"This emblem, like many similar ones received by the
revolutions from the hand of chance, was a mystery even to
those who wore it. It had been adopted [at Paris] for the
first time on the day of the triumph of the soldiers of
Châteauvieux [April 15, 1792, when 41 Swiss soldiers of the
regiment of Châteauvieux, condemned to the galleys for
participation in a dangerous mutiny of the garrison at Nancy
in 1790, but liberated in compliance with the demands of the
mob, were fêted as heroes by the Jacobins of Paris]. Some said
it was the coiffure of the galley-slaves, once infamous, but
glorious since it had covered the brows of these martyrs of
the insurrection; and they added that the people wished to
purify this head-dress from every stain by wearing it
themselves. Others only saw in it the Phrygian bonnet, a
symbol of freedom for slaves. The 'bonnet rouge' had from its
first appearance been the subject of dispute and dissension
amongst the Jacobins; the 'exaltés' wore it, whilst the
'modérés' yet abstained from adopting it." Robespierre and his
immediate followers opposed the "frivolity" of the "bonnet
rouge," and momentarily suppressed it in the Assembly. "But
even the voice of Robespierre, and the resolutions of the
Jacobins, could not arrest the outbreak of enthusiasm that had
placed the sign of 'avenging equality' ('l'égalité
vengeresse') on every head; and the evening of the day on
which it was repudiated at the Jacobins' saw it inaugurated at
all the theatres. The bust of Voltaire, the destroyer of
prejudice, was adorned with the Phrygian cap of liberty,
amidst the shouts of the spectators, whilst the cap and pike
became the uniform and weapon of the citizen soldier."
_A. de Lamartine,
History of the Girondists,
book 13 (volume 1)._
ALSO IN:
_H. M. Stephens,
History of the French Revolution,
volume 2, chapter 2._
LIBERTY GAP, Battle of.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1863 (JUNE-JULY: TENNESSEE).