FROM THE 1ST OF OCTOBER, 1791, TO THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER, 1792
The new assembly opened its session on the 1st October, 1791. It declared
itself immediately _the national legislative assembly_. From its first
appearance, it had occasion to display its attachment to the actual state
of things, and the respect it felt for the authors of French liberty. The
book of the constitution was solemnly presented to it by the archivist
Camus, accompanied by twelve of the oldest members of the national
representation. 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.
But its first relations with the king had not the same character of union
and confidence. The court, doubtless hoping to regain under the
legislative, the superior position which it had lost under the constituent
assembly, did not employ sufficient management towards a susceptible and
anxious popular authority, which was then considered the first of the
state. The assembly sent a deputation of sixty of its members to the king
to announce its opening. The king did not receive them in person, and sent
word by the minister of justice that he could not give them audience till
noon on the following day. This unceremonious dismissal, and the indirect
communication between the national representatives and the prince, by
means of a minister, hurt the deputation excessively. 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. replied still more drily: "I
cannot visit you before Friday." 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. The ceremony with which the king was
to be received among them was arranged according to preceding laws. A
fauteuil in the form of a throne was reserved for him; they used towards
him the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_, and the deputies, standing and
uncovered on his entrance, were to sit down, put on their hats, and rise
again, following with deference all the movements of the prince. Some
restless and exaggerated minds considered this condescension unworthy of a
sovereign assembly. The deputy Grangeneuve required that the words _sire_
and _majesty_ should be replaced by the "more constitutional and finer"
title of _king of the French_. Couthon strongly enforced this motion, and
proposed that a simple fauteuil should be assigned to the king, exactly
like the president's. These motions excited some slight disapprobation on
the part of a few members, but the greater number received them eagerly.
"It gives me pleasure to suppose," said Guadet, "that the French people
will always venerate the simple fauteuil upon which sits the president of
the national representatives, much more than the gilded fauteuil where
sits the head of the executive power. I will say nothing, gentlemen, of
the titles of _sire_ and _majesty_. It astonishes me to find the national
assembly deliberating whether they shall be retained. 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."
The previous question was demanded, but feebly; these motions were put to
the vote, and carried by a considerable majority. Yet, as this decree
appeared hostile, the constitutional opinion pronounced itself against it,
and censured this too excessive rigour in the application of principles.
On the following day those who had demanded the previous question moved
that the decisions of the day before should be abandoned. 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. These petty
skirmishes between two powers who had to fear usurpations, assumptions,
and more especially ill will between them, terminated here on this
occasion, and all recollection of them was effaced by the presence of
Louis XVI. in the legislative body, where he was received with the
greatest respect and the most lively enthusiasm.
General pacification formed the chief topic of his speech. He pointed out
to the assembly the subjects that ought to attract its attention,--
finance, civil law, commerce, trade, and the consolidation of the new
government; he promised to employ his influence to restore order and
discipline in the army, to put the kingdom in a state of defence, and to
diffuse ideas respecting the French revolution, calculated to re-establish
a good understanding in Europe. He added the following words, which were
received with much applause: "Gentlemen, in order that your important
labours, as well as your zeal, may produce all the good which may be
expected from them, a constant harmony and unchanging confidence should
reign between the legislative body and the king. The enemies of our peace
seek but too eagerly to disunite us, but let love of country cement our
union, and let public interest make us inseparable! Thus public power may
develop itself without obstacle; government will not be harassed by vain
fears; the possessions and faith of each will be equally protected, and no
pretext will remain for any one to live apart from a country where the
laws are in vigour, and where the rights of all are respected."
Unfortunately there were two classes, without the revolution, that would
not enter into composition with it, and whose efforts in Europe and the
interior of France were to prevent the realization of these wise and
pacific words. As soon as there are displaced parties in a state, a
struggle will result, and measures of hostility must be taken against
them. 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 composition of this assembly was completely popular. The prevailing
ideas being in favour of the revolution, the court, nobility, and clergy
had exercised no influence over the elections. There were not in this
assembly, as in the preceding, partisans of absolute power and of
privilege. The two fractions of the Left who had separated towards the
close of the constituent assembly were again brought face to face; but no
longer in the same proportion of number and strength. The popular minority
of the previous assembly became the majority in this. The prohibition
against electing representatives already tried, the necessity of choosing
deputies from those most distinguished by their conduct and opinions, and
especially the active influence of the clubs, led to this result. Opinions
and parties soon became known. 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. It had some relations with the court, through Barnave,
Duport, and Alexander Lameth, who were its former leaders; but whose
counsels were rarely followed by Louis XVI., who gave himself up with more
confidence to the advice of those immediately around him. Out of doors, it
supported itself on the club of the Feuillants and upon the bourgeoisie.
The national guard, the army, the directory of the department, and in
general all the constituted authorities, were favourable to it. But this
party, which no longer prevailed in the assembly, soon lost a post quite
as essential, that of the municipality, which was occupied by its
adversaries of the Left.
These formed the party called Girondist, and which in the revolution only
formed an intermediate party between the middle class and the multitude.
It had then no subversive project; but it was disposed to defend the
revolution in every way, and in this differed from the constitutionalists
who would only defend it with the law. At its head were the brilliant
orators of the Gironde, [Footnote: The name of the river Garonne, after
its confluence with the Dordogne.] who gave their name to the party,
Vergniaud, Guadet, Gensonné, and the Provençal Isnard, who had a style of
still more impassioned eloquence than theirs. Its chief leader was
Brissot, who, a member of the corporation of Paris during the last
session, had subsequently become a member of the assembly. The opinions of
Brissot, who advocated a complete reform; his great activity of mind,
which he developed at once in the journal the _Patriote_, in the tribune
of the assembly, and at the club of the Jacobins; his exact and extensive
knowledge of the position of foreign powers, gave him great ascendancy at
the moment of a struggle between parties, and of a war with Europe.
Condorcet possessed influence of another description; he owed this to his
profound ideas, to his superior reason, which almost procured him the
place of Sieyès in this second revolutionary generation. Pétion, of a calm
and determined character, was the active man of this party. His tranquil
brow, his fluent elocution, his acquaintance with the people, soon
procured for him the municipal magistracy, which Bailly had discharged for
the middle class.
The Left had in the assembly the nucleus of a party more extreme than
itself, and the members of which, such as Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, were to
the Girondists what Pétion, Buzot, Robespierre, had been to the Left of
the constituent. This was the commencement of the democratic faction
which, without, served as auxiliary to the Gironde, and which managed the
clubs and the multitude. Robespierre in the society of the Jacobins, where
he established his sway after leaving the assembly; Danton, Camille
Desmoulins, and Fabre-d'Eglantine at the Cordeliers, where they had
founded a club of innovators more extreme than the Jacobins, composed of
men of the bourgeoisie; the brewer Santerre in the faubourgs, where the
popular power lay; were the true chiefs of this faction, which depended on
one whole class, and aspired at founding its own régime.
The Centre of the legislative assembly was sincerely attached to the new
order of things. It had almost the same opinions, the same inclination for
moderation as the Centre of the constituent assembly; but its power was
very different: it was no longer at the head of a class established, and
by the aid of which it could master all the extreme parties. Public
dangers, making the want of exalted opinions and parties from without
again felt, completely annulled the Centre. It was soon won over to the
strongest side, the fate of all moderate parties, and the Left swayed it.
The situation of the assembly was very difficult. Its predecessor had left
it parties which it evidently could not pacify. From the beginning of the
session it was obliged to turn its attention to these, and that in
opposing them. Emigration was making an alarming progress: the king's two
brothers, the prince de Condé and the duke de Bourbon, had protested
against Louis XVI. accepting the constitutional act, that is, against the
only means of accommodation; they had said that the king could not
alienate the rights of the ancient monarchy; and their protest,
circulating throughout France, had produced a great effect on their
partisans. Officers quitted the armies, the nobility their châteaux, whole
companies deserted to enlist on the frontiers. Distaffs were sent to those
who wavered; and those who did not emigrate were threatened with the loss
of the position when the nobility should return victorious. In the
Austrian Low Countries and the bordering electorates, there was formed
what was called _La France extérieure_. The counterrevolution was openly
preparing at Brussels, Worms, and Coblentz, under the protection and even
with the assistance of foreign courts. The ambassadors of the emigrants
were received, while those of the French government were dismissed, ill
received, or even thrown into prison, as in the case of M. Duveryer.
French merchants and travellers suspected of patriotism and attachment to
the revolution were scouted throughout Europe. Several powers had declared
themselves without disguise: of this number were Sweden, Russia, and
Spain; the latter at that time being governed by the marquis Florida-
Blanca, a man entirely devoted to the emigrant 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.
The dissentient ecclesiastics left nothing undone which might produce a
diversion in favour of the emigrants at home. "Priests, and especially
bishops," says the marquis de Ferrières, "employed all the resources of
fanaticism to excite the people, in town and country, against the civil
constitution of the clergy." Bishops ordered the priests no longer to
perform divine service in the same church with the constitutional priests,
for fear the people might confound the two. "Independently," he adds, "of
circular letters written to the curés, instructions intended for the
people were circulated through the country. They said that the sacraments
could not be effectually administered by the constitutional priests, whom
they called _Intruders_, and that every one attending their ministrations
became by their presence guilty of a mortal sin; that those who were
married by Intruders, were not married; that they brought a curse upon
themselves and upon their children; that no one should have communication
with them, or with those separated from the church; that the municipal
officers who installed them, like them became apostates; that the moment
of their installation all bell-ringers and sextons ought to resign their
situations.... These fanatical addresses produced the effect which the
bishops expected. Religious disturbances broke out on all sides."
Insurrection more especially broke out in Calvados, Gevaudan, and La
Vendée. These districts were ill-disposed towards the revolution, because
they contained few of the middle and intelligent classes, and because the
populace, up to that time, had been kept in a state of dependence on the
nobility and clergy. The Girondists, taking alarm, wished to adopt
rigorous measures against emigration and the dissentient priests, who
attacked the new order of things. Brissot proposed putting a stop to
emigration, by giving up the mild system hitherto observed towards it. He
divided the emigrants into three classes:--1st. The principal leaders, and
at their head the brothers of the king. 2ndly. Public functionaries who
forsook their posts and country, and sought to entice their colleagues.
3rdly. Private individuals, who, to preserve life, or from an aversion to
the revolution, or from other motives, left their native land, without
taking arms against it. He required that severe laws should be put in
force against the first two classes; but thought it would be good policy
to be indulgent towards the last. With respect to non-juring
ecclesiastics and agitators, some of the Girondists proposed to confine
themselves to a stricter surveillance; others thought there was only one
safe line of conduct to be pursued towards them: that the spirit of
sedition could only be quelled by banishing them from the country. "All
attempts at conciliation," said the impetuous Isnard, "will henceforth be
in vain. What, I ask, has been the consequence of these reiterated
pardons? The daring of your foes has increased with your indulgence; they
will only cease to injure you when deprived of the means of doing so. They
must be conquerors or conquered. 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. They said,
before everything it was necessary to respect the constitution, and from
that time to confine themselves to precautionary measures; that it was
sufficient to keep on the defensive against the emigrants; and to wait, in
order to punish the dissentient priests, till they discovered actual
conspiracies on their part. They recommended that the law should not be
violated even towards enemies, for fear that once engaging in such a
course, it should be impossible to arrest that course, and so the
revolution be lost, like the ancient régime, through its injustice. But
the assembly, which deemed the safety of the state more important than the
strict observance of the law, which saw danger in hesitation, and which,
moreover, was influenced by passions which lead to expeditious measures,
was not stopped by these considerations. With common consent it again, on
the 30th of October, passed a decree relative to the eldest brother of the
king, Louis-Stanislaus-Xavier. This prince was required, in the terms of
the constitution, to return to France in two months, or at the expiration
of that period he would be considered to have forfeited his rights as
regent. But agreement ceased as to the decrees against emigrants and
priests. 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. On
the 29th of the same month it passed a similar decree respecting the
dissentient priests. They were obliged to take the civic oath, under pain
of being deprived of their pensions and suspected of revolt against the
law. If they still refused they were to be closely watched; and if any
religious disturbances took place in their parishes, they were to be taken
to the chief town of the department, and if found to have taken any part
in exciting disobedience, they were liable to imprisonment.
The king sanctioned the first decree respecting his brother; he put his
veto on the other two. A short time before he had disavowed emigration by
public measures, and he had written to the emigrant princes recalling them
to the kingdom. He invited them to return in the name of the tranquillity
of France, and of the attachment and obedience they owed to him as their
brother and their king. "I shall," said he, in concluding the letter,
"always be grateful to you for saving me the necessity of acting in
opposition to you, through the invariable resolution I have made to
maintain what I have announced." These wise invitations had led to no
result: but Louis XVI., while he condemned the conduct of the emigrants,
would not give his consent to the measures taken against them. In refusing
his sanction he was supported by the friends of the constitution and the
directory of the department. This support was not without use to him, at a
time when, in the eyes of the people, he appeared to be an accomplice of
emigration, when he provoked the dissatisfaction of the Girondists, and
separated himself from the assembly. He should have united closely with
it, since he invoked the constitution against the emigrants in his
letters, and against the revolutionist, by the exercise of his
prerogative. His position could only become strong by sincerely falling in
with the first revolution, and making his own cause one with that of the
bourgeoisie.
But the court was not so resigned; it still expected better times, and was
thus prevented from pursuing an invariable line of conduct, and induced to
seek grounds for hope in every quarter. Now and then disposed to favour
the intervention of foreign powers, it continued to correspond with
Europe; it intrigued with its ministers against the popular party, and
made use of the Feuillants against the Girondists, though with much
distrust. At this period its chief resource was in the petty schemes of
Bertrand de Moleville, who directed the council; who had established a
_French club_, the members of which he paid; who purchased the applause of
the tribunes of the assembly, hoping by this imitation of the revolution
to conquer the true revolution, his object being to deceive parties, and
annul the effects of the constitution by observing it literally.
By this line of conduct the court had even the imprudence to weaken the
constitutionalists, whom it ought to have reinforced; at their expense it
favoured the election of Pétion to the mayoralty. Through the
disinterestedness with which the preceding assembly had been seized, all
who had held popular posts under it successively gave them up. On the 18th
of October, Lafayette resigned the command of the national guard, and
Bailly had just retired from the mayoralty. 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. Till then it had been in the hands
of the constitutionalists, who, by this means, had repressed the rising of
the Champ de Mars. 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.
"M. de Lafayette," observed the queen to Bertrand de Moleville, "only
wishes to be mayor of Paris in order to become mayor of the palace. Pétion
is a jacobin, a republican, but he is a fool, incapable of ever leading a
party." On the 4th of November, Pétion was elected mayor by a majority of
6708 votes in a total of 10,632.
The Girondists, in whose favour this nomination became decisive, did not
content themselves with the acquisition of the mayoralty. France could not
remain long in this dangerous and provisional state. The decrees which,
justly or otherwise, were to provide for the defence of the revolution,
and which had been rejected by the king, were not replaced by any
government measure; the ministry manifested either unwillingness or sheer
indifference. The Girondists, accordingly, accused Delessart, the minister
for foreign affairs, of compromising the honour and safety of the nation
by the tone of his negotiations with foreign powers, by his
procrastination, and want of skill. They also warmly attacked Duportail,
the war minister, and Bertrand de Moleville, minister of the marine, for
neglecting to put the coasts and frontiers in a state of defence. The
conduct of the Electors of Trèves, Mayence, and the bishop of Spires, who
favoured the military preparations of the emigrants, more especially
excited the national indignation. The diplomatic committee proposed a
declaration to the king, that the nation would view with satisfaction a
requisition by him to the neighbouring princes to disperse the military
gatherings within three weeks, and his assembling the forces necessary to
make them respect international law. By this important measure, they also
wished to make Louis XVI. enter into a solemn engagement, and signify to
the diet of Ratisbon, as well as to the other courts of Europe, the firm
intentions of France.
Isnard ascended the tribune to support this proposition. "Let us," said
he, "in this crisis, rise to the full elevation of our mission; let us
speak to the ministers, to the king, to all Europe, with the firmness that
becomes us. Let us tell our ministers, that hitherto the nation is not
well satisfied with the conduct of any of them; that henceforth they will
have no choice but between public gratitude and the vengeance of the laws;
and that by the word responsibility we understand death. Let us tell the
king that it is his interest to defend the constitution; that he only
reigns by the people and for the people; that the nation is his sovereign,
and that he is subject to the law. Let us tell Europe, that if the French
people once draw the sword, they will throw away the scabbard, and will
not raise it again till it may be crowned with the laurels of victory;
that if cabinets engage kings in a war against the people, we will engage
the people in a mortal warfare against kings. Let us tell them, that all
the fights the people shall fight at the order of despots"--here he was
interrupted by loud applause--"Do not applaud," he cried--"do not applaud;
respect my enthusiasm; it is that of liberty! Let us say to Europe, that
all the fights which the people shall fight at the command of despots,
resemble the blows that two friends, excited by a perfidious instigator,
inflict on each other in darkness. 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 nations will embrace in the presence of dethroned tyrants--
of the earth consoled, of Heaven satisfied."
The assembly unanimously, and with transport, passed the proposed measure,
and, on the 29th of November, sent a message to the king. Vaublanc was the
leader of the deputation. "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. Their audacity is encouraged by German princes, who
trample under foot the treaties between them and France, and affect to
forget that they are indebted to this empire for the treaty of Westphalia,
which secured their rights and their safety. These hostile preparations,
these threats of invasion, will require armaments absorbing immense sums,
which the nation would joyfully pay over to its creditors. It is for you,
sire, to make them desist; it is for you to address to foreign powers the
language befitting the king of the French. Tell them, that wherever
preparations are permitted to be made against France, there France
recognises only foes; that we will religiously observe our oath to make no
conquests; that we offer them the good neighbourship, the inviolable
friendship of a free and powerful people; that we will respect their laws,
their customs, and their constitutions; but that we will have our own
respected! Tell them, that if princes of Germany continue to favour
preparations directed against the French, the French will carry into their
territories, not indeed fire and sword, but liberty. It is for them to
calculate the consequences of this awakening of nations."
Louis XVI. replied, that he would give the fullest consideration to the
message of the assembly; and in a few days he came in person to announce
his resolutions on the subject. They were conformable with the general
wish. The king said, amidst vehement applause, that he would cause it to
be declared to the elector of Trèves and the other electors, that, unless
all gatherings and hostile preparations on the part of the French
emigrants in their states ceased before the 15th of January, he would
consider them as enemies. He added, that he would write to the emperor to
engage him, as chief of the empire, to interpose his authority for the
purpose of averting the calamities which the lengthened resistance of a
few members of the Germanic body would occasion. "If these declarations
are not heeded, then, gentlemen," said he, "it will only remain for me to
propose war--war, which a people who have solemnly renounced conquest,
never declares without necessity, but which a free and generous nation
will undertake and carry on when its honour and safety require it."
The steps taken by the king with the princes of the empire were supported
by military preparations. 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. A
hundred and fifty thousand men were placed in requisition; for this object
the assembly voted an extraordinary supply of twenty millions of francs;
three armies were formed under the command of Rochambeau, Luckner, and
Lafayette; finally, a decree was passed impeaching _Monsieur_, the count
d'Artois, and the prince de Condé as conspirators against the general
safety of the state and of the constitution. Their property was
sequestrated, and the period previously fixed on for _Monsieur's_ return
to the kingdom having expired, he was deprived of his claim to the
regency.
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. Austria
ordered marshal Bender to defend the elector if he were attacked, and
ratified the conclusions of the diet of Ratisbon, which required the
restoration of the princes' possessions; refused to sanction any pecuniary
indemnity for the loss of their rights, and only left France the
alternative of restoring feudalism in Alsace, or war. These two measures
of the cabinet of Vienna were by no means pacific. Its troops advanced
towards the frontiers of France, and gave further proof that it would not
be safe to trust to its neutrality. It had fifty thousand men in the
Netherlands; six thousand posted in Breisgau; and thirty thousand men on
their way from Bohemia. This powerful army of observation might at any
moment be converted into an army of attack.
The assembly felt that it was urgently necessary to bring the emperor to a
decision. It looked on the electors as merely his agents, and on the
emigrants as his instruments; for the prince von Kaunitz recognised as
legitimate "the league of sovereigns united for the safety and honour of
crowns." The Girondists, therefore, wished to anticipate this dangerous
adversary, in order not to give him time for more mature preparations.
They required from him, before the 10th of February, a definite and
precise explanation of his real intentions with regard to France. They at
the same time proceeded against those ministers on whom they could not
rely in the event of war. The incapacity of Delessart, and the intrigues
of Moleville especially, gave room for attack; Narbonne was alone spared.
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. Men so opposed in character and intentions could scarcely be
expected to agree; Bertrand de Moleville had warm contests with Narbonne,
who wished his colleagues to adopt a frank, decided line of conduct, and
to make the assembly the fulcrum of the throne. Narbonne succumbed in this
struggle, and his dismissal involved the disorganization of the ministry.
The Girondists threw the blame upon Bertrand de Moleville and Delessart;
the former had the address to exonerate himself; but the latter was
brought before the high court of Orleans.
The king, intimidated by the assaults of the assembly upon the members of
his council, and more especially by the impeachment of Delessart, had no
resource but to select his new ministers from amongst the victorious
party. An alliance with the actual rulers of the revolution could alone
save liberty and the throne, by restoring concord between the assembly,
the supreme authority, and the municipality; and if this union had been
maintained, the Girondists would have effected with the court that which,
after the rupture itself, they considered they could only effect without
it. The members of the new ministry were:--minister of the marine,
Lacoste; of finance, Clavière; of justice, Duranton; of war, de Grave,
soon afterwards replaced by Servan; of foreign affairs, Dumouriez; of the
interior, Roland. The two latter were the most important and most
remarkable men in the cabinet.
Dumouriez was forty-seven years of age when the revolution began; he had
lived till then immersed in intrigue, and he retained his old habits too
closely at an epoch when he should have employed small means only to aid
great ones, instead of supplying their place. The first part of his
political life was spent in seeking those by whom he might rise: the
second, those by whom he might maintain his position. A courtier up to
1789, a constitutionalist under the first assembly, a Girondist under the
second, a Jacobin under the republic, he was eminently a man of
circumstances. But he had all the resources of great men; an enterprising
character, indefatigable activity, a ready, sure, and extensive
perception, impetuosity of action, and an extraordinary confidence of
success; he was, moreover, open, easy, witty, daring; adapted alike for
arms and for factions, full of expedients, wonderfully ready, and, in
difficult positions, versed in the art of stooping to conquer. It is true
that his great qualities were weakened by defects; he was rash, flighty,
full of inconsistency of thought and action, owing to his continual thirst
for movement and machination. But his great defect was the total absence
of a political conviction. In times of revolution, nothing can be done for
liberty or power by him who is not decidedly of one party or another, and
when he is ambitious, unless he see further than the immediate objects of
that party, and have a stronger will than his colleagues. This it was made
Cromwell; this it was made Buonaparte; while Dumouriez, the employed of
all parties, thought he could get the better of them all by intriguing. He
wanted the passion of his time: that which completes a man, and alone
enables him to sway.
Roland was the opposite of Dumouriez; his was a character which Liberty
found ready formed, as if moulded by herself. Roland had simple manners,
austere morals, tried opinions; enthusiastically attached to liberty, he
was capable of disinterestedly devoting to her cause his whole life, or of
perishing for her, without ostentation and without regret. A man worthy of
being born in a republic, but out of place in a revolution, and ill
adapted for the agitation and struggle of parties; his talents were not
superior, his temper somewhat uncompliant; he was unskilled in the
knowledge and management of men; and though laborious, well informed, and
active, he would have produced little effect but for his wife. All he
wanted she had for him; force, ability, elevation, foresight. Madame
Roland was the soul of the Gironde; it was at her house that those
brilliant and courageous men assembled to discuss the necessities and
dangers of their country; it was she who stimulated to action those whom
she saw were qualified for action, and who encouraged to the tribune those
whom she knew to be eloquent.
The court named this ministry, which was appointed during the month of
March, _le Ministère Sans-Culotte_. The first time Roland appeared at the
château with strings in his shoes and a round hat, contrary to etiquette,
the master of the ceremonies refused to admit him. Obliged, however, to
give way, he said, despairingly, to Dumouriez, pointing to Roland: "_Ah,
sir--no buckles in his shoes_." "Ah, sir, all is lost," replied Dumouriez,
with an air of the most sympathising gravity. Such were the trifles which
still occupied the attention of the court. The first step of the new
ministry was war. The position of France was becoming more and more
dangerous; everything was to be feared from the enmity of Europe. Leopold
was dead, and this event was calculated to accelerate the decision of the
cabinet of Vienna. His young successor, Francis II., was likely to be less
pacific or less prudent than he. Moreover, Austria was assembling its
troops, forming camps, and appointing generals; it had violated the
territory of Bâle, and placed a garrison in Porentruy, to secure for
itself the entry of the department of Doubs. There could be no doubt as to
its projects. The gatherings at Coblenz had recommenced to a greater
extent than before; the cabinet of Vienna had only temporarily dispersed
the emigrants assembled in the Belgian provinces, in order to prevent the
invasion of that country, at a time when it was not yet ready to repel
invasion; it had, however, merely sought to save appearances, and had
allowed a staff of general officers, in full uniform, and with the white
cockade, to remain at Brussels. Finally, the reply of the prince von
Kaunitz to the required explanations was by no means satisfactory. He even
refused to negotiate directly, and the baron von Cobenzl was commissioned
to reply, that Austria would not depart from the required conditions
already set forth. The re-establishment of the monarchy on the basis of
the royal sitting of the 23rd of June; the restitution of its property to
the clergy; of the territory of Alsace, with all their rights, to the
German princes; of Avignon and the Venaissin to the pope; such was the
_ultimatum_ of Austria. All accord was now impossible; peace could no
longer be maintained. France was threatened with the fate which Holland
had just experienced, and perhaps with that of Poland. The sole question
now was whether to wait for or to initiate war, whether to profit by the
enthusiasm of the people or to allow that enthusiasm to cool. 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. "I come, gentlemen," said he, "to the national assembly for one
of the most important objects that can occupy the representatives of the
nation. My minister for foreign affairs will read to you the report drawn
up in our council, as to our political situation." Dumouriez then rose. He
set forth the grounds of complaint that France had against the house of
Austria; the object of the conferences of Mantua, Reichenbach and Pilnitz;
the coalition it had formed against the French revolution; its armaments
becoming more and more considerable; the open protection it afforded to
bodies of emigrants; the imperious tone and the undisguised
procrastination of its negotiations, lastly, the intolerable conditions of
its _ultimatum_; and, after a long series of considerations, founded on
the hostile conduct of the king of Hungary and Bohemia (Francis II. was
not yet elected emperor); on the urgent circumstances of the nation; on
its formally declared resolution to endure no insult, no encroachment on
its rights; on the honour and good faith of Louis XVI., the depositary of
the dignity and safety of France; he demanded war against Austria. Louis
XVI. then said, in a voice slightly tremulous: "You have heard, gentlemen,
the result of my negotiations with the court of Vienna. The conclusions of
the report are based upon the unanimous opinion of my council; I have
myself adopted them. They are conformable with the wishes often expressed
to me by the national assembly, and with the sentiments frequently
testified by bodies of citizens in different parts of the kingdom; all
prefer war, to witnessing the continuance of insult to the French people,
and danger threatening the national existence. It was my duty first to try
every means of maintaining peace. Having failed in these efforts, I now
come, according to the terms of the constitution, to propose to the
national assembly war against the king of Hungary and Bohemia." The king's
address was received with some applause, but the solemnity of the
circumstances, and the grandeur of the decision, filled every bosom with
silent and concentrated emotion. As soon as the king had withdrawn, the
assembly voted an extraordinary sitting for the evening. In that sitting
war was almost unanimously decided upon. Thus was undertaken, against the
chief of the confederate powers, that war which was protracted throughout
a quarter of a century, which victoriously established the revolution, and
which changed the whole face of Europe.
All France received the announcement with joy. War gave a new movement to
the people already so much excited. Districts, municipalities, popular
societies, wrote addresses; men were enrolled, voluntary gifts offered,
pikes forged, and the nation seemed to rise up to await Europe, or to
attack it. But enthusiasm, which ensures victory in the end, does not at
first supply the place of organization. Accordingly, at the opening of the
campaign, the regular troops were all that could be relied upon until the
new levies were trained. This was the state of the forces. The vast
frontier, from Dunkirk to Huninguen, was divided into three great military
districts. On the left, from Dunkirk to Philippeville, the army of the
north, of about forty thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, was under
the orders of marshal de Rochambeau. Lafayette commanded the army of the
centre, composed of forty-five thousand foot, and seven thousand horse,
and occupying the district between Philippeville and the lines of
Weissemberg. Lastly, the army of the Rhine, consisting of thirty-five
thousand foot, and eight thousand horse, extending from the lines of
Weissemberg to Bâle, was under the command of marshal Luckner. The
frontier of the Alps and Pyrenees was confided to general Montesquiou,
whose army was inconsiderable; but this part of France was not as yet in
danger.
The marshal de Rochambeau was of opinion that it would be prudent to
remain on the defensive, and simply to guard the frontiers. Dumouriez, on
the contrary, wished to take the initiative in action, as they had done in
declaring war, so as to profit by the advantage of being first prepared.
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. This province had, in 1790, essayed to throw
off the Austrian yoke, but, after a brief victory, was subdued by superior
force. Dumouriez imagined that the Brabant patriots would favour the
attack of the French, as a means of freedom for themselves. With this
view, he combined a triple invasion. The two generals, Theobald Dillon,
and Biron, who commanded in Flanders under Rochambeau, received orders to
advance, the one with four thousand men from Lille upon Tournai--the
other, with ten thousand, from Valenciennes upon Mons. 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. But this plan
implied in the soldiers a discipline which they had not of course as yet
acquired, and on the part of the chiefs a concert very difficult to
obtain; besides, the invading columns were not strong enough for such an
enterprise. Theobald Dillon had scarcely passed the frontier, when, on
meeting the first enemy on the 28th of April, a panic terror seized upon
the troops. The cry of _sauve qui peut_ ran through the ranks, and the
general was carried off, and massacred by his troops. Much the same thing
took place, under the same circumstances, in the corps of Biron, who was
obliged to retreat in disorder to his previous position. The sudden and
concurrent flight of these two columns must be attributed either to fear
of the enemy, on the part of troops who had never before stood fire, or to
a distrust of their leaders, or to traitors who sounded the alarm of
treachery.
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.
Rochambeau complained of the precipitate and incongruous nature of the
measures which had been in the most absolute manner prescribed to him. As
he did not choose to remain a passive machine, obliged to fill, at the
will of the ministers, a post which he himself ought to have the full
direction of, he resigned. From that moment the French army resumed the
defensive. The frontier was divided into two general commands only, the
one intrusted to Lafayette, extending from the sea to Longwy, and the
other, from the Moselle to the Jura, being confided to Luckner. Lafayette
placed his left under the command of Arthur Dillon, and with his right
reached to Luckner, who had Biron as his lieutenant on the Rhine. In this
position they awaited the allies.
Meantime, the first checks increased the rupture between the Feuillants
and the Girondists. The generals ascribed them to the plans of Dumouriez,
the ministry attributed them to the manner in which its plans had been
executed by the generals, who, having been appointed by Narbonne, were of
the constitutional party. 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. It was thought that
the court, which had increased the household troops from eighteen hundred
to six thousand men, and these carefully selected anti-revolutionists,
acted in concert with the coalition. 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. It had entered upon the career
of war, and it was thenceforth condemned to regulate its conduct far more
with reference to the public safety than with regard to the mere justice
of the case. It resolved upon sitting permanently; it discharged the
household troops; on account of the increase of religious disturbances, it
passed a decree exiling refractory priests, so that it might not have at
the same time to combat a coalition and to appease revolts. To repair the
late defeats, and to have an army of reserve near the capital, it voted on
the 8th of June, and on the motion of the minister for war, Servan, the
formation of a camp outside Paris of twenty thousand men drawn from the
provinces. It also sought to excite the public mind by revolutionary
fêtes, and began to enroll the multitude and arm them with pikes,
conceiving that no assistance could be superfluous in such a moment of
peril.
All these measures were not carried without opposition from the
constitutionalists. They opposed the establishment of the camp of twenty
thousand men, which they regarded as the army of a party directed against
the national guard and the throne. The staff of the former protested, and
the recomposition of this body was immediately effected in accordance with
the views of the dominant party. Companies armed with pikes were
introduced into the new national guard. 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. had for some time past manifested a coolness towards his
ministers, who on their part had been more exacting with him. They urged
him to admit about him priests who had taken the oath, in order to set an
example in favour of the constitutional religion, and to remove pretexts
for religious agitation; he steadily refused this, determined as he was to
make no further religious concession. These last decrees had put an end to
his concord with the Gironde; for several days he did not mention the
subject, much less make known his intentions respecting it. It was on this
occasion that Roland addressed to him his celebrated letter on his
constitutional duties, and entreated him to calm the public mind, and to
establish his authority, by becoming frankly the king of the revolution.
This letter still more highly irritated Louis XVI., already disposed to
break with the Girondists. He was supported in this by Dumouriez, who,
forsaking his party, had formed with Duranton and Lacoste, a division in
the ministry against Roland, Servan, and Clavière. But, able as well as
ambitious, Dumouriez advised Louis, while dismissing the ministers of whom
he had to complain, to sanction their decrees, in order to make himself
popular. He described that against the priests as a precaution in their
favour, exile probably removing them from a proscription still more fatal;
he undertook to prevent any revolutionary consequences from the camp of
twenty thousand men, by marching off each battalion to the army
immediately upon its arrival at the camp. On these conditions, Dumouriez
took upon himself the post of minister for war, and sustained the attacks
of his own party. The king dismissed his ministers on the 13th of June,
rejected the decrees on the 29th, and Dumouriez set out for the army,
after having rendered himself an object of suspicion. The assembly
declared that Roland, Servan, and Clavière carried with them the regrets
of the nation.
The king selected his new ministers from among the Feuillants. Scipio
Chambonnas was appointed minister of foreign affairs; Terrier de Monceil,
of the interior; Beaulieu, of finance; Lajarre, of war; Lacoste and
Duranton remained provisionally ministers of justice and of the marine.
All these men were without reputation or credit, and their party itself
was approaching the term of its existence. The constitutional situation,
during which it was to sway, was changing more and more decidedly into a
revolutionary situation. How could a legal and moderate party maintain
itself between two extreme and belligerent parties, one of which was
advancing from without to destroy the revolution, while the other was
resolved to defend it at any cost? The Feuillants became superfluous in
such a conjuncture. The king, perceiving their weakness, now seemed to
place his reliance upon Europe alone, and sent Mallet-Dupan on a secret
mission to the coalition.
Meantime, all those who had been outstripped by the popular tide, and who
belonged to the first period of the revolution, united to second this
slight retrograde movement. The monarchists, at whose head were Lally-
Tollendal and Malouet, two of the principal members of the Mounier and
Necker party; Feuillants, directed by the old triumvirate, Duport, Lameth,
and Barnave; lastly, Lafayette, who had immense reputation as a
constitutionalist, tried to put down the clubs, and to re-establish legal
order and the power of the king. The Jacobins made great exertions at this
period; their influence was becoming enormous; they were at the head of
the party of the populace. To oppose them, to check them, the old party of
the bourgeoisie was required; but this was disorganised, and its influence
grew daily weaker and weaker. In order to revive its courage and strength,
Lafayette, on the 16th of June, addressed from the camp at Maubeuge a
letter to the assembly, in which he denounced the Jacobin faction,
required the cessation of the clubs, the independence and confirmation of
the constitutional throne, and urged the assembly in his own name, in that
of his army, in that of all the friends of liberty, only to adopt such
measures for the public welfare as were sanctioned by law. This letter
gave rise to warm debates between the Right and Left in the assembly.
Though dictated only by pure and disinterested motives, it appeared,
coming as it did from a young general at the head of his army, a
proceeding _à la Cromwell_, and from that moment Lafayette's reputation,
hitherto respected by his opponents, became the object of attack. In fact,
considering it merely in a political point of view, this step was
imprudent. The Gironde, driven from the ministry, stopped in its measures
for the public good, needed no further goading; and, on the other hand, it
was quite undesirable that Lafayette, even for the benefit of his party,
should use his influence.
The Gironde wished, for its own safety and that of the nation, to recover
power, without, however, departing from constitutional means. Its object
was not, as at a later period, to dethrone the king, but to bring him back
amongst them. For this purpose it had recourse to the imperious petitions
of the multitude. Since the declaration of war, petitioners had appeared
in arms at the bar of the national assembly, had offered their services in
defence of the country, and had obtained permission to march armed through
the house. This concession was blameable, neutralizing all the laws
against military gatherings; but both parties found themselves in an
extraordinary position, and each employed illegal means; the court having
recourse to Europe, and the Gironde to the people. The latter was in a
state of great agitation. The leaders of the Faubourgs, among whom were
the deputy Chabot, Santerre, Legendre, a butcher, Gonchon, the marquis de
Saint Hurugue, prepared them, during several days, for a revolutionary
outbreak, similar to the one which failed at the Champ de Mars. The 20th
of June was approaching, the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis-court.
Under the pretext of celebrating this memorable day by a civic fête, and
of planting a May-pole in honour of liberty, an assemblage of about eight
thousand men left the Faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau, on the
20th of June, and took their way to the assembly.
Roederer, the recorder, brought the tidings to the assembly, but in the
meantime the mob had reached the doors of the hall. Their leaders asked
permission to present a petition, and to defile before the assembly. A
violent debate arose between the Right, who were unwilling to admit the
armed petitioners, and the Left, who, on the ground of custom, wished to
receive them, Vergniaud declared that the assembly would violate every
principle by admitting armed bands among them; but, considering actual
circumstances, he also declared that it was impossible to deny a request
in the present case, that had been granted in so many others. It was
difficult not to yield to the desires of an enthusiastic and vast
multitude, when seconded by a majority of the representatives. The crowd
already thronged the passages, when the assembly decided that the
petitioners should be admitted to the bar. The deputation was introduced.
The spokesman expressed himself in threatening language. He said that the
people were astir; that they were ready to make use of great means--the
means comprised in the declaration of rights, _resistance of oppression_;
that the dissentient members of the assembly, if there were any, _would
purge the world of liberty_, and would repair to Coblentz; then returning
to the true design of this insurrectional petition, he added: "The
executive power is not in union with you; we require no other proof of it
than the dismissal of the patriot ministers. It is thus, then, that the
happiness of a free nation shall depend on the caprice of a king! But
should this king have any other will than that of the law? The people will
have it so, and the life of the people is as valuable as that of crowned
despots. That life is the genealogical tree of the nation, and the feeble
reed must bend before this sturdy oak! We complain, gentlemen, of the
inactivity of our armies; we require of you to penetrate into the cause of
this; if it spring from the executive power, let that power be destroyed!"
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. This procession,
amounting to thirty thousand persons, comprising women, children, national
guards, and men armed with pikes, among whom waved revolutionary banners
and symbols, sang, as they traversed the hall, the famous chorus, _Ca
ira_, and cried: "Vive la nation!" "Vivent les sans-culottes!" "A bas le
veto!" It was led by Santerre and the marquis de Saint Hurugue. On leaving
the assembly, it proceeded to the château, headed by the petitioners.
The outer doors were opened at the king's command; the multitude rushed
into the interior. They ascended to the apartments, and while forcing the
doors with hatchets, the king ordered them to be opened, and appeared
before them, accompanied by a few persons. The mob stopped a moment before
him; but those who were outside, not being awed by the presence of the
king, continued to advance. Louis XVI. was prudently placed in the recess
of a window. He never displayed more courage than on this deplorable day.
Surrounded by national guards, who formed a barrier against the mob,
seated on a chair placed on a table, that he might breathe more freely and
be seen by the people, he preserved a calm and firm demeanour. In reply to
the cries that arose on all sides for the sanction of the decrees, he
said: "This is neither the mode nor the moment to obtain it of me." Having
the courage to refuse the essential object of the meeting, he thought he
ought not to reject a symbol, meaningless for him, but in the eyes of the
people, that of liberty; he placed on his head a red cap presented to him
on the top of a pike. The multitude were quite satisfied with this
condescension. A moment or two afterwards, they loaded him with applause,
as, almost suffocated with hunger and thirst, he drank off, without
hesitation, a glass of wine presented to him by a half-drunken workman. In
the meantime, Vergniaud, Isnard, and a few deputies of the Gironde, had
hastened thither to protect the king, to address the people, and put an
end to these indecent scenes. 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. At
length, Pétion, the mayor, himself arrived; he mounted a chair, harangued
the people, urged them to retire without tumult, and the people obeyed.
These singular insurgents, whose only aim was to obtain decrees and
ministers, retired without having exceeded their mission, but without
discharging it.
The events of the 20th of June excited the friends of the constitution
against its authors. The violation of the royal residence, the insults
offered to Louis XVI., the illegality of a petition presented amidst the
violence of the multitude, and the display of arms, were subjects of
serious censure against the popular party. The latter saw itself reduced
for a moment to the defensive; besides being guilty of a riot, it had
undergone a complete check. 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. The national guard
offered to Louis XVI. to remain assembled round his person; the duc de la
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who commanded at Rouen, wished to convey him to
his troops, who were devoted to his cause. Lafayette proposed to take him
to Compiègne, and place him at the head of his army; but Louis XVI.
declined all these offers. He conceived that the agitators would be
disgusted at the failure of their last attempt; and, as he hoped for
deliverance from the coalition of European powers, rendered more active by
the events of the 20th of June, he was unwilling to make use of the
constitutionalists, because he would have been obliged to treat with them.
Lafayette, however, attempted to make a last effort in favour of legal
monarchy. After having provided for the command of his army, and collected
addresses protesting against the late events, he started for Paris, and on
the 28th of June he unexpectedly presented himself at the bar of the
assembly. He required in his name, as well as in that of his army, the
punishment of the insurrectionists of the 20th of June, and the
destruction of the Jacobin party. His proceeding excited various
sentiments in the assembly. The Right warmly applauded it, but the Left
protested against his conduct. Guadet proposed that an inquiry should be
made as to his culpability in leaving his army and coming to dictate laws
to the assembly. Some remains of respect prevented the latter from
following Guadet's advice; and after tumultuous debates, Lafayette was
admitted to the honours of the sitting, but this was all on the part of
the assembly. Lafayette then turned to the national guard, that had so
long been devoted to him, and hoped with its aid to close the clubs,
disperse the Jacobins, restore to Louis XVI. 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. But the court, which feared the triumph of
the constitutionalists, caused Lafayette's projects to fail; he had
appointed a review, which it contrived to prevent by its influence over
the officers of the royalist battalions. The grenadiers and chasseurs,
picked companies still better disposed than the rest, were to assemble at
his residence and proceed against the clubs; scarcely thirty men came.
Having thus vainly attempted to rally in the cause of the constitution,
and the common defence, the court and the national guard, and finding
himself deserted by those he came to assist, Lafayette returned to his
army, after having lost what little influence and popularity remained to
him. This attempt was the last symptom of life in the constitutional
party.