VI. 1790. 1 Hist. Parl. prodigious a change in the state of the circulating medium CHAP. occasioned an unparalleled fluctuation in the fortunes of individuals, and augmented to an incredible degree the number of those who were ruined by the public convulsions. But it extended in a proportional measure the ramifications of the Revolution through society, by swell- Deux Amis, ing the number of the holders of national property, and Mig. i. 106. thus enlisting a large influential class, by the strong bond Lac. viii. 56. of interest, on its side.1 Th. i. 204. Toul. i. 205. 45. tions for a fête on the 14th July. The 14th July, the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille, approached, and the patriots resolved to signalise Preparait by a fête worthy of the birth of freedom in the greatest of the European states. A confederation of the whole kingdom in the Champ de Mars was resolved on; and there the King, the deputies of the eighty-four departments, the Assembly, and the national guard, were to take the oath to the constitution. Every exertion was made to render the ceremony imposing. For several weeks before, almost the whole labouring population of Paris had been employed in constructing benches in the form of a theatre in that noble plain, for the innumerable spectators who were expected; while the municipality, the national guard, and the deputies of the departments, vied with each other in their endeavours to signalise their appearance on the stage by the utmost possible magnificence. The presence of the monarch, the National Deux Assembly, a hundred thousand armed men, and above 148, 154. four hundred thousand spectators, it was justly supposed, Mig. i. 114, would impress the imagination of a people even less pas- vii. 359. sionately devoted than the French to theatrical effect.2 Amis, v. Th. i. 245. 115. Lac. of the fête. Early in the morning of the 14th, all Paris was in 46. motion. Four hundred thousand persons repaired with Particulars joyful steps to the Champ de Mars, and seated themselves, amidst songs of congratulation, upon the benches which surrounded the plain. At seven o'clock the procession advanced. The electors, the representatives of the municipality, the presidents of the districts, the national guards, VI. 1790. CHAP. the deputies of the army and of the departments, thirty thousand strong, moved on in order, to the sound of military music, from the site of the Bastille, with banners floating, bearing patriotic inscriptions, and arrayed in varied and gorgeous habiliments. The splendid throng crossed the Seine by a bridge of boats opposite the Ecole Militaire, and entered the amphitheatre under a triumphal arch. They were there met by the King and the National Assembly at the foot of a great altar, erected after the manner of the ancients, in the middle of the plain; at its foot was a model of the Bastille overturned. Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, and two hundred priests, dressed in tricolor robes, celebrated high mass in presence of the assembled multitude; after which, Lafayette, as commander-in-chief of the national guards of France, mounted on a superb white charger, advanced and took the oath in the following terms:-"We swear to be faithful to the nation, to the law, and to the King; to maintain with all our might the constitution decreed by the National Assembly, and accepted by the King; and to remain united to all the French by the indissoluble bonds of fraternity." Immediately after, the President of the National Assembly and the King took the oath, and the Queen, lifting the Dauphin in her arms, pledged herself for his adherence to the same sentiments. Discharges of artillery, the rolling of drums, the shouts of the multitude, and the clashing of arms, rent the skies at the auspicious event, which seemed to reunite the monarch and his Rév. de subjects by the bonds of affection. But a dreadful storm 54. Moni- arose at that instant; the lowering clouds discharged teur, July themselves in torrents of rain, and in an instant the 16, 1790, p. 807. Deux innumerable spectators were drenched to the skin. It 172. Fer, soon cleared up, however, and in the evening illuminations 23. Mig. i. and festivities prevailed in Paris; and the King, in a vii. 367. concealed calèche, enjoyed the general expression of happiness. A ball took place upon the site of the Bastille ; over the gate was this inscription-" Ici on danse."1 1 Prudhom. Paris, ii. 53. Amis,v.142. Mém. i. 18. 117. Lac. Th. i. 246, 249. VI. 1790. They danced in effect," says a contemporary writer, CHAP. "with joy and security, on the same spot where formerly fell so many tears-where courage, genius, and innocence have so often wept-where so often were stifled the cries of despair." 47. of the Duke and Mira Aug. 8, These festivities interrupted only for a short period the animosity of the factions against each other. The Accusation Duke of Orleans, who had recently returned from his of Orleans exile in London, was accused before the Assembly soon beau. after, along with Mirabeau, of having conspired to pro-1790. duce the revolt of the 5th October. Never was accusation more ill-timed and unfortunate. At that very moment, Mirabeau, disgusted at the revolutionary proceedings of the Assembly, was secretly lending the aid of his great talents to support the cause of the throne, a course to which he had been inclined ever since the beginning of the year. He had long foreseen the approaching ruin of the state, and had resolved to do his utmost to stem the torrent of those passions he had had so large a share in creating. The Abbé Maury, who took the lead in the impeachment, had become aware, before it came on for debate, that Mirabeau now in secret inclined to the throne, and confessed that the evidence did not warrant any criminal proceedings against that illustrious man; and the fact of his having been accused restored all his popularity, which was beginning to decline. Never did he sway the legislature with more absolute power than when he ascended the tribune to make his defence. The Assembly quashed the accusation, both against Mirabeau and the Duke of Orleans, by adjourning 83, 84. Mig. it till the general report of the court at the Châtelet on the 118. Th. proceedings of the 5th October was brought up; but the 252. Menilatter never afterwards regained his reputation, and from 8, 1790. that period his influence in the Revolution was at an end.1 Cazalès, on this occasion, made a noble speech, and for once compelled the Assembly to listen to the words of truth and justice. "Is there one in the Assembly," said 1 Lac. viii. i. i. 187, 250, teur, Aug. VI. 1790. 48. Noble speech of Cazalès on this occa sion. CHAP. he, "who can really wish to screen from justice the authors of a crime which has stained the Revolution, and will be its eternal disgrace? (Loud murmurs.) Yes, I repeat it, if the authors of the infamous crimes of 5th October are not discovered, are not punished, what will France say ? what will Europe say? The asylum of our kings has been violated, the steps of the throne stained with blood; its defenders murdered: infamous assassins have put in danger the life of the daughter of Maria Theresa, the Queen of the French." "We have no queen !" exclaimed a hundred voices. "Of that woman," then added Cazalès, "whose name will survive those of the infamous conspirators of October 5th-they are deputies; they are Frenchmen; they are men: they are stained by that crime. If you adopt the motion, you at least clear yourselves of the stain; it will rest only on its authors. If you reject it, you adopt the infamy; you 910. earn for the National Assembly the odious title of being at once capable of crimes and above punishment." 1 1 Moniteur, Aug. 8. 1790, p. 49. of Necker. Sept. 4. Shortly after M. Necker retired from the ministry. Retirement Ill health was assigned as the motive for this step, which was really taken from a sense of declining influence and lost popularity. His own words had proved prophetic ; the day of his triumphant entry into Paris had been the first of his decline. He had lived to see the folly of his favourite opinion, that reason, if forcibly stated and blended with sentiment, would in the end sway the most vehement popular bodies. His resignation, couched in eloquent and touching language, was received in the Assembly without regret; and he set out for Switzerland, unattended and a fugitive, over the route which he had so lately traversed in triumph. He was arrested at Arcis-sur-Aube, and narrowly escaped the fate from which * "Les inimitiés, les injustices, dont j'ai fait l'épreuve, m'ont donné l'idée de la garantie que je viens d'offrir; mais quand je rapproche cette pensée de ma conduite dans l'administration des finances, il me'st permis de la réunir aux singularités qui ont accompagné ma vie."-NECKER'S Letter, given in Histoire Parlementaire, vii. 164. VI. he had so generously saved his enemy M. de Besenval. CHAP. Permission to continue his journey was coldly conceded by the legislature, which owed its existence and popular 1790. constitution to his exertions; a memorable instance of the instability of the applause of the people, but such as must always be looked for in a revolution. Its early promoters are uniformly neglected, when other and more audacious leaders have succeeded; all classes aim at 1 Hist. Parl. supremacy; its course is always onward. None who vii. 163. have risen by its impulse can long maintain their ascen- Lac. vii. 85. dency, because, by remaining at the head of affairs, they 258. check the elevation of inferior ambition.1 Mig. i. 118. Th. i. 257, 50. ministry. Sept. 5. The retreat of Necker produced a total change in the ministry. Duport du Tertre was made prime minister, Change of Duportail, de Fleurieu, Lambert, and de Lessart, succeeded to the several offices of government. The first, who had risen from a income of 1000 francs a-year (£40) to the rank of prime minister, from the effects of the Revolution, was a zealous partisan of the new order of things, which had done so much for him; and he owed his appointment to the influence of Lafayette. He was intimately connected with Lameth, Barnave, and the leaders of the Revolution, and represented the dominant party in the Assembly. Sincerely desirous to uphold the constitution, such as they had made it, he experienced ere long the usual difficulty felt by the leaders of a movement at one period, when they attempt to check it at another; and he became in the end the object of the most envenomed hostility to the Jacobins, when they passed the innovators of the Constituent Assembly in the career of Revolution. Two of these ministers were destined to perish on the scaffold, one by the sword of revolu- 2 Lac. viii. tionary assassins. The period was fast approaching 259, Bert. when eminence in public life was a sure passport to a Mem.i.255. violent death. 2 The state of the army was soon such as to require the immediate attention of the Assembly. The recent military 92. Th. i. de Moll. |