Its complexity was
great, its contradictions numerous and astounding. For some it is, as it was for Charles Fox, much the greatest of all events
and much the best. For some it is, as it was for Burke, the accursed
thing, the abomination of desolation. If its dark side alone be regarded,
it oppresses the very soul of man. Then a veil falls. Louis XVI. And if the victims of the guillotine could have foreseen the
future, many might have died gladly. If it killed
laughter, it also dried many tears. In the
order of nature, nothing can be born save through suffering; in the order
of politics, this is no less true. Herein, perhaps, may be found the secret of its complexity, of its seeming
contradictions. That they might
win their quest, they had both to destroy and to construct. Alike in destruction and construction, they committed errors; they
fell far below their high ideals. Man is imperfect, and his
imperfection mars his fairest achievements. It did contribute to
the uplifting of humanity, and the world is the better for its occurrence. Understanding this, Mignet wrote. It was the outcome
of the past history of France; it pursued the course which it was bound to
pursue. L. CECIL JANE. 1915. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at
first studying law. As a journalist, he
wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Français_. and Louis XV.--State of men's minds, of
the finances, of the public power and the public wants at the accession of
Louis XVI.--His character--Maurepas, prime minister--His policy--Chooses
popular and reforming ministers--His object--Turgot, Malesherbes, Necker--
Their plans--Opposed by the court and the privileged classes--Their
failure--Death of Maurepas--Influence of the Queen, Marie-Antoinette--
Popular ministers are succeeded by court ministers--Calonne and his
system--Brienne, his character and attempts--Distressed state of the
finances--Opposition of the assembly of the notables, of the parliament,
and provinces--Dismissal of Brienne--Second administration of Necker--
Convocation of the states-general--Immediate causes of the revolution. CHAPTER IV
FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 30TH SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
Political state of Europe before the French revolution--System of alliance
observed by different states--General coalition against the revolution--
Motives of each power--Conference of Mantua, and circular of Pavia--Flight
to Varennes--Arrest of the king--His suspension--The republican party
separate, for the first time, from the party of the constitutional
monarchy--The latter re-establishes the king--Declaration of Pilnitz--The
king accepts the constitution--End of the constituent assembly--Opinion of
it. shall be tried, and by itself--Louis
XVI. CHAPTER X
FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). The
land was divided into hostile provinces, the population into rival
classes. For these abuses the
revolution substituted a system more conformable with justice, and better
suited to our times. Resistance from within brought about the sovereignty
of the multitude, and aggression from without, military domination. These various
phases were almost inevitable, so irresistible was the power of the events
which produced them. Originated while the royal prerogative
was in progress, they were at first controlled, and finally suppressed by
it. to
Louis XIV. to the revolution, was still
more arbitrary than despotic; for the monarchs had much more power than
they exercised. The third estate, ground down by the court, humiliated by the
nobility, was itself divided into corporations, which, in their turn,
exercised upon each other the evil and the contempt they received from the
higher classes. Louis XIV. Louis XIV. was exercised, internally,
against the heretics; externally, against all Europe. The parliaments had undergone a change of position and of system. The parliament, from its
very nature, was only called upon to serve as an instrument. and Louis XVI., although it only
attacked the court from a spirit of rivalry. Such is the course of all
rising powers; they watch over it from without, before they are admitted
into the government; then, from the right of control they pass to that of
co-operation. It was then but just
emancipated, and possessed not that which establishes superiority, and
leads to the acquisition of power; for right is only obtained by might. Accordingly, in insurrections as in the states-general, it had held but
the third rank; everything was done with its aid, but nothing for it. The third estate, which increased daily in strength, wealth,
intelligence, and union, was destined to combat and to displace it. Such was the condition of France, when Louis XVI. ascended the throne on
the 11th of May, 1774. Of all
princes, Louis XVI., by his tendencies and his virtues, was best suited to
his epoch. Louis XVI. Maurepas had
little heed to the welfare of France, or the glory of his master; his sole
care was to remain in favour. Maurepas had the choice of
the ministers, and these cultivated his good graces as assiduously as he
the king's. Malesherbes, descended from a family in the law, inherited parliamentary
virtues, and not parliamentary prejudices. To an independent mind, he
united a noble heart. He would have effected the revolution by ordinances,
had he been able to stand. The
queen took his place with Louis XVI., and inherited all his influence over
him. His wife, young,
beautiful, active, and ambitious, gained great ascendancy over him. The revolution dates from this epoch; the abandonment of
reforms and the return of disorders hastened its approach and augmented
its fury. Calonne was called from an intendancy to the general control of the
finances. Calonne was daring, brilliant and
eloquent; he had much readiness and a fertile mind. Necker recommended economy, Calonne boasted of his lavish
expenditure. Necker fell through courtiers, Calonne sought to be upheld by
them. A minister
who had risen by giving, could not maintain himself by asking. But, composed of privileged persons, it was little
disposed to make sacrifices. He fell, and was succeeded by Brienne, archbishop of
Sens, his opponent in the assembly. He was not allowed to continue the prodigality of
Calonne; and it was too late to return to the retrenchments of Necker. Economy, which had been a means of safety at a former period, was no
longer so in this. His mind was active, but it wanted
strength; and his character rash without firmness. The assembly of notables was but little submissive and very parsimonious. But these concessions were no longer sufficient: parliament
refused the enrolment, and rose against the ministerial tyranny. Some of
its members, among others the duke of Orleans, were banished. This decree was annulled by the king, and confirmed
by parliament. The warfare increased. The magistracy of Paris was supported by all the magistracy of France, and
encouraged by public opinion. After this act of courage, it decreed the irremovability of its members,
and the incompetence of any who might usurp their functions. But he made a mistake as to the force of power, and what it was
possible to effect in his times. The
nobility, the third estate, the provincial states, and even the clergy,
took part in it. The moment the latter
ceased, the former re-appeared, and made his retreat inevitable. He succumbed on the 25th of August, 1788. The one had destroyed credit, and
the other, thinking to re-establish it by force, had destroyed authority. They had been eagerly demanded by parliament and
the peers of the kingdom, on the 13th of July, 1787; by the states of
Dauphiné in the assembly of Vizille; by the clergy in its assembly at
Paris. The king after having, on the 18th of
December, 1787, promised their convocation in five years, on the 8th of
August, 1788, fixed the opening for the 1st of May, 1789. At this epoch a great change took place in the opposition, which till then
had been unanimous. From being
despotic, it had become national, and it still had them all equally
against it. Accordingly, the magistracy proposed as a
model for the states-general of 1789, the form of that of 1614, and public
opinion abandoned it; the nobility refused its consent to the double
representation of the third estate, and a division broke out between these
two orders. This double representation was required by the intellect of the age, the
necessity of reform, and by the importance which the third estate had
acquired. Necker moreover obtained the
admission of the curés into the order of the clergy, and of protestants
into that of the third estate. The opening of the
states-general was then fixed for the 5th of May, 1789. Thus was the revolution brought about. He then for the first time applied to all
France, and convoked the states-general. He preferred private
assemblies, which, being isolated, necessarily remained secondary, to a
general assembly, which representing all interests, must combine all
powers. Up to this great epoch every year saw the wants of the government
increasing, and resistance becoming more extensive. Opposition passed from
parliaments to the nobility, from the nobility to the clergy, and from
them all to the people. But
the etiquette, costumes, and order of the ranks of the states in 1614,
were seen with regret. In
the church, the same distinction as to places existed between the three
orders. Galleries, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, were filled with
spectators. When the deputies and ministers had
taken their places, the king appeared, followed by the queen, the princes,
and a brilliant suite. When he came in, Louis XVI. In
this way it sought to arrive at its own end,--namely, subsidies, and not
to allow the nation to obtain its object, which was reform. The dissatisfied assembly looked to M.
Necker, from whom it expected different language. would have done this, if he had been less influenced
by those around him, and had he followed the dictates of his own mind. Louis XVI. wavered between his ministry,
directed by Necker, and his court, directed by the queen and a few princes
of his family. It was here that were gained De Eprémenil and De
Entraigues, two of the warmest advocates of liberty in parliament, or
before the states-general, and who afterwards became its most decided
opponents. Thus, after the first sitting, it was
supposed that all had been prevented by granting nothing. On the 6th of May, the day after the opening of the states, the nobility
and clergy repaired to their respective chambers, and constituted
themselves. The third estate being, on account of its double
representation, the most numerous order, had the Salle des États allotted
to it, and there awaited the two other orders; it considered its situation
as provisional, its members as presumptive deputies, and adopted a system
of inactivity till the other orders should unite with it. Then a memorable
struggle commenced, the issue of which was to decide whether the
revolution should be effected or stopped. But this
mediation was of necessity without any result, as the nobility would not
admit voting by poll, nor the commons voting by order. Accordingly, the
conciliatory conferences, after being prolonged in vain till the 27th of
May, were broken up by the nobility, who declared in favour of separate
verification. But these new conferences had not a
more fortunate issue than the first. The third estate,
perceiving the moment had arrived for it to constitute itself, and that
longer delay would indispose the nation towards it, and destroy the
confidence it had acquired by the refusal of the privileged classes to co-
operate with it, decided on acting, and displayed herein the same
moderation and firmness it had shown during its inactivity. The
system of orders disappeared in political powers, and this was the first
step towards the abolition of classes in the private system. The assembly declared the illegality of
previous imposts, voted them provisionally, as long as it continued to
sit, and their cessation on its dissolution; it restored the confidence of
capitalists by consolidating the public debt, and provided for the
necessities of the people, by appointing a committee of subsistence. The moment was arrived to grant the nation all its rights, or to
leave it to take them. The most indignant proposed going to Marly, and
holding the assembly under the windows of the king; one named the Tennis-
court; this proposition was well received, and the deputies repaired
thither in procession. The assembly,
still deprived of their usual place of meeting, unable to make use of the
Tennis-court, the princes having hired it purposely that it might be
refused them, met in the church of Saint Louis. In this sitting, the
majority of the clergy joined them in the midst of patriotic transports. At length it took place. After this scene of authority, so ill-suited to the occasion, and at
variance with his heart, Louis XVI. withdrew, having commanded the
deputies to disperse. "You are to-day," added Sieyès, calmly, "what you were yesterday. The assembly, full of resolution and dignity, began the debate
accordingly. The season of disgrace was for him the season of
popularity. By this refusal he became the ally of the assembly, which
determined to support him. The orders ceased to exist legally, and soon disappeared. At the opening of the states-general, the king
might himself have made the constitution, now he was obliged to receive it
from the assembly; had he submitted to that position, he would infallibly
have improved it. Louis XVI. It was at the Palais Royal, more especially, that the
assembly of the capital was held. Such was the disposition of Paris when the court, having established
troops at Versailles, Sèvres, the Champ de Mars, and Saint Denis, thought
itself able to execute its project. shouted the multitude. The speaker descended from the table, and
fastened the sprig of a tree in his hat. Meeting the horse-patrol,
they take them as their escort. "We are for those who command
us." and took their stand
between the Tuileries and the Champs Élysées, the people and the troops,
and kept that post during the night. When they reached the Champs Élysées,
the French guards received them with discharges of musketry. Some electors assembled at the Hôtel de Ville, and
took the authority into their own hands. Mounier began; he
exclaimed against the dismissal of ministers beloved by the nation, and
the choice of their successors. The
archbishop of Vienne, president of the assembly, was at its head. The assembly now saw that it must depend on itself, and that the projects
of the court were irrevocably fixed. The public places soon became thronged. The
districts assembled, and each of them voted two hundred men for its
defence. The electors who were still
assembled, replied in vain that they had none; they insisted on having
them. The electors then sent the head of the city, M. de Flesselles, the
Prévôt des marchands, who alone knew the military state of the capital,
and whose popular authority promised to be of great assistance in this
difficult conjuncture. Here the crowd increased every moment, shouting _Arms!_ It was now about
one o'clock. The
green cockade was then exchanged for a blue and red one, which were the
colours of the city. All this was the work of a few hours. Patrols began to be formed, and to
perambulate the streets. of powder, which had been intercepted by the
people at the barriers. But soon after some cases arrived, labelled
_Artillery_. On opening them, they were found to
contain old linen and pieces of wood. A cry of treachery arose on every
side, mingled with murmurs and threats against the committee and the
provost of the merchants. Finding none there, the mob returned, enraged
and mistrustful. It displayed no fear of the
troops established in the Champ de Mars, broke into the Hôtel, in spite of
the entreaties of the governor, M. de Sombreuil, found twenty-eight
thousand guns concealed in the cellars, seized them, took all the sabres,
swords, and cannon, and carried them off in triumph. About
forty Swiss, and eighty Invalides, were under arms. From time to time the cry arose, "The Bastille! As they could not give what they did not possess, the
mob cried treachery. The assembly at the Hôtel de Ville, notwithstanding it
efforts and activity, still incurred the suspicions of the populace. The
provost of the merchants, especially, excited the greatest mistrust. "He
has already deceived us several times during the day," said one. "He
talks," said another, "of opening a trench; he only wants to gain time, to
make us lose ours." Then an old man cried: "Comrades, why do you listen to
traitors? Forward, follow me! The unfortunate De Launay,
dreading the fate that awaited him, wished to blow up the fortress, and
bury himself under its ruins and those of the faubourg. He went in despair
towards the powder magazine, with a lighted match. clamoured the crowd. The same officer
proposed to lay down arms, on the promise that their lives should be
spared. "Lower the bridge," rejoined the foremost of the assailants, "you
shall not be injured." rose on every side. "Let him come; let him follow us," resounded from
all sides. "Let us go, since they
request it; let us go where I am expected." It was the arrival of the conquerors of the Bastille which this announced. They themselves soon entered the hall with the most noisy and the most
fearful pomp. They were escorted by more than
fifteen hundred men, with glaring eyes and dishevelled hair, with all
kinds of arms, pressing one upon another, and making the flooring yield
beneath their feet. It was now the turn of the unfortunate Flesselles. "I am amusing the Parisians," he wrote, "with cockades and promises. Hold
out till the evening, and you shall be reinforced." The mob hurried to his
office. resounded from
every side. The assembly was apprised of these projects. For two days it had sat
without interruption, in a state of great anxiety and alarm. They fancied they heard cannon, and they placed their ears to the
ground to assure themselves. The assembly proposed
the establishment of couriers to bring them intelligence every half hour. it is a revolution." The assembly resumed the sombre demeanour which had never left it during
the three preceding days. The king entered without guards, and only
attended by his brothers. The assembly arose
spontaneously, and conducted him back to the château. Louis XVI. He announced to the assembly
that he would recall Necker, and repair to Paris the following day. "Sire," said Bailly, "I bring
your majesty the keys of your good town of Paris; they are the same which
were presented to Henry IV. This step was very imprudent, in a moment of
enthusiasm and mistrust. Authority and force became wholly
displaced; royalty had lost them by its defeat, the nation had acquired
them. The assembly had addressed to the people proclamations calculated to
restore tranquillity. An important measure
remained to be executed, the abolition of privileges. He
proposed the redemption of feudal rights, and the suppression of personal
servitude. The other provinces followed the
example of Dauphiné, and the towns that of the provinces. That night, which an enemy of the revolution designated at the time, the
Saint Bartholomew of property, was only the Saint Bartholomew of abuses. It was the transition from an
order of things in which everything belonged to individuals, to another in
which everything was to belong to the nation. That night changed the face
of the kingdom; it made all Frenchmen equal; all might now obtain public
employments; aspire to the idea of property of their own, of exercising
industry for their own benefit. That night was a revolution as important
as the insurrection of the 14th of July, of which it was the consequence. The revolution had progressed rapidly, had obtained great results in a
very short time; it would have been less prompt, less complete, had it not
been attacked. The following period is that in which the new system is
discussed, becomes established, and in which the assembly, after having
been destructive, becomes constructive. The following were the divisions of
views and interests it contained within itself:--
The court had a party in the assembly, the privileged classes, who
remained for a long time silent, and took but a tardy share in the
debates. Maury and
Cazalès represented, as it were, the one the clergy, and the other the
nobility. He possessed much talent, but wanted
the faculty which gives it life and truth. At every
point, they besought the powerful to make a compromise with the weak. Before the 14th of July they asked the court and privileged classes to
satisfy the commons; afterwards, they asked the commons to agree to an
arrangement with the court and the privileged classes. But they did
not see how little their ideas were appropriate to a moment of exclusive
passions. The rest of the assembly consisted of the national party. The 14th of
July had been the triumph of the middle class; the constituent assembly
was its legislature, the national guard its armed force, the mayoralty its
popular power. For the
rest, the founders of this association had not calculated all its
consequences. The mass of the assembly, we have just mentioned, abounded in just,
experienced, and even superior minds. His
views were new, strong, and extensive, but somewhat too systematic. Society had especially been the subject of his examination; he had watched
its progress, investigated its springs. Contradiction irritated him; he was not
communicative. Desirous of making himself thoroughly known, he could not
do so with every one. His thought, his
voice, his action, were those of a tribune. The assembly had acquired the entire power; the corporations depended on
it; the national guards obeyed it. It was divided into committees to
facilitate its operations, and execute them. This was agreeable to an assembly of legislators
and philosophers, restricted by no limits, since no institutions existed,
and directed by primitive and fundamental ideas of society, since it was
the pupil of the eighteenth century. This was one of its most important
objects; it was to fix the nature of its functions, and establish its
relations with the king. Should it remain
indivisible, or be divided into two chambers? If the latter form should be
adopted, what should be the nature of the second chamber? Should it be
made an aristocratic assembly, or a moderative senate? Accordingly, it refused to grant him the
initiative in making laws and dissolving the assembly. In such
times, progress is rapid, and all that seeks to check it is superfluous. These various systems have each their epoch; revolutions are
achieved by one chamber, and end with two. The assembly of electors, who in difficult
circumstances had taken the place of a provisional corporation, had just
been replaced. Such was the state of Paris when the debate concerning the veto was begun. The alarm which this right conferred on the king excited, was extreme. But the middle class that composed it had not yet taken
exclusive possession of the popular government. The assembly declared that the refusal of his
sanction could not be prolonged by the prince beyond two sessions; and
this decision satisfied every one. As it was difficult to persuade the king to this course, they waited
till the last moment to induce him to flee; his hesitation caused the
failure of the plan. The behaviour of the court confirmed these suspicions, and disclosed
the object of all these preparations. Shouts of affection and devotion arose on
every side. The health of the royal family was drunk, with swords drawn;
and when Louis XVI. withdrew, the music played, "_O Richard! Such was this famous banquet of the 1st of October, which the court was
imprudent enough to repeat on the third. This assembling of the troops, so far from preventing aggression
in Paris, provoked it; the banquet did not make the devotion of the
soldiers any more sure, while it augmented the ill disposition of the
people. On the 5th, the insurrection broke out in a violent and
invincible manner; the entire want of flour was the signal. This mob advanced towards the Hôtel de Ville, increasing as it
went. rose on every side. Accordingly, the
first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Finding a
gate open, they informed their companions, and entered. He fired, and wounded one of them. One of them had time to warn the queen, whom the
assailants particularly threatened; and half dressed, she ran for refuge
to the king. Lafayette, apprised of the invasion of the royal residence, mounted his
horse, and rode hastily to the scene of danger. Accordingly, it replied to each of their
endeavours by a decree, which, changing the ancient order of things,
deprived them of one of their means of attack. On the 22nd
of December, the assembly adopted in this respect the project conceived by
Sieyès, and presented by Thouret in the name of the committee, which
occupied itself constantly on this subject for two months. Such was the institution of the department. The revolution had commenced with the finances, and had not yet been able
to put an end to the embarrassments by which it was caused. A first loan of thirty millions (1,200,000l. ), voted the 27th of the same month, had been
insufficient. Vote it; for if you have doubts
respecting the means, you have none respecting the want, and our inability
to supply it. One
way alone remained--to declare ecclesiastical property national, and to
sell it for the rescue of the state. It was important not to leave an independent body, and especially an
ancient body, any longer in the state; for in a time of revolution
everything ancient is hostile. Accordingly,
after declaring they were redeemable, on the night of the 4th of August,
they were suppressed on the 11th, without providing any equivalent. The
clergy opposed the measure at first, but afterwards had the good sense to
consent. Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, proposed to the clergy that
they should renounce it in favour of the nation, which would employ it in
defraying the expenses of worship, and liquidating its debt. The discussion
became very animated; and it was decided, in spite of their resistance,
that they were not proprietors, but simple depositaries of the wealth that
the piety of kings and of the faithful had devoted to religion, and that
the nation, on providing for the service of public worship, had a right to
recall such property. They were to return to the treasury the equivalent of the
property they received from the state to sell to private individuals; but
they wanted money, and they could not deliver the amount since they had
not yet met with purchasers. This invention was of great utility to the revolution, and alone secured
the sale of ecclesiastical property. The assembly, from the moment of their
issue, wished to give them all the consistency of money. Such was the origin of the paper money issued under so much necessity, and
with so much prudence, which enabled the revolution to accomplish such
great things, and which was brought into discredit by causes that belonged
less to its nature than to the subsequent use made of it. The assembly were indignant at the motives that suggested such a
proposition, and it was abandoned. Such was the disposition of the clergy, when, in the months of June and
July, 1790, the assembly turned its attention to its internal
organization. But a pretext was wanting, and the civil constitution of the clergy was
eagerly seized upon. The
decree passed, but the clergy declared war against the revolution. From
that moment it leagued more closely with the dissentient nobility. "You entangle us in sophisms," replied the abbé Maury; "how long have we
been a national convention? The founders of liberty ought to respect the liberty of the nation; the
nation is above us all, and we destroy our authority by limiting the
national authority." You all remember the
saying of the great man of antiquity, who had neglected legal forms to
save his country. The assembly then rose by a spontaneous movement, and declared that the
session should not close till their task was accomplished. Anti-revolutionary efforts were increasing, at the same time, without the
assembly. They
brought on some transient disturbances, but did not effect a religious
war. Accordingly, it excited opposition without openly co-operating
in it; with some it dreamed of the restoration of the ancient régìme, with
others it only aimed at modifying the revolution. His object
was to convert the court to the revolution, not to give up the revolution
to the court. By their means it endeavoured
to suspend the revolution, while by the means of the aristocracy it tried
to destroy it. The assembly worked unceasingly at the constitution, in the midst of these
intrigues and plots. As peace and war
belonged more to action than to will, it confided, contrary to the usual
rule, the initiative to the king. He who was best able to judge of its
fitness was to propose the question, but it was left to the legislative
body to decide it. The 14th of July approached: that day was regarded by the nation as the
anniversary of its deliverance, and preparations were made to celebrate it
with a solemnity calculated to elevate the souls of the citizens, and to
strengthen the common bonds of union. It was for the
nobility what the civil constitution had been for the clergy, an occasion,
rather than a cause of hostility. The 14th of July arrived, and the revolution witnessed few such glorious
days--the weather only did not correspond with this magnificent fête. "Sire," said
the leader of the Breton deputation, kneeling on one knee, and presenting
his sword, "I place in your hands the faithful sword of the brave Bretons:
it shall only be reddened by the blood of your foes." Louis XVI. raised
and embraced him, and returned the sword. An antique altar was erected
in the middle; and around it, on a vast amphitheatre, were the king, his
family, the assembly, and the corporation. and sounds of music, mingled in the air. At that moment the banners were lowered, the acclamations of
the people were heard, and the subjects believed in the sincerity of the
monarch, the monarch in the affection of the subjects, and this happy day
closed with a hymn of thanksgiving. The assembly having
decided on giving up the guilty parties, had it found any such, declared
there was no ground for proceeding; and Mirabeau, after an overwhelming
outburst against the whole affair, obliged the Right to be silent, and
thus arose triumphantly from an accusation which had been made expressly
to intimidate him. The court
intrigued against it, but the Right drove this to exaggeration. "We like
its decrees," said the abbé Maury; "we want three or four more of them." In revolutions, men are
easily forgotten, for the nation sees many in its varied course. General Bouillé was of this number. It
was not thus elsewhere. The prevailing opinions had also
something to do with this dissatisfaction. After an animated
skirmish, he subdued them. The assembly congratulated him; but Paris,
which saw in Bouillé a conspirator, was thrown into fresh agitation at
this intelligence. Lafayette, however, succeeded in allaying this ebullition,
supported by the assembly, which, finding itself placed between a counter-
revolution and anarchy, opposed both with equal wisdom and courage. The
clergy had its share in this work. The assembly strengthened this league by attempting to frustrate it. The assembly hoped
that the higher clergy from interest, and the lower clergy from ambition,
would adopt this measure. It did not at first cease to be a preparatory assembly, but as
all things increase in time, the Jacobin club did not confine itself to
the influencing the assembly; it sought also to influence the municipality
and the people, and received as associates members of the municipality and
common citizens. The Jacobin club, as it lost its primitive character and became a popular
assembly, had been forsaken by part of its founders. Mirabeau belonged
to both, and by both was equally courted. Lafayette, who had repaired to
Vincennes to disperse the multitude, returned to quell the anti-
revolutionists of the château, after dissipating the mob of the popular
party, and by this second expedition he regained the confidence which his
first had lost him. Accordingly, a short time after, when he wished to go to Saint Cloud, he
was prevented by the crowd and even by his own guard, despite the efforts
of Lafayette, who endeavoured to make them respect the law, and the
liberty of the monarch. The assembly on its side, after having decreed the
inviolability of the prince, after having regulated his constitutional
guard, and assigned the regency to the nearest male heir to the crown,
declared that his flight from the kingdom would lead to his dethronement. Then, for the first time, the assembly sought to stop the progress of
emigration by a decree; but this decree was a difficult question. This law, by the
arbitrary order of a committee of three members, was to pronounce a
sentence of civil death on the fugitive, and the confiscation of his
property. A few days afterwards he
terminated a life worn out by passions and by toil. CHAPTER IV
FROM APRIL, 1791, TO THE 3OTH SEPTEMBER. Austria had reason
to dread the influence of France in the Netherlands; England feared it on
the sea. Switzerland was neutral. The revolution
of 1789, while extending the moral influence of France, diminished still
more its diplomatic influence. Urged by England and Prussia, Catharine
II. also made peace with the Porte at Jassy, on the 29th of December,
1791. in
the name of the emperor, a secret declaration, in which was announced to
him the speedy assistance of the coalition. Such was the result of the
conferences at Mantua on the 20th May, 1791. Louis XVI., either from a desire not to place himself entirely at the
mercy of foreign powers, or dreading the ascendency which the count
d'Artois, should he return at the head of the victorious emigrants, would
assume over the government he had established, preferred restoring the
government alone. Louis XVI. The assembly, on hearing of the king's arrest, sent to him, as
commissioners, three of its members, Pétion, Latour-Maubourg, and Barnave. On reaching Paris the royal party passed
through an immense crowd, which expressed neither applause nor murmurs,
but observed a reproachful silence. Mirabeau was no more. to trial, or
for pronouncing his dethronement. The discussion which followed this
report was long and animated; the efforts of the republican party,
notwithstanding their pertinacity, were unsuccessful. Thus will you prove that in various
circumstances you can employ various means, talents, and virtues." The assembly sided with Barnave. But the hall in
which it sat was surrounded by the national guard, and it could not be
assailed or intimidated. as deposed since his flight,
and demanded a substitute for him. Two
Invalides, supposed to be spies, were massacred and their heads stuck on
pikes. Bailly
accompanied him, and had the red banner unfurled. The terrified multitude fled,
leaving many dead on the field. had elated with hope, were thrown into
consternation at his arrest. as their own. This declaration, so far from discouraging, only served to
irritate the assembly and the people. The assembly was growing weary
of its labours and of its dissensions; the people itself, who in France
ever become tired of that which continues beyond a certain time, desired a
new national representation; the convocation of the electoral colleges was
therefore fixed for the 5th of August. Thus this remarkable epoch entirely annihilated the
constituent body. Thus restored to freedom, the constitution was submitted to him. It was courageous, intelligent, just, and had but one passion
--a passion for law. The constitution of 1791 was based on principles adapted to the ideas and
situation of France. The constitution of 1791 established homogeneous powers which corresponded
among themselves, and thus reciprocally restrained each other; still, it
must be confessed, the royal authority was too subordinate to popular
power. The assembly received the constitutional act standing and
uncovered, and on it took the oath, amidst the acclamations of the people
who occupied the tribunes, "_to live free or perish!_" A vote of thanks
was given by it to the members of the constituent assembly, and it then
prepared to commence its labours. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king
to announce its opening. Accordingly, when
the audience took place, Duchastel, who headed the deputation, said to him
laconically: "Sire, the national legislative assembly is sitting; we are
deputed to inform you of this." Louis XVI. This conduct of the court towards the
assembly was impolitic, and little calculated to conciliate the affection
of the people. The assembly approved of the cold manner assumed by the deputation, and
soon indulged in an act of reprisal. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of
the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. The word _sire_
signifies seigneur; it belonged to the feudal system, which has ceased to
exist. As for the term _majesty_, it should only be employed in speaking
of God and of the people." A report was
circulated, at the same time, that the king would not enter the assembly
if the decree were maintained; and the decree was revoked. in the legislative body, where he was received with the
greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm. Accordingly, the internal troubles, fomented by non-juring priests,
the military assemblings of emigrants, and the preparations for the
coalition, soon drove the legislative assembly further than the
constitution allowed, and than it itself had proposed. The prevailing
ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy
had exercised no influence over the elections. As in the constituent assembly there was a
Right, a Centre, a Left, but of a perfectly different character. The Right, composed of firm and absolute constitutionalists, composed the
Feuillant party. Its principal speakers were Dumas, Ramond, Vaublanc,
Beugnot, etc. Out of doors, it
supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie. Pétion, of a calm
and determined character, was the active man of this party. At the same time,
Prussia kept its army prepared for war: the lines of the Spanish and
Sardinian troops increased on our Alpine and Pyrenean frontiers, and
Gustavus was assembling a Swedish army. Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La
Vendée. Brissot proposed putting a stop to
emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. 2ndly. Public functionaries who
forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues. 3rdly. On this point all must agree; the man who
will not see this great truth is, in my opinion, politically blind." The constitutionalists were opposed to all these measures; they did not
deny the danger, but they considered such laws arbitrary. On the 9th of November the assembly resolved, that the French
gathered together beyond the frontiers were suspected of conspiracy
against their country; that if they remained assembled on the 1st of
January, 1792, they would be treated as conspirators, be punishable by
death, and that after condemnation to death for contumacy, the proceeds of
their estates were to be confiscated to the nation, always without
prejudice to the rights of their wives, children, and lawful creditors. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain
of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the
law. The constitutional party
proposed that Lafayette should replace him in this first post of the
state, which, by permitting or restraining insurrections, delivered Paris
into the power of him who occupied it. They had lost the direction of the assembly, the
command of the national guard; they now lost the corporation. The court
gave to Pétion, the Girondist candidate, all the votes at its disposal. By this important measure, they also
wished to make Louis XVI. When light arrives, they throw down
their arms, embrace, and chastise their deceiver. So will it be if, when
foreign armies are contending with ours, the light of philosophy shine
upon them. The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure,
and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. "Sire," said he to Louis XVI., "the national
assembly had scarcely glanced at the state of the nation ere it saw that
the troubles which still agitate it arise from the criminal preparations
of French emigrants. Louis XVI. They were conformable with the general
wish. On the 6th of December a new minister of war
replaced Duportail; Narbonne, taken from the Feuillants, young, active,
ambitious of distinguishing himself by the triumph of his party and the
defence of the revolution, repaired immediately to the frontiers. The elector of Trèves engaged to disperse the gatherings, and not to allow
them in future. It was, however, but the shadow of a dispersion. The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a
decision. They were aided by the divisions of the council, which was partly
aristocratic in Bertrand de Moleville, Delessart, etc., and partly
constitutional, in Narbonne, and Cahier de Gerville, minister of the
interior. Narbonne succumbed in this
struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry. All he
wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez,
with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Finally, the reply of the prince von
Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. The true
author of war is not he who declares it, but he who renders it necessary. On the 20th of April, Louis XVI. went to the assembly, attended by all his
ministers. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn
up in our council, as to our political situation." Accordingly, at the opening of the
campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the
new levies were trained. The vast
frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military
districts. He was very enterprising, and as, although minister of foreign affairs, he
directed the military operations, his plan was adopted. It consisted of a
rapid invasion of Belgium. With this
view, he combined a triple invasion. At the same time,
Lafayette, with a part of his army, quitted Metz, and advanced by forced
marches upon Namur, by Stenai, Sedan, Mézières, and Givet. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the
general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Lafayette, on arriving at Bouvines, after travelling fifty leagues of bad
roads in two or three days, learnt the disasters of Valenciennes and
Lille; he at once saw that the object of the invasion had failed; and he
justly thought that the best course would be to effect a retreat. The Jacobins, on the other hand, accused the
anti-revolutionists of having occasioned the flight by the cry of _sauve
qui peut!_ Their joy, which they did not conceal, the declared hope of
soon seeing the confederates in Paris, the emigrants returned, and the
ancient regime restored, confirmed these suspicions. The public denounced, under the name
of _comité Autrichien_, a secret committee, the very existence of which
could not be proved, and mistrust was at its height. The assembly at once took decided measures. The constitutionalists were still
more dissatisfied with this measure, which introduced a lower class into
their ranks, and which seemed to them to aim at superseding the
bourgeoisie by the populace. Finally, they openly condemned the banishment
of the priests, which in their opinion was nothing less than proscription. Louis XVI. On these conditions, Dumouriez
took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks
of his own party. The assembly
declared that Roland, Servan, and Clavière carried with them the regrets
of the nation. The constitutional situation,
during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a
revolutionary situation. The Jacobins made great exertions at this
period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of
the party of the populace. In fact,
considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was
imprudent. The 20th
of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court. It was
difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast
multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The assembly answered the petitioners that it would take their request
into consideration; it then urged them to respect the law and legal
authorities, and allowed them to defile before it. On leaving
the assembly, it proceeded to the château, headed by the petitioners. Louis XVI. The assembly, which had just risen from a
sitting, met again in haste, terrified at this outbreak, and despatched
several successive deputations to Louis XVI. by way of protection. The constitutionalists assumed the tone and
superiority of an offended and predominant party; but this lasted only a
short time, for they were not seconded by the court. declined all these offers. Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal
monarchy. the authority which the law
gave him, and again establish the constitution. The revolutionists were
astounded, and dreaded everything from the daring and activity of this
adversary of the Champ de Mars. The assembly naturally returned to the situation of France, which had not
changed. He accused him of checking the national zeal by his refusals, and
of giving France up to the coalition. Supposing, then,
that Louis XVI. "Our peril," said
he, "exceeds all that past ages have witnessed. No, it is in danger, because its force is paralysed. A man--one man, the man whom the constitution has made its
chief, and whom perfidious advisers have made its foe. This
is the secret of our position, this is the source of the evil, and here
the remedy must be applied." and a camp was formed at Soissons. Pétion was the object of the
people's idolatry, and had all the honours of the federation. A few days
before, he had been dismissed, on account of his conduct on the 20th of
June by the directory of the department and the council; but the assembly
had restored him to his functions, and the only cry on the day of the
federation was: "_Pétion or death!_" A few battalions of the national
guard, such as that of the Filles-Saint-Thomas, still betrayed attachment
to the court; they became the object of popular resentment and mistrust. At length hostilities began. On the 26th of July, when the army began to move from Coblentz, the duke
of Brunswick published a manifesto in the name of the emperor and the king
of Prussia. They were the true leaders of the new movement about to take place by the
means of the lower class of society against the middle class, to which the
Girondists belonged by their habits and position. The sections were
much agitated; that of Mauconseil was the first to declare itself in a
state of insurrection, and notified this to the assembly. On the 8th, the accusation of Lafayette was discussed. He was acquitted; but all who had voted for him were hissed,
pursued, and ill treated by the people at the breaking up of the sitting. The following day the excitement was extreme. The assembly learned by the
letters of a large number of deputies, that the day before on leaving the
house they had been ill used, and threatened with death, for voting the
acquittal of Lafayette. He announced that
the mischief was at its height, and the people urged to every kind of
excess. He gave an account of those committed the evening before, not only
against the deputies, but against many other persons. The assembly summoned the recorder of the department, who assured
them of his good-will, but his inability; and the mayor, who replied that,
at a time when the sections had resumed their sovereignty, he could only
exercise over the people the influence of persuasion. The assembly broke
up without adopting any measures. On the 8th, the Marseillais had been transferred from their
barracks in the Rue Blanche to the Cordeliers, with their arms, cannon,
and standard. The
principal scene of the insurrection was the Faubourg Saint Antoine. In the
evening, after a very stormy sitting, the Jacobins repaired thither in
procession; the insurrection was then organized. At midnight, the tocsin sounded; the générale was beaten. On perceiving new faces as he entered, he
turned pale. "You propose," said Dubouchage, "to take the king
to his foes." Laschenaye, who
commanded in the absence of Mandat, was sent for. [Footnote: _Chronique des Cinquante Jours_, par P. L.
Roederer, a writer of the most scrupulous accuracy.] Division already existed between the defenders of the château, when Louis
XVI. He first
visited the interior posts, and found them animated by the best
intentions. He then descended
into the yard, accompanied by some general officers. The cry of "Vive le roi!" At the same
instant, new battalions, armed with guns and pikes, defiled before the
king, and took their places upon the terrace of the Seine, crying; "Vive
la nation!" In the morning, they had forced the arsenal, and distributed
the arms. But they did not listen to him. "Well, and what do they want?" asked
Joly, keeper of the seals. "Abdication," replied the officer. "To be
pronounced by the assembly," added the minister. inquired the queen. "Sire," said he, urgently, "your majesty has not five minutes to lose:
your only safety is in the national assembly; it is the opinion of the
department that you ought to repair thither without delay. At the mention of defence, the artillerymen discharged their
cannon." "Yes, madame, with my own," he replied. "I will walk immediately before
him." Louis XVI. The king and his family had great difficulty in reaching the hall
of the assembly, where they took the seats reserved for the ministers. Its members
have sworn to die in maintaining the rights of the people, and the
constituted authorities." They were led by an old subaltern, called Westermann, a friend of
Danton, and a very daring man. A few of the assailants advanced amicably, and the Swiss
threw some cartridges from the windows in token of peace. They penetrated
as far as the vestibule, where they were met by other defenders of the
château. Here the combat began, but it is
unknown on which side it commenced. The exasperated
mob did not cease, however, to pursue them, and gave itself up to the most
sanguinary reprisals. All this time the assembly was in the greatest alarm. As the firing became more frequent, the
agitation increased. At one moment, the members considered themselves
lost. A few rose to go out. "No, no," cried others,
"this is our post." and the assembly replied, "Vive la nation!" Shouts of victory were then heard without, and the fate of monarchy was
decided. The assembly instantly made a proclamation to restore tranquillity, and
implore the people to respect justice, their magistrates, the rights of
man, liberty, and equality. But the multitude and their chiefs had all the
power in their hands, and were determined to use it. Deputations followed, and all expressed the same desire, or
rather issued the same command. The assembly felt itself compelled to yield; it would not, however, take
upon itself the deposition of the king. Vergniaud ascended the tribune, in
the name of the commission of twelve, and said: "I am about to propose to
you a very rigorous measure; I appeal to the affliction of your hearts to
judge how necessary it is to adopt it immediately." The assembly adopted it unanimously. Finally, the 23rd of September
was appointed for opening the extraordinary assembly, destined to decide
the fate of royalty. It was the 19th of August, and the army of invasion having left Coblentz
on the 30th of July, was ascending the Moselle, and advancing on that
frontier. He left his army, taking upon himself all the
responsibility of the whole insurrection. Lafayette, an actor in the first epoch of the crisis,
enthusiastically declared for its results. He had risen by it,
and he would end with it. to the Temple, it
threw down all the statues of the kings, and destroyed all the emblems of
the monarchy. At the same time, it demanded the
establishment of an extraordinary tribunal to try _the conspirators of the
10th of August_. To avert the threatened outbreaks, the
assembly was obliged to appoint an extraordinary criminal tribunal. He, more than any
other person, had distinguished himself on the 10th of August. [Footnote: At the time the commune was
arranging the massacre of the 2nd September, he saved all who applied to
him; he, of his own accord, released from prison Duport, Barnave, and Ch. Lameth, his personal antagonists.] Revolution, in his opinion, was a game
at which the conqueror, if he required it, won the life of the conquered. On the 20th of August, Longwy was
invested by the Prussians; on the 21st it was bombarded, and on the 24th
it capitulated. Verdun taken, the road to the
capital was open. The capture of Longwy, and the approach of so great a
danger, threw Paris into the utmost agitation and alarm. Some proposed to wait for the enemy under the walls
of the capital, others to retire to Saumur. "Yes, I tell you," resumed Danton, "we must
make them fear." To conquer them, to prostrate them, what is
necessary? Daring, again daring, and still again and ever daring!" The assembly desired to prevent the
massacres, but were unable to do so. The Prussians
were only six leagues from the forest, and Dumouriez had twelve to pass
over, and his design of occupying it to conceal, if he hoped for success. It was here that he wrote to the minister of war,
Servan:--"Verdun is taken; I await the Prussians. Time, therefore, was all that was necessary. General Clairfait was operating on his right, and prince
Hohenlohe on his left. Renouncing all hope of driving Dumouriez from his
position by attacking him in front, he tried to turn him. The Prussians, accordingly,
seized upon these, and were on the point of turning him in his camp at
Grandpré, and of thus compelling him to lay down his arms. After this
grand blunder, which neutralized his first manoeuvres, he did not despair
of his situation. The season, as it
advanced, became bad. The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it
attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the
retreat on Châlons. The
Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of
the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. The Prussians, upon this,
commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. On the Rhine, Custine had taken Trèves, Spires, and
Mayence. In the Alps, general Montesquiou had invaded Savoy, and general
Anselme the territory of Nice. Our armies, victorious in all directions,
had everywhere assumed the offensive, and the revolution was saved. Such was the history of the legislative assembly. With the Girondists the
question of liberty was involved in victory, and victory in the decrees. In its first sitting it abolished
royalty, and proclaimed the republic. On the 22nd, it appropriated the
revolution to itself, by declaring it would not date from _year IV. Within, the enemies of the revolution had increased. They had followed the bias which led them onward to the
republic, and they had gradually habituated themselves to this form of
government. The revolution effected by the constituent assembly was
legitimate, still more because it was possible than because it was just;
it had its constitution and its citizens. But a new revolution, which
should call the lower classes to the conduct of the state, could not be
durable. Yet, in consenting to this
second revolution, it was this inferior class which must be looked to for
support. Accordingly, they only formed
a half party, which was soon overthrown, because it had no root. They were less intelligent, and less
eloquent, but abler, more decided, and in no degree scrupulous as to
means. But though inferior in the convention in point of
numbers, it was none the less very powerful, even at this period. That at Paris was the metropolis of
Jacobinism, and governed the others almost imperiously. Hitherto, despite his efforts, he
had had superiors in his own party: under the constituent assembly, its
famous leaders; under the legislative, Brissot and Pétion; on the 10th of
August, Danton. This sect
derived its origin from the eighteenth century, certain opinions of which
it represented. "I was born in Paris," said Osselin; "I am
deputy for that town. When he ascended the
tribune to justify himself, the assembly shuddered. resounded from all sides. Marat was possessed by certain fixed ideas. The revolution had actors
really more sanguinary than he, but none exercised a more fatal influence
over his times. "No
one," he cried, "dare accuse me to my face!" exclaimed Louvet,
one of the most determined men of the Gironde. "Yes, Robespierre," he
continued, fixing his eye upon him; "I accuse you!" He then described him
concealing himself on the 10th of August, and afterwards swaying the
conspirators of the commune. They themselves, with
brutal contempt, only designated us as the patriots of the 10th of August. Two hundred; probably not two
hundred. At most, twice the number. But, it is
asked, why, if the people did not assist in these murders, did they not
hinder them? But the legislative assembly? representatives of the people, you will avenge it! Either
from agitation or fear of prejudice, he asked for a week's delay. Accordingly, when Robespierre observed, as he finished:
"For my part, I will draw no personal conclusions; I have given up the
easy advantage of replying to the calumnies of my adversaries by more
formidable denunciations; I wished to suppress the offensive part of my
justification. he was applauded, and the convention passed to the
order of the day. Not one of their measures succeeded;
they were badly proposed or badly sustained. Then commenced that reproach of
federalism, which afterwards became so fatal. Accordingly, the Girondists were pointed out to the multitude as
federalists. This was a way of attacking them and bringing them into
suspicion, although they themselves adhered so eagerly to these
propositions that they seemed to regret not having made them. But they could
only accomplish their end by power, and they could only obtain power by
protracting the revolutionary state in France. The sections presented themselves at the bar of the assembly, and
they carried through it, on litters, the men wounded on the 10th of
August, who came to cry for vengeance on Louis Capet. by this name of the ancient chief of his race,
thinking to substitute his title of king by his family name. with
the discontented princes, with the emigration, and with Europe. In the Tuileries, behind a panel in the wainscot, there was a hole wrought
in the wall, and closed by an iron door. was inviolable as king, but not
as an individual. to the acts of the king. Such was the chain of sophistry, by
means of which the committee transformed the convention into a tribunal. The discussion commenced on the 13th of November, six days after the
report of the committee. guilty, maintained that he could not be tried. The
principal of these was Morrison. This was
the opinion of the Right of the convention. Citizens, if the Roman people, after six hundred years of virtue
and of hatred towards kings; if Great Britain after the death of Cromwell,
saw kings restored in spite of its energy, what ought not good citizens,
friends of liberty, to fear among us, when they see the axe tremble in
your hands, and a people, from the first day of their freedom, respect the
memory of their chains?" They maintained that the same men could not be
judges and legislators, the jury and the accusers. Here we have nothing to do with trial: Louis is not an accused man; you
are not judges, you are, and can only be, statesmen. You have no sentence
to pronounce for or against a man, but you are called on to adopt a
measure of public safety; to perform an act of national precaution. Louis cannot be tried; he is
already tried, he is condemned, or the republic is not absolved." By
gaining an extraordinary advance on the other parties, it obliged them to
follow it, though at a distance. should be tried by the convention. He was not at
liberty, as the assembly at first wished him to be in assigning him the
Luxembourg for a residence. to the bar of the convention. Louis hesitated a moment, then said: "This is
another violence. "Representatives," said Barrère, when his approach was announced,
"you are about to exercise the right of national justice. Louis XVI. appeared firm as he entered the hall, and
he took a steady glance round the assembly. Louis,
be seated." Louis XVI. would not admit. A few of the Mountain opposed the
request in vain. It was then that the venerable Malesherbes offered himself to the
convention to defend Louis XVI. His request was granted, Louis XVI. in his
abandonment, was touched by this proof of devotion. Malesherbes and Tronchet toiled
uninterruptedly at his defence, and associated M. Desèze with them; they
sought to reanimate the courage of the king, but they found the king
little inclined to hope. "I am sure they will take my life; but no matter,
let us attend to my trial as if I were about to gain it. In truth, I shall
gain it, for I shall leave no stain on my memory." At length the day for the defence arrived; it was delivered by M. Desèze;
Louis was present. he gave
it them. Citizens, I will not continue, I leave it to History; remember, she will
judge your sentence, and her judgment will be that of ages." At that moment his cause, not
only that of his throne, but of his life, was their own. They were about
to determine, by an act of justice or by a coup d'état, whether they
should return to the legal regime, or prolong the revolutionary regime. The Jacobins powerfully seconded them, and
deputations came to the bar demanding the death of the king. from death, by
appealing from the sentence of the convention to the people. The assembly had unanimously decided that Louis was guilty, when the
appeal to the people was put to the question. Two hundred and eighty-four
voices voted for, four hundred and twenty-four against it; ten declined
voting. When
justice has spoken, humanity should have its turn." "Laws are only made by a simple majority," said one
of the Mountain. "Yes," replied a voice, "but laws may be revoked; you
cannot restore the life of a man." Malesherbes wished to speak, but could
not. His grief moved the assembly. Louis expected it. Malesherbes urged that a reprieve would not be rejected, but this Louis
did not expect. Louis asked
for him frequently, and appeared distressed at not seeing him. He received
without emotion the formal announcement of his sentence from the minister
of justice. Cléry awoke him, as he had been ordered, at five, and
received his last instructions. He then communicated, commissioned Cléry
with his dying words, and all he was allowed to bequeath, a ring, a seal,
and some hair. "You are come for me," said Louis; "I ask one moment." On reaching the place of execution, Louis alighted from
the carriage. History will say of him, that, with a little more strength of
mind, he would have been an exemplary king. They were accused of being the
enemies of the people, because they opposed their excesses; of being the
accomplices of the tyrant, because they had sought to save Louis XVI. ; and
of betraying the republic, because they recommended moderation. Accordingly, they denounced them regularly in the club. We oppose crime, and the
ephemeral power of riches; but we have truth, justice, poverty, and virtue
in our cause. With such arms, the Jacobins will soon have to say: 'We had
only to pass on, they were already extinct.'" But
this decree had no result, because the ordinary tribunals had no
authority. This double effort of force on one side, and weakness on the
other, took place in the month of February. Hitherto, the military position of France had been satisfactory. Returning
to the army on the 20th of October, 1792, he began the attack on the 28th. The Jacobins
sent agents to Belgium to propagate revolutionary principles, and
establish clubs on the model of the parent society; but the Flemings, who
had received us with enthusiasm, became cool at the heavy demands made
upon them, and at the general pillage and insupportable anarchy which the
Jacobins brought with them. [Footnote: These treaties were as follows: the 4th
March, articles between Great Britain and Hanover; 25th March, treaty of
alliance at London between Russia and Great Britain; 10th April, treaty of
subsidies with the landgrave of Hesse Cassel; 25th April, treaty of
subsidies with Sardinia; 25th May, treaty of alliance at Madrid with
Spain; 12th July, treaty of alliance with Naples, the kingdom of the Two
Sicilies; 14th July, treaty of alliance at the camp before Mayence with
Prussia; 30th August, treaty of alliance at London with the emperor; 21st
September, treaty of subsidies with the margrave of Baden; 26th September,
treaty of alliance at London with Portugal. The German empire entirely adopted the war; Bavaria, Suabia, and the
elector palatine joined the hostile circles of the empire. The Jacobins, at the news of these reverses, became much more intractable;
unable to conceive a defeat without treachery, especially after the
brilliant and unexpected victories of the last campaign, they attributed
these military disasters to party combinations. The assembly sat permanently on account
of the public danger. "We go," said he, "from crimes to amnesties, from amnesties to
crimes. Citizens, we have reason to
fear that the revolution, like Saturn, will devour successively all its
children, and only engender despotism and the calamities which accompany
it." The Jacobins were stopped for a moment by the failure of their first
enterprise against their adversaries; but the insurrection of La Vendée
gave them new courage. The Vendéan war was an inevitable event in the
revolution. In La Vendée there was no civilization
or intelligence, because there was no middle class; and there was no
middle class because there were no towns, or very few. The Vendéans beat the
gendarmerie at Saint Florent, and took for leaders, in different
directions, Cathelineau, a waggoner, Charette, a naval officer, and
Stofflet, a gamekeeper. The Vendéans, masters of Châtillon, Bressuire, and
Vihiers, considered it advisable to form some plan of organization before
they pushed their advantages further. They formed three corps, each from
ten to twelve thousand strong, according to the division of La Vendée,
under three commanders; the first, under Bonchamps, guarded the banks of
the Loire, and was called the _Armée d'Anjou_; the second, stationed in
the centre, formed the _Grande armée_ under d'Elbée; the third, in Lower
Vendée, was styled the _Armée du Marais_, under Charette. The former
emigrants were banished for ever; they could not return, under penalty of
death; their property was confiscated. At the same time, tidings of new military disasters arrived, one after the
other. A counter-revolution will not halt any more than a revolution;
when once begun, it must exhaust itself. The Jacobins were soon informed
of Dumouriez's arrangements; he took little precaution to conceal them;
whether he wished to try his troops, or to alarm his enemies, or whether
he merely followed his natural levity. To be more sure of his designs, the
Jacobin club sent to him a deputation, consisting of Proly, Péreira, and
Dubuisson, three of its members. "Can you think of it, general?" "My army--yes, my army will do it,
and from my camp, or the stronghold of some fortress, it will express its
desire for a king." He was really in a very difficult position; the soldiers were very
much attached to him, but they were also devoted to their country. The failure made him
hesitate, and prevented his taking the initiative in the attack. When we know what we want, and
desire it strongly and speedily, we nearly always attain our object. This
quality was wanting in Dumouriez, and the want impeded his audacity and
deterred his partisans. He refused to obey; without,
however, immediately raising the standard of revolt. We live in a time of anarchy. Tigers wish for my
head; I will not give it them." "Well, then, I declare that I suspend you; you are no longer
a general; I order your arrest." After this act of revolt he could no longer
hesitate. He tried to induce the army to join him, but was
forsaken by it. The revolution, with the movement imparted
to it, was necessarily stronger than parties, than generals, and than
Europe. The rest of his army
went to the camp at Famars, and joined the troops commanded by Dampierre. Hitherto, in the
struggle between the two parties, they had carried the day on every point. Marat was acquitted, and
borne in triumph to the assembly. With Caesar they
say: 'Let them talk, we will act.' Well, then, do you act also. Citizens, there
is yet time; you may save the republic and your compromised glory. This middle course was adopted; but it left
the commune in existence, and the commune was destined to triumph over the
convention. The Jacobins, the Cordeliers, the sections sat
permanently. On the 26th of May, the agitation became perceptible; on the
27th; it was sufficiently decided to induce the commune to open the
attack. The section of the City even presumed
to require that the Twelve should be brought before the revolutionary
tribunal. Then turning to the Right, he
added: "No truce between the Mountain and the cowards who wished to save
the tyrant." But the minister of the interior, Garat, deprived them of
this resource. Isnard was obliged to resign the chair, which was taken by
Hérault de Séchelles, a sign of victory for the Mountain. It was now very late; the Right was
discouraged, some of its members had left. Hébert, having quitted his
prison, reappeared at the commune. The assembly had met at the sound of the tocsin. --"I am about to conclude, and against you! Against you,
who, after the revolution of the 10th of August, sought to bring to the
scaffold those who had effected it. Against you, who have never ceased in
a course which involved the destruction of Paris. Against you, who desired
to save the tyrant. Against you, who conspired with Dumouriez. Against you, whose criminal vengeance provoked those cries of
vengeance which you seek to make a crime in your victims. The assembly adopted the decree of
Barrère, which dissolved the Twelve, placed the public force in permanent
requisition, and, to satisfy the petitioners, directed the committee of
public safety to inquire into the conspiracies which they denounced. In the evening, Marat, who was the chief author of the 2nd
of June, repaired to the Hôtel de Ville, ascended the clock-tower himself,
and rang the tocsin; he called upon the members of the council not to
separate till they had obtained a decree of accusation against the
traitors and the "statesmen." A few, courageous to the last, had come to brave the storm for the last
time. He insults the people." "You accuse us," he said, "of calumniating Paris! cried one of the Mountain. "Save your
colleagues, by decreeing their provisional arrest." "No, no!" replied the
Right, and even a portion of the Left. exclaimed La Réveillère-Lépaux. "I have sworn," he said, "to die at my post; I will keep my oath." The
conspirators of the Mountain themselves protested against the proposition
of the committee. "Representatives," said he, "vindicate
your liberty; suspend your sitting; cause the bayonets that surround you
to be lowered." On arriving at a door on the Place du
Carrousel, they found there Henriot on horseback, sabre in hand. Henriot then turned to his people, and
exclaimed: "Cannoneers, to your guns." Marat ran through the ranks, encouraging and exciting them. "No weakness," said he; "do not quit your posts till they have given them
up." Marat, the true dictator of the assembly, imperiously decided the
fate of its members. Thus fell the Gironde party, a party rendered illustrious by great talents
and great courage, a party which did honour to the young republic by its
horror of bloodshed, its hatred of crime and anarchy, its love of order,
justice, and liberty; a party unfitly placed between the middle class,
whose revolution it had combated, and the multitude, whose government it
rejected. Its enemies employed against it, in turn,
insurrection and conspiracy. Brittany soon joined them. [Footnote: The following are a few of
the replies of this heroic girl before the revolutionary tribunal:--"What
were your intentions in killing Marat?" --"Yes, I
knew he was perverting France. I was a republican before the
revolution, and I have never been without energy."] At the same time Lyons arose, Marseilles and Bordeaux took arms, and more
than sixty departments joined the insurrection. Châlier, the fanatical
imitator of Marat, was at the head of the Jacobins, the sans-culottes, and
the municipality of Lyons. Châlier, who had fled, was apprehended and executed. The sections, not as yet daring to throw off the yoke of the convention,
endeavoured to excuse themselves on the score of the necessity of arming
themselves, because the Jacobins and the members of the corporation had
forced them to do so. The sections were assembled; the members of the
revolutionary tribunal were outlawed; the two representatives, Baux and
Antiboul, were arrested, and an army of ten thousand men raised to advance
on Paris. Rebecqui, perceiving this new
turn of the insurrection, threw himself in despair into the port of
Marseilles. After their first victories, the
Vendéans seized on Bressuire, Argenton, and Thouars. On the 6th of June, the Vendéan army, composed of forty thousand
men, under Cathelineau, Lescure, Stofflet, and La Rochejaquelin, marched
on Saumur, which it took by storm. Masters of the field, they now
endeavoured to secure the republicans by decreeing the constitution. Hérault de Séchelles was the legislator of the Mountain, as Condorcet had
been of the Gironde. The constituent assembly was considered
as aristocratical: the law it had established was regarded as a violation
of the rights of the people, because it imposed conditions for the
exercise of political rights; because it did not recognise the most
absolute equality; because it had deputies and magistrates appointed by
electors, and these electors by the people; because, in some cases, it put
limits to the national sovereignty, by excluding a portion of active
citizens from high public functions, and the proletarians from the
functions of acting citizens; finally, because, instead of fixing on
population as the only basis of political rights, it combined it, in all
its operations, with property. The constitutional law of 1793 established
the pure régime of the multitude: it not only recognised the people as the
source of all power, but also delegated the exercise of it to the people;
an unlimited sovereignty; extreme mobility in the magistracy; direct
elections, in which every one could vote; primary assemblies, that could
meet without convocation, at given times, to elect representatives and
control their acts; a national assembly, to be renewed annually, and
which, properly speaking, was only a committee of the primary assemblies;
such was this constitution. The constitution was suspended as
soon as made, and the revolutionary government strengthened and maintained
until peace was achieved. "Well,"
exclaimed Danton, "let us respond to their wishes. A few days after, Barrère, in the name of the committee of public
safety, which was composed of revolutionary members, and which became the
centre of operations and the government of the assembly, proposed measures
still more general: "Liberty," said he, "has become the creditor of every
citizen; some owe her their industry; others their fortune; these their
counsel; those their arms; all owe her their blood. Accordingly, all the
French, of every age and of either sex, are summoned by their country to
defend liberty; all faculties, physical or moral; all means, political or
commercial; all metal, all the elements are her tributaries. France,
while it became a camp and a workshop for the republicans, became at the
same time a prison for those who did not accept the republic. At the time,
this was so far only a reasonable measure of precaution. A revolutionary army of six thousand soldiers and a thousand
artillerymen was formed for the interior. This retractation was made at Caen,
which had been the headquarters of the revolt. A simultaneous attack from the south, west, and centre was no longer
apprehended, and in the interior the enemy was only on the defensive. Lyons was besieged by Kellermann, general of the army of the Alps; three
corps pressed the town on all sides. The veteran soldiers of the Alps, the
revolutionary battalions and the newly-levied troops, reinforced the
besiegers every day. Pressed still
more energetically, they saw their first positions carried. Famine began
to be felt, and courage forsook them. The Vendéans had failed in their
attempt upon Nantes, after having lost many men, and their general-in-
chief, Cathelineau. This emigration through Brittany, which they hoped to
arouse to insurrection, became fatal to them. The enemy, hitherto
successful, was defeated at Hondschoote, and compelled to retreat. Houchard himself was dismissed. The enemy was repulsed, and kept in
check on all sides. In 1792, at the beginning of the war, the generals were
constitutionalists, and the ministers Girondists. The unfortunate widow of Louis XVI. She perished on the 16th of October, and the
Girondist deputies on the 31st. They were twenty-one in number: Brissot,
Vergniaud, Gensonné, Fonfrède, Ducos, Valazé, Lasource, Silléry, Gardien,
Carra, Duperret, Duprat, Fauchet, Beauvais, Duchâtel, Mainvielle, Lacaze,
Boileau, Lehardy, Antiboul, and Vigée. Vergniaud raised his eloquent voice for a moment, but in
vain. Pétion and Buzot, after wandering
about some time, committed suicide; they were found, dead in a field, half
devoured by wolves. The revolutionary government was formed; it was proclaimed by the
convention on the 10th of October. Before the 31st of May, power had been
nowhere, neither in the ministry, nor in the commune, nor in the
convention. The assembly being the most central
and extensive power, the dictatorship would as naturally become placed in
its bosom, be exercised there by the dominant faction, and in that faction
by a few men. Saint-Just undertook the surveillance and denouncing of parties; Couthon,
the violent propositions which required to be softened in form; Billaud-
Varennes and Collot-d'Herbois directed the missions into the departments;
Carnot took the war department; Cambon, the exchequer; Prieur de la Côte-
d'Or, Prieur de la Marne, and several others, the various branches of
internal administration; and Barrère was the daily orator, the panegyrist
ever prepared, of the dictatorial committee. "You must no longer show any lenity to the enemies of the
new order of things," said he. You are not near
enough to strike in every direction at the authors of these attacks; the
sword of the law must extend everywhere; your arm must be felt
everywhere." The new era dated from the 22nd of September, 1792, the epoch of the
foundation of the republic. The constitution of 1793 led to the
establishment of the republican calendar, and the republican calendar to
the abolition of Christian worship. The Commune and the Mountain had effected this revolution against the
Gironde, and the committee alone had benefited by it. The
actual struggle being, as it were, over, the commune sought to sway the
committee, and the Mountain to throw off its yoke. The most intense
manifestation of the revolution was found in the municipal faction. A revolution
is the effect of the different systems which have agitated the age which
has originated it. It was the same with political
opinions, from the royalty of the _Ancien Régime_ to the unlimited
democracy of the municipal faction. The revolutionary government had only
been created to restrain, the dictatorship to conquer; and as Danton and
his party no longer considered restraint and victory essential, they
sought to establish legal order, and the independence of the convention;
they wished to throw down the faction of the commune, to stop the
operation of the revolutionary tribunal, to empty the prisons now filled
with suspected persons, to reduce or destroy the powers of the committees. In his _Vieux Cordelier_ he spoke of liberty with the
depth of Machiavelli, and of men with the wit of Voltaire. He drew a striking picture of present tyranny, under the name of a past
tyranny. Was a man rich; it was feared the people
might be corrupted by his bounty, and he was suspected. Was he philosopher, orator, or
poet; it was unbecoming to have more celebrity than the government, and he
was suspected. was asked on all sides. At the same time Fabre-
d'Eglantine, Lacroix, and Bourdon de l'Oise, excited the convention to
throw off the yoke of the committee; they sought to unite the Mountain and
the Right, in order to restore the freedom and power of the assembly. As
the committees were all powerful, they tried to ruin them by degrees, the
best course to follow. It was important to change public opinion, and to
encourage the assembly, in order to support themselves by a moral force
against revolutionary force, by the power of the convention against the
power of the committees. At the same time he professed some principles of moderation; but
then all those who exercised the revolutionary government, or who thought
it indispensable, became aroused. "And I," replied
Saint-Just, "will make him carry his like another Saint Denis." Collot-
d'Herbois, who was on a mission, arrived while matters were in this state. The Jacobins
expelled Camille Desmoulins from their society, and Barrère attacked him
at the convention in the name of the government. Now, in such a situation, the first maxim
of your policy should be, to lead the people by reason, and the enemies of
the people by terror. Subdue, then, the enemies of liberty by
terror; and, as the founders of the republic, you will act rightly. One of these two factions reduces us to weakness, the other
drives us to excesses." After this beginning of hostilities, Danton, who had not given up his
connexion with Robespierre, asked for an interview with him. They were cold and bitter; Danton
complained violently, and Robespierre was reserved. "I know," said Danton,
"all the hatred the committee bear me; but I do not fear it." "You are
wrong," replied Robespierre; "it entertains no ill designs against you;
but you would do well to have an explanation." rejoined
Danton, "an explanation? They then
separated, and all friendship ceased between them. A few days afterwards, Saint-Just ascended the tribune, and threatened
more openly than had yet been done all dissentients, moderates, or
anarchists. (Danton.) Saint-Just caused the government to be invested with the most extensive
powers against the conspirators of the commune. They were brought before the
revolutionary tribunal, as _the agents of foreign powers, and, as having
conspired to place a tyrant over the state_. That tyrant was to have been
Pache, under the title of _Grand Juge_. It was now time for Danton to defend himself; the proscription, after
striking the commune, threatened him. "I would rather," said he, "be
guillotined, than be a guillotiner; besides, my life is not worth the
trouble; and I am sick of the world." But my friends
will say of me, that I was a good father, a good friend, a good citizen;
they will not forget me." "Well, then, thou shouldst depart." he repeated, curling his lip disdainfully, "depart! He
accordingly waited, thinking, he who had dared so much, that his enemies
would shrink from proscribing him. After a moment's reflection, he exclaimed, "They
dare not." There, giving way to reflection and regret, he exclaimed:
"It was at this time I instituted the revolutionary tribunal. Danton is one, I know not the others. The accused were brought before the revolutionary tribunal; their attitude
was haughty, and full of courage. The crowd,
generally loud in its applause, was silent. "This, then," said he, "is the reward reserved
for the first apostle of liberty." Danton stood erect, and looked proudly
and calmly around. "Oh, my best beloved--my wife!" he cried, "I shall not see thee
again." Then suddenly interrupting himself: "No weakness, Danton!" In so sanguinary a career, there is no stopping until the tyrant is
himself slain. Death became the only means of governing, and the republic was given up to
daily and systematic executions. It was then were invented the alleged
conspiracies of the inmates of the prisons, crowded under the law _des
suspects_, or emptied by that of the 22nd Prairial, which might be called
the law _des condamnés;_ then the emissaries of the committee of public
safety entirely replaced in the departments those of the Mountain; and
Carrier, the protégé of Billaud, was seen in the west; Maigret, the
protégé of Couthon, in the south; and Joseph Lebon, the protégé of
Robespierre, in the north. At each defeat, the effusion
of blood became greater, and the system of tyranny more violent. The
Decemvirs were the most cruel, because they were the last. "The dead alone do
not return," said Barrère. Fanaticism could not go further. His eye
was steady and piercing; his hair black, straight, and long. He had much daring, coolness, readiness, and decision. Unlike
Robespierre, he was completely a man of action. Saint-Just, on his part, was drawn towards Robespierre by his reputation
for incorruptibility, his austere life, and the conformity of their ideas. They formed, in the committee, a triumvirate which soon sought
to engross all power. This ambition alienated the other members of the
committee, and caused their own destruction. This shows that, in a revolution, no
one should become an actor without decision of character. Men spoke of nothing but _of his virtue, of his genius, and of
his eloquence_. He fired twice at him with pistols, but missed
him. The following day, a young girl, name Cécile Renaud, called at
Robespierre's house, and earnestly begged to speak with him. As he was
out, and as she still insisted upon being admitted, she was detained. She
carried a small parcel, and two knives were found on her person. "I wanted to
speak to him." "No, I sought to know him; I went
to his house to see what a tyrant was like." "Nothing, having no intention to injure any one." The unfortunate girl was ultimately taken there, and her
family shared her fate. The revolutionary tribunal had dutifully struck all those who
had been pointed out to it: royalists, constitutionalists, Girondists,
anarchists, and Mountain, had been all alike despatched to execution. They
tried them, at first, individually; now they tried them _en masse_. "If this law passes," cried Ruamps, "all we have to
do is to blow our brains out. The discussion was immediately begun, and in thirty minutes after
the second reading, the decree was carried. Bourdon de l'Oise was the first to speak on this
subject; he was supported. Gradually, objections were made to the decree; the courage of the
Mountain increased, and the discussion became very animated. Couthon
attacked the Mountain. I esteem Couthon, I esteem the committee; but I also
esteem the unshaken Mountain which has saved our liberty." "The
convention," said he, "the Mountain, and the committee are the same thing! "I did not name Bourdon. Yes, the Mountain is pure, it is sublime; intriguers do
not belong to the Mountain!" Each party had lost its leaders: the Gironde
had lost the _twenty-two_; the commune, Hébert, Chaumette, and Ronsin; the
Mountain, Danton, Chabot, Lacroix, and Camille Desmoulins. Among themselves, they called him _Pisistratus_, and this name already
passed from mouth to mouth. Naturally sad, suspicious and timid, he became more melancholy and
mistrustful than ever. inquired the other. "Robespierre is
insatiable," rejoined Barrère; "because we will not do all he wishes, he
must break with us. Health and brotherhood." Saint-Just was on a mission to the army of the north; Robespierre hastily
recalled him. While waiting his return, he prepared the public mind at the
Jacobins. Saint-Just arrived from the army. Saint-Just, who, from their silence, a few chance
words, and the expression of perplexity or hostility on their
countenances, saw there was no time to be lost, pressed Robespierre to
act. His Maxim was to strike at once, and resolutely. "Dare," said he,
"that is the secret of revolutions." The force at his disposal was a
force of revolutionary opinion, and not an organized force. Such was the custom, and such must be all coups-d'état. They could not even have recourse to insurrection, until after they had
received the refusal of the assembly, otherwise a pretext was wanting for
the rising. On the 8th Thermidor, he entered the convention at an early hour. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority
insulted, and liberty violated. After this opening, he
complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought
the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who
persecuted pacific citizens, meaning the committees, and those who
persecuted true patriots, meaning the Mountain. He associated himself with
the intentions, past conduct, and spirit of the convention; he added that
its enemies were his: "What have I done to merit persecution, if it
entered not into the general system of their conspiracy against the
convention? For myself, what
faction do I belong to? To yourselves. It is you, it is the people, it is principles. That
is the faction to which I am devoted, and against which all crimes are
leagued. "Representatives of the people," said he, "it is time to
resume the pride and elevation of character which befits you. You are not
made to be ruled, but to rule the depositaries of your confidence." Lastly, he invoked the people, talked
of their necessities, and of their power. Not a murmur, not a mark of applause welcomed this declaration of war. At length Lecointre of Versailles arose and proposed that the
speech should be printed. Bourdon de l'Oise opposed the motion for
printing the speech, as a dangerous measure. He was applauded. Cambon went further. Panis, Bentabole, Charlier, Thirion, Amar,
attacked him in turn. "The time is come," said he, "to revive
liberty of opinion; I move that the assembly revoke the decree which gives
the committee power to arrest the representatives of the people. In the evening he repaired to the popular society. He read the speech which the assembly had just condemned, and
the Jacobins loaded him with applause. "Robespierre," cried a deputy, "I will drink it with you." Saint-Just had
appeared among them. At twelve they saw, from the door
of the hall, Saint-Just ascend the tribune. "_Now is the time_," said
Tallien, and they entered the hall. Saint-Just began: "I belong," he said, "to no faction; I will
oppose them all. We see nothing but
divisions. Men still seek to attack each
other, to increase the woes of the country, to precipitate it into the
abyss. was the general cry. The serjeant seized
him, and took him to the committee of general safety. "The time is come
for speaking the truth," said Billaud. It will
perish, if feeble." exclaimed all the
members, rising from their seats. All eyes
were directed towards him. He faced them firmly for some time; but at
length, unable to contain himself, he rushed to the tribune. The cry of
"Down with the tyrant," instantly became general, and drowned his voice. "Just now," said Tallien, "I required that the veil should be torn
asunder. The
conspirators are unmasked; they will soon be destroyed, and liberty will
triumph. "Let us not be
diverted from the true object of debate," said Tallien. "I will undertake
to bring you back to it," said Robespierre. He foamed at
the mouth, and his utterance was choked. said one of the
Mountain, "the blood of Danton chokes thee." Young Robespierre now arose: "I am as guilty as my
brother," said he. "I share his virtues, and I will share his fate." "I
will not be involved in the opprobrium of this decree," added Lebas; "I
demand my arrest too." The assembly unanimously decreed the arrest of the
two Robespierres, Couthon, Lebas, and Saint-Just. It was now half-past five, and the sitting was suspended till seven. Do not forget to tell Robespierre to be
firm, and to fear nothing." "The society watches over the country," they were
told. At the same time
they concerted together, and established rapid communications between
these two centres of the insurrection. While on this errand, two
members of the convention perceived him in the Rue Saint Honoré. Nothing, however, was decided as yet on either side. Each party made use
of its means of power; the convention of its decrees, the commune of the
insurrection; each party knew what would be the consequences of defeat,
and this rendered them both so active, so full of foresight and decision. Success was long uncertain. On arriving, he was received with the greatest enthusiasm; "Long
live Robespierre! resounded on all sides. It was now seven o'clock, and the convention had resumed
its sitting. Its guard, at the most, was a hundred men. The assembly was just then discussing the danger to which it was exposed. "Yes, yes! exclaimed all the members. His influence was limited to inducing them to
accompany him, and he turned his steps to the Hôtel de Ville. The assembly instantly
outlawed the conspiring deputies and the insurgent commune. The sections, on the invitation of the commune, had assembled about nine
o'clock; the greater part of the citizens, in repairing thither, were
anxious, uncertain, and but vaguely informed of the quarrels between the
commune and the convention. It was now nearly midnight. Those rascals of cannoneers,
who saved my life five hours ago, now forsake me." He went up again. Terror not succeeding, he tried insurrection. It did not, therefore,
depend on Robespierre himself to escape defeat; and it was not in his
power to secede from the committees. CHAPTER X
FROM THE 9TH THERMIDOR TO THE 1ST PRAIRIAL, YEAR III. (20TH MAY, 1795). The former was deprived of half its forces; besides the loss of its chief,
it no longer had the commune, whose insurgent members, to the number of
seventy-two, had been sent to the scaffold, and, which, after its double
defeat under Hébert and under Robespierre, was not again re-organized, and
remained without direct influence. Soon it found its way into the government, and succeeded in
excluding the previous occupants. At the same
time, to strengthen it, it recalled to the assembly all the deputies whom
the committee of public safety had proscribed; first, the seventy-three
who had protested against the 31st of May, and then the surviving victims
of that day themselves. The Jacobins exhibited excitement: it closed their
club; the faubourgs raised an insurrection: it disarmed them. But all
this was accomplished gradually. The revolutionary tribunal was an especial object of
general horror. His proposition was applauded, and
Fouquier's accusation decreed. The revolutionary tribunal
continued to exist, but with other members and another organization. As it was desired, by
limiting the revolutionary power, to calm the fever which had excited the
multitude; and gradually to disperse them, the daily meetings of the
sections were reduced to one in every ten days; and the pay of forty sous
a day, lately given to every indigent citizen who attended them, was
discontinued. Citizens, know you what they seek? A few days after, the period for renewing a third of the committee
arrived. The following members were fixed on by lot to retire: Barrère,
Carnot, Robert Lindet, in the committee of public safety; Vadier, Vouland,
Moise Baile in the committee of general safety. They were replaced by
Thermidorians; and Collot-d'Herbois, as well as Billaud-Varennes, finding
themselves too weak, resigned. They had been sent, the one to Arras and
to Cambrai, the frontier exposed to invasion; the other to Nantes, the
limit of the Vendéan war. Lebon,
young and of a weak constitution, was naturally mild. He associated
with the executioner, and admitted him to his table. They were tried purposely with prolonged solemnity; their trial lasted
nearly a month; there was time given for public opinion to declare itself;
and on their acquittal, there was a general demand for justice on the
revolutionary committee of Nantes, and on the proconsul Carrier. The revolutionary democrats were, however, still very powerful in Paris:
if they had lost the commune, the tribunal, the convention, and the
committee, they yet retained the Jacobins and the faubourgs. They were accordingly censured for their silence. The Jacobins, rejected from the convention, began to agitate Paris,
where they were still masters. Then the Thermidorians also began to
convoke their people, by appealing to the support of the sections. All those who
composed it belonged to the rich and the middle class; they had adopted a
particular costume, called _Costume à la victime_. He justified his cruelty by the cruelty of the
Vendéans, and the maddening; fury of civil war. in the midst of tortures. I saved the
republic at Nantes; my life has been devoted to my country, and I am ready
to die for it." Out of five hundred voters, four hundred and ninety-eight
were for the impeachment; the other two voted for it, but conditionally. The Jacobins finding their opponents were going from subordinate agents to
the representatives themselves, regarded themselves as lost. Rewbell, deputed to
make a report on the subject, was not favourable to them. said he. "At the Jacobin club. At the Jacobin club. The Jacobins. The Jacobins. rushed to the doors, and attempted a sortie. Accordingly they vehemently opposed the motion, and
Merlin de Douai went so far as to say: "Do you want to throw open the
doors of the Temple?" After overthrowing Robespierre, and the
committee, it had to attack Marat and the Mountain. He, in his turn, was now attacked. His bust was
in the convention, the theatres, on the public squares, and in the popular
assemblies. The section of the Halle-au-blé demanded that
this should be removed. The left of the assembly murmured. "The giant,"
said a member, "is an emblem of the people." "All I see in it is a
mountain," replied another, "and what is a Mountain but an eternal protest
against equality." They fled, it will be said; they hid themselves. This, then, is their crime! would that this, for the welfare of the
republic, had been the crime of all! But projects of vengeance are apprehended from these
men, soured by misfortune. Taught in the school of suffering, they have
learnt only to lament human errors. He
demanded the recall of the proscribed members, as a pledge of union in the
assembly, and of security for the republic. It was the commencement
of pacification between those who wished for a republic against the
royalists, and a practicable constitution, in opposition to the
revolutionists. The sections, the seat of the
middle class, required the disarming and punishment of the members of
their revolutionary committees, composed of sans-culottes. Dread of proscription, and several other reasons, disposed them for
revolt. To increase the
difficulty, the assignats were falling into discredit, and their value
diminished daily. They were received reluctantly, and
specie was hoarded up with all the greater care, in proportion to the
increasing demand for it, and the depreciation of paper money. Such was the state of the fanatical and exasperated
multitude, when its former leaders were brought to trial. On the 1st (20th of March,
1795), the Décade day, and that on which the sections assembled, their
partisans organized a riot to prevent their being brought to trial; the
outer sections of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau were
devoted to their cause. They
met a few young men on their way, whom they threw into the basins of the
Tuileries. This rising in favour of the accused having failed, they were brought
before the convention on the 3rd Germinal. The sections of the faubourgs were greatly
excited. All debating was at an end. For a month, both parties were preparing for this last contest. This was another 31st of May, as terrible as the first, but which, not
having the support of an all-powerful commune, not being directed by a
general commandant, and not having a terrified convention and submissive
sections to deal with, had not the same result. On the 1st Prairial (20th of May) in the name of the
people, insurgent for the purpose of obtaining bread and their rights,
they decreed the abolition of the revolutionary government, the
establishment of the democratic constitution of '93, the dismissal and
arrest of the members of the existing government, the liberation of the
patriots, the convocation of the primary assemblies on the 25th Prairial,
the convocation of the legislative assembly, destined to replace the
convention, on the 25th Messidor, and the suspension of all authority not
emanating from the people. They will only serve to hinder it." A fearful tumult drowned the voice of the president, and interrupted the
proceedings. The galleries were then cleared; but the insurgents of the
faubourgs soon reached the inner doors, and finding them closed, forced
them with hatchets and hammers, and then rushed in amidst the convention. The veterans and gendarmes, to whom
the guard of the assembly was confided, cried, "To arms!" But the insurgents,
more numerous, returned to the charge, and again rushed into the house. After this skirmish, they became masters of the hall. The assembly again became complete; the sections received a vote
of thanks, and the deliberations were resumed. It was then midnight; at
five in the morning the prisoners were already six leagues from Paris. The sections, on their side, marched for its defence. My name is Saint-Légier. if it is attached to principles, as I believe it to be." The murderer of Féraud was discovered, condemned, and on the
4th, the day of his execution, a mob succeeded in rescuing him. They were encompassed by all the interior
sections. After attempting to resist, they yielded, giving up some of
their leaders, their arms, and artillery. The democratic party had lost
its chiefs, its clubs, and its authorities; it had nothing left but an
armed force, which rendered it still formidable, and institutions by means
of which it might yet regain everything. Like the Girondists, they resorted to
insurrection, in order to regain the power which they had lost; and like
them, they fell. The levy en masse that took place in the summer of 1793, formed the troops
of the Mountain. At the opening of the campaign, they each conceived a plan of invasion. It crossed the Waal, and fell back upon
Holland. At the time of the defeats,
the lines of Weissenburg had been forced. It tried
to invade Piedmont, but failed. They were entirely republican, and they feared that Robespierre's
fall would lead to that of the popular government; and they, accordingly,
received this intelligence with marked disapprobation; but, as the armies
were submissive to the civil authority, none of them rebelled. The navigation of the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the
Meuse was left free to both nations. Holland, by its wealth, powerfully
contributed towards the continuance of the war against the coalition. A peace
was also made at Basle, on the 10th of July, with Spain, alarmed by our
progress on its territory. While overthrowing the sway of
the Jacobins, it suppressed the vengeance of the royalists. At Tarascon, they threw them from the top of the tower on a rock on
the bank of the Rhone. The Vendéans were exhausted by their repeated defeats, but they were not
wholly reduced. Fifteen hundred Chouans
joined the army on its landing, but it was soon attacked by General Hoche. They were entrusted with a general and
independent power of execution, but it was wished also to prevent their
abusing it, and especially to guard against the danger of a long habit of
authority leading to usurpation. Each member was
president for three months, holding the seals and affixing his signature. Every year, one of the members was to go out. If any
constitution could have become firmly established at that period, it was
the directorial constitution. They were not prepared to repel the attacks
of the royalists with the same energy as that of the revolutionists. But these two exceptional decrees were
submitted to the ratification of the primary assemblies, at the same time
as the constitutional act. It
inveighed against the convention. On the 1st Vendémiaire, the convention proclaimed the acceptance of the
decrees by the greater number of the primary assemblies of France. In the evening of the 11th, the convention sent to dissolve the
assembly of electors by force, but they had already adjourned to the
following day. In the evening, the convention, scarcely less agitated,
decided on taking the initiative, by surrounding the conspiring section,
and terminating the crisis by disarming it. These were surrounded by superior forces, from the
Boulevards on each side, and the Rue Vivienne opposite. This was a complete
victory for them, which being exaggerated in Paris, as such things always
are, increased their number, and gave them courage to attack the
convention the next day. This advantage emboldened the insurgents, who were strong
on all points. Seven hundred guns were brought in, and the convention took arms as a body
of reserve. The conflict had now commenced in the Rue Saint Honoré, of which the
insurgents were masters. The assembly, which had only fought in its own defence, displayed much
moderation. The sections could not take it by
surprise, and still less by assault. The third part, freely elected,
had been favourable to reaction. Such was the first composition of the directory. (26th July, 1794). Each party wished to establish its sway by victory, and to secure
it by founding its system. They could only conquer, they were unable to found
a system. A revolutionary power, it ceased as soon as legal
order recommenced. Not one of these governments could become consolidated, because
they were all exclusive. When the directory succeeded the convention, the struggle between the
classes was greatly weakened. The revolution daily grew more materialized; after
having made a nation of sectaries, it made a nation of working men, and
then it made a nation of soldiers. They were far from the more sombre and more tempestuous
France of the 10th of August, when a single class held the government and
society, and had introduced therein its language, manners, and costume,
the agitation of its fears, the fanaticism of its ideas, the distrust of
its position. This assembly had been a rich government, which had
ruined itself in defending the revolution. Such a system could not be continued; it was necessary to begin
the work again, and return to real money. Bailleul, vol. ii., pp. 275, 281.] "entered the
Luxembourg, there was not an article of furniture. Letourneur, an ex-artillery officer, member of the committee of public
safety at the latter period of the convention, had been appointed to the
war department. Letourneur attached
himself to him, as La Réveillère to Rewbell, and Barras was between the
two. Thus, in the passage from public institutions to individual faith, all
that had been liberty became civilization, and what had been religion
became opinion. Deists remained, but _theophilanthropists_ were no longer
to be met with. National property was still left; but it sold
badly, and for assignats. This was a relic of the revolutionary
measures with regard to the rich; but, having been irresolutely adopted,
and executed without due authority, it did not succeed. But Pichegru wishing, one way or the other, to
serve his new allies and to betray his country, allowed himself to be
defeated at Heidelberg, compromised the army of Jourdan, evacuated
Mannheim, raised the siege of Mayence with considerable loss, and exposed
that frontier to the enemy. The war now depended only on a few chiefs, upon
Charette, Stofflet, etc. Hoche saw that it was necessary to wean the
masses from these men by concessions, and then to crush them. Without entering on a campaign, they
were mastering the country. Hoche directed all his force and activity
against them, and before long had destroyed or exhausted them. Most of
their leaders quitted their arms, and took refuge in England. passed away. The former
constituted an inflexible and enterprising sect. On the 9th Thermidor it had
been driven from the government; on the 2nd Prairial, from society; and it
had lost both power and insurrections. But though disorganized and
proscribed, it was far from having disappeared. The democrats re-established their club at the Panthéon, which the
directory tolerated for some time. They had for their chief, "Gracchus"
Babeuf, who styled himself the "Tribune of the people." He was a daring
man, of an exalted imagination, an extraordinary fanaticism of democracy,
and with great influence over his party. In his journal, he prepared the
reign of general happiness. But the sittings were soon protracted to an advanced hour of
the night; the democrats repaired thither in arms, and proposed marching
against the directory and the councils. On the 8th Ventôse, year IV. The democrats, deprived of their place of meeting, had recourse to another
plan. The public mind was still terrified with the
recent domination of the Jacobins. Five men, by showing themselves great and generous may now save the
country. For my part, I will give you a guarantee as extensive as is my
perpetual franchise." At
the beginning and the end of each sitting, they sang the _Marseillaise_. From
that time democrates existed, but the party was broken up. They were treated with much
consideration by judges of their party, elected under the influence of
Vendémiaire, and the sentence pronounced against them was only a short
imprisonment. They hastened to defend Turin and Milan,
the capitals of their domination. The fate of Piedmont was decided at Mondovi, and the terrified court
of Turin hastened to submit. Wurmser, after a new defeat, was obliged to throw himself into
Mantua with the wreck of his army. This wonderful campaign was owing to the union of a general of
genius, and an intelligent army. The campaign of 1792 had been made on the old system, with
dispersed corps, acting separately without abandoning their fixed line. His
diplomacy was as masterly as his military science. All the allied powers had laid down their
arms, and even England asked to treat. If it continued its progress, the coalition had reason to fear
that it would carry its conquests further. But the situation of the directory was materially changed by the elections
of the year V. (May, 1797). Up to this
period, a good understanding had existed between the directory and the
councils. On the 1st Prairial, year V. (20th May), the two councils opened their
sittings. The constitutionalists of 1791, and the
directorial party formed an alliance. The constitutional radius of six myriametres (twelve leagues),
which the troops could not legally pass, was violated: and the councils
denounced this violation to the directory, which feigned an ignorance,
wholly disbelieved, and made very weak excuses. The mass were
spectators. These were, Merlin de Douai, the
minister of justice; Delacroix, minister of foreign affairs; and Ramel,
minister of finance. Talleyrand, likewise, formed part of
this ministry. "Tremble, royalists!" By the manes of the heroes slain
for our country, we have sworn implacable war against royalty and
royalists. Such are our sentiments; they are yours, and those of all
patriots. Let the royalists show themselves, and their days are numbered." The guard of the councils, which was under the
control of the directory, was placed under the immediate orders of the
inspectors of the hall. It was the design of the directorial triumvirate to occupy the
Tuileries with troops before the assembling of the legislative body, in
order to avoid a violent expulsion; to convoke the councils in the
neighbourhood of the Luxembourg, after having arrested their principal
leaders, and by a legislative measure to accomplish a coup-d'état begun by
force. The guard of the legislative body was under arms. But Pichegru, Willot, and Ramel, could
not resist the directory with this small and uncertain force. and
joined him. As for its victory, it sullied it with violence, by endeavouring to make
it too complete. In this the directory committed a great fault, and
was guilty of an attempt against liberty. In the fanaticism of a system,
we may desire to set a country free, but we should never give it away. But the offers of Pitt not being sincere,
the directory did not allow itself to be deceived by his diplomatic
stratagems. The negotiations were twice broken off, and war continued
between the two powers. Honours were
accorded him, never yet obtained by any general of the republic. He sailed from
Toulon on the 30th Floréal, in the year VI. Berne was the
headquarters of the emigrants, and it was there that all the plots against
the revolution were formed. Some conferences took place, which led to
no result, and war began. Switzerland
ceased to be a common barrier, and became the high road of Europe. On the 22nd
Floréal, the elections were for the most part annulled. With these
pretensions of isolation, it dissatisfied every one. It displayed much activity,
but an activity of a narrow and shuffling nature. This law, which was attended with incalculable
consequences, was the result of a more regular order of things. The most impatient of the powers, those which formed the advanced guard of
the coalition, had already commenced the attack. The lazaroni defended the interior of the town for three days;
but they yielded, and the Parthenopian republic was proclaimed. General
Joubert occupied Turin; and the whole of Italy was in the hands of the
French, when the new campaign began. It attacked it by the three great openings of Italy,
Switzerland, and Holland. At the same time the duke of
York disembarked in Holland with forty thousand Anglo-Russians. (May, 1799) took place; they
were republican, like those of the preceding year. The fury of the councils was directed solely against Treilhard, Merlin,
and La Réveillère, the last supports of the old directory. The ex-minister of justice, Gohier, was immediately chosen to replace him. The orators of the councils then warmly attacked Merlin and La Réveillère,
whom they could not dismiss from the directory. You have not even the confidence of those vile flatterers, who
have dug your political tomb. The former introduced general Moulins into the directory;
the latter, Roger Ducos. Appointed, under the directory, to the embassy at Berlin, the neutrality
of Prussia was attributed to his efforts. The constitution of the year III. They awaited the arrival of the
Russians, and looked forward to the speedy restoration of the monarchy. This was a moment of fresh competition with every party. Each aspired to
the inheritance of the dying constitution, as they had done at the close
of the convention. But at home nothing was changed. Divisions, discontent, and anxiety were
the same as before. In the Champ-de-Mars, on the 10th of August,
he assailed the Jacobins. Lucien Bonaparte, who had much influence in the
council of five hundred, from his character, his talents, and the military
importance of the conqueror of Italy and of Egypt, drew in that assembly a
fearful picture of the reign of terror, and said that France was
threatened with its return. He traversed France, from the shore of the Mediterranean to
Paris, in triumph. He received general congratulations, and every party contended for his
favour. But they gave them credit
for hopes only, and not for any decided projects. He received the congratulations of all around him; the
officers drew their swords as a sign of fidelity. This was, however, only a beginning of success. The gallery of Mars had been prepared for
the ancients, the Orangery for the five hundred. should be renewed. "Representatives of the people," said he, "you are in no ordinary
situation; you stand on a volcano. Well, now I am overwhelmed with calumnies! They talk of Caesar,
Cromwell, and military government! It surprised the council, and for a moment Bonaparte was
disconcerted. The constitution
is invoked by all factions, and violated by all; it cannot be a means of
safety for us, because it no longer obtains respect from any one; the
constitution being violated, we must have another compact, new
guarantees." At
the sight of the bayonets, the assembly arose with a sudden movement. All
the members spoke at once, all proposed measures of public safety and
defence. Lucien Bonaparte was the object of general reproach; he attempted
to justify his brother, but with timidity. And he took off his cap, robe, and scarf. His officers came around
him; and Sieyès, having more revolutionary experience, besought him not to
lose time, and to employ force. As for those who
remain in the Orangery, let force expel them. Those brigands are no longer
representatives of the people, but representatives of the poignard." Soldiers, may I rely on you?" "Well,
then, I will bring them to their senses!" Grenadiers, forward!" (10th November, 1799) there was no longer a
representation. Thus this violation of the law, this coup-d'état against liberty was
accomplished. Force began to sway. The public viewed
unfavourably all who attacked the government; but at the same time it
exclaimed against an act so arbitrary and unjust. The constitution of Sieyès, which was distorted in the consular
constitution of the year VIII., deserves to be known, were it only in the
light of a legislative curiosity. In all which concerned the government, there was a reciprocal
control. This body was
the constitutional jury, or conservatory senate; it was to be for the
political law what the court of cassation was to the civil law. It was a constitution
of moderate men, suited to terminate a revolution, and to settle a nation. ; in order, no doubt, to suit the ideas of the times. He
saw that laws, men, and France itself were at the mercy of the man whose
elevation he had promoted. ; it
was composed of the wrecks of that of Sieyès, now become a constitution of
servitude. Accordingly, there were no
more bodies of electors who appointed the candidates of different lists,
the tribunes and legislators; no more independent tribunes earnestly
pleading the cause of the people before the legislative assembly; no
legislative assembly arising directly from the bosom of the nation, and
accountable to it alone--in a word, no political nation. The constitution of Sieyès served as a
pretext for a bad order of things. all the constitutions had emanated from the _Contrat-social_, and
subsequently, down to 1814, from the constitution of Sieyès. By their means, he hoped to
influence the revolutionists and moderate royalists. "We are forming a new epoch," said he; "we must forget all the
ill of the past, and remember only the good." The constitution of the year VIII., submitted to the
people for acceptance, was approved by three millions eleven thousand and
seven citizens. The constitution of 1791 alone had obtained
general approbation; and, without having been subjected to individual
acceptance, had been sworn to by all France. He
gave Moreau the command of the army of the Rhine, and he himself marched
into Italy. He set out on the 16th Floréal, year VIII. (6th of May, 1800)
for that brilliant campaign which lasted only forty days. It was important
that he should not be long absent from Paris at the beginning of his
power, and especially not to leave the war in a state of indecision. He entered Nice, prepared to pass the Var, and to enter Provence. It was then that Bonaparte crossed the great Saint Bernard at the head of
an army of forty thousand men, descended into Italy in the rear of Mélas,
entered Milan on the 16th Prairial (2nd of June), and placed the Austrians
between Suchet and himself. On the 9th of June, the advance guard of the
republicans gained a glorious victory at Monte-Bello, the chief honour of
which belonged to general Lannes. Eighteen days after, Bonaparte returned to Paris. Peace, however, was delayed for some time. He was very conciliatory to those parties
who renounced their systems, and very lavish of favours to those chiefs
who renounced their parties. As it was a time of selfishness and
indifference, he had no difficulty in succeeding. A few of them disembarked on the coast of
France, and secretly repaired to Paris. As it was not easy to reach the
first consul, they decided on a conspiracy truly horrible. At the appointed time, Bonaparte left the Tuileries,
and crossed the Rue Nicaise. At length they discovered
the true authors of the conspiracy, some of whom were condemned to death. On this occasion, the consul caused the creation of special military
tribunals. The constitutional party separated still further from him, and
began its energetic but useless opposition. The empire recognised the
independence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine
republics. They were led by a man of
colour, the famous Toussaint-L'Ouverture. It was impossible for the blacks to resist such an
army at first; but after the first victories, it was attacked by the
climate, and new insurrections secured the independence of the colony. i. p. 248.] "The ideas of
Napoleon were fixed, but to realise them he required the assistance of
time and circumstances. The organization of the consulate had nothing in
contradiction with these; it accustomed the nation to unity, and that was
a first step. This step taken, Napoleon was indifferent to the forms and
denominations of the different constituted bodies. In the beginning of 1802, he was at one and the same time forming three
great projects, tending to the same end. He. In Ventôse, year X. They adopted it
by a great majority. The head of the church has weighed in his wisdom
and for the interest of the church, propositions dictated by the interest
of the state." In the evening there was an illumination, and a concert in the gardens of
the Tuileries. _" said he. _"
A month after, on the 25th Floréal, year X. That sentiment, then, must be
nourished; they must have distinctions. All has been
destroyed; the question is, how to restore all. There is a government,
there are authorities; but the rest of the nation, what is it? Grains of
sand. I can count our enemies. But we, ourselves, are dispersed, without system, union, or contact. As
long as I am here, I will answer for the republic; but we must provide for
the future. If so,
you are greatly deceived. [Footnote: This passage is extracted from
M. Thibaudeau's _Mémoires_ of the Consulate. Those first
invested seemed almost ashamed of it, and received it with a sort of
contempt. "II. "III. This is the only
social doctrine." The constitution of the 16th Thermidor, year X. (4th of August, 1802,)
excluded the people from the state. The public and administrative
functions became fixed, like those of the government. Such, in the course of two years, was the terrible progress of privilege
and absolute power. On the 9th of October
he took possession of the states of Parma, left vacant by the death of the
duke; and lastly, on the 21st of October, he marched into Switzerland an
army of thirty thousand men, to support a federative act, which regulated
the constitution of each canton, and which had caused disturbances. (13th of May, 1803). On the 26th of May, the
French troops entered the electorate of Hanover. The German empire, on the
point of expiring, raised no obstacle. This crime was not an act of policy, or
usurpation; but a deed of violence and wrath. On the 6th Germinal, year XII. Citizen first consul, be assured that the senate here
speaks to you in the name of all citizens." On the 5th Floréal, year XII. I invite you, then, to communicate to
me your ideas on the subject." (18th
of May, 1804). The empire
required its appendages; and French princes, high dignitaries, marshals,
chamberlains, and pages were given to it. The coronation took place on Sunday, the 2nd
of December, in the church of Notre-Dame. Preparations had been making for this ceremony for some time, and it was
regulated according to ancient customs. The high almoner, a cardinal, and a bishop, came and conducted him
to the foot of the altar for consecration. Finally he compelled Europe, conquered for the third time, to
acknowledge his elevation. He preferred the
realization of his selfish projects, and preferred himself to all
humanity. He began
with Italy. Its vice-president,
M. Melzi, came to Paris to communicate to him this decision. On the 26th
Ventôse, year XIII. (17th of March, 1805), he was received with great
solemnity at the Tuileries. M. Melzi offered him the crown, in the name of his fellow-
citizens. "Sire," said he, in conclusion, "deign to gratify the wishes of
the assembly over which I have the honour to preside. Yes, sire, you wished the existence of
the Italian republic, and it existed. Desire the Italian monarchy to be
happy, and it will be so." and
Calais. Masséna held back Prince Charles in Italy, and the
emperor carried on the war in Germany at full speed. The enemy amounted to ninety-five
thousand men, the French to eighty thousand. The following day the emperor
congratulated the army in a proclamation on the field of battle itself:
"Soldiers," said he, "I am satisfied with you. This
infantry, so vaunted and so superior in numbers, could not resist your
shock, and henceforth you have no more rivals to fear. Thus, in two
months, this third coalition has been defeated and dissolved." He received the title of
Great, and the senate passed a decree dedicating to him a triumphal
monument. On the 1st
of January, 1806, the Gregorian calendar definitively replaced the
republican calendar, after an existence of fourteen years. None of the republics created by the convention, or the
directory, now existed. Prince
Borghese and his wife with that of Guastalla, Murat with the grand-duchy
of Berg and Clèves. On the 1st of August, they
signified to the diet of Ratisbon their separation from the Germanic body. The empire of Germany ceased to exist, and Francis II. The
cabinet of Berlin required that the French troops should recross the
Rhine, or war would be the consequence. At the same time, it sought to
form in the north of Germany a league against the confederation of the
south. The campaign opened early in October. The campaign
in Poland was less rapid, but as brilliant as that of Prussia. Russia, for
the third time, measured its strength with France. Conquered at Zurich and
Austerlitz, it was also defeated at Eylau and Friedland. Russia,
however, though conquered, was the only power unencroached upon. A pope had crossed the Alps to consecrate his dynasty,
and he modelled his states on the vast empire of that conqueror. The former had made citizens,
the latter made vassals. The one had changed Europe into republics, the
other transformed it into fiefs. It was a war to the death. England was placed
under the ban of continental Europe, at the peace. A French army, under the command of Junot, entered
Portugal. It was then suggested to the royal family to retire to Mexico,
after the example of the house of Braganza. Ferdinand restored the crown to his father, who in his turn resigned it in
favour of Napoleon; the latter had it decreed on his brother Joseph by a
supreme junta, by the council of Castille, and the municipality of Madrid. Ferdinand was sent to the Château de Valençay, and Charles VI. The Portuguese also rose at Oporto, on
the 16th of June. Joseph Napoleon left Madrid, where Ferdinand VII. Napoleon marched into
Spain, and Alexander undertook Sweden. He made his
entry into Madrid, and presented himself to the inhabitants of the
peninsula, not as a master, but as a liberator. "I have abolished," he
said to them, "the tribunal of the Inquisition, against which the age and
Europe protested. Priests should direct the conscience, but ought not to
exercise any external or corporal jurisdiction over the citizens. The selfishness, wealth,
and prosperity of a few did more injury to your agriculture than the heats
of the extreme summer. As there is but one God, one system of justice only
should exist in a state. The following is the catechism used by the priests: "Tell me, my child,
who you are? From sin.--Murat? From Napoleon. Cupidity, treason, and ignorance.--Who are the French? Austria had turned to advantage his absence, and that of his troops. All whose
interests were injured made an attempt at resistance, which at first was
destined to fail. adopted him for his son. This was a
decided error. The territory of the peninsula was defended inch by inch, and its
was necessary to take several towns by storm. On the 9th of March, Napoleon left Paris on this
vast expedition. On the 22nd of June, war
was declared against Russia. In this campaign, Napoleon was guided by the maxims he had always found
successful. The Russian cabinet relied for its defence not only upon its troops, but
on its vast territory and on its climate. Winter was
approaching, and Napoleon prolonged his stay at Moscow for six weeks. This
retreat was disastrous, and began the downfall of the empire. The retreat was effected with some order as far as the Berezina, where it
became one vast rout. Mallet's plot failed, and its leaders were executed. The
emperor, on his return, found the nation astounded at so unusual a
disaster. All those by whose consent
he had risen, took part against him. "I triumphed," says Napoleon
himself, speaking of the preceding campaigns, "in the midst of constantly
reviving perils. [Footnote: _Mémorial de Saint Hélène_, tome
ii. p. 221.] Such was his condition; the further he advanced in his
career, the greater need he had to conquer more and more decisively. Accordingly, as soon as he was defeated, the kings he had subdued, the
kings he had made, the allies he had aggrandized, the states he had
incorporated with the empire, the senators who had so flattered him, and
even his comrades in arms, successively forsook him. On the 1st of March, 1813, it
joined Russia and England, which were forming the sixth coalition. It was impossible to come to terms. Austria joined the
coalition, and war, the only means of settling this great contest, was
resumed. Victory seemed, at first, to second him. At
Dresden, he defeated the combined forces; but the defeats of his
lieutenants deranged his plans. Macdonald was conquered in Silesia; Ney,
near Berlin; Vandamme, at Kulm. But it overwhelmed them at Hanau, and
re-entered the territory of the empire on the 30th of October, 1813. The servitude of nations is, sooner or later, ever
avenged. Napoleon returned to Paris on the 9th of November, 1813. But the legislative body, hitherto silently obedient, chose this period to
resist Napoleon. A commission,
composed of MM. This wish, so just at any other time, could then only
favour the invasion of the foe. After passing
from Russia to Germany, they were about to extend from Germany and Italy
to France. But now, as before, all depended on the issue of the war, which
the winter had not interrupted. The empire was invaded in all directions. But if he conquered wherever he came, the foe triumphed wherever he was
not. It was left to itself. But the duke of
Ragusa forsook his post, treated with the enemy, and left Fontainebleau
exposed. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he
departed for his new principality. Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. That which would have rendered the destiny of another
extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations, contributed
to their civilization. Accordingly, the former had
the frankness and decision of power; the other, the craft and hypocrisy of
opposed ambition. Such is the fate of all
powers which, arising from liberty, do not continue to abide with her. At this epoch, a new series of events begins. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the French Revolution from
1789 to 1814, by F. A. M. Miguet