But the king and court seem blindly destined to bring about their own destruction. The Royalists, far from distinguishing between such men as La Fayette, Robespierre, and Pétion, strengthened the hands of the two last, thinking by those means to weaken the former. The court, incited by the queen, treated La Fayette with a blindfold hatred, by opposing Pétion to him at every turn. When the honest, well-meaning soldier was about to be elected mayor of Paris, Marie Antoinette, through her machinations, caused the nomination of Pétion, who employed his exalted position in overturning the throne and the constitution. But not only was France at the mercy of the factions within, but foreign hosts threatened them without.
La Fayette’s quiet life of repose was soon disturbed. Startling rumors reached Paris that a large army was preparing for an invasion. Quick to respond to his country’s call, La Fayette relinquished his coveted delights of rest and reunion with his family, and accepted the command of one of the three armies which France was raising to meet the advancing foe.
At this time La Fayette issued the following stirring proclamation to his army:—
“Soldiers of our Country!
“The legislative corps and the king, in the name of the French people, have declared war. Since the country, by constitutional means and by her will, calls us to defend her, what citizen can refuse to her his arm?
“At this moment, when we leaders take again the oath which was pronounced by the nation and army upon the altar of the Federation, I come to explain my intentions, and to recall to you my principles.
“Convinced by the experience of a life devoted to Liberty, that she can only be preserved in the midst of citizens submissive to the laws, as she can only be defended by disciplined troops, I have served the people without cajoling them, and in my constant struggle against license and anarchy I have incurred the honorable hatred of the ambitious, and of all factions.
“To-day that the army awaits me, it is not with a pernicious complaisance, but with an inflexible discipline, and with a rigorous fulfilment of duty, that I will justify the affection which they accord to me, and the esteem which they owe me.
“But since I control free men by the imperious will of a chief, it is necessary that we all feel—general, officers, and soldiers—that in this coming war it is a combat to the death between our principles and the pretensions of despots. We must work for the rights of each citizen and the safety of all. We must work for the constitution which we have sworn by, and for the sacred cause of liberty and equality. In short, we must work for the National Sovereignty, by which only we shall be able to resist any such combination of force and danger as there may be; and without which, not only will the French people, but humanity itself, be betrayed.
“Soldiers of Liberty! it is not sufficient for merit to be brave; be patient, indefatigable. Your general ought to plan and order; you, to obey. Be generous! respect a disarmed enemy. Those troops which always grant quarter, and will never receive it, will be invincible. Let us be disinterested, so that the shameful idea of pillage will never soil the nobility of our motives. Let us be humane; it will make every one admire our sentiments and bless our laws.