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CHAPTER XXIII

From the Commencement of the French Revolution, to the Death of Robespierre.

THE most eventful period of modern history now bursts upon our view. In the course of the ages that have passed successively before us, we have witnessed sudden revolutions, long and sanguinary contests, and the transfer of some province or city from one sovereign to another at the termination of a war. These have been ordinary events. We have also marked the gradual rise and fall of empires, the subjugation of kingdoms, and the annihilation of dynasties; but they bear no comparison to the terrific era of anarchy and blood familiarly designated "the French Revolution." For the history of that frightful period read the work of Thiers. We shall not here attempt to describe its causes, or notice the rise of that stupendous military despotism which so long threatened to bend the whole civilized world under its iron sceptre. The apologists of the French revolution tell us that it was owing to the excesses of an expensive and dissipated court; to the existence of an immense standing army in the time of peace; to the terrors of the Bastile to lettres de cachet (or mandates issued for the apprehension of suspected individuals), and to a general system of espionage, which rendered no man safe. Others ascribe it partly to the "spirit of freedom " imbibed by the French soldiers during the American war; but, still more, to the general diffusion of political, philosophical, and infidel writings, which, replete with sarcasm and wit, were levelled equally at the pulpit and the throne, and thus, by unsettling the minds of the people, destroyed the moral bonds and safeguards of society.

But whatever might have been the true causes, certain it is that vague ideas of freedom beneath republican institutions had unsettled the minds of men, not merely in France, but throughout Europe. It was in that country, however, that public discontent was most strongly manifested. The people were ripe for innovation and change; and Louis XVI. though amiable as a man, had not the necessary energy or abilities to counteract public feeling or direct the storm.

In 1789, when the public income of France was inadequate to the wants of the state, it was thought advisable to convoke the states-general, or representatives of three orders-nobles, clergy, and tiers-état or commons. At first some salutary reforms were agreed to, but the commons wished to assume too great a share of the power; and, being the most numerous body in this national assembly, they carried their favorite measures in spite of the court and privileged orders. To check the rising spirit of turbulence and faction, the king was advised to collect a large body of troops in the environs of Paris, and he also dismissed Necker, his minister of finance. Both these measures were highly unpopular; and the mob, excited by the democrats, committed great excesses. Among other acts of outrage, they seized the arms deposited in the hotel of the Invalides, attacked the Bastile, and levelled that ancient fortress with the ground. From that hour may be dated the fall of the monarchy. The terrified king tried every mode of concession; but the infuriated populace, led by artful and interested demagogues, and now familiar with scenes of blood and tumult, were not to be appeased. The capital was divided into sections; and the national guard was formed, and placed under the command of the marquis de LaFayette, who had earned his popularity in the American war. Meanwhile the assembly abolished the privileges of the nobility and clergy; confiscated the property of the church; divided the kingdom into departments; and subverted all the ancient forms and institutions: A. D. 1790.

A very general emigration of the nobles and clergy took place; and Louis, abandoned even by his own brothers, was virtually a prisoner, or a mere tool in the hands of his enemies. And now arose that democratical society, afterwards famous in the blood-stained annals of the revolution under the name of Jacobins. From this focus of rebellion issued numerous emissaries, who founded similar societies, or clubs, in every part of France; and thus their contaminating influence spread around till the whole political atmosphere became one corrupt mass. Surrounded on every side by the enemies, the king and the royal family at length resolved to seek refuge in one of the frontier towns; but they were discovered at Varennes, and brought back to Paris amid the insults of the rabble. The most violent Jacobins loudly demanded his death: A. D. 1791.