The Jacobins had now gained the supremacy in France. They contended that the people should elect a ruler instead of Louis, whom they declared had relinquished his rights. The Assembly were not yet prepared for this step, and they resolved to restore Louis to power.
A decree was therefore issued by the Assembly, removing the ban from Louis, and declaring that he was not culpable for his recent journey. This decree raised a storm of opposition. The day after the bill was passed, a vast mob assembled in the Champ de Mars, to protest against this unpopular measure.
Quickly the crowd raised a riotous tumult, and again La Fayette, the Patriot, stood in their midst. But this time his voice could not be heard on account of their wild clamors, which filled the air and were echoed from surrounding streets. When his words of command were partially understood, their frenzy had reached too high a pitch to be quelled; threats were muttered against him, and even a musket was fired at his breast. But his fearless spirit was resolved to put down this dangerous insurrection, and he was determined not to leave the spot until his efforts had been successful. By his nerve, and quick plans as speedily executed, the rioters were at length forced to give way, but not until blood had been shed, for which his enemies called him to an account.
Appreciating the necessity for a firmer government, the Assembly completed its constitution, and it was submitted to Louis for his acceptance. Poor vacillating Louis was ill-pleased with this same constitution, but the past had taught him that it was safest to submit; and thereupon he repaired to the Assembly and accepted the constitution, and on the 30th of September it was declared that the Constituent Assembly had terminated its sittings. This Assembly had been in existence three years, and had enacted 1309 laws and decrees.
A few days afterwards La Fayette resigned his office as commander-in-chief of the National Guard, deeming that his country no longer required his public services, and desiring intensely to retire to his private estates and enjoy the delights of a quiet life. He sent the following letter to his late comrades in arms:—
“To serve you until this day, gentlemen, was a duty imposed upon me by the sentiments which have animated my whole life. To resign now, without reserve, to my country, all the power and influence she gave me for the purpose of defending her during recent convulsions,—is a duty which I owe to my well-known resolutions, and it amply satisfies the only sort of ambition I possess.”
The Guard could not part with him without renewed expressions of admiration for their idol. Finding that they could not move him, by their persuasions, to withdraw his resignation, they forged a sword from the bolts of the Bastile, and presented it to him, with profound marks of their esteem and affection. The municipality of Paris voted him a medal, and ordered a complimentary inscription to be placed upon the bust of La Fayette, which had been presented by Virginia to the city of Paris twelve years before.
“Now that his Majesty has accepted the constitution, to the sound of cannon-salvoes, who would not hope? La Fayette has moved for an amnesty, for universal forgiving and forgetting of revolutionary faults; and now surely the glorious revolution, cleared of its rubbish, is complete.... Welcome, surely, to all right hearts, is La Fayette’s chivalrous amnesty. The National Constituent Assembly declares that it has finished its mission; so, amid glitter of illuminated streets and Champs Elysées, and crackle of fireworks, and glad deray, has the first National Assembly vanished.... La Fayette, for his part, will lay down the command. He retires, Cincinnatus-like, to his hearth and farm, but soon leaves them again.”
THE KING ACCEPTING THE CONSTITUTION.