HISTORY
of THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
1789—1795.
Vol.
IV.
by
HEINRICH VON SYBEL,
.
translated
from the third edition of the original german work,
by
WALTER
C PERRY
BOOK
X.
THIRD PARTITION OP POLAND.
CHAPTER i. fall of robespierre.
Substitution of 12 Commissions for
the Public Ministries.—Robespierre organises the Parisian municipality.—St.
Just's report on the Police. —Billaud on the transformation of the
chapter
ii. taking
oe cracow.
CHAPTER III. taking of warsaw.
CHAPTER IV. treaty of partition between austria and russia.
BOOK
XI.
TREATY OF BASLE.
CHAPTER I. fall of the jacobins.
CHAPTER II. restoration of the girondists.
CHAPTER III.
peace
of basle.
BOOK
XII.
END OF THE FRENCH NATIONAL
CONTENTION.
CHAPTER I. the constitutionalists.
CHAPTER II. foreign policy.
CHAPTER III.
the
royalists.
CHAPTER IV. close OF the
convention.
BOOK X.
THIED PARTITION OF POLAND.
CHAPTER I.
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
If we
once more survey the state of European politics in -July 1794, we see the
military power of France decidedly in the ascendant, and a
general exhaustion, and disinclination for war, on the part of the allied
Powers. England alone was victorious at sea, and still resolved to continue the
contest. Prussia had placed her Rhine Army at the disposal of the British Government, but otherwise directed all her hopes and
efforts towards the war in Poland. Holland, the petty German sovereigns, Naples
and Spain, wished for nothing so eagerly as peace—peace at almost any price.
And, lastly, Austria, the first and hitherto the most prominent adversary of France, had outstripped all other Powers in
favourable disposition towards the Eepublic. A formal negotiation had not yet
indeed been opened; it was still uncertain how far
consideration for his allies would allow the Emperor to go. But the views of
the Austrian Government with regard to Poland, like
those of Prussia, were completely settled, and were no secret even in Paris.
Austria had gone so far as to abandon an important province
of the Empire, for the twofold purpose of protecting herself against the
dreaded enmity of Prussia, and rendering the Maritime Powers more favourable to
a speedy conclusion of peace.
Under these circumstances nothing could be
of greater consequence to Europe than the warlike or peaceful disposition of the French Rulers. Those, indeed, who only saw their public
documents, felt obliged to resign all thoughts of peace. Never were warlike
preparations carried on with more noisy vehemence, never had the rostra
of the Convention resounded with wilder anathemas
against "the crowned tyrants, the armed slaves of princes, the bands of
royal robbers!" But behind this official bluster other sentiments
prevailed. The desire for peace was felt, not only in the higher
circles of society, which had always abhorred the war as the most potent
lever of the Revolution; not only in the mass of the burghers, who saw trade
and wealth daily vanishing away; not only among the peasant population, who were obliged to sacrifice the blood of their sons, and the fruits
of their land, to the ever-increasing demands of the war; it was shared
even by some of the revolutionary leaders themselves, and
once more, as twelve months earlier, it became the cause
of discord between parties in the Committee of Public
Safety.
After the fall of Hebert and Danton, Robespierre had again become
master of the political situation. His rival Collot d'Herbois had lost, in the
catastrophe of March, all that had hitherto given
him and his party an independent position—the influence of the Cordeliers, the
support of the Parisian Municipality, and above all the possession of the War
Ministry, It was for the especial
purpose of destroying for ever the power of the latter, that the Convention had decreed the
dissolution of the Ministerial Council, and the formation of twelve Committees
in its stead. The sphere of operations assigned to these was in many respects characteristic of the state of affairs. The first commission
embraced the departments of police and law; the administration
of justice had become, even in form, a mere appendage
of the police. The second had the superintendence of public instruction—a task of no great difficulty at that time, because the depressed
state of the finances of itself prevented all organisation in this department.
The third attended to agri culture and the arts. We shall again have occasion
to observe in the ruling system, at this period, the prevailing
notion that true republicans ought properly to practise no art but that of
husbandry. The fourth presided over commerce and the maintenance of the people,
which latter, as we see, depended more on foreign imports than the produce of the French soil. The fifth took
charge of the public works, the sixth of public grants in aid, the seventh of
the postal arrangements—the last three being matters of absolute necessity,
whose urgency was proved by the creation of these bureaus. Then came a Commission of national revenue, instituted merely to save
appearances, since there were really no considerable sources of income but assignats, confiscations and requisitions. 1
Three more Commissions were intrusted with the defence of the country, and
presided over the administration of the land forces, the navy, and the manufacture of arms and powder.
Robespierre reserved to himself exclusively the nomination of all these
various boards. We still possess the lists of persons, written by the
dictator himself,—rough drafts—short notices of the character of each person
proposed for office— and the final appointments. Some he calls patriots of more or
less talent; others are characterised as energetic, Cleveland honest men, capable of undertaking the most important functions,
adapted for the highest offices. They are, without exception, obscure men who
never at any time showed any political capacity.
Hermann, late President of the Tribunal in Robespierre's native town of Arras,
became Commissioner of police and justice. His assessor Lanne was an intimate
friend of the deputy Lebas, who was on familiar terms with St. Just, and had married the daughter of the landlord of
Robespierre's house. Euchot, a schoolmaster from the Jura, was lauded by the
President of the Revolutionary Tribunal, and was thereupon named Commissioner
of foreign affairs.1 In.
the club at Pontarlier, a post-office official, named
Lere-bours,. had a short time before had a violent discussion with a deputy who
was passing through that place; Robespierre, being informed of this, sent for
him to Paris, praised his energy, and appointed him President of the public relief bureau. The new Minister then attended daily upon
Robespierre, and worked under his superintendence.2
Other Commissioners had recommended themselves, as
orators of the Jacobin Club, or as Members of the bloody tribunals of Lyons and Arras; it was remarked that one of the assessors
of the agricultural Commission bore a guillotine on his. seal. Of these
appointments some were sanctioned on the 8th, and all definitively ratified by
the Convention on the 18th of April, without any remark
whatever. • A second, scarcely less important object, was to secure possession
of Paris. To do this it was necessary to bring the Municipality—which had
hitherto been the focus of every opposition—into subjection to the Government,
for the first time sinee 1789. With this view the
Committee of Public Safety arbitrarily deereed a remodelling of the city
police; then purged the Sectional revolutionary committees of all obnoxious
elements, and employed the now completely cowed
Jacobins in the: work of closing and suppressing, all other clubs and popular
unions. The effect of these last acts of despotism was so strong, that all
parties submitted without resistance, and unanimously
agreed to the principle, that public opinion, like the Republic, must be one
and indivisible. Whilst opposite opinions were thus
deprived of every organ, the formation of the new Municipality was effected,
like that of the Ministries, according to Robespierre's lists; Fleuriot, the
enthusiastic admirer of the Dictator, was made Mayor of
Paris, and a certain Payan, brother of the Commissioner
of public instruction, a friend and partisan of St.-Jnst,
became "National agent." Henriot and Boulanger wer.e retained in the
command of the National guard, both animated by the same wish of
atoning for their previous Hebertist sins by double zeal in the Dictator's
service.
And thus Paris, once so turbulent, was reduced to silence and mute
obedience. No one in the Convention dared to-utter a word against the all-powerful ruler. The provinces had learned from the examples of
Lyons, Bourdeaux, and Toulon, the terrible consequences of exciting the wrath
of the Jacobin government, and, with the exception of La Vendee, crouched in
patient submission. In these quarters Robespierre only needed to
direct his attention to the Government officials, and he zealously
set to work to put an end to the lawlessness and confusion of the Hebertists,
and the sluggish apathy and weakness of some of the Dantonists, which had caused him so much vexation. He had observed with displeasure how the public
money was squandered, the pockets of the conventional Commissioners filled, and
the people plundered by a number of unauthorised and self-constituted persons
of the most worthless character. He thought it equally
injurious to the commonwealth, that these disorders afforded an opportunity to
a great number of aristocrats to make their escape; that revolutionary justice
was often inclined towards indulgence by local and personal influences, and that the lawless clubs of the Departments only reflected the
general tendencies, and did not carry out every individual enactment of the central government. His opinion was,
that all these manifestations of self-will must be
controlled by a rigid centralisation of power, and .in iron discipline. On the
15th of April, accordingly, St. Just laid before the Convention a comprehensive
report on the police of the country. He described the disorganised state of the public finances arising
from the paper money, the speculations of the Bourse, and the frequent
embezzlements. He complained of the general impoverishment,
the scarcity of provisions, and the annihilation of credit. It was necessary,
he said, to strengthen the fabric of government, to rouse the servants of
the State from their slumbers, to call them to a strict account for their negligence and brutality, and their indulgence to traitors and
scoundrels. In accordance with these suggestions,
it was decreed that the conspirators from every part of the country should be
brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris, and, consequently, that all
similar tribunals in the Departments should be dissolved,
unless the Committee of Public Safety
should see reason to think otherwise. Political justice was thus completely
centralised, and subjected to the control of the Government. We know that under
transparent forms, this court could dispose of the life and property of every citizen, and we shall soon see how carefully
Robespierre watched and guided every step of the Parisian Tribunal. By the
dissolution of the other courts, the individual views of the judge were
completely eliminated from the system. It is true that the Parisian Tribunal was hereby overwhelmed with business, and that a danger arose of its
coming to a speedy stand-still, which Robespierre would have regarded as the
greatest misfortune, and, indeed, as the destruction of the strongest prop of
his power. But St. Just's law of the 26th had already ordained the
formation of six so-called Popular Commissions, for the trial of the
incarcerated suspects, and these seemed capable of becomin" the most convenient organs
for the support of the Revolutionary Tribunal. These, therefore, were empowered to examine the charges brought against the suspected persons, to liberate
the innocent, and bring the others before the Tribunal.
Besides this, they were themselves to pass judgment on all citizens, under
sixty years of age, who lived without regular occupation; and had spoken
against the Revolution; the latter were to be banished to Cayenne. The sphere
of this new haute police was completed by an order, that all quondam nobles and foreigners should leave Paris, and the frontier towns and
harbours, within three days.
The other provisions of the decree were directed against the government
officials. All bureaux of administration were directed to make up the arrears
of their accounts within three months. No one was
to be guilty of any further transgression of his official functions. No Commissioner was for the future to delegate his power to a third person.
No official, except the Commissioners for the maintenance of the People, and the Representatives attached to the armies, was empowered to
make requisitions. The Committee of Public Safety, said the decree, would do
everything to further commerce and trade. St. Just, too, had said in his
report, "we must at last create civil institutions,
which are the only secure foundation of the State, but of which no one has yet
thought/1
These last words were the first announcement of a system, by which
Robespierre's government intended to distinguish itself from all its
revolutionary predecessors. Hitherto the democratic rule
had firmly fixed its talons in the outward life, the blood and treasure, of all
Frenchmen. It had likewise persecuted certain political
and religious tendencies with the greatest fury, and threatened every manifestation of them with immediate destruction. St. Just now promised to
carry this system of government a step further. The design was, that the State
should henceforward take possession of the minds of the people,
as hitherto of their bodies, and distribute to
mankind their thoughts and inclinations as well as material
blessings. Independence and individuality in the inner life of man were no more to be tolerated than in his material existence. In accordance with these
views, St. Just distinguished between the laws, which regulate external
political and legal relations, and the institutions—i. e. the
regulations intended to promote the moral and spiritual
education of the people. These soon became the watchword of the new
rulers, and they certainly proclaimed to the nation with perfect frankness, to
what extent, and by what means, they intended to carry out their new spiritual
lordship. On the 20th of April Billand-Varennes brought
forward a decree, in the name of the Committee, which was in fact nothing but a
general programme. "The Convention deorees," it said, "that it
will lead the democratic Republic to the most complete triumph, and annihilate
all its enemies without mercy. The transition
of a long-oppressed nation to democracy may be compared
to the effort by which nature rose from nothingness to existence. It is
necessary completely to refashion a people whom one wishes to make free—to
destroy its prejudices, alter its habits, limit its
necessities, eradicate its vices, and purify its desires. Strong forces,
therefore, must be set in motion to develope the social virtues, and to repress
the passions of men. The true Republic is such a blending of all wills, interests and talents, that each man may draw a share from
the common fund corresponding to his stake and contribution.
The State, therefore, must lay hold on every human being at his birth, and
direct his education with a powerful hand. Solon's weak confidence threw Athens into fresh slavery, while Lycurgus's
severity founded the Republic of Sparta on an immovable basis. This
contrast," cried the orator "comprehends the whole art of
government."
The design of the rulers, therefore, was, by every
means in their power, to cast the great body of the citizens in a new mould of
life, morals, and religion; not to form the State according to the necessities
of mankind, but to force the will of men into the model of the new government.
The mere mention of this scheme awakeus in every
unprejudiced mind a feeling of natural repugnance at such an arbitrary and fanatical despotism. Yet it is essential to get a. clear
understanding of the grounds on which our judgment of it rests. There is,
after all, in St. Just's syllogisms, as in all great political errors, an
element of truth. No form of government can he permanent which is not based on
corresponding moral tendencies in the people itself. The State, therefore, is doubtless justified in the endeavour to direct and eleyate
these tendencies, by which it is itself so greatly influenced. This is the
evident duty of every good citizen, and it would be absurd to exclude the most
prominent members of the. body politic from the exercise of..this
highest function. Nay, so deeply is this close relation between politics and
morality founded in our nature,, that the State which loses sight of it for a
single moment, must inevitably fall into lifeless decomposition. But when the State thus claims the office of educating the people, it
must never forget, that education means, not the subjection, but the
liberation, of the mind of every individual. Religion and morality are only Avorthy
of
their'names, in so far as they are continually reproduced, from the
inward sentiments and convictions of every individual
heart. Every penal enactment in this department of human existence is a
deathstroke to the life of a nation. The morality which is produced by terror
is as worthless as the religion which is fortified by
the stake; both are chilled by such means into mere lip service, in which they
themselves must perish, and leave to the enslaved people the choice between
suffocation and rebellion. It was in this way that the universal dominion of the Popes cut its own roots, in the 13th century, by the
tribunals of the Inquisition, and drove the moral forces of Europe into
non-ecclesiastical paths. In this way the governments of Spain and Poland, in
the 16th century, exhausted the marrow
of their subjects for centuries to come, by ecclesiastical
tyranny and religious wars; and condemned the polity of the former to a
benumbing paralysis, and that of the latter to a dissolute anarchy. These were
the paths on which Robespierre was now entering. According to his design,
the Revolution, which had once looked to Hampden and Franklin as its exemplars,
which had then raged like the peasants of George Metzler and Thomas Münzer,
was to end in a torpid and silent despotism a la Philip
II.
After St. Just had talked of a new organisation of society, and Billaud
of the eradication of all old customs and habits, Robespierre himself, on the
7th of May, announced the future religion of the State. What he had
originally only used as a party weapon against the Hebertists, and a political
bait for the rural population, had rapidly developed itself into a main element
of his whole policy. He felt that a lasting dominion must, at some point or other, have a hold on the impulses and affections of the
people. The instrument which lay nearest to his hand—the
allurement of military glory—was denied to him, and with the instinct of
ambition he discovered the serviceableness of religion as a
political cement. In his discourse, which in the main 'adhered to the views expressed in his former speeches against Hebert's
atheism, he began by declaring, that France was separated from the rest of the
world, that she was 2,000 years in advance of
other nations, that her people seemed scarcely to be fashioned of the same clay
as the rest of mankind—so opposed to them did they appear in all their desires
and moral ideas. It was no longer difficult, he said, to secure the Republic,
all that was needed was to continue
to do the contrary of all that had been done in former times. He saw the
solution of this problem in the principle of founding the State on virtue,
developing in mankind a steady impulse towards morality, and giving to moral
laws the divine consecration of religion. "It is
not," said he, "a question of the scientific controversies of
philosophers; let them go their own ways. It is not a question of the restoration of ambitious priests, who are in religion, what quacks are in
medicine. But the idea of the godhead and immortality
is an eternal remembrance of justice, and is therefore human and republican.
Accordingly the Convention decreed the acknowledgement of
a Supreme Being by the French people, the institution of 36 annual festivals as a new
religious service, and the performance of the first act of divine worship in
honour of the Supreme Being on the 8th of June. In the evening the Jacobins did
homage to their chief with great parade; some days
afterwards the Municipality resolved to go in a body and offer their warmest
thanks to the Convention; and the Committee of Public Safety ordered that an
inscription should be placed on every church, "To the Supreme Being!"
The unanimity and subjection of the nation
seemed complete. Outwardly, indeed, Robespierre
attained his immediate object. "What shape the new cultus would ultimately
take no one could foresee, and what was' now presented to them appeared to the
French peasants, as well as to foreign Powers, a
considerable improvement on the filthy disorders of Hebert's worship of reason.
But the majority of the Convention were in the highest degree alarmed. The Representatives, whose greatest recommendation had hitherto been the plundering of churches—the friends of Danton, who knew no religion
but sensual enjoyment—the associates of Hebert and Brissot, who from their
youth up had placed the pride of their education and their statesmanship in
their contempt for religion—were filled with the deepest indignation. They dared not resist; they listened to Robespierre's religious utterances with suppressed fury, and only gave vent
to their feelings, by boisterously applauding every sentence which was directed
against fanaticism and the priests. Robespierre observed
it with all the keen sensitiveness of a new ruler, and made
no secret of his displeasure. The first who saw themselves affected by it were
some Dantonists, Bourdon de 1'Oise, who had already been threatened with a
penal indictment in February, Freron the nearest friend of the murdered Desmoulins, Tallien, whom Robespierre's agents had incessantly accused, on
account of his proceedings in Bordeaux, his previous extortions and subsequent
indulgence. These men assembled with a few other friends, to consider whether there was any-means of freeing the Convention from the tyranny of the Committee. They then
made an attempt at opposition on occasion of a taxation bill, but received such a brutal rebuff from Robespierre,
that Tallien and Bourdon, immediately afterwards, solemnly and submissively
recanted.
On the 23rd of May, a certain Ladmiral, formerly, a lottery clerk, after having vainly lain in wait for Robespierre, made an attempt to shoot Collot d'Herbois in his own house. His weapon
missed fire, the murderer was seized, and boasted of his intention to the end.
On the 24th a young girl named Cecile Renaud was arrested in Robespierre's house, with a large knife about her;
she, however, denied all murderous intentions, and said that she only wished to
see how a tyrant behaved.1
Barere took advantage of these occurrences to pour
forth new tirades against Pitt, whom he pointed out as the originator of both
attempts, and, with the eager approbation of
Robespierre, the Convention decreed that no English or Hanoverian soldier
should for the future be made prisoner of war. The Convention, the Jacobin
Club, the Municipality, and the Sections, vied with one another on this occasion in expressions of indignation, devotion and
enthusiasm; yet the rulers were by no means at ease. Both in Paris and the
Provinces hunger and misery prevailed among the population; riots and strikes
took place in several quarters; and it was extremely
doubtful whether it would be possible to feed the people, and keep them quiet,
until harvest time. The zeal of the Police authorities was therefore
incessantly incited, the officials of the Post-office received instructions to
forward all letters, which were in any way suspicious, or were
addressed to foreign countries, to the Committee of Public Safety; and
Robespierre, who distrusted the Comite de Surete generale--which was usually entrusted with the direction of the Police —on
account of its Hebertist leaning, established a secret bureau
haute
police, which
employed itself principally in closely watching
obnoxious deputies. To the same end it was resolved to form, in addition to the
National Guard, another force, which could be thoroughly depended on, for the
protection of the capital, from which the army might gradually be supplied with
trustworthy officers. On the 1st of June the
establishment of a permanent camp near Sablons was decreed, under the name of Ecole de Mars, in which 3,000 youths of 16 to 17 years old were to be trained by a
revolutionary education as republican soldiers, and commanded by General
Labreteche, an enthusiastic admirer of Robespierre.
Amidst these cares the day approached, for the festival of the Supreme Being, which Robespierre regarded as the public inauguration of
the new system of government. He had caused himself to be named President of
the Convention during the last few weeks, that he might be able to occupy the
most prominent place during the festivities; he expected to
produce a great impression on the people, and was in a state of unusual
exaltation, and less accessible, and more monosyllabic and reserved, than ever.
On the 8th of June a refreshing sunshine rested upon the city; by the command of the Convention all the houses were decked with flowers and
garlands, but were left empty, under the protection,
as the edict said, of republican virtue. The whole population, men and women,
youths and maidens, children and infants, were summoned to
the garden of the Tuileries to hear the address of Robespierre, to see the
statue of atheism sink into the dust, and to march to the sound of military
music to the Champ de Mars; where a second oration of the President, a
religious-patriotic-popular hymn, and loud thunders from the
cannon, would conclude the fete. Everything took place according to the
programme, except that Robespierre caused a long delay, by making the Assembly
wait several honrs for his appearance. His friends looked everywhere for him, until they found him at the house of an acquaintance, standing at the window lost in dreamy transports at the sight of the countless mass below him. The
malcontents of the Convention were not a little
enraged, and Bourdon and Merlin of Thionville were so blinded by their
vexation, as to indulge in loud expressions of contempt during his speech, and
to ridicule the new high priest, in the face of all the people. He saw their
gestures, and even heard some of their words: "See how
radiant he is—how he inhales the homage of the people; he already feels himself
their lord, he would like to be their God also." He felt it keenly, in
spite of the tumultuous applause with which great bodies of the people received him. The words which he wrote soon afterwards—"Do these dwarfs
wish to renew the conspiracy of the Titans, and to take Heaven by
storm!"—sufficiently expressed his irritation. He was deeply wounded, and
resolved immediately to bring forward a long contemplated
measure, which should place the heads of his audacious adversaries at his
disposal, and at his alone.
Ever since the legislation of the preceding September, the
Revolutionary Tribunal had been in a state of incessant and ever increasing
activity. It broke up the several political
oppositions, and smoothed the path of the Government by the successive
destruction of the Girondists, Hebertists, and Dantonists. It impressed the
doctrines of Communism on the people, by sometimes sending a lady of rank to the scaffold, for feeding her horses on oats; and at another time a
number of peasants, for wasting corn and bread. It helped to fill the Treasury
by so considerably lessening the number of State creditors by executions, and
increasing the mass of confiscated property, that the expression
was current in the Committees, "to coin money with the guillotine!"'
The Tribunal unquestionably formed the main wheel in the machine of the
Revolutionary government; Robespierre had always bestowed the greatest
attention upon it, and filled the- greater part of
its offices with his own partisans. Since September he had accustomed Fonquier
Tinville, who had hitherto received his instructions from the Cnmite de Surete gen&i'ale,"1 to seek them daily in the Bureau of the Committee
of Public Safety, and in consequence of the accumulation
of other work in the hands of his colleagues, he soon made himself sole master of this department. And since he had established the already
mentioned bureau de haute police in the same building, the complete and unconditional subordination of Fouquier to his commands was officially pronounced.2 Yet
Robespierre was by no means satisfied with this result. The
Tribunal condemned twenty persons to death, on an average, every week. But
Robespierre thought that with this number he could not by any means produce the
degree of intimidation among the people which was necessary for his purposes, and he continually urged a quicker process, and more numerous
convictions.3
When, in February, a juryman replied to an exhortation of this nature, by
saying that the legal forms would not allow of any different course,
Robespierre cried out: "Ah, these forms—you ought to have a law
which would free you from these forms." In May Fouquier learned from
Dumas, then Vicepresident of the Tribunal, that a law to this effect had been
drawn up,
1 Evidence of Fouquier at his trial.
— 2 Resolution of the Committee of Public Safety (Floreal 25)
written by Robespierre's ownhand (Imperial Archives). Fouquier is
directed to lay before him the cases in hand, every decade. After the 9th of
Thermidor, Fouquier deelared that he had always transacted business with the whole Committee, and never with Robespierre alone, and that he knew
nothing about the secret bureau. Whereupon Billaud, on the 9th of Germinal III,
brought forward a letter of Fonquet addressed "avx re-presentants du pevple, membres du C. de S. P. charyes de la police generate.
IV.
After these dates it is quite immaterial whether Fouquet had a personal liking for Robespierre or not, as Louis Blanc repeatedly assures
us (X. 20, 484). He has no other proof of this than Fonquier's assurances,
after the 9th of Thermidor. when every body disowned
Robespierre. The main point is that before the 9th of Thermidor, Fouquier,
whether he loved or hated Robespierre, obeyed him implicitly, and, whether he
visited him in person or not, regularly sent in the lists of cases to him. — 3 Evidence
of Fouquier Tinville at the bar of the Convention August 9th 1794.
which would curtail the proceediugs, and lessen the number of jurors.
Fouquier, a thoroughly coarse and unfeeling man, had no
objection to make to the cruelty of the measure, but the decrease in the number
of jur-ors seemed to him impolitic, because it might appear as if the
Government were unable to beat up a sufficient number of subservient tools. It was well known that several of these, weary of the daily recurring
horrors, were only kept in their seats by the threat of death to themselves. He
therefore appealed to the Committee of Public Safety, and addressed Billaud,
Collot, and Carnot personally, but was referred by them to
Robespierre, who, they said, understood these matters.
Robespierre who was little inclined to tolerate a difference
of opinion in one of his own tools, called him an aristocrat and stopped his
moutlu
The Committee, therefore, from the very first, agreed with
Robespierre on this point.1 It
was as agreeable to the other members, as to Robespierre himself, to increase
indefinitely their power of life and death over the French citizens. They even
left to their dreaded colleague the absolute choice of the persons,
^who were, in future, to shed the blood of the obnoxious, in the capacity of
judges and jurors; and confirmed the decision by which he rejected 21 of the
candidates proposed by the Comite de SArete generate. Meanwhile the hostile attitude of Tallien, Bourdon
and Merlin de Thilonville, excited in his mind the singular idea of inducing
the Convention to give up one of its most important privileges—that no deputy
could be brought before the Tribunal without the
consent of the Convention itself. If he succeeded in
this, a few directions jto Fouquier would enable him to drown all opposition in
the Convention in the blood of those who raised it; and, once secure of the
all-powerful Tribunal, he would no longer have to fear any rival even in the Committee of Public Safety. With the
greatest secrecy, therefore, he caused the finishing stroke to be put
to the measure by his friend Couthon, and two days after the festival of the
Supreme Being, on the 10th of June (22 Prairial), Couthon brought it before the
Convention for their acceptance. He complained that the ancient
despotism had completely falsified men's ideas of right and wrong, and
surrounded State criminals, who threatened the welfare of the whole community,
with the same protecting forms as the violators of mere private rights. In order to remedy this evil for all future time, he proposed that
the Tribunal should be reconstituted, Dumas be made President, and 65 other
patriots, whose names he gave, jurors and judges. The Tribunal was to be
divided into four sections, acting side by side, who should punish the
enemies of the people with death. Enemies of the people, he said, were
royalists, caluminators of the present government and the patriots, traitors to
their country, fraudulent contractors, seducers of the people, and corrupters of morals. The prisoners were no longer to be
defended by counsel; there were to be no more private examinations, no evidence
of witnesses, if the jury had already formed their
opinions in any other way. No one but the Convention, or the two Government committees, or the Representatives on mission, or the Public
accuser, was to bring any one before the Tribunal.
Submissive as the Convention usually was, its present fears were, on
this occasion, outweighed by its anxiety about the future. A few voices demanded adjournment; one man cried out that he would shoot himself
if it were not granted. But when Robespierre with the greatest vehemence
refused all delay, not another sound was uttered, and the entire bill was
unanimously adopted. During the night, however, the fears of ' the
opposition deputies increased; their views gained in clearness, and were
directed to the one decisive point. On the following day Bourdon brought
forward a motion, that the Convention should declare its intention of maintaining, as heretofore, the exclusive
right of
impeaching its own members. Couthon and Robespierre happened to be
absent, and therefore Bourdon's motion was carried without further discussion.
Robespierre poured forth his wrath the same evening, first in the Jacobin
club, in a violent attack on the Hebertist Fouche, whom he branded as an
obstinate atheist, and then in the Committee of Public Safety, where a very
lively debate arose on the entire bill. The old antagonism between Collot
d'Herbois and Robespierre once more came to light. Collot, who was quite ready
to hand over thousands of other citizens to the Tribunal of his rival, would
not sacrifice another faction of the Convention, and least of all his old Hebertist friends; and Carnot, who for weeks past had been at
open feud with St. Just respecting the conduct of the war in Belgium, and with
Robespierre on the subject of La Vendee, gave Collot his emphatic support. The
dispute was so loud and violent that it excited the notice of
the passers-by in the street; the final result was, that Robespierre was
obliged to forego the immediate execution of the obnoxious deputies, and, on
the other hand, the Committee consented to adopt the principle of the law in its full extent. On the 12th, therefore, ('outhon, in the name
of the Committee, demanded the formal repeal of the decree which Bourdon had
carried, as an intolerable insult to the Committee, which was thereby charged
with the desire of attacking the precious privilege of the
Convention—an intention which it was very far from entertaining. Bourdon and
Tallien, in answer to this singular interpretation, pointed to
the wording of the law, which left no room for such a privilege. Whereupon
Robespierre lost all patience, and called Bourdon a
despicable and worthless intriguant; and as Billaud, at the same time, denounced the impudence of Tallien as
perfectly incredible, the trembling Convention once
more submitted, and revoked their last decree. Whatever
Couthon might say respecting the intentions of the
Committee, the life of every deputy was now placed, according to the letter of
the law
in the hands of the Committee of Public
Safety, and Fouquier Tinville. The only hope for
Bourdon, Tallien, and Fouche, lay in the contiuuance of the discord which
rendered one portion of the Committee averse to Robespierre's plans: and how
precarious such a protection was, had been lately proved,
in the most glaring manner, by the example of Hebert and Danton. Robespierre
left the sitting, with deadly fury in his heart, unshaken in his bloody
purpose; and now only brooded over the means of breaking down the resistance of
the Committee, as he had done that of the Convention.
He had, in fact, but little prospect of coming to an understanding with his colleagues in the Committee. It would have been easy
to do so if he had only sought a continuance of his rule after the former
fashion; he had done more than any other person to bring about the present
state of things —the Dictatorship of the Committee, the subjection of
the French people, and the general war against Europe; and his associates would
gladly have left him, if that were all, the predominant influence in the
Government. But we have seen what phases of the Revolution were altogether repugnant to him, in spite of his former
efforts to promote them. Ho desired popular despotism, but not the present
noisy, tumultuous, filthy despotism; he wished for a dumb, well disciplined,
and monotonous subjection of the people. At home, the anarchy
which he had himself unchained against the former rulers was, abhorrent to him,
now that he was himself in power, on account of its self-willed lawlessness.
Abroad, he looked upon the war which he had spread over Europe in the former
summer, with painful and growing anxiety. He saw, on the
one hand, the possibility that the reputation of a victorious general might
throw his own into the shade; and, on the other, he had learnt from the possession of power, that the purposeless rushing into universal war was a folly. It is true that he was no more able than my of his
friends to contemplate a state of perfect peace.
"France," wrote St. Just at this time, "must have an
army of 800,000 men in time of peace, in order to he terrible
to all States; it must introduce a coinage which can never gain currency in
foreign countries." He therefore objected to all active intercourse with
his neighbours, whom he would have threatened, even after the conclusion of peace, by the maintenance of a force superior to that of the whole
of Europe. But at any rate the foreign policy of the country might have been
regulated from this point of view, the mass of opponents separated, and one
monarch of ancient Europe employed against another. We see that
Robespierre made exactly the same experience as Danton had done in the former
year. As head of the government he threw contemptuously
behind him the favorite ideas of his demagogic past. As Danton, in the former
summer, had endeavoured to strengthen himself for
the contest with Austria by making peace with England and Prussia,
so Robespierre, in his hatred against England, desired to come to an
understanding with the Emperor Francis. But he immediately encountered the same difficulties which he had himself prepared for Danton in the preceding
year; and was charged by the majority of the Committee with entertaining
lukewarm, if not traitorous, sentiments. With the exception of Couthon and St.
Just, all the other members adhered to the old antipathy towards
Austria, which had been so often preached by Robespierre himself, and to the
endeavour [to bring about that universal Revolution in Europe, which he had
formerly proclaimed. Between these two points of view there was no middle course. A reconciliation of views with respect to home questions
was still less conceivable. That varnish of rectitude, virtue and piety, the
want of which was for the future, according to St. Just and Robespierre, to be
regarded as a crime worthy of death, was an object of ridicule and
hatred to the rest of the Committee of Public Safety. As soon as Robespierre's
back was turned, men like Barere and Collot d'Herbois ridiculed the pedantic
ar-
rogance, which desired to subject the victorious Revolution to a new
priesthood. These sentiments were particularly strong in the Comite de Surete generate, in which Robespierre had only two followers, David the painter, and St.
Just's friend, Lebas. From this quarter Vadier, on the
15th, dealt a secret and deeply felt blow at Robespierre's religious zeal, by
denouncing before the Convention an old lady called Catharine Theot, who
considered herself to be the mother of God, held a harmless conventicle in a garret with a few of her admirers, and, unfortunately, raved
about Robespierre as the restorer of religion in France. During Vadier's report, which now ridiculed the folly of the sectarians, and now
thundered against the criminality of such fanaticism,
inextinguishable laughter ran through the Convention, and Robespierre ground
his teeth with fury, as he stood helplessly exposed—the real butt of all
this ridicule.
In short the struggle showed itself on all sides between the wish to
swim on, day after day, with the revolutionary stream, and
the effort to stop in the downward course, and to found the dominion which had
been gained on a lasting basis. It was the crisis to which every revolutionary
triumph brings its champions, whether for purification or
destruction; the moment, in which the arms of revolution are turned against him
who previously bore them, when he must either justify his inconsistency by the
intrinsic merit of his rule, or perish.
The breach between the two parties of the Committee, therefore, was not healed, though Lindet and Prieur repeatedly exhorted them to unity, though Barere surrounded Robespierre
with eye and lip service, though Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varennes
themselves dreaded an open contest, and in all subordinate matters diligently strove to please their dreaded colleague. Robespierre,
at this time, was busily engaged in seeking new victims for the Revolutionary
Tribunal from the mass of incarcerated suspects, in
the place of the obnoxious deputies, who had escaped his
clutches.
His friend Fleuriot, Mayor of Paris, had discovered a prisoner in irons
who was willing to make false charges of rebellion and conspiracy against his
fellow-captives; and the Committee hastened to entrust other
confidants of Robespierre—Lanne, Dumas and
Hermann—with the prosecution of this affair, by means of which a daily crop of
50, 60, and even 80 heads soon sprang up for the bloody scaffold.1 In
fact the activity of this horrible tribunal increased in a manner which language has no words to characterise. From its establishment
to the 22nd of Prairial, it had passed 1,200 sentences of death; from that day
to the fall of Robespierre— about six weeks —1,400
more. Single indictments comprehended 20 or 30 people taken
promiscuously — great noblemen from Paris, day labourers from Marseilles,
1 The modern admirers of Robespierre are constantly endeavouring to free their hero from this reproach, and to throw it on the majority of the committees alone, the destruction of which they consider to have been
Robespierre's only object in the law of the 22nd
Prairial. One example of their way of arguing may suffice. When Ladmiral and C.
Renault were brought before the tribunal, 52 other prisoners were brought up at the same time, all under the charge of a conspiration de I'etranger. Among these was a Madame de St.
Amaranthe, with her daughter, son and son-in-law—a family of more than doubtful
reputation. After Robespierre's fall, his opponents
circulated the calumny, that Robespierre, when intoxicated at her table, had
divulged secrets of State, and that St. Just had vainly made proposals of love
to the old lady, and that on this account the unhappy
people had been brought to the scaffold. Instead
of confining himself to the refutation of these charges, which would have been
easy enough , Louis Blane goes on to argue that Robespierre's enemies implicated the St. Amaranthes and the iS other victims, in the Proc'es C. Renault, in order to throw odium on Robespierre as the author of this butchery; whereas neither
lie nor St. Just had anything tu do with it. But all the authentic information
which we possess respecting the fall of the St. Amaranthe family eonsists in the two facts, that a police indictment was found in St. Just's papers, and that St. Just, in his
impeachment of Danton, denounced them as his infamous
accomplices. Of any other prosecutor of the St. Amaranthes besides St. Just no one has ever heard.
THE
REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL.
sailors from Brest, peasants from Alsace—who were accused of conspiring
together to destroy the Republic, All examination,
discussion, and evidenee were dispensed with; the names of the victims were
hardly read out to the jury, aud it happened more than once, that the son was
mistaken for the father—an entirely innocent person for the one really
charged—and sent to the guillotine. The judges urged the
jury to pass sentences of death, with lond threats; members of the Government
committees attended daily, and applauded the bloody verdicts with ribald jests.
On this spot at least the strife of parties was hushed. Billaud-Varennes seldom agreed with Robespierre in any other respect, but he
signed the list of the prisoners marked out for to-morrow's bntchery uaoec pZcn'stY." 1 The
Rulers passed some weeks in this congenial occupation in tolerable outward
harmony. Robespierre now seldom showed himself in the
meetings of the entire Committee, but he did not neglect to have minutes of its
proceedings laid before him for his perusal and signature. He was, however, all
the more punctual—as at the period of his struggle with Hebert—in his appearance in the rostra of the Jacobin Club, which he had
left, since the end of March, almost entirely to the guidance of Collot
d'Herbois, but which now, in the expectation of a fresh conflict, he wished to
appropriate to himself exclusively. Like Collot, he had not yet made up
his mind for the final struggle, and was still undecided as to the time when it
should be commenced, and the extent to which it should be carried. But on the
27th of June St. Just arrived in Paris with the news of the victory of Fleurus; the necessity of coming to some decision in foreign
politics became more pressing, and St. Just, who had formerly spurred his
friend to action against Danton, once more roused him to a bold and energetic
decision. Robespierre, accordingly, again brought forward his motion
in the Committee to summon
the recalcitrant members of the Convention before the Revolutionary Tribunal. He was again repulsed, and was obliged to listen to
some strong language against arbitrary power and dictatorship. Whereupon, on
the 1st of July, he laid these dissensions for public discussion before the
Jacobin club. He complained that the party of Danton, the party of
the half-hearted, was being resuscitated, that men accused him of ambition,
"not only in London," he said, "but here in Paris. You would
shudder, if I were to tell yon where, and by what men, invested as they are
with a sacred character. Should they compel me" he
cried in conclusion, "to leave the Committee of Public Safety, 1 should
still remain representative of the people, and still continue the death
struggle against tyrants to my latest breath." Two days after these open threats, a fresh debate took place in the Committee. Hermann had
collected such plentiful materials in the prisons, that he sent
in a list of 160 persons, who were said to have conspired, during their
imprisonment, against the Government; a motion was
carried to send them all on one day before the Tribunal—i. e. to
the scaffold. In consideration of the evident state of public feeling in Paris,
this was a little too much, even for Collot; "What will you do," he
cried, "when you have made men disregard even
the punishment of death?"—and it was agreed to distribute the mass of
victims over three days at least. Robespierre was still more irritated when, on
the 4th of July, Barere, usually so tractable, made an undisguised attack in
the Convention on the foreign policy of his late master.
This was the time when the Austrians began their retreat from Beloium.
Robespierre had succeeded so far, that the Committee, instead of a rapid pursuit of the hostile army, had decreed the recapture
of the four French fortresses. Barere now carried a
motion threatening the garrisons with a general massacre, if they made the
least resistance; and he rejected every thought of peace with Austria in a
speech full of noisy bluster. "We
have found you out," he cried, "ye
STRUGGLE BETWEEN BARERE AND ROBESPIERRE. 27
cunning friends of peace; we know your efforts to damp our courage, and
to weaken our armies; but beware!—freedom has her eye upon you, and has
revealed to us the consequences of a premature peace." Robespierre
replied some days afterwards, and again in the Jacobin club. "A
people," he said,'"does not become illustrious by the overthrow of
Kings; our lofty mission is the contest against parties, and the foundation of
an empire of virtue and justice. Of what avail are these
bombastic, common-places against Pitt? What is the use of these noisy and empty
bulletins of victory? The same persons who indulge in these high-sounding
phrases, secretly undermine the government, oppose
the most useful measures, calumniate the truest
patriots, and throw suspicion on the strongest bulwark of" our liberties
—the Revolutionary Tribunal."
The skirmish of words grew hotter and hotter, and deadly threats of
irreconcileable hatred flashed forth with ever-increasing frequency. Robespierre already proceeded to make direct
preparations for his coup d'etat. His confidants in the Municipality and the Parisian Sections began to
canvass individual citizens; here and there it was said that a new 31st of May
was necessary against the majority of the Convention
,1 and
an attempt was made to agitate and excite the people by public carousals in the
streets.2 It was soon seen, however, that the masses had as little liking for
Robespierre as for Collot, and the fraternal feasts were discontinued by
order of the Municipality. Robespierre's friends then turned with all the more
zeal to the Jacobins, but the result was
not much more
satisfactory. The Club was in all respects subservient, and expelled Tallien, Bourdon and
Fouche, but there was not a trace of the old ardour. "The Club,"
cried the younger Robespierre, "is feeble and
lukewarm, and no longer helps the persecuted patriots; I only desire a grave
for myself beside that of my brother." At the same time they tried' the
provinces. Although Robespierre had forfeited a portion of his influence in the Committee of Public Safety by his rare attendance at its meetings,
he still had the home administration at his unconditional disposal, by means of
the personal devotion of the Ministerial Commissioners. Hermann, Commissioner
of the Interior, summoned trustworthy officials, and
influential club-men, from all parts of the country, to Paris, in order to take
counsel with them respecting the impending change. The Committee, the majority
of which observed these steps with growing anxiety, induced the Convention on the 20th of July, to decree the expulsion of these persons from
the city; and Barere, in his speech, complained bitterly of Robespierre's
exciting orations in the Jacobin Club. At the same time the Comite de Swrete generate violently protested against
the interference of Robespierre's Police Bureau in the department which
belonged of right to them; and the majority of the Committee of Pnblic Safety
came to a resolution to dissolve the bureau. On the 22nd the two Government
Committees held a sitting in common, to deliberate on the
general position of affairs. Robespierre was not there, but St. Just was
present, and Billaud sounded him, to see whether he could be brought over to
the side of the majority. The question was, as to the expediency of making a report to the Convention respecting the late convulsions in public
opinion, and drawing up a manifesto, such as the Committee was regnlarly wont
to issue before any great catastrophe. Billaud-Varennes complained of
Robespierre's ambition, described the situation of the country as
"volcanic," and finally proposed to St. Just that he should undertake
to bring up the report. The latter,
though
entirely on the side of Robespierre, thought it better not to deprive his opponents of all hope. He agreed to undertake the report,
provided that it might be expressed in respectful
terms towards the Convention and its members; he would, he said, probe the
source of all the existing evils, and unveil the whole scheme of subversion. It was evident .from this that the crisis was no longer
to be deferred, but there was no less mutual fear than wrath between the opposing parties, and Robespierre determined to make a last attempt at
reconciliation. He proposed a second sitting of the two Committees for the
following day.
Before we proceed to speak of Robespierre's catastrophe, and the
termination of the Reign of Terror, it will be well to cast a glance at the
condition of France at this period, and realise to ourselves the condition into which the country had fallen under the rule of the
Terrorists.
With the exception of La Vendee and some districts of Bretagne, the
Revolutionary government was acknowledged, at this time, throughout the length
and breadth of the land. Every shadow of resistance was removed,
every weapon had been torn from the hands of the citizens, every hope from
their hearts; and trembling obedience prevailed thoughout the entire
population. The Committee of Public Safety ruled with more absolute power than ever a French King had done before them. The Committee was
responsible as a body, according to the law, for the acts of each of its members; bnt the infinite accumulation of bnsiness soon led to a division
of labour of such a nature, that each member under-I
took the exclusive management of a single' department, and the rest attached
their signatures—which were formally neces-gary—to the acts of their colleagues, without any investigation of their
character. Thus Carnot presided over the Army, Jean Bon St. Andre over the Fleet, while Barere managed the Foreign affairs, and
Robespierre the Police and the Courts of law. But this arrangement never
attained any settled regularity, and the less so, because single members
of the Committee were frequently absent, and for a long time together
—Couthon from ill health —St. Andre with the fleet—Prieur in La Vendee—St. Just
with the Army of the North —and because the boundless license which formed the fundamental character of the entire system, manifested itself in the
relation between its main supporters. Robespierre,
e.
</. caused
Carnot's secretaries to be arrested, and St. Just interfered in the more
important measures of the War department. It depended,
therefore, not upon any practical rule, but sometimes on political considerations, sometimes on mere chance, what matters were debated and settled in the general sittings of the Committee.1 It is
evident that, with such a mode of proceeding, a thorough,
consistent, and useful administration of public affairs
was from the very first impossible. And the proportion of influence enjoyed by
each member in the heart of the Committee itself was equally uncertain. We have
seen from the new programme of the Government, the repudiation of
atheism, and the law of the 22nd Prairial, that Robespierre's influence
prevailed after the fall of Hebert; and during the last few weeks the same
relative position was, on the whole, maintained, in spite of the new party divisions. It is therefore absurd when the modern
admirers of Robespierre represent him as powerless, because,
after the 22nd, he did not take part in all the Committee's sittings in pleno. For the latter, as we have said, were occupied with the less important and more variable portion of the
functions of the Government; Robespierre was daily informed of what had
1 The protocols of the sittings, and
hundreds of simple arretes (Archives de I'emjjire), show this in the clearest manner.
Nor was the relative competence of the Committee nf Public
Safety, and the C'omite de Surete generate, or of the Bureau de Police of the former, and the entire
Committee, more sharply defined. Arrests and liberations were carried out by
all these authorities promiscionsly.
Vid, Hamel's St. Just 543.
taken place in them, continued his personal labours as member of the Committee with increased zeal, and exercised the greatest
influence, from the unconditional subservience of the civil authorities of
Paris, the Revolutionary Tribunal, and almost all the Ministerial Committees.1
Pille, Commissioner of the land force, alone was from the nature of
his office, more subject to Carnot's influence than Robespierre's. But still,
as needs no further proof, this loose and arbitrary mode of carrying on
business no longer satisfied the latter's rising ambition. As he had, on a former occasion, succeeded in subordinating the local and district
authorities to the central government, so he now wished
to subject the latter to his own will, in a settled and formal manner.
The second, or nominally the first, central authority of the Republic, the Convention, was impotent in opposition to the
Committee, which, however, according to law, could at any moment be dismissed
by a vote of the Convention, and yet had the arbitrary disposal of the life of
every Deputy. The provision that the Committee needed fresh
authorization from the Convention every month for its continuance had sunk into
a mere form. "Ah," cried Barere on the 12th of July, after finishing
another report, "I had almost forgotten, that the powers of the Committee
must be again renewed;" and the Convention
decreed the renewal by long-continued clapping of hands. Yet the majority were,
at heart, tho- | roughly tired of the yoke.
The former Right, the Moderates and Girondists, saw with secret joy how their conquerors were
lacerating one another. And only a minority even of the Mountain
consisted of the friends of Robespierre; the former hatred between Dantonists
and Hebertists daily decreased in the common clanger with which the wrath of
the Dictator threatened them all. Of the secret deliberations of the Committee they only heard vague, but still
very alarming, accounts; several lists of the heads
demanded by Robespierre were in circulation; sometimes five or six, sometimes
eighteen and even more, were named. Only a few of them were jcourageous
enough to wish for a contest; most of then endeavoured
by inactivity, and keeping out of sight, to fall into the' oblivion which alone
could save them. Not more than |200 members, therefore, were generally present
at the sittings of the Convention at this period. Of the 753 who were originally elected, 50 had been murdered or
executed, 20 proscribed, 73 arrested, 100 were absent in the Departments or with the armies, and, lastly, 280 busied themselves in the
humble labours of the Committees entrusted with the
different branches of legislation. In these,—owing to the destruction of old
institutions—there was room for infinite activity; but here, too, everything
was paralysed by the crushing weight of the dominant despotism. Not a single
beneficent enactment, not a single lasting institution, was
produced during this period of the Revolution. The only one of the Committees
to which circumstances allotted any field of practical operations, was the
Committee of Finance. In this department Ramel sometimes showed a certain amount of technical knowledge, and Cambon his stubborn and
violent self-will; they were both in very bad odour with Robespierre, and their
names were to be found in every list of the proscribed.
Nor were the Ministerial functions established on a firmer or more liberal basis than those of the Convention itself. There
was simply no rule at all, as to what affairs were to be left to the
subordinate authorities, what the Ministers
were to do themselves, or, lastly, what was to be laid before the
Committee of Public Safety, for its decision. It was a mere matter of accident
or personal influence, whether the reports of the. Conventional Commissioners,
the local Magistrates, or the
Clubs, were sent to the Committee, one of the Ministries, or the Jacobin Club
at Paris. In the same irregular and arbitrary way
individual members of the Committee interfered in turn, with
domineering violence, in the labours of the different Commissions. The latter, therefore, were altogether incapable of
acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of the business
before them, or of conducting it in a regular manner. Every action of this
Government betrayed its origin; even then, when Europe was trembling before its armies, it was a mere club which had possessed itself of
power, a popular assembly with the barest sufficiency of organisation. On the
one side there was the boundless and lawless despotism of the leading
demagogues, and on the other, the many-headed mob, at once servile and
brutal. No State in the world ever maintained a larger number of officials than
this Jacobin community, which, in this way, most conveniently supported and
increased its adherents. The Commission of Trade and Supplies alone numbered 35,000 paid officers, and the other departments were equally
liberal in making new appointments.1 In
the Department*; the District and Town councillors still existed, and their
numbers were very considerable; bnt they had virtually given up all their influence to the Revolutionary Committees, which)' were now
established in every Commune of the Empire, and which, with the concurrence of
the Clubs, and in the capacity of Police Bureaux de Surveillance, gradually assumed the
whole
administration, and made their report directly to the centra] authorities. The
number of these amounted to 52,000, with more than 560,000 members, each of
whom, by the law of the 5th of September 1793, was entitled to
receive 3 francs a day. According to this they would have cost the State 591
millions a year, i. e. 10
millions more than the Constituent Assembly had proposed for the entire budget of the State. The Finance committee of the Convention,
therefore, in spite of the law, could not be induced to furnish the funds for
these daily payments; but the Revolutionary committees, insisting on their
rights, raised their pay directly from the people themselves,
in the shape of Revolutionary
taxes, although the law of December 4th, 1792, had forbidden the levying of any
such extraordinary taxes by the subordinate authorities. One illegal act was
counterbalanced by another. 1
Before the Revolution France, contained 4V2
millions of adult men capable of work. Of these more than
100,000 had perished in internal contests, an equal number had fled into
foreign countries, and as many more were incarcerated as suspects. A million more were enrolled in the army, and were consequently in the
pay of the State; a second million was provided
with offices and salaries in the administration of home affairs, and
thus the industry of the country was directly robbed of half its strength. It
sometimes happened that in villages of twelve households, all the men belonged to the Revolutionary committee of the place, and exercised a
zealous superintendence over one another for the sake of the daily wages. It is
evident how few of the great mass could be competent for the task of
administrating such an office; the majority looked on their
1 On all these points conf. Cam- an.
III. and the debate in Conv. bon's
Report, Conv. Nat. G. frim. Nat. 17 brnmaire II.
Ch. I.] STATE OF THE RURAL
DISTRICTS OF FRANCE. 35
official position, not merely as a source of profit, but chiefly
as' a means of crushing a personal adversary, or getting rid of an obnoxious
relation, an importunate neighbour, or a troublesome creditor. As they belonged
exclusively to the class of peasants and artisans, and all their interests, inclinations, and enmities, lived and
moved within their own sphere, the revolutionary terrorism, which was
originally directed against the noblesse, the clergy, and the wealthy citizens, was now brought, in full
measure to the doors of j the lower classes. The peasants, especially,
suffered greatly; for it was just in the villages that the financial and
religious convulsions of the last few years had produced the. most striking
effects. The clergy of the towns had been deprived of their benefices without any offence being taken; but the rural priest found a
number of ardent defenders. In the towns—even before the Revolution—the sudden
enrichment of a small speculator, and the fall of a great capitalist, was
nothing unheard of; in the villages, on the contrary, the boldest fancy
had never ventured to conceive that a common farmer could ever strut about as
the owner of a nobleman's mansion, or that a poor serf could acquire rich
portions of Church lands. But now a full third of the French soil had undergone a change of this kind, in
consequence of the great confiscations; and every passion which avarice, envy,
and the overthrow of all old habits, could awaken in the hearts of the
peasants, was excited to the highest possible degree. The new proprietors, joyfully welcomed at first by the ruling party, were soon
regarded from all sides with sinister looks. The Government thought that they
w,ere again forming estates of too great extent; the small proprietors drew unfavourable camparisons between them and the former lords, and there
was no lack of envious neighbours and political opponents. The revolutionary
persecution in the summer of 1794 was especially directed against this class.
Two-thirds, of the victims whom the Parisian Revolutionary tribunal |
C 2
36
PALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
sentenced to death, after 22 Prairial, were peasant proprietors. 1
"We may say, in general, that the personal security of the
inhabitants was no greater in July than in the previous September. The number
of arrests went on increasing. In Paris it stood at between 5,000 and 7,000,
and arrest was still an almost certain forerunner of death. In eight weeks
the two Popular commissions, of the 14th of May, had examined 800 accused
persons, and, as they reported, had found one patriot in every 80 persons;
"with such justice," they added, " had the Revolutionary committes
conducted the arrests." As to the
Departments, less was heard of them, now that all free discussion had been
stopped, than in the tumult of the former year; but what did transpire,
showed the despotism of the Conventional Commissioners, in an unaltered light.
The Departments of Vaucluse and Bouches du Rhone numbered about 500,000
inhabitants, and of these 15,000 had been arrested in May. Lyons still groaned
under the proscription laws of October; the demolition of the houses was
continued, and angry complaints were often enough raised in the
Parisian Club that the people of Commune Affranchie were incorrigible. In the Jura, Bassal arrested 2,800 persons during
the winter; his successors, Lejeune and Prost, were at variance, as being
adherents respectively of Hebert
and Robespierre, and each alternately incarcerated the partisans of his
adversary. In Strasburg there were 2,000 prisoners when St. Just left the city,
and it was several times proposed to drown them all in the Rhone in one day.
German language and dress, especially, were considered as a
proof of suspicious opinions, and, after 22 Prairial, St. Just's enthusiastic
admirer, Monet, increased the number of arrests to 4,000.
St. Just's journey to the Army of the North had similar results for the bor-
1 This is
shown by the official Prudhomme's Crimes de la Revo-lists. A resume
will be found in volution.
Ch. I.]
ATROCITIES OF LEBQN AT ARRAS.
37
der districts through which he passed. In the Departments he caused all
persons of noble birth, without exception, to be arrested ; and his saying flew
from Club to Club, that the patriots must fill, not the prisons, but the
graves, with the traitors to the people. Under such circumstances
the Committee made frequent use of its right, exceptionally to allow
Revolutionary tribunals to exist, or to appoint them where they did not exist,
in the Provinces. Resolutions to this effect are extant from the mouth of Floreal for Arras, Orange, Nismes, Bourdeaux and Noirmoutiers. The two
first named places have especial reason to remember the operations of these
courts with horror. In Arras the bloody atrocities were conducted by a quondam priest,
now a Conventional Com missioner, named Lebon, formerly
a harmless and frivolous man, who in February had been summoned ,to Paris and
reprimanded for his leniency. Immediately afterwards one of his associates
wrote to St. Just's friend Lebas; "Lebon has returned from Paris in a holy fever; he has at once collected a revolutionary jury of sixty
hairy rascals, on the Parisian model, and the guillotine has now no rest for a
single moment—the heads of aristocrats, men and women, fall like hail." 1
Lebon himself, uttely devoid of moral principle, fell into a state of
frantic excitement, and soon surpassed even Carrier in cruelty, dissoluteness,
and brutality. The inhabitants breathed again when the law of the 14th of April
appeared, which summoned all the accused to Paris; in Arras it was reckoned a gain to fall from Lebon's hands into those of
Fouquier. But their persecutor, at his urgent prayer, received full powers,2 not
only to keep up the energy of his operations, but to increase its intensity. He
then subjected the neighbouring towns of Cambray, Doullens and
Boulogne, to an equally savage and disorderly persecution; so that, in June,
the complaints of
1 In the Archives de I'Empire, Public Safety 30 Germinal, drawn
2 Resolution of the Committee
of up in Robespierre's handwriting.
38
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
his victims could no longer be completely suppressed in Paris. The
deputy Gnffroy, once a vulgar fanatic like Lebon, rose against his former
friend; the younger Robespierre had received intelligence
from Arras which described Lebon as a Hebertist; the matter was made the
subject of a lively debate in the Committee of Public Safety, and Lebon hurried over to Paris to defend himself. St. Just now took up his cause;
Couthon declared in the Jacobin Club that Lebon had
reanimated the spirit of liberty in his Department, and Barere carried the ordre du jour in the Convention against all complaints. "Everything," he
said "must be allowed to the zealous Republican against the Aristocrats,
if he acts from pure motives, though in somewhat rude a manner." Full of
triumph Lebon returned to Arras, and announced to his creatures that the
Committee had exhorted him to go on improving, and that Robespierre wished to
establish a special tribunal in every frontier town.1
The Conventional Commissioner Maignet, supported with equal warmth by
Robespierre's party, carried on affairs in the same manner, at the same time,
in Orange. Immediately after the passing of the law of April 14th, he
represented to the Committee the impossibility of sending
all the conspirators in that quarter to Paris, and
therefore proposed the establishment of a special tribunal. As he was unable to
find suitable judges in the district itself, and as the same deficiency existed
in the neighbouring Departments of Drome, Ardeche,
etc., there arose a long and circumstantial correspondence
between Robespierre's more intimate friends, which would be alone sufficient to
enable us to form an historical judgment of these men.2
Robespierre brought up his report to the Committee on the
10th of May, which resulted in the establishment of the tribunal. It received
even then the same instructions—drawn up
in accordance
1 From the papers in the Archive* lished in Papkrs inedits de Rob, de V Empire.
Some
of these are pub- pier re. 2 Conf. Buehez 35.
Ch. I.]
RULE OF ROBESPIERRE AND HIS AGENTS.
39
with Robespierre's own sketch—as the Parisian tribunal adopted after
the passing of the law of 22 Prairial,1 and
produced a crop of 197 heads during the first eighteen
days of its existence. On the 17th of May it happened that a tree of liberty
was cut down in the village of Bedouin, not far from Avignon, during the night;
whereupon Maignet caused several of the inhabitants to be executed, and the whole village, which consisted of 500 houses, to be burnt,
so that the poor people, nearly 2,000 in number, wandered about without shelter
in the mountains, and passed several months in subterraneous
caverns and holes in the ground. 2
Maignet himself had some doubts whether the Committee of Public Safety
would approve of such severity, and warned them against mischievous leniency:
but his mind was immediately set at rest, inasmuch as
the Convention itself, on the motion of the Committee,
expressed its entire approval. It soon appeared, however, that he did even too
little for his Parisian patrons, and that, in comparison with those of Robespierre's friends, his notions were obsolete. The members of his
tribunal were divided into two parties; the one wished to declare
all quondam nobles
and priests, all wealthy persons, merchants, and other educated people, guilty,
without further ceremony; they further wished, in the case of artizans and
day-labourers, to make a distinction, since many of
the latter, they urged, were themselves deceived and seduced,
and often calumniated by false witnesses. The other party would hear of no such
scruples in respect to the latter class, and were furious that their colleagues
adhered so slavishly to mere formalities, and demanded proofs like
1 In this case as we see, there Also
the deputation of the inhabit-
is no room for the favourite excuse
ants themselves 15. Frimaire (De-
for the law of 22 Prairial, that it
cember 5. 1794). The silk manu-
was only intended to
exterminate factories of the place were destroyed,
the
Terrorists. 2 Goupilleau's re- 60,0001bs of silk
burnt, and a church
port Cxmv. Nat. 3, Frimaire III.
blown up.
40
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
judges of the Ancien Regime. AVhen Maignet inclined to the opinion of the former, the latter
appealed to Robespierre's friend Payan in Paris, who
decided the matter very briefly by saying that no value was to be attached,to
forms; that the only point to be considered was, whether the
accused was a friend or foe of the Revolution; in shorty that the judge must
divest himself of all human feeling. And thus the bloody work continued in the
South, as in the North under Lebon, its restless and unchecked course.
The proceedings of the Government against the property of its subjects
were no less arbitrary and violent than against their persons.
Since the end of the civil war attention had been once more directed to
the raising of taxes, which had long come to a complete
stand-still,1 and
the Finance committee was empowered to make a draft of the necessary laws. No
practical conclusion, however, was arrived at, and the Government, therefore,
made shift meanwhile with the previous resources—requisitions,
confiscations, compulsory loans, revolutionary taxes,
and, above all, paper money. The total amount derived from these sources by the
despotic Government of 1794, is as impossible to
ascertain with any certainty, as that obtained by the anarchical Government of
1793, but we may give a few examples of the methods employed for raising
money. In January, the Representatives attached to the Rhine Army ordered that
10,000,000 francs in silver should be given by the Department of the Bas Rhin,
in exchange for an equal amount in paper—5,000,000, in February,
by the Haut Rhin—and 10,000,000 more, in July, by the Bas Rhin. As paper money
then stood at 60 per cent.' dis count, these three orders implied an extortion
of about 16,000,000 francs. In May the Flemish war seemed to demand an increase of the cavalry forces, and the Committee
1 Report of the Finance
Committee June 12. 1795. The arrears of tax ' amount to 1200 million francs.
Ch. I.]
REVOLUTIONARY FINANCE.
of
Public Safety immediately ordered a levy of 14,000 horses. In June
it was thought that many of the h in the army needed green fodder, and the
Committer mediately took possession of all the meadows in 32 De ments. And
lastly, in July, when the means of tran of the North Army were insufficient for their advance Belgium, orders were issued that all the
carriages and h in Paris shoidd be sent to the theatre of war, and u take at
least one transport each in the service of the i The
Revolutionary taxes remained, as we have seen the most part in the hands of local Committees, and all employed for political
purposes—for the payment c members of the Revolutionary Committees-—for pat
missions—for the support of the poor and the clubs the celebration of the
worship of Reason—and the i tenance of free theatres. Only about 31,000,000
from source reached the Treasury. In addition to the taxes the patriotic
offerings, which even the Rulers praise "voluntary" with ironical
emphasis. The Treasury rec from this source in all about 21,000,000!—but the ch
paid at least ten times this sum to the local Commi Then came from 25 to 30
millions from the sale of ch plate,1
15,000,000 from that of bell-metal, and not 200,000,000 from the great
compulsory loan levied oi rich; for to this sum it had shrunk, in spite of the sei and terrorism employed in raising it.2 The
amount o confiscations at this period may be approximately gat from a
consideration of the sale of the national domains October 1793 the Government
caused a placard to be d up, containing a list of the confiscated estates of the E% in
the Department of Paris. The sheet was
so enor
1 Camborj, Conv. Nat. November 2.
Februar 3, 1795. Johanaot !
1794, and Februar 24, 1795. 3 Cam- (22. December 1794) income
bon's fuller report, Conv. Nat. De-
the national domains 20 - 24 m
oember 13, 1794, and his speech a
month.
42
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
that
the print and paper employed for it cost more than a million
francs, and the people had to mount a ladder to read it. In 417 other districts
estates of emigres were
offered for sale, which were taxed at 1,700 millions; and in April 1794 it was
reported to the Convention that not quite a tenth of these—and that at double
the estimated price-had been sold for 241 millions. The Treasury, however,
derived but little gain from this source, partly because it only came in by
small instalments, and partly because, from the great depreciation of paper, the amount was immediately reduced to half its nominal value.
To maintain and raise the price of the assignats, therefore, continued to be an object of the
greatest solicitude to the Revolutionary Government. The more thoroughly the
regular sources of income were dried up—the smaller the
amount obtained from extortions of various kinds— the more the Government was
obliged to turn its attention to the assignat-]iYess as the last resource. Up to the first of January 1793, 3,000 millions
of paper money had been brought into circulation; the
year 1793 produced an additional mass of equal amount, and the first1 half
of 1794, an increase of 1,000 millions. The exchange, which at the beginning of
1793 stood at 61, fell from week to week, in spite of all penal enactments, to 34, and threatened to sink still further, although
all trade in money, and all raising of prices, was watched by 500,000 spies,
and threatened with prison and the scaffold. This despotism, like every other,
vainly contended against the nature of things. The Committee
itself was daily obliged to break its own law of the maximum, and to grant enormously usurious prices to unprincipled contractors,
and procure specie for its purchases in foreign countries on the hardest
conditions. And thus the bales of paper money belonging
to the Government melted away uuder their hands, as quickly
1 Vid. Ramel, Lea finances de la Re'publique
Franyaise en I'An IX.
Ch. I.]
REVOLUTIONARY FINANCE.
43
as
the booty of confiscations and requisitions. The Treasury
remained empty, although the marrow of the people was drained to the utmost.
The armaments cost 180 to 200 millions a month, and the purchases of foreign
corn 100 to 120 millions a month; 1 If
we only reckon two-thirds of these sums as the real values,2 we
find a larger yearly budget, for these two items alone, than was ever spent
under Napoleon I. for the whole administration of the State. For the other
departments of public life nothing more was done than occasionally to issue an order, or to assign a sum of money on paper. Indeed all parties
united in complaining that the streets and drains had
become completely useless from the neglect of repairs 3—that
the forests were desolated in an unexampled manner—that
the prisons and hospitals
had fallen into ruins, and their inmates exposed to death by starvation.4 The
lawlessness with which the State laid its hand upon the property of the
citizens had recoiled upon itself, with desolating effect.
Under such circumstances the taste for labour and the desire of progress among the population was continually dying out.
Agriculture was destroyed by the withdrawal of millions of labourers, whose
energies were now wasted in the armies, the Clubs, and the Revolutionary
Committees; by the withdrawal of capital, which passed
either into the coffers of the State, or beyond the frontiers of France; by the
destruction
1 St. Just's essay in Buchcz 35,
294. — Debates in the Convention May 30th, June 19th, July 12th.— Cambon, March
22nd. 2 It is impossible to rate it at a lower figure, as it was just in these two
hranches that all the specie which the Government
possessed was used, in addition to the assignats. 3 Conv. Nat. March 11th (Barere),
March 16th (Baudot).
i Conv. Nat. June 14th, July 13th, July 21st debate on the Hospitals.— April 25th Echasseriaux in the
Conv. Nat. on the Forests.—The papers of the Archives de VEmpire are full of similar statements.
"Everybody is suffering from want of fuel, the Admiralty seizes old and
young trees, and a regular management of the forests is
impossible."
44
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
of
the cattle, consequent on the ever new and ever increasing
requisitions ; by the depreciation of all property, which always loses its productive power together with the sanctity of its rights. It was a
dispensation of Heaven more important for France than ten . victories in the
held, that the harvest of this year was earlier and more abundant than had been
known in the memory of man—that nature, with overflowing generosity,
intervened to restore what the folly and the crime of men had wasted. But even
now the complete lock into which affairs had fallen was deeply felt. Men's
minds had been so soured and blunted by long oppression, that in hundreds of places the reapers refused to gather in the rich offerings of
the soil. An order of Government was once more necessary to secure the harvest,
and the requisition of the Committee of Public Safety, backed by threats of
death, drove all the inhabitants of the towns into the fields,
with the civil and military officers at their head, to house the corn of the
surrounding country.
Manufactures, commerce, and the retail trade of the cities, suffered
the same fate as agriculture, and from similar causes. The
law of the maximum first
frightened the goods away from the market, and then paralyzed their production.
The manufacturer joon found himself proscribed in the Clubs and Revolutionary
Tribunals, as formerly the nobleman and the priest. The war had cut the roots of all transmarine and colonial relations, the consequences
of which naturally fell with the greatest weight upon the labourers. Their
wages continued to fall in consequence of the small demand; those of the
tailors, e. g.
sank
to a fourth of the rate of 1790; of the masons to a fifth;
of the watercarriers—to whose miserable employment the access was the easiest,
and the crowd of aspirants the greatest—to a still lower proportion.1 And as, at the same time, the price of food
rose
1 St. Aubin, tableau comparatif des denrees; Lecoulteux Conv. Nat.
3. December 1795.
Ch. I.]
DEARTH OF FOOD IN FRANCE.
45
in
consequence of decreased production, the amount of distress
was incalculable. For eight months the people of Bourdeaux had only half a pound of bread per head a day, They filled themselves
with couch grass, and now and then with rice, and in the surrounding country
the starving wretches fought for the weeds of the fields.1
Deputations of workmen arrived every week in Paris, to petition the Convention or the Committee of Public Safety for
higher wages. "For months past," they said, "we have lived on
nothing but bread and cheese." Although the Government endeavoured to
procure supplies from all quarters for the capital by the employment of military force, scarcity prevailed on every side. The
State was at last compelled literally to mete out his ration to every citizen.
No butcher was allowed to buy his meat anywhere but in the city market, where a
certain quantity was apportioned to him. The father of a family
might only buy one pound of meat per head for his household every ten days, and
only received this on bringing a card from the Authorities of
his Section. Similar arrangements were made with respect
to bread, butter, cheese and eggs. There was no end to the
penalties inflicted on those obstinate persons whose appetites were not
satisfied by the rations accorded to them. 1 The
stock of wine, which was supposed to be very large, in consequence of the good
vintage, was suddenly exhausted from another cause ; the
fact soon afterwards excited notice and discussion in the Committee of Public Safety itself, that so large a quantity of wine had
never been consumed as in these years of Revolutionary
excitement. 3
Such was the state of things in a country more
favoured by nature than any in Europe. "We had to apprehend," said
Robert Lindet in the Convention, three months later,
1 Tallien, Conv. Nat. March 12. 3 Robert Lindet's report, Conv.
2 In nearly every number of the Nat, September 20. 1794. Moniteur, from
April to Jnlv
46
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
that
the fields would be no longer cultivated, because their occupiers were
languishing in prison, or withdrawn from their work as members of Revolutionary
Committees. All active industry is ceasing, the necessities of the people are
increasing, the consumption is extravagant and wasteful.
French commerce presents nothing but ruins, the materials for manufacture are
sealed up, all the manufactories, with the exception of those which fabricate
the implements of war, have ceased to work. All classes, all districts, are separated from one, another; the seeds of dissension have
grown up between towns and villages, between artisans and peasants, between
neighbouring communes and families. The genius of discord has passed over the
length and breadth of the land with desolating footsteps." What
Lindet publicly expressed in September was repeatedly
discussed in the Committee during the spring, and
parties were as much divided by economical questions as by those of foreign
policy. They were unanimous enough in regard to single palliative measures, voted millions of assignats every month for the support of the poor, forbade all
private alms-giving, and issued a decree for the suppression of beggary in the
villages. But when measures for the radical cure o'f the
evil were discussed, there was as great a variance of
opinion as ever. The majority still regarded all difficulties as the
consequence of aristocratic intrigues, and thought that by strictly carrying
out the law of the maximum they
could keep up the value of paper money, and with this
inexhaustible resource carry on the government from day to day. Robespierre, as
far as we can see, had no opinion of his own on these matters, but his"
friends Couthon and St. Just were decidedly in favour of a change of system. St. Just disapproved of paper money and compulsory loans, and had
spoken strongly against them when they were first proposed, and only gave up
his opposition from party considerations. Couthon, too, thoroughly convinced
of the untenableness of the present state of things, desired to return
to a regular revenue, and a fixed system
Ch. I.] FINACIAL SCHEMES OF
MAILLON AND ST. JUST.
47
of
taxation. Thus far their views were much more reasonable
than those of the majority, just as Robespierre's criticism of the previous form of government was well grounded enough. But
if they obtained the upper hand, what was it that they proposed to substitute
for the present justly condemned arrangements?
Couthon founded his hopes on the scheme of one of
those political swindlers who spring up by hundreds in agitated times, named
Rioux de Maillon, who proposed to save the State by perfecting the law of the maximum. This law ordained, as we may remember, that all wares should be sold at
half as much again as the average prices of 1790.
Maillon, and Couthon, who was completely convinced by his arguments, were of
opinion that for the future this added moiety should, in every transaction, be
handed over to the State: they were confident that from this source a yearly income of two milliards would be obtained with ease and certainty. Maillon met all statistical ojections to his plan by remarking
that the figures brought forward dated from the times of the Monarchy, and
therefore furnished no valid arguments for
the affairs of the Republic. 1 St.
Just on his side had more far-reaching and elaborate schemes. He hoped for the
recovery of the State as the result of the comprehensive regeneration of the
whole people, which he expected to attain by the institutidns already announced. As Robespierre himself declared in favour
of the projects of his friend,2 the
fragments of them which have come down to us afford an authentic picture of the
future which this party prepared for their country. It will be necessary, therefore, to consider more closely some of the leading features of their
system.
"Political institutions," said St. Just,3
"are the guarantees
1 From the papers of the Finance
midor. 3 St. Just's Essay, which
Committee in the Archives de VEm- contains a motion
and the reasons
pire. 2 Vid. infra in
the speeches by which it is supported, will be
of both on the 8th and 9th of Ther-
found in Buchez, Vol. 35 p. 294.
48
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
of
free governments against the corruption of public morals,
and the guarantees of free peoples against the corruption of their governments;
if the public morals were good all would go on well; but regulations are
necessary to purify them, and when this is done everything will follow of itself." Unfortunately he found the
present position of affairs in the highest degree hopeless. "The
Revolution", he said, "is benumbed, the principles of men are
enfeebled, and one only sees the caps of freedom on the heads of agitators; the
carrying-out of the system of terror has dulled
the senses of criminals, just as strong drinks deaden the taste of the palate." Paper money appeared to him, in consequence of its quantity
and its variation, to be an especial cause of corruption
to the morals of the people. Many persons, he said, had
become rich by it, and many others beggars, but all had become idle,
avaricious, and luxurious. The desire of riches was universal, while wealth was
in itself a crime: in a healthy State there must be no rich and no poor, but every citizen must be in possession of a piece of land, just
sufficient to supply his wants; for the hand of a man was only intended for the
plough or the sword, and every other employment was detestable. 1 No
one must be allowed to heap up treasures and thereby diminish the quota
of his neighbours: or, as Couthon once expressed it in the Convention, the feelings of men ought to be attuned in such a manner, that
they should regard all their wealth as the property
of one great family. In accordance with this principle St. Just wished to distribute the National domains among the poor
in small lots; and, if these were not sufficient,
to compel the landowners to form numerous small farms; every man above 25 years
who was neither an official
1 Un homme n'est fait pour le me-
qu'un peuple agricidteur. Un metier
tier ni pour I'hbpital ni pour les
Iws- s'accorde mat avec le veritable citoyen:
pices: tout cela
est affreux. It ne la main
de I'homme n'est faite que
peut exister de peuple vertueux et libre pour la terre ou pour les armes.
Ch. I.]
REGENERATION OF SOCIETY.
49
nor an artisan, was then to cultivate the land himself, and rear four
sheep a year upon every acre. The simplicity of rural manners was to be further
maintained by a prohibition of all servants, and all gold
and silver vessels; no child nnder 16 years of age
was to eat meat at all, and no grown person on three days of the decade; and
each citizen was to give in an account of his property every year. In
accordance with this census he was then to be. called upou to pay the State a
tenth of his income, or, if a working man, a fifteenth of his
wages, in which case the Government could dispense with every other tax.
Whether this Spartan republic of peasants could be immediately realized in its full extent, appeared doubtful to the
didactic self-complacency ot the young fanatic. He therefore directed his attention more especially to the rising generation, and, in respect to them, adopted the most comprehensive measures. On reaching their seventh year, all the boys were to be
taken away from their parents and handed over to the school of the
nation, where they were to be brought up in military discipline, laconic
speech, and a life of hardship; and to be instructed in military service,
agriculture and languages. St. Just designed to destroy all family life by demanding that marriage should not be proclaimed until after the birth of
the first child; that divorce should be free to all, and childless marriages
dissolved by law. Instead of the domestic tie, friendship was to be recognized
as a public institution. On attaining his 21st year, every
citizen was to declare in the temple who were his friends, and he who had no
friends was to be banished. Friends were to stand close to one another in
battle—to decide the law suits of their associates • as umpires—and to be present at the conclusion of every compact. If any one committed a
crime, his friends were to be banished.
Until these institutions had attained their object and reared a moral
population according to St. Just's views, he thought that the
State required
either an energetic
IV. D
50
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
Dictator, or virtuous censors, for its salvation.1 By
censors he meant men advanced in years, one of whom should be appointed in
every district with a salary of 6,000 livres, without any official
power of his own, but with the function of watching the other officials, and
bringing accusations against bad rulers. In the present state of things,
however, the dictatorship seemed the more appropriate remedy. "Doubtless,"
said he, the time is not yet come to do what is right;2 we
must wait for a universal disaster, sufficiently great to create a universal
longing for what is good; for everything by which good is produced is either
terrible or ludicrous, if begun prematurely. In the first place, therefore, he
proposed a dictatorship which would increase the prevailing terror to such a
degree, that the nation would gladly escape from it to the state of temperance
and discipline—without family life, science or
wealth—pourtrayed by St. Just. In this State the existing
authorities were, for the most part, to be continued, with the addition of the
censorship. St. Just, therefore, rejected the monarchy as well as the
government of a great numbers of rulers; for a free State the right thing seemed to him to be a supreme governing body consisting of a
few member, such as the Committee of Public Safety; provided, of course, that
St. Just and Robespierre once more acquired the majority in it.3
' p. 312. II faut dans toute revolution tin
dictateur pour sauver Veiatpar la force, ou des censeitrs pour le sauver par la
vertu. — 2 p. 290. — 3 That his object in his quarrel with the
majority of the Committee was solely the possession
of power, not the mitigation of terror, may be proved with documentary certainty from his last work —the
draft of his speech on the 9th of Thermidor. The attack which he makes in this
address on Billaud -Varennes, Collot
d'Herbois etc., is based entirely on the one reproach, that the latter
contemplated a system of injurious leniency and the
weakening of the powers of the revolutionary tribunal. We know only too well
thatthis reproach was unfounded ; but it is not the less
evident that he who made it had no intention of doing away with the rule of
terror. These adversaries were of the same
opinion respecting the continuation of tyranny, they only contended for the leadership.
Ch. I.] THE DEFENDERS OF
ROBESPIERRE ANSWERED.
51
It is not necessary to subject such a system to any searching criticism; let us sum up the whole affair. Under the existing
government France had obtained glory and victory abroad, through Carnot's
exertions and the disunion of the Powers; while at home, in spite of the most
enormous sacrifices, she had been brought to the brink of destruction. A
third of her male inhabitants lived on the paper money of the State, to keep up
the value of which the other two-thirds were subjected to every kind of robbery
and persecution. In the midst of an abundant
harvest, death by starvation stared millions in the.
face, day after day; and the Government, which arbitrarily disposed of the
blood and treasure of all its subjects, was destitute of money, unity, and
order. Robespierre, indeed, intended to give it order and unity, but not, as we now know, by suppressing the system of terror, but by
completing it. It is a mere idle excuse of his recent adherents to say that the
atrocities of June were committed without his knowledge. It was he who at that
time directed the crimes of the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris;
it was he who either directly, or by means of his friends and tools, protected
Lebon and urged on Maignet; it was he who incessantly charged his adversaries
with attempting to check the operations of the
revolutionary tribunal. In the constitution which
his party intended to bestow on France, the two levers of indirect communism—
paper money and the law of the maximum—are
not, indeed, found, for the simple reason that they intended to parcel out all
landed estates, and to ecpialise property by a yearly
distribution. The disregard of personal rights, therefore, and consequently the
system of terrorism, and the desolation of France, would only have
been established under their rule in a more equal, universal, and oppressive form.
The two Government Committees opened the discussion demanded by
Robespierre on the forenoon of the 22nd of July. Robespierre began with a
complaint of the insufficiency of revolutionary justice. The two popular Com-
D2
52
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
missions of the 14th of May, he said, were unable to deal with the mass
of prisoners, and therefore the other four commissions, provided for in the law
of the 12th of Ventose, must at last be constituted. As Robespierre's wish to execute a number of the Deputies was well-known, the
majority of the committees had no inclination to extend the powers of the
revolutionary tribunal; nevertheless the fear of an open breach still
outweighed all other considerations, and the motion
was carried without opposition. It was then asked what more was demanded of the
Committee; for it was evident that an extraordinary sitting would not have been
needed to pass a mere executive measure of an existing law. Robespierre was
silent and kept himself in the background. St. Just's
friend Lebas threw out a few words respecting the necessity of crushing all the
enemies of the people by rapid blows. Again there was a pause in the debate;
both parties were afraid to utter the decisive words. St. Just then rose. ' "You seem depressed," said he, "it is
necessary to speak from the heart, and I will begin if you will allow me."
He then related, as he alleged from the testimony of the prisoners of war, that
Austria expected a speedy overthrow of the "terrible
form of government" and the "beneficent
tribunals" in France. This, he said, showed what the parties at home were
aiming at, and in fact, he had already heard with indignation a talk of the
necessity of leniency and
consideration. An at-
1 The following
is taken from St. Just's speech (9th Thermidor) and Barere's memoirs. When
Louis Blanc and Hamel reject Barere's statements as false , because in one
passage be writes Messidor instead of Thermidor (an evident clerical error,
since he immediately afterwards
remarks, that the scene took place three days before the 8th of
Thermidor), they must either have
overlooked or forgotten St. Just's own report. St. Just does not indeed speak expressly of Robespierre's dictatorship, but all that he
says necessarily applies to it, and thus confirms
Barrere's declaration. Conf. the speeeh of Rnhl, 3rd Germinal III, and the
notice in Buchez XXXIII. 3&9.
Ch. I.] ST. JUST PROPOSES
ROBESPIERRE AS DICTATOR. 53
tempt was being made to destroy the influence of the best and most
capable men, by describing them as tyrants. Such a proceeding, he said, had
unfortunately a chance of success, because the Republic lacked
institutions from which the political existence of the
country might derive a well-guaranteed security. This might be seen in every
department of the Administration. The evil was now at its height, and
complete anarchy of power and will was already in existence. The Convention, he
said, issued laws which were not, and could not be,
carried out. The Representatives attached to the armies disposed of the troops
according to their whims; and the Conventional Commissioners usurped all power
in the Provinces. This endless confusion, he concluded,
could only be remedied by concentration of power,
unity of Government, and strong institutions.
He paused. "Tell us plainly," cried his hearers, "what
all this leads to?" "Well," said he, with his quiet dogmatic
phlegm, "I will tell you. A Dictatorship is necessary—not the dictatorship of the Committee of Public Saf'tey, but of a man
who possesses intellect, energy, patriotism and revolutionary
experence; who is virtuous, inflexible, and incorruptible.
This man is Robespierre. He alone can save the State: I demand that the Committees offer him the Dictatorship to-morrow." The
others had foreseen what was coming, but still the impression produced by his
actual words was immense. Couthon, David, and Lebas supported their colleague,
the rest had doubts and scruples, and quickly roused one another to an
unanimous and passionate rejection of the proposal; but even now
an open declaration of war was avoided. "We are your friends" said
Billaud-Varennes; "we have always gone hand in hand." In spite of the
decided part which St. Just had taken, the Committee did not
see reason to withdraw the Commission entrusted to him on the preceeding day,
or to transfer the task of bringing up the report to the Convention to another
member. The position of the two parties was now sharply defined;
54
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
they had as it were left their camp and placed themselves in
battle-array against each other; but even at the
last moment neither side was willing to fire the first shot. The course taken
by the majority had this important result, that Robespierre, who had never been
a man of sudden and vigorous action, and even St. Just, who was [usually in
favour of rapid and decisive measures, resolved to observe
in their conduct a certain moderation. They still in their hearts destined the
Dantonists and Hebertists to death, but with regard to Billaud-Varennes, Collot
d'Herbois, and the Committees in general, Robespierre wished
to bring a comprehensive charge against their system of administration, without naming individuals. On the following day, however, St.
Just, being able to reckon on the compliance of Barere, St. Andre, Lindet, and
the two Prieurs, was to bring charges against Billaud, Collot and
Carnot, by name. Yet even then he was not to propose their execution, but,
instead of it, the establishment of his own institutions. If he suceeeded in
this, the power of those whom he impeached would be completely broken,
and sufficient time would remain in the future for the postponed
application of the guillotine. The more gently and justly they acted for the
moment, the more prospect they had of carrying with them the majority of the
Convention, and especially the members of the Right.
This party, which had been threatened, persecuted and oppressed, for more than a year, thus regained, by the dissension of its eonqnerors, an unexpected importance. Robespierre, it is true, made no particular effort to gain them over; after having protected the seventy-three Girondist deputies, he considered himself, in the main, certain of the Support of the Right, partly from the timidity they had logn shown, and
partly from their bitter hatred against the Hebertists. And, in fact, his calculations on this occasion were correct. Tallien and Freron,
Bourdon and Fouche, terrified out of their wits by the repeated threats of the
Ch. I.] ROBESPIERRE'S SPEECH
ON 8TH THERMIDOR.
55
dictator, and every night expecting to be
arrested—so that they continually changed their sleeping quarters—appealed
several times to the men of the Right with urgent prayers for help, and eager
proposals for a last straggle for deliverance. But the leaders of the
Right, Champeaux, Boissy-d'Anglas, and Durand-Maillane,
considered these proposals highly hazardous. Danton's example had taught them
how easily the radical chiefs became reconciled to one another at the cost of
the moderate party: every movement was with them a throw for life and death, and they might well ask whether the substitution of Collot
d'Herbois for Robespierre was worth such a heavy stake. Twice, therefore within a few days they rejected the petitions of the threatened
Montagnards.
On the 25th of July—the 7th Thermidor in the
republican Calendar—a numerous deputation of Jacobins appeared in the
Convention, to open the impending contest in the traditional
manner. Robespierre had succeeded in completely subjecting the Jacobin Club to
his will, principally through the agency of his brother, Couthon, and
Lebas, while St. Just maintained his post in the midst of the hostile Committee of Public Safety. In accordance with Couthon's propositions, the deputation complained of the rise of a new moderate
party, demanded the inexorable administration of revolutionary
justice, praised the purity of the Convention, which, they said, was only
sullied by the presence of a few criminals, and concluded with a complaint of
the military Commissioner Pille, who stripped Paris of the patriotic artillery-men, and concealed his operations in suspicious obscurity.
On the day following, Robespierre, amidst general and breathless suspense, asked permission
to open his oppressed and lacerated heart to the
Convention. In a long address he then complained
that he was falsely denounced, as a man aiming at despotism and the murder of
several deputies. He said that, on the contrary, he was the slave of Freedom, a
living martyr of the Republic, the victim
56
fall of robespierre.
[Book X.
and the enemy of all criminals. Ever since the Festival of the Supreme
Being, he complained, the attacks against him had begun, and people had sought
to undermine the great bulwark of Freedom, the Revolutionary
Tribunal. The finances of the Republic were ruined by the party which
he opposed, as well as by Cambon and Rain el; foreign affairs were
neglected, the nation involved deeper and deeper in the bloodiest of wars by
academical flowers of speech, and the army left in a state of independence dangerous to freedom. It was indispensable, he said in conclusion, to
purify the Committees, to strengthen and simplify the Government; the justice
of the people must be empowered to punish hypocritical criminals also, and,
after their suppression, to introduce
certain moral and political institutions, which would protect good citizens,
without crippling the operations of national justice.
The Convention listened to this speech in deep silence, expecting every
moment to hear the names of the victims, and were
surprised at the conclusion, that Robespierre had brought forward no definite
motion. The terror inspired was still so great, that one of his opponents,
Lecointre of Versailles, proposed that the speech should be printed; and the
Convention—after Couthon had angrily put down all
objections—unanimously decreed that it should be published and sent to all the
Departments. At this moment, however, Cambon's impetuosity broke through all
bounds. "Before I am dishonoured," he eried, "I will speak to
the nation." He defended his financial
measures, and growing more violent and bitter in the course of his speech, he
concluded by crying out: "A single man cripples the labours of the
Government, and that man is Robespierre!" The ice was now broken,
Billaud-Varennes and others came to his aid; it was
demanded that Robespierre's speech should be referred
to the Committees before being printed, and at the same time the cry was
repeated louder and louder, that Robespierre should name the evil-doers whose
death he
Ch. I.] ROBESPIERRE AT THE
JACOBIN CLUB.
57
sought, and thereby calm the fears of the guiltless. This had more
effect than anything else on the minds of the Right; reports were spread that
Robespierre intended to spare only twenty-one members out of the whole Convention. When Robespierre obstinately refused to give any explanations,
the opinion prevailed that it were better not to come to a decision on the
present day, and the decree respecting the printing of the speech was revoked by a large majority. It was just in this light that Robespierre
viewed the result of the sitting; the Convention, he believed, had only wished
to adjourn its vote; he by no means considered himself defeated, and had still
an unshaken confidence in the greater portion of the assembly.
In the evening he hastened with his friends to the Jacobin Club, where the men
of the Hotel de Ville were inpatiently awaiting his appearance in dense crowds.
He was received with noisy applause, read his speech for the second time, and could hardly finish it, from the acclamations which
broke forth at every strong expression. Several voices demanded a repetition of the 31st of May, a new revolt of the Hotel de
Ville against the Convention, and Robespierre expressed himself satisfied that the Convention should once more be cleared of the
rascals who had hitherto oppressed it. "But first of all," cried
Couthon, "it is necessary that the Club should recover its own
purity." Consequently he demanded the exclusion of all criminal deputies, of all those who in the morning had voted against the
publication of the speech. Collot-d'Herbois and Billaud Varennes were present,
and saw the storm thereby directed against themselves. Without any opposition,
and amidst noisy acclamation, Couthon's motion was carried, and
wild cries were raised round the proscribed members bidding them withdraw. It
was in vain that Collot once more appealed to Robespierre, praying for
reconciliation: "We all love you," said he, "you are wrong to be
angry, we will all stand together in defence of
the Committee." Robespierre never moved a muscle, the
clamour of
58
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
the crowd became more threatening, Billaud was seized by the collar,
Collot saw knives raised against him, and it was with difficulty that they
reached the door. It was now nearly midnight; and the Club continued its
sitting for. some time longer. Propositions of ever-increasing violence
were made in quick succession, but Robespierre warned them not to go beyond the
example of May 31st; and Henriot forthwith issued orders to several battalions
of the National guard to hold themselves in readiness at 7 o'clock in the morning.1
Robespierre still rested his hopes on the Right, and thought that a gentle
pressure from without would secure him the majority; he told his landlord, who
received him ou his return from the Club with lively anxiety: "The Convention is pure, calm yourself, I have nothing to
fear."
But at the very moment when he was praising the prop on which he
rested, it broke beneath his hand. After Robespierre's speech the Montagnards
saw their own ruin close at hand, and spent the clay and night in convulsive restlessness. Freron, Cambon, and Lecointre, hurried from
place to place in Paris, heard of Henriot's orders to the National guard, and
the preparations of the Hotel de Ville, and kept running, one after the other,
to the Committee of Public Safety to procure an order for the
arrest of the traitors, and to ask protection for themselves. Tallien, Bourdon,
and some others, in the excess of their anxiety, once more appealed to Boissy
d'Anglas and Durand-Maillane, The decisive moment, they said, had arrived; they were all lost unless they got the start of the tyrant;
everything depended on a decree of the Convention; the
Right, which could turn the scale, would be answerable for all the blood which
Robespierre designed to shed. Boissy d'Anglas was a man of
cool consideration and firm convictions; he saw that the matter was becoming
serious, and once convinced of this, he did not long hesitate. He abhorred the men
1 Lecointre. Conv. that August 29.
Other details are not well authenticated.
Ch. I.] THE RIGHT JOIN
ROBESPIERRE'S ENEMIES. '59
who were now cringing to him for help, no less than he did Robespierre
himself; but he abhorred the dominant system still more than the persons, and
it was clear that this woidd not fall with Collot d'Herbois and
Billaud-Varennes, but with Robespierre. For it was Robespierre who swayed the
Ministries and the Revolutionary Tribunals, the Jacobin Club and the
Municipality of Paris. The state of things was such that these main pillars of the Reign of Terror must be involved in his fall, while his
victory would extend its sway still more unboundedly. In accordance with this
simple but decisive consideration, Boissy and Durand promised to support the
Mountain in their opposition to Robespierre
in the next sitting.
While this important turn in affairs was taking place^ the Committee of
Public Safety was passing the night in a state of no less excitement. Barere, Carnot, Prieur and Lindet were
present, with St. Just. They began by transacting the current business, but in the excited state of their minds
their discussions continually came to a stand-still. At last Barere broke the
ice by calling on St. Just to bring the report—which he had undertaken on the
22nd —before the Committee for their sanction. St. Just declined
doing so on tbje ground that he had not the documents with him, and excited
suspicion by declining to communicate the motion which he intended
to found upon it. At this crisis Billaud and Collot returned from the Jacobin Club half mad with rage and excitement. When St. Just coldly demanded
what was going on at the Club, Collot screamed out, "Do you ask such a
question, you accomplice of Robespierre, Triumvir,
assassin!" A violent quarrel arose, in which reference was again made to the report, and St. Just at last declared that he intended to
attack some, of his colleagues, but without proposing to prosecute them.
■'Robespierre," said he, "knows all your movements, he knows
how Collot holds intercourse with Fouche, and how Fouche
is working against us." The others
cried out that
60
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
all that was calumny, while the treacherous design of the Municipality
to use violence against the Convention was a matter of certainty. Collot demanded the immediate arrest of Fleuriot, Payan and
Henriot; whereupon St. Just raised such a violent opposition, that the noise of
the quarrel penetrated to the antechamber. At last, at day-break, Billaud
proposed, by way of compromise, to summon the city officials in question to
the meeting place of the Committee of Public Safety for the day, and St. Just,
who could raise no objection, left them with a promise to return at 11 o'clock,
and to read his report. But the Mayor, who was on the point of raising the standard of revolt, drove away the messenger of the
Committee with abuse, and even before 11 o'clock a short note arrived from St.
Just. "You lacerated my heart last night," he wrote, "I shall
open it to the Convention." Crying out that they were
betrayed, they hurried to the sitting, in which the game was to be played
on which their lives were staked. The Deputies were assembled in unusally
large numbers; before the sitting commenced Moderates and Montagnards mingled
in the adjoining rooms and passages; Bourdon pressed
Durand's hand with the words. "O the brave men of the Right!" Tallien
was about to join them, when through the opened door he saw St. Just already in
the rostra. "The moment is come," he cried, "we must make an
end!"
"I belong to no faction," said St. Just,
"I will oppose them all. They will never cease until institutions are
created which will set bounds to the power of the State, and once for all
subdue the pride of man. In the existing circumstances,
this rostra will be, perhaps, the Tarpeian rock for the man
who tells you that the members of the Government have forsaken the path of
wisdom. But I think that I am bound to tell you the truth at any risk. Both the
Government Committees entrusted me with a report; their confidence did me honour, but some one has torn
my heart tonight, and I will open it to
you." Tallien here interrupted
Ch. I.] DEFEAT AND ARREST OF
ROBESPIERRE.
61
him. "I
have
a motion of order to make," cried he. "What a calamity weighs upon the commonwealth! We see nothing but division. Yesterday a
member of the Government spoke singly and in his own name, and to-day another
does the same; new attacks may be looked for, the country will be driven into
the abyss; I demand
that the veil should be torn away." Loud and
long continued applause followed these words. Billaud-Varennes rose to complain
of what had taken place the day before in the Jacobin Clnb, and the arbitrary
conduct of St. Just towards the Committee; he then broke out against Robespierre, spoke of his ambition , declared that he gave
appointments to noblemen, that he had for a long time protected the traitor
Danton, and tyrannised over the Committee for months past. "We will all
die with honour," he cried^'for there is not a
man here who would wish to live under a tyrant." Robespierre rushed to the
rostra, but was received with the general cry "away with the tyrant!"
Tallien again spoke, and demanded the arrest of Henriot and his staff, and
proposed that the Convention should sit en permanence until tyranny was overthrown. Things were come to such a
pass, that this man, who had once led the September
assassins, and slaughtered hundreds of victims in Bordeaux, proclaimed the
necessity of confining the Revolutionary Tribunal within the limits of decency
and justice, and restoring the freedom of the press in France. The arrest of Henriot and Dumas was decreed on the spot, and all the attempt of
Robespierre to get a hearing were drowned in the furious cries of the Assembly.
Barere then carried a motion abolishing the office of Commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and making
the Mayor responsible with his head for the peace of the capital. Vadier and
Tallien once more brought back the discussion to the delinquencies of
Robespierre; the latter stood close by them on the rostra, but every word which
he uttered was interrupted by murmurs. He then turned to the
Mountain and saw nothing but faces filled with deadly hatred to
62
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
wards himself: "I appeal to you," he said, turning to the
Right, "whose hands are clean, and not to the villains." But he
only called forth a fresh roar of indignation. "President of the
assassins," he then cried, "I demand to be heard." Fury deprived
him of speech: "The blood of Danton chokes him," cried Gamier. The
time was come: a hitherto unknown deputy, Lonchet, spoke the fatal
words, and proposed that Robespierre should ho
arrested. A moment of speechless surprise followed this motion, which on the
preceding day would have been an-unheard of crime. But in a few minutes a
constantly increasing murmur of applause ran through the
Assembly, and cries of "divide" resounded from all sides. Robespierre
experienced the same fate which he had prepared for thousands,—that of being
condemned without legal forms, without being heard in his own defence, without a judicial sentence. In wild
despair he struggled in vain against the stream, alike unable to resist its
force, or to regain his self-possession. It was left to his friends to lend
dignity to the fall of their cause; nor were they unequal to the task. St. Just regarded the tumult in contemptuous silence; Couthon
confessed to every charge that was brought against him; and the younger
Robespierre and Lebas themselves demanded to be included in the honourable
sentence. After a long and violent debate, a resolution
was come to amidst far-sounding cries of "Vive la liberie! Vive la
Repnblique!", and the five Deputies were led away to different prisons.
Almost at the same time, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Henriot too, who,
accompanied by a few gendarmes, had been scouring the streets,
and rousing the people to revolt against the Convention, was arrested. The
sitting was then adjourned to 7 o'clock. The real struggle, however, was still to
come.1 Ever
1 For the
following details tho^ published in Buchez has been hith-(official protocol of the Municipality) erto used.
It was indeed written
Ch. I.] REVOLT OF THE
PARISIAN COMMUNE.
63
since the morning, the Jacobin Club and the Municipality, as well as
the Convention, had been in full consultation. In the two
former bodies the plan assumed a more and more definite shape, of surrounding
the Convention, as on the 2nd of _June, with battalions of the National Guard,
and imperatively demanding the annihilation of Robespierre's opponents. In the course of the afternoon the Municipality sent one of their members into each of the Sections to prepare
men's minds—issued a manifesto in which they set forth the praises of
Robespierre, Couthon and St. Just— and collected the artillery force of the National Guard, on which, as they supposed, they could
entirely rely. At 6 o'clock in the evening they received intelligence of .the
measures of the National Convention. The Mayor immediately
proposed to summon once more the men of the 10th of August
to the Hotel de Ville; and raising on high the tables on which the "Rights
of man" were inscribed, he declared, that when the Government violated
them, rebellion was a sacred duty. The state of
feeling, however, was one of depression; it was observed
that the galleries were not filled, and emissaries were sent into the Place to
bring in a mass of enthusiastic hearers. The list, too, in which some of the
members had inscribed their names suddenly disappeared, and the Secretaries,
who had to take down the minutes of the proceedings,
declared that they wished to go home to dinner. The bolder spirits saw that
they must no longer hesitate, if the defection was not to became general; they
therefore caused the tocsin to be sounded, sent to the prison to liberate Henriot and the incarcerated Deputies, and hastened to arm
themselves, and to deal the decisive blow
dnring the sitting, but immediately
Hotel de Ville, which were officially
afterwards modified
according to recorded on the
following day, and
party views. The Archives de CEm- in which the facts are given simply
pire, on the other hand, contain the and
without disguise, observations of the secretary of the
64
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
against the Convention as quickly as possible. The younger
Robespierre was the first to' make his appearance among them, and was received
with joyful embraces. The older Robespierre had been brought to the Bureau of
Police, and refused to come on the first invitation; he wished to appear, like Marat, before the Revolutionary Tribunal, and hoped for a
splendid and victorious acquittal. But on the second summons, which announced
the liberation of Couthon and St. Just, his resolution gave away, and his
arrival raised the zeal of his adherents to the highest pitch. A Committee of Twelve was chosen to conduct the revolt, several persons were
arrested in the Hotel de Ville itself, since even here some voices were raised
in favour of the Convention; and Henriot, who was also now at liberty, was ordered to lead the attack on the Convention. The latter had recommenced its sittings at the appointed hour, and was surprised by one
piece of evil tidings after another in rapid succession.
The certainty of the destruction, however, which awaited them in case of failure sustained their minds. On receiving intelligence
of the commencement of the insurrection, the Convention denounced
outlawry against all insubordinate authorities, and all
who neglected to carry out their orders of arrest—appointed the Deputy Barras, who had formerly been an officer in the army,
commander of the armed force—and sent Commissioners into all the Sections, to
make sure of the support of the citizens. These measures had their full and
immediate effect. The elements which could alone have saved him,
Robespierre had himself destroyed, four months before, by the overthrow of the Hebertists. At that period the bands which had once
overpowered the King on the 10th of August, and the Convention on the 2nd of
June, had been deprived of their leaders and destroyed. The
mass of the population had now no other wish than for repose and personal
freedom, and saw in Robespierre the hated originator and chief of the Reign of
Terror. Even Henriot's artillery-men,
whom he
Ch. I.]
ROBESPIERRE ATTEMPTS SUICIDE.
65
had just ordered to direct their cannon against the Tuileries, left him
in the lurch when the ban was proclaimed, so that he was compelled to flee in
all haste to his associates at the Hotel de Ville.
The National Guard turned out with the greatest readiness from the Sections,
for the protection of the Convention; by midnight all danger was over, and the
victorious party could now prepare for the final attack. Legendre led a column
against the Jacobins; dispersed the Club without much
difficulty, and closed their meeting-place. Leonard Bourdon, with two other
bodies of men, moved upou the Hotel de Ville. Here, in the great hall, the
Robespierrists were awaiting in silence the result of the appeal to the Sections. Robespierre and his more intimate
friends had withdrawn to an adjoining room for private
consultation. Suddenly several shots were heard in the hall, and a terrible
report spread like wild fire that Robespierre had taken his own life. On receiving the intelligence that the National Guard
had everywhere decided for the Convention, St. Just and Lebas called on their
chief to go forth in person and lead his few faithful followers to attack the
Convention. When Robespierre, broken in spirit,
refused compliance, Lebas, who on the previous day had already expected an
unfavourable issue, cried—"Well then, there is nothing left for us but to
die." He had a pair of pistols with him, one of which he handed to Robespierre, and shot himself with the other at the same moment.1 St.
Justr emained on this occasion and during the whole day, in a state of gloomy
repose, but Robespierre put his weapon to his mouth, and pulLed the trigger
with an unsteady finger; in his hesitation he shattered his chin, but did not wound himself mortally. Almost at the same moment Leonard
Bourdon led his troops into the Hotel de Ville, where the City-party, in their
wild confusion and despair, were unable to decide on any common course of
action. The
1 "Lebas" in Buchez 35.
66
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
younger Eobespierre jumped out of the window on to the pavement, but
was still alive when he was seized below. Henriot was thrown through the panes
by one of his own party, who was enraged at his want
of self-possession, and fell upon a heap of rubbish only slightly wounded. They
were all arrested within a few minutes. After the declaration of out lawry
there was no need of any further judicial proceedings, but it was not until the
afternoon that the preparations for their execution had
been completed. Robespierre had been laid on a table, with a box under his
wounded head: he remained still and silent, and only moved to wipe the blood,
which flowed copiously from his face, with pieces of paper; he heard nothing about him but words of wrath and triumph, yet he never
moved a muscle, and regarded his persecutors with fixed and glassy eyes. At
last the carts arrived to bear him and his twenty-one companions to the place
of execution. On the scaffold the executioner tore away the scanty
bandage from his head, and then he uttered a shrill cry of pain, the
first sound which had proceeded from him since his arrest,
and the last. On the following day 71 members of the Municipality followed him
to death; the Reign of Terror ended in a terrible sea
of blood.
What was to come next, no man was able to foresee; meanwhile the
victory over the fallen faction was, of course, completed, and made the most of
in every way. At every sitting of the Convention, during many weeks, new objects of impeachment, prosecution, and proscription,
were continually found. Orders were issued for a
thorough sifting of the officials in the popular and ministerial Committees ;
and the operations of the Revolutionary Tribunal were suspended until the present members should he
superseded by others. At this point, however, the alliance by which Robespierre had been defeated was dissolved. The Moderates of the Right, who
demanded the immediate suppression of the Tribunal, were opposed by the members of the Com-
Ch. I.] EFFECTS OF THE 9TH
OF THERMIDOR. 67
mittee of Public Safety with revolutionary zeal. But the latter only
thereby directed the efforts of the majority immediately
against themselves, and the Convention, amidst overpowering applause,
raised the cry that they must above all things free themselves from the tyranny
of the Committee of Public Safety. In rapid succession the obnoxious enactment of 22 Prairial was annulled, a thorough re-modelling
of the two Committees taken in hand, and a provision made, that at the end of
every month a fourth part of the members should retire, and not become eligible
for re-election until after the lapse of another month. It is true that the
immediate object was hereby attained, and the omnipotence of the
Committee over the Convention destroyed. But if, even in the
previous state of things, practical men had bitterly complained
of disorder and confusion in the Government, it was evident that the new system
made all consistency of action, and regular conduct of
business, utterly impossible; and the stagnation was all the more felt, because
it remained for a considerable time doubtful, which of the two parties would
gain the upper hand. And thus the late absolute rule was
followed by complete impotence, and public opinion at once gained a power such
as it had hardly possessed even in the first days of the Revolution. But the
difference in its direction in 1789 and in 1794 was immeasurable. At the former
period public opinion was led by the democratic party, which
was backed by the hopes and affections of an infinite majority of the whole
nation. At the latter, this party was confused and disorganised
by inward strife, and had become an object of abhorrence to the nation, from the fearful abuse which it had made of its power. The cry ran
through Paris, and soon through the whole of France, and daily became louder
and more passionate, that the time of violence, robbery and murder was over.
Numerous journals which had been suppressed appeared again after the
9th of Thermidor, and gave expression to the popular voice in vigorous
manifestoes;
E 2
68
FALL OF ROBESPIERRE.
[Book X.
The suspects
were
already liberated by hundreds, the law of the maximum was
everywhere disregarded, and the uncompromising punishment of the great
criminals was loudly called for. The Government meanwhile did not venture to
interfere, either to hinder or to aid.
The complete paralysis which had befallen the French Government made itself felt in a remarkable degree in foreign
affairs. The war had slackened on all the frontiers since Carnot had retired
from the Committee of Public Safety. The case was no better with the diplomatic
relations, which Robespierre was on the point of
forming at the moment of his fall. No great progress had indeed, been made, in
negotiation with any of the Powers. A certain inclination to come to an
agreement existed on either side, and this had a powerful effect upon the
events of the war; but no binding engagement had been entered
into, and scarcely a preliminary step had been taken. And thus the catastrophe
of the 9th of Thermidor threw everything back into a state of complete
uncertainty, and the fate of Poland took a more prominent place than ever in the complicated affairs of Europe.
Ch. II.] 69
CHAPTER II.
TAKING OF CRACOW.
Russia's waklike zeal against Poland.—Prussia's task in Poland.—
Weakness of the polish army.—Useless engagement at skala.— Revolutionary movement in Warsaw.—Russo-frussian plan of the campaicn. — Battle of rawka. — The Prussians take oracow.— Fourteen day's truce.—Massacres in the prisons of Warsaw.—
Kosciusko falls out with the democratic party.—The Prussians and russians before warsaw.—divisions in the camp.—dispute between england and prussia concerning the employment
of the rhine army.—treves taken by the french.— spencer and grenville go to vienna to urge on fresh military preparations.— lucchesini
in vienna is said to advocate peace with france.— Raising
of the siege of Warsaw.
In St.
Petersburg, and thoughout the whole of Russia, there was but one feeling of
wrath against Poland—one cry for vengeance. The domineering pride of the
Empress, the old national antipathy of the Russian people, and the honour of the army, had been excited and wounded in the highest degree
by the Warsaw massacre. No one thought of peace, and in spite of all burdens
and dangers it seemed a matter of course that the stain on the
Russian arms could only be wiped out by the total
annihilation of Poland. Catharine was most of all possessed by this idea, but
she, too, saw most clearly the difficulties and uncertainties of the case. The
defeats in Poland laid open the deficiencies of the Russian military system in
a most alarming manner; it was with the greatest
difficulty that 30,000 disposable troops
70
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
of reserve could be raised in the vast Empire, and these could not
reach the theatre of war in less than five or six weeks.
Soltikoff's army had to furnish a large proportion of this force, and this
rendered it the less possible to call upon Suworow for aid, as he had now
almost single-handed to protect the Southern frontier against the Turks; for
who could answer for it that the Turks would not now seek
vengeance for the threats which had been hurled against them? The intelligence
from Constantinople was doubtful and contradictory; Russia no longer dared to
look for a secure peace from that quarter. After Stael had concluded the above-mentioned league of armed neutrality with Denmark , the Russian" Government had joyfully accepted the offer
made by a party of the Swedish nobility, led by the handsome, hotblooded, and
foolhardy Baron Armfeldt, to overthrow the Regent and Reuterholm by a powerful conspiracy, if Catharine would support
them by sending her fleet before Stockholm. But the plan was prematurely discovered; Armfeldt only just escaped the hands of the police, and as the
Swedish Government prosecuted him with bitter hatred,
and the Allied Courts obstinately refused- to give him up, he became the
subject of several diplomatic paper-wars of unexampled violence. In Warsaw, on
the other hand, the Swedish ambassador was on the best footing with the new
rulers, so that both Poles and Russians looked for an
active intervention on the part of Sweden, if the slightest oecasion should
offer itself.
Under these untoward circumstances the eyes of the Empress were turned
with all the more anxiety to her two great allies, the German Powers. It was in bitter earnest that, immediately after the disaster of
Warsaw, she claimed both in Berlin and Vienna the armed assistance guaranteed
to her by treaty. It is true that in the state of her inclinations at this period, she would have wished for a different result than that which she, in the
first instance, attained.
Austria, her secret ally against the Turks, and on
Ch. II.] RUSSIAN
PREPARATIONS AGAINST POLAND. 71
whom she had hitherto bestowed all her favour, appeared at first to have no taste for Polish, but only for Belgian, contests; while troublesome Prussia, who had already extended her dominion
so widely in Poland, set a powerful army in motion with eager haste, under the
command of the King in person. Yet nothwithstanding her preference
for the one, Catharine could not but rejoice that the other Power was occupying
the forces of Kosciusko for the moment, and thereby giving the
Russians time for their preparations. These were now carried
on in all directions with the greatest energy. General
Derfelden marched with a corps of Soltikoff's army from the Ukraine towards the
North, against Brzesc and Slonim; its nominal strength was 30,000, but it
really contained less than a quarter of that number. Prince Repnin, who had been appointed Commander-in-chief in the room of
Igelstrom, had arrived in Riga, and brought up 6,000 men under General Nummsen,
to reinforce the bodies of Russian troops which still existed in Lithuania. All
that were left of the Russian garrison of Warsaw—about 7,000 men1—were
stationed not far from the Prussian frontiers near Lowicz. After the defeat of
Raclawice, General Denisow had retired towards Opatow, in the district of
Sendomir, where his force was increased to 8,500 men; 2 in
the beginning of May General Fersen was set over these troops, and meanwhile
Denisow was intructed likewise to approach the Prussian borders, and form a
junction with Favrat's corps. Russia, as we see, made the greatest
exertions to collect and strengthen her forces for the contest; and at the
same time veiled her purposes and aims in cautious secresy, though the Prussian
Ambassador in St. Petersburg was perpetually endeavouring to sound them.
Catharine was resolved on no account to make any binding declarations, until she had come to a full understanding
with Austria; and as Francis II. was absent in
1 Pistor 194. — 2 Treskow 62.
72
TAKING OP CRACOW.
[Book X.
Belgium, several months passed away before this could be arrived at.
The position of affairs was therefore extremely favourable to Prussia,
who, at the beginning of May, had 50,000 well trained troops in the immediate
neighbourhood of the decisive points. Her course was marked
out as clearly as possible. In former years there might have been a doubt whether she ought not to support Poland
against Russia, and seek her own advantage in alliance with the former; but now
every possibility of hesitation was cut off, and she was bound by every
consideration to bring all her forces into rapid action. Kosciusko had
declared war against Prussia as well as Russia; and though he afterwards made
secret proposals for neutrality, it was well known that the whole of South
Prussia was in a state of ferment, and that on Kosciusko's appearance it would break out into open rebellion. Nay, in spite of the bloody
days of Warsaw, no one could maintain that any change had taken place in the
feelings of the Poles—who, in 1793, had after all preferred
the Russian to the German yoke—in favour of Prussia. Mutual hatred had glowed in the minds of Poles and Prussians for
centuries, and though this enmity brought destruction on Poland, and no
advantage to Germany, it existed, and Prussia could not go back. Nothing was
left but to proceed, and to protect her own interests, amid the ruins
of the fallen Polish Empire, against her hostile friends and her envious
neighbours. The word Partition had not as yet passed the lips of the two
Courts, but the thought of it pervaded the whole atmosphere in St. Petersburg as well as Berlin, in the camps as well as the cabinets; it was Certain
that
it would come to this, and the only question was as to the manner in which it
would be carried out. What Prussia must wish and aim at, in such a case, was
self-evident. For the possessor of Breslau, Posen, and
Konigs-berg, nature had unmistakably marked out the banks of the Niemen, the
Narew, and the Vistula, as the only safe
Ch. II.]
CHARACTER OF KOSCIUSKO.
73
boundary line. It was no less certain that Austria would protest
against such an aggrandisement of her rival, and it was at least probable, that
Catharine would support her against Prussia. The less able the latter was to
compete with the two Imperial courts in material power, the more
incumbent it was upon her to increase her own weight by rapid and resolute
action. She could evidently assume a very different tone if she crushed the
Polish insurrection by victorious arms, and seized the desired district with a strong hand, than if she had first to ask it of the goodwill of
her allies. And we have seen that Manstein and Luc-chesini had unfolded a
military and diplomatic plan to the King of this nature.
If the attack of the Prussians had been made with all energy in May, in accordance with these views, Kosciusko would have been
as little able as Catharine to frustrate the wishes of the King. For the state
of things in Poland was wretched in the extreme, and there was no real power of
resistance in any quarter. Kosciusko, full of patriotism and
military genius, was destitute of the political experience, and the demagogic
recklessness, which his position demanded at that time perhaps in an equal
degree. The temper of his mind was calm and naturally serious; he was entirely free from all selfish and vulgar passions, from hatred,
self-seeking, and revenge, and could only be excited by the glowing desire of
heroic fame. He had entered on his great undertaking
from a feeling of duty, without much hope, and was fully prepared at every moment for destruction. But this feeling had no
effect on his activity, on his self-sacrificing devotion; it only strengthened
in him his natural bent, not to sully a desperate cause, for the sake of any
transitory advantage, by deeds of injustice or violence. During the
first weeks of the revolt he had ordered a partisan of the Russians to he hung;
but afterwards nothing could induce him to adopt any terrorising measures. His
object was to purify and elevate the sensual indolence and flickering im
74
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
petuosity of his countrymen by the stimulus of patriotism and religion,
and to reconcile parties by directing their thought to the interests of their
common country. But on the men among whom he lived, such ideal and
gentle motives had no effect, and his efforts remained futile, because he would not support them by the incitements of selfishness, or
by fear and terror. He was constantly occupied with the levy en masse, but was hindered at every step by the ill-will of the
nobles, and the dull apathy of the peasants. It was of no avail that his agents
offered the peasants freedom and land; the only effect was, that the nobles
turned away with tenfold indignation from the destroyer
of their property. They directed their serfs, on the appearance of the
patriotic regiments, to flee to the woods, and they themselves emigrated in
great numbers to Galicia. And thus Kosciusko's army increased very slowly; in
the begining of May he had perhaps 12,000 men near Cracow, while to the
west of that city Favrat collected an equal number of Prussians at
Czenst'ochau, and in the east General Denisow cut him off from the right bank
of the Vistula, from Lublin and Chelm, and from the troops of Grochowski. His communication with the latter appeared to the Polish General of the
very greatest moment; he resolved, therefore, to trust to
Favrat's tardiness, to mask, rather than to defend, Craeow against the
Prussians by 3,000 scythe-men, and to march with his main force up the Vistula against Denisow. But it soon appeared that he
would not be able single-handed to overpower even the Russians. He saw himself,
therefore, compelled to take up a strong position near Polaniec behind
redoubts, with the Vistula on his flank, and a deep trench in his front,
until Grochowski should come up on his side, and thus take Denisow between two
fires. The two armies thus lay opposite each other until the middle
of May, in a state of almost complete inaction, xintil Grochowski with 7,000 men, after an exhausting march, crossed the Vistula, and Denisow,
Ch. II.]
BATTLE OF SKALA.
75
to avoid being taken in the rear, hastily retreated to the north-west,
and approached the Prussian frontier, as he had long ago been commanded to do. As Kosciusko hereupon immediately formed a junction with
Grochowski, and then followed the track of the Russians, a decisive battle
seemed on the point of being fought. For, about the same time, General Favrat
had also advanced; he entered the territory of the Republic, on
the 10th of May, with 11,000 men, and might easily have reached Cracow, which
was almost undefended, in a few days' march, and taken
possession of all the supplies, depots and money. But the Polish General had
formed a correct opinion of his opponent. Favrat was
full of that kind of caution to which the Duke of Brunswick's
owed his fame in the Prussian Staff, and his failures in the Prussian wars.
When safe in his quarters he racked his brains in devising plans for marches and battles, by means of which he hoped to crush every enemy who encountered him; but in the field, unfortunately, he found that he could
not move, and much less fight, because his army had no well-regulated baking
establishment, nay, not even the normal quantity of cooking utensils. It
was not, therefore, until the 18th that he made up his mind to attack the body
of Cracovians, which Kosciusko had drawn up at Skala about two leagues in front
of Cracow. The result was such as might have been expected: after the first shots the peasants ran away so quickly that the victors
only made a single prisoner. But Favrat was angry because he had not been able
completely to carry out his plan of battle; he had wished to exterminate the
peasants, and then, as he reported, to have marched directly upon
Cracow. As it was he remained quietly on the scene of the late action till the
19th, and on the 20th he made the firing of an alarm gun, which led to no
further consequences, an excuse for quietly retreating behind the river Pilica. He was there visited by General Denisow in person, who
tried to induce him to form a junction of their respective corps, and then to
76
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
engage in what he hoped would be a decisive battle. But Favrat once more made various objections, and lastly declared that it was not fit that he should end the war, as the King
might be expected daily. And thus Kosciusko gained a complete truce until the
3rd of June, a period incalculably important to him for his preparations.
While Kosciusko in the south was carrying on a constant, wearisome, and hopeless struggle with foreign armies, and the
opposition of his own countrymen, the waves of revolution were running as high
as ever in Warsaw.1 The
Provisional Government had kept about 1,200 troops
of the line in the capital, and had sent out all the rest in small bodies
towards the Narew, and to Lowicz and Rawa, to watch the Prussian frontier, and
to strengthen themselves by recruits from among the peasants, With the same view General Mokranowski, the military chief of the
capital, had thrown up a number of entrenchments round Warsaw, which were then
armed with artillery from the Arsenal. Whoever did not wish to pass for a
friend of the Russians was obliged to use pickaxe and spade for a few
days at least, and even King Stanislaus, to satisfy the zeal of his subjects,
threw a few spadefuls of earth on the new bastions. He did not, indeed, gain
much by this; no one looked for any honourable resolution from his weakness, and the Provisional government vied with the
mob in manifesting their hostile suspicion of him. He was constantly under the
surveillance of two communal officers, and more than once the noisy
populace prevented him from taking his walks, which they
looked on as a pretext for treacherous flight. Still worse fared the nobles
whose connection with Russia was proved, either by their conduct at the last
Diet, or by the
1 Besides Zajonczek's report, and
despatches of the Russian ambas-
the well-informed correspondent of sador Buchholz and the Dutchman
the Political Journal, I have made Griesheim. use in the
following details of the
Cn. II.] REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS IN WARSAW.
77
captured papers of Igelstrom. The execution of the Kosso-kowskis was immediately followed by fresh and numerous arrests;
Igelstrom's former favourite, Colonel Bauer had been taken prisoner in the
Warsaw revolt, and in his cowardly fear of death he readily denounced all the
members of the former Russian party, or any one else whom the new
Rulers wished to destroy under this title. Universal terror therefore
prevailed, and it was all the more difficult to reestablish
order on a firm footing, because the people were armed to the teeth, and yet by
no means reduced to military
discipline. As usual in such a state of affairs, those who possessed property,
or were engaged in trade, very soon withdrew from the disagreeable tumult of
war, and only the dregs of the population wandered about, clattering their
sabres in merry and greedy license, playing the
part of revolutionary police against bad patriots, and taking excellent care of themselves at the expense of the sighing citizens; who,
without a thought of national liberation, only wavered between their vexation at the disorderly excesses of the mob, and their fear of a Russian
tribunal. They bore with grief the patriotic burdens and offerings which were
imposed upon them in quick succession — the sending in of their silver plate to
the mint—the delivering up of their horses to the army—the
maintenance of recruits who passed through the city—the exaction of a quarter
of their income—and soon afterwards the payment of their taxes for the three
next years in advance. Traffic and trade came to a complete stand-still: for what the measures of the Powers had not done to obstruct them, the
Provisional government itself did, by forbidding the export of all articles
necessary for the war, and especially of provisions.
At the end of May the state of the capital became still more complicated. On the 10th Kosciusko had at last received
intelligence of the revolution in Warsaw, and had sent thither his most
distinguished adherents, Ignatius Potocky and Hugo Kollontai, to form a
government in that
78
TAKING OF CRACOW".
[Book X.
city worthy of the greatness of the cause. They arrived on the 18th and
immediately took the supreme direction of affairs.
They were at first received with unanimous joy by the people, but they were too
soon separated by the worldwide
difference of their dispositions, so that their presence was not the beginning
of well-founded order, but only of new and dangerous distractions. Potocky, a
scion of one of the richest and most powerful families in the land, had, at an
early period, shown personal merits worthy of his
high condition. His intellect was many-sided, quick and active; and as he was
originally intended for the priest hood he had received at Rome a careful
education, and acquired far more extensive knowledge than was usual amongst the Polish nobles. He had, moreover, the easy grace and
warmth of manner, peculiar to his nation, in the highest degree; but he had
also what the majority of his countrymen had lost, a natural inclination
towards everything great and noble, and an innate disgust at vulgarity and
selfishness. Amidst the immoral and fickle society of the Warsaw Government he
expressed his convictions with pure and conscious pride; and thus, ever since
1788, he stood at the head of the Reform party, rose rapidly from step to step by his talents, knowledge, and activity, became member
of the Council of public education, and soon afterwards, when scarcely 30 years
old, Grand Marshal of Lithuania. He was no less successful in winning the
hearts of the people; the great mass of the patriots followed
their splendid leader with enthusiasm, and he, above all others, might regard himself as the real author of the constitution of 1791. "He
is the only one of them" wrote the Russian Ambassador
at this time to his Empress, " who possesses any talent, but he is
wanting in genuine political wisdom, and his main faults—excessive confidence,
self-love and self-dependence—are only too easily called
into play. Thus he was like Kosciusko in the disinterestedness of his aims, and
like Kollontai in his opinions, which inclined to democracy; but
Ch. II.]
POTOCKY AND KOLLONTAI.
79
■while gloomy fears depressed the former, and hardened the
latter, Potocky was full of indestructible hope and beaming confidence of victory. He had been already in this mood in 1792, and even the terrible
disappointments of that year had not robbed him of his hopes. His friends were
often unable to conceive how he could remain so cheerful in spite of all his
toils and dangers: "If the worst comes to the worst," he would
say, "we shall perish with our country; would that be a great
misfortune?"
In spite of their differences of opinion, such a man might have
lastingly co-operated with Kosciusko, to the great benefit of their common
country. The case was different with Kollontai, from
whose splendid natural gifts, and utter want of principle, the greatest
injuries were to accrue to the patriotic cause.1 He,
too, like Potocky, had been educated in Rome for the priesthood,
and had then attached himself to Bishop Soltyk, through
whose favour he obtained a canonry in Cracow. Soon afterwards he went over to
the Russian party, in the hope of further gain, and obtained thereby the
rectorship of the University of Cracow. He soon recommended himself to the Rulers by his great abilities and his readiness to serve; he was
made Referendarius of the Crown, and hoped to rise to the dignity of Chancellor
and Bishop. He worked easily, knew better than almost any one the intricacies
of the Polish law, wrote with an ever-ready pen, and with
address, energy or passion, as his object or his patron might require. But
unfortunately he partook not only of the love of pleasure, but of the
corruption, so characteristic of the Polish nation. His red and swollen face,
from which large fiery black eyes flashed forth, told of the excesses and
debaucheries which had inflicted upon him violent gout in early life, so that
he could not walk without a stick. Avarice was kindled in him by the love of
pleasure; he was said to be ready to do anything for a
1 Smitt, Suwarrow, II, 172, 476,
484.
80
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
suitable reward; never to perforin the smallest service without heavy
payment, and to like best of all to receive the chinking bribe from all the contending parties. When the patriots got the upper hand in
1790, he was equally ready to join it; and displayed, after the manner of
converts, a fanatical and fiery zeal. His abilities were of eminent service to
his party; he was well informed, a bold logician, who shrank from no
conclusions if they did but serve his own interests; he was a thorough master
of the technicalities of his work, and in the intrigues of factions quite
invaluable. He took a prominent part in the legislation,
and a still greater in the coup cVetat, of 1791; and while Potocki raved about the ideal principles of the
"Rights of Man," Kollontai was all for the material enjoyments of the
revolution. When the catastrophe of 1792 overtook him, he began to waver once
more; if his office of Vice Chancellor of the Crown
had been guaranteed to him, he might easily even then have been induced to join
the victorious party. He already went so far as to vote in the Royal Council
for joining the Confederation; and when his late colleagues urged him to emigrate, he said, that it was all very well for them to
talk; they would want for nothing wherever they were; but a poor devil like
himself, who had nothing but his office to live on, was in a very different
position; and he put it to them whether it would not be better that
he should remain, join the Targovicians, and work in secret for the patriotic
party. The others refused to listen to any such expedient, and he therefore
resolved for the present to play a double game. He actually started from Warsaw, but secretly left behind him a written act of adhesion to
the Targovician Confederation, and even informed the Russian ambassador of
it. In the territory of Cracow, close to the frontiers of the land, he awaited
the issue, but soon learned that the Russians despised him, that
the Targovicians rejected his services with scorn, and that his Chancellorship
had passed into other hands. He
Ch. II.]
PARTY FEUDS IN WARSAW.
81
therefore repaired to Dresden in the greatest fury, thirsting
for revenge, and overflowing with the most deadly hatred. After the beginning
of the Revolution he was with Kosciusko in Cracow when the news arrived of the
revolt in Warsaw. He asked the messenger first of all whether the King had been killed; and on receiving a negative answer he broke out
into loud curses. He was continually contesting the question with Kosciusko,
whether it was better to crush the enemy with an iron hand, or to gain them
over by generous forgiveness. He pointed out the utter baseness of
the hostile faction, and demanded in the first place the wiping out of the
great national stain—the serfdom of the peasants, well knowing that this
measure would infinitely increase the mutual hatred of the two parties, and compel Kosciusko to make himself absolute by force of arms. The
report of the measures advocated by Kollontai reached Warsaw before him, and caused the greatest excitement in the elements opposed to
the Revolution. It was said that he intended to abolish
all property, and to set on foot a general massacre according to the Parisian
pattern.
The first measure which Potocki had to take in Warsaw, by order of the
Commander-in-chief, was the appointment of a new Supreme Council which was to
take the place of the Provisional Government. In addition
to himself and Kollontai, the late President Zakrzewski and five other members
were summoned; but the other members of the Provisorium were removed, and the
Commandant of the city, Mokranowski, who was looked on as a tool of Stanislaus was superseded by the trustworthy General
Orlowski. These arrangements excited opposition in several quarters. On the one
side all the adherents of the King began to agitate, and these were joined,
through fear of Kollontai's severity, by all the former friends of
Russia, and the majority of the nobles, who saw in the dreaded abolition of
serfdom the ruin of their prosperity. On the other side the proletaries and citizens of the capital were in a state of indignant
82
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
ferment, because the Council had been exclusively formed from the
nobles, and complained that after the great victory of the popular cause, true representatives of the people, such as Kapus-tas and
the Kilinski, had been excluded from the Government. The
Russian party did not scruple to turn this popular feeling against Kosciusko,
just as the friends of the Court in Paris had occasionally leagued themselves
with Danton and his mobs against the Constitutional party. The citizens, egged on and supported by these unexpected allies, soon got
up an extensive agitation, and sent a deputation to Kosciusko to demaud a
redress of their grievances. Tbe General found himself in a painful position;
it was humiliating to yield, and dangerous to refuse; he therefore
tried a middle course, and appointed a number of the popular candidates, not indeed as members of the Council, but as Deputies. He thereby appeased
for the moment [the anger
of the people: bnt the sting remained in their minds,
and the antagonism of parties was only too soon to break out into open
conflict.
Meanwhile Prussia completed her preparations for the struggle. In
East Prussia General Brnneck with 8,000 men drew a cordon along the Lithuanian
frontier, while General Schonfeldt on the Narew, with 11,000 meu, had continual
skirmishes with the Polish frontier guards. Farther to the south, on this side the Vistula, General Bonin, and subsequently the Crown Prince, commanded a corps of nearly 8,000 men
between Zakrozyn and Rawa, to protect Posen against any raids which might be
undertaken by the garrison of "Warsaw. On the 3rd of June the King himself arrived at Favrat's head-quarters in the Cracow territory
with considerable reinforcements. He was
accompanied by Manstein and Lucchesini, as well as the Prince of Nassau-Siegen,
whom Catharine had attached to the king as her military plenipotentiary, to consult with him respecting the plan of the campaign, and
to sound the political intentions of Prussia. Nassau had always passed in St.
Petersburg for a zealous advocate of the Prussian alliance; in the preceding
Ch. II.] RUSSO-PRUSSIAN PLANS AGAINST POLAND. 83
winter, he had gone beyond his instructions at Vienna in furthering
Prussian interests, and was therefore a suitable mediator between the king and
the Russian Empress^ both of whom for the time concealed their game, each waiting till the other should make the first move. Nassau had
already spoken to the Prussian ambassador in St. Petersburg about the
annihilation of Poland; he said that he knew that the King desired a partition,
and that Suboff and Markoff quite approved of it, and only wished to
leave a narrow stripe of land between the two Empires, in order to avoid
immediate neighbourhood and the little differences which always arose from it.
At head-quarters he repeated these confidential communications. He declared that he was entirely without instructions and was only expressing
his personal opinion, hinted how agreeable it would be to Suboff, and how
flattering to himself, if Prussia would recommend them as the future Dukes of
that border-land. He added that he had not the slightest doubt that
in that case Suboff would use all his influence to promote the rounding-off of
Prussia to the Vistula. All this sounded extremely well to the ear of the king,
and the Russian plan of the campaign drawn up by Prince Repnin, which Nassau brought with him, agreed very well with this arrangement.
The Russian armies were to confine themselves to the subjugation of Lithuania;
and to leave the conquest of Poland to the west of the Vistula to the Prussian
troops- The King heard indeed from other sources that Repnin
for his own part, made no secret of his dislike to Prussia; and the Russian
officers in general expressed a decided preference for Austria, and demanded
her co-operation in the Polish quarrel. The letters
of Count Goltz from St. Petersburg, too, were calculated to cool down the expectation raised by Nassau's promising
representations. The Empress and Suboff treated him with great reserve; Markoff
was in close communication with the Austrian Cobenzl,
and Besborodko declared on all occasions that Russia during
the present year must
F2
84
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
favour the Emperor, as she had done the king of Prussia in 1793, and
must always follow the principle of holding one German Power in check and under tutelage by means of the other.
In this uncertain state of affairs, the King's correct instinct inclined him first to beat the Poles, and then, after destroying
Kosciusko, to continue his negotiations with the Powers. He was the more eager to expedite affairs', because he wished to pass only a few
weeks in Poland, and then to follow the dictates of his heart by throwing
himself into the French war—a determination which caused great terror among his
Ministers, who expressed their eager wishes to the Marquis Lucchesini that
he might be able to prevent, what they called, this unhappy journey to the
Rhine. On the 5th of June a despatch arrived from Denisow that the Poles were
marching against him and had driven in his outposts; the King immediately gave orders to his troops to march upon Szekozyn to the support
of the Russians. Towards evening they reached the Russian position close to the
Pilica, two leagues from the Poles, who singularly enough had not occupied the
long marshy defile, but had extended themselves four or five
miles behind it in a plain. These were Kosciusko and Grochowski with about
17,000 men,1 of
whom perhaps half were newly-raised bodies of peasants armed with scythes. The
Prussians alone were as strong as the Poles, and the
Russians numbered more than 8,000 men; the prospects of the Allies, therefore,
were in every respect favourable. According to the orders of the King the
Russians first, and then the Prussians, passed the defile on the morning of the
6th; the former then formed the left, and the latter the right, wing of the
1 Treskow's figures, 26,000 seem,
estimate is impossible
in eonse-
after what we have already stated,
quence of the great fluctuation in
to be too high, Zajonezek's 15,000
the numbers of the general levy, are nearer to the truth;
an exact
Ch. II.]
BATTLE OF RAWKA.
85
battle array,—the infantry being drawn up in two bodies, and the
cavalry distributed on both wings or posted with the reserve. At the first advance of the Cossack Pulks the
polish Cavalry dispersed with the same want of steadiness as at Raclawice and
sought safety in flight; but this had no immediate effect on the issue of the
battle, since the Russian infantry halted at a considerable distance from the enemy, and contented themselves with a rather ineffectual cannonade. The Prussian line advanced with impetuosity,
drove the Poles from a few small villages, and prepared to enclose the enemy's
left wing with overwhelming force. By this movement, however, in consequence of the slow advance of the Russians, their own left wing was
exposed, and Kosciusko, seeing his advantage, made a violent attack upon it,
the success of which would have divided the forces of the Allies at their
centre. Some sharp fighting arose at this point, in which several Prussian battalions lost ground,
until the Poles, being thrown into confusion by a report that Kosciusko had
fallen, began to retreat. At this
moment Russian and Prussian cavalry
hastened to support their centre; whereupon Kosciusko withdrew his troops
of the line behind the village of Rawka, and allowed the scythe men of his
second line to receive the shock of the enemy's cavalry. In spite of their wretched arms these men
stood like a wall to the cry of "Long live Father
Thaddaeus," and though they suffered great loss repulsed the repeated
charges of the cavalry. Meantime,
however, the Russian infantry had at last come up; and at the same time the
Prussian right succeeded in turning the Polish left, and Kosciusko already saw Prussian dragoons in the rear of his position. Under these
circumstances he ordered a retreat, and then in spite of their previous heroic
contempt of death, the undisciplined valour of his peasants
was broken, and the whole Polish army left the field
in disorderly flight. The Sangusko brigade alone defended a wood on their line
of retreat for a time, and thereby saved the rest from complete annihilation.
86
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
But the position of the Poles was at this
moment a desperate one: Kosciusko's hordes were utterly demoralized, and
dispersed as soon as they caught sight of a division of the enemy. The greater
part of the levee en masse, who had taken up arms against their will, now threw away their scythes and dispersed to their homes. Kosciusko saw himself for the moment
utterly defenceless, and was unable any longer to bar the road to Cracow or
Warsaw to the victors. Hard as it was, he resolved without hesitation to give
up Cracow, and to preserve his communication with the capital, at any
cost, by a retreat towards the north. Immediately after the battle the King of
Prussia had sent General Eisner with about 2,000 men against Cracow, and had
summoned General Ruits from Silesia to his support with five battalions and 1,300 cavalry. On the Polish side the city was looked upon
as lost; several of Kosciusko's officers refused to take the command of so
hopeless a defence, and Kosciusko at last named the
young Winiawski as commandant— a zealous and devoted but inexperienced officer—with public orders to defend the weakly fortified
town to the utmost with 800 men and 8 guns, but with secret instructions to
surrender the place to the Austriaus in the neighbourhood as soon as the
Prussians should advance. When the column of General Eisner appeared before
the place, Winiawski hastened to the Austrian Colonel; but the latter had not
yet received instructions from the Belgian head-quarters and did not dare to
act on his own responsibility. Cracow therefore capitidated on the 15th of June. The Poles retired to Galicia; an Austrian
officer did indeed meet the Prussians as they entered the city with
representations and protests, but General Eisner, who was prepared for such a
case, treated him as a disguised Pole, and ordered
him to leave the country. The old Sarmatian city was in the hands of the
Prussians.
This was important enough as the first move in the game which now
commenced between the three Powers, but it
Ch. H.] STRANGE INACTIVITY OF
PRUSSIAN FORCES. 87
had scarcely any effect upon the Polish war, the fate of which depended
mainly on the person of Kosciusko and the possession of Warsaw. We may now
assume as absolutely certain that a vigorous pursuit immediately after the
battle of Rawka would have completed the destruction of the
Polish army, and in a few weeks made the King of Prussia master of Warsaw,
which was full of division and confusion. Only a few days before, the
King had commenced operations with all the energy which might have led to these great results, and we are surprised after so successful a
battle to observe a sudden and complete collapse. The army rested for three
days near Rawka, and then marched slowly to the neighbouring town of Michalow,
where it remained in complete inactivity
till the 23rd of June—i. e. more
than 14 days; so that Kosciusko had time to collect his troops, to inspire them
with fresh courage, and to raise them to nearly their former numbers. We have
no explanation of the reason of this extraordinary check;
we only know that while the Prussian head-quarters made holiday with regard to
military affairs, they were all the more agitated by political anxieties. For
at this time intelligence arrived of the Emperor Francis' determination to
leave his Belgian army; the agents of Prussia in
Belgium and on the Rhine reported as a certain fact that the evacuation of the
Netherlands had been ordered, and that a separate peace between Austria and
France was on the point of being concluded. Leaving the last point out of consideration, it was easy to draw conclusions from the rest of the
intelligence; there was no doubt that energetic action on the part of the
Emperor both in Poland and St. Petersburg might be immediately looked for. On
the part of Russia the symptoms of unfavourable feelings continued to increase. It was known that Igelstrom had despatched courier after courier, during the last few weeks, to inform the
Empress that the Prussians would not enter Poland, but would come to an
understanding with Kosciusko. General Fersen had just joined
the army, and he too
88
TAKING OF. CRACOW.
[Book X.
showed not the slightest inclination to act with greater cordiality
towards his Prussian brethren in arms. In addition
to this, intelligence arrived that General Derfelden, on the east of the
Vistula, had defeated a Polish corps under Zajonczek, on the 8th, near Chelm,
and had subsequently occupied the whole of Lublin and
driven the enemy beyond the Vistula. Derfelden himself was on the bank of this
river, nearer to Warsaw than the king; the latter, therefore, expressed a wish that the Russian general should cooperate with him in his attack upon the capital. Reasonable as this
proposal was under the circumstances, Derfelden immediately answered
that, according to the plan of the campaign agreed upon, he had received
peremptory orders from Prince Repnin to march to Lithuania without delay. There
was nothing more to be said; but this conduct did not of course raise men's spirits at the Prussian headquarters, and the opinion was
occasionally expressed that Prussia would do well to make no further exertions
in this war, until Russia had guaranteed the due reward.1
All these circumstances may have conspired to cool down the previous zeal. At last, on the 23rd, the Prussians set themselves
in motion towards Warsaw; but even now, in spite of Lucchesini's urgency, their
march was extremely slow, although Kosciusko made no stand at any point, but
quitted the field at the first fire of the van of the Allies,
and retreated step by step on Warsaw. The position of affairs in this city grew
worse every day, and the news of the battle of Rawka, more especially, had
increased the party ferment to the highest pitch. The democratic faction raised the cry of treachery, and impetuously demanded a bloody
revenge on the friends of Russia. The partisans of the King and the Noblesse
added fuel to the fire, in order to embarrass the Supreme Council. The latter had forbid-
1 From Lucchesini's despatches to
the Ministry. Treskow (102)
should he corrected accordingly.
Ch. II.] MASSACRE OF
PRISONERS IN WARSAW.
89
den all private clubs, but allowed assemblies of the people; and day
after day violent scenes took place, in which young and fiery
orators complained of the tediousness of the law, and excited the people to
measures of revolutionary terrorism. The citizens slunk about
restless and depressed, thinking that nothing could be better than the entrance
of the Prussians, who wordd protect them from the violence of the mob and
the vengeance of the Russians. The democratic leaders on the other hand
openly declared, amidst roars of applause from their adherents, that as soon as
the enemy appeared the people would massacre all the prisoners; and some inquired whether they should not commence with the foreign inhabitants of the city. When the Prussian army
began to move again, the long-dreaded storm broke out in Warsaw. On the 29th of
June an immense crowd assembled in front of the prison of the
nobles belonging to the Russian party, and with
wild cries demanded their immediate condemnation. The Court declared that this
was impossible, as the proceedings were not yet concluded; whereupon the
insurgents began to storm the building, cut down one of
the gaolers, and dragged seven of the prisoners, and among them Bishop
Messalski, Prince Czet-wertinski and two Chamberlains of King Stanislaus to the
place of execution. In vain did Potocki and Kollontai rush into the raging crowd, and endeavour by their eloquence to save them; they were
pushed aside, and the seven were hung after cruel ill-treatment. The crowd then
poured back again to the prison to fetch fresh victims; the clothes were
already torn from the back of Count Moszinski, when the President
Zakrzewski and General Orlowski forced their way through the crowd, and at the
hazard of their lives rescued him from the hands of the raging multitude. But
it was impossible to pacify them until the Court gave a formal promise to pass judgment on the rest of the traitors on the following day.
Kosciusko Svas greatly enraged by the intelligence of
90
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
these atrocities, and responded by an immediate order to punish the
perpetrators in the severest manner. His name was so highly honoured, and
the need of his ruling hand so universally felt, that his word was sufficient
suddenly to change the excitement and rage of the mass of the people into
sorrow and depression. The royalist party now began to bestir
themselves more actively than ever, declared their entire agreement with the
views of Kosciusko, and endeavoured to implicate uo less
persons than Potocki and Kollontai in the outrage. The secretary of the one,
and the clerk of the other, had been at the head of the
rioters; but in spite of all the efforts of their opponents, they were not to
be induced to bring any charge against their masters. Under these unhappy
circumstances, with the enemy at his heels, his countrymen divided by a deadly feud, and his nearest friends suspected and persecuted,
Kosciuko arrived in Warsaw on the evening of the 9th of July, after his army
had exchanged a lively cannonade during the whole of the day with the
Prussians, and Zajonczek's corps had fought a bloody battle with the
Russians. His loug desired arrival produced a new outburst of warlike zeal, and
inspired such new life into the National-guard, that 15,000 men took up
arms to assist in the defence of the capital. As Kosciusko, after collecting his troops of all arms, had 17,000 men of the line, and 15,000
peasants in the capital, and the arsenal had furnished 450 guns for the arming
of the ramparts and intrenchments, the material force of the Poles was
considerably superior to that of the invaders, who numbered ouly 30,000
with scarcely 100 guns. The entrenchments, indeed, were far from being ready,
aud were completed in sight of the enemy. Even then professional soldiers
placed little confidence in them, or in the military
training of the National Guard and the Cracovians; but it
is just in the defeuce of such miserable earthworks that the power of
individual courage and national self-sacrifice has a thousand times prevailed
over all the ad-
Ch. II.] DEMOCRATS INTRIGUE AGAINST KOSCIUSKO. 91
vantages of military art; and all depended on the degree in which the
former qualities would be manifested by the Poles on this occasion. What was
far more fatal to their cause than the want of regular training was their
political discord, which, even after Kosciusko's
appearance, demoralised the ranks of the combatants in the city and behind the
trenches. Since the massacre in the prisons, and the retribution inflicted by Kosciusko, the latter virtually appeared as an ally of the royal party, and no greater misfortune than this could have been
inflicted on Poland by the Warsaw murderers. For the so-called Royalists
were exclusively, if not friends of Russia, at any rate opponents of what they
called a hopeless insurrection, and every post or office which they
obtained immediately sank into listless inactivity as far as the war was
concerned. Moreover the democratic party was blind enough to engage in more and
more bitter strife with the General, and thereby to drive him more and more into the arms of the opposite party. From the open manner in which
the prison massacres had been carried on the ringleaders were soon discovered
and convicted; and when five of them were executed, the Democrats complained
that in the case of the traitors to the people, the court
negligently entrenched itself behind the forms of law, but raged against the
patriots with bloodthirsty haste. The agitation became so violent that
Kosciusko gave way, and named the democratic Zajonczek President of the Revolutionary Tribunal. Now indeed the latter took up the prosecution against the friends of Russia with lively zeal, and soon
passed sentence of death against the Bishop of Chelm, on the charge that he had
voted for the ratification of the Partition treaty at the
last Diet. Such an act of political vengeance caused the greatest excitement
among the threatened party, and King Stanislaus said very
truly, that according to this principle he might
himself be brought to the gallows. Kosciusko, penetrated with a righteous horror of unjust bloodshed, commuted the sentence of death to
im
92
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
prisonment for life ; yet hard as this sentence was for a political
vote, Zajonczek immediately laid down his office as judge, and thns made the
breach between himself and the Commander-in-chief a matter of publicity. The immediate consequence was a violent split among the officers in the
army; the same men who fought together during the night against the advance of
the Prussian works, contended against one another in the
day time, with growing hatred, as destroyers of their country. The one party
complained of the whole insurrection as a
foolish, and therefore criminal, undertaking; the other
loudly declared that all such sentiments otight to be choked in the blood of
those who entertained them. Kosciusko stood alone between the two parties,
obnoxious to the one as the author of the war, and
to the other as the representative of clemency; but most fiercely attacked by
the latter, and therefore driven against his will to seek the support of the
Royalists. Hence it happened that he was compelled to fill the most unimportant offices with men of the
Moderate party, adherents of the King or secret friends of the Russians.
Jasinski had hitherto carried on the guerilla warfare of a bold partisan, had
undertaken raids to Conrland, Szamaiten, and Great Russia, sometimes victorious and sometimes suffering heavy losses, and had
finally repulsed an attack of the Russians on Wilna with unflinching gallantry.
But the enemy were now approaching with increased numbers—Generals Knor-ring
and Sicianow from the North, the corps of General Numsen from the
East, and Derfelden's division from the South; it was said in Warsaw that
Jasinksi was not equal to the task, and that a tried warrior was wanted in
Lithuania, Under the circumstances Kosciusko thought fit to appoint a member of the moderate party, General Wielhorski. No sooner had the latter
arrived in Wilna than he declared the place hopelessly lost, gathered bis
troops together, and was about to retreat to Grodno, that is to the most
westerly frontier of Lithuania. The zealous patriots were furious,
Ch. II.]
DISSENSION IN THE ALLIED CAMP.
93
and Kosciusko was obliged to cancel the appointment, but he again sent
an officer of the same party, General Mokra-nowski, and gave the latter's
previous office in Warsaw to the nephew of the King, Prince Joseph Poniatowski,
who soon afterwards allowed himself to be as thoroughly worsted by
the Prussians as Wielhorski by the Russians. In short, in every quarter the
cause of the Poles was condemned to impotence and ruin by their own
internal dissensions.
While the interior of the city presented this aspect of strife and confusion, a precisely similar spectacle might be
witnessed in the camp of the assailants outside its walls. The Allied army
reached Warsaw on the 13th of July. The Russians formed the right or southern
wing of the allied position; and the Prussians had marched in a. wide
circuit round the city in order to attack it from the north. The Polish
fortifications on this side were in an extremely
defective state, since an assaidt had been least of all expected in this
quarter; and both the King of Prussia and General Favrat were of
opinion that an immediate attack would deliver the city into their hands. But
the Russian plenipotentiary, the Prince of Nassau, who arrived just as the King
was about to give orders for the attack, succeeded during a private conference in changing the King's views; and the troops encamped
and remained a fortnight more in utter inactivity. There was a complete
cessation of arms at this period, and at the same time the relation between the
King and the Russian General Fersen, which had never been very
friendly, became decidedly hostile. Their disagreement
arose naturally from the general position in which the two Powers stood to one
another. Enough was known of the resources of the insurgents, of the desire of
the Polish nobility for peace, of the apathy of the
peasants in Cracow Sendomir, Szamaiten and Courland, to prevent any man at the
head-qnarters of the Allies from anticipating serious danger in the war. They
felt themselves strong enough to crush the insurrection at any moment, and the question
94
TAKING OP CRACOW.
[Book X.
when this proper moment should have arrived immediately became
dependent, not upon military exigencies, but political expediency. On the
Russian side they had no wish to see the King of Prussia hurrying on
from triumph to triumph. The Government at St. Petersburg had as yet received
no direct intelligence from Belgium; but they knew beforehand what claims would be made from that quarter, and what differences
with Prussia would result from them. Rather,
therefore, than give the latter the advantage of a speedy overthrow of Warsaw,
they granted the Poles a brief continuance of their government, until Russian
forces were at hand to decide, first the war, and then the diplomatic question—the Partition of the country. These forces were at that
time on the march from all quarters. We have seen how many divisions surrounded
Lithuania; and equally considerable armies were already moving up towards
Poland itself. On the 26th of June the Reis Effendi in Constantinople
gave the final assurance to the Russian Ambassador that the Porte had uo other
wish than to be at peace with Russia, and after the representations of the
Russian government he consented to give up the claims of Turkey with respect to the tarif of duties. This arrangement
set all the Russian forces at liberty which had hitherto been employed in
protecting the southern frontier against the Osmans; and the best of the
Russian generals, Suworow, received orders to collect an
army from these forces in Podolia for the Polish war. It was evidently in the
interest of Russia that before the appearance of these troops the Prussians
should not succeed in striking any important blow, and least of all one of such
mighty consequences [as the capture of Warsaw.
This position of affairs soon made itself felt at Prussian
head-quarters. General Fersen, became every day, as the King expressed it, less
tractable. At the same time information arrived from Vienna res]3ecting the resolutions of the Emperor Francis. It became known that Austria de-
Ch. II.] AUSTRIA DEMANDS THE SOUTHERN PALATINATES. 95
manded the four Southern Palatinates, and was not willing to leave
either Cracow or Sendomir in Prussian hands. The Imperial general Harnoucourt had already entered Lublin with 5,000 men, and
pushed forward some of his posts into the Province of Sendomir, which was
already occupied by Prussia. Nothwithstanding the indignation which this step
caused at the Prussian head-quarters, General Fersen coolly expressed
his opinion that the wishes of Austria were entirely justified. Hereupon a
radical difference of opinion manifested itself among those who were about the
person of the King, respecting the future conduct of the war. Lucchesini adhered with increased zeal to his view that the greater the
hostility the Allies displayed towards Prussia, the more energetically ought
she to proceed in her operations against the enemy. He
proposed that the Prussians troops should assault and take Warsaw as soon as possible, and not contented with this position,
cross the Vistula, and spread themselves far and wide over Lithuania, so that
it should at last appear an act of self-sacrificing moderation, if Prussia
contented herself with the line of the Vistula— with Warsaw and
Cracow. Such a course of proud and resolute courage would no doubt, in the
difficult and irritating position of affairs, have been
the wisest and most prudent; but, alas!—there were other spirits who were once
for all convinced that the path of wisdom is a crooked
one. Lucchesini's brother in law, General Bischoffswerder, the author of the
Austrian alliance, who in [1790 had nipped the bold aggressive policy of
Prussia, once more exercised a fatal influence on the resolutions of the King. The unfriendly feeling of the Russians,
he allowed, was unmistake-able; they abstained from all exertions and all
successes; they wished that Prussia should bleed to death in useless battles
before the Polish walls. But the King, he said, ought not
to gratify them, or to risk his brave soldiers against the horrible insurgents.
If they were to storm Warsaw they would only ruin a future Prussian city, and
96
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
burden themselves with the necessity of inflicting a fearful
punishment on its inhabitants to still the Russian thirst of vengeance. On the
other hand, he declared that Warsaw would dontless capitulate as soon as
extensive and imposing preparations were made for a regular siege. While the heavy ordnance necessary for this purpose was being brought up from
Graudenz and Breslau, the Russians might be induced
to make by themselves attacks which would weaken their forces, while the
Prussians were spared for the final decision. The General succeeded, principally by the description of the bloody horrors of a
conquest by storm, in gaining over the easily moved heart of the King. It was
resolved, in accordance with Bischoffswerder's views, to protract the siege,
and for the present to allow the Russians to try their luck against
the Polish entrenchments.
But General Fersen was far two well informed of the general position of
affairs to allow such a plan to succeed with him. When the Prussians, on the
26th of July, moved their camp to the village of
Wola, somewhat nearer to Warsaw, in order to open their trenches against the
city at that point, and the King called upon the Russians to storm the city on
their side, Fersen plainly answered that with his weak battalions he could not
take so hazardous a step. but
that he was ready to act in concert with the royal troops. The Prussians
thereupon began to throw up their earthworks, and gradually completed some
batteries; but the engineers had chosen their ground so badly that scarcely a
ball reached the town, and the Poles soon afterwards
found space, on their side, to settle themselves in new trenches in the left
flank of the Prussian approaches, and to sweep the latter with an extremely
harassing fire. As the Prussians still remained inactive, General Fersen sent word, on the 3rd of August, that he had received orders to
cross the Vistula and join Repnin in Lithuania, in case the inactivity before Warsaw continued , and he was still kept in the dark
respecting the plans of the Prussian Council of
Ch. II.] JEALOUSY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 97
war; he added, that as Russia was in this war not merely an auxiliary,
but the leading Power, he must demand joint deliberations on every measure.
These pretensions displeased the King extremely, but he thought that
Fersen's departure would produce an unfavourable impression in St. Petersburg,
and therefore condescended to send Fersen a sketch of a common plan for taking
Warsaw by storm. But the Russian general immediately answered by saying that his meaning had been completely misunderstood; that he
had only meant to protest against his own dependence on the Prussian General,
but had never thought of preferring a premature attack by storm to a regular
siege. Upon this the party who were for waiting regained their
influence over the King, in spite of all that Lucchesini could urge about the
evident ill-will of the Russians, and the necessity of rapid and independent
action. Catharine, it was said, made no sign; while Prussia was staking her best blood, the .two Imperial Courts would appropriate all the
booty to themselves without having fired a shot; not a step, therefore, must be taken by the Prussians until they were assured of a
suitable reward; and meanwhile they ought to urge on the
Russians and Austrians to render active assistance in the siege. Accordingly
despatches were sent off to Repnin and Harnoncourt to ask for support, and in
expectation of the answer all military operations were once more at a
stand-still.
Cares of another kind existed, calculated to
spur a vigorous nature to redoubled activity, but to increase the burden of
irresolution in a-weak and broken mind like that of the King. In the rear of
the army troops of rioters collected in South Prussia, in the Province acquired in the last Partition. Here and there bands of 80 to 100 men
showed themselves, plundered the public money chests, dispersed small divisions
of soldiers, and disappeared into the woods when larger bodies of men were sent
against them. On the 22nd of August they even succeeded in
surprising a large transport
iv. G
98
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
of powder—Avhich was proceeding up the Vistula from Graudenz for the siege of Warsaw—and throwing it into the water. Nothing would have curbed them so
effectually as the capture of Warsaw; but Bischoffswerder and his associates only derived additional arguments from these occurrences for concentrating their forces and saving them for future dangers. In the middle of July intelligence arrived from St.
Petersburg that the official declaration of Austria had been received. It was
indicative of Catharine's mood, that while all the previous reminders of
Prussia had remained entirely unanswered, the diplomatic stand-still now suddenly came to an end. On the 10th
of August, Alopeus, the Russian ambassador in Berlin, proposed that the final
negotiation respecting the fate of Poland should take place in St. Petersburg
with the co-operation of Austria. The King on his part had
already resolved to send Count Tauenzien, who had proved his skill in
negotiation the year before in Coburg's head-quarters, to Russia, with instructions above all things to defend the interests of Prussia against the
Austrian claims. The nearer the crisis approached— the more evident it became
that it would be determined by the measures of Austria—the more intensely were
the regards of all the parties interested directed once more towards the French war. This was the time, as we
may remember, when the evacuation of Belgium by the Austrians took place. The
Prussian government wavered between the fear that the Emperor would set all his
forces free for the war in Poland by a separate peace with France, and the fear
that by increased exertions against the French he
might obtain the entire goodwill of England and Russia, and thereby reduce
Prussia to a cipher. It was doubly painful, therefore, that just at this moment
the relations of Prussia to the Maritime Powers were in an extremely involved and unsatisfactory state, and that
the ambiguity of the treaty of the Hague became conspicuously apparent.
Ch.. II.]
ENGLISH SUBSIDIES.
99
We must now take a glance at the position and the operations of the Prussian Army of the Rhine.
At the Hague, as we have seen, Malmesbury had demanded that these Prussian troops should be employed in Belgium.
Haugwitz had expressed his personal agreement with the English Lord, but had
declined to give an official promise, and referred
all military matters to a subsequent settlement by the Generals. For the
promotion of the first armament England was to pay £ 300,000 immediately after
the ratification of the treaty, and four weeks after the payment of this sum—{. e. about
the 24th of May—the army was to be ready for the
field. The execution of the treaty suffered at the very commencement a delay
pregnant with consequences, from the circumstance that the English government did not send off the subsidy from London until the 25th of May, that it did not arrive in Hamburg until the middle of June, nor reach
Berlin before the beginning of July, so that England could not insist upon the
Prussian army being ready for the field before the beginning of August. Lord
Malmesbury, who had likewise been unnecessarily detained in England for several weeks, arrived in Maestricht on
the 1st of June, to hold a last conference in that place with Haugwitz.
Haugwitz immediately hinted a wish that Mollendorf should remain with his army
on the Rhine. When Malmesbury thereupon declared that it
was the decided intention of England to employ the troops in Belgium, Haugwitz
repeated his assurances of his own personal readiness to comply with
Malmesbury's wishes,1 but
at the same time reminded him that in the absence of the money nothing could be
done for four weeks. Mean-
1 This -was Haugwitz's only fault,
that he (evidently from dislike of trouble) left it to Mollendorf to settle the
question of the theatre of war, and avoided a quarrel with
Malmesbury. His conduct can hardly
be called double-dealing, as be from the very beginning declared tbat the
matter must be decided by a concert militaire.
G2
100
TAKING OP CRACOW.
[Book X.
while Lord Cornwallis, undoubtedly the best of the
English generals, came to Maestricht; and at the same time Baron Kinckel
arrived from Holland to take part in the Prussian negotiations. To Malmesbury's
great vexation Kinckel brought a memorial from the Prince of Orange in which Mollen-dorf's continued presence on the Rhine was
represented to be the only course consistent with the interests of Holland, and
it required all the imperious vehemence of Malmesbury to bring the Dutch back
again to their subservience to the views of England. The
difficulties were, however, not yet at an end. Coburg and Orange, considering
the matter from a military point of view, agreed in thinking that the ,
Prussian army was indispensable for the defence of the Rhine; and even Thugut loudly protested against the English plan, because he expected from the
presence of a strong Prussian force in Belgium greater hinderance to his
political operations in that country, than military aid in the prosecution of the war.1
Malmesbury, who was all the more touchy on this point
because he had once supported the views of Mollendorf, determined to go in
person with Kinckel and Cornwallis to the Prussian head-quarters in order, by
the immediate influence of his presence, to set Mollendorf and his army in motion towards Belgium. Pie arrived
in Kirchheim-Boianden on the 20th of June, but the first thing he heard was
that no such movement could be made before the arrival of the English money.
For the army, although in excellent condition as regarded the men, had no magazine, no stores of ammunition, no materials for making
bridges, no baggage horses; nor had it received any fresh men since the
beginning of tke Polish war, and numbered not much more than 40,000 men under
its colours— facts, however, which were carefully concealed from the
English envoys. Mollendorf further
declared in the most
1 Lord Granville's
correspondence with Sir Morton Eden and
Lord
Yarmouth, May 1794.
Ch. II.] DISPUTES BETW. MALMESBURY
AND MOLLENDORF. 101
decided manner that his troops were absolutely
indispensable on the Middle Rhine. He had driven the French in May out of
the valley of the Rhine, taken up a position in the Vosges mountains, and
mantained himself there up to that time in connection with the Army of the Empire under the Prince of Sachsen-Teschen. It appeared quite
clear to him that after his departure the Army of the Empire would not be able
to sustain the onset of the French for a single week. When this army had once
been beaten and driven across the Rhine, there would be nothing
to prevent the French from renewing the calamities of 1792 on a greater
scale—taking Mayence, Coblence and Treves^ and thereby cutting off the Allied
armies in Belgium from Germany.1 On
the other hand he offered, as soon as he had touched the English
money, to pass through the Vosges, and make an attack on the Saare and Upper
Moselle, and thus turn the tables and attack the French armies in Belgium in'
the rear—i. e.
carry
out the plan which Coburg and Brunswick had agreed
upon in the summer of 1793, when they were thwarted by the objections of Thugut
and Wurmser. Coburg and Orange, as we know, would have
been contented with this,
and even Lord
1 Vivenot, who always agrees with
Malmesbury (the latter is as bitter against Prussia as the Austrian
Captain) pays no regard to this consideration, which decides the
matter. He entirely forgets in this place that in other parts of his book—
where he praises Austria at the expense of. the other Estates of the
Empire — he describes more minutely
than any other Author the worthlessness of the Army of the Empire, of which
only 36,000 out of the 79,000 were
fit for service (Vivenot I, 97). How could these have held the
Rhine frontier without the Prussians? In p. 97 indeed he
says that Sachsen-Teschen had agreed to the departure of the Prussians, hut
forgets that the Prince did so on condition that 25,000 — nearly half the army—should remain
on the Rhine. He also seems to overlook the fact that the Emperor Francis
himself in a letter to Coburg, on the loth of
July, calls the English plan utterly impracticable.
102
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
Cornwallis acknowledged the weight of the military considerations in favour of the plan. But Malmesbury with haughty impetuosity declared that according-to the Hague treaty the
Maritime Powers alone had the right to dispose of the Prussian army, and that
they intended to sent it to Belo-ium,
and that he would allow no further debate on that point. The discussion then assumed a very bitter tone. Mollendorf appealed to Haugwitz, who
had repeatedly told him that the choice of the theatre of war was to be left to
the Generals; Malmesbury replied that this was impossible, as Haugwitz had
always known and approved of the intentions
of England. In a state of great irritation he called on the Count by letter to
bring the obstinate or corrupted general to reason. But Plaugwitz in his reply
of the 28th reminded Malmesbury that he had himself hindered the march of the
army from Mayence—that no agreement had been come to in the treaty
respecting the theatre of war, which was to be left to the decision of the
Generals—and, lastly, that the primary source of all the difficulties was the
non-arrival of the money. Malmesbury saw that he conld not carry his point,
and returned to Frankfort with rage in his heart, and sent off despatches to
his Government in which the perfidy of the Prussians was pourtrayed in the most
glaring colours.
Meanwhile the events of the war turned out as unfavourably as jDossible to his views and wishes. The battle of Fleurus was fought in Belgium,
and the Austrian Army was in full retreat. Numerous reports were spread that a
peace hetween France and the Emperor had already been concluded, and even the
most cautious announced that Coburg would not halt until he reached the
Rhine. The Prussian Ministers had after all been pricked by their consciences during the late negotiation respecting the English claims; but
now they saw their precautions completely justified, and thought themselves extremely fortunate that Mollendorf had resisted the demands of Malmesbury. They
Ch. II.] DEFEAT OF MOLLENDORF IN HARDT MOUNTAINS. 103
therefore adhered to their previous resolution, although Thugut now
completely changed sides, and after having succeeded in withdrawing the
Austrians from Belgium to the Rhine, strongly urged the English Ministry to
insist on the departure of the Prussian troops from the Rhine to Belgium.
All these negotiations produced no other fruits for the Coalition than an
increase of ill feeling on all sides; while the French were busily making the
best use of the time thus gained. In the latter part of June,' the French army of the Rhine had received its reinforcements from La Vendee,
and from the beginning of July they began to attack the Prussian position in
the Hardt mountains with ever increasing numbers and impetuosity. From the 2nd
to the 13th of July there was scarcely a day's repose; bloody
engagements were fought round almost every mountain top in the neighbourhood of
Kaiserslautern; at last numbers prevailed, and Mollendorf was obliged to
retreat and seek protection under the guns of Mayence with a loss of 2,000 men and 16 guns. Sachsen-Teschen thereupon withdrew to Mannheim,
and entirely abandoned the left bank of the Rhine. Mollendorf's declaration
that after the withdrawal of his troops the French would become complete
masters of the middle Rhine had received a painful confirmation.
SoOn afterwards Prince Reuss was sent by Coburg to the head-quarters of
the Army of the Empire at Schwetz-ingen, in order to consult with Mollendorf
and Sachsen-Teschen respecting future operations. Coburg held the same opinion
as before, that the Prussian army belonged to the middle Rhine; he only
wished that it should push forward its main body from Mayence towards the
Hundsriick, in order that the French Moselle army might not extend itself in
the territory of Treves from the Saare, and so threaten Coburg's
flank and rear. If this were done it would be necessary for Sachsen-Teschen to
follow the movements of the Prussians, and to send one
of his divisions to the North from Mannheim to Mayence. The two Generals
104 TAKING OP CRACOW. [Book X.
immediately acquiesced in this proposal, and, on the 26th, drew up a
new plan «for the position of the army in accordance
with it. Sachsen-Teschen was to send 18,000 to Mayence, Mollendorf to keep 12,000 there, and the Prince of Hohenlohe to take the command of these
30,000 men. Mollendorf was to employ the other Prussian troops to occupy the Hundsriick, to cover Coblence and, if possible, Treves, and to
send off General Kalkreuth immediately to the Moselle to defend the latter
town. Mollendorf, who like his Government was heartily sick of the French war
and the Austrian alliance, signed this agreement, indeed, but added that he
took for granted the defence of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine by Coburg, and that if this expectation were not fulfilled he
should not consider himself bound. Malmesbury likewise gave his consent, but
declared that the whole scheme had nothing to do with the Hague treaty, and
would not be acknowledged by him as a fulfilment of it. 1
But, alas! this project too was destined to remain fruitless for the
grand object of the war. Kalkreuth, it is true, set out for Treves, but the
French got the start of him, and drove the Austrian General Blankenstein out of
the town in spite of a gallant resistance.2 The
last remains of the good understanding between the Allies were then lost in a
barren dispute as to whether Kalkreuth had advanced too slowly, or Blankenstein
had retreated too quickly.3 Moll en -
1 The English Ministry thought differently, and recognised the plan as the hest
conceivable employment of the Prussianv troops. —■ 2 When Malmesbury received the news
" Treves
est pris," he still retained composure enough
for the witticism "_EA bien, desormais nous n'aurons ni repos ni treve. — 3 This is not the place to discuss
their mutual accusations. But it is sufficiently naive of Vivenot to print the
Austrian accounts, and to fancy that he has therehy proved that the Austrians
were entirely in the right, and the Prussians entirely
in the wrong. My course— that of leaving the matter undetermined—appears to him one-sided, and his own, which gives judgment on
the evidence of one party only, impartial history!
Ch. II.] MALMESBURY'S OPINION OP MOLLENDORF. 105
dorf, embittered by this quarrel, and still further irritated by the
non-appearance of the 18,000 Austrians in Mayence, remained motionless in his
position, so that Malmesbury reported to London with more decision than ever,
that it was now beyond all doubt that Prussia was
inactive from ill-will, and that England was being cheated out of her
subsidies. During the same period Mollendorf wrote to Lucchesini that his
position between the English and Austrian pretensions was absolutely untenable.
He said that Austria had no other object in view than peace with France
and aggrandisement in Poland, and that in his opinion Prussia could do no
better than follow the same course, of making peace with the French in order to
be able to use her whole power in Poland. It was not the first time
that he had meddled with politics. Although 70 years old he was still a man of
clear and restless mind, a friend not of action but of bustle, cunning and
ambitious, with an inborn inclination for intrigue; so that he must have been not a little amused when Malmesbury described him as a
straightforward but obtuse man, who allowed himself to be led by subordinate
confidants. He had already on many occasions exercised an influence on the
negotiations in 1793, and had just helped to bring about a radical
change in the administration of South Prussia.1 He
wrote to the King from the Palatinate, on the 5th of July, when the first
reports of Montgaillard's negotiation spread through the world, and begged for
credentials to enable him to treat in a similar manner with
1 As general in command he had
introduced the Prussian officials into that country in 1793, had made himself
acquainted with the local circumstances, and promised the inhabitants to respect their peculiar institutions.
The Minister Voss, who subsequently undertook the government of the province had no notions of that kind, but placed everything
at once on a Brandenburg footing, to the great discontent of the Poles; so that
Mollendorf now got him removed and superseded by the Sile-sian Minister Count
Hoym.
106
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
Robespierre's agents. Lucchesini was obliged at that time to reprove
him and to inform him that those rumours were incredible, and that no overtures
could on any account be made by Prussia to France. But he was not, as we have
just seen, to be so easily deterred, and repeated his proposal a few weeks afterwards. In the meantime the progress of the Prussian arms in Poland had been interrupted, and the
hostile attitude of Austria in St. Petersburg become known, so that
Mollendorf now found energetic support. Of the Ministers, Finkenstein,
Alvensleben and Geusau, had long been convinced of the necessity of peace with
France, and the war with Poland confirmed them in
this opinion more and more every day, since they saw no possibility of
maintaining two great armies, and well knew that stronger forces must be sent
into Poland. They no more believed than the King himself in the sudden conclusion of a separate peace between France and Austria; but
it was only too certain that the Imperial army was endeavouring to get out of
Belgium, and to take up a position on the Rhine. In this movement the Court of
Berlin thought they saw a menace against Bavaria 1 and
the Prussian principalities of Anspach and
Baireuth; so that Mollendorf was kept on the Rhine that he might protect
Baireuth in case of need, and exercise a pressure on Bohemia. At the
head-quarters before Warsaw Lucchesini highly approved
of these views, and took the first opportunity to test the
personal feelings of the King with respect to these great questions.
The English government, which shortly before, in July, had strengthened
itself by the admission of the Conservative whigs (Portland, Pelham, Windham,
friends of Burke) into
1 The political journal, a paper
"vited the Emperor to occupy Bavaria
entirely under Austrian influence
re- for himself. The Prussian and Ba-
ported circumstantially at that
time varian ambassadors received no
from Vienna, that Russia had in- notice of it.
Ch. II.] MISSION OF SPENCER AND
GRENVILLE TO VIENNA. 107
the Ministry, was more than ever resolved to carry on the contest with
revolutionary France to the very last. They therefore checked Malmesbury's zeal, and told him that they would act with Prussia as long as even a
negative advantage could be gained from the payment
of the subsidies. After the month of June they took
nearly the same view of Austria's attitude as Prussia herself, and did not fail
to see that England alone was interested for Belgium, while Thugut only
thought of acquisitions in Germany or Poland. While, therefore,
the Prussian Statesmen were inclining to peace with France, the English Ministry resolved to make fresh exertions to keep
Austria in the European Coalition. When the government at Vienna heard in the
beginning of July that these sentiments prevailed
in the English cabinet, the effect produced was instantaneous.
Austria entertained a lively desire of English subsidies; and with the view of obtaining them the Emperor determined to send Count
Mercy to London, and meantime wrote to Coburg on the 15th of July, directing
him to maintain his position on the Meuse as long as possible, and to give the
lie to all reports of the voluntary evacuation of Belgium by the
Austrians. Nay, Coburg was even called upon to resume the offensive, though
nothing, indeed, was said about the reinforcements which he so urgently called
for. On the contrary, a fresh letter from the Emperor arrived on the 31st of July in which no further mention was made of offensive
movements, but only of defending the line of the Meuse; and even this was
expressly made dependent on the success of Count Mercy's
mission in London. Meanwhile England on her part sent
off Earl Spencer, Lord Privy Seal, and Thomas Grenville, brother of the
Foreign Minister, to Vienna, to urge the Austrians as strongly as possible to
renew the offensive in Belgium. The intelligence of this embassy naturally
produced the greatest excitement at the Prussian head-quarters. It
was thought that it would bring the wavering counsels of the
108
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
Austrian Government to a final decision. The King was of opinion that
Austria would allow herself to be carried away by the influence of England, and
feared that the latter woidd then withdraw her subsidies from Prussia, and
transfer, them to Austria alone. Lucchesini considered it certain
that Thugut would refuse, in which case he thought the time would have arrived
to come forward with a proposal for a general peace. He
therefore proposed to the King that the latter should send him, under some
pretext or other, to Vienna for a few days, and
after laying Mollendorf s letter before the King, he suggested a comprehensive deliberation on the question of peace with France.
The first effect of this attempt was a violent outbreak on the part of
the King.1 "No one," he cried, "shall drive me
to take so dishonourable a step — to a negotiation with regicides. How could I
look the Maritime Powers in the face, who are paying me subsidies! how I should
be branded as a traitor to the Empire by Austria, who denies all separate negotiations!" Lucchesini immediately drew back, and
explained that he only contemplated an appeal to the Allied Powers, and the
commencement of a general negotiation with a view to peace.
"Certainly," said the King, "it would be a fortunate thing if we had peace, but how can we obtain it honourably before the
Jacobins have felt the weight of our sword? Let others try it, if they do not
know how to wage war, but no servant of mine shall seduce me to take the first
step." Lucchesini well understood his master, and knew that every
hasty outbreak of this kind only exhausted his
inward power of resistance. He adhered to his opinion, and hinted that however
averse they might be to peace, there was no need to display openly their desire
of war; and that it would at
1 Lucchesini to Mollendorf Aug. 14th; and to the Ministers Aug. 1st,
Aug. 8th, Aug. 14th.
Cn. II.] LUCCHESINI ADVOCATES PEACE WITH FRANCE. 109
any rate be useful to inform Earl Spencer that Prussia would not renew
the subsidy-treaty for 1795. Even this the King forbade most positively, for
how, he said, could he carry on the campaign on the Rhine without money! The
only thing which he could be persuaded to do was to empower Hardenberg, at that
time Minister of Anspach and Baireuth, to treat with
Malmesbury, and thus to save Mollendorf from further English pressure.
Lucchesini was to go to Vienna, but he was only to listen and observe, and not
to breathe a syllable about peace. The Marquis protested,
of course, that he was only the obedient tool of his
sovereign, but he could not help expressing his pity for the numerous States
who would have joyfully united with powerful Prussia in any effort for peace—e. g. the
majority of the German Estates, Spain—from jealousy of England,— and
Naples, whose ambassador in Vienna, Marquis Gallo, had dinned into his ears for
months, that nothing but peace could save Italy and Europe. "Good
God!" cried the King, "I know very well that peace is a blessing of
Heaven; I have no objection if you personally,
you—the Marquis Lucchesini—in your wisdom, can bring the others to your views;
but I repeat my positive orders that my name be not mentioned in any way, and
that not the slightest ^reference be made to my Government."
"I have run greater risks to day,"
wrote Lucchesini to Mollendorf, after this conversation, "than a hundred
zealous patriots would have done; and I have done great things; I have
permission to sow the first seeds of peace, and will stake my whole existence on the performance of this work of salvation."
Animated by these sentiments he started for Vienna on the 14th of
August, and on the 24th had his first audience with the Emperor Francis; on the
following day he was obliged, by the express order of the King, to exhort the Minister Thugut to supply troops for the siege of Warsaw.
Meanwhile the fire of those advanced posts on the left wing,
110
TAKING OF CRACOW.
[Book X.
referred to above,' had become intolerable to the Prussian trenches, and the King gave orders on the 26th to drive the troublesome
Poles from their position. The troops performed the task with the greatest
gallantry, and the King, fired by their joyful alacrity, resolved, after a
sally of the Poles on the 28th had been brilliantly repulsed, to fix the
general assault for the 1st of September. But jnst at this moment a despatch
arrived from Lucchesini, announcing that Austria declared
herself unable to send troops to Warsaw; and the Marquis justly remarked that
it was fortunate for Prussia that the Emperor did not take this opportunity of
strengthening his influence in Poland. At the same time a letter arrived from
Count Goltz in St. Petersburg, according to which Catharine
had approved of all the difficulties raised by
General Fersen, and expressed a wish that he should altogether separate himself
from the Prussian army and cross over to the right bank of the Vistula. She
had, indeed, added that this separation was not to take place if the King of
Prussia positively forbade it; but it could no longer be
doubted what was the state of feeling in St. Petersburg, and how little
dependence was to be placed on the active support of Russia. If Fersen really
retired to Lithuania, as was now to be expected, the position of the 25,000 Prussians before Warsaw,
considering the numbers of the enemy, might appear a critical one; though, of
course, the wretched quality of the Polish troops greatly diminished the
danger. They might on this occasion have remembered the example of Frederick the Great, who was also placed in a hazardous position when the
same Catharine recalled her auxiliary troops from his army, and employed the
last days of their presence in his camp in storming the entrenchments of the enemy. But his successor was not one of those commanding spirits who gather fresh vigour from every
fresh danger; he was courageous and fond of war, but he had none of that
firmness of mind which is the very soul of command. The difficulties of a great task did not
Cn. II.] THE PRUSSIANS RAISE THE SIEGE OF WARSAW. Ill
inspire him, but threw him into a state of weary vexation, in which aU
strength of will and clearness of ideas were lost. Lucchesini was no longer
beside him; his other counsellors, described the danger he ran of being buried in the waves of insurrection—the unfairness
of carrying on the contest with Prussian blood alone—and
the necessity of making the two Imperial courts feel the value of Prussian aid
by withdrawing it for a while. And thus the attack
ordered for the 1st of September was not carried out, and immediately afterwards the fatal resolution was taken to raise the siege and
lead the troops to South Prussia, in order to secure their position according
to the rules of military prudence before
attempting, a fresh attack. The revolt in South Prussia afforded an official
pretext for the retreat; and the loss of the powder transport was more
particularly lamented, and declared to render a further bombardment of Warsaw
impossible.1 They
found powder enough however to mask their
retirement; the batteries fired for two days without cessation; on the evening
of the 5th of September the guns were withdrawn from the trenches; and on the
morning of the 6th the regiments followed them, dispirited and angry, but not more so than the King himself, who handed over the comand
to general Schwerin, and hastened back to Berlin out of health and out of
temper.
1 The Imperial Courts were not dates
alone might have prevented
deceived, but most writers have
been this mistake. It took place on the
go. The loss of the powder figures 22nd August
at midday (Treskow
in
all histories to the
glory of 172) and the news of it must
have
Mniewski and Niemejowski, who reached
head-quarters long before
made this decisive capture. The
September 1st.
112 [Book X.
CHAPTER III. TAKING OF WARSAW.
tliugut recommends for the present the defence of the line of the .
meuse. The negotiation with spencer and orenville has no result. —The
duke of york marches back from north brabant over the rhine.—General mollendorf enters into serious negotiations with prance.—England
announces to Prussia her intention of withdrawing from the treaty of the
hague.—The poles
are obliged
1(1 evacuate lithuania.-dombrowski breaks into south prussia.—
General
suworow. — He
defeats sierakowski at kropzyce.— He gains another victory at brzesc.—kosciusko attacks general fersen.—Battle of maciejowice.—Want of counsel in Warsaw.—Suworow defeats
general mayen at kobilka. — storming of praga.—
Capitulation
of Warsaw.
Scarcely had
the news spread through Germany that the Prussian army had ingloriously
retreated before the Polish insurrection, than men's minds were far more deeply
agitated by the report of a fresh disaster in the west.
Austria continued her retreat from Belgium, which had been interrupted
in July, and the Rhenish provinces of Germany saw themselves threatened in
their whole extent by a hostile inundation.
The Emperor of Austria, as we have seen, in expectation of
English subsidies, had written to the Prince of Coburg on the 31st of July, and
directed him for the present 1 to
hold the line of the Meuse, in so far as it was not already in the hands of the
French, with all his power. He accordingly posted his right wing
near Venloo, and his centre in and
1 Autograph letter of the Emperor,
31st of July; Witzleben III, 336, 358.
Ch.HI.] COBURG OCCUPIES THE LINE OF
THE MEUSE.
113
about Miestricht. In the South, after Liege had been taken by the
French, Coburg's left wing retired behind the Ourthe, which runs into the Meuse
at that city, and occupied the line from Liege to Malscheid. After the arrival
of some reinforcements, the Imperial army had an effective force
of 83,000 men,1 but
had, as we know, returned exhausted and demoralised from the Belgian battle
fields, and absolutely needed a long period of rest and
refreshment before it could be expected to enter into any new contests. Its allies in the army of the Duke of York were not in much better
case. These amounted to about 43,000 men—English,
Dutch and German mercenaries—exclusive
of the garrisons of the fortresses, who, after the evacuation of Antwerp, had
taken up a position in North Brabant between the great
fortresses of Herzogenbusch and Bergen-op-Zoom, on the so-called Donger-heath,
some miles to the South of the Meuse. A vigorous pursuit on the part of the
enemy in large masses, at the end of July, would have produced the most important results, and driven the English to their ships, and
the Austrians to the other side of the Rhine. They were saved from this danger
by the order of the Committee of Public Safety, that, before anything else was
done, the four French fortresses which had been taken by Coburg,
and the maritime strongholds which still resisted, should
be captured. The French generals were compelled to employ more than 40,000 men
in these sieges, and as the other Belgian provinces—which were pitilessly plundered, and infuriated by numberless
outrages—required strong garrisons, the
number of French troops disposable in the field was diminished in a very
serious manner. While their generals, up to this time, had always been able to
appear in every part of the theatre of war with greatly superior
forces, Pichegru could now only send 45,000 against York, and Jourdan not more
than
1 Austrian Military Jonrnal 1820, Sec. 2 and 3. Witzleben III,
3C5. IV. H
114
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
53,000 men against Coburg. Far from undertaking any serious pursuit,
therefore, they were both well satisfied to be left undisturbed by the enemy;
and thus it happened that during the continuance of this war of fortresses, a
truce of more than a month was observed by the armies; in which the
Allies possessed every means of recruiting themselves from the toils and
sufferings of the Sambre battles.
But in spite of this prospect the leader of the Allied armies, the Prince of Coburg, was by no means minded to risk his reputation once more by a continuance of this unhappy war. He had
remained firm in March, when the Emperor remained deaf to all entreaties for
reinforcements and for alliance with Prussia; he
had held out in May, when the hand of diplomacy crippled all warlike operations, and roused the suspicion of treachery in the minds
of all the Allies; he had borne it, in June, when, instead of the laurels he
had longed for, the sad task was imposed on him of leading the army out of
Belgium with as little loss as possible. But now, when the prospect
of success was infinitely lessened, when the troops
were decimated, and the resources of Belgium abandoned to the
enemy;—now, the Imperial letters of the 15th and 31st of
July suddenly appeared, filled with blame and complaints at these losses, with a denial of any systematic plan of
retreat, and repeated orders to resume the offensive! And when Coburg complained of the insufficiency of his means, the Emperor, instead of sending any adequate reinforcement, ordered Blankenstein to join him with the troops
saved from Treves —in all about 3 battalions! The bitterness which filled the
heart of the grey-haired commander at these unreasonable
demands upon him were increased by every day's experience.
The generals under him complained of the relaxation of all order and discipline in the army, which was chiefly caused
by the terrible deficiency in the supplies. The Belgian magazines were lost,
the military chest was empty, home and its resources were far distant. Coburg applied
Ch. III.] SPENCER AND GRENVILLE
ARRIVE IN VIENNA. 115
to the neighbouring Sovereigns and Circles of Germany. He. issued an
earnest appeal for provisions and help for the sick to the inhabitants of the
Rhine, but was unable to stir the dull and listless indifference of the
politically neglected population. The foremost among the Princes,
Maximilian, Elector of Cologne, and uncle of the Emperor, replied that since
his last sojourn in Vienna he had long foreseen, from ithe cabals which he had
witnessed there, the disasters which had since taken place. The Austrian government, he said, had begun the war against his advice. The way in
which the war, and all the business connected with it, had been carried on
would bring him eternal shame, if he coidd be supposed capable of taking any
part in it. "You will therefore
allow me, Cousin (Liebden)", he continued, "still to refrain from taking any part in the affair, and spare me all Viennese
financial operations. If I had the happiness of facilitating your entrance into
the Netherlands by a loan of ready money, you will hardly
ask me to do the same to help you out. If your army will not stand its ground,
or cannot check the advance of the enemy, any sums which 1 might
possibly raise by the greatest exertions to supply the deficiencies in the
Austrian treasury, would only serve to postpone by a few days the
ruin of these countries, since no other help is to be looked for."
Beset by such impressions, bowed down by bodily suffering and deep despair, the Prince of Coburg sent in his resignation
to the Emperor on the 9th of August.
Just at this time Lord Spencer and Thomas Grenville came to Vienna in
order to induce the Austrian government to make one more effort on
behalf of Belgium. Considering the great importance of
their negotiations, it seems worth while to consider more
closely the course which they took. By the instructions given to them on the
19th of July they were directed to demand immediate reinforcement of the
Belgian army, the removal of its Commander-in-chief, and energetic action on
the part of Austria in Italy; and
H2
116
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
they were empowered to promise in return both ample subsidies from England, and general aid against any hostile movement which
might be made by Prussia. On the journey they fell
in with Count Mercy, who gave them the greatest encouragement, but at the same
time remarked that the advance of the army for the relief of
the fortresses was impossible. The defence of the line
of the Meuse, he said, was secured, but yet he decidedly
refused to make a public an-t nouncement
of his views on this head. The English envoys, on arriving in Vienna, found
Thugut perfectly ready to meet their views with respect to the recall of the
Prince of Coburg, which he
effected forthwith, and then entrusted the chief command of the Belgian army to
General Clerfait, a man who belonged to no political party at all.
Difficulties, however, immediately arose when they came to the consideration of the next demand of England, that Austria should employ a
part of her Rhine army in the defence of Belgium. Thugut at once refused to do
this, partly on the ground that the presence of those troops on the Rhine was
indispensable, and partly because he could not without clanger remove them so far from the Austrian frontiers. "In fact," he
said, "nothing can be done until England guarantees us a loan of £
3,000,000 for this campaign, and promises further subsidies for next
year." Lord Grenville, he remarked, could very well transfer the subsidy hitherto paid to the Prussians to Austria, always so
true to her engagements. "But then," he added, "it is necessary
for England and Russia to take measures to secure us from any attacks of the
king of Prussia. If Austria," he concluded, "is not supported in this manner, we must confine ourselves to defending
the Rhine with an army of 30,000 to 40,000 men."
On the same day (August 12th) on which the Englishmen sent a report of
this conversation to London, the Aulic Council of war sent off orders to Coburg and Sachsen-Teschen to defend, not Belgium, but
Luxemburg, Mayence and Manheim, and not to retreat except under circumstances
Ch. III.] DEATH OF COUNT MERCY
IN LONDON.
117
of the greatest danger. Two days later a second
imperial letter was sent to Coburg announcing the arrival of a reinforcement of three battalions, with an intimation that great things
would be expected of him, provided always that Count Mercy sent favourable news
from London. Coburg replied by return of courier, that under these
circumstances, and considering the utter insufficiency of the promised
reinforcement, successes in the field were out of
the question. When Clerfait immediately afterwards assumed the chief command,
some stir was made, not among the troops indeed, but in the
war council. A new scheme was concocted with the Duke of York for the
liberation of Antwerp, and an understanding was come to with Mollendorf for the
recapture of Treves; and, indeed, from the dispersed state of the French troops, and the improvement in the condition of the allied army
consequent on the long cessation of arms, important
successes were by no means improbable. Everything
depended, after all, as was intimated in the Emperor's letter to Coburg, on the
fortunate issue of the negotiation with England; and as this was rendered
impossible by Thu-guts views, no warlike deeds resulted from all the fine words
and brilliant plans of the council of war.
It was not granted to the old and steady friend of Belgium, Count Mercy, to renew his efforts in this
affair. He died soon after his arrival in London, and his task was then
undertaken by the ambassador Count Stahremberg. He brought the matter before
the English Minister on the 26th of August, and dwelt in fhe first place on the points which Thugut had already raised—an immediate
remittance of money, without which, he said, the army could not hold the line
of the Meuse—a guarantee of a loan of £3,000,000, and a further subsidy for the
following year— with the additional proviso, that in case Belgium
should be recovered, its political constitution should be abrogated, and the
country subjected to the will of the conquerors. The English Minister immediately granted £ 150,000, and communicated his
118
TAKING OF WARSAW.
Book X.
answer to the other demands through his ambassador in Vienna. Up to
this time the impression made upon Spencer and Grenville by their intercourse
with Thugut was by no means favourable. They repeatedly expressed, both in their official despatches and private communications, their utter
hopelessness of attaining any satisfactory results. Thugut, they declared,
manifested an entire indifference to the maintenance
of Belgium and Holland, prophesied the failure of every effort in this direction, and continually resorted to fresh subterfuges. Even
on the supposition, they urged, that Thugut was only feigning indifference on
the subject, to incite England to increased exertions, the result of such a
course would be the refusal of all Austrian aid on behalf of
Belgium, whether it arose from real or pretended views. It was evident, they
thought, that his disinclination to act with vigour in Belgium arose not merely
from his habit of undervaluing this possession, but partly also from his conviction that the Maritime Powers would
under no circumstances allow the French to rule in that
country, and partly from the timid desire to collect all the Austrian forces on
the German frontiers, and to keep them close at hand, in readiness to defend the hereditary lands against the Prussians. Such a divergence of
views between England and Austria, they thought, would render the most formal
compacts entirely ineffectual.1 We
shall soon see how correctly they had judged the state of the case.
On the 14th of September they communicated to
Thugut the answer of England to the demands of Austria. It was in the main
simply favourable. England was willing to undertake
the guarantee of the loan, if the Emperor would increase the strength of his
Belgian army to 100,000 men. She was willing to
render pecuniary aid for the following
1 Conf. the official reports ofSpen-
correspondence in Buckingham's Me-cer and Grenville in the English moirs of the
court and cabinets of State Paper office, and their private George III, Vol. II, 259.
Ch. III.] THUGUT'S DOUBLE DEALING WITH ENGLAND. 119
year, by transfering, as Thugut had before suggested, the Prussian
subsidy to Austria, if the Emperor would in return promise to furnish the same
number of troops as were at-present supplied by
Prussia, vie. 60,000 men. In this case, Lord Grenville said, he remembered with
pleasure what Thugut had previously intimated, that the Emperor would then
procure money for the Prussians from the German Diet. To the overthrow of the Belgian constitution, he said, England could not possibly agree, and he thought that such a change would
be injurious to Austria herself. He then proceeded
to lay the greatest stress on the importance of a vigorons prosecution of the
war, and to this end proposed that all the forces destined to operate in
Belgium should be placed under one commander-in-chief. Hitherto the Duke of
York had been under the command of the Prince of Coburg.
England now determined to send her best general, Lord
Cornwallis, to Belgium, and proposed that General Clerfait, as inferior in
rank, should be placed under the orders of the English general.
England hereby consented to all that was required of her. If,
therefore, Thugut's aversion to Belgium was only assumed for the purpose of ronsing his ally to increased exertions, his object was now attained, and the time was evidently come to
throw off the mask, and display his own 'energy in vigorous action. But this
was far from being Thugut's intention. On the contrary he rejected the English proposals with the greatest vehemence.
He declared that it would be an insult to the Emperor to place Clerfait under
the command of Lord Cornwallis. He bitterly
complained that England had done far less for the Emperor than for the Kino- of Prussia, and had nevertheless asked three times as much from the
former as from the latter. He protested that he cared nothing at all about the
Prussian subsidy, and that if he could get any money from the German Diet, he
would rather keep it himself than let Prussia have it. He concluded
by declaring that under such circumstances he
120
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
was compelled to reduce the operations in Belgium to a limited scale.
Matters stood thus in Vienna in the middle of
September, and the course of events on the theatre of war was in exact
accordance with them. The fortresses in Hennegau and Flanders—Landrecy and
Lequesnoi, Ostend and Niewp'ort Conde and Valenciennes—had already capitulated
in quick succession, without any serious resistance, as soon as
the enemy allowed them to retire unmolested. The objects kept in view were
everywhere the same, to give up the country, and preserve the armies; the
French corps, therefore, which had been occupied in the siege of these places were once more at the disposal of the French government for the
great war by the middle of September. Hereupon Clerfait sent a message to York,
in which he declared the intended offensive movement
useless, since its chief object—the relief of the fortresses—was
frustrated by their fall. When York energetically
protested, and adhered to his opinion of the necessity and usefulness of a
vigorous advance, Clerfait replied by sending him an entirely different plan,
the details of which seemed to the Duke of York and the Prince of Orange,
in their turn, utterly impracticable.1 In
short complete inactivity reigned on all sides; the
armies lay motionless in their widely extended cantonments as if in the deepest
peace, dispirited by the remembrance of the failure
of the summer campaign, and without self-reliance or confidence for the future.
Such a state of things if long continued could not but end in a deep
demoralisation of the troops, and the effects began to show themselves in the
most striking manner among the English regiments. The
supplies of these last had been not only plentiful but extravagant since the
beginning of the campaign, but had nevertheless been rendered insufficient by
negligence and waste. The troops were often without bread for days; but there was always an abundance of spirituous liquors, and the number of
1 York to Dundas. September 7th.
Ch. III.] DEMORALISATION OF THE
ENGLISH ARMY. 121
women in the camp was sometimes almost equal to that of the soldiers.
The men, moreover, were for the most part recruited from the rabble—the dregs
of the British Proletariate—and we may easily imagine
the revolting brutality which was the necessary consequence. In Flanders the evil had been in some degree checked by
uninterrupted activity, and when it came to a head, necessity compelled the
officers, and above-all the Commander-in-chief, to interfere with promptitude and vigour. But now the hopeless cessation of arms demoralised officers and men alike. The former, mostly
rich young noblemen, without military training, who had purchased their
commissions that they might serve in the campaign as a kind of chivalrous amusement, took no concern in the duties of their position or the welfare
of their men, but lived in unbridled license, and set the worst example to the
soldiers by remissness in the performance of their duty, and by coarse
debauchery. It often occurred that the regiments set out on their march iu the morning, while the officers remained behind for hours at some
drinking bout, and then towards midday galloped half intoxicated after the
column, and hurried past it with wild shouts, to the great annoyance of the
men. It was not wonderful that the latter in a few weeks became quite
unmanageable. Wherever they came they plundered the villages, ground the
population to the dust, and spent the plundered property in riot and
debauchery. In every conflict with the enemy the Germany
auxiliaries—Hannoverians, Darmstadter and Hessians—bore
the brunt of the battle; they resisted the bad example set them with admirable
firmness, but were not numerous enough to preserve the discipline and unity of
the army, in the face of the excesses of the English. Among the Dutch, now that the war reached their own borders, the old defects of
their military system were most sensibly felt. Everywhere there was a want of
trained soldiers and trustworthy officers, and in spite of the wealth of the
State most of the fortresses were in
122
TALING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
an unsatisfactory state of defence. In addition to this the
inhabitants, in despair at the excesses of the English, bitterly cursed the whole war. They even longed for the arrival of the French, as liberators who would
avenge them on their hateful allies; and this feeling once more roused their
sympathies for the anti-Orange party—the patriots of 1788. The Duke of York saw
the growing evil, in dull and helpless despair. He issued some oi'dres du jour in which he exhorted his troops in severe terms to better conduct; when
this had no effect—when immediately afterwards the Austrians once more failed
him, and the fall of the fortresses led him to expect an
advance of the French in greater force—the Duke's mind was completely
broken, and he looked forward to the catastrophe without the power of forming
any resolution. On the 14th of September the advanced
guard of the enemy's forces appeared before the out-posts of the allies at
Herzogenbusch; and soon afterwards
a division of Darmstadter was crushed by the superior
numbers of the enemy, in spite of an heroic resistance; upon which York, who
greatly overestimated the strength of the enemy at 80,000 men, only thought of
securing his retreat over the Meuse. He resolved to
evacuate the whole of North Brabant, and on the 16th led his army over the
river into the United Provinces.1
At the same time Jourdan recommenced the attack on the Austrians at
Liege. He had received a reinforcement of '27,000 from
Hennegau, which made his army nearly equal to that of his opponent. He
determined to employ it in dealing the main blow against the left, or south
wing, of the Austrians upon the Ourthe, as it was evident that by overpowering
this, he would threaten Clerfait's line of supplies and retreat more seriously than by any other operation. After having sent those
27,000 men under Marceau
1 The particulars are given by by
Ditfurth. "The Hessians in the forbeck, "Critical History
&c." and Netherlands"
Vol. II.
Ch. III.] JOURDAN DEFEATS THE AUSTRIANS ON THE OURTHE. 123
and Scherer to the Ourthe he alarmed the centre of the enemy at
Maestricht, on the 16th of September, by a vigorous feint, occupied Clerfait's
whole attention, and then, suddenly withdrawing from the battle,
he hastened over to Marceau with 12,000 men, so that he was able, on the 18th,
to oppose nearly 40,000 men to General Latour and his 24,000. To make the
matter worse the Austrian general had sent the half of this wing to the south to act as a support to the Treves expedition; so that the
remnant on the Ourthe was defeated at all points by the more than triple force
of the enemy, and forced to retreat with a loss of nearly 3,000 men. This was
all the more to be lamented because the troops, restored to good
discipline, and refreshed by their long repose, once more fought splendidly,
and the French bought their victory at the price of nearly 6,000 killed and
wounded. Even after the battle Latour was able to retreat in excellent order, and when the enemy attacked him a second time, on the 20th,
at Henri Chapelle, he repulsed them with leavy loss. As the remaining divisions
of the army numbered 60,000 men, there could, of course, be no talk of serious
danger; nevertheless Clerfait immediately ordered a general
retreat beyond the Roer, where his army then took up its position between
Diiren and Roermonde by the 23rd. Negotiations once more commenced with York on
the one side, and Mollendorf on the other. Clerfait demanded
that the former should undertake the protection of the fortress of Venloo on
the Meuse to cover his northern wing, and that the latter should occupy
Kaiseresch to strengthen his southern wing in the territory of Treves. If this
were not done, he said, the left bank of the Rhine could no longer be
defended. The two allied generals made some difficulties; York, however, sent a
small detachment of Hanoverians to Venloo, and
Kaiseresch was taken into the Prussian position; but no sooner had this been
done, than Jourdan's columns appeared on the Roer and
commenced an attack
on the Austrians on the 2nd of
124
TAKING OF WARSAM.
[Book X-
October. Wherever they showed themselves in any considerable strength the Imperialists retreated in excellent order, after a feeble resistance; they reached the bank of the
Ehine on the 4th, and passed that river on the night of the 5th. The motives
which led to these last operations of this unhappy campaign may be gathered,
with sufficient certainty, from the official lists of the Austrian
forces, for the period from the 21st of September to the 6th of October. The
effective force of Clerfait's army was then 76,968 men; it was opposed by about
75,000 French, and it abandoned the left bank of the Rhine to the latter after a loss of 171 killed, 28 wounded and 468 missing.1
And thus what Thugut had given notice of was already effected, and the
operations of the war were reduced to a limited scale. Without interfering any
further in the affairs of Belgium, the Austrian army stood on German ground,
ready at any moment to turn its arms, if necessary, against the Prussians. At
the same time Thugut had the further satisfaction of bringing over the
English Ministry—who thought
1 Austrian Military Journal jj. 278 , 282. We ean easily understand,
therefore, -why Clerfait wrote to the Emperor on this occasion (Vivenot II, 285). "Je sens loute fimportance de
cette demarche, et les suites qu'elle petit avoir
m'a/ftigenl sensiblement; mais si V. M. daiijne refte'chir
a noire position, fose esperer qu'Elle me rendra la justice d'etre persuade que
je n'ai songe qu'au lien de son service, el que cette retraite en presence
d'une arme'e nombreuse s'estfaite sans precipitation, et n'a pas ete Veffet de
la crainte." Vivenot
represents the retreat across the Rhine as the necessary result of the
difficulties which the sovereigns of the left bank, especially the Elector of
Cologne, threw in the way of supplying the army; but it is hardly necessary to
show that an army of 75,000
would not starve in the country of
Cologne and Juliers, one of the most fruitful in Germany, if its leader had
taken the necessary steps; and that, on tbe other hand, the crossing the Rhine
eould not better its condition, as it eame from the Cologne into the Palatine territory, whose Government Vivenot himself, in a
hundred passages, proves to have been as negligent
and hostile as that of the Archbishop of Cologne.
Ch. III.] LORD GRENVILLE'S
CONCESSIONS TO THUGUT. 125
that a little aid against France was better than
none—to the Austrian view of the case.
On the same day (September 14th) on which the diplomatic encounter between Thugut and Lord Spencer took place, Lord
Grenville in London was drawing up entirely new instructions for his ambassador in Vienna. After the loss of the fortresses in
Flanders and Hennegau, he had given up all hopes of defending Belgium, and made
up his mind to accomodate himself still more closely to
Thugut's views, in order at any rate to secure the aid
of the Emperor for Holland, which was now threatened by the French. "We
are ready," he said, "to fulfil the oft-repeated wish of Thugut, to
coufine the operations in Belgium within narrower limits than was at first
intended." England likewise withdrew her claim to the command-in-chief
over Clerfait's army, and her demand that the army in Belgium should be raised
.to 100,000 men. She declared her readiness to guarantee the loan of £ 3,000,000,
—on the condition that Austria shonld continue her present exertions—and to secure to the Emperor any French provinces he might conquer. Thugut received this most welcome despatch on the 1st of October. He expressed his lively
satisfaction, overflowed with good wishes and promises for Holland, but
nevertheless had no intention of letting off his
compliant ally so easily. In addition to the loan of £ 3,000,000 for the
present campaign, Austria, he said, must have a second sum of equal amount for
the following year. Lord Spencer and Thomas Grenville, who had long been weary of these barren negotiations, and well assured that Thugut
cared far less about the French war than the contest
in Poland, declared that they were without instructions on this head, and left
all further discussion of it to the regular embassy. And
thus ended Austria's operations on behalf of Belgium and the Lower Rhine.
This denouement
of
affairs had at last put an end to the oscillations of Prussian policy, and led
to a first step towards a final settlement.
We have seen above, that at the end of
126
TAKING OP WARSAW.
[Book X.
August, when the last deliberations were held about the Austrian
offensive movements, Mollendorf had promised his eo-operation in the recovery
of Treves and a simultaneous attack upon the French army of the Rhine. But
during the same period he made another attempt to induce his sovereign to
withdraw from the hopeless war. He interpreted the expressions of the King
in the same sense as Lucchesini; and thought that however unimportant the permission to praise the blessings of peace in private might appear, it really denoted a decided turn in the mind of the King. Under this
conviction he sent his adjutant, Major Mcyerinck, to Berlin, to use his
influence for the promotion of peace. He had long come to an understanding with
Lucchesini respecting the general principle by which Prussian policy should be guided. They both wished that Prussia should come
forward in Paris as representative of the German Empire, and make a peace in
its name on the basis of the status quo ante. They believed that a negotiation of this
kind, carried on with earnestness and zeal, could not fail of leading to good
results. France, they thought, which would thus retain possession of the
Austrian Netherlands, would be glad to secure so great
an advantage by acknowledging the inviolability of
the frontiers of the Empire, and including Holland in the treaty of peace. It
might then be left to England and the Emperor, either to give up Belgium on
condition of Austria's receiving compensation in some other quarter, as
Thugut had long wished, or to exchange it for the conquered
colonies, as had been already done in 1748, and as Montgaillard had now proposed.1 In
the existing state of the contending parties — the manifest retreat of the
Austrians, and the deep exhaustion of France—this project was not without chances of success, and Germany, now that its Princes
had long given
1 Lueehesini unfolds this scheme and
afterwards in many discussions in a despatch of the 6th of June, and memorials.
Ch.III.] MOLLENDORF BEGINS NEGOTIATION WITH FRANCE. 127
up the idea of restoring Louis XVII, might be well satisfied with such a result.
Meyerinck, therefore, found the King extremely accessible to his overtures. Since the retreat from Warsaw the mood of this
Prince had become more and more inconsolable. The illusions by which he had allowed himself to be cheated
into inactivity in Poland vanished at the very moment in which the consequences
became irrevocable. "They will throw suspicion in St. Petersburg," he
cried, "on our good will; the government at Vienna will
use this weapon to destroy our influence in Russia." He now clearly saw
that he ought to have displayed greater power in Poland, and for that purpose
to have sought some settlement of affairs on the Rhine. He first of all consented that Lucchesini in Vienna should claim an auxiliary force of
20,000 men according to the February treaty, on the ground that Prussia was
threatened in her own territory by the extension of the Polish insurrection.
The intention was, as Austria was known to be unable to fulfil this
demand, to justify Prussia in recalling the corps of the same strength, which
she had hitherto maintained on the Rhine, and sending it off to Poland. In the
next place the King thought Mollen-dorf's plan in every respect well suited to the circumstances of the case. He had a decided sense of
his duties as a member of the Empire, and of the grand prospects which would be
opened to Prussia if a national German policy were adopted. Mollendorf,
therefore, exactly met his wishes when he called on him not to make
a separate peace, but to mediate between France and Germany. The Marshal
proposed to initiate the matter in a very innocent manner by a negotiation for
an exchange of prisoners. As Prussia had a larger number in her hands than France, a truce might perhaps be gained for the Rhenish
provinces of Prussia by the liberation of the surplus, even if a peace for the
whole Empire were not immediately obtained. All this the King approved of. He still, indeed, thought that the
128
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
vexation of concluding a formal peace with the regicides might be
spared, and a grand truce made—as e. g. Spain
and Holland had done in 1609. He wished, moreover, not to address himself directly to Paris, but only to some
diplomatist out of France. He thought that Meyerinck might enter into communication with some French diplomatist—but not in France— about an
exchange of prisoners; and if an amicable conversation
arose in this way, skilfully carry the matter further. Lucchesini
pointed out Barthelemy, the French ambassador in Switzerland, as well adapted
for this purpose, as a man of moderation and statesman-like views; and
Mollendorf thereupon hastened to send off a merchant of
Kreutznach, named Schmerz, to Baden near Zurich, where
Barthelemy was then staying,1 to
enter into a preliminary conversation with him. At the same time he secretly
applied (as far as we know even without the knowledge of the King) to the
Elector of Mayence — as the chief dignitary of the Empire, and the
one exposed to the greatest danger—acquainting him with the sentiments
of the Prussian court, and exhorting him to induce the Diet to take a
corresponding step.2
During these negotiations the time had arrived at which, according to the agreement with Clerfait, the operations against Treves
and Kaiserslautern were to be carried into effect. If a peace were sought for
the sake of protecting the frontiers of the Empire, the expulsion of the enemy
1 Lucchesini to Mollendorf, Sep-tember21. Itwasnot therefore correct when in the beginning of 1795 the Committee of Public Safety announced to its ambassador in Copenhagen that Barthelemy had received
the first overtures in the middle of August. — 2 Lucchesini to Mollendorf September 8th. That the King did not originate the step of Mollendorf is proved negatively from
all the Prussian correspondence of the period, and positively by the assurance
given by the Ministry to Csesar in Vienna November 3rd. This did not, of course, prevent the King from approving and supporting the plan when it
was brought forward by Mayence.
Ch. III.] BREACH OF THE TREATY OF THE HAGUE.
129
from the soil of the Empire would he entirely in accordance with this
desire; and Mollendorf, accordingly, led 15,000 men
to the Hundsruck, while Hohenlohe, by a rapid and victorious ouslaught, drove
the French from the eastern vallies of the Hardt mountains. But just at this
moment the news of Clcrfait's disasters on the Ourthe arrived, then of his retreat to the Roer, and lastly, of his final
retirement across the Rhine. There could now be no longer any thought of an
attack upon Treves. After the capture of Cologne by the French army of the
Sambre, it would be impossible to maintain Coblentz and the Hundsruck for any
length of time against the French army of the Moselle, and the necessary
consequence must be the recall of Hohenlohe under the guns of Mayence. The loss
of the whole left —bank of the Rhine was now to be expected.
The matter was to be finally decided, as was
always the case in this miserable state of affairs, not by military but by
diplomatic considerations. As late as the 16th of October Mollendorf had sent a
positive assurance to Duke Albert that he would risk a battle in his present position; three days afterwards he received peremptory
orders to lead back the army to the right bank of the Rhine. This command gave
the final death-blow to the long languishing alliance between England and
Prussia.
The angry representations of Malmesbury had not, after all,
been without their effect in London; they had been seconded
by the Austrian intimations that the subsidy had better be transferred to the
Emperor; and the continued ill success of the war on the Rhine at last decided
the mind of Pitt. On the 1st of October the monthly payment was not
forthcoming in Berlin. In answer to the Prussian enquiries on the subject, Pitt
drily replied that England had resolved to discontinue the subsidy for the
present. And when the ambassador remarked that Prussia would be obliged
to regard this as a breach of the Hague treaty, the English Ministers rejoined
that this consequence had been considered
iv. I
130
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
before their resolution had been taken. And thus exactly a year after
the dissolution of his relation with Austria, the King saw the last tie
severed, by the breach of the English alliance, which bound Prussia to the
Coalition; and there was now nothing to prevent the Berlin government from
following the advice of those who maintained that Prussian policy should be
centred, not in the French, but in the Polish, war. The King forthwith resolved
to recall Mollendorf from the left bank of the Rhine, and at the same time to decree the sending off of 20,000 of his troops to Poland.
In Vienna, Lucchesini, in the course of a long conversation with Thugut,
formally proposed to make decided overtures of peace to the French. He pointed
out that by a continuance of the war they were depriving the
Moderate party in France of every chance of getting the upper hand, endangering
the political existence of Holland, and thereby making the whole of Europe
subservient to the Republicans. He urged Thugut to
advocate at the English Court the conclusion of a peace
on the principle of a mutual restoration of conquests; which, he
thought, was the only means of inducing France, after her Rhenish victories, to
grant reasonable terms. Thugut gave a favourable
answer, saying that there was nothing he wished for more
than peace on any decent conditions, and that he also thoroughly approved of
the Prussian idea of a long truce. But a new incident too soon convinced the
Marquis that Thugut might, indeed, make a separate peace with France, or perhaps continue the war with the assistance of Russia and England;
but that it was inconceivable that he should ever unite,with Prussia in a common negotiation for the furtherance of an understanding between France and the German Empire. Marshal Mollendorf
s hint had so far had its effect on the Elector of Mayence, that he brought a
motion in favour of peace before the Diet; in which, however—either in
consequence of an application made by him at Vienna, or
from his own knowledge of the jealousy against Prnssia which prevailed there
Ch. III.] THE POLES ABE DRIVEN
FROM LITHUANIA.
131
—he proposed, not the King of Prussia, but the Courts of Copenhagen and
Stockholm, as mediators. From the well known leaning of the Swedish monarch to France, this change was not quite agreeable to the Court of
Berlin, which, nevertheless, hastened to give its full support in the Diet to
the proposition, even in this form. Thugut, on the contrary,
spoke very contemptuously of it, and declared it to be
a concealed effort on the part of Prussia to destroy the influence of Austria
in the Empire. "In a conversation with Thugut," wrote Lucchesini to
his Court, "about this proposal, I have come to the full
conviction that he will not agree to any peace at
present; it is true that neither Holland nor the Empire can look for
any assistance from him, but he will not agree to our wish to bring about a
truce; England and Russia urge him to continue the war, and he is once more
entering into their plans, because he hopes by this course to gain
some advantage in the Polish partition."
Lucchesini had not indeed seen everything, but he was right in the
main. The successful prosecution of the war had been hindered by the
dissensions of Austria and Prussia, and now a common negotiation for peace
was rendered impossible by the same causes. Thugut was
in fact on the point of joining Russia, not with a view to general pacification, but to conquest in all quarters. His long vacillation was now put an end to by the issue
of affairs in Poland, which had just then ended in a fearful catastrophe.
After the retirement of the Prussians, Warsaw had begun to breathe
again, and its inhabitants once more enjoyed a happy day after the lapse of
many weeks of almost hopeless despair—a joyful moment in the midst
of numerous and overwhelming dangers. For even now the Polish cause was in a
very critical state in the Eastern parts of the theatre of war. In Lithnania
the Russian general Knorring had taken Wilna, the capital, after a brave resistance, on the
12
132
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
12th of Angust. Colonel
Grabowski had retreated thence towards the east, to make an adventurous attempt
upon the Russian province of Minsk, but was overtaken by Prince Sicianow, and made prisoner with his whole force. Similar
expeditions of other Polish
generals into Samaiten and
Courland also failed, and at the beginning of September the new
Commander-in-chief in this quarter, General Mokra-nowski, found himself obliged to draw back all the forces which were left him—about 20,000
men—into the neighbourhood of Grodno, on
the borders of Poland Proper. Further to the south, in the district of
Brzesc-Litewski on the Bug, stood General Sierakowski with 13,000 men to watch the corps of General Derfelden, and to hold in check any attacks
which might be made from the Ukraine. He had received vague intelligence that
General Suworow was approaching from that quarter with a powerful force, and he
sent urgent petitions for reinforcement to Warsaw. Such was the
state of things in the east. The
Russian General Fersen had withdrawn from Warsaw at the same time as the
Prussians, but had immediately separated from the latter, and had marched by
himself up the Vistula to the South, in order, if possible, to pass
that river and form a junction with Derfelden and Suworow.
Hereupon Kosciusko sent Prince Poninski up the right bank of the stream
with instructions to keep Fersen always in
sight, and to prevent him at all hazards from
crossing the Vistula. A very signal
success might perhaps have been gained if Kosciusko had led all the forces at
his disposal out of Warsaw in pursuit of Fersen, immediately after the
retirement of the Prussians; the completely isolated Russian corps could in that case have hardly escaped a terrible fate. But instead of this the rulers in Warsaw
were induced by the uncertainty of the attitude assumed by Prnssia, and the
progress of the insurrection in Posen, to throw all the
disposable troops towards this side, and thereby, for the
sake of trifling advantages, to leave free scope for the Russian
operations. Generals Madalinski
Ch. III.] DOMBROWSKI BREAKS INTO
SOUTH PRUSSIA.
133
and Dombrowski advanced from Warsaw with 3,000 men
towards the west, passed the Bzurra, broke through the weak Prussian cordon,
and poured into the South Prussian provinces, where the courage of the
insurgents was revived by their arrival, and their number increased to 4,000,
so that Dombrowski was enabled to meet the Prussian divisions posted there—about 7,000 men under Major-General Schwerin, and
Colonel Szekuly—with equal forces. He was himself far superior to his opponents
in boldness, energy and military skill; he continually came upon them where they least expected him, and vanished when they followed him with their
united forces. By these means he utterly annihilated Szeknly's divisions,
occupied Bromberg and threatened Thorn; the whole of South Prussia was filled
with alarms of war, and the Polish partisans began to raise their
heads even in West Prussia and Dantzic. The Prussian government was in no
little perpexity. They were not willing to expose the main army, which now
formed a long cordon between Posen and Warsaw, because they would then have to expect that fresh Polish forces would be despatched from Warsaw. They could not draw any reinforcements from East Prussia, because the enemy's Lithuanian army was just
on its retreat to Grodno and passing close to the Prussian borders, which
therefore needed to be strongly guarded. They did not venture to bring up any
considerable reinforcements from Cracow and Sendomir, because they wished not only to defend these provinces from an attack of
the Poles, but to prevent the entrance of the Austrians.
They therefore made shift as they could, gradually
collected a reinforcement of 1,200 men from various quarters, and in the first
place secured West Prussia from a further spread of the insurrection. But this
state of anxiety did not last long. While Dombrowski
was keeping the Prussians on the alert on the Vistula, the first flashes of the
destructive storm were descending upon Poland on
134
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book. X.
the Bug, and Kosciusko was consequently obliged to recall the victorious general in all haste to Warsaw.
Since the month of May General Suworow had undertaken the chief command of the Russian troops in the Ukraine and Red
Russia. This remarkable man, who had lately filled the world with the fame of
his victories over the Turks at Rimnik and Ismael, and
had spread the terror of his name through Poland twenty years before, was born
in 1729, and was therefore at this time in the 65th year of his age. His father
was a respectable senator, and he himself was originally destined for the profession of the law, and was on that account not entered
at his birth on the roll of a regiment of guards—as was usually the case with
young noblemen in Russia, in order that they might begin actual service in
their 16th year, perhaps as major. But the germs of military talent
developed themselves in the boy with such force, that
the father soon saw the impossibility of resisting his inclinations; and when
be was twelve years old he very reluctantly allowed him to take his own course.
And thus without any interest or patronage he
passed through the lower grades, as private in the Fusileers, then as corporal
and sergeant, until after 14 years of hardship he at last attained the highest
object of his ambition—the commission of a lieutenant. During this long period of probation he adopted the external habits of life
which made him, as Prince of the Empire, and Field-marshal under two Emperors,
the wonder of the world— the habits of a common Russian soldier. Like his
comrades he slept on straw, rose at 4 o'clock in the morning, took
a frugal breakfast at 9 o'clock, and slept at any hour of the day which might
be convenient. Like them he kissed the images of the saints with devout
prayers, pronounced the name of the Emperor with fervent devotion, and acquired the tone of serious or jesting talk which is used with good
effect in the intercourse between sergeant and musketeer. But at the same time
he studied with restless and incessant
Ch. III.]
GENERAL SUWOROW.
135
zeal the great models on which he wished to form himself —the deeds of
the Roman commanders, the campaigns of Montecuculi, the adventures of Charles
XII. From the former of these he sought to learn patient and inexhaustible prudence, but took as the standing
maxim of his life the words of the Swedish King—"let the cowards shoot,
but do you come to close quarters as soon as possible." And thus, having
once entered on his career, he proved his quality from first to last, whether
as a bold and cunning partisan in the Seven years war, or as
commander-in-chief against the Turks; and in these he never appeared without
making a furious onset, and never fought without annihilating his enemy. His men worshipped him, although he made them march
nearly 50 miles a day, squandered their blood in streams
where he deemed it essential to his object, and was accustomed to admonish the
negligent with cuffs and kicks. They knew not only that he led them to certain
victory and booty, and shared every toil and danger with them, but that every man amongst them had a personal relation to him, saw
how he eared for their food and clothing, how he stroked and patted the brave
men, and enlivened the company with the grotesque fun of the
barracks. He needed and asked but little for himself;
after his first victories he accepted with loud expressions of gratitude some
orders and a sword of honour from the hands of his Empress, but begged her to
withhold a dotation of money and lands, until he had sons grown up to whom he
might transfer the favours of his sovereign. Such was
the man who was now preparing to destroy Poland—full of intellect, yet coarse;
good humoured, yet merciless; and above all things restless to his last breath
as long as a man of the enemy was still standing. "No long manoeuvring—no long firing — forward with the cold-steel—clown with
them all, crush them all—all!"—this was now his battle cry, as it was five
years afterwards, in his great struggle with the French Revolution. As soon as
he scented the battle from afar, he was seen to chafe at the
136
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
barriers which his own firm prudence had placed to the impetuosity of his fiery love of battle, until his keen eye saw that the
time was come, and then let loose the impetuous torrent of arms.
On the 14th of August he started from Niemirow in Podolia with only
8,000 chosen troops, with which he marched about 370 miles in three weeks,
united two divisions of 4,000 men under Markow and
Buxhovden with his own on the way, and in the middle of September
reached the neighbourhood of the Polish general Sierakowski near Brzesc on the
Bug. The prisoners who were brought in by Cossacks reported that Sierakowski,
being only informed of the approach of Markow and Buxhovden, had made some days march to the east into Podolia to meet them, and to
anticipate their attack. Soon afterwards, however, fresh intelligence arrived that the Polish general, alarmed by the capture of
some*of his skirmishing parties, now only thought of defending himself, and had strongly entrenched himself in a camp behind widely
extended and impassable swamps not far from Krupcyce. Hereupon Suworow, without
regarding these difficulties, gave immediate orders for the attack on the morning of the 17th of September.
After a violent cannonade the Russian infantry was drawn up in two columns,
which with cool contempt of death began to cross the swamp. Amidst a shower of
shot from the enemy's batteries they worked their way through the mud, suffering fearful losses, but still advancing until they
reached the opposite bank. There they formed in haste as well as circumstances would allow, and without firing a shot rushed upon the enemy
with the bayonet. An obstinate struggle ensued, and the issue remained for a
long time doubtful, but at last the Russian
discipline and skill in arms prevailed over the gallant but ill-trained enemy,
and Sierakowski— who still preseiwed tolerable order — resolved to retreat to
Brzesc. He formed his centre and wings into a large square with the cavalry on both flanks, and retreated slowly
Ch.III.] SUWOROW DEFEATS THE POLES
AT BRZESC.
137
and continually fighting towards the Bug. He suffered another severe
loss when the Russian cavalry, in the course of the afternoon, crossed the swamp and fell upon the Poles. But meanwhile the night was
approaching, and the Poles reached a wooded country which afforded them the
wished-for shelter, whereupon Suworow gave up the pursuit. Both sides had
suffered heavy losses; the Poles left 3,000 men on the field, and
reached Brzesc wearied and dispirited by the result of their first collision
with the dreaded Suworow. Sierakowski, however, protected as he was by the
broad stream of the Bug, hoped for a few days rest; and having barred the bridge which connects the town with the opposite shore, by a battery of
two guns, he sent off urgent petitions to Kozciusko in "Warsaw for
reinforcements.
But his enemy would not graut him sufficient time. During the very
night after the late battle he had advanced nearly 12 miles towards
Brzesc; and on the 13th sent forward his light troops to
reconnoitre the country and the river, in order to make a second attack on
Sierakowski as soon as possible. A jew from Brzesc now appeared at his
head-quarters, and after declaring himself a bitter enemy
of the Polish government, told the general of several fords on the south of the
city, which the army might pass without any clanger whatever. Suworow did not
lose a moment. At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 19th the troops began their march, waded in the darkness through the marshy
ground of a small tributary stream, reached the Bug at early dawn, which they
found entirely undefended at this point, and arrived in excellent order on the
Polish side of the river. Meanwhile their approach had been
observed, and had caused the most terrible excitement in the surrounding
country. The alarm-bells rang from all the churches of the city and
neighbourhood; in Brzesc the inhabitants poured into the churches to implore
the aid of Heaven; the Polish soldiers ran to and
fro in the greatest confusion, and Sierakowski, who had spent the night in
138
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
play and drinking, came from his quarters completely taken by surprise,
and seeing that the Russians had already crossed the river gave orders for an
immediate retreat. He formed his infantry into three great squares, which could
move side by side over the vast plain, and would, as he
thought, be equally prepared to fight or march. In this way, as he had about an
hour's start of the enemy, he expected to escape his pursuers. But
Suworow, who perceived the object of this movement,
pushed on with his cavalry, regardless of the numbers of the
enemy, and gave orders that when any of his regiments overtook a Polish
division they should charge, again and again, and at any cost prevent the
escape of the foe. While there was this iron resolution on the one side, a feeling of anxious despair had, from the very first, prevailed among
the Poles. The very qualities which are most indispensable to success in
battles fought during a retreat—order, coolness, obstinate determination—were all wanting among the raw troops of the Poles; and even their officers were far inferior to the Russian in the art of skilful manoeuvring and in readiness in taking
advantage of the ground. The individual Polish soldier fought, indeed, with
desperate gallantry, but the position of the army
grew worse at every step. The Russian cavalry kept continually charging;
battalion after battalion of the Poles was broken: in every village and every
wood where they hoped to find a cover their indefatigable enemy was before
them. At last, towards noon, the Russian artillery also came
up, and decided the issue after two hours' fighting. The Polish columns were
all broken and dispersed; and as the soldiers defended
themselves with desperate fury they were almost all
cut clown. Of about 10,000 men, a few hundreds only escaped with
Sierakowski; 500 were taken prisoners, and all the others perished beneath the
swords of the Russian cavalry.
It was the intelligence of this dreadful disaster which threw Warsaw
into a fever of consternation, and induced
Ch. III.] DEFEAT OF KOSCIUSKO AT
MACIEJOWICE.
139
Kosciusko to unite all the forces at his disposal to meet the most
pressing danger. For if the fate of Poland could still be deferred, it was
essential to beat down the adversary who had so powerfidly and rapidly
brought war in its most terrible shape upon the land. Kosciusko therefore
ordered Dombrowski to return from Prussia to Warsaw, and sent instructions to
Mokranowski to lead the Lithuanian army southward from Grodno to Bielka, in order to threaten the eastern flank and rear of Suworow from that
side. He sent General Kniaczewitsch with about 2,000 men to meet the remnant of
Sierakowski's army, and hastened after him in person with 8,000 men of the
Warsaw garrison, in order to attack Suworow with these united
forces in front, as soon as the Lithuanians should have advanced far enough
towards the south. Suworow on his part had taken up a position in Brzesc after
the last victory, made some addition to his forces, and before penetrating further into the interior of Poland waited for news of Derfelden,
who was at that time moving upon Grodno, and of Fersen, who was still on the
other side of the Vistula, and was cut off by Poninski from all communication
with Suworow. Fersen, as we may easily imagine, was extremely
impatient to re-establish his communications with Russia, and for
weeks he tried every artifice and feint to deceive Poninski, and effect the
passage of the Vistula. Just about the time when Kosciusko began to move
against Suworow, Fersen made a fresh attempt; by
several feigned movements he convinced Poninski that he intended to cross the
river at Pulawy, and while the latter massed his troops at that point, he
succeeded in leading his men across the stream at Koszenice at no great distance off. Hereupon Poninski, still labouring under his
mistake, sent word to the commander-in-chief that a small body of Russians had reached the right bank. Kosciusko immediately determined to
drive them into the Vistula before the main body could
come to their aid, and hastened with his 10,000 men to meet an enemy far
inferior, as he believed, in num
140
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
bers. He came to Okrzeja, only a few miles distant from Fersen's army;
but there he received intelligence from all quarters
which soon left no doubt of the mistake which he bad made; as matters stood,
however, a battle was unavoidable. He therefore retreated into
as favourable a position as he could find near Maciejowice, where he entrenched himself, and sent orders to Poninski to join him as soon as
possible. But the real state of the case now became clear to Fersen also; he
was no longer hampered by political considerations towards Prussia, and at once
resolved to attack. On the night of the 9th of October he sent General Denisow with 4 battalions, 10
squadrons, and 6 regiments of Cossacks, by a long circuitous route through wood
and swamp, against the left flank of the enemy. He himself then started soon
after midnight to assault Maciejowice in front. They both reached
the Polish lines about the same time, in the first grey of the morning; their
troops were for the most part the same which had been driven out of Warsaw in
April, and which now burned with desire to retrieve the honour of their arms, and appease the inanes of so many murdered comrades by the blood of the Poles. The wild hand
to hand fight which ensued lasted for six hours; Kosciusko exhausted all the
resources of his genius, and his recruits fought with the courage of desperate men, but soon after midday Russian discipline and tactics once
more prevailed, and the Polish position was forced at several points. The
Russians gave no quarter on this clay, but with the cry "Remember
Warsaw!" mercilessly cut down the fugitives.
6,000 Poles lay dead upon the field, 1,600 were wounded and taken
prisoners, and scarcely 2,000 escaped to join Poninski and retire with him to
AVarsaw. Kosciusko had fought in the thickest of the battle till the very last;
when all was over he too turned to fly, but was overtaken by an old
Cossack named Potopyn. He was riding a bad and jaded horse, after having had
two others shot under him, and wore a white peasant's blouse, so that his
pursuer
Ch. IV.]
KOSCIUSKO IS TAKEN PRISONER.
141
did not recognise the general, and, as he would not surrender, wounded him with his lance, and pierced his horse by a second
thrust. The animal reared, and took a long jump into the swamp. Kosciusko was
thrown over its head and sank up to his shoulders in the
mud. Again he struggled to his feet and tried to fly,
when a Russian Cavalry officer rode up and struck him on the head, and he fell
without uttering a sound. 1 He
was then brought into the castle of Maciejowice, his wounds were carefully
attended to, and he was afterwards sent by order of
Suworow to Kiew, and handed over to the care of the aged Field-marshal Romanzow.
This blow was decisive in every point of view. It was the third bloody
defeat; it was a new and terrible loss of men and arms; but it was, more than all, the irreparable loss of their leader which sealed
the fate of the Poles. In him the only bond was destroyed which had held, and
only just held, the contending factions together; the soldiers had lost all
confidence in themselves, their leaders and their cause; a
universal feeling of dull despair brooded over the land. The National Council,
indeed, at the instigation of Kollontai appointed Genera] Wawrzecki, of the
Lithuanian army, Commander-in-chief of the forces, and
repeated the orders to all the divisions to repair with
all speed to Warsaw, and repel the Russians as they had done the Prussians a
few months before. .But there was not a man in this unhappy country who still
confided in the future, or believed in the possibility of success. The peasants threw down their scythes and ran away by hnndreds;
the soldiers wept over the loss of Father Thaddaeus, suspected treachery on
every side, and shouted for joy when any one spoke of the chance of an
honourable capitulation. The thought of negotiating was
1 Report of an eye-witness, No. 702.
Conf. Berlin Journals and Prussian MHilar- Wochenblatt 1829. Moniteur, 30 Brum.
142
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
no longer a deadly crime; on the contrary the citizens only disputed whether they should deliver up the city to the Russians or the Prussians, and the Supreme Council of war would probably
itself have made the proposal, if Kollontai and General Zajonczek had not, even
under the depressing circumstances, demanded the
continuance of the contest, and branded every idea of yielding as the meanest
treachery. Even the latter, it is true, could point out no means of deliverance. Wawrzecki represented that they could not possibly hold their ground against the Russians on the
right bank of the Vistula, and that consequently they ought to evacuate and
burn the suburb of the city, called Praga, which lay on that side, and defend
themselves by the stream alone against the attacks of the enemy. Zajonczek was
of the same opinion, and thought that they would in that
case still retain force enough to continue their attacks on Prussia. But no
sooner did they begin to unfold their plan to the National Council, than the
latter declared that it was utterly impracticable, since the Russians could batter down every house in Warsaw from Praga, and that
under the pressure of such a calamity the population of the capital would
immediately enforce a surrender. Whereupon they resolved to defend Praga also,
and began to throw up fortifications round it. It was a slight
consolation in the midst of the general depression, that Prince Poniatowski
succeeded by repeated attacks on the Prussian cordon on the
Bzurra in occupying the whole attention of the unsteady and timid Count
Schwe-rin, so that Dombrowski and Madalinski, who had
still more than 4,000 men, easily eluded their pursuers and reached Polish
ground in safety. The King of Prussia was furious at this remissness of his
officers, and urged them all the more vehemently, by repeated orders, to advance upon Warsaw, and not to leave to the
Russians alone the glory of striking the decisive blow. But whether it was
personal incapacity on the part of his generals, or
the effects of the evil example which had been given during the summer cam-
Ch. IV.] SUWOROW DEFEATS MA YEN AT
KOBILKA.
143
paign, the Prussian troops continued in their listless inactivity, and
contented themselves with maintaining their positions on the Bzurra and the
Narew in a few skirmishes of outposts.
Suworow, meanwhile, on receiving intelligence of the battle of
Maciejowice had sent off instructions both to Fersen and Derfelden to march
straight, to Warsaw, without any further delay, and to join him at Minski a few
miles from Praga. The haste with which these marches were effected, in
consequence of the impetuous urgency of Suworow, brought destruction to a
third Polish army—the Lithuanian—which, in obedience to the former commands of
Kosciusko, was retiring in three columns from Grodno to
Warsaw. One of them came into collision with
Derfelden, suffered some loss, but avoided further fighting by a hasty retreat,
and then reached the capital without molestation. The second met with no enemy
at all. The third, under General Mayen, on the contrary, fell into the hands of Suworow and Fersen, who had just effected their
junction at Minski, and came upon the Pores at Kobilka on the 26th of October,
and again with greatly superior numbers. As at Brzesc it was an engagement
between brave but loose and ill-trained infantry, and fiery and
impetuous cavalry, well officered and confident of victory. The greater part of
the column was dispersed and cut to pieces, and this new disaster completed the
discouragement of the Polish troops in Warsaw. Mo-kranowski laid down his command immediately after his arrival; in fact there was but one
voice among all parties, that the weak defences before Praga were untenable.
Ignatius Potoeki thought that rather than expose themselves to the horrors
of a storm, it would he better to draw up the troops in a
defensive position in front of the works of Praga. But Zajonczek declared that
this was only a half measure, unless the troops which now stood opposed to the
Prussians were quickly recalled to Praga, and a last attempt with superior numbers made against Suworow. No one else was found to support so
desperate a measure, because, it was
144
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
said, it would not do to leave the field open to the Prussians; so that, after all, the resolution was adhered to of defending the works before Praga as long as possible. During these barren
deliberations on the part of the Poles, their inexorable enemy had not lost a
moment. Immediately after the victory of Kobilka he ordered all preparations to be made for taking Praga by storm. At the same time he made the
most urgent appeals to the Prussians, to general Schwerin, and to the king
himself, to support his operations by a closer blockade, and an assault upon
Warsaw on the left bank of the Vistula. Those pitiable jealousies of
the preceding summer found no place in the strong and straightforward character of Suworow; he looked only to the grand object of the
war—the speediest suppression of the hated revolt—and he was ready to use the
Prussian forces for this purpose as well as his
own. In his violent style, which was often rendered confused by over haste, he
wrote to Schwerin on the 30th: "as soon as General Derfelden has joined
me, which he must do in a few days, I shall proceed with firm step to the decisive assault upon Praga. Warsaw shall cease to exist; to
see insurgent brothers wandering on this bank, to annihilate them, and to plant
there the standard of the mighty Empress, as a fearful warning to the faithless
capital—that is the grand object."
Notwithstanding his national hatred of the Poles, Suworow would have
preferred a snrrender on conditions; it was principally on this account that he
desired the co-operation of the Prussians, in order to reduce the city to
submission by increasing famine. But Schwerin remained in
his imperturbable repose. In Warsaw the peace party did not quite venture to
come forward openly, and Derfelden arrived in Kobilka on the 1st of November.
Thereupon Suworow encamped, on the 3rd, close in front of the works of Praga, and the same day gave orders for the storming on the
following morning. He wrote to Schwerin a few hours before the beginning of the
battle: "With God's help
Ch. III.]
STORMING OP PRAGA.
145
I hope to make further progress. The ruling party of desperate men give little sign of capitulation; let their fate be the cold
and smoking steel (sic) which
they have drawn down on their own heads." He then drew the details of the
plan to be pursued after the taking of Praga, hoped that Schwerin would appear at the same time on the western side of Warsaw, and
thought that care, famine, and misery, or a few
hours of resolute fighting, would complete the great work. He was then
prepared, in all good faith, to share the honours of the glorious result with
Prussia.
Immediately after midnight, on the 4th of November, the troops began to
mount three large batteries, of 22, 1C, and 48 guns
respectively, and towards 3 o'clock in the morning they opened a heavy fire on
the defences of the enemy. The violence of the bombardment led the Poles to
think that Suworow did not intend to storm the place, but to take it by a regular siege. Zajonczek, however, who, with the Lithuanian
Jasinski, had taken the command in Praga, sent over to Warsaw to ask Wawrzecki
to send him as many of the National Guard as possible to defend the works. He
had about 8,000 troops of the line, and all the inhabitants of Praga
who were fit for service—about 1,800 men; in addition to which Wawrzecki now
despatched 3,000 Warsaw citizens in all haste. The intrenchments ran at a
considerable distance from the houses in a wide circuit round the suburb of Praga, and there was a second line of earthworks within it for the
immediate protection of the place. The fire of the Russian batteries grew
hotter and hotter, and the Poles, occupied by this, did not observe that under
cover of the winter night the Russian army of 22,000 men, in seven
columns, was taking up its position close to the intrenchments, and preparing
to attack. At 5 o'clock Suworow gave the signal agreed upon, by a rocket; and
the troops, filled with the remembrance of the bloody days of Warsaw, and intoxicated, partly by drink, and partly by the assurance of
victory, threw themselves
IV. K
146
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
with infinite fury into the ditches, and then up the slope of the
earthworks. The Poles, badly supplied with provisions during the
.confusion of the last few days, worn out by hunger, cold, and despair, were
completely taken by oiirprise, and only offered serious resistance at a few
points. Jasinski, who had told his friends that he would not outlive a defeat, fell in the melee, and
Zajonczek was severely wounded in the very first hour. When day broke he saw
his men in disorderly flight in all directions, and escaped with difficulty
over the bridge to Warsaw, at the very moment when the first column of the enemy reached the extremity of it, and thus cut off the great
mass of the Polish garrison from the only chance of deliverance. Without
leaders, and desperate as they were, these unhappy men resisted to the last, each where he happened to stand. The Russians fought with unspeakable fury, and for a long time gave no
quarter and made no prisoners; and as the citizens fled into their houses for
shelter they drew their pursuers after them. A number of unarmed and aged men,
and even women and children, were butchered; a Prussian officer
who happened to be present, tried to save a boy from the bayonet of a Russian,
who replied: "Down with him; when he is grown up he will murder one of my
brothers", and drove his sword through the poor child's heart. At the same time the fire of the artillery caused a conflagration in many
parts of the town, and burning houses fell over heaps of corpses, and blocked
up the streets with their ruins; while hundreds and hundreds of despairing
fugitives sought refuge in the waves, and perished
miserably beneath the bullets of their pursuers. At last the Russian officers
made their voices heard amidst this scene of horror, succeeded in restraining
the Poles from further resistance, and their own men from further butchery, and
rescued several thousand Polish prisoners from the smoking ruins. It was
about 9 o'clock when the Russians found themselves in complete possession of
Praga; the battle had only lasted four
hours, but in this short time 1,400
Ch. HI.]
CAPITULATION
OP WARSAW.
147
Russians had been billed or wounded, 2,000 Poles had perished in the river, and more than 10,000 by the sword of the enemy. This was finis Poloniae!1
Meanwhile the din of the alarm-bells was resounding through Warsaw; the
soldiers stood about the streets in smaller or
larger groups filled with impotent fury; the mob ran wildly about in furious
excitement crying that they were betrayed. The bridge was broken down to
prevent the sudden incursion of the Russians. And thus, without any possibility of bearing assistance, they saw the flames of Praga rising
to Heaven, heard the thunder of the battle, the cries of the dying, and after
midday were themselves threatened by the balls of a Russian battery which was
erected on the opposite shore. After a night of unspeakable
anxiety and confusion, the nmnicipality, on the following morning, came to the
resolution to bring the matter to a conclusion at any sacrifice, and sent
envoys to the Russian general to ask his conditions, and to beg for a truce in the name of the citizens. Suworow, with all the pride
of a victor, had seen his troops on the walls of Praga on the morning of the
4th; and in this mood he had written to Count Schwerin the following short
letter, instead of any detailed report: "Here
I am with my troops decked with the garlands of victory." 2 But
at the sight of the blood-drenched streets he was deeply moved, caused the
Polish prisoners to be well cared for, and gave
1 Life of Snworow H, 236, in which
the Polish garrison is estimated at 30,000 men, the number of
killed at 15,000, and of prisoners at 14,000. The Polish reports say that
besides the garrison 15,000 peacefnl inhabitants were slain. Yet in 1788, acc.
to Bflsching's precise statements,
Praga had only 6,680 inhabitants, and of these (Treskow, 316, from an eye-witness) 1,800 had taken part
in the fight. 2 We cannot vouch for the well-known
version of his letter to the King of Prussia: "Praga smokes, Warsaw
trembles. On the walls of Praga. Suworow."
K2
148
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
the envoys the most favourable answer. If the Polish troops would
immediately lay down their arms, he promised them personal liberty, and
security of life and property. He was ready also to guarantee the persons and possessions of the inhabitants, and to grant entire oblivion of the
past. The plenipotentiaries were pleasantly surprised, and wished to thank the
general for his clemency. On entering his tent they found him sitting on the
ground; when he caught sight of them he rose hastily, called out
"peace, peace"! embraced them, and begged them to settle affairs as
quickly as possible. Yet from the unhinged state of
affairs which prevailed in Warsaw, several days passed before any final arrangement could be come to. The majority of the troops, it is
true, deserted by hundreds, and subsequently by thousands, but still many of
them would not hear of giving up their arms, and these found a number of
dangerous associates among the populace; so that, in the night of the 6th, a riot took place, in which the citizens friendly to the
municipality were obliged to prevent the abduction of King Stanislaus by force
of arms. On the 7th, however, Wawrzecki brought the remains of the army out of
Warsaw, after which the capitulation with
Suworow was formally signed, and on the 8th the Russians took possession of the
city in solemn procession. So fearful had been the
confusion and suspense of the last few days, that many of the inhabitants
thronged to meet their subjugator with a feeling
approaching to joyful gratitude, for affording them, at any rate, rest and personal safety. Suworow himself was affected, and we may well believe
that he spoke from his heart when he said: "I thank Thee, Almighty God,
that thou hast not made me pay so dearly for these keys
as"—here his voice was choked; he looked towards Praga, and the people
about him broke out into loud weeping and sobbing. He then rode in silence
through the greeting multitude to his quarters, and the greater part of the
troops immediately marched
Ch. III.] MURDER OP POLAND BY THE
THREE POWERS. 149
out of Warsaw to complete the disarming of the Polish army. It took ten
days more to effect the dispersion of the latter, and at last Wawrzecki, who
had marched westwards to Sendomir, also laid down his
arms. Mada-linski, who had previously separated from him, was stopped in South
Prussia; and Zajonczek, on his flight towards Galicia, by Harnoncourt. To those
Polish officers who gave their parole Suworow kept the promise made at the capitulation, and dismissed them unmolested to their
homes. But the political chiefs, Ignatius Potocki, Zakrzewski, Ka-pustas and
Kilinski, were sent by order of the Empress to St. Petersburg, where they were
kept in decent confinement. ,
And thus the last general rising of the Polish nation ended in utter
ruin. What other result was possible, when this great and gifted people had for
two whole centuries been committing moral and political suicide? The catastrophe fell with fearful violence on the guilty and innocent
alike—a catastrophe than which the world has witnessed nothing more appalling
since the destruction of Jerusalem. Before such a spectacle we would gladly
veil our eyes: we should begin to doubt of justice and of Providence, did we not see even here that nations only
grow old and die when they have previously laboured to bring about their own
ruin. Poland perished because her own sins had rendered her incapable of
resisting her iron-clad neighbours. But the latter were soon to learn what it is for mortal men to make themselves the instruments of
the Divine judgments. They now saw themselves at the height of prosperity and
success, each of them in possession of extensive provinces of the sacrificed
land. But the poison of their own and others' guilt adhered
inseparably to the booty, and at the very moment in which they stretched forth
their hands to seize their ill-gotten gains, a righteous retribution overtook
them. It came upon them in the shape
150
TAKING OF WARSAW.
[Book X.
of the bitter irreconcilable discord which had separated them from the
beginning of the war, which continually increased in violence during its course, and
was now, by a sudden and open outbreak, to bring to a miserable Conclusion the crisis which had weighed upon
Europe during the last five years.
i
Ch. IV.] 151
CHAPTEE IV.
TREATY OF PARTITION BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA.
Prussia
sends count tauenzien to st. Petersburg.—His negotiation with suboff.—Russia refuses to grant Prussia's
demands.—Agitation
in western germany in favour of peace with france. — The
prussian government resolves to open negotiations of peace in basle. — Fresh
instructions sent to tadenzien. — Policy of Austria.—
Opening of the conference in st. Petersburg.—Disagreement between Prussia
and the imperial courts.—Treaty of st. Petersburg
between austria and russia.—tlie german diet desires peace with
france.
Russia, as we have seen,—after the Prussians had entered Poland, and, in consequence, the Emperor Francis at Thugut's suggestion had returned to
Vienna, — sent word to the two German Powers, on the 23d of July, that the fate
of the unhappy land must at last be settled by a common negotiation between its
three powerful neighbours. Prussia, which had since that
time been impatiently looking for the opening of a conference, was in no doubt
as to its own wishes. The instructions of Count Tauenzien, who was to be sent
as the new ambassador to St. Petersburg, comprised the following ideas.1
First, that after the outbreak of the war with Poland, a Third partition would
be much better justified than the two preceding ones, and was confidently to be
looked for, although the Imperial Courts had not yet
1 The draft of these instructions to
Tauenzien on the 20th of August, was made by the King, according These,
as well as the following state-to Lucchesini's proposals, as early as ments,
are taken from the Prussian the 1st of July; they were completed Staats-Archiv.
on the 11th in Berlin, and sent off
152 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA.
[Book X.
made auy communication to the King on the subject. It was more especially certain that Austria would not remaiu inactive, but would
hasten, after her military reverses in Belgium, to make peace with France, and
seek compensation in Poland; but the Emperor,
although he had sent a small corps into Lublin, could not, it was supposed, compare his claims with those of Prussia, who had
employed all her forces against Poland. Further, it was stated that the King
wished for all the country between Silesia, South Prussia, and the Vistula, and
that he considered it desirable that there should be a narrow stripe
of neutral territory between the Russian and Prussian acquisitions. This
principality he thought of offering to Suboff, on condition that he would
support Prussia against the claims of Austria, and
use his influence to increase the Prussian share still
further, by a slice of Sza-maiten between the Baltic, the frontiers of
Conrland, and the river Windau, the remainder of the Palatinate Plock, and a
small portion of Masovia, from the right bank of the Narew to Pultnsk. If circumstances allowed, Tauenzien was to try and procure a similar
principality for the Duke of Nassau-Siegen.
In regard to the mode of his proceediug, the ambassador was instructed
to observe the deepest silence, and by all means to wait and see what overtures Russia would make, and then develope the principles of his
instructions in his answers.
Tauenzien, who arrived in St. Petersburg on the 19th of August, met at
first with a very friendly reception, and for a moment indulged the hope of
defeating the Austrian influence
without much trouble. This was the time in which the King began the siege of
Warsaw, and when nothing seemed more probable than the rapid and complete
success of his arms. But the more complicated the military movements of Prussia in Poland became, the cooler became the
air of the Russian Court to Tauenzien. "I am astounded," he wrote at
the beginning of September, "at the indifference
Ch. IV.]
TAUENZIEN AT ST. PETERSBURG.
153
with which, in the present position of affairs,
its relations with Prussia are regarded by this Government; the Austrian scheme
has already struck deep root; and I have not been able to obtain any kind of
declaration respecting Poland from the Russian Ministers." Soon afterwards
news arrived of the retreat of the Prussians from Warsaw.
At the next audience the Empress appeared with a smiling face; no one could
have supposed that she had heard anything unfavourable
from the seat of war. She passed by Tauenzien without
vouchsafing him a single word. Markoff afterwards addressed him
in a didactic tone on the necessity of greater harmony between Austria and
Prussia; so that Tauenzien's blood began to boil, and he broke off the
conversation with haughty politeness. A few days later, when he announced to the Vice-Chancellor Ostermann the reception of his instructions, and declared himself empowered to proceed with the
negotiation, Ostermann told him of the infinite concern which the raising of
the siege of Warsaw had caused the Empress, and characterized it as a mistake from a military point of view also, since the revolt
in South Prussia would have been extinguished by the fall of Warsaw. Tauenzien
had not much to say in reply, but laid stress on the injury which had been done
by Fersen's overbearing conduct, which only embittered the
tone of the conversation still more. On the whole, however, he became more and
more convinced every day that the Russians thought of nothing less than a
complete partition of the whole of Poland. All the Ministers,
without exception, declared that to leave any portion of it in independence
would only lead to new embarrassments and difficulties, which after a short
time would have to be once more dealt with by the Powers amidst new complications. The Conference, they said, would be opened in a very short
time.
But day after day passed and nothing was done. Tauenzien, irritated by the cold politeness of the Russians, alarmed by the
restless activity of the Austrian ambassador, and
154 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA
AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
rather more excitable by nature than was desirable under such
circumstances, determined at last, on the 7th of October, to break the ice by a
confidential communication on his own part to Suboff. In the course of a quiet evening visit he disclosed to him the princely
endowment which the King intended to bestow on the favourite; but, to his great
astonishment, his words produced but little effect. Suboff expressed his
deeply-felt gratitude, declared himself utterly unworthy of such a
lofty position, and expressed his fears that the whole plan was impracticable.
He did not see, he said—considering the intentions of the Empress— where space
for such a Duchy could be found, and he also feared the opposition of Austria. "If Russia and Prussia are agreed", said
Tauenzien, "the Emperor cannot support his protest." Suboff made no
reply, but asked instead what Prussia claimed for herself; and when Tauenzien
refused to tell him, he broke off the colloquy by asking for a few days time for consideration.
The Russians did not fail to make the best use of the impatience which
Tauenzien displayed in this unsuccessful step. At their next meeting the
Chancellor Ostermann directly demanded a memorial of the
claims of Prussia, as a necessary preliminary to the
formal conference; Tauenzien declined, in accordance with his instructions and
the well grounded apprehension that Russia wanted first to hear the claims of
the two German Powers, that she might play the umpire between them. In the evening he was again at Su-boffs house, who declared that
the plan of the Duchy, which it had been proposed to bestow on him, was utterly
infea-sible, and informed Tauenzien of the Empress's wish to receive confidential communications from each
of the two Courts before the opening of the Conference. Tauenzien again
declined, and turned the conversation to the Austrian claims. To his great
vexatiou Subofi dwelt on the necessity of liberally rewarding Austria for her
exertions against the French Revolution, pointing out at the
same time that no
Ch. IV.] TAUENZIEN OUTWITTED BY
THE RUSSIANS. 155
compensation was to be found for her anywhere but in Poland. The Prussian ambassador allowed the truth of this, but dwelt on
the difference between the solid claims of Prussia,
as one of the principals iu the war against Poland, and the mere wishes of
Austria, which had no other title to be heard than expediency arising from the
relative position of the Powers to one another. Suboff
made no objection to these views, but it was clear that everything depended on
the question, how far this expediency would accrue to the advantage of Austria.
From this time forward not a day passed in which Tauenzien was not called upon to bring forward the
Prussian claims. Suboff continued to treat him with especial personal
confidence, and even Markoff inflamed the diplomatic ambition
of the ambassador by broad hints that all would be well, if Prussia would but
treat the Empress with entire candour. On the 21st of October, therefore,
Tauenzien announced to his Government that he had no
longer been able to resist the wishes of the Russians. In his proposal he had
gone beyond his instructions, and had claimed, as a means of connecting Pultusk
and Szamaiten, all the land on the Narew between
Zakrozyn and Tykozyn, and the line of the Niemen between Grodno and Kauen—in
all a territory of rather more than 28,000 square miles. Suboff, after reading these proposals, said that the extent of country claimed seemed to him rather considerable, but he, as well as Markoff and
Ostermann, promised to do their best with the Empress
; he added, however, that he hoped that a report which had just arisen of a
negotiation of peace between Prussia and France had no foundation, as nothing would hurt Catharine so much as such a breach of
treaty on the part of her royal ally. Tauenzien hastened to contradict the rumour as an utterly unfounded calumny.
Three days later, intelligence arrived of Fersen's victory, Kosciusko's
capture, and Suworow's march upon Warsaw. No one could doubt what the
issue would be, and the self
156 TREATY OP PARTIT. BETW.
AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
sufficient pride of the Russians was freed from all necessity of concealment or restraint. Catharine made up her mind from the very first.
As soon as she had received the Prussian note, she despatched a courier
to Vienna, and asked the Emperor to give his ambassador, Count Cobenzl, full
powers to bring matters to a definite conclusion. On the 30th,
consequently, Tauenzien received the Russian answer to his note. It began with
the assurance that Russia quite agreed with the remark of Prussia, that the
partition of the whole of Poland eould not—with any proper regard to her own interests—be any longer deferred. Having thus laid the initiation of
this step at the door of Prussia—exactly in the same way as in 1793—it
proceeded to speak of the wishes of Austria, and said that a settlement must be
found which would exclude all fears and all jealousies. The Empress,
it continued, had the opportunity of enquiring into the views of the Austrian
Government, who regarded Craeow and Sendomir as indispensable bulwarks of
Galieia, and would never give their consent to the Prussian plan; the Empress therefore begged Prussia to give up these two-Palatinates. As
for herself [she only wished to preserve friendly relations with her
neighbours, by a clearly drawn line of frontier. Finally, she said that she
must insist on the existing limits between Prussia and Courland, as Russia
in the two first Partitions had received no commercial or maritime town, and
eould therefore least of all allow herself to be curtailed on the sea
coast.
The Empress hereby sanctioned the acquisition proposed by Tauenzien of the stripe of land on the Narew and the Niemen, and the original
claim on the country west of the Pilica and the Vistula, together with Warsaw;
but she rejected the Prussian claim to Craeow,
Sendomir, and Szamaiten, reserving the two first of these districts for Austria, and the latter for herself. According to this
arrangement Catharine was to receive rather more than 43,000 square miles,
Austria about 22,000, and Prussia not much more
Ch. IV.]
MORTIFICATION OF TAUENZIEN.
157
than 15,000. The difference between the
Russian and Prussian schemes was more than 13,000 square
miles and 800,000 inhabitants, of which Russia awarded about four-fifths to the
Emperor Francis, and kept one-fifth for herself. In the dispute between the two German Powers, therefore, the Empress had unmistakably decided in favour of Austria. We have
sufficiently observed the mistakes by which Prussia had reduced herself to this
condition, and we shall soon see by what means Thugut had attained this great
result.
Such treatment after the manifestation of so much friendly confidence
affected Tauenzien very deeply. In the first violence
of the shock, he proposed that the King should send him to Vienna, where he
hoped to induce the Emperor to seek the extension of
his share of Poland, not at the cost of Prussia, but at that of Russia—a plan,
the infeasibility of which was only too evident, and which drew rupon
him a bitterly sarcastic lecture from Lucchesini. To fill up the measure of his
grief the news now arrived from Berlin of the rupture of
the Hague treaty, and the orders sent to Mollendorf to retreat from the Rhine.
"The Empress", said Ostermann, "does not wish to decide whether
England or Prussia is in the right in this disputed question, but she cannot conceive against whom, in Poland, Prussia needed an increase of her
military forces." " She thinks", he continued,
raising his voice, "that Prussia's renown is engaged in the French war;
she thinks that Prussia ought not to show herself so dependent on English money; and she sees how right she was not to place any Russian
troops at the disposal of so inharmonious a Coalition." "How
brilliantly", concluded the Minister "does the conduct of Austria contrast with this; in spite of all her losses she constantly shows the most lively zeal in the French war." Markoff expressed
himself still more strongly: "They have already forgotten in
Prussia", cried he, "the benefits of the treaty of 1793; they wish to
overlook the fact that South Prussia is a sufficient compensation, not for one, but for four or
158 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW.
AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
five campaigns; they arbitrarily pass over the distinct stipulation of the treaty, in which they promised to continue the war until the French Revolution was suppressed."
The Prussian government received intelligence of these matters at the
same time as that of the storming of Praga by Suworow. They saw the power of
Russia developing itself in Poland with greater force than ever, and at the same time employed with open hostility in combating the claims
of Prussia. The question of Ostermann—against whom Prussia was obliged to
strengthen herself in Poland?—sounded like derision. At this moment, however,
the King's old hatred of the Jacobins once more broke through all
other considerations; no sooner had he heard of the
suppression of the Polish insurrection, than he ordered Hohenlohe, in spite of
all the representations of his Ministers, to march back with his 20,000 men to
the Rhine. This was the last flicker of the expiring
Coalition. Meyerinck's mission and the Mayence proposition had already borne
fruit on every side. The Major, after some conferences with the French Secretary to the Embassy, Bacher, reported that France was ready to include the Empire in the peace with Prussia. The Landgraves of
Cassel and Darmstadt, the Duke of Deux-Ponts, and the Elector of Treves,
successively called on Prussia to mediate between themselves and the victorious
French. The Circles of Franconia, the Upper Rhine, and Electoral Rhine,
came to the resolution to ask, not the Northern Powers, but the Emperor and
Prussia conjointly, to mediate between themselves and France, in which they
were zealously supported by Count Hardenberg; but the Berlin Cabinet rejected their application as inadmissible, because the Emperor, as the
principal belligerent Power, could not at the same time act as mediator. What
was of almost more importance than these manifestations of feeling in Germany,
was that the Dutch Government sent repeated requests to Berlin, that Prussia would either afford them military aid against the threatened invasion of the French, or
Ch. IV.] GENERAL INCLINATION
TOWARDS PEACE.
159
save them by opening negotiations for a general
peace. Since the commencement of the quarrel between England and Prussia, Holland had taken the side of the latter, and had decidedly disapproved of the suspension of the subsidy. In their distress
the Dutch Government had prevailed on England, at the
end of October, to offer to renew the payments to Prussia, on condition that
she would empower General Mollendorf to assume energetic operations against the
French. It is true that the Prussian Government replied that all deliberations on the conduct of the war must he preceded by the
payment of the arrears of subsidy, but Holland only became more eager in its
petition that Prussia would begin to treat with France concerning peace.
In short, while Prussia met with nothing in the east but open dislike
and ill-concealed opposition, she found in the west the greatest
readiness to meet her views, both among victorious enemies and hard-pressed
allies. It was evident that a crisis was now at its height which was of the
highest importance for all succeeding ages.
In the middle of December the ministry took all these questions, which
poured in upon them from every quarter, into consideration. On the 14th the
Counts Haugwitz and Struensee, and the Generals Manstein, Zastrow, and
Knob-loch, examined the Russian note respecting Poland. The three
officers agreed in thinking that the partition of Poland would be of no
advantage to Prussia unless she obtained the frontier of the Vistula,
the Narew, the Niemen and Wildau, demanded by Tauenzien; and that if this were
not granted, and especially if Austria were to be extended to the left bank of the Vistida, a protest ought to be made
against the partition, and at most a rectification of frontiers for the three
Powers allowed. If the Prussian cabinet adhered to this view of the case, there was no doubt that a rupture, not only with Austria
but with Russia, would be the inevitable consequence. It was impossible to see
to what this might lead. Considering
the tenacity and am
160 TREATY OP PARTIT. BETW.
AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
bition of Catharine, whose domineering temper was more than ever
inflamed by the victories of Suworow, the worst might be expected from her,
even the employment of military force. Nothing was clearer than that under these circumstances the French war ought to
be brought to a conclusion as quickly as possible.
Whether Prussia should then proceed to extremities against the two Imperial
Courts, whether, after making peace with France, she would be able and willing to enter into a contest which might possibly bring her
into as dangerous a position as any in which she had been placed during the
Seven years' war—this was a question for future consideration,
which every one for the moment carefully evaded. For there was always a possibility that the necessity might never
arise. There was still the hope that the Imperial Courts would shrink from such
extremes, and from the danger of an alliance between France Prussia and
Poland, and that they would acknowledge the justice of the Prussian
claim as soon as Prussia had withdrawn her neck from the noose of
the French war, and had all her forces at disposal for the struggle in Poland.
The Ministers, therefore, resolved to maintain their elaim in opposition to Russia, and with this view to open
official and definitive negotiations of peace with France.
Even now they were obliged to bring special motives to bear upon the
King to wrest the final sanction from him. His royal mind still shrank from
friendly contact with the Parisian demagogues, and while
his statesmen and generals boiled over with hatred and rage against Austria, he
was still animated by the feelings of a Prince of the Empire, and regarded its
great Head with traditional reverence. To combat these feelings they summoned an ally to their aid whom they would otherwise
have kept far from the King with watchful jealousy—viz. the
only surviving brother of the great Frederick, Prince Henry, at that time
seventy years old. Since 1786 he had not exercised the
slightest influence over the Government of his nephew, but
Ch. IV.]
PRINCE HENRY OP PRUSSIA.
161
had lived in retirement, at his seat at Rheinsberg, and watched the
progress of affairs with a keen and jaundiced eye, as is often the case with able and excitable men who are condemned to inactivity. The
two great events of the last few years—the alliance with Austria, and the
Partition of Poland—had called his criticism into violent activity. He regarded
the war with France as a suicide of Prussia in favour of Austria,
her ever malevolent rival. He had himself, twenty years before, cooperated in a
partition of Poland, and he delighted in pointing out the world-wide difference
between that and the one now contemplated. He was utterly wanting in the patient consistency, the cool reflection and penetration,
which distinguish the practical statesman from the political dilettante; but he was busy, lively, and eloquent, and, unlike his royal nephew, he
was a man of quick resolution who threw himself heart and soul into the
matter before him, was never troubled by contending
emotions, and always inclined to rapid and sudden action. He seized with the
greatest ardour the long desired opportunity of once more exercising an
important influence, and overwhelmed the King with an
abundance of new arguments, to show that he ought to prevent the new Partition, resolutely break with the Imperial Courts, and reestablish himself on a footing of sincere friendship with the French. A
new incident occurred to second his lively representations. During the last days of November, the Dutch ambassador
announced that his Government had made formal proposals in London for
negotiations of peace with France, and had at the same time secretly sent two
plenipotentiaries—Brantsen and Rcpelaer—on their own
part to Pichegru's head-quarters. This decided the king. On the 1st of December
he ordered his former ambassador in Paris, Count Golz, to repair to Berlin, to
receive more exact instructions for his negotiation with Barthelemy in Basle. "Our last despatch, then," wrote the aged
minister Finkenstein to his colleagues, "made an impression; Heaven
162 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW.
AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
be praised that we have at last got the iron
into the fire!" Alvensleben, no less delighted at the King's decision, was
only anxious for the attainment of the object; "no doubt," said he,
"Golz will have a hard fight to overcome the difficulties
of this affair, and the pride of the French, while he
himself is hemmed in and hampered by the jealousy of Meyerinck, the imperious
counsels of Mollendorf, the intrigues of General Kalkreuth, the
instructions of Prince Henry, the direct orders of the King, the private
letters of Bischoffswerder, the interference of Hardenberg tolerated
by the King, and the official directions of the Ministry."
The instructions, drawn up in the first week of December according to a
draft of Prince Henry, directed Golz above all things to convince the French of
the sincerity of the sentiments of Prussia, and
then, as a test of the French feeling, to propose an armistice. Prussia, he was
to say, was ready to acknowledge the French Republic, and asked in return the
evacuation of her provinces on the left bank of the Rhine. Prnssia further demanded that the Estates of the Empire, which had
sought her intervention, should be forthwith admitted to the armistice and
neutrality; and the King expressed his earnest wish that a Prussian mediation
between France on the one side, and Germany and Holland on the other,
might grow out of this preliminary understanding.
If France desired an alliance with Holland without any cession of territory,
Prussia would consent to it, provided that the House of Orange
retained its position; in which case the latter would, of course,
adhere to the policy of France. Golz was to see whether he could obtain any
terms in favour of the Emigres, was to refuse all discussion of the Polish question, and to find out
whether Austria was aiming at a separate peace with France, and the acquisition of Bavaria.
As this document contained for the present only the wishes of Prussia,
the deliberations concerning it passed off with facility
and unanimity. A short discussion
between
Ch. IV.] PRUSSIA'S REPLY TO RUSSIA RESPECTING POLAND. 163
the Ministers arose only on one paragraph, according to which Golz was
to find out whether France demanded any cession of territory.
Alvensleben expressed his conviction that the French would retain];the left
bank of the Rhine, and thought that Golz ought to be at once empowered to agree
to this, as Prussia was evidently in no condition to drive them out of the conquered districts. But Finkenstein and Haugwitz, although
not very hopeful on this point, thought that such deliberations would come
early enough when such a painful claim had been actually made. Instead of this
they directed the ambassador to remind France of her guarantee of
the Treaty of Westphalia, and to call on the Republic to renew it, because a
violation of the territory of the Empire would be thereby precluded.
Meanwhile the Ministers had agreed on the note to be sent to Russia,
with cousiderably lightened hearts. With regard
to the authorship of the Polish Partion, they politely
restored the honour of it to the Empress, and then proceeded to a closer
examination of the different claims. "Prussia," they said, "also
desires a settlement which will harmoniously take all
real interests into account. She feels neither envy nor jealousy towards
Austria; the time when she may have done so is past; but she cannot agree to
any arrangement of frontiers which would be fatal to her own State. The strongest Power ought not to receive the largest share; on the contrary,
it lies in the interest of the balance of power to favour the weaker. With
regard to Cracow, more especially, this city in the hands of Prussia will only
be a post of defence, because it lies on the north of the
mountains; but in the hands of Austria it will undoubtedly
become an offensive position, by means of which Prussian
Silesia would he hemmed in on every side by Imperial possessions. Prussia in
this case follows the same principle as Russia, and desires a clearly
drawn line of demarcation. Nature herself has drawn it on her side—in the one
case by the course of the Vistula, in the other by that of the
L2
164 TREATY OP PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
Narew and the Niemen." "If this settlement," concluded
the note, "is not to be obtained, Prussia would prefer the continuance of the arrangement of 1793, without any question at all of a
new partition of Poland." Tauenzien received orders on his own part to adhere 'literally to the principles here laid down, and not
to allow himself to be led away, as heretofore from the path prescribed to him
by overestimating his own successes, and by
credulous confidence.
The King signed this document on the 28th
of November. He at that time hoped great things from the concise clearness of
his arguments, and from the favourable impression which ITohenlohe's return to
the Rhine would make upon the Empress. But he had no notion of the nature of
the ground to which his opponent had transferred the
disputed question in St. Petersburg. On the same 28th
of November Thngut completed in Vienna a despatch to the Austrian ambassador in
St. Petersburg, in answer to the Russian application
for full powers to treat definitively. He had been at work upon it
for months; and by its ratification the destinies of Europe were forced into
new and entirely unlooked-for paths, which were to
lead our whole quarter of the globe to a future destitute of right and freedom.
Let us endeavour to realise to ourselves the
attitude which the two Imperial Courts had assumed to one another since the
summer.1
From the very first day of the Polish war, the government at Vienna had
been of opinion that Austria ought to carry off a considerable portion of the Polish booty—especially Cracow, and the bordering
Palatinates, Sendomir, Lublin and Chelm; in other words, that she ought to
extend her Ga-lician borders. Without any formal negotiation this had been
communicated to the Russian Ambassador Rasumowsky,
and the latter had always declared that his Government con-
1 The following statements [are
drawn from Thugut's Correspondence
with Cobenzl. Archives at Vienna.
Cb. IV.] THUGUT'S INSTRUCTIONS
TO COBENZL.
165
sidered such a claim perfectly fair. Trusting to these sentiments of Russia, Thugut had ordered General Harnoncourt to march with
about 15,000 men, in the beginning of July, into Sendomir and Volhynia. But he
was deeply alarmed by the consent of the Russians
to the Prussian occupation of Cracow, and, subsequently, by the Russian note of
the 23d of July. He saw in it the desertion of Russia to the Prussian system,
and under these circumstances would not allow Harnoncourt's small corps to run
the risk of a hostile collision with the Prussians, and
summoned it back to Ga-licia in the beginning of August.
Meanwhile the Russian Ministers hastened to express to Count Cobenzl
their lively regret at such undeserved mistrust. They declared, in the most
positive manner, that Russia adhered once for all to her friendship with Austria, but that it should
remembered that Russia, too,; had
her difficulties, and was obliged to act with some consideration. This
necessity was, indeed, apparent enough, as long as the Prussian armies played a principal and victorious part in Poland, and Thugut's
fears were in the main calming down, when he heard of the raising of the siege
of Warsaw, and the retreat of the Prussians. On the 11th of September he sent
off instructions to Cobenzl for the important negotiation.
Austria, he said,, had always regretted the partitions of Poland as
injurious to her interests. If such a partion was unavoidable, she must, of
course, protect her owen share, that she might not be altogether thrown into the shade by perfidious Prussia. In the next place, he said, he must take
his stand on the principle that the new shares should be allotted in proportion
to the relative extent of territory previously possessed by the partitioning
Powers,, and he therefore claimed the country between the Prusouin borders the Pilica, the Vistula, the Bug, Lipsk and the Russian,
frontiers. A small diminuation of this share could only be allowed on the East
of the Bug, in Volhynia. After dwelling on the insatiable, demands of Prussia, and their utterly unjustifiable nature,, he went on to observe
that the
166 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA
AND RUSSIA. [Book X.
Emperor could still fairly ask for other compensation (besides these
Polish lands), corresponding to the Prussian and Russian
acquisitions in the second Polish partition. This might consist either in a
French district—which could, however, to facilitate a fair peace, be made much
smaller than had been formerly demanded—or, if this should be found impracticable, in the territory pointed out in the note of the 27th
of February, viz. the Venetian Provinces. If Catharine did not think it
feasible to negotiate herself with Prussia on this point, it might be arranged
separately between the two Imperial courts by an exchange of
autograph letters, as in the year 1782. In no case, however, must Prussia
obtain a single clod ot land in Poland, if she did not furnish a considerable
contingent to the Head of the Empire, and place the rest of her forces under the command of an Imperial generalissimo. On the whole, the more Russia
appropriated in Poland, the better pleased would the Emperor be.
Cobenzl received these communications on the 28th of September, and
hastened to lay them before the Russian Ministers. The
sum total of his claim amounted to about 32,000 square miles of Polish land,
and the terra
firma of
Venetia, for Austria; and for Russia as much, and for Prussia as little, land
as possible in Poland—nay, virtually, nothing at all for Prussia, since the king would never agree to the conditions proposed, viz. that be
should sacrifice the unity and independence of his army. The mutual
exasperation of feeling therefore between the two
German confederates was far more intense on the side of Austria than on that of Prussia; for the latter, though she certainly would not give
up Cracow and Sendomir to the Emperor, was willing to agree to the acquisition
by Austria of any other Polish Province. Russia could not fail to see the
advantages to be derived from the position of umpire in which the
bitter feud between the German Powers had naturally placed her. Suwarow's
victories had already begun; the crushing of Poland was only a question of
time. Catharine's favourite plan—the
conquest
Ch. IV.]
CATHARINE'S ARTFUL POLICY.
167
of Turkey—which had been so vexatiously interrupted six months ago by
Kosciusko's revolt, once more filled her mind. It was, therefore, a matter of
course that she was still, in the main, on Austria's side. But she could not, like Thugut, wish to drive Prussia to extremities; and the discord between the two German Powers made it possible for her
considerably to curtail the demands of Austria, to the advantage of Russia.
Consequently Besborodko and Markoff communicated to
Count Cobenzl, as early as the 30th September, that Austria should receive
the four Southern Palatinates, Cracow, Sendomir, Lublin,
and a part of Chelm, but that a complete satisfaction of her other claims in
the North and East was impossible; that Praga
belonged to Warsaw, and could not he refused to Prussia; that Brzesc and Volhynia—about 6,900 square miles—must go to Russia, since she regarded
the Bug as her natural boundary. Cobenzl got no better consolation from Suboff,
who pointed out to him, among other things, that in the parts
of Volhynia claimed by Thugut lay the town of Wladimir which had once been the
source of Christianity to Russia. In other respects the Russian Ministers were
as obliging and confidential as possible, and promised
not to open an official negotiation with
Tauenzien until the Imperial Courts had come to a thorough understanding with
one another, and were enabled by their harmony to crush the evil purposes of
Prussia. They only kept a firm hold on Volhynia. "Take half France" said Catharine, 'take Venetia, take Turkish lands, we have no
objection; but in Poland the Bug must be our frontier." Cobenzl was
compelled to ask, on the 21st of October, for new instructious.
In consequence of the continued insecurity of the Polish roads, Thugut did not receive this despatch till the 10th of November, after
Kosciusko had been taken prisoner, and Warsaw had fallen; and when,
consequently, Russia was in every respect master of the situation in Poland. As
Thugut could entertain no idea of extorting any concession from the Em
168 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
press by an understanding with Prussia, no course was left him but
submission to Catharine's will. But even under these circumstances he had good reason to be satisfied. By acceding to the treaty of the 23d
of January 1793—at least as far as Russia was concerned—according to Catharine's long-cherished wish, Austria obtained her stipulated promise to
render the Belgian-Bavarian Exchange possible. It is true that Austria
had, for the moment, renounced the execution of this scheme, both in London and
Munich; but we shall soon enough see how little Thugut had really swerved from
his dislike to Belgium, and his designs on Bavaria. The old Elector, Charles Theodore, was once more under Austrian influence; he
aspired, in spite of his 70 years, to the hand of an Archduchess, and was as
ready as ever to resign Bavaria to the Emperor, for a handsome compensation. In
the next place Russia expressed her readiness to acquire Venetia for
the Emperor. In this case, too, as in that of Bavaria, an old and darling wish
of the Austrian diplomacy was fulfilled. It was never forgotten in Vienna that
the Italian possessions of Venice had once belonged to the Empire, and that the crown of Hungary had possessed ancient claims on the
Dalmatian provinces. In more recent times Joseph H. had spoken on this subject
with the Empress Catharine, and had met with a ready consent from her, because
she felt grateful for his acquiescence in her Turkish plans.
Nothing could be more natural, therefore, to the nephew, Avho was about to renew on the largest scale the uncle's friendship with
Russia, than to take up again the Italian side of the great scheme of 1782. The
once proud State of Venice had fallen into
decrepitude and internal decay; its oligarchical government, which might at one
time have vied Avith the
Roman or the English in solidity and public spirit, had sunk in the estimation
of Europe nearly to a level with the Polish Diet or the French Emigres. The main point, however, was that there was no better means of rounding
off the territories of Milan, the Tyrol and Illyria, than by
Ch. IV.] THUGUT INTRIGUES
AGAINST PRUSSIA.
169
the acquisition of the rich Venetian provinces, the
possession of which would make Austria the mistress of the Adriatic Sea, of
Italy, and the Pope at Rome.
Such advantages were, indeed, by no means to be despised. But every
thing depended upon this, that Catharine should not
further their accomplishment merely by holding out vague hopes, but enter into
binding engagements;—that she should give a firm guarantee to crush with armed
hand the resistance of any third party, and especially all interference on the
part of the hated and dreaded Prussia. Thugut, therefore,
as early as the 13th of November, sent instructions to Count Cobenzl to come to
a settlement with Russia by giving up his pretensions to Volhynia; but to
demand, all the more positively, the country hetween the Bug and Vistula, and the other non-Polish acquisitions mentioned above.
Definitive instructions followed on the 29th. In these
Thugut, while he reiterates his demands, declares afresh that he wishes Russia
to gain as much, and Prussia as little, as possible. Owing
to the perfidy of Prussia, he said he could only reckon upon Russia for the
fulfilment of his wishes. He must, therefore, ask of the latter the most
binding assurances, nay a clear and positive promise, that the Empress
would help Austria with all her resources to obtain her due
compensation in France, Venetia, &c; that if any third
Power offered to stand in the Emperor's way, Catharine would make common cause
with Austria; that she would act thus, if Prussia should proceed against the
Emperor either by threats, or demonstrations or acts
of hostility; and that the two Imperial Powers should mutually promise to aid
each other with all their forces against Prussia, as in 1792 against the Turks.
It was likewise to be wished, he said, that the
obligation of-Prussia to continue hostilities
against the French, under an Austrian Commander-in-chief, should be plainly
expressed. Prussia, he said, endeavoured to help France in every possible way;
and even wished to conclude an alliance with the Republican banditti. The state of affairs, he
said in conclusion, had
170 TREATY OF PARTIT. BFTW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
been continually getting worse, and unless the Emperor received
efficient support from his allies, he might, in his
wisdom, see himself compelled to take a resolution, in itself extremely
disagreeable to him.
It was high time to put Cobenzl in a condition to bring the matter to
■ an issue. After overpowering Poland, Catharine's
impatience had increased with every day. Although always animated hy the
wish to come to terms with Austria, she had, as we know, since October, urged
her Ministers to preliminary negotiations with Tauenzien; and was now counting the hours till the arrival of the eagerly expected courier from Vienna. Meanwhile hoth she and her ministers caused Count Cobenzl many a
bitter hour, by their sharp criticism of Austria's attitude towards France. She
had sent general Korsakoff to Belgium, whose reports on the conduct of the war
in that country were full of the strangest and most inexplicable movements—retreats without battles, nay, even in the moment
of victory. "Is it treachery," said Suboff, "or what other
reasons can we assign?" "It is not possible," said Markoff,
"for us to imperil Russian troops in your unfortunate
war." "However," said Suboff taking up the word again, "you
shall even now receive an auxiliary corps of Russians, as soon as ever the
Polish husiness is settled."
In these discussions also the mind of Catharine was secretly dwelling on her Turkish schemes. Thugut had
often assured her that the Emperor had no more steadfast desire than to return
to the system of Joseph II.; and as he, on his part, endeavoured to attach to
this policy a renewed and more express guarantee of the acquisition of Bavaria and Veuetia, the Empress was determined to obtain an
express recognition of her Turkish claims. In the matter itself she had no
difficulty to overcome on the part of Austria, to whom she had guaranteed a
share in the spoils of Turkey. But the position of the two Powers was very
different in respect to the time and mode of carrying out their plans. Russia
desired, above all things, to make the attack while
Ch. IV.] CATHARINE RESUMES HER TURKISH SCHEMES. 171
the war with France was still in progress; it was desirable for
Austria, ou the other hand, that it should be deferred till the conclusion of
peace with the French. The Empress, therefore, kept this last important point
completely in the background, feeling sure that at the proper moment
she would be able to carry out her will.
On the 9th of December Cobenzl received the preliminary instructions of
the 13th of November. Markoff immediately asked, whether the Ambassador, in
case Prussia should make difficulties, would come to terms with
Russia alone, since they were agreed on the main points. "Had you,"
be adH^d, "insisted on carrying your point in respect to Volhynia, we
shotdd have made terms with Prussia—of such importance is a speedy settlement
to us." Cobenzl declared that in case of need he
should consider himself empowered to negotiate; but as definitive instructions
would arrive in a very short space of time, he begged the Russian Government to
wait for them. But day after day passed, and the Courier from Vienna did not make his appearance. "When will he be
here?" said Catharine, "in eight years?" "If he does not
come soon," said Ostermann, "we must settle with Prussia." When,
therefore, Tauenzien gave notice that he had received his new instructions, Cobenzl could only restrain the impatient Russians, by opening the
negotiation on the basis of the preliminary despatch; and accordingly he
entered into the first official conference with Ostermann, Besborodko, and
Markoff, on the 15th of December. In this he declared Austria's renunciation
of Volhynia, and received in return the guarantee of the four Palatinates, with
the proviso that the question respecting the tongue of land between the Bug and
the Vistula should be left to further negotiations. They then agreed upon the next steps to be taken. In the first place that
Tauenzien should be invited to a conference with the Russian Ministers; and
that if all the energy of the Russians was insufficient to bring him to reason,
a general conference should be held.
In case this too should lead to
172 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
no understanding, the Russians proposed that the Imperial Courts should
come to terms with one another, make a treaty for the partition of Poland, and exchange ministerial declarations
respecting the other points, instead of autograph letters between the
Sovereigns, as been before had proposed. Cobenzl had some scruples respecting
these formalities, but took the responsibility on himself, in order to prevent any approximation between Russia and Prussia.
Such was the position of affairs when Tauenzien, on the 16th of
December, began his negotiation with the Russian Ministers. Ostermann opened
the proceedings by announcing that the Empress purposed
to accept the offer of the Cour-landers, and to unite their Duchy with the
Russian Empire. Prussia had hitherto received no information on this subject.
Tauenzien, therefore, expressed his surprise, and remarked that the
Russo-Prussian treaty of 1792 had expressly guaranteed the
existing state of things in Courland. But the Russians were prepared for this
objection. Ostermann replied that this guarantee was only directed against the
reform party which at that time ruled in Poland, and naturally lapsed with the fall of Poland. Nothing remained for Tauenzien but to say
that he would report the matter to his Government;
which, he said, would probably expect consideration for its own wishes in other
respects, as a return for conceding this point. After this prelude, their common impatience led them immediately to
the discussion of the main point—the contending claims of the two German Powers
to Cracow and Sendomir. Tauenzien enlarged on the proposition
of the last Prussian note, but met with lively opposition, and found that the Russians openly took part with Austria.
Markoff was especially emphatic and violent in his opposition to the Prussian
claims; and after a long dispute the sitting was adjourned without any result.
On the following day Tauenzien tried to come to an
understanding with Count Cobenzl alone, but could not advance a step
further. In a second conference with
the
Ch. IV.] TAUENZIEN AND THE IMPERIAL
MINISTERS. 173
Russians on the 18th he then discussed the future
line of demarcation on the Lithuanian side. The latter expressed a hope that
Prussia would give up her claim to the Szainaitic district on the Wildau, as
they wished to keep her at a distance from the borders of Courland, and offered
her instead a small stripe of land between the Narew
and the Bug. Tauenzien promised to lay the proposition before his Government, and imagined that he then perceived a change in the tone of the
Russians in respect to Cracow.
This hope, however, was of no long duration. At the
general conference, on the 21st, Cobenzl manifested at the very commencement a
great degree of warmth and impatience. He declared that under no
circumstances could or would Austria give up Cracow. The whole of Galicia, and,
above all, the important salt works of Wiliczka, would be
exposed if the city fell into tho hands of Prussia. Tauenzien rejoined that the city was already Prussian territory; that it was
so by the right of conquest in a righteous war of defence; that it was so by
the same right by which Austria had demanded the oath of
homage in Valenciennes in 1793; and that the Emperor, therefore, ought to
acknowledge the clear right of arms, as Prussia had done in the case referred
to. "The question at that time," cried Cobenzl in reply, "was, as now, one of compensation to Austria for her war expenses, her claims
to which have been acknowledged and guaranteed by Prussia in
a whole series of treaties; you will not, I suppose, maintain that Lublin and
Chelm are of themselves the compensation which
has been promised us by Russia and Prussia!" Tauenzien replied that he
should be rejoiced if this point of view were taken up by Russia; if the
natural system was, once for all, to be changed in favour of Austria, and if
Russia were bent on procuring an additional advantage for the
Emperor, her proper course would be, not to do so at the cost of a third party,
but to sacrifice a portion of her own immeasurable share of the booty. Before the Russians could meet this
174 TREATY
OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
unexpected turn, Cobenzl once more put himself forward with a great
show of zeal. "My sovereign," he said, "acknowledges the pretensions of Russia as just and natural; the two Courts
are entirely agreed with regard to them, and consider the
Russian frontiers as irrevocably settled. Yon yourself cannot (addressing
Tauenzien) seriously hold any other opinion; if you insist upon keeping
possession of Cracow and Sendomir, there will evidently be nothing left for us, and Austria will be for the second time curtailed of her just
rights." The Russian Ministers warmly expressed
their assent, and vied with one another in declaring that Prussia must give
way. Thereupon Tauenzien played his last card. He saw, he said, that no understanding could possibly be come to. He had heard that the
Emperor Francis would protest against every partition by which Cracow and
Sendomir were not awarded to Austria, He was empowered to announce a similar
protest, unless Cracow and Sendomir remained Prussian provinces.
Under such circumstances, he said in conclusion, the partition was impossible, and there was no other course than to leave Poland in the
same position as she had been before the last rebellion. But Cobenzl and the
Russians with one voice protested against this
declaration. "That is impossible," they cried. "The three
Courts," said Ostermann, "have acknowledged
the partition to be necessary to their self-preservation;
Prussia herself was the first to moot the question and to maintain the unavoidable necessity of the measure; Poland is dead and
gone for ever, and the dead cannot at pleasure be called to life again."
Cobenzl saw that his time was come. "We are agreed," he said, turning
to the Russian Ministers, "on all points. Let us draw up the protocol; let us sign the treaty; if Prussia will
join us, well and good, if not, we must do without her." Tauenzien rose to
make an indignant protest, and the meeting broke up in open conflict,
From this moment the Prussian ambassador found
him-
Ch. IV-] CONCLUSION OF THE TREATY. 175
self deserted and alone in St. Petersburg. The Empress was indisposed
and invisible. Nothing was said about a renewal of the Conference, and eveu at
Berlin this pause was considered desirable until the residt of the
negotiations in Basle and Paris became clearer. When Tauenzien again addressed
the Russian Vice-Chancellor on the 28th, Ostermann
was polite but monosyllabic, and assumed an air of sorrowful resignation. He
gave Tauenzien to understand, that Austria had for a long
time doubted whether she would be satisfied with the four Palatinates.
-"We," he added, "cannot possibly act otherwise; we must
interest ourselves for Austria; she showed herself a good friend to us in 1788,
and reaped too little advantage then." Concerning the further intentions
and resolutions of the Imperial Courts, Tauenzien was unable to gain any
information at all.
Meanwhile, after Thugut's instructions of the 29th of November had arrived, Catharine had given orders
to prepare the acts which were to be executed in concert with Austria. They
were drawn up in the form of two binding declarations, which were to be
exchanged between the respective Ministers of the two countries. The
first of these related to the partition of Poland. According to
this Russia was to receive all the country westward of a line which ran along
the Bug, on the south, as far as Brzesc, then in a straight line to Grodno, and
thence along the Niemen to the East Prussian borders—in all about 44,500 square miles. Austria was to receive the four Palatinates, i. e. the
territory between the Pilica, Vistula and Bug,—somewhat more than 20,000 square
miles—and Prussia the remainder—about 16,000 square miles, on condition, of
course, of her acknowledging and guaranteeing the acquisitions of the two Imperial Courts. Meanwhile the latter were to keep the treaty secret, until both parties
deemed that the proper time had arrived for laying it before the Government at
Berlin. When Cobenzl had declared his agreement in every particular,
Markoff told him that the Empress promised Austria the fulfilment of all her
176 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSRTIA AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
other wishes, but that she looked for corresponding services in return. In reply to his rather surprised question, Cobenzl was
informed that Catharine demanded Austria's accession to the treatyof the 23d of
January 1793, and complete reciprocity in the
obligations to be undertaken against Prussia. Thus far he had, of course, no objection to make, since all this was in accordance
with the sentiments of his government and his own instructions; but, to his
great astonishment, Markoff then went on to say, that Catharine demanded the
renewal of Ithe engagements of 1782 in the event of a war with the
Turks, and more particularly, the erection of a Kingdom of Dacia for a Russian
Prince, in return for which Austria was to receive Serbia and Bosnia. Cobenzl
immediately declared that he had no powers to sign such a clause. "The Emperor," he said, "from his great friendship
for the Empress, will in all probability grant this also; hut why did you not
speak to me about it before, that might have time to beg for instructions on
this point?" Markoff calmly answered, that, to tell the honest truth, not one of the Ministers had had the slightest
suspicion of it; it was the Empress's own idea, to which however, she
tenaciously adhered. He hoped, be added, that Cobenzl would sign, as it was
only a question of a future war with Turkey which at the present moment
was further removed than ever. After considerable discussion Cobenzl made up
his mind to sign, in the hope of obtaining the Emperor's sanction; and added,
on his own part, to the clause respecting the accession of Austria to the treaty of 1793, an especial and emphatic mention of the
Belgian-Bavarian Exchange. And thus an agreement was come to respecting the
second important declaration. "Since the Empress," it began,
"has declared herself ready to assist the Emperor, to the full extent of her power in obtaining the new compensations to which,
after the costs and sacrifices of the present war, he has a full right, the
Emperor hereby declares, that he joins in the Russo-Prussian treaty of January
23nd 1793, in so far as it con-
Ch. IV.] TREATY OE PETERSBURG BETW. RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 177
cerns the interests of the two Imperial Courts, the Belgian-Bavarian
exchange, and the Russian acquisitions in Poland, which last he henceforward
guarantees." In the next place, the secret article of the
Austro-Russian treaty of alliance respecting the Ottoman Porte was now
to be extended to Prussia, so that each of the two Courts bound itself to help
the other with all its forces in case of an attack by Prussia. Lastly, the Emperor promised, in case of a new and joint war against the Turks, to
cooperate with all his power in realising the agreement made between Catharine
and Joseph II. in their autograph correspondence of the year 1782; and
especially to make Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia, into an independent Principality for a member of the Imperial
House of Russia. The Empress then promised, on her part, that Austria should
receive the Turkish provinces formerly destined for Joseph
II. She further engaged to do her utmost to procure additional
compensation for Austria, and consented beforehand—in case the fortune of war should not allow the Emperor to make up his
losses at the expense of France—to
his appropriating, to the full extent, all the lands wrongfnlly possessed by Venice, or acquiring some other suitable and sufficient
compensation. Finally, Catharine bound herself to aid the Emperor with all her
power, if Prussia should proceed to hostile demonstrations
or acts of open war.
These articles were signed on the 3rd of January, 1795, by
Ostermann, Besborodko, Markoff and Cobenzl, and the intelligence
of this inportant act was despatched with all speed to Vienna. With regard to
Prussia, Catharine had undertaken to answer the last Prussian
note, so far as an answer was for the moment necessary.
Alopeus accordingly handed in a Russian memorial to the Government at Berlin,
on the 7th of January, which, indeed, contained not the slightest hint of the
actual projects of the Imperial Courts, but by its rude tone and overbearing pride left no doubt of the sentiments and hopes of
Russia. The Empress, it said, had
178 TREATY OF PARTIT. BETW. AUSTRIA
AND RUSSIA. [BookX.
heard with the greatest astonishment the proposition of Prussia, to
preserve, under certain contingencies, the existence of Poland. This was one of
those wishes which might, indeed, arise in the heart, but the
fulfilment of which could not be hoped for, because
it was contrary to the nature of things. As a proof of the truth of this
assertion, Ostermann referred to the late outbreak, which had
indisputably proved the necessity of partitioning so volcanic a territory.
"In the award of the different portions of territory," continued
Ostermann, "we have adhered to the principle, that the existing relation
of the partitioning States in respect to power, should be as far as possible
preserved — the very principle which Prussia adhered to .with so much severity against Austria in the last Turkish war." In a friendly tone,
which barely concealed the double-edged derision, he added the remark; "we
mention that case without any fear of being suspected of a revengeful
recollection of Prussia's attitude on that occasion,
because the whole course of the Polish Partition of 1793 has displayed to the
world our zeal for the aggrandisement of Prussia." He then passed in
review the claims of the different Powers, and enlarged upon the moderation and
fairness of Austria. In speaking of the pretensions of
Russia, his language reached the height of sublime arrogance. He no longer took
the trouble to discuss which of the two German Powers was the originator of the
Polish partitions; on the contrary, the very opposite view of the case was now advanced, and made the foundation of Russia's claim to the
lion's share of the booty. "We may boldly affirm," said Ostermann, "that the title of the Empress to her portion of
Poland is not the work of a moment, or of chance, but the creation of thirty years of labours, cares, and colossal efforts of every kind;
we may affirm that in comparison with these, Austria and Prussia have received
as an unbought gift all the advantages which they have reaped, and will reap,
in Poland." It was not possible in six lines to pourtray the
Ch. IV.] THE GERMAN DIET DESIRES PEACE WITH FRANCE. 179
whole policy of Catharine with greater force, or to reveal with more
brutal candour the fate which awaited Poland. To this review of the past, Ostermann added, in conclusion, some good advice for the future. Prussia
should consider, he said, that by ready assent and compliance she would
strengthen her alliance with Russia, and thereby obtain greater advantages than
by insisting, as hitherto, upon convenient
frontiers. Such a course on the part of Prussia would not have the least
influence on the general condition of Europe; while those chimerical hopes of
peace with France, of which so much had been said of late, could have no result
at all.
It was easy to gather from this note that
Russia was closely allied with Austria in every question — that she entertained
a lively remembrance of Prussia's interference in the last Turkish war—that
both Courts condemned the Prussian claims in Poland, and intended to carry out their will, even in case of a peace between Prussia and
France. Under these circumstances it must have appeared to the Court of Berlin
almost like an irony of fate, that, after a lengthy discussion of the
proposition of the Elector of Mayence, the Diet at Ratisbon expressed
by a large majority its desire of peace; and, on the 22nd, called on the
Emperor and the King of Prussia to combine for the furtherance of this blessed
work. The more evident the policy of the Imperial
Courts became, the more pressing became the necessity to Prussia of seeking peace with France, but also the clearer the
impossibility of making it in concert with Austria.
m2
BOOK
XL
TREATY OP BASLE.
Ch. V.]
183
CHAPTER I. PALL OF THE JACOBINS.
Impression
made on paris by the 9th of thermidor.—State
of parties in the convention.—revocation of several edicts issued during the
reign of terror.—effect produced thereby on the country. —Attitude
of the people.—The
thermidorians.—Lecointre's
impeachment of eormer government rejected. —Trial of the nantes prisoners—La
jeunesse doree.—Legendre's
impeachment of former government.—trial of the revolutionary committee of
nantes.— Law respecting the clubs.—Proposal to reinstate the 73 incarcerated deputies.—Proceedings against carrier.—Prosecution
of the jacobins, and closing of their club.—impeachment of carrier. —Amnesty
granted to la vendee.—Recall of the 73 deputies.— Impeachment
of billaud-varennes, collot d'herbois, barere,
vadier.
The European
Powers vied with one another in seeking peace with the French Republic. We have
in the first place to observe the position of affairs in France since the fall
of Robespierre.
The 9th of Thermidor was a day of rejoicing for Paris,
and for every part of the country to which the news was carried. The late
system of government was so completely incorporated in Robespierre, all the
authorities—the Revolutionary Committees, the Revolutionary
Tribunals, the local Magistracies and the Popular
unions—had all united themselves so closely with the Dictator, that his fall
shook the fabric of the State to its very foundations. In Paris no one for a
long time could give credit to such an apparently
184
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
impossible occurrence. In the prisons the accused had been robbed of
all their goods and money as late as the 8th, so that they looked with mortal
anxiety to a repetition of the general massacre of 1792; and even on the 9th,
in the very tumult of the insurrection, Henriot had caused a
transport of 80 prisoners to be dragged to the scaffold. The intelligence of the saving catastrophe, therefore, spread from uiouth to
mouth, as an utterly unlooked-for piece of good fortune. Men found themselves
suddenly relieved from the weight of a crushing
oppression; they could once more breathe freely, and look forward to the
possibility of a human existence. They were still surrounded, indeed, by danger
and misery of every kind; the blood so lately shed was still smoking in the streets, and all the laws and regulations of an unexampled
tyranny were still in force; but the minds of the people, once more inspired by
hope, rose triumphant above all their sufferings, and swelled with the
intoxication of unwonted joy. During the whole of the 10th and the
succeeding night, the streets were filled with surging and shouting masses of
people. The sittings of the Revolutionary Tribunal
had been interrupted, the Jacobin Club closed, and the Municipal Councillors
had perished under the guillotine; for the moment all
the tools of the old tyranny appeared to have been destroyed. The Dantonists
were especially active in following up the victory in accordance with the
public feeling. Because, in November, they had counselled clemency and humanity, Robespierre had kept them for more than half a year in
constant fear of death; they could now prove that Camille Desmonlins had really
sacrificed his life in the cause of mercy; and Legendre, Merlin de Thion-ville,
Tallien and Freron, were indefatigable in visiting the prisons,
and dismissing by hundreds, without examination, those who had, without
examination, been incarcerated by hundreds. There was a time when none of these
men were a whit behind Robespierre in arbitrary cruelty; but now, with equal caprice, they gave free course to more generous
Ch. I.] STATE OF PARTIES IN
THE CONVENTION.
185
impulses. They had all their lives lived only for the present hour, and
to float onwards with the wave of popular opinion had always appeared to them to be the essence of political rectitude.
In the Convention, meanwhile, very different sentiments prevailed.
There the men of the Committee of Public Safety, Collot, Billaud, Carnot,
Barere, and all those members of the Comite de Surete Generate and the Mountain who held with them, regarded themselves as the proper
creators of the new epoch. They were the remains, or at any rate the old
allies, of the Hebertist party, the truest representatives of the system of
terror, who had fallen out with Robespierre simply
from reasons of personal ambition. They looked on the 9th of Thermidor entirely
as a day of defence—not as the beginning of a new system, but as the
preservation of the former one; they had struggled to overthrow the dictatorship of Robespierre, and maintain
the undisturbed existence of the Revolution, for their
own advantage. They looked with astonishment and indignation on the movement
which was taking place about them. Billaud-Varennes opposed
the suspension of the Revolutionary Tribunal with surprise
and anger; when it was reconstituted with new members, Barere proposed Fouquier
Tin ville as Public Informer, and was extremely surprised
on being met by a storm of opposition, and hearing a vote of deposition and impeachment passed against Fouquier.
Immediately afterwards the avenging justice of the Convention was directed
against .mother friend and servant of Robespierre, viz. Lebon, the dreaded
Proconsul of the Department du Nord, whose provisional arrest was ordered without any opposition. The same fate befel several subordinate
tools of the dreaded rulers; but, on the other hand, a proposal to indict
Maignet, the executioner of Bedouin, was for the present negatived. The
prevalent sentiments of the Convention were soon marked out by clearer
outlines. The Moderate party, the
Centre,
186
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
and the remnant of the Right, accustomed during the whole preceding
year to silence and endurance, fell once more into
their usual attitude, and the real power was still entirely in the hands of the
Mountain. But even with the latter the views of Barere and Billaud-Varennes
found no favour. The most zealous Montagnards were of opinion that for the
future the government should be exercised, not by the Committees, but by the Convention as a body, and that the latter must once
for all be secured against the tyranny of the former. On the 11th of Thermidor,
therefore, they ordered new elections and a discussion on an entirely new organisation of the government. The new
members of the Committee of Public Safety were—besides two
Jacobins pur sang, Laloi and Echasseriaux—the two Dantonists, Thuriot and Tallien, and two
members of the first Committee of Public Safety (April, 1793) Breard and Treilhard. The leading idea among them, probably, was
that the Convention should remedy the most crying abuses of tyranny, but by no
means abandon the principles of the late system. They wished to ged rid of the
bloodhounds and butchers of Robespierre's train, but had no
intention of limiting the omnipotence of the Revolutionary government by any
legal order. The Revolutionary Tribunal, therefore,
was retained, and filled with new members; it was empowered to exercise
jurisdiction in accordance with all the decrees of the
Reign of Terror, with the exception of those of the 22nd of Prairial. The only
mitigation was a provision, carried by Bourdon de l'Oise, that no sentence
should be passed unless a treacherous or counter-revolutionary intention could be proved. The Jacobin Club, too, was reopened in the early
part of August. It was, indeed, to undergo a fresh purgation, and all the
admirers of Robespierre were to be excluded; but the "friends and
brothers" were not too particular in their dealings
with one another, and accepted every associate who gave an assurance that he had taken no part in Robespierre's revolt
Ch. I.] CHANGE IN COMMAND OF
NATIONAL GUARD. 187
in the night of the 9th of Thermidor. 1 The
Club was, therefore, soon enabled to continue its
sittings in the usual manner; once more its orators directed their thunders
against the aristocrats, the egoists and the wealthy, and exhorted the
Convention to suppress the craven Moderates by continued revolutionary energy.
But the tide of affairs could no longer be controlled. Ever since April
the Revolutionary Government had received its organs from the hands of
Robespierre; every measure which the new rulers directed against Robespierre's
partisans necessarily paralysed some portion of the machine of
the State. A new organisation of the Parisian National guard was indispensable.
Henriot, as its commander, had—on the 31st of May and the 9th of
Thermidor—threatened the very existence of the Convention, and it was now resolved to abolish the dangerous dignity, and to appoint the general and
his staff, every five days, from among the District commanders.
By this measure it was, indeed, rendered impossible
for any party suddenly to possess itself of the armed force of Paris; but at the same time the Convention was deprived of that
predominant military influence over the whole of the National Guard, which it
had hitherto possessed. On the 13th of August, after
protracted discussions, the reorganisation of the Government committees was completed. Hitherto all the functions
of government had culminated in the Committee of Public
Safety, which was virtually permanent; but now the regulation was once more
enforced, that at the beginning of every month three members should retire in rotation, who could only be re-elected after the lapse of a
month. It was further ordained that the Convention as a body was the only
centre of government, and that
1 Duhais C. N. 4th Octoher. This purgation was only an
empty show. Ardonin, Jacobins 7. Vend. "At first the Aristocrats took
the Epuration in hand, hut the Club soou put
down the Messieurs,
who wanted to admit only honnetes gens."
188
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
the Executive authority for the despatch of business
should be divided among sixteen committees; one of "Public Safety,"
for Diplomacy and War; one of uSurete
gSnerale" for
Police; one "of Legislation," for Home Administration and Legal
Jurisdiction; thirteen others for Finance, Post, Army and Navy, &c. &c. It is evident that by this system the main object—the
prevention of any kind of dictatorship—was fully attained; but it is no less
clear that an Assembly of more than 600 members was utterly unfit to conduct
the affairs of the State with unity and consistency. The different
Committees took their own separate course, mutually crossing each other's path, and impeding each other's action, and frequently
serving contending party objects. In the Convention itself the new organisation
obliged a far greater number of members to take part in the
public business, which of itself increased the influence of moderate views and
personal mediocrity; but as a whole the Government necessarily lost in unity, consistency and efficiency.
Five days later the Convention saw itself compelled to take
another step, the consequences of which seemed no less important. Of all the
organs of the Government during the Reign of Terror, none, as we have seen,
were more active or more terrible than the Revolutionary Committees. They everywhere stood in the closest connection with the Clubs, and since
the beginning of the year it had been one of Robespierre's chief cares to fill
them with persons on whom he could rely, and to invest them with absolute power
over the freedom of their fellow citizens. It would have been
absurd in the conquerors of Robespierre to leave half a million deadly enemies
in possession of the power they had hitherto enjoyed. On the 18th of Aiigust,
therefore, the Convention ordered that for the future only one Revolutionary Committee should exist in each
district, and in Paris only 12, instead of 48; that the Conventional commissioners or the Comite de Surete generate should nominate
Ch. I.] CHANGES IN INTERNAL ORGANISATION.
189
their members, and that the latter should only
cite and imprison according to the fixed forms of
law.
Another regulation which dated from the Reign of
Terror was abolished on the 21st of August. Bourdon de l'Oise proposed the
repeal of the law, according to which every citizen who attended a sectional
meeting received 40 sous. Danton had introduced the practice in order to enable the democratic workmen to attend the meetings regularly;
Cambon now reported, that in the last few months there had never been more than
300 citizens present in any of the Parisian sections, but that the daily pay of
[double or triple that number had been charged in the
accounts. He moreover expressed his opinion that such frequent meetings only
fostered disorders, and proposed that in future they should only be held on the
Decades, or Sundays of the Republican Calendar. The Convention passed both these motions nem. con.
Lastly, the Government found itself obliged to pursue the same course
with respect to the Communal authorities and the Popular associations, as to
the" Revolutionary committees and Sectional assemblies.
In all the Departments the members of these bodies had
zealously attached themselves to Robespierre; the agents
of the Committee of Public Safety had chosen them exclusively from among the
partisans of the system which had now fallen. A comprehensive change,
therefore, in these quarters also was a matter of vital
importance to the new rulers. Accordingly the Conventional
commissioners were instructed to subject the office-bearers and members of the
Clubs and Communal councils to a searching examination and purgation; and that
this might really he done in the manner intended, a great proportion of
the Representatives who had been sent into the provinces were recalled, and
replaced by adherents of the new regime.
It was by these measures that the country was first
made aware of the full importance of the 9th of Thermidor. The
190
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
more closely the ranks of all who called themselves Democrats or Jacobins had rallied round [Robespierre's
banner during the last few months, the more complete was the overthrow of the
whole party. The Conventional commissioners, whatever their
inclinations might be, had no choice; if the disciples of Robespierre were not
to bear the sway in the Municipalities, Clubs, and
Revolutionary committees, they must summon the
Constitutionalists, the men of property and moderate views—in other words, the
hitherto oppressed middle class—to their aid. The prisons, therefore, were
everywhere thrown open; thousands of persecuted and tormented
captives returned to their dwellings, and only too frequently saw themselves
placed at once in possession of political power. In their homes they
found, for the most part, nothing but the greatest disorder and desolation. There were few families who had not to deplore the execution of one or
more of their members; the Revolutionary committees had sequestrated their
houses and property, and then, in innumerable cases, had themselves broken the
seals; their money-chests were rifled and their furniture carried
off. And thus wealthy and respectable families found themselves at once
plundered, dishonoured, and bereaved, without the shadow of a crime being
charged against them. The general indignation knew no bounds, and the cry for reparation and vengeance was raised by millions from one end of the
country to the other. In every quarter the club-men, before whom the citizens
had hitherto trembled, were now arrested by the hand of the avengers; the
criminal charges brought against them of theft and robbery, of rape
and embezzlement, increased to a frightful mass;
"everywhere," groaned the Jacobins in Paris with impotent fury,
"the patriots are persecuted; everywhere the Aristocracy once more raises
its filthy head." But in the capital, too, the position of affairs had been changed by the late decrees. In the Sectional assemblies
the citizens once more took the lead; the last remnant of Henriot's bands—the tape-durs—disappeared from
Ch. I.]
PERSECUTION OF THE JACOBINS.
191
the National guard; the young men of the upper classes assembled in the
public houses for the purpose of making demonstrations against the Jacobins;
and hardly a day passed without some bloody conflict in the Palais Eoyal
between the contending parties. The Sections continually
thronged the bar of the Convention with revengeful complaints
against the late Revolutionary committees; they demanded, to the lively
displeasure of the Convention, that the officials should be once more elected
by the people; they called for free commercial intercourse at home, and peace
with the Powers of Europe. Nothing contributed more largely to increase the
fernient than the press, which since Thermidor had recovered its liberty. The
Reign of Terror had not indeed meddled with the law by which the
press enjoyed unlimited freedom, but had been contented with sending the
obnoxious writers, in each particular case, to the guillotine. And now that men
could no longer be beheaded at pleasure, the press was subjected to no kind of restraint, and the whole weight of this weapon was directed
against the Jacobins, with a more persevering vindictiveness and unbridled
fury, than against the monarchy itself, three years before. For the present,
indeed, both journals and Sections professed the greatest devotion
towards the Convention, since the latter, too, was for the moment at feud with
the universally detested party. But in reality no one felt any confidence in
that assembly; on the contrary, the citizens despised the
majority of the Deputies, who had readily
participated in all the atrocities of the Reign of Terror, and longed for the
arrival of a new era, in which, under the control of rational laws, the fate of
the country might be intrusted to enlightened and honourable men.
And thus the Government was weak in its organisation, weak from the
want of any recognised principles, weak from the loss of its former associates,
and the contempt of its present allies.
It felt its way, undecided and without
192
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
any definite aims, over a region which was heaving with every passion
of the human heart. In such a position of affairs, the momentary harmony
between the parties which had conquered on the 9th of Thermidor could not be of any long duration. In the new. Committee of Public Safety the
Hebertists Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, and the Dantonists Thuriot and
Tallien, sat side by side; the venomous feud between the two factions
had for the moment been thrown into the back ground by the common dangers
of Thermidor; but it soon broke forth with redoubled fury when the crisis was
past. At the same time the old members of the Committee found themselves
cramped by the jealousy against their former power which prevailed through the whole Convention, and the new members saw more clearly every
day the direction of the popular current, and the means by which the favour of
the excited multitude was to be obtained. Individuals among the Dantonists had,
moreover, their own private reasons, which prompted them to
break with the members of the former Committee. Freron had been on terms of the
most enthusiastic friendship with Camille and Lucile Desmonlins, and had sworn
a bloody vengeance against the Hebertists of the Committee for the death of his friends. He now associated himself with some of the
Moderate party, to undertake the conduct of the struggle against the late
rulers, in the press. Their paper, ul'Orateur
du Peuple" argued
with daily increasing heat against everything which
had any connection with the policy of the preceding year. During his mission to
Bordeaux, Tallien had become acquainted with Theresa Cabarrus, the daughter of
a rich banker, who was at that time separated from her first husband, M. de
Fontenoy, a member of one of the Parlements (old Cours
souveraines). She
was young and beautifnl, and yielded without any great reluctance to the wishes
of the all-powerful deputy. Her influence caused a rapid change in his conduct;
she awakened in him the first sparks of humanity and good sense; so that the
Jacobins
Ch. I.] TALLIEN AND "NOTRE DAME DE THERMIDOR." 193
of Bordeaux were thrown into a state of great excitement by the sudden
clemency of the Representative towards Federalists and Capitalists. Robespierre in great displeasure recalled his metamorphosed
colleague, and had Madame de Fontenoy, who accompanied him, arrested soon after
her arrival in Paris. No one owed deliverance more entirely to the catastrophe
of the 9th Thermidor than she; and if she had already worked on the
feelings of Tallien in the interests of humanity she now redoubled her efforts
to separate him entirely from the Terrorists. The Jacobins pursued her with
venomous hatred and vulgar abuse; but the citizens, hundreds of whom owed their escape from prison and the scaffold to her intercession,
called her "Notre Dame de Thermidor." She was good-natured and lively, but of no commanding talent, and by no
means over-strict in her morals. That a woman of this sort could play a political part was another sign of the sad condition to which Robespierre
had degraded French society.
The contest which the Dantonists, or, as they now called themselves,
the Thermidorians, intended to raise, was shown by their daily skirmishes with
their opponents. When Louchet, on the 19th of
August, complained that the aristocrats were once more raising their heads, and
demanded the renewal of Terrorism, he was answered by the cry of many voices,
"not terror but justice!" Another Montagnard named Charlier came to his aid, crying, "justice for patriots, terror for the
aristocrats." "No," shouted his opponents, "justice for
every one." "We demand," said Tallien, "strict justice
against all the enemies of the country, but no distinction between citizens
except that between good and bad; we demand the freedom of the press to protect the Republic—the freedom of
the press to crush the rascals—freedom of the press or death!" On the 26th
a member proposed that the members of the municipalities and the administrators
of Departments should be chosen by the people. The storm then broke out
on all sides: "is this a time for elections,"
194
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
cried the Mountain, "when the hydra of aristocracy is raising its
insolent head in the Sections ?" The Jacobins on the same evening
denounced the motion as open treachery, promised
to oppose it in all the Sections, and sent a numerous deputation on the 24th to the Convention, to ask for a list of the names of all the
liberated prisoners, and to warn the Assembly against any act which might
weaken the Revolutionary Government. Merlin of Thionville,
by no means the least zealous of the Thermidorians, happened to be president on that day. He answered the Jacobins by a sharp exhortation under all circumstances to obey the law; and some of his
party, Bentabolle and Lecointre of Versailles, shouted after the retiring
deputation that they were intriguers and Robespierrists,
on whom the Government was keeping its eye. Lecointre, an irritable, honest,
but unsteady man, became more and more excited at every repetition of these
scenes. In the course of the sitting, the Left once more succeeded in shelving the complaints which were sent from Vaucluse
of Maignet's barbarity. On the following day they referred a motion of Freron,
for a legal declaration of the unlimited freedom of the press, to the
Committees, who were instructed to give a more detailed report on the punishment of its abuses. Lecointre's patience
was now exhausted ; without listening to the
warnings of his more prudent friends, he resolved to take the bull by the
horns, and on the 28th gave notice of a formal impeachment against seven
members of the old Committees. Tallien had dissuaded him
from this step, but when once the struggle had commenced his party did not
refuse its aid. Tallien ascended the rostra immediately after Lecointre, and
described at length the nature and mission of a revolutionary Government; and though he brought forward no definite motion, it was
evident that he intended sharply to criticize the conduct of the late
Government, and to lay down a comprehensive programme of a new political
system. The
Oh. I.] LECOINTRE IMPEACHES THE OLD COMMITTEES.
195
Thermidorians thus proclaimed as openly as possible their separation
from the Mountain.
The other factions of the Left closed their ranks more firmly, and were
ready on the following day to receive Lecointre's impeachment. Amidst the breathless suspense of the Assembly he brought forward
his motion, which contained 26 charges against Collot
d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes and Barere of the Committee of Public Safety, and
against Vouland, Yadier, Amar and David of the Comiti de Surete g&nerale, on the ground of their participation in the outrages of Robespierre,
and all the crimes of the Reign of Terror. There was not a man in the
Convention, or in the whole of France, who could for a moment question the
truth and notoriety of these charges. Nevertheless, the
question thus put to the Convention was extremely critical and painful. Were
they once more to sanction these atrocities by a solemn he, in the face of the
boiling anger of the nation?— or were they to denounce them as crimes, and then perhaps to fall under the weight, of their own
complicity? Goujon, a younger member of the Mountain, vehemently exclaimed:
"What the Committee of Public Safety has done, the whole Convention, which
so long endured Robespierre's tyranny, must answer for;" he demanded
that, for the safety of their common country, the debate should be immediately
broken off. The feelings of the majority were evidently on his side ; on
observing which the accused saw their advantage, and energetically demanded that the discussions should be continued and their innocence confirmed.
A tumult was raised which lasted for a long time; Vadier displayed a pistol on
the rostra, with which he said he would shoot himself if he did not obtain a
hearing. At last the president, Thuriot, succeeded in a moment
of exhaustion in carrying "the order of the day," on the ground that
the accused members had always acted according to the wishes of the people. But
the Mountain was not to be so easily satisfied. They had observed the
hesitation of their opponents
N2
196
PALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XL
and the apprehensions of the Centre; and they surprised the Convention,
on the 29th, by proposing that the discussion should be re-opened, and a
hearing given to Lecointre's proofs. A disgusting scene then followed.
Lecointre, evidently unprepared, had no documents to bring forward; amidst a
noisy tumult, and increasing derision, the 26 charges were once more read out, and a vote then passed that the Convention rejected the impeachment
as calumnious.
The Mountain had thus obtained a complete victory in the Convention.
But the public feeling in Paris was so unequivocally expressed, and all the
reports from the Departments so identical in their tone,
that Billaud-Varennes and his associates themselves acknowledged that their
position was untenable, and voluntarily retired from the Committee of Public
Safety on the 1st of September. Tallien considered it expedient to follow their example, and Lecointre, who was violently attacked by the
Left, resigned his office of secretary. The Jacobins, however, were not
deterred by this from formally ejecting him, together with Tallien, and Freron,
from their club. In the Convention too, the influence of the Left
predominated for several days; the vacancies in the Committee of Public Safety
were filled up with strict Montagnards; a furious address of the Jacobin Club
at Dijon was received with evident favour, a motion for the abolition of the maximum was
shelved, and the penal enactments against the Emigres renewed
in all their barbarity.
But these triumphs, were of short duration. A storm was already
collecting in Paris, the bursting of which was to effect a thorough change in
the relative position of parties.
The Revolutionary Committee of Nantes, under the presidency of Carrier, had, as we have seen, pitilessly butchered many
thousands of the captive Vendeans on the spot; but on one occasion they had
sent a transport of 132 prisoners to be tried by the Parisian
revolutionary tribunal. The
Ch. I.] TRIAL OF THE NANTESE PRISONERS. 197
trial had been delayed, and did not begin till the end of August, by
which time the tribunal had been filled with new members, and the spirit of the Government, as well as public opinion, had undergone
an entire change. In consequence of the suppression of all
intercourse with, and all intelligence from, La Vendee, nothing more
was known in Paris than that a desperate war had been carried
on in that province, without mercy on either side. Now,
however, the above-mentioned judicial examination of the accused brought before
the public eye a series of nameless brutalities, in fresh and lively colours,
with full details of the murder of children, the violation of women,
the repeated drownings en masse, the horrors of the pest-stricken dungeons, and the brutal orgies of the
executioners. The judgment-hall was crowded by an ever increasing audience, who
listened to these details with breathless and shuddering horror.
Throughout the vast city men were continually asking one another whether
atrocities of this kind were really possible, and louder and louder rose the
cry of thousands upon thousands for annihilating vengeance on the assassins. The Jacobins became uneasy beneath the weight of public indignation.
From the Departments, too, the intelligence was unfavourable to
them; the clubs of Sedan and St. Omer broke off their connection with them; in
Caen the people celebrated the memory of the murdered Girondists, and in the
department of the Aisne the most notorious Jacobins were arrested as
cut-purses. The exasperation of the Jacobin Club increased
with the danger: "It is well," cried the deputy Duhem, "that the
toads of the marsh raise their heads, for we can more easily
cut them off;" and the club caused one of its members to be incarcerated
for undertaking the defence of the Nantese before the court. The Jacobins were
prepared to take upon themselves the whole burden of the
odium which rested on the Committee of Nantes.
While affairs were in this state, it happened, on the
198
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
evening of the 10th of September, that Tallien was seized, as he was
entering his house, by an unknown individual, who shot him in the
shoulder, with the words: "Wretch, I have long expected thee!" and
then escaped under cover of the night. No trace of him could be found, and the.
crime remained unpunished. But the Thermidorians made the best use of the occurrence as a weapon of offence against the Jacobins in the Convention.
Merlin of Thionville, in words of thunder, enumerated all the murderous and
rebellious threats of the club; every sentence of his oration was received with
shouts of applause from the Centre and the galleries. But when
he proceeded to say, that even if they did not exactly close the club, no
Deputy ought to set foot in that "den of murderers," and when the
Mountain interrupted him with furious cries, then, for the first time since
Thermidor, Durand-Maillaine rose from the Centre, and declared that the
system of united clubs was a standing peril to all government whatsoever. The
result was a decree that the Committee of Public Safety should draw up a
comprehensive report on the condition of the country.
On the same evening, at the meeting of the club, the Jacobins showed
evident marks of discouragement and apprehension. It was clear to them
that they would lose their majority in the Convention, if the Centre threw off
its reserve, as it had done on that day. It was in vain
that Collot d'Herbois strove, on the 11th, to make a diversion in their favour;
his, motion for recapturing the liberated aristocrats met with no support.
Meaulle had no better success when he demanded that the patriots should be set free, who, he said, were being tried on trumped-up
charges of vulgar crimes. Merlin cut short the discussion, by asking whether
the Convention was going to take thieves and forgers out of the hands of
justice ? On the 14th the trial of the Nantege was terminated; the
Revolutionary tribunal decided that they were all innocent victims of a
horrible tyranny, and appended to their aquittal an order for the
Ch. I.]
THE JETJNESSE DOREE.
199
immediate impeachment of their persecutors—the memhers of the
Revolutionary Tribunal of Nantes. The Parisians celebrated the day on which
this decision was pronounced by renewed attacks upon the Jacobins, who could no
longer show their faces in the Palais Royal, nay, scarcely in the
streets, without rousing the anger of the youthful citizens. The latter now
hegan to organise themselves in a regular manner for these street contests;
they wore grey coats with black collars, high cravats, and crape on the arm, in memory of the executions of the Reign of
Terror. Their weapon was at first a heavy walking-stick, but Tallien and Freron
took the matter in hand, armed their Jeunesse doree with swords and guns, and gave them a military training. In the present
clogged state of the Government machinery, there was absolutely no means of
preserving peace in the streets, and in the main the contending parties were
left to take their own course. It was in vain that Robert Lindet, the least
obnoxious member of the old Committee of Public Safety, hrought up
the report, on the 20th, on the condition of the country; in which,
while artfully confessing, in deference to public opiuion, the sad state of
domestic affairs, he held out a prospect of reforms, and exhorted the citizens to forget the past, and not, through a
desire of vengeance, to inflict new wounds on their common country. He spoke
the language of cool political wisdom, which could not but appear to the
millions of abused, plundered, and insulted victims, as impudent derision. How, it was asked, could they talk of amnesty, at a time
when not the slightest guarantee existed against the return of the evils
complained of; at a time when Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois were still
sitting in the Convention; when Maignet still continued to rage in Avignon, and the Jacohins were still incessantly demanding, by deputations and addresses, the recapture of the prisoners lately liberated? At the same sitting in which Lindet dealt out his cheap exhortations to unity, the Convention had received a deputation from Lyons,
200
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
which described, in simple and touching words, the fearful position of
the city. In this case, too, a number of common thefts were brought before the Assembly side by side with political prosecutions, and the
Convention ordered the Committees to bring up a report on the
state of Lyons within three days. While this affair presented a picture of the
old sins of the Reign of Terror, an example was
given on the following day of the present machinations of the Jacobins. The
Conventional commissioners, Serre and Auguis, reported from Marseilles that the
club in that city was meditating new prison-massacres, and preparing for an
open revolt against the commissioners. News arrived a few
days afterwards, that the rebellion had broken out,
that the lives of the commissioners had been threatened, and that peace had
only been restored by the interference of the troops of the line. The question
of the war in La Vendee was then discussed—the horrid deeds of the "Hellish Columns," and the
barbarity of generals Turreau, Huchet and Grignon. The facts brought forward
were, it is true, the same which in Robespierre's time had received the
submissive approval of the Convention; but now they called
forth unanimous cries of indignation, and a vote of impeachment against those
generals was passed unanimously. Meanwhile new reports arrived of the
uncontrollable disobedience of the clubs: the club at Marseilles had placed another battalion at the disposal of their Parisian brethren ;
another club abused the Conventional commissioners for appointing officials
without their co-operation; and a third declared that the clubs were the only
true organs of the people's sovereignty. The Parisian
Jacobins, as usual, took the lead; they bestirred themselves in the different
Sections, created disturbances of every kind when the citizens deliberated on
an address of devotion to the Convention; accused all their opponents of
royalism in abusive speeches, and threatened them
with speedy destruction. The Convention itself was induced by these tumultuous
proceedings to rebuke the offenders, to
Ch. I.] IMPEACHMENT OF COLLOT D'HERBOIS.
201
issue orders for their arrest, and to make various political
regulations ; and the feelings of the citizens at large were more and more
exasperated against these incorrigible rioters.
The Thermidorians considered that the time was now come for a new
attempt against the chiefs of the hostile party. On the 3rd of
October, Legendre once more preferred a criminal indictment against
Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois and Barere. Cambon endeavoured to defend
Barere, who had been his colleague in the first Committee of Public Safety, by
saying that he could not possibly be an accomplice
of Robespierre, since, shortly before the 31st of May, he had drawn up articles
of impeachment against Robespierre, Danton and Pache. But Clauzel destroyed the
effect of this reference to past and doubtful merits.
"Did not Billaud-Varennes and Barere," he asked, "support the
law of the 22nd of Prairial ? Did not the greatest number of victims fall by
their hands, in the last weeks which preceded Robespierre's fall ? Did not
Billaud endeavour to prolong the permanence of the Committee of Public Safety, and did not Barere wish to retain
Fouquier Tinville as public accuser ?" Collot d'Herbois met
the charges against him with a bold forehead and a proud composure.
"Carnot, Prieur and Lindet", said he, "always agreed to the measures we took. The Committee of Public Safety, as a body,
must bear the responsibility. But if we are all guilty, so is the Convention,
which might any day have done what it did on the 9th of Thermidor." He
thereupon explained at large the reasons which necessarily deterred the
Committee from overthrowing Robespierre at an earlier period, and concluded by declaring that he was fully convinced of the honourable and
patriotic motives of his accuser. The confidence and boldness of his manner
had a considerable effect, and a certain hesitation was observed in the
Assembly; and when Merlin of Thionville proposed that the indictment should be
referred to a committee, the Mountain raised such a tumult, that Breard at last
carried a vote to return
202
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XL
to the "order of the day," by referring to the malicious pleasure which such quarrels in the Assembly would cause to foreigners.
The Left thus obtained another victory, but it was really nothing more than the momentary postponement of an impending danger, and by no means an essential change in the real
position of affairs. On the 6th, Carnot, Lindet, and Prieur, resigned their
seats in the Committee of Public Safety; on the 7th, the Convention relieved the city of Lyons from the state of siege, and gave it back
its former name. On the 13th, Merlin inflamed the wrath of the Assembly against the Terrorists, by producing a despatch from Nantes,
according to which a general-adjutant, without law or
sentence, had caused thirty-nine women, children and infants, to be drowned. A
furious storm broke out. Many voices demanded the immediate proscription of the
cannibal; but Merlin cried: "Not so, he must be arrested and examined respecting his still more mighty accomplices." This
was agreed to, and the Revolutionary tribunal was directed
to lay aside all other business, and proceed at once against the Committee of
Nantes. The articles of impeachment were ready on the very next
day; the discussion began immediately, and caused a new and
violent upheaving of public opinion in Paris.
Emboldened by this state of affairs, the Government committees ventured to take
decisive measures against the powerful Club. On the 16th of October, Delmas, in
their name, laid the draft of a law before the
Assembly, which forbade all connection between the Popular associations, and
the issuing of proclamations under a common name, and at
the same time obliged them to hand in an exact list of their numbers, and to
sign all petitions with the name of each petitioner.
These regulations left to every citizen the right of expressing his opinion,
but cut through the fearful net of corporative unions, by means of which the
Jacobins had for three years tyrannized over France. An extremely warm debate on this
Ch. I.]
TRIAL OF THE NANTESE TERRORISTS.
203
subject arose in the Convention. The Left violently protested against
such a violation of the Rights of Man, and the eternal principles of justice
and patriotism; while the Thermidorians,
and above all Bourdon, pointed out that the union of clubs was a dangerous
aristocracy, whose power rivalled that of the Convention. Merlin, Bentabolle,
and Rewbell energetically supported him; a number of zealous Montag-nards, who had hitherto preserved a neutrality between Hebertists and Dantonists,
joined the majority, and the law was immediately carried without alteration.
The Jacobins ground their teeth when these new trammels were laid upon them,
but did not venture on any open resistance. Lejeune reproached
the old heroes of the party for preserving a guilty silence in the Convention;
"we have been for months," replied Billaud, "in an oppressed
condition, our speeches would not have furthered but rather injured the good
cause." "Yes, indeed," cried Fayau," "we are hard
pressed by the aristocracy ; a million of idlers are trying to rule over
France, and the word 'mob' is once more heard." Bassal endeavoured to
console them: "In the year 1791, too," he said, "a similar law
was passed, but the club quickly burst its fetters." "It is
true," he added, "that public opinion is for the present estranged
from the club, and our hope lies in the future."
In the present, indeed, the flood of retribution daily threatened to overwhelm them. Every sitting of the Revolutionary
tribunal revealed some nameless atrocity of the Nantese terrorists ; it is even
now impossible to read the account of these proceedings without horror; what
then must have been their effect upon the crowded audience before whose eyes these dreadful pictures were presented in fresh and lively
colours! The immense number of crimes rendered denial or palliation impossible;
and from the very beginning of the trial the accused had recourse to the sole
remaining means of defence—the repeated declaration that they
had only been passive tools in the hands of the Conventional
204
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
commissioner, the omnipotent Carrier. They did not thereby succeed in
clearing themselves, but they daily added to the load of proofs against their
great accomplice. With all the despair of convicted criminals they complained
of the injustice of persecuting them, the servants, while the originator of all these infamous
crimes still continued to sit in the hall of legislation. They called for
Carrier, and thousands from among the audience joined in the cry:
"Carrier! Carrier!" The Convention was still reluctant to commence a prosecution against a Deputy ; but the excitement of
the people left them no choice, and on the 20th of October Andre Dumont brought
the question before the Assembly. Tallien agreed that the Convention could not
remain silent, but he demanded that the greatest precaution
should be taken against the recurrence of judicial murders from political
motives, and proposed the appointment of a special commission
to report on the forms of procedxvre to be observed. This gave the Moderate
party an opportunity for a popular demonstration
which was productive of the most important consequences.
Mention had been made some days before of those seventy-three Deputies
who, in the summer of 1793, had signed a protest against the proceedings of May
the 31st, and who had on that account been imprisoned in September, and since
that time frequently threatened with death. One of their party now rose in the
Convention and said: "You very justly demand strict justice for
Carrier—reports, proofs and public discussion ; nothing is more necessary or
indispensable. But the seventy-three arrested Deputies have enjoyed no such
advantages; no one has examined them, no proofs of any crime have been brought
against them the report on their case which was to have been made a year ago is not yet in existence; I demand their immediate
restoration to their seats in this Assembly." The majority resisted, even
several of the Thermidorians showed some apprehension. "This," cried
Thuriot, "is a most important
Ch. I.]
ATTEMPT TO RESTORE THE 73 DEPUTIES.
205
question; are we to take measures against the 31st of May— the day
which lent its victorious energy to the Revolution, and saved France ? The
Convention in its present constitution desires the public good;
let us leave it as it is; the restoration of the seventy-three might
become a dangerous lever in the hands of the
Reaction."
This measure might, indeed, have changed entirely the whole character
of the Convention. Up to this time the contest lay between two factions of the Mountain—one of which sought the support of public
opinion and the Moderate Centre, in order to wrest the government from its
opponents. But by the restoration of the seventy-three, the Centre and the
Right might have gained a firm and independent majority, since there
were often not more than two hundred and fifty members present at the sittings.
In this case the Dantonists, who up to the end of 1793 had rivalled the other
factions of the Mountain in brutality, had no guarantee at all that they themselves should not suffer a retribution similar to that which
they were now on the point of preparing for the Hebertists. Neither Tallien nor
Merlin would consent to a disavowal of the 31st of May. They were so startled
by this proposal that they would not even listen to the
prayer of a Parisian Section to repeal the law respecting the suspects.
But the weight of public opinion, and still more the inexorable logic of facts, drove them on. On the 23d of October the
Committees brought up the draft of a law on the procedure to be observed in
case of complaints against a Deputy. There was no lack of protecting forms ; it
was provided that there should be first a declaration of the
Government Committees that there was sufficient ground for an examination; it
then ordained the formation of a commission of twenty - one members by lot;
then an investigation of the grounds of suspicion
brought forward by the Committees, without regard to any
other complaints; then a report of the commissioners that there was sufficient
206
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
ground for an impeachment, after three days' discussion in the
Convention, in which the delinquent was to take part; and
lastly, a resolution of the Convention on the indictment, and the impeachment,
of the accused before the proper tribunal, which, again, was to form
its judgment only on the charges brought by the Convention, without any regard to other complaints. It was nearly a week before these
numerous points were settled; Paris became more and more unruly, the Jacobins
endeavoured to raise the workmen of the Faubourgs; and the Election club, a
sister society of the Jacobins, presided over by a violent fanatic
named Baboeuf, preached open resistance to the Convention. The Government was
forced to take still more energetic measures. They dissolved the Election
club, and arrested a number of the loudest bawlers; and on the 29th the Committees declared that there was
sufficient reason for instituting an enquiry against Carrier.
The Commission -of 21 was then chosen by lot and the proceedings commenced.
There could be little doubt as to the result, unless the trial was
nipped in the bud, and no one saw this so clearly as
the members of the old Committee of Public Safety. The Nantese terrorists had
appealed to the orders of Carrier, and Carrier himself had only carried out the
commands of the Committee. The arguments brought forward to justify the condemnation of Carrier, applied with equal force to
Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois. In these straits Billaud threw off his
previous reserve in the Jacobin Club on the 3rd of November. One of the
speakers had loudly declaimed against the monopolists, the Jeunesse doree, the Talliens and the Frerons; another had complained that during the
trial of Carrier no mention had been made of the crimes of the Vendeans.
Whereupon Billaud-Varennes declared that the state of Paris at present was the same as at the time of the massacre in the Champs de Mars; that the
lion was not yet dead, but on the contrary would awake in aU his terrors and
tear his enemies. "The
Ch. I.] BILLAUD ROUSES THE JACOBINS TO RESISTANCE. 207
armies," he cried, "already stand
opposed to one another, the patriots are in the trenches, the breach is laid
open, and the people will rush with irresistible fury to the attack." Loud
shouts from the assembly accompanied these furious words.
The main hopes of the club rested, at that time, on the
melancholy condition jn which the working classes found themselves at the
approach of winter. The communistic legislation of the preceding autumn, which
in a few months had destroyed agriculture, manufactures, and trade, now recoiled upon the heads of its authors. Previously to the events of
Thermidor, the capital, and especially the proletaries,
had suffered the least, because the State provisioned Paris by its
requisitions, and gave the democratic mob constant means of subsistence from the pay of the Revolutionary
army, the Revolutionary committees, and the Popular assemblies. These sources
were now closed, and the misery of the workmen was extreme. It was with the
greatest difficulty that a barely sufficient supply of corn
was procured ; there was a great want of fuel,
and the commonest colonial wares, e. g. sugar,
were scarcely to be met with. The law against accaparement and the law of the maximum still
existed; but since those who transgressed them were no longer thrown into irons, they were kept by no one, and he who only offered assignats in payment was obliged either to give fabulous nominal values, or to
content himself with the worst of the goods. The
only effect which these laws still had was to impede trade, and thereby prevent the regular supply of food to the people. The
question of a formal abolition of the maximum had
already been mooted in the Convention; but the opposition of the Montagnards,
or fear of the proletaries, had prevented the Assembly from coming to any decision. It was a favourite task with the Jacobins to
represent to the starving people that the neglect of the law was the cause of
all their sufferings,
208
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
since they hoped by these means to rouse the lower classes
to a new contest against the Bourgeoisie.
The majority of the Convention was by no means blind to these dangers.
On the 4th they ordered the Committees to bring up a searching report on the
law of the maximum;
and,
on the 5th, Bentabolle referred to the seditious speech of Billaud-Varennes in
the Jacobin Club. The Mountain immediately raised a furious tumult,
but the majority did not allow themselves to be intimidated. Tallien declared
that all these intrigues had but one object, to rescue the men of blood
from a righteous retribution; Bourdon said that the Convention had, on a former
occasion, justly raised the poorer classes against the aristocracy; but that,
as in the case of a conflagration, impure elements had been mixed up with the rest—"bandits and thieves, who now bestir themselves because you wish to restore order." "The Jacobins
alone," cried Legendre, " are in motion; but behind you stands
the whole people of France in case of revolt; proceed
boldly against every Member who dares to preach rebellion,
and in other respects trust to your Comite de Stirete generate, which will crush all factions right and left."
Day by day these scenes were repeated, in which the debate from the very beginning was nothing but strife and confusion; the
whole hall resounded with expressions of wrath, and terms of personal abuse and
insult were exchanged between Right and Left. To-day
the Centre brought forward a motion that no Deputy should
be a member of the Jacobin Club; to-morrow, a Member of the Mountain proposed
that no Deputy should be allowed to write for a newspaper. From the Left loud
threats were heard against every one who shoidd raise the price of the poor
man's food by meddling with the maximum; the Right, in reply, brought forward reports from the south respecting
the shameless tyranny which the clubs of Dijon and Avignon had hitherto
exercised. The discussions in the Jacobin Club were no less
Ch. I.]
ATTACK ON THE JACOBIN CLUB.
209
tempestuous: they were furious at the unheard-of proceedings of the
Revolutionary tribunal, which allowed Chouans and Vendeans to appear as
witnesses against the Nantes patriots; they charged Tallien with high treason,
for endeavouring to make a disgracefuljpeace with foreign Powers. On the 9th
the Commission of Twenty-one announced that they had made up their minds
respecting Carrier, and that the report could be brought up on the second day
from that time. It was felt on all hands that the decisive day was
approaching, and the Thermidorians resolved to get the start of their opponents by a rapid coup de main. In the evening the Jeunesse doree were on the alert in the cafes of
the Palais Royal, and demanded with tumultuous cries
the closing of the Jacobin Club. Freron himself was among them, and fired their
courage by exciting speeches; until at last a strong column began its march to
storm the club. The Jacobins assembled in great numbers, and the gallery was
occupied with the usual crowd of democratic
"brothers and sisters." On the approach of their enemies they
barricaded the doors, endured for a time the shower of stones with which the
assailants shattered the windows, and at last, led on by some Deputies of the
Mountain, they endeavoured to escape by a sally. A
wild hand-to-hand fight ensued in the streets, in which the Jacobins were at
last defeated and driven back into their hall. The women endeavoured to save
themselves by flight, but most of them were seized, and flogged amidst sh'outs of derision at the "furies of the
guillotine"— the female disciples of Robespierre. In the midst of this
tumult, police-patrols and members of the Government committees came up, and
began a negotiation with the assailants; the final result
of which was that an undisturbed retreat was granted to the Jacobins, during
which, however, they were subjected to every kind
of derision and insult. Insignificant as this occurrence was when compared with
the great street battles of earlier and later times,
it was sufficient to annihilate the political existence of the IV. 0
210
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
once powerful club. It was fatal to its prestige that the ill-treatment
it had suffered was regarded as an unimportant
riot, that not a hand was raised in its defence, and that even the starving
workmen only thought of their own need, and no longer of the Jacobins. How the
Mountain raged when, in reply to its appeals to the Convention for vengeance,
the Comite
de Surete generate coolly replied that the best means of preventing
similar disturbances would be to close the club! The Left summoned all the
powers of their logic, their passion, and their lungs, and did in fact carry a
motion for a second report to be brought up by the Committees. They had got
up a deputation for the 11th from a democratic district of Paris, which,
with all the phraseology of 1793, demanded the punishment of the nefarious
rioters. The majority, however, in spite of all the bluster and stamping of the Left, paid them but little
attention, and turned with impatience to the ordre du jour, which summoned the spokesman of the Twenty-one to the rostra to deliver
his report. A general and breathless silence succeeded to the late tumult. The
report of the commission had with great care and
foresight eliminated all the delinquencies of Carrier for which his superiors
might be made answerable, and then drawn up a long list of charges, concluding
with a declaration from the Commission that there was, in their opinion, sufficient ground for an impeachment of Carrier. According
to the rules of procedure which had been laid down, the accused was allowed to
speak for himself. Carrier spoke for several hours, often in the greatest
excitement, and sometimes in utter confusion ; in the main he
rested his case on the fact that he had only enforced the laws, carried out the
wishes of the Committee and the Convention, and defended the holy cause of
freedom against the fanatics of La Vendee. He could hardly expect to produce any effect, because the Convention must have considered these points before they commenced proceedings against
him. In spite of the violent
opposition of the
Ch. I.] SUPPRESSION OP JACOBIN CLUB. 211
Mountain, orders -were issued for the arrest of Carrier. In the same
hour in which he was led to prison, the Government
decided the fate of the Jacobin Club, which half a year before had so
frequently encouraged Carrier's atrocities by wild applause. On the 12th the Committee of Public Safety announced to the Convention that
the Government had given orders in the proceeding night to close the Jacobin
Club. "They dared," said Laigneiot, "to rival you; they
proclaimed that 'the breach was made': they must therefore
be taught that there is but one national power in the Republic." Loud and never-ending applause from the Convention and the galleries expressed the public approval of this act.
The majority justly considered this a very important advantage. The most dangerous central organ of the
fallen rulers perished with this great club: and the assault on the whole body
of the old Committee of Public Safety was commenced by Carrier's prosecution.
Legendre once more brought forward his charges against Billaud-Varennes and his colleagues, and so strong and undisguised were the
feelings of the Convention against them, that even the Left checked the furious
outbursts of Billaud. While the act of impeachment
against Carrier was being discussed during five sittings,
the Convention continued to receive from all parts of the Republic louder and
louder complaints of the sufferings which had been endured during the Reign of
Terror. In the Department of Gard, Herault, and Avignon, a
number of peaceful peasants had been arrested, merchants prosecuted, and
the wealthy plundered ; and the blood-thirsty Revolutionary
tribunal of Nismes had extended its murderous operations
far and wide into the surrounding country. The name of the president, Courbis,
who arbitrarily condemned the prisoners to the scaffold
or the galleys, or transported them to the deadly swamps of Cayenne, was
execrated throughout the southern portion of the country. The Convention heard
02
212
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
with angry astonishment that the bloody
tribunals instituted by Couthon in Puy-de-D6me, Cantal, and Correze, had
continued their crimes for three months after the 9th of Thermidor, and had
incarcerated all those who possessed property, solely on account of their wealth. Boundless misery had excited boundless exasperation
amongst the inhabitants. In Montbrison a constitutional priest was surrounded
by a numerous sect who formed a project of deserting their accursed homes, and
founding a new empire in Jerusalem under the rule of Christ. Similar
cases occurred in the Department of Ardeche, where the associates of Couthon
had indulged their fury in the same way as in Puy-de-D6me; the peasants, as
they had done three years before, sought encouragement
and consolation for the sufferings of the Revolution
from non-juring priests in the recesses of the mountains. Bnt the thirst for
vengeance upon earth moved the hearts of men still more strongly than the
desire of heavenly consolation. There was not a single Department in all those regions, in which the authorities did not expect from
day to day a fearful explosion of popular wrath against the Jacobins. In the
west of France—in La Vendee and Bretagne—the civil war had not ceased for a
single hour, and though not carried on with such imposing forces as
in the former year, the extent of its operations was considerably enlarged.
It was indeed quite certain that after the great victories of the
Republic over the Allied armies, the Vendean rebels could no longer hope to
overthrow the government of* the Convention in France. But it was just as
clear, that under the present system of inexorable severity, the insurgents
would continue to fight with all the courage of despair, and that the Republic
would have to employ its best forces for years to come, in a
miserable and barren civil war. The generals who commanded in the rebel
provinces continually declared to the Committee of Public Safety that the mass
of the population had no longer any political
object in view, but that
Ch. I.]
AMNESTY FOR LA VENDEE.
213
they could not be put down as long as every individual amongst them was
fighting for life and property; and therefore, that a comprehensive amnesty
was the only effectual means of pacifying these provinces.
In spite of their abhorrence of Robespierre, the present
rulers could not easily consent to such an act of mercy towards the royalist rebels; but they were constrained by circumstances and public opinion,
and on the 1st of December the desired amnesty was granted by the
Convention. Carnot brought up the report in which the amnesty was proposed, and
not a voice was raised in opposition, when he pointed out that, according to
the laws existing in La Vendee, not only every armed insurgent, but every non-juring priest, every federalist, every inhabitant who had any kind
of intercourse with the rebels, was under sentence of death ; and that as more
than two-thirds of the population fell under these categories, no end to the
war could possibly be looked for. The decree, therefore, which promised full pardon to everyone who should lay down his
arms within a month, was a solemn condemnation of the terrorizing policy
pursued by the former government.
Under these circumstances Lecointre was no longer accused of calumny when he renewed his charges, on the 5th of December,
against the members of the old Committees. A deputation from the unhappy
village of Bedouin had appeared at the bar of the Assembly,
and excited the greatest horror by a description of its
misery. Legendre burst out with the words : "Carrier drowned men in
Nantes, Lebon raged like a fury in Arras, Maignet massacred in Orange, and the
Committee of Public Safety looked on in silence at all these horrors !—it is
absolutely necessary to call its members to account."
Lecointre then rose and announced that he was now in possession of the
documentary evidence for an impeachment. Almost without any further discussion
a decree was passed, in accordance with the new law, directing the three Government committees to report to the
Con
214
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XL
vention as speedily as possible on the case of Bedouin and all that was
connected with it.
Blow after blow now fell upon the devoted heads of the defeated party. After granting an amnesty to the Vendeans, it was impossible for
the Convention to reject the petition of the Seventy-three imprisoned deputies,
who were charged with no other offence than the expression of a different
opinion. On the 8th of December, therefore, they were restored to
their seats—together with three other members who had likewise been arbitrarily
excluded—amidst the joyful shouts of the Centre. The majority was thus secured
to the Moderate party, and the fate of the Jacobin leaders already sealed. On the following day, however, Gregoire mooted a question
of still greater import, by presenting a petition for restitution to his seat
from the proscribed Girondist Lanjuinais. Lanjuinais, like
Buzot and Vergniaud, had been proscribed for open
resistance to the revolution of the 31st of May: if, therefore, the Convention
acknowledged his innocence, it would thereby denounce the 31st of May as an
illegal deed of violence, and condemn the legality of its own rule since that
eventful day. The majority wavered, but no one dared to
oppose the motion openly in the present states of public opinion; they
therefore directed the three Committees to bring up a report within
three days. "While they were deliberating, parties outside were busily
preparing for the coming struggle. The workmen of
St. Antoine, set in motion by famine and the cold of winter, proclaimed their
intention of presenting "mass-petitions." The Jacobins had summoned
all the members of the old Revolutionary Committees from all the Departments to Paris, in order to be united and strong in case of an
outbreak. But the Bourgeoisie of Paris listened with revengful ears to the last proceedings of the
Nantese trial, at which Carrier still bore himself so proudly, that his
confidence and contempt of death, after such overwhelming
proofs of his guilt, excited alternately indignation
and horror. On the 16th the Court
pronounced
Ch. I.]
EXECUTION OF CARRIER.
215
judgment of death against Carrier and two of his accomplices, convicted the rest of the crimes
imputed to them, but acquitted them on the ground that there was no evidence of
counter-revolutionary intentions. The three who were condemned were immediately
led to execution, but their death was not sufficient to cool the public rage called forth by the acquittal of their associates. So
great a tumult was raised in Paris on the subject, that the Convention was
obliged to give orders to arrest the wretched men again, and after such a
crying violation of justice, to decree that the Revolutionary Tribunal
should be filled up by new members.
In the midst of this ever-varying excitement, the Committees brought up their report on the proscribed Girondists. It was a
faithful reflection of the uncertain position of affairs,
and the general suspense. "In accordance with the same patriotic
motives," said Merlin of Douay, "which induced
us to reinstate the seventy-three Deputies, the Committees
recommend that the proscribed Girondists should be subject to no further
prosecution, but should not be recalled into the Convention." It was an amnesty instead of a
restoration; the Committee offered personal security to the victims of the 31st
of May in order to obtain pardon for the memory of that dreadful day. The Right
murmured and demanded a discussion. Merlin cried,
"Do you wish to excite public opinion to the destruction of the whole Revolution?" "We demand for our colleagues," replied
Sala-din, "not mercy, but justice; if they are guilty, let them mount the
scaffold; if they are innocent, they ought once more to
take their seats." But the Thermidorians, who had all taken part in the
31st of May, for the most part joined the Left on this occasion. "To say a
word more on this subject," cried Legendre, "would be an injury to
the country." The Assembly was violently
moved, the President's call to order was no longer attended to; on the Right
more than a hundred voices demanded the appel nominal; the
216
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
Left called for the arrest of all the rioters. Amidst a
violent commotion the President at last declared that the proposal of the
Committees was adopted, and adjourned the sitting.
The Left thus gained a hardly earned victory, which did not long deter
their enemies from fresh assaults. On the 24th a zealous
Montagnard delivered a long oration on the dangers of the country, and
endeavoured to shew that freedom of trade had only benefited the
usurers, and freedom of the press the aristocrats. When
his friends proposed that his speech
should be printed, Legendre asked: "How long will the Convention allow
itself to be cajoled by a few scoundrels ?" The Left rose in angry tumult;
one of them attacked Legendre with his stick, and a terrible din was raised
throughout the whole hall. Legendre immediately explained that
he only referred to the three great criminals, the members of the old Committee
of Public Safety, whom he had already so frequently attacked. Collot d'Herbois
wished to reply, but in spite of all the efforts of his friends to obtain him a hearing, the majority drowned his voice by repeated
cries of ul'ordre
du jour!'''' The
same struggle was repeated at every sitting. The Right kept their eyes upon
their booty, and inexorably persisted in their demand for an immediate decision. On the 25th intelligence arrived of fresh intrigues of the
Jacobins in Marseilles: " Of course," said Couturier, "the
criminals will never be quiet as long as their chiefs go unpunished; why do the
Committees hesitate so long to bring up their report on
Lecointre's charges?" On the 26th Clauzel spoke of the Jacobin agitation in Paris, and concluded with a motion that the Committees should report on Lecointre's impeachment on the very next day.
"All France," cried he, "calls for the punishment of Carrier's masters." It was in vain that the latter represented that
Robespierre had been their enemy, and that they had done their best to
overthrow the tyrant. "We know," was the reply, "how the matter
stood. Robes-
Ch. I.]
"LE REVEIL DU PEUPLE."
217
pierre wished to proscribe you, that you might not share the power with
him; you helped to overthrow him, that you might possess the tyranny
alone." He had scarcely ended, when the majority demanded a division, and
immediately carried his motion. Duhem, one of the most active
and violent of the Jacobins, rushed to the rostra. "If Clauzel," he
cried, "who is a vile calumniator, does not prove his accusations, I
declare that I will kill him with my own hand." These words kindled the
wrath of the whole Assembly ; the majority wished to
drag Duhem from the rostra and send him to prison; he stood his ground,
however, took off his cravat as if to prepare for a wrestling-match, and
repeated his abuse. At last his opponents stopped his mouth by paying no attention to him and proceeding to the ordre du jour. On the 27th the Committees, in accordance with Clauzel's motion,
brought up the report which had been so loudly called for: they considered that
there was no reason for prosecuting Vouland, Amar and
David, but that there was sufficient ground for investigating the case of
Barere, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois and Vadier. The Convention refused
all further discussion and decreed the immediate formation of the Commission of
Twenty-one. The accused expressed their joy that the
opportunity was at last afforded them of annihilating the long list of
calumnnies against them, that they were no longer condemned to a silence which
their enemies imputed to the consciousness of guilt.
It was exactly five months since the 9th of Thermidor. On
that occasion Collot d'Herbois, as President of the Convention, had obstinately
refused to give a hearing to Robespierre; he now thanked the Convention for
giving him the opportunity of speaking on a charge which affected his life, Meanwhile a song had become popular in Paris among the Jeunesse doree, entitled tlle
Reveil du Peuple;" and while the Jacobin factions in the Convention were con
21*
FALL OF THE JACOBINS.
[Book XI.
tending with one another in the wildest hatred, the citizens might be
heard daily singing:
Quelle est cette lenteur barbare ?
Hdte-toi, peuple souverain, De rendre aux monstres du Tenare Tous ces buveurs
de sang humain!
Ch. ii.]
219
CHAPTER II. RESTORATION
OF THE GIRONDISTS.
State or paris, want and dissipation.—Opposition
to the communistic laws.—Discussion respecting the property of those who had been executed.—Abolition
of the maximum.—Longing
of the people after peace. — Party
of the independants.—The
thermidorians. — The
moderates.—War in
la vendee and bretagne.—The
chouans.— General hoche.—Negotiations.—Peace of la jaunais.—Arrest
of
billaud-varennes.—recall of the proscribed girondists. — The jacobins prepare for an insurrection. —
lecointre proposes tee iDOPTION of the constitution OF 1793. — discussion respecting billaed-varennes and his associates.—revolt of
the 12TH of germinal—Transportation
of billaud-varennes and collot-d'herbois.
During the
debates on the fate of Carrier, Billaud-Varennes and Collot
d'Herbois, winter had completely set in in Paris, and a period began such as
the capital had not seen for centuries. During a whole year not a soul in this
vast city had felt secure of his life or his property for a single hour. The dread of immediately impending death had brooded over all hearts;
the utter absence of all law had broken down the strength to labour and the
capacity for enjoyment, and had severed all the bonds of family, neighbourhood
and social intercourse. When, therefore, this fearfid tyranny
collapsed, it seemed as if a new life had all at once commenced. Imagine a
people who have escaped from their homes before the eruption of a volcano—and
who, on their return, greet the old familiar places in the midst of ruin and desolation, begin to set their house in order, to work, and to
make up for their long sufferings and privations by jubilant enjoyment— ! such
was the position and such the feelings of the Parisian citizens after Robespierre's fall. They
220
RESTORATION OE THE GIRONDISTS
[Book XI.
could not move a single step, or pass a single day, without crossing
the tracks of their former afflictions. There were few families who had not
furnished victims to the scaffold or the war; there was no rank or
profession which had not experienced a deep derangement of its prosperity. The
government of Robespierre, as we have seen, by its utter lawlessness and
desperate violence, had ruined all parts of the country, all classes of the people, all departments of trade. No one chose to work, because no one
was for a moment certain of reaping the fruits of his labour; every thing
tended to shew that the State was the only proprietor, agriculturer,
manufacturer and merchant, in the country. The consequences of this suicidal
system made themselves felt even in Robespierre's lifetime, and became more and
more disastrous every month after the fall of the dictator. Plentiful as had
been the crops of corn during this year, the perverseness of men prevailed, after all, over the prodigality of nature, and a scarcity
of provisions began to be felt in the autumn, which increased in the course of
the winter to a complete famine. The rural labourers had been carried off as
recruits, the horses had been seized for the army, the
land-owners had been incarcerated by thousands, and the
peasants had been scared away from the markets by the ridiculously low prices
of the maximum. The bitterest complaints were sent up from all the towns; the
authorities were no longer able, even by the greatest
exertions, "to procure a sufficient supply of corn. The case was not quite
so bad, in most of the Departments, with regard to meat as to bread, because
the law of the maximum had
forgotten to fix a tariff for live cattle, and the peasants had therefore
slaughtered as] few beasts as possible in Robespierre's time, and now brought
to market as much meat as was wanted at good prices. The capital alone derived
no advantage from this state of things; for Paris had for centuries drawn its chief supplies from the west of France, from La Vendee and
Bretagne,
Ch. H] SCARCITY OP BREAD AND
FUEL IN PARIS.
221
and these districts were now thoroughly exhausted by the civil war.
Even in the summer the butchers were only allowed to furnish meat
when the purchasers brought police cards, and in the autumn the daily portion
was reduced to a quarter of a pound a head. And thus many thousands of persons,
otherwise in good circumstances, lived for months on herbs and vegetables. Instead of bread they made shift with cold potatoes, of which
the supply was more abundant than usual, since Hebert and his associates had
ordered that all persons should convert their pleasure-gardens into
potato-fields, on pain of death. Even the rich man who gave a banquet
added to his invitation a request that each guest would bring his own bread.
Every morning the bakers' doors were besieged by a disorderly and clamorous
crowd, who began to assemble a few hours after midnight, in spite of the winter cold, eagerly awaiting the approach of morning; and who, as
soon as the shutters were opened, crowded and pushed one another in their wild
efforts to seize at last a few ounces of moist and sticky dough, which nothing
but hunger could render eatable. Towards the end of the year the
thermometer stood for a considerable time at 12° below zero, and from similar
causes a most distressing deficiency of fuel was added to the scarcity of food.
The forests had been laid waste, the canals were choked, and the roads broken up; the dealers in wood and coal carefully avoided the
towns, where the police or the mob might seize their goods in return for
worthless paper. The case was more or less the same with all branches of trade
and manufactures, as with these prime necessaries of life. Most of
the manufactories had ceased to work, since the
State had placed both workmen and raw materials under requisition. Foreign
trade no longer existed; what little the war had spared had been destroyed by
the absolute prohibition of the export of money; and for nearly a year the mere title of merchant, like
that of priest or nobleman, was sufficient to draw down the deadly hatred of
the Jacobins on him who
222
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
bore it. Every man lived on his capital, gave up all active business,
and broke ofY his mercantile connexions.
Since the fall of Robespierre, indeed, a great change had taken place
in all these circumstances. The maximum, which in spite of all terrorising measures had never obtained
complete mastery, became at once a dead letter, when the transgression of it
was no longer punished by death or transportation. The artisans, merchants, and
manufacturers, once more saw the possibility of labouring and earning; and business began to revive. But the difficulties still to be
overcome were enormous. All the natural relations
of property had been thrown out of gear by the enormous confiscations; in Paris
half the houses belonged to the Republic, and were thrown away at irregular and disorderly auctions. The assignats fell daily, and necessarily dragged down the credit of the State and
the individual citizens with them. No one felt any confidence in the future in
any respect; no one dared to make an investment
for any length of time, and it was still accounted a folly to curtail
the pleasures of the moment, to acquire or save for an uncertain
future. The intense feeling of triumph and joy which had filled the hearts of
the masses since the 9th of Thermidor, and which no obstacle or privation
could suppress, now manifested itself in all directions with tumultuous
violence. Life had so long been worthless that they now determined to taste its
delights, at whatever cost. Whoever possessed a handful of assignats or silver coins, hastened to spend them in
keen enjoyment, and the eager desire to catch at every passing pleasure filled
each heart with wild pulsations. In the autumn all the theatres had been
reopened, and were frequented with untiring zeal. The
audience added zest to the pleasure of the
representation by noisy interference; one evening a Jacobin actor was compelled
to beg pardon on his knees for his political opinions; on the next, the Jeunesse dorie climbed on to the stage to destroy the bust of Marat;
Ch. II.]
STATE OF SOCIETY IN PARIS.
223
on the third, they interrupted the play by singing reactionary songs,
or by a fight with angry Jacobins. The cabarets and cafes
were
no less filled than the theatres. Evening after evening every quarter of the city resounded with music and dancing. Men recalled the
times, in the Reign of Terror, when they were forced by the command of Government to dance at the national festivals, with grief and rage in their
hearts, and the remembrance sent them back with redoubled abandon to
the giddy round. These enjoyments, too, received a peculiar
colouring—glaring lights and gloomy shadows—from the recollections and feelings
of the Revolution. In the saloons of the upper classes a society of a highly
mixed character was to be found—influential statesmen, rich speculators,
brilliant, and by no means cruel, dames. They talked of politics amidst the
ringing of glasses and amorous intrigues; the ladies appeared in a costume
which they called "antique" because it
concealed nothing; the new aristocracy of the Revolution revelled in every kind
of luxurious and shameless enjoyment. In other circles no one was received who
had not lost a relative by the guillotine; the fashionable ball-dress imitated
the cropped hair and
the turned-back collar of those who were led to execution; and the gentlemen
challenged their partners to the dance with a peculiar nod, intended to remind
them of the fall of the severed head. "When the weather was a little
milder, numerous gardens were adorned with many coloured
lamps and wreaths of flowers, and balls and banquets were held by moonlight and
torchlight in the open air. The existing localities were not large enough to
receive the throng of guests, and new rooms were continually
prepared; one speculator decorated the court of the Carmelite monks, on whose
walls traces of the blood of the 2nd of September were still visible, and
another prepared the lately - levelled graves of the
churchyard of St. Sulpice as a dancing floor. The feelings
of the people, over-excited, and rendered callous by the horrors of the pre
221
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
ceding year, shewed no repugnance, and these balls, in the midst of
blood and rubbish, were as much frequented as any of the others. And
thus the most opposite things were brought into close and harrowing contrast.
When the jovial crowds dispersed to their homes towards morning, they were met
in the dimly-lighted streets by the starving and freezing creatures, who began their miserable siege of the bakers' shops as early as 2
o'clock. And whilst in the exterior circle of the city, in the boulevards, every kind of enjoyment and profusion was to be met
with, it was dangerous to tarry a quarter of a league outside the gates. From the general scarcity of food and the negligence of
the authorities, the roads became extremely unsafe,
and news of attacks by numerous bands of robbers was
continually brought to the city, so that the mails never ventured into the country without a guard.
These details will be sufficient to characterise the condition of the
country, and the dangers which impended over it. The leaders of the Moderate
party in the Convention clearly perceived that it was above all things
necessary to open the sources of production, and to give
the people work; and, from the beginning of November, not a day passed in which
the earnest attention of the Assembly was not called to these questions. The
course of things was exactly the same as in the party strife of politics. The Left condemned with the greatest anger every
deviation from the late system. They declared that to repeal the maximum, and sanction the freedom of trade, meant nothing else than to hand over
the people to the avarice of the egoists, the
monopolists and the usurers; that the State was bound to guarantee the means of
existence to every citizen, and consequently must not allow a hard-hearted
trader to drive the poor artisans to despair by excessive prices. The majority
wavered for a long time in doubt and apprehension. They
saw, indeed, clearly enough, the fatal perversity of the maximum, but they apprehended dangerous convulsions during the transi-
Ch. II.] REPEAL OF COMMUNISTIC LAWS. 225
tion to better principles. It was only too probable that the
abolition of forced prices might for a time, before any perceptible impulse had
been given to production, increase the scarcity of all wares, and thus add to
the distress and discontent of the poorer classes. That which first led to the enactment of the maximum was,
as we know, the fact that the dealers made a difference between money and assignats: and it was now apprehended that the abolition of the law would widen
this difference, i. e. depress
the value of paper money; and, since the State was supported
exclusively by assignats, every other evil seemed more tolerable than a further depreciation of
the paper money. The progress made was, consequently, extremely slow. On the
8th of November it had been very clearly proved that the
farmer could not possibly raise corn at the legal price. Various plans were
proposed, some deputies advocating a gradually sinking maximum, and others different tariffs for the North and South of the kingdom;
but they contented themselves at last with according to the corn-growers a
small addition to the previous price of corn. The question of home production
being settled, their attention was turned to foreign trade; for both had been
equally destroyed during the Reign of Terror. On the 9th of November, Johannot proposed that the sequestration which had been laid on
the property of the subjects of all the belligerent Powers should be removed.
The latter, of course, had made reprisals, and Johannot was able to prove that
while France had confiscated about 20 million francs of foreign
property, the French citizens had forfeited more than 50 millions. In spite of
these figures, however, he was unable to prevail over the Jacobins, or to gain
a majority. Another obstacle to foreign traffic was the unlimited power of the authorities to make requisitions of every kind. No
foreigner would venture to send a transport of goods to France which, as soon
as they had crossed the French frontier, might be stopped by the first
Conventional Commissioner, and appropriated at an arbitrary price. In rv. P
226
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
this case the Government succeeded, on the 26th of November, in taking a decided step, and obtaining a decree giving entire
security to foreign trade in the necessaries of life—and,
on the 27th, in all articles not forbidden — against all danger of requisition.
This first success paved the way for others. On the 2nd and 3rd of December, a
fresh discussion was raised respecting the scarcity of bread,
coals and wood. In consideration of the pressing necessity, the Committee of
Public Safety had once more had recourse to revolutionary measures, and had
ordered an extraordinary felling of wood; whereupon Cambon himself cried out,
that if this was done in all the Departments, the forests of
the country would be ruined for ever. On the 7th similar complaints were made of the want of flax and hemp; it was proposed that
loans should be made to the manufacturers— that a Chamber of Commerce should be
formed, &c: but Thibaudeau cried out: "No board or committees will
do any good; the only safety lies in complete freedom of trade, and in the
abolition of the maximum." Other voices supported him by saying that the maximum was
already abrogated by the force of facts, for that otherwise every
honest merchant would have long ago been mined; the result was that an order
was issued to the Committees to bring up a final report
on the whole question.
These debates took place during the same days in which Carrier stood at the bar of the Revolutionary Tribunal, and Lecointre renewed his
impeachment of Collot d'Herbois and his associates.
While the Committees were deliberating on the details of the report,
new phases of the great question were continually presented to the Convention, new consequences of the unbounded tyranny which the
Reign of Terror had spread over France. On the 10th of December a melancholy
procession appeared at the bar of the Assembly, composed of the widows and
orphans of the executed citizens, whose property,
according to the revolutionary laws, had been for-
Ch. II.] MITIGATION OF LAW
AGAINST EMIGRES. 227
feited to the State. These unhappy people described their boundless
sufferings: the Authorities had confiscated not only
the property of the condemned husband, but the fortune of the wife, and the
inheritance of the children from the mother's side; they had seized not only
houses and money, but all their furniture, clothes, linen, and household utensils, and then turned the poor creatures, helpless and
destitute, into the streets. In an acces of
humanity the Convention ordered the Committees to make a
more particular report on these cases, and decreed on the spot the suspension
of the sale of the remaining furniture. But immediately afterwards
revolutionary considerations made themselves heard. "If you restore the
furniture," said Lecointre, "you will soon have to give up the
estates also; you will be condemning the whole Revolution; you
will find no more purchasers for
your domains, and you will destroy your finances by depriving the assignats of the foundation of a firm security; in a word, you will not be
able to halt in your reactionary course." The Convention, which was still
wavering, allowed itself to be intimidated, and revoked its decree. Eight
days afterwards similar questions called forth similar apprehensions. Merlin of
Douay brought up a report in the name of the Government on the case of the
Alsatian peasants, who in the autumn of 1793 fled from the country to escape the fury of Eulogius
Schneider. Schneider had caused several thousands to' be cut down, and more
than 30,000 had escaped across the Rhine, and thus exposed themselves to the
dreadful penalties of the emigrant law. The same thing had happened in
the North on the frontiers of Belgium; a number of the best workmen had fled
out of Lyons from the horrors of the civil war; and of thirty thousand looms
only eighteen hundred were now at work. Nothing seemed more important than to restore so many skilful hands to the industry of the
country; and Merlin, accordingly, procured a decree, calling on the fugitives
to present themselves be-
P2
228
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
fore the Commissioners of their Departments for
the further examination of their case. On this occasion, too, the Deputies of the Mountain rose to protest with the greatest impetuosity: they said that nothing required to be treated with more
delicacy than the laws against the Emigres; that if one were allowed to return, all the others would present
themselves under a similar pretext, demand back their estates, and thereby
destroy the security of the assignats, and give the death-blow to the sinking credit of the State-They actually succeeded somewhat later in carrying a revocation of the decree: the Convention wished, indeed, to return to the
paths of law and freedom within the limits of modern France, but the Emigres, no less than the priests and noblemen, appeared
to them, without exception, pestiferous and outlawed ingredients of the ancien regime.
Under these exciting circumstances the Convention received, on the 22nd, the report on the law of the maximum. It was brought up by Johannot and Giraud, and recommended, as was to be expected, an entire
abandonment of the communistic system. It further proposed a strict enquiry into the state of the finances, freedom of commerce, reduction of
import duties, restoration of the property belonging
to subjects of the belligerent Powers, and lastly
abolition of the maximum. The Convention first voted a postponement of the question for three
days with a views to riper consideration. But the feelings of both friends and
enemies on the subject were too strong to be controlled.
As early as the 23rd Lecointre broke the ice by proposing that they should
repeal the maximum law
in general, and retain it only in the case of corn, the most absolutely
necessary food of the people. This proposal brought all sides of the house into commotion. It was objected that in that case the peasant would have
to give away his corn for 18 francs, while the State was daily paying 50 francs
to foreign sellers; that the land-owner was now obliged to pay his workmen, who
had received 2francs a day, three years ago,four times as
much;
Ch. II.]
REPEAL OP THE MAXIMUM LAW.
229
that not only wages hut all kinds of implements had risen in price, and
that the cost of production alone was considerably more than the price of
corn fixed by the maximum. A resolution was immediately passed, that all fixed prices of goods of
every kind should be abolished from that day forward. In the succeeding
sittings the law was discussed in all its details; the
right of requisition was limited to the necessities of the armies and the
capital, and all pending indictments on account of transgression of the maximum were
quashed. "While our Government," said Boissy d'Anglas, ■' is
endeavouring to secure the results of the Revolution to the people—on
the one side against the Royalists and Emigres, and on the other against bloody-minded men and murderers —it shews
itself in an "equal degree both revolutionary and republican, i. e. a
lover of justice and law; it endeavours to protect property, to
restore credit, and to give new life to the annihilated commerce of the
country."
The authors of this great restoration had the satisfaction of seeing
that none of the unfavourable prophecies, on which their opponents had founded their resistance, were realised. The scarcity of provisions remained
for a long time very great: the Reign of Terror had for two years crippled all
production and destroyed all traffic; and until the new harvest was gathered in, no system in the world could
have created something out of nothing, or converted want into superfluity. But
the continuance of the maximum would
have perpetuated misery and famine, and the abolition of the tariff at any rate
caused no deterioration in the position of affairs. Prices
rose but little, and kept pace with the value of the assignats; the latter, indeed, fell every week, but not more rapidly than it must
have done under the circumstances, with or without the maximum, from the increasing mass of paper money and the difficulty of exchanging it for silver. During the Reign of Terror the assignats fell from 45 to 33 per cent, and from the 9th of Thermidor to the 23rd
of De-pember, from 33 to 22 per cent; and this gradual deprecia
230
RESTORATION OP THE GIRONDISTS. [Book XI.
tion still continued. A month after the abolition of the maximum they stood at 19 per cent, and four weeks later at 17 per cent.1
Robespierre himself would have been just as little able to prevent this, as he
had been to keep them up at 40 in the summer.
The abolition of fixed prices was immediately followed, on the 29th of
December, by the removal of the sequestration on the property of German,
English and Spanish subjects. Three days afterwards Johannot did away with another favourite measure of the Reign of Terror—the prohibition of the export of coined money, and of all precious metals. On
this occasion Boissy d'Anglas explained at length that they could obtain no
foreign goods without paying for them in the end, either
with ready money or with other goods; but that France could not export the
latter, because her manufactures were ruined, and she must therefore return to
money payments. He pointed out that the former government
was likewise well aware of this, and had only issued the decree in order
to collect all the money in France into its own coffers, and thus to become the
sole proprietor in the land. "Our ministerial Commission of trade,"
said he, "was a gigantic institution, which supported 10,000 officials, carried on business with the whole of
Europe, and cost countless sums; but if we enquire what it has done for us, we
find that during the 19 months of its existence it imported 2Va million
cwt. of corn, the most necessary of all articles, —i. e. scarcely
enough for three days' consumption; so little is the most powerful government
able to replace the free operation of private trade." In accordance with these views,
1 According to the accounts of
exactly agree. The thousand times the French ministry
of finance (in repeated statements that the old Ramel, "finances de la France en Committee of Public Safety main-Can IX."), with which the contcm- tained them
at par, and that they porary notices of the Swiss (Yver- sank rapidly from the
spring of 1795, nois, coup d'oeil sur les assignats) are only echoes of Jacobin
pamphlets.
Ch. II.] GENERAL DESIRE OF PEACE IN FRANCE.
231
Boissy d'Anglas a few days later carried a decree for the dissolution
of the Commission. "It was," he cried,
"conceived in the same spirit as all the
other measures of the unhappy system; it was designed to take possession of the
whole trade of the country, just as other authorities of the all-powerful State
endeavoured to monopolise the agriculture and manufactures
of the land. Under such a rule France would become a corporation of
monks."
After coming to these important decisions, the Convention had some more
quiet weeks. The most encouraging intelligence was received from abroad:
the French armies were at that time penetrating into
Holland, the peace with Tuscany was concluded, the
negociations with Prussia seemed tending to a favourable issue, and the French
government saw a possibility before it of attaining in a short time to the
greatest of all blessings—the restoration of a general
peace. The mass of the population were highly rejoiced at this; we know how
closely the war policy was connected with the fury of the Revolution, and the
citizens longed for peace abroad with the same fervour as for order at home. The people at large were almost unanimous on this point, and
the Moderate party in the Convention had reasons enough not to oppose their
wishes. For the recruiting, after the enormous exertions and losses of the
former year, was attended with the greatest difficulties: and the
Government was still more painfully oppressed by the want of money, which
retarded the equipment of the troops in every quarter, and which, had it not
been for the resources of the conquered countries, would have
quickly ended in the utter disorganization of the
armies. The Jacobins, it is true, drew from these facts an entirely opposite
conclusion; just because they had no money at home,
they said, they ought to extend their conquests far and wide, and support the
emancipated Frenchmen at the expense of their
slavish neighbours. But no sooner had this opinion
been here and there openly expressed, than the public indignation against it
was
232
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
manifested, in the strongest manner. Whenever a
Parisian section appeared at the bar of the Convention, they seldom failed to
add to their charges against the Terrorists, that the latter, in addition to
their other crimes, had been guilty of hrowing obstacles in the way of a beneficent and necessary peace. The majority of the
Convention, the Committee, and the Government, avoided expressing themselves on
this point in any clear or decided manner. In the riding party itself there was
a great division of opinion; the majority was still unable fully to
discard the traditions of the Revolution in foreign as well as in domestic
policy, and endeavoured in both cases to hold a middle course. They were agreed
with regard to certain formula;: e. g. that
the Convention wished to uphold freedom and justice—that
it combated both Royalists and Terrorists—that it wished for peace abroad, but
only a safe and honourable peace. But when these propositions
had to be practically carried out, and applied to a particular -case, a great variety of opinions was manifested, and the majority gradually^
fell irito three distinct groups.
A set of men from among the Jacobins and the Thermidorians had united together under the title of Independents—all belonging to the former great party of the Mountain, and known as active participators in the general measures
of the Reign of Terror, but not involved in the factious struggles between
Danton, Hebert and Robespierre. They made no difficulty, therefore, in
abolishing everything which could prove to be the special creation of
Hebert and Robespierre ; but they were resolved not to
allow one tittle of the conquests of the Revolution, up to the spring of 1793,
to be wrested from them. It was in accordance with these views that Barras
procured a decree for the festive celebration of the 21st of January, the anniversary of Louis XVIth's
execution. Among their leaders was Merlin of Douay, who had drawn up the
terrible law against the suspects; Cam-baceres, who on the 22nd of January carried his motion for
Ch.
II.]
THE PARTY OF "INDEPENDENTS."
233
the further imprisonment of the children of Louis XVI, in opposition to
a milder one for their banishment; and lastly, the Abbe Sieyes, who, after
years of silence once more appeared in the rostra, and, as
formerly, endeavoured to inspire respect by taking up a mysterious and isolated
position between the parties. Not one of them would
at that time allow a doubt to be thrown on the continuance of the Republic, the maintenance of the assignats, or the retention of the confiscated estates, whether of the Church or
the Emigres:
and
in foreign policy, they inclined towards war and conquest,
and supported single efforts after peace only as weapons
against the other States of Europe. So that, after all, they were
distinguished from the pure Jacobins by no principle
of law or justice, but only by a somewhat different attitude in respect to
current affairs, according to which they abandoned the hated chiefs of the late
tyranny, helped to suppress the street riots and to
abolish the communistic laws. Their real inclinations were decidedly on the
side of the Left; if they had not had a personal fear of Billaud-Varennes and
Collot d'Herbois, they would gladly have reconciled
themselves with the Jacobins, and sealed their
alliance with the blood of the Royalists. What most of all decided them, was
the certainty that their past conduct would inevitably annihilate them if the
reaction should pass the line of defence which they themselves had drawn.
The Thermidorians, on the other hand—who numbered at that time about
150 members—were impelled by the same instinct of self-preservation more and
more towards the Right. They too had once dipped their hands in the blood of
the 2nd of September and the 21st of January, but their
former deeds were completely thrown into the shade by their late breach with
the Jacobins. They knew that destruction most certainly awaited them, not from
a restoration to power of the former parties, but of the men of the Reign of Terror. To avoid this greatest of all dangers, they were readjT to
make any concession to the older parties; they combated
234
t
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
the Jacobins with deadly fury, and the Royalists with languor and gentleness. Nay, as early as the autumn of 1794, we find their
chief carrying on zealous negotiations with emigrant
Constitutionalists and liberal Royalists. They deliberated
in common on the means of overthrowing the Jacobins,
of recalling the 73 to their seats and restoring the Girondists; and the
Thermidorians were not dismayed when their new allies mooted the question of
the constitution of 1791, and the raising of Louis XVII. from the dungeon of the Temple to a constitutional throne. Nay more, in
their unprincipled anxiety to secure their own personal interests at any price,
Tallien and several of his friends even entered into relations with the agents
of the emigrant Princes. On the 8th of January 1795, the Count of
Provence was able to announce to a companion of his exile, that Tallien was
gained over to the side of royalty, though he might not have the soundest views
of what a monarchy ought to be. The Royalists looked on the capacity of Tallien and Freron with contempt, and despised their character
still more; and the latter, under •nTier
circumstances, would not have hesitated a moment to send their secret
fellow-counsellors in cold blood to the scaffold. Their only object was to strengthen their influence with the Bourgeoisie, and under all circumstances to secure their own personal safety.
The third fraction of the majority consisted of the remains of the
Centre and the old Right (numbering 230 members, after the recall of the 73) whose principal leaders were still Boissy d'Anglas, Durand-Maillane
and Thibaudeau. Most of them had once tamely voted according to the commands of
the existing rulers; had helped to proclaim the Republic, contrary to their
personal convictions, on the first day of the Convention; had
then voted against the execution of Louis XVI., and had witnessed the
Revolution of the 31st of May with terror and disgust. The horrible experiences they had made since that time had further enlightened their minds,
and inspired them with a certain degree of
Ch.
II.]
THE CHOUANS OF LA VENDEE
235
resolution, the necessity of which was rendered more and more clear to
them by the long series of their former defeats. It was no secret that very few
among them regarded the Republic as possessing vitality, and that they would
openly assist in restoring the monarchy on the very first
opportunity. The Thermidorians, who, as old regicides, were not willing to
build up the throne again without firm guarantees for their own safety,
regarded them with shy mistrust, a feeling which the Moderates returned in the fullest measure from the bottom of their hearts. 1 They
still held together for the time, carried on the contest
against the Jacobins in the Convention, and wished for a speedy peace on easy
terms with foreign Powers. It was with this view that they condescended during the winter to negociate with La Vendee and the Chouans,
and to acknowledge as an almost independent Power
those whom they had hitherto branded as robbers and bandits. This is the proper
place for reviewing the events of the terrible civil war
during the preceding year.
The struggle in La Vendee, which was on the point of being extinguished
by the great defeats on the North of the Loire, was rekindled, as we have seen,
by the unutterable cruelties of Turreau's "hellish columns." Although
Turreau bad more than 70,000 men under his command he was not able to
overpower the troops of Stofflet, Marigny and Charette.
The entire population had fled into the woods, into whose pathless depths the
Republicans dared not venture; and in spite of hunger and
privations of every kind they held out firmly, and continued the unequal
contest against their oppressors with heroic perseverance. Charette above ill
was indefatigable, and inexhaustible in his resources; he was in perpetual
motion between the enemy's columns, and was nowhere to be
found or to be seized until he saw his opportunity, and then by a sudden rush
he overpowered
> Mallet du Pan, Memoires II. 120 ff.
236
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
an isolated opponent. The alarm was then raised in
the nearest divisions of the Republicans, but before the reinforcements could hurry up Charette had disappeared again, to emerge in
a few days at the opposite end of the theatre of war, to the terror and
destruction of the enemy.
This went on through the whole of the spring, and Turreau's soldiers were at the same time brutalised and enervated by the incessant burnings and slaughterings which they
inflicted on the occupied districts. In May, 1794, matters had come to such a pass that they nowhere dared to keep the field before the
peasants, that Turreau withdrew entirely from Poitou and Anjou, and that
Charette and Stofflet were able to establish a complete military and political organization in both these provinces. Carnot
at that time recalled General Turreau, and, in spite of Robespierre's
opposition, gave his successor, General Vimeux, permission to carry on the war
in a more humane manner. The latter collected his troops in fortified camps on
the borders of the country, and began his campaign by a
proclamation, in which he offered the peasants a truce until the 19th of July.
The Vendeans made use of this pause to complete the arrangements of their provisional government, and to open a correspondence with England, the British Ministry, and the Count
d'Artois. They paid little attention to Vimeux's peaceful words; they had too
often experienced the uncertainty of republican promises; it
was more especially a clergyman, the Abbe Bernier, a restless, ambitious and
crafty man, who used his influence, first with Stofflet, and through him
with Charette, to prevent all thoughts of peace with the Republic. Vimeux,
meanwhile, incurred the displeasure of the Committee of Public Safety, and was
replaced by General Dumas; the contest then began afresh, but without any better results for the Republicans. On the contrary, Charette stormed two of their fortified camps and sent some of
his bands to range as far as the walls of Nantes; so that General Canclaux, who
succeeded Dumas in
Ch. H.]
STATE OF BRETAGNE.
237
October, openly told the Government that the Republic must make the
first advances towards peace with the enemy, that the troops were exhausted,
and that La "Vendee, which they had intended to annihilate, was triumphant.
The republican cause was at that time scarcely more fortunate in the neighbouring province of Bretagne. The peasants of this
wide peninsula had hitherto preserved their Celtic peculiarities almost
unchanged. Not a tenth part of them understood French; they lived on their
scattered farms with the same manners, dress, and modes of labour, which
the Romans had observed among them seventeen centuries before. They had quite a
mediaeval attachment to their religion and their
Church, whose dogmas and festivals they had adorned with
a number of ancient heathen superstitions. They had scarcely any idea at all of
State or politics; the Bourbon government had made no attempt to force its
administration on these stubborn, cunning, and frugal people, but had left the collection of the taxes to men chosen and trusted by
the peasants, and the administration of justice to the noble Seigneurs and the
Parliament at Rennes. No one needed to serve in the army unless he offered
himself voluntarily; but many thousands
steeled their military courage in . an eternal war against the Government
officers who collected the salt-tax and other duties. When the Revolution took
place, the peasants were highly pleased by the abolition of the feudal
privileges and the royal tax on salt; but their opinions
were completely changed when the persecution of the clergy began, and the first
great levy of 300,000 men was decreed in the spring of 1793. Riots took place
in all the districts; but the different bodies of insurgents were not united into one connected army, as in La Vendee, and
the national guards of the towns generally succeeded in defeating the rebels;
General Canclaux, therefore, who commanded af that time in Rennes, succeeded,
in May in inducing the Conventional Commissioners to act with greater moderation, and, by shewing
238 RESTORATION OP THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
mercy to the priests and postponing the recruiting, to appease the
minds of the majority. A poor peasant, named Jean
Cottereau, had distinguished himself in this movement above all his companions,
and his family bore the name of Chouans (Chat-huans) or "night owls."
He had been all his life a smuggler, but when seized had been pardoned by the
king; and from his great strength and intrepidity, and his
ardent religious devotion, he had always remained the hero and leader of his
village comrades. The name of Chouan passed from him to all the insurgents of
Bretagne, although he himself never led more than a few hundred peasants, who obeyed him, as they said, out of friendship. In the summer
of 1793 the contest between the Gironde and the Mountain extended even to these
regions. Count Joseph de Puisaye, one of the liberal nobles in the Constituent
Assembly, had allied himself in Normandy with Buzot and his
associates, in opposition to the Convention. He was a tall and stately man
with much supple tact, which fitted him for every position in life ; without
'great military talent, but full of personal courage and love of adventure; imposing and winning in his manner, equally skilful
in inspiring enthusiasm into Breton smugglers and English Ministers; equally
ready to join in a skirmish in the woods,~ or to shine in the aristocratic luxury of courts. After the fall of the Gironde, he joined the ranks of the Chouans, quickly gained their confidence, and was incessantly employed in endeavouring to bring their
numerous bands once more into action, and to give them the organization and
unity of a regular army. In doing this he met
with the greatest difficulties. The Bretons were more stubborn, self-willed,
and clumsy than the Vendeans, more cruel towards the enemy, and more impatient
of control from above. Meanwhile 'the inroad of the great Vendean army took
place—the victories of Laval and Dol, and the march
across the whole peninsula to Granville. A number of Breton volunteers had
previously joined the Vendeans, and among them the gigantic and daring
Ch.
II.] HOCHE
RECOMMENDS PEACE WITH LA VENDEE. 239
George Cacloudal; Jean Chouan hastened to them after the battle of
Laval, but Puisaye was hindered by the enemy's troops. The insurrection,
however, immediately spread through four-fifths of the province, and the final
defeat of the Vendean army by no means restored peace to the land. The burning tree indeed had fallen
beneath the blows of the Republicans, but the sparks were only spread the more
widely, and kindled innumerable smaller conflagrations. Ca-doudal now carried
on the struggle in his own country with his own ressources. M.
Boishardi, a nobleman of ancient family,. excited the peasants in Morbihan, and
Jean Cotterean kept Mens and its neighbourhood perpetually on the alert. They
fought no great battles, but made chase after every isolated troop, seized the money-chests and mails, captured the republican officials,
and occupied the whole hostile army by this restless guerilla warfare. Puisaye
gradually gave them a firmer organization, induced most of the bands to receive
an unprincipled but courageous adventurer—a so-called Baron Cormatin
1—as chief leader of all their operations,
and then hastened, in the summer of 1794, to London to deliberate with the
English Government respecting a joint movement on a grand scale. In October,
the Republicans had suffered such great losses that the
Committee of Public Safety sent out their best general, Hoche, the celebrated
saviour of Landau, to combat the Chouans. The general, who was as sharp-sighted
in politics as he was vigorous in the field, sent a report in a few weeks of a similar tenor to that of Canclaux. He declared that
unless something were done to propitiate the minds of the Chouans, this war
would
1 According to a note in the Moniteur, June 3rd, 1796, he was the son of a village barher, and his barony in the moon; he had fought in the American war, joined the
Lameths, and afterwards played the demagogue with tbem; but having subsequently
compromised himself by aiding Bouille in the flight of the king, he had been
obliged to emigrate.
240
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
never be ended; and the Committee of Public Safety, as we have seen, in
the beginning of December, consented to issue a comprehensive amnesty for all
those who should have laid down their arms within a month.
Every one knew that this was only the introduction to formal
negociations of peace. General Canclaux and the Conventional commissioner,
Ruelle, made every effort to communicate with Charette. A Creole
lady, Madame Gasnier, living in Nantes, who had formerly nursed
the royalist prisoners with self-sacrificing humanity,
and protected them against Carrier's murderous bands, now made her way to
Charette, not without personal danger, and brought him the first words of peace
on the 28th of December. His first answer was a
demand for the immediate restoration of the king to his throne, but he soon
found it necessary to lower his pretensions. La Vendee, although for the moment
victorious, was exhausted to the last degree by the long wars. At least a third of its population had perished in battle, or in
prison, or by want and misery. Most of the towns and villages had been burned to the ground, or deserted by their inhabitants;
in the town of Chollet only one man was left, and whenever he went out into the lonely streets to seek food, he was obliged to
defend himself against the wolves which had taken possession of the deserted
houses. Charette was of opinion that the country had abundantly manifested its
willingness to die for King and Church; it was now time, he thought,
to consider, not only political powers, but the happiness and misery of
individual men. His officers agreed with their chief that an honourable peace
ought not to be rejected, and two of them went to Nantes to settle the conditions with the Conventional commissioners. The latter demanded,
first of all, the recognition of the Republican Government, which the
Vendeans were ready to grant; on their own side they brought forward a long
list of conditions, which made La Vendee virtually an imperimn in imperio. No departmental or district authorities were to be
Ch. H.]
PEACE OF LA JAUNAIS.
241
formed in the name of the Republic, the Catholic service was to be
celebrated without let or hindrance, the country was to receive compensation
for its war expenses, and Charette's troops were to be maintained in arms as
militia in the pay of the Republic, and commanded by their present
leaders. The Commissioners could not grant the province such a degree of
independence, but they persisted in their assurances
of their earnest desire of peace, and in private conversation
declared their readiness to assist in restoring the monarchy as soon
as possible. Such concessions almost made Charette doubt whether the
negotiation was .honestly meant; but all the intelligence from Paris confirmed
the rising spirit of the monarchical parties, and he determined to run the risk. Stofflet and Bernier, on the contrary, would hear of no peace
which did not commence by raising Louis XVII. to the throne of his fathers;
Stofflet cried, "the King or death," and immediately recommenced
hostilities. Nevertheless Charette attended a
conference at the castle of La Jaunais, a league from Nantes, where the treaty
was signed on the 18th of February. The Conventional commissioners, it is true,
avoided the form of a bilateral contract, and Charette consented that the
contents of their agreement should be published in the
form of orders of the Commissioners; but in fact he gained several very
important concessions. Among these were unlimited freedom of religious worship—the redemption of the royalist paper-money to the amount
of 2 million francs—a general amnesty, protection, and support for all inhabitants without distinction —the
formation of a national militia of 2,000 men—exemption of the youth of the
country from all other military service— and considerable money-payments to the
principal chiefs of the Royalists.1 We
shall hereafter become acquainted with the practical difficulties of carrying
out these arrangements;
1 The last point formed the sole
contents of some often mentioned
secret articles.
iv. Q
242
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
the worst thing was that from the very beginning neither side felt any
confidence in the honesty of the other. Charette
was strongly imbued with a feeling of distrust, and expressed it to his
peasants on the very day after the conclusion of the peace. "Do you suppose," said he, "that I
have becomme a Republican since yesterday? What we have agreed to is no peace,
but a cessation of arms, which was indispensable to us. Under cover of this
truce we can wait for the help of the monarchs of
Europe, which has been so often promised us; we retain our arms and our
colours, and if the enemy has laid a trap for us, we shall easily avoid it,
since we see it beforehand, and I am in the midst of you."
Yet, however insecure the position of affairs might
be, it was a fact that Charette had acknowledged the Republic, and the Republic
the internal independence of La Vendee, and this understanding had its natural
and ever-increasing effect. The war between Stofflet and Canclanx was continued in single bloody battles, but the former system of
inexorable destruction was entirely given up, and the
Republicans were indefatigable in their efforts for
reconciliation after every collision. In Bretagne, the young
general, Humbert, provided with comprehensive powers by
Hoche and the Conventional commissioners, gained the ear of the frivolous and
fickle Cormatin, as well as the most dreaded of the Breton leaders, the bold
and steadfast Boishardi. Numerous conferences took place during December and January; and as early as the 12th of February, Cormatin
and some other chiefs declared their willingness to make peace on the same
conditions as Charette. The confidence on either side was no greater in
Bretagne than in La Vendee. As late as the 31st of December, Cormatin had
sent word to Count Puisaye that no arrangement could ever be come to, and that
he was only negotiating to gain time and to unite with Charette. But General
Hoche, on learning that several hundred Emigre's from London had landed, demanded a
Ch.
II.]
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.
243
reinforcement of 10,000 men from the Committee of Public Safety. There
was, however, the same feeling of utter exhaustion in Paris as in La Vendee;
the path of reconciliation was once for all entered, and
one chief after another sent in his submission on the conditions of La Jaunais.
In all quarters matters tended towards a temporary pacification ' of the much
suffering land.
Moreover, about the same time, the Convention took a
very important step towards closing the chief source of the civil war, by
putting an end to the great ecclesiastical feud. At first, as we have seen, the
revolutionary rancour was directed solely against the non-juring priests, while
the "constitutional" clergy were organised as
the hierarchy of a salaried State church. But subsequently to 1793 the turn
came to the constitutional priests also. Their celibacy was ibolished, and they
were charged, like the non-jurors, with superstition and fanaticism; the worship of Reason was proclaimed as the established religion, and
all catholic priests, without distinction, were subjected to every kind of
persecution. This hostility against Catholicism underwent but little change
when Robespierre caused the existence of an Etre supreme to be formally decreed; or even when the 9th of Thermidor brought the
Reign of Terror to an end. The democratic leaders were well aware that the
majority of the French people entertained Roman-catholic opinions; they saw no
less clearly that these opinions were diametrically opposed to the principles of the Revolution. Their consciousness
of these facts had hitherto prevented them from carrying out the "Rights
of man" to their extreme logical consequences, by leaving all
ecclesiastical arrangements
to the free will of individuals. On the contrary, with the view of freeing the
people from priestly leading-strings, even against their will, they had always
adhered to the principle of a State religion, and had proclaimed, as such—in
the place of Roman Catholicism—the cultus of
the "constitutional church," of Reason, and of the Supreme
Q2
244
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
Being, in succession. All these attempts, although made
with unbounded severity, and backed by all the powers of democratic terrorism,
had, in the main, entirely failed. None of these substitutes had been able
fully to convince the mind or to gain the heart. Nay more, the insufficiency of each became more evident, in proportion as it receded
further from the doctrines of the ancient faith. Nevertheless many of the
Montagnards thought that they ought not to give up their hopes; they kept their
object well in view, and looked about for milder, and, at the same
time, more effectual, means of attaining it, in accordance with the change in
the public mind since the day of Thermidor, Instead of brutal violence, they
proposed, from considerations in themselves altogether sound, to [substitute the gradual transformation of moral sentiments, by the
all-powerful influence of education. They urged,
therefore, that the Government should liberate the rising generation in the
schools from the bonds of superstition, and imbue them with the spirit of pure philosophy; that it should exercise an influence on the habits of adults, by weaning them from the celebration
of the Sunday, and instituting attractive festivities on the decades—the
republican holidays. Unfortunately, the schools were for
the most part broken up, and the proposed new system of instruction
existed, for the present, only on paper. The decade festivals, too, were
melancholy failures. The people had no taste for the republican
idylls, with which for a whole year the guillotine had
been surrounded. The Jacobin Montagnards grew extremely impatient. They
incessantly repeated that the growth of fanaticism brought the greatest danger
to freedom —that there was the most urgent necessity for some remedy by which a
radical cure of the public feeling might be effected.
Thus far they were perfectly in the right—that their hopes of realising
their political ideal were built on sand, unless catholic views could be
supplanted by other and very- dif-
Ch.
II.] ATTACHMENT OF THE FRENCH TO CATHOLICISM. 245
ferent ones. But an existing religion is not to be put down by criticism and science
alone, nor by official measures and official oppression; it can only be
supplanted by another religion of greater power and vitality. Luther made head against the Popes of his day, because he was able to rouse the religious
feelings of men more strongly, and to afford them deeper gratification, than his opponents. And in the same way the disciples of Loyola, a hundred years later, gained their victory over the theology of the Lutherans, from which the life and spirit had
departed, because they fought under the influence of a fresh and ardent
religious enthusiasm. But for the task of founding a new State religion, the Montagnards lacked nothing more nor less than a religion itself.1 With respect to the relation between man
and man, they had set up a complete and elaborate system
of morality, politics, and international law; but in regard to the relation
between man and the Infinite, they had nothing
but negation; no wonder then that the results too were merely negative.
And thus they were unable either to
destroy the ancient Church, or to establish another cultus in its place. If war and violence were ever to cease
in the religious world, the revolutionary government had no alternative. Hazardous as it might appear to them,
considering the undoubted attachment of the great mass of the people to Catholicism, they were
obliged to make up their minds to acknowledge
1 This appears to me to be the
simple answer to Edgar Quinet's book on the Revolution, the scope of which
lies in the single proposition; the Revolution failed to
attain its object because it was not able entirely to destroy the catholic
church. I shall certainly not deny that the prevalence of
Roman Catholicism in a nation, adds greatly to
the difficulty of establishing a liberal or republican form of government; but
as long as the liberal party is unable to overcome tbe hostile hierarchy with
weapons drawn from the armoury of religion itself,
it can do nothing more perverse and futile than to strengthen its opponents by
material persecution.
246
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book. XI.
the freedom of the individual, as the
basis of their ecclesiastical system. The Convention
girded themselves most unwillingly to the task; and came to a clear and
definite ;esolution in this matter with the same reluctance, as on questions of
political economy. But in both cases they were driven
on by the logic of facts. As early as
September,
1794, financial distress had led to the adoption of Cambon's motion,
that the State should for the future pay nothing towards the maintenance of the
churches or the ministers of any religious confession.
But if the cost of the externals of religious worship was to be defrayed solely
from the contributions of the worshippers, it was impossible to evade the
conclusion, that its internal arrangements also must be committed to the same
hands, and all ecclesiastical regulations
on the part of the State withdrawn. Yet many a month passed away before the
Convention could be brought to acknowledge the conclusiveness of this
reasoning. Even in December, 1794, Gregoire appealed in vain to their compassion and their sense of justice, to put an
end to the lamentable persecution of the priests. As late as January,
1795, a decree was issued which enjoined afresh the strictest
observance of all the laws against non-jurors. It needed all the pressure
exercised on the Convention by the state of affairs in
Paris, in the Departments, and La Vendee, before Boissy d'Anglas was allowed,
in the name of the Government commissions, to lay the final law before the
Assembly on the 21st of February. Even then the feeling of the members was such, that the proposer recommended them to grant freedom
of worship chiefly with the view of depriving religion of the halo of
martyrdom, and thereby opening the way for the principles of philosophy, to be
diffused by the future system of public instruction. Henceforward
religious dogmas and religious worship were to be left entirely to the decision
of the individual citizen; the religious communities were to be treated,
without either favour or hindrance of any kind, according to the general laws of association; and the State
Ch.
II.]
DISESTABLISHMENT,
247
was to look down upon religious error with the eye of enlightened
tolerance. Accordingly the law ordained that no worship might be disturbed;
that, as the State contributed nothing towards the maintenance
of religion, no religious services might be held in the churches, because these
had become the property of the nation; that, as religious worship had no longer
any connection with public life, the meeting-houses should bear no external marks of their destination; that the congregation
should not be publicly summoned to the place of worship; and that no religious
service should be performed outside the meetinghouses.
To fill up the measure of these arbitrary restrictions, the
Convention added to this law an express declaration, that the existing penal
enactments against non-jurors were not thereby annulled—a declaration which in
the connexion in which it occurs was barbarous even to absurdity. The
non-juring priests had been threatened with punishment,
because they refused to acknowledge the law by which the civil constitution of
the church was fixed. But now, in November, 1793, the constitutional church
itself was dashed to pieces by the revolutionary rulers, and its fragments declared by the new law to be mere private associations, like the
congregations of Protestants or Jews. And yet the Catholic priests were to
remain subject to the most cruel punishment, for refusing to take the oaths to
a constitution which no longer had any existence! The worst
caprices of power are never without some juridical theory to justify them; and
in this case, too, it was argued, that these priests had incurred the penalty
of the law against non-jurors at the time of its existence; and that one could not, without a violation of the jus quaesitum, deprive the culprits of the benefit of the penalties once imposed upon
them!
The new law, therefore, was in the highest degree defective. It
announced as its guiding principle, not only the religious freedom of every individual, but the complete separation of the Church
from the State. While, hitherto, the
State
248
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
had claimed absolute supremacy over the Church, it now declared its own
absolute nullity in respect to ecclesiastical affairs. Here too the Revolution
oscillated from one extreme 10 the other; but it fully indemnified itself in practice , by embittering
the liberty it had just proclaimed by a series of arbitrary restrictions, some
of which were maliciously trivial, such as the prohibition of church bells, and
others were odious remnants of persecuting laws, such as the
maintenance of the penal enactments against non-juring priests. Yet in spite of
all these drawbacks, the law of the 3d of Ventose, when compared with the
former state of things, was an immense gain. A load of cruelty, oppression and misery, was thereby suddenly lifted from off the land, the
consciences of many millions calmed, and the open war between Church and
State brought to an end. In principle, at any rate, the Revolution had given up
its claim to force the existing generation of men by imperious
commands, into new religious convictions.
These proceedings excited the liveliest wrath among the Jacobins and
their fellow-politicians. The Convention, they said, were negociating with the
"robbers" of La Vendee, as one sovereign power with another; they
were punishing the leaders of the "hellish columns," as if sound
revolutionary opinions were no justification for arson, rape and murder; they
left it to the "pedlars" to fix the price of their own wares, and the
poor people—the men of the 13th of August and 2nd
of September—were to see how they could still their hunger by hard work. The Emigres returned
into the land by troops in spite of all the penal laws; the Jeunesse dor'ee threw Marat's bust into the sewers, and the Convention moved his bones from the Pantheon; royalist pamphlets were sold in masses in Paris, and the authors, if they were
prosecuted at all, were acquitted by the Revolutionary
Tribunal. The Mountain party daily raised fresh storms upon these points in the Convention ;the deputy Duhem an impulsive and passionate man,
carried matters so far that
Ch. II.] JACOBIN RISINGS IN TOULON, MARSEILLES &o.
249
he was at last punished for his abusive words and riotous behaviour by
an imprisonment of several days. Whereupon Choudieu
and Cambon declared that the whole party would accompany their friend to his
place of confinement. Dumont replied, that the object of all these disturbances
was to hinder the approaching and much-desired peace with foreign countries, because the men of blood well knew that their rule
would not be endured by the returning armies. In February the indications
increased that the Jacobins intended to liberate their threatened chiefs by a
violent outbreak, and to excite the lower classes against the
Convention. In spite of the incessant transports of corn which arrived in
Paris, reports were spread that the magazines were empty, and that after a few
days the bakers woidd furnish no more bread. People were seized in the neighbourhood of Paris who were stopping the transports of corn, and
advising the Communes to consume it themselves, since Paris was plentifully supplied. Then followed daily riots at the bakers1 shops,
complaints of insufficient supplies, and anger at the continual want. The Government, on the other hand, represented that the consumption of flour was extraordinarily great, and
that under the ancien' regime, with a more numerous population and a greater influx of strangers, only
1,500 sacks a day were required; that now 1,900, and often 2,000
sacks, and even more, were distributed and consumed in a day. Boissy d'Anglas,
who made these communications, concluded by declaring that it was the adherents
of Robespierre who kept up this excitement to
stop the proceedings against Collot d'Herbois and his
associates. Meanwhile the news arrived of the Jacobin risings in Nancy, Toulon,
and Marseilles; they were, indeed, quickly suppressed, but they served to
exasperate the citizens afresh, and several Parisian sections repeatedly demanded the speedy punishment of the great criminals. The
Commission of Twenty-one were working with might and main, and several times
asked for delay on account of the enormous mass of materials which
250
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS. [Book XI.
they had to wade through. At last, hard pressed on every side, Saladin
brought up the report on the 2nd of March, which was listened to with the
greatest suspense. He unfolded in a speech of several hours
the endless series of cruel and illegal oppressions with
which the Reign of Terror had afflicted the land, and concluded by moving that
the four accused Deputies should he brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Legendre then carried a decree amidst great applause for the immediate arrest of the accused; whereupon Collot d'Herbois,
with unfaltering firmness, demanded that a strict examination should be made
into his own deeds, but that the sentence should be passed according to the principle that everything necessary was just and unpunishable—"for otherwise," he cried,
"past, present, and future are destroyed, and the entire Revolution is condemned." The discussion on the act of impeachment was then fixed
for the 22nd, in order to afford the prosecuted members time to prepare their defence, and the Convention time for deliberation.
Public opinion was meantime turned with similar views in an opposite
direction. As it had brought about the criminal indictment against Collot
d'Herbois, it now again took up the cause of the
proscribed Girondists. On the 1st of March numerous deputations from three
Parisian sections appeared at the bar of the Assembly, to demand the
restoration of these unjustly condemned men. The Moderate party had always been
in favour of this measure; the Thermidorians, who were looking
forward to a hot contest with the Jacobins, dropped their former objections;
and even amongst the Independents, many yielded to the
pressure of the popular movement. On the 8th of March, therefore, the decisive
debate was held. Chenier brought forward a
proposition to the effect that the restoration of the Girondists was just, that
it was demanded by the sovereign voice of the nation, and that it would lead to
no further steps of vengeance in the Convention. Bentabolle raised his voice from the Moun-
Cri. n.] RECALL OF THE PROSCRIBED
GIRONDISTS.
251
tain in violent opposition. "You appear," said he, "not
to estimate the consequences of such a resolution. Whence come we ? Whither are
you leading us ?" Several voices interrupted him
with the answer: " Out of tyranny to the Republic." He resumed his
argument. "You forget that several of these Deputies lie under a formal
criminal indictment."—"This indictment,"
shouted his opponents, "was wrested from the
Convention itself by the force of terror." "Then," he cried,
"all your laws and all your indictments are futile; and terror has in an
equal degree, day by day, ruled in the Convention." He was interrupted by
a still greater tumult from everj' side; they
reminded him that when the Girondists were expelled, the Convention was
surrounded by armed bands, kept prisoner in its own hall, and threatened with
violence and murder. "Then," cried he, "you wish to attack the
31st of May."—"Yes, yes," resounded from the Right. "Then you arraign the Parisian citizens, the 80,000 who
made the 31st of May." Andre Dumont rose with great zeal, and said:
"we do not wish to prosecute the 80,000 ignorant men, but the malignant
leaders who at that time seduced the people to a breach
of the law." "Posterity," said Sieyes, in a speech of some
length, "will divide the history of the Convention into two sections;
before the 31st of May the Convention was oppressed
by the misguided people, and after that date the people was oppressed by the enslaved Convention." The organ of the Government
Committees, Merlin of Douay, now ascended the rostra. "I do not say,"
he began, "that courage is necessary to perform my task, but I do say that
I see no possibility of declining it." He then laid the facts before them, and concluded with a motion, that as the faction
of the tyrants, which had to be taken into account in December, was no longer dangerous, the Convention, by a grand act of
justice, should recall the expelled Deputies to their seats.
A long loud burst of applause greeted the conclusion of
252
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book. XI.
his speech. In the division Goujon alone voted against the motion, but
some members of the Left abstained altogether. And thus the
remaining victims of the Jacobin party-feud were restored to political
activity. The rescued members were sixteen in number, and among them Louvet,
Lanjuinais, Doulcet-Pontecoulant, Isnard, Lariviere. "Why," cried
Chemier, "was there no protecting asylum to save the eloquence of Vergniaud and the genius of Condorcet, from the hands of the
executioners?" On the following day the festival which the Mountain had
ordered to celebrate the 31st of May, .was prohibited; and on the 20th it was
decreed, on the motion of Boissy d'Anglas and Tallien,
that the sale of the confiscated goods of the condemned should not be proceeded
with, but that the Committees should report more particularly respecting their restoration. In fact, after the Convention had condemned the 31st of May, and had
declared the resistance to it to be just, how could they defend the
confiscation of goods which the tyranny of the Mountain had formerly inflicted
on the advocates of justice ?
There were many measures that were more injurious to the Jacobins, but none which wounded them more sensitively than this. The declaration that the 31st of May was a day, not
of justice but of violence, condemned the policy of the Mountain from the first
existence of the Convention. If the Gironde, as was now
proclaimed by the nation through its highest organ, had acted legally and
rightfully, then the death of Louis XVI. was a vulgar murder, and the dictatorship of the Committee of Public Safety was a brutal tyranny; then the
question of the fate of Collot d'Herbois and Billaud-Varennes was already decided, and only accidental favour could
save the forfeited life of one or two of their adherents. The Mountain,
therefore, strained every nerve to take signal vengeance for such a deadly
insult. When the Committee of Public Safety asked for full
powers to conclude a treaty with Tuscany, the Mountain, without any reserve,
told them to their faces that they were
uot to
Ch.
II.] THE JACOBINS OP PARIS PREPARE FOR
REVOLT. 253
be trusted to represent France in an honourable
manner in dealings with foreign countries, and that the right of drawing up secret articles could not be granted to them. It was well known
that the peace with Prussia, which could not be concluded without secret articles, depended entirely upon the possession of that right. The Parisian
press loudly demanded it, and pressed for a peace, even on the condition of
giving up all the conquests made by the Republic !—but the Jacobins only
declared with the greater fury, that the patriots ought to reject every
separate peace, if it were only because the aristocrats and egoists demanded it
with such malicious meanness. It became clearer every day that peace would be
impossible without a fresh defeat of the Jacobins; it was evident also that a new and violent conflict with the latter was close at
hand.
The movement in the workmen's quarter assumed a more and more
threatening character. On a motion of Boissy d'Anglas it was resolved, on the
13th of March, that every inhabitant of Paris should receive one pound of
bread a day, and those who were employed in heavier labour a pound and a half;
and thereupon Boissy reported, on the 16th, that the workmen of St. Antoine
would have nothing to do with the mischievous plots of the disturbers of the peace. But on the very next day a large crowd of the people,
calling themselves a deputation of the sections of Finisterre and the
Observatoire, appeared at the bar of the Convention to demand alleviation of
their distress, and to express their regret that they had made so many
sacrifices for a revolution which left them to perish. Thibaudeau, as
president, returned a severe answer; and Boissy d'Anglas laid vouchers before
the Assembly shewing that the city-administration, in accordance with the law, had distributed, on the preceding day, flour for a pound and a half
of bread per head to one half the population, and for one pound of bread to the
other half. But the petitioners would hot leave the hall, and beating upon the
bar with their fists loudly
254
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
cried for bread. At the same time there was a tumult in the
antechamber, where a large number of drunken women called on the people to
rise; large mobs repeatedly forced their way in, and order was only restored by
the intervention of the armed force. That the whole scene was got up to order was proved two days afterwards,
when the two Sections, in whose name the petitioners had come forward, declared
that they knew nothing about the affair; but it was all the more evident that
this riot was only the forerunner of more serious
disturbances. On the 19th the Left announced another point of the programme
which was to be the subject of contention in the impending struggle. Lecointre
of Versailles, the first assailant of Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois, had been deeply alarmed, in his nervous shortsightedness, by the
recall of the Girondists to their seats; he had immediately deserted his former
friends, and returned to the Mountain, and now pressed forward to the front
ranks of the Left with the same impetuosity as he had formerly
manifested on the side of the Right. In a speech of two hours he supported his
proposition, that the time of revolutionary government was passed, that it was
now urgently necessary to return to some definite condition, and that the Convention, without any further delay, ought to put in operation
the Constitution of 1793. Since the Mountain had lost possession' of the powers
of government, and of the majority in the Convention, its members had several
times called that Constitution to mind, which under other
circumstances they had themselves been most zealous in suspending. They had
little hope indeed that fresh elections in France would restore the
majority in the legislative body to the Jacobins, but they knew that under that
Constitution which guaranteed to the people
unlimited right of association, unconditional right of insurrection, and an
unequivocal claim to be supported by the State—no strong government of any kind
was possible. They therefore took up again with the greatest zeal the law which the country
Ch.
II.] LECOINTRE DEMANDS THE CONSTITUTION OF 1793. 255
had almost forgotten, the proclamation of which would in itself include
an honourable justification of the 31st of May. Lecointre, too, lauded that day of revolution in his speech, together with the 14th of July
and the 10th of August; the Left clapped their hands, the majority raised a
tumult; it was with difficulty that the speaker brought his address to a
conclusion, and the Convention referred his motion to the Committees for
their report. Meanwhile the day was approaching for the debate on Collot
d'Herbois and his associates, and the Jacobins
redoubled their efforts to save their former chiefs. They succeeded by degrees
in gaining ground again among the workmen of the
Faubourgs; and on the 21st a deputation from St. Antoine appeared to demand better food for the people, and the Constitution of 1793. A crowd
of several thousand persons had joined them, and awaited the result in front of
the Tuileries, employing themselves, meanwhile, in an active chase after the
Jeunesse doree, several of whom were severely beaten or ducked in the ponds of the
palace-garden. In the Convention the president Thibaudeau first replied to the
petitioners that he should never have ascribed the crafty
petitions which had 'been presented to the Assembly to the sturdy and honest
friends of freedom in St. Antoine. Then Tallien rose to denounce the people,
"who so eagerly demanded the Constitution to-day, which they themselves had formerly locked up in a chest;" and he asked, amidst
continual uproar from the Mountain, for a speedy resolution respecting the
means of bringing the Constitution into operation. Thereupon a city Section
appeared, to express their hatred of the Terrorists
and to demand that they should he disarmed; whereupon
Thibaudeau left the president's chair to speak the decisive
word from the rostra. "Never," he cried, "will I vote for
bringing into immediate operation a constitution which is not democratic, because it would once more hand over the national representation to
the power of the Jacobins and the Parisian municipality; a constitution which
gives
256
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
the legislative body no power over the police in the
city where it meets, which bestows on every fraction of the people the right of
tumult and rebellion." He demanded that the matter should be postponed
until a Committee had reported upon it. The Convention greeted this vigorous address, which went straight to the heart of the matter, with loud
applause; and decreed, on Legendre's motion, the formation of a special
commission, which should propose the organic laws necessary to the introduction
of the Constitution. No one could be deceived as to the real meaning of this decree. To the demand for
the Constitution of 1793 the majority had replied by decreeing a new
Constitution. They gave a further answer by issuing a police law, on the motion
of Sieyes, which threatened every entente—every attempt to intimidate the Republic, the
Convention, the Deputies , or the authorities—with the
punishment of exile; provided means of quickly summoning the National Guard;
and, in case of an insurrection in Paris, assigned the town of Chalons to the Deputies, or their representatives, as the place of meeting for
the new Assembly; to which alone the authorities and the troops were to pay
obedience.
Thus armed, the Convention began, on the 22nd, the debate on the
accused members of the fallen government. Robert Lindet, Carnot,
and Prienr of the Cote d'Or, the most esteemed of their colleagues, rose to
defend them. Lindet described the inseparable responsibility of the whole
Committee and the Convention, in the face of which it was impossible to single out individual members for prosecution and punishment. Carnot developed the same idea by pointing out that the mass of
work had compelled the members of the Committee to divide the different
branches of the administration among them, and then to sign the orders of their colleagues without looking at them. Prieur and
his friends demanded to be included in the impeachment, that the former Government might be tried as a body. They all spoke with great pride of the
successes of the old Committee of Public Safety,
Ch.
II.]
BREAD RIOTS.
257
and thereby roused more than once the lively indignation of the
majority. The galleries, chiefly filled with the troops of the Jeunesse doree, sang the "reveil du peuple,'''' and hindered their opponents from striking up the '■'■Marseillaise.'" A full week passed away in these endless discussions, in which the
different parties mutually hurled at one another all the errors and crimes of
the Reign of Terror. The relative strength and resolution of the factions left no doubt from the very first day what the result would
be. The Jacobins bestirred themselves in the city
with convulsive zeal; delayed, whenever they were able, the transports of
bread, and urged on the men of the Faubourgs to present new "storm-petitions" to the Convention. On the 27th a
deputation of women from the Hallcs of the old town came to demand bread.
Boissy d'Anglas, whom, as president of the Committee of Supply, the people
called "Boissy-farine" or "Boissy-famine,"
stated
that during the last four months Paris had received 850,000 cwt. of corn,
and on the preceding day 714,000 pounds of bread; that during the last few
days, indeed, the rioters had succeeded in stopping the supplies, so that the
Government was obliged to send out an armed force to protect them.-
The women, however, stood at the bar, and accompanied
Boissy's speech with the constant cry for bread, until the guard was called to
turn them out. Four days afterwards a new deputation from the Faubourg St.
Antoine appeared, complained of the repeal of the maximum, reminded the Assembly that insurrection against oppression was the duty
of the citizen, and demanded the liberation of the arrested
patriots, the removal of the famine, and the proclamation
of the Constitution of 1798. The president, Pelet, replied
that the Convention was endeavouring to revive trade, the roots of which the
criminal party had injured; that it was at that moment discussing the organic
laws of the Constitution, and would take care to punish any interruption of its labours. On this occasion
the galleries were occupied by workmen and dames des halles, who hooted iv. R
258
RESTORATION OF THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
every speaker of the majority; the petitioners at the bar joined in the debates, and Goujon defended their riotous conduct
with unblushing andacity. Everything was prepared for the decisive blow on the
following day.
On the 1st of April (12 Germinal) the Left was in a state of violent
excitement from the very heginning of the sitting.
Crassous demanded the liberation of all those who had heen arrested since the
9th of Thermidor ; Ruamps declared that royalism was raising its head more
shamelessly than ever; Bourgeois raised his fist at the interrupting shouts of the Right, and got into a personal encounter with Tallien and
Bourdon at the foot of the rostra. A deputation of the Section Unite then called upon the Convention to remain at their post and judge the
great criminals ; Thuriot shouted in reply that royalism
alone coidd speak in such a tone, and accused the majority of wishing to return
to the monarchical constitution of 1791. Boissy
dAnglas had just hegun to pourtray the abuses of the former system of maintaining the people, when a violent noise arose at
the doors of the hall; the guard was overpowered after a short tussle, and a
roaring mass of the people flooded the floor of the hall, waving their hats and
crying for bread. All discussion was interrupted ; when a speaker attempted to
address the Assembly, the mob interrupted him with
cries of " Bread! Bread !" The President hegged them to defile
through the house, hut the women obstinately continued to cry, "Bread!
Bread!" At last a man named Vaneck, who had heen a leader on the 31st of
May, came forward from the crowd, and in the name of
the people demanded the annihilation of the usurers, the Constitution of 1793,
and the liberation of the patriots. A long scene of disorderly tumult then
ensued, and new crowds forced their way into the hall; the President, loudly called upon to put the demands of the patriots to the
vote, firmly refused to do so until the hall was cleared; and during this
contention the populace continually raised the cry for hread. This anarchical state
Ch. II.]
PICHEGRU RESTORES ORDER IN PARIS. 259
of things continued for more than four hours, until at last help
appeared from without. The Government committees, from the very beginning of
the tumult, had caused the summons to arms to be sounded in the neighbouring wealthy quarters; the battalions assembled by degrees, and
at their approach the insurgents considered it advisable to make off. Hereupon
the Convention proceeded without delay to take sharp measures against the
rioters, and to secure their own future safety. On the motion of
Isabeau it was voted that an attempt had been made against the National
representatives, and that the originators of it
should he handed over to the criminal tribunal of Paris. It was remarked that
several members of the Left had called the President a
royalist, and that the emeute had
been got up for the purpose of liberating the impeached
members. Amidst a storm of applause, therefore, Andre Dumont carried one motion
for the immediate transportation of the four criminals to
Cayenne; and Bourdon de TOise another, for the arrest of three other
Montagnards, Choudieu, Chasles and Foussedoire. Member after member rose to
contribute his portion to the history of Jacobin sins. Leonard Bourdon was
arrested as a Septembrist of Orleans; Ruamps, for accusing the Committees of treason; Duhem, for calling the people of the Fauhourgs the
shield of sansculotterie; and Amar, as the intimate friend of Billaud and Fouquier; all these
were arrested as accomplices in the rising, and ordered to
be taken to the castle of Ham. It also became known that in some quarters of
the city the Conventional commissioners had been abused and illtreated hy the
people; whereupon Barras procured the nomination of Pichegru, who happened to
bo in Paris, to the chief command of the metropolitan
forces. The General restored order in all quarters of the city without great
difficulty; so that on the 3rd of April he was able to make the laconic report
to the Convention, that all its commands had been carried out. Meanwhile the wrath of the majority was fanned into a fresh flame by
reports from
R2
260
RESTORATION OP THE GIRONDISTS.
[Book XI.
several Departments of Jacobin tumults, which from their occurring at
the same time as the Parisian emeute, and
being accompanied by similar demands, led them to suspect a wide-spread
conspiracy extending through half the Republic. In Amiens a mob had plundered the transports of corn; in Rouen, they had demanded the
liberation of the persecuted patriots; in Marseilles the Conventional
Commissioner, Ca-droy, had been obliged to send a Jacobin battalion out of the
city to prevent an outbreak; and in Toulon nothing
but the fear of the garrison kept the excited workmen in check-Whereupon the Cornite de Surete generate, in a general report upon the insurrection, came to the conclusion that
the Mountain in the Convention formed the centre of the conspiracy ; and, in addition to the already
arrested members, the Comite indicted
Thuriot, Cambon, Granet, Hentz, Bayle, Levasseur, Crassous and Lecointre, as
instigators and heads of the rebellion. The Convention passed a decree, without
hesitation, for the arrest of all.
The success of the majority was complete. The Jacobin party was at last
subdued in Paris—broken up and reduced to silence in the Convention. The first
fruits of this victory were seen in the relations of France to foreign
countries ; the Government was now able to conclude the peace with
Prussia.
Ch.
III.]
261
CHAPTER III. PEACE
OP BASLE.
France
and Germany in equal need of peace. — Conquest of Holland
by the french army of the north.—The committee of public safety
demand the cession of the left bank of the rhine.—deliberations of the
prussian ministry.—haugwitz wishes to refer the boundary question to a future
treaty of peace between france and the empire.—Examination of his policy.—Prussian proposals and french
ultimatum.-the minister yon hardenberg
obtains some concessions
in basle.— Conclusion of the treaty. — The moderate party in paris hold out hopes that the integrity of germany
may be maintained.
It became clear towards the close of 1794 that the position of affairs on all sides was ripe for a peace between Prance and Germany.
The French armies were in the full career of progress and victory. The
independence of the country had been splendidly re-established, and the respect
for its power was greater in Europe than at any former period of the
eighteenth century. But at the same time its internal resources were in a state
of the greatest exhaustion, and the desire for peace and repose was universally
felt by the whole population. It lay more particularly in the interest of the Moderate party, which represented the sentiments of
nine-tenths of the nation, to conclude a peace with foreign countries as
quickly as possible. For the course of the revolution had made it terribly
clear to all parties, that conquest abroad was synonymous
with convulsion at home, and that he who wished for domestic order must aim at
a lasting peace with foreign Powers.
262
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
How desirable an honourable peace was for Germany, need not be enlarged upon. The two chief Powers were in open fexid respecting
Poland, by which Austria was led into a formal alliance with Russia against
Prussia. Prussia was deeply exhausted by her warlike efforts on the Rhine and
the Vistula; and though not as yet informed of the more secret views of
the Imperial courts, had to fear the worst from their present attitude. The
other princes of the Empire were utterly powerless; and, although divided among
themselves by the struggle between Austrian and Prussian influence, were unanimous in their
unconditional desire for peace. After Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine
had fallen into the hands of the enemy, nothing was to be expected from a continuance of the contest but increasing disasters. On
both sides, therefore, there was an equally urgent necessity
for peace. On both sides the true interests of the nation demanded a peace
which should be as secure in the future as possible; a peace, therefore, which
should grant even the opponent repose and satisfaction. When Prussia began negociations in Basle there was a well founded hope of attaining this object, so desirable for the whole of
Europe. The German Estates at Ratisbon expressed their wish for a speedy peace,
with ever-increasing energy; in Paris the Moderate party
gained ground every day, and the popular voice called more and more loudly for
a termination of the terrible miseries of war. The Prussian Government gladly
consented when the Committee of Public Safety requested
them to send a confidential envoy to Paris, with whom they might carry
pn a direct preliminary discussion on the sentiments and interests of the two
States. Harnier, the Secretary of Legation, who had hitherto conducted the
conferences at Basle, received orders, on the 19th of December, to return from Berlin to Basle and to
proceed thence to Paris.
Unfortunately during these weeks the French arms gained a new success,
which changed the balance of power greatly
Ch. III.]
THE FRENCH OCCUPY HOLLAND.
263
to the disadvantage of Germany, and increased the temptation to the rulers in Paris to continue in a course of revolution and
conquest. Holland fell into the hands of the French.
- "We have seen above, that in the middle of September the Duke of
York, discouraged by the demoralisation of his army, had given up
his position on the Donger Heath, evacuated North Brabant, and retired with
about 30,000 men to the other side of the Meuse, into the territory of the
United Provinces. There remained as advanced posts in the land, which was now overrun with enemies, the fortress of Herzogenbusch with the
strong fort Crevecoeur, and further up the stream Grave and Venloo, and down
the stream Breda and Bergen. The French army of the north numbered at that time not more than 48,000 men, who
.were greatly fatigued by the long campaign, badly clothed and insufficiently
armed, and above all entirely destitute of siege artillery. If there had been
in the army of the Allies the least degree of firmness and nerve, they could
easily have opposed a long and obstinate resistance to
an enemy so little superior in numbers. But the spirit of depression and
dissolution was universal; under York's feeble command the troops lost
discipline every day, the officers were divided among themselves, and shewed a want of confidence whenever they came into collision with
the enemy. The above-mentioned fortresses, therefore, capitulated in the most
disgraceful way as soon as the French appeared before their walls. During
the Dutch troubles of 1787, a Burgomaster, named Daendels, had distinguished
himself among the revolutionists, had fled from the
country when the latter were put down, and after the outbreak of the French
Revolution had joined the legion of Batavian patriots, with which Du-mouriez
intended to commence his attack upon Holland in 1793. Now
again he was in the front rank of the combatants who were endeavouring to
expel the Orange rulers,
264
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
so odious to him. On the 27th of September he appeared with a small
French force before Crevecoeur, and began to bombard the place with his light
field-pieces. He was not put to any great exertion; the commandant, Colonel
Tiboel, immediately hoisted the white flag, and delivered up the fort
on condition of being allowed to retire unmolested. The-victors found forty-two
heavy guns in the place, with which Pichegru immediately commenced the assault
of Herzogen-busch. The land was flooded far and wide, the approach to the fortress was only possible by a few narrow dams, the fire
of the besiegers was therefore only very partial and ineffectual. But the
garrison was not numerous, the citizens timid, and the commandant, a Prince of
Hessen Philippsthal, was a feeble old man ; when, therefore, the
French opened the channels for the water which flooded the plain, so that it
ran back into the river again and left the land dry, the Prince capitulated at
once, on the 10th of October, though the fortress was entirely uninjured. General Pfister, on the 24th, in an equally disgraceful manner,
delivered up Venloo, which had been entrusted to him, after a two clays'
blockade, before even a cannon had been fired. The Allied army meanwhile stood
inactive on the Meuse ; the Duke of York marched his troops up and
down the country during the stormy autumn weather without any plan, and
immediately after the fall of Crevecoeur determined to retreat again beyond the
Waal; he was, however, induced by the urgent entreaties of the Dutch; to leave a small portion of his troops on the left bank. The Dutch
regiments were utterly demoralized, so that General Hanstein once instructed
his Hessians to shoot down every Dutchman who should retreat without orders.
Nymwegen, the most considerable fortress on the Waal, was neither
fully armed nor sufficiently supplied with provisions. The peasants, who were
summoned to rise mi masse,
replied
that they should certainly be left in the lurch, and that the French would
them treat them with
Ch. III.]
THE DUKE OP YORK RETURNS TO
ENGLAND.
265
double severity. When such sentiments prevailed among the defenders, it
was no wonder that the very first attempt of the French to cross the Meuse was
completely successful. They effected the passage, on the 18th and 19th of
October, at Alphen, with 30,000 men, upon a single pontoon-bridge,
during which the Allies left them completely undisturbed for 36 hours; and
being then beaten in several sharp skirmishes withdrew in all directions
beyond the Waal. Hereupon Nymwegen was blockaded by the
French on the 1st of November. The position of affairs
seemed to the Allies so hopeless, that the Hessian, Wurmb, in other respects an
excellent officer, openly refused to take the command of the place and to be
captured with it. General Walmoden, to whom York resigned the chief command at this point, gave orders on the 3rd for the
evacuation of the town, which was effected by means of a bridge of boats, and
with such precipitation, that the last division of the column, consisting of 1,100 Dutchmen, were left behind as captives
to the enemy, by the premature burning of the bridge. The whole district
between the Rhine and the Meuse, from the German frontier to the island of
Bommel, was hereby abandoned to the French. It is true
that the United Provinces were still protected by the broad Waal and the rapid
Leek, between which rivers the main body of the Allies was now posted. But the
winter was already approaching with an icy wind from the north, and the
position of the troops might become very critical, if the slower stream of the Waal should be frozen sooner than the Leek, so that the
superior numbers of the enemy might pass the former, while the still flowing
waters of the latter barred the retreat of the Allies. Such a possibility made
the Duke of York feel very uncomfortable,
and he left the army on the 22nd of December to return to England, after
entrusting the army to the joint command of the Englishman Hartcourt and the
Hanoverian Walmoden, and thereby condemning it more completely to helpless impotence.
266
PEACE OP BASLE.
[Book XI.
These events could not fail to exercise a decisive influence upon the
internal condition of the United Netherlands. Everyone
saw a hostile invasion close at hand. The mass of the population were in a state of terrified excitement, the officials
and officers of the Government were crippled by utter hopelessness. On the
other hand, all those who had formerly belonged to the patriotic party began to
bestir themselves with a courage and activity to which
the collapse of the regular authorities, and the progress of the liberators,
gave full scope. As early as the beginning of 1794 the chiefs of this party had
come to an understanding with the Parisian riders ; small popular societies
were formed to keep up the excitement of men's minds;
money and arms were collected, and even a number of vessels equipped. The
emigrant patriots, and among them the restless
Daendels, distributed revolutionary pamphlets from the frontiers among the peasants, who were already filled with a thorough hatred of
the Allies in consequence of the brutality of the English soldiers. The
Government, threatened alike from within and without, appealed to their mighty
allies with despairing prayers for help. A proposition then arrived from England, to unite Austrian Belgium—which Thugut now declared to be
a mere burden to the Austrian monarchy—with Holland, and thereby to increase
the inclination for peace in Paris. Prussia declared her full agreement with
this proposal, and with every step which promised to lead to
peace. But that which was for the moment the most essential—to afford
protection by force of arms, and to reinforce the troops in the field— was not
to be obtained either from London or Berlin. Austria, it is true, had just come to an agreement with the Russian Government for an energetic
continuance of the revolutionary war, and accordingly
sent a division of 20,000 men under General Alvinzy, which took post beyond the
Rhine between Emmerich and Arnheim. But though this force occasionally exchanged shots with the French across the river, and
thereby supported the western wing of the
Ch.
III.] THE PRINCE OF ORANGE SUES FOR
PEACE.
267
Allied army, it did nothing for the defence of the interior of the land. 1 The
Prince of Orange, therefore, resolved at last to present a humble petition for
peace to the victorious enemy, and on the ground of an expression of the Conventional commissioner of the northern army, Lacombe St. Michel—viz. that France aimed at no aggrandizement— to send MM.
Repelaar and Brantsen to Paris to enter into a separate negociation. The matter
became more urgent when, on the 12th of December, General Moreau, who now held
the chief command instead of Pichegru, who had fallen sick, untertook, at the urgent instigation of Daendels, a vigorous
attack against the island of Bommel, and at the same time alarmed the position
of the Hanoverians and Hessians on the Upper Waal. Meanwhile the Dutch
succeeded in driving the French out of the isle again,
and across the Meuse ; Moreau found his own troops no less desirous of rest
than his opponents, and the Conventional commissioner, Bellegarde, declared to
the Envoys on their passage, that if Holland would honestly negotiate a peace,
and subject all her foreign treaties to a revision, the
Government at Paris would abstain from all further hostilities.
And in fact some weeks then passed in perfect inaction on the theatre
of war. But on the 18th of December the winter set in with terrible severity ;
floating ice began to appear in the Meuse and the Waal, which soon became
fixed in many places, so that both rivers were covered with broad bridges of
ice. On the 27th the thermometer stood at 9° below zero, and both the Meuse and
the Waal were completely frozen up,
while the Leek was still open, and all
1 Ditfurth states the number of
hasador, Sir Morton Eden. Vivenot
this force at 20,000 men, according
speaks of 30,000 men, perhaps ac-
to Porbeck and the Austrian mili-
cording to an official list; which, as
tary
journal of 1820. This statement he says in another place, always puts
is confirmed by Thugut himself in
upon paper a third more than are
a communication to the English am-
actually present.
268
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
navigation hindered by large blocks of ice which floated rapidly down
the stream. The allied generals looked about them with anxious irresolution.
Hartcourt issued an order on the 24th to his subordinate officers to consider
what was to be done, in case of a French attack upon the now
wholly unprotected land. But before their deliberations had produced any
result, Pichegru began to move on the 27th, chased the Dutch troops out of the
island of Bommel, and pursued them rapidly over the icy surface of the Waal; whereupon the main body of the Dutch, which was stationed on the
northern shore of this river at Tuyl, broke its ranks and fled in wild
confusion to Utrecht. Two thousand French then took up a position at Tuyl as an
advanced post; Pichegru did not yet venture to send his main body
across the Waal, because, though the ice was strong enough to allow the troops
to pass, it would not yet bear the artillery, and the English and Hessians
drove the enemy once more from the right bank of the Waal on the 29th. The important island, however, remained in the hands of the
French, and on the 4th of January they began a fresh attack in larger masses.
It is true that some of the Hessians and Hanoverians made an honourable
resistance; but General Hartcourt plainly declared
that his troops were no longer fit for service, and on. the 10th of January
Walmoden gave orders for the retreat beyond the Leek. A sudden thaw which
occurred at this time, once more afforded a prospect of defending this last
bidwark of Holland; but on the 14th the cold returned with
increased severity, and the surface of the Leek was covered with a strong
bridge of ice. The allied army had melted away to 23,000 men, and these were in
the most pitiable condition from hardships, disorder, and privations of every kind. Wallmoden found himself unable to resist the enemy who
were more than double his numbers, and on the 15th he ordered a further retreat
beyond the Yssel, that is, the entire evacuation of Holland. The
soldiers dragged themselves slowly along, amidst unspeakable sufferings,
through a thinly
Ch.
III.] THE
STADTHOLDER EMBARKS FOR HOLLAND. 269
inhabited and badly cultivated country, with the thermometer at 14° below zero, with scanty food and ragged clothing. A number of guns and
carriages had to be left behind, because the horses continually fell on the ice
of the wretched roads. The sick and wounded were frozen to death in the
waggons; and the peasants, exasperated to the utmost by the
plunderings and burnings of the English soldiers, slew every straggler who
remained behind the body of the army. Although the enemy did not pursue them,
it soon became evident that the feeling in the country, the demoralisation of the army, and the difficulty of
obtaining supplies, rendered it impossible for them to
remain even on the Yssel, and the miserable retreat was continued without delay
beyond the Ems into Germany.
Meanwhile the Dutch Envoys had their first audience with the Committee of Public Safety on the 18th of January. As they had
nothing to offer in return for a peace except' the acknowledgment of the French
Republic, they were dismissed with great displeasure. The Dutch patriots, too,
were acting against them with the greatest zeal; and when
Repelaar, on his own responsibility, offered the Convention a war contribution
of 80 million giddens if Pichegru would halt, the patriots declared themselves
ready to pay a fraternal subsidy of 100 millions, if Pichegru would take Amsterdam and overthrow the Orange dynasty. It was natural that in
such a state of discord among the Dutch, the Committee should allow things to
take their course. Pichegru sent one half of his troops to the Yssel, and led
the other half into the interior of Holland. He reached Utrecht
on the 17th, and Amsterdam on the 20th; and on the 23rd, Bonneau's division,
advancing by way of Dortrecht and Rotterdam, occupied the Hague. The hereditary
Stadtholder had embarked on the 18th for England, with his family, in a small fishing-vessel; the Government broke up, and throughout
the whole country the committees, and the clubs of patriots, seized the reins
of administration. The Committee of Public Safety had promised
270
PEACE OP BASLE.
[Book XI.
them, that in acknowledgement of their friendly sentiments, and
trusting to their future serviees, they would treat the country not as a
conquered land but as an ally. This did not prevent their making large
requisitions for the maintenance of their troops ; but in other
respects perfect discipline was preserved, the arrangement of their new polity
was left to the patriots, and both public and private property were respected. This course of conduet was prudent as well as humane. At first
the sailors in the ships of war, who were almost all zealous Orangists, had
thought of taking their vessels to England, that they might not become the
booty of the hated French. The Commnnes of Zealand had thought of asking the
English Government for garrisons and ships to proteet their
islands, which might perhaps have foreed the Freneh to make the greatest
exertions for months. But the friendly behaviour of the French leaders enabled
the patriots to induce their countrymen to listen to terms, and to make concessions. The ships eapitulated when a French troop of eavalry appeared
on the ice of the Texel; Zealand submitted without a blow to the new order of
things. In the same peaceful manner, and amidst the joyful greetings of the
population, Generals Moreau and Sonham completed in February the
occupation of the Frisian provinces between the Yssel and the
Ems.
This was a heavy blow to the coalition. The troops and money of Holland
had been transferred to the service of an already too powerful enemy. In the
approaching spring Lower Germany had to expect the attack of 70,000 fresh
and well-fed troops, confident of vietory; and the Estates of the Empire, on
whom the protection of the land chiefly rested—Prussia, Hanover and Hesse-—had
lost both the resources and the spirit for a new contest. In
Paris, on the other hand, the riders were full of joy and triumph, and the
party of Independents, which desired to eontinue the revolutionary poliey in
regard to foreign countries, obtained a decided preponderance over
the tendencies of the
Ch.
II.] FRANCE DEMANDS THE BEFT BANK OF THE RHINE. 271
Moderate party. "We wish for peace indeed," they cried,
"but only a glorious peace." What that meant Harnier was soon to
learn.
He was brought into the Committee of Public Safety for the first time
on the 7th of January, and then deliberated with the members on the 8th and
9th, for an hour each day. They all with one accord declared to him, that
Prussia and France had similar interests, nay, that a firm alliance was necessary and desirable for both countries. For Austria, embittered by
her fresh losses, would not neglect to take up again her old plans against the
freedom of the Imperial Estates. Russia, again, was actually aiming at
universal sovereignty; and nothing, they said, was more important than to raise a tremendous dam against her, by rallying the
Swedes and Danes, the Turks and Poles round a Prusso-French alliance. France
might then without difficulty seize Hanover, and thereby make Prussia a rich
compensation for the insignificant loss of her
provinces on the left bank of the Rhine. The other States of the Empire, always
weak, always wavering, must be forced to an irrevocable
decision; since otherwise they would inevitably fall back again under the
influence of Austria. France, therefore, they said, could not grant a
truce, but declared herself ready to make a definitive peace. She must insist
on the possession of Mayence, and in general regard the Rhine as her necessary
and natural frontier. This principle they declared to be irrevocable;
but added that France would engage to procure compensation for the deprived
Princes, either at the cost of Austria or from some other source.
The fatal word had been uttered, and the hope of a simple peace
honourable to both parties, with which Prussia had
entered into negotiations, now vanished into air. Harnier endeavoured to change
the minds of his opponents. He pointed out that the abstraction of the Rhenish
provinces would throw the whole Roman Empire into confusion, give
272
PEACE OP BASLE.
[Book XL
rise to endless complications, and hurl France herself into fresh
calamities of war. He dwelt upon the inconsistency of stating that the
aggrandizement of Prussia lay in the interest of France, and yet insisting at the very commencement
of the negotiation in taking away Prussian provinces; of expressing a wish to
see the whole German Empire under the banner of Prussia, and then expecting the
king to look quietly on at the fall of Mayence and Cologne!
"One woidd suppose," cried he, "that you really wished for an
indefinite continuance of the war; and you will find it in this path, and by
your avarice at last bring all Germany under arms." "You do us
injustice," said the French, "we have the liveliest desire for peace." "Moreover," added one of them,
"we know that Germany entirely shares in this feeling; you will never be
able to kindle a national war against us."
The negotiation then returned to the proposal of a Prusso-French
alliance. Harnier, with protestations of the most
friendly feelings, immediately declared that an offensive alliance was
impossible. "Our most urgent interest," said he, "is to mediate
a general peace between the German Empire and the French Republic; this would
become impossible as soon as we took part
against the Emperor in your quarrel with Austria." The Committee expressed
their great regret at this. They said that they could not admit of a formal
mediation between themselves and the German Estates; that they would gladly acknowledge Prussia's services in this matter, but would not refuse a
direct negotiation with any sovereign of the Empire.
The worst thing was, they said, that the refusal of an alliance must exercise a
decisive influence on the conditions of the peace with
Prussia. To Prussia as an ally, the Republic would gladly have promised a
definite compensation; to a merely neutral Prussia, they could make no such
offer. Harnier expressed his opinion that this was nipping the peace in the
bud. It was, he said, extremely doubtful whether his
Government
Ch.
II.]
NEGOTIATION IN BASLE.
273
would agree to the loss of the left bank of the Rhine at all; but that
it was absolutely certain that without a sufficient
compensation war was inevitable. Thereupon the Committee, after long
discussion, condescended to declare, that while they insisted on the possession
of the left bank, they would make no objection to Prussia's obtaining an
equivalent territory on the right bank of the Rhine, and under certain circumstances would assist in obtaining it for her.
With such melancholy prospects Harnier was obliged to return to Basle.
Barthelemy, who had opened the official negotiation with Golz in that place on
the 12th, expressed the most favourable personal feelings, but said that three
great obstacles worked counter to the desired Prussian
mediation between Germany and France—the Jacobin party, the influence of
England, and the intrigues of Austria. That Austria was in secret
correspondence with the Committee of Public Safety also became
known from other sources. In the beginning of December the
Imperial Vice-Chancellor, Colloredo, informed the Bavarian Charge* d'affaires at Vienna, that the belligerent Powers were nearly agreed, and that the
Elector would probably have to sacrifice a portion of his territory. At the beginning of January it became further known that the Emperor's
brother, the Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, was sending the Chevalier
Carletti to Paris to negotiate a peace with the Republic. From the close
relations which existed between Thugut and Manfredini, no one doubted that the
main object of the Chevalier was to pave the way for a peace between Austria
and France. The Prussian Government, in the face of these various
difficulties,- had now to come to a resolution.
The views of the Ministers at Berlin differed very widely from
one another. The aged Finkenstein wished to declare at once to the' Committee
of Public Safety, that their demand of the left bank of the Rhine rendered
peace' impossible. France, after all, had no less interest in bringing about a
IV. s
274
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
peaceful solution than Prussia; and it was quite possible that she
would give up her demand if she saw Prussia prepared
for any event. But the" dangers would be no small ones if this hope shovdd be deceived, if the war broke out again in the spring
with redoubled fury, and Prussia, hard pressed by the French in Westphalia,
became completely defenceless in Poland against the two
Imperial Courts. And what if Austria—while the King was
sacrificing himself, and entirely breaking off with France to save the Rhenish
provinces—should come to terms with the Committee of Public Safety, and
secure the assistance of France for her other plans, by ceding the left bank of
the Rhine?
Alvensleben, therefore, utterly rejected the
plans of Finkenstein. "We must try to make a separate peace with
France," he wrote, "as quickly as possible and at any price; that we
may not come into the horrible position of being on bad terms with the Imperial
Courts without any resources, and on a still worse
footing with France. The Imperial Courts will never forgive us the steps we
have already taken; and France will not now, after the complete conquest of Holland, be inclined to lower her demands. Our pecuniary means will be exhausted by the end of March; we have neither credit abroad
— as the ill success of the last loan shews—nor further resources at home, as.
the Minister of finance has plainly told us. Still less could we venture on
raising a large number of men in our own country, for the
feelings of the whole nation are so strongly opposed to the war, that a further
persistence in it might shake even the tried fidelity of Prussian subjects. And
the worst thing is, that we have always as much reason to fear the victories of our allies as the triumph of our enemies. In the present
state of feeling on the part of the Imperial Courts, every success of Austria
against the French would be a step to our destruction." He therefore came
to the conclusion that the Prussian Government ought to accede to the
views propounded by the Committee of Public Safety.
Ch. H.] SENTIMENTS OF THE KING
OF PRUSSIA. 275
and at any rate pave the way for a Prusso-French alliance, by agreeing
to the cession of the Prussian provinces on the Rhine, on
condition that France wotild guarantee to the crown of Prussia all its
territories, together with the acquisitions in Poland as far as the
Vistula.
Alvensleben, as we see, advocated the very reverse of Finkenstein's
system. The latter wished above all things to maintain the left bank of the
Rhine; the chief desire of the former was to keep the land as far as the
Vistula. The latter hoped to intimidate France; the former Austria. Both of
them had to make up their minds, in case of failure, to a continuance
of war, the latter with France, the former with Austria; both were obliged to
confess, that in such a case, the Emperor on the one side, and the Republic on
the other, would be a highly untrustworthy ally. All that Alvensleben, therefore, said about Prussia's exhaustion in money and troops,
and the impossibility of carrying on the war any longer, served equally to
refute his own opinions as those of Finkenstein.
To this was added an important factor — the personal feeling of the King. Ever since the Polish campaign he had been out of health
and out of humour, and filled with the desire of repose. The vigour of his
nature was completely broken; he would not enter upon any path which did not
lead directly to a secure and speedy peace. But most of all he
resolutely rejected all thoughts of a French alliance. The Revolution had
disgusted him with the whole nation; he would not suffer any French cook at his
court, nor any French dancer at his theatre; no advantage in the world could have allured him to make common cause with the Convention. Hostile
and bitter, on the other hand, as were his relations to Austria, the King could
not without difficulty contemplate an open breach with the Emperor. In direct
contrast to Frederick H, but like most of his ancestors, his
feelings were those of a Ghibelline and a Prince of the Empire; and in spite of
all political strife
s2
276
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
and jealousy he still retained in his heart a remnant of the old
devotion towards the head of the Empire. Nor could he entirely break in feeling
with the Empress Catharine, nor give up the idea that the good understanding
between himself and her might somehow be restored. The sum of his
wishes, therefore, was to withdraw as quickly as possible from the
■French war, without, however, breaking down the bridges to Vienna and
St. Petersburg. At this time Count Haugwitz obtained the first place in
his confidence by reducing these wishes of the monarch
to diplomatic forms, and drawing up the necessary instructions for Golz in
accordance with them.
Haugwitz, like the King, thought that the first necessity for Prussia
was immediate peace on all hands. The French claim
to the Rhine-land appeared very vexatious, but still not intolerable, to
Prussia, if she received in return a suitable accession of territory and
influence. He was not, therefore, in favour of flying out into a rage like
Finkenstein, and breaking off the negotiations. But the proposal
of Alvensleben appeared to him no less rash. Even if Prussia withdrew from the
war, England and Austria would still remain in the field against the French,
and it was possible, though not probable, that they
might be victorious. In what a ridiculous position
would Prussia then be, if. she had given up her Cleves lands to France! The
negotiator in Basle was accordingly instructed to declare that Prussia was
astonished by the sudden lust of conquest betrayed by the French, but could at present give no decided answer on this point; that it was
evident that the cession of the left bank of the Rhine could not be discussed
in a separate treaty with Prussia, but must be left to the future general
peace. The King, who found all his own opinions expressed in these
sentences, signed the instructions drawn up for Golz on the 28th of January.
The character of this resolution is sufficiently clear.. It was,
indeed, somewhat better than the actual cession-of the
Ch. III.]
CRITICISM OF PRUSSIAN POLICY.
277
Rhenish lands. But at the best it was and remained an act of
pusillanimity, a resignation by Prussia of the position of a great and leading
Power. It did not actually hand over the German border-lands to the French, but it declined to defend them with Prussian troops. Under the
circumstances which now lie open before us, we can no longer speak of a breach
of treaty with Austria, or of treachery to the Fatherland. After Austria had
concluded an armed alliance with Russia against Prussia on the 3rd of
January, it would have been worse than childish if she had expected farther
help from Prussia against France. The German Empire, after having set on foot
scarcely 20,000 men, besides the English mercenaries, during three years of war—after having expressed a wish for peace in the most
suppliant terms—could no longer have any right to complain of the Basle
negotiation. Where in fact was anything like political national feeling to be
found at that time in Germany? It would have been an inversion of all historical justice to judge the peacemakers
of Basle, or the Emperor Francis, by the standard of a national policy which as
yet had no existence. But we must all the more decidedly repeat, that by
adopting the system of Count Haugwitz, Prussia condemned herself
to political nullity. Such an act of political suicide can never be justified;
it can at best be excused by reasons of the most urgent nature. The question is whether such reasons existed in the position of affairs.
In such a connexion little attention ought to be paid to the financial
and military exhaustion of the State. The exhaustion
did exist, and was considerable enough to restrain the Government from taking
part in any contest for foreign interests, however praiseworthy
and useful it might be. But where her own existence was at stake, we may say
that Prussia, since 1792, had not made a third part of the exertions by which
France, in a single year, had emerged from utter impotence to take the lead in
Europe.
278
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XL
The foreign relations of Prussia were in the highest degree complicated
and pregnant with danger. Let us consider which of the many difficulties in
which she was involved were the really decisive ones, or
ought to have heen so; we shall find two points for consideration, of which the
one, and by far the more important, will serve as a justification, and the
other as an impeachment, of Prussian policy.
The one was the well-founded suspicion, that when Prussia had quarrelled with France on account of the Rhenish frontier,
Austria would not hesitate a moment to seek the friendship of the Committee of
Public Safety by giving up the left bank. What was to become of Prussia,
—weakened as she was by three years' war, at variance with Russia on
account of Poland, cut off from all intercourse with England since the
autumn—if she were to find herself opposed to the united power of the Emperor
and the Republic? It is perfectly conceivable that the mere possibility of such a danger filled Count
Alvensleben with terror, and inspired Count Haugwitz - with the consciousness
of courage, when he resisted at any rate the immediate cession of the Rhenish
lands.
Thus the attitude of the Viennese cabinet forced the Prussian Government to peace at almost anjT
price. On the other hand the aspect of French affairs no less urgently
counselled firmness and audacity.
This was the time in which the trial of Barere, Billaud-Varennes,
&c., daily strengthened the Moderate party, alienated
the Independents more and more from the Jacobins^ and roused public opinion
more and more violently in favour of conservative principles and peace. In
spite of all their victories, the French armies were iu a miserable state of
destitution. All that remained of them, after the
enormous sacrifice of life during the former years, lived entirely on the
resources of the conquered lands; France herself was, for a long time to come,
unable to do anything for her own defenders.
The immense majority of the population desired
Ch.
III.] CONFERENCE BETWEEN GOLZ AND
BARTHELEMY 279
peace, and when an orator in the Convention once began to speak of
glory and conquest, the press and the people answered with execrations against
war. It was absolutely incumbent on the Government to
shew some result of the negotiation within a short time, if they did not wish
to fall beneath the weight of public displeasure. One of the most sharp-sighted
observers at that period was able to say: "If the Republic does not give the people peace in two .months, the people will restore
the Monarchy." These things were not, like the intrigues of Thugut, veiled
in obscurity; they were open to the eyes of all Europe. Nothing was more
important and urgent for the self-preservation of the Committee of Public Safety, than the conclusion of a treaty with Prussia
without any further delay. If Alvensleben saw reasons enough to accede to every
French demand for the sake of peace, the Committee had a far stronger impulse
to accede to the Prussian conditions with the
same object. The course of the negotiation will confirm this at every step. The
withdrawal of Prussia from the Coalition was at this time a question affecting
the very existence of the Republic; and we have not the slightest doubt that the French Government would have purchased this
withdrawal even at the cost of evacuating the Rhenish lands.
We thus see the two negotiators in nearly the same position. Each of
them is compelled, by circumstances over which he has no control, to yield, if the other remains firm. The question is which of the
two is possessed of the sharper insight, the firmer will, the greater
self-confidence; and it is with shame that we confess that the preponderance of
these virtues was at that time on the side of the foreigners, and
that the victory remained with the enemy, in the congress
as well as in the battle-field.
Count Golz had his first official conference with Barthelemy on the 26th of January. He desired in the first place a cessation
of arms during the negotiation; Barthelemy gave his consent, and begged the
Committee for the necessary
280
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XL
powers. It is again characteristic of the position of both parties,
that when this proposal was announced, instructions
were sent simultaneously from Berlin and Paris, not to retard the matter by
negotiations respecting a truce, but to come to a clear understanding on the
question of peace as quickly as possible. If there was a fair prospect of the
latter, the Committee declared itself ready to abstain from all further
hostilities against the Prussian territory, and especially against the fortress
of Wesel. On the Prussian side an understanding had been come to with Austria
on the 29th of January, that in consequence of the loss of
Holland, General Mollendorf should leave the Middle Rhine to the protection of
the army of the Empire, and himself take up a position in Westphalia. The
Committee had no sooner heard of this than they gave their full consent, promised not to disturb Mollendorf in any way, and offered to make a
feigned attack upon Westphalia, if Prussia should need such a pretext to
account for her movements to the Austrian cabinet. "We wish," wrote
the Committee to Barthelemy, "to do everything to
promote peace; and we reject the truce only because it would in all probability
protract the final settlement."
Meanwhile the negotiation suffered an unexpected interruption from the death of Golz, who was unwell when he arrived in
Basle, became seriously ill at the end of January, and
died in a few days afterwards of a bilious fever. The Ministry commissioned
Harnier for the present to carry on the conference, and it was he who received
a despatch, on the 13th of February, containing the above-mentioned resolutions which the King had signed on the
28th of January. According to these he was to maintain that fhe Gessipn of
the left bank of the Rhine did not come within the scope of his negotiation,
but must be left for discussion at the general peace. At
most he was to concede, that the fact of the settlement of the boundaries being
postponed to the
Ch.
III.]
PROGRESS OP THE NEGOTIATION.
281
general peace should be mentioned in the treaty. It was to be wished
that the Committee of Public Safety would bring forward a
draft of the treaty of peace. Barthelemy without any hesitation expressed his
assent to all these proposals. "We must try," he
said,'"to find a mezzo termino in order to postpone the frontier question." lie must, however, he added, observe that an evacuation of the left Rhine by the French
troops was not at present to be thought of. He was of opinion that, in order to
prevent all collision, a fixed line of demarcation for the future neutral lands
should be drawn on the right bank. Haugwitz entirely agreed,
and was on his own part prepared to consent to the military occupation of the
left bank until the peace. The way seemed paved to an understanding on
all points.
In Paris, however, the intelligence of this turn of affairs excited much ill-humour among the French rulers. From Meyerink's former
communication, and Harnier's speeches in Paris, they had confidently expected
the express and immediate cession of the Rhenish lands. The reference to a
general peace seemed to them no compensation, however emphatically
the Prussian envoys might dwell on "the future complaisance of their
Government. Prussia, they said, would be bound by such hints only so long as
her political interests coincided with them. Being well
aware, therefore, of the longing for peace which prevaded
in Berlin, they resolved to make one more attempt on the weakness of their
opponent, and to force from him the desired concession by violent threats.
"Prussia," they wrote to Barthelemy on the 1st of March,
"suddenly begins to raise difficulties; her
disinclination to give up the conquered lands makes us douht her sincerity; we
recall our concession with respect to Wesel, and shall instruct our generals to
be guided entirely by military considerations. The ambassadors at Basle were at first alarmed; but Barthelemy himself offered
to protest against this
282
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
resolution, and Harnier sent word to Berlin that the threat was not
seriously meant, if they only held their ground firmly. When the Ministers
followed his advice and took no notice of the pretended warlike alarms, the
Committee of Public Safety immediately drew in their horns. "The
clouds," they wrote on the 11th, "which seemed to gather round the
Prussian negotiations have been dispersed by Barthelemy's explanations."
They sent to the ambassador the draft of the treaty which had been asked for by
Prussia.
This document was drawn up as much as possible in accordance with the French views, but entirely on the principles hitherto laid down by Haugwitz. Peace and friendship were to be established between the Republic and the King, both as
Prussian Monarch and as Elector and Estate of the Empire,
and neither party was to give support to the enemies of the other, or grant
them a passage through its territory. The French troops were to evacuate the
Prussian lands on the right bank of the Rhine; but they were to continue to occupy the provinces of Prussia on the left bank. These
last (article 6th) were to share the fate of the other lands of the Empire on the
left bank, at the general peace. France consented (article 9th) to accept the mediation of the King in favour of those Estates of
the Empire which were willing to enter into direct negotiation
with the Republic. After these jDrincipal provisions came an additional clause,
the acceptance of which, however, was not made an absolute condition of
peace. "In order to bring our relations with Prussia," observed the
Committee, "into harmony with our general system, we wish, in a secret
article, to call ivpon Prussia, or rather to come to an agreement with Prussia, to join in an armed neutrality, or an
open alliance, with Sweden, Denmark, and perhaps Holland." If Prussia were
not inclined to do this, it was not to be insisted upon; and the immediate
conclusion of peace was confidently expected. "This is our ultimatum," wrote the Committee on the 16th; "every delay would fill us] with
Ch.
III.] HARDENBERG
SUCCEEDS GOLZ AS AMBASSADOR. 283
vexation." And again, on the 19thi "Urge them to come to a
settlement with all haste; the moments are precious; if we
do not obtain the peace, every day is a loss of victories
to our armies, which, had it not been for these negotiations,
would have been long ago in wealthy countries, while they are now starving in
exhausted lands."
Harnier's personal feelings would have led him to respond with zeal
to the eagerness of the Committee. However, he was obliged to reply
immediately, that Prussia could not for the present enter into those northern
alliances, nor agree to the 6th article without a prospect of compensation. In the next place the King had, on the 20th of February, already
appointed Hardenberg, the minister of the Franconian provinces, as successor to Count Golz, and it was necessary therefore to
await his arrival in Basle. Hardenberg was a clever and highly educated man, of easy and stately manners,
liberal opinions and lively temperament; his nature was without heroic
greatness, but also without awkwardness or littleness; and though of a
character unfitted to cope with the subsequent crises of his country, he was well adapted to the actual position of affairs, and far superior
both to the Minister Haugwitz and the King in courage and vigour. He had
already, in January, expressed his opinion regarding the peace to this effect;
that it was essential for Prussia, even though Austria and England
remained in the field, to reject all overtures for an alliance with France, and
to confine herself to a firm neutrality, both for herself and the Estates of
the Empire which coincided with her. Such a neutrality,
he continued, was so useful and important to France, that, with a certain
degree of firmness, it might be obtained without any sacrifice of territory; he
therefore agreed entirely with Finkenstein, that the
French demand of the left bank of the Rhine should be unconditionally
and emphatically rejected. Holding these views, it
was with great regret that he read the instructions which his Government gave
him on his return to Basle. Haugwitz
made a step in ad
284
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XL
vance to meet the wishes of the French, by consenting to the ultimate
cession of the Rhine lands on condition that Prussia should be compensated for
her loss; and he only made it a condition that this concession should be
recorded in a separate and secret article. Hardenberg was, if possible, to gain the consent of the French to the fixing of the Rhine as
the line of demarcation; and if not, a line from Frankfort through Limburg,
Altenkirchen and Elberfeld to the Ruhr and the Rhine; to reserve for Prussia a decided influence on the arrangement of German affairs at the general peace; and to endeavour to gain a suitable compensation for the house of Orange.
On his way through the Breisgau, Hardenberg received the French ultimatum. Pie immediately missed in this document the promise of a
compensation for the territory which Prussia was hereafter to give up—-the
fixing of a line of demarcation—and the provision for the
House of Orange. He therefore took the opportunity, on the 16th of March, of
once more bringing the general principles of the
treaty to the notice of his Government. "I shoidd not like," he
wrote, "to go beyond a secret article promising, in expressions as vague as possible, a friendly understanding respecting the question of frontiers. France has a paramount interest in separating us from the Coalition, and would, if she could not
attain her object in any other way, make up her mind to accept such an ultimatum. It would certainly be advantageous to me if I had two strings to my
bow, and could assume a threatening and warlike
tone if the French did not agree to my proposals." This was no doubt the
only proper and dignified course. But Alvensleben was furious. He was beside
himself at this warlike tone, by which, he said, the simplest negotiation might be thrown into confusion. Haugwitz, too, thought that the
6th article was altogether favourable to Prussia, if it could be made a secret
one, and the promise of a compensation could be ob-
Cn. III.]
FRENCH ULTIMATUM.
285
tained. He also thought that the armed
neutrality, proposed in the additional clause, would furnish the most
convenient opportunity of attaching to it a demand of a line of demarcation. For Orange, he considered, they could only use their good
offices, but not make the peace dependent on success.
For Hardenberg's "second string," he concluded, they had no
materials. Such was the answer sent to the ambassador.
Hardenberg was the more grieved at this weakness, because all that he learned in Basle confirmed the
correctness of his views. All the intelligence he received from Paris went to
prove the ardent longing of the nation for peace, the impossibility of laying further war-burdens on the country, and the rise
of the Moderate and Royalist parties. Bachez, Secretary
of the French Embassy, sent him a hint not to be in a hurry, for that France in
a few weeks would become more compliant. Though prevented by his Government
from turning this position of affairs to the best account, he determined at any
rate to do his utmost. In his first conference with
Barthelemy (March 21st), in which he brought forward the Prussian draft of the
treaty, he once more made a demand for a preliminary truce, saying that, after
the claim preferred by France to the Rhenish lands, the negotiation might perhaps be prolonged for a considerable time. Barthelemy said that France would insist upon the Rhine
frontier at all hazards; but that she was prepared to make every other
concession, such as secret articles and lines of demarcation, and that he would refer to his Government respecting the truce. The
Committee of Public Safety received his intelligence with extreme vexation.
"What,"" cried they (March 25th), "more delays? We ad<-here
to our 6th article without any secret paragraphs'; we will
grant no truce—we must come to some decision." Four days afterwards,
however, a further report came from Barthelemy that Hardenberg maintained
his ground', and that he would either allow no mention of the left bank of the
286
PEACE OP BASLE.
[Book XI.
Rhine at all, or only in a secret article, with a firm guarantee of
compensation to Prussia; whereupon the Committee resolved
to retreat another step, and to consent to the Prussian
demands. Meanwhile, however, Hardenberg had made a new claim. The French ultimatum accepted the intercession of the King for those
Estates of the Empire which were willing to enter into direct negotiation with
the Republic. Hardenberg now represented that Austria would use every means
of preventing this separate treaty of Prussia from being virtually extended into a peace with the Empire. He
declared, therefore, that it was indispensable to hold out to the princes of
the Empire some immediate advantage, and proposed, as an addition to the 9th
article, that France should promise not to treat as an enemy, for the
three succeeding months, any Estate of the Empire on the East of the Rhine
which should claim the intercession of Prussia. At this the Committee of Public
Safety became seriously angry. "To suspicious eyes," they wrote
to Barthelemy, "Hardenberg might appear in
the light of a Minister of the Coalition. This addition is entirely
inadmissible. It would render it impossible for us to carry on the war on the
right bank of the Rhine. For every Sovereign of the Empire whom our
troops attacked would immediately claim the intercession of Prussia, and
thereby protect himself from us for a whole quarter of
a year. Our patience is at an end; we will have no more delay; we demand an unconditional yes, or an immediate mo" (March 30th). Before this despatch arrived in
Basle, the ambassadors in that city had come to an agreement on the main
point—the wording of the articles in respect to the Rhenish lands. It was
arranged that the French troops should remain in possession of the King's provinces on the left bank of the Rhine, and that
the final settlement respecting them should be postponed
to the conclusion of peace with the Empire. A secret article then declared that
if the Empire should give up the left bank of the Rhine to the Republic,
the King would
Ch.
IU.] FRANCE AND PRUSSIA CONCLUDE A
TREATY. 287
treat with the latter respecting the cession of his provinces in that
quarter, in return for a territorial compensation hereafter
to be agreed upon. With respect to the line of demarcation,
the chief objection of the French was that Hanover
would thereby be protected, and that no honest neutrality could be expected from the Elector of that country. Whereupon
Hardenberg answered for the willingness of his Court to take military
possession of Hanover, in case of need, and thereby secure its neutrality. Meanwhile the Committee of Public Safety, on the 31st, had repeated its
consent to Hardenberg's secret articles. This document arrived in Basle on the 4th of AprU, and as Hardenberg adhered immoveably to his additional clause, Barthelemy resolved, in spite of the despatch of the 30th, to
make this concession on his own responsibility. The peace was then signed on
the 5th of April. On the 9th, the Committee of Public Safety declared, indeed,
that the condition had been accepted contrary to their express instructions, but that it was not sufficiently important to induce them to
deprive France of the advantages of a peace so important to the whole of
Europe, and thereupon gave their sanction to the treaty.
Hardenberg was in some measure reconciled to the whole affair by the trifling success which he had gained in the course of
the negotiation. Like the Committee of Public Safety he laid especial weight on
the last additional clause; he hoped, as a result of it, that the whole Empire
would in a short time become neutral, and be thereby withdrawn
from Austrian influence. The satisfaction of the Ministers was still greater,
for they had for weeks past made up their minds to the loss of the left bank of
the Rhine, and indulged in the prospect of a stately compensation for Prussia, They shared in Hardenberg's hope that the great
majority of the Sovereigns of the Empire would join them; and they saw in other
parts of Europe, too, a growing inclination for a general peace. In Madrid, Alcudia declared to the Prussian
288
PEACE OF BASLE.
[Book XI.
ambassador that his Court would not hesitate for a moment to follow the
example of Prussia, as soon as the latter had come to a settlement with
France. In Basle a Venetian statesman
had communicated to Hardenberg, that he had been
commissioned by the King of Sardinia to claim the mediation of Prussia for a
peace with France. The King himself, he
said, regarded a separate treaty as somewhat hazardous, but the Princes and
Ministers urged him to it with so much zeal that he could no
longer resist, but was ready to agree to a peace on the status quo ante. Barthelemy, with whom Hardenberg held a preliminary discussion- on the
subject, declared that his Government would gladly enter into the negotiation, and that as they could not well give back Savoy, which had been once
for all incorporated, they would gladly compensate the King by giving him Milan
as soon as it should have been taken from the Austrians. Still more important
seemed the course of affairs at this moment in Paris, where,
ever since the 12th of Germinal, the Moderate party had more and more
consolidated its power, and where its leaders began openly to advocate the
evacuation of the left bank of the Rhine.
Hardenberg, who was employed in Basle in settling the particulars
of the line of demarcation with Barthelemy, reported, on the 20th of April,
that he had the most trustworthy information respecting the views of the
Moderate party; that the latter would conclude a peace with Sardinia as well as Prussia on the status quo ante, if the two States would then enter into an alliance with France; that
it was, therefore, above all things necessary that Prussia should
immediately take in hand the negotiation of a peace with the
Empire on the basis of the additional articles agreed to
in Basle; and that she should, without any circumlocution, propose to treat
according to the status quo ante. He held several discussions with Barthelemy
on this point, and the French statesman, although extremely reserved with respect to the views of his Govern-
Ch.
III.]
PROSPECT OF A GENERAL PEACE.
289
merit, clearly shewed that he himself, and the members of his party in
Paris, agreed with Hardenberg, and were fully impressed with the advantage to France of a genuine, i. e. a
disinterested, policy of peace.
Once more the Prussian Government indulged the hope of developing the
treaty of Basle into a general peace, and yet retaining the whole of the
territory of the Empire.
IV.
T
BOOK XII.
END OP THE FRENCH NATIONAL
CONVENTION.
Ch.
i.] 293
CHAPTER I. THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
The
nation is alienated prom the convention and hates the jacobins. Decree
for disarming the terrorists.—Restitution of the property of persons who had been
executed.—Trade
in qold and silver.—Property of the parents of emigres.—Treaty of peace with the chouans.— commission appointed to prepare a new
constitution.— the committees endeavour to check the
reaction. report
of the 1st of may.— political murders in the south.—the mountain prepares a
revolt.—rlsino of 1 prairial.—revolt in toulon.—Entire defeat of the jacobin party.—Spread of royalist sentiments.—tlie constitution-committee
discuss the elevation of louis xvii. to the throne.—hls life in prison and death.
The victory
of the 12th of Germinal was a fresh encouragement
to the mass of the French people to sweep away every remnant and trace of the
Reign of Terror. In a thousand directions, in social as
well as political life, this tendency shewed itself. The republican toi fell
into disuse; the Carmagnole and the Qa ira, were
no more heard even in the cabarets of the lowest classes; even the first war-song of the Revolution, the Marseillaise, had been rendered infamous by the Jacobins,
and was no longer allowed in public places. No one would have any thing to do
with the republican week; the Decades were ridiculed, the old Sunday was
everywhere kept, and the citizens attended in throngs at the Christian
services. In February the Convention, as we have seen, had proclaimed full
liberty for every kind of private worship, but they still forbade all
public religious services, and
294
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
especially the use of the churches. But in numberless Communes, neither the people nor the authorities paid any attention to this decree; and if ever a zealous official wished to proceed
against an ecclesiastic, the citizens told him that
they had compelled their priest to perform the service; that they, too, were
part of the Sovereign People, and knew that resistance to every kind of tyranny
was the sacred duty of the citizen. The Communes invariably gave the preference
to the non-juring priests; naturally enough, because these
had proved the conscientiousness of their convictions by their endurance of a
deadly persecution, while a number of abandoned rabble had found their way into
the ranks of the constitutional clergy. It was openly declared
on all hands that the ecclesiastical property must be restored, at any rate so
far as to cover the expenses of the cure of souls and of public worship. The
time was gone when the people hated and feared the clergy as a powerful order
of the an-cien regime; they now only remembered the vulgar outrages of the Jacobins against
all which had been held sacred by the people for a thousand years. Even now the
peasants had no intention of paying the tithes, but they wished for true
baptism, ecclesiastical marriage, and Christian burial. Their
feelings towards the nobility underwent a similar change. No one thought that a
restoration of their political and feudal privileges, or a revival of the
old Parliaments, was within the bounds of possibility. But the sting of their former hatred—the abhorrence of the traitorous Emigres—had
entirely lost its sharpness. How could it be otherwise after the frightful
persecutions of the last two years? The number of fugitives had swelled to such
a degree, that the chevaliers of Coblenz formed scarcely a tenth of the
whole mass. Since that time Constitutionalists and Girondists, Merchants and
Peasants, Royalists and Republicans, had escaped by hundreds
and thousands across the frontier from the dagger and axe of the Jacobins, and
had no other desire than to return to their country under any constitution
whatsoever. Things
Cn. 1.] THE EMIGRES RETURN TO THEIR HOMES.
295
had been carried so far, that in innumerable cases the caprice of the rulers had entered long lists of names in the category
of Emigres whose
owners had remained without interruption in France. A number of soldiers who
were fighting for the Republic on the frontier were in this case; the property
of their parents had been put under sequestration,
and their families pined away in the bitterest poverty. In spite of the
overthrow of terrorism, the laws against the Emigres, as we have seen, were still in force; and at the end of 1794 the
Convention renewed them in all their severity by a new decree. But no one could be any longer found to carry them into execution.
The fugitives returned from all quarters to their
homes; the local authorities without ceremony struck them out of the list, or
shut their eyes to their presence. In most places a stricter course of proceeding would have been dangerous to the public peace,
so decidedly was public sympathy on the side of the persecuted. The citizens by
energetic threats hindered all information or judicial measures, and not
unfrequently chose those who returned from banishment to some
public office. Under these circumstances the sale
of the property of the Emigres which
had been confiscated to the State, came to a stand-still in most of the
Departments; every one said that it was a shame to keep it back any longer from the rightful owners, provided that they had
never borne arms against France. We know that the finances of the Republic
mainly depended upon these confiscations, since it was only by their sale that
the course of the assignats could be maintained:
this attitude of the citizens, therefore, was extremely vexatious to the
Convention, as they saw in it not merely neglect of their laws but a certain
source of bankruptcy. The population troubled themselves very little about
this; to the immense majority it was a matter of the
greatest indifference what the temper of the
Convention might be. They supported it, indeed, against the Jacobins, but
certainly not from reverence for the former, but simply from hatred
296
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. Book XII.]
towards the latter. Generally speaking, the republican government had fallen into the greatest discredit, and no resolution
■was more popular in the country than that of the 21st of March, -which
announced the drawing up of a new Constitution.
That the latter would not be Jacobin in its character
might, in the present state of affairs, be foretold with certainty; the only
concern of the citizens was that new men
should at last succeed to power—honourable, educated and law-loving men, instead of the unclean and furious demagogues,
who by their rude and vulgar quarrels daily undermined
the authority of the Government and the foundations
of the State. The press and the literature of the day made no concealment of
these sentiments: the majority of journals and
pamphlets spoke with open contempt or hostile distrust of the republican
form of government. Something must be done, they said, to
get out of this endless surging of party fends, and to reach firm ground; they
must have an independent, firm, and lasting
government. It was, they said, an advantage of monarchy that it imparted its
own steadiness to all public relations, and thereby afforded the best guarantee
for civil freedom; the constitution of 1791 had, in their opinion, only failed of its objects, because the distrust against the King had
too greatly crippled the power of the Government. In Paris, artisans and
workmen were heard discussing the question, whether corn had been as rare, and
bread as dear, under the Monarchy as under the Republic; and the saying went the round of the Jeunesse doree that 8 and 9 made 17—in other words that the Revolution of '89 must end
with the coronation of Louis XVII.
When such sentiments were expressed in the Convention, the republican
feelings of the members blazed forth, and the Independents, especially,
and a few enthusiasts of the Gironde, angrily cried out, that in their struggle
with the Terrorists they must not forget their contest with the monarchy. For
the present, however, they were too deeply implicated in the
Jacobin troitbles; they had too many
incomplete and
Ch. I.]
DISARMING OF THE TERRORISTS.
297
urgent problems of restoration to solve, and above all they possessed
too little internal energy for resistance against public opinion, to
allow of the majority of the Convention being forced so easily from their
present course. Even though a trace of monarchical sentiment might be found
here and there among quiet citizens, it was well known that it only sprung from a longing after lasting repose, and was on that very account not
likely to lead to violent measures. Though many a disrespectful word against
the Convention might be heard among them, their favour might yet be gained by
honest endeavours to heal the wounds of the Rei gn of Terror. The
main point was, however, that the Convention had no other allies and props than
the Jeunesse doree and the orderly citizens; that it had to fear the worst from the
Jacobins; and that it was a matter of life and death to prevent a repetition of the 12th of Germinal. With this view the
Committee of Public Safety, whose members were sinking under the weight of
business, was increased on the 3rd of April to sixteen persons. On the 10th
they had recourse to a measure which had been often demanded by the Parisian
Sections, but had hitherto been always refused by the suspicious Convention;
they gave orders for a general disarming of all those citizens, who had in any
way taken part in the tyranny of the Reign of Terror. The Communes, and, in Paris, the Sections, were to undertake this office. While
the Convention hoped in this way to render the Jacobins powerless, they
endeavoured to strengthen the "more wealthy and moderate classes, by
decreeing a new organization of the Parisian
National Guard, in accordance with the principles of
1791. They followed these principles also in the administration of the country;
the law of the 4th of December, 1793, was renewed, and the authority which the
Departments and Districts had possessed in 1791 was now restored to them.
Even now, however, they did not dare to restore the power of election to the
people, but
298
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
retained it for the present in the hands of the Committees and Commissioners of the Convention.
As the Convention thus made common cause with the citizens, it was
natural that the question of the grand restoration
of rights and property should be brought forward with redoubled earnestness.
After the revolt of the Girondists,
many hundreds of their adherents had been proscribed as Federalists in the
summer and autumn of 1793. As, then, the Convention had acknowledged the
leaders of this party as champions of the good cause, and recalled as many of
them as were still alive to their seats, it would have been
an absurdity to prosecute any longer the inferior victims of the 31st of May.
On the 11th of April, therefore, all the proscriptions connected with that day
were recalled, and at the same time the tyrannical law of the 10th of March, 1793 —which
outlawed all enemies of the Revolution without any closer definition of the
term—was repealed. Four days afterwards
Johannot renewed his great motion for striking out the word
"confiscation" from the criminal law of France, and for restoring the
property of executed persons to their families. He pointed out that the victims
of the Reign of Terror had for the most part been
murdered without any legal procedure; that the blood of the innocent clove to
these possessions of the nation; that the credit of the State could only be
saved by a radical act of purification and atonement. The feeling of the majority was so favourable that the motion was immediately
carried amidst clapping of hands. But scruples soon arose. Rewbell cried out
that it was wrong to pass so important a decree in a rash fit of enthusiasm; he
said that a number of very important interests had to be considered, unless everything was to be sacrificed to the advantage of the Royalists. Some of the Thermidorians, who were offended by the movement in favour of the Church,
came to his aid, and the majority agreed to another postponement.
On the 18th Rewbell renewed his opposition.
In quiet times, hi' allowed,
confiscation was
Ch. I.] REPEAL OP THE CONFISCATION LAWS.
299
unjust, because it visited the sins of the criminal upon his innocent
family. But in times of Revolution, in times of political party strife, it was
the duty of the victor to render the successors of the conquered incapable of
renewing the contest. Even Johannot, he said, had conceded that
the Emigres ought
to be distinguished from the persons executed, and to be treated as public
enemies of the country according to martial law; but then he could not deny
that a considerable portion of the executed had been in a
state of open rebellion, and, like the Emigres, had borne arms against the Republic. Rewbell demanded, therefore, that
the sale of the property of Emigres should be first of all completed, and that the Convention should then
come to some fixed resolution respecting
the property of the parents of Emigres: and when this had been done, and not till then, should the question of
the property of the persons executed be taken into consideration.
The Convention wavered. Whoever appealed with vigour to their dislike of Emigres and monarchy seldom failed to produce an effect on the great mass of
members. A resolution was passed that the Committees
should first bring up a report on the property of parents of Emigres. But immediately afterwards, the feelings of the
Convention were once more changed by a communication from the Comite de Surete
generale that a new Jacobin plot had been discovered; that on the morrow, or on
the day after, several columns were to break out of the Faubourg St. Antoine,
overpower the arsenal and the Government Committees,
and liberate the imprisoned patriots. This led to violent outbreaks of anger
against the incorrigible Terrorists, and turned the current of feeling, which
had set in towards the Left, back again towards the Right. When, in addition to this, Jacobin tumults were reported from several
provinces, the more pressing fear of the men of terror
banished all other apprehensions, and the views of the
moderate party once more gained
300
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
the upper hand. On the 25th of April a law was adopted almost without
discussion, which opened the Bourse again, and'allowed the trade in gold and
silver; and the motion of the Left—to connect with this new law at any rate
some measures to prevent accaparement and usury—fell to the ground without discussion, amidst the murmurs of
the majority. This was a point on which, as we know, the communistic tendencies of the Reign of Terror laid the greatest possible
stress; so summary a settlement of it, therefore, was highly
characteristic of the change in the position of affairs, and in the feelings of
the country.
On the same day the Convention began the discussion respecting the
parents of Emigres,
according
to Rewbell's motion. We have already mentioned that during the
height of the Terror the Convention had put the possessions of all those
citizens whose sons had emigrated under sequestration, on the ground that they
had probably aided- in the crime of their sons, and that the nation must secure the future inheritance of the Emigres. A number of innocent families were hereby reduced to complete
destitution, and had ever since lived as beggars on the support of their
Communes, or the charity of the State. The proposed law did not even now venture to proceed on the simple principle that no one ought to suffer
for the crimes of another, and that it was therefore an insane and criminal act
to confiscate an estate because it might one day belong to an Emigre. It
only ordered that the Emigre's share should be separated from every mass of property of this sort, and
definitively confiscated; it further ordained that the residue should be
restored to the Ascendant;
and
decided, to the great disgust and anger of the Left, that in fixing the
inheritance of the Emigres a
considerable praecipuimi
1 should
be secured to the father.
1 This term may be thus explained,
perty worth 40,000 francs. One son A Father, e. g. has 4 sons, and pro- emigrates.
His future inheritance
Ch. I.] PROPERTY OF THE VICTIMS OF
THE GUILLOTINE. 301
Parallel with this discussion, both in time and tendency, ran the
discussion on the goods of executed persons. Several Girondists—Doulcet,
Louvet,Lanjuinais—who had experienced in their own persons the horrors of the Reign of Terror, strained every nerve to force the
Convention to a resolution in complete accordance with justice and morality.
But they had no easy task. For although
they were supported by the whole weight of public opinion, which made itself heard by the rulers in a thousand imperious voices, yet their patriotic efforts were checked by
the most painful of all anxieties in the
heart of the Convention — the anxiety respecting the preservation of the
sole income of the State— the anxiety respecting the credit of the assignats, the security for which would be diminished one-third, and jierhaps
one-half, by the desired restoration.
It struck, too, at the root of the principles of the Independents, to
declare, as was here done, that the Revolution was limited in its
aggressive omnipotence by respect for a private
right. Rewbell and his party left
nothing undone, if not to prevent the passing of the decree, at any rate to
blunt its point—to save, if not the property, at any rate the principle. It came at last to a
law, on the 3rd of May, which maintained the punishment of confiscation against Emigres, forgers of assignats, and traitorous generals, but ordered that the goods of all persons executed for political offences since the 10th of March, 1793, should be restored to their families. And thus the Moderate party at last
succeeded in closing this frightful wound ; and though the Left had for the
moment successfully defended the revolutionary
principle, yet, thanks to Lanjuinais1 and Doulcet's efforts, the principle was condemned,
would be 10,000 fr., and this is to
be the future share of the sons is 8,000
sequestrated. But now the law
directs each. This portion of the Emigre1
first, that 8,000 fr. should be set
aside son is to be confiscated, the residue
for the father (the ascendant) as prae- paid back to the father. cipuum; there remain 32,000 fr., and
302
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
for all future time, to barrenness. The immorality of confiscation was acknowledged throughout
Europe by the public conscience from that time forward.
The Moderate party regarded it as a triumph of no less importance, that
during the same weeks the work of reconciliation in the Western provinces
was brought to a conclusion. In La Vendee the
provisions of the treaty of La Jaunais were carried out for the moment without
any hindrance. Charette appeared in person in
Nantes, was received with distinction by the republican authorities, and
greeted by the population with loud applause, in spite of his
white cockade. Since that time he had lived in quiet retirement in his
head-quarters at Belleville; and as the Conventional commissioners bad allowed
the peasants of the Marais to manage their internal affairs as they pleased, all traces of deadly opposition were obliterated for the moment
from those regions. Stofflet, who had at first obstinately rejected the peace
of La Jaunais, found himself daily deserted by his followers, and more and more
hard pressed by the collected forces of Canclanx; and he agreed
at last, on the 2nd of May, to a treaty at St. Florent, by which he accepted
the same conditions as Charette, and thereby restored peace throughout the whole of La Vendee. The pacification of the Chouans in Bretagne continued to present greater
difficulties. After General Humbert's zeal had succeeded in entering into
negotiation with them, as described above, the conferences had, indeed, been
continued, and gradually extended to most of the important chiefs. But, on the one hand, there was no permanent and supreme Commander-in-chief, as in
La Vendee ; on the contrary, Cormatin's authority was found at every step to be
extremely insecure, and an effectual treaty, therefore, really needed a special
negotiation with every single leader. On the other hand,
General Hoche persisted in his opinion that the Chouans
were not in earnest about the peace, and were only trying to gain time until
the lauding of the Emigres took
place. He accordingly
Ch. I.]
PEACE OF LA MABILAIS 303
shewed himself utterly unyielding and reserved during the negotiation,
sent warning after warning to the Committee of Public Safety, and expressed the
bitterest indignation at the blind credulity of the Conventional commissioners.
Things went so far that the Committee threatened him with their decided
displeasure, and at last took from him half his command,
confining him to the army of Brest (Southern Bretagne),
and entrusting the army of Cherbourg (Western Normandy) to General Aubert-Dubayet. Now, for the first time, the Conventional commissioners
made sufficient progress to conclude a formal treaty
with Cormatin and 22 other chiefs of Chouans. This took place on the 20th of
April at La Mabilais, on exactly the same conditions as had
been granted in La Vendee.
The Moderate party, which, in addition to these healing measures at
home, had just then completed the Prussian treaty, and begun a negotiation with
Spain, indulged the hope of approaching the desired goal—a general pacification and reconciliation, and the close of the revolution by a universal
peace. No doubt the work of the new Constitution formed the central point of
all these efforts; and in this, too, essential progress was made at this
time. On the 18th of April Cambaceres brought up the report of the
commission on the organic laws, in which, for the purpose, as he alleged, of
fixing the order of their labours, he endeavoured to shew the extent of the
necessary reforms, and the necessity of a new Constitution, instead of that of 1793. No opposition was raised from any side : it was resolved
to increase the numbers of the commission to eleven members, and to elect them
on the 23rd. Sieyes had possessed such a decided ~ reputation since 1789, as a
genuine artist in constitutional matters—he had become, at
that time, so undoubtedly the leader of the Independents—that his name was on
this occasion the first to proceed from the
electoral urn. He was, however, too proud to share his glory with ten others,
or, perhaps, he just now preferred his practical activity
in the
304
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
Committee of Public Safety; at any rate he declined to cooperate. Cambaceres too, and Merlin of Douay, who were also members of
the Committee, came to the same decision. The following were then elected into
the Constitutional commission—Thibaudeau, Lareveillere, Lesage, Boissy d'Anglas, Creuze-Latouche, Louvet, Daunou, Berber, Lanjuinais,
Durand-Maillane and Baudin of the Ardennes. The Moderates
and the Girondists had a considerable majority; and Daunou, Berber and
Lareveillere, were among the most thoughtful and enlightened of the
Independents.
The Left was little contented with this result, or
indeed with anything that had taken place during the last few weeks. Though
France might in this way be journeying towards a calmer future, the present had
its dark side for the Convention. Johannot, Boissy d'Anglas and Lanjuinais, were indeed praised by every body as the authors of the
restoration of property; but the dislike felt towards the Convention as a whole
contrasted all the more strongly with the praise awarded to these individuals.
No one felt any love or respect for an assembly which had made
itself, during a whole year, the passive and silent tool of the most horrible
tyranny, and which even now had not purified itself from a number of execrated
members. The government of the Committees was rendered weak and wavering by the constant change of persons and party
influences. It had no money for any department of the public service; for tin'
preservation of obedience and order, it had neither the National guard of
Lafayette, nor the disciplined mobs of Henriot—and the
troops were far away on the frontiers; the government, therefore, was driven
helplessly to and fro by every breath of public opinion. In the Committee of
Public Safety, and the Comite de Surete generate, the majority were at that time Independents,—Jacobins
at the bottom of their hearts, who had always regarded as the principal
criterion of liberty, the suppression of all their enemies. They saw with
concealed fury the unpunished return of Emigres, and
Ch. I.]
INCREASE OF POPULAR FURY AGAINST JACOBINS. 305
the open appearance of non-juring priests; they therefore carried a
decree through the Convention on the 25th of April, that no one could be struck
out of the list of Emigres except
by a resolution of the Convention. They were no less
angry at the ingenuous newspaper articles, which daily spoke of the virtues of
Louis XVI. and the sins of his murderers. Sometimes they took courage and
caused a royalist writer to be incarcerated: but then a storm was raised in
twenty newspapers, and the Jevnesse doree clamoured for the freedom of the press or death, until the Committee
yielded with peaceful prudence, and allowed the prisoners to go free. The law
for disarming the Terrorists had caused the greatest excitement in Paris; the
Sections were filled with personal quarrels, the
threatened Jacobins overwhelmed the Comite de Svrete generate with urgent petitions for protection against the
furious wrath of their fellow citizens. The latter waited until the
reorganization of the National guard should be completed—until they had
got weapons in their hands; but then vengeance for the atrocities of the last year was at once to strike the guilty. Still more
unfavourable was the intelligence from the Departments, especially of the
South; the Conventional commissioners unanimously reported from all quarters, that the population would take
the matter into their own hands, if the Convention did not take speedy measures
on a large scale for the punishment of the monstrous crimes
committed since 1793. Thibaudeau
himself, although thoroughly converted from his former democratic views, and a
prominent leader of the Moderate party, considered the continuance of such an
anarchical state of affairs intolerable, and surprised the Convention by proposing, that, until the introduction of the new
Constitution, all the powers of government should be once more centred in the
Committee of Public Safety. The Jacobin members loudly applauded him,
but the majority of his friends cried out against such a tendency to despotism. Lanjuinais declared on this occasion, to the deep indignation IV. U
306
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
of the entire Left, that no satisfactory state of things could be
expected until the Executive was separated from the
Legislative power, and the latter entrusted to two distinct bodies. Before,
however, a decision was come to on this point, Chenier, in the name of the
Committees, brought up a report, on the 1st of May, on the condition of the
country, in which he laid before the Assembly, in a
threatening tone, all the above mentioned complaints of the weakness of the
officials, the audacity of the pl-ess, the priests, and the Emigres. "They demand," he said, "day after day, as a high
privilege of freedom, the right of praising despotism; treacherous
manifestoes in favour of royalty are sown broadcast through Dauphine and
Bretagne; Lyons is sullied by several political murders; great energy is
necessary to save the Republic." Hereupon it was decreed that all returned
Emigres
and
refractory priests should be immediately arrested, all royalist publications
criminally prosecuted, and their authors banished ; and that the disarming of
the Terrorists should take place under the surveillance of the Comite
de Suretc generale. It was in vain that Tallien endeavoured to protect the press against
restrictions; the Convention was evidently influenced by the fear of the
reaction, and passed one article of the law after another. One proposition
alone, which threatened every breach of the February law respecting the
churches with imprisonment, was successfully opposed by Thibandean and
Lanjuinais, who energetically reminded the Assembly of the feeling in La
Vendee.
The direction which the Committees had given to the majority on this day was maintained for a while by a melancholy
piece of intelligence from the South. We must call to mind how the myrmidons of
Robespierre and Hebert had raged in Lyons, Marseilles, Avignon, Orange, Toulon
and Aries—in which cities not a single family existed
which had not been mulcted in blood or property — before we can understand the
glow of fury with which the people now saw the bloody myrmidons of those tyrants living in impunity
. Ch. I.] MASSACRE OF IMPRISONED TERRORISTS AT LYONS. 307
and enjoying the fruits of their monstrous deeds. Only a few of them
had been arrested, and even now their conviction by regular process of law
was uncertain, and at any rate not to be rapidly obtained. And thus the ferment
continued and increased ; political intrigues were connected
with it, and the returning Emigres formed
a channel for freqnent communications with the exiled Princes. In the course of
the spring armed bands were formed, first in Lyons, and soon in a hundred parts
of the country, which called themselves companies of Jesus,
of Jehu, or of the Sun, and arbitrarily took upon themselves the office of
punishment. The members of Collot-d'Herbois' and Maignet's commissions, the
blood-hounds of the terrorising police, the members of the old Revolutionary committees, were no longer secure of their lives. In
Lyons people called out in the street, in the open day, after a passer by:
"Stop the Mathevon!" (7. e. the Jacobin) ; and these words were sufficient to have him seized and
stabbed, or thrown into the river. On the 5th of May a
notorious spy of Collot's police stood before the tribunal, and the people
demanded a sentence of death against him without delay. When the judges adhered
to the legal forms, the mob broke out into mutiny, slew the accused, and then rushed with unbridled lust of revenge to the prison.
The armed force was not numerous, and had no steady leaders; the people stormed
the entrance, and murdered ninety-seven imprisoned Terrorists in a transport of
tumultuous fury. The Representative Boissel appeared on the
scene of blood when all was over : the people surrounded him with protestations
of their good intentions, themselves related what had happened, eagerly
described to him what infamous murderers the slaughtered men had been, and complained bitterly of the troops which had
tried to hinder them. No less horrible scenes took place, on the 11th, in Aix,
where the people likewise broke open the prison and cut down thirty prisoners
without mercy—on this occasion under the
very eyes of the
Conventional commissioner
,u2
308
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
Charnbon, who with feeble words exhorted
them to obey the law, but in his heart sympathised with the furious multitude.
It was natural that such proceedings should be turned to account in Paris in
favour of the Jacobins, and against the Royalists and Emigres. On the 10th of May the powers of the Committee of Public Safety
were considerably enlarged, though not to the
extent which Thibaudeau had proposed. They now
proceeded to take strong measures against the licence of the press, and paid no
regard to any protests. The fact that the citizens in
several Sections passed resolutions in favour of the freedom of the press, was
an additional reason for the Committee to delay the equipment of the National
guard. The disarming of tin-Terrorists came to a complete stand-still; the Comite de Siirete generate decided in favour of every remonstrance of accused Terrorists, and the
Convention had no ears for the complaint of the Sections that this wholesome
law was not carried out. When the Committee of Public Safety read the report
from Lyons, they thought the companies of Jesus more
dangerous, after all, to their own existence than all the Jacobins. These
Rulers, for the most part entirely destitute of moral convictions or political
principles, and driven by circumstances sometimes to the Right and sometimes to the Left, had at last no other object than to keep possession of
power and its enjoyments for themselves, and therefore made use alternately of
each of the contenting parties against the other. On the 12th of Germinal they
had controlled the Terrorists by means of the citizens, who
were mostty of royalist opinions ; they nowr
spared and protected the remnant of the Jacobins for the
approaching contest with the Royalists.
But it was not allowed them to move on in the same direction for any
length of time without interruption.
The dearness of provisions, which we have already noticed as prevailing
in the winter, still continued, and could not, in the very nature of things, be
mitigated before the arrival
Ch.J.] THE COMMITTEE CHECKS ROYALIST REACTION.
309
of harvest. On the contrary, as foreign trade was greatly impeded by
the war, the deficiency in the supplies was more and more painfully felt with
every month of continued consumption. In May the Parisian
authorities found it impossible to procure for the
population the daily rations of one, or one pound and a half of bread, which
were fixed in March; and they were glad when they were able to supply half a
pound of rice in addition to half a pound of bread. The misery of the lower classes, therefore, was great, and the suggestions of the Jacobins once
more gained a hearing in their old dominion, the Faubourgs. The extreme Left of
the Convention had indeed been concpiered and decimated on the 12th of Germinal, bnt by no means annihilated or changed in its sentiments. Its members looked on with savage fury at the successes of the
Moderate party during April, and felt a malicious joy on seeing the
apprehensions which the Convention entertained of the
Royalists during the first weeks of May. When the Committees of that
time began to protect the Jacobins from being disarmed,
and from other acts of oppression, the members of the Mountain were very far
removed from any feeling of gratitude; but they immediately conceived the idea
of making use of the favourable moment, and, while free action was still
allowed them, trying to regain their power by a bold coup de main. The Deputies Goujon and Bourbotte are said to have been the most active
leaders of the undertaking; Thuriot and Cambon, who had
escaped from imprisonment after the 12th of Germinal, worked in the same
direction in the Faubourgs. The distress among the workmen afforded them plenty
of inflammable materials; the murderous scenes in the South, and the threats of
the Parisian citizens, inspired them with a consciousness
of a just cause; and the open discord which had broken out between the Government and the Metropolitan sections, on account of the fresh favour shewn to the Jacobins, gave the latter the
hope of overpowering the isolated Convention, in the first
place, and then, by the help of its decrees, the
310
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
citizens themselves. The plan was similar to that of the 12th of
Germinal—viz. to interrupt the sitting of the Convention
by a noisy petition for bread, the Constitution of 1793, and the liberation of
the patriots; then to disperse the hostile majority of the Assembly, constitute
the Left as the only genuine representatives of the nation, and while other
columns of the people were storming the Hotel de Ville and the Arsenal, to
dissolve the present Government and renew the system of 1793. The Jacobins
found such masses of the men of the Faubourgs ready to rise, that they ventured
to print and publish the plan of the insurrection on the 19th of
May. In the afternoon there were riots in several streets, where the insurgents
proclaimed the contest of the Sansculottes against the Honnetes gens, and the galleries of the Convention disturbed the proceedings
by unruly cries and violent
clapping of hands, at every utterance of a Jacobin orator.
Early on the morning of the 20th of May (1st of Prairial), before 5
o'clock, the noise of drums and the clanking of the alarm bell began to summon
the insurgents of the Faubourgs to
arms. The Government Committees inmediately assembled, and towards 8 o'clock
ordered the rappel to be
beaten in the other Sections of the city, to assemble the National Guard. When
the sitting of the Convention began, three hours later, things were
tolerably quiet in the environs of the Tuileries, but the galleries were
filled with crowds of women, who by their cries and laughter rendered all
discussion impossible. The servants of the Convention could do nothing to stop
them, the armed force of the Sections
would not assemble, and the Jeunesse doree deliberated in the cafes of
the Palais Royal, which were the worst Jacobins, the members of the
Committee of Public Safety, or the workmen of the Faubourg St. Antoine. The
President at last entrusted the chief command of the defenders of
the Convention to a Brigadier-General who happened to be present; and the
latter furnished half a dozen young men
Ch. I.]
REVOLT OF THE 1ST OF PRAIRIAL.
311
with hunting whips, whereupon the galleries were
cleared amidst discordant howlings. During this tumult the first crowd of armed
workmen appeared at the principal entrance of the Hall, broke down the gates
and filled the floor of the Convention; a few Deputies rushed forward to meet
them, a company of gendarmes came up to protect the
Representatives, and the insurgents were driven
out at the point of the sword. But this was only the beginning of troubles. The
tocsin was sounding in all quarters, the noise in the Place du Carousel
increased every minute, and as yet only a weak battalion
from one Section had arrived to occupy the entrances to the Hall of assembly.
Towards 4 o'clock the insurgents again broke in in increased numbers; a fight
took place at the door of the Hall itself, the National Guard was overpowered by gun shots, and the mass of assailants rushed over
the body of the Deputy Feraud (who had desperately thrown himself in their
way), into the lower part of the House, and surrounding the bureau of the President endeavoured to force from him the desired decrees. Boissy
d'Anglas, who occupied the chair on this day as eputy of the old and weak
Vernier, remained firm and immoveable, though pale as death. The people loaded
him with abuse, threatened him with their fists and bayonets, and cried for a division, for bread, and the decrees. Feraud, who had risen from
the ground, again rushed forward to protect the President, dashed away a pike
which was directed against Boissy, but was himself shot down by a pistol. He
was then dragged out and killed outright, and his bloody head was
then brought in upon a spear and held up before
Boissy, who greeted it with reverence, but even at this moment remained firm
and quiet. The leaders of the insurrection saw that a great part of the
Deputies had retreated
before the tumult, and they now wished to get their motions passed. But even
they could not get a hearing; the multitude incessantly streamed backwards and
forwards, drank, shouted, and cried for bread and liberty; it was
312
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
many hours before Goujon and his friends could bring about any kind of
discussion. Meanwhile the report of these excesses
had at last set a number of Sections in motion, and as it began to grow dark
several battalions of National Guards were assembled on
the Place; but no one of them knew where the Government Committees were to be
found, or whether any government at all still existed. When Boissy d'Anglas
with his secretaries left his bureau towards nine o'clock, the Montagnards forced the aged Vernier into the President's chair,
and caused the Deputies who were still present to be driven by the people into
the middle of the Hall; whereupon Goujon, Piomme and
Soubrany, brought forward their patriotic motions, each of which was proclaimed
on the spot as law amidst waving of hats. Secretaries
however were wanting to write them down,-and it was not till after 11 o'clock
that Goujon procured the nomination of an
executive committee, which was to take the Government in hand, and arrest the
previous committees. But just at this moment the latter had succeeded in communicating with the National Guard and bringing up fresh
reinforcements; immediately afterwards Boissy d'Anglas returned to the President's chair, and just as the revolutionary
Committee was about to set itself in motion, Legendre, Chenier, and other
Thermidorians, appeared at the head of armed men. A hand to hand fight
immediately began. The insurgents were driven back, but they also
received reinforcements and once more expelled the
troops from the Hall amidst loud cries of victory from the Mountain. But the
general march was now sounding out of doors; the battalions
in close masses forced their way with fixed bayonets through all
the passages, and the rebels escaped in disorderly flight to the galleries,
through side doors, or even through the windows. Thirteen Montagnards, who had
been conspicuous in the melee were
stopped and immediately arrested. It was past midnight when the
Convention at last found itself in full possession of its freedom. The city was quiet,
Ch. I ] THE HOSTILE PARTIES COME TO TERMS. 313
i
and it was only from the Section Cite that
an occasional roll of the drum was heard.
But the danger was by no means at an end. On the following morning, at
the very beginning of the sitting, news was brought that a Convention of the
sovereign People had been formed at the Hotel de Ville, but that the battalions of the well disposed Sections were already marching against them. All
the speakers denounced the Terrorists with the greatest energy: "The
honest citizens -whom they abuse as Royalists," said Lariviere, "are
not dangerous; the Jacobins on the other hand have
been liberated from their prisons, and now you see what use they make of their
freedom!" At noon it was reported that the rebels had withdrawn from the
Hotel de Ville to the Faubourg St. Antoine; the National
Guard pursued them, but suddenly saw themselves threatened by superior
numbers and the artillery of the Faubourg, and did not venture on a contest.
Towards 5 o'clock their retreating battalions arrived in front of the Tuileries
hotly pursued by the men of the Faubourg. The President announced to the Deputies that the cannon of the enemy was directed against the
palace, and Legendre cried out: "I hope that the Convention will remain at
its post; the worst that can happen to us is death." A painful silence of
half an hour followed; the artillerymen of the two parties were holding a
conference, and the citizens announced that the men of the Faubourg were
inclined to come to terms, if they were met in a conciliatory manner, and hopes
were held out to them of food and a speedy proclamation of the Constitution. The Convention immediately issued a decree which was however
equivocal; "The Convention," it said, "always occupied with the
question of procuring supplies for the people, orders its Committee of Eleven
to lay before it the organic laws of the constitution
within four days."" On receiving further information respecting the
wishes of the people, the law respecting the trade in gold and silver was
suspended, and the property of parents
of
311
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
Emigres was
once more put under sequestration. Hereupon a deputation from the Faubourgs,
which still assumed a very imperious tone, was received by the Convention,
embraced by the President, and dismissed with the most encouraging assurances.
A reconciliation of the parties then took place on the
Place du Carrousel, and the men of the Faubourgs inarched home with a proud
consciousness of victory.
They had indeed gained nothing but fair words, and the Convention
waited with bitter impatience for the moment when
they could make their power felt. In the midst of the tumult of the 20th the
Committee of Public Safety had taken the decided step, and had sent orders to
the Army of the North to dispatch 3,000 cavalry in forced marches to Paris.
They arrived on the evening of the 22nd, and strong columns of infantry were at the same time approaching the capital from
various quarters. The Government now felt strong enough to stand on its own
feet, and was thoroughly determined to make use of its power. On the 23rd, the Deputies Anbry, Delmas and Gillet, were
entrusted with the command of the armed force; the strictest orders were issued
against every attempt at mutiny, and a military tribunal was established for
the summary punishment of rioters. When the Faubourg St.
Antoine refused to deliver up its artillery and the murderers of Feraud, the
Convention threatened to bombard the quarter, and forced
it on the same evening to complete submission. Arrests were made without
interruption in all parts of the city; the Sections
received orders to remain en permanence until the disarming of the Terrorists had been completed; and at the
same time orders were issued that all pikes should be given up—orders which
were carried out by the citizens themselves with the greatest zeal. The new organization of the National Guard was rapidly completed; all
workmen, servants, homeless and destitute persons, were exempted from service;
and companies of grenadiers and cavalry were
formed from volunteers of the richer classes. The Convention
had completely
Ch. I.] REVOLT OF JACOBINS IN TOULON 315
returned into the groove of the first weeks of April, and took every
opportunity of shewing honour to the bourgeoisie who had hitherto been denonnced as royalists.
The Jacobins themselves did their part in keeping
up this state of feeling. No sooner had they been pnt down in Paris, than news
arrived that, on the 17th, their friends in Toulon had risen and made
themselves master of the city. The Conventional Commissioners in Toulon had written for several weeks past in a tone of great anxiety,
saying that the malcontents from all the southern
Departments were pouring into this important harbour; that the thousands of
dock-labourers were in a state of serious ferment, and that the weak garrison, and a portion of the men in the fleet, were affected
by Jacobin sentiments. The fleet was on the point of weighing anchor to attack
the English in Corsica, which would have deprived the insurgents of perhaps the
most important part of their expected booty; at the same time
they heard of the massacre of their friends in Aix and Lyons, and as they were
probably aware of the Parisian projects they resolved to delay no longer. On
the 17th the first riots took place in the city; and on the 19th the dock-labourers broke out into rebellion; the garrison either dared
not, or would not, make any resistance; one of the Representatives
shot himself through the head in despair, and the other, Niou, had a narrow
escape to the fleet which was anchored in the great roads. It was for many
clays doubtful whether he could maintain discipline
among the sailors; fortunately a division of the Brest fleet had arrived a
short time before, and the firm and loyal attitude of its crews intimidated the
malcontents among the Toulonese sailors. In the city
the insurgents, who consisted of about 8,000 armed men, maintained tolerable
order, but announced their intention of marching first to
Marseilles, carrying this Commune with them, and then going to
the aid of their Parisian brethren with their united
forces. The most determined resistance was evidently necessary in this case,
and the Grov^
316
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
ernment did not hesitate to send the most comprehensive powers to the Conventional Commissioners in the South. But there Avas no
need of au impulse from above to rouse every energy on the spot itself to
desperate resistance. Wherever the news was brought, that the Jacobins were iu
possession of Toidon, the population rose with impetuous fury.
Chiappe, one of the Conventional Commissioners in Marseilles, hastened alone
with undaunted courage to the revolted city, in order, if possible, to reduce
it to submission by the sovereign commands of the Convention: but he could not gain a hearing, and after being detained in arrest for several
days, thought himself fortunate to escape unhurt. His colleague Isnard
meanwhile collected several military leaders, and some well disciplined
divisions of the Italian army. The citizens joined
them by thousands with the greatest enthusiasm. It is characteristic of the
spirit by which they were animated, that Isnard cried out to them, as they
began their march: "If yon have not sufficient arms, dig up the corpses of
your butchered brothers, aud slay the murderers with their
bones." A few leagues from Toulon they came upon the rebels who were
advancing in loose order; the Jacobins numbered about 3,000 men with twelve
guus, while the Conventional Commissioners had more than three times that number at their disposal; yet the insurgents
made an obstinate resistance for five hours, until the superior tactics of
their enemies turned the scale, and the rebels dispersed in wild flight. On the
31st Toulon surrendered at discretion.
In Paris the varying fortunes of this insurrection
were watched with the greatest excitement. There was but one unanimous cry that
such an incorrigible faction must be thoroughly put clown. On the 24th of May,
Pache, Bouchotte, and six of their associates in the old War Ministry of the Mountain, were brought before the Criminal Tribunal, and
the Comite de legislation was ordered to report with all speed on all those Representatives, who,
in the character of Commissioners to
Ch. I.] - PUNISHMENT OF THE JACOBIN LEADERS.
317
the Provinces or the Armies, had sullied their reputation by illegal
acts of any kind whatever. During the following day eight more Montagnards were
impeached for their participation in the 1st of Prairial; on the 28th all the
members of the^old Government committees, with the exception of Carnot, Prieur of the Cote cTOr, and Louis of ihe Lower Rhine, were arrested; on the 1st of June eight
more Deputies of the Mountain were sent to join their colleagues, who had
already been brought before the tribunal. At the same time
the trial of Lebon, which had been prepared for several months past, was
commenced. Foucruier-Tinville, with fifteen associates, had already been sent
to thff guillotine, on the 7th of May, amid the execrations
of a numerous crowd; and on the 17th of June the Military Tribunal
condemned Goujon, Romme, Sonbrany, Duquesnoy, Bourbotte and Duroy to death, for
their part in the rebellion of the 1st of Prairial. The discussion which
preceeded this sentence revived the memory of the Reign of Terror in all
its blackest colours; the people listened with ever growing indignation to the
atrocities of the Parisian Revolutionary tribunal, the insane raging of Lebon
in Arras, the horrible and disgusting particulars of the conduct of other Commissioners;—how one, for
instance, had invited the executioner to his table,
another had plundered both public and private property, a third had appeared
completely naked at a patriotic feast in the theatre, and used the most
indecent language in presence of the women there; and how
all had shed the blood of both innocent and guilty without any distinction. The
immediate consequences of these impressions were:—the abolition of
the Revolutionary tribunal, which for more than two years had been the terror of all France; the repeal of the February law respecting the
churches, so that henceforward public worship was permitted
to every priest who made a simple declaration of submission to the laws of the
State; and the granting of powers to the Comite de legislation, to strike persons from
318
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
the list of Emigres, even without a decree of the Convention. "It is necessary,"
said Sevestre somewhat later, "to alter our language as well as our institutions; we must banish the word, "revolutionary,"
from our legal vocabulary, and consequently give to the Revolutionary
committees, which under this designation have brought upon themselves the
curses of the nation, their original title of Comites de Surveillance."
The
change was decreed amid great applause, and immediately motions of a similar
kind were brought forward in abundance. It was proposed to forbid the red
Jacobin cap, which, it was said, really belonged to the galley slaves; to
strike out the two last words from the inscription, "freedom or
death," which was painted up in all parts of the city; and to obliterate
all remembrance of the blood and filth of mob rule. It was only a year ago
since the Convention had greeted with furious applause
the speech of Billaud-Varennes, in which he maintained that they ought to
introduce the very opposite of all that existed; they now seemed to have no
other desire than to overthrow their own creations, and undo their own deeds.
Public opinion went entirely with them in all these
efforts. The infinite majority of inhabitants in Paris, as well as in the
Departments, no longer made any concealment of their opinion that the
continuance of the Republic was impossible, that the restoration of a
constitutional Monarchy was the only chance of
deliverance for Prance. Whoever had taken part in republican politics since
1792, whether as Girondist or Hebertist, as follower of Danton or Robespierre, found himself shunned in society, excluded from every office,
and on the slightest occasion exposed to criminal
prosecution. The Girondist Lehardy was at that time in Rouen: "Of my
family," he reported afterwards to the Convention, "thirteen persons
were proscribed during the Reign of Terror, yet I was made an object of suspicion to the misguided people as a Terrorist, and everywhere
pursued with the most violent abuse; if I brought a Royalist
Ch. I.]
ROYALIST LEANINGS OF THE PEOPLE.
319
or an Emigre to trial, the people maltreated every patriot who dared to come forward
as a witness; and in all public places I heard men declaring that the war with
England was a folly, and that France must have a king. Such is the state of
affairs," he concluded, "in Rouen and in all the neighbouring districts." "It is the same," cried a number of
voices, "in all the other Departments." In Paris, where political
feelings were strongest and most clearly expressed, nine tenths of the citizens
openly demanded the Constitution of 1791, with such changes as
the interest of peace and order might require. With this wish, however, there
coexisted in the minds of most a strong dislike to all political action,
or even to an armed opposition against the existing Government; they wished for no more revolutions, not even against the revolutionary
rulers. No less decided, lastly, was the abhorrence among the mass of the
people towards the ancien regime, the restoration of the old nobility, the old hierarchy, and the
unlimited monarchy "by the grace of God;" and no
error could be more perverse than that of - the exiled Princes and the armed Emigres who built their hopes of the realisation of their wishes on the conservative tendencies of the citizens. Ou the contrary, the eyes of all the Parisians who were favourable to monarchy were directed exclusively
to the sole scion of the royal house, who-n his unhappy fate had separated from
the other members of his family—the captive of the Temple, the next heir of the
shattered crown, the son of Louis XVI. In the eyes of some
he was once for all the lawful king ; to others it was a strong recommendation
that he was a prisoner of the Revolution, and that they
could, therefore, raise him to the throne without any entourage of
the ancien regime, and, in consequence of his youth, without giving him for a considerable
time any personal power. They thought that they might thus rescue the great
principle of monarchy, without endangering any of the interests which had
arisen since 1789. These views were represented
320
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
even in the Constitution-commission of the Convention. Lanjuinais,
Boissy d'Anglas, Lesage and the old Durand. confessed their monarchical
convictions to their colleagues. They saw, indeed, at once, that they could not
carry out their views; that both in the Commission, and still more in
the great body of the Convention, no scheme of a Constitution
had any chance of success which did not bear the title of a Republic. They
ventured, however, on a compromise. They desired above all things that the new
Constitution should put an end to the evils of the many-headed administration, and place a President at the head of the government
according to the American model, to which their colleagnes often referred. They
thought that in this way all the advantages of Monarchy
and Republic might be united; and that the amalgamation of all parties might be
looked for, if the young Louis were made President,
and the real authority entrusted to a Council of Regency taken from the
Convention, instead of a Vice-President. Their
republican colleagues had considerable objections even to this plan; but the
current of feeling in Paris was so undoubted, that a large number of Moderate
Deputies were gained over to the scheme, and the Commission
consented to give it a calm and searching consideration. The existence of a poor tortured child, therefore, who was almost
forgotten by the world, suddenly appeared to become an object of the highest
political importance.
Were these men, who now deliberated on the elevation of the young Prince to the throne of France, aware of the actual condition of this heir
of fifty Kings? Was there the slightest suspicion among them, that the boy,
whom they destined for a throne, was at that very moment the victim of a long
course of torture—of deliberate and systematic murder? Or did they
lack courage to take the necessary steps for the rescue of a life, which was to
be the key-stone of their new political fabric?
Since the terrible night of the 3rd of July 1793, in which
Ch. I.] THE PRISON OF LOUIS XVII. 321
the son was torn from the arms of his mother, the existence of the
young Louis had been one long series of the most revolting sufferings and
torments. No one can read the reports of the martyrdom of this unhappy child,
which have been collected by a careful hand, without the deepest emotion.
Simon the cobbler, a neighbour and admirer of Marat, had been appointed, on his
recommendation, by Robespierre, as jailer of the young Capet. He was a vulgar
and inhuman fellow, liable to furious outbursts of rage, and
entirely brutalised by his revolutionary fanaticism. His only feeling on
undertaking this office was one of malicious joy, at the thought of making the
young Prince into a filthy sansculotte, and at the same time visiting on his head all the sins of royal
despotism. "The young wolf," he said to the Comite de Surete generate, "has been reared in pride, but I shall master him, though I cannot
answer for it that he will not burst in the process. But what is it that you
wish? To transport him?—No.—Kill him?—No. — Banish
him?—No.—Well then, what the devil do you want?"—The answer was: "We
want to get rid of him." Simon needed nothing more. The ill-treatment of
the feeble child became his daily refreshment from the ennui of the prison, his pastime and his patriotic office. He clothed the Prince in a sansculotte dress, compelled him to wear a Jacobin cap, made him drunk with ardent
spirits, and forced him to sing indecent songs. This treatment was varied by
abuse, blows, and cruelties of every kind, whenever the child
made mention of his parents, whenever he shewed the slightest symptom of
resistance to the humiliations inflicted upon him, whenever news
arrived of a victory of the Vendeans or the Austrians. The particulars reported
by Simon's wife, or other witnesses, are heartrending. The brutal monster
one day beat and kicked the boy because he would not repeat the words: "My
mother is a harlot." Another time Simon was awakened in the night, and
heard the child praying as he knelt by his bedside. "I'll teach iv. X
322
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
you," he cried, "to whine your paternosters," and
pouring a pail of cold water over his body and his bed, he compelled him by blows from an iron-heeled shoe to
pass the rest of the winter night in the wet cold bed. For a long time this boy
of nine years old resisted his tormentor with wonderful endurance, bore all his
tortures with silent weeping, and suppressed his groans that
his mother might not hear them and be saddened. But at last his
physical strength was exhausted; he preserved an obstinate silence, and kept
his eyes fixed upon the ground without speech or movement, no matter what
brutalities his tormentors might inflict upon him. In January, 1794, Simon left the Temple to take part in revolutionary politics as a member
of the Municipality, and ended his life on the 9th of Thermidor on
Robespierre's scaffold; but the lot of the imprisoned boy was only rendered
worse. Robespierre decreed that there was no need of any special jailer for
the young Capet, and the Municipality thereupon caused the Prince to be shut up
in a little cell, in which he was compelled to pass full six months in the
deepest abyss of misery, without any company whatever. Once a day his food—a small piece of meat, some bread and water—was pushed through
the lattice of the door. The Commissioners of the Hotel de Ville often made
their appearance two or three times in the night, to authenticate the presence
of their victim, and rousing the ehild from his sleep by abuse
and threats compelled him to shew himself at the lattice. He saw no one else,
received no water to wash himself, no change of clothes or bedding; not even
the excrements were removed from the ever closed and unaired cell. And this slow methodical murder was inflicted for six months long on an
unhappy and amiable ehild, whose only crime was his royal lineage.
On the 10th of Thermidor Barras appeared with a numerous retinue in the
Temple, and announced to a member of the Committee
of that Section, named Laurent, a zealous patriot and a goodhumoured honest
man, that he
Ch. I.]
LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XVII.
323
had heen appointed jailer of the two royal children. Laurent entered on
his post on the night of the 11th. He was astonished when
they led him by the dim light of a lantern to the entrance of a pestiferous
den, from which a feeble voice answered him after repeated calls: but what was
his horror, when, on the following day, he caused the door to be broken open, and penetrated the scene of misery itself! In this poisonous
atmosphere a pale and emaciated child, with matted hair, lay upon a filthy
lair, clothed with half rotten rags, his head covered with an eruption, his
neck with festering sores, and his whole body with swarms of vermin.
His eyes were widely opened, but dim and without expression; his back was
curved, and all his joints were swelled, or sore and bloody. The food of the
last few days stood almost untouched; all intellectual activity was nearly extinguished; to the terrified cpiestions of Laurent the boy
returned no answer, and sighed out at last. "I wish to die." Laurent
was deeply shocked, and by energetic remonstrances to the Government obtained
permission to provide the absolute necessaries, at least, for a humane
treatment of the child. He was bathed, put into a clean bed, and provided with
fresh clothing; he was then brought into the air, and medical assistance was
procured for him. But his poor young life was irrevocably nipped. He remained passive under kindness, as formerly under ill treatment; silent
and buried in himself, he mistrusted mankind, who had inflicted upon him during
a whole year nothing but torture; only now and then a word of thanks, or a
stolen tear, came forth like the glimmering of an expiring flame.
In November, an honest Parisian citizen, named Gomin, was appointed as
assistant to Laurent, and his mild and affectionate care for the first time
revived the affections of the slowly withering boy. On the 1st of April Laurent was succeeded by a Captain of the National Guard named Lasne, a
brave soldier of republican sentiments, but honest and humane. Unfortunately
these men were only permitted to alleviate
x2
324
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
the miserable fate of the Dauphin in a very slight degree. The
Government committees no longer, indeed, openly expressed
a wish,— as the Hebertists had done—that the prisoner should die; but the more
public opinion was directed towards him, the more distrustful
and suspicions they became, and the more obstinate their
disinclination to permit any essential improvement in his condition. It was
only with the greatest difficulty that the two keepers extorted permission
sometimes to bring the boy on to the platform of the tower; the
request to be allowed to take walks in the garden was obstinately refused; his
food remained the scanty prison fare, though the state of his health urgently
required milder air, easy exercise, and carefully selected nourishment, Employment and society were measured out to him with the same
niggardly hand. Up to December, 1794, Gomin was only allowed to be with the
prisoner during meal times, and it required repeated efforts to do away with
the regulation that the lamp of the prison was not to be lighted until
eight o'clock in the evening. When about this time one of the Parisian
newspapers praised the Government for taking care of the
education and instruction of the child, the Comite de Surete generate' hastened to declare that this report was a malicious
calumny of the royalists, and that "the Convention knew very well how to
behead tyrants, but not to educate their children." Under such influences the condition of the sick boy grew worse every week; and at
the end of February his keepers expressed such great
anxiety, that the Comite de Surete generate sent three of its members into the Temple to enquire into the facts
more closely. They found the Prince sitting at a table in his room, playing at
cards, with pale and sunken cheeks, with narrow chest and curved
back, silent and inattentive, without a look or an answer for his visitors.
They expressed great indignation at the restrictions and privations to which he
was subjected, so that the attendants ventured in a slight degree to improve the food of the boy.
Ch. I.] SUDDEN DEATH OF LOUIS
XVH's PHYSICIAN. 325
From that time several months passed without anything being heard from
the Government. We know that at that time—during the violent struggle between the Jacobins and the Moderates—the party of the Independents chiefly
occupied the Committees, and these men did not exactly wish to bring on the
death of the Prince, but they would do nothing
to prevent it. They tacitly allowed him to remain in close and needy imprisonment, and thereby, considering the state of his heath,
they virtually sanctioned his sentence of death; and the more lively the hopes
which the Royalists built on the miserable captive of the Temple, the more obstinately did the riding powers persist in this pitiless course
of conduct.
On the 3rd of May the jailers reported that the little Capet was ill.
They received no answer. They wrote again on the 4th that he was seriously ill.
Still no answer. On the 5th they reported that his life was in dauger. The Committee probably thought that for form's sake
something must now be done, and might be done without injury to the Republic.
They therefore sent the famous surgeon Des-sault, who had treated the Prince
before the Revolution, and who was deeply moved on seeing the poor
victim again. He ordered him some medicine, but told the attendants that the
case was utterly hopeless: the only thing, he said, which might perhaps benefit
him, was a residence in a milder climate. The Committee gave no answer to this suggestion, nor to the pitious entreaties of the sister of
the Dauphin— who was confined in another prison of the Temple—to be allowed to
see and nurse her dying brother. On the 30th of May Dessault replied to a city
Commissioner, who said, "The boy is lost, is he
not?"—"I fear so; perhaps there are some people who hope so." On
the following day Dessault died after an illness of
three hours; so sudden a death, under such circumstances, excited a gloomy
suspicion throughout Paris, and contributed no
little to the reports which were afterwards
spread concerning the
end of
326
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.
[Book XII.
Louis XVII. The Committee allowed five days to pass before appointing a successor to Dessault; and the feelings of the rulers
might be gathered from the fact, that even now no one was allowed to visit the
poor sick child from eight o'clock in the evening till 9 in the morning, and
that he was left entirely alone throughout the night in his
sufferings and sorrows. The new physician, Dr. Pelletan,
insisted, with lively indignation, that Jhis bed should be removed to a room
the windows of which were not nailed up with boards, and which allowed ingress
to the sun-light. Louis took all this passively
like everything else, felt himself a little refreshed,
but said, when Gomin nevertheless observed a tear on his cheek: "I am
always alone; my mother, you know, remained in the other Tower." He little
knew that she had been resting in her grave for nearly two
years; love for his mother was the last spark of his fading consciousness. On the 8th of June all the symtoms of approaching dissolution
increased. The Prince lay in his bed without moving; when Gomin asked him whether he was in pain he answered, "yes," but said that the
music above was so beautiful, and then suddenly cried in a loud voice: "I
hear the voice of my mother; I wonder whether my sister heard the music
too." Then followed a long silence and then a joyful
cry "I will tell you," and he turned to Lasne who was bending over
him to listen. But Lasne heard nothing more, the boy had ceased to breathe and
the sacrifice was completed.1
1 Even after the latest discussion
of the vexed question concerning the fate of Louis XVII. (in Louis Blanc vol.
XII, cap. 2). I see no reason to make any alteration in the above account. We
may concede to Louis Blanc, that the descriptions of Lasne and Gomin, 30 years
after the occurrences, are not to be relied upon in
every particular. But this is all that the materials
which he has brought forward can prove. The silence of the Prince, which is (according to the views, not exactly maintained by him, hut strongly dwelt
upon throughout), a proof of
Ch. I.]
DEATH OF LOUIS XVII.
327
The Comite
de Surete g&nercde received the news with affected indifference, ordered the fact to be
entered in the civil registers, and had the corpse dissected by the physicians who had treated the Prince. The examination proved the same fact which the Princess afterwards recorded in her memoirs:
he was not poisoned; the venom with which he was killed was want of
cleanliness, ill-treatment, and revolting cruelty-. On the 9th, the Committee
reported to the Convention on the death of the Dauphin; the Assembly heard it in silence, and immediately passed on to other
questions. Yet it made a deep impression on all sides. The Republicans were
filled with inward satisfaction, and relieved from pressing anxiety; the
Royalists, and with them the great mass of the
population, were struck as with a heavy blow. Uncertain and undeveloped as had
been the hopes which had attached Ihemselves to the name of the imprisoned
child, they had always pointed to the sole way of effecting a compromise between otherwise irreconcileable antagonists. The legitimate King was
now Louis XVIII. —the head of the armed emigration; there was now no
the substitution of a dumb child in
the place of the Dauphin, may be naturally explained by the horrible
ill-treatment to which he was subjected. The chief difficulty of this hypothesis, Louis Blanc has
^alto-gether overlooked. This consists, not in the question, why the Dauphin
was kept concealed after his escape; this question might be met by a reference
to the troubles of the times, the discord of the
royalists and the character of the Count of I'rovcnce. But it seems to me absolutely inexplicable why the Committee of Public Safety, which was
anxiously desirous of peace, and in great fear of the constitutional agitation , should have hesitated for
months—in the face of the Spanish government, which for a long time refused to
make peace on account of the imprisonment of the Prince, and in the face of the
constitutional party in Paris, which for months endeavoured to restore the monarchy in his favour—to reveal the truth, if they really
only kept an unknown and supposititious child in the prison of the Temple.
328
THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. [Book XII.
other choice than between the unconditional restoration
of the ancien
regime, and
the continuance of the Republic. Even the most decided among the Moderates and
Royalists in Paris no longer hesitated for a moment. In the Commission of
Eleven, Lanjuinais and his friends voted at once for the appointment of a Republican Excecutive Council.
Cb. II.]
329
CHAPTER II. FOREIGN POLICY.
The
moderate party are for peace, the revolutionists for war.— Enormous
quantity and great depreciation of the assignats ; want of security.—Terrible consequences of tbeir decreasing value. — Swindling
and bankruptcy.—Financial
destitution of the state.—Treaty with Holland.—Carletti's report respecting the wishes of Austria.— Plans and wishes of the imperial courts (summer 1795).—Sieyes
is favourable to carletti's proposals.— The
moderates inform hardenberg of them.—Excitement in Germany ; austria denies everything.—hardenberg sends an agent to
paris.—Cessation
of arms on the rhine.—The French army in italy needs reinforcement.—the committee of public safety resolve to make peace with spain.— corresponding
sentiments in Madrid.—Negotiation in basle.—Influence of general bonaparte with the committee of fublic
safety.—french victories in the western pyrenees.—peace with spain concluded at
basle,
We observe
a great uncertainty in the position of affairs. All the interests and feelings
of a large majority of the population were earnestly directed towards peace,
quiet, legal order, and the restoration of a strong and lasting polity, which
might guarantee to the country harmony with its
neighbours, and to the inhabitants security for labour and property. But the
tremendous convulsions of the last few years had thrown every thing into
confusion, and had attached some through their ambition, and others through the hope of gain, to the continuance of a revolutionary state of
things. The task of rearing a sound polity on the ruins of the Reign of Terror
was in itself infinitely difficult;
330
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
and how small was the number of disinterested men among the rulers, who
looked only to the weal of their country, without a thought of personal
aggrandizement! And yet nothing was more certain, than that the future welfare,
not only of France, but of all Europe, depended on the question
whether right or might, whether law or passion, whether constitution or
revolution, carried off the palm in Paris. Domestic and foreign policy were as
closely united with one another in 1795 as in 1792: the same necessities which created the Moderate party at home, urgently called for peace
abroad; and the same passions which despised the rights of fellow-citizens in
France, burst furiously and rapaciously over all the neighbouring
frontiers. And, as before, we can clearly trace this connexion in the
politico-economical and financial circumstances of the times.
The Thermidorians had succeeded no better than Robespierre in re-establishing the finances of the State upon their natural
foundations. They could not raise taxes, for the simple reason that there were
no organized authorities for collecting them, and that the taxpayers were sunk
in poverty. If ever a citizen was found who, from some whim or other, wished to
pay his quota, he did so, of course, in assignats, and these had now fallen so low, that the State in
reality scarcely received a twentieth part of its demand. At the time of the
1st of Prairial (the end of May 1795) the mass of paper money which had been
issued had risen to nearly 13,000 millions, of which 10,000 millions were in circulation; and, in correct proportion to this
enormous sum, the exchange had fallen to 7 per cent. As the State had no other
means of defraying its expenses than this paper—as it reckoned the assignats at their nominal worth to the officials
and stockholders, but only at the current price to the army, the great
contractors and the workmen—it is evident, that it must continually use more
and more paper money, that the issue of the latter must increase every month,
that, consequently, its value must continually fall, and that
Ch. II.]
STATE OF THE FINANCES.
331
its fall must, in turn, increase the expenditure of the following
month. At the end of June, instead of 10,000 millions, more than 11,000 were in
circulation; at the end of July 14,000, and at the end
of August 16,000 millions, and the market had fallen to 4,3 and 21/2 per
cent. The Committee of Public Safety found that they were no longer able to
print the daily quantity of notes, if they issued any of a smaller value than 10,000 francs. There were days when the treasury owed a milliard and a half in assignats,
because
the press was not able to keep up even with the most necessary expenses.
The financiers of the Convention vainly endeavoured to convince the
nation of the goodness of their paper money, and thereby to stop the fall
of the exchange. At the end of 1794—when, by the way, 7,000 millions of assignats were in circulation—Johannot reported that the State possessed a mass
of property, as security for their paper money, which yielded more
than 300 millions a year; as, therefore, he said, an estate was generally sold
at 40 years purchase, there existed 12 milliards of property as security for 7
milliards of paper, and consequently the holders of the latter were perfectly guaranteed against loss. The credibility of this
calculation was not exactly confirmed by its being from time to time modified
with astonishing elasticity. While national estates were continually
being sold, Johannot proved in April, when the assignats had risen to 9 milliards in number, that the State still possessed 16
milliards in land. Nor was it difficult to point out the mistakes in this calculation. Before the Revolution, landed property in France was sold on
the average at 30 years' purchase; but its value had fallen
everywhere—in the case of small estates two-fifths, and in larger ones from
three to four-fifths. If a piece of land fetched a higher price at the auction
of the national estates, it was entirely owing to some swindling transaction, generally to a design of exhausting the land for a time, and
then abandoning it at the approach of the term for
332
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
paying the next instalment. Johannot's hope, therefore, of obtaining 40
years' purehase, was a pure illusion; the Government had to be eontented
if they obtained 20 years' purchase, that is, a capital of 6 milliards. At the
end of 1794, consequently, after all the colossal confiscations, the amount of
paper money already exceeded the property on which it was
secured.
This security was, moreover, entirely destroyed, when the Convention
was obliged to close some of the most fearful wounds of the Reign of Terror. By
the decree of the 1st of January the State undertook to pay the debts of the Emigres whose
lauds it had confiscated: the amount of these debts was found to be 1,800
millions, distributed over a million creditors. Still more considerable was the
mass of property which had been given up, since May, to the families of the condemned—the confiscations of Robespierre's time—: whieh
proved to be somewhat more than half the entire domains of the State. If we
take these two items together—1,800 millions for the debts of the Emigres, and 3,200 millions for restored lands—there remain of the above mentioned 6 milliards, about 1,000 millions worth,
in round numbers, of landed property, which in the autumn of 1795 were the only
security for 16,000 millions of assignats. 1
The State, therefore, was avowedly drifting into a bankruptcy of unexampled extent. It is easy to
imagine what a dissolution and eonfusion of all private affairs must be the
necessary consequence of such a state of things. The greatest sufferers were
the officials and creditors of the State, who received
their salaries and dividends in assignats at their
nominal value, and who therefore lost 93 per eent in May, and 97 per cent in
July. A decree of the Committee of Public Safety in August shews what they
thought of the position of these persons: the State, it said, would distribute to the proletaries,
1 Lecoulteux "Council of
500," minished the income of the national April 14th 1796: the restitution
di- estates .to 140 millions.
Ch. II.] CONSEQUENCES' OF FALL IN VALUE OF ASSIGNATS. 333
the public officials, and the holders of government
securities, tallow candles, oil, and herrings, at a quarter of the market
price. But they were not the only persons who felt the pressure of the times.
As long as the State recognised the assignats as a legal tender, no creditor could force his
debtor to any other kind of payment, and the cases were unfortunately not frequent, in which the debtor was honourable enough
voluntarily to forego the advantage of the moment. The man who in the year 1790
had received a loan of 10,000 francs, bought a similar
amount in paper, in the .summer of 1795, for 20 louisoVor; and the creditor who received these assignats for his demand saw them melt in about four weeks to the value of 12 or
15 louis. In July the Convention made an attempt to put a stop to this abuse,
by a law which decreed an addition of 25 per cent on the nominal worth—in the
case of a long standing debt —for every 500 million assignats which were in circulation above the sum of 2 milliards. As then 12
milliards were in circulation at this time, 9,000 francs in assignats would have to be paid for a debt of 1,000 francs in silver, while the
real value of the latter sum would have been 33,000
francs in assignats, according to the current exchange. So futile a law could have no other
fate than to fall, after four weeks, into utter oblivion. The evils which it
was intended to remedy increased with terrible rapidity. The temptations to which they gave birth poisoned all the
relations of traffic, friendship, and family. A younger brother complained to
the Convention, on the 18th of May, that his father
having left him a twelfth of his property, his brother, who had hitherto been in possession, had now paid him his portion in assignats, and that he had consequently received scarcely a two hundredth part of his inheritance. On the 13th of July the Legislation -
committee reported on a frequent and crying abuse. Many
husbands took advantage of the easy laws of divorce to plunder their wives, by
dissolving the marriage, and then paying back the marriage portion in
334
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
worthless assignats. But the greatest advantage of this state of things accrued
to the tenant farmers, who paid their rents to the landlords in assignats, and were enabled, by the high prices of corn, to pay the rent of a
whole farm with a single sack of corn; thus, while the owners were perishing in want and misery, the tenants saw their own wealth increasing from day
to day. In the smallest peasants' cottages, furniture of mahogany and rosewood
was to be seen, together with plate and silk, ostentatious banquets, and well
filled cellars. The rural districts now presented a most
striking contrast to the distress which prevailed during the Reign of Terror,
when, as we have seen, they were plundered and ill-treated to feed the eity
proletaries. The balance of power was now completely
changed, and the feelings of the present gainers had
unfortunately not been purified, but poisoned, by the unjnstice they had
formerly experienced. These melancholy phenomena were repeated in every
province and in every class. Money, which was formerly sought by every one, was now passed from hand to hand like a piece of hot iron: every man
endeavoured to yet rid of it, in any legal way, for a tolerably secure
possession. Commerce had sunk to a mere usurious gambling, since every one had
before his eyes the daily fall in the value of assignats, and the consequent rise in the jurice of wares ; even those, therefore,
who had no thought of gain, but only wished to avoid loss, bought up as large
stores of every kind of goods as they could in any way obtain. As ready money
had been rendered very rare by the Emigration, the requisitions, and the
unfavourable balance of trade ever since 1789; and as the rate of interest had
risen in the wealthiest Departments to 12 per cent and in Paris to 30 per cent—
there was virtually no banking business at all. The dealers in old
stores had taken the place of money dealers, and advanced, not ready money, as
formerly, upon pledges, but vice versa, exchanged the falling assignats for furniture, clothes, watches, rings, books, and provisions, at, of course, their own usurious prices.
It is easy to under-
Ch. II.]
SPECULATION AND SWINDLING.
335
stand the difficulty under such circumstances of providing for the
people, in the midst of a scarcity, when every possessor of property was
endeavouring to invest his capital in stores of goods, and thereby withdrawing
the latter for a long fime from circulation. Before the end of the year
the paper money was almost exclusively in the hands of the proletaries, the
officials, and the small rentiers, whose property was not large enough to invest in stores of goods, or
national lands.
The traffic in national estates presented the same scandalous phenomena. That no one even now, in spite of the foreign
victories, had any full confidence in the possession of a confiscated property,
betrayed itself on every occasion. The lands which had once belonged to the
church fetched a higher price than those of the Emigres; and of the latter no estate could find a purchaser, even at the lowest
price, if it was burdened with any kind of mortgage from former times. But the
more the solvent purchaser withdrew', the more eagerly did
the unconscientious speculator press forward at such sales. At the end of May,
when the Convention, naturally wishing to accelerate
the sale, and to withdraw a large quantity of paper money from circulation,
passed a resolution that every national estate might be acquired, without auction, if the purchaser paid, within three months,
seventy-five times the rent of the property as it was in 1790—a
kind of bacchanalia of avarice ensned. The assignats, as we have said, stood at this time at seven per cent; whoever, therefore, possessed ready money in
silver could obtain seventy-five francs in paper for five francs, and
consequently buy any national property for five times its rent in 1790. In
addition 'to this, it had frequently been a custom in old times only to enter one half of the real rent in the contract, and to pay
the other half with the rent, in the form of the so-called pot-de-vin; consequently a property was obtained according to the new law for a
little more than double the rent. Such a prospect
enticed buyers enough. It was ordained that the first who appeared at the time
appointed for the sale should
336
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
receive the property; and the officials reported, that as soon as the
clock had struck a rush was made at their doors by
perhaps thirty bidders, one of whom had been first on the threshold, but had
been run over by a second on the staircase, while the third rushed past both
into the bureau. As the claims of simultaneous bidders were decided by lot, rich people sent ten or twenty servants or artisans to secure
themselves a large number of lots; others sent in written offers for all the
national estates, situated in their district, at once. In spite of all this,
the Convention would have shut their- eyes, if they could have
swept some milliards of assignats from circulation by this manoeuvre, so
overpowering was the necessity of lessening the mass of paper, and raising its
value. But not even this object was gained by this reckless extravagance: on the contrary, it drove all the purchasers to take common
measures to depress the exchange, in order to procure their purchase money at
the lowest possible price. As soon as this became evident the Convention no
longer hesitated. The law was suspended, and not only that, but with all
the frivolity of revolutionary policy, the sales already completed were
cancelled, and thereby a fresh and heavy blow dealt to the credit of the State.
Notwithstanding this, a similar project was concocted in the very same weeks for selling the houses which belonged to the State—and which,
partly from bad management, and partly from the cost of repairs, yielded no
return—for a hundred and fifty times their rent in 1792. The result may be
easily calculated. Since 1788, rents in Paris had fallen to a tenth of
their former amount, while assignats at the present moment (July 1795) stood at three per cent of their
nominal worth: according to this decree, therefore, a house might be bought for
the half, in silver, of its former rent. There was, of course, no
question of the execution of this law.
What means were not tried during those summer months to close the
source of all this misery, and to maintain the value of the assignats! One plan was to make a large lottery
Ch. II.] DESPERATE EXPEDIENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 337
loan of a milliard at three per cent interest: but unfortunately, in spite of interest and
prizes, no one had any inclination to trust his assignats to this government, however low their value. They then hit upon the
idea, that though the peasants and merchants might have no silver, they
possessed corn and goods, and that nothing would be easier than to restore the
finances, if they obliged the taxpayers to pay in kind, according to the prices of 1790. This subject was
debated for weeks, and the patent evils of such a system were pointed out, but
at last half the land-tax was demanded in corn. The country once more resounded
with loud and overwhelming protestations that it would not suffer a new maximum to be
laid upon it under any form whatever, and the execution
of the law remained very incomplete. In a word, every new attempt proved only
too plainly that no power on earth could wipe out the consequences of former
violence. The cup which Robespierre had filled to
overflowing with violations of law and right, must be drained to the very
dregs. After the horrible yesterday there was no balm for the sufferings of to-day: the
only problem capable of solution was, how to reach firm ground again for to-morrow in the shortest possible time. The nation had fallen into an abyss of
suffering, by wishing to conquer the world; and to obtain freedom, by
precipitation and breaches of the law: to return to prosperity
and wealth again there was but one single path—the path of economy, order and
justice.
To examine the budgets of the Government at this time would not repay
us for our trouble, since the items are nothing more than arbitrary references to an indefinite mass of assignats, which were continually increasing in number and falling in value. It
lies in the very nature of things that disorder, confusion, and want, must
produce the same results in the finances of the State, as in those of a private household. The Government, as we know, was divided
against itself, wavering and ill-administered ; and we may easily conjecture
that in the condition of the land as above
338
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
described, its agents found a thousand
opportunities for fraud, extortion and embezzlement. All kiuds of complaints,
therefore, continued to be made, as in Robespierre's time, against the
administration—complaints of the starving of all the Departments, the neglect of the roads, canals, and bridges— the decline of the schools and
hospitals — the ruin of the forests and harbours. The troops received their pay
very irregularly; the manufacture of arms was at a standstill; and the
fortresses were badly kept up. The former campaign
had cost an immense number of men, so that the armies on the frontiers had lost
three-eighths of their strength in a single year; but no one dared to speak of
a new levy, although all the generals were loudly calling for reinforcements. For even with the present number of troops,
the administration of the army devoured more than two-thirds of the entire
revenue of the State, though the troops were living at the expense of the
enemy, or perishing of hunger. If the country wished to save money and to prosper at home, if it wished to return to law and order, there
was but one effectual and indispensable way of doing so—and here, again, we may
observe the close connexion between home and foreign policy—and that was peace.
It will become evident after these considerations, why the
great mass of the people, and the Moderate party in the Convention who
represented them, rejected the policy of conquest which such violent energy ;
and why Hardenberg, a few weeks after he had virtually given up the left bank of the Rhine to the Committee of Public Safety, could hope for a
peace between Frauce and the Empire without any sacrifice of German territory.
But we know that these leanings, although greatly predominating among the people, had but a limited and uncertain influence in the governing circles. It was not only the Jacobins who were hostile to peace. The faction of Independents, a portion of the Thermidorians, nay, among the Moderates several of the old Girondists, zealously adhered to
Ch. II.] TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND HOLLAND.
339
the previous warlike policy. They thought that the national honour
would allow of no peace without ample territorial gains. They would have seen
in it a repudiation of their favourite principles of universal freedom,
and the overthrow of thrones. The financial distresses only favoured the
conclusion in their minds, that the booty obtained in war was the most convenient compensation for deficits at home. Sieyes and Eewbell, who
daily acquired a more commanding position among men of these sentiments, had
just concluded a treaty of alliance with the Netherlands, which gave the
Eepublic, in addition to the support of the Dutch fleet, supplies for the
maintenance of 25,000 men (who were allowed, for the present, to iemain as
garrisons in the Dutch fortresses), and which, moreover, brought a war
contribution of 10O million florins to the Treasury; which was equivalent, at
the existing exchange, to an amount of nearly three milliard francs in assignats. Sieyes contemptuously shrugged his shoulders when his peaceful
colleagues talked of restoring Holland to her independence
as speedily as possible, and perhaps enlarging her borders by the addition of
Cleves and Prussian Gelderland. Tallien, although
usually opposed on all points to Sieyes, zealously supported him in this
matter, and took every opportunity of declaring that France
must surround herself on all sides by dependent and affiliated republics, and
thereby make herself the leading power of Europe. Just at the time of the
peace of Basle they received fresh' and powerful nourishment for these
tendencies from an unexpected quarter.
I have already mentioned that the Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany,
brother of the Emperor Francis, had sent the Chevalier Carletti to Paris to
negociate a peace. As Tuscany had never taken an active part in the contest
against France, and as neither party had violated the frontiers of the other,
the peace had been concluded in February without any difficulty. Carletti had then remained in Paris as minister for Tuscany, and
was in great favour with the rulers,
Y2
340
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
since he had always displayed a lively enthusiasm for the French
revolution. He moved with great splendour in the social circles which had been
once more formed since the events of Thermidor, gave splendid banquets to the
most influential members of the Committees, and formed intimate
relations with the chiefs of all parties. When the Prussian negotiation was in
full train, he began to turn these connexions to account by warning his French
friends against the un-trustworthiness and unsteadiness of Prussia, so that two or three hostile speeches in the Convention were
represented to the court of Berlin as being inspired by Carletti. Meanwhile the Peace of Basle was concluded, and it was often said in Paris
how advantageous it would be if a Prusso-Scandinavian
alliance could be developed from it. Carletti then hinted that France, had much
better chances than that, and at last uttered the important words, that Austria
was ready to make an immediate peace with the Republic, ou the condition of
definitively ceding Belgium and the Left bank of the Rhine
to France, if the French in return would help her to get possession of Bavaria.
He did not say that he had a regular commission to make this offer on the part
of the Austrian government, but he hinted that he was most intimately acquainted with its resolutions1 on
that point. Considering the near family connexion of his Prince with the
Emperor, and the close relations between Thugut and Manfredini, there was
nothing improbable in this. The Bavarian Charge d'affaires at Vienna also reported to his Government,
that there was no longer any doubt that Tuscany
had made peace with the consent of Austria, who gained thereby a point dappui for herself in Paris. 2
Prussia likewise received positive intelligence from Florence, that Carletti's mission was the work of Thugut, who was thereby
1 From the papers of the Harden- be
quoted more particularly below.— berg mission in Basle, which will ' Reichlin to Vieregg, March 3rd.
Ch. II.]
CARLETTI'S NEGOTIATION.
341
opening a channel for a negotiation of his own. 1 At
any rate Carletti was able to prove the authenticity of his overtures to the French statesmen: there were several among them who
declared his propositions to be pernicious, but there was not one who did not feel well assured that they expressed
the wishes of the Austrian government, and who did not, consequently, look for
the speedy opening of an official negotiation. All, without .exception, were
convinced that peace, and the Left bank of the Rhine,
might at anv moment be obtained from the Emperor, in return for the abandonment
of Bavaria to Austria. All, without exception, shaped their deliberations and
actions in accordance with this supposition.
What were the actual sentiments of Austria at this time?2 On
the 4th of Februray 1795, Thugut had sent off the Imperial ratification of the
secret compact of St. Petersburg, together with a whole series
of accompanying despatches, to Cobenzl. The question
was, what was to be done, if Prussia, when called
upon to acknowledge the treaty of Partition, should prove hostile, and
obstinately refuse? Thugut continually repeated that Russia must lend her assistance, intimidate the King of Prussia, and procure English subsidies
for the Emperor. Austria, he said, had the most perfect confidence in
the wisdom and fidelity of the Empress; should this confidence, however, be
unexpectedly deceived, the Emperor, since he could not possibly give up Cracow
and Sendomir, would be forced by the perverseness of Prussia, to make a speedy peace with France.
On every account,
1 The ministry to Tauenzien April
the secret-relations between Austria
12th. As early as November and and France are
given by the Prussian
December Lucchesini had sent word
ministry on the 8th of June. —
from Vienna
that Thugut was in 2 On this.subject conf. "Polens
Unter-
correcpondence with the Tuscan mi- gang
und der Revolutionskrieg", Sec. 4
nister Manfredini, in order to keep
in the "Bistorische
Zeitschrift" 1870
open a channel of communication No. 1. with Paris.
Further details respecting
342
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
added
Thugut, the Emperor must desire to see the end of this miserable war. In the
face of the shameless cupidity of Prussia, the possibility of a
Turkish war, and many other alarming circumstances, the Emperor must spare his
forces, and withdraw them into the heart of his Plereditary lands, in order to
hold them in readiness against every danger that might arise.
In the clearest language, therefore, the head of
the Holy Roman Empire made the defence of the Rhine, and the war with France,
depend on the question, whether Russia would do every thing in her power to
procure him possession of Cracow, in spite of Piussia's resistance. In St. Petersburg, where they still desired the continuance of
the French war, this language made a very bad impression. "You threateu us
with a French peace," said Ostermann, "it would be more injurious to
you than to any one." Markoff at once drew
from the despatch the worst conclusions. "You are already negotiating with
France," he said. While Thugut, in his inmost
heart, desired the hostility of Prussia, that he might then at once make terms
with France, and, in alliance with Russia, fall upon his
detested rival, the Russians, on the contrary, preferred not to drive Prussia
to extremities, that they might have their hands free to act against the Turks.
And thus Besborodko carried his point, that the forma] presentation of the
treaty of Partition should be deferred, and another attempt
made in Berlin to come to a friendly understanding. Cobenzl complained that at
a conference with Tauenzien, the Russians had, indeed, defended the claims
of Austria, but had not only exhorted Prussia to submission, but both parties to reconciliation; nay, that Ostermann himself, in the beginning of April, had brought forward the
question, whether Austria, in consideration of some equivalent, would give up the disputed Cracow!
On the Rhine, meanwhile, Clerfait, after
the loss of Holland, led his army up the stream to the country between the Lahn
and the Main; while the Prussian troops marched in a contrary
Ch. II.]
CLERFAIT ON THE RHINE.
343
direction, between Clerfait's columns, away from the Lahn to
Westphalia. As the crisis of Polish affairs was postponed during the conferences at Berlin, the government at Vienna determined to make use of this respite to appease England's and Russia's vexation at the cessation of arms, by some warlike feat against the
French. Clerfait received orders to cross the Rhine, to reoccupy Coblentz,
raise the blockade of Mayence, and then, if circumstances permitted, to make au
effort to relieve the closely invested Luxemburg. But just as Clerfait
was about to commence operations, he received intelligence of the Prussian
peace in Basle; and fearing the worst consequences in every quarter from
this event, he -paused and asked for fresh instructions from Vienna, giving it as bis own opinion that, under present circumstances, it would
be better to act entirely on the defensive. It is true that he repeatedly
received instructions to venture an attack on Coblentz, or against the French
corps before Mayence, but at last he sent in a declaration, that in
the opinion of a council of war, comprising all his generals, the danger of
such an undertaking would, under present circumstances, be out of all
proportion to the possible gains.
Vexed as the Emperor and Thugut were, at the
time, by the disappointment of their hopes of warlike triumphs, they fully
shared in Clerfait's sentiments respecting the peace of Basle. "Prussia's
treachery," wrote Thugut on the 20th of April to Cobenzl, "is now
clearly brought to light, and the darkest and most comprehensive schemes
may be expected of her." He thought of nothing but how he might frustrate
these designs by energetic action. As he believed that Prussia, in concert with
France, had probably resolved on restoring Poland, he proposed that the Imperial Courts should themselves adopt this measure,
retaining as many Polish provinces as their interests required, and creating
out of the Prussian acquisitions of 1772, 1793 and 1795, a new kingdom for some
prince of Catharine's own choosing. "The
crisis," he said, "is a terrible one; our measures must correspond
with it."
344
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
Thugut, therefore, would no longer be contented with gaining possession
of Cracow for Austria; he now proposed measures
against Prussia similar to those which Napoleon took at Tilsit, twelve years
later, and thereby called for war to the knife, war with all the resources of
the Empire. He advocated measures which must
necessarily drive the King into the deeply abhorred alliance
with France—if Prussia could still obtain it. With such projects in his mind,
will it be considered improbable that Thugut did his best to cut Prussia off
from this last resource? that Carletti negotiated at his instigation? and that
the envoy was at least justified in saying that Thugut
was ready in case of need to sacrifice the left bank of the Rhine? Nor was the
latter's proposal respecting Poland the mere ebullition of momentary
excitement; he repeated it, still more urgently, on the
7th of May; and on the 16th he declared in the most
decided manner that, after the recent political knaveries of Prussia, nothing
remained to the Emperor but to take active measures against her. and to
withdraw his own troops into the Hereditary lands.
Thugut's plans seemed for a moment to obtain a
favourable hearing even in St. Petersburg. If we remember the declarations of the 3d of January, we shall easily understand that the
Peace of Basle was a heavy blow to Catharine. It was indeed the most
inconvenient check to her system of general ■
offensive operations against Bavaria, Italy, and the East. The first outbreak
of wrath against Prussia, was, therefore, no less violent in St. Petersburg
than in Vienna. The English and Prussian ambassadors reported to their governments, that those about the person of Catharine began to take up
again the formerly rejected plan of making the grand Duke Constantine king of
Poland. Nay, the contents of the secret declaration of January the 3d were
communicated to the American statesman, Governor Morris, whom we have
already become acquainted with in Paris; and the idea broached of making
Prussia harmless, by uniting Poland, East and West Prussia, with Silesia and
Neumark, into an hereditary con-
Ch. II.] THUGUT'S INTRIGUES AGAINST PRUSSIA. 345
stitutional monarchy, and at the same time bestowing Bavaria on
Austria. Yet however well such plans might suit the transient mood of the
Empress, the Russian government was kept firmly in its former groove by the
force of its permanent interests. Catharine desired the subjection, but not
the destruction, of Prussia; her Turkish schemes were furthered by the
continuance of the French war, but destroyed by the outbreak of a conflict with
Prussia. The Russian Ministers, therefore,
promised Count Cobenzl the most powerful support in respect to Cracow
and Sendomir, without engaging themselves to anything beyond the contents of
the January treaties. When, then, the news came from Berlin that the last
discussion had been fruitless, they proposed to proceed at
once to the communication of the treaty of partition,
and peremptorily to demand the accession of Prussia. This was what Thugut
himself had once wished, but now, after the conclusion of the peace of Basle,
it caused him the most serious consideration. He
represented to Count Cobenzl, on the 27th of May, the growing confusion in the
Grerman Empire, in which the Emperor was not safe for a single day from an open
breach with Prussia. The latter Power, he said, was already drawing a portion of its forces towards the East. Austria, on the other
hand, had only an insignificant force in Bohemia; and the fortresses in that
country were not armed. If, in this position of affairs, the announcement of
the partition treaty was made in Berlin, who could foresee the
consequences ? If the King possessed any energy, his army might soon be at
Vienna. Thugut, therefore, demanded that the
announcement should be deferred, until Austria had placed an army in Bohemia,
and the fortresses in that country
had been put in a state of defence.
To such an act of caution, the Russians could not well make any
objection, and Austria employed all her military resources for the protection
of Bohemia and Moravia. Hence resulted a necessary diminution of interest in the operations on the Rhine.
It is true that a very ungracious letter was
346
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
despatched on the 10th of June, to Clerfait, scolding him for his
inactivity; but the despatch did not end with an
order to advance without delay, but with a promise shortly to send him a plan
of operations, which he would have to carry out with all speed. For the
present, however, as long as the Polish question remained unsettled, the
promise was all that he received, the plan of a campaign never
appeared, and Clerfait could not stir.
It was a terrible calamity to the German Empire but Thugut had long ago
lost all interest in it. His opinion respecting these affairs, had been
expressed with the most perfect openness during the last few months, to the
Emperor and the Vice-Chancellor, Prince Colloredo. When the Diet of the
Empire, in December 1794, called on the Emperor and the King of Prussia to a
joint effort in favour of peace, Colloredo declared that, under the circumstances, the Emperor felt himself obliged to reject the disgraceful
proposals, to exhort the Estates to energetic preparations for war, and was
resolved as the supreme champion of the integrity of Germany, if he must fall,
at any rate to fall with honour. Thugut was of a very different
opinion; he recommended the simple ratification of the
decree of the Diet, and that the negotiation of a peace should be left to
Prussia and the pusillanimous Estates of the Empire. The Imperial constitution,
he said, as such, had long become impotent; neither
the wish nor the intention existed in the Empire to do anything either for the
Emperor or for Austria. It was absolutely necessary that the Government at
Vienna should at last see matters in their true light, pursue an Austrian policy, and reassume its position as one of the independent great Powers of Europe. By such a course, he said, they would
lose nothing but the burden of defending the useless and ungrateful Estates of
the Empire.
This view of the case was certainly, calculated to lead to an
understanding with France, and the mission of Carletti might offer a convenient
and desirable starting point; and if
Ch. II.] EFFECT OF CARLETTI'S
OVERTURES IN PARIS.
nothing came of it, at any rate no binding obligations would have been
incurred.
Carletti's communications, as wc may easily suppose, made no slight
impression in Paris. The revolutionary factions, Sieyes and his partisans,
received them with lively satisfaction. They saw in them the assurance of a splendid and long coveted booty ; they saw too, that after
the cession of the left bank of the Rhine, the constitution of the German
Empire must inevitably collapse, since the three chief Electorates would disappear, and the compensation of the other sovereigns on the Rhine would' necessitate a complete transformation of the German territory. What splendid opportunities would such a convulsion give for extending French influence,
and propagating revolutionary principles? Sieyes, indeed, did not think it right to seize upon the prey with inconsiderate haste, and
thereby perhaps render the power of Austria absolute in the remnant of the
mutilated body of the Empire. "The Austrian frontier," said he,
"must on no account be brought nearer to our own; if
Austria wishes to get Bavaria, she must give up the Breisgau and Milan, and
seek a compensation for them in the interior of Germany."
But that which made him waver still more, was the consideration that France
could make use of no State, as predominating power in Germany, which was
closely allied with Russia. Just at this time, Monsieur de Stael appeared for
the second time as Swedish ambassador, begging and praying for French
subsidies and a French alliance; at the same time favourable intelligence was received of the sentiments of the Sublime Porte, which was ready,
under favourable circumstances, to renew the war against the Imperial courts.
If Prussia would but make up her mind to range herself openly and energetically
on the same side, the ambitious Abbe would have considered such
a combination more desirable and fruitful than
any negotiation with Austria. But in that case Prussia, of course, must begin
by a definitive resignation of the left bank of the Rhine;
348
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
the disinterested ideas of the Moderates now appeared to the
Independents altogether ridiculous and criminal. They would not yet come to any
final determination, but under any circumstances they looked forward with
ill-concealed joy to a future full of movement, change,
and profit.
The Moderate party, on the other hand, were in the highest degree
perplexed. They had not yet fixed the particulars of their
peace programme, but thus much was clear to them, that a complete abandonment
of the policy of conquest was no longer possible. They wavered in their views;
they thought of acquiring the Belgian country as fat-as the Meuse—of rectifying the French frontier by the addition
of the Basle territory on the left bank, and of Mont-beliard, Saarbrucken, and
Liege. Their object was to prevent what the Independents most
wished for—viz. the
overthrow of the Empire, the perpetuation of
an unlimited revolutionary policy, and the continuation and extension of a war,
which, in their opinion, the material and moral resources
of the Republic could not bear. Among those who held these views at that time,
was Merlin of Thionville, who since the defence of Mayence had
enjoyed a not always well deserved, but undisputed, influence in all affairs
which had reference to the Rhine country. He was a zealous Thermi-dorian, on
the worst terms with Sieyes, very excitable, and subject to various influences. In the middle of May he was in Pichegrn's head quarters, when
Merlin of Douai, at that time member of the Committee, called upon him to give
his opinion as to whether the occupation of the Rhine-boundary was conducive to
the weal of France or not. Merlin of Thionville replied, that
the decision depended on the point of view from which the question was
considered. If the French government looked only at its late victories, the
best way, no doubt, of deriving advantage from them would be to open a negotiation with the Emperor, and to gain his assent to the incorporation
of Belgium and the Rhenish lands by the abandonment of Bavaria to Austria.
Cn.II.] NEGOTIATION BETW. BARTHELEMY
& HARDENBERG. 349
But if they called to mind the financial
distress of France, the destitution of her armies, and the dangers of internal
party-feuds, a speedy conclusion of peace would seem urgently called for,
whether they gained from the German Empire, in return, the line of the Meuse, or remained contented with the well founded grandeur of France
within her old borders. ■'As for me," he concluded, "I give my
voice for the latter course. I consider it as the only wholesome one: I trust
that I shall prevail over the gigantic projects of those who have forgotten
the conditions to which the fate of Empires is bound." 1
In this state of feeling the restless Deputy determined tv take an arbitrary step, from which he promised himself a decided
success.
Hardenberg was still in Basle, and on the 17th he aud Barthelemy fixed
the North German line of demarcation. This line, according to their treaty, ran
from East Friesland through Munster to Cleves, then along the Rhine to
Duis-burg, and along the frontier of the county of Mark as far as the
Lahn, thence to the Main and along the borders of Darmstadt, then by the Neckar
from Eberbach to Wimpfen, thence South East to Nordlingen, finally embracing
the territories of the Circles of Franconia and Upper-Saxony. France promised not to commit any hostile act against the territories
beyond this line, and Prussia in return guaranteed their strict neutrality. On
the day after the signing of this treaty, the Prussian minister, Barthelemy and
Bacher, dined at Hiiningen with Merlin and Pichegru. After dinner Merlin
1 J. Reynaud, Vie et correspondance de Merlin de
Thionville, p. 184. Merlin was not always of that
opinion. In November (ibid. p. 119) he wished for the line of the Rhine. And at
a later period, when Prussia did not act according to his wishes,
he was once more doubtful whether France ought not after all, to treat with
Austria; but he soon afterwards changed his mind again, and thought that the
safest course would be to negotiate with Prussia and the Empire, without Austria.
35(1
FOREIGN FOLIC Y.
[Book XII.
told the Minister that Hardenberg must go to Paris for a fortnight; for
that Carletti was moving heaven and earth to bring about a peace between
Austria and France on the basis described above; that in spite of the
protest of Merlin of Donai, who usually took the lead in diplomatic affairs at
this moment, Carletti had succeeded so far, that Pichegru had received orders
to postpone all hostilities against Austria, although he was ready on his part to cross the Ehine at any moment. Barthelemy avoided
making any distinct declaration, but Pichegru confirmed
the communication of the Representative to its full extent, and the latter
concluded by calling upon Hardenberg to warn the German Estates against the ambition of Austria. Merlin protested that his sole
wish was that a Prusso-French alliance should dictate a general peace, and that
France should claim the country, not as far as the Rhine, but only as far as
the Meuse.
Hardenberg, of course, was very much struck by such
a definite disclosure. It was impossible for him to go in person to Paris; he
therefore resolved with Barthelemy's assent to send thither one of his
officials, the Councillor of Legation, Gervinus, while he himself set off without delay to Berlin to make his report in person to the King. In
Mannheim, he spoke with the Duke Max Joseph of Deux-Ponts, communicated to him
in desperate haste the important news, and begged him privately to inform his
cousin, the Elector Charles Theodore, of what was going on. The
Duke's Charge d'affaires, the Abbe Salabert, did this in an official ministerial note, which was
immediately sent on by the Bavarian government to their Federal ambassador at
the Diet of Ratisbon. The note thus fell under the
eyes of the Imperial ambassador at that place, and Hardenberg had scarcely
communicated his intelligence to the King, when an Austrian circular was sent
round to all the German courts, declaring the whole story to be an insane and
childish fable, the further propagation of which would be an
insulting calumny against the Emperor;
Austria, it said, had
Ch. II.] RIVALRY BETW. AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA IN PARIS. 351
never thought of negotiating with France, and least of all through the
channel of the so-called Count Carletti.
In the face of these contending communications, the Prussian government
had first to consider the difficult question, whether Thugut or Merlin were the
more worthy of belief. Haugwitz was of opinion for the moment that Merlin's story was only designed to cheat Prussia by a bold falsehood
into a hostile and offensive attitude towards Austria. His official answer to
the Austrian circular, therefore, expressed the conviction that
Hardenberg had heard vague reports of this kind, and had repeated them as
such to a very few persons. But the despatches which Harnier soon afterwards
sent from Basle, and Gervinus from Paris, only proved too clearly that there
was something more in the matter. In the first days of June, and, therefore, while the impressions of the 1st of Prairial were fresh, and
the Moderate party full of vigour, Barthelemy communicated to the Prussian
official that the leaning of his Government was not to insist upon the Rhine
boundary, but to rest satisfied with the rectification of frontiers.
He therefore urgently begged that Prussia would induce the German Empire
speedily to come to terms on this condition. He warmly protested that he made
this communication only from fear that Austria—which had already assented to the line of the Rhine in return for the acquisition of Bavaria—
should take the whole peace negotiations into her own hands, and turn them to
her own special advantage amidst ever growing complications. On the 29th of
May, Gervinus had a conference with a Commission of the Committee
of Public Safety, in which, as Sieyes was the chief speaker, he became
acquainted with the views of the revolutionary parties. The tone assumed by the
Abbe was extremely harsh and cutting. "Whence," he asked first of
all, "have you got your ideas respecting our Austro-Bavarian
negotiation?" When Gervinus merely replied that all Germany was full of
this report, he said with angry vexation, that those who
352
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
shewed no confidence must look for none.
"However," he continued, "you tell us that we may speak to you
with confidence; well then, I will disclose to you our inmost thoughts ; we
need a peace to restore and strengthen ourselves at home; but we must have a
glorious peace, a new and lasting system for
Germany, where a few States more, and a few States less, ought to exist.
"Have you", he suddenly asked, "a fixed plan for a general
peace, with the map in your hand?" When Gervinus answered in the negative,
he rejoined: "Prussia must lay such a plan before us ;
we cannot negotiate till she has done so ; we do not understand this chaos of
the German Empire; it has never acknowledged us, and has no existence for us ;
we can only carry on separate negotiations with individual Princes." Gervinus begged him to fix a more definite basis to
treat upon. "The National convention," cried Sieyes, "has
already settled our boundary by a vote; the Rhine will be one of these, this is
unalterably fixed." "Then that," asked Gervinus, "is the will of the French government,
and not merely the opinion of a few Deputies?" Sieyes answered: "I
did not say that, I did not mean that." At the close of the conference he
became a little more friendly, and said that the bonds which united Prussia and
France must be drawn closer, that the Republic would gladly increase the
strength of Prussia, if the latter would only meet the former in the right
spirit. Some days afterwards, Gervinus spoke with Boissy dAnglas, whom he also
knew as an able and trustworthy
man. Boissy no more denied the existence of a negotiation with Austria than
Sieyes had done. On the contrary, while he tried to calm the apprehensions of
Gervinus with respect to the extent of the danger, he said, "our
negotiation with Austria.has, as yet, made very little
progress." To prove this he represented that he himself, and the majority
of the Convention, were extremely desirous of peace, but that they would not
conclude it at such a price. They were,
he said, decidedly averse to giving up
Ch. II.] GERVINUS' VIEW OF THE
POSITION OF AFFAIRS. 353
Bavaria to Austria; they did not intend to increase the power of
Austria, but rather to diminish it, 'and would after all keep Belgium for
France. He confirmed what Barthelemy said about Sardinia: that France did
not like to give up Savoy and Nice, but was also unwilling to weaken Sardinia
and therefore wished to conquer Milan for that country. On the whole Gervinus
came to the conviction that Carletti had treated, without a formal commission indeed, but yet entirely in accordance with Thugut's
views; that the French government, at the moment, did not wish to declare itself respecting the peace, until the internal state of things had been
somewhat cleared up, and their own position become
more secure; and lastly, that they were greatly at variance among themselves on
foreign questions. "The Independents under Sieyes,\' he
remarked, "are our decided opponents, and wish to found new republics
throughout the whole of Europe; the party attached to us is certainly the
stronger, but it is subdivided into two factions—a moderate one, which desires
to give up the Rhine land, and a rasher one, which would retain this country,
and then give Prussia a splendid compensation during a violent convulsion in the German Empire." In spite of this, however, he
thought that Prussia, by shewing some degree of firmness, might even now win
back the greater part of the left bank of the Rhine; since, notwithstanding the
restlessness and demoralisation of their rulers, the French people had
the greatest desire of peace, and all sensible and educated persons in the
country were opposed to the policy of conquest.
We now see the significance to Europe of the issue of the last party
struggle in Paris. On the one side, the possibility of upholding, in the main, the present position of affairs,
and above all of obtaining a peace for Germany, according
to the wishes of Prussia, at a very slight sacrifice. On the other side, an
atmosphere heavily charged with electricity, a change in the relative
power of the Italian States, the cession of the Rhine-land to France, and a
complete trans
354
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
formation of the German Empire; and in the distance the
prospect of Russian rule as far as the Oder, Austrian omnipotence in the remnant of the Empire, and rapacious projects against
the countries on the Adige and the Lower Danube.
The immediate effect of the uncertainty in which these decisive questions were left for the moment, was a complete cessation of military operations. Austria was, once for all,
determined to engage its great army of the Rhine as little as possible in the
Western theatre of war, that it might be always at disposal
for the protection of Bohemia, in case of a breach with Prussia. As long,
therefore, as the Polish question was unsettled, and Prussia remained in possession of Cracow, all the efforts of England to set the Imperial
troops in motion against the French were unavailing. Thugut was always ready with the most satisfactory promises, but they remained entirely unfulfilled. In the first
place, he said, he had no money to send the troops into the field: and when
England, thereupon, declared her readiness to pay subsidies, he bargained
for months about the amount and the rate of interest. At last these points were
settled, and the two Powers concluded, on the 4th of May, a subsidy-treaty,
which was followed, on the 20th, by a comprehensive treaty of alliance. But now the question was raised whether the principal efforts of
the army should be directed against Franch Comte or employed on the Lower Rhine
for the relief of Luxemburg. And, unfortunately, it invariably happened
that if Lord Grenville preferred the one course, Thugut maintained
that the other alone was practicable, and consequently neither was adopted.
Lord Grenville then declared that it was no matter which was the preferable
plan, that he should be quite contented if the Austrians would but fight, wherever it might be; upon which Thugut expressed his deep regret,
that in spite of the most energetic directions of the Emperor, General Clerfait
for mditary reasons had declared that it was quite impossible for the present
to assume the offensive. Mean-
Ch. II.] THUGUT'S DOUBLE DEALING WITH ENGLAND. 355
while Luxemburg capitulated, and the prospect of a royalist rising in
Franche Comte was entirely destroyed. English commissioners
who arrived in Clerfait's1
head-quarters at the end of July, found the army in
excellent condition, thoroughly refreshed by their long repose, well supplied
with provisions, strengthened in numbers, and in all respects ready for action.
But when they expressed to the General their surprise at his inactivity, after the orders he had received to attack the French, he
asserted with the greatest vehemence and indignation,
that he should only have been too glad to lead his troops into action, but that
he had never been empowered to advance against the enemy.
Sir Morton Eden, the English ambassador in Vienna, a great admirer of Thugut's
policy, declared that such treachery was inconceivable. Yet even he could not
help reporting to his Government, in March, May and June, that if Prussia did
not evacuate Cracow, war would inevitably break out between
the two great German Powers. He might, therefore, easily have seen that until
the Polish question was settled, no end to the inactivity of Austria was to be
looked for. 1
And thus the French remained in undisturbed
possession of the left bank of the Rhine during the whole summer, and there
could, of course, be no question of an advance of the Austrians into Franche
Comte at a time when Thugut's whole attention was turned towards Cracow, and
his whole soul filled with contempt of the Holy Roman
Empire. Nothing could have happened more fortunately for the French. The
disorganisation of their whole military system, the decrease
of their numbers, the destitution of their troops, had now reached such a
terrible pitch, that, in spite of the continual pressure exercised by the Committee of Public Safety, not one of
their generals dared to take the offensive and to cross the Rhine. And thus they lay in a state of com-
1 From the despatches of Sir Morton
v. Sybel, "Oesterreich und Deutseh-Eden and
Col. Crawfurd. Conf.
land im Revolntionskrieg," p. 113.
Z 2
356
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
plete inaction in the conquered and plundered districts of the left
bank of the Ehine. The Upper Ehine was occupied by the Ehine and Moselle Army,
scarcely 90,000 strong, now under the command of General Pichegru ; on the
Middle and -Lower Ehine stood Jourdan with the army of the Sambre and
Meuse in about equal numbers. Even after the capture of Luxemburg, week after
week passed away without the slightest movement on the part of Pichegru or
Jourdan. Nor was any greater activity displayed by their opponents on the opposite bank—the Austrians, the troops of the Empire, and the Emigres: it seemed as if the forces of the two nations had assembled on the
banks of the Ehine to display themselves in peaceful parade. Matters were at
the same time carried on a little more briskly, but not more
energetically, at the Diet of Eatisbon, where the Instates without exception
were filled with a longing for peace, but fluctuated in cruel uncertainty
between Prussian and Austrian influences ; fearing Austria, because they imputed to her a greater desire of war, and yet not daring to claim the mediation of Prussia, for fear of offending the Emperor. The result was a
decree of the Diet, passed in the course of July, which begged the Emperor to
mediate a peace, and Prussia to support him in the good work—a decree
which in the existing state of alienation between the two Courts had virtually
no meaning at all.
The French government regarded the second theatre of war—on which they
were measuring swords with Austria— eis. Italy,
with very different feelings from those with which they looked upon the
Ehine. In the former country both parties wishes to keep Savoy, and to wrest
Milan from the Austrians. The Independents pursued this object all the more
eagerly, because, as we have seen, they were ready, on this condition,
to give up Bavaria to the Emperor in return for the left bank of the Ehine.
Accordingly they regarded the conquest of Milan as the final effort, by which
they hoped to obtain a glorious and advantageous treaty of peace
Ch.
II.]
THE WAR IN SPAIN.
357
for the Republic, and they were incessantly exhorting their armies of
the Alps and Italy to strike decisive blows. But the military disorganization
had made no less progress in that country than on the Rhine;
and in spite of the internal discord which continued to cripple the operations
of the Austro-Sards, it became evident that the republican generals could not
attain their object without very considerable reinforcements.
A great levy of recruits in the interior was not to be thought of
at that time, and the Committee of Public Safety therefore made up its mind to
a new peace, which should render the troops, hitherto employed in the Pyrenees,
disposable for the war in the Appennines—viz. peace with Spain. 1
The court of Madrid, as we have already observed, had long lost all
pleasure in this destructive and endless war. For a time the Queen and the
Minister Godoi, Duke of Alcudia, had enthusiastically favoured the contest,
because it seemed to be a vital question for the supremacy of the
favourite in opposition to Aranda's love of peace. But since the summer of 1794
the fortune of arms had changed; both in the Eastern and Western Pyrenees the
Spaniards had been obliged to evacuate the enemy's territory; nay, in the East, the French general had crossed the frontier, and with
his right wing in the mountains had conquered the valleys of Cerdagne, and with
his left the protecting forts on the Catalonian coast. These disasters made the
deepest impression on the wretched court of Madrid ; the Queen
saw all her hopes deceived, and Alcudia wavered in utter helplessness between foolish pride and abject fear. In September he made
the first step towards a direct negotiation, by causing
his wish for peace to be expressed to a certain Simonin,
1 Conf. for the following, Barente, 1795, and above all Baumgart m' i
Histoire de la Convention, the last "History of Spain at
the time of the
pages of vol. V.—Me'moires du roi French revolution." Joseph, vol. I.—Correspondence of
358
FOREIGN POLICY,
[Book XII.
who had been sent by the Committee of Public Safety to Barcelona to
tend the French prisoners of war. No sooner had this been done, than he
received intelligence of the plan of a royalist insurrection
in Paris and the South of France, and immediately began to indulge idle hopes
of a splendid victory over the Revolution. The Committee of Public Safety on
their part answered him in a tone of imperious confidence, and in October
the army of the West drove the Spaniards with vigorous
blows nearly as far back as Pampeluna. Under the influence of these varying impressions, Godoi, in deep despair, declared to the Cabinet
council that no human power could stop the progress of the French. He then once more proposed to England to acknowledge the Count of Provence as
Regent of France, and in the middle of November sent an ultimatum to Simo-nin, in which he expressed his readiness to conclude a peace
with the French republic, if the latter would liberate the
children of Louis XVI., and give up the French provinces bordering on Spain to
the Dauphin, as an independent kingdom. The Committee of course
expressed the highest indignation at such a proposal,
recalled Simonin on the spot from Barcelona, and called
upon their generals to reply to the insolence of the Spanish court with cannon
balls.
General Dugommier had already acted in accordance with the spirit of
these instructions. His incapable adversary, Count de la Union, had buried
himself uear Figueras in a number of badly planned
trenches; on the 17th of November, General Augereau turned the left wing which
held • the key of the Spanish position. This movement, it is true, came to a
stand-still when Dugommier, who was just on the point of opening the contest in the centre, was killed by a cannon ball; but Union allowed
the precious hours to pass away without taking any kind of precautions; when,
therefore, Dugommier's successor renewed the attack at all points on the 20th,
the Spaniards were completely defeated after a short
resistance. Continually rolled up from
the left, they
Ch.
II.] DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS NEAR FIGUERAS. 359
lost one position after another ; Union himself fell in the melee, nearly
9,000 officers and soldiers were killed, and eighty entrenchments
with 200 guns captured. The rout of the defeated army was so complete, and the
consternation of the Spaniards so great, that in eight days General Torres
delivered up the immensely strong fortress of Figueras with a garrison of 9,000 men, 170 guns, and a vast store of ammunition and food, without firing a shot.
This great catastrophe called forth, in the first place, a mighty
outburst of patriotic enthusiasm in the threatened border province of
Catalonia. In the interior of the country the Spaniards were
more influenced by their discontent with their own Government, by financial
distress and political demoralisation; the taxes were collected with great
difficulty, the recruits endeavoured to escape the conscription, and the people, with bitter imprecations, demanded peace. But on the
borders, the inhabitants knew no other impulse than that of self preservation
and hatred against the French- While the latter had thought that the appearance
of their tricolore would rouse the Spaniards to revolt against the
abuses in Madrid, the latter were filled with a furious abhorrence of the
murderers of Louis XVI, the persecutors of the Church, and the blasphemers of
Christianity. To this was added the harshness of the Conventional commissioners, the licentiousness of the soldiers, and the
ill-treatment of the occupied districts: throughout Catalonia, Navarre, and
Biscay, the people demanded arms for the contest against the impious enemy. No
one, indeed, had the slightest confidence in the
Government at Madrid; on the contrary, after the fall of Figueras, Catalonia
wished to withdraw entirely from the orders of the Court, and then to raise
150,000 armed men against the foreign enemy. An open breach was, however, once
more avoided; and at last a popular force of 4,000 men
was raised, in close cooperation with General Urrutia, the successor of Union,
who was fortunately a very able and energetic man. Happily for the Spaniards, the French
360
FOREIGN POLICY,
[Book XII.
general Perignon, instead of closely pursuing the ruins of the army
which had been defeated near Figueras, lost his time in besieging Rosas, a
fortress on the coast, which was the first in this campaign to set an example
of vigorous resistance, and did not capitulate till the
beginning of February; so that Urrutia was enabled to restore order in his
shattered regiments on the other side of the river Fluvia, and to organize the
arming of the Catalonian peasants on a grand scale.
Whilst in this quarter nation and army were vying with
one another in self-sacrifice and activity, the Court of Madrid still afforded
the same example of utter frivolity and revolting
incapacity. Alcudia forgot the horrors of the defeat of Figueras in a whirl of
low pleasures and extravagant dissipation; and when the Minister of Marine, Valdes, strongly urged him to
make peace, this was only another reason with 'he Queen for continuing the war,
because it was the first of all considerations with her, that no political
adversary should be in the right in opposition to
Alcudia. When Tallien, in December, privately sent overtures from Paris, to the
effect that Spain might obtain a peace with France without any cession of
territory, if she would separate herself from England,
Alcudia declined the proposal. He did so on this occasion, not from pride
or hope of victory, for in his innermost heart he would have been glad
to escape the troubles and annoyances of war; but the Spanish court, as Count
de la Caneda said, could not make the exertions necessary for the
attainment of peace and a safe neutrality. "The Queen," wrote the
Prussian ambassador at that time, " wishes for peace, the King has no will
at all, Godoy, young and inexperienced, fancies that war and peace are made
with the same means, and looks for a decision I
know not whence." Under these circumstances Count Cabarrus, Tallien's
father-in-law, was able to continue the negotiation iu secret, to which the
intelligence received in February of the conquest of Holland, and the departure of Count Golz for Basle,
Ch. II.]
WAVERING POLICY OF THE COURT OF MADRID
361
gave a fresh impulse. Alcudia once more recurred to his old jealousy of
England; he had a reconciliation with Valdes, and in a great Cabinet council,
held on the 22nd of March, in presence of the King and Queen, the question was
formally mooted of concluding a peace with France on the sole
condition of the liberation of the two royal children. All persons present
signified their lively approval; King Charles alone, who never heard a word
before from any 'one of a peaceful tendency, was highly enraged at the pro posal to treat with the abominable regicides; but even he was
appeased, when his consort represented to him how many holy chapels had been
destroyed during the war, and that the Church itself, therefore, had the
greatest need of peace. Don Domingo Yriarte, an able but frivolous man of
business, who had been formerly banished from Madrid on account of his Jacobin
sympathies, and sent as Ambassador to Poland, was selected to go
to Basle, and open negociations of peace with Barthelemy. In the case of any other government than the Spanish, a decided line of conduct would
have been hereby taken up, and a definite system adopted. But no sooner was the
order sent off to Yriarte than the state of feeling in Madrid once more
changed. The impression produced by the conquest of Holland was
outweighed by the preliminary intelligence of the Triple alliance between
England, Austria and Russia; the example of the Prussian peace lost its weight
in consequence of a pretty direct and plain spoken declaration of England, that she would commence a war with Spain as soon as Alcudia had made
peace with France. In the midst of these conflicting
influences the Duke came to the thoroughly characteristic
resolution, that Yriarte should for the present continue
his negotiation, but without shewing any too great
readiness to make concessions. He thought that a considerable time might thus be spent, during which it was to be hoped that
Urrutia would protect the frontier, and England, on her part, be induced to
adopt milder measures.
362
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
The Committee of Public Safety in Paris, meanwhile, had received the
news of Yriarte's mission, at first with some distrust, but finally to the
general satisfaction of all parties. The peacefully
inclined members of the Committee greeted every step of this nature with
unmixed pleasure, and the Independents saw in the conclusion of the Spanish war
new means of promoting their more important objects. Barthelemy, therefore, was
directed to enter into the negotiation.
The details of the instructions he received were, it is true, no less
categorical than in the Prussian negotiation.- He was to press in every
way for a speedy settlement, and was on that account to assume a curt and
commanding air, to consent to no armistice, to cut short
any mention of internal French affairs—of the children of Louis XVI., the Emigres and the Church; and on all other questions— compensation, frontiers,
war expenses, and neutrality—to ask as much as possible, and only to concede as much as was absolutely necessary. It soon appeared how
different were the points of view from which the two parties regarded the
matter. Barthelemy informed the Spanish ambassador, that the Republic was ready
to give up the border districts on the Pyrenees, now occupied by
their troops, but demanded in return the cession of Louisiana in America, and
the Spanish portion of the island of San Domingo. Yriarte gave a decided
refusal to these terms, representing that his Government would never dare to propose to the Spanish people such a humiliating settlement of the
question. He then, in his turn, proposed the grant of a pension to the emigrant
Princes, free permission to return home for the rest of the Emigres, and a recognition of the Catholic church in France. Whereupon
Barthelemy gave him to understand that he was ready to treat on the question of
more or less in respect to territory, but that he must consider any further
allusion to French domestic concerns as a breaking off of the negotiation. Yriarte was reluctantly compelled to believe that Barthelemy was in
earnest, and withdrew those demands.
Ch. II.]
NEGOTIATION OF PEACE WITH SPAIN.
363
But he returned all the more vigorously to the
other point, which, as he said, was one of honour, religion, and, if they
pleased, of fanaticism,—viz. the
fate of the imprisoned children in the Temple. These conversations were carried
on for weeks. In vain did Barthelemy point out to him that it was
impossible for the Republic to trust so dangerous a Pretender to the hands of a
foreign government. Yriarte, with equal emphasis, declared that his King could
not possibly pass over in neglect and silence
the fate of his nearest and greatest kinsman. Between
these two principles no compromise was possible.
And thus the death of the unhappy boy was of no less moment for the
foreign affairs, than for the internal politics, of France. The Committee sent
word to Barthelemy, that in the sitting of the 9th of June
the Convention had heard of the death of the young Capet with the greatest
indifference, and of the taking of Luxemburg with lively enthusiasm. Yriarte
expressed his deep sorrow at this news but it was evident
that the real negotiation of peace could rlow for
the first time begin. There were still considerable differences between the two
Powers, but none which might not be got over by good will on either side.
Yriarte's first words, after the brother had escaped by death from the sphere of human disputes, were directed to the liberation of
the sister, the last member of the royal family. The Committee had, indeed, in
her case no political scruples with respect to the safety of the republican
Constitution; but their national pride rendered
them averse to make such a concession to the demands of a foreign government.
They therefore anticipated the Spanish request, by proposing to the Convention
to ask the Emperor Francis to take the Princess in exchange for the Deputies
who were formerly delivered up by Dnmouriez to the Austrians. No one could
doubt that the Cabinet of Vienna would gladly consent to this arrangement—and
the exchange was really carried out a few months later, without much trouble. Barthelemy, therefore, was able to
declare
364
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
to the Spanish ambassador, that the liberation of the Princess could no longer form a subject of deliberation between them, as
the Convention was already negotiating with Austria on this
very point. This matter being settled, they now came to the real political part
of their work. In this too they met with several difficulties. France insisted
on the cession of Louisiana and San Domingo, which the Spanish plenipotentiary
refused to discuss. Spain desired to be acknowledged
as mediator between the Republic and the Italian States, especially the Pope;
while Barthelemy had received express orders not to allow any mention to be
made of Italy. As the predominance of the French arms in the Pyrenees became more decided every day, the Committee of Public Safety
would perhaps under such circumstances have broken off the negotiation-; but it
was now that the above mentioned considerations respecting Austria and Italy
made themselves heard, and the Committee adhered to the
resolution to do their utmost to obtain a peace with Spain, with a view td
strengthen the Army of Italy.
While hitherto the heaviest blows had been dealt in the Eastern
Pyrenees, the chief weight was now to be thrown into the Army of the West, in Guipuscoa and Biscay, where they might expect to
surprise the Spaniards in an unprepared state, and gain considerable advantages
without serious difficulty. Then, they hoped, the
Government at Madrid would consent to a peace, and the Army of the East might be transferred to Italy, and there bring matters to
a decision with Austria aud Europe.
General Moncey, who had at that time commauded the Army of the West
Pyrenees, received instructions to this effect together with reinforcements. He
had about 40,000 men under his command, and scarcely 30,000 Spaniards
under Castel-Franco opposed to him; and as the latter had to protect Navarre on
the one side, and Biscay on the other, against the French, his forces were
widely separated from one another. At the eud of June Moncey first
attacked the
Cn. II.] CONCLUSION OF PEACE BETW.
FRANCE AND SPAIN. 365
Biscayan corps of the enemy under General Crespo, and having forced the
passage of the border river Deba, he threw a considerable portion of his forces on the Spanish division in Navarre, drove them
far into the interior of the country, and thereby totally destroyed their
communications with their brethren in arms in Biscay. After this, Crespo was
unable to offer any considerable resistance to the advancing foe ; on the one side, the French reached Vittoria, and soon
afterwards the Castilian frontier on the Ebro, and on the other side, occupied
the city of Bilboa, the capital of Biscay. The terror produced by these
movements on the Government of Madrid was great and
decisive. Although General Urrutia in Catalonia had engaged Scherer, the new
French General of the Army of the East, in a bloody and successful battle ;
although General Cuesta had made considerable progress in the Cerdagne against the Republicans, the court of Madrid, immediately after
Moncey's victories, sent milder instructions to their agents at Basle.
The peace was thereupon signed by Barthelemy and Yriarte on the 22nd of
July. France gave up her claim to Louisiana, and
Spain, on her side, ceded her portion of San Domingo to the French. France
agreed to the Spanish mediation in a future negotiation of peace with Naples,
Parma, and Portugal. With respect to the other Italian states—by which,
according to a secret article, the Pope was especially
understood—France accepted the good offices of Spain. The feeling at Madrid
underwent such a complete change, when the first sacrifice had once been made,
that immediately after the signing of the peace, Yriarte expressed the wish of his Court to renew the old Bourbon alliance between the two
States ; in order, as he said, to break by their united power the preponderance
of England in the Mediterranean, and of the Austrians iu Italy.
All parties in Paris were highly delighted with
this result. The people at large, and the Moderate party, rejoiced in the fact perse, that
another great theatre of war was closed;
366
FOREIGN POLICY.
[Book XII.
the Independents looked with satisfaction at the more distant
consequences which would arise for their plans, from the setting free of the
Army of the Pyrenees. "My offensive plans," wrote Bonaparte,
"have been sanctioned; we shall soon see important events in Lombardy; Sardinia will doubtless think of peace, and it only
depends upon us to come to terms forthwith, even with the Emperor." 'Bui,'
he added, 'we demand of him very advantageous conditions, which we intend to
obtain by force of arms.'"
Whilst the Spanish treaty was no doubt, in its
immediate effects, a gain to the revolutionary and aggressive party, events had
taken place at the same time at home, which weakened the influence of the
Moderates and gave a decided direction to the policy of the Convention.
Ch. III.]
367
CHAPTER III. THE ROYALISTS
Persecution op the jacobins in the south.—Royalist aqents in Paris.
—New dissensions in bretagne and la vendee.—Puisaye in enoland
prepares a landing of emigres on the coast of france.—war breaks
oct in bretagne.-the expedition of the emigres sets sail.—
Perverse
measures and internal dissensions of the emigres. —
charette declares war against the republic.-fresh intrigues of
the agents in paris.—landing of the emigres.-t/hey allow themselves to be shut up by hoche in the peninsula of qciberon.— ho che takes the fort of penthievre.-the emigres are overpowered.—tallien's report. bloody tribunal in auray.—continuance of the war by the chouans and charette.— the comte d'artois
lands
on
the
island
d'YEU.-He
is
afraid
to
set
foot
on the
mainland.
despair of charette.
While the Republic was gaining victory
after victory abroad through the disunion and faintheartedness of its enemies,
the Government was no longer able to control the turbulence of parties
at home, or to obtain for the advantage of the country a strong and independent
position. Whoever tries to make a revolution, will always aim at the utter
destruction of every adversary; and whoever wishes to close it, must endeavour, before all things, to reconcile contending parties. At
that period—the summer of 1795,—the ears both of the friends and enemies of the
Revolution rang with the fearful watch-word of the Reign of Terror; "half
measures in revolutionary times are fatal—to draw back a single step
is destruction—the dead alone never return." Whoever had the upper hand,
therefore, for the moment, thought himself
368
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
obliged to secure his advantage by the total destruction
of his opponents; every success was followed by increased violence, wilder
outbreaks of passion, and more desperate resistance. During the prevalence of
sneh feelings, the po-• sition of the moderate parties necessarily became more
unfavourable; the extreme factions of the Right and
Left gained more and more exclusive possession of the field. I The 1st of
Prairial had given a new impulse throughout France to the tide which had set in
against the Jacobins. Men were not everywhere contented, as in the Convention, with combating Jaeobin laws, or arresting Jacobin
leaders. We know how rabid was the thirst for restitution and revenge in the Departments of the South; and immediately after the
Toulonese revolt, this feeling found vent in the most atrocious crimes. Some hundreds of Terrorists had been locked up in Fort St.
Jean at Marseilles. During the troubles at Toulon the Marseillais were
apprehensive that on the arrival of the Toidonese, these prisoners would make
common cause with the latter; as soon, therefore, as Toulon was taken,
■ the chiefs of the Compagnie du Soleil resolved to free themselves from such daugers for the
future, by a single deed of blood. On the 5th of June a crowd of armed men surprised the fort; the small guard at the entrance was quickly
overpowered, the officer in command seized and confined, and then one prison
after another broken open and its inmates massacred. The butchery
lasted nearly the whole day, and when the strong prison
doors resisted even the axes of the assailants, they shattered them with
cannon, and shot down the prisoners with volleys of musketry. Towards the
evening the murderers were tired out, and some of them intoxicated ; and in
order to facilitate their horrid task they threw great bundles
of straw through the broken windows of the prison, kindled it, and left the
prisoners to be burnt alive. It was not until night had fallen that the
Conventional commissioners came from the town,
accompanied by torch-bearers and national guards. They reasoned with the assassins, and
Ch.
III.]
VENGEANCE ON THE TERRORISTS.
369
exhorted them to quiet, and obedience to the law,1 and
at last induced them to withdraw, after some of the ring-leaders had been arrested, and their arms restored to the guard of the fort. The number
of slain according to the official list was 86; according to other statements
more than 200. Several days elapsed before medical assistance was sent to the
wounded, after most of them had perished; the captured
murderers were liberated a few days afterwards without any examination.
Still worse than the horrid deed itself was the satisfaction with which
the population, far and wide throughout the land: received the intelligence of
it. By the long continued horrors of the Reign of Terror all moral feelings
had been brutalized, and all ideas of right and wrong destroyed. Similar
excesses to those of Marseilles took place in all parts of the South. In
Avignon the hand of the blood avenger overtook the murderers of la Glaciere; in Sisteron and in Digne the officials of the Jacobin
administration, and the members of the Revolutionary committees, were cut down.
In Tarrascon the victims were thrown from a lofty tower on to the sharp rocks
of the Rhone banks; and for three months, both there and in Lyons, similar
atrocities were practised. Originally these murderous deeds were the results of
no political tendencies, but exclusively of avenging
wrath against the bloody ministers of the Reign of Terror.
When, however, such scenes became more frequent, and were enacted in every part
of twenty Departments, political parties began to found their hopes on the wide
spread agitation of the popular mind. In several quarters royalists of the old
stamp began to bestir themselves; numerous members
of the first emigration of the noblesse returned to Lyons or
1 According to the account given by
the Duke of Montpensier, brother of Louis Phillippe, who was present at the
time, and who certainly de
IV.
serves more
credit than the subsequent exaggerated statements of
Freron.
Aa
370
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
Marseilles, where, as we know, the non-juring priests had always
possessed very considerable influence. In Lyons these tendencies were followed
with so little consideration, that the Convention, which since the 1st of
Prairial had shown little inclination to act with severity against the
enemies of the Jacobins, was at last obliged to interfere. They summoned the local Authorities before their bar, transferred the police
administration to the Military authorities, and disarmed
the National guard; these measures were carried out without any
resistance, but the intrigues of the Royalists, and the persecution of the
Jacobins, were by no means stopped.
In Paris, too, a more and more clearly defined party of
Bourbon-royalists was formed within the great monarchical-constitutional
opposition which we have already described. It was composed of numerous and
heterogeneous elements— a considerable portion of the Jeunesse doree, former members of the first States General, and a number of peaceable
and liberal citizens. The latter were of opinion, that
as France had, once for all, need of monarchy, she must not be afraid of a
handful of Emigres, but, now that the Dauphin was dead, must acknowlegethe next heir, Louis
XVIIL, the eldest brother of the King, who was then residing
in Verona. They did not, however, contemplate an immediate restoration by
violent means; they intended to wait the results of the new constitution and the futnre'elections, and hoped, without recourse to
arms, to recall the Bourbons by a decree of the
legislative body. But by their side were hotter heads, who observing the
universal abhorrence which prevailed of the Jacobins, looked every day for an
insurrection in favour of the legitimate rightful monarch, and hoped for a
complete return to the ancien regime. It was indeed impossible to make a greater mistake respecting the real
wishes of the people ; but, as usual, want of discernment by no means checked
the restless zeal of these ardent partisans. They canvassed and agitated,
corresponded and conspired, kept
Ch.
III.] INTRIGUES OF THE BOURBON PARTY.
371
up an understanding with Tallien and other Thermidorians, bestirred
themselves in the Sectional assemblies, despatched letters to Louis XVIII. at
Verona, to the Emigres
in the Austrian army, and to Charette and Cormantin in the West. Since
November, 1794, the Court at Verona had formed a Royal agency, consisting of
the Abbe Brottier, the Abbe Lemaitre, and the Chavelier Despomelles. The most
active of these was Brottier, of whom his colleague Maury was
accustomed to say: "if you wish to throw a matter into inextricable confusion, place it in the hand's of Brottier; he could
rouse the angels of heaven to revolt before the throne of God." Like all
politicians of his stamp, and especially the greater part of the
noble Emigres, he was a man of the narrowest fanaticism, and the most unbounded
credulity. He imagined that he had a fourth part of the Conventional deputies
at his disposal. He regarded the Constitutionalists as almost more worthy of death than the bloodiest Jacobin, and after the peace of
La Jaunais he denounced Charette as an equally insignificant and untrustworthy
man. Not many weeks afterwards, however, he heard that Louis XVIII. had written
a letter to the General of the Vendeans, full of grateful
admiration; and as the peace in La Vendee seemed by no means to rest on a
secure basis, he immediately sketched a plan, according to which the West was
to rise again under the command of the "unrivalled" Charette, while
Precy, the defender of Lyons, was to raise the royal standard at the same
time in the South, the Prince of Conde co conduct his troops through
Switzerland into Dauphine, and the friends of the monarchy in Paris to put a
terrible end to the Convention. With regard to Foreign powers, he hated
the English as the cold and selfish hereditary enemies
of France, and told Louis XVIII., in 1795, that the only trustworthy monarch,
whose assistance the Emigres could
claim with honour and advantage, was the King of Spain.
Aa2
372
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
Visionary and futile as were these views and projects, affairs in La
Vendee and Bretagne really assumed a very serious aspect immediately after the
conclusion of the peace. From the" very first day mutual complaints were
made of breaches of treaty. If we examine the numerous documents J relating
to these affairs, we find no sufficient data on which to found a judicial
decision on the merits of the case; but the following facts are undoubted. The
Republican leaders, the Committee of Public Safety, and the negotiating Commissioners, wished to preserve
peace. They appointed members of their own party, exclusively, as officials,
but they took all possible care to select moderate and upright men. They
strained every nerve to accustom both officers and men to order and discipline, and to make them maintain a rational and peaceable
attitude. When their Generals complained of the refractory conduct of the
Vendeans, they constantly replied by warning them to have nothing to do with
Ithe Terrorists. In the beginning the same thing may be said of the
Royalist as of the Republican chiefs. Charette and Stofflet in La Vendee, and
Cormatin in Bretagne, had no desire to see the dreadful civil war break out
into fresh flames ; they reposed no sort of confidence in their adversaries, after their former experiences, but they hoped for a general
change in affairs, which would free them from the Convention without further
contest. But in spite of the sentiments of their leaders, it was infinitely
difficult in the long run to maintain the peace. In the face of the
military superiority of the insurgents, the Conventional commissioners
1 The Republican documents are to be
found in the greatest completeness in the Guerres des Vendeens, Vol. V, and the Royalist documents
in Cretineau Jolly, Vendee militaire, Vol. II and III. The spurious
papers must, of course, be discarded, especially the pretended manifesto of the
Vendean chiefs of the 22nd of June, which Cretineau credulously adopts, though
its spuriousness is rendered glaringly evident by the signatures of Stofflet
and Bernier.
Cn. III.] CRITICAL STATE OF LA
VENDEE.
373
could not think of demanding that the peasants should give up their
arms. On the contrary, after an agreement had been come to, that 2,000 men were to remain under arms in La Vendee, in the pay of the Republic, they
had themselves informed General Charette, by word of mouth, that he might
quarter his best troops there, and command them as before. But if the peasants
kept their arms, and Charette held a command, the royalist army
was virtually retained without change, since even during the war the peasants
had never been united into a standing army, but had held themselves in
readiness to obey the beck of Charette. There were still as before
two entirely independent bodies of troops, exasperated to the utmost against
one another by a long and merciless war. Both sides were fanatical in the
extreme, both brutalised by a desperate civil war, and accustomed to a lax and
ill-regulated discipline. The Republican officers were indignant
that the chiefs of the peasants, after acknowledging the Republic, continued to
call themselves Generals, Colonels, and Majors, and that there were, within the
State, bodies of troops besides those belonging to the State. Then again there were in Bretagne several dreaded chiefs who had never
accepted the peace of La Mabilais, and who continued their former operations of
persecuting the officers of government, plundering the mails, and attacking
small companies of soldiers. In La Vendee the -deep and universal
respect felt towards Charette and Stofflet had prevented such occurrences for a
time; but in May the Parisian agency interfered, and the Abbe Brottier issued
instructions in the King's name to several of the Royalist chiefs, to recommence hostilities. And thus the country was gradually
filled with petty but ever-increasing differences, and mutual complaints.
Republican soldiers ill-treated individual peasants, and the latter, on the
first opportunity, took revenge, and shot down the Republicans. The villagers refused to bring their
provisions to market in return for assignats; the generals who saw their soldiers
374
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
tormented by hunger, threatened to take the corn by force. The peasants then carried off their stocks to their old hiding
places in the woods, and encamped in arms; whereupon reports were sent to the
Committee of Public Safety, that the Royalists were forming magazines, and
collecting seditious bands, and trying to starve the Republicans. One
of the greatest difficulties arose from the democratic inhabitants who had been
obliged to flee the country during the war, and to seek the protection of the
Republican armies. When they now returned, trusting to the peace, they found their houses and lands occupied by the Royalists, and
themselves rejected as Terrorists and Robespierreists ; and when they appealed
to the Authorities to be restored to their property, the new possessor
invariably took up arms against them.
Such a state of things could not possibly continue. Either the peasants
must be disarmed, or the Republicans must entirely evacuate the country. This
would have been unavoidable even with the most honest intentions on either
side, and in the most peaceable state of the world. What then
could be expected when nothing but hatred and mistrust
prevailed on both sides, and urgent appeals were made to them to renew the
contest! Count Puisaye was actively employed for eight months in England, in
trying to induce the British government to lend a
powerful support to the Royalists. At first he had no small difficulty to
overcome, for the Emigres, by their ostentatious boasting and • the ignominious failure of all
their promises, had forfeited all credit in Europe, and
had alienated the English government more than any other by their fanatical
abhorrence of all liberal and constitutional principles. Puisaye, who had
himself been a member of the Constituent assembly, and subsequently an ally of
the Girondists, was, however, just the right man to inspire
the English ministers with a more favourable feeling with regard to the
political question; and he completely succeeded in gaining over
Pitt, and Windham, the Minister at war, to his views. The treaties of La Jaunais
Ch.
III.] RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES IN BRETAGNE.
375
and La Mabilais did not alter his views; he declared that as soon as
the English expedition should appear on the Breton coast, the whole country
would immediately rise in arms; and we now know what good reasons he had
for his assertion. He continually repeated that the undertaking must have a national character; that England, consequently, ought to confine herself to lending it support by her fleet,
and supplying arms and moriey; and that the troops for landing should
consist entirely of French Emigres. Pitt granted all that he asked. Colossal supplies of uniforms, muskets
and ammunition, were collected, and Puisaye's summons was sent to the Emigres through
the whole of Europe, to assemble in the English harbours for the
intended expedition. They quickly came from all quarters; in Cowes Count
d'Hervilly assembled about 1,500, and the English Colonel Nesbitt raised about
an equal number on German ground in Bremen and Stade. It was an unfortunate idea of the English ministers to strengthen these troops by recruiting from among the French prisoners of war in England. D'Hervilly, an old soldier, and a strict royalist, warned them
against burdening the expedition with such untrustworthy elements; but Pitt thought that there was no need to be so particular in
battle, and more than 1,600 prisoners were enrolled among the landing force.
These preparations had been carried on since April with ever-increasing
activity.
Meanwhile the disputes in Bretagne and La Vendee grew hotter
every day. The Royalist chiefs kept their men more closely in hand ; in ' the
month of May most of them had issued formal orders to the districts, forbidding
the inhabitants, under heavy penalties, to receive assignats or to carry provisions into the Republican
garrisons. The latter were thereby compelled to procure their supplies by main
force; several engagements took place, and some of the Royalist leaders were
shot or taken prisoners. The Generals Hoche and Aubert repeatedly sent word to Paris that the peace was
376
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
a mischievous delusion, and that the most energetic measures were
necessary to save the Republic. The state of things in La Vendee was not much
better, General Canclaux, who commanded there, though he did not speak out so
plainly as his colleagues in Bretagne, expressed very strong apprehensions. In the course of the month of May, a change took place in the
Conventional commissioners in Bretagne. The peacemakers were replaced by some
old Montagnards, who belonged to the party of the Independents. Hoche more than once consulted them as to the necessity of taking some decided
step, and securing some of the more prominent leaders, and above all Cormatin,
by sudden arrest. He did Cormatin great injustice. While the Republican general
was denouncing him as the essence of the darkest treachery,
his own party, whom he was incessantly trying to moderate and hold back,
regarded him almost in the light of a traitor. Whilst the Chouans of Lisieux
were calling on the inhabitants to remain under arms, and, if
necessary, to die for King, Church and Country,
Cormatin was warning the Royalist conseil of
Morbihan against any premature step, which might irretrievably ruin the good
cause, since they no longer formed an isolated faction, but stood in close connection with all the Royalists in France, and ought
to regulate their proceedings by the decisions of the whole party. These
very letters were intercepted by the Republican flying patrols, and served
General Hoche as speaking proofs of a well considered plot. At his urgent request the Conventional commissioners reported to the Committee of
Public Safety, that in their opinion the arrest of the chiefs could not be any
longer delayed. The Committee received this despatch on the 30th of May, a week
after the 1st of Prairial, under circumstances which made the
struggle with the Jacobins appear much more urgent to them than the breach with
the Royalists. They replied, therefore, in very vague terms, that they felt all
the necessity of vigorous measures, but that the authenticity of the intercepted letters must first
Cn. III.]
SEIZURE OF THE ROYALIST CHIEFS.
377
be proved, and that the generals must be sure of having adequate forces
before proceeding to act.
But General Hoche had not waited for the answer of his Government. On the 25th of May he had already extorted from the
Commissioners an order for the arrest of all the leaders of royalist bands whom
the army could get hold of. Eight of them, among whom was Cormatin, were
surprised and seized, and during the following days several division of
the Chouans were dispersed. A proclamation of thv. General then threatened
certain destruction to all who were found in arms, but promised to the
peaceable inhabitants protection, safety, and the free exercise of their religions worship. Thirty-two light columns began to march through the
country, and the flames of war blazed up again with fresh fury through the
whole of Bretagne. It was characteristic of the condition of the country that
all these decisive steps were taken by the military authorities without the previous knowledge of the Government. It was not until the 16th
of June that the Committee made a report to the Convention,—which was little
more than a repetition of Hoche's proclamation,—and proposed the simple ratification of the fait accompli.
The intelligence of this breach was received, of course, with the
greatest joy in London and Cowes. Nothing was of more vital importance to the
projected expedition than the active participation of the Royalists in the country itself. The Marquis de Riviere had been for several weeks with
Charette, for the purpose of inducing him to renew the contest, and it was now to be hoped that the fire which was burning in
Bretagne would of itself spread to La Vendee. Charette had at first given the Marquis a very cool reception, and shown a degree of
vexation and jealousy when the envoy named Count Puisaye to him as
Commander-in-chief of the expedition. The General said, that considering his
own services he thought that ■ no one could
dispute the leadership with himself, and least of all a man of such luke
378
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
warm and suspicious principles as that liberal ex-member of the
Constituent assembly, and friend of the Girondists. But after
the outbreak in Bretagne he became more tractable,
and promised a new insurrection against the Republic as soon as the expedition
appeared on the coast of France. It was, therefore, resolved in London to
commence operations. The landing squadron consisted
of eight frigates, and ten smaller vessels, under the command of Sir John
Warren; it carried the first division of Emigres consisting
of 3,500 men under Count d'Hervilly, together with 22,000 uniforms, 30,000
muskets, 19 pieces of cannon, and 600 cwt. of powder '; the transports were
accompanied by Admiral Bridport with a fleet of 15 ships of the line. At the
same time, with the view of dividing the attention and the forces of the enemy,
Sir Sydney Smith alarmed the coast of Normandy, and Sir Robert Strachan the North coast of Bretagne; while Bridport and Warren, running out from Cowes, on the 10th of June, took
their course to the Bay of Quiberon, on the Southern coast of the same
province. When they were well out at sea, Puisaye opened the final instruction which he had received from Windham, the English minister at
war, and which gave him the command of the whole expedition, and directed the
English admirals to support him everywhere according to his wishes.
Unfortunately Windham had forgotten to add equally stringent orders to the
Count d'Hervilly; and the latter, narrowminded and self-willed, "like most
of the emigrant nobles, immediately declared that
he, too, had his own
' Provision, says Puisaye, for
6,000 men for 3 months. Louis Blanc, who on this occasion, as usual, dwells on
the "Macchiavellism" of Pitt, is surprised that Puisaye
soon afterwards announces to the English ministry, that there was a great want
of all necessaries. They had at that time to feed 14,000 Chouans besides the
3,500 Emigre's, and they wished to extend the
insurrection; it was no wonder, then, that a, deficiency was experienced on all
hands, especially, as, according to Puisaye, the
aristocratic Emigre's were insatiable,
and, from the want of all regular administration, the
supplies were miserably wasted,
Ch.
III.] FANATICAL FOLLY OF THE
BOURBONISTS.
370
instructions from the Ministry, which directed him not to imperil his
regiments by a too rash advance into the interior,
before he had secured a safe line of retreat. In spite of
all representations he adhered to his resolution, declaring that he was
answerable for the fulfilment of these orders, and, therefore, reserved for
himself perfect freedom of action, and must regard himself, not as the subordinate, but as the colleague of Puisaye.
Such discord between the heads of the expedition was not promising for
its success. But the same narrow and violent fanaticism in the royalist party
generally produced far worse results, by which the seal of failure was impressed beforehand on all their projects.
In the present political exhaustion and apathy of the popular masses,
in which no other feeling prevailed than that of abhorrence against the
Jacobins, and a longing after soeial order, the Bourbon princes really had at this period the most favourable prospects. If they had
made up their minds to assume a truly royal position above the parties, to
greet every man as a friend who was not an adversary,
and to guarantee the results of the Revolution, they would
have had nine-tenths of the population on their side. A promise of a liberal
constitution, an unconditional amnesty for all political events of the
revolutionary period, a confirmation of the abolition of tithes and feudal
privileges, a guarantee of the new titles to property on
condition of compensation to the Emigres—words
like these in the mouth of Louis XVIII., would have gained for him the speedy
adhesion of the Freneh nation. But
instead of this what was done?
At the very moment in which the expedition
set sail for Quiberon, a memorial of the Count d'Entraigues, one of Louis
XVIII.'s most confidential advisers, appeared in Paris, in which all the
Constitutionalists were denounced as worse, because less open, sinners than the
Jacobins, and declared worthy of the rack and the
gallows. In the ranks of the Emigration itself, all the advocates of liberal
concessions
380
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
were treated with derision and scorn. Count Montlosier
wrote that the Constitutional companions of his exile were laden with more
crimes than Marat and Robespierre, and pamphlet after pamphlet announced to the
French people, that the great day of reckoning was dawning on all the adherents of revolutionary principles, without any distinction. The
Constitutionalists in Paris were in the greatest consternation. While the
Thermidorians courted their favour by every means, and overhelmed them with the
warmest assurances of their regard, they found themselves threatened with every imaginable abuse and injury by the friends
and counsellors of the Bourbons. There was one unanimous sentiment among the
masses in Paris, that they must first of all repel the attack with which they
were threatened from abroad, and then close the
Revolution by their own strength. Before Puisaye had set foot on the coast of
France, the public feeling of the country towards him had become one of deadly
hatred.
And this was by no means the worst. The Abbe Brottier and his agents regarded Puisaye with the
same feelings as Charette. The Abbe had been out of temper with him and his
plans from the very first, because Puisaye founded them on the assistance of
the detested English. In May, Lemaitre had himself gone to England, and had convinced himself that Puisaye did in fact still cherish
the same insane liberal ideas as before. Brottier
immediately wrote to the Count dArtois to warn him against Puisaye. He announced to the Prince that Puisaye meditated no less a crime than raising the Duke of York to the throne of France instead of
Louis XVIII. This calumny drew from the Prince, it is true, the declaration
that Puisaye was as odious to him as Robespierre himself, but as the English
government continued to support Puisaye, Brottier then turned to
Charette, and informed him, in the name of the King, that the attack on
Quiberon was only a feint to deceive the enemy, that the real landing would
take place on the
Ch.
III.]
DISCORD AMONG THE ROYALISTS.
381
coast of La Vendee, and that, consequently, Charette was to wait for
this, and not to leave the limits of his own province. The more this prospect
flattered the personal ambition of the General, the more certain was Brottier's
success; and he thus deprived Puisaye and his followers of
the perhaps decisive cooperation of La Vendee. The second leader of La Vendee,
Stofflet, was jealous of Charette, as the latter was of
Puisaye. He hesitated whether to follow the example of Charette, or maintain
the peace; in this uncertain mood he was caught in
the toils of another intrigue, to the destruction of all. Besides Brottier and
his friends there was in Paris a second Royalist "Agency," by which
even Louis XVIII. himself was suspected of liberal proclivities, and which set all its hopes on the only untainted Prince, Charles
d'Artois, whom it designed to make King instead of his brother. Louis XVIII.
had just created Charette, lieutenant-general, by a highly flattering
axitograph letter; Stofflet was deeply vexed in
his secret heart by the honour done to his rival, and in this state of mind
easily allowed himself to be induced by the Parisian agents to separate his
cause from that of Louis and the new lieutenant-general, and to remain neutral
between the combatants. Meanwhile Brottier had carried
these wretched intrigues into Bretagne also. He sent alleged instructions from
Louis XVIII. to all the leaders of the Chouaus, not to assemble their bands,
and to avoid all collision with the Republicans. He was not obeyed by all, but by most of the chiefs; and thus a royalist fanatic, at the
very time that the English fleet was transporting a troop of Emigres to
the shores of France, was disarming the royalists by whose help alone the undertaking could be rendered successful!
On the 22nd of June Sir John Warren sighted the French coast at
Lorient, and, at the same time, the republican fleet of 14 ships of the line
under Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse. He hastened to signal the intelligence to
Admiral Bridport who had been somewhat delayed by contrary winds, but
382
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
who now came with all possible speed, and began the engagement against Villaret-Joyeuse with the greatest impetuosity. After a short but violent cannonade he succeeded in breaking
through the centre of the French line, whereupon
the greater number of the enemy's vessels fled in all haste to the harbour, but
three ships of the line were surrounded and taken by the
English, after a very brave resistance. The way was thus opened for the
expedition, and, on the 25th, Sir John Warren dropped anchor between the Gulf
of Morbihan and the peninsula of Quiberon.* Favourable intelligence was brought
of the disposition of the population, whose spirits were
further raised by the news of the defeat of the Republican fleet; nevertheless
d'Hervilly could not be induced to land without previous reconnoitring, and
thus the disembarcation was delayed until the 27th of June. The Chouans of Morbihan, more than 10,000 men, led by Georges Cadoudal,
Bois-Berthelot, and the Chevalier Tinteniac, were all astir, and while the Emigres were
landing, they drove back the nearest republican outposts
to Auray and Landevan. Puisaye immediately arranged
them in three divisions, and sent them forward on the 28th to the above named
places. These movements were attended with complete success ; the Chouans
occupied Auray, and pushed forward their van as far as Vannes. These first
advances had a powerful effect on the feeling of the
country, and threw the Republican authorities and National guards of the
neighbourhood into the greatest consternation. The troops of the Republicans,
as we have seen, were scattered in small columns far and wide through the province ; a resolute advance of the Royalists en masse might have developed the insurrection throughout
the whole of Bretagne.
General Hoche preserved in this crisis the same confidence, clearness
and boldness, by which he had determined the fate of the
campaign of 1793 on the Rhine. Everything depended on not allowing the enemy to
obtain the advantage of moral superiority, and at any cost to stop the
conflagration from
Ch. III.]
EXPEDITION TO QUIBERON.
383
spreading any farther. He wrote to Canclaux and
Aubert-Dubayer for speedy reinforcement; he instructed the commandants in Lorient and Brest to defend those places to the last drop
of blood; and he ordered his officers of every division, to send him every man
whom they could spare with all speed to Auray; and,
moreover, he collected all the forces in his own neighbourhood — somewhat more
than 2,000 men—and with these, regardless of the disproportion of numbers, he
fell upon the Chouans in Vannes on the evening of the 28th. He drove them out of the town, and pursued them as far as Auray, but was too
weak to overpower the troops of Bois-Berthelot, which
were stationed there. Puisaye, on his side, urgently called on Count d'Hervilly
to unite all his forces for the destruction of the most
dangerous enemy; but d'Hervilly adhered to his resolution
of securing a safe line of retreat before venturing a single step into the
interior. He therefore kept his regiments together on the coast, and, on the
29th, supported by the English gun-boats, began an attack on the neighbouring
peninsula of Quiberon. This is a tongue of land three leagues long and half a
league broad, sandy and barren, without trees or springs, and inhabited only by
a few fishermen. Its narrowest part is just where it joins the mainland, and at this point stands Fort Penthievre, nearly occupying
the whole breadth, with a garrison of 700 men, who, after a feeble resistance,
laid down their arms on the 3rd of July, and for the most part took service in
the battalions of the Emigres. But during these days Hoche had increased his force to 5,000 men, and
at the very same time in which d'Hervilly took the peninsula, the French
general overpowered the positions of the Chouans in
Auray and Lan-devan. The peasants were furious with d'Hervilly for leaving them without support, and made direct complaints to
Puisaye of treachery. D'Hervilly, on the other hand, received urgent despatches
from the Abbe Brottier, in which he was directed to delay and gain time, until
a clearer insight could be ob
384
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
tained into Puisaye's highly suspicious plans. When, therefore, the latter earnestly besought him to attack the troops of Hoche
with all his forces, he remained for a time reserved and silent, and at last, without listening to any objections, decided that the
whole army should retreat to the tongue of land, under cover of Fort Penthievre
and the English cannon-boats, and there await further instructions from London.
This was certain destruction ; it was giving up the only chance
of victory, which lay in the union of all the Bretons ; it was giving the
Republicans time to bring up a superior force with which they could crush the
handful of Emigres at
their pleasure. The Chouans in the army were well
aware of this, and while a number of them dispersed to their homes, the others
marched in a state of dull depression—surrounded by weeping
women and children from all the neighbouring places—into the peninsula, where
20,000 persons were now crowded together, without the posibility of
getting food or shelter. Puisaye and d'Hervilly passed three days in angry
debate. At last, on the 17th, the Chouan officers with great difficulty
effected a compromise between them. A plan of battle was agreed upon at the instigation of d'Hervilly, according to which two divisions of Chouans,
who had just been transported on English vessels to different parts of the
coast, were to unite in the interior of the country, and surprise the
republican camp in the rear ; while a third body of peasants attacked it
in the flank, and the Emigres in
the front. It was a singular kind of strategy which thus crumbled their forces
without any definite object, and deferred their reunion until the enemy would
be certain to be in superior numbers. For amongst the Republicans
all was zeal, activity, and energy. The Convention
sent two members of the Committee of Public Safety, Tallien and Blad, with
unlimited powers. Aubert-Dubayet and Canclaux sent troops and ammunition ; by
the middle of the mouth Hoche had united more than 15,000
men in
Ch.
III.] NIGHT ATTACK ON PORT PENTHIEVRE
385
his camp at St. Barbe, which closed the narrow mouth of the isthmus,
and had fortified his position with considerable earthworks and well mounted
redoubts. All the efforts of the Royalists shivered to fragments against his
rock-like resolution. The two bodies of men — of about 3,500
each—which had left Quiberon on the 17th under Tinteniac and
Jean-Jean,—wandered about the country, were drawn into skirmishes, and
perpetually impeded by deceitful instructions from the Parisian
Agency. At last Tinteniac fell to an unimportant engagement, and
the peasants dispersed in the woods. The third body under Count Vauban, who was
to have landed on the night of the 16th at Carnac, was not more successful; and
thus, on the decisive morning, d'Hervilly found himself alone with his 3,500 Emigres opposed to an enemy of four times his numbers. His regiments rushed to
the attack with a gallant contempt of death; but the fire of the hostile
batteries sufficed to crush their thin ranks, and at once to destroy all hope.
D'Hervilly himself was mortally wounded; retreat
was unavoidable, and only the broadsides of the English ships which swept the
whole surface of the peninsula, kept the Republicans from entering Fort
Penthievre with the vanquished Emigres. In the midst of this confusion the second division of Emigres landed,
1,500 in number, having just arrived from England under the young Count
Sombreuil. Unable to change the fortune of the day, they were only fated to
increase the number of the miserable victims.
Fort Penthievre, the only barrier which still kept
the Republicans from Quiberon, could not long have held out against a regular
siege. But it did not even come to that. Those Republican prisoners of war, who
had been drafted into the regiments in England, deserted in crowds to their old colours. One of them, Sergeant Goujon, an intelligent
and experienced soldier, came to Hoche on the 19th and laid a plan before him
for surprising the fort by a nocturnal attack.
Accordingly the columns of the Republicans began
38G
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
to move on the 20th, shortly before midnight. The Fort was washed on
both sides at high tide by the waves of the sea; but the ebb left narrow
stripes of dry land to the right and left, and by these the troops were to steal between the batteries of the Fort and
the dashing waves, and then to climb the weakly guarded rear of the fortress.
Hoche himself, accompanied by Tallien and Blad, approached the front of the
Fort with a third division, to be in readiness to
support his comrades. The sky was hung with heavy clouds, and the night as dark
as the assailants could wish for their purpose. But just as they reached the
coast, a tremendous storm came on, with torrents of rain, so that for a full
hour they did not venture to stir a step. The wind lashed
the waves of the ocean and drove them before it, so that they beat upon the
shore with a roaring sound, and when the troops at last began to advance, the
path along the coast was entirely covered by the billows. The column on the left, under General Humbert, came to a stand-still; but,
on the right, Goujon insisted upon it that he knew the ground, and would find
his way; and General Menage led his men through the raging of the thunder and
the rain, and through the darkness of the night, into the
stormy waves. They were up to the middle in water—at every step they had to
contend with wind and tide—yet with noiseless exertion
they made their way one behind another through the midst of a thousand perils.
At last they got through the water, and stood on dry
ground in the rear of the Fort, at the foot of the rampart. Those deserters had
learned from the comrades who remained behind, the watchword of the garrison,
and reached the platform of the rampart without difficulty. Then, however, an alarm was raised, some shots were fired, and the
whole garrison was roused. In front of the Fort the gunners observed the
approach of the main column of the enemy, by the grey light of the morning, and
opened such a rapid and murderous fire upon them, that their ranks were
broken, and Hoche, suspecting treachery, gave
Ch-
III.] FAILURE OF THE QUIBERON
EXPEDITION.
387
orders to retreat. But suddenly the cannonade ceased, and when Hoche
looked back he saw with joyful surprise that the tricolor was floating from the
summit of the Fort. Menage had cut down all that opposed him; some hundreds of
deserters joined his men; the royalist gunners were killed at
their guns, and Penthievre was in the hands of the Republicans.
The expedition had now hopelessly failed. There was not a single spot
on the neck of land at which the Royalists could withstand the enemy, now three
times their number and secure of victory. The Emigres retreated
hopeless and in disorder to the extreme point of the peninsula, with no other
prospect than that the English might, perhaps, be aware of their position and
send off boats to their succour. But several
hours passed before Sir John Warren coidd be informed of the loss of the Fort, 1 and
how would it be possible to carry off so many thousands to the ships as rapidly
as was necessary ? General Hoche, as it seems, from motives of humanity, had
retained his troops in the captured Fort under various
pretences. But in the forenoon he could no longer delay, and he sent forward a
column into the interior of the peninsula. Their bullets soon reached the spot
where the hurried embarcation was taking place, and a horrible
confusion immediately arose. Women and children pushed their way between the
ranks of the soldiers to the boats, wounded officers were dragged along by
faithful servants, and the crowding of the terrified mass was so great, that
the English sailors were often obliged to use their
cutlasses to prevent the boats from being overloaded. All order was abandoned ;
Puisaye thinking that he could serve the cause more effectually in England than
on the scaffold, had already escaped to the Admiral's ship; the active firing of an English corvette, which swept the tongue of land
1 Puisaye reports that the Admiral's
was riot at first understood by the signal to send off boats to the coast
ships.
Bb2
388
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
with its broadside, bore the chief part in
keeping off the Republicans, for Sombreuil could only keep a small force
together, with which he opposed a brave but desperate resistance to the enemy's
line of skirmishers. This gallant youth was resolved to be the last to quit the shore, and if possible to save his wretched comrades by
his own death. He was the son of the last Governor of the Hotel des Invalides,
a venerable old man, whom a devoted daughter had rescued from the
blood-dripping hands of the September murderers, but only to see him die a
year afterwards under the axe of Robespierre. 1 The
son, who was distinguished for his beauty, gallantry and sense of honour, had
escaped, and was just about to be happily married when Puisaye's agents
summoned him to take part in the expedition to
Quiberon. He did not hesitate for a moment to answer the call, nor had he now
the slightest doubt as to his course. The enemy's troops came nearer and
nearer, their officers called out from the midst of the firing : "Lay down
your arms, and no harm shall happen to you." Generals Humbert and
Menage came forward and repeated this assurance2; at
the same time the Republicans brought up artillery, and poured a destructive
fire of grape shot on the Royalists as they were embarking. All the London prisoners who were among the Emigres now
left their ranks—and all was over. Sombreuil ordered his men to lay down their
arms. Hoche received him with the greatest respect; when he asked whether a
capitulation was granted, and if not, whether he
1 Ternaux, Terreur III, 288.
— 2
These were personal expressions used in the midst of the turmoil. There was
nothing like a regular capitulation. Granier de Cassagnac, Histoire du directoire, III, 88,
maintains the contrary, according to his statements in Villeneuve. Barnaud, 3/emoires sur fexpedition de Quiberon. This
book, I have not had an opportunity of consulting; the statements which Granier communicates from it, I find it impossible to reconcile with the well authenticated facts.
Ch.
III.] FATE OF THE CAPTURED
ROYALISTS.
389
might be allowed to atone for his companions, the General replied that
he could not allow the latter to embark.
About 1,800 fugitives had been rescued by
the English boats. 6,200 were taken prisoners, and among them 1,000 Emigres, 3,600 Chouans, and 1,600 who had formerly served in the Republican
army. The latter were released, as well as the women and children ; but there
still remained more than a thousand men, who, according to the
strict letter of . the republican laws, had incurred the penalty of immediate
death. Hoche took advantage of new battles with the Chouans in the interior to
quit, on the 23d, the scene of his glorious but melancholy victory and to leave the fate of the prisoners exclusively to the two
Representatives. Tallien and Blad, in accordance with the prevailing sentiments
of their party and the Convention, were inclined to clemency, but they did not
dare to grant any pardon to the Emigres without higher sanction, and hastened to Paris to make their report to
the Convention. But the same baneful star which had shone on every part of this
unfortunate expedition pursued the unhappy survivors of it even after the
catastrophe. When Tallien arrived at his home, on the 26th
of July, his wife received him with the intelligence that the Committee of
Public Safety had obtained proofs of his secret intercourse
with the Royalists; that Sieyes had brought them with him from Holland ; that
Lanjuinais had given her a warning the day
before, and she begged him to be on his guard on every side. The first and only
thought of this unprincipled man on hearing these tidings was, that under such
circumstances he should ruin himself if he proposed to show mercy to the captured Royalists. On the 27th, therefore, the anniversary
of the 9th of Thermidor, the day of his great revolutionary deed, he mounted
the rostra to heap a mass of bombastic and turgid abuse upon the conquered. He rejected with scorn the calumny
that the possibility of a capitulation with such mean
and cowardly trai
390
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book XII.
tors had ever been contemplated. He produced a dagger which had been
found on one of the prisoners, the point of which, he said, was poisoned. He
concluded by declaring that everything was prepared to exterminate the
criminals from the face of the earth. And thus the Convention signalised the close of their career, as they had done its commencement, by a wholesale massacre. The Court martial at Auray—on which
a great number of the officers refused to serve—after sitting for several
weeks, condemned first Sombreuil,
and then 600 of his comrades, to death. The meadow in which they were shot is
still called the "field of victims." Charette thereupon ordered an
equal number of Republican prisoners to be massacred ; it seemed as if the
horrors of the Reign of Terror were to be renewed in this
civil war.
The consternation and sorrow were as great in London as in Verona. The
English opposition and the Emigres accused Pitt's ministry of not sufficiently supporting the expedition ; we now know how little ground there
was for these complaints, and that the fault of the failure lay with no one but
the Royalist party itself. While time was thus wasted in mutual recrimination,
while the Royalist party in Paris was depressed and defeated, and the
Revolutionists were making steady progress, the peasants
of the Western provinces took upon themselves the task of avenging the cruelty
with which the Convention had sullied the victory of Quiberon. The Chouans who
escaped from the defeat summoned all their countrymen to vengeance through all the districts of Bretagne, and in a short time the
Republican columns were more violently attacked than ever. The fury of the
peasants was chiefly direeted to the four battalions which had furnished
members and executioners to the Court martial of Auray; and the month of
August had not passed before the whole of these battalions had been destroyed
to a man. Cadoudal, Guillot and Jambe d'Argent were the leaders who kept the
best general of the Republic and 50,000 men
Cii.IIL]
THE COUNT D'ARTOIS LANDS ON THE ISLE D'YEU.
391
on the alert, extended the insurrection to the North into Normandy, and
in the South compelled the Eepublieans to draw reinforcements of nearly 8,000
men, from La Vendee.
These circumstances rendered it simply impossible for General
Canelaux to undertake anything against Charette. He had only 25,000 men, and
was obliged to furnish the towns with strong garrisons, and keep a
reconnoitring corps in readiness against Stofflet. He repeatedly informed the
Committee of Public Safety that he was quite unable to take the offensive
against Charette, who had 15,000 men under arms. The latter reeeived in August
a large consignment of arms, uniforms, and ammunition, from England and soon
afterwards the intelligence that the Count d'Artois had resolved to make his appearanee in La Vendee, aeeompanied by a powerful
English fleet and some hundreds of veteran French officers. This expedition
actually sailed from Portsmouth on the 25th of August, and
its aj^proaeh exeited the greatest enthusiasm among both
Vendeans and Chouans. The peasants swore that as soon as the lioyal prince set
foot on French ground, all the country would rise up to the very walls of
Paris. But while on their side all was energy and devotion, the elements which the Emigrant nobles brought to the eommon cause, and the
guiding influence by which the English government supported the undertaking,
were to the last degree miserable and feeble. The fleet remained for twelve
davs in the fatal bay of Quiberon, while endless deliberations were
going as-to the choice of a landing place in La Vendee. Then more time was lost
in useless negotiations with the French garrison of the Island of Noirmoutiers,
and it was not until the end of September that the expedition at last set foot on Freneh ground in the rocky island d'Yeu. But
General Hoehe had now for four weeks taken on himself the command of the Army
of the West in La Vendee also; 6,000 men from the Northern army, and 20,000
from the Western Pyrenees, were in full march to support him ; he wrote
to the Committee of Public Safety, that he could
392
THE ROYALISTS.
[Book,
XII,
answer for the safety of the Republic at this point, as he had done at
Quiberon. But he was not destined to gather any bloodstained
laurels in this region; it was not a heart-rending, but a shameful, defeat,
which the Royalists were about to undergo. The
neighbourhood of the Prince had acted on the peasants like an electric shock;
Charette's battalions were fuller than at any former period. And when, on the
5th of October, the Marquis Riviere appeared in his camp with a message
from the Prince to lead his troops to meet him on some point of the coast, the
whole army, driving the advanced posts of the Republicans out of their path by an irresistible onset, rushed with tumultuous joy to the
shore. Even from Stofflet's quarters intelligence arrived that the General,
roused by the appearance of a Bourbon, had forgotten his jealousy of Charette,
and placed himself and his men at the disposal of the Prince. On the
10th of October, Charette's army was in full march a short league distant from
the coast, when a second adjutant of the Prince announced himself to the
General with the intelligence that the Count had
postponed the landing to a more favourable opportunity. At
the same time, to gild the bitter pill, he handed Charette a sword of honour
with the inscription "I never yield."
Charette seized the weapon with a convulsive grasp, pale with rage, and after a
short silence Imrst out with the words "Tell the
Prince, that he sends me my sentence of death; to-day I am surrounded by 15,000
men, to-morrow I shall not have more than 300; I have only the choice to flee
or die—I will die." He knew his country and his men, who after such a disappointment could no longer be kept together; he saw destruction
before his eyes, and he kept his word with bitter anger in his heart. "The
cowardice of your brother," he wrote to Louis XVIIL, "has ruined
everything." d'Artois remained for some weeks longer
on the Island in a state of weak irresolution; he thought the chances in a
contest with Hoche were, after all, too uncertain; that he would be carrying on
the war, not
Ch.
III.] COWARDICE OF THE COUNT
D'ARTOIS.
393
like a Prince, but like an adventurer; and bis
adjutants agreed with him that it was impossible and unbecoming for one of the
blood royal to engage in vulgar Chouannerie. When November came, and the weather grew disagreeable, the Count sailed
back to England ; his royal brother consoled himself for this disgraceful failure by the reflection that a
victory would have thrown him and his royal renown into the shade; and that the
people might have once more sung: "Saul has slain his thousands, but David
his ten thousands!"
Such was the character of the men whom fate had placed in opposition to
the progress of the Revolution. Just as we can well understand the foreign
victories of Robespierre— in spite of all the dissolution; extravagance, and
discord of his times—when we think of the internal feuds, and
stupid sluggishness, of the Coalition; so there is nothing which explains to us
so clearly how it was that French society— notwithstanding its hatred of
Convention and Jacobinism—necessarily became thorongly
democratic, as a glance at the rulers of the ancien regime. With the exception of a few brave men, the ruling classes of the old
State had become utterly effete. Among the Royalists themselves all active
energy, all hope of success, were found, not among the princely and noble leaders, but among the peasants of the West, the priests of
the South, and the citizens of Paris. The Chouans were ever ready to die for
the King, because they looked on him as the buckler and ornament of their
nation. But to the Count d'Artois it would have seemed an absurdity to die for his country, which had never been to him anything
else than the pedestal of his princely existence.
8'Jl
[Book XII.
CHAPTER IV.
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
TlIE NEW constitution" is brought forward. — I'ts
character and defects — TlIF measure
of the abbe sieves.—Il's
rejection. — TlIE royalist AGITATION inclines
the convention towards the left.—TlIE convention apprehends the return of a
majority of royalists at THE apfroaching
election. — proposition that two-thirds of THE convention
should enter the future legislative assembly.—DeCREU to
this effect. — opposition of the citizens of paris.—PlCHEGRU's negotiation with the trisce of conde, TlIE country accepts the constitution and the
decrees.—increasing fermext in paris. TlIE convention arms THE terrorists.
— revolt of the 13t1I vendemiaire.
It is
crushed by napoleon bonaparte.—increasing power of the mountain in the
convention. — TlIE thermidorians rejoin the montagnards.—Attempt
to erect \ jacobin dictatorship frustrated isy thibaudeau.—Last
sitting of the convention.—The
independents form the new government.—tliey contemplate a grand policy of war
and conquest.—tlie imperial courts compel prussia to accept the treaty of st. petersburg respecting poland.—triple alliance between england,
austria and russia.—avarlike operations on the rhine and in the alps. —
prospects for 17%.
At the
end of June the Convention commenced its final task—the making of a neAV
Constitution. On the 23rd of June, Boissy dAnglas
appeared as spokesman of the Eleven to bring forward their proposals, and to
support them by an elaborate
and circumstantial report. There was no little suspense both Avithin
and
without the Avails of the Convention. The experience of the last few
years, indeed, had everywhere damped the intoxicating hopes
which had formerly greeted the labours of the Constituent assembly of 1791; men had learned that a series of excellent paragraphs are
Cn. IV.]
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
305
not in themselves sufficient to conjure up a golden age of perfect
happiness. But the present position of affairs was becoming every week more
untenable for the one party, and more intolerable to the others. The population longed for some halting place of rest. The parties in the Convention
agreed at least in one wish, to make their government agreeable to the great
mass of the people, by means of the new Constitution.
Boissy began by taking a circumstantial review of the stages through which the Revolution had already passed. When he came to
speak of the Constitution of 1791, he attempted to show how impossible it was
that monarchy and freedom should co-exist in France. But he dwelt with still
greater emphasis and minuteness of detail on the faults of the
Constitution of 1793, and the atrocities of the Reign of Terror, and showed
that they had their source in the institutions of 1790. It was indeed
clear enough that the terrible experiences which had been made, had not been without their fruit. He deplored the unbridled license of the populace, which had possessed the means at any moment of enslaving the
national representatives by an emeute. He
described the evils arising from the fact, that the Legislature consisted of only one body, so that every
outbreak, every tyrannical act of the majority, immediately affected the
government and conquered the nation. He dwelt on ihe necessity of giving the
legislative and executive powers perfect independence, each in its own
strictly defined sphere, that there might be no collision between them,
that one might never have to succumb to the other. Every one of these
propositions would have been a heresy three years ago; now any one who opposed
them would be looked on as a mischievous anarchist.
The debate on the fundamental law, which he thus introduced, was completed in less than three weeks, in spite of daily
interruption by the current business. Very little opposition was made to the
principles enunciated in his
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Ckmeeuomn %ba>&$j «afler tfhs DspaatoaeirJafl a^bssa^B^. i-.'riTi;T.g «frjf i&e ^n*J*a- lo^Eja^ iote C«hS«bs. Tire
Ch. IV.] DETAILS OF NEW CONSTITUTION.
397
considerably increased. The legislative body was to consist of two
Councils, the members of which were to be chosen by the people— the
"Council of ancients," consisting of 250 members, and the
"Council of Five hundred." Every member of the former was to be at least 40, and of the latter, 30 years of age. No other distinction
was proposed, the least trace of which would have been regarded as a return to
the proscribed aristocratic institutions. Each
Parliament was to last four years, and every two years, half the members were to retire and be replaced by new elections. It was
a matter of course, aeeording to the views which prevailed at that time, that
there was no recess between the sessions, and that the Government had no right
of dissolving the Legislative body. The right of initiating
measures was to he confined to the Five-hundred; the Council of Ancients in
case of the rejection of a law, would relieve the Government from the odium of
the veto. As a
protection against imeutes of
the populace of Paris, the Council of Ancients was to have
the right of assembling in some other town, and a small guard for the
Legislative body was to be formed. That the Government might not interfere with
the right of deliberation, it was ordained that no body of troops might come within several miles of the place of assembly; to which it might
easily have been objected that a Government which had the power and the will to
use violence towards the Councillors themselves, would hardly show greater
respect to an arbitrary line than to the Council.
The opinions of the Commission had long wavered in respect to the shape
which the Executive power was to assume. The Royalist members wished
for a President. Daunou, a man of high reputation and great influence, proposed two Consuls, each of whom should govern for a
year. Others wished for three, and others, again, for five regents; and the
majority finally decided for this last number. So the Commission proposed a
"Directory" of five members, one of whom was to retire every year,
and be replaced by
398
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
a new election. The Directory, however, was not to be chosen by the people, because it was thought that a body so elected by the
whole nation would have too much weight as compared with the Deputies, each of
whom was chosen only by one Department. It was ordained, therefore, that the
Five-hundred should draw up a list of Candidates from which the
Council of Ancients should select the Directors. It was hoped that a good
understanding would thus be firmly established between the Government and the
majority of the Legislative body. The Directory, taking counsel with the Ministers, was to preside over affairs of Diplomacy, War, the
administration of Justice, Civil administration and Finance. The Exchequer, on
the other hand, was to be independent of the Directory; no Director was to lead
an army, and, above all, the Executive government was not to take the slightest part in legislation, or the granting
of supplies. The Representative body could not indeed expel a Director from the
Government, but they could, in case of his committing provable offences,
impeach him before a Court formed for that purpose.
Lastly, the bill fixed the relations in which the Government thus constituted was to stand to the rights of the citizens.
"There exist," it said, "no differences of rank among citizens,
except those which belong to office, and even these exist only in the
sphere of action proper to each official. The State acknowledges no
religious corporations. Every man is entitled to practise his own form of
worship; no one can be compelled to pay for the support of any cultvs, and
the State endows none. The Press is free. The labour of the artisan, the
manufacturer, and the merchant, is emancipated from all
trammels. Property is secured, and can only be expropriated
in case of necessity, and in return for compensation. The house of the citizen is inviolable; no one may force his
way into it by night. No assembly of citizens may call itself a club; societies which engage in polities may not hold public sittings,
Ch.
IV.]
ITS UNPOPULARITY.
399
or stand in connection with one another. Petitions may
be presented by individuals, or legal authorities, but not by unions or
societies. All armed assemblies are forbidden. The French nation irrevocably
prohibits the return of the Emigres, and guarantees the possession of the confiscated domains to the
purchasers.
If we consider these propositions in their connexion with one another,
we shall have the history, and the actual position,
of the French rulers clearly before our eyes. The Convention found itself
threatened on the one side by the Jacobins, and on the
other by the Royalists; the fundamental law, therefore, prohibits
the formation of Clubs on the one hand, and the restoration of the Emigres on
the other. The Convention calls to mind both the 31st of May, and the struggle in La Vendee; the Constitution, therefore, prohibits all
mass-petitions, and seditious meetings, and disowns
all connexion between Church and State. This Constitution,
therefore, is a reflection of that tacking between two irreconcileable parties,
by which the Convention, since the 9th of Thermidor, had maintained its
friendless rule. It contains a complete catalogue of the
evils to be avoided, and the opponents to be put down. But, unfortunately, when
we look for the adherents of the new system, the
props and protectors of the new Constitution, we look in vain. The proscription
of the Emigres, and the renunciation of all connexion with the church, threw millions
into necessary and permanent hostility to the Republic. None but the remnant of
the Jacobins could agree with it in principle, and these were alienated from
the Constitution by the regulation respecting petitions and unions. In how
different a manner did the First Consul, five years later, rally the nation
round his throne! "I belong to no party but to France; whoever loves
France and obeys my government is on my side."
It would have required a supereminently excellent disposition of forces
to maintain a Constitution which was built on such heaving and broken ground as
that of 1795. And how much
400
CLOSE OP THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
was wanting in it—not merely of high excellence — but of the primary and most indispensable elements of a stable and
enlightened polity! In a parliamentary State everything depends on the
wholesome action and reaction of the Government
and the Legislature upon each other; everything depends
on the solution of the fundamental problem, that
each should be independent in its own sphere, and yet that they should mutually
and incessantly influence and control one another. From the very nature of
things this problem is perpetually changing its form; it requires, in different ages and nations, different legal regulations ; and
above all it needs, side by side with formal enactments, practical tact and
good will on the part of those concerned. In France men had experienced the too
great preponderance of Parliament,
which had finally absorbed all government. They now thought to remedy the evil
by an entire separation of the two Departments. The Directory was allowed to
issue letters and summonses to the Council, but the Constitution gave them no
legal influence on their resolutions. The Council could
impeach a Director who was foolish enough to allow himself to be caught in a
criminal offence; but they had no right to interfere in matters of Administration, Police, or Diplomacy. The Directory had all the actual power over the troops, and the officials, and, therefore, over the
citizens and the country: but the theory of the Constitution regarded them as
the mere executive organs of the legislative will of the two Councils. If we
compare this system with that of any other constitutional State, we
immediately recognise its main defect. The Government, having no right of
initiating measures, or of adjourning, or dissolving, the Legislative assembly,
was still too weak to oppose the Council. The Council could at any time checkmate them, even without a judicial impeachment, by legislation,
and stopping the supplies. From their entire similarity, it was not to be
expected that the Council of Ancients would take a materially different
direction from
Ch.
IV.]
ITS DEFECTS.
401
that of the Five-hundred, and thereby prevent or mitigate the collision
between the Executive and Legislative bodies. Directly, therefore, a breach
between Government and Parliament took place, the inevitable result would be,
either a return to parliamentary omnipotence, or new usurpations on the part
of the Government—i. e., in
either case, a breach of the constitution.
The Convention, however, had no misgivings on this head. The debates
were conducted with much deliberation and care,
and, for the most part, with dignity and good order, but they were generally
wanting in depth. First of all it was demanded that the new Constitution should
be accompanied by a declaration of the "rights of
man." A few of the more sensible members warned
the Assembly not to wander again into general maxims of morality ; but the tide
was not to be stemmed, and it was considered a great step to attach to the
declaration of man's rights, a declaration of his duties also. Iu details,
it is true, the majority clearly showed how completely
the experiences of 1793 had alienated them from the spirit of 1791. When some
one spoke of the right to work, Lanjuinais declared that it was the
duty of society to provide for its members, but that the individual had not on that account any definite legal claim to any definite assistance ;
that to acknowledge such a claim would be to perpetuate confusion and civil
war. Thomas Payne attempted to maintain universal suffrage, but found
only one supporter, and was put down with a high hand by
Larevelliere-Lepeaux. The other changes which the Convention made in the proposal of the Commission were none of them opposed to the general
principles laid down. They restored the system of double election ; limited the
duration of parliament to three years, and ordained that
a third of the Deputies should retire every year and be replaced by new
elections. A single deputy once spoke of the necessity of giving the Directory
an influence on the initiation of laws ; but though he was supported by Lanjuinais, his motion fell to the ground amidst
402
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
the cry: "that is the veto—that
is monarchy!" The proposals of the Commission were
nearly all adopted.
The only debate of any importance, or decided influence on the future,
was brought about by an interlude introduced by Abbe Sieyes. Ever since the
earliest times of the Constituent assembly he had acquired
the reputation of a professional expert in all constitutional questions^ Of the positive merits of a practical
statesman, indeed, he had never given any proofs, but he was looked on as the
first political theorist and philosopher ; and in an age which was saturated
with the love of radical and abstract statecraft, such a reputation was
sure to recommend a man, even when not backed by the air of reserved
self-reliance, and unfathomable wisdom, which was peculiar to Sieyes. The
members of the Commission had frequently sought his advice
and instruction but he had contented himself by hinting that
he had, indeed, much to say, but was not certain
whether he should be understood. The Commission was obliged to conclude its
labours without his assistance. He spoke of their measure
with contemptuous derision, and as Boissy was afflicted by a
tendency to stutter, he called it the Ba Be Bi Bo Bu Constitution and suddenly
brought forward a draft of his own eagerly looked for system. He pointed out,
and not without reason, that very important considerations had been overlooked by the Commission ; that the Government was robbed of its
most essential attributes; and that the division of Parliament into two bodies
was superfluous. He himself went back, as he expressed it, to first principles.
He considered it absurd to talk of a division, or a balance,
of power; the political life of a nation, he said, must not, indeed, be a
single power, but it must be a unity of powers. He made a distinction between
the four principal functions of the national will—the Political, the constituent power, which constructs the foundations of the State—the
Petitioning, by means of which individuals make
known their wants —the Governing, which concerns itself with the necessities of
Cn. IV.] CONSTITUTION PROPOSED BY SIEYES.
403
the State, keeps an eye on the wants of the whole community, and seeks
to satisfy them—and the Legislative, which enacts regulations necessary to
compass these ohjects. For each of these functions he recommended an assembly
of representatives— a
Tribunate, to represent the interests of the citizens; a Government, to protect
those of the State ; a Legislature to decide upon the proposals of the two
first; and lastly a "Constitutional Jury," to watch over the purity
of the Constitution and the Courts of law.
His long address was listened to with a mixture
of reverence, astonishment, and derision, and at last with undisguised dissent. The Convention soon came to the conclusion that his Tribunate—which could only bring forward motions but
never a measure—would only be an impotent talking machine; that his
Legislature, which could originate nothing, but must always wait upon the
wishes of others, would be destitute of all real power. It was only owing to
their respect for his high reputation, that the Commission entered more fully
into the consideration of the "Constitutional Jury." But they too
came to the conclusion that such a body, if it ever attained to any importance
at all, would throw all others into the shade, and as supreme judge of every act of the Legislature and the Executive would absorb all power to
itself. The Convention unanimously rejected the plan. Sieyes thereupon remarked
that be could expect nothing else from the narrow-mindedness of his contemporaries, and that he looked to the time when a more enlightened generation would rise to his own level. He was destined to
see his hopes fulfilled, for his scheme was made in 1799 the basis of the
Consular constitution. It is, indeed, true that he then made the bitter
experience, that his democratic
philosophy only served to pave the way for an unlimited
military monarchy.
On the 17th of August, the Convention completed the Constitution in the
second reading, and the Committee of Eleven announced new proposals, with
regard to the time and
Cc 2
404
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
manner of bringing the new system into practical operation. During the
discussion on the forms of the Constitution, careful provision had been made
for the future; but now when it was to be clothed with flesh and blood, the
moods and passions of the day began to exert a predominant Influence.
Simultaneously with the last deliberations on the Constitution, the Convention had passed through the troubles arising from the
descent upon Quiberon and the Emigres. We have already remarked on the effect produced thereby in Paris. For the moment the mass of the population turned away
from the Royalists, and all the central parties of the Convention were
involuntarily drawn towards the Left. For they all found themselves suddenly
attacked by an adversary on the extreme Right, whose victory would have brought down equal destruction upon
all. The Government which since the 1st of Prairial had favoured the friends of
the monarchy through fear of the Terrorists, now began to seek the aid of the
remnant of the Jacobin party in their contest with the
Royalists. A short time previously the Police arrested every man in the
theatres who disturbed the singing of the " Reveil du Peuple"; now they interfered if the audience tried to
prevent the Jacobins from striking up the Marseillaise;
and at last a decree of the Convention prohibited the singing of any songs
which did not belong to the text of the play. It had a still worse effect in
Paris that the Comite de Surete generate allowed no further arrests of Jacobin citizens. The Sections sent up angry addresses, and however zealously the orators of
the Convention repeated the assurance that no one contemplated a renewal of the Reign of Terror, yet suspicion, once awakened,
prevailed in the Sections of the Capital, and obliterated entirely the fear of the Emigres. On the 24th of July a lively debate took place respecting the arrested
Terrorists ; all were agreed that they coidd not be detained any longer in the
durance of the Police without judicial
Ch.
IV.]
AGITATION IN THE SECTIONS.
-105
examination; but when the Committee for Legislation proposed to bring them before the ordinary courts, the Left vehemently
protested, because, they said, all the courts were filled, with members of
reactionary sentiments, and therefore with deadly enemies of
the arrested Jacobins. A resolution was carried to appoint a Conventional
commission of 12 members to superintend their trial.
But the citizens of Paris saw in this measure a confirmation of their fears,
that the Convention intended to save these men of blood
from the punishment they merited, and then to employ them in oppressing the country, and they now redoubled their exertions. On the
29th a Section appeared at the bar with the demand, that the Convention would
expel the criminals who were still to be found within its walls; and on the
31st another appeared with a petition that the Convention would revoke their
late decree, and bring the accused before a military tribunal for speedy
judgment. It was usually the Mountain alone which murmured at such
demonstrations; but now an excitable and resolute member of the Gironde,
Louvet, rose to say that it was necessary to keep an eye, not only on the
myrmidons of Robespierre, but on the Chouans and their friends, who were no less ferocious enemies of freedom. The Thermidorians loudly applauded his
words ; "we wish, cried Legendre, "for no renewal of terror, but as
we have tamed the Terrorists, we will also control the Emigres and
monarchs." At the close of the sitting Dubois-Crance
went up to the petitioners and loaded them with the coarse"st abuse, so
that an officer of the National guard loudly cried out, that that was a sorry
proof of respect for the right of petition, and a tumult was raised in the
Convention itself which lasted for a considerable time. The
proceedings made such a painful impression, and the excitement among the
citizens was so great, that Dubois, three days afterwards, was compelled to
excuse himself by saying that he had been born in the Forest of Ardennes, and had imbibed a certain roughness of manners with his mother's
milk. But he afterwards
406
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION
[Book XII.
brought new charges against the Reactionists and the "malevolent" press, and demanded that "the Commission of Twelve" should liberate the imprisoned patriots before
the beginning of the Election, in order that the Royalists might not have their
own way in the meetings of primary electors. But this very proposal produced a
change in the sentiments of the majority. The nearer the time of
the elections approached, the more desirable was it for the Deputies to be at
any rate in tolerable harmony with public opinion. Henry La-riviere, therefore,
was loudly applauded when he protested with powerful eloquence, against showing any kind of favour to the Terrorists, and demanded
avenging justice against all the criminals of the Reign of Terror. A few days
afterwards he succeeded in obtaining a revocation of the decree which had
ordained the appointment of the Committee of Twelve, and on the 9th of
August, in accordance with a report of the Government committees, the arrest of
nine members of the Mountain was decreed, who under Robespierre had filled the provinces with blood and misery. No one, however,
intended to subject these men to a criminal
prosecution ; the sole object of the Convention was to do something to
reconcile the Sections. To console the Left for this concession to their
opponents, the Convention, a week later, issued an order that all Emigres who were come to Paris to get their names struck out of the list by the
Legislative committee, should be peremptorily ordered to leave the city.
On the same day, the 18th of August, Baudin of the Ardennes, in the
name of the Committee of Eleven, brought up the
report concerning the introduction of the Constitution—or,
as he called it, the means of terminating the Revolution. He was listened to
with great and well founded interest. For, in good truth, whoever considered
the position of France was obliged to confess that, to find a means of passing, by legal means, from the
present despotism to a well regulated order of things, was a more difficult and
Ch.IV.]
. CONVENTION ALAEMED BTSPREAD
OF ROYALISM. 407
perilous matter than to draw up the Constitution itself. There was a
question still more important to the Convention and the country than that of
the intrinsic value of the Constitution, and that was, to what hands the power
should hereafter be entrusted. In a perfectly new polity which had no roots in the past, which rested on no tradition, or ancient
institutions, the old maxim was peculiarly applicable,
that a law is worth just as much, as the people who administer it. Who was to
stand at the helm of the new Constitution?—that was the anxious question which occupied all minds in the Convention, and formed
the contents of the new report of the Committee.
Baudin first explained that the Constitution must receive its final
ratification from the great mass of the French people, by a decree of the whole
nation passed in their assemblies of primary electors. It is
true that no one thought an unfavourable decision
on the part of the people possible. The country had no alternative between
acceptance of the Constitution, or the continuance of the Convention; and
Baudin and his colleagues knew too well that France would prefer anything to
the prolongation of the present state of things. But here lay
the danger, which in their eyes was more terrible than any other. As the
country did not wish to keep the Convention, there was little probability that
the electors would choose the present members of the Convention. And if they should send a reactionary majority to the Councils—if these should choose a Directory of their own political
colour—what guarantee was there for the personal safety of the revolutionary
rulers?—not to mention the loss of their present power, and its enjoyments—what security was there against a resolution being come
to by all the powers of the State for the splendid restoration of the monarchy,
amidst the triumphant plaudits of the nation ?
Baudin reminded the Convention how the Constituent assembly had prohibited the re-election of its members, and
408
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
thereby dealt a death blow to the solidity of its own work. He said
that the new Constitution itself pointed out a way of avoiding the recurrence of such a danger. It ordained that for the future a third of
the Legislative body was to retire and be replaced by new elections; if,
therefore, the same principle were applied at the present moment, and
two-thirds of the Convention were allowed to pass over into the new
Legislative body, a strong majority would be secured to the present rulers.
Nothing could shew more clearly than this proposal how far the majority had
been driven towards the Left by the attacks of the Royalists. Even in the Moderate party not a voice was to be found demanding full freedom of
choice for the nation. All the factions, without exception, agreed in the
principle that two-thirds of the present members must enter the new Legislative
chamber. The contest between them only concerned the mode of
determining the two-thirds. The Left, which saw little chance of seeing their
men chosen by the Assembly itself, demanded the
decision by lot. They were supported not only by the remnant of the Mountain,
but by the Independents, and a few Thermidorians, and among
them Tallien, who since the discovery of his royalist leanings had sought, with
ever increasing eagerness, the friendship of the hitherto so much hated Sieyes.
The Moderate party would have preferred to leave to the People,—on whom they were about to force the Convention as its future rulers—
at any rate the choice among the members; in which case they felt sure that
they shoidd themselves be chosen by a large majority into the two Councils. But
the dubious attitude of the
Thermidorians rendered it very questionable whether they alone could carry the
decree, and in order to keep their hold on at least a part of their late
allies, they resolved to adopt a middle course, and to propose nomination by the Convention itself. In union with the Thermidorians they might thus be certain of success, and the Eleven
Cn.IV.] DEBATES ON THE ELECTION OF
THE COUNCILS. 409
accordingly proposed that a special Commission—"a confidential Jury" of the Convention—should make
the selection of the two-thirds.
Baudin's speech excited a lively debate. At first the Left, in
consequence of an incautious expression of Lanjuinais, succeeded in getting the
upper hand; and after Chenier had energetically reminded the Assembly of the hostility of the Parisian sections, a motion for leaving the choice to
the people was at first rejected almost unanimously. The proposal of the Eleven to nominate them through a Conventional committee
was also negatived, and the Eleven were commissioned
to report on the system of choosing by lot. But the feeling then
changed. "When the indispensable presumption for adopting the lot—the
acknowledgement of equal worth in all the members—was maintained in a few dry
words by the Montagnard Charlier: "we are all
chosen by the people, we are all equally deserving of the public confidence"—Bailleul replied with equal emphasis: "yes, we have
all been chosen by the people, but since our election we have not all observed
the same conduct; you may say as loudly as you please that we all enjoy the
same confidence, but from every corner of the land
you will be answered by a loud and unanimous
"no"!" The Commission now recommended the nomination of the
two-thirds by a decree of the whole house; the Right more and more loudly demanded that the choice should be left to the people; and one
of their speakers produced no small effect when he said: "I received my
commission from the people, and into their hands alone will I give it
back." Tallien and Louvet made a violent resistance;
"who," cried they, "will protect the Republicans in the
assemblies of primary electors ?" It was impossible to confess more openly
that the Convention, which profesesed to have no higher principle than freedom
and the sovereignty of the people, could only protect itself from that
sovereign people by coercion and violence. Even in the party of Independents
there were some who felt the
410
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
disgrace of such an attitude; the nomination by lot
was negatived by a large majority, and on the fourth day of the debate the
Convention at last decreed the selection of two-thirds of the Convention by the
people. The decree, which was completed on the 22nd of August (5 Fructidor)
likewise contained the provision, that the new Constitution
should be laid before the armies also for acceptance—a formality, the sole
undisguised purpose of which was to intimitate the hostile Bourgeoisie. Eight days afterwards, on the 13th of Fructidor, the Eleven brought up
a second decree, which fixed the minor regulations for holding the election.
Each Department was first to nominate two-thirds of its representatives from the members of the Convention, and
then another third at pleasure. Besides these a
certain number were to be elected from the present deputies as substitutes,
from which the Convention was to fill up any vacancies that might occur through
double elections. This was a final concession which
the Bight had made to their revolutionary allies, without, as it seems,
foreseeing its future importance. The Convention was highly pleased at
obtaining in this way almost entire unanimity on so important a question. They
at the same time took several steps, partly to appease, and
partly to control, parties outside the house. They deprived
a much debated revolutionary law—which prohibited wills, and decreed equality
of shares in inheritance — of the retrospective force which extended its
operation to all wills and divisions of inheritance
made subsequently to 1789. They abolished testimonials of patriotic sentiments,
by the refusal of which the Authorities could send any citizen to prison as a
suspected person: they prohibited, by a single stroke of the pen, what were once considered the palladium of revolutionary
freedom—the political societies and clubs. They hoped in this way to get
through the elections without any particular convulsions, but provided for
emergencies by collecting some thousands of troops pf the line in a camp near
Paris. The Convention thus
Ch.1V.] EXCITEMENT IN PARIS AGAINST CONVENTION.
411
had recourse to the same measures by which the Broglie ministry had
conjured up the storming of the Bastille; they tried to stop
the mouth of popular discussion, and summoned paid legions against the free
citizens.
It soon became evident that they had good reasons for doing so. The
citizens of Paris were furious at the two decrees. For a year past they had been hoping for the termination of the Convention; the new
Constitution brought their warmest wishes to near fruition; when all at once
they learned that they were to endure for at least one year longer the rule of
a Conventional majority, and the hearts of thousands boiled over
with furious indignation. Had they considered the matter more calmly, they
would have seen that their excitement had but little real foundation. As their
sentiments—hatred against the Convention as a body, appreciation
of the moderate leaders Thibaudeau, Boissy dAnglas, Lanjuinais, &c.,
and an utter indifference to mere forms of Government, provided only that
honourable men attained to power—as these sentiments were shared by an infinite
majority of the whole nation, it might be reckoned upon with certainty
that the newly elected third would be exclusively
composed of deputies of their own colour. If, therefore,
they employed all their zeal and energy in bringing about an understanding
between the Departments for the election of two-thirds of the
Convention, there was every probability of obtaining a moderate and
conservative majority in both Councils, and—which was the main thing, under
existing circumstances—of forming an upright and peace-loving Government. All
considerations pointed out this course as the
only right one—viz. simply
to accept and make the best use of the Electoral decrees, and to postpone all
further steps until the new Constitution was established. But parties, and the
great masses of mankind, are not accustomed
to calculate so coolly. During the last few weeks the suspicions against the
Jacobin leanings of the Convention had been reawakened. This distrust had been increased by
412
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
the approach of the troops; the citizens of
Paris declared it to be a point of honour not to submit to these two decrees, but to maintain the full freedom of choice for the nation.
As early as the 28th of August, a delegation of one of the Sections
appeared at the bar to complain of the approach of
the troops. "The armies," replied the President Chenier, "are
also a part of the people, and only the enemies of freedom could mistrust its
truest champions." Another Section demanded a free election of Deputies;
their spokesman gave the bold advice that the present deputies should
deserve the confidence of the nation, and not demand it. "It is the last
resource of royal despotism," rejoined Chenier, "to calumniate the founders of the Republic and its fourteen armies." Tallien then carried a motion that the answer of the President should be printed and sent to the troops. While the Convention was
thus pointing more and more openly to the troops as their real stay and
support, the indignation of the citizens rose higher and
higher. The Lepelletier Section, four days afterwards, repeated the demands of
the two proceeding ones. This Section was the former
quarter "des Filles St. Thomas"—the broad Vivienne and Richelieu
streets, the wealthy inhabitants of which had always been
hostile to the Democrats, and now took the lead of the opposition. The meetings
of primary voters to vote on the Constitution and the electoral decrees 1 were fixed for the 6th of September. In the Lepelletier Section the
proceedings were inaugurated by a solemn declaration that every citizen was
entitled to
1 It is without reason that
Waehs-inuth considers that these were not to be voted upon. In the debates of the 3rd and 4th of Fructidor the speakers repeatedly declare that as
supplementary portions of the Constitution they must, of course, be
laid before the people for their acceptance. The acte de yarantie of the Section Lepelletier was not
intended to vindicate the undeniable right to-vote
on this subject, but to secure those who rejected the decrees from all
prosecution.
Cn. I,V.] THE CONVENTION SEEK SUPPORT OF ARMY.
413
express his opinion freely on the Constitution, the decrees, and every
measure for the public weal, because every other authority must give way before
the primary assemblies of the sovereign people, and that, to this end, all
citizens were placed under the common protection of their own and
all other Sections. The Convention considered this resolution
so dangerous, that some members demanded that it should sit en permanence; however, they contented themselves for the present with issuing a sharp
decree, which forbade under heavy penalties the
establishment of a Civic central committee, such as the Sections
desired. They decreed at the same time the removal of all officials who were
non-juring priests, officers of the National guard, or relatives of an Emigre; and above all they strengthened themselves by addresses of devotion from the regiments, which, on a hint of the
Committees, were easily obtained. The soldiers, it is true, felt little
affection for the Convention, who allowed them to starve and perish, but they were attached to the colours of the Republic, under which
they had gained such splendid victories and fought against the allies of the Emigres; and it was the intrigues of the latter alone, they said, which excited
the disturbances in Paris.
We need not point out how ungrounded this
last assertion was. If there had not been a Bourbon or an Emigre in
the world, the Parisian sections would not have been a whit the less hostile to
the Convention and its electoral laws. It lay, indeed, in the nature of the circumstances, that the Royalists greeted the new movement with
acclamations, and strained every nerve to extend and accelerate it; but alas,
we must also add, that by their inconsiderate haste they drove the citizens
into the most dangerous paths, and at last brought on a most fatal
catastrophe. They would hear of no postponement; they saw the possibility of
crushing the Convention by an overwhelming insurrection, and of dealing a
blow for the cause of monarchy by means of the city of Paris, as the Jacobins had formerly done, on
the
414
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
31st of May, for the Democracy. The royalist Agency set all its
confidential friends in convulsive motion; several members of the Eight in the
former National assembly made common cause with
them ; a number of young literary men and journalists filled the press with a
sharp fire of exciting articles; Freron's Jeunesse doree were furious with their former master, who, with shameful want of
faith, had forbidden them to sing "the Reveil du Peuple" and to fight with the Jacobins ! Although the great mass of peaceable
citizens, in spite of their wrath against the revolutionary Convention, were very little inclined to make a new Eevolution against it,
no one could get a hearing in the Sections who did not acknowledge
insurrection as the sacred duty of patriots in all cases of oppression; more
considerate friends were cried down, and opponents were expelled from the
meetings with threats. Intelligence of similar
agitation arrived from the Provinces. In Chartres the women had demanded
cheaper bread, forced the Commissioner there to sign a lower tarif, and then
led him round the town, sitting on an ass, amidst continual cries of Vive le Roi; so that the wretched man in his despair had shot himself
through the head. In Nonancourt a fight had taken place between the citizens
and the troops; and from Versailles, Drenx and Strasburg, reports were sent of
the. general anger excited by the electoral decrees. The initiated among the Eoyalists whispered to one another a piece of
news of far greater moment. In the month of August, the Prince of Conde, who
commanded the small army of Emigres on
the Upper Rhine, had gained the ear of General Pichegru by means of
Fanche-Borel, a bookseller of Neufchatel, and had
reeeived from him the most encouraging assurances for the restoration of the Bourbons. This intelligence was as well founded as it was
incredible. What particular motive acted on the former protege of
St. Just, whether patriotic rage or envious vexation,
whether concern for the public interest or his own, cannot be decided, since
the General has preserved a
Ch.IV.]
pichegru's offers to the prince of
conde.
415
complete silence and reserve. One thing is certain, that he
declared to the Prince of Conde his readiness to lead his army to the right
bank of the Rhine, to form a junction there with the Emigres and
then to march with the combined forces to Paris. The troops of the Rhine army
were strongly attached to their general, and were animated by the
bitterest anger against the Convention 1; the
undertaking, therefore, though extremely hazardous, was by no means hopeless.
Conde, however, could not come to an understanding with the Austrians, who would not allow the Republican general to cross over to the right
bank; while Pichegru, on his part, declared that he was only sure of his people
during a victorious offensive movement. The plan was
consequently postponed, but the secret correspondence
was continued, and the Royalist agency in Paris, having such an ally in the
back ground, were all the more eager to strike a blow in the streets of the
capital.
The Revolutionary politicians in the Convention saw these plots
hatching with inward satisfaction. They did not doubt that
with their troops of the line they should be able to crush at once any movement
of the peaceful Bourgeoisie, and then to turn their victory to account for themselves, and to the
ruin of the Moderate party. Nothing could more
effectually further their object of gaining a majority in the Councils and the
Directory, in spite of the new third—a majority which, if the Sections had
acted with firmness and obeyed the, law, would have inevitably fallen to the
Moderates. The more violently the Royalists bestirred
themselves in Paris, the more decidedly did the Thermidorians and the waverers
turn to the side of the Independents. A striking proof of this was given during
the debates on the elections, when the Left succeeded in repealing, by a large majority, the freedom
1 Besides the testimony of Fauche-
the acceptance of the new Consti-Borel, this fact is strongly confirmed tution
by the army as a mere empty by Gouvion St. Cyr, who describes show.
41G
CLOSE OF THE
CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
of public worship which had been granted a few months before.
But the Sections did not allow themselves to be diverted from their
purpose. One Section after another announced with ostentatious malice that
their primary assembly had accepted the Constitution, but
rejected the decrees. They did not, however, succeed at this very first step in
carrying the provinces with them, the returu, on the contrary, showed a
considerable majority for the electoral law also. The mass of the population, owing to the prevailing apathy, had taken no part in the
voting at all. For the Constitution there were 900,000 votes and 40,000 against
it; for the decrees nearly 170,000, and against them
93,000. The armies had unanimously voted addresses of approval.
Whereupon, on the 23rd of September, the Convention declared the Constitution
and the electoral decrees to be law, ordered that the nomination of the
electoral colleges shonld be completed at latest by the 2nd of October, and
fixed the beginning of the election of Deputies for the
12th of October, and the opening of the Legislative
body for the 6th of November.
The publication of these decrees in the Parisian sections was the
signal for open violence. In the Palais Boyal a riot took place, and shots were fired, on the 25th of September; troops of young men marched
through the streets crying "down with the two-thirds !" a depressing
gloom brooded over the city, and the wildest and most contradictory reports
were spread. The Convention made the city of Paris responsible
for the safety of the national representatives, and directed the generals to
keep flying columns in readiness to march on Paris. All parties of the Assembly
were so unanimous in their resistance to the threats of the insurgents, that Thibaudeau reminded the Parisians of Isnard's threats against the
Jacobin municipality in 1793; and Boissy d'Anglas and Lanjuinais, however much
they sympathised with the wishes of the Parisians, did not dare to utter a word in
Ch. IV.]
GROWING AGITATION IN PARIS.
417
their defence. Preventive and threatening decrees followed one another
in rapid succession, according to which any one who was caught taking part in
seditious meetings was to be treated as a convicted traitor; the city
authorities were strictly forbidden to call out the armed force, every officer
who ordered out his men at the command of a Section
was liable to be tried by court-martial. Even the notorious
law against the suspects, the darling offspring of Terrorism, was now
repealed in the struggle against the enemies of the Terrorists, because it gave
the city authorities the unlimited right of arrest. And thus both sides
approached nearer and nearer to the inevitable collision. However much the more prudent of the citizens and the Moderates in the
Convention might deplore it, the Independents on the one side, and the
Royalists on the other, irresistibly carried their more peaceable confederates
with them. Tallien, although still considered a member of the Right, indulged
in the rn'ost violent language against "the swarm of bandits and
Chouans" who carried on their intrigues in the Sections; and Barras
complained loudly of the weakness of the Government,
which left the field open to the enemies of freedom. On the 3rd of
October, the Convention was observing a solemn day of mourning in memory of the
Girondists who had been but to death by Robespierre, when intelligence was
brought that four of the Sections had summoned all the Electors of Paris, not on the appointed day, the 12th, but on the present day, and
had ordered out an armed force for their protection. This was the first step of
formal insubordination, and the Convention met it
at once with the greatest energy. They issued orders that
all assemblies of primary electors should immediately disperse, forbade all
meetings of the Electors before the 12th, and, in order to be ready for
action at any moment, voted the permanence of their own sittings. When the decree was proclaimed in the evening by torchlight, the people received it with laughter and cries
of derision ; the torches were extinguished, and
418
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
the Commissioners put to flight. It was not until General Menou came up
with a considerable force that the rioters dispersed, and the assembly of
Electors yielded to violence. Meanwhile the Government committees appointed a
Commission of five members to preserve public order. Among these
was Barras, who immediately suggested the formation of "a sacred battalion
of patriots"—a body in which all the remnants of the Revolutionary army
and the scum of the Faubourgs were united. The Jacobins of the old school who were still left in Paris were enchanted at the sight; but in the
Sections all were agreed that they must now fight to the last drop of blood,
since the Convention had once more summoned the murderous bands of the
Reign of Terror to arms.
Of the 48 Sections of the capital, 44 were in
full revolt on the morning of the 4th of October. They had formed a Central
committee in the Section Lepelletier, which had the disposal of nearly 30,000
National guards. The latter, unfortunately, had possessed no artillery since the month of Prairial. This Committee renounced its allegiance
to the Convention in all form; the alarm was beat
in all quarters of the city; numerous troops of the National guard hastened to
the Section Lepelletier, and issued a proclamation that they
were about to protect their wives and children against the myrmidons of the
Convention. The Government, meanwhile, brought new regiments into the city, but
the officers showed little zeal for civil war, and their chief, General Menou,
refused the command of the patriot battalions, saying
that he would not lead banditti. After long hesitation he marched into the
Lepelletier Section, deployed his column in a very unfavourable manner in the
streets occupied by the insurgents, and at last turned back when the Section answered his summons to disperse by an energetic protest.
He was not a traitor, as the Left declared, but only animated by the, under
such circumstances, hopeless wish to prevail by friendly remonstrances. He was
deprived of his command at once.
Ch.
IV.] REVOLT OF THE 13TH OF
VENDEMIAIRE.
419
And in fact his conduct might have led to the complete and speedy
defeat of the Convention. For, on the evening of the 4th, there were, in
addition to the 1,500 patriots, only 4,000 troops at disposal for the defence
of the Tuileries, without artillery, without communication with the magazines
in different parts of the town, and without skilful or energetic leaders. Of the five Commissioners, Barras from his rank in the
army—he was a soldier by profession, and during the
reign of the Convention had become Brigadier-general by length of service—had
taken the military business into his own hands. He went clattering about with
sword and spurs and plenty of hluster, and promised to crush the Royalists, as completely as he had done the Terrorists on the 9th
of Thermidor; hut with all his braggadocio he could form no systematic plan of
operations. An advance of the National guard en masse hehiud the retreating columns of Menou would have given the former certain victory. But they, too, were without any talent
for war. They shouted for joy the whole night through, at the courage with
which the Lepelletier Section accompanied General Menou back to his house by
torchlight; and it was not until the following morning that they
appointed, as Commander-in-chief of their forces, one General Danican, who had
formerly commanded against the Vendeans, and had been dismissed by the Commissioners on account of his humanity, according to some— or on account of his incapacity, as others maintained. His political sentiments
induced him to accept the nomination of the Sections, but he had
from the very first little confidence in their prowess, and was himself, as it
seems, uncertain what measures he ought to take. This hesitation of its
adversaries gave the Convention a chance of safety.
In the early dawn of the 5th of October (13 Vendemiaire), Barras was
formally appointed Commander-in-chief of the Conventional forces, and now that
the moment for action was approaching, he remembered a man,
who for the last three months had been the military adviser of the Committee
Dd2
420
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION
[Book XII.
of Public Safety—General Bonaparte. We met with him last in the Italian
army in the campaign of 1794, for which the Conventional commissioners had
drawn up their plan of operations mainly in accordance with his statements. He
was a zealous republican, because, in the storms of so great a Revolution, be
saw before him the widest theatre for the display of the power
which he felt within him; but he was by no means a Jacobin or Robespierreist as
has been often said ; on the contrary, he protected every officer of noble
birth in his brigade who shewed himself able and trustworthy, and was very well satisfied that the 9th of Thermidor had put an end to
the machinations of the demagogues in the armies. He was, indeed, for a time an
object of suspicion to the new rulers, because he had
had protectors among the former Commissioners, more especially
the younger Robespierre. An investigation was instituted, but the unfounded nature of the charges was at once recognised, and an official
testimonial was given him, that "the military and local knowledge of the
said Bonaparte might be useful to the State." Soon afterwards
the Committee of Public Safety was indnced to make great reforms in the corps
of officers, since the arbitrary and ill-regulated promotions made by the
Conventional commissioners had swelled the number of generals
and colonels in an incredible degree; and thus it happened that Bonaparte, too, lost his command, and was removed from
active service on whole pay. He then went to Paris in order to take the
necessary steps to obtain active employment. Being without protection or
recommendations, it was long before he attained his object. His pay, in
consequence of the depreciation of the assignats, was insufficient to protect him from disagreeable privations. But that
which troubled him far more than the want of money was the consciousness of being condemned, in spite of the
abundance of his thoughts, plans, and projects, to waste his days in barren
inactivity. He besieged the members of the Committees, descanted to every
Deputy, whom he could lay hold of for
Ch. IV.]
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
421
a moment, on the infallible means of war and victory, became excited as
he spoke, and assumed a lofty tone ot assurance and authority. He was at that
time only 26 years of age, his name was known to very few persons, and his appearance was strange but not prepossessing. His figure was small and
slight, his face yellow, emaciated, \ud furrowed with deep lines; his hair hung
down low over his forehead ; be was awkward and taciturn, so that those gushes
of eloquence were only the more astonishing. We may easily
understand that some persons regarded him as a curious oddity, and others as an
empty schemer. But those who understood the subject themselves, and listened to
him attentively, were irresistibly attracted by his precise, correct, and comprehensive explanations ; but unfortunately, Aubry, the
man who was at that time the most important to him, as being the member of the
Committee of Public Safety who was entrusted with military affairs, had no
perception of the greatness which showed itself in such a curious
form, and turned a deaf ear to all the prayers and proposals of the young
officer. He spoke of great things, he told bim, for which, however, his youth
offered no guarantee. "One grows old very quickly on the field of battle," replied Bonaparte, "and that is where I
come from." But Aubry still remained immovable. He offered the
pertinacious officer the command of an infantry brigade in La Vendee, and Bonaparte, who had no inclination for civil war, and no desire to exchange from the artillery into another branch of the service, remained for
the present in Paris, inactive but expectant. Day after day he kept
drawing up fresh plans for a campaign in Italy. No sooner had peace been
concluded with Spain, than he figured to himself the possibility of dealing
momentous blows in the Apennines with the troops which had hitherto been
employed in the Pyrenees 1; and
a few weeks afterwards the turn in affairs took place which
1
Correspondance de Napoleon, vol. I, p. 75.
422
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
was decisive of his own fate and that of France. On the 15lh of
Thermidor a change took place in the personale of the Committee of Public Safety, and the
direction of military affairs fell into the hands of Doulcet de Pontecoulant,
who was himself a professional soldier, but was, on that very account—under the
sense of the infinite responsibility which lay upon him—all the more inclined to look about him for efficient aid. Boissy d'Anglas
directed his attention to the gifted Corsican officer, and the very first
interview, on the 20th of August, was decisive for the relation between the new
minister and Bonaparte. Doulcet recognised at once the rare genius of
the young man. By the 24th a plan for the campaign, drawn up by Napoleon, was
sent off to the head quarters of the Army of Italy. 1 And
thus by a coincidence of very natural circumstances,
Bonaparte, without either office or charge of any kind, suddenly
found himself the virtual successor of Carnot. With burning zeal, indefatigable industry, and ubiquitous activity he applied himself to
business. His stiff unbending nature was softened and cheered by the labours of
his mighty task. "I see nothing about me," he wrote at this period
to his brother Joseph, "but what is pleasant and full of hope."2 A
few days afterwards a fresh change occurred. Doulcet was succeeded by
Letourneur, who, astonished at the curt and imperious tone of the young general, removed him from the bureaux of
the Committee of Public Safety, and, when he once more declined a command in La
Vendee, struck him out of the list of generals on active service. Bonaparte now
recurred to an idea which he had formerly entertained, but had given up in
consequence of an order which the Committee had issued on the recommendation of
Doulcet. This idea was
1
Memoirea de Doulcet de Pontecou- hitherto followed, must be
rectified
lant, I, 331. The aceount given in accordingly. — 2 Correspondance de
Barante, Histoire de la Convention, at Napoleon, I, 88. the end of vol. V, which I
have
Ch.
IV.] BONAPARTE DEFENDS THE CONVENTION.
123
to go to Constantinople in the name of the French government, and to organise the Turkish army for a bold attack on the
Imperial courts. The Committee were delighted to rid themselves of this
troublesome and ambitious officer, and acceded to the proposal, but were unable
at the moment to raise the necessary money for the expedition. Meanwhile
Vendemaire came on and with it the Parisian revolt. Barras, who with great
self-sufficiency had undertaken the command against the Sections, but was
anxious to find a trustworthy agent for carrying it out, enquired in the bureaux for an artillery officer who might be serviceable in a street fight. No
one was better known there than Bonaparte. He sent for him in all haste,
procured his nomination as second in command, and from that moment left all the
arrangements to him. New life, spirit and intelligence,
were suddenly inspired into the conduct of affairs. The young officer
immediately applied to Genera] Menou, in spite of all the attacks of the Left
against the latter, for information respecting the position and strength of the enemy. His own resolution was taken at once, and without a moment's
delay orders were sent in all directions to change the Tuileries in the course
of a few hours into an impregnable camp. The cannon of the National guard were
collected in a great park at Meudon; it was Bonaparte's first
care to send off a strong squadron of cavalry thither and to carry off the
artillery as speeddy as possible to protect the Tuileries. He then distributed
his 6,000 men behind the batteries at each entrance to the Tuileries, dispensed muskets and ammunition to the 700
Deputies as a reserve, and, leaving the city to itself for the moment, awaited
the attack. On the other side General Danican took the same view of matters as
Bonaparte; he pointed out to his friends that the
favourable moment for a decisive blow had been neglected on the previous
evening; that every attack on the now well ordered force of the Convention
would have very little chance of success, considering the want of firmness in the civic troops; and that the
only proper course
424
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
was to barricade all the streets to the Tuileries, and thereby force
the enemy to disadvantageous engagements in separate divisions, or compel them
by famine to still speedier submission.
But the successes of the previous evening in the Section Lepelletier had
blinded the more zealous of the leaders. They thought to gain their object by a
rapid attack, and advanced with their forces on several points close to the
outposts of the Republicans. The more considerate among them, however,
still shrank from civil war, and succeeded in fact in bringing about a last
attempt at negotiation, in which they offered reconciliation with the
Convention, if the latter would disarm the battalion of Terrorists. Some of
the Moderates in the Convention advised acceptance of these terms, but they
were hissed by the armed patriots who filled the galleries, and angrily opposed
by the majority of the Deputies. The Convention, they said, could not treat with rebels until they had laid down their arms. Barras,
Tallien, and Louvet, pressed with lively impatience for a decision. Bonaparte
saw, not without apprehension, that friendly conversations were taking place
between citizens and soldiers. Suddenly shots were heard, fired by
unknown hands—the cry of treachery was raised on both sides, and the fighting
recommenced in a moment along the whole line. Whether Barras, or Bonaparte, or
royalist agents had given orders to fire cannot now be discovered; one thing is certain, that the former, and they alone, had any urgent
reason for doing so.
The long front of the Tuileries stretches from the bank of the river to
the north. At this northern end, where the stately Rue Rivoli now lies, there
were at that time a number of lofty houses in narrow
streets, leading into the long Rue St. Honore which runs parallel with the
river. The citizens attacked the palace from this side as well as from the
banks of the Seine. Their best men had taken post in the Rue St. Honore, on the steps of the church of St. Roche, whence they exchanged
shots with the patriot battalion through one
Ch.IV.] victory of the republicans.
425
of those cross streets—shot down the gunners at their pieces, and
repulsed with great bloodshed several attempts of
the Republicans to break out of the narrow street. Bnt on the river the
citizens got into the murderous cross fire of the batteries, with which
Bonaparte swept the whole length of the banks, and being thus intimidated they were quickly routed by a charge of some battalions of the line.
This success raised the courage of the patriots, and lessened the confidence of
the citizens in St. Honore. Bonaparte then overpowered the position at the
church of St. Roche by ordering a vigorous attack, sent forward
his battery into the Rue St. Honore, and swept the retreating citizens right
and left from the street, by a rapid discharge of grape shot. All was now over;
within a few minutes the National guards were completely broken, and dispersed with great loss: Bonaparte, who had hitherto manifested
a merciless energy, now contented himself with accelerating the flight of his
adversaries by a few blank shots, and then spent the rest of the night in
occupying, without further resistance, all the important points of
the city. The victory of the Convention, purchased by a few hundred lives on
either side, was complete.
The revolutionary leaders bad learned enough by experience not to sully
their victory by bloody tribunals on a large scale.
It was no longer their object, as it had been that of Billaud-Varennes and
Robespierre, to remodel the whole population, but simply to maintain their own
power in society as it now existed. The motion, therefore, of the more zealous
Jacobins was negatived, and only the chiefs of the insurrection were brought before a court-martial, which pronounced several
sentences of death, but gave most of the condemned opportunities of escape, and
finally caused two persons only to be shot. The effect of the defeat was quickly obliterated in the city. There was, indeed, no more talk
of refusing to elect the two-thirds; but when the election began on the 12th,
the Electors only chose those members of the Con
426
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
vention who scarcely made any secret of their leanings towards Royalty, and some of whom were even zealous royalists and
aristocrats. But in other quaters the effect of the 13th of Vendemiaire was all
the greater. In the country it destroyed at a single blow all the
organisation of the conquered party, and more especially made a systematic
cooperation for the elections impossible. And in the Convention, above all, an
impulse was given to revolutionary opinions, such as had not been felt since the 9th of Thermidor, the consequences
of which were to become equally fatal to France and Europe. The galleries,
which were formerly filled by the Jeunesse doree, were now exclusively occupied by the Terrorists of the Patriotic
battalion. The common crowd of Deputies, without a will or
an opinion of their own—that great mass of the Centre, which in the beginning
of 1793 had been Girondist, and then for a time Dantonist; which had
subsequently been at the call of Hebert, and then at the beck of Robespierre, which since the month of Thermidor
had looked for their cue to Tallien, and since Germinal to Lanjuinais—that
contemptible herd now crowded with the same timid servility round Barras,
Sieyes, and Chenier, who thundered down all moderate opinions as atrocious royalism. Motion after motion was brought forward for the
liberation of all the patriots who were still incarcerated; for restoration to
their places of the arrested Deputies, and banishment of the returned Emigres and non-juring priests. They talked of setting aside the previously
nominated Electors, and holding a fresh election; in the Committees they even
deliberated on the propriety of forming the Directory without waiting for
the arrival of the new third. For a while the Moderate party offered
an obstinate resistance, which was all the more successful because Tallien,
Freron and their friends, revolutionary as they were in their language, did not
exactly wish to break with their former associates. But the movement entered a new phase, when, after the 12th of October, the result of
the elections for the new
Cn. IV.] THE THERMIDORIANS REJOIN THE
MOUNTAIN.
427
Legislative body became known. In "three-fourths of the country
the electors chose for the new third, decided
aristocrats, constitutionalists, and royalists. As to the two-thirds of the
Convention, the great majority of the Electors rejected, not only the Jacobins
and Independents, but even the Thermidorians, and named, besides a number of colourless men of the Centre, scarcely any but
Moderates. Their principal men stood so high in public favour that Lanjuinais
was chosen in 73 Departments, Boissy dAnglas in 72, Pelet in 71, Pontecoulant
in 33, and Thibaudeau in 32. According to the decree of
Fructidor, consequently, the Convention itself would have had to
elect nearly three-hundred substitutes. But most of these Deputies had been
able to give a decided answer, even during the election, so that the electors
themselves were able to make another choice, and finally only 105
vacancies remained to be filled up by the Convention. As soon as the first
symptoms of this change in the character of the elections began to show
themselves, the Thermidorians demanded of their Moderate allies a promise of their support; and when the latter, who had long been alienated by
Tallien's unsteady conduct, refused to bind themselves, it came
to an open and bitter feud between the two factions.
During the legal proceedings which followed the 13th of Vendemiaire, the Police had succeeded in getting hold of a member of the Royalist
agency, the Abbe Lemaitre, and confiscating his papers. Among these were
notices of the probable sentiments of several Deputies. Lanjuinais, Boissy
d'Anglas, Lesage and Lariviere, were described as friends of the monarchy;
but of Tallien it was said, that since the affair of Quiberon he was no longer
to be trusted. Saladin, formerly a Girondist, and Rovere, a quondam Terrorist,
appeared as actual secret leaders of the Sections; but no other definite expression or facts occurred. The Comite de Surete generate, however, on the 15th of October, made use of the opportunity to bring
forward a report, in imitation
428
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
of Amar and St. Just, respecting the great
conspiracy of the Foreign party, but without mentioning the names of the
members in question. In consequence of this, Lemaitre was brought before a
Court martial, and some voices demanded that the report should be printed for the instruction of the nation. Tallien, who two days before had left his
seat on the Right, and taken up his old place on the top of the Mountain, rose
to support the motion. He had just made peace with Sieyes and Barras, and after
he had promised to assist the former in overthrowing the
Moderate party, the Abbe in return had handed over to him from the minutes of
the Committee of Public Safety, the proofs of his intrigues with the Royalists.
He began his speech by declaring that the printing of the report was necessary, and that the Convention was bound to tell the country the
whole truth ; that the report, therefore, needed to be completed; the heads of
the conspiracy, he said, must be named, and the people informed who they were
who had so long crippled and retarded
the contest against the Parisian electors. The galleries applauded furiously by
loud clapping of hands. He proceeded to blame himself for having so long been
silent, and when the Left cried out "name, name!" he declared that he
was ready to do so, if the sitting were made a secret one.
When the galleries had been cleared, amidst cries of " Vive la Republique!—Save the country!" he had the audacity to accuse the four
Deputies, mentioned in Lemaitre's papers, of Royalist treason. Among these, as
we have seen, was Lanjuinais, the same who had warned him of the
discovery of his correspondence with Verona, with whose party he had held
confidential meetings until the last few days, and with whom he had had a
solemn reconciliation after a quarrel about the
13th of Vendemiaire. He had no proofs to bring forward in support of his
charge; the majority of the Convention were cold,
indignant and disgusted; the felon blow entirely missed its aim.
On the following day Louvet once more brought forward
Ch.IV.] THE MOUNTAIN RULES THE CONVENTION.
429
the affair of the Foreign conspiracy, and demanded the arrest of Rovere
and Saladin. They were both really implicated in the movement of the Sections,
and no one ventured to defend them; Thibaudeau only observed that
Saladin had just been named Deputy for Paris. The fury of the Left was only
increased by this intelligence; all that they heard respecting the elections
opened before them a future full of dangers ; in spite of the degrees of Fructidor, in spite of the victory of Vendemiaire, they had still to
fear the rise of a hostile Government. This question occupied all their
thoughts, aud guided all their efforts; this question included everything in
their eyes—Country, Right, and Freedom. Bentabolle declared that the
Revolution was lost, if the Convention did not forthwith name the Directory
from among its own members; Dubois-Crance expressed his lively apprehensions with regard to the future composition of the Council of
Ancients. The party adopted the comprehensive plan of
declaring the elections void, as the results of a treacherous royalism —
thereby prolonging indefinitely the rule of the Convention—and then taking the
necessary precaution to secure Jacobin elections. But if anything was to be effected it was high time to move, for the last day of the
Convention, according to the existing laws, was fast approaching, and the first
sitting of the two Councils was to take place on the 27th of October. Barras,
therefore, who as chief of the armed force exercised at this
time the highest influence, began to carry out the scheme on the 22nd of
October, by delivering a thundering speech against the Foreign powers, the
Royalists, the Emigres, the treacherous General Menou, the horrible sentiments of the Parisian sections, and the French electors in general.
"If you hand over the reins of the Revolution to suspicious hands,"
he said, "no one is secure for the future." "The safety of the
Republic," cried Garnier, "is imperilled, if we do not understand how to use our victory during the four days which are still
left to us1"
A regiment of cavalry was encamped in the gardens
430
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
of the Tuileries ; all the entrances of the Palace were protected by cannon; the galleries were
crowded with a Jacobin mob, who applauded every speech from the Mountain with
loud shouts, and uttered the most violent threats against the members of the
Right. The great mass of the Convention appeared intimidated, as formerly on the 2nd of June, and Tallien mounded the rostra to
bring forward the decisive motion. He pointed out that in
a few days the seats of the National representatives would be filled by the condemned Royalists, and that the latter, within three
months, would complete the overthrow of the Constitution in a constitutional
manner. This must be prevented by all possible means; and for this purpose
he proposed the formation of a Commission of five members, who should propose
on the following day the proper measures to be taken for
the salvation of the Republic. Every one saw in this motion the commencement of
a new political dictatorship; but the Assembly was so far cowed that they
carried it almost without opposition, and named Tallien
and four other violent Montagnards, members of the
Commission. At the same time two royalist Deputies, Aubry and Chomont, were arrested, and General Menou brought before a court martial.
On the 23rd the Assembly expected the report of "The Five,"
and with it nothing less than a suspension of the new
Constitution. The minds of the members were in a state of suspense and
agitation; the great majority were adverse to the plans of Tallien, and full of
secret wrath against the double renegade. But no one had any plan for meeting the evil. They were listening in oppressive silenee to a
speech on a new penal code, when Cavaignac, a member of the Left, interrupted
it by presenting a petition against the Electoral college of Cahors. Thibaudeau
then rose in a state of intense and violent emotion. "How is
it," he cried, "that every chance person presumes to come here and
disturb our labours ? Has the Convention any right to sit in judgment on the
Electoral colleges ? It would be an
Cn. IV.]
THIBAUDEAU UNMASKS TALLIEN.
431
open breach of the Constitution. I know very well that it would not be
the first; but I declare that I will rather die than idly look on at its
destruction." These were brave words, such as had not been heard from the
Right since Vendemiaire. The courage of the Assembly
rose; and amidst the loud applauses of his own party, and the furious raging of
the Mountain, Thibaudeau continued with increasing vehemence.
"Yes, I will unmask to the whole country the new tyranny which is preparing for it. It is in vain to create a dictator, I defy your
daggers; I will be the iron wall against which the conspiracy shall shiver to
pieces." He then described the machinations of the Left, its revolt
against the popular will as expressed in the Electoral assemblies, the
insolence of the galleries, the contemptible vileness of political turn-coats;
and when the Mountain interrupted him by deep murmurs, he cried "it is
Tallien, Tallien, of whom I am speaking." The storm now broke loose from
all sides; but Thibaudeau remained firm, lashed the moral baseness of his
opponent, and his want of all political principle, with cutting strokes, and declared that no human power should compel him to
remain a member of the Convention longer than the 27th of the month. He was greeted from all sides by cries of accpiiescence; he.
had destroyed the plan of the Left, by openly putting it into words; he had
relieved the Convention of the heavy apprehension which weighed it down, and
inflicted a chastisement on Tallien which condemned the latter to eternal insignificance. The motion of The Five,
that the Assembly should sit en permanence until the 27th, was negatived at once; on the following day Tallien
spoke with suppressed fury of the necessity of cancelling the elections, but added that this wholesome measure had been rendered
impossible by the sitting of yesterday. The Commission
of Five contented themselves with proposing to exclude
from public office the Emigres and
their relatives, as well as all those who, in the Assemblies of primary and
secondary electors, had proposed illegal measures; they called
432
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
upon all citizens who were discontented with the Republic' to emigrate,
and proposed to carry out, without further delay, the laws against non-juring
priests. The Convention was well satisfied to get off so cheaply, and
sanctioned the decree. But they firmly rejected an attempt of the Left
to restore the law of the maximum, and then forthwith dissolved the Commission of Five.
This was the last of the long series of party contests which had
agitated the Convention during its three years' rule. It rejected
the efforts of the Jacobins to rednce France to its former state of
slavery, and confirmed the law which proclaimed the beginning of the
Constitutional government for the 27th of October. But this was all that it
could effect. Revolutionary views maintained the
predominance which they had gained by the victory of Vendemiaire, both within
and without the walls of the Assembly. In Paris the military force under the
command of Barras ruled with absolute power; the days of 2>opular
Assemblies, and the Jeunesse doree, were over for a long time to come. General Bona23arte, who, on the 13th, had been confirmed as second in command of the army of the
Interior, put down all popular ebullitions with extreme severity, and acquired
such a rejmtation for nnsparing sternness, that the terror he inspired
saved him from the necessity of applying actual force. As Representative of the Government he assumed a tone of stately
superiority, such as had not been heard in Paris for ten years. He was not,
however, in the habit of asking for instructions from his
superiors, but consulted his own will, and was for the present allowed by
Barras to take his own course.
Consequently not a single expression of popular feeling reached the ear of the
Convention which did not coincide with the wishes of the rulers. The Left was
strengthened by a large accession of Thermidorians, and still more so by the
dependence of what was called the "Swamp" or "Belly" of the
Assembly—i. e.
that
large class of members who had -votes, but
no opinions. And thus, in the main,
Ch. IV.]
ELECTION OP THE COUNCILS.
433
the Independents had become masters of the position. They were, it is
true, not exclusively so, or to the full extent of their wishes; but they could
reckon on a majority with tolerable eertainty if they only kept
aloof from the old Jacobins, and now and then showed some degree of consideration to the leaders of the Moderate party. Under these
circumstances, the Convention reached the close of its existence. In its last sitting, on the 26th of October, Baudin of
the Ardennes proposed a general amnesty for political offences committed since
1791; all parties were in the main agreed, but both sides demanded that an
exception should be made ; the Right, in the case of the criminals of the 1st of Prairial, the Left, in that of the rebels of the 13th of
Vendemiaire. No doubt could now remain as to the relative strength of parties;
it was the Left who earried their point by a large majority. The President
Genissienx thereupon declared the labours of the Convention at an
end, and the final sitting closed.
On the 27th, the 379 Deputies who had been reelected by the people,
together with the Representatives of the colonies,
assembled to ehoose the 105 members who were still wanting to complete the Council of the 500. The list had been deliberated upon
beforehand by the Committee of Public Safety; they had made some concessions to
the Moderate party, but to compensate for this had proposed several decided
Montagnards; and for the remaining vacancies they chose unimportant and
servile men. The Independents were equally strengthened by the circumstance
that more than a hundred of the new third had not yet arrived in Paris. The
next operation was the division of the members present into the two Councils, which took place, according to the law, by lot. Out of the
married or widowed Deputies who had' attained their 48th year, 83 of the new
third, and 167 of the Convention, were selected for the Council of Ancients;
the rest of those present, and all who arrived afterwards, were to
form the Council of 500. For the
present, there
434
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
fore, the old members of the Convention were five or six times as
numerous as the new ones in the latter Council, and the men in power took
advantage of this superiority, in the most unblushing manner, to secure the all
important choice of the Directory. They had long resolved among
themselves, that no one should enter the Directory who had not voted for the
death of Louis XVI.; and after long deliberation fixed on the names of Sieyes,
Rewbell, Barras, Lareveillere and Letourneur. They had a fair prospect of carrying this list in the Council of
500 in its present incomplete state. But they were doubtful of success in the
Council of Ancients, the majority of which inclined to those who had really
been elected by the popular voice—Lanjuinais, Boissy d'Anglas, Thibaudeau, and Cambaceres. As, however, the Constitution ordained
that the Council of Ancients must choose the Directory from a list in which the
500 had inscribed ten Candidates for every place in the Directory, they
resolved to set those five Independents at the head of the list, and
to add to them 45 utterly impossible names. This dishonourable
plan was carried out to the letter. The five seriously proposed Candidates
received from 317 down to 207 votes each ; then followed 44 juges de pair,' farmers, burgomasters, inferior officials,
officers of the National guard, or Gendarmerie, each of whom received from 170
to 140 votes, and lastly Cambaceres as former adherent of the Left, but who, in
consecpience of his reserve, and his close relations with Lanjuinais, had become an object of suspicion to that party. However angry
the Council of Ancients might be at the force thus put upon them, they bad no
means of resistance, and the five Candidates of the Left were proclaimed as the
future rulers of France. And when Sieyes from a love of
learned ease, or mistrust of a Constitution which had not been drawn up by
himself, declined the offered dignity, Carnot was chosen in his stead by an
exactly similar manoeuvre.
So much trouble did it cost the Convention, after
three
Cn. IV.] APPOINTMENT UP THE
DIRECTORY.
435
years'of absolute power, to force a prolongation of their government on the French people. The greatest possible blunders on the part
of the Royalists, a bloody street fight in Paris, the
employment of all the juggling tricks of a complicated electoral system, had to
cooperate before the late rulers could secure the continuance of their power,
and with it impunity for themselves, and the duration of revolutionary
interests. The future prospect was in no direction an encouraging one. To seek the heavy burden and responsibility of power it
was necessary, like Barras, to forget everything but the splendid income of a
Director, or, like the whole body of Independents, to see that the loss of power might lead to the loss of liberty and life. National
bankruptcy was as good as proclaimed; the assignats had risen in number to 27 milliards, and sunk in value to V2 per cent, so that a twenty franc piece cost 4,200 francs in paper. The
administration of the country was in a state of unfathomable disorder; the Conventional commissioners had never allowed
the old authorities to get into full activity; the new ones were only just
beginning to organise themselves, and it was impossible to foresee when their mechanism would be in a working condition. The agriculturists
had made large incomes during the preceding summer; but we have seen on what an
unnatural and illegal foundation this prosperity rested. It was certain that
the material welfare of the peasants could never be secured
without a firm confidence in the sale of the domains,
the feelings of the rural population could never be calmed without a settlement
of the ecclesiastical differences; and both these requisites were removed to a greater distance than ever by the fresh
outburst of the fires of Revolution. Manufactures and inland trade were in no
better state in the autumn of 1795, than in the beginning of the year, and the
foreign trade was completely ruined ; the Directory had
therefore as good a prospect
of riots among the workmen, and communistic conspiracies,
as their predecessors. But the mass of the citizens
436
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
transferred all their dislike of the Convention to its successors under another name, and the laws against priests and Emigres threw
hundreds of thousands of families into an open state of hostility to the
Government. The latter, therefore, had its sole effectual support in the army,
and when, at this period, men talked of the end of the
Revolution, the expression only meant that military rule was about to supplant
that of the mob.
Such was the final account of the internal affairs of France left by
the Convention. A no less gloomy picture meets our eyes when we turn to the affairs of Europe.
Since the victory of Quiberon, and the conclusion of the peace with
Spain, French policy took a decided turn in the direction with which we have
become familiar through the expressions of the Abbe Sieyes. The French
government was not willing to be satisfied with an
honourable and disinterested peace abroad for the sake of
regaining peace and order at home. As, in the first half of the Revolutionary
period, they had aimed at an unheard of ideal of popular liberty, so they now sought a superabundant measure of power and glory. The influence of
Prussia—which was exerted in favour of general peace and the maintenance of the
present state of things in Europe—fell in Paris to zero. Sieyes, who became
more and more the guiding spirit of French diplomacy, soon
convinced himself that Prussia would never agree to the alliance between
France, Sweden and Poland, for the transformation of Europe, and therefore
turned his whole attention to the counsels of Carletti, and a final arrangement
with Austria. We know the obstacles which stood in the way of the
completion of the treaty: the French rulers were convinced that Austria would
sacrifice Belgium, and perhaps the left bank of the Rhine, to France, if the
latter would make over Bavaria in return. And Sieyes, on his side,
thought that it would be perfectly proper to cede Bavaria to the Emperor, if he
would place the Breisgau and Milan as well as Belgium at the disposal of the
French, so as not
Ch.
VI.] FRENCH SCHEMES OF FOREIGN
CONQUEST.
437
to approach the French frontiers hy the acquisition of Bavaria, but rather to remove further from them. It was well known,
however, that Thugut would not, in that case, make up his mind to the loss of
Milan; and it became evident to the French government that another passage
of arms would be necessary before they could realise their programme. To
husband their forces for this contest they made peace with Spain; and as soon
as the ratifications had been exchanged with the latter country at the
end of August, they sent orders to the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees to march
with all speed to the Alps, and to give a decided turn to the war in Italy. At
the same time Jourdan on the Lower Rhine, and Pichegru on the Upper Rhine, received instructions to cross the river in full force, to
refresh their troops in the enemy's land, and compel the German states to
surrender at discretion.
Among the latter there were but few who would not gladly have laid down
their arms. The North Germans all declared themselves
satisfied with the line of demarcation which protected them, and the Landgrave
of Hesse-Cassel concluded a separate peace at Basle in August on the terms of
the Prussian treaty. The South German sovereigns would gladly have followed his example, if they had had the means of removing the
Imperial armies from their soil. But they vehemently urged the Court of Vienna
to enter with all speed and earnestness into negotiations for a. peace between
the Republic and the Empire; and Francis II., for the sake of
keeping up appearances, sent a communication to Copenhagen
at the end of August, desiring that this neutral Government would signify in
Paris his readiness to make peace. But not a word was said of positive
proposals or overtures; and, as might easily have been
foreseen, the Committee of Public Safety laid the
unmeaning document aside for the future consideration of the Directory. The
government in Vienna had expected nothing else; with them, as we know, the
decisive question was, whether Russia would
438
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION. 1
[Book XII.
afford the Emperor complete security against Prussia, and procure for
him the desired territorial acquisitions. On these conditions they were ready
to continue the war against France; otherwise they were determined to bring
it to an end without delay. On the 9th of July Cobenzl wrote from St.
Petersburg that the Russian government was ready to remove the Prussians from
Cracow, by force of arms if necessary. When this news arrived in Vienna,
the warlike preparations in Bohemia were in the
main completed, the fortresses armed, and an army of about 80,000 men assembled
on the northern frontiers of the Empire. Thugut, therefore, empowered Prince
Reuss in Berlin, in concert with the Russian
ambassador, to communicate the Partition treaty of the 3d of January to the
Prussian Government. At the same time the first preliminary measures were taken
for assuming the offensive on the Rhine, immediately after the subjection of Prnssia. Clerfait had, during the last few months, held the
chief command over all the Austrian troops and the forces of the Empire; but
now a separate command was created for general Wurmser, who, though advanced in
years, was still full of energy and warlike spirit. The commencement of operations was even now deferred until the Polish question
should have been finally settled in Berlin.
On the 8th of August, the two ambassadors in Berlin demanded an
audience with the ministry. The conference took
place on the 9th, and the ambassadors, to the great astonishment of the
Prussian ministers, laid before them the mutual declaration of the two Imperial
courts respecting Poland, made on the 3rd of January.
The impression was all the deeper because the ambassadors declined all discussion on the subject; instead of which
thejT
begged, in the name of their two Courts, that the negotiation might be carried
on, as before, in St. Petersburg. Enraged at the duplicity of their
august allies, alarmed at the peremptoriness of the Imperial tone,
and for the moment not knowing what to do, the ministers made their report
Ch.
IV.] PRUSSIA ACCEPTS PEACE OF ST.
PETERSBURG. 430
with breathless haste to the King. Alvensleben, always penetrated by a
sense of the exhaustion of the State, and as pusillanimous now, in presence of
danger from the East, as six months before when the storm threatened him from
the West, advised the King immediately and unconditionally to
comply with the demands of the Imperial courts. Haugwitz
who was, in the main, of the same opinion, preserved a greater degree of
external calmness, and exhorted his. sovereign to keep up at least the outward
forms of an independent resolution. On the 15th,
therefore, a letter from the King to the Empress was drawn up, in which he complained of the separate compact made between the Imperial courts in the
midst of a common negotiation between the three Powers, but held out a prospect of his assent, in the interests of a general peace, if the
Western portion of the Palatinate of Cracow—which, he said, was essential for
the protection of the Silesian frontier—and a small tongue of laud between the
Bug and the Vistula, were ceded to him, that the sentinels on
the Austrian frontier might not look directly into the gates of Warsaw.
All that the Prussian government heard, at this time, of the general
state of affairs was calculated to strengthen their resolution to yield.
Osterman told Count Tauenzien that the Polish matter must be brought to a
conclusion: "if you attack Austria," he said, "w.e shall support
her with all our power; and the Emperor will abandon the German Empire, make
peace with France, and turn all his force against
you." In Paris an agent of Hardenberg succeeded, soon afterwards, in
getting hold of a memorial of the Abbe Sieyes, in which the plan of ceding
Bavaria in return for Milan and Belgium was unfolded, and, at the same time,
deep anger expressed against Prussia for using the Peace of Basle,
not as a channel to an alliance with France, but solely as a transition to a
state of neutrality.1
Those words
1 What Barantc, Convention, VI, 438 communicates respecting Rewbell's
440
CLOSE OF
THE CONVENTION.
[Book XII.
of Ostermann, therefore, were no empty threat; the way to a peace with
France was in fact always open to the Emperor. Tauenzien, too, received
continual reports of the serious and extensive preparations of Catharine. A
levy of one per cent on the whole population was ordered for the whole
extent of her vast Empire; large stores of provisions and ammunition were
collected, and preliminary dispositions of troops were made in all directions.
The aged Rumanzoff protected the frontiers by a strong division on the
Dniester against possible attacks of the Turks ; considerable bodies of
infantry were on their march towards Poland, and it was already made known
that, in case of a war with Prussia, Suworow and Repnin were to command in that country, and advance with all energy upon Silesia and East
Prussia.
Under such threatening circumstances Tauenzien held the first general
conference with Markoff and Cobenzl on the 3rd of September. But no sooner had
he brought forward the very modest proposals of his sovereign, than
Cobenzl declined to proceed, and left the room. The Russians expressed regret at the occurrence, but at the same time declared that
they were bound, that this was the last consultation,
and that Prussia must give way. Tauenzien replied, that in order to
prove Prussia's love of peace he would go beyond his instructions, and give up
his claim to the city of Cracow, and sign the treaty in the hope of afterwards obtaining the sanction of his sovereign. Markoff promised to support this proposal with Count Cobenzl, but informed Tauenzien, two
days afterwards, that Austria adhered to the declaration of the 3rd of January.
On the 11th, however, he sent word to Berlin, that he had succeeded in
persuading Austria to give up the tongue of land between
conferences with Hardenberg is not
confirmed by the despatches of the latter. Hardenberg was not able to learn
what Rewbell wanted in
Basle; the latter only told him
that France eould have no confidence in Prussia's undecided attitude.
Ch.IV.] ALLIANCE OP ENGLAND, AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA.
441
the Bug and the Vistula to Prussia, but that he could obtain no
concession with'respect to Cracow, and earnestly begged for the King's assent.
"Then," cried Alvensleben, "we would
rather return to our frontiers of 1793, protest against any partition, wait for
the result of the ferment in Poland, and protect ourselves by an alliance with
France." The aged Finkenstein, however, thought that to get mixed up with
France in such a manner would be the greatest possible
misfortune, and the King agreed with him. He sent instructions
to Tauenzien to rest satisfied with a slight rectification
of the Silesian frontier; and to declare on the part of Prussia, that she was
prepared in all other respects to maintain the mutual
guarantee of the Polish acquisitions, in accordance with the February treaty;
but that she would under no circumstances undertake to break the peace of
Basle.
At the same time the Triple-alliance between Russia, England, and
Austria was formed, accompanied by an express promise of Russia to furnish
a body of troops for the French war, which Austria, on her part, engaged to prosecute with all her power. The alliance was of universal application,
and made no exception in favour of any adversary
who might arise. against any one of the contracting Powers. It contained no
limitation of time, and excluded all partial or separate negotiations. Backed
by such a document as this, Markoff and Cobenzl
were the less inclined to make any concessions to Prussia. On the 19th of October Tauenzien held his last negotiation. When he spoke of the
rectification of the Silesian borders, the Russians at last consented to a
mixed Commission for the regulation of the disputed line of demarcation; in
return for which he was obliged to content himself, in regard to the Polish
guarantee, with a verbal promise that it should in no case interfere with the
peaceful relations between France and Prussia. He made up his mind
to sign, with a heavy heart, well knowing that the King would ratify the treaty, but would visit him, the unhappy negotiator, with his supreme displeasure. The Polish question, which had cleft
Germany in twain, and opened a broad path of victory to France, was settled at
last. During these negotiations the autumn campaign had commenced in the Alps
and on the Rhine.
At that time the Austrians and the troops of
the Empire, about 180,000 strong, formed two armies, one of which, under
General Clerfait, occupied the right bank of the Rhine, from Dusseldorf to
Philippsburg ; the other, under General Wurmser, from Philippsburg to Basle. On
the 7th of September, three divisions of Jourdan's army
crossed the river some leagues below Dusseldorf, and drove the most northerly
division of the Austrians as far as the Sieg; whereupon
the Palatinate Minister Hompesch, with disgraceful cowardice,
surrendered Diisseldorf; the French centre then crossed over
to the right bank at Cologne, and compelled the Austrians to a further retreat
beyond the Lahn. Then the last divisions of the enemy passed over the
river at Neuwied, and Jourdan, who was leading 70,000 men towards the Lahn, overpowered the newly occupied position of the Austrians beyond
that river, in a sharp action near Diez; so that Clerfait was compelled to
withdraw his columns, with all speed, to the Main. Pie hastened his retreat all
the more, because just at this time General Pichegru crossed the
Rhine with three divisions at Manheim, and the Minister Oberndorf, in
accordance with secret instructions from his weak Government, 1
delivered up the fortress to the enemy with the same precipitation as his
colleague had shown at Dusseldorf. At Heidelberg, about
14 miles from Manheim, the Austrians had their chief magazine and their
principal depots, which after the fall of Manheim were only protected by a weak
division of 9 battalions under General Quasdanowich. If Pichegru were to occupy this important point without delay, there would
then be no further communication through the valley of the Rhine, between
Wurmser's army at Freiburg and Clerfait's legions on the Main. To hinder this
Clerfait hastened back across the Main, took post at Arheiligen,
Babenhausen, and Asehaffenburg, and sent off some reinforcements
with all speed to Heidelberg. And, in, fact, General Quasdanowich succeeded in
a brilliant ensrasreinent, on the 29th, in driving two French divisions under Dufour from the neighbourhood of Heidelberg, and thereby enabled
General "Wurmser to bring up his forces for the protection of the
threatened point.
Yet the successes of the French in these first weeks were by no means
inconsiderable. They had taken two important fortresses on the right
bank, and occupied the whole country between the Rhine, the Main, and the
Prussian line of demarcation. Great were the triumph
and arrogance of the Rulers in Paris! On the 24th of September, the Committee
of Public Safety sent off a plan of operations to Jourdan
and Pichegru, the object of which was to surround both the Austrian armies
between the Main, the Rhine, and the Neckar, and utterly annihilate them. On
the same day they laid a proposal before the Convention to settle the political system of the Republic in the face of all Europe, by
incorporating Belgium and Liege—"in accordance with the wishes of all
their inhabitants" — with the French territory. This was just at the time
when, in consequence of
the contest with the Parisian sections, the Convention was
falling more and more into dependence on the Left. It was in vain that members
of the Moderate party—Lanjuinais, Lesage, and Harmand—warned
them against an aggrandizement which must lead to perpetual
war with all Europe. After a long discussion, in which
the Left branded every word in favour of peace as treason to the country, the
incorporation was decreed on the 1st of October, in the midst of the preparations for the struggle of the 13th of Vendemiaire. In order to carry out the system of aggrandizement still further, Boissy d'Anglas and Sieyes, a few days
before the decree of incorporation, had sent Theremin—formerly
a Prussian, now a French official—to Basle to Baron Degelman,
an Austrian diplomatist, in order that the latter might communicate to Thugut
the readiness of the Republic to abandon Bavaria to the Emperor, if he would
cede Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine to France.1
Sieyes may have thought that he was taking a great
step to meet the views of the Moderate party.
This time, however, Nemesis followed close upon the heels of
overweening pride. After Wurmser had arrived in Heidelberg, Clerfait once more
turned against Jourdan, who in the meantime had taken up a
position on the Main from its mouth, near Castel, to the Nidda. Clerfait
resolved to roll up the French line by attacking its left flank. For this
purpose he sent several of his divisions across to the north of the Main to Aschaffenburg and Offenbach, in order to threaten the extreme left of the
French from that side; and then to advance upon their rear through the Taunus
hills. By this arrangement Jourdan found himself placed in so critical a
position, that after failing in an attack on the Imperial forces on
the Nidda, he commenced his retreat towards the Lahn, in three columns. Though
the Austrians pursued him with only a weak advanced guard, the enemy suffered
considerable loss, and reached the left bank of the Rhine at last in very bad plight. The French troops, who were half starved and
ragged before the beginning of the campaign, had no sooner reached the right
bank, than they threw themselves with savage greediness upon the unhappy land,
indulging every fierce desire, driving the inhabitants to desperation
by every kind of ill-treatment, and forfeiting all steadiness and military
discipline. The regiments could only be kept together
as long as victory was on their side; at the first step in retreat the whole
army fell into disorder; entire companies left their ranks in order to
flee the faster, and to rob and burn as they hurried by. But the patience
of the people was at an end; the peasants rose in the Taunus and Wcsterwald,
and took bloody vengeance on their tormentors, with axe and scythe. A number of
French marauders were slain, or delivered up as prisoners to the Austrians. By the end of the month the Austrians had reoccupied the
whole district along the Rhine as far as the Sieg.
Clerfait, meanwhile, had halted betimes, and in the conviction that Jourdan was harmless for a long time to come, had turned
with quick resolution against another enemy. After
Pichegru had occupied Manheim with three of his divisions, the rest of the
French army had been posted in two equally strong bodies—four divisions between
Strasburg and Huningen, and four for the observation and assault of Mayence. In order, to form a complete blockade of this place
on the left bank of the Rhine, the French had formed a chain of field
fortresses in a wide circuit round the place, the redoubts of which were armed
with more than 150 guns, and manned with 31,000 troops. Clerfait now
conceived the idea of strengthening the garrison by a few of his divisions, and then, by an unexpected and vigorous onslaught, tearing
asunder the chain of the enemy's lines. This bold enterprise was executed with
equal energy and success. On the 28th of October,
the Austrian columns defiled over the bridge into the city, without the French
having had the slightest suspicion of their approach. Early in the morning of
the following day they proceeded to the attack in deep silence, favoured by a strong west wind, which concealed from the enemy
the noise of the nocturnal march. They first made a feigned attack on the left
wing of the enemy's line, but immediately afterwards the real storm broke on
the extreme right wing, and one position after another was
overpowered in quick succession. By midday all was over; 138 grins and 1,700 prisoners remained in the hands of
the Austrians ; the enemy was completely dispersed,
and his divisions scattered in wild flight to the four winds. It was not until
Pichegru himself came in all haste from the Upper Rhine with considerable
reinforcements, that the French succeeded in taking up a strong position behind
the Pfriem, on a line running from Worms' and
Pfeddersheim to the Donnersberg.
While Clerfait by such vigorous blows was restoring the honour of the
German arms, and diffusing fresh courage far and wide through the Empire,
Wurmser, who was higher up the river, had not been
idle. On the 17th and 18th of October, he fell upon the French troops at
Manheim, and by a successful engagement drove them into the fortress. The whole
southern bank of the Neckar was thereby cleared of the enemy. On the 29th, the
same day on which Clerfait forced the lines of Mayence,
Wurmser made himself master of the Galgenberg, the last position of the French
before Manheim, on the right bank of the Neckar. To besiege the town with
success, however, it was essentia] to complete the blockade on the side of the left bank of the Rhine, and, to this end, to drive Pichegru
out of his position on the Pfriem. Accordingly Clerfait, strengthened by 19
battalions of Wurmser's army, advanced towards the Pfriem on the 10th of
November ; and although, contrary to his custom, he showed some degree
of caution and timidity, he obtained a complete success sifter a four days'
struggle, and compelled the French to retreat behind the Q.ueich and the walls
of Landau. By this means the garrison of Manheim was completely isolated, and on the 22nd of November the fortress was compelled to
capitulate. In vain had Jourdan twice attempted with his shattered regiments to
force his way through the Hundsruck past Kreuznach into the Palatinate ; on both occasions he was driven back by
General Wartensleben, according to Clerfait's orders. After the fall of
Manheim, Wurmser was able single-handed to keep the French army of the Rhine in check, and Clerfait's whole force was thereby rendered disposable against Jourdan; the latter was obliged
entirely to evacuate the Hundsruck, which, together with the greater portion of
the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine, was now in German hands. The
double attack, by which the Convention had intended to seal their
military superiority on German ground, had completely failed; and there now
arrived from Vienna a polite but formal answer to Theremin's overtures, to the
effect that the Imperial government did not consider the present juncture adapted to their consideration. 1
In Italy the Committee of Public Safety, on the 31st of August, had
ordered the separation of the so-called Italian army in the Genoese Riviera,
from the army of the Alps in Savoy, and had placed the latter under the command of General Kellerman, and the former under that of General
Scherer, who had hitherto commanded in the Eastern Pyrenees.
In the beginning of September the first reinforcements arrived from the Spanish
theatre of war ; but here, too, everything was
lacking — money, clothes, provisions, and ammunition. To make the matter worse,
the ferment in the southern Departments of France detained large bodies of
troops in the country, and General Scherer though full of patriotic zeal, was
poor in military genius. The Committee, therefore,
decreed the sending of 10,000 men of the Rhine army to Italy; but it was
November before these reinforcements arrived in the Riviera; and
Scherer, who had now 50,000 men, decided on commencing operations. The allied
Austro-Sards, now commanded by Count Wallis and
General Colli, lay meanwhile on the heights of the Apennines, as inactive as the enemy, without proper means of forming a camp, or
sufficient supplies, exposed to the influences of changeable, and at last
severe, weather, so that they suffered both
physically and morally, and were heartily weary of a fruitless
war. On the 23rd of November, the French attacked their position on all points.
The Piedmontese, who formed the left wing of the allied army, .held their
ground against all the efforts of Serrnrier; but Massena drove the Austrians in
the centre out of Bardinetto, and Augereau also
succeeded in totally defeating the Austrian right wing at Loano. After a loss
of more than 4,000 men, Wallis then evacuated the mountains, on the 24th, to
take np a new position on their northern declivity near Acqui, Dego, and Millcsimo. The French were masters of the Riviera, and of the
passes leading to Piedmont, and, therefore, in a position to open the next
campaign by a great offensive movement in Upper Italy, according to the plans
of Bonaparte.
Such was the present state of the war, the completion
ol which the Convention left to the new constitutional government. The French arms had made no farther progress than a year before:
nay, they had even lost a considerable district on the Upper Rhine ; while in
Italy they had just gained enough by the victory of
Loano to enable them to begin the real contest. In spite of these vicissitudes
of fortune, however, the character and result of the war were no longer
doubtful. After the defeat of the Moderate party in Paris, and after the diplomatic humiliation of Prussia, it was certain ' that the
whole of Europe was about to undergo a military and revolutionary
transformation. The Governments in Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, however
different in their origin and form, were in this respect entirely similar.
Between Austria and France it was no longer a question of ancien regime, or modern innovation; the contests of 1796 were to be carried on simply
to settle the question whether Austria should receive a few leagues of land more or less in the north or south of the Alps. That the Constitution of
the Roman Empire must collapse, whether by the incorporation of Bavaria, or the
annexation of the left bank of the Rhine, or both, gave the Emperor of the
German nation as little concern as the Directory of the French Republic.
It seemed for the future, then, to depend on the length of life which
Providence might grant to the Empress Catharine, whether the wild whirlpool
should seize the Turkish provinces also; whether all
the European countries on the East of the Vistula should be subjected to
Russia, and all on the West of the Rhine should fall beneath the power of
France; and whether, perhaps, after an entire dismemberment
of Prussia, the remnant of Germany might become a Province of the House of
Lorraine. Such were the circumstances and prospects of Europe at the end of the
year 1795; no one had the least presentiment of the mighty power which in a few
months would assume the guidance of affairs, change all the
details of existing plans, and incalculably accelerate the general development
of the military revolution.