But after he was persecuted by the Petions and Robespieres of the day, because of his moderation, loyalty and attachment to the constitution, he was held in high esteem by the friends of rational freedom, and still enjoyed the confidence both of Louis and of the National Assembly. Toward the close of the year 1791, by request of the King, he was appointed to command the army of the centre, to oppose the foreign troops then invading France. When he accepted the appointment, he assured the National Assembly of his "determination to support the constitution." The President replied, "the French nation, who have sworn to conquer and to live free, will always, with confidence, present to their foes and to tyrants, the constitution and Lafayette."
As commander in chief of that department of the French army entreated to him, he was assiduous to maintain proper discipline and order; a matter of great difficulty, as a revolutionary spirit pervaded all ranks, and the soldiers were disposed to insubordination, especially under a leader not belonging to the popular party. He had several engagements with the enemy, in which he was successful. But his operations and those of the other generals, who commanded in other departments of the northern armies of France, were greatly impeded by the injudicious and variable plans of the assembly, then torn by factions, and disgraced by low intrigues. The evil spirit extended to the military; and each faction had its partizans among the soldiers. Lafayette saw and lamented this disastrous state of things; and he dared to oppose his single efforts to avert the impending ruin. It was at this time, that he wrote his celebrated letter to the National Assembly, of June 16, 1792, in which he exposed the violence and the cabals of the Jacobins, and conjured the moderates to cling to the constitution, as the only means of safety. This letter is so important, in developing the views and sentiments of Lafayette, and in detecting the causes of the excesses, which eventually disgraced the French revolution of that period, that it will be proper to record it in this connexion. He wrote to the King at the same time, expressing great anxiety for his safety, and declaring his wish to maintain the constitution.
Lafayette's letter to the Legislative body.
"At the entrenched camp of Maubeuge, 16th June, 1792.
"GENTLEMEN,
"At the moment, perhaps too long deferred, in which I am about to call your attention to the highest public interests, and to point out among our dangers, the conduct of a ministry, whom I have for a long time censured in my correspondence, I learn that, unmasked in consequence of its own divisions, it has fallen a sacrifice to its own intrigues. [This was the Brissotin ministry.] It is not enough however, that this branch of the government has been delivered from its disastrous influence. The public welfare is in peril—The fate of France depends principally on its representatives—The nation expects from them its security. But in giving them a constitution, France has prescribed to them the only means by which she can be saved.
"Persuaded, gentlemen, that as the rights of man are the law of every constituent assembly, a constitution ought to be the law of the legislators, which that constitution shall have established. It is to you that I ought to denounce the too powerful efforts which are making, to induce you to depart from that course which you have promised to pursue.
"Nothing shall deter me from the exercise of this right of a free man, to fulfill this duty of a citizen; neither the momentary errors of opinion; for what are opinions when they depart from principles: nor my respect for the representatives of the people; for I respect still more the people, whose sovereign will it is to have a constitution: nor the benevolence and kindness which you have constantly evinced for myself; for I would preserve that as I obtained it, by an inflexible love of liberty.
"Your situation is difficult—France is menaced from without, and agitated within. Whilst foreign powers announce the intolerable (inadmissible) project of attacking our national sovereignty, and avow it as a principle! at the same time the enemies of France, its interior enemies, intoxicated with fanaticism and pride, entertain chimerical hopes, and annoy us with their insolent malevolence. You ought, gentlemen, to repress them; and you will have the power so to do, only when you shall become constitutional and just. You wish it, no doubt; but cast your eyes upon all that passes within your own body and around you. Can you dissemble even to yourselves, that a faction, (and to avoid all vague denunciations) the jacobin faction, have caused all these disorders? It is that which I boldly accuse—organized like a separate empire in the metropolis, and in its affiliated societies, blindly directed by some ambitious leaders, this sect forms a corporation entirely distinct in the midst of the French people, whose powers it usurps, by tyrannizing over its representatives and constituted authorities.
"It is in that body, in its public meaning, the love of the laws is denounced as aristocracy, and their breach as patriotism. There the assassins of Dessilles receive their triumphs, the crimes of Jourdan find panegyrists. There, the recital of the massacre which has stained the city of Metz, has also been received with infernal acclamations! Have they become sacred because the emperor Leopold has pronounced their name? And because it is our highest duty to combat the foreigners, who mingle in our domestic quarrels, are we at liberty to refrain from delivering our country from domestic tyranny?