name of assignats.

The King had already repaired to the assembly, and given the sanction of his name to the new constitution: and the nation, almost frantic with joy at its deliverance from regal and feudal bondage, celebrated the anniversary of the capture of the Bastile, on the 14th of July, the epoch whence France now dated her liberties, in the Champ de Mars, at which appeared the King, the representatives of the nation, deputations from all the military and naval bodies in the kingdom, in addition to 300,000 spectators of both sexes: and at the close of which, the monarch, the national assem bly, and the armed citizens, took a solemn oath to maintain the constitution.

The spirit of anarchy and disorganization continued however to spread over the kingdom of France, and the discontents of the nobility and clergy at the new order of things, rose to such a height, as to produce an insurrection and a civil war in La Vendée.

1791.-The King, Queen, their children, and Madame Elizabeth, fled from the capital, on the 20th of June, and took the road to Montmedy, her Majesty personating the Baroness de Knoff, and her consort the superintendant of her family. No obstacle intervened until their arrival at Varennes, when Louis was recognized by Drouet, the post-master of St. Menehould, and detained in consequence of his zeal. Paul le Blanc, and Joseph Poncin, two national guards, were the first to stop the carriage, which was drawn by six horses, and accompanied by three out-riders. After some delay, the King and his family were re-conducted on their way back to the capital, in the face of a large body of the Royal Allemande. His Majesty's brother, Monsieur, was, however, more fortunate, for he fled nearly at the same time, and arrived at Mons, without experiencing any interruption.

At length, the royal family approached the capital, conducted by the citizens of Varennes, and surrounded by an immense body of national guards. More than half a million of spectators filled the streets and squares as the captive monarch passed along to the Thuilleries, but neither reproaches nor murmurs were heard this day, on the contrary, a sullen silence prevailed; not a single hand was uplifted to express joy; every head remained covered; and the sovereign was already dethroned in the hearts of his subjects.

The assembly acted upon this occasion with great magnanimity, and an act of oblivion took place. In order to prevent further tumult, it declared, that "the Revolution was complete:" it also revised its former decrees, completed the constitutional act, removed the suspension imposed upon his Majesty, and left him at full liberty either to accept or refuse it.

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The King addressed the assembly by letter, SECT. V. on the 13th of September, and stated that he had given his sanction to the constitution: on the suc ceeding day, he repaired in person to the ball, and affixed his signature; a decree was accordingly issued, by which it was enjoined that the King's solemn declaration should be proclaimed throughout the empire, and that all prisoners contined for debt should be set at liberty.

Soon after this the legislature having concluded the object of its mission, and afforded a prospect of freedom to the nation, dissolved itself on the 30th of the same month, the president having proclaimed, "that the national assembly declares its power to be at an end, and that it will sit no longer.".

Thus ended the labours of the first, commonly called the Constituting Assembly, which possessed a number of distinguished members, and a collection of talents scarcely to be surpassed in the annals of any nation upon earth. Amongst these were a number of persons who have since distinguished themselves in the various periods of the war, and some of whom have outlived the events that expelled the Bourbon race of kings from the throne, and witnesssed a revolution still more extraordinary, by which the sovereigns of that house have again been restored to the throne of France. Amongst these are found the name of the ABBE SIEYES, a catholic priest, at once a profound metaphysician, and an adept in the formation of constitutions: TALLEYRAND, who by living in habits of familiarity with the most celebrated men of the age, had enhanced his own reputation; yet at the period in question, acquired less notice by his talents in the pulpit and the tribune, than by his activity in the committees, and his facility in the penning popular addresses to the nation; and the ABBE MAURY, since invested with the Roman purple, and who had acquired considerable preferment, by the splendor of his clerical talents. Such however was the attachment of the abbè to the ancient government, that he wished to countenance its very abuses. Possessed of a ready wit, he was indebted for his life to a joke:* and his happy talent at unpremeditated oratory, rendered him the second man in the assembly. MIRABEAU was assuredly the first.

At the first meeting of the second, or Legislative Assembly, the constitutional act was introduced with great ceremony, and every deputy in succession ascending the rostrum, and placing his hand on the original, swore to maintain the constitution decreed during the years 1789, 1790,

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v. and 1791. Previous to the appearance of the King, the mode in which he was to be received and addressed underwent a long discussion; and it was determined that the expression of "Sire," should be omitted, as partaking of the feudal forms, and that of " Majesty," as incompatible with a limited monarchy.

The emigration now became greater than before, and the roads were covered with the nobles and priests who fled in all directions: some repaired to England, others reached Austrian Flanders, and the Electorates, but the chief place of rendezvous was Coblentz. The French princes resorted to that city: the ancient household troops of the King were re-established there, all the ceremonial of Versailles was practised, and the Prince of Condè actually began to assemble an army of malcontents.

On this the assembly passed a decree, (October 14th) declaring Louis Stanislaus Xavier to have forfeited his eventual right to the regency if he did not return within the space of two months by another, all the French thus assemhled were proclaimed traitors; while a third, drawn up in the form of a manifesto, renounced in future all wars for the sake of aggrandisement. But neither did the two first of these, nor a law passed against the non-juring clergy, receive the sanction of the King, who opposed his reto, by the advice of Lameth and Barnave, members of the former assembly, whom he was pleased to consult upon this critical occasion.

In fine, although Louis XVI. had made many sacrifices, he had not regained his popularity and it is only necessary to take a superficial view of the kingdom at this eventful period, in order to prognosticate some of the various evils that speedily ensued.

SECTION VI.

FRANCE at this moment was divided into, and distracted by contending parties. The King was averse to a constitution to which he had reluctantly sworn. Around the royal standard appeared to be assembled a remnant of the ancient nobility, and all those devoted by place, sentiment, attachment, or prejudice, to the crown. On the other hand, the popular cause was sustained in the assembly by a decided majority; Paris, Bourdeaux, Marseilles, all the great cities now participating in a municipal jurisdiction, were devoted to it; and as it had as yet been uncontaminated by excess, a large portion of the population of Europe beheld the new order of affairs with a favourable eye. Many of the troops of the line, indeed, still entertained a secret enmity to a constitution, which, while it was calculated to benefit the people, and even themselves, lessened the power and influence of

the prince; but an immense multitude of national guards, faithful alike to their interests and their oaths, were determined to maintain their newborn liberties at the expence of every thing dear to them. The ascendancy of the metropolis, now become the joint residence of the assembly and the King, contributed also to give a decided preponderance to the patriots, while the astonishing influence of the press scarcely admits of calculation. Every printing-house in the capital teemed with productions; and, in addition to innumerable hand and posting bills, journals, and regular periodical works, it has been estimated that, during the first years of the revolution, no fewer than one hundred and fifty pamphlets issued weekly from the shops of the booksellers.

Newspapers of all kinds, sizes, forms, and prices, from two duodecimo pages to two sheets, and from a halfpenny to a livre, were regularly published to the amount of about forty: The royalists possessed a few; the democratical party a multitude; the constitutionalists countenanced two or three; the ministers also had their favourite papers; and the King himself was persuaded to waste his civil list, to obtain the support of a few of the editors.

LANJUINAIS, a deputy to the states-general, and a president of the national assembly, was the founder of a political society called the Jacobin Club, which discussed a variety of important questions, and investigated the means of ensuring the safety and prosperity of the state. It originated in 1789, under the denomination of the Breton Club, in consequence of having been first established by the representatives of Brittany; when it was afterwards frequented by several of the deputies from the other provinces also, the members assumed the appellation of "The Friends of the People:" but they were at length better known by the place where they assembled, which was called the hall of the jacobins, from having formerly belonged to a fraternity of Dominican friars, whose patron saint was of that name. The most celebrated orators, patriots, and politicians, for some time after its institution, considered it as an admirable engine for the sustenance of the public cause. All the zealots of democracy, all the decided enemies to the court, all the foes to the privileged orders, and many of the most virtuous and moderate members of the assembly, at first appertained to it. Its ascendancy was not confined to Paris; with every city and with almost every village in France, it kept up a constant intercourse, by means of twenty thousand affiliated clubs, which looked up to the central meeting in the capital as a mother society, imbibed all its notions, diffused all its opinions, and propagated all its alarms. Such was its influence, that the legislative body was often guided by its decisions, the soldiers were permit

ted to leave their barracks in order to frequent its galleries, while the red cap of the president was seen by turns encircling the brows of the mayor of Paris, elected by the people, and the minister of state, nominated by the king.

But although its power had greatly increased, its character was manifestly on the wane.-The incendiary motions, the outrageous proceedings, and the equivocal characters of many of the ruling members, had cast an indelible stain upon a society, which, after counter-balancing the influence of the court, and efficaciously serving the public cause, by the talents and zeal of those who had acquired for it a dangerous pre-eminence, was likely, at no distant period, to endanger the fabric of national liberty, by its unqualified violence. The greater part of the deputies, and some respectable private individuals, had accordingly withdrawn, while the names of many of those most conspicuous for their virtue, patriotism, or oratorical powers, were erased from the list of members, and the committees were now regulated, and the chair filled, according to the secret suggestions of two or three ambitious and aspiring individuals.

But when it was abandoned by most of the other deputies, MAXIMILIAN ROBESPIERRE, one of the six who remained, acted frequently as president, and at length acquired a complete ascendency. Gloomy, vindictive, ferocious, and at once replete with cowardice and malignity, such was his matchless hypocrisy, that he concealed his real character until he had triumphed over his enemies; and such his unabating envy, that he considered all those as enemies, whose superior talents and virtues had procured them a place in the public esteem. As yet his reputation was unstained by crimes, but even now he appeared to be secretly contemplating an original and monstrous species of dominion, unknown before in any age or country, and alike alarming on account of its novelty and atrocity. The jacobins were the engine by which he purposed to execute the suggestions of a gloomy ambition; and crimes which a Nero or a Caligula would scarcely have dared to dream of, (although invested with the imperial purple, and surrounded by the satellites of despotism,) were at length achieved with facility by a private individual, and that too in the name of "liberty!"

DANTON, first the associate, then the victim of Robespierre, and like him also an advocate by profession, seemed to be intended by nature for the tempestuous period in which he lived, and the bold and decisive character which he assumed. Open, daring, generous, and unreserved, he exhibited some good qualities in conjunction with many vices, but he was consumed by a devouring ambition.

MARAT, a native of Neufchatel, in Switzer(No. 2.)

land, was the creature of the two former, who SECT. VI. not unfrequently protected him from well-merited punishment, and directed both his pen and his 1791

vengeance,

Such were the present leaders of that famous club, destined in a short time to regulate the fate of an empire: but they would never have been suffered to acquire so fatal a pre-eminence, had it not been for the open hostility of the court to the new constitution: the impolitic and insulting interference of foreign powers: and finally, a war equally hostile and repugnant to the pride, freedom, and independence of a great nation.

While the present leaders of the jacobins scarcely concealed their wishes to dethrone the king, and either nominate a new dynasty to the throne, or erect a republic on its ruins, a rival society existed, the members of which, under a name (Constitutionels) expressive of an implicit attachment to the new constitution, were desirous of a legislature consisting of two houses; many of them also had now made their peace with the court, and were even devoted to it. In cousequence of a schism among the friends of the people," Talleyrand, then Bishop of Autun; Emery, a member of the assembly; the Dukes de Rochefoucault and Liancourt; the two Lameths; La Fayette, and many others, had left that celebrated society, and determined to found another. They at first assembled in the magnificent hotel belonging to the younger Crillon, son of the conqueror of Minorca; and when they became morenumerous, assumed the appellation of "The Club of 1789:" but they were afterwards better known by the name of the convent of the Feuillans, which they hired, because the hall being large and spacious, was calculated for their debates,

While these two formidable societies evinced a rooted hatred to each other, and were both in their turn detested by the royalists; the legislative assembly, neither equal in point of talents nor of energy to the states-general, began to be split into parties, and at times exhibited some presages of that intolerant spirit which, soon after the convocation of the convention, involved France in blood and calamity. The power and influence of the court, however, still contributed to produce a certain degree of apparent union, and it was not until the royal family had been made prisoners, and the monarchy itself dissolved, that the blood of the advocates of liberty flowed on the same scaffold that had received the victims of aristocracy, and the founders of the republic began to proscribe each other with an envenomed rancour, that admitted neither of compromise nor of mercy.

The GIRONDISTS, so called from the department whence they were deputed, possessed great influence in the legislative body at this period, E

SECT. VI. and were equally celebrated for their talents and integrity; but they were far better calculated to 1791 rule in the halcyon days of tranquillity, than to preside amidst the awful storm that was about to

ensue.

The leading members of this society were, BRISSOT, chairman of the diplomatic committee, the son of an obscure plebeian, but originally bred to the bar; he had been imprisoned in the Bastile; and it was his singular good fortune to have presented to him, as president of a committee of his district, the keys of that odious prison, in which he had been immured.-VERGNIAUX, a native of Limoges, and one of the representatives of Bourdeaux; and GENSONNE, an advocate of the same city, were likewise distinguished members of this society; which comprehended also in its number, GUADET, late president of the criminal tribunal of Gironde, and CoNDORCET, one of the forty members of the French academy, whose learning and talents conferred a lustre on the party that obtained his support. Such were the principal leaders of a party, sometimes termed the Girondists, and sometimes the Brissotins, which, at the epoch we now allude to, maintained a steady preponderance in the legislative assembly, as well as in the city of Paris; Petion, the mayor, and many of the municipal magistrates, being devoted to it.

Upwards of forty different ministers, during the short space of fourteen years, had already been called in at different times to support the tottering edifice of the monarchy. Louis XVI. had by turns employed the frivolous Maurepas, the virtuous Turgot, the indefatigable Sartine, the politic Vergennes, the weak and tyrannical Brienne, the faulty but well-meaning Lamoignon, the amiable Malesherbes, the prodigal Calonne, the economical Necker, the wily Montmorin, and the impotent Delessart; of these, not above two or three exhibited any talents for government, and the others contributed in their turn, less by their wishes than by their misconduct, to the revolution.

The present administration, which the courtiers sometimes termed the jacobin, and sometimes the suns culotte, consisted of six members, and exhibited a striking contrast both in respect to talents and principles. DUMOURIEZ, the minister for foreign affairs, had been a soldier of fortune; he was employed in 1757, as a commissary at war, in the army of M. d'Etrées, and having conceived an attachment to a military life, procured a cornetcy of horse, and was wounded in the battle of Emstetten. After having obtained the rank of captain, he was dismissed at the end of the war with the cross of St. Louis, which he had merited by his bravery, and a pension, no part of which was ever received by him. colleagues were, LACOSTE, who was appointed to

His

the marine department; DURANTON, an advocate, to the place of minister of justice; CLAVIERE, a banker, and native of Geneva, to the administration of the finances; and ROLAND, a member of the jacobin society, to the home department.

Such was the administration selected at this critical moment for the government of France. Most of the members were odious to the king: some were beloved by, and others suspected by the jacobins; but they were all alike abhorred by the feuillans. They were accordingly abused in the newspapers devoted to the cause of the monarchy and the aristocracy: they were also ridiculed by the courtiers, treated with contempt by the gran-dees, and so much were they hated within the precincts of royalty, that, if we are to believe one of themselves, the body guards always assumed a menacing air, when they appeared at the castle. of the Thuilleries.

No sooner had the new ministry commenced. the exercise of their functions, than they were surrounded by a multitude of dangers and difficulties, both domestic and foreign, whence they found it extremely difficult to extricate either their.. country or themselves. The new body guard of the king had been lately augmented from eighteen hundred to near six thousand men, by means of disaffected persons, commanded by officers who had quitted their respective regiments because they would not subscribe to the civic oath, and it was with great difficulty that the king was at length induced to promise his acquiescence with the wishes of the legislature to disband them. The struggle was still greater on all occasions in which the interests of the dissident clergy were concerned; nor could he be prevailed upon to withdraw his countenance from that body, which was encouraged in its opposition by knowing that the conscience of the monarch was regulated by a ghostly director of the same principles.

In the mean time, a portentous cloud, now collecting in the north, threatened to burst suddenly upon France, and overwhelm a distracted nation with misery and despair. But it may here be necessary to survey the European hemisphere, in order to discover the quarter in which this new storm was generated, and after making ourselves acquainted with the nature and intenseness of the elements of which it was composed, endeavour to calculate its direction, and estimate its force.

SECTION VII.

FRANCE, as we have already seen, had limited the power of her kings, and established a constitution for the nation, faulty indeed, like all

* Memoires du Général Dumouriez, ecrites par luimême, tome II.

human institutions, but certainly preferable to the ancient despotism. In accomplishing this object, the national constituting assembly only exercised the acknowledged right of internal regulation appertaining to every independent state; but it was soon apparent that these essential reforms had given umbrage to several of the absolute princes on the continent.

SPAIN, feeling indignant at the late memorable events, and the court acting under the influence of the queen and a favourite, disposed CHARLES IV. to depart from those principles of sage neutrality, which had long regulated his conduct. PORTUGAL, following the train of Great Britain, was not yet stimulated to war. SARDINIA, under the government of the house of Savoy, united to the royal family of France by a double marriage, was of course alive to the interests of the Bourbon family on that throne, and disposed to support such measures as might be thought conducive to the security of the sovereign and his family, and calculated to re-establish the splendour of his crown. Pius VI., now sovereign pontiff, mourned over the schisms of the Gallican Church, and launched forth the thunders of ROME against her undutiful children. FREDERICK IV. listened to his family connections rather than the interest of his subjects, and involved the kingdom of NAPLES in a quarrel foreign to her interests.

ENGLAND, at this period, seemed to be conscious of the immense advantages arising to a great manufacturing and commercial state, from the adoption of a wise and rigorous system of neutrality. Many obvious motives enforced the policy of peace. An immense national debt called aloud for a system of economy, and the pressure of the existing taxes seemed to render any increase burdensome to the nation. Many of the people too had hitherto rejoiced at the progress of liberty in France, and felt a generous indignation against those princes, who presumed to meddle in her internal disputes; while a king, now finally seated on the throne of the Stuarts, was indebted for the elevation of his family, to a revolution founded; like the present, on the rights of a nation.

The court of COPENHAGEN, while it beheld its king reduced to a state of the most deplorable imbecility, experienced a rare instance of good fortune, in having its affairs conducted by an amiable regent, and a sagacious minister. Wholly intent on the happiness and prosperity of those committed to their charge, the Prince Royal, and the Count de Bernstorff, were averse to intermeddling in the internal polity of other nations.

It was far otherwise with another of the

Baltic powers, though but just released from the burden of a disastrous war. SWEDEN, which by turns has enjoyed liberty, and suddenly relapsed into servitude, was now under the dominion of a

1791

prince, who languished for an opportunity of dis- SECT. VII. tinguishing himself by his exploits. But from some cause, still involved in considerable obscurity,. GUSTAVUS III. fell by the hand of a titled assassin, leaving to a minor son an immense debt, as well as an impoverished and distracted country.

The genius of one man civilized Russia, and, by erecting a capital on the shore of the Baltic, rendered his native country a preponderating power in the scale of European politics. In CATHARINE II. was found a successor, in many respects, worthy of himself. This ambitious female, following the track prescribed by her illustrious precursor, had conceived the gigantic enterprise of chasing the Turks from Europe, substituting the Greek cross for the Turkish crescent on the walls of Constantinople, and creating a new empire in the east. The revolution which had recently occurred in France, made her pause however in the midst of her victories: Sweden was permitted to breathe from slaughter; and the Ottoman Porte now found itself more indebted to her policy than to her moderation for its existence.

But it was from another quarter that France was doomed at this period to be assailed. While employed in the extension and security of her liberties, amidst the struggle with a reluctant monarch, a discontented priesthood, and a hostile nobility, she was menaced at the same time by a sudden and portentous combination of two great military states-PRUSSIA, under the dominion of FREDERICK WILLIAM, and AUSTRIA, under the EMPEROR LEOPOLD, brother to Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

Affected by the situation of the king, alarmed for the fate of a sister, and perhaps desirous also to signalize his reign by some brilliant exploit, Leopold seems to have determined on a war, which, unable to prosecute in his own person, he was forced to bequeath as a legacy to his son and successor, FRANCIS II. While visiting his Italian dominions in 1791, he is said to have concerted a plan with the envoys of two great powers,† for intermeddling with the internal concerns of a third, and soon after the celebrated interviews took place between his Imperial Majesty and the King of Prussia, at Pilnitz; in consequence of which, measures of an alarming nature were said to have been adopted relative to France; and, if we are to give credit to assertions, the dismemberment of that kingdom was actually determined upon. It is proper, however, to observe, that the authenticity of the treaty has been denied, and that no positive proof of its reality has ever yet been publicly adduced. But it can no longer be denied, that a formidable and hostile combination

* Ankerstroem. + Lord Elgin and M. Bischofswerder. Tableau Histor. et Polit. de l'Europe, &c. par L. P. Segin.