CHAPTER I. FROM THE ASSEMBLING OF THE STATES GENERAL TO THE EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI. (1789-1793).
LOUIS XVI. (1774-92): THE QUEEN.—Louis XVI. differed from his two predecessors in being morally pure, and benevolent in his feelings; but he was of a dull mind, void of energy, and with an obstinacy of character that did not supply the place of an enlightened firmness. He had married (1770) Marie Antoinette, the daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa. The vivacious young queen, as well as the youthful king, at first charmed the people. But her disregard of court etiquette, and her gay, impulsive ways, provoked the dislike of many high in station, and exposed her to the natural but unmerited suspicion, on the part of the people, that she had faults worse than mere indiscretion. A great scandal connected with a diamond necklace, which an unprincipled woman, the Countess Lamotte, falsely asserted that the queen desired the Cardinal de Rohan to purchase for her, did much to make her the victim of gross defamation (1785). Her forbearance towards unworthy favorites, and her intermeddling in the affairs of government, in opposition to political reforms, gradually kindled against her wide-spread disrespect and aversion.
TO THE STATES GENERAL.—Helpless under the pressure of the heavy debt and the deficit in revenue, the king called to his side Turgot (1774) as controller-general of finance, a political economist and statesman of remarkable integrity and insight. He set to work to reduce the enormous and extravagant public expenditures, and to introduce reforms for the purpose of increasing the public income. He proposed to do away with internal duties on articles of commerce; to break up many guilds; to abolish the corvée, or the hard and hateful requirement upon the peasant to labor so many days on the land of the lord; and to introduce a greater amount of local self-government. These, and other wholesome reforms in the civil service and in the army, excited the violent opposition of the nobles and the clergy, and of the whole body of interested courtiers. The king weakly yielded; the great minister was dismissed; and France lost its golden opportunity to prevent infinitely greater calamities than any which the selfish opponents of change dreaded for themselves. Necker, a Genevan banker of far less financial ability, was now placed at the helm (1776-1781). His remedies were not radical; yet his movements in the direction of economy, and for giving publicity to the financial situation of the government, provoked such hatred in the classes affected that he had to withdraw. Calonne, a prodigal and incapable successor, in connection with the increased expenses of the government consequent on the American War, brought things to such a pass that the king called together (1787) an Assembly of Notables, not so much to get their advice as to obtain their support for a plan of reform not unlike that of Turgot. This necessary reform they selfishly refused to sanction. Calonne fled to London. Necker, to the joy of the people, who built on him vain hopes, was recalled (1788); and it was resolved to summon the States General, who had not met since 1614. To this measure the incompetence and selfishness of the ruling classes had inevitably led.
THE TRIUMPH OF THE THIRD ESTATE.—The States General met at Versailles, May 5, 1789. The clergy numbered three hundred, the nobles three hundred, and the third estate (tiers etat)—whose plain black dress was in contrast with the more showy costume of the higher orders—numbered six hundred. A pamphlet of Abbé Sieyés, in answer to the question, "What is the Third Estate?" declared that is the nation in its true sovereignty and supreme authority. A contest arose at once on the question, whether there should be three houses, or whether all the members should sit together. The Third Estate insisted on the latter plan. The Parisian astronomer, Bailly, was their president. Among the members were Sieyes, and Mirabeau, a man of great intellect and of commanding eloquence. They declared themselves to be the National Assembly; and they persisted, against the king's will, in sitting apart until, at his request, the other orders gave away and joined them. It was resolved not to adjourn until the nation should be put in possession of a constitution; meantime, however, that, so long as the body should not be dissolved, money should be raised by increase of taxation, and the interest be paid on the public debt. The attempts of Louis to dissolve the assembly were firmly resisted by the third estate, which was joined by Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, Gregoire, afterwards Bishop of Blois, and, of the nobility, by the rich, ambitious, and unprincipled Duke of Orleans. The king again yielded, and advised the nobles and clergy to remain.
DESTRUCTION OF THE BASTILLE: EMIGRATION OF NOBLES.—The aristocratic party, on account of this victory of the third estate, and because they could not trust the guard of the king, procured the substitution for it of German and Swiss troops. The excitement caused by this proceeding, and the news of Necker's dismissal, led to a mob of the rough Parisian populace, who seized weapons from the workshops, and forced the surrender of the Bastille, the grim old prison where political offenders had been immured,—the visible monument of ages of royal tyranny,—which they razed to the ground. The heads of Delaunay the governor, and several of the garrison, were carried on pikes through the streets by the frenzied crowd. The mob wore cockades on their hats; these became the badges of the Revolution. This first outbreaking of mob violence had at once important effects. Necker was recalled. Lafayette was made commander of the militia of Paris, organized as a National Guard. The tricolor—red, white, and blue—was adopted for the flag. Bailly became mayor of Paris. The king came to Paris, and showed himself, with the national colors on his breast, to the people, at the Hotel de Ville, thereby giving a tacit sanction to what had been done. Then began the emigration of the nobles to foreign countries: the king's brother, the Prince of Condé, and others high in rank, left the country. The vices which the nobles had learned to practice at home were now to be exhibited abroad. The passions of the revolutionary party were to be inflamed by the suspicion of a complicity of the king and court with the plots of their absent supporters, who strove to enlist other nations in the work of trampling down liberty in France. The emigrants had some reason to fear. Municipal guards were formed in various towns by the party of progress. Soon there were risings of peasantry in several districts. Individuals in Paris—among them one of the ministers who succeeded Necker-were massacred. Nevertheless, the emigration was a grand error. The danger at the moment was not great; and, whatever the peril, the evils of desertion were far more to be deprecated.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION: ASSIGNATS.—The National Assembly, at the instigation of Lafayette, passed a Declaration of Rights, after the pattern of the American Declaration of Independence. On motion of his brother-in-law, the Vicomte de Noailles, the representatives of the nobles, in an outburst of enthusiastic self-renunciation, gave up their feudal rights and privileges. They liberated the peasants from their burdensome obligations: the clergy relinquished their tithes; the sale of offices and titles was abolished; equality of taxes was ordained; all citizens were made eligible to all stations, civil and military. The new constitution provided for one legislative chamber, to which should belong the right to initiate all enactments. The king's veto only suspended the adoption of a measure for two legislative terms. The assent of the chamber was necessary for the validity of all foreign treaties, and for declaring war or concluding peace. The State assumed the support of the clergy. It was a constitutional monarchy that was framed,—such a system as La Fayette and moderate republicans desired. The essence of republicanism was secured under old forms. Assignats, or notes, were issued as a currency, for which the public lands were to be the security,—a safeguard that was ineffective.
THE MOB AT VERSAILLES.—The delay of the king to proclaim the constitution, the call of a regiment of troops to Versailles, imprudent speeches and songs at a court banquet, stirred up the Parisian mob, who ascribed the scarcity of food to the absence of the king from Paris. A countless throng, made up largely of coarse women, went out to Versailles, intruded into the legislative chamber, and at night (Oct. 5) made their way into the palace, over the bodies of the guards. The royal family were rescued by La Fayette and the National Guard. The next day they were forced to go to Paris, attended by this wild and hungry retinue, and took up their abode in the Tuileries. To Paris, also, the National Assembly transferred itself. More and more, Paris gained control.
PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION.—The independence of the clergy, and the judicial authority of the parliaments, were now extinguished by the Assembly, The property of the Church was confiscated, as the salaries of the clergy were to be paid by the State; the cloisters and monastic orders were abolished; the clergy were to be chosen by the people; there was to be absolute religious freedom; there was a new organization of bishoprics; the press was to be free; France was divided, for purposes of government, into eighty-three departments; civil officers were to be chosen, directly or indirectly, by popular vote; hereditary nobility, with titles and coats-of-arms, was swept away. The equality of all citizens was ordained. There was to be uniformity in measures, weights, and coinage. A uniform judicial system was instituted, with jury trials in criminal cases.
THE CLERGY.—Thenceforward the clergy were divided into two classes,—those who took the required oath to the constitution (about one third of the whole number), and the "refractory" ones, who, in accordance with the Pope's will, refused it.
THE CLUBS: PARIS.—While these constitutional changes were taking place, the mass of the populace were becoming more and more excited by vehement orators, who discoursed of human rights, and by inflammatory journals. Clubs were organized for democratic agitation, which were named, from the places where they met, Jacobins and Cordeliers. The latter had for their head Danton, with his stentorian voice, and the brilliant young journalist Camille Desmoulins. The Jacobins aimed later at the destruction of the old institutions. The moderate monarchists, such as Bailly and La Fayette, then formed another club (the Feuillants). The municipality or commune of Paris was divided into forty-eight sections, each with an assembly which served as a theater for demagogical harangues.
FÊTE OF THE FEDERATION.—For a time the skies appeared bright. On the 14th of July, 1790, a great Federative Commemoration, or festival of civic fraternity, was held on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Talleyrand at the head of three hundred priests clad in white, with tri-color sashes, officiated at an altar in the midst of the arena. First, La Fayette as president of the National Guard, then the president of the Assembly, and last the king, took an oath before the half-million of spectators to uphold the constitution. Then the queen, partaking in the common enthusiasm, held up the dauphin in her arms, and pledged his future obedience to the oath. There was unbounded joy at what was supposed to be a new millennial era of political freedom and brotherhood. The grand festival awakened sympathy and hope in all the countries of Europe.
FLIGHT OF THE KING.—The hope of unity and political bliss, which exalted all minds to a high pitch of emotion, proved, before long, to be an illusive dream. The king was not ready to confirm the ordinance respecting priests, which made them civil officers; nor was he ready to declare the plotting emigrant nobles at Coblenz and Worms traitors. Mirabeau, who had enlisted in behalf of the king in a resistance to further measures for the reduction of regal authority, and in behalf of a constitutional monarchy, in which the legislative, judicial, and executive functions should be kept apart, suddenly died (April 2, 1791), at the age of forty-two. His death, caused partly by overwork of brain, and partly by dissolute habits, deprived the conservative republicans and the court of their ablest defender. No one like him was left to stem the current of revolutionary passion, which threatened to burst through all barriers. The Paris sections became more and more violent. They hindered a proposed journey of Louis to St. Cloud. This determined him, against the urgent wishes of the queen, to escape, with his family, to the army of the Marquis de Bouillé, at Montmédy. But the fugitives were stopped in their flight, at Varennes, and brought back in custody to Paris. This unwise and abortive proceeding of the king, coupled with his formal annulling of all that he had done in the two years previous, had for its natural consequence his suspension from office. An insurrection of the mob, to put an end to the monarchy, was suppressed by La Fayette. At the end of September, Louis swore to the revised constitution, and was restored to the throne. The Assembly then dissolved, to give place to another, which should complete the new political creation by needful legislation: hence it was called
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (Oct. 1791-Sept. 1792).—It was composed of seven hundred and forty-five members, mostly young men, among them a number of eloquent orators. One-half of the body were advocates. The National Assembly, by a kind of self-denying ordinance, had voted to exclude themselves from membership in the new body, which thus lacked the benefit of their knowledge and experience. In the Assembly, on the right, were the different classes of supporters of constitutional monarchy, the royalists, and the Feuillants (of the school of La Fayette). On the left, were the majority, which steadily increased in numbers, and embraced (1) the Girondists, or moderate republicans; (2) the Mountain,—so called from their higher seats in the hall,—comprising the most decided democrats or radicals. Here were the leaders of the Jacobins and Cordeliers. A few of the Girondists were for going beyond the constitution of 1791, in the direction of a republic after the model of the United States. They were enamored of the spirit of the ancient commonwealths. They were fond of recurring to the Roman orators and historians. Roland, Brissot, and Vergniaud were among their leaders.
THE PARISIAN POPULACE.—The populace of Paris made Pétion, a democrat, their mayor. In the Jacobin club were Robespierre; Marat, who denounced fiercely in his journal, "The Friend of the People," as aristocrats, all classes above the common level, whether by birth or property, and the former play-actor, D'Herbois. Danton, and Camille Desmoulins, who belonged to the Cordeliers, took part in its sessions. From this company, the Girondists separated after the fall of the king. The red Jacobin cap came into vogue as a badge of republicanism, and the Marseillaise as its favorite inspiring song. Declaimers and journals were in full blast, stirring up the fears and wrath of the people.
THE ASSEMBLY AND THE KING.—The Assembly passed penal acts against the recusant priests,—those who refused the oath; and against the emigrants, who were trying to stir up the powers of Europe against the French government in its new form. These enactments were met by the king with a veto.
WAR WITH AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.—The authors of the French Revolution have been so generally objects of execration, and so terrible crimes were actually perpetrated in the course of it, that it is only just to note the circumstances which explain the origin of these atrocities, and which enabled violent leaders and wild passions to usurp control. The efforts of the constitutionalists to save the throne were balked by the exiles and the foreign governments. Frederick William II. of Prussia (1786-1797), and Leopold II. the emperor (1790-1792), in the Declaration of Pilnitz (Aug. 27, 1791), called on the other European powers to join them in aiding Louis XVI. to establish a right sort of government. From Russia, Sweden, Spain, and even Switzerland, there were not wanting manifestations of hostility. The attitude of Austria had the effect to bring into power a Girondist ministry. They wanted war as the best means of attaining the objects which they had in view at home. On April 20, 1792, Louis was compelled to go to the Assembly, and propose a declaration of war against Austria. "The courts of Europe had heaped up the fuel: the Girondists applied the torch." They were not averse to a crusade in behalf of liberty.
THE CONDITION OF GERMANY.—Germany consisted of a multitude of states, of which Austria (which had large territories not German) and Prussia were the chief, and were in constant rivalry. The Holy Roman Empire kept up its name and forms. Besides smaller sovereignties, as Saxony and Bavaria, there were two hundred and fifty petty principalities, fifty imperial cities, and several hundred knights, each with an insignificant domain subject to him. The empire was one body only in theory. National feeling had died out. The Diet had little to do, and no efficiency. Austria, which held the imperial office, and included in its extensive dominions Milan and Southern Netherlands, had sunk into a "gloomy and soulless despotism." The reforms of Joseph II. produced a ferment; but after the death of Leopold II. (1790-1792), under Francis II., a sickly and selfish ruler, a reactionary policy, inspired by the dread of change, had full sway. Thugut, the minister of Francis, cared only for the acquisition of territory: the people were so many millions "to be taxed, to be drilled, to be kept down by the police." In Prussia, Frederick William II. (1786-1797) and his people had no feeling so strong as that of hostility to Austria, whose influence was predominant in the minor states. Prussia cared more for getting additional Polish territory than for helping the French emigrants. The Prussian people were separated by rigorous lines into three classes,—nobles, burghers, and peasants. The nobles were poor. The lawful occupations of each class were prescribed by law. "The mass of the peasantry, at least in the country east of the Elbe, were serfs attached to the soil." The offices in the army were confined to nobles, on whose absolute obedience the king could count. Blows were inflicted on the common soldier as if he were a slave. In some of the other Protestant states, the character of the government had improved. In the south and west, the serfs had been set free. In the ecclesiastical states, including the electorates of Mentz, Trèves, and Cologne, the prince-bishops and canons were nobles, who led a gay and luxurious life. Nowhere were poverty and wretchedness so general as in the lands of the knights. The political life of Germany, notwithstanding its abundant resources, mainly from the decay of public spirit and the want of political unity, had become stagnant and corrupt. Germany was almost incapable of vigorous, united action.
CONFLICT OF LOUIS AND THE ASSEMBLY.—There was no real union between Louis XVI. and the Assembly. Troops of the National Guard, to the number of twenty thousand, from the provinces were to encamp near Paris. This measure, as well as a decree for the banishment of the non-juring clergy, the king refused to sanction. The Girondist ministers laid down their office. A mob burst into the Tuileries: they put on the king's head a Jacobin cap, but he remained calm and steadfast in his refusal to assent to the decrees. La Fayette came to Paris from the Northern army, to restore order; but the queen treated him with habitual distrust, and he fell under suspicion with the radicals. He went back to the army without effecting any thing.
IMPRISONMENT OF THE KING.—Prussia had joined its rival, Austria. Ferdinand of Brunswick, an officer trained under Frederick the Great, commanded the Prussian forces. He issued (July 25) a threatening proclamation to the French people. There were three French armies in the field, under Rochambeau, La Fayette, and Luckner; but the fire of the Revolution had not yet entered into the veins of the soldiers. Military reverses heightened the revolutionary excitement in Paris. The municipal government was broken up by Danton and his associates, with the mob of poor and desperate partisans at their back; and its place was taken by commissioners from the sections. An armed throng again attacked the Tuileries. The king took refuge in the hall of the Assembly. The Swiss guards fought bravely against the assailants, when they received an order from him to cease firing. The result was that they were slaughtered without mercy. The uniform composure of the king in the most trying situations, and his conscientious feelings, were a poor substitute for intellectual force. The Assembly voted to suspend the exercise of his authority, to put him and his family under surveillance, to hand over the young prince to the custody of a person charged with his education, and to call a national convention to draw up a constitution. The royal family were given into the hands of the Paris commune, and lodged as prisoners, in apartments scantily furnished, in the castle called the Temple.
MASSACRES OF SEPTEMBER.—The blundering of the royalists, their intrigues, and the pressure of the coalition of foreign enemies, had thrown the power into the hands of the Jacobins. The city council, and Danton, the minister of justice, were really supreme, although the Girondists had a share in the new ministry. La Fayette was accused and proscribed, and fled from the country. He was captured by the Austrians, and kept in prison at Olmutz until 1797. The news of the advance of the allies led to the "massacres of September," when the prisons in Paris, which had been filled with priests and laymen arrested on charges of complicity with the enemies of liberty, were entered by ruffians acting under influence of Marat and the commune's "committee of surveillance," and, after "a burlesque trial" before an armed jury, were murdered. In Versailles, Lyons, Orleans, and other towns, there were like massacres. The victims of these massacres numbered about two thousand.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF THE KING.—The National Convention was made up entirely of republicans. The monarchy was abolished, and France was declared a republic. The Girondists had at first the preponderance in numbers; but the Jacobins, led by Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Couthon, Fouché, the Duke of Orleans (who called himself Philip Égalité), St. Just, Billaud-Varenne, Barère, were supported by the clubs and the city council, and by the savage populace of the sections,—the sans culottes. The guillotine—a machine for beheading, which Guillotin, a physician, did not invent, but recommended for use—was the instrument on which the fanatical revolutionists placed most of their reliance for the extirpation of "aristocracy." The energy of the Jacobins, aided by the general dread of a restoration of the royalists to power, and by the fury of the Paris populace, proved too strong for the more moderate party to withstand. The king, designated as Louis Capet, was arraigned before the assembly, tried, and condemned to death. There were seven hundred and twenty-one votes: his death was decreed by a small majority (Jan. 17, 1793). Through all the terrible scenes of the trial, the parting with his wife and children, and the execution (Jan. 21), Louis manifested a serene and Christian temper.
VICTORIES OF FRANCE.—Meantime, in France the war was felt, and justly, to be a war of self-defense. The enemies were a privileged class in alliance with foreign invaders. Volunteers flocked to the field. The troops under Dumouriez and others had been successful. At Valmy (Sept. 20, 1792) the allies, under Brunswick, were defeated. The victory of Dumouriez at Jemmappes was followed by the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands (Nov., 1792). Savoy and Nice were annexed to France. The Scheldt was declared free and open to commerce, and Antwerp was made an open port.