Book _.J a Wl COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT I DANTON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Danton From a portrait said to have been painted by David DANTON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BY CHARLES F. WARWICK AUTHOR OF MIRABEAU AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION PHILADELPHIA GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY PUBLISHERS LIBRARY of CONGRESS 0n t iiutiy deceived $AY 6 ™0H Glit/yit*rt" cmry CU33 A AXc No, f COPY 6. Ys. ry *6 J>%W -.. Copyright, igo8 By George W. Jacobs &* Co. Published April, 1908 All Rights Reserved Printed in U. S. A PREFACE When " Mirabeau and the French Revolu- tion " was published, I stated that it would be followed in turn by the Lives of Danton and Robespierre, that it was my purpose to trace briefly the causes of the Revolution and group its principal events around these men who were the manifestation of the Revolution in its three dis- tinctive periods. Although each book will be separate and complete in itself, the three volumes will form a series covering the entire period of the Revolution. Charles F. Warwick. Philadelphia, February, 1908. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE Mirabeau and Danton 17 CHAPTER II Danton's Birth — Arcis sur Aube — Political, Religious and Social Conditions in France 22 CHAPTER III Home Influences of Danton — School Days — The Coro- nation of Louis XVI 35 CHAPTER IV Danton Chooses Law as His Profession — Comes to the Bar — Marries — Avocat aux Conseils du Roi — His Studies — Camille Desmoulins 45 CHAPTER V Conditions Immediately Prior to the Revolution — Reveillon Affair — Louis XVI — His Ministers — His Habits — His Character 53 CHAPTER VI Advisers of the King — The Queen — The Finances — Revolutions Begin at the Top 70 CHAPTER VII Danton in the Early Days of the Revolution — The Af- fair of Soules — Marat — The Incident of Marat — Early Events of the Revolution JJ 9 CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII p AGE Death of Mirabeau — Louis Attempts to go to St. Cloud — Danton Intervenes — The Flight of the Royal Family to Varennes 102 CHAPTER IX Paris After the Flight of the King — La Fayette in Peril — La Fayette Denounced by Danton at the Jacobins 127 CHAPTER X Return of the King to Paris 137 CHAPTER XI Danton Favors a Republic — Danton Urges Depo- sition of the King — Republican Society Proclaims Republic — The Assembly Decrees the Inviolability of the King — The Club of the Cordeliers Issues Public Address — Fusillade of the Champ de Mars.. 149 CHAPTER XII Convocation of the New Assembly — King's Return to Popularity — Reactions in His Favor — His Ad- visers — His Deception — Marie Antoinette — Return of Danton From Exile 165 CHAPTER XIII The Feuillants — The Club of the Cordeliers Where Danton Ruled — The Girondins — Madame Roland — War Issues — Danton After Some Hesitation Favors the War — Vetoes — Dumouriez — Danton and Dumouriez 176 CHAPTER XIV Death of Leopold — Assassination of Gustavus III, King of Sweden — Francis II Makes Proclamation — Danton Hurls Defiance — War Declared April 21, 1792 — Defeat of the French Troops — Death of Gen- 10 CONTENTS PAGE eral Dillon — Deputies From Marseilles Present Peti- tion to the Assembly — Day of the Black Breeches — Petion 193 CHAPTER XV La Fayette Comes to Paris — La Fayette — Danton and La Fayette 209 CHAPTER XVI The Marseillais — The Marseillaise Hymn — Lamourette Kiss — The Day of Federation 220 CHAPTER XVII Enlistment — Proclamation of the Duke of Brunswick — Marseillais enters Paris — Brush With the Filles St. Thomas 226 CHAPTER XVIII The Tenth of August 238 CHAPTER XIX Danton's Activity — Longwy Capitulates — Domiciliary Visits 256 CHAPTER XX The September Massacres 264 CHAPTER XXI Paris During the Revolution — Manners — Customs — Conditions — The Guillotine 277 CHAPTER XXII Was Danton Responsible for the September Massa- cres? — La Fayette Abandons His Command — Du- mouriez Named His Successor — Cannonade of Valmy — Danton's Energy — Duke de Chartres — Dumouriez in Paris 295 11 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII PAGE Girondins and Jacobins — Louvet's Accusation of Robespierre 307 CHAPTER XXIV Victory of Jemappes — Girondins Propose Opening of the Scheldt — Edmund Burke — England Joins Coali- tion — Danton Visits Belgium — Death of Danton's Wife 315 CHAPTER XXV Finding of the Iron Chest — Louis Summoned to the Bar 326 CHAPTER XXVI Trial of Louis XVI 334 CHAPTER XXVII Execution of Louis XVI 343 CHAPTER XXVIII Danton Opposes Factional Strife — The Treason of Dumouriez — Lasource Attacks Danton — The Reply of Danton 353 CHAPTER XXIX Danton — Marat's Arrest and Triumph — Girondins — Charlotte Corday — Assassination of Marat — Execu- tion of Charlotte Corday — Marriage of Danton — Trial and Execution of Marie Antoinette 362 CHAPTER XXX Trial and Execution of Girondins — Execution of Madame Roland, Philippe, d'Orleans, Barnave, Bailly — Dethronement of Religion — Danton Favors Reaction 385 12 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXXI PAGE Trial of the Dantonists 400 CHAPTER XXXII Execution of the Dantonists 418 CHAPTER XXXIII Danton — His Appearance — His Style of Dress — His Character — His Religious Belief — Was He Venal? — Politician — Statesman — Orator — His Short Polit- ical Career — Results of the French Revolution 423 13 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Danton. The original portrait in the possession of the family is said to have been painted by David Frontispiece House of the Danton Family at Arcis sur Aube 24 Danton's Mother 36 Camille Desmoulins 50 Louis XVI. From an engraving by Bervic after the original portrait painted by Callet 60 Marie Antoinette. From an engraving in the col- lection of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia, by whom it was kindly loaned for this work 72 Marat. From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia 80 Madame Roland. From an engraving in the collec- tion of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia 180 Princess de Lamballe 274 Dr. Guillotin. From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia 288 Charlotte Corday. From an engraving in the col- lection of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia. After a portrait painted by David 374 F AC -SIMILE OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY DANTON. The original is in the possession of William J. Latta, Esq., of Philadelphia, by whom it was kindly loaned for this work 438 15 DANTON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION CHAPTER I MIRABEAU AND DANTON The death of Mirabeau marked the end of the first period of the French Revolution. He had struggled hard against heavy odds to effect a reaction to restore order and to save the monarchy, but he failed because he could not secure the confidence and the support of those whose cause he had espoused. When he passed away the proud empire of the Bourbons was doomed. The bells that tolled his death rang, at the same time, the knell of the monarchy. Even those who intimately knew him, and were in his confidence, did not comprehend how great was the work he had undertaken and with what marked ability he had carried it forward, not until some time after his death did they realize the fact that there was no one in France who could take up the task where he had laid it down. He had directed the Revolution. To him it had a purpose, which purpose was the correction of abuses, the restriction within constitutional limi- 2 17 DANTON tations of the absolute, the arbitrary power of the king, but not his deposition nor the destruc- tion of the throne. It surely must be admitted by all who have studied the Revolution, that the death of Mira- beau perceptibly gave it a new phase. He had been its manifestation. He had aided in the ac- complishment of all its purposes; its results, in a great measure, were due to his genius and his energy, but he had watched closely the trend of events and with a vision that was far-reaching, almost prophetic, he saw the impending calam- ities that were menacing not only the monarchy, but also the welfare, the integrity, the future interests of all France. He therefore strongly favored a reaction, and bent every effort towards staying the torrent whose flood-gates he had helped to open. When Mirabeau passed out of the Revolution, Danton stepped in. The great tribune was dead, and there strode forth a man with almost super- human power, who was to tear down and destroy that system which Mirabeau would fain have saved. Danton gave to the Revolution a fresh impulse, his courage and his audacity aroused the spirit of the radicals. From now until the execution of the king he was the master. " He rode in the whirlwind and directed the storm." At the time of Mirabeau's death France had lost every feature of a monarchy, save that a king still occupied the throne. The Revolution had leveled the walls of the Bastile, had given a declaration of rights and the form of a consti- i8 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION tution to France, had equalized taxation, had re- moved the burdens of feudalism, had abolished privileges and exemptions, had destroyed titles and distinctions, had introduced a system of economy in the public administration, had scat- tered the nobles, had confiscated the lands of the Church, had proscribed the non-juring priests, had brought the king as a captive from Versailles to Paris, and had put him and his queen in the humiliating position of being held as hostages for the good behavior of the emigrants. There was nothing left for the Revolution to accom- plish but the deposition of the king and the estab- lishment of a republic. It was to these tasks that Danton devoted himself in earnest. Had Mirabeau lived, a combat between him and Danton would most likely have taken place. These two Titans, it is reasonable to believe, had they not united their interests, would have grap- pled in a death struggle for the mastery, and no one can say with certainty what the outcome would have been. But on the other hand, they might have formed a combination that would have resulted in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, for at this period of the Revolution, that is in the early part of 1791, Danton was not so violent in his views as he subsequently became. Mira- beau and Danton, although they differed radi- cally in their political principles, were reasonable, practical, politic, and patriotic, and it is not im- possible to believe that they might have united their efforts in a common purpose to stay the 19 DANTON Revolution and to make secure the reforms that had already been achieved. Danton had been loyal to the monarchy, he was naturally of that conservative class that ad- heres to existing conditions, and fears radical reforms and sudden violent changes. " He was," says Michelet, " of the middle class, the heart of the nation." " He was certainly," declares Gron- lund, " from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot a middle class man, but he was more than that,, he was a middle class man with a heart for the masses." He opposed, of course, the system that created exemptions and privi- leges to be monopolized and enjoyed only by the chosen few. He had no sympathy with the old regime and as a man of spirit and independence he chafed and fretted under the unjust class dis- tinctions that prevailed, but on the other hand he naturally favored law and order and dreaded that violence that suddenly and forcibly wrenches from their ancient foundations those customs, usages, and laws that have long obtained. His education, his social and professional position raised him far above the proletariat, and he had nothing in common with them except a desire to ameliorate their unhappy condition, but this amelioration he hoped to see effected gradually and without a shock or a violent convulsion. In the early stages of the Revolution he no more wished the destruction of the monarchy than Mirabeau. To use his own language, " I am more monarchist than you, M. de La Fay- ette." He was a reformer, a revolutionist of a 20 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION positive type, to be sure, but he believed that a king was as necessary to government in France as in England. He looked askance at M. de Mirabeau ; he " had always from a long way off understood his brother in silk and with the sword," but really they were revolutionists of the same class, and the splendid talents of one united with the force and the superb audacity of the other might have avoided " The Terror." With Mirabeau out of the contest the court could find no substitute to take his place. The French monarchy without the guidance of wis- dom blindly groped its way through darkness to despair and finally plunged headlong to destruc- tion. Achilles was dead and there was no friend nor adviser of the king who had diplomacy enough to secure the aid and the loyalty of Dan- ton, the only man who could have stepped into the shoes and could have worn the mantle of the great tribune. Barnave, Duport and the La- meths, finding the Revolution getting beyond their control, undertook to divert and direct its course by attempting to apply the policies and to carry out the plans of Mirabeau, but they were in no way equal to the task. 21 CHAPTER II DANTON'S BIRTH ARCIS SUR AUBE POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN FRANCE \ George Jacques Danton was born on the 26th day of October, 1759, at Arcis sur Aube, in the Champagne Pouilleuse, about seventeen miles north of Troyes and about one hundred miles from Paris. " His family, pure, honest, of prop- erty, industrious, ancient in name, honorable in manners . . . possessed a rural domain in the environs of that small town." Arcis sur Aube was settled at a very early period and is mentioned in the register called " Antonini Itinerarium," which gave the stations and the distances along the various roads of the Roman empire and which was based probably upon the surveys made by direction of Julius Caesar and continued by Augustus. It had no specially attractive feature except that an old pic- turesque castle situated upon a high bluff over- looked the town and was of historical interest, in that it was at one time the residence of Brune- haut, and at a later period was occupied by the celebrated Diana of Poitiers who had the honor of serving in turn Francis I and Henry II, father and son, as mistress. It was the principal market town and the chief 22 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION commercial centre in that immediate locality, it possessed a fairly prosperous population and en- joyed the advantage of being close enough to the capital of the kingdom to keep in touch with the news and the events of the day. A beautiful church, of the sixteenth century, gave the place some architectural renown. In this country town Danton passed his early years, and it was a good school for the training of a boy who subsequently was to make Paris his home. In this provincial community he had an opportunity to watch the process of disinte- gration as revealed in the social and political Con- ditions that prevailed in the country or peasant districts, and to observe and note those gradual changes that are not so apparent in a populous or crowded city. The date of his birth fell in a very interesting historical period, one of the most important in the history of the human race, an era when men and events were preparing for " the most impas- sioned effort ever made for the attainment of public freedom." When Danton was born, Mirabeau had seen ten years of life ; Robespierre was a baby in arms ; Louis XVI was five, and Marie Antoinette four years old; Camille Desmoulins was to see the light of day in five months, and Napoleon in ten years. Louis XV was on the throne and had been reigning for forty-four years. He had six- teen years yet to rule and riot before being stricken by the fatal 'and loathsome disease that carried him off. Absolutism was in its full vigor, 23 DANTON although perhaps not so assertive as it had been under the prior reign when Louis XIV had de- clared that he was the State. Feudalism was im- bedded in the life, in the very flesh of the people ; its burdens were as grinding and as oppressive as they ever had been. King and noble were virtually not amenable to law, the privileged classes enjoying rights in con- travention of every principle of human justice. The glory and the splendor of Louis XIV, which in a measure had concealed the vices of his reign and had made some atonement for its tyranny, corruption, and extravagance, were but a memory, and in the shadow of the great Louis ruled a king who was without ambition, who shed no lustre, no personal renown upon his times, and whose luxury, sensuality, prodigality, and indif- ference to the public weal, were hastening the country to destruction and the monarchy to its ruin. The aggregate duration of the reigns of these two princes, Louis XIV and Louis XV, was one hundred and thirty-one years, something un- paralleled in history. It was most unfortunate for France that lives so long were vouchsafed to rulers so unworthy and so profligate. Only one-third of the landed property of the entire country was in the hands of the lay com- monalty, all the rest belonged to the Church and the nobles. The taxes too were so unequally dis- tributed that the largest of them, the Taille, yield- ing about 200,000,000 francs, fell almost wholly upon the peasantry, neither the Church nor the vast majority of the nobles paying one sou. The 24 < S3 >< ft Ph c < to Q THE FRENCH REVOLUTION privileged classes consisting of the nobility and the upper clergy numbered about 190,000 per- sons out of a population of twenty-five millions, and these few received and enjoyed all the bene- fits of government. Many of the nobility, because of some trivial service rendered to the king by their ancestors, were relieved entirely from taxation and besides this were extravagantly pensioned out of the pub- lic revenues. These drones actually consumed the substance of the poor. It was calculated that if an acre of land afforded seventy-five francs of gross produce, two-thirds went to the revenue, and after the landlord was paid the wretched farmer or cultivator received about one-half of the remaining third, or twelve and one-half francs. The social and political conditions of the lower classes were in a most deplorable state. Lan- guage cannot fully describe the real wretchedness that prevailed among the peasantry. Men, women and children went barefooted and were scantily clad, even in the dead of winter. They lived on black-bread and " slept on the mud of the cold clay floor," their homes were as comfortless, and often as filthy, as pig-sties. Wages were so low, and in consequence labor was so hard, that men were worn to the bone in earning a mere pit- tance; children were poorly nurtured and com- pelled to toil in their earliest years; women were haggard in feature and grew old long before they reached middle life, being obliged to perform the most servile labor, often actually being used 25 DANTON as beasts of burden. In some districts they were, like oxen, harnessed to the plough and driven to the cart. Agriculture had made no advance from the tenth century, its implements were rude and prim- itive in pattern and construction. The plough differed not a whit from that used in the days of Virgil. The peasant was virtually a serf, he was attached to the soil, he belonged body and soul to the lord of the manor. Although burdened with duties, he had but few if any rights. Under the infamous, iniquitous system of feudalism that existed, he was required to perform, in return for the use of his small strip of land, all sorts of menial and humiliating services, from the swish- ing of the pond to the loaning of his bride, from the patching of the public roads to the plough- ing of the lord's glebe. In an agricultural coun- try, herds of deer and droves of wild boars were permitted to go at large as in a savage wilder- ness, only to provide amusement for the great. When the royal game destroyed the crops of the peasant he had no redress, and if he dared to kill a rabbit or a quail he ran the risk, if the game- keeper caught him in the act, of paying forfeit with his life. If a fox crossed his land he might expect to see, at any moment, a pack of hounds followed by a hunting party of lords and ladies, who would ruthlessly dash across his recently ploughed field or trample down the growing vines in his vineyard. Yet this wretched creature meekly submitted to his lot, paid the bulk of tax- ation, and supported the glory of the empire. No 26 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION wonder, when the time came and the devil was let loose in his heart, that he took vengeance with pike and torch! " The men are dying as thick as flies," wrote Argenson in the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, " and the living are eating grass," and this condition continued with intervals of slight im- provement up to the date of the meeting of the States-General. The fields were bare, the high- ways were deserted, except by armies of tramps and vagrants, the inns were comfortless and without conveniences, there were few carriages or diligences traveling on the public roads, which roads were sadly out of repair. Famine was decimating the population. While the peasants were living on roots and the bark of trees, the aristocracy flaunted their wealth and extrava- gance in the faces of the poor. In the shadows of magnificent palaces and chateaux men literally starved to death. Notwithstanding the financial distress of the country the king abated not a jot of his luxury. He owned more palaces than he could occupy and the expenses of the royal household amounted to 250,000,000 francs annually. There were 300 cooks in the kitchen and over 2,000 horses stand- ing in the stables. Nobles and also churchmen indulged in extravagances and excesses to such a degree that their conduct provoked the bitter hatred of the people and destroyed respect for authority and government and even reverence for holy things. A few years later than the period of which 27 DANTON we are speaking, the Cardinal de Rohan, a prince of the Church, the grand almoner of France who made religion a mockery, declared that it was impossible for him to live on an annual income of less than one million and a half. He indulged in such licentiousness that his example was most demoralizing and yet he was not, by any means, the only churchman who disgraced his calling. The Church, although possessed of nearly half the land in the kingdom and endowed with an immense revenue from tithes alone, assigned a miserable pittance of 500 francs a year to the parochial or working clergy; all the rest was con- sumed in luxurious living by an idle and a disso- lute hierarchy. The administration of the law was venal, was corrupt. The penal code in some of its features was inhuman, and the criminal courts were merciless in prosecuting and punishing those who were unable to temper the severity of the judges with gold. The penalties imposed for the slightest transgressions upon those who were not able to pay for exemptions were cruel and monstrous. The plaintiff obtained entrance to the court by bribery. Justice was a wanton to be won by favors. Arrests were arbitrarily made, and men were immured in dungeons without even the faintest form of trial. One prisoner was con- fined in the Bastile for thirty-five years, and at the time of his release there could be found no record of his commitment. A man merely suspected of a political offense would be seized under a lettre de cachet and would suddenly disappear from his usual haunts 28 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION as if swallowed up by the earth. There was no uniform system of law throughout the kingdom; what was a crime in one district was not so con- sidered in another, and the whole system of judicature was in utter confusion. The cold-blooded insolence of the aristocracy created a consuming hatred in the hearts of the people, a hatred that was deep-seated and vindic- tive and that passed like a heritage from one gen- eration to another, until at last it cruelly avenged with blood the grinding wrongs and the galling tyranny of centuries. The sufferings of the poor did not call forth even the commiseration of the rich. The nobles looked upon the common people as hardly worthy of consideration. Madame de Stael at a later period, in speaking of Napoleon in this connection, said : " II regarde une crea- ture humaine comme un fait on an chose, et non comme an semblable." So the nobles of this period looked upon the common people as mere chattels, and they had no respect for their rights as fellow-men. In the reign of Louis XV the Count de Charolais amused himself by shooting men whom he had employed to work on the roof of his barn, and every time he picked a man off he laughed aloud as he saw his victim roll to the ground; his conduct was in the spirit of brutal wantonness. The matter was brought to the no- tice of the king who sent word to the count that if he repeated the offense, he would pardon anyone who killed him. But there was no arrest, nor prosecution of the count, the authorities allowed the matter to end here. What justice could the 29 DANTON people expect from such a monarch and under such a system? Most inhuman were the punishments inflicted upon those who assailed royalty. A man had written some satirical lines on the king's mis- tress. The agents of his majesty seized the cul- prit at the Hague and in violation of every prin- ciple of international law, carried him to France and cast him into a cell below the sea level of Mont St. Michel. Here he lived or rather ex- isted for eight years, in a stone hole in which he could neither stand upright nor lie down at full length, the cell being less than five feet long, but four feet wide, and three feet high. The sunlight penetrated the cavern only one hour during the entire day. In this hole he was attacked by rats and it was said that he sustained life by eating them. But in time he was so weakened by con- finement that he was unable to resist them and the hungry rodents at last began nibbling at his toes and soon he was devoured. Damiens, who assaulted the king and merely scratched his royal person, underwent a punish- ment so brutal that the heart sickens in the recital of its details. It was not much of a wound that was inflicted, it was not " so deep as a well nor so wide as a church door," but it was enough to bring down on the head of the culprit all the vengeance of the State. It might have been better for the poor wretch had he accomplished his purpose, for he could not have been tortured worse had he killed the king outright. The tyranny of a king is as much treason 30 ,THE FRENCH REVOLUTION against the sovereignty of the people as the re- bellion of the people is against the sovereignty of a king. It required a revolution to vitalize this thought and to bring tyrants and potentates to a sense of personal accountability. Superstition, bigotry, and intolerance, were on every hand. Religious persecution was relentless. Protestants or those who harbored them were punished remorselessly. One woman was sen- tenced to three years of imprisonment and sub- jected to a heavy fine simply because she spoke a kindly word to a dying heretic. A man was sent to the galleys for having so far forgotten his loyalty to the Church as to attend a Prot- estant service. A boy was arrested for having mutilated a crucifix. There was no proof that he had committed the offense, but it was shown, in the course of the trial, that he had read a book of Voltaire's. This was sufficient to con- trol the judgment of the court and the poor lad was tortured till his bones cracked and life was almost extinct. To complete the infamy, he was then decapitated and his head was set up on a post as a warning to the faithful not to stray from the paths of orthodoxy. Such were the conditions that prevailed at the time Danton first saw the light of day, and they grew but little better as he advanced towards manhood. These were the events that were brew- ing the Revolution and they explain why in its character it was so vindictive and retributive. Meanwhile society was undergoing a change and men were beginning to long and strive for 31 DANTON better things. General education was developing the human mind and opening the avenues to knowledge. The printing press was at work, people were thinking, reading, discussing. The Revolution was made by books, some one has well said. Michelet declares that when Voltaire and Rousseau, the apostles of humanity, passed away the revolution in the intellectual world was accomplished. Montesquieu's " Spirit of the Laws," appeared in 1748; its aphorisms, though trite to-day, were new and startling then, and aroused in the French heart a longing for a constitutional liberty under which the humblest citizen in the land would be as secure in the enjoyment of his rights as the king himself. Helvetius, whose great work "De 1'Esprit" was published in 1758, was a philosopher of the so-called sensuous school, a direct descendant of Epicurus. In his materialism he deprived man of all spirituality and brought him to the level of the brute. He taught that pleasure is the only good and self-interest the only consideration. In an age so corrupt his teachings exerted a great in- fluence and were congenial to a people and a court that could tolerate a Pompadour and a Du- Barry. At the time of Danton's birth, Voltaire was in the heyday of his power; and in the full vigor of his intellect he was satirizing the follies of the day and with his trenchant pen was attacking tyranny, injustice, superstition, bigotry, and in- tolerance. Never did a writer exert a greater 32 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION influence upon his age. The vices of both Church and State were cowering beneath his merciless assaults. He was the philosopher of Iconoclasm and under his terrific blows the idols of the past were broken and shattered. Rousseau at this time was dreaming of his Utopia and arousing a sentiment in the hearts of men for a common brotherhood. He was an egoist and a morbid sentimentalist who professed a love for mankind, yet abandoned his own chil- dren. Voltaire had no cant, but Rousseau was full of it. About this time he was writing his " Contrat Social," " which preluded the doctrines of the Revolution " and which was to aid in de- stroying the influence, the power, and the priv- ileges of the old order. It contended that society was founded on convention and that all men un- der that original contract were equal before the law. The character of Danton was molded un- der the teachings of Voltaire, while Rousseau had no more devoted disciple, no one who was more a reflex of his sentiments than Robespierre. Diderot with his co-laborers was compiling the Encyclopedia, that great storehouse of informa- tion, and imbuing the thought of the nation with his wild ideas and theories of democracy. " Until a king is dragged to Tyburn," he declared, " with no more pomp than the meanest criminal, the people will have no conception of liberty. The law is nothing unless it be a sword suspended over our heads without distinction and leveling all who elevate themselves above the horizontal plane in which it circles." " Had there been no 3 ZZ DANTON Diderot," says Lord Lytton, " there would have been no Marat." The Encyclopedia was a monu- ment of learning and the greatest thinkers of the day added their contributions to this remarkable work, writing upon the topics to which they had devoted their lives. No one can estimate the effect it produced on the public mind. It was of itself an inducement to revolution. It was the womb of sedition. 34 CHAPTER III HOME INFLUENCES OF DANTON — SCHOOL DAYS — THE CORONATION OF LOUIS XVI The influences that surrounded Danton's early home life were refining. His father, whose Christian name was Jacques, was a lawyer by pro- fession. He was prociircnr in the bailiwick of Arcis. It was his duty to present the cases and the accused to the local court, an office somewhat resembling that of prosecuting attorney in our day. The office was of no little importance and gave to the incumbent social quality and political distinction. His income was from ten thousand to ten thousand five hundred francs per year. An income that, if it did not furnish the luxuries of life, enabled him at least to live comfortably. He died in 1762 leaving two sons and two daughters. George Jacques at that time was two and a half years old. Danton's mother's name was Marie Madeleine and her family was of the class of skilled artisans, her social rank being somewhat below that of her husband, who as we have seen was of the pro- fessional class. Madame Danton after the death of her husband had means sufficient, by the exer- cise of strict economy, to retain the family home- 35 DANTON stead and to provide for the education of her children. About eight years after the death of M. Danton she married a cotton manufacturer named Jean Ricordain, who is said to have been a good husband to her and a kind father to her children. George Jacques was a robust, rollicking lad; mettlesome, high-spirited, somewhat rebellious, but most affectionate and generous. " He was," says Lamartine, " of an open, communicative dis- position and was beloved in spite of his ugliness and turbulence, for his ugliness was radiant with intellect and his turbulence was calmed and re- pented of at the least caress of his mother." The discipline of the town school was irksome to him and he chafed under its restraints and often when he should have been at his desk he was swim- ming in the Aube. Some writers have drawn the picture of his childhood in the darkest shades, but really the most careful research fails to find any substan- tial facts in the history of his early years to cor- roborate their exaggerated statements. One author goes even so far as to say that while a toddler he had the spirit of the devil in his little heart and had already started on the way to hell. Another calls him a monster in his infancy, stat- ing that he had a passion for gambling, was a truant from school and was " ducking from morning until night in the river and wrestling with the dogs and the pigs in the town gutters." These statements are made to form a ground- work for what his detractors call his subsequent 36 ma& Danton's Mother From an old print THE FRENCH REVOLUTION career of crime, and thus to show that the boy was father to the man. No doubt he was like most active, healthy boys of his age, full of fun and frolic and with a spirit of adventure and insubordination; but that he was vicious or exceptionally bad is not and can- not be vouched for by any reliable authority. " He was," asserts. Lamartine, " rebellious against discipline, idle at study, beloved by his masters and fellow pupils; his rapid comprehension kept him on an equality with the most assiduous. His instinct sufficed without reflection. He learned nothing; he acquired all H's companions caned him Catiline; he accepted the name and some- times played with them at getting up rebellions and riots which he excited or calmed by his har- angues, as if he were rehearsing at school the characters of his after life." When quite young Danton was attacked by that dreadful scourge, smallpox, a disease that in those days ravaged every community and that completely baffled the skill of the medical pro- fession. It seems to have raged with special vio- lence in France and the public authorities adopted no precautionary measures that prevented the spread of this most spiteful epidemic. Many of the most distinguished men of that period were scarred with its venomous touch. Danton also had an encounter with a bull which resulted in giving him a hare lip. One story is that when he was a baby and while being suckled by a cow, a jealous bull interfered and gashed his face. Some years after, perhaps to avenge the 37 DANTON former assault made upon him, he had a personal encounter with the same beast and came out of the contest with triumph, but with a crushed nose. The injuries to the bull are not recorded. An- other story goes that he was badly tusked by a savage boar. Though these scars and wounds greatly in- creased his ugliness they appear to have added strength to his countenance. " In spite of all these misfortunes there was a commanding qual- ity and rugged charm about his face which gen- erally commended it to those with whom he came in contact." In the town school at Arcis he was taught the Latin elements and laid a good foundation for a subsequent classical education. After leaving this school he entered the lower seminary at Troyes, an institution under the direction of the Oratorians, a religious order that had the honor of training so many of the popular reformers who helped in the regeneration of France. Here Danton was grounded in Greek as well as in Latin and specially trained in the history and the philosophy of the ancients. This system of edu- cation had long obtained in France and natu- rally imbued in the hearts of the students a love for freedom, in accordance with Roman forms, and at the same time inspired an admiration for the principles of Roman democracy and the austere virtues of the old Roman citizen. There was no student in France under this course who was not impressed by the characteristics that had made the republic of Rome great. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The entire literature of the country also was affected by this system that made a special and patient study of the ancient writers. The drama especially, with its unities, was essentially classic. Desmoulins, the greatest journalist of the Revolution, was peculiarly a Latinist and possessed a style as concise and as incisive as that of Tacitus. The leading orators in the National Assembly formed their styles on Roman models and it was this very classicism that gave a peculiar and dignified charm to the oratory of that period. Their frequent quotations from the Latin authors show what a deep impression the literature of the ancients had made upon them. The oratory of Barnave, Vergniaud, and Isnard was especially Roman in style modeled on the majestic elo- quence of the forum, while the carefully written speeches of Robespierre reveal, in almost every line, the traces of his classical education. Hardly ever was there a speech made in the Assembly that the speaker did not indulge in classical allusions. The Capitol and the Tar- peian Rock were shaken from their foundations, while Caesar and Brutus were mustered into service upon every occasion. Of course this con- stant reference, in the debates, to the Greeks and the Romans became at times monotonous and subjected the stilted, bombastic orators of the second class to frequent ridicule, but the real orators controlled by a refined and scholarly taste enriched and adorned their speeches by apt quotations. 39 DANTON Even down to the days of the First Empire this classical spirit prevailed. The eagles of Napo- leon were snatched from the standard bearers of the great Caesar. France borrowed Justinian's code and upon it framed her own. In no other state of modern times, indeed, has the influence of Rome been felt to so marked a degree as in France and this is to be attributed, no doubt, to the curricula of her schools and colleges. Danton was an exception to the rule. His oratory was rough-hewn and forceful but with- out polish; it was characteristic of the man rather than of any school or of any age. The same thing may be said of Mirabeau. These two men were original, not imitative, and it never occurred to them to form their oratory upon any particular style. Their genius was not tram- meled nor circumscribed by any rules. During Danton's last term at the seminary of Troyes in the summer of 1775, when he was sixteen years of age, the coronation of Louis XVI took place. He made up his mind that he would witness this celebration for he was anxious to see how a king was made. He was yet to learn how to unmake one. He borrowed money from his schoolfellows sufficient to last him for the journey and without asking permis- sion from his teachers, he set out afoot and trudged across the country, a distance of seventy miles, to the ancient, historic cathedral town of Rheims. A stout, hearty lad accustomed to ex- ercise and the sports of the campus had little regard for the distance. To him, light-hearted THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and gay, released from his studies, the journey was a delightful vacation and the truant was as merry as a lark. Rheims, about eighty miles northeast from Paris, is an ancient town, rich in historic asso- ciations. It was renowned as the place where the kings of France were crowned. The cathe- dral of Notre Dame, in which the coronations occurred, is most impressive in its architectural lines. Its fagade has been pronounced by those competent to judge as one of the most perfect masterpieces of the Middle Ages. The interior of the church is sombre and impressive in color, its " Storied windows richly dight, Casting a dim religious light/' create an atmosphere of reverence and pious devotion. It is adorned with tapestries, marbles, and paintings of inestimable worth, and con- tains some of the most valuable art treas- ures of the centuries. A long line of kings from the earliest days had been anointed, and consecrated within the walls of this sacred edifice. Clovis, after his victory at Soissons, is said to have been baptized on the spot where the cathedral stands. The kings of the second and third dynasties were anointed here with the sacred oil which a dove had brought from heaven. This pleasing legend was by the faith- ful implicitly believed and the oil was conse- quently guarded with the most pious care. Here Joan of Arc, holding the standard of France, 41 DANTON stood by the side of Charles VII when the diadem of his fathers was placed upon his brow. Louis XVI was crowned with no less pomp than his ancestors, the ceremony being unusu- ally magnificent. The time, the place, the splen- dor of the occasion u*kst have appealed to the poetic temperament of the boy visitor from Troyes. The grandeur and the glory dazzled his imagination; the excited, exultant throngs aroused his enthusiasm. Incense and music filled the air. Bishops, priests and nobles in their gorgeous robes and costumes gave resplendent beauty to the scene, but all this glory was monopolized by royalty, the nobility, and the hierarchy. The people had no place nor part in this magnificent pageant ex- cept as mere onlookers and claquers. Danton as a spirited, an independent lad may have felt rebellion rising in his heart. What rea- son was there, he probably asked, for all this power to be centred in a king who came to the throne by the mere accident of birth and whose authority to rule was founded on conquest and usurpation, and strengthened by centuries of mis- rule and tyranny? In imagination, had he looked back through the dim vista of ages, he could have seen a crowd of mighty kings marching in stately and solemn procession through the broad aisles and under the groined arches of this grand old cathedral, to be crowned, sceptred, and anointed. But what had they done for the uplifting of the human 42 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION race? What had they accomplished in the mat- ter of the education, enlightenment and better- ment of their people? In many instances they as tyrants had misruled the state, had imposed burdens on the poor, and had granted privileges to the rich. They had debased the peasant and had exalted the noble; they had squandered the public revenues in personal extravagance; they had waged wars for the acquisition of territory to which they could lay no just claim, or for the gratification of mere selfish ambition. What had Danton, a child of the people, in common with such a system? What meaning was there to him in all this " boast of heraldry " and " pomp of power ? " How could such a ceremony as he witnessed arouse his ardor and enthusiasm except in so far as the future prom- ised better things? In this connection it was said that Louis XVI was more virtuous, more amiable and less selfish and ambitious than the majority of his ancestors had been, and that his reign would be a benefaction. No doubt, how- ever, carried away by the enthusiasm of the scene and the event, Danton's voice helped to swell the cry of " long live the king," that king whose life in the course of time he was to shorten. It is possible that Louis, while going to the church or returning therefrom, may have seen in the crowd the ugly scarred face of that lusty country lad who in seventeen years was to over- turn the throne and to vote the king's death. Their eyes may have met, but little could they 43 DANTON read the history of the future; it was fortunate for them both that it was a sealed book. Upon Danton's return to school he was given a slight punishment for his truancy. He was soon forgiven, however, and he not only amused his companions but also interested his teachers by giving descriptions ot the scenes he had wit- nessed. The feature of the ceremony which seemed to have impressed him the most was the liberating in the church, after the king had taken the oath, of a great number of birds. " Pretty liberty that," he said, " to flutter between four walls without a crumb to eat or a straw for a nest!" 44 CHAPTER IV DANTON CHOOSES LAW AS HIS PROFESSION COMES TO THE BAR MARRIES AVOCAT AUX CONSEILS DU ROI HIS STUDIES CAMILLE DESMOULINS Danton left the Seminary of Troyes in 1775 when he was sixteen years of age. From this time until 1780 but little is known of his life or occupations. He had an uncle in the priesthood living at Barberey who intended to have him enter the Church, but he strongly objected to this plan and after a family consultation on the matter, as was usual in those days, it was decided that he should adopt the law as his profession. The Church lost a jolly priest and a robust defender. In his twenty-first year, in 1780, he was ap- prenticed to a solicitor in Paris named Vinot. Under this preceptor, he served as a clerk for four years, and became familiar with the prac- tice of the courts. In 1785 he came to the bar; he was registered at Rheims but immediately returned to Paris where he began his professional career. At this time he was described as being robust, eloquent, and very industrious; he loved a joke, had a hearty contagious laugh, was a good companion, and enjoyed the pleasures of the table, He 45 DANTON swore stoutly, but his oaths were used for em- phasis rather than in sheer vulgar profanity. Riouffe, referring to him at a later period, says every sentence he spoke in the Conciergerie was interlarded with oaths and obscene expressions; yet the same writer records sentences that were noble and lofty in thought and absolutely free from such disfigurement. He was not an idealist nor a dreamer; he was practical in every sense of the word, and sought substantial results. He consequently made rapid progress in his profession. One of his first cases after coming to the bar was a suit arising out of a contention between a shepherd and his lord. The young advocate won the cause as counsel for the shepherd by a strong argument and an eloquent appeal. In manner Danton was independent and some- what arrogant towards those whom he did not respect. In conversation with one of his old teachers he is said to have denounced the servile, obsequious conduct of the lawyers who paid court to the solicitors and the judges. " As for me," he said, " barbarian that I am, I confess I can- not put up with all these servilities of civiliza- tion. By temperament I am unable to indulge in such sycophancy, I am stifled by such an at- mosphere. My lungs need a purer air to breathe." At this time his step-father, M. Ri- cordain, became involved financially and Danton in the generosity of his nature gave all he had to relieve the family from its embarrassment. After practicing in the lower courts for two 46 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION years he became one of the " Avocats aux C out- sells du Roi," who were seventy-three in number and permitted to practice in the Court of Chancery. To attain this grade, recognized as the highest in the profession, a rigid examination was required, after a specified term of practice as attorney at the bar. It also required the payment of a considerable sum of money. It was in the nature of a purchasable office and brought dis- tinction and opportunity. Just before his ad- mission to practice in the Court of Chancery he married Antoinette Gabrielle Charpentier, the daughter of the proprietor of the Cafe de l'ficole, a students' restaurant in the district of the Cordeliers. The marriage was a union of love. The bride's parents gave her a dowry or dot of 20,000 francs. It was with this money that his wife brought him, together with what he had saved and inherited, that he bought the office of " Avocat aux Conseils du Roi/' for sev- enty-eight thousand livres. He had risen rapidly in his profession and his income is said to have been about 25,000 francs per annum, no mean income in those days for a lawyer of only two years' standing at the bar. He was now brought into communication with government officials, the leading solicitors and many representatives of the nobility and the upper classes. It is said that at this period of his life he changed his name to D'Anton, an affectation, if this be true, that seems inconsist- ent with his natural independence. Among his clients were DeBarentin, the minister of justice, 47 DANTON and DeBrienne, the comptroller-general. The former offered him the office of Secretary of Seals, which offer he twice refused, declaring £JgZ± he could not accept the post under prevailing conditions for the period was one that required not modest but radical reforms, for now he added : " We are at the dawn of a revolution.'* Several of his written opinions given in im- portant cases show a considerable knowledge of the law for a man of his years and experience, and reveal as well a remarkable power of close logical analysis. Had he devoted himself ex- clusively to his profession there is every reason to believe, judging from what he had accom- plished in so short a time, that he would have made a great lawyer and would have ranked among the first advocates of France. But the law is a jealous mistress and she demands the undivided attention and devotion of her suitor, and the all-important questions of politics were soon to divert and occupy his mind. Danton had not confined himself to the study of the law alone, for his reading took in a much wider range. When Madame Roland called him illiterate she was either ignorant of the facts, or prejudiced in her judgment. He had acquired a knowledge of the English and Italian tongues and if he did not speak them fluently he read them with ease. He was a fair Greek and a good Latin scholar. Upon the oc- casion of his admission to practice in the Court of Chancery he was required to deliver a Latin oration, the subject of which was " The Moral 48 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and the Political Situation of the Country, in their Relations with the Administration of Jus- tice." He acquitted himself with credit and his paper elicited the warm commendation of the judges. He had studied carefully the Encyclopedia, that vast storehouse of general information, — a liberal education in itself. He had read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations " in the original and was familiar with Shakespeare and Boccaccio in their own tongues. His library consisted of about two hundred volumes, valued at 2,500 francs. In his collection were to be found the works of Shakespeare, Addison, Pope, Dr. John- son, Venuti, Guicciardini, Boccaccio, Ariosto and Metastasio, besides the standard French classics. Strange to say the works of Dante and Milton were not found in his collection. It is said by some authors, however, that he was familiar with the writings of these two great masters. Their sublimity of style and thought must necessarily have appealed to the fervid im- agination of such a man as Danton. In view of his education and his subsequent study and reading, to call him illiterate is to do him a grave injustice. We have brought his life down to 1787, two years before the meeting of the States-General. He was now twenty-eight years of age, in the full vigor of a healthy manhood, and has been described as a Hercules " needing a well turned down collar in which to move his bull neck, his bodily figure stately as well as massive, and more 4 49 1 DANTON careful in his dress than has been generally thought. His voice is powerful and his gestures are bold. He is hot-tempered — easily moved to anger, terrible to an adversary, but easy also to conciliate." He was living happily with his wife whom he loved constantly and devotedly. His practice was growing and he had for clients some of the richest and most influential men in Paris. His income was sufficient for his family wants and enabled him besides to invite occasionally a few choice friends to his table, for he was of a most sociable disposition and loved to chat and linger, far into the night, over a bottle of good wine. Madame Roland in speaking of Danton said that he was, at this time, " a wretched advocate more burdened with debts than with cases, whose wife said she could not have kept house without the help of a guinea a week from her father." This is evidently not true, for he was in receipt of a very comfortable income and far removed from the stress of want. He enjoyed a fair share of the good things of life. His intimate friends were Petion, Brune and Camille Desmoulins. For the last named he had a deep affection which was never broken, and only ended when they went to their death on the scaffold hand in hand. " Thou poor Camille, say of thee what they may, it were but falsehood to pretend one did not al- most love thee, thou headlong lightly-sparkling man." He has been well described as " the flower that grew on Danton." B. Camille Desmoulins was born in Picardy in 50 - ^ mBHsm Camille Desmoulins From an old print THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1760. His father was the lieutenant-general of the bailiwick of Guise. He received a liberal education and by training was a lawyer, but at the beginning of the Revolution adopted jour- nalism as his profession and rose at once to dis- tinction. " As a writer," says Carlyle, " there is nothing French that we have heard of superior or equal to him for these fifty years." He was swarthy in complexion and not very prepossess- ing in appearance, but he was of an ardent and enthusiastic nature, as tender and affectionate in heart as a child, and of a most emotional tem- perament. His love for his wife was one of the romances of the Revolution. Lucile's nature was sweet and lovable and her " gentle figure moves through the blood-red pool of misery of the Reign of Terror as the pale ghost of Fran- cesca da Rimini through the darkness of Dante's Inferno." When Camille was arrested she haunted the prison and begged to share his fate. Ten days after his execution she went to the scaffold and exhibited far more courage and firmness than her husband. Her gospel of life was expressed in her simple verse: "Ma science et mon systcme, Et mes projcts ct mes desirs. Mes plus grands faits, mes doux plaisirs, Tout se reduit a ce mot: J'aime! " Camille early espoused the popular cause and not only reached prominence but rose almost im- mediately to leadership; he "has a place of his 5i DANTON own in the history of the Revolution; there are not many notabler persons in it than he." In July, 1789, in the garden of the Palais Royal, with a brace of pistols in his hands, he harangued the people, summoned them to arms, and urged the attack upon the Bastile. It was from this time that he called himself " the first apostle of Liberty." He afterwards assumed the appellation " Procureur-General de la Lan- terne " — Attorney-General of the Lamp-post. One of his favorite assertions was : " Society is divided into two classes— gentlemen and sans- culottes, and to make the Revolution a success or to establish the Republic, it is necessary to take the purses of the one and to put arms into the hands of the other." What St. Just was to Robespierre, Camille was to Danton. It is to his eternal honor that he suffered death because he favored and advocated a policy of clemency and belonged to the faction of mercy. 52 CHAPTER V CONDITIONS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE REVO- LUTION REVEILLON AFFAIR LOUIS XVI HIS MINISTERS HIS HABITS HIS CHARACTER At this time, 1787, the political condition of France was most unsettled. A spirit of discon- tent was present everywhere, among all classes of people. The finances were in a frightful welter. The ministers as a rule were incapable and apparently had no real conception of the dangers that menaced the future. Louis XV and his harlots had disappeared long ago, but they had left behind them a train of misfortunes that threatened the destruction of the State and a burden of debt that had well- nigh bankrupted the treasury. He had squan- dered upon his pimps and favorites 500,000,000 francs, which amount was not even named in the public accounts, and he bequeathed to his heir a debt of 4,000,000,000 livres. After the death of this dissolute and voluptuous prince reforms were promised and attempted, but the extrava- gance continued and there was no material re- duction in the deficit. The Notables had been summoned twice, but having accomplished noth- ing in the way of relief there was a general de- mand for the convocation of the States-General. 53 DANTON A succession of fatalities greatly augmented the troubles. During the spring and summer of 1788, a se- vere drought prevailed, which seriously damaged the crops, and in addition to this disaster just on the eve of harvest a hail storm devastated the region around Paris from Normandy to Cham- pagne, a distance of sixty leagues. Winter closed in earlier than usual and was of great severity, being the coldest season since 1709, the ther- mometer reaching i8j4° below zero. In De- cember the Seine was frozen over from Paris to Havre. The suffering of the poor was dreadful, food and fuel were scarce and dear. In the spring of 1789 there was a general famine and the people were clamoring for bread. So small was the supply of grain that the government was compelled to order the cutting of 250,000 bushels of rye before the harvest season to feed the troops. The bread sold by the bakers was dark in color and musty or earthy in taste, and not only this, it was so scarce in quantity that the portion sold to each customer had to be limited. The people in the slums began to break into the bread and meat shops and to help themselves. Thus even before the Revolution the mob was trained in the tactics of riot and revolt. It was rumored in the sections of Paris that Reveillon, a manufacturer of wall paper in the faubourg St. Antoine had said that a working man with wife and children could live on fifteen sous a day. The story was false ; he was self-made, had risen 54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION from the ranks of the people, was kindly, gener- ous, and benevolent and even in dull times had kept his men employed. But the mob was in an ugly mood, would listen to no explanation, and in a blind fury destroyed not only the factory of Reveillon but also his residence. He was com- pelled to seek safety in the Bastile, that was so soon to fall, and from the windows of that gloomy fortress he witnessed the sacking of his home. The rioters found some wine in the cel- lar and their intoxication only increased their ferocity; they also discovered a number of bottles filled with a poisonous preparation used in the manufacture of the wall paper, and those who drank this liquid were soon writhing in the agonies of death. The whole section was in a tumult when the troops arrived and a fierce con- flict took place before the mob was dispersed. The slums were seething with riot, crowds of hungry men and women paraded through the streets, and Paris made ready for the Revolu- tion. Ladies and gentlemen returning from the races were compelled to alight from their car- riages and pay obeisance to the rabble. The destruction of Reveillon's factory was the prelude to the Revolution. Now that the Revolution is advancing, and having witnessed the first act in the drama, it will be useful for us to see what manner of man the king is who stands facing the tempest, for much will depend upon the pilot if the ship is to weather the storm. Louis XVI had not come up to the expecta- 55 DANTON tions of the people. At the time of his corona- tion the future was full of promise, but all the hopes of the people had turned to bitter disap- pointments. Madame Roland in her ecstasy wrote at the beginning of his reign : " The ministers are en- lightened and well disposed, the young king is docile and eager for good, the queen amiable and beneficent, the court respectable, the people are obedient, the kingdom is full of resources. Oh, but we are going to be happy ! " Even the shrewd and far-seeing Talleyrand came out of his cynical mood and, carried away by the gen- eral enthusiasm, predicted a glorious era; but " never did so bright a spring precede so stormy an autumn, so dismal a winter." When Louis XVI came to the throne his first minister was Maurepas, an old courtier, stiff, precise, and narrow, who was without talent and had no just comprehension of the spirit of the nation or the genius of the times. A quarrel between him and Marie Antoinette resulted in his dismissal. Thus early it is seen that the queen exerted her sinister influence in public matters over her royal spouse. Turgot, the ablest minister of that period, was too austere in his methods to suit the nobility, who were loath to abate any of the abuses that were sapping the strength, the vitality of the nation, and so they began to conspire for his overthrow. Besides this opposition, he soon fell under the displeasure of the king and the queen, because he was brave enough to insist upon ap- 56 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION plying healing but drastic remedies to the cor- rupt and diseased body politic. His peremptory dismissal dispelled the last hope of reform and the conservative patriotic men of the nation stood aghast as they looked out into the future. Malesherbes, a lawyer of prominence, a states- man of ability, and a man of the loftiest charac- ter, was called to the cabinet. He boldly adopted the policy of Turgot and in consequence was soon requested to surrender his portfolio. Necker tried his hand at unraveling the tangle, but accomplished nothing, because he received no support from the court. Fleury and D'Orm- esson tested their skill at administering the fi- nances but both fell by the way. Calonne, surnamed the necromancer, brilliant, sanguine, of ready invention, with the tricks and the qualities of a mountebank rather than the wisdom and the judgment of a statesman, bor- rowed in every direction as if there was to be no day of final settlement, increased thereby the annual deficit, and plunged the State further into bankruptcy. His policy was that of the spendthrift whose only solution for every finan- cial crisis is to borrow. Since the retirement of Necker he had added 1,646,000,000 francs to the public debt. It was during his administra- tion that sums so vast were squandered on Trianon, that St. Cloud was purchased for the queen, and that Louis was induced to buy, at an exorbitant figure, the palace of Rambouillet. The courtiers, like an army of beggars, flocked around this genial and generous minister who 57 DANTON cast upon them showers of gold. Gifts, per- quisites, pensions were lavished on every hand. He paid the debts of royal prodigals and honored the most unreasonable demands. His career ended in disgrace and he went into exile amidst the execrations of the very profligates who had been the recipients of his bounty and had joined with him in depleting the treasury. Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse, who had long sought political preferment but whose ambition for the ministry was greater than his capacity to fill it, bungled and stumbled along until the Revolution overtook him. Be- fore his retirement he secured an additional Arch- bishopric and a Cardinal's hat. At his request Necker was re-called, who upon assuming charge of the office found in the treasury chest only 250, 000 francs. Minister after minister had been summoned to the side of Louis, but they did not materially decrease the expenditures nor in- crease the revenues, and the country staggering under its load of debt was fast approaching a crisis. Louis XVI was without practical and political wisdom. He was utterly incapable as a ruler; in every way inefficient. He was a king only in name. He had no policy of administration, no definite purpose of reform. His cruel execution has created a sympathy for him in the hearts of men and his submissive spirit and dignified de- meanor in the face of death have induced some of his admirers to place his name high on the roll of martyrs. The truth is that he had few of 58 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION the qualities that command respect. He lost his crown without ever making a bold effort to save it. He was worthy neither the devotion of his friends nor the confidence of his people. He inspired neither enthusiasm nor loyalty. When a boy he was a butt for the indecent raillery of Louis XV, the old voluptuary often expressing for him a supreme contempt. The courtiers tittered at the remarks and the criti- cisms of the king, fearing, of course to laugh aloud lest their conduct should be remembered by the young prince, if he should ever come to the throne. They need not have exercised any prudence for he so lacked spirit that he neither resented the remarks of the king nor would he have remembered the insults of the courtiers. He was designated " un imbecile," " un bete," " a mass of insensible flesh," " the big fat pig." Madame DuBarry called him " that fat ill-man- nered boy." In person he was short, being five feet, five inches in height. His face was fat and puffy, with a retreating forehead and a weak chin. His near-sighted eyes did not light up even in conversation. He was without strong emotions and seldom displayed any animation. Barere in his Memoirs says : " His physical structure was large and common looking, he had pale blue eyes without the slightest expression, and a loud laugh that savored of imbecility. His carriage was most awkward and his whole appearance was that of a badly brought up rustic." He was untidy in his dress, he had but few 59 DANTON traits of gentle birth. He had not the bearing nor the dignity of a king. If he had not been born in a palace he would not have graced even a hovel. . The portrait painted by Callet and engraved by Bervic, showing him in his coronation robes, gives no accurate conception of his real person- ality. The artist idealized the king, but even then, the face is without force and dignity; it reveals no strength of character. He was boorish in his manner and indulged in vulgar practical jokes and silly amusements. When nineteen years of age he was seen chas- ing and tickling with a straw, a servant who was carrying through the halls of the palace an arm- ful of clothes. He was cruel in disposition and is said to have amused himself by spitting and roasting live cats. This seems hardly credible, but Gouverneur Morris notes in his diary, that he conversed with Madame Flahaut upon this matter and told her that he could not believe such stories, but she said they were true and that the king was both brutal and nasty. One day while strolling in the gardens of the Tuileries he was approached by a lady with a little spaniel. The dog ran up to the king but before its mistress could call it back, the king, who had a heavy walking stick, struck the dog with such force that he broke its back as well as the lady's heart. The dog howled and the lady screamed, but the king strutted off as if proud of his prowess and " laughing like any lout of a 60 I Louis XVI From an engraving by Bervic after the original portrait painted by Callet THE FRENCH REVOLUTION peasant." " His laugh was loud and coarse," says Thiebault, " and more like that of a tipsy farmer than of a monarch." He was too clumsy to dance and took no part in the pleasures and amusements of the court. He was fond of the chase but when he was not hunting he was draw- ing maps and tinkering at door locks. He was a glutton. " Do not overload your stomach," exclaimed Louis~~XV, fearing that his grandson would fall into convulsions at the table. " Why not," was the reply, " I always sleep best after a hearty meal." This was upon the occasion of his wedding feast. Instead of paying court and attention to his young bride, he was gorging himself with food, until the old king was afraid he was going to lose his successor to the throne. After the feast he accompanied Marie An- toinette to her chamber, bade her good night without even kissing her and retired to his own room to sleep off the effects of the meal, which he had washed down with flagons of wine, for he was a doughty drinker as well as eater. He kept a diary and on May 16th he wrote: " My wedding — a party in the gallery. Royal banquet at the theatre." The last entry in that month reads : " I have had the stomach ache." He evidently had not taken the advice of the king. " He ate like a pig," writes Barere, " and drank like a fish; he scarcely ever left the table without being a little unsteady." Jefferson in a 61 DANTON letter to Jay wrote : " The king hunts one half the day, is drunk the other. . . . The king goes for nothing." He had not the qualities that go to make a jolly good king, fond of feast and revel. He took no delight in the real pleasures of the table. He was too reserved, stolid and stupid to enjoy the spirited conversation of merry companions. There was nothing for him " in the feast of reason and the flow of soul " ; he had no sense of wit and humor. He could not recount a good story nor could he appreciate the telling of one. He ate and drank alone, choice fellowship added no zest to his appetite. After he gorged his food and gulped his wine, he dozed, he slept. He seemed to be always hungry and under all conditions was ready to eat. No dangers nor crises could affect or moderate his appetite. Baron Thiebault states in his Memoirs, that on the morning of the royal family's flight from Paris, Louis went into a roadside inn, and spent upwards of an hour lingering over his breakfast. Whether or not this be true it is hard to say, for it seems almost impossible to believe that under the circumstances, he would have taken such a risk, but there must have been a rumor to that effect, for Miss Miles in a letter to her father, the British agent, wrote, " If the king had not stopped to eat cutlets he would have escaped." When detained at Varennes where he had been intercepted in his attempted flight from France, he drank his wine with gusto, smacked 62 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION his lips and declared it was the best bottle of Burgundy he had ever tasted. After he returned to Paris from Varennes, when he reached the Tuileries, he sank into a chair and according to a statement made by Desmoulins exclaimed : " It's devilish hot," and seeing a valet at this moment passing through the room, he hailed him in a loud voice. " Ah ! there you are and here I am, bring me a chicken." After he had taken refuge in the Assembly on the ioth of August and while the mob was at- tacking the Tuileries, he sucked an orange. He ate his meals during his detention in the loge with so much relish that the deputies sneered and the queen was greatly humiliated by his conduct. While the Swiss were bravely fighting in de- fense of his palace, he was asking for food. "He eats while we die for him." It is not, however, unusual for a king to be indifferent to the sacrifices made by his subjects and Louis does not stand alone in this particular. The story is told that Frederick the Great when some of his troops were breaking in battle dashed himself against the retreating column and drove them back into line. " Damn you," he cried, " do you want to live always? " Napoleon addressing his army on the eve of a conflict said, " Soldiers : I need your lives and you owe them to me." Madame Campan relates, in her Memoirs, that on the morning of the 6th of October, 1789, when the mob of women stormed the palace at 63 DANTON Versailles, two soldiers of the Body Guard, Mio- mandre de Sainte-Marie and Bernard du Repaire, at the peril of their lives, saved the queen from assassination. They were severely wounded at the time, and one day during their convalescence, while out for a stroll, they went into the gardens of the Palais Royal. They were immediately rec- ognized and insulted, and at once withdrew to a place of safety. After this incident, advised by their friends to leave Paris, they made ar- rangements to quit the city. The queen hear- ing of their anticipated departure, sent for them to come to the palace. Graciously and with a heart full of generosity, she thanked and com- plimented them for their chivalry and gave them a present substantial in amount and sufficient to pay their expenses while away. The king was informed of the interview, came into the room, simply accosted the soldiers and then leaned his back against the mantel-piece. Not a syllable of commendation, no generous, kindly word passed his lips. He did not even take by the hand and cordially greet the men who had saved the life of his queen. After remaining a short time he left the room without even saying good- by. Madame Campan, to make some excuse for his conduct, says his eyes were suffused with tears. The queen because of his seeming indif- ference was deeply humiliated. Louis was not a student nor did he keep him- self well informed on current events and politi- cal conditions. He did not possess the first at- tribute of statesmanship. 64 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION He was a king but without the qualities of a ruler. He had none of the graces that please and none of the arts that win the people. He was without force and decision and so vacillat- ing, that his promise could not be depended upon over night. His brother defined the character of his mind " in the simile of the oiled billiard balls which no one could hold steadily together." He was obstinate when he should have yielded, he was weak when he should have been strong and strong when he should have been weak. His opinion and judgment at the council table were not worth considering. He seldom, if ever, had any well-timed suggestions to offer. In the language of St. Just he was " brusque et faible, pare ecu il pensait le hi en, il croyait le faire . . . il voyait de sangfroid toute sa cour piller sa finance on plutot ne voyait rien" Louis inherited the Revolution from his ances- tors. He would have been a pliable, an easy-going ruler if his reign had fallen in peaceful times. He would willingly have left the government to others, better able to rule, and would have found amusement in the chase and in the construction of clumsy locks. For a revolution he was about the last man in all the kingdom fitted to cope with its violence. It must too be borne in mind that the French Revolution was the great, all powerful political event of modern times. So in every aspect of the case Louis was entirely out of place. " Of all the monarchs of the Capetian line he was the least able to stem, and yet the least likely to provoke a revolution." 5 6s DANTON Such was the king who sat upon the throne of France when the nation was overwhelmed with debt and the monarchy threatened with destruc- tion. At a time when a man of ability should have been at the head of the government, when the qualities of a statesman, of a politician, and of a diplomat were required to meet conditions, a weak, a vacillating, an impassive man without judgment, invention and purpose, was the ruler of the nation. Dumont says : " We may reason ad infinitum upon the causes of the Revolution, but in my mind, there is only one dominant and efficient cause — the weakness of the king. Had a firm and decided prince been in the place of Louis XVI the Revolution would not have happened. . . . There is not a single period during the existence of the first Assembly, when the king could not have re-established his authority and framed a mixed constitution much stronger and more solid than the old parliamentary and no- biliary monarchy of France. His weakness, his indecision, his half measures and half councils, and more particularly his want of foresight, led to the catastrophe." Unquestionably, even after the period of the first Assembly or States-General, had he acted with vigor, at several points of his reign, he could have saved his crown, and directed his em- pire out of the torrent of the Revolution into peaceful channels. It was a long while before the nation became anti-monarchical. When the States-General met 66 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION in 1789, no one in all France thought it would accomplish more than relieve the financial condi- tion and perhaps enact a few measures of reform. The most sanguine reformer never thought that feudalism would be abolished and the king de- throned. Nothing seemed so remote. In fact the people at that time were in favor of the monarchy. "Even in February, 1791," Miche- let declares, " Marat still remained a royalist." But Louis allowed the Revolution to creep upon him by degrees and at no moment when he could have saved his throne, and could have won popular favor, did he act with that courage and decision which the contingencies required. When, at the time of the meeting of the States- General, he ordered the delegates of the Third Estate to retire, and was defied by Mirabeau, he ought to have followed up his order by force and compelled obedience even at the point of the bay- onet. If he was not prepared to enforce his command, he ought not to have given it. This was one of the decisive points in the Revolution, perhaps the turning point. The people had seen their representatives defy the royal authority, re- buke and dismiss the king's messenger, and send him back to his majesty with an impudent an- swer, and to crown all, they witnessed the com- placent submission, the abject surrender of the king. There was a time not very long before the period of which we are speaking, when Louis XIV swore that " he would have no more of these cringing assemblies," and this he declared 67 DANTON to the parliament booted and whip in hand. But these days had gone by, and it is doubtful whether or not, at this time, even Louis the Great would have dared to enter the hall of the States-General in such a mood, but that he would have made every effort to enforce his orders and to save his throne goes without say- ing. To be sure there was a vast difference be- tween Louis XIV and Louis XVI. The former possessed all the arts of kingcraft and the au- dacious confidence of a Bourbon of the ancient regime. No king ever played his role with more consummate skill. His very word was law, his look awed into submission. While strolling or rather strutting through the gardens of the palace at Versailles, as was his daily custom, he would suddenly stop, and with head thrown back and chest thrown out, his right arm extended, leaning on a long staff, his eyes would sweep slowly over the crowd of courtiers in attendance, who bowing with looks cast to the ground, would not dare to meet the proud and searching gaze of his majesty, whom they worshiped almost as a god in human form. No king, even of the Bourbon line, ever received homage so obsequi- ous nor was more absolute in power. It seems strange that so great a change could have been wrought in so short a time. Kings had grown somewhat out of public favor and no matter who the monarch might have been in 1789, a revolution of some sort was inevitable, but with 6$ THE FRENCH REVOLUTION a strong king it might have been effected without the " Reign of Terror." The delegates of the Third Estate in the States-General of 1789 were not the timid depu- ties who cowered under the crack of the whip, nor the cringing flunkies who followed in the train of the Great Louis. They did not cast their eyes timidly to the ground under the haughty gaze of a king; they stood erect and wore their hats in his presence, in contravention of a rigid rule of ceremony that had been in vogue time out of mind. We cannot in our practical age comprehend to its full meaning the breach of that ancient and honored law of etiquette. It was revolutionary in itself to remain covered be- fore the king, but times, men and customs had changed. 69 CHAPTER VI ADVISERS OF THE KING THE QUEEN THE FI- NANCES REVOLUTIONS BEGIN AT THE TOP Louis XVI had not wisdom enough to accept the inevitable. He had the false pride of a weak man and knew not how nor when to surrender. Every concession he made to the public was wrung from him or given so reluctantly and in so graceless a manner that he aroused the resent- ment of the people instead of winning their grat- itude. He was most unfortunate in the selection of his advisers. The men directing public affairs were apprentices in state-craft, flatterers and time servers. A proud, an insolent aristocracy, a crowd of hungry, selfish courtiers, were swarming around the king, disconcerting him with their council, and still fattening on the pub- lic treasury. There was no thought in the minds of these silly and improvident people of reducing the expenditures; their only demand was to in- crease the revenues. If they scanned the politi- cal sky and saw the signs of an approaching storm, they calmed their fears by assuring them- selves, that in the nature of things it could not last long. Strange to say it took the king and the nobles 70 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION a considerable length of time to appreciate the fact that the Revolution was more than a mere temporary disturbance. " Believe me, Madame," said Dumouriez in addressing the queen, " I ab- hor anarchy and crime as much as you do. This is not a transient, popular movement as you seem to think. It is an almost unanimous insurrec- tion of a mighty nation against inveterate abuses." The deluge predicted by Louis XV and Ma- dame de Pompadour was rising rapidly but no one in the court circles was making preparations to pilot the ship of state into a port of safety. The monarchy was fast drifting toward the rocks and shoals. The queen was looked upon as the evil genius of the king. It was claimed that she had advised him in all the mistakes he had made and that she was responsible for his attitude towards the public. Her name had been mentioned in connection with several scandals and Dame Rumor had ceased whispering and was now talking aloud. All sorts of stories reflecting upon her character as queen, woman, wife and mother were put in circulation and spread broadcast. She was con- temptuously called " VAustrienne" "Why do the people," she exclaimed, " hate me so. I am no foreigner, no stranger, but thoroughly French in purpose and sentiment. My children were born here. This is my home, all my interests are here, where else could I go? " But alas! her protestations were too late. By her frivolity, 7i DANTON extravagance and apparent indifference to the sufferings of the poor, she had provoked the re- sentment of the entire community. A story was current that when she was told that the people were hungry and wanted bread, she innocently asked, " Why do they not eat cake? " Whether this was spoken ignorantly, facetiously or con- temptuously, it is hard to say. But it was suc- cessfully used by her enemies to discredit her in the estimation of the people. She seldom ap- peared in public without being insulted. The ministers of finance had juggled with the figures of their reports, but the truth would not down that the deficit was annually increasing. Calonne had borrowed and spent some 500,000,- 000 francs. The exchequer was exhausted and ingenious financiers could not suggest nor pro- vide any new methods for raising money. The national credit was not sufficient to induce, at this time, under an inefficient administration, any more loans, and every means of taxation had been tried until the purses of the peasants were empty. " The deficit, now 100,000,000 livres per annum, threatened to devour the monarchy." Yet the income was not falling off but really augmenting. At this period things were no worse than they had been but the trouble was that, although the revenues had grown in amount, the expenditures were increasing in a greater ratio than the rev- enues. The wealth of the country had not di- minished. The burdens upon commerce and agriculture were relatively not heavier than Marie Antoinette From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION in the past. In fact all agree that the country's material prosperity was advancing, but what was needed was a wise and an economical administra- tion of public affairs. The extravagance of the court, the civil list, the pensions, the immense amount of interest on the loans, and the public debt together with the current expenses were far more than the revenues could meet, and the consequence was an annual deficiency. As time wore on and the disasters multiplied, the court did make a spasmodic effort to practice economy but it was not sufficient to change mate- rially the conditions. A reference to the Red Book published in 1790, will give some idea of the immense sums of money that were squandered by royalty. The secret expenses of the court reached the highest mark in 1783, when the total was 145,000,000 livres. They were at the lowest point in 1787, when they amountd to 82,000,000 livres. Reign after reign, the facts in relation to these royal ex- penditures had been concealed from the public. The people had no voice; they were not con- sulted in the matter of the appropriation and spending of their money. The monarch had wasted these large sums annually without even the pretense of any accountability to the nation. But the people had improved intellectually, men were thinking, were inquiring, were complain- ing. They dared not express themselves under Louis XIV, they only whispered in the days of Louis XV, but now, with a weak king, they spoke aloud. Petitions for a redress of griev- 73 DANTON ances had become public declarations and de- mands. In the past they had been lowly and even servile in tone, beseeching the king's favor, while the petitioners " with bated breath and whispering humbleness " would beg his majesty's pardon for having the boldness and assurance to complain. The peasant slave kept his eyes on the ground when he sought and asked relief, but now men had grown bolder and looked the king in the face when their demands were made. Revolutions generally result from the attempts of the aristocracy or the government to effect slight reforms. Political revolutions begin at the top; their violence at last comes from below. " I perceive/' said Danton, " that in revolutions the supreme power ultimately rests with the most abandoned." The French Revolution was not inaugurated by the peasantry and the rabble but by the upper and the middle classes; that is by the middle class assisted by a minority of the aristocracy, who understood the conditions, sym- pathized with the suffering poor, and were fair and just enough to urge reforms. Lawyers, doctors, journalists, students, merchants, manu- facturers and artisans, men of the middle class who had been reading and thinking and who had been investigating and considering the causes that had produced and were producing the melancholy conditions that prevailed, made the French Rev- olution. The peasants and the proletariat could not read ; they had made no progress ; they knew nothing of the teachings and the doctrines of the great philosophers, who had pointed the way to 74 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION revolution. They were steeped as deeply in ig- norance as they had been in the past centuries. The first impetus was given to the Revolution when the conservative nobles advocated reforms. It was then the middle class, that enjoyed no special privileges and exemptions, but felt the in- justice of the system that had stopped the avenues of preferment to self-made, independent and ambitious men, rose in their strength to de- mand a change. " When therefore the French Revolution broke out, it was not," declares Buckle, " a mere rising of ignorant slaves against educated masters, but it was a rising of men in whom the despair caused by slavery was quick- ened by the resources of advancing knowl- edge." The mobs in the early days of the Revolution were composed not only of the scuff and scum of the purlieus of Paris. Men of position were in the crowd that leveled the walls of the Bastile. Nobles who had no patience with the policy of the court and the tyranny of the State, marched with that mob in the attack upon that hated dun- geon. Herault de Sechelles, nobly born, of ele- gant manners, of education, a brilliant lawyer, related to the Polignacs, at one time a courtier and a favorite of the queen, was one of the first men over the drawbridge to demand the sur- render of the garrison. The philosophers were the apostles of the Revolution, and their disci- ples in the upper and the middle classes, were the reformers who put their principles to a prac- tical application. Their followers were not con- 75 DANTON fined to one class but included the intelligent of all classes. The personnel of the commonalty in the States-General proves the truth of the forego- ing statement. Of the 584 deputies, 12 were classed as gentlemen, 2 were priests, 18 were mayors of towns, 162 were magistrates of baili- wicks, 212 were lawyers, 16 were doctors, and 162 were merchants, landowners and farmers. The deputies of the Third Estate had among their number some of the ablest men in France. Several of these men were titled and they dared to denounce the old system and to urge the needed reforms. Lawyers of learning, of eloquence and of national reputation, donned the black garb of the Commons. Among the nobles, too, were many who favored the union of the three orders and who were liberal in their views ; in fact after the royal seance, a number of them withdrew from the sessions of their order and joined the Third Estate. In the ranks of the clergy also were many who warmly sympathized with the popular cause. The Revolution was made by the middle class and by a minority of the nobility and clergy. The real work was begun not by the rabble but by the best elements in the nation. 76 CHAPTER VII DANTON IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE REVOLU- TION THE AFFAIR OF SOULES MARAT THE INCIDENT OF MARAT EARLY EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION The States-General met on May 5, 1789, at Versailles. Danton was not a delegate to that body, and during the early stages of the Revolu- tion he did not appear prominently in the public eye. At the fall of the Bastile, it is said that he was present and took part in the attack, but there is no substantial proof of this. The royal- ists asserted that they saw him in the early riots. On the 1 6th of July, two days after the fall of the Bastile, he was about to enter, at the head of a patrol, the court of the old fortress, when he was stopped by Soules the new governor. Danton disregarded his orders, called his com- mission a rag and placed him under arrest for his interference. He took Soules as his prisoner to the Town Hall and there after an investiga- tion into the facts, the authorities censured Dan- ton for his arbitrary act and reinstated Soules. La Fayette was specially bitter in his denuncia- tion of Danton's conduct and from this time they were sworn enemies. Danton's reputation for a long while remained 77 DANTON merely local, circumscribed by the boundary lines of his own district. He was, however, active in his section and was one of the first presidents of the Club of the Cordeliers, an organization that played a very prominent part in the events of the Revolution. In the beginning it was without question the most radical and revolutionary of all the political associations. The section of Paris known as the Cordeliers had nothing in common with the districts of St. Antoine and St. Marceau. It was a locality in which the courts were established and where judges, law- yers and students gathered. The cafes in this quarter were well conducted and the tables were surrounded by professional men of education, who argued intelligently upon events and con- ditions. It was a hot-bed of revolution. Al- though Danton, as we have already said, was not a deputy to the States-General, we may presume that he was watching closely the opening scenes in a revolution that he had predicted. He per- haps mingled with the throngs at the Palais Royal, he may even have addressed them. His friend Desmoulins was a frequent visitor to the gardens and, no doubt, Danton often accom- panied him. It is hard to find any trace of him during this period. He was not a journalist like Desmou- lins nor even a pamphleteer, and consequently no articles came from his pen, touching the ques- tions of the hour. He kept steadily plodding away at his practice and the part he took at this time in politics was only incidental. He did not 78 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION make an appearance on the memorable days of the 5th and 6th of October. During this period, however, he was the recognized leader of his district. A brush he had with La Fayette brought him into great prominence, but in the end it was the means of sending him to the rear for a long space of time. It was called the in- cident or the affair of Marat, " I 'affaire de Marat" Jean Paul Marat was one of the most remark- able creations of that most remarkable epoch, in many respects he was the worst product of the Revolution and he symbolized one phase of it. He was by birth a Swiss. His father, born in Sardinia, was a man of education and by pro- fession a physician. His mother was a Swiss Protestant. The home influences that sur- rounded his youth were refining and educating. His capacious mind readily absorbed learning. He had a keen perception and his memory was marvelously retentive. He received a liberal ed- ucation at the University of Bordeaux. In his early manhood, possessed of a restless and an adventurous disposition, he started out into the world to make his way alone and to win the favors of Fortune. He traveled through foreign lands and acquired a facile use of many tongues. He was a linguist of no mean distinc- tion. He sought knowledge in every direction and in all the known branches of science. One of his publications provoked the criticism and rail- lery of Voltaire and brought him into public no- 79 DANTON tice. Professor Charles, a man of considerable distinction in that day, ridiculed some of the medical views of Marat. The latter replied with a torrent of abuse and the controversy without reaching a satisfactory conclusion from a scien- tific point of view resulted at last in a duel. Neither combatant was injured. Marat gained the friendship of Benjamin Franklin, the attention of the American phi- losopher having been drawn to one of his tracts on electricity. He corresponded with learned men throughout Europe and was fairly well known in the scien- tific world. An honorary degree of M.D. was conferred upon him by the University of St. An- drew in Scotland and for ten years he resided in London and practiced as a physician in the fashionable locality of Soho Square. About this time he wrote a work entitled " Chains of Slavery." It was originally written in English and published in England. It shows the bent of his mind in relation to matters politi- cal, even at this early period. Upon his return to France he settled in Paris and was appointed by the Count of Artois phy- sician to his body guards, and incidentally he looked after the health of the horses in the stables. It is from this fact that Carlyle calls him a horse- leech but in no sense of the word was he a horse doctor, nor is there the slightest reason for so intimating. A nobleman, in the early days of the Revolu- tion, with the purpose, no doubt, of reflecting Marat From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION upon the professional standing of Marat, and holding him up to public ridicule, declared that the doctor having been called in to prescribe, gave him a dose of horse physic and almost succeeded in taking his life. This story too may have given the rumor strength, but the truth is that Marat really was a physician of no mean standing. His private practice brought him into imme- diate contact with the aristocracy. He acquired quite a reputation as a successful practitioner, made money, dressed well, was considered a man of fashion and was frequently referred to as " the friend of the great ladies." " He was, withal," says Barras, " a good easy man in so- ciety wherein he shone by his acquirements." At this time he must have conceived a mortal hatred for the nobility and the privileged classes. He no doubt had been stung by their insolence and his proud, conceited and independent spirit had smarted under the social restrictions that were drawn, which restrictions he, perhaps, had rudely been taught to respect when, with his characteristic impudence, he attempted to cross the line of social demarcation. He must have brooded over his wrongs, im- aginary or otherwise, for when the Revolution came, he plunged into its vortex with all the ardor and malignity of his nature. At the opening of the Revolution he was a man of some means and of comparative leisure; had withdrawn almost entirely from the active practice of medicine and was absorbed in the study of science. His publications were numerous but somehow 6 81 DANTON failed to attract the attention which his vanity and conceit thought they deserved. They were of vast scope, from a work on optics and an essay on gleets, to a discourse on the immortality of the soul. Imbued with the teachings of the philosophers, urged by a consuming ambition and possessed by a deadly hatred, for the aris- tocracy, the Revolution opened up to him a vista in which his imagination reveled. He would now find a theatre for his genius and an op- portunity to avenge his hate. Nervous, irritable, suspicious, eager for noto- riety, this rabid fanatic assailed the old order and all those that gave it allegiance or support. As the Revolution grew in intensity, so did he, in fact he was one of the leaders that out- stripped it. As time wore on he became wild, unreasonable, intolerant with a consuming thirst for blood in his desire to exterminate the aristo- crats, and not only the aristocrats but all those that differed with him in their views. His en- mity was as bitter and as relentless against the Girondins and partisan foes, as against the roy- alists. " In truth," says Lamartine, " as his power increased he became so impressed with his own importance that he threatened everyone, even his former friends." After losing his small fortune, he made his living by his pen. He became a journalist and his paper, called " The Friend of the People," preached the gospel of revolt, murder and pil- lage. " He had the clumsy tumblings of the brute in his thought, and its gnashing of teeth 82 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION in his style. His journal smelt of blood in every line." Nobody was safe from his scurrilous attacks. Mirabeau, Necker, Bailly, La Fayette, Dumour- iez, men in the highest positions, were most bit- terly assailed. He demanded among other things that eight hundred traitorous deputies, with Mirabeau at their head, should be sent to the gibbet. Mirabeau, when his attention was called to this article, merely shrugged his shoul- ders and laughingly said with his usual sang froid, " Why, the man must be drunk." In the Assembly he openly declared there would be no tranquillity in the State until two hundred and eighty-six traitors were brought to the scaffold. He himself had compiled the list of the proscribed. In the columns of his paper he made an exact calculation, showing how 260,000 men could be put to death in one day. He is called by a dis- tinguished French historian " the apostle of as- sassination en masse/' During the September massacres he proposed to Danton to set the prisons on fire and thus de- vour the aristocrats and " suspects " in the flames, a quicker method, and therein, perhaps, more humane, than slaughtering the victims one by one at the wicket. It was from no sentiment of humanity, how- ever, that he was induced to make that sugges- tion, he wanted wholesale butchery that none might escape. " Daggers ! daggers ! friend Marat ! but torches, torches likewise. Blood must be mingled with ashes," says Lamartine. 83 DANTON He advised the institution of a brotherhood of spies and informers. He wanted the authorities to set up a receptacle like the Iron Mouth of Venice, in which could be deposited the com- plaints of patriots; a post box and mail serv- ice furnished by the government for the exclu- sive use, without even the payment of postage, of that contemptible creature, the anonymous let- ter writer; an easy and a convenient method provided by the State for the inculpation of the innocent; a means to satisfy, to avenge the envy, hatred and fear of ignoble minds. The coward, without revealing his identity, could thus imperil the life and liberty of his rival. Such a system would have created in every mind a feeling of dread and suspicion and would have warmed into life a brood of infa- mous spies and informers. But anything that furnished victims met with the approval of Marat. He had a ferocious heart and was most vindictive in temper. He was the fury of the Revolution, " the outcast of assassination." " Give me," he cried, " two hundred Neapoli- tans, the knife in their right hand, in their left a muff to serve for a shield, and with these I will traverse France and complete the Revolution." " His imagination thirsts for torments, he would have flaming stakes, conflagrations and atrocious mutilations." As time ran on, his rage became uncontrolable. " Brand them," he shrieked, " with a hot iron, cut off their thumbs, slit their tongues." His convulsions were hys- terical. His incoherent vaporings were but the 84 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION mutterings of a disordered mind. His appetite for gore was canine, not human. " It was blood," says Sir Walter Scott, " that was Marat's constant demand, not in drops from the breast of an individual, not in puny streams from the slaughter of families, but blood in the profusion of an ocean." While Danton one day was standing in the hall of the convention talk- ing with a friend, Marat came along, drew him aside and whispered in his ear. Danton upon returning to his friend said : " The brute ! he craves more blood." In his projected Constitution he wrote : " When a man is in want of everything, he has a right to take from another the superfluity in which he is wallowing, nay more, he has a right to take from him his necessary things; and rather than starve, has a right to cut his throat and devour his palpitating flesh." " His political exhortations began and ended like the howl of a bloodhound for murder." When he entered the Assembly, he was shunned by everybody, even by the members of his own party. After speaking in the tribune, upon one occasion, a deputy moved that it should be puri- fied before any one else should enter it. Dr. Moore wrote in his diary, " Marat has carried his calumnies to such a length that he is apparently detested by everybody. When he enters the Assembly and seats himself, those near him generally rise and change their seats. I saw him, at one time, address himself to Louvet ; and in doing so he attempted to lay his hand on 85 DANTON Louvet's shoulder, who instantly started back with looks of aversion, exclaiming, i Do not touch me.' " One day when several accusations had been made against him, he cried out, " Men ! if these be crimes, you know what to do," and at the same time he swept his hand suggestively across his throat. Upon another occasion he made a state- ment that momentarily aroused the anger of the deputies, but " such a declaration," said Dr. Moore, " issuing from a little, dirty mortal, whose murky visage scarce overlooked the tribune, turned the indignation of the Assembly into mirth and many of the members burst into laughter." Nothing could abash or disconcert him, even when he was shunned by everybody and when the murmurs against him in the Assembly were loudest he strutted about among the deputies ap- parently unconcerned. He lived in a dilapidated house in the Rue des Cordeliers. His library consisted of about fifty volumes of philosophical works, and these were arranged on a wooden shelf nailed to the wall. Montesquieu and Raynal were his favorite au- thors. The New Testament was always on his table, generally lying open as if frequently con- sulted. When some one referred to this fact he replied, " The Revolution is the Gospel," and bowing reverentially he added, " Jesus Christ is our Master, no one so loved the poor as he and so cast maledictions on the heads of the rich and powerful." In manner and speech Marat was rough and 86 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION insulting. There was one, however, whom he always addressed in a tone of tenderness — his housekeeper, a woman named Albertine. Per- haps she was the only creature in all the world he loved and she, in turn, looked upon him as an inspired prophet and a benefactor of the hu- man race. His customary attire was dirty and forlorn. He wore a dark vest or waistcoat, shabby, patched and mended ; his shirt sleeves were turned up to his elbows, his trousers were cotton velvet, usually stained with ink. With his blue cotton stockings he wore shoes tied with pack thread. A dirty shirt was open at the breast, and his hair, cropped short at the temples and falling over his shoulders, was tied behind in a leathern thong; surmounting all was a large broad- brimmed hat. Sometimes he wore, wrapped around his head, a colored handkerchief. He was almost a dwarf in stature, being less than five feet in height. His head was much too large for his body, and the ever-present insolent leer upon his features made his face most repul- sive. " He was," says Lamartine, " thin and bony, his body appeared as if consumed by an internal fire ; gall and blood were marked upon his skin ; his eyes, though prominent and full of insolence, appeared to shrink from the glare of full day- light ; his mouth, deeply cleft as if to vent abuse, had the habitual sneer of disdain." His effrontery and impudence were brazen. " No dangers can terrify him, no detection can 87 D ANTON disconcert him, his heart as well as his forehead seems to be of brass." Upon a certain occasion, although not bidden to the feast, he went to the house of the Rolands while a reception was in progress and, shuffling through the halls, reached the drawing-room, where he announced in a loud voice that he wanted to see Danton. Unclean, unkempt, covered with the dirt of the street, he seemed like a little imp in this goodly company of well-dressed folk ; but the broad leer upon his face showed how much he enjoyed the discom- fiture of the guests, especially that of some mem- bers of the Assembly, who, without offending the little tyrant, endeavored to avoid him. At another time he interrupted a social func- tion at Talma's, to interview Dumouriez upon some matters in relation to the army. Dumou- riez, with a military air, drawing himself up to his full height, looked down disdainfully upon this little frog that seemed to have jumped into the parlor out of the gutter, and said : " Ah ! and so you are called Marat. I have nothing to say to you." Then turning on his heel and walking aside, he left the saucy intruder to find his way out of the room, amidst the sneers and jeers of the guests. But the columns of Marat's journal next day fumed with rage and the general paid a heavy penalty for his insult. Marat publicly scolded La Fayette and almost every man of prominence. No person could escape his de- nunciation, no place or occasion was safe from his intrusion. He knew the proprieties of life, for as we 88 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION have seen, he had once enjoyed the amenities of society, but that was before he became an out- law, before his envy like a cancer began eating into his heart and deadening his every sensi- bility. Danton at one time declared publicly, and this was when Marat had great influence with the mob, that he did not like this man. " I have had some experience with him and I find him boisterous, quarrelsome and unsociable." Danton twice came to his assistance when he was in peril, but the great tribune was induced to act for reasons other than the personal safety of Marat and outside of any respect or regard he had for him. One day Danton, while in conversation with him, became so disgusted with the doctor's filthy appearance, that he told him to " go home, wash and put on a clean shirt." The lower he fell in social position and the more he was hunted and persecuted by the au- thorities, the greater grew his popularity with the mob. " None exercised," says Mignet, " a more fatal influence upon the period in which he lived, than Marat." He was hunted from cellar to garret, and to avoid his pursuers he took refuge even in the vaults of the Church of the Cordeliers and in the public sewers. His persecutions naturally endeared him to the people. His poverty, his want, his privations, his sufferings, aroused their sympathies. Dan- ton was of course a rabid revolutionist, but he was a high liver, somewhat aristocratic in his 89 DANTON tastes. Robespierre was loyal to the Revolution, but he was cold, proud and repelled all familiar- ity. Vergniaud was a dreamer who soared far above the heads of the multitude, and they could never get in touch with him. The people could stand aloof and admire these men, but they could draw close to and love Marat. He was of the rabble, the representative of the discontented poor. During the " Reign of Terror " he had the authority of a dictator, among the masses his word was law. " This modern Tiberius sent his orders to the multitude from the depth of his indigent Caprea," and exercised a power that was all but imperial. Fanatical in his devotion to the Revolution, he could not be bought, driven, intimidated, se- duced nor cajoled. Flattery fell upon his ears like water on a rock. Place, women, money could not tempt him; his estate when he died consisted of twenty cents in cash, and yet in his lifetime he could have sold the columns of his paper for any amount he might have asked. He proved ever steadfast to the Revolution, he was its constant advance guard; while many of the men whom he had denounced, against whom he had railed and at whom he had pointed his canny finger in warning, either proved dis- loyal or fell one by one under public censure. Mirabeau's bust after his death was veiled. Necker, La Fayette and Dumouriez fled the coun- try. No wonder the multitude looked upon Marat as one who spoke with the voice of a prophet. 90 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The most remarkable thing about the man was his indefatigability. He seemed never to tire, often he would write far into the night. Under the light of a tallow candle and while seated in a tub of cold water to allay a raging inward fever, he would toil until the morning dawned. He watched while others slept, but " his vigils," says Lamartine, " cost blood the next day." We have drawn him in pretty dark colors, and it is but fair that he should be heard in his own defense. The following article appeared in his journal at a time when he thought it wise to soften the attacks that were being made upon him: " I speak to-day of myself. I desire to ap- pear in my true light, for the enemies of liberty unceasingly represent me as a madman, a can- nibal, a tiger thirsting for blood. I was born with a sensitive heart, a fiery imagination, a frank and an impetuous character, a right mind, a heart that eagerly drank in all exalted pas- sions, especially the love of glory. " I was brought up in my father's house with the tenderest care and I arrived at manhood with- out having ever abandoned myself to the fury of my passions. At twenty-one years of age I was pure and had long given myself up to study and meditation. I owe to nature the stamp of my character, but it is to my mother that I owe its subsequent development. She planted in my heart the love of justice and humanity. When eight years old, I could not bear the sight of any 91 DANTON ill treatment towards my fellow creatures, and the sight of cruelty and injustice aroused my anger as though it had been a personal outrage. In my early youth my body was feeble and I never knew the joy or the plays of childhood. My principal passion at that early day was love of glory, and I am now ambitious of the glory of immolating myself upon the altar of my country. " Thoughtful from my youth, my choicest pleasures have been found in meditation. I have passed five and twenty years in retirement and in the perusal and consideration of the best au- thors on morals, philosophy and policy, in order to deduce the wisest conclusions. " In eight volumes of metaphysics, twenty of physical sciences, I have been actuated by a sincere desire of being useful to humanity. The quacks of the Corps Scientifique, — D'Alembert, Condorcet, Laplace, Lalande, Monge, Lavoisier, wish to be alone, and I could not even pronounce the titles of my works. During five years I groaned beneath this cowardly oppression. " When the Revolution convoked the States- General I soon saw whither things were tending, and I began to entertain the hope of beholding humanity and of mounting to my right place." The article, although it delineates his character in the softest shades and adroitly appeals to the sympathies of the people, yet reveals in every line a consuming envy, an overweening ambition, an insatiable thirst for personal glory from his very youth. His envy even goes so far as to designate contemptuously a group of immortals 92 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION as a " Corps Scientifique," under whose " cow- ardly oppression," he complains, he groaned for years, which oppression no doubt consisted in a neglect upon the part of some of them to recog- nize merit in his numerous scientific publications. He was simply envious of the recognition and distinction they had obtained in the learned world, which recognition and distinction, as an author, he could not secure and which he did not de- serve. It is a difficult task to analyze the mo- tives and to delineate the character of such a man. To some he was a monster, to others a sincere reformer. Many of his admirers eulogize him as a martyr to the cause of human liberty. No one can doubt his honesty, they exultantly declare. Honesty! What is honesty? The cannibal who spits and roasts the missionary is honest ; it never occurs to him that he is commit- ting a wrong when he offers up his victim as a sacrifice to his gods. With him the act is a religious ceremony. The Indian who tortures his prisoner, who scalps him and burns him at the stake is honest. The religious fanatic who cracks the bones of the heretic on the wheel or draws him asunder on the rack is honest. If this be honest, then it is well that " to be honest is to be one man out of ten thousand." But what has the world to say of such honesty? Are the perpetrators of the acts of cruelty, barbarity and inhumanity to be admired or defended because they claim to be honest? There is one, and only one, excuse to be made for Marat, and that is that he was mentally ir- 93 DANTON responsible. If he were not a man insane, then he was a beast, a monster. He did not elevate men by his teachings, he debased them. He incited them to pillage, to murder. He confounded liberty with license, ignored the underlying principles of human jus- tice, and set at defiance every sentiment of hu- manity. He declared a faith in Christ, but he was in no sense a disciple. His gospel was not charity and mercy, but vengeance and death. He professed a belief in God and yet he was not controlled nor restrained by any laws, human or divine. In his conduct he was actuated by the lowest motives of the human heart, envy, and a desire to avenge a personal hatred and what he consid- ered a personal wrong. To encompass his ends he appealed to the lowest passions of men and aroused in their hearts envy, malice and all un- charitableness, till he made his followers as blood- thirsty as himself. He was never so happy as when he added a new name to his proscription list. He gloated and rubbed his hands with glee when the gutters ran blood during the September massacres. He was bent on destruction and his purpose was to level the whole social mass, to bring it down to one level, a low level at that, to do away with all distinctions, not only in political life, which was the real purpose of the Revolution, but in social life as well. There was nothing of the fool in Marat. " He was neither a mountebank nor a charlatan," says 94 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION McCarthy. He did not " caper to amuse the pit," nor did he make false pretensions. He was a serious, a sincere fiend, controlled by a relentless hatred, by a consuming envy, and dominated by the spirit of a bloodthirsty fanaticism. He was intoxicated with the strong wine of the Revolution, he was drunk with its dregs; his brain was turned, his mind was disturbed, dis- ordered. " It is also fair to say," writes Belloc, "that he was nearly mad." "We are inclined to believe," says Sir Walter Scott, " that there was a touch of insanity in his unnatural ferocity, and the wild and squalid features of the wretch appear to have intimated a degree of alienation of mind." In the early stages of the Revolution Dr. Bour- dier, who used to read Marat's paper, would, when it got too sanguinary, seek out Marat and bleed him. The doctor really thought that Ma- rat's mind was affected by the excitements of the period, and prescribed for what he called his mental malady. But this creature grew in popular favor to such a degree, that after his death he was paid honors almost divine. His obsequies were arranged by the painter David, who gave full scope to his artistic taste and made the funeral one of the most spectacular ever witnessed in France. The artist endeavored to imitate the obsequies of Caesar. The body was exposed upon a cata- falque in the Church of the Cordeliers; the dag- ger of the assassin, the block of wood which 95 DANTON Marat used as a desk, and the leaden inkstand were displayed in open view, so as to stir the emotions of the people. To make the funeral more impressive the cortege left the church in the evening and the place of sepulture was not reached until midnight. Under the glare of the torches and in the solemn step of the funeral march, the procession passed slowly on its way; the multitude in silence stood uncovered. Young girls dressed in white surrounded the funeral car and chanted hymns in honor of this demon of assassination. In the Place du Carrousel, a monument in the form of a pyramid was erected to his memory, in which were placed his bust, his writing desk and his bath tub. Sentinels were placed at the entrance of the tomb to guard these sacred relics. A decree in the Assembly in November, 1793, or- dered the removal of the remains of Mirabeau from the Pantheon and directed that those of Marat should occupy the space thus left vacant. Eventually, however, his bust was destroyed, and his body, taken from the tomb, was dragged by a howling mob through the mud of the streets of Paris. We have thus fully drawn the character and the incidents in the life of Marat because he rep- resented and embodied in himself the worst fea- tures and phases of the Revolution. He was the direct product of its dregs, its hate, its violence, its anarchism, its bloodthirstiness. He was its ultra doctrinaire, the apostle of its gospel of mur- der. He stood not alone, he was but one of a 96 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION class, and to have a clear conception of the Revo- lution it is necessary to have a knowledge of this class. There is a vast difference between Danton and Marat, but after all they were both revolu- tionists, and in the matter of comparison it is but a question of degree. They were partisans in the same cause, only their dispositions and methods differed. Danton never countenanced the wild theories and exaggerations of Marat; one was a practical politician, the other an unreasonable fanatic. In the summer of 1789, Marat used his paper to attack Necker, Bailly and La Fayette. He un- reservedly charged them with the embezzlement of public funds and with conspiring to raise an army for the subjugation of France. Day after day he repeated these monstrous lies and the con- stant repetition, without any public denial, in- duced many people to believe the charges were true. They were of course without any founda- tion and found conception only in Marat's fevered and excited imagination. The authorities, at last, decided that some ac- tion should be taken against this maligner of per- sons and arch disturber of the public peace. Ac- cordingly in the latter part of September, 1789, Marat was summoned to the bar of the Commune to answer for these libels upon Bailly, the mayor of the city. Marat failing to appear, a warrant was issued for his arrest by the Court of the Chatelet on the 6th of October; but the officials because of the public excitement and tumult on that day, occasioned by the march of the women 7 97 DANTON to Versailles, thought it prudent to defer action until the excitement should somewhat subside. When the officers started out to find the doctor he had fled to Montmartre. From this locality he continued to issue his journal, without in any wise tempering the bitterness of his attacks. On the 1 2th of December, the officers renewed their search; the doctor was found and arrested. He was taken before a lower court, but as the matter had grown somewhat stale, the prosecu- tion was not pressed and the prisoner w r as dis- charged without a hearing. At it he went again with all his might. His escape from justice was taken by him as a show of weakness upon the part of the authorities, and his venomous, slan- derous attacks were only intensified. The authorities again took the matter under consideration and decided to arrest him at all hazards. Armed with the old warrant of Octo- ber 6, 1789, La Fayette on the 22d of January, 1790, in order to enforce service of the writ, marched with 3,000 soldiers of the National Guards, accompanied by two cannon, into the dis- trict where was located the printing establish- ment of the doctor. It was the section known as that of the Cordeliers, in which Danton resided. The marching of so large a body of troops to effect the arrest of one person, shows the progress the Revolution had made and also the weakness of the authorities in the matter of enforcing the pro- cess of the courts. Such a force on such an errand aroused the greatest excitement throughout the locality, and 98 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION of course created a rebellious sentiment. Hot words were bandied and Danton declared that if an attack were made, he would arouse the fau- bourg St. Antoine and " make the jaws of the National Guards grow white." While the tumult continued Danton found an asylum for Marat in the house of Mademoiselle Fleury, an actress of the Theatre Frangais. Danton, full of revolutionary ardor, and his temper aroused by the presence of armed troops, boldly undertook the defense of the doctor and raised a technical point in the proceedings, that caused the officers to hesitate before making an arrest. He contended that since the issuance of the old warrant, a number of changes had been made in the law, and that in consequence the charge as originally preferred could not be sus- tained. While the officers were perplexed by the point raised, and were advising together what should be done, the wily little doctor slipped away and hurried post haste to England. When it became known that he had escaped, the printing office with its presses was destroyed. Danton's defense of Marat identified him with the doctor, who at this time was under public con- demnation. For a year and a half Danton, in consequence, wielded but little if any influence outside of his own district. After the escape of Marat, Danton himself was summoned to appear before the court of the Chatelet, and it required no little legal ingenuity to secure his discharge. Although this affair put Danton in an unen- viable position and kept him under a shadow for 99 tore. DANTON a long while, it was unjust to censure him, for he had no warm friendship for Marat, nor did he in any way approve of his conduct in so far as the management of his scandalous paper was con- cerned. " No two men could have been more dif- ferent than the learned, irritable, visionary physi- cian and the young, healthy, country lawyer." But Danton had become for the time being Ma- rat's champion and he had to pay a heavy penalty for his interference. Yet, after all, his conduct was only that of a young, an impulsive lawyer, who believing that the process of the court was being used illegally, could not forego the chance of raising a technical law point. Empires might fall and dynasties pass away, but such an opportunity was too good to lose. Danton was now consid- ered by the moderates and the conservatives as a dangerous demagogue, identified with the policy and the purposes of a fanatic and a madman. The people, without ascertaining his real inten- tions, looked upon him as a lawyer who had vol- unteered his services in behalf of an outlaw, and who had purposely interfered with the process of the courts. Danton resolved, for he understood the public temper, to act with more prudence and circumspec- tion in the future, and if possible recover his former standing. He was a man wise enough to take lessons from his mistakes and failures. The Revolution advanced at a terrific pace. Event followed close on the heel of event. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, the revelry of the life guards, the first flight of the nobles, the ioo THE FRENCH REVOLUTION march of the women to Versailles, the return of the king to Paris, the meeting of the National As- sembly in the riding academy, the confiscation of Church property, the issuance of forced assignats, the removal of religious disabilities, the abolition of monastic vows, the suppression of religious orders, the execution of the Marquis de Favras, the abolition of lettres de cachet, the repeal of the salt tax, the publication of the Red Book, the institution of the jury, the abolition of all titles of nobility, the dismissal and banishment of Necker, the affair at Nancy, the funding of the public debt, and the " Day of the Daggers " were but a few of the successive steps in the march of the Revolution, and during all the period from January, 1790, to the spring of 1791, we see no sign of Danton, except that in the autumn of 1790 he was chosen commander of the battalion of the National Guard of his section. He was evidently waiting for an opportunity to render such service to the public as would restore him to popular favor and induce them to forget and forgive his past errors. 101 CHAPTER VIII DEATH OF MIRABEAU LOUIS ATTEMPTS TO GO TO ST. CLOUD DANTON INTERVENES THE FLIGHT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY TO VARENNES In April, 1791, Mirabeau died. All Paris was plunged into gloom. The remains of the great statesman were carried to the tomb with a pomp that was truly magnificent and with a respect that was almost reverential. His death was hailed with delight by Marat, who with fiendish glee gloated over what he called the glorious news. In his zeal he knew the purpose of Mirabeau and while doubting his sincerity, he appreciated his power. He could make La Fayette, Bailly and Necker wince and squirm under his vicious attacks, but against Mirabeau his shafts were hurled in vain. Robespierre was pleased beyond expression, but he gave no outward sign in public of his sat- isfaction. We can almost hear, however, his quiet chuckle, like the death rattle in a throat, and see that stern, white face, " always systematically unmoved," relax into a smile. No expression of joy escaped from Danton, there was no hate in his heart for the great trib- une. He deplored the demise of so useful a man and considered it a public calamity. 102 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Louis XVI, in this instance, had sense enough to appreciate the loss he had sustained. Danton and the king*, from two different points of view, measured the worth of Mirabeau. The former knew his power as a revolutionist and the latter valued him as a reactionist. In the early spring of this year Danton was elected administrator of the department of Paris. Easter was approaching and Louis expressed a desire to spend that season in the quietude of St. Cloud away from the turmoil and the excitements of the capital. It was not so much the seclu- sion of this suburban retreat he sought as an op- portunity to make arrangements to quit France. The people understood his purpose. The radical journals had been informing and warning them that it was the intention of the king, at the first opportunity, to abandon his throne and kingdom. Danton at the Cluj^ of the Cordeliers thundered against the kinjddmithdrawal from Paris. He openly charged him with deception, with viola- tion of the laws, and declared that he had no regard for the oath he had taken to support them; that he did not deem it as binding on his royal conscience, and that he considered the " Declaration of Rights " as an assumption on the part of the people of the king's sovereignty. He boldly asserted that Louis sought the retire- ment to St. Cloud, not for the purpose of conva- lescence, as was alleged, nor for religious con- templation, but for an opportunity to conspire with the enemies of France. La Fayette had advised with the king in rela- 103 DANTON tion to his Easter trip, and was fully in accord with the plan. He assured Louis that there would be no trouble, but unfortunately he had no true conception of the public temper. The position taken by La Fayette gave Danton an opportunity to win public favor, and at the same time to oppose and humiliate his old-time enemy. He had not forgotten the treatment he received at the time of the Soules affair and the incident of Marat, and he was determined to do all in his power to exhibit the weakness of La Fayette; also to prove to him and the people how little was the personal influence he wielded, even with the National Guards. It was a chance that Dan- ton long had sought. He had patiently bided his time. On the morning of April 18, 1791, the king, the queen and a small entourage came out into the courtyard of the Tuileries to take the carriages that were waiting to convey them to St. Cloud. A great many people had gathered to witness the departure and after the royal party were seated and the postillions were ready to start the horses at the crack of the whip, the crowd choked the way. It was useless to at- tempt to persuade that mob, for they announced in no uncertain terms that they were determined that the king should not leave Paris. The crowd was growing larger every minute, the people came hurrying from every quarter of the city, for the news had gone forth that the king was about to abandon his capital. Lawyers, doctors, mer- chants, clerks, artisans and laboring men were in that crowd and they were all of one mind — 104 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION the king must stay at home. They claimed that if Louis had the right to rule over them, they had the right to insist upon his performing his duty. They believed he was about to desert them and at the first chance seek the protection of the enemies of France. They had the further right, under the circum- stances, they insisted, of designating the palace in which he should reside. It was their money that maintained it and provided his meat, drink and raiment. If they were his people, he was their king. Their relations were reciprocal. Even if they did not love Louis they did not want to lose the king. If he had abandoned them, they would have had the fear that comes to children in the dark. They could not yet imagine the State without a royal head. They had been accustomed to a monarchy and there could be no monarchy without a monarch. If the time should ever come when a change in the form of government would be desirable, the people then would decide what disposition should be made of him — they might even cut his head off — but that was another matter, that point had not yet been reached. For the present, the people were of one mind, the king must remain at home. La Fayette appealed to the crowd which had now grown to a multitude, and begged them to desist, but his eloquence went for naught. He turned to the National Guards and called upon them to secure for the king the right of way ; he threatened, he cajoled, he commanded, but the 105 DANTON soldiers laughed at his threats, turned a deaf ear to his flattery, and refused to obey his orders. Danton boldly combated him at every point and kept alive the courage of the mob. The mayor was sent for, but his efforts were as unavailing as the general's. Even the queen's tears did not touch the sympathy of the crowd. La Fayette galloped in hot haste to the Town Hall, but Danton was there before him and stren- uously opposed his demands. The general hur- ried back to the king, but during his absence the crowd had become more insistent than ever, and were growing angry, some of the leaders go- ing so far as even to insult the queen. For two hours the royal party sat in their car- riages, hoping to start, but at last, finding it im- possible to overcome the obstinacy of the crowd, they alighted and entered the palace vexed and humiliated. Danton played well his part as tribune of the people and completely discomfited La Fayette, his old-time enemy. The Easter season was spent in Paris. The king was now convinced that the only thing for him to do was to escape the king- dom. He was no longer ruler, he was a pris- oner. The Tuileries was not a palace, it was a dungeon. Louis had read carefully the history of James II of England, and believed that prince had lost his crown because he had left his king- dom, and it required considerable persuasion to get him to agree to such an enterprise, an enter- prise that meant the abandonment of his throne and of his capital. But now being convinced 106 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION that not only was he deprived of his liberty, but that his life was in danger, he decided upon de- parture. Preparations were immediately made for the journey. It was enjoined that every pre- caution should be taken to keep the anticipated flight a secret. It would have been death to the undertaking if the public suspicion had been aroused. This time the king was not to go to St. Cloud, but, if possible, beyond the borders of France. He thought it better and safer to wear a crown outside the kingdom than within its lim- its. The time had come, he believed, when he could not save the throne without abandoning it. His intention was to flee from France and then invade it at the head of foreign armies, and, if possible, reclaim and recover his heritage by subduing his own subjects. There had been many plots arranged by his friends to effect his escape but they had all fallen by the way because of the king's indecision, but now after much con- sideration, he finally made up his mind to take the risk. Under the circumstances, from his point of view and in consideration of the subse- quent events in the Revolution, it was about the wisest thing to do. Correspondence was opened with General Bouille and arrangements were made to give the king military protection after he reached a cer- tain point in his journey. The plans were care- fully arranged for a quiet departure. The de- tails were left to the direction of Count Fersen, the devoted friend of Marie Antoinette. He was a Swede by birth, a finished courtier, an accom- 107. DANTON plished man of the world, a soldier of distinction and as gallant a knight as ever drew sword in a queen's defense or breathed a soft tale into a woman's ear. He had been one of the darlings of Trianon and the queen's most ardent admirer. Indeed it was believed that he had played the role of lover and his protestations had been lis- tened to with favor by the queen. It was said that he had leaped half clad out of the window of the queen's bed-chamber early on the morning of the 6th of October when the mob attacked the palace at Versailles. The excitement at that time was so great and the royal family in so dan- gerous a situation, that it is hard to believe that a lover under such circumstances would have spent the night with his mistress. The story contradicts itself. The queen herself was to blame for much of this idle gossip. Her conduct in the past had been inconsiderate, she had ignored many of the conventionalities of life and had often shown a defiant indifference to public opinion, especially during the periods of her sojourn at Trianon. It goes without saying, however, that Fersen was devoted to the queen and was willing to forfeit his life, if necessary, in her defense. He was in Stockholm when the plan of escape was agreed upon and he hastily came to Paris at the request of the king. He was exactly the man for such an adventure as this on hand, and he entered upon it with all the zeal of his nature. He took two friends into the secret, Mr. Quen- tin Crawford and a Mrs. Sullivan, and it was ar- 108 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ranged that they should contract for the imme- diate construction of a commodious traveling- vehicle, known in those days as a Berline, large enough to accommodate six persons. " It was a solid, well-built carriage, painted black and green, with the perch and the wheels the customary yel- low," and drawn by eight horses. General Bouille, who was to take the king under his pro- tection if he should reach the frontier, had urged him to use two light English coaches, but Louis persisted in packing the whole family into one conveyance. The queen, of course, had to make every prep- aration for the trip and, womanlike, she could not travel without a specially prepared wardrobe. " No queen can stir without new clothes," and so maids and sempstresses were set to work to prepare the royal outfit. " Dame Campan whisks assiduous to this mantua maker and to that; and there is clipping of frocks and gowns, upper clothes and under, great and small; such a clipping and sewing as — might have been dis- pensed with . . . But the whims of women and queens must be humored." The queen acted as if she were about starting on a pleasure tour instead of attempting to flee for her life. While these preparations were going on, gos- sip in the palace began to whisper, and curiosity and suspicion were needlessly, foolishly, aroused. News of what was being done reached the ears of La Fayette and a closer watch, temporarily, was kept upon the king. When La Fayette questioned him in relation to what he had heard, 109 DANTON Louis emphatically declared that he had no in- tention of leaving France. At last everything was in readiness for the journey. The wardrobe was completed, the trunks were packed, the Berline was built, and the attendants were chosen. Baroness de Korf, a Russian lady, secured the passport that was to give the right of way over the public roads and across the frontier. When it was applied for the Baroness represented herself as a German lady going to her home in Frankfort. It was signed by Montmorin, minister of foreign affairs, and read as follows: " De par le roi. Mandons de laisser passer Madame la Baronne de Korf se rendant a Frank- fort avec ses deux enfants une femme de cham- bre, un valet de chambre et trots domestiques. " Le Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, " Montmorin." The party were to start on the night of the 19th of June, but unfortunately, the departure was postponed until the 20th. This was a dis- astrous mistake and ruined the project. The plan was that they should travel to Montmedy by the shortest route, and there be met by Bouille, who would give them protection until they were safe in a strange land and under the folds of a foreign flag. The night of the 20th of June, 1791, was clear and starlit. Camille Desmoulins in refer- ring to it said : " The evening was most tran- 110 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION quil. On going home from the Jacobin Club about eleven o'clock with Danton and several other companions, we met only a single patrol the whole distance. The streets seemed to me so deserted that I could not help remarking the fact." Just before midnight while the inmates of the palace were asleep and the guards were dozing at their posts, the king, the queen and those who were with them in the secret were astir. The children were awakened and dressed, the dauphin was disguised in the apparel of a girl. He was enjoined to keep quiet, but whispering into the ear of his governess he asked : " Then is this a play ? " Oh, yes, my little prince, it is somewhat of a comedy with the sequel of a dreadful tragedy. Madame Tourzel, the governess, led the chil- dren quietly through the empty corridors of the palace. They passed out of a door that by pre- vious arrangement had been left unfastened and unguarded, and came into an unfrequented court- yard. Here was Count Fersen disguised as a coachman sitting on the box of a hackney. After the governess and the children entered the con- veyance, they were driven to the Petit Carrousel, the place of rendezvous agreed upon. At this point they were joined, at once, by the king and Madame Elizabeth. The queen was late in ar- riving, having lost her way in the darkness of the night while groping through streets with which she was not familiar. She seldom, if ever, had traveled afoot through Paris and to her the ave- nues were a labyrinth. It is said that La in DANTON Fayette's carriage drove directly past her, the lights flashing in her face while she crouched in an archway. " She had even the whim to touch a spoke of it with her badine — little magic rod which the beautiful then wore." At last they all met, took their seats in the car- riage and began their flight. The hoofs of the horses as they clattered along awakened the echoes of the street. Surely the noise will dis- turb the sleepers, for the quiet of the night was never so broken. The king is galloping out of his capital! Not a soul in all Paris knew or even suspected that he was escaping. Here and there a stray light from a window threw its dart into the night showing that all Paris was not asleep, but no citizen made an inquiry, no patrol gave an alarm, no sentry stopped the way or called a halt. The fugitives passed through the gates of the city into the open country. They found the Berline awaiting them just beyond the barriers. The hackney coach was overturned into a ditch and abandoned. Fersen gave the word and off they started for Bondy, the first relay station out of Paris, just seven miles distant from the capital. When they reached this village the horses were changed and a fresh start was made. Here Fer- sen left the party. He begged the king to be al- lowed to continue on the journey, but Louis was obdurate and the gallant count rode back to Paris sending his god-speed after the queen. He sub- sequently reached Brussels in safety. When Louis was decided it was always at the wrong 112 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION time. Had Fersen been permitted to accompany the royal party, the mistakes that were made might have been avoided. He was brave, prac- tical and sensible, a soldier and a man of the world, and he possessed the wit and the resources that would have been of use in a crisis. All the details of the preparations had been arranged by him and the plans were successful so long as he was in charge. The enterprise now had no leader and it blun- dered along every step of the way. The attend- ants were loyal but stupid. The hours were speeding, there was no time to tarry and so the horses were driven under the lash. It was a lovely summer night, one of the short- est of the year, and before the second inn was reached, the sun was already dappling the eastern sky and the day was beginning to dawn. The atmosphere had been warm and close, but the morning air, coming out of the shadows of night, was cool and refreshing; it rustled the leaves on the trees, awakened the songs of birds, and wafted in every direction the perfume of flowers and the sweet incense of growing crops. Old chanticleer in every barnyard rang out in clarion tones a welcome to the morn. All life was soon astir. The lowing cattle in the meadows turned their faces homewards and waited patiently at the stile. The milkmaid passed the coach on her way to bring in the cows. The ploughman drove his team afield and following him slowly came the drowsy farm boy, as yet only half awake, who, rubbing his eyes, stared with curious 8 113 DANTON surprise at the great coach and its occupants. The sun was up and all nature was responding to the magic touch of day. Louis was exultant. Come, lads! put spurs to your steeds and gal- lop apace! an extra coin for your trouble. The promised " tip " produced the desired effect and the great coach traveled along the road at an un- usually rapid pace. It had been some time since Louis had sniffed the country air and it acted upon him like a tonic, and as the miles were rolled off and the distance increased between him and his capital, his spirits rose correspondingly, and he felt the ecstasy of a new-born liberty. He began to chuckle over the success of the expedition and wondered what the sensations of La Fayette would be when he discovered that his prisoners had fled. He insisted upon poking his fat face out of the window at every relay station, confident that he could not be recognized through his disguise. Every minute passed and every mile traveled made the escape more certain, so on they sped as rapidly as so cumbersome a vehicle, " with its mountain of band boxes," could speed. The con- stant relays enabled them to travel at a good pace and to keep up a fair average. The travelers on the highways and the peas- ants in the fields turned to watch the vehicle till it passed out of sight, then they pursued their way or resumed their toil and wondered why the rich folk were in so desperate a hurry. They as- certained the reason for the haste the next day. At Montmirail a trace broke and considerable 114 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION time was lost, upwards of an hour, it is said, in making repairs, repairs that would have taken an experienced horseman or driver not more than twenty minutes at the most. This precious time was frittered away by bunglers when every mo- ment counted in this race for life. Fersen's skill here would have been of incalculable service. It is related that, at this point, Louis dis- mounted and walked up the hill " to enjoy the blessed sunshine " and that he was so slow in returning that he lengthened the delay. All day the journey continued, town after town was passed without interference and the destina- tion of the royal travelers was not far distant. There was now almost a day's journey between Louis and his enemies and every mile-stone that was passed lessened the distance between him and his friends. He was all but in touch with safety. The royal party would soon be under the protec- tion of Bouille and his army. Hope was in every heart, there apparently was no question now as to their happy deliverance. The after- noon was wearing late when they reached Cha- lons. The postmaster at this town recognized the king, but being a royalist he gave no sign. It is said he even assisted in hitching the horses, in order that there should be no delay in starting. Wherever the party had stopped, their con- duct and appearance had aroused suspicion. Their anxiety at every station to get away as quickly as possible ; the speed at which the horses were driven; the presence of three body guards; the lavish manner in which the couriers spent "5 DANTON money, and the fat face of Louis at the window set people to guessing and the party no sooner left a station than a general discussion ensued. Following the Berline was a carriage occupied by two ladies, whom the queen had insisted upon taking along. This also started inquiry. The next day when the news was abroad of the arrest of the king, there was scarcely a person who had seen him in any town through which he had passed that did not say to his neighbor, " I told you so." What a great opportunity they all had missed. If any one of them had captured the king, his name would have been written in the pages of history for all time. There had been but a narrow line between any one of them and fame, but they had all made up their minds too late. They had failed to act when glory stared them in the face. Opportuni- ties make renown but the opportunities have to be seized. Troops under the orders of Bouille had been posted along the road from Pont-Sommeville, the first town beyond Chalons. The soldiers had created great anxiety among the people, who curiously inquired the reason for the presence, in a peaceful community, of this armed force. " We are waiting for a treasure and are to guard it," was the answer. The king was six hours late according to the schedule, and the excitement of the people was increasing to such a degree that the officers in command gradually withdrew the troops, fear- ing that the plans had miscarried. 116 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION When Louis reached Pont-Sommeville, the first town where he expected to meet the troops, his heart failed him when he realized that the ar- rangements had not been carried out. In desper- ate resolve he urged the drivers to lose no time in reaching the next town and the horses were put to their top-speed. It was nine o'clock when the travelers drove up to the inn at Sainte-Mene- hould. The horses hot and thirsty, their heads drooping, their bodies covered with a white foam of sweat, gave evidence of the furious gait at which they had been driven. This of itself created a suspicion, for why should horses pull- ing so heavy a coach be compelled to travel at so hot a pace? As usual Louis poked his head out of the win- dow at the very moment when every precaution should have been taken and at once he was recog- nized by Drouet, postmaster of the town and a rabid republican. Drouet had served at one time as a dragoon at Versailles and he saw at once that the companion of Louis was the queen. Some say that the inn-keeper was paid for the hire and fodder of the horses in a new fifty-franc assignat, and Drouet comparing the portrait on the note with the face in the coach was convinced that the occupant was none other than the king. The doughty republican took in the situation at a glance. The report was soon put in circula- tion, the news spreading like wild-fire. The ex- cited people ran from every direction towards the inn, and somebody to add to the general alarm, rang the town bell. But the royal party were "7 DANTON allowed to proceed and they started for Cler- mont at full gallop. Night was rapidly advancing and the fugitives plunged with desperation into the darkness. It was indeed now a race for life. Not a moment was to be lost for all depended upon outstripping the couriers who surely would carry the news to the next town, arouse the people and detain the coach. Now axle, spoke, tongue and trace hold to- gether, let not a bolt fly from its place. Urge the steeds, postillion, with whip and spur, but hold a steady hand on the reins, for if a horse stumble or a strap break, all may be lost. To- night a king rides for his life. At Sainte-Menehould, Captain D'Andoins, an officer in the army of Bouille, yet neither brave nor sensible, was in command of a detachment of troopers, but when the royal party arrived, he was so intimidated by the attitude of the people, that he was afraid to act. The National Guards turned out and threatened him with arrest if he attempted to aid the king. After the departure of the coach the captain mustered up some cour- age and ordered his dragoons to mount and fol- low, but the people surrounded the barracks, closed the stables and fraternized with the sol- diers, who being plied with liquor became not only intoxicated but insubordinate. This was the first body of troops the king had seen, but under a hesitating, if not a cowardly officer, they were of no practical use. Only one dragoon, a quartermaster in rank, and Lagache 118 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by name, displayed any resolution and courage. Mounting his horse, holding the reins between his teeth, and taking a pistol in each hand, he put spurs to his charger and dashed through the crowd scattering the people right and left in every direction. He was fired at and wounded, but he never drew rein until he reached Cler- mont and gave information of what had trans- pired in Sainte-Menehould. It may be interesting to know that Lagache afterwards won distinction in the campaigns of Napoleon, was medaled time and again for bravery on the field, was promoted to a general- ship and ennobled under the empire. His name is chiseled into the enduring marble of the im- perial "Arc de Triomphe" and his glory made immortal. After the fugitives left Sainte-Menehould, Drouet mounted a horse and, familiar with every inch of the road, followed the royal coach with the speed of light. As he galloped, he spread the news on all sides. Little did he know that he was riding to fame and that he was making for himself a place in the world's history. The king reached Clermont before the arrival of Drouet, who was following the royal party like a spectre, but had not yet overtaken them. No time was wasted in changing the relays and the coach started on its way at once. A flying horseman dashed past the Berline and looking in the window shouted, " You are known." " Is he friend or foe ? " anxiously inquired the queen. 119 DANTON The stars were shining but dimly and the dark- ness as the night advanced increased every mo- ment. The very air was filled with terror, for the bells from the steeples in all the neighboring villages were ringing the tocsin, arousing the people and greatly adding to the tumult. No soldiers were in sight but the king's party were getting every moment closer to the army of Bouille and they knew that their only safety was in reaching his protection. The queen pressed the dauphin to her bosom and for once in his life the king was anxious and excited. Before leaving Clermont the post boys were directed in a loud voice by the body guard to drive to Varennes, so that when Drouet arrived in the village, he received just the information he desired, for upon reaching the crossroads he might have taken the one leading to Verdun in- stead of that to Varennes. In fact the statement is from his own lips that it was his original inten- tion to go to the former town if he had not been informed by the fugitives as to the route they were to take. Had he gone to Verdun the king, no doubt, would have escaped. When Varennes was reached at 1 1 130 p. m., the relay of horses could not be found. The king and the queen in consequence alighted from the Berline and walked through the town to look for the post boys. Frightened, anxious and excited, they lost their presence of mind and became be- wildered. If they had crossed the bridge of the river that divides the town they would have found the horses awaiting them. 120 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION It was now approaching midnight and the vil- lage was sound asleep. There were no people abroad and so the king knocked at the doors of several houses, in some of them lights were burn- ing. He inquired of the inmates if they knew anything about a relay of horses waiting for the arrival of a coach. While he was seeking this information, Drouet dashed into the town at full gallop, the clatter of his horse's hoofs making such a din that win- dows were raised and night-capped folk asked the reason for the excitement. As the rider passed the royal coach he shouted to the post boys: " In the name of the nation, dare to go no fur- ther, you drive the king." He reached the town inn, the " Bras d'Or," leaped from his horse, rushed into the house, found the landlord who had not yet retired, took him aside, and whis- pered into his ear, " Comrade, are you a patriot? " " Yes," was the answer. " Then let me tell you that the king is escaping from the kingdom." And now see Boniface bustling as he never did for the jolliest toper. A company of young men had been dining at the inn and were about to break up their feast when Drouet told them the news and appealed to them as patriots to give the alarm, call out the people, muster the guards and prevent the escape of his majesty. The mayor of the town was awakened, and his children, frightened almost to death, ran into the street and not knowing what else to do began shrieking the cry of fire. Drouet, who seems to have had a clear head amidst all the tumult and 121 DANTON excitement, hurried with some companions to the bridge, which had not yet been crossed by the king's party, there overturned a wagon and thus most effectually blocked the way. The journey of the royal fugitives had suddenly come to an end. The troops of Bouille that had been posted in the town mingled with the crowd, were served with wine, and were soon won over to the peo- ple's cause. It was an easy matter to convince them, after the facts were explained, that they should take no hand in the affair. The com- mands of their superior officer were not heeded and, deciding at once upon his own safety, he rode away in hot haste to the camp of Bouille to re- port the insubordination and disloyalty of the troops. The royal carriages were stopped at the en- trance to the bridge. They had traveled sixty- nine miles in twenty-two hours, a pretty fair showing when all things are considered. The mayor of the town, Sausse by name and a grocer by occupation, demanded to see the passport. The king positively declared that he was none other than M. Durand and so emphatic was he in his tone and manner that he raised a doubt in the mind of Sausse, who hesitated to act, fearing he might be held responsible if he should exceed his authority. He was at once assured, how- ever, by Drouet that there could be no question as to the identity of Louis. The mayor then politely, with hat in hand, invited the king to accept his hospitality for the night. Louis in- 122 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION sisted upon proceeding on his way and ordered the drivers to go on, but it was no use, the peo- ple would not yield. Louis appealed to them but in vain. Had Fersen been there he would have been a host in himself, a stern command backed by the courage of a determined man would have been worth a score of timid requests or kindly tempered appeals. " For five and thirty minutes by the king's watch the Berline is at a dead stand. Round hat arguing with churn boots, tired horses slobbering their meal and water." Louis again insisted upon proceeding, but some armed men in the crowd pointed their guns at him, and he lost no time in surrendering. He and his family took refuge in the shop of the grocer and sat on boxes and barrels till the morn- ing dawned. Worn out with the excitement and the anxieties of the day, the dauphin slept. Poor little fellow ! his troubles were only beginning, he was yet to drink the cup of sorrow to its dregs. It makes the heart ache to read the story of his sad and wretched life. The villagers and peasants standing around discussed openly the question of the king's iden- tification. "Oh, we know who you are," some of the men exclaimed in addressing Louis. " Then if you do," said Marie Antoinette sharply, with her usual indiscretion, " speak to him with the respect which is his due." For some time the king endeavored to conceal his identity, but at last finding there was no longer any use in attempting to deceive the peo- 123 DANTON pie, he admitted the truth. He then changed his manner and pathetically appealed to the sympathies of the bystanders, declaring that it was not his intention to desert France but to take up his residence at Montmedy; that he had left Paris because his life there had been in constant peril. He begged most earnestly to be permitted to proceed, and solemnly asserted that he would not betray those who at this crisis of his life would trust him. The queen, too, personally appealed to Madame Sausse and although she softened the heart of the woman she could not weaken her resolution. " You are thinking of the king," said the woman, " and I am thinking of Monsieur Sausse; each for her own husband." Just before daybreak the royal party ascended the narrow corkscrew staircase that led to the upper floors of the mayor's house. Under the windows the crowd shouted, " Back to Paris ! " Louis was hungry, and called for bread and cheese and a bottle of Burgundy. What a contrast between him and his queen. Lamartine in speaking of her says : " Rage, terror, despair, waged so ter- rible a conflict in her mind that her hair which had been auburn on the previous evening was in the morning white as snow." About this time officers of the royal troops be- gan to arrive and they imparted courage to the king. Choiseul and Goguelat forced their way through the crowd, reached his side and bravely offered their services, declaring they were ready to draw their swords, to rally the troops and cut 124 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION their way out. They told him that if he would mount a horse he could, with a sabre, carve his road to liberty. " If I were alone I would do what you suggest," said Louis, " but you must bear in mind that by such a course I would en- danger the lives of the queen, my sister and my children." The king has been criticised for his timidity at this time, but few men under the cir- cumstances would have taken such a risk, and he would have been a poltroon had he attempted to escape by the desertion of his family. A brave officer named Deslon, five leagues dis- tant from Varennes, heard of the king's plight. With sixty hussars he covered the distance in two hours and presenting himself to the king asked for orders. " I have none to give," said the dis- consolate Louis. " If you can reach Bouille, tell him I am a prisoner. I suspect that he cannot do anything for me, but I ask him to do what he can." Deslon, heavy-hearted, rode away. Bouille also started for Varennes, but meeting Deslon on the road was informed of the condi- tion of affairs and at once retraced his steps. It was all over with him as it was with the king. The project that meant so much for both of them had failed; the plans had miscarried. Louis intended to make Bouille a marshal of France, and had brought with him a baton for the pur- pose of conferring the honor upon his friend and rescuer, but they never met. Louis was taken back to his capital and Bouille, humiliated by the failure, discarded and condemned by the emi- 125 DANTON grants, withdrew from public view and in a for- eign land and among strangers ate the bitter bread of disappointment. He was censured for a failure for which he was not in any way re- sponsible. 126 CHAPTER IX PARIS AFTER THE FLIGHT OF THE KING LA FAYETTE IN PERIL LA FAYETTE DENOUNCED BY DANTON AT THE JACOBINS Early in the morning of the 21st, Paris was startled by the news that the king had fled. Baron Thiebault in his Memoirs writes : " When I awoke before eight o'clock, the streets of Paris were resounding only with the cries of the usual street venders, and with the noise of a few heavy vehicles. Presently a murmur was heard like the roar of a wave driven by a tempest. I leapt from my bed and had scarcely opened my window when I heard the cry repeated from mouth to mouth : ' The king is gone ! The king is gone ! ' " " In the name of God who is responsible for this misfortune ? " cried the people. The streets were soon thronged with excited multitudes and, to add to the tumult, every steeple began to peal forth an alarm and the roll of drums mustering the troops resounded in every quarter of the city. Danton hurried to the Club of the Cordeliers to quiet the fears of his follow- ers and to urge that the time had now come to arouse a public sentiment against the further con- tinuance of the monarchy. The Palais Royal 127 DANTON rang with rumors, immense crowds gathered there and all was confusion, bewilderment. While the people were discussing in alarm the consequences of the king's flight, a man dressed in a threadbare great coat leaped upon a table and said : " Citizens : Listen to a tale which shall not be a long one and draw from it a moral. A certain Neapolitan once upon a time, while tak- ing his evening walk, was startled by the astound- ing intelligence that the pope was dead. He had hardly recovered from his surprise when he was informed that the King of Naples was no more. ' Surely,' he exclaimed, ' the sun of heaven must vanish at such a combination of fatalities.' But alas ! it did not end here for immediately the news was announced that the Archbishop of Palermo had just expired. Overcome by these disasters he hurried home, sought his bed, but could not sleep. In the morning he was startled by a rumbling noise which he recognized at once to be the motion of the wooden instrument which makes macaroni. * Aha ! ' he cried, starting up, ' the pope is dead — the King of Naples is dead — the Bishop of Palermo is dead — yet my neighbor, the baker, still makes macaroni.' Come, my fellow citizens, mourn not, fear not, the lives of these great men are not so indispensable after all ! " The man in the great coat jumped down and dis-. appeared. The meaning of his sermon was un- derstood, a broad smile spread over the faces of his audience and the people took fresh courage. The crowd swarmed around the Tuileries and every moment their anger increased. The rabble 128 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION from the slums gathered, pikes in hand, and threatened destruction to the palace. It was in- vaded, the doors of the royal apartments were forced. A fruit woman sat in the queen's bed and offered her plums and cherries for sale, de- claring that the time had come when the poor should take their ease. The palace belonged to the people, the lawful tenants had abandoned the premises, without notice to the owners, and the latter were simply claiming and enjoying their own. The women with a keen curiosity looked into the closets and tried on the garments of the queen. One of her caps was placed on the head of a young girl, but she snatched it off, threw it on the ground, and indignantly trampled it under foot, declaring she would not have her forehead sullied by such a head-dress. The mob would let no one disturb the toys and the books of the little dauphin and they re- mained in his nursery just as he left them. There is always a chord of sympathy running through the hearts of the people; it has only to be touched aright to make it respond. The walls of the Tuileries were placarded with offers of a small reward to be paid to any one who would bring back the unclean animals that had escaped. Louis by his departure had abandoned his friends to the savagery of the mob. Especially did he jeopard the life of his minister, Mont- morin, who only a short while before, June ist, had addressed a letter to the Assembly, in which P 129 DANTON he had affirmed " on his responsibility, on his life, and on his honor," that the king had never thought of leaving France. He also imperiled the safety of both Bailly and La Fayette, who were his custodians and who had given every assurance to the people, upon the word of the king himself, that he had no intention of quitting the capital. Bailly and Montmorin, of course, came in for a share of the public abuse, but it was upon La Fayette chiefly that the suspicion of the people fell. They openly insulted him in the streets and charged him with connivance in having been a part of the plan. " You are false to us," they cried, " you are a traitor to the Revo- lution." He appealed to their generosity, de- clared his ignorance of the purpose of the king, and denounced his conduct as infamous. Dan- ton lost no opportunity to increase the suspicion of the people and to discredit the general's loy- alty. La Fayette displayed considerable tact in soothing the public temper, for he smilingly said when the complaints were loudest, " My friends, you forget that you all derive a personal benefit from the king's flight. His income is no longer to be paid out of the public revenues, and by the suppression of the civil list you save twenty sous each." The crowd quickly saw the point and ap- plauded. It was strange he was not torn to pieces, for the people were exasperated beyond measure. He had time and again laughed at their fears and had denied every rumor in rela- tion to the king's leaving the kingdom. He had placed implicit confidence in the royal word and 130 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION was grossly deceived. La Fayette was an honest man and as such was prone to place too much de- pendence on the assertions and declarations of those whose interest it was to deceive him and to break the promises they made. There really was no ground to suspect La Fay- ette, for no one in the kingdom had less of the confidence of the king and the queen. He was about the last man to whom they would have im- parted the secret, or on whom they would have placed any reliance; but an excited people were looking for a scapegoat and they were not in the mood to weigh facts. La Fayette rose to the full stature of a man during these perils ; his serenity, his courage were admirable. He mingled with the crowds and saved one of his officers, the Due d'Aumont, from the hands of the mob that had threatened his massacre. " He cast himself with calm audacity amidst the people to grasp again, at the peril of his life, the confidence that he had lost." Al- though covered with reproaches and charged with perfidy, he showed no wavering, no weak- ness in his conduct and " thus recovered by cour- age the dominion which he would have lost had he hesitated." He had the audacity of honesty and the composure that reflects the clear con- science. " He is gone," cried Freron, " this imbecile king, this perjured monarch. She is gone, this wretched queen who to the lasciviousness of Mes- salina unites the insatiable thirst for blood that devoured Medea. Evil genius of France, the 131 DANTON soul of this conspiracy." Of course the col- umns of " The Friend of the People " teemed with abuse. Marat clamored for the death of Bailly and La Fayette; all the scoundrels of the staff, all the traitors in the Assembly. The Aus- trian woman, he said, seduced La Fayette in the night. Louis, disguised in a priest's robe, fled with the dauphin and now laughs at the folly of the Parisians and ere long will swim in their blood. " People," he cried exultantly, " behold the loyalty, the honor, the religion of kings. Remember, if you will, the story of Henry III and the Duke of Guise. At the same table they broke bread and pledged their friendship; at the same altar they received the holy sacrament and made their vows of eternal 'loyalty, but no sooner had they quitted the sanctuary, than the king dis- tributed poniards to his followers, sent for the duke to come to his cabinet and there calmly witnessed his cruel murder. Trust then to the oaths of princes ! " La Fayette, in a measure having calmed the fears and the suspicions of the people, hurried to the Assembly and, mounting the tribune, de- manded to be heard. He impressed the deputies with the truth of his words. He solemnly affirmed that he had taken every precaution against such an occurrence; that he knew noth- ing of the plot and never for a moment imagined that the king, after his positive declarations, could be so base as to deceive those whose confidence he had sought and whose doubts he had allayed. The general also thought it prudent on the 132 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION side of personal safety to attend the meeting of the Jacobins. There was nothing better than to beard the lion in his den. When he entered the hall of the Jacobins, Danton was speaking and, leaving the line of discussion, the orator turned suddenly on La Fayette and assailed him most bitterly. " You have deceived us, you swore the king should not leave us. Either you have be- trayed your country or you are stupid enough to have stood sponsor for a person whose confidence you did not have, and for whom you could not answer. How was it that the very same men who were on guard when the king tried to go to St. Cloud on the 18th of April, were on guard last night when the king fled? In the most favorable view that can be taken of the case, you are incompetent to command. I will leave the tribune, for I have said enough." Danton was enraged to such a degree against La Fayette, whom he charged with negligence, incompetency or treason, that he imperiled the general's personal safety. While the conservatives and the reactionists were endeavoring to soothe the public temper, Danton was inflaming it by his impassioned harangues. He had a most bitter dislike for La Fayette because of old scores, but he also had no exalted opinion of his capability. He con- sidered him weak, unstable, vain, and inordi- nately ambitious to secure popularity, and fur- ther, at this point, he doubted his loyalty. La Fayette took the abuse complacently without making any reply, trusting that time would prove 133 DANTON his innocence, but his composure only irritated and increased the anger of Danton. Camille Desmoulins in describing the events of this day said that while on his way to the Jacobins he met La Fayette on the Quai Voltaire. " Convinced of the necessity of rallying round a chief, I yielded to the impulse that drew me to- wards the white horse. ' Monsieur,' said I, in the midst of the crowd, * for more than a year I have constantly spoken ill of you. This is the moment to convict me of falsehood. Prove that I am a calumniator, render me execrable, cover me with infamy and save the State.' La Fayette answered warmly while pressing my hand, * All goes well! The conduct of the king is infa- mous.' " Camille then hurried to the Club of the Jaco- bins. When he entered the hall, Robespierre was in the tribune delivering one of his characteristic speeches. Caesar, Antony, Lepidus, Brutus and Cassius were mustered into service; conspiracies were unveiled; patriots were in imminent danger of assassination; foreign legions were advancing towards the gates of the capital. The orator, carried away by his emotions, was willing to sac- rifice himself upon his country's altar. " I know," he cried, " the fate that awaits me and I shall look at death as a mercy if it prevents me witnessing my country's misfortunes." Men sprang to their feet and cheered the orator to the echo. " We will die with you," exclaimed Camille, with his accustomed enthusiasm, and extending his arms towards the speaker. u Con- 134 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION trolled by his impulses," says Lamartine, " he passed from the embrace of La Fayette into that of Robespierre, like a courtesan." After the flight of the king, the Assembly di- rected his arrest and passed a decree of suspen- sion. He had voluntarily abandoned the king- dom ; therefore, it was asked : why should he longer reign? The throne was empty; why not establish a free government? was the cry. Now was developed and nurtured for the first time in the heart of all France, a longing for a republic. Louis himself had scattered and sown the seed. When the king abandoned the throne, Danton thought it was high time to destroy it. From this point he favored the absolute deposition of the king. To avoid the perils incident to a vacancy, it was argued by many that Louis had been ab- ducted. But this matter was immediately put at rest when his proclamation was read to the Con- vention. It was, under the circumstances, a most foolish document to leave behind. It would have been wiser had Louis sent it to the Assembly after reaching the vantage ground of safety. It an- nounced that he had been detained under duress, that he had been a prisoner in his own palace, and this being the case, he renounced his accept- ance of those decrees of the Assembly, which he had approved under constraint. The paper went on further to state that he had not been treated with the consideration to which as king he had been entitled; that his allowance 135 DANTON was not sufficient to meet his expenses and to enable him to maintain properly the dignity of his sacred office. " Want of due furniture in Tuileries palace; want of due cash in civil list; general want of cash, of furniture, of order; an- archy everywhere." The reading of the manifesto of the king in the Assembly was interrupted time and again by murmurs of indignation and shouts of laughter; especially was it derided when it related that " your -attachment to your king was reckoned among your virtues; this attachment is now changed into hatred, and homage into insult. From M. Necker down to the lowest of the rabble everyone has been king except the king himself. You have threatened to deprive me even of my empty title and to shut the queen up in a convent. My aunts were arrested when they wished, from religious motives, to journey to Rome, and my conscience has been time and again outraged. When I desired to go to St. Cloud, my horses were unharnessed and I was forcibly driven back into my palace." The Assembly, to show its utter contempt, took no action on the paper, but immediately proceeded with the order of the day. 130 CHAPTER X RETURN OF THE KING TO PARIS On the evening of the 22nd, news of the cap- ture of the king reached the capital. At this time Louis was on his way to Paris, having left Varennes on the morning of that day. Barnave, Petion, and Latour Marbourg were named as Commissioners by the Convention and were directed to start out at once to meet the king and escort him in the name of the nation to the capital. They repaired hastily to Eperney and met the procession just outside of the town. The com- missioners straightway assumed control and all orders emanated from them. On the night of the 23rd the king put up at the tavern in Dormans. A howling mob under the windows made the night hideous and with their shouts kept the royal travelers awake until daylight. Before leaving this town, Madame Tourzel, who had been riding with the king and the queen, was requested to take her seat in a second carriage with Latour Marbourg. Bar- nave and Petion rode with the royal family. Barnave occupied the back seat with the king and the queen, while Petion rode in front seated be- tween Madame Elizabeth and Madame Royale. 137 DANTON The dauphin was held alternately by his mother, his sister and his aunt. Latour Marbourg was a man of some distinc- tion; the personal friend of La Fayette and a royalist who was devoted to the king. He pur- posely rode with Madame Tourzel that his col- leagues might be brought into close contact with the royal family, hoping that their sympathies would be aroused by the sad spectacle of fallen greatness. His plan worked well in so far as Barnave was concerned, but it went awry as to Petion. Barnave was a barrister and was chosen as a deputy to the States-General from Grenoble. He was a man of superior talents and one of the most finished orators in the Assembly. He so moved the admiration of Mirabeau in the early sessions of that body, that the great tribune said of him : " It is a young tree which, how- ever, will mount high, if it be let to grow." The queen was surprised to find him so polite in de- portment, so thoughtful in his attentions, and of so superior an intelligence. So strongly did he impress her that she afterwards emphatically de- clared : " If ever power is again in our hands his pardon is already written on our hearts." He in turn was affected by her graceful dignity and his sympathies were stirred by her distress and humiliation. From this time he was devoted to the interests of the royal family. Petion, on the other hand, was stern and rude in manner and conduct, and openly in conversa- tion insulted the king. While eating his lunch- eon, he threw chicken bones out of the window 138 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION past the faces of the ladies who were under his protection. In his Memoirs he was indecent enough to write that Madame Elizabeth, as pure and as pious a woman as ever lived, cast her eyes upon him with affection, and he believed that if they had been alone, she would have fallen into his arms and declared her love. At some places the royal party were received with honor and respect, but at most of the towns they were jeered and insulted by the populace. It was a long and weary ride, for Varennes is about seventy miles from Paris. The weather was hot, the roads were dusty, the crowds were dense and their temper was ugly. No king ever made so sad, so humiliating a journey through his state. Twice before Louis had been escorted by the mob to his capital. Once when he came to Paris from Versailles af- ter the fall of the Bastile, and again when he was carried a prisoner on the 6th of October, 1789, to the palace of the Tuileries; but those proces- sions were of little moment as compared with this one. They were revolutionary but not anti- monarchic. This time, he had been caught dis- guised as a valet, while attempting to sneak out of his kingdom; apprehended like a criminal, he was being taken back to his palace, but which from this time forth would be virtually a prison. Louis took this degradation as he took every- thing else, amiably, complacently; but language fails to describe, even faintly, the queen's agony of soul, the indignation she felt, but which she had to conceal, the shame, the despair, the hu- 139 DANTON miliation of her proud heart. " It was a Calvary of sixty leagues every step of which was a tor- ture." The people that crowded the roadside jeered and insulted the royal procession, but few kind words of welcome greeted the ears of the king. The constant cry was " Long live the nation." An old royalist, M. de Dampierre, approached the carriage to pay respect to his sovereign. He was seized at once and murdered in cold blood; the wheels of the king's coach almost passing over his bleeding form. A priest forced his way through the crowd and respectfully saluted the king; he was thrown down by the mob and it was with the greatest difficulty that the commissioners could save him from their brutality. " Tigers," cried Barnave, " have you ceased to be French? From a nation of brave men are you changed into a nation of cut-throats?" In the afternoon or the early evening of the 25th of June, the procession entered Paris. " On Monday night royalty went ; on Saturday evening it returns." The streets were crowded, windows and housetops were filled, the trees were loaded with people, every inch of available space along the route of the procession was occu- pied. All the spectators kept their hats on, with the exception of a deputy named Guilhermy who re- mained bare-headed in spite of curses and threats. He was roughly jostled by the crowd but he threw his hat far over the heads of the people, 140 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and after this display of heroism he remained un- molested. The order was explicit and imperative that the royal party should be received in silence. Post- ers bore the inscription : " Whoever applauds the king will be flogged, whoever insults him will be hanged. 1 ' Paris was hushed, ominously hushed, the quiet only occasionally broken by the cry: "Long live the nation." The National Guards received the king with arms reversed but he was accorded no military honors. It was a sorry entry of a monarch into his cap- ital. The days had been when the city would have echoed with the cheers of a rejoicing popu- lace in giving him welcome, but now there was none in all that vast concourse of people, to pay him the slightest respect. Drouet was the hero of the hour; he had galloped into fame in a night. He rode in the procession and his appear- ance aroused the greatest enthusiasm. The warmth of his reception only made the coolness shown the king more marked by the contrast. Drouet must have been a man of remarkable decision. It is not everyone that would have pos- sessed his presence of mind and would have acted so decisively, under the circumstances, as he did. The country postmaster, however, had risen so high and so rapidly, that the sudden elevation made him dizzy. He received so much lauda- tion and attained so great a prominence that his head became somewhat turned and he annoyed his friends and the Assembly, to which body he was afterwards returned as a delegate, by his 141 DANTON constant reference to the affair. He had only- one theme and he never tired of repeating it until it grew " As tedious as a twice-told tale Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man." The palace of the Tuileries was, at last, reached. When the gardens were entered the mob made an attack upon the three gardes du corps, and they no doubt would have been mur- dered had they not been rescued by the commis- sioners. The royal family quickly sought the seclusion of their rooms. The first thought of the queen was to send a message to Count Fersen informing him that they were safe. Is it a won- der that she was thinking of some one other than her royal spouse, some one loyal and courageous upon whom she could depend, for how was it pos- sible for any woman of spirit to have respect for such a man as Louis? His indifference, his complacency, produced in the proud and im- pulsive heart of his wife a feeling of disgust. She is almost to be excused for seeking the ad- miration and regard of other men. Her tempta- tions were the result of her husband's weakness and inattention. Louis was no sooner in the palace, than he was troubled by his appetite, and as usual called for chicken. He does not induce our sympa- thies even when he is in dire distress. When La Fayette presented himself to the queen at the palace and politely placed himself under her orders, she insolently threw him her 142 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION keys exclaiming sneeringly. " You are our jailer. I give you the custody of my goods." "Oh! your majesty," said the general in his gentlest tones, and bowing with the greatest cour- tesy, " you well know I shall assume no such duty." The return of the king did not change the opinion of Danton, that it was time to lay the foundations for a republic and that the king's de- sertion of his throne and of his people was an ab- dication of his power. Every precaution was taken to prevent another attempt to escape, and the guard was in conse- quence doubled. Sentinels were placed at every door, all the approaches to the palace were guarded. Every movement of the king was watched, his steps were dogged, and so humili- ated was he by this system of espionage, that he did not speak to any one for several days. All the liberty the king had left to him was to stroll in the garden of the Tuileries in the early morn- ing before the park was open to the public. The queen too was seldom out of sight of the guards. Indeed she complained that her privacy was invaded even while she was dressing. At night when she slept the door of her bed-room was open. Matters in a short time quieted down, a re- action set in and the moderates made a determined effort to restore the king to popular favor. The people were happy in the fact that they had him once more in their midst. They did not know how much they needed him until they lost 143 DANTON him. They had been thrown into great confusion and excitement at the time of his escape, but they were soon to be convinced that they had gone to a great deal of trouble to recover that which they did not want, and after wrangling over the matter for a couple of years, they ended the dis- cussion by chopping off his head. The king prepared a report to be submitted to the Assembly and in this important work he was materially aided by Barnave. In his mes- sage Louis declared that it had never been his intention to leave the kingdom, that he had ef- fected no concert with foreigners, with his rela- tives nor with the emigrants. He also stated that he had chosen Montmedy as the place to which he was to retire, because being near the borders, it would have given him a better oppor- tunity to protect France from foreign invasion. The journey, he said, convinced him that the people favored the Constitution, and this fact he could never have ascertained had he remained in Paris. He also left his capital to show to the world that he was free to go and come as he pleased. Was there ever such a tissue of mis- statements, of falsehoods ? He had no more idea of going to Montmedy to remain, than of go- ing to heaven. How could any one believe he left Paris simply to convince the world that he was free to go and come as he pleased, in view of the methods of departure he had adopted? He had donned the garb of a menial, he had as- sumed a false name, his very passport was a counterfeit, a lie on its face. He had crept 144 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION stealthily out of his palace in the dead of night. He had arranged with Bouille to be protected by his troops and he had told M. Valory that it was his intention to take refuge in the monastery at Orval, a town in the territory of the Austrians. The truth was he tried to sneak out of his king- dom. There may have been every justification in the world for his conduct, and if he had boldly admitted the facts and had forcibly given his reasons, he might have strengthened his cause. He would immeasurably have added to his repu- tation as a man, and to his honor as a king. Strange to say, too, the report was in contradic- tion of the statements made in the manifesto which he left behind, at the time of his departure. Marie Antoinette also supported the allegations made in the paper of the king, and declared that if it had been his intention to leave the kingdom, she would have persuaded him against such a course. The report, notwithstanding its incon- sistent statements, had a great effect in allaying the public temper. The people accepted it be- cause they were anxious to believe in the inno- cence of the king. What would have been the result if the king had succeeded in his attempted flight? The roy- alists believed his escape would have produced a civil war, and that it ultimately would have led to the invasion of France by the allies, for the purpose of restoring the monarchy. On the other hand the radicals were of opinion that they would have had a free field for the building of a re- public. The king's absence would have united W 145 DANTON all the factions in support of the new or provi- sional government that would have been set up until the republic was firmly established, and if the king had attempted to recover by force that which he voluntarily abandoned, he would have aroused against him the patriotic sentiment of the whole nation. Louis would surely have been weaker out of the kingdom than in it. He would not have inspired enthusiasm in a strange land any more than he did at home. He had not the spirit of the bold crusader and if he had escaped from his kingdom he never by his own efforts could have recovered it. He was the last man in the world, by his appeals and resolution, to arouse Europe in his cause. By the greatest stretch of the imagination it is not possible to pic- ture him as flashing his sword and rallying his followers. Had he possessed the wit, the spirit, the resolution, the courage and the diplomacy of Henry of Navarre, he would not have been com- pelled to leave his kingdom. The allies might have undertaken an invasion but it would have been for the preservation of their own thrones rather than for the restora- tion of a Bourbon king. The moving cause that would have induced them to act would have been a desire to destroy a dangerous republic, rather than to effect the re-establishment of the French monarchy. Had Louis escaped, his life would no longer have been in danger, and his personal safety being assured, a different question would have arisen for the consideration of the allies. For it is one thing to attempt to succor a king 146 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION whose life is in peril, and another to undertake to restore the throne which he has abandoned, and judging from the feeble efforts made by the allies and their failure to relieve the king, there is not much assurance that they would have suc- ceeded any better in effecting his restoration. His escape ought to have been, under the circum- stances, a blessing to France and to have resulted in the establishment of a republic. The Revolu- tion then, doubtless, would have been a differ- ent story. Napoleon thought it was a great error for the National Assembly to order his return. It would have been far better had they directed that he be allowed to proceed on his way. They then could have declared the throne vacant, could have at- tained their great object, the establishment of republican institutions, and above all, would have avoided the infamous crime of regicide. " By bringing him back they encumbered themselves with a sovereign whom they had no just reason for destroying and lost the chance of getting rid of the royal family without an act of cruelty." Danton was much enraged at the time of the king's flight, for he did not know how far-reach- ing were the plans, nor could he surmise the real purpose of the conspirators. But after the ex- citement subsided, he believed it would have been much better for France had Louis effected his escape, for then the republic would have been sooner and more firmly established. The volun- tary abandonment of the throne would have united the factions in a common purpose, and if i47 DANTON Louis had attempted by force of arms to recover his power, he would have had to assume the role of invader. Danton at this time was the leader, the repre- sentative of the ultra revolutionists, and he boldly led the way in the direction of popular govern- ment. From this point there was no doubt in his mind, no hesitation in his conduct. He urged with all his might that the only logical issue of the Revolution was the founding of a republic. A reaction set in, after the return of the royal party, that favored the king, but it was of short duration. It was one of those golden opportuni- ties of which the royalists failed to take advan- tage. The road to Varennes was the highway to the scaffold. Louis had sealed his doom by the attempted abandonment of his kingdom. There was, to be sure, an interval between his return and his final deposition, but it was only an in- termission, a mere interruption, the final result was inevitable. He had irretrievably ruined his cause, when he fled from his post and betrayed the nation. Because of his departure and the manner of it, he had lost the respect and the homage of his people. He possessed no longer " the divinity that doth hedge a king," and as time ran on, his presence in the capital became irritating. For the State had a monarch on hand who did not rule, and who, when the republic was established, became a menace to its existence, for lie was the centre around which gathered all the forces in opposition to popular government. 148 CHAPTER XI DANTON FAVORS A REPUBLIC DANTON URGES DEPOSITION OF THE KING REPUBLICAN SOCI- ETY PROCLAIMS REPUBLIC THE ASSEMBLY DE- CREES THE INVIOLABILITY OF THE KING THE CLUB OF THE CORDELIERS ISSUES PUBLIC AD- DRESS FUSILLADE OF THE CHAMP DE MARS Danton was now determined, if possible, to destroy the monarchy. He was outspoken in his denunciation of the king. What valid reason, said he, has Louis to refuse to surrender that which he voluntarily abandoned? If he does not willingly abdicate, then he should be shorn of his title and power by force, but was not his abdica- tion complete when he left his throne and at- tempted to flee from France? Before the re- turn of the king from Varennes, Danton declared in the Club of the Jacobins : " Louis, after hav- ing sworn to support the Constitution, has be- come a fugitive, and yet I hear some one say that he has not forfeited his crown, but he has signed a paper in which he states that he is going to seek means of destroying the Constitution. The National Assembly should put forth its whole strength to provide for its safety. Confront him with this paper; if he acknowledges it he is a criminal, unless we are to take him for an im- 149 DANTON becile. If he is an imbecile he can no longer be king." Danton openly declared for a republic. He was one of the first among the leading revolution- ists who took this stand. Robespierre, at this juncture, hesitated to announce his opinion. To explain his position, he said it was too soon to advocate a change in the form of government, as the people had not as yet been sufficiently edu- cated on the question, and prematurely to make an effort, in that direction, would destroy the Revolution. Even the Jacobins, at this time, feared to advocate the overthrow of the mon- archy. When Billaud-Varennes proposed in the club that the question : " Which is better for France, a kingdom or a republic ? " should be dis- cussed and considered, he was sternly rebuked by the president and threatened with expul- sion. " There were perhaps in July, 1789," said Dan- ton, " not ten republicans in Paris, and what cov- ers the Old Cordeliers with glory is that they began such an enterprise as the republic with means so small." Even as late as August, 1792, he declared in an address to the Council of Min- isters, after Longwy had fallen, " Vous ne pouvez pas vous dissimuler V extreme minorite dans Vetat du parti qui veut la republique." — " You cannot conceal from yourselves the very insig- nificant minority of the party in the country which is for a republic." Immediately after the over- throw of the monarchy, Barere is quoted as say- ing : " II y a une republique — il n' y a pas de re- 150 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION publicains." — " There is a republic — but there are no republicans. Danton thundered and raged against the men who, when every condition favored the establish- ment of a democratic form of government, hes- itated to act but spent their time in arguing mere abstractions. He stood forth in this period of uncertainty and doubt as the herald of the re- public. On the morning of July i, 1791, Thomas Paine, representing a Republican Society, startled Paris by having placards posted in conspicuous places throughout the city, and even on the doors of the National Assembly, announcing the ad- vent of the republic. The proclamation did not mince matters, for it stated that the nation could have no confidence in a king who had broken his oath, had deserted his people and had attempted to join with traitors and foreign- ers in invading his country, with the purpose of subduing his subjects, abrogating the laws he had approved, and by force imposing upon the peo- ple the tyranny from which they had just been rescued. No one knew how far-reaching was the influ- ence of this society, but the audacious declaration that the republic was at hand, aroused the indig- nation of the conservatives and the monarchists and they demanded the arrest and prosecution of the members of this association, who dared to disturb the peace of the country by making so treasonable an announcement. To quiet the agitation upon this matter, the 151 DANTON Assembly decreed the inviolability of the king. This was at a time when a warrant was out for the apprehension of General Bouille as the ac- complice of the king in the conspiracy to escape, and when Madame Tourzel, governess of the children, the waiting women and the gardes du corps, were under arrest, held as co-conspirators in a crime in which the king actually was the principal, but in the eye of the law deemed guilt- less. It was the application of the doctrine that " the king can do no wrong," one of the old soph- istries and relics of absolutism. How in all reason and justice could it be argued that those who were acting under the king's orders and in his interest, should be held as criminals while he was wholly innocent? It was not until long after the decree of the Assembly, declaring the king inviolable, that the prisoners were released under a general amnesty moved by La Fayette at the time of the acceptance by the king of the Constitution. The decree of the king's inviolability aroused the anger and the scorn of all the radicals. The Club of the Cordeliers, nothing daunted, boldly declared for a republic and issued an open ad- dress to the Assembly. It smacks of Danton's style and no doubt he had a guiding hand in its preparation. "We were slaves in 1789. We thought our- selves free in 1790. Legislators, you have signed away the power of the nation you repre- sent. You have invested Louis XVI with un- limited authority. You have consecrated tyranny 152 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by constituting him an irremovable, inviolable, hereditary king. You have consecrated the slavery of the French by declaring France to be a monarchy. Good citizens have lamented it. There have been violent conflicts of opinion. But this was the law and we obeyed it. A health- ier state of things we could only expect from the growth of intelligence and reason. This sham contract between a nation which surrenders all and an individual who gives nothing, it seemed necessary to maintain, and till Louis XVI showed himself an ungrateful traitor, we could only thank ourselves for spoiling our own work. But times are changed. This sham connection between people and king exists no longer. Louis has ab- dicated. Henceforth he is nothing to us, nothing unless he becomes our enemy. We are as we were after the taking of the Bastile, free and without a king. Is it worth our while to name another? This Society is of opinion that a na- tion ought to act either of itself directly or through officials removable and chosen by itself; that it is unreasonable that any one man in the State should possess such wealth, such preroga- tives, as to be able to corrupt the administrative body. It is of opinion that no citizen of the State should be debarred from any State post, and that the more important the post, the shorter should be the term of its occupation. Impressed with the truth and importance of these principles, it can no longer be blind to the fact that royalty, above all hereditary royalty, is incompatible with liberty. Such is its belief, for which it holds it- i53 DANTON self responsible to all Frenchmen. It foresees a host of antagonists. But was there no antag- onism to the Declaration of Rights? In any case, this question is important enough to deserve the serious consideration of those who frame the laws. Once already the Revolution has miscar- ried owing to lingering regard for the phantom of royalty. That phantom has vanished. There- fore, without fear and without terror, let us do everything to prevent its resurrection. This So- ciety would not, perhaps, have demanded the suppression of royalty so soon if the king, abid- ing by his oath, had regarded royalty as a duty; if the people, ever the dupes of this institution, so fatal to the human race, had not at length opened their eyes to the light; but to-day, when the king, free though he was to keep the crown, has of his own accord abdicated; to-day, when the voice of the nation has made itself heard; to-day, when all citizens are disillusioned; we make it our duty to act as the medium of its will by demanding the destruction at once and forever of this scourge of liberty. You, legislators, have a striking warning before your eyes. Remember that after what has happened you cannot pos- sibly inspire the people with any confidence in any functionary named king. Accordingly, we conjure you by our common country either at once to declare that France is no more a mon- archy but that it is a republic, or at least to wait till all the primary assemblies have expressed their will on this momentous question before a i54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION second time plunging the fairest empire on earth into the chains and fetters of monarchy/' There was no uncertain ring in the tone of this appeal. At the Jacobins, Danton moved that a petition signed by the people be presented to the Assembly, asking for the king's deposition. He argued that his flight was an abdication, and that the vacancy should be filled by the nation. This was revolutionary to a degree. But how should the people be given an opportunity to ex- press their views on the subject, was the ques- tion. After much discussion, it was at last de- cided that the petition should be placed on the altar of the nation in the Champ de Mars, and Sunday, July 17, 1791, was selected as the day when the signing should take place. The altar of the nation, " tin tertre que Von avait pompeu- sement decore du nom d'autel de la patrie" was in the centre of the Champ de Mars and had originally been erected for the taking of the national oath on the 14th of July. Public announcement was made by posters and in the columns of the newspapers that all that desired to sign, men, women and children, would be given an opportunity on the day named. La Fayette was determined that this plan should not be carried out if he could prevent it, and he called upon the authorities to act with precision and to take every precaution against so flagrant a violation of the law. Bailly, the mayor of Paris, at once made proclamation that no crowd would be permitted to assemble in the 155 DANTON Champ de Mars for the announced purpose, and that if the people collected in a multitude, he would give orders to disperse them, if conditions required it, by force. It was generally believed that these threats were not meant and that the authorities would not dare to carry them out. On Sunday, July 17th, thousands of people, men, women, and children, gathered in holiday at- tire, not only to sign the petition but also to enjoy the excitement of the scene and the occasion. The petition was laid upon the altar which stood on a wooden platform. Danton read it in a loud voice, and then called upon the people to fall into line and to come forward to sign. Before the signing began, some one discovered under the platform two men. It was subse- quently ascertained that one was a barber and the other an old soldier with a wooden leg; they had a basket of provisions and a keg of water. The two scamps had located themselves in this position that they might view the nether limbs of the female petitioners. They had bored holes in the flooring of the platform and evidently intended spending the day in this unseemly and indecent occupation. The discovery of these men created the greatest excitement. There was no time to ascertain whether their purpose was lu- bricity or treason, it was enough to know that they had been caught while concealed under the nation's altar. Rumors flew thick and fast, all sorts of diabolical plots were discovered, but the one that was quickly accepted by the people as the truth was that the two men were royalists whose 156 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION intention it was to blow up the altar of the na- tion. The keg of water was soon, in the heated imagination of the people, converted into a keg of powder. While the prisoners in the custody of officers were on their way to the Town Hall, after a pre- liminary hearing at the Gros Caillou, they were seized by the mob and literally torn to pieces; their heads were stuck on pikes and carried tri- umphantly through the streets. The people were greatly wrought up by the incident and in an an- gry mood made noisy demonstrations, defying in their rage even the officers of the law, who in the name of the mayor ordered them to disperse. The officers were howled down, stoned, and had to flee for safety. Bailly, when the news was reported to him, raised the red flag on the city hall and proclaimed martial law. La Fayette hastened to the Champ de Mars at the head of several battalions of the National Guards. The mayor read the riot act and three times commanded the crowd to separate. He, too, was insulted and defied. La Fayette straightway ordered the troops to fire, one volley went into the air, but the second cut into the ranks of the people, who, panic-stricken, turned to flee and in the crush, men, women, and chil- dren were thrown down and trampled under foot. The soldiers wheeled their cannon into position and made ready to fire upon the retreating mul- titude, but La Fayette, mounted on his white charger, ran in front of the guns and prevented i57 DANTON further slaughter. The number of citizens killed was never officially announced; the radicals greatly exaggerated the figures and the authori- ties suppressed the real facts. St. Just said that the number killed was 2,000; other accounts varied, in some cases the number falling to a dozen. The reports were influenced by the pur- pose or the prejudice of those who made them. Not a soldier was killed or wounded. The rout was complete, but in the end it was a dearly bought victory. It was an important count in the indictment against Bailly, when he was ar- raigned in 1793, and materially aided in sending him to the scaffold. The populace were maddened and rushed to the house of La Fayette to take vengeance by murdering his wife and children, but fortunately for them, a passing regiment of cavalry came to their rescue and routed the mob before any dam- age was done. It will, perhaps, always be a mooted question whether or not Bailly and La Fayette upon this occasion acted hastily and without sufficient cause. It does seem as we look at the affair from this distance, that the massacre was unjustifiable. The object of the petition, the change of govern- ment from a monarchy to a republic, was clearly revolutionary, but the signing of the petition and its presentation to the Assembly were acts that in themselves were not unlawful. The time was a holiday when men, women, and children in their best attire had gathered in a public square, surely with no intention of re- 158 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION sorting to violence; the presence of the women and the children settles that question. The crowd was unarmed. To be sure the mob had violated the law when the barber and the old soldier were killed, but this act was not committed on the Champ de Mars, but while the prisoners, after a hearing, were being taken from the office of the Commissary of Police to the Town Hall. This was in the morning and the massacre took place in the afternoon, and some distance from the locality where the two prisoners had been murdered. The affair, which was called the Fusillade of the Champ de Mars, caused for the time being a very decided reaction. The signing of the petition was abandoned; its leaves were scat- tered to the four winds. The Assembly passed a vote of thanks to La Fayette and tendered him its congratulations. The department of the Seine instituted a prosecution against Danton, who left Paris when he found that his arch-enemy, La Fayette, was hostile and determined to bring him to trial. He went first to the house of his father-in-law at Rosny sur Bois and then hastened to Arcis. While here in his old home and among his friends, he felt comparatively safe. " It would need a troop of cavalry to arrest him. Everybody was on his side." But La Fayette was vigilant and in pursuit. Danton took refuge in Troyes in the house of a friend named Millaud, and at last, to escape arrest, fled to England. In Paris the journal of Desmoulins was sup- 159 DANTON pressed and Marat suddenly disappeared from public view for a time. Madame Roland de- spaired and feared that the Revolution had re- ceived its death stroke. Robespierre in hastening from the scene of disorder was offered an asylum in the house of a carpenter named Duplay, and subsequently made this his permanent home. The mob was completely subdued. Even the Jacobins began to apologize for their errors. The blatant orators in the clubs tempered their eloquence. The curb-stone agitators sneaked out of sight and were as docile as a flock of sheep. Danton while abroad did not lose his influence at home for he was in constant correspondence with his friends and watched with a keen eye the passing events, and was ready to take advan- tage of that change in public opinion he knew would come. While in England he had an op- portunity to ascertain the real sentiment of the English people in relation to the Revolution and from his observations he was convinced that the government, as well as the people, was anxious to avoid any complications with France. In fact he found that the Whigs, under the leader- ship of Fox, sympathized with the Revolution. When the reaction set in after the meeting on the Champ de Mars, the moderates rejoiced, but satisfied with their triumph and relying upon the protestations of loyalty to the monarchy by the radicals, failed to follow up their victory and thus lost an opportunity. to secure the results that were so close at hand. This was a point at which, by 160 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION the exercise of political wisdom, the Revolution could have been decisively stayed. At the time the Jacobins moved to submit to the people the question of the king's deposition, La Fayette, Bailly, Barnave, Duport, the Lameths and their followers withdrew from the club and organized the Feuillants, an association composed of moderates and royalists, men who favored a constitutional monarchy. They signally failed to exert the power and influence they anticipated. By their withdrawal they thought they would weaken and perhaps destroy the organization of the radicals, but instead of accomplishing this end their conduct only strengthened their ene- mies, for the Jacobin Club now was relieved of dissensions and was composed only of ultra revolutionists. During this period, so decided was the reaction, that even the royalists began to assert themselves and in public wore their badges openly. The Heur de lis and the white cockade of the Bourbons were defiantly flaunted in the faces of the radicals. " The aristocrats," declared Madame Roland, " are actually grow- ing insolent." On August 5, 1 79 1, Thouret made a report to the Assembly, announcing that the Constitu- tion was completed. After careful revision it was presented to the king on the 3rd of Septem- ber. On the 13th, he sent word to the Assembly that he would accept its provisions and that on the following day he would personally attend their session and take an oath to support it. Here was news indeed and the house rang with XX 161 DANTON cheers. The Revolution had reached its consum- mation. The monarchy was re-established upon an enduring basis. France was now at peace and her future was radiant with promise. On the 14th, the king appeared in the Assembly and took the oath of allegiance to the Constitu- tion. The queen and her children were in the gallery and they came in for a fair share of the applause. For the first time in months the air rang with " Long live the queen." Everybody was in the happiest frame of mind. A new era seemed to be dawning upon the coun- try, which had been torn and shattered by bitter strife and factional contention, for more than two long agonizing years. When Louis and his family returned to the palace, the deputies ac- companied them as an escort of honor. The peo- ple joined in the procession and their voices rose in chorus, as they hailed in acclaim the king, the queen, and the dauphin. Better than the accept- ance of the Constitution, should have been to the king the fact that he was once more enshrined in the affection of his people, but he did not seem to appreciate the influence of that invisible power of love, " the cheap defense of nations," that is in truth a stronger support to thrones and empires than are military glory and standing armies. When Louis and Marie Antoinette reached the seclusion of their bed-chamber, they wept like babies over the loss of that power which they had always abused and which they did not know how to exercise. The nation believed the oath taken by the king was sincere and they in con- 162 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION sequence applauded him to the echo, but as usual, he was playing a game of deception. A secret messenger sneaked into the palace that night and received from the hands of Louis a letter ad- dressed to the Emperor of Austria begging him to render assistance in order to throttle the Rev- olution and to destroy that Constitution which Louis on the morning of that very day had vol- untarily pledged himself to support. It is perhaps not reasonable to suppose that a Bourbon king who had been kicked from pillar to post could have had much respect for the Revolution or the Constitution, but he should have had wisdom and sense enough as a politi- cian to accept the inevitable, and honor enough as a man to keep his oath, or at least to have some regard for his word. There is no classi- fication for his conduct other than that it was per- fidious. " 'Tis not the king's stamp can make the metal better." Count Fersen, who had been in constant com- munication with the queen and who in his zeal to serve her had abandoned his home in Stock- holm and had taken up his residence in Brussels that he might be close to Paris, was much sur- prised at the queen's attitude to the Constitution. Her acceptance was apparently so sincere that he thought after all the Revolution might be at an end and that his services would be no longer needed, so he wrote to Marie Antoinette ask- ing her specifically if she had accepted the Con- stitution in good faith. She answered at once: " Do not be alarmed. I am not going over to the 163 DANTON fanatics. If I see and have communication with some of them it is only to make use of them. They inspire me with too much horror ever to go over to them. Be assured I will never es- pouse their cause." " Trust if you will," cried Marat, " the honor of kings and queens." All Paris rejoiced over the adoption of the Constitution. There were festivities, illumina- tions, dancing in the streets and in the public squares. The Revolution was ended. France was rejuvenated and all was to go well. The Assembly was dissolved on the 30th and the king was present to take part in the event. The deputies returned to their districts and provinces, and were warmly received by their con- stituents. La Fayette, upon reaching Auvergne, was accorded a most generous welcome. Robes- pierre was received at Arras with all the honor that could be paid a returning victor ; he was car- ried on the shoulders of the people and extolled as the savior of France. The whole country felt the inspiration of a new life, the past was forgotten, the future's pros- perity was assured. Alas ! how soon all this joy and glory were to dissolve, all the hopes and promises were to vanish like a mist. The lauded and accepted Constitution had not yet been tested ; it was to be put to the proof and it was soon discovered by the radicals to be too monarchical in its features and by the royal- ists too democratic. It was a makeshift and at last was torn to shreds by warring factions. 164 CHAPTER XII CONVOCATION OF THE NEW ASSEMBLY KING'S RETURN TO POPULARITY REACTIONS IN HIS FAVOR HIS ADVISERS HIS DECEPTION MARIE ANTOINETTE RETURN OF DANTON FROM EXILE The new legislative body was convened on October i, 1791. Although Louis had gladly bade farewell to the retiring Assembly, he met and welcomed with no favor the new one. This was composed entirely of delegates without ex- perience, for a decree of the last convention, in the nature of a self-denying ordinance, had pro- vided that no member of that body should be eligible for re-election to the succeeding legis- lature. " It was little more," said Madame de Stael, " than a council of village attorneys." In a total of seven hundred and forty-five members, four hundred and seventy were lawyers. The old leaders had been left at home and the people con- sequently did not have much confidence in the wisdom of the body nor much respect for its personnel. There were very few if any mem- bers with national reputations. The great ma- jority were young, unknown, and untried, and in consequence discredited. " Among them," 165 DANTON says Watson, " were many brilliant talkers, men who had charmed the juries in the provinces by their eloquence, and the justices of the peace by their learning." Capitals are great levelers of men with pro- vincial reputations and Paris was no exception to the rule. The delegates, feeling their self- importance, assumed an imposing dignity which they thought was in keeping with their station, and thus disgusted the people and called down upon their heads the ridicule of the radical as well as the royalist journals. Unfortunately for them they stood in the place of men who had im- pressed the country with their greatness. Mir- abeau, Sieyes, Barnave, Robespierre, and men of that class had been delegates to the prior As- semblies, and it required men of great ability to wear their mantles without inviting invidious comparisons. The fact that the Constitution had been made, and that a reaction had set in also greatly lessened their importance. The welcome of the king had been so cold, he had treated them so cavalierly, that their pride was ruffled and they decided to retaliate. With this end in view, a measure was proposed, gravely considered, and solemnly enacted into a decree providing for the abolition of the title Sire. Such legislation was so mean in its con- ception, so paltry in character and so spiteful in its purpose that it provoked the ridicule of the people, and the whole town, from hovel to palace, rang with jeers. As a consequence Louis now never appeared in 1 66 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION public that he did not receive an ovation. The very populace that upon the king's return from Varennes had received him with an ominous frown and in silence now made the welkin ring with their plaudits and greetings. The monarch they had insulted and humiliated they now hon- ored and exalted ; yet it was the same king with the same mind and the same purpose. There is nothing more fickle than public sen- timent, so illogical and whimsical. During the Revolution it was like a weather vane that is turned by every wind that blows. The saying of Roscommon, " The multitude is always wrong," may be too sweeping in its generaliza- tion, but that the populace in those eventful times was capricious, inconsistent, and unstable goes without contradiction. From the days of Alci- biades and Marc Antony the demagogues have played with effect on the passions of the mob, but never in any age did they have so pliable a mass to mold as in France at the time of the Revolu- tion. If, at this period, Louis had exercised proper judgment and discretion, had adopted a concili- ating policy, and had acted with firmness and de- cision, he might have made the reaction per- manent. " Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless," had he shown some resolution and courage, might have saved the monarchy. The tide had turned in his favor but he did not know how to direct nor to take advantage of the change. Accept- ing for granted that the future was now safe he 167 DANTON was so improvident as not to provide precau- tions against a counter-reaction. This was the time when if he had played a skilful game, he could have won back his kingdom. He ought at once to have called to his side the ablest counsel- ors in all France to advise him as to the proper plans to adopt under existing circumstances, but unfortunately for him he would not repose even in those advisers he called to his assistance that implicit confidence that was so necessary to enable them to render to him and his cause the aid that was required. Dumont, as we have already seen, attributed to him all the woes that fell to France and asserted that for his disasters he had no one to blame but himself. Catharine II of Russia wrote : " The king is a good sort of man and I would like to aid him, but one cannot help a man who will not be helped." Lamartine says, " When we place ourselves in the position of Louis XVI and ask what could have saved him? we reply disheart- ened — nothing. There are circumstances which enfold all a man's movements in such a snare, that whatever direction he may take he falls into the fatality of his faults or his virtues. This was the dilemma of Louis XVI." This was unquestionably the case after a cer- tain period had been reached, but there were many times before he became so involved wmen he could have extricated himself and doubtless saved his crown. If, in the first stages of the Revolution, during the sessions of the States-General, he had insisted upon the meeting of the three orders in 168 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION common it would have been a step towards the speedy settlement of pending troubles. There was a deal of time wasted here and much bad feeling engendered and the king controlled alone by the court party exercised no governing nor directing influence over the Third Estate. By his unwise conduct he lost their respect, whereas with a little tact he might have won over their affection. He was not well enough informed on the real issues to know what reforms were necessary, nor did he have any clear idea of what the revolutionary spirit meant. He was so loath to relinquish anything that at last he lost all. One trouble was that he was controlled and in- fluenced by men who deemed their own personal interests as of first importance and who would not brook the giving up of what they considered time-honored rights and privileges. The system they were defending had become so oppressive that it could no longer be endured and yet, in spite of all, they clung to every shred of it with rabid tenacity. These French Tories or Bour- bons of the old school did not know that they were standing still while the world was moving on. They took no heed of the teachings of the philosophers. They sneered at the prophecies of seers. Their eyes were blind to the sufferings of the people, their ears were deaf to the appeals of the oppressed. They had no idea of surren- dering their rights, exemptions and privileges. They opposed the destruction of any feature of feudalism, and so far as restricting the arbitrary 169 DANTON power of the king was concerned, they thought that was a crime in violation of the decrees of God Himself. Banished from France, their incomes and pen- sions cut off, their estates confiscated, their cha- teaux burned, reduced to poverty, to virtual beg- gary, they still took no lessons from their mis- fortunes. When the Revolution was over, they returned to claim their own; experience had not been to them a teacher, they were the same old Bourbons who, according to the witticism of Tal- leyrand, " had learned nothing and had forgot- ten nothing." " Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die, But leave us still our old nobility." These were the men who were advising the king. Louis was so timid and suspicious by nature that he was afraid to commit his cause to the care of strong and energetic men. In the early years of the Revolution he retained Mirabeau and then would not follow his advice, and as for Bailly, his dislike for this official was so great that he would not even treat with him. He per- mitted his personal feelings to stand in the way of the safety and preservation of his empire. The reactions after the affair of Nancy, after the 17th of June, and after the adoption of the Consti- tution were all in his favor but by his inaction he lost the great chances they offered. During all these periods the king's staunchest friends were importunate in offering assistance. 170 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION La Fayette was more than willing to aid the king and queen, but they contemptuously declined his help. The Duchess d'Angouleme, daughter of Louis, upon one occasion in referring to the past troubles of her house feelingly exclaimed: " If my mother had been able to conquer her prejudices against M. de La Fayette, if he had been more trusted, my unhappy parents doubtless would still be alive." Fersen would have sac- rificed his life for the queen, but she ignored his suggestions. She might have been safe in the camp of Bouille had she allowed the general to arrange in his own way the details of her flight. Barnave gave her sound advice but she would not follow it. Dumouriez tried to gain her confi- dence but failed. It is said he threw himself at her feet, kissed her hand, and beseechingly ex- claimed : " Madame, allow yourself to be saved!" Madame de Stael conceived an ingen- ious plan of escape that if carried out to the letter might have succeeded, but she met with a cruel rebuff. After the adoption of the Constitution the re- action was so sudden and the change in public sentiment so great that the moderates became in- toxicated with their success and foolishly pro- voked and defied the radicals. The conserva- tives flattered themselves that the Revolution was over; if they had been directed by prudence and wisdom they could have ended it, but uncer- tain in purpose, divided in action, and discount- ing the strength of their opponents, they lost their golden opportunities. 171 DANTON The revolutionists were watching every move in the game and were ready to take advantage of every mistake. Danton from his retreat saw the weakness of the conservatives and directed from afar the plan of campaign. The Constitution, that was supposed to be a carefully and solidly constructed foundation upon which the monarchy could securely rest, was soon found to be crumbling under the weight of the superstructure. The queen was beginning to lose her popularity because she declined to comply with its provisions in that she would not fill the household offices as provided for under that in- strument. The king too, after his acceptance of the Constitution, provoked the people because he persisted in receiving the ministrations of only non-juring priests. Having sworn to support the Constitution he ignored its provisions by refusing to receive the offices of those prelates who had taken a similar oath. Louis was never sincere and candid with the people. In his acceptance of the new order of things there was always present an apparent men- tal reservation. He was too shallow in character to play a successful game of deception. An hon- est, open avowal in his case, would have been worth a hundred subterfuges. At this very time he was corresponding with foreign courts. He knew the emigrants were making preparations to invade France, and that the armies of the al- lied kings were at a word ready to march towards the frontiers, yet he never boldly protested against their designs. A frank word from him 172 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION would have quieted all France and disconcerted her enemies. There was trouble, too, in the royal household. The king and the queen were at odds, they dif- fered upon the policies to be pursued, their con- tentions and disagreements were so bitter that she one day exclaimed in despair, " Our domes- tic life is a hell." They were of one mind on one thing, and that was a dislike for the Con- stitution. While openly professing fidelity and obedience to its provisions, they never had an honest intention to accept a line of it. They were playing false and the result was a foregone conclusion. They were more anxious to avenge their wrongs than to accept safety under the new order of things. They apparently submitted to the present conditions, but with desperation they were still clinging to the old order that had been wrecked, and which they hoped in some way to re-establish. The queen had a stronger mind than the king, but she lacked judgment, was without tact, and was at all times controlled by her emotions and prejudices. She had the haughty and intolerant spirit of the aristocrat and mistrusted all those that were not of her social class. It was im- possible to make her believe that there was any reason for the Revolution. From her point of view there were no wrongs under the old regime that should have been corrected, no royal priv- ileges that should have been abolished, no bur- dens on the people that should have been removed. In her opinion the king's right to rule *73 DANTON was inviolable, was divine; his person was sacred; he could do no wrong, and the restriction of his authority was a violation of God's law. This, of course, was the result of her education and her environments. She had been trained in the school that taught these doctrines. The system appeared to her reasonable, she had been born into it; besides it had existed time out of mind and had the stamp and authority of age. She had never given attention to public matters but had frittered her time away in frivolous amusements and had devoted her life to pleasure and extravagance, with no sense of responsibility and with no imperative assumption of duty, so that when the Revolution broke she was not fitted by training or experience to cope with its conditions. How could it be expected that a woman born and bred and reared as she had been could know how to reign, especially in a period so tumultuous as to require the highest type of statesmanship? Perhaps after all she is to be pitied rather than condemned for the mis- takes she made. The Jacobins, acting with prudence and biding their time, were insidiously inflaming the temper of the people. Rumors were set in motion that the king was again making preparations to es- cape and that he was in constant correspondence with the emigrants and the allies. The radical journals which had not been suppressed or cen- sored grew bolder in their expressions. In November, 1791, Robespierre sold out his property in Arras and moved to Paris. Even 174 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Marat emerged from his place of concealment, and Danton returned from England more deter- mined than ever to overthrow the monarchy. Since he left France conditions had greatly changed. The reaction in favor of the king that had set in after the meeting on the Champ de Mars had been followed by another change in public sentiment. The fires of the Revolution had been only temporarily smothered; the em- bers were still burning in the ashes and required but a breath to blow them into a flame. 175 CHAPTER XIII THE FEUILLANTS THE CLUB OF THE CORDELIERS WHERE DANTON RULED THE GIRONDINS MADAME ROLAND WAR ISSUES DANTON AFTER SOME HESITATION FAVORS THE WAR VETOES DUMOURIEZ DANTON AND DU- MOURIEZ The Revolution was rapidly becoming a war for factional supremacy. Among so many dis- cordant elements there could not be made a fair division of the raiment, and so it became a strug- gle for the survival of the fittest. It had already been shown, by the efforts that had been made, that it was impossible for the monarchists and the revolutionists to frame a constitution or to create a form of government that would be ac- ceptable to both. It was like the question that afterwards confronted the American Republic, which, it was contended, could not exist half slave and half free. To establish a stable gov- ernment either the royalists or the republicans had to be in the ascendancy, and so the bitter, bloody struggle for supremacy began in earnest. The Feuillants, composed of La Fayette, Bar- nave, the Lameths, Bailly, Duport, Sieves and other less distinguished men, having withdrawn from the Club of the Jacobins, had discarded the 176 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ultra-radical views of that organization. They represented the liberal nobles and the better edu- cated of the middle class. They sincerely sup- ported the Constitution and labored in every way to strengthen the foundations of the monarchy, but their efforts in a great measure were neutral- ized by the insincerity and the vacillating policy of Louis, and by the silly action and imprudent conduct of the emigrants at Coblentz. To retain their popularity, which was fast waning, they attempted to arouse a war spirit, advocating the raising of armies to resist the threatened invasion of the allies. This policy they adopted to convince the people that they had no part in the negotiations that were supposed to be taking place between Louis and the Em- peror of Austria, the King of Prussia and the emigrant princes. Though the events of June 17th, which threw such terror into the ranks of the radicals, were still vivid in the public mind, the Jacobins be- gan to express openly their views. The Club of the Cordeliers at this time sur- passed the Jacobins in turbulence and liberalism. Danton dominated there and he supported no half-hearted measures. He was in favor of the deposition of the king, and the establishment of a republic; he also advocated the raising of an army to repel the threatened invasion of the allies. His voice rang out in no uncertain tones. Since his return from England his sentiments had grown more revolutionary than ever. His 12 177 DANTON exile perhaps had embittered him against the conservatives and he fought them with a bit- terness that was at times somewhat personal and vindictive in its character. Perhaps the most interesting party of that his- toric period was that of the Girondins. It was originally organized by the deputies in the As- sembly from the department of the Gironde, although all its members did not come from that district; in fact its leader or political chief, Bris- sot, hailed from Normandy. The men who formed this party or faction were of the educated middle class. They were, in many instances, dreamers and illusionists but their purposes were sincere and their patriotism was unquestioned. Their heroism, their sur- passing eloquence, and the courageous manner in which they met their doom, have created for them an admiration, a love, and an enduring sympathy everywhere and for all time in the hearts of men. So long as history shall be written their deeds will be recounted. Brissot, Vergniaud, Gensonne, Guadet, Isnard, Barbar- oux, and Louvet were its most distinguished representatives. Madame Roland was a ruling spirit in their conferences. Her salon was the rallying point of their clan. It, in time, became the focus of the Revolution or what has been appropriately called the Second Revolution. Here in charm- ing conversation, animated and eloquent, the world was made anew and the liberty of man se- cured. It was not all illusion, however, for in 178 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION the parlors of this remarkable woman were con- ceived many of the plans and the bloody pro- jects that helped to overthrow the monarchy. This woman, who played so important a part in the scenes of the Revolution, was born in Paris in 1754. Her father was a distinguished en- graver, who lost his fortune by dissipation. She was a woman of deep sympathies, strong pas- sions, and of an ardent and a loving nature. Her intellect was precocious and even in early childhood she acquired knowledge without an apparent effort. From her youth she devoted her- self to a close study of the ancients and she lived in a world of her own creation, where the men were free and the women virtuous and where all were equal before the law. Her heroes stepped out of the pages of Plutarch and were as cold, as severe, and as precise as that austere biographer has described them. She readily acquired the polite accomplishments of women, yet at the same time her powerful mind took within its grasp and comprehension the abstruse principles of the sciences. She early became familiar with the writings of the English philosophers and studied with a full knowledge the works of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu. She had the fac- ulty of easily acquiring the correct use of for- eign tongues and spoke them with remarkable fluency. Such a woman, it might be supposed, was something of a blue-stocking, but she was any- thing in the world but that. It has been said that with her great knowledge, she was not even 179 DANTON pedantic. Not only was she renowned for her animated and radiant intelligence, but also for her dazzling beauty. " A tall and supple figure, flat shoulders, a prominent bust raised by a free and strong respiration, a modest and most be- coming demeanor, that carriage of the neck which bespeaks intrepidity, black and soft hair, blue eyes which appeared brown in the depths of their reflection, a look which, like her soul, passed rapidly from tenderness to energy, the nose of a Grecian statue, a rather large mouth, splendid teeth, a turned and well-rounded chin that gave to the oval of her features that voluptuous and feminine grace without which even beauty does not elicit love, a skin marbled with the animation of life and veined by blood which the least im- pression sent mounting to her cheeks, a tone of voice which borrowed its vibrations from the deepest fibres of her heart and which was deeply modulated by its finest movements." Such is the description we have of her. In her twenty-first year she met M. J. M. Ro- land de la Platiere, inspector general at Lyons, a man many years her senior, " of antique man- ners, without reproach except for his passion for the ancients, his contempt of his age, and his too high estimation of his own virtue." He more closely approached her ideal than any one she had up to that time ever met. He asked her father for her hand, but the old gentleman, in view of the disparity in their ages and possessed with more worldly wisdom than his daughter, strenuously objected to the union. Her parent's 180 Madame Roland From an engraving in the collection of William J. Latta, Esq. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION stern refusal only increased her desire, and sur- rendering to her emotions, she straightway re- tired to a convent, destitute of everything. But this sacrifice on her part did not seem to affect M. Roland as she had hoped it would, and she was greatly disappointed in his conduct. She was somewhat like the maiden who to test the ardor of her lover threw herself into a torrent and was disappointed to find that his affection stopped at the shore. The philosopher had passed the ardent stage of youth and was not only too wise but too old to climb stone walls or force an entrance into a prison. Love with him was not a fire ; it was a condition. For some time after her departure he did not visit her and seldom wrote. After an interval of six months, however, he came to the convent, proposed, and was accepted. She was devoted and self-sacrificing, but as she soon discovered it was to a philosopher and not to a lover, that is a lover after her own ideals. She had been im- pressed by the lofty and profound views of this sage and mistook admiration for passion. " The one sought a disciple rather than a wife and the other married a master rather than a husband," and the union resulted in what might have been expected. She made the mistake of uniting herself with a man for whom she had a high personal regard but for whom she had not that ardent love, that continuing passion that alone binds closely man and woman. Of a proud and lofty nature she endured that agony that tests the virtue of even an honorable 181 DANTON woman. " I have not/' she said, " for a moment ceased to see in my husband a most estimable person and to whom it was an honor to me to belong; but I often felt that similarity was want- ing between us. If we lived in solitude I some- times had very painful hours to pass, if we went into the world I was liked by persons, some one of whom I was fearful might affect me too closely." The temptation she endeavored to avoid she yielded to at last when she met the handsome Buzot and she broke her husband's heart when she revealed to him the secret. In 1789 she was living in the country on the paternal estate of her husband. The tocsin of the Revolution rang in her ears like an alarm in the night and stirred all the emotions of her soul. During her residence in the country she had be- come familiar with the sufferings and the degra- dation of the poor peasants and she had labored hard to relieve their distresses. In her immedi- ate locality she had essayed the role of Lady Bountiful. Her heart having been touched, she longed for the coming of that day when tyranny would cease its exactions and when men would enjoy that state under the law that would enable them to realize the happiness that comes from opportun- ity and political equality. To her the excitements of the Revolution brought new life, new inspira- tions, new occupations, and what was better than all, a change in the irksome monotony of her ex- istence. It furnished a stage upon which to play a distinguished role. " She adored the Revolu- 182 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION tion like a lover " and she gave to it that devo- tion she would have given to a husband who re- sponded to her heart's desires. On the 20th of February, 1791, in the thirty- third year of her age and in the full bloom of her womanhood, she came with M. Roland to take up her residence in Paris. She had been absent from the capital for a period of five years. She at once took a leading part in public affairs and towards the close of 1791 was the mouthpiece of a party. When her husband was in the cabinet she ex- erted a far-reaching influence and at times took too conspicuous a part in the business of the de- partment. Condorcet, alluding to this matter, said : " When I wish to see Roland I can never get a glimpse of anything but the petticoats of his wife." " She occupied," says Barras, " with obstinate assurance the closet of the minister." She may have thought that she was fitted to lead a party but she really had not even the funda- mental qualities of a politician. She was too visionary, too emotional ; she often injured her cause by speaking too freely upon political ques- tions and by criticising too severely her enemies and public men. Her sarcasm cut to the quick and her sneer was scorn itself. She would risk an empire rather than let pass an opportunity for a bon mot. She did not possess that great faculty of accu- rate discrimination in judging character that is so essential to the success of the politician. Con- trolled by her prejudices, her ill-timed criticisms 183 DANTON of men and measures often made enemies when a little tact could have made friends. The great trouble with her from a political point of view was that she talked too much and constantly in- volved her friends and party in explanations. She sought in every way to strengthen her in- fluence and to increase her power, for her am- bition was boundless. She tried to win over to her cause even the icy heart of Robespierre. " She flattered Danton, but with fear and repug- nance as a woman would pat a lion." She con- ceived for him a mortal dislike which she could not overcome. " I looked/' she said, " at this repulsive and humble face and though I feel I ought not to judge a man on hearsay and that I know nothing against him ... I could not associate an honest man with such a countenance. I have never seen anything so absolutely the in- carnation of brutal passion and astounding auda- city half veiled under an appearance of immense joviality and an affectation of great bon-hommie. Often have I pictured to myself Danton, dagger in hand, hounding on with voice and gesture a band of assassins more cowardly and less savage than himself." He must truly have seemed out of place in the parlors of the Roland mansion where his herculean form towered above the cul- tured, classical enthusiasts that paid court and homage to their plebeian queen. Bold, out- spoken, and not always restrained by the precise etiquette of fashionable drawing-rooms, his rough, scarred features and his generous laugh made him appear outre in so polite and gallant an 184 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION assemblage. Yet in spite of this she ought to have cultivated the real friendship of this man, for, as time will show, he was the one above all others who could have saved her party from de- struction. In the end she was the evil genius of the Girondins as Marie Antoinette was of the royalists. Madame Roland had an utter contempt for the queen. She was outspoken enough to declare that the time had come when " two illustrious heads," referring to the king and the queen, " should be brought to trial." In her denuncia- tion of the queen she was always bitter and cruel, often alluding to her as a Messalina and intimat- ing that her crimes were no less in number and of a character no better than those of that de- tested Roman empress. When Madame Roland's affection for Buzot was made known, scandal played wild havoc with her name. Virtue was no longer her defense and she was attacked most bitterly from every quar- ter. Those enemies whom she had assailed with her vituperation paid her back in the same coin without discount. Marat, who spared neither man nor woman in his abuse, poured upon her head the vials of his wrath. He called her " Queen Coco " and Penelope. He subjected her to execration and held her poor husband up to public ridicule as a cuckold, the plaything of a wanton. At this period, the close of 1791, the Girondins were in power, that is they were the strongest of the factions in the convention. The war was the 185 DANTON sole absorbing theme. Its dire shadow fell athwart France and cast a gloom in every patri- otic heart and home. As a party the Girondins were in favor of it. Marat argued with all his might against it. He predicted that it would be a field of glory for the rich and a hell for the poor and doubtless would result in the establish- ment of a military despotism and the overthrow of social order. Robespierre was opposed to it from partisan motives. He believed it would put the Girondins further in the ascendency. La Fayette declared that the Jacobins were in- fluenced in their opposition by the fear that it would be directed by their rivals and also by the fact that several of them, like Danton, were in- terested financially in the secret negotiations with the court party. This was one of the suspicions of La Fayette for which at a later date he had to answer. It is true that Danton at first hesitated upon the question of the declaration of war, for in the interest of France he would gladly have favored any honorable plan that would have avoided the conflict. He was ready at all times to repel inva- sion and would have been willing to shed the last drop of French blood in driving back a foreign foe, but he would not under any circumstances for the glory of his party provoke a war. From the very beginning, however, he thought that a foreign war was inevitable. " I know it must come," he said. " If anyone were to ask me, are we to have war? I would reply, we shall hear the bugles." When at last it did come no 186 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION one gave it more ardent and loyal support. Bris- sot, as the leader of the Girondins, appealed to the nation to resent the insult offered to France by the allied kings who, gathering their armed hosts on the frontiers, not only menaced her peace but also defied the courage of her sons. The Giron- dins no doubt were actuated by a patriotic spirit, but they also clearly saw that a war would be to their advantage politically; and that unques- tionably had its weight in controlling their action. The stand they took was popular and greatly strengthened them for the time being in public opinion. War! War! was the cry everywhere. The revolutionary journals published the most in- flammatory appeals while the orators harangued the people at the clubs, on the street corners and in the gardens of the Palais Royal. The autumn of 1791 was dark and gloomy and gave every promise of a cheerless winter. In November the Assembly decreed that the emi- grants would be deemed guilty of conspiracy if they still remained on the frontiers on January 1, 1792, and if captured it was further decreed that they would be punished by death and their lands confiscated by the government, which confiscation however, would not prejudice the rights of wives, children, and creditors. The king refused to sanction this act. The Assembly a few days later decreed that the priests who persisted in rebellion against the State should take the oath of alle- giance; if they refused, they should be deprived of their salaries and driven out of their parishes. 187 DANTON The king also vetoed this measure. How was it possible for him to retain the support and con- fidence of the people if he was determined to de- feat those laws which provided for the punish- ment of traitors — for the emigrants were so classed by the people — and which required upon the part of the clergy the observance of a consti- tutional provision? And yet, to be fair, it was no easy thing from his standpoint to approve such legislation. There was no violent outbreak following these vetoes and Louis congratulated himself that his action had seemingly received the approval of the nation, but he never made a greater mistake in his life. The silence of the people was but evidence of a sullen mood. Step by step he was paving his way to the scaffold. To appease the public temper he issued at the same time a proclama- tion calling upon all emigrants to return and promising them that protection which they claimed they could not secure. From the people's point of view there was no sound reason for his disapproval of those meas- ures he vetoed. The emigrants were plotting with the enemies of France and were menacing the peace of the country. They were endeavor- ing by every possible means to induce strange kings to start upon a march of invasion. Conde, himself, was enlisting men for this purpose and openly declaring his intentions. There was no concealment of these facts, they were known to the world. The emigrants had not renounced their citizenship and consequently were traitors. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Many of them still claimed their pensions and were receiving rentals from their landed posses- sions. When Louis was requested to consent to a de- cree requiring the German princes to disperse the emigrants, he was asked by Vaublanc if he thought his great ancestor, Louis XIV, would have permitted, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, the assembling of armed Huguenots on the territory of German princes and under their protection. The king replied that he had notified the German princes that the continued gathering of hostile forces would be taken as cause for war, and that he had instructed the minister to move 100,000 men to the frontier to make ready to repel any invasion, and that the forts on the border had been garrisoned, supplied with ammunition, and put in a state of defense. Leopold, emperor of Austria, the brother of Marie Antoinette, answered the note of Louis by saying that he would not tolerate any viola- tion of the imperial territory. His letter was so belligerent in tone that it only intensified the war spirit throughout the country. On February 7, 1792, a treaty was made be- tween Austria and Prussia to quell the disturb- ances in France. Solemn conferences were held to consider plans for invasion and for the re-es- tablishment of the old order. France had no con- troversy with the outer world, her troubles were all domestic ; the question as to whether or not she should be a monarchy or a republic was one for her people to decide without any foreign inter- 189 DANTON ference. She had not offended any state or em- pire nor had she broken any law under the inter- national code. What right then had these na- tions to league themselves against France? The aristocracy had abandoned their country and had taken refuge on German soil where, un- der the protection of foreign princes, they had plotted against the home government. The French emigrants had virtually established a court at Coblentz. They advised on public ques- tions, issued proclamations, made treaties, entered into negotiations with foreign states and rulers, insolently threatened to destroy the great results of the Revolution, placed rewards upon the heads of distinguished rebels, and arrogantly announced what they would do upon their re-entry into France. They divided the spoils before the battle was fought and sentenced men to execution before they were captured. They had simply transferred the court temporarily, as they sup- posed, from Versailles to Coblentz. They pre- served all the customs and the etiquette of their former state. Envy and jealousy marked their conduct towards each other; gossip, as of old, was their diversion. They lavished on every hand ribbons, medals, titles, honors, and distinc- tions. They were the same silly, vain and inso- lent set they had been at home. It had made no difference in them to sit by the waters of Babylon instead of by those of the Seine; since their so- journ in a strange land they had learned nothing by misfortune or experience. Germany had offended against France as well 190 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION as against the laws of nations, in that she had permitted her soil to be used as a sanctuary by these fugitives and had allowed them to issue proclamations disturbing the quiet of a state with which she was at peace. Hostile armies were daily getting closer to the borders and the people anxiously asked, " Are the ministers to remain supine or are they to make preparations to repel these forces when they attempt to cross the line into French territory? Is France to be overrun by foreign hordes and no resistance to be offered?" The Girondins assailed the ministry and de- nounced the king for his inertness. Under the strain Louis yielded, dismissed the ministers, and named as their successors, among others, Roland and Dumouriez. Dumouriez was by all odds the ablest man among the new appointments. He was classed politically as a Girondin, but partisan classifica- tion did not bother him ; he could serve or betray any party, if it were to his interest to do either. Prior to 1789, he had been a courtier, during the days of the first Assembly a constitutionalist, then he became a Girondin, and under the repub- lic a red-capped Jacobin. Ultimately he betrayed his country and deserted his colors. His career as a soldier, however, was a record of bravery, of unexampled gallantry. " He was," says La- martine, " of that middle stature of the French soldier who wears his uniform gracefully, his haversack lightly, and his musket and sabre as if he did not feel their weight." 191 DANTON His body had been riddled with bullets in the Seven Years' War, but his wounds had not im- paired his strength and, although when appointed minister he was approaching sixty years of age, he was as robust, as ambitious, and as enthu- siastic as a boy. Even at that time of life he could leap into the saddle without putting foot to stirrup. He was one of those men upon whom time seems to make no impression. His life from youth had been one of adventure and, so far as real success was concerned, a failure. He was unscrupulous, fond of intrigue, and a diplo- mat of marked ability. No sooner did he secure a seat in the cabinet than he began to scheme, and he played his game most adroitly in attempt- ing to win all parties. He almost succeeded in gaining the confidence of the queen. Danton had a great admiration for his ability and for a long while implicit faith in his loyalty. At the time of the selection of Dumouriez as commander of the Army of the Rhein, although he was classed as a Girondin, Danton threw aside every factional consideration, gave him the most earnest support, and was most influential in se- curing the appointment. In this matter Dan- ton considered alone the interests of France and was actuated and controlled by the most patriotic motives. The subsequent treason of the general cast a shade of suspicion over Danton, but he was absolutely innocent of any complicity in the designs and plots of the traitor. 192 CHAPTER XIV DEATH OF LEOPOLD ASSASSINATION OF GUSTAVUS III, KING OF SWEDEN FRANCIS II MAKES PROC- LAMATION DANTON HURLS DEFIANCE WAR DECLARED APRIL 21, 1 792 DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH TROOPS DEATH OF GENERAL DIL- LON DEPUTIES FROM MARSEILLES PRESENT PETITION TO THE ASSEMBLY DAY OF THE BLACK BREECHES PETION On March i, 1792, the Emperor Leopold died. So bitter was the feeling in France against the Austrians that Marie Antoinette feared to go into mourning for her deceased brother; indeed she ought not to have felt it incumbent upon her to pay him any marked respect. He apparently had not troubled himself much about her safety. His indifference had provoked the criticism and censure of the queen's friends. The Count d'Allonville one day asked the Prince of Conde what the emperor would do if the mob should murder his sister : " Perhaps he would venture to go into mourning for her," was the sarcastic reply. Gustavus III, king of Sweden, was assassin- ated on the night of March 1 5th, by a man named Ankarstrom, at a masked ball in Stockholm. Gustavus had been meditating upon a plan, in 13 193 DANTON fact had been arranging its details, by which Catharine of Russia was to furnish the soldiers and Spain the subsidies in order to relieve by in- vasion the king of France. The sudden and un- expected death of the Swedish monarch, however, put an end to this formidable combination. The fact was not conceded nor even taken into con- sideration by these foreign potentates that the French people had any right to change their form of government or to establish a new one. " Who," cried Danton, " has authorized them to interfere in our domestic affairs? Who has made them masters or arbiters of our destiny?" France was but acting upon the principles an- nounced in America's glorious Declaration, " a Declaration," says Buckle, " which ought to be hung up in the nursery of every king and blaz- oned on the porch of every royal palace." The object of the institution of government is to se- cure the rights of the people, for it is alone from them that it derives its powers and " whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government, lay- ing its foundation on such principles and organiz- ing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Leopold's successor, Francis II, took a most decided stand in relation to the conditions in France. He demanded the restoration of the rights of the pope and the German princes; he further announced that the Church property which had been confiscated by the State should 194 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION be restored, and that the government should at once be re-established upon the basis of the royal proclamation of June 23, 1789. The demands were so insolent in character, so dictatorial in tone, that they aroused a feeling of indignation and resentment in every heart, stirred every patriotic impulse, and effected a unity of purpose throughout all France, in spite of factional differences, that nothing else could have accomplished. Such impertinence only added fuel to the flame. Boldly the challenge was accepted, and the nation rose like a giant in her strength to grapple with her foe. Danton thundered in the ears of the people and aroused their patriotic fervor. Defiantly he hurled the gage of battle into the teeth of the Austrian prince. Danton's robust and impetuous tempera- ment made him the natural leader at such a time. The impending peril aroused the lion in his na- ture and he was a host in himself. He was a practical, far-seeing politician, not a blind, unrea- sonable fanatic, and with his political instinct he saw clearly that the Revolution could succeed alone by keeping alive the vehemence and energy of the insurrectionary spirit of Paris; it was this force that had to be depended upon to resist the invaders. The insolent tone of the Austrian emperor's proclamation was the expression of tyranny — "The tree of liberty," exclaimed Barere, " only grows when watered by the blood of tyrants." ■Isnard in one of his impassioned flights stirred the emotions of the Assembly when he cried out, 195 DANTON " If a war of kings be raised against France, we will raise a war of people against kings." In such a time eloquence is born of the occasion ; it is the inspiration of passion, the utterance of the emotions. The orators in the gardens and at the clubs moved the people to desperation. They declared that the country was being betrayed by traitors at home and threatened by enemies abroad. They openly asserted that the king and the queen were in correspondence with the emigrants and the allied kings and that the glorious results of the Revolution would be lost if the people did not rise in their strength to defend what they had secured. Foreign tyrants had impudently directed what should be the policies of France. Could a free people yield to a dictation so arro- gant? France would not have been worthy the liberty she desired if she had complacently sub- mitted to such an insult. To meet public sentiment, the king at last, un- der the advice of his ministers, proposed to the Assembly the Declaration of War on April 21, 1792. One great danger to the Revolution was the fact that the officers of the French troops were royalists; and as those at the head of the armies of the coalition were the brothers of Louis and the relatives of Marie Antoinette, this produced a state of affairs that surely gave no assurance of future success for France. The first battle was a repulse for the French, 196 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION who, greatly out-numbered at every point and poorly manoeuvred, fell back in confusion. The retreating soldiers, believing they had been be- trayed, cried " treachery," and in their fury mur- dered Theobald Dillon, one of their generals. Marat shrieked with joy when he heard of Dil- lon's death, for it proved to him, he said, that the troops were loyal even though their leaders were traitors, and it further convinced him that their officers could not lead them against Paris. The Assembly passed a decree constituting it- self in permanent session. It also directed the formation of a camp of 20,000 men near Paris. This measure the king vetoed. He further in- flamed the public temper by dismissing the min- isters, Servan, Roland and Clavieres. On the day that the king vetoed the decree pro- viding for the enlistment of 20,000 men to de- fend Paris, several representatives from Mar- seilles appeared at the bar of the Assembly and presented a petition, which read : " French liberty is in danger but the patriotism of the South will save France. The day of the people's wrath is arrived. . . . Legislators, the power of the people is confided in you ; make use of it. French patriotism demands your permis- sion to march with an imposing force towards the capital. . . . You surely will not refuse the sanction of the law to those who are ready and willing to die in its defense." It was Bar- baroux, the deputy from Marseilles, who insti- gated the presentation of the petition and whose 197 DANTON purpose it was to reveal to the capital the pa- triotic spirit of the South and incidentally the popularity of the Girondins in the provinces. Charles Barbaroux was a most enthusiastic revolutionist. He was one of the leaders of his party and, though of uncommon ardor, possessed wisdom and judgment of a high degree. He wielded considerable influence in the Assembly as well as in the councils of his party, and was an active partisan and a most pronounced repub- lican. Fearing that the Revolution was losing ground in the North, he proposed that preparations should be made to retire, in case of foreign inva- sion, behind the Vosges and the Loire, and if Liberty were driven from these defenses " she would still have left in the east the Doubs, the Ain, and the Rhone ; in the west the Vienne and the Dordogne; in the centre the rocks and the rivers of Limousin and beyond these the Au- vergne with its steep hills, its ravines, its aged forests, and the mountains of the Velay, laid waste of old by fire, now covered with pines, a wild country, where men plough amidst snow, but where they live independently. . . . Lastly, if all these points were forced, we should have Corsica left — Corsica where neither Genoese nor French have been able to neutralize tyranny; which needs but hands to be fertile and philoso- phers to be enlightened." He was determined that Liberty should not be driven from France, but if compelled to retreat she would not sur- render but fall back step by step and die in the 198 ' THE FRENCH REVOLUTION last ditch. It was Barbaroux who infused the ardor of the South into the Revolution and boldly led his cohorts into the capital to give it new life and vigor. In spite of the ulterior purpose of the Giron- dins, which was to show the capital the power of the provinces, Danton believing that the en- thusiasm of the Marseillais would arouse the patriotism of the Parisians gave the project his strong support. On the 16th of June the insur- gents in the district of St. Antoine addressed a communication to the Commune requesting per- mission to assemble in arms on the 20th of June and to present a petition to the Assembly and to the king. The Commune referred the matter to the Directory and the municipal body. The Di- rectory passed a resolution forbidding armed as- semblages and enjoined the commandant gen- eral and the mayor to employ such measures as should be necessary to disperse such gatherings. The ostensible purpose of assembling on the 20th of June was to celebrate the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis Court; the real purpose, however, was to strike terror into the hearts of the royalists, by the sight of fifty thousand pikes. The insurgents, in spite of the resolution of the Directory, were active in making preparations for the march. Their leaders gave them every as- surance that, notwithstanding the order of the authorities, the National Guards would not fire and the mayor would take no steps to inter- fere with their right to petition the Assembly and the king and to celebrate the anniversary of an 199 DANTON event that in its nature was historic. Here was anarchy in its very essence. On the morning of the 20th of June, 1792, eight thousand men, in contemptuous violation of the law, marched out of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau and directed their steps towards the Assembly. A grim, swarthy mass, terrible to behold, emerging from these seething centres of population burst forth upon Paris and spread on every hand the terror that is created by a great moving, undirected force. Some of the men were hatless; many wore the bonnet rouge; all were armed — the weapons, various in character, ranged from the hatchet to the scythe, from the bludgeon to the pike. They moved forward with that intrepidity that marks the multitude, conscious of the strength that comes from numbers. Strange were the banners of this army. One man carried on the end of a pike a calf's heart, under which were written the words : " The heart of an aristocrat ; " another bore aloft on a tall staff a pair of black breeches, the motto reading : " Long live the Sans Culottes." It was this that gave the occasion its designation, " The Day of the Black Breeches." The procession was led by Santerre, the rich brewer of Saint Antoine, and the rabid Saint Hu- ruge, surnamed the Marquis. At every step crowds gathered and cheered the marchers on their way; women and children mingled with the throng and when the mob reached the hall of the Assembly their number had increased to 30,000. 200 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The National Guards, fearing a repetition of the scenes of the Champ de Mars if they should attempt to repulse this great multitude, opened their ranks and permitted the procession to enter the hall. It was the capitulation of law to an- archy. The spokesman appeared at the bar and in language both positive and threatening de- clared that the people had been patient too long but that they were now aroused and were deter- mined to use that power vested in them by the Declaration of Rights and to resist oppression. He condemned the dismissal without cause of the patriot ministers and declared it was high time that the happiness of the people should not depend upon the caprice of a king. " Why should the monarch be above the law? The life and the rights of the people are as dear and as valuable to them as those of crowned despots. Let those of your body whose sentiments do not agree with ours, cease to pollute the land of liberty and be- take themselves to Coblentz. We complain of the inactivity of the armies, if this inactivity be the result of the treachery or the incapacity of the executive power, then let that power be de- stroyed." The president of the Assembly answered in a conciliatory tone that the requests would be con- sidered. The crowd then marched through the hall and made the rafters ring as they sang the wild chorus of the Ca ira and cried : " Vive la nation," " Vivent les sans-culottes/' " A bas le veto" Out into the street next swept the procession, 201 DANTON headed for the Tuileries to pay respect to his majesty. The people gathered under the win- dows of the palace and shouted their insults to the royal family, their favorite cry being: " Down with the veto." As usual Louis was complacent and accommodating, and gave orders to open the gates ; immediately the crowd rushed into the court-yard, broke down the doors of the palace, and swarmed through the halls and the corridors like an army of rats. They ascended to the royal apartments, crying all the while: " Where's the king? " " Where's the Big Veto? " They even dragged a cannon up the marble stair- case to the second floor. The mob swept everything before them, over- coming all resistance, though in fact there was very little offered. The soldiers seemed to be utterly demoralized, paralyzed with fear. A man like Napoleon would have been worth a kingdom to Louis at this moment. Cold steel and the open mouth of a cannon were the only arguments that could convince such a rabble. Bourrienne, in his Memoirs, says that he and Bonaparte had been in a coffee-room in the Rue St. Honore and on going out they saw a mob of five or six thousand men, " all in rags and armed with every sort of weapon, vociferating the grossest abuse and proceeding with rapid pace towards the Tuileries." Bonaparte and Bourri- enne followed the crowd and after a short walk reached the terrace from which they had a full view of the disgraceful occurrences that ensued. Bonaparte was surprised and indignant, says 202 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Bourrienne; he could not understand such weak- ness and forbearance. " When the king ap- peared at the window wearing the red cap, Bona- parte could no longer restrain his indignation and exclaimed : ' What madness ! How could they allow these scoundrels to enter. They ought to have blown four or five hundred of them into the air with cannon; the rest would have taken to their heels.' " Bonaparte would have been the man for the occasion but his day had not yet arrived. This " bronze artillery-officer," of clear-cut medallion face, out at the elbows, eager for opportunity, and ambitious for promotion, was in the near future to play his part when with a " whiff of grapeshot " he was to scatter the rabble of the sections, bring order out of anarchy, and " blow into space the thing we specifically call French Revolution." After the mob rushed into the palace and reached the apartments, they began breaking down the doors with hatchets. Louis had sent away many of his friends whose presence he thought would tend to exasperate the mob. He retained at his side only the old Marshal de Mouchy d'Acloque, some of the servants of his household, and a number of the officers of the National Guards in whom he had confidence. When the mob began hammering at the door of the king's apartment he ordered it opened at once. He faced without trepidation a crowd of angry men armed with pikes and bayonets. " Here I am," he exclaimed; "what do you want with 203 DANTON me?" Acloque, addressing the rabble, said: " Citizens : This is your king ; pay respect to him. We stand ready to die at his side rather than let you hurt him." Louis was placed in the recess of a window and his friends formed a rampart about him. He was seated on a chair that stood upon a table. His demeanor was calm and firm. He had the patience of endurance ; passive cour- age was his virtue, he could suffer heroically but could not resist. For two long hours he had to submit to all manner of insults; women scolded and men up- braided him, while the crowd shouted in his ears : " No veto ! No priests ! No aristocrats ! " One of the mob presented him a bonnet rouge on the end of a pike; the king put the red cap on his head and promised to support the Constitu- tion. " So stands Majesty in red woolen cap ; black Sans-culottism weltering round him far and wide, aimless with inarticulate dissonance, with cries of Veto ! Patriot ministers ! " Some one handed him a sword and demanded that he should wave it and at the same time cry : " Long live the nation ! " He obeyed the command to the letter, although he did not evince much enthu- siasm nor display much grace in the perform- ance. A drunken fellow offered him a glass of wine, which he drank off without a moment's hesitation. Legendre, the butcher, stepped up before him and in a loud voice charged him with duplicity and treachery, warned him to beware the people's wrath, and in the name of the na- tion demanded the sanction of the decree pro- 204 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION viding for a camp near Paris, to which Louis re- plied : " This is neither the time nor the place to discuss that question. I will do what the Con- stitution requires." This timely answer of the king gained the applause of the crowd. Madame Elizabeth shared the dangers of the day with her brother, to whom she was devotedly attached. When she was seen at the window the crowd below took her for the queen and shouted : " There is the Austrian." Some of the soldiers surrounding the princess called out to the peo- ple : " This is not the queen but Madame Eliza- beth." With that gentleness and self-sacrificing spirit that characterized her, she requested them not to correct the mistake. " Leave them in their error," she said, " and save the queen." Marie Antoinette had not been able to reach the side of the king, for when the crowd entered the palace their first cry was for her, and she fled with her children to the Council Chamber where Mandat with two hundred National Guards gave her protection. Santerre, the brewer, stood at her side and persuaded the rabble to show her some respect. A hoodlum put a Jacobin cap on the head of the dauphin, but Santerre tossing it aside remarked : " The boy is stifling, it is too hot for him." Hearing of the king's danger, a number of the deputies hastened to the palace and appealed to the people to withdraw, and after much persua- sion the mob at last retired. Then forming in procession, they returned to their sections; their coarse and discordant cries gradually grew 205 DANTON fainter but the echoes rang in the ears of the king long after the marchers had disappeared from view. The royal family, worn out and humiliated, when at last united fell into each other's arms and wept. The king perceiving that he still wore the red cap impatiently tore it from his head and threw it to the ground. One of the deputies from the Assembly standing near was seen to have tears in his eyes and Marie Antoinette turn- ing to him said : " You weep to see the king and his family so cruelly treated." " Understand me, Madame," he said ; " I weep for the misfortunes of a beautiful, tender-hearted woman and the mother of a family, but there is not one of my tears for the king or the queen — I hate kings and queens." This was the distinction between the man and the revolutionist, and it was this senti- ment that eventually overthrew the monarchy. Petion, the mayor, reached the palace long after the greater part of the rabble had deserted it. He mounted a chair and addressing the crowd said : " You have laid your remon- strances before the king ; there is nothing now for you to do but to retire." The palace was cleared about seven o'clock in the evening. The mayor made some sort of excuse for his delay in ar- riving, but the king gave him a stinging rebuke and turned from him in disgust. Of course next day the royalists and the constitutionalists waxed indignant, cried aloud for investigations, and de- manded that the ringleaders and those who, while remaining in the background, had instigated this 206 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION outrageous attack upon the palace and the royal family, should be brought immediately to trial and punishment. As might be expected, how- ever, the matter was never followed up. After this day of violence and anarchy, a reac- tion set in at once. The Revolution, indeed, was made up of reactions. On the 21st, from morn- ing until night, in marked contrast to the prior day's occurrences, crowds of people gathered around the palace and shouted their cries of loyalty to the king. The wonder was that they came so late ; where were they the day before ? There was absolutely no excuse for the inert- ness of the authorities. The conduct of the mob should not have been a surprise to them. The people of the faubourgs Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau had given notice that it was their inten- tion to arm themselves on the 20th of June and to proceed in a body to the Assembly to present a petition and to follow this proceeding with a personal visit to the king. Even after the author- ities had resolved that such a gathering would not be permitted, the leaders of the mob openly continued their preparations. There was no at- tempt at concealment. As early as five o'clock on the morning of the 20th, the Directory again gave notice that it would enforce its resolution, but no steps were taken to protect the Assembly and the palace. The fact that the mob was to bear arms was of itself a menace to civil order and enough to reveal to the authorities the pur- pose of the leaders. Artillery with a firm com- mander would have been the only sure means 207 DANTON of meeting such a condition and enforcing the law, and the cannon ought to have been posted so as to sweep the avenues leading out of the fau- bourgs before the mob began to march. Outside of Paris the sentiment was strongly in favor of bringing the leaders and instigators of the mob to judgment and punishment. The de- partment of the Seine preferred charges against the mayor and demanded a thorough investiga- tion. Petion ought to have been adjudged guilty, but so soon as the public temper subsided the whole matter was dropped. His attitude, or what may be called his masterly inactivity, can easily be explained. He was in spirit a Jacobin ; he was a political or factional executive and had neither the desire nor the nerve to resort to posi- tive measures. He was trimming; he stood be- tween his duty as an official and his sentiments as a partisan. As mayor it was incumbent upon him to defend the king; as an individual it was his wish to see him overthrown. He was a demagogue fearing to lose the favor of the rab- ble, and consequently adopted no strong or severe measures to compel a compliance with the law. 208 CHAPTER XV LA FAYETTE COMES TO PARIS LA FAYETTE DANTON AND LA FAYETTE Hearing of the attack upon the Tuileries, La Fayette assigned a brother officer to his com- mand and came post haste to Paris. He ap- peared at the bar of the Assembly and demanded the punishment of the insurrectionists. When upon the streets he was greeted most enthusias- tically, and surrounded by his old comrades of the National Guards, who urged him to lead them against the Jacobins. Had he complied with their request the reaction might have lasted longer. It is possible that if a strong mind had directed public sentiment at this point the Revolution might have ended in the firm establishment of a constitutional monarchy. The people were so incensed at the conduct of the mob and the weak- ness and inertness of the municipal authorities that they were ready to abandon the Revolution, to make secure the results that already had been attained, and to establish a government of peace and order. When La Fayette called at the palace of the Tuileries to pay his respects to the king and the queen they gave him a very cool reception. With 14 209 DANTON their usual want of wisdom and foresight they declined to accept and utilize the services of one who, a born monarchist, was willing to bare his sword in their defense, and who at this juncture could materially have aided them. In fact, the queen at this time told Madame Campan that she would rather perish than be saved by him. After a few hours' stay in the capital, he de- parted, finding his visit had come to naught. He received cheers, applause and congratulations, but attained absolutely no results; and without further ado he trotted back to the army. His sudden appearance in Paris had sent a col