
 had made this observation. " When we desire to 
 make peace with you, you abuse and repel us !" — 
 Anger supervening, the meeting innnediately separ- 
 ated, \/ords of defiance rather than of conciliation 
 falling from the lips of all as the}- departed. 
 
 Immediately after this interview, Jourdan formed 
 the resolution of mooting an important proposition, 
 to wit, a declaration of the country being in danger. 
 Such a motion if cai-ried, involved the levy in mass 
 and several great revolutionary measures. It was 
 submitted to the Five-Hundred on the 25lh Fructi- 
 dor (l.'jth September). The moderate party strenu- 
 ously opposed it, alleging that such an announcement, 
 far from adding to the strength of the government, 
 would oidy tend to diminish it, by exciting exagger- 
 ated fears and dangi-rous agitation. The jiatriots, on 
 the other hand, maintained that it was necessary to 
 use a powerful lever to raise public spirit an(J save 
 tlie revolution. The expedient, however efficacious 
 in Md'i, could not succeed at the present moment, 
 and was but an erroneous application of the past, 
 Lucieii Bonaparte, Boulay de la Meurthe, and Chenier 
 3C
 
 758 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 spoke energetically against its adoption, and carried 
 an adjournment of the debate until the following 
 day. jNIeanwhile, the patriots of the clubs had 
 tumultuously surrounded the palace of the Five- 
 Hundred, and insulted several deputies. A rumour 
 began to spread that Bernadotte, upon their eager 
 solicitations, was about to take horse, place himself 
 at their head, and provoke a catastrophe. It was 
 certain that several of the more headstrong of the 
 party had vehemently urged him to do so. That he 
 would allow himself to be persuaded by them was at 
 least a matter of apprehension. Barras and Fouche 
 consequently hastened to visit him, and endeavour 
 to ascertain his intentions. They found him full of 
 resentment against the projects which he asserted to 
 have been planned with Joubert. Barras and Fouche 
 assured him he was deceived, and besought him to 
 remain tranquil. 
 
 They returned to Sieyes, when it was agreed to 
 extort from Bernadotte his resignation, without 
 appearing to dismiss him. So Sieyes, entering into 
 conversation with Bernadotte the same day, adroitly 
 led him to confess that he desired soon to. resume 
 active service, and that he would regard the com- 
 mand of an army as the most agreeable reward of his 
 ministry. Forthwith, interpreting this avowal as a 
 request to be relieved from olhce, Sieyes, Barras, 
 and Roger-Ducos resolved to write to Bernadotte, 
 notifying that his resignation was accepted. They 
 embraced the opportunity when Gohier and Moulins 
 were absent to take this determination. On the 
 morrow the letter itself was written to Bernadotte. 
 On receiving it he was struck with amazement, and 
 returned to the Directory a very sour rejoinder, in 
 which he stated that a resignation had been accepted 
 which was never given, and demanded his retiring 
 allowance. Intelligence of this disguised dismissal 
 was announced in the Council of Five-Hundred, at the 
 very moment it was about to divide on the motion 
 of the country being in danger. It occasioned a 
 considerable uproar. " They are preparing coups 
 d'etat!" exclaimed the patriots. — " Let us swear to 
 die on our curule chairs !" cried Jourdan emphati- 
 cally. — " My head shall f:ill," vociferated the impe- 
 tuous Augereau, " before any outrage shall be com- 
 mitted upon the national representation !" At last, 
 after a prodigious tunuilt, the vote was taken. By 
 a majority of two hundred and forty-five against one 
 hundred and seventy-one voices, the proposition of 
 Jourdan was negatived and the country not declared 
 in danger. 
 
 When the two directors Gohier and Moulins 
 learnt the deprivation of Bernadotte, adopted with- 
 out their participation, they complained to their 
 colleagues, saying that such a step ought not to 
 have been taken without the co-operatio!i of all the 
 five directors. — " We formed the majority," Sieyes 
 replied to them, "and we had a right to do what we 
 have done." Gohier and Moulins immediately pro- 
 ceeded to pay Bernadotte an official visit, which 
 they took pains to make mth the greatest parade 
 and publicity. 
 
 Dubois de Cranee succeeded Bernadotte in the 
 ministry at war. The administration of the depart- 
 ment of the Seine having also inspired some distrust 
 in the directorial majority, it was likewise abruptly 
 changed. 
 
 Thus the disorganization was complete in all re- 
 spects; defeated without by the coalition, convulsed 
 wthin by parties, the republic seemed tottering to 
 its fall. A power from some source was needed suf- 
 ficient to curb domestic fad ions and resist foreign 
 enemies. This power could be no longer derived 
 from a party, for all were equally enfeebled and dis- 
 credited; it could spring only from the bosom of the 
 armies, where force resides, "that silent, regular, and 
 imposing force which suited a nation exhausted by the 
 turmoil of dissension and the cojiflict of systems. 
 
 Amidst this utter prostration, men cast their eyes 
 on the individuals distinguished during the revolu- 
 tion as in quest of a chief fitted for the exigency. 
 " We leant no more bawlers," Sieyes had said, " «■« 
 leant a head and a sword." The head was found, 
 for it was already in the Directory. A sword was 
 to be sought. Hoche was dead ; Joubert, whom 
 his youth, his virtues, his heroism, endeared to 
 all the friends of the republic, had just breathed his 
 last at Novi. Moreau, deemed the greatest master 
 of the art of war amongst the generals left in Europe, 
 gave an unfavourable impression of coldness, indeci- 
 sion, caution, and aversion to incur great responsi- 
 bilities. iMassena, one of the most eminent generals 
 of the republic, had not yet gained the glory of sav- 
 ing France. Besides, he betokened no qualities be- 
 yond those of the soldier. Jourdan had but lately 
 been vanquished. Augereau was of a rough and tur- 
 bulent, Bernadotte of a discontented temperament, 
 and neither possessed an adequate measure of 
 renowni. There remained one effulgent personage, 
 who united all glories, who to a hundred victories 
 had added a brilliant peace, who had raised France 
 to the pinnacle of greatness at Campo-Formio, and 
 who seemed in departing to have borne away her 
 fortune, — Bonaparte ; but he was in a far distant 
 land ; he filled wath his name the echoes of the East. 
 He alone had continued victorious, and made resound 
 on the banks of the Nile and the Jordan the thunders 
 with which he had startled Europe on the Adige. 
 Nor was it enough that glory shed its rays around 
 him ; feeling invested him with even a deeper in- 
 terest ; he was believed to be basely exiled by a 
 suspicious and jealous government. Whilst he had 
 set forth like some champion of old in search of a 
 career vast as his imagination, his countrymen pic- 
 tured him as an obedient citizen repaying by vic- 
 tories the unworthy banishment imposed upon him. 
 "Where is Bonaparte?" asked every one. "His 
 health already shattered will be destroyed under that 
 broiling sun. Ah! if he were among us, the repub- 
 lic would not be threatened \nth destruction. Eu- 
 rope and the factions would equally respect him ! " 
 Vague rumours, meanwhile, circulated respecting 
 him. Sometimes it was said that victory, treacher- 
 ous to all the French generals, had forsaken him too 
 in his turn and left him stranded on a distant shore. 
 But such reports were rejected ; " he is invincible," 
 was soon the exulting cry; "far from encountering 
 reverses, he marches to the conquest of the entire 
 East." Gigantic enterprises were ascribed to him. 
 Some even scanned the probability of his having tra- 
 versed Syria, and crossed the Euphrates and the 
 Indus ; others were content to maintain that he had 
 marched on Constantinople, and that, after having 
 subverted the Ottoman empire, he would bestride 
 Europe from its opposite boundary. The journals 
 were full of these speculations, proving how imagin- 
 ation waited on the footsteps of a man, so young, 
 and yet so paramount in fame. 
 
 The Directory had sent him an order to return, 
 and collected in the Mediterranean an immense fleet, 
 composed of the French and Spanish navies, to bring 
 back the army.* The brothers of the general, re- 
 
 » It is proper to state that this order is disputed. We know 
 there exists an ordinance of the Directory, si!,'ned by Treil- 
 hard, Barras, and Larevelliere, and bearing the date of the 
 7th I'rairial, which recals Bonaparte from Italy. Larevel- 
 liere, in his Memoirs, declai-es he has no recollection of having 
 siffned such a document, and treats the ordinance as supposi- 
 titious. But in tills case tlie naval expedition of Bruix would 
 remain without an object. At all events, it is certain that the 
 Directory desired the presence of Bonaparte at this juncture, 
 and that it assuredly stood in less terror of his ambition than 
 ot Suwarrov's ferocity. If the oi'der be not authentic, it has 
 probability on its side ; at the same time the question is of very 
 sliirht importance, as Bonaparte was authorized to returo 
 whenever he Judged it advisable.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 759 
 
 maiiiiiig at Paris, and commissioned to inform him 
 of tiie shifting: condition of affairs, had forwarded 
 to him dispatch upon dispatch to acquaint him with 
 the state of confusion into which the republic had 
 fallen and to urge his speedy return. But these 
 advices had to traverse the seas and the English 
 squadrons, and none could tell whether the hero 
 would be apprized in time and arrive before the ruin 
 of the republic was consummated. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF BONAPARTE's OPERATIONS IN 
 
 EGYPT. CONQUEST OF UPPER-EGYPT BY DESAIX. 
 
 — EXPEDITION TO SYRIA ; BATTLE OF MOUNT 
 
 TABOR AND SIEGE OF ST. JEAN d'aCRE. RETURN 
 
 TO EGYPT ; BATTLE OF ABOUKIR DEPARTURE 
 
 OF BONAPARTE FOR FRANCE. MARCH OF THE 
 
 ARCHDUKE CHARLES ON THE RHINE AND OF SU- 
 WARROV INTO SWITZERLAND. VICTORY OF ZU- 
 RICH ; RETREAT OF SUWARROV EVENTS IN HOL- 
 LAND ; DEFEAT AND CAPITULATION OF THE 
 
 ANGLO-RUSSIANS CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 
 
 1799. 
 
 After the battle of the Pyramids, Bonaparte had 
 found himself undisputed master of the greatest part 
 of Egypt. He had subsequently taken pains to con- 
 solidate his power, and distributed his generals 
 through the provinces to complete their subjugation. 
 Desaix, planted at the entrance of Upper-Egypt, with 
 a division of about 3,000 men, held the charge of 
 reducing that province against the remnants of 
 Mourad-Bey's defeated IMamelukes. Desaix com- 
 menced his expedition in Vendemiaire and Brumaire 
 of the preceding year (October 1798), at the period 
 the inundation subsided. The enemy retreated 
 before him, awaiting him eventually at Sediman, 
 where Desaix, on the 16th Vendemiaire year VII. 
 (7th October 1798), sustained a terrible encounter 
 against the desperate remains of Mourad-Bey. None 
 of the conflicts of the French in Egypt was attended 
 with such loss of blood. Two thousand French had 
 to contend against four thousand Mamelukes and 
 eight thousand fellahs intrenched in the village of 
 Sediman. The battle was fought after the manner 
 of that of the Pyramids and similarly to all the en- 
 gagements in Egypt. The fellahs were stationed 
 behind the walls of the village and the horsemen in 
 the plain. Desaix formed in two squares, and placed 
 on his wings two other smaller squares to deaden the 
 shock of the Mameluke cavalry. For the first time 
 the French infantry was broken and one of the small 
 squares forced. But, with quick and happy thought, 
 the soldiers instantly crouched to the ground, so that 
 the great squares were enabled to lire above their 
 heads. The Mamelukes, riding over them, charged 
 the great squares with furious impetuosity for several 
 hours without intermission, and plunged at length 
 maddened with desperation on the very points of the 
 bayonets. As usual, the squares afterwards broke 
 ground to attack the intrenchments and speedily 
 stormed them. During this operation, the Mame- 
 lukes, wheeling on a semicircle to the rear, began to 
 butcher the wounded ; but the French quickly chased 
 them from their work of carnage, and the incensed 
 soldiers sacrificed a considerable number of them in 
 their wrath. Comparatively, never had more dead 
 strewed a field of battle. The French lost tlirce 
 hundred men. Desaix continued his march through- 
 out the winter, and after a succession of smart com- 
 bats became master of all Upper- I-'gypt even to the 
 Cataracts, spreading the fame of his clemency equally 
 with the terror of his arms. At Cairo, Bonaparte 
 had been denominated Sultan Kebir, the King of 
 
 Fire; but in Upper- Egypt Desaix was known as 
 Sultan Al Rashid, or the Just. 
 
 Bonaparte, meanwhile, had executed a march upon 
 Balbeisto drive Ibrahim-Bey into Syria, and gathered 
 on his route the wrecks of the caravan of Mecca, pil- 
 laged by the Arabs. Returning to Cairo, he there 
 continued to organize an administration upon French 
 principles. A revolt, excited by the emissaries of 
 Mourad-Bey, was rigorously stifled, to the utter dis- 
 couragement of the enemies of the French. f The 
 winter of 1798-9 thus passed over in expectation of 
 events. In this interval, Bonaparte learnt the de- 
 claration of war issued by the Porte and the prepar- 
 ations it was making with the aid of the English. 
 It w^as forming two armies, the one at Rhodes, the 
 other in Syria. These armies were intended to act 
 simultaneously in the spring of 1799, the one to land 
 at Aboukir near Alexandria, the other to cross the 
 desert which divides Syria from Egypt. Bonaparte 
 instantly felt his position, and resolved, as was his 
 wont, to disconcert his foe by anticipating him with 
 an unexpected onslaught. He could not cross the 
 desert between Egypt and Syria in the hot season, 
 and therefore he determined to take advantage of the 
 winter to proceed and disperse the forces assembling 
 at Acre, Damascus, and the principal cities. The 
 celebrated Pacha of Acre, Djezzar, was appointed 
 Seraskier of the army collected in Syria. Abdal- 
 lah, pacha of Damascus, commanded his vanguard, 
 and had already advanced to Fort El- Arisch, the key 
 to Egypt on the Syrian side. Bonaparte made his 
 dispositions to act with promptitude. He had opened 
 an intelligence with the populations of Mount Leba- 
 non. The Druzes, Christian tribes, and the i\Ietu- 
 alis, schismatic Mahometans, offered him their aid 
 and invoked him with constant prayers. By sudden 
 assaults on Jaffa, Acre, and other ill-fortified places, 
 he might in a short period overrun Syria, add its 
 conquest to the Egyptian, become master of the 
 Euphrates as he was already of the Nile, and thus 
 occupy all the communications with India. His 
 ardent imagination stretclied still farther, and dwelt 
 on some of those grand projects imputed to him by 
 his admirers in Europe. It was not impossible that 
 by raising the populations of Lebanon he might mus- 
 ter sixty or eighty thousand auxiliaries, and with 
 these, supported by twenty-five thousand of the 
 bravest soldiers in the universe, march on Constan- 
 tinople and seat himself in that famous metropolis. 
 Whether so stupendous a design were feasible or not, 
 it is sure he contemplated the possibility of the en- 
 terprise ; and when we remember the feats he per- 
 formed under the a>gis of fortune, who shall presume 
 to deride as insane any of his projects ? 
 
 Bonaparte commenced his march in Pluviose (be- 
 ginning of February), at the head of the divisions 
 under Kleber, Regnier, Lannes, Bon, and Murat, 
 comprising a force of about 13,000 men. Murat's 
 division was composed of cavalry. Bonaparte had 
 instituted a regiment of an entirely novel arm, to wit 
 of dromedaries. Two men, placed back to back, 
 were mounted on a dromedary, and could, through 
 the strength and celerity of that animal, cover twenty- 
 five or thirty leagues without halting. Bonaparte 
 had formed this regiment to give chase to the Arabs 
 who infested the regions rouiul Egypt. It followed 
 in the track of the main army, lie had orderi'd 
 Rear- Admiral Perree to weigh from Alexandria with 
 three frigates, and steer for the coast of Syria witii 
 the siege-artillery and nuinitions. On the 29th Plu- 
 viose (17th February), he arrived before the fort of 
 El-Arisch. After a slight resistance, the garrison 
 surrendered to the number of 1,300 men. Consider- 
 alde magazines were found in the fort. Ibrahim- 
 Bey, having attempted to succour it, was put to 
 (light, his camp falling into the power of the French, 
 
 1 Tliis occurrcnoo took place on the 30th Vendeiniairo year 
 
 VII. c-'ist October nys;.
 
 rco 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 who reaped an immense booty. The soldiers suffered 
 many hardships in traversing the desert; but they 
 saw their general toiling at their side, supporting 
 \vith debilitated health the same privations and the 
 same fatigues, and dared not murmur. Soon they 
 arrived at Gaza, which town they took in sight of 
 Djezzar- Pacha, and found within it, as in the fort of 
 El-Arisch, large stores of munitions and provisions. 
 From Gaza the army moved on Jaffa, the ancient 
 Joppa. It arrived before it on the 13th Ventose (3d 
 March). This town was surrounded by a high wall 
 flanked with towers. It contained a garrison of 4,000 
 men. Bonaparte caused it to be battered in breach, 
 and then sent a summons to the conmiander, who 
 answered it by cutting off the herald's head. The 
 assault was given, the place stormed with incredible 
 hardihood, and abandoned to thirty hours of pillage 
 and massacre. A considerable quantity of artillery 
 and provisions of all sorts here likewise fell into the 
 hands of the captors. Several hundreds of prisoners 
 remained on hand, who could not be sent into Egypt 
 as there were no means of escorting them, and whom 
 it was im[)olitic to set at large to swell the ranks of 
 the enemy. Bonaparte was induced, in solution of 
 the dilficulty, to adopt a terrible expedient ; which 
 constitutes the only atrocity of his life. Transported 
 into a barbarous country, he had involuntarily im- 
 bibed its spirit : he put to the edge of the sword the 
 prisoners who incommoded him. The army per- 
 formed, with obedience, but with a sensation of 
 horror, the execution committed to it. During their 
 stay at Jaffa, the French soldiers caught the germs 
 of the plague. 
 
 Bonaparte now advanced upon St. Jean-d'Acre, 
 the ancient Ptolemais, situated at the foot of Mount 
 Carmel. This was the only place that could again 
 stop him. Syria was his if he succeeded in taking 
 it. Djezzar had shut himself behind its walls with 
 all his treasures and a strong garrison. He relied on 
 the support of Sidney Smith, who was hovering on 
 the coast, and who had furnished him with engineers, 
 artillerymen, and munitions. He expected, more- 
 over, to be speedily succoured by the Turkish army 
 collected in Syria, which had left Damascus to cross 
 the Jordan. Bonaparte hastened to attack the for- 
 tress in tlie hope of carrying it, like that of Jaffa, 
 before it was strengthened by fresh troops, or the 
 English had time to perfect its defences. The 
 trenches were forthwith opened. Unfortunately the 
 siege-artillery, which was to be transported by sea 
 from Alexandria, had been captured by Sidney Smith. 
 The whole force of siege and field artillery possessed 
 by the French consisted of a thirty-two caronade, 
 four twelve-pounders, eight ho\ntzers, and thirty 
 four-pounders. They were also deficient in balls, 
 but a plan was devised for procuring a supply. A 
 few cavalry were sent to manoeuvre on the plain, 
 seeing whom Sidney Smith opened a rolling fire from 
 all his batteries ; whereupon the French soldiers, to 
 whom five sous for each ball were promised, ran to 
 pick them up amidst the thunders of the cannonade 
 and peals of laughter. 
 
 The trenches had been opened on the 30th Ven- 
 tose (20th March). The general of the engineers, 
 Sanson, thinking he had reached, during a nocturnal 
 reconnaisance, the foot of the rampart, declared there 
 was neither counterscarp nor moat. Hence, Bona- 
 parte concluded he had merely to effect a breach, and 
 then mount to the assault. On the o*' vierminal 
 (•25th March), a practicable breach as wrought, 
 but when the assault was attemp' j, the French 
 were arrested by a counterscarp ..id moat. They 
 had, therefore, immediate rc( Ji' ,e to mines. The 
 operation was carried on ur ic the fire of all the 
 batteries, and especially of tl e admirable w Jlery 
 Smith had taken from tLi. Ireiich. Djezzar had 
 been supplied by him w'.uh excellent English gunners, 
 and an engineer-officer of great merit, a French emi- 
 
 grant, Phelippeaux by name. The mine was sprung 
 on the 8th Germinal (•28th March), and blew up only 
 a part of the counterscarp. Twenty-five grenadiers, 
 headed by young Mailly, mounted to the assault. 
 On seeing that gallant officer plant a ladder, the 
 Turks were appalled, but Mailly fell dead. The 
 grenadiers were, thereupon, discouraged, and the 
 Turks returned to the defence. Two battalions 
 which followed were received with a terrific fire; 
 their leader Laugier was killed, and the assault again 
 failed. 
 
 Unhappily, the fortress had been recently strength- 
 ened by a reinforcement of some thousands of men, a 
 great number of caimoniers exercised in the most 
 approved European gunnery, and vast stores of mu- 
 nitions. To lay siege to such a place with 13,000 
 men, and almost without artillery, was assuredly a 
 bold enterprise. A fresh mine was requisite to blow 
 up the whole counterscarp, and another covered 
 way was to be commenced. ISIore than ten days had 
 already been consumed, and the near approach of the 
 grand Turkish army was announced ; thus it became 
 necessary to carry on the works and cover the siege, 
 with the mere expeditionary army to accomplish all. 
 Bonaparte gave orders to labour uninterruptedly at 
 the fresh mine, and detached Kleber to the Jordan 
 to dispute the passage with the Turkish army advan- 
 cing from Damascus. 
 
 This army, swelled by the mountain tribes of Na- 
 plouse, amounted to about •25,000 men. Upwards 
 of 12,000 cavalry constituted its chief strength. It 
 was incumbered by an immense train of baggage. 
 Abdallah, pacha of Damascus, held command over 
 it. On the 15th Germinal (4th April), it passed the 
 Jordan by the bridge of Jacob. Junot with Kleber's 
 vanguard, 500 men strong, encountered the Turkish 
 vanguard on the road to Nazareth on the 19th (8th 
 April). Far from recoiling, he bravely defied the 
 enemy, and, forming in square, covered the ground 
 with dead, and captured five banners. But, com- 
 pelled to yield to numbers, he subsequently fell back 
 on Kleber. The latter was himself advancing and 
 hastening his march to join Junot. Bonaparte, ap- 
 prized of the force of the enemy, prepared to set out 
 with Bon's division to support Kleber, and bring on 
 a decisive engagement. Djezzar, who was in com- 
 munication with the army coming to relieve him, 
 attempted a sally ; but, mercilessly raked, he left the 
 French works choked with his dead. Bonaparte 
 forthwith began his march. 
 
 Kleber had debouched with his division into the 
 plains which extend to the base of Mount Tabor, not 
 far from the village of Fouli. He had entertained 
 the idea of surprising the Turkish camp during the 
 night, but he arrived too late to execute his design. 
 On the morning of the 27th Germinal (16th April), 
 he found the whole Turkish army drawn up in battle 
 array : 15,000 infantry occupyed the village of Fouli, 
 upwards of 12,000 cavalry were deployed on the plain. 
 Kleber had scarcely 3,000 infantry in square. This 
 vast mass of cavalry moved forward and fell on the 
 French squares. Never had it been the fortune of 
 the French to witness such a swarm of horsemen 
 galloping madly, raging to and fro, and charging on 
 every side. They preserved their accustomed cool- 
 ness, and receiving the Turks with a continuous fire 
 at musket-range, laid low a considerable number at 
 every onslaught. Speedily they formed around them 
 a rampart of dead bodies, both of men and horses, 
 and uiuler shelter of this horrible barricade were en- 
 abled to resist for six successive hours the incessant 
 assaults of the foe. At length Bonaparte debouched 
 from Mount Tabor ^nth Bon's division. He per- 
 ceived the plain enveloped in fire and smoke, and 
 the compact division of Kleber contending against a 
 host of enemies from behind a bulwark of carcasses. 
 Without loss of time he partitioned the division he 
 led into two squares ; which squares advanced so as
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 761 
 
 to form an equilateral triangle with Kleber's division, 
 and thus placed the enemy between them. They 
 marched in silence, and without giving any signal of 
 their approach till within a certain distance ; then 
 Bonaparte suddenly caused a cannon to be discharged, 
 and appeared on the field of battle. A murderous 
 fire instantly opened from the three extremities of 
 the triangle, swept as with a whirlwind the Turks 
 who were in the midst, drove them pell-mell upon 
 each other, and put them to flight in all directions. 
 Kleber's division, inflamed with redoubled ardour at 
 this spectacle, rushed upon the village of Fouli, car- 
 ried it at the point of the bayonet, and executed a pro- 
 digious carnage of the enemy. In an instant the 
 multitude of adversaries dispersed and vanished, and 
 the plain was bared save of mangled corpses. The 
 Turkish camp, the Pacha's three tails, four hundred 
 camels, and an enormous booty, became the prey of 
 the French. Murat, planted on the banks of the 
 Jordan, intercepted and slaughtered numbers of the 
 fugitives. Bonaparte caused all the villages of the 
 Naplousians -to be delivered to the flames. Six 
 thousand French had sufficed to destroy this army 
 which the natives called innumerable as the stars of 
 the firmament and the sands of the sea. 
 
 During this interval^ the operations of mining and 
 countermining had continued without intermission 
 around the walls of St. Jean-d'Acre. A space torn 
 up and convulsed by all the artifices of sieges was 
 disputed \\'ith the fiercest pertinacity. The French 
 had been now six weeks before the place, had made 
 in that time numerous assaults, repulsed sundry sal- 
 lies, and killed a great many of the enemy ; but, 
 despite their continual advantages, they suffered irre- 
 parable losses of time and men. On the 18th Flo- 
 real (7th May), a reinforcement of 12,000 men ar- 
 rived in the port of Acre. Bonaparte, calculating 
 that they could not be landed in less than six hours, 
 immediately brought a twenty-four pounder to play 
 on a piece of wall to the right of the point on which 
 his efforts had been for some time directed. On the 
 approach of night the French mounted to the breach, 
 stormed the works of the enemy, threw them down, 
 spiked the guns, put all to the sword, and were at last 
 masters of the fortification, when the troops which had 
 disembarked advanced in form of battle and presented 
 an overwhelming mass. Rambaut, who commanded 
 the first grenadiers that had marched to the assault, 
 was slain. Lannes was wounded. At this moment the 
 enemy made a sally, took the breach in reverse, and 
 cut off the retreat of the brave men who had pene- 
 trated into the town. Some contrived to force their 
 way out, others, under the impulse of desperation, 
 fled into a mosque, there intrenched themselves, 
 fought until their last cartridges were consumed, and 
 then prepared to sell their lives as dearly as they 
 might, when Sidney Smith, touched with their heroic 
 gallantry, granted them a capitulation. Meanwhile 
 the besiegers, marching upon the enemy, drove him 
 back into the fortress with prodigious havoc, and a 
 loss of 800 prisoners. Bonaparte, obstinate to the 
 point of fury, gave his troops two days' repose, and 
 on the 21st (10th May) ordered a fresh assault. 
 They mounted with the same intrepidity, and scaled 
 the breach, but were unable to pass beyond it. A 
 whole army was arrayed in defence of the place, and 
 guarding all the avenues. It was necessary to forego 
 the attempt. 
 
 Two months thus elapsed in the siege of Acre, 
 during which the French had sustained grievous 
 losses, and prudence forbid the hazard of more. The 
 plague prevailed in the town, and the army had im- 
 bibed the germs of it at Jaffa. The season for de- 
 barkation approached, and the arrival of a Turkish 
 army at the mouth of the Nile was aimounced. By 
 persisting longer, Bonaparte incurred the risk of 
 weakening himself so far as to be unable to repulse 
 fresh adversaries. The main design of his enter- 
 
 prise was accomplished, since he had destroyed 
 the Turkish army assembled in Syria, and on that 
 side rendered the enemy impotent to act. As to the 
 more dazzling of his projects, those vague and mag- 
 nificent dreams of conquest in the East, they were 
 to be relinquished. He determined at last to raise 
 the siege. But his regret was such that, notwith- 
 standing his great career, he was often heard to re- 
 peat, with reference to Sidney Smith: " That man 
 marred mj/ fortutie." The Druzes, who during the 
 siege had supplied the army A\ath provisions, and 
 all the populations hostile to the Porte, learnt the 
 intention to retreat \vith feelings of despair. 
 
 The French had commenced the siege on the 30th 
 Ventose (20th March), and now raised it on the 1st 
 Prairial (20th Mav) : an interval of two months. 
 Before finally quitting the walls of St. Jean-d^Acre, 
 Bonaparte resolved to leave a memorial of his pre- 
 sence : he discharged upon it the full venom of his 
 wrath by a furious cannonade, and reduced it almost 
 to a heap of ashes. He resumed the route of the 
 desert. He had lost in combat, or through fatigues 
 and sickness, nearly a third of his expeditionary arnny, 
 that is to say, about four thousand men. He carried 
 with him twelve himdred wounded. On his route 
 he ravaged the whole country, and impressed it with 
 a wholesome terror. On his arrival at Jaffa he blew 
 the fortifications into the air. An hospital had been 
 established in that place for the plague patients. To 
 remove them was impossible ; to leave them was to 
 abandon them to inevitable death, either from the 
 malady, from hunger, or from the cruelty of the 
 enemy. Accordingly, Bonaparte suggested to the 
 physician, Desgenettes, that it would be more hu- 
 mane to administer opium to them than leave them 
 alive ; to which the physician replied in a retort much 
 celebrated : " Mi/ vocation is to cure and not to kill." 
 Opium was not administered, but the incident served 
 to propagate an infamous calumny, now exploded. 
 
 Bonaparte eventually re-entered Egypt after an 
 absence of nearly three months. His arrival was 
 sufficiently opportune. A s^iirit of revolt had spread 
 throughout the Delta. An impostor, calling himself 
 the angel El-Mohdhy, who announced himself as in- 
 vulnerable, and professed to destroy the French by 
 scattering dust, had collected several thousand fa- 
 natics. The emissaries of the Mamelukes assisted 
 him mth their aid ; he had seized Damanhour, and 
 put the garrison to the sword. Bonaparte forthwith 
 detached a body of troops which dispersed the rebels 
 and killed the invulnerable angel. The disturbance had 
 extended to the different provinces of the Delta ; his 
 presence sufficed to restore tranquillity and obedience. 
 He instituted at Cairo magnificent fetes, to celebrate 
 his triumphs in Syria. He made no reference to the 
 defeated portion of his enterprise, but extolled the 
 numerous engagements fought in Syria, the brilliant 
 victory of Mount Tabor, and the exemplary ven- 
 geance wreaked on Djezzar. He disserninated fresh 
 publications amongst the inhabitants, in w'hich he 
 warned them he was in the secret of their most in- 
 ward thoughts, and divined their projects at the very 
 instant of conception. They gave implicit credence 
 to this singular pretension of Sultan Kebir, and be- 
 lieved him present at all their cogitations. _ Yet 
 Bonaparte had not merely to overawe the inhabitants, 
 but also to keep his own generals and army in sub- 
 jection. A sullen discontent reigned amongst the 
 French, not the result of fatigues or of dangers, still 
 less of privations, for they were abundantly supplied 
 with all necessaries, but of that love of country 
 which haunts the Frenchman in every clime. They 
 had been a whole year in Egypt, and for nearly six 
 months had received no intelligence from France. 
 Not a vessel had been able to pass : a sombre melan- 
 choly oppressed all hearts. Almost daily officers 
 and generals solicited furloughs to revisit Europe. 
 Bonaparte granted very few, or rather dropped such
 
 762 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 words as scared applicants with tlie dread of dis- 
 honour. Berthier himself, his faithful Berthier, 
 pursued by an absorbiii.a: passion, craved permission 
 to depart for Italy. For the second time he was 
 ashamed of his weakness, and renounced the dcsiq-n. 
 On one occasion the army had formed a resolution 
 to bear its colours from Cairo and march on Alex- 
 andria with a view to embark. But it was little 
 more than a fleetiiij,' thought, and gave way to the 
 apprehension of rousing the indignation of Bonaparte. 
 The generals of division, who all afforded examples 
 of murmuring, were also subdued into silence before 
 him, and cowed beneath his ascendency. He had 
 more than one dispute with Kleber, however. The 
 irritability of the latter did not spring from despond- 
 ency, but from habitual indoeility. They soon be- 
 came reconciled again, for Bonaparte admired the 
 lofty soul of Kleber, and Kleber was fascinated by the 
 genius of Bonaparte. 
 
 The month of Prairial wore away, and still the 
 ignorance of events in Europe, and of the disasters 
 sustained by France, continued. It was merely 
 known that great excitement prevailed throughout 
 the Continent, and that war seemed inevitable. Bo- 
 naparte impatiently awaited further information to 
 determine his own course, content, if exigency de- 
 manded, to return to the first theatre of his fame. 
 But, previously, he was desirous of extirpating the 
 second Turkish army, mustered at Rhodes, of which 
 the speedy debarkation was rumoured. 
 
 This army, shipped on board numerous transports, 
 and escorted by the naval detachment of Sidney 
 Smith, hove in sight of Alexandria on the "23d Mes- 
 sidor (11th July), and proceeded to cast anchor in 
 the roadstead of Aboukir, the same in which the 
 French fleet had been annihilated. The place of 
 debarkation chosen by the English was the promon- 
 tory which forms this bay and which bears the same 
 name. It is a narrow strip extending between the 
 sea and Lake Maadich, and terminated by a fort. 
 Bonaparte had ordered Marmont, who commanded 
 at Alexandria, to complete the defences of this fort, 
 and destroy the village of Aboukir clustered around 
 it. But instead of destroying the village, it was 
 preserved to lodge the soldiers, and had been simply 
 surrounded by a redoubt, to protect it on the side 
 of the land. But the redoubt, not joining the two 
 margins of the water, was not a closed barricade, 
 and rendered the fort little better than a mere field- 
 work. The Turks, in fact, landed with great bold- 
 ness, gallantly assailed the intrenchments, carried 
 them sword in hand, and effected a lodgment in the 
 village of Aboukir, putting to death the unfortunate 
 garrison. The village being taken, the fort could 
 no longer hold out, and it was obliged to surrender. 
 Marmont had hastened from Alexandria with 1,200 
 men to succour the troops in Aboukir. But learn- 
 ing that the Turks had disembarked in considerable 
 force, he shr.ank from attempting to drive them 
 into the sea by a vigorous attack. He accordingly 
 returned into Alexandria, and left them to estab- 
 lish themselves in tranquillity on the peninsula of 
 Aboukir. 
 
 The Turks amounted to nearly 18,000 foot. They 
 were not the miserable fellahs who composed the 
 infantry of tlie Mamelukes, but brave Janissaries, 
 carrying muskets without bayonets, slinging them 
 ■ behind upon their shoulder-belts after firing, and 
 then charging the enemy with swords and pistols. 
 Theirarmy was not only numerous but well-appointed 
 and directed by English officers. They were deficient 
 in cavalry, for they had brought only three hundred 
 horses; but they expected the arrival of Mourad- 
 Bey, who was to leave Upper-Egypt, skirting the 
 desert and crossing the oases, and bring to Aboukir 
 two or three thousand Mamelukes. 
 
 When Bonaparte received intelligence of the de- 
 barkation, he instantly quitted Cairo, and executed 
 
 one of those extraordinary marches, from Cairo to 
 Alexandria, of which lie had given so many examples 
 in Italy. He took with him the divisions of Lannes, 
 Bon, and Murat. He ordered Desaix to evacuate 
 Upper-Egypt, and Kleber and Regnier, who were in 
 the Delta, to draw near Aboukir. He appointed 
 Birket, a place lying between Alexandria and Abou-. 
 kir, for the concentration of his forces, intending 
 thence to manoeuvre according to circumstances. 
 The chief object of his apprehension was lest an 
 English army should disembark in concert with the 
 Turkish. 
 
 Mourad-Bey, agreeably to the plan arranged with 
 Mustapha- Pacha, had attempted to descend into 
 Lower- Egypt; but, encountered and defeated by 
 Murat, he had been driven to regain the desert. Con- 
 sequently the Turkish army alone remained to fight, 
 destitute of cavalry, but encamped behind intrench- 
 ments, and disposed to resist with characteristic ob- 
 stinacy. After inspecting the condition of Alexandria 
 and particularly the admirable works erected by 
 Colonel Cretin, and administering a reprimand to his 
 lieutenant Marmont, who had not ventured to attack 
 the Turks during their debarkation, Bonaparte quit- 
 ted Alexandria on the 6th Thermidor (23d July). 
 On the morrow, the 7th, he was at the mouth of the 
 peninsula. His first idea was to hem-in the Turkish 
 army by intrenchments and await, ere attacking 
 them, the arrival of alibis divisions, for he had under 
 his immediate charge merely the divisions of Lannes, 
 Bon, and Murat, composing about 6,000 men. But 
 upon viewing the dispositions made by the Turks, 
 he changed his opinion and resolved to attack them 
 immediately, hoping to coop them up in the village 
 of Aboukir and blow them to atoms with shells and 
 bombs. 
 
 The Turks occupied the extremity of the penin- 
 sula which is very narrow. They were covered by 
 two lines of intrenchments. Half-a-league in ad- 
 vance of the village of Aboukir, where their camp 
 was pitched, they had occupied two sand-banks, one 
 flanked by the sea, the other by the lake of Maadieh, 
 and thus forming their right and left. In the midst, 
 between these two hills, was a village which they 
 likewise guarded. They had two thousand men on 
 the right hill, one thousand on the left, and three to 
 four thousand in the village. This was their first 
 line. The second was at the village of Aboukir 
 itself. It was composed of the redoubt constructed 
 by the French, and joined the sea by two branch 
 trenches. There they had fixed their main encamp- 
 ment and the bulk of their forces. 
 
 Bonaparte made his dispositions mth his usual 
 prompitude and precision. He ordered General Des- 
 taing to march with some battalions against the left 
 hill, where the thousand Turks stood ; Lannes he 
 directed to move on the right hill, where the other 
 two thousand were ; and Murat, who was in the cen- 
 tre, to defile with the cavalry to the rear of the two 
 eminences. These operations were executed with 
 perfect fidelity. Destaing advanced upon the left 
 hill and valiantly scaled it, whilst Murat turned it 
 \vith a squadron. Upon seeing this, the Turks aban- 
 doned their position, and were caught as they re- 
 treated by the cavalry, which cut them down and 
 drove them into the sea, where they preferred to 
 throw themselves rather than surrender. On the 
 right the same result occurred. Lannes assailed the 
 two thousand Turks and Murat turned them; they 
 were likewise slaughtered and chased into the sea. 
 Destaing and Lannes then diverged to the centre, 
 which was defended, we have said, by a village, and 
 attacked it in front. The Turks resisted with great 
 bravery, relying on assistance from the second line. 
 A column was, in fact, detached from Aboukir ; but 
 Murat, who had already defiled to the rear of the 
 village, intercepted this column, and repulsed it into 
 Aboukir, The infantry of Destaing and Lannes then
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 763 
 
 charj^ed impetuously into the village, expelling tbe 
 Turks and scattering them in all directions, who, 
 still obstinately refusing to surrender, plunged into 
 the sea and were drowned. 
 
 Four or five thousand Turks had thus already 
 perished. The first line was carried, and the object 
 of Bonaparte accomplished ; penning the Turks with- 
 in the fold of Aboukir, he might bombard them at 
 leisure, pending the arrival of Kleber and Regnier. 
 But he was eager to profit by his success and con- 
 summate his victory on the instant. After allo\ving 
 his troops to recover breath, he marched upon the 
 second line. The division under Lanusse, remaining 
 in reserve, supported Lannes and Destaing. The 
 redoubt which covered Aboukir was difficult to 
 storm ; and it sheltered from nine to ten thousand 
 Turks. On the right a trench connected it with the 
 sea; on the left another trench prolonged it, but 
 without absolutely joining Lake Maadieh. The open 
 space was occupied by the enemy and swept by num- 
 erous gunboats. Accustomed to direct his soldiers 
 against the most formidable obstacles, Bonaparte 
 ordered them to assail the position. His infantry 
 was to march on the front and right of the redoubt. 
 The cavalry, concealed in a palm-grove, was to de- 
 file on the left, and cross, under the fire from the 
 gunboats, tbe space left open between the redoubt 
 and Lake Maadieh. The charge was thus executed. 
 Lannes and Destaing urged their brave infantry for- 
 ward ; the 32d marched with arms fixed on the in- 
 trenchments, the 18th turned them on the extreme 
 right. The Turks, without waiting for them, ad- 
 vanced to the encounter. They came in collision 
 body to body. The Turkish soldiers, after firing 
 their muskets and pistols, brandished their scymiters. 
 They attempted to wrench the bayonets with their 
 hands ; but their breasts were pierced before they 
 could seize them. Thus the combatants mingled 
 their blood on the intrenchments. The 18th was on 
 the point of penetrating into the redoubt, when a 
 terrific discharge of artillery arrested and repelled it 
 to the foot of the works. The gallant Leturcq fell 
 gloriously in determining to retire last. Fugieres 
 lost an arm. Meanwhile, Jlurat, on his side, had 
 deployed with the cavalry to traverse the space be- 
 tween the redoubt and Lake Maadieh. Several 
 times he had charged and repulsed the enemy ; but, 
 caught between the fires from the redoubt and the 
 gun-boats, he had been obliged to recoil. Some of 
 his troops had even pushed to the moat of the re- 
 doubt ; but all the efforts of such intrepidity seemed 
 vain. Bonaparte contemplated this carnage ponder- 
 ing the favourable moment to renew the assault. 
 Fortunately the Turks, in accordance with their 
 custom, poured from the intrenchments to decapitate 
 the slain. Bonaparte seized the opportunity and 
 darted forward two battalions, one from the 22d, the 
 other from the 69th, which scaled the intrenchments 
 and carried them. On the right, the 18th likewise 
 profited by the occasion and entered the redoubt. 
 Murat, on liis part, sounded a fresh charge. One of 
 his squadrons succeeded in clearing the formidable 
 ground separating the intrenchments from the lake, 
 and penetrated into the village of Aboukir. There- 
 upon the Turks fled in a panic on all sides, and the 
 French had nothing to do but butcher them. They 
 spitted them on their bayonets and hurled them into 
 the sea. Murat, at the head of his cavalry, rushed 
 onward to the very tent of Mustapha-Pacha. In a 
 paroxysm of despair, the Turkish commander drew 
 a pistol and fired it at Murat, whom he slightly 
 wounded. Murat hacked off two of his fingers by a 
 blow of his sword and sent him captive to Bonaparte. 
 The Turks who were neither killed nor drowned 
 retreated into the fort of Aboukir. 
 
 Upwards of twelve thousand corpses floated on 
 these waters of Aboukir, which had beeii once covered 
 with the bodies of French sailors ; between two and 
 
 three thousand strewed the field of battle. The 
 residue of the Turkish forces, pent up in the fort, 
 had no resource but in the clemency of the conqueror. 
 Such was this extraordinary battle, in which, for 
 the first time perhaps in the annals of war, the hos- 
 tile army was utterly extinguished. It was upon 
 this occasion that Kleb«r, arriving at the close of 
 day, hugged Bonaparte by the waist, and exclaimed : 
 General, you are grand as the universe ! 
 
 Thus, through the expedition to Syria and the 
 battle of Aboukir, Egypt was delivered, at least for the 
 time, from the forces of the Porte. The situation of 
 the French army might be reckoned sufficiently satis- 
 factory. After all the losses it had sustained, it still 
 mustered twenty-five thousand men, the bravest and 
 best commanded in the world. Every day must tend 
 to bring it in closer harmony ^^dth the inhabitants 
 and to consolidate its establishment. Bonaparte had 
 now been a year in the country : arriving in summer 
 before the inundation, he had employed his first mo- 
 ments in possessing himself of Alexandria and the 
 capital Cairo, which he secured by the victory of the 
 Pyramids. In the autumn and after the inundation, 
 he had completed the subjugation of the Delta and 
 intrusted to Desaix the conquest of tipper-Egypt. 
 In the winter he had undertaken the expedition to 
 Syria and destroyed the Turkish army under Djez- 
 zar at Mount Tabor. In the summer again, he had 
 just exterminated the second army of the Porte at 
 Aboukir. His time therefore had been fully and 
 advantageously occupied ; and whilst victory seemed 
 to have utterly forsaken the banners of the republic 
 in Europe, it had remained faithful to them at least 
 in Asia and in Africa. The tri-coloured flag waved 
 triumphantly upon the Nile and the Jordan, over the 
 very region sanctified as the birth-place of the reli- 
 gion of Christ. 
 
 Regarding the affairs of France, Bonaparte was 
 still in profound ignorance ; none of the despatches 
 from the Directory or his brothers had reached him, 
 and he was tormented with anxiety. In the hope of 
 picking up some news, he sent out brigs to cruise, 
 v/ith directions to stop merchantmen and interrogate 
 them on events passing in Europe. He also sent an 
 envoy on board the Turkish fleet, who, under pre- 
 tence of negotiating an exchange of prisoners, was 
 chiefly enjoined to extract intelligence. Sidney 
 Smith accosted this envoy, entertained him civilly, 
 and, finding that Bonaparte was unconscious of the 
 disasters which had befallen France, took a malicious 
 pleasure in giving him a file of newspapers. The envoy 
 returned and placed the deposit in the hands of Bona- 
 parte. The general consumed a whole night in de- 
 vouring the contents of these prints, and in making 
 himself acquainted with European transactions since 
 his absence. His resolution was instantly formed; he 
 determined to embark secretly for Europe and hazard 
 the passage, at the risk of being taken on the voy- 
 age by the English fleet. He summoned Admiral 
 Gantheaume, and instructed him to prepare the fri- 
 gates La Muiron and La Carrcre for immediate 
 service. Without communicating his purpose to any 
 one, he paid a hasty visit to Cairo to make his final 
 dispositions, digested a long code of instructions for 
 Kleber, in whom he designed to vest the command, 
 and immediately returned to Alexandria. 
 
 On the 5th Fructidor (22d August), taking with 
 him Berthier, Lannes, IMurat, Aiulre'ossy, Marmont, 
 Berthollet and Moiige, and escorted by some of his 
 guides, he repaired to a secluded part of the coast. 
 Boats were in waiting ; he and his companions put 
 off and embarked on board the frigates La Muiron 
 and La Carrere. They were followed by the cor- 
 vettes La Revanche aiul La Fortune. The sails were 
 instantly hoisted to get out of sight of the English 
 cruisers by day-light. Unfortunately it fell calm ; 
 his companions were in dread of being surprised and 
 urged returning to Alexandria, but Bonaparte would
 
 rr>4 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 jot hearken to them. "Be still," he said, "we 
 shall cross." Like Caesar he relied upon his fortune. 
 This was not, as has been said, a base desertion of 
 his army ; for he left it victorious to brave dangers 
 of an indefinite ami formidable character, and the 
 mojt frightful of all, that of being carried in captivity 
 to London. It was rather one of those acts of temer- 
 ity with which the ambitious great tempt Provi- 
 dence, and to which they owe that overweening 
 confidence which alternately exalts and crushes them. 
 Whilst this man, big with such important destinies, 
 thus committed himself to the hazards of the sea and 
 of a hostile encounter, victory returned to the French 
 flag in Europe, and the republic emerged by a sub- 
 lime effort from the perils that environed it. Mas- 
 sena was still upon the line of the Limmat, deferring 
 the moment to resume the offensive. The army of 
 Italy, after having lost the battle of Novi, had dis- 
 persed on the Apennines. Happily, Suwarrov used 
 his victory at Novi to no better purpose than that 
 he had gained upon the Trebbia, and wasted in Pied- 
 mont an interval diligently employed by France in 
 preparations. At this period the Aulic Council, 
 equally fickle in its plans as the Directory had been, 
 hit upon one calculated materially to change the 
 aspect of events. It was jealous of the authority 
 Suwarrov had assumed in Italy, and viewed with 
 anger the invitation addressed by that general to the 
 king of Sardinia to return into his dominions. The 
 Aulic Council had other views regarding Piedmont, 
 and desired to remove the old marshal from its 
 vicinity. Moreover, a want of concord existed be- 
 tween the Russians and Austrians, and these com- 
 bined reasons decided the Aulic Council to change 
 entirely the distribution of troops upon the lines of 
 operation. The Russians were mingled with the 
 Austrians on both the theatres of war. Korsakoff 
 acted in Switzerland with the Archduke Charles, and 
 Suwarrov in Italy mth JMelas. The Aulic Council 
 proposed to transport the Archduke Charles upon 
 the Rhine, and Suwarrov into Switzerland. In 
 ihis maimer the two Russian armies would both 
 operate in Switzeiland. The Austrians would act 
 alone upon the Rhine, as likewise in Italy, where 
 they were to be speedily reinforced by a new army, 
 intended to supply the vacuum left by Suwarrov. 
 As motives for this alteration the Aulic Council 
 alleged, that it was more advisable to allow the 
 troops of each nation to combat together, that the 
 Russians would fijid the temperature in Switzerland 
 more analogous to that of their outi climate, and 
 that the movement of the Archduke upon the Rhine 
 would aid the expedition in Holland. England 
 could not fail to approve this plan, for she antici- 
 pated great benefit to the progress of the expedition 
 in Holland from the presence of the Archduke on 
 the Rhine, and was not grieved to see the Russians, 
 who had already landed in Corfu and entertained a 
 design upon Malta, discarded from the neighbour- 
 hood of (Jenoa. 
 
 This displacement, to be executed in presence of 
 Massena, was extremely dangerous; besides, it trans- 
 ferred the Russians to a field which was wholly 
 unsuited to them. Those soldiers, accustomed to 
 charge on the plain and at the point of the bayonet, 
 were unacquainted with the use of the musket, and 
 in mountain warfare the chief requisite is expert 
 marksmen. However, the Aulic Council, actuated 
 by the ruling principle of cabinets and viewing poli- 
 tical reasons as paramount to military, strictly en- 
 joined the Austrian generals to offer no objection, 
 and ordered a rigorous execution of its new plan to- 
 wards the close of August. 
 
 We have already described the configuration 
 
 of the theatre of war and the disposition of the 
 
 armies upon that theatre.* Bodies of water issuing 
 
 • ■Whatever pains I may take to render myself intelligible, I 
 
 cannot hope to make the erents about to follow thoroughly 
 
 from the Great- Alps, now flowing in streams, now 
 stagnating in lakes, presented different lines one 
 within the other, commencing on the right at the 
 base of a lofty mountain-chain, and terminating on 
 the left in the great river which separates Germany 
 from France. The two principal were those of the 
 Rhine and the Limmat. Massena, obliged to aban- 
 don that of the Rhine, had recoiled upon that of the 
 Limmat. He had even been constrained to retire a 
 little to the rear of the latter and rest upon the 
 Albis. The line of the Limmat did not the less sepa- 
 rate the two armies. This line was formed by the 
 Lint, which derives its source from the Great- Alps 
 in the canton of Glaris, and proceeds into Lake 
 Zurich ; by Lake Zurich itself, and by the Limmat, 
 which issues from that Lake at Zurich and even- 
 tually falls into the Aar near Briick. The Arch- 
 duke Charles was behind the Limmat, extending 
 from Briick to Zurich. Korsakoff was behind the 
 lake of Zurich, awaiting the assignment of a posi- 
 tion. Hotze guarded the Lint. 
 
 According to the plan prescribed, the Archduke, 
 appointed to diverge to the Rhine, was to be re- 
 placed behind the Limmat by Korsakoff. Hotze was 
 to remain on the Lint with the Austrian corps of the 
 Voralberg, in order to extend a hand to Suwarrov ad- 
 vancing from Italy. A question of paramount im- 
 portance was what route Suwarrov ought to follow. 
 He had to scale the mountains, and might take one 
 or other of the avenues which intersect S\vitzerland. 
 If he preferred to penetrate by the valley of the 
 Rhine, he might, by traversing the Splugen, reach 
 the Upper-Rhine by Coire, and so effect his junction 
 with Hotze. It was calculated he might arrive about 
 the 5th September (3d Vende'miaire year VIIL). 
 This movement had the advantage of being executed 
 at a distance from the French, out of their reach, and 
 thus independent of any accident. Suwarrov might 
 likewise take another route, and instead of following 
 the line of the Rhine, enter by Saint-Gothard into 
 the valley of the Reuss, and debouch by Schweitz 
 behind the line of the Lint occupied by the French. 
 This march had the advantage of carrying him to the 
 rear of the hostile line ; but he had to cross the 
 Saint-Gothard occupied by Lecourbe ; a preconcerted 
 movement by Hotze across the Lint was necessary 
 to aid the approach of the army in its advance from 
 Saint-Gothard ; to second this movement an attack 
 on the Limmat was essential ; in a word, a general 
 operation along the whole line was required, one 
 perfectly well-timed and combined, a precision diffi- 
 cult of attainment when troops act at great distances 
 and in such numerous detachments. This plan, 
 which the Russians charge upon the Austrians and 
 the Austrians upon the Russians, was nevertheless 
 preferred. In consequence, a general attack was 
 ordered along the whole line to be made about the 
 end of September. At the moment Suwarrov should 
 debouch from Sahit-Gothard into the valley of the 
 Reuss, Korsakoff was to attack below Lake Zurich, 
 that is to say, along the Limmat, and Hotze above 
 the lake along the Lint. Two of Hotze's lieuten- 
 ants, Linken and Jellachich, were to penetrate into 
 the canton of Glaris as far as Schweitz, and extend 
 a hand to Suwarrov. The general junction once 
 operated, the allied troops in Switzerland would 
 amount to 80,000 men. Suwarrov was approaching 
 with 18,000; Hotze had 25,000, and Korsakoff 
 30,000. The latter had in reserve the corps of 
 Conde', and some thousand Bavarians. But before 
 the junction was accomplished, the 30,000 men under 
 
 understood, unless the reader keep before him a map, however 
 imperfect it may be. But those events were so extraordinary, 
 and WTOught in a manner so decided the salvation of France, 
 that I esteem them worthy to be well pondered, and therefore 
 recommend the reader to consult a map. The worst map of 
 Switzerland will stUl be sutficient to afford a general percep. 
 lion of the operations.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 765 
 
 Korsakoff and the 25,000 under Hotze, making 55,000 
 Together, were exposed to the attacks of Massena's 
 entire army. 
 
 In fact, the moment the Archduke quitted the 
 Limmat, and whilst Suwarrov had not yet passed 
 the Alps, was too favourable for Massena not to 
 sieze, and at length emerge from the inaction which 
 had been so severely censured. His army had been 
 augmented to about 75,000 men by the reinforce- 
 ments it had received ; but it had to cover the im- 
 mense line extending from Saint-Gothard to Basle. 
 Lecourbe, forming its right, and having Gudin and 
 Molitor under his orders, guarded SaiTit- Got hard, 
 and the valley of the Reuss, and the Upper- Lint, 
 with twelve or thirteen thousand men. Soult, with 
 ten thousand, occupied the Lint to its fall into the 
 lake of Zurich. Massena, with the divisions of Mor- 
 tier, Klein, Lorge, and Mesnard, forming a total of 
 thirty-seven thousand men, was upon the Limmat from 
 Zurich to Briick. Thureau's division nine thousand 
 strong, aJid Chabran's division eight, guarded, the 
 one the Valais, the other the environs of Basle. 
 
 Although inferior in the aggregate amount of 
 forces, Massena had the advantage of being able to 
 concentrate his principal mass upon the essential 
 point. Thus he had 37,000 men before the Lim- 
 mat, which he could throw upon Korsakoff. The 
 latter had just weakened himself by a detachment of 
 4,000 men sent as a reinforcement to Hotze, behind 
 the lake of Zurich, which reduced him to 26,000. 
 Conde 's corps and the Bavarians, which were to serve 
 as his reserve, were still greatly in the rear at Schaff- 
 hausen. Massena was therefore in a position to 
 attack 26,000 men with 37,000. If he defeated Kor- 
 sakoff he might turn back on Hotze, and after having 
 routed, perhaps destroyed, them both, overwhelm 
 Suwarrov, who was pushing into Switzerland in the 
 expectation of finding a defeated enemy, or at least 
 one pent up within his defensive line. 
 
 Massena, apprized of the projects of the enemy, 
 anticipated by a day his general attack, and fixed it 
 for the 3d Vende'miaire (25th September). Since he 
 had retired upon the chain of the Albis, a few paces 
 behind the Limmat, the course of that river belonged 
 to the enemy. It was necessary to take it from him 
 by effecting a passage, which he accordingly pro- 
 posed to attempt. Whilst he was operating below 
 Lake Zurich, he directed Soult to operate above it, 
 and to cross the Lint on the same day. JNIilitary 
 authorities have here censured Massena: he ought, 
 they say, rather to have tempted Suwarrov into 
 Switzerland than deterred him ; if, therefore, instead 
 of leaving Lecourbe to contend uselessly upon Saint- 
 Gothard witla Suwarrov, Massena had united him 
 with Soult, he would have been more sure of over- 
 whelming Hotze, and forcing the line of the Lint. 
 At the same time, as the result obtained was as great 
 as could be wshed, this criticism on Massena is based 
 only on a very rigid regard to principles. 
 
 The Limmat issues from the lake of Zurich at 
 Zurich itself, and flows through the town dividing it 
 into two parts. Agreeably to the plan arranged with 
 Hotze and Suwarrov, Korsakoff had prepared to at- 
 tack Massena, and with this view had moved the 
 bulk of his forces into the quarter of Zurich situated 
 over the Limmat. He had left but three battalions 
 at Kloster-Fahr, to guard a point where the Limmat 
 is most accessible, and detached Durasof with a divi- 
 sion near the embouchure of the Limmat into the 
 Aar to watch on that side : but his main body, 18,000 
 men strong at least, was in front of the river in offen- 
 sive attitude. 
 
 Massena grounded his plan on this disposition of 
 the enemy. He resolved to mask rather than attack 
 the position of Zurich; where Korsakoff had agglom- 
 erated his forces ; and with a considerable portion of 
 his troops to hazard the passage of the Limmat at 
 Kloster-Fahr, a point weakly defended. The pas- 
 
 sage being effected, he designed that this detachmeiit 
 should ascend the Limmat upon the opposite bank, 
 and advance to the rear of Zurich. He then proposed 
 to attack Korsakoff upon both banks, and hold him 
 entrapped in the town of Zurich. Vast consequences 
 might result from this operation. 
 
 Mortier with his division, which was 8,000 men 
 strong, and occupied the right of this field of battle, 
 was directed on Zurich. He was first to check, then 
 to attack the Russian mass. Klein with his division, 
 which was 10,000 men strong, was to be stationed 
 at Altstetten, between the point of Zurich and that 
 of Kloster-Fahr, where the passage was to be at- 
 tempted. He might thus either diverge before Zu- 
 rich and aid iVIortier against the Russian main body, 
 or move rapidly to the point of passage if it proved 
 necessary to support it. His division contained 4,000 
 grenadiers, and a reserve of superb cavalry. Lorge's 
 division, with a part of Mesnard's, was to perform 
 the passage at Kloster-Fahr. These formed a corps 
 of nearly 15,000 men. The rest of Mesnard's divi- 
 sion was to make a demonstration on the Lower-Lim- 
 mat to baffle and retain Durasof. 
 
 These dispositions, which have commanded the 
 admiration of all critics, were put in execution at 
 five in the morning of the 3d Vende'miaire (25th 
 September). The preparations for the passage had 
 been made near the village of Dietikon, with extra- 
 ordinary care and secrecy. Boats had been carried 
 by hand, and concealed in the woods. By dawn they 
 were afloat, and the troops ranged in silence upon the 
 bank. General Foy, afterwards so distinguished as 
 an orator, commanded the artillery on this eventful 
 day. He planted several batteries in a manner to 
 protect the passage. Six hundred men fearlessly 
 embarked and landed on the opposite shore. They 
 immediately charged the enemy's sharp-shooters and 
 dispersed them. Korsakoff had stationed three 
 battalions with cannon on the plateau of Kloster- 
 Fahr. The French artillery, more efficiently directed, 
 soon silenced the fire of the Russian guns, and pro- 
 tected the successive passage of the whole vanguard. 
 When General Gazan had added a sufficient rein- 
 forcement to the 600 men who had first crossed, he 
 marched against the three Russian battalions guard- 
 ing Kloster-Fahr. These were planted in a wood, 
 and defended themselves with great bravery. Gazan 
 surrounded them, and was obliged to slay them al- 
 most to the last man to dislodge them. These three 
 battalions cut to pieces, the bridge was thrown over. 
 The remainder of Lorge's division and part of Mes- 
 nard's passed the Limmat : thus 15,000 men were 
 transported beyond the river. Bontemp's brigade 
 was stationed at Rcgensdorf to confront Durasof if 
 he endeavoured to ascend from the Lower-Limmat. 
 The bulk of the troops, directed by the chief of the 
 staff Oudinot, skirted the Limmat to reach the rear 
 of Zurich. 
 
 This portion of the movement accomplished, Mas- 
 senna returned in person to the other bank of the 
 Linmiat to overlook the motions of his wings. To- 
 wards the Lower-Linmiat, Mesnard had so complete- 
 ly deceived Durasof by his demonstrations, that the 
 latter had hastened to the bank of the stream and 
 there deployed all his strength. On the right, Mor- 
 tier had advanced on Zurich by AAollishofen, but 
 had there encountered Korsakoff's mainbody, posted, 
 as we said, in front of the Linunat, and been com- 
 pelled to fall back. Massena, arriving at this mo- 
 ment, brought up Klein's division from Altstetten. 
 Humbert, at the head of 4,000 grenadiers, marched 
 on Zurich and restored the combat. Mortier renewed 
 his attack, and the French succeeded in driving the 
 Russians into Zurich. 
 
 IMcanwhile, Korsakoff, perplexed at hearing cannon 
 on his rear, had retransportcd some battalions beyond 
 the Limmat; but this feeble succour was unavailing; 
 and Oudinot had continued to ascend the Limmat
 
 76G 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 with his 15,(XM) men. He had stormed a small en- 
 campment at Hong, as also the heights to the rear of 
 Zurich, and occupied the high road to Wiiiterthur, 
 which gives access into Germany, and was the only 
 avenue by which the Russians could retire. 
 
 The day was now drawing to a close, and great 
 results had been prepared for the morrow. The 
 Russians were cooped up in Zurich ; ]\Ia«sena had 
 moved, bv the passage at Kloster-Fahr, 15,000 men 
 on their rear, and planted 18,000 in front of them. 
 It was dilHcult for them to avert a disaster. Cavil- 
 lers have contended that, instead of leaving Klein's 
 division before Zurich, Masscna ought to have carried 
 it by Kloster-Fahr behind that town, so as wholly 
 to bar tlie route of AN'interthur. But he feared that 
 Mortier remaining with 8,000 men only, Korsakoff 
 might pass through him and throw himself on the 
 Lint. True, Korsakoff in such case would have 
 encountered Soult and Lecourbe ; but he also might 
 have fallen in with Suuarrov coming from Italy, and 
 none can determine the possible consequences of so 
 si)igular a combination. 
 
 Korsakoff had at length become conscious of his 
 real position aiul moved his troops into the other 
 quarter of Zurich behind the Limmat. Durasof, on 
 the Lower-Limmat, having learnt the fact of the pas- 
 sage, had departed stealthily, and, avoiding Bontemps' 
 brigiide by a circuit, advanced to regain the Winter- 
 thur road. The combat of the following day, the 
 4th YeruU-miaire (•26tl\ September), was necessarily 
 to be of a desperate character, for the Russians 
 would naturally attempt to break through, and the 
 French to secure the greatest amount of success. 
 The battle began at early dawn. The unfortunate 
 to\m of Zurich, encumbered with artillery, baggage- 
 waggons, and wounded soldiers, and cannonaded from 
 all sides, was enveloped in flames. On this side the 
 Limmat, Mortier and Klein had approached and were 
 ready to enter it ; on the other, Oudinot pressed on 
 it from the rear, intent to debar Korsakoff from dis- 
 entangling himself and attaining the route of Win- 
 terthur. This road was the scene of a sanguinary 
 contest, being taken and re-taken several times. 
 Determined at last to make a vigorous effort to ex- 
 tricate himself, Korsakoff placed his infantry in the 
 van, his cavalry in the centre, his artillery and bag- 
 gage in the rear, and tlins advanced in form of a long 
 coluum. His intrepid infantry charged the French 
 vnth fury, overthrew all before them, and opened a 
 passage ; but when it had passed with part of the 
 cavalry, the French returned to the charge, attacked 
 the residue of the cavalry and the baggage, and drove 
 them back to the gates of Zurich. At the same mo- 
 ment Klein and ^Iortier appeared on the opposite 
 side. For some time an obstinate conflict was waged 
 in the streets. The illustrious and unfortunate La- 
 vater received a ball at the door of his dwelling, 
 fired by a drunken Swiss soldier, who levelled his 
 musket at him with a demand for money ; he fell 
 from a severe wound in the thigh, of which he died 
 some months afterward-^. Eventually, all the Rus- 
 sian force remaining in Zurich was compelled to sur- 
 render at discretion. One hundred pieces of cannon, 
 all the baggage, the administrations, the army-chest, 
 and five thousand prisoners, became the prey of the 
 French. Korsakoff had lost eight thousand men be- 
 sides, killed or wounded, in the engagement. Eight 
 and five make thirteen, exactly half of ins army. The 
 glorious victories in Italy had not been attended 
 by more substantial trophies. The effect, too, upon 
 the remainder of the campaign was calculated to be 
 equally great with the mere material acquisitions. 
 Korsakoff with his remnant of 13,000 men sought in 
 all haste to regain the Rhine. 
 
 In the meantime, Souit, directed to pass the Lint 
 above Lake Zurich, executed his commission with 
 not less success than the general-in-chief. He had 
 effected the passage between Biltem and Richemburg. 
 
 One hundred and fifty soldiers, bearing their pieces 
 above their heads, had swam across the river, scaled 
 the opposite bank, chased away the sharp-shooters, 
 and protected the passage of the vanguard. Hotze, 
 having hastened immediately to the point of danger, 
 had been shot dead, which threw the Austrian ranks 
 into great confusion. Petrasch, who succeeded 
 Hotze, had in vain struggled to force back into the 
 Lint the corps which had passed ; he had been 
 obliged to recoil, and retire precipitately on St. Gall 
 and the Rhine, leaving 3,000 prisoners and several 
 pieces of cannon. On their side also, Generals 
 Jellachich and Linkeri, detached to advance by the 
 ITppcr-Lint into the canton of Claris to receive 
 Suvvarrov at the avenue of Saint- Gothard, had re- 
 treated on hearing of these misfortunes. Thus, 
 nearly 60,000 men were already repulsed from the 
 line of the Limmat beyond that of the Rhine with 
 prodigious loss. Suwarrov, who expected to de- 
 bouch into Switzerland on the flank of an enemy 
 assailed on all sides and to decide his defeat by his 
 arrival, was destined on the contrary to find all his 
 lieutenants dispersed, and to be entangled amidst an 
 army victoious in all directions. 
 
 Starting from Italy with 18,000 men, Suwarrov 
 had reached the foot of Saint-Gothard on the fifth 
 complementary day of the year VII. (21st Septem- 
 ber). He had been obliged to dismount his Cossacks 
 to load his artillery on the backs of their horses. 
 He dispatched Rosemberg with 6,000 men to turn 
 Saint-Gothard by Disentis and the Crispalt. Arriv- 
 ing on the 1st Vendemiaire (23d September) at 
 Airolo, at the mouth of the gorge of Saint-Gothard, 
 he there encountered Gudin with a brigade of Le- 
 courbe's division. He fought with his wonted ob- 
 stinacy ; but his soldiers, bad marksmen, capable 
 oidy of advancing and meeting death, fell in whole 
 platoons under balls and stones. He determined at 
 length to threaten Gudin on his flanks, and thus 
 compelled him to yield the gorge as far as the hos- 
 pital. By his resistance, Gudin had given Lecourbe 
 time to collect his troops. But having at command 
 but 6,000 men, the latter was unable to resist Suwar- 
 rov who advanced with 12,000, whilst Rosemberg, 
 already arrived at Urseren, had 6,000 on his rear. 
 He threw his artillery into the Reuss, gained the 
 opposite bank by scaling almost inaccessible rocks, 
 and plunged into the valley. Arrived beyond Ur- 
 seren, and having Rosemberg no longer in his rear, 
 he broke down the Devil's Bridge and slew a multi- 
 tude of Russians before they had cleared the preci- 
 pice by descending into the bed of the Reuss and 
 climbing the opposite bank. He thus retreated foot 
 by foot, profiting by all obstacles to weary and de- 
 stroy the soldiers of Suwarrov. 
 
 The Russian army thus arrived at Altorf, at the 
 extremity of the valley of the Reuss, exhausted with 
 fatigues, destitute of provisions, and greatly weak- 
 ened by the losses it had sustained. At Altorf, the 
 Reuss falls into Lake Lucerne. If, according to the 
 preconcerted plan, Hotze had been enabled to push 
 forward Jellachich and Linken beyond the Lint to 
 Schweitz, he would have sent boats to receive Su- 
 warrov at the mouth of the Reuss. But after the 
 events which had occurred, Suwarrov found no means 
 of embarking, and discovered himself shut up in a 
 frightful valley. It was the 4th Vendemiaire (the 
 2(jth September), the day of disaster along the whole 
 Austro-Russian line. There remained to him no 
 resource but throwing himself into the Schachenthal 
 and passing over horrible mountains, where no beaten 
 road existed, in order to penetrate into the valley of 
 Miittenthal. He set out on the following day. Only 
 one man at a time could advance along the path he 
 had to follow. His army consumed two days in tra- 
 versing this interval of a few leagues. The foremost 
 soldier was already at Miitten before the last had 
 started from Altorf. The precipices were strewed
 
 HISTORY OF THE FIIKNCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 (67 
 
 ■with carriages, iorses and soldiers dying of hunger 
 or fatigue. Arrived in the s'alley of Miittenthal, 
 Suwarrov might dehouch by Schweitz not far from 
 Lake Zurich, or ascend the valley, and by Bragel 
 make good his way to the Lint. But on the side of 
 Schweitz, Massena approached with Mortier's divi- 
 sion, and on the side of Bragel stood INIolitor, occu- 
 pying the defile of Klonthal towards the banks of 
 the Lint. After givuig his troops two days' rest, 
 Suwarrov resolved to retrograde by Bragel. On the 
 8tli Vendemiaire (30th September) he commenced 
 his march. Massena attacked him in rear, whilst on 
 the side of Bragel Molitor kept him at bay in the 
 defile of Klonthal. Rosemberg valiantly resisted 
 the attacks of Massena ; but Bagration struggled in 
 vain to pierce jNIolitor. He succeeded in opesiingthe 
 route of Claris, but was unable to penetrate that of 
 Wesen. After a series of obstinate and bloody con- 
 flicts, intercepted on all the avenues, and driven back 
 on Glaris, Suwarrov had no alternative but to ascend 
 the valley of Engi in order to attain that of the 
 Rhine. But this route was even more fearful than 
 the one he had previously traversed. He entered 
 upon it nevertheless, and after four days of toil and 
 Hardships almost unprecedented, reached Coire and 
 the Rhine. Of his eighteen thousand men, he had 
 rescued scarcely ten. The corpses of his soldiers 
 lined the chain of the Alps. This barbarian, as- 
 serted to be invincible, retreated covered with con- 
 fusion and maddened with rage. In the course of a 
 fortnight, upwards of twenty thousand Russians and 
 from five to six thousand Austrians had perished or 
 been made captive. The armies arrayed to invade 
 France were hunted out of Switzerland and repulsed 
 ignominiously into Germany. The coalition was dis- 
 solved, for Suwarrov, exasperated against the Aus- 
 trians, refused to serve any longer with them. It 
 may in truth be said that France was saved. 
 
 Eternal glory to Massena, who thus achieved one 
 of the most memorable operations which the history 
 of war records, and which saved France at a moment 
 more perilous than that of Valmy or Fleurus ! Great 
 victories are to be admired from their conception 
 or political results ; but those are to be especially 
 celebrated which conduce to deliverance. Applause 
 is due to the first, gratitude to the latter. Zurich is 
 Massena's brightest gem, and none exists of purer 
 lustre in any military diadem. 
 
 Whilst these auspicious events were passing in 
 Switzerland, victory also declared for France in 
 Holland. Brune, feebly pressed by the enemy, had 
 enjoyed leisure to concentrate his forces, and after 
 having worsted the Anglo-Russians at Kastrikum, 
 had chased them to Zyp, where he reduced them to 
 capitulate. The conditions were the evacuation of 
 Holland, the restitution of all that had been taken 
 at the Helder, and the liberation, without exchange, 
 of 8,000 prisoners. The restoration of the Dutch 
 fleet was likewise desired, but the English refused 
 it, and in sanctioning the capitulation, the evils they 
 might inflict on the country were taken into con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Thus terminated the memorable campaign of 1799. 
 The French republic, entering too prematurely on 
 action, and committing the error of assuming the 
 offensive without having concentrated its forces, 
 had been discomfited at StocUach and Magnano, 
 and lost by those two defeats Germany and Italy. 
 Massena, remaining alone in Switzerland, stood dan- 
 gerously prominent between two victorious armies. 
 He had recoiled on the Rhine, then on the Linuuat, 
 and eventually on the Albis. 1'here lie had con- 
 tinued invulnerable during a space of four months. 
 In the interim, the army of Naples, endeavouring to 
 unite with the army of Upper- Italy, had been beaten 
 on the Trebbia. Subsequently combined with that 
 army behind the Apennines, rallied and reinforced, 
 it had lost its general at Novi, been defeated afresh, 
 
 and definitively driven from Italy. The Apennines 
 even were carried, and the Var menaced. But this 
 had proved the limit of the French disasters. The 
 coalition, displacing its forces, had moved the Arch- 
 duke on the Rhine and Suwarrov into Switzerland. 
 Massena, seizing this moment, had worsted Korsa- 
 koff deprived of the Archduke, and routed Suwarrov 
 deprived of Korsakoff. He had thus retrieved the 
 French misfortunes by an immortal victory. In the 
 East, glorious triumphs had terminated the campaign. 
 But, it must be confessed, if these great exploits had 
 sustained the republic when ready to succumb, if they 
 had restored some glory to it, they had restored neither 
 its grandeur nor its power. France was saved, but 
 only saved; she had not yet recovered her rank, and 
 was even menaced with invasion from the banks of 
 the Var. 
 
 CHAPTER LXin. 
 
 RETURN OF BONAPARTE. HIS DEBARKATION AT 
 
 FREJ0S EXCITEMENT AMONGST ALL PARTIES 
 
 ON niS RETURN. HIS COALITION WITH SIEVES TO 
 
 OVERTURN THE DIRECTORIAL CONSTITUTION. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR AND REVOLUTION OF THE 
 18th BRUMAIRE INSTITUTION OF THE PROVI- 
 SIONAL CONSULATE CONCLUSION OF THIS HIS- 
 TORY. 
 
 The tidings of the battle of Zurich, and the capitu- 
 lation of the Anglo-Russians, arrived in quick suc- 
 cession, and revived public confidence. It was the 
 first time the odious Russians had been defeated, and 
 their complete overthrow was a source of the deep- 
 est satisfaction. But Italy was still forfeited, the 
 Var menaced, the southern frontier in danger. The 
 grandeur of Campo-Formio was far from being re- 
 stored to France. Yet, in truth, the chief peril it in- 
 curred was not exterior, but internal. A disorganized 
 government, refractory parties, spurning the yoke of 
 authority, and yet not sufficiently powerful to usurp 
 and exercise it ; an universal derangement or social 
 dissolution, with gangs of brigands, the symptom of 
 that dissolution, infesting the highways, especially in 
 the provinces formerly distracted by civil war : — such 
 was the situation of the republic. A respite of some 
 months being insured by the victory of Zurich, it 
 was not so much a defender that was needed at the 
 present momerit as a chief who could grasp and wield 
 the reins of goveriunent. The great mass of the 
 population sighed, at any price, for tranquillity, for 
 order, for the termination of dissensions, and the 
 unity of purposes. It dreaded Jacobins, Chouans, 
 Emigrants, all parties equally. The moment was 
 one of marvellous aptitude for a man capable of 
 uniting all suffrages and stilling all apprehensions. 
 
 The dispatches containing an account of the ex- 
 pedition to Syria, and of the battles of Mount Ta- 
 ilor and Aboukir, produced an extraordinary sensa- 
 tion, and confirmed the general belief that the hero 
 of Castiglione and Rivoli must compier wherever he 
 appeared. His name was again innnediately on all 
 lips, and the question what is he duiiu/ ? ithvn irillhe 
 come? renewed on all sides. If he would but return! 
 was the universal exclamation. By a singular |)re- 
 scntiment, a rumour that he had arrived prevailed 
 twice or thrice. His brothers had written to him, 
 and his wife likewise ; but it was uncertain whether 
 their letters had ever reached him. We know that 
 they had not succeeded in escaping the English 
 cruisers. 
 
 Meanwhile, the personage, the object of such con- 
 stant speculation, was calmly treading the seas 
 amid^st the English fleets. His voyage had not been 
 prosperous ; contrary winds procrastinated it. Several 
 times the Engli.^h had been seen and fears suggested
 
 768 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 of falling into their power. He alone, pacing the 
 deck of his vessel with a serene and placid counte- 
 nance, confided in his fortune, and inspired others 
 ^ath a similar reliance, rebuking useless solicitude 
 for predestined evils. He studied the pages of the 
 Bible and the Koran, the sacred writings of the 
 populations he had left behind him. Fearing, after 
 late events, that the south of France might be in- 
 vaded, he directed the vessels to be steered, not to- 
 wards the coast of Provence, but towards those of 
 Languedoc. He wished to disembiuk at Collioure, 
 or Port-Vendres. A gust of wind had carried him 
 to Corsica. The whole island had flocked to greet 
 its renowned citizen. He then set sail for Toulon. 
 That port was almost reached, when, suddenly, as 
 the sun sank beneath the horizon, thirty hostile sail 
 were descried on the larboard quarter of the vessel : 
 they were seen flitting in the rays of the setting sun. 
 It was proposed to hoist out a boat to land in secrecy. 
 Still trusting to his destiny, Bonaparte preferred to 
 wait. The enemy, in fact, shortly disappeared, and 
 at break of dav, on the 17th Vendemiaire year VIII. 
 (9th October "1799), the frigates Le. Muiron and La 
 Carr^re, wth the corvettes La Revanche and La 
 Fortune, cast anchor in the bay of Frejus. 
 
 The people of Provence had been tormented with 
 dread, for three successive years, of the horrors 
 of an invasion. Bonaparte had freed them from 
 this woful apprehensioTi in 1796 ; but it had recurred 
 more keenly than ever since the battle of Novi. On 
 learning that Bonaparte was moored off their coast, 
 they hailed his arrival as that of their preserver. 
 All the inhabitants of Frejus hurried to the beach, 
 and in an instant the sea was covered with boats. 
 Inflamed \nth enthusiasm and curiosity, they boarded 
 the vessels, and m defiance of sanatory laws, held 
 eager intercourse with the new-comers. All clam- 
 oured for Bonaparte, all demanded to see him. It 
 was no longer time to enforce an observance of qua- 
 rantine regulations. The board of health felt bound 
 to relieve the general from tlieir operation, for it 
 might have condemned the whole population to un- 
 dergo the ordeal, since the crews had been indis- 
 criminately mingled with. Bonaparte immediately 
 proceeded to shore, desirous of posting with all speed 
 to Paris. 
 
 The telegraph, quick as the wind, had already 
 communicated along the route from Frejus to Paris 
 the great news of Bonaparte's landing. Everywhere 
 the most tumultuous joy was expressed. The tid- 
 ings, announced at all the theatres, elicited extra- 
 ordinary raptures. Patriotic songs superseded dra- 
 matic representations. The deputy Baudin of the 
 Ardennes, one of the authors of the constitution 
 of the year III., a reflective and sincere republi- 
 can, whose attachment to the republic amounted 
 to a passion, and who foreboded its subversion 
 unless a powerful arm appeared to sustain it, Baudin 
 of the Ardennes, we say, expired with joy when he 
 heard the intelligence. 
 
 Bonaparte started on the very day of his arrival 
 for Paris. He passed through Aix, Avignon, Va- 
 lence, and Lyons. In all these to\\'ns the enthusiasm 
 was boundless. The bells peeled in every town and 
 village, and during the night bonfires were lighted 
 along the roads. At Lyons especially, the manifes- 
 tations were even more energetic than elsewhere. 
 In departing from that city, Bonaparte, who wished 
 to enter Paris incognito, took a dilTerent route from 
 that he had indicated to his couriers. His wife and 
 brothers, deceived as to his direction, had hastened 
 to meet him, whilst he arrived at Paris. On the 
 '24th Vendemiaire (IGth October), he had reached 
 his house in the rue Chantereine without any one 
 suspecting his arrival. Two hours afterwards he 
 repaired to the Directory. The guard recognised 
 him, and uttered on seeing him the cry of Bonaparte 
 for ever ! He hurried to the apartments of the presi- 
 
 dent of the Directory, who happened to be Gohier. 
 It was arranged that he should be presented on the 
 following day to the Directory. On the morrow 
 accordingly, he appeared before that supreme body. 
 He addressed it, saying that after having consolidated 
 the establishment of his army in Egypt by the vic- 
 tories of Mount Tabor and Aboukir, and intrusted 
 its fate to a general capable of insuring its prosperity, 
 he had flown to the succour of the republic, which 
 he deemed in imminent jeopardy. He found it saved 
 by the exploits of his brethren in arms and rejoiced. 
 " Never," he added, placing his hand on his sword, 
 " would he draw it except for the defence of the 
 republic." The president congratulated him on his 
 triumphs and on his return, and extended to him the 
 fraternal embrace. His reception was in appearance 
 most cordial ; but at heart jealousy and apprehension 
 were too real, and too well justified by the situation 
 of atfairs, for his return to be a source of pleasure to 
 the five republican magistrates. 
 
 When after an interval of listless indifference men 
 awaken and interest themselves in an object, it is 
 usually with impassioned ardour. In the state of 
 prostration into which opinions, parties, and author- 
 ities had fallen, for some time nothing had existed 
 to inspire sympathy or attachment. A feeling of 
 unmitigated disgust with men and things pervaded 
 the whole community. But at the appearance of 
 the extraordinary individual, whom the East had in 
 so unforeseen a manner returned to Europe, this 
 apathy and aversion ceased. He arose as the star of 
 hope, and fixed universal expectation and regard. 
 
 All the generals, employed or not employed, pa- 
 triot or moderate, hastened to welcome Bonaparte. 
 This was but natural, since he was the first mem- 
 ber of their ambitious and discontented class. In 
 him it seemed to have found an avenger against the 
 government. All the ministers, and all the func- 
 tionaries successively disgraced during the fluctua- 
 tions of the Directory, likewise flocked to pay court 
 to the new arrival. Ostensibly they attended to 
 visit the illustrious warrior, but in reality to observe 
 and offer homage to the potent personage who seemed 
 to hold the future at his nod. 
 
 Bonaparte had brought with him Lannes, Murat, 
 and Berthier, and they were in his train at all times. 
 Shortly Jourdan, Augereau, Jlacdonald, Beurnon- 
 ville, Leclerc, Lefebvre, and Marbot, despite their 
 differences of opinion, mustered around him. Moreau 
 himself after a brief delay formed part of this retinue. 
 Bonaparte had met him at Gohier's. Feeling that his 
 superiority permitted him to make the first advances, 
 he accosted Moreau, testified his desire to form his 
 acquaintance, and expressed for him an esteem which 
 deeply moved the general. He subsequently pre- 
 sented to him a Damascus blade enriched with jewels, 
 and succeeded in wholly gaining him. In a few 
 days Moreau was enrolled of his court. He also 
 harboured dissatisfaction, and resorted with his com- 
 rades to the presumed avenger. To these celebrated 
 captains were added men of all professions. Amongst 
 others were Bruix, ex-minister of the navy, who had 
 recently scoured the Mediterranean *at the head of 
 the French and Spanish fleets, a man of subtle and 
 acute intellect, equally capable of conducting a nego- 
 tiation as of commanding a squadron, and M. de 
 Talleyrand, who had reason to fear the displeasure 
 of Bonaparte on account of his not having repaired 
 to Constantinople. But M. de Talleyrand confided 
 in his ability, his name, and his importance for a 
 favourable reception, and he was not deceived. 
 Their mutual predilection was too strong, and their 
 reciprocal need of association too attractive, to remain 
 estranged. Amongst the attendants in the rue Chan- 
 tereine were likewise counted Roederer, the old pro- 
 curator of the Commune, a frank and intelligent 
 personage, and Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, an 
 ex-constituent to whom Bonaparte had been attached
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 769 
 
 in Italy and whom he liad employed at Malta, a bril- 
 liant and accomplished orator. 
 
 But they were not only the discarded and the mal- 
 content who besieged Bonaparte. The chiefs of the 
 government frequented his domicile with similar as- 
 siduity. The directors and ministers vied in enter- 
 taining him as on his return from Italy. A large pro- 
 portion of the members of the two Councils sought 
 to be presented to him. The ministers and directors 
 rendered him a homage still more flattering ; they 
 came to consult him every instant on the business of 
 the state. Dubois-Crance, the minister at war, had 
 in some sort transferred his portfolio to Bonaparte's 
 residence. JMoulins, who of the directors more 
 peculiarly arrogated the war department, passed a 
 part of each morning with him. Gohier and Roger- 
 Ducos were equally constant in their attentions. 
 Cambaceres, the minister of justice, an expert juris- 
 consult, who entertained for 13onaparte the reverence 
 weak men yield to strength, and whom Bonaparte 
 affected to caress as a proof he could appreciate civil 
 attainments ; Fouche, minister of police, who was 
 not unwilling to exchange his old and emasculated 
 patron, Barras, for a new and puissant protector ; 
 Real, commissary in the department of the Seine, an 
 ardent and ingenuous patriot, and one of the most 
 intellectual men of the time, all diligently plied their 
 court to Bonaparte, and craved deferentially his views 
 of public policy. He had been scarcely a week in 
 Paris, and already the government of affairs had 
 devolved upon him almost involuntarily. In default 
 of actual authority, of which he was as yet destitute, 
 his advice was earnestly solicited. He, with his 
 accustomed reserve, affected to shun the attentions 
 bestowed on him. He refused to receive numbers 
 of people, seldom showed himself, and crept abroad 
 so to speak by stealth. His features had become 
 harder, and his complexion darker in hue. He usually 
 wore, since his return, a short grey riding-coat, and 
 a Turkish scimitar slung upon a silken cord. To 
 those who saw him thus attired, this latter appen- 
 dage vividly recalled the East, the Pyramids, Mount 
 Tabor, and Aboukir. The officers of the garrison, 
 the forty adjutants of the national guard, the staff of 
 the division, requested leave to wait upon him. He 
 deferred their reception from day to day. and appeared 
 to comply reluctantly with these exhibitions of hom- 
 age. Meanwhile he listened, opened himself to no 
 one, and scanned narrowly men and things. This 
 conduct was sagacious and profound. When a man 
 is necessary, he has nothing to dread by waiting. 
 He but irritates impatience, induces applications, 
 and enables himself to choose his part and dictate 
 terms. 
 
 " What is Bonaparte going to do?" was the ques- 
 tion canvassed on all sides. It proved that some- 
 thing inevitable was expected from him. Two prin- 
 cipal parties, and a third, a subdivision of the two 
 others, offered themselves to him and were disposed 
 to serve him if he adopted their views : these were 
 the patriots, the moderates or politicians, and the 
 putrid, as they were called, the corrupt of all times 
 and of all factions. 
 
 The patriots distrusted Bonaparte and his ambi- 
 tion ; but with their taste for subverting and their 
 improvidence for the morrow, they would have used 
 him as an instrument to overturn the existing state 
 of things, content to take on hazard a future recon- 
 struction. At the same time, this course was advo- 
 cated only by the more violent, who, always discon- 
 tented with the actual condition, regarded the task 
 of destroying as the most urgent of all. The rest 
 of the patriots, those who may be styled republicans, 
 were jealous of the fame of the general, and desired 
 at the utmost that he should be elevated to the Di- 
 rectory, reflecting with pain that for this purpose a 
 special dispensation must be granted to him on ac- 
 count of his age, but wished most of all that he 
 
 should repair to the frontiers to restore the .glory ot 
 the French arms and exalt the republic to its former 
 grandeur. 
 
 The moderates or politicians, men dreading the 
 fury of parties, and particularly that of the Jacobins, 
 having no longer any faith in a violated and worn- 
 out constitution, contemplated a change, and were 
 anxious that it should })e accomplished under the 
 auspices of an influential personage. " Take the 
 power, give us a wise and moderate constitution, 
 and afford us security," was the secret language they 
 addressed to Bonaparte. They composed the most 
 numerous party in France, comprising even many 
 compromised patriots, who, entertaining fears for the 
 revolution, desired to intrust its safety to a power- 
 ful supporter. They had a majority in the Ancients, 
 and a strong minority in the Five-Hundred. They 
 had hitherto followed the chief civil celebrity of the 
 day, Sieyes, and the more cordially that Sieves had 
 been grossly abused in the club of the Manege. At 
 present they were necessarily inclined to adhere still 
 more zealously to Bonaparte ; for it was effective 
 strength they mainly sought, and that was much 
 greater in a victorious general than in a publicist, 
 however renowned he might be. 
 
 Lastly, the putrid comprehended all the knaves 
 and intriguers who strove to amass fortunes, and had 
 disgraced themselves in such efforts, but who were 
 prepared to reap further illicit gains at the same cost. 
 They followed Barras and Fouche the minister of 
 police. They were made up of all parties, Jacobins, 
 moderates, and even royalists. They formed not a 
 party so much as a numerous sect or coterie. 
 
 In the sequel of this enumeration, it is not neces- 
 sary to mention the partisans of royalty. They were 
 too completely crushed since the 18th Fructidor, and 
 moreover Bonaparte inspired them with no hopes. 
 Such a man as he could be none other than egotisti- 
 cal in his ambition, and must scorn to grasp power 
 merely to surrender it into the hands of others. 
 They contented themselves, therefore, with swelling 
 the number of the enemies of the Directory, and 
 with assailing it after the fashion of all parties. 
 
 Amongst these different parties, Bonaparte had 
 but one choice to make. The patriots were wholly 
 repugnant to him. Some of them, attached to the 
 existing condition, suspected his ambition ; others 
 desired a physical-force overthrow, and then a revival 
 of interminable agitation ; wiih them nothing stable 
 could be founded. Besides they were in opposition 
 to the spirit of the times, and were in the last throes 
 of their pristine ardour. The putrid were of no ac- 
 count; they had no influence except in the govern- 
 ment into which they had naturally crept, for thither 
 tended all their desires. For the rest, it was uinie- 
 cessary to be concerned about them ; they were sure 
 to side with him who combined most chances in his 
 favour, for their sole aspiration was to gain office 
 and money. The only party on which Bonaparte 
 could repose was that which, partaking the cravings 
 of the whole population, aspired to place the re|)ublic 
 beyond the prey of factions, by constituting it in a 
 solid manner. Here a wide future was opened, and 
 here it behoved him to take his position. 
 
 His determination could not be doubtful ; mere in- 
 stinct prompted to it by anticipation. Bonaparte 
 had an abhorrence of turbulent men, and also of cor- 
 rupt. He could relish only such as were content to 
 be governed. In this category was involved almost 
 the entire nation. Still his vocation was to tem- 
 porize, suffer himself to be tempted by the offers of 
 parties, aiid study their leaders, to ascertain with 
 whom amongst them policy might advise an alliance. 
 
 The parties were all represented in the Directory, 
 The patriots had, as we have seen, Moulins and 
 Gohier. The putrid had Barras. The politicians 
 or moderates had Sieyes and Roger-Ducos. 
 
 Gohier and Moulins, sincere and honest patriots.
 
 770 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 more moderate than their part)' since they were in the 
 exercise of power, admired Bonaparte ; but, averse 
 to use his sword otherwise than for the fflory of the 
 constitution of the year III., they wished to send 
 him to the armies. Bonaparte treated them with 
 great consideration ; he esteemed their honesty, a 
 quality he always honoured in men (a disposition 
 natural and interested in one born to govern). Fur- 
 thermore, the regard he manifested towards them 
 was a mode of demonstrating his respect for true re- 
 publicans. His wife had formed a close intimacy 
 with ^ladame Gohier. She calculated in this man- 
 ner, and had said to Madame Gohier : " IMy intimacy 
 with you will sunplyan answer to all these calumnies," 
 
 Barra^. who felt his political end approaching, and 
 saw in Bonaparte an inevitable successor, detested 
 him most cordially. He would have stooped to 
 flatter him as formerly, only he was conscious of 
 being more thoroughly despised by him, and therefore 
 held aloof. Bonaparte entertained for this ignorant, 
 corrupt, and besotted debauchee, an aversion ren- 
 dered every day more insurmountable. The epithet 
 of putrid, which he had given to him and his kind, 
 sufficiently marked his disgust and contempt. It was 
 impossible he should consent to be allied with such 
 a character. 
 
 Sieyes remained ; a man veritably important in 
 every essential respect, and dragging in his train 
 Roger-Ducos. In raising Sieyes to the Directory 
 immediately before the 30th Prairial, it seemed as if 
 it were intended to constitute him the presiding 
 genius of the republic. Bonaparte eyed him with a 
 certain spleen for liaving occupied the first place in 
 his absence, fixed for a moment general attention, 
 and given birth to expectations. He harboured a 
 resentment against him he disdained to explain. Al- 
 though strongly opposed in genius and habits, they 
 both enjoyed that degree of superiority which per- 
 mitted them to treat and merge their differences, 
 but each had too much pride to make concessions. 
 Unfortuiiately they had never yet maintained any 
 intercourse, and two lofty spirits that have not ex- 
 changed flatteries are natural enemies. They kept 
 each other in observation, reciprocally waiting for 
 the other to tender the first advances. They chanced 
 to meet at a dinner-party given by Gohier. Bona- 
 parte had felt sufficiently above >Ioreau to proffer 
 the first overtures ; he had a different impression 
 with regard to Sieyes, and abstained from speaking 
 to him. The latter maintained a like silence. They 
 retired in mutual wrath. " Did you mark this little 
 insolent ?" said Sieyes ; "he did not even salute the 
 member of a government which ought to have him 
 shot!" " "What possessed you," said Bonaparte on 
 his part, " to put this priest in the Directory? He 
 is sold to Prussia, and if you don't take care'he will 
 deliver you to her." Thus, in men of the greatest 
 superiority pride prevails even over policy. But, 
 sooth to say, were it otherwise, they would lack 
 that haughty assumption which fits tliem to domi- 
 neer over mortals. 
 
 Accordingly, the individual whom it chiefly behoved 
 Bonaparte to gain was precisely he for whom'he felt an 
 incorrigible repugnance. But their interests were so 
 identical that, by their several partisans and in their 
 own despite, they were to be rivetted in a common 
 cause. 
 
 Whilst this alienation continued, and the concourse 
 around Bonaparte grew daily larger, he, xmcertain 
 yet as to the part he ought" to take, had sounded 
 Gohier and Moulins to ascertain whether they would 
 consent to his nomination as a director, notwith- 
 standing his defect of age. It was in the place of 
 Sieyes he would have designed to enter the govern- 
 ment. By excluding Sieyes, he would become 
 master of his colleagues, and be assured of govern- 
 ing under their name. This, doubtless, was but an 
 imperfect success; nevertheless it afforded the means 
 
 of arriving at power A^athout actually perpetrating a 
 revolution; and once in possession, he might await a 
 farther development. Whether he were really sin- 
 cere, or merely meant to deceive them, as is possible, 
 and persuade them that his ambition was confined to 
 a seat in the Directory, it is certain he sounded 
 them, and found them intractable upon the subject 
 of age. A dispensation, albeit granted by the Coun- 
 cils, appeared to them an infraction of the constitu- 
 tion. So it became incumbent to relinquish this idea 
 if ever veritably formed. 
 
 Gohier and INIoulins, beginning to be alarmed at 
 the impatience they conceived Bonaparte displayed 
 to assume political functions, recommended his re- 
 moval by giving him the command of an army. 
 Sieyes demurred to this conclusion, remarking ^-ith 
 bitterness that, so fur from affording him an oppor- 
 tunity to gather fresh glory, it was advisable on the 
 contrary to overlook him, and so cause him to be 
 forgotten. As the suggestion of sending him into 
 Italy was started, Barras observed that he had har- 
 vested sufficient plunder there to have no wish to 
 return. In the end, it was resolved to request his 
 attendance witii the view of offering him a command, 
 leaving to himself the choice of the army. 
 
 Bonaparte, being accordingly summoned, repaired 
 to the Directory. He was cognizant of Barras' re- 
 mark. Before the object for which he was called 
 had been intimated to him, he addressed the Direc- 
 tory in a lofty and menacing tone, cited the observa- 
 tion of which he had to complain, and, fixing his eyes 
 on Barras, said that if he had made his fortune in 
 Italy, it was not, at least, at the expense of the 
 republic. Barras was silent. The president Gohier 
 replied to Bonaparte that the government was well 
 convinced that his laurels constituted the only wealth 
 he had amassed in Italy. He then proceeded to state 
 that the Directory invited him to accept a command, 
 and referred to himself the choice of his army. Bona- 
 parte answered coldly, that he had not yet sufficiently 
 recovered from his fatigues; that the transition from 
 a dry to a humid climate had severely tried his con- 
 stitution, and that he still required some time to 
 retrieve his health. He withdrew without deign- 
 ing further explanation. This occurrence was emi- 
 nently calculated to warn the Directory of his views 
 and to acquaint him also with their suspicions. 
 
 It furnished a motive to act with promptitude. 
 His brothers, his habitual advisers, Ra'derer, Rc'al, 
 Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angely, Bruix, and Talley- 
 rand, brought to him every day members of the mo- 
 derate and political party in the Councils. Amongst 
 the principal of these were, in the Five-Hundred, 
 Boulay de la ^leurthe, Gaudin, Chazal, Cabanis, and 
 Chenier ; in the Ancients, Cornudet, Lemercier, 
 Fargues, and Daunou. All concurred in opinion 
 that an alliance with the genuine party, to wit, the 
 reorganizing, was indispensable, and consequently a 
 coalition with Sieyes, who had a constitution ready 
 compiled, and a majority in the Council of Ancients. 
 Bonaparte acquiesced in this opinion, sensible that 
 he had really no alternative ; but then there was the 
 obstacle of an approximation \\'ith Sieyes. But the 
 interests at stake were so great, and between his 
 sensitive pride and that of Sieyes there were media- 
 tors so delicate and so adroit, that a pacification 
 could not long be delayed. M. de Talleyrand was 
 fitted to soothe more savage and indomitable antipa- 
 thies than theirs. The negotiation was speedily 
 opened and concluded. It was agreed that a stronger 
 constitution should be given to France under the 
 auspices of Sieyes and Bonaparte. Without enter- 
 ing into explanations touching the form and nature 
 of this constitution, it was understood that it should 
 be republican, M-hilst it delivered France from what 
 both the one and the other called "brawlers," and 
 that it should vest in the two high contracting per 
 sonages the preponderance of authority.
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 r7i 
 
 A dogmatist intent on the long deferred accom- 
 plishment of his conceptions and an ambitious war- 
 rior aspiring to rule the world, were, in the prostra- 
 tion of all systems and all strength, signally fitted to 
 coalesce. Tlieir incompatibility of disposition was 
 of little consequence. The address of mediators and 
 the gravity of interests sufficed to alleviate this 
 inconvenience, at least for the moment, and this 
 moment was s-ufficient to work out a revolution. 
 
 Bonaparte, therefore, was persuaded to act with 
 Sieyes and Roger-Ducos. He still evinced the same 
 repugnance towards Barras, and the same considera- 
 tion for (johier and Moulins, but maintained an equal 
 reserve with all three. Fouche', however, skilful in 
 divining a rising fortune, viewed with the deepest 
 regret the distaste of Bonaparte for his patron Barras, 
 and was especially grieved to perceive that Barras 
 took no pains to mitigate it. He himself was fully 
 determined to pass into the camp of the new Ca?sar ; 
 but hesitating, through a renuiant of shame, to aban- 
 don his protector, he wished to carry him in his train. 
 Assiduous in his attentions to Bonaparte, and suffi- 
 ciently well received on account of his holding the 
 portfolio of police, he strove to overcome his animo- 
 sity against Barras. In this endeavour he was 
 seconded by Re'al, Bruix, and the other adherents of 
 the general. Believing he had succeeded, he prompt- 
 ed Barras to invite Bonaparte to dinner. Barras sent 
 him an invitation accordingly for the 8th Brumaire 
 (30th October). Bonaparte accepted it and at- 
 tended. After dinner a conversation on public affairs 
 was commenced. Bonaparte and Barras discoursed 
 apart. The latter first broke ground. He preluded 
 by a tissue of generalities on his personal position. 
 Anticipating doubtless that Bonaparte would contra- 
 dict him, he affirmed that he was ill, worn-out, and 
 condemned to relinquish office. Bonaparte preserv- 
 ing a solemn silence, Barras proceeded to remark 
 that the republic was disorganized, and that to save 
 it he deemed a concentration of power and the 
 nomination of a president requisite ; instancing Gen- 
 eral Hedouville as a fit person to fill that post. 
 Hedouville was equally obscure and incompetent. 
 Barras shrouded his real design, and designated 
 Hedouville to avoid naming himself. — " As to you, 
 general," he subjoined, " your purpose is to repair 
 to the army ; proceed thither to gain fresh glory and 
 replace France in her proper rank. For myself, I 
 propose to seek the retirement which I so much 
 reed." — Bonaparte threw on Barras a fixed gaze, 
 answered not a word, and so allowed the conference 
 to pause. Barras, disconcerted, added not another 
 syllable. Bonaparte immediately withdrew, and 
 before quitting the Luxembourg visited the apart- 
 ments of Sieyes. He there declared to him emphati- 
 cally that he would act with him alone, and that they 
 had only to settle the means of execution. Their 
 alliance was cemented at this interview, and it was 
 agreed to make preparations for the 18th or 20th 
 Brumaire. 
 
 On returning home, Bonaparte found Fouche, 
 Real, and the other friends of Barras. — "Well ! your 
 Barras," he exclaimed to them, "<lo you know what 
 he has proposed to me ? To make a president, who 
 is to be Hedouville, that is to say, himself, and 
 for me, I am to go to the wars ! Nothing can be 
 done with such a man." — The friends of Barras at- 
 tempted to palliate this absurdity and to exculpate 
 Barras. Bonaparte gave little heed to their remarks 
 and changed the subject, for his determination was 
 taken. Fouche immediately repaired to Barras to 
 lecture him on his folly, and urged him to hasten and 
 correct the effect of his stupidity. Early the follow- 
 ing morning, in fact, Barras betook himself to Bona- 
 parte's in order to excuse his words of the preced- 
 ing evening ; he tendered him his devotion and his 
 co-operation in all he might contemplate. Bona- 
 parte heard him with inattention, answered him by 
 
 generalities, and in his turn spoke of his fatigues, 
 his debilitated health, and his disgust at men and 
 things. 
 
 Barras perceived he was lost, and his career about 
 to terminate. It was full time he should reap the 
 reward of his double intrigues and of his base treach- 
 eries. The ardent patriots repudiated him since his 
 conduct towards the society of the Manege. The 
 republicans, attached to the constitution of the year 
 III., regarded him with suspicion and contempt. 
 The reorganizers, the politicians, saw in him a man 
 utterly discredited, and applied to him the epithet of 
 " Putrid," invented by Bonaparte. He retained 
 merely some relations with the royalists by means of 
 certain emigrants concealed in his court. His in- 
 trigues with them were of ancient date ; they had 
 commenced from the 18th Fructidor. He had com- 
 municated them to the Directory, and obtained autho- 
 rity to continue them in order to detect the ramifi- 
 catioiis of the counter-revolution. He had thus con- 
 trived the means of betraying at will the republic or 
 the pretender. At this moment there was a negotia- 
 tion with the latter touching the payment of several 
 millions to promote his return. It is possible, at the 
 same time, that Barras was not sincere with the pre- 
 tender, for all his predilections must have been for 
 the republic. But to judge accurately the prefer- 
 ences of this veteran corruptionist would be diffi- 
 cult. Perhaps he was unconscious of them himself. 
 Moreover, on this point of corruption, a little money 
 would unhappily prevail over all the prepossessions 
 of inclination or principle. 
 
 Fouche, appalled at the disgrace of his patron, and 
 shocked more especially at finding himself involved 
 in his fate, redoubled his court to Bonaparte. The 
 latter, distrusting a person of liis character, studi- 
 ously kept from him his secrets ; but Fouche, no- 
 thing daunted, for he was profoundly sensible of 
 Bonaparte's inevitable success, resolved to overcome 
 his prejudices by force of services. Holding the 
 police department, which he managed with great 
 skill, he knew that a conspiracy was on foot. Of 
 this fact he abstained from apprizing the Directory, 
 the majority of which, comprehending Moulins, 
 Gohier, and Barras, might have drawn from his 
 revelations a discovery fatal to its contrivers. 
 
 Bonaparte had been but a fortnight in Paris, and 
 nearly all was prepared for the blow. Berthier, 
 Lannes, and Murat daily added to his partisans 
 amongst the generals and officers. Of these, Berna- 
 dotte from jealousy, Jourdan from attachment to the 
 republic, and Augereau from pure jacobinism, held 
 back and had inspired apprehensions in the patriots of 
 the Five-Hundred ; but the bulk of the military was 
 gained. Moreau, a sincere republican, but suspected 
 by the predominant patriots, and discontented with 
 the Directory which had so unworthily rewarded 
 his services, placed his sole reliance on Bonaparte. 
 Wholly won by his blandishments, and yielding with 
 contentment to a superior, he declared he would 
 second all his projects. He desired only not to be 
 in the secret, as he had a horror of political intrigues, 
 but requested to be summoned at the moment of 
 execution. There were stationed in Paris at this 
 time the 8th and 9th regiments of dragroons, which 
 had formerly served under Bonaparte in Italy, and 
 were entirely devoted to him. The 21st Chasseurs, 
 organized by him when he commanded the army of 
 the interior, and which had once counted Murat in 
 its ranks, equally adhered to him. These regiments 
 often repeated a demand to be reviewed by him. 
 The officers of the garrison and the adjutants of the 
 National guard had likewise begged to be presented 
 to him, but had not yet been gratified. He delayed, 
 intending to make their reception instrumental to his 
 designs. His two brothers Lucien and Joseph, and 
 the deputies of his party, also continued to make 
 fresh converts in the Councils,
 
 772 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 An interview was fixed with Sieves for the 13th 
 Brumaire, to arrange the plan and the nrieans of 
 executing it. The same day had been appointed for 
 a banquet given by the Councils to General Bona- 
 parte, as on the return from Italy. On this occa- 
 sion, however, the Councils did not give it officially 
 as then. The subject had been proposed in secret 
 committee; but tlie Five-Hundred, who, under the 
 first impulse of the landing, had nominated Lucien 
 president, with the view of honouring the general in 
 the person of his brother, were now actuated by 
 suspicions and refused to sanction a banquet. It was 
 thereupon determined it should be given by subscrip- 
 tion. Tlie number of subscribers, after all, was 
 between six and seven liundred. The dinner took 
 place in the church of St. Sulpice. It proved chilly 
 and lugubrious ; every one eyed his neighbour fur- 
 tively and maintained a gloomy reserve. It wa,s 
 visible some impending event was anticipated, to be 
 the work of part of those present. Bonaparte was 
 sombre and preoccupied ; as he well might be, since 
 upon leaving that scene he was to attend and assign 
 the place and hour of a conspiracy. The moment 
 the dinner was concluded, he arose, and making the 
 circuit of the tables with Berthier, addressed a few 
 words to the deputies and abruptly retired. 
 
 He repaired to the apartments of Sieyes to make 
 wnth him his final arrangements. In the first place, 
 the government to be substituted for the one exist- 
 ing was settled. It was agreed that the Councils 
 should be suspended for three months, and the five 
 directors superseded by three provisional consuls, 
 who during those three months should exercise a 
 species of dictatorship, and be commissioned to frame 
 a constitution. Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger-Du- 
 cos were to be the three consuls. In the next place, 
 the means of execution were canvassed. Sieyes had 
 an assured majority in the Ancients. As incendiary 
 projects attributed to the Jacoltins M'ere the daily 
 topic of discourse, it was concluded to suppose an 
 outrage contemplated by them against the national 
 representation. The committee of inspectors of the 
 Ancients, wholly at the disposition of Sieyes, was to 
 recommend the translation of the legislative body to 
 Saint-Cloud. The constitution, in fact, gave such 
 a right to the Council of Ancients. The Council 
 was to add to this measure another which was not 
 authorized by the constitution ; namely, to intrust 
 the care of protecting the removal to a general of its 
 selection, of course to Bonaparte. It was at the 
 same time to vest in him the command of the 17th 
 military division and of all the troops cantoned in 
 Paris. With these forces Bonaparte was to escort 
 the legislative body to Saint-Cloud. There it was 
 intended to overawe the Five-Hundred and extort 
 from them the decree for a provisional consulate. 
 Sieyes and Roger-Ducos were on the same day to 
 give in their resignations as directors. It was pro- 
 posed to contrive the abdication of Barras, Gohier, or 
 Moulins. Then the Directory would be disorganized 
 by the dissolution of the majority; the Five-Hundred 
 would be told there was no longer a government, 
 and be obliged to nominate the three consuls. This 
 plan was excellently conceived, for when a revolu- 
 tion is to be accomplished it is always essential to 
 disguise the illegal as much as possible, and to use 
 the forms of a constitution to destroy it and the 
 members of a government to subvert it. 
 
 The 18th Brumaire was fixed for procuring the 
 oecree of translation, and the 19th for the decisive 
 session at Saint-Cloud. The duty of the plot was 
 divided. To Sieyes and bis friends was apportioned 
 the task of obtaining the decree of translation. To 
 Bonaparte was assigned the muster of the armed 
 force and the charge of conducting the troops to the 
 Tuileries. 
 
 All being arranged they separated. Rumours pre- 
 vailed on all sides of a great catastrophe on the point 
 
 of occurring. It had always been so on similar occa 
 
 sioTis. There are no revolutions in truth which suc- 
 ceed but such as may be known beforehand. As it 
 was, Fouche' refrained from enlightening the three 
 directors without the pale of the conspiracy. Du- 
 bois-Crance, despite his deference for the military 
 knowledge and fame of Bonaparte, was still a warm 
 patriot ; he had information of the project and has- 
 tened to denounce it to Gohier and Moulins, but his 
 statement was not credited. They were ready to 
 believe in Bonaparte an aspiring ambition, but not a 
 conspiracy all ready hatched. Barras was more sen- 
 sible of a great movement in progress ; but he felt 
 himself so completely ruined in every sense that he 
 abandoned himself supinely to the course of events. 
 
 The committee of the Ancients, over which the 
 deputy Cornet presided, undertook to make every 
 preparation during the night of the 17th-18th Bru- 
 maire to procure the decree of translation. The 
 shutters and curtains of the windows were closed to 
 prevent the public being apprized, by the lights, 
 of the nocturnal labours proceeding in the rooms of 
 the committee. It took care to convoke the Coun- 
 cil of Ancients for seven in the morning, and that of 
 the Five-Hundred for eleven. In this manner the 
 decree of translation might be passed before the sit- 
 ting of the Five-Hundred ; and as all deliberation 
 was prohibited by the constitution immediately conse- 
 quent upon the promulgation of the decree of trans- 
 lation, the tribune of the Five-Hundred would be at 
 once closed, and all embarrassing discussion stopped. 
 It adopted the further precaution of delaying the 
 transmission of the letters of convocation to certain 
 deputies. Thus it provided that those about whom 
 there was any doubt should not arrive until after the 
 decree was passed. 
 
 On his part, Bonaparte had made all necessary 
 provisions. He had sent for Colonel Sebastiani, who 
 commanded the 9th dragoons, to be assured of the 
 dispositions of the regiment. This regiment was 
 composed of 400 foot and 600 horse. It contained a 
 considerable number of young soldiers ; but the vet- 
 erans of Arcole and Rivoli gave it its tone. The 
 colonel answered for the regiment to Bonaparte. He 
 was then directed, under a pretext of holding a re- 
 view, to leave the barracks at five in the morning, 
 to distribute his men, partly on the Place de la Re- 
 volution and partly in the garden of the Tuileries, 
 and to occupy in person with two hundred cavalry 
 the streets of JNIont-Blanc and Chantereine. Bona- 
 parte subsequently conveyed an intimation to the 
 colonels of the other cavalry regiments that he would 
 review them on the 18th. He likewise sent word to 
 all the officers who desired to be presented to him 
 that he would receive them on the same morning. 
 As an excuse for the early hour appointed, he alleged 
 the pretence of an intended journey. He besought 
 Moreau and all the generals to be in the rue Chan- 
 tereine at the same hour. At midnight he despatched 
 an aide-de-camp to Lefebvre to beg attendance at 
 six in the morning. Lefebvre was devoted to the 
 Directory ; but Bonaparte relied upon his not being 
 able to resist his ascendency. He gave no notice to 
 either Bernadotte or Augereau. He had taken the 
 precaution, in order to deceive Gohier, to invite him- 
 self to dine with him on the 18th, with all his family, 
 and at the same time, in the hope of inducing him to 
 resign his office, he caused him to be solicited through 
 his wife to come on the following morning at eight 
 o'clock, and breakfast in the rue Chantereine. 
 
 Before dawn of the 18th, a movement, unexpected 
 on the part of those even who concurred to produce 
 it, was manifested in all quarters. A numerous 
 cavalry traversed the boulevards; all the generals 
 and otiicers in Paris proceeded in full uniform to the 
 rue Chantereine, unconscious of the concourse they 
 were there to find. The deputies of the Ancients 
 hurried to their chamber, astonished at so sudden a
 
 HISTOliY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 773 
 
 convocation. The Five-Hundred were for the most 
 part not cognisant of any unusual preparation. Go- 
 hier, Moulins, and Barras, remained in profound ig- 
 norance. But Sieyes, who had for some time pa>t 
 been taking lessons in horsemanship, and Roger- 
 Ducos, were already mounted and on their way to 
 the Tuileries. 
 
 So soon as the Ancients were constituted, the 
 president of the committee of inspectors. Cornet, 
 addressed them. He said that the committee charged 
 to watch over the security of the legislative body 
 had learnt that sinister projects were hatching, and 
 that conspirators were flocking in crowds to Paris, 
 there holding secret conclaves and compassing crim- 
 inal designs against the liberty of the national repre- 
 sentation. He added that the Council of Ancients 
 had within itself the means of saving the republic and 
 was bound to use them. These means consisted in 
 transferring the legislative body to Saint-Cloud to 
 shelter it from the attempts of the conspirators, in 
 placing meanwhile the public tranquillity under the 
 guardianship of a general able to secure it, and in 
 nominating Bonaparte as that general. No sooner 
 had this proposition and the decree which embodied 
 it been read than a marked emotion was perceptible 
 through the Council. Some members rose to oppose 
 it; Cornudet, Lebrun, Fargues, and Regnier, sup- 
 ported it. The name of Bonaparte, which had been 
 introduced to give weight to the motion, and vi'hose 
 aid it was well known might be relied upon, decided 
 the majority. By eight o'clock the decree was passed. 
 It transferred the Councils to Saint-Cloud and there 
 convoked them for the foUouang day at noon. Bona- 
 parte was appointed general-in-chief of all the troops 
 comprised in the 17th military division, of the guard 
 of the legislative body, of the guard of the Directory, 
 and of the national guards of Paris and the environs. 
 Lefebvre, the actual commander of the 17th division, 
 was placed under his orders. Bonaparte was en- 
 joined to attend at the bar to receive the decree and 
 to take an oath in the hands of the president. A 
 messenger of state was deputed to bear with all 
 speed the decree to the general. 
 
 The messenger of state, who was no other than 
 the deputy Cornet himself, found the boulevards 
 lined with a numerous cavalry, and the streets of 
 Mont-Blanc and Chantereine filled with officers and 
 generals in full uniform. All were hastening to obey 
 the invitation of General Bonaparte. His rooms 
 being too small to receive so great a crowd, he had 
 thrown open the doors, advanced to the £teps in 
 front, and thence harangued the military. He said 
 that France was in danger, and that he relied upon 
 them to aid in saving her. Cornet at this moment 
 presenting to him the decree, he snatched it from 
 him, read it aloud, and asked them if he might count 
 upon their support. All answered \vith their hands 
 upon their swords that they were ready to second 
 him. To Lefebvre he addressed himself particularly. 
 That general, finding the troops in motion without his 
 orders, had interrogated Colonel Sebastiani on the 
 subject, who, without replying, had entreated him to 
 enter Bonaparte's house. Lefebvre had accordingly 
 done so in no pleasant mood. — " Ha ! Lefebvre," said 
 Bonaparte to him, "you, one of the props of the 
 republic, will you allow it to perish in the hands of 
 these lawyers ? Unite with me and assist in saving 
 it. Here," be added taking up a sword, " this is the 
 sword I wore at the Pyramids ; I present it to you 
 as a token of my esteem and confidence." " Yes," 
 answered Lefebvre much moved, "let us throw 
 these lawyers into the river." — Joseph Bonaparte had 
 brought Bernadotte to the scene ; but he, perceiving 
 what was intended, withdrew to go and apprize the 
 patriots. Fouche was not in the secret; but, in- 
 formed of the event, he had ordered the barriers to 
 be shut and suspended the departure of couriers and 
 public vehicles. He came in haste to acquaint Bona- 
 
 parte with what he had done and to make protesta- 
 tions of his zeal. Bonaparte, who had hitherto passed 
 him aside, did not now repel him, but told him that 
 his precautions were useless, that there was no occa- 
 sion to close the barriers or arrest the ordinary course 
 of things, for he acted in concert with the nation and 
 depended upon it. At this moment Bonaparte learnt 
 that Gohier had refused to accept his invitation ; he 
 manifested some irritation, and sent a messenger to 
 warn him he would fruitlessly compromise himself by 
 resistance. He then mounted on horseback to proceed 
 to the Tuileries and take the oath before the Council 
 of Ancients. Almost all the generals of the republic 
 were on horseback around him. Moreau, IMacdonald, 
 Berthier, Lannes, Murat, and Leclerc, were imme- 
 diately behind him as his lieutenants. At the Tuil- 
 eries he found the detachments of the 9th, whom he 
 paused to harangue, and, after stirring them to a 
 pitch of enthusiasm, entered the palace. 
 
 He presented himself before the Ancients accom- 
 panied by this brilliant staff. His appearance caused 
 a strong emotion, and proved to the Ancients that 
 they had invoked a man of might, who had all the 
 means necessary to insure" the success of a coup d'etat. 
 He advanced to the bar : " Citizen representatives," 
 he said, "the republic was about to perish, your 
 decree has saved it ! Woe to those who attempt to 
 oppose its execution ; aided by all my companions in 
 arms, assembled here around me, I will know how 
 to resist their efforts. Past examples are vainly cited 
 to inspire apprehensions ; nothing in history resem- 
 bles the eighteenth century, and nothing in that cen- 
 tury resembles its termination We will uphold the 
 
 republic— We will uphold it founded on true liberty 
 
 and on the representative system We will so main- 
 
 tain it, I swear in my own name and in the name of 
 my companions in arms." — " We all swear!" cried 
 the generals and officers who crowded the bar. This 
 mode of taking his oath was singularly adroit on 
 Bonaparte's part, since he thus avoided swearing 
 fidelity to the constitution. In fact a deputy rose 
 to animadvert upon the omission ; but the president 
 silenced him on the plea that the decree of translation 
 foreclosed all debate. The Council innnediately broke 
 up. Bonaparte returned to the garden, mounted his 
 horse, and, attended by all the generals, passed in 
 review the regiments of the garrison as they came in 
 succession upon the ground. He delivered a short 
 and energetic speech to the soldiers, telling them he 
 was about to effect a revolution which would restore 
 to them abundance and glory. Shouts of Long live 
 Bonaparte ! responded from the ranks. The weather 
 was splendid, the concourse innumerable: all seemed 
 to smile auspiciously on the catastrophe about to 
 terminate confusion by absolute power. 
 
 By this time the Five-Hundred, warned of the re- 
 volution in progress, had resorted tuniultuously to 
 their hall of session. Upon assembling, they received 
 a message from the Ancients embodying the decree 
 of translation. Its annunciation provoked an outcry 
 from numerous voices ; but the president Lucien 
 Bonaparte enforced silence by virtue of the constitu- 
 tion which prohibited discussion. The Five-Hundred 
 forthwith separated ; the more ardent, hastening to 
 each other's domiciles, foimed themselves into con- 
 claves to reciprocate their indignation and devise 
 means of resistance. The patriots of the faubourgs 
 also rushed forth in great excitement and gathered 
 uproariously around Santerre. 
 
 Meanwhile, Bonaparte, having finished the review 
 of the troops, re-entered the Tuileries, and repaired 
 to the Ancients' committee of inspectors. The like 
 committee of the Five-Hundred had intimated its 
 adhesion to the new revolution, and concurred in the 
 arrangements for promoting it. Here the further 
 steps were to be taken under pretext of executing 
 the translation. Bonaparte established himself at 
 the committee in permanence. The minister of jus- 
 31)
 
 774 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 tice, Cambaceres, had already presented himself be- 
 fore it. Fouche likewise soon appeared, and Sie_ves 
 and Roger-Ducos came to lodge their resignations. 
 It was of importance to obtain a third, as then the 
 directorial majority would be dissolved ; in which 
 event there being no longer an executive power, no 
 act of energy on its part was to be dreaded. No 
 hopes were entertained that Gohier or Moulins would 
 voluntarily abdicate ; so M. de Talleyrand and Ad- 
 miral Bruix were dispatched to Barras to prevail on 
 him to resign. 
 
 Bonaparte next distributed the command of the 
 troops. He deputed INIurat, with a numerous cavalry 
 and a corps of grenadiers, to occupy Saint-Cloud. 
 Serrurier was stationed at the Point-du-jour with a 
 reserve. Lannes was appointed to command the 
 troops guarding the Tuileries. To Moreau was 
 assigned an invidious commission, and certainly the 
 least honourable of all upon this great occasion. 
 Bonaparte instructed him to proceed with five hun- 
 dred men to guard the Luxembourg; enjoining him 
 to blockade the directors under pretence of insuring 
 their safety, and rigorously to prevent them from 
 holding any communication beyond its precincts. At 
 the same time Bonaparte sent word to the com- 
 mander of the directorial guard to obey his orders, 
 withdraw his corps from the Luxembourg, and re- 
 pair to him at the Tuileries. An additional and 
 important precaution was adopted with the aid of 
 Fouche'. The Directory had the power of suspend- 
 ing municipalities ; therefore Fouche, acting in his 
 capacity of minister of police as if he had been em- 
 powered by the Directory, suspended the twelve 
 municipalities of Paris, and abrogated their authority. 
 By these means no rallying point remained to the 
 patriots either in the Directory or in the twelve 
 communes which had succeeded to the great com- 
 mune of former times. Fouche subsequently caused 
 placards to be affixed exhorting the citizens to order 
 and tranquillity, and assuring them that exertions to 
 rescue the republic from its perils were at that mo- 
 ment in active progress. 
 
 These measures completely succeeded. The au- 
 thority of General Bonaparte was everywhere recog- 
 nised, although the Council of Ancients had not acted 
 constitutionally in delegating it to him. For if that 
 Council could ordain the translation, it had no juris- 
 diction to nominate a supreme chief of the armed 
 force. Moreau proceeded to the Luxembourg and 
 blockaded it with five hundred men. Jube', the com- 
 mander of the directorial guard, paying prompt obe- 
 dience to the orders he had received, mounted his 
 troops and quitted the Luxembourg for the Tuileries. 
 During this interval, the three remaining directors, 
 Moulins, Gohier, and Barras, were thro\\Ti into 
 grievous perplexity. The two former, at length 
 painfully aware of the conspiracy that had eluded their 
 notice, had resorted to Barras' apartments to ascer- 
 tain from him whether he would abide firmly by them 
 and continue the majority. They found that volup- 
 tuous personage in the bath, and shortly informed 
 him of Bonaparte's proceedings. "That man," he 
 exclaimed with a gross expression, " has outwitted 
 us all ! " He pledged himself to remain steadfastly 
 by his colleagues, for he never failed to give pro- 
 mises, and sent his secretary Bottot to the Tuileries 
 upon a mission of discovery. But Gohier and Mou- 
 lins had scarcely quitted him ere he fell into the 
 hands of Bruix and Talleyrand. They had little 
 difficulty in convincing him of the impotency to which 
 he was reduced, and equally slender cause to appre- 
 hend an heroic struggle on his part in defence of the 
 directorial constitution. They promised him im- 
 munity and fortune, and he consented to abdicate. 
 A letter had been already framed which he signed, 
 and Talleyrand and Bruix hastened therewith to 
 Bonaparte. After that, the eflTorts of Gohier and 
 Moulins to gain access to him proved abortive, and 
 
 they eventually learnt the fact of his resignation. 
 
 Standing alone, and incompetent; to deliberate offici- 
 ally, they knew not what courst; to follow, and yet 
 were resolute to fulfil honestly their duties towards 
 the constitution of the year III. They determined 
 at length to repair to the committee of inspectors, 
 for the purpose of appealing to their two colleagues, 
 Sieves and Ducos, to join them in reconstituting the 
 majority, and promulgating at least the decree of 
 translation. This offered but a sad resource. It was 
 impossible to collect an armed force, and raise a 
 standard in opposition to that of Bonaparte ; hence, 
 it was wholly useless to visit the Tuileries and affront 
 Bonaparte in his very camp, and in the centre of all 
 his forces. 
 
 They persisted in the design, however, and were 
 allowed to execute it. They found Bonaparte sur- 
 rounded by Sieves, Ducos, a crowd of deputies, and 
 a numerous staff". Bottot, Barras' secretary^ had 
 just been dismissed with a severe rebuff". Bonaparte, 
 raising his voice, had said to him : " What have you 
 made of that France I left so brilliant? I left peace, 
 and I find war ; I left victories, and I find defeats ; I 
 left the millions of Italy, and I find despoiling laws 
 and penury. What has become of the hundred 
 thousand Frenchmen whom I knew, all my comrades 
 in glory ? They are dead ! " Bottot had retreated 
 in trepidation ; but immediately afterwards Barras' 
 resignation was brought which tended to calm the 
 general. He told Gohier and Moulins he was re- 
 joiced to see them, and that he relied upon their 
 abdication since he believed them too good citizens 
 to oppose an inevitable and salutary revolution. 
 Gohier replied wdth energy that he had come with 
 his colleague Moulins merely to endeavour to save 
 the republic. " Yes," retorted Bonaparte, " to save 
 it, and with what? with the appliances of a consti- 
 tution which is shivered to atoms?" "Who has 
 told you that?" interrupted Gohier: "people who 
 have neither the courage nor the will to adhere to 
 it." A warm altercation ensued between Gohier and 
 Bonaparte. At this moment a note was placed in 
 the hands of the general. It gave advice of a con- 
 siderable ferment in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. 
 " General Moulins," said Bonaparte, " you are a re- 
 lative of Santerre's ? " " No, " answered Moulins, ' ' I 
 am not his relative but his friend." " I learn," re- 
 joined Bonaparte, " that he is creating a disturbance 
 in the faubourgs ; tell him that at the first movement 
 I cause him to be shot." Moulins replied with acri- 
 mony to Bonaparte, who repeated he would cause 
 Santerre to be shot. The altercation with Gohier 
 was then resumed. Bonaparte concluded it by ex- 
 claiming: " The republic is in danger, it must be 
 saved — / will it so I Sieyes and Ducos have tendered 
 their resignations, and Barras has just sent his. You 
 are but two, isolated, powerless, and can do nothing ; 
 I advise you not to resist." Gohier and Moulins re- 
 plied that they would not desert their post. They 
 returned to the Luxembourg, where they were from 
 that moment confined, separated from each other, 
 and debarred from all communication by the express 
 orders of Bonaparte transmitted to Moreau. Barras 
 had already taken his departure for his estate of 
 Gros-Bois, escorted by a detachment of dragoons. 
 
 Hence, there was no longer an executive power. 
 Bonaparte alone had any force at disposal. The 
 whole of the ministers had resorted to him at the 
 committee of inspectors. All orders emanated from 
 there, as from the sole point where an organized au- 
 thority existed. The day finally closed in compara- 
 tive stillness. The patriots congregated in numerous 
 conclaves, and canvassed desperate propositions, but 
 with no faith in the possibility of their execution, so 
 paramount was deemed the ascendency of Bonaparte 
 over the troops. 
 
 In the evening a council was httld at the committee 
 of inspectors. The ol)ject of this council was to
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 775 
 
 arrange, with the principal deputies of the Ancients, 
 the proceedings of the morrow at Saint-Cloud. The 
 plan settled with Sieves was to enforce the adjourn- 
 ment of the Councils and the appointment of a pro- 
 visional consulate. This scheme was attended with 
 certain difficulties. Many members of the Ancients, 
 who had concurred in passing the decree of transla- 
 tion, began to be alarmed at the idea of a military 
 domination. They had not suspected the design of 
 creating a dictatorship for the advantage of Bona- 
 parte and his two associates ; they had contemplated 
 merely a different composition of the Directory, and, 
 despite the age of Bonaparte, were willing to nomi- 
 nate him a director. They submitted a formal pro- 
 position to this effect. But Bonaparte replied, in a 
 determined tone, that the constitution could no longer 
 subsist ; that a more concentrated authority was re- 
 quisite, and particularly a temporary cessation of the 
 political debates which agitated the republic. The 
 appointment of three consuls, and the suspension of 
 the Councils until the First Ventose, were therefore 
 moved. After a somewhat prolonged discussion, 
 these measures were finally adopted. Bonaparte, 
 Sieyes, and Ducos, were fixed upon for consuls. 
 The motion was reduced to form, and agreed to be 
 submitted the following morning at Saint-Cloud. 
 Sieyes, thoroughly conversant with revolutionary 
 movements, recommended that forty of the leaders 
 in the Five-Hundred should be arrested during the 
 night. Bonaparte repudiated the suggestion, and 
 had occasion to repent his exuberant confidence. 
 
 The night elapsed free from any violent demon- 
 strations. The next morning, the 19th Brumaire 
 (10th November), the road to Saint-Cloud was 
 thronged with troops, carriages, horsemen, pedes- 
 trians. Three chambers had been prepared at the 
 palace : one for the Ancients, another for the Five- 
 Hundred, and a third for the committee of inspectors 
 and Bonaparte. The preparations were to be made 
 by mid-day, but could not be completed before two 
 o'clock. This delay almost proved fatal to the in- 
 stigators of the revolution. The members of the 
 two Councils promenaded during the interval through 
 the gardens of Saint-Cloud, and conversed together 
 with extreme vivacity. Those of the Five-Hundred, 
 irritated at being exiled, as it were, by their col- 
 leagues of the Ancients, before they had been per- 
 mitted to utter a remonstrance, naturally demanded 
 of the latter what their views were, what they pur- 
 posed doing that day. — " The government is de- 
 composed," they said to them ; " granted, we allow 
 it must be reconstructed, and stands in good need 
 thereof. Do you wish, instead of men incompetent 
 and without renown, to substitute commanding, in- 
 fluential persons ? Do you wish to raise Bonaparte 
 to the Directory ? Although he is not of the age 
 required, we will nevertheless consent to his eleva- 
 tion." — These pressing questions perplexed the An- 
 cients. They were loath to confess that totally dif- 
 ferent designs were formed, and that the overthrow 
 of the constitution was projected. Some amongst 
 them dropped insinuations to that effect, which 
 were repelled with unequivocal disapprobation. Al- 
 ready predisposed to alarm from what had passed on 
 the previous evening at the committee of inspectors, 
 the Ancients were effectually staggered on witness- 
 ing the spirit of resistance manifested amongst the 
 Five-Hundred. From this moment, the dispositions 
 of the legislative body began to wear a dubious 
 aspect, and the revolutionary project to be seriously 
 compromised. Bonaparte had mounted his horse 
 and was at the head of his troops. Sieyes and Ducos 
 had a post-chariot and six in waiting at the gate of 
 Saint -Cloud. Several others had similar equipages in 
 readiness, prepared, in ca e of di-comfiture, to take 
 to flight. Nevertheless Sieyes displayed throughout 
 the whole scene an admirable coolness and self-pos- 
 session. Fears were entertained lest Jourdan, Au- 
 
 gereau, and Bernadotte should appear to address the 
 troops. Orders were given to cut down the first 
 individual who should present himself with an inten- 
 tion to harangue, were he representative or general, 
 no matter which. 
 
 The diet of the two Councils opened at two in 
 the afternoon. In the Ancients, reclamations were 
 offered on the part of the members who had not been 
 summoned the day before to attend the debate on 
 the decree of translation. These remonstrances 
 were disregarded, and a motion submitted to notify 
 to the Five-Hundred that a majority of the Council 
 was in session, and ready to deliberate. In the Five- 
 Hundred the proceedings commenced differently. 
 The deputy Gaudin, who was commissioned by Si- 
 eyes and Bonaparte to open the discussion, appeared in 
 the tribune, and after dilating upon the dangers which 
 beset the republic, proposed two measures: first, a 
 vote of thanks to the Ancients for having transferred 
 the Council to Saint-Cloud, and secondly, the ap- 
 pointment of a committee to present a report on the 
 dangers of the republic, and the means of obviating 
 those dangers. If this motion had been carried a 
 report was already compiled, and the provisional 
 consulate and the adjournment would have been re- 
 commended. But Gaudin had scarcely ceased to 
 speak ere a fearful tumult broke out in the assembly. 
 Violent exclamations resounded : on all sides were 
 heard, — Down with the dictators ! No dictator- 
 ship ! Long live the constitution ! The voice of 
 Delbrel articulated above the storm : The Constitu- 
 tion or death ! Bayonets appal us not ; we are free ! 
 These words stimulated fresh outcries. Several en- 
 raged deputies, turning towards the president, Lucien 
 Bonaparte, vociferated : No dictatorship ! Down 
 with dictators ! Upon these insulting shouts and 
 gestures, Lucien arose. " I am too sensible," he 
 said, " of the presidential dignity to suffer longer 
 the insolent menaces of certain orators ; I call them 
 to order!" This injunction failed to calm them, 
 but tended rather to render them more furious. 
 After a prolonged scene of agitation, the deputy 
 Grand-Maison moved that an oath be taken to the 
 constitution of the year III. The proposition was 
 hailed with rapture. A call of the Council was 
 moreover demanded, and adopted with the like trans- 
 ports. Each deputy mounted the tribune in his 
 turn to swear, amidst the clamour and cheers of all 
 the members. Lucien himself was obliged to quit 
 the chair, in order to take the oath which levelled in 
 the dust the ambitious designs of his brother. 
 
 Events were assuming a portentous aspect. In- 
 stead of nominating a committee to detail schemes 
 of reconstruction, the Five-Hundred swore to main- 
 tain the state of things in existence, whilst the An- 
 cients faltered, and were ready to retrace their steps. 
 The revolution seemed foiled and abortive. The 
 danger was most critical. Augereau, Jourdan, and 
 other influential patriots, were at Saint- Cloud, 
 awaiting the favourable moment to rally the troops 
 to their side. Bonaparte and Sieyes agreed it was 
 necessary to act with promptitude and invigorate 
 their wavering partisans. Bonaparte determined to 
 present himself before the two Councils at the head 
 of his staff. On his way he met Augereau, who in 
 a tone of mockery cried to him : " You appear in a 
 very pleasant predicament !" " Affairs were in a far 
 worse state at Arcole !" Bonaparte retorted, and ad- 
 vanced to the bar of the Ancients. He was wholly 
 unused to large assemblies. To speak for the first 
 time in public is embarrassing, intimidating even, to 
 the strongest minds, under circumstances the most 
 ordinary. In the excitement of present events, and 
 to one who had never appeared in a rostrum, it was 
 necessarily still more trying. Bonaparte, labouring 
 under great emotion, and speaking in a broken, yet 
 sonorous voice, essayed to address the Ancients :— 
 " Citizen representatives," he said, " vou are not
 
 776 
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 in an ordinary position, but upon a volcano. Allow 
 me a few explanations. You believed the republic 
 in danjjer ; you transferred the legislative body to 
 Sixint-Cloud ; you invoked me to secure the execu- 
 tion of your decrees ; I left my home to obey you, 
 and now" we are assailed with calumnies, myself and 
 mv companions in arms ; we arc told of a new Crom- 
 well, a new Caesar. Citizens, if I had aspired to 
 such a part it would have been easy for me to arro- 
 fcate it on my return from Italy, at a period of glorious 
 triumph, and when the army and all parties invited 
 me to do so. I did not then desire it, nor do I now. 
 The dangers of the country have alone aroused my 
 zeal and yours." 
 
 Bonaparte then proceeded, still in accents trernu- 
 lous with emotion, to depict the dangerous situation 
 of the republic, torn by intestine factions, and threat- 
 ened with another civil war in the West, and an in- 
 vasion on the South. " Let us prevent," he added, 
 " so many evils; let us save tlie two objects for 
 which we have made so many sacrifices, liberty and 
 equality." " Speak also of the constitution !" ex- 
 claimed the deputy Linglet. This interruption some- 
 what disconcertedthe general ; but he soon recovered, 
 and replied in the same agitated tone: " Of the 
 constitution! You have no longer one ! It is you 
 who have destroyed it, by outraging, on the 18th 
 Fructidor, the national representation, by annulling, 
 on the 22d Floreal, the popular elections, and by 
 subverting, on the 30th Prairial, the independence of 
 the government. That constitution of which you 
 prate, all parties concur to annihilate ! They have 
 ail come to me to confide their projects and solicit 
 me to second them. I have declined ; but if it 
 were necessary I can mention the parties and the 
 individuals." " Name !" shouted his opponents, 
 " name them ! demand a secret committee !" It was 
 long before the turmoil occasioned by this interpella- 
 tion subsided. At length Bonaparte resumed, and, 
 adverting again to the condition in which France 
 was involved, urged the Ancients to adopt measures 
 calculated to save it. " Surrounded," he concluded, 
 " by my brethren in arms, I shall be able to support 
 you. I obtest those brave grenadiers whose bayonets 
 I perceive, and whom I have so often led against the 
 enemy; I obtest their courage to aid you in saving 
 the country. And if any orator," Bonaparte added 
 with a menacing gesture, " if any orator, suborned 
 by the foreigner, spoke of placing me under the ban 
 of outlawry, I would appeal to my companions in 
 arms. Reflect that my steps are attended by the 
 god of fortune and the god of war !" 
 
 These audacious expressions wei'c intended as a 
 warning to the Five-Hundred. The Ancients hailed 
 them with satisfaction, and appeared signally reani- 
 mated by the presence of the general. They awarded 
 him the honours of the sitting. 
 
 After having thus revived the drooping courage of 
 the Ancients, Bonaparte resolved to visit the Five- 
 Hundred, in tlie hope of overawing them. He en- 
 tered tlieir hall followed by some grenadiers ; on 
 advancintr he left them behind him at the end of 
 the chamber. He had to traverse half the arena to 
 reach the bar. On attaining midway he was saluted 
 
 by furious outcries "What!" shouted numerous 
 
 voices, "soldiers here, and arms! What is intended? 
 — Down with the dictator ! down with the tyrant !" 
 Several deputies rushed into the centre of the hall, 
 surrounded the general, and apostrophized him with 
 passionate energy. " Wiiat !" they vociferated, " is 
 it for this you have conquered ? — All your laurels 
 are tarnished ! your glory is converted to infamy ! 
 
 Respect the temple of the laws Begone! begone !" 
 
 Bonaparte was confounded in the crowd swarming 
 around him. The grenadiers whom he had left at the 
 door hastened to his rescue, repulsed the deputies, and 
 grasped him round the body. It is said that amid 
 this tumult, grenadiers received the points of daggers 
 
 destined for him. Thome, a grenadier, it is certain, 
 had his clothes torn. It is quite possible that in 
 such a scuffle clothes might be torn without the use 
 of poniards. It is equally possible that poniards 
 were in more hands than one. Republicans who 
 deemed they saw another Ccesar in the senate, might 
 arm themselves with the weapon of Brutus without 
 being assassins. It would be weakness to justify 
 them from the charge. But, be it as it may, Bona^ 
 parte was borne by his soldiers out of the hall. He 
 is stated to have been much confused, which is not 
 more surprising than the supposition of daggers. He 
 remoimted on horseback, rode back to the troops, 
 told them that his life had been attempted by assassins 
 and placed in great danger, and was everywhere en- 
 thusiastically greeted by cries of Long live Bonaparte I 
 Meanwhile the storm raged more violently than 
 ever in the assembly, expending its fury against 
 Lucien. He evinced in the crisis an indomitable 
 firmness and courage. — " Your brother is a tyrant," 
 shouted the infuriated deputies ; " in one day he has 
 forfeited all his glory I" — Lucien in vain strove to 
 justify him. — " You have refused to hear him," he 
 said, " he came to explain to you his conduct, to 
 make known to you his mission, to answer all the 
 questions you have not ceased to ask since you as- 
 sembled. His services merited at least that he 
 should be allowed time to exculpate himself." — 
 "No, no! down with the tyrant!" roared the 
 patriots. — " Put him to the ban !" they added with 
 increasing rage, "to outlawry!" This was a terrible 
 word ; it had sufficed to insure the downfall of 
 Robespierre. Pronounced against Bonaparte, it 
 might perhaps have caused the troops to fluctuate, 
 eventually to desert him. Lucien intrepidly opposed 
 the motion of outlawry, and insisted that his brother 
 should be first heard. He long contended with un- 
 shaken fortitude amidst a tempestuous uproar. At 
 length, divesting himself of his cap and gown, he 
 cried: " Wretches ! would you have me outlaw my 
 own brother ? I relinquish the chair and proceed to 
 the bar to defend him you accuse !" 
 
 At this moment Bonaparte was informed of the 
 scene enacting in the Council. Fearing for his 
 brother's safety, he dispatched ten grenadiers to bear 
 him from the hall. The grenadiers entered, found 
 Lucien ami<lst an incensed concourse, seized him by 
 the arms alleging the orders of his brother, and 
 conveyed him outside the building. The decisive 
 crisis had now arrived. All was lost if any vacilla- 
 tion were shown. Oratorical means of reclaiming 
 the assembly had proved inoperative, and force alone 
 remained ; it had become necessary to hazard one of 
 those daring acts before which usurpers always 
 pause. Caesar hesitated ere passing the Rubicon, 
 Cromwell in discarding the parliament. Bonaparte 
 finally resolved to march his grenadiers on the Coun- 
 cil. Directing Lucien to accompany him on horse- 
 back, he rode in front of the troops. Lucien ad- 
 dressed them " The Council of Five-Hundred is 
 
 dissolved," he said to them; "it is I who announce 
 it to you ! Assassins have invaded the hall of session 
 and done violence to the majority ; I summon you 
 to march for the purpose of delivering it." — Lucien 
 afterwards obtested that he and his brother would 
 be the faithful defenders of liberty. Murat and 
 Leclerc then put in motion a battalion of grenadiers 
 and led it towards the Council of Five-Hundred. 
 They advanced to the door of the hall. At sight of 
 the bayonets, the deputies uttered terrific cries, as 
 they had done on the appearance of Bonaparte. But 
 the rolling of drums drowTied their shouts. — For- 
 ward, f/rcnadiers ! exclaimed the officers. The 
 grenadiers poured into the hall and dispersed the 
 deputies, who fled in precipitation, some by the 
 corridors, others by the windows. In an instant the 
 hall was evacuated, and Bonaparte stood master of 
 this deplorable field of battle.
 
 .^;,,z„^ //„.../ 
 
 ^ ,(y/.. / /- / / / / ^ • ,>->' / 
 
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 ^'^''"'.JCy^^A-i /^.''.'. 
 
 A FidlartonX.C" Lon.l.ju feF.'imbu
 
 HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 77 
 
 Intelligence of this event was communicated to the 
 Ancients, who were filled with anxiety and com- 
 punction. They had not anticipated such an outrage. 
 Lucien presented himself at their har and essayed 
 to justify his conduct with regard to the Five-Hun- 
 dred. His reasons were held to be satisfactory, for 
 what could be done under the pressure of the situa- 
 tion ? It remained to conclude the business and 
 realize the object originally contemplated. The 
 Council of Ancients could not alone decree the 
 adjournment of the legislative body and the institu- 
 tion of the consulate. The Council of Five-Hun- 
 dred was dissolved ; but there survived about fifty 
 deputies partisans of the coup d'etat. These were 
 assembled and used to pass the decree, the aim of 
 the revolution now effected. The decree was after- 
 wards carried to the Ancients, who adopted it 
 towards midnight. Bonaparte, Roger-Ducos, and 
 Sieyes, were nominated provisional consuls and in- 
 vested with the whole executive power. The Coun- 
 cils were prorogued to the 1st of next Ventose. 
 They were replaced by two commissions of twenty- 
 five members each, selected from the Councils, and 
 empowered to sanction the legislative measures which 
 the three consuls, in the course of their functions, 
 might require. The consuls and commissions were 
 charged to compile a new constitution. 
 
 Such was the revolution of the 18th Brumaire, so 
 variously judged by men, regarded by some as the 
 heinous crime which nipped the bud of liberty, by 
 others as a bold but necessary blow which terminated 
 anarchy. What may in truth be said is, that the 
 revolution, after having worn all characters, monar- 
 chical, republican, democratic, assumed at last the 
 military guise, because, in the continual struggle with 
 Europe, it required to be constituted in a strong and 
 solid manner. Republicans deplore so many fruitless 
 efforts, such torrents of blood uselessly shed to estab- 
 lish liberty in France, and sigh to witness it sacri- 
 ficed by one of the heroes it had generated. In this, 
 a sentiment more noble than reflective misleads them. 
 The revolution, intended doubtless to confer liberty 
 on France and a preparative to her full enjoyment of 
 it some day, was not nor could be itself liberty. It 
 was rather a convulsive struggle against the ancient 
 order of things. And after having vanquished this 
 order in France, it had to overcome it in Europe. 
 A contest so violent admitted not the forms or even 
 the spirit of liberty. An interval of liberty existed 
 under the Constituent Assembly, and of very short 
 duration ; but when the popular party became so 
 violent as to cause general intimidation ; when it 
 invaded the Tuileries on the 10th August ; when it 
 immolated all who gave it umbrage on the 2d Sep- 
 tember ; when on the 21st January it provoked uni- 
 versal complicity by the sacrifice of a regal victim ; 
 when in August 1793 it compelled every citizen to 
 
 repair to the frontiers or surrender his property ; 
 when, in fine, it abdicatedits own power and delegated 
 it to that great committee of public welfare composed 
 of twelve individuals, — was there or could there be 
 liberty ? No ; there was the strenuous effort of 
 passion and of heroism, the muscular tension of a 
 wrestler contending against a powerful adversary 
 After the first period of danger, after the victories 
 of the French arms, there was a moment of reprieve. 
 The end of the Convention and the Directory pre- 
 sented degrees of liberty. But the conflict with 
 Europe could only be for a while suspended. li 
 soon recommenced ; and at the first reverse, all 
 parties arose against a too moderate government and 
 invoked some potent arm. Bonaparte, returning 
 with the halo of glory from the East, was hailed as 
 the desired chief and installed in power. It is in 
 vain to allege that Zurich had saved France. Zu- 
 rich was an isolated accident, a mere respite ; Ma- 
 rengo and Hohenlinden were still needed for her sal- 
 vation. And more than military successes were 
 required ; a powerful internal reorganization of all 
 the departments of government had become essential, 
 and a political rather than a military chief was the 
 main exigency of France. The 18th and 19th Bru- 
 maire were therefore necessary. It maybe affirmed 
 only that the 20th was condemnable, and that the 
 hero abused the service he had just rendered. But 
 it will be answered that he acted under a mysterious 
 mission which he held, unknown to himself, from 
 destiny, and which he fulfilled as an instrument. It 
 was not liberty he came to uphold, for it could not 
 yet exist ; he came to continue under monarchical 
 forms the revolution in the world ; to continue it by 
 placing himself, a plebeian, on the throne ; by con- 
 ducting the Pontiff to Paris to pour the sacred oil 
 on a plebeian forehead ; by creating an aristocracy 
 \vith plebeians; by compelling the old aristocracies 
 to associate with his plebeian aristocracy ; by mak- 
 ing kings of plebeians ; by receiving into his bed a 
 daughter of the Caesars and mingling a plebeian blood 
 with one of the most ancient royal bloods in Europe ; 
 by intermixing nations and spreading French laws 
 through Germany, Italy, and Spain ; by refuting, in 
 fine, all established prejudices, by stirring and con- 
 founding all elements. Such the inscrutable mission 
 he was to accomplish : and in the interim, the new 
 society was to be consolidated under the aegis of his 
 sword, and liberty to follow at the appointed time. 
 It has not yet arrived, but it will come. 
 
 I have described the first crisis which prepared the 
 elements of this liberty in Europe. I have done 
 so without animosity, lamenting error, revering vir- 
 tue, admiring greatness, seeking to discern the pro- 
 found designs of Providence in these wondrous 
 events, and reverencing them when, as I have deemed, 
 revealed. 
 
 END OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 FULLARTON AHD MACNAB, PRINTERS, LKITB WALK.
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 TO THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 The small Italic letters a and h, respectively indicate the first and the second columns of each page in the present volume. 
 "RTiere no distinction of column is made, it is implied that the transaction indexed extends over the whole page. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abbate. — The people force the gates of the Abbaye to release 
 the soldiers of the French guards, 44 a. — The Swiss piison- 
 ers of the lUth August transferred to the Abbaye for trial, 
 162 6. — Twenty-four priests executed in the coui't of the Ab- 
 baye, 171 a. 
 
 AsonEiB. — Naval battle of, 715 — 717. — Its melancholy conse- 
 quences, 718 a. — Another sanguinary battle under Bonaparte 
 in this town ; military details" thereof, 7G2 — 767. 
 
 AcRB (St. Jean d'). — Siege of Acre. See Egypt. 
 
 Adige. — Reasons which determined Bonaparte to place his 
 lines upon the Adige, 585 a. — Course of this river, 597 b. — 
 Arrival of Wurmser upon it, 598 6. 
 
 Administration. — Reorganization of the new administration, 
 273. 
 
 Agriculture. — Measures of the revolutionary government for 
 the improvement of agriculture, 418 a. 
 
 August IOth. — Detail of the events of this day, 146 a. — Festival 
 of the anniversary, 318 — 320. 
 
 Appeal to the People. — This is proposed and discussed in the 
 Convention, with regard to the trial of the luug, 232 a. 
 
 Arcole. — DetaDs of the battle of Arcole, C16. 
 
 Argonne. — Several skirmishes take place in the forest of Ar- 
 gonne, 176, 177. 
 
 Aristocracy. — Policy of the aristocracy after the 14th July, 60 a. 
 
 Army. — State of the army, and revolt of the ti-oops in vaiious 
 provinces, 69 a. 
 
 Artois (Count d'). — The count assailed by the murmurs of 
 the people, 29 a. — Quits France, 48 a. 
 
 Assign ATS. — Creation of assignats; general remarks upon spe- 
 cie and paper-money ; 400,000,000 of forced assignats decreed, 
 78. — A new creation of assignats is ordered, 187 a. — Their 
 depreciation in 1793 ; consequences of this depreciation upon 
 trade; and the causes of their being undervalued, 317. — • 
 Measures taken to bi-ing about their diminution, 323.— New 
 creation of assignats in 1794, 418 b. — Their depreciation and 
 state after the "9th TheiTnidor, 452 a. — Continue to fall iu 
 1795, 486 a. — Various ways proposed for retiring their circu- 
 lation, 488. — They continue falling ; their state in April and 
 May 1795, 509. — Many projects devised for retiring them, 
 510 b. — Project of Bourdon de I'Oise ; it is adopted, 511 — 519. 
 — New means taken to remedy their depreciation, 549 a. — 
 Project of the Directoi-y for recalling the assignats and ap- 
 propriating them to the use of the public ti-easui-y ; the pro- 
 ject rejected ; details of financiers upon the subject, 554. — 
 The project of a forced loan is adopted, 555 6. — The value of 
 assignats becomes depreciated to almost nothing, 592 6. — 
 Embarrassments produced by their depreciation, 593. 
 
 AuGEREAU. — This general of the Italian army marches on 
 Brescia, 599 a. — Sent to Paris by Bonaparte ; the Directory 
 gives him the command of the military division of Paiis, 
 669 b. — He repairs to the Tuileries on the 18th Fi-uctidor, 
 679 a.— Is named commandant of the aniiy caUed the Ger- 
 man, after the death of Iloche, 683 6. — Is dispossessed of this 
 command. 696 b. 
 
 Austria. — Causes which prevented this power from negotiating 
 for peace, 500 a. 
 
 B. 
 
 BAbceut. — The journal ' Le Tribun du People' edited by Ba- 
 bceuf; character and schemes of this demagogue, 564 b, 
 665 a. — His conspiracy ; he is arrested, 568. — Condemned to , 
 death and executed, 638 a. 
 
 Bailly. — Elected deputy of the third estate, 33 a.— Is charged 
 •with an address to the king ; his character, 36 a. — Stopped 
 by the French guards at the door of the hall ; is the first to 
 take the tenis-court-oath, 38. — Is chosen successor of Fles- 
 seUes, under the title of Mayor-oi-Paris, 48 6. — Ilis difficulties 
 in provisioning Paris, 49 a. — Proposal to appropriate the 
 possessions of the clergy to the use of the state, 67 6.— Ac- 
 count of his trial and execution, 358 a. 
 
 Bastide Renard. — This servant of Dumouriez presented to 
 the Convention, 208 b. 
 
 Barbaroi'x. — His character; his schemes for a repubUc in 
 the south, 130. 
 
 Barbets.— Name given to the Piedmontese partisans, .586 a. 
 
 Barnave. — Barnave, Duport, and Lameth ojvpose Mii-abeau, 
 56. — Bamave's speech upon the ritrlit to m;ike peace and 
 war, 77 a. — Accompanies the roval faniilv from Varennes to 
 Paris, 93 b.— Allies himself with'the court-iiarty. 94 b. 
 
 Bakras. — Is named general of the army of tlie interior 12th 
 Vendemiaire, 541 a.— His character; conduot in opposition 
 to other members of the Directory, 627.— Inju'-cil in the opin- 
 ion of the government by his luxury and prodigality, 628 6. — 
 He only is spared in the accusations against the I)irectory ; 
 why, 661. 
 
 Barrere. — Is impeached, 475 a. — His arrest is decreed, 489 a. 
 — Condemned to banishment, 496 6.— Nominated deputy in 
 the year V., 654 b.— The nomination is annulled, 656 a. 
 
 Barthelemy. — Nominated Director in place of Letourneur, 
 656 a.— Is arrested the 18th Fructidor, and conducted to the 
 Temple, 679.— Sentenced to transportation, 680 b. 
 
 Bassano AND St. Georges.— Battles of Bassano and St. Georges. 
 604. 
 
 Bastille.— The populace, aided by the French guards, take 
 possession of the BastUle, 47. 
 
 Belgium. — Division of various parties after the battle of Je- 
 mappes, 208 b, 209 a.— Agents sent into Belgium, by the execu- 
 tive power, to organize revolutionary measm-es, 240 b. 
 
 Belly.- An epithet given to a certain party in the Legislative 
 Assembly, 101 a. 
 
 Bernadotte. — Is named commander-in-chief of the army on 
 the Rhine, 732 a. — Gives a plan of the campaign to the Direc- 
 tory ; its defects, 752 b.— He is displaced in the ministry at 
 war, 758 a. 
 
 Bertiiier.— General of the army of Italy, 573 a. 
 
 Bezenval.- His letter to the governor of the Bastille, 47 a.— 
 Imprisonment and liberation ; subsequent detention, 50 b. 
 
 Bicetre.— The massacres at this place, 174. 
 
 Billaud-Yakennes. — One of the executioners of the 2d Seiv. 
 tember, 171, 173 or, 186 b.— Resigns his membership of the 
 Committee of Public Safety, 455 b. — Declaims against the 
 Thermidorians, 473. — Is impeached and arrested, 489 a. — 
 Sentenced to banishment, 496 6. 
 
 Bonaparte. — An officer at the siege of Toulon ; proposes to 
 attack the fort of L'Eguilette, 373 a.— Named gcucral-of-liri- 
 gade ; his plans ado^jted, 413 <x. — Nominated sucond in com- 
 mand of the army ot the Interior the night of the 12th Ven- 
 demiaire, 541 b.-^His military o].( rations on the loth, 542, 
 543.— Charged with the coniniaud of the army of the Inte- 
 rior, 556 a. — He is named commander of the armv of Italy, 
 570 a. — Principal circumstances of the conquest of I'iedmon't, 
 573. — His negotiations with the court of Turin; grants a 
 truce to the king of Piedmont, 575. — His proclamation to the 
 soldiers after the first conquest of Italy, 576 a.— Conquest of 
 Lombardy, 578 a. — His entry into Milan", 580 6.— Another pro- 
 clamation to the soldiers at Milan, 582 a.— Retakes Pavia, 
 which had fallen into the hands of several bands of peasants, 
 582 b. — Enters the Venetian territory, 583.— His mterview 
 with several Venetian envoys, 585 a. — Signs an armistice 
 witli Naples, 586 b.— Penetrates into the Roman states and 
 Tuscany, 587 a. — Loses the line of the Adige; his contri- 
 vances to repair this mishap, 598 6.— His victorv at Lonato, 
 599.— At Castiglione, COO n.- Result of his militarv and poli- 
 tical operation iu Italy, 601 «.— Battle of Roverecio, 603 b.— 
 His march upon La ISrenta ; Victories of Bassano and of 
 St. Georges, 605 o.- Concludes the peace with Naples and 
 Genoa ; his ncfrotiations with the Pope, 611 b.— Organizes the 
 Cispadan republic, 612 a.— Ilis dangerous position at the ap- 
 proach of Alvinzy: battle of Arcole; military detail.s 614, 
 615.— His jiolicy with regard to the Italian powers, 617 a. — 
 His milit.iry disjiositions at the battle of Rivolj, 622.— Takes 
 Mantua, (i25— Remarks upon his campaign in Italy, 626 a. — 
 His political and miUtary administrationin Italy subsequent 
 to the affair of Rivoli ; lie marches against the Roman states, 
 and subscribes the treaty of Tolentino, 636 b. — IHs conduct 
 3E
 
 towards the French priests in Italy, 637 a.— Ineffectual nego- 
 tiation with Venire, 637 b.— His jilan of campaign against 
 Austria; he passes the Tagliamento to gain the summit of 
 the Alps, 638. — His interview with the Venetian envoys; 
 writes a threatening letter to that government, 641, 642. — 
 Marches upon Vienna ; his letter to the Archduke Charles ; 
 his enti-j- into Leoben, G43. — Signs the preliminaries of peace 
 at Leoben, (146 a.— Returns to Italy and destroys the republic 
 of Venice ; details of his political and military conduct, 648 
 — 65-'.— July 14th, 17!»7. gives a festival to his army ; sends to 
 the Directory the addresses of all the dirisions, 668 b, 669. — 
 Negotiation «ith Austria after the preliminaries of Leoben, 
 670"a.— His negotiations at Cdine are impeded by the Direc- 
 tory ; his consequent dissatisfaction, 68.5.— His transactions 
 in Italv ; he founds the Cisalpine republic, 686 a.— Becomes 
 arbiter of the differences between the counti-y of the Valteline 
 and the Grisons; his counsels to the Genoese respecting 
 their constitution, 687.— lie forms various establishments m 
 the Mediterranean, 687 6.— Consequences of his negotiations 
 with Austria at Cdine ; his interviews with M. de Cobentzel ; 
 he signs the treaty of Campo-Fomiio, 688, 689.— Determines 
 upon quitting Italv; his final aiTangements for the affairs 
 of that countrv-, 0\iO.— Anives in I'aris ; reception he met 
 with ; his speech to the Directory ; fete, 691 a, 692 b.— Result 
 of his stay in I'aris, 693.— Is charged with the attack upon 
 England ;'his repugnance at this expedition, 694, 695.— He 
 proposes an expedftion to Egjiit, wiiich is agreed to by the 
 Directory ; details of his preparations, 703 b, 704.— Embarks 
 at Toulon ; his proclamation to the soldiers, 706.— He repairs 
 to Malta, 706.— Arrives at Alexandria and takes possession, 
 708.— His plans for effecting the conquest of Egypt ; his letter 
 to the I'acha ; address to his soldiers, 710, 711. — His first 
 operations political and military, 712.— Establishes himself 
 at Cairo after the battle, 713 b.— Consequences of his political 
 and militai-y operations, 714 a. — Founds the Institute of 
 Egj^pt, 71.'> a.— Proclamation to the soldiers after the defeat 
 of Aboukir, 717 b. — Prepares to march upon Syria, takes 
 Gaza and the fort d'El-Arisch, and commences the siege of 
 St. Jean d'Acre, 759 b, 760.— Gains a victory at Mount Tabor, 
 760 b.— Returns to Egypt ; goes to Aboukir, where he gains a 
 bloody victory over the Turks, 762, 763. — Receives news from 
 Europe, and departs secretly for France, 763 b. — His return 
 to France; enthusiasm which he inspired; agitation of all 
 parties upon his arrival in Paris, 768 a. — His political con- 
 duct at Paris ; coalition with Sieyes to overturn the Directo- 
 rial constitution, 770, 771.^His interview with Sieyes to con- 
 sult upon the execution of their plan, 772 a. — FLxes on the ISth 
 Brumaire, 772 b. — Is named Provisional Consul, 774. 
 
 BoDT-GiARDS. — The Body-Guards give an entertainment to 
 the officers in ganison ; the sequel of the fete, 61. 
 
 B0NCH.4MPS.— Notice of thisVendean chief, 269 a. — He is mortally 
 wounded, 349 a. — Obtains the liberation of prisoners, 349 b. 
 
 BoBDEArx. — The Federalists of Bordeaux submit, 351 a. 
 
 BorcnoTTE. — Appointed minister of war, 261 a. 
 
 BociLLE. — His XMjsition in the midst of parties ; his character, 
 72 b. — Obtains the surrender of the rebel troops ; his schemes, 
 83 b. — Anives too late at Varennes to save the king, 93 a. — 
 Writes to the Assembly, and avows himself to have projected 
 the king's flight, 95 b. 
 
 BozE. — Painter to the king, solicits a letter from the Girondists, 
 150 a. 
 
 Bbetagne (La). — Is opposed to the Revolution, 267 a. — State of 
 this countrj' in 1795, 501. — Several chiefs sign their submis- 
 sion to the Republic, 504 b. — State of the country after the 
 first pacification ; fresh troubles, 523. — Expedition of Qui- 
 beron, 525 b. 
 
 Breze (The Marquis de). — Bringsamessagefrom the king, 39 b. 
 
 Bbien.ne (De). — Appointed minister, 28 b.— Calls a Parliament 
 at Versailles ; negotiates with Parliament, 29. — His embar- 
 rassments and withdrawal from office, 30. — Burned in etfigv, 
 32 b. 
 
 Brio AXDs. — TU-founded terror which this name spread through- 
 out France, 52 a. 
 
 Brogue (The Marshal de). — Receives the command of the 
 troops. 44 b. 
 
 Brottieb. — See Royalists. 
 
 Briets. — Admiral of the squadron of Egypt, 706 b. — His courage 
 at the battle of Aboukir, where he is killed, 816 a. 
 
 Bru.maire {18th).— Preparations and journey of the 18th Bru- 
 maire, 772 and following. 
 
 Brcse.— Commander-in-chief of the army of Holland, 732 a. 
 
 Bbcnswick (The Prixce de).— The people disseminate a docu- 
 ment from this Prince, 152 b. 
 
 Calexdab (The) is reformed, 361 a. 
 
 Calonne (De). — Is made minister; his character; the con- 
 fidence he inspires ; gathers the assembly of ' Notables,' 28 a. 
 — Writes to the King in justification of England ; accused of 
 promoting the embarrassments of France, 76 b. 
 
 Cambon (De Moxtpelieb).— .\n adversary of the contractors, 
 210 a. — Induces the Assembly to impeach three of the cou- 
 tractors, 211 a. 
 
 Camp de (3esak evacuated by the French, 319 6. 
 
 Campo-Fobmio. — Treaty of, 689 b. — The joy which it inspired 
 through France, 690 a. 
 
 Camus. — Proposes to reduce the pensions of the clergy, 67 b. 
 
 Carsot. — A member of the Committee of PubUc Safety, 326 b. 
 — Directs aU the military operations, 380 b. — .Justifies his con- 
 duct as member of the Ancient Committee of Public Safety, 
 493 b. — Spared tlie decree of arrest in consi<ieration of past 
 services, 518 a. — Is nominated Director in place of Sieyes, 
 who had refused, 548 b. — His mistaken plan of military oper- 
 
 ations in Italy, 581 b. — His plan of campaign on the Danube 
 and the Rhine, 587 b, 588 a. — Character of this Director, 627 
 — 629.— Is suspected by all parties, 677. — Takes to flight ou 
 the 18th Fructidor ; condemned to transportation, 680 b. 
 
 Carrier. — Atrocious executions of which he was the author 
 at Nantes, 429. — Impeached and sent to the Revolutionary 
 tribunal, 470 b. — Condemned to death, 475 a. 
 
 Cathelineau. — A zealous co-operator in the first Vendean 
 insurrection, 268 a. — Appointed generalissimo of the Vendean 
 amiy, 301 a. 
 
 Catherine Theot. — This female fanatic institutes a sect, 422 b. 
 — Is arrested with almost the whole of her sect, 426 a. 
 
 Cazales.— The eloquent advocate of the nobility, 51 a. 
 
 Central Assembly. — An assembly under this" name, for the 
 resistance of oppression, organized at Caen by the Deputies 
 of the departments, 292 b. 
 
 Chabot. — Accepts the proposal of Grangeneuve, and offers to 
 share his fate, hut fails to appear at the place appointed, 
 146 b. — Demands that the Swiss soldiers be conducted to the 
 Abbaye, 162 b. 
 
 Chaliek. — Makes himself remarkable at the head of the Cen- 
 tral club at Lyons ; demands a Revolutionary tribunal for 
 Lyons, 266 b. 
 
 Champioxnet. — General ofthe army of Italy; his military opera- 
 tions in the states of Rome against the amiy of Naples, 727. — 
 Repairs to the kingdom of Naples, 728 a.— Resists the orders of 
 the Directoi-j- ; is deposed, 730 a. — Is nominated general of a 
 new army by the new Directory, 751 a. 
 
 Charette. — A Vendean chief; his character; he at first hesi- 
 tates, and tlien consents to undertake the command of the 
 insiu'gents ; seizes upon the isle of Noirmoutiers, 269 a. — He 
 is brought to negotiate peace with the Republicans, 501. — His 
 friumphant reception at Nantes, 502. — Continues to make 
 preparations for the war after his submission ; his relations 
 with the princes and emigrants, 503, 504. — Proclaims war, 
 551 b. — Makes several attempts to sustain the war against 
 Iloche, 559. — Is driven back into the woods and mountains, 
 560 b. — Is taken and shot, 571 b, 572 a. 
 
 Charles (The Archduke). — Succeeds Clairfayt in the com- 
 mand of the army of the Lower Rhine, 569 b. — His plan of 
 campaign after his retreat to Neresheim ; his march against 
 Jourdau, 602 a. 
 
 Chateau. — Palace of the Tuileries attacked by the people, 
 133 a, 134 b. 
 
 CHAUMETTE.^Attomey-general of the commune, organizes the 
 Municipal legislature, 306 a. — Is arrested, 394 a. — His con- 
 demnation and death, 403 a. 
 
 Chebreiss. — Combat at this place in Egypt, 712 b. 
 
 CuEXiEB (Axdre). — His death, 439 a. 
 
 Che.nier (Marie Joseph), — Draws up a report upon the best 
 measures for repressing the Royalists, after the occurrences 
 of the 9th Themiidor, 508 b, 509 a. 
 
 Cholet. — Battle of tliis name in Vendee, 381 a. 
 
 Chouans. — Their situation in Brittany ; their leader, 461 b, 
 462 a. 
 
 Cisalpine Eeeublic. — Organized by Bonaparte, 686 b, 687. — 
 Situation of this Republic in the year VI., 691 b. — Sad state 
 after the departure of Bonaparte) 7J9, 722. — Changes in its 
 constitution, 724 b. 
 
 CisPADAX Republic. — Its foundation, 612 a. 
 
 Civic Oath taken by the National assembly, and all the con- 
 stituted bodies of Paris and France, 71 b, 72 a. — Taken by 
 the Federalists upon the Field of Mars, 80.— Imposed upon 
 the clergy, 107 b. 
 
 Clarke (Gexeral). — His mission to Vienna, 613 a. — His nego- 
 tiation with the Austrian cabinet; the project of an armistice 
 which he proposed is rejected, 617 a. 
 
 Clekgt. — Oppose the verification of the powers of the Com- 
 mons, 35 a. — The majority unite with the Commons, 38 a. — 
 Abdication of privileges, 67 b.— Manoeuvres at the commence- 
 ment of 1790, 69 a. — Devise various means for avoiding the 
 execution of the civil constitution, 79 a. — One party of the 
 clergy refuse to take the civic oath ; consequences of their 
 refusal. 87 a. 
 
 Clichy, Clichyans. — Club of this name, formed by the Depu- 
 ties of the opposition of the Legislative body, 630 a. — Manoeu- 
 vres for obtaining a new Directory ; various propositions 
 made to the Legislative body ; plans of Counter-revolution 
 formed by the Clichyans, 656. — Their struggle with the Direc- 
 tory in the Councils, 654 b. — Propose various measures of 
 financial reform, 658 b, 659 a. — Motion of order on the oc- 
 currences in Venice, 659, 660. — They oppose the changes in 
 the ministry projected by the Directory, 667 a. — Their fears 
 after the nomination of the ministers and the march of 
 Hoche, 669. — Other plans of opposition ; their alann at the 
 preparations ofthe Directory, 677. — The desperate resolutions 
 which they proposed, 678. 
 
 Clootz (Anachabsis). — This native of Prussia admitted by the 
 Assembly to take part in the dehberations ofthe Federation, 
 79 b. — Preaches universal republicanism, and the worship of 
 Reason, 362 b. — Is excluded from the list ofthe Jacobin society, 
 368 a. — Is arrested, tried, and executed, 394 b, 395. 
 
 Clubs. — Various assemblies formed under this name, 32 6. — 
 Breton club, 75 b.— Their importance augmented ; they be- 
 come dominators, 101 6. — The Council of Five Hundred 
 decree the suppression of these assemblies, 668 a. 
 
 Coalition. — The coaUtion of European powers begins working 
 ivith activity, 166 b.— Invades the French frontiers iu 1793, 
 293 a. — Want of union among these parties paralyzes their 
 force, 298 b. — State of the Coalition at the commencement of 
 1794, 409 a, 411 b. — Lukewarmness respecting the interests ot 
 the French princes, 476 a. — Plans of war of the new Coalition, 
 1799 ; their defects, 732 b. 
 
 Cobentzel (M. de).— His demands in name ofthe Court ; con- 
 sequences of this communication, 118 b.
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 781 
 
 CoBLENTZ. — The emigrants in t)iis city ; plans of the nobility, (15. 
 CoBOiKG (The Prince de). — Commander-in-chief of the allies 
 
 in the North, 414 a. 
 CoLLOT d'Hekbois. — Harangvics Dumouriez at the Jacobin 
 club, 196 (f. — Tries to prevent the arrest o ' the Ultra-revolu- 
 tionists, 381 b, 38'.'. — Undertakes to frustrate the insurrection 
 of the Ultra-revolutionists the 15th and l(5th Ventose, 3i)3. — 
 An attempt to assassinate him miscarries ; its consequences, 
 420.— Tenders his resignation as member of the Committee 
 of Public Welfare, 496 h. 
 
 Co.iiMERCE. — Disastrous state of trade in 1794, 463. 
 
 Commissaries. — The commissaries of all the primary assem- 
 blies in France arrive at Paris; their reception, 474 b. 
 
 Commission of Twelve. — Twelve commissions instituted by 
 the Committee of Public Safety instead of the ministries, 
 404 5. 
 
 Committee (Central Revolution art.) — Name assumed by the 
 meeting in the TouTihall ; occupied during several sittings in 
 considering the lists of tlie suspected, and the expulsion of 
 the deputies, 274 a. 
 
 Committee of General Defence. — Meets to deliberate upon 
 the means of public safety, 169 b. — Reasons for its establish- 
 ment, 241 a. 
 
 Committee of Public Welfare (Central). — Necessity for its 
 formation; its nature and the extent of its jurisdiction, 261. 
 — Meets 1st June, 1793 ; various opinions offered ; Gavat's 
 proposition, 285 6, 286 a. — It is required after May 1st to form 
 a plan for a new constitution, 290 b. — Proposes means for 
 stopping the insuiTections of tlie departments, 291 b, 292 a.— 
 Its privileges, 306 b. — Loses its popularity, 308 b. — Saint-Just, 
 Couthon, and Jean Bon St. Andre, join this committee, 309 a. 
 — Attacked by various parties after the check of our armies, 
 336 b. — The Convention declares that the committee retains 
 its full confidence, -337 a. — Its policy in December 1793, 371 a. 
 — Causes the arrest of the Ultra-revolutionists and agitators, 
 394 b. — Projects against Danton, 397. — Policy after the death 
 of Danton and the Hebertists ; concentrates all power in its 
 own hands, 403. — Abolishes the revolutionary army and the 
 several ministries, and sectional societies, Ac., 404, 405. — Its 
 dictatorship and position in 1794, 422 a. — Rivalry with the 
 Committee of General Safety ; seiiarates into several distinct 
 groups, 425, 426. — The agents of Robespierre strive to secure 
 the power in themselves, 427. — Sliglit reconciliation of the 
 various committees, 432. — It is reorganized after the 9th 
 Thermidor, 440 b. — Newly pui-ified, 450. 
 
 Committee of General Safety. — Reorganized after the 9th 
 Thermidor, 446 6. 
 
 Committee of Surveillance. — What it was, 163 b — Appointed 
 to execute the arrests, 169. — The scheme of massacring the 
 prisoners is projected, 170 a. — Sends a circular to the depart- 
 ments for their sanction to the murder of the prisoners, 175. 
 
 Committees. — Subjected to a monthly renewal of one-fourth 
 part, 446 a. — Inconveniences of this measure, 449 b. — Fifteen 
 committees established after the 9th Thermidor, 449 6, 450 a. 
 
 Commune. — Its power after August lOtli, 160. — Charged mtli 
 the guard of the Royal family, 164 a. — Takes measures against 
 the conspirators, 166 a. — Its power and exactions, 183 a. — 
 Opposed and censured by the Convention, 191 b. — Re-election 
 of members, 199 a. — Opposes a fresh insurrection, 246 a.— 
 Demands from the Convention, in name of thirty-five sec- 
 tions, the expulsion of twenty-two members, 264 a. — Submits 
 its registers to the Convention, 264 b. — Ordains a levy of 
 12,000 men in Paris and a tax upon the rich ; discontent upon 
 this subject, 270 a. — Complains to the Convention of the aiTest 
 of Hebert, and of the calumnies propagated against itself, 
 276. — Hebert crowned with lam-els, 278 a. — Deposed by the 
 Central revolutionary committee 31st May, 282. — A deputa- 
 tion from the Insurrectional commune is introduced to the 
 Convention, 283 a. — Charged after 31st May with the whole 
 administration of the interior, 306 a. 
 
 CoNDE (The Prince de). — Puts himself at the head of 6,000 
 emigrants, 167 a. 
 
 Conscription. — Law of Conscription decreed September 1798, 
 725 a. 
 
 Conscripts. — The levy of all classes is ordained after the 30th 
 Prairial, year VII., 752. 
 
 Conspirators of the IOtii August. — Who these were under- 
 stood to be, 164 b. 
 
 Constant (Benjamin).— Publishes a Pamphlet which excites 
 a great sensation, -566 a. 
 
 Constituent Assemelt. — See National Assembly. 
 
 Constitution. — Neces.sity for a Constitution determined upon ; 
 obstacles to its formation, 41 a, 43 b. — Discussions relative to 
 its establishment, 53 b. 
 
 Constitution de l'An II. — Its principal Articles, 299 a.-— A 
 petition against this Constitution rejected by the Convention, 
 300. 
 
 Constitution de l'An III. — See Directorial Constitution. 
 
 Constitution of the Clergy (Civil). — The principal Articles 
 of this project adopted, 79 6.— Reflections, 80 a. 
 
 Constitutional Circles. — Unions of this name formed by the 
 Patriots in the 5th year, in opposition to the Clicliyans, 662a. 
 
 Convention. — The National convention constituted, 186 a. — 
 Pronounces Royalty abolished in France, 186 b. — Sitting of 
 24th September, 1792, 187 6. — It divides into right side and 
 left, 190 a. — Separates into several committees, 199 b.— Or- 
 dains that the Committee of legislation give in its opinion 
 upon the forms to be observed in the trial of Louis XVI., 
 205 b, 206 a. — The Convention declares itself competent to try 
 the King, 216 b.— Discussions upon the necessary forms of trial, 
 217 b, 218, 219. — Violent debates after the defence of the King, 
 228, 229.— Sittings from the 14th to 17th January, when sen- 
 tence of death was passed upon the King, 231 b, 232, 283. — 
 Decrees that the execution shall not be delayed, 234. — De- 
 clares war against Holland and England, 239 a. — Measures 
 
 taken to meet the necessities of the war, 241. — Debates rela- 
 tive to the establishment of the extraordinary Tribunal, 24:i. 
 — Terror of its members ; threats of an insui'rei'tion, 250 /». — 
 Issues sundry decrees relating to events in Belgium and to 
 the Orleans family, 259 b, i60 a. — Discussions uimn the sub- 
 ject of the Petitions from the sections, and upou various acts 
 of the Commune, 261 a, 262, 263. — Decrees relative to I'etitions 
 from Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Lyons, 271, 272, — Tumults 
 occasioned by some women at the Tribune, 272 b. — A com- 
 mission of twelve members is nominated to examine and 
 report upon the proceedings of the Commune, and the de- 
 signs against the national representation, 273 b. — This com- 
 mission informs against the Commune, and makes some 
 arrests, 275. — Violent proceedings on the 27th May, on account 
 of the gathering of the armed sections, 276 a. — Dissolves the 
 commission of Twelves and annuls its acts, 277 a. — Violent 
 discussions upon this subject on the following day, 277 b. — 
 Revokes the decree relating to the commission of Twelve, 
 278 a.— Sitting of 31st May, 1793, 282.— Suppresses the com- 
 mission of Twelve, and decrees various measures 31st May, 
 284 b. — Counter-sitting of the 1st June, 285 a. — Sitting of Sun- 
 day, 2d of June, 1793, 286. — Votes the order of the day by 
 demand of the insui'gents, 287 a. — Several Deputies ill-treated, 
 arrested by an armed force, 2d June, 288 a. — Votes the arrest 
 of the Deputies denounced by the Commune, 289 a. — Remod- 
 elling of all the committees of the 31st May, 290 a. — Passes 
 several decrees against the insiu'gent departments, 298 a, 
 300 a. — Means employed against enemies from without, and 
 against the Federalists, 31.3, .314. — August 7th, 1793.— The 
 Convention admits the commissaries of the departments ; 
 they embrace in token of reconciliation, 318 b. — Decrees a 
 levy en masse, 321.— Decrees against La Vendee, the suspected, 
 the strangers, and the Bourbons, 326, 327. — Institutes the 
 Revolutionary government, 337 b. — Measures taken regarding 
 the war of La Vendee, 339. — Debates relative to Danton's 
 arrest, 397. — Decrees the impeachment of Desmoulins, Dan- 
 ton, and others, 398 b. — Refers all to the committees ; com- 
 mencement of opposition against Robespierre and the leaders 
 in the Committee of Public Safety, 435—438. — Several mem- 
 bers league against the Triumvirs ; dangers which threat- 
 ened them ; sitting of the 9th Themiidor, 440.— Result of the 
 sitting, 445. — Repeal of the law of the 22d Prairial, 446 b. — 
 Debates relative to the discharge of the suspected, 447. — 
 Discussion on the subject of the accusation brought by Le- 
 cointre of Versailles, 454 b, 455. — The Convention decrees 
 there shall be a general report on the state of the Republic, 
 456 a.— Sitting of the 20th September, 1794 ; report by Robert 
 Lindet, 456 b, 457. — Decrees relating to Commerce, 457 b. — 
 Debates relating to Popular societies, 464. — A lively discus- 
 sion upon the same subject, and a decree proposed and re- 
 jected, 465, 466. — Controversies between the Thermidorians 
 and the members of the ancient government, 468. — Various 
 financial and political measures for remedying the distress- 
 ing state of affairs, 469.— Decree regulating the forms of pro- 
 secution against members of the Convention, 470 b. — Quarrels 
 raised by the menaces of Billaud-Varennes against the Jaco- 
 bins ; violent dissensions upon the subject of the events of 
 the 19th Brumaire, 1794, 472, 473 b— Recalls into the Assem- 
 bly several proscribed Deputies ; violent scene upon this pro- 
 ceeding, 489 b. — Stonny sittings relative to the impeachment 
 of the ancient members of the Committee of Public Welfare, 
 Carnot, Collot-d'IIerbois, &o., 491—494 o.— On the 7th Ger- 
 minal, a band of infuriated women assail the Convention 
 with demands for bread, 494 a.— Dangers of the Convention 
 12th Germinal ; sentence of exile against Billaud-Varennes, 
 CoUot d'llerbois, Barrere, <fcc. ; disarming of the Patriots, 
 49,5_498 ((.— Aleasures for repressing the reaction of the Roy- 
 alists ; question of finance, 508 b— 511.— Insurrection of the 
 1st Prairial, year III.— Tumultuous scene after the death of 
 Feraud, 512, 513.— Several Deputies of the Mountaineers ar- 
 rested, 517 b, 518.— The Convention decrees the Constitution 
 of the year III. ; decrees the ilivision of the Legislative body 
 into two assemblies ; that two-thirds of its members slniuld 
 form part of the new Legislative body, and that the Elec_toral 
 assemblies should choose tlie new members, 536 b, 537 a. — 
 Decree fixing the time of the elections of the primary and 
 electoral as.semblies, 539.— The Convention declares its per- 
 manence 12th Vendemiaire ; attacked by the sections on tho 
 13th; is victorious, 540— 543. — Final struggle between the 
 parties in the Convention after 13th Vendemiaire ; declares 
 its session terminated ; recapitulation of its various acts ; 
 reflections, .545, 546. 
 CoRDAT (Charlotte).- Ilerhistory ; republican opinions; en- 
 thusiasm for the Girondists ; her devotion ; she fixes on 
 Marat, as chief of the Anarchists, to be the victim of her 
 devotion, 303rt.— On the 13th Julv procures an interview with 
 Marat, anil stabs him to the heart; the Girondists are sus- 
 pected of having instigated the assassination, 333 b.— Pctails 
 of her trial, ex:iniination. and condemnation; she writes to 
 Barbaroux, 304 b. — Her execution, 305 a. 
 Cordeliers.- The Club of this name rivals the Jacobins in 
 violence, 113 a.— Projects an insurrection against the Con- 
 vention, 274 b. . , u 
 Cormattn (Desotteux, Baron de).— Adventurer appointed by 
 Puisaye in Brittany as major-general in the revolted pro- 
 vinces, 481 b.— His jiolitical intrigues, 500.- He endeavours to 
 promote the general pacification, 501.— His part in the nego- 
 tiations witii La Vendee, 502 a.— Engages tho chiefs of the 
 Chouans, and Brittany, to submit and sign the treaty of 
 peace, 504 b. — Consequences of his manoeuvres in Brittany, 
 523.— Is arrested and imprisoned by Hoehe's order, 524 a.— 
 Is expatriated, 5.56 a. 
 Council of Five Hundred.— Creation of this Assembly by the 
 Constitution of the year III., 536 b.— Violent discussion upon 
 the law of the yd Brumaire, 562 b.— Legislative operations of
 
 the intasun.s aili>iitcil or proiiosod respecting the eniiiirants, 
 relision, finances, iVc, Gofi— Giill. — Rejects tlie proposition of 
 Jourdan to declare the Country in danger, 758 a. 
 
 Cor.NciLS. — Complain to tlie Directory ot the assembling of the 
 trooi)S of HtK^ie near I'aris, fiG7. — The Councils are disjiersed 
 the 18th t'ructidor. fi78 ().— The Deputies faithful to the Direc- 
 tory assemble in the Odeim tlieatre, and in the school of 
 Medicine; the ]>in'(tnry announces the Consjiiracy of the 
 Royalists; the New ("onncils annul variovis clcrtnral pro- 
 ceedings, and condrnin to hanislinK'iit ci rtain Deputies, two 
 Directors, sundry .lournalists, itc, 070, (JCIU.— The two Coun- 
 cils proro'.;uiil l;')th Hrumairc, 777 a. 
 
 CorNTKU-Ur.voMTioxisTS.— Boldness of this party ; their exer- 
 tions in the south of l^'rance. SOU. 
 
 CorNTKY IX Danger. — The Country is declared in danger, July 
 11th, 1792; consequences of this "declaration : permanent sit- 
 tings ; voluntary enrolments, 139 ft, 142. — The Federalists 
 arrive from all parts, 145 (>.— On the 25tli Fructidor of the 
 year VII., it is proposed to renew the declaration, 757 h. 
 
 CoL'KT (The).— Urges the convocation of the States-general, 
 and fi.xes the 1st of May, 1789, for the opening, 30 f;.— Approach 
 of troops to I'aris, 44 b. — Project for conducting the King to 
 Metz, (iO a.— Vacillating and ineffective proceedings of the 
 Court, 72 h. — Plans of counter-revolution, 73. 
 
 Coi'THON.- His si)eech at the Tribunal 31st Ma.v, 288 &.— Is 
 named mcnd)cr of the Committee of Public Welfare, 306 h. — 
 Is sent to Auveriine by the Convention to excite the people 
 against Lyons ; his comluct at the siege of Lyons, 342 — 344. — 
 cToselv unitiil with Kobespierre and Saint-Just, 422.— In the 
 Tribune defends the acts of the Committee, 424. — Demands, 
 in concert with Robespierre, the sacrifice of a number of 
 Deputies ; denies before the Tribune any project against 
 sixty members of the Convention, 426. — His words at the 
 Jacobin club, 43G. — Demands and obtains the printing of the 
 discourse pronounced at the Tribune by Robespierre, the 8th 
 Thermidor, 437 h. — His proposition to tlie Jucoiiins, 438 b.- — 
 Decree of arrest issued aganist him 9th Thermidor, 441 a. — 
 Is outla\ved together with his accomplices, 444 />. 
 
 CrsTiNEs. — Named general of the army of the North, 271 b. — 
 His defeat in May 1793, 295 b. — Account of his trial, sentence 
 of death and execution, 340, 341. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dampiehke. — Named commander-in-chief of the army of the 
 North after the defection of Duniouriez, 2()0 b. 
 
 Dantox. — Chief orator of the people, 97 a. — Ilis character, and 
 manner of influencing the multitude, 101 6. — Excites the 
 people to insurrection, 149 a. — One of the promoters of the 
 events of tlie 10th August, 156 a. — Nominated minister of 
 justice, 161 a. — Detail of his plans after the loth of August, 
 169 a. — His preponderance in the Executive council, and his 
 influence at Paris, 168 a. — Opposes the scheme of transferring 
 the government beyond the Loire ; resolves to perisli in the 
 capital, rather than not exterminate its crimes, 168 b. — 
 Proposes to intimidate the Royalists, 169 b. — At the news of 
 the capture of Verdun, obtains a decree tiiat the tocsin be 
 sounded, 170. — Appointed Deputy to the Convention, 183 b. — 
 Proposes divers motions at the Convention, 188 a. — Quits the 
 ministry upon the decision that it could not be held by mem- 
 bers of the Executive power, 192 a. — Proposes a levy of 30.000 
 men in Paris, 249 a. — Palliates the conduct of Duniouriez, 
 256 b. — Proposes the formation of two armies of Sans-culottes, 
 one for Paris, the other for La Vendee, 270 b. — He is suspected 
 of being the secret author of the insvuTection against tlie 
 Girondists ; his conversation with Meilhan ; reflections ujion 
 his character, 279. — His words at the Convention 31st Alay, 
 283 a. — Details of his political character ; he begins to lose 
 his popularity ; his character is suspected, 307.— Refuses to 
 enter the Committee of Public Welfare, 339 a. — Returns to 
 Paris ; is suspected by the zealous Revolutionists, 3C5. — At^ 
 tenii)t3 to justify himself at the Jacobin club, 'Mil b. — }>ecomes 
 an object of hatred to the Committee of Public Welfare, 
 390 6, 396 b. — Is arrested ; debates relating to his arrest ; his 
 impeachment deci-eed ; scenes at the Luxembourg with his 
 fellow-prisoners, 398 b. — Transferred to the Conciergerie with 
 his fellows, 399 a. — Details of his trial and execution. 400 — 402. 
 
 Dantonists.— Contest between the Dantonists and Ilerbertists, 
 581 a. 
 
 David. — Director of the Anniversary Festival of the 10th of 
 August, 320 a. — Ready to drink hemlock with Robespierre, 
 438 6. 
 
 Decrees. — The Decrees of the .5th and 13thFructidor, year III., 
 raise various parties against the Convention ; movement in 
 the sections, 535, 536. 
 
 Delessabt. — This minister is accused by Brissot and Ver^- 
 niaud, 115 a. 
 
 D'Entuaigues (The Coi-nt).- Is arrested ; his papers and dis- 
 coveries to Ronaparte reveal the projects of the Royalists 
 660 b. 
 
 Departmevts. — Division of France into Departments, 67 5. 
 
 Sever.'il Departments levy men for the execution of the de- 
 cree for the camp of 29,1)00 men. 137 />.- Opinion of various 
 Departments upon the movements of the government and 
 the divisions of the Convention. 'I'M, L'92 <t. — Many of the De- 
 partments levy troops against I. a Vendee, 2:»2, 'I'.V.i a. — Almost 
 all are ready to take arms against the Convention after May 
 
 31st, 290, 6.— Measures Mlii( li they took in this crisis, 292, b. 
 
 The same subject, 296 and following. — New details of the in- 
 surrection, 298. — Several Departments desist Iron) the Ilevo- 
 lution ; the Fcder.alists are repulsed, 300. — They are almost 
 entirely subdued, 301. 
 
 DtPCTATioN. — List of members of the Deputation fi-om Paris 
 IO the Convention, 183 'u. 
 
 Depities.- The Deputies who had been proscribed on the 31st 
 of May present themselves in the Departments, .300 b. 
 
 Desfge. — A joint advocate in the defence of Louis XVI. ; his 
 pleading for Louis, 226 b. 227 a. 
 
 Desertion. — Laws respecting desertion, 555 a. 
 
 Desmoi'i.ins (Camili.i:). — Addres.sis the I'eojile at the Palais- 
 Royal, 45 a. — Tlis inllncnce at the Paliiis-Uoyal, 57 a. — Pre- 
 sciits a very bold petition, 109 (). — Appointed Dexfuty to tire 
 Convention by the electors of Paris, 183 6. — Passes for a 
 Moderate, 307 b. — Censures the Committee of Public Safety 
 in a pamphlet ; and takes the defence of General Dillon 
 before all the people, 307 b. — Justifies his conduct in the 
 Jacobins, and is not excluded from that society, 368. — Writes 
 his Journal, ' The Old Cordelier,' 382 b, 383.— Presents his 
 'Defence' in one number of the journal, 385, 386 a. — Is de- 
 nounced to the Jacobins, 386 b. — Continues to attack his 
 adversaries in his journal, 390 6, 391. — Is an-ested, 397 6. — 
 Details of his ti-ial, condemnation, and execution, 398 b, 402. 
 
 D'EspREMENiL. — Ilis character; he declaims in parliament 
 against a ministerial project, which he considered would 
 tend to restrain its juris<liction, 29. — Is arrested, 30 a. — Pro- 
 poses to impeach the Third Estate, 40 a.— Is hooted at, and 
 pursued into the garden of the Tuilories, 152 a. 
 
 D'EsTAiNG. — Conmiauder of the National (Juards of Versailles ; 
 his character ; letter to the t^ueen, 60 a. 
 
 Dillon. — His project of retreat, 121 b. 
 
 DiRECroBT. — Executive power created by the Constitution of 
 the year III., 536. — Nomination of five Directors ; details of 
 this subject, 547 6, 548.— Dangerous situation of the Directory 
 at the commencement of its administration, 549 a. — Takes 
 measures for remedying the scarcity of food, and improving 
 the finances, 549 b. — Empowered to nominate public func- 
 tionaries ; manner in which it uses its power, 555 b. — Con- 
 tinuation of its administrative labours, 561 b.— Its military 
 X)kms, 469, 470. — Negotiates with England, 610, 611. — Sends 
 Clarke on a mission to Vienna, 612 a. — Breach of the nego- 
 tiations with the British cabinet, 618. — Its message to the 
 Councils of 25th Brumaire, C20 6. — Characters of the five 
 Directors ; their disputes amongst themselves, 627 — 629. — 
 Situation of the government in^the winter of the year V., 
 627 — fioO. — Discussions relative to the manner of selecting a 
 new Director for the year V., 633. — Contest ^vith the Councils 
 alter the elections of the year V., whence resulted the coup 
 d'etat of the 18th Fructid'or, 655, 656. — Begins to fear some 
 vast conspiracy after the arrest of the Count d'Entraigues, 
 660 6, 661 a. — Dissensions of the five Directors at the time of 
 their dispute with the factious Councils, 661 a.— Three mem- 
 bers, Larevelliere, Rewbell, and Barras, resolve on a coup 
 d'etat, 661 6.— Their chief supporters in this project, 662. — 
 Political state of feeling of the armies of Italy ; of the Rhine ; 
 of Sambre-et-Meuse, 663.— Resistance of the' Directors to the 
 opposition of the Clichyans, 665, 666. — Its embarrassment 
 regarding the decision on the subject of the negotiation be- 
 tween England and Austria, 672 b. — Its perils increase by 
 the opposition of the Councils ; takes measures to retain the 
 armed force in Paris. 673. — Energetic reply to the reclama- 
 tions of the Councils respecting the march of Hoche, 674 <i. — 
 Tliree Directors prepare for the coup d'etat of the 18th Fruc- 
 tidor ; repair to the apartments of Rewbell with the minis- 
 ters, and await the results of the day; their plan, 678. — Exe- 
 cution of the plan 18th Fructidor,679. — Re-establishes various 
 Revolutionary laws which the Councils had abolished, 680. — 
 Reforms introduced into the administration ; two new Direc- 
 tors named in place of those who had been exiled, 682 a. — 
 Deprives Moreau of his command, 682 b. — Meditates a descent 
 upon England, 694 h. — Declares the Vaudois under its pro- 
 tection, and sends an army into Switzerland, 700 b. — Its 
 desire to remedy the disorders in the Italian republics, 723. 
 — Proposes to pass the law of conscription, 725 h. — Its means 
 and plans of war for the campaign of 1799, 729.— Its endea- 
 vours to prevent pillaging and spoliation by the allies in 
 Italy, 730 a. — Choice of generals, 732. — Accusations of which 
 it is the object after the first defeat of the French armies in 
 1799, 738. — Reasons which justified them, 739. — Nomination 
 of Sieyes in place of Rewbell, 740 6.- AH parties unite against 
 the Directory after the defeat in Italy ; divisions among the 
 Directors, 747, 748 a. — Revolution of the 30th Prairial ; de- 
 struction of the ancient Directory; Trcilhard, Larevelliere, 
 and Merlin resign, 749, 750. — Formation of the new Directory, 
 750 b. — Its first acts, 751. — Measures taken by the Councils to 
 give it additional power, 751 &.— Its plans of campaign, 762, 
 753. — Dispute with the patriots, 756, 757. 
 
 Directorial Constitdtion of the year III. — Its authors, 536. 
 — Its principal dispositions, 546. — It is unanimously accepted 
 by the sections of Paris, 539 a. — Installation of the new gov- 
 ernment 5th Brumaire, 547. 
 
 Disarming. — The disarming of aU suspected citizens enjoined, 
 257 b. 
 
 Drouet. — Recognises the King at Sainte-Menehould, and causes 
 his arrest at Varennes, 92 b. 
 
 Dubois de Grange. — Succeeds Bernadotte as Minister of war, 
 758 a. 
 
 DucHASTEL.— Votes, in the trial of Louis XVI., in favour of 
 banishment, 233 ii. 
 
 DiciiENE (Le Pere). — Journal so called, edited by Hebert, 
 275 6. 
 
 Dumouriez.— His character; his military plans, 115 6. — Is 
 named minister ; assumes the red cap, 116 b. — His interview 
 with the Queen, 117.— Extract from his Memoirs, 117 a.— Is 
 mistrusted by the Gironde, and accused of misapplying the 
 finances, 122. — Advises the King to sanction the twodecrees, 
 126 a. — His boldness in the National assembly ; gives in his 
 resignation, 126 b. — Is made commander-in-chief of the armies 
 of the North and Centre, 166 6.— Prepares to oppose the in- 
 vasion of the Prussians, 167 £>.— His plan of campaign against
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 783 
 
 the Prussians, IGlt b. — Commencement of tlie execution of 
 his plan; tlie Thermopyhc of France, 17C, 177.— Writes to 
 the National assembly, n^ct.— Ilis dispositions after the re- 
 treat of the Prussians, 181, 18l'.— Conjectures uiion liis con- 
 duct, 18'2.— He returns to Paris and presents himself at tlie 
 Convention, and at the Jacobin club, 105, 19G.— Is welcomed 
 and entertained by the society of artists, where he is visited 
 by Marat, li)7.— Obtains some 'supplies for the army, 109 a.— 
 IHs militarv plans, 200 !).— Gains the victory of Jemapjies, 
 207, 20.S.— His political iirojects towards ljely;ium, 200.— Ue- 
 sults of his militai-y and administrative policy, 210 «.- Com- 
 plains of the new mode of providing for the army, 211 b.— 
 Piesults of his campaign in ISelsiuin ; his success and his 
 mistakes, 212. — llis plan of campaign at the commencement 
 of the Executive, 242 6.— lie arrests the agents of the Execu- 
 tive power, and menaces the government, 248 6, 240 a. — 
 Writes an audacious letter to the Convention ; consequences 
 of his military acts, 253.— Negotiates with the enemy, 255 a. 
 —His political projects, 25G.— Treaty with the enemy, 257 a. 
 — Reveals all his ])olitical projects, 258 o. — Is ordered to the 
 bar of the Convention ; six volunteers advance ujion l)u- 
 mouriez, and attempt to seize his person, 258 b. — Several of 
 his projects are defeated ; ordei-s the arrest of four Deputies 
 of the Convention, 20D a.— A price is set upon iJumouriez's 
 head ; troubles In Paris, 250 6.— Is abandoned by his troops 
 and withdraws to Switzerland ; remarks upon his character 
 and his politics, 200. 
 
 DupONT. — His cliai'acter, 29 a. 
 
 DuPOETAiL. — Minister of war ; proposed by Lafayette, 85 a. 
 
 DuvEBNE De Pkesle. — See Uov.\lists. 
 
 Edoewortii de Firmont.— Confessor of Louis XVI., 235 a. — 
 His words upon the scaffold, 2oG a. 
 
 EflYPT.— An expedition to Egypt proposed by Honaparte to the 
 Directory, secret preparations, 703, 704. — Condition of the 
 squadron destined to carry the troops, 700 '>.— Route from 
 Toulon to Alexandria; taking of Malta, 707. — Entry into 
 Alexandria, 70S a.— Description of Egypt ; Its geography ; its 
 inhabitants, 708— 710.— Route through the desert of Alexan- 
 dria to Cairo; discontent of the soldiers, 711. — Contest by 
 land and water against Mourad ]5ey ; dispositions of the 
 enemy near Cairo; battle of the Pyramids, 711— 7ia. — Poun- 
 dation of the Institute of Egyjit ; its workings, 715 a.— Naval 
 battle of Aboukir ; destruction of our squadron, 715 b, 710, 
 717.— Conquest ot Upper Egypt by Desaix ; battle of Sediman, 
 759 a.— Expedition to Syria by "lionaijarte ; taking of Fort 
 El-Arisch and Gjiza ; commencement of the siege of St. Jean 
 d'Acre ; battle of Mount Tabor, 759 b, 701 a.— Return of the 
 army into Egypt ; battle of Aboukir, 702 a, 703. 
 
 Elbee (De).— a leader of the Vendeans, 209 6.— lie is killed at 
 Cholet, 349 a. 
 
 Elections. — Elections take place in Paris and the provinces, 
 33 a. — Proceedings of the National assembly upon the elec- 
 tions, 59.— Agitations in France and Paris at the time of 
 the elections of the Convention, 183 a. — EH'ervescence of par- 
 tics, 054 —Elections of year V., 050.- Of the year VI., 702.— 
 Of the year VII., 740 a. 
 
 Eleci'oral Club. — How it was composed after the 9th Ther- 
 midor, 451. — I'resents an address to the Convention demand- 
 ing the reconstitution of the municijiality of Paris, itc, 405 a. 
 
 Electors. — Assemble in the Ilotel-de-Ville, 43 (>.— Deliver arms 
 to the people ; summon a convocation of the districts ; com- 
 ]iose a municipality ; compose a militia of 48,000 men, 45 — 
 An elector distributes gunpowder to the people, 4G a. — Form 
 themselves into several committees, 49 a. 
 
 E.iiifiivANTS. — Era of the emigration becomes formidable, G5 a. 
 — The emigrants levy troops in the King's name, 95 b. — They 
 persist in making preparations for a war at Coblentz ; their 
 connivance with the Court, 103 a. — Their movements de- 
 nounced by the Legislative assembly, 110 (i.— Debates in the 
 Councils ui)on the law of the Convention touching the eifects 
 of the emigrants, 503. 
 
 Emigration! — .\ssumes a disturbed aspect, 87 a. — Discussions 
 of the law bearing upon emigration, 89 a. 
 
 England. — Her policy with regard to France at the time of 
 the Revolution, 70. — War witli France, and its pfejionderance 
 in Eurojic, 409 a. — Remains the only enemy of France after 
 the submission of La Vendee ; her jiolitical jiosition, 505, 500. 
 — Alarm in England after the French victories in Italy and 
 the North, and the alliance with Spain, 009. — Embarrassing 
 situation of England after the preliminaries of Leoben ; fresh 
 negotiations of peace, 053. —Conferences of Lille, 054, 071. — 
 Project of descent upon England, 004 b. — Her etibrts to or- 
 ganize a new Coalition against Finance, 718 b. 
 
 English Institutions. — l!y whom they were advocated, 51. 
 
 Ettlengen. — See Rastadt. 
 
 Europe. — The political situation of Europe, and state of foreign 
 Powers in 1790, 75 «, 70. — Dispositions of the sovereigns of 
 Eurojie towards France after the King's flight to Varenncs, 
 9,5 {,. — Disposition of foreign sovereigns towards France, 102 b. 
 — Projects of foreign powers with regard to France after 
 August 10th, ](>G 6. — Dispositions of foreign ])owers after 
 January 21st, 237. — Reflections upon the politics of Europe, 
 245 6, 240. — State of Europe at the commencement of 1794, 
 409 a. — Situation of the states of Europe after the campaign 
 of 1795, 001. — Movement in the various courts to form :i new 
 Coalition against France, 724. 
 
 EvECiiE. — Reaiipointment of this meeting ; its scope, 271 a. — 
 Six members ajipointed to examine and report upon measures 
 for the public welfare, 278 a. — Deliberate on a scheme of 
 insurrection, 278 &, 279. — The delegates of the Sections as- 
 
 semble at the Eveche May 3(»th, 281 «.— The Committee of 
 Insurrection denounced after the olst May, 200 (). 
 
 Executions.— Of the captives in June 1794, 427«, 428.— Carried 
 on by Carrier at Nantes, 429 a.— At Lyons, Toulon, Orange, 
 Doideaux, Marseilles, by Freron, Parras, and iMaiunet, 429. 
 —In the Xorth, by Lebon, 430 n.- Resentment and indigna- 
 tion which the Reign of Terror excited, 430 b. 
 
 Executive Council. — Name assumed by the ministry after 
 August 10th, IGl— Favours the militarv plans of iJumouricz, 
 108 6.— Its new organization, 192 c(.— lt"is abolished, 404 b. 
 
 Extraordinary Cri.minal Tribunal.— Organization of this 
 tribunal decreed by the Convention, 249 b. — Tlie forms arc 
 laid down, 251, 252 a. 
 
 Favorita (La).— Rattle of this name before Mantua, 025 6, 
 
 Favras (The Marquis de).— Is susi)ected of plotting against 
 the Assembly, and is regarded as the agent of ilonsieur, the 
 King's brother ; his trial, 00. — Condemned to be hanged ; lii.s 
 death, 72 b, 73 a. 
 
 February 25th, 1793.— The populace on this day jiillage the 
 sho[is of several grocers, 244 b. 
 
 Federalis.m.— Origin of the word, 185 a. 
 
 Federation. — A general Federation oi France decided upon by 
 the Municijiality, 79 a. — Meet u|ion the field of Mars ; deseri|,'- 
 tion of the festival, 80, 81 a.— Second fete of the Federation, 
 144 b. 
 
 Fei:aud.— This Deputy assassinated in the midst of the Con- 
 vention by the rebels, 513 b. — His assassin rescued from exe- 
 cution by the Patriots; consequences of this event, 517 n. — 
 Honours paid to his memory by the Convention ; a funereal 
 sitting ; eulogium pronounced by Louvet, 518 a. 
 
 Feuillans.— Origin of this club, 7oi).— Opposed to the Jacobins, 
 101 b. — Weakness of this party, 128 b. 
 
 Finances.— Deiiressed state of the finances, 54 a.— State of the 
 finances in 1793; measures taken to remedv their disorder, 
 322, 323.— Their state at the end of 1793, 3o9 6.— State and 
 organization of the finances at the commencement of 1704, 
 418 b.— Their state after the 9th Thermidor, 452.— Financial 
 and commercial distress in 1705 ; various measures taken by 
 the Convention for their improvement, 480 — 488. — Financial 
 embarrassments of the Directoi'y 1795, 511. — Details upon 
 Assignats ; ci'eation of Mandats ; reflections ujion various 
 questions of finance, 507. — Plan of finance for the year V., 
 603 b. — Glance at the finances of the yeur V. ; project of the 
 Opposition for impeding the Directory in its regulation ot 
 the public treasury ; the Council of Five Hundred decree 
 divers measures towards this project; they are rejected by 
 the Ancients, 057 — 059. — Reimbursement of two-thirds of the 
 debt, 084 a. — Finaneesof theyear VII., 724. — Means employed 
 to furnish the expenses for the approaching campaign 1799, 
 729. 
 
 Flesselles (The Mayor).- Promises the people 12,000 nms- 
 kets, 45 a. — Accused of treachery ; dragged to the palace ; 
 killed by a pistol-shot, 47 b. 
 
 Fleurus. — Victory of this name; military events before and 
 after the battle, 435—440. 
 
 Forced Loan. — Measures taken for its roadoption, 324. — A new- 
 forced loan proposed by the Directory and decreed ; mode of 
 its enforcement; its effects, 50', 503. — It is closed, G21 a. — .\ 
 new forced loan established after the revolution of oOtli 
 Prairial, 752. 
 
 Fouche. — Sent to Milan by the Directory in tlie year VL, 723 b. 
 — Nominated Minister-of-police, 751 b. — Attaelies himself to 
 Bonaparte, 709 a. — Conceals the conspiracy from the Direc- 
 tors, 771. 
 
 FouLON and Berthier.— Murdered by the populace in spite of 
 Lafayette's interi)osition on their behalf, 50 (t. 
 
 Fouquiee-Tinville. — Sanguinary designs of this jiublic pro- 
 secutor, 427 a. — He is placed uiider impeachment, 44 b. 
 
 France. — Sketch of the History of France to the reign of 
 Louis XVI., 1 — 20. — Political and moral condition of France 
 under Louis XVI. ; and at the ciioeh of the Revolution, 27. — 
 Troubles and disorders after July 14tli, 49 «. — .Marmiug state 
 of France in August 1789, 1U2 ;."— Troubles in the South in 
 April 1792, 119 b.— Situation of the Inti lior at the beginning 
 of 1794, 417 b.— State of the interior of the Republic in the 
 tummer of 1790, 592, 593.— Situation (jf the Iiilericjr, and poli- 
 tical relations with Europe, after the retreat of the armies 
 of Germany, COS, G09.— Relations of France with the Conti- 
 nent in the year VI., (;9"i a. — Situation of the Interior in the 
 winter of the year VI., 701 b. 
 
 Frederick-William.— His Anglo-Prussian league, "On. 
 
 French Cliu.— What it was, 149 b. 
 
 Friend of the King. — The author of this journal impeached, 
 122 b. 
 
 Friend of the People. — A journal, of this name, edited by 
 Marat, 122 b. 
 
 Fkuctidor (18th).— Details of the events of this day; Auge- 
 reau repairs to the Tuileries, G78. — The Councils are dejirived 
 of their places of session, 070. — Other places ai pointed them, 
 078. 
 
 Garat. — Strives to reassure the Convention of its safety; his 
 address, 277 a. 
 
 Gaude-Meuhle. — Is robbed: reports current upon this rob- 
 bery, 183 a. 
 
 Genoa. — Peace with this Reiiublic, Oil n. 
 
 Gensonne. — His report in the Legislative .Assembly ujion the 
 troubles in the West, 104 b.
 
 784 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 George (St.).— See Bassaso. , . , , 
 
 Gerle (lloM) —Moves that the Oathohe rehpion be declared 
 
 the only religion of the State, 71 a.— Withdraws the motion, 
 
 GEBMisAL 12th —The Patriots invade the Convention: they 
 are expelled, and finally disanned, according to a decree 
 passed against them, 494— 498. 
 GiLEED YotTH.— Party which assumed this name. 4fi4 
 GiBovDSTS.- Origin of the name; they are enrolled in the 
 Legislative Assembly, 101.— The dominant party in the ilin- 
 istrv lJ-2 a —Accusation of which they are the object, loO.— 
 Accused of FederaUsm and the design of sacrificing Pans, 
 ItiS b — Picture of the Convention, 190 b.— Attempt to reproach 
 the Commune and promote a rupture ; their embarrassed 
 position after the 25th of February, 245 ft, 246.-The ministers 
 and deputies of the Girondists appear on the olst of May at 
 the Convention fullv armed, 281 6.— Continue their delibera- 
 tions on 1st of June; 285.- Are jmt in a state of an-est 286.- 
 Several of them sent to the Revolutionary tribunal, 3il b.— 
 Circumstances ol their trial, 305.— Condemned and e.xecuted, 
 
 GoniEK.— Nominated Director in place of Treilhard, 232 a.— 
 Representative of the Patriots, and president ot the Direc- 
 tory, 7fi9.— Compliments Bonaparte on his return from Egypt ; 
 his" wife's intimacy with Josephine Bonaparte, 770 a.— Sounded 
 by Bonaparte whether his nomination to the Directory would 
 be assented to, though he was not of the lawful age, 770.— 
 Altercation with Bonaparte, 774. 
 
 GoBSAS. — His aiTest, 24.3 a. 
 
 OBA.NGEyECVE.— His proposal to Chabot, 14B h. 
 
 Gbeat Book of the Piblic Debt. — Instituted in 1793; its 
 financial advantages, 323 a. 
 
 Gregoire (L'.\be£).— Presents himself to the Commons, 37 a. 
 
 Gke.nelle.— The powder-mill at Grenelle takes tire, 455 b. 
 
 Gladet.— Makes an historical application to the circumstances 
 of the moment, 272 b, 273 a.— Proposes to cashier the autho- 
 rities of Paris, and to transfer the Convention to Bourges, 
 273 a. — His courage in the Convention on the 31 st May, 
 
 2SU6. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hebert.— This journalist is arrested, 275 b.— His cruelties with 
 regard to the prisoners of the Temple, 353. — He is an-ested 
 wilh Rousin, Vincent, and others, 370. — His trial and death, 
 394 6, 395. 
 
 Hebektists.— Struggle between the Hebertists and Dantonists, 
 381—383. — Manoeuvres and characters of this party, 388, 389. 
 
 Several of them are aiTested, 393 6.— Trial and execution 
 
 of the principal leaders, -394 b, 39-5. 
 
 Helvetiqie Repiblic. — See Switzerland. 
 
 Henriot. — Is nominated commandant of the Parisian guard 
 31st May, 282 a. — Orders the alarm-gun to be fired, 282 f). 
 — Blocks up the passage to the Convention the 2d June, 
 286 b. 
 
 Her\clt Sechellcs. — Is impeached, 398 b. — His trial and 
 death, 399—401. 
 
 HocHE. — Nominated general of the aiTiiy of the Moselle. 345 a. 
 His manoeu^Te in the Vosges, 371, 372. — He is named com- 
 mander-in-chief of the armies of the Rhine and the MoseUe, 
 372 a. — Is succeeded in command by Pichegru, and thrown 
 into prison by order of Saint-Just, 413 b. — Is liberated ; his 
 military operations, and politics in Vendee 1795, 482, 483. — 
 Sequel of his operations in Brittany, 503. — Is named com- 
 mander of the army in the west ; his arrangements for op- 
 posing the English expedition, 551, 552. — He endeavours to 
 bring at)oul the definitive pacification of La Vendee ; his 
 jilan, 5-59 b.— Execution of his projects, 560 a, 570. — Is named 
 commander of the anny ' of the coasts of the ocean,' 570 a. — 
 The Directory authorizes aU his plans upon La Vendee, and 
 continues them, 570, 571. — By his assiduity Vendee and Brit- 
 tany are entirely subdued, 572. — Publishes a letter to con- 
 tradict certain reports respecting himself and Bonaparte, 
 592 a. — His expedition to Ireland, 619 a. — Is appointed gen- 
 eral of the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse after the resigna- 
 tion of Jourdan, 620 a. — He passes the Rhine to Neuwied, 
 C46. — His political dispositions in favour of the Directory 
 threatened, 6(18. — BaiTas WTites to secure his assistance in 
 case of need ; details of his relations with the Directory, and 
 his preparations for that object, 674. — Military operations in 
 the aflair of Quiberon (see Qiiiberon) ; his death ; reflec- 
 tions upon his character political and military, 683. 
 
 Holland. — Conquest of ; public spirit in Holland at the arrival 
 of the French ; political measures taken by the Convention for 
 the government of Holland, 477 — 480. — Treaty of peace signed 
 with this power; principal condition of the treaty, 499. — 
 Situation in 1797, 633 b. — Revolution in this kingdom, and 
 assumption of a constitution resembling that of France, 671 
 — 673. — Fresh political commotions in the winter of the year 
 VI., 720 b. — Landing of the Anglo-Russians, 755 a. —'The 
 Anglo-Russians defeated by Brune ; evacuate the country, 
 767 b. 
 
 IIoNDScnooTE. — Account of this \ictory ; military operations 
 wliich preceded it, 332 ii. 
 
 Hostages (Law of). — Produced the 30tli Prairial, year VII. ; 
 its consequences, 752 a. 
 
 IIotei-de-Ville.— The electors assemble there, 43 b. — Confusion 
 which prevailed on the 13th and 14tli July, 46.— Subsequent 
 embarrassments ; aiTival of the multitude who had taken 
 the Bastille, 47 a. — Situation of the Ilotel-de-Ville after 14th 
 July, 49 a. — It is broken open by a band of armed men and 
 women 4 th October, 62 a. 
 HoccaARD. — Sent to the Revolutionary tribunal, 339. 
 
 I. 
 
 iNSTiTt^T d'Egypt. — See Egypt. 
 
 Insibrection. — Project of insurrection In the faubourgs, 1.57 a, 
 1-55 b. — Grand insun-ection is fixed to take place 10th August, 
 156 b. 
 
 Insurrectional Com.mittee. — In communication with Petion, 
 146 6. 
 
 Ireland. — French expedition to this country; it miscarries, 
 619 6. 
 
 Isle-Diec. — Expedition of this name, 5-58 a. 
 
 Isnard. — His speech on the occasion of a decree relative to the 
 emigrants, 110 a. — His answer to the petition of the section 
 of the Fraternity, 273 a. 
 
 Italy. — Geographical and political picture of this country at 
 the time of its conquest by France, 576 — 578. — Glance at the 
 state of public opinion after the conquest of Lombardy, 586 a. 
 — Negotiations with several states of this country. 596. — Revo- 
 lutionary insurrections in various towns, 583. — Treachery of 
 the Venetians after the departure of Bonaparte, 637—640. — 
 The Revolution extends after the preliminaries of Leoben ; 
 rising at Genoa, 652. — Foundation of the Cisalpine republic, 
 686.- Aff'airs of the Valteline, 687.— Military details of the 
 campaign of 1799 (see War) ; agitations of the Italian states 
 in the year VI., 698. — Revolution at Rome, 6ii9 a. — Conquest 
 of Naples (see Naples) ; disorder of the Italian allies ; 
 changes wrought in the Cisalpine constitution, 723 — 725. — 
 Invasion of the Roman states by the Neapolitans (see War) • 
 Revolution of Piedmont, 726—728. 
 
 X 
 
 Jacobins. — Club of this name, 75 6. — Its influence, 101 6. — Peti- 
 tion for the dethronement of the King, 96 6. — Robespien-e 
 confines himself to the Jacobins, 101 6.^They oppose the 
 project for war, 113 6. — Their project to depose'the King by 
 main force, 146 6. — Their power after the 10th of August, 163. 
 — Great influence of their club; their equipages waiting at 
 the door ; Marat stiU regarded as a stranger, 195 6, 196 a. — 
 Agitation which reigned after the accusation of Robespierre 
 by Louvct at the Convention, 200,201, and following. — Ori- 
 ginate various projects for remedying the deficiencies, 243, 
 244. — Lively discussion upon the subject of the pillages on 
 the 26th February, 246 a. — An armed mob present themselves 
 at the hall of the Jacobins, 251 a. — The movement is de- 
 nounced, 252 a.— Project of the Jacobins against the Girond- 
 ists, 285. — The measures they took of profiting by the victory 
 of the 31st of May, 290. — Discussion on the subject of re- 
 modelling the committee, 290. — Discussion upon the re- 
 modelling, or the prorogation of the Committee of Public 
 Welfare, 308.— Sitting of the 7th of August, 1793, at which 
 the delegates of the Departments assist ; s))eech of Robe- 
 spierre, 318, 319 a. — Decide upon the motion of Robespierre 
 to purify their club. 367. — Several members excluded, 368a. — 
 Sitting of the 6th Prairial, year II., after the attempt to as- 
 sassinate Robespien-e and (5ollot d'Heibois, 421, 422. — Frame 
 a petition to the Convention levelled indirectly against the 
 Committees, 436 a. — The Club reopened and purified after th» 
 9th Themiidor, 451. — The Jacobins of Dijon send an inflam- 
 matory address to those of Paris, 463. — Motion in the Conven- 
 tion for the repurification of the Jacobin club, 466. — Measures 
 to elude the decree rendered against popular societies, 466, 
 467. — Tumultuous sitting in the Club of Paris relating to the 
 trial of Carrier, 470 6, 471. — Their hall assailed by a tumul- 
 tuous band ; violent scenes in Paris, 473 a. — Their sittings 
 are suspended, 473 6. — Obser\ations upon tliis Club ; their 
 society being dissolved some repair to the Electoral club, 
 474. 
 
 January 21st. — An anniversary fete of the death of Louis XVI. 
 is instituted by the Councils ; the first celebration takes place 
 on the 1st Pluviose, year IV., 563 6. 
 
 Jean de Buy. — Proposes that Marat and Louis XVI. should 
 both be jiut upon tlieir trial, 206 a. 
 
 Jemappes (Battle of). — Military operations, &c., 206 a. 
 
 Jordan (Camille). — His report to the Committee of Five Hun- 
 dred toucliing religious liberty, 657 a. 
 
 Joubert. — Is nominated by the new Directory commander of 
 the forces in Italy, and succeeds Moreau, 751 a. — Is killed at 
 the battle of Novi, 754 a. 
 
 Jourdan. — Is appointed commander-in-chief of the forces of 
 the North, 345 a. — Gains the battle of Ourthe and Roer, 459. 
 — Manceu^Tes to facilitate the crossing of the Rhine by Mo- 
 reau, 602. — Is repulsed upon the Maine by the Archduke 
 Charles, 602. — Is beaten at Wurtzbourg, and sounds the re- 
 treat, 606. — Named Deputy, 654 6. — Is called to the command 
 of the troops on the Danube, 732 n.— His militai-y operations 
 in the cainjiaign of 1799 (see War) ; proposes to declare the 
 country in danger, 17th Fructidor, year VII. ; his proposition 
 rejected, 757 6. 
 
 Journals. — Several journals representing the opinions of par- 
 ties are published at the commencement of the Du-ectory, 
 556 6. — The journalists licensed, 620 6. 
 
 July 12th, 13th, IIth. — The people parade the streets carrying 
 the busts of Necker and the Duke of Orleans ; a detachment 
 of the Royal German regiment interfering is fired upon by 
 the French Guards, 45 a. — The people force the barriers, 
 plunder the granary of St. Lazarus, and carry away the anus 
 from the Garde ileuble, or armoury, 45 6. — Various rumom-s 
 concerning the hostile projects of tlie Court, 46 6. — The people 
 seize the cannons of the Hotel des Invalids, and court of the 
 Bastille, 47 a.
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 785 
 
 June 2i)th.— Events of this day, 133 a, 134 6.— Consequences of 
 this day, 135 a. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaire (Le). — See Egtpt. 
 
 Kehl. — Surrender of this fort by Moreau, 621. 
 
 Kersaint. — Gives in his resignation to the National Conven- 
 tion, not choosing to be in tlie ranks of men of blood,' 234 a. 
 
 Klebeb. — His military operations in Brittany, 375 — 379. —Bona- 
 parte confides to him the command of the forces in Egypt, 
 763 b. 
 
 Klinglin. — Correspondence of Pichegru viith the emigrant 
 princes, found in a can-iage of General Klinglin, GC3 a. 
 
 L. 
 
 Ladmtral. — Attempts to assassinate Robespierre, or CoUot 
 d'llerbois, but fails, 420 a. 
 
 Lafayette (The Marqdis de). — Vice-president of the Con- 
 stituent Assembly, 46 a. — Appointed commander of the 
 burgher militia of Paris, 4!» b. — Details of his life and char- 
 acter, 49 b, 50 a. — Gives in his resignation, but resumes the 
 command, 50 b. — Declaration of rights, 52 b. — Intercepts the 
 people on their way to Versailles ; arrives at Versailles Octo- 
 ber 4th at midnight ; his efforts to retain the people ; tran- 
 quillizes the King, and takes measures for maintaining order, 
 63.— Fom- and twenty hours' fatigue, 64 a.- Defends the pal- 
 ace when attacked by the brigands : presents the Queen to 
 the people, 64 b. — Named by ilirabeau, Cromwell-Grandison ; 
 constrains the Duke of Orleans to quit Paris, 65 6. — Punishes 
 some soldiers who had mutinied and demanded an augmen- 
 tation of pay, 69 a. — Advises the King to attach himself to 
 the popular party, 72 a. — Denounces at the Tribune the secret 
 influence of England in the aifairs of the Revolution, 76 b.— 
 Disperses the Jacobins assembled on the Field of Mars, 97 a. 
 — Sent to take part in the command of the army upon the 
 Rhine, with Lucknor and Rochambeau, 111 a.— Takes the 
 command of the army of the Centre, 113 a. — Dumouriez op- 
 poses his appointment to the command in chief, 121 a. — 
 Writes a letter to the Assembly, 128 b. — Appears at the As- 
 sembly, and lays before them a statement of various griev- 
 ances, 136 a. — Takes his seat on the petitioners' bench, 136 b. 
 — His exertions in behalf of the King rejected ; returns to 
 the anny, 137 a. — Proposes a project of flight to the King, 
 143 a.— Is put under impeachment by the Assembly, and ac- 
 quitted ; the people demand his accusation, declaring him a 
 traitor to his counti^y, 155 b. — Abandoned by Dumouriez ; 
 retires into the Low (jountries, and is taken prisoner by the 
 Austrians, 166 a. — His enlargement according to the treaty 
 of Campo-Formio, 652 a. 
 
 Lamballe (The Princess de). — Murder of this lady, 174. 
 
 Lameth. — The t\vo brothers Lameth league themselves with 
 Barnarve and Duport, 51 b. — Attach themselves to the Court- 
 party, 100 b. 
 
 Lamourette. — Constitutional Bishop of Lyons and Deputy to 
 the Legislative Assembly ; motion of this Deputy ; effect i)ro- 
 duced by it, 141 a. 
 
 Lanjhinais. — Maintains that the decree which dissolved the 
 commission of Twelve is null ; tumult and threats upon this 
 subject, 278. — His courage at the Tribune 2d June, 287 b. 
 
 Larevelliere-Lepeahx. — Quits the Directory in the revolution 
 of Prairial, year VII. ; his conduct in this circumstance, 749, 
 750 a. 
 
 LAROcHEJACQnELEiN. — A Vcndean chief, 269 6. 
 
 Laville-Huernois. — See Royamsts. 
 
 Lecointre (De Versailles). — At the Convention accuses the 
 members of the old Committee, 454, 455 a. — His accusations 
 declared false and calumnious, 455 b. 
 
 Legislative Assembly. — Men who composed this body, 101 a. 
 — Abolishes the titles of ' Sire ' and ' Majesty,' 102 b. — 
 Passes a decree against the Emigrants, 103 b.— Renews the 
 decree against those priests who refused taking the civil 
 oath, 107 b. — Demands that the electors and princes of the 
 empire should disband the Emigrants, 110 a. — Lodges an 
 impeachment agahist Monsieur and several other emigrants, 
 114 a. — Makes a decree for preventing any modification of 
 the Constitution, 114 b.— Decrees itself permanent ; decrees 
 the banishment of the priests, 123 b. — Debates relative to a 
 letter from Lafayette, 129 b, 130 a. — Debates upon the affair 
 of the 20th June, 135. — Receives sundry petitions relative to 
 the events of the 20th June, 136 a. — Decree relative to the 
 gathering of the Departments, 137 b, 138 a.— Another decree 
 respecting tlie National Guards, 138 a. — Sitting in which the 
 Assembly deliberates upon the project of the commission of 
 Twelve, and adopts it, 138— 140.— Sitting of the 7th July, 1792, 
 141 a. — Declares " the counti'y in danger ;" consequences of 
 this measure, 142. — Decrees the provisional susjiension of 
 the King, 160 a. — Decrees the formation of a camp below 
 Paris, 161 b ; organization of the police, entitled " of general 
 safety," 163 b. — Decrees the formation of an extraordinary 
 tribunal to judge the crimes of the 10th of August, 164 b. — 
 Ordains a levy of 30,000 men, 169.— Is dissolved, 186 a. 
 
 Lemaitke. — Chief agent of the Royalists ; he is arrested after 
 the 13th Vendemiaire ; his correspondence, 544. 
 
 Leoben. — Preliminaries of peace with Austria signed here, 
 
 644.— Principal articles, 645. 
 Leopold.— Intentions of this prince towards France and Louis 
 
 XVI., 112 b. 
 Lepelletier-Saint-Fargead. — Killed by a body-guardsman, 
 
 235 6. 
 Lescuke (De).- A Vendean chief, 269 b. 
 
 Letodrneur.— His character, and conduct to the Du-ectorv, 
 627. 
 
 Levee en masse. — Is decreed, 321 a.— Measures employed for 
 the execution of this decree, 321 6. 322. 
 
 Lido.— Massacre of the French in the port of Lido at Venire, 
 647. 
 
 Lie (IT ADD— Has a body of men in readiness to speak in favour 
 of the King, 149 b. 
 
 Lille.— Bombardment of this place by the Duke of Saxe- 
 Teschen ; the Archduchess Christina assists, 193 a.- Nego- 
 tiations established between Fran<-e and England, in Messi- 
 dor, year V., 670, 671.— Rupture of this conference by the 
 Directory, 685 6. "^ 
 
 LiNDET (Robert).— Makes a report to the Convention upon the 
 state of France, 20th September, 1794, 250 b 
 
 LoANO.— Battle of Loano, 557 b, 558 
 
 LoDi.— Battle, and passage of the Bridge of Lodi, 579 6. 
 
 LoMBARDY. — Conquest of this country, 574. 
 
 LoNATO.— Battle of Lonato, 599 a. 
 
 Louis XVI.— Ascends the throne; his character; influence of 
 the Queen ; his position and perplexities, 27 a, 28.— Opens the 
 States-General and delivers a speech, 34 b ; in the sitting of 
 the 23d June pronounces a discourse which exasperates all • 
 orders the A ssembly to separate forthwith, 39.— Cold reply 
 to the Deputies of the National Assembly who solicited the 
 removal of the troops, 46 a.— Announces to another deputa- 
 tion that he had ordered the removal of the troops, 46 b.— 
 His uneasiness, and conversation with the Duke de Lian- 
 court, 47 b, 48 a. — Goes to the National Assembly, and is 
 enthusiastically received, 48 a.— Departs to Paris escorted 
 by two hundred Deputies, and delivers a speech in the Town- 
 hall, 48 b, 49 a.— Is proclaimed " Restorer of French liberty," 
 53 a.— His reply to the Assembly, which demanded his ac- 
 ceptance and promulgation of the articles of the Constitu- 
 tion, and the declaration of the rights of man, 69 b, 70 a.— 
 Presents himself in the Assembly on 4th of February, and 
 delivers a speech, 69 b.— Escorted back to the Tuileries bj 
 the people, 71 a.— His civil list fixed at 25 millions, 79 a.— 
 Attends the Festival of the Federation, accompanied by the 
 Queen, and swears to maintain the Constitution, 81 a, 82 6.— 
 Ponders the fate of Charles I., 85 a.— Resolves upon flight, 
 88 b.— Negotiations with foreign princes, 90 6.— Flies with the 
 Royal family, 91 a. — Circumstances of their arrest at Va- 
 rennes, 92 b.— Details of their return to Paris, 93 a, 94 b.— 
 Louis accepts the Constitution, 98 a.— Appears in the Legis- 
 lative Assembly, and takes offence at some part of the cere- 
 monial, 102 b.— Affixes his veto to a decree against the emi- 
 grants ; adilresses a proclamation to the emigrants, 104 a. — 
 Explains to the Legislative Assembly his measures against 
 emigration, 111 a.— Meditates an alliance with the GiVonde 
 party, 115 a.— Makes proposals of war, 119 a.— Sanctions the 
 decree for raising 20,000 men, and opposes the decree against 
 the priests, 126 b. — His hesitations, inconsistencies, and low- 
 ness of spirits, 126 b. — Has recourse secretly to foreign aid, 
 127 a. — Attacked in the Tuileries 20th June ; his answers to 
 the people, 133 b, 134.— Proclamation to the people after June 
 20th, 135 b. — Presents himself in the Assembly and is enthu- 
 siastically received, 141.— Consternation of the King and the 
 Court, 142 b. — Assists at the second fete of the Federation, 
 145 a. — Various projects for the King's escape are proposed, 
 154 b. — Prepares to fly, but subsequently determines not to 
 depart, 155 a. — Placed with his family in the box of a re- 
 porter in the Assembly, 159 a. — Is suspended from royalty 
 160 a.— Imprisoned at the Feuillants, 162 a. — Removed to the 
 Temple with the royal family, 164 a. — The question of his 
 trial agitated, 205 b, 206 a. — The education of his son, 214 b. 
 — Precautions of the Commune, 215. — The trial and details 
 connected with it, 222 b, 223, 224. — His conduct at the bar of 
 the Convention, 227. — His replies to various questions which 
 were put to him, 228 a. — He is declared guilty of conspiring 
 against the liberty of the nation, 232 a.— Is condemned to 
 death, 234 a. — Circumstances and details of his execution, 
 235, 236 a. 
 
 LouvET. — Editor of the Sentinel, 1-30 a. — Denounces Robespierre 
 at the Convention, 184 a. — Goes to Petion's house to give 
 alarm to the Girondists, 251 b. 
 
 LozERE.— The submission of 30,000 insurgents in tliis Depart- 
 ment, 301 b. 
 
 Lyons. — A Jacobin club established in this city; political 
 troubles in 1793, 266 b. — A sanguinary battle in this citv, 
 291 b.— Troubles in July, 1793; Riard and Chaliii' ari' put to 
 death, 314 b. — It is put in a state of siege by Dulxiis-Crance 
 agreeably to the decree of the Convention, 328 b. — The siege 
 goes slo\\ly on, 333 a. — Principr 1 military operations ; the 
 promises of the emigrants, 342. — Coulhon projioses to inun- 
 date the city with masses of tlie people, which Diilxiis-Crance 
 refuses, 343 b. — The town taken ; decree of the Convciition 
 against it, 344 b. — The decree put in exeiution ; (Innolition 
 of the finest streets ; mine to destroy the buildings ; grape- 
 shot to despatch the proscribed, 350 b, 351. — Massacre of 
 seventy prisoners by the Counter-revolutionists, 5tli FloreaL 
 year III., 508 6. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macdonald. — Made commander of the forces in Naples, 726 a. 
 — His military operations in the campaign of 1799 (see War). 
 
 Magnano. — Battle of Magnano, 737. 
 
 Maillard. — A citizen, conducts a hand of infuriated women to 
 Versailles, 62 a. — Presents himself, with the wninen, before 
 the Assembly, and describes the desperate state of the peo- 
 ple, occasioned by the scarcity of food, 62 b. — Principal actor 
 in the massacres on the 2d September (see SeptembekJ, 171 a. 
 — His presence at the Abbaye, 171, 172.
 
 786 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Maleshebbes. — Devotes himself to the cause of Louis XVI., 
 
 T'i a. 
 Ualmesbubt (Lobd). — English ambassador to Paris ; his nego- 
 tiations with the Directory, GOl*, 610.— Result of the negotia- 
 tion, 613. — Rupture of the'negotiation ; his reply on the part 
 of Kngland, 617 b. 618. — Again appointed by England to nego- 
 tiate tor peace, 65S. — Conferences at Lille, 671 a, 672. 
 
 Malta (Isle of). — Taken by the French, 707. 
 
 Mandat. — Commander-in-chief of the National guard 10th 
 August, 156 «. — His preparations; he is summoned to appear 
 at the Town-hall, and dismissed ; but subsequently seized, 
 put to death, and thrown into the river, 157. 
 
 Ma.ndats. — A new paper currency, created the I'oth Ventose, 
 year IV., 567. — This paper falls ; "causes of its abrogation, 594. 
 
 Manifesto of the Duke of Bbi'nswick. — This document, loJh. 
 — Effects it produced in France, 154. 
 
 Mantua. — Commencement of the blockade of this to«Ti, 536 a. 
 — Taken by the French, 625. 
 
 Manuel.— I'rocurator-.syndic of the Commune; proposes that 
 the president of the tonventiou be lodged iu the Tuileries, 
 186 a. 
 
 Marat. — Ilis character; his interriew with Barbarous, 147. — 
 Chairman of the Committee of surveillance at Paris, 163 6. — 
 Receives back four of the printing presses seized by Lafay- 
 ette, 164 a. — He is elected Deputy to the Convention, 184 a. — 
 Justifies his conduct and liis writings in the Convention, 18'1. 
 — Turns upon his accusers, and shows a pistol with which 
 he had meditated suicide had the Assembly decreed his 
 impeachment, I'Jit a. — Goes in search of Dumouriez that he 
 may interrogate him on his conduct ; finds him at an enter- 
 tainment, 1117 h. — Dispute which arose at the Jacobin club 
 respecting Mai-at and Robe.spien'e, 224 b. — The partisans of 
 Marat ; his justification by his own maxims, 224. — He is com- 
 mitted to the Tribunal as one of the authors of the move- 
 ment of 25th February, 245 a. — Defends himself in his jour- 
 nal, 245 b. — Raises his voice against a petition of the section 
 I'oissonniere, and denounces i'ournier, 252 a. — Is put under 
 an-est by the Convention, 263 a. — Acquitted by the Revolu- 
 tionary tribunal ; honoui-s which he received at the Conven- 
 tion ; and at the Jacobin club, 2G5 a. — Is summoned to ex- 
 plain his expressions regarding a dictatorship, 2yo a. — Is 
 assassinated in his bath, 303 b. — Honours paid him after 
 death, 304, 305 a. — September 21st, 1794, his remains are re- 
 moved to the I'antheon, 457 b. — His busts destroyed iu 1795; 
 ejected from the Convention ; tumultuous scenes upon this 
 occasion, 485 6, 4S7. 
 
 Maroeau. — Is named general-in-chief in Vendee, 378 6. — Is 
 killed upon the field of battle, 606 a. 
 
 Marie-Antoinf.tte. — Is transferred to the Conciergerie to oe 
 tried before the Revolutionary tribunal, 327 b. — An imprudent 
 friend obtains access to her apartment, and conveys a com- 
 munication in a flower, 353a. — Hebert and hisrevolting 
 depositions in tliis trial, 353 b, 354. — Admirable reply to these 
 accusations ; details of the trial ; she is condemned and 
 executed, 3.54. 
 
 Marseilles.— Declares for the Gironde, 266 b. 
 
 Martin d'Auch.— Opposes the declaration of the Tennis-court, 
 38 b. 
 
 Massena.— A general of the Italian army, .573 a.— Takes pos- 
 session of the pass of Tar wis, 639 6, 640. — Appointed com- 
 mander of the army of Helvetia, 732 a. — Succeeds Jourdan 
 in command of the army of the Danube ; manner in which 
 he disposed his troops, 741 a ; see also War. — Obtains a vic- 
 tory at Zurich, 765 — 767. 
 
 Maury (L'Abbe). — Chief spokesman of the clergy; character 
 of his harangues, 51 a. — Opposes the a]>propiiation of Chuix-h 
 lands, 67 a. — Demands that the Assembly separate, and pro- 
 ceed to the new elections, 75 a. 
 
 Maxi.mu.m.— This is established for all kinds of grain, 315 b. — 
 Also on articles of merchandise, 316 a.— Bad effects of this 
 measure, 358 6.— Economical details, 452, 453.— The measm-e 
 undergoes a reform, 469. — Is abolished, 487 a. 
 
 Mav 1793.— Troubles in Paris occasioned by news of the Ven- 
 dean insm-rection at the beginning of ilay; the fears of 
 various parties at this epoch, 270 — 272.— Occurrences on the 
 31st, or from the 30th of May to the 2d of June, 231-288 ; 
 see also Inscbbection. — Reflections upon this day and its 
 
 consequences; how spoken of at the Jacobins, 289, 2U0. 
 
 Distribution of power and influence after this day, 296, 298, 
 &c. 
 
 Matence.— Description of this fortified place, 311 &.— Military 
 details of its siege ; excessive scarcity ; ignorance of the gar- 
 ri.S(m respecting affairs in France; and fal.se 'Moniteurs' 
 printed by the Russians ; the French evacuate the place, 
 312, 313.— .\dmiration expressed by the besiegers at the re- 
 sistance of tlic French, 313 6. 
 
 Menou.- i;eneral of the forces of the Interior ; his conduct in 
 the proceedings of the 12th Vendemiaire, 540, 341. 
 
 Merlin.— .Minister of justice, 629.- Xoniinatcd Director, 666 a. 
 —Forced out of the Directory by the revolution of the 30th 
 Prairial, year VII., 750 a. 
 
 Mesnai (Si'eur de).— An explosion of gunpowder in his cha- 
 teau ; contributes to the general exasperation of the populace, 
 52 a. 
 
 Milan.- Taking of this city, 580. — A revolt manifests itself 
 after the departure of Bonaparte, but is subdued, 582. 
 
 MiLLi siMO.— Battle of Mitlesimo, 574 a, 576. 
 
 MlNClc— Passage of the Mincio by Bonaparte, 584 a. 
 
 Ministry.— State of the Ministi^" after Necker withdrew; the 
 ministers successively retire, 45 a.— New organization of the 
 Ministry, 113 6, 114 a.— Disputes amongst the niembtrs of the 
 Ministry, 114 6, 115 a. — Change of .Ministers, 116.— Roland, 
 Claviere, and Servaa ai"e returned, 122 a. — The FeuilJant 
 ministers, 122. — Reorganization of the Ministry after loth 
 August, 161.- The object of much dissatisfaction after 31st 
 
 Jlay, 285. — Organization of the Ministi-y by the Directory ; 
 five ministers named, 547 b — Changes projected by the Di- 
 rectoi-y ; opposed by the Clichyans ; details of this subject; 
 the Directory appoints the ministers named by its majority, 
 664, 666. — Changes consequent upon the revolution of I'rairial, 
 year VII., 770. 
 
 MiRABEAU. — Elected Deputy in Provence, 33 a. — Proposes to 
 summon the clergy to join the Commons, 35 6. — Declares the 
 Assembly \vill not separate by force of arms, 39 b. — Proposes 
 that the King be requested to withdraw the troops, 44 b. — 
 His memorable words upon the occasion of a final deputa- 
 tion to the King, 48 a. — He objects to the liberation of Besen- 
 val, 50 b — His character and influence, 51 6, 52 a. — Makes a 
 proposition relative to the Royal succession, 58 6. — Supports 
 Necker's proposition for an additional tax, 59 6. — His remarks 
 upon bankruptcy, 60. — Suspected of being in league with the 
 Duke of Orleans, 65. — Interview «ith Necker, 66 a. — Commu- 
 nication with the Court ; reflections upon the subject, 72. — 
 His pointed remarks upon the proposition relative to the 
 religion of the State, 75 a. — Ojjposes the re-election of Depu- 
 ties, 75 a. — Replies to the address of Barnarve upon the right 
 to make peace and war, 77. — Justifies himself from the charge 
 of being one of the authors of the movements of 5th and 6th 
 of October, 82 b. — His plan for sustaining the cause of the 
 monarchy, 85, 86. — Combats the project of a law against 
 emigi'ation, 89. — His death, 90 a. — Remarks upon his charac- 
 ter, and political career, 90 a. 
 
 MiRABEAU (The Viscount). — The opponent of his brother, 
 75 b. — At the head of 600 men in the bishopric of Strasbm-g, 
 110 a. 
 
 MiROMENiL.— Conspires with the Parliaments, and is dismissed 
 in consequence, 28 a. 
 
 Monsieur (the King's Brother). — His popularity, 29 a. — The 
 Committee at which he presided vote for the doubling of the 
 Third Estate, 31 6. — Appears at the Town-hall to explain his 
 relations with Favras, 69 6. — Decree enjoining liis return 
 from Flanders within two months, 103 6. 
 
 Montenotte. — Battle of llontenotte, 574. 
 
 MoxTESQUiuu. — On the point of being depo.sed ; his entry into 
 Savoy : is retained in command of the troops, 194 a' — He 
 intimidates Geneva, 194 b. — Takes refuge within tlie walls of 
 Geneva, a decree having been fulminated against him, 212 6. 
 
 Mont-Taboe.— Battle of Mont^Tabor, 760. 
 
 MoREAU. — Appointed to the command of the army on the 
 Rhine, in the room of Pichegru ; passes the Rhine, 589, 591. 
 ^Result of his operations upon the Danube; battle of Xere- 
 sheim ; enters Bavaria, 602. — Victory of Biberach, 606 6. — 
 His clever retreat, 607. — His political dispositions previous to 
 the l>>th Fructidor prove his fidelity at that time, 663. — His 
 tardy revelations of a certain coiTespondence ; deprived of 
 his command, 682 6. — Accepts the command of the army of 
 Italy which Schirer had declined, 732. — His retreat to the 
 other side of the Po and the Apennines, 743. 
 
 MoREAD De St. Meky. — An elector, defends the Town-hall, 
 46 a. — Issues 3,000 orders in a few hours, 47 a. — Instigates 
 the appointment of Lafayette to the command of the mihtia, 
 48 6. 
 
 MouLiNs. — Named Director after the 30th Prairial. — See Roger- 
 Ducos. 
 
 MouNiEB. — Head of the party of the English constitution, 51. — 
 Presents himself to the King accompanied by several of the 
 women canied to Versailles by Maillard, 62 a, 63 6 ; see also 
 Maillard. — Gives in his resignation; becomes unpopular, 
 66 a, 67. 
 
 MouNTAi.v (The). — Name given to a portion of the Legislative 
 Assembly, 101 a. — Name given to the left side of the Conven- 
 tion, 190 "6.— Situation after the 9th Thennidor, 447 6, 448. 
 
 Mou.vTAiNEERS. — Their position and distress after the 25th of 
 February, 244 6.— .\rrest of a number of the ancient mem- 
 bers of the Revolutionary government, and of the Moun- 
 taineers, decreed after the 1st Prairial, year VII., 513, 517. — 
 Proceedings against them before the Commission ; some 
 commit suicide in the prison : execution of tlie rest, 518. 
 
 Municipality. — Makes a ijroclamation to the people after 20th 
 June, 135 6. 
 
 Mdscadims. — Origin of the name, 456. 
 
 N. 
 
 Naples. — Terror of the Court at the approach of Bonaparte ; 
 an armistice is concluded, 586 6. — Peace with the kingdom 
 of Naples is signed, 611. — Foolish projects of the Court of 
 Naples against France, 725. — Conquest of this kingdom by 
 the French, 727, 728. 
 
 Naebonne. — This minister proposes various plans of war, 111 o. 
 — Organizes three armies on the frontier, 113 a. 
 
 National Assembly. — The Deputies of the Tliird Estate as- 
 smne this title upon the proposition of Legrand, 37 a. — The 
 Commons constitute themselves a National Assembly, 37 6. — 
 It refuses to separate, after the order from the King ; de- 
 clares its members inviolable, 39 6. — Deliberates upon the 
 question of imperative mandates, 40 6. — Nominates a com- 
 mittee of subsistence, 43 6. — Difficulties of its position, 44 Ou 
 — Votes an address to the King for the withdrawal of the 
 troops, 44 6. — Various measures proposed after the occur- 
 ren(-es of 13th and 14th July, and the withdrawal of the 
 troops demanded, 46 a. — Nominate a committee to frame 
 resolutions ; Mirabeau proposes a second deputation to the 
 King, 46 6. — Speech of Mirabeau ; a deputation to the Town- 
 hall announcing the reconciliation between the King and 
 the people, 48 a. — Discusses the declaration of ' the rights of 
 man ;' abolishes feudal and other peculiar rights, 52 6. — Bor- 
 rows 30,000,000 francs, 54 6.— Issues the declaration of ' the 
 rights of man/ 55. — Votes the unity and permanency of the
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 787 
 
 Assembly ; the suspensive veto, 5G — 58. — Votes thftt the crown 
 is hereditary, and the King's person inviolable, 58 a. — Adopts 
 Necker's plan of further impost, 60 a.— Debate relative to a 
 message from the King, 6'_'.— The King and the Assembly 
 remove to Paris, 65 a. — Decrees that the possessions of the 
 clergv are at the disposal of the State, 67 a.— The kingdom 
 divided into Departments, 67 a.— Discussion relative to the 
 right of making peace and war, 77 a. — Passes a decree rela- 
 tive to this right, 77 6.— Decrees the sale of 400,000,000 of as- 
 signats, 78 a.^— Feudal titles abolished, 79 b.— Measures to 
 prevent emigration, 88, By a. — Measures relating to the King's 
 flight. 96 a.— Delivers a decree relative to the inviolability of 
 the King, 96 h. — Decrees that its members should not be re- 
 elected r conclusion of the Constitutional labours, 97 b. — 
 Declaration of the 30th September, 1791, that its sittings are 
 terminated, 98 h. — Reflections upon its proceedings and ju.s- 
 tification of its acts. — Reca]iitalation and refutation of the 
 objections presented against the Constituent, 99, 100. 
 
 National Guard. — The burgher militia take the name of 
 National guard, and assume the tri-coloured cockade, 49 b. 
 
 Necker.— Character and talents of this minister ; he is exiled, 
 28 a. — His return to the ministry, 30 b. — Proposes, in the 
 King's name, measures of conciliation, 38 a. — Receives a letter 
 from the King urging him to resign, 45 a. — Is recalled, 49 a. 
 — Returns to France, led in triumph to the Hotel de Ville, 
 and is received mth transport by the people ; obtains the 
 liberation of Resenval, 50 6. — Embarrassed state of the 
 finances ; he demands a loan of £1,250.000 (30,000,000 francs), 
 54 b._Complains to the Assembly, and proposes a contribu- 
 tion of the fourth of incomes, 59 b. — lias an interview with 
 Mirabeau, 66 a.— Resigns office, 84 b. 
 
 Neerwinden. — Battle at this place, and its consequences, 2536, 
 254. 
 
 Nelson. — This English admiral pursues the French convoy to 
 Egypt, 706.— Annihilates the French squadron at Aboukir, 
 716. 
 
 Neofchateau (Francis of).— Named Director, 718 a. 
 
 NoBiLiTi. — Reject the verification of the powers of the Com- 
 mons, 3'). — Forty-seven join the National Assembly ; these 
 are followed by" the majority on the 'Jlth June, 40 a. — Con- 
 tinue to meet as a separate order, 44 a. — Abdicate their privi- 
 leges, 52 b, 53 a.— Enrolled in the Assembly, 57 b. 
 
 Nobles. — The ex-nobles banished by decree of the Convention, 
 404 b.—A. law respecting the ci-devant nobles is passed afcer 
 the 18th Fructidor, 685. 
 
 Normandy.— Is opposed to the Revolution, 267 a. 
 
 Notables (Assembly of). — First convocation of the Assembly, 
 28 a. — New convocation, 31 a. 
 
 Novi. — Battle of Novi; military details, 754. 
 
 o. 
 
 O'.D Cordelier (The).— A journal under this name published 
 by Camille Desmoulins, 382 b. — Extracts from this journal, 
 383. — Other passages from it, 385. 
 
 Orange. — A Revolutionary Tribunal established here for the 
 Southern departments, 429. 
 
 Orders. — Conduct of the higher orders at the assembling of 
 the States-General, 33 6, 34 a. 
 
 Orleans (The Duke of). — Exiled to Villers-Cotterets, 29 6. — 
 Accused of intrigue : his character, 33 b. — Mingles with the 
 Deputies of theThird Estate, 34 a. — Congregating at the 
 I'alais-Royal of the men most devoted to the Duke, 43 b. — 
 Accused as one of the authors of the 5th and 6th October, 
 and withdraws himself, 65. — Insulted at the chateau; de- 
 prived of the regency, 114 a. — Appointed Deputy to the Con- 
 vention, 183 6. — His doubtful position in the Convention; 
 deliberations upon his banishment, 226. — Votes the death of 
 his kinsman, 233 a. — His ai-rest and that of his family is de- 
 creed, 260 a. — Is condemned to death and executed, 357 b. 
 
 Pache. — Nominated Minister of war ; his sobriety, moderation, 
 and activity, 206 b, 207. — His partiality for the Jacobins, 210. 
 — His offices, 212 a. — Disgraced, 237 a. — Nominated mayor of 
 Paris, 243 a. — Signs a petition for excluding the Girondists 
 fi'om the Assemfily, 274 b. 
 
 Palais-Royal. — The garden of the Palais-Royal becomes the 
 centre of meeting of the populace, 43 6. — It continues to be 
 the resort of the'infuriated people, 46 b. — An address is pre- 
 sented to the Commune, 57 a. 
 
 Paqdes Veronaises. — This name given to the massacre of the 
 French at Verona tlie 15th of April, 1797; details of this oc- 
 currence, 647. 
 
 Parliament. — It resists the equal distribution of taxes, and 
 the abolition of the remains of feudal barbarism, 27 a. — 
 Position of Parliament after the convocation of Notables, 
 28 6, 29 a. — Summoned to Versailles ; exiled to Troyes, 29 a. — 
 Recalled 10th September, 29 6. — Registers the edict regarding 
 provisions for a successive loan, and the convocation of the 
 States-General in five years, 29 6.— On the 5th of May, 1788, 
 declares what are the constitutional laws of the State, 30 a. 
 
 Paris. — A body-guardsman named Paris avenges the death of 
 Louis XVI., 23o b. 
 
 Parties. — State of parties after the 5th of October, 65. — State 
 of parties after the second federation, 149 6, 150 a. — State of 
 parties after the 10th August, 160 6, 161 a.— Their state at 
 the time of the trial of Louis XVI., 217. — Situation of parties 
 after the death of the King, 236 6.— Their different means of 
 influence and action, 285. — Division in December 1793, 369, 
 370. — Divisions and situation after the 9th Thermidor, 446, 
 449, 451. — Conflicts between the two parties formed after ' the 
 
 Reign of Terror,' 46-5—468. — Great agitation amongst the 
 Revolutionary and Moderate parties after the reaction of the 
 9th Thermidor, 485.— Disputes of the Patriots and Rrvolu- 
 tionists in tlie reaction accomplished by the 9th Thcrn^idor, 
 508.— Their complaints against the Directory, 562, 563.— State 
 in year V., 6U4— 666.— All unite against the Directory after 
 the defeat of the French arms in Italy, 746 b, 750.— Excite- 
 ment after Bonaparte returns from Egypt; all parties seek 
 to attach themselves to Bonaparte though from various mo- 
 tives, 768 a, 769. 
 
 Patriotic Societies.— Name taken by the assembUes of the 
 Sections, 278 a. 
 
 Patriots. —Situation of this party in Germinal, year III., 491 a. 
 
 — Opposition they experienced in the insuiVections of 1st 
 Germinal and 12th, 491, 495. — BisaiTiied and remanded to 
 their Communes, 498 a.— Schemes of revolt and insun-ection 
 in Floreal, 1795, 512. — Invade the Convention on 1st Prairial, 
 year III. ; continue insurrection the 2d, 3d, and 4th of the 
 same month ; are subdued, 516, 517.— Their revolt at Toulon, 
 in Floreal, 517 b, 518. — Reflections upon the ruin of this party 
 "by the occurrences of Prairial, 519.— The Convention, alarmed 
 by a threatened insurrection, give arms to the Patriots, 540 a. 
 
 — Form themselves into a kind of Club at the Pantheon, 
 556.— Their complaints and recriminations against the Direc- 
 tory, 563, 564.— The Society is dissolved, 565.— Manifest their 
 discontent with the Directory ; attack the camp at Grenelle ; 
 the insurrection is checked," 595. — They form the opposition 
 to the Directory after the 18th Fructidor, 702.— Their vocifer- 
 ations after the disaster of Novi and the events in Holland ; 
 measures they advised ; their strength in the Councils, 755, 
 756. — The Directory insists upon putting down the Societies, 
 756 b. — They continue their accusations and complaints 
 against the Directory by means of their journals ; their 
 presses are seized, 757. — S'everal deputies on either side unite 
 to bring about a reconciliation, 757 b, 758. 
 
 Pavia. — The insurgents enter this city and gain possession ; 
 Bonaparte recovers it, 582 b. 
 
 Petion. — One of three commissioners appointed by the As- 
 sembly to reconduct Louis to Paris after his arrest at Va- 
 rennes, 93 b. — Nominated Mayor of Paris; his republican 
 principles, &c., 102 a. — His conduct on the 20th June, 132, 
 134 a. — His conversation with the King, 134 6. — He is sus- 
 pended from his functions, 141 6.- Is reinstated by the As- 
 sembly, 144 a. — Demands the dethronement of the King, in 
 the name of the forty-eight Sections of Paris, 154 b. — Endea- 
 vours to retard the insm'rection on 10th August, 156 a. — 
 Places sentinels at his own door that he may appear to be 
 under arrest, 158 a. — Gives an account of the state of Paris 
 to the Assembly, 162 !>.— Is regarded by Danton as an honest 
 but useless man, 163 a. — Endeavours to stop the massacres 
 of the 2d September, 174 a. — He is arrested, 286 a. 
 
 Philippeacx. — His pamphlet against Ronsin and the Ultra- 
 revolutionists, 382 a. — Appears before the Jacobin club : re- 
 sult of his accusation, 384-387. — He is arrested, 398. — Trial 
 and death, 398, 399. 
 
 PicHEGRU. — Commander-in-chief of the troops in the North, 
 413 6. — Crosses the Meuse, 477 6. — Invades Holland; takes 
 the Isle of Bommel, 478. — Named commander of the armed 
 force at Paris 12th Germinal, 496 6. — Commands the army 
 of the Rhine, 521 a. — His treason ; details of his negotiations 
 yvith the Prince of Conde, 522 6, 523. — Loses his command, 
 570 a. — His connexion with the emigrants, 631.— Nominated 
 Deputy in the year V. by the Jura, 147 a. — Continues his 
 treasonable projects, 656. — His report to the Five Hundred 
 upon the organization of the National guard, 617. — Is aiTested 
 the 18tli Fructidor and conducted to the Temple, 679. — Is 
 condemned to banishment, 681 a. 
 
 Piedmont. — Conquest of Piedmont by Bonaparte, 572 6, 576. — 
 Treaty of peace with that kingdom, 610. — Abdication of the 
 King ; France undertakes the government, 729. 
 
 PiLNiTZ. — Declaration of Pilnitz, 95 b. 
 
 Pitt. — His policy regarding France, 237 6. — Accused of foment- 
 ing troubles ; excites Spain against France, 238 a. — Has an 
 intei-view yvith Marat, envoy of the French government; no 
 particular result from this intervieyv, 238 b, 239 a. — He is 
 suspected of being the mover of a strange conspiracy, and is 
 declared to be the enemy of mankind by the Convention, 
 317 6.— His policy at the commencement of 1794, 409.— He 
 continues to prosecute the war with France ; his projects, 
 505 6, 506. — llis policy after the campaign of 1795 ; negotia- 
 tions yvith France, 501. — His combinations; overture of a 
 negotiation yvith the Directory, 596. 
 
 Police.— It is established ; a special ministi-y as proposed by 
 the Directory, 565 6. 
 
 Popt'LAR Party. — Its leaders and its influence toyvards the 
 ch)se of 1792, 213,214. 
 
 Popular Societies.— Decree against them after ' the Reign of 
 Terror,' 465. — Several Societies of the ' Gilded Youth,' and the 
 Club of the Pantheon are closed, 565. 
 
 Porte. — Declares yvar against France, 718 a. 
 
 Prairial, 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th, tear III. — Insurrection of the 
 Patriots ; invasion of the Convention ; contests ; murder of 
 a Deputy; events of the day, 512 — 515.— Day folloyviiig the 
 Patriots .igiun miscarry, 516, — On the 4th Prairial tluy in- 
 trench themselves in the Faubourg-Sainte-Antnine ami are 
 subdued, 517, 518. — 30th Prairial revolution in the Directorial 
 government; three of the Directors resign, 749, 760. — See 
 Directory. 
 
 PiiEss. — The liberty of the press established after the 9th 
 Thermidor. 
 
 Princes.— Perplexed situation of the French emigrant princes 
 in 1794, 462 6. 
 
 Procession. — The King, the three orders, <tc., go in procession 
 to the Church of Notre-Dame, 34 a. 
 
 Provisioning Paris. — Difficulty of provisioning Paris, 49 a.
 
 788 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 PRPSstA. — Lays aside its neutrality and marches ajrainst 
 France, 123 b. — Negotiates for peace, 480 6.— Peace siirned 
 with this power : conditions of the treaty, 499.— Preserves its 
 neutrality, notwithstandinfC the efforts of Pitt, 450. 
 
 Prissiass.— Their first success, 167 6.— Withdraw their army ; 
 false reports upon the reasons of their retreat, 181 6. IS'i a. 
 
 Pdblic Debt.— The payment of two-thirds of the public debt 
 is decreed bv the Councils after the 18th Fructidor, G84 a. 
 
 PcTSAiE (De)*— A secret leader of the Chouans. 462 a.— Conse- 
 quences of his intriguing politics in Brittany, 503. — Chief of 
 the expedition to Quiberon ; detaUs of his military operation 
 in that affair. .'J24— 533.— Prepares to renew the war in Brit- 
 tany after the affair of Quiberon, 5-51 a. 
 
 Pyramids. — Battle of the Pyramids, 712 b. 
 
 Q. 
 
 QriBEROv.— Expedition of Quiberon ; military details, 524 and 
 foUoHing.- Causes of the ill-success of the emigrants.— Con- 
 sequences of the aflair of Quiberon, 533. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rastadt (Congress of).— Details of the negotiations in Plu- 
 viose, year A'l.. (i95. — Progress of the negotiations in the 
 summer of the year VI., 720 a. — Assassination of the French 
 plenipotentiaries, 737 b, 738. 
 
 Rastadt and Ettlingen.- Battle of this name, ."iOO a. 
 
 Reason (Worship of).— Abolition of the worship of Reason. 
 368. 
 
 Rebecqci.- Accuses Robespierre of tyranny, 199 b. 
 
 Rebels.— Rebels against the Revolution declare themselves in 
 several of the Departments, 236. 
 
 Red Book. — Louis XVI. seals up the leaves containing the 
 expenditure of Louis XV., 79 a. 
 
 Reforms.— Alteration of manners, and sundry reforms in 1795, 
 463 and following. 
 
 Religion (Catholic). — Debate in the Assembly upon the pro- 
 position to declare the Catholic religion the religion of the 
 State, 74 a. 
 
 Republic. — The new era of the Republic dated from 22d Sep- 
 tember, 1792, 186 b. — Dangers of the Republic in August 1793, 
 320, 321. 
 
 Rescriptions. — A soi-t of bill issued under this name by the 
 Directoi-y, 562. — Ill-success of this measure, .566. 
 
 Reveillox. — The house of this paper manufacturer burned 
 down by the mob, 33 b. 
 
 Revei.liere-Lepeaux (La). — His character ; his conduct with 
 regard to his colleagues in the Directory, 627 6, 62S a. 
 
 Revolution. — Reflections upon the progress of revolutions, 
 99 6. 
 
 Revolution (French). — Causes which led to it, .32. — Begins to 
 attract the attention of foreign monarchs and excite their 
 uneasiness, 75 b. 
 
 Revolutionary Army. — Is organized, 347. 348. 
 
 Revolutionary Committees. — Their nmnber reduced in Paris 
 and the Departments, 450 a. 
 
 Revolutionary Government. — Effects of the revolutionan' 
 laws, 338. 
 
 Revolutionary Tribunal. — First formation, upon the occa- 
 sion of the 10th of August. 165.— It is installed, 2.57.- The 
 Exti'aordinary Criminal Tribunal takes this name : trial of 
 the Dantonists ; the four accused of forgeries and others, 399. 
 — Terrible executions in June and July 1794 : account of the 
 proceedings at this time, 427 — 429. — Its functions suspended, 
 446. — Restored to its former activity, 450.— Finally abolished. 
 
 Rewbell. — Character of this member of the Directory; his 
 position with regard to the other members, 627. — Calumni- 
 ously accused, 740. — Is excluded from the Directory by ballot, 
 785. 
 
 Rhine. — Crossing of this river by Moreau, 589. — By Jourdan, 
 591 — By Massena, 16th Ventose' year VII., 733. 
 
 Right Side. — What it was ; those of whom it was composed in 
 the Legislative Assembly, 101 a. — The party which occupied 
 the right side in the Convention, 190 b. 
 
 Rights of Man. — Declaration so called, 55 a. 
 
 Rivoli.— Battle of this name, 623, 626. 
 
 Robespierre. — Raises objections to the critique upon the 'De- 
 claration of rights,' 62 b.— Combats the proposition of martial 
 law, 67 a.— Protests against the King's inviolability, 96 h. — 
 His influence at the Jacobin club, 101 b. — Declares himself 
 against war in the debates of the Jacobins, 113 6. — Buzotand 
 Roland offer him an asylum, 148 a. — Interview with Barba- 
 roux, 148 6, 149 a.— His position after the 10th of August, 16-3, 
 164.— He presents a petition to the Assembly in the name of 
 the municipality ; is named Deputy to the Convention, 183 6. 
 — Is accused of t\Tanny in the Convention ; his defence ; de- 
 bates upon the subject, 187— 189.— Is again accu.sed by Lnuvet, 
 200 a.— Defends himself before the Convention, 204 6.— Would 
 have Louis condemned without a trial, 221 a.— Dispute which 
 engaged the Jacobins on the subject of Robespierre and Ma- 
 rat, 224.— Combats the appeal to the people, and demands 
 that the King be condemned, 229 b, 230 cu — Makes a long 
 speech against Dumouriez and the Girondists, 262. — His 
 popularity ; his projects ; and details of his character ; speaks 
 at the Jacobin club in favour of the Committee of Public 
 Welfare, 308.— Becomes a member of the Committee, 309.— 
 Repudiates in the Jacobin club, and denounces the agitators, 
 366. — Justifies Danton, 367. — His opinion of the Revolutionary 
 government, 390 6.— Speaks against Danton at the Conven- 
 tion, 396. — Denies the recognisance of the Supreme Being ; 
 his speech, 407, 408 —His assassination attempted, 420.— His 
 speech to the Jacobins after the attempt upon his life, 421.— 
 
 His influence in 1794 ; his policy ; traits of character, 423. — 
 Proposes to adopt a new organization of the Revolutionary 
 tribunal ; begins to experience opposition from the Commit- 
 tees. 424, 425. — Projects against the Committees, and bis 
 politic conduct at this time. 426, 431. — On the 8th Thennidor 
 pronounces a discourse to the Convention : justifies himself 
 from certain accusations, and concludes with a proposition 
 to purify the Committees of General Safety and Public Wel- 
 fare, 436, 4.37. — Discus.sion on this subject ; he in his turn is 
 vehemently accused. 438. — Goes to the Jacobins and urges a 
 new insurrection against the Convention, 439. — Accusations 
 against him renewed on the 9th Therniidor at the Conven- 
 tion ; details of this scene ; decree of arrest, 440 b. — Draws a 
 pistol upon himself ; his execution. 444. 
 
 Rcedeber. — Prevails upon Louis XVI. to retire within the hall 
 of the Assembly ; discus.sion with the Queen, 1-58 b. — Gives 
 an account to the Assembly of the preliminaries of the in- 
 surrection, 159 a. 
 
 Roger Ducos. — Xominated Provisional Consul ISth Brumaire, 
 777 a. 
 
 Roger Drcos and Moulins. — Succeed Larevelliere and Merlin 
 in the Directory, 750 b. 
 
 Roland. — Named Minister of the Interior, 161 6.— Reads a let- 
 ter to the King, 124 6..— Communicates to the Assembly the 
 letter which he had read to the King, 126 a. — Attacks the 
 authors of 2d September, 173 b. — Makes his repoi't ujion the 
 state of Paris, 187 a, 199 a. — His inflexibility against the Com- 
 mune, 214 a. — Gives in his resignation, 237 a. 
 
 Roland (.Madam). — Her influence upon the Girondists, 116 h. 
 — Hatred of the Jacobins towards her, 196 b. — She is arrested, 
 289. — Condemned and executed, 357 b. 
 
 Rome. — Agitation of the Democrats in the Roman States ; the 
 French legation insulted, 698. — Berthier goes to Rome to 
 eject the Pope ; the Roman peo]ile i)roclaim a Republic, 695. 
 — State of government after its revolution, 726. — The Neapoli- 
 tans enterthe States of Rome, and are repulsed by Cham- 
 pionnet, 727. 
 
 Romeuf. — Aide-de-camp to Lafayette, goes in pursuit of Louis 
 XVI., 92 a. — Arrives at Varennes, 93 a. 
 
 RoNsiN. — Liberated from prison; his character, 388 — lie is 
 arrested a second time, 394. — His trial and death, 39-5. 
 
 RossiGNOL. — Named general of the army of the coasts of the 
 Rochelle, 326 a. 
 
 RovEREDO. — Battle of Roveredo. 603. 
 
 Royalists. — Situation of the Royalist party in 1794, 410. — 
 Various intrigues and projects of the Royalist agents, 503, 
 504. — Triumphs of this party after the events of Prairial, 521. 
 — Their after intrigues in the Sections, 534.— The agents of 
 the Royalists prosecute their secret intrigues. 567. — Their 
 disappointment after the 13th Vendemiaire, 544.— State of 
 this faction in the winter of the year V. ; results of its in- 
 trigues and projects, 630 — 633. — Prospects of this party after 
 the elections of the year V., 654.— Their excitement in Paris, 
 where thev are joined bv several emigrants and Chouans, 674 
 —677.— Their terror after the 18th Fructidor. 682. 
 
 Royal Sepulchres. — A decree ordaining their destruction, 
 327 b. 
 
 RoYou. — Editor of ' The Friend of the King,' is impeached, 
 122 b. 
 
 s. 
 
 SAiNT-HrRrcnE.- This aged Marquis, one of the prisoners of 
 the Bastille, proceeds to Versailles as the leader of a band 
 of fanatics, n7 a. 
 
 Saint-Just. — His opinions upon the King's inviolabilitv, and 
 upon the fonns of accusation, 217, 218 — Proposes a decree, 
 ■which the Convention adopts, declaring a Revolutionary 
 government, 3-37 5. — Sent by the Committee of Public Welfare 
 to the aiTny of the Rhine, 371 b. — Presents his report against 
 the Hebertists and Dantonists, 393 b. — Accuses Danton before 
 the Convention, 397. — Is arrested, 441 a.— His execution. 444. 
 
 Salles.— Proposes and vindicates the expedient of an appeal 
 to the people in the trial of Louis XVI., 228 6. 
 
 Santerre. — His influence in the faubourgs, 130 a. — His agency 
 up to the 20th June, 131—104. 
 
 ScHERER. — .Appointed general-in-chicf of the troops in Italy, 
 732 a. — Gives up the command to Moreau, 742 a. 
 
 Sections. — The Sections of Paris charge Petion to demand in 
 their name the dethronement of the King. 1-54 a.— Extrava- 
 gance of the assembled Sections, 203. — The Section Poisson- 
 nier demands an act of impeachment against Dumouriez ; 
 scene in the Convention upon this subject, 252. — The Section 
 of the Halle- aux-Bles draw up a petition against several 
 members of the Convention, 261 6.- Their influence through- 
 out France, 266, 267. — The Section of the Fraternity de- 
 nounces the projects of the Assembly at the Town-hall, 275 a. 
 — Other Sections do the same, 275 a.— Tumult about the end 
 of May respecting the impeachment of Ilebert, 276. — The 48 
 Sections assemble and give their sanction to the insurrection 
 of the 31st of May, 281. — The Sectional Committees suppressed 
 by the Committee of Public Welfare, 405.— Agree not to hold 
 their assemblies more than once in a decade, 4-50 a. — The 
 Sections of Montreuil and of the Qiiinze-Vingts present an 
 address to the Convention 1st Germinal ; their insun-ectional 
 crowds, 491. — Agitated by the intrigues of the Royalists, 534, 
 537. — Set themselves in opposition to the decrees of 5th And 
 13th Fi-uctidor; petitions; the Sections of Paris reject the 
 decrees ; those of France accept them. 538, 542. — They pub- 
 lish the journal of the 13th Vendemiaire, 544. — The Section 
 Lepelletier resists the troops under General Menou the 12th 
 Vendemiaire, 540, 541.— The Sectionaries form various socie- 
 ties in 1795, 556 b.
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 789 
 
 Selz. — The town of Selz chosen for the conferences between 
 Austria and France ; negotiations entered into, 719. 
 
 September. — Details of the 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th of September, 
 177 a. — Massacre of the prisoners, 182 b. 
 
 SEPTEfiL. — Treasurer of the civil list, 183 a. — The sum found 
 with him stated to amount to 10,000,000, 203 b. 
 
 Serrurier. — A general of the Italian army, 572. 
 
 Servan. — This minister proposes to form a camp of 20,000 
 Federalists ; debate of the Assembly upon this motion, 124 a. 
 
 Seventy-three Deputies. — Incarcerated 31st May, are rein- 
 stated in their former offices, 474 b. 
 
 Sieves (L'Abee). — Publishes a pamphlet upon the Third Estate, 
 31 a. — Proposes to the Commons a final invitation of the two 
 other orders to a conference relative to the verification of 
 the powers, 36 h. — Draws up the reasons for the Commons 
 constituting themselves a National Assembly, 37 h. — His ideas 
 upon the Constitution, 39 6. — I'roposes the annihilation of 
 provincial demarcations, 56 a. — Proposes the project of a de- 
 cree, intended to protect the Convention from the Revolution- 
 ists, 490 f>. — His project is voted and passed into a law, 492 b. 
 — Refuses to be nominated Director, 548 6. — Is sent by the 
 Directory on embassage to Berlin ; elected Director in the 
 place of Rcwbell, 741 a. — His co-operation in the affair of 
 18th Brumaire, 7C9, 772, 774.— Nominated Provisional Consul 
 18th Brumaire, 777. 
 
 SoMBREt'iL. — The devotion of his daughter, 172 b. 
 
 Stael (Madame de). — Her influence at Paris, 535 6. — Attempts 
 to unite the Constitutionalists and the Clichyans ; her influ- 
 ence in the society of Faris, G74, 675. 
 
 Stockach. — Battle of Stockach ; military details, 734. 
 
 Stock-jobbing. — How bi-oughl about, and the way it was exer- 
 cised in 1793, 315 a. — Several Deputies engaged in this traffic 
 are accused of lending themselves to commercial intrigues, 
 317 b. — It is revived in April and May 1795, 487..— Reunion of 
 speculators at the Cafe de Cliartres ; vain endeavours to 
 ward off the Inconveniences of this traffic, 510. 
 
 Stofflet.— One of the first chiefs of the Vendean insurrection, 
 268 a. — He continues the war after the submission of Cha- 
 rette, 503. — He signs the peace at St. Floreut, 504 6. — He is 
 taken and shot, 571 a. 
 
 Subsistences.— Embarrassed state of Paris regarding subsist- 
 ences in 1792, 197. — These emban-assments augmented, 'Hob. 
 — Their deplorable state in 1793, 315 a. — Decrees of the Con- 
 vention upon this subject; distress of the Parisians, 315 6. — 
 Measures taken by the Commune and the Convention in 
 October 1793 ; their regulation, 359, 360. — Laws relating to 
 subsistences in the beginning of 1794, 418, 419. — New decrees 
 after 1st Prairial, 519. — The Directory admit the principle of 
 free trade, 562 b. 
 
 Succession. — Discussions relative to the succession to the 
 throne, &c,, 58 a. 
 
 Suspected (The). — Who they were, 257 h. — Their arrest is de- 
 creed, 320 b. — The law of the suspected is decreed, 338 a. — 
 Chaumette's intei-pretation of this term, 351 6. — Details of 
 their detention, 352. — Their numbers augmented •, tne inte- 
 rior administration of their prisons is changed, 419. — They 
 are conducted in great numbers to execution in June, 1794, 
 428.— They are liberated, 447. 
 
 SuwARKov. — Arrives in Italy; character of this general; his 
 abilities, 742 a. — Prevents the junction of the army of Naples 
 with that ot Moreau, 745 a. — Beaten in S^vitzerland, and forced 
 to retreat, 766 b. 
 
 Swiss.— Massacred 10th August, 1-59 6. 
 
 Switzerland. — Preserves neuti'alitv in the midst of the general 
 war ; its disposition \rith regard to the Republic, 500. — Revo- 
 lution in Swtzerland ; its causes ; insurrection of the Pays 
 de Vaud ; arrival of the French troops under Brune ; he re- 
 pairs to Berne ; Switzerland constituted a Republic, 699 — 701. 
 — New political troubles ; strifes in the Cantons ; interven- 
 tion of France ; a treaty of alliance concluded, 721. — Impor- 
 tance of Switzerland in a war on the Continent, 731 a. 
 
 SiRiA. — Expedition in Syria. — See Egypt and Bonaparte. 
 
 Tagliamento. — Crossing of this river, and the battle upon it, 
 638, 639 a. 
 
 Talleyrand (M. de). — Minister of Foreign affairs in the year 
 v., 666 a. 
 
 Tallien.— His part in the proceedings of the 9th Thermidor, 
 440 a. — He is wounded by an assassin, 456 a. 
 
 Tallien (Madame). — Her position in society at Paris after the 
 ' Reign of Terror,' 464 b. 
 
 Target. — Declines to serve as counsel to Louis XVI., 224 a. 
 
 Tarwis. — Battle of Tarwis, 640 a. 
 
 Tenis-Court. — The hall of the Tenis-court appropriated for 
 the sitting of the National Assembly ; here the Deputies as- 
 semble, and take an oath not to separate before a Constitu- 
 tion is established, 38 b. — Proposal to preoccupy the hall in 
 order to prevent a second sitting, 39 a. 
 
 Theophilanthropist (The). — Society so called, 628 a. 
 
 Thermidor 9th. — Occurrences of this day, 440 — 444. — Conse- 
 quences of this day, 445. — Reflections upon the progress of 
 the Revolution fi-om the 14th July to the 9th Thermidor, 
 444, 445. 
 
 Thermidorians. — Their position and their projects, 452, 4.54. — 
 They are the leading party after the 1st Prairial ; conse- 
 quences of this reaction, 516, 517. — Their suspicions of the 
 Royalists, and measures of opposing them, 535. 
 
 Third Estate. — Declaration in Council, 27th December, 1788, 
 in favour of doubling the Third Estate, 31b. — The Third 
 Estate wear their hats as well as the other orders against 
 established precedent, 34 6. — Dispute with tlie two other 
 
 orders upon the mode of their reunion, 35. — Rapid increase 
 
 of power, 36, 37. 
 Thouret.— The last President of the Constituent, 98 b. 
 Tithes.— Discussion relative to the abolition of Tithes, 53 b, 
 
 54 a. — Abolition decreed, 54 a. 
 Tolentino (Treaty of).— Signed by Bonaparte and the Pope ; 
 
 its conditions ; its advantages, 636 b. 
 Toulon.— The Moderates predominating in the Sections give 
 
 up this city to the English, 329.— They fortify Little Gibraltar, 
 
 372 b.— First enterprise of Bonaparte. 373 a.— Evacuation of 
 
 the English and tiring of the arsenal, 373 6.— The convicts 
 
 aid in arresting the fire, 374 a. 
 Tbebbia. — Battle of Trebbia ; principal circumstances, 746. 
 Trkilhard. — Nominated Director in place of Francois de 
 
 Neufchateau, 713 a. 
 Tribunal of 17th August. — On what occasion instituted, 165 b. 
 Tronchet. — Undertakes the defence of Louis XVI., 224 a. 
 Tbouve — See Cisalpine. 
 Turcot. — Chosen Minister; his character; his measures of 
 
 reform are rejected, 27 b. 
 Tuscany. — Treaty of peace with that country, 500 b. 
 
 u. 
 
 Ultra-Revolutionists.— Name given to the exaggerated Revo- 
 lutionists, 382 6. — Several of them arrest by decree of the 
 Convention, 384 b. — They prepare an insurrection against 
 the Convention, 392 b. — Are defeated, 393 b. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valenciennes. — This town is besieged and taken by the enemy, 
 310 a. 
 
 Varlet. — Is declared suspected by BiUaud-Varennes, 252 b. — 
 The meeting at Corazza, 253 a. — Proposes a scheme of insur- 
 rection to the Cordeliers, 274 b. — Is intercepted, 275 a. — 
 Assists in scheming the definitive plan of the Second Revolu- 
 tion, 286 a. — Promotes a petition against monopolists, 299 b. 
 
 Vaublanc (De).— Carries the decree to the King requiring the 
 dispersion of the emigrants, 110 b. 
 
 Vendeans. — Reason of this name being given and continued 
 to the French insurgents, 268 b. — They repair to Thouars and 
 bui-n the tree of liberty, 269 b. — Organize their insun-ection, 
 289 a. — Separate to follow their harvest labours, 297 a. — Meet 
 on the 1st of June, enter Done on the 7th, and an'ive before 
 Samiiur on the 9th, 297 b. — Are repulsed at Nantes, 301 b. — 
 They are defeated at Lucon, 330 a. — Divers plans proposed 
 
 for subduing them, 330 b First operations of Canclaux against 
 
 them, according to his plan of 2d September ; dissensions 
 amongst the chiefs ; progress of the war, 334, 335. — Canclaux 
 falls back upon Nantes ; causes of his defeats in Vendee, 
 336 a. — Continuation of the war, 342. — The Vendeans re- 
 pulsed at Chollot, 348 a. — They are defeated at Moins ; totally 
 routed, 349. — The war continued, 461. — Their chiefs, 462. — 
 Divers negotiations between the revolted chiefs and the re- 
 publican generals, 481. — Negotiations with their chiefs for 
 the pacification of the country, 484, 501.— The treaty of peace 
 signed by several chiefs, 504 b. 
 
 Vendee (La). — Description of this country and the neighbour- 
 ing departments ; theatre of the civil war, and reasons of its 
 hatred against the Revolution, 267. — Insurrection of the Ven- 
 dean peasants excited by the levy of 300,000 men ; StofHet 
 and Cathelineau put themselves at their head, 268 a. — The 
 insurrection becomes general, 297. — A decree passed tliat La 
 Vendee shall be completely ravaged, 326. — A decree of am- 
 nesty in its favour, 482. — State of this country after the first 
 pacification, 506. — Fresh preparations for war after the affair 
 of Quiberon, 551. — The pacification of the country definitively 
 commenced, 559, 560. — Complete pacification of all the pro- 
 vinces included under this name in Germinal, year IV., 570 
 —572. 
 
 Vende.miaire. — Preparatory events of the 11th and 12th ; in- 
 suiTections of the Scrtious the 13th ; riots in the streets, 539. 
 — Triumph of the Convention, 543. — Results of this day, 544 a. 
 
 Venice. — Anxiety of the Venetian government at the approach 
 of the French troops: Bonaparte invades tliis tirritinv, 578. 
 — AUeged treacherv of the Venetian government after Bona- 
 parte's departure, 640. — Preliminaries ; articles of the peace 
 with Leoben concerning the Venetian States, (i43, 644. — Pro- 
 gress of treaclicrous movements amongst the Venetians to- 
 wards the Frencli, 647 (f, 648. — Fall of the Republic of Venice. 
 — Detail of the ].riiceeilings which brought it about, 649—652. 
 
 Vergniaud. — CliiLf orator of the Girondists, 101a. — Accuses 
 Delessart; his siieccli, 115 a. — Extracts from his sjieech u]ion 
 the project of the cunimission of Twelve, 139.— Proposes a 
 message to the King, obhging hiin to choose between f ranee 
 and foreigners, 140 a. — Harangues the people 2d September, 
 170 b. — His sjjeech in favour of Louis XVI., 230. — He replies 
 to the accusations of Robespierre against the Girondists, 
 262b, 263. — He votes the decree "that Paris has deserved 
 well of the country," 284 a.— He is arrested, 291 a. 
 
 Verification.- Debates in the States-General relative to the 
 verification of its powers, 34 b, 35 a. 
 
 Vermont (L'Abbe). — Advises the Queen to propose M. de Bri- 
 enne as Minister, ^8 b. 
 
 Verona.— Massacre of the French in this city ; it is taken by 
 General Chabran, 648. 
 
 Veronese Easter.— See Paques Veronaise. 
 
 Versailles. — Augmentation of troops at Versailles, 61 a.— 
 Consequences attending the sojourn of the Royal family in 
 this town, 61 b.— Scenes which occurred on the 5th and 6th 
 October, 62.— ilassacre of 52 prisoners after the days of Sep- 
 tember, 182 b.
 
 790 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Veto.— Discussions relative to the suspensive or absolute veto, 
 57 6.— The suspensive veto is declared, 58 a.— The suspensive 
 veto is extended to two legislatures, 59 a. 
 
 Vienna.— Violent scenes at Vienna between the French lega- 
 tion and the Emperor, 719. 
 
 ViNCENNES.— The castle is attacked by the people February 
 28th, 1790, 88 b. 
 
 Vincent.- This Ultra-revolutionist is released from prison; 
 his character, 388.— He is arrested a second time, 394 a.— His 
 trial and execution, 395. 
 
 VuKTZBOCKG. — Battle at this place, G05 6. 
 
 w. 
 
 War.— Position of the armies at the commencement ; dissatis- 
 faction of General Kochambeau, 113 a. — State of militai^ 
 atfairs after the loth of .■\ugust, 166 b, 167.- Military situation 
 of I'rance in October 1792, 192 a.— Militai-y affairs in October 
 and November 1792, 206 b, 207.— Situation of our armies on 
 the Rhine and on the Alps at the close of 1792, 212, 213.— 
 Military events in Belgium, 240. — Our armies experience 
 many reverses, 253, 254. — Dispositions of the Convention to 
 provide men and money, 270, 271. — Military situation of 
 France in 1793, 290.— State of the army of the North, 294 a.— 
 Of the anuy of the Moselle, and of the Rhine, 294 6.— Of Italy ; 
 of the Pyrenees, 296 a.— Of La Vendee, 297, 298.— Victory in 
 Spain in July 1793, 302 a.— Siege of Mayence, 311, 313.— Siege 
 of Valenciennes, 314.— Caesar's camp evacuated by the French, 
 319 6.— Movements of the armies in August 1793, 320, 321.— 
 State of the army of the Rhine, 322 a. — Commencement of 
 the siege of Lyons, 322 b.- March of the enemy's troops in 
 August and September 1793, 330.— Victory of Hondschoote, 
 332'6.— Reverses in the North, 346.— Victory of Wattignics, 
 347(;.— The hues of Weissembourg taken by the enemy, 350 a. 
 
 Junction of the armies of the Rhine and the Moselle ; the 
 
 Austrians chased from the ft-ontiers, 372 a. — Siege and cap- 
 ture of Toulon by the Republicans, 373. — Reverses to the 
 Pyrenees, 377.— Important events in La Vendee, 370.— End 
 of the campaign in 1793 ; reflections upon that campaign, 
 and recapitulation of the principal actions, 380, 381.— Pre- 
 parations of France from 1793 to 1794 for the equipment of 
 land and sea forces, 412 a,— First operations of the campaign 
 of 1794 on the Pyrenees, the Alps, and in Italy, 413.— To the 
 North, 414 — 417.— Victory of Turcoing. 416 6.- In Vendee ; in 
 Brittany against the Chouans, 416.— In the French colonies; 
 revolt in St. Domingo, 416 b. — Engagement at sea ; destruc- 
 tion of the ship ' Le Vengeur,' 4l7 b. — Victory of Fleurus, 
 434 a.— Renewal of military operations in August 1794, 458.— 
 Reduction of Conde, Valenciennes. Landrecies, and Le Ques- 
 noy, 457 b, 458.— Movement of the army of the North ; battle 
 of the Ourthe, 458 b.— Battle of the Roer, 459. — Crossing of 
 the Meuse by Pichegru ; movements and successes of the 
 armies of the Moselle and of the Upper Rhine commanded 
 by Michaud, 460. — Situation of the armies of the Alps and of 
 the Pyrenees; progress of the war in La Vendee, 461. — Con- 
 dition of the army 6i Belgium at the close of 1794 ; taking of 
 Nimeguen, 475, 476. — Project of conquering Holland, 476 6. — 
 Invasion of Holland ; taking of the isle of Bommel, 477 — 479. 
 — Our troops diverge upon Holland at several points, and 
 occupy the whole counti'y, 479 b. — Progress of the military 
 
 operations in Spain, Catalonia, and the Pyrenees, 480 6. — 
 State of the armies after the events of Prairial, year III. ; 
 operations of Jourdan, Moreau, Pichegru, and Kleber in the 
 North, 521 a. — Situation of the army of the Alps under Kil- 
 lei-mann ; military position in Spain, 522 a. — E.xpedition of 
 Quiberon, 525 b, 533. — Retrograde march of the army of the 
 Sambre-et-Meuse, 550 a. — Jourdan rerrosses the Rhine ; loss 
 of the lines of Mayence, 550 b. — Situation of the armies of the 
 Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees towards the close of the 
 year V., 557. — State of the army of Italy at the commence- 
 iiient of campaign of 1796 ; conquest of Piedmont, 573 — 576. — 
 Conquest of Lombardy, 758 b. — Battle of Lodi, 580 b. — Passage 
 of the Mincio, 584 a. — Entry of the French into Tuscany and 
 the States of Rome, 586, 587. — Progress of the war on the 
 Rhine and on tlie Danube, 588. — Crossing of the Rhine by 
 Moreau, and the progress of military pperations, 588, 591. — 
 State of the French amiies in Germany and Italy in August 
 1796, 608. — Another defeat of the army of the Sambre and 
 Meuse at Wui'tzbourg ; retreat, 605. — Retreat of Moreau, 607. 
 —Expedition to Ireland, 619.— Battle of Arcole, 616.- Sur- 
 render of the fort of Kehl, 621. — Renewal of hostilities in 
 Italy, 622.— Description of the battle-field of Rivoli ; battle of 
 Rivoli, 623 b, 624.— Battle of Mantua or La Favorita, 625. — 
 Taking of Mantua ; reflections upon the campaign of 1796 in 
 Italy, 626. — Renewal of the campaign in the year V. ; state 
 of the army of the Sambre and Aleuse, 635 a.— State of the 
 aiTny of the Upper Rhine, 636. — A fresh campaign against 
 Austria ; crossing of the Tagliamento, 638. — Battle of Tarwis, 
 640 a. — March upon Vienna, 643. — Passage of the Rhine to 
 Neuwied by Hoche, to Diersheim by Desaix, 646. — The armies 
 of the Sambre and Meuse and those of the Rhine united, and 
 the command given to Hoche, 663. — Expedition to Switzer- 
 land ; Binine repairs to Berne, 700, 701. — Expedition to Egypt: 
 see Egypt ; renewal of hostilities, year VII., 729 a. — A Nea- 
 politan force invades the States of Rome ; manneuvres of 
 Championnet ; conquest of the kingdom of Naples, 727. — 
 Campaign of 1799 ; state of the armies, and plans of war, 
 729. — Invasion of the Grisons by Massena, 732, 733. — Battle 
 of Stockaeh ; retreat of Jourdan, 734, 759. — Distribution of 
 the French armies in Italy ; of the antagonist forces ; first 
 operations of Scherer, 735. — Sanguinary battle under Verona, 
 736. — Battle of Magnano ; retreat of Scherer, 737. — Massena 
 combines the command of the armies of Helvetia and the 
 Danube, and occupies the line of the Limmat, 741. — Progress 
 of the war in Italy ; arrival of Suwarrov, 741.— Moreau suc- 
 ceeds Scherer in the command ; battle of Cassano, 742. — 
 Disembarkation of the Anglo-Russians in Holland ; defeat of 
 Brune, 755.— Description of the theatre of war in Switzer- 
 land ; battle of Zurich, 764 — 766. — Disaster and retreat of 
 Suwarrov in Switzerland, 766. — Conclusion of the campaign 
 of 1799, 767. 
 
 Watigmes.— Victory of TVatignies, 347 a. 
 
 Weights and Measures. — A new system of Weights and Mea- 
 sures introduced, 361 a. 
 
 Westermann. — At the head of the Germanic legion in Vendee, 
 310 o. — His exploits and reverses, 310 b, 311. 
 
 z. 
 
 Zurich.— Victory of Zurich, 760. 
 
 (i 
 
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 Ft:i,iARTON AND CO., PRINTERS, EDINBCEOB,
 
 )UTHEHt,Ht.ji.::.I,A.. J-:h!.^.- .A.JLiTY 
 
 D 000 374 463