XI. -1793. on the responsibility of the whole Commission, that if CHAP. France is not soon convinced of the existence of a conspiracy to murder many of yourselves, and to establish on the ruins of the Republic the most horrid and degrading despotism-if we do not demonstrate to all the world the existence of this conspiracy, we are ready to lay our heads on the scaffold." He then proposed, as a preliminary measure, a decree ordering all the citizens of Paris to be ready to join their respective sections at a moment's notice, and in the mean time to send two men 'Hist. Parl. from each company, to form a permanent guard for the 186. Moniteur, Mai Convention, and that the assemblies of the sections should 26. close their sittings every night at latest at ten o'clock.1 I xxvii. 185, Marat and bins. This was going to work in the right spirit; for it pro- 51. posed to establish an armed force, to counterbalance that Answer of of which the Jacobins and municipality had the disposal. the JacoThey stoutly denied, therefore, the existence of any conspiracy. "We are called upon," said Marat, "to discuss measures directed against a supposed conspiracy. protest against discussing a motion founded on a fable. I know that you never can cure fear; it is on that account that you never can cure statesmen. But I declare I know of no other conspiracy in France except that of the Girondists." Danton strongly supported the same side. "What is the use," said he, "of additional laws to protect the national representation? The existing laws are amply sufficient for that purpose; all that is wanted is to direct them to the punishment of the really guilty. If guilty men are seized, they will find no defenders the demand for an armed force to protect its sittings betrays fears unworthy of the National Assembly. Can there be a more decisive proof of the efficiency of the existing laws than the fact, that the National Convention is untouched; and that if one member has perished (Lepelletier), he at least was not one of those Hist. Parl. who betrayed any apprehension ?"2 The Convention, however, now seriously alarmed, passed a decree in terms xxvii. 186, 201. XI. CHAP. of the proposal, and, at the same time, another, for improving the composition of the juries for the Revolutionary Tribunal, by taking them from sixteen departments chosen by lot. 1793. 52. ten the Con May 25. These measures, if carried into effect, would have struck Menacing both at the physical force and judicial tyranny of the deputations Jacobins; and therefore they resolved instantly to comvention. mence their insurrections. On the next day, being the 25th May, a furious multitude assembled round the hall of the Convention, and a deputation from the municipality appeared at the bar, demanding in the most threatening terms the suppression of the Commission of Twelve, and the immediate liberation of Hébert, the imprisoned member of the magistracy. Some even went the length of insisting that the members of the Commission should immediately be sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal. "We come," said they, "to denounce a crime committed by the Council of Twelve on the person of Hébert: he is in the prison of the Abbaye. The council-general of the municipality will defend him to the death. These arbitrary arrests are civic crowns for good men." Isnard, the president of the Assembly, a courageous and eloquent Girondist, replied "Listen to my words: if ever the Convention is exposed to danger-if another of those insurrections, which have recurred so frequently since the 10th March, breaks out, and the Convention is outraged by an armed faction, France will rise as one man to avenge our cause, Paris will be destroyed, and soon the stranger will inquire on which bank of the Seine Paris stood." This indignant reply produced, at the moment, a great impression; but crowds of subsequent petitioners, whom Danton strongly supported from the benches of the Mountain, quickly appeared, and restored confidence to the conspirators. Upon the continued refusal of Isnard to order the liberation of Hébert, crowds from the Jacobin benches rose to drag him from his seat; the Girondists thronged to defend him. In the midst of the XI. 1793. 1 Hist. Parl. tumult, Danton, in a voice of thunder, exclaimed-" So CHAP. much impudence is beyond endurance: we will resist you let there be no longer any truce between the Mountain and the base men who wished to save the tyrant. If there had been no ardent men there would have been no Revolution. The small number of con- xxvii. 221. spirators will soon be revealed; the French people will Moniteur, save themselves; the mask has fallen from the faces of Mig. i. 262. those who have so often sworn to defend it, but who now Th. iv. 213. strive only to save the aristocrats. France will rise and x. 289,292. prostrate its enemies."1 26. Lac. ii. 69. Deux Amis, 53. contest in tion, and of Hébert, The deputies from the municipality retired on that occasion, without having obtained what they desired; Desperate but they were resolved instantly to proceed to insurrec- the Convention. All the remainder of the 25th, and the whole of liberation the 26th, was spent in agitation, and exciting the people May 27. by the most inflammatory harangues. Such was the success of their efforts that, by the morning of the 27th, eight-and-twenty sections were assembled to petition for the liberation of Hébert. The Commission of Twelve could only rely on the support of the armed force of three sections; and these hastened, on the first summons, to the support of the Convention, and ranged themselves, with their arms and artillery, round the hall. But an immense multitude crowded round their ranks; cries of "Death to the Girondists!" resounded on all sides; and the hearts even of the most resolute began to quail before the fury and menacing conduct of the great majority of the people. The Girondists with difficulty maintained their ground against the Jacobins within the Convention and the furious multitude who besieged its walls, when Garat, the minister of the interior, entered, and deprived them of their last resource, the necessity of unbending firmness. When called upon to report upon the state of Paris, he declared That he saw no appearance of a conspiracy; that he had met with nothing but respect from the crowd which surrounded the Assembly; and that the only 1793. CHAP. perfidious design which he believed existed, was to divide, XI. by the dread of chimerical dangers, two parties, equally desirous of promoting the public welfare." In making this report, Garat had been deceived by Pache, mayor of Paris, a furious and hypocritical Jacobin, of the most dangerous character. France had reason then to lament the retirement of the more clear-sighted Roland from his important office. Struck dumb by this extraordinary and unexpected report, which appeared accountable only on the supposition of the defection of the minister of the interior, the Girondists, for the most part, withdrew from the Assembly, and the courageous Isnard was replaced in the president's chair by Hérault de Séchelles. Yielding to the clamour which besieged the legislature, he declared the force of reason and of the people are the same thing; you demand a magistrate in detention, the representatives of the people restore him to you." The motion was then put, that the Commission of Twelve should be abolished, and Hébert set at liberty; it was xxvii. 267, carried at midnight, amidst shouts of triumph from the ii. 69. Mig. mob, who constituted the majority, by climbing over the iv. 214, 221. rails, and voting on the benches of the Mountain with the Jacobins,1 1 Deux Amis, x. 294, 295, Hist. Parl. 276. Lac. i. 263. Th. 54. Ashamed of the consequences of their untimely deserThe decree tion of the Convention, the Girondists, on the following reversed day, assembled in strength, and reversed the decree, for which is next day. May 28. extorted by force on the preceding evening. Lanjuinais in an especial manner distinguished himself in this debate, which was tumultuous and menacing to the very last degree. "Above fifty thousand citizens," said he, "have already been imprisoned in the departments, by orders of your commissioners; more arbitrary arrests have taken place than under the old regime in a whole century; and you have excited all this tumult, because we have put into custody two or three individuals who openly proclaimed murder and pillage. Your commissaries are proconsuls, who act far from you, and without СНАР. XI. 1793. your knowledge; and your whole jealousy is centred on the Commission placed under your eyes, and subject to your immediate control. On Sunday last it was proposed at the Jacobins to have a general massacre in Paris; to-night the same proposal is to be brought forward at the Cordeliers, and the electoral club of the Evêché: the proofs of the conspiracy are ready; we offer them to you, and yet you hesitate-you protect only assassins covered with blood." At these words the Mountain drowned the voice of the speaker, and Legendre threatened to throw him headlong from the Tribune. "Yesterday," said Danton, you did an act of justice; beware of departing from its example. If you persist in asserting the powers you have usurped; if arbitrary imprisonments continue; if the public magistrates are not restored to their functions, after having shown that we surpass our enemies in moderation and wisdom, we will show that we surpass them in audacity and revolutionary vigour." But the intrepid Lanjuinais kept his ground; and the decree of the preceding day was reversed by a majority of fifty-one. The Jacobins instantly broke out into the most furious exclamations. "You have violated the Rights of Man," said Collot d'Herbois; "tremble! we are about to follow your example; they shall not serve as a shield to tyrants. Throw a veil over the statue of Liberty, so impudently placed in the midst of your hall; we will not incur the guilt of any longer restraining the indignation of the people." "It is time," said Danton, "that the people should no longer be restrained to a defensive system. They must attack the Moderate leaders; it is time that we should advance in our career, and secure the destinies 296, 297. of France. Paris has always been the terror of the xxvii. 286, enemies of liberty. Paris has once conquered; it will 223, 224. conquer again." 6 The agitation, which had begun to subside after the victory of the preceding evening, was renewed with 1 Deux Amis, x. Hist. Parl. 291. Th. iv. |