XI. 1793. Already this effect has become conspicuous. The talents, CHAP. the vigour, the energy of the Jacobins, are forgotten in the blood which stained their triumphs; the guilty ambition, the imprudent zeal, the irresolute conduct, the inexperienced credulity of the Girondists, are lost in the Roman heroism of their fall. The Reign of Terror, the night of the Revolution, was of short duration; the stars which were extinguished in its firmament only turned the eyes of the world with more anxiety to the coming dawn. But the eloquence of Vergniaud, the devotion of Charlotte Corday, the heroism of Madame Roland, have made a lasting impression upon the world; and while history, which records the dreadful evils which their impetuous declamations produced upon their country, cannot absolve them from the imputation of rash and perilous innovation, of reckless and guilty ambition, it must respect some of the motives which led even to errors, whose consequences were then in a great degree unknown, and venerate the courage with which, in the last extremity, they met their fate. CHAPTER XII. THE WAR IN LA VENDEE XII. 1793. 1. character of Revolution. THE French Revolution was a revolt not only against CHAP. the government and institutions, but the opinions and the belief of former times. It was ushered in by an inundation of scepticism and infidelity; it was attended by Irreligious unexampled cruelty to the ministers of religion; it led to the French the overthrow of every species of devotion, and the education of a generation ignorant even of the first elements of the Christian faith. When the French soldiers approached the cradle of our religion, when they beheld Mount Carmel and Nazareth, when they visited the birthplace of Christ, and saw from afar the scene of his sufferings, the holy names inspired them with no emotion; they gazed on them only as Syrian villages, unconnected either by history or tradition with any interesting recollections. The descendants of Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse, of those who perished in the service of the holy sepulchre, viewed the scenes of the Crusaders' glory with indifference; and names at which their forefathers would 1 Lav.i. 372. have thrilled with emotion, designated for them only the abodes of barbarous tribes.1 2. Origin of But it was not in the nature of things, it was not the intention of Providence, that this prodigious Revolution the religious should be effected without a struggle, or the Christian La Vendée faith obliterated for a time from a nation's thoughts, withlution. out a more desperate contest than the dearest interest of resistance in to the Revo XII. 1793. present existence could originate. Such a warfare accord- CHAP. ingly arose, and was marked, too, with circumstances of deeper atrocity than even the Reign of Terror or the rule of Robespierre. It began, not amidst the dignity of rank, or the lustre of courts; not among those distinguished by their knowledge, or blessed by their fortune, but among the simple inhabitants of a remote district; among those who had gained least by the ancient institutions, and perilled most in seeking to restore them. While the nobility of France basely fled on the first appearance of danger, while the higher orders of the clergy, in a few instances, betrayed their religion by their pusillanimity, or disgraced it by their profligacy; the dignity of patriotism, the sublimity of devotion, appeared amidst the simplicity of rural life; and the peasants of La Vendée set an example of heroism which might well put their superiors to the blush, for the innumerable advantages of fortune which they had misapplied, and the vast opportunities of usefulness which they had neglected. It was there, too, as in the first ages of Christianity, that the noblest examples of religious duty were to be found; and while the light of reason was unable to restrain its triumphant votaries from unheard-of excesses, and stained with blood the efforts of freedom, the village pastors and uneducated flocks of La Vendée bore the temptations of victory without seduction, and the ordeal of suffering without dismay. 3. and aspect of The district immortalised by the name of La Vendée, embraces a part of Poitou, of Anjou, and of the county of Character Nantes, and is now divided into four departments, those the country. of Loire Inferieure, Maine-et-Loire, Deux-Sêvres, and Vendée. It is bounded on the north by the Loire, from Nantes to Angers; on the west, by the sea; on the south, by the road from Niort to Fontenoy, Luçon, and the Sables d'Olonne; on the east, by a line passing through Brissac, Thouars, Parthenay, and Niort. This space comprehends the whole of what was properly the XII. 1793. CHAP. Seat of the La Vendée contest, and contains eight hundred thousand souls: the Loire separated the district from that which afterwards became so well known from the Chouan wars. It differs, both in its external aspect, and the manners of its inhabitants, from any other province of France. It is composed for the most part of inconsiderable hills, not connected with any chain of mountains, but which rise in gentle undulations from the generally level surface of the country. The valleys are narrow, but of no great depth; and at their bottom flow little clear streams, which glide by a gentle descent to the Loire, or the neighbouring ocean. Great blocks of granite rise up 1 Personal Laroch. 31, at intervals on the heights, and resemble castellated ruins amidst a forest of vegetation. On the banks of the Sêvre, observation. the scenery assumes a bolder character, and that stream 32. Beauch, flows in a deep and rocky bed amidst overhanging des Vend. i. woods; but in the districts bordering on the Loire, the 160, 165. declivities are more gentle, and extensive valleys reward the labours of the cultivator.1 i. 8. Guerres 10. Th. iv. 4. its peculiar The Bocage, as its name indicates, is covered with The Bocage: trees; not indeed anywhere disposed in large masses, character. but surrounding the little enclosures into which the country is subdivided. The smallness of the farms, the great subdivision of landed property, and the prevalence of cattle husbandry, have rendered the custom universal of enclosing every field, however small, with hedges, which are surmounted by pollards, the branches of which are cut every five years for firewood to the inhabitants. Little grain is raised, the population depending chiefly on the sale of their cattle, or the produce of the dairy; and the landscape is only diversified at intervals in autumn by yellow patches glittering through the surobservation. rounding foliage, or clusters of vines overhanging the rocky des Vend. i. eminences. The air in this region is pure, the situa32. Beauch. tion of the farm-houses, overshadowed by aged oaks, or iv. 165, 166. peeping out of luxuriant foliage, picturesque in the ex 2 Personal Guerres 16. Laroch. i. 8, 9. Th. treme. There are neither navigable rivers nor canals, XII. no great roads nor towns, in the district; secluded in CHAP. his leafy shroud, each peasant cultivates his little domain, severed alike from the elegances, the ambition, and the seductions of the world. 1793. 5. The part of La Vendée which adjoins the ocean to the south of the district, and which was formerly buried The Marais. beneath its waves, is called the Marais, and bore a prominent part in this memorable contest. It is perfectly flat, and in great part overspread by salt marshes, which never yield to the force of the sun. This humid country is intersected by innumerable canals, communicating with each other, which are planted with willows, alders, poplars, and other marsh trees, whose luxuriant foliage frequently overshadows the little enclosures. The peasants are never seen without a long pole in their hands, with the aid of which they leap over the canals and ditches with surprising agility. Nothing can be more simple than the habits of the inhabitants. One roof covers a whole family, their cows and lambs, which feed on their little possession; the chief food of the people is obtained from milk, and the fish which they procure in great quantities in the canals with which their country is intersected. The silence and deserted aspect of these secluded retreats -the sombre tint of the landscape, and the sallow complexions of the peasantry, owing to the general prevalence 1 Personal of aguish complaints, give a melancholy air to the country: Larch. 34. but in the midst of its gloom a certain feeling of sublimity Beauch. i.6, is experienced, even by the passing traveller; and in no des Vend. i. part of France did the people give greater proofs of an 166, 167. elevated and enthusiastic character.1 a observation. 7. Guerres 16. Th. iv. 6. which it opposes to an invading A single great road, that from Nantes to Rochelle, traverses the district; another, from Tours to Bordeaux, Obstacles by Poitiers, diverges from it, leaving betwixt them space thirty leagues in extent, where nothing but crossroads are to be found. These cross-roads are all dug out as it were between two hedges, whose branches frequently meet over the head of the passenger; while in winter or army. |