BOOK I.

1792.

Alarm guns were fired at two o'clock in the morning of the 2d of September, the tocsin was CHAP. II. sounded, the country declared to be in danger, and the people invited to meet in the Chainp de Mars, from whence, as was said, they were instantly to march against the common enemy. Myriads were collected; and, when the resolutions of the assembly, moved by Danton, came to be understood, the universal "To arms, cry was, citizens! to arms! the enemy is at hand." During this sort of frenzy, news was spread that 4000 French troops, sent to reinforce Verdun, had been treacherously led into ambuscade, and cruelly cut to pieces. The fury of the populace was raised to its utmost height, the prisons were forced open, and a most inhuman massacre took place. The cardinal de Rochefoucault, and about 200 priests, were handed out of the prison, two by two, into the street Vaugerard, and there put to death in cold blood. They wreaked their vengeance on the unfortunate Swiss officers who were confined in the Abbey prison. Their commander-in-chief alone, M. d'Affry, had the good fortune to escape, owing to a mistake of the mob. The force of the French commander-in-chief at this period, it is said, did not equal that under the authority of General Clairfait; but, in this moment of suspense, the military genius of Dumouriez burst forth with great splendor: his inventive mind immediately resolved to divide his strength. To Galbaud, who was stationed at a pass in the forest of Argonne, which Dumouriez looked on as of the first importance to the issue of the campaign, he sent Dillon (4th of September) with considerable reinforcements. Just at this time it was abandoned by Galbaud, as impossible to be retained; but when he saw the supplies which had been sent him, he returned to its defence with renewed vigor: and it proved, in a manner, to France, what Thermopyla had been to Greece. Dumouriez, in the mean time, took the post at Grand Pré under his own protection. It was soon contested for by the enemy; and, as he could not retain it against the furious attack of such a force as he had to contend with, he retreated, without loss, to the strong camp of St. Menehould, a strong town, situated about twenty-six miles W. S. W. of Verdun. The Austrians lost a great number of men, together with prince Charles de Ligne.

Bournonville joined Dumouriez, with 15,000 men, as well as Kellerman, with the army under his command. On the 20th of September, Dumouriez found himself in a condition to put an end to the incursions of the enemy. Kellerman, at the head of 16,000 men, repulsed a greatly superior division of the enemy, and rendered all their stratagems abortive.

The Prussian army immediately after evasuated France, and their example was followed

by the troops of Austria and Hesse Cassel. Soon after the French retook Verdun, and they followed up their conquest by the recapture of Longwy.

On the 21st of September, the national assembly resigned its functions, and gave up its power to the convention, by an address of renunciation, and an assurance that they would serve as an advanced guard of the new legislature. The convention chose Petion their president; and, having decreed that the laws should be continued in force, and the usual taxes demanded, Collet d'Herbois rose, and said, that the convention ought not to adjourn, till it had decreed the total abolition of royalty in France. Deputies rose to demand that the question might be instantly put. M. Bazire exclaimed against the ardor which seemed to have taken possession of their minds, and besought them to argue a question of so much magnitude with the dignity that became them. His advice was looked on as the dull prudence of a vulgar mind, unworthy the practice of philosophers of superior light, and the national convention briefly decreed, that "Royalty is abolished in France." Loud applauses, and exclamations of "Vive la nation!" following the decree, minutes of the sitting were ordered to be sent to the departments, and to the armies, as well as to be proclaimed throughout Paris.

At the next sitting M. Condorcet was elected vice-president, and the convention decreed :— 1. That all public acts should be dated the first year of the French republic.

2. That the seal of the country shall be changed, and have, for a legend, "French Republic.'

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3. That the national seal shall represent a woman, sitting on a bundle of arms, and holding a pike in her hand, with a cap of liberty upon it; and, upon the exergue, the words," Archives of the French Republic."

4. That no petitioners shall be admitted to the bar till the evening sitting.

The French arms were triumphant in every quarter; and, on the 20th of October, a decree passed the national assembly, declaring the republic was saved, and the country no longer in danger. Before the end of the year they were masters of the whole of the Austrian Low Countries, Luxemburg only excepted, together with the city and territory of Liege.

Amidst this unexampled series of triumph, the following decree was passed, November 19:

"The national convention declare, in the name of the French nation, they will grant fraternity and assistance to all those people who wish to procure liberty; and they charge the executive power to send orders to the generals to give assistance to such people, and to defend citizens who have suffered, and are now suffering in the cause of liberty." This magnificent and empty vaunt was

productive of very strange and serious consequences. Another decree, passed November 27, created the duchy of Savoy into an 84th department of the French republic, contrary to a fundamental article of the constitution, by which she renounced all foreign conquests; and another decree passed on the capture of Antwerp, declaratory of the freedom of navigation on the river Scheldt.

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As the king was no longer in the way, the ties began to display themselves in their violence and abuse. The Brisotines had the government; the Jacobins the passions of the mob; and the Orleanites the way of corrupting the partizans of both by money. Their power was so equal, that, in spite of their hatred of each other, their rancour boiled in their bosoms, and exerted its efforts to vent itself, until its vehemence became too strong for restraint; and then it effected an unworthy union betwixt them all to renew their projects against their feeble king, who was defenceless, and within their power. The cowards began their attack by judging him on the very ground on which they agreed to the motion for bringing him to trial, namely, that "a decree of accusation should pass against the principal traitor, Louis XVI." In fact, he was usually spoken of, in all debates, as Louis the traitor; and, in this spirit, they began a process of assassination, which they sought to evade, concealing it under the mock forms of a trial. The appearance of rectitude was endeavoured to be preserved by the speeches made about justice; yet, when Mannel moved, that whoever undertook the defence of Louis should be put under the protection of the law, they answered him by murmurs and hootings: and those who did defend him were sent to the scaffold. Mannel himself, and Kersaint, who looked on the proceeding as a conspiracy to commit murder, they guillotined also.

On the 11th of December, the king was brought to the bar, and was permitted to choose M. M. Deseze, Tronchet, and Malesherbes, his defenders. The trial lasted thirty-four days, and the convention pronounced him guilty.

The same cordiality did not prevail as to the sentence as with regard to the verdict. The Brisotines, less sanguinary than their antagonists, were so well satisfied with having obtained his power, that they did not wish to take his life; whilst Orleans and Robespierre were bent on being satisfied with nothing short of his blood. When the proces verbal was read, which had the answers of all the members to the question, "What punishment shall he suffer?" even the bloodhounds of the convention were struck with horror when they heard that Philip Egalité, duke of Orleans, the king's own relation, and the only one whose word had the slightest influence with the

people, had voted for death! On the roll there BOOK I. was a majority of five for death.

When the fatal decision was properly ascertained, the president, with a solemn tone of voice, and with his head uncovered, said,

"In consequence of this, I declare that the punishment decreed by the national convention against Louis Capet is DEATH."

The king's council were again admitted to the bar, and M. Deseze read the copy of a letter to the convention in the king's hand-writing :

"I owe it to my honour, I owe it to my family, not to subscribe to a sentence which declares me. guilty of a crime of which I cannot accuse myself. In consequence, I appeal to the nation from the sentence of its representatives; and I commit, by these presents, to the fidelity of my defenders, to make known to the national convention this appeal, by all the means in their power: and to demand that mention of it be made in the minutes of their sittings. (Signed) "Louis."

When he presented this letter, M. Deseze exclaimed, with his usual flow of eloquence, "Do not afflict France by a judgment that will appear dreadful, when five voices only were thought enough to carry it." He then besought the convention to refer their judgment to the tribunal of the people. "You have either forgotten or destroyed," said the fascinating M. Tronchet, "the lenity which the law allows to criminals, of requiring, at least, two-thirds of the voices to constitute a definitive judgment." The last effort that they could make in favour of the fallen monarch was, to ask a respite, and delay the execution of the sentence, but this was likewise refused. The members were merely to give a simple yes, or no; and, at midnight, the 19th of January, 1793, there appeared, for the respite 310, and against 380; majority 70, for immediate execution.

Louis entreated a respite for only three days, that he should not be hurried away without a proper preparation for this awful change; but, with a degree of savage barbarity, the convention refused his request. The sentence was not finally determined before two o'clock, and the decree was ordered to the executive council, who were directed to notify it to Louis, and to have it executed within twenty-four hours afterwards, and to take all means of safety and police that might appear to them requisite during the execution.

Roland, Claviere, Monge, Le Brun, Paché, and Garet, were the council who ordered the execrable Santerre to procure 1200 of the greatest ruffians of Paris, armed with sixteen rounds each, to form round the carriage of the helpless monarch, and by noon, on the 21st, to drag him to the scaffold,

Paris was illuminated on the 20th, and no person permitted to go at large in the streets.

CHAP. II.

1793.

The unhappy monarch passed all Sunday in preparing for his change. His coolness and patience evinced great eminence of soul; but the parting of his family was too painful to the feelings of humanity! The queen hung round his neck in delirious anguish ; the princess royal grasped his hand; the dauphin caught his knees; and madame Elizabeth bathed his feet with her tears. The queen was at last taken from him in a state of insensibility, which she did not recover from before two o'clock on Monday afternoon. The king, on this sad spectacle, shewed all the affection of a husband, a father, a brother; and, seeming to be more affected by the affliction of those so dear and so beloved than by his own misfortunes, consoled them in the most soothing manner. Having gone through this trying scene, he now prepared to meet his God. The conversation which he was allowed to hold with his confessor, it is said, was pious, sensible, and animated; and his hope was full of immortality. He protested his innocence, and forgave his enemies from his heart. On Monday morning, as the clock struck eight, he was summoned to his fate. He was conducted to a coach belonging to the mayor of Paris, in which were two soldiers of the gend'armerie. He was attended by his confessor, and aided to step into the carriage by one or two of the sentinels, who were at the gate of the temple.

The place of execution was filled with an immense crowd of people, and large bodies of horse and foot were there to awe the multitude. The most deadly silence prevailed, while the coach advanced slowly towards the scaffold. Louis mounted it with fortitude, a firm step, and unaltered countenance. He was attended on the scaf fold by his confessor and two or three municipal officers. He looked around upon the people with a complacent countenance, and was preparing to address them, when the ruffian Santerre cried out, "No speeches! come, no speeches!" and suddenly the drums beat and trumpets sounded. He spoke, but the only expressions that could be distinctly heard, were these:

"I forgive my enemies: may God forgive them, and not lay my innocent blood to the charge of the nation! God bless my people."

The confessor went on his knees, and implored

the king's blessing, who gave it with an affectionate embrace. The unfortunate monarch then placed his head upon the block with wonderful serenity, and ceased to live in this world! Before his execution, he wrote to the national convention, entreating to be buried near his father, in the cathedral of Sens, in the department of Yonne, 82 miles south-south-east of Paris, and 35 westsouth-west of Troyes, capital of the department of Auby. They passed to the order of the day. He was buried in the cemetary ground of the new Magdelain, about 800 feet north of the place of execution, and his grave filled with quick lime. This unfortunate monarch had certainly many amiable, though not shining qualities. He was a good husband, a good father, and a lover of his people. He was wont to compare himself with Charles I. of England, but the similitude is by no means striking. They certainly shared a similar fate, although the death of Louis has been denominated an execution, and that of Charles a martyrdom. It is worthy of remark, that the latter was never religiously observed in London till the death of Louis; for before 1793 the theatres used to be open on the 31st of January. Louis had acquired a great fund of knowledge by reading, and he was possessed of a tenacious memory. He frequently displayed judgment, but was guided by that of others.

His queen, Marie Antoinette, was removed from the temple to the common prison of the Conciergerie, where she remained till she was brought before the revolutionary tribunal, October 15, 1793. After an hour's consultation, the jury pronounced her guilty of all the charges laid against her. The queen, on hearing the verdict returned, fixed her eyes stedfastly on the ground, from which she never was observed to raise them more. fortitude and dignity with which she conducted herself on her trial, did not forsake her to the last. On the day following, she submitted to her fate with calm resignation on the public scaffold, and upon the same spot where her husband had previously suffered.

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Such were the savage proceedings of the revolutionary tribunal, that shocking executions daily took place under the fatal axe of the guillotine. In the direful catalogue were found the names of Manuel, president of the commune of Paris; the brave and veteran General Luckner; the learned and philosophic Bailly; the excellent Malesherbes; the gallant Kersaint; the young and amiable Barnave; the virtuous Rabaut de St. Etienne; and the celebrated and accomplished Madame Roland,

wife of the minister of that name.

1792.

BOOK I. was deeply concerned, that this strange thing denominated the French revolution, should be put CHAP. III. in the balance with that glorious event, usually called the revolution in England, and the behaviour of the soldiery on that occasion compared with the conduct of some of the French troops in the present instance. At that time the prince of Orange, one of the blood-royal in England, was called in by the flower of the aristocratical party, to defend the ancient constitution, but by no means to level all distinctions. To this prince, so invited, the aristocratic leaders who commanded the troops went over in bodies with their different corps, as the saviour of their country. The object of military obedience was changed; but the principle of military obedience was not interrupted for a single moment. If the conduct of the English armies was different, so also was that of the whole English nation at that memorable period. In fact, the circumstances of our revolution, and that of France, are exactly the reverse of each other, in almost every particular, as well as in the whole spirit of the transaction. What we did was in truth and substance, and in a constitutional point of view, a revolution not made, but prevented. We did not impair, but strengthen the monarchy, and we did not impair the church. We made no change in the fundamental parts of our constitution: and the nation kept the same ranks, privileges, franchises, and rules for property. The church and state were the same after as before the revolution; but we may venture to maintain, that in every part they were much better secured. The result of all this was, that the state flourished. Instead of lying as if dead, in a species of trance, or exposed, like some others, in an epileptic fit, to the pity or scorn of the world, for her wild convulsive movements, unfit for every purpose but that of dashing out her brains, Great Britain rose above the standard even of her former self. A period then commenced of a more improved domestic prosperity, and still continues, not only unimpaired, but even growing under the wasting hand of time."

This speech having been received with great applause, Mr. Fox thought it necessary to declare "his total dissent from opinions so hostile to the general principles of liberty; and which he was grieved to hear from the lips of a man whom he loved and revered by whose precepts he had been taught by whose example he had been animated to engage in their defence."

Mr. Sheridan reprobated the political sentiments of Mr. Burke. "The people of France," he said, "have committed acts of barbarity and bloodshed which have justly excited indignation and abhorrence; but that indignation and abhorrence are to be ascribed to the government of France prior to the revolution, the tyranny and

oppression of which had deprived the people of the rights of men and of citizens.' The second celebration of the anniversary of the French revolution in England, was productive of serious riots, particularly in the great and opulent town of Birmingham. The measures of ministers were exceedingly wise and prudent, though severely censured by the pretended friends of liberty. A royal proclamation was issued against the public dispersion of all seditious writings, and against all illegal correspondencesexhorting the magistrates to vigilance, and the people to submission and obedience. When this proclamation was laid before parliament, May 25, 1792, it was opposed by Mr. Grey with much warmth, who intimated his belief, that the real object of the proclamation was to discredit an association which had been just formed under the name of the "Friends of the People," for the purpose of effecting a reform in parliament. This Mr. Pitt disclaimed in very explicit terms, and expressed his high respect for many of the members of the society in question, declaring that he differed from them only in regard to the time and mode which they had adopted for the attainment of their object. The proclamation, he confessed, was levelled against the daring and seditious principles which had been so assiduously propagated amongst the people under the delusive appellation of the rights of man.

The English government commenced prosecutions against a prodigious number of offenders, amongst whom Thomas Paine stood most conspicuous; but anticipating the verdict of the jury, he had, previous to his trial, fled to France. Debating societies, where juvenile orators used to harangue upon subjects they were little acquainted with, were put under proper restrictions. At length French cruelty opened the eyes of the English, and the nation was on a sudden struck with terror at the idea of any kind of a political innovation. An association was formed in the city of London, for the preservation of liberty and property against republicans and levellers, apparently under the sanction of government; and immense multitudes of pamphlets, in the form of dialogues, narratives, and letters, rushed through the country from the press, warmly recommending submission to government on the absolute principle of passive obedience and non-resistance. Resolutions were accordingly subscribed to in every county and town, expressive of the strongest attachment to the king and consti ution; of the dread they entertained of innovation; and of their strong aversion to all doctrines properly republican.

Previous to this wonderful display of loyalty, certain inhabitants of Great Britain sent addresses of congratulation to the Continent, declaring, in lofty terms, their admiration and ap