Soon after, the royal family, perceiving, too late, that they were mere prisoners in the Tuileries, Flight of the King. undertook to escape, and fly to Coblentz, where the great body of emigrants resided. The unfortunate king contrived to reach Varennes, was recognized, and brought back to Paris. But the National Assembly made a blunder in not permitting him to escape; for it had only to declare the throne vacant by his desertion, and proceed to institute a republican government. The crime of regicide might have been avoided, and further revolutionary excesses prevented. But his return increased the popular ferments, and the clubs demanded his head. He was suspended from his functions, and a guard placed over his person.
On the 29th of September, 1791, the Constituent Assembly dissolved itself; having, during the three years of its existence enacted thirteen hundred and nine laws and decrees relative to the general administration of the state. It is impossible, even now, to settle the question whether it did good or ill, on the whole; but it certainly removed many great and glaring evils, and enacted many wise laws. It abolished torture, the lettres de cachet, the most oppressive duties, the privileges of the nobility, and feudal burdens. It established a uniform system of jurisprudence, the National Guards, and an equal system of finance. "It opened the army to men of merit, and divided the landed property of the aristocracy among the laboring classes; which, though a violation of the rights of property, enabled the nation to bear the burdens which were subsequently imposed, and to prosper under the evils connected with national bankruptcy, depreciated assignats, the Reign of Terror, the conscription of Napoleon, and the subjugation of Europe."
The Legislative Assembly, composed of inexperienced men,—country attorneys and clerks for the most part, among whom there were not fifty persons possessed of one hundred pounds a year,—took the place of the Constituent Assembly, and opened its sittings on the 1st of October.
In the first assembly there was a large party attached to royal and aristocratical interests, and many men of great experience and talents. But in the second nearly all were in favor of revolutionary principles. They only differed in regard to the extent to which revolution should be carried.
The members of the right were called the Feuillants, from the club which formed the centre of their power, and were friends of the constitution, or the limited monarchy which the Constituent Assembly had established. The national guard, the magistrates, and all the constituted authorities, were the supporters of this party.
The The Girondists and the Jacobins. Girondists, comprehending the more respectable of the republicans, and wishing to found the state on the model of antiquity, formed a second party, among whom were numbered the ablest men in the assembly. Brissot, Vergniaud, Condorcet, Guadet, and Isnard, were among the leading members.
There was also a third party, headed by Chabot, Bazin, and Merlin, which was supported by the clubs of the Jacobins and the Cordeliers. The great oracles of the Jacobins were Robespierre, Varennes, and Collot d'Herbois; while the leaders of the Cordeliers were Danton and Desmoulins. Robespierre was excluded, as were others of the last assembly, from the new one, by a sort of self-denying ordinance which he himself had proposed. His influence, at that time, was immense, from the extravagance of his opinions, the vehemence of his language, and the reputation he had acquired for integrity.
Between these three parties there were violent contentions, and the struggle for ascendency soon commenced, to end in the complete triumph of the Jacobinical revolutionists.
In the mean time, the restrictions imposed on the king, who still enjoyed the shadow of authority, the extent of popular excesses, and the diffusion of revolutionary principles, induced the leading monarchs of Europe to confederate together, in order to suppress disturbances in France. In July, the Emperor Leopold appealed to the sovereigns of Europe to unite for the deliverance of Louis XVI. Austria collected her troops, the emigrants at Coblentz made warlike demonstrations, and preparations were made for a contest, which, before it was finished, proved the most bloody and extensive which has desolated the world since the fall of the Roman empire.
The Constituent Assembly rejected with disdain the dictation of the various European powers; and the new ministry, of which Dumourier and Roland were the most prominent members, prepared for war. All classes in France were anxious for it, and war was soon declared. On the 25th of July, the Duke of Brunswick, with an army of one hundred and forty-eight thousand Prussians, Austrians, and Hessians, entered the French territory. The spirit of resistance animated all classes, and the ardor of the multitude was without a parallel. The manifesto of the allied powers indicated the dispositions of the court and emigrants. Revolt against the throne now seemed necessary, in order to secure the liberty of the people, who now had no choice between victory and death. On the 25th of July, the Marseillais arrived in Paris, and augmented the strength and confidence of the insurgents. Popular commotions increased, and the clubs became unmanageable. On the 10th of August, the tocsin sounded, the générale beat in every quarter of Paris, and that famous insurrection took place which overturned the throne. The Hotel de Ville was seized by the insurgents, the Tuileries was stormed, and the Swiss guards were massacred. The last chance for the king to regain his power was lost, and Paris was in the hands of an infuriated mob.