VI. 1790. ministry which had sanctioned, however remotely, so un- CHAP. wonted and alarming an act of vigour. "It is the despotism of the aristocracy," said Robespierre, "which has made use of the army to provoke a massacre of soldiers whose patriotism was their only fault." The massacre of Nancy, the cruelty of Bouillé, were in every mouth; inflammatory addresses were hawked in every street. Marat, in his journal, thundered out against the government; the victorious general was held up to universal execration. Forty thousand men speedily surrounded the Hall of the Assembly, loudly demanding the dismissal of the ministers and the punishment of La Tour Dupin. But the national guard for once stood firm; the Assembly had too clear a Sept. 2. sense of the dangers they had escaped, by the suppression of this revolt, to be diverted from their purpose; and they voted, by a large majority, the thanks of the legislature to M. de Bouillé, the troops of the line, and the national guards, who had been concerned in the suppression of the revolt. Mirabeau even went so far as to propose a decree L'Ami du Peuple, No. disbanding the whole existing army, and readmitting into 208, 209. its ranks only such as should take the oath of implicit Mém. ii. obedience prepared by the Assembly. But although this 143. Deux proposal was loudly applauded, yet its execution was evaded by an amendment to refer that matter to the com- 159, 163. mittee which was already charged with a report on the Rev. de internal organisation of the army, and this caused it even- 60, p. 381. tually to fall to the ground.1 1 Marat, Ferrières, Amis, v. Parl. vii. Prudhom. Paris, No. disorders France. This explosion at Nancy was but a manifestation of the 57. general spirit of insubordination which had now penetrated Frightful every part of France, and pervaded equally the army, the in different navy, the towns, and the provinces. A reaction against parts of the Revolution had arisen from its evident tendency to destroy all local jurisdictions and authorities in the provinces: the confiscation of the property of the church had excited profound feelings of indignation among that portion of the people, still a large one in the rural districts, which adhered to the faith of their fathers. The dissolution VI. 1790. April 6, Sept. 10. April 18. CHAP. of the bonds of discipline, and the removal of the restraint of authority, had let loose at once the angry, the revengeful, and the selfish passions among the community. At Nismes, a fearful contest took place between the Protestants and Catholics, the former supported by the revolutionists, the latter by the church party; and the popular magistrates, as usual, did nothing to resist the multitude. The disorders continued through May and June, and were only at last suppressed after fresh numbers of lives had been lost on both sides, the red flag hoisted, and martial law proclaimed. At Brest, the sailors on board the ships of war, indignant at the naval code prepared by the Assembly, which trenched on the license they had arrogated to themselves during the Revolution, broke out into a most alarming mutiny, which was only allayed by the Assembly conceding the principal demands of the insurgents. An insurrection at Toulon led to the same result: at Toulouse, a frightful civil war was only arrested by the firmness of the magistrates, who there did their duty at Marseilles, a ferocious mob fell on an officer named de Beausset, who was labouring to discharge his duty, cut off his head, and tore his body in pieces, which were divided among his assasins at Montauban, six men were killed, and fortyfive wounded; the heads of the dead were paraded on pikes, the wounded dragged, bleeding as they were, in triumph through the streets at Angers, eight men were killed, and forty-five wounded, during a tumult occasioned by the high prices of provisions. It is painful to dwell further on such atrocities; they are to be met with, alas! in too many pages of history; but at this time, the peculiar disgrace attached to the revolutionary government and authorities, that scarce any of the guilty parties were either inquired after or brought to punishment. The only persons really endangered were those who bravely discharged their duty.1 May 1. May 10. Sept. 6. 1 Lab. iv. 427, 428. Crimes de Prudhom. la Rév. i. 207, 259. But all these disorders were thrown into the shade by those which arose from the oppression which the Assem VI. 1790. 58. "astical oath. Nov. 27. trous effects. bly soon after exercised on the church. On 27th November CHAP. 1790, an iniquitous decree was passed by this body, ordering that the same oath should be tendered to the ecclesiastics which had been prescribed for the military-viz. New ecclesiTo be faithful to the nation, the law, and the King; " Its disas with this addition, "and to maintain, with all their power, the constitution decreed by the National Assembly, and accepted by the King." In case of refusal, it was enacted, that they should be held to have renounced their benefices, which were immediately to be filled up in the mode prescribed by the civil constitution of the church. Eight days only were allowed to the resident, and two months to the absent clergy, to testify their adherence. A large part of the bishops and curés in the Assembly refused the oath, and their example was followed by the great majority of the clergy throughout France-a memorable example of conscientious discharge of duty, which might have opened the eyes of the Assembly to the impolicy, as well as injustice, of carrying on any further persecution against this important class. Such, however, was the spirit of the times, that their refusal was universally ascribed to the most factious motives, and immediately followed by the confiscation of their livings. The faithful clergy, threatened by this cruel measure with destitution, filled the kingdom with their complaints, and excited, in those districts where their influence still remained, the strongest commiseration at their approaching fate. These feelings were greatly aggravated when the parochial incumbents were actually expelled from their livings. The people beheld with indignation new churchmen filling the vacant pulpits, and administering, with unconsecrated hands, the holiest offices of religion. The dispossessed clergy still lingered in their dioceses or livings, subsisting on the charity of their former flocks, and denouncing as impious 362. Toul. the ordinances and proceedings of the intrusive ministers.1 261. Mig. Inflamed with resentment at their proceedings, the Assem- Th. i. 266. bly at length fixed a day for the adherence of all the 1 Jan. 4, 1791. Hist. Parl. vii. 141,142, i. 258,259, i. 121, 122. VI. CHAP. clergy in France, and upon its expiry the decree of forfeiture was universally and rigorously enforced. Mirabeau 1791. in vain raised his voice against this tyrannical step; the dictates of justice, the feelings of humanity, even the attachments of the rural population, were alike drowned by the clamours of the populace in the larger 59. Reasons which led them to resist this oath. July 10, 1790. 1 Flossan, de Franc.vii. towns. In this extremity, and when the adherence of the ecclesiastics to the oath, or the sacrifice of their benefices, was unavoidable, the clergy, dignified and ordinary, of France, evinced a disinterested spirit and grandeur of character worthy of the illustrious church to which they belonged, and which almost make us forget the previous corruptions which had been instrumental in producing the Revolution. The Pope had expressly refused his sanction to the civil constitution of the clergy, as established by the Assembly, and written to two of the bishops to that effect. In addition to this, a consistory had been held of the whole bishops in France, by whom it was, by a large majority, agreedone archbishop and four bishops only dissenting,*-that 489. Abbé they would not take the oath to be faithful to the constiGeorg. 39, tution, as it vested the whole nomination of priests and Exam. de bishops in a simple numerical majority of their several parishes or dioceses, to the entire exclusion of the appointment or control of the church. It had become, therefore, a matter of conscience with the clergy to refuse the oath.1 Cazalès, in this contest, animated by the greatness of Remarkable the cause he was defending, rose to the highest pitch of prophecy of eloquence, and pronounced a speech which proved to be prophetic. "The clergy, in conformity with the principles of their religion, are compelled to refuse the oath. You may expel them from their benefices; but will that destroy their influence over their flocks? Do you doubt that the bishops, driven from their stations, will excommunicate those who are put in their place? Do you doubt that a 41. Savines la Const. du Civile da Clergé, 169. 60. speech and Cazales on this occa sion. Jan. 28, 1791. * Talleyrand, the Bishops of Lidda, Orleans, and Vivier, and the Archbishop of Aix. VI. 1791. large part of the faithful will remain attached to their CHAP. ancient pastors, to the eternal principles of the church? There is a schism introduced, the quarrels of religion commence the people will come to doubt the validity of the sacraments; they will fear to see disappear from the land that sublime religion which, receiving man in the cradle, and following him to the grave, can alone offer him consolations amidst the vicissitudes of life. Thus will commence the division of the people, the multiplication of the victims of the Revolution. You will see the Catholics, over the whole country, following their beloved pastors amidst forests and caverns: you will see them reduced to the misery and desolation which the Protestant clergy experienced on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Is that a result to be desired of a Revolution which proclaimed peace on earth, good-will towards men? Driven from their episcopal palaces, the bishops will retire to the huts of the cottagers who have sheltered them in their distress. Take from them their golden crosses, and they will find Jan. 28, others of wood; and it was by a cross of wood that the Lab. v. 53. world was saved."1 1 Moniteur, 113; and duct of the clergy in oath. When the fatal day arrived, fixed for the final taking 61. of the oath by the bishops and dignified clergy in the Noble conAssembly, a furious multitude surrounded the hall, exclaiming, "To the lanterne! to the lanterne with all refusing the who refuse!" The Abbé Maury raised his powerful Jan 4. voice in the last extremity, but he was interrupted by incessant cries. "Strike; but hear me!" exclaimed the intrepid champion of the church; but it was all in vain. Swear! swear!" resounded on all sides; and the grayhaired heads of the French church came forth. The Bishop of Agen was the first called: he had never before spoken in the Assembly, and it was with great difficulty he could obtain a hearing. "Swear or refuse!" was the universal cry of the galleries. "I feel no regret," said he "at the loss of my preferment; I feel no regret for the loss of my fortune; but I should feel regret, indeed, if I |