Amiens, April 12, 1795.
Inſtead of commenting on the late diſorders at Paris, I ſubjoin the tranſlation of a letter juſt received by Mrs. D———— from a friend, whoſe information, we have reaſon to believe, is as exact as can poſſibly be obtained in the chaos of little intrigues which now compriſe the whole ſcience of French politics.
"Paris, April 9.
"Though I know, my good friend, you are ſufficiently verſed in the technicals of our revolution not to form an opinion of occurrences from the language in which they are officially deſcribed, yet I cannot reſiſt the favourable opportunity of Mad. ————'s return, to communicate ſuch explanations of the late events as their very ambiguous appearance may render neceſſary even to you.
"I muſt begin by informing you, that the propoſed decree of the Convention to diſſolve themſelves and call a new Aſſembly, was a mere coquettry. Haraſſed by the ſtruggles of the Jacobins, and alarmed at the ſymptoms of public wearineſs and diſguſt, which became every day more viſible, they hoped this feint might operate on the fears of the people of Paris, and animate them to a more decided ſupport againſt the effortſ of the common enemy, as well as tend to reconcile them to a farther endurance of a repreſentation from which they did not diſguiſe their wiſhes to be releaſed. An opportunity was therefore ſeized on, or created, when our allowance of bread had become unuſually ſhort, and the Jacobins unuſually turbulent, to bring forward this project of renovating the legiſlature. But in politics, as well as love, ſuch experiments are dangerous. Far from being received with regret, the propoſition excited univerſal tranſport; and it required all the diligence of the agents of government to inſinuate effectually, that if Paris were abandoned by the Convention at this juncture, it would not only become a prey to famine, but the Jacobins would avail themſelves of the momentary diſorder to regain their power, and renew their paſt atrocities.
"A conviction that we in reality derive our ſcanty ſupplies from exertions which would not be made, were they not neceſſary to reſtrain the popular ill humour, added to an habitual apprehenſion of the Clubs,* aſſiſted this manoeuvre; and a few of the ſections were, in conſequence, prevailed on to addreſs our Repreſentatives, and to requeſt they would remain at their poſt.—
* Paris had been long almoſt entirely dependent on the government for ſubſiſtence, ſo that an inſurrection could always be procured by withholding the uſual ſupply. The departments were pillaged by requiſitions, and enormous ſums ſent to the neutral countries to purchaſe proviſions, that the capital might be maintained in dependence and good humour. The proviſions obtained by theſe meanſ were diſtributed to the ſhopkeepers, who had inſtructions to retail them to the idle and diſorderly, at about a twentieth part of the original coſt, and no one could profit by this regulation, without firſt receiving a ticket from the Committee of his ſection. It was lately aſſerted in the Convention, and not diſavowed, that if the government perſiſted in this ſort of traffic, the annual loſſ attending the article of corn alone would amount to fifty millionſ ſterling. The reduction of the ſum in queſtion into Engliſh money is made on a preſumption that the French government did not mean (were it to be avoided) to commit an act of bankruptcy, and redeem their paper at leſs than par. Reckoning, however, at the real value of aſſignats when the calculation was made, and they were then worth perhaps a fifth of their nominal value, the government was actually at the expence of ten millions ſterling a year, for ſupplying Pariſ with a very ſcanty portion of bread! The ſum muſt appear enormous, but the peculation under ſuch a government muſt be incalculable; and when it is recollected that all neutral ſhips bringing cargoes for the republic muſt have been inſured at an immenſe premium, or perhaps eventually purchaſed by the French, and that very few could reach their deſtination, we may conclude that ſuch as did arrive coſt an immoderate ſum.
—"The inſurrection that immediately ſucceeded was at firſt the effect of a ſimilar ſcheme, and it ended in a party contention, in which the people, as uſual, were neuter.
"The examination into the conduct of Barrere, Collot, &c. had been delayed until it ſeemed rather a meaſure deſtined to protect than to bring them to puniſhment; and the impatience which was every where expreſſed on the ſubject, ſufficiently indicated the neceſſity, or at leaſt the prudence, of haſtening their trial. Such a proceſs could not be ventured on but at the riſk of involving the whole Convention in a labyrinth of crimes, inconſiſtencies, and ridicule, and the delinquentſ already began to exonerate themſelves by appealing to the vote of ſolemn approbation paſſed in their favour three months after the death of Robeſpierre had reſtored the Aſſembly to entire freedom.
"The only means of extrication from this dilemma, appeared to be that of finding ſome pretext to ſatiſfy the public vengeance, without hazarding the ſcandal of a judicial expoſure. Such a pretext it was not difficult to give riſe to: a diminiſhed portion of bread never fails to produce tumultuous aſſemblages, that are eaſily directed, though not eaſily ſuppreſſed; and crouds of this deſcription, agitated by real miſery, were excited (as we have every reaſon to ſuppoſe) by hired emiſſaries to aſſail the Convention with diſorderly clamours for bread. This being attributed to the friends of the culprits, decrees were opportunely introduced and paſſed for tranſporting them untried out of the republic, and for arreſting moſt of the principal Jacobin members as their partizans.
"The ſubſequent diſturbances were leſs artificial; for the Jacobins, thuſ rendered deſperate, attempted reſiſtance; but, as they were unſucceſſful, their efforts only ſerved their adverſaries as an excuſe for arreſting ſeveral of the party who had eſcaped the former decrees.
"Nothing, I aſſure you, can with leſs truth be denominated popular movements, than many of theſe ſcenes, which have, notwithſtanding, powerfully influenced the fate of our country. A revolt, or inſurrection, is often only an affair of intrigue and arrangement; and the deſultory violences of the ſuburbs of St. Antoine, or of the market women, are regulated by the ſame Committee and cabals that direct our campaigns and treaties. The common diſtreſſes of the people are continually drawing them together; and, when thus collected, their credulity renders them the ready inſtruments of any prevailing faction.
"Our recent diſorders afforded a ſtriking proof of this. I was myſelf the Cicerone of a country friend on the day the Convention was firſt aſſailed. The numbers who crouded into the hall were at firſt conſiderable, yet they exhibited no ſigns of hoſtility, and it waſ evident they were brought there for ſome purpoſe of which they were themſelves ignorant. When aſked their intentions, they vociferated 'Du pain! Du pain!'—Bread, Bread; and, after occupying the ſeats of the Deputies for a ſhort time, quietly withdrew.
"That this inſurrection was originally factitious, and deviſed for the purpoſe I have mentioned, is farther corroborated by the ſudden appearance of Pichegru and other officers, who ſeemed brought expreſſly to protect the departure of the obnoxious trio, in caſe it ſhould be oppoſed either by their friends or enemies. It is likewiſe to be remarked, that Barrere and the reſt were ſtopped at the gates of Paris by the ſame mob who were alledged to have riſen in their favour, and who, inſtead of endeavouring to reſcue them, brought them back to the Committee of General Safety, on a ſuppoſition that they had eſcaped from priſon.—The members of the moderate party, who were detained in ſome of the ſections, ſuſtained no ill treatment whatever, and were releaſed on being claimed by their colleagues, which could ſcarcely have happened, had the mob been under the direction of the Jacobins, or excited by them.—In ſhort, the whole buſineſs proved that the populace were mere agents, guided by no impulſe of their own, except hunger, and who, when left to themſelves, rather impeded than promoted the deſigns of both factions.
"You muſt have been ſurprized to ſee among the liſt of members arreſted, the name of Laurent Lecointre; but he could never be pardoned for having reduced the Convention to the embarraſſing neceſſity of proſecuting Robeſpierre's aſſociates, and he is now ſecured, leſt his reſtleſſ Quixotiſm ſhould remind the public, that the pretended puniſhment of theſe criminals is in fact only a ſcandalous impunity.
"We are at preſent calm, but our diſtreſs for bread is intolerable, and the people occaſionally aſſail the paſtry-cookſ' ſhops; which act of hoſtility is called, with more pleaſantry than truth or feeling, 'La guerre du pain bis contre la brioche.' [The war of brown bread againſt cakes.]—God knows, it is not the quality of bread, but the ſcarcity of it which excites theſe diſcontents.
"The new arithmetic* is more followed, and more intereſting, than ever, though our hopes are all vague, and we neither gueſs how or by whom they are to be fulfilled.
* This was a myſterious way of expreſſing that the royaliſts were ſtill gaining ground. It alluded to a cuſtom which then prevailed, of people aſking each other in the ſtreet, and ſometimes even aſſailing the Deputies, with the queſtion of "How much is eight and a half and eight and a half?"—By which was underſtood Louis the Seventeenth.
"I have done every thing that depends on me to obtain your paſſportſ without ſucceſs, and I ſtill adviſe you to come to Paris and ſolicit them in perſon. Your departure, in happier times, would be a ſubject of regret, at preſent I ſhall both envy and congratulate you when you are enabled to quit a country which promiſes ſo little ſecurity or ſatiſfaction.
"We receive, at this moment, the two loaves. My ſiſter joins me in acknowledgments, and expreſſes her fears that you muſt ſuffer by your kindneſs, though it is truly acceptable—for I have been ſeveral dayſ under arms, and have had no time to make my uſual excurſions in ſearch of bread.
"Yours, &c."
The propoſed diſſolution of the Aſſembly alluded to in the beginning of Mons. ————'s letter, occaſioned here a more general rejoicing than even the fall of the Jacobin club, and, not being influenced by the motives ſuggeſted to the Pariſians, we were ſincerely diſappointed when we found the meaſure poſtponed. The morning this news arrived, we walked about the town till dinner, and in every ſtreet people were collected in groupes, and engaged in eager diſcuſſion. An acquaintance whom we happened to meet, inſtead of the uſual ſalutations, exclaimed "Nouſ viola quittes, ils ſ'en vont les brigandſ" ["At length we are quit of them—the rogues are going about their buſineſs.">[; and I obſerved ſeveral recontres of this ſort, where people ſkipped and caracoled, as though unable to contain their ſatiſfaction. Nothing was talked of but Le Petit [An endearing appellation given to the young King by thoſe who would not venture to mention his name.], and the new elections; and I remarked with pleaſure, that every one agreed in the total excluſion of all the preſent Deputies.
Two mornings after we had been indulging in theſe agreeable viſions, we learned that the Convention, purely from a patriotic deſire of ſerving their country, had determined not to quit their poſt. We were at thiſ time in extreme want of bread, the diſtribution not exceeding a quarter of a pound per day; and numbers who are at their eaſe in other reſpects, could not obtain any. This, operating perhaps with the latent ill humour occaſioned by ſo unwelcome a declaration of perſeverance on the part of their Repreſentatives, occaſioned a violent ferment among the people, and on the ſecond of this month they were in open revolt; the magazine of corn for the uſe of the army was beſieged, the national colours were inſulted, and Blaux, a Deputy who is here on miſſion, was dragged from the Hotel de Ville, and obliged by the enraged populace to cry "Vive le Roi!" Theſe diſorders continued till the next day, but were at length appeaſed by a ſmall diſtribution of flour from the magazine.
In the debates of the Convention the whole is aſcribed to the Jacobins, though it is well known they have no influence here; and I wiſh you to attend to this circumſtance more particularly, as it proves what artifices are uſed to conceal the real ſentiments of the people. I, and every inhabitant of Amiens, can atteſt that this revolt, which waſ declared in the Aſſembly to have been inſtigated by the partizans of the Jacobins, was, as far as it had any decided political character, an efferveſcence of royaliſm.
At Rouen, Abbeville, and other places, the trees of liberty, (or, rather, the trees of the republic,) have been cut down, the tri-coloured flag torn, and the cry of "Vive le Roi!" was for ſome time predominant; yet the ſame miſrepreſentation was had recourſe to, and all theſe places were aſſerted to have eſpouſed the cauſe of that party to which they are moſt repugnant.
I acknowledge that the chief ſource of theſe uſeleſs exceſſes is famine, and that it is for the moſt part the lower claſſes only who promote them; but the ſame cauſe and the ſame deſcription of people were made the inſtruments for bringing about the revolution, and the poor ſeek now, aſ they did in 1789, a remedy for their accumulated ſufferings in a change of government. The maſs of mankind are ever more readily deluded by hope than benefited by experience; and the French, being taught by the revolutioniſts to look for that relief from changes of government which ſuch changes cannot afford, now expect that the reſtoration of the monarchy will produce plenty, as they were before perſuaded that the firſt efforts to ſubvert it would baniſh want.
We are now tolerably quiet, and ſhould ſeriouſly think of going to Paris, were we not apprehenſive that ſome attempt from the Jacobins to reſcue their chiefs, may create new diſturbances. The late affair appears to have been only a retaliation of the thirty-firſt of May, 1792; and the remains of the Girondiſts have now proſcribed the leaders of the Mountaineers, much in the ſame way as they were then proſcribed themſelves.—Yours.