Providence, Aug. 13, 1794.
Amour, tu perdis Troye [Love! thou occaſionedſt the deſtruction of Troy.]:—yet, among the various miſchiefs aſcribed to the influence of this capricious Sovereign, amidſt the wrecks of ſieges, and the ſlaughter of battles, perhaps we may not unjuſtly record in his praiſe, that he waſ inſtrumental to the ſolace of humanity, by contributing to the overthrow of Robeſpierre. It is at leaſt pleaſing to turn from the general horrorſ of the revolution, and ſuppoſe, for a moment, that the ſocial affectionſ were not yet entirely baniſhed, and that gallantry ſtill retained ſome empire, when every other veſtige of civilization was almoſt annihilated.
After ſuch an exordium, I feel a little aſhamed of my hero, and could wiſh, for the credit of my tale, it were not more neceſſary to invoke the hiſtoric muſe of Fielding, than that of Homer or Taſſo; but imperiouſ Truth obliges me to confeſs, that Tallien, who is to be the ſubject of this letter, was firſt introduced to celebrity by circumſtances not favourable for the comment of my poetical text.
At the beginning of the revolution he was known only as an eminent orator en plain vent; that is, as a preacher of ſedition to the mob, whom he uſed to harangue with great applauſe at the Palais Royal. Having no profeſſion or means of ſubſiſtence, he, as Dr. Johnſon obſerves of one of our poets, neceſſarily became an author. He was, however, no farther entitled to this appellation, than as a periodical ſcribbler in the cauſe of inſurrection; but in this he was ſo ſucceſſful, that it recommended him to the care of Petion and the municipality, to whom his talents and principles were ſo acceptable, that they made him Secretary to the Committee.
On the ſecond and third of September 1792, he ſuperintended the maſſacre of the priſons, and is alledged to have paid the aſſaſſins according to the number of victims they diſpatched with great regularity; and he himſelf ſeems to have little to ſay in his defence, except that he acted officially. Yet even the imputation of ſuch a claim could not be overlooked by the citizens of Paris; and at the election of the Convention he was diſtinguiſhed by being choſen one of their repreſentatives.
It is needleſs to deſcribe his political career in the Aſſembly otherwiſe than by adding, that when the revolutionary furor was at its acme, he waſ deemed by the Committee of Public Welfare worthy of an important miſſion in the South. The people of Bourdeaux were, accordingly, for ſome time haraſſed by the uſual effects of theſe viſitationſ—impriſonments and the Guillotine; and Tallien, though eclipſed by Maignet and Carrier, was by no means deficient in the patriotic energies of the day.
I think I muſt before have mentioned to you a Madame de Fontenay, the wife of an emigrant, whom I occaſionally ſaw at Mad. de C____'s. I then remarked her for the uncommon attraction of her features, and the elegance of her perſon; but was ſo much diſguſted at a tendency to republicaniſm I obſerved in her, and which, in a young woman, I thought unbecoming, that I did not promote the acquaintance, and our different purſuits ſoon ſeparated us entirely. Since this period I have learned, that her conduct became exceedingly imprudent, or at leaſt ſuſpicious, and that at the general perſecution, finding her republicaniſm would not protect her, ſhe fled to Bourdeaux, with the hope of being able to proceed to Spain. Here, however, being a Spaniard by birth, and the wife of an emigrant, ſhe was arreſted and thrown into priſon, where ſhe remained till the arrival of Tallien on his miſſion.
The miſcellaneous occupations of a deputy-errant, naturally include an introduction to the female priſoners; and Tallien's preſence afforded Mad. de Fontenay an occaſion of pleading her cauſe with all the ſucceſſ which ſuch a pleader might, in other times, be ſuppoſed to obtain from a judge of Tallien's age. The effect of the ſcenes Tallien had been an actor in, was counteracted by youth, and his heart was not yet indifferent to the charms of beauty—Mad. de Fontenay was releaſed by the captivation of her liberator, and a reciprocal attachment enſued.
We muſt not, however, conclude, all this merely a buſineſs of romance. Mad. de Fontenay was rich, and had connexions in Spain, which might hereafter procure an aſylum, when a regicide may with difficulty find one: and on the part of the lady, though Tallien's perſon is agreeable, a deſire of protecting herſelf and her fortune might be allowed to have ſome influence.
From this time the revolutioniſt is ſaid to have given way: Bourdeaux became the Capua of Tallien; and its inhabitants were, perhaps, indebted for a more moderate exerciſe of his power, to the ſmiles of Mad. de Fontenay.—From hanging looſe on ſociety, he had now the proſpect of marrying a wife with a large fortune; and Tallien very wiſely conſidered, that having ſomething at ſtake, a ſort of comparative reputation among the higher claſs of people at Bourdeaux, might be of more importance to him in future, than all the applauſe the Convention could beſtow on a liberal uſe of the Guillotine.—The relaxed ſyſtem which was the conſequence of ſuch policy, ſoon reached the Committee of Public Welfare, to whom it was highly diſpleaſing, and Tallien was recalled.
A youth of the name of Julien, particularly in the confidence of Robeſpierre, was then ſent to Bourdeaux, not officially as his ſucceſſor, but as a ſpy, to collect information concerning him, as well as to watch the operations of other miſſionaries, and prevent their imitating Tallien's ſchemes of perſonal advantage, at the expence of ſcandalizing the republic by an appearance of lenity.—The diſaſtrous ſtate of Lyons, the perſecutions of Carrier, the conflagrations of Maignet, and the crimes of various other Deputies, had obliterated the minor revolutioniſms of Tallien:* The citizens of Bourdeaux ſpoke of him without horror, which in theſe times was equal to eulogium; and Julien tranſmitted ſuch accounts of his conduct to Robeſpierre,** as were equally alarming to the jealouſy of his ſpirit, and repugnant to the cruelty of his principles.
* It was Tallien's boaſt to have guillotined only ariſtocrats, and of this part of his merit I am willing to leave him in poſſeſſion. At Toulon he was charged with the puniſhment of thoſe who had given up the town to the Engliſh; but finding, as he alledged, nearly all the inhabitants involved, he ſelected about two hundred of the richeſt, and that the horrid buſineſs might wear an appearance of regularity, the patriots, that is, the moſt notorious Jacobins, were ordered to give their opinion on the guilt of theſe victims, who were brought out into an open field for that purpoſe. With ſuch judges the ſentence was ſoon paſſed, and a fuſillade took place on the ſpot.—It was on this occaſion that Tallien made particular boaſt of his humanity; and in the ſame publication where he relateſ the circumſtance, he expoſes the "atrocious conduct" of the Engliſh at the ſurrender of Toulon. The cruelty of theſe barbarians not being ſufficiently gratified by diſpatching the patriots the ſhorteſt way, they hung up many of them by their chins on hooks at the ſhambles, and left them to die at their leiſure.—See "Mitraillades, Fuſillades," a recriminating pamphlet, addreſſed by Tallien to Collot d'Herbois.—The title alludes to Collot's exploitſ at Lyons. ** It is not out of the uſual courſe of things that Tallien'ſ moderation at Bourdeaux might have been profitable; and the wife or miſtreſs of a Deputy was, on ſuch occaſions, a uſeful medium, through which the grateful offerings of a rich and favoured ariſtocrat might be conveyed, without committing the legiſlative reputation.—The following paſſage from Julien's correſpondence with Robeſpierre ſeems to allude to ſome little arrangements of thiſ nature: "I think it my duty to tranſmit you an extract from a letter of Tallien's, [Which had been intercepted.] to the National Club.—It coincides with the departure of La Fontenay, whom the Committee of General Safety have doubtleſs had arreſted. I find ſome very curious political details regarding her; and Bourdeaux ſeems to have been, until this moment, a labyrinth of intrigue and peculation."
It appears from Robeſpierre's papers, that not only Tallien, but Legendre, Bourdon de l'Oiſe, Thuriot, and others, were inceſſantly watched by the ſpies of the Committee. The profeſſion muſt have improved wonderfully under the auſpices of the republic, for I doubt if Mons. le Noir's Mouchardſ [The ſpies of the old police, ſo called in deriſion.— Briſſot, in this act of accuſation, is deſcribed as having been an agent of the Police under the monarchy.—I cannot decide on the certainty of this, or whether his occupation was immediately that of a ſpy, but I have reſpectable authority for ſaying, that antecedent to the revolution, hiſ character was very ſlightly eſtimated, and himſelf conſidered as "hanging looſe on ſociety.">[ were as able as Robeſpierre's.—The reader may judge from the following ſpecimens:
"The 6th inſtant, the deputy Thuriot, on quitting the Convention, went to No. 35, Rue Jaques, ſection of the Pantheon, to the houſe of a pocket-book maker, where he ſtaid talking with a female about ten minutes. He then went to No. 1220, Rue Foſſe St. Bernard, ſection of the Sans-Culottes, and dined there at a quarter paſt two. At a quarter paſt ſeven he left the laſt place, and meeting a citizen on the Quay de l'Ecole, ſection of the Muſeum, near le Cafe Manoury, they went in there together, and drank a bottle of beer. From thence he proceeded to la Maiſon Memblee de la Providence, No. 16, Rue d'Orleans Honore, ſection de la Halle au Bled, whence, after ſtaying about five-and-twenty minutes, he came out with a citoyenne, who had on a puce Levite, a great bordered ſhawl of Japan cotton, and on her head a white handkerchief, made to look like a cap. They went together to No. 163, Place Egalite, where after ſtopping an inſtant, they took a turn in the galleries, and then returned to ſup.—They went in at half paſt nine, and were ſtill there at eleven o'clock, when we came away, not being certain if they would come out again. "Bourdon de l'Oiſe, on entering the Aſſembly, ſhook hands with four or five Deputies. He was obſerved to gape while good news waſ announcing."
Tallien was already popular among the Jacobins of Paris; and hiſ connexion with a beautiful woman, who might enable him to keep a domeſtic eſtabliſhment, and to diſplay any wealth he had acquired, without endangering his reputation, was a circumſtance not to be overlooked; for Robeſpierre well knew the efficacy of female intrigue, and dinners,* in gaining partizans among the ſubordinate members of the Convention.
* Whoever reads attentively, and in detail, the debates of the Convention, will obſerve the influence and envy created by a ſuperior ſtyle of living in any particular member. His dreſs, hiſ lodging, or dinners, are a perpetual ſubject of malignant reproach. —This is not to be wondered at, when we conſider the deſcription of men the Convention is compoſed of;—men who, never having been accuſtomed to the elegancies of life, behold with a grudging eye the gay apparel or luxurious table of a colleague, who arrived at Pariſ with no other treaſure but his patriotiſm, and has no oſtenſible means beyond his eighteen livres a day, now increaſed to thirty-ſix.
Mad. de Fontenay, was, therefore, on her arrival at Paris, whither ſhe had followed Tallien, (probably in order to procure a divorce and marry him,) arreſted, and conveyed to priſon.
An injury of this kind was not to be forgiven; and Robeſpierre ſeems to have acted on the preſumption that it could not. He beſet Tallien with ſpies, menaced him in the Convention, and made Mad. de Fontenay an offer of liberty, if ſhe would produce a ſubſtantial charge againſt him, which he imagined her knowledge of his conduct at Bourdeaux might furniſh her grounds for doing. A refuſal muſt doubtleſs have irritated the tyrant; and Tallien had every reaſon to fear ſhe would ſoon be included in one of the liſts of victims who were daily ſacrificed as conſpirators in the priſons. He was himſelf in continual expectation of being arreſted; and it was generally believed Robeſpierre would ſoon openly accuſe him.—Thuſ ſituated, he eagerly embraced the opportunity which the ſchiſm in the Committee preſented of attacking his adverſary, and we certainly muſt allow him the merit of being the firſt who dared to move for the arreſt of Robeſpierre.—I need not add, that la belle was one of the firſt whoſe priſon doors were opened; and I underſtand that, being divorced from Mons. de Fontenay, ſhe is either married, or on the point of being ſo, to Tallien.
This concluſion ſpoils my ſtory as a moral one; and had I been the diſpoſer of events, the Septembriſer, the regicide, and the cold aſſaſſin of the Toulonais, ſhould have found other rewards than affluence, and a wife who might repreſent one of Mahomet's Houris. Yet, ſurely, "the time will come, though it come ne'er ſo ſlowly," when Heaven ſhall ſeparate guilt from proſperity, and when Tallien and his accomplices ſhall be remembered only as monuments of eternal juſtice. For the lady, her faults are amply puniſhed in the diſgrace of ſuch an alliance—
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"A cut-purſe of the empire and the rule; "____ a King of ſhreds and patches." |