worthy feelings. Vanity, terror, and revenge exercised a powerful influence over his mind. His hatred was implacable; it fell with unmitigated fury on his nearest and dearest relations.* Cautious in conduct, slow but implacable in revenge, he avoided the perils which proved fatal to so many of his adversaries, and ultimately established himself on their ruin. Insatiable in his thirst for blood, he disdained the more vulgar passion for money: no bribes from the Court ever sullied his hands; at a time when he disposed of the life of every man in France, he resided in a small apartment, the only luxury of which consisted in numerous images of his figure, and several mirrors which in every direction reflected his form. While the other leaders of the populace affected a squalid dress and dirty linen, he alone appeared in elegant attire, like that of the ancient régime. His countenance had something in it which was repulsive; he was pale, inclining to a livid hue, and was deeply marked by the small-pox. His smile was painful, and at times satanic; a convulsive quiver of the lips, whenever he was strongly agitated, often gave a frightful expression to his countenance. An austere life, a reputation for incorruptibility, a total disregard of human suffering, preserved his ascendancy with the fanatical supporters of liberty, even though he had little in common with them, and though there was an elevation of purpose in his cruelty to which they were strangers. He had great designs in view in the reconstruction of the social edifice, after three hundred thousand heads had fallen. His visions were of an innocent republic, with equal fortunes arising out of the sea of blood. But it was in general measures only that he was philanthropic; to individuals he was merciless and cruel in the extreme. He was more consistent than Danton, but less humane: he never aban * "Que cette passion de la haine doit être affreuse, puisqu'elle vous aveugle au point de me calomnier auprès de mes amis. Votre haine pour moi est trop aveugle pour ne pas se porter sur tout ce qui me témoignera quelque intérêt." -La Citoyenne ROBESPIERRE à son frère, 18 Mess., Ann. 2. Papiers Inédits trouvés chez ROBESPIERRE, ii. 114. CHAP. 1791. VII. 1791. roux, 63, 64. Hist. de la 35. Jacobins. CHAP. doned a principle, but he never saved a friend. It was hard to say whether his supporters or his enemies fell fastest beneath the scythe of his ambition. His terrible career is a proof how little, in popular commotions, even domineering vices are ultimately to be relied on; and how completely indomitable perseverance, and a steady adherence to popular principles, can supply the want of 1 Roland, i. all other qualities. The approach of death unveiled his 298. Barba- real weakness; he was the perfection of moral courage, Mig. i. 217. but not equally distinguished by personal firmness. When Conv. i. 74. success was hopeless, his boldness deserted him; and the Barère, Mém.i.116. assassin of thousands met his fate with a vacillation that could hardly have been expected from his previous career.1 The leaders of the Jacobins in the Legislative Assembly Club of the Were Chabot, Bazire, and Merlin; but it was not there that their real influence lay. The clubs of the Jacobins and the Cordeliers were the pillars of their authority; in the first, Robespierre, Billaud Varennes, and Collot d'Herbois, ruled with absolute sway; the latter was under the dominion of Danton, Carrier, Desmoulins, and Fabre d'Eglantine. Robespierre was excluded from the Assembly by the self-denying ordinance which he himself had proposed; but he had acquired an omnipotent sway at the Jacobins', by the extravagance of his opinions, the condensed energy of his language, and his reputation for integrity, which had already acquired for him the surname of the Incorruptible. The extensive galleries, erected round the hall of the Assembly, gave the most unruly and violent of their body constant access to the Legislature, where they never failed to cheer on their own partisans as loudly as they drowned by clamour the few remaining friends of order or regular government. In the Faubourg St Antoine, the Brewer Santerre, well known in the bloodiest days of the Revolution, had obtained an undisputed ascendancy; while the municipality of Paris, elected according to the new system, by the universal suffrage of the inhabitants, had fallen, as VII. 1791. might have been anticipated, into the hands of the most CHAP. violent and least respectable of the demagogues. The importance of this body was not at first perceived; but possessing, as it did, the means of rousing at pleasure the 'Hist. Parl. strength of the capital, it soon acquired a preponderating Mig. i. 152. influence, and was enabled to enthral a government which Toul. ii. 93. the armies of Europe sought in vain to subdue.1 xii. 72, 74. Th.ii.13,15. 36. King at this Th. ii. 365. It is admitted by the republican writers, that at this period the King and Queen were sincerely inclined to Views of the support the constitution.2 In truth, Louis had great period. hopes of its success; and though he was not insensible to its faults, and desired its modification in several particulars, yet he trusted to time, and the returning good sense of the nation, to effect these changes, and was resolved to give it a fair trial. The Queen participated in the same sentiments, and, from the comparative tranquillity of the last year, began to entertain sanguine hopes that the anarchy of the nation might at length be stilled. The establishment of the Constitutional Guard, eighteen hundred strong, for the service of the palace, since the King had accepted the constitution, gave them the shadow at least of independence. Louis's ministers were far, however, from entertaining such sanguine sentiments; and Bertrand de Molleville, in particular, strongly expressed to him his opinion in private, that the royal prerogative was so abridged, under the new constitution, that it could not possibly exist for any length of time.-" M. Bertrand," replied the simple-hearted monarch, "there are many things in the constitution which I have endeavoured to prevent-which I would wish to see altered; but the time for that is past: I have sworn to maintain it, and maintain it I will. Nay, I am convinced that a sincere and Campan. honest endeavour to abide by it, in all respects, is the Bert. de la best way to open the eye of the nation to its defects. 23. Courage, M. Bertrand!—all may yet be well." The constitution having vested in the King the power of raising a guard for the protection of his person and 3 Moll. vi. 22, VII. 37. of the con King. CHAP. family, he commenced, soon after the meeting of the Legislative Assembly, the formation of it. This was a 1791. matter of extreme delicacy, for both the national guard Formation and the people of Paris were excessively jealous of the stitutional influence, all but unbounded, which they had long enjoyed by the possession of the King's person, and viewed with undisguised aversion any measures which might even tend to render him independent of them. In the hope of reconciling all difficulties, and at the same time taking advantage of the revived sentiments of loyalty which had been awakened in the rural districts, especially of the south and west of France, Louis determined to have the National and Constitutional Guards always in equal numbers in the service of the palace, and to choose the latter from the provinces, in the proportion of three or four from each department. This plan was well-conceived in appearance, from the obvious justice on which it was founded; but, like all other conciliatory measures attempted during a period of general excitement, it discontented both parties. It was soon discovered that, though it contained several violent revolutionists, sent from the departments having that tendency, the great majority of the Constitutional Guard was faithful to the King; and old Marshal Brissac, its commander, was so in a remarkable degree. It excited, in consequence, from the very first, the most violent jealousies in the National Guard of Paris, insomuch that an insurrection among the latter would infallibly have broken out, if the King had not constantly admitted them to the interior service of the palace, and used his utmost efforts with the officers on both sides to Moll. Mém, preserve a good understanding between them. But the i. 153, 145. reconciliation was seeming only, and the discord ere long vi. 341, 350. broke out, with fatal effects to the King and the whole royal family.1 1 Bert. de Deux Amis, The first serious contest of the new Assembly was with the emigrants and the clergy. By one flagrant act of injustice, the Constituent Assembly had left the seeds of VII. 1791. 38. permanent discord between the revolutionary party and CHAP. the church. The sufferers naturally were indefatigable in their endeavours to rouse the people to support their cause. The bishops and priests exerted all their influence Vehement to stimulate the country population; and they succeeded, of the especially in the western provinces, in producing a most church. powerful sensation. Circular letters were despatched to discontent the curés of the parishes, and instructions generally transmitted to the people. The constitutional clergy were Oct. 6. there represented as irregular and unholy; their performance of the sacraments impious and nugatory; marriage by them as nothing but concubinage; divine vengeance as likely to follow an attendance on service. Roused by these representations, the population in the districts of Calvados, Gévaudan, La Vendée, broke into open disturbances.1 66 1 Hist. Parl. their xii. 77, 93. Deux Amis, rural vi. 357, 359. and Mém. i. 32. Ferrières, 39. of Brissot against the Brissot proposed to take instant and vigorous measures with the dissident clergy and refractory emigrants. Argument Every method of conciliation," said Isnard, "with these and others classes is useless what effect has followed all your emigrants. former indulgence towards them? Their audacity has Oct. 26. risen in proportion to your forbearance: they will never cease to injure till they lose the power of doing so. They must either be conquerors or conquered-matters have fairly come to that; and he must be blind indeed who does not see this in the clearest light." "The right of going from one country to another," said Brissot, "is one of the inherent rights of man; but the right ceases when it becomes a crime. Can there be a more flagrant offence than that of emigrating, for the purpose of bringing on our country the horrors of foreign What other object have the crowds who now daily leave France? Hear their menaces, examine their conduct, read their libels, and you will see that what they call honour is what the universal voice of mankind has condemned as the height of baseness. Can we be ignorant that at this moment the cabinets of Europe are war? |