VIII. 1792. of batteries on the heights of Montmartre, manned by the CHAP. cannoneers of the suburbs, was decreed; and the right of voting in the primary assemblies thrown open to every Frenchman without distinction, aged twenty-one, domiciled for a year in his commune, and living on the produce of his revenue or his labour. By another decree, the new municipality of Paris, in imitation of the Convention, suspended from their functions the whole committees of sections and the directory and council of the department of the Seine, so as to throw all the civil force of the metropolis under the direct control of new functionaries elected xvii. 36, 37, by the Jacobin party at a period of the most vehement 6. excitement.1 Deux Amis, viii. 194, 195. Hist. Parl. 55. Th. iii. the King family. For fifteen hours that the sitting of the Assembly con- 8. tinued after the massacre of the Swiss, the King and royal Disposal of family were shut up in the narrow seat which had first and Royal served them for an asylum. Exhausted by fatigue, and almost stifled by heat, the infant Dauphin at length fell into a profound sleep in his mother's arms; the princessroyal and Madame Elizabeth, with their eyes streaming with tears, sat on each side of her. The King was tranquil during all the horrible confusion which prevailed, and listened attentively both to the speeches of the members of the legislature, and of the arrogant petitioners who continually succeeded each other at the bar. At length, at one o'clock on the following morning, they were transferred for the night to the building of the Feuillants. When left alone, Louis prostrated himself in prayer. Thy trials, O God!" said he, "are dreadful; give us courage to bear them. We adore the hand which chastens, as that which has so often blessed us; have mercy on those who have died fighting in our defence!" On the following morning, they had the satisfaction of receiving the visits of many noble royalists, who, at their own imminent hazard, hastened to share the perils of the royal family. Among the rest was the faithful Hue, the King's valet, who had saved himself by leaping from a VIII. 1792. CHAP. window of the Tuileries and plunging into the Seine during the hottest of the fire, where, when almost exhausted, he was picked up by a boatman. Already the august captives felt the pangs of indigence. All their dress and effects had been pillaged or destroyed; the Dauphin was indebted for a change of linen to the care of the lady of the English ambassador, and the Queen was obliged to borrow twenty-five louis from Madame Anguie, one of the ladies of the bedchamber-a fatal gift, which was Hue, 36, 38. afterwards made the ground of that lady's trial and death, Camp. ii. notwithstanding the claims of youth and beauty, and of the faithful discharge of duty.1 1 Lac. ix. 250, 256. 263. 9. They are transferred to the Temple. Aug. 13. During the trying days which followed, the King displayed a firmness and serenity which could hardly have been anticipated from his previous character, and showed how little his indecision had proceeded from the apprehension of personal danger. For three days the royal family slept at the Feuillants. There Madame Campan, who had escaped almost by a miracle the massacre at the Tuileries, rejoined her august mistress, whom she found stretched on a wretched mattress, cast down from the pinnacle of earthly grandeur, and weeping, not for herself, but her family and faithful friends, whom she had involved in her ruin. Even in that extremity, however, she persisted in saying she would hold by her duty to her children to the last, and that she loved France though she knew it would witness her execution. On the 13th, the Assembly, at the command of the Commune, directed that they should be conveyed to the Temple. Notwithstanding the excitement of the populace, many tears were shed as the melancholy procession passed through the streets. The carriage, con2 Campan, veying eleven persons, was stopped on the Place Vendôme, ii. 259, 261. in order that they might see the fragments of the statue of Deux Amis, Louis XIV.; and at length the doors of the Temple closed Lac. ix. 262. upon its victims, and Louis commenced the spotless and immortal days of his life.2 Hue, 42, 45. viii. 217. The victory over the throne on the 10th August was VIII. 1792. 10. ing powers. immediately followed by the submission of all the depart- CHAP. ments in France to the ruling party. Opinions had been more divided on the revolt of the 20th June; so powerfully, during the intervening period, had the revolutionary The armies spirit gained the ascendency, and so much more generally obey the ruldoes fear operate than the love of freedom. The Assembly, led by the Girondists, was all-powerful unresisted, it wielded the whole moral force of France. But that celebrated party, so powerful in eloquence, now showed its weakness in action. Its leaders could neither regulate the storm they had raised, nor construct a new constitution in the room of that they had pulled down: they were strong only in the work of destruction. They had received a constitution to support, a throne to establish, a country to defend,-they left France without a constitution, without a king, without an army; their authority disappeared in the insurrection which they themselves had raised. Their incapacity and weakness were soon apparent. At Rouen, a slight movement in favour of the constitutional monarchy took place, but being unsupported, it speedily ceased; and the emissaries of the all-powerful municipality of Paris succeeded in terrifying the inhabitants into submission. Very different was the reception of the intelligence at the headquarters of Lafayette's army, which at that juncture was at Sedan. That general 1 Deux immediately issued a spirited proclamation, in which he Amis, viii. announced his determination to march against the rebel-250, 262. lious capital.* The officers, the soldiers, appeared to Moll. ix. partake the indignation of their chief, who resolved to Lac. i. 277, Mig. i. 197. make an effort in favour of the constitutional throne.1 Lam, Hist. The municipality of Sedan shared the sentiments of the 270. troops; and, by command of Lafayette, they arrested and * "Soldats! citoyens !-La constitution que vous avez juré de maintenir n'est plus. Les Marseillais et une troupe de factieux ont assiégé le château des Tuileries: la garde nationale et les gardes Suisses ont fait une vigoureuse résistance; mais, manquant de munitions, ils ont été obligés de se rendre. Les Suisses ont été massacrés. Le Roi, la Reine, et toute la famille royale, se sont sauvés à l'Assemblée Nationale: les factieux s'y sont portés, tenant d'une main Bert. de 194, 196. des Gir. iii. VIII. 1792. CHAP. threw into prison the three commissioners despatched by the National Assembly to appease the discontents of the army. The soldiers and the civil authorities renewed the oath of fidelity to the constitutional throne, and every thing announced a serious convulsion in the state. 11. Fall and flight of Aug. 17. But the ruling power at Paris, in possession of the seat of government, and the venerable name of the Assembly, Lafayette. was too strong to be overthrown; and Lafayette was not the man to acquire the influence requisite to effect such a revolution. The soldiers were only recently enrolled; they had still the feelings of citizens: the period had not arrived when, accustomed to look only to their leader, they were prepared, at his command, to overthrow the authority of the legislature. The movement of Lafayette, and the troops under his immediate orders, was not generally seconded. A revolt in favour of the throne was looked upon with aversion, as likely to restore the ancient servitude of the nation; the tyranny of the mob, as yet unfelt, was much less the object of apprehension. Luckner, who commanded the army on the Moselle, attempted to second the measures of Lafayette; but Dumourier, and the inferior generals, stimulated by personal ambition, resolved to side with the ruling party. The former, of a feeble and irresolute character, made his public recantation before the municipality of Metz; and Lafayette himself, finding dangers multiplying on all sides, and uncertain what course to adopt in the perilous situation of the royal family, fled from the army, accompanied by Bureau de Pusy, Latour Maubourg, and Lameth, intending to proceed to the United States, where his first efforts in favour of freedom had been made. But he was arrested near the frontier le fer, de l'autre la flamme, et l'ont forcée de décréter la suspension du Roi-ce qu'elle a fait pour lui sauver la vie.-Citoyens! vous n'avez plus de représentans: l'Assemblée Nationale est esclave: vos armées sont sans chef; Pétion règne; le farouche Danton et ses satellites sont les maîtres. Ainsi, soldats-choisissez ! Voulez-vous rétablir sur le trône l'héritier, de la couronne, ou voulez-vous Pétion pour roi? LAFAYETTE."-BERTRAND DE MOLLEVILLE, ix. 196. mouthpieces VIII. 200. Deux 272, 274. 279. Th. iii. 12. mands for incessantly Furious desanguinary blood by the Revolution. lity of Paris. the people Aug. 17. municipa by the Austrians, and conducted to the dungeons of CHAP. Olmutz. He was offered his liberty on condition of making certain recantations: but he preferred remaining, 1792. four years in a rigorous confinement to receding in any Mollix.197, particular from the principles which he had embraced. Amis, viii. The Assembly declared him a traitor, and set a price on Lac. i. 278, his head. The first leader of the Revolution owed his 30, 34. life to imprisonment in an Austrian fortress.1 Meanwhile Danton and Robespierre, the of the all-powerful municipality of Paris, urged the National Assembly to adopt measures against the opponents of the “Blood,” said the latter, "has not yet flowed; remain without vengeance. No sacrifice has hitherto been offered to the manes of those who died on the 10th August. And what have been the results of that immortal day? A tyrant has been suspended; why is he not dethroned and punished? why is not a trophy erected to the memory of the heroes of that immortal day? Are they not equal to the most glorious recorded in the annals of Greece and Rome? Let the fragments of the statue of the tyrant Louis XIV. be moulded into a monument of the heroes who have subverted the despotism he established. You speak of bringing to judgment the conspirators of the 10th August; that is too slow a way of wreaking the national vengeance; the punishment of some is nothing, when others escape; they should all be punished, and by judges created specially for the occasion."-"The tranquillity of the people," said he at another time, "depends on the punishment of the guilty; and what have you done to effect it? Your decree establishing a new tribunal is manifestly insufficient. It is neither sufficiently extensive nor explicit, for it speaks only of the crimes of the 10th August; and the crimes against the Revolution are of much older date. Under that expression the traitor Lafayette would escape the punishment due to his guilt. The people, moreover, VOL. II. Q |