THE DIRECTORY.
Constitution of the Directory.--Distracted State of Public
Affairs.--New Expedition to La Vendée.--Death of the
Dauphin.--Release of the Princess.--Pacification of La Vendée.--Riots
in London.--Execution of Charette.--Napoleon takes command of the
Army of Italy.--The first Proclamation.--Triumphs in Italy.--Letter
of General Hoche.--Peace with Spain.--Establishment of the Cispadane
Republic.--Negotiations with England.--Contemplated Invasion of
Ireland.--Memorials of Wolfe Tone.--Deplorable State of Public
Affairs.--Description of Napoleon.--Composition of the Directory.
The government of the Directory went into operation on the 27th
of October, 1795. The two legislative bodies, the Council of the
Ancients and the Council of the Five Hundred, met and chose for the
five directors Lareveillère Lepeaux, Le Tourneur, Rewbel, Carnot, and
Barras. "Among these," says Thiers, "there was not a man of genius, nor
even any man of high reputation, excepting Carnot. But what was to be
done at the end of a sanguinary revolution which, in a few years, had
devoured several generations of men of genius of every description?
In the Assemblies there was not left one extraordinary orator; in
diplomacy there remained not one celebrated negotiator."[451] The
state of public affairs at this time was deplorable in the extreme.
Innumerable factions disturbed the state. A very sanguinary war was
raging around the frontiers. The embers of civil war were still
smoldering and frequently bursting out into flame. Three powerful
parties were struggling almost with the energies of despair for
the supremacy--the old Royalists, the Thermidorians or moderate
Republicans, and the Jacobins, who wielded, as the great instrument of
terror, the energies of the Parisian mob. Many of the most intelligent
men already foresaw that there was no hope for distracted France but
in the action of some mighty mind which could mould the tumultuous
elements and evolve order from the confusion.[452]
The British government, undismayed by the disaster of Quiberon, now
sent another expedition to the shores of La Vendée to rouse the
Royalists to insurrection. The expedition consisted of two thousand
English infantry, five hundred horse, several regiments of French
emigrants, a great number of officers to take command of the marshaled
peasantry, and arms, ammunition, provisions, clothing, and gold in
abundance. Should this expedition successfully land and rally around it
the Royalist insurgents in promising numbers, it was immediately to be
followed by another still more powerful. The Count d'Artois (Charles
X.) was placed in command of this force. Charette, a very intrepid
Royalist chieftain, had raised some ten thousand peasants, and was in
command of the coast to welcome the invaders. But General Hoche fell
upon the insurgent Vendeeans and scattered them; and the English fleet,
after hovering for some time along the coast, being unable to effect
a landing, and disappointed in the support they hoped to have met,
abandoned the enterprise and returned to England.[453]
While the coast of France was thus threatened the Allies on the Rhine
gained some very decisive victories, and drove the routed Republicans
before them. There was no money in the treasury of the Directory. The
paper money, which had been freely issued, had become almost worthless,
and the armies were now in destitution and rags. Such were the
difficulties with which the new government had to grapple.[454]
On the 8th of June the dauphin died in the Temple. While he lived he
was considered by the Royalists the legitimate King of France, under
the title of Louis XVII. Upon his death the emigrants declared the
Count of Provence king, and he assumed the title of Louis XVIII. It
will be remembered that the Convention sent some deputies to arrest
Dumouriez, and that he seized these commissioners and handed them
over to the Austrians as hostages. The Directory now exchanged the
young princess, who still survived in woeful captivity, for these
commissioners and a few other distinguished prisoners held by the
Austrians. It was the 19th of December when this unhappy child left her
cell, where she had endured agonies such as few on earth had known, to
be conveyed back to the palaces of her maternal ancestors.
The guns of Napoleon, quelling the insurgent sections, had established
the government of the Directory. To secure Paris and France from
similar scenes of violence, an imposing force was organized, called
the Army of the Interior, and Napoleon was placed in command. As by
magic, under his efficient command, this body was organized into the
highest discipline and efficiency, and, overawing the discontented,
maintained public order. A formidable camp of these troops was
established at Grenelle. But for Napoleon the Directory could not
have come into being. But for Napoleon it could not have lived a
year, struggling against the conspiracies which ever crowded it.[455]
General Hoche, operating with singular wisdom and humanity, succeeded
in the pacification of the inhabitants of La Vendée. They surrendered
their arms, and peace was restored to that distracted region. Still
William Pitt clamored for war against the French Republic. The English
_people_ were indignant at these unjust assaults against a neighboring
nation struggling to throw off the chains of intolerable servitude,
and demanded peace with France. The liberty-loving Englishmen met in
immense gatherings in the open air, and denounced the war system in
the most bold and decisive resolves. As the king rode to Parliament
the populace pursued him, pelted his carriage with stones, broke
the windows, and it was asserted that an air-gun was fired at him.
Pitt, riding on horseback, was recognized by the populace, and with
difficulty escaped from their hands covered with mud. Fox and Sheridan
in Parliament were loud and eloquent in the denunciation of the war
measures of the ministry.[456] Pitt endeavored to defend himself
against the assaults of the opposition by saying that _English blood_
had not been shed. "True," replied Sheridan, "English blood has not
been shed, but English honor has oozed from every pore."
The Allies, exhilarated by their successes on the Rhine, prepared to
press the war with new vigor. Pitt obtained from Parliament a new loan
of thirty-five millions of dollars. General Bonaparte was promoted from
the command of the Army of the Interior to that of the Army of Italy.
He immediately entered upon that Italian campaign which gave him renown
throughout the world.
Though the Vendeeans had surrendered their arms and were rejoicing in
the enjoyment of peace, Charette wandered about the country, refusing
all overtures at reconciliation, and striving, with great energy, to
rouse new forces of insurrection. The entire pacification of La Vendée
now depended upon the capture of Charette. With almost unparalleled
energy and bravery he succeeded for several months in eluding his foes.
At last, on the 24th of March, 1796, he fell into an ambuscade. He was
armed to the teeth, and fought with the ferocity of a tiger at bay. He
received several sabre-blows before he fell and was secured. At his
examination he with dignity averred his detestation of republicanism
and his devotion to royalty. He had deluged the land with the blood of
civil war, and, as a traitor, was doomed to die. On the 30th of March
he was led out to execution. A platoon of soldiers was drawn up but a
few paces before him. He stood erect, with his eyes unbandaged, and,
apparently without the tremor of a nerve, gave the command to fire.
He fell dead, pierced by many bullets. He had displayed marvelous
heroism in a bad cause. Refusing to submit to laws established by the
overwhelming majority of his countrymen, he was deluging the land in
blood in the endeavor to rivet again upon France the chains of the most
intolerable despotism. The Royalists all over Europe mourned his death.
But France rejoiced, for the fall of Charette terminated the civil war.
One hundred thousand men had been under the command of General
Hoche in the strife of La Vendée. These were now at liberty to march
to repel the foreign invader. Two powerful armies, of eighty thousand
each, were collected on the Rhine. But they could not hold their ground
against the outnumbering Austrians. In one of these engagements the
distinguished young general Marceau was killed. He was struck by a ball
fired by a Tyrolean marksman, and fell from his horse mortally wounded.
His soldiers, on the rapid retreat, were unable to rescue him, and he
was left in his blood to the humanity of the victors. The Austrians
generously did every thing in their power for his relief, but he died,
three days after, in the twenty-seventh year of his age.
[Illustration: LA CHARETTE TAKEN PRISONER.]
About thirty thousand French soldiers, in rags, destitute of the
munitions of war, and almost famished, were ineffectually struggling
against their foes on the southern slopes of the Apennines. Napoleon
was placed in command of these starving troops, but the government
was unable to supply him with any funds for the prosecution of the
war. On the 27th of March he placed himself at the head of these
enfeebled and discouraged battalions. Young generals, who subsequently
obtained great renown--Angereau, Massena, Laharpe, Serrurier, and
Berthier--composed the officers of his staff. The levy _en masse_ had
filled the ranks with young men from good families, well informed,
distinctly understanding the nature of the conflict, detesting the old
feudal despotism which allied Europe was striving to impose upon them
anew, and enthusiastically devoted to the principles of liberty and
equal rights which the Revolution was endeavoring to implant. Though
most of them were young, they had many of them spent years in the
field, had seen many bloody battles, and, inured to the hardships of
war, were veteran soldiers. Sixty thousand Piedmontese and Austrians,
under Colli and Beaulieu, crowded the northern slopes and the crest
of the mountains, endeavoring to force their way through the defiles
upon France. Napoleon's first words to his troops roused them as with
electric fire.
[Illustration: DEATH OF GENERAL MARCEAU.]
"Soldiers," said he, "you are ill fed, almost naked. The government
owes you much, but can do nothing for you. Your patience, your courage,
do you honor, but procure you neither glory nor advantage. I am about
to lead you into the most fertile plains in the world. You will there
find large cities, rich provinces; you will there find honor, glory,
and wealth. Soldiers of Italy, will your courage fail you?"
On the 12th of April his troops were in motion. A series of desperate
battles and of resplendent victories ensued. At the close of two weeks
Napoleon issued the following proclamation:
"Soldiers, in a fortnight you have gained six victories, taken
twenty-one pairs of colors, fifty-five pieces of cannon, several
fortresses, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont. You have
made fifteen thousand prisoners, and killed or wounded more than ten
thousand men. You had hitherto been fighting for barren rocks, rendered
glorious by your courage, but useless to the country. You now rival,
by your services, the army of Holland and the Rhine. Destitute of
every thing, you have supplied all your wants. You have gained battles
without cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, made forced marches
without shoes, bivouacked without brandy and often without bread.
The Republican phalanxes, the soldiers of liberty alone, could have
endured what you have endured. Thanks be to you for it, soldiers. Your
grateful country will owe to you its prosperity; and if your conquest
at Toulon foreboded the glorious campaign of 1793, your present
victories forbode one still more glorious. The two armies which so
lately attacked you boldly, are fleeing affrighted before you. The
perverse men who laughed at your distress, and rejoiced in thought at
the triumph of your enemies, are confounded and trembling.
"But, soldiers, you have done nothing, since more remains to be done.
Neither Turin nor Milan is yours. The ashes of the conquerors of
Tarquin are still trampled upon by the murderers of Basseville."[457]
Napoleon now summoned all his energies to drive the Austrians out of
Italy. In two months the work was done; and Paris, France, Europe was
electrified by the narrative of deeds of daring and success, such as
war had never recorded before. In all the towns and cities of Italy the
French armies were received as deliverers, for the subjugated Italians
were eager to throw off the hateful yoke of Austrian despotism.
Napoleon, having unbounded confidence in himself, and but very little
respect for the weak men who composed the Directory, took all matters
of diplomacy, as well as war, into his own hands, and, sustained by the
enthusiasm of his soldiers, settled the affairs of Italy according to
his own views of expediency.
The Royalists, hoping for the overthrow of the Republic and for the
return of Louis XVIII., were exceedingly chagrined by these victories.
They left no means of calumny untried to sully the name of Napoleon.
Europe was filled with falsehoods respecting him, and reports were
circulated that General Hoche was to be sent from Paris to arrest him
in the midst of his army. These rumors assumed such importance that the
government wrote a letter to Napoleon contradicting them; and General
Hoche, with the magnanimity of a man incapable of jealousy, over his
own name published a letter expressing his admiration of the commander
of the Army of Italy.
"Men," he wrote, "who, concealed or unknown during the first years
of the foundation of the Republic, now think only of seeking the
means of destroying it, and speak of it merely to slander its firmest
supporters, have, for some days past, been spreading reports most
injurious to the armies, and to one of the general officers who
commanded them. Can they, then, no longer attain their object by
corresponding openly with the horde of conspirators resident at
Hamburg? Must they, in order to gain the patronage of the masters
whom they are desirous of giving to France, vilify the leaders of
the armies? Why is Bonaparte, then, the object of the wrath of
these gentry? Is it because he beat themselves and their friends in
Vendémiaire?[458] Is it because he is dissolving the armies of kings,
and furnishing the Republic with the means of bringing this honorable
war to a glorious conclusion? Ah! brave young man, where is the
Republican soldier whose heart does not burn with the desire to imitate
thee? Courage, Bonaparte! lead our victorious armies to Naples, to
Vienna; reply to thy personal enemies by humbling kings, by shedding
fresh lustre over our armies, and leave to us the task of upholding thy
glory."
Still the Royalists were busy with incessant plots and intrigues for
the overthrow of the government. The treasury was utterly bankrupt,
paper money, almost utterly worthless, flooded the land, and the
finances were in a state of inextricable embarrassment. The Jacobins
and the Royalists were equally eager to demolish the Directory by any
conceivable measures of treason and violence. Never was a nation in a
more deplorable state, harassed by a foreign war which demanded all its
energies, and torn by domestic dissensions which no human wisdom seemed
capable of healing.
The Jacobins adopted even the desperate measure to feign a Royalist
insurrection; to scatter white cockades, the emblem of Bourbon power;
to shout _Vive le Roi!_ and to discharge musketry and throw petards
into the streets, that the people, alarmed by the peril of Bourbon
restoration, might throw themselves into the arms of the Jacobins
for protection.[459] A mob of nearly a thousand most determined men
marched, in the night of the 10th of September, upon the camp at
Grenelle, hoping to fraternize with the soldiers in this treasonable
endeavor to overthrow the government. Several hundreds fell dead or
wounded in this frantic attempt.
[Illustration: NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 10, 1796.]
The Directory now attempted to enter into peaceful relations with other
powers, and effected a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive,
with Spain. Envoys were also sent to the Ottoman Porte and to Venice
for the same purpose. Piedmont had sued for peace and obtained it.
The Italians of Upper Italy, exulting in their emancipation from the
Austrians, under the protection of Napoleon established the Cispadane
Republic. Without the support of his strong arm they could not for a
day resist the encroachments of the surrounding despotisms. The first
National Assembly of this infant republic met at Modena, October 16,
1796. The people were electrified with delight at this unexpected
achievement of freedom. The Assembly sent an address to Napoleon,
informing him of the principles of their new government.
"Never forget," said Napoleon, in his reply, "that laws are mere
nullities without the force necessary to support them. Attend to
your military organization, which you have the means of placing on a
respectable footing. You will then be more fortunate than the people
of France, for you will arrive at liberty without passing through
the ordeal of revolution."
The Directory had for some time been attempting to effect peace with
England. On the 18th of December the British government stated on what
terms it would consent to sheathe the sword. M. Thiers expresses the
feelings of France in reference to this offer in the following terms:
"Thus France, having been iniquitously forced into war, after
she had expended enormous sums, and from which she had come off
victorious--France was not to gain a single province, while the
northern powers had just divided a kingdom between them (Poland), and
England had recently made immense acquisitions in India. France, who
still occupied the line of the Rhine, and who was mistress of Italy,
was to evacuate the Rhine and Italy at the bare summons of England!
Such conditions were absurd and inadmissible. The very proposal of them
was an insult, and they could not be listened to."[460]
To conquer a peace, the Directory now meditated a direct attack upon
England. The Catholic Irish, over three millions in number, hating
implacably their English conquerors, were ardent to rise, under the
guarantee of France, and establish a republican government. They had
sent secret agents to Paris to confer with the Directory. Wolfe Tone,
one of the leaders of the Irish revolutionists, addressed memorials to
the French Directory soliciting aid.
"The Catholics of Ireland," said he, "are 3,150,000, all trained from
their infancy in an hereditary hatred and abhorrence of the English
name. For these five years they have fixed their eyes most earnestly
on France, whom they look upon, with great justice, as fighting their
battles, as well as that of all mankind who are oppressed. Of this
class I will stake my head there are 500,000 who would fly to the
standard of the Republic if they saw it once displayed in the cause of
liberty and their country.
"The Republic may also rely with confidence on the support of the
Dissenters, actuated by reason and reflection, as well as the Catholics
impelled by misery and inflamed by detestation of the English name.
In the year 1791 the Dissenters of Belfast first formed the Club of
United Irishmen, so called because in that club, for the first time,
Dissenters and Catholics were seen together in harmony and union.
Corresponding clubs were rapidly formed, the object of which was to
subvert the tyranny of England, establish the independence of Ireland,
and frame a free republic on the broad basis of liberty and equality.
"The Catholics also have an organization, commencing about the same
time with the clubs last mentioned, but composed of Catholics only. In
June last it embraced the whole peasantry of the provinces of Ulster,
Leinster, and Connaught, three fourths of the nation, and I have little
doubt that it has since extended into Munster, the remaining province.
The eyes of this whole body, which may be said, almost without a
figure, to be the people of Ireland, are turned with the most anxious
expectation to France for assistance and support. The oath of their
union recites that they will be faithful to the united nations of
France and Ireland."[461]
An expedition to Ireland was secretly resolved upon. A fleet of
fifteen sail of the line, twenty frigates, six luggers, and fifty
transports, containing sixteen thousand troops, sailed on the 16th of
December to land in Bantry Bay, on the coast of Ireland. But the very
night after the squadron left port a heavy storm arose, in which one
ship foundered and the fleet was widely dispersed. A singular series of
casualties ensued. Some of the ships entered the bay, but not finding
their companions, after waiting a short time, returned to France.
Other ships of the expedition soon after entered, but, finding the
bay deserted, they also returned. The expedition thus proved a total
failure.[462]
The inefficient Directory was quite unable to rectify the disorders
into which the internal affairs of the state were plunged. They uttered
loud complaints, which did but increase discontent and disgust. The
press, being entirely free, indulged in the utmost violence; Royalists
and Jacobins assailing the feeble government without mercy and
thwarting its operations in every possible way. The army of Italy was
triumphant--almost miraculously so. Every where else the Republic was
in disgrace. The Directory endeavored to throw the blame of the public
calamities upon the two Councils, and published the following message,
which was as true as it was ill-advised:
"All departments are distressed. The pay of the troops is in arrear;
the defenders of the country, in rags and enervated by want, in disgust
are led to desertion. The hospitals are destitute of furniture, fire,
and drugs. The charitable institutions, utterly impoverished, repel the
poor and infirm. The creditors of the state, the contractors who supply
the armies, with difficulty obtain but a small portion of the sums that
are their due. Distress keeps aloof men who could perform the same
services better and cheaper. The roads are cut up; the communications
interrupted. The public functionaries are without salary; from one end
of the Republic to the other judges and administrators may be seen
reduced to the horrible alternative either of dragging on, with their
families, a miserable existence, or of being dishonored by selling
themselves to intrigue. The evil-disposed are every where busy. In many
places murder is being organized, and the police, without activity,
without energy, because it is without pecuniary means, can not put a
stop to these disorders."
All eyes were directed to the achievements of Napoleon, who, with
superhuman energy, was destroying army after army of the Allies,
astounding Europe by his exploits, and exciting the admiration of his
countrymen. Thiers thus describes the position he then occupied in the
public mind:
"Sickness, together with the excessive fatigues of the campaign, had
weakened him extremely. He could scarcely sit on horseback; his cheeks
were hollow and livid. His whole appearance was deplorable. His eyes
alone, still bright and piercing as ever, indicated that the fire
of his soul was not extinguished. His physical proportions formed a
singular contrast with his genius and his renown, a contrast amusing to
soldiers at once jovial and enthusiastic. Notwithstanding the decline
of his strength, his extraordinary energy supported him and imparted an
activity which was applied to all objects at once.
"He had begun what he called _the war against robbers_. Intriguers
of all kinds had thronged to Italy for the purpose of introducing
themselves into the administration of the armies and profiting by the
wealth of that fine country. While simplicity and indigence pervaded
the armies of the Rhine, luxury pervaded that of Italy--luxury as great
as its glory. The soldiers, well clothed and well fed, were every where
cordially received, and lived in pleasure and abundance. The officers,
the generals, participated in the general opulence, and laid the
foundations of their fortunes.
"Bonaparte, who had within him all the passions, but who, at that
moment, was engrossed by one passion, that of glory, lived in a simple
and austere manner, seeking relaxation only in the society of his wife,
to whom he was tenderly attached, and who had come, at his desire, to
his head-quarters. Indignant at the disorders of the administration,
he strictly scrutinized the minutest details, verified by personal
inspection the accounts of the companies, denounced the dishonest
administrators without mercy, and caused them to be prosecuted."
Among the Directors, Carnot was one of the noblest of men. The purity
of his character slander has never attempted to taint. Barras was
a fearless soldier and a shameless debauchee. He boasted of the
profligacies in which he openly indulged, and he rioted in boundless
extravagance, which he supported through corruption and bribes. Rewbel
was a lawyer, a man of ability and integrity.[463] These three men had
belonged to different political parties during the Revolution, and each
detested the others. Lareveillère was an honest man, but destitute of
those commanding qualities so essential to the post he occupied. Le
Tourneur was a vain, good-natured man who merely echoed the voice of
Carnot. All the Directors but Barras occupied, with their families,
apartments in the Palace of the Luxembourg. In the public mind this
discordant Directory consisted of two parties, Barras, Rewbel, and
Lareveillère in the majority, and Carnot and Le Tourneur in the
opposition.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 451: Thiers, History of the French Revolution, vol. iii., p.
338.]
[Footnote 452: "France, exhausted by every species of suffering, had
lost even the power of uttering a complaint; and we had all arrived
at such a point of depression that death, if unattended by pain,
would have been wished for even by the youngest human being, because
it offered the prospect of repose, and every one panted for that
blessing at any price. But it was ordained that many days, months, and
years should still continue in that state of horrible agitation, the
true foretaste of the torments of hell."--_Memoirs of the Duchess of
Abrantes_, p. 296.]
[Footnote 453: A _Republican_ does not view this endeavor on the
part of the British government to foment civil war in France as a
_Royalist_ views it. "It is _painful_," says Mr. Alison, "to reflect
how different might have been the issue of the campaign had Great
Britain really put forth its strength in the contest, and, instead of
landing a few thousand men on a coast bristling with bayonets, sent
thirty thousand men to make head against the Republicans till the
Royalist forces were so organized as to be able to take the field with
regular troops." It was this persistent determination, on the part of
the British government and allied Europe, that France should not enjoy
free institutions, which led to nearly all the sanguinary scenes of the
French Revolution, and which, for nearly a quarter of a century, made
Europe red with blood.]
[Footnote 454: "All these forces [of the Republic] were in a state
of extreme penury, and totally destitute of the equipments necessary
for the carrying on of a campaign. They had neither caissons, nor
horses, nor magazines. The soldiers were almost naked and the generals,
even, frequently in want of the necessaries of life. Multitudes had
taken advantage of the relaxation of authority following the fall of
Robespierre to desert and return to their homes, and the government,
so far from being able to bring them back to their colors, were
not even able to levy conscripts in the interior to supply their
place."--_Alison_, vol. i., p. 369.
Paper money had been issued to the almost incredible amount of
2,000,000,000 dollars, or 10,000,000,000 francs. This paper money had
so depreciated that a pound of sugar cost eighty dollars in paper
money.]
[Footnote 455: Thiers, Hist. French Rev., vol. iii., p. 353.]
[Footnote 456: Ibid., vol. iii., p. 364.]
[Footnote 457: M. Basseville, an envoy of the French Republic at Rome,
was attacked by a mob and cruelly murdered.]
[Footnote 458: Quelling the insurgent sections.]
[Footnote 459: Thiers's French Revolution, vol. iv., p. 10.]
[Footnote 460: Thiers's French Revolution, vol. iv., p. 66.]
[Footnote 461: Wolfe Tone's First Memorial to the French Directory,
vol. ii., p. 187.]
[Footnote 462: "It is a curious subject for speculation what might have
been the result had Hoche succeeded in landing with sixteen thousand of
his best troops on the Irish shores. To those who consider, indeed, the
patriotic spirit, indomitable valor, and persevering character of the
English people, and the complete command they had of the sea, the final
issue of such a contest can not appear doubtful; but it is equally
evident that the addition of such a force and so able a commander
to the numerous bodies of Irish malcontents would have engendered
a dreadful domestic war, and that the whole energies of the empire
might for a very long period have been employed in saving itself from
dismemberment."--_Alison's History of Europe_, vol. i., p. 444.]
[Footnote 463: "Carnot, Barras, Rewbel, and Lareveillère had been
members of the Convention; and, although none of them had been famous
during the Reign of Terror for any atrocious act, still the three
first had voted the death of the king--a vote which, notwithstanding
the fatal though powerful considerations that may be presented
in alleviation, placed them among the most furious Jacobins, and
was prejudicial to the respect with which they ought to have been
invested."--_Memoirs of Lavalette._]